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With the passage of SB2327 and the creation of the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality, our state is now better equipped than ever before to take control of its own environmental future.

This bill will move the environmental health section of the Department of Health into a separate state agency and elevate it to a cabinet-level position that reports directly to the governor. By transferring responsibilities into a new state Department of Environmental Quality, North Dakota will improve its ability to retain primacy in choosing how to meet federal regulations most prudently, efficiently and effectively.

We are committed to protecting our environment, our economy and the quality of life of our people, but the federal governments one-size-fits-all approach often is a poor fit for North Dakota. The so-called Clean Power Plan and Waters of the U.S. regulations are just two recent examples of how disastrous and disruptive Washingtons misguided policies can be. While the current administration is more friendly to our key industries, future administrations may not be as accommodating. We need to do all we can now to ensure we control our future, how we develop our natural resources and how we protect our environment.

With the rise of energy development and our historic reliance on agriculture, there never has been a more important time to assert our independence. The passage of this bill ensures that North Dakota can function as a stand-alone energy and agricultural state. We can develop our natural resources responsibly under local control and without the federal government imposing regulations upon us that don't work for our state. The Department of Environmental Quality will serve as the first line of defense against the overzealous Environmental Protection Agency and protect our energy and agricultural jobs from federal overreach.

The creation of the Department of Environmental Quality also allows for greater efficiency and effectiveness in government with only a minimal increased cost for the transition and one accounted for under the existing budget. The new head of the department, as appointed by the governor, will have more flexibility in using his staff and resources and will be able to protect the environment more effectively and efficiently.

The environmental quality section already has distinct duties from the rest of the Health Department  regulating water and air quality, waste management, and the like  so the transition will not be disruptive to the rest of the Health Department and state government. And the transfer of responsibilities will be a gradual change, utilizing existing staff and infrastructure.

With a tighter budget this biennium, the Legislature is looking to reinvent government in order to operate more effectively and efficiently. The creation of the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality is sound policy that will help the state to grow in efficiency and effectiveness without growing government. More importantly, our state will be better positioned to protect our people, our environment and our key industries and the jobs they create.
GRAND FORKS  A few dozen farmers, including some in the Red River Valley, are trying something new this growing season.

The North Dakota Department of Agriculture approved 37 proposals for the industrial hemp pilot program.

Hemp is a variety of the cannabis sativa plant, which also produces marijuana.

Hemp, however, is grown specifically for industrial purposes for everything from grain to textiles and has no psychoactive properties.

The state implemented the pilot program to research growing methods and the potential market for the crop.

Though the plant cannot be used as a drug, federal law prohibits hemp production.

The states pilot program operates under strict oversight from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the state Department of Agriculture.

A new challenge

The 37 approved hemp producers are located in 17 counties across the state, with plans to produce 3,064 acres of hemp this growing season.

Christopher Adams, vice president and partner in Adams Family Farm south of Grand Forks, is among the approved applicants.

The fourth-generation farmer said it was mostly curiosity in the crops potential that led him to apply.

Its something new, a challenge, he said.

He applied to plant 270 acres of the crop.

He said the operation doesnt require any new equipment to plant or harvest.

The planter has to be set a bit slower, but its the same tool.

The growing cycle is similar to dry, edible beans, which is one of the main crops on the Adams Family Farm.

The growth period is about 104 days to maturity. They begin planting in mid- to late May and harvest about mid-September.

Its similar to what were already doing, Adams said.

When he harvests the crop, he said hes going to use a standard header on his combine with a similar setup as wheat.

One problem he doesnt have a solution for yet is residual management. After the fields are harvested, theres a stalk in the ground thats so tough it can puncture tires.

Its like bamboo, he said.

Currently, there are no approved processors for the plant fiber, meaning it cant be marketed and has limited uses.

Were hoping some come on board, said Rachel Spilde, the industrial hemp program coordinator with the department.

Adams said there probably will be fewer weed-control inputs because the plant sprouts leaves and closes a canopy over the soil in a couple of weeks, leaving little sunlight for weeds to grow.

Research

What are the best practices for hemp production remains to be seen. In this new venture, farmers are figuring out exactly how to go about doing it.

Im just learning as we go, Adams said.

This will not be the states first hemp program. For the past two years, North Dakota State University had a 70-acre hemp plot near Langdon.

Researchers produced five-foot-tall hemp plants the first year and yielded quite a bit of data.

The second year, excessive moisture in May stunted the produce at knee-high levels, leading the researchers to conclude hemp doesnt perform well in very wet conditions.

We have to prove to Congress this can be a viable product, said Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring on the purpose of the pilot program.

He stressed the DEA classifies hemp as a Schedule 1 drug, the most restrictive classification, and the program operates with DEA oversight.

Growing hemp without official approval through the Department of Agriculture is the equivalent of producing marijuana, in the eyes of the federal government.

It is an illegal product in the United States of America, Goehring warned.

Compliance with the feds requires all seeds and plant material to be tested for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive chemical in the plant.

That level cant exceed 0.3 percent, which is far below the minimum of about 3 percent found in very low-grade marijuana.

The department also is required to account for all seeds produced or imported for the program.

I mean right down to the pound, Goehring said.

And no seed or plant material can be exported out of the state without permission from the states its transported through.

Any end product must be processed by department-approved processors before its exported.

Market

In addition to the agronomic research, this years program also will begin exploring how the produce will be marketed.

Roger Gussiaas, president of Healthy Oilseeds, is one of the few processors approved under the program. This will be the second year hes been approved for processing.

However, aside from some hemp products sold within the state, most of the material has piled up at the Healthy Oilseeds facility in Carrington because he didnt get approval to export any of it until recently.

We have a lot of product were just sitting on, he said.

Like the producers, processing doesnt require any equipment other than what they currently are using for their borage and flax products, Gussiaas said.

Now that he has the permission to begin exporting hemp products, hes starting to build relationships with buyers across the globe.

Were ready to hit it really hard, he said.

Gussiaas said it could take years to develop that market.

With more than 3,000 acres going in the ground this year, North Dakota hemp growers will be looking for that market to come to fruition.

Producers and processors alike have a lot of questions to answer as this new venture takes off in North Dakota. Step by step, theyre meeting the challenge.

Thats kind of how we roll. You have to walk before you run, Adams said.
A young Indian man who arrived in the US only 25 days ago was shot dead by two masked men at the convenience store of a gas station here, authorities said. India was coordinating with the investigating agencies in the US over the Thursday killing of Vikram Jaryal, 26, in Yakima city, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted on Saturday. "I have received a report on the incident resulting in the tragic death of Jaryal in Washington State," Sushma Swaraj said. According to her, the killers entered the AM-PM store at 1.30 a.m. They snatched cash from the victim and shot him on his chest, killing him. Jaryal was from Hoshiarpur district in Punjab and worked as a clerk in the convenience store. He was behind the counter when the two people in masks came in and robbed the store, according to NBC Right Now channel. Police said Jaryal cooperated and handed over the money but one of the attackers still shot him in the chest before fleeing the site. Police told the channel that the victim was able to tell officers what happened when they arrived a few minutes later, "but tragically, he died a short time later at the hospital". Jaryal was rushed to the hospital but he succumbed to his injuries. The police procured the CCTV footage to investigate the incident and were looking for the two persons in masks. "Somebody knows something. Somebody knows these people. The still photos show a very recognisable top that one of the suspects is wearing," said Mike Bastinelli of Yakima Police. "The shooter wore a black hoodie with patches of white on the back," he said. According to Sushma Swaraj, Jaryal had reached the US only 25 days back. She said Indian officials were coordinating with investigative agencies who "have got the CCTV footage and are in the process of apprehending the culprits. "Our consulate in San Francisco is helping the family and following this up with the police authorities," she added. --IANS soni/mr ( 344 Words) 2017-04-08-18:06:07 (IANS)
US President Donald Trump has accepted his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping's invitation to visit Beijing, said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Trump hosted the Chinese President for a two-day visit at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, the BBC reported on Saturday. Last year Trump said China had "raped the US" and vowed to brand the superpower a currency manipulator. But the meeting appeared to be diplomatic, with both leaders agreeing to a new format for US-China talks. Tillerson said President Trump's trip to China would be a "state visit" in 2017, but gave no other details. "Both the atmosphere and the chemistry between the two leaders was positive... all of us are feeling very good about the results of this summit," said Tillerson. The leaders of the world's two most powerful economies agreed to a 100-day plan to discuss trade talks directed at boosting US exports and reducing Washington's trade deficit with China, according to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. "Given the range of issues and the magnitude, that may be ambitious, but it's a very big sea change in the pace of discussion," Ross told the media. "I think that's a very important symbolisation of the growing rapport between the two countries." Trump said that he believed he made "tremendous progress" in the US-China relationship during talks with Xi. On the night of the Chinese President's arrival, a US airstrike on an airbase in Syria was launched on Thursday in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack. Regarding the US airstrike on Syria, Tillerson said that Xi told Trump that he "understood that such a response was necessary when people are killing children", reported CNN. Xi expressed "an appreciation" to Trump for informing him of the number of missiles that were launched and explaining the rationale behind the strike, said Tillerson. The two leaders also agreed on the "urgency of the threat of North Korea's nuclear weapons programme" and agreed to work together to resolve the issue "peacefully", Tillerson said. "They agreed to increase cooperation and work with the international community to convince the (North Korea) to peacefully resolve the issue and abandon its illicit weapons programmes." Discussions between Trump and Xi over North Korea came days after Trump warned that the US was prepared to act unilaterally to stop the regime's nuclear programme from advancing further should China be unwilling to use its leverage with Pyongyang. The White House said Trump also stressed to Xi the importance of creating "reciprocal market access" that did not disadvantage American workers. Trump repeatedly bashed China on the campaign trail and upon taking office, blaming it for the loss of American jobs, reported Politico news. Trump urged China to take steps to "level the playing field for American workers", according to the White House statement. "President Trump noted the challenges caused by Chinese government intervention in its economy and raised serious concerns about the impact of China's industrial, agricultural, technology and cyber policies on US jobs and exports," it said. Xi and Trump also discussed China's increased militarisation in the South China Sea, with President Trump urging the Chinese to adhere to international norms. --IANS soni/bg ( 537 Words) 2017-04-08-19:14:06 (IANS)
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has called off a visit to Moscow in the wake of the Syrian chemical weapons attack, a media report said. Johnson, who was set to travel on Monday, said the situation had changed "fundamentally" and his priority was to continue contact with the US to provide international support for a ceasefire, reported BBC on Saturday. He said Britain called on Russia to do everything possible to bring about a "political settlement in Syria". "We deplore Russia's continued defence of the Assad regime," he added. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will visit Moscow as planned after the G7 meeting in Tuscany, Italy, on April 10-11. Johnson said he was working to bring together other "like-minded partners" to "explore next steps soon", according to the report. Tillerson would be able to deliver a "clear and co-ordinated message to the Russians" after the meeting between the world's seven leading industrialised nations, he said. Johnson called on Russia to work with the rest of the international community to "ensure the shocking events of the last week are never repeated". According to reports, 89 people, including 33 children and 18 women, died in a suspected nerve agent attack in the Syrian rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun earlier this week. The country's government denied using nerve gas. On Friday, the US carried out missile strikes on a Syrian airbase it said was suspected of storing chemical weapons. At least six people were reported to have died. In response, Syria's ally Russia accused the US of encouraging "terrorists" with unilateral actions. Johnson's visit, for talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, would have been the first visit by a UK foreign secretary in more than five years, BBC reported. Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said the cancellation meant Boris had "revealed himself to be a poodle of Washington, having his diary managed from across the pond." He added: "It is pretty shameful when even Trump judges you to be a buffoon." The government was "quick to blindly follow every order from the Trump White House", he said. --IANS soni/bg ( 359 Words) 2017-04-08-20:00:07 (IANS)
Greece's coastguard today said that it had uncovered an international ring that transported large quantities of drugs from Albania to Italy using high-speed boats.The coastguard's drug-fighting unit said it had arrested five Albanians and two Greeks and seized 1.5 tonnes of unprocessed cannabis and two speedboats, estimating that the ring had made "many millions of euros".The months-long investigation, in cooperation with Italy's Guardia di Finanza, found that the ring purchased large volumes of drugs in Albania and transported then on customised high-speed vessels to the shores of Italy, the Greek coastguard said. REUTERS RJ PR2033 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0098-1222245.Xml
Russia intends to discuss international counter-terrorism with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson during his upcoming visit next week, despite strained Russia-US ties, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharov said on Saturday. "We have a multitude of topics, among which international counter-terrorism is of great significance," Zakharov told Russia's Rossiya-1 TV channel. "Moscow is ready to cooperate with Washington even at the toughest moment of bilateral relations," she said. The US military fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian military airfield in the central province of Homs on Thursday, raising tensions in Russia-US ties. "We will listen to what Tillerson has to say (about the US missile strike in Syria). It is necessary to make it absolutely clear that such US military action is unacceptable to us," the spokeswoman added. According to a Pentagon statement, the strike was in response to the Syrian government's chemical attack on Tuesday in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun in the country's northwestern province of Idlib. Noting that the United States has recently launched an investigation into the chemical attack, Zakharov said the US strike on Syria is not in line with its attempts to discover truth about the incident. "They carried out strikes on the hardware that they wanted to inspect. This has absolutely nothing to do with attempts to find out what happened to the chemical weapons," Zakharov said. The Russian Defence Ministry confirmed Friday the suspension of the memorandum of understanding on the prevention of flight safety incidents in Syria with the United States, which was signed in 2015. --IANS ahm/bg ( 272 Words) 2017-04-08-21:28:08 (IANS)
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called today for an impartial probe of this week's suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria and warned that US missile strikes in response risked escalating extremism in the region.Washington accused the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of the attack and yesterday launched cruise missiles at a Syrian airbase that the Pentagon said was involved."We are asking for an impartial international fact-finding body to be set up... to find out where these chemical weapons came from," Iran's Rouhani said in a speech today.Tehran is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's main regional ally and has provided military and economic support for his fight against rebel groups and Islamic State militants.While the Syrian opposition applauded the US cruise missile attack on the airbase near Homs, it said it should not be a one-off and was not enough on its own to stop government warplanes from hitting rebel-held areas.However, in a tweet about the missile strikes, Rouhani said: "I call on the world to reject such policies, which bring only destruction and danger to the region and the globe.""US aggression against Shayrat (airbase) strengthens regional extremism and terror, and global lawlessness and instability, and must be condemned," Rouhani said.The heads of the general staffs of Iran and Russia, a close ally of Assad, spoke by telephone today and condemned the US strikes as "blatant aggression ... aimed at slowing a trend of victories by Syria's army and its allies and boosting the terrorists' morale", Iran's state news agency IRNA said.Iran's Mohammad Baqeri and Russia's Valery Gerasimov "stressed that the two countries would continue their cooperation with the Syrian government until the full defeat of the terrorists and their backers in the country", IRNA added.North Korea weighed in today, calling the US strikes "an unforgivable act of aggression" that showed its own decision to develop nuclear weapons was "the right choice a million times over".Diplomatically isolated North Korea considers Syria a key ally.TILLERSON TO MOSCOWRussia had said yesterday that the US attack could have "extremely serious" consequences, and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the US strikes were one step away from a clash with Russia's military.US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is expected to visit Moscow next week, and the Russian Foreign Ministry has said it expected him to explain Washington's stance in light of the US missile strikes on Syria.Russia's defence ministry said today the United States had not provided any evidence of the presence of chemical weapons on the airbase it had attacked.A mission of professional experts should be sent to the airbase to obtain objective evidence, Interfax cited Igor Konashenkov, the defence ministry's spokesman, as saying.US officials informed Russian forces ahead of the missile strikes on and avoided hitting Russian personnel. Satellite imagery suggests the base that was attacked houses Russian special forces and helicopters, part of Kremlin efforts to help Assad fight Islamic State and other militant groups.Britain's foreign minister Boris Johnson had been due to visit Moscow on Monday but said today that he had cancelled his trip after developments in Syria."My priority is now to continue contact with the US and others in the run-up to the G7 meeting on 10-11 April - to build coordinated international support for a ceasefire on the ground and an intensified political process," Johnson said. REUTERS RJ PM2341 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0098-1222383.Xml
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-07 18:59:05|Editor: Mengjie

Myanmar President U Htin Kyaw and his wife pose for a photo while visiting the Terracotta Warriors in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 7, 2017. (Xinhua/Liu Xiao)

XI'AN, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar is studying how to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative, as an increasing number of countries are taking part, according to the Myannmar president.

President U Htin Kyaw made the remarks Friday during his visit to Xi'an, capital city of northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Xi'an is the starting point of the ancient Silk Road, and home to the world-famous Terracotta Warriors.

Shaanxi is also a core area for the Belt and Road Initiative, which was proposed by China in 2013 with the aim of building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa, along and beyond the ancient Silk Road trade routes.

U Htin Kyaw, who visited the Terracotta Warriors on Friday afternoon, expressed hope of enhancing cooperation with Shaanxi in areas such as trade and vocational training.

The Myanmar president, currently on a six-day visit to China from April 6 to 11, is accompanied by a delegation of over 30 members, including ministers from the country's commerce and construction departments.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 01:15:15|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao

Supporters of the opposition party Democratic Alliance gather in protest against South African President Jacob Zuma in Johannesburg, South Africa, on April 7, 2017. South Africans on Friday marched across the country calling for President Jacob Zuma to step down while his supporters also marched in solidarity with him. (Xinhua/Yeshiel Panchia)

PRETORIA, April 7 (Xinhua) -- South Africans on Friday marched across the country calling for President Jacob Zuma to step down while his supporters also marched in solidarity with him.

The demonstration came after President Jacob Zuma reshuffled the cabinet and rating agencies S&P and Fitch respectively downgraded the country's foreign currency sovereign credit rating.

Those marching accused Zuma for all these including the fall in the rand against the major currencies. They marched in Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town, and other parts of the country calling for Zuma to step down.

Some were standing in malls and bridges with placards. Xinhua attended the march in Pretoria to the State House which was attended by over 20,000 people.

A coalition of civil society and political parties marched in the Pretoria to the State House (Union Buildings) under the banner of Save South Africa.

Zwelinzima Vavi, South African Federation of Trade Union leader also addressed the crowd and called for Zuma's ouster. Vavi said it was a mistake to put Zuma in power and called on South Africans to join in efforts to remove him.

The opposition party Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi Maimane addressed the crowd saying, "We are embarking on a movement for change which seeks to create opportunities for all and build a prosperous and diverse nation...this country needs a leader that is going to put the people first and not themselves."

Some also protested outside the house owned by the rich Indian family Guptas. The Guptas are accused of telling the president what to do.

Meanwhile, the African National Congress'(ANC) armed wing during the liberation struggle Umkhonto WeSizwe gathered outside the party headquarters Luthuli House saying they want to defend it. They were also joined by the ANC supporters, who carried placards written with "leave Zuma alone".
GRAND FORKS  A state-funded program intended to spur private donations for schools in the North Dakota University System could be defunded through budget reductions for higher education.

The legislative framework for the Higher Education Challenge Fund, a matching grant initiative that provides $1 of state money for every $2 of private donations within a per-campus limit, remains intact. However, the funding for the grants themselves was eliminated in House amendments to Senate Bill 2003, which sets the 2017-19 budget appropriations for the NDUS.

The loss of public dollars comes after Gov. Doug Burgum advocated in his January budget recommendations to boost state funding for the grants to $10 million from the $3 million proposed in the outgoing budget of his predecessor, former Gov. Jack Dalrymple.

Mike Nowatzki, a representative of Burgums office, said the governor still believes we need to maintain this successful program.

Given the current budget climate, Nowatzki said Burgum is open to adjustments to his proposal of $10 million in state funding, a level the governor suggested could help offset the wider cuts to higher education dollars.

To leverage more private dollars to make up for the loss of public funds, thatd be something wed like to do, Nowatzki said, though he added lawmakers will have to figure out where theyre comfortable in funding the program.

The challenge grants for higher education were established in the 2013 Legislative Assembly with an initial funding pool of $29 million. Of that total sum, $10 million apiece was earmarked for the University of North Dakota and North Dakota State University. The other nine campuses in the state system were approved for up to $1 million each in potential match dollars.

Funding for the grant program was reduced to $23.5 million in the 2015 Legislative Assembly and dwindled to $22.1 million in last years budget allotment process.

In the current legislative session, the Senate approved a version of SB2003, which included funding of $4 million in state match dollars, a pool that was zeroed out by the House after an unfavorable update of the states projected revenues.

Though the funding could be drained, the current appropriations bill leaves the option open to easily do the program again if state money were to become available, said NDUS representative Billie Jo Lorius.

DeAnna Carlson Zink, ceo of the UND Alumni Association and Foundation, said challenge grants have been extremely important to university fundraising the past few years.

Carlson Zink said the match provides additional incentive for donors to contribute gifts to the university knowing the state would provide its own buy-in. One major showcase of the grants use on the Grand Forks campus is the recently finished Collaborative Energy Complex, the new home of the UND College of Engineering and Mines.

The $15.5 million complex was funded in part with $3.9 million in challenge grant dollars. Though the majority of construction costs were sourced through private gifts, Carlson Zink said the state match was instrumental to the fundraising effort.

The funding for the center was raised in the first biennium of the matching grants existence. In the years after, Carlson Zink said, the program was altered so state match dollars were to be used for building endowments for student scholarships and programs, as well as certain faculty positions.

Those are pieces that are key priorities for the university, she said. Well keep working on philanthropic funding for those items and see if maybe we can find other sources for match dollars.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 02:55:27|Editor: Yamei

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A Policewoman stands guard near the site of an attack in central Stockholm, capital of Sweden, on April 7, 2017. A truck rammed into people on a central Stockholm street before crashing into a department store on Friday. (Xinhua/Rob Schoenbaum)

STOCKHOLM, April 7 (Xinhua) -- One victim died in hospital, raising the death toll of the Stockholm attack on Friday to four, while the number of wounded reached 15, according to Swedish Television.

Swedish Television quoted hospital sources at Karolinska Institutet as saying that number of injured people from the attack earlier had raised to 15, and nine of them were seriously injured, two of which were children.

Stockholm police spokesman Lars Bystrom confirmed to Swedish Television that four people have died and 12 others injured. One person has been arrested for suspected involvement in the attack.

A truck rammed into people on a central Stockholm street before crashing into a department store on Friday, with police and witnesses saying earlier at least three people had died and eight others injured in the incident.
LISBON, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa called on Friday for a common position in the European Union (EU) to fight terrorism.

Rebelo de Sousa's remarks came shortly after news that four people were killed in Sweden after a truck drove through a crowd in Stockholm, in what authorities were calling a terrorist attack.

"Sadly, acts of terrorism have increased. Without going into big details, it is a challenge for Europe to respond to terrorism and prevent it," he told journalists on the sideline of a visit to a health exhibition in Lisbon.

Unfortunately, Europe has regularly faced these kinds of events, which is why it is important to have a common position regarding terrorism, and at the same time, not lose the principal values of a democratic Europe that respects human rights, he said.

A truck drove into the Ahlens department store in central Stockholm on Friday, killing four people and leaving several others injured. A suspect has been arrested.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 04:30:41|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao

Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz (R) and Canadian parliamentary secretary to the minister of finance Ginette Petitpas Taylor unveil a 10-Canadian-dollar banknote in Ottawa, Canada, on April 7, 2017. The Bank of Canada on Friday unveiled a commemorative 10-Canadian-dollar banknote to mark the 150th anniversary of the country. (Xinhua/David Kawai)

OTTAWA, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The Bank of Canada on Friday unveiled a commemorative 10-Canadian-dollar banknote to mark the 150th anniversary of the country.

Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz and Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Canadian parliamentary secretary to the minister of finance, made the announcement and displayed the bill at the bank's headquarters.

There will be 40 million notes printed and they will enter circulation on June 1. It's the fourth time in Canada's history that it has created a commemorative banknote.

"This bank note is intended to captivate our imagination and instill pride in what we, as a nation, have accomplished," said Governor Poloz. "It celebrates the natural beauty and majesty of our land and some of the important parliamentarians who helped shape our great country."

The designed note is unique in many ways. For the first time, four persons are portrayed on the front of a Canadian bank note.

The four persons are Canada's first Prime Minister Sir John Macdonald, fellow Father of Confederation Sir George-Etienne Cartier, Canada's first female member of Parliament, Agnes MacPhail, and James Gladstone, Canada's first Indigenous senator and a member of the Kainai (Blood) Tribe.

The design also incorporates Inuit and Metis cultural elements: a colourful reproduction of the artwork Owl's Bouquet by world-renowned Inuit artist Kenojuak Ashevak; and the distinctive arrow sash pattern, an important symbol of the Metis nation.

The bank governor said the new banknote features some security features that are being deployed in Canada for the first time.

The landscapes in the new banknote include the Lions and Capilano Lake from British Columbia, fields of Prairie wheat, the Canadian Shield as seen in Quebec, a view of the Atlantic Ocean from Cape Bonavista in Newfoundland and Labrador and the northern lights as they would be seen in Wood Buffalo National Park.

The most eye-catching new feature is a magnetic ink that changes color from blue to green when it's tilted, used to illustrate stained glass in an arched window from the Memorial Chapel in the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
Liu Jieyi (C, front), Chinese ambassador to the United Nations, addresses a Security Council emergency meeting on the situation in Syria at the UN headquarters in New York, April 7, 2017. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

UNITED NATIONS, April 7 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy said here on Friday that political solution is the only way out for the Syrian issue and military means will not work.

Liu Jieyi, China's permanent representative to the UN, made the remarks at a Security Council emergency meeting that convened after the United Sates launched missile attacks on a Syrian military airfield on Thursday.

Liu said military actions will only worsen the suffering of the Syrian people and make the situation in Syria and the region more complicated and turbulent.

"This is not in the common interest of Syria, regional countries and the international community," said Liu.

"The most urgent issue at present is that all parties work together to prevent the situation in Syria from further deterioration," he said.

Liu said China calls upon all relevant parties to persist in diplomatic efforts, stick to dialogue and consultation and support the role of the United Nations as the main channel of mediation and good offices.

He also asked the international community to support the efforts of UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura to maintain the hard-won momentum for the political solution to the Syrian issue.

On Thursday, the United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Shairat military base in central Syria as its response to an alleged chemical attack on Tuesday in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun in the country's northwestern province of Idlib.

The United States believed that Syrian planes based at the Shairat airbase carried out the chemical attack which killed over 80 people and wounded scores of others.

The Syrian government denied the accusation. It explained that its air strikes hit an arms depot containing toxic gas and blamed the rebels for storing such chemical materials.
BRUSSELS, April 7 (Xinhua) -- EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on Friday said in a statement that the European Union (EU) firmly believes that there can be no military solution to the conflict in Syria.

She made the remarks on behalf of the EU on the U.S. strike in Syria.

"The U.S. has informed the European Union that ... they launched a strike on Shayrat Airfield in Syria with the understandable intention to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons," Mogherini said.

She added that the EU will continue to support the efforts and work of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), in particular in Syria, including the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism, with regard to the investigation of the use of chemical weapons.

The EU will also support the UN-mediated intra-Syrian talks in Geneva to reach a political solution to the Syrian conflict.

The U.S. military on Thursday launched a targeted missile strike at a Syrian military airfield in its first direct assault on the Syrian army since the Syrian crisis began six years ago.

The strike was ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump, said a Pentagon statement, adding that the assault was in response to the alleged chemical weapon attack on Tuesday in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun, which killed over 70 people and wounded scores of others, most of whom were civilians.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said early on Thursday that the Syrian airstrike on a rebel-held town in Idlib Province struck a rebel depot containing chemical materials, denying that the air force fired toxic gas during the attack.

Moscow considers the U.S. missile strike as an "aggression against a sovereign state" under a far-fetched pretext, saying it violates international law, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.

The Syrian presidential office slammed the U.S. missile attack on a Syrian airbase as "reckless and irresponsible".

In a statement, the presidential office said the attack reflects the "narrow vision and political and military blindness by the United States regarding reality".
PARIS, April 7 (Xinhua) -- French President Francois Hollande on Friday called for intensified strikes against the Islamic State (IS) and punitive act on Syrian government, but stressed the necessity of diplomatic initiative to reach lasting peace in Syria.

Hollande convened an emergency defense meeting at the Elysee Palace to discuss next steps in Syria after U.S. strikes on Syrian military positions which Washington said were used to launch a toxic gas attack on Tuesday.

"These developments confirmed the need to advance simultaneously in the fight against Daesh by intensifying the coalition's action and in the political negotiation in Syria to reach a transition agreed by," he said.

"These two aspects are inseparable in order to achieve a real and lasting victory against terrorism," he added.

The French president said "only a comprehensive strategy," forged by the United States, Europe and regional partners "will bring peace, security and stability to Syria."

Hollande also urged an action in the framework of the United Nations in addition to rapid and improved operation to verify Syria possession of chemical weapons.

Hollande on Tuesday accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of being responsible for an alleged gas attack in Syria's rebel-held Idlib province.

However, the Syrian Foreign Ministry has rejected the accusation, saying the Syrian army doesn't have any kind of chemical weapons.

Activists accused the Syrian army of firing toxic gas on the town, killing some 70 people, while the Syrian army said the strike targeted an arm depot containing toxic gas, blaming the rebels for storing such materials.

On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry also said the deadly gas contamination in Idlib was caused by the explosion of chemical weapons produced by the rebels.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 06:35:19|Editor: Mengjie

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MAR-A-LAGO, the United States, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, wrapped up on Friday their first meeting at the seaside Mar-a-Lago resort in the U.S. state of Florida.

The two leaders agreed that the meeting was "positive and fruitful," and pledged to expand mutually-beneficial cooperation and manage their differences based on mutual respect.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 06:56:10|Editor: Mengjie

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MAR-A-LAGO, the United States, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Senior Chinese and U.S. officials initiated on Friday two newly-installed dialogue mechanisms in economy, as well as diplomacy and security ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's second round of talks with his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump.
UK's permanent representative to the UN Matthew Rycroft (L, front), French UN Ambassador Francois Delattre (C, front) and U.S. ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley (R, front) talk before voting on a UN Security Council draft resolution aiming to establish a sanctions regime over use of chemicals weapons in Syria at the UN headquarters in New York, on Feb. 28, 2017. The UN Security Council on Tuesday failed to adopt a draft resolution aiming to establish a sanctions regime over use of chemicals weapons in Syria as Russia and China vetoed it. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

PALM BEACH, United States, April 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on Friday the United States would soon announce new sanctions against Syria after the Syrian government allegedly used chemical weapons early this week.

"We will be announcing additional sanctions on Syria as part of our ongoing effort to stop this kind of activity," said Mnuchin here at a briefing, calling the sanctions forthcoming while giving no further details.

"We view sanctions as being a very important tool," said Mnuchin. "These sanctions are very important and we will use them to the maximum effect."

A total of 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched from U.S. destroyers USS Porter and USS Ross in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea Thursday night, and Syrian aircraft, hardened aircraft shelters, fuel points, air defense systems, and radars were targeted, according to the Pentagon.

The assault, ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump, was the first direct U.S. assault on the army of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since Syrian crisis began six years ago.

Also speaking at the same briefing, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said future actions would be guided by Syrian response to the strike.

Meanwhile, the Russian government has condemned missile strikes by the U.S. on a Syrian airbase, saying Washington's move as "aggression against sovereign state in violation of international law."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 07:00:25|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao

Nikki Haley (L, front), U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, addresses a Security Council emergency session on the situation in Syria at the UN headquarters in New York, on April 7, 2017. A divided UN Security Council met on Friday in emergency session to debate the U.S. cruise missile attack on an airfield in Syria where Washington asserted aircraft were launched to drop chemical weapons on civilians Idlib Province earlier in the week, killing more than 70 people. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

UNITED NATIONS, April 7 (Xinhua) -- A divided UN Security Council met on Friday in emergency session to debate the U.S. cruise missile attack on an airfield in Syria where Washington asserted aircraft were launched to drop chemical weapons on civilians Idlib Province earlier in the week, killing more than 70 people.

At least council members agreed the only solution to the Syrian war was a political one.

In addition to allegations that government forces carried out the attack there were also assertions it was carried out by terrorists or rebels or that a warehouse where the deadly gas was illegally stored had accidentally exploded.

The attack early Friday, Syrian time, came within an hour Thursday, New York time, of the council ending deadlocked, closed-door deliberations on a draft resolution calling for an investigation into the toxic gas attack.

"While we were striving to come up with alternatives and come up with consensus in the Security Council, the United States not only had unilaterally attacked but while we were sitting here and demanding the need for an independent investigation, a complete impartial investigation, the United States had become the investigator ... prosecutor ... the judge ... the jury," said Ambassador Sacha Llorentty Soliz of Bolivia, who requested the emergency council meeting along with Russia.

"This is an extremely, extremely serious violation of international law," he said. "This is not the first time that this has happened."

Llorentty then held up a 2003 photo of former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, a retired army general, holding a vial containing what Powell had said was similar in appearance to a toxic substance to back up his claim of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and to buttress his plea to the Security Council to support a U.S.-led invasion.

No such weapons were found.

"It led to a series of atrocities in the (Middle East) region," added the rather emotional representative of Bolivia. Llorentty at one point also waved a copy of the UN Charter to emphasize his point the U.S. attack was illegal under the Charter.

Ambassador Nikki Haley of the United States didn't quite answer the question on the minds of many -- whether this attack signals the beginning of President Donald Trump to order more military strikes.

"The United States took a very measured step last (Thursday) night," she said, concluding her defense of the U.S. action. "We are prepared to do more, but we hope that will not be necessary. It is time for all civilized nations to stop the horrors that are taking place in Syria and demand a political solution."

"I deeply regret that the previous speaker showed more outrage against the United States than against the (Syrian President Bashar al) Asad regime that on Tuesday deliberately dropped chemical weapons," said Ambassador Matthew Rycroft of Britain.

"The United Kingdom supports the U.S. air strike on the Al Shayrat airfield because war crimes have consequences," the London envoy said. "And the greatest war criminal of all, Bashar al Assad, has now been put on notice.

"The U.S. strike was a proportionate response to unspeakable acts that gave rise to overwhelming humanitarian distress," Rycroft said. "It was also a strong effort to save lives, by ensuring that such acts never happen again.

"The resolution that we adopted three and a half years ago provided a framework for the destruction of chemical weapons in Syria," he said. "At the time Russian assured us that Asad would fully declare his chemical arsenal and would continue to cooperate with international inspectors. Perhaps that was the assurance that Russia received from Asad."

"And perhaps Russia has now learned the hard lesson that backing a war criminal comes with its own consequence: humiliation."

The representative of Russia, Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov, also sounded rather upset, especially with members of the council who voiced opposition to his alleged threat Thursday evening to veto a proposed resolution.

The five permanent members of the council Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, each have a veto.

He even asked for a second chance to complain of insults against Moscow.

Earlier, Safaronkov had described the U.S. attack as "a flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression. We strongly condemn the illegitimate actions by the U.S. The consequences of this to international and regional stability could be extremely serious."

"It's not difficult to imagine how much the sprits of these terrorists have been raised after this support from Washington," he said, maintaining "The Syrian armed forces will continue to be the main military institute. Who will fight against terrorism? The illegal armed groups who have come to Syria in hundreds of thousands? You've destroyed Iraqi and Libyan bases and military institutions and see what happened."

Liu Jieyi, the Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations, underscored the universal request for a political solution.

"China has always been consistently standing for dialogue and consultation to resolve the international conflict," he said. "What is now urgently needed ... is that all parties work together to prevent the situation in Syria from further deterioration. Political solution is the only way out for the Syrian issue. Military means will not work."

"They will only worsen the suffering of the Syrian people so that the situation in Syria and the region will be more complicated and turbulent which is not at all in the common interest of Syria, regional countries and the international community," Liu said. "China calls upon all relevant parties to persist firmly in diplomatic efforts and stick firmly for a political solution, stick to dialogue and consultation in a firm way and support the role of the United Nations as a main channel of mediation and good offices."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 07:31:17|Editor: Mengjie

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Chinese President Xi Jinping (3rd R) and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump (3rd L) hold the second round of talks in the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, the United States, April 7, 2017. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

MAR-A-LAGO, the United States, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, pledged on Friday to expand mutually beneficial cooperation and to manage their differences based on mutual respect.

The two leaders also agreed that their first meeting, held at the seaside Mar-a-Lago resort in the U.S. state of Florida, was "positive and fruitful."

During their talks over the past two days, Xi and Trump exchanged their views on key areas of bilateral cooperation as well as global and regional issues of common concern.

Xi said his first meeting with the U.S. leader bears unique importance to the development of China-U.S. ties.

He added that they, during the meeting, have also gained better understanding of each other, stepped up their mutual trust, scored multiple major consensus, and built up a good working relationship.

The two sides need to further enhance their relationship so as to better serve the two countries and their peoples, and to promote world peace and prosperity, Xi said.

Also in their talks, Xi told Trump that Beijing welcomes Washington to participate in cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Ahead of the two presidents' second round of talks, senior Chinese and U.S. officials initiated two newly-installed dialogue mechanisms in economy, as well as diplomacy and security.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 09:36:32|Editor: Mengjie

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MADRID, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The Spanish Diplomat Manuel Montobbio presented his new book on China's contribution to the Theory of International Relations on Friday at the Real Instituto Elcano in Madrid.

The book discusses how the emergence of the Asian giant has an impact to the world, not only on the global economy and geopolitics but also on culture.

"What the rise of China means is that we will have more than one center, at least two centers or two models of doing things," Montobbio said.

The author considered that the rise of China marks the evolution from a unipolar to a polycentric world, where the center moves towards the Asia Pacific region.

In his book, Montobbio also talks about the transition from Asian "values" to "Asian ideas" and analyzes the debate on China's foreign policy and its global rise.

The Spanish diplomat, currently serves as the Ambassador of Spain to Andorra, with extensive experience in other parts of the world, advocates adopting a Chinese perspective when analyzing its role in international relations because examining from a Western perspective can undermine understanding.

"In the West we perceive the evolution of history in a synthesis-antithesis way, that is, two powers are confronted and the story ends when one defeats the other," said Montobbio, adding that China, however, believes "yin can coexist with yang and they can interact in harmony."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 09:51:34|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao

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BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg is in China for an official visit at the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. The visit, which started on Friday, will last until Tuesday.

Solberg was born in Bergen, Norway on Feb. 24, 1961. She graduated from the University of Bergen. Since 1989, she has been a member of the Norwegian parliament, serving on the Committee of Foreign Affairs or several other of its specialized committees.

From 2001 to 2005, Solberg was the minister of Local Government and Regional Development. Since 2004, she has been the chairman of the Conservative Party.

Solberg took office as Norway's prime minister in October 2013, and became the second female prime minister in the history of Norway.

She is married and has two children.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 09:56:35|Editor: Yamei

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Peng Liyuan (7th R, Front), wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and U.S. First Lady Melania Trump (6th L, Front) pose with students during their visit to the Bak Middle School of the Arts in West Palm Beach, Florida, the United States, April 7, 2017. (Xinhua/Ding Lin)

PALM BEACH, United States, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, on Friday visited an art school in this southeastern U.S. coastal town accompanied by U.S. First Lady Melania Trump.

At the Bak Middle School of the Arts, Peng visited different classrooms, watched performances by students and talked with them. She also joined a class about politics and economics, answered a question from a student reporter about her connection with arts, and was presented with a student's painting as souvenir.

Noting that China and the United States should enhance communication and cooperation in the area of arts, Peng said she hopes that teachers and students of the Bak Middle School of the Arts will make greater contribution in strengthening bilateral ties and friendship through education and arts.

Peng is in Palm Beach with Xi for the Chinese president's first meeting with his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump. The two leaders agreed that the meeting, held at the seaside Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, was "positive and fruitful."
YANGON, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar has established diplomatic ties with Ecuador at ambassadorial level, according to the Myanmar Foreign Ministry on Saturday.

The move came after permanent representatives of Myanmar and Ecuador to the United Nations in New York signed a joint communique on the establishment, the ministry said in a statement.

The diplomatic establishment with Ecuador, effective from Thursday, came one day after that with Malta.

And the establishment has brought the total number of countries with which Myanmar has such links to 116, the statement said.
CANBERRA, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Evidence found at the scene of a crime spree by two Australian teenagers that left one man dead, has suggested the incident was related to terrorism.

Two boys, aged 15 and 16, allegedly entered a service station on the border of New South Wales (NSW) and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) in Queanbeyan in the early hours of Friday morning and stabbed 29-year-old Pakistani employee Zeeshan Akbar.

Akbar died at the scene and police said the co-worker who found him was "obviously very shaken."

Akbar was one of the victims of the crime spree with another man who was stabbed in a stable condition in the Canberra Hospital while another was bashed with a tyre iron and a fourth was hit with a glass bottle in a nearby park.

The two teens were arrested by police at 6:30 a.m. local time in the ACT on Friday after an extended chase.

Catherine Burn, NSW deputy police commissioner, said all evidence pointed to the attack being terror-related.

An ISIS symbol was reportedly painted on the wall of the service station in blood while the mother of the older boy had warned police she believed her son had become radicalized.

Police believe only the older boy was motivated by terrorism, but both were previously known to authorities.

NSW Police will investigate the incident with the Australian Federal Police (AFP), Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) and the Crime Commission.

Mohammed Shahanawaz, a friend of Akbar's, said he was a kind and calm person.

"Can you believe how bad it is for their family back home in Pakistan?" Shahanawaz told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Saturday.

Natania Copp was a regular customer of the service station and was shocked to hear of the attack.

"It just hit me in the chest and I was there last night and I didn't know who it was at the time, I just said please, please, please don't let it be my favourite guy," Copp said.

"That's why I brought flowers here today just to let the family know that your son was the nicest person that I'd ever met behind a counter."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 10:46:50|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao

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WASHINGTON, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Congress is divided over Thursday's missile strike at Syria ordered by President Donald Trump, with some lawmakers voicing strong support while others questioning its constitutionality.

The U.S. military fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian military base after a chemical attack in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, which killed at least 70 people, mostly civilians. The Trump administration held the Syrian government led by President Bashar al-Assad responsible for Tuesday's gas attack.

Most Congress members were not notified of the military action as they were preparing to leave Washington D.C. for a two-week recess.

Reaction to the strike mostly followed a partisan line as most Republican lawmakers endorsed Trump's action, while most Democrats were opposed on the grounds that he needed authorization of Congress for acts of war.

Republican congressional leaders largely supported Trump's move as an appropriate response to the chemical attack in Syria.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, who voiced opposition in 2013 when former President Barack Obama sought Congress' authorization for military action in Syria, took a U-turn in his stance to praise Trump's action as "appropriate and just."

"These tactical strikes make clear that the Assad regime can no longer count on Americans inaction as it carries out atrocities against the Syrian people," Ryan said in a statement issued Thursday night.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, also expressed support to "both the action and objective" of the strike ordered by Trump.

John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Senator Lindsey Graham, both Republican hawks, issued a joint statement Thursday night to laud Trump's move, saying he "deserves the support of the American people."

Ryan led a long list of Republican lawmakers who have drastically shifted their position on military intervention in Syria. Most of them were opposed to granting authorization of war powers to Obama in 2013.

The latest strike reignited a debate among lawmakers on the constitutionality of the president's ordering military actions overseas without approval from Congress.

Most Democrats and even some Republicans in Congress questioned the legality of Trump's order, citing the U.S. Constitution, which gives Congress sole power to declare war. They also demanded Trump seek congressional authorization for further military action.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, sent a letter Friday to House Speaker Ryan, requesting the cancellation of the House recess for a debate on the military strike at Syria.

She said Congress "must live up to its constitutional responsibility to debate an authorization of the use of military force against a sovereign nation."

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy criticized Trump's move as "a 24-hour pivot on Syria policy," because the president was largely against involvement in Syria's civil war before the Tuesday chemical attack.

"He clearly made this decision based off an emotional reaction to the images on TV, and it should worry everyone about the quixotic nature of this administration's foreign policy and their potential disdain for the war-making authority of the United States Congress," Murphy said.

The Democrats found a few unlikely allies in the Republican camp in doubting the legality of Trump's action, including Republican Senator Rand Paul and House Representative Justin Amash.

Paul criticized Trump's order to strike Syria as unconstitutional. "The Constitution is very clear that war originates in the legislature," he told reporters Friday.

"You vote before you go to war, not after you go to war," Paul said.

Amash questioned the Trump administration's justification in making the decision, saying such strikes are "act of war" that requires authorization from Congress.

"Airstrikes are an act of war. Atrocities in Syria cannot justify departure from Constitution, which vests in Congress power to commence war," he tweeted Thursday night.

The debate demonstrated that any attempt by Trump to seek new authorization of war powers from Congress in future would be difficult. Obama failed to gain the powers in 2013 to strike Syria and to formally authorize a war in 2015 against the Islamic State terrorist group. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 10:46:50|Editor: Mengjie

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Chinese President Xi Jinping (3rd R) and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump (3rd L) hold the second round of talks in the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, the United States, April 7, 2017. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

MAR-A-LAGO, United States, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, pledged on Friday to expand mutually beneficial cooperation and manage differences on the basis of mutual respect.

The two leaders also agreed that their first meeting, held at the seaside Mar-a-Lago resort in the U.S. state of Florida, was "positive and fruitful."

During their talks over the past two days, Xi and Trump exchanged views on key areas of bilateral cooperation as well as global and regional issues of common concern.

Xi said his first meeting with Trump bears unique significance to the development of China-U.S. ties.

He added that he and Trump, during the meeting, have also gained better understanding of each other, cemented their mutual trust, scored many major consensuses, and built up a good working relationship.

The two sides need to further enhance their relations so as to better serve the interests of the two countries and their peoples, and to promote world peace and prosperity, Xi said.

China and the United States are now each other's biggest trading partner, from which the two peoples benefit a lot, said Xi.

Xi said China is pushing forward the supply-side structural reform, boosting domestic demand and increasing the share of the services industry in its national economy.

China's economy is to maintain sound momentum of development, and China and the United States enjoy broad prospects in economic and trade cooperation, said Xi, urging the two sides to grasp the opportunity.

"China welcomes the U.S. side to participate in cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative," said Xi.

On military relations, which he said make up an important part of bilateral ties, Xi pointed out that mutual trust in military and security areas forms the basis of the strategic mutual trust between the two countries.

Xi proposed that the two sides maintain military exchanges at various levels, give full play to such mechanisms as China-U.S. defense ministry consultations and Asia-Pacific security dialogue, and make good use of the dialogue mechanism to be established between the two countries' joint staffs of the armed forces.

Meanwhile, he suggested that the two sides carry out the annual exchange programs they have agreed upon, and implement and improve the mutual reporting mechanism on major military operations and the code of safe conduct on naval and air military encounters.

Xi also underlined the importance of further enhancing law enforcement cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.

"I think we have made tremendous progress in our relationship with China," the White House cited Trump as saying after meeting with Xi, adding that the relationship developed by Xi and himself is "outstanding."

U.S. representatives have been meeting one-on-one with their Chinese counterparts, and progress has been made, said the U.S. president.

Trump said the United States is willing to further strengthen cooperation with China in economy, military affairs and people-to-people exchanges, and support China's efforts in hunting for fugitives who have fled abroad and recovering illicit money.

Ahead of the two presidents' second round of talks, senior Chinese and U.S. officials on Friday initiated the comprehensive economic dialogue and the diplomatic and security dialogue, two of the four pillars of the newly established bilateral dialogue mechanisms.

Xi made the two-day trip to the southeastern U.S. coastal town of Palm Beach for the first meeting with Trump, in a bid to chart the course of bilateral ties in a new era.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 10:56:51|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao

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PALM BEACH, United States, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The White House declined to say whether the United States would take further military action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after Thursday's U.S. strike.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told a briefing in Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday that the missile attack, the first U.S. direct assault against the Syrian government since the Syria crisis began six years ago, was "decisive, justified and proportional."

"I think it sends a very strong signal not just to Syria but throughout the world," said Spicer, adding that the Syrian government must abide by a 2013 agreement to destroy its chemical weapons stockpile,

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem on Thursday denied that the chemical attack was carried out by the government, saying the incident was a result of a government airstrike on a rebel-held town in Idlib Province struck a rebel weapons depot that contained chemical materials.

The minister claimed that the Syrian army forces are no longer in possession of chemical weapons.
BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- President of Myanmar U Htin Kyaw is in China for a state visit at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping. The visit, which started on Thursday, will last until Tuesday.

U Htin Kyaw, 71, was born in Yangon, Myanmar. He holds master degrees of economics and computer science.

Starting from 1975, U Htin Kyaw had served in the Ministry of Industry No.2 and the Ministry of Planning and Finance. He has been working for Myanmar's National League for Democracy since 1992.

He became a senior executive for the Daw Khin Kyi Foundation of the National League for Democracy in 2012.

He was sworn in as President of Myanmar on March 30, 2016.
A group of Sri Lankan visitors organized by the Association for Sri Lanka-China Social and Cultural Co-operation paid a visit to the Colombo Port City Development Project in Colombo, capital of Sri Lanka, Jan. 23, 2017. (Xinhua/Yang Meiju)

by Huang Haimin

COLOMBO, April 7 (Xinhua) -- With Jun Hai 1, Asia's largest trailing suction hopper dredger joining the construction fleet, the land reclamation of Colombo Port City, as a future city and long awaited by Sri Lankans, has been proceeded rapidly.

The 1.4-billion-U.S. dollar project, which is currently under construction near the Colombo Harbor, is Sri Lanka's largest foreign direct investment (FDI).

"As a Sri Lankan, I feel so proud that I can be participating in the project and really look forward to the completion of the project as early as possible, so that it would bring new opportunities to our people and our motherland which has just recovered from a 30-year civil war," Chandana Gunawardena, deputy project manager of the Colombo Port City Project, told Xinhua on Thursday.

This brand-new "financial city" is taking shape gradually from the sea area right beside the Colombo International Container Terminals, which is being operated by the China Merchants Ports Holdings.

Because of Colombo Port City, Chandana now has a stable job and a good outlook in his career.

He said the mega-project would boost the country's economic development via spurring FDI and the private sector's growth.

"By making Colombo a better city, Colombo Port City will attract more and more Sri Lankan diaspora back to their homeland," he said.

Chandana believed that the project is going to transfer Colombo to an important commercial hub in South Asia and "a shining pearl of the Indian Ocean."

Invested and developed by the China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC), Colombo Port City is the largest project between China and Sri Lanka under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, especially the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, known as Belt and Road Initiative, were proposed in 2013 with the aim of building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes.

Most of local construction and technical employees at the Port City project told Xinhua that the China-funded project has brought about jobs, higher salary and a better life, making them to be confident with their future careers.

"Colombo Port City is a key project in South Asia under the Belt and Road Initiative and it has well matched Sri Lanka's Western Megapolis development strategy," CCCC Chairman Liu Qitao told Xinhua.

"With investment of 1.4 billion dollars, Phase 1 project has land reclamation of 269 hectares, out of which there will be 178-hectare developable land for commercial developments," he said.

"The total Gross Floor Area (GFA) will come up to 5.65 million sq meters, including residence, hotel, office and retail mall among others. Other iconic developments in the project include theme park, yacht marina, central park, medical center, international school and sand beach ect," Liu said. "These will attract further 13 billion dollars investment of property developments within the city."

Liu believed the construction of Colombo Port City will not only contribute to Sri Lakan's socio-economic development, but also play an exemplary role in attracting foreign investment, and furthermore, it will attract international high-end professionals and introduce world's advanced technology so as to promote the competitiveness of local enterprise.

The construction of the Port City will also create job opportunities for the locals, with a total of 83,000 jobs expected in the 20 years from implementation to completion of the project, he claimed.

"As a father, I expect my kids to work in this city with a promising future, make contributions to the country while achieving their own career goals," Chandana said hopefully.
KUNMING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Police in southwest China's Yunnan Province have arrested five suspects and seized 41 kg of heroin in the latest crackdown on drug trafficking.

The men and drug were seized in Ruili City in Dai-Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture of Dehong on March 31, the public security bureau of Longling County said in a statement Saturday.

The bureau received reports in February that an overseas drug trafficking ring were planning to ship narcotics to China.

Police detected the two suspects from Myanmar as soon as they crossed the border into China at 4 p.m. on March 31. They then followed them to a hotel in Ruili City, where the suspects met their three Chinese collaborators. All five were arrested.

From the trunk of their SUV, police found 120 blocks of heroin, which weighed 41.785 kg.

The two suspects from Myanmar said they had been promised 5,000 yuan (725 U.S. dollars).

The investigation continues.

Dehong prefecture is close to the opium-growing Golden Triangle. Last year, border police in Dehong seized 1.6 tonnes of narcotics, completed investigations into 668 drug-related crimes and arrested 662 suspects.
ISLAMABAD, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Anti-terrorism officials in Pakistan's Punjab province said Saturday that 10 terrorists were killed in an overnight encounter near Lahore, the provincial capital.

The terrorists were involved in a deadly suicide bombing in February which killed 15 people, including two senior police officers, officials of the Counter Terrorism Department or CTD said.

The bomber had targeted the police when they were on a busy road to control a protest outside the provincial assembly building. Nearly 60 people were also injured in the attack.

The Taliban Jamaat ul Ahrar group had claimed responsibility for the attack.

An official said that a facilitator of the February bombing Anwar ul Haq was being taken to Manawan, a small town on the outskirts of Lahore, to recover hidden explosives when nine militants attacked the CTD team.

The security personnel launched a counter attack and killed nine attackers. Anwar ul Haq was also killed in exchange of fire.

Officials said that the security forces also recovered arms and explosives from the scene.

The incident occurred days after a Taliban bomber killed four soldiers and several other people in Lahore.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 13:52:21|Editor: Mengjie

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BUENOS AIRES, April 7 (Xinhua) -- China's influence to and its relations with Latin America are growing stronger, especially as an important investor, Marisol Argueta de Barillas, senior director and head of Latin America at the World Economic Forum (WEF), said Friday.

"China's influence to and its ties with Latin America are increasingly stronger. China is no longer just a buyer of raw materials, it has become an important investor in Latin America," Argueta told Xinhua on the sidelines of this year's World Economic Forum on Latin America held in the Argentine capital over the past three days.

"Chinese companies such as Huawei and Alibaba ... are playing a much bigger leading role in Latin American markets," she noted.

According to Argueta, a lawyer and El Salvador's former foreign minister from January 2008 to June 2009, the three-day forum was focused on entrepreneurship, development and the fourth industrial revolution.

"We are seeking to understand the resources, the challenges, the opportunities in Latin America at a time when growth is slowing, when there are more social demands, when the fight against poverty must be maintained," Argueta added.

In 2015, trade between China and Latin America amounted to 236.5 billion U.S. dollars, marking a twenty-fold increase over the previous decade, showed Chinese government figures.

Argueta said,"It is also highly important to think about the transfer of technology."

"It is a development area that is of utmost importance to prepare us for the fourth industrial revolution, and to be able to make the most of the opportunities that arise to modernize industries ... transform the sources of employment and the jobs themselves," said Argueta.

She also pointed out that the Chinese market has a significant demand for Latin American resources. "I think there is a very strong opportunity there for cooperation," she concluded.
TOKYO, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The Japanese government has approved recently a written statement saying that it would not rule out the textbook use of the Imperial Rescript on Education, an 1890 edict that promoted emperor-oriented and militaristic education.

This decision, together with another one by the education ministry that could bring bayonet fighting back to school curriculum, has sparked much criticism and concerns of militarism revival among the public.

PREWAR RESCRIPT BACK TO SCHOOL

The Imperial Rescript on Education has recently drawn public attention when an Osaka kindergarten was found to have been making kids there memorize it.

Video footage posted online showed that uniformed kids of the kindergarten recited the prewar rescript in stilted Japanese, chanting words such as "Should emergencies arise, offer yourself to the state."

Children there were also captured on the video raising their right hands and shouting: "Go fight, Prime Minister Abe."

The Imperial Rescript on Education is an edict issued in 1890 by Emperor Meiji and meant for nurturing "ideal" citizens that would sacrifice themselves for the emperor and the country.

The document had been read aloud at all important school events, and students had been required to study and memorize it before the end of World War II.

The rescript, serving as guidelines for prewar school education, played a considerable role of supporting the country's nationalism and promoting its militarism.

It was abolished after the end of the WWII, but was reintroduced some 15 years ago by the nationalist Tsukamoto kindergarten.

The kindergarten's education style, while drawing criticism from many, reportedly won support from Abe and his wife Akie.

The prime minister's wife had visited the kindergarten several times before a cut-price land deal scandal implicating the kindergarten operator Moritomo Gakuen and the Abe couple broke out.

Japan's Defense Minister Tomomi Inada, in connection with the matter, said in parliament that Japan "should bring back the spirit of the Imperial Rescript on Education, which aimed for a state based on moral principles."

The Japanese government, when responding to a question raised by an opposition lawmaker last week, said that though it is inappropriate to use the rescript "as the sole basis for education," "the use of the rescript as a teaching material in a way that does not violate the Constitution or the Basic Act on Education is acceptable."

CAUSING WIDE CRITICISM

The government's recent statement, though finding support in some of Abe's cabinet ministers such as Education Minister Hirokazu Matsuno, was blasted by the opposition parties and the public as they are worried that it would revive prewar militaristic values.

"The Imperial Rescript on Education was inseparably linked to the Constitution of the Empire of Japan. This fact must never be forgotten," said Japan's well-read newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun in a recent editorial.

"To be fair, the rescript expounds some virtues that are still applicable today, such as filial piety and conjugal affection. However, it is absolutely possible to teach the importance of these virtues without quoting from the rescript," said the editorial.

"We must carefully consider if it is truly acceptable to make something like this educational material," said Yoshihiko Noda, secretary-general of the leading opposition Democratic Party.

Akira Koike, secretariat head of the Japanese Communist Party, said that the government's decision showed a dangerous trend of the Abe administration and shall not be allowed.

Hajime Funada, a lawmaker of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, also questioned the government's decision regarding the rescript, saying that the rescript is "generally recognized as a tool for the government and the army to control the people's minds" before and during the WWII.

"The rescript is what I have been trying not to remember ... It was such (militaristic) spirit that had triggered the war," said Naoyuki Taniguchi, a survivor of the WWII in Tokyo.

"The rescript preaches dying for the Emperor. It's terrible education for kids. It surely goes against the current Constitution," said Keiko Taira, another war survivor.

ANOTHER PERILOUS STEP

While the prewar Imperial Rescript on Education is under public scrutiny, another move of the Abe administration to add a highly controversial course of bayonet fighting to secondary school education has raised further concern about Japan's flagrant retrogression to pre-war militarism.

Japan's education ministry approved recently a new version of education guidelines, which include for the first time jukendo, or "way of the bayonet" in the physical education curriculum for middle school students.

The guidelines, expected to be implemented in fiscal 2021 for middle schools, suggested that schools should provide students with martial art lessons such as judo, kendo, and jukendo so as to give the students better access to traditional Japanese culture.

Critics, however, have been quick to point out that Jukendo is in essence "a killing art," with practitioners thrusting blunted wooden bayonets to their opponents, targeting often vital parts of the human body such as chest and throat.

What's more, bayonet fighting remains a painful reminder of the bloody battlefields that Japan forced upon its neighbors' territories before and during the WWII.

It has been a combat means during wartime and was taught at military schools in Japan then. Now it is still part of the regular training for the Japanese Self-Defense Force servicemen.

"Bayonet fighting is not a well-recognized sport item like judo or sumo. It is not appropriate for our time now and is terrifying," said Ryuichi Yoneyama, governor of Niigata, central Japan, in a tweet recently.

He also pointed out that jukendo was not included in a draft version of the guidelines released for soliciting public opinions, but only added to it later upon strong requests from some lawmakers of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

"It would naturally remind people of a background of nostalgia for militarism," he said.

WHAT TO TEACH TO CHILDREN

Education specialists like Hidenori Fujita have noted that historical and geographical education in Japan is rapidly going awry.

The Kyoei University professor previously said that textbooks here lack balance and fail to represent the feelings of unjustness from countries like China and South Korea, and are lacking in detail about the specific claims from non-Japanese parties regarding issues of territory and history.

In one such example, the Manchurian Incident - the invasion of northeast China by Japanese troops on Sept. 18, 1931, which ushered in the 14-year Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression - was barely mentioned on one page in a textbook, and the Nanjing Massacre and "comfort women" issue are barely footnotes in the textbooks.

Hiroshi Onishi, a professor at Keio University in Tokyo, points out that the Imperial Rescript on Education was the most important symbol of the Japanese Military Dictatorship in the prewar period and even then was opposed by many intellectuals.

"Therefore, the present movement to revive the script shows a very dangerous trend to go back to the old imperialist regime," he said, adding that many Japanese peace-lovers are against such movement.

From relaxing post-war pacifist constitution that bans its military from fighting abroad to ambitious overseas military presence, and now from the military to national education, the steps taken by the Abe administration have been alarming to many peace-loving people in Japan.

Abe himself has, on a number of occasions, stated that Japanese young people do not have to keep apologizing in the future for Japan's atrocities committed before and during World War II, exposing his reluctance to face up to history and delivering misguided and unsound messages to the younger generations here.

Such education threatens to severely warp children and young people's understanding of historical facts and hence the minds of future generations here, including those that will go on to be leaders in politics, industry and, ironically, education in Japan, said experts here.
NEW DELHI, April 8 (Xinhua) -- A 26-year-old Indian national working in the United States was shot dead by armed robbers, officials said Saturday.

Vikram Jaryal hailing from Punjab was working at a gas station.

"I have received a report on the shootout incident resulting in the tragic death of Indian national Vikram Jaryal in Washington State USA," Indian foreign minister Sushma Swaraj wrote on Twitter on Saturday. "The victim was only 26 years old and had reached US only 25 days back."

According to Swaraj, on early Thursday at 1:30 a.m. (local time), miscreants entered the shop, snatched cash from the victim and shot in his chest.

Reports said authorities would be exploring whether the killing was related to hate crime.

"We are coordinating with the investigative agencies. They have got the CCTV footage and are in the process of apprehending the culprits," she wrote. "Our consulate in San Francisco is helping the family and following this up with the police authorities."
ISLAMABAD, April 8 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will designate Malala Yousafzai, global advocate for girls'education and the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate, as a UN Messenger of Peace with a special focus on girls' education, the UN Islamabad office said Saturday.

The Messenger of Peace designation ceremony will take place at the UN Headquarters in New York at an event to be held in the Trusteeship Council Chamber next week, a UN statement said.

The designation will be followed by a conversation between the secretary-general, Yousafzai and youth representatives around the world on the theme of girls' education.

"Even in the face of grave danger, Malala Yousafzai has shown an unwavering commitment to the rights of women, girls and all people," the secretary-general said on his selection of Yousafzai for the designation.

Born on July 12, 1997 in Pakistan's Swat Valley, Yousafzai became an international symbol for the fight for girls' education after being shot on October 9, 2012 for opposing Taliban restrictions on female education.

She survived the attack and became an advocate for the millions of girls denied a formal education worldwide.

In 2013, Yousafzai and her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, co-founded Malala Fund to bring awareness to the social and economic impact of girls' education and to empower girls to demand change. Yousafzai became the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 2014.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 14:57:29|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao

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RIO DE JANEIRO, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The Brazilian government Friday expressed concern over the escalation of the military conflict in Syria, which culminated in a U.S. attack on Thursday.

The government reaffirmed its consternation over the reported use of chemical weapons in an incident in Idlib, and stressed the importance of ample investigations into the incident and the ensuing punishment of those responsible.

"The solution to the Syrian conflict requires effective dialogue and full respect of international laws. In this context, we renew the support of the attempts conducted in Geneva, under the aegis of the United Nations and based on the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council," it said.

The Brazilian Foreign Ministry also said that it has been in touch with the Brazilian community in Syria and found that, so far, there is no information on Brazilian citizens among the victims of the attacks. The ministry also said that it is at Brazilian citizens' disposal for aid and further clarifications.

Since the ongoing Syrian conflict, Brazil has been receiving a large influx of refugees from Syria. In 2013, the government authorized diplomatic representations abroad to issue special visas for Syrians asking for refuge.

Over 2,300 Syrian refugees are now living in Brazil, with Syria being the country of origin of the largest number of those refugees.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 15:07:30|Editor: xuxin

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QUITO, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The National Electoral Council (CNE) of Ecuador began on Friday a vote recount in five provinces where objections have been received, concerning the results of the second round of the country's presidential elections on April 2.

On Tuesday, the CNE declared in its official results that Lenin Moreno, candidate of the ruling PAIS Alliance, had won presidential runoff with 51.16 percent of valid votes, while opposition challenger Guillermo Lasso, garnered 48.84 percent, with 99.65 percent of votes counted.

However, Lasso refused to accept CNE's results and noted that he was the victim of electoral fraud.

In a press conference Friday, Diego Tello, CNE's national coordinator of electoral processes said that recounts were happening in the provinces of Chimborazo, Imbabura, Pichincha, Cotopaxi and Carchi, and the recount was being observed by delegates from both Moreno's PAIS Alliance and Lasso's CREO movement.

Although election observers declared they found no evidence that the results were false, the charges lodged with the CNE claimed that there was a difference between the number of people who had voted on the day and the number of votes that had been counted.

Juan Pablo Pozo, president of the CNE, denied this week that there had been any fraud and called the country's ballot system a "success."
PHNOM PENH, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed and four others injured after a steam generator at a garment factory exploded on Saturday in southwestern Phnom Penh, a local police officer said.

Hem Pheary, deputy police chief of Stung Meanchey commune, said the incident occurred at 11:50 a.m. local time when the workers took a lunch break.

"One security guard and one cleaner were killed and four other workers got wounded in the explosion," he told Xinhua.

An investigation is underway to find out the cause of the blast as the factory's owner was detained for questioning, he said.

"We are investigating the cause of the explosion, but it might be caused by the intense heat of the steam generator," he said.

It was the second incident in a fortnight. On March 22, a steam boiler at a garment factory in western Phnom Penh exploded, leaving one woman dead and seven others injured.
NEW DELHI, April 8 (Xinhua) -- India and Bangladesh on Saturday inked 22 pacts, including on civil nuclear cooperation and defense as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with visiting Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the iconic Hyderabad House in the heart of the national capital.

Later addressing a joint media meet after all the agreements were signed between the countries, Modi hailed Hasina's visit to India as "another golden era in the friendship between the peoples of our nations" and vowed to fight terror alongside Dhaka.

Modi also announced a new line of concessional credit of 4.5 billion U.S. dollars for the implementation of projects in Bangladesh as well as an additional line of credit of 500 million U.S. dollars to Dhaka for military supplies, saying it will be driven by the requirement of that country.

Vowing to fight terrorism, Modi said that "the spread of radicalization and extremism poses as a grave threat to India and Bangladesh", and expressed admiration for the visiting prime minister's "zero-tolerance" policy towards terrorism.

On ties in various sectors, Modi said: "We want to build cooperation in new areas, especially in some high technology areas, which would include space exploration, civil nuclear energy and other areas."

Modi added "Steps are being taken to put into operation the coastal shipping agreement. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also discussed the need to diversy our commercial arrangement."

On her part, Hasina lauded India as "our most important neighbour". "India has achieved great development in the areas of economy, education, science, technology and innovation. India is our most important neighbour," she said.

Though the much-awaited pact on the Teesta river's water sharing did not take place, Modi said the pact was "important" for India-Bangladesh ties and assured Hasina of India's commitment to the issue. "An early solution can and will be found to the Teesta water sharing issue," he added.

Both the leaders also inaugurated the two rail and a road link between the countries. "Building the ties that bind, one step at a time. The two leaders inaugurate two rails and a road connectivity project via video conferencing," Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted.

Earlier in the day, Hasina, who arrived in India on Friday on a four-day state visit, received a grand welcome from Modi at Rashtrapati Bhavan (Indian President's official residence) before she headed to the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat to pay tribute to the Father of Nation.

Later in the day, Hasina will also call on Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and meet opposition Congree party's leader Sonia Gandhi. She will visit Ajmer in the western state of Rajasthan Sunday and will meet Indian business leaders Monday.

The visiting prime minister will also take part in a function at the Manekshaw Center in the national capital to honour members of the Indian Armed Forces who were martyred in Bangladesh's War of Liberation in 1971.

This is Hasina's first visit to India after Modi assumed office in May 2014, following his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party's landslide win in the general elections.

"The visit is expected to further expand the cordial and cooperative relationship between India and Bangladesh and build on the strong ties of friendship and trust between the two leaders," a joint statement issued earlier by the two countries said.
File photo shows work in progress at the Lamu port. (Xinhua)

NAIROBI, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese construction firm, China Communication Construction Company (CCCC) is on course to complete the first berth of the Lamu port in mid 2018, Kenyan officials said on Thursday.

Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor Development Authority Director General Sylvester Kasuku told a media briefing in Nairobi that dredging works began in October 2016 and the work is currently 20 percent complete.

"China Communication Construction Company is expected to complete construction of the three berths by the year 2020 at a cost of 480 million U.S. dollars," Kasuku said.

The East African nation has so far spent 120 million dollars for the construction of the port with another 100 million dollars earmarked for the next financial year.

Lamu port will have a total of 32 berths and is part of the LAPSSET Corridor Program which will cost over 26 billion dollars to complete.

Kasuku said that the Kenya government will fund construction of the first three berths while the rest are expected to be funded by private sector under a public private sector framework.

The South African government has already signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop the first three berths in the Lamu port.

"The South Africans are currently in the phase of submission of proposals and are undertaking discussions with relevant government agencies before commencing construction works," Kasuku said.

The port has also received inquiries from ten private firms seeking to invest in the infrastructure project.

Kasuku said that Lamu port is expected to surpass Mombasa port to become the largest port in Kenya in the next ten years.

The Director General said that the Mombasa port currently handles 1.2 million Twenty Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) annually and has a maximum capacity of 2.5 million TEUs.

The first three berths of Lamu Port will be able to handle 1.2 million TEUs and when fully operational will handle 20 million TEUs.
STOCKHOLM, April 8 (Xinhua) -- A stolen truck rammed into people on a central Stockholm street before crashing into a department store on Friday, killing four and injuring 15 others. "Everything indicates that this is a terror attack," Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said at a press conference.

The attack put Stockholm, another capital city in Europe, under terror threat following Paris, Brussels, Berlin and London, adding pressure to the already fragile security situation in the continent.

The attack is particularly frightening as it struck the capital of a nation known for peacefulness and safety. It also shows that the map of terrorist attacks in recent years has expanded from Western Europe to Northern Europe, which is considered one of the safest havens in the world.

Police have arrested a man in Marsta, north of Stockholm in an operation on Friday night. The man, who had minor injuries, said he is guilty of the attack in Stockholm, according to the Swedish paper Aftonbladet. He had reportedly posted Islamic State videos on Facebook.

Police told a press conference that they did not know if this was an isolated incident or whether more could be expected.

This is an alarming trend for the continent, which has already been troubled by a string of terrorist attacks. In the past year alone, Islamic State militants have claimed responsibility for the deaths of more than 100 people in Europe.

The latest attack also follows several other vehicle assaults over the past few months, including the ones in Nice of France, in Berlin and London. Just a little over two weeks ago, an assailant plowed an SUV into a crowd of pedestrians on a London bridge, then stabbed a police officer at the gates of Parliament, killing five people and injuring dozens.

Worry about growing terrorist attacks is prompting tighter border controls for those who enter or exit the 26-country Schengen Zone. The new policy, which was approved last month, was in response to the increase of terrorist threats, the European Council said earlier.

Tough security situation also impacted immigration policy in some European countries. In face of terrorist attacks and other domestic issues, even German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has been considered to be immigrant-friendly, has been making efforts to curb illegal migration, as shown in her March visit to North Africa.

Analysts say the worsening security situation in Europe demands a long-term resolution, and more coordinated efforts need to be done to ease the growing tension and bring back peace and safety.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 18:18:02|Editor: An

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Chinese President Xi Jinping (R, Front) and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump (L, Front) take a walk to further discuss bilateral cooperation issues in the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, the United States, April 7, 2017. The two leaders held their second round of talks here on Friday. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

by Xinhua writers Wang Fengfeng, Meng Na

MAR-A-LAGO, United States, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's plane took off from Palm Beach International Airport in Florida early Friday afternoon after his first meeting with U.S. counterpart Donald Trump.

In the span of a little over a day, Xi spent over seven hours discussing bilateral and global issues, building personal rapport with Trump while charting the course for China-U.S. relations in a new era.

A WALK BY THE SEA

The meetings between the two presidents were held at the Mar-a-Lago resort, dubbed the "Southern White House." Just before Xi concluded his visit on Friday, he took a walk with Trump on the greens of the sea-side estate.

"It was obviously a perfect weather day today, and it was a great opportunity for both the presidents and their wives to really get to know one another and enjoy, share meals together, and work on important issues," U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said later in the day at a briefing in Palm Beach.

Getting to know one another was obviously a major purpose of Xi's visit. Trump was also aware of the gravity of his first meeting with Xi.

In remarks on top of Friday's meeting, Xi said the Mar-a-Lago meeting had "unique importance for China-U.S. relations," as the in-depth and lengthy exchanges let him and Trump deepen their mutual understanding and trust, and establish a working relationship.

Ruan Zongze, executive vice president of China Institute of International Studies, said the informal settings can help the two presidents' face-to-face communication go deeper.

A SMILE ON THE FACE

Xi's two-day trip at Mar-a-Lago was marked by cordiality, with both presidents seen smile to each other.

The atmosphere reached its peak Thursday evening as Trump hosted Xi at a welcome banquet. Both presidents gave impassioned speeches. Xi expressed his readiness to lead, together with Trump, people who have good wishes and passion to upgrade China-U.S. relations, while Trump, for his part, said "we are going to have a very, very great relationship and I look very much forward to it."

Some of the eye-catching outcomes of the meetings include Trump's acceptance of an invitation to visit China this year, as well as the establishment of a new cabinet-level framework for negotiations, which includes the diplomatic and security dialogue; the comprehensive economic dialogue; the law enforcement and cybersecurity dialogue; and the social and cultural issues dialogue.

As Xi put it at the banquet, the development of bilateral relations should bring the citizens of both countries a sense of benefit.

A TOUCHING MOMENT WITH A SONG

The meetings also had its heart-warming moments. On Thursday, Arabella and Joseph, grandchildren of Trump, sang for Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan classic Chinese song Jasmine Flower and recited ancient Chinese poetries -- in the company of their parents Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.

"It takes political resolve and historical commitments from leaders of both countries to enhance the bilateral relations in the 45 years to come," Xi said on Thursday, in reference to former U.S. President Richard Nixon's ice-breaking visit to China 45 years ago.

"The relationship developed by President Xi and myself I think is outstanding," said Trump on Friday after meeting with Xi. "We look forward to being together many times in the future, and I believe lots of very potentially bad problems will be going away."

There are "a thousand reasons to make the China-U.S. relations work, and no reason to break it," said Xi on Thursday.

The feeling was shared by many who live on the vicinity of Mar-a-Lago.

"In this day and age, with the internet, everything is connected no matter what you want to do," said Miles Middlebush, a 32-year-old local businessman, adding that the United States and China have to work together more for the sake of the world and the future, not only themselves.

"My hope and belief is that we are going to have a great relationship in the next four or eight years, or even longer," said Middlebush.
GHAZNI, Afghanistan, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Two Taliban key commanders were among six insurgents who had been killed in the eastern Ghazni province, provincial police chief Aminullah Omarkhil said Saturday.

"It has been confirmed that two Taliban notorious commanders Mawlawi Rashid and Mawlawi Nafiz are among the six rebels who were killed in the air raids against enemies in Gero district on Friday evening," Omarkhil told Xinhua.

Both the said commanders were infamous and their physical elimination could prove a major blow to the Taliban militants and Haqqani network operating in Ghazni and adjoining areas, the official asserted.

Taliban militants who are active in parts of the eastern Ghazni province are yet to make comment on the report.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 18:38:07|Editor: An

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SAO TOME, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Sao Tome and Principe's Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada will pay an official visit to China from April 12 to 18 at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang.

In an interview with Xinhua prior to his visit, Mr. Trovoada noted that the relationship between the two countries and the Sino-African relationship in general is balanced, honest and sincere.

In early 2017, China sent expert delegations to Sao Tome for technical assistance. Trovoada said he was pleased to see "visible results very quickly" in the fields of agriculture, health, energy and education, noting that 55 students from Sao Tome and Principe would study in China.

"I believe that the first few months are very positive, that they prove that there is a real political will to work together, to cooperate, and to truly create this relationship of trust and solidarity between the two countries, the two governments, and to [continue] this very long-standing relationship between peoples, " he said.

Trovoada's visit will be his first official visit to China, but he has already visited the country on several occasions. "It is a beautiful country, it is a great country. I have visited several cities, such as Shanghai and Beijing. It is a joy to be in a country that I love, of which I love the culture and the cooking," he said.

Trovoada noted that it would be very interesting to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and exchange views on China-Africa cooperation and on current issues such as climate, globalization, economic exchanges, trade development and bilateral relations. The visit will also be an opportunity to discuss the bilateral relationship thoroughly with the Chinese Premier, he said.

"China has understood that the African continent needs basic infrastructure, electricity and land, rail, sea and air communications, especially with regional air transport," according to him.

"China is a partner who understands perfectly the development issues and the sequence of development, that is a house is built by the foundations, not by the roof. So I think this approach is correct, first basic infrastructure, then industrialization to create products, and then exchange. This knowledge of China is an advantage for the African continent," he said.

He further stressed that it was in China's interest to trade, to buy and to sell, and that Africa therefore represented a market that could be of interest to China.

"It means that beyond infrastructure, Africa must also advance in the creation of added values, in the creation of products that can be exported to China, and that Africa also has a consumer base who can consume products from China," said Trovoada.

"I believe what President Xi Jinping has implemented from the Johannesburg summit is in the interests of the African people and also in the interests of China," he said.

He added that China had a "solidarity" relationship with Africa. "China has always supported us at a time when Africa was completely colonized, and China has helped us to free ourselves, so it is a balanced, honest and sincere relationship," he said.

Finally, he called on the governments of the two countries to learn more about their respective cultures through cultural exchanges, adding the country has already started to exempt visas for all Chinese who hold official diplomatic and service passports while allowing all Chinese who arrive in Sao Tome to get the visa at the airport.

"I hope we can create other mechanisms of rapprochement and mutual knowledge, "he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 18:48:08|Editor: An

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BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday sent a message of condolences to Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf in the wake of Friday's deadly truck attack in Stockholm.

In the message, Xi strongly condemned the violent attack, extending his profound condolences to the innocent victims while expressing his sincere sympathy for the injured and families of the victims.

Xi said China is ready to enhance cooperation with Sweden and the international community, and make positive efforts to maintain security and stability in the two countries and the world.

On Friday, a truck ploughed into crowds on a busy shopping street before crashing into a department store in central Stockholm, killing at least four people while wounding many others in what was suspected to be a terrorist attack.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 18:53:09|Editor: An

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BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Saturday sent a message of condolences to Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven over Friday's deadly truck attack in Stockholm.

Li strongly condemned the violent attack, extended deep condolences to the innocent victims and expressed sincere sympathy for the injured as well as families of the killed.

Li said China is willing to join Sweden in tackling the security threats and challenges facing the international community.

On Friday, a hijacked cargo truck ploughed into pedestrians on a busy shopping street in central Stockholm before crashing into a department store, killing at least four people and injuring many others. Lofven has said this was a terror attack.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 18:58:10|Editor: xuxin

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BAGHDAD, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence discussed the situation in Syria and the war on the extremist Islamic State (IS) group in a phone call, the Iraqi government said on Saturday.

A statement by Abadi's office said that the prime minister received a phone call from Pence, and the two sides discussed the battles in Mosul and the international support to Iraq in its fighting against terrorism, as well as the situations in the region.

Abadi expressed Iraq's attitude toward the situation in Syria, saying "Iraq considers the use of chemical weapons in Syria a condemned and denounced crime," according to the statement.

"We are with the Syrian people who were the victims, just like the Iraqi people who were also victims of being hit with chemical weapons by the former (Saddam) regime," the statement quoted Abadi as saying.

Abadi called for an urgent international investigation into the use of chemical weapons in Syria and to condemn whoever used such weapons, the statement added.

Abadi asserted on the importance of focusing on the defeat of the extremist IS group "as we are close to the final victory," it said.

For his part, Pence stressed in his call that his country's policy in the region "has not changed, and our priority is a decisive defeat for Daesh (IS group) in Iraq and the region," the statement added.

On Friday, the United States carried out missile strike on a Syrian military airbase in response to what it believes was a chemical weapons attack in Khan Sheikhun, a rebel-held town in the northwestern Syrian Idlib.




BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Three people are in police custody in Beijing for stealing a pair of 400-year-old candle holders from the Ming imperial tombs, local authorities said Saturday.

The suspects -- two people from Beijing and one from central China's Henan Province -- have been implicated in organized relic theft, Beijing police said.

The mausoleums were built for the emperors of the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644). The missing white marble candle holders, which were about 90 centimeters tall and weighed 200 kilograms each, belong in front of the mausoleum of the last Ming emperor Chongzhen.

According to a police officer who declined to be named, the candle holders went missing in May but officials tried to cover up their absence by saying they had been sent for repairs.

The candle holders were a hot topic online last month when a visitor shared contrasting photographs of the tombs. In the newer images, two vases and an incense burner were still there but the candle holders, which were visible in older photographs, were gone, leaving only their bases.

A media official with Changping government told Xinhua that the Ming Tombs Special Area Agency admitted on March 20 that the candle holders had gone missing.

Four officials were sacked for "incompetence" Thursday.

The investigation continues.

About 40 kilometers north of downtown Beijing, the Ming Tombs were listed as UNESCO World Heritage site in 2003.
PYONGYANG, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Saturday rapped South Korea for seeking closer military alliance with the United States which it said would escalate confrontation between the two sides.

"South Korean puppet conservative group, whose fate is at stake after being cursed and rejected by the public, works hard to stay in power, calling for 'priority to the relations' with the U.S. and 'strengthened alliance,'" said the official daily of the ruling Korean Workers' Party, Rodong Sinmum.

South Korean acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn has recently called on the United States to strengthen alliance with Seoul, while calling the DPRK's efforts to develop nuclear arms and missiles "provocation" and "threat," according to media reports.

Rodong Sinmum called the South Korea-U.S. alliance "just a war alliance to carry out the U.S. policy for isolating and stifling the DPRK and realize its foreign strategy of aggression."

"The relations between the U.S. and the South Korean regime are no more than master-servant relations," and Seoul's policy would only further such relations, "bring the north-south ties to a catastrophe and escalate the danger of nuclear war," the newspaper warned.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 19:28:14|Editor: xuxin

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BEIRUT, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Clashes at south Lebanon's Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh in Sidon, continued on Saturday between the Joint Palestinian Security Forces and the hardline Islamist Bilal Badr group, the National News Agency (NNA) reported.

According to the NNA, Fatah commander Munir Maqdah said in a statement that "the situation at the camp is taking a military course and will be settled. Fatah movement has recorded a progress against the group of Bilal Badr. The security forces will deploy in the camp, no other solution."

Armed clashes erupted at the camp on Friday and continued throughout the night amid tight security measures taken by the Lebanese army at the entrances of the camp.

The clashes left one man, Moussa al-Khorbayti from the Joint Force, dead and nine others wounded. Several houses, shops and vehicles were burned, while schools around the camp and in the city of Sidon were closed because of the deteriorating situation, said the NNA.

The Lebanese army tightened its security measures at the entrances leading to the camp.

Due to stray bullets reaching areas outside the camp, the army blocked Sidon's al-Hesbe highway in both directions.

Several similar clashes have erupted in Ain el-Hilweh in recent months, mainly pitting Islamist militants from Badr's group and members of the secular Fatah Movement.

Ain el-Hilweh is the largest Palestinian refugees camp in Lebanon and according to a long standing agreement is off-limits for the Lebanese security forces.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 19:28:14|Editor: An

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BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- China on Saturday strongly condemned the violent attack in Stockholm, Sweden, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.

On Friday, a truck ploughed into pedestrians on a busy shopping street before crashing into a department store in central Stockholm, killing at least four and wounding many others.

"Our thoughts are with the victims, and we express our sincere sympathy to the injured and the bereaved," spokesperson Hua Chunying said.

President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and Foreign Minister Wang Yi have sent messages of condolences to the Swedish side, Hua said.

"We will stand with the Swedish side to safeguard stability and security of the two countries and the world at large," the spokesperson said.

According to Hua, the Chinese Embassy in Sweden activated an emergency response mechanism immediately after the attack, and issued a safety warning.

"We have not received any reports of death or injuries of Chinese citizens, and we will follow closely the developments and properly deal with any follow-up matters," Hua said.
Smoke rises from the Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon, February 28, 2017. (REUTERS Photo)

BEIRUT, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Clashes at south Lebanon's Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh in Sidon, continued on Saturday between the Joint Palestinian Security Forces and the hardline Islamist Bilal Badr group, the National News Agency (NNA) reported.

According to the NNA, Fatah commander Munir Maqdah said in a statement that "the situation at the camp is taking a military course and will be settled. Fatah movement has recorded a progress against the group of Bilal Badr. The security forces will deploy in the camp, no other solution."

Armed clashes erupted at the camp on Friday and continued throughout the night amid tight security measures taken by the Lebanese army at the entrances of the camp.

The clashes left one man, Moussa al-Khorbayti from the Joint Force, dead and nine others wounded. Several houses, shops and vehicles were burned, while schools around the camp and in the city of Sidon were closed because of the deteriorating situation, said the NNA.

The Lebanese army tightened its security measures at the entrances leading to the camp.

Due to stray bullets reaching areas outside the camp, the army blocked Sidon's al-Hesbe highway in both directions.

Several similar clashes have erupted in Ain el-Hilweh in recent months, mainly pitting Islamist militants from Badr's group and members of the secular Fatah Movement.

Ain el-Hilweh is the largest Palestinian refugees camp in Lebanon and according to a long standing agreement is off-limits for the Lebanese security forces.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 19:53:17|Editor: An

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PALM BEACH, United States, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping held meetings with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago resort in the U.S. state of Florida on Thursday and Friday, setting a constructive tone for the development of China-U.S. relations, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

The meeting was the first face-to-face communication between the Chinese and U.S. heads of state since the new U.S. administration took office, said Wang, noting that the two presidents spent over seven hours in deep discussion on China-U.S. ties and major international, regional issues of mutual concern, reaching important consensus.

The two sides agreed that the meeting is positive and fruitful. It has set a constructive tone for the development of China-U.S. relations, pointing out the direction for collective endeavor.

The two heads of state also introduced to each other their state governance thoughts, and domestic and foreign policy agendas. The meeting increased mutual understanding, built good working relations and personal friendship, of which the two sides spoke highly.

The two sides discussed the China-U.S. relationship on the whole. President Xi stressed that a sound China-U.S. relationship benefits not only the two countries and their peoples, but also the whole world. Cooperation is the only correct choice for China and the United States.

President Trump noted the great responsibility the two nations have as major countries. He said the two should maintain communication and coordination on important issues, and can accomplish major achievements together.

The two sides have set agenda for high-level communication and exchanges. At the invitation of President Xi, President Trump is set to pay a state visit to China in 2017.

Staff of the two sides will work together to ensure a successful and fruitful visit. The two leaders also agreed to maintain close contact through meetings, phone calls, letters and other various means.

The two sides agreed to establish high-level dialogue mechanisms, including the diplomatic and security dialogue, the comprehensive economic dialogue, the law enforcement and cybersecurity dialogue, and the social and people-to-people dialogue.

During the meetings at Mar-a-Lago resort, Chinese and U.S. representatives kicked off the diplomatic and security dialogue and the comprehensive economic dialogue, and agreed to initiated the other two dialogue mechanisms as soon as possible.

The two sides will also promote dialogues and contacts at various levels and encourage communication and cooperation across the board.

The two sides held in-depth discussion on economy and trade. The Chinese representatives noted that the China-U.S. economic relationship has been moving forward on a basis of win-win cooperation, and the two countries are each other's largest trading partner, from which the two peoples have benefited a lot.

On the principle of equality and mutual benefit, the two sides should work together to expand pragmatic cooperation in areas such as energy and infrastructure construction, increase market access to each other, and promote balanced development of bilateral economic ties.

The two sides agreed to deepen cooperation in trade and investment, and properly manage trade frictions for mutual benefits.

The two sides agreed to enhance military exchanges, deepen cooperation in various areas such as law enforcement, cybersecurity, hunting for fugitives who have fled abroad and recovering illicit money, illegal immigration and health care. They also agreed to take practical measures to strengthen cultural and people-to-people exchanges to maintain public support for the bilateral relationship.

The two sides agreed to make joint efforts to expand mutually beneficial cooperation, manage and control differences on the basis of mutual respect, said the foreign minister.

The Chinese side reiterated its principles and positions on Taiwan issue and Tibet-related issues.

The Chinese side urged the U.S. side to stick to the principles of the three China-U.S joint communiques and the one-China policy, so as to avoid interfering with the China-U.S. ties. China's positions on the South China Sea were also reiterated.

The two sides also exchanged views on major international and regional issues.

On the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula, the Chinese side reiterated the commitment to denuclearization of the peninsula, safeguarding peace and stability of the peninsula and solving problems through dialogue and consultation, said Wang, adding that China will continue to comprehensively implement the UN resolutions on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.

The Chinese side also briefed the U.S. side on its dual-track approach and suspension-for-suspension position, and expressed its expectation to find a breakthrough to restart negotiation.

The Chinese side also stressed again its opposition to the deployment of THAAD anti-missile system by the U.S. in the Republic of Korea. The two sides are committed to realizing the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, agreeing to maintain close communication and coordination on the Korean Peninsula issue.

The two sides also agreed to expand cooperation in non-proliferation and the fight against transnational crimes.

The two leaders charted the course of China-U.S. ties through this meeting, said Wang, adding that China is willing to work together with the United States to enhance high-level exchanges and dialogues, expand cooperation and handle sensitive issues by observing the consensus reached at this meeting, so as to deliver more benefits to the peoples of the two countries and of the world.
MADRID, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Security in Spain's biggest cities is to be strengthened ahead of the Easter holidays to avoid a possible terror attack, according to Spanish media reports on Saturday.

The news comes in the wake of the attack close to the Houses of Parliament in London at the end of March and Friday's attack in Sweden, which caused four deaths as a terror suspect drove a truck into a crowd in Stockholm.

Although the level of anti-terrorist alert will not be raised from the current (high) level 4, which has been in effect since June 2015, to level 5, which would mean knowledge of an imminent attack on Spanish territory, local authorities are taking extra precautions, especially around the traditional Easter processions which are held all over the country.

Trucks of over 3,500 kg will not be allowed in the center of Madrid on the day processions are scheduled, in a repeat of the policy used at Christmas.

In Malaga, local authorities will use "specific measures" such as a video surveillance system, using 17 cameras covering the city's main streets, while trucks of over 7,500 kg will be banned.

Seville's historic processions will be protected by 3,200 police officers, 12 percent more than in 2016, while in the region of Castile and Leon, where the Easter processions in Zamora, Leon and Valladolid have been declared of "international tourist interest," authorities will install barriers, bollards, concrete blocks and police vehicles to impede the entry of non-authorized vehicles into pedestrian areas.

Meanwhile, the access of heavy vehicles to areas where large numbers of people are expected to congregate is to be limited in both the Catalan and Basque regions, where the Easter tradition is less strong than in the rest of Spain.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 20:13:20|Editor: xuxin

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by Burak Akinci

ANKARA, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Turkey welcomed on Friday the U.S. missile strike against a Syrian air base and considered the military action possible to build a rapprochement between the two NATO allies on the ground amid serious differences.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that the safe zones proposed for years by Ankara for civilians in Syria were now more important than ever.

Ankara which has been involved in border operations against Islamic State (IS) and Kurdish groups, has been calling for Syria's Bashar al-Assad's government to be ousted and for a safe zone to be imposed.

"This military intervention of the United States is right in its timing and we support it. We are also calling on government supporters not to stand behind the regime," Cavusoglu told reporters in the southern Turkish town of Alanya.

Erdogan described the strike in Shayrat, Homs province as a "positive and concrete step" against the brutal and deadly chemical attack against civilians in Idlib 48 hours before.

The U.S. strikes have divided the international community, Turkey, France and Britain supporting it while Russia and Iran strongly condemned the attack against a "sovereign nation."

"Is it enough? I don't think so. It is time to take serious steps for the protection of innocent Syrian people," said Erdogan, adding that "the international community has the capability to stop the regime and terrorist organizations."

President Erdogan also highlighted the fact that the two largest military powers of NATO would see eye-to-eye on the crisis in Syria.

"I hope the active stance that the United States displayed there is a beginning with regards to such developments," he added.

Will this unexpected military action contribute to an unlikely revival in Turkish-U.S. relations after years of tension? Experts said it's difficult to predict, since the position of President Donald Trump is still unclear.

"This military action is clearly in line with Turkey's wishes in Syria but we don't know what the U.S. is planning next," said Ilter Turan, an international relations expert of the Istanbul Bilge University.

"President Donald Trump has made something unexpected at an unexpected time and it has been welcomed by an ally that wanted the U.S. to do it since the beginning of the civil war in Syria," he said.

"Even though this is in line with the policy pursued by Turkey, we shall have to wait and see if it will be something viable and sustainable," Turan added.

Just hours before the intervention against his neighbor to the south, Turkey's top diplomat Cavusoglu said during a television interview that possible change comes for the best between Ankara and Washington.

"The current U.S. administration has not been negative towards Turkey, and they do understand the mistakes of the previous administration perfectly," he argued.

By the word "mistakes," Cavusoglu was referring to failure of extraditing the U.S.-based cleric, Fethullah Gulen, who was blamed by Turkey for a coup attempt last July, and most importantly, the U.S. decision to team up in Syria with a Kurdish militia, the People's Protection Units (YPG).

Adding to the complex alliances in Syria's civil war, Russia, along with the United States, also backs the YPG.

"We tried to convince the Obama regime but failed, let us hope that on Syria and other matters such as the extradition of Gulen, we will have a more sound cooperation," said to Xinhua a source close to the Turkish government.

"U.S. strike for the first time Assad, safe zones next" was the headline of the pro-government newspaper Sabah one day after the U.S. strike.

Nevertheless, some commentators noted that this military action is in fact complicating things further in Syria with which Turkey shares a border of some 900 km.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 20:23:21|Editor: An

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Staff members release the Chinese sturgeon in Yichang, central China's Hubei Province, April 8, 2017. About 500 captive-bred Chinese sturgeon were released Saturday into a section of the Yangtze River in central China's Hubei Province to increase the wild population of the rare species. The released sturgeon, aged between three and six years old, are around 110 centimeters long and weigh about 5.5 kilograms on average. This is the 59th release by the Chinese Sturgeon Research Institute of China Three Gorges Corp., which has introduced more than five million sturgeon to the wild since the 1980s. (Xinhua/Xiong Qi)

WUHAN, April 8 (Xinhua) -- About 500 captive-bred Chinese sturgeon were released Saturday into a section of the Yangtze River in central China's Hubei Province to increase the wild population of the rare species.

The released sturgeon, aged between three and six years old, are around 110 centimeters long and weigh about 5.5 kilograms on average.

This is the 59th release by the Chinese Sturgeon Research Institute of China Three Gorges Corp., which has introduced more than five million sturgeon to the wild since the 1980s.

Believed to have lived at the same time as dinosaurs, the Chinese sturgeon has existed for more than 140 million years. The fish is under top national protection.

Due to water projects, river traffic and pollution, the number of wild Chinese sturgeon, which migrate to Hubei's Gezhou Dam to reproduce, has fallen from about 1,000 in 1982 to about 50, according to researchers' estimates.

Wild sturgeon, once mature, usually swim from the sea to suitable river areas to lay eggs around mid and later November.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 20:53:27|Editor: xuxin

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TEHRAN, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday slammed the recent U.S. missile attack on a Syrian air base, Tasnim news agency reported.

He described the U.S. missile attack "contrary to all international principles," saying that Washington did not even ask for permission from the United Nations or its congress for the attack.

Rouhani also urged for an appointment of a fact-finding mission over the recent chemical use against the civilians in the Syrian Idlib province.

"Biased sides should not be included in the mission and the United States should not lead it, but the issue should be rather investigated by impartial countries to find out where chemical weapons had come from, who had brought them in or whether there were any chemical weapons involved or not," Press TV quoted him as saying.

The United States launched 59 Tomahawks at the Shayrat Air Base in central Syria on Thursday, the Pentagon confirmed, saying the strike was intended to deter the Syrian government from using chemical weapons again.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said Thursday that the Syrian recent airstrike on a rebel-held town in Idlib province in northwestern Syria struck a rebel depot containing chemical materials, denying that the air force fired toxic gas during the attack.

On Friday, Iran's Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the U.S. missile attack on a Syrian army air base, calling it a "dangerous" action, Press TV reported.

The U.S. missile attack on Syria is a "pretext for unilateral action, dangerous, destructive and violation of peremptory principles of international laws," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also censured the U.S. military's missile attack.

Referring to the chemical weapons used against the civilians in Syria recently, Zarif said "as the only recent victim of mass use of chemical weapons, Iran condemns use of all weapons of mass destruction by anyone against anyone."

Besides, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani on Friday slammed the U.S. missile attack, warning that such "criminal" acts would only complicate the political and security conditions in Syria, according to Tasnim.

"Undoubtedly, such measure that will complicate the political and security situation in Syria and create dangerous and unforeseeable processes will not undermine the Syrian government and nation's determination to decisively fight against terrorism," Shamkhani was quoted as saying.

"We hope that the new U.S. administration would not seek the past bitter experiences for the American military forces and people in Syria," he added.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 21:02:41|Editor: An

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BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The securities regulator on Saturday vowed to severely punish listed firms that violate market rules or fail to pay dividends when due.

Listed firms that engage in "illicit practices" on the stock market should "pay a heavy price," Liu Shiyu, head of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), told a meeting of the China Association for Public Companies.

He criticized some companies, without naming them, for forging financial information, engaging in fraudulent restructuring, and cashing out after driving stock prices high at the cost of retail investors' interests.

He also urged firms to pay dividends to their investors, saying authorities will "act hard" against those who fail to do so without justified reasons.

He reiterated that the CSRC remained committed to protecting the rights and interests of retail investors, who dominate China's stock market.

China currently has over 3,100 listed companies, with a combined market value exceeding 50 trillion yuan (7.25 trillion U.S. dollars).

Listed firms should play an active role in the implementation of national strategies and avoid blind expansion into non-core business, Liu told the meeting.

He stressed good corporate governance and full information disclosure, saying credit records should be built for company directors and management.
RABAT, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Morocco's largest union Moroccan Labor Union has announced a 24-hour strike on April 13, local media reported on Saturday.

The strike will concern the public servants at local administrations and will demand the rising of wages amid hiking prices and the revision of the controversial pension reform.

Moroccan government approved last year pension reform bill as part of its efforts to fix public finances.

The reforms include an increase in the retirement age to 63 by 2022, and a raise of workers' contributions to 14 percent by 2019 from 10 percent before the reform.

The announcement of the strike broke a long-dated tradition that the new governments are given some 100 days before any protests are organized by unions, Akhbar Al-Youm newspaper reported.

Morocco's King Mohammed VI appointed on Wednesday the members of the new Islamist-led government, marking an end to six months of political deadlock.

The prime minister, Saadeddine El Othmani, told the press following the appointment of his 39-member government that that he will pursue the reforms launched by the former government.
MADRID, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The Basque separatist group ETA handed over tons of weapons on Saturday in the south of France in the group's disarmament process, the Spanish media reported.

According to the reports, the handover involved 120 firearms, 3 tons of explosives and thousands of detonators and bullets, which were from eight separate hiding places in the southwest of the country.

A total of 172 observers were present at the handover, which took place at 9 a.m. when Ram Manikkalingam, the coordinator of the International Verification Committee, read a communique in the French city of Bayonne.

In the official declaration, the coordinator assured that the "observers" accepted this as "the disarmament of ETA," and that French authorities "now take control" of these weapons.

The handover on Saturday was seen as the end of 50 years of struggle by the separatist group for the independence of the Basque Region in the Northwest of Spain, which has cost 829 lives and thousands of injuries.

ETA announced a permanent ceasefire in the runup to the 2011 Spanish general election and has not committed any attacks in the past five and a half years.

France's Interior Minister Matthias Fekl voiced his optimism over the process, describing it as "a great step" forward.

To guarantee the security of the weapons handed over, France has mobilized 180 police and anti-disturbance agents.

Spain's judicial authorities have asked for permission to analyze the weapons to see if any was used in the over 200 ETA attacks, in which the perpetrators were never identified.

It is expected that the leader of the Basque Regional Parliament Inigo Urkullo will make a statement on the arms handover sometime on Saturday.

The Spanish central government will also probably issue a communique, though it is unlikely to differ from the traditional government line, which has been calling for dissolution of the ETA and apology from the group to the victims of its actions.
PYONGYANG, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Kim Jong Un, the supreme leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), has received a message of thanks from Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad for Pyongyang's support for Damascus in Syria's fight against terrorism, said official media Saturday.

"The president of Syria expressed gratitude to Kim Jong Un on April 6 in reply to his kind congratulations on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Syria's Baath Arab Socialist Party," said the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Assad "also expressed thanks to him for having appreciated the role of the (Baath Arab Socialist) Party guiding the Syrian people in the struggle to meet challenges such as heinous actions of the world's terrorists," said the KCNA report.

Assad believes that the bilateral relations of friendship and cooperation between the two countries would grow stronger in the interests of the two peoples, according to the report.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 21:28:33|Editor: An

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BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The central government has continued to cut its annual budget for overseas trips, vehicles and receptions this year.

Central government departments will spend a maximum of 6.15 billion yuan (891 million U.S. dollars) on the "three public consumptions" in 2017, down 31 million yuan from 2016, according to the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

Expenses on overseas visits will reach no more than 1.88 billion yuan, while 3.5 billion yuan was budgeted for the purchase and maintenance of government vehicles and 761 million yuan for official receptions.

The MOF said the 2017 budget will give a priority to funding important overseas visits, reception of foreign guests, as well as participation in international meetings.

In addition, central departments will need to replace their vehicles with greener cars in line with Beijing's policy on emission reduction, the MOF said.

China has long been bedeviled by officials using their expenses accounts to travel in the name of official visits, use work vehicles on personal errands, and enjoy luxurious receptions and accommodation.

However, the frugality campaign launched by central authorities is driving down the expenses in a bid to build a cleaner and more transparent government.
LONDON, April 8 (Xinhua) -- British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson announced Saturday he cancelled a planned visit to Moscow to concentrate on the situation in Syria.

Johnson was due to make the journey to the Russian capital on Monday, April 10.

In a statement issued in London by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Johnson said: "Developments in Syria have changed the situation fundamentally. My priority is now to continue contact with the U.S. and others in the run up to the G7 meeting on 10-11 April."

Johnson added he discussed these plans in detail with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

"He will visit Moscow as planned and, following the G7 meeting, will be able to deliver that clear and co-ordinated message to the Russians.

"We call on Russia to do everything possible to bring about a political settlement in Syria and work with the rest of the international community to ensure that the shocking events of the last week are never repeated," said the secretary.

Johnson's decision follows this weeks missile attack on a Syrian government air base in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria, with both the U.S. and Britain pointing on the Syrian leadership.

Activists accused the Syrian army of firing toxic gas on the town, killing some 70 people, while the Syrian army said the strike targeted an arm depot containing toxic gas, blaming the rebels for storing such materials.

The Russian Defense Ministry also said earlier that the deadly gas contamination in Idlib was caused by the explosion of chemical weapons produced by the rebels.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 21:38:35|Editor: xuxin

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TEHRAN, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Iranian and Kazakh officials have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) here to broaden cooperation in the field of agriculture, semi-official Fars news agency reported on Saturday.

Based on the agreement, Iran's northern province of Golestan and Kazakh side will cooperate to develop agricultural sector in Kazakhstan's Kyzylorda region.

"Kazakhstan holds appropriate capacities for implementation of agriculture activities, especially in the areas of growing rice, corn and barley," Head of Golestan Chamber of Commerce Ramezan Bahrami said.

Bahrami also said a bilateral follow-up meeting would be held in Kazakhstan soon to discuss the implementation of the provisions of the MoU.

In August 2016, an economic delegation of Golestan province made a three-day visit to Mangystau region of Kazakhstan where the two sides voiced readiness to strengthen transactions in agricultural, industrial and tourist fields.
WARSAW, April 8 (Xinhua) -- A residential building in Swiebodzice, southwestern Poland, collapsed Saturday morning, leaving three killed, four injured and four missing.

But the casualties may change as the search and rescue work is still underway.

Rescuers said children are among the three killed.

Firefighters are searching for the four missing, but the exact number of the buried remains unclear.

Polish prime minister expressed the sympathies to the families of victims.

A total of 23 fire units and two rescue teams were called to the site, after about 80 percent of the three-storey building collapsed.

Gas explosion was said to be one of possible causes.
NEW DELHI, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Authorities in India's eastern state of Odisha Saturday imposed curfew and prohibitory orders following violence and clashes between two communities, officials said.

The curfew has been put in place in Bhadrak district, about 126 km northeast of Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Odisha.

"The curfew has been announced last evening after clashes broke out between two communities," a police official posted in Bhadrak said. "The situation is tense but under control."

Reports said clashes broke out in the town over alleged derogatory remarks posted by some people on social networking site against Hindu deities.

The state's Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has appealed for calm and harmony.

"I sincerely appeal to all in Bhadrak for peace and harmony," Patnaik wrote on twitter. "Have directed stringent action against any attempt to disrupt peace."

Patnaik is currently in New Delhi to attend a meeting.

Top civil and police officials have rushed to the district to contain situation from deteriorating.

The unrest began after members of Hindu fundamentalist groups took to roads, burning tyres and torching shops.

Reports said the members clashed with police and threw stones on them, injuring some police personnel.

Additional contingents of police force were deployed in Bhadrak and adjacent areas as precautionary measure.

Reports said the town wore a deserted look as offices, shops, business establishments and educational institutions remained closed in wake of curfew and violence.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 21:53:37|Editor: xuxin

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ISTANBUL, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Thirty people were injured on Saturday in a fight between Turkish residents and Syrian refugees in Turkey's western city of Izmir, local media reported.

The clash erupted when around 300 residents in Torbali district attacked Syrian refugees with sticks and knives over a claim that a Turkish child was beaten by a group of Syrians, the Hurriyet daily said.

After the incident some 500 refugees were forced to leave the neighborhood, where they had been staying in tents, the daily noted.

The Syrians tried to leave the area by hitchhiking on the highway, but they had to walk away on foot as no driver would take them, according to the report.

The report also said angry Turks closed the traffic on the highway for some time, while others set on fire around 40 tents used by the refugees.

"It was impossible to stop the residents," Ali Curukcu from the local authority was quoted as saying. "They were very angry."

Curukcu also urged the authorities to relocate all the Syrians to refugee camps, saying "similar incidents in the area have increased significantly with their arrival."

Turkey is hosting over 3 million Syrian refugees on its soil.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 21:53:37|Editor: An

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BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Thunderstorms and heavy rains are forecast to hit parts of central and southeast China in the next 24 hours, the national observatory warned Saturday.

From Saturday evening to Sunday evening, parts of Hubei, Anhui, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Fujian provinces will be lashed by thunderstorms, wild winds or hailstones, according to the National Meteorological Center (NMC).

The center issued a blue alert, the lowest in a four-tier warning system, for severe convective weather for the above-mentioned regions, predicting precipitation of 20 to 40 millimeters per hour, or even 50 millimeters per hour, in some areas.

The NMC cautioned that local governments should take emergency measures against thunderstorms, strong wind and potential disasters, including mountain floods and landslides.

China has a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 22:13:40|Editor: An

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HOHHOT, April 8 (Xinhua) -- A freight train fully loaded with Russian wheat arrived at Manzhouli land port in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Saturday.

This is the first bulk shipment of Russian wheat to enter China via the land port after the two countries reached deals on quarantine inspection requirements for exporting Russian wheat, corn, rice and soybean to China in December 2015.

China's state-owned foodstuff conglomerate COFCO Corp. is responsible for quality control, import and distribution to the Chinese market.

COFCO president Yu Xubo said the group plans to import 1 million to 2 million tonnes of wheat from Russia a year. This may increase to 4 million or 5 million tonnes a year in the future, he said.

Russia replaced the United States as the world's top wheat exporter last year with 25 million tonnes of exports, according to figures provided by the Russian side.

"Compared with ocean shipping, land transport via Manzhouli cuts travel time and costs," said Chen Lixin, Party chief of Manzhouli City.

He said China's import of Russian wheat is a new breakthrough in bilateral trade and economic cooperation achieved within the framework of the Belt and Road initiative.
by Abdul Haleem, Abdul Aziz Safdari

GERESHK, Afghanistan, April 8 (Xinhua) -- "Trust me, I don't like to cultivate poppy and earn livelihood through producing opium poppy and other illicit drugs, but the current atmosphere and extreme poverty have forced me to do the easy, profitable and illegal business," said Habib Agha, a farmer in Gereshk district of the restive Helmand province.

Inspecting his poppy farm and cleansing unwanted plants, Agha told Xinhua recently that the business of growing opium poppy and processing it into heroin is forbidden by law.

However, extreme poverty has driven him and many other villagers to the poppy fields and heroin labs to earn a crust for their families living in insurgency-plagued areas, he said.

A former stronghold of Taliban and the hotbed of the armed militants currently, the troubled Helmand province been the scene of fierce fighting between government forces and armed insurgents over the past few years.

A survey conducted by Afghan Ministry for Counter-Narcotics and the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime and released in October revealed 43 percent increase in the opium products in 2016 against the poppy produced in 2015.

According to the survey, Afghanistan had produced 4,800 tons of opium poppy in 2016 while the illegal crop harvested in 2015 amounted to 3,300 tons.

The share of the restive Helmand province in producing poppy, according to Afghan officials, is more than any other provinces in Afghanistan over the past few years.

More areas would go under poppy cultivation and the product output would increase this year in the restive Helmand, according to the poppy growing farmers, as they believe that the Taliban militants have gained more grounds in the conflict-battered province.

"Poppy cultivation is common in Taliban controlled areas," another farmer Abdul Razaq said.

He said the Taliban militants have imposed taxes and take one maan from five maan as tax from the poppy harvested by the farmers.

One maan equals to 4.5 kg, with the price of about 745 U.S. dollars to 1,400 U.S. dollars, depending on the quality, according to Razaq. In contrast, he said the price for one maan wheat nowadays is 1.86 U.S. dollars.

To increase his poppy output, Razaq has installed solar power system on water pumps to generate more water and irrigate more lands.

"Two to three times annually I cultivate and harvest poppy from my land and each time I can earn 50,000 afghanis (740 U.S. dollars) from one acre land on average," the veteran farmer said.

However, spokesman for Helmand provincial administration Omar Zawak has expressed the government's firm resolve in fighting illegal drug.

"We are determined to soon launch anti-poppy campaign in areas under government control to eradicate the menace and would also utilize all possible means to destroy poppy farms under the Taliban control," said the spokesman.
NICOSIA, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Though divided on the possible evolvement of the European Union (EU) after Brexit, the left and center-right members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in Cyprus agreed on their rejection to a multi-speed Europe and the shift of more powers to Brussels.

"Any effort by big countries such as Germany, France, Spain and Italy for a multi-speed Europe would not be liked by the European peoples," Takis Hadjigeorgiou, a left-wing AKEL party deputy in the European Parliament said in an interview with Xinhua.

Lefteris Christoforou, an MEP from the ruling right-wing DISY party, also told Xinhua that a multi-speed Europe would be a risky task.

A multi-speed European Union is one of the five alternative options European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker included in his White Paper on how EU should evolve after the Brexit.

This option, under which some states would integrate further faster, has caused concern among the poorer EU countries that it could lead to unwanted division.

"Social and economic cohesion, solidarity and cooperation cannot operate in a multi-speed Europe. Peoples want a unified Europe which will be strong, indivisible, that would safeguard an equal presence of states, governments and citizens, and not a multi-divided Europe," said Christoforou.

Hadjigeorgiou and Christoforou are also in agreement that any effort by the European Commission to assume more powers by deciding on behalf of national governments would hurt the group.

Christoforou said that some support strengthening the bureaucracy in Brussels but other strong voices believe that EU can become more effective with fewer interventions in the national governments and members states.

"That would result in the trust of the European citizens in the European Union being completely lost," warned Hadjigeorgiou.

Hadjigeorgiou said correcting what he called a democracy deficit is a must before the EU attempts to reform.

"No one can seriously disagree with Juncker's call for closer cooperation. But under what terms and who will decide what opportunities and capabilities one-half of EU states would have in such closer cooperation," Hadjigeorgiou said.

He added that as long as the terms or closer cooperation are not defined clearly and democracy is not strengthened, it would be devoid of any meaning or would develop in a cooperation of the few.

Christoforou was more enthusiastic about the prospects of further integration.

"By definition the European Union is synonymous with cooperation...The European Union must proceed decisively in all sectors, but especially in the fields of common foreign policy, defense and security," he advocated.

He said he was confident that the European Union has the capability of achieving closer cooperation, provided all member states and EU institutions work together.

Despite his reservation on the powers of Brussels, Hadjigeorgiou still believes that Cyprus should remain committed to the European perspective.

Citing Cyprus issue with Turkey as one of the reasons, the MEP said Cyprus needs the protection offered by its status as a member of the European Union.

He also admitted that Cyrus is obliged to reform as a member state of the EU.

"Additionally, we have an obligation to reform our state which would be responsible vis-a-vis its citizens, with a sound economy, a health system and a sound education. A state that could upgrade its role in the European Union to some degree," he said.

The Cypriot government has come out in favor of a stronger European Union, which "will correspond both to the expectations of the European citizens and to the international challenges."

In a statement on the White Paper, the government also said that it wanted the EU to be open to the world and would not be looking inwardly.

"We must resist any form of introversion, especially during these critical times for our common European future," the Cypriot government said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-08 22:33:43|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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ANKARA, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Around 100-150 people gathered in front of the U.S. embassy in Ankara on Saturday in protest of a U.S. military strike on Syria.

The protesters, mostly members of the Patriotic Party, or the Vatan Party, were chanting slogans "get out of Syria," "U.S. killers get out of Middle East" with Turkish national flags, party flags and banners in hand.

Speaking in front of the U.S. embassy, Utku Reyhan, the party's general secretary, warned the Turkish government that it is impossible to obtain a beneficial result by rivaling Syria and cooperate with the United States against Bashar al-Assad government.

On the same day, a group of members from Turkish Communist Movement protested the U.S. attack in front of the U.S. consulate in Istanbul, carrying the banner of "Yankees go home."

Earlier on Friday, the United States targeted a Syrian air base with over 50 Tomahawk missiles, killing six Syrian soldiers and nine civilians. The Syrian presidential office slammed the U.S. attack as "reckless and irresponsible."
NAIROBI, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Six members of the same family died in a grisly road accident early Saturday when their saloon vehicle collided with a truck in Ruai area, about 25 km east of Nairobi.

Area police officer Leonard Kimaiyo said the driver of the vehicle they were traveling in escaped with serious injuries and is admitted at the hospital but the lorry occupants were unhurt.

"The group was traveling in a saloon car when it collided with a lorry and died at a junction on the Eastern by-pass in Ruai. The driver of the saloon car survived and is admitted at the hospital. We have launched investigations to establish the cause of the accident," Kimaiyo said.

The six family members were from a graduation event in Kakamega headed for Kangundo when the accident happened at about 5 a.m. local time.

Kenyan roads have been described as exceptionally dangerous for vulnerable users like children, out of whom a significant number of them are among those killed and injured.

The East Africa nation loses at least 3,000 people annually from road traffic accidents, with close to half being pedestrians, according to statistics from the police.
MOGADISHU, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Somalia's semi-autonomous region of Puntland on Saturday executed five Al-Shabaab members by firing squad in Bosaso town.

Chairperson of Puntland Army court, Abditifah Haji Aden told journalists the five were behind several murders involving senior officials which have been carried out in Bosaso.

"The court conducted execution of five Al-Shabaab militant members here in Bosaso town this morning. All of them have been found guilty of killing senior Puntland officials in Bosaso early this year," Aden said.

He said that the appeal court sentenced two others to life imprisonment, noting that there are other Al-Shabaab suspects in prisons under Puntland State Administration.

The semi-autonomous region of Pntland has been battling Al-Shabaab as its military court sentenced individuals linked to terrorism tough punishments such as death penalty.
KATHMANDU, April 8 (Xinhua) -- A rare one-horned rhino has been killed by poachers in Nepal's largest habitat of rhinos, Chitwan National Park, on Saturday.

Officials at the Chitwan National Park (CNP) confirmed that an adult male rhino was shot dead on Friday night and the horns were hacked off.

"We found a dead rhino killed by poachers in a community forest, near the central office of the park, this afternoon (Friday). We have launched investigations into the incident," Nurendra Aryal, assistant conservation officer at CNP told Xinhua.

As per the initial reports, the endangered species was shot by rifle while the horn has been cut off with an axe.

The poachers tried their luck during the night-storm and at a time when the security concern has been shifted towards relocation of five rhinos from CNP to far-western region based Shuklaphanta National Park. As part of government's decision of transferring five rhinos, four have already been released to the new habitat within a week.

The incident comes at a time when Nepal was planning to mark the success of third consecutive "Zero Poaching Year," thanks to effective conservation efforts and scientific security mechanism. The last rhino-poaching incident occurred in May 2014 in the same region.

Chitwan National Park, located some 150 km from the capital city, is renowned for protection of one-horned rhinoceros, Royal Bengal tiger and Gharial Crocodile. According to Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, out of total 645 rhinos in Nepal, over 600 are in Chitwan National Park.
by Naim-Ul-Karim

DHAKA, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh's Department of Environment has started to cut off utility supply to the toxic tanneries in Dhaka for their failure to shift factories to a new leather processing cluster in Savar on the outskirts of the capital city.

Lines had been cut to at least 30 tanneries in Dhaka's Hazaribagh area on Saturday in line with a recent court order, an official from the department told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

He said the department will be successful in cutting off all utility connections within Sunday.

"We're just obeying the court order," said the official.

Bangladesh's Supreme Court on March 30 ordered the tanneries to finish relocating their Hazaribagh operations before April 6.

A High Court Division bench of Bangladesh last month ordered some 154 toxic Hazaribagh tanneries to shut down.

According to the court ruling, the tanneries will remain shut down until they are shifted from Hazaribagh to a new cluster in Savar.

The High Court Division bench in its March 6 order also instructed relevant government authorities to shut down utility supply including gas line, power and water lines of the environment-damaging tanneries.

Despite repeated orders to relocate tanneries to the leather industrial zone at Savar, most tanneries have not moved yet.

As of Saturday, some 50 factories have reportedly been shifted to the new environment-friendly leather industrial zone in Savar.

Bangladesh environmentalists have campaigned against slow relocation processes and gone for legal battle.

In June last year, Bangladesh's High Court ordered the tanneries to pay 50,000 taka each to the national exchequer a day in compensation for polluting the environment until they shift to Savar.

The tanneries later moved the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court against the order. The amount was then revised to 10,000 taka.

In 2001, Bangladesh's High Court ordered these tanneries to relocate to Savar but the order was not executed.

On June 23, 2009, the court once again ordered the relocation to be completed within Feb. 24, 2010.

The relocation orders suffered repeated setbacks as tanners said that they are yet to install rawhide processing facilities at the Savar park.

Until recently, Hazaribagh was home to 95 percent of Bangladesh's leather tanneries while none of them has an effluent treatment plant as required by the country's environmental and labor law.

Dhaka's Hazaribagh residents who often complain of skin diseases and respiratory illnesses have been living in one of the world's most contaminated urban environments.

The workers of the tanneries also suffer from health problems as they work with extremely dangerous chemicals with little protective equipment.

According to the Export Promotion Bureau of Bangladesh, earnings from export of leather and leather products in Fiscal Year 2015-16 grew 15.31 percent to 1,160.95 million U.S. dollars. (1 Bangladeshi taka = 0.013 U.S. dollar)
NAIROBI, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan soldiers who are part of the African Union in Mission (AMISOM) on Saturday killed Al-Shabaab commander Bashe Nure Hassan in a foiled attack at the Somalia army camp in southern Somalia.

Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) spokesman Colonel Joseph Owuoth said the militant group's commander was killed when the terrorists launched an attack at the Somalia National Army (SNA) location adjacent to the AMISOM/KDF defences at Kuday, which is a key port town.

Owuoth said the AMISOM troops backed SNA allies using mortars and machine gunfire to scuttle the terrorists attack.

"Following the failed terrorist attack, two Al-Shabaab terrorists were neutralized and scores suspected injured. One of the terrorists killed was Al-Shabaab commander Bashe Nure Hassan," Owuoth said in a statement issued in Nairobi.

Hassan is a Kuday resident who was born and raised in the area before joining the terrorist group several years back.

Owuoth said the Kenyan soldiers recovered three AK 47 weapons, 22 magazines, a satellite phone and 290 rounds of ammunition. There was no casualty from the SNA or AMISOM/KDF troops.

"AMISOM/KDF soldiers remain vigilant and will continue to pursue the terrorists to ensure peace and security of our country, Kenya, as well as support SAMISOM operations to stabilize Somalia," Owuoth said.

Kenya has more than 4,000 troops in the 22,000-strong AU force in Somalia, helping the UN-backed government battle Al-Shabaab, which is part of the Al-Qaida allied terror network.
People gesture and wave "YES" banners and Turkish national flags as they shout on April 8, 2017 during a campaign rally for the "yes" vote in a constitutional referendum in Istanbul. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

ISTANBUL, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's political parties held mass rallies on Saturday, a week ahead of a referendum on whether to shift to the presidential system.

The "yes" campaign led by the ruling Justice and Development Party and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gathered in Istanbul's Yenikapi Square for its biggest rally so far, with the participation of around one million people.

"Is Istanbul ready to say 'yes' on April 16?" the president asked the crowd.

Erdogan argued that a "yes" vote will contribute to the Turkish struggle against the Islamic State and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is listed as a terror organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

He vowed that Turkey will fight terrorism in a more effective way under the presidential system.

The president also argued that voting "yes" would be the best answer to the country's struggle against Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based preacher blamed by the Turkish government for orchestrating a failed coup in July last year.

He called for three million Turkish voters living abroad to cast their votes, saying the upcoming referendum will be a breakthrough in Turkey's history.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party, appeared at a rally in the northern city of Trabzon.

He reiterated his party's argument that the constitutional amendments would restrict the powers of parliament.

"If you say 'yes,' you will give the whole authorization to one person," Kilicdaroglu warned. "So that without any justification, the president will be able to abolish the parliament."

Turkey's pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party also held a rally in Istanbul, calling for a "no" vote in the plebiscite for the sake of peace.

The party's 13 lawmakers, including its co-chairs, are in prison over their alleged links to PKK.
A damaged bus is pictured after a bomb blast in the government-held city of Homs on March 29, 2017, Syria. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

DAMASCUS, April 8 (Xinhua) -- An explosive device tore through a communal bus in Syria's central city of Homs, killing a woman and wounding 25 others on Saturday, state news agency SANA reported.

The bomb was left behind the driver seat and exploded near the Hisya area in Homs countryside.

The blast is the latest in a series of explosions targeting Homs recently, with two similar bombings targeting buses last month.

In February, six suicide bombers detonated themselves in two security headquarters in Homs, killing at least 42 people.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-09 01:34:08|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BAGHDAD, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Iraq's firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Saturday called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to resign and condemned the U.S. missile strike on Syria.

In a statement on his official website, Sadr called for all non-Syrian parties to stop intervening in the conflict in order to give the Syrian people the right to self-determination.

"I would consider it fair for President Bashar al-Assad to resign and leave power, allowing the people of Syria to avoid the scourge of war and domination of terrorists," Sadr said.

He also condemned the U.S. missile strike, urging all non-Syrian parties involved in the Syrian conflict to withdraw their forces.

"Let everyone know that America's military intervention would not be feasible. It has declared its bombing for Daesh (Islamic State) in Iraq, but terrorism is still on our land, and its intervention (in Iraq) has never been useful at all," Sadr said.

"I call on all parties to militarily withdraw so that the Syrian people take things into their own hands, as they are the only ones who have the right to decide their fate. Otherwise, Syria will turn into rubble," he said.

Sadr believes that the United States "has to stop its harm (on Syria), and that is also required from Russia and other parties," he added.

Earlier in the day, a statement by the office of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Abadi received a phone call from U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, and the two discussed the battles in Mosul, the international support to Iraq in its fight against terrorism and the situations in the region.

"Iraq considers the use of chemical weapons in Syria a condemned and denounced crime," Abadi was quoted as saying in the statement.

Abadi called for an urgent international investigation into the use of chemical weapons in Syria, the statement added.

For his part, Pence stressed that his country's policy in the region "has not changed, and our priority is a decisive defeat for Daesh in Iraq and the region."

On Friday, the United States carried out a missile strike on a Syrian military air base in response to what was believed to be a chemical weapons attack in Khan Sheikhun, a rebel-held town in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-09 02:24:14|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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TEHRAN, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Iran and Hungary signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) here on Saturday to cooperate in nuclear technology, Tehran Times daily reported.

The agreement was inked during a meeting between Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, and Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjen, the report said without further details.

Salehi hailed the agreement, hoping that the two countries will increase cooperation in the future.

Semjen said the relations between Tehran and Budapest are expanding, as they are involved in talks over expansion of relations in other fields such as tourism.

In February 2016, Salehi said Iran was considering a plan to design a 25-megawatt reactor for Hungary.
MOSCOW, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed confidence that Russia's strategic partnership with Turkmenistan and Tajikistan will further develop as he extended congratulations to the two neighbors on the 25th anniversary of diplomatic ties on Saturday.

In two letters respectively to Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Putin praised the fruitful cooperation and bilateral agreements in various fields that Russia and the two countries have achieved over the years, underlining that their constructive ties will keep on "contributing to peace and stability in Central Asia."

"I am confident that by working together we will further enhance our mutually beneficial partnership for the benefit of the people of Russia and Turkmenistan." Putin's letter to Berdimuhamedov read according to the Kremlin's website.

In the letter to Rahmon, Putin also spoke highly of the strategic partnership between Russia and Tajikistan, calling for joint efforts in fighting international terrorism.

"I firmly believe that Russia and Tajikistan will continue to strengthen their strategic partnership in all areas, coordinate their efforts in countering international terrorism, extremism, cross-border crime and other challenges to regional security," Putin said.

Both Turkmenistan and Tajikistan established diplomatic ties with Russia in 1992, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
JUBA, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The UN top relief official in South Sudan on Saturday called for immediate end to increasing attacks on both humanitarian workers and civilians.

Eugene Owusu, the Humanitarian Coordinator for South Sudan, also demanded that warring parties to the conflict uphold their responsibilities to protect civilians and ensure the safety and security of humanitarians.

"These attacks are reprehensible and unacceptable. I call on those in power to take swift action to end the targeting of innocent people in this conflict and to hold those responsible to account," Owusu said in a statement issued in Juba.

He said the UN has received reports of outrageous abuses against humanitarians by both state and opposition actors in the past week in Upper Nile, as well as reports of horrific attacks against civilians in Eastern Equatoria.

According to Owusu, two serious attacks were carried out against aid workers in Upper Nile since March 31 and in Aburoc, humanitarians were harassed and beaten by members of armed opposition forces, while in Melut, state security officials detained and beat two aid workers before releasing them.

"I condemn these attacks in the strongest terms. I demand that the leadership on both sides investigates these incidents with a view to holding the specific perpetrators to account, as well as ending the targeting of humanitarians in the future," said Owusu.

The humanitarian situation in South Sudan continues to deteriorate with over 3.5 million people having now been forced to flee their homes, including nearly 1.9 million people who are internally displaced and more than 1.7 million who have fled as refugees to neighbouring countries.

An average of 2,000 South Sudanese refugees are arriving into Uganda each day, over 62 percent of whom are children, according to the UN.

"Humanitarians are in this country to save lives. It is beyond reckoning that they continue to be killed, harassed and abused despite our repeated calls for action," said Owusu.

He called on South Sudan leadership to investigate insecurity incidents in Pajok, Magwi County, Eastern Equatoria, where at least 6,000 people have been forced to flee to Uganda and reportedly several dozen have been killed, following an attack by government forces on the town.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-09 03:04:20|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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AMMAN, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Dozens of Jordanians on Saturday held a sit-in protesting strikes by the U.S. against military targets in Syria.

During the sit-in, the participants chanted slogans against the U.S. interference in Syria's affairs.

The participants, including political party members and activists, held Syrian flags, picture of Syrian President Assad and banners in support of Syria and the Syrian government.

The sit-in was held near the Syrian embassy in Amman.

Showing support for political solutions to end the crisis in Syria, the protestors voiced their rejection of any interference or strikes by the U.S. against Syria.

On Friday, the United States struck a Syrian air base in the country's central region and caused losses, a Syrian military source said.

The attack targeted the Shayrat military base in the central Homs province, the source told Xinhua.

The state TV called the attack an "American aggression."

The extent of losses remained unknown, the source said, adding that the army's general command is awaiting reports from Homs.

The attack marked the U.S. response to the alleged chemical attack on rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun in the countryside of Idlib province in northwestern Syria, reports said.

Washington accused the Syrian army of being behind the toxic attack, an allegation totally denied by Damascus.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-09 03:19:23|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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GAZA, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of government employees, civil servants and former security officers rallied in Gaza city center on Saturday in protest against the decision of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) consensus government to slash 30 percent of their monthly salaries.

Waving large posters of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Palestinian flags, demonstrators chanted slogans against the Palestinian government and called on Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah to quit.

Supporters of and leaders in Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah Party organized the rally days after they found a 30-percent cut in their monthly salaries.

It's the first time since Hamas movement's violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2007 that Fatah activists, most of them former PNA employees, hold such a mass rally against the government.

Aadel Tu'eiman, one of the employees who joined the protest, told Xinhua that the rally was meant to send a message to the PNA government and the Palestinian leadership that civil servants in the besieged Gaza Strip reject the decision directly targeting their living.

"The economic situation in the Gaza Strip is basically bad; rates of poverty and unemployment are high and the decision of reducing 30 percent of our salaries would make it hard for us to survive," said Tu'eima.

"Bills swallow our monthly salaries, mainly electricity and mobiles. Cutting off 30 percent of it, nothing remains for us to feed our children," he said with pain.

In the summer of 2007, when Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip and ousted the security forces of President Abbas, the latter called on all 70,000 employees, including civil servants and security officers, not to go to work under the rule of Hamas while promising to continue to pay their salaries.

On Tuesday, the government of Hamdallah announced the pay-cut decision without setting a date to rescind it. The government said the decision was made due to a severe fiscal crisis the government is suffering.

Demonstrators also questioned why the cuts only concern employees in Gaza but exclude those in the West Bank, blaming Hamdallah and Abbas for the crisis.

"Instead of supporting us, they cut our salaries," a demonstrator said in anger.

On Saturday night, Abbas called for an emergency meeting for his Fatah Party's Central Committee in Ramallah to discuss the government's decision to cut the salaries of the employees in the Gaza Strip.

"We are in an open-ended protest until President Abbas and his Prime Minister regret their decision and stop cutting our salaries," said Monzer al-Batsh, another government employee who joined Saturday's protest in Gaza city.
LJUBLJANA, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Long queues of traffic at the main Slovenian-Croatian border crossings continued on Saturday, one day after the decree tightening controls on the EU's borders took effect.

About 2-kilometre tailback has formed on the Ljubljana-Zagreb motorway at the Obrezje border crossing, where cars wait two and a half hours to enter Croatia while buses wait as much as four and a half hours and lorries two hours, according to the Slovenian Press Agency (STA).

In the other direction from Zagreb to Ljubljana, cars wait one hour and 30 minutes, while buses and lorries wait two hours, the STA said, adding that Sunny weather and the start of holidays in Austria and Bavaria only add to the increased traffic.

At the other border control of Gruskovje, cars also wait two and a half hours to cross the border, while other crossings have waiting times between 30 minutes and one hour.

As of Friday, all member states of the European Union (EU) started imposing systematical identity checks on all nationals from countries inside or outside the EU.

The move came after the European Parliament passed the decree in February.

The decree, which amends the Schengen Borders Code, obliges EU member states to carry out systematic checks on all persons crossing EU external borders against databases of stolen and lost documents, the Schengen Information System and other relevant EU databases.

The checks will be mandatory at all air, sea and land borders on both entry and exit.

The new change is the latest EU move to tackle terrorist threats, and the phenomenon of foreign fighters -- EU citizens joining terrorist groups in conflict zones, such as in Syria and Iraq.
ALGIERS, April 8 (Xinhua) -- High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini kicked off a two-day visit to Algeria late on Saturday to boost bilateral partnership.

Upon arrival at the airport, Mogherini, who is also the vice-president of the European Commission, told reporters that she is very satisfied with the level of partnership between Algeria and the EU.

"I am extremely satisfied with the deep, intense and very positive partnership we managed to build over the past years," she said, adding that her visit aimed at further intensifying the partnership between the two sides.

"This is my second visit to Algeria since the beginning of my term," she said, adding that she met with Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra a few weeks ago in Brussels on the sidelines of the Algeria-EU Association Council bound by a twelve-year-long association agreement.

Mogherini is due to hold talks with top Algerian officials to assess bilateral cooperation and discuss regional situation as well as some international issues of common interest.

During the 10th EU-Algeria Association Council meeting on March 13, the two parties adopted partnership priorities in a bid to give their cooperation new impetus amid new emerging challenges.

Algeria has been calling on the EU to review what it believes an unbalanced association agreement inked in September 2005, as its non-oil exports to the European bloc did not exceed 14 billion U.S. dollars in 10 years, while its imports from the bloc hit 220 billion dollars.
Nikki Haley (L, front), U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, addresses a Security Council emergency session on the situation in Syria at the UN headquarters in New York, on April 7, 2017. A divided UN Security Council met on Friday in emergency session to debate the U.S. cruise missile attack on an airfield in Syria where Washington asserted aircraft were launched to drop chemical weapons on civilians Idlib Province earlier in the week, killing more than 70 people. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

UNITED NATIONS, April 7 (Xinhua) -- A divided UN Security Council met on Friday in emergency session to debate the U.S. cruise missile attack on an airfield in Syria where Washington asserted aircraft were launched to drop chemical weapons on civilians Idlib Province earlier in the week, killing more than 70 people.

At least council members agreed the only solution to the Syrian war was a political one.

In addition to allegations that government forces carried out the attack there were also assertions it was carried out by terrorists or rebels or that a warehouse where the deadly gas was illegally stored had accidentally exploded.

The attack early Friday, Syrian time, came within an hour Thursday, New York time, of the council ending deadlocked, closed-door deliberations on a draft resolution calling for an investigation into the toxic gas attack.

"While we were striving to come up with alternatives and come up with consensus in the Security Council, the United States not only had unilaterally attacked but while we were sitting here and demanding the need for an independent investigation, a complete impartial investigation, the United States had become the investigator ... prosecutor ... the judge ... the jury," said Ambassador Sacha Llorentty Soliz of Bolivia, who requested the emergency council meeting along with Russia.

"This is an extremely, extremely serious violation of international law," he said. "This is not the first time that this has happened."

Sacha Llorenti, Bolivian ambassador to the United Nations, holds a photo of former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell showing a vial that he described as one that could contain anthrax, during an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on the situation in Syria at the UNheadquarters in New York, April 7, 2017. A divided UN Security Council met on Friday in the emergency session to debate the U.S. cruise missile attack on an airfield in Syria where Washington asserted aircraft were launched to drop chemical weapons on civilians in Idlib Province earlier in the week, killing more than 70 people. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

Llorentty then held up a 2003 photo of former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, a retired army general, holding a vial containing what Powell had said was similar in appearance to a toxic substance to back up his claim of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and to buttress his plea to the Security Council to support a U.S.-led invasion.

No such weapons were found.

"It led to a series of atrocities in the (Middle East) region," added the rather emotional representative of Bolivia. Llorentty at one point also waved a copy of the UN Charter to emphasize his point the U.S. attack was illegal under the Charter.

Ambassador Nikki Haley of the United States didn't quite answer the question on the minds of many -- whether this attack signals the beginning of President Donald Trump to order more military strikes.

"The United States took a very measured step last (Thursday) night," she said, concluding her defense of the U.S. action. "We are prepared to do more, but we hope that will not be necessary. It is time for all civilized nations to stop the horrors that are taking place in Syria and demand a political solution."

Matthew Rycroft (L, front), United Kingdom's ambassador to the United Nations, addresses a Security Councilemergency session on the situation in Syria at the UN headquarters in New York, on April 7, 2017. A divided UN Security Council met on Friday in emergency session to debate the U.S. cruise missile attack on an airfield in Syria where Washington asserted aircraft were launched to drop chemical weapons on civilians Idlib Province earlier in the week, killing more than 70 people. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

"I deeply regret that the previous speaker showed more outrage against the United States than against the (Syrian President Bashar al) Asad regime that on Tuesday deliberately dropped chemical weapons," said Ambassador Matthew Rycroft of Britain.

"The United Kingdom supports the U.S. air strike on the Al Shayrat airfield because war crimes have consequences," the London envoy said. "And the greatest war criminal of all, Bashar al Assad, has now been put on notice.

"The U.S. strike was a proportionate response to unspeakable acts that gave rise to overwhelming humanitarian distress," Rycroft said. "It was also a strong effort to save lives, by ensuring that such acts never happen again.

"The resolution that we adopted three and a half years ago provided a framework for the destruction of chemical weapons in Syria," he said. "At the time Russian assured us that Asad would fully declare his chemical arsenal and would continue to cooperate with international inspectors. Perhaps that was the assurance that Russia received from Asad."

"And perhaps Russia has now learned the hard lesson that backing a war criminal comes with its own consequence: humiliation."

Vladimir Safronkov, Russian deputy ambassador to the United Nations, addresses a Security Council emergency session on the situation in Syria at the UN headquarters in New York, on April 7, 2017. A divided UN Security Council met on Friday in emergency session to debate the U.S. cruise missile attack on an airfield in Syria where Washington asserted aircraft were launched to drop chemical weapons on civilians Idlib Province earlier in the week, killing more than 70 people. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

The representative of Russia, Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov, also sounded rather upset, especially with members of the council who voiced opposition to his alleged threat Thursday evening to veto a proposed resolution.

The five permanent members of the council Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, each have a veto.

He even asked for a second chance to complain of insults against Moscow.

Earlier, Safaronkov had described the U.S. attack as "a flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression. We strongly condemn the illegitimate actions by the U.S. The consequences of this to international and regional stability could be extremely serious."

"It's not difficult to imagine how much the sprits of these terrorists have been raised after this support from Washington," he said, maintaining "The Syrian armed forces will continue to be the main military institute. Who will fight against terrorism? The illegal armed groups who have come to Syria in hundreds of thousands? You've destroyed Iraqi and Libyan bases and military institutions and see what happened."

Liu Jieyi (C, front), China's permanent representative to the United Nations, addresses a Security Councilemergency session on the situation in Syria at the UN headquarters in New York, on April 7, 2017. Liu Jieyi said here on Friday that political solution is the only way out for the Syrian issue and military means will not work. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

Liu Jieyi, the Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations, underscored the universal request for a political solution.

"China has always been consistently standing for dialogue and consultation to resolve the international conflict," he said. "What is now urgently needed ... is that all parties work together to prevent the situation in Syria from further deterioration. Political solution is the only way out for the Syrian issue. Military means will not work."

"They will only worsen the suffering of the Syrian people so that the situation in Syria and the region will be more complicated and turbulent which is not at all in the common interest of Syria, regional countries and the international community," Liu said. "China calls upon all relevant parties to persist firmly in diplomatic efforts and stick firmly for a political solution, stick to dialogue and consultation in a firm way and support the role of the United Nations as a main channel of mediation and good offices."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-09 06:04:42|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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DAMASCUS, April 8 (Xinhua) -- A suicide bombing rocked a refugee camp inside the Syrian territories near the Jordanian borders on Saturday, activities said.

The explosion, believed to have been caused by a car bomb, rattled the Rukban camp located in the far Syrian desert on the borders with Jordan, leaving many people wounded, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The London-based watchdog said unknown warplanes flew over the area after the blast.

Meanwhile, the Observatory said clashes erupted between the Islamic State (IS) group and other rebel groups in the Tanf area close to the Rukban camp.

Other activists said five were killed by the explosion, which is believed to have been carried out by IS to target rival rebel groups in the camp.
Gopee-Scoon: TT the place to do business

With Trinidad and Tobago now being part of your global network of business centres, we can look forward to businesses that are a part of the Regus international network utilizing the centre at Invaders Bay and seeing Trinidad and Tobago as the opportunity that it is. Noting the Government will continue to make all effort to create an enabling environment to allow for new and existing businesses to flourish, Senator Gopee-Scoon announced that the Cabinet has before it a comprehensive implementation plan that will holistically address and significantly improve the domestic business and investment climate.

She stated that the Plan was developed in collaboration with several Ministries and Government Agencies and is expected to be implemented over a 44 month period, achieving major deliverables every six months. It includes a series of administrative and legislative reforms which address several areas pertinent to business operations, such as trading across borders; paying taxes; starting a business; registering property; electronic payments; dealing with construction permits; resolving insolvency and getting credit. Additionally, Gopee- Scoon informed the audience that an analysis of the existing free zones regime was currently being undertaken and the Government has agreed to the development of a Special Economic Zones Policy.

She said this Policy will modernize Trinidad and Tobagos economic/free zone regime; increase the economic and social impact of economic zones in Trinidad and Tobago; enhance the international appeal of Trinidad and Tobagos economic zone regime; and improve existing and advance new mechanisms and procedures to effectively develop and manage economic zones.

She also affirmed that TT will continue to be attractive to investors due to its easy access to the Americas; strategic location as a transshipment hub for exports; preferential access to the markets of CARICOM and other regional and international markets through trade agreements with the United States of America, Canada and the European Union; low cost energy; and access to generous fiscal incentives, among other attributes.

Mark Linehan, Managing Director, Regus Franchise Partner Caribbean in his Address expressed pleasure in opening its first Regus Business Centre in Trinidad and Tobago.

He said we are excited to bring our cutting edge work space solutions to Trinidad which is fitted with the latest technology to meet the needs of small, medium and large businesses. There is tremendous potential for Regus in Trinidad and Tobago. Regus Business Centre offers office space, meeting rooms, co-working facilities and a business lounge to suit the needs of small, medium and large businesses.
Driver charged for raping schoolgirl

On Monday at 4 pm, police reported, the schoolgirl boarded a car in St James, asking the driver to take her home.

However, while en route to her destination, the child accepted a sweetie from the driver and later fell unconscious in the car. When she revived, the child realised she was naked and lying on a bed inside a house.

The driver, who was also naked and on the bed, then sexually assaulted the child who later begged to be released.

The child was told to get dressed by the man who then took her to a parlour where he bought her some ice cream. He later dropped her off near her home.

The child reported to her mother what had happened and they both went to the police where a report was made. She was medically examined and the Child Protection Unit alerted.

The taxi driver was detained on Tuesday and five charges were laid against him yesterday. They include abduction, sexual touching, false imprisonment, paying for sexual services and having sex with a minor.

He was due to appear yesterday afternoon before a Port-of-Spain magistrate.
Sats son wins discrimination case

The award was made yesterday by the Equal Opportunities Tribunal (EOT) at the commissions offices at Manic Street in Chaguanas.

Presiding over the complaint filed by Maharaj were chairman of the EOT Rajmanlal Joseph and lay assessors Leela Ramdeen and Harridath Maharaj.

In assessment of damages, the Immigration Division of the Ministry of National Security was ordered to pay Maharaj $231,303.80 in general and aggravated damages with interest, as well as $230,400 in special damages, also with interest.

Maharaj will also receive costs in the sum of $69,255.57.

The EOT had in 2015 gave judgment in Maharajs favour after the Immigration Division failed to file a defence to the complaint. Maharaj, in his original complaint, spoke of being told by an Immigration Division officer, upon his return to Trinidad on March 19, 2008, Ent Sat Maharaj is your father? You aint need to work, yuh father carry the Government to court for the Trinity Cross and radio licence. Go let them fix it! According to Maharajs complaint, when he returned to Trinidad from Canada his passport was stamped employment not permitted although he is a TT national. He was forced to file a judicial review application in 2013 and the High Court judge ordered the Chief Immigration Officer to remove the stamp or modify it.

It was only then that the Chief Immigration Officer struck out the word, not, and wrote: The bearer is a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago and is permitted to work. Maharaj said he is a citizen of TT by virtue of descent. He said because of the restriction he was forced to decline employment as a journalist.

Maharaj calculated he would have earned $72,000 in year one and $158,400, for the second and third years of a three-year contract offered to him by the TT Mirror.

He said he was left embarrassed and humiliated. Maharaj said he suffered loss of income from his tattoo business Unscathed Tattoo Studio from March 2008 to September 2013, amounting to $3.2 million.
Men rearrested as new trial ordered

Retrial was ordered for Dirk Bruno and Sheldon Henry by Justices of Appeal Alice Yorke- Soo Hon, Rajendra Narine and Mark Mohammed who ruled in favour of an appeal filed by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Justice Mohammed, who delivered the ruling, found the evidence in the case was not weak or tenuous and its strength would have depended on a jurys assessment.

The two immediately rearrested after the ruling was delivered in the court.

Murder indictments in their name were returned to the High Court for the next cause list hearing.

In 2015, Justice Hayden St Clair-Douglas upheld no-case submissions which contested the identification statement taken from the states main witness.

After a six-week trial, in which ten witnesses gave evidence and six formal admissions were heard, Justice St Clair-Douglas said he had a duty to review the quality of the evidence presented and came to the inescapable conclusion it was poor. He directed the 12-member jury to return a not-guilty verdict.

Bruno and Henry, both of New Village, Point Fortin, were charged with the 2007 murder of Goodridge, 21, a student of the Servol Life Centre, La Romaine.

In his judgement, Justice Mohammed said, there is no gainsaying that there were areas of weakness, but these could have been the subject of appropriately robust cautions given within the context of the overall Turnbull warning. We therefore conclude the judge erred in law in upholding the submission of no case to answer and in withdrawing the case from the jury. According to the principles of the case of R vs Turnbull, a judge should direct a jury to examine closely the circumstances in which the identification by each witness came to be made and remind the jury of any specific weaknesses in the identification evidence.

At the appeal, the DPP was represented by prosecutor Mauricia Joseph while Larry Williams and Marissa Bubb appeared for Bruno and Henry.
Ramdeen calls on JLSC to account

At a media conference yesterday at the Hyatt Regency in Portof- Spain, he said a recent elevation to the Court of Appeal raised questions in the public domain, the legal profession and the Judiciary.

He also disclosed that five new appointments to the Supreme Court, are expected to be made by the JLSC, and he is deeply concerned.

The Judiciary is the institution where people go every day to determine their rights and obligations. Taxpayers are giving the JLSC $400 million a year. What is the system of accounting for that money? What have the people gotten for the $400 million given to the Judiciary for this financial year and years gone by, he asked.

He questioned the competency of the impending appointments.

There are two magistrates said to be appointed to the Supreme Court. There is a civil practitioner with little or no experience in civil law and a former registrar who are going to be appointed to the Supreme court bench, Ramdeen said.

As citizens, we all have a duty to ensure when appointments like these are made they are done in the most transparent and accountable manner, he added. Ramdeen claimed many members of the Judiciary are extremely upset about what is going on as people qualified and deserving of appointments are being by-passed.

He also said this was the first year 36 persons applied for positions as judges of the Supreme Court and it was also the first time Chief Justice Ivor Archie, as head of the JLSC, has implemented a written exam for prospective candidates.

Who sets that exam? Who marks the exam? Where is it in the Constitution that the JLSC has the authority to set an exam, Ramdeen asked.

I dont think citizens understand the power that is vested in the office of a Supreme Court Judge. A Supreme Court Judge has the power to send you to execution and the power to stop an execution.

It is one of the most powerful positions anyone can hold in a democracy. As a member of the legal profession, I will not stand and allow any JLSC to appoint people who, on an objective examination, are not deserving. Ramdeen intends to write the JLSC chairman asking for the criteria used for appointments to the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal.
Fake attorney facing seven fraud charges

The woman,who had been eluding capture in connection with similar charges, was spotted by Fraud Squad officers as she was about to leave the court and promptly arrested.

The 40-year-old woman, whose sister is a police officer, has several addresses in north Trinidad. She was arrested following several reports to Fraud Squad by her elderly victims. She is now facing a total of seven counts of fraud. She is expected to appear in the Portof- Spain Magistrates court on Monday to answer the charges.

Fraud Squad Head Snr Supt Totaram Dookie led the exercise which included Insp Dipchand, Ag Cpl Louis and WPCs Murray, Lazarus, Kissoonsingh and Plante
Shop owner says he was scared

Singh made the comments while testifying yesterday at the San Fernando High Court. Appearing before Justice Malcolm Holdip, Singh told the court that on November, 24, 2008 while inside his parlour, Wayne Vesprey came to purchase alcohol . He said he refused to sell Vesprey because he owed him for other items.

He said Vesprey became enraged and used obscenities towards him. Singh told the court Vesprey also threatened to rape his wife. The accused told the court that Vesprey was rocking the gate to his parlour and leaned over and grabbed at his wife. Singh said that he was fearful that Vesprey wanted to harm him and his wife so, he drew his gun and shot him.

I did not aim at no specific place. It was one shot, he said.

Singh gave evidence before a nine-member jury .Vesprey gave evidence on Wednesday that he was then a tug boat captain and had gone to the parlour to buy a phone card when an argument erupted between Singh and himself. The State is contending that Singh, also known as Tufie, shot Vesprey in the forehead with an air gun. Singh was charged with wounding with intent. State Attorney Stacy Laloo-Chong, together with attorney Krishna Jaglal, is prosecuting the case.

Last Wednesday, the air gun was admitted and tendered into evidence. Singh is being represented by attorney Kevin Ratiram.

Under cross-examination by Laloo-Chong, Singh admitted that he and Vesprey were friends and he would often come to the parlour and listen to music.

He also admitted that at times, when he was not selling at the parlour, he would be in the forest hunting during open season while his wife remained at the parlour. The trial continues next week.
HDC takes Junior Sammy to court

The matter came up for hearing yesterday at the San-Fernando High Court.

HDC is seeking damages for trespass from Junior Sammy Contractors Ltd, businessman Shaun Sammy and another man identified as Robert Gormandy.

HDC is identified as a State agency and Junior Sammy Contractors is an infrastructural organisation in Trinidad and Tobago.

Based on court documents, HDC is contending that Gormandy had no right, title or interest whatsoever in the land  a three-acre plot located at Couva near the Couva Junior Secondary and the Couva Government Secondary Schools.

According to court documents filed in the High Court, a declaration of agreement was made between Gormandy and Sammy (Shaun) last month when Gormandy is purported to have sold the land to the businessman in fee simple absolute.

The matter yesterday came up for hearing before Justice Ricky Rahim in Chambers.

Attorneys Ramesh L Maharaj SC, Ronnie Bissessar, and Darin Gopaul Gosein are representing the defendants, Gormandy and Sammy while HDC is being represented by attorneys Ravi Heffes-Doon and Andre Rudder.

At the hearing yesterday, the HDC gave an undertaking that they will not enter upon or take any steps to enter the subject lands while Gormandy agreed that he would remain off the subject lands.

Junior Sammy Construction Ltd also agreed that it will no longer carry out any construction work at the lands.

Newsday learnt that the purpose of the order is to maintain a stay that would allow the court to adjudicate on the matter in the next four or five months.
Relative and friend miss Melissas funeral

This is because both men, said to be childhood friends, remained in police custody up to last evening fielding questions from officers at the Homicide Bureau.

At about 2 pm yesterday, scores of mourners flocked the Forres Park Seventh-Day Adventist Church at Cedar Hill Road, Claxton Bay, to bid the 31-yearold woman a final farewell.

Police sources said they are still awaiting the results of gunshot residue tests to determine who pulled the trigger which claimed Mohammed-Ramkissoons life.

Initial police reports are the relative was driving his Nissan Tiida with Mohammed-Ramkissoon and the friend as passengers, en route to Chaguanas to purchase a vehicle on Tuesday at about 9 pm. During the trip, an argument ensued in which the woman was shot in the head while in the front passenger seat.

The friend then jumped out of the car and fled while the driver proceeded to the Chaguanas Police Station where a doctor pronounced her dead. The following day, the friend surrendered to police at Freeport Police Station.

Police recovered a loaded firearm in the car. Police said that both men claim the other shot Mohammed-Ramkissoon.

Investigations continue.
DPP seeks ideal accommodation for offices

Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard yesterday told the Joint Select Committee on National Security meeting looking into staff deficiencies at the Office of the DPP that an increase in the staff complement at the DPPs office and urgent emphasis on the spatial needs of the office need to be addressed to ensure maximum output.

The Office of the DPP has outgrown the current locations at which it is currently housed, he said.

On the Gulf City Mall, La Romaine being identified as accomodation for the DPPs office , Member of Parliament for St Augustine, Prakash Ramadhar said he found it a bit troubling and that accommodation could have been found closer to the court house. To be housed in a mall, he said, does not enhance the respect of the office.

Gaspard said when the request was made for removal of the office from its current site, the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs referred several sites to him over the past four years and those sites proved unsuitable for office space.

When the proposal was made for Gulf City Mall, he said, I give that location my blessings but not before I would have indicated that it would have been a less than ideal site for the Office of the DPP. On the rental of a property in Port-of- Spain, Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Attorney General, Ingrid Seerattan said, the DPP still has concerns with the property.

Once his concerns are alleviated, she said, the ministry will begin the negotiations and then go forward to seek approval from Cabinet.

Approval for outfitting the Tobago office has been approved, and the contractors have indicated the outfitting will take three months, she said.

Gaspard said the Tobago office was needed because police officers are constrained and forced to use unreliable air and sea bridges when they need to seek legal advice. Very often they are placed on stand-by to travel.

That is demeaning and inconveniencing, he said.

On the other hand, he said that every time the DPPs office has to provide legal representation in Tobago, there are costs involved in terms of travel and accommodation, as well as inconvenience for the legal counsels. If there is a Tobago office, he said, the DPPs office could retain and hire legal counsel based in Tobago.
Youseph hails US action in Syria

He said if your neighbour were throwing his children in a pot of boiling water, you would not passively watch, and likewise the world now has a duty to intervene in Syria. He said 500,000 to 600,000 people have died so far in the Syrian civil war. Youseph said the late ANR Robinson had helped create an International Criminal Court (ICC) so that dictators could not take advantage of their people, and wished the ICC would be used in the case of Syrias leaders.

Whatever intervention to bring an end to this war is welcome by me, he said.

Youseph, who born in Syria, said war could happen anywhere.

Asked if the US bombing in fact helps ISIS, Youseph said ISIS came on the scene after the challenge to Assad in about 2012. To deal with the problem in Syria you have to deal with Assad first. ISIS is a by product of Assad. Youseph related a recent warning by US Senator Marco Rubio that when children are killed, even if their parents are not extremists they will be radicalised by such murders.

He said that to him the Syrian regimes killings by use of gas was not an unexpected thing, as dictators usually start killing their opponents from day one. Yousef said his own father had once been a victim of Syria President Bashar Al-Assad. He was a member of the Baath Party but was not in Assads corner. He was detained for two and a half years without trial.

He was a teacher and a village elder, but when they released him from jail he was fired from his teaching job and had to keep chickens to mind his children. He viewed some Syrian Christians as misguided in thinking of Assad, of the Alawite denomination, as their protector against Sunni Muslim domination.

Asked what hed wish for Syria, Youseph said he would like the seeds of democracy to be sown there by an international, collaborative effort.

Amid this, he hoped for a separation of the secular state from established religions. He lamented that in Syria, Christians are lesser citizens, as the law disallows a Christian from ever becoming president who must be a Muslim.

All this was despite Christianity having arrived in Syria before Islam as evidenced by Saul/St Pauls conversion to Christianity on the biblical road to Damascus.

He said if Saul/ St Paul came back today (as a Jew), hed be barred by Syrian law from converting to Christianity, but be allowed to convert to Islam.

Asked about any model country in the Middle East for Syrian democracy to be modelled on, he said Lebanon has a democracy of a kind, although based largely on religion, and has a free press. Newsday was unable to contact Syrian Arab Republic, honorary counsel, Marwan Yousef.
Close examination needed at CPO office

Asked by Fitzgerald Hinds, Chairman of the Joint Select Committee on National Security inquiring into the staffing deficiencies of the DPPs Office yesterday when the requests for confirmation were received, Chief Personnel Officer Beresford Riley said, I do not have that information. Asked if they requests were made over two years ago, he said, he could not dispute that, and that all the requests for classification were not made at one time.

It would not surprise him totally if the requests had been made two years ago, Riley said, because we are understaffed just as many others in the public service. While the Personnel Department was trying to ensure that it carries out its functions, he said, We do not have the capacity to treat with all at this time. Hinds remarked, You too need support. Interesting but not strange. You are saying that you are unable to help because you have similar problems. Expressing disappointment at the response from the CPO, Hinds suggested that a close examination of the office of the CPO was needed.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs Ingrid Seerattan said the issue of classification of the officers was sent to the Personnel Department in 2014 following the decision to retain a number of contract staff on the establishment.

Their designation were to be reclassified from legal officers to legal counsel.

She said there was need for a formal settlement of the terms and conditions of work from the Office of the CPO for the contract staff who would have been placed on the establishment.

In the change in the system of employment, she said that some staff would have left the work by the time the terms and conditions were finalised and some staff would have been underpaid or overpaid.

When the terms and conditions come from the CPO, she said, you have issues. The classification was based on the recommendation of the DPP, Seerattan said, to move away from employing contract staff to having them placed on the regular establishment.

We have been working to have those positions filled.

Some were not filled because of lack of spatial accommodation, she said.

Based on the request of the Office of the DPP, Seerattan said that priority was given to filling senior appointments because of the need, though a number of junior appointments were also made.
Clarabelle was left behind with her puppies when a family left their foreclosed property in Georgia. Suffering from severe infection, she needed a number of surgeries and was nursed back to health by Pets Plus adoption coordinator Dawn Bateman, pictured above with Clarabelle. Now, she is a happy, healthy dog living with her new family.

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This week, the HSUS Puppy-Friendly Pet Stores conversion program surpassed a milestone: participating pet stores have adopted out more than 10,000 shelter and rescue dogs since we started the effort.

After launching this campaign in 2013, weve worked with 20 pet stores across the country to stop selling puppy mill dogs and to make homeless dogs available for adoption instead (just as PetSmart and Petco have long done). Our staff helps identify shelters in need and match them with pet stores willing to convert; we then assist with transporting homeless animals from the pre-screened shelters to the pet stores. We are working with several stores now to convert their model to an animal-friendly one. This is a very practical example of the workings of the humane economy  with The HSUS driving action and business owners responding and adapting to the new consciousness about animals

While 10,000 lives saved (and 10,000 sales opportunities denied to puppy mill operators) is a big number, it happens one at a time. Take Clarabelle, who was left behind with her puppies when a family left their foreclosed property in Georgia. Clarabelle and her puppies were transported to Pets Plus Natural by Animal Aid USA (a humane transport rescue group), with financial and logistical assistance from The HSUS.

When Clarabelle arrived at the Pet Plus Natural quarantine area, she underwent an intensive antibiotic treatment for a severe paw injury, while the puppies were cared for separately. The veterinarian required a number of surgeries for her foot, and had to remove a small portion of her pad. Despite these challenges, Dawn Bateman, the adoption coordinator at Pets Plus Natural, personally fostered Clarabelle, got her back to health, and succeeded in delivering her to a new adoptive family. Clarabelle has only loving people around her now, and shes a happy and healthy dog in this new phase of her life.

By offering puppies for adoption from nearby shelters and relying on pet supplies to drive revenues, stores can save the lives of animals in search of a home, and appeal to a public ready to support a company with that kind of heart and soul. This is a critical part of our overall campaign to rescue dogs from cruel puppy mills, shut down Internet sellers and outdoor flea markets, set standards for the care of breeding dogs, and drive the market toward pet adoption and responsible breeders.

Pet stores are getting a push from us in the humane direction, but they are getting a shove from local lawmakers who are banning the sale of puppy mill dogs. In fact, local lawmakers have adopted some 220 local ordinances to ban or restrict the sale of puppy mill dogs, and thats providing quite an incentive for pet stores to switch to a humane model. (Meanwhile, our Shelter Pet Project advertising campaign, done in collaboration with Maddies Fund and the Ad Council, continues to generate millions in pro bono advertising to promote the concept that theres nothing wrong with shelter animals and they deserve adoption.)

Pet stores that have signed onto our program include Alsip to the Rescue in Indiana and Illinois, and Pets Plus Natural (which completed its conversion of all stores last year) in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Together these two chains account for more than half of the rescued puppies adopted out so far under the program.

We are pleased with our role in partnering with these stores to save the lives of homeless animals while supporting the humane economy. We invite the other stores and national chains to join us and to be part of the humane solution.

Heres to the next 10,000!
Speech by the President of India on the occasion of inauguration of the first NIMCARE World Health Day

New Delhi, Sat, 08 Apr 2017 NI Wire

Speech by the President of India on the occasion of inauguration of the first NIMCARE World Health Day -Global Summit at Vigyan Bhawan on April 7, 2017

I am indeed happy to be amidst you on the occasion of the First NIMCARE World Health Day - Global Summit. Celebrated on April 7 every year to mark the anniversary of the founding of the World Health Organization, the World Health Day provides a unique opportunity to mobilize action around a specific health topic of concern to people all over the world. The theme of the 2017 W.H.O. Day campaign is Depression: Lets Talk.

2. I am happy that NIMCARE has taken the lead in organizing this Conference on World Health Day. The slogan of the first NIMCARE World Health Day Summit is, Unite for a Healthy Mind. Some time ago, the entire world made a commitment in the form of Sustainable Development Goals in which mental health and well-being figure prominently. With these, we have committed ourselves to achieve quantified targets by 2030. Looking at the scale of the problem and limited time available, our task is indeed quite challenging.

Ladies and gentlemen,

3. Lack of mental well-being contributes significantly to the total disability and morbidity burden across the world. Productivity of human beings, whether in workforce or in family situations, gets reduced significantly if one has any mental disorder. Mental health disorders span a very wide range from simple disorders to very complex situations. It is often seen that simpler disorders, if not managed in time, tend to become more complex putting the patient at higher risk of morbidity. Such patients often become a bigger burden on the families.

4. Out of all the mental health disorders, depression is probably the most common. Depression affects people of all ages from all walks of life and in all countries. As per the National Mental Health Survey 2015-16 conducted by NIMHANS, 5.2% of the Indian adult population suffers from depression in some form or the other. The problem of depression often gets ignored due to lack of understanding on the part of family members. The social stigma attached to a mental disorder, even if it is easily treatable, is also a major problem in India. However, people have now started talking about this issue leading to greater awareness in this respect. I would like to point out that traditional Indian values along with our family system, can be good mechanisms to support those who suffer from mental health disorders. I would like to urge medical practitioners here to focus on the social support systems, spiritual beliefs and practices as well as the system of Yoga in their quest for providing well-being to all.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

5. There is a severe shortage of mental health professionals in India and this service gap can be bridged effectively by telemedicine. The World Health Day Summit has begun in the right direction by launching the eCAP & SOLs Telepsychiatry application for the rural and urban population in need of mental health consultation. I am happy to know that the International Society for Telemedicine and e-Health, USA has now recognized Telemedicine Society of India as the official National society presenting telemedicine activities in India. Telepsychiatry will help in reducing the mortality rate considerably, with the advent of mobile apps which are being developed. This will be of immense importance in giving consultation services to the unreached patients.

6. I am particularly happy to have received the first copy of a CD on Guidelines & Resource Materials for Telemedicine Centers of Armed Forces. Telemedicine application in Armed Forces health care delivery and the health monitoring of defence force personnel and their dependents is of paramount importance. With the introduction of new NODES for implementation of Telemedicine for the Army, accessibility to quality healthcare especially in hilly areas of the north east will be enriched. I have no doubt that, Telemedicine will play a very important role in saving the lives of our Army jawans and provide them advance updates on health related issues. Telemedicine is well suited for Armed Forces and will significantly improve the health care delivery system.

Ladies and Gentleman:

7. I am glad that the organizers of this World Health Day Summit have planned strategic follow up conclaves in different cities of the world to create a broad framework for collective action. I appeal to all of you, to THINK GLOBALLY and ACT LOCALLY. I also urge all relevant stakeholders to come together in meeting the challenges of depression.

8. I am indeed happy to have conferred the NIMCARE Life Time Achievement Award on Dr. N M Veeraiyan, Chancellor, Saveetha University, Chennai who has transformed Saveetha University into one of the leading universities in the country through his dedication, commitment and hard work. It is also my privilege to have presented the NIMCARE World Health Day Awards of Excellence to outstanding citizens of our nation in recognition of their outstanding services to the people.

Ladies and Gentleman:

9. Before I conclude, I applaud the efforts of Dr Vijay G Prabhakar a renowned public health practitioner from Chicago, USA for taking this initiative to conduct the first NIMCARE World Health Summit here in India and also congratulate the co-host organisations who have united with NIMCARE to form a broad framework to create awareness about depression and combating it. I welcome the co-host organisations from overseas to this Summit.

10. Let us strive to make even greater progress in our efforts to create awareness about depression and focus on further strengthening our health care delivery systems. I am confident that this NIMCARE World Health Day Summit will provide all of you an opportunity to get inspired, challenged and make meaningful partnerships for your continued growth. I hope all the participants here go back better equipped to handle mental health care situations that warrant urgent attention. Let us all unite for addressing the issue of mental health care and to prevent and combat depression. I wish you Godspeed and success in all your endeavours.

Thank You.

Jai Hind.

Source: PIB
You won't be able to touch Taj Mahal in near future

New Delhi, Sat, 08 Apr 2017 NI Wire

Next time you visit the Taj Mahal it's likely that you won't be able to touch, Archaeological Survey of India plans to barricade it from visitors. Nearly 20,000 people flock daily to the famous Taj Mahal around the world to see its marvelous architecture. Taj Mahal is one of the 7 wonders of world and one of the UNESCO world heritage site.

Due to its popularly as millions of people visit every year to admire and have a look at its beauty day and night.

Due to such a high pressure of visitors this building is suffering pollution and people are touching by hands which are causing damage to the Taj Mahal.

To avoid the damage to the Taj Mahal, Archaeological Survey of India planning to place steel barriers that will be installed a metre away from the Taj Mahal. So, in near future you won't be able to touch Taj Mahal.

Pollution is causing problem to the Taj Mahal and its beautiful Makrana marble. Recently it went undergone the mud therapy to enhance its natural beauty. To protect its beauty from pollution ASI is applying mud therapy time to time to this architecture.

Thousands of visitors are causing damage to the Taj Mahal and ASI is now taking it seriously, Soon Taj Mahal will the protected from the touch of visitors.

According to the ASI, separating the visitors from the walls of Taj Mahal will help prevent the damage to Taj Mahal. Visitors won't be able to touch walls after the installation of steel barriers.

Taj Mahal is the famous building in Agra near bank of Yamuna. If you are going to Taj Mahal in Agra then you should hire car and go by Yamuna Expressway. The Yamuna Expressway is the most preferred road route to Agra from Delhi and it distance is around 240 kms which can be travelled in around 3-4 hours.

Visitors from India and abroad are coming to this World Heritage site throughout the year. The come here to see Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri and other nearby places. After installation of barriers, you won't be able to touch Taj Mahal anymore. So, near future Taj Mahal will be a touch protected monument.

Travel information: If you planning to visit Taj Mahal then check Agra Travel & Tourism Guide for complete information on Travel to Taj Mahal in Agra.
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Arizona, India, Xfinity and beyond! These were some of the places we visited this week in Next Generation Communications.

Lets first look at whats happening in my home state of Arizona. New legislation aims to make it easier for cellular operators to add capacity to their networks via 5G by defining rules around rights-of-way acquisition and other processes related to new wireless facilities. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey earlier this week published a short and detail-light column on LinkedIn (News - Alert) about the effort.





In yet another dusty part of the world, TRA Research has named Nokia a leading trusted brand in India, which has the worlds second largest population. The research firm placed the mobile phone business of Nokia No. 14 among 1,000 companies of all stripes.

The forces powering Indias growth are pretty unshakable, says Noshir Kaka, a senior partner in McKinseys Mumbai office. Those forces include urbanization, a rising middle class, and increasing consumer spending. Indias going to be the third-largest incremental GDP growth engine for the planet by 2030, adds Kaka. Thats significant if you think about Indias size relative to the other massive geographies out there, like China or the U.S.

Other big news this week in cellular included Verizons announcement of its nationwide launch of Cat M1 for the Internet of Things. Cat M1 is designed for sensors and requires less power, allowing for extended battery life of endpoints such as connected asset trackers, consumer electronics devices, and smart water meters.

The carrier worked with suppliers Altair, Gemalto, Qualcomm Technologies, Sequans, Sierra Wireless (News - Alert), Telit, and U-Blox to make the Cat M1 network a reality.

Its rewarding to reach a new milestone in our working relationship with Qualcomm (News - Alert) Technologies and Verizon  one where all companies are committed to stay at the forefront of advancing the IoT, said Manish Watwani, Telit's vice president of global product marketing. As the first Verizon-certified LTE (News - Alert) Cat M1 module supplier to offer the industry-leading MDM9206 LTE modem from Qualcomm Technologies, Telit looks forward to allowing IoT devices and applications to benefit from the cost-effectiveness, coverage, and the advanced security capabilities of LTE Cat M1.

Next Generation Communications this week also reported on:
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Cleveland

Single enrollment systems. Shared school buildings. Common accountability. Joint teacher-professional development.

A decade ago, these types of collaboration between charter schools and traditional district schools were extremely rare. More often, the two sectors were at war over funding, students, facilities, and more fundamentally, whether the charter movement would help shore up, or tear down, traditional public schools.

But the number of school districts and charter schools that are interested in actively working together is on the rise, according to Robin Lake, the director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education at the University of Washington, which researches district-charter collaborations and provides technical assistance to districts and charter schools looking to work together.

Doing so makes sense for charters, districts, students, families, and communities because that means better coordination and delivery of services and smarter use of public resources, Lake said this week at a convening of a group of charter and district leaders in Cleveland.

If these conversations werent happening, charters will still be growing in these cities, Lake said. If you dont have these conversations, then the growth that happens is really disruptive for everybody. Its not good for the charters, its not good for the districts, and its certainly not good for the families.

With grant support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, charter schools and traditional school districts in 23 cities have formalized district-charter collaboration compacts. The participants include districts and charters in big cities such as Boston, Denver, Indianapolis, Ind., and in smaller cities such as Central Falls, R.I.; and Grand Prairie and Spring Branch in Texas.

Other districts and charters are also forging stronger working partnerships, without formal agreements.

Some of those relationships are still tinged with residual mistrust from the last two decades of rivalry and competition, and politics can still put a damper on cooperation.

Facilities, where to locate schools, and whether charter schools should be required to enroll students in the middle of the school year and at certain grade levels are among the still unresolved issues. And in many cities, funding remains a perennial source of tension between the two sectors.

Opportunities remain to forge stronger bonds around special education services, community engagement, discipline policies, and personalized learning strategies, Lake said.

Beyond Single-Enrollment Systems

Charter and district officials from 15 cities gathered in Cleveland this week to share examples of how they are working together, the challenges in bringing together individuals from different schooling systems, and the growing pains inherent in creating and sustaining those partnerships. The gathering was also an opportunity to learn from those district-charter partners who are further ahead.

Representatives from Uncommon Schools charter network presented on a collaborative effort with New York City public schools sharing Uncommons in-house professional development with teachers in two of New York Citys most challenging districts in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Brownsville and East New York.

Janice Jackson, the chief education officer in Chicagos school system, and Andrew Broy, president of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, discussed navigating the challengesand necessary compromisesof district-charter collaboration in the city and how the two sectors worked to develop a common accountability framework. The framework allows parents to make side-by-side comparisons of schoolsdistrict and charterusing common measures such as graduation rates and academic performance.

Participants broke into small groups to explore misconceptions about why district schools and charter networks might be hesitant to work together.

In one panel, Eric Gordon, the CEO of the Cleveland district, Scott Pearson, the executive director of the District of Columbia Public Charter School Board, and Ahmed Young, the director of the office of education innovation in the mayors office in Indianapolis, discussed the extent of charter school-district collaboration in their cities, the hurdles, and how they envisioned their school systems in five years.

The three districts operate in different contexts. Cleveland, for example, has a school board thats appointed by the mayor, and the charter school sector in Ohio is loosely regulated. The district, which for years lost students because of low achievement, is seeking to rebound with the Cleveland Plan, a school transformation plan that aims to put high-quality schoolsdistrict or charterin every neighborhood. But Gordon said that while some charter operators are part of the district-charter compact , others take the view that its a free market and are less willing to cooperate. That can lead to complications for the district, such as when a charter school opened near an existing district school that the district had pledged to the community that it would rebuild. While the district has built a common-enrollment system, it cannot force charter schools to participate.

But, Gordon said, the tide is slowly changing, and city partners, which includes the mayors office and local businesses, know that the citys future rests on a successful school system.

One of the cool things thats happening here in Cleveland, because of collaboration, is the conversation has shifted from district versus charter to good versus poor, Gordon said. The more we work together, the more we are able to shift the community conversation away from that false dichotomy of district versus charter and actually start saying is this a good option or not? 

In the District of Columbia, the district and charter schools have a deep working relationship and a history of collaborating, including on a common lottery system and equity reports, Pearson said.

A task force convened through the mayors office and consisting of representatives from the charter and traditional public school sector work to smooth details on contentious issues such as facilities and mid-year enrollment.

Pearson said that despite a history of working together, however, the administration of Mayor Muriel Bowser has been less willing than past administrations to make unused or underused DCPS buildings available to charter schools.

Thats one of the areas that the joint task force is working on. Another area of focus is taking a neighborhoods needs into account and how to ensure that students who enter D.C.'s schools during the school year are distributed among all the schools and not just to traditional schools.

Pearson sees more room for collaboration, particularly around services for students with disabilities, teacher recruitment, expulsion, and transportation. He envisions that in the next five years, student achievement will continue to grow and that student enrollment in the two sectors combined would surpass 100,000 students.

But Pearson expressed concern that this period of comity may blunt the competitive edge that he says drove innovation and growth in both sectors in past years.

Sometimes, I wonder if it was actually the sharp-elbowed competition that was the drive for the real quality improvement, he said, and whether this new phase is going to make us all feel a lot better, but whether we are not going to feel the same competitive intensity to keep improving.

That is something that Young also thinks about in Indianapolis, where the mayors office is a charter school authorizer and the school district, which has embraced charters and autonomous schools as school improvement strategies, is not.

A close working relationship with the school system, state legislators, and the state charter school board is necessary to solve problems around facilities, funding, and building a talented education workforce for all schools, Young said.

Its not the sharp-elbowed competition that was there during the zero-sum dynamic that we used to operate in, but there is a level of competition that I think is healthy, Young said. That competition doesnt define who we are and how we operate as organizations. Its not an either-or proposition, and I think thats the healthy dynamic in which we are operating.

He hopes that in five years Indianapolis would have created a sustainable system and eliminated the stigma associated with public education in the city and with charter schools. A robust community engagement strategy that includes not just allies but those who are leery about charter schools is a key part of ensuring continuity, he said.

Figuring out how to convince the community that the policies being put into effect are in the best interest of the citys children and attracting and keeping talent are also hurdles partners are working to overcome, he said.

Will Collaboration Stifle Innovation?

An underlying concern for some in attendance was the extent of collaboration: Where do you draw the line?

Gordon said Ohio provided an example of what unfettered competition looked like and that collaboration has been essential to improving all public schools in his city.

We know after 20 years that simply being competitors did not drive up the quality of education, Gordon said. We had lots and lots of low-performing charter schools even as district schools continued to struggle. As we have begun collaborating and bringing together those of us who are really working hard to get it right, we have seen more kids in better seats district and charterand fewer kids in poor seats, both districts and charter. I dont have a fear, at least in my market, which is Cleveland in Ohio, that collaboration is going to disincentivize achievement. I actually think it is enabling achievement.

Tom Boasberg, the superintendent in Denver, which was named the nations top school district for choice by the Brookings Institute in its 2016 Education Choice and Competition index , said that districts and charters need to strike the right balance.

I think we are trying to figure out where that balance point is and how do we best get therewhere we are both maximizing cooperation and collaboration across schools and at the same time encouraging schools to come up with new and different and better ways of doing things, he said.

You cant say you have to choose [that] youre either going to collaborate or youre going to try to allow for innovation and differentiation, Boasberg said. You have to do both, and you have to figure out [if] you are providing something that makes sense to families, that works for kids. I think it makes sense to have, for example, a common enrollment system. But for academic programs or teaching methods, I think you want to really encourage innovation at the school or at the network level.

Lake, from CRPE, said that she has heard concerns about co-option from both sectors. Others have complained that collaboration can take up a lot of time and energy.

Lake herself prefers the term cooperation to collaboration.

Its smart to put boundaries on the collaboration so that you maintain a healthy level of competition and push each other, she said. And yet, the reality for both districts and charters is that they need each other. Thats just not going to go away.

And its fine for districts and charters to set up rules of engagement and know when to walk away, she said.

Set some clear boundaries... and know at which point its no longer going to be worth your time, she said. It doesnt have to be about being nice to each other. It doesnt have to be about a long-term commitment to work together on everything. It can be very transactional, and it can be temporary if need be.

Photo: Paraprofessional Ivana Jakovljevic helps 8th grader Cristina Amaya, who is visually impaired, navigate the halls at STRIVE Prep-Federal, a charter school that partners with the Denver district to serve students with significant disabilities. --Nathan W. Armes for Education Week
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The Moroccan historian and scholar, Abdallah Laroui, has been named Cultural Personality of the Year by the Sheikh Zayed Book Award and will be celebrated during the awards eleventh session 2016-2017.

The title honors prominent figures for their unique contributions to the advancement of Arabic culture, and for works that portray tolerance and promote peaceful coexistence.

Announcing the decision of the board of trustees and scientific committee, the Awards Secretary General Ali Bin Tamim, said, The choice of the prominent historian and theoretician Abdallah Laroui as Cultural Personality of the Year has been made to reflect his well-founded thought movement and cultural momentum spanning the entire Arab World.

Professor Larouis valuable contribution to academic institutes and scientific bodies has profoundly influenced Arab political thinking and inspired numerous cultural and literary practices, he said.

Professor Laroui enjoys a unique mix of in-depth knowledge of Arabic culture and Western values, with wide interests across intellectual, literary and artistic scopes, especially in the fields of philosophy, history, narrative arts, and cinema, said the Award in a press release.

The press release, which highlights Larouis professional career, thought, culture, works and contributions to Arab culture, points out that Abdallah Larouis book Lidelogie arabe contemporaine marked a new stage in the reading of the history of contemporary Arab culture and enriched Arab thought.

Lidelogie arabe contemporaine (The Contemporary Arabic Ideology) was published in 1967 in French with a preface by Maxime Rodinson, a renowned French historian, sociologist and orientalist.

In 1970, the Arabic translation of the book established Abdallah Larouis reputation as a key figure in the study of Arabic culture, attracting the attention of scholars and academics with interests in Arabic culture and Arab World affairs.

The works of the Moroccan thinker, who upholds intellectual modernity in political and cultural practice, are today a treasure trove of Arab culture since they open wide prospects for research, studies and creativity, the statement added.

The Award will be presented to the Moroccan thinker at the Sheikh Zayed Book Awards annual ceremony to be held on April 30, 2017 during the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair.

Laroui was born on November 7, 1933 in the city of Azemmour in Morocco. After preliminary and secondary studies in Rabat, he moved to Paris for university studies in political sciences and graduated in 1958. He obtained a certificate in Islamic studies in 1963 and a PhD in 1967 at the Sorbonne University in Paris. His doctoral thesis was on the social and cultural basis of the Moroccan nationality: 1830-1912.

Laroui accepted the invitation of the Austrian historian and Arabist, Gustave Edmund von Grunebaum, to teach at the University of California. He returned to Morocco where he worked as Professor in the Rabat University (School of Arts & Humanities) until his retirement in the year 2000.

Acknowledged as one of Moroccos leading intellectuals, Laroui has been an active member of the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco and the Moroccan Society for Human Rights.

The Sheikh Zayed Book Award commemorates the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Founding President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi. It grants annual awards worth $1.9 million (AED 7 million).
Morocco has agreed to let in 17 civilian staff of the UN Mission in the Sahara, the MINURSO, while conditioning their return on upholding neutrality and non-interference.

17 employees of the civilian component of the MINURSO are preparing to join their offices in the UN missions headquarters in Laayoune, a source that requested not to be named told Moroccan news website, le360.

The same source added that talks between Morocco and the new UN Secretary General created common ground concerning the return of the 17 UN employees.

In March 2016, Morocco expelled the 84 international civilian personnel staffed on MINURSO, after verbal blunders by the then UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon who visited the separatist rear-base of Tindouf where he referred to Moroccos retrieval of its southern provinces as occupation.

The MINURSO was established following an UN-brokered ceasefire in 1991 that put an end to a guerrilla war waged by the Algerian-based Polisario front on Moroccan troops. The UN mission was tasked with organizing a referendum, which never took place because of disagreements over who is eligible to vote. Ceasefire monitoring remains the main task of the MINURSO.

After more than a decade of failed attempts to organize a referendum on the status of Western Sahara, the UN decided in 2002 to abandon the idea and instead pursue a negotiated political solution to the conflict. In 2007, Morocco proposed a compromise solution based on broad autonomy for the Sahara under its sovereignty.
French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve Friday in Tunis underlined Frances stance on the control of the Libyan oil saying that the National Oil Corporation (NOC) must align with UN-backed Presidency Council (PC).

The French leader met with PC head Faiez Serraj in the Tunisian capital as a gesture of support for the weak UN-sponsored Libya leadership establishment.

Cazeneuve indicated that only the PC could be in charge of oil and of the NOC, Libya Herald reports. He added that all proceeds from oil sales must be channeled to the Libyan Central Bank established in Tripoli.

Cazeneuves comments came few days after the PC moved to seize some of the NOCs responsibilities including setting oil and gas prices.

The NOC led by Mustafa Sanalla has always claimed its independence vis-a-vis Libyan political protagonists.

The PC has been haggling control of the NOC with rival government established in the east and supported by the Eastern Libyan army commander, Marshal Khalifa Haftar.

Last month Haftars forces drove PC-backed Benghazi Defense Brigades (BDB) out of two Libyan oil terminals the brigades had seized.

In September, Haftar forces managed to seize Libyas main oil terminals guarded by PC-aligned forces. Haftar then claimed that he took over the terminals for the benefit of NOC.
A federal appeals court judge on Friday penned a tribute to Gavin Grimm, saying the transgender Virginia high school student had joined a long list of brave individuals ... who refused to accept quietly the injustices that were perpetuated against them.

Senior U.S. Circuit Judge Andre M. Davis wrote a concurrence to a brief order of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, in Richmond, Va., that ended a preliminary injunction that was meant to allow Grimm to use the boys restrooms at his school in accordance with his gender identity.

Grimm never got to use the restrooms corresponding to his gender identity pursuant to the injunction because late last summer, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the injunction. The high court soon after accepted the appeal of the Gloucester County School Board to consider the merits of the case . In March, however, the high court returned the case to the 4th Circuit after President Donald Trumps administration withdrew guidance backing transgender rights issued under President Barack Obama.

On April 7, a three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit court granted the request of the Gloucester County school board to formally dissolve the injunction the court had issued in support of Grimm. That injunction was based on the courts deference to the Obama administrations guidance on transgender restroom use in schools. The school board said in court papers that the injunction was likely effectively vacated by the Supreme Courts action, but out of an abundance of caution it was asking the 4th Circuit to end the injunction.

The motion was not opposed by Grimms lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union.

Judge Davis concurred in the withdrawal of the injunction, but he wanted to make clear what the action meant for Grimm, a high school senior who will graduate this spring and is still referred to in court papers by his initials.

And so we come to this moment, Davis wrote. High school graduation looms and, by this courts order vacating the preliminary injunction, G.G.'s banishment from the boys restroom becomes an enduring feature of his high school experience.

Davis said Grimms case is about much more than bathrooms.

Its about a boy asking his school to treat him just like any other boy, the judge said. Its about protecting the rights of transgender people in public spaces and not forcing them to exist on the margins.

Davis said the nation has a long and ignominious history of discriminating against our most vulnerable and powerless. He cited names from the fights against slavery, against Japanese internment, and for black civil rights as well as more recent litigants fighting for gay rights, such as Dred Scott, Fred Korematsu, Linda Brown, Mildred and Richard Loving, Edie Windsor, and Jim Obergefell.

These individuals looked to the federal courts to vindicate their claims to human dignity, but as the names listed above make clear, the judiciarys response has been decidedly mixed, said Davis, who quotes Martin Luther King Jr. and the poet N.S. Nye in the concurrence. Today, G.G. adds his name to the list of plaintiffs whose struggle for justice has been delayed and rebuffed.

Daviss concurrence was signed by one other member of the panel, Judge Henry F. Floyd, but not by Judge Paul V. Niemayer.

Recent filings in Grimms case in the 4th Circuit (bolstered by Daviss comments) make it appear unlikely that the court will rule before Grimm graduates on the larger issue presented by his lawsuit, whether Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 or the 14th Amendments equal protection clause protect the rights of transgender students.

His lawyers have argued that Grimm will still have standing for a live, viable case after graduation, based on a damages claim and other theories, but those arguments could be challenged by the school board.

Asked for a reaction to Daviss concurrence, Joshua A. Block, Grimms lead lawyer with the ACLU, wrote a one-word response via email: Wow!

A lawyer representing the Gloucester County school board declined to comment on the concurrence.
IRS Confiscated Millions from Innocent Small Business Owners

A new report issued by the Treasury Department's Inspector General is calling into question the IRS's practice of seizing the bank accounts of small businesses suspected of laundering money. In essence, the IRS was seizing money with no evidence of criminal wrongdoing and refusing to return the money without getting a cut.

The report explains that, from 2012 to 2015, the IRS seized over $17 million dollars from small businesses for allegedly structuring bank deposits. In many of these cases, the business owners were completely innocent of any wrongdoing, but were faced with the choice of agreeing to a return of a lesser amount than was seized, or trying to fight it out in court to get their money back (which is a costly, and uncertain, process).

Unintentionally Structuring Deposits

Under both federal and state laws, structuring deposits is a crime. The act involves individuals or businesses deliberately ensuring that their bank deposits and withdraws stay below a bank's required mandatory reporting threshold. Under the law, financial institutions are required to report all transactions in excess of $10,000 to the IRS. If an individual or business deliberately deposits or withdraws less than $10,000 to evade the laws on structuring deposits, they can be found guilty under these regulations. The key here is that there must be an intent to avoid the reporting laws.

However, for small to medium sized businesses, making deposits or withdrawals of less than $10,000 is a regular part of business, and often advisable. For instance, if a business regularly makes large weekly cash deposits in the bank, then making multiple deposits of smaller amounts a few times a week can reduce the risk of robbery on the way to the bank. However, the IRS does not only monitor the large reported transactions, they also will look into transactions trying to fly under the reporting radar.

Tying the Hands of Small Business

For many business owners, the IRS's tactics were no different than an extortion scheme. For those business owners without sufficient credit, or other assets, fighting for the return of their money is impossible. One business owner explained that the IRS offered to return all of their seized monies except for $40,000. However, that business owner instead retained a forensic accountant to the tune of $20,000, and after the costly forensic accounting, was able to receive all their money back.

As a result of the investigation and report, the IRS has committed to making changes, and claims that many changes were made years ago. If your business is subject to an IRS bank account seizure, seeking the assistance of a qualified business attorney may be the first step in getting your money back.

Related Resources:
Suing for Injuries at Walmart and Other Big Box Stores

If you are injured by someone else's negligence while shopping at a Walmart, or any big box store, you may be wondering what you need to do in order to recover. Depending on how the injury happened, you may be able to negotiate a settlement with a claims representative. If your claim is against Walmart itself, you'll likely need to file a lawsuit against the store (as Walmart has a bad reputation for not settling injury claims).

What might come as a shock to many is that Walmart tops the charts when it comes to the number of lawsuits they face annually. While recent statistics are difficult to track down, at one point, the goliath faced approximately 5,000 new cases per year, or nearly 13 lawsuits every single day.

In and Around the Big Box

Big box stores like Walmart, Target, and Costco typically will have internal procedures that they will want to follow to document an injury that occurs on their premises. Usually, the internal procedures require the store management to gather information about how the injury occurred, as well as collecting witness information. If the injury is severe, sometimes a store may require a person be transported via ambulance, or be treated by paramedics on-site. While it may be helpful for your legal case to cooperate when injured, focusing on your health and safety should be your first priority.

Lawsuits from slip and fall injuries in stores are fairly common. Depending on your state's laws, and how your injury occurred, the complexity of your case can vary drastically. Not all injuries are the result of negligence, or the fault of another. In some states, slip and fall injuries put a much higher burden of proof on the plaintiff than in others. Typical personal injury claims while shopping at a retail store will be for negligence or premises liability.

Product and Delivery Driver Liability

In addition to all the lawsuits Walmart faces for in-store injuries by customers and employees, lawsuits also occur over delivery drivers accidents and dangerous products. Most prominently, comedian Tracy Morgan was involved in a fatal bus accident caused by a Walmart truck, which resulted in a rare high value settlement from Walmart, rumored to be close to $100 million.

Related Resources:
Fair Housing Act Protects LGBT Couples

The Fair Housing Act, passed as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, protects renters and home buyers from a variety of discrimination based on everything from sex, race, and national origin to religion, marriage status, and pregnancy. But until Wednesday of this week, no court had extended those protections to include lesbian, gay, or transgender people.

That all changed when a federal court in Denver ruled that sex discrimination under the Fair Housing Act includes discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation, including discrimination motivated by outdated stereotypes about how men and women should act and with whom they should romantically partner.

Judicial Protection

Rachel Smith, a transgender woman, and her wife Tonya Smith attempted to rent a townhouse for themselves and their two children in Boulder, Colorado, but were denied, according to their lawsuit, because the landlord did not approve of their "unique relationship." In a ruling their lawyer believes is the first of its kind, the court found that LGBT renters are protected from such discrimination under federal law.

"This is the first case under the Fair Housing Act dealing with gender identity where there's been liability found for discrimination based on stereotypes," Omar Gonzalez-Pagan told the Washington Post. "It demonstrates the importance of bringing these cases. Housing discrimination is a significant unreported problem" for LGBT people.

Judicial Reasoning

The district court's ruling mirrored one issued a day earlier by the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. There, the court ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. Both courts found that sexual stereotyping is a form of sex discrimination, and therefore illegal under federal statutes that bar discrimination based on "sex." In doing so, the courts relied on a 1989 Supreme Court case holding that male partners and managers discriminated against a female employee when they said she needed to "walk more femininely, talk more femininely, dress more femininely, wear make-up, have her hair styled, and wear jewelry" in order to advance.

In the Smith's case, U.S. District Judge Raymond P. Moore wrote, "Such stereotypical norms are no different from other stereotypes associated with women, such as the way she should dress or act (e.g., that a woman should not be overly aggressive, or should not act macho), and are products of sex stereotyping." Such sexual stereotyping is illegal under federal law, and therefore the landlord's refusal to rent to the Smith's based on their relationship violated the Fair Housing Act.

Related Resources:
Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Early in his presidency, over the course of a dinner, Donald Trump decided to send U.S. Navy SEALs to a suspected terrorist compound in Yemen. The ensuing raid claimed the life of an American solider named Ryan Owens, along with those of 30 civilians  among them, an 8-year-old American citizen. The SEALs who survived brought no major terrorists or significant intelligence back with them.

When word of the fiasco hit the papers, the commander-in-chief refused to accept responsibility. It was the generals who lost Ryan, Trump explained to Fox News. Meanwhile his administration argued that anyone who questioned the success of the raid disparaged Owenss great sacrifice  a claim that did not sit well with the SEALs bereaved father.

The bad headlines persisted. Some in Trumps own party took the administration to task for stigmatizing criticism of the raids failure. And, for a moment, it looked like all those innocents might not have died entirely in vain: Perhaps their terrible loss would teach the new president to consider proposals for military action with a bit more rigor and skepticism. Trump does not like to lose, after all.

Then, the president repurposed his deadly blunder into a piece of uplifting political theater. At his first address to Congress, Trump looked out to where Owenss weeping widow stood, and assured her that her husbands mission had been a great success  and that Ryans legacy is etched into eternity.

And the crowd went wild.

Days earlier, the demagogue had derided the Fourth Estate as the enemy of the American people. But now that Trump had used a grief-stricken widow as a shield against criticism of his foreign-policy mistakes, the punditocracy was ready to accept the president as their own.

That was one of the most extraordinary moments you have ever seen in American politics, period, progressive commentator and activist Van Jones effused on CNN. For people who have been hoping that he would become unifying, hoping that he might find some way to become presidential, they should be happy with that moment  he did something tonight that you cannot take away from him. He became president of the United States.

Jones was not alone in his elation.

Donald Trump understood the applause for Carryn Owens was a moment. And he let it be.https://t.co/7jArU5jNH8  Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) March 1, 2017

The following day, Alex Pareene spelled out the alarming implications of the presss weakness for war-themed melodrama.

You think Donald Trump noticed how the first thing he did that actually got the TV guys to like him was kill a troop?Here are some things Donald Trump is famous for:



1) Noticing which things he does that elicit positive attention and then doing those things over and over and over again.



2) Craving the validation of the press, generally the sort of press a 70-year-old upper class New Yorker pays attention to, especially cable news.



If one dead American service member won him this much praise, just imagine how much theyll respect him when he kills a couple hundredor a couple thousand!

Last night, Trump dispatched 59 Tomahawk missiles to a Syrian airfield  and was promptly rewarded with the warmest media coverage his administration has received since his speech to Congress.

Guest after guest is gushing. From MSNBC to CNN, Trump is receiving his best night of press so far. And all he had to do was start a war.  Sam Sacks (@SamSacks) April 7, 2017

In this instance, the medias enthusiasm was easier to understand. The notion that the United States has an obligation to police the boundaries of legitimate mass murder is one shared by many elites on both sides of the aisle. It is an idea rooted in both an intuitive moral principle  with great power comes great responsibility  and in the prouder chapters of our national history.

WATCH: Hillary Clinton said U.S. should attack Assad's airfields hours before missile strike. More: https://t.co/BQ6AEMNpZh pic.twitter.com/GtiAjJE7sK  NBC News (@NBCNews) April 7, 2017

Obamas approach to the Syrian civil war did not honor it. For years before Thursday night, a broad coalition (within the think-tank world, anyway) of neoconservatives and liberal interventionists had been aching for the United States to answer Bashar al-Assads crimes against humanity in the language of force. For two days before Trump pulled the trigger, heartrending images of dead Syrian children  apparently slain by chemicals that Assads government had assured the world it no longer had  made the ache more acute.

Donald Trump has done very few things that elites in both parties approve of. The mainstream media does not want to be the opposition party. But the presidents relentless affronts to norms of liberal democracy and common decency have provided the media few opportunities to rise from its adversarial crouch. So, to reaffirm their status as neutral umpires, the press has to accentuate the positive whenever plausible. A military action with bipartisan support clears that bar.

And Trumps action offered plenty of other plausible, positive angles. To this point in his political career, the president had signaled an unnerving contempt for the very concept of human rights. Throughout his campaign, Trump praised murderous dictators, torture, the idea of shooting Muslims with bullets dripped in pig blood, and even the deliberate slaughter of civilians as a means of deterrence.

Given that context, the presidents full-throated denunciation of Assads barbaric attack on his nations beautiful babies  and his decision to name-check international laws that barred such barbarism  may reasonably provide some modicum of comfort.

Whats more, the attack also served to rebut the notion that Trumps foreign policy would give undue deference to Moscows desires  another source of bipartisan anxiety.

Finally, early reports suggested that the strike was executed with some degree of caution and competence. It does not appear, as of this writing, that the White House imagines the attack as the beginning of a campaign to topple Assad. Which is to say: The administration does not appear to have reversed its entire strategy on the conflict on a whim.

All of this makes the medias adulation understandable; none of it makes that adulation defensible.

There are at least four reasons why it is profoundly irresponsible to commend last nights events without equivocation:

(1) While eyewitness accounts strongly suggest that the Assad government was behind Tuesdays attacks, Trumps retaliation came before any thorough investigation confirmed that evidence. The speed of Trumps reaction betrays a lack of caution that should be unnerving even to those who support confrontation with Assad.

Here's what @justintrudeau said earlier today when I asked him about a possible US strike on Syria... @globeandmail pic.twitter.com/26ok0B7S8a  Joanna Slater (@jslaternyc) April 7, 2017

(2) The strike reportedly killed 16 people, including four children. In the opinion of the White Houses national security adviser H.R. McMaster the strike did not eliminate Assads ability to deploy chemical weapons, but merely degraded it. Whats more, there are already signs that the attack might enrage Assad more than it deters him.

JUST IN: Syrian warplanes take off from air base hit by U.S., carry out strikes in Homs countryside - Syrian observatory for human rights  Reuters Top News (@Reuters) April 7, 2017

If our concern is minimizing the deaths of Syrias beautiful babies, it is by no means certain that last nights action will not, ultimately, prove counterproductive.

(3) Congress never gave Donald Trump the authority to commit an act of war against the Syrian government, and to claim otherwise is to give the executive unilateral authority to kill people anywhere in the world, in the name of our republic. It is astounding that more people arent perturbed by that prospect, given that:

(4) We know that our president is an ill-informed, obscenely incurious conspiracy theorist who routinely retreats into self-delusion when reality frustrates his ambitions. He is a demagogue who has attacked the judiciary as a threat to national security, and repeatedly insinuated that in times of war constitutional laws become mere suggestions. These sentences may sound polemical, but they arent. They merely describe a basic fact that much of the media is eager to forget: Donald Trumps presidency is an ongoing national crisis.

Not only did many media commentators neglect these concerns  some actually recast them as causes for celebration.

Among the latter was CNNs Fareed Zakaria:

I think Donald Trump became the president of the United States [last night]. I think this was actually a big moment. Candidate Trump said he would never get involved in the Syrian civil war. He told president Obama you cant do this without the authorization of Congress. He seemed unconcerned with global norms. President Trump recognized that the president of the United States does have to act to enforce international laws; does have to have this broader moral and political purpose. President Trump realized, as every president has for many decades now, that presidents always believe they have inherent legal authority as commander-in-chief that they dont need to go to a pesky Congress every time they want military force.

.@FareedZakaria on Syria strikes: "I think Donald Trump became President of the United States" last night https://t.co/dLipRu6SZu  New Day (@NewDay) April 7, 2017

Here Zakaria casts a willingness to ignore the Constitution as a precondition for earning the title of American president.

Just as remarkably, Zakaria suggests that Trumps action was motivated by his recognition of Americas unique responsibility to uphold international law and act as moral exemplar on the world stage.

The evidence for this claim consists of a few words the president recently spoke in front of a camera. The evidence against it consists of Trumps repeated attempts to enact a discriminatory ban on refugees and asylum-seekers that contravenes international law; the administrations enthusiastic support for Saudi Arabias famine-inducing war crimes in Yemen; his ongoing efforts to defund and disempower the United Nations itself; his vociferous opposition to the U.N.s rebuking Israel over its illegal settlements; and virtually everything he has ever said on the subject of international law.

The New York Times Mark Landler also opted to baselessly impute a flattering motivation for Trumps action:

Mr. Trumps advisers framed his decision in the dry language of international norms and strategic deterrence. In truth, it was an emotional act by a man suddenly aware that the worlds problems were now his  and that turning away, to him, was not an option.

Landler concedes that it is not easy to square Mr. Trumps empathy for the victims of a single chemical weapons attack with his refusal to take in thousands of Syrian refugees from years of strife that have turned that country into a charnel house  and notes that, relaxing that policy did not come up in the presidents deliberations over striking Syria, his advisers said.

But these stark facts do not prevent Landler from asserting:

What is clear, however, is that Mr. Trump reacted viscerally to the images of the death of innocent children in Syria. And that reaction propelled him into a sequence of actions that will change the course of his presidency.

Landlers sole evidence for this conclusion are the presidents own words, which is to say the words of one of Americas most infamously dishonest men.

It is stunning that Landler, Zakaria, and so many others do not entertain the possibility that Trumps decision wasnt motivated by an epiphany about the virtues of international law  or the value of every Syrian childs life  but by a far more banal and cynical recognition: that giving lip service to the former, while feeding cable networks some beautiful war footage, would earn him their accolades.
A Stockholm resident places yellow roses next to a sign which reads rest in peace at a memorial near the scene of the attack. Photo: Michael Campanella/Getty Images

A 39-year-old Uzbek man has been arrested in connection with the truck attack in Stockholm on Friday that killed four people on one of the citys major shopping streets. The man, who Swedish authorities believe was the driver of truck, was previously known to the countrys national intelligence agency, but had only been considered a marginal character and was not being actively monitored, according to Swedish officials. Police also said they found a suspicious device in the passenger seat of the car, though they would not confirm whether or not the device was some kind of bomb, as has been reported in the Swedish media.

Firefighters pick up debris along the deadly path of the truck. Photo: Michael Campanella/Getty Images

Four people were killed and at least 15 people were injured in the terrorist attack, during which the attacker drove a stolen beer truck into a crowd on the popular Drottninggatan pedestrian street, eventually crashing into the Ahlens department store. Witnesses said that the driver was trying to hit people as he steered. Two people injured in the attack remain in intensive care. The incident was the fifth terrorist attack in Europe over the past year in which an assailant has used a vehicle to ram into a crowd of people.

The stolen beer truck used in the attack. Photo: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty Images

Stockholm was put on lockdown following the attack, shutting down the citys public-transit system. The suspect was eventually apprehended in a suburb north of the city.

Sweden is statistically one of the safest nations in the world, and the countrys prime minister and Stockholms mayor have both vowed that the attack will not damage the country and citys open society. (Sweden has accepted more refugees and migrants per capita than any other country during Europes ongoing migrant crisis, though they have greatly restricted the influx more recently.)

Residents gathered near a memorial to the attacks victims. Photo: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty Images

The attacker, who has not yet been publicly identified, was born in the Uzbekistan, a Muslim majority country. Authorities havent said how he came to reside in Sweden or how long he had lived there, but he was on their radar; though, a previous investigation into the suspect had apparently gone nowhere. While the drivers motive is not yet confirmed, the International Crisis Group estimates that between 2,000 to 4,000 militants from Central Asia may have volunteered to fight with ISIS over the past several years. Uzbek nationals and ethnic Uzbeks are believed to make up the largest segment of that group. The ex-Soviet Central Asia region, impoverished and ruled by corrupt, authoritarian regimes, is home to its own native-grown Islamist groups as well.

Terrorists want us to be afraid, want us to change our behaviour, want us to not live our lives normally, but that is what were going to do, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said in response to the attack. Were also determined to continue to be an open society; a democratic society.
how i get it done

How ABC News President Kim Godwin Gets It Done She took time out of her 15-hour workday to tell us about her first year as the first Black woman to serve as a network news president.
Bella's team might need an overhaul. She's been doing some things lately.

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what other things?

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what things? all she does is post food on her instastories

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Fuck I had no clue. And Terry looks like some trashy hick who lives in the wooded parts of New England.

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Hey! That's insulting to New Englanders.

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honestly, he worked with so many celebs. some are surprising, some are less so

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And that's like a genuine smile, too. Smh

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lol

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a rapist and a war criminal

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Trash

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It was sarcasm

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trash



this isn't even a good shoot. like wtf is going on her her pose in the second photo? how people keep hiring him, i will never understand

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I'm disgusted at Porter, I hadn't seen that POS' work in a mag for a while and I thought we were finally free of his sexual harassment-fuelled shitty photography and maybe the public outcry meant mags/brands weren't hiring him anymore after Mango dropped him.



Should have known it was too good to be true, his status as a fashion photographer is p much the cockroach that won't die.





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drag them op

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i'm reading your expose sexual abuser posts in the svu narrator voice.



you're an ontd treasure, op. keep up the good work!

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This ass needs to be on the streets.

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Are there any well known actors who have openly spoken about their disdain about Polanski?



Edited at 2017-04-08 05:25 pm (UTC)

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No. Natalie portman, Meryl Streep, and Ewan Mcgregor have all supported him.

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Emma Thompson, grown adult, removed her signature when she was made aware of how problematic it was lol.

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http://www.indiewire.com/2009/09/over-100-in-film-community-sign-polanski-petition-55821/ Here's the full list. I couldn't source it bc IndieWire is a banned source.

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Jesse Eisenberg said: "Yeah  you dont touch children. That is the worst thing in the world. You dont know how badly that screws up kids  it screws them up for life" when discussing him some time ago, but then he keeps working with Woody Allen so...

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go the fuck. away. both of you.

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ugh working with uncle terry

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Edited at 2017-04-08 05:29 pm (UTC) he still shoots a ton of stuff for the big fashion magazines, the scandals didn't hurt him at all

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Yep, I noticed that too... Since last year the fashion peeps slowly and steadily gives him work. Maybe next season he will start attending fashion shows again. Disgusting.

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of course he'd start getting hired again in the era of POTUS pussy-grabber. Of course.



I really wish he'd die.

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she's so young & fresh faced & cute

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lmfao @ fresh faced

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is this a joke?

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not yet  I might have to schedule an induction for next week if she's still not here. thanks for asking 

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ia tbh

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Fuck ppl who keep giving him work.





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ew

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Yuck @ that disgusting Miley x Terry phase.

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Miley is trash. How are you going to attend a women's march but work with woody allen and make a mockery of the allegations against terry?

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Was talking to someone about this the other day, this was so tucked up to shame/make light of his allegations

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Ukraines DTEK Trading, owned by Rinat Akhmetov, and Moldovas state-owned intermediary, Energocom, signed a one-year contract, on April 1, for the supply of electricity to Moldovan distributors. Energocom/DTEKs only competitor was the Kuchurgan Power Station, which is located in Transnistria and belongs to the Russian state-owned electricity giant, Inter RAO. According to Moldovas Ministry of Economy, the winning bid offered to sell power at $50.20 per megawatt/hour (MWh), compared to Kuchurgans offer of $54.40 per MWh (MEC.gov.md, April 1). However, questions remain as to why DTEK had to go through the Moldovan intermediary and did not submit a bid directly. Moreover, there are concerns about DTEKs capacity to cover Moldovas energy needs in full (Exprt-Grup.org, March 31). The arrest of the deputy minister of economy in charge of the energy portfolio on the day of the auction deadline added further intrigue, despite, so far, corruption charges not being connected to the bidding process. Speculation mounted as the auction deadline was extended repeatedly without a clear justification. Nonetheless, the fact that Moldova switched from the Russian supplier in Transnistria to a Ukrainian company is significant in ways that go far beyond market economics.

The decision took many by surprise, as the key figure in Moldovan politicsthe head of the ruling Democratic Party, oligarch Vlad Plahotniuchad a vested interest in maintaining the old contract despite accusations that importing energy from Transnistria not only legitimates, but also, in effect, sponsors separatism. Moldovan independent experts, as well as politicians, accused Plahotniuc of benefiting from the shell-company that had served as a middleman between Moldova and Kuchurgan Power Station since January 2015 (Adevarul.ro, April 1). The Tiraspol-based offshore-owned intermediary Energokapital (second-largest taxpayer in Transnistria) is considered the brainchild of Transnistrias former leader Yevghenii Shevchyk and Moldovan leaders Vlad Filat and Plahotniuc (Ecfr.eu, July 7, 2016; Jurnal.md, July 24, 2016). Maintaining the existing deal was Plahotniucs preferred option following Filats arrest; but the status quo did not sit well with either Ukraine or Moldovas Western partners. Related: Oil Heads Higher As Iran And Saudi Arabia Draw On Reserves

Having lost control over its large coal mines in the east (see EDM, February 28, March 29), Ukraine is eager to compensate as much as it can by exporting power generated by its nuclear power stations. DTEK Trading bought the export rights from Energoatoma Ukrainian state enterprise that operates the countrys four nuclear power stations. Coincidentally or not, the day before the deadline of Moldovas energy import auction, the Washington Times featured a piece titled Ukrainian Corruption Casts Nuclear Pall Over Europe, stoking fears about Ukraines alleged inability to ensure the safe operation of its nuclear facilities (Washington Times, March 30). The article leans in favor of Russia. Of course, Ukraine had long sought to replace Russia on the Moldovan energy market, but to date, Chisinau had only used this as leverage with Moscow and Tiraspol. Moreover, the lucrative kickbacks from Energokapital (about $19 million a year) were likely difficult to pass up (Jurnal.md, July 24, 2016). Yet, several factors

had been making it increasingly difficult for the Moldovan government to continue with business as usual. For one, Transnistria does not pay Russia back for the Russian natural gas it consumes to produce electricity, passing the debt onto Moldova. Second, the Russian aggression in Ukraine had alarmed the small country with a separatist region. And, last, but certainly not least, the election of a pro-Russian president has compelled Moldovas government to forgo business as usual in order to mollify pro-Western Moldovans and the countrys development partners.

It remains unclear why Kuchurgan decided to submit a price higher than the $49 per MWh they had been charging last year. Given that the intermediary Energokapital was no longer in the picture, the price should have been lower still. Yet, the bigger question now is what Transnistria does with its energy surplus. In 20052009, when Moldova had a contract with Ukraine and not Inter RAO, Transnistria was able to sell part of the electricity generated by the Kuchurgan Power Station to Romania. Currently, Romania is unlikely to help Tiraspol out and neither is Ukraine. Losing such a significant revenue stream puts incredible pressure on an already austere Transnistrian budget. Spending cuts in Russia will also make it difficult for Moscow to pick up the tab (see EDM, June 29, 2015). Therefore, Moldovas decision has even larger geopolitical implications. Related: Did The Banks Just Give U.S. Shale A Carte Blanche?

Due to increased domestic contestation by the opposition, Plahotniuc has been trying desperately to boost his legitimacy by proving himself to the West, yet without antagonizing Russia directly. The Moldovan leadership has gone to great lengths to avoid linking the Russian government to the actions of its intelligence services. This is despite accusations of Russian special services harassing Moldovan officials traveling to Russia, their sabotage of a Moldovan law enforcement investigations into a major transnational money laundering scheme, and the recruitment of a former Moldovan Democratic Party legislator as a spy for Moscow (Adevarul.ro, March 9). But following the election of a pro-Russian president in Moldova, Moscow is now focused on ensuring that pro-Russian forces secure a majority in Moldovas next parliamentary elections, scheduled for 2018. Consequently, Russia has diminished its space for maneuver. It cannot retaliate against Moldova without undermining the chances of the pro-Russian parties in the next election. Vladimir Putin recently made President Igor Dodon several token concessions regarding Moldovan exports and labor migrants. Dodon is also creating expectations about progress in the Transnistrian conflict settlement (see EDM, January 26). If the Kremlin were to retaliate on any of these fronts, it would undermine its own political projects in Moldova.

The politically agile Plahotniuc may have hoped to persuade the European Union that cutting Transnistria out of the energy deal would be detrimental to the conflict settlement process, but Plahotniuc has lost the battle, even while saving face for now. Clearly, the deal is a major win for Ukraine. Apart from the much-needed cash inflow and a snub at Russia, Ukraine is also hoping to access the EU energy market via Moldova. The new contract may ultimately prove to be a big win for Moldova if DTEK is able to ensure supply and price stability, since Plahotniuc is likely to use any hitches as a pretext to go back to his preferred option. In light of the difficult economic conditions in Transnistria and Russias increasingly limited leverage over Moldova, there is some hope that pressure for a positive development in the conflict settlement may emerge at the grass roots level to the point when it can no longer be ignored or stifled by the authorities.

By The Jamestown Foundation

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Venezuelas economic, humanitarian and political crisis hit critical levels at the end of March, when Venezuelas president and the Supreme Court of Justice initiated a process that will deprive the opposition-led National Assembly of legislative powers. It is worth noting that the present Supreme Court of Justice was deviously designated by the previous National Assembly just days before they finished their period, a move designed to make it completely obedient to the Venezuelan president. Two days later, due to the outcry of the international community, in particular by the Organization of American States (OAS), the Supreme Court tried to step back from its controversial dictatorial decision through a presidential order.

Venezuelans are living day-by-day in a total chaos, facing a very complicated situation with rising crime and corruption rates, daily electricity blackouts and shortages of both medicines and food. Venezuelans cant get even the most basic lifesaving medical supplies such as simple antibiotics. This critical situation does not seem to have an easy solution, due to the fact that most of the goods have to be imported due to Venezuelas record low productivity level. The reduction of cash flow due to low international oil prices, as well as the institutionalized government corruption, caused yet more protests, with the government once again using tear gas, water cannons and pepper spray alongside its paramilitary force - the so called colectivos (the civilian heavily armed branch of the revolution).

On April 12th, Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA is due to pay $2.05 billion to the bondholders. Not doing so will be considered as a default. As a measure to avoid default, PDVSA has been trying to negotiate new terms of a loan from Russian oil company Rosneft for months. Venezuelan state oil company has offered Rosneft a stake in a joint venture in the Orinoco Belt. Related: Oil Heads Higher As Iran And Saudi Arabia Draw On Reserves

To achieve this loan, the approval of the Venezuelan National Assembly is constitutionally compulsory, which explains the decision taken by the Supreme Court of Justice to annihilate it. At the end of 2016, PDVSA used 49.9 percent of its shares in U.S. subsidiary Citgo, one of their best industrial assets, as collateral on its loan financing from Rosneft. This financial action enraged opposition politicians who argue a distressed government is hypothecating high-quality national assets. The risk of default is real and the best example was November 2016 when PDVSA missed coupon payments due on its bonds and had to activate a thirty-day grace period. The credit default swaps (CDS) are used by investors to protect themselves against the risk of nonpayment of a coupon, from the PDVSAs CDS it is possible to calculate the implied probability of default of PDVSA, which increased to 56 percent in March from 40 percent in February. April 12th is not the only important date for coupon payments, still a further $3.5 billion in payments are due in October and November 2017. The countrys foreign reserves have plunged to $10.4 billion, according to the latest Venezuelan Central Bank data, which represents only 10 percent of Venezuelas outstanding debt. Therefore, the risk of default for the rest of 2017 will remain high until political and economic stability is achieved.

Today, Venezuelas democratic face has completely crumbled, showing the real face of a dictatorship. The Venezuelan people are famished and the only way they can put pressure on the government is to take the streets and ask for new presidential elections, as they have been doing for quite some time. While the Venezuelan regime is experiencing its lowest ever approval rating, the government has maintained its military branches in every key post in the Venezuelan administration, making a democratic solution unlikely. So far, the government has only engaged in empty dialogue, not attempting to move towards a democratic solution. Every time the government has needed oxygen, they use this so-called dialogue, while implementing harsher measures against the population.

It seems that the government is more concerned about how to pay its coupon payments rather than covering the populations basic needs. This strategy seems to be the governments way to cling to power, at least until 2018 when presidential elections are due.

By Luis Colasante for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Pak-Saudi Arabia military alliance is a victory of Islam: Saudi Religious Affairs Minister

AZAKHEL (Nowshera): Saudi Religious Affairs Minister Sheikh Saleh bin Abdul Aziz has said that Pakistan-Saudi Arabia military alliance is a victory of Islam and its main objective is renaissance of Islam.



Addressing a well-attended public meeting on the first day of centenary celebrations of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (F) here on Friday, he said that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia would jointly take on the enemies of Islam and Harmain Sharifain (the holy places in Saudi Arabia).



Imam-i-Kaaba Shaikh Saleh bin Muhammad Ibrahim led Friday prayers after the speech of the Saudi minister.



JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, diplomats and political leaders were present on the occasion. Organisers expect that three to four million people would attend the three-day events in Azakhel.



Former army chief retired Gen Raheel Sharif has been recently nominated commander of the Saudi-led 39-nation military alliance. Pakistan is member of the alliance.



The Saudi minister termed the military alliance a formidable force to counter terrorism and warned that there was no room for violence and terrorism. Pakistan-Saudi alliance will pull out eyes of the enemy, he said.



An emotionally charged crowd, responding to the speech of the minister, raised slogans pledging that they were ready to sacrifice their lives to defend the holy sites.



The minister said that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were like one heart and two souls which were cooperating with each other in the fields of science, technology, defence, economy, education and culture.



The presence of a high-level delegation of Saudi Arabia dominated the first day of the centenary proceedings. The Friday congregation, led by the Imam of the Grand Mosque, attracted thousands of faithful from different parts of the country, particularly Peshawar Valley.



I came here from Lakki Marwat just because of the Imam-i-Kaaba. I am not interested in the JUI-F, said Najeeb Ullah. How is it possible to stay at home when the Imam-i-Kaaba is leading prayers in Azakhel? said Qari Shah Hussain, a blind cleric from Peshawar. The Imam-i-Kaaba said in his sermon that Islam is a religion of peace and the path to correction lies only in the Holy Quran and the ways of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him). Allah has made the Muslim the best nation, he said and urged people to hold fast to God and refrain from divisiveness. He prayed for the Muslims suffering in Syria and Palestine.



Maulana Fazlur Rehman, in his welcome address, denounced terrorism in the region and said that the JUI-F would never tolerate violence and militancy. We reiterate today that the JUI denounces violence in any shape and in any place, he said, adding that time had come to highlight Islamic teachings and values.



He warned against victimisation of people associated with religion and sects on the pretext of operation against terrorists. He said that security of Saudi Arabia was paramount and stressed the need for eliminating the menace of sectarianism. He expressed concern over a growing inclination towards terrorism and extremism among people.



Heavy rush and mismanagement marred the events on the first day of the centenary celebrations. Thousands of people could not offer the prayers due to the rush and the traffic jam on Grand Trunk Road.



Accommodation and other basic facilities for the participants from Balochistan, Sindh, Punjab and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas were inadequate. The ground has been covered with canopies. A large number of canopies crumbled due to late-night heavy downpour and speedy winds.



Horse-mounted guards of the Ansar-ul-Islam, security wing of the JUI-F, resorted to light baton charge to disperse the crowd.
Will a Misdemeanor Conviction Affect My Immigration Status?

Immigration is a complicated and nuanced area of the law. Many different factors can have a significant impact on a person's immigration status. Possibly the most feared factors are criminal convictions. A criminal conviction can result in deportation and other consequences when it comes to a person's immigration status.

Fortunately, not all criminal convictions will have a significant impact on a person's immigration status. But, whether or not a person is convicted of a misdemeanor or a felony is actually less significant when it comes to immigration status than the type of crime a person is convicted of.

Serious Crimes and Aggravated Felonies

Generally, serious crimes, like murder, drug trafficking, human trafficking, conspiracy, and others, will be grounds for deportation. However, starting in 1988, congress created a list of "aggravated felonies" which also can be grounds for deportation, and has expanded that list over time. It is worth noting that the list of aggravated felonies includes many crimes that are typically only charged as misdemeanors. The list initially only included serious offenses that one might expect to be grounds for deportation, but is continually being amended to include more minor violations, such as:

Simple battery

Theft

Filing a fraudulent tax return

Failure to appear in court

In addition to the above crimes, any crime that is considered a crime of moral turpitude can also have grave impacts on a person's immigration status.

Crimes of Moral Turpitude

Crimes of moral turpitude generally include acts that infer a person has breached another person's or the public's trust. These can include both felonies and misdemeanors. While crimes like fraud, embezzlement, perjury, child abuse, and tax evasion are easy to understand as crimes where trust has been broken, small crimes like petty theft or shoplifting, which are typically misdemeanors, can also be considered as such.

If a non-citizen is convicted of a crime of moral turpitude, or an aggravated felony, they may not only be deported, but they may be ineligible to return to U.S. forever. Therefore, it is incredibly important for any non-citizen facing criminal charges to not only consult a criminal attorney and inform them of their immigration status, but to also consult an experienced immigration attorney, especially before agreeing to any plea bargain.

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We have a company wich sells pellets and briquets to end costumers in Slovenia.

I'm interested in pellets and I want to know few things:



- what is the quality of pellets

- what kind of wood are made of

- can you send me specification list

- price (FCO)

- I'm interested to buy larger capacities on yearly basis



From 10.4.2017 till 15.4.2017 I'm in Ukraine and If you are interested for long term cooperation we can arrange a meating at your company.



Please let me know.
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On Friday I relived my copy desk days at The Post-Star and the news certainly delivered.

I can't recall the last time we had a news cycle like Friday. With the U.S. attack on Syria late Thursday, a Supreme Court appointment, a terrorism attack in Sweden and lastly a week late state budget. It made for good headlines to say the least.

With the big headlines of the day focusing on the Syrian airbase attack and Gorsuch's appointment, the state budget wasn't going to get the big headlines and I'm sure Albany knew this.

At about 8 p.m. tweets started rolling in about a deal on the state budget and a presser was going to be held in the Red Room at the Capitol.

For many newspapers the timing was awful, there was no way a reporter could digest the entire budget or more or less see the printed documents before press time.

Dan King was able to get a full write thru from the Associated Press on Page B3 due to the timing and gave it prominent play on poststar.com.

Don't worry Albany we saw your budget passage a week late and I hope others were lucky to get it in print.

 Adam Colver
Veteran American journalist Dan Rather says he is "concerned" by how many in the U.S. press are praising Donald Trump's whimsical missile assault last night on Syria as "presidential."

Dan Rather is not the only one alarmed by this attitude.

From Dan Rather's Facebook page:

The President of the United States is the Commander in Chief. It is an awesome responsibility. Committing the use of force and American men and women in uniform is about as serious as it gets. But the truly great presidents understand that knowing when NOT to act is as important as knowing when to act.

It is a whole lot easier starting wars than finishing them. And there are many historical examples of where a promise of limited engagement quickly metastasized into something much bigger.

There is a tendency to rally around the flag, and a President who takes on a war footing can see a boost of support. It is often transitory. There are arguments to be made that President Assad in Syria has crossed a line that demands U.S. military interference. Whether this should have been a unilateral action is something we all must consider. Whether President Trump has a plan for what comes next must be debated. Whether there is a coherence to this missile strike fitting into a larger foreign policy strategy is a question that should give us all pause.

The role of the press is to ask hard questions. There is ample evidence that this Administration needs to face deep scrutiny. The lies we have heard, the chaos in governance, and the looming questions about ties with Russia  itself a major player in Syria  demand that the press treat this latest action with healthy skepticism. Perhaps it was the right thing to do. Perhaps a strong and wise policy will emerge. But that judgement is still definitely hanging in the balance.

The number of members of the press who have lauded the actions last night as "presidential" is concerning. War must never be considered a public relations operation. It is not a way for an Administration to gain a narrative. It is a step into a dangerous unknown and its full impact is impossible to predict, especially in the immediate wake of the first strike.
FORT EDWARD -- A 26-year-old man who police said had sex with a 12-year-old girl during a "sex party" last summer was sentenced Friday to 7 years in state prison on Friday.

Daniel W. Clary pleaded guilty to first-degree rape for a sexual encounter with the girl last July in Hudson Falls. Police said the incident occurred during a series of sexual encounters between Clary and at least two other young men and one other underage girl. It was unclear whether any other arrests were made in the case.

Police learned of the incidents after relatives of the 12-year-old confronted Clary about them during a fracas in a park last July.

Clary was not accused of physically forcing the girl to have sex, but the charge was brought because she was too young to legally consent. Police said the two girls told the men they were 17, which is the state's age of consent, but under state law those statements do not absolve them of criminal liability.

Washington County Judge Adam Michelini imposed a 7-year prison term to be followed by 15 years on parole as part of a plea agreement.

Clary's lawyer, Greg Teresi, said his client accepted responsibility, and he asked for the minimum sentence, which is 5 years in prison.
FORT EDWARD  A two-year study of problems in the farming industry in Washington County found some surprising solutions.

For instance, its not that we need more slaughterhouses, said Teri Ptacek, the executive director of Agricultural Stewardship Association, which worked on the study. Its timing.

A new working committee could help them address bottlenecks at crucial times. That would work better than introducing more slaughterhouses that arent needed most of the time.

People say, We need this! But its not always the strategies that work, Ptacek said.

The research has been used to write a new Agricultural and Farmland Protection Plan, updating the one that was written in 1996. A public hearing and presentation will be held April 19 at 7 p.m. at the County Annex Room on Main Street in Hudson Falls.

Its a plan for the economic success of farmland in the county. But part of the message is that many of the solutions are already here. Its just that the various agencies, programs and farmers arent aware of each other.

There are already a lot of resources available. The disconnect, its communication, said Laura Oswald, county director of Economic Development.

The plan calls for a full-time coordinator to remove that disconnect.

We need somebody to be helping to coordinate this, Oswald said.

The trouble is, theres no money for that. County supervisors have already said they are reluctant to fund a position. Government grants also dont fund staff, Oswald said.

Its almost impossible to get funding for a person, she said.

However, private foundations or businesses may fund it, Ptacek said.

Getting a coordinator is her top goal.

Number one is that organizational structure. That includes aggressively looking for outside funding to get someone to coordinate this, she said.

The person wouldnt just help connect farmers, programs and agencies. The coordinator would also try to accomplish the many goals laid out in the plan.

That includes helping farmers diversify, get into grain production for craft breweries, and find new markets in New York City.

Getting broadband internet to every farm, and helping farmers get their products online, is also on the list.

The plan proposes hiring a consultant to create a comprehensive marketing strategy that farmers could use. Thats a big need, said Renee Bouplon, an associate with the Agricultural Stewardship Association.

One thing we heard is farmers need basic assistance to do marketing, she said.

The plan also has a goal that would require hefty state lobbying. Farmers want a reduced tax burden, and Oswald said state legislation could help. The Assembly and the Senate have passed legislation creating a tax credit for gleanings  food that would otherwise have rotted in the fields, but farmers donated it to food pantries.

The governor has twice vetoed the bill. The Senate has already passed it again this year.

Getting tax reductions of any kind isnt an easy sell, Oswald said.

Its a hard nut to crack, she said, but added that the farms are worth supporting.

Ag is intrinsic to the countys economy, she said. So the more you support ag enterprises, help them achieve growth, the more youre going to see economic activity.
QUEENSBURY  The Lake George Student Connection is not being welcomed with open arms in Queensbury.

While one Town Board member has donated office space for the program, another board member questioned the idea, and several residents said the town shouldnt spend taxpayer money on it.

The connection would help foreign students navigate problems while working here over the summer. They could file complaints about their landlords or their employers, as well as find new jobs. Local students could use the office as well, although it is designed to help foreign students who arent familiar with U.S. laws.

Lake George Mayor Robert Blais asked for $1,000 from his board and the towns of Lake George, Bolton and Queensbury. The money would mainly cover utilities and printing costs. He has arranged for staffing.

But a resident asked the Queensbury Town Board what would happen if Blais discovered the program needed more money.

Board member Doug Irish predicted Blais would ask the town for more.

Thats what usually happens. A year later, they come back, and then its $10,000, he said. Im just not big on spending taxpayer money on something that shouldnt be taxpayer money.

Another resident said Blais should arrange a more complex system in which nonprofits would jointly provide help, possibly with additional funding from local businesses.

Have you exhausted all other options before deciding to spend taxpayer money? resident Rachel Seeber asked, suggesting they reach out to nonprofits and lawyers willing to work pro bono.

Others also said the students could go to the Lake George Town Hall to get help.

But thats unreasonable, said board member Anthony Metivier.

The town hall is too far away for most of them to get there, he said.

Thats why Metivier has offered to host the connection at his bike shop on Canada Street, which is six-tenths of a mile from Lake George Town Hall. Its seven miles from Queensbury Town Hall.

He wont be offering them special, summer-long rental deals, he added, and he doesnt expect increased business from the arrangement.

I have no financial interest. In fact, Ill probably end up losing money, he said.

Irish noted that the request for funding did not come with a contract or many details.

What the mayor has proposed is just that, a proposal, he said. It didnt spell out exactly what theyll do, how theyll spend the money, oversight of the money. I think were jumping ahead of ourselves here, giving someone $1,000.

Other board members agreed to wait for more details. But board member Tim Brewer assured the public that the town will probably fund the Student Connection eventually.

We are headed toward giving him the money, Brewer said. We just need to draw up the right paperwork.
The struggle the Hudson Falls Village Board is undergoing as it seeks to come up with a budget leads us again to advocate for the financial benefits of consolidation.

In Hudson Falls, as in the Fort Edward school district, officials are facing a decline in revenues brought about by a drop in the assessed value of large properties  the dewatering plant in Fort Edward, the Rite-Aid building and GE properties in Hudson Falls.

One of the strategies the board has come up with to cut the size of the tax increase is to eliminate the deputy chief position from the village Police Department. Unfortunately, as Chief Randy Diamond has pointed out, this cut could have unfortunate consequences the board wont like.

Under union rules, Deputy Chief Curt Pedone could, if he chooses, bump out the departments detective, which is the job immediately under his. The detective would, in turn, move to sergeant and the sergeant to patrol officer. The newest patrol officer would lose his job, and the village would lose part of its police presence on the street  exactly what board members say they dont want.

Perhaps, if the board sticks with this plan, it could offer Pedone an incentive to retire, which he is eligible to do, instead of invoking his bumping rights.

Taking a broader perspective, we urge village officials to consider ways to get some of their policing needs met through cooperative arrangements with the Washington County Sheriffs Office. The Sheriffs Office is located nearby, so it would be no hardship for sheriff deputies to make regular patrols in the village.

Looking at an even bigger picture, it makes sense for officials in all the county villages that have police departments  Whitehall, Fort Edward, Cambridge/Greenwich and Granville, as well as Hudson Falls  to consider saving that money and having the Sheriffs Office cover them.

An elimination of village police departments would require an expansion of the Sheriffs Office, but that would be more cost-effective. First, the cost of the Sheriffs Office is spread out among all the countys taxpayers. Also, money would be saved by centralizing administrative functions.

Under the current setup, the most professional and ambitious village police officers often jump to the Sheriffs Office, where theyre paid more. Turnover in village departments is high and local chiefs can have trouble finding qualified officer candidates.

Hudson Falls budget problems should not fall entirely on the backs of its police department, but police services are one of the largest expenses these small villages bear.

Frequently, the small, local departments enjoy support from the great majority of village residents. You could argue that residents should be allowed to have their own department if they are willing to fund it. But when villages are being forced to cut other necessary services, its time to take a serious look at police consolidation.

The Washington County Sheriffs Office could open substations in villages where local departments are eliminated, and its possible that the same local officers would be on the job, just working for a different department. Warren County Sheriffs Office, for example, has substations in Chestertown and Warrensburg.

Attachment to village police forces is more emotional than practical. Sheriffs Office patrols could provide professional, effective coverage of Washington Countys villages. For an example, look next door to Warren County, where only the city of Glens Falls and the town of Bolton have their own departments. If a town as big as Queensbury and a village as busy as Lake George in the summer can thrive with coverage from the county sheriffs office, the villages in Washington County can, too.
Twitter today dropped a lawsuit it filed on Thursday against the U.S. Homeland Security Department, after saying the DHS withdrew its summons for records about who is operating a Twitter account critical of President Donald Trump.

In its now-abandoned lawsuit against the government, Twitter said they couldn't unmask the identify of who was behind the @ALT_uscis account because of Constitutional protections for free speech.

Whoever is behind the account has not said who they are, but the format of the account implies that it is one of many rogue accounts set up by U.S. government employees in various agencies who were fearful of chaos and disruption as the Trump regime took over.

We want to thank @twitter and @aclu for standing up for the right of free anonymous speech. Thank you resistance for standing up for us. https://t.co/6PdwZIJ2xP  ALT? Immigration (@ALT_uscis) April 7, 2017

The lawsuit says the account "claims to be" the work of at least one federal immigration employee.

The "U.S. CIS" in @ALT_uscis refers to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The account describes itself as "immigration resistance."

Twitter attorney Mark Flanagan said in court papers a U.S. Justice Department lawyer told Twitter about the withdrawal of the summons on Friday, so the government's demand "no longer has any force or effect."

Here's a PDF of that document.

Reuters:
A Russian frigate armed with cruise missiles was heading to the Mediterranean in an apparent show of force a day after the first direct military strike by the US against the Syrian regime.

Russian state media reported that the frigate, the Admiral Grigorovich, would call at a logistics base at Tartus, Syria. Russia also pledged to help strengthen Syria's air defenses after the US strike on the Shayrat airbase in western Syria.

The White House late Friday refused to say whether strike was a one-off action or part of a new strategy designed to hobble the military capabilities of President Bashar al-Assad. Nor would it say whether the US believed Assad should step down after the chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun that killed at least 80 people and injured dozens more on Tuesday.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he was "disappointed" but "not surprised" by Russia's condemnation of the strike as a violation of international law.

Key developments

Pentagon probing possible Russia involvement in chemical attack that prompted US strike

Up to 20 aircraft were reportedly destroyed in Friday's attack on the Shayrat base

US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley to UN says US 'prepared to do more' in Syria

Russian President Vladimir Putin said US strike was an "act of aggression."

The state-run TASS news agency said the Russian frigate was heading for Syria after taking on supplies at the Black Sea port of Novorossiis. Citing an unnamed military-diplomatic source, TASS said that its ongoing presence would depend on developments in the region but it was expected to remain in Syrian waters for more than a month.

The ship, equipped with state-of-the-art missiles, had been on exercises in the Black Sea. "This is really just a show of force, flexing muscle, Russia doing what it can to remind everyone that for the last 18 months it has had quite a deployment in Syria and the region," CNN's senior international correspondent Paula Newton reported.

NATO called it one of the largest deployments from Russia in decades.

The White House refused to discuss next steps. Press Secretary Sean Spicer said President Donald Trump would not "telegraph his next move." Speaking to reporters at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Spicer said the US missile attack was "very decisive, justified and proportional."

He declined to say whether Trump now believed Assad should relinquish power. "First and foremost the President believes that the Syrian government [and the] Assad regime should abide by the agreement they made not to use chemical weapons," Spicer said.

Tillerson said Russia had failed to honor an agreement to to guarantee the elimination of Syria's chemical weapons. "Clearly, Russia has failed in its responsibility to deliver on that commitment from 2013, he said. "So either Russia has been complicit or Russia has been simply incompetent in its ability to deliver on its end of that agreement."

Russia complicit?

US officials have said the Pentagon is looking for any evidence that the Russian government knew about or was complicit in Tuesday's chemical attack.

A US military official told CNN the Pentagon was examining specifically whether a Russian warplane had bombed a hospital in Khan Sheikhoun five hours after the initial chemical attack, with the aim of destroying evidence.

A US defense official said intelligence indicated that a Russian drone flew over the hospital that was treating victims of the chemical attack, prior to the site being later bombed.

When CNN asked about US allegations that Russia might have been complicit, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov replied via text message: "That is not true."

Trump said he ordered the airstrike on the Shayrat base because the US believed aircraft that carried out the chemical attack were launched from there.

Russian President Vladimir Putin denounced the US strike as "act of aggression" and said it violated international law.

Tillerson said that he was "disappointed" but "not surprised" by Russia's response.

Russian Senator Alexey Pushkov suggested on Twitter that Tillerson's comments were made to gain "leverage" in upcoming US-Russia talks. Tillerson is due to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow next week.

Western leaders backed the US action, saying Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had brought it on himself.

Lavrov accused the United States of seeking a pretext for regime change in Syria. "I am particularly disappointed by the way this damages US-Russia relations," he said, but added that he didn't think it would "lead to an irreversible situation."

In the wake of the strike, Russia said it was suspending use of a communications channel aimed at minimizing risks of in-flight incidents between the US-led coalition fighting ISIS in Syria and Russian aircraft.

But on Friday, a senior military official told CNN the Russian military has not suspended "the deconfliction channel." The official said the channel was used just after the US strike on the Shayrat airfield and again Friday. No information on the content of the communications was given.

Assad: 'Unjust assault'

Assad said the United States had carried out an "unjust and unabashed assault" against Syria which "shows nothing but short-sightedness, a narrowness of vision and a blindness to political and military realities."

He also said the attack had increased the regime's resolve to "crush" terrorists in Syria -- the term it uses for all opposition forces.

The operation "makes the United States of America a partner of ISIS, Nusra Front and other terrorist organizations who -- since the first day of this unjust war on Syria -- have been attacking Syrian army positions and Syrian military bases."

Maj. Issam al-Reis, spokesman for the opposition Free Syrian Army's Southern Front, welcomed the US action and called for "the destruction of all tools of murder that Bashar al Assad's regime uses."

CNN'S Tim Lister and Matthew Chance reported from Moscow. Ryan Browne reported from Washington DC. James Masters wrote from London. James Griffiths, Alla Eshchenko, Alex Felton and Mary Iluyushina contributed reporting.
The President is "a moron," says former SNL cast member Taran Killam. That may be true. But can he read?

When Donald Trump hosted Saturday Night Live in 2015, none of the regulars were happy about it, according to an interview with Killam in Brooklyn Magazine.

The actor is now performing in Hamilton as King George.

"It was not fun, and most of the cast and writers were not excited to have him there," said Killam. "I didn't get the feeling that he was excited to be there, and it felt like a move for ratings from both sides."

But here's an observation from Killam about Trump that brings us to a serious question.

Can Donald Trump read?

Snip:

"What you see is what you get with him, really," he said. "I mean, there was no big reveal. He struggled to read at the table read, which did not give many of us great confidence. Didn't get the jokes, really. He's just a man who seems to be powered by bluster."

It's an interesting question, which has been asked before.

In news reports of how briefings unfolded before recent air strikes on Syria, multiple accounts say Trump asked for more pictures, no text.

It's not the first time such observations have made it into the news.

Fun deets in this Syria tic-toc lede: Trump asked for his daily briefings to include less words, more pictures. https://t.co/h56WmhNFEs pic.twitter.com/8ZZqv220Nh  Ashley Parker (@AshleyRParker) April 8, 2017

Nerding Out with Taran Killam on Hamilton, Get Out, and his Post-SNL Career [Brooklyn, via THR]
Kaspersky Labs reports that an unnamed large Brazilian financial institution with $27B in assets was compromised by hackers who took over its DNS  by hijacking its NIC.br account  and for 5 hours were able to impersonate the bank to all its online customers (and possibly to control its ATMs) in order to plunder their accounts and steal their credit card details.



Kaspersky's Bestuzhev argues that, for banks, the incident should serve as a clear warning to check on the security of their DNS. He notes that half of the top 20 banks ranked by total assets don't manage their own DNS, instead leaving it in the hands of a potentially hackable third party. And regardless of who controls a bank's DNS, they can take special precautions to prevent their DNS registrations from being changed without safety checks, like a "registry lock" some registrars provide and two-factor authentication that makes it far harder for hackers to alter them.

Without those simple precautions, the Brazilian heist shows how quickly a domain switch can undermine practically all other security measures a company might implement. Your encrypted website and locked down network won't help when your customers are silently routed to a bizarro version deep in the web's underbelly.
Welcome Guest! You Are Here:
Anuja Ravindra Dhir, the first non-white circuit judge at the Old Bailey, says "she was often mistaken for a witness or defendant when she started working as a lawyer" in the 1980s.

The 49-year-old said at first, most clients did not want to be represented by a young Asian Scottish female. She also said that, when she wanted to go to university in the 1970s, she was told to be a hairdresser instead.

 Judge Dhir said she once had to produce her wig and gown before security allowed her into court.

"I got used to turning up at courts and people saying to me 'Witness?  no  Defendant?  no' and looking rather surprised when I said I was the advocate," she said.

Now the youngest Central Criminal Court justice, she talks of the "incredible changes" over the last 30 years.
Since the Supreme Court recognized abortion as a constitutional right over 40 years ago, antiabortion activists have aggressively pushed through pre-written legislation, funded antiabortion candidates, and fought (and frequently won) costly legal battles.

In short, they've had better ground game.

While the right to abortion remains the law of the land under the landmark ruling in Roe v. Wade, the reality for millions of women says otherwise.

As conservative former Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist described in a 1992 opinion, "Roe continues to exist, but only in the way a storefront on a western movie set exists: a mere facade to give the illusion of reality."

All the monetary and political incentive in the world

In 2016, 50 new antiabortion laws were passed in the US at the state level, bringing the total of new state laws since 2010 to 338, according to data from the Guttmacher Institute.

The state-level push has been driven, according to James Owens, NARAL Pro-Choice America's states communications director, by "well-funded" national organizations that have lobbied state legislators to systematically restrict reproductive rights.

"There's all the monetary and political incentive in the world for these anti-choice legislators in states all across the country to continually chip away at abortion access, contraceptive coverage, and women's equality at large," Owens told Business Insider. "That's part of a concerted effort that we've seen over the last 20 years, and unfortunately, it doesn't show any signs of slowing down."

The National Right to Life Committee, one of the largest and oldest antiabortion organizations, prominently displays a quote from Kansas Governor Sam Brownback on its website that describes the apparent antiabortion game plan.

"The place you change America isn't in Washington. It's in the states," Brownback said at the 2015 NRLC Convention. "That's how we'll change the life debate. It will be at the state level. Different states doing this, making very positive key changes until it can migrate to the federal level. And a court case can get up to the Supreme Court and Roe v. Wade be overturned, which will ultimately happen. We have to keep pushing at these state levels."

Sue Swayze Liebel, the coordinator for the Susan B. Anthony List's National Pro-life Women's Caucus, told Business Insider that state legislatures have significant power to regulate abortion by writing laws to curtail the practice locally. The Caucus is a coalition of 150 female state legislators who oppose abortion and try to pass legislation restricting it in their 40 states.

"Even though Roe v. Wade is the law of the land, there are some ways that Roe allows states to put some parameters around abortion," Liebel told Business Insider. "The passion to protect life is growing. You're seeing that in state regulations to pull back the abortion industry. ... The power is in the states, and the passion is in the states, and it sort of bubbles up."

The laws eroding the foundation

The state-level laws passed in 2016 and prior restrict abortion access from multiple angles. Among the most common tactics employed by antiabortion legislators and activists:

43 states have

17 states have

27 states have waiting periods laws that force women to visit a provider multiple times before getting an abortion (a difficult obstacle when considering how far some people have to travel to a clinic).

The laws have had a deleterious effect on abortion access in the affected states. Nationwide, the number of abortion clinics have fallen to 788 in 2014, down from 839 in 2011, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

Texas has seen the largest drop in the US, which many have attributed to a TRAP law passed in 2013. After the law was passed, researchers found that the number of clinics providing abortions in the state dropped in half, from 41 to 22 by November 2013  increasing the number of women who lived over 50 miles from a clinic in Texas from 1.2 million to 4.2 million.

In June 2016, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-3 decision that the law "provides few, if any, health benefits for women, poses a substantial obstacle to women seeking abortions, and constitutes an 'undue burden' on their constitutional right to do so."

Dawn Johnsen, a constitutional scholar from Indiana University and the legal director of NARAL from 1988 to 1993, said the Texas case showed how "chipping away" at Roe's guarantees wasn't the right metaphor to explain what was really happening on the ground.

"It's more like you're taking a sledgehammer when you're closing three-quarters of the clinics," she told Business Insider. "People often say chipping away, but I think it's more like eroding the foundation, or hollowing it out."

While a creeping majority of states have passed TRAP laws, several continue to propose or pass what abortion activists consider especially egregious pieces of legislation.

In Oklahoma, for example, lawmakers are advancing a bill that would require the father's permission for a woman to get an abortion. Non-invasive paternity tests are available after eight weeks into pregnancy.

Recipe for a public health crisis

While the GOP won sweeping control of the national government in the 2016 election, the party also has a trifecta of control in 24 state governments.

Furthermore, Trump is poised to appoint more federal judges than any first-term president in 40 years, and has said he intends to choose judges with the goal of overturning Roe.

While Roe v. Wade remains on "solid ground" because the Supreme Court still has a majority supporting it, Stephanie Toti, a senior counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, told Business Insider politicians can still "do a lot of damage."

Toti pointed to the GOP's proposed defunding of Planned Parenthood, which was included the GOP bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, and a codification of the Hyde Amendment, which prevents women from using federal funds to pay for abortions.

"Policies like that contribute to a real gap between the rights that women have in theory, on paper, and the rights that women are actually able to exercise in practice," Toti told Business Insider. "Those kinds of restrictive policies have a hugely disproportionate impact on poor women, immigrant women, women of color, and women in rural areas who already face numerous obstacles in accessing safe abortion care."

Activists aren't worried about just abortion rights either, but the full gamut of reproductive health care.

"If you take that away, that means that more women are going to be facing unintended pregnancies," Toti said. "When you think about combining that with reduced access to safe abortion care, it's just a recipe for disaster. It's a recipe for a public health crisis."

This is winning

While Pew Research Center polls have found that 59% of US adults today support keeping abortion legal in all or most cases, there is a clear partisan divide. 79% of Democrats support its legality, while only 37% of Republicans do. Independents are more in the middle, but still support the right at 60%.

Groups like NARAL, the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood, and the Center for Reproductive Rights are all trying to harness the energy and anger displayed at the Women's March on Washington, Owens said, and turn it into concrete action at the local, state, and national levels.

"I think we're gonna lose a lot of these fights, and it's gonna be painful," he said. "But that doesn't mean that we won't fight it. That doesn't mean there isn't a lot of enthusiasm to fight it. That doesn't mean that we lose by fighting it."

At the
Since the Akufo-Addo administration won power, following a peaceful election, there appear to be a growing insecurity in different spheres of the lives of some Ghanaians.

Ex ministers are being hounded, state properties have been targeted and cost of living is expected to go up due to the recent hikes in transport fares. To add to this vigilante groups like the Delta and Invincible Force are scaring all of us with their violence.

Several security experts including former National Security Coordinator under the Mills administration, Kofi Bentum Quantson, have warned governments (NDC and NPP) on several occasion about the threat these marauding vigilante groups pose to the nation.

Quantson speaking on Radio Ghana said It is an irresponsible situation and disgraceful that we will have citizens branding themselves or describing themselves and going into a spree of violence and lawlessness in the wake of the elections. The fact that they are supposed to be aligned to the ruling government makes it a more irresponsible act, he said.

The Director of Operations at the Ghana Police service, Chief Superintendent Dr Benjamin Agordzo, last week, also warned that the activities of the Delta Force and the Invincible Forces could plunge the nation into armed conflict.

He justify his comments, saying the wars in Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and elsewhere happened because people were secretly armed, trained and prepared for it.

"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, he said.

Boko Haram, the Nigerian homegrown terror group, begun in a similar way of the Delta and Invincible Forces: a small gang formed by politicians to provide security and torment political opponents.

Then they grew into a huge radicalized terrorist organisation, terrorising civilians because steps were not taken to disband it. This was because they were used and dumped by politicians after engaging their services.

President Akufo Addo in the 2016 elections promised us better security, promised to deal with hooligans and lawlessness because he has been a victim twice.

In 2009, his car was seized by National Democratic Congress (NDC) miscreants because they assumed it was for the state. It was released to him after two years.

And in 2016, NDC activists who were on a health walk, stopped by his house and pelted it with stones, terrorizing his family.
READ MORE: Judges condemn Delta Force attack on judiciary

The IGP, who has come under intense pressure to crack the whip on the rampaging so called Delta Force said: "The administration will like to assure the judiciary that it will provide maximum security to ensure their safety at all times."

He also called on the general public to volunteer information to enable the police deal with the menace once and for all.

The Judges and Magistrates Association of Ghana Friday condemned the court raid by the Delta Force.

The umbrella body of the judges and magistrates said at a news conference that their members are living in fear after the attack.

READ MORE:Judicial Service slams Delta Force attack on judiciary

Justice Victor Ofoe, President of the Association called on the police to arrest and bring to normalcy the situation for peace loving Ghanaians to go about their lawful duties.
Justice Victor Ofoe, President of the Association called on the police to arrest and bring to normalcy the situation for peace loving Ghanaians to go about their lawful duties.

Such acts are a threat and intimidation of the members of the judiciary. It should be most gratifying for us, and of course all Ghanaians, that all involved will be apprehended and dealt with according to law, he said.

The judges condemnation follows a similar one by the Ghana Bar Association in which they criticised the attack as sickening.

READ MORE: GBA condemns Delta Force for attacking Kumasi Court

In a statement, the GBA said it was shocked and horrified at the attacked.
READ MORE: IGP vows maximum security for judiciary

The news conference follows the attack on the Kumasi Circuit Court by the Delta Force, a vigilante group associated with the governing New Patriotic Party.

Mr Apeatu said: "The issue of political vigilantism has been topical for sometime now. My predecessors and their respective administrations strive to stamp out the phenomenon from our body politics and for that matter our society.

"This isolated incident by a group who call itself as Delta Force in Kumasi is alien to our culture and criminal.

"As a law enforcement agency, we are going to pursue our goal of bringing the phenomenon of vigilantism to an end.

"The police will employ all legitimate means available to us including dialogue, enforcement and enactment of laws.

"In this direction, we are happy other bodies, institutions and personalities including the Ministry of Interior, the Ghana Bar Association, the Peace Council, the media and Civil Societies have indicated their readiness to put their shoulders to the wheel."

READ MORE: Judicial Service slams Delta Force attack on judiciary

The IGP also assured the judiciary of maximum security, urging judges to carry our their work without fear or intimidation.
In a letter to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, the Chinese Embassy urged Ghana's government to check the media's coverage of Chinese citizens describing such reportage as 'defamatory'.

In the letter, the embassy suggested that bilateral relations between the two nations could suffer if this was not done.

"We sincerely hope that the Ghanaian government shall take responsibility of guiding the media and requesting them not to publicise such defamatory reports or stories against Chinese leaders officials and the Chinese government.

This will help create a sound environment for our joint efforts to address this issue and the continuous development of our bilateral relations," the letter said.

READ ALSO: Government reduces fertilizer prices by 50 percent

The media has over the last four months embarked on a strong campaign to force the government to clamp down on illegal small scale mining which has led to the pollution of several of Ghana's water bodies.

Chinese businessmen have been some of the major contributors of cash and equipment to the mines.

Last week, a former minister accused the Chinese ambassador of attempting to bribe him in order to soften his stance on Chinese nationals involved in galamsey.

The letter also said the Chinese government was committed to helping Ghana fight the galamsey menace.

"The Chinese government attaches great importance to the illegal mining issue. The position of the Chinese government on this issue is consistent and clear cut. The Chinese is firmly opposed to the involvement of the Chinese citizens in illegal mining Ghana and supports the efforts taken by the Ghanaian government to tackle the illegal mining issue within the legal framework."

Analysis
In a strongly worded letter to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, the Chinese embassy in Ghana, urged the government to check the media and stop the publication of what it describes as defamatory cartoons.

There are a number of distorted or biased reports and stories on Chinese people, especially some reports and cartoons that are defaming Chinese leaders and senior officials. The Chinese side is very concerned about this unhealthy tendency. We hope that the Ghanaian government will pay due attention to this situation, take the necessary action to stop such things from happening again and guide the media to give an objective coverage on the illegal mining issue so as to create a good environment for further development of our bilateral exchanges and cooperation.

READ ALSO: 5 illegal Chinese miners arrested for mining close to river

Although no names were mentioned, it appears that a caricature by Ghanaian artist Bright Ackwerh about the galamsey menace is what has ruffled the feathers of the Chinese embassy.

The cartoon was posted on Facebook on Tuesday April 4 by the award-winning artist and has since been shared across various social media platforms in Ghana.

It shows the Chinese ambassador to Ghana, Sun Baohong, happily showing off a gold bar to the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping while he serves Ghanas president and minister of natural resources with muddy water from a traditional Chinese vase. However, beside Xi Jinping are two bottles of clean water.

Chinese businessmen have been some of the major contributors of cash and equipment to the illegal mines. The mines have led to the pollution of many of Ghanas rivers, raising concern about access to potable water in Ghana within the next decade.

READ ALSO: Ghanaians on social media want police to return donation from Chinese

Bright Ackwerh has also previously drawn the Chinese dissent artist Ai Weiwei, who was arrested and held for three months by Chinese authorities in 2011 in what was widely seen as a retaliation for his criticism of Chinas human rights abuses.

Ackwerh, the 2016 winner of the Kuenyehia Prize for Contemporary Ghanaian Art, is known for using his caricatures for social commentary.

He has previously satirised Zimbabwes long serving president, Robert Mugabe, Queen Elisabeth II, depicted Ghanas former president John Mahama as a dead goat, drawn Kofi Annan (former UN Secretary General) smoking marijuana and current US president Donald Trump.

In a 2016 interview with Pulse.com.gh, the artist said, "I don't think I'm even that controversial. It's more like there is a fear of speaking up about sensitive topics which I also have but I don't let it deter me from commenting anyway. I have had experiences where some of my work has been rejected by some exhibition spaces due to the sensitivity of their subjects but by doing that it only hinders artistic license and true creative spirit."
Discussing Mahama Ayarigas apology to parliament in a panel broadcast Saturday, Mr Bentil said the culture is undermining the nations democracy.

Speaking on Joy FMs Newsfile Saturday, Mr Bentil alleged that parliament takes money from the executive to pass laws.

READ MORE: Speaker pardons Ayariga after apology

Our parliament seems to have a culture of cash collection. It is a very notorious thing. People know it, everybody complains apparently they wont even pass laws from government except after theyve been paid, he said.

And this culture has led to the point where you are taking GHS3000 or so in envelopes. That kind of culture is terrible and I made a point, that it is undermining our democracy, he said.

His comments follow Mahama Ayariga's unconditional apology to Parliament on Friday after the Joe Ghartey Committee tasked to investigate the allegation concluded that he was peddling rumours and that he had no evidence to back his claims.

The committees report found him guilty of contempt of Parliament and instructed him to apologize to the house.
Speaking on Newsfile Saturday, the astute lawyer said Ayariga's demeanour when he was reading his apology on Friday said he appeared to have rendered the apology because he was told to do so and not because he had regretted his allegation.

He wasnt remorseful of what he did. He did not show any remorse, he said.

According to him, Ayarigas allegation was much ado about nothing, saying he predicted the matter wouldnt go anywhere.

In his view, Ayariga should have been given the harshest punishment because he had damaged the integrity of the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joe Osei Owusu, Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak and Boakye Agyarko, Energy Minister.

He made comments he could not substantiate, he said. He put peoples reputation on the line.

His comments follow Mahama Ayariga's unconditional apology to Parliament on Friday after the Joe Ghartey Committee tasked to investigate the allegation concluded that he was peddling rumours and that he had no evidence to back his claims.

The committees report found him guilty of contempt of Parliament and instructed him to apologize to the house.
In a strongly worded statement, the NDC said, This shameful and barbaric conduct by the so-called Delta Forces of NPP, is absolutely repugnant, bizarre and reprehensible. These wanton unleashing of acts of banditry on the people of Ghana since, 7th of January, 2017, when Nana Akuffo-Addo took over the reins of Government, cannot be tolerated any longer in Kwame Nkrumahs Ghana in this 21st Century.

It said the judiciary is the last bastion for the protection of our fundamental human rights as a People, as well as the maintenance of the rule of law in a free and democratic country like the one that we have worked tirelessly for decades to establish for ourselves. 

The statement, signed by the partys general secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, labelled the day of the attack, Thursday, April 06, 2017, as black Thursday, saying it shall forever remember it as a sordid black spot on the democracy of Mother Ghana.
As matter of urgency; and to show a strong commitment to the fight against terror and terrorism, the NDC is calling on the Ghana Police to immediately effect the arrest of Hon. Kennedy Agyapong who in the full glare of public television, made it abundantly clear that he is the master brain behind the lawless acts of the Delta Forces, and also went ahead to dare the State to prosecute these militants, and bear the brunt of the wrath of himself and the NPP, the statement said.
He said: We are saying that we are sorry that our members, some members of our party no matter what they call themselves are engaged in the conduct that we found the Delta Force to be involved. We are very sorry that our members will do that.

And we are saying sorry for whatever theyve done to whoever may be offended or whoever may be involved in it. Also to the judiciary, weve said so and we continue to disassociate ourselves from the conduct.

Speaking to Joy FM Friday, Mr Blay said the party cannot defend the attack on the court, hoping that it will not be repeated elsewhere or be encourage by the party.

We think what they did cannot be defended. It is unfortunate they could do what we all condemning. And we are hoping that it will not be repeated elsewhere nor be encouraged by the party, he said.

The party doesnt encourage it and weve said it that yes our members who fall foul of the law, the law should take its course. It is unfortunate, we think they shouldnt have been involved and we are sorry that it has happened.

Definitely these are members of our party, theyve been loyal members and have in different times rendered services to our party which we appreciate but never the party as out of power or in power have not endorsed any recklessness and misbehaving or doing things that are not lawful.

On Thursday, members of Delta Force stormed the Kumasi Circuit Court and freed 13 of their members who had been remanded for two weeks by the court.

They vandalised court properties and also threatened the presiding judge.
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Muhammad, 20, of Unguwar Baro village in Malumfashi Local Government is accused of knocking down Solomon Hafiu, an official of Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC) in Malumfashi, who later died.

The Prosecuting Police Officer, Insp. Sani Ahmed, told the court that the offences contravened sections 23, 21, 22 and 40 of Road Traffic Laws of the Federation.

Ahmed said the accused on March 25, dangerously rode a motorcycle with registration number GBE 096 UD from Yammama to Agagiwa and in the process knocked down Hafiu who was on patrol duty.

The prosecutor added that the deceased, who was serving at the Malumfashi FRSC Unit Command, sustained injuries as result of the accident and was rushed to Malumfashi General Hospital where he died.

When the charge was read to the accused, he pleaded not guilty.
The words that make up from the anthem are a collection of words and phrases from the best five entries from a national contest. The words were properly structured and turned into music by the Nigerian Police Band directed by Benedict E. Odiase.

The National Anthem has come under the spotlight after TBoss couldn't complete the National Anthem. The reality is that there are many Nigerians who cannot sing the National Anthem. Another stark reality is that many people do not know the meaning behind the words in the National Anthem.

Today Pulse Gist, breaks down the meaning of the famous lines;

These are the first four lines of the Nigerian National Anthem. It calls on all the citizens to heed the call of the nation and to serve it with three principles, love, strength and faith. Love for the fatherland, strength in hard times and faith that Nigeria will conquer any obstacle. These are the three characteristics every Nigerian should have. Serving the fatherland means you can be called on to defend Nigeria at any time.

The next two lines remind us not to forget the sacrifices of our founding fathers and people who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for the nation. Examples of these people are Sir Ahmadu Bello, Sir Abubakar Tafewa Balewa, Nigerian soldiers, MKO Abiola etc.

The last three lines add two more things Nigerians need to serve the country- heart and might.

If the next line of the anthem is anything to go by, Nigeria is meant to be a progressive country- "bound in freedom." The last line of the first stanza paints a picture of an ideal Nigeria- united and peaceful.

The first line of the second stanza is a plea to God to help Nigeria with three things- direct the affairs of the nation, help our leaders to make the right decision and give understanding to our young men and women. The plea to God reflects the deep religious sentiments in Nigeria.

These two lines are a continuation of the prayer to God, the future of the country should mature with love and honesty, guided by truth. This is the second time love appears in the national anthem.
The young man who has been identified as Sodienye Mbatumukeke is a 26-year-old while the victim was identified as Chukwuma Eleje, an indigene of from Ozizza, Afikpo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State and a father of four.

Mbatumukeke had allegedly ordered for two iPhone 7 from the online store and Eleje went to make the delivery at his house only for him and two other accomplices including his girlfriend, to kill the victim and dump his corpse in a septic tank in his compound.

A Facebook user who knows Mbatumuke whose father is a prominent barrister in Rivers State, took to his page to blast him with other users adding their voices to pour invectives on him.

The murder suspects

Photo Credit: Facebook

Another person who knows the suspect who goes by the name Afikpo Chic, went further to reveal other details about him including his victim and his family.

Read what Afikpo Chic wrote here:

'Things to know about Sodienye Mbatumukeke, the murderer of Mr. Chukwuma Eleje

Here are a few details about Sodienye Mbatumukeke, the person who ordered for iPhones from Jumia and later brutally murdered the Jumia delivery man, Mr. Chukwuma Eleje.

This has to be one of the most unthinkable murders in recent memory. After brutally snuffing the life of Mr. Eleje, they tied him up and stuffed him into a septic tank.

The murder suspects and the victim, Chukuma Eleje (Inset)

Photo Credit: Facebook

His Name is Sodienye Mbatumukeke but his Facebook username is Brain Jelly

He Is a Member of Deeper Life Bible Church

He is a Video Director/Editor

He lives in Lagos, but he is from Port Harcourt

. He was born on 12 July 1991

His girlfriend's name is

His father is a barrister

His FB intro states: "I am Jelly. D most amazing guy I have ever met... DECIPHER IS A devil..\"

His victim, Chukwuma Eleje, is married with four kids. He hails from Ozizza, Afikpo, Ebonyi State. I spoke with his wife two days ago and she lamented that the family of the killer has yet to reach out to them and that from the way things are looking, his barrister father might just get the murderer released.

I am appealing to all and sundry to see to it that justice is served in this matter. Mr. Eleje's family are basically stranded in all ramifications due to this callous and thoughtlessly wicked act.

Sodienye Mbatumukeke, bad son of a good father

Photo Credit: Facebook

I am going to do the best I am able to do for them. And I urge anyone who can help them out in any way to do so.'
Yari had earlier blamed the outbreak of type C Cerebrospinal Meningitis on the sinful activities of Nigerians.

He said God had always sent strange illnesses which had no cure to torment the people for turning their back on Him.

The Emir of Kano however debunked Yaris claims, saying it is not Islamically correct.

The monarch also said Some of the examples are horrendous. Im sorry about a current issue yesterday. 200 people died of meningitis in a state, the governor was asked and he said it is Gods curse on us for the sin of fornication, which apparently does not happen in America, which is why they dont have meningitis.

Reacting to the Emirs statement, Yari said the disease has a spiritual connection.

According to Vanguard, the Governor also said I stand by my words that if people do not change, God will not change for them. Therefore, I will answer the Emir perfectly and give him the Quran content of the Hadith where I belong to and where I have my fact.

For instance, I made mention that in the past we have Type A, which vaccines have been brought and they have vaccinated over four million doses in 2011. We are now having Type B and Type C which they dont even know. At the Centre for Disease Control in Chicago where we get our vaccines from, they only have five million.

ALSO READ:Kogi at risk of meningitis outbreak as NMA raises alarm
The Coordinator of the scheme in the state, Alhaji Musa Abubakar, announced this on Saturday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Sokoto.

He said the action was sequel to the recent outbreak of meningitis in some parts of the state.

We had already written to the ministry to make the vaccine for the type C strain of meningitis available for the exercise.

The response was positive and they will soon be made available and the exercise is expected to begin soon, he said.

Abubakar further stated that the members of staff of the scheme and their families would be covered during the exercise.

The coordinator also stated that the scheme had fully mobilised all its medical personnel for an ongoing massive sensitisation of the corps community in the state.

We have corps medical doctors, pharmacists, nurses, medical Laboratory scientists and other related professionals.

This is to complement the efforts of this state and Federal Government in the efforts to combat the meningitis epidemic, he said.

Dr Balarabe Kakale, the state commissioner for health, had recently put the meningitis-related death toll in the state at 41.
The police said worshippers at Juddumari mosque in Maiduguri noticed the suspects and stopped them from attacking the worshippers in the mosque during the early morning prayer.

Mr Victor Isuku, the spokesman of the command stated this in a statement in Maiduguri.

He said at about 5.20a.m on Saturday, two suspected female suicide bombers with IED strapped to their bodies attempted to enter a mosque at Juddumari village, after Federal High court, Maiduguri.

They were intercepted and prevented by the worshippers and in the process, one of them detonated her IED, killing both of them and injuring five others.

The injured were rushed to a specialist hospital, while the remains of the suicide bombers had been evacuated by the officials of the State Emergency Management Agency."

Malam Abduldulkadir Ibrahim, Information Officer of the National Emergency Management Agency in the North East, also said the response team of the agency helped in evacuating the bodies.

ALSO READ: Terrorists burn down military base in Borno

Following an explosion around a mosque close to Federal high court Jiddari, the emergency response teams have evacuated the bodies of two female suicide bombers believed to have died in the incident," he added.
David, who said he was abducted by the sect in Mubi, Adamawa State when he was 22, said he also married two of the Chibok girls.

According to him, fell out with Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau because he was taking good care of his wives.

According to The Nation, David said He took the two Chibok girls from me because I treated them well.

He (Shekau) said he did not trust me. He said ,one day,I would run with them back to Nigeria.

He also said his hands have killed so many people and he does not know if he will find forgiveness from God.

The former student of Adamawa State Polytechnic,Yola also revealed that he was paid N500,000 monthly.

He also said You know, the lives of people that I have wasted. At the end, I dont know how it will be on the day of judgment.

And I regret because I was a student before Boko haram kidnapped me.

ALSO READ:Terrorists mock African Special Forces in new video

I want to say sorry because these things that I did,I did them to save my life. If I didnt do them, they might think I was trying to bring problem within them.

So, I did those things smartly and logically till the time that God provided way for me to escape.
The plan was launched on Wednesday by President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja.

In a statement by the National Caretaker Committee Spokesman, Mr Dayo Adeyeye, the party welcomed the economic growth plan but said that it required great commitment to see it through.

It, however, expressed worry over comments purportedly made by the president during the launch to the extent that the government was approaching solution to the economic challenges as it did with terrorism.

It also wondered how the lofty plan could be actualised given the low state of Nigerian economy where government was borrowing domestically and internationally to fund its operations.

The 2017 Budget is still a mirage.

To buttress this, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has declared that Nigeria is spending 66 per cent of its interest revenue on debt.
Mr Ibrahim Bai, the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to Gov. Tanko Al-Makura on Youths Empowerment, gave the task on Friday in Wamba at a reception organised for the NAYES members.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that on April 1, 1,500 were engaged by the state government to serve as traffic wardens, sanitary inspectors and community watchers with a monthly stipend of N10,000 as their take home.

Bai expressed delight at their high sense of responsibilities during the one-week training that they underwent, urging them to discharge their duties with seriousness at their primary assignments.

Nasarawa State Youths Empowerment Scheme (NAYES) is one of the state government policies aimed at reducing youths unemployment, restiveness, poverty, social ills as well as to improve on the standard of living of the youths.

Gov. Umaru Tanko Al-Makura is doing his best to reduce the rate of unemployment, youth restiveness and poverty reduction in the state.

The state government has trained many youths in different skills acquisition programmes in order to be self-reliant for the benefit of all, said the aide.

He explained that NAYES members would serve as sanitary inspectors, community watchers and traffic marshals in order to ensure a healthy environment, provide security and decongest traffic in the state.

Bai emphasised that the current administration deserved to be given total loyalty and support in return for the gesture the NAYES members received.

He therefore urged the youths to take their jobs with seriousness in order to contribute their quota to the development of the state and the country at large.

Earlier, Mr Musa Wayo, the Chairman, Interim Management Committee of Wamba Local Government Council, said 100 youths from the area were engaged under the scheme.

The council decided to organise the reception to welcome the 100 newly employed youths (NAYES) of this local government after they have successfully completed their one week training and passed out, he said.

He also urged the youths to justify the confidence reposed on them by living up to their responsibilities so as to contribute their quota to the development of the state and the country at large.
Oloyede said this through a text message sent to the supervisors at the various centres in the FCT on Saturday in Abuja.

He regretted the inconveniences the postponement might have caused the public especially the candidates.

He said a new date would be communicated to them later.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that at the Christ the King College (CKC), Gwagwalada, FCT one of the mock centres, candidates had sat patiently waiting to write the test.

NAN also reports that some of the candidates that failed to come to the centre with their mock print out form found it difficult to identify their seat number.

Mrs Rachael Angulu, JAMB supervisor at the centre however advised candidates to print out their mock form before coming to the centre next time.

Angulu said the Centre was to host 236 candidates.

NAN correspondent at the Digital Bridge Institute at Utako, another Centre reports that the students were very disappointed that the test was shelved.

ALSO READ:JAMB candidates assault soldiers during exam registration

Mr Nwanze Okonkwo said that the centre was supposed to take 750 candidates.

A candidate, Miss Sarah Adeniyi, said she arrived at the centre as early as 6.30am and as at 1.30 pm she had not been allowed into the premises.

I am so tired and hungry. I rushed down here thinking they would keep to time. Look at us under the sun since morning.

I just feel like forgetting about this whole mock of a thing, she lamented.
The former President, who was represented by Femi Olajide said the he convention of Victory Life Bible Church International in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

According to Daily Post, Obasanjo also called on men of God to preach the message of prosperity with moderation.

He said "There is no doubt that all our institutions have been tarnished by the brush of corruption.

If the Church, as an institution, does not take bribe or get involved in other corrupt practice, the behaviour of some of our men of God leaves much to be desired.

They not only celebrate but venerate those whose sources of wealth are questionable. They accept gifts (offering) from just anybody without asking questions. This gives the impression that anything is acceptable in the house of God.

But if Jesus can chase out those buying and selling from the temple with the declaration that, My house shall be called the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves, then it is time to stand up against corruption

Our present day money changers and merchants must be chased out of the Church and put to shame in the larger society.

While miracles, signs and wonders are the expectations of true believers, such must be based on righteousness. To preach that one can acquire wealth without labour is not only deceitful; it is a call to corruption. It is false preaching and it is sinful.

We must be careful in believing and celebrating every testimony of miraculous blessing, hence we end up being hoodwinked into celebrating corruption.
Amb. Olushola Enikaonolaiye, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement in Abuja, urged South African authorities to assume their responsibilities in taking proactive measures to prevent such incident.

Enikanolaiye said the deceased was killed by a mob over alleged engagement in drug peddling in Polokwane, Limpopo Province.

He added that Mr Ajao, an auto mechanic, had lived in South Africa and had been practising his trade for over 10 years without any record of involvement with or in any drug related transaction.

The Nigerian High Commission in Pretoria also reported that five other Nigerians were wounded in the mayhem and so far, two of the wounded have been discharged and three still receiving treatment in local hospital.

Following the unfortunate incident, our High Commission has dispatched a strongly worded letter of protest on the death of Mr Ajao and the continued violence against Nigerians.

According to him, Federal Government considers this development reprehensible and calls for restraint on the part of its citizens as it continues to engage South African authorities for explanations on the recent incident.

He said government would continue to pursue the course of justice for the dead and the injured, as well as ensure adequate compensation for victims.

The permanent secretary said Nigeria was prepared to attend the inaugural meeting of the newly-created Early Warning Mechanism scheduled to hold next week in South Africa.

In the same vein, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, had condemned attacks on Nigerians in South Africa, describing it as pathetic.

Dabiri-Erewa said in a statement by her Special Adviser, Media, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, that "this renewed attacks and killing of Nigerians in South Africa is pathetic, coming after high level, successful meetings by both the executive and legislative arms of government.

She urged South Africa to show political will to deal with the issue by at least punishing the culprits, lamenting that no one had been penalised so far.

She appealed to Nigerians in South Africa to limit themselves to safe surroundings and warned that this is an attack too many.
On Thursday, April 6, 2017, a meeting of PDP chieftains was convened with the aim of settling the crisis rocking the party.

According to Fayose, Sheriff is an agent sent by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to achieve its aim of a one party state.

The Ekiti state Governor also described the PDP chairman as an agent of darkness sent to destroy the party.

According to Daily Post, Fayose said I will not work with him. He is a betrayer of confidence and does not represent peace and hope. I will not be part of any meeting with such a desperado.

If I may holistically respond to his statement on no reconciliation, the response is good riddance to bad rubbish.

Sheriff has said he can no longer work with Jonathan or any of the PDP leaders. This is an indication that he prefers working with the opposition in order to destroy the PDP.
According to Daily Post, Fani-Kayode also called Sheriff a thug for walking out on former President Goodluck Jonathan and other party leaders.

The PDP elders had called a meeting on Thursday, April 6, 2017, to settle the internal squabbles in the party.

According to reports, Sheriff walked out because he was not allowed to address the gathering as the partys chairman.

The former aviation minister also said Sheriffs action shows that he is sick and he needs help.

Fani-Kayode also said the PDP chairman really showed that he is a bully and a disrespectful person.

He said What happened at the PDP meeting yesterday did not surprise me at all. I was there and witnessed the whole thing. Ali Modu Sheriff lived up to his reputation of being a disrespectful bullly and thug.

Walking out on your leader and a gentleman like President Goodluck Jonathan despite all his appeals for restraint, calm and peace is not the way forward.

And openly threatening and insulting the Governors, members of the PDP Board of Trustees, the PDP National Assembly caucus, the PDP former Ministers Forum, the PDP former Governors forum, the PDP Womens Caucus, the PDP Youth Caucus and 95 per per cent of the party leadership is not the way to prove your credentials as a leader.

Only barbarians behave in this way. To make matters worse after you walk out of the meeting you tell the world that you are now the leader of the party and that you will have nothing to do with Jonathans peace initiatives anymore.

Clearly the man is governed and ruled by his ego and not by his brain. He had a great opportunity to settle this issue once and for all yesterday and he blew it simply because he insisted on being addressed as National Chairman by all and sundry at the meeting which no-one was prepared to do.

Sheriff is a sick man. He needs help. He is uneducated and he is primitive. He is closer to beast than man. Worse still he is working for the APC.

I said this from day one last year when they first went to the hole that he comes from in Chad and brought him to lead our party.

ALSO READ: Fayose says PDP chairman is an agent of darkness

Nothing good can ever come from him. Nothing clean or wholesome can come from a gangster who is prepared to sell his soul to the devil and destroy his own political party in return for a few crumbs. May God judge him for his greed, cowardice and wickedness.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan was so concerned by the infighting within his party, he convened a meeting of PDP big boys at the Yaradua center in Abuja last Thursday.

The aim? To mend fences.

In attendance at this meeting were Rivers Governor Nyesom Wike,Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State, Board of Trustees Chairman Walid Jibrin, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu and many other party chieftains.

To complete the circus were factional PDP Chairmen Ahmed Makarfi and Ali Modu Sheriff.

The PDP has been a house in shambles since it lost the presidential election in 2015.

Stripped of free oil money and proceeds of corruption, Nigerias former governing party has found survival difficult outside the power corridors.

In May of 2016, the PDP held parallel conventions in two cities. Such has been the state of its disarray.

Two national chairmen in Sheriff and Makarfi, emerged parallel leaders from both conventions, each ready to tear the other to shreds.

Several court cases after, Sheriff and Makarfi are still battling it out over who should be regarded as the authentic Chairman of the PDP.

Theyve both cost the party elections, along the way.

Its a spectacular fall from grace for a party which controlled a chunk of Nigerias 36 States and prided itself as Africas biggest party, just a couple of months ago.

These days, the PDPs famous Wadata plaza office in Abuja has been ceded to Cockroaches and Spiders, with cakes of dust lining the furniture.

We shall overcome the challenges and I can assure you that the PDP will rise again, Jonathan promised feebly, after presiding over a meeting where Sheriff had a shouting match with Wike before staging a walkout.

One unnamed source who spoke to Punch newspaper, described the altercation between Wike and Sheriff this way:

The argument became so ferocious that Sheriff and Wike had to stand up, pointing fingers at each other while Jonathan looked on with bewilderment.

The former President tried to pacify them but there was nothing he could do.

Addressing the media outside the Yaradua center, Sheriff said he wasnt going to be part of a meeting in which he hadnt been recognized as authentic Chairman.

Sheriff also demanded respect from Jonathan.

Well, I respect Jonathan for calling for the meeting. He is a former President, but as of today, I am the most senior member of the party.

Therefore, if I respect him, the respect must be reciprocal. You cant call me for a meeting and say I cannot address the meeting as national Chairman of the party.

As the national Chairman, we move on. We have a programme initiated by (Gov. Seriake) Dickson and we are continuing with that. Anything outside that, I am not party to it, Sheriff flared, before breezing past the horde of journalists; flanked by members of his faction.

This was the PDP washing and airing its dirty linen in publicin spectacular fashion.

And the rest of the world should be forgiven for having a laugh at the partys expense.

We may have had shortcomings while in power, but we also recorded significant achievements and great milestones, Jonathan said, before going on to list milestones only he could regard as milestones.

Nigerians remember the PDP differently. They remember the PDP as a political party which stole Nigeria blind for 16 years from the center.

Jonathan has promised to set up a 40-member committee whose mandate would be to restore unity in his party.

But the signs arent looking good.

Like all political parties in the land, the PDP was structured to feed off the polity without a shred of ideology knitting the different egos together.

The money was what held the party together all those years.

It is little wonder that without access to federal coffers, the PDP is finding it difficult to stop Sheriff from disrespecting Jonathan and wrestling Wike.

The PDP now has five options before it:

1. Genuinely reform, rebrand and reposition the party as an alternative platform to the APC (which isnt any better, by the way).

2. Infuse some ideology into the party and de-emphasize money politics.

3. Proffer some genuine solutions to problems bedeviling the nation at this time and drive conversations around the economy, security, education, electricity supply etc.

4. Whittle the influence of powerful State Governors and hand the party to stakeholders at the grassroot.

5. Or die.

Jonathan did his best to call forth imaginary and shallow achievements from thin air when he went on and on about how good the PDP was to Nigerians from 1999 to 2015.

However, if the PDP intends to survive beyond the forthcoming governorship contests in Ekiti, Osun and Anambra, it has to do more than convene rowdy meetings and parrot invisible achievements.

The party has to have a genuine conversation about its soul.
The event demonstrates the Church's will to "resist a culture of silence", said Cardinal Jozef De Kesel.

In April 2010 the former bishop of Bruges, Roger Vangheluwe, resigned after acknowledging he had abused two nephews.

Thousands of people later came forward to complain they had been victims of sexual abuse as children by members of the Belgian clergy.

Since 2012, the Belgian Catholic Church has paid alleged victims a total of over four million euros ($424 million) in compensation for abuses that took place too long ago to be brought to court, Herman Cosijns, secretary general of the Belgium bishops' conference said, according to the Belga press agency.

"Each time the media talks about sexual abuse by church officials on a minor, victims come forward and I am sure that after this day, victims will come forward", Guy Harpigny, the bishop of the Belgian city of Tournai, told AFP.
Fifteen people were injured, nine of whom remained in hospital on Saturday.

It was the third terror attack in Europe in two weeks, coming on the heels of assaults in London and St. Petersburg, although there has been no immediate claim of responsibility.

Previous attacks using vehicles have occurred in London, Berlin and the southern French city of Nice, all of them claimed by the so-called Islamic State (IS).

"Terror hits the heart of the city," Sweden's biggest broadsheet Dagens Nyheter headlined its front page above a picture of the truck with its front end smashed into the store.

Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said he had strengthened the country's border controls, as flags flew at half-mast at parliament, the royal palace, the government offices, and City Hall.

"Terrorists want us to be afraid, want us to change our behaviour, want us to not live our lives normally, but that is what we're going to do. So terrorists can never defeat Sweden, never," Lofven said.

City streets were empty early Saturday, slowly filling as the day wore on as things began to return to normal -- apart from a heavy police presence, a rare scene in this normally tranquil country.

A swelling crowd milled by the security barrier erected around the scene, many placing flowers on the ground or in the security fence.

Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria, 39, was one of those laying down a bouquet, wiping tears from her cheek.

"I feel an incredible sadness, an emptiness," she told reporters.

But, she said, "society has demonstrated enormous strength and we stand together against this."

Suspected driver in custody

Swedish police said a man arrested on "suspicion of a terrorist crime" was probably the truck driver.

"We suspect that the man who was arrested is the perpetrator," Stockholm police spokesman Lars Bystrom told AFP.

The man was arrested "on suspicion of a terrorist crime through murder," Karin Rosander, spokeswoman at the Swedish Prosecution Authority, said.

The man was detained on Friday in Marsta, a suburb north of Stockholm. According to several media outlets, he is a 39-year-old of Uzbek origin and an IS supporter.

Prosecutors did not disclose his identity, but police said his appearance "matched the description" of a photo they released of a suspect wearing a dark hoodie and military green jacket.

Intelligence agency Sapo said meanwhile it was hunting for "possible accomplices or networks that may have been involved in the attack."

'Terrifying'

Witnesses described scenes of terror and panic on Friday.

"A massive truck starts driving ... and mangles everything and just drives over exactly everything," eyewitness Rikard Gauffin told AFP.

"It was so terrible and there were bodies lying everywhere... it was really terrifying," he added.

Passerby Hasan Sidi told Aftonbladet he saw two elderly women lying on the ground.

He said people at the scene urged him to help one of the women who was "bleeding to death".

"One of them died... I don't know if the other one made it," Sidi said.

The truck was towed away in the early hours of Saturday.

'It was expected'

An attack on Stockholm was just a matter of time, the head of the Centre for Asymmetric Threat Studies at the Swedish National Defence College, Magnus Ranstorp, told AFP.

"It was pretty expected, the police and intelligence agency have practised for this several times the past year... We just didn't know when it was going to happen," he said.

jpegMpeg4-1280x720Friday's attack was the latest in a string of assaults with vehicles in Europe.

The deadliest came last year in France on the July 14 Bastille Day national holiday, when a man rammed a truck into a crowd in the Mediterranean resort of Nice, killing 86 people.

In December, a man hijacked a truck and slammed into shoppers at a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people.

In London last month, Khalid Masood, a 52-year-old convert to Islam, killed five people when he drove a car at high speed into pedestrians before launching a frenzied knife attack on a policeman guarding parliament.

In 2014, IS called for attacks on citizens of Western countries and gave instructions on how they could be carried out without military equipment, using rocks or knives, or by running people over in vehicles.

Friday's attack was the second terror attack in Stockholm.
And exercising the military option added some extra weight to Trump's recent threat of unilateral action against Pyongyang if Beijing fails to help curb its neighbours nuclear weapons programme.

Kim Yong-Hyun, a professor at Dongguk University said the strike against Syria was a statement of intent that was meant for a wide readership.

"It signals to Pyongyang that the US has a new sheriff in town who isn't hesitant about pulling his gun from the holster," Kim said.

But while the move might give the North pause, it is unlikely to deter a leadership that views nuclear weapons as the sole guarantee of its future survival.

"In the long term, US military actions overseas won't help curb the North's nuclear pursuit", Kim said.

Nuclear determination

The North has carried out five nuclear tests -- two of them last year -- and expert satellite imagery analysis suggests it could well be preparing for a sixth.

And Pyongyang has shown no sign of reining in a missile testing programme ultimately aimed at securing the capability to deliver a nuclear warhead to the continental United States.

If Thursday's strike was a warning to other countries, it was one that Pyongyang, which regularly cites US hostility as the driving force behind its nuclear weapons development, is quite familiar with.

"Trump's attack on Syria is unlikely to have any significant effect on a North Korea that is already well versed in the threat posed by the United States," said Joel Wit, a senior fellow at the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University.

At the time of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, the then North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il disappeared from public view for around six weeks -- and was widely believed to have gone into hiding for fear of a US attack.

Chang Yong-Seok, a senior researcher at the Institute for Peace and Unification at Seoul National University, said Kim's son, current leader Kim Jong-Un, had no reason to take such precautions.

"Armed with nuclear weapons, he would hardly flinch at the attack in Syria," Chang said.

As if to underline the point, North Korean state media released photos of a smiling Kim inspecting a mushroom farm.

Warning to China?

The question then arises as to what impact the US president's willingness to exercise his military muscle may have on China's thinking.

China is North Korea's economic lifeline and as such enjoys more leverage over its maverick neighbour than any other country.

Like his predecessors in the White House, Trump wants China to do more to influence the North's behaviour, but has gone further than others in threatening to go it alone if Beijing fails to step up to the plate.

In that context, the strike against Syria may resonate more firmly in Beijing than Pyongyang.

"It's a signal that Trumps administration will not only talk, they will act", said Wang Dong, Associate Professor and Director of the School of International Studies at Peking University.

While China has clearly lost patience with Pyongyang's nuclear provocations, it is extremely wary of any response that might bring about North Korea's collapse and chaos on its doorstep.

"From the Chinese point of view, there is still room to explore a path for a diplomatic solution", Wang said.

Jia Qingguo, a professor of International Relations at Beijing University, said the North's nuclear arsenal and highly sensitive geopolitical position meant the fallout of any military action could be catastrophic.

"A small kick could provoke big disasters. Its not like Iraq," Jia said.

Although China's state media went strong on photos and coverage of the Xi-Trump summit, it gave little space to news of the strikes against Syria, with few editorials or commentaries.

One exception was the nationalist-leaning Global Times which suggested that Trump's "show of force" was rash and ill-considered.
Arizona Realtor and Davenport native Terry Day is taking his real estate career to reality TV.

The Davenport West and St. Ambrose University graduate will be one of the stars on "Last Home Standing," a new cable show being launched by DeLex Realty, a Phoenix business where Day is the company's top sales agent.

Hosted by DeLex president Daniel McCarthy, "Last Home Standing" will feature Day and fellow Realtor Slava Kosta debating two houses with two buyers. The show, which premieres April 17, will air on Cox in the Phoenix market, but also will run on YURAZ, Hulu, Apple TV and Youtube.

Day, 48, who moved to Arizona in 1994, joined the real estate industry in 2005. The housing market there "crashed really hard and I got out of it for a couple of years," he said.

In 2016, Day ranked 54th among realtors representing buyers in the state of Arizona  where 52,000 people have real estate licenses. He had more than $14 million in home sales last year.

Credit union execs join innovator group

Three Quad-City area credit union executives are among an elite group selected to assist in developing new ideas and innovations for Iowa's credit unions.

The Iowa Credit Union League has named 20 new members to the Iowa Innovation Group including: Callie Hilgendorf of 1st Gateway Credit Union, Camanche; Lindsey Ramos, IH Mississippi Valley Credit Union, Moline; and Jake Ward, R.I.A. Federal Credit Union, Bettendorf.

Members will serve a six-month term, meet with the league and Filene Research Institute, and pilot new ideas at their credit unions. Past innovator groups have produced concepts addressing real members' needs that Iowa credit unions then are invited to collaborate on for implementation. The program is modeled after Filene's i3 (Ideas, Innovation, Implementation).

This years class expects to add five more concepts. Past ideas that surfaced and were tested include a mobile referral platform, a student debt estimator and an anonymous, online financial assessment tool. Another idea to make it to market testing was CUsucceed, a personalized system matching credit union employees with potential mentors from across the state.

Big Brothers takes plant sale orders

Well we've certainly had the April showers, and thanks soon we'll have the May flowers thanks to Big Brothers/Big Sisters of the Mississippi Valley.

The Quad-City non-profit has begun accepting pre-orders for its 27th annual Plant Sale.

Any pre-order of $150 will be delivered to one specified location. Orders under $150 can be picked up at the Northwest Bank & Trust Tower in Davenport during Plant Sale week, May 5-13, or at Trinity, Moline, May 4-7.

For a catalog and to order online, visit www.bbbsmv.org/plant. For group orders, contact Kayla at kkiesey@bbbs-mv.org or call 563-323-8006. Pre-orders are due with payments by April 19.

This year's sale is sponsored by Iowa American Water, Mel Foster Co. and Ryan Cos., US.

2017 Athena Awards televised on MC22

Mediacom will air the 2017 Athena Awards ceremony, held late last month, on Channel MC22.

The awards, presented by Iowa Women Lead Change - The Women's Connection, recognize the achievements made by women in Quad-City business as well as Male Champions of Change. The awards are affiliated with Athena International.

The awards event will be broadcast at: 11 p.m. Tuesday; 6 p.m. Wednesday; and 5 a.m. and 11 p.m. April 16. The MC22 is Channel 722 throughout Illinois and Channel 822 throughout Iowa (or Ch. 22).

Mediacom said MC22 provides cable subscribers with the option of watching programs at the scheduled time, or recording programs. After the initial MC22 telecast, the Athena programs can be seen any time in the local program section of Mediacom On Demand (channel 1).

Tech company makes national list

Access Systems, with a branch in Davenport, has been named to the 2017 Tech Elite 250 list by CRN, a brand of The Channel Co.

The annual list honors North American IT solution providers that have earned the highest number of advanced technical certifications from leading vendors.

"We have invested in the development of our employees through training and certification programs in order to stay up-to-date with the constant change that is occurring in our industry," said Shane Sloan, president and CEO of the Urbandale, Iowa-based Access Systems.

The Tech Elite 250 is featured in the April issue of CRN and online at www.crn.com/techelite250.
What is sure to be one of the most astonishing, beautiful movies of the year is playing in two versions  one dubbed and the other with subtitles.

Your Name. is a Japanese anime film that understandably already is a hit internationally, now is in the Quad-Cities. I would advise anyone who enjoys mystical, romantic movies or science fiction for that matter, to take it in with this caution: This mind-boggler about two star-crossed teenagers does not have the sensibilities of an American movie.

Director Makoto Shinkai joins other anime masters such as Hayao Miyazaki with this gorgeous piece loosely based on The Changelings, an ancient Japanese poem.

Taki (Ryunosuke Kamiki) is a teenager who attends high school in Tokyo and who also has numerous shifts as a waiter. Mitsuha (Mone Kamishiraishi) lives in a rural mountain town where she maintains a family shrine and longs to live in Tokyo.

Taki has a crush on his lovely work supervisor. Mitsuha loathes her small-town life and wishes she could be a boy growing up in Tokyo.

Both Taki and Misuha share similar experiences. Their friends and family members tell them that, the day before, they acted strangely. At first, the young people dont understand what is happening to them: Both shrug off the remarks and what little they remember about the day before as a dream.

When they do realize that they are experiencing fairly regular body-swaps with a member of the opposite sex, they begin leaving notes on their phones for each other so they can continue their now-extraordinary lives.

Each brings something new to the life of the other while their mental and spiritual connection becomes stronger. And as they each try to figure out exactly what and why they have been brought together, the plot picks up speed  and both of the characters realize that they each must, somehow, grapple with what could be an impending disaster.

There are moments of humor throughout. Especially enjoyable are the moments when the two awake to find that they are equipped with the body of someone of the opposite gender. Weve seen body swap movies before, from Freaky Friday to Big, that put comedy to good use. In Your Name. the emphasis is on destiny and a kind of spiritual connection.

The look of the film is painterly, with environments that positively shimmer with color.
As the Jewish Federation of the Quad-Cities continues its Lloyd M. Burstein Memorial Holocaust Film Series at the Figge, theres another Holocaust film youll want to consider in its national theater release.

The Zookeepers Wife, based on the non-fiction book by Diane Ackerman, is a poignant tale of survival that happened at the Warsaw Zoo in 1939 when Hitler invaded Poland and on through the early 1940s.

We first see the beautiful zoo in 1939 when Antonina Zabinska (Jessica Chastain) helps her husband Jan (Johan Heldenbergh, televisions The Tunnel) with the animals. The animals respond to her seemingly magical touch  later on, she resuscitates a newborn elephant that cant breathe.

When the city is bombed, German aircraft terrify the animals, many of whom are killed and others who end up wandering through the streets. Even more die when Lutz Heck (Daniel Bruhl, The Fifth Estate,) the head zoologist in Berlin, slaughters the helpless animals ostensibly so they wont starve. He then takes some of the prize specimens to be bred.

The residents are as hapless as the animals as Jews are rounded up and sent into a ghetto or to concentration camps. By late 1940, Jews are forced to wear armbands and face life-threatening situations at every turn. Antonina and Jan at first offer their friends a safe house.

Later, Antonia and Jan decide to offer the Nazis some food: They can turn the zoo, which still houses a few other animals, into a hog farm, providing the German soldiers with pork and feeding the pigs the garbage from the ghetto.

When Jan drives his truck into the ghetto, he hides Jews under the garbage and transports them to safety at the zoo, where they remain secure until they can obtain forged papers from Resistance workers.

Heck has eyes for Antonia, who realizes she must keep him interested and distracted from the hideout she and Jan have created. Antonina, who plays the piano, works out a kind of alarm system for her hidden guests so they will know when German patrols are nearby.

Meanwhile, as Heck begins to take more and more liberties with Antonina, her marriage to Jan begins to strain.

Cages, cold-blooded killing and cruelty are meted out to both the animals and to people as the script continues to show the parallels of the beasts compared to the Jewish refugees.

Although this has a PG-13 rating, its not for the faint of heart: The scenes of animals being slaughtered and humans being tormented and killed are not easy to watch.
Moline police are asking the publics help in locating a man wanted in connection with a carjacking in Mississippi and an armed robbery in San Marcos, Texas.

Omar Bankhead, 24, is thought to be in the area because the vehicle he took in a carjacking in Clinton, Mississippi, on Tuesday was found Thursday night in Moline, police said.

Clinton, Mississippi, police investigated the armed carjacking, which led to an arrest warrant being issued for Bankhead, who is described as a black man standing 6-feet 2-inches tall and weighing 175 pounds.

Bankhead is also wanted for questioning regarding an armed robbery in San Marcos, Texas, that occurred this week.

Bankhead is armed and dangerous, police said. Anyone who sees him should call 911 immediately.
New state-of-the-art diagnostics technology at Rapid City Regional Hospital is enhancing the quality of patient care by analyzing lab samples  and delivering results to physicians  more quickly and accurately than ever before.

The Beckman Coulter Diagnostics system, the first of its kind in South Dakota, has only been in existence for two years but is now operational at the Rapid City hospital.

The system automates the analysis of patients blood and bodily fluid samples, routing the specimens through four analyzers. The Beckman Coulter system is able to process 1,200 samples per hour and provide test results every 2.7 seconds. The diagnostics system is located in the core laboratory at RCRH.

Regional Health Chief Operating Officer Paulette Davidson, Regional Health Laboratory Senior Director Michelle Barthel and Senior Director for National Accounts for Beckman Coulter MacKay Schultz announced the new technology at a news conference March 30.

Seventy percent of medical decisions are based on lab results, Barthel said. We are focused on reducing medical errors and focused on decreasing testing times.

The Beckman Coulter Diagnostics system will, in most cases, post lab test results electronically to a patients records. That allows physicians to receive accurately analyzed results and make decisions about patient care in a more timely manner.

For patients, the diagnostics system means fewer blood draws. Many samples from patients undergo more than one test, and physicians sometimes order additional follow-up tests, according to Traci Stohrer, outreach manager for Regional Health Laboratories. The Beckman Coulter system provides specimen storage so follow-up tests can be performed immediately, without a patient needing to undergo more blood draws.

Additionally, the diagnostic system enhances safety for laboratory staff, who now face less exposure to blood and bodily fluid samples and potential biohazards the samples might contain, Barthel said.

Regional Healths Beckman Coulter Diagnostics system is one of 300 in the entire nation, Schultz said, and is groundbreaking because Regional Health has brought state-of-the-art technology to a smaller, less populated region. All other Beckman Coulter Diagnostic systems are located at academic medical centers and metropolitan areas such as New York City or Chicago, Schultz said.

The diagnostics system also is unique for the speed at which it was installed, Schultz said. Most systems require six months to install. Through the joint work of Regional Health laboratory staff and Beckman Coulter technicians from around the world, the system in the RCRH core laboratory was installed in six weeks.

The speed, accuracy and volume with which the system can analyze lab specimens means Regional Health can serve patients at clinics and hospitals throughout western South Dakota, Davidson said. The diagnostics system provides better continuity of care for patients, regardless of where they are treated within Regional Healths network of clinics, hospitals and independent nursing homes. Regional Health processes an average of 200,000 blood and bodily fluid specimens annually.

Acquiring the Beckman Coulter Diagnostics system is Regional Healths most recent step toward its goal of providing the best health care in the United States.

The best health system in America requires the best laboratory services, and thats the thought process that went into the design of our facilities, both at the care and satellite labs, Barthel said, adding that the Beckman Coulter system was a perfect fit for Regional Healths needs.
SIOUX FALLS | Two blackjack dealers are among four people accused in a scheme to steal money from a South Dakota casino.

Federal authorities say the dealers, their pit boss and a customer conspired to steal about $10,000 from the Dakota Sioux Casino near Watertown on New Year's Eve of 2015.

Forty-four-year-old Lito Bolocon, 52-year-old Fern Gill, 43-year-old Jeremy Brown and 29-year-old Jordan Rondell are charged with conspiracy and theft by employees of a gaming establishment on Indian land. They have pleaded not guilty.

Authorities say Rondell was a customer of the casino who frequently played blackjack. He allegedly received illegitimate winnings from Brown and Gill, the dealers, and Bolocon, the pit boss.

The defendants face a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.

Defense attorneys could not be immediately reached for comment.
LINCOLN, Neb. | Unrest at another of the Nebraska's correctional facilities Friday sparked a fire in a housing unit.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Correctional Services said no serious injuries were reported at the Diagnostic and Evaluation Center in west Lincoln, where fire crews were called just before 8:30 p.m.

An hour earlier, inmates "initiated an incident, which included a fire in the housing unit," a news release from prison staff said. A male staff member was assaulted, but his injuries were not serious.

The news release issued late Friday said all staff members were accounted for and safe. All inmates were also accounted for and the housing unit was under control at approximately 9:15 p.m.

The actions taken by these individuals put themselves and others in danger; thankfully there were no serious injuries, said Nebraska Department of Correctional Services Director Scott Frakes. The response by NDCS staff, with support from Lincoln Fire and Rescue and the Nebraska State Patrol, led to a quick resolution of the incident. Corrections staff willingly put themselves in harms way and once again they demonstrated their commitment to public safety.

It's unclear if inmates controlled any part of the prison, or the extent of any damage.

Lincoln Fire and Rescue reported the fire was out shortly after fire crews reached the scene.

The State Patrol and emergency teams with the Department of Correctional Services were at the prison along with fire crews.

The Nebraska State Fire Marshal will investigate the fire. NDCS will conduct an internal critical-incident review to determine the causal factors and the corrective action needed, according to a news release late Friday.

The Diagnostic and Evaluation Center, known as DEC, adjoins the Lincoln Correctional Center on West Van Dorn Street.

The center, comprised of three buildings, is utilized as an intake facility for inmates entering the prison system. Last summer, it housed 389 inmates, more than double its design capacity.

State leaders in recent years have sought to reform a prison system plagued by overcrowding, staff shortages and flaws in its sentence calculation system that three years ago led to hundreds of inmates being discharged too soon.

A lack of programming also has led to many inmates who are eligible for parole remaining in prison, unable to complete necessary conditions.

In March, two inmates at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution were killed in an hours-long disturbance that included fires in the prison yard and in a housing unit.

That incident took place in the same housing unit badly damaged by rioting prisoners in 2015.

Reports of assaults on staff members have also increased.
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South Dakotans are not afraid to do things differently when different means a better way. Different defines how we have been running our state retirement system.

Many other state retirement systems are struggling with large unfunded liabilities. New Jerseys credit rating was downgraded by Standard & Poor's recently due to its large and growing unfunded pension liability. Similarly, Illinois was downgraded by Fitch from BBB+ to BBB, partly because of ballooning pension problems.

In contrast, the South Dakota Retirement System has been solidly funded for decades, and is one reason that our state has a AAA credit rating. We do not have unfunded liabilities that need reckoning. SDRS provides excellent benefits while operating with fixed funding at a low cost.

I was surprised when, last year, federal officials informed us of their intent to penalize South Dakotas stewardship of public pension funds. Perhaps I should not have been shocked given the federal governments track record on spending, but it is hard to comprehend why our states responsible management would be punished.

The Obama administrations decision to admonish South Dakota was related to state employees who provide federal services. Even though SDRS is a low-cost, efficient retirement system, the Obama administration took the position that our plan does not adhere to the rigid guidelines for pension reimbursement. Within South Dakota state government, essential services that are mandated by the federal government are provided by state employees. State workers provide these services for efficiency reasons and to save taxpayer dollars.

In reality, SDRS provides retirement benefits more efficiently, thereby reducing the cost of benefits for both state and federally funded employees. We should be fully reimbursed for the pension costs of federally funded employees of the state.

Ironically, South Dakota is being reprimanded for its good stewardship while poorly funded retirement plans, with much higher contributions, are not facing the same consequences. South Dakotas pension cost, on average, is half that of other public retirement plans nationally.

We are currently working with the new administration to right this wrong, and I am hopeful they will work with us to find a common sense solution. In the case of our pension system, different is good and its not something for which we should be punished.
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HELENA  A Montana House committee on Friday dove into a Senate proposal seeking to issue $100 million in bonds, one day after the House rejected its own version to pay for a slate of building and infrastructure projects.

Fiscal conservatives on the House Appropriations Committee will likely scaled back the spending, but the question is whether they will do so with an ax or a scalpel.

On Thursday, the House rejected its own $78 million package, which was mired in debate over what projects to fund and how to pay for them. Some Republicans are philosophically opposed to issuing bonds to pay and would rather wait until the state has the necessary cash to pay for projects.

The Senate proposal represents the final opportunity this session for lawmakers and Gov. Steve Bullock to reach an elusive deal on an infrastructure package.

"Just 'No' is not always a solution. Do we want to govern or do we want to defend our voting record. At some point in time, we have to talk about solutions," said Sen. Eric Moore, a Republican from Miles City, who sponsored the Senate bill.

He urged bond opponents to offer other options, noting that the infrastructure debate has long dogged lawmakers.

"This is not going away. If we're not going to do this, let's talk about other options," he said.

Officials from school districts and local governments, as well as lobbyists representing business groups and trade organizations, urged the committee to support an infrastructure package.

But some Republicans on the committee have expressed concern over using debt to pay for large building projects, such as Montana State University's Romney Hall and a veterans' home in Butte.

Committee Chair Nancy Ballance said she was in no rush to take action on the bill, saying several weeks still remain in the legislative session for her committee to do so.
ABC/Randy HolmesFrench Montana refuses to let a little controversy stop him from making new music. The hip hop star has released two new songs after yesterday's Twitter beef with fans, and both tracks feature big name artists.

The first, titled "Unforgettable," showcases vocals from Rae Sremmurd member Swae Lee, while French's other new track, "No Pressure," features a guest appearance from Future.

The music video for "Unforgettable," is forthcoming, and according to French, was inspired by a dance video starring Ugandan dance group Triplets Ghetto Kids.

Both songs have come just a day after French sent fans into a rage after he wrote a Twitter message calling one individual a "crusty dusty rusty a** hoe," among a few other insults because she indicated that no one cares about him.

Readers of the artist's message claimed that his reply was racist because it was directed at a black woman.

French, who was born in Morocco, defended himself, writing to fans, "My son is black, and I was born in africa I lived there for 13 years I ain't no punching bag, and I don't discriminate! don't come for me."

He added, "My mother is african queen and I was married to a beautiful black queen if I affended [sic] anybody I apologize" and shared a picture of his mother and father during their wedding day in Africa, which is also the cover art for his single "Unforgettable."

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
HELENA  Montana lawmakers are considering raising campaign contribution limits for state candidates and allowing decisions on campaign finance violations to go to mediation, over the objections of the outgoing regulator who says the measure could affect a pending case and diminish his office's independence.

The bill by Sen. Tom Richmond, R-Billings, would increase how much money state candidates can receive from political parties, committees and individuals. Richmond said the measure is in response to a federal judge's 2016 ruling that Montana's low limits unconstitutionally restricted free speech.

"We, the group that worked on this bill, believe that these campaign contribution limits are reasonable and that the Legislature, because of the actions of the court, needs to set a policy for our contribution limits," Richmond told the House Judiciary Committee on Friday.

The campaign contribution case Richmond referred to is not settled. An appeal of U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell's decision to strike down Montana's contribution limits is pending before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which could reinstate them.

State Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl said there is no need to change the limits until the federal appeals court makes its ruling, and doing so beforehand could result in the case being dismissed and the state being forced to pay lawyers' fees that could exceed $1 million.

But Motl said he is most worried by provisions in the bill that would affect the commissioner's independent authority to oversee campaign finance and reporting laws.

The bill would eliminate the commissioner's ability to initiate criminal cases against candidates, insert an unneeded mediator that would delay the process of resolving campaign violations and add burdensome duties that would prevent the commissioner's staff from investigating cases, he said.

That would benefit organizations and candidates who deliberately try to skirt or usurp campaign finance laws, he said. The vast majority of candidates who violate campaign laws do so unintentionally and work with the commissioner's office to fix the violation quickly, and they would not choose to take their cases to mediation, he said.

The proposal would also make campaign reports less transparent by raising the threshold for reporting individual donors from $35 contributions to $50 contributions, he said.

Activist and campaign consultant C.B. Pearson added that the proposal would be a step back after the state updated its campaign finance laws in 2015 to require more reporting and transparency.

"By every means, the rules that we have, the disclosure that we have, the enforcement that we have, are some of the best in the country," Pearson said.

Richmond said the proposed changes are meant to prevent criminalizing campaign finance mistakes and to add a mediator as a check to the commissioner's power.

Presently, the commissioner investigates campaign complaints, makes the charges and sets the penalties, he said.

"We felt that there needed to be some place in the process where there was another set of eyes to look at a complaint and decide whether or not it merited the penalties being assessed," Richmond said.

Montana Trial Lawyers Association executive director Al Smith responded that the mediator would only delay the resolution of a complaint by 30 days, a period in which an election could be held. That would allow groups or candidates to flaunt state laws and "essentially keep that commissioner's final decision from coming out prior to an election," Smith said.

Richmond's bill has sped through the legislative process after being introduced March 22, with the Senate passing it 48-2 eight days later. The House committee did not take immediate action on it Friday.
Guwahati : A local court of Guwahati on Friday had sent the arrested Special Superintendent of Police (CID) to two-day police custody, who allegedly leaked the information of the investigation process of the All Assam Students Union (AASU) office in Silapathar on March 6 through RTI.

Earlier, the crime branch of Guwahati city police had arrested SSP (CID) Dr N Rajamarthandan on Thursday night after confirmed his involvement and violation the government order.

The Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) of Kamrup (Metro) district had sent the top police cop after crime branch had appreared him before the court.

Earlier, the state government had suspended N Rajamarthandan after he provided investigation process information of the Silapathar case to the secretary of Nikhil Bharat Bangali Udbastu Samanvay Samiti (NIBBUSS) through RTI.

The Assam government had already notified that, CID organization is exempted from providing information under RTI Act as per government notification no PLA.384/2005/54 dated March 8, 2006 and no details of investigation can be divulged to anyone without the permission of the competent court.

Following leaking the investigation information, a case (311/2017) was registered against Rajamarthandan after a top official of CID had filed an FIR at Paltan Bazar.

Meanwhile, Assam DGP Mukesh Sahay said that, he (Rajamarthandan) made guilty and law will take action.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Guwahati: Two doctors from MMC Panbazar hospital will conduct the next evening OPD clinic at Guwahati Press Club on 8 April for the benefit of its members along with their dependants. Dr Madhab Rajbongshi and Dr Hitendra Nath Chakravarty will be available for free consultations from 3 to 5 pm at press club premises. The participants will also get the facility to check their blood pressures in the camp.

Earlier, the city based Ayursundra Superspecialty Hospital conducted the last camp on 1 April 2017. Besides health related consultations from Dr Prerit Sarma and Dr Ayona Barthakur, over 35 participants also got the facility of weight, blood sugar and pressure examinations.

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 August 2016. The city based hospital also conducted the first evening clinic at the club premises.

Till date a number of practicing doctors from Medanta-the Medicity Hospital, 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 Center etc attended the camps.
KATHMANDU, April 8: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that a new proposal on constitution amendment of national unity would be registered at the Parliament, which would be acceptable to Madhes-based parties and main opposition party.

Addressing the 19th anniversary of the Reporters' Club Nepal here today, Prime Minister Dahal said the amendment proposal of national unity, acceptable to all, will be registered and it will unite the country.

Expressing the belief that the proposal would create environment where Madhes, hilly and mountainous region would go for local-level lection at the same time, he urged not to cast any doubt on election as the country has already moved ahead with the determination of election.

The Prime Minister claimed that development would get momentum after the formation of local government, saying the local-level lection would develop basis of holding other two elections in by coming January to make the constitution dynamic.

Saying that he increasingly believed that Nepal's development was possible through cordial relations with both its neighbours, he appealed to all for support in the national unity campaign.

On the occasion, Nepali Congress leader Prakash Man Singh said the local-level election was essential for effective enforcement of the constitution and urged all to join the election. He stressed that Nepal could take the road towards prosperity through development of agriculture and tourism following political stability in the country.

Indian Ambassador to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri expressed the confidence that Nepal would accelerate its journey towards economic development and prosperity in the days to come.

On the occasion, Prime Minister Dahal inaugurated the online portal of Reporters' Club Nepal. RSS
Lahan, Siraha, Nepal: Lahan, district headquarters of Siraha district remained tense after police and the cadres of the agitating United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) cashed briefly on Saturday.

The clash ensued after UDMF cadres tried to obstruct a rally of the main opposition CPN UML.

As the rally of the UML was moving toward to the Municipal Hall of Lahan Municipality from Pashupati Aadarsha Secondary School, the UDMF cadres had created obstruction in the roads.

With the brief clash, police have taken 18 UDMF cadres into control. Following the arrest, the UDMF cadres are now demonstrating against the UML from outside of the hall.

The local administration has mobilized security personnel heavily to control the untoward incidents.
United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement coordinator Gerda Verburg (third from left) meets Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal (right) in Baluwatar, Kathmandu on Saturday, April 08, 2017. Photo: PMas Secretariat

KATHMANDU, April 8: United Nations Under Secretary General and Nutrition Program Coordinator, Gerda Verburg paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal at the latter's official residence at Baluwatar today.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Prachanda talked about the nutrition situation in Nepal and added that the nutrition situation is improving with collaboration of the government, private sectors and donors.

Saying the government has been moving ahead taking the agenda of sustainable and balanced development along with nutrition, he said that women would assume leadership role after the local-level election and the nutrition issue would be included significantly in the health and education.

Similarly, Under Secretary-General Gerda expressed happiness over the progress made by Nepal in the nutrition sector and assured that the UN would provide support to Nepal in this sector. RSS
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In the spirit of discourse and hearing both sides, the Chronicle published opposing voices on the subject of sanctuary cities today, two for, and two against the system of non-cooperation with federal customs and immigration officers. The debate would seem fairly academic at this point: City Attorney Dennis Herrera, one of the four opinion-havers, filed a lawsuit on behalf of the city in January challenging President Trump's executive order to withhold funds from Sanctuary Cities, and it's possible California will become a Sanctuary State.

Herrera writes that "Were all better off when everyone, regardless of how they came to this country, is willing to report a crime, enroll their children in school and access vaccines." He also points to the facts: "A study found that 44 percent of Latinos  and 70 percent of undocumented immigrants  were less likely to contact police if they were the victim of a crime because they feared immigration questions."

Also on team Sanctuary Cities is Jose Antonio Vargas, CEO and founder of the immigration nonprofit Define American. "There are, on average, 35.5 fewer crimes committed per 10,000 people in sanctuary counties, according a study by the Center for American Progress. This doesnt surprise me," Vargas writes. "Undocumented people are just like everyone else: We want to work hard, support our families and pursue life, liberty and happiness."

It's nice to hear statistics and studies and the voices of immigrants, but you know who really doesn't have a voice on this issue  who San Franciscans should really listen to, for once? United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

He wrote something especially for the Chronicle and was thoughtful enough to invoke the death of Kate Steinle.

"Kathryn Steinle might be alive today if she had not lived in a 'sanctuary city,'" writes Sessions (or one of his staff). "No matter what form these [Sanctuary City] policies take, they all have the same effect: They harm public safety, by putting numerous criminal aliens back on our streets."

President Trump, who has frequently invoked Steinle's death, even once proposed, in a campaign speech an immigration law named for her. For the record, Steinle's family has consistently asked that Trump stop politicizing and sensationalizing her death.

Dear Jeff Sessions: Thx 4 advice but pls go away & leave us alone. Immigrants make us better. Stop slandering them. https://t.co/X5jY0ydmI8  Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) April 7, 2017

The Chronicle's last voice on the subject is John Culberson, a House Republican from Texas. He leads with Kate Steinle's death, too, and I'll spare repeating his arguments here.

The most useful aspect of this op-ed quartet is that the four parties each tried to define Sanctuary Cities. Their thoughts:

Jeff Sessions: Is not defined. The Department of Homeland Security is responsible for the definition and has not yet published one. John Culberson: Violates 8 U.S. Code 1373 by refusing to fully share information with immigration enforcement agencies. Dennis Herrera: Chooses to focus its resources on local priorities instead of using limited resources to enforce federal immigration law. Jose Antonio Vargas: Protects its residents, including undocumented residents, so everyone can approach law enforcement officers without fear of arrest.





Related: San Francisco Becomes First City To Sue Over Sanctuary City Order As California May Become Sanctuary State
In the past SFist has highlighted cool local fashion labels, vintage stores, and the best places to buy a men's suit. But despite SF being a mecca for style-conscious, discerning female shoppers who prefer an independent boutique to a chain store, we've never before rounded up the city's best and hippest women's boutiques. Well, here you go.

Acote

This two-year-old Hayes Valley offshoot of the pricier French brand Cotelac (which has a store in Pac Heights) is already a mainstay for Hayes Valley shoppers. Known for their simple cuts and timeless style, Acote often features edgy and bold textiles that appeal to whimsical tastes, and creating looks befitting of effortlessly fashionable French women on the go. Also, the salespeople here generally get high marks on Yelp.  Jay Barmann

597 Hayes Street at Laguna







Azalea

With two San Francisco locations (and a third in Berkeley), Azalea is a go-to boutique for recent women's and men's fashions, sometimes of the faster, cheaper variety. They'll have you covered on brands and designers from APC to Comme Des Garcons, and for women, they've got their own line of basics, comfy sweats, and even outerwear. Azelea's also a good bet for accessories and bags, and the friendly staff will be more than happy to get a fitting room started for you and all that.Caleb Pershan

956 Valencia Street between 21st and Liberty Streets and 411 Hayes Street between Gough and Octavia Streets





Photo: Facebook

Cary Lane

This designer sample outlet boutique began with a Noe Valley store nearly a decade ago, relocated to Hayes Valley, and now has two other locations in the Mission and the Inner Sunset. Catering to both men and women, the store specializes in designer-label samples and past-season items, discounted up to 80 percent off of retail, as well as jewelry and accessories, and customers tend to love the bang for their buck here, and the selection.  Jay Barmann

560 Laguna Street at Hayes; 3153 16th Street at Valencia; 1262 Ninth Avenue at Irving





A post shared by Everlane (@everlane) on Apr 1, 2017 at 11:39am PDT



The Everlane Lab

Everlane's philosophy/schtick is radical transparency: They break down their every cost for you, and as most of their sales are done online, their low overhead is paid forward to the customer. But here in SF, their Everlane Lab is one of just two places to try their styles on for size in store (the other, if you even had to ask, is in SOHO in New York). Everlane's line, which is on the minimalist, functional side, features everyday basics and office-friendly outfits as well as trendier pieces and even sleek, modern women's Oxford shoes and boots. A smaller men's line, also available in store, is there to keep boyfriends busy. Caleb Pershan

2170 Folsom Street between 17th and 18th Streets





Photo: Facebook

Legion

Situated on the edges of the Financial District and Chinatown, Legion and its owner Sydney Pfaff have been getting high marks for curation in the three years since the store opened. Pfaff specializes in hip, little known, often local labels as well as excellent smaller gift items and jewelry, and she's always happy to help customers find something to suit them.  Jay Barmann

678 Commercial Street





Photo: Facebook

Mira Mira

Another neatly appointed, perfectly curated spot, this tiny Mission boutique features unique, youthful, and eclectic pieces, all of high quality, at fairly reasonable prices  sale items start at around $30 and dresses top out at $250. Mira herself, the store owner, is often on hand to help, and shoppers here tout the jeans as well as the jewelry too. The store's blog is filled with art, almost like a Pinterest board, and will give you an idea of Mira's hip/ster esthetic.  Jay Barmann

3292 22nd Street at Valencia





Photo: Facebook

Paragraph

This Inner Sunset boutique relocated to the neighborhood in 2007 from Glen Park, where it began a few years earlier, and proprietor Vanessa Viray-Carlos stocks the place with unique women's clothing as well as tons of gift items, accessories, and more SF-specific stuff like Bay Bridge t-shirts, Warriors and Giants gear, and Dia de los Muertos-themed swag. It's a friendly, family-owned business with plenty of charm, and serves as a showcase for local designers as well.  Jay Barmann

1234 Ninth Avenue near Lincoln





Revolver via Facebook

Revolver

Revolver's cosmopolitan clothes are carefully curated and their delightful space makes for a fun, gallery-chic shopping experience. Expect to find local designers clothing stocked alongside more well-known international brands, and to perhaps lose track of which is which. For reference, these are the same folks behind Voyager, with locations in Los Angeles and in SF on Valencia Street. Caleb Pershan

136 Fillmore Street between Germania and Waller Streets





Wallflower via Facebook

Wallflower

Wallflower has made a name for itself since 2015 thanks to its warm, non-pushy customer service and cool, hand-picked treasures. A vintage boutique, at Wallflower you'll find good prices on classic and throwback pieces. In need of crystals, gems, or succulents? Wallflower has those perks, too. Caleb Pershan

1176 Valencia between 22nd and 23rd
This is no ordinary whale watch in the Monterey area. Instead, it's what could be a life or death rescue mission. A gray whale last sighted off Piedras Blancas on Wednesday and expected to arrive in Big Sur as soon as yesterday afternoon is entangled in a metal frame. Monterey Bay Marine Life Studies has put out the distress signal, seeking citizens who can be on the lookout  preferably with binoculars or long-range cameras.

The Whale Entanglement Team is still seeking volunteers in Monterey & Santa Cruz searching from shore. "If you live along coast from Davenport to Half Moon Bay to Pacifica and north please help look for this entangled whale," they write  and "If you have a long lens camera if you could take photo or video would be awesome." The whale could be with one or two other gray whales, as it was originally seen. They encourage you to call 877-SOS-WHALE if you spot the whale.

Related: Video: Whales Entangled In Crab Pot Lines Freed By Rescuers
25-year-old law student Dyne Suh booked a cabin on Airbnb in Running Springs, California, near Big Bear Lake, for her and her fiance on President's Day Weekend. She says that she had booked the property about a month before her trip, and then corresponded with the owner to ask if she could add two more people to the reservation, and was told that was fine. But as she and her friends approached the area on a night of heavy snow on February 17, she reached out again to the owner, who swiftly canceled her stay and plainly told her it was because she was Asian. When Suh protested and told her she would have her kicked off the Airbnb platform for racism, the woman replied "Go ahead" and "This is why we have Trump."

KTLA was the first to report the story, although they waited two months to do so for reasons that aren't entirely clear. Suh happened to see the KTLA crew in Big Bear the night of the incident, reporting on the snow storm, just as she and her friends were hunting for a new place to stay, and she gave the tearful on-camera interview you see above.

"For me personally, to now have someone say something racist to me and say its because of Trump, it was my fears coming true, said Suh. That people who held these racist beliefs felt emboldened.

Suh is a US citizen, and notes that one of the things the woman said to her in their exchange was "I will not allow this country to be told what to do by foreigners."

The woman, identified only as Tami, appeared to be making a last-minute stink about the deal they had already made about including four people in the reservation, saying in one of her first messages, "If you think 4 people and 2 dogs ate getting a room fir $50 a night on big bear mountain during the busiest weekend of the year .. You are insanely high." But she went on to call Suh a "con artist" and "One word says it all. Asian."

Suh and her party were reimbursed fully by Airbnb and offered reimbursement for a hotel as well, but within two hours, despite the snow, they managed to find another cabin to stay in. She narrated the tale on Facebook right after it happened.

Airbnb spokesperson Nick Papas assures the Washington Post that the woman has been banned from the Airbnb platform, and says the woman's behavior was "abhorrent and unacceptable." He added that the company "worked to provide the guest with our full support and in line with our nondiscrimination policy."

NBC Los Angeles got a hold of the host, who has not been identified, and she had no comment.

In comments on the Facebook post, Suh said that the host was apparently a college professor, remarking, "Racists are everywhere."

One of the friends on the trip also commented saying, "The f***ing woman nearly killed us tonight. We basically ended up stuck up the mountain with no where to stay and the snow coming down harder and harder."

Over a year ago, a study by a group of Harvard Business School researchers found widespread racism at work on the Airbnb platform  an issue compounded by the site's use of profile pictures, which they've responded to by making the thumbnail images smaller. The company has tried to get serious about the issue, hiring former attorney general Eric Holder to craft their non-discrimination policy and cracking down on property owners who violate it.

Last year, CEO Brian Chesky said, "We werent fully conscious of this issue when we designed the platform," but he said, "After speaking to many of you, I have learned that there have at times been a lack of urgency to work on this, and we need to rectify that immediately."

Previously: Airbnb Hires Former Attorney General Eric Holder To Handle Discrimination Policy
WASHINGTON -- If there is one operative rule in this city's left-right paradigm, it is to shift the focus of any conversation that seems at risk of revealing something approximating truth -- a game at which the current administration and its media surrogates happen to excel.

Thus, the focus early this week was on the "unmasking" of Trump campaign and transition team members who turned up in surveilled communications with foreigners. This unmasking (the naming of said team members) loosely corresponds to Donald Trump's claim that President Obama was wiretapping him during the transition.

This back-and-forth history is familiar by now. There was no wiretapping, a James Bond-ish technique by which Trump really meant all forms of surveillance, according to press secretary Sean Spicer. But, as we recently learned, some Trump folks were "incidentally" picked up during the foreign surveillance. We don't yet know whether these included Russians.

Maybe they were discussing the high price of kohlrabi, maybe not. Unmasking, it should be noted, is generally not done unless there are serious reasons to think it essential for national security. People captured "incidentally" have their names blacked out in deference to their privacy, such as it remains.

Next we hear allegations that former national security adviser Susan Rice sought to unmask the names of Americans affiliated with Trump's team who appeared in foreign surveillance intelligence reports. This doesn't seem to be quite the scandal so many on the right wished it to be. The urgent spin from Trump Quarters was that Rice was conducting a spy operation for political purposes. This would have been intriguing but difficult to pull off unless everyone in the intelligence community were in on the scheme.

First, neither Rice nor any other official has the authority to unmask American citizens out of mere curiosity, as she explained Tuesday in an MSNBC interview with Andrea Mitchell. Rice, as well as other officials, could request an intelligence review to determine whether there were legitimate national security reasons to identify them.

Were they talking cabbage? Or, were they discussing a potential U.S. withdrawal from NATO? Wouldn't we like to know?

Some reports said that Rice did request a review and receive names, but she adamantly denied leaking any names, saying that this would have constituted releasing classified information. One name unmasked in intelligence reports was Michael Flynn, who resigned after it was revealed that he mischaracterized to Vice President Mike Pence conversations he had with the Russian ambassador. Only later did we learn of Flynn's $500,000 public relations job with Turkey.

You see how the focus keeps getting directed away from Russia to the Obama administration or any other handy object. Trump continues to blame poor sportsmanship for all his travails, including any fact-based reporting that contradicts his primary intelligences sources, Fox News and Breitbart News. (And, perhaps, his Magic 8-Ball.) If there's nothing to see here, why the constant shifting of public attention from the grizzly bear to the kid with a slingshot?

Is there anyone left in America who doesn't think that Russia's hacking and interference with the 2016 election don't deserve a thorough investigation? Yes, there is. On his Fox News show, the formerly bow-tied but still adorable Tucker Carlson is leading a charge that we don't really know that Russia hacked the Democratic National Committee and delivered emails to WikiLeaks that were released at just the right moment to undermine Hillary Clinton's campaign.

We only think we know this, and why? Well, because every American intelligence agency has said so. Moving on.

Next in the series of "Look Over There!" is a tweet from the president's son Donald Jr. praising the "reporter" who pointed to Rice as an unmasker. "Congrats to @cernovich for breaking the #SusanRice story," he tweeted like-father-like-son-ly. "In a long gone time of unbiased journalism he'd win the Pulitzer, but not today!"

Actually, there are several Pulitzers awarded each year, but Mike Cernovich, who has said he became an Alt-Righter when he realized that diversity really meant "white genocide," isn't likely to receive one for pointing out that Rice was doing her job.

En fin, the crucial unmasking -- Who is that masked man in the White House? -- is yet to come. For now, we know that the most important aspect of the Russia-hacking-wire-tapping-spying-Susan-Rice story is that Trump's transition team was in contact with Russian operatives and others -- and it would be nice to know that they were only exploring critical questions related to cabbage.
DES MOINES | Jack Kintzle was part of a welcome wagon in 1985 that cast such a positive light on Iowa it sparked a decades-long friendship between Xi Jinping, who would go on to become Chinas president, and Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad  now thrusting Branstad and Iowa into the spotlight of U.S.-Chinese relations.

Branstad, who was nominated as U.S. ambassador to China last year although has not yet been confirmed, has met with Chinese officials a handful of times over the past 30-some years. The relationship has blossomed and the impact has been far-reaching for the state, say officials in business, trade and education.

Hospitality laid the groundwork for the good relations, but Kintzle observed a measure of strategy and foresight by Branstad in encouraging the warm, respectful welcome in the midst of the farm crisis.

Iowa was going through such a tough time with agriculture, especially farm foreclosures, said Kintzle, 73. Iowa was at a level we needed publicity and we wanted to open doors. I think thats one of the reasons they were treated so well. How many million Chinese are there? I think he saw an opportunity to trade. I think the governor sensed the possibilities.

Pending confirmation, Branstad plans to move to Beijing with his wife, Chris, his daughter and son-in-law and granddaughters as he works to enhance the relationship between the two countries, he said during a celebration with Chinese officials during the Lunar New Year earlier this year in Muscatine.

Im an old friend of China, Branstad said there. Ive very honored and very proud that Ive had a number of interactions with China and the leadership of China. Weve seen great improvement in terms of exchanges and trade. Exchanges of students is one way to improve personal relationship and friendships. That is critically important to both of our countries and the world.

Branstad would step in amid heightened tensions between the United States and China over trade equity, punitive tariffs and how to handle North Korea. Branstad was not scheduled to be at the meeting in Florida late last week between President Donald Trump and Xi.

Kintzle was an Iowa Corn Growers Association director with a farm near Coggon in the summer of 1985 when Xi  then a county-level party leader Kintzle equated to a state secretary of agriculture in America  toured Iowa farms as part of a small agricultural delegation from Hebei province.

Kintzles farm was right off the highway and convenient, so he got a call wondering if the delegation could visit. Soon, a small group of Chinese men wheeled up and spent a few hours inspecting machinery, grain bins and harvesters, then came inside for coffee. At the end, they took pictures together.

They go back to China, he becomes president, and I farm for the next 30 years, Kintzle said. I should have bought a lottery ticket. Although, having a president on my farm might be better than winning the lottery.

Branstad, then in his first term as Iowa governor, was instrumental in the visit, including hosting a then-unheralded Xi in his office.

By the time of the visit, Branstad already had signed an agreement establishing a sister-state relationship between Iowa and Hebei. In 1984, he led a 50-person delegation to Hebei. It was the first of six trade missions Branstad led to China.

Branstad next traveled to China as part of a three-country trade mission in fall 1993, marking the 10-year anniversary of the sister-state relationship. The goal was to expand markets for agricultural products, appliances, machinery and other exports, as well as stress in China Iowas commitment to human rights and treating people with dignity.

We think that one of the things that helped lead to the downfall of communism in Russia and Eastern Europe was all the contacts to the West  the sister states, the trade missions and the understanding that the people gain from that, Branstad said at the time. I feel somewhat the same way about trade and building relationships in China.

We can, hopefully, help push the Chinese state in the direction of more freedom and opportunity for the people as opposed to the old policy of trying to isolate them, he added.

The early legwork has made a difference for Iowa. China is the fourth-largest export market for Iowa, with $490.6 million worth of manufactured and value-added goods, according to the Iowa Department of Economic Development.

Chinas spending supports 4,000 jobs, and 5,000 young talents are studying in Iowa universities, Hong Lei, consul general based at the Chinese Consulate of Chicago, said during the recent Muscatine visit.

I would say because of the sheer fact hes been involved, hes never let go, said Kim Heidemann, executive director of Iowa Sister States. Hes continued to nurture this relationship. He goes to visit, goes to meetings. Hes hosted meetings. The governor has made it a point. Hes simply done things right, especially in the last few years with Xi and done it in such a way he puts Iowa first.

The trips to China, and return visits from Chinese officials, have continued.

Xi returned to visit Muscatine and Des Moines in 2012 for an old friends reunion dinner stemming from the 1985 trip, and 20 Iowans traveled to China that same year for another reunion. Branstad also participated in trade missions in 2014 and 2016.

Downing Thomas, a professor and dean of International Programs at the University of Iowa, traveled with Branstad to China in 2012.

The delegation also included elected officials from Wisconsin and Virginia, along with a handful of business people and educational leaders. The significance of Branstads relationship with Xi was evident in the respect and attention he received compared with the other visitors. The China Daily newspaper sought him out specifically for an interview.

Iowa universities and colleges have seen enrollment among Chinese students soar in the past 10 years. More than 4,000 Chinese students are enrolled at the three state universities alone. While the influx of Chinese college students is seen beyond Iowas borders, the relationship between Iowa and China has helped Iowa schools, Thomas said.

Clearly many of our students are aware of the relationship with Xi and Iowa, and their parents are aware of it. Thomas said.

The economic impact from international students and their families in Iowa topped $365 million and has supported or created 3,700 jobs, according to an annual report from International Programs. Thomas estimates more UI alumni are living in China than anywhere else outside of Iowa and Chicago.

The visibility of Branstads relationship with Xi and Branstads personal involvement has opened doors for Iowa companies, such as West Des Moines-based Hy-Line International.

Tom Dixon, director of international sales and marketing for Hy-Line, which is one of the worlds largest breeders of laying hens, said the company received direct and indirect assistance from Branstads office in forging a relationship between it and the Huayu Group, based in Hebei.

Branstad was present at a deal signing in October 2013 between the companies for a breeder housing project in Hebei province. That show of support was important in a later deal in 2016 for a joint venture to distribute Hy-Line chicks in China. The ceremonial nature of the signing, particularly with someone on friendly terms with Xi, carries a lot of influence for local, state and regional officials in China, Dixon said.

Theres some coincidence, but it certainly helped, Dixon said. Branstad put more prestige and elevated the deal. It gave more of an official nature, credibility its a real project. In China, government involvement is so very important for companies. It helped locally (in China) to get approvals.

In China, Dixon explained, support of government officials and good relations between business and government is vital. Government officials need to sign off on acquisitions, permits and land sales, for example.

Dixon is hopeful Branstads agricultural background will help ease restrictions on poultry imports in China, which have been curtailed since the bird flu outbreak in 2015. He declined to be specific, but said it has cost Hy-Line millions of dollars.

Weve been working to try to negotiate things with health officials in China, Dixon said. We hope the governor of a large agricultural state could maybe lend influence to motivate or encourage some kind of solution so we can start exporting again. We hope his level of ambassador could facilitate and shed some light on the situation.
DES MOINES | Gov. Terry Branstad said Friday he expects to sign legislation making major changes to Iowas firearms laws but he is reserving judgment until he and his staff have time to review the provisions of House File 517 that received final House approval on Thursday.

Obviously, we want to review it in its final form, but generally Ive been a strong supporter of the Second Amendment and I believe the legislation passed with bipartisan support with a pretty strong margin, Branstad said in an interview. Im inclined to be supportive but I want to reserve judgment until I get a chance to review it in its final form.

Branstad said he had some concerns with the original version passed by the Iowa House but those were addressed in changes adopted by the Iowa Senate that were accepted by representatives Thursday before sending it to his desk for consideration.

It looks pretty good, the governor said.

Included in House File 517 is a controversial stand your ground provision that states a law-abiding citizen does not have a duty to retreat in a public place before using deadly force when confronted with danger to life or property.

The bill also would allow children below the age of 14 to handle pistols or revolvers under the supervision of an adult parent, guardian or instructor; pre-empt local ordinances restricting gun rights; create a uniform permit to carry weapons; provide for five-year permits to acquire handguns rather than single-year permits; and create confidentiality for those with permits, legalize short-barreled rifles and shotguns and allow those with permits to carry handguns in the Iowa Capitol and other public buildings.

Iowa Republican Party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann praised Speaker Pro Tempore Matt Windschitl and House and Senate Republicans for their work in shepherding the bill through both chambers of the Legislature in a bipartisan fashion. He called the bill the most monumental piece of pro-Second Amendment legislation in Iowas history.

Earlier in the week, members of Iowans for Gun Safety expressed concerns about the bill and on Friday, the Rev. Jeremy J. Brigham, executive director of the organization, wrote Branstad a letter urging him to veto the bill.

This bill is particularly dangerous to men of color, women and children and many from these communities have joined us in speaking out, Brigham said in his letter.

Gov. Branstad, we believe it is particularly important that you veto this bill. As ambassador to China, like your predecessors, you will be asked to protect the rights of minorities in China. This bill ... threatens the rights of minorities in Iowa and we ask that you veto this bill and protect the rights of minorities in Iowa.

If the bill becomes law, members of the Iowa Chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America said Iowa will become only the second state to enact a new stand-your-ground law since the killing of Trayvon Martin in Florida in 2012.

In the weeks since this bill was introduced, lawmakers have listened thoughtfully to the widespread concerns about certain portions of it, and were grateful they removed dangerous sections that would have gutted Iowas background check and permit-to-carry requirements, said Amber Gustafson of the Iowa Chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.

"Still, we remain deeply concerned that the stand-your-ground and punitive pre-emption portions of this bill would leave our communities less safe, Gustafson added in a statement. Stand-your-ground laws embolden people to escalate everyday disputes, and the statistics from states that have passed them are deeply troubling. Well be urging the governor to keep our state from following their concerning lead.
DES MOINES | Gov. Terry Branstad said Friday he had productive meetings with members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during this weeks trip to Washington, D.C. However, he doesnt expect a hearing on his confirmation to be the next U.S. ambassador to China to take place until next month at the earliest.

Branstad said he met with committee chairman Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and ranking member, Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., as well as other committee members and Iowa Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, and he plans a return trip the last week in April after the two-week Easter recess. At that time, hell meet with more members of the committee who will consider his appointment by President Donald Trump to be Americas top diplomat in China.

I had a lot of good meetings with senators, Branstad said Friday during his first public event since his trip. He said he has completed the paperwork phase of the process and now he is learning as much as I can about the China issues, and there are many.

The governor said he also met with Sonny Perdue, Trumps secretary of agriculture nominee, who has cleared the committee process but awaits Senate confirmation pending an April 24 vote.

Its getting kind of frustrating, I think, for a lot of people. This process has been very slow, Branstad said of this years Senate action. Theyve now just confirmed Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court and that took up a significant amount of time.

But this has been the most, I guess, disruptive process that weve ever seen in terms of appointments. Confirmations usually dont take nearly this long. But, unfortunately, I think the Democrats have decided that theyre going to just basically attack everybody. I hope that by the time I get there that will have worn out and that wont be case, he said.

They ask tough questions and there are a number of issues. But Im hopeful that I can generate bipartisan support. Time will tell, he added.

Grassley said he expects Branstads confirmation to go well.

Hes personable, professional and has the proven leadership and policy skills to serve in such an important diplomatic position. As members of the Foreign Relations Committee get to know him, theyll appreciate his trustworthiness, his work ethic and his ability to get the job done for the United States as he has for Iowa for a record number of years, Grassley added.

Ernst said Branstad would make an excellent ambassador and hopes the Senate moves him through the confirmation process as soon as possible.

Our relationship with China is very important  from agricultural trade to national security  so I look forward to the Senate moving on his nomination soon, she said.
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The following companies are subsidiares of Sysco: 2234829 Alberta ULC, 2234842 Alberta ULC, A. M. Briggs Inc., A.M. Briggs, Almacen Fiscal Frionet Caldera S.A., Almacen Fiscal Frionet Limon S.A., Appert's Foodservice, Arnotts (Fruit) Limited, Asian Foods, Bahamas Food Holdings Limited, Bahamas Food Services Limited, Brake Bros, Brake Bros Foodservice Ireland Limited, Brake Bros. Foodservice Limited, Brake Bros. Holding I Limited, Brake Bros. Ltd., Brakes Foodservice NI Limited, Buchy Food Service, Buckhead Beef Co., Buckhead Meat & Seafood of Houston Inc., Buckhead Meat Company, Buckhead Meat Midwest Inc., Buckhead Meat of Dallas Inc., Buckhead Meat of Denver Inc., Buckhead Meat of San Antonio LP, Buzztable Inc., CAKE Corporation, Central Seafood Co., Christys Wine & Spirits Limited, Clafra Aktiebolag, Colorado Boxed Beef Co - Specialty meat-cutting division, Corporacion Frionet Sociedad Anonima, Crossgar Foodservice, Crossgar Foodservice Limited, Crown I Enterprises Inc., Cucina Acquisitions (UK) Limited, Cucina Finance (UK) Limited, Cucina French Holdings Limited, Cucina Fresh Finance Limited, Cucina Fresh Investments Limited, Cucina Lux Investments Limited, Curleys Quality Foods Limited (Third Party), Davigel Belgilux S.A., Davigel Espana S.A., Desert Meats & Provisions, Distagro, Doerle Food Service, Doughtie's Foods Inc., Dust Bowl City LLC, Eko Fagel Fisk o mittemellan AB, Enclave Insurance Company, Enclave Parkway Association Inc., Enclave Properties LLC, European Imports, European Imports Inc., Figg Inc., Freedman Meats, Freedman Meats Inc., Freedman-KB Inc., Fresh Direct (UK) Limited, Fresh Direct Group Limited, Fresh Direct Limited, Fresh Holdings Limited, FreshPoint, FreshPoint Arizona Inc., FreshPoint Atlanta Inc., FreshPoint California Inc., FreshPoint Central California Inc., FreshPoint Central Florida Inc., FreshPoint Connecticut LLC, FreshPoint Dallas Inc., FreshPoint Denver Inc., FreshPoint Hawaii LLC, FreshPoint Inc., FreshPoint Las Vegas Inc., FreshPoint North Carolina Inc., FreshPoint North Florida Inc., FreshPoint Oklahoma City LLC, FreshPoint Pompano Real Estate LLC, FreshPoint Puerto Rico LLC, FreshPoint San Francisco Inc., FreshPoint South Florida Inc., FreshPoint South Texas Inc., FreshPoint Southern California Inc., FreshPoint Tomato LLC, FreshPoint Vancouver Ltd., Freshfayre Limited, Fruktservice i Helsingborg AB, GHS Classic Drinks Limited, Gilchrist & Soames Inc., Gilchrist & Soames UK Limited, Guest Packaging LLC, Guest Supply, Guest Supply Asia Limited, Guest Supply Singapore Pte. Ltd., International Food Group, Isakssons Frukt & Gront AB, J & M Wholesale Meats, J. Kings Food Service Professionals, J. Kings Food Service Professionals Inc., Kent Frozen Foods, Les Ateliers Du Gout, Liquid Assets Limited, M&J Seafood Holdings Limited, M&J Seafood Limited, Manchester Mills LLC, Mayca Autoservicio S.A., Mayca Distribuidores S.A., Menigo Foodservice AB, Mitshim Etatu Supply LP, Newport Meat Company, Newport Meat Northern California Inc., Newport Meat Pacific Northwest Inc., Newport Meat Southern California Inc., Newport Meat of Nevada Inc., North Star Holding Corporation, North Star Seafood, North Star Seafood Acquisition Corporation, North Star Seafood LLC, PFS de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Palisades Ranch Inc., Pallas Foods, Pallas Foods Farm Fresh Unlimited Company, Pallas Foods Unlimited Company, Pauleys Produce Limited, Promotora del Servicios S.A. de C.V., Restaurangakdemien AB, Restaurant of Tomorrow Inc., Rohan Viandes Elaboration SAS, SMS Bermuda Holdings, SMS GPC International Limited, SMS GPC International Resources Limited, SMS Global Holdings S.a.r.l., SMS International Resources Ireland Unlimited Company, SMS Lux Holdings LLC, SOTF LLC, SYY Netherlands C.V., SYY Panama S. de R.L., Serca Foodservice, Servicestyckarna I Johannes AB, Servicios Ameriserve S.A. de C.V., Shenzhen Guest Supply Trading Co. Limited, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) Bianchi Montegut, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) De Boiseau, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) De Garcelles, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) J.D. Lanjouan, Societe Civile Immobiliere (SCI) Le Dauphin, Specialty Meat Holdings LLC, Stockflag Limited, Stockholms Fiskauktion AB, Supplies on the Fly, Sysco Albany LLC, Sysco Asian Foods Inc., Sysco Atlanta LLC, Sysco Autoservicio S.A., Sysco Baltimore LLC, Sysco Baraboo LLC, Sysco Bermuda Partners L.P., Sysco Boston LLC, Sysco Canada Holdings S.a.r.l., Sysco Canada Inc., Sysco Central Alabama LLC, Sysco Central California Inc., Sysco Central Florida Inc., Sysco Central Illinois Inc., Sysco Central Pennsylvania LLC, Sysco Charlotte LLC, Sysco Chicago Inc., Sysco Cincinnati LLC, Sysco Cleveland Inc., Sysco Columbia LLC, Sysco Connecticut LLC, Sysco Corporation, Sysco Corporation Director's Deferred Compensation Plan Trust, Sysco Corporation Employee's 401(k) Plan Trust, Sysco Corporation Executive Deferred Compensation Plan Trust, Sysco Corporation Good Government Committee Inc., Sysco Corporation Retirement Trust, Sysco Corporation Supplemental Executive Retirement Trust, Sysco Corporation Supplemental Unemployment Benefits Plan Trust, Sysco Detroit LLC, Sysco Disaster Relief Foundation Inc., Sysco EI VI S. s.r.l., Sysco EU II S.a.r.l., Sysco EU III S.a.r.l., Sysco EU IV Capital Unlimited Company, Sysco EU IV S. s.r.l.., Sysco EU V S. s.r.l., Sysco Eastern Maryland LLC, Sysco Eastern Wisconsin LLC, Sysco Foundation Inc., Sysco France Holding SAS, Sysco France SAS, Sysco George Town II LLC, Sysco George Town Limited S. s.r.l.., Sysco Global Finance LLC, Sysco Global Finance LLP, Sysco Global Holdings B.V., Sysco Global Resources LLC, Sysco Global Services LLC, Sysco Grand Cayman Company, Sysco Grand Cayman II Company, Sysco Grand Cayman III Company, Sysco Grand Rapids LLC, Sysco Guernsey Limited, Sysco Guest Supply Canada Inc., Sysco Guest Supply Europe Goods Wholesalers LLC, Sysco Guest Supply Europe Limited, Sysco Guest Supply LLC, Sysco Gulf Coast LLC, Sysco Hampton Roads Inc., Sysco Hawaii Inc., Sysco Holdings II LLC, Sysco Holdings LLC, Sysco Indianapolis LLC, Sysco International Food Group Inc., Sysco International Inc., Sysco Iowa Inc., Sysco Jackson LLC, Sysco Jacksonville Inc., Sysco Kansas City Inc., Sysco Knoxville LLC, Sysco Labs Europe Limited, Sysco Labs Pvt. Ltd., Sysco Leasing LLC, Sysco Lincoln Inc., Sysco Lincoln Transportation Company Inc., Sysco Long Island LLC, Sysco Los Angeles Inc., Sysco Louisville Inc., Sysco Memphis LLC, Sysco Merchandising and Supply Chain Services Canada Inc., Sysco Merchandising and Supply Chain Services Inc., Sysco Metro New York LLC, Sysco Minnesota Inc., Sysco Montana Inc., Sysco Nashville LLC, Sysco Netherlands Partners LLC, Sysco North Central Florida Inc., Sysco North Dakota Inc., Sysco Northern New England Inc., Sysco Philadelphia LLC, Sysco Pittsburgh LLC, Sysco Portland Inc., Sysco Raleigh LLC, Sysco Resources Services LLC, Sysco Riverside Inc., Sysco Sacramento Inc., Sysco San Diego Inc., Sysco San Francisco Inc., Sysco Seattle Inc., Sysco South Florida Inc., Sysco Southeast Florida LLC, Sysco Spain Holdings SLU, Sysco Spokane Inc., Sysco St. Louis LLC, Sysco Syracuse LLC, Sysco Technologies Cayman Ltd., Sysco Technologies LLC, Sysco UK Holdings Limited, Sysco UK Limited, Sysco UK Partners LLP, Sysco USA I Inc., Sysco USA II LLC, Sysco USA III LLC, Sysco Ventura Inc., Sysco Ventures Inc., Sysco Virginia LLC, Sysco West Coast Florida Inc., Sysco Western Minnesota Inc., The SYGMA Network Inc., Upsys, Victua SAS, Walker Foods Inc., Waugh Foods, and Wild Harvest Limited.

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WestRock Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides fiber-based paper and packaging solutions in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. It operates through two segments, Corrugated Packaging and Consumer Packaging. The Corrugated Packaging segment produces containerboards, corrugated sheets, corrugated packaging, and preprinted linerboards to consumer and industrial products manufacturers, and corrugated box manufacturers. It also provides structural and graphic design, engineering services and custom, and proprietary and standard automated packaging machines, as well as turn-key installation, automation, line integration, and packaging solutions; distributes corrugated packaging materials and other specialty packaging products, including stretch films, void fills, carton sealing tapes, and other specialty tapes; operates recycling facilities that collect, sort, grade, and bale recovered paper; and provides lithographic laminated packaging products, as well as contract packing services. The Consumer Packaging segment manufactures and sells folding cartons that are used to package food, paper, beverages, dairy products, tobacco, confectionery, health and beauty, other household consumer, and commercial and industrial products; and express mail packages for the overnight courier industry. It also offers inserts and labels, as well as rigid packaging and other printed packaging products, such as transaction cards, brochures, product literature, marketing materials, and grower tags and plant stakes for the horticultural market; and secondary packages and paperboard packaging for over-the-counter and prescription drugs. In addition, this segment manufactures and sells solid fiber and corrugated partitions, and die-cut paperboard components principally to glass container manufacturers and the automotive industry, as well as producers of beer, food, wine, spirits, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. WestRock Company is based in Atlanta, Georgia.
The gravity of the existential threat we face from Islamic Jihad is truly of epic proportions. It is essentially a battle pitting free-civilized man against a totalitarian barbarian. What is at stake is the struggle for our very soul - namely who we are and what we represent. The lives that were sacrificed for individual rights and freedoms that we've come to cherish are being chiseled away from right under our noses by the stealth jihadists. And many of us are in denial and totally clueless.



The left's appeasement and pandering to evil is nothing new. What makes their utopian delusions so infuriating and unpardonable is that it is not only they who will have to pay the consequences, and deservedly, so, they are thwarting and undermining our best efforts at resistance and are thus dragging us down in the process as well.







By Peter Lancz,, the head of the Raoul Wallenberg World Campaign Against Racism.
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.




Expedition 50 crew members (from left) Shane Kimbrough, Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko will depart the station Monday April 10 ending their stay in space. Credit: NASA. NASA

Three crew members aboard the International Space Station are packing up their gear for a homecoming on Monday. NASA also decided to extend the mission of an astronaut living aboard the station since November.

Two cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut will take a ride back to Earth early Monday inside the Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft. Commander Shane Kimbrough and Flight Engineers Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko will have completed a 173-day mission in space when they land Monday at 7:21 a.m. EDT in Kazakhstan. NASA TV will broadcast the departure and landing activities live.

Kimbrough has accumulated six spacewalks over two missions, including the STS-126 mission aboard space shuttle Endeavour in 2008. Ryzhikov, who is on his first space mission, will be commanding the Soyuz spacecraft during its landing. Borisenko was last aboard the station in 2011 and is completing his second stint as a station crew member.

Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson has been granted a three-month extension to her already record-breaking career aboard the station. She will stay in space until September as a member of Expeditions 50, 51 and 52. NASA managers wanted to ensure the station maintained a six-person crew to maximize research while Russia temporarily reduces its crew to two cosmonauts.

On-Orbit Status Report

Flight Day 120 (FD120) Human Research Program (HRP) Collections: The 49S subject performed a fasting blood draw and urine collections. Both samples were stowed in Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI) for freezing and storage until their return and analysis. The Biochemical Profile experiment tests blood and urine samples obtained from astronauts before, during, and after spaceflight. Specific proteins and chemicals in the samples are used as biomarkers, or indicators of health. Post-flight analysis yields a database of samples and test results which scientists can use to study the effects of spaceflight on the body. Repository is a storage bank used to maintain biological specimens over extended periods of time and under well-controlled conditions. This repository supports scientific discovery that contributes to our fundamental knowledge in the area of human physiological changes and adaptation to a microgravity environment and provides unique opportunities to study longitudinal changes in human physiology spanning many missions.

Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF) Sample Holder Exchange: The crew performed the second part of the ELF Sample Exchange, installing the Sample Holder and Cartridge into the ELF Work Volume. The ELF is an experimental facility designed to levitate/melt/solidify materials by containerless processing techniques using the Electrostatic Levitation method. With this facility, thermophysical properties of high temperature melts can be measured, and solidification from deeply undercooled melts can be achieved.

Multi-Omics Mouse Preparations: In preparation for the JAXA Rodent Research experiment hardware launching on SpaceX-11, the crew set up the CO2 Valve Unit and performed a checkout.

Potable Water Dispenser (PWD) Relocate Postponed: The PWD was scheduled to be relocated today but the activity was postponed. The crew spent time yesterday and today looking for an adapter needed for the activity but were unable to locate it. Ground teams are discussing work arounds to allow the relocation to occur without using the adapter.

Todays Planned Activities

All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.

URAGAN. Observation and photography

EKON-M. Observations and photography

Lighting Effects Sleep Log Entry

HRF Generic Urine Collection

HRF Generic Saliva Collection

HRF Generic Frozen Blood Collection

HRF Generic Sample MELFI Insertion Operations

HRF Generic Refrigerated Centrifuge Spin

NEUROIMMUNITET. Saliva sample collection

Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Recycle Tank Drain

Health Maintenance System (HMS) Stow

Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF) Experiment Sample Holder Install

Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Recycle Tank Drain Part 2

LBNP Training

In Flight Maintenance (IFM) Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) Full Fill

Electrostatic Levitation Furnace(ELF) Sample Removal

Acoustic Dosimeter Setup Day 3

Soyuz 732 Stowage Ops for Return.

Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF) Sample Cartridge 2 Install

Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF) Slit Cover stow

Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (RGN) Wastewater Storage Tank Assembly (WSTA) Fill

On-orbit Hearing Assessment using EARQ

IDENTIFICATION. Copy ???-? micro-accelerometer data to laptop

HRF Generic Sample MELFI Retrieval Insertion Operations

JEM Common Gas Support Equipment (CGSE) Gas Supply Start

Pre-Multi-Omics Mouse Item Gathering

Recharging Soyuz 733 Samsung PC Battery (if charge level is below 80%)

CO2 Vlv Unit Setup

IDENTIFIKATSIYA. Copy ???-? Micro-Accelerometer Data to HDD for return

Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR) Alignment Guide Installation

CO2 Vlv Unit Checkout

Multi-purpose Small Payload Rack (MSPR) /Group Combustion Module (GCM) Component Deactivation

Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (RGN) Wastewater Storage Tank Assembly (WSTA) Fill

Recharging Soyuz 732 Samsung PC Battery (if charge level is below 80%)

JEM Common Gas Support Equipment Gas Supply Stop

Hardware prepack for return and disposal on Soyuz 732

Glove Box Panel Closeout

Manufacturing Device Print Removal, Clean and Stow

Network Monitoring System (NMS) Laptop Battery Swap

VEG-03 Wick Open

Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (RGN) Wastewater Storage Tank Assembly (WSTA) Fill

Separation of ??? using Separation Unit [??]

Soyuz 732 Transfer Ops

Galley Potable Water Dispenser (PWD) Installation [Aborted]

Space Headaches  Weekly Questionnaire

CALCIUM. Bioekololgiya Cases: Photography, Processing, and Photo Downlink, Pre-pack for Return

Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Recycle Tank Fill Part 3

48S US Prepack

Trash Staging Cleanout

HRF Generic Sample MELFI Insertion Operations

INTERACTION-2. Experiment Ops

OA7 Trash Pregather

Galley Potable Water Dispenser (PWD) Installation Part 2

Terminate Soyuz 733 Samsung PC Battery Recharge (if necessary)

INTERACTION-2. Experiment Ops

Preventive maintenance of MRM1 ??? Hatch Sealing Mechanism and Soyuz 732 hatch

Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (RGN) Wastewater Storage Tank Assembly (WSTA) Fill

HRF Generic Sample MELFI Retrieval Insertion Operations

Completed Task List Items

Galley Rack Power Source Swap (From aborted Galley Potable Water Dispenser (PWD) Installation Activity)

Portable Water Dispenser  TOCA (Total Organic Carbon Analyzer) Water Sample Collection & Analysis

Portable Water Dispenser  Environmental Health System (EHS) Coliform Water Detection

JLP Cleanup and Reconfiguration

Ground Activities

All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.

Galley Rack Power Source Swap Support  Safing and Power/De-power Assistance

Three-Day Look Ahead:

Friday, 04/07: Crew off duty

Saturday, 04/08: Crew off duty, housekeeping

Sunday, 04/09: 49S Crew Emergency Roles/Responsibilities review, Change of Command

QUICK ISS Status  Environmental Control Group:

Component  Status

Elektron  On

Vozdukh  Manual

[???] 1  SM Air Conditioner System (SKV1)  Off

[???] 2  SM Air Conditioner System (SKV2)  On

Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab  Standby

Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3  Operate

Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab  Operate

Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3  Operate

Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA)  Process

Urine Processing Assembly (UPA)  Process

Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab  Off

Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3  Full Up
Oh spreads, I cant wait to get you home. Ive been covering the butter beat here at the Sprudge Media Network for as long as I can remember. If theres a Japanese coffee margarine spread, Im all over it. If theres an artisanal nut butterist making an Intelligentsia Coffee Black Cat Espresso peanut butter, youll hear it here first. So you can imagine my surprisenay nay my joywhen I stumbled upon a panoply of spreadables at the London Coffee Festival this weekend.

Butters, spreads, curds, nut butters, the options were endless and endlessly delicious. I of course had to sample them all numerous times; it comes with the job. Here are all the wondrous things at the London Coffee Festival you can put on toast.

Pip & Nut Nut Butters

Pip & Nut is a London-based artisanal nut butterist who offers hand crafted nut-based spreads that rely on the elegance of its few simple ingredients. Its pretty straight ahead offering; no coffee infusions or cascara jelly swirls going on (but now that I think about it, a cascara jelly is long overdue), but they still come in a variety of flavors like: crunchy maple peanut, honey cinnamon cashew, and coconut almond. I was a frequenter of the Pip & Nut booth because of all the free samples and the no shame attitude of the lovely attendants when I was cramming the eighth peanut butter rice cake down my gullet.

Flat Brew Coffee Spread

Have you ever been smearing some Nutella on a nice hearty slice of sourdough and thought, I wish there was coffee in this? If so, then Id like to introduce you to Flat Brew Coffee Spread. Containing the equivalent to a shot of espresso in every nine gram serving, Flat Brew only contains four ingredients: coffee, cocoa butter, sugar, and cream. The taste and texture is something like a coffeed out version of Nutella, making it a perfect dessert-like spread.

Jakes Cinnamon Curd

This was an unexpected little treat. Admittedly Ive never had a curd before, but can this cinnamon curd from Jakes ever spread on toast. Its been described as a spreadable version of a Danish pastry, and its pretty hard to argue with the assessment. Jakes is a London-based company, so their various spreads are primarily available at UK stockists, but Im certain they could be ordered internationally were one willing to pay more for shipping than for the product itself.

Jackpot Motherfucking Peanut Butter

The English brand Jackpot is not your mums peanut butter, what with the cursing. What I can only assume is the worlds first motherfucking peanut butter has definitely taking some branding cues from American institutions, Bazooka Bubble Gum and Toy Machine Skateboards in particular. They do offer motherfucking-less and MF scratch-off options for the less crass and the crass-curious.

Coffee Butter from Grind

Inside London Coffee Festival, Englands Grinda cafe and cocktail bar with a handful of locations around Londonwas offering up a three-course coffee dinner (more on that late this week). As a little intermezzo between courses one and two, guests were treated to fresh baked sourdough rolls and butter infused with Rwandan coffee grounds. This one made just for the coffee dinner, so it isnt available anywhere else, but its probably something you could make at home should you want to recreate the experience.

Lotus Biscoff Spread

I know Lotus isnt exactly an artisanal butterist, but they hold a special place in my jet-setting heart. At the risk of sounding like Im in the pockets of Big Butter, I love Biscoff. No matter how bad the coffee is on a flight (and its always bad), theres always a Biscoff cookie there to cleanse your palate.

And Lotus has now taken that same flavor and turned it into a spread. Let me reiterateyou can spread your Biscoff on your Biscoff. Its maximum Biscoffity.

If you think Im not stowing away a few of these in carry-on to help ease my Transatlantic flight home, then you dont know me, your favorite butter beat reporter on the Sprudge Media Network.

Zac Cadwalader is the news editor at Sprudge Media Network and butt nutter enthusiast.
A couple of weeks ago I was in Fairhaven, Washington, killing some time, you know, no big deal. It was one of those bookstores that smells like soup, because bookstore cafes seem to always serve soup. Well, I walk in, and the first thing I hear is that unmistakable screeching sound of poorly steamed milk. The whole bookstore with its soup smell and milk screeching. Its still a thing, improperly steamed milk, and thats why the world needs inventions like the O2 Perfect Foam.

The o2 Perfect Foam, making its UK debut at the London Coffee Festival, is a Belgian-born automated milk frother. Add it to your list of things you need because you dont just buy a super-automatic espresso machine but still want all the nice things about super-automatic espresso machines.

o2 was invented by Jans Adriaens in 2014, and spent three years in development. It was released in Belgium six months ago and is now making its way around the UK and Europe.

The machine has its own proprietary steaming pitchers with RD chips fastened the the bottom. The pitcher chips communicate with the steaming brains and will automatically begin steaming based on parameters set by the user. The user can control the total frothy time, steamy time, and temperature. The machine knows when theres too little milk in the pitcher, or too much, or if the milk is frozen. MILK FREEZES SOMETIMES!

The machine joins a category of single-purpose super-automated milking machines, sidling up to the likes of UberMilk and the Juggler. Like all of these things out in the wild, theres some sound and true arguments for robotizing something to produce consistent, reliable results. Its applications for restaurants, hotels, and those gadget-lovin tech offices might make more sense than a high-end cafe. When we sent out a video on Instagram emotions ran high.

Set your steam wand to stun! A post shared by Sprudge (@sprudge) on Apr 6, 2017 at 6:39am PDT

We dont think this the nail in the coffin of the craft and artistry found in high-end cafes. This could be the beginning for decent frothing at soup cafe bookstores!

The machine is available in the UK and Belgium and priced at 3800. Check out more at the official website.

Zachary Carlsen is a co-founder and editor at Sprudge Media Network. Read more Zachary Carlsen on Sprudge.
The California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) conducted its regular meeting Thursday, April 6, at Golden Gate Fields.

Chairman Chuck Winner presided. Second Vice Chair Madeline Auerbach and Commissioners Jesse Choper and Alex Solis also were in attendance.

The audio of this entire Board meeting is available on the CHRB website (www.chrb.ca.gov) under the 'Webcast' link. In brief:

 The Board approved technical and substantive revisions to a regulatory amendment requiring that race-day authorized bleeder medication be administered by independent, third-party veterinarians. The Office of Administrative Law must approve the revisions before the new regulation goes into effect.

 Greg Avioli, president of the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC), informed the Board that the advance deposit wagering (ADW) provider TwinSpires had not yet fulfilled its contract to provide the precise locations where bets are being made in California, so the horsemens group has withdrawn its authorization for Twinspires to accept wagers from California residents on California races. He said the TOC would reinstate TwinSpires whenever they begin providing geo-location information, which three other ADW companies already are providing. The goal is to identify wagers being placed by ADW customers while they are attending the races, so that tracks and horsemen can receive a greater share of revenue from those wagers.

 The Racing, Breeding and Stabling Initiatives Committee reported on a meeting held at Golden Gate on March 23 to assess the adequacy of stabling for the current meet. Committee Chair Auerbach and member Solis both inspected the stable area and determined that stabling complies with CHRB safety requirements. They also determined there are sufficient stalls at Golden Gate to accommodate all horses on the circuit at least until May 1, at which time the authorized training facility in Pleasanton is scheduled to re-open in anticipation of the arrival of two-year-olds.

 The Board approved the license application for the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians to operate a satellite wagering facility at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula. Pechanga proposes to begin accepting horse racing wagers on May 1. Admission will be free.

 Representatives of the Square Peg Foundation gave a presentation on their adoptive riding program, which brings rescued, re-trained horses together with at-risk and special needs children and youths. Vice Chair Auerbach said she was proud to say that partial funding from the California Retirement Management Account (CARMA) has helped Square Peg expand its program and she hopes to arrange for other horse-rescue operations to make similar presentations, so that more people will become aware of the industrys proactive efforts to provide for the health and safety of horses after they complete their racing careers.

 The Board authorized the Humboldt County Fair to install a new inside rail similar to those installed at Del Mar and Santa Anita that utilize new technology for improved safety for horses and riders.

 The Board approved adjustments to the jockey riding fee scale to meet minimum-wage requirements mandated by statute. The amendment also deals with concerns cited by the Office of Administrative Law.

 The Board authorized steward panels at the various racetracks to approve the cancellation of place and/or show wagering pools if the host association is unable to contact CHRB executives for this purpose. Associations sometimes want to cancel place and/or show wagering in advance of the onset of wagering if they anticipate overwhelming support for a particular horse that would cause them to lose money on the pool.

 Executive Director Rick Baedeker reported staff accompanied Vice Chair Auerbach and Commissioner Solis on an inspection of Del Mar to determine the steps being taken to provide for the safety of horses and riders. He cited a recent news release issued by Del Mar describing their efforts.

 In his Executive Directors Report, Baedeker also announced progress in the program to implant microchips in all horses racing in California for identification and inventory purposes. And he reported that the Board is ready to launch a necropsy review program designed to provide information that could result in fewer injuries to horses.

(CHRB)
A Standardbred foal has made headlines for being saved by a nurse mare with a unique history and story of her own.

After broodmare Darla Hanover didn't survive giving birth to her Westwardho Hanover foal, Meridian Farms' Brian Andrew had to become the foal's surrogate mom for more than a week, feeding the newborn milk from a bottle. He put out a call on Facebook for a nurse mare, answered by Jasmine Bastarache and a non-Standardbred broodmare by the name of Tantum.



A 2017 foal Westwardho Hanover - Darla Hanover foal, saved by a nurse mare A 2017 foal Westwardho Hanover - Darla Hanover foal, saved by a nurse mare

"I thought this is perfect, this is Tantum's job, this is what she's here for," Bastarache told CBC.

Tantum is a 17-year-old mare recently reunited with Bastarache after years of separation. Bastarache, who operates Venture Stables in Freetown, P.E.I., lost ownership of Tantum more than a decade ago in Nova Scotia and had been searching for her since.

"I feel like this is what was supposed to happen," she said.

Andrew took a towel soaked in the Tantum's sweat, rubbed it on the foal and then introduced the orphan to the mare. Tantum welcomed the foal, and then Andrew used the milk bottle to lead the foal to nurse. The newborn started nursing within minutes.

"It was amazing, I thought we might have to do that for hours," said Andrew. "We put them in together and they bonded."

To read the full story on CBC, click here.
A number of familiar faces -- some for the first time this season -- were on the track during qualifying action on Saturday morning at Pompano Park.

After a handful of starts in January, speedster Duc Dorleans was in back in action for trainer Jacques Dupont. In rein to Wally Hennessey, the seven-year-old son of Shanghai Phil fronted the field through all fractions en route to a 1:55.1 score -- seven lengths the best, with a :28.1 closing quarter.

Owned by Quebec's Gestion C Levesque 2005 Inc. and Les Ecuries Dorleans Inc., Duc Dorleans boasts 36 lifetime wins, more than $665,000 in purses and a mark of 1:48.4 taken as a five-year-old at Mohawk Racetrack.

Another seven-year-old with an affinity for the South Florida oval is Panocchio, making his first appearance since a vet scratch in late February. Hennessey guided the son of No Pan Intended to a facile 1:56.2 victory over a pair of familiar faces from the Gregg McNair stable -- Magnum J (Kevin Wallis) and O'Brien Award finalist Solar Sister (Brandon Arsenault).

Owned by Emile Johnson Jr., of Massachusetts and trainer Jim Mattison of Pompano Beach, Panocchio has made 81 consecutive starts against open competition while competing exclusively at Pompano and Saratoga -- a streak that dates back to June 2014. He's banked more than $521,000 and picked up 52 wins for his connections while taking a mark of 1:48.3 at Pompano as a five-year-old.
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...
More than 60 businesses have benefitted from the program, which was extended through May 1 while a permanent program is in the works.
A three-year-old boy died and five others were injured after a fire ravaged a travel trailer in Longview Thursday night, according to Longview Fire Department officials.

The injured victims include a husband and wife, Geoffrey and Allie Lawhead, and their two-year-old daughter, Hazel, who escaped from the burning trailer, as well as a grandmother and a neighbor. The patients were taken by ambulance to PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center in Longview. The three-year-old, Robert Lawhead, was found dead at the scene.

Geoffrey Lawhead was still in critical condition Friday afternoon after he was taken to the Legacy Oregon Burn Center in Portland.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The Lawheads and their two children were sleeping in the trailer parked outside a residence on the 900 block of 17th Avenue, according to Longview Fire. Allie Lawhead awoke to the sound of her husband screaming and thick, black, hot smoke filling the trailer, witnesses said. The fire was near the front door, blocking the familys primary exit.

The daughter, wife and husband were able to escape through a front window, but Robert was trapped inside the trailer, said Troy Buzalsky, spokesman for Longview Fire. The neighbor and grandmother appear to have been injured while trying to help the family escape, he said.

The family was living in the trailer while trying to get back on their feet, said Cassandra Charles, who is Geoffrey Lawheads sister. Charles and her partner, Jeremiah Neuneker, live in the adjacent duplex along with the Lawheads grandmother. The two owned the trailer and were letting the Lawheads live there while Geoffrey looked for a job.

The family had only been living in the trailer for a few days.

Theyve been here. They had a hotel room for a couple weeks to start, Neuneker said. They were trying to come up with the money. They had nothing, and we were trying to let them save up money and move on their way.

The Lawheads grew up in the Rainier area and had relocated to California for a couple years before recently returning to Southwestern Washington.

Crews from Longview fire and police departments responded to the fire at 11:24 p.m. Thursday. Fire crews could see a glow in the sky and flames venting through the roof of the trailer from two blocks away, according to a fire department press release. A crowd of people greeted the firefighters, screaming that there was a young child trapped in the burning trailer.

After knocking down the main body of flames, crews conducted a primary search, but they were unable to locate the boy. A secondary search was conducted after the fire was put out. The boys body was located, and no resuscitation efforts were made, according to Buzalsky.

It was like a nightmare. It was the worst thing you could imagine, Neuneker said.

Standing out in front of his residence Friday afternoon, Neunekers hands bore wounds from his attempts to rescue the family. Each of his fingers were wrapped in bandages and the backs of his hands had fresh scrapes and burns.

I pulled them out myself physically and I went around to all the other windows, trying to get in, Neuneker said. I did what any normal person would do when somebody is in trouble, I just acted and tried to get everybody out. And unfortunately I missed the little boy. I feel so bad its just tearing me up. It was all I could do.

The trailer has been impounded for investigation. The fire also damaged a black SUV parked near the trailer.

According to the Cowlitz County Coroners office, an autopsy on the deceased boy is scheduled for Sunday at noon.

No firefighter injuries were reported. However, one firefighter did receive an electrical shock while stripping siding from the trailer.

The American Red Cross is working with the family to provide housing and other assistance. There is also a GoFundMe fundraising page, created by Charles, to help pay for additional expenses: http://bit.ly/2oLuFG1. A benefit dinner for the Lawhead family is set for 4 p.m. on April 21 at the Longview Eagles at 1526 12th Avenue, Longview.
Looking at the world through the eyes of the Web
WASHINGTON  Americas Congress is quietly becoming a European-style parliament  and the transformation isnt for the good. Congress is fanning, not defusing, conflict. Although I have written about this before, the issue is worth revisiting, because its significance is underappreciated and it helps explain the brutal bitterness of todays politics. Witness the acrimonious debate over Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch or the stalemated status of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

In a well-functioning parliamentary system, voters pick one party or several associated parties that can control the legislature and adopt the majoritys political agenda. The key is parliamentary discipline. Legislators of the ruling party are committed by custom and self-interest to vote as a bloc. If they dont, the government may fall, resulting in a new election and the possible loss of seats.

There is little freelancing. Parties are more ideological. They have a sweeping vision of governments role. Because this is so, some scholars favor parliamentary systems. Voters are offered a clear-cut choice. There is more clarity compared with, say, the traditional congressional system where philosophical coherence is diluted by regional, interest-group and religious differences.

Up to a point, all this is true. But in practice, many parliamentary systems dont operate the way the theory dictates. They have at least three interrelated weaknesses, all of which are now apparent in Washington.

First, politics becomes increasingly polarized and ideological because parties build popular support through various causes and crusades, which are advanced with great self-righteousness and emotional fervor. Those on the other side are not merely misguided. They are threatening and dangerous. Visions clash. This surely describes much of Americas present political situation. Politicians appeal to their parties partisan bases. The left is obsessed with fighting global climate change, reducing economic inequality, and promoting universal health care. The right thinks tax cuts and less regulation will spur economic growth, and some also believe that tight immigration controls will benefit todays Americans.

Second, because each party is focused on its own issues, parliamentary democracy may produce dramatic shifts in policy if one party supplants the other in a general election. So? Elections have consequences. True. But theres a danger that the changes wont reflect public opinion; instead, theyll reflect party views  and minority opinion.

This, too, describes U.S. politics. Government policy is unstable. Backed by an approval rating of roughly 40 percent, President Trump has proposed radical changes in trade, immigration, government spending and taxes. When theres a broad consensus about governments role  and proposed changes exist mostly on the fringes  parliamentary government need not encourage social division. But that is not the case now.

Finally, parliamentary democracy risks producing weak coalitions that cant govern at all, because no party commands a working majority. In these circumstances, small parties hold the balance of power, and they may demand a high political price for participating in a governing coalition. In this sense, parliamentary systems can be biased in favor of fringe parties and ideas. Italy, with its many parties, is an apt example of ungovernability.

Again, this applies to our current situation, though thats not immediately obvious. Superficially, the Republicans have congressional majorities as well as the White House. But appearances are deceiving. Although we lack hordes of small parties, we do have many caucuses, on both right and left, that play a similar role. On the right, we have the House Freedom Caucus; on the left, we have the House Progressive Caucus. They can leverage their support, as the Freedom Caucus is now doing with Obamacare.

A parliamentary system works best when there is general agreement about the role of government; when voting discipline is followed slavishly by its legislators; and when minority parties or their substitutes dont exert undue influence. None of these conditions exists in the United States today.

We should not be surprised that there is confusion and paralysis. For decades, the United States governed itself by a system that favored centrist consensus  not always wise, to be sure  whereas our invisible parliamentary system does just the opposite. It empowers the fringes and weakens the center. True, most of our major social and political conflicts have independent origins. But parliamentary politics is making them worse.
Russian response to strike disappointing, unsurprising: Tillerson

Russia response to the strikes indicates continued support for Assad regime said Tillerson.

AFP, United States :

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson expressed disappointment Friday at Russia's hostile reaction to missile strikes against Syria, but said Moscow's trenchant support for the regime was unsurprising. "I'm disappointed in that response from the Russians because it indicates their continued support for the Assad regime," said Tillerson, who is expected to make a difficult trip to Moscow next week. "In particular," he said, the response showed the Kremlin's "continued support for a regime that carries out these kinds of horrendous attacks on their own people."

"I find it very disappointing but sadly I have to tell you not all that surprising," Tillerson added.

Tillerson, in Florida to attend a summit between Trump and China's Xi Jinping, is due in Moscow next week for talks with President Vladimir Putin.

In Washington, a senior US official said Syria may have had help carrying out the alleged chemical attack, but stopped short of accusing Russia of complicity.

"We are carefully assessing any information that would implicate the Russians knew or assisted with this capability," he said.

The day also saw US Ambassador to UN Nikki Haley delivering a warning that the attack was only first in many more to come. She was speaking at an emergency session of the UN Security Council called after the US strikes, which were launched to punish an alleged chemical weapons attack by Bashar al-Assad's regime.

"The United States took a very measured step last night," Haley told the council. "We are prepared to do more, but we hope it will not be necessary."

Fired from the USS Porter and the USS Ross, the cruise missiles targeted radars, aircraft, air defense systems and other logistical components.

The Syrian Observatory said the US strike on the base killed eight Syrian military staff, including an army doctor. Syria's army had earlier said six people were killed in the strike, without specifying if they were military personnel or civilians.
2 to walk gallows for murder in Sylhet

UNB, Sylhet :

A court here on Wednesday sentenced two people to death each for killing laundry shop employee Sohel in South Surma upazila in 2011.

The convicts are Kajal, 23, son of Abdul Mannan of Bangaon village in Sadar upazila, and Imam Uddin, 22, son of Islam Uddin of the same village.

The court fined the convicts Tk 10,000 each, and it also acquitted seven other accused as the allegation brought against them was not proved.

According to the prosecution, Islam and Kajal took Sohel to Dhalua haor of Bangaon village from his shop on the night of April 17, 2011 and strangulated him to death there.

Later, the victim's father Joynal Abedin filed a case against 11 people, including Islam and Kajal, with Kotwali Police Station.

Police submitted a charge-sheet against the 11 accused to a court on June 26, 2011.

After examining witnesses and documents, Judge of Special Session Judge's court M Mafizur Rahman Bhuiyan handed down the verdict.
RANGPUR: Dr Mozammel Hossain, Divisional Director (Health) addressing a discussion meeting in observance of the World Health Day as Chief Guest on Friday.
BETAGI (Barguna): Alhaj A B M Golum Kabir, Mayor, Betagi Pourashava visiting construction works of Fire Service and Civil Defense Station at Betagi Upazila on Thursday.
A special learning journey cut short

Charity Chimungu Phiri :

When building a house, it's critical to lay a strong foundation. The same applies to education, with studies showing that children who attend early learning centers perform better in school than those who do not.

In Malawi, a 2003 national survey found that only 18.8 percent of school-age children with disabilities were attending class. More than twice as many of the same age group without disabilities (41.1 percent) attended school. This was mainly attributed to the lack of a disability-friendly environment.

"Since many children come from poor families, parents are often faced with the dilemma of choosing which child to send to secondary school, bearing in mind that the one with difficulties needs special care."-teacher Miriam Chimtengo

More parents are now sending their young ones to such special preschools, some as little as two years old. This kind of early intervention is especially critical for children with learning disabilities such as autism.

Most autistic children are diagnosed late in Malawi due to the lack of specialist doctors and caregivers, but also failure by their parents, guardians and teachers to recognize that the child has learning difficulties.

James Botolo* lives in one of the suburbs of Blantyre and has a 10-year-old autistic son named Chikondi*.

"For so long, we never could figure out what was wrong with our son. Of course he didn't like to play with his siblings at home and times he could talk to himself but we never thought it was anything. But what mainly bothered us was that he never did well in school, so we kept moving him from one private school to another. One day I met someone who alerted me that my son could have a learning problem," he said.

Autistic children often lack socialization skills, are hyperactive, struggle to pay attention and sometimes react to things by crying or hurting themselves.

Chikondi is now in standard two at the St. Pius X Resource Centre, a school for children with physical and developmental disabilities such as cerebral palsy, autism, dyslexia, epilepsy, hearing impairment, and blindness.

Currently in Malawi, there are over 40 resource learning centers for children with various disabilities.

Miriam Chimtengo, 41, is a specialist teacher at St. Pius X, where she teaches a class of about 27 students (16 full time).

Chimtengo, who holds a diploma in Special Needs Education, told IPS that there are major gaps in the social support system for the families of children with learning challenges.

"Even though we're laying this good foundation for the children, for most of them their education does not go further. The parents bring the children to us here at primary school where they will start noticing the changes, but after the child finishes standard 8, they just keep them at homeso all this work at the grassroots level is not sustained."

According to Chimtengo, there are limited resources for a child with learning difficulties to further their education.

"Since many children come from poor families, parents are often faced with the dilemma of choosing which child to send to secondary school, bearing in mind that the one with difficulties needs special care, special learning materials, full supervision and assistance, which might be hard to provide," she said.

"Some parents also believe they can better take care of their child alone at home than at school where they will not be around to protect their child."

Chimtengo said that those with physical disabilities such as visual impairments, deafness and limited limb mobility are more likely to go further in school than children with mental/emotional issues such as autism.

The other contributing factor is that there are no free services for poor families who wish to send their mentally challenged children to behavioral therapy. Only physiotherapy is free in government hospitals and at SOS Villages.

"For example, here in my class I have children whom upon assessment we recommended that they go for therapy, but only those parents who are financially better off have put up their kids in therapywe have been lobbying with the government to make links with such specialists so that they are available for all children regardless of their financial standing,"

This scenario automatically puts a child with a learning disability at a disadvantage to later further their education or secure a job.

There are limited spaces offered to youth with disabilities in national vocational training schools in Malawi. They only take in a certain number, which is far below the actual population in need.

In other private vocational training facilities, the prerequisite for entry is a Malawi School Certificate of Education-MSCE (equivalent to a high school diploma), which many children with mental disabilities find hard to earn.

The Living Conditions study of 2013 found that many youths with various disabilities were frustrated with the large gap in the provision of vocational training services, as well as some other services such as welfare, assistive devices and counseling.

In 2015, the government launched a program called Community Technical Colleges aimed at helping poor children, including those with disabilities and lacking high school diplomas, gain access to tertiary education.

International experts on autism advise parents with learning difficulties to take a leading role to ensure that their child secures some form of employment.

The website Autism Speaks says it is important to encourage the child to network at community and family events to meet potential employers.

"Encourage your son or daughter to think about their hopes, dreams, interests and strengths as a way to start planning for employment. One of the most valuable resources for adults with autism is peer support and mentoring."

The other challenge in educating children with special needs in Malawi is lack of specialists both in the education and health sectors. For the whole of the commercial capital Blantyre, there is only one neurological doctor who sees patients twice a week at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital.

There are many special education teachers, but are scattered across the country.

"Literature says that one special needs teacher should attend to five kids. But because of the increase of children, we're teaching more than that. This is challenging because different disabilities have different needs," said Chimtengo, the special needs teacher at St Pius X.

"It means in one lesson I should try to capture all the needs of every student, which takes a lot of time and effort. Our colleagues in the normal classes teach a class, but for us we teach individuals who need to be taught the things repetitively. We call it repetition and drilling," she said.

- IPS
BD-India ties reach rare height: Tofail

BSS, Bhola :

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said here on Saturday the reception to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina by the Indian premier at the airport breaching protocol has proved that the relations between Bangladesh and India reached a rare height.

"The Indian Prime Minister was not supposed to come to the airport. But he came to the airport and received Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The relations between Bangladesh and India have reached a rare height," he said speaking as chief guest at the triennial council of Shibpur Union Awami League.

"We got the proper share of the Ganga River water from India and the Land Boundary agreement has been implemented for the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina although Khaleda Zia had forgotten to talk about Ganga water sharing issue when she visited India as the Prime Minister," the minister said.

"BNP is now taking against India as usual. But on the other hand, it always takes stand with India whenever it remains in power," he added.

Tofail, also an Advisory Council Member of the ruling AL, called upon all to take preparations for the next general election and make all-out efforts to make people realize that the development of Bangladesh happen only whenever Sheikh Hasina remains in power.

He hoped Sheikh that Hasina would return to power through the next general polls as the overall economy, particularly the rural economy, has reached such a vibrant position that the world considered the Bangladesh economy as a role model.
`All bilateral issues with India to be resolved`

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Saturday said all outstanding bilateral issues with India, including the Teesta agreement, would be resolved maintaining friendly relations with the neighbouring country.

"We have to realize our dues maintaining friendly relations," he said while speaking as chief guest at the triennial conference of Bangladesh Hindu, Bouddha, Christian Oikkyo Praishad at Institute of Engineers auditorium in the city.

The conference was chaired by Parishad President and lawmaker Ushatan Talukder while it was addressed, among others, by Parishad Presidium Members Kajol Debnath and Hubart Gomej, Vice-President Nim Chandra Bhoumik, General Secretary Advocate Rana Das Gupta, leaders Monirindra Kumar Nath, Joyonto Kumar Deb, Taposh Kumar Paul, Nirmol Kumar and Sagor Halder.
Students urged to make use of Govt-sponsored ICT facilities

Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith speaking at a freshers\' reception of Jahangirnagar University (JU) in Jahir Raihan Auditorium of the university on Saturday.

JU Correspondent :

Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith on Saturday called upon the students to develop themselves properly, availing of the government-sponsored ICT facilities in universities, to face the challenges of the current century.

"The government has undertaken various steps to turn Bangladesh into a digital country. So, you have to make the best use of the digital devices for facing the challenges of the current century," he said this while speaking as the chief guest at a freshers reception at Jahanhgirnagar University (JU).

Held at JU Jahir Raihan Auditorium, the function was chaired by JU Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Farzana Islam while Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) Professor Dr M Kaikobad spoke as the special guest.

Highlighting the government's successes in different sectors, the minister said, "The power generation capacity has increased to 13,260 megawatt. And more than 5 crore people upgraded to middle class from lower class during the tenure of this government".

Muhith said the government has achieved a remarkable success in resolving the maritime boundary disputes with Myanmar and India.

The per capita income has increased to US dollar 1,314 and the volume of current foreign reserve is 25 billion dollar, he said adding that the world witnessed an amazing success in gender parity, women empowerment and in fall in child and maternity mortality rates in Bangladesh.

The minister urged the students to be aware about those, who want to interrupt the country's development activities.

In the function, JU Registrar Abu Bakar Siddique placed the students to the deans of six faculties and directors of two institutes while the deans of the faculties and directors of the institutes received their respective students.

JU VC Professor Farzana Islam administered an oath to the freshers and urged them to be equipped with the light wisdom.

Pro-VC Professor Dr Abul Hossain, Treasurer Professor Dr Abul Khair, Student Welfare and Counseling Center Director Professor Dr. Rasheda Akhter and Proctor Professor Dr Tapan Kumar Shaha also addressed the function, among others.
Awarding power contracts to Indian Cos without bidding

STATE-RUN Power Development Board is set to buy power from two Indian private companies at prices higher than those charged by local companies which won the deals through competitive biddings. The Power Board, being directed by the government, awarded two contracts without competitive bidding to Adani Power (Jharkhand) Ltd for purchasing electricity from a 1,600MW coal-fired power plant and to Reliance Bangladesh LNG & Power Ltd for purchasing electricity from a 750MW gas-fired power plant, as per reports of a local daily.



They estimate that the Power Board will pay approximately $1.76 billion extra for awarding the contracts under the Speedy Supply of Power and Energy (Special Provisions) Act 2010 that indemnifies officials concerned against prosecution for making such decisions. The Power Board is expected to initial the two contracts with Adani and Reliance respectively soon.



In a move to award the contracts to the companies without tenders, the Power Board signed two memorandums with the companies on June 6, 2015, the day Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Dhaka on a two-day visit, said officials. No Indian firm has so far won a competitive bidding for supplying electricity in Bangladesh. Energy Adviser to the Consumers Association of Bangladesh, also an Electrical Engineer, said that the contracts had no technical basis in the sense that the prices of electricity were settled bypassing tenders.



Such a decision to award contracts without competitive bidding is in itself a violation of the technical basis for awarding contracts by bypassing tenders. As such, it is an anti-competitive and anti-people action. The extra USD 1.76 billion means that an extra 14000 crore takas has to be paid over the lifetime of the contract to the firms, meaning that the consumers will have to pay this extra amount as the government will not be paying this.

The only good things is that the land on which the Adani plant will be built in will not be in Bangladesh, as our land is much more scarce. Also the pollution that comes from the plant will not be harming Bangladesh. While the costs are lower than the furnace oil plants and fuel oil plants there was no reason to not go for a competitive bidding process to give the awards.



It would seem to many that the awards were given hastily and without a consideration for the best interests of the country's consumers in mind. Allegations of corruption may shadow the deal, as no genuine reason can be shown for doing this. Making our neighbouring country's big firms happy at the expense of our domestic consumers should not be the motive for making any deal.
2 drug peddlers shot dead

Jhenaidah Correspondent :

Bullet-hit bodies of two young men were recovered from a remote village of Jhenaidah Sadar upazila on Saturday morning. The deceased were identified as Manik, 23, son of Korban Ali, and Mafizur Rahman, 24, son of Abdul Mazid from Beparipara of Jhenaidah municipal town.

Additional Police Superintendent of Jhenaidah Azbahar Ali Sheikh said that they recovered the bodies from a paddy field in Tetulbaria village under Naldanga union, about 14 kilometres from Jhenaidah district town. The police seized a packet of about 400 pieces of Yaba tablets near the bodies.

Both the deceased were involved in drug peddling in the locality for a couple of years. Manik was wanted in six cases, while Mafiz in two drug-related cases with Jhenaidah Sadar police station. Internal conflict among the drug vendors over the contra banned drug trading might lead the killing incident, the Police Addl. Superintendent said.

The bodies were sent to Jhenaidah General Hospital morgue for post mortem examination. Filing of the case is under process.
UK FS calls off Moscow visit over Syria



The foreign secretary has called off a visit to Moscow in the wake of the Syrian chemical weapons attack.

Boris Johnson, who was set to travel on Monday, said the situation had changed "fundamentally" and his priority was to continue contact with the US to provide international support for a ceasefire.

He said the UK called on Russia to do everything possible to bring about a "political settlement in Syria".

"We deplore Russia's continued defence of the Assad regime," he added.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will visit Moscow as planned after the G7 meeting on 10-11 April.

Mr Johnson said he was working to bring together other "like-minded partners" to "explore next steps soon".

Mr Tillerson would be able to deliver a "clear and co-ordinated message to the Russians" after the meeting between the world's leading seven industrialised nations, he said.

He called on Russia to work with the rest of the international community to "ensure the shocking events of the last week are never repeated".

Eighty-nine people, including 33 children and 18 women, died in a suspected nerve agent attack in the Syrian, rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun on Tuesday. The figures come from Idlib's opposition-run health authority.

The country's government denies using nerve gas. On Friday, the US carried out missile strikes on a Syrian air base it says is suspected of storing chemical weapons. At least six people are reported to have died.

In response, Syria's ally Russia accused the US of encouraging "terrorists" with unilateral actions.

Moscow has further promised to strengthen Syria's anti-aircraft defences and it is shutting down a hotline with the US designed to avoid collisions between their air forces over the country.

Mr Johnson's visit, for talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, would have been the first visit by a UK foreign secretary in more than five years. Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said the cancellation meant Boris had "revealed himself to be a poodle of Washington, having his diary managed from across the pond."

He added: "It is pretty shameful when even Trump judges you to be a buffoon." The government was "quick to blindly follow every order from the Trump White House", he said.


Police seek neo-JMB ban

Staff Reporter :

Police have suggested the government to ban the militant group neo-Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (neo-JMB) in view of the notorious attacking plans and busting of different hideouts in city and several districts in recent months.

They have already sent a formal request to the home ministry based on the report of the Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit, Intelligence sources said.

Assistant Inspector General (AIG-confidential) of the Police Headquarters M Moniruzzaman said that the CTTC unit sent the prayer to Home Ministry to ban the outlaw the group.

The ministry is now considering the proposal to ban the breakaway faction of the infamous new-JMB, the police official said. In the last nine months, at least 37 members of the group including Tamim and Marjan were killed in raids and its alleged operations chief Major (sacked) Syed Ziaul Haque and spiritual leader Tamim al-Adnani have remained traceless, they said.

According to Police Headquerters, Canadian citizen Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury played the leading role in forming the new-JMB group after he came back to Bangladesh from Syria in late 2013. He first tried to form an umbrella group of militant outfits and launched attacks in September in 2015. Middle East based terrorist group Islamic State took credit for 29 of the attacks, including the Gulshan cafe massacre.

The CTTC unit Chief Monirul Islam said that they have made it difficult for the neo-JMB to recruit new members.

In a query, the CTTC chief said that nowadays none showed interest to involve with the banned organization.

Earlier, the government banned Ansar al-Islam on March 5, Ansarullah Bangla Team on May 25, 2015 and Hizb-ut Tahrir on October 22, 2009, Harkat-ul Jihad al-Islami (Huji) on October 17, 2005, the Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) on February 23, 2005, and Shahadat-e-al Hikma on February 9, 2003.


Robbers loot Tk 20 lakh from JB in Laxmipur

UNB, Laxmipur :

Robbers looted Tk 20.47 lakh from the Ramganj branch of Janata Bank in Ramganj upazila early Saturday.

Emran Hossain Patwari, manager of the branch, said a gang of robbers entered the bank around 3am and looted the money breaking the vault.

They also beat up a night guard, Mobarak Hossain, as he tried to resist them.

On Saturday morning, another guard Shahjahan found Mobarak lying unconscious on the bank floor and informed the bank officials. Later, Mobarak was taken to Ramganj upazila health complex. ASM Mahatab Uddin, superintendent of police, said investigation was underway.




PDB set to buy power from 2 Indian firms

Anisul Islam Noor :

Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) is set to purchase electricity from two Indian private power plants under special provisions that indemnifies officials concerned against prosecution for making such decisions.

As per the decision, BPDB will have to pay approximately US$1.76 billion extra for awarding the contracts under the Speedy Supply of Power and Energy Act 2010, official sources said. Adani Power (Jharkhand) Ltd will realize 0.4023 US cent extra against each unit of electricity to be supplied from its power plant as capacity charge. It means Adani will earn additional US$1.18 billion extra in the 25 years' capacity charge that is the highest in Bangladesh.

BPDB has awarded two contracts without competitive bidding to Adani Power (Jharkhand) Ltd for purchasing electricity from a 1,600MW coal-fired power plant and Reliance Bangladesh LNG & Power Ltd for purchasing electricity from a 750MW gas-fired power plant, the officials said.

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said, "We have finalised the two contracts and they are ready for seeking approval from the cabinet committee on the government purchase."

In a move to award the contracts to the two companies without tender, the BPDB signed two memorandums with the companies on June 6, 2015, the day Indian prime minister Narendra Modi arrived in Dhaka on a two-day visit, said the officials.

No Indian firm has so far won a competitive bidding for supplying electricity in Bangladesh, they added.

Energy adviser to the Consumers Association of Bangladesh M Shamsul Alam, also an electrical engineer, said that the contracts had no technical basis in the sense that the prices of electricity were settled bypassing tenders.

'The government will not bear any liability of the expensive electricity as the extra charge will be realised from the consumers,' he explained, observing that the decision was completely anti-people and it curbed consumers' rights.

Adani would set up its power plant in Jharkhand in India to export electricity to Bangladesh for 25 years while Reliance would set up its power plant at Meghnaghat in Narayanganj to sell electricity to the power board for 20 years, they said.

According to the draft contract, Adani would receive 3.8 US cents in capacity charge against each kilowatt-hour of electricity to be generated from its 1,600MW power plant.

But, the power board would pay a local private company less than 3.4 US cents in capacity charge against each unit of electricity supplied from the company's coal-fired power plant to be set up in Chittagong, they said, adding that the contract was awarded through competitive bidding.

During the final negotiations, held on March 15 this year, Adani representatives, however, had argued that there were additional costs involved in the tariff at which it would sell the produce to the power board, according to a report prepared by a committee for processing the proposal of power import from the Adani's plant.

Similarly, Reliance would receive 2.05 US cents in capacity charge against each kilowatt-hour or unit of electricity to be generated from its 750MW power plant, according to the draft contract.

But, the power board pays a local private company 1.52 US cents in capacity charge against each unit of electricity supplied from the company's 450MW combined cycle gas-fired power plant, said the officials.

The Reliance would realise 0.52 US cent extra against each unit of electricity to be supplied from its power plant, which means, the higher capacity charge would help the company earn a total of $581 million extra revenue in the 20 years' contract period.
BD, India sign 22 deals, MoUs

Teesta deal not now: Modi assures of early solution: Defence coop among MoUs

News Desk :

Dhaka and Delhi on Saturday inked 22 deals on diverse areas of cooperation following the official bilateral talks between Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi, according to agencies.



The much-talked about crucial Teesta water-sharing agreement will not be signed this time as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee opposes it.



The Teesta is one of the cross-boundary rivers between Bangladesh and India, but the Teesta issue was left out of the agenda. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is now on a four-day State visit in India at the invitation of her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.



Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had prepared the latest draft of the Teesta Agreement during a State visit to Dhaka. It divides the waters of the Teesta equally between Bangladesh and India.



Teesta originates in Sikkim and flows through West Bengal into Bangladesh. In 2011, Dr Singh was preparing to sign the treaty during a trip to Dhaka, but at the last minute, Mamata stepped back stating that the terms were damaging for her state.



However, Narendra Modi on Saturday acknowledged the Teesta issue to have drawn "greatest attention" with regard to bilateral relations and expressed his "firm belief" that it would find an early solution.



"I firmly believe that it is only my government and Excellency Sheikh Hasina, your government, that can and will find an early solution to Teesta water sharing," Modi said in a statement after talks with her visiting Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina.



He added: "Along with our shared land boundaries are our shared rivers. They sustain our peoples and their livelihoods. And, the one that has attracted the greatest attention is the Teesta."



The Indian Premier described Teesta as an important factor for India, for Bangladesh and for India-Bangladesh relationship" while referring to the stake of India's West Bengal state in the matter.



"I know that her (Mamata's) feelings for Bangladesh are as warm as my own . . . I assure you and the people of Bangladesh of our commitment and continuing efforts," he said. The 22 instruments Dhaka and New Delhi signed on Saturday covered diverse areas of bilateral cooperations including economic, defense cooperation, power, peaceful use of nuclear energy, outer space, information technology and mass media.



The two Prime Ministers witnessed the signing ceremony of documents after their talks at Hyderabad House, Indian Prime Minister's Office.



Four Memoranda of Understanding (MoU), out of the 22 documents, were exchanged in presence of the two Prime Ministers ahead of their joint press briefing following the bilateral talks.



Two Prime Ministers along with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee flagged off new passenger bus services for Khulna-Kolkata route, trial run of Khulna-Kolkata Second Maitree Express and re-opening of Birol-Radhikapur rail route for freight.



The four MoUs which were exchanged in presence of the two Prime Ministers are on bilateral judicial sector cooperation, extending 3rd Line of Credit by India to Bangladesh, cooperation of peaceful use of outer space and passenger and cruise services on the coastal and protocol routes.



Law Minister Anisul Haq and Indian Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj signed the MoU on bilateral judicial sector cooperation. The MoU on extending 3rd Line of Credit by India to Bangladesh was signed by ERD Secretary Kazi Shafiul Haque and Indian External Affairs Secretary Dr S Jaysankar. The MoU on cooperation of peaceful use of outer space was signed by BTRC Chairman Dr Shahjahan Mahmood and A. S. Kiran Kumar, Secretary of the Department of Space, India.



The MoU on passenger and cruise services on the coastal and protocol route was signed by Shipping Secretaries of both the countries. The other documents are - MoU on Defence Cooperation Framework between the Governments of India and Bangladesh, MoU between Defence Services Staff College, Wellington (Nilgiris), Tamil Nadu, India and Defence Services Command and Staff College, Mirpur, Dhaka, Bangaldesh for enhancing cooperation in the field of strategic and operational studies.



One of the MoUs were signed between National Defence College, Dhaka, Bangladesh and National Defence College, New Delhi, India for enhancing cooperation in the field of national security, development and strategic studies.



The two countries signed an agreement on cooperation in peaceful uses of nuclear energy.



An agreement was signed between India's Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) and Bangladesh's Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (BAERA) for the Exchange of Technical Information and Co-operation in the Regulation of Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection.



Another agreement was signed with officials calling it Inter-Agency Agreement between Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP), Department of Atomic Energy of India and Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) on cooperation regarding nuclear power plant projects in Bangladesh.



Of the rest of the deals there were MoU between the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) of India and Information and Communication Technology Division of Bangladesh on co-operation in the field of Information Technology and Electronics; MoU between the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) of India and Bangladesh Government Computer Incident Response Team (BGD e-Gov CIRT); Bangladesh Computer Council of Information and Communication Technology division, Ministry of Post, Telecommunication and IT On Cooperation in the area of cyber security.



The two sides inked a MoU between the Government of India and the Government of Bangladesh on Establishing Border Haats across the border between India and Bangladesh. A MoU was also signed between the National Judicial Academy, India and the Supreme Court of Bangladesh on Training and Capacity Building Programme for Bangladeshi Judicial Officers in India.



Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships (DGLL), Ministry of Shipping of India and the Department of Shipping of Bangladesh signed a MoU on cooperation on aids to navigation.



Geological Survey of India (GSI) and Geological Survey of Bangladesh (GSB) signed a MoU on mutual scientific cooperation in the field of earth sciences for research and development.



The two sides signed a MoU on development of fairway from Sirajganj to Daikhowa and Ashuganj to Zakiganj on Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route.



The rest of the deals were MoU on cooperation in the field of mass media; agreement on audio-visual co-production; MoU on extending Defence LOC of US$ 500 million; agreement for the Regulation of Motor Vehicle Passenger Traffic (Khulna-Kolkata route) and SOP of the Agreement; MoU for Extending a 3rd Line of Credit (LoC); agreement for the construction of 36 community clinics in Bangladesh.



Ministers and High Officials of both the governments were present during the signing of the agreements and MoUs.


13 killed in road accidents

Staff Reporter :

At least 13 people were killed and 40 others injured in separate road accidents in Mymensingh, Faridpur and Gopalganj districts on Friday night and Saturday morning.

The injured persons were admitted to different hospitals for treatment and the bodies were kept in the hospitals for autopsy.

In Mymensingh, three persons were killed and 12 others injured in separate road accidents on Saturday morning.

Of them, three died and two others injured in a collision between a bus and a pick-up van at Bhaitkandi under Phulpur upazila.

The deceased were identified as Hridoy, 25, Shahid, 30, and Idris, 35.

Officer-in-charge of Phulpur Police Station Ali Ahmed Mollah said the injured were shifted to Mymensingh Medical College and Hospital for better treatment.

Two youths died and 10 others were injured when a bus overturned on Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway at Hazirbazar under Bhaluka upazila at 8am on Saturday.

Officer-in-Charge of Bhaluka Police Station Mamun-or-Rashid said that a bus turned turtle on the highway as its driver lost control over the steering, leaving two passengers Ripon, 22, and Rasel, 25, dead on the spot and 10 others injured.

In Faridpur, three persons met death and eight others were injured in a collision between two buses on Dhaka-Magura Highway at Nowapara of Madhukhali upazila on Saturday morning.

Ruhul Amin, Officer-in-Charge of Madhukhali Police Station, said that the collision between a bus of Sohag Paribahan and another of Royal Paribahan took place around 9:00am, leaving Ayon, a passenger, dead on the spot while two others died in the hospital.

The injured were taken to Faridpur Medical College and Hospital.

In Gopalganj, three persons were killed and 20 others injured as a truck overturned at Gangarampur in Muksudpur upazila on Friday night.

A Bhola-bound fry-laden truck from Barisal overturned around 10:30pm after the truck driver lost its control over the steering, leaving Dulal Bepari, 50, and Gias Uddin, 28, from Bhola, dead on the spot.

The injured were taken to Rajoir Upazila Health Complex in Madaripur where physicians declared Billal Gazi, 32, dead.
Hasina, Modi flag off Khulna-Kolkata train service

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was given a guard of honour at the Rastrapati Bhaban with the official reception hosted by her Counterpart Narendra Modi on the second day of her visit on Saturday.

UNB, Dhaka :

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi flagged off a new train service on Khulna-Kolkata on Saturday.

The two prime ministers inaugurated the train, 'Maitree Express-2' through a videoconferencing from New Delhi around 2:15pm. The train carrying 38 passengers started its journey from Khulna Railway Station at 8:10am and reached Benapole Station at 11am, said its station master Aminul Islam.

The flag-off ceremony took place at Benapole

Station where Bangladesh Railways Minister Mazibul Hoque, State Minister for Public Administration Ismat Ara Sadique, State Minister Fisheries and Livestock Narayon Chandra Chanda were, among others, present on the occasion. Later, the new passenger train left Bangladesh for Kolkata after the inauguration. Nearly nine years back, on April 14, 2008, the first passenger train service between Dhaka and Kolkata-Maitree Express-was launched. There had been no train service between the two nations since 1965.


India supports BD's call for Genocide Day

bdnews24.com :

Bangladesh has received India's support in its effort to obtain international recognition of the 'Genocide of 1971'. "India agreed to support us," Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said. "We sought support of India in our efforts for recognition of 'Genocide of 1971' by the international community".

The prime minister made a press statement alongside her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi after their bilateral talks in New Delhi on Saturday.

For the first time this year, Bangladesh nationally observed Mar 25 as 'Genocide Day' commemorating those killed by the Pakistani occupation forces on that night in 1971.

Bangladesh is also lobbying with the United Nations for the global recognition of the day.

On the night of Mar 25 in 1971, the Pakistan army launched 'Operation Searchlight', a brutal and

barbaric military assault on an unsuspecting population to crush the Bengali movement for rights and justice that had turned into a fight for freedom in the face of persistent denials.

After nine months of the bloody war, Bangladesh emerged as an independent nation on the world map on Dec 16. Over three million people were killed and a quarter of a million women and young girls were dishonoured.

Indian soldiers also laid down their lives while fighting for Bangladesh in the war against Pakistan.

Both leaders recalled the 1971 for which Hasina said "we are deeply grateful" to India.

She also honoured the martyrs of Indian Armed Forces who lost their lives.

Modi reciprocated the honour and said the decision to honour Indian soldiers has "deeply touched the people of India". India forged its ties with Bangladesh in "blood & kinship", Modi said.


Courtesy Lisa Thompson(ROY, Utah) -- Firefighters and police officers in Roy, Utah, donated cash and gifts cards from their own pockets to a boy who watched his familys home go up in flames on his birthday.



Tyten Sparks had just finished a special breakfast Wednesday and was preparing to go on an adventure for his 10th birthday with his mom and brother when he heard a rumbling noise in the garage of his familys Roy home.



When Tyten felt heat outside the garage door, he quickly ran upstairs to alert his mom, Jacque Sparks.



The fact that he felt the door and came to me right away is what saved our lives, said Sparks, who ran out of the house with Tyten, her younger son, Knixus, 6, and the familys pets. All the damage to the house was done in about five minutes.



Fire officials believe a malfunctioning motor in a refrigerator in the familys garage caused the fire that damaged nearly the Sparks entire home and made it uninhabitable.



Along with their car, clothes, furniture and personal belongings, the family also lost all of Tytens birthday presents and the $36 Tyten had saved for an upcoming trip to Disneyland with his grandparents.



They were pretty distraught, Roy fire chief Jason Poulsen told ABC News. After talking with the mom to find out what happened with the fire, she told us it was Tytens birthday and all of his gifts were inside.



Poulsen reached out to the local police chief, whose officers also responded to the fire at the Sparks home, to see what they could do to help Tyten. The officials credited the quick actions of Tyten, who had received fire training at school, with saving the lives of his mom and brother.



The fire chief brought it up and the minute we put it forth to the officers they were all for it, police chief Carl Marino told ABC News. These are pretty amazing officers and Im lucky to be the chief of this group.



The police officers joined local firefighters in donating cash and gift cards. The Roy Fire Association also donated $100, according to Poulsen.



On Thursday, a group of firefighters and police officers reunited with the Sparks family at their home to surprise Tyten and his brother with the gifts.



It made him so happy, Sparks said of Tyten, who received the cash and gift cards in a special jar. And they added some extra stuff for my youngest son so he wasnt feeling left outthe generosity has been absolutely amazing.



The police officers and firefighters gave the brothers more than $250 in cash, Target and Toys R Us gift cards and a $100 grocery store gift card for the family, Sparks said.



The message from the firefighters to Tyten was, Good job taking care of your family. You did exactly what you were supposed to do, according to Poulsen.



Hes kind of a shy kid so some of this attention is kind of overwhelming for him but at the same time it gets the story out to other kids that you can do this too if youre faced with adversity, Poulsen said.



The Sparks family, including the boys father, Skyler Sparks, is now living with family members as they wait to move into a rental home. They plan to rebuild their home and say they are thankful for what they still have.



Our house can be rebuilt but family cant be replaced, Jacque Sparks said.

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Business / Economy

by Staff reporter

Cape Town - Fitch Ratings downgraded South Africa's unsecured foreign-currency and local-currency bonds to non-investment grade - commonly known as junk status - on Friday.It is the second rating agency to downgrade South Africa to junk status, meaning certain international investors will have to pull their investment from South Africa or else they will be in breach of their portfolio mandates. It takes two rating agencies to make a country officially junk status for these rules to kick in.Standard & Poor's (S&P) downgraded South Africa to BB+ (junk status) on Monday evening, following President Jacob Zuma's reshuffle last Thursday, which saw the removal of Pravin Gordhan as finance minister.While S&P's outlook was negative, Fitch retained the outlook at stable. The other rating agency - Moody's - has South Africa two notches above junk status but put the nation's sovereign rating on downgrade review this week."In Fitch's view, the cabinet reshuffle, which involved the replacement of the finance minister, Pravin Gordhan, and the deputy finance minister, Mcebisi Jonas, is likely to result in a change in the direction of economic policy," it said in a statement on Friday."The reshuffle partly reflected efforts by the out-going finance minister to improve the governance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The reshuffle is likely to undermine, if not reverse, progress in SOE governance, raising the risk that SOE debt could migrate onto the government's balance sheet."Differences over the country's expensive nuclear programme preceded the dismissal of a previous finance minister, Nhlanhla Nene, in December 2015 and in Fitch's view may have also contributed to the decision for the recent reshuffle. Under the new cabinet, including a new energy minister, the programme is likely to move relatively quickly."Deb service costs to riseTreasury director general Lungisa Fuzile explained this week that when two rating agencies downgrade South Africa to junk status, then 10% of South Africa's bond holders, who are part of the foreign currency denominated component, would have to sell their bonds as part of their portfolio mandate. Not selling could make them technically in breach of their mandate."They are given a certain amount of time  to sell the South African bonds that they are holding in their portfolio," he said. "That triggers a rise in the yield, which means the debt service cost associated with those instruments rise."Nuclear build programme worries FitchAdding to Fitch's reasons for the downgrade was South Africa's nuclear programme.Fitch said that Eskom "has already issued a request for information for nuclear suppliers and is expected to issue a request for proposals for nuclear power stations later this year."The treasury under its previous leadership had said that Eskom could not absorb the nuclear programme with its current approved guarantees, so the treasury will likely have to substantially increase guarantees to Eskom."This would increase contingent liabilities, which are already sizeable. According to the 2017/18 budget, the government's guarantee exposure to public institutions was ZAR308.3 billion at end-March 2017, up from ZAR255.8 billion a year earlier."The main SOEs had additional liabilities of ZAR463 billion in 2016 with no explicit guarantee but with a significant probability that the government would step in should SOEs be unable to service the debt. The government has repeatedly needed to support SOEs, including Eskom, which is responsible for a large share of liabilities."Upward pressure on general government debt"The new finance minister has stated that he does not intend to change fiscal policy and remains committed to expenditure ceilings that have been a pillar of fiscal consolidation," said Fitch. "However, Fitch believes that following the government reshuffle, fiscal consolidation will be less of a priority given the president's focus on "radical socioeconomic transformation"."This means that renewed shortfalls in revenues, for example as a result of lower than expected GDP growth, are less likely to be compensated by expenditure and revenue measures. This could put upward pressure on general government debt, which at an estimated 53% of GDP at end-March 2017 was already slightly above the 'BB' category median of 51%."The tensions within the ANC will mean that political energy will be absorbed by efforts to maintain party unity and fend off leadership challenges and to placate rising social pressures for addressing inequality, poverty and weak public service delivery. The Treasury's ability to withstand departmental demands for increased spending may also weaken."Political uncertainty was already an important factor behind weak growth last year, as in Fitch's assessment it has affected the willingness of companies to invest. The agency believes that the cabinet reshuffle will further undermine the investment climate. Fitch forecasts GDP growth of 1.2% in 2017 and 2.1% in 2018, but the reshuffle has raised downside risks."Fitch said its ratings on "South Africa's senior unsecured foreign- and local-currency bonds have been downgraded to 'BB+' from 'BBB-'. The rating on the sukuk trust certificates issued by RSA Sukuk No. 1 Trust has also been downgraded to 'BB+' from 'BBB-', in line with South Africa's Long-Term Foreign-Currency IDR."The short-term foreign-and local-currency IDRs (issuer defaut ratings) and the rating on the short-term local-currency securities have been downgraded to 'B' from 'F3'. The country ceiling has been revised down to 'BBB-' from 'BBB'."The downgrade of South Africa's long-term IDRs reflects Fitch's view that recent political events, including a major cabinet reshuffle, will weaken standards of governance and public finances.
News / Africa

by Staff reporter

Malamulele - President Jacob Zuma has hit out at "comrades" who used memorials as a way to "perpetuate disunity" within the ANC.According to News24 , Zuma was speaking at an unveiling ceremony of the tombstone of the late Minister of Public Services and Administration, Collins Chabane, in Limpopo on Saturday.Chabane died in 2015 in a car accident along with two of his bodyguards while on their way from Polokwane in Limpopo to Tshwane.In a thinly-veiled attack on former Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, who has recently been the keynote speaker at several memorial events for struggle stalwart Ahmed Kathrada where he has spoken out against Zuma, Zuma dismissed this as a "new culture" that should be rejected.He commended the speakers at the Chabane ceremony who had refrained from using the memorial as a political platform."I'm happy that not a single one did so. Whoever would have done so, I would have come and said, '[No], sorry'."Be brave and confront a comrade if you have problems with a comrade. Don't use the comrades who have died to perpetuate disunity... So I want to thank you, and the comrades. At least you are helping to give an example of how to treat comrades who have passed away. You can't use them as an instrument to further deepen the divisions."Zuma went on to say that he was happy that no one had used Chabane's name to fight their battles."To use the funeral or the memorial of a fellow comrade to fight our political battles will be wrong. It will never be right, no matter how you feel," he said as some members of the crowd cheered."It is wrong to use funerals, memorial services to fight political battles. That's wrong and terrible politics."We must not use the name of Collins to fight political battles.""Comrade Collins, if he had a problem with someone he would come to you and speak to you directly, He was a disciplined comrade indeed who believed in the principles of the ANC."
For 25 minutes after a brief statement by Candyce Perret about why she is seeking the seat, Ross peppered the candidate with questions about "her legal troubles."

"The Ross Report" host Carol Ross

Third Circuit Court of Appeal candidate Candyce Perret appeared on Thursday afternoon's edition of KPEL 96.5 FM's "The Ross Report" two days after a brief softball interview on the station's morning show.

This interview with host Carol Ross was something completely different (we'll be surprised if Perret posts this one to her campaign Facebook page).

For 25 minutes after a brief statement by Perret about why she is seeking the seat, Ross peppered the candidate with questions about "her legal troubles" ranging from her 2004 arrest in Florida for public indecency to the series of three lawsuits filed by Perret's former fiance against her over the three years following their 2004 breakup to the ongoing federal investigation of her husband Hunter's company, Louisiana Specialty Institute. (The IND has reported on all of those issues. Read more here.)

Perret was evasive and tried slipping the questions, but Ross persisted. Callers joined in, although one caller sided with Perret saying that Ross had revealed her bias against the candidate. (Listen to it below.)

Perret and her runoff opponent Susan Theall will meet in a forum hosted by Louisiana Citizens Action Network (LA-CAN) next Wednesday at 11 a.m. at the Petroleum Club. Event organizer Joyce Linde called into The Ross Report to confirm that the candidates will each be allowed up to 10 minutes of opening remarks before the event will be opened to questions from the floor.

Linde said potential attendees must RSVP to La-Can.org in order to be admitted.
News / National

by Staff Reported

President Robert Mugabe has criticised his followers for demonstrating against corrupt Zanu-PF party officials as that gives Morgan Tsvangirai and the West something to "smile about".Mugabe reportedly said demonstrations were destructive to Zanu-PF, as they exposed it to the opposition and Western countries who wanted to see it disintegrate.He said if any officials in his party were disobedient they should be brought before the disciplinary committee.The 93-year-old leader made these remarks as he addressed the 105th Ordinary Meeting of the Zanu-PF Central Committee at the party's headquarters in Harare on Friday.Mugabe said: "So, why should we give them that chance to smile, to laugh and to wish us death?" said President Mugabe. "How does that help us? We say we are from the same family. To go to the streets to insult each other?"When we insult our leaders who are in the wrong, people like Morgan (Tsvangirai) will say just look and listen to what they are now doing. Those that are doing something bad and they are members of the party, you sit down with them and solve the problem. If the person is from a branch, you sit down and solve the problem. Not to go out shouting saying, aah this is what our chairman is doing, Talk about it and if there problem it should be referred to the top leadership and let it be solved there."If the problem is in the district, those from the district have no right to invite those from other districts to hear the case or to invite them to join them in demonstrations because they no longer want their chairman. No they must sit down and follow the procedure, the charges he is facing, what wrong he is doing and you forward the problem to the provincial leaders.""If the person is a provincial chairman, haa. we no longer want him/her so who are you complaining to?" he said."You are the ones who chose him, sit down and have a meeting with delegates from other provinces and at the disciplinary committee you raise the issue, like what happened the other day."That is where problems like that are dealt with. We will always listen to the problems. We might take long to deal with the case, maybe the whole night, trying to solve the problem but will eventually deal with it, that is what we do in Zanu-PF.""We cannot run the party from newspaper headlines or angry placards or from Twitter or social media. We can't run the country that way. These phones are now a problem.""We look with glee as they daily turn on each other, while pretending to chase a mirage they have termed 'grand coalition' apparently unaware of the grand defeat that stares at them in the face," said President Mugabe."Unable to face our mighty party, they have now turned their guns on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, itself a constitutional body mandated to run elections in our country."Afflicted by madness, which knows no bounds, they even seek to interfere with mundane Government tendering processes, hoping for some opportunistic fissures that might give them some slender chance."
Eric McClellan, a consultant hired by the Community Foundation of Acadiana, sports an I-49 South pin on his lapel while presenting an "unbiased" report on the economic impact of completing the interstate through Lafayette. Photo by Christiaan Mader

Consultants paid by Lafayette Connector advocates suggested today at an invite-only press conference that completion of the controversial interstate project would result in tremendous economic benefit, primarily realized for the state and the greater Acadiana region.

Unveiling an "unbiased" report commissioned by the Community Foundation of Acadiana, with funding help from One Acadiana, LEDA and several Connector boosters, the consultants suggested that completing I-49 South from Shreveport to New Orleans would generate just under $10 billion in gross domestic product for the state over a period of 21 years. The consultants also said the Lafayette Connector would save local drivers 5.5 million trip hours in the same time frame.

The national consulting agencies on the study, CDM Smith and Regional Economic Models Incorporated, used a projected 2023 completion year for the whole of I-49 South.

Curiously, the press conference was embargoed from public view in advisories sent to select press outlets earlier this week. CFA head Raymond Hebert insisted that the foundations commissioning of the study was couched in the organizations interest in the public good, and not indicative of advocacy.

Heberts rote insistence of objectivity on the matter contrasted starkly with rallying speeches by 1A CEO Jason El Koubi, LEDA chief Gregg Gothreaux and regional economic officials from St. Mary and St. Martin parishes.

Also attending were Mayor Joel Robideaux and former Mayor Joey Durel, as well as a DOTD representative.

Following a short top line presentation, the press conference proceeded to an exercise in confirmation bias  with regional economic cheerleaders touting the study's "rigor" as proof of the project's heretofore self-evident need and benefit.

This project has attracted the attention and, in many ways, the dreams of so many people in Lafayette and across Acadiana for many decades, El Koubi said in his remarks. Having a rigorous, unbiased calculation of the economic impact is incredibly helpful.

Assuming a $911 million cost for the completion of the Lafayette Connector  considerably more than some indicated cost estimates for the 5.5-mile urban interstate project  the report suggests that Lafayette would see a net gain of 1,500 jobs by 2044, following the completion of the entirety of I-49 South.

The report does not indicate where in Lafayette Parish those jobs would go, the consultants said, nor of what quality those jobs would be. To put that in to context, LEDA's Gothreaux pointed out in his remarks that Lafayette Parish lost some 20,000 jobs in the three years since oil prices crashed.

The study does not account for the geometry of the interstate itself. Nor did the study explore any alternative routes. The base comparison used was a "no build" scenario.

Whether the interstate is elevated or semi-depressed, or even at grade, does not factor into the bullish numbers presented. The Connector's community design process recently committed to an elevated design for the interstate's interior structure. Proponents of a now discarded semi-depressed option argued the depressed design would allow for more development, potentially producing more return on investment than the elevated type. The decision to move only the elevated option forward was made a week to the day before the release of this study.

At its most localized, the report studies benefits to Lafayette Parish, and not to the corridor and neighborhoods that the interstate will run through. That means the report makes a case for regional prosperity resulting from the project  albeit tenuously on that count  but not necessarily to the same extent locally.

The reports math is predicated primarily on general economic statistics assumed to result from road building, and not necessarily on any on-the-ground observation. The effective operating variable is travel efficiency, or reduction in travel time. The report monetizes reductions in vehicle miles traveled, among other considerations, to show economic benefit in a cash value. The resulting cost benefit ratio is at most $1.93 for every dollar spent on the Lafayette Connector, with the conservative estimate pegged at $1.23 per dollar.

Critics of urban interstate projects, like Strong Towns' Chuck Marohn, have questioned the reasoning and validity of this sort of report's take-home message: that improved transportation efficiencies yield a direct-to-pocket impact for locals.

A similar report was released earlier this year in defense of Shreveports Inner City Connector through the historically black Allendale neighborhood, another contentious part of the push to complete I-49 South. In a three part series, Marohn argued that studies like the REMI/CDM report make flawed assumptions about the economic value of saved travel time to consumers.

Marohn points out that reducing economic analysis to a consideration of travel time saved fails not only in terms of real world applications, but also in terms of cash delivered to the consumers pocket.

Reports like these are commonly used to make the case for major infrastructure projects. That seems to be REMIs stock and trade as a K Street consulting firm. Among its clientele are several state departments of transportation, including Louisianas Department of Transportation and Development.

As a service peddled to lobbying firms and policy makers, REMI boasts on its website that the modeling tool used in the report drives home a single message that transportation is the locomotive of economic growth."

Working from that premise, particularly as it pertains to traffic efficiencies, contradicts the reports presentation as a credible and unbiased study, buttressed by scientific rigor.

Critics argue these reports favor build options over "no build" options without consideration of social impact or costs.
You probably don't know this but Amazon is having a big month for people like me. They're giving us a much higher percentage than usual this month on every sale that comes through ads like the ones below. So I should really be running these ads on every post.

But the ads don't play nice with TypePad's software. The way it all works out, I can't display the ads in a way that doesn't violate my "don't annoy the visitors" rule, and I can't customize them, which I would much prefer to do. Mind you, Amazon does make these options available, but the needed code doesn't work with TypePad's template. At least as I utilize it here.

So I'm a bit stuck in what I can do. Sigh, sigh, double-sigh and oh well.

Just for your information, anything you choose and buy at an affiliate's site once you get there is credited to TOP. So, hoping you don't mind, I'm going to run the ads I can run just once a week, at the end of every week, for this month of April. Just keepin' the lights on.

Do as you like and as you will!

Mike

Original contents copyright 2017 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)

Featured Comments from:

Brian: Thanks for giving us the background info on this. They keep showing me the same three items that I will never buy (two tote bags and a set of very cheap camera filters). I'll keep in mind that I can click on those links, get what really I want, and you still get a bit extra."
CAIRO  Lights will soon be on in one more building on Cairos Sycamore Street. If all goes as planned, a new grocery store will open in town this fall.

Sterling Moody, president of St. Louis-based Harvest Marketplace LLC, was contacted by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbins office nearly a year ago to see about his company providing relief to the people of Cairo. Since 2015, residents of the city between the rivers have had no local option for groceries, making it a food desert. Since this time, Moody and his team have been working out the logistics.

They are well on their way to completing their plans.

We purchased the NAPA building and (are) going to put (in) a full service grocery store, specializing in meat and produce, then have small little businesses inside, Moody said of the storefront on the north end of town. He said when he first started visiting the city, he was struck not just by the needs in Cairo, but by its possibilities.

The town has so much potential, but everyone is, like, on the sideline waiting for someone to run the first play, he said.

Moody, who has nearly 40 years of grocery experience, is well aware of the previous endeavors to start businesses, a grocery store included, in the city that have not worked. He said his plan is not to rely just on residents of Cairo to drive business, it needs to be a destination store.

This is the key  will a grocery store alone in Cairo make it? Im not sure  but what happens is if you make it a destination market, the little towns that the Cairo people are going to, to shop, we can probably draw people to that from there to Cairo, he said.

Charles Bussey, partial owner of Harvest Marketplace, said grocery stores are big energy consumers, which is part of why they have decided to install solar panels at their new location. Bussey said he is currently waiting for calculations from WindSolarUSA, of Springfield, as to how much of their energy needs will be met by the solar system, but said they plan to use as much solar energy as they can.

Moody said this decision was driven by economics.

Harvest Marketplace will use money from Illinois Fresh Food Funds. Because of this, Moody said he had to bring in highly-trained people to run the market. The grocery stores manager, who has 22 years experience with Aldi in St. Louis, will be relocating to run the store.

The new grocery store will mean more than food for Cairo  it will mean jobs. Moody said Harvest Marketplace will add 27 jobs, 14 to 16 of which will be full time. He said this does not include the boutiques the retail space will offer.

Moody is excited to bring these opportunities to town and even though they are in the early phases of renovating their retail space, he said the buzz is catching on.

On Monday, Moody and his crew went to Cairo to do a meet and greet with the community. They served lunch and said hello to their new neighbors. He said people thanked them not only for lunch, but for the potential he and his team were bringing to Cairo.

One lady (said), Ive been wanting to cook pork chops and greens, they dont sell that at the (Dollar General) here. I cant even get fresh produce  I cant buy bananas, he recalled being told.

Moody said the hope the store will bring will be vital, especially for the predominantly black population in Cairo.

As African-American kids grow up, if we ever going to overcome some of the problems and challenges, we have to physically be able to touch and see success stories not the TV, not the athletes  we have to be able to see community success stories, he said.

If all goes as planned, Moody said Harvest Marketplace, as well as a sit-down restaurant and an ice cream parlor, will open between October and November of this year.
News / National

by Staff reporter

ALL is set for the Mwenezi East parliamentary by-election today, with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission yesterday saying it has set up 62 polling stations where voters will cast their ballots.Three candidates, businessman Joosbi Omar of the ruling Zanu-PF, Mr Turner Mhango of Free Zimbabwe Congress Party and Mr Welcome Masuku of NCA, will battle it out for the right to represent Mwenezi East in the House of Assembly.Former Masvingo provincial Affairs Minister Mr Kudakwashe Bhasikiti of ZimPF chickened out of the race after his papers had been accepted by the Nomination Court.Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Masvingo provincial officer Mr Zex Pudurai said yesterday that Mr Bhasikiti's name would not appear on the ballot paper after his pulling out.He pulled out on spurious allegations that Zanu-PF was intimidating his supporters and engaging in vote buying.Prior to that, Mr Bhasikiti had failed to hold even a single rally owing to dearth of support. The by-election was necessitated by the death of Zanu-PF House of Assembly representative Mr Joshua Moyo in December last year.Mr Pudurai said everything was in place for the by-election. ''We have finished deployment of polling officers and agents across all the 62 polling stations that will be open for voting tomorrow,'' he said."Voting will start at 7am and closing at 7pm, and all the materials have been moved and are now in place. We are very happy with the peaceful environment that is prevailing in Mwenezi East before the actual voting kicks off.''Mr Pudurai said poll results would be announced soon after collation at the command centre at the Roman Catholic Church-owned Sacred Heart High School at Rutenga Growth Point. Zanu-PF has already indicated that it is a foregone conclusion that it would retain the seat, but the revolutionary party was more concerned with garnering many votes as the party makes a test run for next year's harmonised elections.Addressing a campaign rally to drum up support for Omar at Avhunga Secondary School in Rutenga last Saturday, Zanu-PF secretary for administration Dr Ignatius Chombo challenged the ruling party in Masvingo to make sure the candidate amassed more than 38 000 votes.Zanu-PF has been winning all the by-elections held post 2013 elections, with the Norton constituency being the only blemish after the ruling party candidate Ronald Chindedza was defeated by independent candidate Temba Mliswa. There were allegations that Chindedza was imposed by the party's commissariat department, which allegedly rigged the primary election by inflating his votes.
News / National

by Staff reporter

BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) executives and councillors are divided over the implementation of a credit policy that will see the municipality taking residents with outstanding bills to court.The council executives are pushing for the local authority to introduce a credit policy but city fathers are reluctant to pass the policy into law, said a senior council official who preferred not to be named.He said the policy would ensure that residents pay their debts or risk prosecution."Already council is struggling with service delivery as residents are not paying bills. The council is owed $150 million to date. The credit policy will see council suing those who don't pay bills," said the council source."Councillors seem reluctant to adopt the policy. We're heading towards elections and such a policy threatens their re-election, hence councillors do not want the council to adopt it."In an interview, the city's Town Clerk, Mr Christopher Dube, said the credit policy could be the solution for council in dealing with defaulting rate payers."We will be able to take those who owe the council to court. Interchangeably, we will be disconnecting water supplies to those residents if they fail to show commitment to paying their bills" said Mr Dube.He could not reveal when the policy could be implemented saying there were technical issues that need to be resolved.Acting Mayor, councillor for Ward 28 Collet Ndlovu said the issue has not been tabled before a full council meeting, which is the municipality's highest decision making body."How are we going to introduce the policy when it's clear that residents are not employed? What we can only do at the moment is to encourage them to pay," he said.Clr Ndlovu dismissed the suggestion that councillors feared losing their seats, saying residents have to endorse the policy for it to sail through."In Bulawayo if we want to introduce any policy we consult the rate payers. If they reject it there is no way we could introduce it. As leaders we saw it fit that consultations are not necessary because we are aware that residents are not paying and complain of joblessness," he said.
DENMARK -- Dr. W. Franklin Evans said he is just where God meant him to be during his inauguration as the president of Voorhees College.

I am here today because I serve a God who blessed me to be the ninth president of Voorhees College.  I am here because this was Gods will concerning me, he said.

Fridays ceremony at the Episcopal-affiliated institution was just as much a church service as it was an academic affair, with members of the clergy offering Scripture readings, a sermon and communion.

It is a day of thanksgiving to God, the Rt. Rev. Gladstone B. Adams III said in his sermon.

Addressing his previous position as interim president at South Carolina State University, Evans said he often runs into people who are hurt, disappointed and angry hes no longer with the school and say he was used and pushed aside.

Yes, I was used, he said. I was used by God to accomplish only what he could accomplish.

I was used by God to galvanize a team of leaders to strategize a plan for success. I was used to instill confidence in our students and parents  that we were going to make it through the tough times. I was used by God to inspire the alumni, to step up, know whats going on and get involved and to give money like youve never given before.

He said God used him to soften the hearts of state legislators and convince the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools that S.C. State would survive and thrive.

Yes, God used me. He used me to be his instrument of change, so that when the change took place, I could share the word with you that it was God who did just what he said he was going to do, he said.

Evans said he was grateful to be chosen for the position.

I regard this presidency as one of the highest honors and most formidable challenges of my professional career, he said.

He said that with his education and background, he is confident and ready for the challenge of being president. Even so, he needs people around him who support and encourage him.

We all need support. We all need encouragement, he said. And now, as president of Voorhees College, I definitely need your support and encouragement.

Addressing board of trustees Chairman Dr. Robert Satcher Jr., Evans said, I vow to do all I can to make this college the best that it can be and to move it to the next level and redeem the faith that you and the board of trustees members have placed in me.

He talked about reimagining the future of Voorhees, speaking of reaching out to non-traditional adult students, working parents, retirees who want to sharpen their skills, professionals with associate degrees who want to earn a bachelors degree and veterans who want to embark on another career.

Voorhees College, by thinking outside the box, can meet the needs of tomorrows students, he said. Thats the kind of thinking that will propel us to heights unimaginable.

Voorhees can become the premier liberal arts institution that I am imagining in my mind, Evans said. He said the hidden jewel of South Carolina needs to be taken out of hiding.

I want Voorhees to be a household word, he said. I want people all over this world to know of Voorhees greatness.

He asked all to give to Voorhees in the form of support, prayers, ideas, encouragement and energy.

Now is the time. Here is the place, he said. If not here, then where? If not now, then when? And if not you, then who?

This is the place. We can reimagine Voorhees College as bigger, better, stronger, different, he said. This is the place. This place.
Shortly before I began my career at Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College, the South Carolina Lottery Tuition Assistance program began awarding scholarships to the states technical college students who were residents of South Carolina and enrolled in at least six credit hours. To date, more than 300,000 students have benefitted from this program, the goal of which was to provide our states residents with greater access to higher education.

In todays economy, it is common knowledge that higher education in general  and technical colleges in particular  are the gateways to creating not only wealth for the citizens of our communities, but a pipeline of workers essential to the expanding economy in South Carolina, as well.

OCtech has maintained strong working relationships with the public school districts and private schools in Orangeburg and Calhoun counties. Because LTA funds provide scholarships to high school juniors and seniors, we consider ourselves great partners in promoting college readiness and a college-bound culture with our local high schools.

In some instances, students can complete as much as the first year of college by the time they graduate from high school. Regardless of whether those graduates plan to enroll at OCtech or transfer to a four-year college post-graduation, students who take advantage of LTA can reduce the time it takes to earn a college credential and do so at a significantly lower cost.

Im reminded of Avigeet Gupta, who earned 41 credit hours through OCtechs Middle College while he was a student at Orangeburg Preparatory Schools.

Since I took classes at OCtech, I graduated in three years from the College of Charleston and was able to do it without taking any summer classes once I enrolled there, said Gupta, who was just 20 years old when he entered the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. I could focus on the courses specific to my major and better prepare myself for a medical career.

LTA also works to remove finances as a barrier to earning a college credential for adults. In some instances, students who dont qualify for federal financial aid due to their or their familys income level can take advantage of LTA.

At OCtech, those scholarship funds cover nearly 60 percent of the cost of tuition. This assistance can mean the difference between going to college or not. Given the expected growth of our community, continued support of LTA ensures that a quality higher education remains affordable and accessible. Affordable, accessible higher education enhances the employability of our regions citizens and helps build the highly skilled workforce essential to sustaining the states economy.

The S.C. Technical College System is requesting a $7 million increase in funding for LTA as part of the 2017-18 state budget, taking the total system funding to $58.1 million. You can thank the Orangeburg and Calhoun delegation for their continued support of LTA and OCtech. They all have been proponents of this funding that ultimately supports our mission of fostering economic development for this region of South Carolina.
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News / Regional

by Staff reporter

A HARARE magistrate yesterday acquitted Kariba pastor and leader of Remnant Church Patrick Philip Mugadza, who was facing charges of abusing the Zimbabwe national flag by wearing it during a protest.Magistrate Lazini Ncube ruled that the State witnesses failed to prove in court that the exhibit of the flag that was brought to court was not counterfeit.He also ruled that the State failed to prove a prima facie case against the clergyman.Ncube further ruled that the charge sheet or indictment was not consistent with the Flag Act."Contrary to the charge sheet, section 6 of the Flag Act does not penalise anyone for being in possession of the flag," Ncube said.Ncube's ruling did not come as a shock to Mugadza's defence lawyers, Obey Shava and Gift Mtisi from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.After the ruling, Shava said: "I am not happy that the State's resources are being abused to advance selfish political interests. It's time the citizens of this country take action and defend themselves against this abuse."The State witnesses were taken to task to prove Mugadza indeed broke the law when he protested against the government while wearing the flag.Last week the witness and arresting officer, Mugadza's namesake Kelvin Mugadza told the court that he received orders from his superior to arrest the cleric.The witness said he arrested Mugadza on possession of a flag thinking that it was an offence.Allegations were that on November 18 last year, members of the police reaction squad who were on patrol in the CBD spotted Mugadza wearing a Zimbabwe flag around his neck.They told the court that Mugadza was wearing a white helmet inscribed Enough is Enough showing disrespect and bringing the Zimbabwean flag into disrepute.Members of police then arrested Mugadza and recovered the flag and a helmet. Francisca Mukumbiri was prosecuting for the State.
Opinion / Speeches

President Mugabe addresses the 105th Ordinary Session of the Zanu-PF Central Committee in Harare yesterday



We publish here the full text of the speech made by President and First Secretary of Zanu-PF, Comrade R.G. Mugabe, on the occasion of the 105th Ordinary meeting of the Central Committee at zanu-pf Headquarters in Harare yesterday.

Vice President and Second Secretary, Comrade Emmerson Mnangagwa,Vice President and Second Secretary, Phelekezela Mphoko,Secretary for Administration, Ignatius Chombo,Members of the Politburo,Members of the Central Committee,Invited Guests,Comrades and Friends.I welcome you all to yet another ordinary meeting of our Central Committee.I trust you travelled well from the various provinces that you represent, and that you are well and fit for yet another session which must review the our programmes for the first quarter of the year, while also charting our way forward for our party.This is a crucial year, anticipating, as it does, 2018, the year we are required by our national Constitution to go back to the people in order to renew our governing mandate.It is our first meeting since the break of the New Year and let me tender my belated compliments of the New Year.Let me also salute Masvingo Province for the recent by-election victory in Bikita West, which sent a ringing message to the ramshackle opposition for ever daring to stand against Zanu-PF electoral might.The Province upheld the winning trend which has been ours to enjoy since the whitewashing 2013 harmonised elections, but which had suffered a fluke interruption in the poorly-run Norton by-election.Indeed Manicaland repaired that winning record which Masvingo proceeded to consolidate.We expect to maintain this winning streak in the forthcoming Mwenezi by-election which has already sent shivers in opposition upstarts.The message to be gleaned from these successive victories is that of huge rewards that await us, indeed the ceaseless celebrations which are ours to enjoy, for as long as we think, plan and act in unison, bound by common belief, and an abiding sense of camaraderie.Of course we should remain the avowed interpreters of people's wishes.All the time, evolving policies and programmes which are oriented towards our people in times of difficulties, and advancing their interests and welfare, when the prospects allow.Today we reap the happy rewards of fending for all our people in the year of drought which we are slowly putting behind us, thanks to the good rains that have been ours to enjoy this season.Our flagship Command Agricultural Programme and traditional Presidential Input Scheme demonstrated, not just our closeness to the people, but the correctness of our policies and programmes, in bringing about a quick recovery and turnaround in the pivotal agricultural sector.As a result, the prospects before us are decidedly bright, with a palpable sense of hope pervading our nation.We have regained our status as a food-secure nation, something which must be applauded.The promise of a good agricultural performance translates, quite naturally, into even greater support for our party as we inch towards the 2018 harmonised elections.Reeled by successive by-electoral blows, the opposition is in a quagmire, all the time clutching at straws in the vain hope of some modicum of political respectability which routinely eludes them.We look with glee as they daily turn on each other, while pretending to chase a mirage they have termed "grand coalition", apparently unaware of the grand defeat that stares them in the face.Unable to face our mighty party, they have now turned their guns on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, itself a Constitutional body mandated to run elections in our country.Afflicted by madness which knows no bounds, they even seek to interfere with mundane Government tendering processes, hoping for some opportunistic fissures that might give them some slender chance.Nor is that all.They make futile noises by which they hope to besmirch and override Zimbabwe's sovereignty through attempts to involve international bodies which have no role in the running of elections in sovereign countries.Shame on them!As they expend their faltering energies on such inane calls and charades, we must ourselves take full advantage of this confusion to consolidate our support on the ground in readiness for another emphatic win in the forthcoming harmonised elections.Our Command Agricultural Programme is not just about recovering from the severe drought, which hit us in the previous season.As already stated, it is about restoring food security in our nation.More important, this agricultural recovery is a prelude to, and an integral part of our broader response to the challenges of illegal economic sanctions imposed on us by the spiteful West, indeed a key component towards sustainable economic recovery and employment creation.As I address you, and against the good prospect in Agriculture, we already see signs of a new surge in the economy, auspicious signs which must never be lost to us merely because of some problems of adjustment which we must go through, and which should be behind us quite soon.I am very happy that our cash crop farmers, principally those in the tobacco and cotton sub-sectors, have risen to the occasion, complementing what our maize farmers have done.The reigning firmer prices in the tobacco sub-sector are a deserved reward to their sterling efforts.Equally, the cotton crop should re-ignite activity in the textile sector, in the process creating significant employment opportunities for our people.The livestock facility under Command Agriculture Programme, coupled with measures Government is taking towards the resuscitation of the Cold Storage Company, should trigger sympathetic developments in the livestock sub-sector.All these programmes, we must always remember, emanate from our party Zanu-PF, and are thus ours to claim and build on as we mobilise grassroot support in readiness for the 2018 harmonised elections.Against such auspicious developments, the mood in the party must tally and splendidly resonate with the reigning buoyancy.These successes we have wrestled and earned against hard odds and prophecies of gloom and doom.They must inform the mood and temperament in our party.There is absolutely no need or reason for cultivating messages of discordance or despondency in the party.Absolutely none at all!The successes outlined above do not owe to any one person or any one organ of the party or Government.They owe to all of us; they belong to all organs of the party and Government which, in combination and harmony, enabled this excellent result that is ours to reap.The policies came from the party, Zanu-PF; the execution was done by a Zanu-PF Government.The benefits redound to our people and our nation in its entirety.This is what makes us the only national Party of trust and record, indeed the author of policies that equate with people's aspirations and well-being.It is sheer small mindedness to generate little discordant noises such as we have heard lately, whose effect amount to detracting from our ringing successes.To all who have been expressing displeasures through demonstrations in various provinces, we say you have made your points, and your voices have been heard.The party does have structures and organs designed to handle such matters in a dignified way.We must now give those organs time to look into the grievances expressed, due process must be allowed and followed.We cannot run the party from newspaper headlines or angry placards.The party runs on rules and procedures. These must now take precedence over all else.Let me end up by thanking the Youth League of the party and Matabeleland South Province for honouring me through commemorations of my birthday. It was very organised and well attended.Indeed commemorations continue at various levels and in different parts of the country. I am humbled, truly humbled by the respect you continue to show me.This meeting will receive many reports reflecting activity areas of the party in different spheres.We must weigh these critically so we note deficiencies there might be, while augmenting strong points we have achieved.Above all, we need to pay particular attention to reports from those provinces which got affected by the recent cyclone activities.We need to ensure Government moves in speedily to assuage challenges faced by families that are still displaced, while a lasting solution is, of course, being developed.I am happy that our security forces rose to the occasion, as also did the inter-ministerial teams, which were constituted for the purpose. We must ensure a speedy return to normalcy.Pamberi neZanu-PF!Pambili lokubambana!I thank you.
By Trend

President of the Arab Republic of Egypt Abdel Fattah Al Sisi has sent a congratulatory letter to President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.

I convey my heartfelt congratulations on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Egypt and Azerbaijan. I would like to take this pleasant opportunity to emphasize strong ties that link our governments and people, said the Egyptian president in his letter.

Relations between Egypt and Azerbaijan have been developing in many areas in recent years, particularly in the field of energy. We are working to elevate these ties to the level of good political relationship between our countries, he noted.

The visit of the foreign affairs minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Cairo in November 2016 and preparations for the meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission, which will take place in Cairo in July 2017, increase our joint efforts towards developing relations between our countries.

Once again I congratulate Your Excellency. I wish to convey my best wishes for your success, and for the continued prosperity and well-being of the friendly people of Azerbaijan, added Al Sisi.
By Trend

Vice-president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, founder and head of the IDEA Public Union, Leyla Aliyeva has visited the Shahdag National Park in Ismayilli District of Azerbaijan.

She viewed a construction site of a bison reintroduction center, which will be built under a joint project of the IDEA Public Union, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources and WWF Azerbaijan.

The complex will cover an area of 30 hectares.
Investcorp, a global provider and manager of alternative investment products, today confirmed that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell PRO Unlimited, a leading software-enabled services company for the staffing and management of skilled professionals, to Harvest Partners.

Investcorp will re-invest in the company alongside Harvest Partners and continue to have a significant minority stake with meaningful influence, a statement said. Approximately $300 million to be returned to Investcorps clients, it said.



PRO Unlimited is one of the fastest growing providers of software and managed services to large enterprises enabling its clients to more effectively manage their contingent workforce. Since its founding in 1991, all of PRO Unlimiteds growth has been organic.



Under Investcorps stewardship for only two and half years, PRO Unlimited has increased its net revenues by over 40 per cent and more importantly, almost doubled its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). The companys rapid growth has been in part driven by significant investments in the companys software platform and its sales and marketing activities, the statement said.



Mohammed Alardhi, executive chairman of Investcorp, said: PRO Unlimited represents yet another successful exit for Investcorp and our investors across the Gulf. In October 2014, our investment thesis for PRO Unlimited was predicated on acquiring a leading company that operates in a sizable and growing sector in which we could create significant value through active ownership. The superior returns generated as a result of this transaction validate our investment thesis for PRO Unlimited and, more importantly, our wider Corporate Investment strategy. We are looking forward to our partnership with both the management team and Harvest Partners in the next phase of PRO Unlimiteds business.



We acquired PRO Unlimited because we knew the company had significant growth potential given the strong secular tailwinds and its leading market position, stated Maud Brown, managing director of corporate investment in North America. We worked closely with the companys committed management team to grow the business, focusing on new enterprise client wins and key investments in technology, marketing and sales. We continue to have conviction in the long-term market trends and look forward to building upon our relationship with PRO Unlimited and partnering with Harvest to capture additional opportunities.



The transaction is expected to close in May 2017 subject to customary corporate approvals.  TradeArabia News Service


Bahrains labor fund Tamkeen and the Bahrain Development Bank (BDB) have increased the funding of their Tamweel programme to support entrepreneurs by BD21 million ($55.71 million) to more than BD240 million ($636.67 million).

The two organisations have a strategic partnership to provide Islamic financing for small and medium-sized enterprises and the emerging private sector under the scheme.

This increase in funding is a spontaneous result of the steady increase in the number of requests and the high demand this programme has witnessed, said a statement.

Both parties seek to meet private sector institutions needs by adding more comprehensive support to Bahraini entrepreneurs, it said.

The increase in the size of the portfolio of this funding programme is to attract the largest number of youth who have creative ideas, a broad vision of things and those who possess technical and intellectual skills as there is an instant need for the culture of self-reliance and initiative, it said.

The volume of funding disbursed by Tamkeen and BDB since the launch of the programme in 2008 until the end of February 2017 reached more than BD200 million, financing around 6,000 projects.

The funding programme focuses on industrial, service and innovative projects which have economic feasibility and an added value that targets to diversify and develop the national economy.

Dr Ebrahim Mohammed Janahi, chief executive of Tamkeen, said: This programme, which forms part of Tamkeens commitment to providing Sharia compliant financial solutions to local private enterprises for their establishment and growth, has proved very successful so far, resulting in the growth of around 6,000 businesses in the kingdom.

With this in mind we believe that expanding the programme to over BD240 million will continue to deliver positive results and drive the national economy forward in line with the governments Economic Vision 2030, he said.

BDB Group CEO Sattam Sulaiman Al Gosaibi stated: Our continuous collaboration with Tamkeen forms a strategic partnership that is both feasible and serious in devising specialised management and financing methods that support young people in managing successful projects which are able to enter the market and adapt to their requirements. Thus ensuring continuity and survival of these projects, which are now the mainstay of the national economy of most countries of the world. - TradeArabia News Service
The US is prepared to do more in Syria to prevent the use of chemical weapons, said its ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley following a US missile attack on Syiran air base.

"But we hope that will not be necessary. It is in our vital national security interest to prevent the spread and use of chemical weapons," she told an emergency session of the UN Security Council.

At least six people are reported to have been killed in the US missile strikes early on Friday.

According to Syria's opposition-run health authority, 89 people, including 33 children and 18 women, died in the suspected nerve agent attack in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun on Tuesday. Syria denies using nerve gas.

The US had acted to ensure Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would never use chemical weapons again, she was quoted as saying by a BBC report.

She blamed Iran and Russia for standing by the Syrian government when it committed crimes. "Strengthening Assad will only lead to more murders," she said.

Russia's deputy ambassador to the UN, Vladimir Safronkov, described the US strikes as "illegitimate".

"When you take your own path, this leads to horrible tragedies in the region," he told the Americans.

Meanehile, US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said he was preparing further economic sanctions against Syria.

The US is "disappointed but not surprised" at Russia's response to its strikes on a Syrian air base suspected of storing chemical weapons, said US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

"It indicates their continued support for the Assad regime and, in particular, their continued support for a regime that carries out these type of horrendous attacks on their own people.

"So I find it very disappointing, but, sadly, I have to tell you, not all that surprising," he added.

Moscow has promised to strengthen Syria's anti-aircraft defences. It is also closing down a hotline with the US designed to avoid collisions between their air forces over Syria.
The number of national workers in Kuwait dropped from 18.6 per cent to 18.1 per cent of the total work force at the end of last year, according to Central Statistics Administration.



The data showed the total number of workers as of December 31, 2016 stood at 1,965,381 with an increase of 228,112 individuals compared to the same period in 2015, indicating a 6.1 percent increase.



Kuwaitis among the workers were 354,806 as against 1,610,575 expatriates, said a report in Arab Times quoting from the data.



It said the number of Kuwaiti workers grew by 3 percent from 344,622 to 354,806. It also observed that female Kuwaiti workers grew by 3.9 percent. The number of expatriate workers increased by 6.5 percent from 1,508,531 to 1,610,575.
Saudi exports of dates increased by 37 per cent during the first 11 months of 2016 to reach about 90,000 tonnes, compared to about 66,000 tonnes in the same period of 2015, a report quoting the General Authority for Statistics said.



In 2016, some 20,000 tonnes of dates were exported from the Madinah region, representing about 22 percent of total Saudi exports of dates, said the Arab News report.



An estimated 9 million pilgrims and visitors took with them 45,000 tonnes of dates last year.
Algeria plans to issue tenders for three photovoltaic solar power plants with total capacity of about 4,000 megawatts (MW), Energy Minister Nouredine Bouterfa said in a statement.



The three plants would help meet Algeria's domestic demand for power and allow for exports of power to neighbouring countries, a Reuters report said quoting a source at the Energy Ministry.



The statement did not give any specific timeline for the tenders, the report said.



Several financial institutions, including the French Agency for Development and the African Bank for Development, have shown interest in funding the project, according to the Energy Ministry, calling it a "multi-billion dollar" project.
Turkish Airlines today commenced flights to Voronezh, Russia - making it the 298th destination in 120 countries served by the airline.



By launching flights to Voronezh, the global carrier reaffirms its ongoing expansion strategy to provide travellers with the greatest number of travel destination options.



The airline already has existing services to Russia including Moscow, St.Petersburg, Sochi, Rostov, Kazan, Ekaterinburg, Ufa, and Stavropol.



Toundtrip services between Istanbul and Voronezh will be operated three times per week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, beginning from today.



Introductory round trip fares are available between Istanbul and Voronezh starting at $189, inclusive of taxes and fees.



Additionally, for the first six months of operation to the new destinations, there is a special offer for Miles&Smiles members, with a 25 per cent reduction in the miles needed to redeem either award tickets or upgrades. - TradeArabia News Service


In what is being seen as a clear message about its policy priorities, the Trump administration last week updated the home page for the federal agency that oversees public lands to showcase a large photo of an open-pit coal mine in Wyoming.

The photo was stripped across the Bureau of Land Management site within the last week, though a different image  one of a fisherman  was displayed there Friday. On Wednesday, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced approval of a $22 million lease of more than 6,000 acres in Utah to a coal mining company. In an accompanying statement, Zinke described the bureau as being in the energy business.

In the past, the web page has more typically featured photos of fields of wildflowers, green forests and snow-capped mountains. The coal mining photo replaced the image of a man and young boy with camping gear watching a scenic sunset.

Bureau spokeswoman Kristen Lenhardt on Thursday denied the timing of the photo swap was connected to the administrations push to promote coal mining. She said the home page photo will now be changed weekly.

As part of the BLMs transition to a new website design, we will be regularly rotating the banner with photos that reflect the many uses our public lands have to offer, Lenhardt said.

The changes come after President Donald Trump last month lifted a freeze imposed in the waning days of the Obama administration on leases of public lands for coal mining. Trump, who has pledged to revive the struggling U.S. coal industry, also issued an executive order rolling back federal regulations on planet-warming carbon emissions.

The bureau manages more than 245 million acres of public land in a dozen Western states. Much of that acreage has for decades been leased for mining and drilling, but the use of public lands for coal mining has come under increasing scrutiny due to climate change.

Coal is the dirtiest of fossil fuels, accounting for more than three-quarters of carbon emissions from U.S. power plants despite generating less than 40 percent of the nations electricity. Several of the countrys largest coal companies have recently sought bankruptcy protection as utilities have switched to cheaper, cleaner-burning natural gas.

The photo swap garnered significant attention on social media Thursday, especially among environmentalists.

What more evidence do you need that the Trump administration wants to pave paradise to put up a coal mine? said Michael Brune, the executive director of the Sierra Club. They are literally trading a photo of families enjoying our most cherished landscapes for a pile of coal. This is one of the most obvious signs yet that they are putting the profits of corporate polluters before the public.
A man who allegedly groomed a teenage girl to perform sex acts changed his plea to guilty Friday to four of the eight charges against him.

In exchange for the dismissal of four charges, Lenard Smiley, 46, pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree sexual abuse of a minor and one count of third-degree sexual abuse of a minor. He faces 45 to 70 years in prison, according to a plea deal reached with the prosecution.

Smiley and his wife, Sonya Smiley, 50, were arrested in December. The teenage victim said she was forced to perform a sex act on Smiley, as well as perform painful sex acts on herself. A second victim, the friend of the teenage girl, was encouraged to model a bathing suit for the older man that he bought for her online, Smiley said to the judge Friday.

Sentencing will ultimately be decided by Natrona County District Court Judge Catherine Wilking. Should Wilking decide the deal is too lenient, Smiley will have the opportunity to retract his guilty plea and face trial, the judge explained Friday.

Smileys wife has pleaded not guilty to five counts of third-degree sexual abuse of a minor and one count of accessory to second-degree sexual abuse of a minor. Police documents say Smiley originally told people the girls had begged for the attention. She later said she knew it was wrong and should have stopped it.

She faces more than 65 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

The Smileys were reported to police by the first victims parents. The couples had met via a group that re-enacts life in Europe during the Middle Ages, according to court documents.

Smiley has been a registered sex offender since 2001, after he was convicted of second-degree abuse of a minor in Alaska. According to police records, Smiley allegedly claimed hed been framed by police.

The girl, who was born in 2000, had occasionally stayed with the Smileys between May 2015 and May 2016.

The girl was sometimes forced to wear a collar, and at one point lost consciousness during a sex act and had to be taken to the hospital, according to police documents.

She described some of the acts the Smileys forced her to perform as unbearable and very painful, the documents state.

Investigators described the Smileys actions as a grooming process that sexual predators use to manipulate and control young victims.

At Fridays hearing, Smileys public defender, Curtis Cheney, asked the judge if Smiley would be able to meet with his wife, Sonya. Cheney said he believed Sonya was in the midst of reaching a plea deal with the prosecution.

Wilking said it wasnt within her authority to decide what happens at the detention center and that the request was a tricky situation for the court to address.

The couples bond requirements require no contact. However, as neither of the Smileys has posted bond, those restrictions are not clearly in play.

The prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Brett Johnson, said he did not believe the couple should be allowed to see each other.

The judge advised Lenard Smiley, before he changed his plea Friday, that because he was not born in the United States he would likely face deportation. He said he understood.

Both Smileys remained in custody as of Friday.
Enrollment at Casper College has been falling since it hit its 21st-century peak in 2009, though officials said that the decline is in line with national trends and wasnt causing alarm bells to ring out across campus.

In the fall of 2009, in the midst of the financial crisis, Casper Colleges enrollment hit a recent peak of 4,657 students taking credited classes. In the years after, its fall numbers have declined by more than 800 students, resting at a little more than 3,800. The school retained about 60 percent of its students from fall 2015 to fall 2016, officials said, which is slightly below the state average of 61 percent.

Its also below the national average of 68 percent.

We definitely want to be better, said college spokesman Chris Lorenzen.

Decreasing enrollment is not only affecting Casper College. University of Wyoming President Laurie Nichols told lawmakers in December that attracting more students to Laramie was her top priority. The universitys enrollment had been flat for several years, she said, but this years freshman class is smaller than last years by more than 200 students. UW plans to increase its tuition by 4 percent.

In February, the Wyoming Community College Commission announced that it would be increasing all community college per-credit hour tuition by $5, to $94. It also, in the future, will remove a cap on the number of credit hours that can be billed to a student. Casper College had already been planning on increasing its fees.

Lorenzen said he wasnt sure how the fee and tuition increases will affect the colleges efforts to boost enrollment, though he noted that community college here is still cheaper than in neighboring states.

Though the decline seems significant, administration officials said it was indicative of the cyclical nature of college enrollment.

Our decline has stopped, were kind of flat right now, said Lynn Fletcher, the director of institutional research at Casper College. The last time I looked at our spring numbers, theyre practically the same (compared with last spring) ... theyre within five people.

Why enrollment rises and drops when it does is difficult to pinpoint, said Kyla Foltz, the director of admissions at the college. One popular belief at Casper College and in higher education generally is that when the economy is doing poorly, enrollment tends to increase. Perhaps without a job or savings, people may return to college to begin a new career or refresh themselves to rejoin an old one.

Those numbers seem to have played out in Casper recently. School years 2009-10 and 2010-11 had the highest enrollment totals of the century so far, numbers that have slowly dropped back to levels not seen since 2001-2002.

What is less clear is why Casper College hasnt seen a resurgence in the wake of the recent energy bust. Foltz said that might be because the people who lost jobs in the mineral industry in Wyoming chose to pursue extraction employment out of state rather than find new jobs in Wyoming. They may not have been native Wyomingites to begin with, she said, and thus were more willing to move to find new work.

Traditionally, that cycle of enrollment, if you go back to our very beginning, it goes up and it goes down, Fletcher said. We cant tell you all the time why that happens.

The economy acts as a relatively reliable indicator, she said. Others, like fluctuating birth rates and high school class sizes, are even less predictable.

Though Fletcher said she sees enrollment drops as an industry reality rather than a worrying trend, Lorenzen said the college still wants to work to keep students in seats, for obvious reasons.

If we could identify that cause-and-effect relationship more solidly, it might make it a little easier, he said. But I dont think were slowing down at all.

He and Fletcher said the college is working on a strategic enrollment plan that focuses on everything from recruiting students to the application process. Officials have been studying the problem since August. Part of that is identifying indicators for students at a higher risk of dropping out. Those flags include low attendance and poor performance, for instance.

The enrollment plan will include examining what programs attract students  and which ones dont, Foltz said. Thats the broader lens through which she thinks the situation should be examined.

The college is rolling out an ad blitz as well.

Right now were doing an internal campaign to raise awareness to advising and registration periods, Lorenzen said, in an effort to boost retention rates for next fall.

He added that the college doesnt have set goals yet for enrollment or retention figures but is in the process of creating those benchmarks.

Officials stressed again that this is the nature of higher education enrollment: It goes through high and low periods.

The sky isnt falling, Foltz said.
Cmdr. Jon Schaffner will soon spend much of his time deep underwater on the USS Tennessee, a ballistic missile submarine.

But that doesnt mean he isnt nostalgic for the mountain peaks that define the landscape of Wyoming, his childhood home.

My love for mountains is equal to my love of the sea, he said recently from Georgia, where he is currently stationed.

Schnaffner, who recently became commanding officer of the USS Tennessee, credits his Cowboy State education for his success. He graduated from Kelly Walsh High School in 1996, and his high school sweetheart and eventual wife, Danielle, graduated from Natrona County High School a year later. He graduated from Casper College in 1998 and transferred to the University of Wyoming, where he earned a degree in electrical engineering in 2000.

As he transferred to UW, he also made another change: Schaffner was accepted into the nuclear power officer candidate program, which funnels top engineering students into the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program to serve on board aircraft carriers and submarines  an event that has shaped his career in the years since.

Hes living with his wife, son and daughter in Georgia now, where they plan to stay until early 2020, when his tour with the Tennessee is scheduled to end. Hes also served on subs based in Connecticut, Washington state and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

In March 2003, while serving on the USS Augusta, he was part of a team that shot Tomahawk missiles into Iraq during the early stages of Operation Iraqi Freedom. On the USS Pennsylvania, he was responsible for the engineering department  the nuclear reactor plant and associated steam, electric and hydraulic systems that powered the submarine.

Since he finished college, time in Wyoming comes between deployments. Each trip, he says, has been a welcome opportunity to visit friends and family in the Cowboy State.

Schaffner misses the people most, he said. But the mountains that rise from Wyomings plains are a close second. In fact, he says, some of the same characteristics that attracted him to the mountains also lured him to the sea. He loves the fresh air, open blue sky and sense of solitude.

His appreciation of isolation has come in handy, as a submarine crew spends about half its time at sea, he said. The Tennessee, which like most subs spends roughly 90 percent of its time at sea, is home to two crews  the Gold and the Blue, which take turns being deployed on the sub.

As commanding officer, Schaffner is responsible for the 150-plus people on the Gold crew, including all on-board operations, employment of the weapons system and training. Right now, they are preparing for their next trip out to sea, which Schaffner says is scheduled for the coming months. That preparation involves building operational proficiency using training and simulators, he said.

In fact, thats what he loves most about his job  leading and training the crew to perform at the highest possible level. Its rewarding, he says, because the patriotism, intelligence and professionalism of the USS Tennessee sailors is phenomenal.

He enjoys the people he works with, too.

The sailors and families of the USS Tennessee truly illustrate our submarines motto of America at its Best, he said.
RAWLINS  Wyoming authorities are turning to the Colorado Bureau of Investigations for help answering questions about the mysterious case of a woman who burned to death in 2015 at the bar she owned.

The 2015 death of 47-year-old Denise King Martinez remains a mystery. Martinez caught fire at the County 6 Bar and Grill and died from her injuries two days later.

The exact cause of death, or what caused the fire in the first place, haven't been announced.

Rawlins Police Chief Troy Palmer said the Wyoming Crime Lab has turned over some evidence dispatched to the Colorado Bureau of Investigations for review. Palmer had no guess how long the Colorado review might take.

Rawlins Police have treated the case as a homicide.
Quick, show of hands: How many of you are in favor of Internet service providers selling your browsing history and other personal data to other businesses? When Congress passed a law last week allowing that to happen, how many of you raised a toast to Congress and said Thank you for allowing me to be bombarded with all those targeted advertisements that I have wanted to see for so long? I dont have any polling data to back me up, but common sense suggests that most actual voters do NOT want their privacy invaded in this way. Yet Wyomings entire delegation to Congress just voted unanimously in favor of this law. Were they acting in support of their constituents? Or did they sell your privacy so that Comcast, Verizon, AT&T and other large corporate donors could make more money? One watchdog group recently reviewed data from the National Institute on Money in State Politics and concluded that telecom companies (and their employees) donated the following sums to our Congressional delegation just in the last election cycle: Sen. John Barrasso, $63,000; Sen. Mike Enzi, $45,100; Rep. Liz Cheney, $18,400. This is merely the latest (and by no means the most egregious) example of how corporate money is destroying our democracy. Money in politics has always been a problem, but ever since the Supreme Court, in Citizens United vs. the FEC, decided that corporations may now make donations of money in support of political candidates, the problem is getting much worse, very quickly. We need an amendment to the United States Constitution that declares that corporations are not people, and money is not speech, so that we the people can regain control of our democracy.
We've collected a few front pages from newspapers.com to give you a look at some April 8 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.
Tucson has been luring tourists with its sunny weather for years. Now it wants to promote another attraction for out-of-towners: health care.

Tucsons major hospitals are collaborating with local government in a new push to entice tourists  primarily Mexicans  to come here for medical needs.

The effort, which officials say is a work-in-progress, follows cities like Houston; Tampa, Florida; and Jacksonville, Florida, which are already luring foreign visitors for care ranging from organ transplants to specialized cancer care.

The public-private medical tourism collaboration in Tucson is expected to launch with more specifics during an official announcement Tuesday at Visit Tucson, the regions tourism bureau.

The effort will include a website in Spanish and concierge services to help tourists find the health care they need.

Tucsons healthcare sector is one of our strengths, Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild said in a prepared statement. This new association will help promote Tucson as a health care and wellness destination to international visitors.

Representatives from Banner Health, the Carondelet Health Network, Northwest Medical Center, Tucson Medical Center, Pima County, Tucson and Visit Tucson are part of the collaborative effort. They are calling it the Tucson Health Association.

Officials with Tucson Medical Center, the citys largest hospital, say their vision is to share information with tourists about nonemergency services that are elective. Examples include cardiac, orthopedic (such as total knee replacement) and neurological services, a spokeswoman wrote in an email.

Tucson has, among other things, Southern Arizonas only organ transplant site at Banner- University Medical Center , advanced pediatric oncology care at Banner-Diamond Childrens and numerous specialists who treat skin cancer.

The target market is Mexican families with enough disposable income to pay for medical care in the U.S., said Felipe Garcia, executive vice president of Visit Tucson. He noted some Mexican insurance will pay for certain procedures in the U.S., though he expects most of the visitors will pay out-of-pocket.

Garcia said the effort is collaborative with hospitals and doctors in Mexico and that is how patients will be reached.

If your patient needs a certain procedure we have in the U.S., well take care of it in Tucson, do the surgery and then well send the patient back to Mexico where the provider there can take the next step with recovery, Garcia said.

Affluent patients

Inbound medical tourists who come from other countries to get care in the U.S. are a different demographic from the outbound Americans, including Tucsonans, who go to Mexico for health care.

The care that Americans are most often seeking in Mexico is dental, and also some cosmetic, bariatric and orthopedic surgery. Those patients are usually motivated by saving money and spend on average between $800 to $5,000 per patient, said Josef Woodman, CEO of the North Carolina-based Patients Beyond Borders.

By comparison, medical tourists coming into the U.S. often have extended stays in hotels and leased apartments. They spend on average $30,000 to $40,000 per patient and they can afford it, said Woodman, who has researched the medical tourism industry for 12 years. He described it as a lucrative and important market.

Its a very different demographic. The people leaving for care tend to be folks in the lower- middle class, upper-working class, one condition away from financial trouble. Its all about cost, he said.

The people coming in, its about access. They tend to be affluent people from outside  Africa, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and also Mexico. Its a much higher acuity patient  lung cancer, pediatric patients with complex conditions, for example.

About 250,000 to 300,000 people from other countries come to the U.S. for medical care every year, he said.

Texas Medical Center in Houston  a cluster of nonprofit health providers, including M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and the Texas Childrens Hospital  gets 15,000 medical tourists per year, Garcia said. He said Houston is inspiring to the Tucson effort. The former president and CEO of Texas Medical Center, Dr. Robert C. Robbins, becomes new president of the University of Arizona on June 1.

Doctor database

The effort to market Tucsons health care has been a long time coming, said Teresa Bravo, who is economic development and international projects coordinator for Pima County. She said people sometimes call Visit Tucson asking about medical care here, and until now theres been no coordinated resources to give them.

Visit Tucson will coordinate the efforts directly  including developing a website and hiring a concierge to connect patients with medical care in Tucson and Pima County.

Part of the effort will include collecting data on the kind of care that tourists are getting here, Bravo said.

Specific initiatives for the local medical tourism effort will include developing comprehensive data related to medical and wellness institutions in the region, creating a database of doctors and their specialties through the Pima County Medical Society and developing a marketing plan in partnership with health and medical institutions, Pima Countys current economic development plan says.

Rothschilds two-year plan for Tucson includes the medical tourism initiative specifically, to build on existing strengths, such as our treatment and research facilities, physicians, medical school, hospitals and integrative medicine providers to establish Tucson as a health care and wellness destination, it says.

The new local collaboration plans to market a health care experience tailored to any international consumer. But there will be a focus on the Northern Mexico area, including the nearly 6 million citizens of Sonora and Sinaloa, leaders of the effort say.

Eventually, the intent is to also market to Canada, Bravo said.

Theres a lot that we need to learn. We looked at other medical clusters in the U.S. and theres not really a model we can duplicate, Bravo said. Well learn and well make adjustments as we go.

Pima County and Visit Tucson attended the 2016 World Medical Tourism Congress in Washington, D.C. to learn best practices and begin developing international networks, the countys economic development plan says.

Bravo said the new collaboration hopes to track the reasons that foreigners get medical care here, whether its for a particular specialty due to shorter wait times, or another reason.

Other communities with excellent medical care like Orlando, Florida, and Las Vegas have tried to similarly position themselves as medical tourism destinations. But it usually takes some time for cities and regions to establish and brand themselves, said Woodman of Patients Beyond Borders.

Folks tend to go to the brand. They are going to go to a Texas Children or M.D. Anderson or Cleveland Clinic or Mayo.  But what Tucson has going for it is geographical proximity, Woodman said.

Promoters need a narrative  a story they can tell. It could be around a specialty that is attracting people that no other city or region could attract. You cant just have a good medical infrastructure and say, hey, yall come! It takes a while to be recognized.
Its official: Dr. Robert C. Robbins is the next University of Arizona president.

Robbins contract, approved Friday by the Arizona Board of Regents, will pay him $988,000 in salary and benefits, $200,000 of which will come from a UA Foundation endowment for presidential leadership.

He will be the highest-paid state university president in Arizona history, though he will take a pay cut from the $1.2 million-plus salary he receives as CEO of Texas Medical Center.

Robbins past experience includes his tenure as professor and chairman of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Stanford University School of Medicine, where he was the founding director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute. He is an internationally recognized cardiac surgeon and researcher.

The UA is a central part of the Tucson community, and being its leader is a critical position, Robbins said.

I take that responsibility very seriously, the new president said Friday.

Robbins emphasized the challenge in trying to do more with less resources, referring to declining state funding for public universities.

On that, Robbins said diversifying revenue sources, whether through philanthropy or partnerships, would be critical.

He said his focus would be on undergraduate students education, growing research, experiential education such as internships, forging partnerships and collaboration, creating well-rounded students and easing the burden of obtaining higher education.

We want to make education accessible to every one of our students, Robbins said.

Robbins pay package puts him ahead of President Michael Crow, who earns $788,000 as the top administrator of Arizona State University, the largest post-secondary institution in the state.

Crow said he would not be seeking a raise. I never asked for more money in my life, he said. Im not going to start now.

Robbins, 59, will replace Ann Weaver Hart, whose UA presidency was riddled with controversy regarding her role on the board of the for-profit education firm that runs DeVry University.

The private college was subject to lawsuits claiming the school deceived its students about post-graduation job prospects.

Hart was paid $170,000 in salary and stock for that role.

The outgoing UA president submitted her resignation last year following criticism from hundreds of Arizonans and community organizations.

The Regents board awarded Hart a medal for her work at the UA. Regent Ron Shoopman said during the meeting that Hart tackled adversity with tenacity and courage.

Robbins first day is June 1. Hart will continue to receive her $670,000 presidential pay package until June 2018.

She will transition to her role as tenured university professor and will be on sabbatical during the 2018-2019 academic year.
PHOENIX  A key architect of the greatly expanded school-voucher plan approved Thursday is already looking to undermine the compromise provision that secured its passage.

In a message to financial supporters late Thursday, Darcy Olsen, chief executive officer of the Goldwater Institute, said Arizonans who want more state money given so parents can send their children to private and parochial schools should not be dismayed about the cap of about 30,000 vouchers in the final legislation.

We will get it lifted, Olsen said.

Olsen didnt even wait until Gov. Doug Ducey penned his approval hours later to the delicately crafted deal, which makes all 1.1 million students in Arizona public schools eligible to get state money to attend private and parochial schools, but sets the 30,000-voucher cap.

The Goldwater Institute participated in that deal, which managed to get the bare minimum 31 votes in the House and 16 in the Senate to secure approval.

Olsens comments angered state Sen. Bob Worsley, a Mesa Republican who brought all the interests together and corralled the votes.

I just think its deplorable that she would put that in print, he said, especially since Olsen was involved in the talks.

She was negotiating in bad faith with us if that was her intention, Worsley said.

An aide said Olsen was not available to comment. In her place, Goldwater President Victor Riches said that her message, meant for long-time donors, should not be taken as a vow to start working to remove the cap  at least not yet.

It was probably not very artfully worded, I would say, Riches said.

But Riches, who acknowledged Goldwaters role in the final deal, would not commit to waiting the full six years  thats how long the deal limits voucher enrollment  before trying to get the cap removed.

Were not interested in making any changes right now, he said. But Riches said he could foresee a scenario where waiting makes no sense.

Lets just say the present cap is hit and there are 20,000 people on the equivalent of a wait list, he said. Would we want to reevaluate that? Yes.

Worsley said that is directly contrary to the purpose of the cap, which will be about 30,000 by the 2022-23 school year. He said the next six years are designed to be an experiment to see if its appropriate to keep the cap, increase it, or get rid of it entirely.

He said the six-year period gives the Goldwater Institute and other supporters of vouchers plenty of freedom to make the case for further expansion.

Worsley had a message for the institute and anyone else who intends to try to make changes before then: That will not happen while Im in the Legislature.

However, with term limits, Worsley can serve in the Senate only through 2020.

Someone who could be in office longer is Ducey. If reelected next year, his term would run through 2022.

And the governor, a self-professed supporter of school choice, will not commit to keeping the voucher limits in place through the end of his time in office.

We have to see how the program works, his press aide Daniel Scarpinato said when asked if Ducey would veto any changes before then. Scarpinato said its premature to even be talking about changes as the law has not yet taken effect.

The ability of Olsen to pull apart the deal and scrap the cap could be dependent on whether the governor goes along.

The Goldwater Institute has links with the governor.

Riches was previously Duceys deputy chief of staff. Christina Corieri, Duceys education policy adviser came from the Goldwater Institute.

Ducey also tapped prior Clint Bolick, who was Goldwaters vice president for litigation, as his first pick for the Arizona Supreme Court.

And that doesnt count former Goldwater staffers elsewhere in the Republican power structure, including Michael Hunter as chief of staff to House Speaker J.D. Mesnard.

The cap Worsley wants protected is the centerpiece of the deal.

Arizona has had vouchers since 2011 when lawmakers agreed to give money to parents of students with special needs who say their youngsters cannot get their needs met in public schools. Since then there has been incremental expansion to cover children on Indian reservations, students in schools rated D and F, and foster care children.

All along, however, there have been caps, currently about 5,000 students a year, though only about 3,800 have enrolled. Those caps, however, had been set to end after 2019.

This year, Sen. Debbie Lesko, R-Peoria, sought to remove all those limits on who was eligible, entitling all 1.1 million students in Arizona schools to get a state-funded voucher, formally known as an empowerment scholarship account, to attend a private or parochial school.

That proved unpalatable to a majority of lawmakers.

The new law Worsley shepherded through the Legislature on Thursday phases out all of the restrictions between now and 2021 on who can seek a voucher.

On paper, that would make all public school students eligible for a voucher. But under the deal, a cap would remain, though it would increase slowly to about 30,000 by the 2022-2023 school year.

The cap swayed enough lawmakers to support expanded vouchers, but without a single vote to spare.

For example, Rep. Maria Syms, R-Paradise Valley, said she was convinced to go along because the bill phases in expansion and puts a firm cap on the current programs unlimited expansion.

Another key change deals with the cost of the vouchers, which are debit cards given to parents of eligible children to spend on everything from tuition and fees at private schools to tutors and supplies for those who educate their children at home.

Under current law, a student without special needs coming from a public school would be eligible for a voucher of about $5,600 a year. That actually is more than the state now provides in aid to the district had the student remained in public school.

The final version of the bill decreases that basic voucher to $4,400.

Worsley said he tried to get a means test which would have narrowed the eligibility to the most needy but couldnt win support for that. What he did secure is a provision that provides a 10 percent boost in the voucher for students coming from homes where family income is less than 250 percent of the federal poverty level, a figure that currently equals $60,750 for a family of four.

There also is, for the first time, some public accountability for whether the vouchers result in better educational outcomes.

Any student in grades 3 through 12 is required to annually take either a nationally recognized or state-approved assessment of reading and math.

While individual results are reported to the parents, any school that accepts at least 50 students who are using vouchers to pay for tuition must also post the aggregate test scores of all students, voucher or not, in each grade.
Heres how area members of Congress voted on major issues in the week ending April 7.

House

Stock Compensation

for Employees

The House on April 4 voted, 331-87, to make it easier for private firms to offer stock compensation to employees without triggering Securities and Exchange Commission disclosure requirements. The bill raises from $5 million to $10 million the threshold in stock compensation over 12 months before SEC rules are invoked. A yes vote was to send HR 1343 to the Senate.

Voting yes: Tom OHalleran, D-Congressional District 1; Martha McSally, R-CD2; Paul Gosar, R-CD4; Andy Biggs, R-CD5; David Schweikert, R-CD6; Trent Franks, R-CD8; Kyrsten Sinema, D-CD9

Voting no: Raul Grijalva, D-CD3; Ruben Gallego, D-CD7

Not voting: None

Congressional

Trump-Russia Probes

The House on April 4 refused, 185-228, to deny benefits under HR 1343 to any firm whose officers or directors withhold from congressional committees information about ties between aides to candidate Donald Trump and Russian officials aimed at shaping the outcome of the 2016 presidential race. A yes vote was to adopt the Democratic motion.

Yes: OHalleran, Grijalva, Gallego, Sinema

No: McSally, Gosar, Biggs, Schweikert, Franks

Stop-Loss Insurance Rules

The House on April 5 voted, 400-16, to prohibit future federal regulation of stop-loss insurance as health insurance under laws including the Affordable Care Act. This would benefit self-funded company health plans that use stop-loss policies to protect against catastrophic losses. A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.

Yes: OHalleran, McSally, Gosar, Biggs, Schweikert, Gallego, Franks, Sinema

No: Grijalva

Tax Code Reform, Trump Finances

The House on April 5 killed, 228-185, a Democratic motion to force consideration of a resolution that would block action on tax-reform legislation until after the Ways and Means Committee has privately reviewed President Trumps tax returns from 2007-2016 to determine how proposed tax-code changes would affect his finances. A yes vote was to kill the motion.

Yes: McSally, Gosar, Biggs, Schweikert, Franks

No: OHalleran, Grijalva, Gallego, Sinema

Easing Venture Capital Rules

The House on April 6 voted, 417-3, to raise from 100 to 250 the number of investors allowed to join so-called angel private-equity funds before Securities and Exchange Commission registration rules take effect. Together, they could pool up to $10 million for purchasing nonpublic, unregistered securities in promising start-ups and other enterprises that seek capital. A yes vote was to pass a bill (HR 1219) that would spur investment in start-up firms.

Yes: OHalleran, McSally, Grijalva, Gosar, Biggs, Schweikert, Gallego, Franks, Sinema

No: None

Senate

Elaine Duke Confirmation

The Senate on April 4 confirmed, 85-14, Elaine C. Duke as deputy secretary in the Department of Homeland Security, the departments second-ranking official. A yes vote was to confirm Duke, a highly regarded manager who has held homeland-security posts under GOP and Democratic presidents.

Yes: John McCain, R; Jeff Flake, R

Winning Filibuster Against Gorsuch

The Senate on April 6 failed, 55-45, to reach 60 votes for ending a Democratic filibuster against the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch. This prompted GOP leaders to immediately invoke the nuclear option and set a simple majority as the bar for advancing high-court nominees. A yes vote was to end a filibuster against the Gorsuch nomination.

Yes: McCain, Flake

Choosing The Nuclear Option

Voting 48-52, the Senate on April 6 changed filibuster rules to set a simple-majority vote as the bar that must be cleared for advancing Supreme Court nominees. This replaced three-fifths majorities (usually 60 votes) as the hurdle. A yes vote was to avert the nuclear option and retain the 60-vote standard. A no vote was to change the rules and lower the standard.

No: McCain, Flake

Confirming Justice

Neil Gorsuch

The Senate on April 7 confirmed, 54-45, Judge Neil M. Gorsuch of the Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals as the 113th Supreme Court justice. Gorsuch, 49, fills a vacancy created when Justice Antonin Scalia died in February 2016. The GOP majority kept the seat open during Barack Obamas final 10 months as president by refusing to act on his nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to replace Scalia. A yes vote was to confirm Gorsuch.

Yes: McCain, Flake
iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- After launching air strikes against a Syrian air base on Thursday, the U.S. indicated that while it had no plans for any further escalation against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, it could not be totally ruled out either.



"We are prepared to do more, but we hope that will not be necessary," Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said during an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting on Friday. "The United States will not stand by when chemical weapons are used. It is in our vital national security interest to prevent the spread and use of chemical weapons."



U.S. lawmakers, even those who supported the U.S. strikes, were unsure what the Trump administration might do next to follow up its policy.



We dont have the benefit of a larger strategy, for the same reason that I think the previous administration had difficulty coming up with a strategy, because its very, very complicated, Sen. John Cornyn, the second-highest ranking Republican in the Senate, said Friday after a meeting with the Chair of Joint Chiefs of Staff.



"It was fuzzy in terms of where do we go from here," added Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "Essentially, the vice president's going to be contacting Congress within the next few days, give us an indication of where their heads are at [in the White House]."



Assad's office said in a statement Friday that the U.S. "naively followed a false and lying propaganda campaign" that led it to "carry out this irresponsible recklessness."



While the Syrian air base targeted by the U.S. strike incurred heavy damage, two Syrian jets were nonetheless able to take off Friday from the location to carry out strikes on areas under ISIS control in the countryside of eastern Homs, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.



The Syrian government responded to Thursday night's U.S. strike on its Shaayrat air base by quickly fixing the base and allowing the two planes to take off from there, the human rights organization said.



A U.S. official said Syrian planes took off from the base Friday but did not confirm the actions subsequently taken.



Meanwhile, Haley and other Trump administration officials like Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have blasted Russia for its military support of the Syrian government, and called on Moscow to change its calculus after the U.S. strikes.



Tillerson is slated to travel to Moscow next week for meetings with Russian officials.



"The world is waiting for the Russian government to act responsibly in Syria," Haley said Friday. "The world is waiting for Russia to reconsider its misplaced alliance with Bashar Assad."



Yet there was little evidence that any change was coming.



Speaking at the same U.N. Security Council session, Russia's deputy U.N. envoy offered a scathing rejoinder to the U.S. actions.



"We strongly condemn the illegitimate actions by the U.S.," said Vladimir Safronkov. "The consequences of this for regional and international stability could be extremely serious."



Iran and Russia have been the Assad government's primary national backers during the six-year old Syrian civil war.



Meanwhile, many U.S. allies registered support for Thursday's military action.



The Saudi Press Agency on Saturday said that Saudi King Salman called President Trump on Friday to express his support for the U.S. attack, which he called a "courageous decision."



Turkey indicated on Saturday it hoped the Trump administration would do more.



Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called the attack a "cosmetic intervention" unless Assad is forced from power.



Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
For four Indian tribes that grow melons, wheat, cotton, onions and alfalfa near the Colorado River, fallowing cropland will bring extra money. It will also get the Colorado River Indian Tribes name out as a water player, part of the solution to the Southwests water shortages.

And, says Tribal Councilwoman Amelia Flores, its a way to get other cropland into production and to upgrade their irrigation equipment.

The tribes are starting a federally financed fallowing program this year to save water for Lake Mead. They are among many looking more closely at fallowing as a way of coping with tightening water supplies.

Farmers from the Colorado to the Rio Grande are temporarily leasing water to cities and in a few cases to the federal government. While some of the deals are highly complex, the basic principle is simple.

Farmers get money, often to upgrade drill rigs, irrigation works and other equipment. Agencies get water, sometimes for themselves, other times to store in Lake Mead  an important reservoir that serves water to Tucson and Phoenix.

The practice is at least 20 years old in this region, but has gained steam recently as concerns have grown over the health of Mead due to drought and a long-term water deficit there.

Backers say fallowing is an alternative to buy and dry, in which farmland is permanently extinguished so thirsty cities can support future growth. But even temporary fallowing can be controversial. Some farming advocates say it should be done only to help those who buy or lease water rights through temporary shortfalls caused by droughts or other emergencies.

At a recent conference and workshop in Tucson, more than a half-dozen farmers, farming advocates and irrigation district officials shared stories, hopes and concerns about fallowing.

Fallowing has the potential to be a huge factor in protecting Lake Mead, said Brad Udall, a Colorado State University water researcher who organized the Tucson workshop.

Practices also include replacing water-sucking alfalfa with less-thirsty fruits and vegetables and deficit irrigation that reduces or halts irrigation. During recent dry summers, these practices helped keep the Colorado River out of shortage , Udall said.

But Dan Keppen, director of the Family Farm Alliance, an advocacy group, said farmers often initially resist fallowing programs, though theyre sometimes forced into them.

One of the programs biggest challenges is the divide that fallowing creates in a community. Certain individuals will benefit from the outside money. Those members of a community who rely on having acreage in production are the most affected and have the most anti-fallowing voices, Keppen told a gathering of 375 at a University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center conference.

By the same token, sometimes folks feel theyve got to be realistic: We cooperate and stay in business, or we fight and lose.

Some examples of fallowing include:

The Imperial Irrigation District in Imperial County near El Centro, California, will finish a 15-year program in June in which the San Diego Water Authority has paid its farmers $140 million to keep 50,000 acres out of production and save 1.6 million acre-feet of Colorado River water for urban use. Thats what the Central Arizona Project delivers to Tucson and other Arizona cities and farms in a year. Imperial controls the biggest share of Colorado River water about 3.1 million acre-feet a year.

The Colorado River Indian Tribes, based near Parker, Arizona, are starting their three-year, pilot fallowing program financed by the Bureau of Reclamation later this year. Its part of whats called a regional system conservation program in which the feds pay farmers and other water users across the river basin. The four tribes, joint owners of a nearly 270,000-acre reservation, hope to conserve about 15,400 acre-feet per year by fallowing 1,590 acres.

The Palo Verde Irrigation District near Blythe, California, is the poster child for farm-to-urban water transfers, said Jack Seiler, a district trustee. Its in the middle of a 35-year deal, ending in 2039, with Southern Californias giant Metropolitan Water District to fallow up to nearly 26,000 acres a year. The Met has bought 7,300 acres of district land. It pays owners of the other fallowed lands $3,170 an acre to enter the program and an annual, escalating fee now at about $800 per acre.

In southern New Mexico, the Elephant Butte Irrigation District along the Rio Grande is going through environmental reviews for a major fallowing program to start in 2018. As its planned, farmers and cities in the lower Rio Grande in New Mexico and West Texas would ink forbearance agreements. Farmers wouldnt pump groundwater onto fallowed cropland and would use their surface water on other parcels or lease that surface water to other farmers to use to replace groundwater.

Just west of Yuma, Southern Californias Bard Water District is in its second year of fallowing Colorado River water for the Metropolitan Water District. The Met pays farmers $300 an acre and the water district another $100 per acre. At this point, its not known how much water the district has saved.

As the programs typically work, farmers can only fallow land that has been in production for a significant percentage of the previous few years before the fallowing starts. They typically dont fallow land every year; its often fallowed two to four out of five years.

University of Arizona law professor Robert Glennon, who has written extensively about water issues, sees fallowing as one of many tools to save water. But in researching his 2009 book Unquenchable about water, he found both positives and negatives in fallowing programs.

The Imperial water deal with San Diego gave the district money to line many of its irrigation canals and fix the canals headgates, he said. The idea was that once the improvements were made, the district could bring the 50,000 acres it had fallowed back into production.

I think thats terrific. You have to have the endgame of keeping rural communities vibrant over the long term, Glennon said.

He was less supportive, however, of the Palo Verde-Metropolitan Water District arrangement. The original fallowing deal was a smoking deal for farmers  who wouldnt grab this opportunity?  but that didnt mean it was good for the Blythe community, he said.

The money the districts farmers get each year from the Met was way more than the farmers could make growing alfalfa, Glennon said.

But where the lands will be fallowed, the farmers not only lose their jobs, but the John Deere dealers wont have as much equipment to sell. The lawyers and accountants and restaurants lost money, he said.

Paula Hayden, the districts fallowing coordinator, said she doesnt think the fallowing has hurt the surrounding communitys economy. The Met put $6 million into a community fund to help the region cope with fallowing. For farms, the fallowing saved quite a few of them because of the $3,170 monthly bonus they got, she said.
Home & Patio Show

Cowie Lewis, with West Coast Innovations, demonstrates the silicon sprayers in The Ultimate Showerhead, their flexible position shower head during the Southern Arizona Home Builders Association (SAHBA) Home & Patio Show at the Tucson Convention Center. in Tucson, AZ. on Friday, April 7, 2017. The show runs through April 9.
SEATTLE (AP)  Ed Murray led a long campaign to legalize same-sex marriage in Washington state, toiled for nearly two decades as a state lawmaker and won his biggest personal political victory in 2013 when he unseated Seattle's incumbent mayor by promising the ultra-liberal city to raise the minimum hourly wage to $15.

Just as he took on a role as a high-profile critic of President Trump and prepared to launch a re-election campaign, Murray was hit Thursday with a political bombshell  accusations from three men that Murray sexually abused them in the 1980s.

On Friday, Murray held a brief news conference to deny allegations in a lawsuit by one man, saying "they were very painful for me. It was painful for my husband." Through a spokesman he has also denied the allegations by the other men.

He said he will not step down and is sticking to re-election campaign plans but refused to answer reporters' questions, saying the case "is now a legal matter that is in the courts."

Murray's spokesman, Jeff Reading, previously suggested unnamed Murray enemies were behind the claims. "It is not a coincidence that this shakedown effort comes within weeks of the campaign filing deadline," Reading said.

Calls to city councilmembers earlier for Friday for comment about the mayor and what impact the allegations could mean for his political future went unreturned.

Murray, 61, grew up in working class neighborhoods in and around Seattle as one of seven children in an Irish Catholic family and became one of the state's most prominent political figures.

"Things have never come easily to me in life, but I have never backed down and I will not back down now," Murray told reporters in remarks that lasted less than two minutes.

As a young man, he considered joining the priesthood and spent a year at a seminary in 1976 before studying sociology at the University of Portland, a private Catholic institution.

Murray ended up working as a paralegal with public defender lawyers in Portland before returning to Seattle and joining the vanguard of the gay rights movement in the 1980s, serving as campaign manager for Cal Anderson, a Seattle state senator who was the state's first openly gay member.

Anderson, Murray's mentor, died in 1995. Murray failed in his bid to win Anderson's seat, but he was appointed to fill the legislative seat of the state representative who won the state senate campaign.

During his 18 years as a state lawmaker, Murray was the prime sponsor of Washington's gay marriage law, spearheaded an effort to protect LGBTQ youth in public schools and led the state's push to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.

"As a legislator, Ed was a warrior for core Democratic values," said state Sen. Reuven Carlyle, a fellow Seattle Democrat. "He was unquestionably a tough negotiator with an eye on the long game for progress."

The 2013 mayoral race was a bruising campaign that focused on whether Murray would be more liberal and effective than incumbent Mike McGinn, a fellow Democrat, in the notoriously difficult city to govern because of competing liberal factions and an older, established political order resistant to change.

Murray kept his promise about the minimum wage increase. The higher minimum wage was phased in over time. Murray also recently fought to boost funding to address Seattle's homelessness crisis.

Murray has been with his partner, Michael Shiosaki, for 24 years. They married in 2013. Shiosaki hugged Murray after he made his statement Friday.

"He's ambitious," state Sen. Jamie Pedersen, a fellow Democrat, said of Murray. "Not that he's always right  there are issues I disagree with him on. But when you look at the agenda that he had and what he's been able to accomplish in four years, he's done a huge amount for the city."

After Trump was elected last fall, Murray became a frequent critic. He announced last week that Seattle was suing over Trump's executive order that threatens to withhold federal funds from communities that refuse to cooperate with efforts to find and deport immigrants in the country illegally.

Murray on Thursday afternoon was planning on touting new numbers showing progress made by the Seattle Police Department under federal supervision  until the news broke of the lawsuit by a man who is now 46 and said in court documents that the mayor "raped and molested him" over a period of several years beginning in 1986.

The man identified only by his initials, D.H., said he was 15 and addicted to crack cocaine at the time and that Murray was in his 30s.

On Friday Murray said D.H.'s allegations "are simply not true" and said he felt sad for the "troubled" individual.

The man's, Lincoln Beauregard, sent a letter Friday to Murray's lawyer offering to make D.H. available for a video deposition and disputed that the lawsuit was politically motivated. Following Murray's statement Beauregard said Murray wasn't being truthful. He said the mayor's representatives never asked for his client's identity and that if Murray is being forthright "he should have no idea who my client is ... how can he paint him as 'troubled.' "

In the lawsuit filed Thursday, however, the man had said he had sought mental health counseling and was taking part in addiction-recovery programs.

The two others who made allegations against Murray told The Seattle Times (http://bit.ly/2oOAwXY) they met him while living in a Portland center for troubled teens. Jeff Simpson and Lloyd Anderson said they were paid for sex in the 1980s and would testify.

An entry in a case-tracking system shows that the Multnomah County District Attorney's office rejected pursuing a third-degree sodomy case against Murray in 1984, District Attorney Don Rees said.

Portland police have found no records linking either man to Murray, said Sgt. Pete Simpson of the Portland Police Bureau.

___

This story has been updated to correct the spelling of state Sen. Jamie Pedersen's last name.

___

La Corte reported from Olympia, Washington. Associated Press writers Steven DuBois and Kristena Hansen in Portland, Oregon, and Phuong Le in Seattle contributed to this report.
Help India!

TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter

On Friday, various political and human rights groups collectively held a grand protest in Kota district of Rajasthan against lynching and subsequent death of Pahlu Khan. Protesters accused the state home minister Gulab Chand Kataria for failing the state administration. Therefore the demand for resignation of Home minister was also raised by the protesters.

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Pahlu Khan was lynched and later succumbed to injuries when a group of cow vigilantes attacked him in Alwar district of Rajasthan. The gruesome incident was referred to as nothing such happened by Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, the Minister for Minority Affairs.

Welfare Party of India and Social Democratic Party of India were among the main organizers of the protest.

Muhammad Khalid, the state president of youth wing of WPI, said that everyone has to respect faith and religion of others, but crime and hooliganism will not be tolerated. He said, If administration doesnt stop public from taking law in hands, there soon will be situations like civil war in the state.

District president of WPI Asif Hussain asked for capital punishment against the key accused in this case. He said, those policeman should also be punished who stood and watched the whole lynching accident.

Protesters also asked for Presidential rule in the state, saying the ruling BJP government is incompetent.

Protesters asked for an early resignation from Home Minister Gulabchand Kataria for being incompetent in handling the public administration. They handed a memorandum of appeal before district collector for Chief Minister of Rajasthan, a copy of which is sent to Honble Supreme Court, High Court of Rajasthan and National Human Rights Commission.
Everyone is focused on what Brexit means for Britain, but why are we not focusing on what's happening on our doorsteps, our local areas? We need to start thinking about how our so-called local councils are working for us, and how they are not working for us. More and more Local Councils are being moved away from the area they are responsible for, meaning that people who don't live in that town or village are making the decisions for it. How can these people know what the area needs if they don't actually know it, they don't live there, and they don't listen to the people who do?

My local council, who used to be in our town centre, has moved to our rival market town 40 miles away - how does that make any sense? Thanks to this move, for money saving reasons, my town is now having so many changes to it decided by people who don't seem to have a clue what the town actually needs. Residents are outraged. Not only are people, who don't care, making the decisions, the town our council has merged with used the money allocated to my town to develop their own! How is that allowed?

Where has the community spirit gone?

Corruption within local councils is making it impossible for towns to keep their integrity and traditional practices. For example, local residents and businesses in my town have protested against and partitioned against the development of a new bus station for years now and lost the battle last year.

Fair enough a new bus station but they have moved it from the town centre to outside the town centre, making access to businesses and services more difficult for our ageing community, disabled people, and everyone else. Not only does the new bus station look awful, the lack of design is embarrassing and it's not in keeping with the traditional little market town we are.

But the worst thing about the change of the bus station is the corruption behind it. The reason for moving the bus station is so the original bus station can be developed by our previous Mayor who owns the land there, making a massive profit by creating an empty shops that we don't need, funnily enough, he proposed the idea and made sure it was implemented.

What we do need is for our council to support and help our community.

We want to be listened to and we want our council to provide the services we pay for.

There are businesses having to pay for simple services that should be included in the business rates we pay, services such as Christmas lights for example. The town that our council moved to get their's paid for by the council but not us. Flower baskets, street cleaning, and even bin collection for some businesses isn't included! How is that? What are we actually paying our taxes for? However, the large country-wide business that owns the department store in the centre of our town gets support paying their rates, whereas the small local businesses get no such support.

It's time we went back to local councils and not county councils, it's not working. The people making the decisions aren't being fair and they don't actually care about the town.

The level of corruption is getting out of hand.

Recently my town created a local BID scheme where businesses can pay into the scheme in order to get the services that should really be provided by the council already.

A year after creating this system local business owners are refusing to pay the 'voluntary' payment for this scheme because they haven't seen any of the promised services technically making the contract null and void; the council has sent out a court summons to over 100 of the businesses for not paying the 'voluntary' payment - obviously business owners are outraged!

Refusal to pay is also because they have found out that the money raised by the scheme, around 10,000, is going to be used for a road sweeping service which apparently is a service the council should provide already, but don't.

So, in other words, the council have used the money for services they can't afford to provide at the moment because of all the budget cuts made by the Government. Once again corruption within local government is outrageously obvious to everyone involved yet nothing can be done about it because any protest against it is ignored. But not anymore, the council cannot ignore over 100 business owners' outrage.

It's time something was done about this corruption, and it's time communities were listened to.

We need to support our local communities and stop focusing so much on what the rest of the World is doing. What about us?

#communityspirit

#localcouncils
Can we get a few days without a terrorist attack, please? Westminster Bridge, St. Petersburg, Syria, when does it end? This time, Stockholm, the capital city of Sweden, was the target. Eyewitness Veronica Durango told CNN the story: a truck driver put his foot on the gas and ran through the crowd. She described the attack as like driving through paper...like it was nothing. She said she was in complete disbelief at how a person could do such a thing. After the attack, after killing and maiming these people, Durango said the driver just kept on going, leaving her in shock.

Police arrested a suspect north of Stockholm

Later on Friday following the attack, police arrested a man just north of Stockholm on suspicion of a terrorist crime. Police spokesman Mats Eriksson (Stockholm polices own Sean Spicer) said that it is likely that the man arrested was the driver of the truck.

However, he added that even if he is, that would not exclude the possibility of future arrests related to the truck attack.

Found in the cab of the truck used in the Stockholm attack was a bag of undetonated explosives. The truck was stolen just a few minutes before it was used to mow down a crowd of people, where it had been making a delivery at a restaurant (it was a beer truck). This was reported this morning by Swedens public TV station SVT. The explosives were reportedly a homemade bomb and were not properly exploded, according to police sources, but enough damage was done to leave the truck driver with burns, which made him easier to find.

Stockholm news outlets have reported that after the truck was hijacked during a beer delivery, it was driven at high speed down Drottninggatan (translation: Queen Street) through dozens of people and crashed into a department store.

Authorities are investigating whether more people were involved

While its great that the attacker has potentially been caught, he was just the one driving the truck. Theres still more at play here, and there were possibly more people involved in the planning of the attack. Stockholm authorities are investigating the possibility that more than one person was involved.

Stefan Lofven, the Prime Minister of Sweden, told reporters in an official statement, Everything indicates this is a terror attack. Eriksson has yet to be informed of any information regarding the bag of explosives that was discovered in the cab of the truck. Apparently the prosecutor has until 12 non on Tuesday to ask the Stockholm court to send the suspect to jail.

Drottninggatan has been cordoned off

Queen Street, the street in Stockholm where the attack took place, has been cordoned off for further investigation. The truck has been removed during the night from the department store it has been wedged into. The street is being guarded by officers armed to the teeth and a handful of police vans. Mourners have arrived on the scene to show solidarity to the victims, laying down flowers at the site of the attack.

Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and her husband Prince Daniel arrived in Stockholm to pay tribute to the victims of the attack at the scene of the crash. The princess dressed in black and cried to the point of almost being unable to speak as she gave a touching speech about the enormous sorrow and emptiness that she feels.

Isabella Lovin, the Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden, also paid tribute, mentioning the number of similar attacks happening across the globe, and said that we have to stand up for our open society in the face of Terrorism.

29-year-old Habib Jlassi, who lives in Stockholm and drives a bus at night to get by, appeared at the scene of the attack with his three-year-old daughter to show that we are not afraid and that we are stronger than them.
Last night, the Pullman Hotel in Miami unveiled the first phase of its urban art murals collection. Local street artists Tatiana Suarez, Abstrkt, Quake, Evoca 1, Hoxxoh and Jessy Nite were all commissioned to paint murals on the walls of the Pullman to give travelers a taste of Miami. In truth, on the cab ride in from the airport, they could see the guard post and the outside facade of the hotel touched by the artists (Abstrkt). Artist Quake painted his mural of the Pullman brand itself (starting long ago as a railroad company). Artist Evoca 1 drew the mythical Atlas mural in the hotel lobby.

Atlas in copper colors gives off a grandiose feeling to the viewer as if the wall is bigger because of his responsibility. Hoxxoh, aka Douglas Hoekzema, gave the people and employees at La Riviera restaurant his mural. Jessy Nite and Tatiana Suarez painted murals at the Le Bar lounge and the second floor for the interested. Art advisor Sebastian Laboureau, addressed the invitees and brought up the important point that the average time someone looks at an art piece is 12 seconds.

Art is not just for the rich, it is 'humanity'

Street art, as Mr. Laboureau pointed out, is not just vandalism and crude graffiti. It wasn't invented by the French in the late 1950's either but it is a unique medium that shows the expression of the human being in large form (think of cave paintings, he pointed out).

In addressing the crowd, Abstrkt said it best that the Pullman (previously Hotel Sofitel) is a landmark along the East-West expressway from the suburbs on the way to the beach. A tourist might only sightsee and look at the Bank of America building, the Inter-Continental or the Freedom Tower as Miami landmarks and natives may have blinked too many times along the stretch and missed the hotel.

Artist Quake spoke about listening to Country music to inspire him to make the journey back to the mighty Pullman trains which made him focus more on his mural. He said he spliced the painting into sections because that is how he felt it would best speak to the viewer and in explaining this, it could give the viewer a better understanding and appreciation of the piece.

Miami is more than just its boundaries

Abstrkt said it best that the Pullman (previously the Hotel Sofitel) is a landmark along the East-West expressway from the suburbs on the way to the beach. A tourist might only sightsee along the boundaries of the City of Miami itself and the beach and a native might have blinked too many times and missed the hotel. Greater Miami is a treasure in its size and for natives and tourists, the beauty is everywhere. The murals at the Pullman present another aspect of the true character and personality of Miami which they don't have to wait to see in traffic, trying to navigate the arteries in Wynwood. In speaking with Abstrkt he expressed that Wynwood has become saturated and artists are thirsting for new walls and open areas to paint which was why the partnership with Mr.

Laboureau was so opportune. Any Miamian can truly say that braving the traffic to cross the county can be costly, so having benefits such as the Urban Art collection can put people in touch with art they may never see.
One of the biggest stories following the election of Donald Trump was the Russian "dossier" that appeared to link the president to the Russian government. While Trump has denied any wrongdoing, at least one Democratic member of Congress says otherwise.

Trump exposed?

Just weeks before he was scheduled to be sworn into office, Donald Trump and his administration were rocked by a bombshell report released by CNN. The report in question was in the form of a 35-page "dossier" that showed apparent ties between the former host of "The Apprentice" and the Russian government.

The dossier was put together by Christopher Steele, a former British spy, who was forced into hiding after the information went public. While CNN did not confirm or deny the claims made in the documents, Buzzfeed reported that one of the tidbits included Trump taking part in Sex Acts with Russian prostitutes, which included watching two women engage in the act known as a "golden shower." As expected, Trump quickly pushed back at the report, labeling it "fake news," and then targeting both CNN and Buzzfeed during a follow-up press conference. This issue was brought up once against during a March 9 interview on MSNBC when Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters claimed that the sex allegations were true.

Rep. Maxine Waters claims on @MSNBC that the sex allegations about Trump in the Russian dossier are true. pic.twitter.com/cd5LNmL0eo  Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 9, 2017

Joining MSNBC host Ali Velshi was Rep. Maxine Waters, who didn't hold back her thoughts about Donald Trump and the allegations of his ties to Russia.

I think they should really read it, understand it, analyze it," Waters said of Republicans critical of the dossier, while adding that it should then be "determine(d) whats fact and what may not be fact." Not stopping there, the California Democratic addressed the allegations of sexual acts.

Dem lawmaker claims, without evidence, that some Trump dossier allegations are true https://t.co/OOowOLURV1 pic.twitter.com/KLx910itTA  The Hill (@thehill) March 9, 2017

Double down

"We already know that the part about the coverage that they have on him with sex actions is supposed to be true," Maxine Waters said, while adding, "Theyve said its absolutely true." After being pressed about whether or not she really believed those allegations are accurate, Waters simply responded that "the investigations must be done...we must get to the facts."

Next up

As of press time, Donald Trump has not commented on Waters' remarks, and has instead attempted to shift the narrative on the issue at hand.

Over the last week, Trump has called for investigations into Democratic leaders Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Nancy Pelosi over their baseless ties to Russia, while also accusing former President Barack Obama for wiretapping his office inside Trump Tower.
The biggest story following the 2016 presidential election was finding out that Russia hacked into the Democratic National Committee (dnc) with the goal of electing Donald Trump. While the White House continues to deny any wrongdoing, one confidante to the president appears to be close to the situation.

Trump trouble

Throughout the entire election season, speculation continued to grow that raised questions about what relationship Donald Trump had with the Russian government. From the start of his campaign, the former host of "The Apprentice" didn't pull any punches, and was quick to lash out against his political opponents, celebrities, and even many foreign leaders.

However, Trump never said a bad word about Russian President Vladimir Putin, and often went as far as to praise him. In the months leading up to Election Day, Trump refused to release his tax returns, adding more questions about a potential financial tie to the Kremlin. As new information trickles out about members of his team communicating with Russian officials, Trump still denies the allegations. As reported by Mediaite on March 9, one of Trump's closest allies, and foreign campaign adviser, spoke to the person responsible for hacking into the DNC.

Report: Trump Confidante Roger Stone Was in Contact With DNC Hacker During Election https://t.co/Xli7pas8De pic.twitter.com/yOddS7NLmw  Mediaite (@Mediaite) March 9, 2017

Citing The Smoking Gun, Mediaite reports that former campaign adviser Roger Stone spoke directly to the Russian hacker who broke into the DNC.

"The contact between Roger Stone, the Trump associate, and the Russian influence operation came via private messages exchanged on Twitter," the source points out. Stone was in contact with an online handle known as "Guccifer 2.0," which the United States government believes "was created by Russian government officials to distribute and publicize material stolen during hacks of the DNC."

An investigation of Roger Stone, the vain, vindictive Trump loyalist who thinks the Russian hackers were heroic: https://t.co/9fOSDOrqih pic.twitter.com/TXyeUvTVCb  The Smoking Gun (@tsgnews) March 8, 2017

When responding to the allegations, Roger Stone said he speak to someone with the "Guccifer 2.0" name, but thought all the messages were public.

This isn't the first time that Stone has been linked to hackers, as he once claimed on Twitter to have a "back channel" to Wikileaks via Julian Assange, but has since deleted the tweet in question.

Moving forward

While his former aides might have been in contact with Russian officials and hackers, Donald Trump is still pushing back at reports that his current advisers are linked to the Kremlin.

In an attempt to deflect from the story, Trump accused former President Barack Obama of wiretapping his office at Trump Tower. Trump has not provided any evidence to back up his claim, and Obama denied the allegations in a statement released over the weekend.
Bentley Valdez who's a 55-year-old man has been charged with animal cruelty after the authorities discovered that around nine French mastiff dogs were dead and more than two dozen others were in a state of starvation on a New York property.

Neglected and abused

The owner reportedly abused and neglected several dogs that were kept in his NY property. The dogs were in a state of extreme neglect with many found dead and others in a state of dying. The dogs that survived were quickly taken to the Brennan Humane Society situated in Mayfield.

A contractor taking photographs around the area alerted the authorities.

On arrival, they witnessed nine of the dogs lying dead and another thirteen of them emaciated on a property in Stratford.

During their search and investigation, dogs were found confined inside a house on the property on County Route 104 in Stratford, while other dogs were kept outside in kennels and cages.

Police found that the dogs had no food or water and couldn't tell when the dogs were last fed and said that almost all the dogs were found starving or dead on that property. The New York state police further stated that the dogs were in a deplorable condition.

Thereafter, the remaining surviving dogs were rescued and taken to a local humane society in Mayfield to be properly cared for. Unfortunately, one of the thirteen dogs rescued by the Brennan Humane Society couldn't survive and died.

In fact, the Stratford dog control officer was shocked to see the pathetic condition of the dogs.

Arrested and Charged

The owner of the abused and neglected dogs was then arrested by the police on Thursday night.

Valdez, the alleged owner in question has been charged with 22 counts of misdemeanors involving Torturing or injuring animals and Failing to provide sustenance.

He was then released from the Fulton County Jail on a $2,500 cash bail or $3,500 bond. His next hearing in court is scheduled to be on April 18th.

In fact, the New York State Police are further investigating the cause of death of the dogs, to find out if it was starvation, cruelty or perhaps something else that killed the French Mastiffs.

This means that Valdez could expect even more serious charges with the pending autopsies of the dogs and as the investigation continues to reveal new facts.

One can donate to the Brennan Humane Society to help the surviving 12 dogs live a happy life, by going to their website: paws for you dot org.
President Obama, don't attack #Syria: These were the words Donald Trump used Twitter three years ago in September 2013 against then President Barack Obama. Trump told the then-President to save his power for another day.

In keeping with his changeable and unreliable nature, Trump's airstrike on #Syria on Wednesday shocked many and added a degree of unease to the equation. When he was candidate for the Untied States presidency, Trump had claimed that getting rid of Assad wasn't an urgent priority and that tearing down the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq was the thing the US needed to focus on.

His criticisms of Barack Obama for plunging riskily and instinctively into the #Syrian situation as an entanglement that was more about idealism and other country's interests. And now, how three years can change a lot.

He once said that the US is a humanitarian nation and that #Hillary Clinton and Obama have brought in confusion, weakness and disarray, claiming that the Middle East became unstable under their tenure. The contrast between what he said then, and how is engaging the US military now has struck many as odd, and a little unnerving and odd, as is the case generally with acts of violent war.
On Wednesday, April 5, 2017, ISIS executed 33 people in Syria, and another 22 in Iraq, according to a Report by CNN. Members of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed the organization known for grisly, ruthless attacks on innocent civilians around the world executed its victims in the arid desert of al-Mayadin, a city of 45,000 in eastern Syria. Operatives from the monitoring group were able to observe the situation from a safe distance, reports state.

Reports indicate execution was the terror group's largest in 2017

According to the Observatory, which is headquartered in London, the slaughter was the largest execution ISIS has carried out this year.

The terror group, which has been known to employ techniques ranging from decapitating its victims to crushing their heads in with stone, supposedly killed the civilians (reports indicate some were as young as 18) with "sharp tools." It's possible that these tools were used to either stab or decapitate all 33. Sources aren't sure what made these people targets, but recent reports of ISIS killings have shown that the organization often picks its victims indiscriminately, relying on the media and analysts to try to give the acts some sort of meaning.

The killings in Syria and Iraq seemed to coincide

According to CNN, these claims coincided with a report from just a little over 7 hours away, in the small Iraqi city of Tikrit.

Iraqi police officials stated that about 10 would-be suicide bombers, dressed in military uniforms, randomly targeted Tikrit police patrols and checkpoints in the middle of a busy street. Reports also indicate the attackers used a police vehicle to enter the city, which more than likely quelled any initial suspicion. The report then mentioned that gunmen affiliated with the ISIS terror group opened fire on police and civilians alike, before blowing themselves up in a final act of martyrdom.

Sources say the gunmen were aiming at no one in particular, instead hoping to inflict the most damage possible. That attack killed 22, and critically wounded another 31. Among those bodies was 14 police officers. The rebel organization boasted about the attack in a statement via Twitter, showing its relative disregard for human life.

ISIS seems to choose targets randomly

These seemingly random killings have done a great deal in mystifying what ISIS stands for. While most hate groups and terror organizations tend to have a particular modus operandi, ISIS militia groups have been known to change their tactics often. The fact that ISIS also seems to have no specifications for their victims also makes it increasingly hard for security officials to plan for and prevent potential attacks.

Although Tikrit is a town of only about 160,000, it holds historical significance for many ISIS devotees. CNN reports that it was the birthplace of notorious former Iraqi president and terrorist mastermind Saddam Hussein, who was hanged in 2006 by American troops in Baghdad.

ISIS took control of the strategic city in June of 2014, but Iraqi military personnel reclaimed it a little over a year later. Even under government control, however, sources indicate ISIS rebels still carry out occasional attacks.

ISIS has been losing ground in recent months

Reports indicate that the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has been steadily losing ground in the past months as Iraqi troops- with the aid of US forces and Shia and Kurdish militia- have worked to break down the organization little by little. Sources claim that in the last six months alone, the "caliphate" has forfeited significant control of the media, had several high-ranking operatives neutralized (including former leader al-Baghdadi), and lost a considerable amount of income.

At one point, sources claimed ISIS brought in as much as $1 million a day from its various oil enterprises, though that number has significantly dropped as it has lost control of strategic regions. As surrounding governments slowly but consistently close in on the group and experience pushback, attacks like these may become more and more frequent.
Over the last 24 hours, several news outlets have reported that major changes are getting ready to take place inside the White House. Big names like Steve Bannon and Reince Priebus could soon see their last days in the administration, but the White House is pushing back at the reports.

Trump denial

Ever since Donald Trump was elected president last November following a shocking upset win over Hillary Clinton, his administration has been surrounded by non-stop controversy. Whether it's his questionable executive orders, policy proposals, or rhetoric, the former host of "The Apprentice" has received so much backlash that his poll numbers have dropped down to just a 34 percent approval rating.

Due to the decline in popularity, Trump has reportedly been deflecting blame onto some of his top advisers. After his health care plan failed to gain support in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, Trump reportedly put much of the blame on Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, who he believed put too much pressure on House Speaker Paul Ryan to get the job done. This isn't the first time Trump has allegedly been at odds with Priebus, which could soon lead to the chief of staff being on the outs in the White House, In addition, a report in Axios, and later the New York Daily News, noted that Chief Strategist Steve Bannon could also leave his position, especially after the former Breitbart News CEO was removed from his role on the National Security Counsel.

Despite several reports doubling down on the news, including the Wall Street Journal, The Hill reported on April 7 that the administration is not pleased with what has leaked out.

A spokesperson for the White House is pushing back at the aforementioned reports that big changes could soon be made by Donald Trump.

"Once again this is a completely false story driven by people who want to distract from the success taking place in this administration," Lindsay Walters said on Friday. Walters continued to downplay the reports by highlighting that Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, was finally confirmed in the Senate after Republicans used the nuclear option to force confirmation.

"The only thing we are shaking up is the way Washington operates as we push the presidents aggressive agenda forward," she added.

The future of top White House staffers, Steve Bannon and Reince Priebus, is uncertain https://t.co/WMbJhHIfGC pic.twitter.com/kHBLqTGOh7  CNN (@CNN) April 7, 2017

A White House official then went on to state that Donald Trump was "not making any staff changes," while claiming "our team is focused on the Presidents agenda not false palace intrigue stories." As of press time, the original reports are standing by their stories despite the denial from Trump and his White House staff.

Report: Trump may be ditching Steve Bannon and Reince Priebus https://t.co/1JAvEQnoAy pic.twitter.com/uPr5DpaVog  The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) April 7, 2017

Moving forward

As of press time, Donald Trump is facing one of the most difficult periods of his early days as president.

In addition to the rumors of his top advisers possibly being replaced, the president is also just one day removed from ordering missile strikes against Syria in retaliation of President Bashar al-Assad chemical attack on his own people earlier this week.
The Supreme Court was one of the declared priorities of the Republican Party. The GOP had refused to consider President Barack Obamas replacement for the deceased Justice Antonin Scalia in anticipation of a Republican President would nominate a conservative justice. Yesterday President Donald Trump and the Senate delivered on that promise.

Stolen seat

President #Donald Trumps first nomination for the Supreme Court was always going to be a controversial choice. The Democratic Party considered the nomination a theft of the seat after the Republican Senators refused to consider President Barack Obamas nomination of Merrick Garland with the ostensible excuse that the President was at the end of his term and that the incoming President should be the one to make the nomination.

The choice of Neil Gorsuch by the new Oval Office was the confirmation that the planning, at least by the Republican Party, was proceeding correctly. His previous experience on the bench indicated a nominee with all the conservative ideas that would ensure that the Supreme Court would act in a manner that Republicans would consider appropriate for their long term political agenda.

Confirmation

The result was a fiery confirmation hearing with the Democrats determined to make the confirmation of Judge Gorsuch as difficult as possible. The Democrats members always knew that they would have a hard battle, especially knowing that Vice President Mike Pence would have no hesitation in casting the deciding vote as he had already done for the confirmation of controversial Betsy DeVos as the Secretary of Education.

At the end of the hearings the Democrats had the numbers to ensure a filibuster to highlight their concerns on Gorsuch and to draw out the confirmation as long as possible. Despite Democrat Senator Jeff Merklys 15 hour speech between Tuesday and Wednesday this was not to be.

On Thursday the GOP Senate majority voted to effectively abolish the filibuster as a tactic in the Senate and to allow the confirmation of nominees to the Supreme Court by a simple majority.

It must be pointed out that the precedent for this was made by the Democrats when they reduced the requirements for the confirmation for nominees for other judicial positions in 2013.

Nuclear

The use of the so-called nuclear option highlights the high stakes being played in the Senate where the Republicans hold a single seat majority and undoubtedly this will cause problems for the Oval Office for future legislation.

At the same time Senators from both Parties have acknowledged that the current high pressure situation in the House cannot continue. The GOP and the Democratic Party must finally decide how they will work together in the future. This is already happening in the Senate Intelligence Committee where the Democrats and Republicans are handling its investigation into the allegations of Russian interference in the presidential election in a bipartisan manner.

This intention to try to find a better working solution may well be the catalyst for major changes to proposed legislation from the White House on controversial issues such as the proposed Mexican border wall and the proposed budget.

The only possible stumbling block may come from Senators, particularly on the side of the GOP, who will give preference to pure political philosophy rather than the practicalities of ensuring good government.

This sets the stage for some interesting political battles in the Senate in the future but the one person who will pay the ultimate price for this political struggle will be the man occupying the Oval Office thus further straining the rapport between President Donald Trump and the Republican Party.
Presidents are not elected for popularity but because their voters believed that they are capable of carrying out a particular series of tasks. Thursday nights missile attack on the Shayrat air base in Syria was the reply to an act that shocked the world. The next stage is the hardest, finding a solution to make such raids unnecessary.

Gas attack

By his own words, the images of dead children in the gas attack on Khan Skeikhoum in Syria this week pushed President #Donald Trump to take an action that he had previously advised Barack Obama not to take, to bomb Syria and, to make it worse, to undertake the action without the permission of Congress.

While the aim of the missile attack was cheered by many who previously criticized Trump, it also appalled many who voted for him because of his campaign promise that he would not commit such an act. The Oval Office must now show that what will follow will not be a series of attacks but a plan to remove the sources of instability in the Middle East that are forcing millions to flee their homes.

Russia

The hard line Russian reaction is the first hurdle that President Donald Trump must overcome on this issue. Russian President Vladimir Putin strongly backs the Al-Assad dictatorship and his response was not limited to condemnation of the American attack and empty rhetoric in the United Nations but included also a solid promise that Russia will provide further missile protection systems for Syrian cities and presumably military facilities.

The Russian leader chooses his language carefully and so the use of the word war in his response is a clear indication of the seriousness with which the Kremlin considers the attack. The Oval Office must first give priority to reconciling with Moscow because without Putins contribution a solution to the Syrian situation is impossible.

ISIS and terror

On the same day reports of civilian deaths in a civilian attack on Tikrit, dead Iraqi dictator Saddam Husseins hometown, and the reports by Reuters that dozens of civilians were hanged and left on power poles for trying to flee the battle at Mosul, both acts committed by ISIS, show that the situation in the Middle East is a chequer board of conflicts that will need a clear plan from the United States for the future, a plan that does not yet seem to exist.

General H. R. McMaster, the National Security Advisor and head of the National Security Council is a veteran of the wars in the Middle East and thus more than anyone in the White House knows that war in itself is not a solution. He and his nominees must be actively involved in the formulation of the future direction of the countrys foreign policy.

Congress and China

The reaction from Congress was generally of support for the missile attack but it was also clear that future military action cannot go ahead without at least consultation from the House. This consultation will also involve planning for resolution of the Middle East minefield.

This week also sees the Summit between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping where Syria was not the only item of military importance discussed.

As reported by Reuters, the two Presidents discussed North Korea which has been acting increasingly aggressively with ballistic missile tests that seemed tied to events in the United States. Comments by President Trump of progress on this matter only confirm the fact that the United States has major world politics issues in more than one continent.

These foreign policy matters will be even more difficult to resolve with a shortstaffed State Department and complicated by leaks of conflict between senior White House staff. This is a period when the Oval Office cannot be distracted by issues that should have been resolved during the transition period.

In many ways the easiest part of the Presidency is ordering attacks but the real task and the hardest to complete is to be able to resolve these issues in a manner that will not require future military intervention.

Bombs and soldiers are not enough, the solutions are political and can only come from clear unambigious leadership from the top.

President Trump was elected to solve problems and can no longer hide behind rhetoric but by putting into effect solid plans and actions that will ensure that he no longer has to order attacks. This is the hardest and the only true task for a President. Pomp and ceremony mean nothing if not accompanied by action and solutions.
Since the attacks of September 11th, 2001 on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon the world has been involved in a war of terror. Over time the meaning of the word has changed as the situations in various countries evolved. This week we saw how the word terror means different things to different people.

Syria

On Tuesday the town of Khan Skeikhoum in Iblid province of Syria was attacked by aircraft that used gas weapons killing 72 civilians, including children and injuring many more. The town is a strong hold of the anti government fighters in the civil war in that country.

On Thursday, as a result of the horrifying images of the dead children from Syria, United States President Donald Trump ordered an attack by Tomahawk missiles on the Syrian government airbase of Shayrat in Homs province from which Tuesdays attack had been launched, thus drawing the ire of Syrian Dictator Bashar Al-Assads ally Russia.

One word

In both cases the word terror was used to describe the attackers. On Tuesday the Al-Assad government described Khan Sheikhoum as a cove of terrorists and in turn many foreign governments condemned the use of gas weapons as terror tactics.

In speaking of the order to launch the missile attack President #Donald Trump stressed the need to fight terror. Whereas in the aftermath of the American attack the Syrian and the Russian reaction said that the American raid was assisting terrorists.

With the one word governments and movements have found a means to justify an act that others condemn.

In the original War on Terror the enemy was Al-Qaeda and then became the Taliban. Over time and with each western intervention the enemy became ISIS and now there are many who simply want to use the blanket phrase of Radical Islamic terrorism.

Tellingly, the new National Security Advisor General H. R. McMaster, a veteran of wars in the Middle East, opposes the use of the tell all phrase as counterproductive to finding a long term solution to the terrorism.

Old problem

What we now call terrorism is not a new problem and has been part of world politics since time immemorial.

The Viet Cong who fought a guerrilla war during the Vietnam conflicts would undoubtedly now be called terrorists.

The same could be said for any group of freedom fighters against dictators or foreign occupation as they are forced to use ingenuity to fight better armed enemies.

One man could be regarded as the symbol of the paradox of the freedom fighter/terrorist. When Nelson Mandela died he was honoured as a statesman and leader of the country that had suffered the racist segregation of Apartheid and in South Africa was mourned by black and white alike, including by the man who was his warder for years. He had been jailed for 27 years as a terrorist against his national government, a government he considered illegitimate as do the people of Khan Sheikhoum consider Bashar Al-Assad.

Label

In labelling activities as terrorist as happened this week by all sides of the Syrian conflict, the politicians often forget what had inspired the actions. The record of the Al-Assad dictatorship of torture and deaths of opponents are as much terrorist activities as the uprising of the people targeted by the gas on Tuesday.

Terrorists is not a label and the use of this word is an evasion of the responsibility to finding the solution to the problems that gave birth to the fighters. In labelling every act of violence as simple terrorism and punishing the single offender does nothing to explain why youths from western countries are willing to enrol in groups as ISIS.

For terrorism to end world leaders must stop referring to their opponents as simple terrorists and address the issues that gave rise to each group.

Military strikes and invasions are not the solution.

The worlds leaders must act to address the dictatorships and the inequalities that they often tolerate in their allies as we have seen by Russia and the United States.

Until this happens terrorists will always be with us.
COLOMBO - With Jun Hai 1, Asia's largest trailing suction hopper dredger joining the construction fleet, the land reclamation of Colombo Port City, as a future city and long awaited by Sri Lankans, has been proceeded rapidly.

The $1.4 billion project, which is currently under construction near the Colombo Harbor, is Sri Lanka's largest foreign direct investment (FDI).

"As a Sri Lankan, I feel so proud that I can be participating in the project and really look forward to the completion of the project as early as possible, so that it would bring new opportunities to our people and our motherland which has just recovered from a 30-year civil war," Chandana Gunawardena, deputy project manager of the Colombo Port City Project, told Xinhua on Thursday.

This brand-new "financial city" is taking shape gradually from the sea area right beside the Colombo International Container Terminals, which is being operated by the China Merchants Ports Holdings.

Because of Colombo Port City, Chandana now has a stable job and a good outlook in his career.

He said the mega-project would boost the country's economic development via spurring FDI and the private sector's growth.

"By making Colombo a better city, Colombo Port City will attract more and more Sri Lankan diaspora back to their homeland," he said.

Chandana believed that the project is going to transfer Colombo to an important commercial hub in South Asia and "a shining pearl of the Indian Ocean."

Invested and developed by the China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC), Colombo Port City is the largest project between China and Sri Lanka under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, especially the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, known as Belt and Road Initiative, were proposed in 2013 with the aim of building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes.

Most of local construction and technical employees at the Port City project told Xinhua that the China-funded project has brought about jobs, higher salary and a better life, making them to be confident with their future careers.

"Colombo Port City is a key project in South Asia under the Belt and Road Initiative and it has well matched Sri Lanka's Western Megapolis development strategy," CCCC Chairman Liu Qitao told Xinhua.

"With investment of $1.4 billion, Phase 1 project has land reclamation of 269 hectares, out of which there will be 178-hectare developable land for commercial developments," he said.

"The total Gross Floor Area (GFA) will come up to 5.65 million sq meters, including residence, hotel, office and retail mall among others. Other iconic developments in the project include theme park, yacht marina, central park, medical center, international school and sand beach ect," Liu said. "These will attract further $13 billion investment of property developments within the city."

Liu belived the construction of Colombo Port City will not only contribute to Sri Lakan's socio-economic development, but also play an exemplary role in attracting foreign investment, and furthermore, it will attract international high-end professionals and introduce world's advanced technology so as to promote the competitiveness of local enterprise.

The construction of the Port City will also create job opportunities for the locals, with a total of 83,000 jobs expected in the 20 years from implementation to completion of the project, he claimed.

"As a father, I expect my kids to work in this city with a promising future, make contributions to the country while achieving their own career goals," Chandana said hopefully.
A turned over 'Stockholmslejon', a concrete traffic stopper, is seen outside the roped off area next to the department store Ahlens after a suspected terror attack on the Drottninggatan Street in central Stockholm, Sweden, April 8, 2017.[Photo/Agencies]

STOCKHOLM - The man arrested yesterday in relation to the attack in the centre of Stockholm is suspected of being the driver of the truck that killed four people, police said on Saturday.

"The person in question has been arrested as the culprit ... in this case the driver," police spokesman Lars Bystrom said.

"Then, there can be other people who are associated with him, but we do not know that at the current time."

The man was detained in a northern Stockholm suburb on Friday and later arrested on suspicion of having committed a terror crime.

Reuters
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HCM CITY  Many investors in HCM City are struggling to rent their apartments as the market continues its tepid streak that began in early 2016, according to the au Tu (Viet Nam Investment Review) newspaper.

For example, the owner of a luxury apartment in District 1 is renting a unit for VN24 million (US$1,054) per month, but he bought it for VN4 billion. To attract tenants, the owner, Hung, has furnished it for VN300 million.

The apartment is fully furnished and has a nice location, but it has been on the market for two months and only a few people have visited, and then they leave, Hung, the owner, said.

Tran Thi Thuy is also renting an apartment in Chu Van An residential building in Binh Thanh District.

To lower rental costs, Thuy chose not to furnish the apartment and set the price at VN7 million per month. However, it has been three months and the apartment has not attracted any tenants.

The townhouse segment in the city is also facing problems finding renters.

Tuan, for example, has had problems renting his three-storey house located on Truong Quoc Dung and Nguyen Van Troi streets in Phu Nhuan District. He has lowered the rent to VN50 million per month from VN80 million.

Though the for lease sign has been hanging outside for four months, not one person has called, he said.

According to property website batdongsan.com.vn, rental prices for apartments in districts 2, 7, 9 and Binh Thanh have also declined.

For example, in Binh Thanh District, monthly rent in Vinhomes Central Park, Sai Gon Pearl, Riverside, and Saigonland apartment buildings has been lowered by VN2-5 million per apartment.

District 7, which has the highest occupancy level of all city districts, is also experiencing a price slump.

In residential buildings like Phu Hoang Anh, Hung Phat, Hoang Anh Gia Lai and Era Town, a 60-70 sq.m apartment rents for VN7-10 million per month, compared to VN12-15 million last year.

Several high-end properties like Him Lam Riverside and Sunrise City are seeing a price drop in rentals as well.

Nguyen Huy Vu, head of BANVIETLAND Corporation, told au Tu that too many apartment buildings had been built in the city and that investors who bought apartments within the last eight years had been unable to resell them and are now renting them.

With supply exceeding demand, the market has become even more competitive.

Vu Van Sang, a private homeowner who rents three apartments in Phu Nhuan and Thu uc districts, said: Part of the reason is that investors tend to buy apartments because of rental profit commitments made by housing developers. But its the investors job to find tenants, not the developers.

On the one hand, this is good because it makes the market more professional, but, on the other hand, it increases supply. Amateur investors like me cannot compete with professional corporate players. No wonder the market is slumping.

Sang said he planned to sell two of his apartments and find a new investment to get rid of the burden of his property loan.

Le Hoang Chau, chairman of the HCM City Real Estate Association, said the rental market would continue to face even tougher conditions because of the imbalance in supply and demand.

Property speculators typically buy luxury apartments to rent, but most Vietnamese residents cannot afford them, while demand from expatriates living in the city is not high, he said.

The uncontrolled purchases of apartments and investors unrealistic expectations of the market have adversely affected the rental and property market, he added.

Just look at residential buildings at night. How many apartments have lights on and how many dont? The reality is that many residential apartments bought by buy-to-let investors are not occupied, Chau said. VNS
The Viet Nam Environment Administration has announced that indicators of water, air quality and odour from the Tan Rai bauxite-alumina complex in the Central Highlands province of Lam ong have been within allowed limits. Photo tuoitre.vn

LAM ONG  The Viet Nam Environment Administration has announced that indicators of water, air quality and odour from the Tan Rai bauxite-alumina complex in the Central Highlands province of Lam ong have been within allowed limits.

However, many residents living near the complex disagreed with the results, and asked authorised agencies to be relocated.

The administrations environmental monitoring centre said this week it had worked with Lam ong Alumina Company, the operator of the project, to take samples of wastewater, surface water, underground water and air for analysis between January 9 and 13.

The monitoring work was implemented under the supervision of locals in Bao Lam Districts Loc Thang Town. The monitoring points as well as the monitoring times were selected by locals and the centre.

Results showed that the quality of wastewater taken from the water drainage pipe No 3 was within allowed standards of national technical regulations on industrial wastewater.

Both the samples of surface water, which were taken at the red mud reservoir and spillway nearby showed that they were safe. Indicators of nutrients or toxic were within allowed levels of national regulations on water quality.

In terms of underground water, the centre took a sample from the well of Nguyen Viet ong in the town. The test showed that the quality was good. Another sample of well water in the red mud reservoir smelled due to iron, which was 2.5 times higher than allowed levels.

The test also revealed that the amount of noise in the complex met the requirement of national regulations on noise.

In terms of air quality, at the time of monitoring, the air quality at three different points of the complex was good with indicators of dust and substance odour within allowed levels of the national technical regulation on air quality.

However, most residents in the town are not satisfied with the results of the monitoring work. They asked the agencies to quickly relocate 30 households living near the red mud reservoir. These households had reportedly suffered losses in crops and polluted water when red mud spread in 2014.

They also asked the company to implement measures to reduce the stink of the reservoir and help affected households whose land was revoked to serve the project.

Vu Minh Thanh, head of the Lam ong Alumina Company admitted that the production activities impacted the environment and the lives of people in some ways although most of indicators were within allowed levels.

He suggested measures to reduce the impact on the environment. The company aims to plant trees around its complex to improve the situation.

The company was currently in the process of renovating production technology, which would be more eco-friendly.

The Tan Rai bauxite-alumina complex, which has extracted the soft clay-like substance to produce aluminium, has total investment value of US$460 million. The complex was invested by Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group and went into operation in late 2013.  VNS
HA NOI  Five art spaces and initiatives in Viet Nam will receive support from the Embassy of Denmark for their creative and innovative approaches to engaging art lovers and the general public.

The recipients are Manzi Art Space and Heritage Space in Ha Noi; Then cafe in central city of Hue; ChaosdowntownChao in HCM City and DNY productions in central city of a Nang.

"It is very fulfilling that Denmark has been able to support independent art spaces and art initiatives, celebrating their progressive creative work within the Vietnamese contemporary culture scene," said Danish ambassador Charlotte Laursen.

"Culture and art are important parts of modern societies, means to stimulate and inspire people to become creative and innovative. That our support this year goes to four different cities illustrates the diversity of contemporary art within Viet Nam.

The programmes total budget is over US$354,000 (VN800 million).With the support, many exhibitions, workshops, publications, performances, and art talks will be held in the next two years. Supporting contemporary art a component of Danish culture programme in Viet Nam, which was started in 2006.

The programme has supported hundreds of successful projects and artists.

Manzi Art Spaces art programme for 2017-18 includes various activities of different genres and elements. The programme will present seminars, workshops, exhibitions, festivals and research to engage artists and the local and international communities. Manzi Art Space will receive VN250 million.

Heritage Spaces Months of Arts Practice 2017 aims to create a platform for direct exchange between local and international artists. Their programme will combine study trips, meetings, exhibitions and educational workshops. Heritage Space will receive VN220 million.

Then Cafes programme, entitled Dash, will support smaller projects of local artists and promote engagement of people in socio-economic debates. The projects include workshops, exhibitions, research works and publications. It will receive VN33 million.

DNY productions has an initiative entitled Autumn Meeting 2017, which is an annual film event that will take place in a Nang. It aims to encourage young talented Vietnamese and Asian filmmakers to improve their professional skills. There will be filmmaking workshops, introduction of new independent films, awards to young talent film makers. It will receive VN200 million.

ChaosdowntownChao, located at a backpackers hotel in the city, aims to serve as a bridge between local art movements and international audiences. Through a number of workshops and exhibitions under a project named Loopholes, the art space focuses on contemporary themes like queer theory and feminism. The art space will receive VN100 million.

The Embassy of Denmark in Viet Nam has a comprehensive culture programme with total budget more than US$3million. The programme focuses on promoting culture and art in Viett Nam and culture exchange between Viet Nam and Denmark. Since 2006, hundreds of contemporary art projects and artist have been supported through the programme.  VNS




QUANG TRI  A meeting to mark the 110th birth anniversary of late Party General Secretary Le Duan was held in ong Ha City in the central province of Quang Tri yesterday.

Attending the ceremony were Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, former Party General Secretary Nong uc Manh, President Tran ai Quang and former President Truong Tan Sang, among others.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and other Party and State leaders sent flowers to the event.

Speaking at the meeting, Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Nguyen Van Hung said that the event offered a chance to recall the life and career of the late Party chief who devoted nearly 60 years to the struggle for national liberation and national reunification of Viet Nam.

Le Duan, real name Le Van Nhuan, was born on April 7, 1907 in Bich La Village, Trieu ong Commune, Quang Tri Provinces Trieu Phong District.

During his 60 years of revolutionary activities, including 26 years as the First Secretary and then General Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Le Duan made important contributions to bringing Vietnamese revolutionary theory to a new height.

Following the late leaders teachings, Quang Tri authorities and people had made efforts to obtain outstanding socio-economic achievements, with the provinces economic growth rate of 7.4 per cent and annual per capita gross regional domestic product reaching VN36 million (US$1,588).

Party building work had been improved, while the political system from the provincial to grassroots level had been consolidated, said Hung.

On behalf of young generations, Hoang Tran Minh Anh from Le Quy on gifted High School vowed to improve morality and learning standards to contribute to the nation.

Earlier, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, along with a delegation of Party and State leaders and provincial authorities paid homage to late Party chief Le Duan at his statue in ong Ha City.

Le Duans ideas remain beacon

President Tran ai Quang has written an article to mark the 110th birth anniversary of Le Duan, the late General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam on April 7, 1907.

In his article, President Quang described Duan as an outstanding leader of the Vietnamese Communist Party and people and a great disciple of the late President Ho Chi Minh.

He devoted his whole life to the cause of national liberation and defence, said Quang.

In his near 60 years of revolutionary life, Duan was trained and tested in the revolutionary movement across Viet Nam.

Under the leadership of President Ho Chi Minh, with his creative thinking and vision, Duan successfully applied and developed Maxism and Leninism to reality in Viet Nam.

His creative thinking and strategic vision were reflected in documents adopted at the 6th Party Central Conference in November 1939. That Party conference ushered in a new revolutionary strategy for the Vietnamese nation, aiming to topple the French imperialists and fight against foreign invaders to win national independence.

Though Duan was not able to attend the 2nd National Party Congress in February 1951, he sent his thoughts to the Congress focusing on the role of the proletarian class and the Communist Party, particularly the leadership role of the proletarian class in the Vietnamese Revolution; the role of farmers in the Vietnamese proletarian revolution; the peoples war; the economic policy; politics and administration.

Issues raised in Duans contribution had a great impact on the documents of the 2nd Party Congress, particularly the policy on the peoples war and the Partys role in the resistance war against the French colonialists and against the US intervention, of which its peak was the historic victory of the ien Bien Phu Campaign in 1954.

In his article, President Quang praised Duans strategy of combining the political struggle with the armed struggle and the strong co-ordination between the mountainous region with the delta and the urban areas.

Duans strategy then became an important document for the Party Central Committee to write the 15th Resolution of the Party Central Committee. A key message of the resolution was to liberate the South from the rule of the imperialists.

That resolution was a reflection of the aspiration of the entire Vietnamese people, particularly people living in South Viet Nam to switch to the armed struggle to defend the revolution and to force the US imperialists and their henchmen to return to negotiations with the revolutionary force.

To liberate the South and unify the country was his mandate and Duan pledged to achieve the goal on behalf of the whole party, people and armed forces during the funeral of the late President Ho Chi Minh in 1969 in Ha Noi. His creative thinking and clear sighted leadership was reflected during the Ho Chi Minh Campaign in the 1975 spring offensive which led to the total liberation of South Viet Nam.

Following the liberation of South Viet Nam on April 30, 1975, Viet Nam was reunited and embarked on the course of building socialism in both the north and the south.

He said The nation has entered a new historical period and the entire party and people unite as one to build our homeland into a nation of peace, unification, independence, democracy and prosperity and to make worthy contributions to the international revolution.

During his life, Duan held high the national flag and was determined to follow the path of socialism.

He emphasised the principle of Party leadership, State management and the people as the masters.

He said socialist industrialisation must be the centrepiece of the transitional period of advancing toward socialism.

He called on the entire Party and people to be vigilant and on alert while consolidating national defence, maintaining political security and law and order.

Following more than 30 years of oi moi (Renewal), Viet Nam has recorded many big and historical achievements. What has been gained is proof that the Vietnamese Partys Renewal policy is correct and a worthy successor of the precious lessons learned in the course of leading the countrys revolution by various generations.

President Quang concluded that the creative ideology and strategic vision of the late Party General Secretary Le Duan would remain valid for all time. It would serve as a beacon for Vietnamese people in implementing the Partys Renewal policy in the new period of the revolution._VNS

- VNS
STOCKHOLM Viet Nams National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and Speaker of the Swedish parliament Urban Ahlin agreed to enhance their countries parliamentary relations during talks in Stockholm on Thursday.

Chairwoman Ngan was in the city as part of a three-day official visit to Sweden at the invitation of the Riskdags Speaker.

At talks following a welcoming ceremony, Ngan said Viet Nam and Sweden enjoy a traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation.

With the help of the European nation, projects such as the Viet Nam National Hospital of Pediatrics in the capital city of Ha Noi, the Viet Nam-Sweden Hospital in Quang Ninh Province and the Bai Bang paper factory in Phu Tho Province had become symbols of Swedens support and the two countries amity, she noted.

She congratulated Sweden on its election as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for 2017-2018, voicing her belief that the country will contribute to promote peace, security and adherence to international law.

On the occasion, she requested Sweden support Viet Nams candidacy for a seat on the UN Security Council for 2020-2021.

The top Vietnamese legislator also asked Sweden to urge the European Union (EU) to ratify the EU - Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and recognise her countrys market economy status, helping the two countries businesses to expand partnerships.

As Sweden has a strong judicial sector, she called on its parliament to share experience in making laws and supervising state agencies activities with its Vietnamese counterpart.

For his part, Speaker Urban Ahlin said the official visit by Chairwoman Ngan would open up new prospects for bilateral ties as well as inter-regional and international cooperation. He noted with satisfaction progress in bilateral cooperation, especially in economy, trade, investment, transport and health care. The parliaments relations have also improved.

At the talks, the two sides agreed that Viet Nam and Sweden needed to bring their trade and investment relations on par with potential. They hoped that parliamentary connections would be reinforced through increasing supervision and implementation of the two Governments cooperation agreements and projects.

The legislatures would support the Vietnamese and Swedish Governments, localities, enterprises and peoples to enhance exchanges, development cooperation and environmental protection.

The early signing and ratification of the EVFTA would benefit all parties involved and help foster trade between Viet Nam and the EU, including Sweden, the officials said.

Ahlin affirmed that he supported the EUs early signing and ratification of the deal.

On this occasion, they also discussed gender equality, womens role in society and the fight against corruption.

The Swedish speaker said his country had experience in lawmaking and was ready to share its expertise in supervising state agencies activities, building smart cities, protecting the environment and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Also on Thursday, National Assembly Chairwoman Ngan visited the Swedish parliament and attended a banquet hosted by Speaker Ahlin.

Favourable legal environment for Swedish investors

Viet Nam commits to creating a favourable legal environment for Swedish investors, including those from Stockholm, said Chairwoman Ngan during a meeting with Mayor of Stockholm city Eva Louis Erlandsson yesterday.

Highlighting that Stockholm is an economic centre of Sweden and the Scandinavian peninsula, the top legislator of Viet Nam proposed that in the future, Mayor Erlandsson will encourage local firms to strengthen partnerships with Vietnamese localities in economy, trade, investment, culture and tourism.

She reaffirmed Viet Nams interest in learning about Swedens development experience, including socio-economic matters and issues related to environmental protection and sustainable growth. Ngan suggested that Stockholm build twin relations with Viet Nams economic and tourism hubs such as Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City. For her part, Mayor Erlandsson said that along with achievements, Stockholm, a small city with a population of about 1 million people, is facing challenges relating to immigrant workers and housing. From one of the dirtiest cities in Europe 40 years ago, the city was recognised as the first green city of Europe in 2010 with clean water and fresh air, she said, attributing the success to the effective operation and management of water treatment companies.

On the occasion, the Stockholm leaders also shared their experience in restoration and maintenance of architectural works as well as the application of e-government. Mayor Erlandsson said that thanks to awareness raising campaigns, Swedish people are now highly responsible for protecting the environment.

The same day, Ngan also met Victoria Ingrid Alice Desiree, Crown Princess of Sweden. VNS
Kindergarten teacher Le Thi Hong Thanh visits a baby at hospital.  Photo tuoitre.vn

By Truong Trung

QUANG NAM  In a cloud of red dust, a car stops in front of the emergency ward of the a Nang Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology Hospital.

Kindergarten teacher Le Thi Hong Thanh steps out, holding a one-year-old child with a badly infected leg that smells and is oozing pus.

She has brought the child all the way from a remote area in Quang Nam Province.

As many as ten people follow Thanh closely, as if they are afraid that they will lose her.

Thanh gives them careful instructions in their ethnic minority language. She tells them that they should sit quietly and wait for her.

Still holding Ho Thi Nhu Canh in her arms, she goes into the doctors room to discuss the little ones condition.

The childs father, Ho Van Chinh, belongs to the MNong ethnic minority. He lives with his family in Tra Nam Commune, Nam Tra My District, Quang Nam Province,.

He said Canh had suffered burns several days earlier, but he and his wife had treated her with wild leaves.

The longer we treated her with the leaves, the worse her leg became. The wounds began ulcerating and it smelt bad. We were scared that our daughter would lose her leg, so we asked the village patriarch for help, but he was helpless.

Then we had only one option left. Ask teacher Thanh to help.

The MNong and Xe ang minorities who reside in Nam Tra My District call 37-year-old Thanh the Emergency Teacher.

Thanh is the principal of Tra Nam Kindergarten. But that is her official designation and work. She is also the veritable Florence Nightingale for local ethnic minority residents, and is always on call, helping people suffering from different ailments, from broken legs to heart attacks.

Whenever a medical situation gets out of hand, the people turn to Thanh. If they cannot go to her, she goes to them.

After completing hospitalisation procedures for Canh, Thanh wipes off the sweat on her forehead and goes to another room to visit.

She is checking in on six-year-old Ho Thi Yen Nhi, a MNong child, and 16-year-old Ho Van Guong, a Xe ang teenager.

Thanh had taken them to the hospital earlier, after Nhi broken her leg and Guong was found to have a tumour on his back.

Ho Thi Gioi, Nhis grandmother, said that Nhis mother had eaten some poisonous leaves and died when the daughter was just one year old. Her father does not take very good care of Nhi, and her broken leg was the result of a dog bite.

Like other village residents, Gioi had also used wild leaves to treat Nhis injury.

Thanh had come across Nhi a week ago, crawling on the ground with her broken leg. She immediately rushed the girl to the hospital. Nhis leg is a little curved now because she was not treated in time. But Gioi considers it a great stroke of luck that her granddaughter has recovered and can walk again.

Guong had been having a tumor as big as a bowl on his back for five years. It had started bleeding blood and leaking pus when Thanh took him to the hospital three months ago on a very cold night.

Doctors have operated on Guong and removed the tumour. Furthermore, kind people have donated more than VN100 million (US$4,400) so that he can be treated further for tuberculosis and a problem with his spinal column.

Word spreads

Thanh is now the most well known person in the mountainous district and even neighbouring areas. From far away communes like Tra Leng, Tra Vinh and Tra Mai, residents travel hundreds of kilometres looking for teacher Thanh whenever someone falls ill.

Over the last five years that she has been working in Tra Nam Commune, Thanh has been saddened by the sight of children going to school bareheaded and barefoot. Many of them cough badly, but they do not have medicines, and their parents usually do not have money.

A strong maternal instinct pushes Thanh to help them.

The most difficult thing here is that local residents are too poor and they do not have money to go to hospital whenever they are ill. They just lie still when they fall ill, and continue to work in the field when they recover. Children grow naturally like wild plants, she said.

Whenever she comes across a tricky case, Thanh takes photos and shares them on her Facebook page, calling or others to help.

If they do not receive any donation, I use my money to take them to hospital, said Thanh.

Tran Cao Thanh Binh, of the General Affairs Ward at the a Nang Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology Hospital, said Thanh found it very hard when she first came to the hospital, because she could not take care of many sick children hospitalised at the same time.

Most local residents do not know the common Vietnamese language, and Thanh had to look after them as well.

Sometimes two or three people are hospitalised, but in different hospitals, so Thanh has to travel a lot to take care of them, said Binh.

Familiar with the work Thanh has been doing for the last two years, Binh and other donors are present at the emergency ward whenever the teacher turns up with a patient.

Strange cases

Thanh said she has seen many strange cases of residents responding to illnesses in the mountainous area.

Sometimes, parents do not take their sick children to the hospital because they have no one to take care of their oxen and cows. Then, there are times they do not want to go down into the plains, because they are afraid they will find nothing to eat.

Thanh has traveled through forests and crossed stream many times in just one day to convince local residents to go to the hospital.

Her house becomes a transit shed whenever residents go down the mountain.

Nguyen Thanh Phuong, chairman of the Tra Nam Commune Peoples Committee, said Thanh not only helped children with deadly diseases and disabilities, she also acted as a bridge connecting donors with local residents.

Thanks to Thanhs reputation, residents have received help from social organisations and charities during the period between crops when they typically suffer hunger and other deprivations.

Apart from money to treat their illnesses and diseases, many residents have also received capital to invest in the household economy and reduce poverty.  VNS
HCM CITY  City authorities have acknowledged several lacunae in the Fire Fighting Department, including the lack of qualified personnel and inadequate planning for future contingencies.

The acknowledgement came as the chairwoman of the HCM City Peoples Council asked the citys Fire Fighting Department to work with relevant agencies on drastically improving fire prevention and fighting services.

Nguyen Thi Quyet Tam made her request at a meeting on fire-fighting held in the city on Wednesday.

She said the department must be proactive in preventing fires from happening while improving response capacity. This has a role to play in peoples safety as well as ensuring a safe environment for businesses and investors in the city, she said.

Tam said the meeting should discuss challenges and clarify responsibilities of agencies and residents in fire fighting.

Le Tan Buu, Director of the HCM City Fire Fighting Department, acknowledged that their work should be more effective. He also said that State management had been poor, citing a lack of co-ordination and networking among agencies involved.

There were several other problems, Buu said, including the lack of properly qualified people as well as poorly maintained water hydrants.

Buu said the city needed nearly 19,000 water hydrants, but had only 8,740; and 113 of these were in bad shape.

Many companies and other establishments failed to abide by fire safety regulations, but relevant agencies did not have the resources to enforce compliance, he said, noting that the city had around 300,000 businesses and family-run enterprises, but the Fire Fighting Department had been able to manage only 28,000 businesses.

Households that run businesses at home and are not managed by the fire-fighting department are at high risk of fires, according to Buu. Many that have failed to comply with fire safety regulations are not even aware of the dangers they face.

Many small houses at high risk of catching a fire are located in tiny and deep alleys in the city, posing challenges for fire fighting forces to access.

Many houses do not have any rear exit, and this has been the cause of many deaths when fires occur.

Lives at risk

Thousands of lives are at risk because many apartment buildings in HCM City have failed to meet fire safety standards, Buu said.

In many old buildings, fire prevention and control systems have deteriorated, but have not been fixed or replaced.

Several newly-built apartment buildings have not implemented fire safety measures, and residents are in danger.

Fire-fighting in high-rise buildings is a challenging task because the department is not adequately equipped or trained.

Buu said firefighters struggled to fight fires in increasingly tall buildings.

The biggest fire truck ladders can only reach the 18th floor of a building. In many cases, the ladders can only reach the 15th floor, according to the director.

Buu said HCM City has more than 1,000 apartment complexes with more than five floors, with 605 having more than 10 floors.

The departments development long-term development plans (2025) do not cover the purchase of essential equipment for fighting fires in high-rises.

o Phi Hung, deputy director of the citys Department of Construction, said that last year, his office worked with the Fire Fighting Department to inspect 20 big apartment buildings at high risk of fire and found many residents had not complied with fire safety regulations.

The department asked the district authorities to inspect all the buildings again and strictly punish violations, he said.

It would also ask the Ministry of Construction to include fire safety standards in the licences given to construct buildings, he added.

According to the Fire Fighting Department, 60 per cent of fire cases in the city have been caused by electricity problems, especially short circuits. Last year, 1,960 fires broke out in the city, up nearly 29 per cent over the previous year. Nine people died and 36 others were injured. Damage to property was estimated at VN260 billion (US$11.458 million).

In the first quarter of this year, the city saw 485 fires that killed 19 people and injured as many.

The Fire Fighting Department has cautioned that the number of fires can rise in the remaining part of the year, especially in residential areas where households run various businesses.  VNS
HCM City should consider building car parks across Nhieu Loc  Thi Nghe and Tau Hu canals in order to cope with traffic congestion downtown, according to Mai Trong Tuan, a retired pilot.  Photo thehyco4tower.com

HCM CITY  HCM City should consider building car parks across Nhieu Loc  Thi Nghe and Tau Hu canals in order to cope with traffic congestion downtown, according to Mai Trong Tuan, a retired pilot.

Tuan has had the idea since 2008, but the most difficult problem was finding the proper place for his idea because where there was land, there was no demand for parking and where there was very high demand for parking, there was no land or land was sold at a very high price.

At that time, local authorities paid attention to underground parking and did not pay attention to my suggestion about car parking across the surface of canals, Tuan told with the Nguoi Lao ong (The Labourer) newspaper.

However, until now, many underground parking projects havent been built and the city plans to build a car park across Cong truong Lam Son, District 1.

Demand for parking in District 1 is not being met and local authorities are looking hard to find other places to build more parking, Tuan added.

Tuan revealed that a proper place for car parking must meet many criteria, including being near downtown where parking demand is very high. In addition, such places should be well connected with good transport infrastructure, where owners can walk or travel by public transportation in a very short distance.

Investors dont need to pay a lot of money for ground compensation and they can recover investment and make profit in a short time, Tuan said.

With these requirements, Tuan suggested that the space on the surface of Nhieu Loc  Thi Nghe and Tau Hu canals are the most suitable places for parking.

Such a parking frame would be installed on the surface of canals like bridges. They could contain 5 to 6 floors with a height of 18m.

Tuan estimated that these two canals can install at least 30 parking frames with total capacity of 12,000 cars and the number could increase to 20,000.

Such a parking frame wont take up land downtown and can ease traffic congestion with a very short time of construction. Such frames can also be removed and moved easily, Tuan said.

Dr Nguyen Huu Nguyen, urban economy expert from the Viet Nam Urban Development Master Plan Association, said the suggestion from Mai Trong Tuan is possible because such a parking frame can be decorated with different colours and they would make canals more colourful, lively and would develop tourism on canals.

Others are more skeptical.

Tuans suggestion has many good points and the local authorities should pay attention but parking frames on the surface of canals are not suitable because it might destroy scenery and affect the daily life of local residents, architecture Ngo Viet Nam Son said.

In the long term, the city should announce a master plan for parking places, apply different parking prices for downtown and outskirts, limit granting business licences or request parking capacity of businesses, he added.

Nguyen Minh ong, a German-Vietnamese engineer, said nowhere in the world have car parks being built over canals, and in To Lich river, Ha Noi, previous parking frames have been destroyed.

90 per cent of the suggestion is impossible because many architects in the world have considered the suggestion but they ended up not building it, transport expert Pham Sanh said.

We have received the suggestion from Mai Trong Tuan, but Ha Nois policy is not to take advantage of the surface space of canals for building. Therefore, we wont consider the suggestion of Tuan, Vu Van Vien, director of Ha Nois Transport Department said.

Right now in HCM City, nine smart parking projects have been started in nine hospitals and there have been some other suggestions for multi-floor parking frames in September 23 Park, Cong truong Lam Son, District 1, Gia inh Park in Go Vap District and Ly Thuong Kiet Apartment in District 10.

Chairman of the citys Peoples Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong has set up a task force, led by deputy chairman of the Peoples Committee Le Van Khoa, to speed up underground parking projects in HCM City.  VNS
HCM CITY  ang Van Manh, a 32-year-old driver from Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, was sleepy although his eyes remained open.

Until his truck went over a pothole and he was startled awake.

Luckily, I did not get into an accident, Manh said.

The driver of a truck in the central province of Nghe Ans Vinh city was not as lucky as Manh.

On April 4, his truck hit a concrete median strip on Highway 1A because he fell asleep at the wheel.

The driver was hospitalised with serious injuries. The median strip was destroyed.

Manh said: Drowsy driving is difficult to avoid because drivers of buses, trucks or containers drive for many consecutive hours, especially in peak times such as before and after holidays and do not sleep enough.

A drivers income depends on the amount of time spent travelling, he said, adding, we drive for 10 or 12 hours each trip.

They do not obey traffic safety regulations requiring them to stop to have rest when they drive for three or four hours.

The Asia Injury Prevention (AIP) Foundation last year surveyed 150 truck drivers about their knowledge, behaviour and driving practices.

Of them, more than 79 per cent said that they drove without stopping for a period of more than four hours.

According to the Sleep Disorders Centre at University of California, Los Angeles, if a body lacks sleep, at some point the brain will force it to shut down.

Studies have shown that lacking just a few hours of sleep each night can impair the ability to drive in the same way as drinking too much alcohol.

Dr Khuat Viet Hung, deputy chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee, said that many traffic accidents have occurred because of drowsy driving.

The committees statistics on traffic accidents last year showed that 40 per cent of 21,568 crashes occurred from 6 pm to 12 am when drivers felt tired after working all day. It could sometimes lead to falling asleep at the wheel.

Drowsy driving can lead to lane drifting, which accounted for 25 per cent of the total number of traffic accidents last year.

A research on driver behaviour and traffic safety conducted by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration showed that drowsy driving is the cause of at least 100,000 auto crashes each year.

These crashes hurt an average of 40,000 people and killed more than 1,500 people.

Communication campaign

The National Traffic Safety Committee, in co-operation with the AIP Foundation, is carrying out a campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of drowsy driving among drivers at the Cai Mep-Thi Vai port cluster in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province.

In the campaign, they plan to install billboards to improve awareness to prevent drowsy driving on Highway 51 and Road 965 at accident black spots.

Traffic accidents often occur on this highway and road.

Stories featuring truck drivers discussing the dangers of drowsy driving will be broadcast on VOV1 channel of Voice of Viet Nam.

The campaign is a part of the Lifting Safety Programme, which is under the sponsorship of APM Terminal, an international terminal operator based in the Netherlands with facilities in 69 countries.

The programme was launched in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province in December 2016.

Hung of the National Traffic Safety Committee said that the programme would also be held at other port clusters in the country.  VNS
TAY NINH  The Ministry of Transport has approved a plan to upgrade an 80-km section of National Highway 22B in the southeastern province of Tay Ninh, according to the provinces Department of Transport.

Nguyen Tan Tai, director of the Transport Department, said the VN300 billion (US$13.2 million) project would be divided into three stages.

In the first stage, which starts later this year, 33km of the highway, extending from the Asian Highway three-way crossroads in Go Dau District to Tay Ninh Citys Binh Minh Commune, will be upgraded.

The second stage, which starts in 2018, will focus on the next 25km to Tan Bien District.

The last 22km of the project, which runs through the Xa Mat international border gate in Tan Bien District, will be completed in 2019.

National Highway 22B is critical to Tay Ninh because it is the gateway from HCM City to the Viet Nam-Cambodia border.

The highway was upgraded 10 years ago by the Ministry of Transport, but is now in poor condition in certain sections.

Initially, National Highway 22B was set to be invested as a BOT (build-operate-transfer) project. However, at a meeting last year with Tay Ninh Provinces authorities, Minister of Transport Truong Quang Nghia decided to use funds from the state budget.  VNS
The Embassy of Viet Nam in Malaysia has sent a diplomatic note to relevant ministries and agencies in Malaysia requesting official information about the detention of two Vietnamese fishing vessels with 28 fishermen on board on April 2.VNA/VNS Photo

HA NOI  The Embassy of Viet Nam in Malaysia has sent a diplomatic note to relevant ministries and agencies in Malaysia requesting official information about the detention of two Vietnamese fishing vessels with 28 fishermen on board on April 2.

The Embassy is keeping close watch on the incident in order to verify information related to the case and to take appropriate measures to protect the arrested Vietnamese fishermen.

Regarding the reported arrest of seven persons alleged to be Vietnamese in Osaka, Japan, the Consulate General of Viet Nam in Osaka said yesterday that Osaka police confirmed they were Vietnamese nationals.

The Consulate General said the police refused to provide details on the grounds that the case is currently under investigation.

The Consulate is cooperating closely with Japanese authorities to ensure the legitimate rights of the detained Vietnamese citizens.

Meanwhile, Singapore police has affirmed that the death of a Vietnamese citizen after falling from the 15th floor of Hotel Boss in Singapore on March 29 was a suicide, according to the Vietnamese Embassy in Singapore.

The Embassy is working with concerned agencies of Singapore to complete legal procedures and help the victims family with funeral arrangements and provide additional support.  VNS
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc urged the northern province of Ninh Binh to make tourism the driving force of the local economy, in order to turn the province into a must-visit destination in Viet Nam, during a working session with provincial authorities yesterday.  VNA/VNS Photo Thong Nhat

NINH BINH  Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc urged the northern province of Ninh Binh to make tourism the driving force of the local economy, in order to turn the province into a must-visit destination in Viet Nam, during a working session with provincial authorities yesterday.

Towards this goal, the province should develop its own brand, enhance connectivity with other provinces and cities and invest in human resources training and unique products, the PM said. He required the province to continue to review and fine-tune the management of regional, sectoral, land, natural resources and urban development planning, paying attention to the preservation and building of the Bai inh - Trang An relic site into a well-known spiritual and ecological tourist destination in Viet Nam and the world.

As well as tourism, the government leader also called attention to support industries and traditional craft villages, particularly high-quality and safe agriculture.

Considering business development as a crucial task, the PM told the province to strive to have at least 10,000 firms by 2020, doubling the current level. The province must closely partner with businesses and people, further improving its indexes on land and credit access in order to be listed among the top localities in the country in the ranking of administrative reform, he said.

Chairman of the provincial Peoples Committee, inh Van ien, reported to the Government leader that last year, the local economy enjoyed good growth, contributing VN7.2 trillion (US$315 million) to the State budget. Tourism is a pillar of the provinces economy, with the number of tourist arrivals reaching 6.5 million last year.

During his trip to Ninh Binh, PM Phuc toured the Hyundai Thanh Cong auto company in Gia Vien industrial park, which is the second largest car factory in the country. At a working session with the Thanh Cong group, owner of the factory, the PM suggested the group promote partnership with domestic and foreign investors to expand production.

He also urged the group to invest in the research and manufacture of car components and cooperate with research and training establishments to train a high-quality workforce in the field.

On policies for the domestic automobile industry, he announced that the Ministry of Industry and Trade had been assigned to set up a working group to collect feedback and recommendations from domestic and foreign automobile firms, which would serve as a reference for the country to map out suitable development policies for the industry.

During his time in the province, PM Phuc also visited and presented gifts to heroic Vietnamese mother Tran Thi To and Party member veteran Ha Van Cong. Lying south of the Red River Delta, Ninh Binh is home to hundreds of historical and cultural relic sites as well as tourist landmarks such as the old royal capital of Hoa Lu, Tam Coc - Bich ong and the UNESCO-recognised World Cultural and Natural Heritage site of Trang An.  VNS
MANILA  A trio of strong earthquakes damaged buildings and caused panicked tourists to flee a popular dive resort near the Philippine capital on Saturday, officials and eyewitnesses said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties from the quakes, the strongest of which hit the coast close to Mabini, a resort town south of Manila famous for its marine life and coral reefs.

The first 5.5-magnitude temblor struck inland at 3:08 pm (0708 GMT) followed by a 5.9 quake just a minute later, according to a revised report by the US Geological Service. The first quake was earlier reported as 5.7 magnitude.

A 5.0 quake hit in the same region after another 20 minutes, according to US geologists.

"I was in the pool taking diving lessons when the ground shook.... We all climbed out and ran. Concrete slabs were falling," Filipino tourist Arnel Casanova, 47, said by telephone from a Mabini dive resort.

"When I went back to my room the ceiling had collapsed and the glass windows were broken, but so far everybody is safe," said Casanova, who was at the resort with his 20-year-old son.

He said resort guests remained outside the damaged buildings more than an hour later as the area was hit with aftershocks.

The quakes caused landslides which blocked two roads and damaged an old church, a hospital and several houses in the area, local officials told ABS-CBN television.

"We are evacuating some people who live on the coast. We want them to stay in a safe area tonight," Mabini Mayor Noel Luistro told the station.

He said he expected at least 3,000 residents to move inland in case of further aftershocks, although the state seismology office said there was no threat of tsunamis.

"The town is full of tourists, both local and foreign this weekend," he added.

The network also broadcast live footage of frightened commuters fleeing the passenger terminal at the port of Batangas, near the epicentres.

The quakes caused power outages across the region but caused no casualties, said Romina Marasigan, spokeswoman for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

In Manila, about 100 kilometres away, AFP reporters saw people running out of office buildings in the financial district.

The Philippines lies on the so-called Ring of Fire, a vast Pacific Ocean region where many of the worlds earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur.

Saturdays quakes were caused by the movement of a local fault, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology chief Renato Solidum said on ABS-CBN television.

A 6.5-magnitude quake killed eight people and left more than 250 injured outside the southern city of Surigao in February, and another 5.9-magnitude tremor killed one person there last month.

Before the Surigao quakes, the last lethal earthquake to hit the country was a 7.1-magnitude tremor that left more than 220 people dead and destroyed historic churches when it struck the central islands in October 2013.  AFP
PALM BEACH, United States  US President Donald Trump ditched his trademark anti-China bombast, hailing an "outstanding" relationship with counterpart Xi Jinping at the end of a superpower summit Friday overshadowed by events in Syria.

"We have made tremendous progress in our relationship with China," Trump said effusively at the close of a high-stakes but studiously familiar first meeting between the pair at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

"I think truly progress has been made," Trump said, declaring his relationship with Xi as "outstanding".

The friendly tone was a far cry from Trumps acerbic campaign denouncements about Chinas "rape" of the US economy and his vow to punish Beijing with punitive tariffs.

Xi reciprocated Trumps warm words, saying the summit had "uniquely important significance" and thanking Trump for a warm reception.

Xi also invited the US president on a coveted state visit to China later in the year. Trump accepted, with a date yet to be determined.

We "arrived at many common understandings," Xi added, "the most important being deepening our friendship and building a kind of trust".

The bonhomie extended behind closed doors, where the US presidents grandson and granddaughter sang a traditional Chinese ballad -- "Jasmine Flower" -- and recited poetry for their honoured guests, earning praise from their "very proud" mother Ivanka in a tweet.

"Both the atmosphere and the chemistry between the two leaders was positive, the posture between the two really set the tone," said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

"All of us are feeling very good about the results of this summit."

Winter White House

The start of the meeting came on a night of high drama as Trump not only met his nearest peer in economic world power for the first time but also launched his first military strike on a state target.

Trump informed the Chinese leader personally of the strike as the 59 Tomahawk missiles were winding their way to the Shayrat airbase.

Although China is not implicated in the Syrian war, Trumps actions resonate widely, not least in the debate over how to tackle North Koreas nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

China and the United States agree Pyongyangs programmes are a serious problem, but have not seen eye-to-eye on how to respond.

"There is a real commitment to work together to see if this cannot be resolved in a peaceful way," said Tillerson.

Trump asked Xi for ideas on how to proceed, but held out the possibility of unilateral action.

"(We) are prepared to chart our own course if this is something China is just unable to coordinate with us," said Tillerson.

Irans President Hassan Rouhani meanwhile said that "terrorists" were applauding Trump for launching a missile strike on an airbase of his Syrian government ally.

But he backed calls for an independent inquiry into a suspected chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held town in northwestern Syria on Tuesday that Trump blamed on the Damascus regime.

"This man who is now in office in America claimed that he wanted to fight terrorism but today all terrorists in Syria are celebrating the US attack," Rouhani said in a speech aired by state television.

"Why have you attacked the Syrian army which is at war with terrorists? Under what law or authority did you launch your missiles at this independent country?"  AFP
MAYNARD -- A man wanted in Fayette County on several charges has been apprehended.

Scott Peska, 42, of Marengo, was wanted in Fayette County stemming from original charges of second-degree robbery, driving while barred, and trespassing with injury or damage greater than $200. On Monday, he was located by Benton County sheriff's deputies and transported to West Union.

Last Friday at about 5 a.m., the Fayette County Sheriffs Office took a 911 of an assault at a home in Maynard. Once deputies arrived it was discovered that a robbery had taken place. Deputies said Peska went to a residence and entered it without permission. After a struggle, he stole the victim's cell phone.

The unnamed victim sustained an injury to her hand but required no medical attention. Peska then left the residence and was unable to be located.

Tama County officials said they too are looking for Peska, but gave no details other than to say he has "numerous ties to Tama County."
Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday defended Germany's stepped up deportations of rejected Afghan asylum seekers, saying other European countries were doing the same in response to a large influx of migrants since summer 2015.





Over a million migrants have flocked to Germany in the last two years. Merkel, who initially embraced an open-door refugee policy, has toughened her tone in recent months as she seeks a fourth term in a Sept. 24 election in which the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party is expected to win seats.





In December Germany began carrying out group deportations of Afghans with the government seeking to show it is tackling the high number of migrants by getting rid of those who do not qualify as refugees. One third of those sent back on the first flight were criminals convicted of offences.





In 2016, Afghans were the second biggest group of asylum seekers in Germany after Syrians, according to data from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees.





"All other EU countries send those who don't have the right of residence back to Afghanistan," Merkel said during an event at the chancellery in Berlin with people who help refugees.





Merkel urged Afghanistan's president: "Don't give the impression that (Afghans) can't live in Afghanistan because otherwise we'll all be lost together and we won't be able to find anybody to fight the Taliban as part of the Afghan army anymore."





Around 55 percent of Afghans are granted refugee status in Germany while 45 percent are not, Merkel said.





She added that the Afghan government had itself said that those coming to Germany were certainly not all the Afghans who are in the greatest danger of violence or the poorest.





Some of Germany's states are refusing to take part in deportations of Afghans, citing concerns about security in Afghanistan. - Read More




SUMNER --- A Waterloo man has been arrested in Fayette County in connection with a burglary in February.

On Feb. 21 at about 12:15 p.m. the Fayette County Sheriffs Office took a report of a stolen vehicle near the 9000 Block of Y Avenue in Sumner. Deputies also learned there was a loaded .22 handgun in the vehicle. The stolen vehicle, a 2003 Ford Escape, was later recovered by Waterloo Police Department.
CEDAR FALLS  US. Rep. Rod Blum, R-1st District, praised the presidents decisiveness in taking action in Syria after the recent chemical attack there against citizens.

But he also cautioned against further United States involvement in the Middle East nations civil war.

Republican President Donald Trump ordered an airstrike Thursday night at a Syrian air base thought to be the location where the planes carrying the chemical weapons were launched.

Its fine what he did, Blum said Friday after a luncheon with the Republican Women of Black Hawk County. However, I dont want to see us get involved in a civil war on the other side of the planet. Syria is barely a functioning country  its a civil war, and I just dont think we should be involved in it.

In a tweet Thursday following Trumps announcement, Blum praised Trumps decisive leadership, but said if the president wants a sustained military campaign, he would need to go to Congress to get authorization.

Though Blum said he supported Thursdays actions, he also noted they did not come without a cost. He said the 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles launched Thursday cost about $1.4 million each, which totals about $80 million for the attack.

He also disagreed with Trumps rationale for the airstrikes. Blum said he is supportive of sending that message that its just not right to gas your own people, but not that its a vital national interest to do so.

I disagree when the president says vital American interests were at stake last night (Thursday), and thats why we fired cruise missiles. What vital American interests? I just dont agree with that, Blum said.

Blum said hes unlikely to vote in support of military involvement in Syria.
DES MOINES  Gov. Terry Branstad said Friday he expects to sign legislation making major changes to Iowas firearms laws but he is reserving judgment until he and his staff have time to review the provisions of House File 517 that received final House approval on Thursday.

Obviously, we want to review it in its final form, but generally Ive been a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, and I believe the legislation passed with bipartisan support with a pretty strong margin, Branstad said in an interview. Im inclined to be supportive but I want to reserve judgment until I get a chance to review it in its final form.

It looks pretty good, the governor said.

Included in House File 517 is a controversial stand your ground provision that states a law-abiding citizen does not have a duty to retreat in a public place before using deadly force when confronted with danger to life or property.

The bill also would allow children below the age of 14 to handle pistols or revolvers under the supervision of an adult parent, guardian or instructor; pre-empt local ordinances restricting gun rights; create a uniform permit to carry weapons; provide for five-year permits to acquire handguns rather than single-year permits; and create confidentiality for those with permits, legalize short-barreled rifles and shotguns and allow those with permits to carry handguns in the Iowa Capitol and other public buildings.

Iowa Republican Party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann praised Speaker Pro Tempore Matt Windschitl and House and Senate Republicans for their work in shepherding the bill through both chambers of the Legislature in a bipartisan fashion. He called the bill the most monumental piece of pro-Second Amendment legislation in Iowas history.

Earlier in the week, members of Iowans for Gun Safety expressed concerns about the bill and on Friday, the Rev. Jeremy J. Brigham, executive director of the organization, wrote Branstad a letter urging him to veto the bill. "This bill ... threatens the rights of minorities in Iowa and we ask that you veto this bill and protect the rights of minorities in Iowa.

If the bill becomes law, members of the Iowa Chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America said Iowa will become only the second state to enact a new stand-your-ground law since the killing of Trayvon Martin in Florida in 2012.
DES MOINES  Gov. Terry Branstad said Friday he had productive meetings with members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during this weeks trip to Washington, D.C. However, he doesnt expect a hearing on his confirmation to be the next U.S. ambassador to China to take place until next month at the earliest.

Branstad said he met with committee chairman Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and ranking member, Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., as well as other committee members and Iowa Republican Sens. Charles Grassley and Joni Ernst, and he plans a return trip the last week in April after the two-week Easter recess. At that time, hell meet with more members of the committee who will consider his appointment by President Donald Trump to be Americas top diplomat in China.

I had a lot of good meetings with senators, Branstad said Friday during his first public event since his trip. He said he has completed the paperwork phase of the process and now he is learning as much as I can about the China issues, and there are many.

The governor said he also met with Sonny Perdue, Trumps secretary of agriculture nominee, who has cleared the committee process but awaits Senate confirmation pending an April 24 vote.

Its getting kind of frustrating, I think, for a lot of people. This process has been very slow, Branstad said of this years Senate action. Theyve now just confirmed Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court and that took up a significant amount of time.

But this has been the most, I guess, disruptive process that weve ever seen in terms of appointments. Confirmations usually dont take nearly this long. But, unfortunately, I think the Democrats have decided that theyre going to just basically attack everybody. I hope that by the time I get there that will have worn out and that wont be case, he said.

They ask tough questions and there are a number of issues. But Im hopeful that I can generate bipartisan support. Time will tell, he added.

Grassley said he expects Branstads confirmation to go well.

Hes personable, professional and has the proven leadership and policy skills to serve in such an important diplomatic position. As members of the Foreign Relations Committee get to know him, theyll appreciate his trustworthiness, his work ethic and his ability to get the job done for the United States as he has for Iowa for a record number of years, Grassley added.

Ernst said Branstad would make an excellent ambassador and hopes the Senate moves him through the confirmation process as soon as possible.

Our relationship with China is very important  from agricultural trade to national security  so I look forward to the Senate moving on his nomination soon, she said.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 07, 2017 | 04:29 PM | MARSHALL COUNTY, KY

A Marshall County man could be facing charges after shots were fired following a car crash Thursday morning.

According to the Marshall County Sheriff's Office, Marshall County Central Dispatch received a 911 call around 1:30 am reporting an incident on US 68 West between Palma and Sharpe. The caller said a car crash had occurred and she had stopped to help, when the driver in the crash produced a handgun and fired shots.

The suspect got into the victim's vehicle and demanded he be driven somewhere. The victim got into the vehicle with another witness. More shots were fired.

Police arrived on scene and the road was shut down as the suspect barricaded himself inside the vehicle and refused to surrender. More shots were fired from the vehicle after officers' arrival.

The Marshall County Special Response Team was dispatched to the scene and a negotiator with the team spent multiple hours trying to diffuse the situation and get the man to surrender. Eventually the SRT approached the vehicle and used less lethal munitions to bring the incident to a close.

Police said the man, identified as 64-year-old Gregory McCall of Benton, appeared to very intoxicated on an unknown substance. McCall was treated at the scene by SRT medics and then transported by EMS to Marshall County Hospital.

Police said a substance believed to be methamphetamine was found in McCall's vehicle. A .40 caliber handgun was recovered from the vehicle that McCall barricaded himself in.

Charges are pending by warrant as McCall continues to receive medical care. No other injuries were reported.The case remains under investigation.
As I put in the article link below;

Well they got here and it is Svetochkas mother who is making sure that the plants have a chance at survival. She knows all there is to know about plants and what she does not know she will look up at the library. The little plants have a chance with her looking after them and then when spring gets warm enough, we will try to find a Russian Village Home spot for them

Once again; Thank You Sweet Lady for the Lilacs!

AND I must thank Svetochkas mom for taking the new little ones and caring for them. She did not hesitate when asked and since we have everything shipped to her anyway. They came to her doorstep looking for a new home. Svetochkas mother is a sweet and wonderful person. Thank You

I know that we will start a white lilac craze in the Russian Villages around us. For I just have not found such critters anywhere

* * * * *

Yesterday I was pissed! Today I am just positive about what pissed me off!

The attack on a sovereign country called Syria (by the USA recently,) the belittlement of the Chinese president in Florida, The turn coating against all promises made, the verbal and terroristic approach against North Korea, the butt buddy attitude with Qatar and Saudi Arabia, so on and so on and so on!

I was spoofed, I admit it and after beating myself up over my stupidity. I have refocused my energies and see that there is some things in life that are simple put; Hopeless

But to my credit I saw this coming

But I should have not had hope and the only thing I can say positive is, Thank God Hillary is not in the White house! For she would have bombed Russia already, just because her masters tell her to do it! But it looks like Trump has the same masters Time will tell!

The Western Empire like the Titanic will go down no matter what. We either play with the band on the deck, fall into the freezing icy-water and or make arrangements to have your own lifeboat ready. For the lifeboats on-board are governmental approved, which means not enough boats and they sink slowly, but sink according to a regulated rate and amount of water taken in per hour. So it is all okay!

I decided my own life boat is a better option

WtR
Apr 8, 2017 | By David

Another round-up of recent news items that you might not have been aware of, to keep you up-to-date in what has been a very busy and exciting time for 3D printing technology. Verbatim has released a new PP filament, Robo3D has partnered with a number of Candian retailers, online 3D service buildpl8 has helped to provide employment for people with autism, amongst other interesting developments throughout the industry.

1. Online 3D printing factory buildpl8 employs people with autism spectrum disorders

Founded by Gerry Libertelli, buildpl8 is an online 3D printing solution for companies and individuals. Its central software system creates its own optimized schedule, and runs jobs for its customers remotely, and its output is at the level of a conventional industrial factory. Recently, in a test of different printer types, Libertelli produced a Calm Ring device, which is designed to help concentration for people with autism, as well as to break bad habits like smoking or nail biting. This eventually led to him contacting Jessica Zufall, the CEO of Special Citizens, a NYC-based nonprofit organization that helps out people with autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disorders.

As a result of the collaboration, Libertelli has put many people supported by Special Citizens in charge of the Calm Ring Shopify store, fulfilling all orders from customers. According to Zufall, The fact that this pilot has resulted in employment opportunities for people we support is extraordinary and we are so excited to expand the skill sets for each person so they may continue to move on to more competitive employment.

2. Verbatim releases new Polypropylene 3D printing filament

The latest 3D printing filament from Mitsubishi-owned tech company Verbatim has been unveiled. Its a Polypropylene material, with high levels of chemical, heat and fatigue resistance, as well as good hinge properties. The new filament will give users opportunities to create durable, flexible, transparent, heat- and chemical-resistant containers for food packaging, medical equipment, IT kit and other appliances. It requires a heated print bed of around 100C and is ideal for objects that require softness, transparency and heat resistance. Verbatim PP filament is now available in a shiny transparent colour at 1.75mm and 2.85mm thickness, complementing the companys existing portfolio of top grade ABS, PLA, PET and ultra flexible PRIMALLOY (TPE) filaments, which are compatible with most FDM 3D printers.

According to Shigeyuki Furomoto of the 3D Printer Materials Business Department, Mitsubishi Chemical Media, Compared to other 3D filaments such as ABS and PLA, PP offers high levels of heat, chemical, and fatigue resistance. Due to its resistance to acids, alkalis and organic solvents, PP will open up new opportunities for 3D printed solutions that other materials have not been able to satisfy until now.

3. Igus iglidur I150 Tribo-Filament approved for food technology

Igus iglidur I150 Tribo-Filament has recently received certification from the EU for use in food technology. Passing these hygiene and safety tests means that the material will be able to be used for all kinds of applications in the food industry. The range of tribo-filaments from Igus are specially designed to be processed on any 3D printer where the nozzle temperature can be set to 250C, and they allow for fast, cost-effective prototyping as well as final products. Unique benefits of the material are that it is lubrication-free and maintenance-free, and can be used even on 3D printers that do not have a heated printing plate. According to Tom Krause, product manager for Tribo-Filaments at Igus, I150 is very versatile material- It is very tough and the easiest Tribo-Filament to work with. The material has an impressively high wear resistance at surface speeds of up to 0.2 m/s.

4. Robo 3D teams up with Canadian retailers to increase distribution of its 3D printers

An agreement has been reached between Robo 3D and several retail outlets in Canada, including Best Buy, Staples and Amazon Canada. This will enable its Robo C2 and Robo R2 3D printers to be distributed nationally on a much larger scale. As well as the strong online presence provided by Amazon in particular, these new sales partners represent around 1,000 locations collectively. Robo 3D will be offering many other products in addition to its 3D printer range- 3D printer filament, educational software about 3D technology, as well as a range of DIY 3D printing project guides, including a build-your-own-drone kit.

Last month, Robo 3D also signed up with WYNIT Distribution, to distribute 3D printers and software in the U.S, where it will be focusing specifically on the education sector. The companys revenue for the 12 months ending December 2016 was US$3.7 million, up from US$3.2 million in 2015. This is in line with the doubling in size of the 3D printer market in 2016, which is expected to see sales of over 6 million units by 2020.

5. 3D printing company Roboze partners with Polymertal

An alliance has been established between the Italian 3D printing innovators Roboze and Polymertal, a company that specializes in producing hybrid products based on 3D printed metal parts. The hybrids produced by the Israeli company tend to be a combination of plastic and metal, and they accordingly boast a number of unique features that give them an advantage over conventional metal products, particularly in terms of weight and material cost. Among Polymertals existing customers are top clients from industries such as Defense, Aviation, and Aerospace.

Roboze will be looking to Polymertal to purchase its flagship product  the Roboze One+400 industrial 3D printer  in order enhance a unique plating process. This process will be applied to Robozes metal replacement techno-polymers, focusing on PEEK, PEI & CARBON-PA. The development will enable Roboze to take advantage of an industry-wide shift in 3D printing, from prototyping to final manufacturing.

6. AtlanticProCare announces innovative 3D printing program for custom prostheses

AtlanticProCare, New England's leading provider of customized mobility solutions for amputees, has announced that it has partnered with several fabricators to test 3D printed prostheses.

Founded in 1993, Portland, Maine-based AtlanticProCare specializes in highly personalized prosthetic rehabilitation. AtlanticProCare is currently working with three 3D printing companies -- Extremiti 3D, Create O&P and Standard Cyborg -- each of whom have unique offerings based on proprietary software, hardware and materials. AtlanticProCare provides custom created CAD designs for the 3D printers and then tests the outputs.

"This program is right on the leading of edge of prosthetics," said JP Donovan, CEO and Owner of AtlanticProCare. "It's where the industry is heading, and we're thrilled to be helping lead the way. We believe that 3D printing will soon be a new standard for delivering custom designed prosthetics."

The 3D printing process removes several steps from the current manufacturing process for custom prostheses by eliminating the need for plaster and positive models. Its limitations include the cost of equipment and fewer materials options. At this point, that means firms like AtlanticProCare will have to use the technology as an outsourcing option. "We're currently able to provide a custom fitted prosthesis in one visit with our RAM process and on-site lab," said Donovan, "which we can't yet do with 3D. But at some point, this technology will become the standard for everyone, and then we'll be able to provide custom designs even faster."

7. CSIC and Queensland University of Technology to receive Aether 1 bioprinter beta units

San Francisco start-up Aether announced this week that the company has entered into Research Collaboration Agreements with Spanish National Research Council ("CSIC") and Queensland University of Technology ("QUT") in Australia.

Left to right: Aether CTO Eric Bennett, Dr. Huang, Elisabeth Gill, Duo Zhang

Two stories have dominated recent media coverage of the 3D bioprinting field. One is the groundbreaking work being done by QUT, and the other is the unprecedented work being done in 3D skin printing and other areas of bioprinting by CSIC.

Aether will supply an Aether 1 Bioprinter beta unit to the Centre for Regenerative Medicine at QUT. Dr. Nathan Castro and PhD students will utilize the Aether 1 Bioprinter in the Professor Hutmacher directed ARC Training Centre in Additive Biomanufacturing. Prof. Hutmacher is one of the pioneers in the field of scaffold based tissue engineering. He and an interdisciplinary team from National University of Singapore have developed biodegradable scaffolds which are FDA approved and CE marked. It is estimated that thousands of patients have benefitted from the 3D printed scaffolds.

Aether will also supply an Aether 1 Bioprinter beta unit to researchers at CSIC. CSIC is the largest public institution dedicated to research in Spain, and the third largest in all of Europe. A recent paper titled "3D bioprinting of functional human skin: production and in vivo analysis" published in the journal Biofabrication based on the research conducted by CSIC researcher Nieves Cubo Mateo and others has been met with extreme excitement and new interest in the burgeoning field of 3D skin printing. CSIC will use the Aether 1 Bioprinter beta unit to conduct experimental research involving the combination of multiple materials and multiple fabrication methods.

Aether plans to sell base units of the beta edition for $9,000 and Aether expects to have a commercial edition of Aether 1 available for public sale sometime in 2017.





Posted in 3D Printer Company

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Bruce Robbins in The Nation:

In Components of the National Culture (1968), Perry Anderson argued that some of the most influential intellectuals who fled to Britain from political violence on the continentpeople like Berlin, Karl Popper, Bronislaw Malinowski, Melanie Klein, and Ludwig Wittgensteinhad elective affinities with Britains very uncontinental tradition of nonviolent continuity and relative social stability. Once established in Britain, Anderson said, they reinforced and expanded that tradition, leaving Britain more conservative still.

In Andersons view, Deutscher was the most prominent exception to this White emigration. Perhaps because of the idiosyncrasies of his radicalismone that did not quite conform with either British communist or social-democratic politicsDeutscher was ignored by Britains academic world. Or perhaps it was because his intellectual independence, his journalistic flair and polemical style, didnt conform with Englands cloistered and sometimes stodgy university culture. In any case, Anderson never ignored himin fact, anyone searching for evidence of Deutschers intellectual afterlife would need look no further than Andersons brilliant accomplishments as a historian and political analyst.

Like Deutscher, Anderson has proved over the years to be a polyglot polymath; like Deutscher, he recognizes no appeal above or beyond what Gregory Elliott calls, in his book about Anderson, the merciless laboratory of history. Both were drawn to the olympian universalism of Marx and Engels, although perhaps not equally so.

Anderson related an anecdote that suggested a small but telling difference between the two men. In the 1960s, Anderson was loudly indignant at Englands lack of political dynamism. Why, he asked, could France boast of so many revolutions, while modern England had had none? In a foreword to the volume in which Components is reprinted, he recalled Deutscher informing him that he could not fully approve of Andersons disengagement from political possibilities on the ground, imperfect as they might be. Borrowing a term from Rosa Luxemburgs misguided refusal to support Polish independence before World War I, Deutscher said that Andersons position was guilty of national nihilism.

In saying no to nihilism even about nationalism, of which he was no fan, Deutscher was passing on some practical wisdomwisdom intended in particular for anyone trying to stretch political commitment beyond the heady enthusiasm of youth. To judge everyday politics by the high standard of revolution is to make oneself vulnerable to despair, or at least apathy. It can also be self-defeating, parachuting a set of abstract standards into a community that might be receptive to a politics goals but is either confused or alienated by the language in which those goals are pursued. As a longtime revolutionary, Deutscher was well-placed to insist that there are other paths toward social justice.

More here.
South Dakota gubernatorial candidates hold rallies ahead of Election Day

Throughout campaign rallies in the final week before Election Day, Gov. Kristi Noem and Rep. Jamie Smith spoke to their base and encouraged others to get out the vote.
An outbreak of Marburg virus disease (MVD) was declared in Ghana on 7 July 2022, after a test on an index case who died 24 hours after presenting to a health facility in the Ashanti region with symptoms of Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers (VHF) returned positive after his death.
Saudi Religious Affairs Minister Sheikh Saleh bin Abdul Aziz has said that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia would jointly take on the enemies of Islam and Harmain Sharifain (the holy places in Saudi Arabia).

Addressing a well-attended public meeting on the first day of centenary celebrations of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (F) here on Friday, he said that Pakistan-Saudi Arabia military alliance is a victory of Islam and its main objective is renaissance of Islam.

JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, diplomats and political leaders were present on the occasion.

The Saudi minister termed the military alliance a formidable force to counter terrorism and warned that there was no room for violence and terrorism.

Pakistan-Saudi alliance will pull out eyes of the enemy. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are like one heart and two souls which are cooperating with each other in the fields of science, technology, defence, economy, education and culture, he said.
Dr. Paul Offit, MD , is the Maurice R. Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology and Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania, a chair funded by Merck & Co. He is also the Chief of the Division of Infectious Disease and Director of the Vaccine Information Center at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia. Offit is a successful vaccine technician and an accomplished vaccine promoter. His vaccine for diarrhea, RotaTeq is manufactured and distributed by Merck & Co., and its affiliates worldwide.

At the site, we have studies supporting Haley, and a list of over 180 more studies showing the extreme dangers of Mercury, especially when combined with Aluminum, as in shots, and other heavy metals, such as Lead or Cadmium from the general environment.

We also made a video, Haley vs Offit: A Virtual Debate About Vaccines, The Greatest Medical Controversy Of Our Time, viewable at publicaffairsmediainc.blogspot.com.

We interviewed Paul at his Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia office. Then transcribed the interview, and sent it out to a few of his critics, whose credentials and comments on his statements follow below.

NOTE: We're bringing you this series, re-crafted for 2017, by Richard P. Milner of Public Affairs Media during Autism Action Month. Dr. Paul Offit has led the charge against any and all in our community, doctors, scientists, parents, educators, film makers, who question vaccine safety. ### Paul Offit has for many years been the go-to-guy whenever the mainstream media looks for a sound bite on vaccination. By presenting him with no counter, they give the impression that he has no critics beyond a few hysterical parents. However, in our research and investigation we found that he has many.

He is co-author of the fifth edition of the medical textbook, Vaccines , together with over 130 scientific and general audience articles on vaccine issues. He appears frequently as a guest commentator on national radio, cable and broadcast television, while his writings are found in major US newspapers and magazines.

He is author or co-author of several books, including Breaking the Antibiotic Habit , Vaccines: What You Should Know , The Cutter Incident: How Americas First Polio Vaccine Led to Todays Growing Vaccine Crisis , Vaccinated: One Man's Quest to Defeat the World's Deadliest Diseases , and Autism's False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine , The Search for a Cure , and most recently, Deadly Choices: How the Anti-vaccination Movement threatens Us All.

Dr. Offit is a member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), and a former member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) at the CDC, which evaluates vaccines for CDC recommendation. These recommendations routinely become mandates approved by all US states and territories. Offit advocates for the complete elimination of all vaccine exemptions throughout the world.

He claims to have no conflict of interest regarding his patronage by Merck, his profits from one of their best-selling vaccines, and his services in clearing the way for its CDC recommendation during his membership on the CDCs Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.







Dr. Boyd Haley, PhD, is Emeritus Professor of Chemistry/Biochemistry in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center.

In the past 23 years Dr. Haley has emphasized studies on the biochemistry of Alzheimers disease. His research in the biochemical aberrancies in Alzheimers disease also led to his identifying mercury toxicity as a major exacerbating factor, perhaps even a causal factor for this disease. He was one of the first to propose that the organic-mercury preservative, Thimerosal, in vaccines was the most likely toxic agent involved in Gulf War Syndrome and autism-related disorders.







Dr. Sherri J. Tenpenny, DO, is an osteopathic medical doctor from Cleveland, Ohio. Her board certification is in Emergency Medicine and Osteopathic Manual Medicine. At her integrative medical clinic she focuses on Allergy elimination, including treatment of children with asthma and allergies, as well as womens health, using bio-identical hormones and breast thermography. Her clinic has restored the health of patients who have come from 38 states and 8 countries.

Dr. Tenpenny has been a guest on National TV talk shows and syndicated radio programs. She is a regular speaker at national and international seminars on topics ranging from iodine and breast health to vaccines and vaccination injury. She has also written two books, FOWL: Bird flu  its not what you think (what you need to know about flu shots) and Saying No to Vaccines: A Resource Guide for All Ages .

David M. Ayoub, M.D, received his medical degree from University of Illinois College of Medicine, Peoria, Illinois. He did his residency in Diagnostic Radiology at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine Affiliated Hospitals, Springfield, Illinois. He is board certified in Diagnostic Radiology by the American Board of Radiology.

He is currently a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Radiology at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield, Illinois. He is also director of Prairie Collaborative, Ltd, an Illinois not-for-profit organization in Springfield, Illinois, compiling and assessing peer-reviewed medical literature relating to autism.

Dr. Suzanne Humphries, MD, is a conventionally educated medical doctor board certified in internal medicine and nephrology, who was a participant in the conventional hospital system from 1989 until 2011. After leaving the hospital in good standing of her own volition in 2011, she has been furthering her research, lecturing in various parts of the world, writing books, and conducting her own private practice in Maine and Virginia.

She is the author of two books on vaccination: Dissolving Illusions: Disease, Vaccines, And The Forgotten History, co-authored with Roman Bystrianyk, and Rising From The Dead .







Brian S. Hooker, PhD, PE, is an Associate Professor of Biology at Simpson University in Redding, California, where he specializes in chemistry and biology coursework. Additionally, Hooker is the Senior Process Consultant at ARES Corporation, working closely on process design for the environment restoration industry. His design efforts focus on industrial biotechnology and chemical engineering principles.

Brian dedicated over 15 years as a bioengineer and the team leader for the High Throughput Biology Team and Operations Manager of the DOE Genomics: Genomes to Life (GTL) Center for Molecular and Cellular Systems at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Dr. Hooker managed applied plant and fungal molecular biology research projects at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, where systems biology researchers are focused on understanding gene and protein networks involved in individual cell signaling, communication between cells in communities, and cellular metabolic pathways.

In 1985, Dr. Hooker earned his Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering, from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California. He earned his Masters of Science degree in 1988 and his doctorate in 1990, both in biochemical engineering, from Washington State University, in Pullman, Washington.

Dr. Hooker has many accomplishments to his credit including: co-inventor for five patents, recipient of the Battelle Entrepreneurial Award in 2001, and a Federal Laboratory Consortium Recognition Award in 1999, for his work on Reactive Transport in 3-Dimensions. The breadth of Hookers 60 science and engineering papers have been published in internationally recognized, peer-reviewed journals. He has a teenage son with autism.

Dr. Russell Blaylock, MD, is a board certified neurosurgeon, author and lecturer. He attended the LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans and completed his general surgical internship and neurosurgical residency at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, South Carolina. For the past 25 years he has practiced neurosurgery in addition to having a nutritional practice. He recently retired from both practices to devote full time to nutritional studies and research.

Dr. Blaylock has written four books: Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills (how they are related to diseases of the nervous system), Health and Nutrition Secrets That Can Save Your Life , Natural Strategies for Cancer Patients , and Cellular and Molecular Biology of Autism Spectrum Disorders. He has written major sections of three medical textbooks and has published over 30 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals.



PART ONE

MILNER: For example, if you saw a child with a concussion or you saw a child with some kind of brain injury, you wouldnt treat that, would you?

OFFIT: No, itsin other words, what I am director of treatment of infectious diseases here at Childrens Hospital Philadelphia and so what we do atin the Infectious Disease division is we see children who are inpatients, who have severe or chronic or persistent or unknown infectious diseases, or we see children as outpatients who generally are referred by pediatricians in the community with an infectious disease that theyre having difficulty handling.

HALEY: Dr. Offit has no training in toxicology or neurology, yet he feels it is okay for him to dismiss the potential toxicity of injecting thimerosal into infants on the day of birth, within the first 6 months of life. This is quite arrogant.

OFFIT: Vaccines are the best of two worlds. What they do is they induce roughly the same immune response that are induced by natural infection without having to pay the price of natural infection.

HUMPHRIES: I dont believe the literature or the immunology supports this idea of roughly the same immune response. How could it? Any immunologist will tell you that the immune system is not a rough one. It involves finely orchestrated highly specific responses, so that the right target is hit at the right time, especially after being immunized naturally so that the future response is accurate, rapid and does not cause autoimmunity.

Now as for as his comment about vaccines doing the same thing as natural disease--that is easily refuted. For instance with the whooping cough bacteria you get a very different stimulation, intramuscular vs. inhaled which is exactly why an inhaled vaccine has been invented.

With the currently used injection, you get a very limited array of specific responses to the toxins in the bacteria compared to the natural infection. Adenylate Cyclase Toxin is not in the vaccine, so you are totally inept to respond to that after injection because the fact of original antigenic sin or otherwise known as linked epitope suppression. The immunity is faulty as a result of original antigenic sin:

from Cherry 2010:





HUMPHRIES: And the same applies to influenza vaccines and possibly others as well. But whooping cough is a great example of how what he says here is simply rubbish.

Yes, you pay a price for natural infection, but you get a great reward for it. And if you dont get the natural infection you get vaccines cradle to grave. Many parents are opting for the infection because they know it is easily manageable with high doses of vitamin C and because they know antibiotics do not treat it and that the vaccine is not protective guarantee and carries risk.
Capt. Nick Gallam, administrator with the Aiken County detention center, is seen here demonstrating the jail's Securus inmate call system, which will soon be replaced after seven years. The jail's contract with Securus expired in 2017 and a new contract was secured with the company Global Tel*link.
A leading teen specialty clothing retailer may be heading for bankruptcy.

Rue21 may file bankruptcy soon. (Wikipedia)

Reuters reports Rue21 is planning to file for bankruptcy as early as this month. The company has not publicly confirmed the move but an email to Reuters from spokesperson Todd Fogarty suggests things may be moving in that direction.

"Rue21 has been working to improve its operations and enhance its liquidity position and has been actively engaged with its lenders and bondholders to explore the best path forward," he said.

The Pennsylvania company, which has 30 locations in Alabama, operates more than 1,000 stores in shopping malls, outlets and strip centers in 48 states. It is not clear at this time if Rue21 will shut down any stores as it restructures its business model.

Reuters said Rue21 is struggling to pay a debt load of nearly $1 billion and is working with restructuring bankers from firm Rothschild & Co.

Many retailers have sought bankruptcy protection as more shoppers spend money online. Earlier this week, AL.com reported Payless Shoes is closing 400 stores, including six Alabama locations.

Sears, HHGregg, Macy's, Kmart, JCPenney, Game Stop and Radio Shack are all shuttering stores throughout the U.S.
When Alabama Sens. Richard Shelby and Luther Strange didn't respond to their request for a town hall meeting, Birmingham Indivisible held one anyway. And, they called them chicken.

Instead of asking their questions to the senators, dozens of concerned Birmingham area voters asked their questions to a person wearing a chicken costume.

After the chicken squawked an answer, two local political experts took turns giving - comedic - answers to their questions. The questions ranged from the environment, funding of Medicaid, nepotism and corruption in the White House to gerrymandering and prison overcrowding.

The town hall, which was scheduled last month, was held Saturday afternoon at Carver Theatre in downtown Birmingham.

Thousands of Alabamians joined Indivisible, a national grassroots progressive movement, following the election of President Donald Trump. They protested outside Shelby's office in the Birmingham federal building urging both senators to hold a town hall meeting.

Last month, when the senators didn't respond to the protests or to hundreds of calls and emails, the group set the April 8 date for the town hall and invited Shelby and Strange to attend.

The group also protested at the Vestavia Hills office of U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer and called for a town hall meeting. Though Palmer denies it was because of the movement, about six weeks after the protests began, Palmer agreed to the hold a town hall. Hundreds of people attended the Feb. 25 event.

Despite the humorous nature of Saturday's forum, organizer Shea Rives said voter questions will be forwarded to the senators' offices. A video of the town hall will also be given to the senators and made available online.

"We are here today to have our numbers counted, and our voices heard," Rives said.

He said this town hall should be a "wake up" call for Alabama's representatives. Rives said Alabama's senators aren't speaking out against the actions of President Trump because of a "power grab."

The election of Trump prompted Birmingham resident Dehryl Mason to get active in politics for the first time in about three decades, she said.

She said Saturday's event highlights how the people of Alabama aren't being represented by their representatives.

"There are questions that we need answers to," she said.
bentley 2014

Gov. Robert Bentley during a visit to Huntsville in April 2014, which was about the time he began admitting to his family that he was having an affair with Rebekah Mason. (AL.com file photo)

The children of Gov. Robert Bentley believed their father may have been suffering from dementia at the time they were learning of his affair with Rebekah Mason.

Their concern was included in the impeachment report for the House Judiciary Committee released Friday.

The family also sought to have their father undergo a medical evaluation by specialists outside of Alabama but such an evaluation never occurred, the report said.

Another point in the report said that Michael Echols, a Tuscaloosa accountant who was friends with the Bentleys and assisted Bentley's wife in filing for divorce, also suspected the governor had dementia.

"It is our understanding that the remainder of the family found out about their father's relationship with Mason piecemeal," said the report, which was compiled by Jack Sharman, special counsel to the committee. "Reportedly, the family's instinct was to surround Ms. Bentley with protection, but several witnesses also told us that there was a belief among the Bentley children that their father may have been suffering dementia or other health problems.

"Witnesses also told us that there was an effort by the Bentley children to have their father evaluated by medical specialists outside of Alabama. Such a medical intervention never came to fruition."

Mason believed that Echols suspected the affair and wanted to go public with it, according to the report.

"One reason Mason gave for her suspicion, (state investigator Scott) Lee recalls, was that Echols had tried to 'trick' Governor Bentley into boarding a plane for the purpose of being tested for dementia," the report said.

The family began to learn about the affair in 2014 - two years before it became public in March 2016.

The report said that Bentley stopped denying that the affair existed in the spring of 2014 - shortly after his now ex-wife recorded the widely-heard salacious conversation between Bentley and Mason while the Bentleys were at the beach.

After making the recording with her cell phone, Ms. Bentley's chief of staff Heather Hannah burned the recording onto a disc. Ms. Bentley played the disc for their son, Paul, and his wife, Melissa.

In the spring of 2014, Paul drove to Montgomery to confront his father with the recording and forced him to listen to it. At that point, the governor first began to show contrition for the relationship, the report said.

"It was also reported to us that Paul Bentley later had a separate conversation with Mason, during which she also admitted to an affair with Governor Bentley," the report said.
The head of Alabama's Republican Party has responded to allegations she supports gambling, charges that emerged today as part of a massive data dump related to the possible impeachment of Gov. Robert Bentley.

Among the 3,000 pages of documents released in a House Judicial Committee report was an email exchange from Tim Whitt, director of grants for the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries.

The emails were sent Oct. 15, 2015 to Bentley and his chief adviser and alleged mistress Rebekah Caldwell Mason.

In the messages, Whitt references an appearance by Rep. Ed Henry, R-Hartselle on the Matt Murphy radio show and then says (GOP chief) "Terry Lathan mentioned that supporting gambling 'hurts the Republican brand' the same way new taxes allegedly do. I have photos - from Terry Lathan's own Facebook page - of her supporting gambling by personally attending the Kentucky Derby, mint julep in hand."

He went on to say Bentley and Mason should get a copy of the radio show to hear a "highly insulting" performance by Henry and Lathan.

The claims in the emails were circulated Friday night as part of the reporting on the Bentley allegations.

Lathan responded quickly.

That's funny @ALPolitics -not true and only money I spent was on KFC! #shameful pic.twitter.com/Igfhe7Cznn  Terry Lathan (@ChairmanLathan) April 8, 2017

The state's Republican Party has not issued an official statement on the Bentley report.
The legal battle between Twitter and the U.S. government ended Friday, after the Department of Homeland Security withdrew its demand that the tech company release information to identify an account holder whose tweets are critical of President Donald Trump on Twitter.

The lawsuit threatened to become a major battle over free speech between Silicon Valley and Washington. But it was over almost before it began. The tech company had filed a lawsuit Thursday to protest the order, saying that it violated the user's First Amendment right to free expression. But Twitter dropped its suit Friday, saying in a court filing that "[because] the summons has now been withdrawn, Twitter voluntary dismisses without prejudice all claims."

The DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Twitter filed the suit to protect the identity of a user who runs the @ALT_uscis feed -- an account that purports to tweet the thoughts of a federal worker from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The two-month-old account is often critical of the Trump administration's immigration policies, particularly its plans to build a wall along the border with Mexico and its immigration travel ban.

Legal experts said that Twitter would have had a strong case had it gone to court, as the government had not provided compelling information on why it was necessary to identify the critic.

The government, in order to enforce its subpoena, would have had to demonstrate that whoever is behind the Twitter account was likely violating some law. There also were serious questions about whether the type of subpoena used, which is typically for investigating violations of export rules, was appropriate for the type of case DHS was probing, experts said.

Courts also have traditionally given a high degree or protection to political speech, including the right to speak anonymously or with a pseudonym. That includes, in many circumstances, government employees who are critical of the agencies for which they work.

"This is just, as best as I can tell, the government trying to figure out who is expressing criticisms, and that is chilling," said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

If the goal was to quiet the dissent, it seems to have failed. The number of followers for the Twitter account grew from "over 32,000" to more than 150,000 in less than 24 hours.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., on Thursday called the government's attempt to unmask the identity of the Twitter user a "witch hunt." On Friday, Wyden sent a letter to DHS's Customs and Border Protection agency, which demanded the information, asking them to investigate "why and how" the order came about.

"Not only was the summons blatantly inconsistent with the cited investigatory authority, section 509 of the Tariff Act of 1930, but it appeared to be a disturbing threat to free speech and whistleblower protections," Wyden's letter said.

A lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented the user, said in a statement Friday that the speed with which the government withdrew the request shows how problematic its demand was.

Twitter has fought battles with the government before over user privacy. In 2012, the social network appealed an order from the state of New York to reveal personal user data from the account of Occupy Wall Street protester Malcolm Harris. It lost that appeal. The company also sued the Justice Department in 2014 for the right to make federal information requests for user data public.

Twitter's actions this week highlight how much responsibility social media platforms hold in today's debates about the right to free expression in the modern world, experts said. While social media networks may give a voice to millions of individuals, it is the companies' opinions, clout and resources that actually speak volumes.

"People love to speak about a global town square, but it's hosted on company servers and not government servers. That means that the rights and terms and conditions that are granted are very much determined by a small group of people," said Alex Howard, deputy director at the Sunlight Foundation, a nonprofit that focuses on technology and open government. "The choices they make to stand up for their users set important precedents for other companies now and into the future."

The person behind @ALT_uscis did not respond to a request for comment sent over Twitter. But the user did thank Twitter and the ACLU, tweeting:

We want to thank @twitter and @aclu for standing up for the right of free anonymous speech. Thank you resistance for standing up for us. https://t.co/6PdwZIJ2xP  ALT- Immigration  immi (@ALT_uscis) April 7, 2017

"We are taking a break! The past few days have been extremely difficult and full of anxiety," read another message from the account. "Thank you again America!"

Authors information: Craig Timberg is a national technology reporter for The Washington Post. Hayley Tsukayama covers consumer technology for The Washington Post.
Private prison companies have planted their flags proudly in states across the Southeast. Every state sharing a border with Alabama is home to at least one privately operated prison.

Alabama has long been a regional outlier, with stalwart political opposition to corporate prisons keeping them from being established in the state.

But a series of recent moves demonstrates that at least one major national private prison conglomerate is finding creative ways to make inroads into Alabama.

The creep of GEO Group - the nation's second-largest private prison corporation - into the state has gone largely unheralded. But the company's purchase Wednesday of a correctional facility in Shelby County is the latest sign of a growing trend of corporate incursions into the state's prison-industrial complex.

The moves come at a critical time, as lawmakers consider options for reforming the state's overcrowded, violent prison system in the face of a federal investigation into a wide range of potential abuses and constitutional violations.

But it has gone largely unnoticed, as private prison companies do not currently run any operational state prisons in Alabama. They are instead finding other ways to establish footholds in the state, an effort being led in recent years by GEO Group.

Alabama Therapeutic Education Facility

On Wednesday, GEO Group acquired the Alabama Therapeutic Education Facility in Columbiana as part of its $360 million purchase of the national correctional company Community Education Centers.

With capacity for 724 inmates, the facility contracts with the Alabama Department of Corrections (DOC) to treat and rehabilitate state prisoners who are considered low-risk offenders.

"It's a therapeutic facility. It's privately owned but the state supports them through some of our funding to house some of our state inmates," State Sen. Cam Ward, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Thursday.

"I call it therapeutic programs, education-based programs; they help them get a skill for when they get out. They're nonviolent inmates."

But the acquisition of the facility by GEO Group marks a new level of direct involvement in Alabama corrections by massive private prison corporations.

Pablo Paez, spokesman for the Florida-headquartered company, declined via email to respond to a number of specific questions about the acquisition and the company's future plans for the facility and the state. He instead provided the link to a company press release announcing the deal and offered an additional one-sentence statement.

"We do look forward to continuing to provide quality services at the facility in Columbiana, Alabama, which is a 724-bed reentry facility under contract with the Alabama Department of Corrections," Paez wrote.

Bob Horton, a spokesman for the DOC, declined to respond to a series of questions about private prison companies' influence in Alabama.

Staff at the Alabama Therapeutic Education Facility declined to grant an interview or give a tour of the facility to an AL.com reporter who visited the hulking building Thursday afternoon.

The acquisition of the property was new enough on Thursday that employees there still wore uniforms with the Community Education Centers name and logo, which also remained printed on exterior signage at the facility. But a map of GEO Group facilities on the company's website has been updated since Tuesday to include a bright yellow dot marking its stake in Alabama and linking to information about the Alabama Therapeutic Education Facility.

On Wednesday, GEO Group acquired the Alabama Therapeutic Education Facility in Columbiana as part of its $360 million purchase of the national correctional company Community Education Centers. (Connor Sheets | csheets@al.com)

Perry County Correctional Center

The Columbiana facility houses hundreds of male and female Alabama state inmates - the exact number was not immediately available - but because it is a rehabilitative reentry program, it is not considered a state prison.

There is not a privately owned prison currently operating in Alabama, but GEO Group does own a prison in Perry County that for years held inmates.

The Perry County Correctional Center near Union Town is currently unoccupied, but it was home to a small number of prisoners at least as recently as 2015.

Opened in 2006, the prison was never a county correctional facility despite its name. It was instead a private prison that housed a wide range of offenders over the past decade, from Alabama state prisoners to state inmates sent there by the state of Vermont and federal inmates of the U.S. Marshals Service.

The prison - which has a design capacity of 690 people, according to investor materials distributed by GEO Group last year - was built by the private prisons firm LCS Correctional Services. In February 2015, GEO Group purchased the Perry County facility and seven prisons in Texas and Louisiana from LCS for $310 million.

The facility no longer houses any inmates, and is currently sitting unused.

The company has attempted to sell the prison to the state in the past, according to Ward.

"GEO also owns the empty Perry County prison, which they are trying to sell us," he said.

State lawmakers have repeatedly taken steps toward purchasing the Perry County facility. In 2010, a bill was approved by the Legislature to allow as much as $60 million in bonds to be issued in order to buy the prison, but the state never ended up doing so. In 2015, the state House Ways and Means General Fund Committee approved a slightly tweaked version of that bill, but the state again failed to move forward with a purchase.

Ward added that the state is not planning to purchase the prison because it would not be cost-effective, and that he and other lawmakers are also opposed to private companies operating prisons.

"I don't mind buying it if we can use it, but I have a problem with private prisons. I've just seen too many problems with private prisons around the country," Ward said.

"The [other] main reason why it doesn't make sense is that financially it doesn't work. We spend so little already on prisons in Alabama that it would be more to go private prisons."

In October, a state lawmaker said that the state could have purchased it for as little as $32 million, according to the Anniston Star. Meanwhile, in June, GEO Group sent a report to investors stating that the facility had a net book value of only about $12.9 million. So the prison sits empty in Perry County today.

"With respect to the Perry County facility, there are currently no concrete plans, and yes, the facility is completely idle," Paez, the GEO Group spokesman, said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

While Alabama has not allowed private prison companies to purchase and operate state prisons, the federal government has contracted with GEO Group to serve some of its corrections needs in the state.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) used to house immigrant detainees in the Perry County Correctional Center.

"We do not currently use the Perry County facility and have not for at least five years," ICE spokesman Thomas Byrd said via email. "I'm not sure of the exact date, but was told it's been at least that long."

But ICE does have a contract with a GEO Group subsidiary to run a program that supervises certain immigrants released from its custody.

ICE contracts with Etowah County to incarcerate as many as 345 detainees at a time in the Etowah County Detention Center in Gadsden.

A prisoner looks out over the common area at the Etowah County Detention Center in Gadsden on Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012. (Eric Schultz / eschultz@al.com)

When some of those immigrants are released from the Etowah County facility pending court dates and other proceedings, they are entered into the Intensive Supervision and Appearance Program, or ISAP, which has similarities to standard probation and parole programs.

BI Incorporated, which has managed the ISAP program since it launched in 2004, operated more than 40 ISAP offices as of 2014. It currently has a dedicated office in Gadsden office, and in November GEO Group published a job posting on Monster.com seeking an administrative to work there.

ISAP "is a community-based/supervision program managed by BI Incorporated, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of GEO Group, under contract with the Department of Homeland Security and ICE," according to Paez, who directed more detailed questions about the program and GEO Group's role in it to ICE.

But a September 2014 statement contained on a cached version of BI Incorporated's website explains ISAP and the company's role in it in greater detail.

The statement explains that ISAP provides "case management and supervision" to ICE detainees involved in immigration proceedings.

It achieves these goals through such means as requiring program participants to report frequently to ISAP offices and/or submit to tracking by electronic monitoring devices.
A locality on the outskirts of the Macedonian capital Skopje is a rare outpost of Roma autonomy and security

Suto Orizari, Macedonia  Sleek black Audis skirt past children playing in the streets and carts pulled by elaborately dressed horses clop around potholed streets. The stainless steel spires of Macedonias biggest mosque pierce the skyline. This is Suto Orizari, Macedonias only Roma-run municipality, located on the outskirts of the capital Skopje.

Roma, or Romani people, are a once-nomadic group of people who are believed to have arrived in Europe from northern India one thousand years ago. In Europe, there are 12 million Roma  making them the continents largest minority  over half of which live in the European Union. Some 200,000 are in Macedonia, according to the Council of Europe.

Eighty percent of Suto Orizaris population is Roma. The municipality is the only local administrative unit in the world to have adopted Romani as an official language. It has several TV channels in the Roma language and a colourful flag featuring the Roma wheel  an Indian chakra, which refers to the origin of the Roma people.

The streets  named after Walt Disney, Che Guevara and Garcia Lorca  are bustling. At the centre is a sprawling bazaar where vendors hawk tracksuits, sneakers, and home goods mostly imported from Turkey and China.

Those who dont have stalls lay out tarps selling electronics or just bits and bobs. Buses ferrying residents and customers arrive regularly from the centre of Skopje, about 15 minutes away. Somewhere, a band plays the fast-paced music of trumpets, accordions and drums that the Balkan Roma are known for.

While brutal attacks on Roma are common in Europe, there is a level of security and autonomy in Suto Orizari, or Shutka (SHOOT-kuh), as the neighbourhood is locally known, that is lacking elsewhere in the Balkan region and in countries across the European Union.

Last August, a mob forcibly evicted several dozen Roma from a small village in Ukraine, setting a house on fire and threatening that anyone who returned would be lynched, while police looked on.

In 2015, more than 11,000 Roma settlers were forcibly evicted in France, in some cases being torched out of their homes, according to Jonathan Lee of the European Roma Rights Centre, a Roma-led legal advocacy group based in Budapest, Hungary.

In France the following year, there was a string of violent stabbings, a firebombing, and a further 4,500 evictions.

Elsewhere in the EU, including Hungary and Romania, Roma continue to face evictions, persecution, and segregation.

Yet, things are far from ideal in the Roma-run municipality of Shutka.

READ MORE: Roma women share stories of forced sterilisation

A rare example of Roma autonomy

In the Balkan region, where Macedonia is located, many Romani have suffered several cycles of displacement and are chronically disenfranchised as a result of the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s.

Many remain stateless, including some in Shutka. But this small corner of southern Europe is a rare example of Roma autonomy.

This is the only place in the world where Roma are organised politically and economically and fill their lives for themselves and one another, Sead Ismail, a Roma and the president of Shutkas municipal council, says as he drives over potholed streets in a Mercedes SUV.

This is the only place in the world where Roma are organised politically and economically and fill their lives for themselves and one another. by Sead Ismail, president of Shutka's municipal council

Ive visited Roma communities in Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia, says Ismail, And in many of those settlements, they dont have representatives, or electricity, or sewer systems. And theyre in the European Union!

Roma have been living in Macedonia since at least the 15th century, but didnt start to settle in Shutka until an earthquake in 1963 destroyed 80 percent of Skopje.

At that time, Suto Orizari was an open pasture  the name literally means barren fields.

As part of Skopjes new urban plan, a paragon of brutalist architecture and an experiment in social engineering, the citys Roma were relegated to those fields in an effective DIY settlement.

No one wanted to come here, it was just an empty meadow, remembers Meneshka Umjer, a retired cleaner, as she prepares pickled peppers for winter on the balcony of her familys stately home. She was 10 when the earthquake struck.

There were no jobs here, and no infrastructure.

Umjer says that today, though an estimated 35,000 to 45,000 people have moved into an area of less than eight square kilometres, making it the worlds largest concentration of Roma, the lack of jobs and infrastructure remains. The official employment rate sits at 23 percent in Shutka, and residents say the place can feel like a ghetto.

OPINION  Unfinished business: Roma inclusion in Europe

Roma in Macedonias civil service

Macedonia became independent in 1991 and in 1996, the Roma living in Shutka were given the opportunity to govern themselves. In 2001, Macedonia narrowly avoided civil war between ethnic Macedonians, who are Slavs, and ethnic Albanians, who make up 25 percent of the population, and the peace agreement provided minorities, including Roma, with a bigger role to play in the government.

Macedonia is unique in the sense that it has the most stable and most numerous representation of Roma in politics, says Zeljko Jovanovic, Director of the Roma Initiatives Office of the Open Society Foundation.

Political participation, of course, can be better, but it is not a major issue, he says.

There are Roma members of parliament, ministers, and high-level officials serving in the government, although not as many as required by the quota system for civil service.

According to the most recent census, taken in 2002, Roma were 2.7 percent of the total population, and current government representation is at 1.4 percent, with 1,698 public officials, significant progress from one decade ago.

Even so, only 0.2 percent of these Roma civil servants are managers, and only 0.3 percent hold elected or appointed positions, according to the Macedonian Ombudsperson.

Increased civil service participation, says Jovanovic, doesnt automatically translate into benefits for ordinary people.

Shutka is one of the poorest municipalities in one of Europes poorest countries and being at its helm is not easy, says mayor Elvis Bajram.

Now in his second four-year term, Bajram has focused on legalising private homes and buildings and on improving the towns infrastructure. One of his biggest challenges is just knowing how many constituents he has; due to political squabbles, Macedonia has not held a census since 2002.

WATCH: One womans strength is helping refugees in Macedonia (5:30)

Shutkas challenges

Some of the problems are more dire.

In the summer, we dont have any water in our public fountains, Bajram says, referring to a crucial supply of drinking water on which some people are wholly reliant. In which century do we live?

The town is lively and the bazaars cheap prices draw Macedonians from all over the country. But the reason the prices are so low, says Bajram, is that the market vendors do not pay any taxes.

The municipality was gerrymandered so that all but one of the factories abutting Shutka officially belong to other jurisdictions, Bajram says, but only four of 400 employed are Roma at the factory in their jurisdiction. Without any tax revenue from the factories or the market, Bajram maintains that it is hard to provide services to his constituents.

The only [means of] existence [for] the people who live in Shutka can be seen in the bazaar, in the stalls where they buy and sell goods so that they can survive, says Bajram.

They work without companies, they dont pay any dues, they dont pay taxes, nothing. Should the municipality take everything from them so that they can pay taxes, so that we can have finances for the municipality so we can return it to the citizens in the form of services?

Jovanovic of the Open Society Foundation contends that while self-governance is important, without financial resources, it will be hard to improve Shutka.

This is a tremendous opportunity for Roma to experience self-government and I see it as an opportunity to show that if Roma are given a chance, they can practically exercise political power, Jovanovic says.

But the challenge is that they are put in an almost impossible situation, to govern without taxation. In my view, these people are put in a situation in which they are almost doomed to fail. But this was not a coincidence, this was by design.

Jovanovic says their dependence on the central government has major drawbacks.

The community in Shutka depends on the central government to redistribute funds from the national budget, therefore the parties in power very easily control the votes of Roma from Shutka, he says.

Indeed, of six political parties in Shutka, five are part of the countrys ruling coalition and critics of the government complain about the way machine politics work in the municipality.

Bajram says he has been forced to rely on the central government, which in the past few years has renovated the municipalitys two schools, and built a high school and a swimming pool. But this leaves the Roma parties beholden to political whims in a country mired in political crisis since 2015, when the release of wiretapped conversations revealed corruption, electoral fraud, abuse of power, and more within the ruling party.

The revelations sparked protests and several EU-brokered deals that have resulted in a political game of ministerial musical chairs. The country has been without a government since December; this standstill is also affecting affairs in Shutka.

As soon as a minister gets acquainted with the peculiarity of our issues, they were replaced by someone else. This has happened four or five times and we havent gotten closer to resolving the problems, says Fatima Osmanovska, director of the Shutka-based NGO Initiative for the Development of Communities.

IN PICTURES: Macedonians take on government in massive protest

Without papers, these people do not exist

Quality of life indicators for the Roma community in Macedonia are woefully low. Only 11 percent of Roma have finished high school, compared with 60 percent of the general population, according to Open Society Foundation.

Roma in Macedonia have a lifespan 10 years shorter than the nearly 76 years of the average Macedonian. Many cant access healthcare because of prejudice and lack of documentation.

The fact that we have self-government here doesnt mean much to us; its not as if we live in the land of milk and honey, says Ljatifa Sikovska, who runs an NGO called Ambrela.

We dont have basic things like an adequate sewage system, electricity, or good roads.

This is due in part to discrimination and a lack of will to work in the neighbourhood, but also because many of the houses in Shutka were built illegally and remain off the books and, therefore, unserved by the utility company.

When Sikovska speedwalks around the bazaar, she is repeatedly stopped and asked for help: an illiterate man needs to fill out health insurance forms for his family, another man complains that his welfare benefits were revoked because of a new government regulation cancelling monthly benefits, worth $34, for anyone who has received a Western Union transfer in the last two years. The idea behind this decision is to curb benefits for people who are receiving remittances from family members abroad.

At a sparse office in Shutkas Yugoslav-era clinic, Sikovska, who also works as a Roma health regulator, and her young team help community members access healthcare by making sure their forms are up-to-date.

After Yugoslavia fell apart, Roma had to register themselves as citizens of Macedonia, but because of the cost involved and the lack of information, many did not do it, she says. Without papers, these people do not exist. And the problem has compounded for generations.

Mayor Bajram estimates that 10 percent of Shutka residents are undocumented.

Many cases are even more complicated since some of the undocumented people Sikovska is trying to help had fled to Shutka during the 1998-99 war in Kosovo, just 16km away.

Identity documents are not required to access emergency care, but are necessary to access everything else. Sikovskas team also intervene when hospitals  there are none in Shutka  in other parts of the city refuse to accept Roma patients. Twice a week, a general practitioner comes to the clinic, but there are not enough gynaecologists in the country, so none of them come to Shutka.

For more than 10 years, the 8,000 women of child-bearing age living here dont have access to a gynaecologist, says Sikovska. Its a dreadful state of affairs!

ALSO READ: Roma mothers in Czech Republic fight for better schools

Educated but unemployed

There is a new generation of educated Roma from Shutka, including medical professionals, but few of them get hired.

According to Osmanovska, In Macedonia, primary healthcare is under concession, meaning that a GP or dentist must invest their own money to buy equipment, rent an office  something almost no Roma can afford to do.

The secondary level are the hospitals in municipalities where the Ministry of Health is in charge of opening positions and making decisions on employment and unfortunately, the decisions are mostly made by the political party affiliations of the candidate, she explains.

This means that while there are qualified Roma who could do the jobs, few get employed.

Thanks to scholarships [offered by the government and by the Open Society Initiative] the Roma community has educated about 20 doctors and 60 medical and dental nurses, says Osmanovska. But only four or five of the doctors have been employed. The problem is lack funds and a lack of political willingness to employ the Roma health professionals.

Her colleague, Salija Ljatif, studied for years to be a dentist, but hasnt been able to get a job in a public or private clinic. Ljatif works as a paralegal, but says she hasnt given up hope.

Macedonias unemployment rate is very high, at 23 percent, but for Roma, it soars to 53 percent, according to the European Roma Rights Centre.

The lack of accessible jobs and health benefits leads many Roma to migrate, says Ismet Ameti, a tailor and the frontman of Shutka Roma Rap, a hip-hop group that performs, in Romani, all over Macedonia and across Europe.

Among the problems our group faces including discrimination and lack of funds is that many of our talented musicians want to leave the country, Ameti says. Usually, they marry someone with residency in Western Europe and leave.

READ MORE: Roma in Kosovo  My children are poisoned by lead

Life lived outside

These ties to Western Europe are visible in some of Shutkas nicer streets. While some people live in squalor, those with connections abroad can live moderately well.

Residents complain about the governments lack of assistance and removal of benefits in light of a monumental $730m facelift for Skopje including statues towering at 72 feet high, fountains, and putting neo-classical facades on government buildings (in part, it is an antagonistic gesture at Greece, which has been blocking Macedonias membership in the EU and NATO).

This is a terrible policy, says Umjer, the pensioner. There are 12 members of my family living under one roof on one salary and one pension. And instead of building factories, this government builds statues?

On the main street, named after former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, a nod to Indias recognition of shared heritage with Roma, shiny luxury cars get stuck in traffic behind old jalopies, improvised load-bearing vehicles, and rusty bicycles.

Umjers house lies uphill on a quiet lane. Some of her neighbours houses boast turrets and concrete lion statues stand guard. Strings of red peppers hang drying on baroque gilded balconies. Another gated property had streamers and a sign celebrating a recent circumcision ceremony.

But on other muddy and bumpy lanes, homes cobbled together with corrugated metal, lacking ventilation and natural light, lean on one another for support, just one improvised home repair away from collapse.

In each micro-neighbourhood, life is lived outside: a bride in white and gold-beaded culottes dances in a circle with her family; on Vietnam street, another bridal procession, complete with drummers and trumpets, slowly marches through town, the music mingling with the smell of burek, a savoury pie with phyllo dough and minced meat.

In this enclave of Roma self-governance, residents are largely protected from the discrimination that exists in other Macedonian municipalities where Roma live, according to Mayor Bajram. Still, Shuktas challenges are immense.

We have Roma who are good students, who finished faculty, who work in institutions, in NGOs, Bajram says, But half of the people dont have money to survive.
Analysis: The more obvious reason for Trumps attack on a Syrian airbase was to silence dissent and whip up patriotism.

The last three weeks have witnessed contradictory moves by the United States vis-a-vis the Syrian conflict.

In late March, US forces attacked civilian areas around Raqqa, including a school and a mosque, killing dozens of civilians. The following week, Nikki Haley, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, flippantly suggested that the US was not interested in removing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power.

Yet within a few days of that statement, US forces launched a targeted attack against an airfield used by Russian and Syrian jets to carry out aerial attacks  signalling, for the first time in the conflict, a US willingness to engage directly with regime forces to degrade their capacity.

EXPLAINER: Syrias civil war

The suggestion that the US administration, led by President Donald Trump, was suddenly moved to action because of images of dead Syrians, however, is preposterous.

Despite his stated outrage at the Assad regime over a recent suspected chemical weapons attack, Trumps anti-refugee rhetoric and the banning of Syrians from travelling to the US has not been lost on anyone. Despite the horrors that have been unfolding in Syria for more than six years now, Trump has previously responded with a noticeable lack of empathy and compassion for the victims of the bloody conflict.

Still, this weeks attack appeared to signal the start of a new phase in the Syrian conflict  one in which opposition demands, such as a no-fly zone, humanitarian safe zones and arming of rebel groups, could be back on the table.





So what does this mean for the future of the Syrian conflict? Are we seeing a radical shift in US policy, towards greater US-led intervention and a possible conflict with the Syrian regime and its allies?

Unlikely. While many members of the Syrian opposition and their supporters will be emboldened by the attack and will renew their calls for greater US intervention, these calls are likely to fall on deaf ears. The US will remain committed to the survival of the regime for many reasons.

Trump is no global humanitarian or friend to the Syrians, who have been suffering for years from conventional and chemical weapon attacks alike. While one should not expect this administration to have learned any lessons from previous US imperial adventures in the region, especially Iraq, the countrys security concerns continue to revolve around the amorphous threat posed by global terrorism, including the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group (ISIL, also known as ISIS).

In this respect, while the Assad regime is bad, it is still fighting on the right side. The possibility that US officials  no matter how divorced their thinking is from recent history  would conclude that a large-scale intervention in Syria would fit within their war on terror is very low.

The interests of this administration seem to lie more in the projection of military strength than in bringing about regime change. Correcting former President Barack Obamas red lines retreat, in which he suggested military intervention would follow any chemical attacks but then failed to act, may also have motivated this weeks airfield strike.

READ MORE: Syria gas attack  We found bodies all over the floor

The reality is that Trumps presidency has grown increasingly unpopular, wrought by internal disarray, federal investigations, allegations of corruption and a stunning incompetence in international affairs. As we remember from the Reagan, Clinton, Bush and Obama presidencies, a quick, targeted strike against a hapless target in some far-off land is a great way to consolidate support, silence dissent, whip up patriotism, and rally politicians of all stripes. This, more than any radical shift in US policy, is a more obvious reason as to why the US opted to attack Assads regime.

Given the coordination between Russian and US officials around the attack  the former were given ample warning  it is unlikely that the conflict will continue to escalate beyond the boundaries of the current Russian-American understanding. The increased coordination between the two sides evidenced in recent months is likely to persevere.

In the end, the last thing Syria needs is more missiles and bombs raining down. More war never ends war, and Syria is no exception. Today, more than ever, what is needed are serious political negotiations to bring about an end to this tragedy.
In 2015 and 2016, tens of thousands of people, escaping war, violence and economic instability in their home countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa arrived on the shores of the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey. Hundreds of people drowned while attempting this sea crossing.

The influx of refugees and migrants drastically decreased after the European Union and Turkey signed a deal in March 2016 to curb the influx of refugees entering Europe and the closure of the so-called Balkan route.

In 2017, landscapes around Lesbos are vastly different  seemingly devoid of human presence when compared with the past two years.

Today, there are still nearly 5,000 refugees stranded on Lesbos in Moria refugee camp, after arriving safely on the beaches of the island in 2015 and 2016.

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October 21, 2015  A Syrian couple reach the shores of the Greek island of Lesbos after travelling from the Turkish coast and safely crossing the Aegean Sea in a dinghy.

February, 2017  Abandoned life jackets used by tens of thousands refugees who crossed the Aegean Sea from Turkey to the Greek island of Lesbos in the period between 2015 to 2016.

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October 23, 2015  Afghan families walk on a rainy day, minutes after safely arriving in Lesbos by boat after travelling during bad weather.

February, 2017  A car belonging to the Portuguese Guarda Nacional Republicana (the National Republican Guard) as part of FRONTEX, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, patrols the shore roads between Skala Sikaminea and Molyvos on the island of Lesbos.

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October 19, 2015  A young Syrian refugee with her mother receives help from a doctor from an international NGO, moments after arriving in Lesbos.

February, 2017  The road that connects the Skala Sikaminea region with the town of Mytilini, where Lesbos main port is located and ferries come and go to the Greek mainland. Hundreds of thousand refugees walked this road in the period of 2015 to 2016 after arriving in Lesbos.

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October 18, 2015  A Syrian family is seen at a beach on the island of Lesbos after arriving safely with other Syrian refugees.

February, 2017  The empty beach under the moonlight with the shores of Turkey on the horizon.

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October 21, 2015  A Syrian woman on a beach in Lesbos.

February, 2017  The empty shore on Lesbos in the early evening.

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October 18, 2015  A Syrian refugee mother comforts her children after arriving in Lesbos from Turkey.

February, 2017  A streetlamp illuminates an empty road in the early hours of the evening.

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October 16, 2015  A pregnant woman is helped by volunteers and members of international NGOs as she disembarks from a rubber dinghy after arriving in Lesbos. Her husband is on her left.

February, 2017  The empty shorelines of Greece and Turkey.

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October 18, 2015  An Iraqi refugee after disembarking from a dinghy with his family and other refugees.

February, 2017  A local resident of Lesbos drives his car on the empty shore road.

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October 16, 2015  A Syrian refugee with her family crying as they walk away from the dangerous inflatable boat after crossing the Aegean Sea from the Turkish coast to the shores of Lesbos.

February, 2017  The empty shores of the Aegean.

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October 21, 2015  Syrian refugees are assisted by local and foreign volunteers on the shores of Lesbos.

February, 2017  The Aegean Sea that lies between Turkey and Greece, as seen from Lesbos.
This week the world witnessed yet another chemical attack in Syria. After horrendous footage from Khan Sheikhoun showed children suffocating from sarin gas and relatives crying over piles of dead bodies, Russia was forced to react. But while Washington used the attack as an excuse for missile strikes on a regime-held airbase in southern Syria, Moscow did the exact opposite  it used it as an excuse for more excuses. And the excuse was produced quickly: The ministry of defence announced that there was no chemical attack but that a rocket had hit a stockpile of terrorists' chemical weapons, which led to the release of the poisonous gas.





To many Russian journalists, this explanation sounded familiar. In 1999 during another counterterrorism operation (the one that brought Vladimir Putin to the presidency), a Russian rocket attack hit the central market in Chechnyas capital Grozny. Between 60 and 140 people died, hundreds were injured. The Russian authorities were quick to announce that the incident was caused by an explosion of a stockpile of weapons belonging to the terrorists.

Eighteen years later the Kremlin is using the same excuses, but this time not to protect itself but its ally Bashar al-Assad. But who are these excuses for? The international community would hardly believe them, given how absurd they are: Even if the Syrian opposition had stockpiles of sarin gas or a similar nerve agent, an air strike couldnt have released the gas. The two sarin gas precursors are stored separately and are mixed only just before they are to be used. In other words, you would have the same success releasing sarin gas by bombing chemical stockpiles as you would making borscht soup by throwing a grenade into a vegetable market.

OPINION: Russia  the ghost of a terrorised past

So clearly, the only audience that this lame excuse is intended for is the domestic one. Russian housewives who watch TV regularly are unlikely to go on Wikipedia to find out what sarin gas is. In principle, they wouldnt have known about the chemical attack, if no one had told them, but in the era of the internet, controlling information is more difficult and therefore its better to have the excuse ready ahead of time.

Now, so much blood has been spilled that Assad cannot step down and Putin's withdrawal of support would be interpreted internationally and domestically as a sign of weakness. by

But what is quite striking is that even the independent Russian media paid very little attention to the incident. While in other countries the chemical attack dominated headlines, in Russian media it was mentioned in passing, while on social media it was hardly discussed.

The war in Syria is of little interest to the Russians  whether those supporting Putins regime or those opposing it. And while the invasion of Ukraine provoked mass anti-war protests in Moscow other Russian cities, the Kremlin can rest assured that whatever war crimes it becomes complicit in in Syria, there will be no protests at home. That, of course, enables Putin to do a lot.





But what about reactions from the rest of the world? This is where Putin is facing potentially very bad consequences.

First, the chemical attack negates his major geopolitical achievement of the last few years: the 2013 agreement to destroy the chemical weapons of the Syrian regime. The success of this agreement was attributed to Putin and he, in some form or another, has been considered its guarantor. When the agreement was concluded, Republicans in the US praised Putin as an example of a strong leader and decried Barack Obamas weakness.

But today, despite the alleged destruction of the Syrian regimes chemical weapons, sarin gas is killing children and the whole world is watching. And along with them, its killing Putins reputation as an influential world leader who is able to control the situation in the region.

Second, the chemical attack is putting an end to the cooperation between Putin and Donald Trump. To the chagrin of the American public, their honeymoon dragged on for quite a while. Now, there is no pragmatic reason justifying the continuation of this partnership. The White House had already said that it will not change its position on Crimea and after the chemical attack, it crossed out cooperation with Russia in Syria. After the US missile strikes on the Shayrat airbase, RT general director (and once a fervent supporter of Trump) Margarita Simonyan wrote on Twitter, referring to the possibility of close US-Russia relations: Well, my friends, there was a chance. But the chance has been royally f***** up. And shes very much correct.

Is it really that Putin doesnt understand that his support for Assad and his complicity in the humanitarian crisis, first in Aleppo and now in Idlib, are preventing him from making up with the international community  something he very much needed after the war in Ukraine? Of course, its impossible that hes not aware of this.





But we shouldnt forget the context in which Putin sees his partnership with Assad. He remembers how Saddam Hussein, a once-close partner, was dethroned and executed. He remembers the terrible death of another friendly dictator  Muammar Gaddafi. In the worlds dictators club, there are fewer and fewer members and Putin cant but project their fate onto himself. In this context, his friendship with Assad does not have a rational justification as much as an emotional one.

In the end, its already too late. As the saying goes Betrayal at the right time is not betrayal, its preemption. In the case of Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi, this wouldve made sense, but in Assads case, at the right time wouldve been 2014 when Assad couldve simply not run in the elections, which Moscow couldve requested. Now, so much blood has been spilled that Assad cannot step down and Putins withdrawal of support would be interpreted internationally and domestically as a sign of weakness.

In chess, this is called zugzwang  when every move is only making the situation worse. Whatever Putin chooses to do  to continue supporting Assad or to abandon him  it would have serious consequences for his reputation.

But Putin is not a chess player, hes a judoka. And in judo, one has to use the strength of ones opponent against him. And indeed, Putin has been winning points every time he faces pressure. The anger and sanctions of the West, he used in mobilising his electorate in the face of a foreign threat. He used terror attacks in Russia to gather state employees in central squares and demonstrate national unity in the face of terrorism.

The question that remains is: Can the international community react to war crimes in Syria in a way that Putin cannot use to fortify his power?

Roman Dobrokhotov is a Moscow-based journalist and civil activist. He is the editor-in-chief of The Insider.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
It is one thing to be pleased that serious damage has been done to a pro-Assad regime airbase by US strikes in Syria. It is another thing to fawn at Donald Trumps feet and demand that we thank him for this strike as if he is the hero Syrian people have been waiting for.

The past six years repeatedly illustrated the Syrian people who want Bashar al-Assad gone have no real friends, western or Arab. And in the unlikely event someone is suddenly going to forge a friendship with anti-Assad Syrians now, its definitely not going to be Trump. Nor is he a suitable ally.





Social media reactions indicate the April 7 US air strike on Shayrat Air Base gave many revolution supporters and even Syrians affected by the Khan Shaykhoun sarin attack renewed hope, but many of these reactions, particularly within the US, have nonsensically elevated Trump to a pedestal he does not deserve and will not live up to.

For once, it would be wise for those who support the Syrian revolution, Arab or otherwise, to exercise the self-confidence and dignity displayed by the Arab peoples when they rose up, keeping in mind the biggest takeaway from the Arab Spring: Freedom will never come at the hands of those who do not value it themselves. That includes Trump.

Reactionary and unilateral does not a foreign policy make

Soon after the attack, US media outlets were reporting Russia was notified of the impending attack before it took place. Given this, it would have made sense for the US to also notify the party on whose behalf the attack was supposedly being made  Syrians fighting al-Assad under the banner of the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

OPINION: Trumps strike on Syria is a convenient distraction

However, Lt Colonel Fares al-Bayoush of the FSA, who sees the attack as a positive but only preliminary step in removing the regime, says no one from the FSA was notified of the attack beforehand.

Thanking Trump for attacking Shayrat without knowing the next steps is premature and degrading, in the same way it was premature to put hope in any of the Friends of Syria simply upon hearing their empty speeches about freedom that were never followed with actions to change the status quo. by

Not only that, while it is welcome news that fighter jets, ammunition and fuel belonging to the Syrian regimes army were destroyed during the attack, the reality is the regime and Russia continue to bomb civilians across Syria to this moment. On Friday alone, they killed at least 13 more people, including a young girl named Amira Skaff in Douma.

In other words, taking the Shayrat airbase out of commission is not a foreign policy strategy that will translate into the end of Bashar al-Assad and a free Syria for all. It is a small slap on the wrist (if even that), and US officials cannot even seem to decide whether this is a one-off attack or the start of a more coordinated strategy that ends with regime change.

Just days before the US bombed Shayrat airbase, Trumps administration had even gone so far to indicate that removing Assad was no longer a priority. Such extreme about-faces indicate, again, that the Trump administration has no long-term plan for Syria, which highlights even more why this attack does not warrant putting Trump on a pedestal.

OPINION: Trump  Putins best frenemy

Belal Attar, the former secretary-general of the now disbanded US-backed Hazm Movement, described the strike as, simply a morale-booster that does not aim to change the military map or remove the regime  it does not change the current reality.

This reactionary decision by Trump must be seen in the context of all the controversial policies he has attempted to run with since he took office, as well as in the context of the way he criticised the Obama administration for the very thing he has now done in Syria.

The Russia, Israel and Iran angle

Russia, despite its posturing at the UN Security Council, was not ruffled by this unilateral attack on a Syrian regime airbase. For one thing, it was notified ahead of time. For another, Russia and Trump can both agree on one thing  whatever happens in Syria in the future, Iran is irritating them both.





As Russia has become a more prominent player in the Syrian military map, it has also become closer to Israel as well as more involved in US domestic affairs, enjoying a cosy relationship with Trump. This is perhaps by far the most important point being ignored when analysing Trumps so-called attack on Bashar al-Assad. Iran will continue to be marginalised in Syria as the US, Russia and Israel begin to balance their common interests in the country under the Trump administration.

It should also be noted that the US and Russia have been coordinating on air strikes across the Syria for quite a while. To cease such coordination would be disastrous to both parties at this point. And, as Bayoush pointed out, the US is not looking for a showdown with Russia in Syria.

Thanking Trump for attacking Shayrat without knowing the next steps is premature and degrading, in the same way it was premature to put hope in any of the Friends of Syria simply upon hearing their empty speeches about freedom that were never followed with actions to change the status quo.

Malak Chabkoun is an independent Middle East researcher and writer based in the US.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
At least 102 children among the dead in a giant mudslide that slammed into the town of Mocoa last week.

Colombian officials on Friday formally ended the search for survivors of floods in the countrys southwest that killed at least 314 people, including 102 children  though 106 people still remain listed as missing.

Surging rivers triggered by torrential rains last week sent an avalanche of floodwaters, mud and debris through the town of Mocoa, causing widespread destruction.

Without adverse conditions, a person can survive a long time, but with the quantity of mud and rocks in Mocoa, that is very difficult, said Manuel Infante, who has been leading volunteer firefighters who arrived from Cali.

Id say that the missing are dead, he added.

READ MORE: Bodies decomposing in Mocoa morgue after landslides

Emergency workers will turn to excavating roads and buildings, distributing aid and trying to avoid the outbreak of epidemics in the town, where water and power services remained cut a week after the avalanche of debris-filled water poured down from the mountains.

Defence Minister Luis Carlos Villegas said it will take a generation to completely restore the city.

Mocoa, the capital of the department of Putumayo, was home to 70,000 people, about 45,000 of whom were affected by the disaster, according to the Red Cross.

In an effort to speed up reconstruction, the government formally declared a 30-day state of economic, social and ecological emergency in Mocoa.

The measure will allow direct contracting of services without the need for formal, more time-consuming procedures.

Carlos Ivan Marquez, director general of the national anti-disaster agency, said emergency workers will begin using heavy equipment.

Officials late on Wednesday announced a probe to determine whether town authorities had correctly enforced building regulations and adequately planned for natural disasters.

Edgardo Maya, the national comptroller, said the investigation was not about punishment; its about prevention.

What good does it do to punish people now, after so many deaths? he said.

Mayor Jose Antonio Castro, regional governor Sorrel Aroca, and their predecessors face a separate investigation by prosecutors, according to Colombian media reports.

The hardest-hit areas were impoverished neighbourhoods populated by residents uprooted during Colombias five-decade civil war.
Turkish president urges supporters at massive rally to vote in April 16 referendum on expanding presidential powers.

Istanbul, Turkey  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has rallied hundreds of thousands of supporters in a gathering in Istanbul, days before a milestone referendum that seeks to grant his office extended powers.

If adopted, constitutional changes proposed in the April 16 referendum will transform Turkey from a parliamentary system to an executive presidency, significantly expanding the powers of the presidential office.

At this point it is not enough for us to adopt the constitutional changes. We have a much bigger responsibility, Erdogan told cheering supporters.





Istanbul should say Yes in such a way that the hearts of all who look at the Turkish nation in a malicious way should tremble, starting from the ones who defiled this holy city 99 years ago, he said, referring to the war fought against occupying European powers after World War I.

Turkish officials have been engaged in a war of words with Germany and the Netherlands since last month after the two European Union member states barred Turkish ministers from rallying at referendum campaign gatherings within their borders.

Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AK Party) say the new system will make Turkey more efficient and stable.

The two largest opposition parties and other critics argue that the amendments will give too much power to one individual, undermining separation of powers in the government.

Erdogan said at the rally that Turkeys current system has created many short-lived governments, adding that government changes have histrorically been far more frequent in Turkey than Western countries.

The fact that we had 48 governments is not the expression of the strength of our democracy, but the instability of it, he said.

INTERACTIVE: How will Turkey change if it votes Yes on April 16?

The AK Party has been carrying out a massive campaign to convince Turks to vote for the constitutional changes.

The party has been ruling Turkey for 15 years after taking over a country in political crisis and economic downturn in 2002.

Erdogan was elected president in 2015, becoming the first Turkish president to be elected by popular vote in line with previous constitutional amendments passed in 2010.

Erdogan is our hero. He stands tall for his country and people, supporter Mehmet Koylu told Al Jazeera.

The changes will make Turkey stronger and make the government serve us better, the 54-year-old merchant said, without getting into the specifics of the amendments.

Hatice Ozdemir, another supporter, said that the new system will make Turkey less fragile in the face of threats.

There are powers who want divide this country. We will be more secure against terrorist groups and the West, the 23-year-old student told Al Jazeera.

Deadly bomb attacks claimed by, or blamed on, Kurdish fighters groups and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) have killed hundreds of security forces and civilians in recent years.

Security concerns were further heightened when members of the Turkish army dramatically tried to topple the government last July until they faced strong resistance from people and the rest of the army.

Turkey accuses Fethullah Gulen, a religious leader who lives in self-imposed exile in the US, of orchestrating the coup attempt, which killed around 300 and led to massive purges and arrests within state institutions.

The government says the purges are aimed at removing Gulen supporters from the institutions.

Follow Umut Uras on Twitter: @Um_Uras
Basque group hands over arms after waging a deadly independence campaign for more than 50 years.

The armed Basque separatist group ETA has formally given authorities in France information about the location of its arm stashes, according to an independent verification panel.

ETA says its initiative will bring the final curtain down on a decades-long armed campaign to gain independence for the Basque country straddling the Spanish-French border.

This information [about the arms caches] was immediately conveyed to the relevant French authorities, who will now secure and collect ETAs arsenal, the International Verification Commission (IVC), which is in charge of verifying the disarming process but is not recognised by either France or Spain, said in a statement on Saturday.

The panel said it believes that this step constitutes the disarmament of ETA.

The commissions spokesman, Ram Manikkalingam, a former adviser on the Sri Lanka peace process, told reporters in the French city of Bayonne that the panel had received the list of caches via the artisans of peace  a French civil society group headed by an environmentalist, Txetx Etcheverry.

French police are on standby to take possession of the weapons, officials told AFP news agency.

Inactive for more than five years, ETA had said it would hand over its arms, a historic step following a decaes-long violent campaign that claimed more than 800 lives, mostly in Spain.

Disarmament is the second-to-last step demanded by France and Spain, which want ETA to formally disband. The organisation has not said whether it would do that.

Disarming, of course isnt the same as disbanding, and we are told ETA members have gone away for a period of reflection to decide where they go from here, Al Jazeeras Laurence Lee, reporting from Bilbao, said.

One thing is for certain though: an armed group without arms doesnt have much point.

Nothing in return

In Spains capital, Madrid, the government on Saturday dismissed ETAs disarmament as a unilateral affair and warned that the group  which it denounces as a terrorist organisation  could expect nothing in return.

It will not reap any political advantage or profit, said Inigo Mendez de Vigo, Spains culture minister and its government spokesman.

May it disarm, may it dissolve, may it ask forgiveness and help to clear up the crimes which have not been resolved, he said.

A government source told the Reuters news agency that Madrid did not believe the group would hand over all its arms, while Spains state prosecutor has asked the High Court to examine those surrendered for murder weapons used in unresolved cases.

READ MORE: Basque separatist group ETA to disarm by April 8

Anger among Basques at political and cultural repression during the Spanish dictatorship of General Francisco Franco led to the founding of ETA  which in Basque stands for Basque Country and Freedom  in 1959.

Following Spains return to democracy in the 1970s, the Basque region gained more autonomy and the groups continued bombings and assassinations caused public support to wane.

One year after its last deadly attack, the killing of a French police officer near Paris in March 2010, ETA announced it was renouncing violence.

Death and pain

Journalist Gorka Landaburu, who had written articles critical of ETA and in return got a bomb in the mail which left him blind in one eye and took a thumb off, said he believed the entire armed struggle was a waste of time.

Its easy to apologise  Im not asking them to punish themselves in public. But they need to think hard about what they actually gained in 50 years, he told Al Jazeera.

Nothing. They just caused death and pain, even on their own side.

The group chose not to disarm in 2011 when it called its truce, but has been severely weakened in the past decade after hundreds of its members were arrested in joint Spanish and French operations and weapons were seized.

In a symbolic gesture in 2014, ETA released a video showing masked members giving up a limited weapons cache to verifiers.
Refugee who sustained burns covering 85 percent of his body in Chios detention centre passes away in Athens hospital.

A Syrian man has succumbed to his wounds after sustaining extensive burns across his body last week in a Greek refugee camp, police and medical sources said on Saturday.

The refugee, identified by police as 27-year-old Ali Aamer, had suffered burns covering 85 percent of his body after a March 30 incident in the Vial detention centre in the eastern Greek island of Chios.

Videos posted on social media at the time showed the refugee  who was holding what looked like a fuel container and a lighter  being engulfed by flames, just moments after a tussle with a police officer who had grabbed him from behind in an apparent bid to stop him from setting himself on fire.

The police officer was also injured in the incident, suffering non-life threatening burns on seven percent of his hands and three percent of his face.

Aamer was initially admitted to the islands Skilitseion Hospital and later transported to a specialised unit in the capital, Athens.

READ MORE: Spurned, hopeless and attacked, refugees drama goes on

He died a week later, on Thursday, police spokesman Theodoros Hronopoulos and a doctor at Athens Evangelismos hospital confirmed to Al Jazeera.

As of Saturday, his body was still at the hospitals morgue, according to a staff member there.

Serious psychological burden

The incident in Vial took place three days after the apparent suicide of another Syrian refugee in the Greek port of Piraeus, near Athens.

An estimated 62,000 refugees and migrants are currently stranded in mainland Greece and its islands following a wave of European border closures and a controversial deal between the European Union and Turkey in March 2016.

Under the agreement, migrants and refugees arriving in Greece without documents can be deported to Turkey if their asylum applications are rejected. But even if they do qualify for asylum, they face long delays as a result of complex procedures and a huge backlog.

Last month, in a statement marking the deals one-year anniversary, Save the Children and Doctors Without Borders said refugees stuck in Greek camps  including children as young as nine  are attempting suicide, cutting themselves and using drugs to deal with the endless misery.

The two international charities said anxiety, depression and aggression were on the rise in the camps, stressing that mental health was rapidly deteriorating due to the conditions created as a result of the EU-Turkey deal.

Difficult living conditions coupled with uncertainty [about the future] have become a serious psychological burden for a number of refugees and migrants, Roland Schoenbauer, spokesman for the United Nations refugee agency in Greece, told Al Jazeera.

Still, access to vital mental healthcare and support in Greece  where an ailing health system is drastically overburdened after years of deepening recession  is limited.

The authorities should transfer people as fast as possible to decent accommodation on the mainland, and improve provisions for much-needed mental health services and psychosocial support, Eva Cosse, Greece specialist at Human Rights Watch, told Al Jazeera.

The European Commission should also ensure that the allocated aid benefits all refugees without discrimination, including people with psychosocial disabilities.
Democrats join Republicans in backing military action, but many demand the president spell out a broader strategy.

Members of the US Congress from both parties have backed President Donald Trumps cruise missile strikes on Syria, but demanded he develop a strategy for dealing with the broader conflict and consult with Congress on any further action.

In the biggest foreign policy decision of his presidency, Trump ordered the firing of cruise missiles at a Syrian air base that US officials said was the launching point for a deadly chemical weapons attack against Syrian civilians this week.

The strike was well planned, well executed. It was certainly more than a pinprick, and sends a message  that using chemical weapons again is not something [Syrian president Bashar al-Assad] can do with impunity, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told a news conference.

McConnell said Vice President Mike Pence had called him to explain the rationale for the strikes. It was one of a series of calls by administration officials to members of Congress beginning shortly before the strikes and extending until after midnight on Thursday evening.

TRUMPS 72-HOUR EVOLUTION ON SYRIA TUESDAY 8:30am ET: Trump informed of suspected chemical weapons attack in Idlib during daily briefing. 8pm ET: Trump attends meeting of principle national security advisers to discuss military options. WEDNESDAY 3pm ET: Trump attends another security meeting to discuss options. THURSDAY 1:30pm ET: Aboard Air Force One, while on his way to meet the Chinese president in Florida, Trump holds another secure meeting via video conference. 4pm ET: Trump convenes final meeting with principle national security team including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and national security adviser General H.R. McMaster in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump gives the green light for missile strikes. 7:40pm ET: The US launches the first of 59 Tomahawk missiles. 8:30pm ET: During dinner with President Xi, Trump is told the first missile has hit its target. Around the same time, the White House begins informing Congressional leaders of missile strikes as well as foreign defence ministers and other leaders.

The US said 58 of the 59 cruise missiles fired at the Shayrat airfield hit their targets, dealing heavy damage to the base.

I am hopeful these strikes will convince the Assad regime that such actions should never be repeated, Democratic Senator Mark Warner, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said.

But many said the president must present a plan to Congress outlining his Syria strategy for the future, including how his plan of safe zones inside Syria will help victims of the conflict.

OPINION: Trumps symbolic strike on Syria

Republican Senator John Cornyn told reporters that the administration has not defined its main target in Syria  whether it is Assads government or the Islamic State in of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.

We  need a strategy to figure out what is our goals in Syria, he said. Is our goal just to defeat [ISIL] or is our goal to change the regime, and if there is policy to change the regime what comes next?

Most lawmakers insisted Trump should seek Congress approval for any additional military action.





Congress must live up to its constitutional responsibility to debate an Authorisation of the Use of Military Force against a sovereign nation, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi wrote in a letter asking Speaker Paul Ryan to call the House of Representatives back to Washington to debate a formal authorisation to use military force.

The House is not due to return until late April.

Republican Senator Rand Paul, a member of the foreign relations committee, called the Syria strikes illegal.

Under the US constitution, declarations of war require congressional approval.

Weve had no chance to weigh or weigh in on whether we should do it or not, Paul told reporters.

The 2016 Democratic vice presidential nominee, Senator Tim Kaine, also said Trumps failure to seek congressional approval in advance violates US law.

There clearly wasnt enough consultation and the constitution is very clear about this, you cant go to war without a vote of Congress, he said.

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, another foreign relations committee member, said that if Congress does not assert itself now, it risked losing its constitutional right to declare war.

I think its devastating to the future role of Congress in foreign affairs. If we dont authorise this action, I dont see why any president would ever come to Congress, Murphy said.

ANALYSIS: New era for US-Russia ties after strike

Partisan debate over how to deal with Syria has been bitter. In 2013, then-president Barack Obama ran into stiff resistance from many Republicans, including McConnell, when he proposed military action to retaliate for a chemical attack that crossed Obamas red line.

Many Democrats, some of whom had paid a political penalty for backing Republican President George W. Bushs war in Iraq, also opposed intervention.

Obamas abrupt decision not to fire missiles and instead work with Russia to remove Assads chemical weapons infuriated many Republicans who had backed the Democratic presidents proposal.

The conflict in Syria has now dragged on for six years, devastating the country, destabilising the region and leaving millions homeless.
The two countries say they will continue military cooperation in support of Assad until total defeat of terrorists.

The army chiefs of Russia and Iran have vowed to continue the fight against terrorists and their supporters in Syria days after the US Navy launched a barrage of cruise missiles against a Syrian government airbase.





Speaking by phone on Saturday, Major General Mohammad Bagheri of Iran and General Valery Gerasimov of Russia condemned the American operation against a Syrian airbase which is an aggression against an independent country, Irans state news agency IRNA reported.

The US strikes aim at slowing the victories of the Syrian army and its allies, and reinforcing terrorist groups, the two chiefs of staff said in a statement.

They vowed to continue their military cooperation in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad until the total defeat of the terrorists and those that support them, according to the Mehr news agency.

Iran and Russia are Assads closest allies and label all opponents of his government as terrorists.

Both governments have defended Assad against Western allegations that his regime carried out a suspected chemical weapons attack on Tuesday on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province, killing at least 86 civilians.

The Syrian opposition and its backers have dismissed claims by the Syrian government and Moscow that civilians were exposed to the deadly chemicals after a rebel weapons depot was hit in an air raid.

Earlier in the day, Irans President Hassan Rouhani criticised his US counterpart Donald Trump for the missile attack the US launched in retaliation.

This man who is now in office in America claimed that he wanted to fight terrorism but today all terrorists in Syria are celebrating the US attack, he said.

Also on Saturday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke over the phone with his US counterpart Rex Tillerson, just days ahead of the latters scheduled visit to Moscow.

Lavrov said the US attack on a country whose government fights terrorism only plays into the hands of extremists, [and] creates additional threats to regional and global security, according to a statement put out by the Russian foreign ministry.

Meanwhile, an air strike killed 18 civilians, including four children, in Syrias rebel-held Idlib province on Saturday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring group.

It said the attack on the village of Urum al-Joz was believed to have been carried out by Russian planes.

A separate strike on Khan Shaikhoun, where the alleged chemical attack was carried out earlier in the week, killed a woman and wounded her son, according to SOHR.

Elsewhere in Syria, activists opposed to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group said a US-led coalition air strike hit a boat carrying civilians fleeing across the Euphrates River near Raqqa, ISILs self-proclaimed capital.

The groups Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently and Sound and Picture said the attack killed a woman and her six children.

According to the activists, the attack occurred in the Shuaib al-Zeker area, close to where US-backed Syrian fighters have been on the offensive against ISIL.

Activists and state media said a separate coalition air strike on the northern ISIL-held village of Hneida killed at least 14 civilians, including children.

SOHR said 15 people, including four children, were killed in Hneida attack. The Sound and Picture group said the air strike hit an internet cafe, killing 14 people.

Additionally, a bomb exploded aboard a bus carrying workers near the city of Homs, killing a woman and wounding more than 20, according to state TV and the SOHR.
Opposition activists have called the Russia-brokered evacuation of the rebel enclave in Homs forced displacement.

The fourth phase of the exodus of Syrian rebels and their families was set to get under way on Saturday in Al Waer, the last opposition-held district in Homs, with some 2,500 people expected to leave.

Evacuations of the rebel enclave are part of a deal with the government brokered by Russia  but opposition activists have called it forced displacement.

The evacuees are being moved to Jarablus in Aleppo province, but many others who have left Al Waer

have gone to Idlib province, where a suspected chemical attack that killed scores of people took place earlier this week.

READ MORE: Rebels leave Al Waer district under evacuation deal

Al Jazeeras Mohammed Jamjoom, reporting from Reyhanli on Turkeys border with Syria, said that 55 buses carrying around 2,500 evacuees were expected to leave the enclave in this latest round  but that many were unhappy with the terms of the evacuation.

These are people that have not accepted the terms of the national reconciliation movement, said Jamjoom.

They say that these terms are being imposed on them by the Syrian regime, by the Russians, by their Iranian allies as well.





Jamjoom reported that many of the evacuees say they have no other choice but to leave.

They are quite concerned about what is going to happen to them going forward.

The evacuation, overseen by Russian and Syrian forces, is the fourth phase of an agreement reached last year that saw hundreds of fighters and their families leave the area.

The Syrian government has increasingly tried to press besieged rebel areas to surrender and accept what it calls reconciliation agreements that involve fighters departing for northern Syria.

Damascus describes such deals as a good way of bringing the country closer to peace after more than six years of conflict. But the opposition describes them as a tactic of forcibly displacing people who oppose Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after years of bombardment and siege.

OPINION: The US shows it is still in the game by striking Assad

There is a deliberate strategy from the Syrian government in terms of retaking some of these areas is that they lay a siege on the area preventing all kinds of supplies from getting in, including food, medical supplies etc and then they indiscriminately attack these areas, the deputy director of emergencies at Human Rights Watch, Ole Solvang, told Al Jazeera last month.





Once completed, it would mark the biggest evacuation during the war out of one Syrian district, which is home to about 40,000 civilians and more than 2,500 fighters, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said last month.

Elsewhere in Syria, Syrian opposition activists said fighter jets on Saturday struck the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun where a suspected chemical attack killed more than 80 people, including many children, on Tuesday.

According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, one woman was killed in the air raid on the eastern side of Khan Sheikhoun.

On Friday, the US launched fired nearly 60 Tomahawk missiles at an airbase in Syria which it believes was used by Syrian government forces as a launchpad for the alleged chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun.
Demonstrators in Gaza City call for resignation of PM Rami Hamdallah after PA cuts salaries in enclave by 30 percent.

Thousands of Palestinian Authority (PA) employees have demonstrated in Gaza City as protests continue against a PA decision to impose drastic salary cuts for its employees in Gaza.

Demonstrators gathered in al-Saraya square in central Gaza City on Saturday in the largest protest since the 30 percent cut was announced, calling on PA leaders like Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and Finance Minister Shukri Bishara to resign.

I have many financial commitments and without my salary, Ill go to jail, Rami Abu Abdu, a father of eight, told Al Jazeera.

My children are dependent on my income. If the president doesnt retract the decision, we will end up in jail because we cant pay our debts, he said, referring to PA President Mahmoud Abbas.

Other protesters chanted: Leave! Leave! Oh, Hamdallah!, Leave! Leave! Oh, Bishara!

The Ramallah-based PA government says it was forced to impose pay cuts on its civil servants in the besieged Gaza Strip because of Israels blockade and a drop in foreign aid.

Its employees in the occupied West Bank faced no cuts.

PA employees at Saturdays rally called on Abbas to form a unity government and treat residents in Gaza as a priority.

Tashon al-Astal told Bethlehem-based Maan News Agency that the slashing salaries would worsen Gazas already strangled economy.

This is another siege added to the one already imposed by the Israeli occupation, he said.

A cut in salaries is likely to do serious harm to scores of families in the besieged coastal enclave, which has some of the highest levels of unemployment rates in the world.

Protests began earlier this week after PA employees in Gaza received their salaries for the month of March with a 30 percent cut.

Hamas, the hardline movement that runs the Gaza Strip, has been at loggerheads with Abbass Fatah party since the former seized the Strip in a near civil war in 2007.

Fatah runs the West Bank, the other part of the occupied Palestinian territories separated from Gaza by Israeli territory.

After Hamas seized power, around 70,000 PA employees in Gaza say they lost their posts, but they were kept on its payroll nevertheless.

Hamas set up its own parallel administration with 50,000 staff, whose salaries the PA refuses to pay.

In 2014, Fatah and Hamas agreed to form a unity government that was meant to resolve their dispute, but it has remained ineffective, with no real control in either territory.

Local elections due to take place have also been suspended in the Gaza Strip after infighting between Fatah and Hamas, though they are expected to take place next month in the West Bank.

Israel has maintained a crippling blockade on Gaza for a decade, severely damaging the enclaves economy.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has cancelled a scheduled visit to Moscow due developments in Syria where a suspected poison gas attack in a rebel-held area prompted the United States to launch missile strikes on a Syrian airbase.

Developments in Syria have changed the situation fundamentally, Johnson said in a statement on Saturday.

The foreign secretary, who was due to travel to Moscow on Monday, called Russias defence of the Syrian government in the wake of the suspected chemical attack deplorable.

He said his priority was to continue contact with the US and others to build international support for a ceasefire.

Syrias army said six people were killed in the early hours of Friday morning after the US fired nearly 60 Tomahawk missiles at Shayrat Air Base, in retaliation for a suspected chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun that killed scores of civilians earlier this week.

READ MORE: Syrias civil war explained from the beginning

Johnson said he had discussed his plans in detail with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, adding that Tillerson would still visit Moscow as planned following the G7 summit on April 10-11 to deliver that clear and coordinated message to the Russians.

Johnson also called on Russia, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, to do everything possible to bring a political settlement in Syria  to ensure that the shocking events of the last week are never repeated.

We deplore Russias continued defence of the Assad regime even after the chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians, he said.

Johnson expressed his support to the US for Fridays missile barrage.

The US strike was in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun that killed at least 88 people, including 29 children, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Syrian government and Moscow have denied that Syrian forces were behind the gas attack, but Western countries have dismissed their explanation that chemicals leaked from a rebel weapons depot after an air strike as not credible.

Russia, alongside Iran, condemned Fridays US strike, denouncing it as a flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression.

The US said on Saturday that the strike was fully justified, adding it was prepared to do more if necessary.
Roma who were placed in improvised UN camps after the war in Kosovo say they still suffer the legacy of lead poisoning.
A look at the lives of civilians suffering on either side of the conflict and what the future holds for them.

The conflict in Eastern Ukraine has now been raging for over three years. The UN says the fighting between pro-Russia separatists and the Ukrainian military has killed nearly 10,000 people.

We are not needed in Ukraine. We are not needed in Russia. by Yelena Zenushkina, clinical psychologist displaced by the conflict

The separatists control a large area close to the Russian border. From the town of Novokivka in the north to the contested town of Shyrokyne in the south.

In February 2015, both sides signed an internationally brokered agreement aimed at finding a political solution.

But repeated ceasefire attempts have failed. The fighting maybe less intense now, but the shelling continues most days. Both sides blame each other for starting a recent escalation in violence.

But this isnt a story about politics or the European-Russian rivalry. This is a story about some of the people who have to endure the suffering of war on both sides of the front line.

I am a reasonable thinking person. I have a university education, says Yelena Zenushkina, a clinical psychologist who left the front-line city of Donetsk looking for work in hot spot Avdiivka. You think I dont understand that at any moment a shell could land here? Of course, I understand, but theres nowhere to go.
Mexicos journalists face intimidation and assassinations, but is the media business in crisis, too?

On The Listening Post this week: In Mexico, journalists face intimidation and assassinations but is the media business in crisis, too? Plus, how fake news pays for partisan media.

Mexicos Media: Battling impunity

Drug cartels, corrupt officials and a climate of impunity make Mexico the most dangerous place for journalists in the Western hemisphere. After journalist Miroslava Breach became the third reporter to be killed in a month, one newspaper has now stopped printing altogether.

Contributors:

Daniela Pastrana, director, Periodistas de a Pie

Oscar Cantu Murguia, former editor, El Norte

Sandra Patargo, spokeswoman, Article 19

Javier Garza Ramos, former editor, Siglo de Torreon

On our radar:

 The news is off limits for Israels new public broadcaster as Prime Minister Netanyahu ensures it will not be casting a critical eye on his government.

 Fox News is a turn-off for advertisers as sexual harassment allegations hit the US broadcasters most popular show.

 A journalist in India faces charges after the army alleges his reporting caused a soldier to commit suicide.

Partisan media and fake newsonomics

When media consumers read the news, they bring their biases with them and new online outlets are feeding them what they want to hear  whether its real or fake news.

Contributors:

Craig Silverman, media editor, Buzzfeed

Sara Fischer, media reporter, Axios

Brooke Binkowski, managing editor and freelance journalist, Snopes

Matthew Levendusky, associate professor of political science, University of Pennsylvania










English News China, US agree to set up more high-level dialogue mechanisms

Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 8 Avril 2017



The two sides also stressed the importance of equal-footed and mutually beneficial solutions to the challenges laying ahead bilateral economic and trade relationship, Wang said, adding that they promised to bolster pragmatic cooperation in energy and infrastructure, open market wider to each other and seek a more balanced economic and trade relationship.

By Wang Xiaodong, Zhang Niansheng, Du Shangze from Peoples Daily China and the US agreed to set up four high-level dialogue mechanisms covering diplomacy and security, economy, law enforcement and cyber security, as well as social and people-to-people exchanges, Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.



He made the statement when briefing the press on the outcomes from the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Thursday and Friday.



Xi arrived in the Sunshine State of Florida for his meeting with Trump on Thursday upon the latters invitation.



During the Xi-Trump meeting, both sides initiated the dialogue mechanisms in economy, as well as diplomacy and security, and discussed on the operation approaches and following work priorities.



They agreed to start the other two newly-installed mechanisms as early as possible, and launch discussions on possible dialogues in other fields and levels. Closer communication and cooperation between governmental departments will be encouraged as well, Wang said.



The foreign minister noted that both heads of state had an in-depth communication on economic and trade agendas, during which the Chinese side stressed its stance that China-US economic and trade ties are mutually beneficial in nature and both peoples have benefited a lot from such relationship. Both countries have now grown into the others largest trade partner.



The two sides also stressed the importance of equal-footed and mutually beneficial solutions to the challenges laying ahead bilateral economic and trade relationship, Wang said, adding that they promised to bolster pragmatic cooperation in energy and infrastructure, open market wider to each other and seek a more balanced economic and trade relationship.



The top leaders also reached a consensus to deepen practical cooperation in trade and investment, and deal with trade frictions in a proper fashion, in order to yield reciprocal outcomes, the diplomat told the press.



In addition, China and the US pledged to strengthen military exchanges and deepen collaboration in law-enforcement, judiciary, cyber security, hunting for fugitives and the recovery of stolen assets, fight against illegal immigration, and heath care.



They also vowed more concrete measures to cement the social basis of bilateral relationship by beefing up cultural exchanges and personnel communication.



The Chinese side reiterated its propositions to persist in denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, safeguard peace and stability on the peninsula, and resort to dialogues and consultations for the final settlement of the issue, Wang said, adding that China will continue its implementation of the resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council on the DPRK.



The foreign minister furthered that China also briefed the US on its "dual-track" and "double suspension" approach to defuse the looming crisis on the Korean Peninsula, in a hope to find a chance for resumption of talks.



China, during the dialogue between both heads of state, also repeated its opposition against Washingtons decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system on the ROK soil, Wang said.



Both sides confirmed their goals to denuclearize Korean Peninsula and agreed to maintain coordination in this topic, the minister stated, adding that they will cooperate more in nonproliferation, combat on cross-border crimes and other global challenges.



Dans la meme rubrique : < > China's Beidou reaches world-leading level: white paper Silk Road e-commerce promotes trade among Belt and Road countries Irrigation project in Jiangsu gets world heritage designation Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena)










English News Norway, China to write new chapter of pragmatic cooperation: PM

Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 8 Avril 2017



Praising bilateral cooperation on arctic affairs as promising, she said that her country is happy to see China's accession to the Arctic Council as an observer, and the polar route will be a shortcut linking Norway and China on the sea.

By Huang Yundi from Peoples Daily Norway will seize new chances to expand a close cooperation with China, Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg said in an interview with Chinese media in Oslo, the countrys capital city before she started a 4-day official visit to China, adding that she felt honored to have a meeting with Chinese leaders during her upcoming visit upon invitation.



China-Norway relationship deteriorated due to controversy around the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010 and events connected to the Prize.



After rounds of in-depth dialogues, Norway finally made a clear-cut statement on Chinas sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as other agendas involved the latters core interest and major concerns after completely getting Chinas stances and concerns.



The ultimate turnabout provided necessary conditions for both sides to rebuild political mutual trust and normalize their ties.



Chinese and Norwegian governments, last December, issued a statement on their decision to normalize bilateral relationship.



The normalization of bilateral relations after a six-year-long stagnation does not come easy, Solberg pointed out, vowing that both countries will write new chapter in their cooperation in all fields and embrace new chances in deepening all-round collaboration.



A closer bilateral collaboration in politics, economy and cultural exchanges, according to the Prime Minister, serves as the foundation for a sustained, stable and healthy development of their ties.



Norway and China are now restarting their talks on free trade agreement, Solberg disclosed when talking about economic relationship. The agreement will boost two-way trade and investment, create more job positions and as a result benefit the two countries and their peoples, she further explained.



She said that a large economic and trade team was included in her delegation as well, and the members plan to seek more cooperation potential through a close contact with business circles in Shanghai and Beijing.



Arctic affairs, oceans, innovation as well as maritime agendas are expected to be key fields where both countries will intensify cooperation, Solberg pointed out.



Praising bilateral cooperation on arctic affairs as promising, she said that her country is happy to see China's accession to the Arctic Council as an observer, and the polar route will be a shortcut linking Norway and China on the sea.



The Prime Minister also suggested a bolstered collaboration in utilization of marine resources and treatment on sea pollution. Both countries can also tap cooperation potential in innovation as their colleges and universities have launched some mutually needed cooperation projects in this regard, she added.



Solberg recalled her Chinese visit decade ago, during which she watched a drama adapted from the writings of Henrik Johan Ibsen, a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright.



The performance was given by Chinese and Norwegian actors, and the heroine was also from Bergen, Solbergs hometown.



Impressed by the show, she was touched by not only the organic combination of Chinese and Norwegian culture, but also the composers deep understanding of the two cultures.



People-to-people exchanges play a key part in bilateral relations, the Prime Minister said, suggesting an enhanced personnel exchange on winter sports. She continued that much more Chinese tourists are now traveling to Norway, especially in winter.



Norway, as the host of 1994 Winter Olympics as well as a traditional winter sport power, has accumulated a lot of experience in hosting winter games, and both countries, therefore, can beef up collaboration on preparation for winter games as well training of young players, Solberg suggested.



She also hailed the keynote speech given by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the World Economic Forum held in Davos this January, saying that it is a timely speech amidst the rising tide of trade protectionism.



Chinas support to multilateralism is significant for many small-sized nations, she added.

Norway, China to write new chapter of pragmatic cooperation: PM



By Huang Yundi from Peoples Daily



Norway will seize new chances to expand a close cooperation with China, Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg said in an interview with Chinese media in Oslo, the countrys capital city before she started a 4-day official visit to China, adding that she felt honored to have a meeting with Chinese leaders during her upcoming visit upon invitation.



China-Norway relationship deteriorated due to controversy around the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010 and events connected to the Prize.



After rounds of in-depth dialogues, Norway finally made a clear-cut statement on Chinas sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as other agendas involved the latters core interest and major concerns after completely getting Chinas stances and concerns.



The ultimate turnabout provided necessary conditions for both sides to rebuild political mutual trust and normalize their ties.



Chinese and Norwegian governments, last December, issued a statement on their decision to normalize bilateral relationship.



The normalization of bilateral relations after a six-year-long stagnation does not come easy, Solberg pointed out, vowing that both countries will write new chapter in their cooperation in all fields and embrace new chances in deepening all-round collaboration.



A closer bilateral collaboration in politics, economy and cultural exchanges, according to the Prime Minister, serves as the foundation for a sustained, stable and healthy development of their ties.



Norway and China are now restarting their talks on free trade agreement, Solberg disclosed when talking about economic relationship. The agreement will boost two-way trade and investment, create more job positions and as a result benefit the two countries and their peoples, she further explained.



She said that a large economic and trade team was included in her delegation as well, and the members plan to seek more cooperation potential through a close contact with business circles in Shanghai and Beijing.



Arctic affairs, oceans, innovation as well as maritime agendas are expected to be key fields where both countries will intensify cooperation, Solberg pointed out.



Praising bilateral cooperation on arctic affairs as promising, she said that her country is happy to see China's accession to the Arctic Council as an observer, and the polar route will be a shortcut linking Norway and China on the sea.



The Prime Minister also suggested a bolstered collaboration in utilization of marine resources and treatment on sea pollution. Both countries can also tap cooperation potential in innovation as their colleges and universities have launched some mutually needed cooperation projects in this regard, she added.



Solberg recalled her Chinese visit decade ago, during which she watched a drama adapted from the writings of Henrik Johan Ibsen, a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright.



The performance was given by Chinese and Norwegian actors, and the heroine was also from Bergen, Solbergs hometown.



Impressed by the show, she was touched by not only the organic combination of Chinese and Norwegian culture, but also the composers deep understanding of the two cultures.



People-to-people exchanges play a key part in bilateral relations, the Prime Minister said, suggesting an enhanced personnel exchange on winter sports. She continued that much more Chinese tourists are now traveling to Norway, especially in winter.



Norway, as the host of 1994 Winter Olympics as well as a traditional winter sport power, has accumulated a lot of experience in hosting winter games, and both countries, therefore, can beef up collaboration on preparation for winter games as well training of young players, Solberg suggested.



She also hailed the keynote speech given by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the World Economic Forum held in Davos this January, saying that it is a timely speech amidst the rising tide of trade protectionism.



Chinas support to multilateralism is significant for many small-sized nations, she added.



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English News Thai edition of book "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China" released in Thailand

Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 8 Avril 2017



The experience of a country who managed to govern such a large population is definitely worth learning, Chen said, while highlighting at the same time that the book is a good reference for Thailand.

By Ding Zi, Yang Ou from Peoples Daily The Thai language edition of the book "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China" was released Friday in Bangkok, capital of Thailand. The book, which collects the speeches, talks, interviews, notes and letters of the Chinese leader, was applauded by all circles of Thailand including the political heavyweights.



The release ceremony was attended by Jiang Jianguo, Director of the State Council Information Office, Wissanu Krea-ngam, Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, Pornpetch Wichitcholchai, president of the National Legislative Assembly of Thailand, and figures from other circles.



"The book presents Xis great insight, foresight, as well as philosophy on state governance in a detailed way," Pornpetch said in his speech at the ceremony.



It is great that the book is translated into the Thai language, he added, hoping that it will refresh Thailand-China friendship by deepening Thai residents understanding of China and giving a boost to their all-round cooperation.



Xi, good at quoting classics, is a great leader with rich knowledge and abundant wisdom of state governance, Wissanu said during the release ceremony.



The contents of the book, impressive rather than dull, absorb the time-honored traditional Chinese culture and reveal the wisdom of a statesman, he said, adding that leaders can cite it as useful reference for state governance.



The deputy prime minister said that he has learnt a lot from the book after Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha recommended it to him. Its contents can enlighten Thailands reform process as the country is making its own strategy and reform, he said.



Thakoon Boonpan, General Manager of Matichon Group, publisher of Thai edition of the book, said that the release ceremony represents a symbol of bilateral cooperation, and he feels proud to boost Thailand-China friendship through the book.



Pinij Jarusombat, chairman of the Thai-Chinese Cultural and Relationship Council, told Peoples Daily that Xi is a great leader and good doer who resolves many challenges for China.



A number of Chinese residents have raised their living standard and shackled off poverty thanks to his efforts, said Pinij, also former Thai Prime Minister, adding that it is a great achievement itself to lift 1 million people out of poverty every year.



Hailing the ideas and approaches written in the book as useful and effective, Pinij hoped more Thai citizens will read the book as early as possible.



President Chen Zhenzhi of Thai-Chinese Chamber of Commerce told the Peoples Daily that the book provides the world a way to understand China. In todays world, you have to well know China first if you want to know more about the world, he explained.



The experience of a country who managed to govern such a large population is definitely worth learning, Chen said, while highlighting at the same time that the book is a good reference for Thailand.



The economic and trade cooperation between China and Thailand enjoys a promising prospect, and the book is believed to play a far-reaching propelling role for future bilateral ties, he stressed.



Panlop, senior editor of Matichon Group, said that given the great importance of the well-known book, China's Foreign Language Press polished the contents in an elaborate manner after three well-selected translators from his house finished their work.



The Thai edition of the book is same with the Chinese one in all details including paper size, color and cover, explained Panlop, also publishing executor of the book.



Impressed by the hard working of translators and copy-editors, he said the book pools the efforts of many people.



Since many of Xis remarks on domestic affairs, diplomacy and anti-corruption campaigns contained profound connotation, the translators tried hard to present the readers with the hidden implications in the most appropriate words, the editor underlined.



During the release ceremony, Jiang presented Thai editions of the book to Wissanu and Pornpetch as gift. China's Foreign Language Press and Thailand's Matichon also inked a memorandum to translate and publish other China-themed books.



The release ceremony was hosted by the State Council Information Office of China, China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration, the Chinese Embassy and organized by Foreign Language Press and Matichon.



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English News US President to visit China this year: Chinese FM

Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 8 Avril 2017



Wang said that high-level exchange plans have been agreed as well. To prepare for Trumps Chinese visit this year, both sides have asked their teams to join efforts for the sake of a successful and fruitful trip.

By Wang Xiaodong, Zhang Niansheng, Du Shangze from Peoples Daily US President Donald Trump will pay a state visit to China within this year upon the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the press.



He made the statement when briefing the media on the outcomes from the Xi-Trump meeting at Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Thursday and Friday. Xi arrived in the Sunshine State of Florida for his meeting with Trump on Thursday upon the latters invitation.



The meeting is the first face-to-face dialogue between Chinese and the US heads of state after the latters new administration took over the baton, Wang said.



He stressed that in the 7-plus hour long dialogues, both heads of state exchanged views and reached a great deal of consensus on China-US ties and major international and regional agendas of common concern.



Both sides believed the meeting has generated positive and fruitful outcomes, he pointed out, adding that the dialogue laid a constructive foundation for bilateral ties and pointed a way for their work.



Wang said that high-level exchange plans have been agreed as well. To prepare for Trumps Chinese visit this year, both sides have asked their teams to join efforts for the sake of a successful and fruitful trip.



Both heads of state also agreed to maintain close contact through meetings, phone conversations, letters and other approaches, he added.





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English News Xi-Trump meeting boosts dynamism in China-US ties

Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 8 Avril 2017



The Trump administration is not all that concerned with ideological issues, which makes it likely the two countries will develop a more pragmatic relationship. Both China and the US have increasingly believed in the pragmatic approach when it comes to solving issues that arise within their bilateral relationship. Both sides have emphasized the importance of communication in order to arrive at a solution. In cases when a solution cannot be reached, they will next try to minimize residual harm that the issue at hand could potentially bring to the overall China-US relationship. It is specifically this pragmatic approach that has now signified a new level of progress among powerful nations intent on maintaining relationships.

Source: Global Times, Peoples Daily Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded his visit to the US and his meeting with US President Donald Trump in Florida early Saturday morning (Beijing time). Although more detailed coverage of the very first meeting between the two world leaders has yet to surface at the time of this writing, major news organizations have published comments made by President Trump during Xi's visit. The US President was quoted as saying that "tremendous progress" has been made, and declaring this progress as "truly" and America's relationship with China as "outstanding."



It is reported that President Xi said at the meeting that "we have a thousand reasons to get the China-US relations right, and not one reason to spoil it." The Chinese leader went on to emphasize that cooperation is the only right choice for the two countries, and that China and the US have the capability of becoming great cooperative partners. President Xi invited President Trump for a state visit in China later this year. President Trump accepted and announced he was already looking forward to the visit.



President Xi also underlined the role of four newly established high-level mechanisms designed to help pave the way for a clearer flow of dialogue and cooperation between the two countries. The new mechanism in place will focus on areas of diplomacy and security, economy, law enforcement and cyber security, as well as social and people-to-people exchanges.



The Xi-Trump meeting in Florida has served as an indicator that the China-US relationship is still very much on course since the Trump administration took office in January. The US political system causes the two nations to adapt to leadership transitions periodically, once every four or eight years. Although the early days of the Trump administration transition was regarded with great uncertainty, it seems that both countries have understood the importance of how essential a smooth transition needs to be, and not just for the two countries involved here, but really for the entire world over.



The political and cultural differences between China and the US are patently obvious at a mere glance. Certainly the two countries have different styles when it comes to expressing the importance of the China-US relationship. Before the Florida summit meeting, the US tended to focus on political and economic differences while expressing concerns, while China emphasized steadiness and mutual interest. Despite the differences, the two powers expressed their respect for each other during the summit meeting. There is little doubt that the China-US relationship will remain stable on big issues despite whatever minor disputes may arise. A relationship model of this kind is unprecedented on the world stage.



The political ideologies between the two countries will, at one level or another, remain entangled. The bilateral relationship currently in place, fueled by both countries' dominance and cultural energy, is one that involves getting to know each other and then getting along with one other. A win-win scenario is indeed the only choice for both countries.



The Trump administration is not all that concerned with ideological issues, which makes it likely the two countries will develop a more pragmatic relationship. Both China and the US have increasingly believed in the pragmatic approach when it comes to solving issues that arise within their bilateral relationship. Both sides have emphasized the importance of communication in order to arrive at a solution. In cases when a solution cannot be reached, they will next try to minimize residual harm that the issue at hand could potentially bring to the overall China-US relationship. It is specifically this pragmatic approach that has now signified a new level of progress among powerful nations intent on maintaining relationships.



Although more detailed achievements regarding the Xi-Trump meeting will be made public, some specific achievements will not necessarily be remembered over the course of time. History will certainly value the approach of the world's top two economies in how they dealt with each other's issues. As all of this plays out on the world stage, time will only tell as to whether or not the two powers will be able to envision a long-term competitive and yet peaceful relationship. Human civilization can only benefit from the pragmatic efforts of both sides as it now embarks upon a new era.



The immediate effect of the two-day summit has experienced an influx of tremendous dynamism into the complicated China-US relationship. The world's anxieties over uncertainties can now find a level of solace through optimistic expectations. This transition is a masterpiece of erudite political wisdom. Mutual communication is increasing at a faster pace rather than the fomenting of some divulgences that can stymy the strongest of relationships. This is a fortunate time for all of humanity, something more beyond the China-US dynamic.



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On April 1st, Ruth Sherlock interviewed White House counterterrorism strategist and Deputy Assistant to the President, Dr. Seb Gorka, in a refreshingly positive article in the London Telegraph (Exclusive: The most powerful Briton in America on what its really like in Donald Trumps White House.)

Sherlocks article chronicles Dr. Gorkas meteoric rise from the studious classrooms at Fort McNair where he has taught Americas warfighters for many years all the way to the White House  evidence of the new meritocracy that has arisen from the ashes of Swamplands pre-existing condition of idiocracy.

As made abundantly clear in her article, on this April 1st  known to many as April Fools Day  the only real April fools are those Obama partisans still taking aim at Dr. Gorka and other brave members of the Trump national security team brought to Washington on a long-needed wave of American renewal, and committed to draining the swamp of its bloated, self-serving incompetence.

As Dr. Gorka told The Telegraph: Look, our struggle, our war  Im going to use the word war, is with what I call the global jihadi movement. Its rooted in the politicized version of Islam. Dr. Gorka added, thoughtfully: Killing terrorists is great. If you cant capture them, you kill them. But at the end of the day you have to stop people wanting to become terrorists.

In pursuit of such dissuasion, he presented an insightful inspiration: translating none other than Americas beloved The Federalist Papers  with its 85 foundational essays and articles on constitutionalism by Alexander Hamilton (who penned 51 of the essays), James Madison (who wrote 26) and John Jay (who authored 5) - into Arabic, in essence weaponizing the transformative ideas that breathed life into Americas enduring Constitution, which has served as a beacon of freedom for over two centuries since.

As Sherlock describes in The Telegraph, One other, more unconventional, tactic, Gorka suggests, is to translate into Arabic The Federalist Papers  historic articles promoting the ratification of the US Constitution. For the cost of one missile, we could probably translate the papers, put it in a leather-bound book and give every Muslim in the world a copy.

As it turns out, an Arabic translation of a 1961 Penguin edition of The Federalist Papers was published in 1996, over 20 years ago, by Jordanian publisher Dar Al Faris as part of the Arabic Book Program (ABP) established by the United States State Department in 1986 which went on to publish over 200 titles with the objective of translating, publishing and distributing selective books from American publishers in various areas, including economics, management sciences, politics, humanities, arts and the environment. About a dozen ABP titles were prepared each year, primarily in Jordan but also in Egypt, and upon publication (after a 6-12 month translation and editorial process), were made available to readers in bookshops at reasonable prices.

The 662-page, 1996 translation of 1961 Penguin edition of The Federalist Papers was originally available in the Arab world for just $3. It was included in a list of ABP titles under consideration for distribution in Iraq after its 2003 liberation through 100 mini-democracy-libraries, but ultimately was not selected - quite possibly because copies of it were no longer available among the ABPs current titles in stock, indicating its original 1996 print run had sold out completely.

As synopsized by the ABP: Along the declaration of independence and the constitution, The Federalist Papers laid the foundation for an enduring democracy in America. From 1787 to 1788, Hamilton, Madison and Jay wrote this series of controversial essays to advocate the popular ratification of the constitution as a new charter of the government. The brilliance of these men and the significance of the issues produced the most importance work in political science ever written in the United States.

A work this significant deserves to be made available again. Its time for our most celebrated work of American constitutional thought to be once more available to the Arab World, as envisioned by Dr. Gorka.

And as if divine providence, moments after Gorkas inventive proposal was published in The Telegraph, Abdelilah Nuaimi, the celebrated journalist with Radio Free Europe who was famously detained and beaten by the Egyptian Mabaheth (intelligence authorities) while covering the Arab Spring uprising in 2011, where he bore witness to the torture and abuse of freedom-loving activists held by the Egyptian authorities  stepped forward with a newer translation of his own. He completed it just 10 years ago while he bravely covered Iraqs liberation and democratization for Radio Free Iraq.

As Nuaimi explained on The Telegraphs website, I am a naturalized British citizen of Iraqi origin. I have read your fascinating interview with Mr. Sebastian Gorka, specially his suggestion to translate The Federalist Papers and give it to Muslims throughout the Arab world. I am pleased to say that I had translated The Federalist Papers about ten years ago in two parts. While unsure how many Arab Muslims may have read it to date, Mr. Nuaimi generously offered to send Mr. Gorka a copy if he wishes.

I reached out to both Mr. Nuaimi and Dr. Gorka hoping to bring together Dr. Gorka's visionary policy and Mr. Nuaimi's timely translation, and thanks to LinkedIn was able to find and connect to both within 24 hours of Dr. Gorka's interview in The Telegraph. I had been long hoping to cross paths with Dr. Gorka, and have been especially enraged by Swamplands colossally dishonest attacks of his widely-read and highly-regarded scholarship on counterterrorism.

Having now introduced these two, it will be possible for Mr. Nuaimi to arrange delivery of his translated The Federalist Papers to the White House, thus helping to implement one of Dr. Gorka's newest ideas in the intellectual arsenal he is developing to defeat the jihadist threat once and for all - within 48 hours of Gorkas initial presentation of this bold, new idea to illuminate the very foundation of our constitutional freedom so that it may enter the hearts and minds of Muslims worldwide.

Well keep American Thinker posted on what happens next!.

Barry Scott Zellen writes about war, strategy and the tribal foundations of world politics. More about his writings can be found at www.barryzellen.com.
Its a sad day for politics in America when Rep. Trey Gowdy has to plead with Democrats in Congress to be constructive and responsible in finding the truth, but Gowdy knows as well as anyone that his appeal is doomed to fall on deaf ears. Democrats in Congress and their allies in the media have officially become obsessed with the alleged links between the Trump administration and Russia, and it has very little to do with concerns over the integrity of the electoral process or the fate of American democracy.

In reality, the presidents opponents see the investigations into Trump campaign associates and hangers-on as an invaluable weapon. With the electorate booting the Democratic Party completely out of power, what better way is there to undermine the administration and cast a cloud of illegitimacy over the duly elected commander-in-chief?

Tim Weiner puts it perfectly when he says the FBIs investigation could take years to resolve, which is music to anti-Trump ears. After all, as long as the press and the Democrats can keep RussiaGate on the front page, President Trump and the GOP will never have a chance to tackle their legislative priorities and will be stuck in a constant cycle of mini-scandals that undermine the administration without ever actually impugning it. The objective isnt to figure out whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians to defeat Hillary Clinton, but to dominate the political agenda and suffocate any real discussion of policy.

This is why, regardless of the results of a Senate Intelligence Committee investigation and an FBI probe into allegations of collusion between Moscow and senior members of Trumps team, the Left will do all it can to prevent the RussiaGate narrative from dying.

Of course, the main weakness in the Russia case is that there is not a shred of evidence pinning the President to the Kremlin. The closest the Democrats can get is onetime advisors such as Paul Manafort, who chaired the Trump campaign for a few months last year but who was forced out after the allegations of corruption dating back to his work for Ukraines former president Viktor Yanukovych emerged. Manafort was removed from the campaign well before the election and plays no part whatsoever in the administration, but none of that matters to the media: they are perfectly happy to keep mining Manaforts past to score points against his former clients.

As it turns out, Trump is not the only billionaire whose reputation Manafort has unfairly tarred by association. Last month, the Associated Press published claims that Manafort secretly worked for Russias Oleg Deripaska on a plan that would greatly benefit the Putin government. The news agency quoted anonymous sources as saying Manafort signed a $10 million annual contract with Deripaska in 2006, after pitching a strategy that would boost Russias influence in the U.S.

Deripaska, though, refused to take the aspersions lying down. Instead, he took out quarter-page and later full-page advertisements in outlets like the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal to refute the idea any such contract was ever signed. On top of that, he signaled his readiness to take part in any Congressional hearings on the subject in order to clear his name. His letter makes an important point: the Associated Press produced no evidence to support the claims it published, and the only thing linking Deripaska to a pro-Putin influence campaign is Manaforts alleged attempt to sell him on it. The Russian businessmans ties with Trump, for that matter? Nonexistent.

Like Trump, Deripaskas only crime was apparently hiring Manafort to do any work whatsoever. Unfortunately for the Russian, not even being cheated by the political operative is enough to keep him from being lumped into the wider feeding frenzy.

Again, protestations to the contrary dont matter. Regardless of what comes to light as part of the probes into Trumps alleged links with Moscow, Democratic lawmakers, the media, and the presidents enemies within the Republican Party have no intention of letting this go. This is all they have after the desperate attempt to overturn the results of the election in the Electoral College failed (although Faith Spotted Eagle is presumably enjoying her one electoral vote). Rather than accept that Trump won the election fair and square and fight him on policy, his opponents have decided that the Russian scandal is the best way to handicap the new administration. As some on the Left openly admit, the final objective is impeachment: a pipe dream, but an enticing one.

President Trumps opponents will continue to lay this trap for as long as they can, and the administration needs to take care not to fall into it by indulging conspiracy theories and letting themselves get bogged down fighting interference actions. Instead, Republicans need to remain focused on policy priorities. Without a real leg to stand on, the story will eventually run out of steam. The only question is how much of Trumps time in office it manages to eat up before it does.
A storm of big businesses, celebrities, and global investors have come out against Texas Senate Bill 6, which prohibits individuals from using public bathrooms and changing facilities opposite of their biological sex. In reaction to the bill, liberal activists have argued that transgender Texans  that is, Texans who consider themselves members of the sex opposite their own  have been using bathrooms for years with no reports of them doing anything inappropriate in those spaces. In order to test this claim, a survey of transgender incidents in Texas is reviewed.

One of the shortcomings of pro-transgender cases is that they consider only assault and rape as sex crimes. However, sex crimes comprise not just rape and assault, but also voyeurism, indecent exposure, and violation of reasonable expectation of privacy. In addition, anti-transgender arguments tend to focus on the harm males cause females but don't consider the ramifications of allowing females into male sex-segregated spaces and what happens to males. The shortcomings of both sides are combined here to establish a stronger case in defense of S.B. 6.

In Texas, there are about 125,350 transgender adults in the general population and about 384 transgender inmates in the prison population. That number will grow, since the pace of inmates claiming transgender status has increased by 400% since March of 2014.

There are three strong arguments that severely weaken the pro-transgender case that there have been no sex crimes by transgender individuals in Texas. The first argument points to the U.S. Transgender Survey, which reports that 61% of the transgender Texans surveyed avoided using the restroom because they were afraid of confrontations. In essence, that means that at least 61% of transgendered individuals can't pass as the opposite sex, or they wouldn't be worried about being confronted. Furthermore, since it is much more difficult for males to pass as women than for females to pass as men, the lower bound for males that cannot pass exceeds 61%. This argument demonstrates that even though many Texas cities have protected public accommodations rights for some time, most individuals have not frequented opposite-sex private spaces due to public non-acceptance. It is the combination of public acceptance and non-discrimination laws that has determined the likelihood of opposite-sex public accommodation use, and consequently the likelihood of sex crime violations by individuals claiming to be transgender.

The second argument ties into the first in that when comparing liberal states to conservative states that have non-discrimination ordinances, the liberal states show themselves to have had many more sex crime incidents by men disguised as women and females disguised as men in sex-segregated private spaces. Furthermore, sex crimes in liberal states by men disguised as women did indeed increase after transgender non-discrimination ordinances were passed. Such liberal strongholds include Oregon (Thomas Lee Benson, Susan Miller, Rose City T-Girls, Isabel Araujo), California (Jason Pomare, Rodney Peterson, UC Berkeley, Grossmont Center, Richard Rendler), Washington (Taylor Beuhler, Mario Herrera, Norman Ballhorn, Robert Whitehead, Colleen Francis, Stanley Cuyler), and even Ontario (Christopher Hambrook, Darren Cottrelle, YMCA, Jacquelyne Laronde, Cecilia Valentine).

Conversely, in conservative states, sex crimes by people calling themselves transgender did not increase as a result of non-discrimination laws  that is, until 2016, when such people became emboldened to enter private sex-segregated spaces due to national momentum. S.B. 6 acts as a roadblock to nullify the ramifications of this momentum, and to reject S.B. 6 further emboldens people to enter opposite-sex spaces.

The third argument reveals sex crime violations in Texas by individuals claiming to be transgender. From 2010 to 2016, in private, sex-segregated spaces, there was one incident of a male entering uninvited into a female dorm; one incident of a male who is a serial child molester entering a women's restroom; over ten cases of six different males who committed offenses in a women's prison; one case of a male pressuring a female employee to fit him for a bra in a changing room, as well as three other changing room incidents; one case of a male assaulting a 50-year-old disabled woman in her home; one case of a male demanding housing from a women's shelter; one case of a female in a boy's restroom; and at least four other cases of males in women's restrooms. The year 2016 saw the most transgender-related incidents, with at least eleven sex crimes. A more exhaustive list of Texas transgender offenses can be found here.

In Houston during 2010, Anthony Joseph Rizzatto, a man, was charged with a Class C assault of a disabled 50-year-old woman in the latter's home after questioning her over a census survey. The following year, a male named Jennifer Gellar moved into a girls' dorm on the South West Texas Junior College Uvalde campus "to experience dorm life" but was later rejected by the university officials in part due to female students reporting that they would feel uncomfortable with a male in their dorm. Previously, one of the female students filed a police report of harassment against Gellar because, as Gellar admits himself, he blew up and yelled at her over a school project. There is a similar case in California, where Rodney Peterson disguised himself as a woman to enter the girls' dorm at Loma Linda University.

During July of the same year, Zyah Jonas exposed himself in Houston to a six-year-old girl and was charged with a third-degree felony for indecency with a child. Also in December of 2011, a Macy's employee in San Antonio forbade a man from using a female dressing room, which led Macy's to fire the female employee on grounds of discrimination against "trans women."

One of the most serious violations happened in 2012, when serial child molester Paul Ray Witherspoon, who sexually assaulted two girls on different occasions, was reported to the police by a woman using a restroom in Dallas Parkland Hospital due to his male presence and ankle tracking device, which frightened her. Under the Dallas 2002 ordinance, Witherspoon was allowed to be in the women's restroom, but why should laws be made to make it easier for a serial child molester to have access to a women's room? Moreover, child sex offenders calling themselves transgender are not rare, as can be seen via the Texas cases of Vanessa Edwards, Levelle Reedy, Curtis Gene Copeland, and Dominique De Bose. Other such child sex offenders include Adrian Wolf, Richard Rendler, Sydney Sezer, and Dillon Shadle.

In 2013, the DOJ got involved in a transgender discrimination case regarding a male named Roxann Joganik after the owner of the park demanded that Joganik leave the area. Notably, the Texan R.V. Park in Athens has public accommodations such as restrooms and shower rooms open to its renters. Why should anyone trust an autogynephiliac man in the women's restrooms?

In 2014, a man who considers himself a woman named Kylie Jack made a complaint on the Petti Coat Fair Facebook page because a female employee would not fit him for a bra at the store. According to Austin Law at the time, the store counted as a public accommodation, thus according to Austin's non-discrimination ordinance, the female employee should be coerced to fit Kylie Jack for a bra.

In 2014, the Salvation Army of Dallas would not let a male who considers himself a woman named Jodielynn Wiley enter their women's shelter because Wiley is a man. Wiley later filed a complaint against the Salvation Army for not housing him. Vulnerable women shouldn't have to feel frightened because a male thinks he has the right to be included in their private space. Moreover, there is a huge risk involved, such as was the case in two rapes of women in a women's shelter by a male calling himself a woman in Toronto. Other cases saw males get females kicked out of women's shelters in Oregon and British Columbia.

While there are many cases of females who pretend to be males causing males problems in liberal states, only one stood out in Texas during March of 2016, when a girl who describes herself as gender fluid violated the expectation of privacy of boys by using the male restroom at her high school in Fort Worth. The girl was photographed by a boy while she was washing her hands. What transgender activists miss is that the separation of sexes in private spaces protects women who think they are males from males and protects males from false charges of rape or harassment.

In May of 2016, a man who said he was representing himself as a woman used a ladies' changing room at a Mesquite Ross store. A female customer became startled by the man's presence and went to tell the manager, but the manager told the woman that Ross allows people to use changing rooms of the opposite sex. The following month, in the city of Cresson, the owners of the BBQ on the Brazos restaurant created a sign that hangs on the women's restroom door, stating: "No men allowed in the women's bathroom please." The sign was created in reaction to a rodeo pickup man who occasionally visits the restaurant dressed as a woman. Similarly, a man dressed as a woman entered the ladies' restroom at a Denton Senior Center, which disturbed the women present.

In October of 2016, Ricki Morgan was told by a local bar's manager that he could not use the ladies' restroom because a woman had made a complaint. As was the case with the Rose City T-Girls and Norman Ballhorn, the combination of alcohol and men who think they are women going into a women's restroom is a terrible formula for women's safety and expectation of privacy. In November of 2016, a male who identifies as a female named Jamie Lynn was confronted by an assistant principal regarding his biological sex due to a female student's complaint of him using the girls' restroom.

If even one female has an issue with a male in the restroom, her right of reasonable expectation of privacy should override the male's demands.

Women's prisons are another space that is supposed to be segregated by sex. However, males have been included within incarcerated women's populations as well. At least fourteen incarcerated Texas women who have experienced men who claim to be female in their units have spoken out. Similarly, three inmates filed a court brief outlining their complaints against at least six males who consider themselves women being housed with female inmates.

In the brief, a male named Peter Langan was described by the women: "Mr. Langan has a fetish for dressing as a woman while having sex with women. He is allowed in shower areas, bathrooms, and any other intimate area of the prison, with the support of the Defendants and their government psychologist. Mr. Langan is a bank robber and a leader of a white supremacist group known as the Aryan Republican Army. He was allowed to transfer from a men's prison to Carswell where he not only can live out his fetishes, but has started a female white supremacist group."

Furthermore, Levon Edmonds was housed in the same cell as a male calling himself Linda Thompson. "I was housed with male transgender Linda Thompson in Unit 1 North when he stripped all of his clothing off and walked around naked[.] ... Thompson explained to me that he had prostituted with men, but his sexual preference, he stated, 'are black women like you!' I was in shock because I had a false assumption that Thompson wanted to be a female and was attracted to men."

Based on the above arguments, Texas lawmakers should make it a priority to pass S.B. 6.
Burton Yale Piness work Americas Greatest Blunder: The Fateful Decision to Enter World War One is hardly a new book. (It came out in 2012.) Nor was it published by a leading commercial press, despite the authors long, distinguished career as a Time magazine correspondent and later, as vice-president of Heritage Foundation. My one, brief contact with Pines was our joint appearance on a panel featured by the Philadelphia Society in 1986, in which we were pitted against each other as a critic and defender of the neoconservatives influence on the American conservative movement. Our exchanges were extremely acrimonious; and I never again saw the person I jousted with. Although I tried to locate Pines after reading his book, all my efforts (and those of two of my daughters who have far better computer skills) failed. I wanted to congratulate the author on producing his work, which presents a comprehensive case for why the U.S. should have stayed out of World War I. Pines also shows (if further proof is needed) that from the outset the American government took sides in the European conflict and flubbed every opportunity to make peace between the warring blocs.

Most of these arguments have been made before, from Harry Elmer Barnes in the 1920s down to the Cato Institutes Jim Powell in 2009 and less dramatically, in the historical studies of Justus Doenecke. Indeed there are so many sound revisionist historians who have written about Americas participation in World War I that it would take several pages to list them all. But no matter how cogent their reasoning and evidence, these scholars have been generally ignored by the national press, and since the rise of the neoconservatives, in establishment Republican publications. This may well explain the fate of Pines study, which is forcefully written and heavily documented. His contentions that an honest attempt at mediating a peace would have been better than American military intervention on the Allied side and his obvious revulsion for Wilsons crusade for democracy may have cost him the good will of his longtime allies.

Let me note, however, that I dont fully share Pines view, as expressed in his title, that Americas involvement in World War I somehow rendered inevitable the Bolshevik dictatorship in Russia and Hitlers rampage through Europe. Americas participation in the Great War cost over 115,000 lives, guaranteed an unjust treaty, and helped turn the U.S. into what Walter McDougall characterized as a crusader state, waging what Richard Gamble has deplored as wars for righteousness. Those things are bad enough without having to blame Wilsons fateful decision (which by the way enjoyed overwhelming Republican support) for happenings to which it contributed only distantly. The Weimar Republic would have survived, despite Allied efforts to wring obscene reparations from Germanys constitutional democracy while blaming the Germans exclusively for the war they lost. It was the effects of the Great Depression and a series of contingencies, brought about largely by the scheming of President von Hindenburgs advisers, that brought the Nazis to power. Although the continuation of the monarchy (a possibility that Wilson raged against) might well have prevented that disaster from occurring, the Republic would have survived if other circumstances had not intervened.

The Bolsheviks took power because the Russian imperial government had plunged headlong into a war from which it couldnt extricate itself. Unlike the Provisional Government, which seized power from the tsarist regime in March 1917, Lenin and his confreres promised to pull Russia out of a bloody, seemingly endless struggle. The Bolsheviks obtained power, by allowing the Eastern front to collapse. Although Wilsons government tried to keep the Russian war effort alive while appealing to democratic fraternity against German militarism, by the time the U.S. joined the fray, the Russian front was coming apart and the Communists were waiting in the wings. Although many grievous sins can be ascribed to the American interventionists, the Bolshevik coup detat may not be one of them. It was the Germans who brought Lenin from Swiss exile to the Finland Station in Petrograd, in order to push their Russian enemies out of the war.

Pines also misses an opportunity to tell the full story about the sinking of the British luxury liner Lusitania by a German submarine off the coast of Ireland on May 5, 1915. Although the German government warned American passengers to stay off this war vessel, the death of 128 Americans as a result of the attack allowed Wilson and his pro-British government to be more open about their pro-Allied sympathies. William Jennings Bryan, the secretary of state, resigned when it became apparent in which direction the president was going; and Bryans successor (and the uncle of John Foster Dulles) Robert Lansing, who was passionately in favor of the Allied side, succeeded him. Pines treats as a mystery as well as catastrophic blunder the torpedoing of the Lusitania, but then drops this information: In December, 2008 divers had discovered a new piece of the puzzle about why the ship sank so quickly. The subsequent report given in the British Daily Mail (December 19, 2008) affirmed that the vessel was carrying bullets and other ammunition that would be used to kill German soldiers. It sank so quickly because the contraband cargo on a ship registered as a British war vessel exploded as soon as a torpedo hit it. The same article also mentions that Churchill welcomed the destruction of the ship because he hoped it would draw the U.S. into the war.

Despite this omission, Pines demonstrates that conventional accounts of the German danger faced by the U.S. in 1917 have been inaccurate. Germany posed absolutely no military or security threat to the U.S., when Wilson dragged the U.S. into war in the spring of 1917: The only reality at that date was the extraordinarily bloody and costly stalemate that the war had become, with the sole certainty that no nation would emerge victorious or even healthy and that all would emerge weak and wounded and disillusioned. The Germans resorted to submarine attacks on Allied sea vessels, in order to break a British starvation blockade that took many hundreds of thousands of German civilian lives and which may have killed more German inhabitants than all the aerial bombing of the Second World War. Pines stresses that the Wilson government was utterly indifferent to the use of this outrageous weapon, which was contrary to international law (although this weapon was permissible to England, which refused to sign the Hague Convention that barred it). The starvation blockade was only lifted in March 1919, months after the fighting ended, in order to make sure that the representatives of the Weimar Republic would sign the dictated Peace of Versailles. (The Germans were not allowed to negotiate the terms.)

For the record, Winston Churchill as first lord of the Admiralty began his blockade in the North Sea on August 1, one day before the Germans entered the war, that is, at the same time that Britains ally, Russia, mobilized about a million soldiers on the German and Austrian-Polish borders. Given such circumstances, Pines finds it impossible to assign exclusive or even primary blame for the wars outbreak to the Germans and their Austrian allies. They were, as the German government complained, encircled by hostile powers, namely Russia, France, and more distantly England. And it may have appeared that the Germans were suckered into taking the first shot, except for the fact that however belligerently the French had behaved before the War, they seemed genuinely surprised when German armies came crashing into their country. It was the Central Powers, never the Allies, who from 1916 on were looking to end the war with a negotiated peace and which grabbed at the proposed (insincere) American efforts to mediate. By 1917 the Germans, much to their relief, saw the Eastern Front disintegrate, but their allies, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey, were also collapsing militarily and trying desperately to exit the war.

Although Pines correctly observes that a totally triumphant Imperial Germany would not have behaved better than the side that defeated it, he also maintains the Germany would not have been in a position to dictate such a peace, even if the U.S. had not gone to war. This may be the most illuminating part of Piness work, showing that Germany by the end of 1917 had so badly depleted its resources in a grinding war of more than three years that it would have been exceedingly hard for their armies to achieve a one-sided peace. By the fall of 1917 Germany was fighting without effective allies against enemies with superior numbers. Whether or not the Americans joined the conflict, the British blockade would have continued to strangle Germany internally. Moreover, the Germans didnt have the numbers on the Western front to achieve more than a possible superior bargaining position, if and when it could end the war. Of course the British had no reason to end the war, without totally crushing the German Empire, which had been their stated goal since 1914, since they always counted (with good reason) on the U.S.s eventual entry into the war.

Pines gets one point right that few Americans writing on this subject seem to be aware of. By the beginning of November 1918 the German military command had collapsed into panic and depression. Eric Ludendorff and his staff were fitfully urging the Kaiser to abdicate. This was done to placate Woodrow Wilsons anti-monarchist fervor and to obtain the relatively lenient peace terms offered by Wilson in his Fourteen Points, promising a peace without annexations and reparations. (Such a peace, Pines observes, quickly became a dead letter as the vindictiveness of the victorious side took over.) Unlike Ludendorff, the German civil government warned against dissolving Germanys Western Front, which would place their country at the mercy of vengeful enemies. We might also note that in July 1917 a majority in the Reichstag had called for a peace without annexations. Needless to say, neither the German military nor the Allies found these peace terms acceptable. But there were those in the German civil government, some of whom had desired peace without annexations, who later called for protecting the Fatherland against Allied invasion. The stab-in-the-back accusation used to explain Germanys defeat was particularly congenial to some military leaders who took less heroic stands at wars end. Finally, anger at how Germany was treated after the armistice was not peculiar to the nationalist Right. It was understandably felt, Pines explains, across the political spectrum.
The latest Economic Freedom Index confirms who is prosperous and who is not. There are 180 countries ranked in the index, and the last three are:

#178 Cuba

#179 Venezuela

#180 North Korea

The three dictatorships have a few things in common:

1) North Korea remains an unreformed and closed state as Kim Jong-un maintains a despotic regime that resists economic reform. The government has experimented with a few market reforms but mainly administers a system of centralized planning and state control of the economy. The impoverished population is heavily dependent on food rations and government housing subsidies. 2) Venezuelas economy has been stifled by blatant disregard for both the rule of law and the principle of limited government. The private sector has been severely marginalized by institutional impediments related to government encroachment into the marketplace. The judicial system has become more vulnerable to political interference, and corruption is prevalent. 3) Cubas potential entrepreneurs have long been shackled by tight government control and institutional shortcomings. No courts are free of political interference, and private property is strictly regulated. Excessive bureaucracy and lack of regulatory transparency continue to limit trade and investment.

Do you get the impression that the rule of law is important?

Cuba's ranking is remarkable, given that the Obama administration tried very hard to encourage business transactions with the island. It made it easier for companies to start operations in Cuba and encourage tourism as well.

Nevertheless, Cuba's still a lousy place to do business. Why? Because it is still the same communist dictatorship that it was on the day the Obama administration started talking to Castro's regime.

How is Cuba going to change if the corrupt regime doesn't change? I hope President Trump understands that.

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
One of the most severe droughts in the recorded history of California is officially over, according to Governor Jerry Brown.

Global warming advocates had blamed the drought on climate change. Does this mean that global warming is "officially over," too?

NBC News:

Months of drenching storms and melting snowpack have replenished reservoirs, which began drying up in late 2011. That allowed Brown to lift most stipulations of an emergency order he implemented in January 2014, about two years after the conditions crossed the line into drought. Brown also said the need for conservation continued. Officials will still require some long-term water-use limits imposed last year and are developing water preservation standards for urban agencies. "This drought emergency is over, but the next drought could be around the corner," Brown said in a statement. "Conservation must remain a way of life." The drought cost the agricultural economy billions, killed an estimated 100 million trees, led a half-million acres of farmland to be fallowed and deprived some communities of reliable sources of drinking water. In April 2015, when the state's snowpack hit its lowest since 1950 at 5 percent of its historic average, Brown stood on a dry mountain that was normally blanketed in snow at that time of year and ordered urban areas to reduce water use by 25 percent. As of last week, the snowpack stood at 150 percent of normal. The 2015 order led environmentalists to complain that the state, which leads the nation in production of fruits and vegetables, did too little to force farmers to conserve water. For their part, farmers said they received far less water than promised by state and federal authorities. On Friday, the Democratic governor lifted the drought declaration in all counties except four, mostly in the state's agricultural Central Valley. "It's worth taking a moment to be grateful for all the rain and snow out there," Felicia Marcus, chair of the State Water Resources Control Board, told reporters on a conference call after the governor's announcement.

In truth, there were many reasons for the California drought but only one reason why it was so severe: too many people.

California is largely desert, especially southern California, where most of the water has to be taken from other states. The fact is, tens of millions of people who live in the state should never have been there in the first place. It is an artificial habitat wholly dependent on the vagaries of Mother Nature for residents to survive.

The fact that the drought ended far earlier than environmentalists thought possible is interesting. Will they now cite global warming as a reason the drought ended unexpectedly?

Don't put it past them.
Senator Bernie Sanders is calling for free college education for all.

Why hasn't any politician proposed this before?

Oh wait, they have. Karl Marx wanted free education for all. He was going to teach the little idiots the joys of high taxes, big government, excessive regulations, and a powerful state to create a new utopia on Earth.

Bernie Sanders is totally different, though. He's going to teach the little idiots the joys of high taxes, big government, excessive regulations, and a powerful state to end global warming and racism.

Naturally, this idea will win all kinds of support from colleges and universities. For administrators and professors, this means more raises, more benefits, and more paid vacations. The students at these schools will be able to avoid out-of-control school costs being forced on them by their administrators and professors wanting more raises, more benefits, and more paid vacations.

(Shouldn't the "poor working men" Socialists at our colleges and universities actually be poor? Or is that too much to ask? But I digress.)

Administrators, professors, and students need to be reminded that the world owes them nothing simply because they exist. Even if there is a right to education, there is no right to higher education and everything that would entail.

Some say our government is $14 trillion in debt. Some say our government is $20 trillion in debt. The only thing that can be said for sure is that our government can't afford anything it's promised to do so far.

And now they're going to double down on that promise? This is absurd.

If the government is going to give us all a "free" college education, how far does that go? Are people who already have some level of college education entitled to be reimbursed? It hardly seems "fair" to make a previous generation pay for their college and the college of the next generation as well.

Will taxpayers also be on the hook for room and board? Or just tuition? How about transportation costs to and from the school? How about books? How about other learning materials like computers, iPads, musical instruments, etc.? What about overseas or cruise ship classes? Exactly how much will the taxpayer be on the hook for?

How much of our hard work will Bernie and his friends help themselves to so they can get re-elected?

If college is "free," can people choose to go to any school they want? Are schools going to be forced to open their door to anyone who wants in? Or will they still be able to deny would-be students? Can we all go to Harvard and Yale? Or does "free college" mean low-grade community college for all?

Again, it doesn't seem "fair" to make people who wouldn't be allowed to Harvard and Yale to have to pay for those who can. If the peasants and commoners are being forced to pay for a road, it's reasonable for them to expect to use the road. If we're asking them to pay for the school, is it reasonable to assume they are allowed to use that school?

Ivy League schools would probably tell us they only want "the best and brightest." (Stanford just let in some kid who wrote #BlackLivesMatter 100 times on his application, so we can debate just how "best and bright" their standards are.)

Intelligence is genetic in nature. To deny stupid people could be viewed as a form of discrimination against the disabled. Government institutions (which all these schools would suddenly become) wouldn't be able to legally do that.

Or maybe they would. Our government is known for its stupid, ill conceived ideas. It's composed of Ivy League know-nothings who, instead of being educated, were just told they are educated.

What about students who go to college just to party, flunking all their classes and never showing up for tests? At what point do we tell them they're done? If students have a "right" to college, can we ever cut them off?

How about students working on worthless majors like art history? Our society needs doctors and engineers. We don't need more art critics. Can we who are paying for all of this dictate what kind of professionals we're going to get? Or are we just going to pay the ever inflating bill without ever having any say over what we're getting for our money?

These are the questions that need to be answered before promising people free college education.

But these questions are hard. They require thought and analysis  things which are anathema to the average college student of today. Places of higher education are supposed to teach critical thinking, but they are derelict in their duties. Instead, colleges are teaching empty feel-good notions and warm fuzzies. Chants that sound good on the protest line  things like "Free College for All."

Jeremy Meister is a writer in the Midwest. His email is meister@windstream.net.
Probably the sourest, most disheartening news of the week was the sudden decision by House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes to recuse himself from the congressional investigation into whether Russia hacked the election. Another Republican will take his place, while standing committee Democrat Adam Schiff is busy dancing a jig with glee. Still, all is not lost.

Nunes said he would recuse himself to answer complaints from left-wing activist groups claiming he leaked classified information. It's mighty rich to hear that sort of fastidiousness about secrets coming from that bunch, given that Hillary Clinton's zero-security illegal private server holding all State Department documents and secrets in some guy's bathroom didn't bother them a bit.

But Nunes has said he is confident he will beat the phony charges of his political enemies, and in any case, he still retains his House position on more substantial matters.

This brings up why this recusal might not be such a bad thing.

The left's claim that "Russia hacked the election" has been going on ever since Wisconsin's, Michigan's, Pennsylvania's, and Ohio's voters all decided as a group to vote together for Donald Trump, winning him the election and becoming Putin's spies or agents or whatever.

There's nothing of significance that has come of this in itself, given that Russia had little to no influence on the election, and any claim to the contrary is just paranoia or a desire to cover Clinton's mistakes up.

Why should Nunes waste his time on an investigation that is going to come to nothing? If there were something there, they would have caught it; Nunes and his staff are well known for their skepticism on Russia. They didn't. And unless Schiff and Co. are planning to make things up, they won't find anything, either.

There is the one substantial thing that has come of this investigation, and that is the illegal use of intelligence "unmasking" by embittered former national security adviser Susan Rice, whose motivations could only have been political. Nunes himself has said that just getting that genie out of the bottle was worth the recusal, and given the consequences there could be for Rice, he is right. But that won't be resolved in a congressional inquiry, given how far the details have traveled. At this point, it's a Justice Department matter, and that will be where any action takes place.

Nunes can return to more substantial investigations instead of this Russia nothingburger and let the Democrats spend the entire Trump term trying to prove that the winner of the 2016 election and all his voters were really just Putin's puppets all along.
The Pentagon says it is looking into charges that Russia bombed a hospital in Idib province  site of the sarin gas attack on civilians  in order to cover up evidence that forces loyal to President Bashar Assad carried out the atrocity.

Washington Times:

Tuesday's chemical weapons attack was the third time regime forces used such weapons since a 2013 pact with Russia to dismantle his chemical stockpile and the deadliest since a Syrian attack using weaponized chlorine bombs struck Idlib that year. "We know the Russians have chemical weapons expertise in country," a senior military official said, noting any details regarding collusion between Moscow and Damascus on chemical weapon capabilities could not be discussed publicly. "We are carefully assessing any information that would implicate that the Russians knew or assisted with this Syrian [chemical weapons] capability," the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "At a minimum, the Russians failed to reign in Syrian activity" regarding the regime's chemical weapons program, the official told reporters at the Pentagon Friday. At worst, Moscow actively took measures to willfully destroy any evidence of Assad forces using chemical weapons. U.S. intelligence officials spotted a Russian drone conducting aerial surveillance over hospital, which was being used as a casualty collection point for victims of the Idlib strike. "Some hours later, the [drone] returned and the hospital was struck" by a conventional airstrike, the official said. "We don't know who struck [the hospital], we do not have positive accountability yet," the official said. "But the fact that someone would strike the hospital  potentially to hide the evidence of a chemical attack  is a question that we are very interested in." Moscow thus far has denied any involvement with the sarin attack or any subsequent strikes against anti-government targets in the area. Officials from the Russian Ministry of Defense on Friday said it was suspending communications with U.S. counterparts geared toward deconflicting operations in Syria.

Why Russia? The Russians have been accused of bombing several hospitals after particularly brutal air attacks on civilians. Their goal is to kill survivors who could tell international investigators what happened as well as eliminating physical evidence of the incident.

In this case, it was important to leave as few survivors as possible since it has been confirmed that the nerve agent sarin gas was used.

Unlike chlorine gas, which has commercial and industrial uses beyond being a weapon of mass destruction, sarin gas is created specifically as a weapon of war. That sarin was used on civilians in Idib suggests that the Obama administration's boasting of getting rid of all Syrian chemical weapons was premature.

In short, Assad and the Russians pulled a fast one on the naive former American president.

The tide of war was running against President Assad before the Russian intervention. Since then, Russia has used indiscriminate bombing of civilian targets as an effective weapon that has turned the tide against the rebels. Assad now seems headed for victory in the civil war, and he has Russia's willful violation of international law to thank for it.
In late November of last year, I cautioned against the dangers of letting loathsome leftists like Hillary Clinton and Lois Lerner walk free from the prospect of investigation by an administration which would not shamelessly shill for them. President-Elect Trump was trying to offer an olive branch, but any offer of peace to the left is sneered at as a sign of weakness, rather as President Carter's good faith gestures to the Soviet Union were snickered at in the Kremlin.

The nadir of honesty in the federal government was reached in the hyper-politicized Obama presidency. The IRS was used shamelessly to punish conservative groups. The Department of Justice opened countless "cases" against utterly innocent groups whose offense was to challenge the orthodoxies of leftism. Indeed, it seemed at times as if the Obama administration viewed the whole federal government as little more than a scourge to be used against Americans who did not follow the party line.

That is the one thing no free government can stand. When government is the enemy of much of the people, then government has no moral ground upon which to exercise its power. Conservatives get that, and conservatives do not call for the federal government, when in the hands of Republicans, to persecute leftists.

The recent appalling revelations detailed by Thomas Lifson in American Thinker that Susan Rice directed spy agencies to report on the conversations between Trump and his advisers creates an opening for President Trump, which he must seize if he wishes to have a presidency that is not nitpicked to death by petty leftists.

President Trump should direct the cabinet secretary of the relevant federal agencies to review the actions of Clinton, Lerner, Rice, and others who held high positions in the Obama administration and who engaged in behavior that reeks of dishonesty, malice, and abuse of power to report whether their conduct appeared to violate federal law.

If so, then Trump should ask the attorney general to open criminal investigations, with grand juries that would include a very broad net, particularly trying to force the small fish who lack the money to fight long legal battles and whose false or misleading statement could expose them to intimidating sanctions.

The logical development of this would lead to dozens of indictments against corrupt former bigshots like Clinton, Lerner, and Rice. The trials of these creepy and unpleasant folks, none of whom is particularly bright, would become the news story for weeks or months. Convictions would become a major news story right up through the 2018 midterm.

Beyond that, convictions would go a long way toward unraveling the myth that somehow Obama was an honorable president who did not abuse his power and who behaved nicely even to those who opposed him. The pattern of appointing and keeping crooks in high federal offices and then defending or excusing their misconduct would become an indispensable part of his legacy.

While it is clear what President Trump ought to do, it is not clear what President Trump will do. As one egregious example, Joshn Koskinen, who has given huge campaign contributions to Democrats in federal elections and who shamelessly defended the indefensible actions of Lerner and her gang, is still the IRS commissioner.

If a lifelong Democrat partisan like Koskinen, who misled congressional investigating committees and pretended that Lois Lerner and her cronies did nothing, still has a high post in the Trump administration, then why would any of these bad actors worry at all? Indeed, the macabre spectacle of a louse like Koskinen still the head of the IRS under Trump surely emboldens the left, including those small fry that hold the key to unraveling the crimes of big shots who served under Obama.

President Trump talks bold. It is time for him to act bold. Draining the swamp was a central promise of his campaign. Now is the time to fulfill that promise.
If there was ever a failure of big-bucks city planning, take a look at San Diego's shiny new $555-million courthouse. According to an NBC News report, the local sheriff's office says it's so badly designed that criminals could waltz out unencumbered through the court's front doors.

NBC News reports:

San Diego's new downtown courthouse  scheduled to open July 17  is plagued by a serious security problem that could allow dangerous criminals to escape through the courthouse front door. The problem is detailed in a document written by the Sheriff's department and a top county official, who asked the state for an extra $3 million a year for added security throughout the new building. The January 2016 document, obtained this week by NBC 7 Investigates, reveals there is no effort currently being made to eliminate or reduce the major risk factors for an inmate escape on the building's ground floor. According to the Sheriff, the public entrance and exit to the new 22-story courthouse are located very close to two felony arraignment courtrooms, which "presents an increased security risk for a successful escape of in-custody prisoners charged with serious felony crimes." The document also said that the courtroom doors can't be locked to help prevent an escape, due to the city's fire code[.]

The big problem, according to courthouse watchers, is that courthouse construction is the province of an administrative state organ called the Judicial Council. These people are bureaucrats, not builders, and it was pretty much nothing for them to overshoot the courthouse budget by coming up with this $555-million masterpiece. When they found they'd overshot the budget, they began to cut back on small things. One of the things they cut back on was a tunnel for the safe transport of prisoners from jail cell to courtroom. Instead, they opted for a bus service to reward some contractor, and then the courthouse design in this context, designed to impress outsiders from the outside, turned out to be uniquely suitable for facilitating convict escapes.

That's the problem here, and that's what calls into question the legitimacy of the Judicial Council to be out building courthouses. I wrote about one of their Taj Mahals in a piece that appeared in the Long Beach Press Telegram last summer  that one a $2-billion courthouse. The San Diego case clearly shows that Long Beach is not the only problematic one in terms of feasibly using resources.

The Alliance of California Judges is on to the problems with these bureaucrats and has an interest in auditing how they use funds. They are on to something there, given the public interest and given that they have a right not to be pushed around by incompetent, unelected bureaucrats. If they succeed in that, the results are likely to be doozies, and the move itself won't come soon enough.

NBC News Channel 39 in San Diego will have another segment outlining more aspects of the problem on Monday night.
PLEASE NOTE!

Due to the March 23, 2020 NM DOH Public Health Order, These Event Listings Are Not Accurate!

All non-essential businesses are closed, public gatherings are prohibited!

(One day some of these events will be rescheduled or will resume, but they are not happening now!)
With the Syrian air strike, Donald Trump has demonstrated his ability to be decisive and nimble. His course of action was that of a bold, unpredictable risk-taker. It's the very opposite of what Barack Obama was. That steadier hand, unaffected by media flatterers as Obama was, shows a more direct independent and non-doctrinaire approach that can be called the Trump Doctrine: to try friendly negotiations (in domestic and foreign affairs) first, and should that approach go nowhere, a resort to force will follow.

The strike on Syria's airbase at Shayrat with 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles is a small but meaningful and measured wake-up call to the world to demonstrate this doctrine. U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley delivered an impassioned plea for changes in the region, but her calls fell on deaf ears, and the U.N. took no action. The result was Trump taking action, like a new sheriff in town, signaling to other bellicose dictators that he is capable of using and ready to use military power to halt human rights violations and restore American pre-eminence. That is at least some of what he meant by making America great again.

Interestingly, some on the left and right have expressed concerns about this action. They called it illegal since there was no direct authorization from Congress. The War Powers Act of 1973 does allow presidential action but requires follow-up with Congress.

While that debate will rage on, the air strike itself has accomplished much. Despite the risk of unintended consequences and possible reactions from Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad; Russian president Vladimir Putin; or Iran's terrorist proxy, Hezb'allah, Trump's quick response to Syrian use of sarin gas on Tuesday against innocent civilians has many potential benefits.

The international effect will take time to understand but is clearly a warning to other countries. To take but one example, the Pacific Rim: Chinese president Xi Jinping was told over dinner about the attack, and for him the news of Trump's decisive act was relevant because of its potential application to China's bid to build islands as forward operating bases in the South China Sea. It's also relevant because China has a record of supporting North Korea as a client state. As for North Korea itself, its dictator, Kim Jong-un, closely watches such American actions from afar, too, and will take note. For U.S. allies Japan and South Korea, both of which fear Kim, the airstrikes amount to a demonstration of decisiveness and therefore are cause for thanks.

In the Middle East, the Egyptians, Jordanians, and Saudis are now strengthened by the replacement of Obama by Trump. The strike on Assad helps restore the traditional balance favoring the Sunnis, not the Iranian Shia, which America had tilted toward under Obama. As a member of the Alawite sect, Assad is linked to the Shia, meaning that the U.S. air strike also sends a message to the leaders in Iran. Surprisingly, the mullahs have been muted in their response to the airstrike, in a significant departure from the Obama period.

Syria has allowed our approximately 1,000 soldiers to operate within their territory. That relative freedom of action might be endangered now, but Assad struggles for survival and would have little power to stop it. Widening his battles with the U.S. would not likely help his prospects, because the U.S. could have extended its strikes to all six Syrian airbases and might still do it. So this limited attack lets Assad know that his survival is on the line based on his brutal behavior but does not immediately remove him. It stands in stark contrast to Obama's action in Libya, which removed dictator Moammar Gaddafi and destabilized that country, leading to ISIS's expansion. Again, Trump used past experience to inform actions, both to limit risk and to maximize potential benefit.

Russia might decide to test us further in the Baltics or Ukraine, but if it does, Putin now must consider U.S. potential responses first. For those still arguing for a Trump-Putin alliance, it's clear that that is now unlikely.

Hezb'allah might be inclined to strike American interests throughout the world, too. Iran might encourage it, but perhaps even more likely, it might discourage it, since it can't be sure how the U.S. will react. The failure of the Obama administration to destroy all the chemical stores of Syria calls into question what the success of the Obama-Iran deal really was.

On the domestic front, Trump did argue against involvement in Syria during his presidential campaign. Yet he also saw that the use of chemical weapons threatens our troops worldwide from terrorists and other radicals. So his shift showed a capacity to adjust to realities, showing that he is nimble, a characteristic quite rare in the political world. This strike also shows how strongly he can act.

During the next few days, we will discover the impact of what Trump wrought upon our enemies. The world can be sure that a decisive and resolute person now occupies the White House. We must defeat ISIS, and with Trump's strong leadership, in evidence by this air strike, the Sunni Arab nations may now be convinced to follow our lead and participate.

The Middle East is still a mess, and it is time now to start fixing the mess. The Trump air strikes were a powerful opening for getting that done.
China and the U.S. have agreed to cooperate in their efforts to confront North Korea over their nuclear program, according to a statement released by the White House.

Politico:

Following a second day of bilateral talks, press secretary Sean Spicer said both China and the U.S. agreed to increase cooperation between the two superpowers to "convince North Korea to peacefully resolve the issue and dismantle its illegal nuclear and missile programs" and to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons in the Korean peninsula. According to Spicer, Xi and Trump "reaffirmed their commitment to a denuclearized Korean peninsula, and committed to fully implement UN Security Council resolutions." Trump has previously criticized China's handling of North Korea, telling Reuters in March he was "not liking" the dynamic, adding, "I know exactly what's going on between China and North Korea and everybody else." During an interview with the Financial Times published Sunday, Trump warned that if China was unwilling to collaborate on North Korea, the United States would be willing to go it alone. "China will either decide to help us with North Korea or they won't," he said. "If they do, that will be very good for China, and if they don't, it won't be good for anyone."

The statement may have lacked specifics, but it was significant in that it committed the US  at least temporarily  to continue cooperating with the international community in looking to blunt North Korea's drive to become a viable nuclear power.

But Trump won't wait forever for China to apply the kind of pressure on the North Koreans everyone knows that China is capable of. The president has already been presented with a plan to nuclearize South Korea.

The Hill:

The National Security Council has presented President Trump with options in response to North Korea's nuclear program that include placing American nuclear weapons in South Korea, NBC News reported on Friday.



Multiple top-ranking military and intelligence officials told the news source that another option presented to Trump by the National Security Council is an operation to kill the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.



According to NBC News, both scenarios were part of a review of North Korea policy prepared ahead of Trump's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week. Placing nuclear weapons in South Korea will be the first nuclear deployment overseas since the end of the Cold War, NBC noted. Washington withdrew all of its nuclear assets from South Korea 25 years ago. A senior intelligence official told the network that he doubted U.S. and China could find a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

Assassinating Kim Jong-un would not be a good idea. It would throw North Korea  a country possessing nuclear weapons  into chaos as the various factions, kept under control by brutality and fear by Kim, would be at each other's throats.

And nuclearizing South Korea would put a nuclear hair trigger on any potential conflict on the peninsula. So in the end, the U.S. must work with China to rein in North Korea.

How interested is China in sitting on its ally to prevent a war? Trump is trying to tie Chinese behavior toward North Korea with trade incentives. Whether it will be enough to move China toward denuclearizing the NoKos remains to be seen.
As bombastic, politically savvy, world-wise, and strategically oriented a leader as Donald Trump is, it was stunning to learn that his airstrikes to avenge Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad's barbaric sarin gas attack on his own people was primarily motivated by...empathy for murdered children. His outrage, his change of heart, and his very animating motive was in his reaction to the horrible photos of the child victims that shocked the conscience. As he stated:

Yesterday's chemical attack, a chemical attack so horrific in Syria against innocent people including women, small children, and even beautiful little babies, their deaths was an affront to humanity. These heinous actions by the Assad regime cannot be tolerated. My attitude toward Syria and Assad has changed very much.

It was so alien to what we know of geopolitics, yet so close to what we know from our own Judeo-Christian tradition, that it was impossible not to go along with it.

It was, above all, the response of a political outsider, someone who looked at an image of an atrocity as it was and did not think about how the U.S. could gain or lose from it, as a neocon might, or dismiss it as something that goes on all the time, as a world-weary foreign policy insider might, or put it aside it as a matter of not being able to solve all the world's problems, as a sick and tired heartlander might. It was the unforced reaction of a man confronting and acknowledging the act's ghastliness as any normal human being would, and then striking hard to punish it and to stop it.

It stands in stark contrast to the reaction of his predecessor, President Obama, who knew all about the chemical gas stockpiles but, rather than get outraged, sat on the information to hide it from the U.S. public, solely in the interest of reaping political hay.

Trump's response had amazing power, because it wasn't about showing force; it was about showing moral leadership. That's been in short supply ever since President Bush allowed the war on terror to be turned into a consultant contract festival of NGOs and contractors with an entrenched interest in war without end, and President Obama drove it farther to become a neglected, under-resourced, lawyer-led, war-without-victory morass. Trump's moral clarity was like fire, and his willingness to act was swift. The foreign policy swamp will dismiss it as spin, but given Trump's known proclivity to react to television images, there is reason to think it was real.

For those who have painted Trump for months as an insensitive monster  whether of the #NeverTrump variety on the right or the #Resist type on the left, the failure of that claim got obvious.

My original thought when the strikes were announced was that it was "something McMaster cooked up" to show how neocon he is in projecting American power and how Bush-ism is back in the saddle. But the Trump statements seemed to cut through the cynicism. They were about humanism. I looked at the pictures and allowed myself to feel sorrow at the evil that was wrought.

Two things were accomplished by Trump's response to this obvious horror. One is that suddenly, it's not okay for dictators to get away with any old thing, as they had in recent previous administrations. Some lines really aren't to be crossed, and there's no need to warn them before striking them down.

Two, the moral aspect of Trump's leadership poses a direct challenge to Russia's very claim to influence in the region. Russian president Vladimir Putin has used the idea of Russia as the defender of civilization from the feckless West and the beastly barbarians to solidify his country's claim to the region. He has positioned himself as the defender of Orthodoxy, the man who stood up for the Middle East's embattled Christians when even the pope did nothing about them being decimated. His heart may be in that, but his actions do not match the head-on, lightning-fast willingness to take evil head-on, like St. Michael the Archangel, of Trump.

The appreciation shown by the Syrians for Trump's willingness to stand up for them against this horror will boomerang across the globe and give many embattled peoples under threats of atrocities a new hope. No human rights courts farces of decades, no stern warnings from the United Nations, no petitions and Twitter hashtag feeds  just a swift and certain sky full of tomahawks, following each atrocity-perpetrator around the each corner with a punishing boom.

That is leadership. Trump has it. And incredibly enough, it springs from the heart.
On October 4, 2015, without any prior public warning, Putin started a major bombing campaign in Syria. Around the same time he sent in cruise missiles from the creaky old Soviet cruiser Moskva  parked off the coast of Syria  and fired long-range missiles from naval vessels in the Caspian Sea. Putin also sent in jet bombers across Iran, escorted pro forma by Iranian jets.

The world got the message. Iran saw Russian jets flying over its territories and said nothing. But they got Putin's message loud and clear. So did Syria, Israel, and Turkey.

But Obama did nothing. I'm sure he lodged a very sincere protest, a one-day news story. Nobody cared.

Putin is a Russian nationalist, and when he can get away with it, he is a Russian expansionist. Remember his invasions of Georgia, eastern Ukraine, and Crimea, all surprise moves, all low-profile, until the Big Demo in Syria. Europe did zilch when Putin invaded Ukraine as a slap in the face of NATO and E.U. expansionism. After all, Kiev used to be the capital of Russia, oh, about 500 years ago. These things matter to Russians.

Putin obviously understands the uses of serious signals. Not phony-baloney red lines, appeals to the conscience of the world (which never heard of such a thing), the jihadophiles at the U.N., and other sly supporters of the jihad war against civilization.

Like a certain president whose name starts with O.

But you might not remember Vladimir Putin's Big Move into the Middle East, and you can bet that 50 million Democrat voters are scratching their pink fake fur hats, just trying to remember. And then going back to whatever they're smoking today.

Trump acted in a Putinesque fashion this week, and the world got the signal  including Assad, who has now been denounced even by his Russian ally, Vladimir Putin, for killing Syrian rebels, men, women, kids, and soldiers  with sarin gas, which was prohibited by international treaty right after WWI. Lance Corporal Hitler had his lungs badly burned. He entered international history a decade later running a stab-in-the-back campaign that led to mass murders and war deaths in the tens of millions.

Hitler used poison gas on Jews in the concentration camps, but he did not use it on London because he knew how it felt to be bombed by sarin, and the Allies had big gas bomb supplies  which were never used.

World War II ended when the U.S. used two nuclear bombs against Japan, the last Axis member trying to kill us.

Vladimir Putin was thoroughly indoctrinated and (at times) educated in the Great Patriotic War that forced Stalin to appeal to Russian nationalism.

Putin is a Russian nationalist. He is not going to repeat the endless disasters of the Lenin-to-Gorbachev period. Putin's KGB career teetered on the brink when the Soviet Union crumbled, and you might remember Dr. Johnson's thought about being hanged in a fortnight concentrating the mind wonderfully.

Vladimir Putin is not suicidal, nor are his boyars in the Kremlin. They will bluff straight across that red line, but they won't pull the nuclear trigger. It's a MAD weapon.

Notice that Hillary actually endorsed Trump's Big Signal? There are at least three reasons for that. First, she has thirsted for that kind of tough credibility. Second, by immediately endorsing the strikes on Syria, she has now beaten her competitors on the left who are kneepad peaceniks, like Obama, Michelle, and Liz Warren.

The most important single effect  which is very good for peace in the world  is that we are now back at status quo ante, when the use of poison gas was strictly forbidden by international law, as backed by the constitutional treaty powers of the Senate.

Peace through strength, baby.

Putin understands peace through strength. All the tsars understood it, just like all the Chinese emperors and the German kaisers. Serious nations want stability, not war, not chaos, and not the Workers' Revolution that put Lenin in power to kill the last Romanoffs.

Trump just made a major stabilizing move in the language of power, and the Putins of this world sat up, took notice, and relaxed. This kind of signal they all understand. It makes the world predictable, which it wasn't before Trump struck Syria.

Naturally, some historically ignorant hysterics squeaked very loudly, but notice that Hillary did not.

Because she wants to be taken seriously in the next election, if she lives that long, given her medical condition.

This is not the last move of the Trump Doctrine. A serious great power policy is not a one-day thing. It puts the bad guys on notice, and we will go after the bad guys as often as needed.

But we won't send large numbers of ground troops in. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt, no more of that stuff.

Former USMC commandant Gen. James Mattis ran Marine combat ops in Iraq. The Marines learn the lessons of war, and one of them is called "Don't go into Fallujah twice."

Say what you have to say with cruise missiles, drones, whatever. Cyber-war. Don't put your folks' lives on the line except in extremis.
Ever wondered what happens to lost airline baggage? It ends up in Scottsboro in Alabama, the United States at the Unclaimed Baggage Center. The store's concept of reselling of lost or unclaimed airline luggage has received national attention over the years, including mentions on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Late Night with David Letterman and the Today show.

At Unclaimed Baggage Center you can buy a lost $1000 Versace dress for $55, an Adidas jacket for $15, a tube of slightly used Japanese toothpaste for 50 cents, a $15,000 sapphire and diamond bracelet for $7500, gold wedding bands and pearl necklaces for half their value. Over a million customers visit the 50,000-square-foot store each year to browse through some of the 7,000 items added each day.

It all started in 1970, when an insurance salesman named H. Doyle Owens borrowed $300 and a pickup truck and bought a hundred or so bags left on Greyhound buses. He brought them back to Scottsboro, a town with a population of about 15,000, expecting to sell them off within a couple of weeks. He was surprised to find all the items were gone in just one day. For Owens it was just a part-time business until 1978. Now the Unclaimed Baggage Center covers an entire city block- 50,000 square feet and employs 110 workers.

Sixty percent of the items sold are clothing. All clothing is cleaned and pressed in one of the largest laundry facilities in the state. Racks and racks of clothes cover the main floor of the store. There are shelves of books, racks of CDs, baskets of Walkman's and inexpensive cameras, and a jewelry counter. Sporting goods line the wall on one end of the store. Unclaimed cargo fills a room on the other side.

"Its like Christmas everyday," says Bryan Owens, Doyle Owens son who took over the operation in 1995. "People come again and again," said Owens, 43. "You can find a lot of practical merchandise here. But I think people really enjoy going through all the stuff and seeing what new treasures they can find. We have so many new items each day that people never know what they are going to discover."
Barbados, April 5, 2017 (CDEMA)  At the recently concluded Caribbean Safe School Ministerial Forum held on April 3-4, 2017 in Antigua and Barbuda, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) reiterated its commitment to championing the Caribbean School Safety initiative towards building a culture of safety within the education sector.

I am pleased to indicate that the Safe Schools initiative will be a flagship programme of the CDEMA Coordinating Unit for the Corporate Planning Period 2017-2020, said Elizabeth Riley, Deputy Executive Director, CDEMA.

The CDEMA Coordinating Unit has a long history of supporting the integration of disaster risk management into the education sector through the development of technical resources to support policy, school readiness and resources to support the infusion of disaster risk management concepts into the curriculum.

During the Forum, which was hosted by the Honourable Michael S. Browne, Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Antigua and Barbuda, other Ministers of Education and high-level officials endorsed and signed the Antigua and Barbuda Declaration for School Safety. The Caribbean Safe School Initiative (CSSI) was also launched, which presents the framework to advance school safety in the Caribbean and at the same time reflects the Caribbean contribution to the Worldwide Initiative for Safe Schools (WISS).

Education is key to engendering a culture of safety given its central role in shaping knowledge and behaviour and is therefore a priority sector in the Regional Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM) Strategy. The opportunity to advance education sector resilience is now and ownership and leadership by the education sector is critical if we are to build resilience in the sector, said Riley.

She also reminded the Forum of the vulnerability of the Caribbean region and by extension, the high risk and vulnerability of the education sector. The vulnerability of the education sector in the Caribbean has been shown in the impacts of extreme events in CDEMA Participating States. Hurricane Ivan in Grenada in 2004, resulted in damage equivalent to 212% of GDP, only 2 out of 75 schools were operational post impact. Estimated damage to the Education Sector was EC$215 million. Significant losses in the Education sector are not restricted to catastrophic events but are also seen in the cumulative damage of smaller events.

The CDEMA Model Safe Schools Programme and Toolkit has been endorsed by Ministers with responsibility for disaster management in CDEMA Participating States. It promotes a comprehensive and holistic treatment of risk in the school environment and expands the perspectives of school safety beyond the traditional singular focus on emergencies, embracing safe learning facilities, school disaster management and resilience education. In this regard, it is congruent with the Comprehensive School Safety Framework and a vehicle for implementing the Worldwide Initiative on Safe Schools (WISS).

The Caribbean Safe School Ministerial Forum was jointly organized by CDEMA, the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Austrian Development Agency, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Republic of Korea.
The Policing Strategy 2016  2019 sets out a commitment to develop the RAPF to improve the services it can deliver for the communities of Anguilla and the overall ambition of reducing the number of crimes as well as the number of victims who are subjects of crime.

To prevent and detect crime requires the Police Force to be competent in crime investigation; intelligence led policing and targeting of our finite resources to the risks that present harm to the public.

From early January a sustained period of training and mentoring commenced in RAPF and will come to the 27/4/17. This doesnt signal an end to the investment in staff, on the contrary further development training and reviews are scheduled for later this year to ensure what we have been taught is embedded.

January saw John McFarland a retired Detective Chief Inspector from the London Metropolitan Police murder squad conduct a mentoring program for two months with officers from the Criminal Investigation Department. The focus was on investigative practices, making better use of OTRICS (our record system for recording crime and managing investigations). As a result we trained three major crime managers who now run the new incident room for any major crime ensuring all investigative strands are properly recorded and logged, and all actions allocated are being delivered. This use of OTRCIS realizes an ambition to use our system similar to the way UK murders are investigated using HOLMES. (Home Office Large Major Enquiry System). We also introduced new procedures for managing intelligence reports which mean that the information we receive cannot be compromised by unauthorized access. Every member of the Major Crime, Volume Crime, Safeguarding Unit, SOCO and Criminal Intelligence Units received one to one instruction. This training was supported by new computers secured from FCO funding so that the Safeguarding Investigation Unit, Major and Volume Crime Unit, Beat and Patrol and Custody can move towards computer based recording systems.

In February we had Andy Carr a retired Kent Police Officer and lead for the introduction of suspect interviewing techniques run four, one week courses on suspect interviewing and evidence presentation which reached out to 39 officers. We took this opportunity to introduce a new role of Case File Manager to improve case file timeliness, ensure a consistent standard in presentation and improve the way court outcomes which have orders attached are managed and briefed into the Force. This will allow the RAPF to make better use of powers attached to these orders to disrupt and prevent crime.

In March five officers received training on Bullet Track which allows the RAPF to make forensic acquisition of bullet cases and projectiles from Anguilla. This presents the Force with a speedier identification process as well as reducing costs of sending material overseas.

In March we also had the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center (CEOP) arrive and deliver a two week investigative program aimed at building on what had been delivered in January with emphasis on child abuse investigations. This training extended to Doctors, on the way we can improve victim care during the forensic recovery process at the hospital. The training was also extended to two members of Probation Department. CEOP also undertook a number of evening classes to improve officer computer skills. As we move across to a more efficient crime system using OTRICS we must improve our computer skills. Although the main training team has now left two CEOP mentors will remain within the RAPF Major and Volume Crime Unit and Safeguarding Investigation Units to again reinforce all the training given to date and focusing on creating new computer based process to manage domestic violence and child abuse

Whilst on Anguilla CEOP attended the opening ceremony of the new Forensic and Exhibits Centre for which they provided the majority of funding. CEOP are now long term partners with RAPF and further training, equipment and forensic kits are being supplied through them under their mission commander Ms Lydia Davenport the dedicated coordinator for Anguilla and the RAPF.

In March we also received the start of a three week Police Safety Training program. This train the trainers course is being given to seven RAPF officers and five officers from other BOT Forces. The course gives these officers the skills to train all members of the RAPF throughout the coming years, in arrest techniques, strikes /blocks and take downs, the use of batons and PAVA as well as safe entry and exit from vehicles and cells with non-compliant prisoners. The course is designed to give officers the skills to deal with violent situations using the minimum levels of necessary force to bring about compliance. This training will be supported with new standardized Officer Safety Equipment which is being procured from the UK and will be issued to every front line officer. After week two the seven RAPF officers will deliver their first course to other members of the Force and be accredited by the UK trainers Dave Rundle and Rachel Potter if they are successful.

In March we also invited two serving Superintendents from the UK to inspect our firearms capability and provide a report with recommendations so that we can continue delivering against the Policing Strategy.

Finally three senior officers are now benefiting from placements on the Strategic Command Course in the UK (Supt. Allan Coppin) and the Junior Command Course in Jamaica (Insp. Randolph Yearwood and Sgt. Vydia Charles). These courses are designed to equip these officers with the Executive and Business skills needed for Senior Commanders in the RAPF.

These programs have been delivered from bids made by the RAPF to secure funding from the FCO, HEG office, CEOP and Ultra Electronics Forensic Technologies ltd.
It was a coup detat followed by a lynching. Thats how an official of the Organisation of American States (OAS) described a meeting of the Permanent Council of the hemispheric body that was held on April 3 in the most unorthodox circumstances and at which 17 countries tore-up the rule book to force through a resolution on Venezuela.

If the meeting had been held 2 days earlier, no onlooker would have been blamed for believing it was an April fools day joke. As it turned out, the meeting that was on, then off, then on again, was akin to a tragi-comedy.

At its root was a determination by a group of 17 countries, led by Canada, Mexico and the US, to adopt a resolution on Venezuela in which the Permanent Council would undertake as necessary further diplomatic initiatives to foster the restoration of the democratic institutional system, in accordance with the Charter of the Organization of American States and the Inter-American Democratic Charter, including the convening of a ministerial meeting.

Such a Resolution would normally have been controversial among all 34 member states of the Organisation but it had a chance of widespread support on Friday, March 31 after the Venezuelan Supreme Tribunal of Justice (STJ) suspended the powers of the elected National Assembly and arrogated them to itself. Only a small minority of the OAS member states could close their eyes to this action which amounted to a serious alteration of the constitutional regime in Venezuela. My own country, Antigua and Barbuda, expressed its deep concern.

In the context of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries, the situation would have been akin to the Supreme Court annulling the authority of Parliament and rendering elected representatives impotent and stripping them of parliamentary immunities. The democratic system, as CARICOM countries know and practice it, would have been shattered. No political party, lawyers association, trade union, or church organisation would have stood for it.

Few could argue  and none with any validity  that the actions of the STJ had not altered the constitutional regime in Venezuela. And, according to Article 20 of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, that alteration allowed any member state or the Secretary-General to request the immediate convocation of the Permanent Council to undertake a collective assessment of the situation and to take such decisions as it deems appropriate.

It was against this background that on Friday, March 31 there was a groundswell of support, including from the majority of CARICOM countries, for a Resolution that would demand a reversal of the STJs actions and the restoration of the powers of the Venezuelan National Assembly. However, the lead nations of the group of 17 recognised an obstacle in their way. That obstacle was that on the next working day of the Permanent Council  Monday, April 3  Bolivia would replace Belize as the Chair of the Council. They calculated that Bolivia  an extremely close ally of Venezuela  was unlikely to be in a hurry to call a meeting of the Permanent Council to discuss Venezuela under the only thing that allowed such a discussion which was Article 20 of the Inter-Democratic Charter. So, without consultation with other member states, the powerful countries of the group of 17 persuaded the outgoing Chair, literally in the final hours of his tenure on Friday, March 31, to convoke the meeting for the afternoon of Monday, April 3.

However, on the next day Saturday, April 1, the authorities in Venezuela did exactly what the majority of member states of the OAS were planning to urge at any upcoming meeting of the Council  they instructed the TSJ to rescind its two rulings (155 and 156) that had effectively eviscerated the National Assembly. On the same day, the TSJ rescinded its decisions and the powers and immunities of the National Assembly were duly restored.

By so doing, the authorities in Venezuela had pulled from the jaws of OAS condemnation the alteration of the constitution that would have permitted a discussion of Venezuela by the Permanent Council without the consent of government. And, it is important to understand that the antiquated Charter of the OAS and the outmoded Inter-American Democratic Charter forbid interference in the internal affairs of a member state without its permission. Only Article 20 of the Democratic Charter allows a discussion.

Effectively, then on Monday, April 3 there was no further basis for a discussion of Venezuela within the rules laid down by the two governing Charters. As predicted, the Bolivian Chair, who assumed office at 11 oclock that morning, decided to suspend the formal meeting of the Permanent Council scheduled for 2pm; instead he summoned an informal meeting of all member states for 4 pm at which all countries could discuss the events in Venezuela, with Venezuelas participation, away from the live television coverage that accompanies formal Council meetings.

The leaders of the group, who had engineered the formal meeting of the Council, protested its suspension and with the help of the Secretary-General (himself at loggerheads with the Venezuelan government), the meeting was re-instated without proper notice. Consequently, almost half of the member states were not present. Faced with a refusal by the Bolivian Chair to hold the meeting and an equally firm refusal by the Vice Chair from Haiti to step-in, the dubious honour of chairing the meeting fell to Honduras which was one of the group of countries that had demanded the meeting.

It remains more than doubtful that the meeting was held within the rules of the Organisation. This was underlined by the elected Bolivian Chair who made a cameo appearance at the meeting only to denounce it as a coup detat before walking out. Then a Resolution, which was also not presented within the rules of the Organisation, was adopted by acclamation by only 17 of the 34 member states, whereas the guiding rule states unequivocally that decisions shall be taken by the vote of an absolute majority.

Whatever anyone thinks of the situation in Venezuela, Monday, April 3 was an inglorious day in the history of the OAS. The events of that day did nothing to advance concerns about a member state; slammed the door on the opportunity for a tough and meaningful discussion; and hardened the lines of antagonism between member countries.

The rules and the Charters of the OAS are outmoded and in need of urgent review but disregard for them while they remain the only guiding principles, has eroded confidence and trust in the organisation. And, that is a great shame at a time when the world needs strong institutions of multilateralism.

Responses and previous commentaries: www.sirronaldsanders.com

(The writer is Antigua and Barbudas Ambassador to the United States and the OAS. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London and Massey College in the University of Toronto. The view expressed are entirely his own)
Banaras Hindu University, Institute of Medical Science, Varanasi : B.Sc. Nursing Entrance Test 2019 https://career.webindia123.com/career/dates_and_events/banaras-hindu-university-ims-admissions.htm Details of Banaras Hindu University, Institute of Medical Science, Varanasi : B.Sc. Nursing Entrance Test 2019 2019-4-23 2019-5-11 https://career.webindia123.com/career/images/exams.png India India Banaras Hindu University, Institute of Medical Science, Varanasi : B.Sc. Nursing Entrance Test 2019 Medical

Admission Notice - Institute of Medical Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi

Banaras Hindu University, Institute of Medical Science, Varanasi : B.Sc. Nursing Entrance Test 2019 Category : Medical Admissions 2022 Published : On April 23, 2019 By Webindia123 Editor

Important Dates

Availability of online Application Form 12th April to 11th May 2019 Last Date for Submission of online Application Form 11th May 2019 Date of Entrance Test 9th June 2019

The Banaras Hindu University will hold an All-India written competitive Entrance examination for admission to the course of B.Sc Nursing in the College of Nursing, Institute of Medical Sciences, BHU, Varanasi for session commencing from July/August 2019, on Sunday, 9th June, 2019 (10:00A.M. to 12:00 Noon) at Varanasi.

Eligibility:

Educational Qualification : Intermediate 10+2 or equivalent examination from recognized board with a minimum of 50% marks [40% in case of SC, ST, OBC (non-creamy layer) category] in English, Physics, Chemistry, Biology (Zoology + Botany ) taken together. Candidates appearing in qualifying examination may also appear for the entrance examination. Physically Challenged candidates are not eligible.

Age : Applicant should be an Indian national, and should have completed 17 years of age but not crossed 25 years as on 31st December 2018.

Seats:

There will be 60 seats:

General-30; SC-9, ST-05, OBC (non-creamy layer) -16.

Application Procedure:

Applicants have to apply and submit online Application Form available in BHU website i.e. www.bhu.ac.in/ims

Applicants have to register to this site in order to access the Application Form. To register at this site candidate must have a valid email id. Therefore Applicants are advised to open an email account in their name, which is required and is mandatory for registration in the site. After registration to this site, the candidate has to select B.Sc. Nursing Entrance Test Form and fill details in the respective fields. Procedure of filling up the application form will be provided in the website.

The duly completed/filled up application form should be accompanied with entrance examination fee which is Rs.1000.00 for General/OBC category and Rs.750.00 for SC/ST category. Online payment of entrance examination fee can be through, Debit card, Credit card, Internet banking or through Challan as per instruction given in website.

Method of Selection

The candidates will be selected on the basis of their merit in the Written Entrance Test conducted for the purpose. The written entrance test shall be held at the examination centres of Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi on the date and month as published in the advertisement in news papers.

The question paper of the written Entrance Test will have 100 'Multiple Choice Questions' (each carrying 4 marks) from Physics, Chemistry. Botany & Zoology (25 questions each). The maximum marks will be 400 and time duration will be of 2 hours. There will be NO negative marking for incorrect answers.

The minimum percentage of marks required to qualify in the written examination shall be will be 50% for General category and 40% for OBC (non-creamy layer)/SC/ST

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained anywhere in the ordinances of the university, no scrutiny / revaluation of the answer sheet shall be allowed on any ground

The Roll Number of only Provisionally Selected Candidates shall be displayed on the websites of IMS,BHU (www.bhu.ac.in/ims) and also on notice board of Institute of Medical Sciences, and office of the PRO, BHU. They will also be informed individually through Email and Registered Post. However, the Institute shall not be responsible for any postal delay or loss of correspondence in postal transit.

Admission

The Provisionally Selected Candidates will have to appear before the Admission Committee and their admission shall be subject to their medical fitness by the Medical Board appointed for the above purpose.

Candidates who are less than 18 years of age would be required to submit consent of their Father / Guardian to join the Course.

Candidates would be required to submit NO OBJECTION CERTIFICATE from the Employer at the time of admission.

The Admission to the Courses shall be subject to fulfilling the eligibility criteria as defined above. The Candidates who are called for Admission on merit must bring with them all the original certificates, mark sheets, etc. along with two attested phtotocopies of each and six additional photographs (same as submitted in the application form) for verification by the Admission Committee.

The decision of the admission committee shall be final and binding on the candidate in respect of the Entrance Test and admission to the above course.

In case of any dispute, the decision of the admission committee shall be final. However, an appeal may lie to the Vice-Chancellor, Banaras Hindu University, against such decision. In no case any candidate shall take recourse to the court of law directly.

In case of any dispute, Varanasi shall be the jurisdiction

Mere submission of application, appearing and qualifying in the test will not entitle the candidate to claim admission to the above course.

The candidates taking up the Entrance Test will have to make their own arrangements for stay at Varanasi.

For more details refer institute website

Contact Details Address : Institute of Medical Sciences,

Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi- 221005 (U.P) Phone : 0542-6703248 Fax : 0542- 2367568 Mobile : E-mail : Contact I Website : www.imsbhu.nic.in

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Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. TYLER W. TOPOR, Defendant-Appellee. No. 2-16-0119 Decided: March 28, 2017

OPINION

 1 The State appeals from the judgment of the circuit court of Boone County granting defendant Tyler W. Topor's motion to quash his arrest and suppress evidence. Because an identified citizen informant reported, via 911, the smell of burnt cannabis coming from defendant's vehicle, the police had reasonable suspicion to stop defendant's vehicle. Thus, we reverse and remand.

 2 I. BACKGROUND

 3 Defendant was indicted on one count of unlawful possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance (codeine) within 1000 feet of a senior housing complex (720 ILCS 570/401(d), 407(b)(2) (West 2014)), one count of unlawful possession of a controlled substance (acetaminophen/codeine) (720 ILCS 570/402(c) (West 2014)), one count of unlawful possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance (alprazolam) within 1000 feet of a senior housing complex (720 ILCS 570/401(g), 407(b)(5) (West 2014)), one count of unlawful possession of a controlled substance (alprazolam) (720 ILCS 570/402(c) (West 2014)), and one count of unlawful possession with intent to deliver cannabis (720 ILCS 550/5(c) (West 2014)). Defendant filed a motion to quash his arrest and suppress evidence.

 4 The following evidence was established at the hearing on the motion to quash and suppress. On the evening of May 29, 2015, Officer Todd Moore of the Belvidere police department was parked in his squad car within sight of a McDonald's restaurant on Chrysler Drive. He was talking with Detective Robert Kozlowski of the Belvidere police department, who was sitting in his police vehicle next to Officer Moore's.

 5 At about 10:44 p.m., Officer Moore received a radio dispatch. The dispatcher advised that a citizen had called 911 and reported that, while he was seated in his truck in the McDonald's drive-up lane on Chrysler Drive, the smell of cannabis was coming from the vehicle immediately behind him. The caller described the vehicle as a silver Ford with the words Harvard Ford Courtesy Car on each of its front doors. The caller also provided the license plate number and reported that there were two occupants in the Ford.

 6 As Officer Moore drove toward the McDonald's, the dispatcher advised him that the caller, who was still on the line, could see the Ford facing the opposite direction of Officer Moore's squad car at an intersection. As the Ford passed him, Officer Moore turned to follow it. When the Ford pulled up to a gas pump at a nearby gas station, Officer Moore pulled in behind it and activated his emergency lights. Shortly thereafter, Detective Kozlowski arrived.

 7 When Officer Moore approached the Ford, defendant, who was driving, was smoking a cigarette. Officer Moore told defendant that he had received a complaint that someone in the Ford was smoking cannabis. According to Officer Moore, he thought that he could smell, in addition to the cigarette, burning cannabis but [he] was unsure because of the wind direction. Detective Kozlowski, who had approached the Ford on the passenger side (downwind), told Officer Moore that he could smell burnt cannabis. Based on his drug training and prior investigations, Detective Kozlowski was familiar with the smell of burnt cannabis.

 8 After Detective Kozlowski told him about the cannabis smell, Officer Moore had defendant step out of the Ford. For safety reasons, he patted down defendant, handcuffed him, and placed him in the squad car. Officer Moore then approached the Ford and saw, through the open driver's-side door, prescription pill bottles and a clear plastic baggie containing green leafy plant material. Based on his police training and experience, he believed that the substance in the baggie was cannabis.

 9 The trial court issued a written decision granting the motion to quash and suppress. The court found that the citizen informant was not sufficiently reliable to justify the stop of defendant's vehicle, because the record did not show that the informant was familiar with the smell of cannabis. The court then granted the State's motion to reopen the proofs so the court could listen to the 911 recording.

 10 The 911 caller stated that the occupants of the vehicle behind him at the McDonald's were smoking some massive pot and that it was freakin' reekin' like hell in [his] truck. After the dispatcher informed the caller that an officer was en route, the caller stated that the Ford was at a light facing north and that a squad car was on the opposite side of the intersection facing south. The caller provided the license plate number of the Ford. The caller also gave his full name and telephone number.

 11 After considering the 911 call, the trial court reiterated its decision to grant the motion to quash and suppress. After the court denied the State's motion to reconsider, the State filed a certificate of impairment (see Ill. S. Ct. R. 604(a)(1) (eff. Dec. 3, 2015)) and a timely notice of appeal.

 12 II. ANALYSIS

 13 On appeal, the State contends that Officer Moore had reasonable suspicion to stop defendant's vehicle, because the citizen informant was sufficiently reliable, notwithstanding that he did not provide any information as to how he was familiar with the smell of burnt cannabis. Defendant responds that, even though the caller identified himself, he was unreliable, as he did not indicate how he knew the smell of burnt cannabis.

 14 In reviewing a trial court's ruling on a motion to suppress evidence, a reviewing court applies a two-part standard. People v. Luedemann, 222 Ill. 2d 530, 542 (2006) (citing Ornelas v. United States, 517 U.S. 690, 699 (1996)). Under that standard, a reviewing court reviews a trial court's findings of fact only for clear error and must give due weight to any inferences drawn by the trial court from those facts. Luedemann, 222 Ill. 2d at 542. Put another way, a reviewing court gives great deference to the trial court's factual findings and will reverse those findings only if they are against the manifest weight of the evidence. Luedemann, 222 Ill. 2d at 542. A reviewing court, however, remains free to independently assess the facts in relation to the issues and may draw its own conclusions when deciding what relief should be granted. Luedemann, 222 Ill. 2d at 542. Accordingly, the court reviews de novo the trial court's ultimate legal ruling as to whether suppression is warranted. Luedemann, 222 Ill. 2d at 542-43. In this case, because the facts are undisputed, we review the trial court's ruling de novo.

 15 Generally, the police may seize an individual only if they first obtain a warrant supported by probable cause. People v. Miller, 2014 IL App (2d) 120873,  21. However, an officer may make an investigatory stop, without a warrant or probable cause, if the officer reasonably believes that the person stopped is committing, has committed, or is about to commit a crime. Miller, 2014 IL App (2d) 120873,  21 (citing Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968)).

 16 Facts giving rise to reasonable suspicion need not be based on personal observations by an officer. Miller, 2014 IL App (2d) 120873,  23. Rather, facts supporting reasonable suspicion may be based on information that the public provides. Miller, 2014 IL App (2d) 120873,  23. Where a citizen informant reports criminal activity to the police, the information need possess only some indicia of reliability to justify an investigatory stop. Miller, 2014 IL App (2d) 120873,  23. To that end, the information from a citizen informant need have only a minimum of corroboration or other verification of its reliability. Miller, 2014 IL App (2d) 120873,  24.

 17 Although a citizen informant is no longer afforded a presumption of reliability, the citizen informant has greater reliability than the typical criminal informant. Village of Mundelein v. Minx, 352 Ill. App. 3d 216, 221 (2004). There are many factors that must be considered when determining the reliability of information provided by a citizen. Minx, 352 Ill. App. 3d at 221. Those factors include whether the citizen informant identified himself, offered to sign a complaint, or witnessed the alleged crime, and whether the information was independently corroborated. Minx, 352 Ill. App. 3d at 221. Factors that weigh against reliability include whether the informant was paid, did not witness the alleged offense, or failed to identify himself. Minx, 352 Ill. App. 3d at 221.

 18 Before addressing the reliability of the information in light of the relevant factors, we emphasize that the standard required for the stop was reasonable suspicion. That standard is less demanding than probable cause, not only in the sense that it can be established with information that is different in quality or content from that required to establish probable cause, but also in that it can be based on information that is less reliable than that required to establish probable cause. Alabama v. White, 496 U.S. 325, 330 (1990) (citing Adams v. Williams, 407 U.S. 143 (1972)). Thus, where an unverified tip by a known informant might not be reliable enough to establish probable cause, it nonetheless might be sufficiently reliable to justify an investigatory stop. White, 496 U.S at 330 (citing Adams, 407 U.S. at 147). Therefore, those cases that require a certain level of training and experience to identify reliably the smell of cannabis to support probable cause (see, e.g., People v. Stout, 106 Ill. 2d 77, 87 (1985)) do not apply in this context.

 19 In this case, the various factors demonstrate the reliability of the information. First, the citizen informant called 911 and identified himself, providing his full name and telephone number. By calling 911 and identifying himself, he subjected himself to potential prosecution if the information was false. See People v. Shafer, 372 Ill. App. 3d 1044, 1050-52 (2007). An identified informant lends great weight to the reliability of the information.

 20 Second, much of the information was corroborated before the stop. Officer Moore observed the vehicle as described, including the license plate. Also, he saw the Ford only a short distance from the McDonald's. That corroboration lent further reliability to the information.

 21 Third, there is no indication that the citizen informant received any benefit for providing the information. Rather, he was merely a happenstance witness who conscientiously reported the crime, including following the Ford and providing its location and direction of travel to the police.

 22 Fourth, as noted, the citizen informant witnessed the alleged offense, via his sense of smell. Defendant contends, however, that the information was not reliable, because the citizen informant never indicated to the police how he was familiar with the smell of burnt cannabis. Neither party cites, nor do we find, any case addressing the issue of whether the police may reasonably rely on a citizen's report of the smell of burnt cannabis without first ascertaining how the citizen knows the smell. However, we find instructive State v. Lichty, 835 P.2d 904 (Or. 1992) (en banc). There, an officer stopped the defendant in reliance on a named citizen's report that  a bag of coke  had fallen out of a lost wallet that was subsequently claimed by a passenger in the defendant's vehicle. Lichty, 835 P.2d at 905. The defendant argued that the stop was invalid because, lacking any knowledge of the citizen's ability to identify cocaine, the officer could not reasonably rely on [the citizen's] statement that she saw cocaine, at least without further inquiry. Lichty, 835 P.2d at 907. The Oregon Supreme Court rejected the argument, noting that the defendant asks for more than the reasonable suspicion standard requires. Lichty, 835 P.2d at 907. Specifically, the court observed that citizens often speak in the shorthand of opinions or conclusions, not in the form of a recitation of pure fact. Lichty, 835 P.2d at 907. Thus, given the general knowledge that cocaine is a white powdery substance, the officer had a reasonable suspicion that the wallet indeed contained cocaine. Lichty, 835 P.2d at 908.

 23 Here, the same reasoning applies. As noted, the standard here is reasonable suspicion, not probable cause. Although establishing probable cause requires some evidentiary foundation for an officer's identification of a particular odor as that of burnt marijuana (People v. Smith, 2012 IL App (2d) 120307,  13), the reasonable-suspicion standard does not require an officer to obtain that same foundation from a citizen. In reporting that the occupants of the Ford were smoking some massive pot, the citizen here was using the same kind of shorthand that the citizen in Lichty used. Given that the smell of burnt cannabis, like the appearance of cocaine, is distinctive to much of the general public (People v. Allen, 375 Ill. App. 3d 810, 815 (2007)), Officer Moore was entitled to stop defendant in reliance on the citizen's report.

 24 In so holding, we note that the citizen did not indicate any uncertainty about whether the smell he detected was the smell of burnt cannabis. (Indeed, he demonstrated unequivocal confidence.) Thus, we note also that we need not, and do not, decide whether the police must inquire further when a citizen indicates such uncertainty. We hold only that, under the facts of this case, the citizen did not need to explain how he was familiar with the smell of burnt cannabis before Officer Moore could rely on his report to formulate a reasonable suspicion to effect a stop.

 25 Based on the totality of the circumstances, the information provided by the citizen informant via 911 was sufficiently reliable to support a reasonable suspicion to stop defendant's vehicle. Accordingly, the trial court erred in ruling otherwise.

 26 III. CONCLUSION

 27 For the reasons stated, we reverse the judgment of the circuit court of Boone County and remand for further proceedings.

 28 Reversed and remanded.

FOOTNOTES

. We note that the trial court found that a seizure occurred because Officer Moore activated his emergency lights. The State does not contend otherwise. Thus, we do not address the issue of whether there was a seizure when Officer Moore pulled in behind defendant's vehicle at the gas station.

JUSTICE JORGENSEN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

Presiding Justice Hudson and Justice McLaren concurred in the judgment and opinion.
United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit. ARMANDO FLORENTIN BARRIOS-MONZON, Petitioner, v. U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. No. 16-10649 Decided: April 07, 2017

Before JORDAN, ROSENBAUM and JILL PRYOR, Circuit Judges.

Armando Barrios-Monzon petitions for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) denying his motion for reconsideration of the BIA's order that dismissed his appeal and affirmed the Immigration Judge's (IJ) order denying his applications for withholding of removal and relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). On appeal, Barrios-Monzon argues that the BIA erred (1) in affirming because the IJ violated his right to due process by refusing to continue the hearing even though his counsel was ill and (2) in denying his motion for reconsideration because the BIA engaged in improper fact finding in its original decision by relying on a fact in the record that was not discussed by the IJ. After careful review, we dismiss in part and deny in part Barrios-Monzon's petition for review.

I.

Barrios-Monzon, a Guatemalan citizen, has repeatedly tried to enter the United States. He first arrived in the United States in 1993 and stayed until July 2006 when he returned to Guatemala. He tried to return to the United States in September 2008 but was apprehended by immigration officials at the border. During an interview with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials, Barrios-Monzon admitted that he had entered the country illegally. He signed a sworn statement that he entered the country to look for work, only intended to remain for three months, and had no fear or concern about returning to Guatemala. Barrios-Monzon was removed from the United States to Guatemala.

In January 2009, Barrios-Monzon entered the United States for a third time. After living in the United States for about three years, he was arrested for driving without a license and detained. Barrios-Monzon claimed that he feared for his safety if he returned to Guatemala and filed applications for withholding of removal and protection under CAT. An IJ held a hearing on the merits of his applications.

The afternoon before the hearing, Barrios-Monzon's attorney, Sandra Echevarria, requested a continuance because she was sick. The IJ did not rule on the motion prior to the hearing. Echevarria arranged for a contract attorney, Christopher Bryant, and a new associate with her firm (who had only started working for her two days earlier) to appear at the hearing to secure the continuance. At the hearing, Bryant sought a continuance because Echeverria was sick and he was unprepared for the hearing. The IJ denied the motion but gave Bryant 45 minutes to meet with Barrios-Monzon and prepare for the hearing. The IJ then convened the hearing, and Bryant questioned Barrios-Monzon until Echevarria arrived. When Echevarria arrived, she represented Barrios-Monzon for the remainder of the hearing.

At the hearing, Barrios-Monzon testified that he feared returning to Guatemala because he had been threatened by the Zetas, a criminal organization. In 2006, when Barrios-Monzon first returned to Guatemala from the United States, he dedicated himself to evangelizing. In January 2007, members of the Zetas told Barrios-Morzon that he needed to pay them $20,000 to continue evangelizing or they would kill him. Barrios-Monzon testified that he believed the Zetas targeted him because he had returned from the United States, and when people returned from the United States they usually had money. Because of these threats, Barrios-Monzon stated that he fled from Guatemala to Mexico in January 2007. On cross examination, Barrios-Monzon admitted that he had signed a sworn statement in 2008 that he had no fear of returning to Guatemala. Before the IJ, Barrios-Monzon claimed that his 2008 statement was untrue and that he was forced to sign it.

After hearing Barrios-Monzon's testimony, the IJ denied Barrios-Monzon's applications for withholding of removal and protection under CAT. The IJ concluded that Barrios-Monzon's testimony was not credible because (1) he tried to embellish his testimony to claim that he was targeted by the Zetas because of his religious activity, (2) his testimony that he feared returning to Guatemala because of threats the Zetas made in 2007 contradicted his sworn statement to DHS officers in 2008 that he had no fear of returning to Guatemala, and (3) there was no documentary evidence corroborating that he was involved in his religion prior to 2010.

The IJ further determined that Barrios-Monzon failed to carry his burden of proof to establish a claim for withholding or for protection under CAT. He had no evidence of past persecution because, the IJ found, the Zetas had targeted him because he was perceived as having money since he had returned recently from the United States, not because he had engaged in religious activity. The IJ also found that there was no evidence that he was ever tortured or even harmed in Guatemala.

Barrios-Monzon appealed the IJ's decision, arguing (1) his due process rights were violated when the IJ denied the motion for a continuance and (2) the IJ's adverse credibility determination was unsupported. The BIA dismissed the appeal. In its opinion, the BIA explained that it affirmed the IJ's decision, including the adverse credibility determination, and wrote separately only to address specific arguments Barrios-Monzon had raised on appeal.

First, the BIA concluded that the IJ had not erred by denying a continuance. Second, the BIA determined that the IJ's adverse credibility determination was not clearly erroneous. The BIA explained that Barrios-Monzon's 2008 statement to DHS that he did not fear for his safety contradicted his testimony before the IJ, and the IJ properly relied on these inconsistencies to make an adverse credibility determination. In a footnote, the BIA identified another discrepancy between Barrios-Monzon's 2008 statement and his testimony before the IJ, which it acknowledged was not incorporated into the IJ's decision. The BIA took administrative notice that Barrios-Monzon told DHS that he had been living in Guatemala until September 2008 and only traveled through Mexico on his way to the United States. This statement contradicted his testimony before the IJ that he left Guatemala in January 2007, lived in Mexico for about a year, and then returned to the United States.

Barrios-Monzon did not file a petition with our Court seeking review of the BIA's decision. Instead, he filed a motion to reconsider with the BIA. His primary argument was that the BIA should reconsider its decision because it improperly took administrative notice of Barrios-Monzon's 2008 statement to DHS that he had been living in Guatemala before returning to the United States and only traveled through Mexico. He contends that the BIA should not have considered this statement because it was not incorporated into the IJ's decision. He presented no argument in his reconsideration motion related to the IJ's denial of a continuance.

The BIA denied Barrios-Monzon's motion for reconsideration, concluding that it had not engaged in improper fact finding when it pointed out the contradiction between Barrios-Monzon's testimony before the IJ and sworn statement to DHS in 2008. Barrios-Monzon filed a petition for review of the denial of his motion for reconsideration with our Court.

II.

Before turning to the merits of Barrios-Monzon's arguments, we must address our subject matter jurisdiction. Our jurisdiction is limited to petitions for review that are filed within 30 days of a final order of removal. 8 U.S.C.  1252(b)(1). The finality of an order of removal is not affected by the filing of a motion to reopen or reconsider. Stone v. INS, 514 U.S. 386, 405 (1995). Additionally, because the statutory limit for filing a petition for review in an immigration proceeding is mandatory and jurisdictional, it is not subject to equitable tolling. Dakane v. U.S. Att'y Gen., 399 F.3d 1269, 1272 n. 3 (11th Cir. 2005) (quoting Stone, 514 U.S. at 405).

Barrios-Monzon's argument that the BIA erred in rejecting his claim that his due process rights were violated when the IJ denied a continuance relates solely to the BIA's original decision, not its denial of his motion for reconsideration. To have timely challenged the BIA's original decision, Barrios-Monzon had to file a petition for review with our Court within 30 days of that decision. Because he failed to do so, and filed a timely petition for review only with regard to the BIA order denying his motion for reconsideration, our jurisdiction is limited to reviewing whether the BIA properly denied the motion for reconsideration. We lack jurisdiction to consider his due process argument and must dismiss this portion of his petition for review.

III.

Barrios-Monzon argues that BIA erred when it denied his motion for reconsideration because in its original decision the BIA engaged in improper fact finding by relying on a portion of Barrios-Monzon's 2008 statement to DHS that was not incorporated into the IJ's credibility determinations. We review the BIA's denial of a motion for reconsideration for abuse of discretion. See Chacku v. U.S. Att'y Gen., 555 F.3d 1281, 1286 (11th Cir. 2008). We cannot say that the BIA abused its discretion in this case.

In the course of deciding appeals, the BIA may not engage in fact finding [e]xcept for taking administrative notice of commonly known facts such as current events or the contents of official documents. 8 C.F.R.  1003.1(d)(3)(iv). Nonetheless, [t]he BIA and the IJ must consider all evidence introduced by the applicant. Seck v. U.S. Atty. Gen., 663 F.3d 1356, 1364 (11th Cir. 2011).

We see no improper fact finding here. The BIA noted that Barrios-Monzon's testimony before the IJ that he lived in Mexico prior to coming to the United States in 2008 contradicted his sworn statement to DHS that he had been living Guatemala. But the BIA never made a finding of fact based on this discrepancy about whether Barrios-Monzon actually lived in Guatemala or Mexico prior to entering the United States in 2008. The BIA simply noted that a discrepancy existed in the record evidence before it. Although the IJ did not identify this specific factual discrepancy in its decision, we cannot say it was improper for the BIA to point out this additional support in the record for the IJ's determination that Barrios-Monzon was not credible.

Barrios-Monzon argues that the BIA erred because it failed to give him notice and an opportunity to respond before taking administrative notice of new evidence. As the Attorney General points out, administrative notice generally describes when an agency adjudicator considers evidence not included in the record. Although the BIA stated that it was taking administrative notice of the fact that Barrios-Monzon told DHS in 2008 that he had been living in Guatemala prior to coming the United States, it is undisputed that this statement was in the record before the IJ. In fact, the IJ relied on other portions of the statement to DHS to make its credibility determination. Under these circumstances, the BIA had no obligation to provide Barrios-Monzon notice or an opportunity to respond before considering a portion of the statement in the record but not discussed by the IJ. Because the BIA engaged in no improper fact finding, it properly denied Barrios-Monzon's motion for reconsideration.

IV.

For the reasons set forth above, Barrios-Monzon's petition is dismissed in part and denied in part.

DISMISSED IN PART, DENIED IN PART.

PER CURIAM:
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit. MICHAEL H. RYU, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. DANIEL N. WHITTEN, Defendant - Appellee, WANDA F. BRYANT; WARREN COUNTY, VIRGINIA, Defendants. No. 16-1421 Decided: April 06, 2017

Before MOTZ, THACKER, and HARRIS, Circuit Judges. ARGUED: Maxwelle C. Sokol, VICTOR M. GLASBERG & ASSOCIATES, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellant. Julia Bougie Judkins, BANCROFT, MCGAVIN, HORVATH & JUDKINS, P.C., Fairfax, Virginia, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Victor M. Glasberg, VICTOR M. GLASBERG & ASSOCIATES, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellant.

Michael H. Ryu brought this action raising federal and state law claims against Daniel Whitten, the Assistant County Attorney for Warren County, Virginia. The district court granted summary judgment to Whitten. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the grant of summary judgment on Ryu's federal claims, vacate the judgment on the state law claims, and remand to the district court to dismiss Ryu's state law claims without prejudice.

I.

Ryu, a Virginia attorney, is the registered agent (but not an officer) for CS Property, Inc. Whitten's responsibilities as assistant county attorney include instituting collection proceedings on behalf of the county treasurer. In June 2013, Whitten obtained a default judgment against CS Property on a claim for delinquent taxes and fees.

In January 2014, Whitten issued a Summons to Answer Interrogatories in connection with the default judgment in the delinquency action. The summons identified Michael Hyunkweon Ryu, Reg Agent as the Respondent (*) Same as Defendant. The summons commanded that the respondent appear in court on April 2, 2014 to answer the County's questions concerning property and assets of Judgment Debtor(s) which are held or controlled by the Respondent. It also contained a warning that failure to appear might make the respondent subject to arrest. Ryu was personally served with the summons. He forwarded it to an officer of CS Property. But neither he nor anyone else appeared in court to respond to the summons.

If a person summoned to answer interrogatories fails to appear, Virginia law allows the court to issue a capias, or bench warrant, for that person's arrest. Va. Code Ann.  8.01-508. Whitten requested a capias for the arrest of Ryu, explaining that Ryu had fail[ed] to appear on 04/02/2014 in Warren Co General District Court after having been summonsed to answer interrogatories. On April 10, 2014, a clerk issued the requested capias instructing police officers to arrest Ryu, Michael Hyunkweon/Reg Agent.

Six weeks later, police officers arrested Ryu at his law office and took him to a detention center where he was processed. Ryu was released on an unsecured bond with directions to appear for a hearing the next day. After Ryu informed Whitten that he was only a registered agent and thus not a proper person to respond to the County's interrogatories, Whitten moved to dismiss the capias, and the judge dismissed it.

Ryu filed this action against Whitten, alleging a claim pursuant to 42 U.S.C.  1983 that Whitten's request for a capias violated Ryu's Fourth Amendment rights. Ryu also raised state law claims for malicious prosecution, false arrest, and gross negligence. Although the court had earlier dismissed Warren County as a defendant, Ryu's third amended complaint raised the Fourth Amendment claim against Whitten in his individual and official capacities and asserted that the County was liable to Ryu under Monell v. Dep't of Soc. Servs., 436 U.S. 658 (1978), because his injury was caused by an unconstitutional County policy, practice, or custom.

II.

Whitten moved for summary judgment on all claims and Ryu filed a cross-motion for partial summary judgment on his constitutional claims. The district court granted Whitten summary judgment.

The court held that Whitten was entitled to qualified immunity on all claims  federal and state  asserted against him in his individual capacity. The court explained that [t]he relevant factual inquiry here is whether a reasonable assistant county attorney could have believed that his conduct was lawful. The court held that Ryu had provided no evidence that Whitten had acted unreasonably and no evidence to support a knowing, intentional violation by Defendant of Plaintiff's clearly established constitutional rights. The court also granted summary judgment on the Monell claim, finding that there was insufficient evidence to establish an official policy or custom and that neither Whitten nor the County Attorney were final policymakers. Ryu timely noted this appeal.

We review de novo the district court's grant of summary judgment. Henry v. Purnell, 652 F.3d 524, 531 (4th Cir. 2011) (en banc). A court may grant summary judgment if, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, there are no genuine disputes of material fact and the moving party demonstrates entitlement to judgment as a matter of law. Id.

III.

A court assesses the reasonableness of an arrest warrant by determining whether, given the information available to the official at the time, he had a reasonable belief that the individual to be arrested had committed an offense. See Michigan v. DeFillippo, 443 U.S. 31, 37 (1979).

Ryu argues that Whitten violated his Fourth Amendment rights by arresting him, only a registered agent, for a corporation's failure to discharge its obligations. Whitten responds that, although Ryu might not have been the proper person to request to answer interrogatories  and therefore the Summons to Answer Interrogatories might have been voidable  Ryu was obligated to appear as requested after receiving service. Whitten contends that once Ryu failed to appear, there was probable cause to request the capias. He argues that Ryu was not arrested because he was the registered agent of a corporation that failed to appear, but rather because he failed to appear when individually summoned. We agree.

Although Virginia law allows creditors to summon only officers of a corporation to answer interrogatories posed to the corporation, Va. Code Ann.  8.01-506(A), and although Whitten may have been negligent in assuming Ryu was a corporate officer, Whitten did not violate Ryu's Fourth Amendment rights by obtaining the summons. A summons requiring no more than a court appearance, without additional restrictions, does not constitute a Fourth Amendment seizure. See, e.g., Burg v. Gosselin, 591 F.3d 95, 98 (2d Cir. 2010); Martinez v. Carr, 479 F.3d 1292, 1299 (10th Cir. 2007); DiBella v. Borough of Beachwood, 407 F.3d 599, 603 (3d Cir. 2005); Britton v. Maloney, 196 F.3d 24, 30 (1st Cir. 1999); DePiero v. City of Macedonia, 180 F.3d 770, 789 (6th Cir. 1999).

And it is clear from the face of the summons that it required Ryu to appear in court. He is the only individual listed on the summons and he is identified as the Respondent (*) Same as Defendant. Once Ryu failed to appear as ordered, Whitten had probable cause to request his arrest.

Accordingly, because there was no Fourth Amendment violation, both Ryu's Fourth Amendment claim against Whitten in his individual capacity and his Monell claim against Warren County fail. See City of Los Angeles v. Heller, 475 U.S. 796, 799 (1986) (explaining that there can be no municipal liability absent an underlying constitutional injury at the hands of an individual official).

IV.

As to Ryu's state law claims, because we affirm the grant of summary judgment on all of Ryu's federal claims, no reason exists to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over his pendant state law claims; rather they should be dismissed without prejudice. See United Mine Workers of Am. v. Gibbs, 383 U.S. 715, 726 (1966) (holding that where a federal claim drops out before trial, a federal court should generally not retain jurisdiction over the state law claims).

V.

For the forgoing reasons, we affirm the judgment of the district court as to Ryu's federal claims, vacate the judgment as to the state law claims, and remand to the district court to dismiss the state law claims without prejudice.

AFFIRMED IN PART AND VACATED AND REMANDED IN PART

FOOTNOTES

. Ryu also raised a due process claim against Whitten in his individual and official capacities, the dismissal of which he does not appeal.

. Under the circumstances of this case, fairness and judicial economy do not militate in favor of retaining jurisdiction over the pendant state law claims. The district court did not consider Ryu's state law claims on the merits. And the statute of limitations has not yet run on these claims. See Va. Code Ann.  8.01-229(E)(1) (providing that when a cause of action is dismissed without determining the merits, the statute of limitations is tolled from the commencement of the suit).

PER CURIAM:


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United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee v. FELIX OMAR CASTILLO-ANDINO, Defendant-Appellant No. 16-40915 Decided: April 07, 2017

Before HIGGINBOTHAM, PRADO, and HAYNES, Circuit Judges.

The Federal Public Defender appointed to represent Felix Omar Castillo-Andino has moved for leave to withdraw and has filed a brief in accordance with Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), and United States v. Flores, 632 F.3d 229 (5th Cir. 2011). Castillo-Andino has not filed a response. We have reviewed counsel's brief and the relevant portions of the record reflected therein. We concur with counsel's assessment that the appeal presents no nonfrivolous issue for appellate review. Accordingly, counsel's motion for leave to withdraw is GRANTED, counsel is excused from further responsibilities herein, and the APPEAL IS DISMISSED. See 5TH CIR. R. 42.2.

PER CURIAM:*
YEREVAN, APRIL 8, ARMENPRESS. The restoration of the building of Camp Armen Armenian orphanage in Istanbuls Tuzla district has been launched: digging works are already over, Anadolu reported.

Grigor Aghabaoglu  President of the Gedikpasa Armenian Protestant Church and the School Foundation, said they aim to restore the historical orphanage which is partly demolished. He recalled that some part of the orphanage area has not been returned to them yet. We believe that based on the promise given to us, the remaining part will be returned back. Camp Armen will serve as a very beautiful cultural institution. It will keep alive the memory of Hrant Dink, he said.

Camp Armen summer orphanage was built thanks to efforts of Armenian orphans. The children living in the camp took part in the construction works. Over 1500 children lived, were educated, learned Armenian in the camp, including also Armenian journalist of Istanbul Hrant Dink.

On May 6, 2015 the demolition of the building started: 1/3 of the building was destroyed. A number of organizations, as well as individuals in Turkey tried to prevent the demolition of the camp. After long-lasting fight, in October, 2015 Camp Armen was returned to the Gedikpasa Armenian Protestant Church Foundation.
United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit. DOMINGO AJANEL-GONZALEZ, Petitioner, v. JEFF B. SESSIONS, Attorney General, Respondent. No. 15-3245 Decided: April 07, 2017

BEFORE: DAUGHTREY, MOORE, and GIBBONS, Circuit Judges.

Domingo Ajanel-Gonzalez, a Guatemalan native and citizen, seeks review of a Board of Immigration Appeals (the Board) decision denying his application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). Because Ajanel-Gonzalez is not eligible for such relief and because he received due process before the immigration judge, we deny his petition.

I.

Domingo Ajanel-Gonzalez is a native and citizen of Guatemala who first came to the United States in January 2001. In July 2008, he received a Notice to Appear, asserting that he was subject to removal under Section 212(a)(6)(A)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C.  1182, as an alien present in the United States who had not been admitted or paroled. Ajanel-Gonzalez conceded removability, but sought asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the CAT, or, alternatively, voluntary departure.

At a September 2012 hearing, Ajanel-Gonzalez identified his race (Mayan), nationality (Guatemalan), political opinion (adverse to joining gangs), and membership in a particular social group ([y]oung men who are opposed to joining gangs and are in danger or attacked as a consequence), as his grounds for relief. AR 11214. As his attorney, Forhard Sethna, explained these grounds, the immigration judge instructed Sethna not to argue [his] case because the judge was asking only that Sethna identify the various protected characteristics under which [Ajanel-Gonzalez] was claiming asylum. AR 113. When Sethna continued to expand on his responses, the judge cut him off. And in response to the identified social group, the judge stated, Pretty much an S-E-G- particular group, yes? AR 114.

At the hearing, Ajanel-Gonzalez told the judge that he was born in Aldea Chex, Guatemala in 1974 and that he identified as a member of the Mayan race. He left Guatemala in September 2000 and traveled to Mexico, where he lived until he came to the United States in January 2001. Sethna then asked Ajanel-Gonzalez about his children, specifically those living in the United States. The judge interrupted Sethna, stating that such testimony would not help to decide the case and instructing counsel to move on. When asked later about his family, Ajanel-Gonzalez testified that he had several children and two sisters still living in Guatemala.

Ajanel-Gonzalez testified that he had lived in Ohio for the past five years and was employed by the Gerber Company. When Sethna asked additional questions about his employment, the government objected. The judge sustained the objection despite Sethna's explanation that employment was relevant to his client's credibility.

In his testimony, Ajanel-Gonzalez identified two incidents that he believed constituted past persecution. First, he stated that his father was killed by rebel fighters during a civil war when Ajanel-Gonzalez was eight years old. This occurred while his father was protecting their village as a member of a civil-defense force. Second, Ajanel-Gonzalez testified about an incident in September 2000 where he was threatened by the Kichechola Guatemalan gang. He claimed that gang members approached him, asked him for money, and threatened him with a knife, but that he was able to get away safely and was not injured during the encounter. He did not believe that the police had acted in response to his report about this incident. It was shortly thereafter that Ajanel-Gonzalez left Guatemala.

Ajanel-Gonzalez proceeded to testify that he was scared of being tortured should he return to Guatemala because the gangs are larger than when he left. He believed that he would be kidnapped or killed under the mistaken assumption that living in the United States had made him wealthy. He indicated that these beliefs stemmed, in part, from what his relatives living in Guatemala had told him about gang activity in his village. He also testified that his oldest son in Guatemala was being recruited by gang members and had been asked for money because the gang members believed that Ajanel-Gonzalez was wealthy from living in the United States.

Finally, Ajanel-Gonzalez discussed his delay in filing an application for asylum. He stated that he was not aware of the application and could not read or write in Spanish or English when he arrived in the United States, making it difficult for him to secure legal assistance. At this point, Sethna again asked Ajanel-Gonzalez about his employment. When the government objected, Sethna again argued that he was attempting to buttress Ajanel-Gonzalez's character and credibility. The judge again found that the questions were not relevant, stating:

Well, I think we're talking about nondiscretionary forms of relief here because I don't think the client has shown any exception to the one-year filing deadline. So we're talking about nondiscretionary forms of relief, so I agree, that's not relevant. Sustained.

AR 142. Shortly thereafter, Ajanel-Gonzalez rested his case.

After hearing argument from both parties, the immigration judge denied all relief. The judge found Ajanel-Gonzalez to be a credible witness. With respect to Ajanel-Gonzalez's specific requests for relief, the judge found that his asylum claim was time barred because he did not file within one year of his arrival and because there was no legal support for the proposition that Ajanel-Gonzalez could show extraordinary circumstances because of a language barrier.

The judge also held that even if Ajanel-Gonzalez's application was timely, his claim still failed because he had not established past persecution or a well-founded fear of future persecution. The judge held that the death of his father did not constitute persecution. And even if it did, the judge recognized that there was no nexus between his father's death and Ajanel-Gonzalez's alleged protected characteristics. The judge also held that the attempted robbery was not past persecution. Alternatively, the judge found that there was no evidence to show a nexus between the robbery and one of Ajanel-Gonzalez's claimed protected characteristics. With respect to future persecution, the judge found no evidence to support a well-founded fear of persecution on account of Ajanel-Gonzalez's Mayan ancestry, Guatemalan citizenship, political opinion, or the proposed social group of young men who are opposed to joining gangs. AR 5859. Additionally, the judge recognized that although Ajanel-Gonzalez testified about a fear of persecution on account of others perceiving him to be wealthy, such a group was neither identified nor legally cognizable. For these same reasons, the judge held that Ajanel-Gonzalez was not eligible for withholding of removal.

Finally, the judge rejected Ajanel-Gonzalez's request for CAT relief because Ajanel-Gonzalez had not provided any evidence that he would be tortured by, or at the acquiescence of, a public official in Guatemala. The judge noted that Ajanel-Gonzalez's fear of being killed seem[ed] to be primarily speculation. AR 54.

Ajanel-Gonzalez appealed to the Board. He first argued that his language barrier, age, education, and difficulty acclimating to the United States constituted exceptional circumstances that excused his delay in filing an asylum application. Next, he argued that the immigration judge pre-determined his asylum claim before he had finished testifying and that the judge cut off counsel more than fifteen times during his testimony. As to his CAT claim, he argued that the judge had discounted his claim of police inaction, erred by dismissing his fear as speculative, and failed to recognize that the Guatemalan government was complicit in torture by private entities. With respect to withholding of removal, Ajanel-Gonzalez argued that he had satisfied the persecution standard based on a combination of factors.

The Board affirmed. It agreed that Ajanel-Gonzalez's asylum application was not timely and that he had not established an exception to the deadline on account of profound language barriers. The Board distinguished Matter of Y-C-, 23 I. & N. Dec. 286 (B.I.A. 2002), noting that Ajanel-Gonzalez was significantly older and had waited much longer to file his application.

Alternatively, the Board found that Ajanel-Gonzalez did not qualify for asylum because he had not suffered past persecution and lacked a well-founded fear of future persecution. With respect to past persecution, the Board held that his father's death did not qualify because Ajanel-Gonzalez had not been threatened or harmed. It also found that the attempted robbery did not qualify because Ajanel-Gonzalez was not physically harmed and had escaped. The Board refused to find a likelihood of future persecution because his family had lived in Guatemala without suffering significant harm, the guerillas had disbanded, and a fear of widespread violence was not enough to establish future persecution. Because the Board found that Ajanel-Gonzalez did not qualify for asylum, it also concluded that he could not meet the higher standard for withholding of removal. And the Board rejected his CAT claim, agreeing that he had not shown that it was more likely than not that he would be tortured by the government, or at its acquiescence, upon his return.

Finally, the Board rejected Ajanel-Gonzalez's due process arguments, finding no support in the record for his claim that the immigration judge had predetermined his asylum claim. The Board interpreted the judge's statement as an honest assessment of the state of the record and recognized that Ajanel-Gonzalez could have presented further evidence to support his claim. The Board found that the judge's interruptions were not excessive and were intended to focus questioning on issues relevant to [Ajanel-Gonzalez's] claim for asylum. And because the judge considered the asylum claim on the merits, the Board found that Ajanel-Gonzalez could not show prejudice by the judge's comments or conduct.

Ajanel-Gonzalez filed a timely petition for review.

II.

Where the Board reviews an immigration judge's decision and issues a separate opinion, we treat that opinion as a final agency determination. Sanchez-Robles v. Lynch, 808 F.3d 688, 69192 (6th Cir. 2015) (citation omitted). In such cases, we review the immigration judge's decision to the extent the Board adopted the judge's reasoning. Id. at 692.

We consider allegations of due process violations during removal hearings de novo. Hassan v. Gonzales, 403 F.3d 429, 435 (6th Cir. 2005). We review other questions of law de novo, but grant substantial deference to the Board's interpretation of the INA and its accompanying regulations. Morgan v. Keisler, 507 F.3d 1053, 1057 (6th Cir. 2007). Findings of fact, including credibility determinations, are reviewed for substantial-evidence and are conclusive unless any reasonable adjudicator would be compelled to conclude to the contrary. Marouf v. Lynch, 811 F.3d 174, 180 (6th Cir. 2016) (quoting 8 U.S.C.  1252(b)(4)(B)).

III.

Under the INA, an asylum applicant must demonstrate[ ] by clear and convincing evidence that the application has been filed within 1 year after the date of the alien's arrival in the United States. 8 U.S.C.  1158(a)(2)(B). An exception exists if an applicant establishes extraordinary circumstances relating to the delay in filing an application. Id.  1158(a)(2)(D). But [n]o court shall have jurisdiction to review any determination of the Attorney General under [ 1158(a)(2)]. Id.  1158(a)(3). This provision bars our review of discretionary or factual questions but not constitutional claims or matters of statutory construction. Vincent v. Holder, 632 F.3d 351, 353 (6th Cir. 2011). The determination of extraordinary circumstances under  1158(a)(2) is a discretionary question. Fisenko v. Lynch, 826 F.3d 287, 290 (6th Cir. 2016) (citing Vincent, 632 F.3d at 353).

Ajanel-Gonzalez did not apply for asylum until eight years after arriving in the United States and the Board found that he failed to show extraordinary circumstances. Ajanel-Gonzalez now argues that the Board failed to recognize and acknowledge the exceptional circumstances that prevented him from filing a timely application. Because we lack jurisdiction to review such a discretionary decision, see Fisenko, 826 F.3d at 293, we cannot consider his asylum claim.

IV.

To qualify for withholding of removal, Ajanel-Gonzalez must show that it is more likely than not that he will be persecuted in Guatemala on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Umana-Ramos v. Holder, 724 F.3d 667, 674 (6th Cir. 2013) (quoting 8 U.S.C.  1231(b)(3)(A)); see also Marouf, 811 F.3d at 179. If he can show past persecution on account of a protected ground, we presume there will be future persecution. 8 C.F.R.  208.16(b)(1)(i). Without past persecution, however, Ajanel-Gonzalez must show that it is more likely than not that his life or freedom will be threatened upon return because of a protected ground. Id.  208.16(b)(2).

Persecution is the infliction of harm or suffering  to overcome a characteristic of the victim. Khalili v. Holder, 557 F.3d 429, 436 (6th Cir. 2009) (citation omitted). It requires more than a few isolated incidents of verbal harassment or intimidation, unaccompanied by any physical punishment, infliction of harm, or significant deprivation of liberty. Mikhailevitch v. INS, 146 F.3d 384, 389 (6th Cir. 1998). Actions that cross the line from harassment to persecution include: detention, arrest, interrogation, prosecution, imprisonment, illegal searches, confiscation of property, surveillance, beatings, or torture. Haider v. Holder, 595 F.3d 276, 28687 (6th Cir. 2010) (citation omitted).

The Board concluded that Ajanel-Gonzalez's withholding-of-removal claim necessarily failed because he had not demonstrate[d] past persecution or a well-founded fear of [future] persecution in Guatemala. AR 4. On appeal, Ajanel-Gonzalez alleges persecution only on account of the social group including those opposed to gangs. He does not challenge the denial of his previously-claimed grounds of race, nationality, or political opinion. Accordingly, we treat them as waived. Shkabari v. Gonzales, 427 F.3d 324, 327 n.1 (6th Cir. 2005).

Ajanel-Gonzalez asserts three specific claims of persecution: (1) past persecution on account of his father's death; (2) past persecution on account of a single incident of attempted robbery by members of a local gang; and (3) future persecution because of what will be imposed on him and his family members in Guatemala by the gangs that operate[ ] with impunity. The Board was correct to find that none of these claims constituted persecution.

Although tragic, Ajanel-Gonzalez's experience with his father's death did not constitute past persecution. First, there is no nexus between his father's death at the hands of guerilla fighters and Ajanel-Gonzalez's opposition to gangs. If anything, Ajanel-Gonzalez's protected ground would have to be an imputed political opinion. He has not made this argument on appeal and there is no evidence in the record to this effect. Second, there is substantial evidence and legal precedent to support the Board's finding that Anjanel-Gonzalez was neither harmed nor threatened by the guerillas. Ajanel-Gonzalez did not testify as to any physical harm or harassment that he had suffered. And the death of a family member at the hands of guerilla fighters, without more, does not establish persecution. See Zacarias v. Gonzales, 232 F. App'x 458, 46263 (6th Cir. 2007); see also Akhtar v. Gonzales, 406 F.3d 399, 40506 (6th Cir. 2005).

The Board was also correct to hold that the attempted robbery did not constitute past persecution. A single attack or robbery by gang members does not amount to persecution. See Cano-Huerta v. Holder, 568 F. App'x 371, 373 (6th Cir. 2014) (per curiam). Ajanel-Gonzalez was not harmed by his attackers and he was able to escape, making the attempted robbery nothing more than a threat. This, alone, precludes the conclusion that the robbery constituted persecution. See Mikhailevitch, 146 F.3d at 389; see also Thapa v. Holder, 572 F. App'x 314, 321 (6th Cir. 2014) (home and office invasions where neither the petitioner nor his family are harmed do not constitute persecution); Moran-Quinteros v. Holder, 352 F. App'x 974, 978 (6th Cir. 2009) ([U]nfulfilled threatswithout physical harmdo not constitute persecution.).

Additionally, there is substantial evidence to support the Board's finding that Ajanel-Gonzalez did not establish a well-founded fear of future persecution from gang members. There are several problems with his assertion of future persecution by gang members. First, there is no testimony in the record to indicate that either Ajanel-Gonzalez or his son were subject to anything more than harassment by gangs. There is no evidence that he has been or will be harmed. See Mikhailevitch, 146 F.3d at 389. Second, his other family members have been able to live in Guatemala without suffering and a general fear of violence cannot establish a claim for persecution. Umana-Ramos, 724 F.3d at 670. Third, a generalized opposition to gangs is not a cognizable social group. Id. at 67374. Finally, even when we consider Ajanel-Gonzalez's claims of persecution in the aggregate, there is no basis on which to grant him relief. He has failed to tie any fear of future harm to a protected characteristic that we have recognized.

Accordingly, we find that the Board's decision was consistent with our prior decisions and that there was substantial evidence to support its conclusion.

V.

Relief under the CAT is available if Ajanel-Gonzalez can establish that it is more likely than not that he would be tortured if returned to Guatemala. 8 C.F.R.  208.16(c)(2); see Bi Qing Zheng v. Lynch, 819 F.3d 287, 294 (6th Cir. 2016). This requires a particularized threat of torture. Cruz-Samayoa v. Holder, 607 F.3d 1145, 1155 (6th Cir. 2010). Generalized allegations, alone, are not enough. Melchor-Reyes v. Lynch, 645 F. App'x 381, 386 (6th Cir. 2016) (citing Cruz-Samayoa, 607 F.3d at 1156).

Torture entail[s] the intentional infliction of severe mental or physical pain upon an individual by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity.  Alhaj v. Holder, 576 F.3d 533, 539 (6th Cir. 2009) (quoting 8 C.F.R.  208.18(a)(1)). The CAT does not afford protection to torturous acts inflicted by wholly private actors. Zaldana Menijar v. Lynch, 812 F.3d 491, 501 (6th Cir. 2015). In evaluating a claim for relief under the CAT, an adjudicator must consider:

[A]ll evidence relevant to the possibility of future torture  , including, but not limited to: (i) Evidence of past torture inflicted upon the applicant; (ii) Evidence that the applicant could relocate to a part of the country of removal where he or she is not likely to be tortured; (iii) Evidence of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights within the country of removal, where applicable; and (iv) Other relevant information regarding conditions in the country of removal.

8 C.F.R.  208.16(c)(3); see Mapouya v. Gonzales, 487 F.3d 396, 41415 (6th Cir. 2007).

The immigration judge concluded that Ajanel-Gonzalez presented literally no evidence to prove that it is more likely than not that he would be subjected to torture in Guatemala. AR 81. The Board affirmed on the basis that Ajanel-Gonzalez had not met his burden to qualify for CAT relief. On appeal, Ajanel-Gonzalez asserts that it was error to dismiss his fears as speculative given the testimony that he and his son had been threatened by gang members. He also argues that the record establishes that the Guatemalan government is willfully blind to gang violence and the plight of the  Mayan people.

There is substantial evidence to support the Board's decision. When asked why he feared torture in Guatemala, Ajanel-Gonzalez testified that [g]ang members are really bigger now, and that they would think I have a lot of money, so they're going to kidnap me, kill me and kill my entire family. AR 134. As to acquiescence, he testified only that he did not believe that the police had responded to his report of attempted robbery and reports on country conditions in Guatemala. For the same reasons his past experiences in Guatemala do not constitute persecution, see Part IV, supra, he has not established any evidence of past torture. His fear of gang violence upon returning to Guatemala sounds in broad, general terms, not the particularized threat that this court requires. See Cruz-Samayoa, 607 F.3d at 115556. Accordingly, substantial evidence supports the Board's finding that Ajanel-Gonzalez did not establish a sufficient likelihood of torture upon his return to Guatemala to qualify for CAT relief.

VI.

Fifth Amendment guarantees of due process extend to aliens in deportation proceedings, entitling them to a full and fair hearing. Huicochea-Gomez v. INS, 237 F.3d 696, 699 (6th Cir. 2001). We require an alien to establish both error and substantial prejudice to establish a due process violation. Garza-Moreno v. Gonzales, 489 F.3d 239, 241 (6th Cir. 2007) (citation omitted).

Error occurs when the proceeding was so fundamentally unfair that the alien was prevented from reasonably presenting his case. Hassan v. Gonzales, 403 F.3d 429, 436 (6th Cir. 2005) (quoting Ladha v. INS, 215 F.3d 889, 904 (9th Cir. 2000)). Although the immigration judge is afforded broad discretion to control the manner of interrogation in order to ascertain the truth, Hassan, 403 F.3d at 436 (quoting Mikhailevitch, 146 F.3d at 391), an alien is entitled to an unbiased arbiter who has not prejudged [his] claims, Bi Qing Zheng, 819 F.3d at 297 (quoting Ahmed v. Gonzales, 398 F.3d 722, 725 (6th Cir. 2005)). Due process is violated when the judge acts not as a neutral fact-finder interested in hearing the [alien]'s evidence but as a partisan adjudicator seeking to intimidate the [alien] and his counsel. Hassan, 403 F.3d at 436 (second alteration in original) (quoting Reyes-Melendez v. INS, 342 F.3d 1001, 1007 (9th Cir. 2003)).

However, we have previously allowed an immigration judge to use brusque, inartful, or terse language, Hassan, 403 F.3d at 436; Mackie v. Gonzales, 166 F. App'x 815, 817 (6th Cir. 2006); Prifti v. Mukasey, 307 F. App'x 900, 906 (6th Cir. 2009), to express reasonable frustration, skepticism, or sarcasm, Aichai Hu v. Holder, 335 F. App'x 510, 51516 (6th Cir. 2009); Pepaj v. Mukasey, 307 F. App'x 891, 897 (6th Cir. 2009), and to repeatedly [take] over the questioning of a witness, Martini v. Mukasey, 314 F. App'x 819, 824 (6th Cir. 2008); see also 8 U.S.C.  1229a(b)(1) (providing immigration judges with the authority to interrogate, examine, and cross-examine the alien and any witnesses).

Prejudice requires an alien to show that the violation led to a substantially different outcome from that which would have occurred in the absence of these violations. Abdallahi v. Holder, 690 F.3d 467, 472 (6th Cir. 2012) (citation omitted). We need not address the merits of a claim if there is no demonstration of prejudice. Graham v. Mukasey, 519 F.3d 546, 549 (6th Cir. 2008).

A.

Ajanel-Gonzalez first argues that his due process rights were violated because the judge predetermined his asylum claim as illustrated by the following exchange:

MR. SETHNA TO RESPONDENT

Q. Now you said that you work at Gerber Poultry, correct?

A. Yes.

Q. Now, how do you get paid by Gerber Poultry?

[GOVERNMENT COUNSEL] TO JUDGE

Objection, relevance.

JUDGE TO MR. SETHNA

Mr. Sethna?

MR. SETHNA TO JUDGE

Your Honor, it's important to understand how he's getting paid and whether he's paying taxes and so on. I can get all of his burden to show he has good moral character, that he's got some credibility and that, of course, factors in the Court's decision.

JUDGE TO MR. SETHNA

Well, I think we're talking about nondiscretionary forms of relief here because I don't think the client has shown any exception to the one-year filing deadline. So we're talking about nondiscretionary forms of relief, so I agree, that's not relevant. Sustained.

MR. SETHNA TO JUDGE

Then Your Honor, I have no further questions at this time.

AR 142. Ajanel-Gonzalez argues that the judge decided that asylum relief was definitively off the table without considering any of the testimony that would have followed and was acting with haste, bias  and poor judgment in excluding evidence of extraordinary circumstances to excuse the one-year deadline at such an early and premature point in the direct examination.

This exchange, however, occurred after Sethna had elicited testimony as to why Ajanel-Gonzalez had not filed a timely asylum application. To the extent that the judge was commenting on the strength of the claim, it was within his discretion to express skepticism based on that testimony. And the judge's commentin the course of ruling on an unrelated objection about the relevance of credibility and moral-character evidencecertainly did not prohibit further testimony as to extraordinary circumstances.

Even if there was error, Ajanel-Gonzalez has not suggested any prejudice other than his claim that the judge's statement chilled counsel's questions and his responses. Ajanel-Gonzalez had already had an opportunity to testify about the facts underlying his extraordinary-circumstances argument. This testimony was referenced by both the immigration judge and the Board in determining whether Ajanel-Gonzalez had established such circumstances. It is unclear what other testimony he would have offered to change this result. The burden is on Ajanel-Gonzalez to establish prejudice and he has not suggested any additional testimony that he would have given absent the judge's comment.

Furthermore, the Board rejected Ajanel-Gonzalez's asylum claim on the merits because he failed to establish persecution. See Part IV, supra. The exchange at issue here came well after Ajanel-Gonzalez's testimony about alleged persecution. And because testimony related to persecution is also relevant to withholding of removala form of nondiscretionary reliefthe judge's comments cannot be construed as chilling or preventing additional testimony as to persecution which would support an asylum claim. This precludes any finding of prejudice on Ajanel-Gonzalez's prejudgment claim.

B.

Ajanel-Gonzalez also argues that the immigration judge demonstrated significant, egregious, and prejudicial judicial bias that prevented him from receiving a full and fair hearing. He points to an exchange between counsel and the judge prior to his testimony about the grounds on which he was seeking relief. He also suggests that comments by the judge during his testimony indicate bias, such as questions to counsel about how testimony would help the judge to decide the asylum claim, instructions for counsel to move on to other topics, and the comment, You ask him the questionsthe questions you want to ask, if they're not going to help me decide the case, I'll let you know. AR 123. He claims that this constituted restrictive fact-finding, chilled his attorney's questions, chilled his testimony, and created a biased environment.

A terse or frustrated exchange, however, does not constitute bias so long as it does not reveal an underlying bias in favor of the Government. Hassan, 403 F.3d at 43637. Nothing the judge said indicates that he was favoring the government over Ajanel-Gonzalez. Instead, his comments appear to be focused on moving the hearing along and avoiding testimony not relevant to the decision. The judge's questions directly to Ajanel-Gonzalez appear to be focused on clarifying the testimony, and the judge did not hold back from restricting the government's questioning when it was not relevant.

Additionally, the transcript indicates that the judge's exchange with counsel at the outset of the hearing did not prohibit counsel from providing additional, independent reasons as grounds for relief. It only limited the extent to which the judge would accept argument on one particular reason prior to Ajanel-Gonzalez's testimony. The fact that Sethna failed to identify imputed political opinion as a basis for relief at the outset and was later precluded from arguing it in summation, then, is not an error attributable to the judge. And to the extent Ajanel-Gonzalez feels that his social group of young men who objected to joining gangs and were threatened was summarily dismissed when the judge referred to it as [p]retty much an S-E-G-particular group, the judge was referring precedent binding on his decision. AR 114. Sethna also immediately indicated his disagreement and intent to distinguish that decision through testimony. Given the broad discretion that this court allows immigration judges in managing proceedings, we cannot say that the conduct here arises to a level at which Ajanel-Gonzalez did not receive a full and fair hearing.

Alternatively, Ajanel-Gonzalez has not suggested how he was prejudiced as a result of these alleged improprieties. He received a full merits-based review by both the immigration judge and the Board; he has not identified how the judge's instructions precluded testimony that he would have otherwise added to the record; and even if Sethna was precluded from arguing imputed political opinion as a protected ground because he failed to identify it at the outset, Ajanel-Gonzalez does not attempt to argue how doing so would have changed the outcome of his asylum or withholding of removal claim.

* * *

Without a basis to establish error or prejudice as to either due process claim, we conclude that the Board was correct to find that Ajanel-Gonzalez was afforded sufficient due process during his removal proceedings.

VII.

For the foregoing reasons, we deny the petition for review.

FOOTNOTES

. These exchanges between Sethna and the judge form the basis of Ajanel-Gonzalez's due process claim.

. We interpret this as a reference to Matter of S-E-G- 24 I. & N. Dec. 579 (B.I.A. 2008), in which the Board refused to recognize the proposed social group of those opposed to gangs.

JULIA SMITH GIBBONS, Circuit Judge.
Experts say instead of issuing tough binding order, TRAI just released an 'advisory' against three months free plan.

Mumbai: Telecom regulator TRAI on Thursday advised Reliance Jio to stop Summer Surprise, companys offer within an offer, that promised a complimentary three months free data.

However, regulatory experts are of the view that TRAI did not use its powers granted to it under TRAI Act to issue an order to Reliance Jio to stop Summer Surprise immediately, according to a report in Financial Express.

Trai chairman R S Sharma had told PTI, We examined it (tariff) and found that it was not in accordance with regulatory framework, so we advised them to stop it. Experts reveal that there is no such provision of issuing an advisory under TRAI Act.

Instead of issuing a tough binding order, TRAI just gave an advise and merely said that Jio's Summer Surprise was not in sync with regulatory framework governing country's telecom sector.

A TRAI official said that Reliance Jio did not even submit the Summer Surprise tariff plan. As per the rules, a telecom operator is required to submit its tariff plans with telecom regulator one week before its launch.

The practice enables TRAI to subject the proposed tariff plans to the regulatory framework and then proceed accordingly. TRAI gives nod to tariff plans after vetting the proposals thoroughly.

Reliance Jio late on Thursday had said that it was stopping Summer Surprise as TRAI has advised it to do so. However, Jio did not specify as to exactly when it will stop three months free offer.

Jio just said it has accepted the order and will abide by it saying, "will stop Summer Surprise as soon as operationally feasible, over the next few days". Interestingly, Jio had indicated that customers who opted for Summer Surprise before discontinuation of service will continue to get complimentary benefits.

Incumbent telecom operators, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular have already raised TRAI's "lenient" approach towards Reliance Jio's free offers at Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal.

"TDSAT has asked several inconvenient questions to Trai with regard to its handling of the promotional offer and asked it to review its stance and revert to it," FE report said.
He says that he doesn't doubt the actress' professionalism but the circumstances werent favourable.

Mumbai: Renowned Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi's next film has been in the news ever since he was snapped while he was taking a look test of a de-glam Deepika Padukone at a Mumbai Dhobi Ghat.

Deepikas look test pictures for the film went viral, but the actress was not cast for the part.

While talking to a leading daily, Majidi clarified that he never questioned Deepikas acting skills or professionalism.

My producers tell me that Deepika had shown some interest in the beginning and it is because of that, that I wanted her to be part of my movie And when I asked her for a look test, it was not to doubt her professionalism. She is an excellent actress. But how much she befits the role, that is in my vision, I wanted to see. Let me tell you though, that the circumstances were such that they werent favourable and nothing materialised of it, he said.

The role finally went to Mollywood actress Malavika Mohanan.

When quizzed about him choosing novices over seasoned actors, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker said, I work with professionals in my movies. If you see my films, I pick up people randomly from the actual habitat. In my movie, if there is an old lady or a young man, a small child, if I picked them before they had ever seen the lens (of a camera), they come out as natural actors and I get the maximum out of them."
Neeraj Pandeys espionage thriller, Naam Shabana, has been stopped in theatres across the neighbouring country.

After Dangal facing controversy, while trying to field a release in Pakistan, yet another movie is feeling the heat.

Neeraj Pandeys espionage thriller, Naam Shabana, has been stopped in theatres across the neighbouring country. In this case, it would seem that the Pakistani officials have realised that the movie is based on the theme of international terrorism, albeit after the film was released.

A source close to the development tells us, The Pakistani authorities seemed fine with the film. But a day after the film released, they woke up to the fact that the theme of terrorism could reflect badly on Pakistan.

Clearly, after having lifted the ban on Indian movies, a lot more stringent checks seem to now be in place for Indian movies to be screened in Pakistan.
He said that his lungs were full of smoke and that he had to climb down from the third floor after the fire.

Kamal Haasan was seen in a cameo in 'Meen Kuzhambum Mann Paanaiyum' last year.

Mumbai: Fans of Kamal Haasan were concerned after the superstar informed them about a fire that broke out at his house.

Haasan took to Twitter early on Saturday morning to inform his fans about a fire that broke out at his house.

Haasan said that his lungs were full of smoke and that he had to climb down from the third floor after the fire at his residence at Alwerpet in Chennai.

He added that he was safe and no one was hurt and thanked his staff for resolving the situation.

After fans started expressing concern over the incident, the actor posted another tweet thanking them for their love and concern.

The superstar had recently held a prayer meet for his brother Chandra Haasan, who had passed away last month, where megastar Rajinikanth was among those present to console him.

On the professional front, he will be seen in the film Subhaash Naidu next.
Jet Airways, SpiceJet, GoAir and IndiGo make up the grouping whose decision came a day after AI lifted the flying ban imposed on Gaikwad.

Mumbai: The Federation of Indian Airlines, comprising four leading private carriers, on Saturday revoked the flying ban imposed on Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad.

Jet Airways, SpiceJet, GoAir and IndiGo make up the grouping whose decision came a day after Air India lifted the flying ban imposed on the Lok Sabha member.

An FIA source said the federation has lifted the flying ban imposed on Gaikwad following Air India's decision on the same.

On March 24, Air India barred Gaikwad from flying with it after he assaulted a staffer at the Delhi airport. Following suit, the FIA barred the Lok Sabha member from flying.

On Friday, sources had said the Civil Aviation Ministry asked Air India as well as other airlines to lift the ban imposed on Gaikwad citing the "undertaking of good conduct" given by him.
New York-Based Dos Toros Taqueria Known For Mission-Style Burritos Is Opening First Chicago Spot

By Rachel Cromidas in Food on Apr 7, 2017 9:52PM



Via Gothamist

Dos Toros Taqueria, a New York City-based chain known for its Mission-style burritos, is bringing its first location outside of the city to Chicago.

The chain has applied for a liquor license for a location at 1 N. Dearborn St. in the Loop, according to Eater. Dos Toros operates similar to Chipotle, with an assembly line of taco and burrito ingredients that are made to order.

Dos Toros owners, brothers Leo and Oliver Kremer, told the Wall Street Journal last year that their expansion plans for the next year include opening new locations in Boston, Philadelphia, Houston and Washington, D.C. Leo, it should be noted, is the former bassist for Third Eye Blind. The brothers are Bay Area natives, with a taste for the burritos the area is known for that include rice and beans. In addition to burritos, the cain serves salad plates, quesadillas and tacos with corn tortillas.

The chain advertises a commitment to humanely-raised meat, composting its kitchen and food waste and sing BPA-free receipt paper.
Sources said that setting up of these courts headed by additional district and sessions judges will entail a burden of Rs 100 crore.

Lucknow: After decimating the BSP in the Assembly elections, the BJP is now preparing to wean away the remaining dalit voters from the BSP fold. According to sources, the Yogi Adityanath government plans to set up fast-track courts to ensure speedy disposal of cases related to atrocities on scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.

The proposal has been sent to the law department for further action and will then be forwarded to the finance department for clearance.

Sources said that setting up of these courts headed by additional district and sessions judges will entail a burden of Rs 100 crore.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath wants that the weaker sections of society should get speedy justice and the government is ready to bear the cost of this, said an official.

The state government plans to set up 25 additional courts for dealing with cases under the SC/ST Act and 275 posts will be created for this. Apparently, the aim behind the move is to win over dalits who often lose cases as witness turn hostile and succumb to pressure.

Besides, when cases continue for years on end, the complainant faces financial difficulty and often stops pursuing the case, said a judicial official.
Sheikh Hasina said her government would take all necessary steps to ensure peace and security along the Indo-Bangla border.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Saturday a staggering new concessional line of credit of $4.5 billion for implementation of projects in priority sectors for Bangladesh that brought Indian resource allocation for the neighbouring country to more than $8 billion over the past six years.

At an event at the Hyderabad House here, he also assured Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina of an early settlement to the Teesta river water-sharing issue and hailed his political foe and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee as his honoured guest.

What added tremendous impetus to ties is the line of credit of $500 million to support Bangladeshs defence-related procurement from India apart from pacts on civilian nuclear energy that were among the 22 agreements the two sides inked.

Expressing greatest admiration for PM Hasinas firm resolve in dealing with terrorism and her governments zero-tolerance policy towards it which he said is an inspiration for all of us, PM Modi also launched a thinly-veiled scathing attack on Pakistan without naming it. There is a mentality in South Asia opposed to the approach of India and Bangladesh to promote development. This mentality nurtures and inspires terrorism. The mentality which influences those who plan policies under it and which regards terrorism as higher than humanism, destruction greater than development and annihilation better than creation, he said, while PM Hasina honoured the Indian martyrs of the 1971 Bangladesh war of liberation highlighting the bond between the two nations.

In another clear message aimed at Pakistan, the two PMs also condemned the genocide in Bangladesh in 1971, with PM Modi saying, We in India rejoice in our ties with Bangladesh. Ties that have been forged in blood and generations of kinship.

Resolving to arrive at an agreement on the contentious Teesta river water issue, PM Modi said, Teesta is important for India, for Bangladesh and for India-Bangladesh relationship. I am very happy that the chief minister of West Bengal is my honoured guest today . I know that her feelings for Bangladesh are as warm as my own. I assure you and the people of Bangladesh of our commitment and continuing efforts. We can and will find an early solution. PM Modis praise of Ms. Banerjee is significant, given her reservations in the past few years on such a pact and its impact on West Bengal.

On her part, Sheikh Hasina said her government would take all necessary steps to ensure peace and security along the Indo-Bangla border.

In a joint statement, the two countries said, The two Prime Ministers condemned the genocide that occurred in Bangladesh in 1971. They solemnly acknowledged the atrocities and called upon the international community to recognise and preserve the memory of those who lost their lives and those who suffered during the genocide. PM Modi thanked PM Hasina for her governments gesture of recognising the sacrifices made by 1,661 Indian armed forces personnel who laid down their lives in the Bangladesh liberation war in 1971. PM Hasina personally handed over a citation and a crest to the next of kin of 7 Indian officers and soldiers who sacrificed their lives. PM Modi announced a special medical scheme under which 100 Muktijoddhas (warriors of the liberation war) of Bangladesh will be provided medical treatment in Indian hospitals every year. He also extended the Muktijoddha scholarship scheme for 10,000 heirs of Muktijhoddhas for another 5 years.

On terrorism and in a veiled criticism of Pakistan, the joint statement said the two leaders strongly condemned the recent barbaric terror attacks in India and Bangladesh and expressed their conviction that the fight against terrorism should not only seek to disrupt and eliminate terrorists, terror organisations and networks, but should also identify, hold accountable and take strong measures against States and entities which encourage, support and finance terrorism, provide sanctuary to terrorists and terror groups, and falsely extol their virtues.

PM Modi said energy security was an important dimension of the development partnership. Today, we added an additional 60 MW of power to the 600 MW already flowing from India to Bangladesh. The supply of another 500 MW has already been committed from the existing inter-connection.

He also said, Connectivity is crucial ... Today, together with the Honourable chief minister of West Bengal , we have added several new links to our growing connectivity. Bus and train links between Kolkata and Khulna ... have been restored today. Inland waterways routes are being optimised. And, steps are being taken to put into operation the coastal shipping agreement.

The defence pacts included an MoU on a defence cooperation framework, an MoU between Defence Services Staff College, Wellington (Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu) and the Staff College, Mirpur, Dhaka, an MoU between National Defence College, Dhaka, and National Defence College, New Delhi, for enhancing .

The civil nuclear pacts included cooperation in peaceful uses of nuclear energy, one between the atomic energy boards of the two countries and another for a nuclear energy partnership.
UP CM hit out against those opposed to the song, saying it reflected their narrow mindedness.

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said refusal to sing Vande Mataram was a serious issue that needs to be addressed. He hit out against those opposed to the song, saying it reflected their narrow mindedness.

Some people are saying that we will not sing Vande Matram... we want this country to move ahead in the 21st century and the matter of dispute is that whether we will sing Vande Mataram or not... this is a matter of concern, he said.

We will have to find a way out to overcome this narrowmindedness, he said at a function at the Raj Bhavan in Lucknow.

His remarks came against the backdrop of Samajwadi Party corporators protesting a proposal to make singing of the national song compulsory at the commencement of proceedings at Allahabad municipal corporation.
JCCI president Rakesh Gupta said if the government fails to deport the refugees, it would launch an kill campaign against them.

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir has been clouded by a new controversy which is fraught with dangerous ramifications and could generate mistrust and hate between its Hindu-majority Jammu and Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley regions.

Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) president Rakesh Gupta on Friday told a press conference in the winter capital that if the government fails to deport all Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar and Bangladeshi nationals from Jammu within one month and book the people on whose land these foreigners have settled under the States stringer Public Safety Act (PSA), it would launch an identify and kill campaign against them.

He said there was no wrong in taking such action against these people as they were involved in drug trafficking and other criminal and anti-social activities.

He claimed that the threat perception from these Bangladeshis and Rohingyas who are criminals has been increasing.

He said, These settlers are criminals and drug traffickers, who were disowned by their own country and we seek their deportation because the JCCI is committed to protect the interests of the people at large in the State as a part of social corporate responsibility.

He added that neither the J&K government is signatory to any United Nations treaty nor Article 370 allows illegal foreign settlers for any permanent settlement in the State.

Earlier Gupta had said the presence of these refugees in Jammu was part of a sinister campaign by unseen forces to change the demography of the region by settling a Muslim population from foreign lands.

But it is his identify and kill threat that has evoked sharp reaction and condemnation by the political, social and trade organizations in the Valley. They have alleged that these Bangladeshi and Rohingya refugees are being condemned in such fashion and even threats openly issued to them on false and fabricated grounds only because they are Muslims.

Asked Muhammad Yasin Khan, the chairman of Srinagar-based Kashmir Economic Alliance, How can you use words like identify and kill in a civilized society and what is stopping the government to file an FIR into this irresponsible statement which has come from a reputed organisation of Jammu Inc?

He said if JCCI feels unsafe because of few thousands Rohingya and Bangladeshi Muslims, why it was silent over the issue of West Pakistan refugees.

Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) while condemning the "vigilantism" of JCCI and its president said the "identify and kill" policy should apply to the West Pakistan refugees as well.

"KCCI strongly condemns the statement made by the president of JCCI wherein he threatened to identify, catch and kill Rohingya refugees in Jammu. The statement is uncalled for, irresponsible and divisive." It added, "The KCCI warns that same could be applicable to the West Pakistan refugees as well. Instead of involving itself in activities beneficial for the trade and commerce, JCCI has taken upon itself the role of vigilantalism.

It urged the JCCI to immediately withdraw the statement or ready to face consequences."

Identical statements have been issued by several other organisations in the Valley. Independent MLA and leader of regional Awami Itehad Party (AIP) Sheikh (Engineer) Abdur Rashid on Saturday filed a complaint in Srinagars Raj Bagh police station seeking registering an FIR against various office bearers of the JCCI including its president Gupta. The complaint seeks action as warranted under criminal law against JCCI for spreading terror and threatening peace of Jammu province.

Rashid said, The harsh language and death threats given by JCCI office bearers to Rohingya Muslims is yet again a strong evidence to believe that the state administration has nothing in its control and law of the land is subservient to these communal and radical forces. He alleged that the threat to Rohingya and Bangladeshi refugees is actually part of a deep conspiracy to create communal tension in Jammu region with well crafted goal.

He warned the government of dire consequences if communal forces including office bearers of JCCI are not arrested and taken to task. He also alleged that Rohingya refugees are being harassed for only being Muslims. If their being non-state subjects matters so much to these communal forces why should not they demand expulsion of (erstwhile) West Pakistan refugees and those thousands living in temporary shelters in Kashmir during springs and summers and also those thousands of families illegally settled in Jammu, he asked.

But Gupta defended himself and said that it wont be an offence to deal sternly with such criminals and drug traffickers as they have illegally come to Jammu. It is high time that the people at large should also shoulder and share responsibility of the security forces and deal with these people as the situation demands.

He also said that the JCCI is aware of the fact that Jammus district administration has initiated the process to identify the settlers and the Union Home Ministry too has asked for details from the State government on the issue but we feel that is not enough to deal with the looming threat and we will not take it lying down till they are deported.

Government sources said that there are 5,817 registered Rohingya and Bangladeshi nationals often referred to as Bihari Muslims in Jammu region. However, local groups on the basis of the number of juggies they live in believe their number has crossed 10,000 mark.

A Jammu lawyer Hunar Gupta who is a member of the BJPs legal cell and standing council for the Central government recently filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) before the J&K High Court seeking identification and deportation of Rohingya and Bangladeshi Muslims from Jammu.

While senior advocate Sunil Sethi who is also chief spokesman of the BJP in J&K is appearing in the PIL along with Gupta, two other lawyers Shah Faisal and Fidel Sebastian have moved an application before the court, pleading that they be heard before an order is passed in the PIL which also seeks directions to the government for shifting all illegal immigrants of Myanmar and Bangladesh to any other state as no refugee camp has ever been declared either by the state of the UN in Jammu and Kashmir.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia denied the allegations saying he had never cleared the file for the expense which was sent to him.

New Delhi: Ahead of the MCD polls, the BJP on Saturday alleged the AAP government had squandered public funds on lunches at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence 2016 that cost a whopping Rs 13,000 per person, a charge denied by the ruling party.

Demanding the government's resignation, Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Vijender Gupta, alleged that the Delhi Tourism and Transport Development Corporation (DTTDC) had organised two lunch parties last year on February 11 and 12 for 50 and 30 persons respectively which cost over Rs 11 lakh.

Union Minister and senior BJP leader Piyush Goyal termed the alleged expenditure "mind boggling".

"The government is a custodian of public funds entrusted to it by tax payers in the form of exchequer. But Kejriwal and his party have been misusing these funds for the last two years for its political needs and purposes," Goyal said.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia denied the allegations saying he had never cleared the file for the expense which was sent to him.

"The so-called food bill of Rs 13,000 was sent to me by officers for clearance a year back, but I never approved them. The files have been with the then LG Najeeb Jung's office for the past six months. It seems the LG's office has leaked it now under pressure from the BJP," he alleged.

He said that the files were being leaked selectively to defame the AAP government ahead of the upcoming MCD polls.

"I dare them to release the file in which I have clearly made a note refusing to clear payment," he added.

Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Vijender Gupta, alleged that the catering arrangements for the lunches at Kejriwal's residence were made by a leading five-star hotel.

The permissible limit under financial rules is Rs 1,250 per person for hosting a lunch in non-five star hotels, he said.

"No codal formalities or financial rules were followed before placing the orders. Two bills were raised by DTTDC for a total amount of Rs 11,04,357," Gupta said, showing the copies of the bills in a press conference.

He further said that bill for the lunch on February 11 was Rs 6,23,605 and the cost per plate was Rs 12,472 and price of same plate rose to Rs 16,025 for the lunch organised very next day.

It is beyond understanding why the expenditure per plate rose by Rs 3,553 more than 28.50 per centre overnight, Gupta said.

"This is a criminal waste of government exchequer by the Kejriwal government. I urge the Lt Governor to order a high-level enquiry into violation of financial rules by he Kejriwal government," Gupta said.
Earlier in 2016 the Hindu Yuva Vahini had attacked the Full Gospel Church in Gorakhpur over similar allegations.

Lucknow: Downplaying charges of attempts at polarization following a Church prayer service being halted by the right-wing Hindu Yuva Vahini in Uttar Pradesh, the Centre has expressed its complete faith in the Yogi Adityanath-led Government in maintaining the law and order situation in the state.

The youth group, set up by Adityanath in 2002, interrupted the prayer service alleging that religious conversion was being carried out and filed a complaint against Yohannan Adam, the pastor of the church, accusing him of converting Hindus to Christianity, which was flatly denied by the latter.

"As far as BJP is concerned, there is no attempt to polarize and have never been so. We stand vindicated after the results in Uttar Pradesh and Manipur, where it was being alleged that the BJP is trying to polarize communities. If that were true, then the BJP would not have received such an overwhelming mandate, which means people voted for BJP across the caste and religion lines," Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh told the media.

Further asserting that the Uttar Pradesh Government is capable of dealing with the situation in a fair manner, Singh highlighted his faith in the Chief Minister's capability and decisiveness.

The service, which was being attended by more than 150 people including foreign tourists, was interrupted by the youth group who barged into the hall and created a ruckus.

The tourists were let go after their passports were throroughly checked, and the Christian group has flatly denied that it was carrying out conversions and asserted that it was a simple prayer service.

"The police personnel even climbed onto our holy altar and took away our bible and song books. They even questioned all those who came to attend the prayer," Pastor Adam said.

This is not the first such instance has come to light, as earlier in 2016 the Hindu Yuva Vahini had attacked the Full Gospel Church in Gorakhpur over similar allegations.

The Hindu right wing has continuously and vociferously alleged that Christian missionaries are converting people through coercion.
Hasina will give Modi, an office bag set, four kilograms of kalojam and rosgolla, two kilograms of sandesh and four kilograms of yogurt.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, greets his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina upon her arrival in New Delhi. (Photo: AP)

New Delhi: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is on a four-day-long state visit to India, has brought with her gifts for the Indian leadership, including the President and the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Hasina has brought a Panjabi pair of silk pyjamas, artworks, a dinner set, a leather bag set, four kilogram of kalojam and rosgolla, two kilogram sandesh, 20 kilogram of hilsa and two kilograms of yogurt for Indian President Pranab Mukherjee.

Bangladesh Foreign Ministry sources were quoted by the Daily Star as saying that there was also a silk sari as gift for the Indian President's daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee.

She would also be presenting a dinner set, a leather bag, two kilograms of rosgolla and kalojam and one kilogram of sandesh to Indian Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari.

Prime Minister Hasina will give her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, a leather office bag set, four kilograms of kalojam and rosgolla, two kilograms of sandesh and four kilograms of yogurt.

She has also bought a Rajshahi silk sari for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mother.

Prime Minister Hasina will gift a Rajshahi silk sari, a tea set, two kilograms of rosgolla and kalojam, one kilogram of sandesh and two kilograms of yogurt to Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

She would give West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee a Benarasi sari, two kilograms of rosgolla and kalojam, one kilogram of sandesh and two kilograms of yogurt.

Prime Minister Hasina will be presenting a silver boat each for Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, State Minister for External Affairs Vijay Kumar Singh and State Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Babul Supriyo.

Prime Minister Hasina arrived in New Delhi on Friday to kickstart her four-day state visit to the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi received his Bangladeshi counterpart at the Technical area of Palam Airport.

"Delighted to welcome H.E. Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, on her State Visit to India. PM Sheikh Hasina and I are determined to take the relationship between our nations to a new level," Prime Minister tweeted.

Officials from Prime Minister Hasina's entourage took selfies with Prime Minister Modi.

The two leaders are expected to hold official talks on a range of issues including an inter-governmental agreement on civil nuclear energy.

According to the Dhaka Tribune, India and Bangladesh may sign around 33 deals and Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) on trade and commerce, economy and connectivity, and on defence related issues.
The Teesta river runs through both Bengal and Bangladesh and if a treaty is signed it would allow for equal share of water.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina share a laugh after a signing of agreements in New Delhi. (Photo: AP)

New Delhi: India on Saturday extended a credit line of $ 4.5 billion to Bangladesh to help it to implement development projects.

"I am happy to announce a new concessional Line of Credit of 4.5 billion dollars for the implementation of projects in priority sectors for Bangladesh. This brings our resource allocation for Bangladesh to more than eight billion dollars over the past six years," Prime Minister Modi said at a joint press conference at Hyderabad House in New Delhi.

Prime Minister Modi also announced a $500 million credit line to support Bangladesh's defence-related procurements.

"I am also happy to announce a Line of Credit of US dollars 500 million to support Bangladesh's defence-related procurement. In implementing this line of credit, we will be guided by Bangladesh's needs and priorities," Prime Minister Modi said.

India and Bangladesh signed 22 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) and one financial agreement following delegation level talks between the two sides here.

No pact on the sharing of water of the river Teesta was signed between the two nations.

The Teesta river runs through both Bengal and Bangladesh and if a treaty is signed it would allow for equal share of water.

"I am very happy that the Chief Minister of West Bengal is my guest today. Her feeling for Bangladesh is as warm as my own. I assure you and the people of Bangladesh of our continuing efforts on Teesta. It's only my government and your government that can and will find an early solution to Teesta water sharing issue," Prime Minister Modi said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said India's support would help resolve all issues, including Teesta, expeditiously.

The Bangladesh Prime Minister is on a four-day visit to India.
The leaders explored ways to strengthen bilateral ties in key strategic areas of defence, security, trade and energy.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina on her arrival at IGI Airport in New Delhi on Friday for a four-day visit to India. (Photo: AP)

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday assured his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina, who arrived in New Delhi on Friday on a four-day visit, of early solution to the Teesta water sharing issue.

Teesta water sharing issue "important" for India-Bangladesh ties and an "early solution can and will be found", Modi said while addressing a joint statement with Hasina on Saturday.

Held "productive" talks on wide-ranging issues including on civil nuclear cooperation, Modi said after holding a meeting with Hasina at the Hyderabad House earlier on Saturday.

Also read: Sheikh Hasina admires India's development, determined to strengthen bond

Modi also announced a new line of concessional credit of USD 4.5 billion for implementation of projects in Bangladesh. Announcing an additional line of credit of USD 500 million to Bangladesh for military supplies, Modi said it will be driven by the requirement of that country.

"Energy security is an important dimension of India-Bangladesh development partnership and it continues to grow," he said.

Modi held extensive discussions with Hasina on ways to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries. After their restricted meeting, the two leaders were joined by their respective delegations.

Hasina will visit Ajmer on Sunday and will also meet Indian business leaders on Monday.
Congress said Gadkari was sincere and doing a very good job as Union road transport minister, but his role in Goa was villainous.

New Delhi: Lavishing effusive praise on Nitin Gadkari in Lok Sabha on Friday, the Congress said Mr Gadkari was sincere and doing a very good job as Union road transport minister, but his role in Goa was villainous.

In the Narendra Modi ministry, a few ministers are performing well. One among them is Nitin Gadkari, said K.C. Venugopal (Congress) during a debate on the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill 2016 which was tabled by the minister. The bill emphasises on road safety, computerisation and enhanced penalty for traffic offences.

Mr Venugopal was not the only one from the Opposition benches to express admiration for the minister. Congress leader in Lok Sabha Mallikajurna Kharge, Trinamuls Dinesh Trivedi, BJD member Tathagata Satpathy and a few other Opposition members also showered compliments on Mr Gadkari who sat smilingat the rare praise of a treasury bench member from the Opposition benches.

Even in the darkest of night, a single star looks bright, Mr Satpathy said, adding that the surface transport minister is a hard working person who is hell bent on proving that good work can be done even if the government is bad.

But with the bouquets came with the brick with Mr Kharge saying: He (Gadkari) is performing well. He has extended roads, highways, etc. but see the support. No members are there; there is no quorum. This is the mentality of our people. What is to be done? Why should we discuss? We are appreciating him.

Mr Kharge was pointedly referring to near empty treasury benches suggesting there was not much appreciation for his work as a large number of BJP members were absent when an important bill has been introduced by him.

Mr Venugopal too butted in: I cannot admit and approve that role which he has taken in Goa. That is entirely anti-democratic. He took a villain role in Goa for his party.

The Congress has accused the BJP of using unfair means to attain a majority in Goa despite winning just 13 seats in the 40-member Assembly.

In a quick-witted riposte in an apparent reference to Digvijay Singh, Congress in-charge in Goa, Mr Gadkari retorted: Why you are blaming me? Your hero had slept through the night... Your film would have run if your hero had not slept through the night?

In contrast to the apparent bonhomie, the beginning of Zero Hour saw a stormy start when BJPs Poonam Mahajan sought the Speakers attention to the alleged brutal attack on a BJP youth wing worker by CPI-M workers in Kerala and demanded dismissal of the state government. She also alleged that the Left party had killed several RSS and BJP workers.

Ms Mahajans statement saw a fiery response from the Congress and Left members. While Mr Venugopal alleged that the RSS was behind killings as well, including one Thursday night in his constituency, M.B. Rajesh (CPI-M) said RSS workers were behind the recent death of a youth and a Muslim priest.

On Thursday too, Congress and Left members from Kerala had clashed in the House over an incident in Thiruvananthapuram where the police had ill-treated the parents of a student who had allegedly committed suicide.
 Flash

Liu Jieyi (C, front), China's permanent representative to the United Nations, addresses a Security Council emergency session on the situation in Syria at the UN headquarters in New York, on April 7, 2017. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

A Chinese envoy said on Friday that political solution is the only way out for the Syrian issue and military means will not work.

Liu Jieyi, China's permanent representative to the UN, made the remarks at a Security Council emergency meeting that convened after the United Sates launched missile attacks on a Syrian military airfield on Thursday.

Liu said military actions will only worsen the suffering of the Syrian people and make the situation in Syria and the region more complicated and turbulent.

"This is not in the common interest of Syria, regional countries and the international community," said Liu.

"The most urgent issue at present is that all parties work together to prevent the situation in Syria from further deterioration," he said.

Liu said China calls upon all relevant parties to persist in diplomatic efforts, stick to dialogue and consultation and support the role of the United Nations as the main channel of mediation and good offices.

He also asked the international community to support the efforts of UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura to maintain the hard-won momentum for the political solution to the Syrian issue.

On Thursday, the United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Shairat military base in central Syria as its response to an alleged chemical attack on Tuesday in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun in the country's northwestern province of Idlib.

The United States believed that Syrian planes based at the Shairat airbase carried out the chemical attack which killed over 80 people and wounded scores of others.

The Syrian government denied the accusation. It explained that its air strikes hit an arms depot containing toxic gas and blamed the rebels for storing such chemical materials.
Hitting out at Pakistan, Modi said it breeds terrorism and this "thought" is a roadblock to peace within the region and the world.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina at Sommanona Ceremony to salute Indian Soldiers who fought in 1971 war, in New Delhi. (Photo: AP)

New Delhi: India's doors are always open for cooperation, but for that Pakistan has to shun terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday.

Hitting out at Pakistan, Modi said it breeds, inspires and encourages terrorism and this "thought" is a roadblock to peace within the region and the world.

He emphasised that "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas" is not just restricted to India, but also to the neighbouring countries and development of India is incomplete without the progress of the region.

"We have extended hand of friendship towards every country (of the region) and have invited them to be a part of our growth. Without being selfish, we have wished good for the entire region.

"We truly think that citizens of all nations of the region progress and prosper. Our doors are open for cooperation, but for this terrorism has to be shunned.

"There is one thought in South Asia which breeds, inspires and encourages terrorism. The thought whose priority is not humanity, but extremism and terrorism," Modi said, without naming Pakistan.

He was speaking at the ceremony where families of martyrs of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War were felicitated by Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Modi said India is a victim of the "thought" that encourages terrorism.

"The thought, whose policymakers prefer terrorism over humanity, destruction over development, destruction over creation, backstabbing over trust, is the biggest challenge to the society and its economic development," he said.

Stating that 1,661 Indian soldiers laid down their lives in the Bangladesh Liberation War, Modi said the Indian army's struggle in this cannot be forgotten.

"The Indian army never shied away from its duty and set an example by following conventions of the war. Over 90,000 Prisoners of War were released safely after the 1971 war. The humane gesture shown by India is one of the biggest events in the century," Modi said.

The Prime Minister said the genocide by Pakistan in 1971 was undertaken to wipe out an entire generation of Bangladesh and every person who was proud of the idea of Bangladesh was eliminated.

"The purpose of this genocide was not just killing the innocents, but to uproot the idea of Bangladesh," he said.

Speaking at the event, Hasina said, the history of Bangladesh has been written with the blood of Indian martyrs along with valiant freedom fighters of Bangladesh.

"They fought together for the independence of Bangladesh.

The story of their sacrifice will be remembered from generation to generation in our two countries," she said.
Modi hopes bilateral ties will be taken to a new level during Bangladesh PMs visit.

Union minister Babul Supriyo greets Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina in New Delhi on Friday. PM Narendra Modi is also seen. (Photo: Pritam Bandhyopadhyay)

New Delhi: In a special gesture highlighting the warmth in Indo-Bangladesh ties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday went to Indira Gandhi International Airport to receive his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina.

He expressed confidence that bilateral ties will be taken to a new level. Mr Modi set aside protocol to go to the airport, reportedly travelling through normal traffic without any route restrictions.

Delighted to welcome H.E. Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, on her State Visit to India, he tweeted later.

PM Sheikh Hasina and I are determined to take the relationship between our nations to a new level, he said in another tweet. Ms Hasina arrived in New Delhi at noon on a four-day visit.

She will hold wide-ranging talks with Mr Modi on Saturday. India is set to announce a line of credit of $500 million to Bangladesh for military supplies. A separate line of credit may also be announced. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj met Ms Hasina, in a meeting termed as a courtesy call.

The visit is expected to further expand the cordial and cooperative relationship between India and Bangladesh and build on the strong ties of friendship and trust between the two leaders, a joint statement issued by the two countries said earlier.

Ms Hasina will also call on President Pranab Mukherjee and meet Congress president leader Sonia Gandhi. She will visit Ajmer on Sunday and will meet Indian business leaders on Monday. She will also join a function at Manekshaw Centre to honour Indian armed forces members who embraced martyrdom in Bangladeshs War of Liberation in 1971. Diplomatic quarters of both sides expected that the reciprocal visit of the Bangladesh premier would take the Dhaka-New Delhi historic relations to a new height unveiling newer dimensions of cooperation in various sectors including trade and commerce, economy and connectivity. It will be Ms Hasinas first bilateral visit to India in her current term as PM. Ramping up cooperation in security will be a major focus area of the talks.

Issues like combating terrorism, containing radicalism and enhancing security cooperation between the two countries are likely to figure prominently.

Liberation war affairs minister A.K.M. Mozammel Haque, water resources minister Anisul Islam Mahmud, law minister Anisul Haque, foreign minister A.H. Mahmood Ali, the Premiers economic affairs advisor Moshiour Rahman and state minister for foreign affairs Shahriar Alam are accompanying Ms Hasina in the visit.
The seized documents also included expense details of the RK Nagar bypoll, which ran into crores of rupees, besides gift tokens.

Tamil Nadu health minister C. Vijayabhaskar with his children during a raid by the income-tax department at his residence in Chennai. (Photo: PTI)

Chennai: In major raids ahead of the byelection slated for April 12, I-T sleuths swooped Friday morning on the residences and premises in 35 locations across Tamil Nadu belonging to health minister C. Vijayabhaskar, actor-turned-politician Sarath Kumar and MGR Medical University vice-chancellor S. Geethalakshmi.

Income-tax sources said more than Rs 5.5 crore unaccounted cash was seized during the raids, besides property documents and jewellery worth over Rs 89 crore.

The seized documents also included expense details of the RK Nagar bypoll, which ran into crores of rupees, besides gift tokens. The raids are seen as an attempt by the I-T department to cut cash being distributed among voters in RK Nagar. Mr Vijayabhaskar is believed to be a strong supporter of RK Nagar candidate T.T.V. Dhinakaran of the Sasikala camp.

Of Rs 4.5 crore seized, Rs 2.2 crore was seized from Nainar Mohamed, a close confidant of the minister, and Rs 1 crore from another person close to the minister, sources added.

As many 21 places in Chennai, 11 locations in Pudukottai, two in Tiruchy and premises in Namakkal were subject to I-T searches on Friday.
The parents of the girl alleged that when she came out of the washroom, a guard touched her inappropriately.

New Delhi: A six-year-old girl has alleged that a guard at her school misbehaved with her in west Delhi's Vikaspuri area, police said on Saturday.

The parents of the girl alleged that when she came out of the washroom on Friday, a guard misbehaved with her and touched her inappropriately, said a senior police officer.

When she shouted, he allegedly threatened her and asked her to not disclose the matter to anybody, he said. Police said that a case has been registered and they are making efforts to identify the accused.

The girl is undergoing counselling. Parents of other students protested outside the school demanding action against the accused and better security for their children.
The amount was seized during search operations in the investigation of alleged under-invoicing in import consignments from China and Taiwan.

New Delhi: The DRI has seized Rs 5.62 crore from two importers while probing a case of import duty evasion.

The amount was seized during search operations in the investigation of alleged under-invoicing (in which the price of a good on an invoice is shown less than the amount actually paid) in import consignments of self-drilling screws from China and Taiwan.

New Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 currency notes totalling Rs 5.62 crore have been seized from the residential premises of the importers, a press release issued today by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) said.

The agency is looking into the case of import of the self-drilling screws which have been under-invoiced and are lying in Inland Container Depot, Tughlakabad and warehouses of the importers.

The total customs duty evasion is likely to be tune of Rs 20 crore, it said.

"The importers have admitted that the new currency notes were part of the sale proceeds of the goods imported by way of undervaluation," the release said.
The central team of the IT cell has also provided training to the social media team of the partys district and 280 mandal (block) teams.

New Delhi: A group of young Delhi BJP social media volunteers, along with carrying out the party online campaign, is also identifying issues from the ground and informing candidates about the same to include in their campaign strategy. The volunteers equipped with an app, VMS (volunteer management system), are instantly updating the central team and candidates about the real poll issues from the ground. A team of 700 volunteers, with the help of the partys IT cell, is managing the social media campaign of BJP for the upcoming civic polls.

Delhi BJPs IT cell convener, Sumit Bhasin, told this newspaper that the VMS is equipped with all the details like every street and residential unit of each of the 272 municipal wards. A group of three volunteers has been deployed in each of the 272 wards. These young volunteers keep us updated about the ground realities. We send this information to the candidates to draw their strategy accordingly. We also help them identify promises they must include in their Sankalp Patra (poll promises) for their respective wards, added Mr Bhasin.

Through the VMS app, which uses Google map, the party is also updating itself about which areas are covered and which are not by the volunteers and candidates.

For the first time, the Delhi BJP IT cell has synchronised its online and offline campaign.

It was done to talk about similar agendas and issues in the real and virtual world, said Kunal Kapur, a member of the Delhi BJP social media team. Mr Kapur claimed that in the last 20 days, their hashtags trended 19 days nationally for nearly 10 hours. The party has also designed special saffron coloured T-shirts for all the volunteers of Delhi BJP social media campaign with the party symbol on one arm and BJP 4 MCD on the another.

These 700 odd volunteers are giving a minimum of two hours to the party social media campaign. There is no fixed timing for volunteers and they dedicate their time as per their convenience. We are dedicating minimum two hours and a maximum of an entire day to the party, said Abhishek Sharma, another volunteer.

The central team of the IT cell has also provided training to the social media team of the partys district and 280 mandal (block) teams.
After Air India, the Federation of Indian Airlines, comprising four leading private carriers, revoked the flying ban on Gaikwad.

Mumbai: Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, who was involved in a row with Air India, met party president Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday and explained his position over the issue.

The meeting, which lasted for 10 minutes at Shiv Sena's central office at Dadar, came after Air India, and other airlines, lifted the flying ban on Gaikwad after he expressed regret for assaulting an AI employee on March 23.

Neither Thackeray nor Gaikwad disclosed to reporters what transpired in the meeting. However, party sources said Gaikwad explained his position over the whole controversy.

Gaikwad, the MP from Osmanabad, arrived here by the Rajdhani Express this morning after attending parliament proceedings earlier this week. The lawmaker boarded the train from Delhi last evening hours after the flying ban was lifted by the national carrier following his letter to Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Thursday in which he expressed "regret" over the "unfortunate incident".

After Air India, the Federation of Indian Airlines, comprising four leading private carriers, revoked the flying ban on Gaikwad. Jet Airways, SpiceJet, GoAir and IndiGo make up the grouping. In a statement, the FIA said its members are restoring the flying privileges to Gaikwad "under the assurance that our assets and colleagues shall be accorded the respect that they deserve for the hard work that they put in every day".

The decision has been taken consequent to Air India restoring flying privileges to Gaikwad after being satisfied with the statement given by him in the Lok Sabha where he expressed "regret" for assaulting an Air India staffer.

On March 24, Air India barred Gaikwad from flying with it after the incident at the Delhi airport. Subsequently, the FIA barred the Lok Sabha member from flying. On Friday, sources had said the Civil Aviation Ministry asked Air India as well as other airlines to lift the ban imposed on Gaikwad citing the "undertaking of good conduct" given by him.

The 56-year-old Parliamentarian had assaulted AI employee R Sukumar on March 23 after he landed in Delhi on a Pune-Delhi all-economy flight.
Air India had on Friday lifted the flying ban on him after he expressed regret for assaulting one of its employees on March 23.

Mumbai: Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, who was involved in a row with Air India, arrived here by train and would be meeting party president Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday.

Air India had on Friday lifted the flying ban on him after he expressed regret for assaulting one of its employees on March 23.

Gaikwad, who arrived by the Rajdhani Express from Delhi Saturday morning, would be meeting the Sena president at the latter's residence Matoshri in suburban Bandra later today.

"I will be meeting Uddhavji around noon today," said Gaikwad.

The lawmaker boarded the train from Delhi Friday evening hours after the flying ban was lifted by the national carrier following a letter by the Osmanabad MP to the Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Thursday expressing "regret" over the "unfortunate incident".

The revocation of the ban came despite two AI unions of the cabin crew and pilots protesting the move to lift the restrictions imposed on the air travel of the MP.

However, an AI spokesman had said, "Air India is a subsidiary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and, therefore, an apology to the ministry is akin to an apology to the airline and our employees."

The 56-year-old Parliamentarian had assaulted AI employee R Sukumar on March 23 after he landed in Delhi on a Pune-Delhi all-economy flight.
The MP, meanwhile, said he would never apologise to Air India.

Mumbai: After having lifted the flying ban on Shiv Sena member of Parliament Ravindra Gaikwad, Air India is preparing for a legal battle with him for causing revenue losses worth up to Rs 15 lakh by grounding its aircraft (AI 852) for 90 minutes on March 23.

The airline said the aircraft was grounded in the course of the MPs brawl with a 60-year-old AI employee who Mr Gaikwad allegedly assaulted.

While two FIRs have already been filed against the MP, AI is in the process of collecting data of the total revenue and operational losses caused to the airline. The MP, meanwhile, said he would never apologise to AI.

A day after the ministry of civil aviation after receiving a regret letter from Mr Gaikwad asked the airline to lift the ban on the MP, Mr Gaikwad gave statements to a media house in which he claimed that Air India was at fault.

The Sena leader alleged that the AI crew member he is accused of assaulting on March 23, has eight cases of indulging in brawls registered against him.

After Air India lifted its flying ban on Mr Gaikwad, the Federation of Indian Airlines that includes private domestic carriers Jet Airways, Indigo, GoAir, Spicejet too lifted the ban on the MP.

Sources said AI is expected to prepare a legal notice by Wednesday and drag the matter to court demanding compensation.
Curbing drunken driving requires that drivers, a small fraction of all travellers, be targeted. Most travellers are passengers.

Thirsty travellers on highways are going to miss the inviting LED signboards offering cold beer to alleviate their boredom. But ask those who have lost a loved one in an accident, or been maimed in one  and they will enthusiastically support the Supreme Courts ban on the availability of booze along our state and national highways. When the issue is emotive, the reflex response of both the judiciary and the executive is to do anything that appears adequately responsive. What could be easier than banishing booze from the highways, knowing full well that this could be just optics.

Curbing drunken driving requires that drivers, a small fraction of all travellers, be targeted. Most travellers are passengers. It doesnt matter whether they tipple or not. Many of those at the wheel are licensed, professional cab, bus and truck drivers  much like commercial pilots. Surely the owners of these commercial vehicles should be held criminally accountable, along with the driver, for accidents caused by drunken driving, unless they can prove that they test their drivers randomly. This would automatically incentivise owners to use drivers who dont drink. But this is a narrowly targeted option that requires follow-on administrative action and effective policing. Far splashier, instead, to go in for a blanket ban on booze  and never mind if it causes collateral pain. The origin of our half-hearted approach to the problem lies in the Directive Principles of our Constitution. These define the higher moral ground that we all must aspire to.

But these are not mandatory and need a law to be passed to become implementable. We implement these only selectively  like universal education  where there is near complete consensus. But we ignore others, like prohibition, where a consensus is missing. Hence the tension between the constitutional directives and reality.

We do not have a fundamental right to drink or sell booze. We do so only at the pleasure of the State. It can be withdrawn at any time. Many would argue it should not be summarily withdrawn, specially when it will disrupt ongoing business. And because other options exist to curb drunken driving. If we are uncomfortable with the ideals specified in the Directive Principles, then the correct approach is to amend them and expand the fundamental rights to include the freedom to drink responsibly. But who will support such an amendment? Mainstream India has no tradition of the neighbourhood bar, from where it is all right to stagger home, helped along by acquaintances or friends. Yes, there is communal drinking in tribal areas and on special occasions in villages, where there is a lot of staggering about. But these are rare occasions. In the plains of India, most regular tipplers are men as drinking is done outside our homes. It is the anonymity of highway drinking that is attractive for furtive, male drinkers.

How terrible will the booze ban be for the economy? The measure simply aims to make drinking and sale of liquor physically invisible from highways. Tippling will shift a couple of minutes away onto back streets, possibly with far worse consequences for public order. But its revenue impact will be negligible. Businesses will adjust. Web-based apps will guide travellers to back street bars and booze shops; private caches of pre-mixed booze in flasks will proliferate as will the illicit supply in dhabas along the highway.

Blaming the judiciary for ham-handedness is the easy part. But the Government of India and several state governments, including Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, have accepted the verdict. Eighteen other states didnt bother to contest the decision. This shows that the judiciary is aligned with the national and state-level executive in moving India, gradually, in the direction to which the Directive Principles point us.

But without effective patrolling, behavioural change among drivers is highly unlikely. Ask any highway traveller. There is nothing more reassuring than regularly passing by a police patrol car, specially at night. Drunken or irresponsible driving can only be curbed if the Centre, with the consent of all state governments, directly polices all our national highways. Centrally-monitored and controlled mobile patrols, responsive to distress calls and SMSes like the National Ambulance Service, equipped with paramedic and trauma support teams, should be frequently visible along the 90,000-km national highway network. A National Highway Police Force should be created and empowered to regulate traffic; challan errant driving; provide trauma support in case of accidents and keep the highways free of crime and irresponsible social behaviour. Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that an officer-oriented, multi-skilled force of 11,000 employees would cost Rs 1,000 crores annually in overheads, maintenance and salaries, with a one-time capital cost of Rs 800 crores for equipment and housing. Sounds expensive? Implemented over a period of five years, it is just 0.3 per cent of the annual revenue expenditure and 1.5 per cent of the capital expenditure for the police in the Union Budget. Compare this with the avoided cost of Rs 1,400 crores, being the value of lives lost (42,000 persons in 2009) in accidents on national highways, computed on a present value of Rs 2.5 lakhs per life lost, based on the average per capita income, over a residual working life of 20 years. The avoided cost of injuries to 1.5 lakh people (2009) is around Rs 180 crores, assuming medical treatment and lost wages at two months wages per injured person. The cost of vehicles and goods lost and cost of trauma suffered is over and above this. An international-quality highway security and trauma support system makes economic sense. More important, it is yet another bond sealing the social compact between Prime Minister Narendra Modis government and the travelling public  immigrants, business people and tourists  estimated at around 230 million passengers in 2016 (assuming an average lead of 75 km) by the National Transport Development Policy Committee. There can be no better social impact investment than one which offers an economic payback of under one year.
Agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh was given the responsibility of planning and executing the PMs programme.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is usually a step ahead of his political rivals. However, this time, he seems to have been beaten by Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. Mr Modi wanted to preside over a grand programme in Bihar to mark the centenary of Mahatma Gandhis Champaran satyagraha.

Agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh was given the responsibility of planning and executing the Prime Ministers programme. But before the minister could move forward on his plans, Mr Kumar declared that the Bihar government will launch year-long celebrations for the Champaran satyagraha centenary which include a series of seminars and cultural shows.

The chief minister has even decided to embark on a padyatra  Gandhi smriti yatra  from April 15 ostensibly to spread Gandhis message but essentially to consolidate his position.

Upset that he had been upstaged by Mr Kumar, the Prime Minister is learnt to have given the agriculture minister a dressing down for not being alert enough. It was then suggested that Mr Modi could join Mr Kumar at the end of his programme but that appears unlikely.

Having lost an opportunity to make a splash in Bihar, the Modi government is now planning to organise a special exhibition on the Champaran satyagraha in the capital.

National security adviser Ajit Doval hosted a special lunch for the new Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat when he visited New Delhi recently. The guest list included army chief Bipin Rawat, RAW chief Anil Dhasmana and coast guard head Rajendra Singh all who hail from the hill state of Uttarakhand. Not just that but they come from the same district  Pauri Garhwal.

The BJPs new chief ministers  Uttar Pradeshs AdityaNath Yogi and Uttarakhands Rawat also have the distinction of belonging to Pauri Garhwal.

But what is not known is that the BJPs new media department chief Anil Baluni who replaced Shrikant Sharma after he moved to Uttar Pradesh as a minister in the Yogi government  is also from the same district.

Mr Dovals lunch served as a reunion of sorts for all the leading personalities from his home state where special Pahari food was served. There was much mutual backslapping at this gathering as the special invitees lavished praise on each other, insisting that the others had enhanced the prestige of the state and more specifically of Pauri Garhwal.

Although officers from Gujarat virtually took over the Prime Ministers Office after Mr Modi came to power three years ago, it is clear that Uttarakhand is not far behind as far as key appointments in the government and the ruling BJP are concerned.

It is nearly eight months since Ajay Tamta was elevated as minister of state for textiles but he is still waiting to move into a ministerial bungalow.

The minister is to move into the bungalow which was allotted to Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh when he was Central minister in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government.

But the veteran Congress leader has not given up its possession even though he moved to the state over four years ago. Several notices have been issued to Mr Singh, the water and electricity supplies to the premises have been disconnected, but the Himachal Pradesh chief minister has remained unmoved. A harried Mr Tamta has approached several senior ministers in his government for help but, so far, nothing has come of his efforts.

Meanwhile, he continues to occupy an MPs flat in Kaveri Apartments. Mr Tamta is not the only minister waiting for an official bungalow. His colleague Ramdas Athawale has been staying at the Maharashtra Sadan for nearly three years now, as he is yet to be allotted suitable accommodation.

Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP president Amit Shah are reputed to be unapproachable to party members, specially those seeking favours, the genial finance minister Arun Jaitley has emerged as a soft target for anybody and everybody with a grievance or a demand.

When Mr Shah decreed that no sitting councillor will be fielded again in the coming municipal elections, Mr Jaitley was besieged by party old-timers who faced the prospect of sitting out.

While some sought a fresh look at this policy on the plea that their wives would disown them if they were forced to stay at home, others pressed for a ticket for a family member, ranging from brother, son, daughter, wife, sister and daughter-in-law.

Now as the date for the election of the next President and vice-president draws closer, governors and other hopefuls are also making a beeline to the finance ministers residence to plead their case.

Since a harried Mr Jaitley has now decided not to entertain requests for appointments from governors, Manipur governor Najma Heptulla called on a nominated Rajya Sabha member, who is known to be close to the finance minister.

She even promised to allot more time to nominated members in debates if she was made vice-president who doubles as Rajya Sabha chairman.
Beijing has construed this as Indias devious way of deploying the monk for diplomatic and political purposes.

China has gone ballistic about the visit of the Dalai Lama to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. This is not the first time the spiritual leader has visited Tawang, as Beijing itself noted. But it says that the reason for its strong response this time around is that the famous monk was received in Arunachal Pradesh by a State representative, Union minister of state for home Kiran Rijiju.

Beijing has construed this as Indias devious way of deploying the monk for diplomatic and political purposes. This is complete nonsense, of course. But a larger point needs to be made here.

The Nobel peace prize-winning head of Tibetan Buddhism, who sought refuge in India in 1959 after his country was invaded by the Chinese communists in 1950, is not inhibited from travelling anywhere in India, and New Delhi regards Tawang as an integral part of the country, notwithstanding the fanciful Chinese claim to the area merely because the sixth Dalai Lama was said to have been born there in the 17th century.

Tawang, incidentally, was part of British India and this status was undisputed. Besides, how can godless communists claim a region even if a long-ago Buddhist spiritual leader was born there? This defies logic.

As for Tibet itself, the British enjoyed influence over it and maintained a garrison in Lhasa. It was not a part of China. The North East Frontier Agency or NEFA (the former name for Arunachal Pradesh) lay to the south of Tibet but was not South Tibet, as the Chinese have spuriously claimed by not recognising the McMahon Line which demarcated British India from Tibet.

Beijings Tawang claim is clearly nothing more than an attempt at land grab, and a means of possessing a bargaining chip in demarcating the undefined boundary represented by the McMahon Line after swallowing up Indian territory in Aksai Chin. Tawang, in any case, is well to the south of the McMahon Line.

By letting the Dalai Lama proceed to Arunachal Pradesh (the holy man will be there for the next four days), India has damaged Chinas core interests, asserts Beijing. By doing so, New Delhi has also damaged India-China relations with its eyes open, and thus exposed itself to retribution by Beijing, China has officially stated. In the Chinese view  put out by the State and communist party media  the Indian action is a tit-for tat for Beijing blocking Indias membership of the Nuclear Supplier Group and coming in the way of the UN sanctioning the Pakistani terrorist leader Masood Azhar.
Google has also gone ahead to implement fact policing on its websites too.

YouTube is now cracking down heavily on those who post extremist and pirated videos on the streaming portal. To do this, they are implementing a new move which will cut down revenue of those who put up videos occasionally.

YouTube has said that they will start placing advertisements only on those videos which have crossed more than 10,000 views.

YouTube will now start blocking ads to videos that receive a low interest  less than 10,000 views. This move comes after major brands started pulling out their ad business from YouTube after fearing that they would be indirectly funding terrorism and illegal activities on the video platform. This move also came in after Google failed to police the videos that were being showcased on their streaming service platform, reported The Telegraph, UK.

The British Government, Tesco, Royal Bank of Scotland, McDonalds are some of them who have refused to give ads to Google/YouTube after they found their advertisements featured on extremist videos. Google was also forced to publicly apologise in March after the companies withdrew their advertisements.

YouTubes new policy should not affect those who are earning a living from YouTubing, but the service said that the new threshold will give Google enough information to determine the validity of the said channels.

Google has also gone ahead to implement the policing on its websites by adding Fact Check as a feature to the search engine. This new feature can help prevent spreading of fake news and Google will also implement a true, mostly false and pants on fire ratings to help identify such news, with the help of fact checking organisations such as Snopes and Politifact. The fact checking will not be from Google and will be presented to people so that they can make more informed judgements.

Google also said earlier that they will be employing more staff to do fact checks manually rather than wait for people to flag them. The move was welcomed by the IBSA, a trade body that represents British Advertisers.

(source)
The president peppered his advisers with questions, according to national security adviser H.R. McMaster.

Small children foaming at the mouth and in agony after Chemical attack in Syria. (Photo: AP)

Palm Beach: President Donald Trump first saw the photos Tuesday morning.

The images were ghastly. Men and women gasping for breath. Small children foaming at the mouth and in agony. The lifeless bodies of babies sprawled on the ground.

This was the aftermath of a chemical attack ordered by Syrian President Bashar Assad, who the U.S. would soon conclude had unleashed sarin gas, a brutal nerve toxin, on his own people.

The president peppered his advisers with questions, according to national security adviser H.R. McMaster, who later said Trump was immediately focused on getting to the bottom of "who was responsible." By the end of the briefing, the president had dispatched his team to draw up options for a response.

The leap to considering intervention was remarkable. In 2013, Trump had argued against military intervention in Syria when it was President Barack Obama's decision to make. He had hardly portrayed himself as a humanitarian crusader on the campaign, when he adopted the slogan "America First."

Just last week, the White House declared itself resigned to the status quo of a Syria led by Assad. It was "a political reality that we have to accept," White House spokesman Sean Spicer had said.

But as Trump spent Tuesday in meetings about the nation's business climate and his infrastructure plan, the images from Syria weighed on him, his aides said. He was disturbed by images of "babies," some the ages of his grandchildren.

Tuesday evening the National Security Council's Deputies Committee briefed Trump with options, a meeting that set in motion a new president's startling transformation from resigned to resolved to act.

He revealed his horror, saying the images "of innocent children, innocent babies" killed by poison gas were causing him to rethink his approach on Syria.

"It's very, very possible, and I will tell you it has already happened, that my attitude toward Syria and Assad has changed very much," Trump said. The attack "crossed a lot of lines for me." "I now have responsibility," Trump said, "and I will have that responsibility and carry it very proudly."

Later that afternoon, Trump convened a meeting his top national security advisers to review three options ranging in levels of risk and scope. The details on each are not clear. But a U.S. official with knowledge of the proposals said one plan would have targeted a number of chemical weapons sites, a move that would have directly diminished Assad's ability to carry out future attacks.

But the military was concerned that if an attack resulted in chemical agents being dispersed, the U.S. could be blamed for any sickness or death, said the official, who was not authorized to discuss secret military plans.

Another option was the firing of Tomahawk missiles at an air field, an attack viewed as sending a signal to Assad. It was recommended by the Pentagon, the official said, and the one Trump would ultimately choose. But not yet. Trump agreed to meet with the team again Thursday.

Trump and a number of aides were flying to the president's Mar-a-Lago resort for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The much-anticipated meeting, unbeknownst to the reporters onboard, would soon be overshadowed.

Elsewhere on that same aircraft, Trump convened his national security team and consulted with others, including Vice President Mike Pence, over secure video conference to discuss the options again. The president was close to a decision.

After the meeting he stopped by the press cabin to talk to reporters. As a scene from the "Star Wars" movie "Rogue One" played on the TV over his shoulder, he called the chemical attack "a disgrace to humanity" and hinted that "something should happen," but offered no further details.

Shortly after landing in Florida, Trump and the team huddled again, this time in a freshly constructed secure room at Trump's palatial oceanside estate. Trump then gave approval to launch nearly 60 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the airfield believed to be the source of the chemical attacks
Khan said that verdict of the Supreme Court in Panama Leaks case would change the politics in the country.

Islamabad: Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan said on Friday that he wanted to become the Prime Minister for human development and institution building.

Addressing a business summit in Islamabad, Mr Khan said that verdict of the Supreme Court in Panama Leaks case would change the politics in the country. Democratic system was weakened over repeated military intervention, he said.

Mr Khan said that his political struggle was always reduced to desiring premiership and he sure does want to become the Prime Minister of Pakistan for two main reasons. He wanted to work towards human development in Pakistan and institution building.

The PTI chief said that he got educated over politics in university and he would not have been a politician if not for stay in Britain. People join politics to make money and that all for them, he asserted.

While talking about PTI governance in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, he said that police was depoliticised. He said that all political parties demanded probe into Panama Leaks. PTI stands for justice in Pakistan over Panama Leaks case, he said.

He hoped that the verdict in the corruption case would be released in coming week.

Mr Khan said that the societies which do not bring change are destroyed with the passage of time. Election fixers have now become match fixers, he added.

He said that funds were invested in future of people in Khyber Pakhtunkhaw and not on roads in the province.
Johnson discussed the move with his US counterpart last night after the US launched 59 tomahawk cruise missiles at the Shayrat airbase.

The visit has been scrapped after strategic talks between London and Washington, about how the West should approach Russia in the wake of the military action. (Photo: AP)

London: British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has cancelled his trip to Moscow following US missile strikes in Syria, which Moscow has denounced.

The visit has been scrapped after strategic talks between London and Washington, about how the West should approach Russia in the wake of the military action, reports the Independent.

The trip planned by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will still go ahead later in the week, with Johnson leading efforts to bring together a coalition against Russian action in Syria and the regime of Bashar Assad.

Johnson discussed the move with his US counterpart last night after the US launched 59 tomahawk cruise missiles at the Shayrat airbase in Syria, following intelligence that deadly chemical weapons attacks on civilians originated there.

Johnson said in a statement, "Developments in Syria have changed the situation fundamentally. My priority is now to continue contact with the US and others in the run up to the G7 meeting on 10 and 11 April, to build coordinated international support for a ceasefire on the ground and an intensified political process. I will be working to arrange for other like-minded partners to meet and explore next steps soon too.

"I discussed these plans in detail with Secretary Tillerson. He will visit Moscow as planned and, following the G7 meeting, will be able to deliver that clear and coordinated message to the Russians," he added.

He also deplored Russia's continued defence of the Bashar al-Assad regime even after the chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians.

"We call on Russia to do everything possible to bring about a political settlement in Syria and work with the rest of the international community to ensure that the shocking events of the last week are never repeated," he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin denounced the strike as "act of aggression" and said it violated international law.

Russia earlier this week denied a chemical weapons attack took place in Syria saying the deaths in Khan Sheikhoun were caused by a Syrian regime airstrike on a rebel-controlled chemical weapons factory on the ground.

According to the Independent, London and Washington agreed that while Mr Tillerson would head into meetings with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Johnson will drum up support among G7 nations to address Russia's actions in Syria ahead of Tuesday's meeting of the group.

He will push for counterparts to adopt goals, including a transition away from Assad in Syria, Russia demilitarisation in the country and plans to rebuild infrastructure alongside any peace deal.
No one has claimed responsibility for the Stockholm attack, the third in Europe in two weeks after those in London and Saint Petersburg.

A police officer stands at the cordoned off area following a suspected terror attack on the Drottninggatan Street in central Stockholm, Sweden. (Photo: AP)

Stockholm (Sweden): Flags flew at half-mast across Stockholm on Saturday as the city woke in mourning, a day after a truck attack that killed four as police said they had the suspected driver in custody.

A stolen beer truck ploughed into a crowd of people at the corner of the bustling Ahlens department store and the pedestrian street Drottninggatan on Friday afternoon, above ground from Stockholm's central subway station.

It was the latest in a string of similar assaults with vehicles in Europe, including in London, Berlin and the southern French city of Nice, all claimed by the so-called Islamic State (IS).

No one has claimed responsibility for the Stockholm attack, the third in Europe in two weeks after those in London and Saint Petersburg. Fifteen people were injured in the Stockholm attack, nine of whom remained in hospital on Saturday.

"Terror hits the heart of the city," Sweden's biggest broadsheet Dagens Nyheter headlined its front page above a picture of the truck with its front end smashed into the store.

Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said he had strengthened the country's border controls, as flags flew at half-mast at parliament, the royal palace, the government offices, and City Hall.

"Terrorists want us to be afraid, want us to change our behaviour, want us to not live our lives normally, but that is what we're going to do. So terrorists can never defeat Sweden, never," Lofven said.

Streets were empty on Saturday morning, apart from a heavy police presence. A small crowd milled by the security cordon around the scene, as passersby laid down flowers.

Suspected driver in custody

Swedish police said early Saturday that a man arrested on "suspicion of a terrorist crime" was likely the truck driver. "We suspect that the man who was arrested is the perpetrator," Stockholm police spokesman Lars Bystrom told AFP.

The man was arrested "on suspicion of a terrorist crime through murder," Karin Rosander, spokeswoman at the Swedish Prosecution Authority, said.

The man was detained on Friday in Marsta, a suburb north of Stockholm. According to several media outlets, he is a 39-year-old of Uzbek origin and an IS supporter.

Prosecutors did not disclose his identity, but police said his appearance "matched the description" of a photo they released of a suspect wearing a dark hoodie and military green jacket.

"The Jihadist threat has long been minimised," Swedish daily Expressen wrote on Saturday, though there was no official confirmation that police were investigating that possibility.

'Terrifying'

Witnesses described scenes of terror and panic on Friday. "A massive truck starts driving ... and mangles everything and just drives over exactly everything," eyewitness Rikard Gauffin told AFP.

"It was so terrible and there were bodies lying everywhere... it was really terrifying," he added. Passerby Hasan Sidi told Aftonbladet he saw two elderly women lying on the ground.

He said people at the scene urged him to help one of the women who was "bleeding to death". "One of them died... I don't know if the other one made it," Sidi said.

The truck was towed away in the early hours of Saturday. Police cars and ambulances rapidly flooded the scene after the attack, as central streets and squares were blocked off amid fears that another attack could be imminent.

'It was expected'

An attack on Stockholm was just a matter of time, the head of the Centre for Asymmetric Threat Studies at the Swedish National Defence College, Magnus Ranstorp, told AFP.

"It was pretty expected, the police and intelligence agency have practised for this several times the past year... We just didn't know when it was going to happen," he said.

Friday's attack was the latest in a string of similar assaults with vehicles in Europe, including in London, Berlin and the southern French city of Nice.

The deadliest came last year in France on the July 14 Bastille Day national holiday, when a man rammed a truck into a crowd in the Mediterranean resort of Nice, killing 86 people.

Last month, Khalid Masood, a 52-year-old convert to Islam known to British security services, killed five people when he drove a car at high speed into pedestrians on London's Westminster Bridge before launching a frenzied knife attack on a policeman guarding the parliament building.

And in December, a man hijacked a truck and slammed into shoppers at a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people.

In 2014, IS called for attacks on citizens of Western countries and gave instructions on how they could be carried out without military equipment, using rocks or knives, or by running people over in vehicles.

Friday's attack was the second terror attack in Stockholm. In December 2010, a suicide bomber blew himself up, also on the Drottninggatan pedestrian street, lightly injuring several passersby.
Lofven said

Police have arrested one suspect in the truck attack but would not say if they are hunting for any others. (Photo: AFP)

Stockholm: Sweden said on Saturday it had strengthened border controls after an unidentified attacker ploughed a truck through a crowd into a department store in central Stockholm, killing four people and injuring 15.

"I have decided to strengthen our border controls," Prime Minister Stefan Lofven told reporters, as police said they were still hunting the truck driver.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said "the country is in a state of shock" over the stolen beer truck attack that killed four people and wounded 15 others in downtown Stockholm.

Lofven said "the aim of terrorism is to undermine democracy. But such a goal will never be achieved in Sweden."

Police have arrested one suspect in the truck attack but would not say if they are hunting for any others. They discouraged people from going into central Stockholm on Friday night, and the national theater, which is near the crash site, canceled three plays.

Lofven said in a national televised address that his Social Democratic Party was still planning to hold its annual convention this weekend in Goteborg, Sweden's second-largest city.

Meanwhile, Swedish police said they have arrested one man "whom we are particularly interested in" in the deadly stolen beer truck attack in Stockholm.

Jan Evensson from the Stockholm police told a news conference late Friday the man was arrested in Marsta, a northern Stockholm suburb close to the city's international airport, Arlanda. He says the man was "in the vicinity" of the truck crash that killed four people and wounded 15 others on a pedestrian street in the Swedish capital.

He says the suspect was spotted by a police patrol and was in a police photo released earlier Friday wearing a greenish hood at the top of an escalator. Stefan Hector of the Sweden's national police says "we have a working hypothesis this is an act of terror." Evensson urged people not to go into central Stockholm for the time being.
The statement also criticized "the hasty interventions" that followed the chemical attack, in an apparent reference to the US strikes.

Pence and Abadi discussed the situation in Syria and the war on Islamic State in a phone call from Pence following Friday's US strikes on a Syrian airbase. (Photo: AFP)

US Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday assured Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of continued US support to defeat Islamic State, the Iraqi government said in a statement.

The two discussed the situation in Syria and the war on Islamic State in a phone call from Pence following Friday's US strikes on a Syrian airbase to punish a chemical attack that killed scores of civilians this week in an area held by the opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Pence "affirmed that U.S. policy in the region didn't change, its priority is to defeat Daesh in Iraq and the region," said a statement from Abadi's office.

The Shi'ite-led Iraqi government issued a statement on Friday in reaction to the events in Syria reflecting a difficult balancing act between its alliance with the United States and with Shi'ite Iran, a key backer of Assad.The Iraqi statement condemned the chemical attack, without naming Assad, calling instead for an international investigation to identify the perpetrator.

The statement also criticized "the hasty interventions" that followed the chemical attack, in an apparent reference to the US strikes.

A US-led coalition has been providing air and ground support to Iraqi forces battling the militants, allowing them to recapture most cities they had overran in 2014 in Sunni areas of northern and western Iraq.

An Iranian-backed Iraqi Shi'ite militia said on Friday it would keep on fighting in Syria in support of Assad, despite the US missile strikes.

"Our movement is proceeding on the path of jihad and resistance, and our position concerning the war in Syria won't change," al-Nujaba spokesman Hashim al-Musawi said in a statement.

Al-Nujaba is one of the groups accused by human rights organizations of killing scores of fleeing civilians in the Syrian city of Aleppo last year.

Iran, by leveraging its ties with Iraq's Shi'ites, has emerged as the main power broker in Iraq after the United States withdrew its troops in 2011.
59 Tomahawk missiles fired at Shayrat airfield in Syria in Trumps biggest foreign policy decision.

This photo made from the footage taken from the Russian defence ministry official website on Friday shows shelters for aircraft at a Syrian airbase after it was hit by US Tomahawk cruise missiles. (Photo: AP)

Beirut: US forces fired a barrage of cruise missiles at a Syrian airbase Friday in response to what President Donald Trump called a barbaric chemical attack he blamed on the Damascus regime.

The massive strike  the first direct US action against President Bashar al-Assads government and Mr Trumps biggest military decision  marked a dramatic escalation in American involvement in Syrias six-year civil war.

US said 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired.

Syrias regime denounced the strike as a flagrant aggression and state news agency said nine civilians including four children were killed.

Mr Assads office called the attack foolish and irresponsible. What America did is nothing but foolish and irresponsible behaviour, which only reveals its short-sightedness and political and military blindness to reality.

The attack was denounced by Iran and Russia, with Moscow warning that it would inflict considerable damage on US-Russia ties and halting an agreement with Washington aimed at avoiding clashes in Syrian airspace.

The UN Security Council met in an emergency session on Friday to discuss the US action.
Weeratunga is alleged to have committed financial misappropriation of USD 14 million while purchasing 4 Ukraine-built MIG-27 aircraft.

Colombo Fort Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne had earlier issued a warrant through Interpol for the arrest of Weeratunga. (Photo: AP)

Colombo: An international warrant has been issued for the arrest Sri Lanka's former ambassador to Russia, Udayanga Weeratunga, the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) of Sri Lanka police has informed the court.

The FCID informed the Colombo Fort Magistrate Friday that they were yet to ascertain the ex-diplomat's exact address in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and steps have been taken to execute the warrant against him, reports Colombo Page.

Colombo Fort Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne had earlier issued a warrant through Interpol for the arrest of Weeratunga.

Weeratunga, a relative of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, is alleged to have committed financial misappropriation to the tune of USD 14 million while purchasing four Ukraine-built MIG-27 aircraft for the Sri Lanka Air Force in 2005.

The FCID told the court that it was investigating whether the former Ambassador had invested money earned through the Mig-27 transaction in a company called Sri Lankan Limited Liability Company in Moscow.
The announcement came days after the Pentagon said it would deploy some 300 US Marines to the southern province of Helmand.

The US still has some 8,400 troops in Afghanistan. (Representational Photo: AFP)

Kabul: The United States will deploy 1,500 soldiers from Alaska to Afghanistan later this year as part of a regular rotation of forces in support of Washington's counter-terrorism operation against the remnants of al-Qaeda.

"These soldiers train rigorously in a wide range of climates and environments. I am fully confident in their ability to excel and overcome any challenges they will face during this deployment," Maj. Gen. Bryan Owens, the commanding general of US Army Alaska, said in a statement.

The deployment of the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, is part of a regular rotation of forces in support of Operation Freedom's Sentinel, reports Khaama Press.

US troops in Afghanistan are split between two missions - NATO's Resolute Support mission to advise Afghan security forces and the Freedom's Sentinel, the U.S counter-terrorism operation against the remnants of al-Qaeda; an emerging offshoot of Daesh; and other terrorists groups.

The US still has some 8,400 troops in Afghanistan.

The announcement came days after the Pentagon said it would deploy some 300 US Marines to the southern province of Helmand.
by Mathias Hariyadi

Affected by syringomyelia, the woman's health improved with medical marijuana. After her husbands arrest, the therapy stopped, and her health deteriorated until her death 32 days later. Activists call for the release of the single father of two.

Jakarta (AsiaNews)  Indonesias Anti-Narcotics Agency (BNN) arrested Fidelis Arie Sudewarto, a 36-year-old Catholic living in Sanggau, a regency (district) in West Kalimantan province, for growing 39 cannabis sativa plants in his yard for medical purpose to help his wife, Yeni Riawati, who was seriously ill.

Riawati died 32 days after her husbands arrest because she could no longer take the plant to treat syringomyelia, a disorder in which a cyst or cavity forms inside the spinal cord.

Sudewarto worked for the Sanggau Regency, whilst his wife Riawati taught at the public middle school in Mukok. They have two children, 15 and 3.

During her second pregnancy, she experienced the first symptoms of the disorder with paralysis in the right leg. "Local doctors could not understand what was causing her illness," said Yohana Suyati, Riawatis older sister.

During the five months that followed her second childs birth, Riawatis conditions worsened with her left leg becoming paralysed. Eventually, an MRI revealed that she had syringomyelia.

After improving following to traditional reflexological treatment, she had a relapse, diagnosed by doctors as psychological. For this reason, Riawati was admitted to a psychiatric hospital.

An operation was performed at a hospital in Singkawang to remove the cyst. The surgery had serious side effects, forcing Riawati to stay in bed completely immobile, as if dead.

At this point, her husband Sudewarto began growing cannabis sativa. The therapy had positive effects, with Riawati making a slow recovery and regaining mobility in her the arms and legs.

This went on until her husbands arrest by Indonesias anti-drug agency. After that, it was all downhill for Riawati until she died.

Since Riawatis death, the case has grabbed media attention, first in the province, then nationwide.

Some human rights groups have criticised Sudewartos arrest in light of his motives for growing cannabis.

For Misero, from the Legal Aid Foundation, the BNN should not have charged Sudewarto despite Law N. 35, which bans growing marijuana in view of the "humanitarian nature of the case. For him, the law should be amended.

Riawatis medical treatment was stopped by force, with the result that her children lost both their mother and father.

According to Narayana, from the Nusantare Drug Circle, other people have been arrested for the same reason.

In Indonesia drug abuse is a major problem. Cannabis is mostly grown in the mountainous province of Aceh. From here, the banned drug is smuggled to Java to avoid inspections by the BNN and other law enforcement agencies.
Since the nuclear deal came into effect, foreign tourist arrivals more than doubled. The goal is increase them from 4.8 million in 2014 to 20 million in 2025. Tehran alone saw a 13 per cent jump in foreign arrivals. The government plans tax breaks to bolster the sector.

Tehran (AsiaNews)  Iran is turning to tourism to bolster its economy after years of sanctions imposed because of its nuclear programme.

The 2015 landmark nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) gives Tehran access to western business opportunities.

According to Irans Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organisation (CHTHO), foreign tourist arrivals in Iran have been more than doubled compared to the global average since the implementation of the deal.

CHTHO Director Zahra Ahmadipour has said that her country needs to breathe fresh air into the sector in order to achieve sustainable growth and profit from the boom in the number of foreign arrivals.

In order improve the sector, the CHTHO plans to bring a variety of Iranian hotels, accommodation and other services under a single umbrella brand to provide travellers with guaranteed standards.

This comes after years of embargo. Western economic sanctions were eased in 2015 in exchange for a deal on the countrys controversial nuclear programme.

Largely welcomed by the international community, the deal has been a boost for the economy and investments, stimulating urban renewal and reforms in the energy sector.

The governments 2025 Tourism Vision Plan expects to increase the number of tourism arrivals from 4.8 million in 2014 to 20 million in 2025.

Before international sanctions, Iran was one of the most popular tourist destinations. Now Forbes Magazine is promoting Iran as one of The 10 Coolest Places to Go in 2017.

In September 2016, Mastercard Global Destinations Cities Index released its annual report, placing Tehran in ninth place of the top-ten fastest growing destination cities based on the 132 most visited cities in the world. The report notes that Tehran saw a 13 per cent growth in terms of international overnight visitor arrivals.

Massive efforts made by the government with the private sector have stimulated growth. However, in comparison to established international norms, tourism is pretty young in Iran resulting in quite poor accommodation and transport infrastructure in many parts of the country.

However, French multinational hotel group AccorHotels has massive plans to build 100 hotels across Iran within a decade.

To make it easier and more profitable for investors, Iranian authorities are offering to grant years of tax exemption to both domestic and foreign businesses and individuals as an incentive to invest in the sector.

This should favour growth in a country that offers natural beauties, major historical and cultural sites (21 on the UNESCO World Heritage list), and original destinations, from the ski slopes of the Alborz mountains to the beaches of the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea.

Of course visitors will have to comply with local laws and customs, such as no alcohol and compulsory head covering for women in public, in accordance with Sharia (Islamic law).

However, for Melissa Biggs Bradley, founder of the travel website Indagare, this is more than offset by Iranians natural hospitality.

I have never felt more genuinely welcomed by the local people in any of the more than 100 countries I have visited, Biggs Bradley wrote.
Proposal to ban the custom fails. For Shabudin Yahaya, girls as young as nine are physically and spiritually ready for marriage. Under Islamic law, children under 16 can marry, a practice used to avoid prosecution in rape cases.

Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews) - The Malaysian parliament approved a bill on sexual offences against children without outlawing child marriage.

Opposition MP Teo Nie Ching had proposed banning child marriage, but her amendment failed to win support in parliament in the Muslim majority country.

During the debate, Shabudin Yahaya, a member of the Barisan Nasional coalition, said that girls as young as nine were "physically and spiritually" ready for marriage.

"They reach puberty at the age of nine or 12. And at that time, their body is already akin to them being 18 years old. So physically and spiritually, it is not a barrier for the girl to marry," he said.

He also added that in his view there was "nothing wrong" with a rape victim marrying her rapist to avoid a "bleak future".

Shabudin's comments sparked outrage, with some opposition politicians calling on for him to resign.

In a statement on Wednesday, Shabudin said his comments were taken out of context, and that marriage was not a "back door exit to legalise rape, noting that he rejected the motion to ban child marriages as it is contrary to provisions in Islamic law (Sharia).

Under both civil law and Islamic law, girls and boys under 18 can marry. Civil law sets the minimum age of marriage at 18, but those above 16 can marry with the permission of their state's chief minister.

Under Islamic law, children younger than 16 can get married if the Sharia courts allow it.

The new law criminalises "grooming"  touching and befriending children as a prelude to sexual abuse  and spells out penalties for making and possessing child pornography. However, the law does not mention child marriage.

Critics argue that this allows offenders to get away with rape through marriage. Spousal abuse is not an offence under Islamic and Malaysian law.

Over the years, several rapists have married their victims, including underage girls, to avoid prosecution.
For the US president, there has been "tremendous progress" in friendship. The two sides agree to a 100-day plan to address the trade imbalance. Chinese are silent on North Korea and maritime disputes. The US was silent cooperation in the fight against corruption.

Mar-a-Lago (AsiaNews/Agencies)  Nothing much can be said about the two-day visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Donald Trump, his US counterpart.

Against the lavish and fabulous backdrop of the US leaders huge estate, the two agreed that Trump would visit China, and that the countries would enhance economic and military discussions.

Few details have emerged so far. Still, for the US president, tremendous progress has been made.

"Both the atmosphere and the chemistry between the two leaders was positive," said US Secretary of State Mr Tillerson, who added that Trump plans to visit China this year, but gave any timeframe.

The two sides agreed to a 100-day plan to discuss trade to address the US trade deficit with China, said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. No details were given. However, "I think that's a very important symbolisation of the growing rapport between the two countries," Mr Ross said.

Media reported that the focus is now on a new US-China comprehensive dialogue headed by the two presidents. This will be based on four pillars: diplomacy and security, economics, law enforcement and cyber security, and social and cultural issues. The new approach is meant to replace the previous "Strategic and Economic Dialogue".

In his statements, Tillerson mentioned North Korea and maritime disputes in the South China Sea. Xi failed to mention either issue, according to what was reported in Xinhua. Both however cited greater military cooperation between the two countries.

The Chinese also noted that the two countries plan to work together to fight corruption, making it easier for the US to repatriate to China corrupt fugitives. The US statement failed to mention this.
How To Wear A Navy Suit

Own A Navy Suit? Here's How To Wear It With Major Style

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.

The colour navy gets a bad rap for being boring. That's probably part due to its association with uniform, but were here to tell you otherwise  particularly when it comes to the navy suit.

Firstly, and for the benefit of any pedants reading this, lets just say that by "navy" we really mean any definition of dark blue that could conceivably be described by the term. And that means options, lots of them. Whats more, navy is without doubt the most versatile colour in the palette.

Its difficult to think of a colour that wouldnt be nicely offset by navy which, given the trepidation that some men approach their wardrobes with, is a marvellous quality to have. A rich navy suit will brilliantly frame a crisp white shirt in a work environment for example, while a softer navy suit of an Italian style matches perfectly with just about any pastel tones for a less formal look. On the other hand, a very deep midnight blue evening suit surpasses the traditional black version for character and charm for our money.

RELATED: Your Ultimate Guide To Buying A Suit

Thankfully, all this has not been lost on menswear brands, which have been busy the last few seasons producing really interesting hues of this time-honoured classic. Here's how to make a navy suit look cool whatever the occasion.

Formal

While the classic black tuxedo suit is typically something you slip into on a handful of occasions per year, its navy cousin is far more versatile and can more easily be used as smart-casual separates. That said, dont underestimate its impact at a formal function. While everyone else is sporting monochrome, a rich midnight blue evening suit can really stand out from the crowd.

All the usual rules for fit apply but your main consideration should be fabric, namely wool or velvet. You might think a traditional woollen yarn might be better bang for the buck, but a velvet smoking jacket is an excellent option for casual evening use when paired with a roll-neck sweater. A wool or cotton version might be better suited for smart day-wear though, when you can wear it with some suede driving shoes and a simple t-shirt. Dont think that you need to stay on the right side of convention with a silk contrast shawl collar. Increasingly, suit makers such as Richard James are producing evening suits with matching peak or notch lapels and often in patterned fabrics, making them much easier to wear during the day.

Work

In an office environment, there is a lot to be said for stepping out in a navy suit while all around you play it safe with charcoal grey. Want to be viewed as creative? A calculated risk-taker? Theres a navy suit for that, sir. Nevertheless, provided youre not looking for something that packs a punch, it would be wise to stick to a more literal interpretation of navy, rather than stray into the realms of cobalt and such like. Normal rules apply with regards to fit and style but one thing you should look out for is the fabric quality. Cheap navy suits made from a synthetic blend will shine up after some use and thats rarely a good look under office lights, unlike wool which will retain a natural lustre. If youre only looking to wear the suit at work, then opt for the classic two- or three-button single-breasted jacket, whereas a one-button jacket will be better able to make the casual crossover for post-work drinks and weekend wear.

Casual

No longer merely business uniform, the contemporary navy suit can also play an integral part in your smart-casual wardrobe provided you follow a few simple rules. For starters, steer clear of two- and three-button suits and instead plump for the one-button version. It looks less formal and more dynamic, especially when fastened. Secondly, we suggest going for a notch lapel over a peak style for the similar reason that the peak is traditionally the more formal of the two. Where you can really get creative is with fabric choice such as textured wools and wool blends although these usually come at a high price. By far the best way to wear a casual suit is with a simple neutral coloured t-shirt. Since navy is incredibly versatile, dont be afraid to add bold colours. Crisp white always works well, but lighter blues and pastel colours are also excellent t-shirt options. Add a little roll up to the trousers and wear with suede loafers for some summer flair (in cooler climes, a fine-gauge crew-neck sweater will also do a sterling job beneath the suit) or go for some lo-fi sneakers.

We Recommend

Frank + Oak Cotton Suit

For less than the cost of a night out, this navy suit by Frank + Oak is a great option as a back-up suit for work that will transition well to smart-casual. Thanks to its cotton make, it will feel as luxurious as ever and its cut nicely with a tailored fit that isnt too waisted.

$169.00 at FrankAndOak.com

Topman Travel Series Suit

Topmans new Travel Series navy suit is as versatile as youll find. Its crease-resistant wool is also completely breathable while the narrow lapels give it a smooth contemporary edge, perfect for work or play.

$450.00 at Topman.com

Suit Supply Slim Fit Suit

Suit Supplys pinstripe Napoli suit cut from Barberis cloth is an absolute steal at $639. The narrow stripe lends it authority and will improve your stature. Its nicely waisted in an Italian style with soft shoulders, making it a great option for the office this summer.

$639.00 at SuitSupply.com

Indochino Nailhead Pinstripe Suit

Indochino's suits are customizable at purchase  so you know it will fit perfectly once it gets to you. To shake up the office, this navy check three-piece has plenty of character without going overboard. The peak lapel ensures its formality so save this one for the boardroom.

$400.00 at Indochino.com

AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service. To find out more, please read our complete terms of use.
McNulty

Jim McNulty, past president of the Automotive Fleet & Leasing Association (AFLA) and more recently the owner of Lone Star Auto Auction in Lubbock, Texas, passed away on March 9, 2017, from complications of esophageal cancer.

He was 71.

McNulty began his fleet career at Apple Chevrolet in Chicago in the early 1980s and later at a Dodge dealership in Des Plaines, Ill. He was an active member of AFLA and served as the associations president from 1994-1995.

In the early 1990s, McNulty met his future wife Billy June (BJ) Martin-West, who founded Lone Star Auto Auction in 1988. They were married on March 10, 1993 in Hawaii and McNulty moved to Texas. Together they co-owned and operated the seven-lane Lone Star Auto Auction and other automotive operations in Lubbock. BJ passed away in 2006 at the age of 58.

McNulty continued as the owner of the auction until it was sold to the XLerate Group on Dec. 1, 2016. Following the sale to the XLerate Group, McNulty retired from the auction business. The management of Lone Star Auto Auction was taken over by McNultys general manager Dale Martin, his brother-in-law, who will operate under the new ownership by the XLerate Group.

In his free time, McNulty was an avid horseman and a team roper. In addition, McNulty was a military veteran and served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War.

He is survived by his children, Kelly McNulty-Eig and James Patrick McNulty III.
There are enemies lurking in our society that could be just as deadly as a terrorist attack. They are known as viruses and diseases.

"Over the last 10 decades there have been about 30 newly emerging diseases that have the potential to be pandemics," says Dr. Larry Brilliant, an epidemiologist featured in CNN Films' "Unseen Enemy."

"If we do nothing, it's not a matter of if there will be a global pandemic, it's just a matter of when -- and which virus, and how bad."

Take Zika, for example. The virus first emerged in the Zika forest of Uganda in 1947. It made headlines in November 2015 when health officials reported a concerning number of babies born in Brazil with microcephaly, a neurological birth defect in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and can have underdeveloped brains.

In 2016, Zika was imported to the US by travelers who were infected while visiting areas where the virus was being transmitted. In July 2016 the first locally transmitted cases in the continental US were reported in Florida and in November 2016 local transmission was confirmed in Texas.

The virus is transmitted primarily by infected mosquitoes and unprotected sex, and can be passed from a pregnant woman to her fetus.

There is currently no vaccine available, but the United Nations health agency released a strategic response plan to fight the spread of Zika. It focuses on preventing and managing medical complications caused by the infection, which could cost up to $121.9 million, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

There are several organizations aiding those already infected with the virus and helping others with prevention by providing insect repellant and awareness, in addition to funding for diagnostic tests and vaccines.

Like Zika, mosquitoes of a different type, are the culprit behind malaria.

Typically, malaria causes fever, chills, vomiting and flu-like illness, according to the CDC. If not treated, it can be deadly.

The disease infects more than 200 million people each year around the globe, killing nearly half a million, according to the World Health Organization. The United Nations Foundation reports that every 45 seconds a child in Africa dies from malaria.

The global malaria eradication program set out to make the world malaria-free when it launched in 1955. The campaign helped eliminate the disease from Europe, North America, the Caribbean and parts of Asia and South America, but had virtually no success in sub-Saharan Africa.

Today 80% of those with malaria live in that area. (It is interesting to note that small pox is currently the only disease that has ever been eradicated.)

There are charities responding to malaria by providing insecticide-treated nets and funding to help educate people about the disease.

Even as technology advances and scientific discoveries are made, diseases like malaria and viruses like Zika will undoubtedly strike.

"We are more vulnerable because of our mobility," says Dr. Peter Piot, a microbiologist featured in "Unseen Enemy."

"We are living more and more in very crowded cities. That's fantastic from the perspective of a virus because in no time it can infect hundreds of thousands of people."

But there is a way we can help prevent sickness -- giving everyone access to clean water, according to the CDC.

One billion people do not use drinking water from improved sources. More than 2 billion do not use a sanitary toilet, according to the WHO.

Clean water is essential for drinking, cooking and bathing...for life.

Many organizations have heeded the call and are helping provide clean water by repairing pipes on damaged wells, mobilizing drill rigs and donating tanks that collect and store rainwater that runs off roofs.

You can make an impact on an unseen enemy.

CNN's Christopher Dawson contributed to this report.
8 April 2017 10:28 (UTC+04:00)

There were several important events that occurred in the South Caucasus over the past few days: a year has passed since the beginning of April clashes for Karabakh, parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on the same day, and President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev visited Baku the next day. The deputy director general of MIA Trend, political scientist, Arzu Nagiyev, discussed these events and how they are connected in an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza.

- What are the main results of clashes for Karabakh that happened on April 2-5, 2016?

- One of the highlights of four-day war in Nagorno-Karabakh was an unprecedented rise in the morale of Azerbaijanis. After the escalation many people have realized that the myth of invincibility of the Armenian army, which was created over the years, has been dispelled. It became clear that the problem can be resolved through military means, and most importantly, that Azerbaijan can force the aggressor to sit down at the negotiating table. In addition, the fact that citizens supported the army so much showed how Azerbaijan cares for every soldier. Soldiers also realized that the entire country is behind them.

- What can you say about recent parliamentary elections in Armenia, held on the anniversary of April clashes?

- During the election campaign, the authorities have once again used the Karabakh problem to ensure their victory. Karabakh was their trump card. It's no coincidence that the elections were scheduled exactly on the anniversary of above mentioned clashes. I believe that the results don't mean that this is the choice of Armenians, because President Serzh Sargsyan's party, the supporters of military and political protraction of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, actually won. The fact that "Dashnaktsutyun" party was elected to the parliament shows that nationalism will be the main part of Armenian authorities' policy. Humanism has faded into the background.

If we connect both events on April 2, 2016 and 2017, it becomes clear that status quo in the Karabakh issue will continue for a long time after these elections, since the parliament is full of those who aren't interested in resolution of this crisis. At the same time, Armenian authorities understand that Azerbaijan will never agree to the creation of second Armenian state on its territory, and I think this is the main result of April events.

- Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev visited Baku this week. During the meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev he once again confirmed the commitment of Kazakh authorities to the implementation of four resolutions of the UN Security Council on the de-occupation of Azerbaijani territories. How Baku assesses Kazakhstan's position?

- Kazakhstan is one of those states that have always supported the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Any participation of Kazakhstan in the peace negotiations and its support for Azerbaijan are of great importance for us. Today Astana is a platform of international negotiations, in particular negotiations on the Syrian crisis settlement. So Azerbaijan benefits every time Kazakhstan expresses its opinion on Nagorno-Karabakh as the CSTO representative. Within the CSTO framework Astana can influence Yerevan politically and make Russia and other CSTO member countries do the same.

- How important was this visit for the Azerbaijani-Kazakh relationship?

- First of all, presidents discussed the Caspian issue, after all, we all are united by the economic issues of the Caspian Sea, where we're implementing joint projects, including through the North-South international transport corridor. Baku International Sea Trade Port will later become a large transport hub, which Kazakhstan will be able to use to export its goods to Europe. In addition, both countries represent the Turkic world, and we support each other here. Again, it's important that Kazakhstan, the CSTO member, constantly supports Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement. Overall, today Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are partners, so Nursultan Nazarbayev's visit was of great importance for us.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
8 April 2017 10:53 (UTC+04:00)

The Nasimi District Court in Baku, during a legal proceeding, extended the detention term of blogger Alexander Lapshin for three months, Lapshins lawyer Eduard Chernin told Trend.

The lawyer added that Lapshin was also present at the proceeding.

Chernin noted that he inquired about the bloggers detention conditions. Lapshin said he had no complaints regarding his detention conditions and health.

Alexander Lapshin is a citizen of several countries and has had a criminal conspiracy with Armenians living in the occupied Azerbaijani territories. He also illegally visited these territories.

Lapshin is accused of violating Azerbaijani laws on state border in April 2011 and October 2012.

On Jan. 17, 2017, Alexei Stuk, deputy prosecutor general of Belarus, issued a ruling on Lapshins extradition to Azerbaijan.

Lapshin was brought to Azerbaijan on Feb. 7.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
8 April 2017 17:51 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijan`s State Committee for Refugee and IDP Affairs has organized a trip of French journalists to the Jojug Marjanli village, which was freed from the Armenian occupation. Deputy head of Jabrayil District Executive Authority Tapdig Nasirov briefed the foreign media representatives on the atrocities committed by the Armenians in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, as well as mine clearance operations and construction and restoration works carried out in the village at the directions of President Ilham Aliyev.

The French journalists expressed their hope that the conflict will be peacefully solved.

The media representatives then visited a local family which has lived in Jojug Marjanli for 23 years.

In the city of Horadiz, the French journalists viewed a street, which is named after the French city of Altkirch, and visited April Martyrs' Memorial.

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8 April 2017 10:03 (UTC+04:00)

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev met with TV and radio host of All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company Vladimir Solovyov Apr. 7.

Solovyov said he is visiting Baku for the first time, describing the Azerbaijani capital as a very beautiful city. He said he is deeply impressed by rapid development processes in Baku.

President Ilham Aliyev highlighted development processes in Azerbaijan, saying active work is being done to increase the world communitys awareness of the countrys realities.

The president spoke of historical and present realities of Azerbaijan, and outlined the countrys position on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

President Aliyev said Azerbaijan and Russia enjoy successful cooperation in all areas, including in humanitarian and media spheres.

Solovyov thanked the president for providing comprehensive information. He expressed his great interest in familiarizing himself with the ongoing processes in Azerbaijan.

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8 April 2017 12:05 (UTC+04:00)

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim reiterated on Friday his call for a safe zone to be established in war-torn Syria, Anadolu reported.

The truth is revealed one more time; a safe zone in northern Syria should absolutely be formed and Syrians who are fleeing from the war should be secured there, Yildirim told a crowd at an inauguration ceremony in Turkeys southeastern province of Hakkari.

We reiterate our proposal to the international community, and we are also making preparations on the issue in our own capacity, he added.

Yildirim also said Turkey supported and welcomed what he termed the U.S. response to Tuesdays chemical weapons attack in Idlib.

U.S. forces fired 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian military air base which American officials believe was used to carry out the deadly chemical attack on Tuesday.

More than 100 civilians were reportedly killed and 500 others -- mostly children -- were injured in Tuesday's attack on Khan Shaykhun town in Syrias northwest.

Yildirim said Syria needed a permanent, political solution to end the brutality of the six-year civil war.

Last month, the UNs Syria envoy said the Geneva V peace talks had ended with "serious challenges" remaining to find a peace deal.

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In the age of fake news and alternative facts, it never has been easier to reject inconvenient truths.

These are high times for bamboozlers. Dont like truth? Cook up some alternative facts. Cant disprove media reports? Dismiss them as fake news.

Things have never been so dicey for those of us in the fact business.

Nouveau-riche sources that make no claims of objectivity  Im looking at you, Breitbart News  are gaining currency.

Meanwhile, standard-bearers such as the New York Times have been barred from a presidential press briefing, and Donald Trump himself refers to any journalist who relies on anonymous sources as the enemy of the people.

President Trump has condemned as fake news the reporting of CNN. But he encouraged his own staff to overstate attendance at his inauguration, leading his counselor Kellyanne Conway to infamously say Press Secretary Sean Spicer merely was providing alternative facts.

Clearly the president, as a balderdash artist of the first order, is an authority on alternative facts.

The tweeter-in-chief has become a leading source of fake news. He steadfastly insists the Obama administration tapped his campaigns telephones, but has yet to provide supporting evidence.

Trump also told us millions of people voted illegally for his opponent, Hillary Clinton, but hasnt backed up that claim. The only sources less reliable than anonymous sources are nonexistent ones.

Trumps bent for embroidery should come as no surprise. Remember, this is the man who claimed Obama was born in Kenya, an allegation later proved false. Perhaps our new president would call it an alternative fact.

Now that hes in the White House, Trump and his team have become the worlds leading exporters of specious assertions. Conway scolded the media for ignoring the Bowling Green massacre, a terrorist attack that never occurred. Then she told us our microwaves might be watching us.

Fake news is hardly new: Saturday Night Live and The Onion perfected the art of fictitious satire decades ago, and sired dozens of imitators.

The proliferation of satiric news websites, coupled with Americas gullibility  hence the election of a rich guy who said hed look out for the poor, only to fill his Cabinet with rich guys  resulted in fibs being passed around as facts on social media.

With the existence of fake news and fibs-turned-facts generally accepted, Team Trump has taken one small step  and one giant leap of logic  in lumping CNN and the New York Times in with clickhole.com. All the better for swatting away unflattering portrayals as fake news, my dear.

What the Trump administration doesnt realize about the media is that facts are inconvenient for us, too.

Our jobs would be easier if we could simply make things up. No phone calls, no background research, just fanciful fiction. Imagine the possibilities: CIA admits installing surveillance cameras in Americas microwaves.

But spinning yarns isnt our role. Were here to inform the public about whats happening in the world. We dont support the dissemination of fake news. Nor are we interested in alternative facts, unicorns or leprechauns.

Inconvenient though this may sometimes be, for us and our subjects, we must rely on actual facts. The job of the media is to hold up a mirror to society, and let the public evaluate what it sees. The Narcissus in the Oval Office doesnt like his reflection and would like us to believe the mirror is cracked.

But when Time magazines cover asks whether truth is dead, and the conservative Wall Street Journal chastises a Republican president for telling lies, its clear the public trust in the presidency  not the media mirror  is shattering.
A revised plea deal is in the works for a former Chippewa Falls Middle School science teacher charged with two counts of second degree sexual assault of a child.

Joel C. Jahnke, 29, formerly of Bloomer and now of Burlington, also faces felony charges of: exposing genitals, between January and June 2015; sexual exploitation of a child, between June 2015 and March 2016; and causing a child to view or listen to sexual activity between June 2015 and March 2016. He pleaded not guilty to all of the charges in October 2016.

He is now scheduled to enter a plea before Chippewa County Court Judge Steven Cray at 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 12.

Jahnke previously rejected a plea offer and a jury trial was scheduled to start Monday, April 24.

District Attorney Wade Newell confirmed Friday Jahnke has been offered another plea agreement, and it will be up to Jahnke to decide whether to accept it.

Jahnkes attorney, Cole J. White of Green Bay, on Monday filed a motion to adjourn the scheduled trial date.

The defendant is now prepared to enter pleas in this matter, White wrote in the motion, adding he need time to confer with Jahnke about the plea agreement to avoid the confusion that had occurred on a prior occasion.

White went on to write: To date, counsel (White) has not been able to meet with Mr. Jahnke to go over the plea materials due to Mr. Jahnkes mental health treatment and then counsels being out of the state of Wisconsin for the past two weeks.

The sexual assault charges are alleged to have happened between Jan. 1 and June 5, 2015 in Chippewa Falls.

Jahnke, a former seventh-grade teacher, is charged with assaulting an eighth-grade student during the 2014-15 school year.

Janke was hired by the school district on Aug. 28, 2012. He served as an instructional assistant at Chippewa Valley Middle School until Aug. 25, 2014.

He was a seventh grade science teacher at Chippewa Falls Middle School from Aug. 26, 2014 to March 30, 2016.

The safety and security of our children are our number one priority. On behalf of the school district, we share a deep sense of betrayal, said a March 31, 2016 press release from the Chippewa Falls Area Unified School District.

Jahnke is under a $10,000 signature bond.
A Bay Area woman, who lost all of her belongings in a matter of minutes, is asking for the publics help in finding who is responsible.

Bay Area woman loses car, financial items day after getting engaged

Lesleigh Drakes hopes public can help find who is responsible

Woman caught on surveillance video using Drake's credit card

Seminole resident Lesleigh Drake said on March 27th, the morning after her boyfriend proposed, she woke up to discover her car had been stolen from her driveway.

She said all of her belongings including a check book, credit card, birth certificate, and passport were in the car because she had just moved to Florida to care for her sick father. She said hes a veteran battling cancer.

"My dad got sick and I just want him to be able to walk me down the aisle before he passes, so my boyfriend thought it was something to look forward to and then this happened," Drake said.

It didnt take long for detectives to spot a suspect.

The Pinellas County Sheriffs Office released surveillance footage of the woman they said spent hundreds of dollars with Drakes check book and credit card. She was seen at a Publix and two CVS stores.



Luckily, Drakes car was found at a gas station but the woman in the surveillance footage hasnt been caught yet.

Drake said she wants her story to serve as a reminder to the community to keep an eye out for each other.

"My mom is scared, my dad's in the house and he can't do anything and he's scared so I just hope that this can bring the community together and if the people who are doing this are going to keep doing it we need to work together to help each other out, Drake said.

The woman seen in the surveillance footage is described as a 20-30 year old white female with dark brown hair.



If you have any information youre asked to call Pinellas County Arson and Theft Detective Michael Johnson at 727-582-6392. To remain anonymous and be eligible for a reward, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-873-TIPS.
WASHINGTON  The Trump presidency will end in calamity. By definition.

I know this because the Merriam-Webster dictionary says so. When John Dean of Watergate fame predicted calamity for Donald Trumps presidency, Merriam-Websters official account tweeted about the prognostication, adding its definition: an event that causes great harm and suffering.

If you are unaccustomed to finding such information in the dictionary, you havent been keeping up with the new Merriam-Webster, which has been throwing the book  definition: to punish (someone) as severely as possible  at Trump.

After Trump won the election, the dictionary announced that lookups for misogyny spiked after Trumps victory  and illustrated the tweet with a photo of Tic Tacs, a reference to Trumps on-camera boasting about sexual assault.

Merriam-Webster has shown that a word can be worth 50,000 retweets, as when it responded to adviser Kellyanne Conways alternative facts remark by saying: A fact is a piece of information presented as having objective reality. After Conway said she was uncomfortable being called a feminist, Merriam-Webster tweeted:  Feminism is defined as the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities.

When there were claims that outsiders were brought in to applaud Trumps appearance at the CIA, the dictionary tweeted: If youre part of a group thats paid to applaud, youre a claqueur.  After reports last week that Ivanka Trump was joining the administration, Merriam-Webster chimed in: Nepotism is our #15 lookup right now.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer used his fingers to argue that Trump didnt mean wiretap literally, prompting the dictionary to report that it has entries for air quotes and scare quotes. FBI Director James B. Comey was reported to be incredulous upon hearing Trumps wiretapping allegations, spurring Merriam-Webster to tweet the definition and to report that lookups for refute are spiking.

And who might the lexicographers have had in mind a month ago when they reported that they added back to the dictionary the word snollygoster, a shrewd & unprincipled person, especially an unprincipled politician?

This once-staid outfit  who buys a dictionary anymore?  has earned itself a large and devoted following on social media, and no wonder: Trump is literally being trolled by the dictionary.

The lexicographers generally arent doing anything more nefarious than defining terms in the news and reporting what words people are looking up at merriam-webster.com. Our goal is to tell the truth about words, says Peter Sokolowski, editor at large. But because they are the last word on words, their tweets take on added authority. It is as if Trump is being repudiated by the laws of gravity, or getting dressed down by Mother Nature herself:

Complicit is still near the top of our lookups after [Saturday Night Live] used the word to describe Ivanka Trump.

Were seeing a spike in lookups for neophyte. Rep. Devin Nunes used the word to describe the U.S. president.

Rescind is trending from Trumps decision to rescind protections for transgender students.

Words, like facts, have absolute meanings and spellings, despite Trumps efforts to revise both. After he tweeted a year ago about the great honer of winning a debate poll and called a rival a leightweight chocker, Merriam-Webster helpfully tweeted: Honer: one that hones. Leightweight: We have no. idea. For chocker it linked to the definition of nope.

Trump, during the campaign, boasted, I have the best words. But lexicographers have better ones, and they can be subversive about which they choose to highlight, such as when they report that fascism is still our #1 lookup, or, in reference to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, lookups for recuse are up 45,000 percent. After former national security adviser Michael Flynn sought an agreement to testify in the Russia probe, Merriam-Webster reported that immunity was trending.

It advised Trump that big league is rarely used as an adverb and reported that ombre is not the same as hombre. Merriam-Webster reminded the White House that Holocaust refers especially to Jews after it issued a Holocaust remembrance statement that omitted any mention of Jews. At one low moment for Trump, Merriam-Webster tweeted that schadenfreude is a popular lookup on our site.

No doubt Trump and his supporters will view this as politically correct language; fake words can join fake news in their disfavor. But I see it as a public service. The way Trump prevails is by obscuring the truth, denying the facts and redefining meaning.

This is the truth fighting back, and eventually it will prevail.

Its ineluctable. (Look it up.)
United States Democratic Senator Bill Nelson returned to Florida during his Easter recess from Capitol Hill. One of his stops was the Sun n Fun International Fly-in and Expo in Lakeland.



There he talked to educators about the future of the space program, and his goal of making sure NASA is equipped to go to Mars.



He also visited the new hangar being built for the NOAA Hurricane Hunters, who are moving from the MacDill Air Force base to the Lakeland Linder Regional Airport in May.



Senator Nelson also shared with reporters his views on Syria. He said he was glad President Donald Trump ordered air strikes in Syria and said it shouldve been done a long time ago.



"This was a good opportunity to let Mr. Assad, the president of Syria know if he continues to use chemical weapons, we will hit him and hit him hard. My recommendation is if he does it again, we ought to knock out his entire air force," said Nelson.



He said he supports removing President Assad altogether.



"Somebody who has killed a half a million people in his own country, that is gassing children and seeing them suffer as we've seen so visibly on these photographs and film. I think Assad has to go, Nelson said.



Some members of Nelsons political party criticized the president for not consulting Congress first.



So President Trump doing this, finally waking up to the atrocities in Syria is a good thing but he should not have done this without coming to Congress, said Senator Tim Kaine, D-Va.



Nelson said he felt President Trump acted appropriately.



On a quick strike like this where the element of surprise is absolutely necessary, the President has that authority, Nelson explained.



He believes Congress should give President Trump the power to do more in Syria.



"Before we left yesterday, Congress should've stayed in session in this Easter recess and gone through the debate and passed, and I think the votes are there, to pass an authorization to conduct a war if that's what it takes to solve the Syrian situation, Nelson said.


OREGON  Randy Glysch set out to preserve the historic water tower and pump house in this villages downtown.

He had no idea it would lead to a new food pantry.

The serendipity, thanks to an anonymous donor, means a more-than-100-foot-tall calling card dubbed Tin Man will remain and, in the fall, volunteers and those in need of food will no longer be crammed into a 1,200-square-foot unheated storage unit. Instead, theyll have a 4,200-square-foot facility with not only heat but coolers, freezers, bathrooms, a waiting area, community room and plenty of shelves for boxes of cereal, bags of rice, cans of soup and other staples.

I volunteered there one day and it was evident they needed something much larger and better equipped, Glysch, 57, said. If the pump house and Tin Man had not happened, I dont think the new food pantry would be breaking ground in April.

A water tower and pump house have been fixtures in the community since 1899. The original water tower was constructed of wood for just more than $3,000 and held 15,000 gallons of water. The tower and tank were replaced in 1921 with what is referred to as The Tin Man, a steel tower and tank that holds 30,000 gallons of water and rises 100 feet above the villages downtown, which is also home to a World War I monument erected in 1920 by a team of six horses and dozens of men.

The village drained the tank in 1981 and since that time there have been off-and-on debates about its future. Some lobbied to remove the tower due to safety concerns while others argued its an iconic part of the village, something reinforced in 2007 when the water tower and pump house were placed on the national and state registers of historic places.

The message it sends is not one of gloom and doom, Joan Gefke, an Oregon historian, wrote in an editorial to the Wisconsin State Journal in 2008, two years before her death. The message echoed from this magnificent icon is that there is real value in the past. History establishes a sense of place, of a hometown where its roots are important and that old, established walls and sites are ageless if taken care of.

Moving forward for preservation

Glysch, who moved to the village only a few years ago, has embraced Gefkes vision.

In 2015, Glysch led efforts to raise $40,000 to restore the pump house. The effort generated $58,000 and thousands of dollars of in-kind donations from area businesses, organizations and residents. The pump house, located at the base of the water tower, is now a quaint welcome center with a meeting room, new roof, windows, doors and historical photos of the village.

This was done so well and came out to be something we could be proud of and that really helped your momentum, Jeff Lau, the villages public works director, said as he discussed the pump house project last week with Glysch. It helps define our downtown area, but it needed so much work.

The efforts to restore the water tower 10 years ago were pegged at about $260,000. However, technologies and processes have changed, and the cost to remove the lead-based paint, prime the structure, paint and add lighting to illuminate the water tower at night came in at $85,000 from Lane Tank Co., of Menomonie.

About $30,000 was raised through donors, including $3,000 from Dane County Cultural Affairs and $1,500 from Alliant Energy. The village is picking up the remainder of the tab.

The restoration, scheduled to be completed later this month, will also include a new weather vane that is being re-created by Tony Cole at Custom Metals in Madison. A fire bell was mounted on the tower until 1941, and replaced with a siren.

The siren, which at one time was blown three times a day, will remain but will continue to be inoperable.

Water tower work leads to food pantry donation

Through his water tower and pump house work, Glysch was asked to be on the board of the Oregon Community Resource Network, an umbrella organization charged with making community improvements. The organization was founded to help build a food pantry that has had its use increase by 60 percent since 2003. For the past 18 years, the owners of the storage unit, Charlene and Ed Hefty, have donated the space, but its become simply too small, Glysch said.

One of the donors to the water tower project, who wants to remain anonymous, initially donated $100,000 for the $750,000 food pantry, which will be built on land next door to Peoples United Methodist Church. Then on Thanksgiving night, Glysch received an email from the donor asking to meet. He feared the donor wanted the money back. Instead, the donor, who had been impressed with Glyschs work on the water tower and pump house, added another $450,000.

Its about relationships and a community that cares, Glysch said. All of these projects happened because of people who care about their community, that sense of place and belonging.
A former Montgomery County jailer pleaded guilty Thursday to paying an Indiana woman $15 to watch her perform a sexual on her two-month-old son via Skype.

Phillip Wayne Rickard, 51, will spend the next 25 years in prison for the first-degree felony aggravated sexual assault of a child charge. Rickard had previously skipped out on two different court settings where he was supposed to plead guilty.

Rickard was arrested in 2016 after an investigation by the Montgomery County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Office in Indiana. Investigators with the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office found that Rickard not only paid this woman but was paying other women online to perform sexual acts.

"Phillip Rickard is a sick man who deserves every year of this sentence," Assistant District Attorney Mary Nan Huffman said. "This was one of the worst cases I have seen in my career in law enforcement. What he did was beyond comprehension."

The plea was the result of the great work by the investigators with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, prosecutors said.

"The ICAC Task Force continues to remove dangerous sexual predators from within community," Assistant District Attorney Tyler Dunman said. "We are very fortunate to have this team of dedicated law enforcement professionals working so diligently for the safety of our children and community."

When Rickard's sentence expires in 2042 he will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. Rickard was a former prison guard for Texas Department of Criminal Justice and a former Detention Officer at the Montgomery County Jail.

Rickard had no prior criminal history.

The woman Rickard paid was sentenced to 42 years in prison in Indiana for the act on her two-month-old as well as another molestation of a five-year-old, according to the Lafayette Journal and Courier.
Beaumont resident Jason Ebarb said when he spotted Stanley Simon wearing a WWII veteran hat at church, he wanted to speak with him because of his strong interest in that era.

When Ebarb, 34, learned that Simon, a former sergeant, was present during the D-Day invasion of Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, he asked the Orangefield native's permission to submit his military records to the French government.
Medical City Arlington (Texas) has finished the expansion of its emergency department, part of a larger $100 million expansion and renovation project.

"Medical City Arlington is committed to being the healthcare leader in the Arlington community and surrounding area," said CEO Keith Zimmerman. "This expansion provides for needed capacity and leading edge technology as we move toward a Level II trauma designation."

The hospital is currently the only Level III trauma center in Arlington.

The ED expansion includes the addition of an onsite computerized tomography scanner, which will allow radiologists to conduct exams in the department and provide physicians with faster imaging results. The project also includes the addition of a separate suite for pediatric emergency care, which includes a separate entrance, waiting area and six private pediatric rooms.
Cleveland Clinic has created a new entity to collaborate with Cleveland Clinic Innovations to help build its pipeline of startups into successful, sustainable companies.

Cleveland Clinic Innovations helps turn medical breakthrough inventions into products and companies. Since it was created in 2000, CCI has issued over 850 patents and executed more than 500 licenses on medical devices and techniques. The new department within CCI, Cleveland Clinic Ventures, will help raise funds to get innovative ideas to market and to maximize the performance of spinoff companies.

Brian Donley, MD, Cleveland Clinic's chief of staff, told Becker's CCV will assist the spinoff companies with funding strategies, business model development and technology road maps.

"This new structure will position us to have an even more robust, streamlined commercialization impact and successfully fulfill our potential as a world-class destination for healthcare commercialization," says Dr. Donley. "Cleveland Clinic Innovations and Cleveland Clinic Ventures work together seamlessly, sharing expertise, with a relentless focus on advancing technologies to improve patient care for Cleveland Clinic patients, and other patients locally, nationally and internationally."

Cleveland Clinic recently appointed new leaders for both entities. Peter O'Neill was named executive director of Cleveland Clinic Innovations and Jack Miner was appointed managing director of Cleveland Clinic Ventures.

More articles on technology and innovation:

3 things C-suite leaders should know before adopting blockchain

How healthcare organizations can embrace mobile technology

Intermedix acquires WPC Healthcare to add data science capabilities
Artificial intelligence is gaining ground in healthcare. In 2012, there were fewer than 20 artificial intelligence startups focused on healthcare; last year there were almost 70, according to CB Insights.

Additionally, the AI for healthcare sector is expected to drive overall AI market growth over the next six years, according to a MarketsandMarkets report. The overall AI market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 62.9 percent from 2016 to 2022, when it's projected to reach $16.6 billion.

Here, six health IT company executives discuss how AI will impact healthcare over the next 20 years.

Mudit Garg. Co-Founder and CEO of Qventus (Los Altos, Calif.): "Many people today like to imagine a world where AI can replace doctors. But the problem with the U.S. healthcare system isn't our providers  people fly from around the world to get treated by them. Instead, it's the ability to reliably provide an operational environment that allows these world-class clinicians to do their best work. This may seem boring and unsexy compared to the 'robo-surgeon' but it's where we have the biggest opportunities to improve the patient experience and reduce cost of delivering care.

We don't have to wait 20 years to see how AI can make an impact; its results are already being felt in many hospitals today. It's helping improve the flow of patients through the ED, reduce surgery delays and cancellations and eliminate patient falls. One hospital alone eliminated over a million minutes of patient wait time last year.

As AI becomes widely adopted, hospitals and physicians will see a massive load lifted off their shoulders and burnout rates substantially reduced. Instead of having to look at every bit of data and anticipate every potential action and reaction, they will be able to focus solely on those issues that require their attention and spend the rest of their time dedicating themselves to their patients."

Charles Koontz. President and CEO of GE Healthcare IT and Chief Digital Officer of GE Healthcare (Chicago): "Digital health transformation is happening now. Machine learning and AI are already demonstrating its potential to drive efficiencies and improve the quality of care and will continue to be significant in the next 20 years. For example, GE Healthcare and the University of San Francisco are already putting digital health into action by developing a library of deep learning algorithms that will improve efficiency, speed and accuracy for clinicians to interpret scans and diagnose patients faster. One example is an algorithm that screens X-rays for pneumothorax (a collapsed lung), which can be a life-threatening condition. With this algorithm, the X-ray machine helps hospital workers quickly identify the presence of pneumothorax and alert the radiologist to prioritize the read in the worklist queue, potentially leading to faster and better outcomes, reduced costs and improved patient experience.

Over time, insights from these algorithms can be leveraged to develop next-generation algorithms that will tackle more complex issues with fewer images available. This technology will get smarter and smarter, with the potential to completely transform the traditional hospital and improve current standards of patient diagnoses."

Greg Kuhnen. Senior Director of Research at Advisory Board (Washington, D.C.): "To quote the author William Gibson, 'The future is already here, it's just unevenly distributed.' We have emergency rooms today where every bit of data captured about a patient is automatically evaluated by AI agents looking for missed diagnoses and potential disease outbreaks.



Physicians are drowning in information and AI can help distill the ocean of raw data into high-quality predictions or highlight latent surprises. We expect AI agents to be deployed as integrated assistants suggesting diagnoses; tailoring order sets to a patient's unique circumstances; projecting risks and potential interventions; and taking over laborious patient monitoring and data interpretation tasks entirely."



Fatima Paruk, MD. CMO of Allscripts Analytics (Chicago): "AI is the future of healthcare. In the retail and economic sectors, AI and predictive analytics have facilitated significant advancements and are seamlessly integrated to many aspects of our lives. Unfortunately, though the technology exists today, we have not applied it to healthcare where it has significant potential to drive a precision medicine approach to preventive care and disease management.



That said, AI systems will play critical roles in healthcare within the next two to three years. The first application of intelligent systems will impact the care management of prevalent chronic diseases of populations. The next wave will leverage increasingly available patient-centered health data with external influences such as pollution exposure, weather factors and economic factors to generate precision medicine solutions customized to individual characteristics. Within reach will be the use of genetic information coupled within care management and precision medicine to uncover the best possible medical treatment plans.



AI will affect physicians and hospitals, as it will play a key role in clinical decision support, enabling earlier identification of disease, and tailored treatment plans to ensure optimal outcomes. It can also be used to demonstrate and educate patients on potential disease pathways and outcomes given different treatment options. It can impact hospitals and health systems in improving efficiency, while reducing the cost of care."

Rajeev Ronanki. Principal in Life Sciences and Health Care of Deloitte Consulting (Los Angeles): "In healthcare's transition to an outcomes-based model, patients are looking to healthcare to provide the same highly personalized level of customer service that is currently provided by retailers and banks. Already, we are witnessing early use cases for artificial intelligence in the space, which we call more broadly 'machine intelligence,' incorporated into various sectors. Specifically, one leading hospital, running one of the largest medical research programs in the United States, is 'training' its machine intelligence systems to analyze the 10 billion phenotypic and genetic images stored in the organization's database. In health insurance, the implementation of cognitive computing will vastly improve customer engagement and customer support and change the way interaction is handled over the life of a policy, beyond just a claim.



There's a confluence of three powerful forces that is driving the machine intelligence trend: exponential data growth, faster distributed systems and smarter algorithms that interpret and process that data. CIOs can expect a number of ways to derive value from machine intelligence. Those opportunities include:

 Cognitive insights  machine intelligence that can augment human decision making;

 Cognitive engagement  machine intelligence based cognitive agents to engage with consumers via voice commands which will advance over time to perform more complex tasks such as admitting patients to hospitals; and

 Cognitive automation  machine intelligence baked into devices and processes that develops deep domain-specific expertise then automates related tasks, freeing up workers to focus on higher value activities.

We expect the growth to continue, with spending on machine intelligence expected to rise to $31.3 billion by 2019 [according to the International Data Corporation]."

Lisa Suennen. Managing Director at GE Ventures (Menlo Park, Calif.): "AI offers the opportunity to free physicians and other clinicians from tedious work analyzing data, giving them time to apply their knowledge in a more focused, informed way. We think AI allows clinicians to work at the highest level of their ability by making them far more informed and effective patient advocates."

Becker's Hospital Review will be publishing several articles on artificial intelligence in healthcare over the upcoming weeks. If you would like to contribute to an upcoming article, contact Laura Dyrda at ldyrda@beckershealthcare.com.



More articles on artificial intelligence:

How healthcare AI will move from the lab to your hospital halls

AI-powered cardiac care startup receives $30M from Omeron Healthcare, Mayo Clinic

Google DeepMind wants AI to think like humans




Teaching hospitals and hospitals with a large number of patient beds are more vulnerable to data breaches than other healthcare facilities, according to a study that was recently published in JAMA.

The authors define a security breach as "an impermissible use or disclosure that compromise the security or privacy of the protected health information and is commonly caused by a malicious or criminal attack, system glitch or human error." The increase in the rate of security breaches in hospitals corresponds directly to the expanded adoption of EHRs and other health IT systems, but breaches also include paper records.

Researchers found that between Oct. 21, 2009  the date of the earliest reported data breach  and Dec. 31, 2016, 216 hospitals reported 257 data breaches, with a median of 1,847 individuals affected per breach. Thirty-three hospitals were breached at least twice, many of which were teaching hospitals, according to the study.

Two teaching hospitals, New York City-based Montefiore Medical Center and University of Rochester (N.Y.) Medical Center, were breached four times in the same time period.

The researchers also found that the hospitals that reported breaches were larger, with a median bed count of 262, compared to 134 beds among hospitals that have not reported a breach. Thirty-seven percent of those breached hospitals were major teaching hospitals.
Artificial intelligence, if implemented effictively, has the potential to help relieve clinicians of administrative burden and allow them to do what they want to do most  spend time with their patients.

AI software has the ability to consume and condense information from millions of pages of medical journals, offer treatment suggestions based on evidence in a medical chart, accelerate the development of precision medicine and potentially help discover new therapies and treatments for a handful of complex diseases. However, technologies that use AI software  despite their incredible capabilities  cannot fully replace humans. Deborah DiSanzo, general manager of IBM Watson Health, told Becker's Hospital Review healthcare technology companies should aim to treat artificial intelligence entities as 'augmented intelligence' entities whose sole purpose it is to enhance the skills and talents medical professionals already possess.

"'Augmented intelligence' has the potential to help medical experts address the world's most pressing health challenges. Though AI is commonly known as 'artificial intelligence,' at IBM we call it 'augmented intelligence'  [because] for most of our businesses and companies, it will not be man or machine  it will be a symbiotic relationship [between the two]. Our purpose is to augment and really be in service of what humans do, [not replace them]."

If you would like to contribute a quote for this series, please email Alyssa Rege at arege@beckershealthcare.com to be featured in "Word from the C-suite."
Adolescence often represents a difficult period in one's life. Having a physician who may not understand the full scope of your health and medical history may create additional stress or feelings of inadequacy. One medical student aims learn more about the health issues affecting LGBTQ youth and to help teach future pediatricians how to make LGBTQ patients feel more comfortable in the waiting room.

Nicholas Bonenfant, a medical student at the Robert Larner, MD College of Medicine at The University of Vermont in Burlington, told NBC News he began contemplating LGBTQ health issues after leading a Q&A at a Boston LGBTQ clinic in July 2016. He said he was caught off guard when a young woman asked if physicians "were trained to talk to people like [her]," according to the report.

"I was so caught off guard by what she asked, but also, I just didn't have an answer to give her  When I was young like that, I knew that my feelings and emotions didn't match what this medical authority  this pediatrician  was saying, which made me feel like there was something wrong. [Learning more about LGBTQ health issues, especially those affecting transgender kids and LGBTQ youth of color] taught me to try to never alienate a patient the way that I felt when I was younger and that our education isn't from what we're told to learn, but that it's so important to explore topics that we come across and educate ourselves as best we can  I think if I had had a pediatrician who felt more like an ally to me, I would have been a much more confident kid  I wouldn't have struggled so much, through all of adolescence, with just accepting who I was."

To view the full article, click here.

If you would like to contribute a quote for this series, please email Alyssa Rege at arege@beckershealthcare.com to be featured in "Quotes from the Front Line," a daily series that highlights the trials and tribulations medical personnel face daily while on the job.
The New York City Police Department said there has been a 50 percent uptick in drug overdose deaths in the city thus far in 2017, according to NY1.

The comments came during a national conference hosted at NYPD headquarters Thursday. Law enforcement, health and education officials from around the country attended the event.

"People are overdosing at probably three times the rate you had back [during] the crack cocaine epidemic," said Chuck Wexler of the Police Executive Research Forum, according to NY1.

The increase in drug overdose deaths is largely attributable to opioids, including heroin and the synthetic opioid fentanyl, which is 50 times more powerful than morphine. Drug dealers often cut fentanyl into heroin to increase the potency of a batch. The combination is a lethal one, resulting in a rash of drug overdoses across the nation.

The NYPD responded to nine opioid overdoses during a 24-hour period this week beginning Wednesday and ending Thursday, four of which were fatal, according to ABC7NY.

More articles on opioids:

Study: Private insurance claim lines related to opioids rose 1,459% in NYC suburbs

Rutgers releases toolkit to combat opioid epidemic in New Jersey

Louisiana governor backs legislation to limit opioid prescriptions
Malteser International Americas Announces Move of American-based Headquarters to New York City Strategic decision brings disaster relief organization to the epicenter of the humanitarian world



Contact: Jill Watson, Malteser International Americas, 305-448-5111



NEW YORK, April 7, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- In a time of more frequent natural disasters exacerbated by the effects of climate change as well as a global refugee crisis displacing more than 65 million people, Malteser International Americas, an affiliate of Malteser International, the relief agency of the Order of Malta, today announced that its U.S.-based headquarters will relocate to New York City, a thriving humanitarian hub.



The humanitarian aid and development organization will relocate from Miami to the Archdiocese Building of New York in Midtown Manhattan this summer. Beginning June 1, 2017, the new address will be: Malteser International Americas, 1011 First Avenue, Suite 1322, New York, NY 10022. The building also houses the Order of Malta American Association, Catholic Charities and other Catholic entities.



The relocation elevates Malteser International Americas as an even more accessible leader in the international relief and development community, and positions it alongside global embassies and missions, including the Permanent Observer Mission of the Sovereign Order of Malta to the UN, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, International Rescue Committee, Doctors Without Borders, UNICEF, and others.



Malteser International Americas made the decision to relocate to Manhattan after three years in Miami to be more accessible to the United Nations, international humanitarian partners, and other NGOs. Greater geographical access to the humanitarian community places the organization in position for long-term, sustainable growth. Malteser International is currently a strategic partner of the World Health Organization's Global Health Cluster.



"The decision to relocate Malteser International Americas' U.S.-based office to the New York City region aligns with Malteser International's global growth plan, allowing greater reach and input in how to affect change in the lives of those vulnerable families we help every day," said Thomas A. Wessels, President, Malteser International Americas. "We worked closely with the Order of Malta American Association and Cardinal Dolan's staff to make this relocation a reality, and we look forward to strengthening our relationship further."



"The relocation will position the organization as a greater asset to the humanitarian and faith-based communities. With over 60 years of service worldwide, and greater awareness in the Western Hemisphere, the move will also sustain the organization for another 60 more, and beyond," said Ravi Tripptrap, Executive Director, Malteser International Americas.



"For 900 years, the Order of Malta has come to the aid of the poor and the sick. And it is to a large degree through the relief expertise of Malteser International that we are able to fully realize the scale of need around the world, and therefore reach those who are suffering the most, particularly in disaster situations," said Ambassador Oscar de Rojas, Permanent Observer of the Sovereign Order of Malta to the United Nations. "We welcome the establishment of the Malteser Americas office in New York City, which should help strengthen cooperation activities between Malteser International and the United Nations."



In January 2017, Malteser International Americas welcomed Thomas. A Wessels, former First Vice President at Merrill Lynch and retired Major General, as President of the Board. Last year, Malteser International Americas was at the helm of international relief and tackled some of the greatest challenges facing the Americas: Implemented immediate relief measures in Haiti following Hurricane Matthew to provide 1,200 families with critical hygiene materials to reduce the risk of another deadly cholera epidemic, and dispensed clean-up kits and aid to restore livelihood;



Took action in Colombia to educate and protect 1,200 pregnant women and their unborn babies from the Zika virus by providing prevention kits to often neglected populations where stagnant water is an ideal breeding ground for mosquitos;



Reduced maternal and child mortality in Mexico by giving 100 mothers and pregnant mothers life-saving HIV medicine so they are able to protect their most precious gift  their unborn baby  from contracting the disease. Last year, 2 healthy babies were born in our program without the disease. Mothers also receive mental health services to improve their lives;



Achieved food security in the poverty-stricken outskirts of Lima, Peru where we operate a soup kitchen for over 50 children who receive hot, nutritious meals every day after school;



Launched a fresh water program to bring essential water to almost 50,000 people in the southwest of Haiti, where the worst drought in 35 years has put those already experiencing profound poverty and extreme vulnerability in further jeopardy; and



Supported the LaFayette Home Repair program in Louisiana and Mississippi  a partnership between the Order of Malta Federal Association, Malteser International Americas, Rebuilding Together, & Catholic Charities of Lafayette  to help flood victims rebuild after 7 trillion gallons of rain flooded the region and destroyed homes. About Malteser International Americas: Malteser International Americas is an affiliate of Malteser International, the humanitarian relief organization of the Order of Malta. Through our U.S. headquarters, Malteser International Americas provides immediate disaster response and preparedness, as well as vital healthcare and nutrition, and clean water and sanitation to vulnerable people in North America, Latin America and the Caribbean. Visit www.orderofmaltarelief.org to learn more.

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Here are 15 key notes on orthopedic and spine device companies from the past week.

Roughly 3,662 of Warsaw, Ind.-based Zimmer-Biomet's Comprehensive Reverse Shoulder devices have been recalled.

Center Valley, Pa.-based Aesculap Implant Systems launched a warranty program for its Plasmapore surface-enhancing technology portfolio.

Caesarea, Israel-based Mazor Robotics projects first quarter 2017 earnings of about $11.5 million, spurred by Mazor X sales as well as an increased number of procedures.

France-based SpineGuard reported 23 percent growth in its first quarter 2017 revenue.

France-based The Medicrea Group reported 6 percent sales growth from $29.7 million in 2015 to $31.41 million in 2016.

Carlsbad, Calif.-based Alphatec Spine released the Battalion Lateral System with Squadron Retractor.

Leesburg, Va.-based K2M reached a five-year distribution agreement with Australia-based LifeHealthcare Group.

Plainsboro, N.J.-based Integra LifeSciences announced an expansion of its credit facility consisting of an expanded term loan.

Cambridge, Mass.-based InVivo Therapeutics announced the 14th Inspire study patient enrolled at the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte.

France-based Implanet plans to transfer the listing of its shares from the Paris-based Euronext regulated market to the Alternext Paris multilateral trading facility.

France-based EOS imaging sold the first EOS platform in Israel to Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center.

Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Cymedica Orthopedics enrolled the first patient in a clinical trial to evaluate its e-vive muscle activation product.

Arlington, Tenn.-based MicroPort Robotics released the Evolution Revision Tibial System and Evolution BioFoam Tibia.

Washington, D.C.-based AdvaMed appointed Plymouth, Minn.-based Rotation Medical President and CEO Martha Shadan to its board of directors.

Tempe, Ariz.-based MedPlast named Brian King its new CEO.
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The Americas Got Talent boss supported his judging co-star.

Simon Cowell has called Mel B an incredible person for the way in which she is dealing with her divorce and her fathers death.

The reality TV mogul praised his Americas Got Talent panel mate for her composure in the face of personal troubles after filing for divorce from husband of 10 years Stephen Belafonte.

She alleges Belafonte was physically abusive and got their nanny pregnant.

Simon told The Sun that mother-of-three Mel was an incredible person.

He said: If you think about what Mels done since leaving the Spice Girls and what shes gone through, how hard she works and how I saw her try to handle this situation, it was astonishing.

Yes, shes under pressure but I think shes in a good place.

Former Spice Girl Mel, 41, also lost her father, Martin Brown, in March after a five-year battle with cancer, during the time that she was filming the forthcoming series of Americas Got Talent.

Simon, whose mother Julie Brett died in 2015, said: Weve all unfortunately had to go through these situations with parents, but the way Mel dealt with it was so professional.

We talked a lot about how she was feeling and whether she wanted to come back to work. I said to her, I genuinely think its what your dad would have wanted. I said the same thing about my mum.

And I saw how she was so on it and focused on the contestants when she could have been focused on something else. Then she had her kids come down, and her kids are amazing.

Stephen has denied the allegations about his behaviour during their marriage.

Simon continued about the divorce, saying: Then shes had the whole thing shes had to deal with, the other side of her personal life.

It really made me think about her as a person, what shes achieved as a working mum and how shes managed to balance everything.

He added: I dont think she gets the recognition she deserves. Its interesting because shes quite shy about saying what shes achieved over the years and her role in the Spice Girls and things like that.

But I think she is a really, really special person, and I really respect the way shes dealt with everything.
It's been exactly 20 years since Limerick-born Frank McCourt won a Pulitzer Prize for his controversial childhood memoir Angela's Ashes. With a musical version now on the way to Belfast, Graham Clifford spoke to the writer's widow, Ellen McCourt.

How does it feel, asked the excited journalist from the Associated Press. "How does what feel?" replied Frank McCourt. "To have won the Pulitzer Prize for Angela's Ashes, of course", came the reply.

It was 20 years ago today that the two telephones in a room of the Charles Hotel in Boston starting ringing off the hook.

"Frank was on one phone and I was on the other. It was chaos. I remember the second call came from the press in Ireland. We just sat on the bed taking calls one after the other", recalls McCourt's widow Ellen.

Within minutes, a local TV crew had tracked down the Limerick-born writer.

"They literally started knocking on the door of our modest hotel room. We had to let them in. They conducted the interview with Frank there on the bed. It was a whirlwind", recalls Ellen.

On the same day Frank collected his award at a special lunch, jazz legend Wynton Marsalis won the Pulitzer for music. Two decades on, the small glass Pulitzer Prize itself rests in a cabinet in the McCourt home in New York.

"It's actually a lot smaller and underwhelming than you'd think - but when Frank won it, well, it was such a huge deal - everyone wanted a piece of him", says Ellen, who was Frank's third wife; they married in 1994.

It was with gentle encouragement from Ellen that Frank decided to put a memoir of his 'miserable Irish upbringing' together.

"He'd already told most of the stories in Angela's Ashes to his students. Some of those stories had been turned into one act plays. So the book had been percolating for years.

"We just decided that the time had come to actually put them down on paper and within 13 months of starting the book, he'd created something so special."

Angela's Ashes had become a bestseller around the world by the time Frank was awarded the Pulitzer Prize on April 8, 1997.

Focusing primarily on his childhood in Limerick, the book told of Frank's impoverished upbringing, of his father's alcoholism and the fact he "chose the bottle over the baby." Of a damp, grey, poor Limerick where some children barely had shoes or enough food to eat and where disease, referred to as 'the consumption', reigned.

Frank also wrote of how his mother, Angela, was forced into a sexual relationship with her cousin Laman Griffin so she and her children could stay under his roof.

"I think that aspect of the book was the most difficult for Frank to write. I remember he actually asked his brother Malachy (a renowned Irish-American actor) if he should include that (the story of his mother and Lama Griffin) in the book, and Malachy said 'of course he must' as that was a pivotal part of the story", recalls Ellen.

But in Limerick, some criticised the book and disputed Frank's factual recollection. They believed he'd painted an overly-bleak picture of their city.

I recall being on a bus in Limerick city at the time Angela's Ashes came out and overhearing two women lambast its 'vulgar' content. "It's terrible what he wrote about our beautiful city", said one. When I asked what passage of the book annoyed her most, she replied: "Oh, I haven't read it. No, no, I couldn't read something filled with so many mistruths."

Ellen McCourt told Review it was only after the book had been turned into a movie that a minority in Limerick voiced their disapproval.

"When it was there on the big screen, I think some people thought it portrayed their city in a negative light. A lot of people wanted to deny such an amount of poverty existed in the lanes of Limerick and away from the big houses and wealthier areas. Frank had always told me about the famous 'Irish begrudgery' and here it was."

By the time McCourt (right) won the Pulitzer Prize, Angela's Ashes was already flying off the shelves - especially in the US.

In late 1996, the movie rights had already been optioned, but still, winning the most cherished prize in literature had a massive impact on his life.

"Of course his profile increased dramatically. The day after it was announced he'd won, he had to rush up to New York to be on the Today Show on NBC. Everyone wanted to hear him speak", says Ellen.

Angela's Ashes made McCourt a millionaire. The great irony, of course, was that recounting stories of poverty could lead to monetary success decades on. "Just as well this happened late in life or else I would have blown it all on booze and fornication", he joked back then.

Maggie, Frank's only child - who he had with his first wife Alberta Small - said in an article in the Limerick Leader last year: "When he won the Pulitzer Prize, we were all amazed and kind of incredulous. I think we always knew that he was inordinately talented, but I didn't expect it.

"When Angela's Ashes came out, it changed his life because it was healing for him. There were so many things that he had not reconciled in himself, or healed himself from the darkness of his past. I don't think he expected that people would have that kind of reaction to the book."

In Limerick the reaction varied, but Una Heaton, curator of the Frank McCourt Museum, says Angela's Ashes has brought millions of people to the city over the last two decades.

"Every year we get thousands of visitors to the museum here in Leamy House, Frank's former school, in Limerick's Georgian quarter. They come from all over, especially America. Like every year we get 5,500 people coming on specific tour packages from the States especially for the Frank McCourt experience. They'll visit the award-winning museum and spend three nights in the city", explains Una.

The visitors will even go on a tour of the Treaty City led by local guide Michael O'Donnell - stopping by the site of the St Vincent de Paul where Frank's mother Angela pleaded for rations of food and clothing, to Souths' Pub which his father, and later Frank himself, frequented and the church where a young Frank made his first Holy Communion.

"Frank's honest account of his upbringing here in Limerick was such an important social commentary for the city", says Una, adding: "It educated many about the hardships faced by the poorest in our society.

"I feel so fortunate that I got to know Frank well and see, first hand, what a humble, witty and special man he was."

In July, eight years after Frank's death in 2009, Angela's Ashes: the Musical, will play at the Lime Tree theatre in Limerick before moving to the Bord Gais Energy Theatre in Dublin.

It arrives at the Grand Opera House in Belfast for a run from August 1-5. We're told its an 'uplifting story of hope, fortitude and family.'

The musical is also set for the West End and Broadway.

"The story endures and that's largely down to Frank's amazing writing ability and his wit and humour even in adversity", Ellen McCourt tells Review. "Angela's Ashes resonated with people. For many, it was very familiar, painfully vivid and a very important literary work.

"It helped people, and it was those positive reactions which meant more to Frank than any Pulitzer Prize or award he was ever given."

Angela's Ashes: The Musical, Grand Opera House, Belfast, Aug 1-5. For tickets, go to www.goh.co.uk or tel: 028 9024 1919
At just eight weeks old, Eliana Grace McClelland is inspiring mums and dads around the world. Born against the odds on February 3, the moving story of what parents Victoria and Stephen came through to get their little bundle of joy has captured thousands of hearts since it was posted online just a couple of weeks ago.

Nearly 11,000 people have viewed the inspiring footage and there have been countless shares of the video, which details the truly horrific fertility journey endured by the couple over a four-year period.

The couple credit their Christian faith - and sheer determination to be parents - for their eventual happy ending. Following months of trauma and despair, they celebrated the birth of their little girl two months ago.

Victoria, who is from Sion Mills but now lives in Canada, was delighted to bring her baby home to meet the wider family circle and friends in Northern Ireland for the first time this week.

Even getting on a plane with her daughter, knowing she would soon be able to introduce her to her family, was a dream come true for the 29-year-old, who has come through so much to be a mum.

Victoria initially recorded her battle to have a baby in a video as a keepsake and then decided to post it online to share with friends who had no idea of the full extent of the fertility battle.

She has been astonished by the response from couples all around the world who have contacted her to say how much her story has given them hope and encouragement as they too face the invasive and uncertain medical journey to try and become parents.

She says: "Our story was very personal and initially I put it together just for ourselves and then decided to post it. We also wanted to share our faith and what we believe God has done for us and to hopefully help other couples.

"I looked up videos on the internet of other couples going through infertility when we were going through it, and they gave us hope when we were feeling down.

"It is something that virtually no one talks about and yet so many couples are going through it. We were so shocked to receive so many emails and private messages telling us how the video had encouraged and gave hope. It was emotional to read of other couples' struggles as we deeply feel their pain, but it also made us feel better about sharing our story because of the positive response. It has opened our eyes to how many couples do have trouble becoming parents."

And it is to encourage others that Victoria shares her story today.

How this young woman from Northern Ireland met and married the man of her dreams is a classic love story.

Stephen (30), a Canadian businessman, grew up close to Victoria's cousin.

The couple were introduced when Victoria went to visit her relatives for a holiday in October 2010.

They kept in touch through Skype and Victoria, who ran her own hairdressing business in Sion Mills, decided to take a year out in Canada and gave up everything to go there in January 2011. Stephen proposed one year to the day after they first met on October 10, 2011. They married in August 2012.

It was shortly after their wedding that they decided they wanted to try for a family but at that point the young couple could never have guessed at the painful road that lay ahead.

Victoria says: "I always wanted to be a mummy; even from I was a little girl. We decided to try for a family a couple of months after getting married and we were trying for some time and nothing was happening. We went to the doctor who ran tests which took quite a long time, and they all came back clear."

Still unaware of the tough road ahead, they embarked on fertility treatment first with IUI (intra-uterine insemination) and then IVF (in-vitro fertilisation).

Over the next four years they endured an emotional rollercoaster as they experienced the joy of being told three times Victoria was pregnant, only to be devastated when she miscarried.

And in what was an extraordinary blunder by the hospital, the couple spent six weeks believing Victoria was carrying their baby only to be told that the hospital had mixed up blood tests and she was never pregnant.

She recalls: "After waiting so long and going through so many tests and injections I was so excited to be told I was finally expecting a baby. It was the best feeling in the world, I cried with joy.

"I couldn't wait until Stephen got home from work to tell him the wonderful news. I can't find words to explain the happiness we both felt. We had taken a pregnancy test and it came up negative, but the hospital told us not to worry, that the blood test was more reliable. We didn't tell our families as we wanted to get to 12 weeks first. After six weeks I started to bleed and was taken to the hospital for an ultrasound.

"We sat waiting for an hour and every minute seemed like forever as we knew it wasn't good.

"We went in to see the doctor and he told us that the blood tests had got mixed up and it had never happened before, but that I was never pregnant. We had been on top of the world and our world just shattered.

"I just wanted a baby so badly that we had to keep going."

At one point Victoria underwent a treatment known as LIT - lymphocyte immune therapy - which involved white blood cells taken from Stephen being injected into her skin in what is a radical procedure to try and prevent miscarriage.

There was another incredible high point followed by the worst news imaginable when, while waiting for their second round of IVF treatment, Victoria was thrilled to discover in December 2015 she had got pregnant naturally.

Tragically, it was an ectopic pregnancy and Victoria had to undergo surgery to remove one of her fallopian tubes, and was then told that her other tube was blocked beyond repair, meaning she would never conceive naturally again.

"We had always hoped in our hearts that I would get pregnant naturally and to be told there was virtually no chance of that ever happening left us just lost," she says. "I can't even explain the pain and wondering why we had to go through so much. We hoped and prayed I would get pregnant naturally and I was just devastated to be told it would never happen.

"My surgery meant our next IVF was put back from January until March and that period of waiting was one of the hardest things for us.

"Each day just seemed like forever and we were trying not to wish our lives away, but we couldn't think about anything but starting our second IVF to have another chance."

The extreme emotional highs and lows of fertility are known to put a huge strain on even the most solid marriages, yet even though Victoria and Stephen were newlyweds, she says their experience brought them closer together.

"It was very hard on us and sometimes I didn't want to go out of the house because everywhere I looked there were babies or pregnant women," says Victoria. "When I got pregnant we were so excited, but our hearts and world were shattered in pieces when I miscarried. I really can't explain the pain we felt, we were totally heartbroken. We encouraged each other, and if one of us was down the other one brought them back up again.

"We are both Christians and our faith played a big part; if we hadn't had that I don't know how we would have kept going. It just felt that God was going to give us this little baby. Through our faith and Bible reading we believe that we got promises and messages which kept us going.

"I wanted to be a mum so much and Stephen felt the same about becoming a dad. We imagined and dreamt about what it would be like to have our own wee family, the fun things we would do with our kids. I prayed that God would take the feelings of being a mum away as it wasn't meant to be, but those feelings never went away, if anything they only got stronger, so I believed we would be parents one day whether we would have our own baby or maybe a baby through adoption."

The long-awaited IVF in March unfortunately wasn't successful. Then in May they had what would be their final IVF - and their very last chance to have a baby. That resulted in an outcome so unusual that doctors said they had never come across it before.

Victoria explains what she and the medical team believe was the miracle behind little Eliana's birth.

"I had two embryos transferred, leaving one embryo left. The pregnancy took and we were excited but extremely nervous. After six weeks I started bleeding and had to go to the emergency department," she says.

"The doctor told me he was really sorry but I had another miscarriage. I asked was there any chance the other embryo was still there and he said it was very unlikely. We drove home from the hospital in tears, absolutely shattered as this was our final chance, after trying every last option of medication and procedure that the doctor could offer us.

"We started to look at our options and we thought of adoption and surrogacy, which didn't feel right.

"I had to get another blood test done and it showed that my HCG levels were still high indicating pregnancy, and they asked me to come back two days later for one last blood test.

"When I went back they gave me an ultrasound and told me there was a heartbeat, a very strong heartbeat.

"Stephen was in the waiting room and I started to cry tears of happiness. I couldn't believe what I was being told. He came in and thought at first that I had got more bad news but when I told him there was a very strong heartbeat he was also in tears. The doctor was as shocked as us and said he had never seen this happen before."

While elated, the couple were also understandably nervous and decided to take their pregnancy one day at a time.

The 16-week scan showed that Victoria's placenta was lying low and she was ordered to take great care and was told if it didn't move she might need a C-section. Thankfully, her 20-week scan showed it had shifted back into place.

"I was so excited to be pregnant and wanted to enjoy it as much as I could, but we couldn't help worrying about making it to the end," she says.

"We did feel this was our miracle and that God was going to let us have this one. Eliana, which means 'God has answered us', came on her due date on February 3.

"Bringing her home from hospital was a day we had dreamt of for so long. It was such a wonderful and amazing feeling driving home with our little girl in the car. My sister, mum and Stephen's parents had surprised us by decorating our house to welcome Eliana home.

"We walked into the living room with her and both broke into tears, seeing the baby girl decorations, we had dreamt of this day for the last four years. Our dream had finally come true.

"Stephen just dotes on her and I love being a mum, it is the best thing in the world. We have so much love for Eliana.

"Sometimes we sit and stare at her and can't believe she is really ours. We are both so happy and absolutely love wakening up to her little face each day.

"I always dreamt of flying home with my wee baby and this time it was for real. I am home for a month and Stephen arrives next week. We are thankful to God we had a happy ending.

"I just hope our story encourages others not to give up hope."
In secret, behind locked gates, our Nation's Oldest City dumped a landfill in a lake (Old City Reservoir), while emitting sewage in our rivers and salt marsh. Organized citizens exposed and defeated pollution, racism and cronyism. We elected a new Mayor. We're transforming our City -- advanced citizenship. Ask questions. Make disclosures. Demand answers. Be involved. Expect democracy. Report and expose corruption. Smile! Help enact a St. Augustine National Park and Seashore. We shall overcome!
Ex-UK Prime Minister and international statesman Tony Blair has paid tribute to former Belfast Telegraph Westminster correspondent Des McCartan, who has died.

In a heartfelt message, the Edinburgh-born former Labour party leader spoke of his sadness at learning of Mr McCartan's death.

"I was very sad to hear about the tragic and untimely death of Des McCartan," Mr Blair said.

"Des was a much respected, insightful and widely admired journalist, professional to the core. Although he spent most of his career in Westminster, he was passionate about Northern Ireland and its people - and that was reflected in his always sensitive and thoughtful coverage of the peace process.

"He will be sorely missed by all those who had the pleasure of knowing him for the kind and compassionate man that he was."

Mr McCartan fractured his skull in a fall on March 22, the same day as the terrorist attack on the Houses of Parliament.

He was taken to St Mary's Hospital in west London, which was also treating people injured in the attack.

Mr McCartan never regained consciousness, and his life support was removed a week later.

Mr Blair's tribute comes a day after his former spin doctor, Alistair Campbell, also paid his respects to Mr McCartan.

"I am so sad to hear of Des's death. He was a fine journalist and a good man," Mr Campbell said.

"He was acutely aware of the special place in the politics of Northern Ireland that the Bel Tel had, and he took real care over what he reported and thought deeply about the impact his reporting could have.

"He cared deeply about the story because he cared deeply about where he came from," he added.

Desmond joined the Belfast Telegraph in 1968, after previously working as a reporter for the East Antrim Times, and began reporting on the beginning of the Troubles when a period of serious rioting led to the arrival of the Army on Belfast's streets.

He left the newspaper after 33 years to become chief press officer at the Privy Council Office, with responsibility to the then Leader of the House of Commons, Robin Cook.

Requiem Mass for Des McCartan is to be held at Ealing Abbey on Friday, April 21, at 2pm.
Pamela Hein from South Dakota on one of her visits here

Pamela Hein (centre) with Keith Bakers wife Caroline (left) and Mandy Highfield during her stay at the house.

An American attorney who spent two weeks inside Craigavon's house of horrors as a guest of Keith Baker and his two "wives" has given an astonishing insight into the life of the depraved couple who kept a mentally disabled woman locked up as a sex slave for eight years.

Pamela Hein (57), a grandmother from South Dakota, had no idea that the couple who hosted her during two visits to Northern Ireland were convicted this week of a litany of heinous crimes.

Ms Hein spent a week with the family just a year before their victim was rescued by police in 2012, and also stayed in their Drumellan Mews home for 10 days in 2010.

Baker proved a master of deception in keeping his victim and crimes hidden for eight years, and even fooled the American lawyer who was stunned when the Belfast Telegraph broke the news that her hosts were now serving sentences for horrific sex crimes.

Ms Hein said: "It is just shocking to me. I was a prosecutor and then a defence attorney and I am now a prosecutor again, and I had a lot of clients who were domestic violence victims.

"I also sit on a board to help children who were sexually abused and there are tell-tale signs, and you get a sixth sense about something like that. I had no idea. I am astonished."

Ms Hein got in touch with the Bakers through a global travellers' website where people find host families to stay with when visiting countries all around the world. She is a mother of two girls and has five grandchildren, and has also been a foster mum for 12 years.

Adopted at birth, she was told there was a good chance her natural mother was Irish, and after spending years searching for her in the US she decided to extend her search to Ireland in 2010, and got in touch with the Bakers, who were registered as hosts on the website.

She spent a week with them in the house where their victim had been locked up and abused in a filthy room during her first visit in 2010.

She said she was all over the two properties, which Keith Baker had knocked into one to accommodate his extended family with wife Caroline and partner Mandy Highfield, who each had four children to him.

It was his partner Mandy Highfield who alerted police to the horror of their victim's captivity in 2012. She has since described Baker as a violent man who regularly beat her and his wife. Baker was revealed as a monster who kept his victim locked in a filthy room in the property with no heat, light bulb or carpet, with the door handle removed from the inside so that she could not escape.

Evidence gathered at the scene showed he and his wife filmed themselves attacking their helpless victim via a camera suspended from the ceiling.

The woman's learning difficulties were so severe her IQ placed her in the lowest 0.3% of the population. When she was rescued she was so badly malnourished that most of her teeth had fallen out.

The Bakers' victim was reported missing in England in 2004, when the judge said Mr Baker took her to Northern Ireland.

Last night Ms Hein was in disbelief that the family she had found "perfect hosts" during her visit had been responsible for such vile crimes.

She said: "There was absolutely no indication that anything kinky was going on in that house. I spent a week in the house the first time and 10 days the second time. I was all over that house and I knew where everyone stayed, and I was in the bedroom next to Mandy's bedroom.

"The boys stayed in one side of the house with Keith and the girls were in the other with Caroline and Mandy.

"I can't imagine where this room could have been. It has shocked me to pieces, as to me there was no indication that there was anything amiss."

While in Northern Ireland to search for her biological mum, Baker and his family showed Ms Hein round some of our best-known tourist spots.

She said she enjoyed great days out with the family and never once suspected that they had such a horrific secret.

She said: "Everyone seemed very happy-go-lucky and joked and laughed and we went on big excursions together visiting the Giant's Causeway, Dunluce Castle and Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge.

"One time Caroline and some of the kids would come and other times Mandy and some of the kids, as there wasn't a vehicle big enough to take everyone.

"Their oldest daughter and I one day stayed at home to bake because she loved to cook and we baked sugar cookies with recipes I had brought with me from America for all the family.

"The kids were all great kids - wonderful, kind-hearted, laughing, joking souls. I hope they can rebound from this. My heart goes out to them.

"Six of the children were there when I stayed and two others lived away.

"I thought the kids were all well-rounded, fantastic individuals. They liked to joke and tease and, as you can imagine, there was a lot of activity with all of them around.

"The kids were respectful to the adults in the house, but good fun as well.

"It seemed very apparent to me that they loved their dad, and he joked and laughed with them too.

"I am planning a trip back to Ireland in May and I had arranged to meet with Caroline and some of the children."

Claims by Mandy Highfield this week that Baker was violent to her and his wife also shocked the American attorney, who said both women appeared happy during the time she spent with them.

She explained: "Keith drove me, Caroline and Mandy to a coastal town for a girly night out at a karaoke and we had a great night."

The fact that both women shared a house with Baker also did not appear odd to Ms Hein, who said her understanding was that Mandy and Baker were no longer in a relationship.

She said: "They stayed in different sides of the house and I was led to believe that Mandy had been in a relationship with Keith at one time but they were no longer in an intimate relationship, and she lived with them because he had fathered her children."

Ms Hein had no idea that the Belfast Public Record Office was closed for renovation when she first visited, which is why she returned to Northern Ireland in 2011.

During this visit, Baker again played the perfect host, driving his guest to the Public Record Office so that she could research her mother's background.

Her visits to Northern Ireland and the Republic did not, unfortunately, help in her search for her birth mum, who she eventually found last year living in West Virginia.

She now plans a visit back here this summer with her mum and other family members.

She added: "I have kept in touch with the Bakers' children and hope to meet up with them when I visit this year.

"They are lovely kids and were always joking and I had a ball with them when I was there, and I've told them my door is always open."
Martin McGuinness, who died last month, was the subject of a police file on his alleged involvement in the IRA

The Northern Ireland prosecution service has disputed a former UK cabinet minister's claim that it blocked a murder case against Martin McGuinness to save the peace process.

It did confirm that it received a police file on Mr McGuinness's IRA involvement in 1994, one year after he claimed to the BBC that he was not an IRA member.

Norman Tebbit, a former chairman of the Conservative Party and a former Conservative cabinet minister, claimed this week that a senior Northern Ireland prosecutor told him that the prosecution service was forced to drop a murder case against Mr McGuinness to allow peace talks to continue.

Mr McGuinness, the former deputy first minister, died last month from a rare heart condition.

The prosecution service confirmed that it had received a police file.

It said it reviewed the material and advised the police in March 1995 that there was not enough evidence to prosecute him.

That file is strongly believed to relate to Frank Hegarty, an alleged IRA informer who was executed by the IRA in 1986 after Mr McGuinness allegedly reassured his family that he would not be hurt if he returned.

It also included evidence that Mr McGuinness was involved in several other murders, and evidence of IRA membership.

"Police were advised that should further evidence become available, the file could be re-submitted for consideration.

"Political considerations played no part in this decision," the prosecution service said. It also said that it could not find any reference to Mr Tebbit having being in contact with the service, although Mr Tebbit said his contact was informal.

"We have not been able to identify any contact at that time with Mr Tebbit on this case," the prosecution service said in a statement to The Times.

Allegations have hung over police and prosecutors for many years that Mr McGuinness was protected from prosecution in the lead up to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

Specific claims against Mr McGuinness's role in IRA murders were broadcast in a two-part BBC Cook Report documentary in 1993, in which it was said he was directly responsible for the murder of Mr Hegarty and several other people.

Mr McGuinness denied the claims and said he was not a member of the IRA.

The then Royal Ulster Constabulary opened up a file on Mr McGuinness as a result of the documentary and submitted its evidence to the director of public prosecutions in 1994, just as the IRA was announcing its first ceasefire and Sinn Fein were calling for all-party talks. Mr Tebbit's claims that the prosecution of Mr McGuinness was suppressed is supported by Kathryn Johnston, a journalist who wrote an unauthorised biography of Mr McGuinness with the late Liam Clarke, her husband and a former Sunday Times journalist.

In the book, Martin McGuinness: From Guns to Government, the pair claim that police attached a memo to Mr McGuinness's file pointing out that his role in the peace process was a factor to be considered in deciding whether to prosecute.

Ms Johnston told The Times last night that the file was clearly marked with the memo but said it was doubtful that the police would have had enough evidence to prosecute Mr McGuinness.

"From the file, it's difficult to see how they could prosecute. Some of it came from Sean O'Callaghan, the IRA informer, and the rest from two other people, one of whom was willing to give evidence.

"But Mr McGuinness was always careful to distance himself from IRA actions, they needed something that would have brought him close to the acts," she said.

Ms Johnston said that the witness who was willing to give evidence might have recanted later on, given the pressure on IRA informers at the time.

Ms Johnston and her husband were arrested in 2003 for breach of the Official Secrets Act as a result of disclosures in the book.

The police ombudsman strongly condemned the arrests and the police later apologised to the couple.

A spokesman for Jim Allister MLA, the Traditional Unionist Voice leader, said yesterday that Mr Allister had met with a senior figure in the police ombudsman's office in 2009 to discuss possible police interference in the prosecution of Martin McGuinness.

The ombudsman's press officer was not available for comment yesterday.

A Sinn Fein spokesperson said: "Martin McGuinness worked tirelessly to develop and promote the peace process. His dedication to peace and reconciliation has been recognised throughout Ireland and across the world."
Almost 4,000 parking tickets were handed out in a year on one of Belfast's busiest streets alone - more than in four of Northern Ireland's biggest towns put together. Stock image

Almost 4,000 parking tickets were handed out in a year on one of Belfast's busiest streets alone - more than in four of Northern Ireland's biggest towns put together.

The Lisburn Road can again lay claim to being our most ticketed street - with 10 penalty charge notices (PCNs) dished out every single day.

Last year nearly 35,000 parking fines were handed out in Belfast, while there were almost 85,000 PCNs across Northern Ireland as a whole.

Surprisingly, however, there were no penalties at all for drivers in Toome, Ballykelly, Millisle, Newtownstewart, Richhill, Tandgragee, Whitehead and Dromore in Co Tyrone.

Figures obtained by the Belfast Telegraph from the Department for Infrastructure (DFI) show that in 2016 there were 3,923 PCNs issued on the Lisburn Road, where traffic attendants are most prolific.

Indeed, more parking tickets were handed out on the south Belfast street than the whole of Antrim (776), Coleraine (1,402), Strabane (1,001) and Dungannon (728) put together.

The revelations have prompted criticism that people are being driven away from Belfast's most fashionable shopping destinations by over-zealous traffic wardens.

Retail NI boss Glyn Roberts said questions needed to be answered by both the department and TransportNI over the "massive disparity" in the number of parking fines handed out from one location to another.

"It's shocking that the Lisburn Road is still Northern Ireland's most ticketed street," he said.

"We're mainly talking about independent retailers and family-run businesses that are already facing a swathe of other challenges without this parking fine fiasco. It has to stop.

"And why are drivers in so many towns not getting PCNs? Parking enforcement must be fair and proportionate, and not used as another form of taxation, which is currently what many traders believe is the case."

A DFI spokesman said the objective was to discourage illegal parking by issuing a penalty to those who did so.

"The department would of course prefer that those parking in our towns and cities park legally, as to do otherwise has knock-on impacts for many more people trying to get around both by car and on public transport," the spokesman added.

"Traffic attendants are deployed to those places where they will have the most impact on road safety and traffic progression. Enforcement of parking restrictions aims to reduce the number of illegally-parked vehicles, which in turn reduces traffic congestion, improves road safety, frees up space and improves accessibility for all road users."

A total of 34,690 on-street PCNs were issued in Belfast city centre last year, according to the most recent report by DFI.

The five most ticketed streets were: Lisburn Road (3,923), Chichester Street (1,810), Stranmillis Road (1,104), Ormeau Road (712) and Wellington Place (701). Also making the top 10 for parking fines were: Adelaide Street (687), Antrim Road (677), Shore Road (511), Linenhall Street (510) and High Street (476).

The Department for Regional Development's TransportNI wing takes responsibility for the enforcement of most parking restrictions. On-the-ground enforcement is provided by TransportNI's contractor, currently NSL Services Group, which employs the wardens.

Each parking ticket costs car owners 90 - or 45 if it is paid within 14 days.

That means the Lisburn Road alone is potentially worth up to 353,070 in revenue.

At the other end of the spectrum, there were eight locations which saw no fines issued for on-street parking transgressions.
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The Ulster Unionist Party Annual General Meeting and Spring Conference at the Crowne Plaza, Belfast. New UUP party leader Robin Swan Press Eye: Matt Mackey

The new UUP leader has dismissed calls for a single unionist party.

Robin Swann said such a move risked driving unionists into the Alliance Party or leaving them with nobody to vote for.

He also promised his Stormont team would not join the Executive if political agreements were made solely for the DUP and Sinn Fein's benefit.

And he called for a funding boost to remove people from health service waiting lists as it struggles without a health minister to make decisions.

Mr Swann said: "We have a daughter of six and a son of four - I want their experience of growing up in Northern Ireland to be very different from mine.

"I want them to grow up in a Northern Ireland at peace with itself, a Northern Ireland for all its people, a Northern Ireland which has a particular emphasis on the development of our children, which respects its elders and looks after the vulnerable."

He was confirmed by a party meeting in Belfast as the replacement for Mike Nesbitt, who stepped aside after the UUP's disappointing showing in the March 2 Assembly election.

A Sinn Fein surge at the polls to within one seat of the DUP has led some influential voices to call for a single unionist grouping.

The new UUP leader urged them to consider the consequences of such an outcome.

"A single unionist party would limit choice, stifle debate and quickly result in the depletion of unionist votes at the ballot box.

"I am in the Ulster Unionist Party - we are in the Ulster Unionist Party - because we believe in its vision, its policies and its priorities.

"No other party comes close to representing the brand of unionism that we have and I believe in."

He added: " It would also run the risk of driving those who consider themselves unionists, but only with a small U, into the arms of a party which is at best agnostic to the union, and it would leave many others with no-one to vote for at all."

The UUP returned 10 Assembly members, down from 16 before the recent election during which the number of seats available was reduced.

The five main parties have until next Friday - Good Friday - to form a new Executive or direct rule could be reintroduced.

The North Antrim Assembly member added: " And whilst I do not rule out any possibilities, if these talks end up being talks and agreements made by two parties for the benefit of two parties, then I say let it be an Executive of two parties.

"Standing at the great height of 5ft 3ish, I have had my experiences of people trying to bully me and push me around... trust me - I have never been pushed around, nor do I intend starting to let people push me around, nor will I allow this party to be pushed around.

"This party did not take the leap it did almost 20 years ago to see parties continue in a cycle of never-ending negotiations."
New Ulster Unionist leader Robin Swann will today spell out his vision for a more "non-threatening, positive" unionism.

Mr Swann is the sole candidate at the party's annual general meeting where his nomination to replace Mike Nesbitt will be ratified.

After five years as leader, Mr Nesbitt resigned on the day of the last Assembly election vote count when the UUP fell from 16 seats to 10, down from the third largest to fourth largest Assembly party.

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After emerging as the lone nominee, Mr Swann has maintained a low public profile.

He has been involved in the ongoing Stormont negotiations, where the party's main spokesman has been Fermanagh-South Tyrone MP Tom Elliott.

Meanwhile last night, Sinn Fein repeated warnings that Northern Ireland faces yet another election as crisis talks to restore Stormont head into their final week.

The five main parties were locked in discussions yesterday - though the signs emerging were pessimistic. MLAs normally take Fridays to focus on their individual constituencies but teams from the DUP, Sinn Fein, SDLP, Ulster Unionists and Alliance remained in meetings with the British and Irish governments.

Sources last night said contacts would be maintained over the weekend. From Monday there are effectively five days left to try to reach agreement.

Secretary of State James Brokenshire said he will make a call on the state of negotiations over the Easter weekend - April 15 and 16.
A woman has admitted stealing from the Salvation Army and has been banned from its Ballymena store as part of her bail conditions.

Louise Pewtner (44), of Henry Street, Ballymena, took clothing worth 17.50 from the Salvation Army on March 28 this year.

On the same date she also stole hair straighteners and hair extensions worth 109.49 from Boots, and clothing worth 69 from Dunnes where she had previously stolen clothes worth 26.

As part of her previous bail conditions she was banned from the Tower Centre in Ballymena but on Wednesday of this week she breached that by stealing a pillow worth 8 from Primark.

Pewtner appeared in the dock at Ballymena Magistrates Court where defence barrister Alan Stewart said all offences and the breach of bail were admitted. He said his client has a history of mental health problems and addictions.

The case has been adjourned until May for the preparation of a pre-sentence report.
Rob Maxwell with girlfriend Roxy Petre. He is taking amputee veterans to Isle Of Man TT

Just 1,500 stands between a group of disabled ex-servicemen and a trip to the Joey Dunlop Foundation Lodge on the Isle of Man that has been four years in the planning.

The visit will allow them to experience the annual TT motorbike event in June.

Organiser Robert Maxwell, from Co Down-based group Let's Do, plans to take 12 disabled veterans - three of them from Northern Ireland - over to the Isle of Man for a six-day trip that will coincide with the opening of a new extension of the lodge. He is now appealing to the public for help, because the funding he has secured won't cover a suitable bus and driver to transport the group around the island.

One of the local men hoping to go is a former soldier who lost his legs in Afghanisan, while another was left with a sight disability after an explosion.

"He got some ball bearings in his face in Iraq, he lost one eye and has limited vision in the other. He has even got a ball bearing in his heart, which could kill him at any time," explained Robert.

"They (the insurgents) had set up this bomb at the top of a bridge, the guys were doing a river patrol.

"The bomb was timed to explode as they passed and peppered everyone on the boat, a couple were killed."

The group are to stay at the Joey Dunlop Foundation Lodge, which is adapted to meet the needs of disabled and able-bodied guests.

"We are staying there, but in order for us to get around we have had to hire a special minibus and driver," Mr Maxwell said.

"That's my biggest concern, to see about generating the funds for that.

"We have had lots of logistical issues around this trip.

"But now we have to try and find 250 per day for a disabled minibus and driver, which the Isle of Man government is providing, but which we are not getting any discount on."

Mr Maxwell said he also hoped to raise positive publicity for former armed services personnel.

"I'm ex-armed services myself, I am disabled," he said.

"What we are trying to draw attention to is that even after you move out of the conflicts there are people that get left behind. They are too proud to ask for help, they don't want to be spoon-fed.

"What we do is connect with these guys on social media. The plan is to look after people with a wide range of disabilities.

"We have done trips to various places, we know that the trip has to be gauged on the most disabled person and what they will be able to get out of it."

The lodge at Braddan Bridge House in the Manx capital Douglas has apartments adapted to the needs of all disabled guests, allowing them to experience the famous TT race event.

It was formally opened by Joey Dunlop's widow Linda in June 2010.

An extension was recently added to the building.
A 14-year-old boy has appeared in court charged with attempting to obtain a gun and ammunition, PSNI said

A 14-year-old boy has been charged with trying to buy a Russian sub-machine gun and 100 rounds of ammunition on the dark web.

A detective said she believed the teenager's intention was to intimidate another person.

The child was detained during a police operation at the Riverside retail park, in Coleraine, Co Londonderry, on Thursday morning.

He had allegedly tried to give 150 cash to a police operative for the ammunition, the detective said, and felt he could purchase the gun.

The detective constable from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) told Ballymena Magistrates' Court: "Speaking to the operative, the defendant had stated in communications that his intention was to intimidate a third party."

He appeared in court accused of attempting to possess a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life.

The offences are alleged to have occurred between March 27 and April 7 this year.

The accused, wearing a grey hooded top and red T-shirt, appeared in court flanked by his father and three police officers.

During interview with police, he named a Jamaican man who he said asked him to collect blank ammunition and a deactivated gun.

He said he ordered these through a selling platform on the dark web, the detective said.

The accused told investigators he was to collect the deactivated gun in a few days, the detective constable added.

She added: "It was, in fact, a live gun and live ammunition."

The detective added: "The account provided was somewhat unbelievable.

"He provided an account that he was purchasing a gun for a male that was a Jamaican national living in Northern Ireland who he was friendly with on Facebook."

She said none of his Facebook friends matched the name given for the 40-year-old friend.

Defence lawyer Derwin Harvey said there was no evidence presented surrounding what his client's intent was and described police assertions as "guesswork".

District judge Liam McNally released the accused on bail of 500 and with conditions including staying at home overnight and not possessing a mobile phone or any other internet-enabled device.
To be a companion in Doctor Who you have to be your own person, Peter Capaldi said

Doctor Who star Peter Capaldi has praised actress Pearl Mackie amid speculation about her role as companion on the show.

Reports have suggested that Mackie, 29, will leave after just one series as the Doctor's new sidekick Bill Potts.

Asked about working with Mackie, Capaldi, who is quitting after the forthcoming tenth series, said the actress "brought a whole new vigour and excitement to the role of the Doctor's companion".

While not giving away any hints as to his co-star's future, the 58-year-old said: "The companion (and Bill is a very good example of it) is sort of their own person.

"They tend to be characters who are fully formed and independent ... To be a companion in Doctor Who you have to be your own person. It doesn't really work if the companion is just an adjunct to the Doctor."

Executive producer Steven Moffat, who is also leaving the BBC One show, said Capaldi's "input" had been "massively important" in casting the new assistant.

"They are going to be a working unit for months - they are going to see more of each other than they see of their significant others when they're playing these parts, so you're practically marrying them," he said in publicity material for the next series.

He added: "You're casting a friendship."

Mackie recently revealed that her character would be the Time Lord's first openly gay companion.

Moffat said of her alter ego: "She has a different bunch of questions - what are the questions that a real person flung into the Doctor's life would ask?

"So I've set this challenge to all the writers - what is she going to ask him? The moment you open that up it starts to define her. Where is the toilet on the Tardis - that's a really reasonable question."

The BBC has played down the rumours of a new Doctor Who companion, saying: "We never reveal the fate of individual characters on the show. Viewers will have to tune in to find out.

"We are still filming series 10 and no casting decisions have yet been made on series 11."

Moffatt, who is being replaced by Chris Chibnall, said the opening episode of the new series would be "Doctor Who at its purest".

Some episodes of Doctor Who have been criticised for being too complex.

The writer said of the first new episode: "The idea was just to introduce Doctor Who properly - the story starts here. You need to know nothing before this point."

He added: "The fact that this was my last series had to be removed from the mix. The fact that this is Peter's last series matters to the show."

Fleabag actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge, ex-Homeland star David Harewood and former Death In Paradise actor Kris Marshall are among the names tipped to take over from Capaldi in the Time Lord role.

:: Doctor Who returns to BBC One on Saturday April 15 with the first episode of series 10, The Pilot.
Pigott-Smith had recently won rave reviews for his role in King Charles III

Dame Helen Mirren has led tributes to the "kind and loving" actor Tim Pigott-Smith, who died on Friday aged 70.

The Oscar-winning actress worked alongside Pigott-Smith in Mourning Becomes Electra at the National Theatre.

Announcing the news, the actor's agent, John Grant, revealed he had died Friday morning, a month after collecting an OBE for services to drama.

In a statement, Mirren said: " I am so very sorry to hear of the unexpected death of my friend and colleague Tim Pigott-Smith.

"He was a kind and loving person as well as an actor with an very long, varied and successful career, brilliantly culminating in his recent triumph in King Charles III.

"I worked with him on the epic Eugene O' Neill play Mourning Becomes Electra at the National Theatre and came to love him as a person as well as an actor.

"He combined a lovely sense of humour with a great seriousness about his work and was always utterly committed.

"We will miss him."

Pigott-Smith had already filmed the forthcoming BBC2 drama King Charles III having successfully played the title role in the theatre production on Broadway and in the West End.

The play and TV drama depicts Charles as monarch after the Queen's death as he refuses to sign a controversial bill into law.

It chronicles the political chaos that follows, leading to a constitutional crisis, rioting on the streets and a tank in front of Buckingham Palace.

The play won the Olivier Award and the Critics' Circle Theatre Award for best new play and was staged in London and New York, with Pigott-Smith winning rave reviews on both sides of the Atlantic.

He was nominated for both an Olivier and a Tony Award for his performance.

He was also due to star as Willy Loman in a revival of Arthur Miller's play Death Of A Salesman, which was scheduled to open at Royal & Derngate in Northampton on April 10, before an extensive nationwide tour.

His real-life wife Pamela Miles was expected to play Willy's wife Linda but pulled out of the production after breaking a bone during rehearsals, and was replaced on the bill.

Pigott-Smith had completed production on several films, including 6 Days, a drama about the hostage situation at the Iranian embassy in London in 1980, which also stars Jamie Bell and Mark Strong, and Stephen Frears's new film Victoria And Abdul, which also stars Olivia Williams, Michael Gambon and Judi Dench and is due for UK release in September.

He is survived by his wife and their son, Tom.
An elite task force has been set up in Mauritius in a bid to bring those responsible for the killing of Michaela McAreavey to justice.

Mrs McAreavey (27), daughter of Tyrone GAA boss Mickey Harte, was strangled while on honeymoon six years ago. Her widower John has traveled back to the island to make a fresh appeal for information to help track down her killer.

He visited with senior police officers on Monday morning and told the media the meeting was "short but positive".

He said he hoped the new task force uncovered "fresh and compelling evidence".

A confidential hotline is also being set up. Prosecutors have insisted the case remains open and they are determined to bring those to justice.

Mrs McAreavey was killed at the luxury Legends Hotel just 12 days after her wedding.

No-one has been convicted of the murder.

At the weekend Mr McAreavey returned to Mauritius to make the new plea for information.

A confidential telephone line is being set up by his lawyer on the island, Dick Ng Sui Wa. There will also be an address where people can post potential new evidence.

Just before his return to the island, he told the BBC that he was prepared "to go to the ends of the Earth to ensure that justice is achieved for Michaela".

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He added: "We need to appeal to the people of Mauritius, so we felt that the best way to achieve that is to get on a plane and get out there."

Mr McAreavey is accompanied by his sister Claire and Michaela's brother Mark.

In 2012 two hotel workers - Avinash Treebhoowoon and Sandip Moneea -were found not guilty of Michaela's murder following a trial.

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Mr McAreavey remarried in September last year. His wife Tara Brennan is an accountant from Co Kildare.
The death of four-year-old Thomas Magee in a farming accident in Co Fermanagh is a tragedy for his family, and for the local community.

It is also something that strikes at the heart of every parent and grandparent in the land. The details of what happened are not yet clear, though the boy's death is understood to have involved farm machinery under which he became trapped.

An accident is by definition an accident, and these things happen in the blink of an eye. Children are curious and fascinated by machinery.

Agriculture is one of Northern Ireland's largest and most important industries, which faces great challenges. Many farmers work on smallholdings and it can be a challenging, even difficult, life.

There are strong commercial pressures to compete in this age of consumerism. The farmer's day begins early and ends late, and this is usually for 365 days a year.

A major issue is farm safety, and when something does go wrong, too often the results are tragic.

We can still recall the deaths from slurry pit accidents, the fatalities from tractor incidents, and attacks by livestock.

The death of Thomas Magee was the first of a child on a Northern Ireland farm for several years, while last year there were seven deaths on farms here, and six the year before.

The nature of modern farming means that there can be dangers around the corner at any time, and even more must be done to improve farm safety.

In due course the detailed causes of this accident in Fermanagh will become clearer, but in the final analysis this is a heart-breaking experience for this rural family.

The political representatives have expressed the deep sadness being felt by people in general.

The loss of a little boy of only four years is another loss too many. Our hearts and prayers are with the family and friends of little Thomas Magee, the boy with the beautiful smile.
Police search the car abandoned by suspected militants in Tuban regency, East Java province, April 8, 2017.

Indonesia police and military officers shot and killed six suspected militants and arrested one after the group fled into the woods following a traffic stop Saturday in Tuban regency, East Java province, officials told BenarNews.

East Java police spokesman Frans Barung Mangera said the shootout occurred around 4:10 p.m. after the joint force surrounded the suspected militants who were hiding in the woods near a cornfield. Hours earlier, the suspects fired four shots at officers who approached their car at a traffic stop.

None of the police and military joint force members, nor residents were injured. We are grateful to the community for obeying the officers for not watching the shootout, Barung said.

The identity of those who were killed and captured cannot be released in detail. Those killed will be identified by a forensic laboratory team, Barung told BenarNews, adding he believes they are suspected terrorists.

East Java Police Chief Machfud Arifin said the suspects are linked to Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD). The shootout occurred a day after police arrested three suspected militants linked to JAD who allegedly planned an attack of an East Java police station.

Traffic stop

Officials said as two traffic police officers approached a car stopped near their post, passengers fired four shots.

The shots missed the two police, a police source who requested anonymity told BenarNews, adding the shooting occurred about 10 a.m.

Tuban police deployed personnel assisted by military members to pursue the gunmen who left the car and fled into the woods.

Barung said about 400 police, Densus 88 elite counter terrorist squad members and military officers pursued the suspects.

Tuban Police Chief Fadli Samad told BenarNews police found evidence in the suspects car including a passport, four cell phones, a two-way radio, a box of bullets and two backpacks loaded with bullets.

All evidence is secured by police, Fadli said.

Prior to Saturdays shootout, Densus 88 and police had killed at least six suspects since December 2016. Additionally, at least two dozen suspected terrorists have been arrested in 2017.
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Amazon Web Services (News - Alert) has long enjoyed a comfortable lead over its competitors when it comes to cloud computing. While that is still the case, a recent study by Sumo Logic has found that that gap is shrinking rapidly. Microsofts (News - Alert) Azure cloud computing platform is growing more powerful and advanced, and as such also is becoming more popular with businesses, especially larger ones.

As a matter of fact, Azure has already overtaken Amazon Web Services when it comes to the largest of businesses. When asked which IaaS or PaaS vendors they were using (with multiple responses allowed), 66 percent of respondents cited Azure. Interestingly, more than half of the Azure users were from organizations with more than 10,000 employees, which suggests that Microsoft's cloud is particularly popular with large enterprises. AWS came in second with 55 percent of respondents, followed by Salesforce App Cloud (28 percent), IBM Cloud (23 percent), and Google (News - Alert) Cloud (20 percent), authors of the study wrote.

The results of this study served to reinforce what other market information has been saying for the past several months. Although Amazon has been the leader in cloud computing since it began focusing on it, other providers are beginning to catch up. In the past, Amazon could enjoy a comfortable spot at the top of the cloud computing world simply because of their superior technology and processing power. Today, this is starting to become no longer the case. Other providers can now provide similar processing speeds and are constantly updating their own technology.

Now, the main mode of competition is shifting from the back end technology to the front end user experience. When performance is even comparable, customers will gravitate to the solution that they feel is easiest to use. It seems that, at least for large businesses, Microsofts Azure platform has become more and more accepted as that solution. This is a good example of how cloud computing providers need to be constantly focusing on updating not only their back end technology that powers their platforms, but also the user facing aspects of their products.

Edited by Alicia Young
Von: Julian Ropcke

What exactly induced Donald Trump to attack the Syrian air force base Al-Shayrat and how will events proceed?

One who most likely knows the answers to these questions is the international security expert and bestselling author Michael Weiss. Weiss is a senior fellow with the Washington-based Brent Scowcroft Center and among others reported from the Syrian city of Aleppo after rebel took parts of it over in 2012.

Co-Author of "ISIS Inside the Army of Terror" Michael Weiss speaks at the 2016 Concordia Summit

BILD spoke to him about the reasons and consequences of the Donald Trump-ordered air strikes on Syrian positions in Homs province and the apparent tense relation between the US and Russia after the attacks.

Auch interessant

BILD: The strikes seem to be limited in scale and geographic extend: Do you believe they are part of a wider campaign or will Trump's reaction be an isolated act?

Michael Weiss: "A senior administration official told me last night that the White House wasn't sure if this was a one-off strike if there would be more. I'm guessing it depends on Assad's willingness to use chemical weapons again. This was designed to deter him from that alone. It won't stop the carnage, nor is the U.S. about to establish a no-fly zone. A likelier option is that Trump will authorize the CIA to reactivate and invigorate its FSA program. Much of that actually entails not doing something: turning a blind eye to weapons-running. But again, too soon to tell. If rebels feel the US is now behind the revolution, their disappointment if Washington fails to help them further will be immense. They could well start writing cheques on the battlefield they can't cash. That is my principal concern."

BILD: The regime claims it could move flyable aircraft from the base as they were warned by Russia hours prior the strikes. What does this tell you about the chain and timing of communication?

Weiss: "Russia was told the US was doing this, when, where and how -- and told at least two hours in advance. Russian personnel were either evacuated or purposefully avoided by the US, or both. See the Kremlin response. Medvedev, who now looks like a dog who's just been through the car wash with the top down, is the one talking about a near-miss confrontation between the US and Russia. Meanwhile Lavrov is disappointed but not heartbroken. This means Russia has already gotten over it and chances are Rogozin is already counting the rubles in arms sales to Damascus to make up for what was lost at Shayrat."

BILD: Remembering the Trump administration's last week acknowledgement that removing Assad would not be a priority anymore: What did we see last night?

Weiss: "It's still not a priority, according to Tillerson. But if Trump can be persuaded to back the opposition more and help retake terrain from the regime and Iran, then the chances for a political settlement increase. Trump is unbound by a desire to placate Iran, as Obama was, and now his love affair with Russia is either at an end or, in order to distract from the ongoing FBI investigation into his possible collusion with the Kremlin during the election, he is ready to overcompensate. I don't know any more than you do if he will or by this time next week we'll have forgotten all about these 60 cruise missiles."

BILD: Last but not least: Do you believe the strikes will change Assad's behaviour re bombing civilians across the county with conventional and chemical weapons?

Weiss: "Not one bit, although he may be more reluctant to use sarin gas. I can still see him dropping chlorine bombs, however."

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Memory Loss: Causes, Diagnosis And Treatment Disorders Cure oi-Amritha K

Do you feel like you have been more absent-minded and forgetful lately? If yes, then there may be a few surprising reasons for your memory loss, apart from a common ailment like Alzheimer's disease. Forgetfulness in normal, we all have it. However, one cannot ascertain forgetfulness and memory loss on the same scale. Like forgetfulness, mild memory loss is something that tends to increase with your age and severe memory loss, unlike the mild one due to illnesses like Alzheimer's disease can be serious [1] .

In the case of memory loss affecting your daily life, it is time that you consult a doctor. Because, short-term memory loss, long-term memory loss and forgetfulness all vary in its nature and its effect on your daily life, therefore, getting treatment at an early stage will help manage the condition [2] .

Types Of Memory Loss

The vast spectrum of the condition is classified into two, and they are short-term memory loss and long-term memory loss [2] .

Short-term memory loss: A person suffering from will not be able to remember the things that has happened recently. That is, the individual will be able to n remember incidents from 20 years ago but find it difficult to recollect things from near future, like things that happened 10 minutes ago.

Long-term memory loss: A person suffering from long-term memory loss finds it difficult to remember things when they require it. Such as remembering events, facts, or how to get to your home etc. Basically, you forget things that are normal-everyday activities and actions [3] .

Causes Of Memory Loss

There are various reasons that contribute towards memory loss and the most common causes are mentioned here [3] , [4] :

Medications like antidepressants, antihistamines, anti-anxiety medications, muscle relaxants, tranquillisers, sleeping pills, and pain medications given after surgery are some of the major causes of memory loss.

Use of alcohol, tobacco or drugs; smoking is a major cause of memory loss as it reduces and blocks the amount of oxygen that gets to the brain.

Vitamin b-12 deficiency.

Sleep deprivation.

Cancer treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation, or bone marrow transplant.

Head injury or concussion.

Thyroid dysfunction.

Brain tumour or infection.

Emotional trauma.

Extreme stress.

Stroke.

Brain surgery or heart bypass surgery.

Mental disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and dissociative disorder.

Certain types of seizures.

Transient ischemic attack (TIA).

Electro-convulsive therapy.

Neurodegenerative illnesses such as Huntington's disease, multiple sclerosis (MS), or Parkinson's disease.

Migraine.

Dementia.

Apart from these major causes, memory loss is also connected with infections such as HIV, tuberculosis, and syphilis that affect the brain.

When To See A Doctor

If your condition is causing hindrances in daily life, such as causing physical symptoms, as well as posing a threat to your safety and physical well-being, you must consult a doctor [5] .

In the case of negligence and lack of treatment, the condition can worsen [6] .

Diagnosis Of Memory Loss

The moment you the feeling that your forgetfulness is causing you to function less and is posing restraints in carrying out your daily activities, you must consult a doctor to get it checked out.

If the condition is serious, the doctor will carry out physical, neurological, and psychiatric evaluations to gather an understanding of your condition [7] . The medical examination will include the doctor analysing the individual's medical history, including the use of prescription and over the counter medicines, diet, past medical problems, and general health [8] .

A blood test and a urine test will also be conducted. Along with that, tests of memory, problem-solving, counting, and language (mental ability tests) will also be carried out. The diagnosis will include a CT scan (shows sign of normal age-related changes in the brain) as well [9] .

Apart from these, some of the other steps involved in the diagnosis are:

Cerebral angiography, which is an X-ray to see how blood flows through the brain

Spinal tap

Electroencephalogram (EEG) to measure the electrical activity of the brain

Treatment For Memory Loss

The treatment method for the condition is completely dependent on the cause. In most cases, treatment help in managing your memory loss [10] .

Memory loss caused by medications is managed through changing the medication. In case of memory loss caused by depression, the individual will be required to undergo treatment for depression, and in the case of memory loss caused by nutritional deficiency, one can treat it by incorporating nutrition supplements in their diet.

Some of the other treatment options are physical therapy, certain medications and thereby managing the condition [11] .

Note: You must go to a doctor to treat your condition. Although one may take measures of therapy, it is critical that you get diagnosed by a health practitioner.

Managing Memory Loss

However treatment is essential for managing the condition, there are some steps that you can adapt to cope with memory loss [12] .

Keep your home organised and without any clutter.

Maintain an up-to-date address book and calendar.

Engage in hobbies that require physical activity.

Use a list of things to do.

Keep a list of your medications and when to take them.

View Article References [1] Nuru, M., Muradashvili, N., Kalani, A., Lominadze, D., & Tyagi, N. (2018). High methionine, low folate and low vitamin B6/B12 (HM-LF-LV) diet causes neurodegeneration and subsequent short-term memory loss.Metabolic brain disease,33(6), 1923-1934. [2] Vossel, K. A., Tartaglia, M. C., Nygaard, H. B., Zeman, A. Z., & Miller, B. L. (2017). Epileptic activity in Alzheimer's disease: causes and clinical relevance.The Lancet Neurology,16(4), 311-322. [3] Sen, A., Nelson, T. J., Alkon, D. L., & Hongpaisan, J. (2018). Loss in PKC epsilon causes downregulation of MnSOD and BDNF expression in neurons of Alzheimers disease hippocampus.Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, (Preprint), 1-17. [4] Saura, C. A., Choi, S. Y., Beglopoulos, V., Malkani, S., Zhang, D., Rao, B. S., ... & Kirkwood, A. (2004). Loss of presenilin function causes impairments of memory and synaptic plasticity followed by age-dependent neurodegeneration.Neuron,42(1), 23-36. [5] Gorsek, W. F. (2003).U.S. Patent No. 6,572,899. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. [6] Borkar, C. D., Sagarkar, S., Sakharkar, A. J., Subhedar, N. K., & Kokare, D. M. (2019). Neuropeptide CART prevents memory loss attributed to withdrawal of nicotine following chronic treatment in mice.Addiction biology,24(1), 51-64. [7] Nunes, M. A., Schowe, N. M., Monteiro-Silva, K. C., Baraldi-Tornisielo, T., Souza, S. I. G., Balthazar, J., ... & Buck, H. S. (2015). Chronic microdose lithium treatment prevented memory loss and neurohistopathological changes in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.PLoS One,10(11), e0142267. [8] Yousef, M., Suer, C., & Dursun, N. (2019, January). Inhibition of c-Jun N-terminal kinase decelerates the reversal of induced long-term potentiation: implication on treatment of memory loss. InEUROPEAN NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY(Vol. 29, pp. S607-S608). PO BOX 211, 1000 AE AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV. [9] Galatti, L., Polimeni, G., Salvo, F., Romani, M., Sessa, A., & Spina, E. (2006). Shortterm memory loss associated with rosuvastatin.Pharmacotherapy: The Journal of Human Pharmacology and Drug Therapy,26(8), 1190-1192. [10] Volger, B. W. (1991). Alternatives in the treatment of memory loss in patients with Alzheimer's disease.Clinical pharmacy,10(6), 447-456. [11] Bartus, R. T. (2000). On neurodegenerative diseases, models, and treatment strategies: lessons learned and lessons forgotten a generation following the cholinergic hypothesis.Experimental neurology,163(2), 495-529. [12] Flood, J. F., Vidal, D., Bennett, E. L., Orme, A. E., Vasquez, S., & Jarvik, M. E. (1978). Memory facilitating and anti-amnesic effects of corticosteroids.Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior,8(1), 81-87.

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Story first published: Monday, June 24, 2019, 15:19 [IST]
PR Newswire

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., April 8, 2017

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., April 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --With rapid advances in the electronics industry, laptops and smartphones are constantly adapting to the changing technological landscape. These new developments come with a need for accessories that simplify new advancements. Homey addresses rising concerns about devices requiring USB-C chargers, such as the new MacBook, with the launch of their April 2017 Indiegogo campaign for PowerUp

The release of the vastly updated MacBook Pro in October 2016 created a new market for all-in-one power adapters. Home electronics company Homey has taken advantage of this gap in the industry by announcing its new revolutionary product, the PowerUp, on Indiegogo. Following the emergence of USB-C charging ports, the PowerUp addresses many MacBook Pro users' concerns surrounding the new laptop's lack of traditional USB ports and low battery life.

The PowerUp solves the MacBook Pro's cross platform capability issues by integrating the USB Type-C power adapter with a Type-A USB hub. Along with its portable size, convenience, high speed charging, and data transfer abilities, the PowerUp also allows the user to charge up to three devices all in one place and in just half the time. Furthermore, the PowerUp's USB ports allow for data transfer at 5GB/second between a user's MacBook Pro and their other devices.

Homey founder Peikai Hou said, "I made this product with my own personal needs in mind while using Apple and Mac products. I trust that other users will have had the same frustrations and issues as I did and have the same need for PowerUp as I do."

With its Type-A USB ports and elimination of the need to carry around various chargers, dongles, and other USB-C converters, the PowerUp is a single all-encompassing replacement for the MacBook Pro charger. With its sleek and compact design available in both white and black, the PowerUp will match the Macbook Pro perfectly. Experts show that the October 2016 MacBook pro sales have surpassed those of previous models, which will contribute to a high generation in demand for the PowerUp. By changing the way we look at the functionality of the newest MacBook Pro, Homey is taking a lead in the home electronics industry. Users of the latest MacBook Pro are especially anticipating its release.

A number of different reward tiers will be offered on the PowerUp's Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, with one of them offering a new PowerUp at a fraction of the price. Development is moving at a rapid pace, and the Indiegogo page is set to launch right on schedule. Soon, you can get the device that does it all for only $69, the exact same price as a standard MacBook charger. For more information on release of the ultimate MacBook Pro companion, be sure to visit homeylab.com.

Press Contact:Ed [email protected] (650) 394 5262

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Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 08/04/2017 (2040 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CFB SHILO  There is often a featured quote at the start of any temporary exhibit the RCA Museum presents.

And in the newest display, a commemoration of the Battle of Vimy Ridge 100 years ago, a clash defined as Canadas coming of age, the quote describes the Canadians not as heroes but as the bad guys.

The enemy had divided up the battlefield like a chessboard. Strip after strip was ploughed and torn up, the quote read, said by Maj. von Dittelsbach of the 1st Battalion Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment.

Ian Froese/The Brandon Sun A German trench mortar, painted in camouflage, is displayed at the "In the Footsteps of Vimy" exhibit, which opened Friday at CFB Shilo's RCA Museum.

Reading the poster back, the museums senior curator, Kathleen Christensen, said the quote, while offering the opposing viewpoint, shows respect for the Canadians meticulous strategy.

Its a really apt description from that side of what the Canadian approach to this battle was, which was to run it like a chessboard, she said. Just like you have to plan several moves in advance in a chessboard, thats what Vimy was.

The CFB Shilo museum gives visitors a peek at the historic battle through the new exhibit, In the Footsteps of Vimy, which runs until Nov. 30.

A grand opening was held Friday afternoon.

On the floor of the exhibit, the focal point is a recreated barrage map detailing the strategy of the 1st Division.

It was the simplest battle plan and it was also the most successful one, Christensen explained.

The map is blown up so it can be used for role-playing exercises, geared toward students.

Visitors are encouraged to pick up the biography of a First World War soldier as they browse the exhibit, pressing forward on the map. At the end, guests can read what happened to their soldier during the war.

The idea of In the Footsteps of Vimy is so that people can actually experience what it was like to be in Vimy, Christensen said.

This Sunday marks 100 years since Canadian soldiers scaled up the heavily fortified ridge, overwhelming the Germans where other Allied forces had failed. The battle took its toll, with more than 7,000 Canadians wounded and nearly 3,600 killed.

One must-see artifact at the exhibit is a captured German gun, which has never been restored. Though its not known if the artillery was ever stationed at Vimy, it shows the damage cannonry like it had sustained in the First World War.

There is also a German trench mortar, painted in camouflage, which was hidden in square pits and fired at trenches occupied by Allied forces.

In a small, darkened hallway of the exhibit are pieces of chalk, so visitors can write their own message. Before the famous Vimy offensive, hundreds of troops carved their name and rank into the walls of underground caverns as they waited. A cast of one carving is displayed in the tunnel.

Ian Froese/The Brandon Sun Kathleen Christensen, RCA Museum's senior curator, examines a replica of a uniform a Canadian soldier would have worn during the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

The exhibit also includes posters exploring key moments of the battle, and numerous artifacts such as machine-guns, an infantry kit and the certificate of a Mennonites exemption from service.

A touch-screen monitor provides an interactive aerial map of the battlefield.

Christensen, who spent much of a year preparing the exhibit, said it was gratifying Friday to see visitors browse the displays for the first time.

The museum spent a lot of time focusing on the particulars.

On one painting of a tree, for example, a bird is drawn. It reminds Christensen of the German novel All Quiet on the Western Front, where a man, so distracted by a birds grace, let his guard down and was killed by enemy fire.

Like the sight of poppies in battle-scarred fields, there were these moments of beauty in such a horrific experience, she said.

The RCA Museum is open Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

 ifroese@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @ianfroese
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 07/04/2017 (2041 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SIOUX VALLEY DAKOTA NATION With water flowing freely over Highway 21 south of Sioux Valley Dakota Nation, the communitys main link was closed by mid-day on Friday, forcing the evacuation of residents with medical needs.

Things might get even worse, with the Assiniboine River expected to crest within a few days.

By late afternoon on Friday, the community had evacuated about five residents due to flood concerns and were in the process of evacuating nine people with medical needs, with the Canadian Red Cross putting everyone up in Brandon hotels.

Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun Floodwater from the swollen Assiniboine River pours over Highway 21 south of Sioux Valley Dakota Nation on Friday shortly before the highway was closed to traffic.

The idea of evacuating ones home is not something taken lightly, with Sioux Valley resident Yvette Taylor expressing a reluctance to leave her home in the lead-up to the closure of Highway 21 on Friday.

While her home was safely situated on a hill away from the Assiniboine Rivers reach, Taylor requires regular trips into Brandon in order to receive dialysis.

Shed hoped to instead line up a family member who was willing to take the extra-long trip with her into the Wheat City after the closure of Highway 21 shut off their main access to the Trans-Canada Highway.

Im not going, she said defiantly, later conceding that she would leave if necessary, but wasnt happy about it.

Taylor said that she still remembers being evacuated back in the 90s, when her children were still young.

Its terrible, she said of being evacuated. Youre living in just a little space.

Cousin Shaun Chaske lives downhill from Taylor in a house that saw a makeshift dike constructed around it with an excavator on Friday. Sandbags would be placed on top of the dike and the pumping out of water situated on the wrong side the dike was expected to begin by that afternoon.

At about noon, floodwater was within a few metres of the household, and Chaske wasnt too thrilled by the idea of being evacuated to a hotel with his three children.

The family spent the summer of 2014 in a Brandon hotel room, and while they were happy to have remained safe from floodwaters of the day, he said that the preference is always to remain in ones own home.

Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun Bryden Demas uses an excavator to build a dike around Shaun Chaske's home at Sioux Valley Dakota Nation to protect it from the floodwaters of the rising Assiniboine River on Friday. The swollen river forced the closure of Highway 21 south of the community on Friday and threatened some low-lying homes.

Down the street, Sioux Valley Dakota Nation public works employee Casey Elk had placed a stake in his yard on Thursday night to mark where the floodwater had reached.

By mid-day on Friday the stake was seen several metres into floodwater, and Elk said that the water was approaching at a much faster rate than it had in 2014.

Still, he said that the water still hadnt reached the same peak it did in 2014, noting that while the water reached his shed a few years ago it was still a safe distance away on Friday.

I kind of am worried, but at the same time I work with public works and weve actually got a ton of work on this, he said.

Elk was in the process of lining up volunteers to fill sandbags at the time, an effort that would accompany diking and other mitigative efforts that he confidently said would protect Sioux Valley houses.

Pleased with how his community was handling this moment of crisis, Chief Vince Tacan wasnt without his grievances on Friday.

In response to early flood forecasts, Sioux Valley declared a state of emergency on March 23 in order to initiate flood protection efforts in a more proactive than reactive manner, he said.

Nothing materialized out of this effort, he said, adding; Now were just managing the disaster.

Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun Highway 21 south of Sioux Valley Dakota Nation was closed on Friday after floodwater from the swollen Assiniboine River began to pour over it.

He blames Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), which he said has not adequately stepped up to the plate.

We still havent received any approvals for anything at this point, except for hiring a flood co-ordinator, but that doesnt do us any good if we have a co-ordinator and no tools to fight it, he said. While were haggling over these little things, houses are flooding.

More preventative work could have, and should have, been done, he said, adding that Sioux Valley has already stretched their resources to the limit.

Theyre currently using their own equipment, including water pumps that are on their last legs.

Its falling on deaf ears and nobody really cares about the impacts to the community, here, he said.

During an afternoon conference call with media, assistant deputy minister of Manitoba Infrastructures Emergency Measures Organization Lee Spencer said that flood protection at First Nations communities is federal jurisdiction and that the Canadian Red Cross is under contract with INAC.

That said, he clarified that the provincial government is in regular contact with all of these partners in order to reassess the situation on an ongoing basis.

INAC did not respond to a request for comment by press time on Friday.

Assiniboine River water flows are expected to peak in Brandon some time between Monday and Wednesday, indicating a peak at Sioux Valley Dakota Nation within the next few days.

Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun Murphy Antoine, Macgyver Tacan and Paul Castel fill sandbags at Sioux Valley Dakota Nation to be used to protect homes from the floodwaters of the rising Assiniboine River on Friday. The swollen river forced the closure of Highway 21 south of the community on Friday and threatened some low-lying homes.

Floodwaters have also affected the fellow Westman indigenous community of Canupawakpa Dakota First Nation, where the Canadian Red Cross counted five evacuees by press time on Friday.

Canupawakpas leadership was not available by press time on Friday.

By press time on Friday, a flood warning also remained in effect for all points along the Souris River.

 tclarke@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB
In April and May, the City of Miami is hosting a series of community meetings to hear how you use your parks now and how you want to use your parks in the future. Below is a list of dates and locations so you can attend the meeting closest to you. They invite you to get involved. Feel free to bring your friends and neighbors.





Your input will be incorporated into a Recreation Program Plan that will guide how the City will provide recreation programs and facilities in the future. Dates and locations are listed below. All meeting times are from 6:30 to 8:00 pm.



What do the Grove parks need? I know some will say better benches at Regatta Park and maybe less dog parks or maybe more dog parks?



The Grove location is first, on April 10, at City Hall, but here are all the locations:





4/10/2017 - City Hall - 3500 Pan American Dr.

4/11/2017 - Jose Marti Park - 434 SW 3rd Ave.

4/17/2017 - Shenandoah Park - 2111 SW 19th St.

4/18/2017 - Grapeland Heights Park - 1550 NW 37th Ave.

4/19/2017 - Charles Hadley Park 1300 NW 50th St.

5/17/2017 - Morningside Park - 5215 NE 7th Ave.

5/18/2017 - 12th Ave. Park - 1300 SW 12th Ave.

5/23/2017 - West End Park - 6030 SW 2nd St.

5/24/2017 - Little Haiti Cultural Center - 212 NE 59th Terrace

5/25/2017 - Juan Pablo Duarte Park - 1700 NW 28th St.





Bring your neighbors, friends, family, and fellow park users and start a dialogue with the City of Miami on your goals for parks.





Visit the project website today and share with others.




Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 08/04/2017 (2040 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Brandon Crown attorney agreed to a plea bargain for a low sentence for a man who sexually assaulted a drunk teen to spare the troubled girl from the risk of testifying only to see the accused go free.

Crown attorney Ron Toews said the girl was the complainant in a prior case in which she testified against a different accused assailant who was acquitted of sex charges.

Toews said he wasnt willing to see the girl go through that again in this latest case, and accepted the plea bargain for a range of 18 to 24 months in jail.

I was not prepared to have (the victim) go through the process one more time and not be believed, Toews told Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta in Brandon provincial court on Thursday.

The victim was 15 years old at the time, and her identity is protected by a publication ban. The 32-year-old offender cant be named because it could identify her.

The offender was a friend of the victims mother, and the boyfriend of the girls older sibling.

The assault happened in May 2014 during a drinking party at the girls family home at a Westman First Nation.

Toews said that the victim cant remember much of the assault because she was too intoxicated, having drank about 24 beer.

The girl was drinking with the encouragement of her mother and stepfather, Toews said.

She ended up alone in the garage with the offender where they drank together. The offender admitted to having sex with the girl who was too young to legally consent.

While the girl told police she believed theyd had sex, Toews said there were large gaps and inconsistencies in her account because she was simply too intoxicated to remember what happened.

She awoke in the morning in her bed, and didnt remember having intercourse. She went to ask the offender, who was still in the home, what had happened and it was then he told her theyd had sex.

Problematic for the Crowns case, Toews said, was that the girl told police that shed asked the offender if theyd really had sex or if it was a dream.

Toews described the girl as a tragic figure who was emblematic of a lot of the troubles on her First Nation.

Her mother actively contributed to putting her daughter at risk.

Toews said that the day after the above assault, the victim told her mom. However, the mother discouraged her daughter from reporting the assault because she feared CFS involvement.

The Crown has now prosecuted three individuals for charges of a sexual nature in which the girl was a complainant.

Despite her testimony in a prior case tried in Court of Queens Bench  in which she was 13 years old and the accused in his 30s at the time of the allegations  the accused was acquitted of sex charges.

Noting that he respected the judges decision in that prior case, Toews said he didnt want to put the girl through the same experience of having to testify and not be believed.

Hence his agreement to the plea bargain for a low sentence in the latest case.

The offender had also consented to have the matter tried in court of Queens Bench and ultimately pleaded guilty three days before that trial was to start. That spared the girl from testifying at a preliminary hearing and at trial.

Defence lawyer Bob Harrison said his client had blacked out at the time of the assault due to drinking and cant remember what happened.

During sentencing, the offender told court that he originally wanted to take the case to trial because he didnt remember what happened, but chose to plead guilty to give himself and the victim closure.

Hewitt-Michta sentenced the man to two years minus 13 months credit for pre-sentence custody, followed by three years of probation.

While on probation, his access to children under 16 years old is restricted.

 ihitchen@brandonsun.com
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 08/04/2017 (2040 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The federal immigration department says difficult decisions had to be made to ensure that language training funding is going where it is needed most.

A spokesperson with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada responded on Friday to The Brandon Suns inquiry regarding funding cuts to Assiniboine Community Colleges English Language Training program.

As previously reported, ACCs budget for its English Language Training program has been slashed, following a recently finalized three-year contract with the federal government.

The current level of funding, $730,000, will drop to $196,000 in 2017-18. It will be decreased to $185,000 in 2018-19 and $176,000 in 2019-20.

The Brandon Sun sought further clarification from IRCC following what appeared to be a discrepancy between what the federal department is saying versus the actual numbers provided by ACC.

According to figures provided by the college, the demand for higher level classes is actually increasing, not decreasing like IRCC has stated.

Updated figures from the college show the number of student registrations in the ESL program is now 503. Back in 2012-13, the number of registrants was 309.

With the funding cuts, the college will only be able to take 100 students next year  one-fifth of the current number of registered students.

Hundreds of immigrants in Brandon were shocked to hear of the drastic cuts, as it will hinder their goals of furthering their education and finding better careers.

Nancy Chan, communications adviser with IRCC, stands by the claim that higher-level English classes are under-utilized in Brandon.

While we cant comment on numbers provided by another organization, we can tell you that, as previously mentioned, higher-level language classes at the Assiniboine Community College have not been running at capacity levels for some time, Chan stated via email.

We have seen significant numbers of seats going empty in federally funded language classes, as well as completion rates for the higher-level language classes being low.

ACC confirmed they were at 70 per cent capacity in this last year, however, with the funding reduction they wont be able to meet current needs, let alone any further growth.

Chan went on to say that the department recognizes the importance of higher-level language training provided by ACC to newcomers.

We took those factors into consideration to ensure that the limited federal settlement funding dollars are going to where they will be best-used.

As a result of Canadas Syrian refugee initiative, Chan said they are focused on ensuring that the recent influx of vulnerable newcomers arriving in Manitoba have access to language services.

Given that these people have higher needs and lower literacy levels, IRCC has allocated settlement funding dollars towards the basic, lower-level language classes that this population requires, she said.

As a result, IRCC has had to make some tough decisions, including reducing funding for higher-level language classes.

She noted that this is a temporary measure to ensure that the most vulnerable newcomers have access to the language training they need to find jobs, interact with others and go about daily life in Canada.

Chan said IRCC will continue to work with ACC and other local service providers to monitor and assess the needs of the community, and will make adjustments to funding as necessary.

We recognize the importance of higher-level language classes to the successful long-term integration of newcomers, and we are working hard to ensure these services remain available, she said.

ACC president Mark Frison previously told the Sun they plan to track the wait lists for the program and will continue to share them with IRCC in hopes of attracting increased funding in the future.

 jaustin@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @jillianaustin
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 08/04/2017 (2040 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon Home & Leisure Show was off to a good start on Friday, during which general manager Dave Melcosky said that more people than usual appeared to be turning out for its first day.

Official numbers for the day werent in yet, but vendor Ron Dyck appeared pleased when he burst into the vendors coffee room to enthusiastically announce that hed already signed up two people for sunroom estimates after fewer than three hours at his booth.

Good for you! Melcosky told Dyck, adding that this bodes well for the balance of the weekend.

Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun Clayton Heppner, owner/partner with Stream N Wood in Brandon, lounges in a Neat Seat at the Stream N Wood display at the Brandon Home & Leisure Show at the Keystone Centre on Friday. The annual show runs through Sunday.

Dyck has owned and operated the Carman-based Summers Unlimited Patio Enclosure Systems for the past 24 years and has been a vendor at the Brandon Home & Leisure Show for the past 22 years.

With the show drawing from a population base of about 200,000 people, with 9,500 people coming out during its worst years and more than 11,000 coming out during the best, Dyck said that the annual event has proven to be an excellent means of getting his name and product out there.

While the majority of clients come from Westman, Winnipeggers have also been attending the trade show in greater numbers, with Dyck citing one person on Friday as having come from Moosomin, Sask.

The annual show is 51 years strong, each year unique, Melcosky said, noting that this years batch of about 160 vendors with 200 booths includes three people who specialize in solar power.

Thats a first for the show, he said, adding that another unique component to this years event is a greater contingency of booths from Minot, N.D., than they usually see.

This years collection of Minot booths includes the North Dakota State Fair, Visit Minot, Sleep Inn & Suites

and the Norsk Hostfest Scandinavian festival.

With the Canadian dollar as low as it presently is, Visit Minot executive director Phyllis Burckhard said that they wanted to remind those in Westman that theres still lots to see in Minot, and we welcome them to see what Minots all about.

As an extra bit of encouragement, theyve put up 15 free hotel stays for draw, are offering free State Fair tickets and are promoting the first-ever Music Stars & Classic Cars festival, to be held May 12-13, featuring musicians Chubby Checker and Hermans Hermits with Peter Noone.

Only a few hours in, Burckhard said that she was already pleased with the level of interest the Minot booths had received.

The Brandon Home & Leisure Show will continue at the Keystone Centre today, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and on Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.

With weather expected to remain pleasant through the weekend, Melcosky said that he anticipates attendance reaching or exceeding last years total of almost 11,000 people.

Attendance is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and free for kids aged 12 and younger, when accompanied by an adult.

 tclarke@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 08/04/2017 (2040 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Sunday marks the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, a four-day military offensive in the First World War that has been ennobled in the years since as a coming of age point in history for Canada.

While most Brandonites are familiar with the majestic monument of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France, they may not be as familiar with an original piece of Vimy closer to home.

Prior to the 1936 unveiling of the Vimy Memorial that is familiar today, several monuments lined the eight-kilometre escarpment near Vimy, France. While the Great War continued to rage, these monuments were erected by the Canadian Divisions that participated in the four day assault that began on April 9, 1917. One of these monuments would find its way to Winnipeg, where it remains to this day.

Image courtesy of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles Regimental Museum, Pte. W.H. Matthews collection The 44th Battalion monument designed by Capt. H.B. Rugh. The cross and concrete nominal rolls inset at the cenotaphs base were brought to Winnipeg in 1924 and formally unveiled in 1926.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge was the first and only time in the First World War when all four divisions of the Canadian Corps fought together as a single unit. The battle was part of a larger British offensive known as the Second Battle of Arras that was fought from April 9 to May 16, 1917.

The Canadians spent months preparing for the assault at Vimy. Battle tactics were improved to maintain the momentum of battle, resulting in the leapfrogging of units which provided fresh troops accompanied by a creeping barrage of artillery support.

The Canadians objective was to take the ridge that had been in German control since 1914. The Canadian divisions consisted of three brigades, comprised of four battalions each. Lined along the western base of the escarpment in tunnels and trenches, the divisions were assigned specific objectives to reach on the east side of the ridge.

Commencing at the southern flank, the 1st Canadian Division, which contained the 8th Battalion (known as the Little Black Devils or Winnipeg Rifles), was to reach Farbus Wood.

The 2nd Canadian Division, containing the 27th City of Winnipeg Battalion, was to take Thelus Wood.

The 3rd Canadian Division, of which Brandons 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles (CMR) and Winnipegs 43rd Cameron Highlanders of Canada Battalion were a part, was to capture La Folie Farm.

Image courtesy of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles Regimental Museum, Pte. W.H. Matthews collection 44th Battalion monument at the Pimple, Vimy Ridge, France

And the 4th Canadian Division, assigned the largest attack frontage but shortest objective distance, was to take Hill 145  the highest point of the ridge and future site of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial  as well as a German strongpoint known as the Pimple. Manitobas 44th Battalion and the Winnipeg Grenadiers 78th Battalion supported this division.

While the first three divisions achieved their initial objectives within hours, the 4th Canadian Division immediately encountered difficulties. It was soon discovered the artillery bombardments during the previous week, in which a million shells had been expended, had not broken through the enemy trenches at the north end of the escarpment. Enemy snipers and heavy machine-gun fire produced a staggering number of casualties. It would be during a blinding snowstorm on April 12, that the Pimple was captured by battalions of the 10th Brigade, including Manitobas Forty-Fourth.

According to Veterans Affairs Canada, there were 10,602 Canadian casualties at Vimy: 3,598 dead and 7,004 wounded. It comes as no surprise that the survivors erected monuments honouring their lost and fallen colleagues before wars end.

The 44th Battalion constructed a cross at the Pimple, recognizing its men who died at Vimy, La-Coulotte, and the Green Crassier. Capt. Herbert Bell Rugh, a prominent Winnipeg architect and one of the few surviving officers of the regiment, is credited with its design. Researchers from the Royal Winnipeg Rifles Regimental Museum believe the cenotaph was constructed in February 1918 when the battalion was last billeted in the area.

Following the war, the Canadian Battlefields Memorials Commission was established to oversee the creation of Canadian battlefield monuments in Belgium and France. A design competition was held and the French government granted the use of the proposed Vimy site to the people of Canada freely and for all time. With work set to begin in 1925, the previously existing monuments had to make way for the new Vimy Memorial.

Rather than have its beloved monument destroyed, the 44th Battalion Association raised $600 (approximately $10,500 today) in a nickel and dime campaign to dismantle the cross and its cement nominal roll and to relocate them in Winnipeg, the original home of the Forty-Fourth.

SJ McKee Archives, Tsukamoto collection The 3rd Canadian Division monument at Vimy Ridge, France.

On a Sunday afternoon in June 1926, the relocated monument was officially unveiled in Wolseleys St. James Park, later renamed Vimy Ridge Memorial Park. The monument continues to stand near the corner of Portage Avenue and Canora Street, serving as a tangible link not only to the members of the 44th Battalion but to the 11,285 Canadians who fought and died in France and have no known grave.

 Suyoko Tsukamoto is a Brandonite who has spent three seasons in the archeology field at the Camp Hughes National Historic Site.
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 07/04/2017 (2041 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As if past photos of the Syrian tragedy werent enough, with refugee children lying dead on a beach or bombed-out buildings, this weeks latest pictures are quite sickening and remind us, once again, of the ongoing devastation that is the Syrian civil war.

In a New York Times article this week, it was revealed that, according to sources, 69 men, women and children were killed in a chemical attack on the northern, rebel-held province of Idlib. Details are still being gathered and the death toll may increase.

Syrian President Bashar Assad, in keeping with previous practice, has denied any responsibility for the chemical attack.

The Associated Press In this picture taken on Tuesday, Abdul-Hamid Alyousef, 29, holds his twin babies who were killed during a suspected chemical weapons attack in Khan Sheikhoun in the northern province of Idlib, Syria. Alyousef also lost his wife, two brothers, nephews and many other family members in the attack that claimed scores of his relatives.

The Times, however, reported that only the Syrian military under Assads control has the capacity to carry out the aerial attack.

Assad is supported by Iran and Russia. Western politicians, including U.S. President Donald Trump, have lambasted the Syrians, as well as the Russians, for the chemical attack.

Beyond strongly worded condemnations, what can anyone do to prevent future chemical attacks? Simply, the answer is nothing.

Former U.S. president Barack Obama famously threatened Assad back in 2013 with his statement drawing a red line on Assads use of non-conventional weapons. Obama warned that such would result in significant American military intervention into the civil war.

Assad subsequently used chemical weapons and called Obamas bluff. Obama did not act militarily and lost considerable face in the international community.

Trump, long before his presidential campaign, tweeted that Obama should not have acted militarily.

This leads us to todays question  what does President Trump do now?

My perspective on dictators tends to boil down complex personalities into relatively simple profiles. In the case of Assad, he is a classic bully and tribal politician. He will cling on to power using every tool in his arsenal. He will resist using weapons only when he is convinced the ramifications from using said weapons would be devastating to his grasp on control.

He clearly is convinced the risk of using chemical weapons against his rebel opponents is smaller than not doing so. Assad wants to remain in power and visibly has no fear of Western powers. While Western powers threaten and condemn, they have shown themselves to be paper tigers.

What do we expect Western nations to do?

Assads Baath Party is backed by Syrias Alawite Muslim minority, in concert with the Russians, the Iranians, and Hezbollah from Lebanon.

Meanwhile, the rebels opposing Assad are an amalgam of al-Qaida associates, the Muslim Brotherhood, and many smaller groups. There are, of course, significant religious elements to the warring sides.

This is literally tribal warfare.

Should Trump follow Obamas lead and threaten military intervention to a greater degree? If so, could further military action lead to a global conflict? Are Western powers prepared to see their soldiers come home in body bags, particularly as it is difficult to define a Western national interest beyond humanitarian reasons? Were the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan sufficient to sour Americans on Middle East intervention?

The choices in this morass are limited. Escalation is quite possible, and may occur through asymmetrical tactics including state-sponsored terrorism.

The sad reality is that this extremely complicated situation leaves few good choices, only less bad ones.
COLUMBUS  A 19-year-old Columbus man is accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman multiple times over about a six-month period in 2016, once on an out-of-town family-related event and multiple times in Columbus.

Andrew McCarter will be arraigned April 14 in Platte County District Court on one count of first-degree forcible sexual assault. The charge is a Class II felony, punishable by up to 50 years imprisonment.

McCarters bond has been set at $250,000, 10 percent allowed for release. He has remained in custody since his March 14 arrest.

Court documents describe a Columbus Police investigation that got underway last fall when the then-18-year-old city woman reported being assaulted by McCarter, whom she had a protection order against, during a family event in Kansas.

The victim said she was awakened the morning after the event to find the defendant removing her clothes and forcibly holding her down despite her objections, Sgt. Bret Strecker wrote in his probable cause statement supporting McCarters arrest.

The victim said McCarter later sent her a text message apologizing for raping her, Strecker wrote in his statement.

McCarter's accuser later described multiple occasions in which the defendant forcibly assaulted her in Columbus, Strecker wrote.

The woman reported receiving other text messages later in which the defendant confessed to raping her several times and made references to other sexual assaults, the sergeant wrote.

One of the messages, Strecker wrote, included this statement: "Like honestly I'm going to go to counseling and hopefully he turns me in on asking him how to fix myself because I raped you."
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 08/04/2017 (2040 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As the sun rises on Vimy Ridge on Sunday, thousands of Canadians will be there to commemorate the centenary of the assault that some say forged a nation. The soaring marble statuary that dominates the skyline, just as the ridge dominated the battlefield, has come to mean more than its creators intended.

Or so the story goes. Debates rage among historians about the actual importance of the battle, or about how the memorial (and its significance) have grown over time to serve less noble purposes in the propaganda wars of another era.

For me, the battle for Vimy Ridge is personal. The unit that  without the promised artillery barrage  climbed out of their trenches and took the summit of the ridge on Hill 145 was the 85th Battalion (Nova Scotia Highlanders). Its second-in-command was my grandmothers cousin, Maj. James Layton Ralston, a lawyer and politician from Prince Edward Island.

The officer commanding C Company, who made the decision to go forward, according to Pierre Bertons book Vimy, was Capt. Harvey Crowell, a friend of my grandparents whom I met once, when I was 12. A small man, he was an accountant.

For me, the mythology of Vimy Ridge is thus not about its importance as a battle or the magnificent monument to the sacrifice of a nation. It is about a small group of ordinary Canadians  miners, loggers, fishermen  understrength because of illness, inexperienced in battle and used to fetch, carry and dig, led by lawyers and bookkeepers  and sneered at as the Highlanders without kilts  who simply got the job done when the professional soldiers could not.

No doubt my Nova Scotian roots are showing, but it is the same attitude that the young nation demonstrated throughout the Great War of 1914-18, during the Depression and in the darkest days of the Second World War, too. Scattered across the Canadian countryside are small churches with large memorial plaques, showing how many men went to war. The stars next to the names of those who did not come back are silent memorials to the sacrifices made by those who sent them, too.

The futility of such a sacrifice was not something that people realized only afterward. Everyone who was there knew exactly how little it all meant. They fought to end the war, not to win it.

Looking back over the First World War, the word stalemate was used with good reason to describe fighting on the Western Front. For four years, little changed apart from the casualty figures. Hundreds of thousands of troops died on both sides of that ridge, before the Nova Scotia Highlanders took the crest in 1917. It was a war of inches  won, lost and won again.

Those four years of unnecessary conflict, however, resulted in the disappearance of four empires and the devastation of two others, killed millions and set the stage for the rise of fascism and communism, the horrors of the Second World War and everything (good and bad) that has followed since.

For me, the historians debate misses the point of why we remember the battle for Vimy Ridge and what those Canadians  including my Nova Scotia Highlanders  accomplished that day in 1917. The monument displays the personal grief of a small country whose families were torn apart by a war that they did not want or start. It marks the resting place of those who did not come back, but it does not celebrate their sacrifice to king and country. Its dedication in 1936 was the final act of a long funeral service, just as the war clouds gathered again in Europe.

Funerals are never for the dead. They are for the living, to strengthen and renew the bonds of the relationships they share that death, once again, has threatened. The Vimy Ridge site is a reminder to the living of the futility of war; the price that is paid by ordinary people for the folly of leaders whose egos outstripped their understanding and their wit; the desire for peace and compassion in the world; and the ultimate triumph of life over death. That is what we should remember on April 9.

Every generation has its defining struggle, its great work. Ours will not be measured by winning inches of dirt, as it was in 1917, but by changing how we live together, one person at a time, so there is justice for all living things. The spirit of those ordinary Canadians who charged forward on that Easter Monday is just as desperately needed today, as we struggle to live in a climate-changing world dominated by leaders who are as blind to their own folly now as they were in 1914.

Which empires will fall over the next four years still remains to be seen, but there will either be a sustainable future for all  or for none.

 Peter Denton is adjunct associate professor of history at the Royal Military College of Canada. His column recently appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press.
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 08/04/2017 (2040 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Give a listen to armchair educators

I would like to applaud the writers of the article Use Of Teaching Fads Harming Manitoba Students. This is what many parents, grandparents and businesses have realized for quite some time. To utterly dismiss these concerns of armchair educators is a detriment to past, present and future students.

Praise for Handi Transit

Due to recent hip surgery, I had to use the Handi-Transit bus service, which I greatly appreciated. The drivers were very friendly and extremely helpful with pickup and delivery, especially with this latest snowstorm a few weeks ago. The service I received was exceptional  door-to-door, safe delivery  even in extreme weather conditions. So a very big thank you to all the drivers I had. Also a big bouquet to all the nurses at outpatient care unit at the hospital  I was a patient there for 21 days, twice a day and all the care I received was very much appreciated. And last but not least, to all the dedicated nurses and staff, physical therapy as well as the kitchen staff for their delicious meals every day at the Rivers rehab hospital. A very big thank you from a satisfied patient.

Skating oval needs a new home

The city is doing a great job building the dikes down there on 18th Street. A lot of people are hoping after they get that project finished, maybe they could move the speed skating oval over to the Riverbank Discovery Centre. It is much easier to get there, and the parking is much better. It would be a great place for the speed skating oval next winter.

We are not impressed

The continuous improvement plan by the Brandon School Division is anything but impressive. They list improving literacy and numeracy as goals. This is extremely original as you would be hard-pressed to find a school district in Canada that doesnt list these as goals. Upon close inspection, this plan seems like nothing more than a make-work project for professional paper shufflers.

Who cares about Trump? We have our own issues

I really enjoy your Sound Off and I think it should keep going on and on. It is great. But you know what really gets me is the CBC and the CTV. All we get is what is going on in the United States. You know they are talking about Trump this and Trump that, and then there is all this about that Russia. I say where is the proof? Here is another thing  the CBC and CTV should be concentrating on Canadian politics. All we get is a little blurb here and there. What about all these people coming in over the border? We hear very little about that. I am just wondering

what these people are afraid of? Lets hear some more about Canadian politicians. These people are not squeaky clean either.
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 08/04/2017 (2040 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In the wake of the horrific sarin nerve gas attack on civilians in Syrias Idlib Province that killed at least 69 people  possibly closer to 100 people, many of them young children  U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered what he called a targeted military strike on an airfield in Syria from where the chemical attack had been launched.

He did so without congressional approval, and by doing so acted against his countrys own constitution. Considering Trumps public Twitter campaign against Barack Obama and his demand that the Democratic president seek congressional approval when he was faced with a similar situation in 2013, Trump either is going senile or he is a hypocrite.

The Russian government has slammed the strikes as an act of aggression that has violated international law  on a trumped-up pretext according, to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. That jokes getting a bit stale, really. And as the Syrian Assad regime has a history of using chemical weapons on its own people, these protestations are highly transparent.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has already called for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss the U.S. action. Meanwhile, the Syrian government under President Bashar al-Assad and Iraq have joined with Russia to condemn Trumps unilateral strike.

All of this said, western politicians, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, have formally supported the U.S. attack.

(I) emphasized that Canada agrees that Assads repeated use of chemical weapons must not continue. In the face of such heinous war crimes, all civilized peoples must speak with one voice, Trudeau told MPs in the House of Commons Friday, as reported by the Toronto Star.

That is why Canada fully supports the United States limited, focused action to degrade the Assad regimes ability to launch such attacks. We continue to support diplomatic efforts with our international partners to resolve the crisis in Syria.

The questions we in the West are now left with are two-fold. What did Trump accomplish  if anything  by ordering airstrikes on a Syrian military compound? And what should, or will, be done next?

The answers to this are far more complicated.

There is absolutely no appetite in the United States government for yet another expensive and bloody incursion into the Middle East. Even far-right Trump supporters who have zealously defended this U.S. president have been angered by this attack. Perhaps that is why Trump never bothered to seek congressional approval  he knew he wouldnt get it. The danger here is that Trumps airstrikes signal a policy reversal from his administration. Not long ago he had intimated that removing Assad was not a priority for his government.

While his airstrike was apparently meant to send a message to Assad and to Russia, a means to frighten the Syrian regime and its Russian ally into ceasing chemical warfare on rebel dissidents, Trump has not made public whether he plans to further intervene in the Syrian civil war, a conflict that has been further complicated in the past years by the insurgency of ISIS terrorists in the region.

Though ISIS is apparently losing territory in the region, putting American troops on the ground in Syria will make them easy targets for terrorists looking to bloody Trumps nose and inspire new waves of ISIS recruits. Putting fresh air into the Islamic States caliphate by entering Syria as an occupying force would be unwise. This has been proven again and again when the U.S. leaves, and terrorists fill the vacuum that is left behind.

Such an incursion would also anger Russia, which wants to protect a permanent naval facility which it controls at the Syrian port of Tartous. This base allows Moscow to have a presence in the Mediterranean, and Moscow has warned Washington in the past against any military action against its Syrian ally.

And yet, Assad is clearly still prepared to use chemical weapons against his defeated opponents. As the New York Times reported this week, Syrian forces have been herding defeated rebels from across the country into Idlib Province. The point of Assads attacks on these retreating forces is to ensure that they feel defeated.

Assad knows that a large-scale attack against its civilians is a short-term public relations liability but a long-term political asset, wrote Jihad Yazigi, an opposition-leaning Syrian economist.

Clearly there is a need to remove Assad from power. This has been clear for several years. Yet his grip on power remains strong, and he is backed by a Russian president who seems unwilling to abandon a staunch Middle Eastern ally.

A one-day attack on a single military base has not done Mr. Trump much good, save for perhaps offering a brief diversion from his other affliction  his administrations increasingly obvious ties to Russia and that countrys involvement in the last U.S. presidential election.

If there is to be a lasting solution in Syria, and if Assad is to be removed from power, it will have to come at the united will of all thoughtful nations who are weary of seeing more death and destruction in the region. While Canada should be very careful in its advocacy of Trumps unilateral actions that are both unconstitutional at home and defy international law, it should be warier still of supporting actions that do little actual good.
Local businesses in Cork city have told a group opposed to a proposed flood relief scheme there that they are concerned about the future of businesses in the city centre if the construction goes ahead.

The Office of Public Works (OPW) wants to build controversial flood walls along the River Lee, something the Save Cork City group has vowed to fight.

Sean Antoin O Muiri of Save Cork City said: "Weve spent the last few weeks meeting people for our Humans of Cork campaign on Facebook and Twitter. Almost universally, the more people hear about the wall proposal, the more they turn against it.

"Weve had businesses say to us that they are worried about the effect of massive construction on the city centre. Eoin OMahony of OMahonys of the Market did a video for us. He particularly mentioned the bad timing of the proposal, just as there is life coming back into the city centre. Between Brexit and the walls, people are understandably afraid."

Another Save Cork City spokesperson, John Hegarty, said it is about more than just the construction of the wall.

Mr Hegarty said: "The business people are Corkonians first and foremost and they dont want their beautiful city ruined when there is a far better alternative. Save Cork City wants the city centre restored, not destroyed.

"We want easily achievable upriver solutions, and we want a tidal barrier. We have suggested a barrier at Little Island which is less than the OPW plan will cost once the inevitable cost over-runs and compensation cases are factored in."

Save Cork City has lodged a comprehensive submission opposing the plan.

Dr Tom Murphy loves the Lee and wants to see flood relief for Cork that doesn't damage the city it's intended to protect. #humansofcork pic.twitter.com/RbMt1B1n7D  Save Cork City (@savecorkcity) April 7, 2017

Mr O Muiri said: "The OPW are planning to build extensive walls, blocking off the river at street level. They want to pump concrete grout under pressure behind the existing quay walls below street level.

"And they are hoping that putting giant pumping chambers all over the city (which is the equivalent of burying a fleet of double-decker buses) will keep the marsh on which the city is built under control. Our engineering experts have told us the plan will not work.

"Our climate change expert, Professor Robert Devoy, who was on a team that won a Nobel Prize, says it will not deal with the certainty of climate change. And our business supporters have told us it will sink them."

Mr O Muiri revealed that one local business, Cafe Paradiso, thought it was so important that almost the entire staff and the co-owners Denis Cotter and Geraldine OToole posed for a Humans of Cork photograph.

He said: "Cafe Paradiso has been badly flooded in the past. Shops and businesses in the city are supporting us and our proposals and the numbers are growing day by day. Rebecca Harte from the Farmgate and publican Benny McCabe have been supporting us all along.

Rebecca Harte from the Farmgate.

John Hegarty said: "Everybody wants flood relief, but they dont want the OPWs crude, outdated and ineffective plan. They want a plan that works that wont kill the city they love."
US-led coalition aircraft have hit two locations in northern Syria, killing at least 21 people, activists say.

The dead include a woman and her six children who were on a boat fleeing clashes between Islamic State (IS) and US-backed fighters, activist groups said.

Groups that operate in IS-held territory and are opposed to the militants have reported increasing numbers of civilian deaths from US-led air strikes in recent weeks.

The coalition is providing support to a Syrian Kurdish-led force that is on the offensive against the extremist group.

Thousands of people in areas held by IS are trying to flee the violence as preparations are under way to capture the northern city of Raqqa, the extremists' de facto capital.

Activists and residents have said the militants are forcing civilians to stay in order to use them as human shields once the offensive on Raqqa begins.

Leaflets dropped by coalition planes in recent weeks gave confusing directions - one suggests areas closer to the Euphrates River are safer, but another warns that boats crossing the river will be struck.

Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, an activist group opposed to IS, said a boat carrying about 40 people was hit as it was crossing the Euphrates River in Raqqa province.

It said the bodies of a woman and her six children were recovered, while the others are still missing.

The Sound and Picture group, which tracks killings and other abuses in IS-held territory, reported the same casualty estimates.

Journalists have virtually no access to areas held by IS, which has captured and killed a number of reporters.

The strike occurred in the Shuaib al-Zeker area, near where the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces are battling IS.

Earlier on Saturday, activists and state media said an air strike by the US-led coalition on the northern IS-held village of Hneida killed at least 14 civilians, including children.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 15 people, including four children, were killed in the airstrike.

The Sound and Picture group the airstrike hit an internet cafe, killing 14 people.

- AP
COLUMBUS  Carrying baskets and bags, hundreds of children were ready to collect as much candy as they could.

They raced onto the grass at Frankfort Square to nab plastic eggs and wrapped candy Saturday during the annual Downtown Business Association Easter egg hunt.

The event was over in just a few minutes as the children ages 3-5 took their turns dashing into separate areas to fill their baskets with treats. A hunt for 2-year-olds was held earlier in the afternoon when the youngest could walk away with their own haul of goodies.

More than 4,000 plastic eggs were used for the hunt, along with hundreds of candies. The sweets were spread out on the lawn ready to be collected.

Inside some of the eggs were certificates for a stuffed bunny that were redeemable at the park or from a local business.

The Easter Bunny was also on hand to greet children and pose for photographs.

The Downtown Business Association puts on several community events annually including the Downtown Trick or Treat for Halloween and Christmas Stroll during the holiday season.

The downtown Easter egg hunt wasnt the only one in town on Saturday. Earlier in the day, Hy-Vee welcomed children ages 2-7 years to the store, where they could find 2,000 eggs and other prizes hidden in the aisles.

There are other egg hunts scheduled before Easter. Columbus Community Hospital will host a hunt starting at 6 p.m. Thursday and the Columbus Optimist Club will hold another at 11 a.m. Saturday in Pawnee Park.
Boris Johnson has pulled out of a visit to Moscow in the wake of the Syrian chemical weapons attack saying "we deplore Russia's continued defence of the Assad regime".

The Foreign Secretary was due to visit Russia on Monday for talks with counterpart Sergey Lavrov, which would have been the first visit by a UK foreign secretary in more than five years.

But Mr Johnson attacked the Kremlin and said he would instead focus on building support with allies to secure a ceasefire in war-torn Syria.

"We deplore Russia's continued defence of the Assad regime even after the chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians," he said.

"We call on Russia to do everything possible to bring about a political settlement in Syria and work with the rest of the international community to ensure that the shocking events of the last week are never repeated."

Mr Johnson had originally planned to fly out to Moscow at the end of March, but rescheduled the visit in order to attend a meeting with Nato counterparts, including US secretary of state Rex Tillerson.

Russia has condemned US missile strikes on an airbase at Shayrat as an act of "aggression against a sovereign state in violation of international law".

Mr Tillerson will still go ahead with a visit to Moscow to deliver a "clear and co-ordinated" message to the Russians, Mr Johnson said.

"Developments in Syria have changed the situation fundamentally," he said.

"My priority is now to continue contact with the US and others in the run-up to the G7 meeting on 10/11 April - to build co-ordinated international support for a ceasefire on the ground and an intensified political process.

"I will be working to arrange for other like-minded partners to meet and explore next steps soon, too.

"I discussed these plans in detail with Secretary Tillerson. He will visit Moscow as planned and, following the G7 meeting, will be able to deliver that clear and co-ordinated message to the Russians."

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron claimed that Mr Johnson was considered a diplomatic liability.

He said: "Is this what taking back control looks like? Our Government quick to blindly follow every order from the Trump White House.

"Boris has revealed himself to be a poodle of Washington, having his diary managed from across the pond.

"It is pretty shameful when even Trump judges you to be a buffoon."

An aide to Mr Johnson said: "It is a shame the Lib Dems would rather snipe and be silly when the US and UK are trying to work on a plan to help the innocent people of Syria and stop a devastating civil war."
Boris Johnson has pulled out of a visit to Moscow in the wake of the Syrian chemical weapons attack saying "we deplore Russia's continued defence of the Assad regime".

The British Foreign Secretary was due to visit Russia on Monday for talks with counterpart Sergey Lavrov, which would have been the first visit by a UK foreign secretary in more than five years.
The United States has warned it is "prepared to do more" to stop the horrors that are taking place in Syria under Bashar Assad.

President Donald Trump unleashed a barrage of cruise missiles on a Syrian air base in retaliation for the regime's "barbaric" use of chemical weapons against its own people.

Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations, told an emergency meeting of the world body's Security Council that Washington was ready to go further.

She said: "The United States took a very measured step last night. We are prepared to do more. But we hope that will not be necessary.

"It is time for all civilised nations to stop the horrors that are taking place in Syria and demand a political solution."

Russia and Britain clashed at the tense round of UN talks in New York.

The UK's ambassador said President Assad had been "put on notice" and claimed Moscow had been left humiliated by its failure to bring him to heel.

But Russia accused Britain of "colonial hypocrisy" and "lies" as it warned against military involvement in Syria.

Russia's UN representative Vladimir Safronkov said: "Stop putting forward these unprofessional arguments and accusations against my country. These are not diplomatic. These are lies.

"Don't even try to get into fights in the Arab world. Nothing will work and nothing will be achieved.

"All Arab countries recall your colonial hypocrisy."

Russia has consistently denied that Syrian forces used chemical weapons, claiming the incident at Khan Sheikhoun was caused by a hit on a rebel chemical weapons plant, a claim dismissed by the West.

Matthew Rycroft, the UK's ambassador to the UN, said Russia has given Assad "everything he could have dreamed of" in its continued support.

He said: "The greatest war criminal of all, Bashar Assad, has now been put on notice.

"The US strike was a proportionate response to unspeakable acts that gave rise to overwhelming humanitarian distress."

"Russia sits here today humiliated by its failure to bring to heel a puppet dictator entirely propped up by Russia, Hezbollah and Iran," he added.

Russia accused the US of violating international law but Mr Trump said the dramatic strike from US warships in the Mediterranean was in the "vital national security interest".

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said the Americans had used a "far-fetched pretext" to justify the attack while the defence ministry in Moscow said it would be helping its Syrian ally strengthen its air defences.

Britain led international support for the attack, describing it as a "limited and appropriate" response to the use of chemical weapons by the regime of Assad against its own people.

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said the Government had been in "close contact" with the US administration in the run-up to the strike.

The Syrian military said at least seven people were killed and several others injured in the strike which caused extensive damage to the base at Shayrat, in central Syria, from where Tuesday's chemical strike was believed to have been launched.

Russian defence ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov sought to play down the impact, claiming fewer than half the missiles reached the air base, destroying just six Syrian MiG-23 fighters and leaving the runway intact.

The surprise barrage of 59 cruise missiles in the early hours of Friday, UK time, was the first time the US has struck directly against the Syrian government.

In an emotive broadcast, Mr Trump said he was responding to the regime's attack - believed to have involved sarin nerve agent - on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun which left at least 72 people dead, including 20 children.

"Using a deadly nerve agent, Assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children. It was a slow and brutal death for so many," he said.

"Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack. No child of God should ever suffer such horror."

Downing Street was swift to offer its backing for the US action, which was also supported by Israel, Australia, France, Germany and European Council president Donald Tusk.

A No 10 spokeswoman said: "The UK Government fully supports the US action, which we believe was an appropriate response to the barbaric chemical weapons attack launched by the Syrian regime, and is intended to deter further attacks."

In contrast, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn condemned what he said was a "unilateral military action without legal authorisation or independent verification" which risked intensifying the Syrian conflict.

Mr Lavrov, on a visit to Uzbekistan, compared the US action to the invasion of Iraq by American and British forces in 2003.

"I want to emphasise that this is, of course, an act of aggression under a far-fetched pretext. Russia will draw conclusions from the actions of the United States in Syria," he said.
Accused killer Maged Al-Harazi has denied he planned to skip the country after he allegedly stabbed his wife 57 times with a knife as she tried to protect their 10-month-old son.

The Crown's cross-examination of Mr Al-Harazi continued when he took to the stand for the third day to defend himself, one month into his ACT Supreme Court jury trial.

Police had been called to the couple's Gordon home previously and Al-Mdwali approached at least one support service. Credit:Jeffrey Chan

Mr Al-Harazi, 36, pleaded not guilty to murder after Sabah Al-Mdwali, 28, was found dead on a bed inside the pair's Gordon home in March 2015. He blamed the killing on her father and brother.

The trial has heard the couple often fought about where they would live; Mr Al-Harazi wanted to return to their native Yemen, while Ms Al-Mdwali wanted to stay in Australia.
Carol Nicol trusted the builder she had hired to renovate her home to do a good job while she shuttled her teenage son, who has cystic fibrosis, to and from hospital.

The builder did an acceptable job of ripping things out, but Sam Robinson's next steps caused her great grief.

He had removed the bulkhead in the bathroom ceiling, which voided her home insurance, failed to replace door handles, which left her stranded outside, and had not passed on payments for the stacked stone fireplace, which left a debt collector on her back.

"I have to regularly take my son Tony to hospital, and he took advantage of that, not doing any of the work we paid him to do," said the mother-of-three from Hinchinbrook, in Sydney's south-west.
The European Commission cleared Rupert Murdoch to take over pay-TV group Sky, leaving a British investigation into the impact on the country's media landscape as the only remaining hurdle for the $US14.5 billion ($19 billion) deal.

The Commission said the bid did not raise any competition concerns as Murdoch's Twenty First Century Fox and Sky were active in different markets in Europe, while existing rules in European Union countries meant that rivals would still have access to Sky films and TV channels.

The next hurdle lies in the UK where Ofcom will advise on whether the deal would give Murdoch and his companies too much control of Britain's media. Credit:Simon Dawson

Fox and Sky welcomed the decision, which had been expected, and said they would continue to work with the regulators in Britain where it faces a tougher test to complete the deal.

"We now look forward to continuing to work with UK authorities and are confident that the proposed transaction will be approved following a thorough review process," Fox said.
As Rockhampton residents braced for a nine-metre-high major flood this week, efforts were bolstered by some of the 1600 Australian Defence Force troops deployed to help cope with Cyclone Debbie and its aftermath.

In the past fortnight, the military dispatched helicopters, four landing craft, two larger naval ships and conveys of heavy vehicles to deliver water, medicine and other emergency supplies after the category four storm hit.

"Only the military has the large-scale capability of relief response," Michael Thomas, a retired army major, said.

It's a capability that has been tested in recent years, whether from category five Cyclone Winston that smashed Fiji last year or the huge El Nino which brought severe drought to Papua New Guinea.
A happy childhood: Kim Ross in Santa Monica, California, in 1959. Yet secrets aren't as easily kept these days as technology improves people's ability to play family detective. Trevor Jordan, president of adoption support agency Jigsaw Queensland and a late-discovery adoptee himself, says family skeletons have started walking out of closets en masse in recent years. He says what had been a gradual awakening since Australia's closed adoption system was eased in the 1990s has, in the past two years, become much more prevalent, leading to a surge in demand for counselling services. A vague feeling she didn't quite fit: Kim Ross always wondered if she was adopted. There are several reasons for this, he explains. The digitisation of government records, the commercialisation of family trees via companies like Ancestry.com, the rise in social media, and a significant reduction in costs associated with DNA testing. "Over this Christmas we saw really heavy advertising of the home testing on television  and people have been buying them as gifts," Jordan says. Since 2008, when Victorian company DNA Solutions became one of the first firms to offer at-home test kits, there's been a proliferation of competitive products. Price has also come down, from nearly $300 close to a decade ago, to about $150 today.

Jordan admits he too is waiting for the results of a saliva sample he sent to the US labs of Ancestry.com. "There has been an upturn in interest, and we're finding people are needing our help when they're confronted with truths about all sorts of things; not just adoption. It could be that you receive results that might indicate the man you grew up thinking was your biological father may not actually be, and that can present all sorts of challenging questions and I'm not sure we're properly prepared for the consequences this [home DNA testing] might bring about." I don't agree with their decision in hindsight. Especially when I asked the question over and over, and was told I was wrong, only to find out later that my instinct was right. Kim Ross Trevor's fears are shared by retired molecular biologist Dr Michael Brisco, who helped developed DNA tests while working as a scientist at Flinders University. There are Facebook groups with thousands of members all searching for genetic clues about their identities, but Dr Brisco points out interpreting the results of DNA tests requires a comprehensive understanding of the complex language of genetics. He says test results used to be given in clinical environments by qualified genetic counsellors, adept at translating scientific data and communicating probable impacts; these days, many people are receiving genetic test results in an email from a company overseas. Dr Brisco says the DIY DNA process should be treated with caution. "There are some tests that are far more conclusive than others," he says. "There's no reason people shouldn't carry out these at-home tests, and certainly the results can reveal broad details about someone's likely origins, but these are just quick looks - glances if you will - a glance at something that doesn't really tell you anything specific or especially conclusive. Of course, if there is something that appears amiss, well then you check it out." Checking out a wonky result was exactly what led Kim to uncover the truth. Even before she started plotting her family tree online, she had been bothered by a strange, instinctive feeling that she somehow didn't quite fit in. She would often joke with her mother and family about the small, seemingly inconsequential differences between her and her cousins. She was tone-deaf, they were musical. They were very petite, she was always just a little bit larger. Sometimes Kim would wonder aloud whether she really was her mother's daughter. But her questions were always rebuffed, her doubts dismissed. She was reassured she was one of them, and that was all there was to it.

"'Of course you're not adopted," Kim recalls her parents saying. "I used to say, 'If I am, it's OK; you can tell me,' but they never did." 'Of course you're not adopted': Kim Ross aged five with her adoptive mother Doreen Adams. Indeed, no-one ever breathed a word. It wasn't until her grandmother died that she came across a crucial wrinkle in the family's fabric. While sorting papers after the funeral, Kim discovered documents pertaining to the Ngai Tahu; a prominent iwi from southern New Zealand. It was a surprising discovery; no-one had ever discussed Maori ties. This was the revelation that led Kim to research the family's newfound heritage. She didn't know it then, but she was starting down a path that would eventually unravel her entire identity. "I began researching our family's heritage when I was about 30, and eventually, I signed up for Ancestry.com," Kim explains. "As the technology progressed, and the more I used the program, the family tree I was able to chart became more detailed. "Then they started offering DNA analysis. I thought, 'Why not give that a go?'."

So Kim spat in a tube and sent the sample to the company's labs in the US. She was expecting some sort of chart back that would indicate what percentage of her DNA was Polynesian, and what other ethnicities she was linked to. Dr Brisco explains this kind of testing works by comparing an individual's genetic sample with data collected from people with well-established, multi-generational links to a particular location. "Therefore you can assess whether someone's particular DNA sample is more or less like the Irish samples in the database," he says. Kim's results, however, were startling to her. "It showed no Polynesian blood," she said. "It didn't make any sense. So I followed it up and the company told me that I could be Polynesian, but that I didn't carry any genetic markers or indicators, and I thought, 'Ok, that sounds like a reasonable explanation'. But it I still felt odd about it, so I posted the result on Facebook, and that's when I got the phone call." "That's when an old friend of the family called me up and told me, 'Kim, you're adopted'." More phone calls followed, along with apologies, confessions and explanations. The extent of the deception became clear. It was confirmed without a doubt when Kim applied for, and received, her pre-adoptive birth certificate.

"Pretty much everyone in my family knew except me," she says. "One of my cousins said, 'Kim, you've got to realise, they did it out of love for you. As far as they were concerned, you were their child, and that's all there was to it.'" But Kim finds it hard to get a sense of closure, particularly because her parents are no longer alive. "I don't agree with their decision in hindsight. Especially when I asked the question over and over, and was told I was wrong, only to find out later that my instinct was right." Kim confesses her biggest anguish was her adoptive mother's silence. "I had 30 years with my mother after dad died," she says. "I felt a bit disappointed she wasn't honest with me. Though as far as I'm concerned, she is still my mother, and I couldn't have asked for a better one."

Three months later and Kim has, however, tracked down her real mother. "She'd married twice, had name changes, but I found her. I thought, 'I'll write her a letter rather than call' - I didn't want it to be a shock for her; her daughter calling her, out of the blue, after 60 years." Kim waited for a reply to arrive, and kept busy with her research. There was no father's name on the birth certificate. The blank space was a source of great frustration. Trevor Jordan says all too often, questions around paternity are the main source of confusion for people looking for answers. But even when Kim made contact with her mother, she was left bitterly disappointed. Though responsive, Kim's biological mum wasn't entirely forthcoming. And she lacked one vital detail: the legal name of the man who left her a pregnant teenager. "It was a different era," Kim says. Nurses removed Kim from her mother as soon as she was born, her mother was alone in a house for unmarried girls, and had been sent there by a family who never spoke of the matter again. "Back in her day there was a stigma attached to me," Kim says. "I can't imagine what it would have been like to have been in the '40s, '50s and find yourself pregnant at 15 years of age. You're still a child."
COLUMBUS  Chloe Lippstreu is always motivated when Girl Scout Cookie season begins.

The 16-year-old starts selling the treats right away, hoping she can beat her personal record set in 2013.

She was able to do that this year when she sold 1,165 boxes, beating her previous best by 46. That number also earned her the top spot among Girl Scouts in the Prairie Hills Service Center area that covers northeast Nebraska.

Though it's a personal best, Lippstreus total was well behind the first-place finisher in Nebraska, who sold 5,903 boxes. Lippstreu finished 48th in total sales in the state.

Overall, it was a record-setting year for the Girl Scout Cookie program. The 2.4 million packages sold are the most-ever in Nebraska, according to Denise Moore, product program director with the Girl Scouts Spirit of Nebraska.

More than 10,000 Scouts sold cookies, including Thin Mints, Caramel deLites, Shortbread, Peanut Butter Sandwich, Thanks-a-Lot, Lemonades, gluten-free Trios and the new Smores added to the lineup this year to commemorate 100 years of cookies sales.

The month-long selling season started in early February. Lippstreu, the daughter of Sally and Tracy Lippstreu, had her sights set high, as she does each year.

My first goal is to get to 1,000, and then my second goal is to beat the one I just did, Lippstreu said.

The local Girl Scout said she has faithful buyers who make purchases each year. She also visits local businesses to boost her sales.

We usually go door-to-door after school for an hour and a-half and shell sell 50 to 100 boxes in that time, her mother said.

Lippstreu joined the Girl Scouts program as a first-grader. The initial time she sold cookies, her goal was 500 boxes. She beat that by more than 100 packages.

Since then, the Columbus High School sophomore has continued to aim for a big number. The motivational goal is to sell enough cookies to attend a camp in North Platte.

Lippstreu said she doesnt have a goal set for next year yet, but she does have advice for other Scouts who sell cookies.

Give it your all. If you dont get what you want, you can always try next year, she said.
A non-gendered best actor category has replaced the best male and female sections in this year's MTV movie and television awards meaning Emma Watson will vie for the top gong with the likes of Hugh Jackman and James McAvoy.

The US network revealed the replacement of the top award for the May 7 ceremony which also marks first time in its 26 year history that shows on television and streaming services can receive nominations as well as movies.

Emma Watson arrives at the world premiere of Beauty and the Beast at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles. Credit:AP

The change pits star actress Watson, for her role in Beauty and the Beast, against Australia's Jackman for his work in Logan for best actor, while Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown and Emilia Clarke from Game Of Thrones will go up against The Walking Dead's Jeffrey Dean Morgan for best actor in a television show.

Break-out horror film Get Out is leading the way with six nominations, including nods for movie of the year and for its lead star, British actor David Kaluuya.
A Liberal byelection candidate, who this week admitted she signed a statutory declaration with incorrect information about her residential history, has denied giving a misleading account of her academic qualifications.

Government affairs adviser Felicity Wilson is the strong favourite to retain the seat of North Shore in Saturday's by-election.

But Ms Wilson has been under fire since Fairfax Media revealed she had submitted an incorrect statutory declaration claiming that she lived in the electorate she hopes to represent for 10 years. Ms Wilson also had to retract an exchange with former prime minister John Howard on the campaign trail.

Now the candidate has denied misrepresenting her academic qualifications on professional networking site LinkedIn.
William's mum Theresa Green agreed politics might suit his personality. William Green was among the students at Bell State School to provide a submission to the Queensland Redistribution Commission. "He's only in year 7 this year so the school only started introducing careers-type topics to the students," she said. "So yeah, it's certainly something he possibly would consider. "He certainly has a way with words."

Teacher Joanne Rodney said she was looking for something the students could participate in and have a real voice when she considered the redistribution. "I've got some very persuasive characters in my classroom," Ms Rodney said. "It was a really nice moment for the kids to see that what they write doesn't just end up on the teacher's desk and they get given a grade... But there's a wider audience that they can work with and engage with and have a voice." The school has 80 students from prep to year 10, with only 25 students in years 7 to 10. Here are the submissions in full

Jack Robinson, year 7

I disagree with the intended electoral redistribution of Bell into Callide because instead of travelling just half an hour into Dalby you will have to travel four-and-a-half hours to Biloela to see our future MP. We are closely aligned with Dalby so changing the boundaries mean breaking these links. Overall, I believe changing the electoral boundaries is a regrettable choice, costing us our time and close links to our main services. Please carefully consider what I have mentioned above. Aaron Tavis Gleeson, year 8

I disagree with the proposed redistribution as the new changes could potentially damage not only the state electorates but the regional ones as well. If my location no longer is part of the Western Downs Regional Council area I may no longer be allowed to borrow from their libraries. My other concern is the fact that the local MP would be more accessible in Dalby than Biloela which is currently the main office location for Callide. This would make it easier for the citizens to raise their concerns. William John Green, year 7

I disagree with the proposed electoral redistribution of Bell into Callide. I think this because if we have a problem in/near our community and we wish to report it to the member of our electoral district, people in Bell will have to drive to Biloela which is four-and-a-half hours away whereas Dalby is only about half an hour away. Driving to Biloela from Bell is like driving to Rome from Beijing, much too far! Do you think that just because I'm a child my brilliant opinion does not matter? You may believe I am not going to take this seriously, well you're very incorrect. We are being backed up by many of our kind and we're going to make you all reconsider your actions. To sum up, it is most definitely a horrible idea to move Bell into Callide for geographic, economic and social reasons. Sage Gleeson, Year 8

I disagree with the intended electoral redistribution. This is because Bell is connected to Dalby a lot. For instance, Bell is a part of the Western Downs Regional Council area. If Bell moved into the Callide electorate, it would separate Bell from Dalby when Dalby plays a big part in the way Bell runs. My second reason is that our MP will be far away if we have to see him/her for any reason. Where Bell is now it is only a half-hour to go see the MP but now that time could change to a couple of hours. This is why I disagree with the proposed electoral district redistribution. Malcolm Peater Joehennis Roberts, Year 7

I live in Bell with my family and I strongly disagree that we should go in to Callide electorate. Bell is most closely aligned with Dalby for economic and social interests. If the redistribution goes ahead Bell and Dalby will be separated. This means that Bell won't be so supported. Accessing our local member in the vast Callide electorate will be harder so visiting and sharing ideas will be restricted. Please consider my ideas.
After four years in the Moulin Rouge, another four with the Lido, and a year or so as Batman at Movie World, Lee Kearney has swapped his decadent costumes for a costume of a different kind.

"It was time to come home," Kearney said.

"A dancer can only dance for so long."

The 33-year-old, who grew up in the north Brisbane suburb of Hendra and started dancing and singing at the age of 11, said working at the Moulin Rouge was always a dream.
A truck has been engulfed in flames on the main highway between Port Hedland and Newman in the Pilbara on Saturday morning.

The Broome Freightline truck appears to have veered off the Great Northern Highway around 8.30am, with the front cabin ablaze.

A truck is ablaze on the Great Northern Highway. Credit:Pressure Force Port Hedland

It is not yet known if the driver sustained any injuries however St John Ambulance was not called to the scene.

Firefighters from Port Hedland attended and extinguished the fire by midday.
Beijing: Chinese state media have notably played down the awkward timing of the US launching an air strike on Syria as Chinese President Xi Jinping dined with US President Donald Trump.

The front page of the Chinese language Global Times showed Mr Xi and Mr Trump strolling at Mar-a-Lago, and Mr Trump's declaration of an "outstanding relationship" with China.

The US air strike on Syria was relegated to the world news pages. The English version of the paper, known for its hawkish anti-Western views at times, highlighted that Ivanka Trump's children had sung and recited Classical Chinese verse to Mr Xi and his wife.

The Chinese government was muted in its response to the air strikes, waiting six hours before making any public comment. China's foreign ministry avoided direct criticism of the US action, but called for calm and pointedly said a political solution was urgently needed.
Meanwhile, demonstrations have erupted in London, New York, Los Angeles and parts of the United States against US President Donald Trump's order to fire 59 missiles at a Syrian airbase early on Friday morning following the chemical attack. Destroyed aircraft shelters in Syria, following strike orders from Donald Trump. Credit:DigitalGlobe/AP The Syrian army claimed nine civilians, including four children, were killed in Friday's aerial assault which, according to the Pentagon, were aimed at planes, depots and air-defence systems at the Shayrat Airfield. The field, between Damascus and Homs, was hit with Tomahawk missiles fired from the USS Porter and USS Ross, two destroyers in the Mediterranean. A crowd chants during a rally in opposition to the US air strikes in Allentown, Pennsylvania, one of the US's largest Syrian communities. Credit:AP

A statement from the Syrian army command described the attack as an act of "blatant aggression", saying it had made the United States "a partner" of Islamic State, the ex-Nusra Front and other "terrorist organisations". The office of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, meanwhile, has called the US missile strike against the air base in central Homs "reckless" and "irresponsible", Associated Press reported. Protesters against the US strike at a Stop the War Coalition demonstration opposite Downing Street, London, on Friday. Credit:Getty Images Only hours after the attack, two war planes took off from the central Syrian airbase and carried out bombing raids nearby, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, targeting territory controlled by IS. A Syrian military source told Agence France-Presse that Syria's armed forces were warned about possible US military action hours before the strike and a number of airplanes were moved to other areas. US officials said Russia's military in Syria were informed beforehand in order to avoid casualties, AFP said.

Burnt and damaged hangars after they were attacked by US Tomahawk missiles on Friday. Credit:State Media/AP This is the first time the US has directly targeted Assad's forces. The Obama administration threatened to attack after previous chemical attacks, but did not. From his his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Trump said his decision had been prompted in part by what he called failures by the world community to respond effectively to the Syrian civil war. A Syrian doctor treats a child following the chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun, Syria. Credit:EMC/AP "Years of previous attempts at changing Assad's behaviour have all failed, and failed very dramatically. As a result, the refugee crisis continues to deepen, and the region continues to destabilise, threatening the United States and its allies."

But United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to parties involved in the Syrian conflict for calm to avoid adding to the suffering. President Donald Trump speaks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach after the US fired a barrage of cruise missiles into Syria. Credit:AP "Mindful of the risk of escalation, I appeal for restraint to avoid any acts that could deepen the suffering of the Syrian people," he said. The situation in Syria now "amounts to an international armed conflict" following the US missile strikes, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. The guided-missile destroyer USS Ross fires a Tomahawk land attack missile towards Syria on April 7. Credit:AP

"Any military operation by a state on the territory of another without the consent of the other amounts to an international armed conflict," ICRC spokeswoman Iolanda Jaquemet said in Geneva. "So according to available information  the US attack on Syrian military infrastructure  the situation amounts to an international armed conflict." Russian President Vladimir Putin called for an immediate meeting of the UN Security Council and his spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, called the US missile strikes "violations of the norms of international law, and under a far-fetched pretext". US allies around the world expressed support, if sometimes cautiously, of Washington's strikes on Syria. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the strikes sent "a vitally important message" that the world would not tolerate the use of chemical weapons. "The retribution has been proportionate and it has been swift," he said. "We support the United States in that swift action."

Britain, France and Japan all expressed support. "The UK government fully supports the US action, which we believe was an appropriate response to the barbaric chemical weapons attack launched by the Syrian regime and is intended to deter further attacks," a British government spokesman said. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged an investigation into who was responsible for the chemical attacks before the US strike, according to Canada's Globe and Mail. Loading "There are continuing questions...that's why I'm impressing on the United Nations Security Council to pass a strong resolution that allows the international community to determine first of all who was responsible for these attacks and how we will move forward," he said.
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Words pick: Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

Exit West is the love story that we desperately need right now. In a war-torn, religiously oppressive country, Nadia and Saeed are young lovers whose future together is forever altered when they flee through a magical doorway that promises a better life. As they adjust to their newfound identities as refugees, they soon realize that they have differing ideas of what they want from life, their new homes, and each other. Mohsin Hamid has written an emotionally gripping and timely novel of love and identity that will challenge your expectations of happiness but will leave you hopeful for the future.

 Alison Gore, Word [126 Franklin St. at Milton Street in Greenpoint, (718) 3830096, www.wordbrooklyn.com].

Community Bookstores pick: Breaking and Entering by Joy Williams

To my mind, Joy Williams is the funniest and darkest of the contemporary American writers, and Breaking and Entering is her funniest and darkest book. A married couple travels through Florida breaking into fancy summer homes, and thats pretty much it. But in Williamss hands, it becomes a story about love and desperation and loneliness, shot through with a cast of losers, misfits, grotesques and saps. No book has ever made me laugh so hard from sentence to sentence.

 Hal Hlavinka, Community Bookstore [43 Seventh Ave. between Carroll Street and Garfield Place in Park Slope, (718) 7833075, www.communitybookstore.net].

Greenlight Bookstores pick: Beverly by Nick Drnaso

The soothing pastels and stripped-down layouts of this graphic novel give way to a quiet anxiety and all-too-real hopelessness that calls to mind the work of Chris Ware. Some shocks come suddenly  a deranged daydream, an ominous stranger  but more affecting is the way its six stories slowly bleed together. Subtle tensions becoming major themes and small characters muttering the disappointing, revealing sound bites that form the texture of a place. Drnasos vision of Middle America is hollow, but he is an incredible artist.

 Julian Elman, Greenlight Bookstore [686 Fulton St. between S. Elliott Place and S. Portland Avenue in Fort Greene, (718) 2460200, www.greenlightbookstore.com].




1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.

2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.

3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament of the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.

4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.

5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.

6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.

7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.

8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.

9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.

10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.

11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)

12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.

13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.

14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.

15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.

16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.

17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.

18. Gain control of all student newspapers.

19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.

20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.

21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.

22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms."

23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."

24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.

25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.

26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."

27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch."

28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."

29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.

30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man."

31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.

32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.

33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.

34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.

36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.

37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.

38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand.

39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.

40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.

41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.

42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use united force to solve economic, political or social problems.

43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.

44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.

45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction over nations and individuals alike.
Athlete of the Week: See which players were voted Athletes of the Week for fall
Live coverage: Election Day arrives in Bucks County

Pennsylvanians will choose their next governor and US senator, as well as new state representatives and state senators.
State-run Indian Oil Corporation is planning to invest at least Rs 20,000 crore to add a 25-million-tonne (mt) pipeline. The project will cover 20 projects in the next four years.
After getting public sector undertakings (PSUs) like ONGC, NTPC, Air India and Indian Railways on board, the Village Industries Commission (KVIC) is now tapping the private sector for sales. With a push from PM Narendra Modi, KVIC has been able to bag orders JK White Cement, while it is in talks with The Indian Hotels Company Limited of the Tata Group and GMR Group.
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Private equity investments during the January-March grew 36 per cent to $5.44 billion in 117 deals from $4 billion in 198 deals in the same period a year ago, according to research firm Venture Intelligence.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajeds India visit is crucial because her tenure has made the friendship between the two countries an irreversible fact in the region, diplomat and scholar, Veena Sikri tells Aditi Phadnis.
India on Saturday announced an additional $4.5-billion concessional line of credit for implementation of projects in Bangladesh, and another $500 million for Dhaka to procure defence equipment from New Delhi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina on Saturday jointly released the Hindi translation of 'Bangbandhu' Sheikh Mujibur Rehman's autobiography, "Unfinished Memories".

Rehman was the founding leader of Bangladesh and father of Hasina.

The book was released after bilateral talks between the two leaders.

Hasina is on a four-day trip to India, during which the two countries are expected to sign more than 20 agreements to boost bilateral ties.

This is her first bilateral visit to India in seven years. She last visited the country in January 2010.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina on Friday held talks on key bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual concern.

The leaders also explored ways to strengthen bilateral ties in key strategic areas of defence, security, trade and energy.

After their restricted meeting at the Hyderabad House here, the two leaders were joined by their respective delegations.

Hasina, who arrived here on Thursday on a four-day trip will visit Ajmer tomorrow and will also meet Indian business leaders on Monday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday assured Bangladesh of an "early solution" to the emotive Teesta water sharing issue, a pact on which has remained elusive for nearly seven years.

The two sides inked nearly two dozen pacts in key areas of defence and civil nuclear cooperation after "productive" talks between Modi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina here.

Modi held extensive discussions with Hasina on ways to strengthen ties between the two countries after which he announced a line of concessional credit of $4.5 billion for implementation of projects in Bangladesh.

Announcing an additional line of credit of $500 million to Bangladesh for military supplies, Modi said it will be driven by the requirement of that country.

However, the much-delayed pact on Teesta water sharing remained elusive for the two sides. Stressing that the deal was "important" for India-Bangladesh ties, Modi assured India's commitment to the issue.

He said an "early solution can and will be found" to the Teesta water sharing issue.

The Teesta deal was set to be signed during the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Bangladesh in September, 2011 but was postponed at the last minute due to objections by West Bengal Chief Minister Banerjee.

Teesta water is crucial for Bangladesh especially in the leanest period from December to March when the water flow often temporarily comes down to less than 1,000 cusecs from 5,000 cusecs.
Mumbai police said on Saturday they had arrested the alleged mastermind behind a call centre scam that targeted thousands of Americans in the United States, netting more than $300 million.

Sagar Thakkar, also known as Shaggy, was arrested at the Mumbai international airport, Mukund Hatote, a police officer on the case, told Reuters on Saturday. He gave no further details.

The US Justice Department last year charged scores of people in India and the United States with taking part in the scam where call centre agents impersonated Internal Revenue Service, immigration and other federal officials and demanded payments for nonexistent debts.

The department said at least 15,000 people had been targeted by the Mumbai-run telefraud, losing more than $300 million.
is investing in Silicon Valley start-ups with military applications at such a rapid rate that the United States government needs tougher controls to stem the transfer of some of Americas most promising technologies, a Pentagon report says.
Condemning the in Syria, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Friday said the action puts Moscow and Washington "on the verge of a military clash."

"This military action is a clear indication of the US President's extreme dependency on the opinion of the Washington establishment, the one that the new president strongly criticized in his inauguration speech," Medvedev wrote on Facebook.

Medvedev said the missile strike was "really sad for our now completely ruined relations" with the US and "good news for terrorists."

"The Trump administration proved it will fiercely fight the legitimate Syrian government, in a tough contradiction with law and without UN approval, in violation of its own procedures stipulating that the Congress must first be notified of any military operation unrelated to aggression against the US."

President Trump authorised a missile launch into Syria late on Thursday in response to a chemical attack earlier this week that US and other Western officials believe was conducted by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad.

According to the Pentagon, 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched during the strike, which targeted the Shayrat Air Base, the reported origin of a chemical attack.
Rebel factions in have welcomed the US missile strike on an air base in Syria's central province of Homs, a media report said on Friday.

A rebel commander in Homs said that the missile strike was positively received among rebel factions in the province, Xinhua news agency reported.

Rebels support such strikes and everything that can reduce the power of the Syrian air force, he said.

The Jaish al-Tawhid rebel group, located in the northern countryside of Homs, also hailed the attack, saying it's the "first step for the community to shoulder their responsibilities."

Another rebel group, Failaq al-Sham, said the US missile attack "could be a turning point in the western stances and to move from words to deeds" against the Syrian government and its army.

The rebels of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) described the US attack as a turning point in "eliminating the impunity" and a "military pressure against the Syrian army to put an end to its violations."
Sailing in the eastern Mediterranean, a pair of US destroyers twice rehearsed firing a fusillade of million-dollar missiles toward a Syrian airbase before President Donald Trump signed the order to launch.
Turkey's foreign minister says Ankara sees the US intervention in Syria as appropriate but not enough.

Mevlut Cavusoglu, speaking in the southern city of Antalya on Saturday, said if the US intervention is limited only to a missile attack on a Syrian air base then it is a "cosmetic intervention" unless it removes President Bashar Assad from power.

Cavusoglu, whose country is a strong backer of the Syrian opposition, said the most ideal process will be a political solution that leads to a transitional government accepted by all Syrians as soon as possible. He said that for that "this oppressive Assad needs to go."



Cavusoglu said after the transitional government takes over, it will be followed with elections in which Syrians in the country and abroad can vote.
The American military strike against Syria threatened Russian-American relations on Friday as the Kremlin denounced President Trumps use of force and the Russian military announced that it was suspending an agreement to share information about air operations over the country, devised to avoid accidental conflict.
President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping wrapped up their first summit by announcing a 100-day plan to improve strained trade ties, the only tangible announcement after their meetings that were overshadowed by the US military strikes in Syria.

Trump aides, who participated in the two-day talks held at the US President's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, described the meetings as productive and said the two leaders exhibited "positive" chemistry.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Friday said the two sides agreed to speed up trade talks to help close a lopsided imbalance in China's favour, a common campaign-trail complaint of Trump's.

During the meetings, Trump highlighted the challenges caused by the Chinese government intervention in its economy and raised serious concerns about the impact of China's industrial, agricultural, technology and cyber policies on America's jobs and exports, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said.

Spicer said Trump underscored the need for China to take concrete steps to level the playing field for American workers, stressing repeatedly the need for reciprocal market access.

The 100-day plan to improve trade ties was the only tangible announcement to come out of the meetings that few expected to be much more than a get-acquainted exercise, The New York Times said.

China is now the largest trading partner of the US. Last year, two-way trade reached $519.6 billion, compared to $2.5 billion in 1979 when the two nations established diplomatic ties.

The talks were overshadowed by a crisis in Syria as Trump, just before his his dinner with Xi, ordered a massive military strike on a Syrian air base in retaliation to a "barbaric" chemical attack on civilians allegedly by embattled President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

The two leaders agreed that their first meeting was "positive and fruitful", China's state-run Xinhua news agency said.

During their talks over the two days, Xi and Trump exchanged views on key areas of bilateral cooperation as well as global and regional issues of common concern, it said.

Xi, 63, said that he and Trump, 70, have gained better understanding of each other, cemented their mutual trust, scored many major consensuses, and built up a good working relationship.

Noting that the two leaders had positive and productive meetings, Spicer said Trump and Xi agreed to work in concert to expand areas of cooperation while managing differences based on mutual respect.

Trump had hoped to use the trade issue as leverage to get China, North Korea's closest ally, to pressure the reclusive nation to give up its nuclear weapons programme.

China and the US agreed that Pyongyang's programmes are a serious problem, but have not seen eye-to-eye on how to respond.

"The two sides noted the urgency of the threat of North Korea's weapons programmes, reaffirmed their commitment to a denuclearised Korean peninsula and committed to fully implement UN Security Council resolutions," Spicer said.

"The Presidents' discussions on North Korea were very wide-ranging, very comprehensive, and more focused entirely on both countries' previous commitments to denuclearise the peninsula.There was no kind of a package arrangement discussed to resolve this," Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said.

Trump and Xi agreed to increase cooperation and work with the community to convince North Korea to peacefully resolve the issue and dismantle its illegal nuclear and missile programmes, Spicer said, adding that the two sides had a candid discussion on regional and maritime security.

"President Trump noted the importance of adhering to rules and norms in the East and South China Seas and to previous statements on non-militarisation. He also noted the importance of protecting human rights and other values deeply held by Americans," Spicer said.

The two leaders established US China Comprehensive Dialogue, elevating their dialogue status.

"The two presidents agreed to elevate existing bilateral talks to reflect the importance of making progress on issues," Spicer said.

Trump and Xi also established a new and cabinet-level framework for negotiations, he said.

The United States-China Comprehensive Dialogue will be overseen by the two presidents and have four pillars: Diplomatic and Security Dialogue; Comprehensive Economic Dialogue; Law Enforcement and Cybersecurity Dialogue; and Social and Cultural Issues Dialogue.

"The two sides agreed to undertake an ambitious agenda and meeting schedule to show progress and demonstrate meaningful results," he said.

"This visit was a great opportunity for both presidents and their wives to get to know one another, enjoy meals together, and work on important issues. Each side also brought a senior delegation that was also able to build relationships for the work ahead," Spicer said.

They reviewed the state of the bilateral relationship and noted the importance of working together to generate positive outcomes that would benefit the citizens of both countries.

Xi invited Trump to visit China later this year. Trump accepted the invitation.

"President Trump welcomed President Xi's invitation to visit China for a state visit at a future date. They agreed to work together in the interim to ensure a successful and results-focused visit," Spicer said.

To boost bilateral ties, Xi underlined the importance of further enhancing economic, military and law enforcement cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.

China and the United States are now each other's biggest trading partner, from which the two peoples benefit a lot, Xinhua news agency quoted Xi as saying.

"China welcomes the US side to participate in cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative," said Xi.

On defence ties, which he said make up an important part of the bilateral relations, Xi pointed out that mutual trust in military and security areas forms the basis of the strategic mutual trust between the two countries.

During the summit, Trump appeared to have toned down his anti-China rhetoric.

Despite his tough campaign talk, Trump has so far not followed through on his threat to formally brand China a "currency manipulator", nor to hit Chinese imports with punitive tariffs.

When Xi came to the US two years ago, Trump attacked the former president Barack Obama's red-carpet welcome, claiming he would have offered a Big Mac rather than a state dinner to a leader whose country he has accused of "raping" the American economy.

Trump outraged China in December when he took the unorthodox step of accepting a phone call from the Taiwanese president. But the US president later agreed to respect the "One China" policy in a telephone call with President Xi in February.
Indias are estimated to have almost trebled in the recently ended financial year 2016-17, following the governments move to incentivise overseas consignments. The move was taken to encourage large shipments of the commodity to overseas markets, as realisations abroad were better than those in the domestic market.
Asserting that a 'thought process' in South Asia was inspiring and nurturing terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a veiled swipe on Pakistan stated that India has always wanted its neighbors to progress along with itself, but certain elements in the region are thriving on destroying instead of developing.

Speaking in the presence of his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister Modi expressed his desire to see other nations proceeding along India on the path of development.

"India's development alone is incomplete and we can't even imagine that we will go forth and succeed alone in this region. We want peace, prosperity and progress for our neighbors as well. 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas' is not only limited to India but our neighbors development as well," he said at the 'Sommanona Ceremony' honoring the Indian Martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the liberation war of Bangladesh.

Further stating that India has always extended the hand of friendship to every nation, the Prime Minister opined that the ties of friendship between India and Bangladesh are testament to that fact.

In a veiled attack on Pakistan, he then proceeded to state that there is a 'thought process' in South Asia, which is inspiring and nurtutring terrorism, whose value system is based on violence instead of humanity.

"Their only objective is to spread terrorism, destroy instead of develop and betray instead of trust. This thought process remains a steady challenge to us.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi continued his diplomatic warfare on Islamabad without naming the nation outright.

While addressing a joint-presser with visiting Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, he said that "India liberated Bangladesh from terrorism".

The statement was a clear reference to the 1971 war when India had intervened between East Pakistan and West Pakistan, ultimately leading to the formation of Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, India and Bangladesh today signed 22 agreements and four agreements were exchanged in presence of both Prime Ministers in New Delhi after delegation level talks.

The areas in which the agreements have been inked include bilateral judicial sector, earth sciences, navigation, peaceful uses of outer space, passengers and cruise services on the coastal and protocol route and motor vehicle passenger traffic.

In a joint press statement, Prime Minister Modi announced the Line of Credit of 500 million dollars to Bangladesh for defence purchases, stating that the spread of radicalization and extremism poses grave threat to India, Bangladesh and entire region.

He expressed greatest admiration for Prime Minister Hasina's 'zero-tolerance' policy to deal with terrorism.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Anti-Pakistan protests have broken out across over Islamabad's incessant shelling of areas inside like Nangarhar and Kunar.

A massive anti-Pakistan protest was held on February 21 in Lashkargah, the capital of Afghanistan's southern Helmand Province with an aim to highlight Pakistan as a terrorist-sponsoring state.

The protesters asked President Ashraf Ghani to declare war on Pakistan.

They said that if war was declared then the Afghan Taliban would fight against the Pakistan Army.

The civil society members said they would not allow Afghanistan to be ruined at the hands of Pakistani terrorists and the army.

The Pakistani Law enforcement agencies have launched a crackdown against Afghan nationals in Balochistan and other regions on fabricated charges of terrorism, while on the other hand, Pakistan, has fired rockets and missiles in Nangarhar and Kunar.

Pakistan has also reportedly activated military operations along the Durand Line, raising the level of aggression manifold.

Further in a shocking revelation, an unidentified Pakistani Taliban guerilla has exposed a nexus between the Pakistan-based Muslim scholars and the ISI in forcing youth to fight in the name of religion.

Not only the Taliban, many terror outfits like the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Jaish-e-Mohammed and the Haqqani Network are based in Pakistan.

They are fomenting terror in Afghanistan and in other parts of the region.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has cancelled his trip to Moscow following U.S. missile strikes in Syria, which Moscow has denounced.

The visit has been scrapped after strategic talks between London and Washington, about how the West should approach Russia in the wake of the military action, reports the Independent.

The trip planned by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will still go ahead later in the week, with Johnson leading efforts to bring together a coalition against Russian action in Syria and the regime of Bashar Assad.

Johnson discussed the move with his US counterpart last night after the US launched 59 tomahawk cruise missiles at the Shayrat airbase in Syria, following intelligence that deadly chemical weapons attacks on civilians originated there.

Johnson said in a statement, "Developments in Syria have changed the situation fundamentally. My priority is now to continue contact with the US and others in the run up to the G7 meeting on 10 and 11 April, to build coordinated international support for a ceasefire on the ground and an intensified political process. I will be working to arrange for other like-minded partners to meet and explore next steps soon too.

"I discussed these plans in detail with Secretary Tillerson. He will visit Moscow as planned and, following the G7 meeting, will be able to deliver that clear and coordinated message to the Russians," he added.

He also deplored Russia's continued defence of the Bashar al-Assad regime even after the chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians.

"We call on Russia to do everything possible to bring about a political settlement in Syria and work with the rest of the international community to ensure that the shocking events of the last week are never repeated," he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin denounced the strike as "act of aggression" and said it violated international law.

Russia earlier this week denied a chemical weapons attack took place in Syria saying the deaths in Khan Sheikhoun were caused by a Syrian regime airstrike on a rebel-controlled chemical weapons factory on the ground.

According to the Independent, London and Washington agreed that while Mr Tillerson would head into meetings with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Johnson will drum up support among G7 nations to address Russia's actions in Syria ahead of Tuesday's meeting of the group.

He will push for counterparts to adopt goals, including a transition away from Assad in Syria, Russia demilitarisation in the country and plans to rebuild infrastructure alongside any peace deal.

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Tributes were paid to Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) sniffer dog Cracker who lost his life in an Improvised explosive device (IED) blast by Maoists in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur yesterday.

A CRPF jawan was also injured after a pressure IED blasted near Chinna Kodepal area, two kilometers away from Chinnakodepal camp of 170 Battalion here.

The IED blast was triggered by Maoists at around 4: 20 p.m., when the Road Opening Party (ROP) was closing back to the camp.

The sniffer dog died on the spot, whereas the dog handler Commandant B. Bhanu Prakash Reddy received minor splinter injury in his hand.

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Taking a jibe at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Tarun Vijay's racist remark, Congress leader P. Chidambaram on Saturday criticised the former Rajya Sabha MP, asked was he referring to the saffron party and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) members when he made that statement.

"When Tarun Vijay said 'we live with blacks', I ask him who is 'we'? Was he referring to BJP/RSS members as the only Indians?" Chidambaram tweeted.

Vijay has come under the scanner for a rather unfortunate comment that he intended to make while defending India's policy of anti-racism.

In an interview yesterday, Vijay, when asked about why India was being called racist by practically everybody around, asserted that had India been racist then it wouldn't have had a place for the South Indians.

"I don't know who you are, whether you're an Indian or you belong to some other nation. But you know the entire South India. There is Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra. There are black people all around. So if we were racists, why would we be living with these black people? You are denying us of our ancestory. You are denying us of our history. This is not good. We can be as good or as bad as any other human community," Vijay told the news presenter.

Vijay's comments have invited a univocal wrath especially in the wake of reports of 'racial' attacks in various parts of the country.

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A Chinese firm, the Mingyuan Holdings Group Company Limited, has said that it is keen to set up a huge oil refinery with an investment of two billion dollars in Pakistan's Sindh province.

A Sindh Government statement said that Mingyuan Holdings Group Company Limited Chairman Ji Hong Shui and his 11-member delegation had held a meeting with Sindh Board of Investment (SBI) chairperson Naheed Memon and her team at the SBI headquarters on Friday in this regard.

The Express Tribune quoted the Sindh government handout, as saying that the refinery will have an installed capacity to process 10 million tons of crude oil annually.

Shui was quoted, as saying that refined petroleum products produced by the proposed refinery would primarily cater to the domestic market and later on be exported as well.

Memon said that the Chinese company has initially expressed an interest to acquire 400-500 acres of land in Sindh to set up the refinery, adding that it will submit a brief model to the SBI within four days.

The Chinese firm is expected to establish the refinery around Port Qasim or in places such as Dhabeji, Gharo, Nooriabad, Thatta and Kotri.

The firm may also consider establishing the refinery in a special economic zone to acquire tax incentives, Memon added.

Pakistan is a net oil importing country. It meets 75 per cent need for oil for transport, electricity production and industrial and commercial use through import of petroleum products. The balance is met through local oil exploration where refineries play a very important role in catering to the domestic markets' needs.

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China's President Xi Jinping made a surprise visit to Alaska on his way back to Beijing after a two-day summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida.

Alaska Governor Bill Walker took the opportunity to tout the state's efforts to build a major natural gas pipeline from the North Slope, reports local U.S. media.

Walker after meeting President Xi, said that Alaska can provide China with a new and reliable source of LNG (liquified natural gas), a strategic investment in the U.S. and an opportunity to participate in a regionally strategic infrastructure project.

He added that this project could address the balance of trade issue and provide a clean source of energy to China.

Acknowledging Alaska as an economic partner, President Xi said, "In the eyes of many of Chinese people, Alaska is a land that brings a lot of mystery in our minds and it is a place where our people like to go - it's like Shangri-la to us."

He said both leaders' interaction will serve as a good advertisement for Alaska.

"I believe there might be a boom of Chinese visitors traveling to your state as tourists, I will be happy to see that if that is true," Xi said.

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The Delhi Police on Saturday arrested two accused in connection with the brutal assault on a German .

Accused identified as Rizwan and Rajkishore were arrested for attacking 19-year-old Benjamin Scolt with a sharp knife in Delhi's Geeta Colony today.

Soon after the incident, External Affairs Minister ordered the police to provide a report on this and best medical treatment to the victim.

"I have asked for a report on the attack on German in Delhi. I have asked Delhi Government to provide him best medical treatment," Sushma tweeted.

Soon after receiving the information about the attack, the police reached the spot and took the victim to the nearby hospital for immediate treatment.

It is being said that the victim was attacked with the intention of loot.

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Chief Justice of India J. S. Khehar on Saturday said that electoral promises routinely remain unfulfilled and manifestos turn out to be mere pieces of paper, adding that political parties must be held accountable.

"Now a days, manifestos have become a mere piece of paper, for this political parties have to be made accountable," the CJI asserted at a seminar titled 'Economic Reforms with Reference to Electoral issues'.

The CJI, speaking in the presence of President Pranab Mukherjee, said political parties give "brazen" excuses like lack of consensus amongst their members to justify non-fulfillment of their poll promises.

On the manifestos released by political parties during the 2014 general elections, the CJI said, "None of them indicated any link between electoral reforms and Constitutional goal of ensuring economic-social justice to the marginalised section."

He further said that pursuant to Supreme Court's directions to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to formulate guidelines against freebies, the poll panel has been taking action against parties for violation of the model code of conduct.

Justice Dipak Misra, the next senior-most judge, also stressed upon the need for electoral reforms saying that "purchasing power has no room in elections" and a candidate must bear in mind that "contesting elections is not an investment".

He said that holding of elections has to be "bereft of or sans criminalisation" and people should vote for candidates based on their high moral and ethical values and "not on their competitive demerits".

"Candidates and voters must remember that out of debt is out of danger," Justice Misra said, adding the day a voter goes to vote without being tempted "would be a glorious day for democracy".

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The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) members on Saturday said it has restored the flying privileges to Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad after they were satisfied with the latter's statement.

"The FIA member airlines are also restoring the flying privileges to Mr Gaikwad under the assurance that our assets and colleagues shall be accorded the respect that they deserve for the hard work that they put in every day," Ujwal Dey, Associate Director of FIA said in a statement.

This comes after Carrier Air India yesterday lifted ban on Gaikwad after a request from Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju.

The development comes a day after the Shiv Sena MP tendered an apology to the Civil Aviation Minister, expressing regret over the incident.

Air India earlier on Thursday announced that it had cancelled Gaikwad's Delhi-Mumbai round tickets for April 17 and 24.

The Shiv Sena MP had allegedly thrashed an Air India staffer with his slipper over a sitting arrangement.

On March 24, a day after the incident at the Delhi airport, Air India had barred Gaikwad from flying with it.

Following suit, the FIA had also imposed a ban on him. Jet Airways, SpiceJet, GoAir and IndiGo are part of the grouping.

When FIA had imposed a flying ban on Gaikwad, two non- member carriers -- Vistara and Air Asia -- had said they were with the industry on the issue.

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There was a fire accident at actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan's Chennai house in the late hours of Saturday.

The 62-year-old-actor took to Twitter and informed everyone about the incident where he also confirmed that no one got hurt.

"Thanks to my staff. Escaped a fire at my house. Lungs full of smoke, I climbed down from the third floor. I am safe No one hurt . Goodnight."

Thanks to my staff. Escaped a fire at my house. Lungs full of smoke, I climbed down from the third floor. I am safe No one hurt . Goodnight  Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) April 7, 2017

He also thanked his staff and shared how he escaped from the fire breakout.

"Thanks to my staff. Escaped a fire at my house. Lungs full of smoke, I climbed down from the third floor. I am safe No one hurt."

Thanks for all the love and concern. Now off to sleep. Good night indeed:)  Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) April 7, 2017

Since the incident, concern messages are pouring for the actor on the micro-blogging site.

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Former Pakistani president and Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari's close associate Ghulam Qadir Marri, has gone missing along with his driver and two other people.

According to Dawn News, Marri's brother, Ismail, confirmed late on Friday that the vehicle of his brother was found abandoned near the Jamshoro thermal power house in the evening.

"My brother was returning from Naudero," he said.

The three others who have gone missing with Marri have been identified as Khan Mohammad Mangi, said to be a secretary of his, Sajjad Arain and driver Mehboob Khaskheli.

Marri looks after agriculture lands and related matter of top PPP leaders.

It is the third such high profile case in Sindh. A few days back Ashfaq Leghari, said to be working for the Omni group's Dubai office, went missing on the Super Highway.

A couple of days back Nawab Leghari, a former advisor in the Sindh government, was also abducted by unidentified people in Islamabad.

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A Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) was signed on Saturday between the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) and Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (BAERA) for the exchange of technical information and cooperation in the regulation of nuclear safety and radiation protection.

Apart from this an agreement was also signed between the two countries on Inter-Agency Agreement between Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP), Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India and Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission(BAEC), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of People's Republic of Bangladesh on Cooperation regarding Nuclear Power Plant Projects in Bangladesh.

India and Bangladesh all together signed 22 MoUs on the strategic areas of defence, civil nuclear cooperation and cyber security and a financial agreement.

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A Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) activist Sandeep died in police custody after he was taken by the police for drinking liquor in a public place on Friday.

"A BMS activist was taken into custody along with four others on a complaint that men were drinking in public place. Sandeep felt uneasiness and police took him to the nearby hospital and he died," a police official said.

His family alleged that he died because the police tortured him in the jeep.

Following this incident, the station Sub-Inspector was transferred and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called on for a district hartal today.

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Since the time veteran actor Vinod Khanna's picture showing him in a bad shape went viral, rumours about his demise started doing the rounds on the social media.

Going a step further, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Meghalaya observed a two-minute silence on Saturday to pay respect to the actor.

Before starting a party meeting, party general secretary David Kharsati asked the members to hold a two-minute silence in order to pay tribute to the departed soul of veteran actor.

The incident went viral within a few hours of its happening.

However, the party later came up with a clarification stating that few of their members had seen the news of his demise on television and they believed it without verifying.

The party issued an apology for the same and said that the actor is responding well to the treatment.

Khanna is a former BJP Lok Sabha member from Punjab's Gurdaspur district.

From past few days, a picture of the actor in the hospital has gone viral on the social media.

The 70-year-old-actor looks quite pale in the photo and his body transformation has shocked everyone.

In the picture, he can be seen standing with his family members wearing hospital uniform.

Since the time the picture has gone viral, wishes have been pouring in for his speedy recovery.

The same photo had sparked off rumours about his death.

Khanna was hospitalised in HN Reliance Foundation and Research Centre in Girgaum on March 31 due to severe dehydration.

As per a statement issued by the actor's family, the situation was quickly brought under control and he's doing much better.

"The doctors are looking to discharge him soon. Our family is most grateful for the extraordinary care he's been receiving at the hospital and we are touched by all the good wishes pouring in," read the statement.

The 70-year-old will be seen in 'Ek Thi Rani Aisi Bhi' releasing on April 2.

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Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday gave stern warning to millitants that strict action will be taken against them.

She told reporters here, "Whoever they might be, anyone who takes the law in their own hands or threatens will be dealt with strictly."

She was asked a question about the law and order situation in the state after an incident of firing at a People's Democratic Party (PDP) rally in Ananatnag district.

Earlier in the day, militants opened fired at a crowd where Peer Mansoor, General Secretary of PDP, was addressing a rally in Achabal town of Anantnag district.

Replying a question about the opposition's criticism of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance, the PDP chief termed it as 'agenda based alliance'.

She said that those who have been criticising PDP's alliance with the BJP should first tell what was the agenda of their alliances in the past.

She said that "Indira-Sheikh accord , Rajiv-Farooq accord, Rahul-Omar Accord, and Farooq- BJP accord in 1999 were all without any concrete agenda".

She said the PDP has declared agenda of taking Jammu and Kashmir out of turmoil through dialogue with Pakistan and with people of J&K.

She said maintaining status quo on Article 370 is on the agenda of PDP-BJP alliance.

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New Delhi and Dhaka have agreed to jointly produce a documentary film on the Liberation War of Bangladesh.

"To mark the Golden Jubilee Year of Bangladesh's independence in 2021, we have agreed to jointly produce a documentary film on the Liberation War of Bangladesh," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said during a joint press briefing on Saturday.

Asserting that Bangabandu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a dear friend of India and a towering leader, Prime Minister Modi said a prominent road in New Delhi has been named after him.

Prime Minister Modi was talking about the Park Street road of New Delhi which will now be named after Bangladesh's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The New Delhi Municipal Council approved its renaming a day before Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had arrived on a four-day visit to India.

The two neighboring countries will also jointly produce a film on the life and works of Bangabandhu which will be released on his birth centenary year in 2020.

"We have also agreed to jointly produce a film on the life and works of Bangabandhu which will be released on his birth centenary year in 2020," Prime Minister Modi said.

Prime Minister Modi along with visiting Prime Minister Hasina released the Hindi translation of Bangbandhu's 'Unfinished Memoirs'.

"His life, struggle and contribution to the creation of Bangladesh will continue to inspire future generations," he said.

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Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Saturday claimed that there is not a single shop in 94 percent of villages of the state.

Talking to reporters here after completing the second survey of Lok Swaraj Abhiyan, Raman said his government is taking strict action against illegal liquor vendors.

He was asked a question about the being played by the liquor lobby of the state after the government decided to sell liquor in the state.

Raman Singh on April 6 and 7 visited six districts to review the progress of the Lok Swaraj Abhiyan.

He said the government will very shortly provide stainless steel tiffin box to the regular MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Act) workers.

He said he enjoyed the ride on an auto driven by Geeta, one of the 22 women auto drivers in Ambikapur. The project was started by Raman Singh to empower women.

"I along with chief secretary took a ride on Geeta's auto from Gandhi Chowk to Collector office just to tell her that she is a good driver and a chief minister and chief secretary feel safe in her auto," said Raman Singh, adding that she is a symbol of women empowerment in the state.

He said women empowerment can't be done through sloganeering.

"We have shown the example of it in Ambikapur where the women are not only collecting garbage from door to door they earn around Rs 15 lakh from the by-products of the collected garbage," said Raman Singh.
Backing Vice-President Hamid Ansari's wife Salma Ansari's statement on Triple Talaq, Islamic Scholar Zeenat Shaukat Ali on Sunday said there is no mention of the practice in the Quran.

Shaukat Ali reiterated Salma's statement, saying that people should read the Quran for themselves in order to understand it in its true essence.

"That (Salma Ansari's statement) is absolutely correct. There is no such thing such as triple talaq mentioned in the Quran the way it is practiced today. We don't even have to discuss the matter. When it is not in the Quran, then there is no point carrying it forward. I think Muslim men and women should read the Quran for themselves. If they read, they'll themselves discover that these things don't exist," Shaukat Ali told ANI.

The Islamic scholar further said that the Allah considers both the sexes equal, adding that there is no gender discrimination in Islam.

"Muslim women read the Quran in a language which they don't understand. They should read it in translated language and from beginning to end in order to discover that such a thing does not exist. God is just towards both the sexes because there's no discrimination in Islam," she said.

Joining the chorus of voices against Triple Talaq, Salma Ansari yesterday noted that saying talaq thrice does not amount to anything, and further called on Muslim women to read the Quran thoroughly instead of relying on clerics for their views on Islam.

"There can be no 'talaq' just because someone says 'talaq, talaq, talaq' three times," Ansari told reporters.

"Whatever the maulana said you think it's true. You read the Quran in Arabic but never read its translations. Women should read the Quran, ponder on it, gain knowledge what the Shariat says and not just follow anyone blindly," she added.

Ansari was participating in a program at Chacha Nehru Madarsa run by Aligarh's Al Noor charitable society.

The Allahabad High Court had in December 2016 held that the practice of triple talaq is 'cruel' and raised an issue that whether the Muslim Personal Law could be amended to provide relief to the Muslim women.

The High Court also stated that the form of 'instant divorce' is 'most demeaning'.

The Supreme Court is to hear multiple pleas challenging the validity of triple talaq, 'nikah halala' and polygamy practices among Muslims community on May 11 by a Constitution bench during the summer vacation.

Earlier, on March 27, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) told the apex court that the pleas challenging such practices among Muslims were not maintainable as the issues fell outside the realm of judiciary.

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Saudi Religious Affairs Minister Sheikh Saleh bin Abdul Aziz has said that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia would jointly take on the enemies of Islam and Harmain Sharifain (the holy places in Saudi Arabia).

Addressing a well-attended public meeting on the first day of centenary celebrations of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (F) here on Friday, he said that Pakistan-Saudi Arabia military alliance is a "victory of Islam" and its main objective is "renaissance of Islam".

JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, diplomats and political leaders were present on the occasion.

The Saudi minister termed the military alliance a formidable force to counter terrorism and warned that there was no room for violence and terrorism.

" will pull out eyes of the enemy. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are like one heart and two souls which are cooperating with each other in the fields of science, technology, defence, economy, education and culture," he said.
The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has called a meeting in New Delhi on Saturday to review the government's affordable housing programme.

The government has set a target to achieve 'Housing for All' by 2022.

To give a boost to the real estate sector, the government has accorded infrastructure status to the affordable housing segment in this year's budget.

In December last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced interest subsidy of up to four percent on loans taken in the new year under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana.

Prime Minister Modi had also said 33 percent more homes will be built for the poor under this scheme in rural areas.

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Expressing her devotion towards the burning Ram Temple issue, Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti said on Saturday that the construction of the temple was her fervent belief and that she was even ready to go to prison for it.

"Ram temple is a matter of belief for me and I have immense pride in it. I will even go to jail if I have to. I will also hang myself if I have to," she said post her meeting with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Bharti has been actively propagating the Ram Mandir issue and she has been bolstered since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) put the issue as one of the important subject in their poll manifesto for Uttar Pradesh.

Following the Supreme Court describing the Ram Mandir issue in Ayodhya as "sensitive" and "sentimental", Bharti had expressed happiness and also appealed the owner of the contentious property to donate it for the construction of the temple.

"The name of the land owner is under wraps. It is my earnest request to the owner of land to donate his property for the temple's construction which will be the most fruitful service he can do to God," she told ANI.

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Sheikh Saleh bin Muhammad Bin Talib, the Imam of Makkah's Grand Mosque, held a meeting with Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif in Islamabad on Saturday.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed ways religious leaders and scholars can counter negative propaganda that 'wrongly portrays' Islam, reports the Dawn.

Prime Minister Sharif said relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have become "closer and stronger" and that the people of both countries have a lot of respect for each other, said a press release issued by his secretariat.

Habeebullah Al-Bokhari, the acting ambassador of Saudi Arabia, Sardar Muhammad Yousaf, the federal minister for religious affairs and other senior officials were also present during the meeting.

The Imam's visit comes days after the official appointment of ex-army chief General Raheel Sharif's appointment as the leader of the Saudi military alliance.

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Joining the chorus of voices against Triple Talaq, Vice President Hamid Ansari's wife Salma Ansari noted that saying talaq thrice does not amount to anything, and further called on Muslim women to read the Quran thoroughly instead of relying on clerics for their views on Islam.

"There can be no 'talaq' just because someone says 'talaq, talaq, talaq' three times," Ansari told reporters.

"Whatever the maulana said you think it's true. You read the Quran in Arabic but never read its translations. Women should read the Quran, ponder on it, gain knowledge what the Shariat says and not just follow anyone blindly," she added.

Ansari was participating in a program at Chacha Nehru Madarsa run by Aligarh's Al Noor charitable society.

The Allahabad High Court had in December 2016 held that the practice of triple talaq is 'cruel' and raised an issue that whether the Muslim Personal Law could be amended to provide relief to the Muslim women.

The High Court also stated that the form of 'instant divorce' is 'most demeaning'.

The Supreme Court is to hear multiple pleas challenging the validity of triple talaq, 'nikah halala' and polygamy practices among Muslims community on May 11 by a Constitution bench during the summer vacation.

Earlier on March 27, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) told the apex court that the pleas challenging such practices among Muslims were not maintainable as the issues fell outside the realm of judiciary.

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With the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) restoring the flying privileges of Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, the Centre on Saturday assured that it has an undertaking from the MP for his future behavior in aircrafts.

In a string of tweets, Union Minister of State for Aviation Jayant Sinha explained the development saying that Gaikwad apologised and provided an undertaking that such incidents will not reoccur, which is why Air India had been advised to revoke his ban.

In a word of caution, Sinha then proceeded to call on air passengers to note that safety and security for passengers and crew is its paramount priority, adding that unruly and disruptive behavior will result in severe consequences. This includes police action for a specific incident as well as being placed on a no-fly list.

Further justifying Gaekwad's flying ban revocation, the Union Minister said that a flying ban is meant to prevent future unruly behaviour, not to punish past behavior, adding that now the Centre has his undertaking for future behavior.

Earlier, the FIA said it has restored the flying privileges of Gaikwad after they were satisfied with the latter's statement.

"The FIA member airlines are also restoring the flying privileges to Mr Gaikwad under the assurance that our assets and colleagues shall be accorded the respect that they deserve for the hard work that they put in every day," Ujwal Dey, Associate Director of FIA said in a statement.

This comes after Carrier Air India yesterday lifted ban on Gaikwad after a request from Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju.

The development comes a day after the Shiv Sena MP tendered an apology to the Civil Aviation Minister, expressing regret over the incident.

Air India earlier on Thursday announced that it had cancelled Gaikwad's Delhi-Mumbai round tickets for April 17 and 24.

The Shiv Sena MP had allegedly thrashed an Air India staffer with his slipper over a sitting arrangement.

On March 24, a day after the incident at the Delhi airport, Air India had barred Gaikwad from flying with it.

Following suit, the FIA had also imposed a ban on him. Jet Airways, SpiceJet, GoAir and IndiGo are part of the grouping.

When FIA had imposed a flying ban on Gaikwad, two non- member carriers -- Vistara and Air Asia -- had said they were with the industry on the issue.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Since Shraddha Kapoor is close to her team and thinks of them as her extended family, she recently gifted her spot boy a watch for his birthday.

Shraddha's spot boy, Raju, has been with her for the past few years. Both of them share their birthday's on the same date and the actress ends up cutting the birthday cake with him every year.

The source says that as the actress had plans to spend her birthday out of town, she celebrated Raju's birthday early by cutting the cake like each year.

The 'Ok Jaanu' star apparently also bought a watch for the spot boy. "When he received the watch from Shraddha, Raju got very emotional. He was very touched and happy to receive the gift from her," the source says.

Shraddha shares, "I just picked up the watch because I wanted to, and I'm happy that he loves it."

On a related note, the actress will next be seen opposite Arjun Kapoor in 'Half Girlfriend', a romantic comedy film based on the novel of the same name written by Chetan Bhagat. The flick is set to hit the theatres on May 19. Also, 'Haseena - The Queen of Mumbai' is slated to release on July 14.

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Four people were killed and 15 got injured after a hijacked truck rammed into a crowd of people in central Stockholm on Friday.

The Swedish Security Service said that an arrest was made after the attack, which happened just before 3 p.m. local time, the CNN reported.

Police told that the man in custody matched the description of the person, whose photo the authorities had released. It's not known whether the suspected driver had been arrested.

Earlier, Anders Thornberg, director general of the Swedish Security Service, said that a "person of interest" was being investigated and authorities released a photo of him.

Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said the incident has appeared to have been a 'terror attack'. He told reporters during a visit in western Sweden that, "Sweden has been attacked. Everything points to the fact that this is a terrorist attack."

Earlier in the day, at least three people were killed after a lorry rammed into a crowd of people in central Stockholm, which is few meters away from Indian Embassy.

Speaking to ANI, Indian Ambassador to Sweden Monika Mohta, said, "I heard loud noises and saw two people lying on the street."

She also informed that rail services have been temporarily halted and the House of Culture has been shut down.

Another eyewitness, who was present near the spot when the incident took place said, "I was in a nearby store in Drottninggatan Street when I heard women speaking in very high tone."

"When I went outside, I saw some people were screaming when the attack happened. I asked a lady, she said that a truck has hit people and is running people down and then there was a lot of chaos.

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As many as ten terrorists involved in a suicide blast on Lahore's Mall Road have been killed in an encounter with Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) personnel in Manawan, sources told Geo News late Friday.

As many as 14 persons, including senior police officers, were killed on February 13 when a suicide bomber hit close to the Punjab Assembly in Lahore where hundreds of chemists had gathered to protest a new drug regulation.

The powerful explosion also left over 50 people injured.

Those killed included DIG Traffic Capt (R) Mobin and SSP Zahid Mehmood Gondal.

Days after the attack, the CTD personnel had apprehended an alleged facilitator identified as Anwarul Haq.

On Haq's revelation, the law enforcers also apprehended some other suspects.

The alleged encounter comes days after another attack on a van carrying census staffers in Lahore which resulted in killing of six people and injuries to 15 others.

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Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa recently told a senior defence official of Afghanistan that he grieves for Afghan victims of terrorism as much as he did for such victims from Pakistan, the chief military spokesman told a visiting delegation on Friday.

According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Army Chief met the Afghan defence attache in London during his visit to the United Kingdom earlier this week.

ISPR chief Major General Asif Ghafoor told the Afghan media delegation that General Bajwa had reassured the defence attache that every Afghan was dear to him like every Pakistani, the Dawn reported.

"I am as hurt for every Afghan who is a victim of terrorism as much as I am for every Pakistani," said the COAS, according to the ISPR chief.

The meeting between the COAS and the Afghan defence official came after the March 15 meeting between Sartaj Aziz, adviser to the Prime Minister on foreign affairs, and Afghan National Security Adviser Hanif Atmar that was also held in London.

The meeting arranged by the UK was part of an effort to defuse tensions between the two countries over alleged terrorist sanctuaries.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu welcomed the TU-142M Long Range Maritime Patrol aircraft of the Indian Navy which landed at INS Dega for the last time this morning.

A special ceremony organized at INS Dega to formally welcome the aircraft at Visakhapatnam was attended by Union Civil Aviation Minister P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Vice Admiral H.C.S. Bisht, PVSM, AVSM, ADC, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command, MPs, MLAs and host of other Civil Dignitaries. On arrival of the TU, the Chief Minister interacted with the crew members and exchanged mementos.

The Andhra Pradesh Government had earlier requested the Ministry of Defence for allotment of one de-inducted TU-142M for converting it into a museum.

The request of is being processed at the Ministry of Defence located in New Delhi.

Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA) would be coordinating all activities related to aircraft museum on behalf of Andhra Pradesh government.

The TU is likely to be dismantled and transported by road on trailers and re-assembled on the Beach Road near Kursura Submarine Museum.

With the imposing looks and a lethal punch to match, the TU-142M aircraft which have been nothing short of a 'Flying Destroyer', was given an impressive welcome as it landed for the last time at Visakhapatnam by a flypast of three Chetak helicopters, two Kamov helicopters, two Dorniers, and one P-8I Aircraft.

After having served the Indian Navy with pride and elan for 29 years, during which it accomplished 30,000 hours of accident free flying, the TU-142M aircraft were given a befitting farewell on 29 March at INS Rajali, India's premiere Naval Air Station in Arakkonam, Tamil Nadu.

Over the years, the TU-142M has rendered yeoman service to the nation and has taken part in all major exercises and operations including Operation Cactus in Maldives, Op Vijay in 1998, Op Parakram in 2002 and Anti-piracy Operations.

The Squadron was awarded Unit Citation by the Chief of Naval Staff in the year 2002 for outstanding professionalism and momentous contribution to the Service and adjudged the Best Frontline Squadron on numerous occasions over the years.

Earlier, the Chief Minister interacted with the family members of B. Sambha Murthy, Chargeman, P. Nagendra Rao, R.V. Prasad Babu Highly Skilled (HSK) Grade II, N. Chinna Rao and G. Srinivas both Tradesman Mate (TMM) of NAD who went missing in Indian Air Force AN-32 aircraft last July and distributed Cheques of Rs. five lakh as ex-gratia.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Uttarakhand Government on Saturday launched raids on illegal slaughterhouses in Dehradun.

The district authorities and police conducted a joint raid and reportedly shut down the slaughterhouses of those who were operating slaughterhouses without licenses.

Earlier on March 29, similar action were by the authorities when three meat shops were sealed in Haridwar whereas, 11 in Raipur.

A large number of illegal slaughterhouses have already been shut across Uttar Pradesh after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yogi Adityanath took over as the Chief Minister of the state.

Few days ago, in an official release, the state asked closure of illegal slaughter houses in view of the overall public order, safety and health of the general public.

Slaughter house owners and meat sellers in Uttar Pradesh have closed their shops following an indefinite strike call by different associations.

The strike was against the government's crackdown on illegal slaughter houses and retail meat shops.

According to reports, slaughter house owners and meat retailers are also protesting against raids by municipal authorities and police, alleging exploitation by the authorities.

They have complained that they are being raided by police despite valid licenses.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath earlier on Saturday said abattoirs operating legally will not be touched but action will be taken against those being run illegally.

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.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Responding to Russia's claim that the U.S. missile strike on a Syrian airbase wasn't very effective, President Donald Trump has explained as to why the runways were not attacked and remain undamaged.

Trump took to his Twitter page to say, "The reason you don't generally hit runways is that they are easy and inexpensive to quickly fix (fill in and top)!"

This comes two days after the Russian defence ministry informed about the total damage inflicted by the airstrike.

Syria's military said seven people were killed and several wounded. Six Syrian air force planes undergoing repairs at the base were destroyed, but the runways were undamaged, the Guardian quoted the Russian defence ministry saying after the attack.

Images released by the Pentagon showing "post strike areas of impact" did not note any damage to the runways.

As many as nine civilians, including four children were killed in the United States missile attack on a military airbase in central Syria on Friday.

While, Washington stated it fired a barrage of 59 cruise missiles at the Shayrat base in response to what President Trump called a 'barbaric' chemical attack on a rebel-held town on Tuesday that he blamed on the Damascus regime.

The U.S. officials said Russian commanders in Syria were informed of the strike beforehand in order to avoid casualties that could prompt a broader crisis.

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The United States will deploy 1,500 soldiers from Alaska to Afghanistan later this year as part of a regular rotation of forces in support of Washington's counter-terrorism operation against the remnants of al-Qaeda.

"These soldiers train rigorously in a wide range of climates and environments. I am fully confident in their ability to excel and overcome any challenges they will face during this deployment," Maj. Gen. Bryan Owens, the commanding general of U.S Army Alaska, said in a statement.

The deployment of the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, is part of a regular rotation of forces in support of Operation Freedom's Sentinel, reports Khaama Press.

U.S. troops in Afghanistan are split between two missions - NATO's Resolute Support mission to advise Afghan security forces and the Freedom's Sentinel, the U.S counter-terrorism operation against the remnants of al-Qaeda; an emerging offshoot of Daesh; and other terrorists groups.

The U.S still has some 8,400 troops in Afghanistan.

The announcement came days after the Pentagon said it would deploy some 300 U.S Marines to the southern province of Helmand.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Members of Hindu Yuva Vahini disrupted a preayer meeting in a church in Maharajganj alleging forced religious conversion by foreign nationals.

The Uttar Pradesh Police on Saturday confirmed that the Hindu Yuva Vahini members did not force the devotees of the church in Maharajganj district for religious conversion adding that the church authorities must have informed them about the foreigners who have come to visit the area.

Superintendent of police (SP) Maharajganj district, P. Kumar told ANI, "There was no religious conversion, only prayers. Told the church authorities that they should have informed us that foreigners are visiting the area."

Contradiction to this, the priest of the church alleged that the UP Police accompanied by Hindu Yuva Vahini members disrupted their prayers by forcefully paying money to the locals to sing Hindu religious songs.

Priest of the Church, Y. Adam told ANI, "The police personnel accompanied by the Hindu Yuva Vaini members disrupted the prayers and were paying money to the local devotees to forcefully sing Hindu religious songs."

He further said that the officials vigorously climbed the altar, took away the Bible and important documents related to church.

The priest asserted that there were around 200 local devotees and nine foreign nationals who were offering prayers in the Church.

He claimed that these foreign nationals were brought by his friend who wanted to visit one of the oldest churches in the district.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The National Consumer Helpline (NCH) is a project of the Department of Consumer Affairs which is executed through the Indian Institute of Public Administration(IIPA), New Delhi. IIPA has entered into MOU with 230 Companies under the convergence programme, for quick redressal of the grievances/complaints of the consumers.

In so far as the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution is concerned, digital initiatives include digitisation of ration cards, beneficiary and other database, computerisation of supply chain management, setting up of transparency portals and grievance redress mechanisms, a mobile application for registering their complaints in the National Consumer helpline, webchat facility in the National Consumer Helpline, a mobile application Smart Consumer to enable the consumer to scan the bar code of the product and get information regarding details and labelling.

Consumers are sensitized about digital safety by way of various publicity campaigns. The Department has also collaborated with Google India for raising awareness about internet safety amongst consumers.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

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At least 15 civilians including four children were killed in airstrikes in Syria's al-Raqqa city, a UK-based war monitoring group reported on Saturday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the bombing was carried out in the district of Hunaida, Efe news reported.

SOHR added that the death toll could increase.

According to the SOHR, nearly 220 civilians, including 36 minors, have been killed since March 1 in bombings targeting al-Raqqa.

Al-Raqqa is the main stronghold of the Islamic State terror organization in Syria.

--IANS

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US President Donald Trump has accepted his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping's invitation to visit Beijing, said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Trump hosted the Chinese President for a two-day visit at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, the BBC reported on Saturday.

Last year Trump said China had "raped the US" and vowed to brand the superpower a currency manipulator.

But the meeting appeared to be diplomatic, with both leaders agreeing to a new format for US-China talks.

Tillerson said President Trump's trip to China would be a "state visit" in 2017, but gave no other details.

"Both the atmosphere and the chemistry between the two leaders was positive... all of us are feeling very good about the results of this summit," said Tillerson.

The leaders of the world's two most powerful economies agreed to a 100-day plan to discuss trade talks directed at boosting US exports and reducing Washington's trade deficit with China, according to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

"Given the range of issues and the magnitude, that may be ambitious, but it's a very big sea change in the pace of discussion," Ross told the media.

"I think that's a very important symbolisation of the growing rapport between the two countries."

Trump said that he believed he made "tremendous progress" in the US-China relationship during talks with Xi.

On the night of the Chinese President's arrival, a US airstrike on an airbase in Syria was launched on Thursday in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack.

Regarding the US airstrike on Syria, Tillerson said that Xi told Trump that he "understood that such a response was necessary when people are killing children", reported CNN.

Xi expressed "an appreciation" to Trump for informing him of the number of missiles that were launched and explaining the rationale behind the strike, said Tillerson.

The two leaders also agreed on the "urgency of the threat of North Korea's nuclear weapons programme" and agreed to work together to resolve the issue "peacefully", Tillerson said.

"They agreed to increase cooperation and work with the international community to convince the (North Korea) to peacefully resolve the issue and abandon its illicit weapons programmes."

Discussions between Trump and Xi over North Korea came days after Trump warned that the US was prepared to act unilaterally to stop the regime's nuclear programme from advancing further should China be unwilling to use its leverage with Pyongyang.

The White House said Trump also stressed to Xi the importance of creating "reciprocal market access" that did not disadvantage American workers.

Trump repeatedly bashed China on the campaign trail and upon taking office, blaming it for the loss of American jobs, reported Politico news.

Trump urged China to take steps to "level the playing field for American workers", according to the White House statement.

"President Trump noted the challenges caused by Chinese government intervention in its economy and raised serious concerns about the impact of China's industrial, agricultural, technology and cyber policies on US jobs and exports," it said.

Xi and Trump also discussed China's increased militarisation in the South China Sea, with President Trump urging the Chinese to adhere to international norms.

--IANS

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The central government on Saturday said that it is strengthening the rules to stop unruly air passengers from misbehaving, even as all the private airlines lifted a ban on flying Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad.

According to the Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha, his ministry is tightening the rules so that a national "No-Fly List" can be implemented.

Referring to the incident in which Shiv Sena MP Gaikwad assaulted an Air India senior manager on March 23, Sinha said in a series of tweets: "MoCA (Ministry of Civil Aviation) is strengthening rules so that a national no-fly list can be implemented, such incidents can be prevented, and safety improved.

"Air travellers should note that safety and security for passengers and crew is our paramount priority. Unruly/disruptive behaviour will result in severe consequences. This includes police action for a specific incident as well as being placed on a no-fly list."

Currently, rules only allow airlines to refuse boarding or off-loading of a passenger whose behaviour is deemed as unruly or disruptive to the safety of flight operations.

On Friday, a letter from the ministry to Air India detailed that in order to deal with unruly passengers in the future, an amendment to CAR (Civil Aviation Requirement) is being drafted by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in consultation with the ministry for establishment of a national "No Fly List".

Sinha further said that Gaikwad apologised and gave an undertaking that such incidents will not recur. It was only after that assurance that Air India was advised to revoke the ban.

"Police investigations regarding Shri Gaikwad's conduct during the March 23 incident are underway and the law will take its own course," the minister tweeted.

Air India had revoked the ban on Friday after it was advised by the ministry to do so in a letter. The ban was lifted a day after Gaikwad had expressed "regrets" in the Lok Sabha over the March 23 incident.

The national passenger carrier imposed the ban on flying the Shiv Sena MP aboard its flights after Gaikwad assaulted an Air India senior manager.

Subsequently, two FIRs were filed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport police station in Delhi for assault and delaying the aircraft -- as the MP refused to disembark from the plane. The Delhi Police Crime Branch is currently investigating the cases.

Since the ban, Gaikwad has been compelled to travel by train or by road depending on his engagements, keeping away from the media glare.

Meanwhile, all six private airlines on Saturday lifted their ban on flying Gaikwad.

The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) announced that it was lifting the ban imposed on Gaikwad on March 24, a day after he assaulted an Air India staffer at Delhi airport.

The members of FIA are SpiceJet, IndiGo, GoAir and Jet Airways.

FIA Associate Director Ujjwal Dey said the decision was taken following Gaikwad's assurance "that our assets and colleagues shall be accorded the respect that they deserve for the hard work they put in every day".

Vistara and budget carrier AirAsia India also lifted the ban.

"We support the decisions of our industry peers taken in the interest of the safety of air passengers and flight operations and in upholding the dignity of airline staff. We stood in solidarity with Air India and members of the FIA during this recent episode that challenged both these critical aspects," a Vistara spokesperson said.

"We continue to stand by them today in their decision to revoke the ban. Unruly and disruptive passengers are a serious safety and security threat, and we are hopeful this incident results in specific regulations and actions to address this important issue."

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The central government on Saturday said that it is strengthening the rules to stop unruly air passengers from misbehaving, even as all the private airlines lifted a ban on flying Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad.

According to the Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha, his ministry is tightening the rules so that a national "No-Fly List" can be implemented.

Referring to the incident in which Shiv Sena MP Gaikwad assaulted an Air India senior manager on March 23, Sinha said in a series of tweets: "MoCA (Ministry of Civil Aviation) is strengthening rules so that a national no-fly list can be implemented, such incidents can be prevented, and safety improved.

"Air travellers should note that safety and security for passengers and crew is our paramount priority. Unruly/disruptive behaviour will result in severe consequences. This includes police action for a specific incident as well as being placed on a no-fly list."

Currently, rules only allow airlines to refuse boarding or off-loading of a passenger whose behaviour is deemed as unruly or disruptive to the safety of flight operations.

On Friday, a letter from the ministry to Air India detailed that in order to deal with unruly passengers in the future, an amendment to CAR (Civil Aviation Requirement) is being drafted by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in consultation with the ministry for establishment of a national "No Fly List".

Sinha further said that Gaikwad apologised and gave an undertaking that such incidents will not recur. It was only after that assurance that Air India was advised to revoke the ban.

"Police investigations regarding Shri Gaikwad's conduct during the March 23 incident are underway and the law will take its own course," the minister tweeted.

Air India had revoked the ban on Friday after it was advised by the ministry to do so in a letter. The ban was lifted a day after Gaikwad had expressed "regrets" in the Lok Sabha over the March 23 incident.

The national passenger carrier imposed the ban on flying the Shiv Sena MP aboard its flights after Gaikwad assaulted an Air India senior manager.

Subsequently, two FIRs were filed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport police station in Delhi for assault and delaying the aircraft -- as the MP refused to disembark from the plane. The Delhi Police Crime Branch is currently investigating the cases.

Since the ban, Gaikwad has been compelled to travel by train or by road depending on his engagements, keeping away from the media glare.

Meanwhile, all six private airlines on Saturday lifted their ban on flying Gaikwad.

The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) announced that it was lifting the ban imposed on Gaikwad on March 24, a day after he assaulted an Air India staffer at Delhi airport.

The members of FIA are SpiceJet, IndiGo, GoAir and Jet Airways.

FIA Associate Director Ujjwal Dey said the decision was taken following Gaikwad's assurance "that our assets and colleagues shall be accorded the respect that they deserve for the hard work they put in every day".

Vistara and budget carrier AirAsia India also lifted the ban.

"We support the decisions of our industry peers taken in the interest of the safety of air passengers and flight operations and in upholding the dignity of airline staff. We stood in solidarity with Air India and members of the FIA during this recent episode that challenged both these critical aspects," a Vistara spokesperson said.

"We continue to stand by them today in their decision to revoke the ban. Unruly and disruptive passengers are a serious safety and security threat, and we are hopeful this incident results in specific regulations and actions to address this important issue."

In another development, Gaikwad reached Mumbai by train and called on party President Uddhav Thackeray.

Thackeray welcomed Gaikwad warmly at Shiv Sena Bhavan after the Osmanabad Lok Sabha member reached Mumbai by Rajdhani Express. But what transpired at their meeting was not known.

Gaikwad is likely to resume flying from next week.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A section of auto-rickshaws went off the roads in Greater Hyderabad and other towns in Telangana on Saturday to press for various demands.

The one-day strike called by auto-rickshaw union evoked partial response. The union leaders claim that over one lakh three-wheelers went off the roads.

The strike caused inconvenience to commuters in parts of the city and suburbs. State-owned Telangana State Road Transport Corp (TSRTC) operated additional services to minimise the inconvenience to people.

The three-wheeler operators were demanding withdrawal of hike in third party insurance premium, Road Transport Authority (RTA) fee and steps to control the operations of Uber and Ola.

The unions planned to take out a rally from All Indian Trade Union Congress (AITUC) office in Himayatnagar to Raj Bhavan but the police have denied permission.

AITUC secretary B. Venkatesham said several trade unions were supporting the strike.

--IANS

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Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was on Saturday accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi received Hasina. She was then accorded a ceremonial guard of honour. Later in the morning Hasina paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at the Rajghat.

In a special gesture on Friday, Modi personally received his Bangladeshi counterpart at the airport. Hasina is on a four-day official visit to India.

Modi, on Saturday in a tweet said: "Will hold talks with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, during which we will discuss ways to further deepen ties between India and Bangladesh."

"At 3.30 p.m. today (Saturday),... Hasina and I will join a programme to honour Indian soldiers martyred in the 1971 war, at the Manekshaw Centre," he said.

This is her first bilateral visit to India in seven years. She last visited the country in January 2010.

Following the bilateral summit, over 20 agreements, including a civil nuclear and two memorandum of understanding (MoUs) on defence cooperation, were expected to be signed.

--IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A large near-Earth asteroid discovered nearly three years ago will fly safely past Earth on April 19th, US space agency NASA has said.

The space rock, known as 2014 JO25, is estimated to be 2,000 feet in size. It is expected to fly by Earth at a safe distance of about 1.1 million miles (1.8 million kilometres), or about 4.6 times the distance from Earth to the moon, Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.

"Although there is no possibility for the asteroid to collide with our planet, this will be a very close approach for an asteroid of this size," NASA was quoted as saying.

Small asteroids pass within this distance of Earth several times each week, but this upcoming approach is "the closest by any known asteroid of this size, or larger, since asteroid Toutatis, a 3.1-mile (five-kilometre) asteroid, which approached within about four lunar distances in September 2004," NASA said.

The next known encounter of an asteroid of comparable size will occur in 2027 when the half-mile-wide (800-meter-wide) asteroid 1999 AN10 will fly by at one lunar distance.

In addition, the encounter on April 19 is also "the closest this asteroid has come to Earth for at least the last 400 years and will be its closest approach for at least the next 500 years," NASA added.

The asteroid will approach Earth from the direction of the sun and will become visible in the night sky after April 19.

It is predicted to brighten to about magnitude 11, when it could be visible in small optical telescopes for one or two nights before it fades as the distance from Earth rapidly increases, NASA added.

--IANS

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The BJP on Sunday demanded Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's resignation after sacked minister Kapil Mishra alleged he took Rs 2 crore in cash from Health Minister Satyendar Jain.

"Kejriwal has no moral right to hold the post of Chief Minister. He must resign immediately," Bharatiya Janata Party Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari said.

"I have said a number of times that Kejriwal is directly involved in corruption. Mishra's allegations have proved our point," Tiwari said.

The BJP leader said a case must be filed on the basis of the allegations made by Mishra, who was sacked from the Delhi government on Saturday night.

Mishra on Sunday alleged that he saw Kejriwal take Rs 2 crore from Jain at his residence.

--IANS

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The Canadian province of British Columbia has banned high heels in all workplaces, the media reported.

The provincial government said the requirement to wear high heels in some workplaces was a health and safety issue and it was amending the footwear regulation under the Workers Compensation Act, Global News Canada said.

"In some workplaces in our province, women are required to wear high heels on the job," provincial Premier Christy Clark said.

"Like most British Columbians, our government thinks this is wrong. That is why we're changing this regulation to stop this unsafe and discriminatory practice."

This issue came to light due to a private member's bill from Green Party leader Andrew Weaver.

"I couldn't believe that in British Columbia in 2017 there are restaurants and bars that require women to wear high heels," Weaver told Global News Canada.

"It's not safe because you're walking around in a greasy-floored kitchen. It's not healthy because you're standing up for nine hours putting pressure on your back in funny ways as well as your feet."

Former server Simran Gill told Global News her feet would be covered in blisters and often bloody after working in heels, a dress code that was mandated by her employer.

The pain caused her to quit her job after only four months.

"My feet were in so much pain from the attire I had to wear that I literally could not take the job. The money just wasn't worth it," Gill added.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Election Commission should permanently ban parties or candidates from contesting elections charged with bribing voters, a former AIADMK MP said on Saturday.

K.C. Palaniswamy also said the poll panel should not postpone the April 12 by-election in Chennai on account of allegations of largescale bribing of voters.

"If one wants to bring in proper electoral reforms, then EC should permanently ban a candidate or even the political party from contesting elections if they are involved in electoral malpractices like bribing the voters," said Palaniswamy, the spokesperson of the AIADMK faction led by former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam.

There is a possibility of the poll panel postponing the by-election in Radhakrishnan Nagar assembly constituency, with the Income Tax department saying around Rs 100 crore must have been distributed to voters by the AIADMK faction led by the now jailed V.K. Sasikala.

Former MP T.T.V. Dhinakaran is contesting as the candidate of the AIADMK- Sasikala faction.

On Friday, IT officials raided the residences and business premises of Tamil Nadu Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar, his relatives as well as persons close to him and his business associates.

"We have seized cash totalling Rs 5.5 crore. We have also seized documents showing Rs 89 crore changed hands in R.K. Nagar," an IT official told IANS on condition of anonymity.

In the 2016 assembly elections, the Election Commission postponed the polls in Thanjavur and Aravakuruchi assembly seats citing largescale bribing of voters.

Asked about debarring a party or a candidate from contesting elections, T.S. Krishnamurthy, former Chief Election Commissioner, told IANS: "The EC has no such power. All that the EC can do is to postpone the election."

According to Krishnamurthy, the poll body can postpone the elections any number of times.

--IANS

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Defence Innovation Organistaion (DIO) is to be launched as a non-profit company later this month to foster technology development and innovative products with commercial potential for the defence sector, informed sources said.

The company is being formed by defence electronics major Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and defence aviation major Hindustan Aeronautics Limited(HAL).

The Defence Ministry had in December approved the creation of a Defence Innovation Fund (DIF) under which the DIO is being formed.

"This was a Ministry of Defence initiative and was tasked to BEL and HAL. The new entity will work under the guidance of the ministry which will provide the ideas and topics for innovation," a BEL source told IANS.

The company will fund development of new and innovative products and solutions for India's defence requirements.

"Anyone from academia, medium and small enterprises, research and development institutes, individuals and start ups can approach DIO for funding," source said.

"BEL and HAL are contributing Rs 5 crore each to Defence Innovation Organisation, a Section 8 company, to promote innovation in defence. The company will be launched within this month," the source said.

As per the Section 8 of the Indian Companies Act, 2013, not-for-profit companies can be established for promotion of art, culture, science et al.

After the launch, DIO will choose a knowledge partner for screening the ideas received for funding support.

The selected ideas will be financially supported to work on the proof of concept and those will go through further down selection process to select concepts that can be funded for prototype development.

The successful prototypes will also be helped in their commercialisation.

"If we get good response then the fund can go up to Rs 100 crore, with Rs 50 crore each from both the partners," source added.

The process of the registration of the company is in final stages.

According to sources, the company's board will initially have two nominated directors, one each from the HAL and BEL. The process of selection of the nominee directors is underway.

The DIO, in future, may also have some independent directors.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The CBI on Saturday said it has registered two separate cases against the manager of public sector enterprise Engineering Projects India Limited (EPIL) for obtaining illegal gratification of Rs 50 lakh.

The amount was obtained from two separate companies for awarding them contracts of public works in Tripura and Kolkata.

Investigators in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said that Paritosh Kumar Praveen, who is employed at EPIL's Delhi-based branch, allegedly demanded Rs 1.5 crore but they have managed to get evidence only about Rs 50 lakh illicit money received by him.

The CBI got information that the accused official allegedly obtained illegal gratification from a Kolkata-based owner, also an accused, of a construction company in Uttar Pradesh's Ambedkar Nagar for a building project in West Bengal's New Town -- a fast growing satellite city in the neighbourhood of Kolkata -- in one case.

"In the second case, the EPIL officer received gratification from the director of a construction company based at Guwahati in Assam for public works at the ONGC Tripura Power Company," a CBI official said.

He said that the agency conducted raids at more than a dozen locations in eight states, including Lucknow, Bhagalpur, Purnia, Bastar, Bilaspur, Kolkata, Guwahati, Udaipur (Tripura), Bhubaneswar, Rourkela and Delhi.

"The significant information and evidence that emerged during these searches are being examined for further investigation."

--IANS

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As the Khulna-Kolkata trial train chugged in at West Bengal's Petrapole station, 90-year-old Kumudi Hazra's eyes turned moist. She nostalgically remembered the early days of her marriage life when she would take the train to visit her parents in Khulna.

Hazra settled down in Jayantipur village of North 24 Parganas district here after her marriage in the early 1940s.

"I am so happy today seeing this train. After marriage, I came here from my ancestral house at Khulna. I used to visit my parents by taking the train. Today, I am flooded with memories of those trips," Hazra told IANS.

She was simultaneously happy and sad on seeing the new train - called Maitree Express II. Happy, that people now will no more undergo the pain which she underwent at not being able to visit her ancestral house for 40 years and sad, that at her age, "I won't be able to make the trip".

Regular passenger services were in place connecting Sealdah to Khulna and Jessore, much before an international border came up in 1947 when India was partitioned and Pakistan came into being.

Passenger train services between the two countries were suspended after the 1965 India-Pakistan war, when the territory now known as Bangladesh comprised was East Pakistan.

East Pakistan later became independent Bangladesh in 1971.

Also nostalgic was Bharat Debnath, nephew of Hazari Debnath, who had worked at Petrapole railway crossing as a gateman.

"My uncle worked here as a gateman at the crossing. I came here to see the Khulna-Kolkata train. I have heard a lot of stories about this train."

There were euphoric scenes in the border villages much before the train reached Petrapole.

People stood on either side of the railway track since morning just to see the train.

As the train passed them, people waved, and clapped.

"I was cooking at home. When I heard the hooters I rushed to see the train," said Champa Biswas, a housewife.

Recalling his childhood, 87-year-old Achintya Banik said after the Partition, train services were there but many of the villagers were unable to avail it as they did not have passports at that time.

"We are originally from Bangladesh. Before partition, I came here with my family because my father worked here and later settled down. We would go to Bangladesh regularly by train before partition. Now we can do the same, it is a dream come true for me," Banik told IANS.

Panchanan Roy was elated at the prospect of commuting becoming easier because of the train service.

"During my childhood, I used to come here because one of our relatives stayed at Naraharipur village, about two kilometres from here. We settled here after 1971. We go to Bangladesh now but through roads. It takes huge time for custom and immigration clearance," he said, adding the facility will help him to travel to his ancestral house more frequently.

The Bangladeshi delegates who came by the train were also overwhelmed with emotion.

"There might be an international border between the two Bengals, but culture and the social bonding between the Bengalis living on either side of the border is still as warm as it used to be. We need to focus on connecting cities of two Bengals," said Alam Gir Alam, Additional Deputy Inspector General of Bangladesh Police.

Locals were also upbeat as the train would make the export-imports business more seamless.

"Majority of locals are involved with exports and import. We take working visas and people from either side need to cross the border. But it takes hours to get clearance. Railway connection will give a new avenue," local trader Raju Saha told IANS.

However, amid all the excitement and enthusiasm, stark reality also dawned on some of the villagers. For them, getting a local train from Petrapole to Kolkata was more important than the Maitree Express.

"Passport holders will only be able to board the Khulna-Kolkata train. We do not have any direct communication from here to Kolkata. We go to Bongaon by autorickshaws. But the auto service stops after 8 p.m. We will be more than happy if a local train service starts from here to Kolkata," said Rinki Maity, a student of Bongaon's Dinabandhu College.

Railway officials said they were aware about the local demand, but the tracks needed to be electrified.

"We are planning to send a proposal to the centre for electrification of the lines here. It will be sent soon," Basudev Panda, Divisional Railway Manager, Eastern Railway, Sealdah told IANS.

(Bappaditya Chatterjee can be contacted at bappaditya.c@ians.in <mailto:bappaditya.c@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.)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday expressed the firm belief that there will be an early solution to the issue of sharing waters of the river Teesta with Bangladesh while describing Dhaka's zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism as an "inspiration".

"Along with our shared land boundaries are our shared rivers," Modi said while jointly addressing the media with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina following bilateral talks here.

"They sustain our peoples and their livelihoods. And, the one that has attracted the greatest attention is the Teesta," he said.

"This is important for India, for Bangladesh and for India-Bangladesh relationship."

Acknowledging the presence at the media address of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has been opposing the Teesta waters agreement, as "my honoured guest", he said that "her feelings for Bangladesh are as warm as my own".

"I assure you and the people of Bangladesh of our commitment and continuing efforts. I firmly believe that it is only my government and Excellency Sheikh Hasina, your government, that can and will find an early solution to Teesta water sharing," Modi said.

He also expressed appreciated Bangladesh's efforts to contain radicalism and religious extremism as "their spread poses a grave threat, not just to India and Bangladesh but to the entire region".

"We have the greatest admiration for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's firm resolve in dealing with terrorism," he said.

"Her government's 'zero-tolerance' policy towards terrorism is an inspiration for all of us."

In this connection, he announced a line of credit of $500 million to support Bangladesh's defence-related procurement.

This apart, he also announced a line of credit of $4.5 billion for the implementation of projects in priority sectors for Bangladesh.

India and Bangladesh signed 22 agreements, including on defence cooperation and civil nuclear cooperation, following Saturday's talks.

Stating that energy security was an important dimension of to the two countries' development partnership, Modi said: "Today, we added an additional 60 MW of power to the 600 MW of power already flowing from India to Bangladesh. The supply of another 500 MW has already been committed from the existing inter-connection."

Stating that the two sides have agreed to finance a diesel oil pipeline from Numaligarh in Assam to Parbatipur in Bangladesh , he said companies from both countries would be entering into a long-term agreement for the supply of high speed diesel to Bangladesh.

After having jointly launching with Sheikh Hasina train and bus services between Kolkata and Khulna in Bangladesh and restoring the once defunct Radhikapur-Biral rail link between the two countries, Modi expressed hope for early implementation of the Bhutan-Bangladesh-India-Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicles Agreement and said that "this would usher in a new era of sub-regional integration".

The Indian Prime Minister also called for business and industry of both the countries to work towards diversifying bilateral commercial engagements.

"Our agreement to open new border haats will empower border communities through trade and contribute to their livelihoods," he stated.

After jointly releasing with Sheikh Hasina a Hindi translation of Bangladesh's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's autobiography "Unfinished Memoirs", Modi said that both countries would jointly produce a film on the life and works of Mujibur Rahman and a documentary of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.

On her part, Sheikh Hasina expressed gratitude for India's contributions towards the Bangladesh Liberation War.

She appreciated Modi "for his dynamism and innovative ideas that are not only taking India forward but adding value to our our bilateral relationship".

"People of South Asia will be the beneficiary of our friendly relations," she said, adding that sub-regional cooperation was "very, very important for development".

Stating that "people-to-people contact is our strength", she said that Bangladesh would upgrade its visa office in Agartala after having reopened a diplomatic mission in Guwahati.

She also reiterated her commitment for peaceful border with India free of crime.

She appreciated the naming of a road in New Delhi after her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The Bangladesh Prime Minister arrived here on Friday on a four-day visit to India. This is her first bilateral visit to India in seven years after her visit in 2010.

--IANS

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A series of programmes will be held in this Tripura capital April 10-11 to commemorate the formation of the first Bangladeshi government here 46 years ago, the organisers said on Saturday.

The event is being organised by the Assistant High Commission of Bangladesh in Agartala, the Dhaka and Agartala chapters of "Friends of Bangladesh" and the Agartala Press Club.

"In a meeting of the then parliamentarians, first Bangladesh government was formed in Agartala on April 10, 1971. To commemorate the day, a series of programmes would be held here," said Mihir Deb, Agartala chapter President of Friends of Bangladesh, an NGO.

Deb, a renowned academician, said intellectuals, Bangladeshi MPs, policy makers, former ministers, film makers, artists, performers and veterans of the Bangladesh liberation war will take part in the event.

A seminar will also be held where Indian intellectuals, writers and historians will speak.

A drama would also be staged on April 11 by the Bangladeshi actors to show case the nine-month long independence war and its milieu.

Deb said that in opposition of the then Pakistani rulers, the Bangladesh government with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the first President and Tajuddin Ahmad as the first Prime Minister was covertly functioning from Mujibnagar, formerly known as Baidyanathtala, in Meherpur district of Bangladesh.

The actual capital of that government while in exile was in Calcutta, now Kolkata.

After Sheikh Mujibur Rahman launched a massive guerilla operation against the then Pakistani rulers in March 1971, 'Mukti Joddhas' (freedom fighters) fought enemy forces that led to the creation of Bangladesh.

The nine-month-long 'Mukti Joddha' (Liberation War) later turned into a full-scale India-Pakistan war, leading to the surrender of nearly 93,000 Pakistani soldiers in Dhaka on December 16, 1971.

India was the first country to recognise Bangladesh as a sovereign nation.

Historian Bikach Chowdhury said Tripura had six to seven camps in four sectors from where the 'Mukti Joddhas' fought Pakistani forces.

"Over 1,600,000 Bangladeshis -- a number larger than the state's then total population of 1,500,000 -- had taken shelter in Tripura alone," he said.

During the war, 10 million men, women and children from then East Pakistan took shelter in West Bengal, Tripura, Assam and Meghalaya.

--IANS

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A retired Pakistan military officer, who had gone to seek employment in Nepal, has reportedly gone missing, sources said on Saturday.

Muhammad Habib Zahir, a resident of Faisalabad, had retired as Lieutenant Colonel from the Pakistan Army. Afterwards, he had sent his resume and applied online for a position at a United Nations office in Nepal.

Zahir reportedly received a call from a man named Mark Thompson from Britain, who offered him a senior position with a salary of three thousand pounds and other fringe benefits.

He readily accepted and arrived in Nepal on April 6 for an interview where he was received by a Pakistani national named Javed Ansari, the ARY reported.

Zahir went missing from the town of Lumbini, which is just five km from the border with India. He had last contacted his wife after arrival.

The website through which he applied for the job and its Twitter account has now been deactivated. It is reported that the website and the call he received was being operated from India.

A complaint has been filed over the missing army officer. The authorities were in contact with Nepal over the disappearance of Zahir.

Pakistan's Foreign Office Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria also confirmed the incident, saying the matter has been raised with the Nepalese government and the Pakistani embassy was in contact with the local authorities.

--IANS

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A 19-year-old German tourist was robbed and injured in a blade attack here by a rickshaw puller and his accomplice, who were both arrested within a day after the crime, police said on Saturday. The youth is being treated at a hospital.

The incident took place around 11.30 p.m. on Friday in north Delhi's Kotwali area when Benjamin Scolt hired a rickshaw near Chandni Chowk metro station to go to a bus terminal to catch a bus for Amritsar, a police official said.

He said the rickshaw puller took a wrong route, convincing Scolt it was a short cut, picked up his accomplice on way and robbed Rs 8,000 cash and a mobile from him after attacking him with a blade.

The attackers identified as Rizwan and Raj Kishore, in their 30s, were arrested from their hideouts in east Delhi's Brahampuri.

The German youth informed police that he hired the rickshaw around 10.30 p.m. but had doubts about the rickshaw puller who continued to take him along for over 45 minutes before reaching an isolated place where he was attacked and robbed.

Police said that the rickshaw puller took a detour near Geeta colony flyover claiming that it was a short cut.

"The rickshaw puller stopped midway to pick up a man informing Scot that he was his friend. He then took the rickshaw towards Yamuna Khadar under the flyover where they tried to snatch the foreigner's valuables. The youth resisted after which the rickshaw puller attacked him with a blade.

"The victim managed to free himself and reached the flyover where two people crossing the area in their car helped him, informed police and took him to the hospital," another police official said.

The officer said that a police team recovered the victim's bag and his passport from the spot but the attackers till then managed to escape from there.

The tourist was taken to the nearby Hedgewar Hospital where he is being treated. The German Embassy was notified.

A police officer who refused to be named said the attackers were arrested after the questioning of more than 50 persons in the area.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who had sought a report on the attack and asked the Delhi government to provide best medical treatment to the German, congratulated Delhi Police for their fast action in nabbing the accused.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 19-year-old German tourist was robbed and injured in a knife attack here, police said on Saturday. The suspects have been identified.

The incident took place around 11.30 p.m. on Friday when Benjamin Scolt hired an e-rickshaw from the New Delhi railway station to the Red Fort, Deputy Commissioner of Police Jatin Narwal told IANS.

Narwal, citing Scolt, said a man other than the driver was already seated in the rickshaw when the German boarded it.

Police believe the man was known to the driver.

After Scolt boarded it, the rickshaw was taken to an isolated place behind the 17th-century Red Fort, Narwal said. The two men then asked him to hand over his belongings.

The tourist may have resisted. The men then pulled out a knife and threatened him, the officer said.

"He refused to hand over his belongings and they attacked him with the weapon and left him injured after taking away his bag and cash," he added.

Scolt, Narwal said, cried for help as a police patrol van passed by.

The tourist was taken to the nearby Hedgewar Hospital. The German embassy was notified.

A police officer who refused to be named said the two suspects had been identified after police questioned at least 25 e-rickshaw drivers in the area.

"We should be able to arrest them soon," the officer said.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj sought a report on the attack and asked the Delhi government to provide best medical treatment to the German.

--IANS

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Greece and its euro zone creditors on Friday reached an agreement on key elements of a reform package, said Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem in a meeting held in Malta.

The key elements would enable the release of new loans to the debt-ladden country, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We had intensified talks to, first of all, reach an agreement between the institutions and the Greek government on the key elements, the overarching elements, of the policy package," the Eurogroup president was quoted as saying.

The reform package includes measures involving two per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), with one per cent in 2019 mainly based on pensions and the other one per cent in 2020 mainly based on personal income tax.

The Greek authorities have been invited to reach a full Staff Level Agreement as soon as possible.

Once the full Staff Level Agreement is achieved, the Eurogroup will come back to the issue of the medium-term fiscal path for the post-program period and debt sustainability, in order to reach that overall political agreement.

"The big blocks have now been sorted out and that should allow us to speed up and go for the final stretch," said Dijsselbloem.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Men with more grey hair -- irrespective of age -- may be at increased risk of heart disease, warns a new study.

"Our findings suggest that, irrespective of chronological age, hair greying indicates biological age and could be a warning sign of increased cardiovascular risk," said Irini Samuel, a cardiologist at Cairo University, Egypt.

Atherosclerosis, build-up of fatty material inside the arteries, and hair greying share similar mechanisms such as impaired DNA repair, oxidative stress, inflammation, hormonal changes and senescence of functional cells.

"Atherosclerosis and hair greying occur through similar biological pathways and the incidence of both increases with age," Samuel added.

This study -- presented at EuroPrevent 2017, annual congress of the European Association of Preventive Cardiology (EAPC), being held at Malaga, Spain from April 6-8 -- involved 545 adult men.

The researchers assessed the prevalence of grey hair in patients with coronary artery disease - usually caused by atherosclerosis -- and whether it was an independent risk marker of disease.

The amount of grey hair was graded using the hair whitening score - one referring to pure black hair, two to black more than white, three to black equals white, four to white more than black, and five to pure white.

Data was collected on traditional cardiovascular risk factors including hypertension, diabetes, smoking, dyslipidaemia and family history of coronary artery disease.

The researchers found that a high hair whitening score (grade three or more) was associated with increased risk of coronary artery disease independent of chronological age and established cardiovascular risk factors.

Patients with coronary artery disease had a statistically significant higher hair whitening score and higher coronary artery calcification than those without coronary artery disease.

"A larger study including men and women is required to confirm the association between hair greying and cardiovascular disease in patients without other known cardiovascular risk factors," Samuel said.

"Further research is needed, in coordination with dermatologists, to learn more about the causative genetic and possible avoidable environmental factors that determine hair whitening," she added.

--IANS

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Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Saturday asked management students to focus on development of rural areas and underprivileged in order to help growth and expansion of economic activities.

Addressing the first convocation of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Sirmaur here, he said management tools could help in simplifying complex issues related to environmental sustainability, energy security, healthcare and sustainable development.

Noting that the emergence of India and China as major economies in the world has paved the way for enormous business opportunities and requirement of capable managers, he urged the faculty to have a broader and inclusive view of the management needs in the country that will not only address challenges of the industry but also contribute towards the nation's development.

He said that the state had played a pro-active role in establishing these institutions of importance by way of providing land free of cost and taking effective steps in making them operational, adding 200 acres had already been provided free of cost for setting up of its permanent campus at Dhaula Kuan in Sirmaur district.

Virbhadra Singh said Himachal Pradesh is proud to have all the leading technical education institutes of the country.

Earlier, the Chief Minister awarded Roziwala Suraj Hira Lal for securing first rank in the postgraduate programme and Anas Ahmad for the best all-round performance.

IIM Chairman Ajay S. Shriram said the new Goods and Services Tax regime would bring about transformation in country's economy. He said there was a challenge for providing productive employment to millions of educated youth.

Institute Director Neelu Rohmetra called upon the students to ensure quality in jobs managed by them and said research, development and training were necessary to achieve quality.

--IANS

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India and Bangladesh on Saturday signed 22 agreements in the fields of defence cooperation, civil nuclear energy, space and cyber security among others, following bilateral talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina.

India and Bangladesh signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) through which India would extend a line of credit of $500 million to support Bangladesh's defence-related procurements.

Three more MoUs were signed to enhance defence cooperation between the two countries.

To enhance cooperation in security and strategic and operational studies, two MoUs were signed, one between the Defence Services Staff College (India) and the Defence Services Command and Staff College (Bangladesh) and another between the Defence College, Bangladesh and the Defence College, New Delhi.

Two agreements were signed on cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy and cooperation in the regulation of nuclear safety.

An inter agency agreement was signed between the Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP) of India and the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) pertaining to nuclear power plant projects in Bangladesh.

An MoU was signed to cooperate in the area of Cyber Security through Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) and Bangladesh Government Computer Incident Response Team (BGD e-Gov CIRT).

India and Bangladesh also signed a financing agreement for the construction of 36 community clinics in Bangladesh.

An MoU was signed for establishing Border Haats along the India-Bangladesh border.

Two MoUs were signed for cooperation in judicial training and capacity building.

An MoU was signed for the development of fairway from Sirajganj to Daikhowa and Ashuganj to Zakiganj on the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route.

Another MoU was signed on Passenger and Cruise Services on the Coastal and Protocol Route between the two neighbours.

The shipping ministries of the two countries signed an MoU to help each other in navigation.

The two sides signed agreements for cooperation in earth sciences, space, mass media, information technology and the peaceful use of outer space.
In a significant boost to strategic cooperation, India and Bangladesh on Saturday signed 22 agreements, including as many as five on defence cooperation, while New Delhi extended to Dhaka lines of credit worth $5 billion following bilateral talks headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart.

The two countries also signed a historic civil nuclear cooperation agreement while Modi assured Sheikh Hasina of an "early solution" to the Teesta waters sharing issue.

"Today, we have also taken a long overdue step by signing an agreement on close cooperation between our armed forces," Modi said while jointly addressing the media with Sheikh Hasina following the talks.

"I am also happy to announce a line of credit of $500 million to support Bangladesh's defence-related procurement. In implementing this line of credit, we will be guided by Bangladesh's needs and priorities," he said.

He also announced a separate line of credit of $4.5 billion for the implementation of projects in priority sectors for Bangladesh.

Modi assured the people of Bangladesh of India's "commitment and continuing efforts" to solve the vexed issue of sharing the waters of river Teesta, which has been opposed by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

"I firmly believe that it is only my government and Excellency Sheikh Hasina, your government, that can and will find an early solution to Teesta water sharing," he said.

He appreciated Bangladesh's efforts to contain radicalism and religious extremism and said: "We have the greatest admiration for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's firm resolve in dealing with . Her government's 'zero-tolerance' policy towards is an inspiration for all of us."

At a separate event to honour Indian martyrs in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, without naming Pakistan, Modi said that "there is an ideology in South Asia which promotes terrorism, and thus obstructs growth in the whole region".

In his statement to the media, he said that energy security was an important dimension of the two countries' development partnership.

A joint statement issued later said: "The two Prime Ministers also expressed their appreciation for the growing bilateral cooperation in the field of civil nuclear energy, especially in training and capacity building. In this regard, the leaders welcomed the signing of the inter-governmental agreement for cooperation in the field of civil nuclear energy and other agreements related to nuclear cooperation."

On her part, Sheikh Hasina appreciated Modi "for his dynamism and innovative ideas that are not only taking India forward but adding value to our our bilateral relationship".

She also reiterated her commitment for a peaceful border with India free of crime.

At the event to honour the Indian martyrs, she said: "I am grateful to the government and people of India for their contribution to Bangladesh's War of Independence. Many Indian soldiers sacrificed their lives... We will always remember them with gratitude."

Modi and Sheikh Hasina jointly launched train and bus services between Kolkata and Khulna in Bangladesh and restored the once defunct Radhikapur-Biral rail link between the two countries.

Both of them also released a Hindi translation of "Unfinished Memoirs", the autobiography of Bangladesh's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was Sheikh Hasina's father.

Later, briefing the media, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said that the $4.5 billion credit line is one of the biggest credit lines ever offered by India to any country.

He said that 17 projects have been identified for utilisation of the new line of credit. India had earlier extended two lines of credit of $862 million and $2 billion to Bangladesh.

He said that 12 more agreements are expected to be signed at a business forum to be held on Monday.

The Bangladesh Prime Minister arrived here on Friday on a four-day visit to India. This is her first bilateral visit to India in seven years after her visit in 2010.

Earlier on Saturday, she was accorded a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan. In the evening, she called on Vice President Hamid Ansari.

--IANS

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Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) on Saturday said it will be investing Rs 5,400 crores on its various infrastructure projects in Kerala which will contribute significantly to the state's economy and its people.

Elaborating on his company's roadmap for Kerala, IOCL Kerala head P.S. Mony said they are constructing a LPG import terminal with six lakh MT capacity per year in Puthuvypeen SEZ of Cochin Port Trust.

"The project also includes laying of a pipeline from the Jetty to Kochi refinery via IOCL's LPG Plant at Kochi. This pipeline would be hooked to Kochi-Salem Pipeline, which is also under construction. The entire project, which also includes a LPG terminal being constructed by BPCL at Palakkad is expected to cost around Rs 2,200 crore. The pipeline is being constructed jointly by IOCL and BPCL," Mony told reporters here.

Explaining its significance, Mony said this terminal is very important since the indigenous availability of LPG in the country is only half of the demand.

"The LPG customer base in the country is presently 15 crores, which is expected to double by 2020. LPG demand in the country is presently growing by 11 per cent. The LPG consumption of Kerala also is expected to rise significantly by 2019.

"LPG imports are expected to rise significantly by 2020 from the current levels of 50 per cent and IOCL is augmenting the LPG infrastructure across the country including setting up of 23 new bottling olants, the Mundra-Gorakhpur LPG Pipeline besides the Import Terminal at Kochi and the Kochi-Salem Pipeline. The LPG Import Terminal at Kochi has been targeted to be completed by February 2018," he added.

For Kerala, the state government is expected to earn an additional annual tax revenue of around Rs 150 crore per annum.

Mony pointed out that the IOCL is also setting up the Ernakulam City Gas Project in collaboration with Adani Group.

"The first CNG retail outlet is expected to be commissioned shortly. LNG/LCNG stations are also underway for providing greener fuels with lesser environmental impact," he added.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Aiming to strengthen bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh, industry chamber Ficci on Saturday proposed a joint task force to promote investments in areas like infrastructure, education, health, power and tourism.

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) proposed to work on six major initiatives as an agenda for the next year to the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI).

"We would like to propose the establishment of a joint task force to promote investments in Bangladesh in the focus areas of infrastructure, education, health, power and tourism," Ficci Director General Ambika Sharma said here.

The industry chamber said it had been working in tandem with the FBCCI to strengthen bilateral ties through trade and investments.

"We would also like to propose FBCCI work with Ficci in the several connectivity initiatives for expansion of sub-regional co-operation among BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal) countries to cover our links through road, rail, rivers, seas and transmission links," said Sharma.

"We also proposed to FBCCI to initiate our joint investment exercise for creating a roadmap of co-operation in the Bay of Bengal in exploration of hydrocarbons, marine resources and deep-sea fishing among many sectors," she said.

The industry chamber proposed a collaboration in knowledge-sharing to facilitate innovation and research, and partnership on skill development to contribute towards building a global workforce by harnessing youth energy.

The sixth initiative proposed by the industry lobby was to set up a joint task force on tariff and non-tariff barriers.

"Bangladesh is strong enough. Now we have got over $32 billion plus reserves," said Abdul Matlub Ahmad, President of FBCCI and Leader of the Indo-Bangladesh Business Delegation.

"The government has allowed us up to $25 billion to keep as reserves and invest the rest. So we are now looking for countries to invest and who could be more attractive than India."

The seminar 'Doing Business with Bangladesh' was held on the occasion of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to the country.
An advertisement in newspapers detailing the sequence of events on the action taken in the alleged suicide of Jishnu Prannoy has been slammed by the engineering student's mother and family members.

The advertisement titled 'Jishnu Case - The truth behind it', has been released by the Kerala government on Saturday which mentioned the action taken by it on the issue.

Prannoy was found hanging in January on the campus of the Nehru College of Engineering and Research, in Thrissur.

Initially, Prannoy's death was dismissed as a case of suicide, but after his mother Mahija protested, police have taken up the case again as she has been firm on her belief that her son was 'killed' by the college authorities.

Speaking to the media, she said: "Right from day one after I lost my son, the case has been turned upside down."

"It was after 90 days, we decided to come to the state capital to seek justice by staging a protest before the office of the police chief.

"We were stopped and roughed up badly by police. Our family including my son admired Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan but now he says nothing happened to us," she said.

"But in the advertisement it says the police did not do anything to us... instead we were literally thrashed by police. Why did not the Chief Minister call Jishnu's mother at least once," she added.

Mahija and her brother were admitted in the Medical College hospital after they suffered injuries.

Reacting to the advertisement, media critic C.R. Neelakandan said: "At the height of the Singur struggle, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) dealt with the struggle through advertisements and in the bargain, that party has literally vanished from Bengal. What's happening now in Kerala is similar to that and things are going bad to worse for the CPI-M in Kerala."

Meanwhile, at Mahija's home near Kozhikode, Prannoy's 15-year-old sister is undertaking a fast which entered the fourth day.

Their house on Saturday saw a string of visitors which included former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.

"We have never seen this case as a political weapon. It's most unfortunate that Vijayan is yet to meet up with this hapless smother and this shows that there is a feeling of guilt. We as a responsible opposition is willing to do anything to cooperate with the government to end this strike," said Chandy.

Officials are keep a close watch on the girl's health. She told the media on Saturday: "This is the least that I can do for my brother and now I am prepared to die for him," adding she would not call off the fast till justice is delivered.

Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala after meeting the her said it was most unfortunate that the state government resorted to a false advertisement .

"What's wrong if the hapless family demands action against the police officials who roughed Mahija and her family members. It's very sad the state government is doing nothing to resolve this issue. What's wrong if Vijayan meets this mother," said Chennithala.

But Kerala Health Minister K.K. Shailaja told reporters in Kozhikode that one fails to understand why Mahija is on a strike now.

"The Chief Minister has taken it up personally and police did arrest two of the main accused in Prannoy's death. It's going to be a matter of time the others also are arrested. We feel that has taken over the strike," said Shailaja.

--IANS

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Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai is set to become the United Nations' youngest-ever "Messenger of Peace", the international body's chief has announced.

Yousafzai, 19, will be honoured by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during a ceremony at the UN headquarters in New York on April 10.

She will help promote girl's education around the world as part of her new role.

The ceremony will be followed by a conversation between Guterres, Yousafzai and other youth representatives around the world on the theme of girls' education, Daily Pakistan reported on Saturday.

"Even in the face of grave danger, Malala Yousafzai has shown an unwavering commitment to the rights of women, girls and all people," Guterres said on Friday on his selection of Yousafzai for the designation.

"Her courageous activism for girls' education has already energised so many people around the world. Now as our youngest-ever UN Messenger of Peace, Malala can do even more to help create a more just and peaceful world," he said.

Born on July 12, 1997 in Pakistan's Swat Valley, Yousafzai became an international symbol for the fight for girls' education after being shot on October 9, 2012 for opposing Taliban restrictions on female education.

She survived the attack and became an advocate for the millions of girls denied a formal education worldwide.

In 2013, Yousafzai and her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, co-founded Malala Fund to bring awareness to the social and economic impact of girls' education and to empower girls to demand change.

Yousafzai became the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 2014.

--IANS

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On March 30, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak arrived in Chennai for an official visit following an invitation from his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi.

This was Razak's third official visit as Prime Minister, and an important one at that, given the number of agreements that were signed. On a six-day visit, Razak reached New Delhi on March 31, and proceeded to Jaipur on April 2 following an invitation by Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia.

The Malaysian delegation's six-day official visit to India focused on the close political and economic ties between the two nations. Razak had written exclusively in the Hindustan Times about the purpose of his visit and how the two nations have shared similar trade, economic and personal/cultural affinities over the decades.

But what is really behind the Malaysian Prime Minister's official visit to India?

Razak's clicking a selfie with Tamil super star actor Rajinikanth at the latter's home in Chennai on March 31 indicates Malaysia's conscious attempt to bring "the people" of both Malaysia and India to a certain level of understanding, that the two nations share close cultural ties, apart from the trade and economic ties that already exist.

It is also seen as a move to appease the Tamil community in Malaysia, i.e., to suggest that the friendly and familiar relationship between the Tamil communities in both India and Malaysia remains strong. For Modi, too, the appeasement of the Tamil community in south India is a positive political move in the direction of winning over more adverse political opinions. (The south here includes the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana and the Union territories of Puducherry and Lakshadweep).

Jaideep Mazumdar, Joint Secretary in charge of Malaysia-India diplomatic relations in the Indian foreign ministry, confirmed the following:

- That India and Malaysia discussed $5 billion worth of two-way investments during Razak's five-day visit in a bid to boost economic linkages between Asia's third-largest economy (India) and one of the fastest-growing economies in South East Asia (Malaysia).

- That India is keen on building stronger political, economic and strategic ties with Malaysia, seen as a moderate Muslim nation with a population of approximately 28 million.

- That Indian firms have moved to Malaysia in a big way, making it a base to do business with other ASEAN nations.

- That Malaysia has invested about $6 billion worth of projects in India and Indian investment in Malaysia amounts to about $2.5 billion.

In the defence and security arena, Indian pilots operating Sukhoi-30 frontline fighter aircraft were training Malaysian defence personnel on Sukhois in Malaysia between 2008 and 2010.

Mazumdar also said that India inducted the Russian-made Sukhois into its inventory in 1997 and has been steadily adding to its numbers in the Indian Air Force. The two countries (India and Malaysia) held their first military exercises in 2012 and their first naval exercises in 2016.

In general, the relationship encompasses a very wide canvas from economic and commercial to defence and security, besides the traditional people-to-people links.

India and Malaysia signed an MoU on Defence Cooperation in 1993 and a Malaysia-India Defence Cooperation Meeting (MIDCOM) was established under its framework. Several MIDCOM meetings and reciprocal visits of high-level defence personnel have been taking place since 1993.

Defence cooperation with Malaysia is in the interest of India from the point of view of both economic and strategic aspects. Besides a seller-buyer relationship with respect to military hardware, India and Malaysia also cooperate to secure the Malacca Straits through joint patrols and other activities. India and Malaysia have discussed the issue of compulsory pilotage of the Malacca Straits at the latest Shangri La security dialogue held in Singapore. India's expertise in maritime security can be useful for protecting the narrow channel of the Malacca Straits from emerging non-traditional security threats in Southeast Asia.

Compared to Malaysia's relations with India during the administration of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed, Razak sees a new and improved relationship, a new "high" in the areas of infrastructure development, student exchange, and other areas.

The two nations agreed to revitalise the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), as well as to be more proactive in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

Overall, the two leaders unanimously declared that relations between India and Malaysia are at an all-time high.

However, like most official dignitary-level visits and meetings, what is reported of the diplomatic exchange between the leaders of both India and Malaysia goes only skin deep. There is more to Razak's visit to India.

Domestically the repercussions are enormous. During this somewhat volatile political situation at home (in Malaysia), there is a need to apply a holistic approach to governance. A large chunk of this governance involves placating and seeing to the needs of the different races within Malaysia, including the very influential and visible ethnic Indians -- most of whom are Tamils -- linguistically, religiously and culturally.

Furthermore, this holistic approach to diplomacy takes into consideration two other important aspects of strategic thinking: First, Razak's decision to visit India is closely tied to the geopolitical competition between India and China in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR); and second, Malaysia's stance as a small power juxtaposed with the major powers of India and China.

Malaysia's role can be best explained as a balancer between the two formidable powers. Both Razak and Modi realise the threat of an encroaching China into the Indian Ocean Region, but this point was not mentioned during talks between the two leaders.

The Indian Ocean Region provides critical sea trade routes that connect the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia with the broader Asian continent to the east and Europe to the west. A number of the world's most important strategic choke points, including the Straits of Hormuz and Malacca -- through which 32.2 million of barrels of crude oil and petroleum are transported per day, more than 50 percent of the world's maritime oil trade -- are found in the Indian Ocean Region, which itself is believed to be rich with energy reserves.

It is no surprise that Razak's recent visit focused discussions on defence issues as well. Beijing's regional vision, backed by $40 billion of pledged investment, outlines its One Belt, One Road (OBOR) plan, combining the revitalisation of ancient land-based trade routes, the Silk Road Economic Belt, with a Maritime Silk Road.

China's ties with regional states have deepened, including the influx of Chinese capital into construction projects in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Since launching counter-piracy operations in 2009, Beijing has become increasingly active in the region.

China has also undertaken efforts to modernise its military, particularly its naval deployment capabilities to protect overseas interests like personnel, property and investments. Experts also argue that Beijing's forays into what is at times described as India's neighbourhood are driven by China's excess capacity challenges -- incentivising Chinese firms out of domestic markets to compete in and open new markets abroad.

Furthermore, China-India relations are fraught, coloured by historical disputes and the perceived threat to India of China's rise. Tensions have persisted despite overtures by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Much of the friction stems from a longstanding dispute along a 4,000-km border that stretches from Kashmir in the west to India's far-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh and the legacy of the 1962 Sino-Indian War along the Himalayan border.

The expansion of a Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean has heightened India's concerns. Beijing says its activities are commercially motivated and intended to better protect its interests and people abroad. However, Brahma Chellaney of the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), an independent Indian think tank, argues a ramped up Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean and elsewhere is consistent with Xi Jinping's intention of making maritime power central to achieving Chinese dominance in Asia.

In order to be assured of state survival, Malaysia as a small power needs to further engage with India in the larger strategic context, to balance China's growing security presence in the Indian Ocean Region.

To sum up, Razak's visit to India was clearly more than the signing of MOUs worth billions of dollars. Both the nations reiterated the importance of the fight against terrorism, showing that this is a smokescreen for a deeper undeclared 'war' against China's strategic encroachment into the Indian Ocean Region.

Both India and Malaysia made it a point to say that they should identify, hold accountable and take strong measures against states which encourage, support and finance terrorism. The message was meant for Pakistan although not explicitly naming any country. Indirectly, China is also implicated as a major power which strategically supports Pakistan, and other littoral states in the Indian Ocean, such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

(The author is Senior Lecturer in Strategic Studies and International Relations in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities at National University of Malaysia, Selangor. The article is in special arrangement with South Asia Monitor/www.southasiamonitor.org)

--IANS

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A man died here under suspicious circumstances, hours after he was called to a police station on a complaint that he was teasing and harassing his sister-in-law.

P. Ramu's family members alleged that he died due to beating by police, but the latter denied the allegation and claimed that he died due to lack of food and rest for last three days.

The 29-year-old was called to Begumpet police station on Friday evening, after his father-in-law Jayaram complained that he was teasing and harassing his younger daughter Radhika (16).

Police said Ramu was called and counselled in presence of all family members including his wife Rajni as his father-in-law did not want to lodge an FIR.

The sub-inspector of police registered a petty case and asked Ramu to come to the police station on Monday with his Aadhar card.

On returning home, Ramu complained of giddiness and was taken to a physician in Pattigadda, who advised him rest. He again had same complaint and was taken to KIMS Hospital, where he was pronounced dead late Friday night. Doctor said the cause was unknown.

Police said Ramu did not have food and rest for three days due to the problems created by his actions in the family. It also claimed that the man was a chronic diabetic.

The body was shifted to government-run Gandhi Hospital, where an autopsy was conducted on Saturday.

Senior Congress leader M. Sashidhar Reddy joined the relatives of Ramu at the hospital to demand thorough probe into the youth's death.

Earlier, the deceased's relatives staged protest at the police station, demanding action against the police personnel, who allegedly beat up Ramu.

--IANS

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday expressed the firm belief that there will be an early solution to the issue of sharing waters of the Teesta river with Bangladesh while announcing $5-billion lines of credit to the eastern neighbour.

"Along with our shared land boundaries are our shared rivers," Modi said while jointly addressing the media with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina following bilateral talks here.

"They sustain our peoples and their livelihoods. And, the one that has attracted the greatest attention is the Teesta," he said.

He said this was "important for India, for Bangladesh and for India-Bangladesh relationship".

"I assure you and the people of Bangladesh of our commitment and continuing efforts. I firmly believe that it is only my government and Excellency Sheikh Hasina, your government, that can and will find an early solution to Teesta water sharing," Modi said.

He also appreciated Bangladesh's efforts to contain radicalism and religious extremism and said: "We have the greatest admiration for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's firm resolve in dealing with terrorism. Her government's 'zero-tolerance' policy towards terrorism is an inspiration for all of us."

At a separate event to honour Indian martyrs in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, without naming Pakistan, Modi said that "there is an ideology in South Asia which promotes terrorism, and thus obstructs growth in the whole region".

In his statement to the media, he announced a line of credit of $4.5-billion for the implementation of projects in priority sectors for Bangladesh.

He announced a separate line of credit of $500 million to support Bangladesh's defence-related procurement.

India and Bangladesh signed 22 agreements following Saturday's talks.

Stating that energy security was an important dimension of the two countries' development partnership, Modi said:

"Today, we added an additional 60 MW of power to the 600 MW of power already flowing from India to Bangladesh. The supply of another 500 MW has already been committed from the existing inter-connection."

After having jointly launched with Sheikh Hasina train and bus services between Kolkata and Khulna in Bangladesh and restoring the once defunct Radhikapur-Biral rail link between the two countries, Modi expressed the hope for early implementation of the Bhutan-Bangladesh-India-Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicles Agreement and said that "this would usher in a new era of sub-regional integration."

The Indian Prime Minister also called for business and industry of both the countries to work towards diversifying bilateral commercial engagements.

"Our agreement to open new border haats will empower border communities through trade and contribute to their livelihoods," he stated.

On her part, Sheikh Hasina appreciated Modi "for his dynamism and innovative ideas that are not only taking India forward but adding value to our our bilateral relationship".

She also reiterated her commitment for a peaceful border with India free of crime.

At the event to honour the Indian martyrs, she said: "I am grateful to the government and people of India for their contribution to Bangladesh's War of Independence. Many Indian soldiers sacrificed their lives... We will always remember them with gratitude."

Later, briefing the media, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said that the $4.5-billion credit line is one of the biggest credit lines ever offered by India to any country.

He said that 17 projects have been identified for utilisation of the new line of credit. India had earlier extended two lines of credit of $862 million and $2 billion to Bangladesh .

Of the 22 agreements signed, Jaishankar said nine agreements are on development of trade, four agreements on high technology covering civil nuclear cooperation and space, and five agreements on defence cooperation.

A joint statement issued later in the day said that "the two Prime Ministers reiterated their strong commitment to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and stressed that there can be no justification whatsoever for any act of terror".

"Prime Minister Hasina requested Prime Minister Modi for conclusion of the Interim Agreement on Sharing of the Water of Teesta as agreed upon by both governments in January 2011," it stated.

"Prime Minister Modi reiterated that his government is working with all stakeholders in India for an early conclusion of the Agreement."

The Bangladesh Prime Minister arrived here on Friday on a four-day visit to India. This is her first bilateral visit to India in seven years after her visit in 2010.

Earlier on Saturday, she was accorded a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan. In the evening, she called on Vice President Hamid Ansari.

--IANS

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Prime Minister met his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina ahead of delegation-level bilateral talks here on Saturday.

"A new spring in #IndiaBangladesh ties! PM @narendramodi receives PM Sheikh Hasina at Hyderabad House before talks," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted.

On Friday, in a special gesture, Modi personally received Sheikh Hasina at the airport when she arrived here on a four-day visit to India.

This is the Bangladesh Prime Minister's first bilateral visit to India in seven years since her visit in 2010.

Over 20 agreements, including a civil nuclear agreement and two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) on defence cooperation, are expected to be signed after Saturday's bilateral talks.

Modi will host a lunch banquet in honour of the visiting dignitary which will also be attended by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Both Prime Ministers will attend a function to honour Indian martyrs in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.

--IANS

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South Korean prosecutors on Saturday grilled ousted President Park Geun-hye at a detention centre again over corruption allegations that removed her from office last month.

Prosecutors visited the centre in Uiwang, where Park has been detained following the Constitutional Court's approval of her impeachment on March 10, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Park is known to have denied any wrongdoing during the first session in prison that lasted for nearly 11 hours on Tuesday. The second probe occurred two days later.

Park was named an accomplice in her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil's bribery allegations involving South Korea's largest business group Samsung.

She is also suspected of colluding with Choi in pressing local conglomerates into donating tens of billions of won to two non-profit foundations allegedly controlled by Choi.

Lawyer Yoo Yeong-ha accompanied her during the inquiry Saturday, as he did previously.

On Friday, a Seoul court has approved prosecutors' request to extend Park's detention until April 19 for further questioning.

The Justice Ministry transferred Choi, who was held at the same location as Park, to another detention house earlier following the prosecution's request.

Meanwhile, prosecutors are considering seeking an arrest warrant against Woo Byung-woo, Park's former senior secretary for civil affairs, according to sources.

He is one of the last figures embroiled in the scandal that has avoided detention so far, while a number of Park's former aides were arrested and are standing trial.

Woo was interrogated on Thursday for about 17 hours as a suspect.

A team of special prosecutors which earlier investigated the scandal asked a court to issue a warrant to arrest Woo, but the request was denied.

--IANS

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Tibetan Spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Saturday said it was up to his people to decide whether the institution of the Dalai Lama should continue or not.

A monastery official said the 14th Dalai Lama would hold discussions with senior Lamas the issue of reincarnation during his stay at Tawang.

"I have left it to the people to decide whether the institution of the Dalai Lama should continue or not. It depends entirely on the wishes the Tibetan people," the Tibetan leader told journalists at Tawang, the birthplace of the sixth Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso.

The Dalai Lama arrived at the Tawang monastery on Friday evening and began his religious discourses on Saturday.

He is staying at the Tawang monastery, which belongs to the Gelugpa school of Mahayana Buddhism and has had a religious connection with Lhasa's Drepung monastery that continued during the British rule.

Beijing refers to this connection to claim Tawang as part of China after invading and taking over Tibet in 1950.

There is speculation that the 15th Dalai Lama could be again from Tawang even as China has named a six-year-old boy in Tibet as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, widely considered the second-holiest monk in Tibetan Buddhism.

Asked if the next Dalai Lama could be a woman, the Dalai Lama said: "That might also happen.

"Let China first come clear on its theory on rebirth (next Dalai Lama)," the 81-year-old said.

"I retired from in 2011 and all political matters are handled by our government-in-exile. But I am committed to promote and preserve Tibetan culture and ecology."

China on Wednesday lodged a protest with India over the Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh. Indian Ambassador Vijay Gokhale was summoned in Beijing.

The Sino-Indian border along Arunachal Pradesh is separated by the McMahon Line, an imaginary border now known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

India and China fought a border war in 1962, with Chinese troops advancing deep into Arunachal Pradesh and inflicting heavy casualties on poorly armed Indian troops.

The border dispute with China was inherited by India from British rulers, who hosted a 1914 conference with the Tibetan and Chinese governments that set the border in what is now Arunachal Pradesh.

China has never recognised the 1914 McMahon Line and claims 90,000 sq km, including nearly all of Arunachal. India accuses China of occupying 8,000 sq km in Jammu and Kashmir.

After 1962, tensions flared again in 1986 with Indian and Chinese forces clashing in Sumdorong Chu valley of Arunachal Pradesh. Chinese troops reportedly built a helipad in the valley leading to the fresh skirmishes.

On US President Donald Trump's "America First Policy", the Nobel laureate said: "I disagree with the America First policy. It is unbecoming of a country that encourages free thinking."

Exhorting the European Union for pursuing policies directed at social cohesion, the Dalai Lama suggested that India, China and Pakistan could have similar economic and cultural cooperation for greater stability in the sub-continent.

"The exit of Britain (from European Union) was the people's choice, but EU is something Africa, the America and even Asia can follow. I admire Germany for sticking to EU despite a very strong Deutsche Mark," he said.

The Dalai Lama has lived in India since fleeing his homeland in 1959. India is also home to some 100,000 Tibetans.

--IANS

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President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday called for strong electoral reforms to strengthen the democratic structure and said it is time to look at legal provisions for increasing the number of parliamentary seats.

In his inaugural address at a seminar on 'Economic Reforms With Reference To Electoral Issues', he said timely reforms are necessary which not only would give "justice to the people but also to the ideals enshrined in the Constitution of India".

"Hence it is necessary to undertake a dispassionate analysis of the way in which our electoral process is functioning with a view to address the shortcomings in the system," he said.

The President said that generally in the past, coalition governments at the centre contributed to unstable governments necessitating frequent elections. "Fragile coalitions did not last," he said and also referred to the issue of responsibility of the electorate.

Calling for a healthy debate, the President said that Parliament was not just a deliberating body but also a decision-making body.

Elaborating the need for electoral reforms, he said that due to the freeze on the seats, imposed in 1976 and extended till 2026 by an Act in 2001, the Parliament today represents the figure of 1971 census whereas the population has increased manifold.

Stressing on the need of increasing the number of parliamentary seats, Mukherjee said: "This gives rise to an anomalous situation wherein today, India has over 800 million voters and 543 Lok Sabha Constituencies represent 1.28 billion people. To give true expression to the will of the people, it is time that we look at the legal provisions on the delimitation of the Parliamentary constituencies with a view to increase their number."

"If Great Britain can have more than 600 Parliamentary constituencies, why can't India, with a much higher population, have more number of seats," he asked.

The two-day all India seminar, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, was also attended by Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar.

--IANS

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President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday condemned the terror attack in the Swedish capital that left four people dead and at least 15 injured.

"The people of India saw the news of the dastardly attack on pedestrians in the heart of Stockholm yesterday with shock and great sadness. Please accept our heartfelt condolences," Mukherjee said in a message to Swedish king Carl XVI Gustaf.

The President said India believes that such indiscriminate acts of violence against innocent populations cannot be justified under any circumstances.

"Our hearts go out to the families of the victims and we pray for the swift and full recovery of all those who were injured in the incident," he said.

--IANS

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External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday said that she has received a report on the death of a 26-year-old Indian who was shot dead in the US.

"I have received a report on the shootout incident resulting in the tragic death of Indian in Washington State, US," Sushma Swaraj said in a tweet.

"On April 6 two miscreants entered the shop at 1.30 am. They snatched cash from (the) victim and shot on his chest. This resulted in his death," she said.

Jaryal had reached the US 25 days back and was working at a gas station of a family friend.

Speaking on the ongoing investigation, Sushma Swaraj said the Indian officials were coordinating with investigative agencies who "have got the CCTV footage and are in the process of apprehending the culprits".

"Our consulate in San Francisco is helping the family and following this up with the police authorities," she added.
Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has parted ways with Matrix, which had been handling his work for the past nine years.

Salman has returned to an in-house model for managing his business arrangements, a statement said.

Salman will next do a concert tour of Asia Pacific, which will be spearheaded by his brother and actor Sohail Khan.

The "Dabangg" actor, whose family used to manage his business arrangements, signed up with Reshma Shetty's company nine years ago.

Matrix will continue to service ongoing contracts for Salman as well as conclude deals that are at an advanced stage of negotiation.

Besides producing movies and ads in-house, Salman is also working on launching his own brand of e-bicycles and gym equipment.

On the career front, Salman will next be seen in Kabir Khan's "Tubelight". Also, he is currently shooting for "Tiger Zinda Hai".

--IANS

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Delhi Chief Minister on Saturday described as "injustice" Lt Governor Anil Baijal's move to shut down the AAP's only office in the national capital.

The Friday decision was an attempt to finish off the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) but this would never succeed, a combative Kejriwal told the media.

Kejriwal said the AAP was not just the ruling party in Delhi but a state-recognised party which had every right to have an office in the city.

"We had an office... We had done no wrong. We are not begging for an office. We have a right to have an office," he said. Asked about Baijal's decision, he said: "It is injustice."

The AAP leader said it was ironical that the Congress, with no seat in the Delhi assembly, not only had its national headquarters in Delhi but a separate Delhi office too.

It had two other offices as well besides a plot of land in Delhi, he added. "But a party with 67 of the 70 seats in the assembly now has no office."

AAP's office on Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg was shut down on grounds that it was wrongly allotted to the party. The AAP has denied the charge.

Similarly, Kejriwal said, the BJP and its affiliates had a total of seven offices in the capital including one for its Delhi office.

Even parties like the RJD and BSP had offices in Delhi, he pointed out. "So why are they doing this to us? What is our crime?"

Kejriwal said the AAP had become a target of all the "mafias" it had taken on, including the electricity and pharma companies, water tankers and private schools.

"Every day new lies are hurled at us. These have no head and no tail... They want to finish us off. It won't happen."

Kejriwal said since the shutting down of the AAP office, he had been flooded with invitations from people in Delhi offering the use of their premises for the AAP.

"The people will take revenge on April 23 (when the municipal elections take place)," he added.
French President Francois Hollande on Friday said that the truck attack in a shopping street in central Stockholm showed that "relentless fight against terrorism must be a priority of European solidarity".

Expressing dismay and indignation, Hollande sent sympathy and solidarity message to families' victims, Xinhua reported.

In a joint statement with his German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said they were "distressed by the fact that Sweden may have been the victim of such an act of terrorism."

"In these difficult times, we stand alongside our Swedish friends. We hope that all the light will be be shed on this horrible act," they added.

Earlier on Friday, a truck crashed into a crowd on a shopping street and a department store in central Stockholm, killing at least four people and wounding many others.

--IANS

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Entrepreneur Sussanne Khan and film director Gauri Shinde were on Friday honoured as young women achievers by Union Minister Smriti Irani on behalf of Young FICCI Ladies Organisation (YFLO) at an event here that also witnessed a mesmerising fashion show by ace fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee.

Besides Sussanne and Shinde, Malvika Poddar (fashion), Simran Lal (business), Kalli Purie (media), Shaina NC (politics), Deepa Malik (sports), Chiki Sarkar (literature), Preeti Chandra (community service), Bhavna Kakkar (art) and Vidha Lal (performing arts) were conferred with the awards.

The annual YFLO Achiever Awards 2016-17 were held at Hotel Lalit here.

"I am the third child of my parents and while growing up I know that I was lucky as my parents brought me up like a boy. There was no difference between me and my brothers. That is one lesson I learnt very young that children should always be treated equal," Sussanne, who is former wife of actor Hrithik Roshan, said on the stage.

She was given the honour for her successful career as an entrepreneur and interior designer.

"I have always had the opportunity to dream big and beyond the limits of a third child. I was lucky that my parents could afford to send me abroad for education," she added.

Shinde, an ad-film and feature film director known for films like "English Vinglish" and "Dear Zindagi", was not able to attend the event due to personal problems.

"I want to thank YFLO for considering me worthy for this award. The society has to move forward. I think women have to certainly lead the way. We don't have much choices. Together we can achieve anything," Shinde said in a video.

The biggest highlight of the evening was the fashion show by Sabyasachi wherein he showcased some of his indigenous costumes, especially designed using various weaving methods from across India.

The show, which focused around promoting the Indian textile industry, showcased women -- mostly around the age of 50 and more -- walking the ramp while donning saris, lehenga choli and salwar kameez in various colours.

"My brand works with some of the most important and iconic textile and craft leaders in India... This show is a reflection of that vision," Sabyasachi said.

Smriti Irani, who was chief guest at the event, said: "I want to compliment all the women, who have faced struggles in their lives, and still have a smile on their faces. Also I want to compliment Sabyasachi for the first time using textile in a real event."

"When we talk about empowerment, I don't know why is it that the word empowerment is always used in conjunction with women because it's the men who need help and not us," she added.

Another interesting segment of the night was when Paralympian Deepa Malik took the centre stage to thank her mother and her sister-in-law for standing by her side and motivating her. Her speech was applauded by the audience with a standing ovation.

--IANS

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Truckers in south India called off their week-long strike while the plans for nation-wide strike from Saturday midnight were dropped after their main demand was accepted by India's insurance regulator.

The breakthrough came during the talks between leaders of truckers' associations and Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) officials here on Saturday.

IRDA agreed to reduce the hike in third-party insurance premium rate from 50 percent to 27 percent.

During the two rounds of talks earlier, the regulatory authority had stuck to its stand of not reducing the hike.

This was one of the main demands of South Zone Motor Transporters' Welfare Association, other associations and the All India Confederation of Goods Vehicle Owners' Association, which had called for a nation-wide strike from Saturday midnight.

Truckers in five states and union territory Puduchery were on strike for last one week to press for various demands. The strike had badly movement of goods across the region and was beginning to have an impact on supply of essentials.

Truckers were also urging their respective states to address state specific issues. Transport operators in Telangana had called off the strike on Friday, following successful talks with the state Transport Minister.

Auto-rickshaw owners and drivers in Hyderabad and other towns of Telangana observed a day-long strike on Saturday, to demand rollback of hike in third party insurance premium.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
TU-142M, one of the long range Maritime Patrol aircraft of the Indian Navy which was decommissioned after 29 years of service, arrived here on Saturday, to be converted into a museum.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu received the aircraft at INS Dega. He presented bouquets to the five-member crew as the aircraft landed for the final time.

Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command, Vice Admiral HCS Bisht and other officials attended the ceremony.

Earlier, the aircraft took off from INS Rajali, the air station of the Indian Navy at Arakkonam, Tamil Nadu.

The TU-142M aircraft is the heaviest, fastest and highest flying Turbo prop in the world which had been the mainstay of long range maritime reconnaissance and Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Operations of the Indian Navy for close to three decades.

Authorities were making preparation to convert the aircraft into a museum on the lines of Kursura Submarine Museum on the Beach Road here. It is expected to be ready on one acre of land on Beach Road by June. The entire project is expected to cost Rs 10 crore.

Officials said the technical evaluation of tenders by five companies for converting the aircraft into a museum was completed and financial bid would be opened soon.

The aircraft would be dismantled at INS Dega and shifted to the site for assembling and converting it into a museum. The district authorities have finalised the tender for dismantling and shifting the aircraft.

--IANS

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in has ordered a probe into the sale of 21 sugar mills at a "throwaway" price by former Chief Minister Mayawati.

The probe was ordered by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath after a review late Friday night of the Cane Development and Sugar Industry Department.

He said that nobody can be allowed to sell such government properties at "dirt cheap rates" as the property belonged to the people.

Adityanath also said that he will not hesitate in ordering a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the matter, in which even the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has pointed out heavy irregularities.

The Rs 1,180-crore scam has been hanging heavy on the former Chief Minister Mayawati but it was put in cold storage by the earlier Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party government.

Despite serious lapses coming to light in the probe ordered then, the SP government chose not to act against political rival and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati in the sale of these sugar mills.

The mills belonged to the UP State Sugar Corporation Ltd and the state Sugar and Cane Development Corporation.

Complaints made on the scam alleged that huge kickbacks were paid to the "powerful" in the then BSP government to get the sale deal through.

Former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had handed over the probe into the alleged irregularities to the Lokayukta in November 2012, but despite a year long drawn probe, Justice N.K. Mehrotra had not fixed responsibility for the loss to the exchequer on anyone.

The ombudsman had also recommended that the view of the government be presented before the Supreme Court where the matter was pending.
The US is "disappointed but not surprised" at Russia's response to its strikes on a Syrian airbase suspected of storing chemical weapons, a media report said on Saturday.

At least six people were killed when the US fired 59 Tomahawk missiles early on Friday at the Shairat military base in Homs province in central Syria, a monitor group said.

Syria's ally Russia accused the US of encouraging "terrorists" with its unilateral actions.

"I'm disappointed in that response," said US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the BBC reported.

"It indicates their continued support for the (Bashar al-) Assad regime and, in particular, their continued support for a regime that carries out these type of horrendous attacks on their own people," he added.

"So I find it very disappointing, but, sadly, I have to tell you, not all that surprising," Tillerson said.

Moscow has promised to strengthen Syria's anti-aircraft defences. It is also closing down a hotline with the US designed to avoid collisions between their air forces over Syria, the BBC report added.

According to Idlib's opposition-run health authority, 89 people, including 33 children and 18 women, died in the suspected nerve agent attack in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun on Tuesday.

Syria denies using any nerve gas.

US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley told an emergency session of the Security Council that the US had acted to ensure that the Syrian President would never use chemical weapons again.

"We are prepared to do more but we hope that will not be necessary," she said. "It is in our vital national security interest to prevent the spread and use of chemical weapons," the BBC quoted Haley.

She blamed Iran and Russia for standing by the Syrian government when it committed crimes.

"Strengthening Assad will only lead to more murders," she said.

Russia's Deputy Ambassador to the UN, Vladimir Safronkov, described the US strikes as "illegitimate".

"When you take your own path, this leads to horrible tragedies in the region," he told the Americans.

US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said he was preparing further economic sanctions against Syria, the BBC said.

--IANS

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Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said the US would soon announce new sanctions on Syria, a media report said.

"We will be announcing additional sanctions on Syria as part of our ongoing effort to stop this kind of activity," CNN quoted Mnuchin as saying on Friday.

"Those will continue to have an important effect in terms of people doing business with them."

The announcement comes a day after the US struck a Syrian airfield in response to a chemical weapons attack that killed over 80 civilians.

Mnuchin did not specify which entities would come under sanction by his agency, but he said, "they will be coming out in the near future".

"We view sanctions as being a very important tool," Mnuchin said.

"These sanctions are very important and we will use them to the maximum effect."

--IANS

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Every day at 7 pm, Munjaba Shingare, 42, leaves his home in Vangani village in Thane district, to begin his work day. Carrying his dholki, a two-headed drum, he takes a 10-minute walk through the town centre to reach the train station. Here, he takes on the task of crossing seven busy railway tracks on foot, reaching the platform to board the 7.05 pm Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus train that will take him to Kurla, one of Mumbai's busiest stations.

What makes his journey riskier is the fact that Shingare is visually impaired. He earns a living singing devotional songs on the train, braving unruly crowds, a complete lack of disabled-friendly infrastructure, and police harassment. He returns home by 11.30 pm.

"We, the blind, are no strangers to darkness," he tells IndiaSpend, when asked if crossing the tracks at night is more dangerous.

Shingare is part of a 300-strong community of visually impaired individuals living in Vangani, which has a population of more than 12,000. Most members of this unique community earn their livelihood on the train, either hawking small trinkets, or by singing and seeking alms.

Since the 1990s, visually impaired people who had come to look for jobs in Mumbai started settling in Vangani for its lower rents. In 2008, a local politician, Ravindra Patil, announced a scheme to provide them free housing, and Vangani began to attract greater numbers of visually challenged people. Patil was murdered in 2010 and the housing scheme failed to take off. However, the sense of community and support that the early arrivals fostered has been drawing in visually impaired people ever since.

Their experience offers a glimpse at the challenges facing India's five million visually impaired people.

The visually challenged form 18.6 per cent of India's 26.8 million disabled population, of whom 15.7 million are in the employable age of 15 to 59 years. Yet, 60.4 per cent of disabled -- 9.49 million people -- are either without work or are marginally employed, the 2011 Census data show.

In Vangani, the older inhabitants help the newcomers settle in by hand-holding them in setting up their hawking and other work, and in navigating the trains.

"The locals of Vangani have always been welcoming towards the visually impaired community here," Kishor Shelar, husband of Vangani sarpanch Ketaki Shelar, told IndiaSpend. He said the town has recently got a Braille library which stocks books from the National Association for the Blind. He said his wife, the sarpanch, ensures that the money budgeted for the welfare of the disabled is utilised.

A thin man with a quiet manner, Shingare -- who arrived in Vangani in 1999 -- says he dropped out of his BA, but has cleared three examinations in music, in addition to completing a course in typing. On failing to get a job, he made his way to Vangani. "I was frustrated when after applying for a job at the Regional Transport Office after completing my 12th, the officer remarked, 'If we give them [the disabled] jobs, that will mean fewer jobs for us.'"

He is now married to Usha, who is also visually impaired, and they have two children. They live in a rented accommodation, getting by on the roughly Rs 5,000 he earns each month.

IndiaSpend met 20 members of Vangani's visually impaired community and asked them about their education, livelihood and awareness about government schemes. Many of them have life stories similar to Shingare's -- 62 per cent of them have completed 10 years of schooling, but have struggled to find regular work.

Ashish Housay, 28, completed a diploma in education from Latur, and has been trying to get a job in the central government's Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan for four years. In private schools in his native Marathwada, he was asked for bribes ranging from Rs 8-10 lakh, due to which he stopped trying there. He currently works in an orchestra, which itself is not doing well these days, he says.

Most of the visually impaired resort to employment in the unorganised sector -- 15 of the 20 surveyed said they earned their livelihood by hawking. Many of them struggled to make ends meet -- 16 of 20 earned less than Rs 5,000 per month; most earned only Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000. This works out to less than Rs 30 per person per day in a family of four, which is below the poverty line.

Of the respondents, 16 said more than one member -- usually both spouses -- in their family was disabled. Families of those with multiple disabilities usually depend on the generosity of neighbours and community members to get by.

Asha, 40, and her husband Manohar Waghmare, 60, form one such household. Manohar has had paralysis in his legs since the age of two, and both he and Asha are visually impaired. Asha worked in a woollens factory in Andheri, but shifted to Vangani after marrying Manohar 20 years ago. She has had no job since then and the couple have no source of income. The Shingares, their neighbours, take care of them.

The government has numerous schemes to provide skills training to the disabled under a national action plan, including skills training by the National Skill Development Corporation and technical and vocational courses from Industrial Training Institutes.

Other schemes provide finance, such as the micro-financing scheme of the National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation that offers loans of up to Rs 50,000 for those with more than 40 per cent disability and aged over 18 years.

The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) helped many Vangani residents apply for the micro-finance scheme. Very few succeeded in getting funding, and it took between one and three years for the money to be disbursed.

Although all respondents had disability cards, most of them either knew nothing about any schemes or only knew about one, the Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Scheme that gives beneficiaries Rs 600 per month, or Rs 900 per month to two eligible members within one family.

Only two of the 20 respondents had actually received the amount. Acquiring benefits under this scheme is not easy -- one needs an income certificate, a domicile certificate and several other documents, and the application process itself takes six months to a year, Shingare said.

Numerous government programmes purport to provide the disabled with a host of benefits ranging from free transport to reservation in government jobs. However, 51 per cent of the disabled do not have the ID cards they require to access these benefits.

Prejudices often deny them access to education, the most reliable route to employment and self-reliance. As the experience of Vangani's community shows, even education does not guarantee jobs.

(In arrangement with IndiaSpend.org, a data-driven, non-profit, public interest journalism platform, with whom Pracho Salve is an analyst and Swagata Yadavar is principal correspondent. The views expressed are those of IndiaSpend. Feedback at respond@indiaspend.org)

--IANS/IndiaSpend

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Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump on Friday pledged to expand mutually beneficial cooperation and to manage their differences based on mutual respect.

The two leaders also agreed that their first meeting, held at the seaside Mar-a-Lago resort in the US state of Florida, was "positive and fruitful", Xinhua news agency reported.

During their talks, Xi and Trump exchanged their views on key areas of bilateral cooperation as well as global and regional issues of common concern.

Xi said his first meeting with the US leader bears unique importance to the development of China-US ties.

He added that they have also gained better understanding of each other, stepped up their mutual trust, scored multiple major consensus, and built up a good working relationship.

"The two sides need to further enhance their relationship so as to better serve the two countries and their peoples, and to promote world peace and prosperity," Xi was quoted as saying.

Ahead of the two presidents' second round of talks, senior Chinese and US officials initiated two newly-installed dialogue mechanisms in economy, as well as diplomacy and security.

--IANS

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A Zambian student allegedly committed suicide in a private university hostel here on Saturday, police said.

Jeetey Shakala, 21, who was a third year engineering student at Parul University in the Waghodia area of Vadodara, was found dead in his room in the international students' hostel on the campus.

The police believe the student had committed suicide but have not recovered a suicide note from the room.

His body was found when his room partner knocked on the door but Shakala did not open. The matter was reported to the hostel warden who opened the door with a duplicate key to find the student lying there dead.

While the university has locked the gates of the campus to prevent media persons from entering, the police are tight-lipped about the details.

It has also not been disclosed if the student had hanged himself from the fan or consumed something. Sources said used injections were also found in the room.

Home Department sources said the Gujarat Police was concerned about this incident in the wake of the controversy surrounding the alleged racial attacks on African students in India.

--IANS

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Last week, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar called for a national-level grand alliance of Opposition parties to stop the surge of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). A Bihar-like Grand Alliance is the solution, Kumar told the media at his weekly press conference on April 3. A mahagathbandhan like this will be a great success. The Congress and Left parties must take the initiative.
Senior BJP leader on Saturday said the possibility of ISIS involvement in Kashmir is a a serious issue and the country must take the help of United States and Israel to eliminate it.

"The possibility of ISIS involvement in Kashmir is the serious issue that we need to deal with iron hand. They have reportedly said that 'Hindustan' (India) is our incomplete history. This outfit has launched its propaganda in Kashmir (and) that we need to eliminate (it).

"We must take the help of United States and Israel. The US has the advanced weapons and Israel has intelligence. With the involvement of ISIS in Kashmir, this is no more a problem between merely India and Pakistan," Swamy said.

The Rajya Sabha member was here to release the special edition of monthly magazine 'Hindi Vivek'.

He suggested that one crore retired army-men should be given permission to settle down in the Valley with all necessary assistance to bring normalcy there.

The BJP leader also emphasised that imposing President's rule is necessary to solve the Kashmir issue.

"I don't think that until and unless (Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister) Mehbooba (Mufti) is there, she would be in position to take hard stance to find permanent solution. She may be having some limitations. Therefore, I think that imposing the President's rule is also necessary and the Army be given six months to deal with the anti-social elements," Swamy said.

Swamy also reiterated that India needs to strengthen its stand over the Kashmir issue and hoped that the Narendra Modi government would take every possible step to recover each inch of the land of Kashmir even Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK).

The way people of the Jammu and Kashmir came out and took part in the last election, despite separatists making all possible attempt to thwart the democratic process in the Valley, it indicates that people want peace, prosperity and development, he added.

He also said "in order to give China a befitting reply, we must strengthen our relations with Afghanistan and Iran, and our government is going ahead in right direction".
Wheat procurement in Haryana has reached the 2.60 lakh metric tonne mark in the ongoing Rabi marketing season, with majority of the crop being purchased by government agencies.

Five government procuring agencies and traders have purchased 2,60,036 metric tonnes of wheat which arrived in the mandis till yesterday, a spokesman of the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department said.

Giving details, he said 60,573 tonnes of wheat were procured by the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department, whereas Haryana State Co-operative Supply and Marketing Federation Limited (HAFED) purchased 65,395 tonnes.

He said Central agency the Food Corporation of India purchased 40,096 tonnes, Haryana Agro Industries Corporation bought 1,646 tonnes while the Haryana Warehousing Corporation procured 92,076 metric tonnes of wheat.

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Two suspected Al-Qaeda militants were killed in a drone strike in war-torn Yemen, local security sources said today amid a surge in US raids against jihadists.

The sources said the drone, apparently American, hit the fighters last evening as they rode a motorbike through the Sawmaa area of central Baida province.

The region is a stronghold of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which has taken advantage of the chaos caused by more than two years of civil war to expand its presence in Yemen.

Baida was the site of the first raid ordered by US President Donald Trump after he took office in January.

The US has since escalated its drone war in Yemen, where security officials have reported dozens of suspected jihadist fighters killed in strikes on Abyan, Baida and the neighbouring province of Shabwa.

The Pentagon says it has carried out over 70 air strikes in Yemen since February 28.

More than 7,700 people -- most of them civilians -- have been killed in Yemen's war since a March 2015 military intervention by a Saudi-led coalition against Shiite Huthi rebels, the World Heath Organization says.

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At least 20 people were killed when their passenger boat collided with a river barge in western Myanmar, a state-run newspaper reported.

The boat carrying 80 passengers sank shortly after a "head on collision" with the cargo ship yesterday evening in a river near Pathein, a port city west of Yangon, the Global New Light of Myanmar said.

The boat was filled with guests returning from a wedding, according to other local media.

"Eighteen bodies including four men and 14 women were discovered in the wrecked ship so far," the state mouthpiece said, without elaborating on the other two it confirmed dead.

It added that rescue operations were ongoing.

Fatal boat accidents are common in Myanmar, where many people living along its flood-prone rivers rely on often overcrowded ferries for transport.

Last October 73 people, including many teachers and students, died when their packed vessel capsized in central Myanmar on the Chindwin River.

It took several days to recover all of the bodies.

In March 2015, around 60 people died after their ferry, which was carrying some 200 passengers, sank off the coast of western Rakhine state.

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The Mumbai zone of Service Tax department today said that it expects another 1.15 lakh active assessees of the total 2.8 lakh companies, to migrate to GST portal by Monday.

So far, around 65,000 active assessees have already migrated to the portal since its launch in January this year.

Active companies are the ones, which file Service Tax returns on a regular basis.

"Around 65,000 assessees in Mumbai have already migrated to the GST portal so far and we do hope that the remaining assessees will also migrate to the portal by April 10," Service Tax Chief Commissioner and head of the Mumbai zone Piyusha Patnaik told PTI here.

All the seven commissionerates of the Service Tax department in Mumbai are separately holding 5-day long GST Migration Camps which kicked off on April 6.

"GST migration camps are being held in all the commissionerates for the Mumbai-based service taxpayers. All the taxpayers are invited to attend the camp for a hassle-free migration," Patnaik said.

"The department officers are ready to attend to the taxpayers and help them migrate to GST portal," she said.

Meanwhile, ST Commissionerate-VII, which comprises areas like Thane-Mulund, Ghatkopar, Kurla, Chembur, Andheri (East) Powai, Vashi and Raigad, has completed successful migration of 9,000 firms to GST portal so far.

"In my jurisdiction, around 9,000 companies have already migrated to the GST portal so far and we do hope that the remaining 50,000 companies will be doing so by April 10 and it is why we are holding the GST Migration Camps at two places in the commissionerate," C Dhanasekaran, Commissioner of Service Tax-VII said.

The revenue of the Commissionerate-VII for 2016-17 is Rs 15,470 crore, which is 24 per cent more than last year's revenue, he said.

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Arab League chief Ahmed Abu Gheit warned today against a "dangerous escalation" in Syria after a US missile strike on a Syrian airbase following an alleged regime chemical attack.

"The Arab League rejects regional and international powers' attempts to politic over the corpses of Syrians or at the cost of its sovereignty," he told reporters.

"Therefore we demand that all should retreat from this dangerous escalation we are monitoring," said the secretary general of the 22-member Arab bloc based in Cairo.

Yesterday, the US military fired 59 Tomahawk missiles at Shayrat air field in response to a suspected chemical attack this week widely blamed on the Damascus regime.

A Syrian military source told AFP that Syria's armed forces were warned about possible US military action hours before the strike took place.

Abul Gheit condemned the chemical attack, for which the regime has denied responsibility, saying "the perpetrators must be held accountable one day".

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Security men today staged a flag march in curfew-bound Bhadrak town of Odisha even as the Central forces were on their way to the area, which had witnessed violence triggered by 'abusive' remarks against Hindu deities.

The curfew, clamped in the arson-hit town yesterday, would continue till tomorrow, while the prohibitory orders under section 144 of CrPC were imposed in nearby Dhamnagar and Basudevpur as a precautionary measure to prevent spread of violence, a police official said.

Additional forces, including armed police, were deployed as part of an effort to restore peace in the strife-torn town which witnessed violence on Thursday and Friday, he said.

Senior officials, including Home Secretary Asit Tripathy and Director-General of Police K B Singh, have been camping in Bhadrak to monitor and supervise the peace operation.

The DGP said the situation was now under control after some violent incidents took place in the town yesterday, but there was no group clash and loss of life.

Chief Secretary A P Padhi said in Bhubaneswar today that no violence had taken place in Bhadrak, where 35 platoons of force (over 1,100 personnel) had been deployed.

Two companies of Central forces are being sent to Bhadrak as the Union government is ready to extend all help and cooperation to the state in restoring normalcy in the town, Union Minister Pradhan said in a statement.

Stating that he had a word with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and the Home secretary on the issue, Pradhan urged Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to handle the situation in a sensitive manner and activate the administration.

About 30 people have been detained in connection with the violent incidents which left several shops gutted and vehicles damaged.

All entry and exit points of the town have been sealed, police said.

The violence-hit town wore a deserted look as shops, business establishments, educational institutions and other organisations remained closed.

Violence had erupted in Bhadrak on Thursday after a group staged demonstration near the town police station demanding immediate arrest of those involved in posting alleged offensive remarks against Hindu deities on social media.

Though the district administration clamped prohibitory orders, tension persisted and fresh violence erupted yesterday after a peace meeting called by the administration to restore normalcy failed to yield results.

The state government has appointed Gyanaranjan Das, who was the Commissioner of Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC), as Bhadrak Collector.

Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Krishan Pal Gurjar, who was scheduled to attend a function here today cancelled his visit, while slamming the state government for unrest in the town.

BJP leaders, including the party's Odisha unit president, Basant Panda and former MLA Pratap Sarangi slammed the BJD-led state government for arson in Bhadrak, adding that it was ironical that the Chief Minister was camping in Delhi at a time when the town was burning.

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China condemned today the violent attack in central Stockholm that killed four people and injured many others on a busy street in the Swedish capital.

"Our thoughts are with the victims, and we express our sincere sympathy to the injured and the bereaved," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said.

"We will stand with the Swedish side to safeguard stability and security of the two countries and the world at large," the spokesperson said.

President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang have sent messages of condolences to the Swedish side, Hua said.

The Chinese embassy in Sweden activated an emergency response mechanism immediately after the attack, and issued a safety warning, according to Hua.

"We have not received any reports of death or injuries of Chinese citizens, and we will follow closely the developments and properly deal with any follow-up matters," state-run Xinhua agency quoted Hua as saying.

Yesterday, a truck ploughed into pedestrians on a busy shopping street before crashing into a department store in central Stockholm, killing at least four and wounding many others.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping was able to take in views of the natural beauty that Alaska has to offer.

The state's governor hopes this will lead to an increased appetite in the world's most populous nation for more natural resources from Alaska.

Xi requested time with Gov Bill Walker yesterday night as the Chinese delegation's plane made a refueling stop in Alaska's largest city following meetings with President Donald Trump in Florida. His wife and the Chinese delegation stepped off the Boeing 747 and were greeted by Walker, his wife and several dignitaries.

Later, the two men spoke briefly to reporters before a business meeting, in which Walker touted the state's abundant natural resources: oil, fish, air cargo, mineral resources industries.

Walker also took time to advocate for a natural gas pipeline he has long backed, which would take natural gas from Alaska's North Slope to the coast for shipment.

Alaska could provide a generation's worth of liquefied natural gas to China, he told Xi.

For Walker, even just a few hours of time with the president of China can pay dividends.

China is the state's top export market, buying nearly USD 1.2 billion worth of goods in 2016, according to the US Census Bureau. The next top international market was Japan, at nearly USD 820 million, followed by South Korea, at USD 730 million.

Chris Hladick, the commissioner of the state's Commerce department, called the visit by the Chinese delegation a "once-in-a lifetime opportunity."



The state's top export product to China? Fish, accounting for 58 per cent. Frozen cod and flat fish, such as halibut, topped a lengthy list of fisheries products, which also included frozen salmon and pollock.

Jerry McCune is president of the United Fishermen of Alaska. He said he understood the trade talk would focus mostly on oil and gas, but added: "I would say that any trade that we can boost in the fishery with any particular county, China would be one that would be huge."



Jeremy Woodrow, a spokesman for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, said the Chinese market is important to Alaska for two reasons: it purchases a huge amount of Alaska fish for re-exporting purposes around the world, and Chinese consumers are now buying more seafood for consumption at home.

"Wild, sustainable, healthy, clean, those type of attributes that you can put on Alaska seafood are becoming much more desirable for the Chinese consumer, and we're seeing year after year, more Alaska seafood products actually staying in China for Chinese consumption" he said.

A distant second on the export list are minerals and ores, accounting for 27 per cent. Included in that last year was about USD 130 million of precious metals, which Hladick said was likely gold from the Fairbanks area.

Hladick sees China as a potential market for Alaska coal and hoped to raise the issue with Chinese officials during their visit. "It's meetings like this that spark interest and then you follow up," Hladick said.

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India has received a report on the shootout incident resulting in the death of its national in the US' Washington state and is coordinating with the investigative agencies, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said today.

The Minister also said that the Indian Consulate in San Francisco is helping the family of 26-year-old Vikram Jaryal, who was shot dead allegedly by two masked armed robbers.

"I have received a report on the shootout incident resulting in the tragic death of Indian national Vikram Jaryal in Washington State USA," Swaraj tweeted.

"The victim was only 26 years old and had reached US only 25 days back. He was working at the gas station of a family friend," she said in a series of tweets.

Jaryal, who worked as a clerk at AM-PM Gas Station in Yakima city, was behind the counter when the incident happened. His family had yesterday sought Swaraj's help to bring his body back.

"On 6 April two miscreants entered the shop at 1.30 am. They snatched cash from victim and shot on his chest. This resulted in his death," Swaraj said.

"We are coordinating with the investigative agencies. They have got the CCTV footage and are in the process of apprehending the culprits," she said



"Our consulate in San Francisco is helping the family and following this up with the Police authorities," she added.

Jaryal hailed from Hoshiarpur district in Punjab.

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Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama today addressed devotees speaking to them about the pratices of Boddhisattavas at the Yid GaChosin monastery here.

A large number of devotees gathered at the monsatery were from Bhutan, besides eminent Rimpoches, monks and nuns from near and far off places and guests.

Welcoming the Dalai Lama to West Kameng district, Chief Minister Pema Khandu, who hails from it, called him the world's "apostle of peace".

The Dalai Lama has always been an ambassador of non-violence and it is therefore right to say that he is to the 21st century what Gandhiji was to the 20th century.

"The world today requires the divine presence of Your Holiness more so in the present day when it is being torn apart by hatred and violence in many parts," Khandu said.

He said the emphasis on rational thinking and scientific analysis by the Dalai Lama has added a new dimension to the practice of Buddhism in modern times.

The rational approach, he said, would go a great way in ushering in a renewed era of peace, prosperity and spirituality.

Khandu said better infrastructure would be built at Yid-GaChoszin monastery and it would be converted to a centre for Buddhist Learning.

He also said that it was the people demand that a Kalachakra Initiation by the Dalai Lama is at Tawang in coming years.

Recounting the first sermon in exile delivered by the Dalai Lama at the Tawang monastery in 1959, he said the one this time will add to the understanding of Dharma and to follow the righteous way of living together with human values, love, peace and compassion.

He hoped that the Dalai Lama would pay more visits to Arunachal Pradesh. His last visit was in 2009.

He thanked the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Central Tibetan Administration for facilitating the visit.

Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama laid the foundation stone for a government degree college here.

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A 75-year-old woman was injured after she was shot at allegedly by one of her family members in a Borivali-bound MSRTC bus here, police said today.

The incident took place late last night when accused Sumedh Karandikar, also a local leader of Kamghar Sena--opened fire on the elderly woman inside the bus after an altercation broke out between them over some issue.

According to police, Karandikar shot at the woman identified as Paravati Thakur from point blank range, injuring her severely. She was rushed to a private hospital where she is being treated.

The assailant, who is allegedly her son-in-law, was over powered by the co-passengers after which he was arrested and booked under section 307 of the IPC and also sections 3,25 and 27 of the Arms Act.

Also, the accused has been sent to the Thane civil hospital for a medical test as police suspects that he was under the influence of liquor.

The accused is said to be associated with New Hindustan Kamghar Sena, which is affiliated to the Shiv Sena.

Kasarwadavali police are carrying out further probe into the crime.

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An engineering student has been arrested for a call in the social media to kill Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

The 22-year-old student in a facebook post made a call to international terror outfit to kill Vijayan.

He was arrested yesterday on a complaint filed by a local CPI-M leader.

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The five pillars of the new education policy will be accessibility, equity, quality, affordability and accountability, Union HRD MinisterPrakash Javadekar said here today.

"All these five pillars are important for new education policy. We need to add value education, sport activity, yoga. Yoga is our own narrative which has been accepted across the world. Now there is 'Samata' day also. Ambedkar Jayanti also (being observed) by United Nations," he said, speaking at silver jubilee celebrations of Pragna Bharati, tonight.

The Centre's draft education policy was released last year.

Stressing on the importance of innovation, he said innovation is changing lives fast and it can ensure sustainable way of prosperity.

The Centre has come up with 'Uchtar Avishkar Yojana' to promote innovation and also organised a 'hackathon', he said.

Government is making efforts to set up 20 world-class universities in the country, ten each in private and public sector, Javadekar said.

The government is also launching Global Research Interactive Network (GRIN) programme, which will provide scholarship and opportunity to students to work with reputed foreign laboratories and enjoy the liberty of returning to India to continue with research, he said.

The HRD Minister also said the government has started the higher education finance agency.

An amount of Rs20,000 cores would be raised in next one and half years. The amount would be spent to create research and academic infrastructure in the best institutes so that the best of the students stay back in the country, he said.

Javadekar said he sought a "positive Indology" to replace a "divisive agenda with which people are working on Indology".

"Indology, Indian studies is suffering world over because it's a divisive agenda with which people are working on Indology. I found that I have ICSSR, ICHR, ICPR, then there is ASI in Culture ministry, then Indira Gandhi institute in Culture ministry and ICCR.

"I said you create a positive Indology. Because, there only this negative narrative and divisive narrative of Indology. That's wrong interpretation. It's united country and will remain united. That's the real narrative which must preserve," he said.

The NDA government is moving ahead with the agenda of making India prosperous that involves all, he said.

Meanwhile, Javadekar visited Bhongir in Telangana earlier in the day and addressed BJP functionaries.

Asserting that the victory of BJP in Uttar Pradesh polls is vote for development, he dismissed the doubts expressed about functioning of EVMs by BSP chief Mayawati.

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After three failed auctions, banks have finally managed to sell the Kingfisher Villa in Goa belonging to the troubled businessman Vijay Mallya to a city-based actor for Rs 73 crore through a private treaty.

The harried lenders to Kingfisher Airlines have ended the jinx to recover the dues of over Rs 9,000 crore by monetising assets of the airline under their custody by selling the villa to actor-producer Sachiin Joshi.

The sale of KFA Villa finally took off earlier this week after three failed auctions, the last being on March 6.

With this, the lenders' only other asset is the Kingfisher House in the city, which had commanded a valuation of over Rs 150 crore initially, but could not be auctioned even at the fourth round.

Though both the parties -- the 17-bank consortium led by SBI and the buyer actor-producer Sachiin Joshi, who owns Viiking Media, refused to confirm the deal, sources said the villa in north Goa has finally been sold to Joshi for Rs 73.01 crore, far less than the reserve price the bankers set at upwards of Rs 90 crore for auctions, which failed thrice.

"Secured creditors have the right to go for a private treaty if the auction route fails. With this, it seems the jinx over the sale of KFA properties is over. The villa was sold through a bilateral agreement earlier this week for Rs 73.01 crore to actor-producer Sachiin Joshi," a source who is aware of the development told PTI.

The villa, spread over 12,350 sq ft or three acres at Candolim (on the way to Fort Aguada), was legally owned by United Breweries Holdings, the parent of the airline. The lenders had taken physical possession of the villa in May 2016.

The lenders' bid to auction trademarks, including the brand value of the Kingfisher logo, in August 2016, too, was unsuccessful. The reserve price for the brands was set at Rs 330 crore, which is not even a tenth of the Rs 4,000 crore valuation it commanded when offered as collateral.

Asked if a similar route will be followed to dispose of Kingfisher House in the city, which was once the headquarters of the airline, the source said with the sale of the villa, at least a process has been initiated.

The source also said movable assets lying in the villa will be sold through a recovery officer as per the DRT orders.

For the third auction on March 6, the reserve price for the villa was set at Rs 73 crore, which was around 10 per cent lower than the second auction held last December when the price of the sea-facing property was set at Rs 81 crore. It was put under the hammer for the first time last October with a reserve price of Rs 85.29 crore.

The villa was used by Mallya to host lavish parties.

SBI Caps Trustee was entrusted with auctioning the properties on behalf of the lenders.

Mallya was declared a wilful defaulter and is wanted by authorities for default in payment for loans related to Kingfisher Airlines that was grounded in 2012. He owes over Rs 9,000 crore to lenders like SBI, PNB, IDBI Bank, BoB, Allahabad Bank, Federal Bank and Axis Bank, among others. He left the country on March 3 last year and is currently said to be in Britain and his extradition talks are on.

The SBI-led consortium had also reduced the reserve price of the Kingfisher House by 10 per cent to Rs 103.50 crore from Rs 115 crore during the third failed auction last December. In the first auction in March 2016, the reserve price was set at Rs 150 crore, but was lowered to Rs 135 crore in the second held last August.

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A Tuareg-led group in Mali said today t five of its fighters were killed in an attack blamed on jihadists, a week after a national peace summit called for talks with militants in the country's north.

"Our base in Gargando was attacked early Saturday by Islamist terrorists," Oumar Ag Keling, a member of the Tuareg-led Congress for Justice in Azawad, told AFP.

Gargando is a small town in central Mali located about 170 kilometres (106 miles) to the west of historic Timbuktu.

"They killed four of our fighters, as well as the village chief," Keling said, adding that the jihadist rebels were "of many nationalities, according to the documents found at the scene".

A Malian military official confirmed the deaths, saying that "it was terrorists from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb who were responsible for the attack, because the CJA was becoming a powerful force in the region".

For more than a month, the CJA -- formed in October 2016 to gain a bigger voice in the peace process for the Tuareg ethnic community of Kel Ansar, in Mali's northwest -- has opposed the installation of interim local authorities in Timbuktu, a central part of a peace deal signed in 2015.

The rebels signed the deal along with the government and pro-Bamako militias in the hopes of bringing stability to the north, the cradle of several Tuareg uprisings and a sanctuary for Islamist fighters.

Interim authorities will represent the inhabitants of Mali's five northern regions until security improves so that local elections can be held.

The implementation of the peace accord however has been piecemeal and insurgents who refused to sign the deal are still active across large parts of the country.

Mali's north fell under the control of jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda in 2012 who hijacked the rebel uprising, though the Islamists were largely ousted by a French-led military operation in January 2013.

In another attack, a member of a pro-government group was killed on Friday in the northeast village of Anefis, according to an international security source, but they could not identify the perpetrators.

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Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles has said that a government agency has banned him from seeking office for 15 years.

The governor of Miranda state, who came within a whisker of defeating President Nicolas Maduro in 2013 elections, is the latest in a number of prominent opposition politicians to be targeted by the embattled socialist government.

Among the others: LEOPOLDO LOPEZ: Venezuela's most-famous political prisoner was arrested in 2014 and later sentenced to nearly 14 years in prison on what are widely seen as trumped-up charges of inciting violence tied to 2014 anti-government protests.

His Popular Will party, which President Maduro calls a terrorist organization, asserts that more than 260 of its members have either been detained, charged or face harassment related to their political activity.

ANTONIO LEDEZMA: The mayor of Caracas was arrested in February 2015 for allegedly being part of a US-backed plot to topple Maduro. Three months later, he was placed under house arrest while awaiting trial.

MIGUEL HENRIQUE OTRO: The editor of El Nacional, the last remaining national newspaper critical of the government, was barred from leaving Venezuela after the powerful head of the socialist party, Diosdado Cabello, sued him for slander for republishing an article from the Spanish newspaper ABC accusing him of ties to drug cartels.

Otero, who was outside of the country when the court order was issued, runs the seven-decade-old newspaper from exile in Spain. Several other media executives were charged in the same case.

MARIA CORINA MACHADO: The most-voted-for lawmaker in Venezuela's 2010 congressional elections, Machado was stripped of office in 2014, had her passport taken and was barred from competing in elections the following year. She still faces charges of conspiracy.

DANIEL CEBALLOS: The former student activist was jailed in 2014 during the wave of anti-government protests that had as its epicenter the restive western city of San Cristobal, where he was mayor.

MANUEL ROSALES: The former governor and presidential candidate was arrested in 2015 upon his return from exile in Peru, where he fled to escape charges of stealing public funds that he says were politically motivated. He is currently under house arrest awaiting trial.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi today hailed his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina for her country's development by putting behind a personal tragedy, which saw the massacre of 16 of her family members in a coup.

"Can anyone imagine when 16 members of your family are murdered? And one daughter struggled to realise the dreams of 'Sonar Bangla' (golden Bangladesh). This is not a common thing. She (Hasina) stands rock solid and is working to take her country on the path of development.

"I hail her courage. The way she brought herself and her country out of troubled times. Very few have this courage," he said.

The Prime Minister was speaking at the ceremony where families of martyrs of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War were felicitated by Hasina.

Hasina's father Shaikh Mujibur Rehman, famously known as 'Bangabandhu', and one of the leaders who led the Bangladesh Liberation movement were assassinated in a coup in 1975, along with the former's family members. Hasina and her sister Rehana escaped the attack as they were not in the country at that time.

Modi said Bangladesh has achieved phenomenal success in several areas after its independence.

Listing out the achievements, he said since 1971, the average life expectancy of Bangladeshis have increased several times than India's, and its GDP has grown 31 times in 35 years.

The BJP leader said the infant mortality rate has gone down from 222 per 1,000 live births to 38 per 1,000 live births, and export has increased 125 times.

"This speaks for a lot of change. Bangladesh is crossing new limits of economic development by following the vision of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina," he added.

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India today signed three pacts with Bangladesh in the field of nuclear energy, second such deal with a South Asian neighbour.

The pact entails knowledge sharing and training of Bangladeshi personnel in the area.

The first agreement is the general cooperation pact for peaceful uses of nuclear energy. The second one was signed between the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) of India and its Bangladeshi equal Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (BAERA), which calls for exchange of technical cooperation and sharing of information in the field of nuclear safety and radiation protection.

The third agreement focuses on Indo-Bangla collaboration regarding nuclear power plants in Bangladesh.

"The pact also includes training of Bangladeshi personnel by our Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB)," said a senior government official.

Besides Bangladesh, India has signed civil nuclear deals with the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, South Korea, Mongolia, France, Namibia, Argentina, Canada, Kazakhstan, Australia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Japan.

After India and Pakistan, Bangladesh is the third South Asian nation which has plans to harness nuclear power. Russia is building two nuclear power plants in Bangladesh.

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In a bid to give boost to their ties, India and Bangladesh today inked nearly two dozen pacts in strategic areas of defence and civil nuclear cooperation after "productive" talks between their prime ministers.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held extensive discussions with his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina on ways to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries. He also announced a new line of concessional credit of USD 4.5 billion for the implementation of projects in Bangladesh.

Announcing an additional line of credit of USD 500 million to Bangladesh for military supplies, Modi said it will be driven by the requirement of that country.

However, much-delayed pact on the Teesta water sharing remained elusive for the two sides. Admitting that the pact was "important" for India-Bangladesh ties, Modi assured India's commitment to the issue.

He said an "early solution can and will be found" to the Teesta water sharing issue.

After their restricted meeting, the two leaders were joined by their respective delegations.

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Egypt should strengthen its cooperation in pharmaceutical sector with India which has great advantages in terms of providing affordable and reliable medication, India's envoy here said today.

Inaugurating the India Pavilion at the International Pharma exhibition "Pharmaconex 2017", India's Ambassador to Egypt Sanjay Bhattacharyya encouraged the Indian and Egyptian partners to strengthen cooperation in trade, investments and Research and Development (R&D).

"Pharmaceutical is something in which India seeks to be a global leader. We already have great advantages in terms of providing affordable and reliable medication. Egypt is a huge market in which we see growing export potentials as well as possibilities of investments.

"We are hoping that the Egyptian market which is so mature will provide us with the base also to expand to other parts of the region, the Arab world and Europe," the envoy told PTI.

He said India formulation is backed by globally acceptable certification and updated by growing R&D facilities.

Indian Pharmaceutical industry has come to be recognised as "Pharmacy of the world", Bhattacharyya said.

Eighteen Indian pharmaceutical companies are participating at the exhibition which is being held at Cairo International Convention Centre from April 8 to 10.

The companies from India are exhibiting their works in Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), herbals, neutraceuticals, pellets, surgical and finished formulations.

The pavilion was organised by the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil), an apex pharma Chamber sponsored by India, in association with the Embassy of India in Cairo.

India's pharma industry has presence in all therapeutic segments with almost all types of dosage forms and is a rich source of all APIs.

India's exports of pharmaceuticals in 2015-16 was USD 16.86 billion. Indian pharmaceutical industry with several thousand manufacturers, many of whom are US FDA, PICS and WHO GMP approved facilities, exports the largest share of generics to the world.

With a 20 per cent share in global trade of generics, India is able to provide cost effective and affordable medicine.

Indian pharmaceutical companies have come of age with several biosimilars, peptides and futuristic recombinant proteins being manufactured and marketed not only in India but also exported to several countries.

Several multinational corporations have opened their R&D centers in India owing to the huge technological pool of scientists in India for cost effective research for new molecules.

Contract research and manufacturing activities (CRAMS) are offered cost effectively and actively pursued in India.

Bhattacharyya said the participation by Pharmaxecil is expected to benefit the pharma industry in both countries and further strengthen bilateral ties.

India's pharma exports to Egypt stood at USD 162 million during 2015-16.

Though India's strengths are producing quality generic medicines and catering to over 220 countries at affordable prices, exports to Egypt are mainly comprises of APIs, pellets, excipient, nutraceuticals and herbal products.

Manufacturing cost of finished dosage forms are very low in India compared to any other country in the world.

Since Egypt's local industry is strong in manufacturing generic medicines, Indian manufacturers are keen to assist the pharma industry in Egypt in the areas of combination therapies, controlled release therapies (respiratory devices), Insulins with devices especially advanced insulins like glargine, APIs, oncology products and vaccines.

India's pharmaceutical exports are also keen to have joint venture with Egyptian Pharama companies not only for manufacturing in Egypt and also in India to derive mileage from India's work force and low cost base, Bhattacharyya added.

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Legal awareness is a weapon in the hands of citizen provided he knows its power, Supreme Court Judge Justice Dipak Misra said today while announcing a conference of NALSA for senior citizens to make them aware of the legal benefits available to them.

Justice Misra, who is also the Executive Chairman of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), said the authority is also planning to "structurally institutionalise" legal assistance system.

"Senior citizens are entitled to many benefits from government schemes. But they don't know. Legal awareness is a weapon in the hands of citizen provided he must know its power," he said.

"The Haryana State Legal Services Authority with the consent of NALSA is organising a conference in Faridabad on April 15 to make aware the senior citizens of the benefits available to them from the government," Justice Misra said.

Justice Misra, who is the second senior most judge in the Supreme Court, said for the purpose of institutionalisation of legal assistance, an administrative set-up named 'Legal Assistance Establishment' will be formed in four metro cities of the country in coming months.

Elaborating on the new set-up, he said, "Legal Assistance Establishments are establishments for the purpose of institutionalisation of legal assistance having an infrastructure where you can identify and go.

"It will be an administrative set-up at four metros of the country namely Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai functioning at the SALSA buildings and managed by experts in giving and collecting information to the litigants and addressing their grievances. The establishment is comparable to the public defender office of the USA," he said.

He said that National Lok Adalat which was held on February 11 had settled nine lakh cases out of which six lakhs were pending cases and the rest were pre-litigation cases.

The executive chairman of NALSA also said that a conference for the para-legal volunteers will be organised on April 29 and 30 in New Delhi.

"The conference will be attended by seven para-legal volunteers from each state and training will be given to them to assist the society in listening grievances of the litigants and to guide them," Justice Misra said.

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Pharma major has received final approval from the USFDA for Bupropion Hydrochloride tablets used for the treatment of major depressive disorder.

has received final approval for its Bupropion Hydrochloride extended release tablets USP (XL), 150 mg and 300 mg, from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), it said in a BSE filing on Saturday.

The companys product is the AB rated generic equivalent to Valeant Pharmaceuticals North America LLCs Wellbutrin tablets. It is used for the treatment of major depressive disorder and prevention of seasonal affective order in adults, the filing said.

As per IMS MAT December 2016 data, Wellbutrin tablets have sales of $755 million in the American market.
A 25-year-old woman was allegedly shot at by her husband in west Delhi's Inderpuri area, following which the accused was arrested, police said today.

The incident took place in the wee hours yesterday. Gagandeep allegedly shot at his wife Maushmi Roy on the right side of her chest and fled from the spot, they said.

She was rushed to a hospital and is currently out of danger, a senior police official said.

The accused had fled to Kapurthala in Punjab from where he was arrested by the local police and a country-made pistol, allegedly used to commit the crime, was seized, the official said.

In February, Gagandeep had attacked his wife with a knife and was arrested but they patched up and she had helped him get bail, they said.

Gagandeep has been unemployed for over a year now and his wife works at a call centre in Gurugram. The couple had a love marriage around three years back and they have an one-year-old daughter, the police officer said.

The accused was earlier working in Canada but left his job there and came to stay with his in-laws. He would often ask for money from his wife and she would rebuke him, he said.

"She was attacked by her husband at the entrance of her house. The bullet pierced through the right side of her chest," the officer said.

Her office's cab driver, who was returning after dropping her home, heard the gunshot and rushed to the house and found Maushmi in a pool of blood. With the help of her colleagues, she was taken to Ganga Ram Hospital, said the officer.

After the incident, Gagandeep boarded a bus to Kapurthala. There, where he tried to attack his father for money. His father, who was unaware that Gagandeep had allegedly attempted to kill Maushmi, called police for help and got his son arrested, the officer said.

Meanwhile, Delhi Police had informed their counterparts in Kapurthala about Gagandeep being on the run after allegedly attacking his wife. A team of Delhi Police has been sent to Kapurthala to bring the accused here.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a day-long visit to Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli on April 17 during which he will address a public rally and inaugurate development works.

Modi will lay foundation stone of some projects and distribute assistance to beneficiaries of government welfare schemes, the Administration of UT of Dadra and Nagar Haveli said in a release here today.

On the occasion, around 21,000 beneficiaries will receive help kits under different schemes, said Daman and Diu Publicity Secretary Vikram Singh Malik.

The beneficiaries will include those covered under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana and Aawas Yojana, among others.

Also, appointment letters will be given to youths who were provided jobs during a 'Rozgar Mela' organised recently and title deeds will be distributed to tribals under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, Malik said.

The rally will be held at Lions English School in Silvassa in the afternoon.

Modi is scheduled to arrive at Surat in South Gujarat on April 16 evening.

His programmes the next day also include inauguration of a Rs 400-crore hospital in Surat run by a welfare trust, a cattle feed plant and an ice-cream facility of Surat District Co-operative Milk Producers Union at Bajipura village in Tapi district.

The PM will inaugurate phase-1 of an irrigation project at Botad in Saurashtra, and also the lay foundation stone for phase-2 of the scheme.

The scheme, Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Irrigation (SAUNI), envisages filling 115 dams in the parched Saurashtra region by diverting floodwaters overflowing from the Sardar Sarovar Dam across the Narmada river.

This is Modi's second visit to his home state this year. On March 8, he addressed a convention of women sarpanch at Gandhinagar.

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A grocery store owned by a Nepali-American in the US state of North Carolina has been damaged after some unidentified persons attempted to set fire to it in an apparent hate crime incident.

The store in a predominately Indian locality in Charlotte city was attacked on Thursday and left with a note signed "White America" and threatening to "torture" the refugee business owners if they "did not go back to where they came from", police said.

They said officers were called to a fire at the Central Market.

On arrival, officers were advised by the Charlotte Fire Department that the fire was contained to the front door and burned itself out by their arrival, they said, adding that one of the windows in the store's door had been broken with a rock and a note signed "White America" left near the door.

Police said they were investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.

The note stated "the suspect did not want any refugee business owners and that they would torture the owner if they did not leave and go back to where they came from," they said.

"We need more safety and more security as business owners," said Kamal Dhimel, owner of the store, was quoted as saying by 'The Charlotte Observer'.

Dhimel, a Bhutan refugee who moved to the US from Nepal in 2010 and started his business in 2014, said the letter is a sign that people don't understand the importance of immigrants and refugees in the community.

"If they want to know about refugees and immigrants and our backgrounds, they need to come to us and listen to us. We can explain to them how we help this country, how we give back to this country," Dhimel said.

Investigators say video footage of the incident showed a black male suspect with a short goatee wearing a gray hoodie under a black coat, light jeans and black shoes, police said.

Central Market is a Nepali-Indian store that sells fast food, groceries and gifts, mostly from the Indian subcontinent.

People from India make up Charlotte's second largest concentration of immigrants (just below Hispanics) with 12,300 people, the report said.

Indian-Americans have faced a series of hate crime incidents recently.

A 26-year-old Indian man has been shot dead allegedly by two masked armed robbers at a convenience store of a gas station in the US' Washington state on Thursday.

Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla was killed when a US Navy veteran opened fire at him and his friend before yelling "get out of my country" in Kansas last month.

Earlier, a 39-year-old Sikh man was shot in his driveway in Washington state. The gunman had reportedly told the man to "go back to your own country" before pulling the trigger.

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A criminal carrying a reward of Rs 50,000 was arrestedafter an exchange of fire with the police near Kairana in Shamli district today.

Superintendent of Police, Shamli, Ajaypal Sharma said Furkan was arrested while he was allegedlypreparing to commit some crime in Kairana.

Acting on a tip-off that Furkan was going to threaten somebody and demand extortion money, police caught him on Kairana-Kandhla road and an exchange of fire ensued, police said.

They said that during the shootout, Furkan received bullet injuries and was arrested and taken to a hospital.

Two policemen also received injuries.

Furkan is wanted in Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh in over two dozen cases of extortion and murder.

Police said Furkan allegedly used to threaten people and forced them to flee. The UP Police had announced a reward of Rs 50,000 for any information leading to his arrest.

He has allegedly demanded extortion money from a trader In Kairana recently.

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One woman was killed in an air strike today on the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhun, site of a suspected chemical weapons attack earlier this week, a monitor said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was unclear if the strike on the rebel-held town in northwest Syria's Idlib province was carried out by Syrian planes or those of government ally Russia.

The death was the first in the town since a suspected chemical weapons attack on Tuesday that killed 87 civilians, including 31 children, and left hundreds suffering symptoms including convulsions, vomiting and foaming at the mouth.

Much of the international community pointed the finger at President Bashar al-Assad's government for the attack, though it denied any responsibility.

US President Donald Trump ordered the first direct US military action against Assad's government in response to the attack, launching missiles against an air base in central Syria.

Khan Sheikhun has been hit several times since the Tuesday attack, including in a strike in the hours afterwards on a hospital treating victims.

Idlib province is largely held by an alliance of rebels, including a former Al-Qaeda affiliate, and is regularly targeted in Syrian and Russian air strikes.

The US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State jihadist group has also carried out rare strikes in the province.

More than 320,000 people have been killed in Syria since its conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government demonstrations.

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The National Conference today hit out Prime Minister Narendra Modi for asking Kashmiri youths to choose between "tourism and terrorism", saying the remark was far from ground realities.

NC working president Omar Abdullah also said that linking tourism and terrorism was flawed at the outset as Kashmir received the highest number of tourists before the advent of militancy in the Valley in 1988.

He also hit out at Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti for failing to bring a peaceful solution to the problem in the state.

"Whether the message was right or not, you can guess yourself. Militancy or terrorism did not erupt due to lack of tourism. The highest number of tourists visited the state a year before the militancy erupted," Omar said after holding an election meeting at Pulwama in South Kashmir, 35 kms from here.

The former chief minister said if terrorism started in the state despite a tourism boom, it was obvious that there was no relation between the two.

"This is a political issue and it was Mehbooba Mufti's duty to present the real picture before the Prime Minister. (But) She failed in her duty and that is what the PM said it," he added.

Questioning the rationale behind linking tourism and terrorism, he asked what should the youths do who hail from areas where there is no scope for tourism.

"If you say that the youth here have to choose between tourism and terrorism, then tell me about those areas where there is not much scope for tourism. Are we directly pushing people in those areas towards terrorism? It is easy to indulge in such statements, but such statements have no relations with the ground realities," Omar said.

Pulwama, which is part of Anantnag Parliamentary seat where bypolls will be held on April 12, is the worst-hit district where there is a heavy presence of militants and its sympathisers.

Asked about the ruling PDP's accusation that the NC rigged assembly elections in 1987 which gave rise to militancy in the state, Omar said the ruling party should talk about its achievements rather than talking about the past.

"Her (Mehbooba's) government is two-and-a-half-year-old now and Modi government is three-year-old. Let them show what they have done in these years, rather than going to 1987.

"There have been many elections since 1987. The people made their decision after 1987 many a times. Mehbooba should not hide her failures behind 1987. Let her talk of 2015, 2016 and 2017 when she failed to raise our issues in front of the Prime Minister (at a rally on April 2) at Udhampur," he alleged.

Omar said the Chief Minister had a good opportunity to raise the issues of the state but she choose only to congratulate the Prime Minister on win in Uttar Pradesh.

"She had such a good opportunity to speak about the state, but she only said two things one she congratulated the PM for UP win, and that she was grateful to the PM for saving her government in 2016. This is her leadership and that is why she is talking about 1987," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The official Saudi Press Agency is reporting that US President Donald Trump has spoken by telephone with King Salman about the US missile strike on Syria.

The agency reports that during the yesterday phone call, the Saudi monarch congratulated Trump for his "courageous decision."



Saudi Arabia says the missile launch by Trump was the right response to "the crimes of this regime to its people in light of the failure of the international community to stop it."



The kingdom is among the most vehement opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad and supports Sunni rebel groups fighting to oust him.

The Sunni rulers of Saudi Arabia are in a power struggle for regional dominance with Iran's Shiite government and view Tehran's support of Assad as a threat to the region.

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Amid the row over 'Vande Mataram', Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today hit out at those refusing to sing the national song saying it reflected their "narrow mindedness".

"Some people are saying that we will not sing Vande Matram... We want this country to move ahead in the 21st century and the matter of dispute is that we will sing Vande Matram or not...This is a matter of concern," he said.

"We will have to find a way out to overcome this narrow mindedness," Adityanath said.

The Chief Minister was speaking at a book release function at the Raj Bhawan here.

His remarks came against the backdrop of Samajwadi Party corporators protesting a proposal to make singing of the national song compulsory at commencement of proceedings of a meeting of Allahabad municipal corporation.

The recent incident came days after municipal corporations in Meerut and Varanasi too witnessed similar ruckus over the issue.

Recalling the 150th anniversary functions of the Allahabad High Court, the Chief Minister said it had commenced with the rendition of 'Vande Matram'.

"It was such a good sight... It was a grand function, a historical one. The Prime Minister of the country was present at the concluding function. The Chief Justice of India and the Governor of the state were also present. The function itself started with the national song," the chief minister noted.

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The Republican Party of India (A) will take the space of Mayawati's BSP which fared very badly in the recent Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, its president and Union Minister Ramdas Athawale today said.

"Dalit voters also have their contribution in the BJP's landslide victory in UP. BSP chief Mayawati had thought that she will form a government but she will not come to power for the next 10 to 20 years," he told reporters here.

Stressing on strengthening his party, he said "RPI(A) will try to take the space of the BSP in the state...Not a single person of the BSP was elected to the Lok Sabha...Only 19 MLAs were elected in the recent Assembly polls, reflecting a massive slide in its support base."



"BSP workers are gradually joining RPI now," he said.

Noting that the BJP got the support of people who favoured the pro-poor policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Minister for Social Justice said "I have full confidence that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will fulfil the promises made by Modiji.

"UP will become 'uttam pradesh' under Yogi Adityanath. There is no need for anyone to fear. Yogiji will move forward taking people of all religions along," he said.

RPI(A) had fielded candidates in around 60 of the 403 Assembly constituencies, with Athawale saying that the intention was "to help the BJP in the long run" by splitting Dalit votes.

"RPI has the support of Dalit voters...If my candidates cut BSP votes, then it will help BJP," he had said during campaigning in UP.

RPI contesting the polls will not affect the winning prospects of the BJP candidates, he said, adding "RPI will support BJP and I will campaign for BJP candidates on seats from where RPI is not contesting...While I do not want to damage BJP votebank, I want RPI to grow in UP."



During his interaction with reporters today, the RPI president said that he will try that big business houses of Mumbai like those headed by Mukesh Ambani, Anil Ambani, Ratan Tata, Godrej, Bajaj and Kirlosker invest in UP.

"I will try and help in Yogi's efforts to realise the dreams of Modi," he added.

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Saraswat Bank, largest lender in the co-operative space, today appointed Smita Sandhane as its managing director.

Sandhane, who has been associated with the bank for the last 35 years and was serving as the chief financial officer, takes over from S K Banerji who retired recently, the bank said in a statement.

She was serving as the joint managing director since August 2016, and has served as head of wholesale banking and planning, accounts and stressed assets in the past.

Sandhane is on the board of National Payments Corporation of India as well.

............................................................. BSE Inst hosts finale of BSE International Financial Olympiad



BSE Institute, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BSE, today hosted the finale of BSE International Financial Olympiad here.

About 15,000 students from over 600 schools across the country participated in the national level competition, which was spread over 6 months, a release issued here said.

The purpose of BSE International Financial Olympiad is to create awareness about financial literacy amongst students at a young age.

.............................................................. Maha govt, Tata Trusts tie-up to address malnutrition



The Maharashtra government and Tata Trusts will work together to curb malnutrition in the Palghar district.

Tata Trusts has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with the state government to initiate a milk fortification programme as per the guidelines of the government and also to assist in curbing the malnutrition in the Palghar district, a release issued here said.

In Palghar district, a Technical Support Group will be established at the district level and information will be analysed on the basis of data gathered, it said.

A malnutrition eradication programme created by Tata Trusts will be implemented in the district and observations will be noted at different levels, it added.

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Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, who was involved in a row with Air India, met party president Uddhav Thackeray today and explained his position over the issue.

The meeting, which lasted for 10 minutes at Shiv Sena's central office at Dadar here, came after Air India, and other airlines, lifted the flying ban on Gaikwad after he expressed regret for assaulting an AI employee on March 23.

Neither Thakceray nor Gaikwad disclosed to reporters what transpired in the meeting. However, party sources said Gaikwad explained his position over the whole controversy.

Gaikwad, the MP from Osmanabad, arrived here by the Rajdhani Express this morning after attending parliament proceedings earlier this week.

The lawmaker boarded the train from Delhi last evening hours after the flying ban was lifted by the national carrier following his letter to Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Thursday in which he expressed "regret" over the "unfortunate incident".

After Air India, the Federation of Indian Airlines, comprising four leading private carriers, today revoked the flying ban on Gaikwad.

Jet Airways, SpiceJet, GoAir and IndiGo make up the grouping.

In a statement, the FIA said its members are restoring the flying privileges to Gaikwad "under the assurance that our assets and colleagues shall be accorded the respect that they deserve for the hard work that they put in every day".

The decision has been taken consequent to Air India restoring flying privileges to Gaikwad after being satisfied with the statement given by him in the Lok Sabha where he expressed "regret" for assaulting an Air India staffer.

On March 24, Air India barred Gaikwad from flying with it after the incident at the Delhi airport. Subsequently, the FIA barred the Lok Sabha member from flying.

On Friday, sources had said the Civil Aviation Ministry asked Air India as well as other airlines to lift the ban imposed on Gaikwad citing the "undertaking of good conduct" given by him.

The 56-year-old Parliamentarian had assaulted AI employee R Sukumar on March 23 after he landed in Delhi on a Pune-Delhi all-economy flight.

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An air strike killed 15 civilians including four children in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib today, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.

The monitoring group said the strike on the village of Urum al-Joz was suspected to have been carried out by Russian planes, which operate in support of the Syrian government.

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: About 200 students, youth and members of the public today extended support to the farmers agitating in New Delhi by staging a day-long protest here.

A group of youths and students, who had rallied in support of Jallikkattu three months ago, called for the demonstration to express solidarity with the farmers, who have been protesting in the national capital for over 20 days, pressing for total waiver of bank loans, among other things.

About 50 persons were present at the start of the protest and the number swelled to nearly 200 by afternoon, even as a group observed a fast to show their support, police said.

The protesters held aloft placards, seeking support to the farmers, who provide food to the world.

Meanwhile, 12 persons, belonging to Tamilar Ilangar Ani (Tamil Youth Front), a little known outfit, were arrested when they attempted to stage a demonstration in front of the BJP office here, to protest the Centre's 'negligent' attitude towards farmers' issues, police said.

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Swedish police said today that a man arrested on "suspicion of terrorist crime" was likely to be the driver of a truck that ploughed into a crowd of people in central Stockholm a day earlier.

"We suspect that the man who was arrested is the perpetrator," Stockholm police spokesman Lars Bystrom told AFP.

The attack yesterday killed four people and injured 15, nine of them seriously.

Police had earlier said they had detained a man who "matched the description" of a photo released of a suspect wearing a dark hoodie and military green jacket.

Bystrom said the arrested man "could be the same person in the picture".

According to the newspaper Aftonbladet, the individual in the photo is a 39-year-old man of Uzbek origin and a supporter of the Islamic State (IS) group.

If confirmed as a terror attack, it would be Sweden's first such deadly assault.

The attack occurred just before 3:00 pm (1300 GMT) when a stolen beer truck slammed into the corner of the bustling Ahlens store and the popular pedestrian street Drottninggatan.

Yesterday's attack was the latest in a string of similar assaults with vehicles in Europe, including in London, Berlin and the southern French city of Nice.

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A steady increase in cases of human trafficking from across the Nepal border and Indian towns in the vicinity has prompted security agencies to undertake new measures to effectively check the menace.

Official data provided by the SSB said figures in this regard are "scary".

It said while a total of 33 victims, both Indian and Nepalese, were apprehended by the Indo-Nepal border guarding force SSB from these areas in 2014, the figures went up to 336 in 2015, 501 in 2016 and till March this year, 180 boys and girls have been rescued by it.

Similarly, the number of traffickers apprehended from along the 1,751-km-long open and porous border on the country's eastern flank have risen from 8 in 2014 to 102 in 2015, 148 nabbed last year and 51 traffickers caught till March this year.

Prompted by the spurt and steady increase in these numbers, the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) has called for a day-long workshop between multiple stakeholders mandated to curb this crime which includes state police forces of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and others, railway police, NGOs and top police officials of cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru and from Punjab which are the destinations for these trafficked children.

"We want to involve each and every stakeholder who is instrumental in curbing the menace of human trafficking. It is not enough to just intercept such instances and let the police be handed over the investigation. It is essential to find out the source and supply destination of trafficking and hit at the illegal act in a comprehensive manner," SSB Director General Archana Ramasundaram told PTI.

She added the conference, to be held on Monday, will chalk out plans to better coordinate between multiple agencies involved so that the suppliers and end users of this criminal act are identified and brought to book.

An SSB statement said "the complexity of the phenomenon (human trafficking), its multi-dimensional nature, its rapid spread worldwide and confusion surrounding the concept has made urgent and essential need to understand the various aspects of the phenomenon".

A senior SSB officer said the border guarding force, by virtue of its large presence along Indo-Nepal border areas, can help in assisting the local police forces and non-government organisations in getting intelligence inputs and manpower upto a certain level that will help in joining together the dots of such crimes.

The data states that instances of human trafficking along the Indo-Nepal border have also grown from 8 in 2014 to 73 in 2015, 76 in 2016 and 34 till March this year.

All these instances involve both scenarios where trafficking happens from across the border and also from towns and villages along this frontier, the officer said.

"Nepal is primarily considered a country of origin - a source for human trafficking. Victims of trafficking from Nepal move to India or the Middle East or even to Europe.

"As per official figures, the Ministry of Women Children and Social Welfare of Nepal had identified 26 out of 75 districts as trafficking-prone," the SSB said.

The force has identified certain routes used by cross-border traffickers to transport girls and boys like Mahedranagar-Banbasa, Dhangarhi-Palia, Nepalganj-Rupediah, Krishnanagar-Barhni, Birganj-Raxaul and Biratnagar-Birpur among others.

Very few instances of human trafficking are reported from along villages and towns along the Indo-Myanmar border which the SSB guards in addition to the Nepal frontier.

"Human trafficking from across the Myanmar border does not happen. It is largely from Indian areas to the mainland. The Indo-Myanmar border is dotted by inhospitable terrain and dense jungles at many places and hence normal movement does not take place much.

"As movement across Indo-Nepal border is unrestricted, the challenge is larger on this frontier," the officer said.

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About 100 protesters gathered outside the US Embassy in the Turkish capital of Ankara today to protest the US missile strike on a Syrian air base.

Utku Reyhan, the general secretary of nationalist Patriotic Party that organised the protest, criticised the US missile strike against Shayrat air base.

"There is no solution from America, all that comes from America is chaos and blood," he said. "We should focus on solving the Syrian issue with the Syrian administration and our other neighbors Iraq and Iran."



He called for the continuation of the peace talks in Kazakhstan, which were organized by Russia and Turkey. Protesters chanted "Murderer US, get out of Syria" and held banners that read "Murderer US, get out of the Middle East.

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Two children were injured in a minor blast in Kiradpura locality of the city this afternoon, police said.

The police have however, ruled out the terror angle behind the blast.

"Prima facie it appears that some liquid fell on a chemical (carbide) resulting in the blast. The exact reason will be revealed after our team carries out detailed investigations. It does not appear to be a terror related activity," Aurangabad police commissioner Amitesh Kumar told reporters today.

He said, the injured children have been identified as Wasim Khan Chhote Khan aged 11 and Ifra Anees aged 9, said police.

Wasim has been hospitalised, while the girl has been discharged after administering first aid, they said.

The children are the residents of lane no 6 in Kiradpura.

An eye-witness identified as Feroz Khan told PTI that "The milk bags which the children were carrying with them ruptured and the milk fell on carbide which was stocked there. The chemical reaction probably triggered the blast."



This is the second such incident in the city in last 10-days.

On March 31, a 12-year-old boy was injured in Padegaon area of the city after the battery of his cell phone exploded.

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Uganda has arrested a prominent academic for criticising the wife of President Yoweri Museveni on social media, police said today.

Stella Nyanzi criticised Janet Museveni, who is education minister, on Facebook after the government reneged on a campaign pledge to supply free sanitary pads to schoolgirls struggling to afford hygiene products.

Police spokesman Emilian Kayima confirmed that Nyanzi was taken into custody yesterday and would appear in court Monday in Kampala on charges of cyber harassment and offensive communication under a 2011 law governing computer misuse.

"She kept posting issues, fighting battles on social media which we think does not serve her interests or ours," Kayima said.

Last Monday, Janet Museveni said in a rare TV interview that she had "forgiven" Nyanzi, whose work specialises in the study of sexuality in Africa.

The academic, whose no-holds-barred work is seen as provocative in some circles of a largely conservative society, had accused the first lady of being "totally out of touch with the reality of the masses".

After Janet Museveni said the sanitary pads pledge would not be met on budgetary grounds, Nyanzi began a high profile fundraising campaign on the issue.

Social media critic Rosebell Kagumire said that, with Nyanzi's arrest, "I think the government are looking for ways to extend traditional methods of intimidation to online speech. They are trying to control a space they have no ability to control."



Maria Burnett, Senior Africa Researcher at Human Rights Watch, criticised the arrest as an attack on free expression.

"The arrest and criminal charges brought against Dr Nyanzi are yet another clear indicator that those who express critical views of the government can face its wrath," Burnett said.

"The manner of Nyanzi's arrest on Friday was more about intimidation than law enforcement," she added.

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A 22-year-old Zambian student allegedly committed suicide in his hostel room at a private university here today, police said.

Zites Kala, a second year engineering student at Parul University, was found hanging from the ceiling fan this evening, Vadodara District Superintendent of Police Saurabh Dolumbia told PTI.

"A police team has rushed to the spot. We will inform the High Commissioner of Zambia about the incident," he said.

Sub inspector Yashwant Chouhan, the investigating officer in the case, told PTI that a purported suicide note has been recovered from Kala's room.

Prima facie the student took the extreme step as he was depressed, the officer said.

His parents have been informed, Chouhan said.

The president of the University, Devanshu Patel, said the varsity will co-operate with police in the probe.

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Sagar Thakkar alias 'Shaggy', the alleged mastermind of the Internal Revenue Service call centre scam in which thousands of Americans were defrauded to the tune of USD 300 million, has been arrested by Thane Police.

According to Thane Police officials, Sagar, who was on the run since the unearthing of the scam last year, was placed under arrest late last night after he arrived at the Mumbai airport following his deportation from Dubai.

A team of officers from Thane Police Commissionerate picked up Sagar from the airport, the officials said.

The scam, which operated since 2013 through at least half a dozen call centres in Thane, targeted at least 15,000 US-based tax payers, who were allegedly conned by Indian tele-callers.

The US Justice Department has charged 61 people and entities linked to the scam where call centre agents impersonated IRS, immigration and other federal officials and demanded payments for non-existent debts.

US Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson had earlier said that these call centres stole more than USD 300 million from their victims.

The scam came to light last year when police raided call centres at Mira Road in Thane district on the night of October 4-5. Subsequently, police teams raided and shut down five call centres in Ahmedabad which were a part of the racket.

Over 70 people, mostly directors and key persons linked to these call centres, were arrested and 700 employees were detained.

During the interrogation of arrested directors, police got the name of Sagar. However, by that time, he had left the country on October 5 before police could catch him.

According to police, they had issued a LOC (Look Out Circular) against Sagar on October 7, two days after his escape. The kingpin was suspected to have fled to Dubai.

Investigators say Sagar (24) led a lavish lifestyle and was accompanied by around a dozen bouncers. He was a regular at posh late night parties in Mumbai and was also fond of high-end cars.

He began working at the age of 16 with his 'mentor' Jagdish Kanani, who had worked in the call centres abroad.

Kanani (33), who was arrested from suburban Borivali last October had trained him, they said.

Also, Thane police had seized an Audi car belonging to Sagar, valued at Rs 2.5 crore, from Ahmedabad in October last year. It was allegedly purchased from a leading cricketer in May.
In a bid to give boost to their ties, India and Bangladesh today inked nearly two dozen pacts in strategic areas of defence and civil nuclear cooperation after "productive" talks between their prime ministers.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held extensive discussions with his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina on ways to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries. He also announced a new line of concessional credit of USD 4.5 billion for the implementation of projects in Bangladesh.

Announcing an additional line of credit of USD 500 million to Bangladesh for military supplies, Modi said it will be driven by the requirement of that country.

However, much-delayed pact on the Teesta water sharing remained elusive for the two sides. Admitting that the pact was "important" for India-Bangladesh ties, Modi assured India's commitment to the issue.

He said an "early solution can and will be found" to the Teesta water sharing issue. After their restricted meeting, the two leaders were joined by their respective delegations.
The Prime Minister's office has called a meeting today to review the government's affordable housing programme as it targets to achieve 'Housing for All' by 2022.

The PMO has called realtors' body CREDAI and NAREDCO to understand the problems faced by the developers in launching affordable housing projects, sources said.

CREDAI is likely to make presentation on how to accelerate affordable housing projects in the country and to enable home buyers to encash the subsidy benefits under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana, they added.

About two months back, Minister for Urban Development and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation M Venkaiah Naidu had said he was "disappointed" that not a single proposal had come from the private builders for the affordable housing projects.

He had said that reasons for this needed to be found out.

The government, in a bid to give a boost to the real estate sector, had accorded infrastructure status to the affordable housing segment in this year's budget.

On December 31, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced interest subsidy of up to 4 per cent on loans taken in the new year under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana.

Modi, in his national address on New Year's eve, had also said 33 per cent more homes will be built for the poor under this scheme in rural areas.

Besides, in urban areas housing loans of up to Rs. 9 lakh and up to Rs. 12 lakh will receive interest subsidy of 4 per cent and 3 per cent respectively, while in rural areas loans up to Rs. 2 lakh will get an interest subvention of 3 per cent.

"Even so many years after independence, millions of poor do not have their own home. When black money increased in our economy, houses became out of reach of even the middle class.

The government has taken some major decisions to ensure homes for the poor, the neo middle class and the middle class," Modi had said.
The revenue of telecom sector from consumer services like mobile telephony and data dipped 10.5 per cent to Rs 37,284 crore in the October-December period over the previous three months, according to regulator Trai.

The revenue of the sector from the same set of services stood at Rs 41,681 crore in July-September last year.

The sector had reported Rs 44,754 crore adjusted gross revenue (amount earned from sale of telecom services only) from access service in April-June 2016.

Incumbent telecom operators have blamed free services of new entrant Reliance Jio for the decline in their quarterly numbers.

It was in July when Reliance Jio started expansion of its free 4G services bundled with LYF handsets in trial phase. The company in mid-July claimed to have 1.5 million subscribers during the trial phase. Jio launched its service commercially on September 5 and became first company to clock 100 million subscribers in just 170 days of its launch.

While Jio provided free 4G service during the period, other telecom operators struggled to compete with it.

Telecom operators pay government licence fee and other charges based on their adjusted gross revenue (AGR).

"The license fee declined to Rs 3,698 crore for the December quarter from Rs 4,091 crore in the July-September period of 2016," the report said.

The AGR from all telecom services fell by 9.17 per cent on quarterly basis to Rs 45,905 crore in October-December from Rs 50,539 crore in the July-September period.

"Access services contributed 81.22 per cent of the total adjusted gross revenue of telecom services. In access services, gross revenue, adjusted gross revenue(AGR), license fee and spectrum usage charges (SUC) declined by 8.09 per cent, 10.55 per cent, 10.92 per cent and 12.29 per cent respectively," the report said.

The gross revenue of telecom service provider too declined by 6.79 per cent to Rs 66,532 in October-December 2016 from Rs 71,378.69 at the end of July-September period. It was Rs 73,344.66 crore at the end of April-June 2016 quarter.
There were not many takers when new Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath warned that he was a workaholic and only those who can work 18-20 hours a day can keep pace with him.

Less than a month hence, the state's elite bureaucracy has learnt the lesson the hard way that this time round, they can even be asked to report in the dead of night, literally. Soon after assuming charge, Adityanath had given a stern message to officials that those who were not prepared to work 18-20 hours a day were free to make way.

"The state government will not tolerate any laxity in implementation of its schemes. Officers willing to work 18-20 hours a day can continue with the government or else, they are free to leave," he had declared on his home turf of Gorakhpur.

"I am a workaholic and the bureaucrats will have to deliver too. Those ready to work hard should continue and the non-performers should leave," he had said clearly. But many had taken it as a rhetoric as the state bureaucracy was not used to such a style of functioning.

Adityanath, who took over the reins of the state on March 19, got cracking in no time and went on a reviewing spree of the working of various key departments. He has been taking up four to six departments a day during meetings which often start around 6 pm.

Officials, on the condition of anonymity, say the idea is that after the routine works of the day, the meetings would start in the evening so that the work is not disturbed. These meetings, at times, continue well past midnight. The one on the working of the Education department earlier this week went on till 12.30 am.

The unusual timings have also kept state Information department officials on their toes. They are sending press releases till 2 am, leaving media persons wondering as to whether to file the story at night or keep it for the morning. A senior official was called twice while he was getting into his official vehicle at the portico of the Secretariat Annexe as the chief minister wanted certain clarifications.

Though some in the bureaucracy feel that things will soon settle down and the functioning of the government will return to its "normal" speed, others are a little sceptical as they have heard of Adityanath's routine of waking up at 3 am and not returning to bed before 11 pm.




The CBI on Friday carried out searches at 16 locations in Ahmedabad after booking 12 people, including Axis bank employees, for alleged illegal cash deposits of around Rs 100 crore post demonetisation.

The cash deposits of Rs 100.57 crore in purported shell companies' accounts in Axis Bank's Memnagar branch in Ahmedabad were in violation of RBI notifications issued after November 8 last year, when the government, in a sudden move, scrapped Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes.

The CBI has booked branch manager Yasha Mehta, operations head Ahbhimanyu Singh Naruka and customers' relations officer Rita Kumar and nine others, including the cash handlers.

The agency teams swooped down on 16 locations in Ahmedabad at offices and residences of the accused.

There were three groups of cash handlers who were depositing demonetised Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 500 notes in the accounts of purported shell companies at the bank, CBI sources said.

CBI spokesperson R K Gaur said the notes were allegedly being deposited by a group of people in name lending accounts with the help of the branch manager and other bank officials.

The first group was Sanjay Manu Soni, Saurin Soni and Sameer, the second was Himanshu Agarwal, Jaideep, J D Shroff and Afzal and the third was Kiran Parekh and Hitesh Parekh, he said.

The bank officials allegedly abused their position by allowing huge amount of unauthorised transactions in accounts of shell companies between November and December last year, he said.

Owners of the so-called shell companies as well as those who were used for depositing the huge amount of cash in the said accounts were people of no-means and whose profile was non-commensurate with the quantum of such huge suspicious deposits, the FIR said.

The accused were creating such accounts for "lending" purposes for depositing cash on commission basis and converting black money into white, they said, adding huge cash deposits were made in the bank several times during a day by one person.

It is alleged that the first group of cash handlers deposited Rs. 55.70 crore, the second group deposited Rs. 41.62 crore and third group Rs. 3.25 crore, they said.

"At many such instances, they deposited huge amount of cash by way of submitting multiple deposit slips in one go, with cash value of less than Rs. nine lakh, per slip, as per the advise of the bank officials," Gaur said.

"It was also alleged that cash deposit slips of approximately Rs. 13 crore are not available with the bank," he said.

These suspicious deposits were transferred to bullion traders and jewellers by way of RTGS, sources said, adding these bullion traders and jewellers will soon be called for questioning.

The RBI guidelines issued after November 8, mandated that cash could have been deposited either by the account holder or their authorised representatives on production of suitable identity document.

"...in the above cases, a majority of the pay in slips bear forged signatures of the account holders, which were ignored by bank officials," Gaur said.

He said the accused in active connivance with the bank officials had failed to disclose their unaccounted wealth, in accordance with the amnesty schemes declared by the government and has converted black money into white by misusing the banking channels.
Former Logan resident Kayson Brown directs the American Heritage Lyceum Philharmonic Orchestra in a recorded performance of "If You Could Hie to Kolob," filmed on location at the Bonneville Salt Flats.

The story behind an inspirational <a href=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJjaZhNUg6Y>YouTube video with Cache Valley ties</a> is bigger than a single person or a single familys experience. In the two weeks since it was posted on March 23, the video has received more than 250,000 views, going viral on YouTube and Facebook with its profound and universal message of healing.

Produced by the Utah-based <a href=http://arkstudiosmediagroup.com/>Ark Studios Media Group</a>, the 7-minute recording features the <a href=http://lyceumphilharmonic.com/>American Heritage Lyceum Philharmonic Orchestra</a> playing a stirring rendition of If You Could Hie to Kolob, arranged by acclaimed pianist and composer <a href=http://www.marshallmcdonaldmusic.com/>Marshall McDonald</a>. Filmed on location at Bonneville Salt Flats and at Hidden Springs Ranch in Altamont, Utah, the video enriches the orchestras stunning live performance with cutaways to a young woman (portrayed by Lyceum musician Molly McMurtrey) weeping at a gravesite, praying in her bedroom and playing her own violin. Her experience is interwoven with scriptures from the New Testament and images of Jesus Christ. The storys figurative punctuation is light.

The sun was just going down as they finished filming, said Lisa Henderson, whose son Joseph plays both cello and tuba in the orchestra. It was kind of neat because the lighting had changed and ended up creating different effects than we originally expected.

Joseph, a senior at Ridgeline High School, had the opportunity to begin playing in the prestigious Lyceum Philharmonic, based at <a href=https://www.american-heritage.org/>American Heritage School</a> in American Fork, last year. Sarah Daines, a senior at Mountain Crest, was able to join the orchestra this year. The students travel nearly two hours each way to attend weekly rehearsals.

Ive been impressed with the dedication of all these kids and with their director, Kayson Brown, Lisa Henderson said. I was amazed as we filmed the video to think about how much theyve sacrificed and how committed theyve been. Each time they played, the students gave it their best, and Kayson directed them with never-ending energy and positivity.

Brown, a former Logan resident, coordinated the production of the film, entitled If You Could Hie to Kolob / Dives and Lazarus, after recognizing how poignantly the music featured in the piece had the potential to touch lives.

Music is something that has an incredibly unique power to heal when we cant find words, when words arent enough, he said. This piece, more than others, thins the veil and helps us feel close to those who we can still feel but no longer see.

If You Could Hie to Kolob / Dives and Lazarus, said Brown, is a tribute to that connection. While it was originally filmed last October, Brown said the release of the video was timed to coincide with the celebration of Easter and its message of hope and new life.

At certain points [during filming], he said, the spirit was so strong I could barely keep my knees from buckling. It was just so powerful. All the kids felt it. When you watch the video, you can see the emotion on their faces.

As Joseph Henderson described what it was like to play his cello with the Lyceum Philharmonicon pristine desert sand in the fading light of duskhe spoke with deep reflection.

The music out there just seemed to open up like Id never heard it do before, he said. Its like the notes rang in the air. Being right in the center of the orchestra and being able to hear everything going on really struck me hard.

During times when words are not adequate, he said, music can help people find peace in their hearts and the strength to persevere. The music and lyrics expressed by If You Could Hie to Kolob have especially personal, private significance for Joseph and his family that he hopes can likewise benefit others.

As we think of a better place or things that could be better in our lives in times of darkness, we can look forward with faith to something brighter, <a href=https://www.lds.org/scriptures/gs/kolob>Kolob</a> in this sense, Joseph said. I hope people out there watching the video are able to feel that, to reflect on their own lives and through that introspection remember times of hardship where they eventually prevailedor ponder a time of hardship that theyre experiencing now and have this music and this message of hope and light lift them up and give them the faith to endure.

The American Heritage Lyceum Philharmonic is comprised of 100 student musicians from more than 30 high schools throughout Utah. The award-winning orchestra has performed internationally and has collaborated with many leading music industry professionals, including platinum-selling artists Jackie Evancho and David Archuleta; Billboard-topping artists The 5 Browns, The Piano Guys, Paul Cardall and Jenny Oaks Baker; and GRAMMY award winners Mark Wood (Trans-Siberian Orchestra), Igor & Vesna Gruppman (Rotterdam Philharmonic) and country music legend Michael Martin Murphey. The Lyceum Philharmonic has released three albums, has been featured on PBS and has recorded for SONY Masterworks. <a href=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJjaZhNUg6Y>If You Could Hie to Kolob / Dives and Lazarus</a> is dedicated to Rand Henderson (1960-2016) and his family.

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jennifer@cvradio.com
The father of the other boy was late to court and did not make it in time to see his son. No other relatives were there for his hearing.
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 ...
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Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact.

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When the Toyota Raize came into the picture early this year , it commanded the kind of attention that made you think of it as possibly just ...
Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor is pondering constructing a plant in two possible Mexican states.



Although a number of automakers have pulled back on their plans for facilities in Mexico due to the Trump administration, people close to Great Wall suggest that the Chinese firm isnt concerned and is looking at a plant in Neuvo Leon or the central state of San Luis Potosi, Reuters reports.

Additionally, company documents have revealed that officials from Great Wall have met with two large Mexican railroad companies, Ferrocarril Mexicano and Kansas City Southern de Mexico, to evaluate the infrastructure of the two states.

Interestingly, a senior Great Wall Motor executive, speaking anonymously, revealed that the carmaker is also looking at locations in the United States and that a decision on where to build the factory will be made based on trade issues between the U.S., Mexico and China.

Current word suggests that construction of the plant could commence next year and cost approximately $500 million. When fully operational, it could build 250,000 vehicles a year for the U.S. and Mexican markets.

Great Wall isnt alone in pursuing the construction of factories in Mexico. While some U.S. carmakers have backpedalled on their Mexican plans in recent months, Audi and Kia opened factories in the country last year and will soon be followed by the likes of Toyota and BMW. Chinas BAIC is also planning a facility in Mexico as is another Chinese marque, Anhul Jianghuai Automobile.

PHOTO GALLERY
The billion-dollar family that owns a controlling stake in Volkswagen AG has sold its shares in Porsche Design prior to Ferdinand Piechs impending departure from the German conglomerate.



Bloomberg reports that Porsche AG purchased the familys 35 per cent stake in Porsche Design, a company which manufacturers high-end merchandise including sunglasses and watches. It is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Porsches car division.

News of this switch-up in the Volkswagen AG family comes shortly after Piech agreed to sell the majority of his shares in the company in a deal thought to be worth around $1.1 billion.

Late last month it emerged that Piechs career in the automotive industry was on the cusp of engine after it was confirmed that he was selling his 15 per cent stake in Porsche SE, the family holding company that controls Volkswagen AG.

Insiders suggest that Piech burned many bridges with key Volkswagen executives after his departure as the companys chairman in April 2015 and in the fallout of the diesel emissions-cheating scandal. He testified to German prosecutors that VW directors knew about the scandal more than six months before it became public, a suggestion these top executives have denied.

PHOTO GALLERY
Photo: Carmen Weld Dean of Management Dr. Roger Sugden addresses the students for a short moment before refusing to speak in front of media and parents

UPDATE 5:15 P.M.

UBCO Dean of Management Dr. Roger Sugden did return Castanet's call late Tuesday. Castanet will provide the full story on the University's position Wednesday morning.

ORIGINAL STORY:

It was a shock to students hoping to graduate with a degree the traditional way from UBC Okanagan.

At 2:30 p.m on the last day of classes UBCO Faculty of Management students were told, with no warning, that three critical fourth year accounting courses were being cut from next years curriculum.

By 4:30 p.m. a special meeting was held with the Dean of Management to answer student questions.

Ten minutes later he stormed out.

About 100 Faculty of Management students crammed a room waiting for answers from the Dean. Students had invited media and parents to sit in.

However, when it was brought to the Dean of Management Dr. Roger Sugden's attention that two parents, and two reporters (one from Castanet and one from UBCO's The Phoenix) were in the room he stopped talking - refusing to hold the meeting if anyone other than current students were in the room. The response he got was anger.

Why does it matter? said Jesse Shopa, a fourth year accounting student. The lack of transparency is astounding right now. If youre such a proponent of this move you should be able to support it in a public forum.

You sprung this on us during the last class of the year and now you finally have a forum and you won't let people who are going to spread this information to the community be there? said one angry student.

You're embarrassing Roger, said another, This is so embarrassing for the school.

Imagine how this is going to look to all the stakeholders in our community, yelled one more as Sugden walked out of the room.

As he was leaving Sugden said, I am ending the meeting because I don't want the press in this meeting okay. I am ending the meeting.

The unexpected announcement Monday afternoon to around 200 Faculty of Management students stated three courses, imperative for a CPA designation (Chartered Professional Accountants), were being removed from the class list and would have to be taken at other institutions.

The cut was explained to students as being due to 'scarce resources.' Sugden also said in the earlier meeting to students that they had lost a key Faculty member in the accounting program and would continue to lose faculty members.

The way it sits right now is that students, in order to still get their CPA prerequisites (Chartered Professional Accountant) designation, will now have to take those classes online or through a different institution, still getting credit for them with UBCO, explained Management Student Association President Scott Courtney.

This change could mean for some students an extra semester or two, and more tuition money they cannot necessarily afford.

Students coming to UBCO anticipate graduating specializing in accounting, and now they are finishing their third year and finding out they may not be able to the way they thought. It is inconvenient for them, explained Management Student Association Vice President Corporate Relations, Claire Gontard.

They are worried they will have to graduate later than expected, so not in April 2015, because they will have to take more courses. A lot of them do not want to have to take online courses because it is a teaching method that doesn't necessarily fit most students. They are just worried they are going to have to allocate more costs and funds because of this announcement and they are frustrated.

Resource issues are cited as the main reason for the class cuts but students say that answer is not good enough. This particular program is too critical and these third year students have invested too much.

The students expect more process for something of this magnitude and especially for such an affect to a program of this importance to our faculty. It is one of the cornerstones here and people are attached to it, explained Management Student Association Vice President of Finance Simon Bullock.

It is a point of pride here in this faculty and to sort of cut it down, with zero notice, on the last day of classes is not going over well.

The elected leaders of the Management Student Association are now focusing on getting those answers for their students, noting that it is this lack of information that is stirring up the anger and fears.

With what we have now it seems there is a lot of uncertainty and that makes people anxious. I think that is why there is a large student body that cares about this issue. Not only do they have friends affected but they themselves have their degrees in uncertainty, if accounting can go, finance can go... that is the feeling, said Bullock.

When it comes down to it, I think it is that the students are just frustrated that they do not have enough information to make an educated decision or opinion on what this is actually going to cause for them.

All the students want right now is answers, they want to know how it is going to affect them. I think if those questions can be answered then everything can move on, said Courtney.

There are just over 830 Faculty of Management students, 230 or so going into fourth year this fall. Up to 70 of those students may have chosen the accounting designation and will be directly affected by this change.

Information sessions are being offered again on April 8, 9, and 10, from 12:00  1:00 p.m., on the fourth floor of EME building.

The Dean stated that neither press nor parents were welcome in those sessions either.
You could have the missing piece of the puzzle that will help the RCMP put someone behind bars. Here are some recent crimes that Central Okanagan Crime Stoppers hope you can help solve by calling our anonymous tips line at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), visit our website at www.crimestoppers.net or text to CRIMES (274637), starting with Ktown.

CRIME: THEFT OF TRUCK

DATE: April 4, 2017

RCMP FILE: 2017-16429

West Kelowna RCMP members received a call from a woman whose truck had been stolen from the parking lot at the Super 8 Motel located on Westgate Road on April 4th. Video surveillance shows a small Mazda truck with a rack in the box scoping out the parking lot at approximately 5:30 a.m. At 5:38 a.m. the truck left the parking lot with the stolen white Dodge Dakota, shown in the left hand side of the photo, following close behind. The stolen truck is a 2000 Dodge Dakota with BC license plate number KW9705 and VIN 1B7HG2AZ9YS664711. RCMP are looking for the occupants of the Mazda truck.

Photo: Crime Stoppers

If you know anything about this crime, or any other crime, call the Central Okanagan Crime Stoppers anonymous tips line at 1-800-222-TIPS or visit our website at www.crimestoppers.net. Your information will be kept confidential and could lead to a reward of up to $2000.00.

CRIME: THEFT OF U-HAUL TRAILER

DATE: April 4, 2017

RCMP FILE: 2017-16440

A U-HAUL trailer was stolen from a U-Haul depot located on the 1600 block of Ross Road in West Kelowna between 2:00 and 4:00 a.m. on April 4th. The trailer is a galvanized metal grey 16 foot car hauler trailer, fully marked with U-Haul logos and clearly marked with Unit # 1700X. This trailer is not a full flat deck, it has sides. The trailers VIN is 14HU12201CNAT1700 and bears Idaho license plate number CBU468.

Photo: Crime Stoppers

You can help catch these suspects and qualify for a reward by calling Crime Stoppers anonymous tips line at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), visit our website at www.crimestoppers.net or text to CRIMES (274637), starting with Ktown.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.
Photo: Google Images

With the 2017 camping season just around the corner, more than 49,000 reservations have already been booked through the Discover Camping Reservation Service.

This is the first camping season since the province announced improvements to the Discover Camping Reservation Service, to enhance fair access for everyone looking to book a campsite in B.C.'s provincial parks.

The changes took effect on Jan. 2 and included eliminating the mid-March "opening day" for reservations, and extending the three month rolling window to four months.

Random spot checks will also take place at B.C. parks to verify the identity of reservation holders.

The province has also Implemented a pilot project in select parks to reduce the maximum length of stay to seven days during the peak camping seasons.

This is the first phase of the 1,900 new campsites announced by Premier Christy Clark in November 2016.

The upcoming camping season will see 28 more full-time park rangers and new programs to promote and protect the environment, all part of a $25-million increase in funding over the next three years, as part of the B.C. parks future strategy.
Photo: Contributed

A few hundred concerned neighbours packed into the Knights of Columbus Hall Thursday night to speak out against an apartment for men recovering from addictions in Rutland.

Freedom's Door, which operates a recovery home for men fighting drug and alcohol addictions, is proposing the transitional housing at 130 McCurdy Rd.

Tracey Johnson, who attended the meeting along with her husband, said about 40 people spoke, all in opposition.

"Everybody is terrified," she said.

"Where they are proposing to put this, there are four schools in that area."

Johnson also says the lack of amenities makes the location a curious choice.

"There's no services, no parks, no lakes. There's not even a grocery store. So, we have these fellows, all day, without supervision, walking around," she said.

The apartment, dubbed Freedom House, would be a long-term transition home for men who have already completed the shorter program at Freedom's Door.

Developers of the program say there will be on-site counselling services to help the men transition back into the workforce and back into society.

They also claim the facility will be a dry house, meaning no alcohol or drugs would be allowed.

Johnson's husband believes Rutland is over-saturated with facilities such as this, when you factor in Newgate and The Bridge.

"We've done our share. Enough is enough."

A rezoning application has been forwarded to city hall.

In order for the project to go ahead, council would have to approve the application, then forward it to a public hearing.
Photo: Nicholas Johansen Mohammed Al-Shahoud and grandson, Ebrahim.

Five years ago, Mohammed Al-Shahoud and his family fled the Syrian city of Homs, the city he grew up in. Thursday, the United States dropped 59 Tomahawk missiles on a military base 25 kilometres from his old home.

Mohammed, who moved to Kelowna a year and a half ago with his family, says he felt a mix of emotions when he heard that America had bombed the base in retaliation to a chemical weapons attack the Trump administration believes was perpetrated by the Syrian government.

I feel sadness and at the same time mixed with happiness, Mohammed said. Finally there is one leader in the world trying to punish (Syrian president) Bashar al-Assad to try to stop him from killing those people.

To be honest, I dislike Trump and his policies but he did something maybe most of the people, they consider it wrong, but I consider it as one step in the right way, six years from the beginning of the (Syrian civil) war.

Growing up in Homs, Mohammed said he knows the area that was attacked very well, and there are no civilians living within at least five kilometres of the base.

Mohammed still has one daughter living in the south of Syria. He says it's very difficult to describe his emotions when he saw the pictures of the aftermath of Tuesday's chemical weapon attack in Khan Sheikhoun that killed more than 100 people.

The people they can't breathe ... the children, he said. It's sadness. It's very hard to look at the pictures ... I don't know how to describe it, it's a very strange feeling at that time.

Mohammed's family, along with his eldest daughter's family who lives in the basement of his house, were sponsored by the Central Okanagan Refugee Committee, a local organization that began as a collection of Okanagan United Churches, but has expanded to include groups of other faiths, and non-faith groups.

Tom Kemp, CORC's chair, says while the U.S. involvement in Syria may displace more people, he thinks it will just be a drop in the bucket compared to the millions of Syrian refugees already looking for a place to call home.

CORC is hoping to bring a single Syrian man to Kelowna by this summer, followed by another family of seven, the family of Mohammed's youngest daughter, by 2019.

One thing I think is very commendable is the welcome the Kelowna community has given to the Syrian refugees coming,  Kemp said. Whenever a need has been identified, the outpouring has been immediate and more than adequate to provide whatever they might need.

Kelowna has become recognized as a community that is very welcoming and supportive of accepting refugees from Syria.
Photo: North Okanagan Hospice Soceity

Hospice facilities in the Okanagan will be getting some money from the province.

The latest in a flood of funding announcements has the Liberals handing out $1.7 million for palliative and hospice care in British Columbia to support patients and caregivers.

The money will be divided up among numerous communities in $25,000 amounts.

Central Okanagan Hospice House  Kelowna, Kelowna General Hospital, North Okanagan Hospice Society in Vernon and Moog and Friends Hospice House  Penticton will all receive a piece of the financial pie.

Funding will be used for patient care quality and caregiver support; patient and health-care worker safety; education, tools and resources; improved continuity of patient care and, equipment to support delivery of patient care. Examples include renovating patient treatment spaces and purchasing new equipment, such as a transport van.

"BC Hospice Palliative Care Association is very grateful to the Province and the ministry of health for this latest investment in hospice palliative care," said Lorraine Gerard, BC Hospice Palliative Care Association executive director.

"Some of BCHPCA's organizational members - not-for-profit societies that operate residential hospices - have received funding directly and other member hospice societies are affiliated with the publicly operated palliative-care programs that are receiving funding. With an aging population, quality, responsive hospice palliative care will need to be supported and available in all settings, not only hospital palliative-care units and residential hospices but in long term care facilities and where most people would say they would prefer to die - at home."

Facilities in Kamloops and Salmon arm will also be getting $25,000.
In parliament John Horgan has accused Christy Clark of being a Pollyanna lurching around on The Good Ship Lollipop.

No wonder. Christy Clark and the Liberal Party have had a very good ride in British Columbia.

But in sixteen years of Liberal rule, the general state of the majority of people has definitely not improved. For a government that boasts a surplus, the practical results are far from impressive.

Seniors, the homeless, teachers, children, and the list goes on and on, all have all been shafted by a misguided reverse Robin Hood policy that gives to the rich and robs the poor and middle class.

It is high time that the people of this province rise up and stand their ground against the corruption and malversation that appear to be the hallmark of Liberal politics today. Its time for a change.

Give the new NDP a chance to prove that they can make government work for all the people, not just the elite and the rich.

Laurence D. M. Marshall
With Awesome Gem arriving at his new home at Old Friends April 7 I thought it would be an appropriate time to reprint a column I wrote in 2010 on this old warrior and the person whose life he changed.

Clyde Haugan always said: "Don't let the bastards get you down."

Haugan, a longtime resident of Indian Harbour Beach, Fla., began suffering from skin cancer at the age of 51 and had to undergo more than 100 procedures to have them removed, extensive lymph node surgery, and high dose radiation therapy.

Despite his ordeal, he never stopped having a positive attitude. His doctor, Jeannine Stein, was amazed at his tenacity and nicknamed him "Cantankerous Clyde." She kept telling him, "If you weren't so cantankerous, you wouldn't be here today."

Haugan decided about five years ago it was time to enjoy life to its fullest, and one day he gave his wife Doris the surprise of her life. He had bought an interest in a racehorse named Awesome Gem through the West Point Thoroughbreds partnership, who eventually would name one of their horses Cantankerous Clyde.

Doris was the one who always had a love of horses. When she was a young girl growing up in Chicago she told her parents she wanted a horse. Her mom told her if she saved $100 she could have one.

"I don't know how many years it took me, but I remember telling her I had the $100, where's my horse," Doris recalled. "Of course, living in Chicago, I never did get the horse.

"But, finally, after all these years, I finally got my horse in Awesome Gem. That was such a surprise to me when Clyde did that."

When Awesome Gem started to develop into a good horse, despite some early behavioral problems, Clyde was totally hooked and gave Doris another surprise.

A good friend of his from Greensburg, Ind. had a neighbor, Leonard Schoettmer Jr., who dealt in hog feeders, but carved carousel horses as a hobby. During a visit to Indiana, Haugan learned that Schoettmer had just finished one for his daughter who was about to be married. Haugan told him, "Hey, I got this horse; how about making one up of him."

Schoettmer agreed, and Haugan sent him a variety of photos of the horse from every possible angle. Schoettmer made drawings of Awesome Gem and scaled everything down proportionately so that all the dimensions were correct.

Schoettmer began working on it in November, 2006, and in August, 2007, a 480-pound crate, measuring six feet by four feet by eight feet, arrived at the Haugans' home. Inside, wrapped in plastic bubble wrap, was "Awesome Gem" in full stride, his mane blowing in the wind. The wooden sculpture was built on a platform with casters, so that it would be easy to move around. Like all carousel horses, it had a pole that extended from the platform into the bottom of the horse. Schoettmer included photos of his work in progress, before it was painted and still carved in sections.

The Haugans, who have five daughters, kept "Awesome Gem" in their living room in front of the fireplace, for several weeks before moving him into their sun room.

Clyde continued to buy shares in West Point horses, owning a piece of top horses such as Lear's Princess, Macho Again, El Gato Malo, and Tropical Storm. He always laughed about it, blaming Jeff Bloom, West Point's executive vice-president of West Coast operation, for talking him into buying horses.

But it was the horses, especially Awesome Gem, that helped Clyde through a lot of rough times, and he never lost his enthusiasm for the sport or his love of Awesome Gem, the horse that started it all.

"I've been blessed," Clyde said two years ago. "The best thing I ever did was getting involved in this."

Sadly, Clyde lost his battle with cancer in December of 2008, but it's difficult to think of Awesome Gem without thinking of Clyde.

"It was so emotional," said Doris after watching Awesome Gem score his first grade I victory in the Hollywood Gold Cup. "I immediately thought of Clyde and thought, I hope he's watching.'"

As for the other "Awesome Gem," he currently sits right next to Doris' bed.

"I know it sounds strange, but I pat ol' Awesome a couple of times a day as I go in and out of my closet," she said. "He's still my baby. Behind him on the wall I've started hanging family photos from the different races we've gone to. I have some wonderful photos of Clyde and Awesome at the Breeders' Cup. I guess you can call it my memory wall."

It was not difficult becoming attached to Awesome Gem. He was that kind of horse.

You wouldn't have known that early on, as the son of Awesome Again was a bit of a rogue and tough to manage. Trainer Craig Dollase remembers him having an attitude even at the Barretts 2-year-old March sale when he was purchased for $150,000 by West Point president Terry Finley and bloodstock agent Buzz Chace. He was so tough there was no other choice but to geld him. After that, his attitude improved immensely other than a few quirks he had on the racetrack.

As a young horse at John and Jerry Amerman's Peacefield Farm in Temecula, Cal., he would refuse to load on a van, an odd habit considering how much traveling he would do throughout his career. But at the farm it would take two hours before they could get him on a van. When he arrived at the track, Dollase would arrange to get a special van for him. But as he matured he changed dramatically and no longer became a problem.

In the starting gate, he was always the perfect gentleman, but on the track he was difficult to handle and dumped many a rider. One morning at Hollywood Park when Awesome Gem was a 3-year-old, Bloom, who would often gallop the horse, and Dollase were watching him out on the track, and were delighted to see him galloping along and doing everything perfectly.

Bloom turned to Dollase and said, "My gosh, it's amazing how good this horse is now. He's really settled down and is so easy to manage." Dollase agreed that he had showed a great deal of improvement. As Awesome Gem was pulling up from his gallop, Bloom and Dollase walked down the stairs from the clocker's stand to wait for the horse and walk back to barn with him. As they waited, here came Awesome Gem...with no rider on his back. No sooner had they said how good he was doing, he dumped his rider, as if on cue.

"He's such a character," Bloom said several years ago. "He can be in the shedrow rearing up and strutting his stuff, but in his stall he's the barn pet. You could bring little kids up to him. I have two daughters and he's their favorite horse. He drops his head down and is like a little kitten in terms of petting him and feeding him carrots. He'll nibble the carrot in your hand. He just loves people and loves attention.

"This horse is such a great story. Sometimes, there's a certain thing about a horse that you can't put your finger on. You can't explain it; they just have it, and he's definitely that kind of horse. He just sparkles."

Throughout his career, Awesome Gem has had his share of bad luck and setbacks. In 2008, two weeks after running in the Santa Anita Handicap, he came down with an illness and initially was only going to miss a day or two. The next thing anyone knew he was in the hospital.

"We weren't sure we were going to be able to save him," Finley said. "He had an intestinal virus; it wasn't colic, but he got very sick and lost a lot of weight. He spent about a month at the clinic and when he came back we took our time with him."

Bloom added, "He bounced back a lot faster than we thought he would. He just loves training and being at the track."

In many of his races, he's been the victim of traffic problems, wide trips, and slow paces, but never failed to give his all.

"He's had some tough losses, but always bounces out of them well," Dollase said prior to the 2007 Breeders' Cup at Monmouth. "I thought we had it in the Pacific Classic, but as long as they come out of it good and live to fight another day that's all you can ask for. He's picked up some nice checks along the way. We're excited to be in the Classic with him and we feel he deserves a chance to run here."

Despite being up against one of the most talented Classic fields ever, with the likes of Curlin, Street Sense, Hard Spun, Any Given Saturday, Lawyer Ron, Tiago, George Washington, and Diamond Stripes, Awesome Gem closed from eighth to finish third behind Curlin and Hard Spun at odds of 28-1, the second longest price in the race.

Tough defeat after tough defeat followed, whether on sloppy and fast dirt tracks, turf, or every kind of synthetic surface. He closed fast to finish second in stakes at a mile on the dirt and on the grass, as well as 1 1 /8 miles on dirt and grass, and as mentioned, narrowly missed in a grade I going 1  miles on dirt.

Then came a breakthrough race, winning the 2009 Hawthorne Gold Cup in the mud. This year, as a 7-year-old, he was third in the New Orleans Handicap in Louisiana, second in the Charles Town Classic in West Virginia, and third in the Lone Star Park Handicap in Texas.

Last fall, Terry Finley said, "He deserves to get one of these and have everything break in his favor. He shows up every time. It's obviously disappointing, but how can you be frustrated with a horse who tries so hard every time? We're not frustrated, just disappointed for him and for the partners. He's such a joy to be around. I just hope before he retires we have a chance to get him in the winner's circle in one of these big ones."

That chance came on Saturday. There he was in the Hollywood Park winner's circle after blasting through an opening on the rail to defeat (ironically) Rail Trip, the 2-5 favorite and one of the fastest rising stars in the sport.

Awesome Gem finally had some luck go his way and took full advantage of it. This was his day. This one was for West Point and Craig Dollase for their patience; for all the partners who rode along for the entire journey; for Awesome Gem himself; and finally for Clyde Haugan and a wooden carousel horse that kept alive the image of the owner's first and favorite horse until the day he died.
Before the Russian public had even awakened to learn of the US attack on the Syrian airbase, Donald Trump had justified the attack by referring to the beautiful babies that had had the life choked out of them by chemical weapons deployed earlier by the Syrian government.

In a short, 250-word speech stuffed with religious references and claims to moral action, he referenced chemical weapons five times and called on the civilized to oppose the barbaric.

Panels of CNN pundits responded by goading each other to outrage over Syrias use of weapons of mass destruction.

There's nothing acceptable about nerve gas attacks, but what weapon in today's arsenals, including the 59 cruise missiles rained down on the Syrian airbase, is not a weapon of mass destruction?

Of course, its criminal that 100 innocents died and 400 were injured in the gas attack. But how is it any more criminal than the U.S.-led coalition airstrikes in Iraq and Syria that killed as many as 1,000 civilians just last month?

On March 17, nearly 300 were killed and an untold number injured in a single airstrike in Mosul. The U.S. admitted there was at least a fair chance they were responsible, while Iraqi counter-terrorism officials blamed Islamic State.

Islamic State doesn't even have airplanes, so lets assume the Americans were right about their culpability.

Did the historically important airstrike, which according to the L.A. Times resulted in "the largest civilian death toll since the battle against Islamic State began more than two years ago and [was] among the deadliest incidents in decades of modern warfare," get adequate media coverage?

Or does adequate coverage require Trump to create a hoopla that no respectable media outlet can ignore?

The crucial point is that the classic distinction between weapons of mass destruction and other kinds of weapons is a false one. The red lines that pundits say cannot possibly be crossed are arbitrary and meaningless.

We should not believe for an instant that it was morally or militarily necessary for the US to respond to the gas attack by launching its own weapons of mass destruction.

Dianne Varga
Photo: Contributed

A 35-year-old Burnaby man is facing charges after trying to lure a minor for sex.

Kuljinder Singh Bhatti was arrested after he allegedly tried to lure a minor for a sexual purpose, and for making an arrangement for a sexual offence involving a person under the age of 18.

Surrey RCMP Cpl. Scotty Schumann said on April 3, police received a complaint about the incident.

An investigation was undertaken immediately by Surrey RCMP Special Victims Unit. Investigators arrested a suspect on Thursday, April 6, said Schumann.

The allegations of assault involving this accused by a civilian during the incident are still under investigation.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502 or CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
SD73's new board sworn in Kamloops - 4:00 am
Photo: 570News

Police say a dozen people are facing charges in Ontario after a year-long international investigation into cocaine smuggling.

RCMP say the investigation began in the spring of 2016 and focused on the importation of cocaine into Canada from the U.S. on commercial trucks, allegedly organized by a group of people in Ontario's Waterloo Region.

Police allege the accused were involved in the logistical side of the operation, arranging for the transportation of the cocaine through the U.S. and across the border into Canada by hiding it in loads of legitimate cargo.

Officers executed a total of 14 search warrants in the Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont., area, Toronto and Leamington, Ont., seizing 38.5 kilograms of cocaine.

Police say 12 people  from Toronto, Cambridge, Ont., and Thornhill, Ont., Kitchener, and Leamington  are charged with importing a controlled substance into Canada, and conspiring to import a controlled substance.

The joint investigation involved the RCMP, Waterloo regional police, Canada Border Services Agency, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Photo: CTV Vancouver

UPDATE: 6:20 p.m.

The vehicle that was hit by the tree is a Brown Toyota Camry.

The Camry was parked in the driveway, when a large tree was blown over in the wind, landing on the vehicle.

There were two people in the vehicle a female driver, and a five Year old child, both residents of Surrey, B.C.

Surrey Fire Department and RCMP were able to pry the vehicle open sufficiently to free both people.

The mother and daughter only had minor injuries.

A child has been hospitalized after a large tree fell onto a car in Surrey, Friday.

Firefighters said the girl was in the vehicle with her mother when the tree came crashing down about 4 p.m., crushing the sedan's roof.

The girl is believed to be under four years old.

The incident happened near 86th Avenue and 150th Street.

The mother was able to get out of the car, but firefighters used the Jaws of Life to free the child.

The girl's condition is not known at this time.

 with files from CTV Vancouver
Madison Erhardt

The world is reacting after U.S forces attacked a Syrian air base with cruise missiles on Thursday night.

Donald Trump and the Unites States responded after a chemical weapons attack on civilians killed dozens of Syrians.

The bombing represents Trump's most dramatic military order since taking office and thrusts the U.S. administration deeper into the complex Syrian conflict.

The U.S. missiles hit at 3:45 a.m. Friday and targeted the base's airstrips, hangars, control tower and ammunition areas, U.S. officials said.

They were fired from two warships in the Mediterranean Sea, in retaliation for Tuesday's deadly chemical attack, which officials said used chlorine mixed with a nerve agent, possibly sarin.

Castanet hit the streets, asking people what their thoughts are on the attack.
Photo: Contributed

The British Columbia Liberal Party has filed a complaint with the province's privacy commissioner, alleging the New Democratic Party breached protection laws by sharing its supporter list with "politically friendly" groups.

A spokeswoman at B.C.'s Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner confirmed Friday it received a request for an investigation from the B.C. Liberals, but Privacy Commissioner Drew McArthur was not immediately available for comment. The complain comes just days before a provincial election will be called.

A letter to McArthur signed by B.C. Liberal Party president Sharon White called for an immediate investigation into alleged breaches of B.C.'s Personal Information Protection Act by the NDP.

"We have obtained documentation concerning the activities of the B.C. NDP, Strategic Communications, the municipal political parties, Vision Vancouver, Coalition of Progressive Electors and the Surrey Civic Coalition, and B.C. NDP officials in Saanich, B.C., which show serious and ongoing breaches of the Personal Information Protection Act."

No one from the B.C. New Democratic Party could immediately be reached for comment.

The local parties mentioned in the letter represent the centre-left on the political spectrum. Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, a former New Democrat member of the legislature, ran under the Vision banner in the last municipal election.

Vision's executive director Stepan Vdovine declined comment.

The Liberals allege in the letter "there are clearly reasonable grounds to believe that a number of political organizations in B.C. have not complied with the Personal Information Protection Act."

The complaint to the privacy commissioner includes documents of three agreements dated Oct. 5, 2005 between the NDP and Vision Vancouver, COPE and Surrey Civic Coalition.

The letter also says the breaches are as recent as November 2014 when the list was used during municipal elections in Saanich, B.C.

"These agreements set out a secret arrangement whereby the BC NDP would share lists regarding its supporters with these politically friendly municipal parties to help them identify supporters and assist them to elect their candidates in municipal elections," stated the letter.

The Personal Information Protection Act describes how private-sector organizations must handle the personal information of their employees and the public and includes rules about collecting, using and disclosing personal information.

The Act balances two principles, an individual's right to protect his or her personal information and an organization's need to collect, use or disclose personal information for reasonable purposes.
UPDATE 2:00 p.m.

The geotechnical assessment of the slope where the landslide occurred Friday is now complete, and emergency crews hope to have Sunnybrae Canoe Point Road open to alternating single lane traffic by Saturday afternoon.

"The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is preparing to clear the debris and reopen the road to single lane alternating traffic during daylight hours only," said Ryan Nitchie with the Columbia Shuswap Regional District in a statement.

The road is expected to open by 3 p.m.

The evacuation order remains in effect for the four homes in the area.

UPDATE 12:50 p.m.

Geotechnical crews were assessing a land slide in the Sunnybrae area of the Shuswap from the air Saturday.

Ryan Nitchie, with the Columbia Shuswap Regional District, said geotechnical crews were using a helicopter to assess the situation, noting the slope was deemed too unstable to allow crews to work at the base of the slide.

There is no telling when the Sunnybrae Canoe Point Road, in Tappen will re-open.

Nitchie said because the slope is so unstable, officials closed the road Friday night and are now waiting for the geotechnical assessment.

The slide happened Friday afternoon and destroyed two homes. Nitchie said two people were taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Two additional homes along the steep embankment were evacuated, however, one home was unoccupied and Nitchie said the residents of the other home are staying with friends.

The only access to the homes east of the slide area is by boat and Nitchie said an emergency protocol is in place should people living there need help.

B.C. Ambulance has set up a protocol for an emergency evacuation if necessary or if there is a medical emergency, said Nitchie, adding RCMP is on scene providing security.

Nitchie said crews were unable to ascertain if there has been more movement of the area since the initial slide.

Crews were able to look at the slide area from the lake as well as from above, but were not able to access the property before night fell.

This is not the first time the earth has moved in the area.

It's a steep-sloped area and there have been slides in the area previously, said Nitchie.

One resident who lives less than two kilometres from the slide said last year, boulders came crashing onto the road less than 500 metres from his home.

It was reduced to single-lane traffic for a few days and you went by at your own risk, said the man, who has been in the area for 25 years, but declined to give his name.

A large cliff is directly behind his home and he said it is not uncommon to hear large rocks rolling down the slope crashing into trees.

The man said usually the trees stop the rocks before they reach his property, but one year a boulder the size of a basketball landed in his backyard.

UPDATE: 8 a.m.

The Columbia-Shuswap Regional District has issued an evacuation order in the area of a landslide that destroyed two homes near Salmon Arm, Friday.

The order was issued late Friday under the Emergency Program Act due to an immediate danger to life safety, the district said on its website and via Twitter.

The order is in effect for the following properties: 4459, 4467, 4473 and 4487 Sunnybrae Canoe Point Road, in Tappen.

Residents were asked by RCMP to leave the area immediately.

Those in the area seeking further information or assistance are asked to contact the Shuswap Emergency Program at 250-833-5927 or visit csrd.bc.ca.

UPDATE: 10:45 p.m.

The Columbia Shuswap Regional District says the landslide occurred on the 4400 Block of Sunnybrae Canoe Point Road, in Tappen.

The Shuswap Emergency Program has activated an Emergency Operations Centre in support of the incident.

Two homes were damaged and additional homes have been evacuated for precautionary measures.

A geotechnical assessment was being conducted Friday evening to assess the area for further risk.

The road is closed from 4459 to 4519 Sunnybrae Canoe Point Rd.

ORIGINAL: 6 p.m.

Two people were taken to hospital after a mudslide in Sunnybrae, near Salmon Arm, Friday.

B.C. Emergency Health Services said both have minor injuries in the slide, which occurred after 4 p.m.

Shuswap emergency crews were called to the scene about a kilometre from the end of Hacking Road.

The Sunnybrae Community Association said traffic was blocked in the surrounding area, and may be closed for a few days.

 with files from CTV Vancouver
Photo: Flickr/BC Gov't

Canada is more likely to reach a lasting solution for the softwood lumber trade dispute with the United States now that President Donald Trump is in power instead of Barack Obama, says Premier Christy Clark.

Speaking to a forestry conference in Vancouver on Friday, Clark said the new president has a background in construction and understands the impact the cost of materials has on a finished product.

It would have been hard to do any worse than the previous president when it comes to softwood lumber, she added.

"My experience has been that the Obama administration was not particularly interested in getting a softwood deal," Clark told reporters after delivering her keynote address. "I mean, they talked a nice talk and they put out nice press releases, but in all that time there wasn't any real progress to getting a deal."

The softwood lumber trade dispute has been a thorn in the side of federal and provincial governments for decades. The issue flared up again in late 2015 after the expiry of a nine-year agreement.

American lumber producers are pushing for their government to restrict trade on Canadian imports that they claim are unfairly subsidized.

Kirsten Hillman, Canada's top negotiator in the dispute, also spoke at the Council of Forestry Industries' annual convention Friday, saying bilateral talks on the issue have waned since Trump took office. But the setback has more to do with the new administration having yet to appoint key players to work on the file, she added.

B.C. has a large stake in the softwood lumber negotiations. The U.S. accounts for nearly 70 per cent of Canada's softwood lumber exports, more than half of which come from B.C., Hillman said.
Photo: Shane Mulligan

UPDATE: 11:20 p.m.

Area residents report the fire is now out and power has been restored.

Traffic is flowing again in the neighbourhood.

ORIGINAL: 11:15 p.m.

A large power outage is being reported by residents of Rutland.

The affected area is east of Highway 97 in the McCurdy area, as far north as at least Klassen Road.

Klassen is apparently blocked off at Rutland Road due to what may be a power pole fire.

Fire and Fortis crews appear to be on scene from reader photos sent to Castanet. Police and firefighters are redirecting traffic in the area.

Resident Shane Mulligan says the power pole was sparking.

"We went to check it out, and it was arcing inside the pole and smouldering, so we called the fire department," he said.

Mulligan says firefighters closed off Fitzpatrick Road and Rutland Road.

"Fortis crews extinguished the pole, then the power went off, and now they are working on the pole," he added.
Photo: Carol Kofer Drake.

A Kelowna woman is extremely grateful after a local veterinarian saved the life of her injured dog, just hours before she was going have the dog put down.

On April1, Carol Kofer's German shepherd/husky cross, Drake, was kicked by the family's horse, shattering the one-and-a-half-year-old dog's leg.

Kofer's local vet said it would cost $8,000 to repair the dog's leg.

We're poor farmers and we do what we can for the animals, she said. I can't afford that.

While Kofer was looking at the X-rays of Drake's leg she suffered what she calls an episode and had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance.

Long story short, I was going to have to put the dog down today, because I don't have $8,000 and with my health, I don't even know if I'm going to have a job," Kofer said.

On the day she was going to put Drake down, Kofer's friend suggested calling Dr. Moshe Oz, at Rose Valley Veterinary Hospital, as she knew he had done pro bono work in the past.

I told him my plight and now the dog's in his care, I surrendered it to him, and he's going to do everything in his care to find the dog the proper care and a new home, Kofer said.

Dr. Oz told her he would fix Drake's leg at no cost to her.

She says that due to her health complications and the 45 other animals on her farm, she will not be able to care for Drake after his surgery.

Kofer says Dr. Oz is looking for someone to take Drake who can provide him with the proper care that will allow him to recover.

This guy and his wife, I don't know where they're sent from, Kofer said. He's all about the animals, he's a wonderful person and a wonderful vet.
Photo: CTV Trevor Ryan Oakley

A missing person investigation has turned into a murder investigation after the body of a Port Alberni man was found on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

Trevor Ryan Oakley was reported missing on Jan. 3, 2017. The 34-year-old had been staying at a Port Alberni shelter.

The Port Alberni RCMP received a tip last Sunday that human remains had been found near Sarita Bay, 70 kilometres south of Port Alberni.

Police believe Oakley was murdered, and the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit is now investigating.

The RCMP have said it appears Oakley was targeted, and the public is not at risk.

Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $2,000 for information leading to an arrest and charges in the case.

Police have asked anyone with information on the death to call 250-380-6211.

- With files from CTV Vancouver Island
Photo: CTV Christine Wood

Police in Winnipeg say they've made an arrest and a man faces a murder charge in the case of a woman who disappeared last year.

Christine Wood, from Oxford House First Nation, was last seen by family in Winnipeg on Aug. 19.

The 21-year-old was in the city with her parents to accompany a relative to a medical appointment.

She never came back to her downtown hotel room after going out that night.

Police say in a news release that a 30-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder.

They did not release his name, and say more details will be provided at a news conference on Monday.

Wood's parents made an emotional public plea in September for help finding their daughter.

Calls and texts to her cellphone went unanswered following her disappearance and George and Melinda Wood said it was very unlike her.

Wood was a former University of Winnipeg student.

At the time of her disappearance, police said she was facing some "personal challenges" and may be associating with people living high-risk lifestyles.
Contrary to some political claims, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved more drugs, and two to three months faster on average, than European regulators did in recent years, new research shows.

Its an urban myth that the FDA is slower than other countries to clear promising treatments for patients, said the agencys longtime cancer drugs chief, Dr. Richard Pazdur.

He had no role in the approval rate research, which was published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The new research compared how new drugs fared before the FDA and the European Medicines Agency between 2011 and 2015.

The FDA approved more drugs than the Europeans  170 versus 144  with a median review time of 306 days versus 383 days in Europe.

Reviews were speedier at the FDA for drugs for cancer and blood diseases, but not other maladies, compared to the Europeans. The FDA also moved quicker on so-called orphan drugs, for relatively rare conditions.

The results are similar to a previous analysis that some of the same researchers did for therapies approved between 2001 and 2010.

The latest study was done by Dr. Nicholas Downing at Bostons Brigham and Womens Hospital, Audrey Zhang at New York University and Dr. Joseph Ross at the Yale School of Medicine.

President Donald Trump has called the FDAs drug approval process slow and burdensome, and his nominee to head the agency, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, has criticized what he calls unnecessary regulations. Gottliebs confirmation hearings began on Wednesday.

Some other doctors defended the FDAs track record.

Were the best in the world. Our FDA is great, said Dr. George Demetri of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He is a board member of the American Association for Cancer Research, and spoke from the groups annual meeting in Washington, attended by some 20,000 cancer scientists from around the world.
Chino, CA (91710)

Today

Periods of rain, heavy at times early. Potential for heavy rainfall. High 62F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected..

Tonight

Cloudy with periods of rain. Low 48F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. Localized flooding in recent burn areas.
The other day, I was riding on the subway when I heard a commotion behind me. People started running around in the car, and a young girl slammed into my seat as if she was fleeing some kind of murderous thug. The reason for the panic was a crack-head who had decided to beat up on a young, innocent man who happened to be riding on the same car.

The poor young man who just happened to cross paths with the addict was bleeding from the forehead, but was helped off of the train and seemed to be okay. Physically, at least. I cant vouch for his peace of mind, or discount any nightmares he might have well into the night.

This incident, though brief, stayed with me long after the train doors closed and we were safely home. I posted about it on Facebook, and the way that people reacted had a lot to do with the way they approached drug addiction.

Those who had either suffered from addiction and then recovered, or who had family members who were in the throes of addiction, were angry. One old friend from grade school posted some searing criticisms, a few of which were unnecessarily personal and vitriolic, and unfriended me.

Many others were in agreement that just because someone is an addict, that doesnt mean we need to ignore the fact that they are capable of hateful, criminal, destructive behavior that destroys countless other lives. They were sympathetic to the idea that even though we can feel sorry for the abuser (even though many of us refuse to call it a disease) it was more important to recognize the pain of the innocent victims, like the young man on that train.

We have a society that is waking up to the scourge of addiction, and that is a good thing. We have programs for those who cannot rip the heavy chains of addiction from their necks, and who fall, and rise, and fall even further even after mountains have been moved to help them. We show concern for the afflicted, even though in many cases that affliction was self-imposed.

In other words, we are a compassionate society that tries to help our loved ones and strangers escape the hell of addiction. Thats good, because the alternative is losing generations to. Not even a heartless, bitter woman like yours truly thinks that is a good idea.

But while we are so concerned with the addicts, lets also pause for a moment to consider what we owe to those who are the silent victims of the scourge: Families, friends, and strangers whose only crime is being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Frankly, Im tired of the do-gooders preaching to me to shut up about my anger at these destroyers of peace. Im fed up with the holier-than-thou masses who shout down at me from their mountains of superiority, giving me lessons in how hard it is to shake an addiction. Im over the people who keep saying its a disease, dammit! and plug up their ears when I say a self-inflicted one, dammit!

Im even willing to bow to the experts on addiction and concede that there is some truth to the science of addiction, because I have seen firsthand how normal humans can be biologically transformed into hollow-eyed zombies looking only for their next fix. There is an alchemy there, a change worked upon the body and the spirit by these toxins.

But Im not going to be silent when I see humans turn into animals and prey on other innocent beings, or bow my head and pray for their redemption. I will pray, all right, that the victim is made whole and brought to a place of peace and safety.

Only then will I have some consideration left over, a few beads on my rosary, for the suffering, victimizing addict. And if that guarantees for me a place in purgatory, or worse, so be it.
India, Bangladesh sign 22 agreements

Published: April 8, 2017

India and Bangladesh have signed 22 agreements in various fields such as defence, nuclear cooperation, judicial sector, earth sciences, navigation, peaceful uses of outer space, to boost bilateral cooperation.

These agreements were signed in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Shiekh Hasina in New Delhi after delegation level talks.

India also announced concessional Line of Credit (LoC) of $4.5 billion to Bangladesh for projects in priority sectors. Moreover, India also gave LoC of $500 million to Bangladesh for defence purchases.

Some of the agreements signed are

MoU on Defence Cooperation Framework

MoU on Bilateral Judicial Sector Cooperation

MoU for extending Defence LOC of $500 million.

MoU on Cooperation in the Field of Mass Media.

MoU on Cooperation in the area of Cyber Security.

MoU concerning Cooperation on Aids to Navigation.

MoU on Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

MoU for Extending a 3rd Line of Credit (LoC) by GoI to GoB.

Agreement on Cooperation in Peaceful uses of Nuclear Energy.

MoU on Co-operation in the field of Information Technology and Electronics.

MoU on establishing Border Haats across the border between India and Bangladesh.

Agreement for the Regulation of Motor Vehicle Passenger Traffic (Khulna-Kolkata route).

Inter-Agency Agreement on Cooperation regarding Nuclear Power Plant Projects in Bangladesh

MoU on Mutual Scientific Cooperation in the field of Earth Sciences for Research and Development.

Month: Current Affairs - April, 2017

Topics: Defence  India-Bangladesh  National  Nuclear energy  Outer space

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After a nice relaxing Spring Break, we are back in full force at the Capitol. We were able to approve the budget this week as well as work on some other important pieces of legislation. Below is a recap of what all we have been working on in Jefferson City.

House members discussed and debated the Fiscal Year 2018 state operating budget for several hours on both Tuesday and Thursday this week before giving final approval to the $27.7 billion spending plan and sending it to the Senate. The House version of the budget includes record levels of funding for public K-12 education; fully funding the school foundation formula for the first time. It also restores a proposed cut to school transportation funding, and adds additional dollars to higher education above what was recommended by the governor. The plan approved by the House also restores a cut proposed by the governor that would have impacted 20,000 seniors and disabled Missourians who currently qualify for state-funded in-home care and nursing home services.

House members faced the challenge of creating a fiscally responsible budget that invests in the states priorities while also dealing with the reality of sluggish revenue growth. Not only were lawmakers able to bridge a $500 million shortfall in the budget while still making record investments in education, they were also able leave $200 million on the bottom line to allow for emergency spending needs.

The House-approved spending plan also emphasizes transparency by eliminating Es from the budget. The Es represents an open-ended spending limit on funds in which legislators expect money beyond what they allocate might be needed before the next budget is created. As an example, the budget eliminates the E from the states legal expense fund, which lawmakers later learned had paid out millions in settlements for harassment lawsuits. The fund now has an exact dollar figure for its funding, which will require agencies to come before the legislature to explain why they need additional dollars for court settlements.

Part of the work done by the House Budget Committee and House members was to find additional dollars to restore cuts proposed by the governor. The budget chairman noted the House was able to restore many of the spending cuts proposed by the governor to balance the budget, and House members did it while spending less than the total amount recommended by the governor in his spending plan.

Highlights include:

 An additional $48 million that will fully fund the School Foundation Formula for public K-12 education for the first time. The FY 2018 budget proposal appropriates more than $6 billion in total for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

 Lawmakers found an additional $25 million to restore a cut proposed by the governor to public school transportation.

 House members also restored $21 million in cuts proposed by the governor to higher education. Two-year and four-year institutions with the exception of the University of Missouri system will see a portion of the proposed cut restored. The UM System will receive additional dollars above the governors recommendation in the form of funding for collaborative projects with other higher education institutions.

 The House version of the budget restores $600,000 in funding from a proposed cut to independent living centers, which help people with disabilities to increase their independence and their opportunity to participate in day-to-day life within their communities.

 The budget plan passed by the House also restores $1.4 million in funding for brain injury services provided by the Department of Health that have been withheld in previous budget cycles.

 House members restored funding to help implement the system of voter identification that was approved by Missouri voters last year. The House version of the budget includes nearly $3 million in funding for the program.

 The House budget plan also restores half of a cut proposed by the governor to reimbursement rates for Medicaid providers.

Other funding highlights for the FY 2018 spending plan include:

 $12.3 million increase for early childhood special education.

 An additional $1.3 million in funding for the states Area Agencies on Aging for use in the Meals on Wheels program that provides meal assistance to seniors.

 An increase of $15.4 million in funding for the state employee pension system, which brings the plan to a record level of state support.

 $157 million to fund the Excellence in Mental Health Pilot Project. Missouri is one of a handful of states participating in the program to increase access to community mental health and substance abuse treatment services.

 $1 million in additional funding for an opioid abuse prevention grant program.

 $1 million for grants to volunteer fire fighter associations to help offset the increasing costs of workers compensation premiums.

 $250,000 to upgrade the states Amber Alert system to allow it to be integrated with the Silver Alert System and the Blue Alert System.

 $500,000 added to pilot a program to promote STEM education in middle schools.

 $250,000 to be utilized for tutoring grants for math and science in provisionally accredited school districts.

 $4 million in additional funding for Bright Flight scholarships.

 $62 million in new funding for road construction.

 $25 million new federal dollars for rail, port, and freight program expansion.

 The House version of the budget continues to eliminate funding for abortion services.

The budget bills now move to the Senate for consideration. The budget must be completed by Friday, May 5, which gives the House and Senate one month to reach an agreement on the final spending plan.

The House has approved legislation that would prohibit Missouri cities from putting red-light cameras in place to catch traffic violations. Lawmakers gave first-round approval to the bill in an effort to put an end to the practice of municipalities using the automated systems to raise revenues.

The bill would prohibit municipalities in Missouri from utilizing automated traffic systems to issue speeding tickets and fines for running red lights. The ban on red-light cameras would ensure motorists receive any ticket for a traffic violation in person from a law enforcement officer within 24 hours of the violation. The bill would also require cities that have red-light cameras in place to end any contracts with companies that operate the systems within one year.

Supporters say the bill will prevent the current practice of predatory taxation by traffic fine. They note that much of the revenue generated by the fines actually go out of state to the companies operating the cameras. Supporters also say the cameras are an infringement upon the peoples freedom.

The House gave final approval this week to legislation that would implement a prescription drug tracking system in an effort to prevent opioid abuse in Missouri. If approved by both chambers and signed into law, the bill would make Missouri the 50th and final state to implement such a system to prevent the practice of doctor shopping to obtain multiple prescriptions for valuable and addictive medications.

The bill now moves to the Senate where similar bills have hit a roadblock in previous sessions. The Senate has already approved its own version of the bill that differs significantly from the House version. However, the sponsor of the Senate bill, who has traditionally opposed the House version, recently announced that he will support the bill sent over from the House. His only request is that the House version of the bill be amended to include a provision that physicians be required to use the database.

Proponents of the House plan will now work to implement the compromise to secure final passage of the bill. The bill has already received approval from a Senate committee and appears on track to receive discussion on the Senate floor in the coming weeks.

The bill would require the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services to establish and maintain a program to monitor the prescribing and dispensing of all Schedule II through Schedule IV controlled substances. The bill would require information on these drugs being prescribed and dispensed to be reported within 24 hours. By the year 2020 the information would be updated in real time.

House members have approved legislation that would create a task force charged with developing a health care reform plan for Missouri. Under the bill, the State Innovation Waiver Task Force would be created for the purpose of developing a plan that will allow Missouri to obtain a state innovation waiver from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

In order to obtain a waiver, a state must demonstrate that its proposed health insurance reforms are as comprehensive and affordable as the federal requirements for insurance sold in its state. States receiving grant waivers may receive federal assistance to operate their reform programs in an amount that is equivalent to the amount the federal government would have paid for individuals enrolled in the state.

Supporters say it is important that Missouri establish the task force to find a sustainable health care system that improves the level of care at a more affordable rate.
The big news at the Capitol this week is that the Fiscal Year 2018 budget bills have finally made it over from the House, which means its now the Senates turn to make any changes we feel are necessary.

Our goal is always to provide adequate funding to our various state departments and agencies, so they in turn may continue providing the vital services and programs that help our citizens and keep Missouri up and running.

In related budget news, the governor has announced a new program to bring essential internet infrastructure to Missouris rural school districts. In an age when so many aspects of our daily lives involve the internet and the world is at our fingertips, some people tend to forget there are many rural areas that still dont have access to high-speed internet.

This is actually the case for over a hundred of Missouris school districts. As the governors announcement letter states, Thats thousands of students without access to sufficient technology that kids around the world are using.

The program will be funded through a federal-state match system, whereby the federal government will provide a dollar-for-dollar match of state funding for one-time special construction costs, up to 10 percent.

The estimated cost to connect our more than 100 school districts to high-speed internet is approximately $45 million, 10 percent of which is $4.5 million. However, an additional $2 million will be required to ensure all school districts can participate without having to utilize their own funds.

This brings the total state expenditure to $6.5 million, which can be allocated over several fiscal years. House Bill 2, now in the Senate, has appropriated $6 million to help turn this great and much-needed idea into real action.

Expanding broadband access to Missouris rural areas is something weve been working on for quite some time, so I very much appreciate the governors efforts to work with the Legislature on this issue.

Another benefit to consider  making such a large investment in internet infrastructure for our school districts will likely create a ripple effect of increased high-speed internet access throughout the rural communities themselves.

I also wanted to briefly mention Senate Bill 328, which the Senate began debating this week. As you may recall, SB 328 is my Higher Education System Review Task Force bill, which seeks to restructure the degrees that Missouris public universities and community colleges can offer in order to more effectively meet our ever-changing workforce needs.

Crafting SB 328 required bringing together all the various stakeholders for many meetings that took place over many months. This is a great piece of legislation that balances the need to allow our higher education institutions to be more nimble in order to react to the workforce demands of today while still recognizing that the University of Missouri always has been, and always will be, our states flagship system.

Senate Bill 328 promotes collaboration among our higher education institutions and has been endorsed by every affected community college and university. Although it has not yet passed through the Senate, I look forward to more constructive debate with my Senate colleagues.

My office staff and I were pleased to welcome the following visitors to the Capitol this week: Kaytrina Horton, of Festus and LeeAnn Roberts, of Bonne Terre who was here advocating on behalf of homeless veterans; Debby Bust, of Potosi, who was here for Child Advocacy Day; and Nicole Black and Makenzie Couch, both of Farmington, and Cortney Hampton, of Fredericktown, who were here on behalf of the Earned Income Credit.

We also met with some of our retired teachers, who were here for MNEA Capitol Action Day. They included Ste. Genevieve residents Sharon Giesler and Jan and Randy Weith, as well as Lisa Sundblad, of St. Mary and Michael Smith, of Hillsboro.

I would also like to thank my mother, June Romine, who was at the Capitol on Thursday on behalf of the Missouri Association for Family and Community Education for the annual Child Advocacy Day.

And last but certainly not least, I had the privilege of attending the annual Ste. Genevieve Area Center for Life Banquet on Thursday evening. This local pregnancy center provides valuable services to citizens in our area, and I always look forward to being able to show my support for the great work they do.

I always appreciate hearing your comments, opinions and concerns. Please feel free to contact me in Jefferson City at (573) 751-4008. You may write me at Gary Romine, Missouri Senate, State Capitol, Jefferson City, MO 65101; or email me at gary.romine@senate.mo.gov.
To many people, politics is essentially tribal, an Us vs. Them struggle between cartoon enemies. Scarce a day passes that my inbox doesn't contain a message like this:

"I must be one of those deplorables that they talk about. By reading your column I figure you are wealthy, old money, college educated, but cannot turn a screwdriver, typical liberal, pro LGBT, gun-fearing, pro-abortion, everything that someone told you should be, so not to offend ... If this country doesn't get back to, God-fearing, gun-toting, conservatives, we're going to be fighting are wars with pink camoed soldiers prancing around the battle field passing out flowers. Sorry if I offended you, just kidding fag."

That's comparatively civil. There are frequent threats, but never once to my face. So I treat such messages as unwitting guides to their authors' fears. People who obsess about strangers' sexual practices usually have something to hide.

But it's not just right-wingers. Check out reader comments to a recent Nicholas Kristof column in The New York Times expressing empathy for loyal Trump voters in Oklahoma who stand to lose their health insurance, senior centers, job-training programs, etc. should the president's draconian budget proposal be enacted. (Fat chance, but hold that thought.)

"Some of the loyalty," Kristof wrote, "seemed to be grounded in resentment at Democrats for mocking Trump voters as dumb bigots." Offended readers denounced what one called "Kristof's continuing delusional campaign that Trump voters need to be understood."

Another reader thought "dumb bigots" an understatement: "Our country is being held hostage by resentful coal miners who are never going to get their black lung disease-causing jobs back. It's being held hostage by undereducated, evidently opioid-addicted, underemployed white men across the Rust Belt ... (and) by mean-spirited Religious Right fanatics who want to impose Christian Sharia law on the rest of us."

Elsewhere, pundit Frank Rich contributed an essay to New York Magazine entitled "No Sympathy for the Hillbilly." The flamboyantly embittered scribe thinks it "a fool's errand for Democrats to fudge or abandon their own values to cater to the white-identity politics of the hard-core, often self-sabotaging Trump voters who helped drive the country into a ditch on Election Day."

Precisely which Democrats empathize with Klansmen isn't clear, but Rich's personal animus couldn't be clearer. "If we are free to loathe Trump," he concludes, "we are free to loathe his most loyal voters, who have put the rest of us at risk."

Or, as Joseph Conrad wrote in a different context, "Exterminate all the brutes."

My problem with this tribal loathing is twofold: first, bedrock Americanism as explained to me by my working-stiff New Jersey father. "You're no better than anybody else," the old man would growl, "and NOBODY'S BETTER THAN YOU." If he stressed the last bit in reaction to the "Irish need not apply" signs of his youth, he also meant the first part. Me too.

Second, my experience of living most of my adult life in Arkansas, a historically "blue" state recently turned deepest "red" without changing its essential character very much at all. How Bill Clinton happened was that after 1968, when the state narrowly gave George Wallace (a cornpone Trump) its electoral votes, Democratic moderate Dale Bumpers saw that the hardcore segregationist vote was about one third. The old order was on life-support.

Stressing economic progress and social tolerance, Bumpers laid the political foundation for several Democratic governors to come: David Pryor, Clinton, Jim Guy Tucker and Mike Beebe. Even Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee -- installed by legalistic coup during independent counsel Kenneth Starr's farcical "Whitewater" investigation --governed as a moderate.

Progress was palpable. When Bumpers took office in 1970, per capita income in Arkansas was 43 percent of the national average; today it's 82 percent and rising. If it's far from paradise, local patriotism here runs very strong. (Go Hogs!) It's tempting to conclude that Arkansans finally got rich enough to turn Republican. The GOP ran the table in 2014, electing former Rep. Asa Hutchinson governor and taking control of the general assembly.

Did the election of a black president help seal the deal? No doubt, but only at the margins. Trump won 61 percent of the state's presidential vote in 2016. But if the state legislature has recently devoted itself to largely symbolic absurdities involving guns and public bathrooms, neither has it fundamentally altered the state's political culture. Gov. Hutchinson has resisted the Trump administration's attack on Arkansas' Medicaid expansion; even far-right Sen. Tom Cotton vigorously opposed the Trump-Ryan Obamacare repeal.

Very broadly then, the center appears to be holding. And while I yield to no man in my visceral contempt for Donald J. Trump, I'll be very surprised if Congress enacts his anti-community budget cuts. Trashing cartoon liberals is one thing; shutting down Meals on Wheels quite another.

As for cartoon conservatives, Democrats should keep in mind that bringing even five percent of them back around would constitute a revolution.

Arkansas Times columnist Gene Lyons is a National Magazine Award winner and co-author of "The Hunting of the President" (St. Martin's Press, 2000). You can email Lyons at eugenelyons2@yahoo.com
Comcast on Thursday leapt into the cutthroat market for cellphone service by unveiling Xfinity Mobile, a move that other cable companies are expected to follow as consumers' rising Internet consumption increasingly pits providers of home and mobile broadband against each other.

The company will offer its Xfinity customers two wireless options: one for unlimited data that costs from $45 to $65 per line a month, and a pay-as-you-go plan for $12 per gigabyte. The service will be available to customers starting in the second quarter, Comcast said.

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The new offering is aimed at helping Comcast compete outside the home as Americans' Internet usage increasingly shifts to mobile devices. With mainstream wireless carriers such as Verizon and AT&T ramping up offerings in unlimited data and online video, Comcast said offering cellphone service can help the company retain customers and extend the reach of its traditional TV product.

Comcast's network differs from that of its rivals in the phone business. The cable company's service relies primarily on Comcast's network of 16 million public WiFi hotspots for connectivity, allowing users to surf the Web, watch video and listen to streaming music on their phones without paying for cellular data. Where the company's WiFi signals are unavailable, Xfinity Mobile will connect to the traditional cellular network owned by Verizon, which Comcast is using as a result of an airwaves agreement signed several years ago. It's similar to the approach taken by Google when it launched its Project Fi wireless service.

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Comcast views Xfinity Mobile as a way to expand the traditional cable bundle, adding a fourth service on top of residential Internet, landline phone service and cable television. A Comcast Internet subscription is required for Xfinity Mobile to work, the company said. And the wireless service's lowest rate (the $45 per month plan) will be available only to customers who subscribe to Comcast's Xfinity Premium Double Play or Triple Play, according to spokespeople.

The monthly wireless plans include unlimited data, in keeping with recent trends in the industry. A Comcast household can subscribe to multiple plans, meaning that a family of four could see two phones signed up for unlimited data and two phones signed up for the pay-as-you-go option. Switching between plans will be hassle-free, the company said during a presentation Thursday, adding that roughly 70 percent of customers today use less than 5 GB of wireless data per month.

Comcast's enormous scale will likely be its biggest advantage as it seeks to build a wireless powerhouse. Beyond the company's existing hotspot network, its 29 million customers represent a target audience that is already tied into Comcast's product and business ecosystem. Those customers will not need to undergo a separate credit check for Xfinity Mobile service, and any billing and shipping information will be pre-populated in Comcast's online signup forms.

"The simplicity of the offer lends itself to a digital-first experience, which is going to be at a very efficient cost to serve, as well," said Mike Cavanaugh, Comcast's chief financial officer.

Under similar pressures, the rest of the cable industry is also expected to move in Comcast's direction. Charter Communications has said that it intends to launch a wireless service sometime next year.

Comcast is leaping into a highly competitive industry that has seen companies such as T-Mobile and AT&T engage in tit-for-tat price wars, dueling promotions and the return of popular features such as unlimited plans. Because it relies on Verizon's infrastructure, Comcast's new service could be hurt if Verizon decides it poses a threat. But for the moment, analysts say, Xfinity Mobile appears poised for a successful launch.

"Wireless should be a positive driver of value for Comcast, and the market isn't giving them credit for it today," said Jonathan Chaplin, an industry analyst at New Street Research, in a note to investors Thursday.
This time, Next is selling memories. Childhood, the latest menu from Next, Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas' shape-shifting restaurant, is a Proustian food journey that, although based on Achatz's and executive chef Dave Beran's childhoods, is designed to evoke yours.



(Typically, I visit a restaurant at least twice before awarding stars, but inasmuch as Next features a fixed, themed menu that lasts only 13 weeks before morphing into an entirely new concept, time constraints keep me to one visit per menu.)



Contrasted to Next's inaugural menu, which re-created turn-of-century Escoffier, or its follow-up, note-perfect rendition of Thai street food, this intensely personal iteration represents a breaking away (however temporary) from Next's culinary-cover-band mold.



Instead, the 11-course menu is a progression of memory triggers with a decidedly whimsical bent. There are sight gags, such as drawn-on stick-figure children "fishing" for a piece of walleye trapped in a woven potato net over sliced cucumber waves alongside a deconstructed tartar-sauce beach. There is wordplay, as in the chicken noodle soup made with chicken mousse noodles (thus "chicken noodle" soup).



There's even a mom-inspired eat-your-vegetables side dish in which Brussels sprout cups have been filled with extras that might render them palatable, such as a buttery bearnaise "pudding," bacon rillettes and black-truffle puree.



Achatz and Beran, however, kept the obvious out of the mix. There are no Rice Krispie treats, no homages to the Twinkie, no place mats to be colored, no root beer floats and, perhaps shocking to some, not a single s'more.



As the meal begins, you're confronted by three cocktail glasses, containing an olive, cherry and bit of celery, respectively, along with a corresponding tablespoon's worth of martini, Manhattan and bloody mary. I actually waited for the glasses to be filled before a waiter informed me that presentation was complete, and then I caught on  the presentation mimicked the sip-of-dad's-cocktail experience. Ideally, one would accompany each sip with a furtive, over-the-shoulder glance.



The sips are followed by a gift-wrapped box, allowing patrons to relive the joy of opening a present. Inside is a tempura-fried sphere containing liquid peanut butter and jelly (the latter actually pomegranate pate de fruit), atop a scattering of fried ground peanuts and pate de fruit bits. The flavors are the same in each instance, but the textures are radically different, and as a bonus, the scents from the box  peanut, salt, sugar, cardboard  brought me back to the Cracker Jack boxes of my youth.



There's a virtual forest of salad ingredients, suspended over a torched piece of birch that carries with it the aroma of campfire. A deconstructed hamburger, whose flavors are spot-on fast food. Mac and cheese, surrounded by a "merry go round" of complementary ingredients, including ham (Mangalitsa ham rolled around arugula), manchego custard, a "rock" that bursts with concentrated hot-dog flavor, and three tiny pasta tubes soaked in annatto-seed oil (for that yellow-orange color we know so well).



One course arrives in a lunchbox  Next acquired 40 vintage lunchboxes for this purpose (mine was "Knight Rider")  and includes beef jerky (Wagyu, naturally), an Oreo-inspired cookie (made with cocoa powder and dehydrated truffle puree) and pudding (Valrhona chocolate, roasted banana and hazelnut praline), among other goodies. And among the sweet finales are a couple of cider-apple doughnut holes alongside foie-gras "frosting," the latter presented on electric-mixer beaters.



What keeps Childhood from veering into Carrot Top territory is that, independent of their memory-nudging purpose, the dishes work. The noodles made from chicken would be mere wordplay if the chicken soup weren't terrific  but it is. The salad, apart from the walk-in-the-woods context, is delicious. And I'd order the mac and cheese again in an instant.



Service, so informative and correct on my previous Next visits, is positively giddy this time around, waiting for you to "get" the idea behind each dish (and ready to explain the gag if you do not).



I wasn't around when Achatz and Beran put this menu together, but I imagine there was a lot of giggling involved.



Boys will be boys, after all.

pvettel@tribune.com

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Twitter @philvettel



Next

953 W. Fulton Market, nextrestaurant.com

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Tribune rating: Four stars

Open: Dinner Wednesday-Sunday

Dinner price: About $215, including wine and service charge

Credit cards: A, DS, M, V

Reservations: Prepaid tickets available online only

Noise: Conversation-friendly

Other: Wheelchair accessible; valet parking



Ratings key:

Four Stars: Outstanding

Three Stars: Excellent

Two Stars: Very good

One Star: Good

No stars: Unsatisfactory



Reviews are based on no fewer than two visits. The reviewer makes every effort to remain anonymous. Meals are paid for by the Tribune.



This review was originally published in December 2011.
In the living room, a Moroccan-inspired wood rug lends a Bohemian vibe to the velvet-covered sofas and chairs. The marble and brass cocktail table is from Horchow. (Carolina Mariana Rodriguez)

For Claire Staszak, the attraction was immediate.

"This house has an art deco or old Hollywood feeling that I responded to right away," she says of the 1930s Tudor-style bungalow in Portage Park on Chicago's Northwest Side that she and husband Luke, a high school history teacher at George Westinghouse College Prep, renovated together over his summer break in 2016.

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After touring many houses, the couple fell hard for the charming four-bedroom abode's stained glass windows, coved ceilings and other intact original details.

"You would never get vintage charm like this in a house built today," Claire Staszak, 32, explains, pointing to the glass doorknobs. "I knew it was the right house for us from the moment we first walked through the door."

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While the Staszaks hired contractors for plumbing, electrical and the installation of the kitchen backsplash, they were more than willing to get their hands dirty  painting walls, ripping up the old linoleum and refinishing the original hardwood floors. Aided by his mother, Luke Staszak, 33, also completely demolished the dated kitchen, a laborious process that involved using a jackhammer to remove a tile backsplash that covered the bottom three-quarters of the walls.

"I was covered in cuts and scrapes by the end of it all," he says. "The week of demolition was the toughest day of labor I can recall, but I knew we only had the dumpster truck for one day, so I worked as hard as I could to get the job done."

The result is a brighter and much more open kitchen outfitted with black and white cabinets, butcher block countertops and a white diamond-shaped tile backsplash with black grout. Other elements  brass fixtures, a custom movable wooden island with a vintage enamel top, an antique painted cupboard with glass doors  reinforce the home's old-timey vibe.

"The cabinet is partially a cost-saving measure, but it also adds so much more character, and it's just so pretty," Claire Staszak says. "You probably would have seen something like this here in the '30s or '40s."

Infusing a home with character isn't simply a pastime for Staszak, an interior design student with her own business, Centered by Design. Her quasi-Bohemian aesthetic is apparent the moment one enters the intimate foyer. Graphic black and white wallpaper from an independent studio and an assortment of small brass mirrors complement the original tile floor and arched wooden door, which has been painted black for contrast. A blackened metal Moroccan-style lighting pendant adds international flair that reverberates throughout the interior.

"I appreciate a worldly look that's almost but not quite Bohemian," Staszak says. "Words that describe my personal style are vintage, organic, global and classic."

In his basement workshop, her husband built a modern desk base for her office, and a handsome, white storage-and-display cabinet for the living room, which is peppered with an eclectic array of pieces. These include a $25 thrift store sofa that she recovered in velvet, along with a Moroccan-inspired black and cream wool rug and a high-end marble and brass cocktail table.

"I'm such a huge fan of brass," she says. "It's becoming hugely popular again, but to me it has an older feel that's perfect for this house."

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To brighten the interior of the north-facing dwelling, which felt oppressively dark and gloomy in comparison to the couple's previous sunny corner apartment in Logan Square, the pair made the agonizing decision to paint much of the original woodwork white. As a compromise, however, they left the casings around the stained glass windows in the entry and living room untouched.

"It was difficult to cover up beautiful century-old oak," Luke Staszak says, "but painting the trim white was the right choice to brighten up the entire house, and also allowed me to add additional trim and match it more easily."

The marriage of old and new permeates the interior. A graphic ceramic floor tile in the mudroom, which resembles far more expensive concrete material, pairs perfectly with a rustic painted bench. And in the master suite, blue walls create a soothing backdrop for a '70s-era wicker headboard, a rosewood dresser with leather straps and a colorful array of artwork  prints, photographs, water color paintings  by up-and-coming artists.

"It's not about just going out and buying stuff," Claire Staszak explains. "Things that have a story are so much more meaningful."

Beyond their four walls, the Staszaks are finding much to enjoy about life in Portage Park, including neighbors who have embraced them graciously, introducing themselves with a bottle of wine, leaving a handwritten list of their favorite neighborhood restaurants on the door or simply signing for packages. And putting so much sweat equity into the project has made them appreciate the result all the more.

"I'm so impressed with everything Luke did, and I think that he appreciates my design," Claire Staszak says. "It's just really nice to create a home with somebody that you love."

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Tate Gunnerson is a freelance writer.

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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 11 The Lolla Bootie from Sorel for women is crafted with waterproof leather (for light rain) and stylized with cutouts and a two-tone stacked heel, providing comfort and style for spring and summer  and obviously for Lollapalooza, it's in the name), $160 www.sorel.com (Sorel)

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 9 A West Loop condo situated at 659 Randolph St. Unit 614 is currently on the market for $462,900. (Rick Knoell / VHT Studios)
Can we talk about something we should stop saying?

Before I reveal what it is, let's talk about why we're discussing it.

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With punishing regularity, stories float through my social media feeds excoriating people for their word choices. These linguistic offenses, if they are offenses, are usually small, but in social media, where every whisper turns into a shout, the denunciations feel as if they're delivered by bullhorn.

Stop saying this! Quit saying that! You shouldn't, you must not, ever, ever say it!

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A small sampling of real, recent headlines:

"29 things you should stop saying at work"

"Why You Should Stop Saying, 'I'm Busy'"

"11 Things You Should Stop Saying to People Who Can't Ride a Bike"

"Quit Saying These Annoying Things"

You know what's annoying? Being constantly told what not to say.

Last week, for example, a headline that appeared in my Facebook feed several times was "Why We Need to Stop Saying, 'I'm Sorry For Your Loss.'"

The writer had half a point. "I'm sorry for your loss" is so widely used it can feel stripped of meaning, and for that reason I usually look for other words to express my sympathy or sorrow. But it's a phrase many people are comfortable using, and even if it's pat, so what? The intention is clear. No need to flog a well-wisher for a failure of creativity.

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And if "I'm sorry for your loss" is a formula, it's certainly no worse than the formulas "You Should Stop Saying" and "You Need to Stop Saying."

All of us sometimes speak in ways that are sloppy, self-defeating or unintentionally offensive. It's good to consider the words you choose and to be reminded that some words distress some people.

But stories written in the "you should" formula are like prison guards or drill sergeants. They lecture, they hector, they intimidate.

And, of course, they work as click bait, which is why they've proliferated. Who doesn't want to be warned off saying something awful? Or, better yet, who doesn't want to gloat at the boneheaded things other people say?

Such scoldings apply to almost every kind of interaction. A few more I've stumbled upon recently:

You should stop calling women "guys."

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You should stop starting sentences with "Honestly," ending emails with "Let me know" and sprinkling "just" into every third sentence.

You should stop saying, "I'm fine," when asked how you are, unless you're doing great.

Some of the chiding is aimed at specific groups, sometimes in the name of self-help or self-criticism, more often as a way of marshaling the forces of contempt against the allegedly guilty.

Suburbanites should stop saying they're from Chicago. (The burbs are not the city.)

Christians need to stop saying, "I'm blessed." (It sounds like bragging, or it focuses too much on the material.)

Out-of-towners need to stop asking Chicagoans, "Have you been to The Bean?" (I still don't understand why.)

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Yoga practitioners without roots in India should stop saying, "Namaste." (It's cultural appropriation.)

Among the things parents should stop saying to their teenagers: "How was school today?" and "Good job!" (Beats me.)

Women need to stop saying, "Sorry." (It makes them sound weak.)

Sorry, but the onslaught of stories telling women what they should stop saying  a big subset of the genre  often comes across as bullying.

A few real headlines:

"9 phrases women need to stop saying right now"

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"12 Things Women Need to Stop Saying to Each Other Immediately"

"8 Phrases Women NEED To Stop Saying To Each Other"

Apparently scolding is more effective if it comes with a number and the suggestion that if you don't shape up ASAP, your house will burn down.

I agree with a few of the above should's and shouldn't's, and I can appreciate the pleasure of being cranky about how other people speak. But the bullying tone doesn't promote the message.

The people who write such stories must have missed all the stories with headlines like "You should stop using the word 'should.'"

And, at least in this context, we should.

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So can we stop saying, "You should stop saying?"

But, honestly, now that I've read that article pointing out the pointlessness of "Let me know," I'll use it less.

And I use "just" too much.

And as for saying "you guys" to a group of women, I don't think it's sexist, but it's for exactly this reason that the language gods invented the word "y'all."

mschmich@chicagotribune.com
For one Chicago woman, the epiphany came just a few days after the presidential election.

As Sameena Mustafa processed Donald Trump's victory and the shifting national political climate, she found it was no longer enough to vote, donate money or talk with friends about various political candidates.

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Instead, Mustafa realized she had to become the candidate. She is preparing to run for Congress in 2018, in what will be the first bid for elected office for the 46-year-old commercial real estate broker and burgeoning comedian from the North Center neighborhood.

"I can't stand by anymore. I can't just go and write a check; it's not enough," she said. "We can't expect other people to legislate our humanity."

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Mustafa is not alone in her newfound political aspirations. Various nonpartisan political training forums across the country are reporting a recent spike in women interested in running for office, a largely unexpected result of the 2016 presidential election.

"The growth has been explosive," said Erin Loos Cutraro, co-founder and CEO of She Should Run, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that supports women pursuing public office. "I think (the election) served as a catalyst to rethink the connection women have to their local communities, to look and see if their voices are represented in local government."

In March 2016, her organization crafted an online "incubator" to help women exploring political careers, hoping it would attract 400 members by the end of the year. Then 5,500 women signed up in 2016  with membership topping 10,000 by the end of last month, Cutraro said.

The national nonpartisan group VoteRunLead has had more than 6,000 women sign up to learn how to run for office since the November election, according to the nonprofit's website. Ready to Run, a nonpartisan program with the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, hosted a training session last month that normally attracts an average of 150 women; this year, 250 women participated and more expressed interest but registration had to be closed early due to lack of space, said director Debbie Walsh.

She invoked the adage: If you're not at the table, you're on the menu.

"I think very much women are feeling like they might be on the menu," she said. "And that's not what they want."

Shift in power

While much of the media was predicting a Hillary Clinton landslide, Mustafa  a Democrat and Clinton supporter  felt a sense of foreboding. She began grinding her teeth a month or two before the November election.

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"It was almost like my body was telling me something," she said.

As a woman, she was outraged by the sexism she felt Clinton faced and Trump portrayed during the campaign.

As a pro-choice woman, she feared threats to reproductive rights post-election. One of her first professional jobs was managing a Planned Parenthood clinic in the Austin neighborhood, which she described as vital to the health and well-being of women in a neighborhood with few resources.

And as a Muslim woman, she was particularly attuned to Islamophobia locally and nationwide, which she found to be stronger than even after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"There was a genuine feeling of, is this a safe place to be and is this a safe country?" she said. "And is this something we can overcome?"

So she joined several training programs geared at recruiting first-time female office seekers, learning about fundraising and getting practice campaigning door-to-door for other local candidates. She's reached out to about a dozen local community groups and nonprofits. She hasn't filed for office yet. She plans to run as a Democrat, but hasn't decided on a Congressional district.

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About two years ago, Mustafa co-founded "Simmer Brown," a South Asian comedy collective in Chicago. She sees parallels in some of the barriers women face in comedy to those in politics and other facets of life.

"There is still a resistance to seeing a woman in front of the room," she said. "And you see it in the CEO, in the C-suite  you see it in Hollywood. This is a universal problem."

She said she knows she's not choosing an easy path.

"There's going to have to be a shift in power," Mustafa said. "I won't pretend like I have no fear. But I have more determination than I have fear."

Historically, women often wait to be asked to run for office, whereas men don't, said Rebecca Sive, author of the book Every Day Is Election Day: A Woman's Guide to Winning Any Office, from the PTA to the White House. Women also tend to delay pursuing elected office because of child care responsibilities, though this is changing, she said.

But Sive sees many positive signs: A female presidential candidate won the popular vote in November, showing women they can run for the top executive office with great support. The massive anti-Trump women's marches across the globe after the January inauguration indicate women are mobilized.

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"It's absolutely true that the experiences of the 2016 presidential campaign really compelled a lot of women, or made them feel it's now or never," said Sive, a lecturer on women in politics and public leadership at the University of Chicago.

'A different mindset'

The two working moms met in January through She Should Run's online incubator. Now they get together regularly to discuss their districts, political research and pending state legislation.

Erica Green is a 46-year-old therapist from Carol Stream. Arti Walker-Peddakotla is a 35-year-old Army veteran in the tech industry from Oak Park. Both say they're considering first bids for elected office but aren't quite certain.

Both say the other woman definitely should run.

"We're not competing in any way," Walker-Peddakotla said. "I think that's a myth that's also shared in the media, that women compete with each other. If Erica wins and I lose or vice versa, great. One more woman that's in office. That's the important thing."

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They were big Clinton supporters: Green served a fellowship with the campaign and went canvassing door-to-door in Iowa; Walker-Peddakotla made campaign calls from home.

Both were extremely disappointed that, by their perceptions, a far more qualified woman lost to Trump.

Green is exploring a possible run for state representative; Walker-Peddakotla is looking at everything from state offices to local positions. Some have told her to start small.

"That's kind of the advice that I think all women get told as they're going into politics: start local and then go up," Walker-Peddakotla said. "Whereas I've noticed if you study the races that men do, right off the bat it's 'No, I'm going to run for Congress.'"

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They say creating a public persona would be new. They know they'd have to be prepared to be picked apart by opponents.

"I see it as a different career, a different mindset," Green said.

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Nationwide, women hold roughly 19 percent of Congressional seats, 24 percent of elected statewide executive offices and 25 percent of state legislative seats; nearly 21 percent of mayors in cities with a population greater than 30,000 are women, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers.

Cutraro of She Should Run acknowledged not every woman who joins a political incubator will run for office  and waging a successful political career might take years for many candidates. But she says the recent interest among American women could set the stage for future gender equity in elected office.

"I think we have the opportunity to change the narrative that is currently in place," she said. "At our current rate of growth, we will not see gender parity in elected office in our lifetime. The indications that we have seen since November change that narrative."

eleventis@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @angie_leventis
A bullet pierced the passenger side door of Omar Ahmed's car after a gunman fired into his vehicle in the early hours of April 8, 2017. (Elyssa Cherney)

A man fired into the car of another motorist in the Loop after the pair raced along the near-empty downtown streets early Saturday.

The gunman, who was driving a black SUV with a female passenger, sped away after firing a single shot in the passenger side door of Omar Ahmed's car just before 5 a.m., according to Ahmed and police at the scene.

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Ahmed was not injured, but he crashed into the front of a CTA bus before his brown Infiniti sedan came to rest along the curb of LaSalle and Randolph streets. No one on the bus was hurt, an official said.

"That bullet could have taken my life," said Ahmed, 26, looking dazed as the sun rose above the skyscrapers. "Dang, I could have died, man. That's crazy as hell."

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A Chicago police officer who happened to be driving close behind the encounter said he heard the pop of the gunfire and saw the offender take off. He was the first on the scene.

Officers asked evidence technicians to remove the bullet from the door of Ahmed's car, where it remained lodged deep inside.

Ahmed said he bought the car last week.

Before the shooting, Ahmed had just finished an overnight stint of Uber driving and was heading to meet a friend when he began racing with the car next to him.

They competed for about a minute, Ahmed said, but the driver began to appear agitated. Ahmed pulled into the turn lane at the intersection of South Lasalle and West Washington streets when the other man rolled down his window, said, "What's up," and pulled out a gun.

"That's when I heard the click click (of the gun), and I hit the gas," Ahmed said.

echerney@chicagotribune.com
Following the tearful testimony of two young women who spoke of being molested about 20 years ago when they were aged 8 and 9, their abuser was sentenced to 32 years in prison.

Robert Q. Maron, 48, sat with his head hung throughout most of the testimony. He broke down in tears as one victim called him a "monster" and described how she still has nightmares about him.

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Arrested in 2013 while living in Florida, Maron pleaded guilty in McHenry County in February to predatory criminal sexual assault and of aggravated criminal sexual abuse involving three young girls in the late 1990s.

One victim said the pain he caused her will last "an eternity." She said she has trouble sleeping and trusting others and still dislikes red pickup trucks because that's what he drove.

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"He has not only hurt myself but others, and who knows how many others there are who are not here today?" she said.

She said she feels guilt over not speaking out sooner but that Maron "vowed he would hurt my family."

She said she found strength in testifying Friday knowing "justice will be served."

"I have waited my whole life for today," the woman said.

A second victim also said Maron's abuse has affected "every aspect of my life."

She recalled the fear she felt of being alone and of losing friends and family if she ever spoke out, and the pain of carrying this "huge secret" into adulthood. She called Maron a "disgusting animal."

While Maron was held in McHenry County Jail awaiting trial, he also pleaded guilty in Cook County to a charge of criminal sexual assault involving a fourth girl in Schaumburg, authorities said. He was sentenced to six years in that case.

Cary Police Det. Susan Ellis said Maron admitted to his crimes when she interviewed him at a police station in Melbourne, Fla.

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She also said that, when she left him alone in the interview room, investigators observed him through surveillance equipment calling his wife and telling her to get rid of his computer because there was porn on it. Investigators later found deleted images of a naked girl and also found evidence that Maron had communicated with a young girl about sex, authorities said.

Maron apologized to his victims and their families and blamed his crimes on his drug and alcohol abuse and his troubled childhood.

"I am truly sorry," Maron said. "I was in a bad way."

His attorney, Assistant Public Defender Angelo Mourelatos, said Maron is remorseful and has been cooperative. He said Maron was physically and sexually abused by his stepfather as a child and was abandoned by his mother at age 11.

Assistant State's Attorney Randi Freese sought a 60-year prison term, calling Maron "the poster child of a child molester."

Judge Sharon Prather said though she believed Maron is remorseful he is "most definitely a predator."

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Amanda Marrazzo is a freelance reporter.
FRANKLIN, Ind.  A central Indiana man convicted of killing his 6-month-old daughter has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Johnson County Superior Court Judge Lance Hamner sentenced Christopher Potts to 30 years in prison Friday, with five years suspended to probation.

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A jury last month found the 22-year-old Franklin man guilty of battery resulting in death to a child under 14 in the September 2015 death of Felicity Anderson. Prosecutors said Potts told investigators he was frustrated with his daughter when he threw her down, inflicting a skull fracture on the child. She was pronounced dead at a Franklin hospital.

Potts said he will likely seek an appeal in the case.
Adam Schiff, ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, has been sharply critical of the panel's Republican chairman, Devin Nunes, for visiting the White House to view classified documents that Nunes says show the Obama administration intercepted the communications of Donald Trump associates before the president took office in January.

Among other things, Schiff slammed Nunes for viewing the documents by himself and not sharing them with Democrats on the committee. So last week, White House counsel Don McGahn invited Schiff to come see the documents for himself. Schiff did so on Friday.

Now, both the Republican chairman and the Democratic ranking member on the Intel Committee have seen the documents. And now, the public has a chance to hear another assessment to balance Nunes' claim that he saw "dozens" of intelligence reports involving the incidental collection of Trumpworld figures in Obama administration intercepts, with the names of some of them "unmasked," and that none of it had to do with Russia. In other words, Nunes suggested the Obama administration misused its wiretapping powers to gather information on the Trump team.

So with Schiff's visit to the White House, a chance for balance. But after viewing the documents, Schiff has gone nearly completely silent about what he saw. He has kept up his criticism of how Nunes came to view the material, but on what's actually in the documents, Schiff has said virtually nothing.

On Friday, immediately after viewing the documents, Schiff released a statement in which he declined to say anything about substance and repeated earlier criticisms of Republicans' handling of the matter.

"While I cannot discuss the content of the documents," Schiff said, "if the White House had any concern over these materials, they should have been shared with the full committee in the first place."

Schiff made no public comments on Saturday, and then on Sunday morning appeared on CNN, where Jake Tapper asked Schiff if, having seen the documents, "can you understand why Chairman Nunes might have some issues with the surveillance that was going on?"

"I can't go into the contents of the documents, Jake," Schiff said, before a quick pivot to Nunes' methods. "I can say I don't agree with the chairman's characterization, which is exactly why it's so important you don't share documents with just one person or even two people. They need to be shared with both full committees."

Continuing, Schiff said "the most important thing" about the documents is not what is in them but how they were handled:

"But the most important thing people need to know about these documents is not classified, and it's a couple of things. First, the deputy assistant to the White House informed me when I went to see them that these are exactly the same materials that were shown to the chairman.

"Now, this is a very interesting point. How does the White House know that these are the same materials that were shown to the chairman, if the White House wasn't aware what the chairman was being shown?

"And the second point was also made to me. And this is -- I think was also underscored by Sean Spicer -- and that is, it was told to me by the deputy assistant that these materials were produced in the ordinary course of business.

"Well, the question for the White House and for Mr. Spicer is the ordinary course of whose business? Because, if these were produced either for or by the White House, then why all of the subterfuge? There's nothing ordinary about the process that was used here at all."

All the talk about intercepts, Schiff said, was just an attempt by Trump and Republicans to distract from questions about Trump and Russia.

By that time, anyone interested in the substance of the issue -- Do the documents show that Obama administration officials picked up Trumpworld figures in electronic intercepts and then identified them by name? -- was entirely frustrated. Schiff appeared determined to say nothing about substance.

"I guess the question that Nunes is asking or suggesting that we should be asking in the media," Tapper said to Schiff, "(is) who unmasked these Trump advisers, and is it possible that any of this unmasking was being done for political reasons, instead of for legitimate ones?"

"Well, first of all, I can't talk about, as I mentioned, the contents of any documents," Schiff said. "So at this point, I can't say whether anything was masked or unmasked improperly."

Schiff then pivoted again to criticize Republican procedures.

Monday morning, Bloomberg's Eli Lake reported that former Obama national security adviser Susan Rice "requested the identities of U.S. persons in raw intelligence reports on dozens of occasions that connect to the Donald Trump transition and campaign, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter." If that is accurate, it seems unlikely that the "most important" thing about the documents is how they were handled.

After seeing the documents with his own eyes, Schiff had a chance to shed some light on what has become a key question in the Trump-Russia matter. He didn't take it.

Byron York is chief political correspondent for The Washington Examiner.
Michael Milkie, CEO and superintendent of Noble Network of Charter Schools, shown in 2014, denied allegations that the charter school network was interfering with teachers' efforts to organize. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)

Teachers at the Noble Network of Charter Schools accused their employer of interfering with ongoing efforts to form a union at the independently operated schools.

In charges filed Friday with the National Labor Relations Board, Noble teachers said the charter network has conducted surveillance on employees' union activity, and also created and enforced "an overly broad non-solicitation policy."

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The charges come about a month after the charter teachers promoted their efforts to form what they've described as the nation's largest labor union for the privately run but publicly funded schools. Shortly after that announcement, Noble teachers said Friday, charter network officials toured schools "to present anti-union messages to employees."

"We are only asking for the ability to discuss the prospect of unionization," Noble teacher Ann Baltzer said in a statement. "Management will not even allow us to meet after students have been dismissed, on our own time."

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Charter network officials said the allegations mischaracterized Noble's conduct. They also noted the complaint was filed with the NLRB by attorneys representing the Chicago Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff. The group oversees the city's unionized charter school teachers and is an ally of the Chicago Teachers Union.

"We're disappointed that ChiACTS would resort to such tactics in an attempt to disrupt our Noble family," Noble Superintendent Michael Milkie said in a statement. "Noble's leadership has and will continue to respect every Noble teacher's right to organize or not to organize."

Milkie has said a union contract could eliminate flexibility often touted by charters, which have been embraced by education reformers in part because the schools are able to operate outside the influence of organized labor.

Noble's schools enroll some 12,000 students at 17 campuses, and boast prominent backers including Gov. Bruce Rauner, the billionaire Pritzker family and Chicago Board of Education President Frank Clark.

jjperez@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @PerezJr
A federal judge approved Friday the proposed consent decree between Baltimore and the U.S. Department of Justice, mandating sweeping police reforms at a time of intense violence and deep community distrust in the city police.

In issuing the order, U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar denied the Justice Department's request that he not sign the agreement for at least 30 days so Trump administration officials could assess the deal  which was reached in the waning days of the Obama administration.

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"The time for negotiating the agreement is over," Bredar wrote. "The only question now is whether the Court needs more time to consider the proposed decree. It does not."

The order is effective immediately, and Bredar gave the parties two weeks to deliver a new timeline for implementing the deal.

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Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement Friday that he supports reform but has "grave concerns that some provisions of this decree will reduce the lawful powers of the police department and result in a less safe city."

The consent decree calls for significant new restrictions on officers, including limits on when and how they can engage individuals suspected of criminal activity. It orders more training for police on de-escalation tactics and interactions with youths, those with mental illness and protesters, as well as more supervision for officers.

The deal also requires the city to invest in better technology and equipment, and for the Police Department to enhance civilian oversight and transparency.

Sessions said the consent decree was "negotiated during a rushed process by the previous administration," and at a time when Baltimore "is facing a violent crime crisis." He cited statistics outlining a drop in arrests and a rise in homicides in the city.

"The mayor and police chief in Baltimore say they are committed to better policing and that there should be no delay to review this decree, but there are clear departures from many proven principles of good policing that we fear will result in more crime," Sessions said. "The citizens of Baltimore deserve to see a real and lasting reduction in the fast-rising violent crime threatening their city."

Mayor Catherine Pugh said the judge's approval of the deal represented "a great victory for the citizens of Baltimore as well as our Police Department."

She said she knows Sessions' concerns about crime "are real" but believes the reforms required under the consent decree will make the city safer.

Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said in a statement that he was pleased by the judge's decision, which "will support and, in fact, accelerate many needed reforms in the areas of training, technology, and internal accountability systems."

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"We expect that this process will lead us to the goal we all share: a Baltimore Police Department that leads the progress of the policing profession," he said.

The Justice Department could appeal Bredar's order, but only on very narrow grounds  such as arguing the judge had made a mistake or lacked jurisdiction, legal observers said.

The Justice Department and the city both declined to comment on the possibility.

Sherrilyn Ifill, president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which has filed a motion to intervene in the case, called the decision "a true victory  the result of hard work, tremendous activism and great lawyering."

"Change does not happen overnight. But this agreement provides the necessary framework to eradicate widespread and systemic police misconduct through sustainable reform," Ifill said in a statement.

Lawrence Grandpre, of the local grassroots think-tank Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, said Bredar's decision marked the beginning of a journey for Baltimore that he and other local advocates for police reform will be watching closely.

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"It can be one of two roads  one where it becomes a very technical, abstract process that's disconnected from community, and one where there's a real focus on community empowerment and this is a tool to larger, more structural police reform," Grandpre said. "Obviously we are going to do everything we can to push it down the road that more accurately reflects the idea of being accountable to community."

A federal monitor now must be selected to oversee implementation of the consent decree. The monitor will answer to Bredar.

Acting City Solicitor David Ralph said Baltimore has been working with the Justice Department on a request for proposals from would-be monitors, and "will be finalizing it soon."

A Community Oversight Task Force also must be created within 90 days to review current public oversight of the Police Department and recommend improvements.

City officials have said they expect implementation of the consent decree to cost tens of millions of dollars over the course of several years.

Pugh included $10 million in her first budget to pay for consent decree reforms, and Gov. Larry Hogan committed $2 million in state funding. Police expect to spend at least $7.5 million a year for five years to comply with the decree. The deal does not come with federal funding attached, though Pugh has said she will seek federal support for its intiatives.

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Bredar's ruling came one day after a public hearing in which nearly 50 members of the public spoke, most registering their support for the deal and their opposition to any delay.

John Gore, deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, asked Bredar at the hearing to "hold off" on signing the deal for at least 30 days. Bredar denied the agency's motion earlier in the week to delay the hearing by 90 days.

Bredar wrote Friday that the Justice Department's motion "could best be interpreted as a request for an additional opportunity to consider whether it wants the Court to enter the decree at all, or at least the current version of it."

That was "problematic," Bredar wrote.

Bredar noted that at a previous hearing in the case in February, the Justice Department had "affirmed its commitment to this draft and urged the Court to sign it."

Legal observers suggested the Justice Department could seek amendments to the consent decree if it wants to change parts of the agreement Sessions feels are problematic.

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Ian Prior, a Justice Department spokesman, declined to identify specific provisions that Sessions found troubling but said "it's fair to say there are several areas of concern."

Ralph said Friday the city is "open to considering any issues they may have, and those lines of communication are open."

Any changes must be agreed to by both parties and approved by Bredar, he added.

Vanita Gupta, who was head of Justice's Civil Rights Division under the Obama administration, said Friday that Sessions "should join the court, the Mayor, the Commissioner and the people of Baltimore in welcoming this step forward and getting to work on reform."

The consent decree was reached in January after Gupta led a sweeping Justice Department investigation of the Police Department and found widespread unconstitutional and discriminatory policing in the city  particularly in poor, predominantly black neighborhoods.

The city had invited the Justice Department to conduct the investigation in 2015 after rioting occurred following the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray from injuries sustained in police custody.

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Bredar, in his order Friday, said the report from the Justice Department's investigation of the Police Department was "deeply troubling."

He wrote that the consent decree is "highly intrusive on the day-to-day operations" of the Police Department and will cost the city millions, but is also "comprehensive, detailed and precise" and "appears to be balanced and well-calibrated to achieve the parties' shared, jointly-stated objectives."

"The problems that necessitate this consent decree are urgent," he wrote. "The parties have agreed on a detailed and reasonable approach to solving them. Now, it is time to enter the decree and thereby require all involved to get to work on repairing the many fractures so poignantly revealed by the record."

krector@baltsun.com

twitter.com/rectorsun
Republican House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes hustles away from reporters after he released a statement saying that he is recusing himself from the investigation into possible collusion between Russia and Donald Trump's presidential campaign April 6, 2017. (Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA)

As President Donald Trump approaches the end of his first 100 days in office, he is reminding me of Joe Btfsplk. Yes, that's how you spell it.

In the late Al Capp's "Li'l Abner" comic strip, Joe was the world's worst jinx. He strolled through life with a little storm cloud over his head as he brought disaster to everyone around him.

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That image came to mind as President Trump lost another ally in the fallout from his unsubstantiated March 4 tweet that claimed the Obama administration had wiretapped Trump Tower during last year's presidential campaign.

Numerous officials, including FBI Director James Comey, have debunked that tweeted claim. But President Trump, true to his stubborn style, refuses to back away even an inch from his apparent hogwash. Instead, he leaves it to his staff and various other allies to look for evidence he appears not to have.

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Rep. Devin Nunes, the California Republican and embattled chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, recused himself Thursday from his panel's investigation into Russia's efforts to meddle in last year's election.

Shortly after that announcement, the House Ethics Committee announced that Nunes himself was under investigation because of public reports that he "may have made unauthorized disclosures of classified information."

Complaints from watchdog groups to the Office of Congressional Ethics, which is separate from the ethics committee, followed Nunes' disclosure of information from classified intelligence reports to reporters two weeks earlier.

Trump associates had been swept up in surveillance of foreign officials by American spy agencies during the transition, according to the classified reports Nunes cited. He further stirred up a partisan hailstorm by rushing to the White House to brief President Trump and talk to reporters before he briefed other members of his own committee. Democrats were infuriated by a move that showed Nunes to be acting more like a Trump ally than the chairman of a bipartisan investigation.

Even more curious were The New York Times' revelations that the classified information about incidental surveillance had come from White House officials who had been working on the surveillance probe  and trying to find evidence to support Trump's outlandish wiretapping tweet.

After secretly viewing classified information at the White House, the Times reported, Nunes made a show of returning to the White House to brief the president and reporters.

The image of Nunes scurrying around town on his own inspired fellow Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina to quip, "The problem that he's created is he's gone off on a lark by himself, sort of an Inspector Clouseau investigation here."

That sounds about right. Nunes had become a distraction while offering Trump more reasons to make more unsupported accusations. The most notorious was to claim that President Barack Obama's national security adviser, Susan Rice, may have committed a crime by seeking the identities of Trump associates who had been incidentally swept up in the surveillance of foreign officials.

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Actually, there was no evidence that Rice had done anything wrong, although she didn't help her case much when she told PBS that she knew nothing about the Trump "unmasking" allegations. Later on MSNBC, she acknowledged her requests for the unmasking but denied any political motives.

Careful, Ms. Rice, before you, too, get snared by the oddball ways of President Donald "the Tweeter" Trump and Washington's scandal culture.

Rice has long been a target of the right, especially after  speaking from talking points provided by intelligence services  she famously and incorrectly blamed the Benghazi terrorist attack on a video. In Washington's scandal culture, even if you didn't do wrong, political partisans will make it sound like you did.

The big question with Rice is whether she requested the names of "masked" Trump associates in her professional capacity, which is expected, or with political motives, which would be illegal. That question may be resolved only by her testifying before Congress, which already has had a parade of Benghazi investigations without turning up the smoking gun Republicans have been seeking.

I don't expect an investigation of Rice to turn up anything, either, but I don't oppose asking her to testify  as long as Congress asks President Trump to testify too. He'd probably decline, of course, and once again let the troubles that he has stirred up fall on the shoulders of other people.

Clarence Page, a member of the Tribune Editorial Board, blogs at www.chicagotribune.com/pagespage.

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cpage@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @cptime
My wife Johanna is not a huge fan of Glympse, my new favorite toy.

The phone app's been around since 2008, but I discovered it just recently. The user enters a destination on a GPS-enabled phone and selects a person from his or her contact list who then can follow the user's progress to that destination on a map in real time.

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It's like the driver-location map you see when you order from a ride-hailing company, only for friends and family. And it's perfect for appointments, rendezvous and for taking the guesswork and stress out of the "when will we arrive?" question for long car trips.

I used it recently when we headed to Michigan to see my folks, and they enjoyed watching the little icon on their computer screen scoot closer and closer to them.

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Information overload with a whiff of the surveillance state? Johanna had me knock it off when I started sending her Glympse notifications for short and routine drives home, but she's conceded its value for longer or more unusual trips.

Google Maps added a very similar location-sharing feature March 22, suggesting that, for better or worse, personal tracking is going to be a big thing.

Pro: The tracking feature turns off after a specified time or upon your arrival, so your friends can't continue to observe your whereabouts for hours or days. And the peace-of-mind dividend can be substantial.

Con: Controlling or suffocating people could and probably already do demand their domestic partners or children have location features turned on at all times.

Verdict: Get used to it either way.
Rick Guzman has conceded the 2017 mayoral race to Richard Irvin, assuring that Irvin is the mayor-elect of Aurora.

Guzman made the concession early Friday evening in an email to supporters, despite the fact, he said, that the Aurora and DuPage County election commissions had not yet counted outstanding ballots they said would be counted by now.

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He said his campaign was promised information on the number of outstanding ballots within 48 hours of election night by the DuPage and Aurora election commissions. In particular, he said he was assured "that an unknown number of new ballots from DuPage County would be tabulated and posted online by 4:30 p.m." Friday.

"Unfortunately, at the end of the week, neither of these events has come to pass," Guzman said in his email. "However, as I do not wish to be a hindrance to any transition planning, late this afternoon I called Richard Irvin to concede the election and congratulate him on his victory."

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Guzman told The Beacon-News that even if the ballots had been counted, it's doubtful that they would have made a difference.

Irvin called Guzman "a talented and smart guy" and said he thanked Guzman for a good campaign.

"He made me a better candidate," Irvin said. "Although we disagreed on a lot of things, we both have a commitment to our city."

Irvin said he now can "make a smooth transition to being the 57th mayor of Aurora." Irvin is to meet with his transition team Sunday.

Guzman said he is "at peace" with the outcome and said he felt good to have gotten the support and trust he did and "to have gotten this close."

"I ran for mayor because I believed that I could make a difference," he said. "But I also know I don't have to be mayor to make a difference. That is one of the ways, but by no means the only way."

Guzman urged his supporters to "work collaboratively with one another  and with our new mayor-elect, Richard Irvin."

"I still believe that Aurora's greatest days are close at hand," Guzman said. "We are a city of rich history, opportunity and cultural diversity unlike nearly anywhere else. Aurora has a unique ability to become a place where everyone is valued, where everyone contributes  and where more and more people want to invest, to work and to live."

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Irvin will become the city's 57th mayor  and the first African-American to lead Aurora.

With all precincts in the city counted, Irvin led Guzman 7,574 votes to 7,404, according to unofficial vote totals reported by Aurora and DuPage election officials Tuesday night.

"I believe in us, I believe in Aurora," Irvin said election night at Gaslite Manor in Aurora. "Based on the results tonight, Aurora believed in me."

The election results do not become official until they are canvassed by the Aurora and DuPage election commissions.

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 20 Aurora mayoral candidate Richard Irvin greets his supporters at Gaslight Manor in Aurora Tuesday night. (Sean King / The Beacon-News)

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Aurora mayoral candidate Richard Irvin celebrates his victory over Rick Guzman at Two Brothers Roundhouse in Aurora on election night Tuesday. Final unofficial numbers put Irvin on top in a close race that night. (Sean King / The Beacon-News)

It was a good thing there were plenty of cameras rolling to capture Richard Irvin's first words when he realized Aurora had just elected him its new mayor.

"I remember being on stage," he told me Wednesday afternoon, still running more on adrenaline than sleep in the aftermath of his close victory Tuesday over opponent Rick Guzman, who officially conceded Friday. "But I had so many emotions going I really don't even know what I said."

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It was not until later, when Irvin watched videos of his victory speech online that he realized how emotionally raw that short speech really was.

"Euphoric," he quickly replied when I asked what one word best described that roller coaster night.

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And historic.

Irvin broke new ground when he was elected Aurora's first African-American mayor. And although his campaign never made race an issue, the city's black community can take great pride in that fact, particularly as it follows so closely on the two-term presidency of Barack Obama and a Black Lives Matter movement that Clayton Muhammad, founder of the highly-touted Boys II Men mentoring group, describes as "a cry for help."

Richard Irvin's story, one of persistence and determination, he added, helps to "fill that void."

The back story of Aurora's mayor-elect, is indeed a compelling tale  and one he used frequently throughout this successful campaign: Raised by a single mom in the city's projects, Gulf War battlefield veteran, community prosecutor, successful business owner/trial attorney, and long-time alderman who finally was elected mayor of the state's second largest city after his third hard-fought attempt.

"He wanted this for so long," said Muhammad, who is also communications director for the City of Aurora. "And in changing the narrative of his life he sends a clear message" to other young minority people that "it can be done."

At the same time, he added, the crowd that listened to Irvin give that emotional speech Tuesday evening at Gaslite Manor was a blend of black, white and Hispanic faces.

"It was Aurora," Muhammad said.

And that's exactly why campaign supporter Sherman Jenkins downplays the significance of Irvin as the city's first African-American mayor.

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While one adviser cautioned the campaign that some people were on the fence because of the color of Irvin's skin, the mayoral candidate vowed to "fight through" that attitude by keeping the focus on the issues and by letting people know who he was and what he was all about.

And that strategy must have worked, noted Jenkins, because "I never once heard someone say 'he's the black candidate.'"

Jenkins, who moved from the South Side of Chicago to Aurora in 1982, and retired a few years ago as director of its Economic Development Commission, said that unlike the historic election of Harold Washington as mayor of Chicago, this mayoral race, while it may not have "been totally color blind," was more about relationships than it was the color of your skin. It was about who you went to school with, he added, who your family knew, who your neighbors were and who you worked with.

And while some people were advising Irvin "to be more Obama-like, he really just needed to be Richard," Jenkins added.

Jenkins said he himself was approached by a few candidates in the primary about getting behind their campaigns, and never thought about backing Irvin just because they were both African-Americans.

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 20 Aurora mayoral candidate Richard Irvin greets his supporters at Gaslight Manor in Aurora Tuesday night. (Sean King / The Beacon-News)

"I knew everybody running and respected them all, so I was just going to stay out of it," he said. "But it wasn't until I sat down with Richard and heard what he had to say that I made my decision."'

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And even though he views this victory differently than the one that put Chicago's first black mayor in office, Jenkins admits there are similarities.

"Watching election night on television when Harold Washington won," he said, "I remember thinking to myself that just once in my life I'd like to be at something that was this exciting."

Jenkins paused for a moment as he recalled the highs and lows of Tuesday, and how at one point Irvin's team members thought their man had lost by nine votes with all precincts in  until they realized early voting mail-ins had not yet been tallied.

"You know, I didn't think about it until now," he finally admitted. "But on Tuesday, I really did get to experience that again."

When pressed for the word that best described it, his response was "jubilant."

"It was one of those moments," he concluded, "that took your breath away."

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Irvin, who was still dealing with that "surreal" feeling of such a close win, said pursuing this goal for 10 years has changed him, making him more grounded and humbled. And rather than tout this as a victory for African-Americans, he's anxious to put his transition team in place and heal any campaign wounds. His close win with only a 16 percent turnout was hardly a mandate. And he's ready to say thank you ... by going back to the 100-plus churches he visited throughout his campaign.

"More than ever," Irvin said. "I am here to serve."

Nearly 20 suburban mayors and village presidents lost re-election bids in the April 5 municipal elections. (Jonathon Berlin/Chicago Tribune)

Dcrosby@tribpub.com
Oak Lawn police said a 65-year-old man was injured when a car struck a restaurant in that village Friday.

The man, who was in the bathroom of Oak Lawn Family Restaurant, 5769 95th St., at the time of the crash, was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center for treatment of minor injuries, said Randy Palmer, a division chief with Oak Lawn police. The accident happened about 9 a.m., he said.

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He said the driver of the vehicle told police that the vehicle's gas pedal became stuck after the driver left a car wash across from the restaurant. Palmer said he understood the restaurant would be closed for a few days as repairs are made.

The driver was not injured, officials said. It was unclear whether the driver would be ticketed or charged in the case.
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Will County is just a few months away from completing a detailed Community Friendly Freight Mobility Plan, which is designed to keep freight moving through the area and keep communities safe, officials said.

The $1 million study  funded in large part with a state grant  is being done with consultant Ann Schnieder, former secretary of the Illinois Department of Transportation.

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"A key aspect of what we're doing is to reduce trucks in residential areas," she said, as she gave an update to the county board's executive committee Thursday.

But in studying freight movement and numbers, and in talking with transportation, distribution and logistics (TDL) firms, Schnieder discovered a number of issues that will need to be addressed.

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Among the top concerns are safety, traffic congestion, employee retention, limited access to intermodal yards and government regulations.

To address safety and congestion, Schnieder said they need to inform communities of designated truck routes and provide consistent and visible truck route signage.

The county's multimodal nature  with its rail and highway access  gives it a strong competitive advantage, she said, but the interstate system has capacity issues, and there is a lack of truck parking along I-80 and I-55. There also is a lack of east-west connections, and inconsistent permitting regulations across the states, she said.

Critical workforce issues also will need to be addressed.

Will County had a 138 percent growth in TDL employment in the last 10 years, which is "exponentially larger" than other regions, and freight-dependent industries represent over 57 percent of all private sector jobs in the county, Schnieder reported.

But employers have a difficult time attracting and retaining employees. That is due, in part, to required drug testing, a lack of interest in these jobs and a lack of public transit options for employees, Schnieder said.

Most employees live within a 30 minute drive, but employers prefer a 10-15 minute commute, she said.

The county needs to provide a balanced housing stock, near employment and transit centers, and coordinate bus service with shift schedules at industry employers, she said.

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There is a shortage of truck drivers, Schnieder said, but board speaker Jim Moustis, R-Frankfort Township, said that is a "small component of jobs" in this industry.

While the TDL industry currently relies on labor, officials said they see technology taking over in the future, with autonomous vehicles and drone deliveries.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

"It won't be long before we have robotic movement of freight by autonomous vehicles," said John Greuling, CEO of the Will County Center for Economic Development.

"We should petition the U.S. Department of Transportation for a grant to develop an inland port managed by autonomous vehicles," he said.

The freight plan will be used to partner and plan with other agencies, and make the county eligible for transportation grants.

"This plan will become a model for the country," Greuling said. "Will County has state of the art intermodal, logistics facilities."

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Three public forums on this freight study will be held in May before the final plan is presented in June, Schnieder said.

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Twitter @SusanLaff
Elgin-area political candidates have been heading into the Elgin Police Department to pick up the campaign signs stored there after police found hundreds at the home of a former elected official.

The department announced via its Facebook page Friday afternoon that 750 signs "from all sides of the political spectrum" are at the department waiting to be picked up or otherwise disposed of.

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Randolph "Randy" Hopp, 65, of the 1500 block of Pamela Drive, was charged Wednesday with misdemeanor theft after police found myriad campaign signs promoting various area candidates from the most recent and previous election cycles, according to police reports.

Hopp, a former Gail Borden Public Library District trustee and candidate, declined comment. He garnered nearly 2,400 votes Tuesday for the library board of trustees, but did not win a seat on the board.

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Elgin City Councilman Rich Dunne, who made a complaint to police after a friend saw someone taking one if his signs, said he picked up the remainder of those held at the police department on Friday. Dunne signed a complaint against Hopp Wednesday after a friend called and told Dunne he spotted someone taking some of Dunne's larger signs and putting them in the back of a vehicle. The friend had a description of the man and a license plate number, which he provided to police and was traced back to Hopp.

Franklin Ramirez, who was elected Elgin Township supervisor in Tuesdayas election, picked up about 100 signs Thursday that were confiscated by Elgin police following Randy Hopp being charges with theft. (Janelle Walker / The Courier-News)

"He had 18 4x4 signs, that is $700-some worth of signs," said Dunne, who said that he was missing 20 of them.

He had complained throughout this election cycle that his signs had been disappearing, Dunne said.

"People thought I was making it up," he said.

Dunne, who was re-elected to his third term on the city council Tuesday, said that the first two times he ran for the office, he lost two signs.

The number missing this time was unprecedented, he said.

The large, 4-foot-by-4-foot signs he picked up at the police department cost $25-$30 each, and the posts for those large signs are another $10, Dunne said.

Hopp also had another 15 of the smaller yard signs, which run about $5 each.

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State Sen. Cristina Castro also picked up several of her signs. She was elected to replace Mike Noland in November, and had signs up for the Illinois primary last spring as well.

Nine of her signs were at the police department.

"I am happy to get them back, they are expensive," Castro said. The nine signs she was able to get back cost the campaign $250, she said.

The signs at the police department came from all over the area and included South Elgin, township, county board, and Elgin School District U46 candidates.

"There was a pile of Veronica Noland," signs at the police department, Castro said. Noland was re-elected Tuesday to the U46 board.

The number of signs taken for some candidates could have swung the election, Dunne said.

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Franklin Ramirez, who was elected Elgin Township supervisor in Tuesday's election, picked up about 100 signs Thursday. About 30 of the signs were his  another 70 belonged to the slate of candidates he ran with.

Several 4-foot-by-4-foot signs with the slate's names on them were also found.

Ramirez said that signs he had in his front yard were missing on Wednesday  the day after the election  but that he wasn't sure if those were stolen or taken by campaign workers who were removing signs following the election.

He and Castro both said they were still deciding on whether to press charges for theft.

State law is specific about where signs can be placed. Dunne said he had landowner permission for all of the larger signs that were taken.

Hopp was charged in Cook County, as he was seen taking one of Dunne's signs from that side of Elgin. He was released on $150 bail. He is also facing misdemeanor charges in Kane County from an August incident where he is accused of resisting arrest.

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Elgin police removed dozens of campaign signs found at Randy Hopp's home in Elgin. (Elgin Police Department / HANDOUT)

Janelle Walker is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
After losing his seat on the School District U46 board on Tuesday, Cody Holt said he "spent two years fighting a well-oiled machine. And it looks like tonight the machine won."

No, the real winners are the reasonable, open-minded people of U46, who have been granted relief from any more of Holt's insufferable and divisive ideological antics. It's just too bad voters didn't have the chance to also depose Holt's partner in partisan prattling  sitting board member Jeanette Ward.

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Holt and Ward were endorsed in 2015 by tea party favorite Joe Walsh. The former 8th District congressman has disgraced himself with reckless comments. This is the guy who said he was "grabbing my musket" if President Donald Trump had lost to Hillary Clinton. Even worse was this tasteless Twitter post: "I'll just say it: Sandy Hook parents: Your 15 minutes is up." Walsh's take is that the mourning ended at the point the parents and other survivors of the school shooting sued gun manufacturers. It takes a special kind of mean and dopey to come up with stuff like this.

Holt and Ward were never quite as graphic, but we're still quite sure they have done Joe proud, particularly Ward. She has interpreted objective acknowledgment in textbooks of America's troubled racial history as smacking of "racism against white males." She has also taken exception to curricular material that she claims "glorifies communism" and that fails to acknowledge that "moral values of some cultures are superior to the moral values of other cultures."

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Ward is free to speak her mind, but who actually believes this stuff? Who can possibly think there is a point to saying history book writers hate whites or are overlooking that some sets of human beings are just clearly superior to others? There is no room for far right-wing radio rhetoric in deciding how to manage diverse public schools, just as Ward's stunts  such as her rehearsed speech in Spanish making a lame argument against dual language programs  have no place in the debate over what is best for students in a school district with a very large number of Spanish-speaking families.

It should be no surprise that Holt and Ward have not been able to make a single change for the better in U46 by remaining firmly fixed to a rigid ideological agenda that can neither be defended nor adopted in the interest of educating children. These two have taken up far too many minutes of valuable school board time.

We urge the victorious candidates  incumbents Donna Smith and Veronica Noland and newcomer Melissa Owens  and their fellow school board members to reject partisan ideology and to govern based on what they believe is best for students and the taxpayers who are sent huge bills for their services.

The school board's mission is education. It should be a common cause, not a partisan one.
Esgar: Our rights are on the ballot this Tuesday
Workers fine-tune a Mobike at a production line in Hengyang, Hunan province.

China's famed "bike wars" may soon be fought on foreign shores, as Bluegogo and Mobike compete with fellow stand-free cycle hire company ofo in the British market.

Cycle hire startups, so-called bike Ubers, are big business in China. Around 30 companies control tens of thousands of bikes in at least 35 Chinese cities. The two largest, ofo and Mobike, recently secured $450 million and $300 million in funding, respectively.

Already locked in a battle for market share across China, the startups now have London in their sights. Elsewhere in the UK this month, Beijing Bikelock Technology's bike hire business ofo is launching a pilot bike-hiring scheme in Cambridge. Mobike is reportedly interested in launching similar projects in Birmingham and Manchester.

The Sunday Times recently reported Bluegogo and Mobike were looking at London.

Both London and Birmingham already have bike-hire schemes. The Chinese services differ in doing away with docking stations. Users of the bikes offered by the Chinese companies are free to pick up a cycle wherever they find one and leave it wherever they want, using a smartphone app and a code to deactivate and activate a built-in lock.

The capital's transport authority, Transport for London, has expressed interest in the new technology.

TfL's head of strategy and outcome planning, Lilli Matson, said: "We are always keen to talk to companies to explore advancements in technology and discuss new ideas, and have spoken with a number of companies, to understand their plans."

A spokesperson for ofo said: "We have had brief discussions with TfL about how our scheme works in China and other markets and they are interested in hearing how our trial works in Cambridge. Our primary focus is ensuring the Cambridge trial is a success. We will potentially look to enter other areas later."
After 20 years of doing business in China, US medical technology firm Medtronic chose Shanghai as the site for its first bioprosthetic heart valve manufacturing site outside the America.

"The manufacturing site represents... a positive collaboration between Medtronic and our local business partners to increase healthcare access," said Omar Ishrak, chairman and CEO of Medtronic. The Shanghai site opened at the end of March.

Ishrak said the 13 million-US-dollar plant in Shanghai is one of Medtronic's most advanced facilities for processing and production of bioprosthetic valves. It produces bioprosthetic valves, which are used for treatment to restore heart's normal blood flow.

Medtronic's heart valve manufacturing site in China is the company's another development plan deepening footprint in this market. This follows other important investments including the blood dialysis systems and insulin pumps projects in Chengdu.

US companies expect better US-China economic ties to benefit their businesses.

Joe Mastrangelo, president and CEO of GE Power's Gas Power Systems, has followed the development of China's electricity industry closely.

In March, the US company teamed up with Harbin Electric Corporation to establish a joint venture, each holding a 50 percent stake. The joint venture, with a registered capital of 667 million yuan (97 million US dollars), produces the world's advanced gas turbines and parts.

The new firm will be based in Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province, north China.

Mastrangelo said they are confident in the joint venture, in cooperative partners and in the China market.

In addition to furthering investment, established US firms like Apple are also looking to China's abundant talent pool.

Apple announced in March it would establish two additional R&D centers in Shanghai and Suzhou, joining centers previously announced in Beijing and Shenzhen.

"By expanding our plans for R&D centers in China, we look forward to working collaboratively with even more local partners and academic institutions," said Dan Riccio, Apple senior vice president of Hardware Engineering.

"The talent and entrepreneurial spirit in China is incredible, and we are fortunate to be working with these developers and suppliers as we grow our presence here," said Riccio.

China has been loosening the grip on the inflow of foreign capital as part of efforts to facilitate its opening up, reducing restrictive measures and opening more sectors. In 2016, laws on foreign investment were amended, and measures were unveiled to simplify the approval procedure for foreign companies.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, China utilized some 126 billion US dollars of foreign investment in 2016, a year-on-year increase of 4.1 percent, while global foreign direct investment plummeted.

By the end of 2016, US companies had invested nearly 80 billion US dollars in 67,000 projects in China, accounting for 7.8 percent of China's approved foreign-funded enterprises and 4.5 percent of its actualized foreign investment. Around 90 percent of US companies in China have been profitable, according to a report released October by the US-China Business Council based Washington.
China's National Health and Family Planning Commission is planning to implement a nation-wide ban on smoking in public places by the end of 2017.[Photo:163.com]

The number of daily smokers around the world has hit 1 billion in 2015, most from China, India, the U.S. and Russia, says a new report.

The report from medical journal The Lancet also says that one-in-ten deaths in the world are related to smoking, and half are seen in these four countries.

The same figures also show that one-in-four men and one-in-twenty women are smokers. The numbers for both male and female smokers in China are ranked among top three in the report.

Earlier research from the World Health Organization suggests rising incomes, as well as profits from tobacco, have made cigarettes hard to quit in the developing world.

Though WHO's latest data reveals a general decrease in global tobacco use, in developing countries like China, smoking rates are still on the rise.

The WHO is recommending countries in the developing world consider bringing in higher taxes, as well as further restrictions or all-out bans on smoking, to counter this.

China's National Health and Family Planning Commission is planning to implement a nation-wide ban on smoking in public places by the end of 2017.

Major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai have already rolled out full-scale bans on public smoking. Municipal authorities have also put limits on tobacco advertising and promotions.

China is the world's largest cigarette producer. The China Tobacco Corporation produces 205 trillion cigarettes on an annual basis.

The industry supports around 20 million jobs, nearly 500,000 of which are directly related to tobacco.
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Friday reaffirmed its support to the United States to take action to degrade Syria's ability to conduct chemical weapons attacks.

The Prime Minister Office of Canada issued an announcement, saying that Trudeau made the remarks when he spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump by phone on the situation in Syria.

The announcement said Trudeau reaffirmed that "Canada fully supports the United States' limited and focused action to degrade the Syrian regime's ability to conduct chemical weapons attacks."

The two leaders were in agreement that the repugnant chemical attacks cannot be permitted to continue with impunity. They also committed to continuing to seek a political solution to end the crisis in Syria, said the announcement.

Early Friday, Trudeau issued a statement on Syria, saying this week's attack in southern Idlib and the suffering of Syrians is a war crime and is unacceptable. Canada condemns all uses of chemical weapons.

"President Assad's use of chemical weapons and the crimes the Syrian regime has committed against its own people cannot be ignored. These gruesome attacks cannot be permitted to continue operating with impunity. Canada will continue to support diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis in Syria," the Canadian prime minister said in the statement.

The United States Thursday fired dozens of cruise missiles at a government-controlled airbase in Syria in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held town that killed scores of civilians, including children.

The Russian government has condemned missile strikes by the U.S. on a Syrian airbase, saying Washington's move as "aggression against sovereign state in violation of international law."
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Rebel factions in Syria said on Friday that they welcome the U.S. missile strike on an air base in Syria's central province of Homs.

A rebel commander in Homs, known as Taha Atiyeh, was cited by activists as saying that the missile strike was positively received among rebel factions in the province.

Rebels support such strikes and everything that can reduce the power of the Syrian air force, he said.

The Jaish al-Tawhid rebel group, located in the northern countryside of Homs, also hailed the attack, saying it's the "first step for the international community to shoulder their responsibilities."

Another rebel group, Failaq al-Sham, said the U.S. missile attack "could be a turning point in the western stances and to move from words to deeds" against the Syrian government and its army.

The rebels of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) described the U.S. attack as a turning point in "eliminating the impunity" and a "military pressure against the Syrian army to put an end to its violations."

Earlier on Friday, the United States targeted a Syrian air base in Homs with nearly 60 Tomahawk missiles, killing six Syrian soldiers and nine civilians, including four children, and destroying nine Syrian warplanes.

The U.S. government said the attack on the air base came in retaliation for the strikes by the Syrian air force on the town of Khan Sheikhoun on Tuesday.

Activists accused the Syrian army of firing toxic gas on the town, killing 70 people, while the Syrian army said the strike targeted an arm depot containing toxic gas, blaming the rebels for stockpiling such materials.
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A divided UN Security Council met on Friday in emergency session to debate the U.S. cruise missile attack on an airfield in Syria where Washington asserted aircraft were launched to drop chemical weapons on civilians Idlib Province earlier in the week, killing more than 70 people.

At least council members agreed the only solution to the Syrian war was a political one.

In addition to allegations that government forces carried out the attack there were also assertions it was carried out by terrorists or rebels or that a warehouse where the deadly gas was illegally stored had accidentally exploded.

The attack early Friday, Syrian time, came within an hour Thursday, New York time, of the council ending deadlocked, closed-door deliberations on a draft resolution calling for an investigation into the toxic gas attack.

"While we were striving to come up with alternatives and come up with consensus in the Security Council, the United States not only had unilaterally attacked but while we were sitting here and demanding the need for an independent investigation, a complete impartial investigation, the United States had become the investigator ... prosecutor ... the judge ... the jury," said Ambassador Sacha Llorentty Soliz of Bolivia, who requested the emergency council meeting along with Russia.

"This is an extremely, extremely serious violation of international law," he said. "This is not the first time that this has happened."

Llorentty then held up a 2003 photo of former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, a retired army general, holding a vial containing what Powell had said was similar in appearance to a toxic substance to back up his claim of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and to buttress his plea to the Security Council to support a U.S.-led invasion.

No such weapons were found.

"It led to a series of atrocities in the (Middle East) region," added the rather emotional representative of Bolivia. Llorentty at one point also waved a copy of the UN Charter to emphasize his point the U.S. attack was illegal under the Charter.

Ambassador Nikki Haley of the United States didn't quite answer the question on the minds of many -- whether this attack signals the beginning of President Donald Trump to order more military strikes.

"The United States took a very measured step last (Thursday) night," she said, concluding her defense of the U.S. action. "We are prepared to do more, but we hope that will not be necessary. It is time for all civilized nations to stop the horrors that are taking place in Syria and demand a political solution."

"I deeply regret that the previous speaker showed more outrage against the United States than against the (Syrian President Bashar al) Asad regime that on Tuesday deliberately dropped chemical weapons," said Ambassador Matthew Rycroft of Britain.

"The United Kingdom supports the U.S. air strike on the Al Shayrat airfield because war crimes have consequences," the London envoy said. "And the greatest war criminal of all, Bashar al Assad, has now been put on notice.

"The U.S. strike was a proportionate response to unspeakable acts that gave rise to overwhelming humanitarian distress," Rycroft said. "It was also a strong effort to save lives, by ensuring that such acts never happen again.

"The resolution that we adopted three and a half years ago provided a framework for the destruction of chemical weapons in Syria," he said. "At the time Russian assured us that Asad would fully declare his chemical arsenal and would continue to cooperate with international inspectors. Perhaps that was the assurance that Russia received from Asad."

"And perhaps Russia has now learned the hard lesson that backing a war criminal comes with its own consequence: humiliation."

The representative of Russia, Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov, also sounded rather upset, especially with members of the council who voiced opposition to his alleged threat Thursday evening to veto a proposed resolution.

The five permanent members of the council Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, each have a veto.

He even asked for a second chance to complain of insults against Moscow.

Earlier, Safaronkov had described the U.S. attack as "a flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression. We strongly condemn the illegitimate actions by the U.S. The consequences of this to international and regional stability could be extremely serious."

"It's not difficult to imagine how much the sprits of these terrorists have been raised after this support from Washington," he said, maintaining "The Syrian armed forces will continue to be the main military institute. Who will fight against terrorism? The illegal armed groups who have come to Syria in hundreds of thousands? You've destroyed Iraqi and Libyan bases and military institutions and see what happened."

Liu Jieyi, the Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations, underscored the universal request for a political solution.

"China has always been consistently standing for dialogue and consultation to resolve the international conflict," he said. "What is now urgently needed ... is that all parties work together to prevent the situation in Syria from further deterioration. Political solution is the only way out for the Syrian issue. Military means will not work."

"They will only worsen the suffering of the Syrian people so that the situation in Syria and the region will be more complicated and turbulent which is not at all in the common interest of Syria, regional countries and the international community," Liu said. "China calls upon all relevant parties to persist firmly in diplomatic efforts and stick firmly for a political solution, stick to dialogue and consultation in a firm way and support the role of the United Nations as a main channel of mediation and good offices."
 Flash

Peng Liyuan (7th R, Front), wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and US First Lady Melania Trump (6th L, Front) pose with students during their visit to the Bak Middle School of the Arts in West Palm Beach, Florida, the United States, April 7, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, on Friday visited an art school in this southeastern U.S. coastal town accompanied by U.S. First Lady Melania Trump.

At the Bak Middle School of the Arts, Peng visited different classrooms, watched performances by students and talked with them. She also joined a class about politics and economics, answered a question from a student reporter about her connection with arts, and was presented with a student's painting as souvenir.

Noting that China and the United States should enhance communication and cooperation in the area of arts, Peng said she hopes that teachers and students of the Bak Middle School of the Arts will make greater contribution in strengthening bilateral ties and friendship through education and arts.

Peng is in Palm Beach with Xi for the Chinese president's first meeting with his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump. The two leaders agreed that the meeting, held at the seaside Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, was "positive and fruitful."
BISHKEK - Representatives of Chinese companies doing business in Kyrgyzstan met here on Thursday with the country's First Deputy Prime Minister and co-chairman of the Kyrgyz-Chinese intergovernmental commission Muhammetkaly Abulgaziev.

The meeting was also attended by Chinese Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Xiao Qinghua, the Kyrgyz Government's press service reported.

Xiao said China highly values good-neighborly relations with Kyrgyzstan and is committed to strengthening relations in all areas of cooperation. "We are ready to develop bilateral cooperation in all areas of the economy, particularly in the fields of agriculture, transport and infrastructure."

"China is ready to discuss proposals for investment, implementation of joint major projects. China is interested in bringing our cooperation to a higher, new level. We are not going to stop on what has been achieved, we intend to boost our cooperation," the Ambassador said.

Speaking at the meeting, Abulgaziev said that China is a friendly neighbor for Kyrgyzstan, a reliable partner.

"Kyrgyzstan is open to foreign investors and is interested in attracting investments in the national economy of the country. We are trying to create favorable conditions for doing business in our country, including for foreign entrepreneurs. Our good-neighborly relations with China are based on mutual understanding and respect, and we intend to develop them, particularly in the economic sphere," Abulgaziev said.

Representatives of Chinese companies talked about the achievements in the implementation of their projects in Kyrgyzstan, especially in the mining industry, energy and transport infrastructure.

The two sides also discussed further joint work aimed at the effective development of partnership in the trade and economic sphere.

The Kyrgyz official stressed Kyrgyzstan always supports investors and is open for their suggestions in improving the conditions for doing business in the country.
An employee counts yuan banknotes at a bank in Huaibei, Anhui province.[Photo/Agencies]

China's banking regulator vowed on Friday to clean up irregularities in the sector and intensify the crackdown on financial speculation that exploits systemic loopholes.

Yang Jiacai, assistant chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, said the regulator will soon issue guidelines on preventing financial risks.

The comprehensive regulation will include all innovation-driven businesses.

Industry observers said the CBRC's statement underscores the government's determination to contain both systemic financial risks and the rising trend of "exit the real, enter the fake"the practice of companies abandoning real economic activity and seeking financial speculation instead.

Yang urged banks to increase transparency of their business. The CBRC, he said, will scrutinize complex financial products and transactions involving too many participants.

"The new guidelines will offer specific requirements in 10 major areas and provide concrete action plans to address major risks," Yang said at a news conference.

Yang further said the regulator will crack the whip on financial institutions indulging in irregular arbitrage, illegal transactions, wrongful profit-making and improper fees or charges.

Xu Jieqin, deputy director of the Policy Research Bureau of the CBRC, said serving the real economy and supporting the supply-side structural reform will be a top priority for the banking industry this year.

The CBRC urged commercial banks to accelerate disposal of their bad assets and adopt a credit policy that would support healthy and stable development of the property market.

The Chinese central bank and the regulators of the banking, insurance and securities industries have been jointly drafting a comprehensive regulatory framework to tighten supervision of the asset and wealth management businesses of the country's financial institutions.

The opaque segments, with many investment products amid a regulatory void, have been seen as key sources of risk to the banking system.

The CBRC on Friday also called on banks to improve their internal governance. It said it will allow more private capital in the sector to improve the shareholding pattern in financial institutions.
China Shipbuilding Industry Corp has announced that it will make the most of the opportunities expected from the planned creation of the Xiongan New Area in Hebei province. [Photo/VCG]

Shipbuilder to expedite relocation of units to Baoding near the new area

China Shipbuilding Industry Corp, one of the country's two largest State-owned shipbuilders, has announced that it will make the most of the opportunities expected from the planned creation of the Xiongan New Area in Hebei province.

CSIC has been relocating some of its core businesses to Boading, which is close to the new area.

This relocation process will now be expedited and intensified in the wake of the new area announcement.

CSIC thus becomes the first central SOE to respond in a big way to emerging opportunities in the area.

Hu Wenming, chairman of CSIC, said the launch of the Xiongan New Area suggests it is going to be an essential part of the coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province.

"CSIC will accelerate the progress of its strategic collaboration projects in big data, environmental solutions, information technology and elderly care with cities in both Hebei and the Xiongan New Area," said Hu.

Hu did not specify when or whether the company's headquarters would be relocated.

As a contractor for the country's navy, CSIC has already moved seven of its power businesses to its Baoding-based unitCSIC Fengfan Co Ltdone of the group's storage battery manufacturers.

Among the seven businesses there are engine research and development branches for vessels, wind power and offshore engineering power products.

The shipbuilder has already gained the right to use 67 hectares of land from the Hebei provincial government to build a power source research and development center and a maritime equipment industrial park in Baoding.

CSIC will also set up a marine aircraft plant with a private company that is licensed to manufacture military products in the park.

In addition to shipbuilding and offshore engineering businesses, CSIC wants to boost 10 other areas, including power and underwater defense products, electronic information and intelligent equipment, and mechanical and electrical equipment, to integrate its civilian and military businesses over the next five years.

With a workforce of about 150,000, CSIC operates more than 50 industrial subsidiaries and 30 research institutes, including Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co, Bohai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry Co and the China Ship Research and Development Academy. It has exported various types of vessels to more than 70 countries and regions.

However, CSIC is not the only major corporate eyeing the new area.

Some 13 central SOEs, including China United Network Communications Group Co, China Railway Construction Corp Ltd and Sinopec Group, have already held top management meetings to discuss their plans for the Xiongan New Area.

Li Jin, chief researcher at the Beijing-based China Enterprise Research Institute, said central SOEs, particularly in infrastructure, manufacturing, mining, telecommunication and transportation, are expected to be the first batch to move their headquarters and subsidiaries to the Xiongan New Area, in order to exploit the expected commercial opportunities.

"If the majority of central SOEs move to the new area, it would save more space for Beijing, which can be further developed for service-related businesses and attract foreign companies," Li said.

More than 80 of the 102 central SOEs have their headquarters in Beijing. Even a large number of their subsidiaries are in the capital city, according to data from the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.
Disney cartoon characters interact with visitors at the Shanghai Disney Resort. YIN LIQIN / FOR CHINA DAILY

SHANGHAI - While Shanghai Disneyland offers a fantasy world for guests, it has also brought a new reality for those who work and live nearby.

During his Wednesday visit to the Shanghai International Tourism and Resorts Zone, where the Disney Resort is located, Shanghai mayor Ying Yong said Disneyland's influence will expand and industrial clusters will form in the zone.

Tourism facilities, transportation and dining will also be improved in the zone, located in Pudong New District, according to the mayor.

Shanghai Disneyland received some 8 million visitors in the first nine months since opening in mid-June 2016, said Bob Iger, Walt Disney chairman and CEO at the company's annual meeting of shareholders last month.

The figure is expected to reach 10 million by the park's first anniversary in June, according to Iger.

During this year's Spring Festival holiday, which lasted from Jan 27 to Feb 2, major tourist spots in Pudong received nearly 1.6 million tourists, up by 60 percent from the same period last year.

Sales revenue of the district's commercial enterprises reached 642 million yuan ($93 million), up by over 32 percent annually.

Pudong's Chuansha area, where Disneyland is located, has been nicknamed "Chuan-lifornia" by Disney employees. The park's opening has offered brand new opportunities to people in the area.

Once a factory worker, 49-year-old Chuansha local Du Weiping is now a cleaner at the theme park.

Besides her daily duty of keeping the main entrance clean, she often voluntarily helps and guides tourists in need.

"The visitors, both Chinese and foreigners, have all kinds of questions about which programs are the most interesting, how to get a fast pass, and where the toilet is," she said.

With the help of her younger colleagues, Du, who previously didn't speak a word of English, can now freely communicate with foreign visitors in simple English.

Shanghai Disneyland has not only offered opportunities to locals but also to people from across the world. Ntsepa Pitjeng, from South Africa, is an actress in Disney's Chinese version of the "The Lion King" musical.

Despite her experience performing in different countries in the English version of the musical, her new role posed a big challenge.

Learning to deliver her lines in Chinese took her almost two months. She recalled that once she went blank and suddenly forgot her lines on stage, until her Chinese colleague kindly gave her a cue.

Dong Xiaoling, an official with the Shanghai International Tourism and Resorts Zone, said that besides the growth in tourism, Shanghai Disneyland has also brought business experience and innovation to China.

Cooperation between China and the United States is bringing more benefits to the country, she said.
BEIJING - Mongolia has vowed to provide support enhancing the China-Europe freight trains route.

"We will help shorten the transit time of China-Europe freight trains via Mongolia and provide fast customs clearance services," said B Tsogtgerel, deputy minister of the Mongolian Road and Transport Development Ministry, on Friday.

In 2016, Chinese authorities announced the freight train route, which starts in Erenhot in northern China's Inner Mongolia and travels through Mongolia before linking to Russia and other European countries.

"There were 167 China-Europe freight trains travelling through Mongolia in 2016 and that is expected to reach 400 in 2017," said Tsogtgerel at the "Transit Mongolia 2017" forum in Beijing. "The train route via Mongolia will help develop the rich resources in Mongolia and promote the common development of countries along the route."

In 2011, China launched the China-Europe freight train service, which has witnessed rapid growth with high operation efficiency.

A total of 1,881 China-Europe freight trains, including 502 inbound trains, have been launched as of June 2016. The number is estimated to reach 5,000 by 2020. China-Europe trade value over the route hit $17 billion during the period.
Travellers at Meilan International Airport in Haikou, Hainan province, Sept 19, 2015. [Photo/VCG]

HAIKOU - Meilan International Airport in Haikou, capital of South China's island province of Hainan, was awarded Skytrax five-star certification on Friday.

It is first airport on the Chinese mainland, and the world's eighth, to receive the certification.

Working for over 215 airlines and 75 airports around the world, Skytrax, based in London, is one of the global leaders in airline and airport service benchmarking. The five-star certification demonstrates high recognition of an airport's performance in the global aviation industry, according to the agency.

"Meilan airport has kept improving its services in passenger check-in and security checks to make it winner of the award," said Skytrax Chairman Edward Plaisted.

Meilan airport won the Skytrax four-star certification in 2011 and started to build itself into a five-star airport in May 2012.

Currently, the airport covers an area of 881,000 square meters with 78 aircraft stands. It operates about 238 routes for 18.8 million passengers annually.

"Winning the award is a new start for our airport. We will continue improving our services to provide passengers with a better flight environment in the future," said Wang Zhen, chairman of the board of Haikou Meilan International Airport.
BUENOS AIRES - China's influence to and its relations with Latin America are growing stronger, especially as an important investor, Marisol Argueta de Barillas, senior director and head of Latin America at the World Economic Forum (WEF), said Friday.

"China's influence to and its ties with Latin America are increasingly stronger. China is no longer just a buyer of raw materials, it has become an important investor in Latin America," Argueta told Xinhua on the sidelines of this year's World Economic Forum on Latin America held in the Argentine capital over the past three days.

"Chinese companies such as Huawei and Alibaba ... are playing a much bigger leading role in Latin American markets," she noted.

According to Argueta, a lawyer and El Salvador's former foreign minister from January 2008 to June 2009, the three-day forum was focused on entrepreneurship, development and the fourth industrial revolution.

"We are seeking to understand the resources, the challenges, the opportunities in Latin America at a time when growth is slowing, when there are more social demands, when the fight against poverty must be maintained," Argueta added.

In 2015, trade between China and Latin America amounted to $236.5 billion, marking a twenty-fold increase over the previous decade, showed Chinese government figures.

Argueta said,"It is also highly important to think about the transfer of technology."

"It is a development area that is of utmost importance to prepare us for the fourth industrial revolution, and to be able to make the most of the opportunities that arise to modernize industries ... transform the sources of employment and the jobs themselves," said Argueta.

She also pointed out that the Chinese market has a significant demand for Latin American resources. "I think there is a very strong opportunity there for cooperation," she concluded.
Workers fine-tune a Mobike at a production line in Hengyang, Hunan province. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY

China's famed "bike wars" may soon be fought on foreign shores, as Bluegogo and Mobike compete with fellow stand-free cycle hire company ofo in the British market.

Cycle hire startups, so-called bike Ubers, are big business in China. Around 30 companies control tens of thousands of bikes in at least 35 Chinese cities. The two largest, ofo and Mobike, recently secured $450 million and $300 million in funding, respectively.

Already locked in a battle for market share across China, the startups now have London in their sights. Elsewhere in the UK this month, Beijing Bikelock Technology's bike hire business ofo is launching a pilot bike-hiring scheme in Cambridge. Mobike is reportedly interested in launching similar projects in Birmingham and Manchester.

The Sunday Times recently reported Bluegogo and Mobike were looking at London.

Both London and Birmingham already have bike-hire schemes. The Chinese services differ in doing away with docking stations. Users of the bikes offered by the Chinese companies are free to pick up a cycle wherever they find one and leave it wherever they want, using a smartphone app and a code to deactivate and activate a built-in lock.

The capital's transport authority, Transport for London, has expressed interest in the new technology.

TfL's head of strategy and outcome planning, Lilli Matson, said: "We are always keen to talk to companies to explore advancements in technology and discuss new ideas, and have spoken with a number of companies, to understand their plans."

A spokesperson for ofo said: "We have had brief discussions with TfL about how our scheme works in China and other markets and they are interested in hearing how our trial works in Cambridge. Our primary focus is ensuring the Cambridge trial is a success. We will potentially look to enter other areas later."
Beijing and Oslo agreed on Friday to restart negotiations on a free trade agreement, after Premier Li Keqiang's meeting with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg in Beijing.

A memorandum of understanding was signed to resume the negotiations. It was among six documents whose signing was witnessed by Li and Solberg after their meeting at the Great Hall of the People.

The document was the latest signal of China's support for free trade after President Xi Jinping and Premier Li pledged such a stance on a number of occasions, amid rising protectionism and sentiment across the world against globalization.

Another memorandum of understanding was signed to resume China-Norway economic and trade cooperation, along with others to promote cooperation in health, sports, science and research.

China is willing to restart the negotiations and hold a new round of joint conferences for economic and trade cooperation while resuming political consultations and establishing inter-governmental dialogues on energy policies, Li said.

In addition, Li said Norwegian companies and sovereign wealth funds are welcome to expand investment in the world's second-largest economy to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes.

Solberg said Norway adheres to the one-China policy and respects China's core interests and concerns to boost political trust and long-standing friendship. Oslo is also willing to start the FTA negotiations as soon as possible and expand bilateral cooperation in various fields, as well as enhance communications on Arctic affairs and regional issues, she said.

In 1954, Norway was one of the first Western countries to establish diplomatic ties with China. However, bilateral relations were later weighed down, in part by the controversial Nobel Peace Prize award in 2010.

Solberg's four-day visit, which began on Friday, is the first such trip to China by a Norwegian prime minister in 10 years.

She is leading a large delegation, including Foreign Minister Borge Brende, whose trip to Beijing last year paved the way for the prime minister's visit.

After six years of deteriorated ties, China and Norway announced a joint statement to normalize bilateral relations when Li met with Brende in December as the Northern European country pledged respect for China's core interests.

Li and Brende also confirmed the resumption of free trade negotiations, which spurred the increase of stock prices of Norwegian salmon exporters.

Liu Weimin, deputy director of the European Department of the Foreign Ministry, told a news briefing that more of Norway's salmon is welcome to enter the Chinese market.

"Lessons have been learned from the six years' setback of bilateral relations and I believe cooperation between the two countries will have a bright future," Liu said.
Participants of "Walk& Talk" pose for a picture in Beijing on Friday. The event, co-hosted by World Health Organization and Beijing MTR, a subway operator in the city, hopes to reduce the stigmatization of mental illness, such as depression. [Photo by Zou Hong/China Daily]

Official: Increase in disorders caused by depression, tension, alcohol, dementia

The number of registered patients with serious mental disorders in China reached 5.4 million last year, with three-quarters of them suffering schizophrenia, China's top health authority said on Friday.

Of the patients, 88.7 percent are under the management of health authorities, and receive public services such as medical care and living subsidies, Wang Bin, deputy chief for disease control and prevention at the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said at a news conference on Friday, which coincided with World Health Day.

Previous figures released by the commission showed the number of such registered patients was 4.3 million by the end of 2014, with 73.2 percent managed by health authorities.

China has been improving mental health services, with the number of institutions that offer such services reaching nearly 3,000 by the end of 2015, compared with 1,650 in 2010, Wang said.

Last year, the number of certified psychiatrists in China exceeded 27,700, and the number of psychotherapists in China exceeded 5,000, she added.

Patients with serious mental disorders have been receiving improved services throughout China with multi-departmental cooperation such as regular follow-up diagnosis and treatment.

In places such as Beijing and Shanghai they also enjoy favorable insurance policies, which provide free medication and more reimbursement for medical bills, according to her.

In Beijing, guardians are eligible for a 2,400 yuan ($370) annual subsidy from the municipal government if they deliver proper care, according to the city's health and family planning commission.

China faces challenges in improving mental health, due to rising incidences of mental disorders caused by depression, tension, alcohol and dementia, she said.

A survey conducted by professionals from more than 40 psychiatric hospitals and universities in China between 2012 and 2014 found nearly 3.6 percent of Chinese suffer depression-related mental disorders.

Although the rate is lower than countries such as the United States, Australia and South Africa, it saw an increase compared with previous surveys, which may be attributed to increasing psychological pressure on the public due to rapid economic and social development, she said.

The World Health Organization estimates that more than 54 million people in China suffer from depression, and is estimated to cost the nation $7.8 billion every year from lost work days, medical expenses and funeral expenses, it said in a statement on Friday.

According to Yu Xin, a professor in psychiatry at Peking University Sixth Hospital, said a major obstacle to prevention and treatment in China is the lack of importance paid to the issue by the public and patients.

"This means only a small portion of people with mental diseases are actually diagnosed and treated," Yu said.

Lack of facilities and talent at community-level medical institutions are also major obstacles, he added.

"In many other countries, patients with mental disorders first seek treatment at community health centers or their family doctors," he said. "But in China, most patients go to big comprehensive hospitals first, as other institutes may lack qualified psychiatrists."

Wang said health authorities will improve capabilities of grassroots hospitals to offer mental health services, such as encouraging top public hospitals to provide training to medical staff.
Premier Li Keqiang said the central government supports Shanghai's bid for the 46th WorldSkills Competition in 2021 when he met with Simon Bartley, president of WorldSkills International, in Beijing.

Premier Li spoke highly about the significant role the organization has played in promoting global occupational skills training and sustainable development of all countries.

China advocates "the craftsman spirit" in a campaign for innovation-driven development and mass entrepreneurship, and is striving to cultivate a larger number of high-quality technicians, who will bring new momentum to the Chinese economy and transform traditional momentum, Li said.

China's central government supports Shanghai's bid for the WorldSkills Competition and would like to take it as a chance to strengthen cooperation with the organization, which in turn would help improve skills of billions of workers and contribute to the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, Li added.

Bartley said the Chinese government has been committed to promoting skills and has made great efforts to improve the level of skills in the country and the world. He said his organization appreciates China's willingness and preparations for the competition's bid, and will maintain close contact and cooperation.

The organization has 77 member countries and regions, and the WorldSkills Competition occurs every two years and is the biggest vocational education and skills excellence event in the world that truly reflects global industry, according to its website.
BEIJING -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Saturday sent a message of condolences to Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven over Friday's deadly truck attack in Stockholm.

Li strongly condemned the violent attack, extended deep condolences to the innocent victims and expressed sincere sympathy for the injured as well as families of the killed.

Li said China is willing to join Sweden in tackling the security threats and challenges facing the international community.

On Friday, a hijacked cargo truck ploughed into pedestrians on a busy shopping street in central Stockholm before crashing into a department store, killing at least four people and injuring many others. Lofven has said this was a terror attack.
BEIJING -- Three people are in police custody in Beijing for stealing a pair of 400-year-old candle holders from the Ming imperial tombs, local authorities said Saturday.

The suspects -- two people from Beijing and one from central China's Henan province -- have been implicated in organized relic theft, Beijing police said.

The mausoleums were built for the emperors of the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644). The missing white marble candle holders, which were about 90 centimeters tall and weighed 200 kilograms each, belong in front of the mausoleum of the last Ming emperor Chongzhen.

According to a police officer who declined to be named, the candle holders went missing in May but officials tried to cover up their absence by saying they had been sent for repairs.

The candle holders were a hot topic online last month when a visitor shared contrasting photographs of the tombs. In the newer images, two vases and an incense burner were still there but the candle holders, which were visible in older photographs, were gone, leaving only their bases.

A media official with Changping government told Xinhua that the Ming Tombs Special Area Agency admitted on March 20 that the candle holders had gone missing.

Four officials were sacked for "incompetence" Thursday.

The investigation continues.

About 40 kilometers north of downtown Beijing, the Ming Tombs were listed as UNESCO World Heritage site in 2003.
Jiang Jianguo (2nd R), minister with the State Council Information Office, and Chaturon Chaisang (2nd L), former Thai deputy prime minister, jointly cut the ribbon at the opening of a Chinese book fair that kicked off in Bangkok on Saturday.[Photo by Xu Wei/chinadaily.com.cn]

The Thai edition of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China is among the hundreds of books on display at a Chinese book fair that kicked off in Bangkok on Saturday, after the book was hailed as gateway to learning about China during its launch by top Thai officials.

The book fair is aimed at further promoting the exchanges of experience on governance between China and Thailand, said Jiang Jianguo, minister with the State Council Information Office, during the opening of the event.

Jiang said he believes the publishing of the Thai edition of the book will open a new window for Thai people to learn about China.

"I hope it will also provide a new platform for China and Thailand to exchange the experience on governance," he said.

The Thailand edition of the China Report ASEAN, a national monthly periodical published chiefly in English and targeted at the ASEAN member countries, was also launched during the inauguration of the fair.

Chaturon Chaisang, former Thai deputy prime minister, said at the opening of the function that he hopes the fair and the launch of the Thailand edition of the report will enable more Thai people to learn about the new notions and thoughts of governance in China and to learn about the current situation in China.

"I also hope such cultural exchange activities will become more regular to provide a bigger and larger platform for Thai people to learn about China," he said.

The Thai language edition of the book was released Friday at the parliament building of Thailand.

A number of Thai officials, including Thai Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam and Pornpetch Wichitcholchai, president of Thailand's National Legislative Assembly, have lauded the book as a good way to learn about modern China and President Xi Jinping himself.
HOHHOT - A freight train fully loaded with Russian wheat arrived at Manzhouli land port in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Saturday.

This is the first bulk shipment of Russian wheat to enter China via the land port after the two countries reached deals on quarantine inspection requirements for exporting Russian wheat, corn, rice and soybean to China in December 2015.

China's state-owned foodstuff conglomerate COFCO Corp. is responsible for quality control, import and distribution to the Chinese market.

COFCO president Yu Xubo said the group plans to import 1 million to 2 million tonnes of wheat from Russia a year. This may increase to 4 million or 5 million tonnes a year in the future, he said.

Russia replaced the United States as the world's top wheat exporter last year with 25 million tonnes of exports, according to figures provided by the Russian side.

"Compared with ocean shipping, land transport via Manzhouli cuts travel time and costs," said Chen Lixin, Party chief of Manzhouli City.

He said China's import of Russian wheat is a new breakthrough in bilateral trade and economic cooperation achieved within the framework of the Belt and Road initiative.
SHI YU/CHINA DAILY

Predictions that China-US frictions will escalate after Donald Trump became the United States president have proved wrong. Following the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, China watchers should reflect on the tone of the interaction between the two leaders and the meetings between their nations' diplomatic and financial officials. The tone was cooperation.

Since neither side can afford to sacrifice cooperation, China-US relations will continue to sail forward, buoyed by the two countries' nearly $520 billion trade volume.

Two-way trade and mutual investment in 2015 created 2.6 million jobs for the US, according to data from the Washington-based US-China Business Council. The best way to ensure people in both countries benefit from this relationship is to make a larger "cake" of shared interests, which can be done only through cooperation.

A closer inspection of the trade imbalance between the two countries shows 40 percent of China's trade surplus with the US came from US companies operating in China. So if a trade war breaks out, foreign-funded companies, particularly US ones, would lose out.

The Xi-Trump meeting has sent out a positive message to the world. Based on the principle of no-conflict, no-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation, China is ready to work with the US to deepen cooperation and manage differences.
Jiang Jianguo (second right), minister of the State Council Information Office and Thai Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam (third right) attend the launching ceremony of the Thai language edition of the book Xi Jinping: The Governance of China in Bangkok April 7, 2017. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

It is a great pleasure to come to beautiful Bangkok to attend the launching ceremony of the Thai version of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China. First of all, on behalf of the Department of Publicity of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to friends from the political, academic and cultural circles, and overseas Chinese who have come to attend the launching ceremony, and Chinese and Thai friends who have made contributions to the translation, publication and launching event of this book.

The book presented before you is a collection of President Xi Jinping's 79 speeches and instructions from November 2012 to June 2014, and a total of 6.2 million copies in 16 languages have already been circulated across the world. China's reform and opening-up have been continuing for nearly four decades and have made remarkable achievements, especially since the 18th National Congress of the CPC in late 2012. China's gross domestic product grew by 6.7 percent year-on-year to reach $11 trillion in 2016, with the country maintaining its status as the world's second-largest economy and contributing to more than 30 percent of global economic growth. In today's China, the economy is healthily developing, the society is in a harmonious and stable state and people are living and working in peace and contentment.

Such achievements accomplished by China have benefited from the "Chinese road". But what is the "Chinese road"? I would like to use a string of numbers, "one, two, three, four and five", to brief you.

"One" here means "one dream", namely the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

"Two" here means "two centennial goals", namely the successful building of an all-round well-off society by the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC in 2021, and the successful building of a modern, socialist nation by the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 2049.

"Three" here means "three greats", namely advancing the great socialist cause with Chinese characteristics, comprehensively strengthening and improving the great project of Party building, and carrying out a great struggle with numerous new and historical features.

"Four" here means the "Four Comprehensives", or Four-pronged Comprehensive Strategy, namely comprehensively build a moderately society, comprehensively deepen reform, comprehensively promote the nation's governance in accordance with laws, and comprehensively promote stricter governance of the Party.

And "Five" here means "Five-in-One", namely, promote the overall layout of economic construction, political construction, cultural construction, social construction and civilization construction. If one understands these numbers contained in this book, he or she will understand President Xi's thoughts on the governance of China and understand the Chinese road.

If we read this book, we can find that President Xi's thoughts on China's governance are full of rich humanistic spirit. Where does such kind of humanistic spirit come from?
[Photo by CAI MENG/CHINA DAILY]

Readers of some bestsellers feel duped by hype whose quality far exceeds that of the book they have paid for.

"This seems to have been on the bestselling list forever, so I bought it, but I just don't get why it's so popular."

The exasperation of Charlotte Qiu, 33, Suzhou is palpable as she tackles me to find out what I think of The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, a bestseller in China for more than 10 years.

"I gave up after reading a couple of pages," Qiu says.

Fu Sihong, 31, of Beijing is among those who beg to differ with Qiu, saying: "It is a great book".

Many people buy a book simply because it is a bestseller, and sometimes some fall under the spell of a publishers' slick advertising. However, as Qiu's view attests, sales figures and publicity do not necessarily equate to an enjoyable read.

On douban.com, China's version of Goodreads, advertising for The Ferryman, by the British writer Claire McFall, bills it as a work that "has won five international literary awards, and has been sold in 33 countries, touching qianwan (thousands or millions) with its healing power".

The novel tells of a 15-year-old named Dylan who dies in a train accident and meets her "ferryman", who leads her soul "home", but not before passing through a dangerous wasteland where demons lie in wait.
A handmade ship model at the CY Tung Maritime Museum. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Historic artifacts from ancient times can't just be found in the usual museums listed on travel guidesShanghai's academic institutions are home to a significant number as well.

Universities and colleges in Shanghai are not merely centers of academia and research but also repositories for large volumes of cultural relics and national treasures, with 13 university museums in the city accounting for about one-tenth of the nation's total.

The items stored in these institutions, which fall under the Shanghai Educational Alliance of University and College Museums, range from bones dating back to the Shang Dynasty (16th century to 11th century BC) to the nation's largest odontocete specimens to Chinese musical instruments and ancient costumes.

"University museums can deliver great knowledge to the students and even the public. It is like an open classroom for everyone to learn," said Liu Zhaohui, director of Museum of Fudan University.

As such, travelers in Shanghai who are looking to learn more about China could consider visiting these five university museums that specialize in different aspects of Chinese history and culture.
China reiterated that all parties need to remain committed to political solution to the Syria issue at an emergency meeting held by the United Nations Security Council on Friday after the US launched air strikes against a Syrian military base.

Liu Jieyi, China's permanent representative to the UN, said China has always stood for dialogue and consultation to solve international conflicts.

"What's urgent at the moment is all parties need to make efforts to prevent the situation in Syria from worsening," Liu said. "Political solution is the only way to the Syria issue. Military means won't work. They can only deepen Syrian people's suffering and complicate the Syrian and regional situation, which is not in the interests of Syria, countries in the region and the international community."

Two United States naval vessels deployed in the eastern Mediterranean Sea launched 59 cruise missiles against the Shayrat airbase in Syria in what Washington asserted was a response to alleged chemical weapons attack on civilians in Idlib province earlier this week, killing more than 70 people. The Syrian government denied any role in it.

The attack came within an hour on Thursday (New York time) of the council ending deadlocked, closed-door deliberations on a draft resolution calling for an investigation into the toxic gas attack, Xinhua reported.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who said he has been following reports of the US' air strikes against the Shayrat airbase in Syria, urged "restraint" to avoid any acts that could deepen the suffering of the Syrian people.

"There is no other way to solve the conflict than through a political solution. I call on the parties to urgently renew their commitment to making progress in the Geneva talks," Guterres said in a statement issued on Friday.

At the Security Council meeting on Friday, division existed but members agreed that political solution is the only way to solve the Syria war.

"It is important that this council send a strong, collective message that any use of chemical weapons will not be tolerated and will have consequences," said Jeffrey Feltman, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs.

Ambassador Sacha Llorent Soliz of Bolivia, noting that his country had called for Friday's meeting, expressed concern that the US had carried out a unilateral attack, threatening peace and security.

We are here to defend multilateralism," he said, urging respect for the United Nations Charter provisions prohibiting unilateral actions.

Russia's deputy UN envoy, Vladimir Safronkov strongly condemned the attack by the United States on the sovereign territory of Syria, warning that the consequences could be extremely serious.

Nikki Haley, US ambassador to the UN, said the use of chemical weapons against civilians was one such occasion and the United States would not stand by, adding that it was in her country's national security interest to prevent the spread and use of such arms.

Haley called for a new phase that would begin with a drive for a political solution to the conflict.
Chinese Consul General in New York Zhang Qiyue (on right in red and black) speaks with a 95-year-old woman surnamed Xie, who had gone to the offices of the Chinese Progressive Association in Boston to renew her passport. AMY HE / CHINA DAILY

The Chinese Progressive Association in Boston's Chinatown was filled to the brim on Friday with Chinese looking to renew their passports in a community event hosted by the Consulate General of China in New York.

The community event allowed Chinese passport holders to renew their passports at the Chinese community organization, saving them a trip to New York. Usually those living in the northeast need to make a trip to the Chinese consulate general office in New York, which services 10 states in the region.

A 95-year-old woman surnamed Xie, one of the roughly 100 to 120 people who were there to renew their passports, was there with her children and caretaker to renew her travel document. "There's no way she would've been able to make this trip if the Consulate General didn't hold the event here," said her caretaker, who declined to be named. "So this was very convenient."

"This was really meant for the convenience of the elderly and children," said Zhang Qiyue, Chinese Consul General in New York.

"My office provides services for the Chinese community across 10 states [but] we offer most of our services in New York from our headquarters, so we have to reach out to the other states because there's a great need from the Chinese for renewing or updating their passports, and to get their travel documents or to consult us on various issues," she said.

Zhang said that her office has organized 18 events outside New York so far in 2017, and will be organizing a series of events for students in Boston as well, which has a big international Chinese student population.

"We're working very hard in New York - the overall request for documentation is very, very strong. You see the long queue here, and we're doing our very best to accommodate the needs of citizens outside of New York," she said.

A wheelchair-bound 79-year-old man surnamed Jiang said that when he last renewed his passport a decade ago, he was not yet limited in mobility, but with his restrictions now "I would have never been able to make the trip to New York".
People lay flowers near the crime scene, near the Ahlens department store, in central Stockholm the morning after a hijacked beer truck plowed into pedestrians on Drottninggatan and crashed into Ahlens department store on Friday, killing four people, injuring 15 others.[Photo/Agencies]

STOCKHOLM -- Explosives were found in the truck used in Friday's attack in Stockholm, which killed four people and injured 15 others, Swedish Television (SVT) reported quoting police sources on Saturday.

Police have arrested a man from Uzebekistan, suspecting him of being the driver of the truck that rammed into people on a central Stockholm street on Friday.

SVT quoted the sources saying a homemade bomb placed in a bag was found in the truck, suspecting that it failed to be detonated during the attack.

Death toll of Stockholm attack rises to four, after one victim died in hospital in wake of the Stockholm truck attack in the afternoon. Swedish Television quoted hospital sources at Karolinska Institutet as saying that the number of the injured from the attack had risen to 15.




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By An Baijie in PalmBeach, Florida and Li Xiaokun in Beijing | China Daily | Updated: 2017-04-08 07:38

President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, join US President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on Thursday. [Photo by Rao Aimin/Xinhua]

President affirms that a greater sense of achievement will mark China-US ties

President Xi Jinping said that China and the United States "will take constructive ways to handle differences and sensitive issues to make people of the two nations have more sense of achievement in the development of China-US ties".

Xi made the remark on Thursday when he and his wife, Peng Liyuan, attended a banquet that US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump hosted at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

Xi and Peng thanked the Trumps for their warm welcome. Both presidents said in speeches that they had good conversations during the day.

Xi said he and Trump "reached important consensus on development of China-US relations", according to a news release issued by the Foreign Ministry.

The two countries are willing to expand practical cooperation in many fields, including trade and investment, diplomacy and security, legal enforcement networks, and people-to-people exchanges on the basis of mutual respect and benefits, Xi said.

"There is a Chinese saying that every towering building is built from the ground," he said, adding he expects to work with Trump to lead those who are passionate about developing China-US ties to "build the mansion of China-US relations story by story and make it firmer, higher and prettier".

Trump said China's excellent achievements under Xi's leadership have won respect from around the world, according to the Foreign Ministry release.

It quoted Trump as saying that he had a good conversation with Xi at their first meeting. They exchanged views on a broad range of issues and established a friendship, it said.

Trump said he expected to carry out cooperation with Xi and continue in depth talks on the next day.

The two presidents also talked about international and regional issues during the dinner.

High-ranking officials accompanying Xi at the banquet included Director of the Policy Research Office of the CPC Central Committee Wang Huning, Vice-Premier Wang Yang, Director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee Li Zhanshu, State Councilor Yang Jiechi and Chief of the Joint Staff Department of China's Central Military Commission Fang Fenghui.

US officials at the dinner included US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and his wife, a number of other US Cabinet members and high-ranking White House officials.
Items from a Qin and Han dynasties exhibition go on display on Monday at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The exhibition will run through July 16. [Photo by Amy He/China Daily]

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City unveiled its latest exhibit to the public on Monday - a major loan exhibition of ancient Chinese art seldom seen in the West.

The collection - Age of Empires: Chinese Art of the Qin and Han Dynasties - features 164 objects from 32 museums and archaeological institutions in China. The focus is on the two dynasties' significance in establishing Chinese art, culture and politics in their time.

"The pieces are just stunning," said 75-year-old Adalaide Morris of New York. "The meticulousness of the detail is just very moving. I'm enjoying the combination of the ordinariness of the pieces and the luxuriousness of the high quality pieces that showcase true workmanship."

Morris, a retired literature professor, said that she knew very little about Chinese history before the exhibit but came away with a better understanding of Chinese crafts and the way measurements were standardized during the Qin and Han dynasties.

"If you want to know about the present and future of China, it is necessary for you to know about the past and history of China," said Wang Jun, director of Art Exhibitions China, part of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, at a media preview of the exhibition last month.

"The Qin (221-206 BC) and Han (206 BC-AD 220) dynasties of China are the most important dynasties in Chinese history. The intellectual and political systems that were established during the Qin and Han dynasties have extended influence over China for more than 2,000 years," he said at a media preview of the exhibit.

Wang, whose institution coordinates and sponsors the export and exchange of Chinese cultural relics overseas, called Age of Empires one of the most important cultural relics exhibitions in the China-US cultural exchange.

Meiting, a 32-year-old homemaker from Singapore of Chinese descent, said that as a history and archaeology buff who is proud of her cultural heritage, she was "delightfully shocked" to see the objects at the exhibit.

"Being here in this country (for eight years), there are so many stereotypes about the Chinese, but from this exhibit I can see that we are musicians, we are amazing designers, we were so good with technology," she said.

"It makes me feel grateful and it also makes me feel like I have a responsibility to show what type of people we can be. People say that we're the land of copying, but you can see from the items that our art is original and we have to remember that we can produce original things," said Meiting, who declined to disclose her full name.

The exhibit, which took five years to put together, was sponsored by China Merchants Bank - it is the first time a Chinese corporation has sponsored an exhibition at the Met.

"To have these ancient artifacts on display en masse is a great, major highlight for Sino-US cultural exchange," said Jiao Chengyue, general manager of China Merchants Bank's New York branch.

Maxwell Hearn, chairman of the Met's department of Asian art, said the exhibit comes at a crucial time when understanding China is "becoming more and more important".

"I believe that US audiences understand that Asia represents a significant and growing part of their future, so the ability to understand the roots of Asian culture are terribly important, and the Han Dynasty represents the starting point of modern China," he said.

"It is the same kind of identity that the Roman Empire gave to the West, both in architecture and the rule of law," he added.

Jason Sun, curator of Chinese art at the Met, said that the Han Dynasty represents the "classical" era of Chinese civilization, "coinciding in importance and in time with Greco-Roman civilization in the West".

"Like the Roman Empire, the Han state brought together people of diverse backgrounds under a centralized government that fostered a new 'Chinese' identity. Even today, most Chinese refer to themselves as the 'Han people' - the single largest ethnic group in the world," he said.

The exhibit, which will be on display through July 16, is in three sections: one on Qin Dynasty art that was excavated from the mausoleum of the first Qin emperor (which also unearthed the famed army of 7,000 Terracotta Warriors); and two on Han Dynasty relics that include a Han princess' burial suite of more than 2,000 pieces, and items that illustrate the robust level of trade between China and the rest of Asia and Europe at the time.

"Many of these spectacular works have never been seen in the West, offering visitors a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see a fresh appraisal of the classical era of Chinese civilization," said Thomas Campbell, director of the museum.
Then-Chinese premier Zhou Enlai and US president Richard Nixon attend a banquet at Jinjiang Hotel's Grand Hall in 1972. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Shanghai may have impressed many as China's metropolis of finance, fashion and food, but when it comes to Sino-US relations, the municipality displaced Beijing as the scene of a milestone event.

A 1,200-square-meter hall in the center of Jinjiang Hotel in Shanghai's downtown area is famous for being the birthplace of Sino-US relations. It was there that then-US president Richard Nixon signed the Shanghai Communique, also known as the Joint Communique of the United States of America and the People's Republic of China, at the conclusion of his China trip in 1972.

The weeklong visit to the country by Nixon, who also stopped for meetings in Beijing and Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, was the first made by a US president to the People's Republic of China, the first key step in normalizing relations between the two countries.

Surrounded by an ever-green lawn with three main buildings, the hotel was previously named Cathay Mansion and was the home of a Jewish banker who built it in 1925. It was taken over by the municipal government and run as a State-owned luxury hotel from 1951.

Before the Shanghai Communique was signed at its Grand Hall in 1972, Jinjiang Hotel had hosted more than 300 visits by state leaders from around the world. Nevertheless, the hotel faced "an unprecedented challenge" when Nixon visited Shanghai in 1972, former hotel staff member Qiu Huanxi recalled.

"We were told about the visit less than one week before (the arrival of Nixon)," said Qiu, who was on the team tasked with receiving the US president.

Qiu's team of 14 hotel staff members included a receptionist, a barber, a waiter and a doorman. Backing this "vanguard team" was a large group made up of other staff members as well as members of the public, according to the hotel's archives.

Most of the food and beverages consumed by the US president was flown in from the US. It was only after the release of the Communique that Nixon ate three dishes from the hotel's Chinese restaurant. Those dishes included chicken, fried shrimp balls and broad beans fried with mushrooms.

Unlike at the state banquet with premier Zhou Enlai, where he used chopsticks, Nixon used a knife and fork to eat these three dishes, Qiu said.

The room Nixon stayed in was the presidential suite on the 16th floor of the hotel's main building, then considered the best hotel room in the city. The suite has since undergone multiple renovations and is today regularly occupied by local celebrities and high-profile personalities.

Nixon revisited Jinjiang Hotel during his third trip to China in 1993, though that time he did not stay on the premises. Four years later, the Grand Hall was reconstructed and expanded to 10 times its original size.
Over 1,500 teachers instructed 400,000 students in US institutions last year

As more than 1,000 Chinese language teachers gathered in Houston to exchange the latest ideas in teaching, education leaders from the United States and China recounted the achievement of Chinese learning in the US over the past decade on the opening day of the 10th National Chinese Language Conference on Thursday.

Chinese learning in the US has made tremendous progress, said Linda Liu, vice-president of the US nonprofit College Board. "Not only has the interest in learning Chinese grown, but also the proficiency of understanding Chinese language and culture has grown with it," Liu said.

Liu said that College Board launched the AP (advanced placement) Chinese Language and Culture course in 2007. Since then, the number of AP Chinese teachers has grown from fewer than 200 to more than 800 today. US students participating in AP Chinese has quadrupled in the past decade. "That's amazing progress," Liu said.

During past decade, College Board deepened collaboration with China's Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban), brought US administrators to China and established district level Confucius classrooms, Liu said.

"Since the first Chinese guest teachers arrived in the US in 2007, we have had nearly 1,200 guest teachers bringing Chinese lessons to over 300 school districts in the US," Liu said.

Jing Wei, deputy director-general of Hanban, echoed Liu's view. She pointed out that when the first National Chinese Language Conference was held in 2008, it was predicted that by 2015, 120,000 would be learning Chinese in US educational institutions with 1,200 Chinese teaching positions. The reality exceeded the expectations.

"Last year, there were nearly 400,000 Chinese language learners and more than 1,500 Chinese language teachers in US education institutions," Jing said. Hanban also brought about 6,000 US students to China to learn Chinese and about Chinese culture.

Jing, who toured the Houston Mandarin Immersion School earlier, said she was very impressed with the enthusiasm of Chinese learning displayed by the students as well as the parents.

Ronnie Chan, co-chair of Asia Society Global, and David Leebron, president of Rice University, shared their personal stories to illustrate how important language learning is in understanding the other culture.

"For the first time in 2,000 years, the West and East have to coexist as strong nations. There is a need for mutual understanding, and the first place to start is obviously the language," Chan said.

Leebron, whose teenage daughter has chosen to study in China, had studied in Germany when he was young.

"There are to this day expressions and concepts that I cannot express in English. I learned to understand another people, another culture and another country in ways I could never have without that experience," Leebron said, emphasizing the importance of language learning in cultural understanding.

Both Vice-Premier Liu Yandong and former US president George W. Bush have sent written greetings to the conference.

In her greeting letter, Liu wrote that the National Chinese Language Conference "is not merely an important platform for sharing the best practices in Chinese language teaching. More importantly, it is a highly regarded brand for China-US public interaction and people-to-people exchange".
Talks between President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump this week have raised hopes for further two-way liberalization of the financial markets and strengthened coordination of monetary and financial policies between Beijing and Washington, analysts said.

The expectation is that the first diplomatic encounter between the two leaders will have laid the groundwork for progress in key areas such as increasing US companies' access to the Chinese financial service sector, lifting the profile of the Chinese currency in the US market and cementing consensus over sensitive issues like the yuan's exchange rate against the US dollar, they said.

Xu Hongcai, deputy chief economist of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said that the meeting created an opportunity for the leaders to seek a two-way opening of the financial sectors on an equal basis, which would serve both countries.

"While allowing US companies to gain greater access to the Chinese financial market, China also is looking to push the internationalization of the yuan and would like to see New York develop into an international settlement center for the yuan," Xu said.

The meeting also offered a chance for the leaders to reach consensus over key issues such as exchange-rate policies, which will help foster stable trade and investment relations between the two countries, Xu added.

Chinese officials and financial regulators on different occasions have signaled their intention to further open capital markets to foreign players.

Fang Xinghai, vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said in February that Chinese policymakers are considering raising the cap for foreign-firm ownership in securities joint ventures in China.

The governor of China's central bank, Zhou Xiaochuan, expressed similar views at the recent Boao Forum in Hainan province, saying China will substantially cut the number of sectors closed to foreign investment, including banking, insurance, securities, and futures.

Robin Xing, chief China economist at Morgan Stanley Asia, called the opening of the Chinese financial industry one of the areas to be closely watched.

The meeting also was a chance for the countries to "bridge the communication gap and lay the groundwork to an economic and strategic grand bargain including cooperation in key areas, such as opening China's service sector, facilitating US exports to China and Chinese investment in US infrastructure, as well as strengthening geopolitical stability within the region," Xing said in a research note.
Stephanie Pollack (left), Massachusetts transportation secretary, tours a model of a new subway train with An Zhongyi, CRRC Changchun general manager, in Boston on Monday.

China Railroad Rolling Stock Corp is expanding rapidly in the United States, and local communities will benefit, officials said.

A mock-up of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's new Orange Line trains unveiled this week gives Bostonians a glimpse of what their commute will soon look like.

"I love it!" said Marcus Paker, a college student who saw it. "I used to take the Orange Line. It's much brighter and more open. It's a really nice change."

"The MBTA is the oldest subway system in America," said Brian Shortsleeve, the authority's chief administrator. The system dates to 1897.

"When we decided to upgrade and modernize our subway system eight years ago we picked CRRC, and they are doing a great job. We are really excited to modernize the subway system with these vehicles."

Jia Bo, vice-president of CRRC MA Corp, noted, "The US rail transit system is facing upgrading, and ... President Trump has emphasized strengthening infrastructure construction."

In 2014, the company won a $566.6 million contract from the MBTA to supply 152 railcars for the Orange Line and 132 for the Red Line to replace existing cars up to 38 years old. The authority then added a $277 million contract for an additional 120 Red Line cars. Contracts include such things as technical support and spare parts.

Assembly will be done by CRRC MA at its 19,000-square-meter, $95 million Springfield plant, still under construction. Production is set to start in April 2018, with cars entering service between 2019 and 2023. Officials expect to hire 150 local employees.

CRRC, the world's largest rolling stock manufacturer, has won bids to build railcars for Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Philadelphia.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority said last month that the company will build 64 subway cars with an option on another 218 cars, bringing the deal to as much as $647 million.

"The company had the highest-rated technical offer and lowest price, while offering the most robust local employment program and highest US component content," the authority said. CRRC is meeting "Buy America" requirements for 60 percent of components to be US made, it said.

The company will create a Los Angeles facility to make major components, with final assembly at the new Spring-field plant. Springfield also will assemble 45 train cars as part of the recent $137.5 million deal with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.
Negotiations for a bilateral investment treaty between China and the United States will not be obstructed or delayed by trade disputes because both nations are under pressure to stimulate their economies, officials and experts said.

Their comments came after China's commerce and trade watchdog urged the US to conduct trade reviews on China and other trade-surplus countries in accordance with international rules. The watchdog's statement, on April 1, came after US President Donald Trump signed executive orders last week to cut the trade deficit.

The Ministry of Commerce said the US trade deficit with China, and reasons behind the deficit and its effects, are well understood by both countries. The statement highlighted that bilateral economic relations are highly complementary and have mutual benefits.

Yu Jianlong, secretary-general of the China Chamber of International Commerce, said the trade disputes would not alter the goal of both countries to reduce investment restrictions. The economic growth resulting from such reductions would help the Trump administration fulfill its promise to create jobs in the US manufacturing sector, at least within the next two years, Yu said.

"Completing a high-standard BIT (bilateral investment treaty) therefore would offer US businesses more convenience to invest in priority sectors such as advanced manufacturing and technologies in China," said Yu.

Chen Deming, a former commerce minister, said that an investment treaty, while furthering China's goals to become a global manufacturing powerhouse by 2025, "would boost the confidence of Chinese companies to invest in the US by providing greater certainty about Chinese investors' rights in the country".

The validation of an investment treaty would help Chinese and US companies operate businesses in each other's markets independently in the long term, instead of their looking for local partners to form joint ventures. That would give investors more flexibility to control their finances and make investment decisions, said Yao Zhizhong, deputy director of the Institute of World Economics and Politics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing.

China has already signed bilateral investment treaties with 130 countries and regions, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

China-US bilateral investment treaty negotiations were launched in 2008 and the countries have completed 34 rounds of talks. They have made notable progress, including cutting the number of industries on the negative list and creating the momentum and public support to ensure investors' interest on both sides. A negative list includes industries where foreign investors are barred, while all other areas are presumed to be open.

Investment between China and the US exceeded $170 billion in 2016, with US companies investing nearly $80 billion in more than 67,000 projects involving businesses in manufacturing, agricultural and service sectors in China, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
US businesses in China think trade between Washington and Beijing "creates benefits for all" and that the US government and people remain open to Chinese investment, said Kenneth Jarrett, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai.

He added that a trade war would harm both countries given the interdependence of the US and Chinese economies.

"No one wants to see a trade war. ... It would be damaging for US workers, US consumers, US companies and US investors, and would also be damaging to China," he said.

While the change of administration has created a sense of uncertainty for companies, Jarrett said the US business community in China will first wait to see how much of President Donald Trump's campaign rhetoric will become reality before taking action.

Chinese outbound direct investment to the US soared to $45.6 billion last year, according to consultancy Rhodium Group, three times that of 2015. But growing scrutiny over Chinese investors has led to more failed buyout attempts, with Washington citing "national security concerns".

"To the extent that Chinese investment creates jobs for Americans, I am confident that it will remain welcome by the US government and the American people," Jarrett said.

Jarrett said most of the chamber's member companies with factories in China are here to stay because they want to sell in China and stay close to their customers rather than export products.

"While the rapid increase in Chinese exports does add a certain volatility to the US labor market, the solution to this situation is not protectionism. Rather, the US government should do more to provide training programs and assistance to workers in industries in decline or to those who have lost jobs because of technological change or change in consumer demand," he said.

Of the talks between President Xi Jinping and Trump, Jarrett said, "The most important result would be for the two presidents to develop a personal rapport so that they can understand each other's priorities and develop a basis for mutual trust."




Peng Liyuan (7th R, Front), wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and US First Lady Melania Trump (6th L, Front) pose with students during their visit to the Bak Middle School of the Arts in West Palm Beach, Florida, the United States, April 7, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

PALM BEACH, United States - Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, on Friday visited an art school in this southeastern US coastal town accompanied by US First Lady Melania Trump.

At the Bak Middle School of the Arts, Peng visited different classrooms, watched performances by students and talked with them. She also joined a class about politics and economics, answered a question from a student reporter about her connection with arts, and was presented with a student's painting as souvenir.

Noting that China and the United States should enhance communication and cooperation in the area of arts, Peng said she hopes that teachers and students of the Bak Middle School of the Arts will make greater contribution in strengthening bilateral ties and friendship through education and arts.

Peng is in Palm Beach with Xi for the Chinese president's first meeting with his US counterpart, Donald Trump. The two leaders agreed that the meeting, held at the seaside Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, was "positive and fruitful."
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump (L) hold the second round of talks in the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, the United States, April 7, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

MAR-A-LAGO, United States -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, wrapped up their first meeting on Friday and set a constructive tone for the future development of China-US relations.

During Xi's two-day trip to the southeastern US coastal town of Palm Beach, the leaders of the world's top two economies compared notes on a wide range of topics for more than seven hours altogether and agreed to expand win-win cooperation and manage differences on the basis of mutual respect.

The tete-a-tete, which took place in an aura of cordiality in what Trump calls the "Southern White House," also cultivated a sound working relationship and personal rapport between the two leaders, who preside over what many describe as the most important bilateral relationship in today's world.

Both sides agree that the meeting, which has drawn worldwide attention against the backdrop of mounting uncertainties on the bilateral and international horizons, "was positive and fruitful," said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Among other achievements, the two sides initiated the comprehensive economic dialogue and the diplomatic and security dialogue, which make up the four-pronged dialogue mechanism they have newly established along with the law enforcement and cybersecurity dialogue and the social and cultural issues dialogue.

Noting that the two countries have become each other's biggest trading partner, Xi pointed out that as China pushes forward supply-side structural reform and maintains sound development momentum, China-US trade and economic cooperation enjoys a bright prospect, and the two sides should seize the opportunity.

"China welcomes the US side to participate in cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative," said the Chinese president, referring to the vision he proposed in 2013 of building an infrastructure and trade network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient land and maritime Silk Road routes.

The two sides also agreed to deepen communication and cooperation in military, immigration, health care and many other areas, including Beijing's efforts to pursue fugitives who have fled abroad.

The meeting is of "unique significance" to the development of China-US relations, said Xi.

"I think we have made tremendous progress in our relationship with China," commented Trump. "And I think, truly, progress has been made. We'll be making a lot of additional progress."

The Trump administration went a long way to prepare for the meeting, which came within the first 100 days of the new US presidency and was labeled by the New York Times as "the most important diplomatic encounter of his presidency so far."

On Thursday, US First Lady Melania Trump donned a red dress to welcome Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, to the Mar-a-Lago estate, a color that symbolizes happiness and prosperity in Chinese culture. The Trumps also arranged a small family party for the Chinese guests.

Even Arabella and Joseph, children of Trump's daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, joined the gathering, singing Chinese folksong "Jasmine" and reciting verses from the "Three-Character Classic" and Chinese classic poetry.

Xi and Trump also took a stroll in the picturesque, 90-year-old estate on the Atlantic coast, a location which the White House said was chosen to give the two-day meeting a more relaxed feeling.

To reciprocate the hospitality, Xi extended an invitation to Trump for a state visit to China later this year, which the US president accepted with pleasure.

"Both the atmosphere, the chemistry between the two leaders was positive," said US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson at a press briefing.

"I think all of us are feeling very good about the results of this summit in terms of what it did for setting a very constructive tone going forward," added Tillerson.

Commenting on the widely-watched Xi-Trump meeting, David Gosset, a Paris-based global affairs analyst and Sinologist, noted that in a spirit of productive pragmatism, the two leaders "stayed focused on the indispensable cooperation between China and the US."

Taking into consideration the complexities of China-US relations as well as Trump's campaign rhetoric, the Mar-a-Lago meeting "can be seen as a success," he told Xinhua.

Su Ge, head of the China Institute of International Studies, a leading think tank in China, said Friday that to such large nations as China and the United States, disagreements are natural, and the key is how to handle them.

"The two nations need to take a long-term perspective, and never allow any single moment or incident to rock the foundation of their relations," Su added.

Forty-five years after they broke the ice between them, China and the United States have now become highly interdependent with their interests getting increasingly intertwined. Bilateral trade reached 519.6 billion US dollars last year, with two-way investment exceeding 170 billion dollars. They have more than 200 pairs of sister cities, and 14,000 people travel between them every day on average.

"There are a thousand reasons to make the China-US relationship work, and no reason to break it," said the Chinese president.
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BEIJING - President Xi Jinping returned to Beijing Saturday evening after he paid a state visit to Finland and traveled to Florida, the United States, for China-US presidents' meeting at Mar-a-Lago.

At the invitation of President Sauli Niinisto of Finland and President Donald Trump of the United States, Xi visited Finland from April 4 to 6 and met with Trump from April 6 to 7.

Xi's entourage returned to Beijing with him, including his wife Peng Liyuan; Wang Huning, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Policy Research Office of the CPC Central Committee; Wang Yang, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and vice premier; Li Zhanshu, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee; and State Councilor Yang Jiechi.
A blog about life under, and resisting, a dictatorship
(Photo : GETTY IMAGES) Chinese women look at their smartphone as they walk in a shopping area on a hazy evening in Beijing.

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A 14-year-old girl from Qingdao, eastern China, was diagnosed to have a damaged neck and spine after spending too much time on her mobile phone. She can no longer straighten her neck because her upper spine has been deformed, doctors said.



Doctors studied her X-rays after the girl complained of dizziness, muscle pains, and the obvious symptom of not being able to move her neck upwards. According to medical experts, her condition can usually be found in old people 50 years old and above as their old age cause their joints to stiffen.



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The girl's father said that his daughter used to spend nearly all her waking hours playing with her mobile phone and watching video live-streams. After initial treatments, the girl's symptoms are temporarily removed but she is still recovering at home. Doctors warned her that if she uses her mobile phone for more than two hours per day, her condition could worsen.



A 10-year-old boy has previously damaged his spine because of the same reason, and he is unable to walk properly now.



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Tagstoo much social media, too much use of mobile phone, Weird News, china news, girl in china, doctors, neck damage because of using phone, millenials on using phone, Mobile Phones, Medical, damages for using too much phone
(Photo : Nicolas Asouri - Pool/Getty Images) On the trade front, Xi and Trump agreed upon a 100-day plan to settle all their trade disputes.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump wrapped up their two-day summit in South Florida on Friday, with both leaders describing the summit as a huge success. The highly-anticipated meeting, which was overshadowed by America's surprise strike against Syria, focused primarily on trade and the North Korea issue.



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On the trade front, Xi and Trump agreed upon a 100-day plan to settle all their trade disputes. The U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said that he is hopeful that this 100-day plan will help U.S. to increase export to China and subsequently reduce its trade deficit with the Asian giant.



Trump appeared to be very mindful of not using any trade rhetoric against China, something that he extensively used during his election campaign. There were no talks about Beijing being a currency manipulator, its alleged steel dumping practices or causing job loss to the U.S.



The Republican leader made it clear through a tweet last week that trade issue would dominate the summit. He had tweeted that the U.S. can no longer tolerate the massive trade deficit with China.



Trump and Xi remained upbeat during the summit



The overall air during the summit remained positive, with both leaders keeping an upbeat tone on their first high-profile meeting.



"We have made tremendous progress in our relationship with China," Trump told reporters during the meeting. "We will be making additional progress. The relationship developed by President Xi and myself I think is outstanding. "And I believe lots of very potentially bad problems will be going away."



In response, Xi said, "We have engaged in deeper understanding, and have built a trust." He further added that "I believe we will keep developing in a stable way to form friendly relations....For the peace and stability of the world, we will also fulfill our historical responsibility."



Both leaders agreed to cooperate over North Korea issue



Speaking after the two-day summit, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters that both leaders have agreed for more cooperation to rein down on North Korea's nuclear program. However, he declined to comment further on how both leaders will cooperate on the contentious issue.



Tillerson also claimed that during the discussions Xi agreed that the North Korea issue had reached a dangerous level.



The North Korea issue assumed even more importance as the U.S. bombed Syria exactly on the day when Xi arrived in the U.S. Although Beijing has chosen to stay away from the Syrian crisis, its stance is titled more towards Russia on the issue.



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TagsXi Jingping, donald trump, china, Xi and Trump Meeting
(Photo : US Navy) Four F-35B Lightning II stealth jets in formation above the amphibious assault ship USS America.

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USS America (LHA-6), the U.S. Navy's newest and largest amphibious assault ship, will be deployed to Asia within the year in anticipation of a conflict with China.



She's currently conducting Amphibious Squadron / Marine Expeditionary Unit Integration operations with a crew of more than 1,000 sailors and 1,600 embarked U.S. Marines.



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USS America is the lead ship in the America-class amphibious assault ships designed to launch a Marine Expeditionary Unit using helicopters and Bell Boeing MV-22B Osprey V/STOL tiltrotor transport aircraft. These amphibious assaults will be supported by Boeing AV-8B Harrier II or Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II V/STOL aircraft and various attack helicopters.



The navy plans to build 11 LHAs, whose large flight decks also classify them as small aircraft carriers. USS America is the first ship of its class, which was designed to replace the Tarawa-class amphibious assault ships.



F-35B trials aboard the USS America, the only operational America-class LHA, were completed in late 2016 and verified the capability of F-35Bs to operate from them. The F-35B is a short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the F-35 operated only by the U.S. Marines.



The America-class should be able to deploy at least a dozen F-35Bs. Her current complement of fixed wing aircraft includes six F-35Bs and six Boeing AV-8B Harrier II jump jets, which are being retired. She can also deploy four Bell AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters; four Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters, 12 Bell Boeing MV-22 Ospreys, and two Sikorsky MH-60S Search and Rescue helicopters.



The success in transforming LHAs into "small carriers" gives powerful teeth to the new U.S. Navy doctrine of "distributed lethality" that aims to turn as many surface warships as it can into small aircraft carriers.



There are two other America-class amphibious assault ships under construction: USS Tripoli (LHA-7) and the USS Bougainville (LHA-8).



LHA 7 is slated for delivery to the navy in December 2018 while LHA 8 will join the navy in 2024.



The USS America is armed with 12 defensive weapons systems, including two RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) Mk 49 l launchers; two Raytheon 20 mm Phalanx CIWS mounts and seven twin .50 caliber heavy machine guns.



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TagsUSS America (LHA-6), U.S. Navy, amphibious assault ship, china, Marine Expeditionary Unit, Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, Bell Boeing MV-22B Osprey, F-35B
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home World Abduction of Malaysian pastor may be connected to his evangelism attempt

Malaysian authorities are looking into Pastor Raymond Koh's previous attempts to spread Christianity in the country as a possible lead in his abduction.

It was revealed that there was a police report filed against Koh and two others on Jan. 19 and 20 for their attempts to convert a group of youths to Christianity in Kangar, Perlis, The Star Online reported.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar confirmed receiving the police report and said that it is being examined as a possible lead in Koh's abduction on Feb. 13.

"We received a report of him (Koh) and a few others attempting to spread Christianity in the northern part of the country," Khalid told the Star Online. "We are looking at it very seriously and further investigation is being conducted," he added.

The Inspector-General said that the priority is to find the pastor as soon as possible and added that the authorities are looking at all the angles.

Khalid had previously cautioned all parties against speculating on the abduction as false information might hamper the investigation.

Koh was abducted on Feb. 13 by a group of masked men on a public road in Petaling Jaya in broad daylight. A purported CCTV footage of the incident showed that at least 15 men and three black SUVs were involved in the kidnapping.

No ransom demand has been made since the abduction. but a part-time Uber driver has been charged for attempting to extort RM30,000 from Koh's family. The extortion attempt has been determined to be an opportunistic ransom demand.

A special task force has been formed to find the pastor, while the family has offered a reward of up to RM100,000 for information that can lead to his safe return.

On March 10, the World Council of Churches urged the prime minister to "intensify" the efforts to find the pastor, saying his abduction has fuelled "fear and mistrust" among the religious minorities in the country.

On Tuesday, church leaders from different denominations came together to pray for Koh's safe return. During the prayer service, Koh's family read scripture and delivered a poem titled "Where is Raymond Koh?"

The pastor's wife, Susanna Liew, said that the family needs to know where Koh is and if he is well.

"I want to know why he was snatched from us this way and who is behind this. After 50 days of silence does anyone question why I am crying for answers? For justice," she said.
home US Arizona governor signs bill requiring doctors to care for babies born alive in abortions

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has signed a bill into law that would require doctors to provide medical care to babies born alive after failed abortions.

Senate Bill 1367 was signed by Ducey on Friday, two days after it was passed by the Arizona legislature, Arizona Capitol Times reported.

Under the new law, the fetus is considered "delivered alive" if it shows signs of life such as breathing, a heartbeat, umbilical cord pulsation or definite movement of voluntary muscles.

Physicians argued that the new definition would require them to perform unnecessary procedures on a baby with no chance of survival. The doctors noted that the current practice is to provide "comfort care" to the baby and allow the mother to hold it.

The new law would not require the doctor to provide life-saving medical care if the baby's death was deemed "imminent" and if further treatment would do nothing more than prolong the dying.

The legislation mandates the Arizona Department of Health Services to set policies that clinics, hospitals and physicians must follow to care for babies delivered alive. The policies include having neonatal emergency equipment and trained staff in the room for abortions performed at or after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

According to AZ Central, the law not only applies to traditional elective-medication or surgical abortions but also to instances in which something was done to cause the early delivery of the baby when it is not expected to live. This would include pregnant women who are induced early due to a fatal fetal anomaly or because something went wrong with the pregnancy or the fetus.

The legislation was signed into law just after the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) released a video purportedly showing a Planned Parenthood official saying that it "depends on who is in the room" as to whether the baby born alive after a botched abortion is taken to the hospital or left to die.

"In Arizona, if the fetus comes out with any signs of life, we're supposed to transport it. To the hospital." Dr. DeShawn Taylor, previous medical director of Planned Parenthood of Arizona, explained to CMP investigators.

When she was asked if there are standard procedures for verifying signs of life, she replied: "Well, the thing is, I mean the key is, you need to pay attention to who's in the room, right?"

The legislation, which strengthens existing requirements to care for babies who survive botched abortions, will take effect this summer.

"I have been consistently pro-life through my time as governor," said Ducey, who has signed every abortion bill that reached his desk since he became governor over two years ago.
home US Baptist groups oppose repeal of law prohibiting preachers from endorsing politicians

Baptist groups have joined 99 other religious and denominational organizations on April 4 to urge lawmakers to preserve the Johnson Amendment, a law that prohibits churches and other tax-exempt institutions from endorsing or opposing politicians.

Under the 1954 law, churches and charities can lose their tax-exempt status if they engage in partisan campaigning.

During the campaign period, then-candidate Donald Trump had vowed to "totally destroy" the law, claiming that it unfairly restricts the free speech of the clergy. However, a recent survey conducted by the National Association of Evangelicals showed that almost 90 percent of evangelical leaders oppose the idea of clergy endorsing politicians from the pulpit.

A coalition of religious groups has recently written an open letter to Congress to oppose the repeal of the law.

"Houses of worship are spaces for members of religious communities to come together, not be divided along political lines; faith ought to be a source of connection and community, not

division and discord," the letter read in part.

The Alliance of Baptists, American Baptist Churches USA, Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America, Baptist Women in Ministry, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, and the New Baptist Covenant were among the groups that joined the coalition.

Amanda Tyler, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, noted that a broad section of the faith community does not need or want a change in the tax law.

"As soon as the church joins at the hip with a particular candidate or party, its prophetic witness a its ability to speak truth to power and not risk being co-opted by the government a is hindered," said Tyler, who had previously served as an aide to U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas).

Tyler and other Baptist leaders were joined by Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, and other faith groups in the April 4 letter, which stated that the current tax code safeguards the integrity of charities as well as the system of campaign finance.

The letter, which was hand-delivered to congressional leaders, maintained that the current law does not restrict religious leaders from personally endorsing candidates or using their pulpit to address moral and political issues of the day. It stated that the law merely prevents a group from being a tax-exempt ministry and a partisan political entity at the same time.

"Partisan politics have no place in our pulpits," said Suzii Paynter, executive coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, according to Baptist News Global.

"In fact, it's the absence of that very thing a partisan politics a that gives us the power to speak with moral authority on issues of the day." she added.
home US Biblical creationist group decries inclusion of its website on 'fake news' list

A Biblical creationist group is defending its reputability after it was included in the list of websites that were deemed to be sources of "false, misleading, clickbait-y, and/or satirical 'news.'"

Melissa Zimdars, an assistant professor of communication at Merrimack College, compiled the list of websites that were deemed to be disreputable after "fake news" became a subject of national discussion during the 2016 presidential election. The list was originally intended as a resource for her students, according to Christian News Network.

One of the sites included in the list is ICR.org, the website of Institute for Creation Research. The professor tagged the organization's website as "junk science," which she defined as "sources that promote pseudoscience, metaphysics, naturalistic fallacies, and other scientifically dubious claims."

In a blog post published last week, Brian Thomas, a science writer at ICR, indicated that the organization has already requested the removal of the website from the list.

In the initial request, the group stated that its news reports include contributions from scientists with terminal degrees from prestigious universities such as Harvard, Clemson, the University of Texas at Dallas and the University of North Carolina.

"Shouldn't those who kick ICR to the curb likewise consider these institutions as gutter dwellers? But they don't," Thomas wrote.

He also contested the "junk science" label and noted that the research on the organization's website has been published by secular sources.

"ICR.org contains thousands of science articles that painstakingly reference original technical science sources," he stated.

"For example, our report of an enzyme that locates DNA damage sites using an ingenious electrical current detector was not just junk. The journal Theoretical Biology & Medical Modeling published those research results," he continued.

Thomas also pointed to ICR's report on Psittacosaurus fossil from China with original skin and noted that the source research was published in Current Biology.

He pointed out that Harvard's journalism website has already removed the link to the document that contains the "fake news" list, and the university's library page merely added the words "informal list" to its link to the document.

Thomas contended that the professor included ICR on the list and labeled the group "junk" for "no known reason." He asserted that the group was included on the list because the scientists at the organization believe in the Bible. He further noted that the group does not hesitate to credit the Creator when it publishes its reports, including the ones about DNA repair enzymes and the preservation of short-lived tissues in dinosaur fossils.
home World Danish churches attempt to boost attendance by opening more night-time services

As more and more Danes leave the Church of Denmark to become atheists, priests in the Scandinavian country are opening night-time services in an attempt to boost attendance.

According to a survey conducted by the Diocese of Copenhagen, some 33 churches in 25 towns and cities have opened the doors of their churches at night. While night services are typically conducted between 8 p.m. and midnight about once a month, believers in Copenhagen can visit their local church at night several times a week.

In the western Jutland town of Holstebro, one church opens from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Fridays, a time when Danes are more likely to be found in bars or cafes, The Local reported, citing Danish news agency Ritzau.

Erik Ladegaard, a priest from the church, said that the aim of the night service is to provide an alternative to the traditional Sunday morning worship.

"It's our duty to be a church for people living now... and there are some that don't feel Sunday morning worship encompasses their spirituality," he said.

Visitors after 8 p.m. are allowed to light a candle, discuss a Biblical passage or contemplate quietly.

"There's a certain calm attached to an evening," said 61-year-old Ellen BrokhAj, who regularly attends the night services at the church in Holstebro.

"On one hand you are part of a community, on the other you can also be alone with God," BrokhAj added.

According to the report from Ritzau, the services can either be calm or be a raucous experience similar to a rock concert.

Ladegaard said that the concept of a night church allows the parishioners to play a more active role than they normally would.

Jes Heise Rasmussen, sociologist and Ph.D. student at the University of Copenhagen, asserted that one of the factors that make night churches an attractive option could be the concept of independent worship.

"They offer a different way to meet with the church," Rasmussen said, noting that the night time services could also be a way for priests to present a less stiff and formal image of the church.

It was reported in September 2016 that a record 10,300 people have decided to leave the Church of Denmark. It has been speculated that the high number was due in part to a campaign from the Danish Atheist Society, which ran a series of advertisements, asking questions such as: "Why believe in a god?," "Why should faith cost something?" and "Did Jesus and Mohammed speak with a god?"

The findings of a study conducted by the Pew Research Center in June 2015 indicated that the religiously unaffiliated are the second-largest faith group in Denmark.
home US Federal judge blocks Indiana law that would require ultrasound before abortions

A federal judge has blocked an Indiana law that would have required pregnant women to undergo an ultrasound at least 18 hours prior to an abortion.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt issued a preliminary injunction against the mandate on Friday, stating that the requirement is likely unconstitutional and creates "clearly undue" burdens on women.

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Indiana, along with Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, sued the state last July, asserting that the law was unconstitutional and would prevent some women from obtaining abortions, The Associated Press reported.

Pratt, who heard arguments on the case in November, found that the state had not presented "compelling evidence" to support its argument that the mandate would help convince pregnant women not to have an abortion.

"Simply put, the State has not provided any convincing evidence that requiring an ultrasound to occur eighteen hours prior to an abortion rather than on the day of an abortion makes it any more likely that a woman will choose not to have an abortion," the judge wrote.

Her ruling cited a study of 15,000 women served by Planned Parenthood Los Angeles. The findings indicated that 99 percent of women proceeded with an abortion after not viewing the ultrasound, compared with 98.4 percent who viewed the ultrasound.

Betty Cockrum, the CEO and president of Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, said that the judge's decision was an "an incredibly strong ruling" that protects Indiana women's right to an abortion from needless burdens.

"I would prefer that the Legislature figure out that it's not their job to practice medicine, and that we would in fact get politicians out of our doctors' offices," Cockrum said.

Planned Parenthood reportedly admitted that it only had ultrasound machines at four of its locations in the state when it filed the lawsuit against the 18-hour ultrasound mandate. The abortion provider had 23 clinics around the state at that time, according to Life News.

The mandate was signed by then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence into law in March 2016 and took effect on July 1, 2016, a day after Pratt blocked one of the law's provisions that would have banned abortions because of the unborn baby's genetic abnormalities, such as Down syndrome. Another provision requiring the cremation and burial of aborted fetuses was also blocked by the judge.

The 18-hour ultrasound law replaced a previous Indiana provision that required women to undergo an ultrasound before an abortion but did not specify when that had to occur.

Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill said in a statement that his office is considering the next steps in the case. Ken Falk, the legal director of the ACLU of Indiana, said that the state had 30 days to appeal Pratt's ruling.
home World ISIS says Russia subway blast was 'a Metro to Hell for the Worshipers of the Cross'

The Islamic State terror group celebrated the St. Petersburg subway bombing on Monday that killed at least 14 people and injured more than 40.

Supporters of the terror group said that Monday's blast made "a metro to hell for the worshipers of the Cross," Vocativ reported. They also claimed that it was carried out in retaliation to Russia's support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his fight against ISIS and other rebel groups in Syria's civil war.

"We ask Allah to bless the operation by the lions of the Caliphate, we ask Allah to kill the Crusaders," an ISIS supporter wrote on the terror group's al-Minbar online forum.

The attack is still under investigation, but Russian authorities have identified the bombing suspect as a Kyrgyzstan-born Russian citizen. It was reported that the bombing created a "huge hole in the side of a carriage and blew off the door, with metal wreckage strewn across the platform."

A second device was found minutes later at a separate station, but it was dealt with before it could explode. The authorities shut down all the metro stations in the city following the blast.

Days before the bombing, ISIS reportedly released propaganda material with the message, "We Will Burn Russia."

One image featured an ISIS militant in front of the Kremlin with the caption "kill them where you find them," according to Express. Another propaganda material encouraged the group's supporters to carry out attacks on Moscow.

The terror group also reportedly released a poster depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin with bullet holes in his head.

Putin, who is currently visiting St. Petersburg, expressed his condolences and said that the authorities are considering the incident as a terror attack "first of all."

"The causes of this event have not been determined yet, so it's too early to talk about possible causes," he stated.

Russian law enforcement agents identified the main suspect who carried out the suicide bombing as Akbarzhon Jalilov, who was born in 1995 in the city of Osh, Kyrgyzstan.

Sergei Lavrov, Russia's Foreign Minister, said that the blast "once again shows the importance of stepping up joint efforts to combat this evil." U.S. President Donald Trump and other world leaders have offered their "full support" to Putin who hails from St. Petersburg.
home World ISIS slaughters 33 people in largest mass execution in 2017

The Islamic State has slaughtered 33 young people in Syria's al-Mayadin desert in what is considered to be the terror group's largest mass execution in 2017.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that ISIS carried out the mass killings in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, Syria on Wednesday morning. The victims, aged between 18 and 25 years old, were killed using sharp tools in the al-Mayadin.

The human rights group noted that the victims had "the marks of the slaughter" on their necks, adding that the execution was carried out "on the outskirts of a hole dug by the organization, and was filled with blood."

None of the victims have been identified, and it is not known whether they were prisoners, fighters of other factions, or members of regime forces.

The slaughter was considered to be the terror group's largest mass execution since 2016 when ISIS carried out mass killings in two batches against two groups of 15 people each in mid-September and the beginning of October that year.

The news about the mass execution came after ISIS reportedly killed 31 people and wounded 40 in overnight attacks on the city of Tikrit, central Iraq. A total of 10 militants, including two suicide bombers, were able to enter the city and carry out the attacks by disguising themselves in police uniforms.

On Tuesday, the terror group released its first ever message directed at President Donald Trump, accusing him of waging a war against Muslims.

"You (America) are bankrupt and the signs of your demise are evident to every eye," ISIS spokesman Abu Hasan al-Muhajir said in the 37-minute message.

"There is no clearer sign of you being ruled by a foolish idiot who does not know what Levant or Iraq or Islam is, who continue(s) his hallucination to express his animosity and war against it (Islam)," he added.

Last week, a group of hackers linked to ISIS released a "kill list" of 8,786 names and addresses in the U.S. and U.K., calling for lone wolf attacks on the targets.

In a video posted online, the hackers calling themselves the United Cyber Caliphate (UCC), urged supporters to: "Kill them wherever you find them."

The SITE Intelligence group is trying to determine the primary source of the list, which also includes individual phone numbers and emails.

"This group has released several 'kill lists' in the past and so far there's been no confirmed incident of someone on the list being directly targeted or attacked," a source from SITE said, according to Fox News.
home US Ivanka Trump had secret meeting with Planned Parenthood CEO after her father's inauguration

Presidential daughter Ivanka Trump reportedly had a secret meeting with Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards just weeks after her father's inauguration.

According to Politico, Ivanka requested the meeting with Richards to talk about the organization that is being targeted for defunding because it performs abortions.

"The purpose of the meeting, from Cecile's point of view, was to make sure that Ivanka fully understood what Planned Parenthood does, how it is funded, and why it would be a terrible idea for Planned Parenthood to be removed from being able to see Medicaid patients," said Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

She recounted that Richards tried to explain to the presidential daughter that the funds received by the organization do not go to abortions, adding that it gets reimbursed in the same way a hospital does.

Laguens further noted that Ivanka had expressed interest in knowing more about the "facts of Planned Parenthood."

Politico also reported that Ivanka had met with other leaders of progressive women's movement, such as Marcia Greenberger, co-president of the National Women's Law Center, and Judy Lichtman, senior adviser to the National Partnership for Women and Family.

Last month, Richards publicly criticized the presidential daughter for her "deafening" silence and challenged her to "stand for women."

Richards took another public shot at Ivanka during her speech at the Women in the World conference in New York City on Wednesday.

"Anyone who works in this White House is responsible for addressing why women are in the cross hairs of basically every single policy we've seen in this administration," said Richards about the presidential daughter, who is now a senior White House official with a security clearance and an office in the West Wing.

In an interview with Gayle King that aired on CBS on Wednesday, Ivanka defended herself, saying why she has not been outspoken and arguing that speaking out on issues where she does not see a win would not help her be effective in the White House. She further asserted that "most people will not actually know about" the impact that she has in her father's administration.

Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, have held key leadership roles throughout the campaign of then-candidate Donald Trump and in the new administration, which prompted some concerns among pro-life advocates and some conservatives about their potential influence and administration policies.

The couple has actively supported gay marriage, and they are believed to be responsible for thwarting an executive order that was aimed at protecting religious freedom for people of faith.
home World Mexican bishop meets with gang leaders to protect priests from violent threats

A bishop in Mexico's Guerrero state has recently met with gang leaders to seek a solution to drug and gang-related violence that plagues the city and to protect the priests who were receiving death threats.

In an interview with Radio Formula on March 27, Bishop Salvador Rangel Mendoza of Chilpancingo-Chilapa said he has been concerned about the promotion of "peace, harmony, dialogue" since he came to the diocese in 2015.

"When I saw that some priests had been threatened by them, including one quite seriously, I took up the task of going to go see these people (the gang leaders) and talking with them," he narrated.

Rangel said that he was able to contact the gang leaders through third parties. During meetings, he told the leaders that "with the death (of a priest) we're not going to be able to settle anything," adding that the situation in Guerrero will only become worse.

He admitted that he has not met with all the violent groups in the area and noted that "almost all of Guerrero is in the hands of drug traffickers."

Fr. Benito Cuenca Mayo, the spokesman for the Chilpancingo-Chilapa diocese, said that more than one priest has been affected by the lack of security in the area, and this prompted Mendoza to initiate dialogue with the gang leaders.

"Thanks to those meetings for dialogue he's had with them, it has been possible to not have these lamentable incidents of death threats against some of our brother priests," he told Catholic News Agency.

Cuenca said that the bishop has expressed his willingness to mediate between the authorities and criminal gangs to bring about peace in the area.

Xavier Olea, the attorney general of Guerrero, admitted earlier this month that the crime rate in the state has gone up due to organized crime.

The Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System reported that 165 murders were recorded in Guerrero in January and another 175 were recorded in February, making it the most violent state in Mexico.

A number of priests have fallen victim to the violence in other parts Mexico recently. In late March, a priest was killed in the Pacific coast state of Nayarit. Another priest was kidnapped in the Gulf coast city of Tampico, but he was later released unharmed.

Last year, two priests were murdered in the state of Veracruz, and another one was killed in the state of Michoacan. It has been estimated that 32 priests have been killed in Mexico since 2006.
home World Muslim births will outnumber Christian births by 2035, according to Pew study

A study conducted by the Pew Research Centre has suggested that the number of babies born to Muslim mothers will outnumber Christian births by 2035.

The report that was published on Wednesday indicated that Muslims are projected to become the world's fastest growing major religious group in the next few decades.

Between 2010 and 2015, 31 percent of all babies born around the world were Muslims, which exceeds the 24 percent Muslim share of world's population.

Christians have been the largest religious group for several years, making up almost one-third of the world's population. The study noted Christian population has continued its growth, but it has done so at a modest pace. In recent years, Christian mothers gave birth to 33 percent of the world's babies, which is slightly greater than the 31 percent Christian share of the world's population in 2015.

The report explained that the Christian population in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to grow in the decades ahead. However, the same cannot be expected for Christian populations elsewhere.

Deaths in the Christian population in other areas of the world are expected to outnumber births in the years to come. The projection is partly based on the fact that the Christian population in some places are already aging. In Germany, there has been an estimated 1.4 million more deaths than births between 2010 and 2015, a pattern that is expected to continue in much of Europe in the next few decades.

The study predicted that between 2030 and 2035, Muslim women will give birth to 225 million babies compared to 224 million babies born to Christian women. The higher number of births to Muslims has been attributed to the religious group's relatively young population and high fertility rates.

By 2060, Muslims and Christians are expected to capture a larger share of the world's population, while the number of people who are religiously unaffiliated is projected to decline in the coming decades.

Although religiously unaffiliated people currently make up 16 percent of the global population, only about 10 percent of the world's babies have been born to religiously unaffiliated mothers between 2010 and 2015.

The study predicts that only nine percent of the babies will be born to religiously unaffiliated women in 2055 to 2060, while 36 percent will be born to Muslims, and 35 percent will be born to Christians.

The report also expects Christians to increase from 31 percent of the world's population to 32 percent from 2015 until 2060. On the other hand, Muslims are expected to increase from 24 percent of the world's population to 31 percent within the same period.
home US New Jersey teen admits plotting to assassinate Pope Francis during U.S. visit

A New Jersey teenager has pleaded guilty to participating in an assassination plot against Pope Francis during his visit to the U.S. in 2015.

Santos Colon, 17, allegedly planned to set off bombs and tried to conspire with a sniper, who was actually an FBI undercover agent, prosecutors said, according to Russia Today. The teenager, who was allegedly inspired by the Islamic State, admitted to the assassination plot in federal court on Monday.

According to a statement from acting US Attorney William Fitzgerald, Colon's plan involved shooting the pope during his mass in Philadelphia, and setting off the explosives in the surrounding areas.

Colon, also known as Ahmad Shakoor, admitted that between June 30, 2015 and Aug. 14, 2015, he devised the plan, in which he scoped out possible targets with the undercover agent and instructed him where to purchase materials to build the explosives.

The teenager was unable to carry out the attack as he was arrested by FBI agents in 2015.

"Colon engaged in target reconnaissance with an FBI confidential source and instructed the source to purchase materials to make explosive devices," prosecutors said in a statement on Monday.

Court documents revealed that he was initially charged under seal as a juvenile in August 2015, but his case was transferred for prosecution as an adult as part of his plea deal with the U.S. Attorney's Office.

"The minor was inspired by [Islamic State/IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL] and sought to conduct a detailed homeland attack which included multiple attackers, firearms, and multiple explosives, targeting a foreign dignitary at a high-profile event," according to a joint intelligence bulletin by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security cited by ABC News in 2015.

Under the terms of the plea deal, the prosecutors agreed not to pursue charges for Colon's attempts to provide support to ISIS as well as his attempt to obtain a weapon of mass destruction.

The teenager was charged as an adult on Monday with one count of attempting to provide material support to terrorists. He faces a jail sentence of up to 15 years and a fine of $250,000, or twice the amount of any financial gain or loss from the offense.

Colon is scheduled to appear for a status conference on May 5, but no date has been set for sentencing.

Hundreds of thousands of people attended the public mass conducted by Pope Francis during his visit to Philadelphia on Sept. 26 and 27, 2015.
home US North Carolina church ousts Boy Scouts over transgender policy

A church in Mooresville, North Carolina has said that it will stop hosting Boy Scout and Cub Scout troops due to the decision by the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) to allow transgender boys into their ranks.

In January, the BSA announced that the eligibility of the children who want to participate in its programs would no longer be based on their birth certificates but on the gender identity indicated on their application.

On Wednesday, Pastor Andrew Shoger of Coddle Creek Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church issued a statement explaining the decision to stop hosting Troop 169 and Cub Scout Pack 169, which are part of the Piedmont Council of Boy Scouts in Gastonia.

"For more than 10 years, Coddle Creek Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church has hosted and chartered Boy Scout and Cub Scout groups. However, due to decisions by the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) regarding matters of homosexuality and gender identity, the ... church has determined that our church can no longer continue as partners ... of BSA," the pastor said in a statement, according to The Charlotte Observer.

"Quite simply, we cannot partner with an organization that embraces what God's Word clearly labels as sin," he continued.

Shoger clarified that Coddle Creek will still fulfill its current charter agreement to allow the troops some time to find a new home, but the church did not say how long the agreement would be extended.

Cubmaster Doug Balog, who joined the troop five years ago, said he is "frustrated" by the church's decision to pull the charter of the Cub Scout Pack 169 and Boy Scout Troop 169, which have been with the church for about a decade.

"We've never had any issues previously, and the pastor's two sons are in the pack. He's even said how happy and pleased they are to come, looking forward to the meeting each week," said Balog.

He noted that the troop and the pack were informed about the decision on April 4. He said that he has been in talks with local fire departments to find a regular spot to go, and he maintained that he would not be looking for another church.

Another church in North Carolina had also decided to cut ties with the BSA due to its policy allowing transgender boys to become members.

It was reported in February that the Manna Church in Cumberland County, which charters the Boy Scout Troop 957, made plans to withdraw from the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts this coming summer.
home World North Korean defector returns home to visit Christian family despite risks

A woman, who became a Christian after she escaped from North Korea, risked her life to return home to visit her relatives who were secret believers because she wanted them to know that she too has found out about their faith.

The North Korean woman who goes by the pseudonym Myoung-Hee discovered that her family was Christian after her uncle was executed because of his faith.

After finding out about the faith of her family, she wanted nothing to do with the religion as she felt that it was the cause of her uncle's death.

Myoung-Hee told World Watch Monitor that she wanted to leave North Korea, but when she had the opportunity to go to China on a sponsored student program, she refused because she did not want to be monitored by the state.

She was eventually able to escape to China after she graduated from school, but she was caught by a human trafficker who sold her to a Chinese farmer.

Myoung-Hee said that the farmer was not as bad as other Chinese men who bought North Korean women, and she had a child with him, but she never felt home with his family. She felt that her mother-in-law often behaved suspiciously and would sometimes leave without telling her where she was going.

"One night I followed her. It was a long way before she reached a place where some kind of meeting was going on. I called after her," Myoung-Hee recounted.

"She was surprised to see me, but then invited me to take part. It was a Christian meeting, which made me uncomfortable because I had always been against Christianity. But my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to stay. I actually found myself wanting to learn more about God," she continued.

When Myoung-Hee converted to Christianity, she wanted to tell her family in North Korea about her newfound faith. Her Chinese family did not want to let her go, but she was able to convince them in the end.

While crossing the border, Myoung-Hee was arrested by a military patrol officer and was sent to prison. She said that she felt like she would never see her family again after seeing how she and the other prisoners were treated.

She drew on her new faith to give her hope and repeated Bible verses that she had memorized, particularly verses six and seven from Psalm 62, which was about God being "my mighty rock, my refuge."

When the prison guards found out where she came from, she was transferred to a camp closer to her hometown.

Myoung-Hee saw an opportunity to escape from the new camp one night when the guards got drunk and forgot to lock the doors. She snuck out and ran until she saw a sign pointing to her home.

She said that being reunited with her family was the "most joyous experience ever."

"We were so happy to see each other. For the first time we worshipped God together as a family. I also attended small gatherings of other Christian families," she added.

She decided to go back to her Chinese family because she said she wanted her husband and son to hear the Gospel.

Myoung-Hee, who is now in her 40s, currently lives with her family in South Korea. Her husband and son both became Christians.

North Korea has been ranked on the Open Doors World Watch List as the number one most oppressive place in the world for Christians. Believers are forced to hide their faith from neighbors and even their own family members to avoid being caught by the authorities. Those who try to escape to South Korea through China can be executed or sentenced to life imprisonment.
home World Pakistani prosecutor suspended for offering acquittal to Christians in exchange for conversion

A Pakistani prosecutor has been suspended for offering acquittal to 42 jailed Christians in exchange for their conversion to Islam.

The Christians are currently on trial for lynching two Muslims during the violent protests that erupted after the bombings of two churches in the Christian neighborhood of Youhanabad, Lahore. The two Muslims were suspected of being involved in the blasts that occurred in March 2015.

Deputy district public prosecutor (DDPP) Syed Anees Shah was removed from the case after he told the Christian prisoners last week that he could "guarantee their acquittal" if they become Muslims.

Shah initially denied making the proposal to the accused Christians, but he later admitted to offering "them a choice" after he was informed that there is a video recording of what he said.

Rights activists Joseph Franci said that the Christians were dumbfounded by the offer, and one of them reportedly said that he was ready to be hanged if he embraced Islam.

Naseeb Anjum, who is serving as counsel for some of the accused, noted that the prosecutor made a similar offer to the Christians six months ago, but it was ignored.

Aftab Gill, the information secretary of the Christian, Masiha Millat Party, confirmed that the Punjab law office has removed Shah from the case.

"We welcome the Punjab government's decision to remove Shah after his controversial offer," Gill said, as reported by UCA News. "We are planning to file a formal application for his dismissal from his job," he added.

Wilson Chowdhry, Chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association, also welcomed the news about Shah's suspension.

"It is heartening to see that action has been taken by the Anti-Terrorism Court in suspending Mr Anees Shah, but quite frankly the whole debacle has only served to highlight ongoing prejudice in the Judicial system," he said.

"Mr Shah's action implies that being Muslim places any citizen above the rule of law, a damning indictment of governance within the nation," he continued.

Rev. Arshad Ashknaz of Christ Church, one of the churches attacked in Youhanabad, asserted that Shah can be sued for his action and said that he has plans to meet with the suspended prosecutor soon.

More than 500 Christians were arrested for the lynching of the two Muslims, but most of them were acquitted after spending a year and six months in prison. At least 14 people were killed, and nearly 80 were injured by the church blasts in 2015.
home World Pro-life leaders hail Trump for defunding UN agency tied to forced abortions

The Trump administration will no longer be funding a United Nations agency due to its support for China's population control policy that has led to forced and coerced abortions and sterilizations.

On Monday, the U.S. State Department sent a letter to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, saying it would no longer fund United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA) for partnering with a Chinese government agency that was responsible for implementing family planning policies involving the use of coercive abortion and involuntary sterilization.

The move was hailed by pro-life leaders as well as longtime opponents of population control.

"This is another promise kept [from President Trump], and at the speed of light," Steven Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute, told The Christian Post on Tuesday.

He said that it was remarkable that the decision was made within the first few months of the Trump administration, while it took his organization a year to convince Colin Powell, former President George W. Bush's secretary of state, to cut off funding to the UNPFA.

Reggie Littlejohn, founder and president of Women's Rights Without Frontiers, said she was elated about the decision to defund the U.N. agency.

"We are thrilled that the U.S. is no longer funding forced abortion and involuntary sterilization in China. The blood of Chinese women and babies is no longer on our hands," Littlejohn told Life News.

"I have consistently advocated for the defunding of UNFPA over the years, most recently just a couple of weeks ago at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women," she added.

Stephen Phelan, Director of Mission Communications for Human Life International, stated that the defunding of the U.N. agency "sends a signal" to the world that the U.S. is taking the matter seriously.

"It's going to be paying very close attention to what the United Nations is doing. Anyone who truly respects rights, women's freedom, and women's reproductive health should celebrate this decision," Phelan told Life Site News.

The U.N. agency has been defunded by other pro-life presidents in the past, but funding was restored by other pro-abortion presidents, including Barack Obama.

The State Department said that the funds, which amounts to at least $32.5 million for 2017, will be redirected to the U.S. Agency for International Development, which provides medical care to families across the globe.

UNFPA released a statement denying its involvement in forced and coerced abortions in China, saying it promotes the rights of individuals and couples to make their own decisions without coercion or discrimination.
home US Texas Senate considers bills that would protect religious freedom of county clerks

The Texas Senate is considering two bills that are aimed at protecting county clerks who have religious objections to same-sex marriage.

Senate Bill 522, proposed in January, would allow the clerks to decline issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples if doing so violates their religious beliefs, The Stream reported. The clerks are required to refer the couples to another county official such as deputy clerk, judge or magistrate. They can refer the couples to another county if there are no other officials available.

The other measure, Senate Bill 911, would remove the county clerks' name from the marriage license.

Following the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized gay marriage nearly two years ago, Texas county clerk Katie Lang of Hood County refused to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple. She eventually issued the license after she was threatened with a lawsuit. However, the lawsuit went forward, and Lang settled for $43,000.

In Kentucky, county clerk Kim Davis was briefly jailed in 2015 when she declined to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The case was resolved in 2016 when the state passed a law that removed the clerks' names from the marriage licenses.

Some LGBT groups have considered SB 911 as an acceptable compromise, but they oppose SB 522.

The Texas Freedom Network and the American Civil Liberties Union are working against SB 522, dismissing the claims of conservatives who contend that the measure is about religious liberty.

"This bill makes a mockery of religious freedom by allowing public officials to discriminate against virtually anyone who fails to meet their personal moral standards," said Texas Freedom Network President Kathy Miller in a statement.

"That could include same-sex couples but also people who have been previously divorced, couples who have lived together outside of marriage, interfaith couples and many others," she added.

Bella Rubio, a former clerk who retired in 2016 after 22 years at her job, testified in favor of the legislation.

"I was very concerned that my conscience rights and sincerely held religious beliefs about marriage would not be protected as there was nothing specific in law," the former county clerk said.

"If SB 522 would have been the law at the time I was serving as a county clerk and district clerk, I would not have resigned," she added.

Joyce Lewis-Kugle of Rusk County, Texas, who retired in 2015 after gay marriage became legal, issued a similar testimony.

The Texas Legislature's online records indicated that SB 522 is on the Senate intent calendar as of Wednesday, but SB 911 is not yet on the calendar.

SB 911, filed in February, has been approved by the Senate committee on State Affairs on April 3 by a vote of 9a0.
home US Two lawmakers plan to establish 'Christian Survivalist Centers' in South Carolina

Two lawmakers from South Carolina are reportedly planning to establish survivalist communities in the state to prepare for impending disaster or societal collapse.

State Reps. Josiah Magnuson (R-Campobello) and Jonathon Hill (R-Townville) are currently setting up what they call the "Virtue Solution Project," an organization that seeks to either save America or survive a societal collapse.

Magnuson and Hill, both from tiny towns in the Upstate Bible Belt, are hoping to train neighborhood leaders who will be able to establish "a fresh beginning for America" in the aftermath of a great crisis that they believe is coming.

Hill and Magnuson both grew up homeschooled, and both of their fathers were pastors. The lawmakers cite their interpretation of ideals of the nation's Founding Fathers as the basis for their project.

"We believe the Founders designed the Bill of Rights in such a way that its exercise in anticipation of a crisis would result in the construction of strong self-sufficient communities where people cared for one another," the project's website states.

"Within these communities, virtue would be again multiplied as people regained understanding and skill in areas of personal responsibility," it continued.

They are encouraging their followers and other offshoot groups to form their own communities so that they will no longer have to rely on corporate America or the "tyrannical" federal government.

The two lawmakers are also urging their neighbors to support "principled men" who are willing to nullify laws and court rulings such as abortion, gay mar marriage, gun restrictions and federal standards for driver's licenses.

They advise other members who are not in political office to find their way onto juries to acquit people charged with crimes they believe are "unjust."

In the event of a societal collapse, there will be "community preparedness centers," which will provide its members with "reading material, tools, food storage, ammo, and more."

The legislators have considered several scenarios including an economic collapse, natural disaster, attack from a foreign nation or the failure of the nation's infrastructure caused by an electromagnetic pulse.

"There's probably going to be a lot of little crises, but there will eventually come a point where there is a major disaster of some sort in our country, in all likelihood," said Magnuson in one of his lectures, according to The Post and Courier.

Magnuson, a 25-year-old lawmaker who was first elected last year, is already in the process of developing one of the "lighthouses" or "islands of refuge" near Campabello on a roughly 1-acre tract of land just off U.S. Highway 176. He said that other people are also planning to establish groups near Pickens, Simpsonville, Charleston and across the border in Georgia.

In one of the early gatherings of the group, Magnuson clarified that he is not advocating for an armed insurrection. "We're not saying that everybody should go and pick up guns and go have a revolution," he said.

Hill noted that the plans are only in the infant stages and maintained that the point of the group's materials is not to scare people but to teach people about self-sufficiency and providing for their neighbors.
Prompted by Thursday's airstrikes at a Syrian airfield, protesters downtown and in the heart of The Galleria drew mixed reactions Friday during two demonstrations against the United States' involvement in Syria and around the world.

At a late afternoon event near the Galleria, a dozen or so activists from the Houston Socialist Movement, Houston Refuse Fascism and the Students for a Democratic Society displayed protest signs in English, Spanish and Arabic.
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Houston police are looking for a man who shot and critically injured his girlfriend's brother after an argument early Saturday morning.

When the two began arguing around 4:30 a.m., the boyfriend pulled out a gun and shot his girlfriend's brother one time in the chest.
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As the world marked the 100th anniversary this week of the U.S. entry into World War I on April 6, 1917, it was against a backdrop of sickening strife.

The United States on Thursday launched air strikes against Syria, in retaliation for Syria's apparent use of chemical weapons against its own people. Heartbreaking video showed children, even babies, being frantically doused with water to mitigate the effects of suspected nerve gas.

World War I, at one point considered to be the war to end all wars, was the first in which chemical weapons were used and was the world's first mechanized conflict, employing airplanes and tanks and other war machines.

THEN AND NOW: What WWI battlefields look like today

When it ended on Nov. 11, 1918, more than 4.7 million Americans had served and about 115,000 had died.

On a less lethal note, the war led to the development of the waterproof, belted trench coat with deep pockets and to the widespread use of wristwatches to save soldiers and pilots the trouble of fumbling for pocket watches.

Obviously, the prediction of a war-ending war fell far from the mark, and in some ways, things haven't changed a lot in the past 100 years.

THE FIRST BOOM: How World War I ushered in the century of oil

In 1917, immigrants were streaming into Texas through Galveston, and suffragettes were fighting for the right to vote. They got it in 1920 but not before the world suffered a terrible influenza epidemic.

Today, the nation still struggles with war, immigration, infectious disease and equal access to voting rights, among many other concerns.

Take a look at the gallery to see what life was like 100 years ago when America entered World War I.
Houston's food and wine aficionados are drawn to Sugar Land for the many wine-and-dine experiences offered at the 2017 Sugar Land Wine & Food Affair.

But the standout event within the 14th annual festival running April 6-9 was the Grand Tasting held Friday night at Sugar Land Marriott Town Square. More than 1,000 people filled the Marriott ballroom for a lavish presentation of food prepared by top local and national chefs paired with world class wines, cocktails, and craft beer.
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And again, mothers have to fight for their foster kids

Foster moms being squeezed by CPS are still fighting for their...

A year ago today, two loving Houston foster mothers were told by Child Protective Services to pack the bags of the 3- and 4-year-old boys they were hoping to adopt. The foster children were being removed after Angela Sugarek and Carol Jeffery, both public school educators, reported one too many times the boys' outcries about being abused by an older sibling they were required to visit.

The devastated foster mothers complied, not certain if they'd ever see the children again but vowing to fight as hard as they could in court to get them back.

That they did, as I chronicled in a series of columns last year.

On Thursday, the tears and worry were gone. The boys were all smiles in a Wharton County courtroom as a judge gave them candy and let them sit in his leather swivel chair behind the bench.

The judge, visiting jurist Eric Andell, read their new names and declared them adopted. And Sugarek and Jeffery -- already mothers in every sense of the word -- became official.

A gaggle of tearful supporters snapped pictures of a scene some surely thought they'd never see. The CPS supervisor who had previously blocked the adoption, and insisted on placing the boys with the older sibling they claimed abused them, was nowhere to be seen.

"I'm just elated, and I feel a huge weight lifted from my shoulders," Sugarek said afterward on the courthouse lawn.

And the boys? Dressed in suits, clip-on ties and shiny black shoes, they seemed most impressed with the chocolate they got from the judge.

But once the older boy, now 5, was settled in his car seat for the hour-long drive home, I asked what being adopted meant.

"To stay here forever. To have a family forever," he said.

What did he think about that?

"Yeah," he said, nodding approvingly. "It's good."

Just as it was never clear why CPS officials blocked the adoption, it wasn't quite clear why they eventually consented. We can only hope someone came to his or her senses and started considering the best interests of the boys, who had already been shuttled from foster placement to foster placement and longed for the stable, supportive home their mothers provide.

It's an outcome that couldn't have happened without dedicated parents who refused to give up, a firecracker of a lawyer, Julie Ketterman, and also, Houston Chronicle readers who followed the columns, got mad, and then helped get results by calling state representatives, raising money for attorney fees and alerting officials in Austin who oversee foster care.

I'll write more about this day in my Sunday column and share some of the previously unreported hurdles these mothers went through.
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Retail growth continues along FM 2920, as transportation improvements have pushed developers into a flurry of activity.

The opening of the Tomball Tollway and the Grand Parkway have sparked business growth in the area, from new shopping centers to restaurants and grocery stores.

FM 2920 is a connector between major business hubs from Exxon Mobil's campus and Southwestern Energy Co.'s headquarters off Interstate 45 in Spring to Noble Energy's new campus located off Texas 249.

"There is a lot of retail activity and development right now in Northwest Houston," said Barbara Thomason, president of the Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce. "That's where the growth has been because retail follows rooftops."

H-E-B is opening a new store on April 25 off the Grand Parkway, near Gleannloch Farms.

And Kroger Marketplace will anchor the new Spring Pines Shopping Center, under construction on Spring Cypress and Holzwarth, off FM 2920. The new grocery store will open by the end of the year.

Along with Kroger Marketplace, the Spring Pines Shopping Center will include 50,000 square feet of smaller retailers as well as several pad sites, according to developer RHS Interests. The catalyst for the project was the extension of Holzwarth from FM 2920 to the Exxon Mobil campus just a few miles north, RHS president Robert Schultz said.

The new Grand Parkway Marketplace I, anchored by Target, is nearing completion. The center is located at Spring Stuebner and the Grand Parkway. The 488,000-square-feet Grand Parkway Marketplace I is 80 percent leased, according to Rob Nadler, developer with Kimco Realty.

Due to the demand, Kimco Realty is also developing Grand Parkway Marketplace II across the street from Grand Parkway Marketplace I.

"Infrastructure and roadways are key to growth," said Kelly Violette, president of the Tomball Economic Development Corp. "You see communities that don't have that and when they have populations booms, they suffer. The new Grand Parkway and 249 have worked in our favor. Those are two critical roadways, which all helps to attract new companies. It sends a message of investment in our city."

In addition, the Tomball City Council took steps to ensure business growth is aesthetically pleasing, passing an ordinance that requires new developers build attractive businesses along FM 2920-including adding brick or stone to the front facade.

The masonry ordinance impacts new businesses that face Texas 249 or FM 2920 in the city limits.

"The masonry component was added to make sure we have a standard," Violette said.

New fast food restaurants on FM 2920 all have an upgraded exterior, including McDonalds, Chick-fil-A and Burger King, Violette said.

"It's one of those very small signals to new companies looking to move here and to new residents that there is a level of concern for appearance, and that's great for Tomball," Violette said.

Springwoods Village master-planned community, located just south of The Woodlands in northern Harris County, continues to develop with two new corporate offices under construction and new retail opening this summer, said Keith Simon, executive vice president of CDC Houston, developers of Springwoods Village.

The Market at Springwoods Village, located at the southeast corner of Holzwarth Road and the Grand Parkway, is expected to open in August.

The Market, a 170,000-square-foot shopping center, is anchored by Kroger grocery store. Other retailers and restaurants include Torchy's Tacos, Chick-fil-A, Tarka's Indian Kitchen, MOD Pizza, Cold Stone Creamery, Big Salad, Supercuts and Banfield Pet Hospital.

Construction will start soon on a new full-service hotel in Springwoods Village, with completion expected in late 2018. Two other hotels are already open there, including the Residence Inn by Marriott Springwoods Village and a Courtyard by Marriott in CityPlace.

New shopping centers:

Spring Pines Shopping Center

The Market at Springwoods Village

Grand Parkway Marketplace I

Grand Parkway Marketplace II
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Court documents recently made available outline details of what led to a Conroe woman losing her life in March, including the text-message plea to her neighbor for help.

Christopher Stogsdill, 26, is facing a first-degree murder charge for allegedly shooting Shelby Trotnic, 22, in her home in the 12200 block of Sweet Bay Drive off FM 2854 on March 7. Stogsdill is transgender and identifies as a woman named Chrissy, court documents show.

Sierra Diaz, 20, was arrested with Stogsdill in Colorado on a state-jail felony child endangerment charge. Court documents filed in Diaz's case detail the brutality of the murder that allegedly happened as Trotnic was reportedly kicking Stogsdill and Diaz out of her home.

The three lived together in the single-wide mobile home, although Trotnic reportedly told her neighbor the day before she was murdered that she wanted to kick Stogsdill and Diaz out, court documents show. The neighbor told Montgomery County Sheriff's detectives he saw Trotnic a few hours later arriving home with Stogsdill and an acquaintance.

The acquaintance came outside that night and talked with the neighbor, and told detectives that's when he heard an argument coming from inside the home. The neighbor said he heard glass breaking and what sounded like a high-powered BB gun being shot.

Detectives said Stogsdill then exited the house and loaded up two young children and drove off. After Stogsdill left, the neighbor told the acquaintance to go check on Trotnic in her home.

The acquaintance knocked on Trotnic' s door, but nobody answered, detectives said. The neighbor said he figured Trotnic wanted to be left alone after the fight.

When he got back into his own house, he checked his phone and saw he missed two messages from Trotnic, one asking him to come over to her house immediately and the other saying "gun to my head," according to court documents.

The neighbor became curious the next morning when he noticed Trotnic was not out on her porch smoking her morning cigarette, and he also noticed Stogsdill left behind a beloved dog after she left. The neighbor went up to the door and knocked, but received the same response his acquaintance got the night before.

He then went around the house to where Trotnic's room was, stacked a few buckets on one another and peered inside. He could not see anything, so he broke a window to the room and climbed in.

That's when he found Trotnic laying on her back in a pool of blood, with stab wounds on her face and a blue plastic bag stuffed down her throat.

Extradition Not Waived

Stogsdill was arrested in Aurora, Colorado days after Trotnic was found dead and has yet to be booked in the Montgomery County Jail as of press time. Prosecutors say Stogsdill is fighting her extradition to Montgomery County.

Assistant District Attorney Vince Santini said Stogsdill declined to waive the extradition, which would have meant she could be brought to Montgomery County automatically. But because she is fighting the extradition, Santini is filing for a governor's warrant that would bring her back to Texas to face the charge, although that warrant must first be approved by both Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper before it can be executed.

"Once there is an arrest warrant out, that means (Stogsdill's) been charged with the crime," Santini said. "(Stogsdill) had fled to Colorado with Sierra who also had an arrest warrant for endangering a child."

Prosecutors charged Diaz with state-jail felony child endangerment for the alleged deplorable conditions of the home the three lived in together  all with Diaz's two children. Investigators claim the home was not suitable for living after having found no running water and garbage hoarded throughout the home.

Detectives found days' worth of human feces piled in the bathroom and throughout the house, according to court documents. They also allegedly found a knife stabbed into the ceiling in one of the rooms and drug paraphernalia in another.

In another room, detectives allegedly found a pellet gun, power tools, blades and methamphetamines. Investigators spoke with Diaz's grandmother the next day and learned from her that Diaz, Stogsdill and the two children were on their way to Colorado.

Diaz waived extradition and was booked in the Montgomery County Jail on March 9 with a $250,000 bond. She will be back in 221st state District Court Judge Lisa Michalk's court for an information hearing May 2.

As for Stogsdill, prosecutors filed the first-degree murder charge in Michalk's court Monday.
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More than anything, police need a critical tip.

In the five days since the brazen, ambush-style murder of veteran law officer Clint Greenwood, a task force of investigators, forensic experts, prosecutors, Texas Rangers, crime analysts, FBI agents and federal firearm experts have gathered to assist the Baytown Police Department.

So far, police have collected key pieces of evidence but have not identified a suspect.

They have released dark surveillance video showing the profile of the man suspected of fatally shooting Greenwood outside the Harris County courthouse annex in Baytown early Monday morning.

They have videos of the black car - believed to be a Nissan Versa Note - he drove as he left the courthouse shortly after Greenwood was hit twice with 9 mm slugs. And they are examining two spent shell casings ejected from the killer's pistol.

But they're hoping somebody saw something that will help them establish the suspect's identity.

"We'd like to talk to anybody that may have seen anything that morning, between the hours of 6 and 7 a.m. Anyone who may have seen something, or heard something or knows something, " said Baytown Police Lt. Steve Dorris. "Sometimes people think the information they have is insignificant because it's so minor, but that same piece of information could be exactly the break we need.''

In the meantime, teams of veteran investigators from the Sheriff's Office, Baytown police and the Texas Rangers have been questioning "persons of interest" - mostly people who may have harbored a grudge against Greenwood.

"That list is a living list," Dorris said. "It grows, and we change it. And as we go through the course of the investigation, names come up, and as they do, we look into it.

More Information Who killed Clint Greenwood?

Suspect: White or Hispanic male, between 5-foot-10 and 6-foot-3, and weighing between 200 and 220 pounds. He was wearing a dark-colored jacket, with a patch on one shoulder that appears to resemble a police or security firm emblem, or some other type of uniform.

Vehicle: Believed to be a Nissan Versa Note, 2013-2017 model

Where: Harris County courthouse annex, 701 Baker Rd., Baytown

When: Shooting at 7 a.m. Monday; suspect also at the scene about 4:30 p.m. Sunday

Reward: Up to $65,000 for information leading to arrest and charges

Tips: If you have information about the case, call Baytown Crimestoppers at 281-427-TIPS or Baytown police at 281-422-8371 See More Collapse

"We've talked to several people since Monday morning, and the funny thing is, as you talk to people, more names come in," he said.

A planned hit

Greenwood, 57, spent three decades as a familiar face in Harris County law enforcement circles. He started as a private attorney who often defended police officers accused of wrongdoing.

He went on in 2009 to oversee the police integrity division of the Harris County District Attorney's Office, where he investigated and prosecuted law enforcement officers. In 2013, he moved to the Harris County Sheriff's Office to run internal affairs before joining the Precinct 3 Constable's Office in January as an assistant chief deputy.

On Monday, as he arrived for work about 7 a.m. at the courthouse annex, a gunman emerged from behind a dumpster and shot him twice, once in the neck.

Dorris describes the shooter as a white or Hispanic male, between 5-foot-10 and 6-foot-3, and weighing between 200 and 220 pounds. He was wearing a dark-colored jacket, with a patch on one shoulder that appears to resemble a police or security firm emblem, or some other type of uniform.

"We just don't know what our bad guy did before he got there," Dorris said. "Did he stop for gas, or to get a drink? We just don't know."

Another video shows a compact, four-door car with a hatchback  believed to be a black Nissan Versa Note  leaving the scene shortly after the shooting.

Late Thursday, Baytown police released additional surveillance video recorded the afternoon before the killing. It shows the suspect driving up to the courthouse annex in what appears to be a black Nissan Versa Note about 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, then getting out to walk to the area near Greenwood's reserved parking space.

"What we would term it is pre-operational planning, or scouting, or surveillance," Dorris said. "This tells us there was some planning involved, and not that just that he woke up Monday morning and decided to do this."

Investigators are confident it is the same man who returned on Monday with a gun.

"Our belief is the person we see in the video Sunday at the courthouse is the same person that we saw on video Monday morning shortly before and shortly after chief deputy Greenwood was shot,'' Dorris said.

Investigators finally identified the vehicle after several days of work. To pinpoint the likely make and model, police obtained four or five models of cars that resembled the suspect vehicle on the video, and filmed them driving the same route at the courthouse, a law enforcement source said.

Experts with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are also working to determine what type of pistol was used in the murder, by using the marking left by the firing pin on the spent shell casing.

Hoping for clues

For now, the task force is monitoring a steady stream of tips and working with the evidence they have.

The surveillance footage has been sent to various experts to see if it can be enhanced, and the task force is reviewing additional footage from other business locations around the courthouse.

"If they get some video that they can enhance to get a (license) plate, that would be a pretty major breakthrough," the source said. "That would really get the ball rolling."

FBI spokeswoman Shauna Dunlap, with the Houston office, confirmed that agents have been assigned to the Greenwood slaying and are lending "investigative and analytical assistance" but would not provide details.

Dunlap noted the FBI provided $25,000 towards the current $65,000 reward, and is working with Clear Channel advertising to put Greenwood's photo on digital billboards in Baytown, Pasadena and Jacinto City.

What is sorely lacking in the case, law authorities say, is the ability to go door-to-door and locate eyewitnesses. Because of the early hour of the ambush, and the location of the courthouse annex in a commercial area, few people were around.

"To me, it's unfortunate it happened right behind a courthouse because in a neighborhood you'd have a lot of people looking outside, and here you don't have a neighborhood to canvass,'' said JoAnne Musick, an assistance Harris County district attorney who stressed she is not assigned to the Greenwood investigation.

With the right information from a tip, however, the investigation could move very quickly, police say.

"It's something that may get solved in the next five minutes, or take five years," one source said.

Baytown police are asking anyone with information about the shooting to call Baytown Crimestoppers at 281-427-TIPS or Baytown police at 281-422-8371.

james.pinkerton@chron.com
Anyone with a strong objection to backyard chickens or animated cartoons would probably say the Texas Legislature laid an egg this week.

The State Senate on Wednesday passed a bill allowing the keeping of six or fewer backyard chickens, but only after the august body was subjected to a Q-and-A full of awful puns, culminating with Sen. Paul Bettencourt's impression of Foghorn Leghorn.

Bettencourt's performance can be seen in the video above. For footage of the full fowl debate, head over HoustonChronicle.com. Listen to Mike Ward and Scott Braddock's take on the week in Austin - chicken or otherwise - in the latest edition of the Texas Take podcast.

Made famous in the heyday of Looney Tunes in the 1950s and '60s, Foghorn Leghorn is a big white cartoon rooster with bushy red tail and comb, who speaks with the overbearing tones of a Southern good 'ol boy politician. He frequently says, "Ah say, ah say..." (Story continues below.)

SHOUT-OUT: Hillary Clinton notes satirical Texas masturbation bill in Houston speech

Bettencourt and the others were talking about Senate Bill 1620, introduced by Sen. Van Taylor. In starting the discussion, Taylor noted that several major Texas cities, including Houston, Dallas, El Paso and Austin, allow residents to keep backyard chickens.

"But some still have outdated ordinances," he said.

Once Taylor finished his introduction, Sen. Dan Patrick, the senate president, opened the floor to roasting by the others.

"I truly feel this is an egg-ceptional piece of legislation," said Sen. Bob Hall. "How did you hatch this idea? I would like to peck at it a little bit. Do you count the chickens before they hatch? Did you egg-nore any stakeholder?"

GIANT CHICKEN: Viral video of huge bird blows everyone's minds on social media

"I'm going to have to chicken out," Taylor dead-panned.

Patrick interjected, "This has turned into 'Hee Haw.' This is not good."

Sen. Lois Kolkhorst managed to include a serious comment: "I want to thank you for bringing this.... I think this is a liberty thing. If you want to raise your own food, you ought to be able to."

Sen. Sylvia Garcia of Houston noted that she grew up in the country and had fond memories of chickens. She wondered why Taylor's bill limited the number to six. He responded that it represented an average of the numbers found in other ordinances.

BULLET TRAIN: Five bills taking aim at Houston-Dallas train pass Senate committee

"I plan to support your bill, but I think you need to think about amending it," Garcia said. "It's always cheaper by the dozen."

The groans kept coming until Bettencourt literally "dropped the mic" when he finished his Foghorn Leghorn remarks.

"If anyone else passes a chicken bill that allows him to do that impression again, it will not make it to the floor," Patrick said.
AUSTIN  The Texas House approved its multi-billion budget early Friday morning in a 131-16 vote, following more than 15 consecutive hours of debate over hundreds of proposed changes regarding everything from foster care to arts programs.

The two-year House budget includes $106.7 billion in state revenues and uses $2.5 billion from the state's savings account, while the competing Senate version spends $106.3 billion and does not touch the savings account.

The Senate approved its version last month in a unanimous vote. Over the next two months, negotiators from both chambers will iron out their differences before the legislative session ends in May.

The House largely avoided several controversial issues that were expected to come up late Thursday, including imposing restrictions on public bathroom use based on someone's sex listed on their birth certificate. Such an initiative has been a pet project of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's and the GOP-controlled Senate, which passed a so-called 'bathroom bill' in March.

House leadership, including Speaker Joe Straus of San Antonio, has denounced the idea as a waste of the legislature's time. Rep. Valoree Swanson, a Republican from Spring, pre-filed an amendment that would have added language similar to the Senate's into the House budget, but she withdrew her proposal after Democratic and Republican leaders struck a compromise to end the night earlier than expected.

The deal: Before an up-or-down vote on the document, Republicans approved an amendment explicitly stating that money from the budget would not go to any individuals or entities which perform abortions. The measure passed 101-43 with no vocal Democratic challenge. In exchange, Democrats won a concession from GOP leaders that Swanson would pull her bathroom amendment. The move allowed the remaining 100 or so pages of proposed amendments still on tap to be folded into the budget's wish list article, a catch-all area of last resort.

Dodging votes on a statewide 'sanctuary cities' prohibition and a repeal of in-state tuition benefits for undocumented students at Texas colleges, the House took up a vote on their entire budget shortly after the abortion measure, finally passing their funding proposal around 1:30 a.m.

Here are some highlights:

In one of the first votes Thursday, the House approved a measure that would zero out funding for the Texas Enterprise Fund, a $43 million pot of money the governor can use to lure businesses to the state. The amendment by Rep. Sergio Munoz, a Democrat from Mission, would split the funds equally between the Child Protective Services agency and the program that funds therapy services for children with disabilities.

That set off a pitched war of words between the chamber's presiding officer and a group of tea party Republicans who had plans to direct the enterprise money to other causes in a later revision.

A vote was called on the Munoz amendment  and it passed on a voice vote without opposition  while the tea party-aligned members were distracted huddling over the outcome for a previous amendment. By the time they realized what had happened, the House had moved on to other issues.

Tea party members tried to challenge the vote, but Speaker Joe Straus' representative presiding over the chamber overruled them  leading Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, to deliver a personal privilege speech lambasting the process.

"(Voters) have a right and an expectation to know where every single one of us stand on every single issue," Stickland said. "This is one of the most offensive things and disgusting things that I have ever seen in this body."

At several points during the debate, Democrats tried to flex their political muscle in the chamber where they are outnumbered by Republicans 95 to 55.

A handful of Democratic members unsuccessfully sought to cripple Attorney General Ken Paxton's efforts to defend the state in a redistricting lawsuit filed by civil rights groups. They argue the Texas Legislature intentionally discriminated against black and Latino voters. Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie, proposed an amendment that would have barred Paxton's office from using any budget funds to appeal a decision in Texas' redistricting case.

Democrats said that federal judges, appointed by Republican and Democratic presidents, have ruled many times that the Legislature intended to consolidate and dilute the voting power of Latinos and African Americans when lawmakers drew state district maps. The aim, the courts have ruled, was to protect Republican majorities at the Capitol.

Republican Rep. Larry Phillips of Sherman argued that Paxton has a responsibility to defend the Legislature's work. He objected to Democrats' assertions that lawmakers approved the maps with discrimination in mind.

"I voted for those maps," Phillips said. "I didn't intend to discriminate."

However, Democratic Rep. Rafael Anchia of Dallas said the amendment was based on what several judges have ruled, not on partisan claims by the minority party.

The amendment failed 90-55.

Another proposed revision, by Rep. Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington, would have taken money from the Texas Commission on the Arts and put it into general revenue. Tinderholt said he supports the arts, but services such as protecting abused and neglected children are more important.

Tinderholt's amendment failed, with Rep. Diana Arevalo, D-San Antonio, speaking against it.

"As a music educator myself I am deeply offended by this amendment," she said.

Peggy Fikac of the San Antonio Express-News contributed to this report
The summers final Live on the Waterfront concert was held Wednesday evening at Prince Arthurs Landing. The popular series in Thunder Bay has completed nine weekly shows that began on July 13. Wednesdays concert was unique as it was held one hour later in the evening to mesh with the 10 p.
This whole thing is the issue with Trump. He is classic narcissist. He has a YUGE ego and he simply can't tolerate ANY sort of criticism.



This started day one with the flap over how many people attended the inauguration. Then with him the ONLY way Hillary got more vote is because 3 million were ILLEGAL. Then there's whole fake news. He just can't tolerate anything that doesn't fit his world view.



He's the HMFIC and just can't imagine there are government employees out there, people that KNOW how to do their jobs, people that have done those jobs across multiple administrations, and they DISAGREE with him. He's used to being the absolute and final word in his companies, and now, even though he's the president, he is finding he isn't GOD and he can't ignore things like the CONSTITUTION !!!!



Absolute classic narcissistic megalomaniac.
FOCUS ON DEFENSE CAPABILITY DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHEAST ASIA AND OCEANIA
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Fundatia de Binefacere Caritas Moldova solicita oferte de pret de la companii cu privire la productia de materiale de vizibilitate
Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb. Getty Images

If you've used Airbnb in the last few months you might have noticed some changes in its interface. That is because the home sharing site is downplaying several features which, according to the company, may be enabling user discrimination. The company has been experimenting "with reducing the prominence of guest photos in the booking process, and enhancing other parts of host and guests profiles with objective information," said Christopher Nulty, head of public affairs at Airbnb. The most noticeable change is on the search listings page, which no longer displays photos of hosts alongside featured images of a home. The modifications come three years after a Harvard study found that black hosts earn 12 percent less than non-black hosts on the site. "There are specific types of features that allow for discrimination in an online environment," Michael Luca, a Harvard Business School Professor told CNBC recently. "Pulling the pictures off the front page of search results can have an effect on the decisions people make," he said.

New Airbnb website design, without host images on search listings page. Source: Airbnb.com Airbnb has assembled a new product team  made up of engineers, data scientists, researchers and designers  that is solely focused on devising solutions that help reduce bias on the site. "We developed and launched our first experiment in January. The goal of this experiment is to determine whether we can minimize the role of implicit bias...by reducing the prominence of profile photos," said Nulty. The company says it wants to highlight other relevant information about guests and hosts, like traveler reviews and identity verification. 'Marketing fluff' that may not fix the problem It is a step towards fulfilling some of the promises Airbnb made last year, after a 2016 Harvard study found African American guests are rejected about 16 percent more often than whites on the site. In response, Airbnb assembled a panel of experts including former Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. who along with Laura Murphy, formerly of the ACLU, helped to outline a plan to fight discrimination within its community. The complete strategy was outlined in a report released by Airbnb in September 2016, which detailed the company's plans to "fight discrimination and build inclusion."

Previous Airbnb screen showing insets of hosts. Yamil Lage | AFP | Getty Images
White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus  also the subject of "palace intrigue" stories  had Kushner and Bannon sit down with him to clear the air and end the back and forth, said a senior administration official.

Senior adviser Jared Kushner , the president's son-in-law, and senior adviser Steve Bannon met at the behest of Trump, who has expressed irritation about anonymous sniping in the media between the two camps, the officials said.

Two top aides to President Trump held a peace negotiation session this weekend to try and mend a rift that triggered speculation about a White House staff shakeup, officials said Saturday.

President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior advisor Jared Kushner (L) speaks with Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, before departing for Iraq from Ramstein Air Base, Germany April 3, 2017.

The goal, the official said, was to unite the administration so it can focus on the agenda. The official confirmed the Kushner-Bannon meeting on the condition of anonymity in order to speak on internal manners.

Kushner and Bannon were both at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., where the president hosted a summit with the leader of China.

Other administration officials declined to discuss staff relationships, but denied reports that a major staff shake-up is imminent. "Once again, this is a completely false story driven by people who want to distract from the success taking place in this administration," said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders.

In recent weeks, officials have said Kushner has taken on a larger role as Trump's main troubleshooter, which spurred speculation about a growing rift between him and Bannon. Former Trump political adviser Roger Stone has accused Kushner of leaking unfavorable stories about Bannon.

Bannon, the former head of Breitbart News who chaired the Trump presidential campaign, is considered the leader of the nationalist wing. It believes the United States has surrendered too much of its economic sovereignty via questionable trade deals and leaky immigration policies.

Other Trump advisers are more globalist, bigger supporters of trade and cooperation with international organizations like NATO. That group includes Kushner, who has emerged as a troubleshooter for the president and has clashed with Bannon.

Bannon and Kushner have been subjects of anonymous attacks in the media, as have other prominent White House officials, such as Priebus and counselor Kellyanne Conway.
Chinese state media on Saturday cheered the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping as one that showed the world that confrontation between the two powers was not inevitable.

The official China Daily newspaper said it was encouraging to see the two-day summit that ended on Friday "going as well as it could", after earlier "confusing signals" from Washington about how it was approaching the U.S.-China relationship.

Trump had campaigned with strident anti-China rhetoric and had angered Beijing before taking office by talking to the president of Taiwan, the self-ruled island Beijing claims as its own.

But the two sides avoided any diplomatic gaffes at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida that would have tarnished the meeting in the eyes of the protocol-conscious Chinese.

China Daily said both parties appeared "equally enthusiastic about the constructive relationship they have promised to cultivate".

"This may sound surreal to those preoccupied with an 'inescapable' conflict scenario between what they see as rising and incumbent powers," the newspaper wrote in an editorial.

"But that Beijing and Washington have so far managed to do well in preventing conflicts shows confrontation is not inevitable."
It turns out that America's 2.5 million miles of pipeline are not all that safe. Since 2010, according to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, operators have reported an average of 200 oil spills per year from pipelines. That equals 9 million gallons of oil spilled from pipelines in the U.S. since 2010.

Though the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline and Keystone Pipeline face vocal opposition, the new pipelines aren't the biggest concern. The old pipelines installed decades ago are falling apart, and they are far more challenging to inspect because older pipes were not designed for inspections. Energy companies are required by law to inspect their pipelines and they use a variety of technology to do so, including devices known as smart pigs. But these pigs can only inspect certain portions of the pipes, leaving thousands of miles of pipeline that have never been inspected. Diakont, a Russian company with a hub in San Diego, thinks it has a solution. It's developed a robot that can crawl into "unpiggable" parts of a pipeline.

Diakonts robot recently inspected a major pipeline that runs under the Hudson River. Jeniece Pettitt | CNBC
Girl Scouts have been selling cookies for 100 years, and in 2017 alone, 200 million boxes will be bought.

Yet according to the organization's top leader, those delicious treats come with a very serious purposeand themselves represent big money.

"We have an $850 million dollar business," Sylvia Acevedo, Girl Scouts of USA interim CEO told CNBC's "On the Money" recently. She added the cookie program, in which she herself once participated, is a marketing training ground for young women.

"It teaches them the kind of life skills they need to be an entrepreneur. Teaches them how to set goals, create budgets and figure out how you're going to serve your customers," Acevedo saidin other words, real world business skills.

Fledgling young entrepreneurial Girl Scouts learn "how to make change, they're learning how to ask for the order, they're learning how to set budgets," the CEO said. "They create projects and then they have to figure out how am I going to fund the project? And that is all financial management."

She also said that money remains local, rather than going to the national headquarters. The cash funding "is what allows girls to have these amazing outdoors experiences, to have those outdoor camps or to have those "take action" projects in their own community."

Creating your own opportunity
An Ohio inventor and entrepreneur managed to wow the billionaire tech investor and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, on "Shark Tank" Friday. Rick Pescovitz from Cincinnati invented a pop-up mini tent to carry to outdoor sporting events that protects users from the elements. He appeared on the hit reality entrepreneurship show to seek a $600,000 investment for 10 percent of his company, Under the Weather. The portable pod weighs less than seven pounds, Pescovitz said, and is water, wind and sun resistant. Inside the pod is 35 degrees warmer than the outdoors, because the person sitting inside the pod warms up the space with body heat.

The pods retail for $99.99 and cost Pescovitz $23 per unit to make. So far, 85 percent of Pescovitz's sales have come from online. In the year before appearing on the show, Pescovitz sold 22,000 units, brought in $2 million in revenue and $1 million in profit.

The seven figure sales impressed the sharks, though Pescovitz dismissed their praise, because he reinvests much of what he makes back into the business to grow it. The part of Pescovitz's growth that really got Cuban's attention, though, was that he was been able to bring in $2 million in sales almost entirely thanks to word-of-mouth.

"We have spent $11,000 on advertising in two years," Pescovitz tells Cuban. "That is incredible," says Cuban, who goes on to offer Pescovitz a deal. Cuban offered Pescovitz $600,000 for 15 percent of the company, more equity than Pescovitz wanted to give away, but less than Daymond John and Kevin O'Leary offered. John and O'Leary both offered Pescovitz $600,000 for 20 percent equity. Cuban also asked for the option to buy another 10 percent of the company for another $600,000 in the next 12 months.

Pescovitz clearly came on the show looking to get an investment from Cuban. Even after John and O'Leary made offers, Pescovitz specifically asked Cuban if he was interested. In the course of his pitch, Pescovitz told the emotional story of his brother and previous business partner's untimely death. "My brother Mark meant a whole lot to me and now I am partnering with a guy named Mark. Maybe that's fate. I am happy. I am very happy."
Facebook and Google have long dominated the app store, but they're losing ground to younger tech upstarts.

Snapchat, which went public in March, became a top 10 most-downloaded app in eight of the 10 biggest app markets this year, according to data from app analytics company App Annie.

But Snapchat's biggest growth comes from Bitmoji, the personal emoji app Snapchat parent Snap acquired last year. At the time, Bitmoji wasn't in any of these top 10 rankings. Now Bitmoji is the No. 1 most-downloaded app in five top markets: The U.S., U.K., France, Canada and Australia.

Uber's ride-sharing app also made the top 10 list in three countries  the U.S., Brazil and Australia  for the first time this year.

For the most part, though, Facebook, Google and Snapchat own the top apps:
The Proof 2017-S American Eagle silver dollar will also be included in the 2017 Limited Edition silver Proof set.

Sufficient orders were placed within the first two minutes of sales of the 2017 Congratulations set to render the numismatic product option "currently unavailable."

The U.S. Mint April 5 left open the possibility that sales for the 2017 Congratulation set, which recorded an apparent sellout in two minutes April 4, could be reopened.

The sets went on sale at noon Eastern Time April 4 with no household order restriction. Sufficient orders were placed almost immediately to exhaust the maximum mintage of 75,000 sets, according to the Mint, although bureau officials have yet to declare the numismatic product a sellout. Many attempting to buy the set reported that their orders were rejected starting around 12:02 p.m., suggesting that virtually the entire edition was purchased in about two minutes.

The sets attraction is the Proof 2017-S American Eagle silver dollar, struck at the San Francisco Mint. The regular Proof American Eagle silver dollar is a West Point Mint product.

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The U.S. Mints Office of Corporate Communications released the following statement to the media at 10:09 a.m. ET April 5 concerning sales of the 2017 Congratulations set: Sales attrition from cancellations, returns and credit card declinations could result in a very limited quantity being made available for sale.

Mint officials are still trying to determine how many sets would be available and if the number will be sufficient to warrant reopening sales.

The bureau faced a similar dilemma in 2016 with the April 21 sales for the 125,000 2016-W Winged Liberty Head gold dimes. Customers placed enough orders within minutes of the start of sales to consume the maximum number of coins available, even with a household order limit of 10 coins.

However, reconciliation of orders over the ensuing weeks resulted in the Mint amassing between 8,000 and 9,000 coins in inventory, from returns and canceled orders for coins that were never shipped.

The Mint waited eight months before reopening sales on Dec. 15 for the remaining gold dimes in inventory. With a one-coin-per-household order restriction, it took 90 minutes to sell those remaining coins.

The Mints offer of the limited-edition 2017 Congratulations set without a household order limit upset some collectors who were shut out from successfully placing an order.

Collector Chris Hale contacted Coin World via email April 4 before 1 p.m. ET, asking, Is there any way to find out from the U.S. Mint how many individuals/dealers were able to purchase this item? (See his full letter in this weeks Letters to the Editor column.)

Hale told Coin World in an interview that he tried placing his order at 12:02 p.m. ET and received a message advising him to remove his order for five sets because they were no longer available.

Another collector, Henry Bonke, also expressed his displeasure with the Mints offering of the numismatic product.

Less than 3 minutes and sold out, Bonke wrote via email. Canceled by the Mint at 3 minutes. Im through with the U.S. Mint.

This continued unfair treatment of the collecting community for the profit of a few is testament to their corrupt policies. I used to collect U.S. stamps, but their inattention to the stamp collecting community drove me away. SAME reason here. I will not buy the coin on ebay and I hope other collectors follow my lead.

A collector from Laguna Niguel, Calif., reported he was able to successfully place an order for four sets.

From Coin Worlds Facebook page:

Michael Bruni: Lots of angry people out there posting on the Mints website. What were they thinking with no ordering limit on something like this? Another black eye for the Mint. ... Whenever someone asks for reasons the hobby is slowly dying its examples like this that should be brought up as part of the problem. Simple collectors out to put together a nice set of current issue coins cant because of mismanagement of product releases  so many just stop trying over getting gouged on the secondary market.

Shawn Savage: It is BS. Some of the big dealers were buying thousands at a clip. The U.S. mint should be for selling to the collector, not to let dealers hoard and corner the market for big profits. Disgusting.

Mint customers posted a significant number of negative comments on the Mints Facebook page but the link to those comments was deactivated, according to the Mint, because the product had gone into currently unavailable status.

eBay outlet

Following the apparent sellout April 4, examples of the sets quickly appeared on eBay, posted by sellers with confirmed orders. Subsequent completed sales ranged from $110 to $225 per set. The Mint sold the set for $54.95.

A number of eBay auctions offered multiple sets. One auction for 99 sets with a Buy It Now option at $17,500 and free shipping ended with no takers.

The auction was relisted with the Buy It Now offer at $14,500 with an added Make Offer option. As of April 6, the offer was still active.

Collectors will have the opportunity to obtain the Proof 2017-S American Eagle silver dollar in another numismatic product to be offered by the U.S. Mint later in the calendar year.

The regular annual Proof American Eagle silver dollar in recent years has been struck at the West Point Mint with the W Mint mark. The Proof 2017-W American Eagle went on sale on March 23 at $53.95 per coin, with no product limit or household order restriction and continues available.

Second opportunity

Collectors will have a second opportunity to obtain the Proof 2017-S American Eagle silver dollar in 2017 when the coin is included in the 2017 Limited Edition Silver Proof set. Details on the 2017 Limited Edition Silver Proof set  including pricing, product limit and household ordering limits, if any  are yet to be disclosed by the Mint.
Ways parents can protect children from several respiratory illnesses

Vaccines are available for flu and COVID, but not colds and RSV, but other measures can be taken to prevent all of them.
I am a retired newspaperman. I am 69 and live in Poca, WV, with my wife of 45 years, Lou Ann. We grew up in Cleveland. Three kids. Grandfather.

More on who I am is here.

Report all errors to DonSurber@GMail.com
Cash registers are dumb. Why do we still have them?

Invented in 1879 to keep saloon employees from stealing, the cash register combines the functions of a calculator to add up the purchases and a lockbox to keep cash safe.

It assumes that retail employees have no verifiable way to add up numbers. And it assumes customers are paying in cash. Nowadays, most people have a smartphone and pay electronically. So the assumptions are gone. Yet cash registers remain.

The success of online retail demonstrates that you don't need a Victorian-era contraption to sell things. You can do it all electronically.

But brick-and-mortar retail stores have a problem that online stores don't: shoplifting. Without a cashier verifying the purchase and providing a paper receipt, it's hard to stop some people from just taking stuff and walking out without paying.

The whole cash register model now represents a ritual that exists mainly as an anti-theft system.

That sounds like an easy problem to solve. Turns out it's not.

Why Amazon Go isn't ready to go

Amazon Go is that company's latest concept for disrupting brick-and-mortar retail. The company's vision is that you shop normally, then just walk out of the store without waiting in a line or interacting with a cashier or point-of-sale system.

Amazon The Amazon Go concept store watches you shop and lets you skip the cash register.

Amazon Go is a single 1,800-square-foot store in downtown Seattle that sells groceries as well as prepared food that's ready to eat. Amazon Go also features "Amazon Meal Kits," which are pre-portioned ingredients with recipes, a concept similar to Blue Apron.

The Amazon Go store is not open to the public. Amazon has been developing the store's technology for years and "beta testing" the store with employees for months. A report in The Wall Street Journal claimed that Amazon intended to open last month but delayed the launch because of technical issues.

That's not surprising. Amazon is attempting something very bold and new.

Amazon is using a combination of computer vision, sensors and deep-learning algorithms to know who's buying what. Amazon says that its patented "Just Walk-Out Technology" uses artificial intelligence (A.I.) comparable to the A.I. used in self-driving cars.

Here's how the store works. When you enter, you scan a QR code on the Amazon Go app at the front door. That scan announces to the store's system that you're there and preemptively authenticates the purchases you're about to make.

Then you shop.

Amazon's "Just Walk-Out Technology" has one job: to figure out what you're taking out of the store.

As you remove items from the shelf, A.I. uses multiple inputs to figure out what you grabbed. Cameras watch you take it. Scales built into the shelves provide data to calculate the weight of what you took. Amazon's patent filing suggests that the system may also refer to past purchases to help identify current ones.

In other words, intelligent software analyzes a video feed to determine that you removed something from the shelf that looked like a cupcake. It considers data from the shelf, which is also a scale, and calculates that you took something that weighs about as much as a cupcake. And it checks your purchase history  it knows you're a cupcake-eating maniac. After all that input, the software decides that you took a cupcake off the shelf and adds it to your list, which is kept up-to-date in real time as you shop.

If you place an item back on the shelf, the item is removed from the list.

It's possible, based on patent applications, that Amazon intends to use both face and body recognition (metrics like height and weight) to continuously identify you when you wander around the store picking up items.

Here's the best part: When you're done shopping, you just walk out of the store. As you leave, sensors at the door detect that you're exiting, and your Amazon account is charged for the items you got.

It's like shoplifting, except you have to pay for everything you took.

The technology is advanced. It may be too advanced.

A Bloomberg report said the Amazon Go system becomes overwhelmed when the store gets crowded, and that it's relying on humans to supervise the A.I. to make sure it correctly identifies the foods it's charging for. (Amazon did not respond to my request for an interview.)

It appears that Amazon's "Just Walk-Out Technology" makes a lot of mistakes, which is probably OK within reason. But it also may crash, bringing the whole system to a halt, which is not OK.

Amazon dominates retail already. Walmart is a global retail giant worth $215 billion (the company's value based on stock price). By comparison, Amazon is worth $430 billion -- twice the value of Walmart.

It seems like Amazon has a sweet deal going with online retail. Why would they want to enter into the brick-and-mortar space?

The truth is that there are many items that consumers won't buy without seeing or trying them in person. Think of couches, for example. You probably don't want to buy a couch unless you can feel how comfortable it is.

There are other items, such as your lunch, that are too perishable for shipping.

Amazon has been trying a range of ideas for breaking into the $800 billion U.S. grocery industry. The Amazon Fresh delivery service is now available in 20 U.S. cities. Prime Now delivers groceries from local grocery stores in a few locations. Subscribe & Save lets people subscribe to buy paper towels and a range of other non-perishable but frequently consumed items for delivery like other Amazon items.

A system like Amazon's "Just Walk-Out Technology" adds convenience to shopping. But the real revolution is a quantum leap in behavioral data. In the same way that companies like Amazon, Google and Facebook track every mouse movement, every click, every scroll and every hesitation while you're browsing the Internet, Amazon Go's system potentially brings that level of customer awareness to the brick-and-mortar space. They'll know if you hesitated to buy that cupcake. They'll know you spent three minutes browsing the burrito options without finding something you wanted. They'll know exactly how long you were in the store, which sections you checked out and of course what items you bought, exactly.

It's likely that Amazon will open the Amazon Go store to the public sometime in the next few months. They will probably have to limit the number of customers allowed in the store at the same time. And the "Just Walk-Out Technology" will make a lot of errors for the next few years, requiring human supervisors to monitor and correct those errors. For the foreseeable future, Amazon Go will be a half-baked mirage.

Amazon will accept losses resulting from errors as the price of learning how to do no-cashier retail. Eventually, the payoff could be huge. Once Amazon makes "Just Walk-Out Technology" reliable and relatively error-free, the company can roll out stores nationwide, then worldwide.

Like self-driving cars, however, automated stores that really work are years away, and for the same reason: A.I. just isn't good enough yet.

Starbuck's Mobile Order & Pay is hot, but still has grande problems

Starbucks is also working on the elimination of cash registers and cashiers. The company's app enables a service called Mobile Order & Pay, where you can order anything on the Starbucks menu via the app and pick it up without interacting with a cashier.

The company last week opened a mobile-only store at its Seattle headquarters.

Here's the company's dirty little secret: Mobile Order & Pay doesn't really work that well. (Starbucks did not return my request for comment.)

Sometimes customers place their order at the wrong store. I've done this myself a few times. That means the product is wasted at the wrong store, and the customer has to wait in line like everybody else at the right store.

Other times customers pick up somebody else's mobile order by accident. (I'm a heavy user of Mobile Order & Pay, and I live in constant fear that somebody else will get my tall drip -- clearly my coffee order reflects who I am as a person -- and I'll get their pumpkin spice latte with 12 shots of coconut syrup.)

Mobile Order & Pay can be great for coffee thieves bold enough to just grab somebody else's order. In stores where this happens frequently, the drinks are placed out of reach, forcing Mobile Order & Pay users to wait for a barista to give them their order.

Starbucks executives have hinted that they're working on perfecting Mobile Order & Pay. But making it function as it should will take years  and the development of more advanced technology.

While Mobile Order & Pay is worthwhile for Starbucks (because their long-line problem is bad, coffee is so cheap and errors are fast and cheap to make right), it actually doesn't work well and isn't exportable to other retail situations that aren't selling what is essentially flavored water.

Apple's 'automation' depends on an army of employees

Apple was the first major retailer to enable a smartphone-based system where you can pick your product and waltz out of the store without interacting with a cashier, launching their EasyPay self-checkout system years ago.

The Apple Store app enables you to process your purchase as if you were buying online, then walk out of the store with the item.

This system isn't especially replicable. Apple doesn't use advanced technology for this feature. And one benefit of self-checkout should include cost savings because fewer employees are required. But with Apple, the opposite is true. The system works to deter theft only because Apple Stores employ dozens of employees, often for stores that are really a small single room.

Apple's system works for Apple because that company sells very expensive items at mass market scale, enabling them to afford an army of watchful employees.

Automated retail is years away

Amazon, Starbucks and Apple create the illusion that the era of automated, smartphone-based brick-and-mortar retail is here.

The truth is that the technology behind these stores doesn't work nearly as well as it appears to. And the systems developed thus far can't be extended to the wider world of retail stores.

Someday, stores will enable you to skip the cash register altogether. But for now, I just don't buy it.
Robert Magoon shows no emotion as he listens with his lawyers as the jury is being polled concerning his guilty verdict on 4 of the 5 counts against him on Friday, April 7, 2017 at Merrimack County Superior Court. GEOFF FORESTERMonitor staff

Robert Magoon is handcuffed after the verdict of guilty was read and his bail was revoked, Friday April 7, 2017 at Merrimack County Superior Court. GEOFF FORESTERMonitor staff

Robert Magoon is handcuffed after he was convicted on four out of five aggravated felonious sexual assault charges Friday at Merrimack County Superior Court. Magoon still faces two other trials related to charges that allege he touched seven girls at the Pines Community Center in Northfield between August 2012 and May 2016 where he was employed as a janitor. GEOFF FORESTER / Monitor staff

A former police officer was found guilty Friday of sexually assaulting a disabled woman at the Pines Community Center where he worked as a maintenance supervisor.

Robert Magoon, 74, of Tilton, was convicted on four out of five aggravated felonious sexual assault charges against him. He is facing two other trials related to accusations that he touched seven girls at the community center between August 2012 and May 2016.

This trial dealt with whether Magoon assaulted the now-29-year-old woman who has a disability that renders her incapable of freely arriving at an independent choice as to whether or not to engage in sexual conduct three separate times between January 2013 and April 2014 while he worked at the Pines in Northfield.

Magoon was found guilty of performing sexual acts on the woman and attempting to have her perform sexual acts on him. The jury began deliberations Thursday afternoon and came out of deliberations around 1:30 p.m. Friday after breaking for the evening.

The case originally included seven aggravated felonious sexual assault charges, but two were dropped on Thursday after Merrimack County Super Court judge Diane Nicolosi ruled the womans testimony was not clear enough to support the charges. Each charge carries the possibility of 10 to 20 years in state prison.

Prosecutor Wayne Coull thanked the jury for their hard work on the case and applauded the victim for testifying. He declined to comment further on the case because of the pending trials, which he is also prosecuting.

The trial centered around the womans testimony, which went on for almost two hours on Wednesday. During that time, the woman, who uses a wheelchair and has speech and cognitive difficulties due to a lack of connective tissue in the brain, answered questions about how Magoon persuaded her to follow him into a community room at the center with the promise of a doughnut three times before sexually assaulting her. And each time, he told her not to tell anyone, a secret she kept for years before her mother asked her in 2016 if something ever happened between her and Magoon.

The defense attempted to poke holes in the womans credibility, relying on testimony from the womans mother and her one-on-one aide that the woman was known to lie, perhaps as a result of her disability, because she could not grasp the consequences of her actions. They also argued there was no evidence the woman was incapable of consenting to sexual activity, despite her being unable to name the body parts where she had been touched and where Magoon forced her to touch by guiding her hand.

But Coull argued that jurors would have to believe the woman was capable of fabricating situations she has no context for, such as sexual encounters. He said several times throughout the trial that the woman has a childlike mind and a black-and-white view on the world. Coull said arguing the woman could invent such allegations made no sense.

Thats a pretty complex, complicated, manipulative thing for someone to do, he said during closing arguments on Thursday. Did you think any of those things when you met her?

Magoons $10,000 cash bail was revoked and he was taken into custody after the verdict. His sentencing is scheduled for July 6, after his other trials are scheduled to begin. The first of those trials is scheduled for jury selection on May 1. Magoon has the ability to file for an appeal 30 days after sentencing.

(Caitlin Andrews can be reached at 369-3309, candrews@cmonitor.com.)
Donald Trumps decision to authorise an airbase controlled by the Syrian military marks a major shift in strategy for what must surely be the most vocally isolationist President since the Second World War.

This is a man who not only attacked his predecessors for their misadventures in the Middle East  a common enough pastime for Republicans and liberals alike  but even threatened to withdraw support for NATO members who arent pulling their weight.

Whilst this u-turn seems unlikely to rile the Presidents crucial blue-collar constituencies, most of whom are far more focused on jobs  its certainly angered that vocal element of Trumps fanbase which sympathises with Vladimir Putin.

It may be that the images coming out of Syrias civil war really did push the President into a u-turn on its own. But its also not hard to see how an admirer of the Putin school of statecraft would be led to taking this sort of step.

After all, the Russian President has carved his country a revived role on the world stage. Despite the Russian economy still lagging far behind its western counterparts they have still managed to get away with armed land grabs in Georgia and Ukraine, and are now throwing their weight around in international theatres such as Syria.

What Putin seems to have, and his opponents to lack, is the will for confrontation.

His successes rest on the inevitable imbalance that occurs when one side is prepared to commit troops and the other isnt. In the past couple of years hes not only watched Barack Obama drawing and re-drawing his red lines over Syria, but seen both the US and the UK fail to back up the assurances they offered Ukraine in 1994 when they persuaded it to give up its nuclear weapons stockpile.

Whos going to value a territorial guarantee from the major NATO powers if the only visible consequence of somebody breaking it is those same powers pointing out that it has, in fact, been broken?

Trump knew that isolationism played well with a war-weary US electorate. But he also wants to be taken seriously abroad, particularly by North Korea, and if he really is a fan of Putin hell have seen how little leverage isolationism (and, he may come to realise, protectionism) give a statesman.

If this is a strategy then the fact it seems to have been a unilateral decision by the President may make it more effective, as it makes it harder for foreign governments to judge how America will respond to provocations.

Of course it may also blow up in the White Houses face.We should resist the urge to project onto Trumps haphazardness any sort of master plan, like the people who thought the slipshod implementation of his travel ban was a deliberate road-test for a coup detat.

In the end, Trump may gravitate towards more traditional right-wing positions on trade and foreign intervention for the simple reason that they give him more opportunities to cut a grand figure on the world stage: signing deals, killing bad guys  and being taken seriously by Putin.

Some prominent Republican critics like Marco Rubio have rallied to him, as Paul explained yesterday, and the LA Times reports that the President finds himself on the same side as the GOPs more traditional hawks. If he keeps this up we might yet see a very different administration to the one he promised as a candidate.
When people go hunting through recently history for an explanation for Brexit, one thing that they often highlight is David Camerons decision to withdraw the Conservatives from the European Peoples Party.

This is the main centre-right bloc in the European Parliament, and counted as members both Angela Merkels CDU and Nicholas Sarkozys UMP (since rebranded as Les Republicains).

Cameron promised to leave in order to stave off Eurosceptics during his leadership bid, eventually forming the European Conservatives and Reformists bloc.

For many, this was the first great misstep, the downpayment on a danegeld which the Tory leader would keep paying until he finally called, and lost, the referendum. It also seemed to put new distance between the British right and their moderate counterparts on the continent.

Yet todays Independent reports that the EPP has just adopted, as official policy, a proposed ban on all Islamic veils. Max Weber, the groups Parliamentary leader and a CDU member, spelt it out: We want a total ban of face covering in the EU.

Another resolution passed at the conference was a call for welfare access to be tied to as-yet-unspecified mandatory integration requirements.

Now this might be little more than posturing: such matters are currently outside the EUs remit, and even formal EPP decisions dont bind associated parties on domestic issues. But reading this sort of talk coming out of the supposedly moderate and socially acceptable face of the pro-European right seems a little ironic, for a couple of reasons.

Not only does it leave this pro-Brexit, Conservative government on the liberal high ground  Theresa May said during a debate on such a ban that she believes  that what a woman wears is a womans choice  but because it seems bizarre that if some of the biggest parties in the EU are willing to consider policies like this they didnt make more of it during the Brexit referendum.

Part of the Remain campaigns handicap was that it had no tough language on immigration to counter-act Vote Leave, which proved decisive. Being able to tout a European plan to force people claiming benefits to assimilate to their host countrys culture sounds like just the sort of thing which might have cut through to some Brexit voters.

Whether or not you think its a good policy, it really does seem bizarre timing  unless, of course, it represents a lesson learned after Brexit.
The hooks were installed under a project to light up the city at night, but have turned out to be a hurdle at day.

A foreign woman hit her face on the ground in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City downtown earlier this week as she tripped over a hook attached to the sidewalk.

The middle-aged woman was with a group of foreigners who were about to cross the street at the Le Loi - Nam Ky Khoi Nghia junction in District 1 when the accident happened Tuesday afternoon.

Two hooks are seen on the sidewalks of District 1. Photo by VnExpress

Local residents said the two hooks, each 7 centimeters (0.2 feet) high, have caused many to fall.

District 1 authorities confirmed Friday that the hooks were installed by a Vietnamese company for light shows during holidays.

They have requested the firm to make a public apology, compensate the injured woman and clear all the hooks from local sidewalks by April 15.

The district authorities started their sidewalk campaign in early February, putting up barriers and dispatching police to stop motorbikes from driving on pavements. Many cars have been towed for illegal parking and constructions destroyed when found taking up walking space.

The project has been widely applauded by locals; but it has also raised concerns for being extreme.

Street vendors across District 1 are possibly the unhappiest. Some baguette vendors were seen crying and yelling when the police seized their shops on wheels, while others have scaled down from a pushcart to a basket so they can run easily.

Vice Chairman Doan Ngoc Hai of District 1 said the campaign aims at reclaiming public space, turning the city's central area into Little Singapore.

I wont hesitate to get into conflicts, Hai has said, adding that he will retire if the campaign fails.

Similar actions have been taken by other districts in Ho Chi Minh City and also spread to major cities in Vietnam.
Some 14.4 million people in Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya need humanitarian assistance, according to the United Nations. In some places, acute food insecurity could soon deteriorate into famine.

Famines are rare, and we dont use the term lightly. In most cases, people face extreme food insecurity and are in need of emergency food assistance without the situation being categorized as a famine, said Matthew Nims, Acting Director of USAIDs Office of Food for Peace, in testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives. In February, the UN declared famine in South Sudan, while regions of three other countriesSomalia, Nigeria and Yemenare teetering on the brink.

Next to South Sudan, Somalia is the country of greatest concern. Here, the effects of the latest drought are exacerbated by conflict, said Mr. Nims. The below-average rainfall of the 2016 October-to-December season has resulted in a harvest forecasted to be 50 to 70 percent below the five-year average.

The conditions are similar to 2011, when nearly 260,000 Somalis died in a famine triggered by what was, at the time, the Horn of Africas worst drought in over 60 years.

But the comparisons stop there. In February, the governments of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia all publicly committed to regional cooperation and cross-border collaboration to tackle both this drought and, through longer-term investments, the underlying fragility that tips vulnerable communities into crisis in recurring droughts, said Acting Director Nims.

Over the past several months, working through USAID and its partners, the U.S. government has accelerated assistance to Somalia, providing food and malnutrition treatment, ensuring drinking water is safe, and improving sanitation and hygiene. And to ensure lasting impact, assistance in Somalia is sometimes linked to activities such as vocational training, designed to help build the resilience of the Somali people.

We remain committed to providing humanitarian assistance around the world as both a moral imperative and as a direct benefit to the well-being of the United States, said Acting Director Nims.

We do this work not only because it is the right thing to do, but also because it is in the interest of the American people and promotes global stability.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson recently traveled to Turkey to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The visit built on three mutual long-term goals: working together to defeat ISIS, also known as DAESH; building stability in the region; and bolstering economic ties between the United States and Turkey.

Turkey is a longstanding NATO Ally and the United States is grateful for Turkeys important contributions as a member of the counter-ISIS coalition.=

Over the past 18 months, the U.S. militarys ability to operate from Turkish bases has enabled the U.S.to increase operations against ISIS by 25 percent without using additional aircraft.

The Turkish government has stopped the influx of foreign fighters into Iraq and Syria. And Turkish troops have permanently pushed ISIS off the Turkish-Syria border.

The United States stands alongside Turkey, "in its fight to stop terrorism directed against its country and its people," said Secretary Tillerson.

Turkey has shown leadership by helping to alleviate the ongoing refugee crisis stemming from the conflict in Syria. In four years, Turkey has accommodated more than 3 million refugees from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and done much to provide them food, shelter, health care, and education.

"We look to Turkey as a key partner for stabilization effort in areas once held by ISIS," said Secretary Tillerson, "and for ensuring our [nongovernmental organization] and UN partners can continue to provide humanitarian relief services inside and outside of Syria."

Secretary Tillerson also urged deeper trade and investment ties with Turkey. "Bilateral trade and goods between our two countries was more than $17 billion in 2016, and were eager to grow that number," he said.

The United States and Turkey share many broad goals: reducing Irans ability to disrupt the region; finding a settlement in Syria that allows Syrians to return home; and supporting Iraqis to build a strong, independent, and inclusive government in Baghdad.

In the United States, said Secretary Tillerson, "the people of Turkey have a trusted ally and a partner who is committed to its safety and security and advancing economic opportunity.We look forward to approaching these challenges together, and the Trump administration will continue to build ties with this longstanding ally" and friend.
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Raymond James: Synnex, Arrow Most Likely Candidates to Buy Westcon-Comstor

Michael Novinson

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Distribution rivals Synnex and Arrow Electronics would be the best fits for purchasing $4.9 billion Westcon-Comstor, according to Raymond James.

The St. Petersburg, Fl.-based financial services company cited numerous technological and financial benefits for Fremont, Calif.-based Synnex or Centennial, Colo.-based Arrow pulling the trigger on a Westcon-Comstor acquisition. Weston-Comstor parent company Datatec Ltd. announced Friday that it's in talks to sell a major share of the struggling Tarrytown, N.Y.-based firm for more than $800 million.

Datatec announced in January that it was negotiating a material transaction, with sources telling CRN at the time that the most likely outcome was the sale of Westcon-Comstor. A couple of days later, Raymond James put out an industry brief examining which potential buyer would make the most sense. The report was written by Raymond James analysts Brian G. Alexander, director of equity research and Adam Tindle, IT supply chain analyst.

[RELATED: Datatec Is In Talks To Sell Major Share of Westcon-Comstor For More Than $800 Million, SAP Snafu Blamed For Earnings Drop]

Purchasing Westcon-Comstor would be a win-win-win for Synnex, Raymond James said, boosting gross profit margins, filling the Cisco void in its line card, and expanding its presence beyond North America and Japan. Synnex is the only North American broadline distributor not carrying Cisco, while 44 percent or $2.16 billion - of Westcon's sales come from its Cisco-exclusive Comstor business.

More than half of Westcon-Comstor's sales come from geographies where Synnex doesn't do business today, with 33 percent  or $1.62 billion  of the distributor's revenue coming from Europe, and 10 percent  or $490 million  of sales coming from each Latin America and Africa and the Middle East. Synnex is the only North American publicly-traded distributor that doesn't do any business in Europe.

For Arrow, buying Westcon-Comstor would immediately give the distributor a larger security footprint, which Raymond James said is a key focus for Arrow's computing business. Westcon-Comstor generated more than $1 billion  or 34 percent  of its overall revenue from selling security products from vendors like Palo Alto, Check Point, F5, Blue Coat (now Symantec) and Cisco, according to Raymond James.

The deal would also give Arrow an IT presence in Asia, better positioning them to compete against value distribution rival Tech Data (formerly Avnet) Technology Solutions. Westcon-Comstor generated 10 percent - or roughly $490 million - of its revenue in the year ended Feb. 28, 2016, from Asia-Pacific; Technology Solutions, meanwhile, had sales in Asia of $1.17 billion for the year ending July 2.

Arrow's global presence would also make it easier for the distributor to find meaningful cost synergies across North America and Europe, Raymond James said. However, Westcon-Comstor's current gross margins of 11 percent are below Arrow's gross margins of 13 percent, according to Raymond James, meaning that Arrow would need to take costs out to make the acquisition profitable.

One industry source who closely follows the distribution market said that they expect significant layoffs at Westcon-Comstor in the wake of any acquisition.

"Not all the employees will survive the acquisition, but those that do will be working for an enhanced business with a steadier and more stable hand with more opportunity going forward," the source said.

The source said all three North American broadline distributors - Ingram Micro, Tech Data and Synnex - would benefit from acquiring Westcon.

"It's an SG&A (Sales, General and Administrative) take out play," the source said. "This is a deal that will significantly increase profitability and shareholder value for any of the distributors that acquire the business. My expectation is that the market will respond favorably to whoever buys the company just as it has to news that Datatec is selling the business."

Datatec's stock closed Friday up 7.1 percent to $4.11 per share. Raymond James said Westcon's net debt of $249 million would likely rule out Tech Data as an acquirer since the Clearwater, Fl.-based distributor's net debt is already more than triple its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) following its $2.6 billion acquisition of Avnet Technology Solutions in February.

However, an unconventional buyer like Chinese conglomerate HNA Group  which purchased Ingram Micro for $6 billion in December  is always a possibility, Raymond James said.

Meanwhile, a transaction the size of acquiring a major share of Westcon-Comstor is likely too large for Greenville, S.C.-based ScanSource, according to Raymond James, which has an enterprise value of just $1.2 billion. Enterprise value is used as a more comprehensive alternative to market capitalization to measure a company's total value.

Arrow, Ingram Micro and Tech Data all declined to comment for this story, while Westcon, Synnex, ScanSource and Harrisburg, Penn.-based D&H Distributing didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

Datatec also revealed Friday that Westcon-Comstor was responsible for a more than 50 percent decline in the $6.5 billion IT conglomerate's earnings per share results for its most recent fiscal year, which ended Feb. 28. The earnings decline stemmed from disruption during the final stages of an SAP implementation in Westcon-Comstor's Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

Westcon-Comstor has reportedly made adjustments to its operating model, which Datatec expects will result in a rapid recovery. The results for $1.5 billion solution provider Logicalis, also owned by Datatec, were in line with management's expectations.

The industry source with knowledge of the distribution market said the deal will allow Datatec to focus squarely on funding the expansion of Logicalis, No. 30 on the CRN Solution Provider 500. Logicalis last month announced the creation of a South African business group based in Cape Town.

"A Westcon-Comstor deal allows Datatec to focus on Logicalis - a cash constrained business with good leadership," said the source.

Steve Burke contributed to this report.
Android Wars

As Samsung launches its new Galaxy smartphone for the year, there are a few different dynamics this time around compared to previous cycles. We're not just talking about the still-lingering ghosts of the fire-prone Galaxy Note 7. There's also a major change in the market, in the form of a new competitor: Google and its premium Pixel smartphone. While the new Galaxy S8 is poised to appeal to legions of users, the Google Pixel may prove to be a bigger threat to Samsung than even the Apple iPhone 7 since the Pixel, of course, runs Android just like the Galaxy S8.

Which of the premium Android phones is a better fit for you? In the following slides, the CRN Test Center lays out how Samsung's Galaxy S8 compares vs. the Google Pixel on specs and price.
Easter will be celebrated on April 16 this year, and there are plenty of opportunities to fill baskets with candy and chocolate made here in Connecticut.

According to a survey by the National Confectioners Association, candy and chocolate play a major role in consumers' Easter celebrations, with 75 percent saying they have shared chocolate or candy with family and friends on the holiday. The National Retail Federation said consumers are expected to spend $2.6 billion on candy this Easter.
JASON LE MIERE

Newsweek

April 6, 2017



Jehovahs Witnesses break the law forbidding extremism when its members refuse blood transfusions, Russias Justice Ministry said Thursday at a Supreme Court hearing on the question of banning the religious group in the country. The ministry added that if the organization is outlawed, its members could be prosecuted individually for extremism.



The Justice Ministry last month suspended the organizations headquarters in St. Petersburg, alleging that its activities violate Russias law on combating extremism." The countrys Supreme Court Wednesday began hearing a case that could outlaw the Jehovahs Witnesses, which has 175,000 members and 395 branches across the country, as an extremist organization.



Jehovahs Witnesses believe the Bible prohibits the ingesting of blood and so refuse to allow blood transfusions or donations. At a session of the Supreme Court Thursday, a spokesperson for the Justice Ministry argued that the stance meant the organization violated the anti-extremism law that was passed following Russias second war in Chechnya in 1999 and 2000 and the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.



Checks have found that the organization is in breach of the law on resistance to extremism, she said,

according to Russian news agency TASS

. In particular, the organizations religious literature forbids blood transfusion for its members in defiance of the doctors recommendation.



The group had been warned in March 2016 that it could be banned if further evidence of alleged extremism was found in the following 12 months.



The religious organization Jehovahs Witnesses has been repeatedly warned by courts of law, but it has taken no required measures to eliminate the violations, the Justice Ministry spokeswoman said.



A representative for the ministry asserted that the Jehovahs Witnesses promoted the idea of their exceptionalism and supremacy over other religions, which similarly violated anti-extremism legislation.



The Supreme Court dismissed a counterclaim from the Jehovahs Witnesses that its members were victims of repression.



The Jehovahs Witnesses have strongly denied the accusations against it, arguing that extremism is profoundly alien to the Bible-based beliefs and morality of members of the faith.



The federal United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said Wednesday that the Justice Ministrys move reflects the Russian governments tendency to view all independent religious activity as a threat to its control and the countrys political stability.



http://www.newsweek.com/russia-jehovahs-witnesses-ban-case-580227
What to do in Pennsylvania if you made an error on your mail-in ballot

The state Supreme Court recently ruled that undated or incorrectly dated mail ballots cannot be counted. Here's what voters can do about an error.
She's the curvy model known for her love of promoting body image positivity on social media.

And The Biggest Loser's host Fiona Falkiner didn't disappoint fans when she proudly showcased her hourglass frame in a tight black off-the-shoulder design on Saturday.

Taking to Instagram, the 36-year-old proudly uploaded the snap and admitted: 'I think curves are cool.'

Scroll down for video

'I think curves are cool': The Biggest Loser host Fiona Falkiner flaunted her curvaceous hourglass frame in a tight black off-the-shoulder frock on Saturday

The TV personality appeared in high spirits with a beaming smile as she posed for the mirror selfie in the figure-hugging dress.

Working her natural assets, she captioned the snap with the hashtag: 'nophotoshop.'

The model's blonde locks were styled in loose waves to hang over her bare decolletage in the strapless number.

Body positive! The former Biggest Loser contestant-turned host is known for flaunting her curvaceous figure, after losing 30kg on the series and becoming a size-14 model

'Agreed!! Curves are sexy!' Many of her 59.3k followers agreed with her body positive message

'Would kill for your curves': Many fans took to he comment section to praise Fiona's figure as their 'goal' and 'inspiration'

Fiona turned heads, and attracted plenty of praise by online commenters, as her waistline, hips and arms were highlighted in the long-sleeved ensemble.

Fiona's simple caption struck a chord with many of her 59.3k followers, who passionately agreed with her caption.

'Agreed!! Curves are sexy!', 'stunning curves are cool', 'curves are gorgeous', 'curves are great' and 'You look amazing! Curves are super sexy!' were just some of the positive words flooding her feed.

Steal her look! After constant questions of where her fans could purchase her chic black frock, Fiona revealed it was a $249 design by Pasduchas

Many users also commented on her stunning picture, writing: 'Goal body! you are my inspiration' and 'you look amazing! You are an inspiration to me.'

Others suggested she was 'such a gorgeous role model' and even added: 'You are my goal I've lost over 40 kgs so far and would kill for your curves @fionafalkiner.'

After constant questions of where her fans could purchase her chic frock, Fiona revealed it was a $249 design by Pasduchas.

Plus-size model Fiona Falkiner (left) opened up about her weight loss journey with Jules Sebastian

While Fiona is vocal about expressing her body confidence, she openly admits how her weight in the past had affected her self-esteem.

She opened up about her struggle with gaining back the weight she fought to lose during the 2006 season of the The Biggest Loser show.

Speaking to lifestyle blogger Jules Sebastian in an episode of Tea with Jules, Fiona recalled being the 'chubby girl' and piling on weight during her teenage years.

'It's funny that what I thought was the bane of my existence, I now celebrate!' the 36-year-old said of her weight now

'I was struggling with self-acceptance, low-esteem and I blamed all of that on my size. I thought that if I was skinny, life would be perfect,' Fiona told Jules.

The 36-year-old said it was a trip to Thailand with her girlfriends that made her want to change her body after she was too embarrassed to wear a swimsuit.

Despite losing 30 kilos on The Biggest Loser in 2006, the Australian beauty said she regained the kilos after leaving the show because she 'hadn't dealt with the reasons why I was the way I was'.

Now the host of The Biggest Loser: Transformed, Fiona is the happiest and healthiest she's ever been. Pictured here with trainers Shannan Ponton (right) and Libby Babet (left)

During the interview, Fiona broke down when she recalls how 'miserable' she felt after putting the weight back on, and how dark her life became.

'I was just in such a miserable place. It was horrible. I got to a point where I was like "something's got to change". I'm so unhappy... and life shouldn't be about being this unhappy,' she said.

'It makes me emotional,' she went on, as tears welled in her eyes. 'It was just a really bad place and no one should ever feel like that.'

The blonde beauty credits her struggles and dark times for making her the person she is today

Fiona Falkiner lost 30 kilos while on the Biggest Loser in 2006 but put it all back on after the show ended

Instead of focusing on just her weight, Fiona decided to take the pressure off herself and practice positive affirmations and doing things that made her happy.

She said she would take five minutes out of her day to remind herself of all she has accomplished.

Fiona Falkiner's top tips for a healthier and happier you Change your mindset - 'You have to learn to love who you are, respect your body and practice self-acceptance.' Make small changes - Cutting out sugar can work for some, or taking the stairs where possible. Make a commitment to yourself - Take an hour out of each day for yourself. Go for a walk, do Yoga or mediate. Stay active to feel good - Exercising doesn't have to be about weight loss. It can be about feeling good and getting some fresh air. Advertisement

'I would give myself a pat on the back for everything I've achieved in life, be grateful and thankful for everything I have,' she said.

'I'd tell myself that I was strong, incredible and that I could achieve anything. It's still something I practice because it sets me up for a good day.'

As someone who is constantly in the spotlight, Fiona said she has learnt to not give in to the how others see her.

'When I used to open a magazine and see photos of myself in a bikini, I'd break down in tears. Now I'm like, how did they find me! I either don't read it or don't care,' she said.

The blonde beauty credits her struggles and dark times for making her the person she is today.

'If I'd never struggled with my weight and if I'd never been tall and curvy, I would never have lived the life that I've lived,' she said.

'It's funny that what I thought was the bane of my existence, I now celebrate!'
Ever since the start of the terrible Syrian conflict six years ago, the British Government has wanted Western military intervention to help get rid of President Bashar al Assad.

But this policy seemed to have failed. Assad appeared close to winning the war, as Trump acknowledged last week when his Press secretary said that Assad staying was a political reality that we have to accept.

But then came Tuesdays dreadful chemical attack on the village of Khan Sheikhoun in north-west Syria.

Instantly, the British and American governments blamed Assad for the horror, and within 72 hours the U.S. launched a revenge missile assault on the airbase from which the chemical attack was believed to have been launched.

'I cannot share the British Governments elation, which evokes the mood in No 10 on the eve of the Iraq war in 2003  with Theresa May now at risk of copying the poodle-like subservience Tony Blair showed to the then U.S. President George W Bush'

The exultation in Whitehall at this turnaround of events is all the greater because it marks such an extraordinary volte-face by Donald Trump. For it is less than three months since he took office and pledged non-intervention in Syria.

In order to counsel Trumps White House team about the folly of this course, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson went to Washington to lobby them.

That attempt may have been fruitless at the time but Trump has now, it seems, been converted to supporting the need for military intervention.

Unfortunately, I cannot share the British Governments elation, which evokes the mood in No 10 on the eve of the Iraq war in 2003  with Theresa May now at risk of copying the poodle-like subservience Tony Blair showed to the then U.S. President George W Bush.

Back then, Blair took us to war on the assurances that it was being done with the noble motive of getting rid of the evil dictator Saddam Hussein, who posed a threat to world peace.

We were told that Western intelligence services (including MI6) had irrefutable evidence that Saddam possessed weapons of mass destruction, which he was ready to use against his own people and the rest of the world.

Similarly, today, we are told with cast-iron certainty that Assad ordered this weeks chemical attack and that he is an evil man in the Saddam mould.

Naturally, President Assad denies using chemical weapons and his claim is backed by his Russian allies.

Indeed, considering that Assad has been in a stronger position than at any point in the past five years, what would be the point in inviting widespread censure for ordering such an illegal and horrific attack?

The truth is that he has all but won the war. It is only a few days since a disappointing international conference was held in Brussels on the Syria situation.

'The truth is that, at present, no one can prove what actually happened during Tuesdays attack. All we know for sure is that Trump ordered an attack on a Syrian airbase in revenge'

Meanwhile, it is important to remember that his beleaguered opponents have never shown a scintilla of concern about slaughtering innocent people and had every reason to orchestrate such an atrocity themselves  and blame Assad  in the hope of triggering Western military intervention which would change the course of the war.

The truth is that, at present, no one can prove what actually happened during Tuesdays attack. All we know for sure is that Trump ordered an attack on a Syrian airbase in revenge.

This brings me to the collusion of the British Government.

Why was Theresa May happy to welcome Trumps intervention  which Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov swiftly pointed out was an illegal assault on a foreign country? I believe that Mrs Mays only responsible course of action should have been to wait until Britains intelligence services could gather the evidence and ascertain the truth about the village attack.

'Why was Theresa May happy to welcome Trumps intervention  which Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov swiftly pointed out was an illegal assault on a foreign country?'

The failure to do this means that, as in Iraq, MI6 risks being used as part of the propaganda arm of government to make the case for war rather than do its real job of reporting soberly on events. If so, we havent learned any of the lessons from the Iraq disaster.

I am convinced that one man in particular is to blame.

He is Matthew Rycroft, Britains permanent representative to the United Nations and a worryingly gung-ho supporter of U.S. military action.

Indeed, he was loudly demanding a response before yesterdays U.S. missile attack.

Unfortunately, Rycroft has form as a hawk. He played a key role behind the scenes as a Downing Street official on the eve of the Iraq war.

'Yesterdays air strikes by America makes that more likely. They will embolden Assads domestic enemies. Russia and Iran will become enmeshed deeper in the crisis'

He was the author of the notorious Downing Street memo which showed that Blair believed that war with Saddam was inevitable eight months before the invasion began and that the Labour PM was committed to support U.S. plans for regime change in Iraq.

Most cynically in that memo, Rycroft recorded that the intelligence and the facts were being fixed around the policy.

This shameful document dictated the tone for the subsequent fabricated dossier on weapons of mass destruction, which falsely set out the basis for going to war with Iraq.

Sadly, this wretched episode did no harm to Rycrofts career, seeing him rise to his current post, which is Britains most important diplomatic job on the world stage.

It is, therefore, no surprise that the man who played a central role in the damnable conspiracy which took Britain to war with Iraq is at it again  banging the drum and demanding military action in Syria.

'It will do nothing at all to help the children such as those killed on Tuesday. On the contrary, thousands more will die. Will we never learn?'

So, what of the future?

I have travelled very widely throughout the Middle East and Syria as a journalist over the past five years and I have to record that these developments chill me to the bone.

This Syrian conflagration has from the start had the dreadful potential to extend into a third world war because bloodshed can spill into neighbouring states and then drag in the superpowers.

Yesterdays air strikes by America makes that more likely. They will embolden Assads domestic enemies. Russia and Iran will become enmeshed deeper in the crisis.

It will extend terribly a war which had appeared to be coming to an end. Millions more refugees will flee to Europe.

It will do nothing at all to help the children such as those killed on Tuesday. On the contrary, thousands more will die.

Will we never learn?

Passport row and why the elite lost

Remoaners stepped up their mockery of Theresa May last week over plans for post-Brexit blue passports

Remoaners stepped up their mockery of Theresa May last week.

They ridiculed suggestions that she approved plans for the post-Brexit return of blue British passports of the type we used before the introduction of the widely-hated burgundy European Union passports.

Such sneers may make those on the liberal Left feel smugly better about themselves but they prove how out of touch they are with the lives of most British people.

Of course, blue passports may have no tangible significance but they symbolise such fundamental issues as national identity and history.

The failure of Remoaners to understand why such things matter explains a lot as to why they lost the referendum last June.

Justice Secretary should ignore critics

Justice Secretary Liz Truss should ignore her small-minded critics says Peter Oborne

Justice Secretary Liz Truss should ignore her small-minded critics.

Indeed, I believe she is one of the Cabinets most capable members. She is well-equipped to see off her enemies who complain about her lack of legal training and whinge that she failed to defend the legal Establishment after it was criticised by the media when the High Court ruled against the Government on Brexit.

Like her predecessor Chris Grayling, shes a victim of the calamitous constitutional tinkering done by the Blair government. It downgraded the position of Lord Chancellor  formerly occupied by grandees such as Lord Hailsham  to a low-ranking Cabinet post, making the job more difficult.

This administration should reverse the damage and give this ancient post back the dignity it deserves.
Wave after wave of Tomahawk cruise missiles raining on a remote Syrian military base. This was the swift and brutal revenge from an outraged President Donald Trump for a deadly chemical attack on innocents by president Bashar Al-Assad.

Its a compelling narrative thats being spun by the White House  but Im not buying it.

To my mind, there is a much more credible  and far more disturbing  explanation for this terrifying turn of events.

The missile attack on a Syrian military base was a compelling narrative from the White House

It is being sold as a simple story about good versus evil but it may be far more disturbing

Did Donald Trump sanction this missile attack to boost is low opinion poll ratings at home?

Rather than a simple story about good versus evil, this missile attack is more likely to have been a grotesquely manipulated media spectacle, a clownish political stunt planned and shamelessly pulled off by Trump to boost his popularity at home.

What is beyond doubt is that there are many parts of the official story that, even at this early stage, do not appear to make any sense whatsoever.

Take, for instance, Trumps extraordinary overnight transformation from isolationist and critic of foreign military intervention in Syria, in particular, to bellicose war-monger calling for Assads head.

This is a man who spent the entire election campaign castigating his opponent Hillary Clinton for fomenting war against the Syrian regime. Now, weeks into his presidency, he is on the verge of starting one himself.

One question is why attacking Syria suddenly took on such urgency two days ago.

There was no logical reason why Trump could not have waited until his intelligence services had irrefutable proof that it was indeed Assad who ordered the chemical attack.

This is especially baffling because, in the past, Trump himself had been deeply sceptical at reports that Assad had killed his own people in this way.

Could it be that this US strike was timed to have the strongest emotional impact on the American people, while the images of dying Syrian children were fresh in the mind?

Trump sanctioned the attack after seeing images of dead children killed in a chemical strike

Trumps remarkable embrace of humanitarian interventionism, he said, occurred after he saw those pictures of the horrific chemical attack in Syria, which left dozens of civilians dead. It was a tragedy, for sure, but politicians do not change a lifetimes conviction based on their reaction to a single, isolated incident.

Indeed, all the evidence suggests that, when it suits him, he is more than happy to deal with monsters.

After all, just a week before this massacre in Syria occurred, Trump had hosted Egyptian dictator Abdel Fattah el-Sisi at the White House.

The latter came to power by massacring at least 1,000 innocent men, women and children taking part in a peaceful protest, and then overthrowing the democratic government they were supporting.

He has since ruthlessly stifled all dissent against his iron-fisted rule at home. His police force  among the most vicious in the world  routinely torture prisoners, and Egypts jails are jam packed with at least 30,000 political prisoners.

Trump has ignored the human rights abuses of leaders in Egypt and Saudi Arabia

However, Trump dismissed out of hand calls to raise the issue of human rights during the meeting, instead heaping praise on his Egyptian counterpart. A few weeks earlier, he had embraced Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto leader of the tyrannical royal family in Saudi Arabia.

Leaving aside that countrys abysmal human rights record, as its defence minister he is personally responsible for having launched a war against Saudis impoverished neighbour, Yemen, in the process killing and maiming thousands of children and cruelly leaving more than half of those who are still alive slowly dying of starvation.

Again, not a peep from Trump about any of that  and I can assure you there will not be in the future, or about El-Sisi, however brutal his rule becomes.

Where there is no consistency there is only hypocrisy. Thats why I believe Trumps singling out of Assad this week is, to my mind, pure political expediency.

There is, in other words, a cold and calculated method to his madness.

At home in America, with the exception of cutting the inflow of illegal immigration, he has been a dismal failure of a president thus far.

He has failed to repeal the previous administrations national healthcare policy, Obamacare, having promised to do so. His flagship tax reforms seem similarly doomed.

Unsurprisingly, his polling figures are staggeringly low, especially for a president who has just taken office. Now, by attacking Syria, he has, it seems, cynically taken a leaf out Bill Clintons book.

The latter gained notoriety, we should recall, for conveniently firing off missiles at Iraq whenever his sordid affair with Monica Lewinsky was in the headlines.

By launching a $5 billion firework show yesterday, Trump ensures that he will no longer be dogged by accusations that he is a puppet of Russian president Vladimir Putin, who is of course the primary ally of president Assad.

Now he has flexed Americas muscles, watch how, in a frenzy of patriotism, the Congress and Senate on Capitol Hill in Washington suddenly warm to his domestic agenda; how his poll numbers will rise.

Already CNN, Trunps most vicious and relentless critic among the cable networks until now, is excitedly hailing the golden dawn of his new presidency.

Vladimir Putin appears to accept that the missile strike was a cynical charade

We can only be grateful that Putin appears to have seen Thursday nights charade for what is was.

He knows this action was for domestic consumption, and Trump is already reassuring him this was a one-off event  after warning him well in advance that the missiles were on the way and that the Syrian airbase should be evacuated.

So what of those in America who voted for Trump on the strength of his promise to end reckless military adventurism abroad, and forge closer ties with Russia in order to fight Islamic State?

Those people have to live with the terrifying reality that the leader of the free world is just another charlatan and hypocrite.

He is, it seems, willing to sell out his principles and even risk starting World War III  all just to massage his ego and further his vaunting political ambitions.
Rising star: Vogue Williams - aided by Virginia Macari Beachwear Couture - made it to page three of The Sun

When Pippa Middleton marries next month, she must be hoping that all eyes will again be on the most famous almost-Royal rear in history as it wiggles down the aisle.

Yea, she must be hoping to repeat her headline-grabbing performance as Maid of Honour at the Royal Wedding on April 29, 2011, that special day that will go down in our island story as the moment when the eligible bachelorette (US networks) or Chelsea Party girl (Tatler) or Her Royal Hotness (everyone else) went supersonic.

This fairytale transformation took place in Westminster Abbey in front of a global audience of two billion but, as you will remember, it was all thanks to the astonishing indulgence of her older sister. Kate somehow allowed little sis to wear a clinging white satin gown and process up the aisle with a gaggle of pages and bridesmaids as if she was star of the show.

Now, I have heard that Kate demanded that the seams of her sisters Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen dress be let out before the ceremony so it wasnt quite so figure-hugging, but if true, that didnt work out. Pippas Bum still began trending and had its own Instagram account before the service was over.

So isnt it ironic that, six years later, a woman with such, ah, cheeky form when it comes to upstaging the bride is said to be banning unattached girlfriends from her own wedding.

The couple (ie Pippa) is said to have decreed that its no ring, no bring when it comes to plus ones: a diktat that rules out reality TV star and model Vogue Williams, 31  the current GF of groom James Matthewss bro, Spencer.

It also rules out the actress and activist Meghan Markle, who is Prince Harrys steadier girlfriend.

Pippa Middleton holds up her sister Kate's dress at the Royal Wedding in 2011

Why oh why is she banning her celebrity future in-laws from bringing their stunning girlfriends, I wonder?

A tiny clue, like a stray rose petal, may be found in the wedding last month of Prince Harrys wingman, Tom Skippy Inskip, in Jamaica.

Hardly any pictures of the bride, Lara Someone-Someone, made it into the papers. It was all the loved-up Prince and Meghan in the Caribbean, jamming in their shades. As for Vogue Williams  well, have you seen her? She was all over The Suns page three last Friday, kneeling on a beach, bright pink cozzie slashed to the navel. Exactly.

We can all see why the bride doesnt want competition, but tip for Pippa: a wedding is not all about you. Its about uniting two families as much as two individuals. As the new BBC2 series Alone With The In-Laws reveals, its very important to get along with your other halfs family before two tribes become one.

OK, Vogue may not be in vogue with Spencer for ever, and a publicity-hungry telly babe, but she could equally be your future sister-in-law, as could Meghan.

On that basis alone, its probably not a great idea to exclude them from your wedding.

It looks small and, worse, it looks as if youre worried that someone even younger and prettier than you will hog the limelight. But please dont worry. When a scene-stealer gets married, it doesnt automatically create a vacancy.

So send the stiffies out, Pippa  extend the same generous hand to all your future possible sisters-in-law as your own sister did to you.

Jamie Vardys missus Rebekah has showed off her mum tum, saying: I have a wobbly tummy, bigger legs, wrinkled skin and stretch marks, just like any woman does when shes had a baby.

She says shes done the shoot to expose the unrealistic pressure on women to lose their baby weight.

I think she looks great in her post-partum glory, but Im afraid we all know too many new mums who seem to snap back into bikinis straight away without even trying to. Boo hoo. Lifes not fair, Bekah.

Poor Mel was asking for trouble

Former Spice Girl, Mel B, has accused her husband, Stephan Belafonte, of beating her, getting the nanny pregnant, and forcing her to have threesomes with Playboy Bunnies

A former Spice Girl, Mel B, has accused her husband of beating her, getting the nanny pregnant, and forcing her to have threesomes with Playboy Bunnies (!).

Im not letting the Hollywood hubby off the hook. But as the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents points out, most mishaps take place in the home.

Importing a Rhinemaiden half your age, with ice-blonde looks, who seems to live in white bikinis, into your nest must count as a preventable accident.

Mel B must accept some of the blame for what took place under her roof  as well as the Playboy Mansion.

Everyones talking about supermodel Kendall Jenner, 21, who plays a supermodel who joins a peace protest and magically ends a stand-off between a young rainbow rabble and armed fuzz by handing a hunky Latino cop a can of pop.

Everyones watching the one commercial thats taught the world to cringe in perfect harmony. As far as I can see, its all been a total success.

Last week Fay Weldon said that some men who transition do it only because they like dressing up in womens clothes. She said sexual harassment used to be called welcome attention.

She said feminism is a hideous fad for female professionals under 30  and capped it all off by saying that most mums would much rather stay home looking after their babies than go out to work.

Isnt it wonderful that Mrs Weldon, 85, keeps us all entertained in this way? Shes clearly past caring.

And she knows that beyond the squeaky snow-globe of the Twitter-sphere, there is a multitude of elders who agree with her every word.
Australian author Kim McCosker has lifted the lid on the simple yet clever tips on how you can turn your leftovers into delicious meals.

The founder of the popular 4 Ingredients cookbooks has urged families to think twice before throwing away half-eaten food.

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, the mother-of-three revealed how to make the most of your leftovers in an effort to save time and money in the process - and the healthy food ideas to pack in a child's lunchbox.

The 47-year-old, from Queensland's Sunshine Coast, has included multiple tips, including how to turn white bread into a Devonshire tea cake and roast chicken to gourmet enchiladas.

Australian author Kim McCosker (pictured) has lifted the lid on the simple yet clever tips on how you can turn your leftovers into delicious meals

The mother-of-three has revealed tips on how you can turn leftover chicken roast into a delicious enchiladas cake (right)

ROAST CHICKEN

Usually what I do with leftovers from a Sunday roast, I would strip off all the meat. To make an enchiladas cake, it's great to use roast chicken. Using chicken, salsa and shredded cheese - layer these ingredients in a baking tray - similar to lasagna. So put a layer of a tortilla wrap, stripped chicken, salsa and cheese - and repeat. It's easy, delicious and the kids will love it.

Kids love Mexican - so using leftover roast meat, salsa and shredded cheese for tortilla wraps or tacos are always a great idea.

RICE

Sometimes, when I have leftover rice, I would make a pizza base. In a mixing bowl, add the rice, whisk up some eggs, add salt, pepper and herbs - then mix it altogether. Get a cake tin, line it up with baking paper then bake it. Take it out of the oven, then add your toppings before putting it back into bake. Little kids love these.

You can also use rice to fill meatballs.

The popular author advised to use leftover white bread to make a Devonshire tea cake (right)

WHITE BREAD

I use leftover white bread to make a delicious Devonshire tea cake. This recipe uses just three ingredients. First off, trim off its crust and whip up some cream. Layer a slice of bread with butter on one side - plain side looking up - in a tray, then place the cream over, another layer of bread, strawberry jam and cream - repeat.

When you cut into it, you get a lovely layer of smooth cream spongecake. I served it with fresh blueberries and strawberries. It's gloriously delicious.

After picking off coriander leaves, Ms McCosker suggests keeping the stems for soups

CORIANDER

You know when you buy a bunch of coriander, you pick all the leaves to make a guacamole for example - and all that's left are the stems and roots? All the real flavours are in the stem. Don't throw it away. Chop up the stems, an onion and carrots [never peel the carrots, all the fibre are in the skin] - put them into a saucepan, add vegetable stock and bring it to boil then let it simmer - this makes the most delicious coriander and carrot soup.

I'm usually really busy so I don't have time to sauteed my onion unless I'm making a French onion soup, I would fry it off to get the best flavours.

HALF-USED VEGETABLES

What I usually do with leftover vegetables, let's say you have a quarter of a capsicum, half an onion, a carrot or two and one corn cob left from a tray - I would dice them up and put it all into a saucepan. Then, I'll add vegetable stock and tomato paste - you'll have a delicious minestrone soup. Leftover vegetables are perfect for soups.

SPAG-BOL LOG Makes two 1 sheet puff pastry, just thawed 2 tablespoons Mixed herbs 1 cup leftover spaghetti bolognese or cooked mince 12 cup (50g) mozzarella cheese, grated Onto your sheet of pastry, smear the Italian herbs, top with spag-bol sauce and sprinkle with cheese. Roll up into a big log and slice into 1.5cm thick slices. Place on a paper-lined baking tray and bake in a preheated 180C oven for 2025 minutes. From 4 Ingredients Kids, page 104 Advertisement

WHAT TO PACK IN A CHILD'S LUNCHBOX?

'I'm a busy mother to three boys, aged 15, 12 and nine, so I have to prepare their lunch boxes the night before,' Ms McCosker told Daily Mail Australia.

'I usually pack one or two choices of protein and a piece of fruit for the boys everyday. I also make salads, wraps or even bread rolls.

'One thing kids love is honey soy chicken, chicken wings or drum sticks - so I usually make a big batch - and give them three to four pieces each.

'Cooking Mexican is another great idea for lunch. I would make extra mince for dinner so there's enough to make burritos for lunch.

'I always buy bacon when its on sale so I make BLT [bacon sandwiches] - very easy to make and the boys love them.

'Another thing I like to pack are boiled eggs. Eggs are packed full of protein - so they're perfect for growing boys.

'We do a lot of dips as well. Dips are a good one in lunchboxes - great way to eat them with carrot and celery sticks.'

The founder of 4 Ingredients said it was important for families to make a weekly meal plans

The busy mother of three said it's important to have fresh fruits and vegetables for the family

CARROT AND CORIANDER SOUP Serves four 2L vegetable stock 1 large onion, chopped 6 stems fresh coriander, roots included 8 organic carrots, roughly chopped Heat vegetable stock gently and add roughly chopped coriander leaves and roots, onion and carrots. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer until the carrots are tender. Season with pepper before blending. Optional: Before serving, swirl some sour cream through if desired. Advertisement

Ms McCosker said she also likes to surprise her children with sweet treats.

'I generally tend to do a slice on a Sunday so it would get us through the week. Sweet treats also give a good balance. I'll make a chocolate brownie or M&M slice.'

The author said it was also important for parents to speak to their children about their preferences for lunch.

'I try to engage with my kids,' she said.

The Queensland mother is famously known for her popular 4 Ingredient cookbooks

'I don't want them to take my food just to make me happy and then throw it in the bin later. I would rather they tell me what they like in their lunchbox.

'Sometimes, the boys just want sausages so I would make a tortilla sausage wrap with hummus, grated cheese and barbecue sauce.'

And finally, she said it was important for every household to make a weekly meal plan for the family.

'Have a weekly plan, sit down and write down what you're going to make for the week and the ingredients you need to buy - write what you don't have,' she said.

'Statistics show $25 of every $100 spent on grocery ends up in garbage waste. I'm a very frugal person, I cannot do waste.

'I can guarantee you, you will save a lot of money in the kitchen, without a doubt.'

TOP SEVEN MUST-HAVE INGREDIENTS IN EVERY HOUSEHOLD

Ms McCosker said eggs were one of her top ingredients to have in every household

'Good stock. I use the Massel brand because it's an Australian based company and I love supporting Australian made products,' Ms McCosker said.

'My honest belief is if you have eggs, you always have a meal - so I always have eggs in my home.

'I always have a packet of puff pastry because you can make sweets, savoury and main appetisers - it's a really good ingredient.

'Another one would have to be tomato paste. For only $1, they are perfect for soups - it adds richness to the flavour. Doesn't matter what you cook, it's the star ingredient and has a lovely concentrated flavour.

'And without a doubt, fruits and vegetables and proteins.

'Just remember, the healthiest restaurant in the world is your own kitchen.'

Kim McCosker hosts Living Fresh with Ed Phillips M-T at 2.00pm on the new Talking Lifestyle radio network: Sydney on 954 AM, Melbourne on 1278 AM and Brisbane on 882 AM.
Crown Princess Mary looked elegant and relaxed as she was greeted with smiles in a recent visit to a school in Bangledesh.

The 45-year-old royal wore an eye-catching garland made from pretty white and red flowers while visiting Barisal village, an area recently impacted by flooding and storms as a result of climate change.

Princess Mary was joined by Danish politician Ulla Tornaes as they stepped out to review strengthening women's economic opportunities.

Princess Mary visited the village of Barisal in a recent trip to Bangladesh

The future queen looked happy and relaxed as she met with women in the community

The pair visited a Farmer Field School where women are taught skills to enable them to earn a higher income, like agriculture management and farming, according to bdnews24.

The royal kept her look simple yet fresh while wearing a white blouse and beige trousers.

Her effortless style was on form sweeping her brown locks into a high bun with sunglasses.

On the same trip, she was pictured looking chic and stylish exuding her natural fashion-sense wearing a loose trousers and blush long-sleeved shirt.

Her hair was loose, pushed to one side with minimal accessories.

The Danish beauty was greeted with smiles at a Farmer Field School where she was gifted flowers

Princess Mary was joined by Danish politician Ulla Tornaes to review economic opportunities for women in the area

Her effortless style illustrated from head to toe sweeping her brown locks into a high bun with sunglasses

Princess Mary was spotted wearing loose trousers and blush long-sleeved shirt

The captivating princess and Minister Tornaes were accompanied by the Danish Ambassador to Bangladesh Mikael Hemniti Winther, at the Jaago Foundation, which is behind a number of schools around Bangladesh.

The project is commandeered by young volunteers.

Princess Mary, who is married to Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, met and spoke with a number of women who are involved in expanding development for the area.

The visiting crown princess took time to look at a rural infrastructure project.

Denmark and the Local Government Engineering Department support an initiative which employs women into building strong roadways, to act as go-betweens for schools, villages and cyclone shelters.

The wife of Prince Federik met and spoke with a number of women who are involved in expanding development for the area

In a statement she said 'Women are critical drivers of development and the women I have just met once again confirmed this.

Despite living under the constant threat of climate change and other hardships, these strong women continue to strive for a better future for themselves and their families,' bdnews24 reported.

Minister Tornaes revealed Denmark will commit $4.4 million to support climate strengthening initiatives in Bangladesh.
Theres no doubt that without foreign workers the NHS would collapse. This fact was used by Remainers as a reason why Brexit will be disastrous for the NHS. They argue that without free movement, the NHS will face a staffing crisis.

What rot! Having control of our borders will mean that we are able to choose who can come in.

We will, therefore, be able to allow into this country those from the EU who have skills that we need, just as we currently do for those coming from outside the EU.

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A House of Lords committee has now waded into the issue, saying that the NHS is too reliant on foreign staff and blamed successive governments for failing to plan

In fact, just over 25 per cent of the NHS medical workforce is from outside the EU  countries such as India  compared with the 10 per cent from the EU.

But why is the UK so reliant on staff from overseas in the first place? What happened?

Britain was once at the forefront of the development of biomedicine. We are head and shoulders above other nations in our contribution towards medical science. From penicillin to DNA, our discoveries have changed the course of history.

So why cant we organise ourselves well enough to train sufficient doctors and nurses to keep the NHS afloat?

The current situation in which the NHS needs to recruit staff from all over the world, while celebrated by some of the liberal elite as evidence of how inclusive and tolerant we are as a nation, makes me profoundly uncomfortable.

Why is it celebrated that we effectively steal the best medical staff from impoverished, struggling countries? Why is it that we have to import staff  who may not fully understand the language, culture or practices of our country  as a matter of routine?

A House of Lords committee has now waded into the issue, saying that the NHS is too reliant on foreign staff and blamed successive governments for failing to plan. It argues that our reliance on foreign workers is the biggest threat to the NHS.

I completely agree. Ive seen this myself in psychiatry. In some areas of the country, nearly half of posts are unfilled simply because there arent the staff for them. This means trusts increasingly have to recruit from abroad.

Things are so dire that they will employ people who, frankly, I wouldnt trust to look after my goldfish. One former colleague told me she had struggled to get work in her own country, so came here because she knew shed walk into a job.

But if she was not deemed good enough for a job in her own country, why is she considered good enough in ours?

In one hospital where I worked, they recruited health care assistants (HCAs) from outside the EU. The interview was conducted in local dialect by a local recruiter, and one of the HCAs arrived not being able to speak a word of English. Not a word. I had to teach her how to say Good Morning to the patients.

Just over 25 per cent of the NHS medical workforce is from outside the EU  countries such as India  compared with the 10 per cent from the EU

How could she be expected to take blood pressure readings, record the results and then tell me if there was a problem? How could she reassure anxious patients if she could not even speak to them?

Recently, a wholly unhelpful sensitivity has sprung up around talking about this, yet it has to be said: many of these recruits struggle with English, have limited written communication skills and are from different cultures with different attitudes and beliefs. Why is it considered racist to be concerned that patients cant understand the nurse trying to explain something to them?

While were wasting money left, right and centre in the NHS on managers and paper-pushers who contribute absolutely nothing to the welfare of patients, why cant the money be channelled into training adequate numbers of staff to meet our needs?

We rely on more overseas health staff than any other European country. What an embarrassment.

Rather than giving ourselves a self-satisfied pat on the back that we employ staff from all over the world, we should acknowledge that the reason we do this is because of our own ineptitude at workforce planning and hang our heads in shame.

Don't feel guilty if you need a nap

Its long been said that as you get older, you sleep less.

But this has now been shown to be a myth, with extensive research from the University of California published this week showing that older people need just as much sleep as their younger counterparts.

Im fascinated by sleep because so many patients complain about difficulties with it and I was fortunate to work many years ago with a boss who was an expert in sleep in older people. He argued that our whole sleeping routine is wrong.

Until the invention of the electric light, people would typically have two sleeps rather than one.

They would sleep for a few hours once it got dark, then wake and go about jobs or talk for a few more hours, then go back to sleep.

This appears to be much more akin to how our bodies are actually designed when it comes to sleep cycles. Modern life has meant that we have to cram our sleep into one spell, which we are not naturally inclined to do.

Until the invention of the electric light, people would typically have two sleeps rather than one

Whats interesting is that, freed from the constraints of employment, lots of older people do seem to adopt this pattern of two sleeps.

They have a snooze mid-afternoon, then have a shortened sleep at night. Theyre still getting their seven to nine hours of sleep a day, its just split up. My former boss was convinced this was better for us and more refreshing.

Its true that some older people do develop sleep problems later in life because, as the brain ages, the parts that regulate sleep degrade, meaning theres less deep sleep. Insomnia was a very common complaint when I worked in care homes. However, it was often a complicated issue.

One of the aspects of care homes that really makes my blood boil is the way that the lives of the residents are often expected to revolve around the staff shift patterns. So, typically, residents would be woken at 8am and given breakfast, lunch would be served around 11.30am, then supper at about 4.30pm, followed by bed.

Then, thered be complaints that residents wouldnt be able to sleep  well, of course they couldnt! Their entire sleep pattern was disrupted because they were forced to lie in bed for extended periods of time. Anyone who wanted to go to bed at a normal time of, say, 10.30pm, but who required assistance, was refused because this would disrupt the night-shift routine.

Id often be asked by nursing staff to prescribe sleeping tablets for residents because they had insomnia, when in fact they were getting all the sleep they needed and were awake simply because theyd been in bed for too long.

It made me wonder how many prescriptions for sleeping tablets in nursing homes are really necessary  and how many are given to force the residents to fit in with the staff.

Finally! A cure for cold callers

Those with severe mental illness or dementia, the elderly or very isolated people can all too easily be hoodwinked by cold callers

Cold callers are the scourge of modern life. They are a bothersome irritation that seem to me to serve no real benefit to humanity at all.

But while theyre a tolerable pain to most people, for some, they are a real menace.

Those with severe mental illness or dementia, the elderly or very isolated people can all too easily be hoodwinked into parting with money.

Before she died a few years ago, my gran was under siege from companies  many of them charities  bothering her for money.

I first realised it was a problem when I overheard her giving out her card details on the phone. She explained that at least once a day, someone would call and ask for money.

It transpired that in addition to the phone calls, she was receiving three to five letters a day. She showed me a pile she was in the process of replying to, and each time she handwrote a letter and attached a cheque for a small sum.

She sent them money in the hope theyd leave her alone, but it just seemed to make it worse.

Make no mistake, this kind of behaviour is harassment and its been going on for too long. So Im pleased to say the Government has finally stepped in.

This week, it announced a scheme where people with dementia will be able to have call-blocking devices installed.

So far theres funding for only 1,500 devices, yet there are 850,000 people with dementia. Its a drop in the ocean. But I really hope the scheme can be expanded so more can use it.

There were warnings this week that some online pharmacies are giving out prescription medication with only very brief assessments  some lasting just 17 seconds.

The Care Quality Commission  the health watchdog  warned this could be putting patients at risk and has tried to clamp down on the practice.

But would it not be better to try to understand why these online pharmacies are so popular in the first place? The reason is that when its so hard to get a GP appointment, they offer a convenient alternative.

I suspect it would be far easier to try to improve access to GPs, rather than trying to police the internet.
A Greek lawyer who doctors said was a 'lost cause' has revealed she is expecting twins after having experimental treatment that could reverse the menopause.

Natalia endured six failed rounds of hormone therapy and was looking to adopt after she was diagnosed with congenital ovarian failure.

But the 40-year-old 'dived right in' when she learned about the technique, which is said to rejuvenate the reproductive organs by injecting blood plasma into the ovaries and womb.

She was ecstatic to discover that she had conceived just nine days after the PRP injection and is now ten weeks pregnant.

Greek lawyer Natalia, who doctors said was a 'lost cause', has revealed she is expecting twins after having experimental treatment that could reverse the menopause (stock photo)

'I had nothing to lose. Doctors had already told me I was a lost cause. But then a miracle followed,' Natalie told The Times.

She is the first woman to become pregnant naturally after having the therapy, doctors said.

'It's crazy,' Natalia admitted. 'I still can't believe it.'

It comes after two women who were thought to be infertile became pregnant through a technique said to rejuvenate the reproductive organs.

The women  one aged 40 and one 39  had blood plasma injected into their ovaries and womb.

It is thought to be the first time a treatment has enabled menopausal women to become pregnant using their own eggs.

It comes after two women who were thought to be infertile became pregnant through a technique said to rejuvenate the reproductive organs

If the success is confirmed the technique could allow women to remain fertile for longer  and give hope to those who go through early menopause.

One of the women is now six months pregnant. The other miscarried in the first trimester.

The procedure was carried out at the Genesis Athens Clinic in the Greek capital. Dr Kostantinos Sfakianoudis, the clinic's director, said around 180 women had had the treatment  some with the hope of getting pregnant and others to help control symptoms of the menopause, including hot flushes and thinning hair.

Dr Sfakianoudis said yesterday: 'We've had two pregnancies, one is ongoing, the other reached the first trimester. For the moment, these are the first two that have been achieved.'

Many of the women having treatment had stopped having periods  but the technique helped them recover this and also helped their hormone levels to improve, Dr Sfakianoudis said.

'The results so far are very promising,' he added. Dr Sfakianoudis said he is preparing a scientific paper on the results, and also to carry out further controlled trials.

Exactly how the plasma rejuvenates the reproductive organs is unclear. A possible explanation is that it revives stem cells in the ovary, causing it to release more eggs.

A further possibility is that the injection reconfigures the blood supply in the ovary, reviving an egg producing area.

One of the two women, a 40-year-old from Germany, had wanted a second child for more than six years, and had endured six unsuccessful IVF attempts.

She told the New Scientist magazine: 'I had given up on trying to get pregnant. To me, it's a miracle'.

Following the treatment in Athens, she had returned home where she had standard IVF treatment. After stimulation with hormones, she released three eggs, two of which could be fertilised. One egg was successfully implanted.

She added: 'Everything is going well. It's a girl.'

If the success is confirmed the technique could allow women to remain fertile for longer

The other woman, a 39-year-old from the Netherlands, was treated as she had not had a period for four years, and had shown other signs of the menopause.

She had hoped to start a family, and received treatment in December 2016. She began menstruating again after her treatment.

In the Netherlands, she received IVF treatment and also became pregnant. Unfortunately she miscarried last week.

Dr Sfakianoudis said despite the miscarriage, the result was 'extremely encouraging'.

Dr John Randolph at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, who was not involved in the study, said it was too early to draw firm conclusions before rigorous trials had been conducted.

He told New Scientist: 'Anything that might help ovaries regain function would be fabulous. A lot of people have high hopes of doing something like this.'

The oldest woman treated by Dr Sfakianoudis with the technique was 52.

He said it was not for him to judge how old is too old to start a family. He added: 'Some people might not meet their partners until later in life. If there is a treatment that will help them, then why not use it?'

Dr Sfakianoudis plans to carry out trials of his treatment in Greece and the US.

Platelet-rich plasma  the blood product injected into the ovaries  has been used to stimulate the growth of tissue and blood vessels in damaged bones and muscles. But it has not been shown to work in ovaries before.
Creating The Countryside: Thomas Gainsborough To Today

Compton Verney, Warwickshire Until June 18

Rating:

Just how important is the countryside to the British? Its a matter of life and death, according to Frank Newboulds iconic Second World War propaganda poster, in which a shepherd follows his flock across a soft green arcadia of southern English downland, the Channel glinting in the distance.

The 1942 lithograph  showing no warplanes or tanks, just the slogan Your BRITAIN fight for it now  is one of the most resonant images in Compton Verneys new show.

The exhibition uses both little-known and major British painters, including Turner, Constable, Gainsborough and Stubbs, as well as contemporary artists like Grayson Perry and Mat Collishaw, to explore the evolution of our artistic representations of the countryside.

A Farmer And His Prize Heifer by an unknown artist, about 1844, is one picture in Compton Verney's exploration of the evolution of our artistic representations of the countryside

There could hardly be a more fitting venue for this show than Compton Verney. An always intriguing country-house gallery, its grounds were laid out by Capability Brown in 1768, an act that was itself an artistic intervention attempting to perfect the countryside.

Like many great British ideas, this was borrowed from the Continent, as evidenced early in the show by a delightful chalk, pen and ink sketch by Claude Lorrain, Youth Playing A Pipe In A Pastoral Landscape, from 1645, which recreates the country around 17th-century Rome as a classical dreamscape.

The Lorrain is just one of several impressive loans, including Gainsboroughs wonderfully strange portrait of his daughter as a ragdoll-like agricultural labourer.

Also on show is Thomas Gainsborough's portrait of his daughter, Margaret Gainsborough Gleaning (above), which is a classic example of the popular 18th century fancy picture

Margaret Gainsborough Gleaning, from the late 1750s, is a fancy picture, an 18th-century style wherein the wealthy were portrayed as rural peasants  a habit the weekending well-off in their corduroys and blousons have hung on to.

Compton Verney has also bagged one of the ultimate artistic representations of rural Englishness, or at least part of it.

John Constables Willy Lotts House, an oil on canvas from 1816, shows the same house by the water immortalised in The Mill Stream and The Hay Wain by a painter who moved to the metropolis but always hankered after his Suffolk home.

The house appears here again in Peter Kennards anti-Cold War Haywain With Cruise Missiles, from 1980, which, loading the famous cart with warheads, appears to reverse Newboulds message: dont fight for it now.

The 'Fight For Britain' message of Frank Newboulds iconic WWII propaganda poster appears to be reversed in Peter Kennards 1980 anti-Cold War Haywain With Cruise Missiles (above)

It seems we have always loaded the countryside with our moral concerns. The Romantics, appalled by the squalor of coming industrialisation, looked to the Celtic fringes for a purifying wildness.

Turners Cilgerran Castle, 1799-1800, has all the necessary prerequisites  a tumbling burn, a craggy Welsh outcrop, an enchanted wood and a dark tower.

Only a generation before, the countryside was sold to us as a place of agricultural production under benign rural squirarchy, seen in George Stubbs and the giant pigs and bulls of English naive art.

In Stubbss 1783 oil on panel Reapers theres a glorious horse, all flanks and sheen, but its the suspiciously clean peasants and the jug of cider cooling in the shade that grab the eye.

The exhibition's subtitle is From Gainsborough To Today and Fantasy Village, 2006 from Grayson Perry (above) is one of the more contemporary items on display

A century of industrial revolution and social turmoil later and it was no longer possible to paint contented country folk. In the Glasgow Boy painter Sir James Guthries mesmerising A Hinds Daughter, from 1883, a child labourer stands in the cabbage field and, harvesting knife in hand, she drills her eyes into the comfortable gallery-goer.

Guthries fellow Scot John Robertson Reid ladles on the squalor with Toil And Pleasure, from 1879. Peasants work in the fields as toffs charge by on a hunt.

Its over-romantic, indebted to the French, and has more turnips than any other painting, but shows Reids sense of theatre.

Theres more theatre in Compton Verneys grounds, where, in a project called The Clearing, conceptual artists have built a shelter in the woods by Browns lake. In it, volunteers prepare for coming environmental disaster.

Thats one, increasingly popular, view of the British countryside  a place we will return to when civilisation crumbles.

Edward Burra, the chronicler of Thirties Harlem who came back to his native Sussex after the war, offers another. In the blocky, brilliantly menacing An English Country Scene No 2, from 1970, the southern downland rises up before us again.

This time, rather than the threat of invasion, there is another blight on the landscape, one all Bank Holiday visitors can recognise: a traffic jam.
Bombed in Iraq. Shot at in Afghanistan. And now ex-soldier Geraint Jones has turned his harrowing experiences into a blood-soaked page-turner about Roman legionaries at war.

Somewhere in Iraq theres a jihadi with mobile phone footage of Lance Corporal Geraint Jones peering into a live roadside bomb packed with old artillery and expanding foam.

The footage will show the Royal Welsh soldier realising hes a split-second from death and sprinting back to the Warrior armoured vehicle where his comrades are watching in horror, hands over their eyes, through the gaps in their fingers.

Geraint Jones debut novel, Blood Forest, is a military drama set in the Roman conquests of northern Europe

We were resupplying Basra Palace. We were being shot at, there were RPGs coming in. A lad in the Warrior behind had just been hit in the head  the bullet went through one ear, grazed the back of his skull and went out the other side. So someone was sniping at us too.

Then we saw a box that looked like an IED (improvised explosive device) lying by the side of the road. We couldnt shoot it because there were too many civilians around. So I got out into absolutely open ground and I had no choice but to scoot forward and look inside. I thought, Oh f***, it is an IED, and legged it back to the Warrior.

It was a remotely activated bomb and we had electronic counter measures jamming the signal. So there must have been some b****** sitting nearby jabbing away at his mobile yelling Go off, why wont you go off...

Theyll have been filming it for propaganda. It never crossed my mind to say, Nah, Im not doing that. Soldiers do stupid things to not lose face. I could have been killed that day just because I didnt want to look like a p****.

The story and its retelling embody two of the three things Jones believes are the universals of soldiering down centuries and across cultures: dark humour and camaraderie. They are, he says, common to Roman legionaries, Napoleonic cavalrymen and World War I Tommies, and define his own three tours of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The third is what combat service does to a man. You cannot fight on a front line without some kind of emotional blowback, he says. Thats not about being a soldier, its about being human.

These are the themes of Jones debut novel, Blood Forest, a military drama set in the Roman conquests of northern Europe. The soldier-turned-author has already finished the sequel, selling the UK rights to each book for 10,000.

Its a swords-and-sandals tale set in AD9 against the backdrop of the Battle of Teutoburg Forest, a real life ambush in which an alliance of German tribes annihilated three Roman legions  15,000 men  one of the greatest military disasters in history.

It opens with Jones fictional anti-hero Felix being discovered alive amid 12 legionaries butchered in a forest clearing. What happens next is a story of survival and soldiering meshed with politics. Theres a lot of blood and guts, but also a clever exploration of the moral ambiguity of war and loyalty to a flag.

BATTLEGROUND TO BOOKSHOP

Four more books by soldiers turned novelists All Quiet On The Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque Remarque served on the Western Front in the bloody summer of 1917 before being badly wounded. He wrote his World War I classic in 1927, describing the extraordinary physical and mental cost of war on young men. The book was banned and burned in Nazi Germany. The Sword Of Honour Trilogy by Evelyn Waugh Waugh was already an acclaimed author when he was commissioned into the Royal Marines at the start of World War II. His own active service in North Africa and the Mediterranean is paralleled in this fictional trilogy. The Things They Carried by Tim OBrien OBrien was a political science graduate drafted to serve in the Vietnam War. He embarked on a writing career when he came home in 1970 but did not publish The Things They Carried, about the fictional men of a Vietnam-era platoon, until 1990. The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers Powers enlisted in the US army at 17 and served in Iraq as a machine gunner before going to university to study English. His fictional hero Private John Bartle embodies the fragility of the individual within the military machine. The Yellow Birds has been made into a film starring Jack Huston and Jennifer Aniston. Advertisement

Jones, a politics and history graduate, has always admired the Roman army. They looked cool and they were unbeatable for years, he says. But I wanted to write about them from the point of view of ordinary soldiers, the men at the bottom of the pile, not the emperors wondering how history would remember them.

Its an extraordinary career shift for a man who has only just put down his gun, but it is part of a battle strategy that wouldnt shame a general.

Jones, 33, has already written the combat memoir he hopes will become the defining book of the Afghan conflict, but he wont hand it over to his publisher until he has built an audience with his historical fiction. Its an act of literary bravura, but then Jones is a man who brims with self-confidence.

He joined the Territorial Army before hed finished sixth form, and it was with the TA, attached to the 2nd Battalion Royal Welsh (2RW), that he first went to Iraq, in 2006. Based at Basra Airport, he spent long periods on guard duty  three hours staring at empty desert  and the characters and plot-lines for Blood Forest began to unfurl in his imagination.

Hungry for combat, he volunteered for a second six-month tour within days of his first finishing. This time, considered a veteran, he was thrown into strike operations in the heart of Basra, Iraqs febrile second city, undergoing periods of intense fighting interspersed with the weird calm of an Army base where he could safely play volleyball. At the close of his year in Iraq, Jones signed up for 24 months full-time service to ensure he would see action in Afghanistan. By 2009 he was back with 2RW in a remote area between Musa Qala and Sangin.

That summer was a bloody one, and the death toll made terrible news routine. Someone would ask Have you heard about Dave? and youd say, Oh God! Hes not dead is he? and theyd say, No, hes got married... 

Despite the dangers and hardships, those six months were to include some of the best times of Joness life, a conundrum that is at the very heart of his military writing. Everyone is born with a purpose and I felt like I was living mine. I was a machine gunner. The first time we were shot at and I got to run to the front and put rounds down [start shooting] is probably the happiest I have ever been. Its surreal  there are bullets cracking past, a man is shot in the neck and lives, you are firing back, the Warriors turn up  it is the biggest adrenaline rush.

In the evening wed have a fire and people would get up and talk about themselves. Wed have sing-songs. This primal way of living gives you a massive sense of satisfaction. My happiest moments were sitting around watching the sun set across a big gravelly wadi and a harsh mountain range, with a brew in my hand.

When Jones came home he embarked on a writing career. He quit the UK for Malibu, California, working as a personal trainer and networking hard. He found an agent and familiarised himself with the business of writing. To support himself he took a job as a gun for hire, protecting ships from Indian Ocean pirates. It was like being in the Army, he smiles, but with better pay.

Geraint Jones on patrol in Afghanistan, 2009

Being at sea, and the long gaps between voyages, gave him time to start typing. Between 2011 and 2015 he wrote several screenplays, his Afghan memoir and Blood Forest.

He says he wont go back to soldiering, and is busy planning his literary career with military precision. When I was a boy I wanted to be a soldier or a writer. Now I have done one and Im doing the other and, apart from being a retired billionaire, theres nothing else I have ever wanted to be.

Blood Forest by Geraint Jones is published by Michael Joseph, priced at 12.99
From Jane Eyres haunted attic to the ballroom that swept Agatha Christie off her feet, weve got chapter and verse on the homes steeped in literary history... and you can visit them all this Easter

Shakespeare's grand country haven

Wilton House, Wiltshire

Adults 15, family ticket 37.75, wiltonhouse.co.uk

Wilton House, Wiltshire. In the TV series The Crown (with Claire Foy, right), Wilton House stood in for Buckingham Palace

Why you should go

The Plague of 1603, when theatres were closed, may have encouraged Shakespeare to put on his new play As You Like It at Wilton House for King James I. But there is a greater mystery  over whether the Bard had a gay lover  that may have been laid to rest here. William Herbert, the 3rd Earl, was a beautiful youth but shy to wed. Could he have been the elusive Mr WH to whom Shakespeare dedicated his sonnets?

Dont miss

In the TV series The Crown (with Claire Foy, right), Wilton House stood in for Buckingham Palace: we see private meetings with the Queen in the Smoking Room and shots of the young princesses in the Double Cube Room.

We see private meetings with the Queen in the Smoking Room and shots of the young princesses in the Double Cube Room

DH Lawrences childhood home

DH Lawrence Birthplace Museum, Nottinghamshire

Adults 6.90, family ticket 16.80, dha.org.uk

DH Lawrence Birthplace Museum, Nottinghamshire

Why you should go

This immaculately preserved red-brick terraced miners cottage in the former coal-mining town of Eastwood has been decorated as it would have been when the Lawrence family lived there in the 1880s, with an exhibition exploring the writers life featuring personal artefacts and some of Lawrences original watercolours.

Lawrence drew on the countryside of his youth as the setting for many of his greatest works, including the novels The Rainbow and Lady Chatterleys Lover.

Dont miss

Grab a bookish beverage in the nearby The Lady Chatterley pub  or The White Peacock teashop, which was named after Lawrences first novel.

Holliday Grainger in the 2015 TV adaptation of Lady Chatterleys Lover

Agathas lavish ballroom

Ugbrooke House, Devon

Adults 9.50, children 5, ugbrooke.co.uk

Ugbrooke House, Devon

Why you should go

Agatha Christie met her first husband, Archie, at a ball thrown in the grand mansion in 1912. The pair married two years later but in 1926 Archie ran off with his mistress Nancy Neele, sparking the darkest of all Agatha Christie mysteries: her perplexing 11-day disappearance.

Dont miss

Celebrate Capability Browns 300th anniversary from July 9 to Sep 21 at the house, with a stroll around the parkland and lakes designed by the horticultural genius.

Agatha Christie met her first husband, Archie, at a ball thrown in the grand mansion in 1912

Brontes spooky attic

Norton Conyers, Yorkshire

Adults 15, children 16 and under free with an adult, nortonconyers.org.uk

The medieval manor is where Charlotte Bronte found the inspiration for the madwoman in the attic in Jane Eyre (right: Mia Wasikowska in the 2011 film).

The medieval manor is where Charlotte Bronte found the inspiration for the madwoman in the attic in Jane Eyre

Mia Wasikowska in the 2011 film

In 1839 Bronte heard the legend of a deranged woman  probably pregnant out of wedlock or epileptic  who had been held in the attics of Norton Conyers.

Dont miss

In 2004, Nortons owners discovered a cobweb-carpeted secret staircase winding up to a lonely loft, which bears strong similarities to the one that housed Rochesters wife.

Scotts fantastical fortress

Abbotsford House, Scottish borders

Adults 9.60, family ticket, 28, scottsabbotsford.co.uk

Why you should go

Sir Walter Scott spent almost 2 million in todays money transforming a farmhouse into what he fondly referred to as his conundrum castle. Visitors to the mansion on the banks of the Tweed can see the desk where Scott produced his magisterial Waverley novels.

Sir Walter Scott spent almost 2 million in todays money transforming a farmhouse into what he fondly referred to as his conundrum castle

Rob Roy MacGregor (played by Liam Neeson in the film Rob Roy)

Dont miss

Bloodthirsty relics such as the gun and sword of outlaw Rob Roy MacGregor (played by Liam Neeson in the film Rob Roy).

Austen heaven

Chawton House Library, Hampshire

Adults 8, family ticket 20, chawtonhouse.org

Why you should go

The charming property once belonged to Jane Austens brother Edward and lies in the village of Chawton, where the novelist (played by Anne Hathaway, in Becoming Jane) spent the last years of her life. An entry in Austens nieces diary in 1813 speaks of being treated to a reading of Pride And Prejudice in the house by its creator.

Jane Austen was played by Anne Hathaway, in Becoming Jane

Chawton House Library, Hampshire. The charming property once belonged to Jane Austens brother Edward

Dont miss

Amble over to the nearby Jane Austens House Museum. Once Janes cottage, its now home to fascinating objects such as her surprisingly diminutive walnut writing table.

Evelyn Waughs Brideshead inspiration

Lytham Hall, Lancashire lythamhall.org.uk

Adults 6, children 3

Why you should go

Evelyn Waugh supposedly based Brideshead Revisiteds teddy bear-clutching Sebastian Flyte on Henry De Vere, the last squire to own Lytham Hall.

Lytham Hall, Lancashire. Evelyn Waugh supposedly based Brideshead Revisiteds teddy bear-clutching Sebastian Flyte on Henry De Vere, the last squire to own Lytham Hall

Waugh, whose Decline And Fall is running on BBC1, visited the fine Georgian house in 1935, remarking that it was a lap of luxury flowing with champagne and elaborate cookery. He also drew attention to the five hideous Catholic churches on the estate, nodding to the Catholicism integral to the lives of the fictional Flyte family. Hayley Atwell and Ben Wishaw in the 2008 film.

Hayley Atwell and Ben Wishaw in the 2008 film

Dont miss

Waugh scoffed at the family all sitting at separate tables at meals, evidence of which can be seen in the dining room today  the electricity points studded across the floorboards hark back to the days when every table would require its own lamp.





George Eliots inspiring country estate

Arbury Hall, Warwickshire

Adults 8.50, family ticket 20, arburyestate.co.uk

Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot), who wrote Middlemarch, was fascinated by the Arbury Estate, where she was born, and which featured in a number of her novels. She used a male pen name to ensure her works were taken seriously, but she might also have been eager to protect her private life from scrutiny.

Arbury Hall, Warwickshire

Rufus Sewell in the TV adaptation of Middlemarch

Dont miss

Parts of Griff House, Eliots childhood home, remain largely unchanged. It features as Dorlcote Mill in The Mill On The Floss.

John Keats love nest

Keats House, London

Adults 6.50, children under 17 free. cityoflondon. gov.uk/things-to-do/keats-house

Keats House, London. The Regency villa was the home of Romantic poet John Keats between 1818 and 1820

Why you should go

The Regency villa was the home of Romantic poet John Keats between 1818 and 1820. It was where he fell for girl next door Fanny Brawne and embarked on a passionate love affair that was movingly evoked in the 2009 film Bright Star with Abbie Cornish.

Dont miss

Visitors can see the engagement ring Keats gave Brawne, and the souvenir Keats friend Joseph Severn designed for her after Keatss early death: a lyre-shaped gold brooch strung with his hair
Best known for gritty roles in Mike Leigh films and TV dramas like Mrs Biggs and Line Of Duty, Danny Mays is widely regarded as the natural successor to great British character actors like Pete Postlethwaite. But Mays owes his acting career to an unusual inspiration  pop legend Michael Jackson.

I saw Jackson at Wembley Stadium on his 1988 Bad tour Mays says. Watching him perform Billie Jean in the spotlight wearing his black fedora was when I knew I wanted to perform. 

From the raging, abusive Jason in Mike Leighs All Or Nothing to the haunted figure of Sergeant Danny Waldron in Line Of Duty, Mays has excelled at playing men on the edge, yet in person he couldnt be more easy-going.

Danny Mays says he owes his acting career to an unusual inspiration  pop legend Michael Jackson. He saw the King of Pop at Wembley in 1988

Only when the conversation turns to the subject of actors from privileged backgrounds does he display emotion, vehemently bemoaning the lack of opportunities now open to working-class actors and film-makers. I dont want to start dissing the likes of [Eton-educated] Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne. They are incredibly accomplished, but the issue really is the generation behind me  if they really are struggling to get a place at drama school and if they are deprived of their dreams.

Its not just about actors either. In some ways, the most important question is, who is going to be telling the stories about people from poorer backgrounds? Where are the next Mike Leighs and Ken Loaches? We need a new breed of hungry new film-makers who want to tell stories about ordinary people and the lives they lead.

Despite all his acclaimed television work, Mays is yet to land a career-defining role. Phil Glenister has done loads of brilliant work but hell forever be known as Gene Hunt from Life On Mars. I havent really had that kind of big moment yet.

But that part might be closer than he thinks, as Mays has three big television dramas ready to air in the next few months.

First up is Guerrilla, about black activism in Britain. Though set in 1971, Mays argues that its particularly timely, given that we live in a time of racial divisions and rising tensions. When you look at the increase in hate crimes and the fact that people voicing their prejudices has become commonplace, it feels like we havent moved on very much, if at all, since the early Seventies.

Following hot on the heels of Guerrilla will be the equally hard-hitting Against The Law. Mays stars as journalist Peter Wildeblood, one of the three men at the centre of the so-called Montagu case of the Fifties. More than ten years before the decriminalisation of homosexual acts in 1967, Wildeblood and his friends were found guilty of homosexual offences and jailed.

After serving a year in Wormwood Scrubs, Wildeblood emerged determined to do all he could to stop homosexuals being imprisoned or forced to undergo chemical aversion therapy in an attempt to cure them of their condition.

Mays as Sgt Danny Waldron in Line Of Duty

Again, says Mays, this feels like a very timely drama when you stop to consider the rise in homophobic abuse and attacks. When the case became public, it was deeply embarrassing for Wildeblood. It took great courage for him to admit his sexuality, but after he came out of prison, he channelled his anger and bitterness into something positive.

If Mays is not already seered into the public consciousness by the summer then this month's intense four-part psychological thriller Born To Kill should do the job. He stars alongside Romola Garai as the single parents of two dangerously out-of-control teenagers. Mays says the drama made him reflect gratefully on his own experiences of parenthood. He has two children with his partner Louise Burton  Mylo, 11 and Dixie, four  and the elder is already on stage with a part in the West End production of Matilda. I couldnt have been a prouder dad, he says. I was in floods of tears seeing him perform.

Mays own career continues its upward trajectory. Supporting roles in Spielbergs Tintin and the Star Wars spin-off Rogue One have whetted his appetite for Hollywood, but he doesnt find the prospect of moving to Los Angeles very enticing. Id love to go there to work, but I cant imagine living there. Id miss the energy and buzz of London too much. Id miss going for a night out in the West End. Id miss the banter. Id even miss the rain. I guess you can take the boy out of Essex, but you cant take Essex out of the boy.

Born To Kill will start on Wednesday, April 20, on Channel 4 at 9pm
Hai Cenato

Cardinal Place, 2 Sir Simon Milton Square, London, haicenato.co.uk

Rating:

The exterior was modest enough, a half-dozen bright blue planters and a couple of olive trees sat in front of a large window, discreetly veiled in pristine white curtains. Its name, Mimmo DIschia, inscribed across the awning in an elegantly scrawling hand. So far, so ordinary. Cross that threshold, though and you entered the world of Domenico Mimmo Mattera, possibly the greatest restaurateur London never knew.

In the day, the place was flooded with light and a tree grew, rather incongruously, through the centre of the upper room. The walls were lined, in that delectable Seventies fashion, with photographs of Mimmo with his arms around the stars. They were all there, from Michael Caine and Roger Moore, through Frank Sinatra, Liz Taylor and Barbra Streisand to Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In each picture, Mimmo wore the same broad grin, his gold medallion gleaming out from a luxuriously hirsute chest. Better still, you could usually gape at them in the flesh, breaking grissini at a corner table, nibbling on avocado prawn (the menu was decidedly English Italian), digging into great bowls of spaghetti puttanesca and plates of his magnificently sticky ribs. Those ribs. God, I would do anything for that recipe.

Hai Cenato has pounding music and open kitchen, a bustling upstairs bar, expensive blood red leather banquettes and shiny marble floors

Agnolotti (left); rib-eye steak (right)

Veal osso bucco with risotto a la Milanese (left); Bream and confit potato (right)

But it wasnt just about the food, in huge portions with huge prices too. Mimmo was its roguishly winking heart, and we spent many a happy lunch under that A-list glossy glaze. My grandfather had first met him on the island of Ischia, where Mimmo had taken a shine to his daughters, my mother and aunt. And had decided, one night, to shin the drainpipe of their hotel, drop onto their balcony and whisper sweet nothings into their ears. Sadly, the wannabe Romeo never got near casting off those vestal robes, as my grandfather got wind of his amorous plan. And beat him off with a furled umbrella. How very English.

Anyway, after this not so auspicious start, they became firm friends. And when he opened Mimmos in the Sixties, my family pretty much moved in. It shut its doors just under a decade back, just like another great Pimlico Italian, La Fontana, which felt like sitting within a velvet-lined womb. But that white truffle risotto. Mio Dio. I miss them both.

So news that Jason Atherton has opened a new Italian place, less than a mile away in unlovely Victoria, brought those memories flooding back.

Hai Cenato is a very different beast, with pounding music and open kitchen, a bustling upstairs bar, expensive blood red leather banquettes and shiny marble floors. The name sounds more like a Japanese war cry than a modern Italian restaurant (It means Have you had dinner?), but its the only bum note of the entire lunch. Atherton is a brilliant chef and an equally inspired restaurateur. He now has more restaurants than his mentor, Gordon Ramsay, which must be sweet, as theyre not exactly the closest of friends.

His long time executive chef, Paul Hood, is the boss here, and another master. Part of Athertons success lies in surrounding himself with pros, both behind, and in front of, the kitchen door. Well drilled staff race around, ever smiling. And rather than Mimmos celebrity snaps, caricatures of great chefs cover the walls. I spot Heston, and Raymond, Tom Kerridge, Angela Hartnett and a very angry-looking Gordon Ramsay. Probably peeved at his proteges roaring success. The menu wanders all over Italy, but is not religiously constrained to Italian ingredients. The mozzarella comes from London (pretty good it is too) and the pizza dough is made with British flour.

TECH SPEC

Grilled octopus 13 Corzetti pasta 14 Campanelle pasta 15 Taleggio pizza bianca 10 Sea bass crudo 10 Advertisement

We eat soft octopus with gloriously caramelised edges, sitting on soft lentils with a verdant whack of fresh pesto. Comfort and class, a dish where winter slides into spring. Sea bass crudo is well cut and splendidly fresh, chunks of blood orange adding sharp sweet allure. Its a light, lithe dish, beautifully made. Campenelle pasta, shaped liked chanterelle mushrooms, is studded with fat cockles and clams. Theres a very Sicilian crunch from fried breadcrumbs, and a bracing jolt of lemon. Deeply satisfying.

Better still are disks of corzetti pasta, topped with a magnificently rich and mellow beef ragu. Berkswell cheese adds its salty, sheepy tang. Again, a British ingredient that would shock the purists, but makes perfect culinary sense. Then a whole deboned bream, stuffed with lemon and fennel confit potatoes, simple but blessed with true Italian depth. And a crisp pizza bianca, lavished with oozing taleggio, caramelised onion and chanterelles. Just like every other dish, its made to please and delight, rather than wow and impress.

This is a taste of Athertons Italy, at prices that dont require a Vatican bank account. Mimmos may be long gone. But dowdy old Victoria has a brand new star.

Lunch for two: 60

What Tom ate this week

Thursday

Still in Chengdu, China, and another day in thrall to texture and explosive tastes. More mapo tofu with pigs brain in the markets, plus variants on water-cooked beef and divine smoked Sichuan ham. Plus, I get to see some pandas too. In a bamboo bush, not on a plate.

Friday

Back to London via Shanghai. Dinner at the airport Ramada hotel is surprisingly good. Shanghai river prawns, braised pig trotter and stir-fried greens.

Stir-fried greens

Saturday

Home on British Airways. Wonderful service, woeful food. Ready for a break from Sichuan so hot-and-sour prawn curry, a fierce mackerel curry and sticky rice from Thai 101 on King Street in west London.

Sunday

Roast chicken, roast potatoes, peas and gravy. Not a Sichuan pepper or chilli to be seen. Variety is the spice of life and all that.
Broadchurch

Monday, ITV

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Line Of Duty

Sunday, BBC1

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Decline And Fall

Friday, BBC1

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Second Chance Summer

Wednesday, BBC2

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So, where are we with our ongoing television commitments? This is where we are, although a word of warning: there are spoilers. Minor ones, major ones, middling ones, but not the one I had to send up to bed with no supper, for back-chatting and not doing its homework. That one is no longer in the room. And now we are ready.

Broadchurch: blissfully acted, as per, and Eds creepy but not our man. I think we can be sure of that. But who is? Theres Clive and his porn. Theres Ian and his theft of Trishs laptop. The breakdown truck that never arrived Jim? Its as if an episode of Trumpton had gone bananas. Could it be Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble or Grub? (Pugh and Pugh were twins, btw.) Meanwhile, Katie was torn off a strip, which was satisfying, and dare we hope the Danny storyline is now over? I know, I know, such tragedies reverberate but, as an audience, how many weeks were we expected to watch Mark not moving on? That said, is Mark dead? Or still floating? Might he walk back through the door, Huntley style?

Thandie Newton in Line Of Duty

Line Of Duty: poor Broadchurch. It would be the best cop show on TV if it werent for LOD, which is the best cop show on TV. (I sometimes think in this way about actors, as in: poor Tamsin Greig, who would be Olivia Colman if it werent for Olivia Colman.) It is tighter than the tightest thing you can imagine. It blindsides you more than you thought you could ever be blindsided. We all thought that dismembered body was Huntley, right? And if Huntley is now framing Tim, what does that say about the framing of Michael Farmer? The dynamic within AC-12 is also building up to something as Steve and Kate vie for Hastings approval. (Who doesnt want Hastings approval? I know I do.) But is his casual sexism  having an out-of-work drink with Steve, but not Kate, and calling women wee girls  ultimately going to land him in some kind of trouble? (I want his approval but can see well have to have words.) One niggle, which is possibly not worth mentioning but Ill mention it anyhow: doesnt Kate have children? Where are they?

Decline And Fall: this adaptation of the Evelyn Waugh novel is still an absolute delight. The tone is just right, with everyone acting from the same register  that is, comically, but without ever descending into caricature. As it stands, Pennyfeather may be getting out of his depth with Mrs Beste-Chetwynde (Best Cheating), Grimes has returned from the dead (like Huntley like Mark?) and that scene where the mad German architect shows off his obscene drawings so funny my drink shot out of my nose.

Harlots, Big Little Lies, Prime Suspect 1973: nope, no idea. SS-GB? Is that inaudibly limping on? Or did someone take pity and put it down?

And now on to a new show, Second Chance Summer. This is made by the same people who made The Real Marigold Hotel, but whereas Marigold was affecting, perhaps inadvertently, and also, perhaps inadvertently, had something to say about ageing and loneliness, this was plain mean.

The conceit is that ten men and women  all strangers, aged from 38 to 58, and all single, and all at a crossroads come together at a farm in the Tuscan hills to see if they can take their lives in a new direction. The farm, we were told, is up for sale, so if it all works out, might they pool their resources and buy it? In much the same way no one from Marigold was ever going to retire to India, I suspect no one here is going to buy this farm in Tuscany but, as a conceit, its not bad. Who hasnt, at some time, thought of re-inventing themselves elsewhere?

Yet the show makes fools of them all, and is framed to make fools of them all. The fella who has worked in a wine shop and thinks he can run a vineyard ha, ha, ha, ha! It even drafted in their Italian neighbours to make fun of them. Getting older does not mean getting wiser, noted one, scornfully. This is just a cliche.

Its a Big Brother-style enterprise. I imagined the director high-fiving his camera team every time bickering broke out, which was often, or edited to look as if it were often. The first night at supper one confessed, I am passionate about food. I want to get food from the farm straight to the fork, while another sniped, But I didnt see you in the kitchen earlier, love. The reason why Marigold was a hit, and other reality shows like Bake Off and The Great Pottery Throwdown (and similar; Ive rather lost track of all the variations) is that they didnt set people against each other, which is as tiresome as it is unpleasant. Still, the farm was beautiful, so that gave us something nice to look at, at least.
Six people were killed and two were reported missing in India's northern region of Kashmir on Friday, after heavy rain and snowfall swept the region, setting off avalanches and turning mountain rivers into raging torrents.

Helicopters were deployed to rescue people cut off by flash floods that revived memories of 2014, when the Jhelum River flowing through the region's main city, Srinagar, burst its banks, swamping homes and killing 200 people.

'A post in Batalik sector was buried,' he added. 'Two out of five soldiers have been rescued. A rescue operation for three soldiers was in progress and three bodies have been recovered.'

A Kashmiri resident walks past a house damaged by a landslide, which police said damaged three properties, near the Shankaracharya Hill at Gagribal

Kashmiri residents walk through floodwater on the outskirts of Srinagar on April 7

The bodies of the three dead soldiers were recovered Friday close to the cease-fire line dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan, Kali added.

In the Poonch region, an Indian Air Force helicopter was guided by a soldier holding a flare towards a group of villagers stranded on the far bank of a river. They climbed a rope ladder into the craft, which then flew them to safety.

'Troops were deployed immediately to reach out to the affected people. In fact, many did not carry their assault rifles, thus, risking their lives in the process,' Army sources said.

'A close watch is being kept over localities that are prone to flooding.

'On receiving distress calls from the villagers, quick reaction teams of the unit were sent immediately that helped in evacuation of 10 children who were stranded in flooded houses,' an official added.

Lower altitude areas have suffered heavy rains, prompting authorities to shut schools until April 9 and close the region's main highway over landslide fears

Rajiv Pandey, senior superintendent of police in Poonch, said 17 people were evacuated from the area, including a baby.

They were stranded on a small strip of land in the middle of the heavily burgeoned Poonch river.

The Army received the villagers and provided them with first aid and refreshments, thus bringing to a close the Herculean evacuation process by the Indian Air Force.

Kashmiri men ride a boat on the Dal Lake amid dense fog after fresh snowfall in Srinagar, Kashmir

A Kashmiri woman stands on the roof of her home surrounded by floodwater on the outskirts of Srinagar

Defence spokesman Lt Col Manish Mehta said that due to the proximity of huts and electricity wires in the area, the helicopter could not land and instead, established a hover on the first island at 15 feet.

Air Force Garud commandos then went down a rope ladder, organised the villagers, and started rescuing them one at a time.

The state government had requested the IAF for assistance after rescue efforts by local authorities turned out to be futile.

In Srinagar, the summer capital of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, some low-lying districts along the Jhelum were swamped but residents said the river was starting to recede.

The Indian Air Force and Army were out in force in Kashmir to rescue stranded locals

'We are relieved as the water level is receding and the rains are reducing,' said one resident. 'We are praying that rain should stop.'

Army officials said locals made a direct call to company commanders in their respective areas of responsibility who reacted swiftly.

'During relief patrol in Zangam, the company commander received distress calls from the village of Kripalpur Pain in Pattan as the village nala was flowing to its brim.

'It had breached the bund and was threatening to inundate low-lying areas. The patrol team immediately assessed the danger.

'The army commander, along with villagers, gathered stones and stopped further breach,' an official said.

'Simultaneously, vehicles loaded with sandbags were rushed to the spot. With the help of locals, the breach was plugged by multiple layers of sandbags,' the official added.
Air India has lifted a ban on the Shiv Sena MP who thrashed one of its employees repeatedly with slippers, though a cabin crew union demanded that the lawmaker remain grounded until he delivers an unconditional apology.

The government directed the national carrier to end the travel restrictions a day after Ravindra Gaikwad expressed regret for the incident in a letter to civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapati Raju.

Half a dozen private airlines that supported Air India by blacklisting the parliamentarian have not officially called off the boycott.

Ravindra Gaikwad (extreme right) with other Shiv Sena MPs at a press conference at Parliament in New Delhi on Thursday after he apologized in the Lok Sabha for his recent assault on an Air India employee

Gaikwad allegedly assaulted a 60-year-old AI worker on March 23 following disagreement over seating on a flight.

The leader was caught on video bragging that he 'hit him (the Air India employee) 25 times with my slippers.'

The footage went viral on social media and the MP faced a wave of criticism.

Air India cancelled Gaikwad's ticket on Friday morning  the seventh time in a fortnight  as it had received no direction from the government till then to lift the ban.

'There was an attempt to book a through our web portal. The reservations were being made for April 17 for travel from Delhi to Mumbai and for April 24 from Mumbai to Delhi.

'Filters installed in our booking system tracked his name and alerted out staff following which it was cancelled,' said an AI source.

However, Gaikwad said neither did he book a ticket for April 17 nor for April 24 on any airline.

The Air India Cabin Crew Association (AICCA), though, stated that it does not want to fly with the MP.

It wrote to the carrier's chairman and managing director Ashwani Lohani, which read: 'Unless he tenders an unconditional apology to AI employees, and undertakes in writing to abide by the Chicago and Tokyo Conventions & Rules of the Air and follow all cabin safety and public behaviour norms, we must not let him on board.'

The Indian Commercial Pilots Association, one of the unions of pilots of Air India, also demanded an unconditional apology from the Shiva Sena MP.

Industry experts feel the civil aviation ministry was forced on the back foot by political pressure.

Shiv Sena had threatened to disrupt Air India operations in Mumbai and Pune, and forced repeated adjournments of the House over the issue.

The party's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut had declared that the Sena would boycott an April 10 NDA meeting if the ban was not lifted by then.

In order to resolve the issue, minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha on Thursday met Lohani. Gaikwad wrote his letter after this meeting.

'Gaikwad apologised to the ministry and accordingly we got the directive to withdraw the ban,' an Air India spokesperson said, adding that there was 'no government pressure'.

The spokesperson said Air India is a subsidiary of the ministry of civil Aviation and, therefore, an apology to the ministry is akin to an apology to the airline and its employees.

'As I have said, the incident has ended well, which means everything is fine now. Everything involves struggle, nothing can be achieved easily,' said Shiv Sena leader Arvind Sawant.

The government is in the process of preparing a national no-fly list of unruly passengers in the aftermath of the row.

According to present rules, airlines can stop passengers from boarding a plane or off-load them if they are 'likely to be unruly and disruptive' and 'pose a threat to the safety and security of the flight.'
An investigation into the killing of a Muslim dairy farmer in Rajasthan so far does not indicate the role of any member of a cow protection committee or a Hindu organisation, sources told Mail Today on Thursday.

The state police has arrested three people and is searching for others named in the FIR after they allegedly beat up 55-year-old Pehlu Khan and some of his associates on suspicions that they were transporting cows for slaughter.

The incident took place in Alwar district on Saturday, while Khan succumbed to his injuries two days later.

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Khan died two days after the attack in Alwar. He was allegedly beaten for being suspected of transporting cattle for slaughter

Opposition leaders and activists have slammed the BJP governments in the state and Centre for doing nothing against vigilante groups thrashing people on the pretext of protecting cows, considered sacred by many Hindus.

Rajasthan police said no innocents will be targeted but the culprits will soon be behind bars.

'We have announced a reward of Rs 5,000 to get the information regarding whereabouts of the absconders, who are named in the FIR,' Alwar's superintendent of police Rahul Prakash told Mail Today.

'The six named suspects in the FIR - Hukum Chand, Jagmal, Om Prakash, Sudheer, Rahul Saini and Navin Saini - are on the run.

The postmortem of Pehlu Khan, a resident of Haryana's Nuh district, indicated that serious internal and external injuries caused his death.

'We have been awaiting Khan's viscera report from FSL (forensic lab) to find the exact cause of death,' said a senior police officer.

Horrifying visuals caught on camera show a man being brutally thrashed by goons in broad daylight in the middle of a highway over suspicions of cow smuggling.

Critics say vigilantes have been emboldened by the election in 2014 of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party whose members have been pushing for a nationwide ban on cow slaughter.

According to sources, during interrogation, Vipin Yadav (19), Ramdeen Yadav (30) and Kalu Ram Yadav (44), who were arrested after being identified from videos that were circulated on social media, told cops that the attack was a result of sudden provocation.

'The police had sought two-day remand, but managed to get only one day. The interrogation will lead to other people involved in the crime and also their association with any Hindu organisation, if any.

'However, these three accused have no association with any cow protection group.

'Police are also trying to identify most of the 200 vigilantes who attacked Khan and injured six others while they were transporting dozens of cows into a neighbouring state,' said a police officer.

Shortly before the attack on April 1, cops said they had arrested 11 people and rescued 28 cows.

'The cattle were being transported in six pick-up vans. While police intercepted four of them, two were attacked by the cow vigilantes,' said an officer.

In Rajasthan, the slaughter of bovine animals is punishable with imprisonment for a minimum of one year and maximum of ten years.
The Delhi municipal elections are more than two weeks away, but the Bharatiya Janata Party has already lost six seats.

Amid suspicions of internal sabotage, an embarrassed central leadership has sought a detailed report into the circumstances that led to the rejection of nominations of half a dozen BJP candidates for the civic polls.

Sources said there was a 'deliberate' delay of nearly six hours in releasing the list of candidates on the last day of nominations that led to the setback.

AAP chief, Amit Shah, has called for a report into how the slip-up happened

The BJP has dominated the city civic bodies for years and had announced that it will repeat no councillor for this edition of the polls, fielding only new faces.

Party president Amit Shah, who is personally supervising the preparations, has sought a detailed report in the slip-up.

BJP sources said responsibility will be fixed on the state leadership as the party will now only contest 266 seats out of the total 272.

On Monday, the BJP's line-up of candidates was finalised by Shah around 10.30am but the list was declared over five hours later.

'It is an embarrassing situation for the BJP.

'The state leadership has been asked to explain the delay in announcement of the list even as it had got the nod of Shah.

'The report will be submitted to the party president,' said a national BJP office-bearer.

On Thursday night, BJP general secretary (organisation) Ram Lal held a meeting with senior party leaders and sought to know the reasons behind the blunder.

Union minister Vijay Goel, Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari, senior Delhi BJP leader Vijender Gupta and Delhi BJP general secretaries were present in the meeting.

'Delhi BJP leaders were asked to explain rejection of the nominations.

Vijay Goel was at the crisis talks after six seats were lost before the polls even opened

'The party has taken a strong note as it has deployed a team of 80 lawyers and over two dozen chartered accountants to oversee nominations,' the BJP insider said.

Explaining the delay in announcement of the list, a Delhi BJP leader said the final line-up of 106 candidates was decided by party president Amit Shah at the BJP's Ashoka Road headquarters around 10.30am.

However, around 3.30pm, an incomplete list of candidates was released.

Sources say there are allegations that a number of names in the list were changed in this period.

'What was the Delhi BJP leadership doing during the filing of nominations? Whose responsibility is this?' a party leader quoted Ram Lal saying in the meeting.

Another meeting of Delhi BJP observers was scheduled for Friday night.

While the state election commission rejected the nominations on technical grounds, mainly due to incomplete documentation, Tiwari said the exact reasons can be ascertained only after a thorough inquiry.

'The party has taken a serious view of the lapses. An inquiry will be conducted to find out what went wrong,' he said.

Of the six rejected nominations, three were from East Delhi corporation.
The BJP apparatus is turning into a war machine. Having posted a thumping victory in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, the party's agenda for inclusion of Dalits into its vote-base is getting stronger.

The BJP will be observing mass communal dining with Dalits all across UP on Ambedkar's birth anniversary on April 14.

This seems to be yet another move to appropriate Dalit icon Babasaheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar, in order to consolidate the Dalit section which the party weaned away from the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party in the state.

Gujarat chief minister and BJP Prime Minister candidate Narendra Modi offers flower tributes to Babasaheb Ambedkar at Gujarat assembly house in Gandhinagar

The party is holding a series of organisational activities, which began on April 6, its founding day, which would culminate in the communal dining programme onthe icon's birthday.

'Earlier, we used to celebrate the birth anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar as local BJP units across the country would garland the Dalit icon's statues.

'This time around we have decided that we shall take his message and life to the people and among our workers and members,' UP BJP spokesperson, Chandra Mohan told Mail Today.

Earlier, party offices from states to the central headquarters in New Delhi used to commemorate the day by garlanding the photo of Babasaheb.

At these events the party leaders would routinely discuss Ambedkar's contribution as a national leader to the society and polity of the country. This would be followed by visits to 'seva bastis'.

This year, the pitch is stronger and more uniformed. To make the programme effective in the sense that it reached the lowest levels of social organisation, the party would be holding communal dining would be held at the mandal level.

'Top party functionaries and leaders would be attending the communal dining programmes to express solidarity with the marginalised of the country and as a token of protest against caste-based discrimination,' Mohan said.

Babasaheb Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was a leader bigger than his caste struggle

The RSS and the BJP have maintained their anti-caste stand since their very inception and dining with the Dalit community has been one of the ways to express their defiance.

'Even in our organisation, the culture is to refer to people by their first name only,' he added.

The RSS has maintained ideologically that it stands against caste-based discrimination though it does not advocate destruction of caste.

'Roti-Beti' (food and inter-caste marriages) is how the Sangh has explained its stand on the issue of caste.

Moreover, to incorporate ever larger sections of lower castes into its fold, the RSS and its affiliates have professed the idea of 'One Graveyard, One Temple and One Well' signifying the decimation of discrimination in food, place of worship and source of water.

In the party organisation, a group of 10 booths is called a Shakti Kendra. At these kendras, the cadre and members would be tutored on the party's and the Central government's achievements.
Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal issued a fresh blow to the Dehli leaders

A day after the Shunglu Committee report created a political storm that could damage the Aam Aadmi Party's prospects in the upcoming civic polls, the AAP was asked to vacate its office.

Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal issued this fresh blow to the Delhli leaders as due process for acquiring land was not followed by the party.

Baijal cancelled the allotment of 206 Rouse Avenue for the AAP office after the panel formed by former L-G Najeeb Jung found that chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his government had cleared policies and implemented decisions without following the process required for a Union Territory like the capital.

It was reported that no time frame had been given to the Arvind Kejriwal-led party but the allotment has been cancelled by the Lieutenant Governor.

The panel, in its report, said the decision to allot land to the AAP to build a party office should be considered 'null and void.'

Before stepping down as Lieutenant Governor, Jung had predicted that Kejriwal could face 'criminal charges' over the irregularities.

But Sanjay Singh of the AAP alleged his party is a political target and said the move was politically motivated against the them.

Earlier last year, former L-G of Delhi, Najeeb Jung organised a 3-member committee to examine the irregularities in the decisions made by the Delhi government.

The panel, headed by former Comptroller and Auditor General VK Shunglu, had scanned 404 files.

It declared that its examination of hundreds decisions revealed that Kejriwal's government had failed to consult the L-G for important decisions on subjects which by law he must be consulted.

The report also raised questions on the government posting officers to the Anti-Corruption Branch, its decisions on transfer and appointments of officers, foreign travel undertaken by ministers without the L-G's sanction and appointment of lawyers.

AAP chief minister for Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, and his party deny all allegations of corruption

The AAP claim that ahead of Delhi's municipal corporation election, a spurt of controversies is being generated to slander it.

It dismissed all allegations and said that it was the very first time that any report had been made public where the government did not get a say.

The Kejriwal government termed the committee unconstitutional and accused it of illegally holding important government files for six months.

The election on April 23 will serve as a mid-term test of Kejriwal's popularity and play an important role in deciding its fate in the next assembly elections.

Meanwhile, the BJP sharpened its attack on AAP and demanded CBI and CVC probes into illegal decisions of the AAP dispensation as flagged by the panel in its report.

The party also demanded L-G Anil Baijal set aside all appointments of AAP functionaries in the Delhi government, made without the his approval.

'We demand CBI and Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) probes into the three-member Shunglu panel report which has flagged AAP-led Delhi government's various illegal decisions including appointment of party functionaries, and allotment of land to Aam Aadmi Party for its office,' said party leader Meenaksi Lekhi.
AAP boss and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's MCD poll campaign reached the dusty by-lanes of Nihal Vihar in Nangloi, west Delhi on Friday, promising relief from 'BJP's kooda (garbage) and bhrashtachar (corruption).'

Kejriwal said: 'I was here two years back and you all gave me 67 out of 70 Assembly seats - the biggest victory of any political party in India and the world.

'I request you all, this time, give me all 272 (MCD seats).'

Kejriwal addressed a crowd of over 1,000 men, women and children with the symbolic blue flags of AAP waving in the background

AAP chief minister for Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal

He addressed a crowd of over 1,000 men, women and children with the symbolic blue flags of AAP waving in the background.

'We have done more work than any BJP-ruled state government has done in even 15 years, more than MP's like Shivraj Singh Chauhan or Chhattisgarh's Raman Singh,' the chief minister claimed.

'We've brought you Mohalla Clinics, neighbourhood dispensaries and improved Delhi's government schools.

'I openly challenge BJP's Vijender Gupta to show me even one work that the MCD may have done,' he added.

'Inhone to apne Pradhan Mantri ki bhi nahi suni ji (they didn't even listen to their PM Narendra Modi).

'Modiji kept saying Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, while MCD councillors slept and we wielded the broom,' he mocked the party ruling the civic bodies.

The CM played his free electricity and water card as well.

'I promised all of you that we will bring down water and power rates. We made 20,000 litres of water free and slashed power rates to the lowest in the country.

'In Delhi, you get 400 units of power for Rs 1,370. In Gujarat, you get the same for Rs 2,700 and in Mumbai, Rs 4,000.

'That is why, there is a conspiracy against my government now to dethrone me and not allow us to come to power in the MCD.

'All power companies and private schools, who we did not allow to raise their fee, have come together and pressurised BJP to not let us grab the MCD.

'If the BJP comes to power, they have planned to snatch power and electricity departments from us and keep it with MCD. Do not allow that to happen,' he warned his listeners.

Kejriwal also expressed his fear that health minister Satyendar Jain may be arrested in a few days.

'Just for the reason that he worked honestly, built new clinics and provided free medicines, BJP slapped four CBI cases against him.

'Rumours are doing the rounds that he may be arrested next week.

'Same is with my education minister Manish Sisodia, who they are trying to scare with three CBI cases. They even raided my office.

'Par chaar muffler ke siwa kuch nahi mila, raid ka kharcha tak nahi nikla (but they found only four mufflers, even their travel expenses for the raid could not be met),' he regaled his audience.
Donald Trump's ascension to power in the US has cast a shadow over the nuclear deal with Iran clinched by his predecessor, Barack Obama.

But another landmark nuclear deal - signed by Obama's predecessor, George W Bush, with India - is also under pressure.

Indeed, there is a distinct possibility that the deal could turn out to be a dud on the energy front.

Japan's Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, and US President, Donald Trump, are the leaders of two of the world's biggest nuclear superpowers, both wanting to settle deals with India

The Toshiba-owned Westinghouse's bankruptcy has derailed US-Indian plans to finalise the first contract under the deal.

India has earmarked at least one nuclear park each for Westinghouse, GE-Hitachi and France's state-owned Areva. Each of these firms were to build a cluster of reactors at their assigned park.

Westinghouse's massive losses have left Toshiba tottering on the brink of collapse. Toshiba has already decided to exit from overseas nuclear power construction business.

The paradox is that the promise of the India-US nuclear deal contributed to Toshiba's overpriced $5.4 billion acquisition of Westinghouse in 2006, yet that purchase turned out to be a huge blunder.

US President George W. Bush, right, with Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh, left, during their meeting at the G8 summit, Wednesday, July 9, 2008

India's plan to import over $100 billion worth of reactors had promised to revive the decrepit US nuclear power industry.

Today, Toshiba is on the verge of disintegration as it stares at a staggering $9 billion net loss in the financial year ending March 31, thanks to Westinghouse.

Westinghouse's imprudent purchase of a heavily indebted US nuclear constructions service company in late 2015 proved the proverbial last straw for Toshiba.

Meanwhile, the US-India deal's prospects have been further dimmed by the financial troubles of the other two leading reactor vendors, Areva and GE-Hitachi.

Like Toshiba, Areva's very survival is at stake today. It needs at least a 5 billion bailout from the French government to stay afloat.

Such a rescue package has to await the outcome of the French presidential election.

Areva is likely to be split, with its reactor unit being sold to EDF, which is also state-owned.

As for GE-Hitachi, it has already trimmed down its nuclear operations by recognising their economic risks.

While much of the world is turning its back on nuclear energy, the villagers of Kudankulam, in a part of India hit by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, say their government is gambling with their lives by opening one of Asia's first new nuclear reactors since the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan

Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's political travails over a school land scandal have injected uncertainty over whether Japan's Parliament will ratify the country's separate nuclear deal with India.

The 2016 agreement was six years in the making largely because it was controversial in Japan, representing the first such accord with a country that is not party to the NPT.

Due to Japan's global role as a nuclear equipment supplier, its ratification of the agreement with New Delhi is essential to opening the path to the India-US deal's implementation.

Japan is the world's leading supplier of heavy nuclear forgings, with just one Japanese company - Japan Steel Works - controlling 80 per cent of the global market for large forged components for light-water reactors (LWRs), the type India is seeking to import.

The Union Carbide chemical plant sits December 5, 1984 in Bhopal, India. The plant leaked methyl isocyanate gas into the air causing over 2000 deaths and left many victims blind, sterile, and mentally disabled

Nearly 12 years after it was unveiled with great fanfare, the India-US deal holds little promise to deliver any tangible energy benefits to India, although the larger strategic framework in which the agreement was embedded has helped make the US the largest seller of arms to New Delhi.

Rarely before has America acquired a major arms client of India's size so rapidly.

The nuclear deal has also fostered growing strategic cooperation between the two countries.

Against this background, it is apparent that the deal raised false hopes at a time when nuclear power was already in decline globally.

Indeed, India, in announcing plans for a huge expansion of its installed nuclear power generating capacity, fell victim to its own hype over the deal.

Two successive Indian governments went out of their way to accommodate US commercial interests in order to operationalise the deal.

For example, Indian law allowing suppliers to be held liable in case of a nuclear accident was reinterpreted through executive action by the Modi government to effectively transfer reactor vendors' accident liability risks to Indian taxpayers.

It also reinterpreted another provision so that victims of a potential accident would be barred from suing for damages in another country.

These actions were controversial, given India's bitter experience over the 1984 gas leak from an American-owned chemical plant in Bhopal that killed as many people as Japan's 2011 Fukushima disaster.

The Bhopal gas leak in 1984 was just as lethal as the Fukushima disaster in 2011

India refused to heed the lesson from Japan's liability laws that indemnify nuclear suppliers and make plant operators exclusively liable.

GE built or designed all the three Fukushima reactors that suffered core meltdowns, yet the US firm went scot-free, despite a fundamental design deficiency in the reactors.

The dire financial state of the foreign companies that were planning to build reactors in India should be seen by Indian taxpayers as a blessing in disguise.

Given the exorbitant price sought by them for selling reactors, India would have had to heavily subsidise the electricity from such plants.

The four Westinghouse nuclear plants under construction in the US and Areva's project in Finland are years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget.

Had Indian plans gone ahead, India would have been saddled with multiple Enrons in the nuclear-energy sector.

The writer is a geostrategist
Sonam Kapoor won the award for Best Hindi Feature Film

Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar was declared Best Actor for his role in the courtroom drama Rustom at the 64th National Film Awards that were announced on Friday.

The Marathi film Kaasav was declared Best Feature Film while Rajesh Mapuskar won the awards for Best Director for Priyanka Chopra's Marathi production, Ventilator.

Surabhi CM was named Best Actress for her role in the Malayalam film Minnaminungu: The Firefly.

'Best Actor for Rustom, countless emotions, very hard to express my gratitude right now but still tried, a big thank you, (sic)' tweeted @akshaykumar on Friday afternoon, shortly after the awards were announced.

While regional cinema once again won big this year unlike what has been the trend lately, a smattering of Bollywood celebrities also won a few awards.

Sonam Kapoor and Ashkay Kumar celebrated their wins with this snap on Instagram

Among them was Sonam Kapoor, whose home production Neerja won the awards for Best Hindi Feature Film.

Sonam also got a special mention by the jury. 'Who would've thought!! Shocked and grateful!!, (sic)' tweeted Sonam.

Shoojit Sirkar's production Pink starring Amitabh Bachchan and Taapsee Pannu was declared Film on Social Issues.

Zaira Wasim, who courted controversy after her meeting with Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, won the Best Supporting Actress award for her role in Aamir Khan's co-production Dangal.

Zaira played the young avatar of wrestler Geeta Phogat in the film.

Uttar Pradesh was announced as the Most Film Friendly state by the jury, which also gave a Special Mention to Jharkhand.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart, Sheikh Hasina, held wide-ranging talks in New Delhi

India and Bangladesh signed a slew of agreements on Saturday, including a $4.5 billion concessionary line of credit from India for development projects in Bangladesh, as the South Asian neighbours try to deepen their ties.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart, Sheikh Hasina, held wide-ranging talks in New Delhi, exchanging views on defence, regional security and cooperation in combating international terrorism.

Officials from the two sides signed no less than 22 agreements, including a framework deal for defence cooperation over the next five years and an additional $500 million for Bangladesh to buy military equipment from India.

The two sides also signed an agreement on civil nuclear cooperation under which India will help Bangladesh develop its civilian nuclear program.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shakes hand with his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina at the Presidential Palace in New Delhi

Modi said Hasina's visit marked the 'golden era' of India-Bangladesh relations and described India as 'a long-standing and trusted development partner of Bangladesh.'

India and Bangladesh share a nearly 4,100km (2,545 miles) border. The two countries have had a close relationship since 1971, when Bangladesh, aided by India, gained independence from Pakistan following a bloody nine-month war.

Wary of China's growing interest in India's backyard, Modi has been keen to play a greater leadership role in South Asia since coming to power in 2014.

India and Bangladesh have signed a slew of agreements, including a $4.5 billion concessionary line of credit from India for development projects in Bangladesh

'India has always stood for the prosperity of Bangladesh and its people. We are a long-standing and trusted development partner of Bangladesh,' Modi said at a press briefing.

'In this context I am happy to announce a new concessional line of credit of $4.5 billion for the implementation of projects in priority sectors for Bangladesh.

'This brings our resource allocation for Bangladesh to more than $8 billion over the past six years.'

There was no breakthrough however in a long-standing dispute about the sharing of water from the Teesta river which flows through both nations although Modi vowed to find a solution to the issue seen as vital for Bangladesh farmers.

The deal was aborted at the very last minute during former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Bangladesh in 2011 and has been in the doldrums since.

Hasina, whose Awami League is historically seen as more sympathetic to India than the arch-rival Bangladesh Nationalist Party, said the two countries will jointly produce a documentary on the 1971 War of Liberation of Bangladesh, a move that is likely to irk Pakistan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee during an agreement signing ceremony after a meeting

'We are committed to expand our relationship with India,' said Sheikh Hasina

Hasina is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led Bangladesh to independence from Pakistan in 1971.

The government says that up to three million people died in the independence war, many killed by Bangladeshis who collaborated with Pakistani forces.

India's intervention on behalf of Bangladesh's independence fighters proved decisive in that conflict.

'We are committed to expand our relationship with India,' said Hasina.

'The entire South Asia region will be a beneficiary of our friendly relations and cooperation.'
Amid all the kerfuffle over the word Easter being dropped - or not - from the National Trust's Cadbury Egg Hunt adverts, the key issue seems undeniable. This was not so much a case of political correctness gone mad as of commercialism going rampant.

Even if the word wasn't - as Cadbury is now claiming, rather weakly - dropped, it was evidently sidelined in their promotions.

And that decision was surely as much a revenue-boosting one as was the original move by the National Trust to get Cadbury's on board years ago to sponsor its latest scheme to make money out of families.

An image of the National Trust website giving information about the egg hunts around the country, including some mentions of Easter - in the small print.

You have to appeal to the maximum number of people to maximise profit.

It is the latest indication of the National Trusts infantilisation  very ably skewered by the editor of the Oldie here - and another symptom of the insidious commercialisation afflicting Easter and so many other facets of our social life and culture.

The president for Northern Europe of Cadbury's US owner Mondelez, one Glenn Caton, said, We are the market leader of chocolate at Easter and we have Easter prevalent on our products, on the packs and in our websites. We are very proud of our National Trust Partnership which has been going ten years.'

And days earlier Cadbury said it aimed to appeal to non-Christians and that it invites 'people from all faiths and none to enjoy our seasonal treats'.

In other words it wants to have its simnel cake and eat it. It's right behind Easter - as long as there's no Christ and you say it quietly, because it helps sell more sugar-filled eggs to sugar-addicted children.

Recently Mothers Day reminded us of the dismal corruption of Mothering Day  the ancient date in the Christian calendar when worshippers would return to their home parish to pay respects to the mother church.

So nothing to do with mums at all.

The idea to turn it into a day to honour mothers with gifts came, like most banal developments in contemporary life, from America  the land where Mammon and Mormon go hand in hand.

After decades of drumming it into us all what Mother's Day should really be about, the card and flower and chocolate companies, and now the pubs and restaurants, have got us so well conditioned that all mums demand it and no one dares miss it (as I did only once, at university, to my cost).

Repositioned: Cadbury's took the word Easter away from Egg Hunt - although it appears afterwards above, some say the 'this Easter' was inserted after the furore broke.

And that for writing this I will doubtless get lots of stick for being a miserable git who doesn't love his mum.

Ah well, maybe I have it wrong and we really should be thanking our parents for being parents by dragging them down to a pub they dont really like for an overpriced and poorly cooked roast.

Pubs are one of the worst-infected of our institutions by this marketing miasma.

Even in my local, which Im pleased to say is a reasonably unspoiled, old-fashioned sort of place, they cant resist it. Signs now pop up at every opportunity: Valentines Day, Burns Night, St Patricks Day, Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Halloween.

Special menus are typed, tables are reserved, the locals at the bar sigh into their beer - and the tills ring.

Now Ive never needed asking twice to go to the pub. But being hectored to commemorate something that I have absolutely no relation to or interest in, or that is inappropriate for commemoration in a pub, is one of the few things that is sure to keep me out of there.

Maybe Im just not the target customer anymore?

More broadly its just galling to have dates in the calendar and bits of often foreign and irrelevant culture packaged up and sold to you with bells on and a mark-up. To me it immediately devalues it as a shared experience, if indeed there was any there in the first place.

Londoners sat around in silly foam hats (with corporate logo, of course) and Republic of Ireland rugby shirts (ditto) drinking Guinness in 'celebration' of St Patrick's Day?

Parents forced to buy Halloween tat by insistent children before traipsing miserably through the streets in a desultory imitation of a manufactured American 'festival'?

Our capital's major Christmas attraction, the metastasizing Hyde Park cash-hoover that is Winterland?

Harmless you may say: dispiriting, depressing, and indicative of our cultural inferiority complex and vapid sense of identity, say I.
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A photographer has captured the terrifying moment an oblivious paddleboarder came just metres from an enormous shark as it headed toward a school of fish.

Joel Nankivell, 29, was using his drone to capture stunning photos of Injidup Bay near Yallingup, in Western Australia, when he noticed the boarder floating near a school of salmon with his feet dangling in the water.

Moments later he spotted the shark headed straight toward the board and started to fly his drone near the paddleboarder's head to try and alert him.

A photographer has captured the incredible moment a paddle boarder came too close for comfort with a shark

The boarder appears to paddle directly toward the shark, which appears in the drone footage as a black shape nearly the same size as the man's board lurking in the clear azure waters

Mr Nankivell said the man did not seem to get the hint and continued to catch waves right in the path of the predator, which was much larger than the three-metre board.

After a few minutes, the shark swam away and it is unknown if the paddleboarder became aware of the danger.

Mr Nankivell, who is a photographer for Southwest Saltwater, managed to capture the incredible stand-off.

One photo shows the boarder seconds after he caught a wave headed directly for the shark, but he said the predator, believed to be a tiger shark, swam out of his way.

The man apparently did not seem to get the hint and continued to catch waves right in the path of the predator

One photo shows the boarder seconds after he caught a wave headed directly for the shark, but he said the predator, believed to be a tiger shark, swam out of his way

After a few minutes, the shark swam away and it is unknown if the paddleboarder became aware of the danger

'I thought he was first in danger before that wave came, because he was sitting on his paddleboard with his feet in the water,' Mr Nankivell told Daily Mail Australia.

'There's photos of him sitting in the water with his feet dangling with the shark really close. I thought if he runs into the shark he could be in trouble.'

Incredibly, only when looking at photos later did Mr Nankivell notice another man, laying on his back in the crystal clear water seemingly oblivious to the shark nearby.

Despite the scary incident, the keen photographer said it won't stop him going down to the 'beautiful' beaches on the southwest coast of Western Australia.
Mohammad Tawhidi - an imam like his Iraqi immigrant father - is pictured marching at an Australian rally

He is the Muslim preacher who has called for Islamic schools to be shut down and says he didn't come to Australia to live in a nation where 'burqas were running around'.

But Sheikh Mohammad Tawhidi - the outspoken Shia imam from Adelaide - has revealed the chilling threat which this week drove him into hiding.

'The Islamic ruling for this infidel is beheading,' said a message posted to his Facebook page last Saturday.

'I will pay $5000 for anyone who gets me his whereabouts, I'll organise the rest'.

A sleepless Imam Tawhidi, 34, shared the menacing message from an undisclosed location this week in a bid to highlight the gravity of his situation.

The threat emerged as he spoke for the first time to Daily Mail Australia about about his background as a Middle Eastern migrant - whose family fled the tyrannical regime of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Alarming screed: This Facebook beheading threat - purportedly posted last Saturday - offered money for Tawhidi's whereabouts, he said

Tawhidi - cutting a distinctive presence here at this rally - claims he has been subjected to a series of threats

Tawhidi - celebrated by some as 'the renegade imam' - has attracted headlines only since starting an organisation called the Islamic Association of South Australia and becoming a regular commentator in the media.

He sparked controversy by criticising hardline group Hizb-ut Tahrir and telling a Rotary Club lunch his father, also an imam, came to Australia 'because it was a non-Muslim country.'

'If we knew after 30 years we are going to have burqas running around and mosques being erected on every corner and people proposing sharia law against democracy in this country we wouldn't have come,' he said then.

But the headlines have led to an escalating series of threats that have left him worried about his safety.

'It's been extremely serious in the past few weeks,' Tawhidi said.

'Before they were just actually wanting to intimidate me and now they're coming after me.'

So too, have come the attacks on his credibility.

A slick video circulated online accused him of being a fake, and the Australian National Imams Council (ANIC) has issued a statement saying he is not a real sheikh.

In fact, Tawhidi comes from a long line of religious preachers.

In these photos, Tawhidi is seen being 'crowned' by the Grand Ayatollah Shirazi - a sign he has become a 'faith leader'

Tawhidi - seen during his 'crowning' ceremony - is the third generation of his line to be an imam

'I'm a third generation imam. My father came to Australia in 1995,' he said.

'We have an Iraqi background, but because my father was sentenced to execution by Saddam Hussein, he fled to Iran.

'From Iran, he came to Australia.'

His family emigrated to Australia in 1995, settling in Perth when he was 12-years-old.

He attended the Australian Islamic College - although he now calls for all religious Islamic schools to be closed because 'Australia has never protested any religion like it has Islam.'

Tawhidi and his family moved to Australia when he was 12-years-old, he told Daily Mail Australia

Tawhidi originally wanted to become an architect but did not end up pursuing it.

He said because of 'corruption in the Islamic community' he wanted to educate himself properly on Islam.

He worked an IT apprenticeship before setting off for Iran for his religious education in 2007.

He studied in 'holy cities', including the Iranian city of Qom, before returning to Australia in 2014.

Tawhidi now makes money as an 'entrepreneur and property investor', he said.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, Tawhidi described himself as a conservative who 'leaned to the right' wing of politics.

He was particularly animated in his criticism of the Greens, saying their policies were 'contributing to the change of the culture of this country into a new Baghdad'.

Some of his views include that there should only be one mosque per state ('because the ones we have (do) nothing to serve this country').

And he believes the burqa should not be worn in public, 'in the airports, in the bank, in public areas where identifying the Australian is necessary'.

Tawhidi - on right with small child - flew to Indonesia recently to stand up for a Christian governor over a blasphemy case

Tawhidi, with archbishop Malkhaz Songulashvili, a church leader from Georgia

Anti-Islam critic Ayaan Hirsi Ali lavished Tawhidi with praise in a recent interview with Sky News' Andrew Bolt

He claimed he had never 'not once, not once in my entire life' been subjected to racial abuse.

'And my first name is Muhammad, I have a beard and I stand out wherever I go,' he said.

'I'm giving them valid points to discuss', Tawhidi said, of his criticisms of Islam

Pressed on criticism he is being used to batter the religion's critics, Tawhidi told the Daily Mail he was simply channeling peoples' legitimate concerns.

'Well, I'm a Muslim. And I'm a practising Muslim. And I love my faith.

'What I say is the truth about the religion and it's current developments.

'And because I love my religion, I'm speaking out to fix the problem within.

'In no way do I wish to bring pressure upon Muslims or cause any harm or violence to them, but we live in a democracy and we are allowed to criticise.'

He said he wasn't adding to anti-Islamic sentiment.

'I'm not adding to it, I'm advising the critics what they should be speaking of.

'Instead of certain groups coming out into the streets and using foul language in regards to Islam I'm giving them valid points to discuss'.

Despite hiding away at the moment, Tawhidi said he would not stop being outspoken.

'I have a long way to go before my beard turns white,' he said.

'And I will continue to do what I'm doing.'
This is the moment a Champagne celebration nearly turned into a casualty visit - after the cork shot out painfully into the popper's neck.

The man was left pardoning his French after shouting an expletive in agony - then saying 'bonjour', which means 'hello', as a thank you for the expensive gift.

In video taken by his partner the man named Shaun, from Southampton, opens the bottle of Veuve Clicquot.

The Champagne celebration nearly turned into a casualty visit - after the cork shot out painfully into the popper's neck

As he loosens the cork it suddenly shoots out with a pop hitting him in the neck

He had made the critical mistake of pointing the bottle directly at his head

In the spirit of the alcohol - from the Champagne wine region in France - he then asks his partner who is filming the video how to say 'thank you' in French

But he makes the critical mistake of pointing it directly at his head.

As he loosens the cork it suddenly shoots out with a pop hitting him in the neck - as the Champagne begins to flow.

He cries out in agony before saying: 'Ooh, f****** hell, ah, I think I'm bruised.'

His partner jokes: 'You've got a floor to clean.'

In the spirit of the alcohol - from the Champagne wine region in France - he then asks how to say 'thank you' in French.

Before opening the bottle he also mistakenly says the French phrase 's'il vous plait' - which means please

At the beginning of the clip he had faced the camera and thanked a woman called Elsa before adding: 'We're on holiday, this is that bottle of champagne you gave us'

When his partner replies that she doesn't know, he tries his best - saying: 'Bonjour, no, merci!'

But it wasnt his only poor attempt - before opening it he mistakenly says the French phrase 's'il vous plait' - which means please.

At the beginning of the clip he had faced the camera and thanked a woman called Elsa before adding: 'We're on holiday, this is that bottle of champagne you gave us.'
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Seven innocent people dead - including two children - a town ripped apart and a police force baffled: Welcome to the town of Maryvale, Arizona, where a serial killer has gone un-captured for almost a year with no sign of being found - despite his daring and gruesome attacks on ordinary strangers.

Phoenix photographer Jesse Rieser decided to travel to the town, heavily populated by immigrants, where a killer still potentially roams free, after hearing about the mysterious spate of murders at the hands of the 'Phoenix Serial Street Shooter' or the 'Monster of Maryvale'.

The gunman has already claimed the lives of multiple victims aged from 12 to 55, injured two others and attempted to shoot at least two more.

Paranoia - high among residents amid heightened anti-immigrant sentiment nationally - is naturally even higher now, given Maryvale residents are living with the fact a killer could potentially still be in their midst.

'Theyre trying to live the American Dream in the best way they know how,' Rieser explains.

Phoenix photographer Jesse Rieser has put together a poignant series of photographs as part of a project called 'Stalking A Serial Killer'. His work is about a murderer in the Phoenix neighborhood of Maryvale, Arizona, who is believed to have killed seven people - but hasn't been captured

The pictures are integrated with quotes from residents in the town, some of whom believe the killer is living among them

Rieser decided to travel to the town, heavily populated by immigrants, where a killer still potentially roams free, after hearing about the mysterious spate of murders at the hands of the 'Phoenix Serial Street Shooter' or the 'Monster of Maryvale'

The gunman has already claimed the lives of multiple victims aged from 12 to 55, injured two others and attempted to shoot at least two more. Many of his shots portray of the atmosphere of the town that is scared

Paranoia - high among residents amid heightened anti-immigrant sentiment nationally - is naturally even higher now, given Maryvale residents are living with the fact a killer could potentially still be in their midst

The victims have all been Latino or African American but that is where the killer's pattern ends.

He or she tends to shoot their victims as they sit in their parked vehicles or begin to exit them - and all the killings have been carried out from a car, or so the police believe.

So far officers have come up with just one named suspect - Frank Taylor, a career criminal who was killed in an armed robbery gone wrong - two weeks after the latest killing last Summer.

'There were several tips that came in on Frank Taylor,' Sgt. Jonathan Howard told azfamily.com. 'Our detectives did research that. They did investigate, but they were unable to gather enough evidence to link him to this crime.'

So those tips are obviously not enough to reassure the community, which the police readily admit.

'Is he dead? Is he incarcerated? Has he just chosen to stop his crimes?' Sgt. Howard asks. 'We don't know and we don't know if he has an additional trigger.'

The victims have all been Latino or African American but that is where the killer's pattern ends. A number of CCTV cameras are seen attached to a tree in Maryvale

The victims have all been Latino or African American but that is where the killer's pattern ends. A young girl looks at the camera on the streets

He or she tends to shoot their victims as they sit in their parked vehicles or begin to exit them - and all the killings have been carried out from a car, or so the police believe

Rieser's photography explores the theme of paranoia among residents and also touches on his own fears when he joined the hunt for the killer himself.

Interspersed with quotes from residents about the crime wave, the artist documented the scenes of the shootings and the community as they tried their best to go about their lives under the specter of murder.

The last shooting took place in July when a 21-year-old man and 4-year-old boy came under fire as they exited their car. Both escaped uninjured.

The shooter is described as a lanky man in his early 20s, and is believed to have used several vehicles, including a black 5 Series BMW sedan.

His access to multiple vehicles has led to speculation he is a mechanic.

The first victim 'gentle giant' Diego Verdugo-Sanchez, 21, was visiting his pregnant fiancee when he was shot dead back in April. Horacio de Jesus Pena, 32, had parked outside his family home when he was killed, then Krystal White, 55 was shot dead in the street.

Welder Manuel Castro Garcia, 19, was also killed arriving at home while Maleah Ellis, 12, who dreamed of being a cheerleader, her mother Stephanie, 33, and her friend Angela Linner, 31, were all slaughtered as they stood outside their house listening to music.

'There are neighbors who know who the killer is', says one of the quotes in Rieser's series. 'But they are too scared to talk'.

Rieser's photography explores the theme of paranoia among residents and also touches on his own fears when he joined the hunt for the killer himself

So far officers have come up with just one named suspect - Frank Taylor, a career criminal who was killed in an armed robbery gone wrong - two weeks after the latest killing last Summer

The artist documented the scenes of the shootings and the community as they tried their best to go about their lives under the specter of murder

The last shooting took place in July when a 21-year-old man and 4-year-old boy came under fire as they exited their car. Both escaped uninjured

A man is seen standing next to a van parked outside his home in Maryvale. Residents are trying to go about their lives as the killer's presence lingers in the back of their mind

A quote from one resident gives an insight into the killer's behavior and his emotions

A high heel remains on the floor of one of the scenes of the shootings in the Arizona community

Some who live in Maryvale, a town populated with a majority of illegal immigrants, say others know the killer's identity

A broken piece of glass lies on the side of the road. A small splatter of blood is seen just a few inches away

Though some may know who the murderer is, residents fear they are too scared to talk

A man speaking on his cell phone drives by in a flash, potentially avoiding the killer's main modus operandi

Their heightened paranoia may be traced back to SB 1070. The Arizona act made it a state misdemeanor crime for an alien to be in Arizona without carrying the required documents

Others have mentioned the fractured relationship between immigrant residents and law enforcement

A car with a crumpled rear end is covered in profanity-laden graffiti

Residents in the town, many of them foreign, suggest that this could be the 'American dream gone wrong'

Two contrasting images show a before and after shot of one of the shooting scenes

The mood in the town has been completely transformed by the spate of violent deaths

A tree stands outside a house in Maryvale that was connected to one of the shootings. Police have only ever had one suspect

A flat screen TV lies face down in the dirt. The shooter's access to multiple vehicles has led to speculation he is a mechanic

Rieser says the photo essay 'depicts the black and Latino neighborhood roamed by the killer while serving as a metaphor for issues plaguing American policy and politics; immigration, race, a shrinking middle class, community policing, mental health, and gun violence'

A flock of birds are seen perched on top of a building overlooking Maryvale. Many are uncertain when the killer will be caught

Members of law enforcement and residents believe that many don't want to see what is going on or report crimes

A motorbike that is connected to one of the shooting victims lies outside a home in the Phoenix neighborhood

There is mounting speculation as to how the killer gets around and what he does for a living

Rieser pulls up to a deserted intersection opposite a market in Maryvale

There is a lingering paranoia in the town, because the killer could be anybody

Belongings from a house are abandoned on the side of the street

(Left to right) Manuel Castro-Garcia, Horacio De Jesus Pena, and Diego Verdugo-Sanchez are among the killer's victims

Angela Linner (left) and Stefanie Ellis (right) were also gunned down during their spree
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The secret 'Underground Railroad' network which led tens of thousands of slaves on 2,000 miles hikes to freedom ahead of the Civil War has finally been revealed 200 years on.

A network of undercover roads, trails, shelter and safe houses, the paths were the only means for many to escape the South and journey to Canada and the free states of the North.

Photographer Jeanine Michna-Bales has painstakingly documented each step of the perilous journey many took through plantations, forests and swamps to sympathetic abolitionists and ultimately freedom.

Over a course of months the artist photographed many of the known routes - travelling on foot as the slaves would - in the first ever attempt to photograph the secret pathways which until now were only recorded in the historical written accounts of those who used them.

Her foreboding images printed together in her book highlight the dangers that both the fleeing slaves and those who helped them faced as they gave their lives in the quest of freedom and justice.

The secret 'Underground Railroad' network which led tens of thousands of slaves on 2,000 miles hikes to freedom ahead of the Civil War has finally been revealed 200 years on by photographer Jeanine Michna-Bales. Many would flee plantations, like the above in Cane River, Louisiana, and head north towards Ontario, Canada

A network of undercover roads, trails, shelter and safe houses, the paths were the only means for many to escape the South and journey to Canada and the free states of the North. This barn in Centerville, Indiana, had a tunnel leading underneath that lead to another station on the railroad.

A stopover station was located on the Frogmore Plantation in Concordia Parish, Louisiana (above). Michna-Bales has painstakingly documented each step of the perilous journey many took through plantations, forests and swamps to sympathetic abolitionists and ultimately freedom

Pictured center is a gravestone in a slave cemetery in Missouri, outside the Mount Locust Stand and Plantation. Over a course of months the artist has photographed many of the known routes - travelling on foot as the slaves would

The Elias Conwell House in Napoloen, Indiana , along Old Michigan Road, was a major north-south artery between Kentucky and Michigan. The photographer's work is the first ever attempt to photograph the secret pathways which until now were only recorded in the historical written accounts of those who used them

Many of those heroic figures or the 'conductors' who helped slaves escape, knew only their small part of the journey - with secrecy of paramount importance to protect others involved further down the line. \

Bounty hunters were often dispatched by slave-owners trying to find their escaped slaves alongside federal marshals attempting to close the railroad down.

Many of these 'conductors' infiltrated plantations by posing as slaves in order to lead an escape attempt. Harriet Tubman - herself an escaped slave woman - was one such figure, fearlessly sneaking back into the plantations that once held her to save others.

The groups usually traveled at night - taking refuge in safe houses or whatever shelter they could find along the way from one 'station' to the next.

Supplies - including food, water and blankets - were often hidden for fleeing groups along the route.

Though most traveled by foot some abolitionists were more ambitious using wagons and horses.

Michna-Bales herself focused on routes starting near Louisiana, moving north along the Natchez Trace, Wired reports. Using historical documents she traced where groups would stop on their journeys north.

The Erastus Farnham House, south of Fremont, Indiana, is believed to have been a stop on the railroad. Many of those heroic figures or the 'conductors' who helped slaves escape, knew only their small part of the journey - with secrecy of paramount importance to protect others involved further down the line

Above is a the Stone Arch Railroad Bridge in Vernon, Indiana. The town had a series of tunnels that helped slaves evade capture while they were on the run

It's believed that some of the slaves used to hide out in Barren County, Kentucky, (above) on their journey north. The Underground Railroad was first commonly referred to around 1839 but had existed, at least informally, for many years before

A cabin owned by James and Rachel Sullivan sits between the trees in Penville, Indiana. Many people on the route would help slaves hide from authorities, an act that could lead to arrest and even the death penalty

Moonlight shines on the Mississippi River in Tensas Parish, Louisiana. Many of the slaves vying for freedom had to cross dangerous sections of river on their route

Captain John Lowrys Lodi property in Corner, Michigan, was one of the stops on the railway. The groups of slaves usually traveled at night - taking refuge in safe houses or whatever shelter they could find along the way from one 'station' to the next

She traveled 2,000 miles over three months at night breaking the journeys into 20 mile segments as slaves would have to do.

'Growing up in the Midwest, the Underground Railroad was understandably an important part of our school curriculum given that some of the routes ran literally through our backyards,' Michna-Bales told the New York Times.

'I became fascinated with the topic and often imagined what it must have been like to walk thousands of miles for the chance to be free. The Underground Railroad has been described as the first civil rights movement in the United States because it blurred racial, gender, religious and socio-economic lines and united people in the common cause of ending the injustice of slavery'

Michna-Bales traveled 2,000 miles over three months at night breaking the journeys into 20 mile segments as slaves would have to do. She encountered some heavily-forested areas like the one above which many of the slaves would have faced

Michna-Bales said she became fascinated with the idea that thousands of people walked thousands of miles just for their freedom. Supplies - including food, water and blankets - were often hidden for fleeing groups along the route

Many slaves personally attempted to flee - many further south - in bid to make it overseas. The Railroad north reached it's height by 1860 saving approximately 100,000

Bounty hunters were often dispatched by slave-owners trying to find their escaped slaves alongside federal marshals attempting to close the railroad down. So many were forced to traverse dangerous sections of water

A satirical cartoon shows the antagonism between Northern abolitionists on the one hand, and Secretary of State Daniel Webster and other supporters of enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

The above is a reproduction of a call for donations for former African-American slaves who had just arrived via the Underground Railroad, April 19, 1853

'I began to understand along the way that there were so many different people who made up the Underground Railroad, from freedom-seekers themselves to other slaves, free blacks, abolitionists, Quakers, Presbyterians, the wealthy, the poor, female, male'.

'My hope is that this project will help illuminate the darkened corners of our shared history and show us that when we work together great things can be accomplished. As Frederick Douglass may have wished, may we all come together through the darkness into the light.'

The Underground Railroad was first commonly referred to around 1839 but had existed, at least informally, for many years before.

Many slaves personally attempted to flee - many further south - in bid to make it overseas.

The Railroad north reached its height by 1860 saving approximately 100,000.

The images are all taken from Michna- Bales's book: 'Through Darkness to Light: Photographs Along the Underground Railroad' by Jeanine Michna-Bales (Princeton Architectural Press).
Police are on the hunt for a man who sexually assaulted a four-year-old girl after he kidnapped her while she was playing outside.

The child was outside with her friends in Wilmington, Delaware, on Thursday evening, when a man drove up in a sedan, grabbed her, and sped off, ABC reported.

She was found stripped of most of her clothing about two hours later in a park, and doctors at the hospital determined she had been sexually assaulted, police said.

Vaughn Bond of the Castle County Police (pictured) called the suspect a 'monster' and said every officer in the department was committed to tracking down the sexual predator

A four-year-old girl was playing outside in Wilmington, Delaware, when she was abducted, sexually assaulted, and dumped in a park about eight miles away, police said

Police responded to the 4800 block of Sugar Plum Court around 7pm on Thursday after the girl's friends notified an adult.

The suspect drove up in a dark-colored sedan with tinted windows and started chatting with the kids in the street before he grabbed the four-year-old and drove off, police said.

Less than two hours later, police received a tip that the girl was in Banning Park, about eight miles away.

The young girl was treated and released to her family, and police are now intent on finding the sexual predator.

Vaughn Bond of the Castle County Police said: 'Every member of the New Castle County Police Department is committed - regardless of their assignment - to solving and apprehending this heartless monster.

He added: 'There is nothing lower that a person can do than to take advantage and sexually abuse and take the innocence of a four-year-old child.'

Police found suspicious tire tracks in the mud along an intersection close to where she was abducted, ABC reported

The driver appears to have made a hurried U-turn and police took a mold to track down the specific tire model

Banning Park was shut down as police searched for evidence.

Police found suspicious tire tracks in the mud along an intersection close to where she was abducted, ABC reported.

The driver appears to have made a hurried U-turn and police took a mold to track down the specific tire model.

An investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is urged to contact New Castle County Police at (302)-573-2800.
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The Kremlin has warned the US it is one step from war' over Syria - but the Trump administration hit back by saying it would be prepared to carry out airstrikes again.

In the first direct American raid on Bashar al Assads forces, President Trump authorised the firing of 59 cruise missiles at a military airfield.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev denounced the US for attacking the legitimate government of Syria and for allegedly breaking international law without the approval of the UN.

Mr Medvedev said: This military action is a clear indication of the US presidents extreme dependency on the views of the Washington establishment, the one that the new president strongly criticised in his inauguration speech.'

Soon after his victory, I noted that everything would depend on how soon Trumps election promises would be broken by the existing power machine. It took only two and a half months.

The last remaining election fog has lifted. Instead of an overworked statement about a joint fight against the biggest enemy, ISIS, the Trump administration proved that it will fiercely fight the legitimate Syrian government.

But the US President warned he would do it again after unleashing a surprise attack on the Syrian regime with a massive show of firepower.

Scroll down for video

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (left) last night denounced Donald Trump for attacking the legitimate government of Syria and said the US was on the verge of a military clash with Russia. Trump warned he would do it again after unleashing a surprise attack on the Syrian regime

Officials said it was retaliation for Assads use of chemical weapons and would deter further atrocities. The US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley (above), said that her country had taken a very measured step. She added: We are prepared to do more but we hope that will not be necessary

Officials said it was retaliation for Assads use of chemical weapons and would deter further atrocities. The US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said that her country had taken a very measured step.

She added: We are prepared to do more but we hope that will not be necessary.

Vladimir Putin yesterday also denounced the US missile strikes as an illegal act of aggression against a sovereign nation.

The furious Russian president responded to the attack against his ally by diverting warship the Admiral Grigorovich to protect the Syrian coast and vowing to bolster Assads missile defences against further bombing raids.

He also suspended a military hotline known as the deconfliction line which is designed to avoid mid-air collisions and confrontations between Russian and US fighter jets over the war-torn country.

Destruction: These images show the extent of the destruction wrought on Syria's al-Shayrat military airfield by US Tomahawk missiles on Thursday

Damage: The photos show that the missiles - which were launched from 150 miles away by US destroyers - were terrifyingly accurate, slamming down on the shelters and ripping up runways

The strikes hit the government-controlled Shayrat air base (above) in central Syria, where U.S. officials say the Syrian military planes that dropped the chemicals had taken off

The American action drew a furious response from the Kremlin, which accused the US of violating international law. Above, the moment USS Ross fired one of 59 Tomahawk missiles into Syria from the Mediterranean

The US strike was a proportionate response to unspeakable acts that gave rise to overwhelming humanitarian distress, said UK ambassador Matthew Rycroft

Russias envoy to the UN called the attack a flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression

The two old Cold War superpowers clashed at the UN Security Council where a Russian envoy claimed US aggression had strengthened terrorism.

But Mrs Haley said the Russian government held considerable responsibility for Assads use of chemical weapons.

Every time Assad has crossed the line of human decency, Russia has stood beside him, she said.

He had terrorised his country and shocked the conscience of the world, Mrs Haley added.

He murdered hundreds of thousands and displaced millions.

On Tuesday Assad launched yet another chemical attack, murdering men women and children in the most gruesome way, Mrs Haley said.

Assad did this because he thought he could get away with it. He thought he knew Russia would have his back.

Vladimir Putin responded to the attack against his ally by diverting warship the Admiral Grigorovich to protect the Syrian coast and vowing to bolster Assads missile defences against further bombing raids

US killed four children, Syria claims US air strikes killed nine civilians including four children, the Syrian state news agency claimed yesterday. It reported that stray missiles targeted at Shayrat airbase  said to be the launch pad for Tuesdays gas attack  killed and wounded civilians a few miles away. If true, this is embarrassing for President Donald Trump, who justified the airstrike by talking of beautiful babies cruelly murdered in the chemical attack blamed on the Syrian regime. The Sana news agency is, however, effectively a mouthpiece for Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, promoting his activities, denying any breaches of international law by his forces and attacking his enemies. Last night there was no independent verification of the claim that US strikes killed and wounded civilians outside the airbase south of Homs. But Assads office said: What America did is nothing but foolish and irresponsible behaviour, which only reveals its short-sightedness and political and military blindness to reality. Advertisement

Mrs Haley said that changed with the American strike: When the international community fails in its duty to act collectively there are times when states are compelled to take their own action.

The use of chemical weapons against civilians is one of those times, she said, adding: The moral stain of the Assad regime could no longer go unanswered.

The United States took a very measured step last night.

'We are prepared to do more. But we hope that will not be necessary.

'It is time for all civilised nations to stop the horrors that are taking place in Syria and demand a political solution.

The action marked a dramatic U-turn from the new US administration.

In the final days of last years election campaign, Mr Trump warned a shooting war in Syria could bring the US into a conflict with Russia that could very well lead to World War III.

In an emotive broadcast in the early hours of yesterday morning, Mr Trump said he was responding to the Syrian regimes attack  believed to have involved sarin nerve agents  on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun which left at least 72 people dead, including 20 children.

Using a deadly nerve agent, Assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children. It was a slow and brutal death for so many, he said.

Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack. No child of God should ever suffer such horror.

Downing Street was swift to back the action.

At the UN, Britain came out in strong support of its ally because war crimes have consequences and the greatest war criminal of all, Bashar al Assad, has now been put on notice, said UK ambassador Matthew Rycroft.

At the UN, Britain came out in strong support of its ally because war crimes have consequences and the greatest war criminal of all, Bashar al Assad (left), has now been put on notice, said UK ambassador Mr Rycroft. Right, the remains of one of the hangars obliterated by US missiles fired from destroyers overnight

The US strike was a proportionate response to unspeakable acts that gave rise to overwhelming humanitarian distress, he added.

It was also a strong effort to save lives, by ensuring such acts never happen again.

Russia had been humiliated by its failure to bring to heel a puppet dictator, entirely propped up by Russia itself and Hezbollah and Iran, he said.

Moscow compared the US action with the invasion of Iraq by American and British forces in 2003.

In an emotive broadcast in the early hours of yesterday morning, Mr Trump said he was responding to the Syrian regimes attack  believed to have involved sarin nerve agents  on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun which left at least 72 people dead, including 20 children

Abdul Hamid al-Youssef cradles the bodies of his dead twins after they were killed in the chemical attack

Russias envoy to the UN called the attack a flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression.

We strongly condemn the illegitimate action by the US, said deputy ambassador Vladimir Safronkov.

The consequences of this for regional and international stability could be extremely serious.

Russia won support from some quarters other than Syria. Bolivian ambassador Sacha Sergio Llorenti accused the US of being the prosecutor, judge and jury in Syria.

The editor of the website AltRight.com, Richard Spencer, told of how he felt shocked and angry at yesterdays intervention.

Weapon of choice: The 1million one-ton Tomahawk missiles destroy targets with pinpoint accuracy

Assad's base in ruins: Dramatic satellite photos reveal how airfield pounded with 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles is 'almost completely destroyed' after punishment for deadly chemical weapon attack

By JAMES WILKINSON and DAVID MARTOSKO and HANNAH PARRY For Dailymail.com and FRANCESCA CHAMBERS, White House Correspondent For Dailymail.com and THOMAS BURROWS and ABE HAWKEN and DARREN BOYLE for MailOnline

New images from the Department of Defense show how 59 powerful US missiles obliterated an airfield that was allegedly being used by Bashar al-Assad's regime to mount chemical attacks.

Observers said al-Sharyat Air Base was 'almost completely destroyed' by the 1,000lb warheads in a 30-minute barrage of destruction that is said to have destroyed 20 planes, a dozen aircraft hangars and a fuel depot, as well as ripped up runways, storage sites and radars.

The missiles were launched from US destroyers 150 miles away in the Mediterranean Sea in response to Assad's Sarin gas attack in Idlib on Tuesday, which killed 80 civilians, including children.

Destruction: These images show the extent of the destruction wrought on Syria's al-Shayrat military airfield by US Tomahawk missiles on Thursday. Note the holes punched through the tops of the thick concrete aircraft shelters

Damage: The photos show that the missiles - which were launched from 150 miles away by US destroyers - were terrifyingly accurate, slamming down on the shelters and ripping up runways

Disabled: The damage sustained in the 30-minute attack was meant to disable the air base, near the city of Homs. This shot shows how far apart the main target zones were

But while the US and a number of its allies say the attack was justified, it has enraged Russia, which backs Assad's regime.

Footage and photos from the ground Friday morning showed some of the aircraft shelters - which appear to be made of thick concrete, with feet of sand piled on top - partially or fully collapsed.

Others had sunlight shining in through holes in their roofs, and black scorch marks on their walls.

'Initial indications are that this strike has severely damaged or destroyed Syrian aircraft and support infrastructure and equipment at Shayrat Airfield, reducing the Syrian government's ability to deliver chemical weapons,' said Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis.

Aftermath: This is the aftermath of one of the Tomahawk missile strikes, underneath one of the protective concrete plane shelters. US officials said that 20 Syrian jets were destroyed in the attack

Twisted: Twisted and shredded metal is all that's left of this ravaged plane after the bombardment. The Syrian government said at least seven soldiers were killed and nine wounded, though the US had tried to avoid barracks and populated buildings

Unscathed: This collection of five jets on al-Sharyat Air Base somehow escaped the bombing raid, despite being located out in the open, on a patchy grass plain

Two senior defense officials told Fox News that about 20 Syrian jets were destroyed in the strike, although footage screened on Russian television suggested that at least two had escaped the destruction.

Early reports put the figure at nine destroyed jets.

The US officials said that none of the planes had been able to scramble before missiles hit, and that no Russian aircraft were at the airfield. No helicopters were struck during the destruction, they said.

When asked why Russian TV footage showed an undamaged shelter and two apparently intact jets, an expert told CNN that the US had been precise in its targeting due to the size of the airfield so as not to waste missiles, and so not every area would be accountedfor.

Syria claimed that at least seven of its soldiers were killed and nine wounded in the airstrike. According to US intel, there were 12-100 personnel on the site that night. Efforts were made not to hit barracks, officials said.

Burnt out: Footage showing burnt out shelters and hangars and a damaged runway was cheered by tearful Syrians hoping that Trump's intervention would lead to Assad being overthrown

SANA, Syria's state media, also claimed that nine civilians, including four children, were killed - even though the airbase was attacked at 3:45am local time.

The satellite photos show a considerable distance between the base's perimeter and the nearest built-up area.

The US said that only one of its missiles failed to land on-target after being launched by the USS Ross and USS Porter, although Russians released their own counter-claims, saying that only 23 of the 59 rockets hit the base.

But the photos released by the Department of Defense suggest that that the missiles - at least, the ones involved in the damage seen in the satellite images - were closely clustered around the aircraft hangars.

DID RUSSIA HIT HOSPITAL TO HIDE SYRIAN GAS HORROR? US officials announced on Friday that they were investigating whether a drone seen just after Tuesday's gas attack was in fact Russia-operated. The drone returned late in the day as citizens were going to a nearby hospital for treatment. Shortly afterward, officials say, the hospital was bombed. Officials said the hospital strike may have been an effort to cover up evidence of the chemical attack. It's not clear which hospital they were referring to, but local activists released photos of al Rahma hospital in Khan Sheikhoun, saying it was shelled by Russians on Tuesday. Advertisement

The US said the base was being used to store chemical weapons, like those used on civilians in the city of Idlib on Tuesday.

That attack, which killed 80 civilians and injured many more, was the fourth such atrocity in Syria since the conflict began in 2011. One chemical attack has been blamed on ISIS and the other three on Syrian forces.

An hour after the attack, Trump, speaking from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where he is hosting the Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng as part of a two day summit, said the US had to act after the Syrian dictator launched the 'horrible chemical weapons attack' on innocent civilians.

'Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack,' he said. 'It was a slow and brutal death for so many. No child of God should ever suffer such horror.'

He added: 'There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons, violated its obligations under the chemical weapons convention, and ignored the urging of the UN security council.

'Years of previous attempts at changing Assad's behavior have all failed and failed very dramatically.

'As a result, the refugee crisis continues to deepen and the region continues to destabilize, threatening the United States and its allies.

'Tonight I call on all civilized nations to join us in seeking to end the slaughter and bloodshed in Syria, and also to end terrorism of all kinds and all types.'

While Trump's election victory marked the possibility of a 'reset' between the former Cold War adversaries, that optimism has since dissipated, with relations between the US and Russia hitting a new low in recent years as officials on both sides openly bashed each other Friday.

Putin this morning denounced the strike as an 'illegal act of aggression' and also ripped up an agreement to avoid mid-air clashes between Russian and US fighter jets over Syria.

Inside the Mar-a-Lago war room: President Trump is briefed on a video link with his advisers and cabinet members around him. Trump was meeting with Chinese Premier Xi Jinping when he was pushed into action

Putin saw the US action as an 'aggression against a sovereign nation' on a 'made-up pretext' and considered it a cynical attempt to distract the world from civilian deaths in Iraq, according to Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Meanwhile, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev took to Facebook on Friday to declare US-Russian relations 'completely ruined'. He also said the US was 'on the verge of a military clash with Russia'.

Rex Tillerson also delivered some harsh words on Thursday and said Russia was either 'complicit' in the Sarin attack that killed more than 80 people or 'simply incompetent' in getting Syria to surrender its chemical weapons.

US Ambassador Nikki Haley echoed the sentiments at the UN Security Council and mocked Moscow for failing to rid Syria of chemical weapons under a 2013 deal.

'It could be that the Assad regime is playing the Russians for fools,' Haley said.

WHY DIDN'T PUTIN'S GROWLERS STOP TRUMP'S MISSILES? Trump's missiles somehow managed to get past Vladimir Putin's state-of-the art S-400 Growler air defense system, which covered al-Shayrat airfield. The Growlers - which can intercept targets at a range of 250 miles and at heights of up to 90,000 feet - are stationed at Latakia Airbase, meaning al-Shayrat should be covered by them. Russia was also given 30 minutes' notice before the attacks. Why the system did not protect the base - whether it was because they've never gone up against US technology or because Putin allowed the strike to occur - remains to be seen. In the wake of the attacks, Russia said its service personnel were still protected by the Growlers, and vowed to step up protection of al-Shayrat. Advertisement

In response to the airstrikes, Russia said it will further strengthen Syrian air defenses.

And Putin ordered his Admiral Grigorovich frigate - armed with cruise missiles and a self-defense system - from the Black Sea to dock in-between the Syrian mainland and the US ships that launched the attack.

Russia's foreign minister says no Russian servicemen have been hurt in the bombing raid. Its security council said it regretted the 'harm' done to relations between Washington and Moscow.

The country also demanded a special meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss what it called 'aggression against a sovereign state'.

The meeting, called by Bolivia on Friday afternoon, saw Bolivian Ambassador Sacha Lorenti denouncing the United States as acting like 'investigator, attorney, judge and executioner'.

The US was defended by France and Britain.

British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft praised President Trump's decision, saying the attack was 'an appropriate response to such a heinous crime, a war crime.'

And French Ambassador Francois Delattre expressed hope the US action would be a 'game changer and help boost the political negotiations'.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged restraint and a renewed push for peace in Syria, saying in a statement that 'there is no other way to solve the conflict than through a political solution'.

He said: 'For too long, international law has been ignored in the Syrian conflict, and it is our shared duty to uphold international standards of humanity. This is a prerequisite to ending the unrelenting suffering of the people of Syria.'

The US was also branded 'a partner of ISIS' by al-Assad's spokesman, calling the missile strikes 'reckless and irresponsible.'

He also accused Trump of 'naively falling' for a 'false propaganda campaign' about the Idlib Sarin massacre.

A Pentagon official told DailyMail.com that the president 'is dead-set against letting Assad labor under the illusion that the Syrian army can murder innocent people with impunity.'

WHO SUPPORTS WHO IN THE BATTLE FOR SYRIA? PRO ASSAD Russia - Gives military support, condemns the US airstrikes and suspends deal not to clash mid-air Iran - Close strategic allies with Syria and has provided significant support including $8.69billion North Korea - UN probe found that North Korea was supplying arms to Syria Iraq - The Iraqi Government provided financial support and transported supplies Algeria - Rumours suggest Algerian military aircraft is regularly landing in Syria Venezuela - The South American country has shipped tens of millions of dollars worth of diesel to Syria Lebanon - Police arrested family after they protested about the Syrian Government Belarus - President Alexander Lukashenko supported Moscow's involvement and offered air strike Lebanese Hezbollah Party - Involvement has been substantial and has deployed troops since 2012 ANTI ASSAD US - President Donald Trump launched first airstrikes since six-year civil war started UK - Supports US cruise airstrikes as Theresa May said chemical attack was 'despicable' France/Germany - Both of the countries today said Assad bears 'sole responsibility' for US strike Turkey - Opposed to Assad but objects to Syrian rebels and wants control of Kurdish area Canada - Canada gave more than $4.97million to the Syrian opposition in 2013 Saudi Arabia - The Middle East country is the main group to finance the rebels and has provided a large amount of weapons Israel - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the first to praise the US's retaliatory attack, saying he 'fully supports' Donald Trump's decision to launch the cruise missile attacks Qatar- It was reported Qatar gave the Syrian rebels $2.98 billion at the start of the civil war in 2011 Advertisement

A Syrian military source also claimed on Friday that Syria had already 'learned of the American threat' and that precautions were taken - but it did not say how they found out, or from whom.

'We took precautions in more than one military point, including in the Shayrat airbase. We moved a number of airplanes towards other areas,' the official said, adding they were forewarned 'hours' before the strike.

Those claims were belied by photographs and video that emerged Friday showing burned out planes underneath the targeted shelters.

Some planes - several of which had apparently been left out in the open air, at least two of which were still in shelters - were undamaged but on the base.

America had used a special military-to-military hotline to warn Russia about the airstrike around 30 minutes in advance - but the Trump administration did not ask Moscow for permission.

It is likely Russia alerted the Syrians about the incoming strikes but this has not been confirmed.

The US has been supported by some of its foreign allies.

Russian warship the Admiral Grigorovich (pictured on recent deployment) - armed with cruise missiles and a self-defense system - was sent from the Black Sea to Syria today following the airstrike on al-Shayrat military airfield

Block: Vladimir Putin ordered the Admiral Grigorovich will pass through the east Mediterranean waters where the USS Ross and USS Porter fired the 59 Tomahawk missiles that pounded Assad's al-Shayrat military airfield near Homs in the early hours of Friday

In a joint statement on Friday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande said, 'President Assad bears sole responsibility for this development.

Hollande added that the US strike was what France had been calling for in the wake of another chemical attack in 2013.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, speaking alongside German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, added that they hoped this would not spiral into further conflict.

'We do not want an escalation,' Ayrault said. 'We have to stop the hypocrisy. If Russia is acting in good faith it should stop and negotiate.'

Britain also stood staunchly behind its long-time ally and what it called an 'appropriate response.'

A spokeswoman for Prime Minister Theresa May said: 'The UK Government fully supports the US action, which we believe was an appropriate response to the barbaric chemical weapons attack launched by the Syrian regime, and is intended to deter further attacks.'

EU President Donald Tusk said in a tweet that 'US strikes show needed resolve against barbaric chemical attacks. EU will work with the US to end brutality in Syria.'

And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that 'in both word and action' Trump 'sent a strong and clear message' that 'the use and spread of chemical weapons will not be tolerated.'

Bolivia called an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council (pictured) in New York to discuss Trump's attack on Syria on Friday afternoon. The Bolivian Ambassador denounced the US as acting like 'investigator, attorney, judge and executioner'

Predictably, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was less enthused.

He took to Twitter on Friday to denounce the strikes, saying: 'Not even two decades after 9/11, US military fighting on same side as al-Qaeda & ISIS in Yemen & Syria. Time to stop hype and cover-ups.'

And Iranian news agency ISNA quoted foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi as saying: 'Such measures will strengthen terrorists in Syria... and will complicate the situation in Syria and the region.'

Iran is a long-time supporter of the Assad regieme.

There has also been debate at home, as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle complained that the Commander in Chief had authorized military action without consulting Congress.

'The President needs congressional authorization for military action as required by the Constitution, and I call on him to come to Congress for a proper debate,' said Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky.

Libertarians such as Representative Justin Amash, a House Freedom Caucus member, want to stick tightly to the Constitution, which he argued on Twitter had been violated by Trump's actions.

'Airstrikes are an act of war' he wrote. 'Atrocities in Syria cannot justify departure from Constitution, which vests in Congress power to commence war.'

He continued: 'Framers of Constitution divided war powers to prevent abuse,' he wrote. 'Congress to declare war; President to conduct war and repel sudden attacks.'

Nancy Pelosi, the House's top-ranking Democrat, begged House Speaker Paul Ryan in a letter Friday morning to call back House members to DC as they begin their two-week Passover and Easter recess.

'The President's action and any response demands that we immediately do our duty. Congress must live up to its Constitutional responsibility to debate an Authorization of the Use of Military Force against a sovereign nation,' Pelosi said.

All eyes will be on Tillerson next week when he becomes the first Trump Cabinet member to visit Russia. Tillerson may get an audience with Putin himself.

Despite the breakdown over Syria, where Russia has a significant military presence, U.S. officials insisted Tillerson's highly anticipated trip was still on.

For Tillerson, the trip is even more delicate than before: He must find a way to show the U.S. can stand up to Russia and safeguard elements of cooperation at the same time.

He must also be prepared to deal with the notoriously unpredictable Putin, known for making guests feel uncomfortable when he wants to express displeasure.

'Let him come and tell us what they have been up to today,' Maria Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, told Russian television. 'We will tell them everything that we think on this score.'

If Putin is looking for a way to even the score, it might not be in Syria, said Julianne Smith, a former National Security Council and Defense Department official now at the Center for a New American Security. Faced with challenges to his country's dignity, she said, Putin always thinks in 'asymmetric terms'.

'We should be watching eastern Ukraine, we should be watching for a cyberattack, another drip-drip-drip of WikiLeaks,' she said. 'There's all sorts of things they can do.'

Take your best shot, Donald: Syrian warplanes take off from airbase targeted by US cruise missiles just hours later as Assad mounted new attacks on town he gassed

Syrian warplanes took off from the same airbase hit by US missiles on Friday to carry out bombing raids on rebel-held areas, including the town targeted in a chemical attack.

The aircraft took off from inside the Shayrat base just hours after the US strike and struck targets in the eastern Homs countryside, according to a a monitoring group.

The Syrian airstrikes were carried out on Khan Sheikhoun - the same town Bashar al-Assad is accused of attacking with chemicals - and seven other towns.

The aircraft targeted territory controlled by the Islamic State jihadist group, which holds parts of the central Syrian province of Homs.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war using sources on the ground, could not specify whether they were Syrian or Russian planes, but said they were Sukhoi jets, which both Damascus and its ally Moscow use.

People inspect damaged buildings after an airstrike in Douma, Syria on Friday - just hours after US missiles struck the Shayrat miltiary base

The aircraft took off from inside the Shayrat base (pictured) just hours after the US strike and struck targets in the eastern Homs countryside

There were no reported injuries in Khan Sheikhoun but at least 10 people were killed in Hish, while a woman and two children died in Irbin, the Daily Beast reports.

The news came as images from the US Department of Defense showed how 59 powerful missiles obliterated the airfield that was allegedly being used by Bashar al-Assad's regime to mount chemical attacks.

Observers said al-Sharyat Air Base was 'almost completely destroyed' by the 1,000lb warheads in a 30-minute barrage of destruction that is said to have destroyed 20 planes, a dozen aircraft hangars and a fuel depot, as well as ripped up runways.

The missiles were launched from US destroyers 150 miles away in the Mediterranean Sea in response to Assad's Sarin gas attack in Idlib on Tuesday, which killed 80 civilians, including children.

But while the US and a number of its allies say the attack was justified, it has enraged Russia, which backs Assad's regime.

An injured man stands with his son in front of their destroyed house in Douma after Syrian forces carried out airstrikes on Friday

Footage and photos from the ground Friday morning showed some of the aircraft shelters - which appear to be made of thick concrete, with feet of sand piled on top - partially or fully collapsed.

Others had sunlight shining in through holes in their roofs, and black scorch marks on their walls.

'Initial indications are that this strike has severely damaged or destroyed Syrian aircraft and support infrastructure and equipment at Shayrat Airfield, reducing the Syrian government's ability to deliver chemical weapons,' said Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis.

Two senior defense officials told Fox News that about 20 Syrian jets were destroyed in the strike, although footage screened on Russian television suggested that at least two had escaped the destruction.

Early reports put the figure at nine destroyed jets.

The US officials said that none of the planes had been able to scramble before missiles hit, and that no Russian aircraft were at the airfield. No helicopters were struck during the destruction, they said.

When asked why Russian TV footage showed an undamaged shelter and two apparently intact jets, an expert told CNN that the US had been precise in its targeting due to the size of the airfield so as not to waste missiles, and so not every area would be accounted for.
Police believe Dekitta Holmes, 29, killed herself after shooting dead her sister, stepfather, another man, and critically injuring her mother in Houston on Friday

A woman appears to have fatally shot her sister, stepfather and another man before critically injuring her mother and then committing suicide.

The killing spree spanned three locations in the Houston area on Friday and is the most deadly shooting the city has seen this year.

Authorities have identified the shooter as Dekitta Holmes, 29, who is a mother of three children with an education in criminal justice and no history of violence.

Police believe Dekitta first killed her sister Carolyn Holmes, who is a 48-year-old mother-of-two at her home on the 4800 block of Richmond Knolls in Fresno, Texas.

She then allegedly drove to her own home on La Salette Street and Mount Pleasant Street in southeast Houston, and shot an unidentified man inside.

Just a few houses down, police believe she then went inside her mother Laverne Holmes' home, striking her with a bullet and fatally shooting her stepfather, 65-year-old Robert Lee Wesley.

Laverne Holmes, 64, is said to be alive but in critical condition.

Authorities believe Dekitta's sister Carolyn Holmes, left, was killed first at her home in Fresno, Texas. Their mother, Laverne Holmes, was also shot and is now in critical condition

Houston police spokeswoman Jodi Silva said officers responding to a welfare check at Laverne's home when they found the bodies of the stepfather and alleged shooter around 7:10am.

As detectives were investigating the scene, they were then informed of the shooting at Dekitta's nearby home, where authorities found the body of an man who she may have been living with him at the time, Click 2 Houston reported.

After responding to the shootings in Houston, police asked Fort Bend County sheriff's deputies to check Carolyn's home in Fresco, about 16 miles southwest of Houston. Upon entering through a back door, they found her body inside.

Three people alone died on this street, where the murders come as a shock to the generally quiet neighborhood, where stepfather Robert worked at a nearby convenience store

Before turning the gun on herself, Dekitta reportedly called her neice, Carolyn's daughter.

She asked the girl to gather her own children and make sure they weren't separated.

Dekitta Holmes' friend Delia Ledet said: 'She told her that she harmed four people. And that she wanted her children to stay together, please get them and make sure they stay together.'

She continued: 'I've never known her to be an aggressive person. She's not a violent person. You know, so for this to happen, literally, is like jaw-dropping for us.'

The murders come as a shock to the generally quiet neighborhood, where stepfather Robert worked at a nearby convenience store.

Robert's son said that his father was a staple in the community, and that he believes that an issue regarding Dekitta's children may have led to her alleged breakdown.

'Something about her kids,' he told ABC 13. 'She got tired of people telling her about her kids so she lost it.'
A Denver man who claimed that eating marijuana-infused candy led him to kill his wife was sentenced Friday to 30 years in prison in a case that helped raise concerns about the potency of pot edibles.

Richard Kirk, 50, was charged in the April 2014 shooting of Kristine Kirk at the couple's home.

Moments before he shot her in the head, Kristine Kirk told a 911 dispatcher her husband was hallucinating and was getting a gun after eating pot candy.

Kirk initially pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder but right before he was about to go on trial in 2015, he changed his plea to not guilty by reason of insanity, claiming that he was intoxicated with THC, marijuana's psychoactive ingredient.

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Richard Kirk (L in a mug shot) claimed that eating marijuana-infused candy led him to kill his wife Kristine (R)

Authorities said low levels of THC were found in his blood, and a partially eaten piece of marijuana candy was found in the house (pictured)

In February, he agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder in a deal with prosecutors, avoiding a potential life sentence that could have come with a conviction on the more serious charge.

Under the plea deal, Kirk also allowed his wife's parents, Marti and Wayne Kohnke, to adopt the couple's three children.

Moments before he shot her in the head, Kristine Kirk (pictured) told a 911 dispatcher her husband was hallucinating and was getting a gun after eating pot candy

Prosecutor Helen Morgan said after Friday's hearing that Kirk's use of marijuana played a role in deciding to broker a plea deal.

'There were a myriad of factors that went into it, but it was certainly one of them. One of many,' she said.

Kirk's attorneys sought lenience on the grounds that he had consumed THC to relieve back pain and it had severely impaired his judgment.

They also argued he suffered 'involuntary intoxication' because he did not know he was at high risk for marijuana psychosis due to schizophrenia in his extended family.

Denver District Judge Martin Egelhoff did not address that argument Friday in sentencing Kirk to the high end of the 25- to 30-year range set out in the plea agreement.

Marti and Wayne Kohnke emotionally talk about their daughter Kristine Kirk during an interview in Denver, CO August 26, 2014

Shooting victim Kristine Kirk's family, sister Tammy Heman, from right, mother Marti and Wayne Kohnke, and an unnamed family member. Under the plea deal, Kirk also allowed his wife's parents, Marti and Wayne Kohnke, to adopt the couple's three children

Authorities have said low levels of THC were found in Kirk's blood, and a partially eaten piece of marijuana candy was found in the house. But they have not said what role, if any, they thought pot played in the shooting.

According to investigators, the couple had escalating marital and financial problems, and Kristine Kirk had told a friend she was afraid of her husband because they had been fighting so much - a conclusion disputed by defense attorneys.

Kristine Kirk told dispatchers that her husband was acting more drunk than violent, crawling through a bedroom window and cutting his legs on broken glass.

However, prosecutors argued he had the wherewithal to remember the code to a locked gun safe and press the weapon to his wife's head.

District Attorney Beth McCann has said that plea deal was reached because the family wanted to avoid a trial given the emotional toll they have already suffered.

'On the evening she needed me most, I wasn't there,' Marti Kohnke said of her daughter. 'I couldn't save her, and I will live with that guilt for the rest of my life. ... My daughter's murder was the culmination of a lifetime of his bad choices.'

Shooting victim Kristine Kirk's family, sister Tammy Heman, from right, mother Marti and Wayne Kohnke, and an unnamed family member: Last year, the Kohnkes sued two marijuana businesses that sold candy to Richard Kirk, saying they failed to warn him about its potency and possible side effects

Last year, the Kohnkes sued two marijuana businesses that sold candy to Richard Kirk, saying they failed to warn him about its potency and possible side effects.

In response to the Kirk case and the death of a Wyoming college student who jumped from a hotel balcony after eating a potent marijuana cookie, Colorado lawmakers tightened regulations on marijuana snacks that became popular after the state legalized recreational marijuana stores. The state also now has stricter limits on how much marijuana they can contain and tougher labeling requirements.

Kirk said in court Friday that if he had not eaten the marijuana candy, his wife would still be alive.

'I had no idea how it would affect me. ... I'm so sorry that I became the monster that I was supposed to protect them from,' he said of his family.
Thirteen people, including an ex-state assemblyman, are accused of turning New York City-funded health clinics into pill mills that pump millions of highly-addictive prescription painkillers onto the streets, police said.

Dr Lazar Feygin and former New York State Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny are among those accused of putting more than six million painkillers on the black market worth between $60 and $100million.

They are also accused of forcing addicted patients to get unnecessary medical services in exchange for their painkiller prescriptions so the clinics could defraud Medicare and Medicaid of $24million as part of a plot that began in 2012.

More than half of those funds came from New York City's public health system, NBC4 reports.

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Dr Lazar Feygin (seen here Friday in Manhattan Supreme Court Friday) is accused of putting more than six million painkillers on the black market worth up to $100million

Ex New York State Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny (above) is accused of manipulating tests at Sheepshead Bay medical lab to allow Feygin's patients to continue to receive prescriptions

Feygin, who ran LF Medical Services of NY (left) and Parkville Medical Health (right), said Friday on his way into court that he 'never ever' treated addicted patients, only 'sick people'

When asked if the allegations are true, Feygin told PIX11 as he was led in handcuffs into court Friday: 'On the street? No. No comments. I am absolutely innocent. I don't know what's going on. My attorney will take care of it.'

The 70-year-old allegedly used the money he made from the scheme to fund vacations, luxury goods and real estate holdings. He was once featured in The New York Times's 'Style' section discussing his favorite Ralph Lauren suits.

Brooke-Krasny is accused of deleting alcohol-positive urinalysis records at the Sheepshead Bay medical lab to allow Feygin's patients to continue to receive painkiller prescriptions.

Other suspects include physicians 57-year-old Paul McClung and 56-year-old Michael Taitt; physicians assistants 59-year-old Marie Nazaire and 59-year-old Juan Cabezas; 53-year-old nurse practitioner Marjorie Louis-Jacques; 43-year-old physical therapist Reynat Glaz; as well as office managers 65-year-old Konstantin Zeva, 64-year-old Rachel Smolitsky, Vyacheslav Maksakov and Pavel Krasnou, according to the New York City Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor.

Feygin's associate, 57-year-old Paul McClung (pictured Friday in court), quit the practice to form his own clinic, PM Medical in Midwood, New York, where he allegedly similarly doled out pills

Dr Michael Taitt, 56, (pictured Friday in court ) was also employed by Feygin

Physical therapist Reynat Glaz, 43, (pictured Friday in court) allegedly required patients to undergo massage treatments as a condition of receiving prescriptions for oxycodone

All but 59-year-old Brooke-Krasny was arrested Friday because he's in Israel, according to media reports.

The group faces charges of conspiracy, money laundering, criminal sale of a prescription for a controlled substance and health care fraud.

Investigators from the New York City Special Narcotics Prosecutor's office and the DEA's Long Island Tactical Diversion Squad busted three Brooklyn health clinics Friday.

'Ive never really seen anything like it,' New York City Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan said Friday in announcing the busts.

Feygin, who ran Parkville Medical Health in Kensington and LF Medical Services of NY in Clinton Hill, said he 'never ever' treated addicted patients, only 'sick people'.

Using wiretaps, investigators learned of the scheme, dubbed 'Operation Avalanche', in 2013 after they discovered a group of people were obtaining numerous oxycodone prescriptions from two medical clinics owned by Feygin, police said.

Feygin's associate, McClung and his assistant Cabezas, quit the practice to form his own clinic, PM Medical in Midwood, where he allegedly doled out pills in a similar fashion.

'The defendants are crooks who stole millions from New York Citys cash-strapped healthcare system,' said New York City Department of Investigation Commissioner Mark Peters.

'They used pain pills instead of revolvers, but they robbed the city all the same,' Peters added.

At the height of the conspiracies in 2016, the clinics run by Feygin and McClung conducted more than 1,600 office visits a month from 20 patients, police said.

Although the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has not finalized its 2016 figures, more than 1,075 New Yorkers died from opioid painkillers or opiates, such as heroin and fentanyl.
The Uber driver who filmed his harrowing ride with a female passenger threatening to 'falsely accuse' him of rape for not having a phone charger she can use has shared his experiences in a new video.

The unidentified driver, sitting in his car, says he met with Uber officials on Friday at company offices to explain the situation to them and was rewarded for his efforts.

'They were all kind of speechless about it', he tells the camera.

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Uber gave this unidentified driver a 'lifetime supply' of phone chargers after a female passenger threatened to 'falsely accuse' him of rape Monday for not having the device

As a token of Uber's appreciation, the driver says the company gave him a 'lifetime supply' of various phone chargers after the belligerent passenger complained he didn't have one for her to use.

'I bet I will never have a problem of a charger anymore', he says with a smile as he empties the phone charges from a black bag onto the passenger seat.

He adds that they commended him for recording the incident because it will change how they will resolve issues with customers who report allegations against drivers to the police.

In the shocking dashcam video of the altercation Monday in the Bronx, New York, an unidentified woman can be heard shouting from the backseat: 'I'm going to start screaming out the window that you're raping me, that you raped me.

'I will punch myself in the face and tell the cops you did it. You wanna play?'

The driver repeatedly asks her to leave the car as she screams racial slurs in his direction.

An Uber spokesman told MailOnline: 'The behaviour in this video is abusive and completely unacceptable.

'As our Community Guidelines make clear, this will not be tolerated by anyone who uses Uber. The riders account has been banned and Uber is looking into this incident.'

The unidentified driver, sitting in his car, says the Uber officials he met with Friday commended him for recording the incident because it'll change the way they resolve customer complaints

Uber also gave him 'some amount of money' for his hardship, he says without disclosing the exact sum.

In the more than six-minute-long video, the driver addresses some of the comments people had about the incident, including his reason for not contacting police.

The driver says he was using his only phone to record the incident and didn't feel comfortable turning it off.

'I didn't trust that girl enough to turn off the phone and call the cops and then turn it back on ... she was already lying; she could say anything she wanted when I turned off the phone,' he says.

Based on comments the passenger made to the driver, he felt he had good reason to keep the camera rolling.

At one point in the original video the woman tells the driver to 'go back to your country' and that 'Donald Trump will send you back to your country'.

'What she failed to understand is that I came here legally. ... I don't do drugs, I don't drink. I don't fight, I don't be in trouble. I don't do none of that s***. I just work to make a living,' the driver says in the new video.

The driver encourages all ride-hailing drivers to invest in a dashcam and to never get physical with angry customers

He concludes the new video by encouraging all ride-hailing drivers to invest in a dashcam and to never get physical with angry customers.

'I got a message for every single Uber driver out there: You better invest in a f***ing dashcam, bro, 'cause bein' an Uber driver is putting your life in jeopardy if you don't have a dashcam. ... It could save your life. It saved my life, bro,' he says.

The incident comes amid controversy over the car service's background checking policy - with several of the firm's drivers being accused or convicted of crimes including rape.

Uber, and its rival Lyft, both take precautions to screen their drivers and promote safety but their drivers are not vetted in the same way as licensed cab drivers.

In the US state of Massachusetts both companies have been ordered to complete tens of thousands of background checks.

The vetting is designed in part to make sure a driver isn't a registered sex offender.

The clip was recorded in the Bronx in New York and shows a woman yelling in the backseat

The driver, pictured, repeatedly asks her to leave the car as she screams racial slurs in his direction

In shocking dashcam video of the altercation, the woman can be heard shouting from the back seat: 'I'm going to start screaming out the window that you're raping me, that you raped me'

Some ride-hailing drivers have been charged with rape, sexual assault and assault with intent to murder in Massachusetts.

Under a deal struck with the San Francisco-based companies, Uber and Lyft agreed to perform multi-state criminal and driving background checks for all drivers operating in Massachusetts.

The companies also agreed to check drivers against the Department of Justice's National Sex Offender Public Website.

The deal called on Massachusetts to conduct its own background checks, as well, running names through the state's criminal and sex offender registries and warrant management system.
Syrian warplanes took off from the same airbase hit by US missiles on Friday to carry out bombing raids on rebel-held areas, including the town targeted in a chemical attack.

The aircraft took off from inside the Shayrat base just hours after the US strike and struck targets in the eastern Homs countryside, according to a a monitoring group.

The Syrian airstrikes were carried out on Khan Sheikhoun - the same town Bashar al-Assad is accused of attacking with chemicals - and seven other towns.

The aircraft targeted territory controlled by the Islamic State jihadist group, which holds parts of the central Syrian province of Homs.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war using sources on the ground, could not specify whether they were Syrian or Russian planes, but said they were Sukhoi jets, which both Damascus and its ally Moscow use.

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People inspect damaged buildings after an airstrike in Douma, Syria on Friday - just hours after US missiles struck the Shayrat miltiary base

The aircraft took off from inside the Shayrat base (pictured) just hours after the US strike and struck targets in the eastern Homs countryside

There were no reported injuries in Khan Sheikhoun but at least 10 people were killed in Hish, while a woman and two children died in Irbin, the Daily Beast reports.

The news came as images from the US Department of Defense showed how 59 powerful missiles obliterated the airfield that was allegedly being used by Bashar al-Assad's regime to mount chemical attacks.

Observers said al-Sharyat Air Base was 'almost completely destroyed' by the 1,000lb warheads in a 30-minute barrage of destruction that is said to have destroyed 20 planes, a dozen aircraft hangars and a fuel depot, as well as ripped up runways.

The missiles were launched from US destroyers 150 miles away in the Mediterranean Sea in response to Assad's Sarin gas attack in Idlib on Tuesday, which killed 80 civilians, including children.

But while the US and a number of its allies say the attack was justified, it has enraged Russia, which backs Assad's regime.

Destruction: These images show the extent of the destruction wrought on Syria's al-Shayrat military airfield by US Tomahawk missiles on Thursday. Note the holes punched through the tops of the thick concrete aircraft shelters

Damage: The photos show that the missiles - which were launched from 150 miles away by US destroyers - were terrifyingly accurate, slamming down on the shelters and ripping up runways

Disabled: The damage sustained in the 30-minute attack was meant to disable the air base, near the city of Homs. This shot shows how far apart the main target zones were

Before the attack: This photo shows the base in October 2016. Russia claimed that only 23 out of the 59 rockets fired actually hit the base, but the US Navy said only one failed to find its mark

An injured man stands with his son in front of their destroyed house in Douma after Syrian forces carried out airstrikes on Friday

Abu Khaled stands inside his destroyed house after an airstike on Douma on Friday

Footage and photos from the ground Friday morning showed some of the aircraft shelters - which appear to be made of thick concrete, with feet of sand piled on top - partially or fully collapsed.

Others had sunlight shining in through holes in their roofs, and black scorch marks on their walls.

'Initial indications are that this strike has severely damaged or destroyed Syrian aircraft and support infrastructure and equipment at Shayrat Airfield, reducing the Syrian government's ability to deliver chemical weapons,' said Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis.

Two senior defense officials told Fox News that about 20 Syrian jets were destroyed in the strike, although footage screened on Russian television suggested that at least two had escaped the destruction.

Early reports put the figure at nine destroyed jets.

The US officials said that none of the planes had been able to scramble before missiles hit, and that no Russian aircraft were at the airfield. No helicopters were struck during the destruction, they said.

When asked why Russian TV footage showed an undamaged shelter and two apparently intact jets, an expert told CNN that the US had been precise in its targeting due to the size of the airfield so as not to waste missiles, and so not every area would be accounted for.

Aftermath: This is the aftermath of one of the Tomahawk missile strikes, underneath one of the protective concrete plane shelters. US officials said that 20 Syrian jets were destroyed in the attack

Twisted: Twisted and shredded metal is all that's left of this ravaged plane after the bombardment. The Syrian government said at least seven soldiers were killed and nine wounded, though the US had tried to avoid barracks and populated buildings

Detonated: These tanks - likely containing fuel - appear to have been blown up by the massive rockets. The Syrian media claimed nine civilians died even though the attack was launched at almost 4am local time on a military base

Shredded: Another plane shredded to pieces by the Tomahawk missiles, which have been updated many times since their use in the Gulf War. The modern missiles can be redirected en route to a target, and were launched 150 miles away

Escaped: While many of the shelters were badly hit in the attacks, some - such as those visible far in the background - were not. Russian TV made a point of showing those shelters in their morning news reports

Unscathed: This collection of five jets on al-Sharyat Air Base somehow escaped the bombing raid, despite being located out in the open, on a patchy grass plain

Syria claimed that at least seven of its soldiers were killed and nine wounded in the airstrike. According to US intel, there were 12-100 personnel on the site that night. Efforts were made not to hit barracks, officials said.

SANA, Syria's state media, also claimed that nine civilians, including four children, were killed - even though the airbase was attacked at 3:45am local time.

The satellite photos show a considerable distance between the base's perimeter and the nearest built-up area.

DID RUSSIA HIT HOSPITAL TO HIDE SYRIAN GAS HORROR? US officials announced on Friday that they were investigating whether a drone seen just after Tuesday's gas attack was in fact Russia-operated. The drone returned late in the day as citizens were going to a nearby hospital for treatment. Shortly afterward, officials say, the hospital was bombed. Officials said the hospital strike may have been an effort to cover up evidence of the chemical attack. It's not clear which hospital they were referring to, but local activists released photos of al Rahma hospital in Khan Sheikhoun, saying it was shelled by Russians on Tuesday. Advertisement

The US said that only one of its missiles failed to land on-target after being launched by the USS Ross and USS Porter, although Russians released their own counter-claims, saying that only 23 of the 59 rockets hit the base.

But the photos released by the Department of Defense suggest that that the missiles - at least, the ones involved in the damage seen in the satellite images - were closely clustered around the aircraft hangars.

The US said the base was being used to store chemical weapons, like those used on civilians in the city of Idlib on Tuesday.

That attack, which killed 80 civilians and injured many more, was the fourth such atrocity in Syria since the conflict began in 2011. One chemical attack has been blamed on ISIS and the other three on Syrian forces.

An hour after the US missiles hit the base, Trump, speaking from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where he is hosting the Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng as part of a two day summit, said the US had to act after the Syrian dictator launched the 'horrible chemical weapons attack' on innocent civilians.

'Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack,' he said. 'It was a slow and brutal death for so many. No child of God should ever suffer such horror.'

He added: 'There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons, violated its obligations under the chemical weapons convention, and ignored the urging of the UN security council.

'Years of previous attempts at changing Assad's behavior have all failed and failed very dramatically.

'As a result, the refugee crisis continues to deepen and the region continues to destabilize, threatening the United States and its allies.

'Tonight I call on all civilized nations to join us in seeking to end the slaughter and bloodshed in Syria, and also to end terrorism of all kinds and all types.'

Heartbreak: Disturbing footage showed Syrian father Abdul Hamid al-Yousef crying uncontrollably over the graves of his wife and two children who were killed in a suspected sarin gas attack this week

Smoke rises from the deck of the USS Porter as the United States blasted a Syrian air base with a barrage of cruise missiles in fiery retaliation for this week's gruesome chemical weapons attack against civilians.

The guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) launches a tomahawk land attack missile in the Mediterranean Sea

A U.S. Navy image shows the USS Ross (DDG 71) firing a tomahawk land attack missile at the Syrian air base

Inside the Mar-a-Lago war room: President Trump is briefed on a video link with his advisers and cabinet members around him. Trump was meeting with Chinese Premier Xi Jinping when he was pushed into action

Putin this morning denounced the strike as an 'illegal act of aggression' and also ripped up an agreement to avoid mid-air clashes between Russian and US fighter jets over Syria.

He also ordered his Admiral Grigorovich frigate - armed with cruise missiles and a self-defense system - from the Black Sea to dock in-between the Syrian mainland and the US ships that launched the attack.

WHY DIDN'T PUTIN'S GROWLERS STOP TRUMP'S MISSILES? Trump's missiles somehow managed to get past Vladimir Putin's state-of-the art S-400 Growler air defense system, which covered al-Shayrat airfield. The Growlers - which can intercept targets at a range of 250 miles and at heights of up to 90,000 feet - are stationed at Latakia Airbase, meaning al-Shayrat should be covered by them. Russia was also given 30 minutes' notice before the attacks. Why the system did not protect the base - whether it was because they've never gone up against US technology or because Putin allowed the strike to occur - remains to be seen. In the wake of the attacks, Russia said its service personnel were still protected by the Growlers, and vowed to step up protection of al-Shayrat. Advertisement

Russia has also said it will further strengthen Syrian air defenses.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin regarded the US action as 'aggression against a sovereign nation' on a 'made-up pretext' and as a cynical attempt to distract the world from civilian deaths in Iraq.

Russia's foreign minister says no Russian servicemen have been hurt in the bombing raid. Its security council said it regretted the 'harm' done to relations between Washington and Moscow.

The country also demanded a special meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss what it called 'aggression against a sovereign state'.

The meeting, called by Bolivia on Friday afternoon, saw Bolivian Ambassador Sacha Lorenti denouncing the United States as acting like 'investigator, attorney, judge and executioner'.

The US was defended by France and Britain.

British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft praised President Trump's decision, saying the attack was 'an appropriate response to such a heinous crime, a war crime.'

And French Ambassador Francois Delattre expressed hope the US action would be a 'game changer and help boost the political negotiations'.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged restraint and a renewed push for peace in Syria, saying in a statement that 'there is no other way to solve the conflict than through a political solution'.

He said: 'For too long, international law has been ignored in the Syrian conflict, and it is our shared duty to uphold international standards of humanity. This is a prerequisite to ending the unrelenting suffering of the people of Syria.'

WHO SUPPORTS WHO IN THE BATTLE FOR SYRIA? PRO ASSAD Russia - Gives military support, condemns the US airstrikes and suspends deal not to clash mid-air Iran - Close strategic allies with Syria and has provided significant support including $8.69billion North Korea - UN probe found that North Korea was supplying arms to Syria Iraq - The Iraqi Government provided financial support and transported supplies Algeria - Rumours suggest Algerian military aircraft is regularly landing in Syria Venezuela - The South American country has shipped tens of millions of dollars worth of diesel to Syria Lebanon - Police arrested family after they protested about the Syrian Government Belarus - President Alexander Lukashenko supported Moscow's involvement and offered air strike Lebanese Hezbollah Party - Involvement has been substantial and has deployed troops since 2012 ANTI ASSAD US - President Donald Trump launched first airstrikes since six-year civil war started UK - Supports US cruise airstrikes as Theresa May said chemical attack was 'despicable' France/Germany - Both of the countries today said Assad bears 'sole responsibility' for US strike Turkey - Opposed to Assad but objects to Syrian rebels and wants control of Kurdish area Canada - Canada gave more than $4.97million to the Syrian opposition in 2013 Saudi Arabia - The Middle East country is the main group to finance the rebels and has provided a large amount of weapons Israel - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the first to praise the US's retaliatory attack, saying he 'fully supports' Donald Trump's decision to launch the cruise missile attacks Qatar- It was reported Qatar gave the Syrian rebels $2.98 billion at the start of the civil war in 2011 Advertisement

The US was also branded 'a partner of ISIS' by al-Assad's spokesman, calling the missile strikes 'reckless and irresponsible.'

He also accused Trump of 'naively falling' for a 'false propaganda campaign' about the Idlib Sarin massacre.

A Pentagon official told DailyMail.com that the president 'is dead-set against letting Assad labor under the illusion that the Syrian army can murder innocent people with impunity.'

A Syrian military source also claimed on Friday that Syria had already 'learned of the American threat' and that precautions were taken - but it did not say how they found out, or from whom.

'We took precautions in more than one military point, including in the Shayrat airbase. We moved a number of airplanes towards other areas,' the official said, adding they were forewarned 'hours' before the strike.

Those claims were belied by photographs and video that emerged Friday showing burned out planes underneath the targeted shelters.

Some planes - several of which had apparently been left out in the open air, at least two of which were still in shelters - were undamaged but on the base.

America had used a special military-to-military hotline to warn Russia about the airstrike around 30 minutes in advance - but the Trump administration did not ask Moscow for permission.

It is likely Russia alerted the Syrians about the incoming strikes but this has not been confirmed.

Russian warship the Admiral Grigorovich (pictured on recent deployment) - armed with cruise missiles and a self-defense system - was sent from the Black Sea to Syria today following the airstrike on al-Shayrat military airfield

Block: Vladimir Putin ordered the Admiral Grigorovich will pass through the east Mediterranean waters where the USS Ross and USS Porter fired the 59 Tomahawk missiles that pounded Assad's al-Shayrat military airfield near Homs in the early hours of Friday

The US has been supported by some of its foreign allies.

In a joint statement on Friday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande said, 'President Assad bears sole responsibility for this development.

Hollande added that the US strike was what France had been calling for in the wake of another chemical attack in 2013.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, speaking alongside German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, added that they hoped this would not spiral into further conflict.

'We do not want an escalation,' Ayrault said. 'We have to stop the hypocrisy. If Russia is acting in good faith it should stop and negotiate.'

Britain also stood staunchly behind its long-time ally and what it called an 'appropriate response.'

A spokeswoman for Prime Minister Theresa May said: 'The UK Government fully supports the US action, which we believe was an appropriate response to the barbaric chemical weapons attack launched by the Syrian regime, and is intended to deter further attacks.'

EU President Donald Tusk said in a tweet that 'US strikes show needed resolve against barbaric chemical attacks. EU will work with the US to end brutality in Syria.'

And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that 'in both word and action' Trump 'sent a strong and clear message' that 'the use and spread of chemical weapons will not be tolerated.'

Bolivia called an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council (pictured) in New York to discuss Trump's attack on Syria on Friday afternoon. The Bolivian Ambassador denounced the US as acting like 'investigator, attorney, judge and executioner'

Defended: The UK defended its long-time ally, with British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft defending Trump's attack as 'an appropriate response to such a heinous crime, a war crime'

Predictably, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was less enthused.

He took to Twitter on Friday to denounce the strikes, saying: 'Not even two decades after 9/11, US military fighting on same side as al-Qaeda & ISIS in Yemen & Syria. Time to stop hype and cover-ups.'

And Iranian news agency ISNA quoted foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi as saying: 'Such measures will strengthen terrorists in Syria... and will complicate the situation in Syria and the region.'

Iran is a long-time supporter of the Assad regieme.

There has also been debate at home, as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle complained that the Commander in Chief had authorized military action without consulting Congress.

'The President needs congressional authorization for military action as required by the Constitution, and I call on him to come to Congress for a proper debate,' said Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky.

Libertarians such as Representative Justin Amash, a House Freedom Caucus member, want to stick tightly to the Constitution, which he argued on Twitter had been violated by Trump's actions.

'Airstrikes are an act of war' he wrote. 'Atrocities in Syria cannot justify departure from Constitution, which vests in Congress power to commence war.'

He continued: 'Framers of Constitution divided war powers to prevent abuse,' he wrote. 'Congress to declare war; President to conduct war and repel sudden attacks.'

Nancy Pelosi, the House's top-ranking Democrat, begged House Speaker Paul Ryan in a letter Friday morning to call back House members to DC as they begin their two-week Passover and Easter recess.

'The President's action and any response demands that we immediately do our duty. Congress must live up to its Constitutional responsibility to debate an Authorization of the Use of Military Force against a sovereign nation,' Pelosi said.
Will Hayden, the former star of the reality TV series Sons of Guns, was convicted Friday of raping two girls in Louisiana.

Hayden, 51, was found guilty of two counts of aggravated rape and one count of forcible rape. He faces a sentence of life in prison.

Hayden's victims, a 15-year-old girl and a 37-year-old woman, cried and hugged in a Baton Rouge courtroom as the jury's unanimous verdicts were announced, according to the Advocate.

Will Hayden, the former star of the reality TV series Sons of Guns, was convicted Friday of raping two girls in Louisiana

The Discovery Channel canceled Sons of Guns amid Hayden's legal troubles.

His 15-year-old victim told jurors that Hayden repeatedly raped her over the course of a year-and-a-half in 2013 and 2014, when she was 11 and 12 years old.

His former employee Rebecca Ramsey testified that she walked in on Hayden in August 2014 kissing the girl in his house, and filed a report with East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office one day later, the Advocate reported.

In her testimony on Wednesday, the young girl said that she was performing oral sex on the 51-year-old as Ramsey walked in on them, according to the paper.

Testifying Thursday, the girl said she was raped by Hayden and forced to perform oral sex, and that also Hayden got her contraceptive gel, it was reported this week.

She also claimed that as a way of dealing with the abuse, she cut herself, smoked, and drank.

Hayden (shown in 2014) was accused of raping a girl over the course of a year-and-a-half in 2013 and 2014, when she was 11 and 12 years old

Hayden was also accused of raping a 37-year-old woman in the early 1990s, when she was 12 and 13. The Discovery Channel canceled Sons of Guns amid Hayden's legal troubles

A 37-year-old woman testified that Hayden raped her in the early 1990s, when she was 12 and 13.

She claimed on Tuesday that Hayden asked if she wanted to get high in 1992, and that they smoked marijuana in his bedroom before he raped her, according to the Advocate.

The woman testified that in 1993 he raped her again at a friend's home, when she was on a couch and told him to stop.

She was quoted as saying: 'He didn't listen. I was so scared. I didn't want to go through this again. I remember feeling I must have done something wrong.'

Hayden denied all the rape allegations when he testified Thursday at his trial, the Advocate reported.

Hayden is scheduled to be sentenced in May, but his aggravated rape conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison. Pictured is a DVD cover for Sons of Guns

In a 2014 appearance on the Dr Phil show, Hayden's adult daughter Stephanie (above) alleged her father once came into her room drunk and kissed her

A prosecutor, Sonya Cardia-Porter, called Hayden a 'master manipulator' who lied to the jury in a 'pretty-well-rehearsed' performance.

Hayden is scheduled to be sentenced in May, but his aggravated rape conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

He also faces separate rape charges in Livingston Parish and has a trial scheduled for July. An aggravated rape charge concerns the 15-year-old girl and a sex crime charge concerns his adult daughter Stephanie Hayden, the Advocate reported.

In a 2014 appearance on the Dr Phil show, Stephanie alleged that her father once came into her room drunk and kissed her.

She claimed that she got away from her father, who never touched her like that again, according to the newspaper.
An Australian tourist who witnessed the Stockholm terror attack has described the horror of seeing the moment a truck 'demolished' a pram with a child inside.

Glen Foran said he avoided the 30-tonne hijacked beer truck which was coming towards him before it ploughed into a group of shoppers, killing four and injuring 15.

'I turned around and saw a big truck coming towards me. It swerved from side to side. It didn't look out of control, it was trying to hit people,' Mr Foran told Reuters.

'It hit people, it was terrible. It hit a pram with a kid in it, demolished it.'

Mr Foran said it 'felt like forever' waiting for police to arrive on Drottninggatan in central Stockholm, where the attack happened outside a department store about 3pm local time.

An Australian tourist who witnessed the Stockholm terror attack has described the horror of seeing the moment a truck 'demolished' a pram with child inside

Glen Foran said he avoided the 30-tonne hijacked beer truck, which was coming towards him before it ploughed into a group of shoppers, killing four and injuring 15

Mr Foran said it 'felt like forever' waiting for police to arrive on Drottninggatan in central Stockholm, where the attack happened outside a department store about 3pm local time

'It took a long time for police to get here. I suppose from their view it was quick, but it felt like forever,' he said.

Police have arrested a man in northern Stockholm who resembles pictures released of the terror suspect wearing a grey hoodie.

'We went public with information and a picture of a person that we were interested in,' police official Jan Evensson said.

'The person who is arrested resembles that description which means we have particular interest in him in regard to the ongoing investigation.'

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven told reporters 'everything points' to the attack being terror-related.

'These kinds of actions will never succeed. We know that our enemies are these atrocious murderers and not each other,' he said.

'Our message will always be clear: You will not defeat us, you will not govern our lives, you will never, ever win.'

Police said security at Swedish borders had been heightened. They did not rule out the possibility other attackers were involved.

Police have arrested a man in northern Stockholm who resembles pictures released of the terror suspect wearing a grey hoodie

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven told reporters 'everything points' to the attack being terror-related

The area of the attack in central Stockholm was evacuated, including the main rail station, and remained cordoned off late on Friday.

All subway traffic was halted on police orders and government offices were closed.

A Reuters witness at the scene saw policemen put what appeared to be two bodies into body bags.

Bloody tyre tracks showed the path of the truck, which was stolen by a masked hijacker, while making a beer delivery to a tapas bar further up Drottninggatan, according to Spendrups Brewery spokesman Marten Lyth.

'We were standing by the traffic lights at Drottninggatan and then we heard some screaming and saw a truck coming,' a witness who declined to be named told Reuters.

'Then it drove into a pillar at Ahlens City (department store), where the hood started burning.

'When it stopped we saw a man lying under the tyre. It was terrible to see.'

The area of the attack in central Stockholm was evacuated, including the main rail station, and remained cordoned off late on Friday

Police said four people had died and 15 were injured. National news agency TT said those hurt included the delivery driver, who had tried to stop the hijack.

Several attacks in which trucks or cars have driven into crowds have taken place in Europe in the past year. Al Qaeda in 2010 urged its followers to use trucks as a weapon.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack in Nice, France, last July, when a truck killed 86 people celebrating Bastille Day, and one in Berlin in December, when a truck smashed through a Christmas market, killing 12 people.

'Hijacking a truck, that has happened before,' head of terrorism research at the Swedish Defence University Magnus Ranstorp told Reuters.

'And this is a pretty cunning modus operandi. To drive to Ahlens and stop ... There is a way down to the subway just a few metres away from there, and then you ... can jump on any train you want and quickly disappear.'
A horse walks into a brewery and downs a beer.

It might sound like the set up of a joke, but Take Mac, a horse in Chelsea, Alabama, did just that on Thursday to ease a condition that leaves him unable to sweat.

The therapy horse risks overheating due to Anhidrosis, one of the symptoms of Cushings disease, and his veterinarian suggested he start drinking beer to help open his pores, AL.com reported.

Take Mac visited the Good People's Brewery on Thursday. He drinks a beer every day to help ease a condition that leaves him unable to sweat

Brewery co-founder Jason Malone joked: 'Apparently, he's a big fan of IPAs. He'll be our biggest, literally and figuratively, IPA fan'

Take Mac (pictured drinking beer) suffers from Cushings disease. Among his numerous symptoms is the inability to sweat- which puts the horse at risk of heatstroke

Take Mac visited the Good People's Brewery on Thursday, with co-founder Jason Malone joking: 'Apparently, he's a big fan of IPAs. He'll be our biggest, literally and figuratively, IPA fan.'

Take Mac was gifted to King's Home, a Christian organization that incorporates equine therapy as part of its services to help women and children who are either abused or at risk.

But the horse, who is now in his early 20s, suffers from Cushings disease, a condition that leads to an excess of the hormone cortisol.

Among his numerous symptoms is the inability to sweat- which puts the horse at risk of heatstroke due to his inability to cool down.

In addition to taking numerous supplements, a vet suggested Take Mac drink beer to help his anhidrosis.

'Beer has ingredients that can open the pores and help them sweat,' King's Home Development Director John Tidwell said.

Take Mac's caretakers reached out to the co-founder of Good People Brewery, who agreed to donate the horse's daily IPA

The unusual remedy seemed to have a positive effect on the therapy horse, and Take Mac has been drinking a beer every day for the last year.

Tidwell reached out to Malone, who agreed to provide Take Mac's medicine free of charge.

While alcohol is prohibited at the King's Home premises, King's Home was happy to make an exception for Take Mac, whose beer is locked in a cabinet.
Donald Trump was mocked for suggesting Sweden had suffered a major terror attack, despite no evidence of one, and was having issues because of immigration, during a February speech.

But while the President was ridiculed for his seemingly misinformed comments, some believe the devastating attack in Stockholm on Friday shows he may have been on to something.

A stolen truck plowed through a crowd of unsuspecting shoppers in the nation's capital, killing four and wounding 15 more on Friday afternoon.

Police arrested a 39-year-old Uzbek national with a Stockholm home address, who had expressed support for ISIS online, for allegedly being involved in the terrorist attack.

Trump's comments were promptly dismissed as Sweden's last terrorist incident happened in 2010, but Friday's attack shows tensions and threats are real in the Scandinavian country.

Scroll down for video

A stolen truck plowed through a crowd in Stockholm, killing four and wounding 15 more on Friday. People were seen running for their lives after the truck crashed into Ahlens, a department store in Klarabergsgatan, at around 3pm local time

A man in scrubs was seen walking along the street with several bodies, which have been covered by blankets, behind him. At least four people have died and witnesses described the scene as a 'warzone'

In February, Trump said at a Florida rally that Sweden was 'having problems' and referenced a terrorist attack that never happened. Now people are wondering if he was right about the tensions and threats the country is facing due to immigration

Around 3pm local time on Friday, a hijacked beer truck plowed down pedestrians on Klarabergsgatan before crashing into a shopping center and bursting into flames.

Following the crash, armed terrorists were seen running into Stockholm's Central railway station and opening fire. Two people were also said to have been stabbed.

Men jumped out from inside the vehicle and opened fire before trying to stab pedestrians, witnesses said.

Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said in a news conference shortly following the deadly attack: 'Sweden has been attacked. This indicates that it is an act of terror.'

Almost seven weeks before, Trump possibly foreshadowed the harrowing events while speaking at a rally in Melbourne, Florida, in late February.

Trump clarified the next day he was referencing a Fox News report on immigrants and Sweden

The president was promptly mocked online for his comments. Former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt tweeted: 'Sweden? Terror attack? What has he been smoking? Questions abound'

Trump said: 'You look at what's happening in Germany, you look at what's happening last night in Sweden.

'Sweden, who would believe this? Sweden. They took in large numbers. They're having problems like they never thought possible.'

He later clarified he was referencing a Fox News report.

Trump tweeted the next day: 'My statement as to what's happening in Sweden was in reference to a story that was broadcast on @FoxNews concerning immigrants & Sweden.'

People were quick to mock the president, as there was no terrorist attack on Sweden the night before he made his comments.

Even Former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt chimed in and tweeted: 'Sweden? Terror attack? What has he been smoking? Questions abound.'

In the Stockholm attack, the back of the truck, sticking out of the shopping center, is seen here moments after ramming several people as they were out shopping

This image shows an injured person being carried from the chaotic scenes at Ahlens, a department store in Stockholm where the truck crashed

Now people have taken to Twitter to ask whether Trump was right all along about Sweden's problems with immigrants and terrorism.

One user wrote: 'How are people "shocked" and "saddened" by this truck attack in #Stockholm? This is nothing new and Trump warned everyone.'

Paul Joseph Watson, a popular British YouTube and radio personality, said: 'It seems that Trump has unfortunately been proven right about Sweden.' Twitter user Deena said: 'People mocked President Trump when he said Sweden was having issues with Radical Islamic terrorism. Turns out he's right again!'

People have taken to Twitter to ask whether Trump was right all along about Sweden's problems with immigrants and terrorism

Paul Joseph Watson, a popular British YouTube and radio personality, said: 'It seems that Trump has unfortunately been proven right about Sweden'

Some boasted that Trump was 'right again' following the harrowing attack

Twitter user Susie mentioned Trump's February comments and how Sweden officials responded to him calling him 'crazy'

Sweden was previously dubbed as the the safest place on Earth by politicians.

The most recent was a failed suicide bomber in 2010.

Trump's outspoken remarks drew a wave of international criticism but prompted renewed debate over Swedens refugee policy.

Some politicians say the country has struggled to deal with the huge numbers of migrants who have traveled there to enjoy the high quality of life.

The surge at the peak of Europes refugee crisis in 2015 saw a record 163,000 asylum applications in just one year.

The influx, to a country with a population of 10million, prompted officials to put in place additional checks at the countrys borders.

Since 2012 around 300 people have traveled from Sweden to join violent Islamist groups  making the country one of the largest contributors to terrorist cells in Europe.
Three men have been shot after a fight between suspected rival bikie gangs broke out inside of a notorious Bandidos clubhouse.

Emergency crews were called in at around 11pm on Friday after the late night incident in Brunswick in Melbourne's north.

All three men were taken to hospital and are believed to have suffered serious but non-life threatening leg injuries.

Three men were shot in the leg after a fight between rival bikie gangs erupted at a Brunswick Bandidos clubhouse (pictured) in Melbourne's north on Friday

Authorities were called in at around 11pm and have taken the three men to hospital where they are in a serious but stable condition

Authorities say that the three men inside the club on Weston St, when they were shot.

Two of the men, one aged in his 20s and the other in his 30s, were taken to The Alfred Hospital while a third man aged in his 40s was taken to the Royal Melbourne according to 9 News.

They are believed to be in a serious but stable condition.

Specialist anti-bikie detectives from the Echo Taskforce are investigating the incident to determine what caused the suspected dispute but are yet to make any arrests.

The Brunswick clubhouse is next door to Doherty's Gym where ex-Bandidos bikie Toby Mitchell survived an assassination attempt in late 2011.

Mitchell, 40, is currently in prison after pleaded guilty to possessing ice, cocaine and a baton after police searched his car and Docklands apartment in September 2015.

Police have set up a crime scene outside Doherty's Gym where ex-Bandidos bikie Toby Mitchell survived an assassination attempt in late 2011
Evidence of the use of chemical weapons has come from reports of Turkish doctors

Was sarin gas actually used in Tuesdays attack?

The evidence for sarin use largely comes from reports from Turkish doctors treating survivors of the Syria attack.

Victims in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun were choking, foaming at the mouth, defecating and vomiting  all of which is consistent with sarin use.

Sarin, a colourless, odourless liquid at room temperature, is expensive and complex to manufacture.

The two key chemical compounds  a phosphorus variant and isopropyl alcohol  are mixed near the point of use, usually hours before it is released.

This is to avoid accidents and degradation in storage. The level of sophistication required in handling sarin would suggest state involvement.

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was supposed to have surrendered his entire chemical weapons stockpile  including sarin  to Russia after an earlier attack on an opposition-held area near Damascus in 2013. More than 1,000 victims died and only a Russian-brokered deal  with Assad agreeing to give up his chemical weapons for destruction  prevented US air strikes then. According to some reports, a consignment of sarin was missing from the stockpile handed over.

At the same time, Assad signed up to the Chemical Weapons Convention, a group of states which ban these weapons. However, chlorine gas, which produces similar symptoms to sarin, was not covered by the removal deal. And unlike sarin (which is 3,000 times more lethal) chlorine is easily accessible and has many everyday uses.

Medecins Sans Frontieres doctors, who treated some victims, said that both a toxic nerve agent and chlorine may have been used. But until impartial experts establish whether, and what, chemical weapons were involved, reliance on the observations of doctors is insufficient.

Why would Assad use chemical weapons in a war hes winning?

This is indeed a perplexing question. Since September 2015, when the Russians first intervened in Syria, Assads regime has made steady progress in defeating various rebel opponents, notably when his forces took Aleppo in December.

In recent days the US has strongly suggested it was prepared to leave Assad in power, as it saw him as a potential ally in the fight against Islamic State. Syrias military has categorically denied it was responsible for the attack. Of course, Assad has used various weapons indiscriminately against civilians, including barrel bombs (dropped from helicopters) and unfocused artillery bombardment. He has also weaponised gases  for example, putting tear gas in shells used by police to quell rioters.

Bashar al-Assad may have considered using sarin in the belief America would not retaliate

I believe, however, that he would have to be insanely overconfident to have brazenly used sarin, not least because of the risk  since realised  of US reprisals and greater involvement in the area.

All the evidence is that this cruel and calculating man is not insane.

He is intent, though, on corralling the remaining rebels in this area of Idlib province. This act of terror may have been a signal that he felt he could act with impunity, following the US ambassador to the UN saying last week that America was dropping calls for the Syrian president to stand down.

If not Assad, then who was it and why?

Charges of using chemical weapons are a very useful propaganda tool to blacken the reputation of any opponent, however dark already. Conspiracy theorists will see various nefarious hands at work.

The Russians, who back Assads regime, claim the Syrian air force bombed chemical munitions held by rebel forces in a warehouse, which then exploded. Another claim is that it was a gas manufacturing plant.

Such a strike would probably have destroyed what sarin there was and distributed the rest over a smaller area, affecting fewer victims.

Witnesses said they saw 'chemical bombs' falling from the sky during the attack

Given that the highly flammable isopropyl alcohol is one of the chemicals in sarin, a fireball might have been expected but there are no reports of this.

The numbers of women and children caught up in the attack would also rule against a rebel-held munitions depot in the immediate area.

Sarin can be delivered via shells, but some witnesses saw chemical bombs falling. The first reports from the site described a crater where a chemical-bearing rocket was said to have landed. There were no structural remains suggesting an explosion at a warehouse.

While it is possible that rebel forces acquired the chemicals to make sarin, or other nerve agents, these are unlikely to have been in large enough quantities to cause so many casualties.

Could Western spy agencies be involved?

Some of the more outlandish conspiracy theories suggest that Western intelligence forces, such as the CIA, might have been responsible for the gas attack  possibly as a way of distracting from the Trump administrations alleged Russian links.

Certainly, Russia has responded to the air strikes on Syria with some tough talk. But this speculation owes more to spy fiction than fact.

IS has also been suggested as the culprit, but the terror group is not present in any meaningful way in this area of Syria.
Sydney schools have come under fire from angry parents after removing the word 'Easter' from annual hat parades to be more 'inclusive'.

Public schools including Bondi and Batemans Bay caused controversy after changing the event's name to call it 'happy hat day' or 'crazy hat day'.

Some schools have reinstated the wording this year in response to parents' criticism, while others have stood by the decision, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Backlash from angry parents has prompted Sydney schools to reinstate the word 'Easter' to annual hat parades, after it was previously removed to be more 'inclusive'

Public schools including Bondi and Batemans Bay came under fire after changing the event's name to call it 'happy hat day' or 'crazy hat day'

The newspaper reported that Bondi Public School is among those to backflip on their decision.

Reports last year said the school's principal Michael Jones changed the wording in 2011, telling parents the decision was made to be more 'inclusive'.

'As we are an inclusive community which celebrates our diverse range of cultures and beliefs, I have not called it an Easter Hat parade,' Mr Jones wrote in the school's newsletter in 2011.

'Many religious celebrations occur at this time of year but we want to include all students in any celebration at school.'

Meanwhile, The Daily Telegraph reported Batemans Bay Public School principal Tom Purcell has held firm on his decision, despite an online petition with 600 signatures to reinstate the hat parade's original wording.

Sarah Culic created the petition, slamming the wording of 'happy hat day' as 'nonsensical political correctness'.

'The claim that celebrating Easter in a public school is exclusive of other religions is simply untenable,' she said.

'Everyone has and should have the right to partake in [Easter] according to our constitution and tradition.'

Bondi Public School is among the schools to backflip on their decision, according to reports. Last year it was revealed the school's principal Michael Jones changed the wording in 2011, telling parents the decision was made to be more 'inclusive'

Mother Danielle Stevenson said she would like to meet the parent who made a complaint to Batemans Bay Public School, and called the decision to rename the event as 'pathetic'

The petition has 620 signatories from people who downplayed the connection of the event to the religious celebration.

'I went to this school and [Easter hat day] was a massive memory I still have,' one signatory said.

'If it had a different name I would have most likely remembered it as just another crazy thing we did at primary school, the name itself holds value to memory, and tradition.'

'It is a parade with an Easter theme that is held just before the Easter weekend. No matter what the reason for the change is, it is an Easter Hat Parade,' another person said.

Batemans Bay Public School renaming of their hat parade reportedly came after a parent complaint, saying it was offensive and not inclusive of all cultures and religions.

One mother said on Facebook she would like to meet the parent who made the complaint and called the decision 'pathetic'.
Ivanka Trump urged her two oldest children Arabella and Joseph to serenade the Chinese President Xi Jinping in Mandarin during his visit to the Donald's Mar-a-Lago estate.

The mother-of-three was eager to give Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan a warm welcome during their first-ever meeting with President Donald Trump in Palm Beach, Florida, on Thursday.

Ivanka ushered out her daughter, who has already won legions of fans in China for her language abilities, and the five-year-old sang softly while both presidents looked on.

Ivanka Trump urged her daughter Arabella to serenade the Chinese President Xi Jinping in Mandarin during his visit to the Donald's Mar-a-Lago estate

Ivanka was eager to send a warm welcome to Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan during their first-ever meeting with President Donald Trump

She introduced her daughter, who has already won legions of fans in China for her language abilities, and the five-year-old sang softly while both presidents looked on

In a brief clip posted to her Instagram page, Ivanka wrote: 'Very proud of Arabella and Joseph for their performance in honor of President Xi Jinping and Madame Peng Liyuan's official visit to the United States.'

She ended the caption with the two Chinese characters for 'welcome'.

In February, Trump sent the customary Lunar New Year regards to Beijing more than a week late, leaving Chinese officials unsure whether the move was an intentional slight or accidental blunder.

It was Arabella, who started learning Mandarin when she was only 18 months old, who won over numerous fans and went viral after she visited the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC during their new year celebrations.

The five-year-old played the diplomat yet again on Thursday when she appeared in the formal dining room at Mar-a-Lago where Trump, Xi, Peng, and First Lady Melania Trump were seated.

Arabella went viral after she visited the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC during Lunar New Year celebrations in 2017 (above). She played the diplomat again on Thursday

Ivanka could be seen ushering her daughter out to meet the guests, while husband Jared Kushner held three-year-old Joseph's hand.

The First Daughter said: 'We wanted to make you feel at home,' before Xi eagerly greeted the young children.

Arabella broke out into the song 'Jasmine' while Joseph might have had a bought of stage fright, but Xi and Peng - herself a contemporary folk singer - seemed pleased by the gesture.

The kids also recited Tang dynasty poems and verses from the 'Three-character classics', according to the Chinese news agency Xinhua.

Ivanka Trump posted a photo of herself and baby Theodore playing with a set of Chinese building blocks on Tuesday

While baby Theodore was absent, the one-year-old is set to follow in his older siblings' footsteps in learning Mandarin.

On Tuesday, the baby was pictured in front of a set of building blocks covered with numbers and characters in simplified Chinese.

Ivanka seems intent on immersing all three children in Chinese culture. Another photograph on Instagram showed Theodore eating a bowl of noodles for his birthday - a tradition that signifies having a long life.

The 35-year-old has also posted photos or videos of Arabella celebrating the past four Lunar New Years.

Arabella is quite the star in China as a result and has appeared in two videos that went viral on the country's social media platforms.

One of those videos, which shows Arabella reciting Tang Dynasty poems in Mandarin while dressed in a traditional Chinese blouse, has close to 100million views.

Celebrity: She recites Tang Dynasty poems in Mandarin while dressed in a traditional Chinese blouse in one video, which has close to 100million views (Ivanka and Arabella above in February)

Star: Arabella Kushner, 5, has had two videos go viral on Chinese social media (left in 2017, right in 2016 celebrating the Chinese New Year)

Xi and Peng arrived in Mar-a-Lago on Thursday and spent some social time with the Trumps before policy meetings were scheduled Friday.

'The relationship developed by President Xi and myself I think is outstanding. We look forward to meeting together many times in the future,' Trump said in front of the cameras on Friday morning,

The two-day summit, which was interrupted by news that the US launched airstrikes in Syria, concluded with a working lunch on Friday.
Four people died in rural Oregon on Friday when a small plane crashed in a field.

Around 11am, a driver called 911 to report the wreck, which took place off from Peoria Road in Harrisburg.

The cause of the crash is not yet known, but the area was experiencing heavy winds at the time and dark clouds loomed over the scene.

Four people died in rural Oregon on Friday when a small plane crashed

The plane was just ten miles away from the Eugene Airport when it went down.

Gusts up to 30 miles per hour were reported that morning, The Register Guard reported.

The names of the victims have not yet been released, but Linn County Sheriff Bruce Riley said police are working to ascertain where the plane was coming from and where it was headed.

Linn County Sheriff Bruce Riley said police are working to ascertain where the plane was coming from and where it was headed

He added that authorities had notified the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board, which will conduct their own investigations into the crash.

The plane was reportedly a Piper Malibu, which is a single engine plane that can hold up to six people.

Riley said authorities are in the process of making notifications to next of kin, and that the investigation is 'fluid and ongoing'.
The White House appealed a Hawaii federal judge's decision to block Trump's revised travel ban by arguing the new policy is religiously neutral.

Hoping to reinstate President Trump's second travel ban, his administration made the case that it does not discriminate on the basis of religion and was wrongly second-guessed by U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson.

The arguments were made in court documents filed with an appeals court on Friday.

The president's administration is appealing Watson's decision on March 15, to block the policy in response to a lawsuit by the state of Hawaii that argued the executive order discriminates against Muslims.

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The president's administration appealed a Hawaii federal judge's decision to block Trump's revised travel ban by arguing the new policy is religiously neutral. The arguments were made in court documents filed with an appeals court on Friday

Watson said there was 'significant and unrebutted evidence of religious animus' behind the ban, which prevents new visas for people from six Muslim-majority countries and suspends the nation's refugee program.

The executive order had a 90-day ban on travel to the United States by citizens of Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Iraq was removed from the first travel ban list.

The administration appealed to the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The U.S. Department of Justice said in court documents filed with the 9th Circuit on Friday that Watson second-guessed Trump's judgment that the order was needed to protect the nation and wrongly relied on statements Trump made on the campaign trail to conclude the travel ban was motivated by religious discrimination.

'The Order applies to all nationals of the listed countries, and all refugees from any country, regardless of anyone's religion ...,' the DOJ said in its filing.

'To be sure, this Order has been the subject of heated debate. But the precedent set by this case will long transcend this Order, this President, and this constitutional moment.'

Judge Derrick Watson blocked the travel ban on March 15, just six hours before it was supposed to go into effect. He said there was 'significant and unrebutted evidence of religious animus'

The DOJ also questioned Hawaii's authority to challenge the ban. The state has argued its tourist-driven economy would suffer harm.

Josh Wisch, spokesman for Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin, said the state attorney general's office had no immediate comment.

Three judges on the 9th Circuit blocked the administration's first ban, but the DOJ said the president's revisions addressed their concerns.

The administration is also appealing a separate ruling by a federal judge in Maryland blocking the restriction on new visas. That case is before a different appeals court.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has paid tribute to the friendship between Australia and Papua New Guinea for the 75th anniversary of the Kokoda Trail campaign.

The Australian prime minister laid a floral wreath at the track and honoured the thousands that have died in war at the Bomana War Cemetery, just outside the capital Port Moresby on Saturday.

An estimated 625 Australians were killed along the trail and more than 1600 were wounded during World War Two. Casualties from sickness exceeded 4000.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull visits the Bomana War Cemetery to mark the 75th anniversary of the Kokoda Trail campaign

Mr Turnbull paid tribute by laying a wreath at the Bomana War Cemetery

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull visits the Bomana War Cemetery to pay tribute to the fallen Australian soldiers who served the country in World War Two

Local Papua New Guinean men, dubbed affectionately as the 'Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels', were lauded for assisting and escorting wounded and injured Australian soldiers along the trail.

Mr Turnbull is expected to hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Peter O'Neill later on Saturday.

The meeting will be muted given Mr O'Neill's government is shortly going into caretaker mode ahead of his country's elections in June.

In March, PNG made a surprise request for direct budget support from Australia to pay for schools and hospitals. But the request has been flatly rejected.

Malcolm Turnbull is greeted by a young local when arriving at the Isurava Memorial

Children greet and sing to Malcolm Turnbull (centre) and Governor of Oro Province Gary Juffa (right) upon their arrival at the Kokoda Track

The prime minister walks past the Cross of sacrifice at the Bomana War Cemetery

The prime minister spoke at a press conference at the cemetery

Mr Turnbull spoke at a press conference held at the Bomana War Cemetery to mark the 75th anniversary of the Kokoda Trail campaign

The PNG economy has faced severe challenges as a result of the downturn in global commodity prices. The government's coffers are strained and it has been forced to raise taxes and cut spending.

The leaders are expected to discuss security and other arrangements for Port Moresby hosting the APEC leaders summit in 2018.

They will also discuss the upcoming closure of the Manus Island immigration detention centre and the fate of refugees who aren't accepted for a US resettlement deal.

Mr Turnbull preparing to fly from Port Moresby to the Isurava Memorial at the Kokoda Track

Malcolm Turnbull talking to locals at the Isurava Memorial at the Kokoda Track
A woman was left stranded and in tears after she was denied an Airbnb by a Trump-supporting host during a snowstorm because she was Asian.

Dyne Suh, of Riverside, California, was traveling with friends to ski trip near Big Bear Lake, California, over Presidents' Day weekend when they were suddenly left without accommodation on February 18.

The 25-year-old law student said her reservation was canceled just three minutes before her group would arrive, with the host saying: 'I wouldn't rent to you if you were the last person on Earth'.

The Airbnb host then reportedly added: 'One word says it all Asian. Want something for nothing.'

Since the incident, Airbnb has banned the host from its site for her 'abhorrent and unacceptable' behavior, it was reported on Wednesday.

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Dyne Suh, 25, had her Airbnb reservation canceled by a Trump-supporter host because she was Asian, on February 18. The American citizen uploaded this photo to Instagram after the incident and said: 'Immediate effects of racial discrimination. It hurts'

Suh and friends were headed out to a ski trip near Big Bear Lake, California, when the host canceled the reservation and said: 'I wouldn't rent to you if you were the last person on Earth'. Pictured: Screenshots between Suh and the Airbnb host

Suh, who has been living in America since she was three years old, said the whole incident was sparked after she asked the host if she could add her two puppies and two friends to the reservation, reported The Washington Post.

Suh said the woman initially agreed via text to the new arrangement but then right before the group arrived, things took a turn for the worse.

According to the screenshots, the now-banned host said: 'If you think four people and two dogs ate [sic] getting a room fir [sic] $50 a night on Big Bear mountain during the busiest weekend of the year  You are insanely high.'

Suh said she countered back with saying that she had proof the host agreed and that she would report her to the company and have her removed.

The host allegedly messaged back and said: 'Go ahead. Its why we have Trump.'

The host added she would 'not allow this country to be told what to do by foreigners', reported KTLA 5.

Suh was reduced to tears immediately after she received the messages. She read the hurtful messages out loud through sobs in an interview (pictured)

According to the screenshots, the woman told Suh, who has been living in the United States since she was three, that she wouldn't 'be told what to do by foreigners'

Suh (pictured with her fiance) is a law student and studies Critical Race Studies at UCLA School of Law, according to her Facebook page

The shocking comments, including calling Suh a 'con artist', immediately reduced the young woman to tears.

She said to KTLA, moments after the cancellation: 'It stings that after living in the U.S. for over 23 years, this is what happens.

'No matter if I follow the law, if Im kind to people, no matter how well I treat others  it doesnt matter. If youre Asian, youre less than human and people can treat you like trash.'

Luckily, after two hours being stuck in the inclement weather, the group found shelter at a nearby cabin.

Suh is pictured with one of her puppies, which she took with her on the ski trip

Airbnb said the host was banned from the service on Wednesday. Pictured: The Airbnb listing that Suh was going to be staying at before the host canceled on her

When Airbnb found out about the incident, it fully reimbursed Suh for the trip and for the hotel they stayed at instead.

Airbnb said in a statement to KTLA on Wednesday: 'Airbnb does not condone discrimination in any way.

'We have worked to provide the guest with our full support. In line with our non-discrimination policy, this host has been permanently removed from the Airbnb platform.'

NBC4 reached out to the host, who sent the shocking messages, and reported that she had 'no comment' on the matter.
Chinese President Xi Jinping was able to take in views Friday night of the natural beauty that Alaska has to offer.

The state's governor hopes this will lead to an increased appetite in the world's most populous nation for more natural resources from Alaska.

Xi requested time with Gov. Bill Walker Friday night as the Chinese delegation's plane made a refueling stop in Alaska's largest city following meetings with President Donald Trump in Florida.

His wife and the Chinese delegation stepped off the Boeing 747 and were greeted by Walker, his wife and several dignitaries.

The visitors and their hosts drove off in a line of SUVs, limos and other vehicles in 40-degree weather under blue skies.

The sightseeing tour will include a stop at Beluga Point, a pullout on the scenic Seward Highway about 15 miles south of Anchorage.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) smiles after deplaning during a refueling stop in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday

Xi's plane (above) had landed in Alaska after an eight-hour flight from Florida, where the Chinese leader met with his American counterpart, Donald Trump

The pullout offers a stunning view of the snow-capped Chugach Mountains and Turnagain Arm in Alaska's Cook Inlet.

The waters are home to the endangered Beluga whale.

Walker said he was eager to tell Xi about the abundance of Alaska's resource development opportunities.

'We have tremendous potential in our oil and gas, tourism, fish, air cargo and mineral resource industries,' Walker said in a statement issued before the meeting.

For Walker, even just a few hours of time with the president of the world's largest country can pay dividends.

Xi requested time with Governor Bill Walker (left) Friday night. Walker hopes this will lead to an increased appetite in the world's most populous nation for more natural resources from Alaska

China is the state's top export market, buying nearly $1.2 billion worth of goods in 2016, according to the US Census Bureau

China is the state's top export market, buying nearly $1.2 billion worth of goods in 2016, according to the US Census Bureau.

The next top international market was Japan, at nearly $820 million, followed by South Korea, at $730 million.

Chris Hladick, the commissioner of the state's Commerce department, called the visit by the Chinese delegation a 'once-in-a lifetime opportunity.'

'We're not even shown on the map for the United States,' he said, a nod to Alaska and Hawaii often being left off of maps of the US.

'I think this is an extremely valuable opportunity to meet with our largest trade partner face to face.'

The state's top export product to China? Fish, accounting for 58 percent.

Frozen cod and flat fish, such as halibut, topped a lengthy list of fisheries products, which also included frozen salmon and pollock.

Xi had concluded a day of meetings with US President Donald Trump (left) at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday

A distant second on the export list are minerals and ores, accounting for 27 percent.

Included in that last year was about $130 million of precious metals, which Hladick said was likely gold from the Fairbanks area.

Lower-tier exports included oil, wood, scrap metal and airplane parts.

Hladick sees China as a potential market for Alaska coal and hoped to raise the issue with Chinese officials during their visit.

'It's meetings like this that spark interest and then you follow up,' Hladick said.

Having your largest trade partner drop in for a meeting is fortuitous when the state is in tough financial straits because of a prolonged period of low oil prices.

Hladick said he'd be happy to get a 45-minute meeting with the Chinese trade minister.

Walker has been courting Asian markets - particularly Japan and South Korea - in trying to drum up interest in a liquefied natural gas project the state is pursuing.

State officials wouldn't say if Walker would bring up the natural gas pipeline, which is in its early stages, during his visit with Xi, but it seemed unlikely that he wouldn't take time to tout the multi-billion dollar project that would take natural gas from Alaska's North Slope to a plant on the state's coast, where it would be liquefied and shipped.

Xi is the second major world leader to spend time in Alaska's largest city in the last few years.

US President Barack Obama used a three-day trip to Anchorage in 2015 to showcase the impact of climate change.

King Harald V of Norway also made an official visit to Anchorage a few months before Obama.

Alaska's location provides a natural stopping point for world leaders to make refueling stops, and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage has hosted many presidents over the years for these short stints.

President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II met in 1984 during refueling stops at the airport in Fairbanks.

Their paths were crossing as one finished and one began trips to Asia.
Only seven national advertisements ran during Bill O'Reilly's show on Thursday after nearly 60 companies dropped their sponsorship following news of sexual harassment claims made against the host.

The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News can feature as many as 40 advertisements on an average night, but the program experienced a drastic drop given this week's controversy.

But despite the public backlash, the popular program didn't suffer a drop in ratings, the Advertising Age reports.

The seven national advertisers to stick with the program included: The Laser Spine Institute, Rosland Capital, Coventry Direct, Life Credit Company, 1-800 Beaches, Ring and Sirius/XM Satellite Radio.

The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News can feature as many as 40 advertisements on an average night, but the program experienced a drastic drop given this week's controversy

A staggering number of companies pulled advertising from the show after a report in the New York Times on Saturday revealed O'Reilly had settled five harassment claims made against him for $13million.

The mass exodus began on Sunday night when Mercedes Benz announced it was reassigning their ad buys to other slots, and it snowballed from there.

Among those who are currently boycotting are six major car companies (Mercedes, BMW, Hyundai, Lexus, Subaru, Mitsubishi), five insurance and money management companies (Allstate, Esurance, Amica Insurance, T. Rowe Price, Pacific Life), a pharmaceutical behemoth GlaxoSmithKline, and accounting firm H&R Block.

It is not known how many spots these companies had been planning to run, but in the case of H&R Block it was likely a sizable chunk given that they inundate the airwaves with commercials in the two weeks before taxes are due in April.

The New York Times report last weekend claimed that close to $13 million had been paid to five women who accused O'Reilly of inappropriate behavior in the workplace: Rachel Witlieb Bernstein, Andrea Mackris, Rebecca Gomez Diamond, Laurie Dhue, and Juliet Huddy.

Donald Trump became embroiled in the scandal earlier in the week when he called O'Reilly a 'good person', and said he shouldn't have settled. He added: 'I dont think Bill did anything wrong'.

While Hyundai does not currently run ads on The O'Reilly Factor, it pulled spots on future episodes. BMW said it suspended advertising on the show due to the recent allegations

Credit Karma, Lexus, Mercedes, Hyundai, Bayer, and Wayfair all announced they were joining the growing list of companies pulling their ads. GlaxoSmithKline also dropped the show

Tax company H&R Block said on Twitter that it was pulling its advertising from The O'Reilly Factor as the controversy around the allegations continued to rise

Real Estate firm Coldwell Banker said it was 'disappointed' that its ad had run during O'Reilly's show and that it never intended to support his slot

The most lengthy remark came from weight loss company Jenny Craid, which said that it 'condemns all forms of sexual harassment'

Diamond, one of the women who accused O'Reilly of sexual harassment, slammed the president by tweeting: '@POTUS I'm saddened reading your comments.

'Truly disappointed and vilified all over again. Such comments tell women they won't be believed,' she wrote.

It was Mackris' lawsuit that made headlines when it was settled back in 2004 by the network for a formerly undisclosed sum which over the weekend was revealed to be $9million.

In her complaint, Mackris claimed she had been sexually harassed by O'Reilly and detailed their phone sex conversations in which he allegedly listed off his female conquests.

It was seven years until the next woman received a settlement, with Diamond being handed an unknown amount from O'Reilly himself according to multiple sources after confronting him with a recording of comments he had made to and about her while she worked as a host on the Fox Business Network show 'Happy Hour.'

The payout was so secretive that 21st Century Fox was not even aware of what had transpired between the two parties until last year, when it was revealed during an internal investigation into sexual harassment claims being brought against Ailes.

Rebecca Gomez Diamond, a former host on the Fox Business Network who settled with O'Reilly in 2011 for an undisclosed sum, slammed President Donald Trump for defending the TV anchor

Diamond claimed the president's comments eroded the credibility of women making the sexual harassment allegations

Donald Trump called O'Reilly a 'good person' after a NY Times report revealed the Fox News host settled four cases of sexual harassment and one incident of verbal abuse for total of $13m

Laurie Dhue, who worked as a reporter on the television show Geraldo at Large and was the host of Fox Report Weekend for eight years between 2000 and 2008 also received a payout after accusing Ailes and O'Reilly of sexual harassment.

She received $1million over the summer from the network, shortly after she announced her plan to write a tell-all book.

Fox News also settled with Huddy for $1.6million back in September after she claimed that O'Reilly had tried to pursue a sexual relationship with her while she appeared on the network as a guest on his show.

Huddy stated that O'Reilly would repeatedly call her at home in Long Island and once tried to kiss her, which caused her to fall over as she pulled away from the host.

Soon after she stopped being asked to appear on O'Reilly's program.

Both Dhue and Huddy's stories had been reported before, but it was not known Dhue had complained about O'Reilly's behavior in addition to Ailes.

Coming forward: Andrea Mackris, who it was revealed last weekend received a $9million settlement from O'Reilly, and her lawyer Benedict Morelli in 2004 (above)

The network also struck deals with Laurie Dhue (left) and Juliet Huddy (right) in 2016 for more than $1million each

Wendy Walsh (right with attorney Lisa Bloom), a regular on his show, along with Andrea Tantaros, a former Fox News host, also accused the 67-year-old of inappropriate behavior

The fifth settlement, which happened first, came back in 2002 after O'Reilly reportedly screamed at junior producer Rachel Witlieb Bernstein, who left soon after with a settlement.

That incident did not involve sexual harassment.

In a statement released over the weekend regarding the Times report, 21st Century Fox said: 'Notwithstanding the fact that no current or former Fox News employee ever took advantage of the 21st Century Fox hotline to raise a concern about Bill O'Reilly, even anonymously, we have looked into these matters over the last few months and discussed them with Mr. O'Reilly.

'While he denies the merits of these claims, Mr. O'Reilly has resolved those he regarded as his personal responsibility. Mr. O'Reilly is fully committed to supporting our efforts to improve the environment for all our employees at Fox News.'

Fox News referenced the 21st Century Fox statement when asked for comment over the weekend.
As two teenage boys faced court charged with a series of horrific crimes, the town through which they committed their alleged rampage is still reeling in the aftermath.

The older of the two boys, 15 and 16, reportedly shouted 'Allahu Akbar' during his arrest following the 'ISIS-inspired' series of alleged attacks which crossed over the NSW-ACT border.

The fatal 14-hour crime spree left three men seriously injured and Caltex service station attendant Zeeshan Akbar, 29, dead.

It's believed the duo began at their rampage at Vintage Cellars liquor store in Oaks Estate - just across the ACT border - at about 8.10pm on Thursday.

The fatal 14-hour crime spree left three men seriously injured and Caltex service station attendant Zeeshan Akbar, pictured, dead

It's believed the duo began at their rampage at Vintage Cellars liquor store in Oaks Estate

The older of the two boys, 15 and 16 (one is pictured) reportedly shouted 'Allahu Akbar' during his arrest following the 'ISIS-inspired' series of alleged attacks

It's here they allegedly attempted to rob the store and the shop attendant.

The traumatised worker described how two people loomed out of the darkness and approached him as he finished work.

'It was awful, and knowing what happened later,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'It's traumatising to talk about, I'd rather not think about what happened. I'm lucky I survived.'

The alleged assailants asked for cash before a scuffle took place. They fled the scene empty handed - leaving the terrified worker behind.

From there the duo allegedly headed to Apex Park - a short distance away - and back across the state line into New South Wales.

It's believed the duo began at their rampage at Vintage Cellars liquor store in Oaks Estate - just across the ACT border - before in finally ended when they were arrested on Monaro Highway

The duo allegedly headed to Apex Park - back across the state line into New South Wales

'I didn't know something happened here,' Anthony told Daily Mail Australia as his toddler son played on the swings

It was here at the small park, with a play area and toilet block, they allegedly smashed a homeless man over the head with a beer bottle, some time between 8.30 and 11.30pm.

Broken glass litters benches around the park, but locals have no idea how close they stand to one of scenes of the alleged crime spree.

'I didn't know something happened here,' Anthony told Daily Mail Australia as his toddler son played on the swings.

Broken glass litters benches around the park, but locals have no idea how close they stand to one of scenes of the alleged crime spree

A park bench is seen at Apex park, where the boys allegedly glassed a homeless man

Detectives were seen carrying evidence bags in Queanbeyan on Saturday after the alleged attack

'I don't think I'll come back knowing that happened.'

About a 10 minute walk from the park, the boys allegedly bashed a man with a tyre iron during a break-and-enter at a home on Stornaway Road some time between 8.30 and 11.20pm.

'Customers have been coming through all day talking about it,' said Andrew, a shop attendent at bottle shop just metres from the alleged bashing.

'Nothing like this has ever happened here... if they tried to rob that other bottle shop they could have easily tried here.'

The quiet suburban street offers no clues as to what happened that Thursday night - with many residents in disbelief that those allegedly behind the fatal stabbing at Caltex were also so close to their front doors.

At 11.45pm, it's alleged the duo entered the service station where a struggle ensued with the 29-year-old attendant, who received a number of stab wounds

The teenagers allegedly smashed through windows to make their escape, fleeing with the cash register

'You hear so many stories of what happened and who did what,' a local hairdresser said. 'But you can see all those flowers outside and it's all just so sad'

'Always so friendly... our deepest sympathies': Tributes flowed for the popular service station attendant on Saturday

At 11.45pm, it's alleged the duo entered the service station where a struggle ensued with the 29-year-old attendant, who received a number of stab wounds.

The teenagers allegedly smashed through windows to make their escape, fleeing with the cash register.

Mr Akbar was found bleeding to death by a co-worker. He died at the scene.

A hairdresser working right by the service station said the brutal act had shaken the community.

'You hear so many stories of what happened and who did what,' she said.

'But you can see all those flowers outside and it's all just so sad.'

Just after 6.00am on Friday, the teenagers are alleged to have stabbed another man in the stomach on the corner of Southwell Place and Barracks Flat Drive, before stealing his Ford Falcon.

The alleged rampage finally came to an end when the boys were arrested following a police chase across the NSW state border into the ACT.

Mr Akbar's death that was closely felt by John Rooney, who 'knew the fella who worked at the Caltex'.

About a 10 minute walk from the park, the boys allegedly bashed a man with a tyre iron during a break-and-enter at a home on Stornaway Road (pictured)

Just after 6.00am on Friday, the teenagers are alleged to have stabbed another man in the stomach on the corner of Southwell Place and Barracks Flat Drive (pictured)

The man is in hospital after he was stabbed in the abdomen at the quiet intersection

In a shocking twist, Mr Rooney also lived next door to the teenagers second alleged stabbing victim - who is currently in hospital with wounds to his stomach.

'I didn't hear much before the police turned up to my door step,' Mr Rooney told Daily Mail Australia.

'But I fill up all the time at the Caltex, even now that I've moved a bit further away. It's very sad what happened'.

The teenagers have been charged via future court attendance notices with murder, robbery, wounding with intent and aggravated take and drive with conveyance.

They faced the ACT Children's Court in Canberra on Saturday morning and have been extradited to face a NSW Children's Court.

The quiet suburban street offers no clues as to what happened that Thursday night - with many residents in disbelief that those allegedly behind the fatal stabbing at Caltex were also so close to their front doors
At least 20 people have been killed and more than a dozen missing after a ferry boat capsized in Burma's Ayeyarwaddy delta.

Thirty people were rescued after the ferry capsized in the Ngawun river at around 7.30pm on Friday, police officer Nay Lin Tun said.

About 66 people were on the ferry, which capsized after colliding with a boat carrying gravel. The ferry was going from Pathein to Yakhinekone village.

Most of the ferry's passengers were returning from a wedding ceremony.

Survivors of a ferry sinking sit on chair in Pathein, after a ferry capsized in the Ayeyarwaddy delta, killing a number of people and leaving more than a dozen missing

'Altogether 16 women and four men were killed in the boat accident,' regional MP Aung Thu Htwe told AFP Saturday morning.

'We estimate nine people are still missing,' he said, adding that some 30 people had been rescued alive the night before.

The boat was believed to be carrying about 60 people when it sank, according to state media and a local police officer.

'They were crossing to the other side of the river after attending a wedding in Pathein. Most of them were relatives from the same village,' said the police officer, who requested anonymity.

Both boats were unlit when they collided in the middle of the river.

Local authorities and red cross workers resumed the search operation at first light.

People gather following news of a ferry sinking, in Pathein; boat accidents are fairly common in the country, where many travel by boat and oversight is lax

Fatal boat accidents are common in Myanmar, where many people living along its flood-prone rivers rely on often overcrowded ferries for transport.

It often takes several days before all of the bodies are retrieved.

Last October 73 people, including many teachers and students, died when their packed vessel capsized in central Myanmar on the Chindwin River.

Earlier that year in April at least 21 people, including nine children, died after their boat sank off the coast of Myanmar's western state of Rakhine.

Around 60 people died the year before, in March 2015, when their ferry went down in the same treacherous waters off of Rakhine.
A Current Affair reporter Ben McCormack draped his desk in offensive pictures including one comparing Israel's prime minister to Adolf Hitler, and posted on Facebook calling the Jewish state a 'f***ing disgrace,' Daily Mail Australia has learned.

McCormack, 42, who this week was charged with child sex offences, used offensive material to allegedly provoke a former colleague at the Nine Network, Caroline Marcus, who is Jewish.

Details have trickled out about Mr McCormack's workplace behaviour after he was sensationally charged on Thursday morning on the way to work with using a carriage service to send child pornography.

Daily Mail Australia has been supplied with photographs of some the extremist political material that McCormack displayed on his desk as well as screen shots of Facebook posts.

A post from Ben McCormack on Facebook in August condemning Israel as an 'international f****n disgrace'

ACA journalist Ben McCormack allegedly posted this post comparing Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) to Osama bin Laden (left)

Content Ben McCormack used on his desk to allegedly provoke a work colleague comparing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to despot Adolf Hitler

Nine Network reporter Ben McCormack is released from Redfern Police station in Sydney, Thursday

A photo from McCormack's desk showed a photo of despot Adolf Hitler performing the Nazi salute with the line, 'We are the master race'.

On the same A4 page was a photo underneath appearing to compare Adolf Hitler to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a tagline, 'We are God's chosen people'.

A Facebook post from McCormack this time appears to compare Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with founder of Al-Qaeda Osama bin Laden with the heading: 'Terrorists'.

McCormack used the offensive material in a bid to rile Marcus, who wrote a weekly newspaper column that included discussion of issues such as her Jewish heritage and the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Daily Mail Australia understands McCormack was placed on a 'one-strike-and-you're out arrangement' with Nine, before Thursday's bombshell revelations.

The source told Daily Mail Australia: 'He was a protected species at Nine'.

The ACA reporter emblazoned his desk with photos of dead Palestinian children in a bid to rile up his then colleague, Caroline Marcus (pictured)

More content allegedly posted by Mr McCormack to provoke his Jewish work colleague

McCormack used the offensive material in a bid to rile Marcus, who wrote a weekly newspaper column that included discussion of issues such as her Jewish heritage

The office row was brought to the attention of Nine management and the HR department dealt with it in September 2014.

McCormack was pulled over by police on Driver Avenue, in Sydney's Moore Park, at 7.30am on Thursday while on his way to work and his car searched.

Dressed in a blue suit, he was led into the back seat of an unmarked police car and taken to a Sydney police station, where he was charged with using a carriage service to send child pornography.

Mr McCormack was granted strict conditional bail and will face Downing Centre Local Court on May 1. He was suspended by Nine immediately after the charges.

The office row was brought to the attention of Nine management and the HR department dealt with it in September 2014

The veteran ACA reporter was this week charged with sharing explicit child porn

Mr McCormack (left) was suspended by Nine immediately after the charges

He has been ordered to keep away from playgrounds, schools and concerts under strict bail conditions.

Mr McCormack has also been suspended from the surf life saving club where he has trained children.

The veteran reporter has been ordered not to communicate with, attempt to communicate with, 'seek or actively remain in the company of' any person aged younger than 16.

Thursday night's episode of A Current Affair led with a report on McCormack's arrest and presenter Leila McKinnon said the programme intends to 'cover the story without fear or favour.'

The arrest has sent shockwaves through the media community, with colleagues describing their disbelief at the allegations against the 'lovable guy.
Malcolm Turnbull has lashed out at Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, saying he has committed 'enormous' crimes against his own people after a chemical weapons attack which killed at least 80 people.

Assad's actions show he is unable to be part of a peaceful solution to the six-year civil war, Mr Turnbull said while speaking to reporters in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea on Saturday.

'I have grave doubts as to whether he can have any continuing role in the settlement,' Mr Turnbull said.

Malcolm Turnbull lashed out at Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, saying he has committed 'enormous' crimes against his own people

Assad is unable to be part of a peaceful solution in Syria, Mr Turnbull said while speaking to reporters in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea on Saturday

The Assad regime has been blamed for a chemical weapons attack which killed at least 80 Syrian people, many of them women and children

'The crimes he has committed against his own people are so enormous.

'His actions, his horrendous, criminal actions - gassing women and children, babies - that surely disqualifies him from a continuing role.'

The Assad regime has been blamed for a chemical weapons attack which killed at least 80 Syrian people, many of them women and children.

In response, the US fired 59 Tomahawk missiles at the government-controlled Shayrat base from destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean Sea on Friday.

Mr Turnbull said it is now up to the United Nations Security Council and Russia in particular, to bring this conflict to an end.

In response to the chemical attack, the US fired 59 Tomahawk missiles at the government-controlled Shayrat base from destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean Sea on Friday

Syrian Abdel Hameed al Youssef's children were among at least 80 people killed in the attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib on Tuesday

Mr Turnbull visited PNG on Saturday ahead of commemorations for the 75th anniversary of the Kokoda Trail campaign. He spoke to the media in a joint press conference with PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill (right) to discuss economic ties and the future of Manus Island

'If the great powers engaged in this conflict, the local and regional powers work together, then peace can be found,' he said.

The Prime Minister said he spoke to Defence Minister Marise Payne and the chief of the defence force on Saturday, and the situation remained unchanged.

Mr Turnbull visited PNG on Saturday ahead of commemorations for the 75th anniversary of the Kokoda Trail campaign.

He spoke to the media in a joint press conference with PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill to discuss economic ties and the future of Manus Island.
A man who works at the National Rifle Association headquarters has accidentally shot himself during firearms training.

The 46-year-old man suffered a gunshot wound to his lower body after mistakenly discharging his pistol in Fairfax County, Virginia on Thursday.

The weapon is believed to have discharged when the man holstered his gun.

The 46-year-old man suffered a gunshot wound to his lower body after mistakenly discharging his pistol in Fairfax County, Virginia on Thursday.

The NRA employee was rushed to hospital to be treated for minor injuries.

Police said the shooting happened at the NRA's National Firearms Museum in Fairfax.

The man had been taking part in firearms training at the time.

Local authorities investigated the incident alongside the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office and decided no charges were expected to be laid.
A far-right politician who has alleged that halal certification of foods was funding extremist activity has joined Cory Bernardi's Australian Conservatives Party.

Kirralie Smith, who was previously a NSW Senate candidate for the Australian Liberty Alliance, confirmed she had joined forces with Senator Bernardi after he defected from the Liberal Party earlier this year.

It is unclear whether Ms Smith plans to run for office during the next federal election but has said that she will help in any way that she can, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Kirralie Smith has joined firebrand Senator Cory Bernardi's Australian Conservatives Party

The outspoken Ms Smith is said to have known the firebrand Senator for seven years and shares his stance against the the perceived threat of Islam to Australians.

As a member of the anti-Islam Q Society she recently drew headlines for making a series of videos in 2015 suggesting that halal certification of foods had funded religious and extremist activity.

Ms Smith, who also runs the anti-halal certification website Halal Choices, says that most halal-certified foods are not clearly labelled and consumers could be unwittingly supporting Islam.

'It's the certification, the fees, where they go, who is benefiting from these things and whether consumers need to be a part of that process or not,' she said.

Her comments angered Mohamed El-Mouelhy, the president of the Halal Certification Authority, who sued the Q Society for defamation.

The case was settled by the Supreme Court with the organisation, its board members and Ms Smith making an apology.

It is unclear what role Ms Smith will have in Senator's Bernardi's party but she has said that she will help in any way that she can

Ms Smith has also challenged The Project's Waleed Aly after his Gold Logie win last year, calling it 'ridiculous' and representative of a 'very closed industry'.

She said she'd invited Aly to a debate on radical Islam but was ignored despite it being acknowledged by 'hundreds of thousands of people' on social media.

While a member of the Liberty Alliance, Mrs Smith drew the ire of then Opposition leader Mark McGowan for bringing controversial anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders to Western Australia in 2015.

McCowan, who assumed office as Premier of WA in March, likened the behaviour of Mr Wilders' entourage as 'the sort of stuff that went on in Germany in the 1930s'.

Ms Smith previously criticised The Project host Waleed Aly's Gold Logie win saying that it was 'ridiculous' and representative of a 'very closed industry'
Racing royalty Winx has won her 17th consecutive race taking honours at the Queen Elizabeth Stakes on Saturday.

The Royal Randwick racecourse lineup on Saturday was a mouth watering prospect with Winx and rival gelding Hartnell lining up against one another at the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

And the champion mare did not disappoint streaming ahead on the final stretch to take out her 17th win in a row.

Hugh Bowman riding champion mare Winx celebrates winning group one honours at The Longines Queen Elizabeth Stakes

A crowd of 26,801 cheered Winx home to a 5-1/4 length win over Hartnell.

Winx - who was a punter favourite at $1.12 - scored her win after galloping more than five lengths ahead of her long-time rival Hartnell, at $18, as Sense Of Occasion at $151 came in third.

The winning mare was touted as the world's best horse by the Australian Turf Club, with the 'best-of-the-best of the racing world' gathering on Saturday to witness the richest 2000m race.

Winx streaking ahead to win his 17th win in a row at Royal Randwick on Saturday

Racing royalty Winx has won her 17th consecutive race taking honours at the Queen Elizabeth Stakes on Saturday

Winx leads the field to win her 17th consecutive race on Saturday

The mare lined up at the shortest odds in a Sydney Group One race since 1961 with one punter reportedly putting a whopping $36,000 on Winx to win at Royal Randwick in Sydney, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Winx's win at Royal Randwick claimed part-owner Debbie Kepitis an impressive $2,340,000 of the total $4 million prize.

The run on Saturday was nearly four years to the day Black Caviar won her 25th and final group one race on the same iconic track.

Hugh Bowman celebrates riding racing royalty Winx to her 17th win in a row
President Donald Trump and Chinese state media have praised the recent meeting between the two world leaders saying both parties formed a constructive relationship.

Trump took to Twitter on Saturday morning to say he was honored to have President Xi Jinping during the two-day summit in Mar-a-Lago.

'It was a great honor to have President Xi Jinping and Madame Peng Liyuan of China as our guests in the United States. Tremendous goodwill and friendship was formed, but only time will tell on trade,' he tweeted.

Donald Trump and Chinese media lauded the meeting between the two world leaders in Mar-a-Lago

On Saturday Trump tweeted that 'goodwill and friendship' were formed between the US president and President Xi Jinping

Chinese state media also cheered the meeting on Saturday saying that confrontation between the two powers was not inevitable.

The meeting between the president and Jinping marks a significant moment as Trump had campaigned with strident anti-China rhetoric and had angered Beijing before taking office by talking to the president of Taiwan, the self-ruled island Beijing claims as its own.

The South China Morning Post said Trump's behavior was as cordial as any experienced politician.

The official China Daily newspaper said it was encouraging to see the two-day summit that ended on Friday 'going as well as it could', after earlier 'confusing signals' from Washington about how it was approaching the U.S.-China relationship.

The president and first lady welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping and first lady Peng Liyuan at Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida

The meeting marked a significant diplomatic moment after Trump had campaigned with anti-China rhetoric and had angered Chinese leaders by meeting with the president of Taiwan

But the two sides avoided any diplomatic gaffes at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida that would have tarnished the meeting in the eyes of the protocol-conscious Chinese.

China Daily said both parties appeared 'equally enthusiastic about the constructive relationship they have promised to cultivate'.

'This may sound surreal to those preoccupied with an 'inescapable' conflict scenario between what they see as rising and incumbent powers,' the newspaper wrote in an editorial.

'But that Beijing and Washington have so far managed to do well in preventing conflicts shows confrontation is not inevitable.'

State-run Chinese tabloid Global Times said the meeting 'served as an indicator that the China-U.S. relationship is still very much on course since the Trump administration took office in January', and it was likely the two nations would develop a more 'pragmatic relationship'.

'It seems that both countries have understood the importance of how essential a smooth transition needs to be, and not just for the two countries involved here, but really for the entire world over,' it said.

South China Morning Post said China had been worried that Trump's 'impulsive personality' could have embarrassed Xi, but said the U.S. president was very cordial

Their comments were echoed by a front-page commentary in the overseas edition of the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily which said the meeting established the tone for the development of U.S.-China relations.

There was, however, no mention in the commentaries of the U.S. missile strike on a Syrian government airbase, which overshadowed the summit.

Wang Dong, Associate Professor of International Studies at China's elite Peking University, said the move may have had the added bonus in Trump's eyes of sending North Korea a message over its nuclear program, but that China was unlikely to be fazed.

'There are great differences between the Syria situation and the Korean peninsula situation,' Wang said, noting North Korea's conventional military capability to strike back at South Korea in the event of U.S. military action.

'Any use of force or preemptive strikes against North Korea will carry huge ramifications, which would probably lead to a drastically different outcome compared to Syria,' Wang said.

In the talks, Trump pressed Xi to do more to curb North Korea's nuclear program and the two agreed to a 100-day plan for trade talks aimed at boosting U.S. exports and reducing the gaping U.S. trade deficit with Beijing.

U.S. industry had hoped Trump would deliver a strong message to Xi behind closed doors to end what they see as discriminatory trade policies, but not do anything rash to spark a trade war.

In an outcome likely to play well in China, state news agency Xinhua said that U.S. and Chinese officials initiated new dialogue mechanisms on economic issues, as well as security and diplomatic issues, in what appeared to be a reimagining of the annual Strategic and Economic Dialogue held under President Barack Obama.

Some within U.S. industry had suggested those earlier talks yielded little substance, and urged the Trump administration to scrap them until Beijing displayed more initiative to address complaints about its industrial policies.

'We would like to see more results-oriented outcomes coming out of these new dialogues and fewer laundry lists,' said Beijing-based Jacob Parker, vice president of China operations at the U.S.-China Business Council, although he added that he saw the meeting as 'generally positive' on commercial issues.
Her recipes have inspired generations to don an apron, pick up a wooden spoon and try their hand at baking a homemade cake.

So some may be shocked to hear that Mary Berry is to launch a supermarket range of ready-made creations, aimed at those who want to eat without having set foot in the kitchen.

The products are based on some of the former Great British Bake Off judges original recipes, including lemon drizzle, chocolate, carrot and banana fudge flavours.

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Mary Berry is to launch a supermarket range of ready-made creations, aimed at those who want to eat without having set foot in the kitchen (pictured at the range's launch on Thursday)

The products are based on some of the former Great British Bake Off judges original recipes, including lemon drizzle, chocolate, carrot and banana fudge flavours

I am extremely proud of every single one of the cakes in my range, she said. Each cake is a faithful representation of some of my favourite recipes, and they taste fantastic.

I hope people enjoy eating them as much as we have enjoyed creating them.

In the past, Berry has praised food cooked from scratch as free from unwanted extras, and said she is passionate about homemade cakes as you know exactly what has gone into them  there are no oxidants or emulsifiers, no e-numbers or additives of any sort.

Despite her stance her new range, as with many other shop-bought products, will contain preservatives.

Bettys original chocolate cake recipe lists just a handful of ingredients. Her ready-made Indulgent Chocolate Cake ingredients list is three times the length, and includes glycerol, soya lecithin, diglycerides of fatty acids and potassium sorbate.

The Lemon Drizzle Cake, which has just six ingredients in its original form, has 18 in the pre-prepared version.

In the past, Berry has praised food cooked from scratch as free from unwanted extras, and said she is passionate about homemade cakes (pictured with Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood)

In previous years Berry has recommended buying supermarket filo pastry and pesto, but has never suggested anyone choose a shop-bought cake over the homemade variety

The additions mean all the cakes will have a shelf life of over two weeks.

In previous years Berry has recommended buying supermarket filo pastry and pesto, but has never suggested anyone choose a shop-bought cake over the homemade variety.

Her mission on The Great British Bake Off was to get people to bake their own cakes, biscuits and puddings.

She has said before: Im encouraging people to bake. I think thats very good. It gets the family together. Its something you can do at home, its creative and it doesnt cost too much.

Since her departure from the show  she will be replaced on Channel 4 by Prue Leith  Berry is diversifying from her roots as a home cook.

Her mission on The Great British Bake Off (pictured) was to get people to get people to bake their own cakes, biscuits and puddings

She is set to present a new BBC series, Secrets From Britains Great Houses, in which she takes viewers on a tour of stately homes.

Recently, she also announced plans to publish a handy hints home maintenance guide, featuring her no-fuss way to clean the loo.

The new food range will be produced by the Finsbury Food Group, which has the ability to turn out 18 cakes a minute on its factory production line.

A spokesman for the company said: The nations Queen of Cakes is launching her very first range of cakes this spring, giving cake lovers the chance to eat genuine Mary Berry cakes without having to set foot in the kitchen.
This is the bizarre moment a car passenger was caught on camera pulling a pram through the vehicle's open window along a busy city road.

An eyewitness filmed the bizarre scene with a smartphone in the city of Chelyabinsk in south central Russia's Chelyabinsk Oblast region.

Other passersby reported the incident to the police who quickly caught up with the Lada car and determined that the pram was empty.

One man was driving the car while another man was pulling the pram along through the open passenger window.

Police officers decided that, because there was no baby in the pram, the men's eccentric actions had not broken any laws and did not arrest them.

The footage of the incident is proving popular online after it was uploaded on video-sharing websites where it sparked a lively debate.

Poster 'gos_t' said: 'That is such a bad idea, look at the ground it is all so dirty, imagine how ugly and filthy this stroller would be after such a ride.'

An eyewitness captured the decrepit Lada pulling along a pram as it crosses an intersection

'VirtualKoD' speculated: 'It must have been the stroller's test drive.'

And '1' added: 'I bet they lost a bet and had to do it. There have been so many people running naked or barefoot. These guys are simply having fun, nothing else.'

Chelyabinsk was near where a superbolide meteor exploded over the Ural Mountains, creating a flash as bright as the sun and a shock wave that injured more than 1,000 people, in February 2013.
British people are eating four times as much packaged food as they do fresh produce and eat more calories than Americans, a study said.

The rise in packaged foods is most pronounced in developed Western countries like the UK, Belgium and the US.

But in countries like China, India and Vietnam, there is a healthier balance between packaged and fresh food.

British people eat four times as much packaged food as fresh produce and consume more calories than Americans, according to a study. Packaged produce, like ready meals, cakes and biscuits, are more popular in Western countries (file photo)

In 2015, the UK bought the second highest number packaged food per day behind Belgium, according to a study by Euromonitor.

Only Japan consumed less fresh food than Britain, at just 247 calories.

India was at the bottom of the list, buying only 164 calories of packaged food per day.

The study breaks down calories into fresh and packaged food, and soft and alcoholic drinks.

In total, Belgium buys the most calories per person per day, at almost 2,600.

Sara Petersson, nutrition analyst at Euromonitor International told the Guardian: 'It is kind of the way we are today.

'The food we eat today is convenient. It is fast to consume and we dont have to prepare it.'

Packaged food like ready meals are more likely to be high in fat, salt and sugar, and can typically include up to 70 ingredients.

Fresh produce is more popular in countries such as China, India and Vietnam. Japan was the only country that ate less fresh food than Britain, at just 247 calories per day (file photo)

In 2012, 3 billion ready meals were eaten in Britain and made up the majority of the country's annual retail food budget.

In 2015, the fresh food industry grew by two per cent, with 2.2 billion tons being sold, according to Euromonitor.

Euromonitor predicted the fresh food industry would grow by 13 per cent between 2015 and 2020, but said that most of this growth would happen outside of Europe.

The organisation termed the performance of fresh produce in Europe 'lacklustre'.
The Syrian government is claiming that Thursday's US airstrikes on an airbase killed four children.

The Syrian Arab News Agency, which is monitored by President Assad's Ministry of Information, claims that nine civilians were killed even though the Shayrat airbase was attacked at 3.45am local time.

The publicly-owned organisation said that two stray missiles killed and wounded civilians a few miles away.

The strikes hit the government-controlled Shayrat air base (above) in central Syria, where U.S. officials say the Syrian military planes that dropped the chemicals had taken off

Syrian state media said that two stray missiles targeted at Shayrat airbase (pictured after the attack) killed and wounded civilians a few miles away

One stray killed five including three children and another killed four including one child, it said.

Its report claims: 'The United States of America committed a blatant act of aggression'.

But the US said that only one of its missiles did not hit its target. There has been no independent verification of the claim that civilians were killed.

The Sana news agency is effectively a mouthpiece for Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, promoting his activities, denying any breaches of international law by his forces and attacking his enemies.

Assad's office said: 'What America did is nothing but foolish and irresponsible behaviour, which only reveals its short-sightedness and political and military blindness to reality.'

Today Russian officials denied there were chemical weapons at the airfield.

Spokesman Igor Konashenkov said: 'After 24 hours after the US Navy warships launched a massive strike by cruise missile on the Sha'irat [airfield in Syria], neither the Pentagon, nor the US State Department have presented proof of the presence of chemical weapons there.'

Media representatives who visited the base as well haven't found any chemical weapons there, Maj. Gen. Konashenkov added.

Disabled: The damage sustained in the 30-minute attack was meant to disable the air base, near the city of Homs. This shot shows how far apart the main target zones were

Destruction: These images show the extent of the destruction wrought on Syria's al-Shayrat military airfield by US Tomahawk missiles on Thursday

'The airfield was visited by dozens of mass media representatives, by the local administration, firefighters, police, not to mention Syrian servicemen. Neither depots, nor ammunition containing chemical weapons have been found at the Sha'irat [airbase]. Everyone who has been at the airfield don't wear gas masks and feel absolutely well.'

Satellite photos of the attack show a considerable distance between the base's perimeter and the nearest built-up area.

The US said that only one of its missiles failed to land on-target after being launched by the USS Ross and USS Porter, although Russians released their own counter-claims, saying that only 23 of the 59 rockets hit the base.

Damage: The photos show that the missiles - which were launched from 150 miles away by US destroyers - were terrifyingly accurate, slamming down on the shelters and ripping up runways

Unscathed: This collection of five jets on al-Sharyat Air Base somehow escaped the bombing raid, despite being located out in the open, on a patchy grass plain

But the photos released by the Department of Defense suggest that that the missiles - at least, the ones involved in the damage seen in the satellite images - were closely clustered around the aircraft hangars.

The missiles were launched from US destroyers 150 miles away in the Mediterranean Sea in response to Assad's Sarin gas attack in Idlib on Tuesday, which killed 80 civilians, including children.

President Donald Trump justified the airstrike by talking of 'beautiful babies cruelly murdered' in the chemical attack blamed on the Syrian regime.
Scotland could become part of Canada if its citizens were to vote for independence, according to a Canadian author.

Ken McGoogan, whose works include How the Scots Invented Canada, said that geographical boundaries could be irrelevant thanks to modern technology, so Scotland should find its new home with Canadian colleagues.

In an opinion piece for The Globe and Mail, the author wrote: 'The Scots arent happy with the rest of Britain.

Ken McGoogan with John Bemrose. The Canadian author thinks an alliance with Scotland would be terrific for both countries

'They arent happy politically with Westminsters shift to the right.

'They arent happy with Brexit, and with being frog-marched out of a multinational alliance they dont wish to leave.

'Now is the time for the Canadian government to extend an invitation.'

He argues the alliance would be terrific for both countries, and said the nation would become Canada's third largest province, behind Ontario and Quebec.

Unlikely alliance? The author has suggested that Scotland and Canada could join forces for Scotland to become Canada's third biggest province. It could mean Sturgeon, left, and Trudeau, right, work together

TOP TRUMPS: CANADA VERSUS SCOTLAND SCOTLAND Population: 5,373,000 (2015 estimate) Economy: US$245.267 billion Size: 30,090 square miles Make-up: Mainland and 790 islands Capital: Edinburgh Largest city: Glasgow Main export: Salmon and whisky are major parts of Scottish export Motto: 'In my defence God me defend' Most popular drink: Irn-Bru CANADA Population: 35,151,728 (2016) Economy: US$1.79 trillion Size: 3.85 million square miles Make-up: Ten provinces and three territories Capital: Ottawa Largest city: Toronto Main export: Natural resources like zinc and gold are huge exports Motto: 'From Sea to Sea' Most popular drink: Newfoundland Screech Advertisement

While technological advances can overcome distances, the author points out that many of Canada's big cities are closer to Scotland than Hawaii is to the mainland of the USA.

He says: 'Scotland is nearer to Newfoundland (3,355 kilometres) than Hawaii is to California (3,977 km). Glasgow is nearer to Halifax (4,250 km) than Halifax is to Vancouver (4,443 km).'

McGoogan said the Scots have left their fingerprints all over Canada

Under Canada, Scotland would not be fully independent, but have provincial powers, including direct taxation for issues like schools and hospitals, and administration of civil and criminal justice.

The Scottish Parliament last week voted in favour of calling on the UK government to allow a second referendum.

Theresa May has ruled out a second one on several occasions, stating it is not the right time for Britain to call another vote in Scotland. She has said it should wait until after Brexit.

McGoogan's career has focused on how Scotland helped play a role in building Canada, including influencing its political, educational and banking institutions.

He told the BBC: 'The Scots have left their fingerprints all over this country.'
Civilians in the town where Bashar al-Assad gassed 87 people to death earlier this week say the dictator is trying to wipe them out with fresh airstrikes.

Aya Fadl, 25, a mother who lives in Khan Sheikhoun with her husband and 20-month-old son, said that Assad is trying to kill everyone that survived the chemical attack.

Mrs Fadl spent Saturday sheltering in the basement of her house in Khan Sheikhoun as she claimed 24 bombing raids were carried out in just 24 hours.

The strikes were launched from Shayrat airbase, which was operational again hours after it was hit by cruise missiles launched on the orders of President Trump.

Aya Fadl, a mother from Khan Sheikhoun, the town that was gassed by Assadf earlier this week, says the dictator is trying to wipe her town out in revenge for Trump's missile strike

The 25-year-old (pictured) was lucky to survive the gas attack after inhaling a nerve agent, believed by many to be sarin gas

Mrs Fadl says she spent Friday night in the basement of her home with her husband and son (pictured), sleeping in the same room so that if a bomb hits, they will die together

In total, Mrs Fadl lost 20 members of her family during the Sarin attack, including second cousins Aya and Ahmad (pictured with father Abdul Hamid Youssef)

Mrs Fadl told Daily Mail Online : 'They bombed the city and the surrounding areas again. They will not stop. There were 24 raids on Saturday.

'I'm so scared. I can't do anything. There is no safety left here. Every time I hear these terrible sounds I feel awful and my son cries.

'He is bombing our city wildly. He will not stop. He is trying to wipe us out. We really need help. I see death everywhere and every minute.'

She believes that Assad will use chemical weapons again because 'there is no deterrent', adding: 'It will be like so many times before. No action stops him.'

While Mrs Fadl said she wants to leave the city, she feels there is no safe place left to go - and even if there was, she has no way of getting there.

Born and raised in Khan Sheikhoun, Mrs Fadl studied at the University of Aleppo before returning to her hometown, according to her social media.

The young mother lost more than 20 members of her family during the gas attack on Tuesday, and is still suffering the effects of inhaling a nerve agent, believed by many to be sarin.

Aya and Ahmad, the twins pictured being buried by their distraught father Abdul Hamid Youssef, were her second cousins.

The strikes against Khan Sheikhoum were carried out from Shayrat airbase, which was active again just hours after it was bombed on the orders of Donald Trump

Pro-Russia activists and Assad troops were keen to show off the airbase functioning on social media just hours after it was hit by Tomahawk missiles

Distressing pictures taken on the day of the attack show Mrs Fadl laid out on a bed with a gas mask strapped to her face.

When she heard of Trump's strike on Friday, in which 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched at the airbase used to carry out the chemical attack, Mrs Fadl said at first she was happy.

But joy soon turned to fear after she realised Assad would seek revenge against the only people he has the power to strike - the innocents living in her town.

By Friday afternoon the Shayrat airbase was operational again, according to videos posted by pro-Russia and pro-Assad groups on social media.

Footage shows Sukhoi jets taking off from the runway, destined for bombing missions across Idlib province, including in Mrs Fadl's neighbourhood.

The bombing came a day after the US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said Assad can 'no longer get away' with killing civilians.

Destruction: This image shows a bombed cereals silo, just 50 meters from the residential area in Khan Shaykhun

Damage: Assad's warplanes hit the silo just on the outskirts of the small town last night

Syrian opposition activists say the warplanes struck the eastern side of Khan Sheikhoun, killing a woman and wounding another person.

The United States has vowed to keep up the pressure on Syria after a wave of missile strikes despite the prospect of escalating Russian dissatisfaction that could further inflame the conflict.

The US signalled new sanctions would follow and the Pentagon was probing whether Russia was involved in the chemical weapons assault that compelled US president Donald Trump to action.

The attack against a Syrian air base was the first US assault against the government of President Bashar Assad.

Much of the international community rallied behind Mr Trump's decision in reaction to this week's chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of people in Syria.

But a spokesman for Russian president Vladimir Putin warned the strikes dealt 'a significant blow' to relations between Moscow and Washington.

President Assad ordered a gas attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun which killed 87

This map shows where the town of Khan Sheikhoun is in relation to Shayrat airfield

A key test comes next week when secretary of state Rex Tillerson becomes the first Trump Cabinet member to visit Russia.

Foreign Minister Boris Johnson had planned to visit Russia this week but decided to cancel the trip because of fast-moving events in Syria.

At the United Nations on Friday, Russia's deputy ambassador Vladimir Safronkov strongly criticized what he called the US 'flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression'.

He said its 'consequences for regional and international security could be extremely serious'.

He called the Assad government a main force against terrorism and said it deserved the presumption of innocence over the chemical weapons attack.

The US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said the world is waiting for the Russian government 'to act responsibly in Syria' and 'reconsider its misplaced alliance with Bashar Assad'.

Speaking during an emergency Security Council session, she said the US was prepared to take further action in Syria but hoped it would not be necessary.

In Florida with the president, treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said additional economic sanctions on Syria were being prepared.
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Thousands of glamorous Grand National fans descended on Aintree for the sweltering third day of the festival on Saturday.

Parched revellers cooled down with some ice-cold cocktails as temperatures soared to 19 degrees - making it the hottest Grand National day in six years.

Preened to perfection, 70,000 racegoers injected a dose of decorum to the hotly-tipped day of festivity as they turned up in high spirits.

From white lace fishtail gowns to perilously plunging nude numbers, the ladies were dressed to the nines as they soaked up the sunshine at the Merseyside course in Liverpool.

Flashing demure grins, they displayed no hint of the champagne-quaffing debauchery of the previous two days at the biggest betting date in the UK's racing calendar.

Armed police were on patrol at Aintree for the first time in its 170-year history as part of a massive anti-terror operation ahead of the Grand National.

Sniffer dogs and bomb detector teams were also deployed to protect racegoers in the wake of last months Westminster terror attack.

The 2014 Grand National boasted a seven-figure prize fund for the first time, which was replicated in 2015 and 2016.

Mane attraction: Ultra-polished guests boasted bouffant curls and embellished dresses as they made their way through the racecourse

Double trouble: This pair had clearly not co-ordinated their outfits - stepping out in clashing hues of scarlet and powder blue

A tad worse for wear? One trio looked a touch bleary-eyed as they flashed their best smiles for the camera

That's my horse! One race-goer squealed with delight and pointed triumphantly at her winning pick

A round of applause: One gang erupted into cheers at the end of the race - presumably celebrating their win

Giddy up horsey! This reveller decided to give the jockeys a run for their money

Spontaneous shot: A woman in a pastel pink trouser suit took a surreptitious selfie in the grounds

Turning heads: The fashion-conscious crowd stood out in vibrant, colourful and figure-hugging ensembles

New girl band? This immaculately dressed foursome perfectly mismatched textures, colours and shapes

Keeping things cool: Despite the unyielding sunshine, the female guests stayed preened and polished to perfection

Taking it to the max: Some racegoers opted for more modest styles - choosing to wear floor-skimming dresses on the day

Hand it over: Racing fans flocked in their droves to the betting stations to pick their favourite horses

Champagne showers: Two revellers cooled down in the sweltering heat with the help of some ice-cold pints of beer (left). One attendee flashed a smile as she sauntered along with a pint of cider in one hand, and two glasses in the other (right)

Bottoms up! Some guests walked through the Merseyside racecourse clutching glasses filled with icecubes to ward off the blistering heat

A Grand affair! One guest looked chic in a white dress with a delicate mesh-lace overlay (left) while another barely concealed her modesty in a blushing pink maxi-dress (right) that was slashed to the thigh on the third day of Aintree

Quite the threesome: A glamorous trio held their mini Moet bottles aloft with pride, while their sharp outfits did all the talking

Here come the girls! Clad in eye-catching colourful ensembles, this laughing group seemed more than ready to unwind

Down the hatch! Two friends beamed as they strode past clutching drinks, while a fellow attendee in a floral dress appeared to be in more subdued spirits

Pour it up: A glamorously-dressed trio seemed transfixed by the prospect of booze as they poured themselves a glass

Having a whale of a time! A female guest erupted into giggles as her amused companion comforted her

Lovely in lace: Two friends beamed as they showed off their stylish ensembles in complementary shades of pink and ivory

I'll cheers to that! One fun-loving group held their beer bottles - and cigarettes aloft with pride as they toasted to a day full of high jinks

Think pink: Rocking a plunging fuchsia number, one race-goer flashed her pearly whites (left), while a scarlet siren gazed into the crowd as she took a sip (right)

Enjoying a tipple: A group of glamorous pals sipped flutes of Moet champagne as they kicked back in the sun

Battle of the TV stars: Geordie Shore alumni Chantelle Connelly wore a beaded princess-style gown, while Coronation Street's Katie McGlynn looked chic in cobalt

Say cheese! One extravagantly dressed group seemed to be in raucous spirits as they flashed their pearly whites

Flashing the cash: A lady in red seemed to be getting into the betting spirit as she held out two crisp notes

Dazzling: One reveller offset her sunkissed complexion with an ivory dress and muted accessories

Something to get off your chest? Irish professional mixed martial artist Conor McGregor sauntered in with an unbuttoned Louis Vuitton shirt

Take a load off: The UFC star, who has been linked with a spectacular boxing showdown with the retired Floyd Mayweather, propped his feet up on the window as he arrived at the event

Girl power: Off-the-shoulder dresses were very much the order of the day (left and middle), while one guest opted for drama with an asymmetric pinstripe tuxedo dress and opulent gold Giuseppe Zanotti heels (right)

Dressed to the nines: Two friends chose delicate lace meshwork and embroidery for their midi-length dresses (left). A fellow attendee caught the eye in a lemon yellow creation (right)

Seeing double: Two guests had more than hair colour in common, as they dressed in matched pastel pink trousers and white asymmetric crop tops

Looking racy! Glamorous revellers were preened to perfection, with one donning a scarlet floral dress while a duo rocked princess-inspired taffeta creations

But first, let me take a selfie: These snap-happy ladies couldn't resist an opportunity to pose in front of the race course

Taking centre-stage: One guest put on a more glamorous show in a dramatic plunging black gown (left), while two others grinned in bright colourful dresses (right)

Snap-happy: This crowd of stylish revellers jumped at the chance to pose in this classic photo opportunity

Monochrome mavens: Two friends kept things classy in all-black attire, while their companion opted for a cobalt blue hue

Shady ladies: These delighted couples were armed with sunglasses as they prepared to soak up the sun at the biggest betting date in the UK's racing calendar

Down to business! Two racegoers went straight to the stands to place bets on Grand National Day

Walk the line: Revellers filed down a walkway to avoid getting their pristine heels dirty on the grass

Take a walk on the wild side: Some well-prepared revellers swapped their heels for sturdy trainers as they traversed the grass

Here come the boys! And the men didn't let the sartorial team down as they arrived looking dapper in sharp suits

He's on the money! One brave reveller pulled his best poses as he proudly showed off a wacky suit with a dollar note pattern

Armed police were on patrol at Aintree for the first time in its 170-year history yesterday as part of a massive anti-terror operation ahead of the Grand National

Quite the crowd: Thousands of revellers flocked to the Merseyside course for the last day of the racing event, getting in early to beat the queues

Stop horsing around! Ruby Walsh walked out with other jockeys to watch the Gaskells Handicap Hurdle Race at Aintree Racecourse

Neigh bother: Fountains Windfall ridden by jockey David Noonan jumped the last to win Gaskells Handicap Hurdle

Just foaling around: The horses and riders shot across the first bend during the Gaskells Handicap Hurdle Race
Flight crew on a passenger jet landed with an extra person on-board when a woman gave birth at 42,000ft.

Nafi Diaby went into labour while flying from Conakry, Guinea, to Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso.

Nafi Diaby suddenly went into labour while flying from Conakry, Guinea, to Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso

Cabin crew sprung into action to help deliver the little girl, and both mother and baby are reported to be doing well

Cabin crew on the Turkish Airlines flight sprung into action to deliver the little girl called Kadiju.

Mother and baby were taken to hospital to be kept under observation when the Boeing 737-900 type aircraft landed in the West African nation on Friday.

Turkish Airlines' Ouagadougou station officials later reported mother and baby were doing fine.

They shared pictures on their Twitter account with the message: 'Welcome on board Princess! Applause goes to our cabin crew!'
Victorians are in for a soggy weekend with possible flooding as a strong cold front brings heavy rain.

The front will move into the state's west late on Saturday and cross the remainder of Victoria on Sunday, the Bureau of Meteorology says.

The weekend will start off warm and sunny but some showers and storms will develop by Saturday afternoon.

A Gippsland property was torn apart as powerful winds battered the area on Friday

Victorians are in for a soggy weekend with possible flooding as a strong cold front brings heavy rain (lightning in Melbourne pictured)

A rainbow in Melbourne as showers eased on Friday afternoon

The front will move into the state's west late on Saturday and cross the remainder of Victoria on Sunday

Lightning in Melbourne as thunderstorms roll in for the weekend

A second stronger front is expected to come through on Sunday bringing significant rainfall to Melbourne and Gippsland.

'The worst of the weather will be Sunday afternoon and into the evening behind the front,' BOM Senior Forecaster Dean Stewart said.

'A band of rain will develop over the Melbourne area and very strong winds as well.'

The bureau issued a flood watch for East, West and South Gippsland and Greater Melbourne, which could get up to 50mm of rain.

'People living or working along rivers and streams must monitor the latest weather forecasts and warnings and be ready to move to higher ground should flooding develop,' the bureau said.

The weather should clear in Melbourne by dawn on Monday with the bulk of the rain out to the east of the state.

The weekend will start off warm and sunny but some showers and storms will develop by Saturday afternoon (St Kilda Beach pictured)

A clear sky above the MCG can we seen before clouds rolled in on Friday afternoon (top)

The city is looking at a mild 17C to start the week.

East, West and South Gippsland are on flood watch, as are parts of greater Melbourne including Werribee, Maribyrnong, Yarra and Dandenong.

The wild weather has caused some flights into Melbourne to be delayed.

A flight from Singapore and a flight from Auckland into Melbourne have been diverted to Sydney.

A Doha flight to Melbourne has been diverted to Adelaide, the Herald Sun reported.

Melbourne Airport has told passengers to check their airline for updates.

Melbourne is looking at a mild 17C to start the week

The wild weather has caused some flights into Melbourne to be delayed (Melbourne pictured)
A daredevil is fighting for his life after falling from the fourth floor of a block of flats.

The unnamed man was caught on camera by neighbours as he attempted to climb down the outside of the building.

But onlookers watched in horror as the man lost his grip and plummeted to the icy ground below in the city of Chelyabinsk in south central Russia.

Cameraman Konstantin Sergeev, who lives in the building opposite, said the man appeared to be climbing down the outside of the building when he slipped and fell.

He landed onto a snowy mound but it was not enough to cushion his fall and he was badly hurt.

The man, whose name has not been released, was rushed by ambulance to hospital with multiple injuries.

Doctors say that he remains in a critical condition.

The man slips and falls four floors. Luckily landing on a snow bank - but was still rushed to hospital in critical condition

The video of the incident is proving popular online where it has sparked a debate about what inspired the man to attempt such a reckless stunt.

Poster 'tlt ltt' said: 'I hope he is alive', while 'duslik' added: 'Poor guy, he was either hit by spring fever or God knows what happened in one of these apartments that he had to act this way.'
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These before and after satellite images show the damage to al-Shayrat military airfield which was hit by US cruise missiles on Thursday night.

A US defence official said that 58 of the 59 missiles 'severely degraded or destroyed' their intended targets but Russian officials claimed that only 23 reached the base and the locations of the others were 'unknown'.

Pictures from ImageSat International show how the missiles destroyed aircraft, workshops, hangars and bunkers. Russian and Syrian troops were warned of the attack so they could evacuate some of their planes and soldiers.

 Slide me  Before and after: This image shows five aircraft workshops before and after the strike on Thursday at 3.45am local time

After the strike: These satellite images show the damage to al-Shayrat military airfield which was hit by US cruise missiles on Thursday night

Aircraft shelters: This image shows how the missiles struck aircraft shelters on Thursday night after Syrian troops were warned

 Slide me  Before and after: This image shows how three hangars were struck by the missiles. One (left) was destroyed but two (circled) remained intact

 Slide me  Before and after: This image shows a bunker was blown to smithereens by the strike which retaliated to Assad's gas attack

Observers said al-Sharyat Air Base was 'almost completely destroyed' by the 1,000lb warheads in a 30-minute barrage of destruction that is said to have destroyed 20 planes, a dozen aircraft hangars and a fuel depot, as well as ripped up runways, storage sites and radars.

The missiles were launched from US destroyers 150 miles away in the Mediterranean Sea in response to Assad's Sarin gas attack in Idlib on Tuesday, which killed 80 civilians, including children.

Footage and photos from the ground Friday morning showed some of the aircraft shelters - which appear to be made of thick concrete, with feet of sand piled on top - partially or fully collapsed.

Others had sunlight shining in through holes in their roofs, and black scorch marks on their walls.

Destruction: These images show the extent of the destruction wrought on Syria's al-Shayrat military airfield by US Tomahawk missiles on Thursday

Damage: The photos show that the missiles - which were launched from 150 miles away by US destroyers - were terrifyingly accurate, slamming down on the shelters and ripping up runways

Disabled: The damage sustained in the 30-minute attack was meant to disable the air base, near the city of Homs. This shot shows how far apart the main target zones were

Before the attack: This photo shows the base in October 2016. Russia claimed that only 23 out of the 59 rockets fired actually hit the base, but the US Navy said only one failed to find its mark

Aftermath: This is the aftermath of one of the Tomahawk missile strikes, underneath one of the protective concrete plane shelters. US officials said that 20 Syrian jets were destroyed in the attack

Rubble: Shredded metal is all that's left of this ravaged plane after the bombardment. The Syrian government said at least seven soldiers were killed and nine wounded, though the US had tried to avoid barracks and populated buildings

Detonated: These tanks - likely containing fuel - appear to have been blow up by the massive rockets. The Syrian media claimed nine civilians died even though the attack was launched at almost 4am local time on a military base

Shredded: Another plane shredded to pieces by the Tomahawk missiles, which have been updated many times since their use in the Gulf War. The modern missiles can be redirected en route to a target, and were launched 150 miles away

Escaped: While many of the shelters were badly hit in the attacks, some - such as those visible far in the background - were not. Russian TV made a point of showing those shelters in their morning news reports

Unscathed: This collection of five jets on al-Sharyat Air Base somehow escaped the bombing raid, despite being located out in the open, on a patchy grass plain

'Initial indications are that this strike has severely damaged or destroyed Syrian aircraft and support infrastructure and equipment at Shayrat Airfield, reducing the Syrian government's ability to deliver chemical weapons,' said Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis.

Two senior defense officials told Fox News that about 20 Syrian jets were destroyed in the strike, although footage screened on Russian television suggested that at least two had escaped the destruction.

Early reports put the figure at nine destroyed jets.

The US officials said that none of the planes had been able to scramble before missiles hit, and that no Russian aircraft were at the airfield. No helicopters were struck during the destruction, they said.

When asked why Russian TV footage showed an undamaged shelter and two apparently intact jets, an expert told CNN that the US had been precise in its targeting due to the size of the airfield so as not to waste missiles, and so not every area would be accountedfor.

On the ground: These damaged hangars, blackened by smoke, are at the entrance to the Syrian airfield bombarded by the US. The US targeted several such shelters across the military base, which it said held chemical weapons

Burnt out: Footage showing burnt out shelters and hangars and a damaged runway was cheered by tearful Syrians hoping that Trump's intervention would lead to Assad being overthrown

Shattered: Pictures show shards of shattered concrete strewn across the airfield at the Syrian military base this morning. The Syrian Army called it an 'act of 'aggression'

Jets: Footage and pictures from the base screened on Russian TV appeared to show jet planes still contained in undamaged aircraft hangars

Syria claimed that at least seven of its soldiers were killed and nine wounded in the airstrike. According to US intel, there were 12-100 personnel on the site that night. Efforts were made not to hit barracks, officials said.

SANA, Syria's state media, also claimed that nine civilians, including four children, were killed - even though the airbase was attacked at 3:45am local time.

The satellite photos show a considerable distance between the base's perimeter and the nearest built-up area.

DID RUSSIA HIT HOSPITAL TO HIDE SYRIAN GAS HORROR? US officials announced on Friday that they were investigating whether a drone seen just after Tuesday's gas attack was in fact Russia-operated. The drone returned late in the day as citizens were going to a nearby hospital for treatment. Shortly afterward, officials say, the hospital was bombed. Officials said the hospital strike may have been an effort to cover up evidence of the chemical attack. It's not clear which hospital they were referring to, but local activists released photos of al Rahma hospital in Khan Sheikhoun, saying it was shelled by Russians on Tuesday. Advertisement

The US said that only one of its missiles failed to land on-target after being launched by the USS Ross and USS Porter, although Russians released their own counter-claims, saying that only 23 of the 59 rockets hit the base.

But the photos released by the Department of Defense suggest that that the missiles - at least, the ones involved in the damage seen in the satellite images - were closely clustered around the aircraft hangars.

The US said the base was being used to store chemical weapons, like those used on civilians in the city of Idlib on Tuesday.

That attack, which killed 80 civilians and injured many more, was the fourth such atrocity in Syria since the conflict began in 2011. One chemical attack has been blamed on ISIS and the other three on Syrian forces.

An hour after the attack, Trump, speaking from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where he is hosting the Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng as part of a two day summit, said the US had to act after the Syrian dictator launched the 'horrible chemical weapons attack' on innocent civilians.

'Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack,' he said. 'It was a slow and brutal death for so many. No child of God should ever suffer such horror.'

He added: 'There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons, violated its obligations under the chemical weapons convention, and ignored the urging of the UN security council.

'Years of previous attempts at changing Assad's behavior have all failed and failed very dramatically.

'As a result, the refugee crisis continues to deepen and the region continues to destabilize, threatening the United States and its allies.

'Tonight I call on all civilized nations to join us in seeking to end the slaughter and bloodshed in Syria, and also to end terrorism of all kinds and all types.'

Heartbreak: Disturbing footage showed Syrian father Abdul Hamid al-Yousef crying uncontrollably over the graves of his wife and two children who were killed in a suspected sarin gas attack this week

Smoke rises from the deck of the USS Porter as the United States blasted a Syrian air base with a barrage of cruise missiles in fiery retaliation for this week's gruesome chemical weapons attack against civilians.

The guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) launches a tomahawk land attack missile in the Mediterranean Sea

A U.S. Navy image shows the USS Ross (DDG 71) firing a tomahawk land attack missile at the Syrian air base

Inside the Mar-a-Lago war room: President Trump is briefed on a video link with his advisers and cabinet members around him. Trump was meeting with Chinese Premier Xi Jinping when he was pushed into action

While Trump's election victory marked the possibility of a 'reset' between the former Cold War adversaries, that optimism has since dissipated, with relations between the US and Russia hitting a new low in recent years as officials on both sides openly bashed each other Friday.

Putin this morning denounced the strike as an 'illegal act of aggression' and also ripped up an agreement to avoid mid-air clashes between Russian and US fighter jets over Syria.

Putin saw the US action as an 'aggression against a sovereign nation' on a 'made-up pretext' and considered it a cynical attempt to distract the world from civilian deaths in Iraq, according to Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Meanwhile, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev took to Facebook on Friday to declare US-Russian relations 'completely ruined'. He also said the US was 'on the verge of a military clash with Russia'.

Rex Tillerson also delivered some harsh words on Thursday and said Russia was either 'complicit' in the Sarin attack that killed more than 80 people or 'simply incompetent' in getting Syria to surrender its chemical weapons.

US Ambassador Nikki Haley echoed the sentiments at the UN Security Council and mocked Moscow for failing to rid Syria of chemical weapons under a 2013 deal.

WHY DIDN'T PUTIN'S GROWLERS STOP TRUMP'S MISSILES? Trump's missiles somehow managed to get past Vladimir Putin's state-of-the art S-400 Growler air defense system, which covered al-Shayrat airfield. The Growlers - which can intercept targets at a range of 250 miles and at heights of up to 90,000 feet - are stationed at Latakia Airbase, meaning al-Shayrat should be covered by them. Russia was also given 30 minutes' notice before the attacks. Why the system did not protect the base - whether it was because they've never gone up against US technology or because Putin allowed the strike to occur - remains to be seen. In the wake of the attacks, Russia said its service personnel were still protected by the Growlers, and vowed to step up protection of al-Shayrat. Advertisement

'It could be that the Assad regime is playing the Russians for fools,' Haley said.

In response to the airstrikes, Russia said it will further strengthen Syrian air defenses.

And Putin ordered his Admiral Grigorovich frigate - armed with cruise missiles and a self-defense system - from the Black Sea to dock in-between the Syrian mainland and the US ships that launched the attack.

Russia's foreign minister says no Russian servicemen have been hurt in the bombing raid. Its security council said it regretted the 'harm' done to relations between Washington and Moscow.

The country also demanded a special meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss what it called 'aggression against a sovereign state'.

The meeting, called by Bolivia on Friday afternoon, saw Bolivian Ambassador Sacha Lorenti denouncing the United States as acting like 'investigator, attorney, judge and executioner'.

The US was defended by France and Britain.

British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft praised President Trump's decision, saying the attack was 'an appropriate response to such a heinous crime, a war crime.'

And French Ambassador Francois Delattre expressed hope the US action would be a 'game changer and help boost the political negotiations'.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged restraint and a renewed push for peace in Syria, saying in a statement that 'there is no other way to solve the conflict than through a political solution'.

He said: 'For too long, international law has been ignored in the Syrian conflict, and it is our shared duty to uphold international standards of humanity. This is a prerequisite to ending the unrelenting suffering of the people of Syria.'

WHO SUPPORTS WHO IN THE BATTLE FOR SYRIA? PRO ASSAD Russia - Gives military support, condemns the US airstrikes and suspends deal not to clash mid-air Iran - Close strategic allies with Syria and has provided significant support including $8.69billion North Korea - UN probe found that North Korea was supplying arms to Syria Iraq - The Iraqi Government provided financial support and transported supplies Algeria - Rumours suggest Algerian military aircraft is regularly landing in Syria Venezuela - The South American country has shipped tens of millions of dollars worth of diesel to Syria Lebanon - Police arrested family after they protested about the Syrian Government Belarus - President Alexander Lukashenko supported Moscow's involvement and offered air strike Lebanese Hezbollah Party - Involvement has been substantial and has deployed troops since 2012 ANTI ASSAD US - President Donald Trump launched first airstrikes since six-year civil war started UK - Supports US cruise airstrikes as Theresa May said chemical attack was 'despicable' France/Germany - Both of the countries today said Assad bears 'sole responsibility' for US strike Turkey - Opposed to Assad but objects to Syrian rebels and wants control of Kurdish area Canada - Canada gave more than $4.97million to the Syrian opposition in 2013 Saudi Arabia - The Middle East country is the main group to finance the rebels and has provided a large amount of weapons Israel - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the first to praise the US's retaliatory attack, saying he 'fully supports' Donald Trump's decision to launch the cruise missile attacks Qatar- It was reported Qatar gave the Syrian rebels $2.98 billion at the start of the civil war in 2011 Advertisement

The US was also branded 'a partner of ISIS' by al-Assad's spokesman, calling the missile strikes 'reckless and irresponsible.'

He also accused Trump of 'naively falling' for a 'false propaganda campaign' about the Idlib Sarin massacre.

A Pentagon official told DailyMail.com that the president 'is dead-set against letting Assad labor under the illusion that the Syrian army can murder innocent people with impunity.'

A Syrian military source also claimed on Friday that Syria had already 'learned of the American threat' and that precautions were taken - but it did not say how they found out, or from whom.

'We took precautions in more than one military point, including in the Shayrat airbase. We moved a number of airplanes towards other areas,' the official said, adding they were forewarned 'hours' before the strike.

Those claims were belied by photographs and video that emerged Friday showing burned out planes underneath the targeted shelters.

Some planes - several of which had apparently been left out in the open air, at least two of which were still in shelters - were undamaged but on the base.

America had used a special military-to-military hotline to warn Russia about the airstrike around 30 minutes in advance - but the Trump administration did not ask Moscow for permission.

It is likely Russia alerted the Syrians about the incoming strikes but this has not been confirmed.

Russian warship the Admiral Grigorovich (pictured on recent deployment) - armed with cruise missiles and a self-defense system - was sent from the Black Sea to Syria today following the airstrike on al-Shayrat military airfield

Block: Vladimir Putin ordered the Admiral Grigorovich will pass through the east Mediterranean waters where the USS Ross and USS Porter fired the 59 Tomahawk missiles that pounded Assad's al-Shayrat military airfield near Homs in the early hours of Friday

The US has been supported by some of its foreign allies.

In a joint statement on Friday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande said, 'President Assad bears sole responsibility for this development.

Hollande added that the US strike was what France had been calling for in the wake of another chemical attack in 2013.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, speaking alongside German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, added that they hoped this would not spiral into further conflict.

'We do not want an escalation,' Ayrault said. 'We have to stop the hypocrisy. If Russia is acting in good faith it should stop and negotiate.'

Britain also stood staunchly behind its long-time ally and what it called an 'appropriate response.'

A spokeswoman for Prime Minister Theresa May said: 'The UK Government fully supports the US action, which we believe was an appropriate response to the barbaric chemical weapons attack launched by the Syrian regime, and is intended to deter further attacks.'

EU President Donald Tusk said in a tweet that 'US strikes show needed resolve against barbaric chemical attacks. EU will work with the US to end brutality in Syria.'

And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that 'in both word and action' Trump 'sent a strong and clear message' that 'the use and spread of chemical weapons will not be tolerated.'

Bolivia called an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council (pictured) in New York to discuss Trump's attack on Syria on Friday afternoon. The Bolivian Ambassador denounced the US as acting like 'investigator, attorney, judge and executioner'

Defended: The UK defended its long-time ally, with British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft defending Trump's attack as 'an appropriate response to such a heinous crime, a war crime'

Predictably, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was less enthused.

He took to Twitter on Friday to denounce the strikes, saying: 'Not even two decades after 9/11, US military fighting on same side as al-Qaeda & ISIS in Yemen & Syria. Time to stop hype and cover-ups.'

And Iranian news agency ISNA quoted foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi as saying: 'Such measures will strengthen terrorists in Syria... and will complicate the situation in Syria and the region.'

Iran is a long-time supporter of the Assad regieme.

There has also been debate at home, as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle complained that the Commander in Chief had authorized military action without consulting Congress.

'The President needs congressional authorization for military action as required by the Constitution, and I call on him to come to Congress for a proper debate,' said Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky.

Libertarians such as Representative Justin Amash, a House Freedom Caucus member, want to stick tightly to the Constitution, which he argued on Twitter had been violated by Trump's actions.

'Airstrikes are an act of war' he wrote. 'Atrocities in Syria cannot justify departure from Constitution, which vests in Congress power to commence war.'

He continued: 'Framers of Constitution divided war powers to prevent abuse,' he wrote. 'Congress to declare war; President to conduct war and repel sudden attacks.'

Nancy Pelosi, the House's top-ranking Democrat, begged House Speaker Paul Ryan in a letter Friday morning to call back House members to DC as they begin their two-week Passover and Easter recess.

'The President's action and any response demands that we immediately do our duty. Congress must live up to its Constitutional responsibility to debate an Authorization of the Use of Military Force against a sovereign nation,' Pelosi said.

All eyes will be on Tillerson next week when he becomes the first Trump Cabinet member to visit Russia. Tillerson may get an audience with Putin himself.

Despite the breakdown over Syria, where Russia has a significant military presence, U.S. officials insisted Tillerson's highly anticipated trip was still on.

For Tillerson, the trip is even more delicate than before: He must find a way to show the U.S. can stand up to Russia and safeguard elements of cooperation at the same time.

He must also be prepared to deal with the notoriously unpredictable Putin, known for making guests feel uncomfortable when he wants to express displeasure.

'Let him come and tell us what they have been up to today,' Maria Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, told Russian television. 'We will tell them everything that we think on this score.'

If Putin is looking for a way to even the score, it might not be in Syria, said Julianne Smith, a former National Security Council and Defense Department official now at the Center for a New American Security. Faced with challenges to his country's dignity, she said, Putin always thinks in 'asymmetric terms'.

'We should be watching eastern Ukraine, we should be watching for a cyberattack, another drip-drip-drip of WikiLeaks,' she said. 'There's all sorts of things they can do.'
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Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria broke down in tears today as she visited the scene of the terror attack at a shopping centre in central Stockholm.

The heir was unable to keep her emotions in check as she made an impromptu visit to an enclosed area where dozens of people had laid red and yellow roses in memory of those who died.

Victoria, the heir apparent to the Swedish throne, wiped away tears as she laid flowers accompanied by her husband Prince Daniel.

While the scene of the crash remains sealed off by blue police tape hundreds of people had gathered nearby to lay flowers on a metal fence.

Crown Princess Victoria (pictured) looked visibly upset as she laid flowers at the scene in Stockholm today

Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel were photographed arriving on the street where a terrorist killed at least four people

She broke down in tears when she visited the scene of the terror attack and paid her respect to the victims

The 39-year-old laid flowers following the terrorist attack in the Swedish capital on Friday afternoon

Others came to look at the devastation caused by the hijacked truck after it sped along a packed pedestrian street and rammed into a storefront.

The Princess's visit was unannounced.

Bodyguards suddenly cleared a path among those who had come to the scene and the 36-year-old Princess stepped from car with her husband.

She had travelled the short distance from the Royal Palace in Stockholm where a solitary flag was at half mast.

As she took in the dozens of bunches of flowers and lighted candles she began to cry and wiped tears from her eyes.

The Princess was asked by a member of the media: 'How do we move on' and she replied 'Together'.

She later said she felt 'sadness and emptiness' at the attack.

She added: 'Society has shown tremendous power and that we are resisting this, that we want to resist this.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven lays flowers at a makeshift memorial near the scene where a truck slammed the day before into a crowd of people outside a busy department store in central Stockholm

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven arrives to lay flowers at a memorial where at least four people were killed on Friday

Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom talks to journalists after laying flowers near the scene following a suspected terror attack

Flowers have been laid close at the spot where a lorry ploughed into a department store in the Swedish capital on Friday

'That we are united. That the Swedish society is built on tremendous trust and community. We will go stronger out of this in some way.'

The Mayor of Stockholm and Deputy Prime Minister Isabella Lovin and Education Minister Gustav Fridolin, both of the Green Party, left flowers at the scene.

Many people visiting the scene were still in a state of shock that such an attack could happen on their city.

Johann, a 36 year old accountant, brought his one-year-old son to lay flowers and said he was stunned that one person would want to commit such an atrocity.

He said:' We have to be careful that this does not mean we turn on a religion or one group of people.

'It is one person who has carried out this terrible act and we do not need to blame a whole religion for that.

'I am worried as I want my son to grow up in the Sweden that I love and where freedom is a given right.'

Others at the scene also said they hoped the attack would not lead to a backlash against the Muslim religion.

The 39-year-old suspect is said to have been inspired by IS and propaganda from the terror group phone on his laptop.
A deaf boy was left alone on a school bus and driven back to the depot twice when teachers didn't realise he was still on board.

Reuben Lewis, 10, who is also autistic, stayed on the bus because no one told him to get off.

He was driven 45 minutes from his school without teachers or transport staff realising he was still on board.

Reuben Lewis, who is deaf and autistic, has been left on the school bus twice when he should have been told by teachers it was time to get off

The alarm was only raised when Reuben failed to arrive for a school swimming lesson when his class were taken to a pool.

His parents told the school and police - and a search later found Reuben still sat on the bus at the depot.

Education chiefs in Powys, Wales, have since apologised.

His father Rob Lewis said: 'This beggars belief - we are shocked and very upset that he was left alone.'

Mr Lewis, of Llanidloes, Powys, revealed it is the second time his son has been left alone on the bus.

Education chiefs in Powys have since apologised to the family, and admitted there was a serious breakdown in communication

Simon Price, owner of Simon Price Cars, said the company was contractually unable to comment while the investigation was ongoing

He said: 'Reuben was left on the bus in May last year. We were given reassurances that it was a one-off incident.

'I'm always happy to give someone a second chance, but now I wish I'd never given them a first chance.

'It was sheer luck that it was noticed Reuben was missing on Monday because his older sister works part time as a lifeguard in the leisure centre.'

Mr Lewis said he had raised the issue with the school, Ysgol Cedewain in Newtown, Powys, about looking after him.

Powys county council said there had been a 'serious breakdown in communication'.

A spokesman said: 'We have apologised to the parents.'

Simon Price, owner of Simon Price Cars, said the company was contractually unable to comment while the investigation was ongoing.
A 14-year-old boy has been charged for trying to buy a Russian sub-machine gun and 100 rounds of ammunition for 150 on the dark web.

Detectives think the teenager wanted the gun to intimidate another person.

The child was detained in a police operation at the Riverside retail park in Coleraine, Northern Ireland on Thursday morning.

Detectives think the teenager wanted the gun to intimidate another person (stock image)

Police are now downloading his online interactions to see who he spoke to and if he tried to buy anything else.

The accused, wearing a grey hoodie and red T-shirt, appeared at Ballymena Magistrates' Court flanked by his father and three police officers.

A Police Service of Northern Ireland detective constable told the court: 'A suspect believed to reside in Northern Ireland engaged online over the dark web in an attempt to acquire a firearm.'

She said the boy me the seller last Thursday and handed over 150 for 100 rounds of ammunition.

The detective added: 'Speaking to the operative the defendant had stated in communications that his intention was to intimidate a third party.'

During an interview with police, he provided a pre-prepared statement naming a Jamaican man who he said asked him to collect blank ammunition and a deactivated gun.

He said he ordered these through the dark web, through a selling platform.

The officer said the accused told police he was to collect the deactivated gun in a few days.

She added: 'It was in fact a live gun and live ammunition.'

She opposed bail, alleging the only reason he was purchasing a gun was to cause serious injury to others.

The detective added: 'The account provided was somewhat unbelievable.

The child was detained in a police operation at the Riverside retail park in Coleraine, Northern Ireland on Thursday morning (stock image)

'He provided an account that he was purchasing a gun for a male that was a Jamaican national living in Northern Ireland who he was friendly with on Facebook.'

She said none of his Facebook friends matched the name given for the 40-year-old friend.

The detective constable said if the child was released he could destroy evidence by deleting any conversations he may have had online.

Defence lawyer Derwin Harvey said there was no evidence presented to support what his client's intent was, and described police assertions as 'guesswork'.

District judge Liam McNally released the accused on bail of 500 and conditions including staying at home overnight and not possessing a mobile phone or any other internet-enabled device.

He was also ordered to sign in at his school on arrival and departure.

The judge warned him he could be spending months in a juvenile justice centre awaiting trial if he broke any of the conditions.

His case is due to be mentioned in Coleraine Magistrates' Court later this month.
Boris Johnson has cancelled a visit to Moscow over Putin's support of the Syrian chemical weapons attack.

The Foreign Secretary, who was due to visit Russia on Monday for talks with counterpart Sergey Lavrov, declared: 'We deplore Russia's continued defence of the Assad regime'.

Mr Johnson attacked the Kremlin and said he would instead focus on building support with allies to secure a ceasefire in war-torn Syria.

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Boris Johnson has pulled out of a visit to Moscow in the wake of the Syrian chemical weapons attack saying 'we deplore Russia's continued defence of the Assad regime'

Volunteers from the Syrian Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, tried to extract survivors from the rubble following reported air-strikes on the rebel-held town of Saqba

'We deplore Russia's continued defence of the Assad regime even after the chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians,' he said.

'My priority is now to continue contact with the US and others in the run up to the G7 meeting on 10-11 April.'

Mr Johnson then called on Russia to do 'everything possible to bring about a political settlement in Syria and work with the rest of the international community to ensure that the shocking events of the last week are never repeated'.

'I discussed these plans in detail with Secretary Tillerson,' Johnson said, adding that the US foreign minister would still visit Moscow as planned following the G7 meeting to 'deliver that clear and co-ordinated message to the Russians.'

The visit would have been the first visit by a UK foreign secretary in more than five years.

It comes as Britain gave full backing to the dramatic US missile strike on a Syrian air base in response to Bashar al-Assad's 'barbaric' chemical attack - with Theresa May having given her blessing to Donald Trump before it happened.

The American president ordered the US military to fire 59 tomahawk missiles at al-Shayrat military airfield near Homs overnight.

Mr Johnson attacked the Kremlin and said he would instead focus on building support with allies to secure a ceasefire in war-torn Syria

People inspect the Great Mosque, damaged during the Assad regime's airstrike, in Arbin town in Damascus, Syria

A U.S. Navy image shows the USS Ross (DDG 71) firing a tomahawk land attack missile at the Syrian air base

Mr Trump believes the base's jets launched the horrific nerve gas attack on Idlib province earlier this week which killed more than 80 men, women and children.

Downing Street said the missile attack, which destroyed Assad's airfield and planes and killed at least five people, was an 'appropriate response'.

The government was in 'close contact at all levels' throughout yesterday and Mrs May was told in advance that the strikes were going to take place.

However, Britain was not asked to join in.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said it was 'hypothetical' whether the UK would have agreed to take part - playing down the prospects of increasing military involvement.

Mr Johnson urged the US on Thursday to push for a UN resolution before launching unilateral reprisals against the Syrian regime.

But it became clear that Russia was determined to block a tough text going through the Security Council in New York.

Moscow has claimed the chemical atrocity was unleashed when Assad's jets struck a rebel weapons stash.




Amanda Moss, pictured with her husband Simon, has slammed the penalty on term time holidays

A mother of six has slammed the Supreme Court ruling about taking children on holidays - and said she would rather face a penalty than miss a trip.

Amanda Moss, 45, regularly takes her children Saxon, 16, Honey, 14, Floyd, 13, Albany, 11, Darling, 7, and Ezme, 3, out of school for during the final week of term to take them on holiday.

The businesswoman, from Liverpool, says she has been threatened with fines over the move, but argues that travel broadens her children's minds.

She told the MailOnline: 'I have taken my children out willy-nilly but last year I waited until the end of term to take my kids on holiday. During that final week they were watching DVDs and playing games.

'Why would I keep my kids in school doing that when they could do more enriching things abroad?

'Travel is so important for children  it makes they more culturally aware and more tolerant to other races.'

On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled against Jon Platt, 46, from the Isle of Wight, who won earlier legal battles over a seven-day trip to Disney World in Florida, in April 2015.

He had argued that despite missing lessons for the holiday, his daughter had regularly attended school for the rest of the year.

The pair's children Saxon, Honey, Albany, Floyd, Darling and Ezme have been to around 18 countries

But the Supreme Court upheld an appeal by Isle of Wight education chiefs and the Government against a High Court hearing last year.

At issue was the meaning of the words fails to attend regularly at school in the 1996 Education Act.

After the ruling, Mr Platt warned that every unauthorised absence in future, including being a minute late to school, would now be deemed a criminal offence.

Mrs Moss said: 'I think the decision was based on politics and money, not education. The fines have only been happening for the last three years and people have been taking their children out of school for decades.

'If they had said yes to Jon (Platt), they (the Government) would have had to pay out for compensation. So I think that's why they ruled in favour.

'This law does not fit in with most families. Im a businesswoman who has got children and all my staff have children. We have to stagger our holidays  not everyone is able to holidays in August, if they did, I wouldn't have any staff.

Mrs Moss, pictured on holiday above, said: 'I think the decision was based on politics and money, not education'

'It won't stop me from taking my children out of school though - it makes me even more determined to go away.'

Mrs Moss says she and her husband, Simon, 51, have taken their children to around 18 countries since they were born, including Israel, Cyprus, Greece, Turkey and cities Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, and Paris, in France.

She added that she blames travel companies and is calling for action to stop companies from increasing their prices.

She said: 'Its wrong the travel companies arent being penalised.

'We went to Dubai in December and we took the children out for the last half of the day. I don't think I should be fined for that when they were just eating chocolate.

'Taking them out that day saved me 800 in travel costs.'
A father whose baby twins and wife were killed in the Syria chemical attack supports Donald Trump's missile strike.

Abdul Hamid Youssef, 29, buried his wife, Dalal al-Saha, and their nine-month-old twins Ahmad and Aya after the attack on Khan Sheikhoun in northern Syria.

And after Trump ordered US airstrikes on Syria's Shayrat Air Base where the planes believed to be responsible took off from, he told MailOnline: 'The American attack against the [Assad military base] airport is a good step, but not enough, because the regime has many airports which help it to continue killing its people and destroying liberated cities.'

Lost: Abdul Hamid Youssef, 29, buried his wife, Dalal al-Saha, and their nine-month-old twins Ahmad and Aya (pictured)

Devastated: The father supports Donald Trump's missile strike after he lost his twins in the attack

Agony: Abdul was pictured cradling the bodies of his dead twins after they were killed in the chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun, in the rebel-held central province of Idlib, Syria

'Now they have hit one airport. But the criminal Assad has more than 20 airports and this [bombing them] is the primary sensible thing that they can do.'

'These operations have lifted our spirits and stopping them is frankly shocking. The suffering in Syria needs to stop as soon as possible.'

The governor of Homs province, where Shayrat is based, claimed five people were killed in the strike.

Abdul Hamid said that he hoped the UN and the international community would target the regime's strategic positions and its chemical weapons stores. 'They are enough to kill Syrian people and people in neighbouring countries.'

The US strikes were apparent retaliation for the Assad regime unleashing chemical weapons on Khan Sheikhoun, in Syria's northern Idlib province. According to autopsies taken in Turkey, sarin gas was used in the attack, which killed at least 86 people, including dozens of Abdulhamid's closes family members.

Mr Youssef welled up when he buried his twins after they were killed by a chemical attack

Gone: Twins Aya (left) and Ahmad (right) were killed leaving their father with no family

The grieving father pleaded with the international community to stop the violence in Syria

The grieving father pleaded with the international community to stop the violence that has left more than 320,000 Syrians dead, and caused five million to flee the country.

'After Khan Sheikhoun, I wish that the international community, the UN and all the countries in the world would put an end to the suffering that the Syrian people have endured on a daily basis  the bombings, the detention, violence, the destruction and the warplanes, as soon as possible. Enough with them.'

Sounding exhausted and grieved, Abdulhamid described how his family had lived happily before the violence that gripped Syria six years ago.

'Before the violence in Syria, we lived in peace and were happy. Before the attack, my wife and the twins lived well, but then the criminal regime killed them, and 40 members of my extended family.'

Instead of watching them grow and thrive, Abdulhamid buried his children in small graves on Thursday, filmed surrounded by the comforting presence of friends. He had no other children.

'I cannot forget my martyred wife and children, and my brothers, and their wives and children', he said.

But he does not even have any photos of his beloved wife of two years left to console him, as they were all destroyed in the attack that ripped through his hometown.

'In my house all the photos I had of my wife and everything I owned was burnt.'

He described how he put a piece of cloth over his mouth to protect himself from the effects of the chemicals, as he saw two of his brothers die in the street.

The father said: 'Now they have hit one airport. But the criminal Assad has more than 20 airports and this [bombing them] is the primary sensible thing that they can do'

'I went out to help people, and I did not know where my family went,' he described in pained, slow words. 'I saw my brother Yaser Ahmad Yousef with his son, Ammar. They were dead in the street.

'Foam was coming out of their mouths. I saw my second brother Abd al Kareem, I found him in front of the house in the same situation. I put a piece of cloth on my mouth and tried to help people but then I fainted in an isolated area, until I was taken to hospital.'

Abdulhamid underwent medical treatment for exposure to the chemicals himself, but was well enough to cross the border to Turkey, where he was due to meet President Erdogan on Friday.

The former shopkeeper blamed foreign militias that have propped up Assad's manpower for the ongoing violence in Syria. The Lebanese group Hezbollah  a US-designated terrorist group  is fighting for the Assad regime, alongside Iranian, Afghan and Iraqi militia who are seen by many Syrians as occupying forces.

Abdulhamid underwent medical treatment for exposure to the chemicals himself, but was well enough to cross the border to Turkey. His daughter Aya (pictured) was not so lucky

'Enough with the military groups that are helping Assad  this situation is coming from Russia, and the Iranian, Lebanese and Afghani militia helping Assad on our land.'

'This regime is a criminal regime and also who support him like Russia and Iran and the Shi'ite militants. All of them are terrorists.'

The conflict in Syria started in 2011 after the regime of Bashar al-Assad, whose family dynasty has ruled Syria with an iron first for more than 40 years, cracked down brutally on anti-government protests.

'Syrian people are simple', Abdulhamid continued. 'They want to live in peace and freedom away from killing and violence. They want to live normal lives  we don't like violence or terrorists  terrorists are feeding Assad and those who are helping him.'

The Assad regime has denied using chemical weapons, saying it does not possess any stores. President Bashar al-Assad labelled the US airstrikes on the airbase an 'unjust and arrogant aggression' and part of an 'attempt to dominate the world.'
When a New Zealand farming family woke in the dead of night to find their home besieged by floodwaters, they knew their pigs were in deep trouble.

Genna Mcquillan was about to deal the devastating news to her 20-month-old daughter Sharnika on Friday morning after the Okuku River burst its banks onto their North Canterbury property, trapping the family inside.

But when the mother ventured outside she was met with a miracle: the pigs had survived the night by clinging onto fallen trees for dear life.

Footage shows the extraordinary moment Ms McQuillan followed the dropping waters to find a piglet clinging onto a log on the muddy banks.

Pigs can't fly... but they can swim: Genna Mcquillan was stunned to find her pigs had survived the raging floodwaters by clinging to trees

Prized pig: Sharnika wraps her beloved piglet up in a loving embrace

'Sharnika was jumping for joy,' Ms Mcquillan told Daily Mail Australia, of the moment her daughter was reunited with the pig.

'She was so happy. She loves the pigs and she was asking if they were all night if they were ok.'

Heart-warming photographs show the child wrapping the porker up in a loving embrace.

But the family still held grave fears for their beloved boar Boris, who they suspect was swept up in the waters.

'We went down further, and spotted him on top of a shovel. He wasn't moving, I wasn't sure if he was alive.'

But when they gave him a gentle poke him in the back they discovered a lucky surprise.

Groundhog: Borris the boar was knackered after a gruelling night staying afloat

Little did they know the remaining 16 piglets had sought refuge under the house - before popping out one-by-one through a little hole in the wall.

Squeeling the show: The survival of the pigs served as a miracle among the misery f the floods

Genna Mcquillan said her 20-month-old Sharnika was jumping for joy at the news

'He gave out a big grunt and went back to sleep. He was just buggered after a rough night staying afloat,' she said.

There was more good news: the remaining 16 piglets had sought shelter under the house, and began popping out one-by-one through a hole in the wall.

Genna's husband Staven McQuillan said the family were desperate to save the pigs in the night, but the house was hemmed in by the surging floods.

The freak weather wreaked destruction on the Mcquillan's 20-acre farm, causing an estimated NZ$50,000 in damage.

But the survival of the pigs served as a miracle among the misery.

The raging floods were fuelled by the tail end of Cyclone Debbie which pounded Australia before barrelling over to New Zealand, causing floods and widespread carnage.
The defense for a Massachusetts woman accused of encouraging her boyfriend to kill himself in a string of text messages is trying to get a psychologist to testify in her upcoming trial.

Frank DiCatalado was in court Friday so a judge can decide whether he is allowed to provide expert testimony in the trial for Michelle Carter.

According to DiCataldo, teenagers are not as capable of understanding their actions compared to adults.

Carter, now aged 20, is set to stand trial in June. She is charged with manslaughter in the 2014 death of 18-year-old Conrad Roy III.

Carter was 17 when Roy took his own life via carbon monoxide poisoning and prosecutors argue she is criminally responsible because she encouraged him to kill himself in a series of text messages.

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Michelle Carter, now aged 20, is set to stand trial in Massachusetts in June charged with manslaughter in the 2014 death of 18-year-old Conrad Roy III. She is pictured during a pre-trial hearing on October 14, 2016

Conrad Roy III (above) took his own life via carbon monoxide poisoning in 2014. Prosecutors argue Carter is criminally responsible because she encouraged him to kill himself

Carter wants DiCataldo to be able to give testimony concerning the adolescent versus adult mind, the Boston Herald reported Saturday.

Her defense, per the paper, said DiCataldo's testimony would be speaking about the adolescent versus adult mind broadly, not delving into the details of the Carter case.

Prosecutor MaryClare Flynn was quoted as asking DiCataldo: 'A layperson has the same information about juveniles being irrational or less mature than adults, isn't that true?

Psychologist Frank DiCatalado was in court Friday so a judge can decide whether he is allowed to provide expert testimony in the June trial for Michelle Carter

'Do you need an expert to inform a jury that juveniles are less mature than adults?'

She said: 'This witness does not offer anything but confusion to the jury by generally speaking about juveniles as a class, and I would suggest that the court has a very important role as gatekeeper here.'

DiCataldo said he'd provide an understanding of the adolescent mind that's more than what a layperson knows, the report said.

He was quoted as saying: 'Generally speaking, an adolescent would be less capable than an adult of understanding or appreciating all of the potential ramifications of their actions.

'They would have an underdeveloped ability to appreciate the consequences and understand what the risks are.'

The judge did not immediately rule on if DiCataldo can testify, the Herald reported.

Prosecutors say Carter sent her boyfriend dozens of text messages urging him to take his own life before he was found in his pickup truck in Fairhaven, Massachusetts on July 13, 2014

Last month, a controversial psychiatrist said Carter was 'involuntarily intoxicated' by prescribed antidepressants when she texted her boyfriend encouragement as he committed suicide.

Psychiatrist Dr Peter Breggin faced Taunton Juvenile Court on March 22 so a judge can decide whether he is allowed to provide expert testimony in Carter's upcoming trial.

But Dr Breggin testified that Carter was not responsible because she was being treated with the antidepressant Celexa in 2014, which would have altered her brain and meant she wouldn't have understood the impact of her texts to Roy.

'She had no notion of wrongfulness on what she was doing,' Dr Breggin told the court, according to 12WPRI.

Dr Breggin has testified that Carter was not responsible for Roy's death because she was being treated with the antidepressant Celexa in 2014, which would have altered her brain

Dr Breggin, who was hired by defense attorneys, said Carter loved Roy but experienced a metamorphosis due to her medication.

'The impairment of being on the drugs while you are growing up - while you're brain is maturing, while your frontal lobes are developing - you're talking about being inundated with neurotoxic effects,' he said.

Prosecutors criticized Dr Breggin's credentials during cross-examination and sought to discredit him as an 'extremist' who was critical of antidepressants.

Assistant District Attorney Katie Rayburn pushed Dr Breggin to admit he only reached his conclusion about Carter based on medical records and the text exchange between her and Roy.

The judge did not immediately rule on whether Dr Breggin can testify. The psychiatrist has been previously banned from testifying in other cases.

Carter's defense team were granted a request late last year for funds to hire an expert to examine the antidepressant she was taking at the time.

Carter had posted on social media on the day Roy committed suicide saying he had 'gone too soon'

Her attorney Joseph Cataldo said at the time the drug Celexa could be the key to her defense because it can increase suicidal thoughts.

The case involving Carter has drawn national attention after transcripts of the text messages sent between the couple were made public.

Prosecutors say Carter sent her boyfriend dozens of text messages urging him to take his own life.

Carter's lawyer argue that she tried repeatedly to talk him out of it and only began to support the plan when it became clear he would not change his mind.

Roy's body was found in his pickup truck in Fairhaven, Massachusetts on July 13, 2014.

Police found a gasoline-operate water pump in the back seat of the truck after he died. A coroner later ruled he died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

For confidential help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or visit suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
The U.S. airstrikes against a Syrian airbase on Friday may mean North Korea could also be at risk of American military action, experts said.

Daily Beast columnist and author Gordon Chang speculates the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un will go into hiding following the attacks as he realizes President Donald Trump is sending a clear warning against nuclear weapons and intercontinental missiles.

In a statement to Fox News, Chang said the strikes 'tells North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un that he must now heed American military power, something that he probably dismissed before.'

Chang noted that previous leader and Jong-un's father Kim Jong Il also disappeared from the public for about six weeks around the time of the war in Iraq.

The airstrikes also send a message to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, whom Trump met with at Mar-a-Lago on Friday. Chang said the People's Liberation Army has also grown dismissive towards the U.S. military and that Jinping may have interpreted the missile launch as a sign of disrespect.

The White House National Security Council has drawn up North Korea options for President Trump that involve killing the country's erratic dictator Kim Jong-un and reinserting U.S. nuclear weapons into South Korea.

President Donald Trump has accepted the invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping to pay a state visit to China this year. Trump has called on China to pressure North Korea

Experts speculate the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un will go into hiding following the attacks as he realizes President Donald Trump is sending a clear warning

The bold options were revealed by NBC News just as President Xi Jinpeng of China wrapped up a visit and meetings with Trump at to Mar-a-Lago. Trump wants China to use its leverage to get North Korea to back off its threatening behavior.

One option the network reported was bringing back nuclear bombs and positioning them likely at Osan Air Base, just 50 miles from Seoul. It would be the first U.S. deployment of nuclear weapons overseas since the end of the Coal War.

'We have 20 years of diplomacy and sanctions under our belt that has failed to stop the North Korean program,' a senior intelligence official who took part told NBC.

After North Korea fired off yet another ballistic missile last week, the State Department issued a terse statement: 'North Korea launched yet another intermediate range ballistic missile. The United States has spoken enough about North Korea. We have no further comment,' said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Another option would be killing the famously unpredictable leader, who is known for his belligerent threats toward the U.S. and its Asian allies. Wiping out Kim and senior leaders in charge of missiles and nukes would be fraught with risks.

'Discussions of regime change and decapitation ... tend to cause the Chinese great cause of concern and tends to have them move in the opposite direction we would like them to move in terms of pressure,' said former U.S. ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert.

Tillerson in a briefing with reporters on Friday stressed the U.S. commitment to a 'denuclearized' Korean peninsula. President Xi shared the administration's view that the situation had reached a very serious stage, according to cabinet secretaries who briefed reporters.

In the sights: A South Korean Marine trains with a personal anti-tank missile launcher on a beach in Pohang, as part of joint training maneuvers with U.S. Marines

Marines lead the way: South Korean Marines were taking part in exercise Foal Eagle with the U.S. Marine Corps this week in Phang, South Korea, showing some of their assault capability

'I think President Xi, from their part, shared the view that this has reached a very serious stage in terms of the advancement of North Koreas nuclear capabilities,' Tillerson said.

'They discussed the challenges that introduces for both countries, but theres a real commitment that we work together to see if this cannot be resolved in a peaceful way. But in order for that to happen, North Koreas posture has to change before theres any basis for dialogue or discussions,' Tillerson added.

Retired Admiral James Stavridis told NBC that 'decapitation is always a tempting strategy when you're faced with a highly unpredictable and highly dangerous leader.'

But he added: 'The question you have to ask yourself is what happens the day after you decapitate? I think that in North Korea, it's an enormous unknown.'

Trump indicated Monday the U.S. would act alone if necessary. 'China will either decide to help us with North Korea or they won't,' Trump told the Financial Times.

'If they do, that will be very good for China, and if they don't, it won't be good for anyone.'

The developments emerged amid the fallout over the U.S. missile launch against Syria, a demonstration both of U.S. military force and of Trump's willingness to act militarily.
A 20-year-old man shot and killed the 19-year-old mother of his 18-month-old daughter, her sister, and her father, before turning the gun on himself, police say.

Wade McIntosh, 47, and his two teenage daughters  Maria, 19, and Olivia, 17 - were found dead following the shooting in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Thursday night.

Wade McIntosh's ex-wife, Anita McIntosh, was also shot. She is listed in critical condition.

Suspected gunman Jeffrey Jemaile Taylor, 20, who is the father of Maria's toddler daughter, is believed to have fled with the youngster before shooting himself, according to WCCO-TV.

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Four people are dead and one is seriously wounded after a shooting in St. Paul early Friday morning. So far, authorities have identified the victims as Wade McIntosh (right), 47, and his two teenage daughters  Maria (center), 19, and Olivia (left), 17

Wade McIntosh's ex-wife, Anita McIntosh, was wounded and is reported to be in critical condition at a local area hospital. Police tape marks the scene of the shooting on Friday

One of the suspects in the case who was found dead moments after the grisly discovery was identified as Maria's boyfriend, Jeffrey Jemaile Taylor, 20, the father of their toddler

Immediately after police found the bodies in the family's apartment, they began a frantic search for Maria's 18-month-old daughter, according to Duluth News Tribune.

The toddler was found alive and well inside a shed not far from the apartment.

The man who was hiding her was arrested.

He was later identified as Taylor's half-brother, 19-year-old Jeffery Arkis Taylor.

Jeffery Arkis Taylor is faces charges of kidnapping, aiding and abetting murder, and attempted murder.

Just before 1am, police were called to an apartment building on English Street in St. Paul after receiving reports of a possible shooting.

An officer who arrived found three victims  a male who was unconscious and not breathing; a female who was unconscious and breathing; and another female who was conscious and breathing.

Video courtesy of KSTP

Paramedics pronounced Wade McIntosh and his two daughters dead at the scene

Maria's (seen right with her sister Olivia) 18-month-old daughter was found alive and well in a shed near the apartment shortly after their bodies were discovered

'My Uncle Wade  my cousins  they were all good, beautiful people, inside and out,' said relative Louis Hernandez

In the parking lot, another individual was found with a gunshot wound to the head. That person was not conscious and not breathing.

Paramedics pronounced Wade McIntosh and his two daughters dead at the scene.

A neighbor who lives on the third floor of the three-level apartment building said she was awakened by two gunshots.

She also heard a woman screaming outside.

When she looked outside, she saw a cousin of Anita McIntosh in front of the building.

'He killed my whole family,' she screamed. 'He killed my whole family.'

The neighbor, Diane Hagler, said that Anita McIntosh's cousin lives in a second-floor apartment that is right next door to where Anita and her daughters have lived for years.

'My Uncle Wade  my cousins  they were all good, beautiful people, inside and out,' said relative Louis Hernandez.

'We are very blessed that the baby is OK.'

'We are all praying for my auntie right now,' Hernandez said.

When police began searching for the toddler, they considered issuing an Amber Alert, but officers and a K-9 unit located the girl two hours later.

Wade McIntosh (seen here with his daughter Olivia) was described by a friend as 'a stand-up guy a jack-of-all trades' whose daughters were 'kind, beautiful young girls who didnt deserve this, obviously'

In a February post accompanying a photo of his daughters, he wrote: 'My Daughters Olivia and Maria. Olivia is my mini me. Little fire cracker, yet beautiful very creative out going  Has smile and laugh  that could light the world up!'

Wade McIntosh once wrote of his daughter: 'Maria, so full of Grace and gentle beauty  a great Mother and Friend to her daughter Cheyenne'

The girl was found hidden in a shed, which is located in the backyard of a nearby property.

The woman who rents the property, Terry Yang, said she was woken up early Friday to see police behind her home.

There were also police dogs barking as well as flashlights.

Yang said that she saw police order a man hiding in the shed to come out. The man surrendered.

Paramedics treated the baby for hypothermia. The baby is expected to make a full recovery.

'It was very scary,' Yang said. She was home at the time with her five children.

Pastor Paul Marzahn, a friend of Wade McIntosh, said that his daughters were 'the apple of his eye.'

Marzahn said McIntosh had re-connected with his daughters after overcoming substance abuse.

Though police have yet to pinpoint a possible motive for the shooting, Marzahn speculated that it may have been fueled by a custody dispute.

'I was just devastated. I was surprised, I mean, as anybody would be,' Marzahn said.

'Its one thing to have a custody battle and argue about a child. Its another thing to be that vindictive to take out a whole family.'
A teenage girl fighting for life in hospital after losing her mother and brother in a car crash has learnt her father died in a separate tragedy over the weekend.

David Heidemann was reported missing on Thursday- just five days before, Khloe Heidemann, her mother, Jane and brother, Jay Jay were involved in a crash with a semi-trailer near Berry, south of Sydney.

Jane and Jay Jay died at the scene while 14-year-old Khloe was airlifted to Sydney Children's Hospital where she remains in a critical condition.

Khloe Heidemann, 14, (left) remains in a coma at Sydney Children's Hospital after the tragedy which killed her mother (pictured right)

David Heidemann was reported missing on Thursday

A teenage girl fighting for life in hospital after losing her mother and brother in a car crash has learnt her father died in a separate tragedy over the weekend

Police confirmed to Khloe on Saturday that her 50-year-old father was swept away in the Queensland floods near Gympie, 7 News reported.

The family, from Gympie in Queensland, had been on holidays when tragedy struck.

On Thursday, more than 30 schoolmates of Jay Jay gathered at Gympie's Nelson Reserve to pay their respects to the 12-year-old.

He always made me smile if I was having a bad day,' Jay Jay's friend Jack Mill said.

'Jay Jay was just that kid in high school everyone knew.'

The young boy's school friends - from Gympie State High School - released balloons into the air to honour him.

Khloe also has an older brother who was in Queensland at the time of the crash.

The surviving siblings are now orphans after learning their father's body was found on Saturday.

Khloe also has an older brother who was in Queensland at the time of the crash
Megan Goeltz was killed on February 29, 2016 when a distracted driver crashed into her car (pictured with daughter Paisley Mae)

A mother's life was cut short when a texting driver crashed his car into hers just ten days after she turned 22.

Megan Goeltz from North Hudson, Wisconsin was 13-weeks pregnant when she was killed on February 29, 2016.

The distracted driver, Drew Fleming, who is now 21, slammed his Saab 9-3 Aero into her Ford Fusion.

She is survived by her four-year-old daughter Paisley Mae and was expecting a baby boy.

Megan was a Certified Nurse Assistant at a local nursing home before she was tragically killed.

Her parents, Tom and Wendy Goeltz, are livid because he was only charged with a misdemeanor on one count of reckless driving.

Goeltz's devastated father is a distracted driving educator. Tom Goeltz told TwinCities.com: 'Weve got a driver who was texting  and he kills someone, and hes charged with a misdemeanor.'

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Megan's parents Tom and Wendy Goeltz are outraged that the driver, Drew Fleming, who crashed into their daughter was only charged with a misdemeanor

Drew Fleming (left) will serve a maximum sentence of one year in prison for the crash that killed Megan Goeltz (right, with daughter Paisley Mae)

'My family is very disappointed with the charges. Its a travesty. Wheres the justice for Megan?'

Fleming had a texting app open on his phone at the time.

He was charged with a misdemeanor and could serve up to one year in jail in jail and will pay a maximum fine of $3,000.

Fleming also faces a civil lawsuit from Megan Goeltzs estate.

It is possible Fleming could have been charged with criminal vehicular homicide which would have cost him up to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000.

However, Fleming was not speeding and was not under the influence of alcohol which factors into why he was not charged with a felony. The full accident reconstruction report is not available yet.

A few days after his daughter's death, Tom told WCCO: 'I was passionate about my job before, but its bumped that up exponentially now.'

Fleming suffered minor injuries from the crash and was sent to the hospital.

April is the National Safety Council's 'Distracted Driving Awareness Month'.
Five years after a Texas father was wrongly accused of abusing his child, who actually had a rare bone disease that causes her fragile bones to break, he and his wife are fighting to prevent other families from dealing with the same nightmare.

Earlier this week Bria and Andrew Huber, who are now part of the organization 'Fractured Families', went to the Texas State Capitol in Austin to tell lawmakers about their daughter Kenley.

The couple, from The Woodlands, Texas, first shared their story in 2013 when they were just reuniting their family after a year of legal and personal battles to prove that Mr Huber was not abusing his daughter.

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Bria and Andrew Huber with daughter Kenley: More than five years after Mr Huber was wrongfully accused of abusing his daughter, the couple are fighting to prevent other families from dealing with the same nightmare

Andrew Huber, pictured left in a mug shot, was in court for more than a year trying to prove that he did not abuse his daughter Kenley, right

The couple have been a major part in lobbying for House bills 2848 and 2849, which, if passed, will create a team of doctors to assist in child abuse investigations and help parents wrongfully accused clear their name faster.

'It means so much just to get to raise awareness, and now if a mom is sitting in a hospital Googling unexplained fractures in her baby, out story comes up,' Mrs Huber told KHOU.

Andrew Huber was changing little Kenley's diaper in August 2012 when he heard a pop.

Earlier this week Bria and Andrew Huber, who are now part of the organization 'Fractured Families', went to the Texas State Capitol in Austin to tell lawmakers about their daughter Kenley

While Andrew Huber was in and out of court, Bria was taking Kenley around the country to different specialists to try and find a cause for her many fractures

He and his wife Bria Huber rushed the child to a Dallas hospital where doctors discovered she had a broken leg, but also noticed other broken bones and Mr Huber was eventually arrested for child abuse.

They were in shock, and Bria Huber said: 'I was alone thinking that I know my husband hadn't abused our daughter, what's going on?'

While Mr Huber was in and out of court, she took Kenley to specialists across the United States, searching for answers.

After more than a year, the family came across another mother named Rana Tyson whose twin girls had been removed from her until a geneticist named Dr. Golder Wilson diagnosed them with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome or EDS.

'One of the main symptoms is the underlying structure of the body, including the bones and joints, is fragile. So you get more fractures,' Dr. Wilson told KHOU in 2013.

'And therefore, just handling a baby routinely, like any parent would do, can lead to a fracture.'

After more than a year, the family came across another mother named Rana Tyson whose twin girls had been removed from her until a geneticist named Dr. Golder Wilson diagnosed them with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome or EDS

Kenley and Mrs Huber were both diagnosed with EDS, though the mother said she had never heard of the disease

The couple have been a major part in lobbying for House bills 2848 and 2849, which, if passed, will create a team of doctors to assist in child abuse investigations and help parents wrongfully accused clear their name faster

Kenley and Mrs Huber were both diagnosed with EDS, though the mother said she had never heard of the disease.

Thankfully, the discovery also set Mr Huber free, after more than a year spent away from his wife and daughter.

'A lot of times when an infant comes in with unexplained fractures, it's child abuse. But when it's not, it takes a very long time to get that rectified,' Mrs Huber told KHOU.

Cindy Burkett, of Garland, is the State Representative sponsoring the bill, and said in a statement to KHOU: 'The state has few responsibilities more important than ensure the safety of our most vulnerable population.

'Unfortunately, in that struggle to ensure the safety of the children, incomplete information sometimes leads to an inaccurate identification of abuse.

'When this happens, we have an obligation to correct the situation and to provide a safety network to ensure kids are not removed from loving homes. I believe we have accomplished both through this legislation'.
Four teenage girls who were reported missing on Friday have been reportedly found, according to Pittsburg County Emergency Management.

Authorities had been searching for Alicia Bristol, Destiny Scott, Cierra Kiesweter, and Jorjia Spradley, News9 reported.

The emergency management team updated their Facebook page before noon on Saturday.

Bristol and Scott are 13 years old while Kiesweter and Spradley are 14.

No other information is available has been released.

Four friends who were last seen leaving school in Canadian, Oklahoma on Friday have been reported missing
Two of Trump's right-hand-men had a 'bury-the-hatchet' meeting ordered by the President after arriving at Mar-a-Lago this week.

Chief of staff Reince Priebus is said to have called the meeting between Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner in which they attempted to smooth over tensions between the two men, who have dominated headlines for days.

The sit-down was confirmed by White House Officials, who did not say whether or not the meeting was successful, according to Politico.

Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner, pictured in a March 15 file photo, met in an attempt to smooth over tensions between the two men, who have dominated headlines for days

Chief of staff Reince Priebus (right) is said to have called the meeting between Bannon and Kushner

'Reince had the two sit down with him to clear the air and agree [on focusing] on the agenda and ending the back and forth,' an official told CBS.

For months, the two warring senior White House aides were allies. However, in recent weeks, there has reportedly been substantial infighting and discord between them.

Sources within the administration have said that the fight centers on policy differences. However, Ivanka Trump dismissed those claims, and said that they are just differences of opinion.

Bannon, the White House chief strategist, is the former head of Breitbart news, and self-described populist and fiery nationalist credited with pushing take-no-prisoners positions on trade, healthcare, and immigration.

For months, the two warring senior White House aides were allies. However, in recent weeks, there has reportedly been substantial infighting and discord between them

The sit-down between the President's top advisors was reportedly ordered by Trump inself in order to stop the infighting

He has previously criticized Kushner, the President's son-in-law and senior advisor, for a more moderate approach socially and in foreign affairs.

Kushner, on the other hand, is reportedly cautious of Bannon's fiery style and concerned about how he may be influencing the President. Suspicion between Bannon's team and Kushner has only intensified in the last week after the chief strategist lost his position on the national security council.

They have allegedly been accusing each other of planting negative stories in the media, and of propagating false narratives to delegitimize one another.

Bannon forces have taken to branding their adversaries as 'the Democrats' and 'the New Yorkers' or 'Goldman,' while Kushner forces are terming the opposing faction as 'Bannonites' or 'Breitbart,' a reference to the conservative, nationalistic web site he ran.

Fighting reportedly came to a head on Thursday as Trump was deciding upon military action against Syria.

The meeting comes as several news organizations have reported that Bannon chief of staff Reince Priebus could get reassigned in coming weeks.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump is unhappy with the constant infighting among his aides. The paper reported that both Priebus, who took his post after running the Republican National Committee, and Bannon, who helped guide Trump to victory, could be 'reassigned,' citing sources.

Axios reported that the shakeup could include Priebus' replacement and Bannon's departure.

Ivanka Trump, second from right, the daughter and assistant to President Donald Trump, is seated with her husband White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, right, during a dinner with President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping

Senior advisor Steve Bannon (C) stands next to Ivanka Trump as U.S. President Donald Trump delivers a statement about missile strikes on a Syrian airfield. A furious staff clash pits a faction alligned with Bannon against those associated with Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner

The outlet listed several possible Priebus replacements, including House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, top lobbyist Wayne Berman of Blackstone Group, and David Urban, who oversaw Trump's Pennsylvania effort.

David Cohn, the former Goldman Sachs head who is now Trump's leading economic advisor, was also mentioned, and has at Trump's side repeatedly this week.

'Things are happening, but it's very unclear the president's willing to pull that trigger,' a top aide said.

A person close to the White House told the Journal Trump was 'trying out different names with his friends.'
The United States Air Force may extend its reach into outer space in the future.

An off-Earth society, which could have 1,000 residents as early as 20 years from now, would require a certain level of policing in order to stimulate economic growth, according to Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Schilling.

At the National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado on April 4, Schilling said: 'The [US] Navy secures the freedom of action for commerce globally for the good of all humankind.

'And I think it's going to take a force very similar to that to provide the predictability and security that the marketplace of space will need,' Space.com reported.

He added: 'I think that would be the role of the United States Air Force moving into the future.'

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US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Schilling told the National Space Symposium that the Force could protect the emerging economy between Earth and the Moon. Pictured: Computer-generated artwork of spaceships

He said that the Navy 'secures the freedom of action for commerce globally for the good of all humankind' and the Air Force could do the same in cislunar space, or the area between Earth and the Moon. Pictured: Conceptuals designs of Northrop Grumman fighter jets

Such protections would help to protect workers at moon mines or lunar ice deposits.

'Fundamentally, I'd like that to be somebody with a value system that reflects the values that I share,' Schilling said.

Schilling spoke on a panel that discussed 'the vision of a self-sustained space economy within the confines of CisLunar space.' Video of the panel was uploaded to YouTube.

Cislunar space lies between Earth and the Moon, and would be developed as a permanent base for humanity.

United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno spoke of the company's vision to have 1,000 permanent cislunar residents within a couple decades.

He said: 'As NASA and other people push deeper into deep space to explore, we want to develop the space between here and the Moon.'

He added: 'Where regions are stable and secure, where people are safe, commerce flourishes. And where that is not true, it does not.'

Cislunar space could have 1,000 permanent residents within a couple decades, if the vision of spacecraft company United Launch Alliance is achieved. Pictured: A computer illustration showing a spacecraft orbiting Earth

This comes as Elon Musk announced in Late February that he had granted the wish of only two passengers to take a trip around the moon on his SpaceX Dragon 2.

The Tesla CEO announced that his space exploration company, SpaceX, had agreed to the trip for 'two private citizens,' scheduled for the end of 2018.

The trip will send the passengers around the moon's orbit and propel them back to Earth, but won't land on the Moon.

The voyaging vessel, SpaceX's Dragon 2, will be remote controlled, but the tourists will undergo emergency situation training.

'They have already paid a significant deposit to do a moon mission. Like the Apollo astronauts before them, these individuals will travel into space carrying the hopes and dreams of all humankind, driven by the universal human spirit of exploration,' the tech mogul said.

'This presents an opportunity for humans to return to deep space for the first time in 45 years and they will travel faster and further into the Solar System than any before them.'
Two 14-year-old boys are facing a night under the stars after becoming lost during a bushwalk in a regional park near Wellington, New Zealand.

The boys had set out at about 9.30am on Saturday, intending to spend the day in the Eastern Harbour Regional Park, when they walked off the track and became lost.

They used mobile phones to contact their parents, who reported them missing to police at about 2pm.

Two teenage boys will spend the night in the New Zealand bush after becoming lost in a regional park near Wellington

A search and rescue operation was launched alongside LandSAR, a volunteer rescue team, which included land crews and helicopters, but by 10.30pm the boys had not been found.

At 1am, police sergeant Guy Callahan confirmed to Daily Mail Australia the search crews had been called in for the night, leaving the boys to sleep in the park overnight.

He added they would resume looking for the teenagers 'first thing in the morning'.

A search and rescue operation has so far been unsuccessful and will resume early on Sunday morning

Earlier, constable Hamish Knight explained to the New Zealand Herald the boys had 'prepared for a day trip, with minimal food and clothing'.

Throughout the evening search, police and LandSAR crews were in brief contact with the boys through mobile phone.

The crews advised them to stay where they are until they were found.
President Donald Trump penned a letter to Congress to defend his controversial choice to attack Syria.

Trump wrote in the April 8 letter: 'I acted in the vital national security and foreign policy interests of the United States, pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct foreign relations and as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive.'

Trump also tweeted Saturday to justify leaving runways in tact: 'The reason you don't generally hit runways is that they are easy and inexpensive to quickly fix (fill in and top)!'

Trump penned a letter to tell Congress why he bombed Syria without their permission

Trump took to Twitter to defend not targeting runways, which Russia said remained intact

Videos from inside the Shayrat air base showed fighter jets and hangars destroyed and runways pocked with holes after the strike in the pre-dawn hours Friday.

Still, the impact on President Bashar Assad's military capabilities is limited: His air force has more than a dozen other bases from which to operate.

Analyst Reed Foster said about the attack: 'Although the strike will further weaken the overall air defense and ground attack capabilities of the (Syrian air force), it will not significantly diminish the ability of the Assad regime to conduct further chemical weapons attacks.'

The Kremlin maintained only 23 of the 59 cruise missiles reached the base, leaving the runways intact. However, a U.S. official said all but one of the 59 missiles struck their targets, hitting multiple aircraft and air shelters, and destroying the fuel area. The official, who was not authorized to discuss initial reports, spoke on condition of anonymity.

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The president praised his military on Saturday morning for its performance in launching nearly 60 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian air force base in retaliation for an alleged chemical weapons attack by the Damascus government.

'Congratulations to our great military men and women for representing the United States, and the world, so well in the Syria attack,' Trump tweeted on Saturday.

As he has done nearly every weekend since entering the Oval Office, Trump spent his Saturday playing golf at his club in West Palm Beach, Florida, according to The Hill.

The tweet was posted as the United States government and its domestic security agencies were on alert for possible retaliation for Thursday's bombardment.

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security are said to be mulling counterterrorism operations to neutralize 'specific threats' by potential US-based terrorists, ABC News is reporting on Saturday.

'Congratulations to our great military men and women for representing the United States, and the world, so well in the Syria attack,' President Donald Trump tweeted on Saturday

Security sources say that the US could possibly face attacks by actors sympathetic either to the regime of President Bashar al Assad or those allied with Hezbollah.

Hezbollah is a Shi'ite organization based in Lebanon that has historically been allied with Assad.

It is also reliant on support from its patron and sponsor, Iran.

Hezbollah has been designated by the US State Department as a terrorist organization.

In 2013, when the Obama administration was on the verge of launching attacks against Syria, the FBI bolstered its surveillance efforts and questioned Syrian nationals to 'deter any potential acts of violence,' according to ABC News.

Trump (seen Thursday at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida) praised his military on Saturday morning for its performance in launching nearly 60 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian air force base in retaliation for an alleged chemical weapons attack

Security sources say that the US could possibly face attacks by actors sympathetic either to the Assad (right) regime or those allied with Hezbollah (whose members are seen in Beirut on the left in a 2008 file photo)

Local law enforcement agencies in large cities like New York will beef up security in the aftermath of Thursday night's strike. A police officer stands guard at Los Angeles International Airport in the above August 10, 2006, file photo

There is also a fear among US authorities that home-grown radicals could potentially carry out an attack in solidarity with a Muslim country.

Local law enforcement agencies in large cities like New York will beef up security in the aftermath of Thursday night's strike.

Washington is vowing to keep up the pressure on Syria after the intense nighttime wave of missile strikes from US ships, despite the prospect of escalating Russian ill will that could further inflame one of the world's most vexing conflicts.

Standing firm, the Trump administration on Friday signaled new sanctions would soon follow the missile attack, and the Pentagon was even probing whether Russia itself was involved in the chemical weapons assault that compelled Trump to action.

The attack against a Syrian air base was the first US assault against Assad's government.

Much of the international community rallied behind Trump's decision to fire the cruise missiles in reaction to this week's chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of men, women and children in Syria.

Demonstrators gather outside the White House on Friday to protest the recent US missile strike in Syria

Protesters takes part in a demonstration against the US missile strikes into Syria in front of the Syrian embassy in Santiago, Chile, on Saturday

A protest in Jacksonville, Florida, drew between 100-200 people who denounced the US missile strike

The protest grew violent when counter-demonstrators clashed with anti-war activists

Six people were arrested - one of whom was hospitalized - when police intervened to try and break up the melee

But a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the strikes dealt 'a significant blow' to relations between Moscow and Washington.

A key test of whether the relationship can be salvaged comes next week when Secretary of State Rex Tillerson becomes the first Trump Cabinet member to visit Russia.

British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson also had planned to visit Russia this coming week, but decided Saturday to cancel the trip because of the fast moving events in Syria.

Johnson, who condemned Moscow's continued defense of Assad, said Tillerson will be able to give a 'clear and coordinated message to the Russians.'

At the United Nations on Friday, Russia's deputy ambassador, Vladimir Safronkov, strongly criticized what he called the US 'flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression' whose 'consequences for regional and international security could be extremely serious.'

He called the Assad government a main force against terrorism and said it deserved the presumption of innocence in the chemical weapons attack.

Another ally of Assad, North Korea, joined Russia in condemning the US attack.

The communist state, which has provided arms to Assad, branded Trump's missile strike on a Syrian airbase 'an unforgivable act of aggression'.

Vindicating its recent missile testing program, the foreign ministry said: 'The reality of today proves our decision to strengthen our military power to stand against force with force was the right choice a million times over.'

Protesters make their opinions known outside Trump International Golf Club as the president's motorcade drove by in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday

Trump has been accused by critics of being a 'puppet' of Russian President Vladimir Putin, even though the Kremlin denounced the US for its missile strike on Syria

In his first three months in office, Trump has been largely unpopular, yet the missile strike on Thursday has earned him a rare spate of positive press coverage

On Friday, it was revealed that The White House National Security Council has drawn up North Korea options for President Trump that involve killing the country's erratic dictator Kim Jong-un and reinserting US nuclear weapons into South Korea.

The bold options were revealed by NBC News just as President Xi Jinpeng of China wrapped up a visit and meetings with Trump at to Mar-a-Lago.

Trump wants China to use its leverage to get North Korea to back off its threatening behavior.

Turkey described the missile attack as a 'cosmetic intervention' unless it removes Assad from power, while the Syrian leader's strong ally Iran called Saturday for the formation of an international fact-finding committee to investigate the chemical weapons attack in northern Syrian.

An aerial view shows the damaged done by a chemical weapons attack alleged to have been committed by the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad in the Khan Shaykhun town of Idlib earlier this week. The US says its strike was in retaliation for the Idlib attack

The US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said the world is waiting for the Russian government 'to act responsibly in Syria' and 'to reconsider its misplaced alliance with Bashar Assad.'

Speaking during an emergency Security Council session, Haley said the US was prepared to take further action in Syria but hoped it wouldn't be necessary.

Six people were arrested in Jacksonville, Florida, on Friday evening after a protest against the US strikes against Syria turned violent, according to The Florida Times-Union.

Witnesses said that the crowd of protesters, which numbered approximately 200 people, clashed with counter-protesters.

When police tried to break up the melee, a number of officers were reportedly attacked.
A group of 77 American nurses miraculously survived three years at a Manila internment camp during the Second World War, but their story is relatively unknown.

The women called themselves the 'Battling Belles of Bataan' but to servicemen deployed in the Philippines, they were known as the 'Angels of Bataan and Corregidor.'

On April 8, 1942 the military and civilian nurses were ordered to evacuate to the island of Corregidor by Lt. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright.

A month later, they became the largest group of female prisoners of war when they were captured by Japanese troops.

The granddaughter of Mary Bernice Brown-Menzie (pictured) was inspired by her grandmother's bravery after she was forced to spend three years at an internment camp

The 77 nurses at the internment camps in the Philippines all survived despite not having military or survival training

Army nurses who were captives of the Japanese after the fall of Bataan and Corregidor line up at Hamilton Field, California shortly after arriving in the United State

Although freed but a few hours earlier, when American troops seized the Japanese internment camp in Manila, Philippines in 1945, it still was washday for these women

Many of the nurses wanted to be stationed in the Philippines because it seemed like a safe option.

But the bombing of Peal Harbor changed everything and the island that was once considered a tropical paradise turned into a full-blown nightmare.

Bataan and Corregidor fell to Japanese control and the nurses were sent to camps where they endured three years of fear and starvation. They also witnessed the Japanese soldiers torture soldiers firsthand.

The Army nurses were sent to Santo Tomas Internment camp and Navy nurses were eventually sent to Los Banos.

The nurses treated some of the American and Filipino soldiers who were sent on the grueling 68-mile Bataan Death March

Lt. Edith W. Shacklette, Army nurse from St. Petersburg, Fla., was the first heroine of Bataan and Corregidor to put foot on American soil at Hamilton Field

The camp of flimsy shanties housed some 400 of the 3,700 internees who were freed by American troops in February 1945

Many of the 3,700 inmates of the Japanese internment camp of Santo Tomas in Manila

They treated many of the American and Filipino soldiers who were sent on the grueling 68-mile Bataan Death March. Approximately 75,000 marched without food or water in the scorching 100 degree heat.

Historians estimate 20,000 soldiers died during the journey.

Nurse Dorothy Davis, 27 (left), who was interned at Santo Tomas after the fall of Corregidor stands with her sister, Eva Grace

Bernice Fischer, granddaughter of U.S. Army nurse Mary Bernice Brown-Menzie told Fox News: 'It is not that they were some of the first women POWs that made them special, but that they were average American from average towns and they survived in a horrific environment while never losing their commitment to serving their patients.'

At the camp, the Army nurses were forced to work four hours a day at the hospital according to Soldiers, the official US Army Magazine. The women dressed in uniforms they made themselves and stuck to a schedule.

At first, food scarcity at the camp was not a major issue.

Towards 1944, the women started seeing more people come in with symptoms of malnutrition. As many as five soldiers a day would starve to death by 1945.

Second Lt. Marcia Gates told Soldiers to avoid starvation herself she had to eat cats and dogs and still lost 23 pounds.

The women were liberated in February 1945, and though they were weak with hunger, they still headed to treat American soldiers. After the liberation, many continued working as Army and Navy nurses.

Author of 'We Band of Angels: The Untold Story of American Nurses Trapped on Bataan' Elizabeth M. Norman told Fox News: 'There were 77 American women who became POWs and there were 77 who walked out in 1945.'

'This is unprecedented, particularly for women who had no formal survival training.'

The women were celebrated upon their arrival home but never received a medal for their bravery.

Second Lt. Eunice Young told her hometown newspaper: 'We never did anything heroic. We were captured at our posts, like thousands of Soldiers.'

There are no surviving Angels of Bataan today.
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A wake was held for the sorority girl who tragically died on April 2 of accidental asphyxia after she choked and collapsed during a pancake-eating contest.

Services were held on Friday at St Helen's Church in Clark, New Jersey, for Caitlin Nelson, who died on Sunday after a pancake-eating fundraising event at her school.

Nelson, who was the daughter of a 9/11 hero, was hailed in the heartbreaking Saturday funeral service for her selfless courage in a too-short life.

Friends, family members and sorority sisters gathered for the five-hour wake, and then again on Saturday morning for a funeral mass at the church.

Photos show her sorority sisters, friends, family members and several police officers emotionally embracing one another in an attempt to console each other as they remembered their lost friend.

Sacred Heart University sorority girl Caitlin Nelson, 20, died of accidental asphyxia on Sunday - three days after choking during a pancake-eating competition at the school

Caitlin's sister Anina Vetri and brother-in-law are pictured crying and holding hands after they come out of the funeral for Caitlin Nelson, who tragically died last week

In a touching eulogy, her sister, Anne Vetri, said: 'Someone once told me that it is not the number of years you live, btut what you do with the years you are alive. Caitlin, you touched more lives in this short time on earth than most people do in a lifetime,' according to the New York Daily News.

She also touched on Caitlin's legacy, which she said will be carried on through the donation of her organs.

During the funeral, a lone bagpiper played, reminiscent of a similar day 15 years ago for the departed's father, James, who was killed in the 9/11 attacks.

Nelson's friend Caitlyn McIntyre read a poem entitled 'We Remember Her' before a photo montage of Caitlin's life, which reduced many of the mourners to tears, including her sister and mother.

Services were held on Friday at St Helen's Church in Clark, New Jersey, where Caitlin was from. Her mother is pictured right as she walks to the car after her daughter's funeral

Three mourners embrace as they come out of funeral services at St Helen's Church in New Jersey for the beloved Caitlin Nelson

Nelson was rushed to a hospital on Friday, March 31, after she began choking and collapsed during a pancake eating contest for a Greek Life fundraiser at Sacred Heart University.

Witnesses at the dinner on Thursday night said Nelson had eaten about four or five pancakes when she suddenly fell to the floor and started shaking uncontrollably.

She died three days later at a New York City hospital. The New York City medical examiner's office released autopsy results on Wednesday for the 20-year-old.

The official cause of death was 'asphyxia due to obstruction of airway by bolus of food.' Nelson passed away on Sunday, at Columbia University Medical Center three days after the event.

The college student's organs were removed on Tuesday and will be donated, the Connecticut Post reported.

Nelson, whose father was a police officer killed in the 9/11 attacks, received a heroes' escort by Port Authority police as her body was taken to the New York Office of the Chief Medical Examiner's office.

Bet Paolano (left, green scarf) is lovingly embraced as she cries after Nelson's funeral

Family, friends and members of the New York Police Department pay their last respects to student Caitlin Nelson who passed away this week after an eating competition

Photos show her sorority sisters, friends and family members emotionally embracing one another in an attempt to console each other as they remembered their lost friend

Guests arrive for the wake of Caitlin Nelson in Westfield, New Jersey

She was taken to a hospital in Bridgeport in critical but stable condition and transferred on Friday to New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, where she died on Sunday.

Fairfield Police Lt. Bob Kalamaras said Nelson suffered from food allergies but that they did not contribute to her death.

'It's a tragic event that started out as something fun,' said Fairfield police Lt. Bob Kalamaras. 'It was just a tragic accident.'

Nelson was studying to be a social worker and was the vice president of her sorority, Kappa Delta.

Several thousand people gathered on the Sacred Heart campus Sunday night to remember Nelson and share their grief.

A Mass dedicated to her was followed by an impromptu candlelight vigil.

Witnesses say Nelson, far left, ate about four or five pancakes before she fell to the floor and started shaking uncontrollably

On Sunday, thousands took part in a candlelight vigil in Nelson's honor at the Fairfield, Connecticut campus

A video surfaced of Caitlin Nelson paying tribute to her father at a 9/11 memorial service at Ground Zero in 2012 (pictured)

Nelson was the vice president of her sorority, Kappa Delta. She was very active in the philanthropic side of Greek Life (far left and far right)

Her father, James Nelson, was a Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police officer killed in the September 11 attacks in Manhattan, when she was five years old.

The 40-year-old was killed while trying to rescue people trapped on the 27th floor of one of the towers. He also went into the smoking World Trade Center to rescue workers during the 1993 bombing, despite having asthma. His obituary said he was survived by two daughters, 11-year-old Anne and 5-year-old Caitlin.

The Nelson sisters volunteered with the Resiliency Center of Newtown, helping survivors of the Sandy Hook School shooting deal with their losses.

Nelson was also involved with America's Camp, an annual retreat for children of 9/11 victims.

The university's Facebook page was filled with remembrances of Nelson after her passing on Sunday, and on Monday Flags were flown at half-staff in her honor.
Former Obama administration officials claim the same Republicans who are praising Trump's military strike on Syria blocked his predecessor from doing the same.

This comes after Trump ordered the missile strikes against Syria without getting congressional approval,

He said he was determined to punish Assad's regime for the use of chemical weapons against civilians.

Trump laid part of the blame for the chemical attack on Obama, saying the deaths were a 'consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution.'

Republicans, however, who controlled Congress then as they do now, were adamant that Obama should not act without their approval, Obama aides said.

In 2013, then-President Barack Obama (left) was urged by his eventual successor, Donald Trump (right), not to attack Syria

A number of aides to Obama have reacted to Trump's missile strike against Syria on Thursday. One of those aides is Ben Rhodes (seen far right), the former deputy national security adviser for strategic communications

Rhodes tweeted (above) on Friday that when Obama was president, Republicans demanded that he receive authorization from Congress before bombing Assad targets in Syria - even though Trump did no such thing this past week

Trump also had called for Obama to get congressional approval before any attack on Syria.

'Once you put it in Congress's hand, it became clear at that time that they were not ready to assume responsibility,' said Dennis Ross, a former Obama administration adviser on the Middle East.

'But the problem wasn't that Congress wasn't seen as lacking in responsibility, it was that the president was seen as having drawn a "red line" and when it came time to act on it, he didn't and that had an impact on the way the US was seen in the aftermath.'

Obama aides took to Twitter and the airwaves this week to point out what they called the hypocrisy from Republicans and from Trump himself.

Dennis Ross (left), a former Mideast adviser to Obama, said the president's failure to act on his own 'red line' affected the way the US was perceived in the aftermath. Tommy Vietor (right), another Obama aide, sent out Trump's tweet demanding Obama get congressional approval.

'Times change. In 13, Speaker asks Obama how: "justification comports with exclusive authority of Cong authorization",' tweeted Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser under Obama.

Tommy Vietor, former spokesman for the Obama National Security Council, sent out Trump's tweet demanding Obama get congressional approval.

'What will we get for bombing Syria besides more debt and a possible long term conflict? Obama needs Congressional approval,' the businessman tweeted in 2013.

Now president, Trump ordered the missile strikes on Thursday without seeking approval from Congress.

This followed Tuesday's chemical attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun, which killed 87 people, including 31 children.

When Obama was president and Trump was a private citizen, he was adamantly opposed to any US intervention in Syria

Trump also demanded that Obama receive authorization from Congress before striking Syria - even though President Trump made no attempt to receive such authorization

'President Obama's weakness and indecision may have saved us from doing a horrible and very costly (in more ways than money) attack on Syria!' Trump tweeted

'What I am saying is stay out of Syria,' Trump tweeted on September 3, 2013

US officials said they feel confident Syrian President Bashar Assad's government was responsible.

The US strikes hit the government-controlled Shayrat air base in central Syria, where US officials say the Syrian military planes that dropped the chemicals had taken off.

In a statement issued the day of the chemical weapons attack, Trump said, 'President Obama said in 2012 that he would establish a 'red line' against the use of chemical weapons and then did nothing.'

Obama had threatened Assad with military action after an earlier chemical weapons attack killed hundreds outside Damascus.

Obama had declared the use of such weapons a 'red line.'

At the time, several American ships in the Mediterranean were poised to launch missiles, only for Obama to abruptly pull back after key US ally Britain and the US Congress balked at his plan.

'There aren't easy answer' when it comes to Syria, according to Richard Stengel (above), Obama's undersecretary of state for public diplomacy

He opted instead for a Russian-backed plan that was supposed to lead to the removal and elimination of Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles.

'We had been reckoning with this for five years and there aren't easy answers. And just to simply say, you know, "the president put up a red line and then didn't act" is really insufficient in terms of making policy,' Richard Stengel, former undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, said on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe.'

No matter how the United States got to its first assault against the Assad government, what Trump does next is key, said Frederic C. Hof, director of the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East.

He served as special adviser for transition in Syria in the Obama administration and was the special coordinator for regional affairs in the State Department's Office of the Special Envoy for Middle East Peace.

Assad 'may think he has the same option he took in September 2013: set the chemicals to the side and return to barrel bombs, gravity bombs, artillery shells, missiles, and mortar rounds against civilians in their homes, hospitals, marketplaces, and schools,' Hof said in a post on the Atlantic Council's website.

'If this is what he does and if he does it unopposed the military strikes of April 6, 2017 will go down in history as a useless, empty gesture.'
Kimberley Taylor, the first British woman to join the fight against Isis in Syria, has described how a five-day hunger strike in support of political prisoners in Turkey has made her 'desperately homesick' for her stepmother's cottage pie.

The 27-year-old former maths student from Blackburn left the UK to join the Women's Protection Units (YPJ), the all-female affiliate army of the People's Protection Units (YPG) of Syrian Kurdistan, last March because she wanted to support the women's revolution that has swept the region.

However, Miss Taylor  known to friends as 'Kimmie' - decided to go on hunger strike last Thursday in solidarity over what she sees as the 'appalling human rights violations' of Kurdish political prisoners incarcerated in Turkey.

Kimberly Taylor, also known as 'Kimmie', had been on a hunger strike in solidarity with Kurdish political prisoners in Turkey

Now on her third day, she says the lack of food has begun to take its toll, leaving her feeling dizzy and homesick.

'I'm so hungry, and it's making me desperately homesick,' she told MailOnline last night. 'I literally can't stop thinking about my stepmum's cottage pie. She makes the best cottage pie in the world. I think when I finally get home I'm going to eat cottage pie for breakfast, lunch and supper every day for a week.'

She took the decision as around 100 Kurdish inmates held in nine prisons across Turkey reportedly refused food for a 52nd day yesterday in protest over their 'inhumane' treatment by authorities, which they say includes wholesale solitary confinement, a ban on books and social interaction.

Amnesty International researcher Andrew Gardner said that his organisation had received multiple complaints about the conditions within prisons throughout Turkey - which include accusations of serious overcrowding and the arbitrary use of solitary confinement for punitive control.

Prisoners include Kurdish politicians, writers and activists loyal to the mainly Kurdish People's Opposition Party (HDP) and the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK), who have led a separatist insurgency in southeastern Turkey, calling for equal rights and self-determination for Turkish Kurds since 1984.

The 27-year-old former maths student left the UK to join the Women's Protection Units, the all-female affiliate army of the Kurdish YPG militia

Kimberly says the hunger striker has made her 'desperately homesick' and longing for her stepmum's cottage pie

They are also demanding that the Turkish government return to negotiations with Kurdish political groups and release PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, who has been held on a Turkish island prison for the past 18 years.

'My comrades are on 52 days and I'm complaining about three,' said Taylor. 'But I wanted to join the action in support of my comrades, the same people who fight for justice in Turkey, Iraq and Syria against all fascism, and who give their lives in the name of equality and freedom. I cannot sit idly by when the very same freedom fighters we all profess to love and support are dying in response to these appalling human rights violations.'

Kimberly says she can't wait to return to the front line, so she can 'eat a meal of chicken spam, naan bread and Dairylea cheese triangles'

Kimberly has spent the last four months battling Isis on the frontline alongside the Kurdish militia

The self-styled revolutionary has spent the past four months serving on the frontline of the war with Isis, as the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) battle to isolate the city of Raqqa  Isis' de facto capital and staging for what will likely be the militant group's bitter last stand.

Taylor, who has temporarily left the front for the city of Qamishlo, capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of Rojava in northern Syria, says she cannot wait to return to the fighting just so she can eat a meal of chicken spam, naan bread and Dairylea cheese triangles.

'That's what we eat on the front every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner,' she added. 'The logistics truck does bring veg and rice, and sometimes meat, but it can't always make it to our positions. So it's mostly spam and naan which makes our stomachs so terrible. Still, it's better than nothing at all, right?'

Miss Taylor, pictured in Rojava, northern Syria, now works for the media team of the Kurdish People's Protection Units, taking videos and photos of the battles

Female Kurdish fighters. Around 100 Kurdish inmates held in nine prisons across Turkey are protesting their 'inhumane treatment' by authorities

From 2013 to 2015 a fragile peace existed between Turkey and Kurdish revolutionary groups in the south of the country. However since then armed clashes have returned to the streets. Tensions have also risen significantly since the attempted Turkish coup in 2016 - which activists say has been used as an excuse to clamp down on opposition.

'The attempted coup was a genuine threat to national security and it's legitimate for a government to use the state of emergency for national security reasons,' said Andrew Gardner. 'But since the attempted coup all sections of the opposition have been targeted. There's been a massive clampdown and few prospects of improvement.'

'The human rights situation in Turkey has never been worse in recent times,' he added. 'And in comparison the international community has never been more silent on Turkey.'
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Omarosa Manigault, a senior staff member of President Donald Trump's administration and a former Apprentice cast member, got married in Trump's Washington DC hotel this morning.

The 43-year-old ex-reality star tied the knot with Pastor John Allen Newman, 61, at the Old Post Pavilion in Trump Hotel, a stone's throw from the White House.

About 70 people attended the wedding in the hotel's Presidential Ballroom, which was followed by a brunch and reception.

Donald Trump and other White House senior staff remained at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida following Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit and after the US airstrike on Syria,.

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Former 'Apprentice' star and current White House senior staff member Omarosa Manigault, 43, married Pastor John Allen Newman, 61, at the Old Post Pavilion in Donald Trump's Washington DC Trump Hotel

The couple exchanged vows at an intimate private ceremony which was followed by a brunch and reception

At one point during the celebration, Omarosa rang a bell while the Trump propertys beverage director used a saber to open a bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne

Omarosa and Pastor Newman walked into the hotel's lobby arm-in-arm as the bride in pink waved a bouquet of roses

About 70 people attended the intimate private ceremony in Washington DC

Newman, Omarosa and their assembled wedding guests raise glasses of what appears to be orange juice as they toast during their wedding

Despite a fear of death threats, the ceremony proceeded without incident except for a near-fainting spell by one of the bridesmaids

The couple exchanged vows at an intimate private ceremony and the celebration went forward without incident - despite Omarosa's concerns about death threats.

There was a brief scare when one of the bridesmaids nearly fainted at the end of the service.

Another guest brought the woman a glass of water and she recovered.

After the ceremony, the guests gathered for a brief cocktail reception in the hotels ornate art-deco lobby under a 200-foot-high glass ceiling.

Attendees included Lynne Patton, a former Trump SVP and now adviser to Ben Carson the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

Also there was Katrina Pierson, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign.

The newlyweds walked into the lobby arm-in-arm, with Omarosa waving a bouquet of pink and white roses.

Omarosa's mother, Theresa Manigault, wore an off-white sequined dress with a plunging neckline to the wedding. Her mother is 70 years old

Katrina Pierson, pictured center top, acted as a spokesperson for Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. Lynne Patton, pictured center botttom

Pierson engages in conversation with two men, one of who is the Trump Hotel's beverage director who opened a bottle of Veuve Clicquot with a saber

Members of the wedding party walk during the ceremony while Omarosa's mother, Theresa, can be seen at bottom left smiling

Katrina Pierson, Lynne Patton and the bride Omarosa (left to right) pose for a photo during the ceremony for Omarosa's wedding

From left to right: Phaedra Parks, a star of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, a woman in a pink dress, Pierson and Patton smile for the camera - and Twitter feed - of Ashley D Bell, a Republican National Convention strategist

Wedding attendees at the luxury DC hotel, a stone's throw from the White House, celebrate the couple's marriage

Her husband wore a tan suit with a pink tie and a white flower in his lapel. Omarosas mother, Theresa Manigault, looked stunning at nearly 70 years old in an off-white sequined dress with a plunging neckline.

The bridesmaids wore lace cream-colored gowns.

As the crowd looked on, Omarosa rang a large bell while the hotels beverage director popped open a bottle of Veuve Clicquot with a saber. The couple was presented with the cork.

The reality star pumped both hands in the air as the wedding group toasted mimosas in celebration.

After the glass of champagne, the guests departed to the hotels private ballroom to continue the reception.

Joy: Omarosa and Newman celebrate having just gotten married in the Presidential Ballroom of Trump's hotel

Omarosa's friend Lynne Patton captioned this photo of her outfitted in a pink wedding gown: 'A stunning bride on this beautiful, blissful DC morning'

'Cherry blossom vows': A cherry blossom tree, for which the nation's capital is famous at this time of year, stands in bloom behind Omarosa and Newman as they exchange their vows

Last week, Omarosa received $25,000 worth of merchandise from Kleinfeld Bridal after appearing on the television show 'Say Yes to the Dress,'The Hill reported.

The former reality television star postponed and relocated her upcoming wedding to Pastor Newman because of concerns about her safety and backlash from her fiances church.

She was supposed to get married on March 25 at the church her fiance oversees, The Sanctuary @ Mt. Calvary, in Jacksonville, Florida.

But sources close to Omarosa revealed to DailyMail.com that an onslaught of death threats and safety concerns caused her to delay her nuptials and move the ceremony to Washington, DC.

'There have been calls, emails and social media messages from people threatening to do harm to her and she feared that she wouldn't be protected adequately at his church in Jacksonville. So she pushed the date back and made the change,' a source close to Omarosa told DailyMail.com.

'Since she moved the wedding to D.C., she's invited President Trump and other senior level White House executives in an effort to make sure the secret service and extra security will be there,' the source explained.

Donald Trump, pictured at the head of the table, and other White House senior staff were not able to attend the wedding as many staff are currently at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida following Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit and amid the US airstrike on Syria

Omarosa received $25,000 in merchandise from Kleinfeld Bridal after she appeared on the television show about it, 'Say Yes to the Dress.' She captioned an Instagram: 'Here comes the bride dressed in flowers'

Invited guests had to submit personal information for background security checks.

Omarosa originally was scheduled to have seven bridesmaids in her wedding, but after several personal squabbles with her friends, she was due to have only three come wedding day.

In an interview with ABC's 20/20 shortly after the election in November, she said many of her friends had turned their backs on her for supporting Trump and two of her bridesmaids backed out of the wedding.

Her third bridesmaid to back out was April Ryan, a White House correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks.

Omarosa and Ryan had a heated argument in the White House that required them to be separated before it became physical.

Omarosa, pictured center, held a bridal party recently and Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway and Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the daughter of failed presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, were among those in attendance

All smiles: Omarosa and friends pose for a selfie at her bridal party. The White House staffer said many of her friends had turned their backs on her for supporting Trump and two of her bridesmaids backed out of the wedding

Cupcakes, martinis and olives: Omarosa and friends including Conway and Huckabee Sanders enjoy a lavish spread during the former 'Apprentice' star's bridal party

Another bridesmaid to back out of Omarosa's wedding was April Ryan, a White House correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks

'Let's face it, many of her friends feel as though this whole Trump alliance is Omarosa being the quintessential opportunist.

'Everyone who knows her knows she was initially campaigning for Hillary Clinton at the beginning of her campaign and then jumped ship because Trump was paying her to help him.

'They feel she sold her soul for financial gain and many of her diehard girlfriends are just disgusted by her,' the source revealed.

Marrying Newman will made Omarosa the First Lady of his Jacksonville church.

That is apparently not sitting well with members of his congregation, many of whom have been leaving the church for other local ministries in Jacksonville.

'Pastor Newman is a staunch Democrat. He was even a spiritual adviser on the committee of ministers working on Hillary Clinton's election campaign.

'His church membership doesn't like the idea of their pastor marrying this Trump advocate who bashed President Barack Obama and believe Pastor Newman is using poor judgment by becoming her husband,' a member of the church told DailyMail.com.

A member of Pastor Newman's Jacksonville, Florida church said: 'His church membership doesn't like the idea of their pastor marrying this Trump advocate who bashed President Barack Obama and believe Pastor Newman is using poor judgment by becoming her husband.' Pictured: The now-wed couple at the Los Angeles premiere of Ben-Hur in August 2016

Omarosa is also an ordained minister who served as the assistant pastor at Weller Street Baptist Church in Los Angeles, CA.

In February, the former star of The Apprentice and Celebrity Apprentice returned to Weller Street to preach her final sermon there. A group of protesters gathered outside of the church and marched while she spoke to the small congregation.

She was so rattled that the protesters had gathered outside the church. She kept telling people, "Theyre disrespecting the house of God, I cant believe they did this," the source said.

Just days before that, security at a Nordstrom department store in Tysons Corner Center in McLean, Virginia had to escort Manigault to her car after several customers began shouting insults at her while she shopped with friends.

According to the Washington Post, two of the women kept calling her 'Trump's w***e,' in addition to other insults. 'They were letting her have it,' one eyewitness told the newspaper.

'Let's face it, many of her friends feel as though this whole Trump alliance is Omarosa being the quintessential opportunist,' says a source in her inner circle. Pictured: Omarosa with Trump in April 2013

But Omarosa has also received more serious correspondence from people who have threatened bodily harm.

She regularly turns those messages over to White House security.

'She wrote a book called "The Bitch Switch" and plays a bag girl on TV, but she's really scared about her safety and has deep concern someone will try to become famous by doing something to her.

'That's why she moved her wedding and she hopes things will go smoothly and protesters won't interrupt her ceremony,' the source said.

This will be Omarosa's second marriage. The Youngstown, Ohio native was married for five years to educator Aaron Stallworth but the two divorced in 2005.

She began dating Academy Award nominee Michael Clarke-Duncan in 2010 and the couple got engaged in early 2012.

In July 2012, she found the actor in cardiac arrest and performed CPR, but he never recovered and ultimately died on September 3, 2012 before they could wed.

Omarosa rose to prominence following her appearance on the first season of 'The Apprentice,' which was then hosted by Donald Trump, in 2004.

She prolonged her fame from the show and supported Trump throughout his presidential campaign.

She currently acts as an assistant to him and is director of communications for the White House Office of Public Liaison.
Six people have been arrested in Florida after a protest against U.S. military action in Syria turned violent.

The peaceful protest at a Jacksonville park escalated into a confrontation between demonstrators and their opponents Friday night, according to authorities.

Jacksonville Sheriff's officials estimated between 100 and 200 people were in the crowd.

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Six people have been arrested in Florida after a protest against U.S. military action in Syria turned violent. An altercation is shown at the scene in Jacksonville

A woman is seen with a police officer over her at Hemming Park in Jacksonville

The woman's arm is shown bent as she is being arrested during the event

However, witnesses said the crowd size was closer to 50, according to Jacksonville.com.

Officers said they were punched and kicked as they tried to break up the melee. No one was seriously hurt.

The Jacksonville Progressive Coalition was protesting U.S. military action in Syria when Trump supporters arrived for a counter-demonstration, News 4 Jax reported.

From left to right, David Schneider, Christina Kittle, and Connell Crooms were all arrested stemming from the incident in Jacksonville, Florida, on Friday

Also arrested were Thomas Beckham (left) and Robert Sheffield (right)

Six people were arrested, including the protest organizer.

Arrested were William Thomas Wilder, 74; Robert Gordon Sheffield Jr., 67; Christina Elizabeth Kittle, 27; David Marlow Schneider, 27; Thomas Craig Beckham, 26; and Connell Aubrey Crooms, 26.

Jacksonville Sheriff's officials identified Schneider as the organizer, and published a lengthy news release concerning their arrests.

Charges for those arrested include battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting police with violence.

One person, Wilder, was charged with marijuana possession.

The Jacksonville County Sheriff's Office published a lengthy news release concerning the arrests stemming from the Friday incident

Crooms was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.

Sheriff's officials say he has been released from the hospital and taken to jail.

Schneider and Crooms are shown in a video protesting about the Middle East as counter-protester Gary Snow stands next to them with a Trump flag, Jacksonville.com reports.

A skirmish eventually takes place, with Snow shoving Crooms. The website notes that Crooms eventually makes a move toward Snow, as Snow makes a rude gesture.

Authorities soon respond, and Crooms is put in a chokehold by authorities and taken to the ground, according to Jacksonville.com.

Schneider (center) and Crooms (right) are shown protesting, with counter-protestor Gary Snow standing nearby on the left and holding a Trump flag

A skirmish eventually takes place, with Snow shoving Crooms

Crooms eventually makes a move toward Snow, as Snow apparently makes a rude gesture. Crooms was put in a chokehold by authorities and taken to the ground

Crooms is seen being hauled by authorities told a police vehicle

Jacksonville.com says that Crooms was punched in the ribs numerous times by an officer while being restrained.

Jacksonville Sheriff's officials said in the release: 'Suspect Crooms was taken to the ground. Suspect Crooms kicked and elbowed two police officers.

'Suspect Crooms was given numerous verbal commands to stop resisting, to stop fighting, and to put his hands behind his back.

'He continued to resist by tensing his muscles, pulling his arms away from officers, and trying to stand up.'

In New York City's Union Square, seven people were arrested on Friday night during a protest, according to amNY.

Police told the website that they were charged with disorderly conduct.

A few hundred people were at the Union Square event, according to amNY.

People participate in a protest against a recent American missile strike in Syria in Union Square on Friday in New York City

In New York City's Union Square, seven people were arrested on Friday night during a protest

A protester is pictured in Union Square on Friday with a sign that reads 'Drop the ban, not the bombs!'

A sign held up in Union Square on Friday featured the slogan 'Another war based on lies!'
So-called 'Peak TV' and its expansive array of series has been great for viewers, say Hollywood scribes, but not so much for writers.

On Monday, the Writers Guild of America will resume negotiations over a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents broadcast and cable networks and movie studios.

With the WGA moving to authorize a strike, Hollywood is hoping to avoid a crippling work stoppage like the 100-day strike of 2007 that put prime-time TV into reruns and blockbuster movies on hold.

Several issues are on the table but the most prominent point of debate revolves around the changing nature of the television landscape.

If writers are unable to strike a new labor agreement with producers within the next two weeks, there could be a strike similar to the crippling work stoppage that Hollywood experienced in 2007. Strikers are seen marching at Paramount Pictures studio in Los Angeles in 2007

That there are more series than ever - 455 this season, more than double the number six years ago - may seem like a plus for TV writers.

But those shows also run for fewer episodes than the traditional 22-24 episode broadcast series.

Short seasons of eight, 10 or 12 episodes means less pay for writers whose payment is structured on a per-episode basis.

'Nowadays, two-thirds of all shows including some on broadcast, are produced with fewer episodes but we're still paid episodic fees,' says Chris Keyser, a veteran writer and WGA negotiating committee co-chair.

'I, for example, have a show on Amazon. And I will work for about the same amount of time as I used to work, almost a year, for eight episodic fees. So I am working for a fraction of what I used to work for, even though the companies are making double what they used to make - and I am not alone.'

Five days of bargaining are scheduled to begin Monday after an initial two weeks of talks ended with an impasse and an offer rejected by the guild.

The WGA negotiating committee recommended a strike authorization vote, which the guild board and council both seconded.

If no settlement is reached, Guild members will begin voting on whether to give their bargainers the authorization to strike on April 19.

The current three-year contract expires May 1.

Many doubt negotiations will end in a strike; the two sides came to agreement in 2010 and 2013.

While viewers have never had more programming to choose from (like Netflix's Orange is the New Black, seen above), writers who earn their salaries on a per-episode basis have been working a fraction of the time they worked in the past

Still fresh on the minds of both writers and producers is the protracted 2007 strike.

Without writers, late-night hosts were forced to improvise on the fly, the production schedules of major films were jumbled and a season of scripted television was virtually shut down.

Estimates suggest the strike cost the Los Angeles economy somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.5-$2billion.

But screenwriters, who have seen their earnings slide over the last decade, are emboldened to claw back some of their losses.

'One of the most important thing we learned from 2007-2008 is that you get nothing without fighting for it,' says Keyser.

'We didn't have our minimums, our credits, our pension and health plan or our jurisdiction over new media without ultimately saying that we were willing to fight for those things. That's the resolution that we bring to this negotiation.'

Yet Keyser, a former WGA president, says he's 'hopeful' for an agreement.

'There is plenty of room for the companies to make a move here,' he says, claiming they collectively made a record $51 billion last year.

'They certainly can afford to do it.'

In a statement heading into the resumption of talks, the producers alliance, which represents about 350 companies, said, 'Our objective continues to be to reach an agreement with the WGA at the bargaining table. We hope the Guild will engage with us on the issues in that forum when negotiations resume on April 10th.'

Other significant bargaining points involve the writers' health plan, script fees and residuals across cable and streaming platforms.

Television studios and actors have seen their salaries skyrocket thanks to the popularity of hit shows like Homeland (with Claire Danes, seen above), but now writers say they want to get an equitable piece of the revenue pie

According to the WGA - which numbers about 20,000 - median earnings for writers dropped between the 2013-14 season and 2015-16, and more and more writers are finding it difficult to make a living even in supposedly flush times.

In Hollywood as in many other industries, technological change often drives labor negotiations.

The writers struck in 1985 over the VHS home video market, and later felt unfairly left out when DVD revenues soared in the 1990s.

The 2007 strike was primarily over compensation for digital rights.

In a way, these negotiations, propelled by today's TV landscape, are more straightforward and leave less to speculation.

The producers in 1985 argued that VHS was a nascent technology and, in 2007, said that the digital realm was too young to grasp.

'Peak TV,' however, is already here and no one doubts its effect on the industry.

The last time the writers went on strike in Hollywood, a season of scripted television was virtually shut down. The above image shows the stars of the hit AMC series The Walking Dead

If the Writers Guild strikes, it would join another Hollywood union involved in a digitally-driven work stoppage.

Video game voice actors, who are part of the SAG-AFTRA union, have been on strike since October 2016, with no resolution in sight.

One of the main sticking points is the union's demand that performers who work on games that sell more than two million units receive additional compensation.

The payments would only affect certain studios that have contracts with SAG-AFTRA, including major games publishers Activision, Electronic Arts and WB Games.

The companies insist the proposal is untenable, but say they have offered raises that are financially equal to what the union is seeking.

As for the writers, a fellow Hollywood union could offer the WGA a template for agreement, as it has in the past.

In January, the Directors Guild of America ratified a new contract that more than tripled the residuals for members working for 'high-budget subscription video on demand' - services like Netflix, Amazon and Hulu.

Now it's the writers' turn to try to keep up in an ever-expanding television world.
The mansion has seven bedrooms, five full bathrooms and three half bathrooms

They hoped when Jesus returned to Earth, he would rule from the Bronx mansion

The house was built in 1928 by the Griscom family, a group of devout Theosophists

The renovated, 17-room home has been put on the market several times in recent years, with the price decreasing each time

City records show that it was sold to Hanjun Huang for $6.25million

After nearly two years on the market, the New York mansion built for the second coming of Jesus Christ has finally sold to a mere mortal.

According to city records, the opulent 15,000-square-foot estate in Riverdale was bought by Hanjun Huang on January 9 for $6.25million.

The recently renovated, 17-room home, which sits on 2.3 acres of Bronx land at the highest point in the city, was put on the market in February of 2015 for a whopping $10million.

An opulent 15,000-square-foot estate in Riverdale, New York, that was originally built for Jesus's second coming, will hit the market in February for $10million

The 17-room home has been put on the market several times in recent years, with the price decreasing each time

The home featuressix wood-burning fireplaces, made of carved variegated marble (right), that can also be seen in the White House

It has been put on the market several times in recent years, with the price decreasing each time.

The house was built in 1928 by the Griscom family, a group of devout Theosophists, who reportedly hoped that when Jesus returned to Earth, he would rule from the Bronx mansion.

When built in 1928, the Griscom family reportedly hoped Jesus would use the home if he ever returned

The estate carries multiple names, including Chapel Farm, Fair Hill and Chapel Hill, and was supposed to survive wars, famine, disease, earthquakes and other scenarios signaling to the end of days.

'The house has such a history to it,' current owner Sandra Galuten told The New York Post. 'It is really interesting.'

Construction began on the home in 1928 by Genevieve Ludlow Griscom, the wife of Clement Acton Griscom Jr, a wealthy business executive.

Genevieve was a member of a religious order called the Outer Court of the Order of the Living Christ, which attempted to fuse theosophy - a religious sect that studies the wisdom of all religions - with Episcopalian beliefs.

The order invited 'all men and women of whatever caste, creed, race and religion' who, 'seeking a higher life hereafter, would learn to know the path to tread in this [one],' according to a journal published by the group, the Post reported.

The home was build on the group's summer retreat, and was supposed to be used as a religious retreat for the Giscom family, where they could be one with nature, according to the New York Historical Society.

The family rarely ever visited the mansion, however, and rumors about the estate began to flourish, and people began saying that the lavish home was never meant for habitation, but for Jesus himself.

Though it was rarely used, the home was dusted regularly, the floors were kept polished and Genevieve would play the mansion's pipe organ regularly.

When she died 1958, aged 90, the order disbanded and two years later the property was sold to a developer for $70,000.

Genevieve Griscom's son, Ludlow Griscom, went on to become a leading ornithologist and was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Audubon Society for many years, according to the New York Historical Society.

The Griscoms studied theosophy, which is derived from the Greek theos (god, divinity) and sophia (wisdom), is a religious sect that studies the wisdom of all religions. Thosophy's symbol is pictured left and Ludlow Griscom right

Construction began on the home in 1928 by Genevieve Ludlow Griscom, the wife of Clement Acton Griscom Jr, a wealthy business executive

Genevieve was a member of a religious order called the Outer Court of the Order of the Living Christ, and the home was built on the order's summer retreat

Ludlow Griscom gave the property to the Archdiocese of New York, and in 1969 it was given to Manhattan College, which intended to build dormitories on the property.

However, declining enrollment and several failed development plans caused the school to sell the property, but not before years of abandonment nearly destroyed it.

Galuten, the current owner, purchased a 99-year lease on the house in 1987.

'It had been broken into, and there had been several fires. A lot of the roof was completely destroyed. We sandblasted the entire house,' she said to The Riverdale Press in 2012.

Galuten shared the home with her husband, who passed away in 2007.

The two spent nearly 25 years bringing the home back to it's original splendor, sparing no expense on the prized property.

The mansion has seven bedrooms, five full bathrooms and three half bathrooms. It also features six wood-burning fireplaces, made of carved variegated marble, that can also be seen in the White House.

Gold and Silver leaf tiles adorn the ceilings and trim while marble floors imported from the Vatican line the master suite.

The home was supposed to be used as a religious retreat for the Griscoms, though they rarely stayed at the mansion

After Genoveive died in 1958, the property passed through several hands before it was given to Manhattan College, which intended to build dormitories on the property but never did

In 1987, Sandra Galuten and her husband purchased a 99-year lease on the house and spent 25 years restoring the then abandoned and dilapidated house

The Plaza Hotel's own artisans spent four years painting and gilding the ceilings of each of the rooms.

Chandeliers inside the home were also acquired from the Plaza Hotel to match the impeccable detail.

A gym, sauna, game room, conservatory and terrace with a hot tub have brought the property to the modern era. Spectacular views of New York City are also included.

It's a far cry from the home it used to be. When Galuten bought it, the front door was boarded up, windows had been shattered, raccoons lived in the attic and the interior was blackened by flame.

Genevieve's pipe organ was damaged by the fire, but its pieces were dismantled and those that could be salvaged were donated to churches.

The restoration was finally finished in 2011.

'It was a labor of love,' Galuten, a former marketing executive who lived in the Hotel Delmonico at 59th and Park before moving to the Bronx, told the Post. 'I called the place "Wuthering Heights" - or "The Money Pit".'

'Jesus would probably love [the house],' Galuten told the Post, adding that she has never felt any Godly presence in the home. 'I redid it in very elegant taste.'

The mansion now has seven bedrooms, five full bathrooms three half bathrooms, and many lavish amenities
A Basque separatist group which killed more than 800 people in a decades-long campaign of terror has given up the location of its weapon caches.

Eta handed French authorities a list of eight locations where it says 120 guns are being stored along with three tonnes of ammunition and explosives.

French Interior Minister Matthias Fekl praised the move as 'a major step' and said a police operation is underway to retrieve the weapons.

Eta handed a list of eight locations which it says are being used to store 120 weapons and three tonnes of ammunition and explosives to French authorities on Saturday

The Basque separatist group had promised to fully disarm at the weekend, and appeared to be making good on its pledge

Police were seen searching one of the sites on Saturday afternoon, taking away several large black bags filled with heavy objects

French authorities welcomed the move, saying it was a 'major step', but Spanish authorities only repeated their demand for the group to completely disband

Eta members have killed more than 800 people during a 49-year reign of terror across France and Spain in an attempt to form an independent state

Response from Spanish authorities was more mute, with Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido saying the nation 'will not make any evaluation of the handing over of weapons today until they have been analysed by French authorities and justice.'

He added: 'The government will not alter its position: Terrorists cannot hope to receive any special treatment from the government nor immunity for their crimes.

'Eta should announce its definitive dissolution, ask forgiveness from its victims and disappear.'

All of the caches are located in southwestern France, a region which has historically served as a support base for Eta.

Each cache is being guarded by members of activist group Peace Artisans who are acting as mediators until police arrive to retrieve them.

As the arms dumps were cleared, tens of thousands of people gathered in Bayonne to celebrate the peace process and renew calls for a nation of their own

A demonstrator holds a sign which reads '8 April, the courage of peace' during a march in Bayonne as Eta officially disarmed

Eta had called on people to take to the streets of Bayonne in a letter announcing their disarmament sent to authorities on Friday

Demonstrators chanted slogans asking for jailed members of Eta to be sent to prisons in their home country, while this protester waves a banner calling for the same thing

Harold Good, a Methodist preacher who helped oversee the Northern Irish peace process, also called for prisoners to be brought 'home to their families'

Eta announced 'Disarmament Day' in a letter sent to authorities on Friday.

Tens of thousands of people gathered in Bayonne, also in southwestern France, to celebrate the peace process.

Many sang songs calling for members of Eta who are still detained to be allowed to serve the remainder of their sentences in their homelands - rather than scattered around jails in France and Spain.

Reverend Harold Good, a Methodist minister who helped in overseeing the Northern Ireland peace process, called on authorities to 'bring the prisoners home, to their families ... above all, those who are frail by sickness and by age.'

The president of the Basque Country's regional government in Spain called the disarmament an 'important step with historical value.'

While French interior minister Mathias Fekl welcomed the move, Spanish counterpart Juan Ignacio Zoido said the government will continue hunting Eta members

Eta members killed more than 800 people during a 49-year reign of terror that included car bombings and gun attacks on judges, politicians and military officers

Eta had announced its disarmament on a letter sent out on Friday, though it has not said whether it will full disband

'It certifies that there should have never been any ETA victim,' Inigo Urkullu said in a public statement. 'All the victims are part of this success.'

The president of the Victims of Terrorism Foundation, Maria del Mar Blanco, whose brother was kidnapped and killed by ETA in 1997, said there should be no attempt 'to rewrite history.'

'The bad guys are still the bad guys. The good guys - we the victims of terrorism - are still the good ones,' Blanco told Spanish national television.

Javier Maroto of Spain's ruling Party Popular said the disarmament is 'a step forward, but it's not enough.'

Arnaldo Otegi, the leader of a separatist group linked to Eta and believed by many to be behind the push for peace, said: 'The armed struggle is over, but the fight for the same ends goes on.'

'As of tomorrow we need to keep working on the issues of the prisoners, the victims and the demilitarization of the country.'

A handful of ETA members are still on the run. Hundreds of killings also remain unsolved, and the arms caches could help lead authorities to some of the perpetrators.
Police officers responding to the Stockholm terror atrocity were pelted with stones last night. Policeman Abdallah Ahmed (pictured) wrote about the incident on Facebook

Police officers responding to the Stockholm terror atrocity were attacked by a gang of youths who pelted them with stones last night, Swedish policemen have said.

The attack happened last night near Rinkeby, part of the 'immigrant no-go zone' that gained notoriety when President Trump referred to it in a controversial speech in February.

It is thought that the officers were taking part in an operation to arrest a 17-year-old and his mother at an address linked to the 39-year-old prime suspect.

Both have since been released without charge.

'During the night my colleagues were exposed to stone throwing in [the suburb of] Tensta, in the middle of an ongoing terror operation.

'Some people will never learn,' Abdallah Ahmed, a police officer, said in a social media post.

'To terror I want to say one thing, in pure Swedish: go to hell. My thoughts go to those affected in every way.'

The attack happened near the suburb of Rinkeby. Responding to Mr Ahmed's post, this policewoman, known only by her first name, Jenny, said: 'I wish I was working with you yesterday'

Jenny said she was 'so proud to be a police officer' after seeing how her colleagues handled the terror attack

Mr Ahmed also posted a picture of policemen drawing their weapons in the street, accompanied by a blue-and-white Swedish flag with a thin blue line running through it

Earlier today, at the address near Tensta that was raided last night, the 17-year-old who had been arrested denied any connection to the 39-year-old terrorist. Pictured: Another photo posted by Mr Ahmed of officers responding to the terror atrocity yesterday

He added: 'Do not pray for Sweden. Stand up for Sweden, fight for Sweden and die for Sweden.'

A police officer working in the same unit, who did not want to be named, confirmed to MailOnline separately that the attack had taken place.

Another policewoman commented: 'You are fantastic. I wish I was working with you yesterday. I am so proud to be a police officer.'

Mr Ahmed also posted a picture of policemen drawing their weapons in the street, accompanied by a blue-and-white Swedish flag with a thin blue line running through it.

Flowers left on a police car today as a sign of gratitude for the hard work of officers at the scene of the terrorist truck attack in downtown Stockholm

Donald Trump was mocked for suggesting Sweden had suffered a major terror attack, despite no evidence of one, and was having issues because of immigration, during a February speech

The attack happened in Tensa, seen towards the left of the map, near Rinkeby, right

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven looks at flowers near the scene of a truck attack in central Stockholm

Earlier today, at the address near Tensta that was raided last night, the 17-year-old who had been arrested denied any connection to the 39-year-old terrorist.

'I don't know him, I have had nothing to do with him and he has nothing to do with our family,' he told MailOnline.

It is understood that the terrorist was registered to the address and his post was delivered there.
A Spanish police helicopter has been accused of flying over Gibraltar's airspace all week as tensions rise over the British territory.

The claim comes in the same week the Royal Navy chased a Spanish patrol boat out of Gibraltar's waters.

David Parody, a resident in Gibraltar, on Wednesday posted a screen grab from a flight-tracking website which appeared to show the aircraft in the territory's airspace.

Local resident David Parody tweeted a map from a flight-tracking sight that appeared to show the Spanish helicopter violating Gibraltar's airspace

Mr Parody wrote: 'And if we hadn't had enough today, we now have Spanish Policia Nacional within our airspace!'

The financial services consultant later told The Sun: 'Flight-tracking websites show that police helicopter has been in and out of Gibraltar airspace all week. It takes off to intercept drug-smugglers from North Africa.

'It doesnt need to cross into our airspace but it does because it feels it can.'

Gibraltar's government and the Foreign Office are believed to be investigating the incident.

A diplomatic source told The Sun: 'All incursions, air or maritime, are always followed up. They are a violation of sovereignty but not a threat.'

The claim came just one day after the Royal Navy chased a Spanish patrol boat out of Gibraltar's waters on Tuesday

Mr Parody said a police helicopter like the above was crossing into Gibraltar's airspace on missions to intercept drug smugglers from North Africa

Relations between the UK and Spain have been strained in recent weeks as tensions rise over the future sovereignty of Gibraltar.

This week's war of words comes after years of disagreements between Britain and Spain over the peninsula off the Spanish coast, which has been a British overseas territory since the 18th century.

Its 30,000 resident overwhelmingly rejected Spanish sovereignty in two referendums in 1967 and 2002, but Brexit raised new questions after they voted to stay in the European Union in June.
30 years in jail: Krishna Maharaj still resides in a Florida jail

There was a time when Krishna Maharaj led a rarefied existence.

The South London businessman mingled with the rich and famous, gave generously to charity and owned a fleet of Rolls-Royces and a string of racehorses.

Yet today, at the age of 78 and in poor health, he languishes after 30 years in a Florida jail, convicted of shooting dead two Chinese-Jamaicans in 1986, a father and son called Derrick and Duane Moo Young.

Maharajs life sentence is widely acknowledged to be one of the most grotesque miscarriages in the US. His only crime was to be owed money by the Moo Youngs following a property deal.

His case has been championed by British lawyer Clive Stafford Smith of the organisation Reprieve who, after an investigation spanning more than two decades has finally established the truth: that the two dead men were murdered not by Maharaj, but on the orders of the late Colombian drugs baron Pablo Escobar.

Last week in a decisive breakthrough, an American court ruled there should be a new hearing in the case. Here Stafford Smith recalls his journey into the horrifying world of real-life Miami Vice in the hunt for justice.

The apartment was modest, the plumbing primitive. In the bathroom, the rickety shower had lost its showerhead. There was nothing unusual, no sense of danger, no sign of the vast wealth or the criminal masterminds that had brought me there.

Yet this was Medellin, capital of the infamous Colombian cocaine trade and a city once described as the most dangerous on earth.

And the man sitting with me was Jorge Choncho Maya, wanted in America on charges of laundering billions of dollars of drug moneys.

Clive Stanford Smith has established that the two dead men were murdered not by Maharaj, but on the orders of the late Colombian drugs baron Pablo Escobar (pictured)

It was hard to reconcile his timid and deferential demeanour with his reputation as the fearsome enforcer of a murderous gang that once supplied 80 per cent of the worlds cocaine.

Now, Choncho was about to tell me a story that might clear the name of Kris Maharaj, the South London businessman facing a slow death behind the bars of a Florida penitentiary. Despite a solid alibi, Maharaj, once one of Britains richest men, had been convicted of shooting dead Derrick and Duane Moo Young in Room 1215 of the giant Dupont Plaza hotel in Miami on October 16, 1986.

The road to Colombia had been a long one. I was first asked to help on the Maharaj case 24 years ago as part of my work defending prisoners on death row in American prisons. Maharaj was dragged into the investigation because he had been invited to a meeting the same day in the same hotel room. His fingerprints were there.

The police said his motive was $400,000 that the Moo Youngs owed him from a business deal (although he had just sued them to get the money back).

But the criminal underworld had long known something else about the Miami killings, something crucial: that the murders had in fact been ordered by the notorious drugs lord Pablo Escobar. The Moo Youngs owed him money, too.

The case has been championed by British lawyer Clive Stafford Smith, of the organisation Reprieve, who has been investigating for more than two decades

I had driven across several southern states on a tour of bleak prisons to ask for the help of imprisoned narco-gangsters.

I had stayed in some roach-infested motels, and dined at some fairly poisonous fast food restaurants. Federal prisons look rather like motel chains these days, though even less welcoming.

Once inside, my pitch was simple. I represented a British businessman, Kris Maharaj, who had been in prison for 30 years after being convicted of the murders. Could they help free an innocent man?

Remarkably, several agreed to tell me what they knew. I spoke with a former head of the Cali cartel, with men high up in the Medellin cartel, with men who had once been cocaine billionaires who now languished in penitentiaries.

My message resonated with them: I believe there is a lot of good in everyone, even if they are said to be cocaine barons with blood on their hands. They confirmed what I already suspected  that the case was inextricably linked with the narcotics trade, and I would find the truth in Colombia...

Medellin was capital of the infamous Colombian cocaine trade and a city once described as the most dangerous on earth

I had been briefed about Choncho by a man called Henry Cuervo, a former agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration. Years before, Cuervo had put together an indictment, or charge, against Choncho, who he described as Pablo Escobars enforcer in Miami in the mid-1980s. In their heyday, the drug cartels had owned Miami  the guns, the smart hotels and even the local police.

Now, the unassuming Choncho, who seemed to doff an imaginary hat to everyone around him, was confirming he had indeed worked for Escobar, recalling that in the summer of 1986, the drugs lord had sent one of his most trusted assassins, a man nicknamed Cuchilla, or The Blade, to Florida on a special mission. Cuchilla had a group of assassins who would come to Miami for six months at a time, travelling illegally through the Bahamas on private planes, he explained. The Colombian drugs cartels were infamous for ruthlessly disposing of anyone who got in their way.

I asked him what he knew. One thing I can say with 100 per cent certainty is that your man Maharaj had nothing to do with their murder, he said. The Moo Youngs owed Pablo Escobar money. Pablo Escobar was mad at them.

Choncho had good reason to know. His own brother Luis had been involved with paying Cuchilla for the assassinations  four separate payments of $200,000, $150,000, $300,000 and $300,000. Thats just shy of a million dollars.

He was, he said, willing to provide a signed statement and testify in court  though he could not travel to the USA. After all, Henry Cuervo had an indictment waiting for him in Miami which accused him of laundering $2.5 billion for Escobar.

Next, I went to see Roberto Escobar, Pablos brother, now in his sixties. We met in the dishevelled space in front of a house guarded by a 15ft padlocked gate. We sat on plastic chairs, under a white umbrella.

Thanks to a parcel bomb, he was short of sight  he seemed almost blind  and hard of hearing. He was wearing a Polo shirt and a US Polo Association cap.

Mr Stafford Smith and Maharaj's wife, Marita Maharaj, pose for a picture in Miami, Florida back in December 2012

Theres no doubt Roberto, once accountant to a large percentage of the worlds narcotics money, knew many secrets. Certainly he knew Cuchilla, offering to introduce me to the assassins close friend Valentin and another of Escobars hired killers, nicknamed Popeye.

Popeye, too, would know all about the Moo Young case.

Surely, if we could get him on the record, that would be enough for a new trial for Kris?

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Popeye  Jhon Jairo Velasquez Vasquez  was a man who claimed to come from the extreme end of Escobars violent operation. In 1991, he turned himself in to the authorities in Colombia and confessed to a staggering 3,500 murders, including the countrys attorney general and 70 policemen in Medellin in one year, 1990, alone.

It also turned out that in prison he had reconnected with his Christian faith so for us, too, there was hope.

I used an intermediary to ask Popeye what he knew which, when it came to Kris Maharaj was nothing.

But, crucially, he did know about the Moo Youngs, whose unusual name he had remembered. I knew about the murders in Miami at the time they happened, Popeye said.

Escobar complained directly to me that the Moo Youngs had stolen his money and had to die. Escobar told me the money was entrusted to them to be taken to Switzerland. They were using a bank in Panama that the Moo Youngs said they or their contacts controlled.

One of the people who committed the murders was Guillermo Zuluaga, who went by the name Cuchilla. I know this because he admitted to me in person he had done it.

Cuchilla himself was long gone and in no position to verify the story. His Colombian rivals fed him into a wood chipper.

Back in Miami, I had another breakthrough. There, I met up with David Adams, a US-based British journalist who knew of a man called Baruch Vega, a Colombian former fashion photographer with a sideline as an undercover operative for the CIA, the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

I had heard Baruchs nickname Dr B before. He was hated by Popeye. When I phoned Baruch at his Los Angeles home, he immediately volunteered that the Moo Young murders were committed by Cuchilla. He had no idea that Kris Maharaj had been convicted and added: We need to talk in person.

I felt this might finally crack the case  and in such a way that no sane court could possibly refuse Kris justice.

Krishna Maharaj sits in Circuit Court during a legal hearing in Miami, Florida, November 10, 2014

We met at Baruchs apartment in a gated community. Baruch was an elaborately genteel gentleman in his late 60s now living in somewhat reduced circumstances. His own story was remarkable.

He had a PhD in civil engineering, had worked for the CIA in Chile where he had helped overthrow the Allende regime in 1973, and later became a successful fashion photographer who sold his agency for 2 million.

In 1978, he moved to Miami, where his family connections to Escobar insiders saw him invited into the homes of powerful Colombian drug lords. So began his main work as an informant: reporting what he learned and later convincing traffickers to hand themselves in. He explained how he sought to persuade a range of targets that the US government was on their heels; that it was safer to negotiate and that, for a steep price, he could bribe judges or prosecutors to get a sweetheart deal.

All the time he was being run by DEA Group 43, who viewed this as the easiest and most effective way to catch criminals  the criminals would pay for the privilege of turning themselves in.

The Moo Youngs owed Escobar money

Coming from a large family in Colombia gave him some very direct connections to the players in the Moo Young murders.

Baruch said there was no question the Moo Youngs had stolen money and merchandise from Escobar and that their killing was a drugs assassination. He then brought up Cuchilla, whom he described as an Escobar hit man  someone he had actually met.

Baruch was certain he had informed his handlers about this at the time  which means, disturbingly, that the US authorities knew that the Moo Youngs were killed by the Medellin cartel long before Kris Maharaj was sent to trial.

In fact, according to Baruch, this would be clear in the official documents from the time, if only we could get access to them.

This was very exciting  if we found documentary proof that the government knew the cartel did the Moo Young murders, going all the way back to the time of Kris trial 30 years ago, it ought to be game over. State agents would have known Escobar ordered the murders  yet the information had never been disclosed.

A week-long hearing was scheduled before Judge William Thomas, an Afro-American former public defender, in November 2014. I was hopeful. After much legal wrangling, we presented our six key witnesses  some, including Choncho and Popeye, were beamed in from Colombia because they could not return to the United States.

We also produced Dr B, John Brown a witness who came forward on the strict proviso his name did not appear in the public record, and Henry Cuervo, the retired DEA agent, who savaged the original investigation and told the court that Popeye had admitted to him directly that Escobar arranged the hit on the Moo Youngs.

The hearing went well  so well that as I left the courtroom that Friday, I felt confident. When we convened again on January 9, 2015, for the judgment, Judge Thomas was all smiles, which further boosted my feeling of wellbeing.

An aerial view over the Barrios Pobre of Medellin, where Pablo Escobar had many supporters

He read his ruling out. It began promisingly and then started to go downhill fast as, one-by-one, he disparaged the witnesses. Finally, the bombshell dropped. Krishna Maharajs motion is denied.

To his great credit, Kris refused to be disheartened. Now 78 and in poor health, he retains commendable optimism that justice will finally be done. We appealed against Judge Thomass ruling and last week, in a breakthrough legal finding, appeal judges at the 11th Circuit Court in Atlanta, Georgia, agreed there was compelling new evidence. They sent the case back to a federal court in Miami for a full hearing.

This came without any help from Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who is meant to enforce the promise in Kriss British passport to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary. He has failed to do so.

We will be filing a writ of habeas corpus  a demand that Kris be freed  within the next two weeks and expect a hearing in the summer. It is a journey that has taken me half way across the world on too many occasions.

But now I am confident we will win and that one final journey will bring Kris Maharaj back to Britain, where he belongs.
While the majority of North America is beginning to experience the first few days of spring, some regions in Canada have been hit with more than 50 inches (115 cm) of snow.

Gander, Newfoundland was pummeled with two back-to-back Nor'easters that have left the town digging itself out as the snow was high enough to block windows and doors.

Photos and video footage from snow-covered town show residents escaping from the second floor of their homes.

A young girl was also photographed at the top of an enormous mountain of snow tall enough to let her reach street power lines.

No signs of spring here: Gander, Newfoundland was battered by two Nor'easters this week

Stunning images show how the snow has buried the town under more than 93 inches

No exit: One resident tweeted a picture of her doorway completely blocked by several feet of snow

A young girl was also photographed at the top of an enormous mountain of snow tall enough to let her reach street power lines.

'I'm not going anywhere anytime soon!' one person tweeted as they shared a stunning image of several feet of snow completely barricading her doorway.

The total amount of snow on the ground in Gander reached an astounding 93 inches after the storm, according to Rodney Barney, a meteorologist who works with Environment Canada.

Clearing-crews had been working diligently to clean up the mess, but more snow was expected to hit the town on Friday, The National Post reported.

Two Gander residents, who moved to the town from Jamaica seven years ago, told CBC that they had never imagined they'd be shoveling so much snow after having lived in the hot, sunny, island for most of their lives.

The real snowmaggedon: A man is seen shoveling out his car, but it seems he still has massive block a snow to get through

Snow joke! A Gander resident was able to sit on the roof of his home after climbing up a massive snow mountain left behind from the storm

The streets of Gander were lined with mountains of fresh white powder following clearing attempts

An extraordinary picture shows a man outside of a building buried under snow

'We never had snow in the Jamaica  never in the history of Jamaica. We're probably 30 degrees right now in Jamaica,' Thomas Miller said.

Town councilor Robert Anstey said road crews have been working for the past five days.

'Our crew has worked for the last five or six days straight through, go home have a few hours sleep, come back, get at it again,' he told the news station.
A disgruntled ex-gym employee shot two of his former co-workers in an Equinox gym before turning the gun on himself at a ritzy Florida shopping center.

Abeku Wilson, 33, opened fire inside the Equinox Fitness Club in Coral Gables on Saturday afternoon.

The gunman is believed to have been a disgruntled trainer who had recently been fired, the Miami Herald reports.

He had targeted the gym's general manager Jeanine Ackerman and personal trainer Mario Hortis.

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Abeku Wilson, 33, opened fire inside the Equinox Fitness Club in Coral Gables on Saturday afternoon. The gunman was a disgruntled trainer who had recently been fired

Jeanine Ackerman (left) and Mario Hortis (right) were shot at Equinox gym in Coral Gables

Police say the ex-employee targeted the two victims after a managerial dispute at the luxury gym.

A witness saw Ackerman on the floor unconscious and said Hortis was bleeding heavily but was conscious following the shooting.

Wilson was found dead on the scene when authorities arrived.

A helicopter from the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue landed on the field of Coral Gables Senior High School and transported the wounded to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center.

Wilson was considered one of the most popular trainers at the gym, according to the Herald. He was usually clean shaven but some of the witnesses who saw him Saturday morning noted he looked disheveled.

He was a fitness model who appeared in various print brochures. He was born in Boston and lives in Miami.

The shooter turned the gun on himself after shooting Jeanine Ackerman and Mario Hortis

Wilson was a fitness model as well and was born in Boston and lived in Miami. He is thought to have turned the gun on himself after the shooting

People wait to be let back into the Shops at Merrick Park after the shooting Saturday

The location of the shooting was along South Lejeune Road in Coral Gables

City of Miami and CIty of Coral Gables police officers work the shooting scene at the Shops at Merrick Park

One person at the gym told the Herald he knew the shooter and saw him moments before the shooting and didn't seem to be acting abnormally.

Witnesses at the nearby Soul Cycle heard several gunshots.

A woman named Anais Michelle tweeted she was at the mall at the time of the shooting and posted a video of people hiding in the storage room.

Alvaro Zabaleta of the Miami-Dade Police Department says detectives have responded to the scene of the shooting in Coral Gables that resulted in one death.

He told Local 10: 'The scene is secure and no one is in danger at this time.'

Zabaleta says the location of the shooting was along South Lejeune Road.
Michelle Quested says she is the first frontline nurse to work in a wheelchair

A nurse has become the first in the profession to work in a wheelchair on the frontline.

Michelle Quested, 33, from Birmingham, lost the use of her legs when two slipped discs crushed her spine.

But despite being wheelchair bound the lifelong nurse was determined to get back to her clinical role at Birmingham Children's Hospital.

After making the necessary changes to her chair, Ms Quested returned to the hospital's neonatal cardiology ward.

The selfless nurse now uses her disability and her experience to comfort sick children and instruct student nurses.

She said: 'I cannot find any other frontline nursing staff in the UK who use a wheelchair, after doing a lot of research.

'But nurses are born to be nurses, and I wasn't going to let being in a wheelchair stop me.

'I decided I wanted to be a nurse when I was 16, and I've worked at the Children's Hospital all my life.

'It's not always been easy. I face day-to-day difficulties as a wheelchair user that I hadn't really thought about before.

The nurse made 1,800 modifications to her wheelchair in order to return to the neonatal cardiology ward

'But I decided I wanted to be the best and most active wheelchair user I can be, and part of that was going back to a job I love.'

Ms Quested qualified as a nurse in 2004 and immediately started at the children's hospital.

She was working as a staff nurse in the neonatal cardiology department when she was involved in a car accident in 2010.

Four weeks later, two of her discs ruptured in her lumber spine and crushed her spinal cord.

She said: 'After the accident I was walking around for a month with back pain, but I didn't think much of it because it was manageable and back pain as a nurse is an occupational hazard.

Ms Quested on holiday in Australia before she lost the use of her legs

The 33-year-old lost the use of her legs when two slipped discs crushed her spine

'Then I began to lose the feeling in my legs. It happened when I was at work, and I didn't know what was going on.

'The pain in my back was excruciating.

'I went from walking normally to completely losing all sensation and movement in my legs within 24 hours.'

Ms Quested pictured at her home in Birmingham

She was rushed straight to hospital, where an MRI scan revealed the cause of her loss of feeling.

Ms Quested had surgery immediately to decompress her spinal cord.

However, when she woke up from the procedure she still had no feeling in her legs, and was told by doctors it was likely to remain that way.

She was sent to the Midlands Centre for Spinal Injuries in Oswestry, Shropshire, where she underwent rehabilitation for a further five months.

She said: 'It was horrific.

'I had a subsequent surgery 10 days later, but after that I was only able to move my big toe on my right foot.

'It was also hard because I was far away from home.

'About six weeks after my surgery I had a frank discussion with the consultant, who said I was unlikely to get any movement back.

'I spent the next week with the curtains drawn around my bed and I did not want to see anybody.

'But in that time I decided I was going to be the best possible wheelchair user I could be. I knew then that I wanted to get back to work.'

Ms Quested first returned to work 11 months after the accident in May 2011 as part of the educational team teaching student nurses.

The nurse uses a lift to transport her between floors in her home

After a year, she combined her teaching experience with her previous cardiac knowledge, and returned to instruct student nurses in the cardiac department.

But she still wanted a more hands-on clinical role, and began to research whether it would be possible to work in a wheelchair.

After making 1,800 modifications to her wheelchair, supported by the Cavell Nurses Trust, Michelle finally returned to frontline nursing in March 2016.

She said: 'I needed to make my wheelchair battery rather than push powered to lower the infection control risk. I could not have my hands touching the wheels before treating patients.

'That also made the wheelchair narrower, making it easier to move around equipment.

'It took a lot of determination to get there, but I was so happy to return to my role.

'Children's and parents' reactions have been really positive.

'Whenever children ask me about being in a wheelchair, I tell them that I have poorly legs like they have a poorly heart, and it helps them to understand.

'It does not faze them at all.'

Outside of work, Michelle likes to keep as active as possible despite being in a wheelchair.

In 2013 she travelled by herself to South Africa to attend the World Cardiology Congress, where she also went diving with sharks.
Syrians opposed to Bashar al-Assad have praised U.S. President Donald Trump's after missile strikes on al-Shayrat air base, and have even given him an affectionate nickname.

Social media users in the Arab world have started referring to President Trump as Abu Ivanka, meaning father of Ivanka, as a sign of respect.

Some have gone even further to refer to him as 'Abu Ivanka al-Amriki,' meaning Father of Ivanka the American.

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Social media users in the Arab world have started referring to President Trump as Abu Ivanka, meaning father of Ivanka, as a sign of respect

Now, one Twitter user even photoshopped a fez on the top of the president's head with the words 'We love you' in Arabic

Social media users heralded the American President as a champion of the rebellion in Syria when they started sharing Trump's Twitter photo with the Syrian leader's slogan 'We love you' on top of it.

Now, one Twitter user even photo-shopped a fez on the top of the president's head with the words 'We love you' in Arabic.

A falafel shop owner in northern Syria has reportedly named his restaurant after Mr Trump, and an opposition activist has said they want to name their first son after him, reported Yahoo News.

Some have gone even further to refer to him as 'Abu Ivanka al-Amriki,' meaning Father of Ivanka the American. Many have also jokingly photoshopped some of his pictures

The tongue-in-cheek imagery is both a jab equating Assad and Trump as leaders, and a signal of support for U.S. cruise missile strikes against the Assad regime, its supposed creator said Friday.

'Donald Trump is honestly quite the horrible human being. But he did something right,' said Twitter user Obada.

Asked if his intent in juxtaposing Trump's face with Assad's slogan was satirical, Obada replied 'Yes, absolutely.'

Twitter user Obada says he put the Assad slogan on Trump's face after US strikes on a Syrian airbase. Trump is 'quite the horrible human being. But he did something right,' Obada said\

Posters like this one, bearing the image of Syria's president Bashar Assad with the slogan 'We love you' in Arabic, are ubiquitous in Damascus. A new trend mocks the propaganda

Obada explained the image was 'absolutely' satirical in this Friday tweet

Obada claims to be an 18-year-old Syrian who is opposed to both Assad and ISIS, as well as the YPG, a Kurdish militia in Syria.

Another man, Najim Hassan, lives in the rebel-held Syrian city of Idlib, and said: 'Maybe you in the West hate Trump, but he has already done far more for us than Obama.

'We love him before he does more than he says, he's a man of action nd at least gives us something to hope for'.

Trump ordered the Thursday airstrike on the Assad regime's al-Shayrat air base in retaliation for the facility's role in a recent nerve gas attack on civilians.

Syrians, caught in a years-long, multi-party civil war that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, seemed to signal wariness at the first direct U.S. airstrikes against Assad with the cheeky Twitter avatars.

Other Syrian Twitter users quickly adopted the image, prompting some Western news outlets to misinterpret the satire as an outpouring of support for the US president

Bana al-Abed, the seven-year-old from Aleppo who gained a global following after tweeting about life behind government siege barriers wrote: 'Putin and Bashar al Asad bombed my school, killed my friends & robbed my childhood. It's time to punish the killers of children in Syria'

Other anti-Assad Syrians of various stripes also changed their Twitter profiles to the Trump-Assad mashup on Friday but other users were quick to point out that they did not believe the expression of love for Trump was genuine.

Bana al-Abed, the seven-year-old from Aleppo who gained a global following after tweeting about life behind government siege barriers wrote: 'Putin and Bashar al Asad bombed my school, killed my friends & robbed my childhood. It's time to punish the killers of children in Syria.'

'This attack was clearly an attempt to win over hearts and minds,' Syrian Twitter user Mostafa Mahamed said in response to the Trump-Assad meme.

'Only the naive will be fooled to believe that Trump has a heart.'
Police have raided a flat where the terror suspect is thought to have spent the hours before carrying out the attack in Stockholm city centre.

Forensic teams scoured the second floor apartment in a southwest suburb of the city after arresting three people.

Witnesses said heavily armed police stormed into the flat on a housing estate in Varberg late on Saturday afternoon.

Heavily armed police stormed into the flat on a housing estate in Varberg late on Saturday afternoon

Exclusive video obtained by Mail Online showed police surrounding three people in the courtyard of the block of flats.

One man carried a yellow suitcase. The other person was believed to be a woman and was dressed in yellow and was led away to a police car.

Two soldiers later sprinted across the open area towards the flat and sniffer dogs could be seen in the area.

The arrests came after three other people were hauled out of a car and arrested as part of a fast moving investigation into the attack which claimed the lives of four people.

It emerged that the suspect a 39 years old from Uzbekistan  was injured during the attack when he mowed down pedestrians before crashing into a department store.

Local media reported that police were able to follow a blood trail from the scene of destruction to the citys Central Railway station as the suspect made his escape. He was arrested hours later.

Exclusive video obtained by Mail Online showed police surrounding three people in the courtyard of the block of flats

One man carried a yellow suitcase. The other person was believed to be a woman and was dressed in yellow and was led away to a police car

Two soldiers later sprinted across the open area towards the flat and sniffer dogs could be seen in the area

An unexploded bomb was found in the cab of the hijacked lorry.

Police have released few details about the suspect other than to confirm he is 39 years old and was known to security services.

Following the arrests in the suburb of Varberg forensic teams were seen leaving the flat with bags of evidence.

At least four people spent more than an hour in the flat looking for evidence with torches.

Four uniformed police officers guarded the entrance to the block of flats which is home to a large immigrant population.

A female friend of the suspect told the Aftonbladet newspaper she did not see any sign of fanaticism.

Following the arrests in the suburb of Varberg forensic teams were seen searching the flat before leaving with bags of evidence

An officer holds up an item clothes that were found inside the flat where the suspect is thought to have spent time before the attack

Police remove bags of evidence from the flag following the raid by heavily armed police

She said she had met the 39 year old when he was working in the construction industry in Stockholm.

The woman, who has not been named, said: He was a very intellectual and well-read guy. He tried to speak Swedish but it was mostly English when we talked.

I never saw any sign that he would be fanatical in any way without the empathetic and aware.

The woman said the man would often talk about his family who were living back in Uzbekistan.

He came here to work so he could send money home to the family. That was why he was here.

Police traced the suspect to the apartment after triangulating his laptop to the wifi network there, Aftonbladet reported.
Pepsi is facing additional backlash after the San Francisco Police Department accused the company of illegitimately using the bureau's logo in the controversial commercial.

The soda-maker, which made waves this week after airing an advertisement that appeared to trivialize the Black Lives Matter movement, could potentially face legal action after SFPD spotted actors wearing their police emblem.

Although the two do not appear identical, both patches bear the words 'San Francisco Police' with an eagle spreading its wings, but with a different color scheme, TMZ reported.

An SFPD spokesperson said the department is now investigating if the company received permission to use the name and logo.

Peace through Pepsi? The ad was branded 'tone-deaf' and Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter was among the many to share outrage over it

A patch bearing the words San Francisco Police Department was seen in commercial footage (left) although it is not identical to the real one (right)

'It's not 100 percent identical but it appears to be our patch,' Spokesperson Officer Robert Rueca told ABC 13.

Although the logo in question was only seen in behind the scenes footage and was not actually aired, Pepsi released the video online which drew a lot of views.

The soda company has not responded to the claims.

The investigation comes just days after Pepsi and Kendall Jenner were heavily criticized for the ad which depicts the model resolving a protest by handing the cop a soft drink.

Kendall Jenner wore her hood up and her hand over her face, making her way through LAX, after returning from Paris on Saturday, in the midst of outrage over her insensitive Pepsi commercial

In the short film, Kendall skips out of a photoshoot to join a throng of young campaigners waving placards with slogans such as 'Join the Conversation', before she approaches a surly-looking police officer and hands him a Pepsi can as a sign of peace.

In response to the criticism, Pepsi pulled the advert and has released a statement admitting the firm 'missed the mark' with the campaign's message.

Scrapped: The 21-year-old talent's Pepsi ad came under fire after its release this week for appearing to trivialize movements like Black Lives Matter

Meanwhile, an insider acknowledged Pepsi had made a mistake in hiring Kendall for the role.

'The original intent of the commercial was to mirror all the global protests trying to make this world a more equal place for everyone.

'But they shouldn't have had a celebrity face tied to it if they wanted to try and send a strong message like this.'

PEPSI'S STATEMENT CANCELING THE AD Pepsi was trying to project a global message of unity, peace and understanding. Clearly, we missed the mark, and we apologize. We did not intend to make light of any serious issue. We are pulling the content and halting any further rollout. We also apologize for putting Kendall Jenner in this position. Advertisement

Kendall did her best to hide from the controversy surrounding her Pepsi commercial on Wednesday when she landed in Paris.

Jenner, who starred in an advertisement for the soda giant that was blasted as 'tone deaf', shielded her face as she was hurried through the terminal in France.

As she left the airport, the reality television star pulled her jacket up over her face and a security guard held out his hands in an attempt to block her from sight.

Jenner has also claimed she had no involvement in the creative process behind the commercial, according to TMZ.
A Syrian man lashed out after being asked by a CNN reporter to criticize Donald Trump's refugee ban.

Anchor Brooke Baldwin attempted to make a point about acceptance of refugees while talking to Kassam Eid, who survived a 2013 chemical attack on Syria.

Eid praised the President's action in firing missiles at Bashar al-Assad in retaliation for chemical attacks against his citizens on Tuesday.

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Brooke Baldwin (L), a host of the news channel , attempted to make a point about acceptance of refugees while talking to Kassam Eid, who survived a 2013 chemical attack on Syria

Kassam Eid took time to thank Donald Trump for the Thursday night airstrikes against Syrian forces (pictured)

Speaking about the chemical attack and the President's actions, Baldwin said: 'Clearly President Trump was motivated, as we all have compassion for these just horrible images of these babies who were killed.'

She continued: 'At the same time, this is a man who doesn't want Syrians to come to this country with this refugee ban'.

To make her point, she played a clip in which Hillary Clinton says that the President should be more accepting of refugees.

She says: 'We cannot, in one breath, speak of protecting Syrian babies and in the next, close America's doors to them'.

Baldwin started: 'Clearly President Trump was motivated, as we all have compassion for these just horrible images of these babies who were killed,' referring to Tuesday's chemical attack on Syria by al-Assad

Clinton says: 'We cannot, in one breath, speak of protecting Syrian babies and in the next, close America's doors to them'

Eid, however, seemed to think that Clinton was completely missing the mark.

'With all due respect,' he began, 'I didn't see each and every person who was demonstrating after the travel ban, I didn't see you three days ago when people were gassed to death.

'I didn't see you in 2013. I didn't see you raising your voice against President Obama's inaction in Syria that made us refugees get kicked out of Syria.

'If you really care about refugees, if you really care about helping us, please help us stay in our country.

'With all due respect,' he began, 'I didn't see each and every person who was demonstrating after the travel ban, I didn't see you three days ago when people were gassed to death

Eid made the point that people in Syria being gassed (pictured), do not want to be refugees, they want to stay in their own country. Pictured is Alaa AlYoussef, whose children died in the chemical attack

'We don't want to come to the United States. We want to stay in our country. With all due respect, this is hypocrisy, if you really care, help us stay in our country.

'We don't want to become refugees, help us establish safe zones. We want to stay in our country'.

Eid then went on to fully thank President Donald Trump, and say that he supports the efforts that he is making in the Middle East. He also thanked all of Trump's supporters and anyone who voted for him.
The Kremlin launched a furious attack on Boris Johnson yesterday after he cancelled a Moscow summit on the Syrian war.

Russia accused the Foreign Secretary of making up absurd excuses after he made way for Donald Trump to lead the diplomatic drive. And at home, opponents dubbed him a poodle of Washington.

But Mr Johnson, who was due to fly to the country today, insisted he had axed the trip to enable US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to deliver a clear and co-ordinated message to Vladimir Putin.

Boris Johnson cancelled a Moscow summit on the Syrian war

As tensions between the US and Russia intensified, a Russian warship laden with cruise missiles was heading to the Syrian coast yesterday. The ship will operate in the region in accordance to the changing military situation, state media reported.

It came as Syrian government forces launched a new missile blitz on the rebel-held town attacked with Sarin gas last week. In the latest assault yesterday morning, a woman was reportedly killed and three others wounded.

Further details also emerged about Mr Trumps decision to attack Syrian forces on Friday. The US President was offered three high-stakes options by his military advisers, The Mail on Sunday can reveal, and chose the least deadly.

The alternatives he discarded involved launching attacks on three or more air bases at the same time and, even riskier, hitting both air and army bases.

Aides said he wanted to send a signal that was aggressive but proportionate and authorised the firing of 59 cruise missiles at the Shayrat airbase  from where Syria is thought to have launched the chemical attack. While the US has warned it is prepared to launch more cruise missile attacks, experts played down the likelihood unless the Syrian regime commits further atrocities.

Standing aside: Johnson with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson last month

Mr Johnson had been due to meet his Russian opposite number, Sergei Lavrov, to express British anger over Mr Putins military support for the Syrian president.

But his plans were thrown into confusion by Mr Trumps action.

Following a phone conversation with Mr Tillerson on Friday evening, Mr Johnson released a statement in which he said developments had changed the situation fundamentally and he would instead concentrate on building coordinated international support for a ceasefire at a G7 meeting in Italy on Tuesday.

Corbyn aide's 'US child killers' tweet One of Jeremy Corbyns closest aides caused anger in the Labour Party yesterday after accusing Donald Trump of killing children. Laura Murray, 27, a political adviser to the Shadow Cabinet, wrote on Twitter: Apparently killing children is fine as long as it is America doing it. Her message was a response to news reports that the US missile attack on the Assad regime had claimed civilian lives. It comes after Mr Corbyn put himself at odds with his party by denouncing the air strikes, saying they risked escalating the war in Syria. Many of his MPs, including deputy leader Tom Watson, backed Mr Trumps response to last weeks chemical attack. A Labour source said of Ms Murrays message: This is exactly the sort of peacenik, puerile rubbish which explains why the party is so unpopular. The row came as an angry Syrian refugee told how he was silenced by a Stop The War Coalition mob outside Downing Street when he tried to defend President Trumps actions. Hassan Akkad, 29, who fled Syria after being tortured by Assads forces, went to see the Left-wing groups rally on Friday evening. He asked the groups leaders if he could use their megaphone to say something. When they refused, he shouted that the bombing of the air base was good, because Assad was using it to kill civilians. Advertisement

However critics said he had allowed his diary to be managed from across the pond.

Kremlin sources said they believed the real reason for the cancellation of Mr Johnsons trip was that he had been ordered by Washington to abort it to avoid upstaging Mr Tillerson.

Mr Putins foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: Our Western colleagues live in their own reality where they first try to make collective plans, and then cancel them by making up absurd excuses.

Maria Zakharova receiving an award from Vladimir Putin

One of Mr Putins allies, Russian MP Alexey Pushkov, claimed the move proved that Britain was in thrall to the US, saying: This is how London will be able to save on other Johnson trips  Tillerson will speak for the two of them.

The Kremlins view found an echo in Westminster, with Lib Dem leader Tim Farron saying: Boris has revealed himself to be a poodle of Washington, having his diary managed from across the pond. It is pretty shameful when even Trump judges you to be a buffoon.

Mr Farrons intervention angered Mr Johnson, who hit back that it was a shame that the Liberal Democrats would rather snipe when the US and the UK are trying to work on a plan to help the innocent people of Syria and stop a devastating civil war.

An aide to the Foreign Secretary added: The fact that we are coordinating the G7 plan for Tillerson to take to Moscow shows that we are the exact opposite of poodles.

There was further reaction around the world yesterday to the US bombardment. While it was welcomed by Turkey, its foreign minister warned it would remain a cosmetic intervention unless it achieved regime change. Meanwhile, North Korea said Fridays strike was an unforgivable act of aggression  adding that it proved its own decision to develop nuclear weapons was the right choice a million times over.

At heel: The derogatory cartoon showing Mr Johnson tugging the stiletto of Ms Zakharova

As Russia condemned the missile strikes as an act of aggression against a sovereign state in violation of international law, the White House warned that it will take further action against Syrian president Bashar Assad if he uses chemical weapons again.

The poodle claim against Mr Johnson is particularly wounding as it echoes the allegations made against former Prime Minister Tony Blair over his relationship with US President George Bush during the run-up to the Iraq War in 2003. Until the US missile strike, Mr Johnson had told friends he was looking forward to giving Mr Lavrov a trenchant message that his countrys actions in Syria were a disgrace and Assad needs to go.

A Foreign Office source said that it was Mr Johnson who had first suggested pulling out of the trip, saying to Mr Tillerson: Are we looking at this the wrong way, Rex? Is it more harmful than helpful for me to go? After all it was you guys who put the missiles in and have all the leverage.

A Foreign Office source said that it was Mr Johnson who had first suggested pulling out of the trip

When an adviser warned that cancelling might look bad, Boris is said to have responded: I dont care what it looks like politically, what matters is resolving the conflict.

Last night, former Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind told The Mail on Sunday that Mr Johnson will be fed up but he had little choice.....a meeting between Johnson and Lavrov would, in these circumstances, have been little more than the hors doeuvres before the main meal.

One highly placed diplomatic source in America told this newspaper that there had been concern in Washington that Moscow could use Mr Johnsons visit as an excuse to cancel the Tillerson visit, using Johnson as a go-between to avoid direct talks with the Trump team.

Mr Johnsons visit to Russia would have been the first by a British Foreign Secretary in five years, and had already been postponed once this year to allow him to attend a NATO meeting.

If Mr Johnson had gone ahead with his trip, he would have flown straight into a row with Ms Zakharova, Putins glamorous aide.

The Mail on Sunday revealed earlier this year that Mr Johnson was angered by an invitation extended to Ms Zakharova, 41, to be guest of honour at a House of Commons reception. The event was cancelled after the Foreign Secretarys allies made clear his displeasure at the idea of her being given a propaganda platform in Parliament.

An enraged Zakharova responded to his intervention by launching a competition for cartoons ridiculing Mr Johnson.

The winner was a depiction of a pygmy-sized Boris being dwarfed by Zakharovas stiletto.

Additional reporting: Caroline Graham and Abul Taher

Was it Ivanka who forced her father's change of heart from his hard line?

President Trump launched the missile attack little more than 24 hours after his daughter Ivanka tweeted: Heartbroken and outraged by the images coming out of Syria following the atrocious chemical attack.

Until that point, the White House had been blaming Barack Obamas policy in the region for the Assad atrocity, which claimed dozens of lives.

There was speculation in Washington last night that Ivankas tweets may have prompted her fathers change of heart. Ivanka, who works as an unpaid adviser to the President, is thought to have been particularly distressed by the photos of gassed children.

Adviser: Donald Trump with his daughter Ivanka

Within hours, President Trump had also broken his silence  again on Twitter  saying: These heinous actions by the Assad regime cannot be tolerated.

After the missile attack was launched, Ivanka, 35, congratulated her father, saying: The times we are living in call for difficult decisions  proud of my father for refusing to accept these horrendous crimes against humanity.

Mr Trumps Twitter account reveals the dramatic extent of his U-turn over intervention in Syria.

In 2013, he criticised his predecessor Barack Obamas support for Syrian rebels following a deadly chemical weapons attack by Assad forces that left 1,000 people dead.

Mr Trump blasted: We should stay the hell out of Syria.

Intervention, he said, would only risk hurting civilians and empowering would-be terrorists.

Before launching his presidential campaign, Mr Trump posted dozens of tweets about the conflict, all of a non-interventionist nature.

In one, he declared emphatically: Do NOT attack Syria, fix U.S.A.

Yet it all changed last week when he unleashed his surprise missile attack.

The tweets on the right illustrate the scale of his change of heart  and finish with his thanks to the great military men and women for their work on the missile strike.
Scotland Yard detectives who investigated the infamous poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in London have revealed that they too were poisoned by the Russians, in an extraordinary attempt to thwart their inquiry

Scotland Yard detectives who investigated the infamous poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in London  believed to have been sanctioned by Vladimir Putin  have revealed that they too were poisoned by the Russians, in an extraordinary attempt to thwart their inquiry.

British officers were sent to Moscow in the hunt for suspects after Litvinenko, 44, a former KGB agent and critic of the Russian government, was poisoned with tea containing radioactive polonium 210.

Now one of the detectives has claimed that, in an eerie parallel, he and a colleague also fell victim to poisoning, albeit by sickness bacteria rather than deadly radioactivity.

Detective Inspector Brian Tarpey, who flew to Moscow to investigate, says: I remember one evening my officer [a colleague who travelled with him] was complaining of stomach cramp and not being very well.

Next morning I accompanied him to the general prosecutors office. We were offered tea. I had no hesitation in accepting.

After we left, I started to feel a little bit uncomfortable. Not wanting to put too fine a point on it, I had the s***s.

I have no doubt in my mind that someone poisoned us with something like gastroenteritis.

The pot Litvinenko was served tea from at a London hotel. British officers were sent to Moscow in the hunt for suspects after the former KGB agent was poisoned

The officers had been in Russia for two days when, on November 23, 2006, Litvinenko died in London, 22 days after meeting two Russian men at a Mayfair hotel for tea.

Before flying out, Tarpeys team had received assurances of co-operation as they sought to gather evidence and interview suspects, but it soon became clear the Russians real objective was to frustrate British efforts to find the truth.

What followed was barely believable, as the officers reveal in a Channel 4 programme to be broadcast on Easter Monday.

They were met with barefaced lies from their opposite numbers, hotel rooms were secretly searched, they were followed by shadowy Russian agents and a crucial piece of evidence went missing  the recording of an interview with one of the chief suspects.

Former detective Clive Timmons, who interviewed Litvinenko in hospital

Tarpey says: It was evident wed been outmanoeuvred by the Russians like a chess piece.

There were eight things we wanted to achieve while we were there. The top two were to interview [suspects] Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitri Kovtun.

They were told that one officer was allowed in see Kovtun who was in hospital, said to be receiving treatment for polonium poisoning. But Tarpey was suspicious that a heavily bandaged decoy was put in his place.

The detective was told he was Kovtun but all he could see was the eyes, says Tarpey. It could have been anyone.

Litvinenko had fled Russia and was living in Britain when he was poisoned with one million times the lethal dose of polonium. Traces of radiation were later found across London.

Former detective Clive Timmons, who interviewed Litvinenko in hospital, says: The picture of him in his bed didnt capture the diabolical pain he went through.

The Hunt For The KGB Killers, Channel 4, April 17, 9pm.
A Denver surgical assistant who posed as a plastic surgeon and operated on patients without anesthesia pleaded guilty to felony assault Friday.

Carlos Hernandez Fernandez, 36, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and criminal impersonation - both felonies - as well as unauthorized practice of a physician, a misdemeanor.

Hernandez Fernandez was arrested in August for performing tummy tucks and face-lifts on four women at Hernandez Fernandez Clinic at 424 South Federal Boulevard in Denver since January 2015, court documents show.

Carlos Hernandez Fernandez, 36, posed as a plastic surgeon and operated on patients without anesthesia at Hernandez Fernandez Clinic at 424 South Federal Boulevard in Denver (right)

'No comment,' he said to reporters in Spanish as he walked out of the courtroom Friday after his plea hearing.

In some cases, he used only local anesthesia instead of general and in other procedures he used none, the Denver Post reported.

Hernandez Fernandez was initially charged with a combined 15 felony counts for assault, unlawful sexual contact and criminal impersonation. But more victims came forward, bringing the charges to 126 counts with 37 victims.

Hernandez Fernandez pleaded guilty Friday to second-degree assault and criminal impersonation - both felonies - as well as unauthorized practice of a physician, a misdemeanor. Seen above in a mug shot taken when he was arrested for the crimes in August

In a plea deal, he pleaded guilty Friday to just three of the 126 counts and agreed to pay $175,000 to the victims on whom he illegally operated on, according to the DA's office.

Hernandez Fernandez faces up to six years in prison with three years of parole upon his release. His term length will be decided June 2, which is also the deadline by which he must pay the court-ordered restitution to be split among his victims.

In an August interview with CBS4, victim Maria, who asked that her last name not be released, said she decided to go to Hernandez Fernandez for a mini tummy tuck after seeing his five-star rating online.

Hernandez Fernandez appears in court in August on a series of felony charges for performing face-lifts and tummy tucks without a license

Her lawyer Anthony Lucero said: 'She felt the actual cutting of her skin. They do a form of liposuction. She felt every minute of it while it was going on and complained to the doctor.'

Maria, who paid thousands of dollars up front for the op, says she was given a form of medication that was supposed to dull the pain but it didn't.

'He did not use an anesthetic,' Lucero said.

Speaking in Spanish through Lucero she said: 'You should not go forward with a procedure like this until you have fully investigated the plastic surgeon and you know who he is and what he's doing.'

Lucero added: 'At all times he held himself out as a legitimate doctor, as a licensed doctor in the state of Colorado.'

Speaking in Spanish through her lawyer she said: 'You should not go forward with a procedure like this until you have fully investigated the plastic surgeon and you know who he is and what he's doing'

Hernandez Fernandez has a valid state license as a surgical assistant, but was not licensed to carry out the operations.

He would put patients under the knife, recommend treatment and write out prescriptions.

The Denver Post reported that Fernandez claimed he had physicians privileges at Porter Adventist Hospital and Swedish Medical Center.

Both hospitals say he worked only on a limited basis to perform surgeon assistant duties and never as a surgeon.
John McCain said Trump's airstrikes on Syria is a chance for the president to reboot with the American people after his tumultuous first few months in office.

The senator applauded Trump after he launched 59 Tomahawk missiles on a Syrian airfield on Thursday nigh, after a chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians carried out on the orders President Assad.

McCain continued to stand by the president's decision and said in interviews that Trump's military actions could mean another chance at uniting America, on Friday.

He said he was encouraged by Trump's willingness to listen to his advisers and added: 'He now has the opportunity to reboot with the American people, at least where national security is concerned.'

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Senator John McCain continued to praise Trump's airstrikes against Syria on Friday. He said the president's response to the chemical weapons attack will help reboot Trump's image with the American people

McCain continued to the panel on Morning Joe: 'I think he will see that the American people will probably approve of this.'

The Republican representing the state of Arizona also appeared on the Today show, where he continued praising the airstrikes.

McCain, who hasn't been the biggest supporter of the billionaire, said he was pleased with Trump's decision to listen to his administration's advice on the foreign situation.

At least 86 people were killed, including 30 children, when the Syrian leader allegedly carried out a chemical weapons attack on the small town of Khan Sheikhunm, on Tuesday.

The devastating and horrifying slaughter of families made headlines around the world and sparked outrage.

Trump annouced that he launched an airstrike against a Syrian air base on Thursday

It was a response to the gas atrocity which killed more than 80 people, including 30 children

McCain said to Today: 'I think it is important, I think it is the right thing to do. I think it is a signal that the President of the United States is listening carefully to the best national security team that I've seen, but we've got a long way to go.

'We've got a lot more work to do to stop the slaughter that has driven Europe into chaos, a flood of refugees and one of the great humanitarian crisis since World War II.'

After Trump informed the American people about his response to the chemical weapons attack, McCain soon gave his praise of the president's swift action.

McCain has been a longtime supporter of removing Assad from power and has pushed for America to have a stronger military stance in the Middle Eastern country.

He and Senator Lindsey Graham said Trump deserves the respect of the American people because he took action, unlike Obama and his administration.
Donald Trump is reportedly planning yet another White House staff shakeup - and promoting a Wall Street giant as his right hand.

Rumors have circulated that Trump is planning to dismiss his chief of staff Rance Preibus, and his key adviser Steve Bannon, in favor of former Goldman Sachs president Gary Cohn.

Cohn currently serves as the president's economic adviser, and is reportedly the top candidate for Preibus's position.

Gary Cohn, director of the U.S. National Economic Council, was derided by the Bannon faction as 'Globalist Gary,' according to a report

A White House source told The Huffington Post on Friday that 'Gary Cohn would be the top pick for chief of staff.'

The official added that Cohn would be a good choice for the job because he 'speaks the language of 'business,' which is what Trump understands.'

The former banking mogul walked with a $285 million severance package when he left Goldman Sachs to work in the Trump administration.

He is also a personal friend to Jared Kushner and first daughter Ivanka Trump, and already has a number of existing Goldman Sachs ties within the White House.

ODD MAN OUT? New reports say President Trump could clean house by replacing chief of staff Reince Priebus and chief strategist Steve Bannon

Dina Powell, a former partner at Goldman Sachs, currently serves on the National Security Council, and officially as an aide to Ivanka.

Dina Powell joined the National Security Council as a deputy national security advisor shortly before Bannon was taken off its principals committee

Her presence will reportedly have a major influence on Cohn's position in the administration.

'She can boost Cohn, and Cohn can do the same for her,' the White House source said.

Cohn joined the Trump administration after decades of supporting Democrats reportedly contributing more than $136,000 to the party and individual candidates throughout the late 1990's and early 2000's.

The Trump administration has denied the staff changes, stating that 'the only thing we are shaking up is the way Washington operates as we push the President's aggressive agenda forward.'

The rumors come in light of Steve Bannon's removal from the National Security Council on the president's orders earlier this week.

Bannon also has reportedly clashed with Trump's son-in-law and aide Jared Kushner, calling him a 'democrat' for his moderate-leaning tendencies.

The reports of a staff shake-up came one day after Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One during his 11th week in office that, 'I think weve had one of the most successful 13 weeks in the history of the presidency.'
Under the portly Kim Jong Un, North Korea has ramped up its nuclear weapons programme

When Donald Trump sat down to dinner with Chinas Xi Jinping in his garish golden palace of Mar-a-Lago in Florida on Thursday evening, he had just pressed the button on the first major military action of his fledgling presidency.

So as the two superpower leaders chewed over steak, pan-seared sole and the state of the world, 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles hammered down from the skies on to a Syrian air base in retaliation for President Bashar al-Assads use of chemical weapons against his own people.

Almost 8,000 miles away in South Koreas capital, Seoul, Hwee-Rhak Park woke to news that Trump had unleashed the might of the US military against Syrias murderous dictator.

What went through the mind of this former army colonel and respected security analyst must also have dawned on Xi Jinping sitting next to Trump: Could the savage dictatorship of neighbouring North Korea be next in the firing line?

Under the portly Kim Jong Un  a 33-year-old Swiss-educated thug who took power on the death of his father six years ago  North Korea has ramped up its nuclear weapons programme. Soon its missiles may be able to reach Americas West Coast.

He has also threatened to turn Seoul  a bustling metropolis bigger than London and protected by thousands of American troops  into a sea of fire. Little wonder that Park fears for the future.

South Korea may seem a major success story, home to high-tech firms and hordes of fashionable teenagers, but Park predicts it will soon be engulfed into the misery of the worlds most repressive nation.

I will be killed or go to a prison camp, he said, sitting in his smart grey suit as we talked in his university office overlooking the smog-filled mega-city. It is terrifying.

North Korea is essentially a fascist state ruled by a repellent dynastic dictatorship, which relies on propaganda against South Korea and its war-mongering US ally to justify savagery and poverty. The secretive state also has stockpiles of chemical weapons  and the recent killing of Kims half-brother in Malaysia with a banned nerve agent proved it is prepared to do anything, regardless of international norms, to eliminate enemies.

Trump warned last week that the policy of strategic patience with this maverick regime was over. If China is not going to solve North Korea, we will, he declared bluntly.

Trump pressed Xi to rein in his bellicose ally, which depends on China for almost all its food, trade and energy. And bombing Syria during the Mar-a-Lago summit sent an unambiguous signal: the new President is prepared to use pre-emptive force. This shows why sober folk such as Park are fearful. We are being held hostage, he said. North Korea has about 20 nuclear weapons and if the US failed to destroy them all, they would retaliate with nuclear or chemical weapons.

Trump warned last week that the policy of strategic patience with this maverick regime was over

He believes Kim  the worlds youngest head of state  seeks to reunite Korea under his thumb through invasion, confident in knowledge the US will not dare respond unless prepared to trigger a nuclear holocaust.

Tensions between the two Koreas, stuck on a strip of land dangling from eastern China, have made this one of the worlds most explosive flashpoints for decades.

Now experts fear time is running out to solve the deepening crisis. If they continue to develop nuclear capability and create missiles that can reach the United States, that changes the calculus for us, one US diplomatic source told me.

No one knows the exact strength of North Koreas military machine. But it has held five nuclear weapon tests of increasing power since 2006, while last year alone its youthful leader carried out more ballistic missile firings than his father did in 18 years.

When he assumed power, Kim Jong Un declared his first, second and third priorities were to strengthen his armed forces. More recently, he threatened to reduce the US to ashes if it fired even a single bullet at his state.

US military chiefs believe North Korea made nuclear weapons small enough to fit on missiles two years ago.

Earlier this year, experts saw the state had developed solid-fuel technology, which makes missiles easier to hide and launch quickly.

59 Tomahawk cruise missiles hammered down from the skies on to a Syrian air base in retaliation for President Bashar al-Assads use of chemical weapons against his own people

This raises two key questions: why is an impoverished country racing to make such weapons; and what, if anything, can be done to prevent a maverick dictator from getting his hands on a lethal arsenal that imperils the world?

The first question is easier to answer. The regime is founded on fierce control over citizens, determining every aspect of lives from hairstyles to home location. This is backed by ruthless force, torture and forced labour camps holding 120,000 people.

Nuclear weapons and taunting the US offers Pyongyang a sense of self-importance. But are the missiles defensive  protection for an otherwise weak state shoring up a callous regime  or offensive preparation for fresh onslaught on the south?

As for the second question, the simplest solution is for China to stop propping up this hideous regime  yet Beijing, despite growing frustration with the volatile despot, refuses to take tough action.

China supports regional stability, so does not want to provoke a North Korean collapse with millions of desperate refugees pouring over its border  let alone risk retaliation. Nor does it favour a unified Korean powerhouse that supports the West on its flank. This is a game changer for the US but I dont think China fully gets that, said Paul Haenle, a former director for China on the National Security Council under two Presidents.

The difference today is this problem has become so much more urgent.

Trumps team has warned of taking pre-emptive action if North Korea becomes too threatening. Yet if any weapons of mass destruction remain intact and Kim Jong Un survives an assault, there would be a huge risk of sparking a terrifying conflagration.

Israel would have done this a decade ago, said one South Korean government source.

South Korean marines participate in a landing operation exercise with US troops on April 2

Trump is all about America First and here is a guy threatening the US with nuclear weapons. I think Trump might just do this. I hope that he does.

And there is an added layer of complication to this nuclear nightmare.

South Korea is sharply divided over how to respond to its neighbour, with conservatives favouring a hardline stance and the Left preferring dialogue.

A Right-wing government has just fallen, ensnared in scandal. An election next month is expected to see the more liberal Moon Jae-in take over, and he has said he will head straight to Pyongyang to seek talks and stop an American missile defence system.

How would the volatile Trump react to this?

Some fear he might withdraw the 30,000 US troops in South Korea in pique, leaving the state even more exposed if the White House then decides to launch air strikes on Kims arsenal.

The two halves of Korea have been at uneasy peace for more than six decades  but this is fast becoming the planets tinderbox as a global superpower seeks to swat down a nuclear and chemically armed gnat.

Perhaps Trump can achieve a breakthrough. But if these two preening, hot-headed and unpredictable leaders move beyond posturing, they could spark a conflict that dwarfs even Syrias epic tragedy.
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Vladimir Putin's threats to block further US attacks on Syria have been dismissed as a bluff by military experts.

The Russian president has been talking tough since Donald Trumps strike on an airfield used by Syrian forces to launch jets which dropped chemical weapons on a village, killing more than 70 civilians.

President Putin has vowed to bolster Syrias air defences and close down a hotline designed to avoid mid-air collisions between jets, including RAF aircraft and Syrian and Russian planes.

The Russian president (left) has been talking tough since Donald Trumps (right) strike on an airfield used by Syrian forces to launch jets which dropped chemical weapons on a village, killing more than 70 civilians

He has also dispatched a warship to patrol Syrias coastline and thwart further US action.

But senior defence analysts told The Mail on Sunday that President Putin is actually desperate to avoid a clash with the US and wants to cut a deal to end the six-year Syrian civil war which has cost more than 400,000 lives.

Igor Sutyagin from the Royal United Services Institute said last night: Putin is raising the stakes but he is bluffing, because he knows he cannot do anything militarily to cause a direct confrontation with the US.

He wants the US to blink first, while knowing he doesnt have the resources to withstand any confrontation with the US and its allies  militarily Russia is much weaker.

The Syrian conflict is also becoming embarrassing for Putin.

Assad's bunker retreat Syria's Bashar Assad has been told by his advisers to retreat to the safety of a seven-storey bunker, according to reports. The secret subterranean complex in the capital, Damascus, is designed to withstand chemical and conventional attacks. The bunker  dubbed Assads Neighbourhood  also stops the president being detected by US spy satellites, and is believed to have a network of escape routes into the surrounding countryside. Advertisement

So he is not going to defend the Syrian president at Russias expense. Putin will stand by Russian interests in Syria but not necessarily by Assad.

Experts also cast doubt over the presidents pledge to upgrade Syrias air missile batteries, which could be used to intercept Tomahawk cruise missiles, and the Kremlins intention to suspend its co-operation over so-called aerial deconfliction measures which allow Russia and the US to avoid clashes.

All 59 US Tomahawk missiles fired from the USS Ross and USS Porter in the Mediterranean slipped through Syrias primitive S-300 defence system on their way to the Shayrat military airfield near Homs on Friday morning.

The Russians have an updated version of the defence system, the S-400, which is deployed near its naval base at Latakia on Syrias northern coastline. But Syrian personnel have not been trained to use it, according to Russian military expert Jonathan Eyal.

He said last night: While Russia could supply this equipment, the snag for President Putin is that this option would require putting Russian personnel directly in the Americans line of fire.

This would represent a major escalation of the conflict and I dont believe he wants that.

Mr Eyal added that Russia would find ways to continue its agreement with the US which ensures its aircraft dont collide over Syria.

All 59 US Tomahawk missiles fired from the USS Ross and USS Porter in the Mediterranean slipped through Syrias primitive S-300 defence system on their way to the Shayrat military airfield near Homs on Friday morning

He said: Putin is bluffing when he says hes pulling out of this. Russia doesnt want an accidental collision with the US any more than it wants a deliberate clash.

Putin is being typically macho and the introduction of the US as a major actor in Syria is a direct challenge to his authority, but he knows he will lose if there is a one-to-one confrontation. So he will ensure it doesnt happen.

Former British Army commander Colonel Richard Kemp agreed, saying: The pledge to pull out of the deconfliction agreement is just big talk intended for public consumption.

The airspace over Syria is very busy and very dangerous, so I am certain that some co-operation will continue.

Q&A: Attack 'a risk that Assad was willing to run' By Hamish de Bretton-Gordon Chemical weapons expert and former army officer Q. How do we know Sarin was used in the April 4 attack on Khan Sheikhoun? A. Sarin causes convulsions, foaming of the mouth, shrinking of pupils and watery eyes, symptoms recorded by doctors at the scene. Samples of vapour from Khan Sheikhoun have been tested in Turkey and found to include Sarin. Q. Could a conventional warhead have hit a rebel-held chemical weapons silo, as Russia and Syria insist? A. A huge amount of highly toxic vapour was released. That could only have been achieved by dropping Sarin from an aircraft using warheads containing the chemical in its liquid form  which is vaporised on impact with the ground. Q. Could warheads containing the deadly chemical have been dropped accidentally? A. About 1,100lb of liquid Sarin would be required to kill and injure so many. Youre looking at several warheads; its unlikely so many could have been mistakenly loaded on to aircraft. Q. Why would Assad risk this if hes winning? A. Before Thursday, he had got away with using chemical weapons without the West lifting a finger. President Trump cautioned against getting involved in Syria and, just days earlier, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Assads downfall was no longer a priority. And Assad wanted to target rebels before Syria has to attend the next round of ceasefire negotiations. Q. Didnt Assad give up chemical weapons as part of a UN deal in 2013? A. He did, but UN inspectors could only visit sites approved by Assad. Many experts reckoned he failed to declare around 200 tons of already manufactured Sarin. In fact, Assad didnt declare any actual Sarin, which was suspicious. Advertisement

So could North Korea's cruel Kim be next on Trump's hit list? Former army colonel fears the US president could launch air strikes on Pyongyang dictator's growing nuclear arsenal

By Ian Birrell In Seoul For The Mail On Sunday
My five-year-old daughter Saskia has a question. Are we going to meet Zeus? she asks. This is after Ive explained a little about Mount Olympus being the home of the gods.

We never meet Zeus, but we do get a taste of celestial living at Ikos Olivia, set in 22 acres in Halkidiki.

This part of mainland Northern Greece has been overlooked for years, but Halkidiki, the three-fingered claw reaching into the Aegean, has a beautiful coastline of rugged mountains leading to sandy coves, fabulous beaches and is steeped in history and culture (it was Aristotles birthplace).

A slice of serenity: The Ikos Olivia resort is a delightful all-inclusive property in Halkidiki

Ikos Olivia is on the relatively underdeveloped Sithonia peninsula, Halkidikis middle finger. Surrounded by lawns, fragrant firs and olive trees, its ideal for young children.

We are a family of four, billeted in a two-bedroom suite right on the beach front.

At dawn each day a bulldozer clears the shoreline of unsightly kelp. My three-year-old son Rafael is overcome with excitement (Look, Daddy, a bulldozer on the beach!) while I marvel at the effort involved to keep everything pristine.

It takes no time for us to settle into an indolent routine. Liveried waiters parade the beach gangway bringing us slices of water melon and chocolate milkshakes as we recline on sun loungers.

Even the sea is suffused with lethargy so that I can fitfully snooze as the children paddle in the shallows.

Full speed ahead! Sebastian's son Rafael looks overjoyed as he takes the helm on a boat trip

Sprawling: Ikos Olivia, set in 22 acres in Halkidiki, boasts golden beaches and lush gardens

The 300room hotel bills itself as an all-inclusive resort. However, we soon discover there are exclusive zones within the hotel.

On arrival, we are given a Deluxe Collection pass resembling a black credit card that gives us access to a magnificent infinity pool and a specially designated area of the beach.

And, like the proverbial Russian doll, within the exclusive zone we find another exclusive zone.

We are given a Deluxe Collection pass resembling a black credit card that gives us access to a magnificent infinity pool and a specially designated area of the beach

Some guests tell us we cannot sit on their beach loungers. They must be Gold Collection pass-holders  and good luck to them.

The scope for people-watching is endless with a diverse array of social stereotypes.

A gaggle of children criss-cross the hotel grounds on hover boards. One night at dinner I do a double-take when I see a two-year-old boy in a high chair dressed in black tie.

The next night we are seated next to a Russian family who eat in sullen silence and then I see why. Each of their three children is plugged into headphones with their eyes glued to their respective iPads.

A luxury, all-inclusive holiday might sound like a contradiction in terms and I initially share Alan Bennetts visions of greedy guests at breakfast buffets piling high their plates with food.

Ocean spray: Sebastian and his family stayed in a two-bedroom suite right on the beach front

Endless blue: Outdoor terrace areas boast manicured gardens and access to the beach

But Ikos has cracked the formula. You can eat all through the day if you feel so inclined, which mitigates the temptation to stockpile. The produce is all local, fresh (sea bass, sea bream) and bountiful.

One night we dine on the beach under the stars, which the children love.

The warmth and generosity of the waiters can border on the psychotic, though.

One of them insists on bringing us more and more food as if fattening us for slaughter.

Happily, there are endless activities to compensate for overindulgence. While I head off for a massage, Rafael merrily joins a grass aerobics class with a group of Lycra-clad ladies. After a few days, we venture out, hiring a car and exploring the east coast of Sithonia where we find two fantastic beach bars just by chance.

One night at dinner I do a double-take when I see a two-year-old boy in a high chair dressed in black tie

Las Bandidas, with its ambient music, swaying pine trees and beautiful, remote location, is pretty much perfect, while the Bahia beach bar attracts a younger, cooler crowd.

Our most memorable excursion is hiring a motorboat at Vourvourou (80 for a day) to explore the island of Galini.

The only cause for alarm is that the pilot is my son, who wants to reach Mount Athos across the Gulf of Agion Oros.

I thwart his insurrectionary impulses, regain control of the throttle and we spend the day visiting empty beaches and coves. We drop anchor, swim in clear water, then move on. Why is the sea so sensible? asks Saskia.

I could tell her that, in fact, the sea often behaves badly, violently even. But here in this tranquil slice of loveliness, it seems best to just say because it is and leave it at that.
She's a fashion favourite on and off the red carpet.

And it seems Jodi Gordon's love for fashion has been inherited by her three-year-old daughter Aleeia, whom she shares with ex-husband Braith Anasta.

The 32-year-old Mackay-born beauty often taken to Instagram to share snaps of them dressed in matching or coordinating outfits.

Two peas in a pod: It seems Jodi Gordon's love for fashion has been inherited by her three-year-old daughter Aleeia

Some of their cutest mother-daughter looks include their matching denim on denim ensemble for Mardi Gras and their summer dress and sandal lunch date outfits.

Jodi's latest post shows Aleeia helping her out by zipping up the back of a stunning white, lace frock from Misha Collection, the same dress she dazzled in at the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival a couple of weeks ago.

She captioned her post: 'Two peas in a pod.'

All smiles: The 32-year-old Mackay-born beauty often taken to Instagram to share snaps of them dressed in matching or coordinating outfits (Jodi pictured with daughter Aleeia and her mother)

Coordinated! Their cutest mother-daughter looks include their matching denim on denim ensemble for Mardi Gras

Celebrity pals and Sydney-based PR queen Roxy Jacenko was quick to comment on her mother-daughter post.

She wrote: 'That zipper issue!!! I know it too well Jodes,' adding love heart emojis.

When it comes to standing out in the crowd, the brunette stunner says her bold fashion choices make her stand put in Sydney.

'In Sydney, everyone's in a sea of black and I walk in wearing pastel pink saying I'm a Queenslander,' she told The Daily Telegraph.

Lunching ladies! Another cute outfit snap is of the duo in their summer dress and sandal lunch date outfits

'The main trend standing out to me is the beautiful rich colours, tones and textures. It has this real Victorian feel,' the Voodoo Hosiery ambassador said.

'It's a little bit darker, sexier, showing less skin, and I think that's where fashion should be,' she added.

Jodi splits her time between Sydney and Melbourne where she is busy filming soap opera Neighbours.

Her sweet post comes after a rough couple of weeks that saw the star's short lived romance with Sydney real estate agent Warren Ginsberg fizzle.

Fizzle out: Earlier in the week the star's short lived romance with Sydney real estate agent Warren Ginsberg reportedly ended

A source told Woman's Day that Warren's playboy lifestyle and Jodi's hectic schedule flying between Melbourne and Sydney was a contributing factor to the breakup.

The week before Braith sledged Jodi on The Kyle And Jackie O joking that Jodi had not returned the very expensive engagement ring he gave her and called it a 'bad investment'.

A representative for the actress told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday that Jodi 'still has the engagement ring and plans to keep it for her daughter Aleeia.'
It's the controversial show that wrapped up its fourth season on Tuesday.

And while filming may be finished, it seems stars both past and present are eager to catch-up.

On Friday night former contestant Bella Frizza took to Instagram to share a snap with Cheryl Maitland, as the two cosied up at the opening of a new bar in Surfer's Paradise.

Golden girls: Former contestant Bella Frizza took to Instagram Friday to share a snap of her with Cheryl Maitland, as the two cosied up at the opening of a new bar in Surfer's Paradise

The girls appeared relaxed and radiant as they posed together at the debut of Steampunk Surfers Paradise Bar and Eatery.

Teasing the exchange in the caption, Bella wrote: 'Did someone say Married at First Sight? #9Married'.

Cheryl showed off her ample assets in a low-cut, figure-hugging gold dress, which featured an intricate, gilded, flake pattern.

The star's trademark brunette tresses hung in loose waves around her face, with her ensemble accentuated by striking bronze make-up and a pale berry-coloured lipstick.

Cheers: The girls appeared relaxed and radiant as they posed together at the debut of Steampunk Surfers Paradise Bar and Eatery, with Bella rocking a cheetah print sequin skirtand plain black tank top

Party ready: Cheryl showed off her ample assets in a low-cut, figure-hugging gold dress, which featured an intricate, gilded, flake pattern

Bella rocked her classic platinum locks out as well, opting for lighter make-up to give her a gorgeous glow.

She wore a cheetah print sequin skirt and matched it with a plain black tank top, keeping her style simple by forgoing jewellery.

In a photo shared earlier in the night, the radio presenter was all smiles as she posed by a railing with a beverage.

She informed her 15.3k Instagram followers of the new jaunt in her caption, writing: 'Welcome to the world @steampunksurfersparadise'

Classic style: Bella rocked her trademark platinum locks out, opting for lighter make-up to showcase her gorgeous glow

Married At First Sight alum: Brunnette beauty Cheryl appeared on the recent fourth season of the hit program, making headlines after she was matched with the resident 'villain' Andrew 'Jonesy' Jones

Cheryl appeared on the recent fourth season of the hit program, making headlines after she was matched with the resident 'villain' Andrew 'Jonesy' Jones.

After a tense relationship, the pair decided to go their separate ways, with the busty beauty since reported to have moved on with Melbourne plumber Dean Gibbs.

Meanwhile, Bella was prominent addition to the 2016 season of the show, where she was paired with Michael, a Fashion Accessories Designer.

On Tuesday, the radio presenter spoke about her time on the series, opening up about her ongoing anxiety.

Speaking to Central Coast 2GO FM's Sarah and Paddy, she revealed: 'I actually went to a psychologist for a bit after it because it was really intense and it just takes over your life.'
She's one of the most divisive Real Housewives Of Sydney cast mates.

Now, Krissy Marsh, 46, has insisted she was 100 percent herself on the show.

The former model proudly defended her 'flirty' antics to The Daily Telegraph recently, before praising her 'supportive' husband.

REAL housewife: Despite swathes of crticism being leveled against her, Real Housewives Of Sydney's Krissy Marsh has defended her actions on the show

Throughout the show, the statuesque personality's rivalry with fan favourite Lisa Oldfield regularly ended in tears.

According to reports, accusations of infidelity leveled against her even resulted in her decision to ask family not to watch the show.

But the last person to apologise for her antics will likely be Krissy, who declared: 'I was 100 percent myself on the show.'

Accusations: According to reports, accusations of infidelity leveled against the 46-year-old even resulted in her decision to ask family not to watch the show.

'I do like to wear low-cut tops because that is what suits me. I am a flirty person and I knew producers would play on that, but I was not going to change,' she added.

Krissy told The Daily Telegraph that her desire to make people feel happy and comfortable is a driving force behind her actions.

Despite reports alleging the mother-of-three asked her family not to watch the show, her husband and business Mogul Johnny, who lives in Shanghai, has supported her throughout the entire process, she revealed.

Get used to it! But the last person to apologise for her antics will likely be the divisive stAR, who declared: 'I was 100 per myself on the show'

She also squashed rumours that her standing with several housemates has resulted in producers keeping her out of plans of a second season, expressing enthusiasm for the prospect.

'You are not going to get along with everyone. I have so many other things going on that I am just interested in my friends and family,' she said.

Among the uproarious claims leveled against the former model was Lisa's insistence Krissy had a 'smelly vagina.'

Got what you signed up for: 'I do like to wear low-cut tops because that is what suits me. I am a flirty person and I knew producers would play on that, but I was not going to change,' she added

Will she be back? She also squashed rumours that her standing with several housemates has resulted in producers keeping her out of plans of a second season, expressing enthusiasm for the prospect

Speaking to The Wine O' Clock show this week, Lisa even said her colleague's tendency to wear short dresses left her 'so sick of seeing Krissy's labia'.

She said: 'I was so sick of seeing Krissy's labia with those ridiculously short dresses. But I never said anything - well, I've said it now.'

Host Tam Wrigley and fellow RHOS star Athena Levendi reacted with a mixture of shock and hilarity at the remark.

Lisa is confident in assertions she's made to a variety of publications, and has continued to speak candidly to media throughout the show's run.

Tears: Throughout the show, the statuesque personality's rivalry with fan favourite Lisa Oldfield regularly ended in tears
He wrapped his latest film, The Untouchables, after shooting for three months straight.

And Kevin Hart decided to treat him and his family to a vacation for some well-deserved relaxation.

The 37-year-old comedian took to Instagram on Friday and shared a family fun picture of his wife and two kids as they soaked in the tropical sun.

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'Live Love Laugh': Kevin Hart took to Instagram on Friday to share a family fun snap of his vacation, captioning the pic '#Harts #vacation #livelovelaugh #DopePic'

The Central lntelligence actor put his muscular abs on display wearing blue swim shorts along with a brown fedora and dark sunglasses.

His significant other, Eniko Parrish, 32, looked fabulous in the snap in a light brown one-piece that highlighted her ample cleavage and toned pins.

Kevin's 12-year-old daughter Heaven stood alongside her parents in a pink top and shorts as well as nine-year-old son Hendrix who sported a tee and swimming trunks.

Bonding: The 37-year-old comedian took a well-deserved break after shooting three months straight on The Untouchables film

Good-looking pair! He treated his 32-year-old wife, Eniko Parrish, along with daughter Heaven, 12, and Hendrix, nine

The Get Hard actor - who started filming The Untouchables along with Bryan Cranston in January - was definitely enjoying his off time with his dear family.

Kevin shared multiple snaps of his vacation, bonding with his children, as he recently admitted how special and scary it is being a father to tweens.

In a recent interview with E! News, the actor said of his daughter: 'She actually talks to me [about boys], which makes me mad but I can't let her know that because she's comfortable with telling me.'

Riding in style: Kevin captioned this Instagram from Wednesday: 'I'm about to go do something that I rarely do....SIT MY ASS DOWN & RELAX! Much needed Vaca time with the family after filming for 3months'

Still working: Kevin still managed to find some time on his vacation as he snapped a shot on Friday of reading some scripts

He continued: 'My mom had two boys. It was me and my brothers, so this is me dealing with a girl at a different level. I mean this is my heart. I don't want to prohibit things, but she is a child, so you make sure she understands the parameters that she can and can't do.

Communication is extremely important, and that's what my daughter and I have. I love that.'

Meanwhile, fans can next catch the Secret Life of Pets star's Netflix original comedy special Kevin Hart: What Now? when it begins streaming on April 11.

Kevin will also voice fourth grade student George Beard in the 3D CGI flick Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, which hits US theaters June 2 and UK theaters July 28.

Coming soon: His new dramedy, which also stars Bryan Cranston and Nicole Kidman, is slated to release in 2018
He's known for not mincing his words. And Alec Baldwin didn't hold back on Friday either as he slammed his memoir's publisher Harper Collins for including 'several typos and errors' in the published version of his new book.

The 59-year-old actor's memoir Nevertheless was released on Tuesday, and he swiftly took to Facebook to express his 'surprise' at finding a number of misspellings throughout the text.

He also said that when he said he fell in love with Tina Fey, he meant he fell in love with their 'talent' as he is a happily married man.

Outspoken: Alec Baldwin has slammed his memoir's publisher Harper Collins for including 'several typos and errors' in the published version of his new book

Errors: He swiftly took to Facebook to express his 'surprise' at finding a number of misspellings throughout the text

The clan: Alec is married to Hilaria (pictured in March) and they have three children

The 30 Rock star wrote on the book's Facebook page: 'The published edition contains SEVERAL typos and errors which I was more than a little surprised to see.

'The editors at Harper Collins were, I imagine, too busy to do a proper forensic edit of the material. Therefore, the first posting here, in the coming weeks, will be an index of corrections and amendments to the text in order to bring it more in line with my original intent. (sic)'

He started by explain the purpose of the social media page: 'Welcome to the NEVERTHELESS Facebook page.

The woman he had thing for: Tina Fey with her husband Jeff Richmond on Wednesday

'This site presents me, and the reader as well, the opportunity to read supplemental material that did not make it into the original edition of my memoir, either due to the publisher's deadline, the perceived flow of the book or the author's poor memory.'

He added: 'After I post those corrections, I will offer essays on film, politics, actors/actresses and anything else that I did not address in the original book. Maybe even entire chapters that did not reveal themselves earlier on.

'Also, I will post several more photographs from my collection. The book does appear to be a bit lean in that department!

'Now, my first correction/amendment: When I write that I am "in love" with Megan Mulalley or Kate McKinnon or Tina Fey, I mean that I am in love with their talent. As a happily married man who wants to stay that way (ahem), I wanted to clarify that.'

He signed off: 'Many thanks, Alec.'
She welcomed son Jet Ocean with partner David Letts into the world, in January this year.

And Gemma Ward revealed her amazing post-baby body as she was spotted enjoying a few laps at a pool in Sydney's Palm Beach on Friday.

The 29-year-old sported a black one-piece swimsuit that featured significant cut-out detailing.

One hot mama! Gemma Ward, 29, revealed her amazing post-baby body in a one-piece swimsuit at a pool in Sydney's Palm Beach on Friday, just two months after welcoming son Jet Ocean

Gemma opted for a black one-piece swimsuit that accentuated her slender waist.

The plunging neckline showed off her cleavage, while the high-cut bottoms highlighted her endlessly long legs.

Emerging from the pool after a series of laps, the Perth-born beauty had her wet locks slicked back from her face, drawing attention to a makeup-free visage.

Gemma kept a gold watch and her wedding ring on for the session.

Sleek in black: Gemma opted for a black one-piece swimsuit that accentuated her slender waist

Leggy lady: The swimsuit's high-cut bottoms drew attention to the Perth-born star's endlessly long legs

Drying off, Gemma wrapped a striped towel around her waist.

Showing off her penchant for effortless style, the model-turned-actress shielded her eyes behind a pair of tortoise-shell sunglasses and wore open-toe taupe flats.

Coming equipped, Gemma was also seen carrying a striped white T-shirt as an extra layer.

Details: Gemma's one-piece revealed her toned back with significant cut-out detailing

Effortless style: Gemma carried a pair of goggles in one hand and kept her gold watch on for the session

The close friend of fellow models Nicole Trunfio and Jessica Gomes, welcomed her second child, baby boy Jet Ocean, in January this year.

Gemma also shares three-year-old daughter Naia with partner David Letts.

The proud mother took to Instagram late March, to showcase her beautiful baby, as he celebrated turning two-months-old.

Quick dip: The blonde beauty completed a series of laps at a Palm Beach pool

Tresses: The mother-of-two's wet locks were slicked back off her face

Low-key: Gemma showed off her blemish and makeup-free complexion

'Feeling so blessed to have such a happy smiley boy now,' Gemma gushed.

The personality, based in New York, is currently enjoying a brief stay in Sydney.

Asked how motherhood had changed her, Gemma told Daily Mail Australia last year: 'I feel really good. I feel strong because I feel really womanly and I feel like I can appreciate it (my career).

'I really love the job that I've been doing. I feel like when you have a child you can see it for its beauty,' she added.

Drying off: The personality, enjoying a brief stay in Sydney, wrapped a striped towel around her waist

Looking good, Gemma! The star, currently based in New York, sported stylish tortoise-shell sunglasses and a pair of taupe open-toe flats

After being discovered as a model at the age of 15, Gemma went on to forge an extremely successful and lucrative career in the industry - both in Australia and internationally.

She was one of the biggest names in modelling in the early 2000s, appearing on the cover of Vogue 32 times between 2004 and 2007 and was named the world's tenth highest earning model by Forbes in 2007.

She has also walked for Prada, Yves Saint Laurent, Vera Wang and and Oscar de la Renta.
Model Penny Lancaster recently revealed husband Sir Rod Stewart needs to be showered with affection when he comes off stage. And when strolling in LA, too.

She reassured the Do Ya Think Im Sexy? star hes still got it at 72 with a public show of affection as they walked arm in arm after shopping at Zara and American Apparel.

The couple have two young children, adding to Rods six offspring by models Rachel Hunter, Kelly Emberg and Alana Hamilton, and art student Susannah Boffey. But Penny says Rod is more demanding than any of them. He requires a lot of my attention, she said.

Model Penny Lancaster recently revealed husband Sir Rod Stewart needs to be showered with affection when he comes off stage. And when strolling in LA, too

Top Tory club 'turned into a Starbucks'

There's life in the Tory Party yet, judging by the latest scandal at the Conservatives spiritual home, the Carlton Club.

The London haunt, where Theresa May is an honorary life member, is still reeling from the revolt over the appointment of Major Simon Robinson as club secretary last autumn.

Members complained the Queens former aide was of ill-repute  although he denied rumours of an extra-marital affair.

Now Carlton members are threatening to resign again, due to proposals issued by deputy chairman George Kynoch.

For the first time they will be permitted to use mobile phones in the Morning Room, the discreet parlour favoured by Tory Cabinet ministers. Laptops will be allowed for business use, and the strict dress code will be relaxed.

The modernisation plans have sparked a fearsome revolt, according to a senior member, who says Baroness Thatchers former bolthole is being turned into a version of Starbucks coffee shops.

No one consulted us, the member splutters. People will be on their gadgets doing business and ignoring the polite art of conversation.

Robinson declined to respond to enquiries.

An insider says the once-elite political stronghold now appeals to the lowest common denominator.

Sam Taylor-Johnson began a relationship with actor Aaron Johnson after meeting him on the 2009 set of her directorial debut Nowhere Boy about John Lennons life, when Aaron was 18 and she was 42.

It seems the Beatles continue to feature prominently in her life. Afternoon tea with my girls, is how she captioned this photo on Instagram yesterday. Sam, 50, is snapped with two of Sir Paul McCartneys daughters, Mary, 47, (right) and her fashion designer sister Stella, 45 (centre).

Aaron, father of two children with Sam, reaches the grand old age of 27 this June. Lets hope the girls invite him to join them for a celebratory birthday tea. Extra soya milk and tofu cake all round.

Sam Taylor-Johnson (left) began a relationship with actor Aaron Johnson after meeting him on the 2009 set of her directorial debut Nowhere Boy about John Lennons life, when Aaron was 18 and she was 42.

Shark-preserver Damien Hirst is in a pickle over his home improvement plans at his 40 million London mansion overlooking Regents Park. After months of wrangling, the artists plans to build a lift on the outside of the upper floors, going down to a subterranean art gallery, have finally been blocked. The proposed lift shaft extension would harm the special interest and significance of this Grade I-listed building, say council planners.

Hirsts palatial home, designed by the great London architect John Nash, is seen as a masterpiece, unlike Hirsts latest exhibition in Venice, which some critics say should be dumped at the bottom of the sea. Back to the drawing board . . .
No doubt she is still on a high after her HBO series' success but that doesn't mean this star can go without her caffeine fix.

Reese Witherspoon filled up with a big cream topped Frappe from Starbucks in Brentwood, California, on Friday.

It was lucky the 41-year-old opted for an iced coffee, as the Big Little Lies star inexplicably decided to wear a layered look despite it being a hot day.

Caffeine pit stop: Reese Witherspoon filled up with a big cream topped Frappe from Starbucks in Brentwood, California, on Friday

For her coffee run, Reese wore a blue denim skirt with a striped shirt and a long grey cardigan.

Prior to her coffee run, Reese enjoyed a morning yoga class.

For her stretch and sweat session, the mom of three wore some simple black capri leggings with a loose-fit long sleeve black top.

Reese went makeup-free and threw her hair back in a haphazard bun.

Stretch session: Prior to her coffee run, Reese enjoyed a morning yoga class

Basic black: the mom of three wore some simple black capri leggings with a loose-fit long sleeve black top

Emerging from her class, it was clear the star had really given the class her all as he her was damp and her face was glowing.

Reese made sure to hydrate to replenish what she lost in class, and carried a big Powerade water bottle.

On Sunday the final episode oh Reese's HBO series Big Little Lies ended which a murderous shock. Reese produced the series and starred in it alongside Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern and Zoe Kravitz.
She became a household name in January after a now-infamous behind-the-scenes clip with Amber Sherlock, 41, made its way onto the web.

The 'jacketgate' saga saw Julie Snook being told by her Channel Nine colleague, to change out of her white jacket, as they could not be wearing the same hue.

And now in Saturday's The Daily Telegraph, the 29-year-old revealed: 'I would have reacted very differently.'

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'I react VERY differently now': Julie Snook, 29, revealed in Saturday's The Sydney Morning Herald, that her 'jacketgate' saga with Amber Sherlock, 41, would have taken a turn for the worse

'It wasn't a great example of how to make work decisions but if this happened even five years ago, I think I would have reacted very differently,' Julie told the publication.

'I hate confrontation but I've matured, mellowed and feel very comfortable with myself. You've got to be firm, you've got to back yourself.'

The presenter went on to explain that there is no ill-feeling between the Channel Nine staffers.

'It was a busy day during a time when we were short-staffed, the world reacted, not us, we just tried to get on with our jobs,' Julie insisted.

'Jacketgate': The saga referred to a controversial video leaked on January 12, by another Channel Nine staffer. The clip saw a fiery Amber Sherlock (centre) get into an off-air spat with Julie, as they were all wearing white, including guest Psychologist Sandy Rea (right)

Drama: Amber demanded Julie put on a jacket, reiterating her point that not everyone can wear white on screen

'Jacketgate' saga referred to a controversial video leaked on January 12, by another Channel Nine member of staff.

The clip saw a fiery Amber Sherlock get into an off-air spat with Julie, as they were both wearing white.

Amber demanded Julie put on a jacket, reiterating her point that not everyone can wear white on-screen.

The leaked footage garnered international attention due to its extremely awkward nature.

Standing up: Julie defended herself, insisting she was flat out and had not had time to change out of her outfit but Amber refused to back down, replying: 'Come on I told you two hours ago'

Cover-up: A furious Amber continued to demand her colleague change into a jacket before going live

Speaking to her producer, Amber said: 'I need Julie to put a jacket on because we're all in white. I asked her before we came on Julie you need to put a jacket on.'

Julie defended herself, insisting she was flat out and had not had time to change out of her outfit but Amber refused to back down, replying: 'Come on I told you two hours ago.'

A furious Amber continued to demand her colleague change into a jacket before going live.

The huge amount of publicity the footage received prompted both Julie and Amber to release public statements, with Amber admitting she 'probably overreacted'.
Carrie Fisher's brother has revealed Princess Leia will appear in the upcoming Star Wars Episode IX.

Todd Fisher told NY Daily News that his late sister's most famous character will appear in the closing chapter  and not via CGI.

Instead, he and Carrie's daughter Billie Lourd - who had a small cameo in The Force Awakens - agreed to let Disney to use recent footage of her.

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Return of the Jedi's sister: Carrie Fisher's brother Todd has confirmed Princess Leia WILL appear in Star Wars Episode IX (pictured 2015)

'Both of us were like, "Yes, how do you take her out of it?" And the answer is you don't, he said while attending the opening night gala of the TCM Film Festival in Los Angeles.

'She's as much a part of it as anything and I think her presence now is even more powerful than it was, like Obi Wan  when the saber cuts him down he becomes more powerful,' he added.

'I feel like that's what's happened with Carrie. I think the legacy should continue.'

In The Force Awakens Princess Leia - now a General and Resistance leader - is revealed to have had a son with Han Solo (Harrison Ford).

Mom: In The Force Awakens Princess Leia - now a General and Resistance leader - is revealed to have had a son with Han Solo (Harrison Ford)

Missed: But Fisher sadly passed away a year later; which left Disney wondering what it should do with her iconic character (pictured in 1983 on set of Return Of The Jedi)

Their child Ben (Adam Driver) follows his grandfather Darth Vader's footsteps and strays to the Dark Side, becoming Kylo Ren and ultimately murdering his father - leaving a future showdown with his surviving mother very much on fans' minds.

But Fisher sadly passed away a year later; which left Disney wondering what it should do with her iconic character.

It soon emerged that she had completed all her scenes for The Last Jedi, but a major re-shoot was reportedly considered to compensate for the tragic real world loss.

'You don't mess with this legacy,' Todd insisted. 'It would be like rewriting the Bible. To me, Star Wars is the holy grail of storytelling and lore and you can't mess with it.'

The Last Jedi is set for release on December 15, while the as-yet-untitled Episode IX arrives in 2019.
Mama June Shannon made a grand entrance as she showed off her considerable 150-pound weight loss at her ex Sugar Bear's wedding on Friday's Mama June: From Not to Hot finale on WeTV.

'I think everybody here is shocked to see Mama because nobody's seen her since she was over 400 pounds,' her daughter Lauryn, known as 'Pumpkin,' correctly predicted, as heads turned to a chorus of 'oohs' and 'aahs' while the reality star showed off her new look at the Georgia wedding.

The magic moment made for the highlight of the episode, much of which dealt with June coming to terms with her new life - and making peace with people from her old one.

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This magic moment: Mama June had jaws dropping at her prolific weight loss at Sugar Bear's wedding on Friday's Mama June: From Not to Hot finale on WeTV

The episode was built around Jennifer's wedding to Sugar Bear (Mike Thompson), as the bride-and-groom-to-be bickered over Mama June's presence at their nuptials, as Sugar Bear argued to let her come for Alana's sake.

Sugar Bear's new wife Jennifer Lamb conceded - but as a condition, made clear she did not want June entering their home.

Jennifer said while browsing through wedding favors: 'I don't want June at my wedding at all - but I'm doing it cause of Mike, and Alana is his daughter.'

But after the exes met up prior to the wedding - and Sugar Bear invited June into the home - Jennifer's arrived to see the newly-svelte June, and the bad blood was soon flowing. Jennifer said, 'What are you doing in my house? Regardless of if he invited you in, I didn't invite you here.'

Oh my! Wedding goers were stunned to see the newly-slimmed down June at Sugar Bear's nuptials

A change will do you good: Attendees marveled at the reality star's 150-pound turnaround at the event

PDA: June, seated in the background, kept her composure throughout the proceedings, as many - including the bride - did not want her there

She later told June, 'You've always been a b****, you've always been rude that's why you don't have him anymore. Get out of my house!'

June kept her cool and wished the couple luck as she honored Jennifer's wishes and exited the dwelling.

June's departure still didn't cool Jennifer's fiery temper, as she told her husband-to-be, 'I don't appreciate it, period ... this is one mama that will beat her a** today.'

Confidence booster: The reality star received a pep talk from trainer Kenya Crooks (L) and Pumpkin (R) prior to the ceremony

June said that turning the other cheek was reflective of her major life changes.

'I wanted to say something to her,' June said, noting that 'it felt good just to take the high road' in the testy situation.

Sugar Bear admitted he was conflicted and hoped Jennifer and June could get along for Alana's sake. Mama June said that the events marked another step in the right direction in her life.

Taking the high road: June (L) withstood Jennifer's (R) verbal hostility and kept her head held high

'Now that I've said goodbye to Sugar Bear, I can focus on finding my own true love I know I'm never going to go back to the old June - I'm a better person,' she said. 'This is a new June; new transformation, new birth. People that havent seen me are going to be shocked.'

Earlier in the episode, Mama June said she was 'nervous as hell' to see Sugar Bear for the first time since she shed her extra pounds while chatting with daughters Alana 'Honey Boo Boo' and Lauryn 'Pumpkin.'

June said that despite the butterflies in her stomach, she didn't think the weight loss would have Sugar Bear second-guessing himself in their split.

Bad vibes: June withstood a verbal onslaught from Jennifer to support her daughter Alana

'I'm probably gonna be too damn skinny for that a**,' she said.

To keep things copacetic, Pumpkin brought June a date for the wedding: Her positive-minded trainer Kenya Crooks, who tried to calm June's nerves with reassuring words and compliments about her updated figure.

'Lord you are killing it! ... you've got a new body, you've got a new attitude,' he told June, who said she felt 'like Marilyn Monroe' in the red dress she was wearing to the wedding.

When Sugar Bear got his first look at June post-weight loss as they met up on his porch before the wedding, he was shocked at his ex's appearance.

'Oh s***! I have never seen June look that good,' he said, noting that the weight loss marked 'a dramatic change' in her appearance.

'I'm proud of her,' he said, inviting her into his home for a chat.

Shocker: June's mother Sandra was shocked at her daughter's weight loss, but not for the better

As they conversed in the home, she told him, 'I hope you treat Jennifer better and that she never has to go through what me and the kids had to go through.'

As wedding guests arrived on the rainy day in the South, they, like Sugar Bear, were taken aback by June's drastic change in look.

Pumpkin said, 'Mamas going to flip a lid when she sees the people that Jennifer invited.'

Those people included Mama June's sister-in-law, niece and mother Sandra Hale - the latter of whom she hasn't spoken to in three years amid searing tension.

Sandra didn't hold back her contempt for her daughter, taking cracks at her figure and hair within June's earshot.

Comic relief: Whenever issues ran deep, Alana was there to lighten the mood with her hysterical quips

After they exchanged vows, Jennifer and Sugar Bear engaged in a long and passionate kiss, causing their guests to squirm in discomfort.

'It was like a damn woolly mammoth eating a fish,' June said, while Jennifer glowed over her new spouse: 'I love my Mike, he knows how to kiss a woman.'

After the ceremony, Kenya did his best to reunite Mama June with her estranged mother Sandra, but his overtures fell on deaf ears.

Keeping the mood up: June's trainer Kenya wore many hats on the day - motivator, coach, peacemaker - as he accompanied his famous client to the nuptials

'She said some things on the air that are untrue and I don't appreciate it,' Sandra said, while June later commented: 'I went through too much improvement in my life to let her back into my life.'

Mama June took the snubs in stride, wishing the two a happy marriage as she departed the scene.

'I didn't kill anybody, I took the high road today,' a satisfied June said.

After the wedding, June symbolically burned her old clothes in a bonfire in the woods, joking, 'That fire is smoking hot like me.'

Tension builds: (L-R) June, Alana and Kenya didn't know quite what to expect as they approached the wedding

Alana tossed her mother's former underpants into the blaze, saying, 'Goodbye granny panties!

'It fell really, really good to burn my clothes,' June said, showing her newfound self-discipline as she passed on a marshmallow roast.

'I'm beginning to like the new Mama,' Alana said, 'especially if it means more marshmallows for me!'

The episode ended on a cliff-hanger, as Mama June was seen doubled over in 'excruciating' pain the morning after the wedding, complaining to Pumpkin and Alana of her misery.

Saying goodbye: June was surrounded by her loved ones as she ceremonially tossed her old duds into a bonfire

'I can't even get the f--- up. I'm gonna pass out,' she groused.

Pumpkin summoned June's bodyguard Luke to the premises, where they later called an ambulance to rush her to the emergency room.

The postscript will be revealed on a new Mama June special airing Friday at 8:30/7:30c on WeTV.

Under the weather: June was suffering the morning after the emotional affair, as her daughters flocked to her side
They're both poised, statuesque and face-meltingly beautiful.

Zoe Saldana, 38, arrived at Madame Tussauds in Hollywood on Friday to unveil her waxwork.

The Guardians Of The Galaxy star was joined by her husband Margo Perego, mother Asalia Nazario and grandmother Argentina Cesse.

Guardian of the gal waxy! Zoe Saldana unveiled her waxwork at Madame Tussauds in Hollywood on Friday

The actress rocked a more casual outfit than her doppelganger, who was dressed in an elegant floor-length baby pink gown.

The real deal meanwhile wore flared Harrison trousers with an off the shoulder black Cartwright top, both by Roland Mouret.

The Latina stunner also wore decidedly less make-up than her than her less talkative counterpart.

Snap: The actress rocked a more casual outfit than her doppelganger, who was dressed in an elegant floor-length baby pink gown

Pick: The Guardians Of The Galaxy star was joined by her husband Margo Perego

Family affair: Her mother Asalia Nazario and grandmother Argentina Cesse were also on hand

Both Zoe and her hubby took turns planting kisses on the statue's cheek  the former looking playfully unimpressed at the latter.

The couple share two-year-old twin boys, Bowie and Cy; and announced in February the arrival of their third son, Zen.

Zoe frequently shares pictures of her children on Instagram, but always obscures their faces.

Chill: The real deal meanwhile wore flared Harrison trousers with an off the shoulder black Cartwright top, both by Roland Mouret

Peck: Both Zoe and her hubby took turns planting kisses on the statue's cheek

Gasp! The former looked playfully unimpressed at the latter's turn

'Marco and I have a great deal of respect for the privacy of our kids,' she told People last week, 'theyre dependent on us so theyre not in a position to make choices for themselves.'

'We have to choose for them and part of that is giving them the anonymity that they need so that they can feel safe and not aware of anything around them. When cameras are in their faces, it would probably be traumatizing for a child who has yet to understand whats going on.

'This is the path that weve chosen, we have to wait for their choices to be heard so in the meantime, we need to protect their environment and were all about that,' she added.

Trio: The couple share two-year-old twin boys, Bowie and Cy; and announced in February the arrival of their third son, Zen
She was the eighth to be evicted from I'm A Celebrity's South African jungle.

And after her stint on the reality show, Ash Pollard and her co-stars caught up for lunch at a Melbourne restaurant, a far cry from the rationed meals on the camp on Saturday.

The 30-year-old took to Instagram to share a high angled groupfie (group selfie) alongside former AFL star Dane Swan, comedian Nazeem Hussain and shock jock Steve Price, who appears to have treated his co-stars to the lunch.

One of the boys? I'm A Celebrity's Ash Pollard shares a group picture of her reunion with camp mates former AFL star Dane Swan, comedian Nazeem Hussain and shock jock Steve Price for lunch at Melbourne restaurant France Soir

The group were arm in arm and all smiles to be hanging out with each other again, but in more civilisied, and cleaner, circumstances.

'It happened! Pricey, true to his word, took me (and the boys) to lunch for successfully completing the Viper Room,' Ash captioned her post.

'Good to have our little clique back together. Wasn't the same without @krissmith13 though! #boyslunch #imacelebrityau #wepoppedwaytoimanycorks #feelingittoday', she added.

Post reality show pals: After her time on the show, Ash also caught up with Lisa Curry in Cape Town

Their pal Kris Smith was the first to reply back with the hashtag: '#spewing'

One dedicated fan of the reality show said: 'Miss the show so much, so over the crap thats on the tele at the moment.'

Another Instagram user commented: 'Good on your Pricey. What a lovely man.'

Made-up: After tensions rose between former Olympian Lisa, 54 and My Kitchen Rules Contestant Ash, 30, they looked to be much more relaxed and rejuvenated having finally left the jungle

Ash also reunited with Lisa Curry after accidentally bumping into each other in Cape Town, South Africa after the show.

Ash shared a selfie and wrote in the captioned:'Strolling through Capetown and look who I bump into out of the blue.

'What are the chances?!! Good to clarify that #nutellagate was once an issue and has now found itself a resolution'.

Simple but chic: Looking radiant, the reality TV star wore a simple but elegant white blouse paired with a chocolate brown pencil skirt

Soon after arriving back from the jungle, she returned to the social scene stepping out at the World's 50 Best Restaurants Awards in Melbourne.

Looking radiant, the reality TV star wore a simple but elegant white blouse paired with a chocolate brown pencil skirt and teamed her look with a pair of nude heels and a black handbag.

Ash wore her signature blonde locks out and kept her makeup simple with a defined brow, lashings of mascara and nude lip.
Now that the temperatures in Los Angles are rising, so is this star's hemline.

Ariel Winter stepped out in some very short shorts as she grabbed a bite to eat on Friday.

The 19-year-old headed to sushi with bestie Jessie Berg in Studio City, California.

Girls' day: Ariel Winter stepped out in some very short shorts as she grabbed a bite to eat on Friday with bestie Jessie Berg in Studio City, California

The Modern Family star dared to bare in a pair of tiny cut off black denim shorts which she wore pulled up on her hips.

The barely-there shorts ensured the star showed off plenty of her derriere as she jumped out of her Mercedes G Wagon.

The actress paired the shorts with a cropped grey halterneck which showed off her stomach.

Ariel opted not to wear a bra as thanks to her breast reduction surgery she now can forgo the extra piece of underwear.

So cheeky: The Modern Family star dared to bare in a pair of tiny cut off black denim shorts which she wore pulled up on her hips

Top of the crops: The actress paired the shorts with a cropped grey halterneck which showed off her stomach

Finishing off her look, the star added a pair of Alexander McQueen sneakers which featured an oversize sole.

Jesse meanwhile went for a more covered up look wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt.

But like her famous pal, she could not help but flash a little bit of skin so tied the tee up at the front.
Dedicated TOWIE fans watched transfixed as her relationship with Pete Wicks finally ended after a slow and dramatic breakdown.

And despite her relationship woes, Megan McKenna looked thrilled to be out in central London for the evening as she posed for pictures in sexy-chic attire at upscale eatery Nobu Berkeley St in Mayfair on Friday night.

The 24-year-old beauty was accompanied by brunette bestie Madison Brown for the evening, avoiding all drama after it emerged earlier this week that she enjoyed a night out with her former long-term boyfriend Harry Eden directly after splitting from her tattooed ex.

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Hot: TOWIE's Megan McKenna flaunted her figure in sexy-chic attire at upscale eatery Nobu Mayfair on Friday after revelations about her drunken night with a former beau emerged

Megan strolled into the establishment boasting a glamorous up-do and stylish ensemble.

Revealing a hint of cleavage, the reality star looked incredibly slender in her suit-jacket inspired minidress.

With her sleeves rolled up to the elbow and a fabulous pout, the newly-single television personality looked ready to take on the world.

Moving on up: With her sleeves rolled up to the elbow and a fabulous pout, the newly-single television personality looked ready to take on the world

Chic: Revealing a hint of cleavage, the reality star looked incredibly slender in her suit-jacket inspired minidress

Gorgeous: Megan strolled into the establishment boasting a glamorous up-do and stylish ensemble

Opting for classic and understated accessories, Megan added the finishing touches to her simple and elegant attire with a dainty leather clutch.

While the addition of towering ankle-strapped heels elongated her bronzed, toned legs even further.

Megan sported her signature smoky-eyed, contoured look for her sushi meal, adding a touch of pink to her lips.

Beautiful: Opting for classic and understated accessories, Megan added the finishing touches to her simple and elegant attire with a dainty leather clutch

Simply stunning: While the addition of towering ankle-strapped heels elongated her bronzed, toned legs even further

Elegant: Megan sported her signature smoky-eyed, contoured look for her sushi meal, adding a touch of pink to her lips

Hand in hand: Megan headed for her healthy fish meal with her and TOWIE co-star Amber Turner's bestie Madison Brown

Megan headed for her healthy fish meal with her and TOWIE co-star Amber Turner's bestie Madison Brown.

Madison is frequently seen out with her reality star friends, despite not being on the ITVbe show herself.

Opting for similar makeup choices to her famous pal, Madison showed off her toned midriff in a sexy sequinned corset crop top and figure-hugging maxi skirt, featuring a thigh-high split.

Helpful friend: Madison is frequently seen out with her reality star friends, despite not being on the ITVbe show herself

Smiling: Despite her relationship issues, Megan looked thrilled to be out in central London for the evening as she posed for pictures alongside her brunette bestie

Eye catching: Opting for similar makeup choices to her famous pal, Madison showed off her toned midriff in a sexy sequinned corset crop top and figure-hugging maxi skirt, featuring a thigh-high split

Her stunning appearance came days after Megan was shown on the hit reality show denying all assertions that she'd cheated on Pete with an ex as their relationship hit troubled waters.

On Wednesday night, TOWIE fans watched as an emotional and tense Megan and Pete met for the first time since their split to clear the air.

And later in the week it emerged the star had enjoyed a drunken night with an ex - but after splitting from the tattooed hunk.

The lucky man in question was revealed to be former child star Henry Eden, who starred as The Artful Dogder in Roman Polanski's Oliver Twist remake.

Henry dated the brunette beauty for two years until 2014, and now runs Maisons Bar in Chelmsford, Essex - a favoured haunt of the TOWIE cast.

Megan herself has not publicly named Henry, but has insisted she did nothing wrong, as she and Pete were already done.

When contacted by MailOnline for comment, a representative for Megan McKenna said: 'Megan has been accused of being on a night out with her ex after she had split up with Pete, she has not been accused of cheating on Pete with her ex.'

Mystery solved? Harry Eden has been named as the mystery ex that Megan enjoyed a drunken night out with as her relationship with Pete came to an end recently

Emotional: As rumours began to swirl among Essex, Megan McKenna and Pete Wicks met for the first time since their split to clear the air during Wednesday's episode of TOWIE

Businessman: Harry, who dated Megan for two years until 2014, now runs Essex's Maisons Bar
She reunited with her on-again, off-again love Rob Kardashian earlier this month.

And Blac Chyna showed her fiance exactly what he missed out on during their time apart as she went braless in a stunning black floor-length gown on Snapchat.

Channelling Gothic chic in the jaw-dropping raven dress, the reality star looked ready for the Paris catwalk as she posed up on the steps of a luxurious mansion.

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Breathtaking: Blac Chyna struck a coy pose in the jaw-dropping number, despite flashing a little more flesh than expected through the sheer gown

Looking good: The star reunited with her on-again, off-again love Rob Kardashian earlier this month

At first glance the glamorous high-necked number seemed an uncharacteristically demure look for the reality star.

But Chyna ramped up the sauciness by forgoing a bra to show off her gravity-defying assets through the sheer material.

The figure-hugging gown made a stylish sartorial statement and hugged Chyna's enviable curves and pert derriere.

Anywhere's a catwalk: Blac looked fierce as she struck a powerful pose on the steps of a luxury house

The revealing mullet-style dress featured sheer black lace panels, with quirky feathered sleeves and a transparent flowing train.

The style maven looked confident as she strutted through the grounds of what appeared to a luxury mansion, exposing her toned legs through the gown's peek-a-boo fabric.

The diminuitive model paired the sophisticated look with vertiginous strappy monochrome sandals which added an additional five inches to her petite height.

Catwalk worthy: The look was stunning from all angles as Blac worked the paving slabs to show off her platinum wig and pert posterior

Modelesque: Blac looked a vision of beauty as she worked the gown by a swimming pool

Keeping the focus on the dress, the 28-year-old sported flowing waist-length platinum locks teamed with natural glowing make-up including ebony fluttery lashes, nude cheeks and a slick of baby pink lipstick.

Her rocky romance with Rob has set tongues wagging since the pair rekindled their love earlier this month.

In a Snapchat video posted last month, the beauty made it abundantly clear that her and Rob were an item once again. She is seen full of glee as she accepts a kiss from the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star.

The two are also very grabby with each other as she sits atop him.

Rekindled romance: The pair showed their romance is well and truly back on with this amorous Snapchat video

They seem to be in her home in Calabasas which she also shares with son Cairo, aged four, who she had with rapper Tyga (who is also Kylie Jenner's beau).

The Rob & Chyna stars split in mid February. They have a daughter together named Dream, aged four months.

Rob proposed to Chyna in April 2016. One month later they announced they were expecting their first child. The two welcomed their daughter, Dream Renee, in November.

Things took a turn for the worst in their relationship just before Christmas when a fight nearly ended their engagement.

But the new year appeared to be less rocky. The two have been filming the second season of Rob & Chyna for E! It should debut in the fall.
Fans were left in tears during Friday night's episode of Emmerdale after Ashley Thomas sadly lost his battle with degenerative vascular dementia.

In the emotional scenes, the vicar, played by John Middleton, is seen recognising his wife Laurel for the first time in months, and saying her name one last time before passing away.

Viewers immediately took to Twitter to praise the heart-wrenching scenes - penning it a 'poignant' and 'wonderfully acted' portrayal of the disease.

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Farewell: Fans were left in tears during Friday night's episode of Emmerdale after Ashley Thomas sadly lost his battle with degenerative vascular dementia

In the devastating scenes, Ashley is seen smiling at his wife Laurel, played by Charlotte Bellamy, and saying her name for the first time in weeks.

Clearly overwhelmed, Laurel then bursts into tears of joy - holding on to his hand for an extended period of time before heading upstairs to find him more pillows.

However upon her return, Ashley had sadly taken his last breath, leaving his wife to bid her final farewell.

He's back: In the devastating scenes, Ashley is seen smiling at his wife Laurel, played by Charlotte Bellamy, and saying her name for the first time in weeks

Can't believe it: Clearly overwhelmed, Laurel then bursts into tears of joy - holding on to his hand for an extended period of time before heading upstairs to find him more pillows

Teary-eyed fans immediately flocked to Twitter to praise the beloved ITV soap for such well-acted scenes in a 'poignant' end to Ashley's storyline.

One wrote: 'A simple, yet stunningly heartfelt ending for the lovely Ashley. We'll miss you #emmerdale #byeashley'

While another added: '#Emmerdale Ashley's departure so sad. Beautifully done and wonderfully acted. Original, meaningful and poignant story line. Well done all.'

RIP: However upon her return, Ashley had sadly taken his last breath

Devastated: Laurel was left distraught as she discovered her husband's dead body

One last goodbye: The emotionally-charged scene finished with Laurel cuddling her husband one final time

A further viewer confessed: 'Can't stop crying #Emmerdale #Ashley #Laurel beautiful actors. So emotional right now'

Left more distraught by the events, others admitted: 'Was not prepared to be hit so hard by Ashley's death #emmerdale' and 'Wow #emmerdale so emotional, I'm in bits...'

Others chimed in: 'Heartbreaking, brilliant, stunning piece of TV, #emmerdale was fantastic tonight. Tears flowing. Well done to all involved.'

Impressed: Teary-eyed fans immediately flocked to Twitter to praise the beloved ITV soap for such well-acted scenes in a 'poignant' end to Ashley's storyline

Praising the actors themselves, another added: 'How amazing were John Middleton and Charlotte Bellamy in tonight's #emmerdale. Heartbreaking'

John and Charlotte had appeared on This Morning earlier on Friday to discuss his final scene - which he admits was an incredibly emotional experience.

Admitting he wouldn't be tuning in to the final episode, John said: 'We've seen it twice already. I don't think I want to watch myself die again!'

End of an era: John and Charlotte had appeared on This Morning earlier on Friday (above) to discuss his final scene - which he admits was an incredibly emotional experience

Giving it a miss: Admitting he wouldn't be tuning in to the final episode, John said: 'We've seen it twice already. I don't think I want to watch myself die again!'

'It was an extraordinary thing to film. The atmosphere on the set was amazing, you could have heard a pin drop. We really wanted to tell the story well and finish it properly.'

Ruth Langsford, who was presenting This Morning alongside husband Eamonn Holmes, revealed that she had been following the storyline closely due to her own experience of her father's dementia.

She said: 'My father had dementia and you've done it proud! For all the families who have got people with dementia, you really have done a fantastic job, so thank you from all of us.'

Overwhelming: Talking of filming the scene, he said: 'The atmosphere on the set was amazing, you could have heard a pin drop. We really wanted to tell the story well and finish it properly'

John explained: 'We're quite literally stopped in the streets most days. People will come up to us and say, "Thank you very much, I don't feel so alone". That's a wonderful endorsement.'

The actor even gushed that one particular scene, which saw an episode told from Ashley's confused perspective, had caught the attention of dementia charities.

'The Alzheimer's Society are using that episode as a training video so they can show the effects of dementia', John enthused.

Powerful: They also admitted the story had been met with a rave reception from viewers, explaining: 'People will come up to us and say, "Thank you very much, I don't feel so alone'

John has starred as Ashley on the soap for two decades, but announced he was finally departing earlier this year.

He continued on This Morning that one of the hardest things was to let go of his friends as well as his character - who he has worked so closely with for so long.

John said: 'For me, losing the show [is hard], I've been in it for 20 years. Charlotte and I will stay friends, but I really love working with her and I won't be doing that anymore!'
She is known for making statement at glamorous A-list affairs.

All eyes were on Amber Heard when she attended the star-studded fourth annual unite4:humanity gala at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California on Friday.

The 30-year-old turned heads as she stepped out in a white button-down long-sleeved shirt.

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Looking good: Amber Heard turned heads in tight fitted shirt with a flashy bow tie and slacks at the fourth annual unite4:humanity gala at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California on Friday

The ex-wife of Johnny Depp pulled off a killer look with a bowtie and peep-toe boots showing off her dark purple toenails.

Dressed in black and white, the Hollywood star made a statement as she wore a flash of red lipstick and smoky-eyed makeup.

The A-lister added a hint of sparkle to her appearance with a pair of gorgeous diamond earrings.

Flash of red! Dressed in black and white, the Hollywood star made a statement as she wore bold lipstick and smoky-eyed makeup

Letting her hair down: The 30-year-old let her glossy golden locks fall to her waist in curls as she pulled off a stunning tousled look

Showing that accessories are king, the American actress teamed her black slacks with a white belt for a striking look.

She let her glossy golden locks fall down to her waist, pulling off a tousled look.

The Texas-born beauty stood out from the star-studded crowd including model Cara Delevingne, 24, and reality TV star Lisa Vanderpump who was accompanied by her husband Ken Todd and her dressed up pooch.

Accessories are king: The American actress teamed her black slacks with a white belt for a striking look

Amber's appearance at the gala comes two months after her divorce from Depp which was finalised in Los Angeles Supreme Court in January.

The former flames reached a settlement in August, just 12 months after they were married.

Now she is in line to receive $6.8million which she plans to donate to charity.

Meanwhile, Amber is starring in the upcoming thriller London Fields which will hit cinemas later this year.

She will play Nicola Six in the flick which is based on the 1989 novel of the same name by Martin Amis alongside Delevingne who is taking on the role of Kath Talent.

The famous duo will be joined by Billy Bob Thornton, Jaimie Alexander and Theo James in the Mathew Cullen-directed film.
She announced she was checking herself into rehab in Spain last month to 'battle her demons' once and for all.

And Danniella Westbrook said a painful goodbye to her son Kai, 20, on Friday as he dropped her off at the airport ahead of her recovery stint.

The actress, 43, documented the pair's tearful farewell in a string of emotional Instagram posts, which saw her declare she will do whatever it takes to be 'a better momma and a better woman'.

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Farewell: Danniella Westbrook said a painful goodbye to her son Kai, 20, on Friday as he dropped her off at the airport ahead of her stint in rehab

Clearly nervous about the coming weeks, Danniella took to Instagram to document her final hours in the UK before heading to Spain to attend a rehab centre.

She first shared a sweet selfie with her 20-year-old with fans, as he dropped her off at the airport ahead of her long journey.

While the pair smiled for cameras in hope for the future, Danniella then showed her determination to better herself in a caption posted on top.

New chapter: The actress, 43, documented the pair's tearful farewell in a string of Instagram posts, which saw her declare she will do whatever it takes to be 'a better momma'

Upset: After saying goodbye however, she then went on to share a number of emotionally-charged selfies of her crying, to display her heartache at leaving her three children behind

Ready to welcome treatment with open arms for the sake of her kids, she wrote: 'Saying goodbye to my kids is hard but it's gonna be ok we have a strong bond and I'm a strong woman and I will do whatever it takes to a better momma and a better woman.'

After paying a tearful farewell to her son however, she then went on to share a number of emotionally-charged selfies of her crying, to display her heartache at leaving her three children behind.

One saw a tear falling down her face with the caption admitting that her 'heart breaks' saying goodbye to Kai, while another saw her more determinedly write 'I got this' on a photo with her head in her hands.

Emotional: One saw a tear falling down her face with the caption admitting that her 'heart breaks' while another saw her write 'I got this' on a photo with her head in her hands

Beside the snaps she admitted she was devastated to be leaving her family, but acknowledged that they are her main motivation to succeed and find peace.

She said: 'My heart breaks for all the right reasons x I know so many good things are coming I just gotta hold on and dig deep x mucho issues to put to bed once and for all xx but I got this #treatment #thewestbrook #thisgirlcan'

The actress announced last month that she was checking herself into a rehab centre in Spain, after admitting her 'demons' were making her weak to her addictions.

Nostalgic: She also shared a throwback snap of her and her kids from years gone by, as she jetted off to try and bid farewell to her 'demons'

Danniella, who was formerly treated for a cocaine addiction, took to Instagram has to inform followers of her news - and reveal she had a miscarriage last year.

The star explained that appearing on Channel 5's In Therapy show, where she discussed her experience of sexual abuse, was one of the reasons she was checking into a centre.

Atop the appearance in June 2016, she also referenced her marriage to businessman Kevin Jenkins and her devastating split from ex George Arnold - before claiming she suffered a miscarriage last year.

Big things: The actress announced last month that she was checking herself into a rehab centre in Spain, after admitting her 'demons' were making her weak to her addictions

Honest: Danniella, who was formerly treated for a cocaine addiction, took to Instagram has to inform followers of her news - and reveal she had a miscarriage last year (above)

She wrote: 'So I'm checking in to treatment again. The therapy show I did cost me a lot of heart ache painful childhood memories & trauma that the show didn't fix .

'Put that with a total lie and sham of a marriage the illness from botched bodies botching my health and a break up from the only man I ever loved and loosing a baby last year , I think it's time I did this once and for all for myself my kids and my very small but close circle of friends .

'Am I scared yes but I do want a quality of life I don't have today and the freedom of a life without Demons haunting me and making me weak to my addictions...

Open wounds: The star explained that appearing on Channel 5's In Therapy (above) where she discussed her experience of sexual abuse, was one of the reasons she was returning to rehab

'So in a few weeks time I shall be checking in to a friends treatment centre and I won't be leaving until I'm a 100% well in my mind body and (love).'

Danniella, who shares Kai from a brief relationship with Robert Fernandez, has previously revealed she suffered a miscarriage with ex Tom Williams in 2014 - yet details of losing a child last year have never been released.

Fans swarmed the site to show support for the star, writing: 'Good luck to you it takes a brave person to face their demons and come out the other side, good on you and lotsa luck love and best wishes xx'

Another added: 'Soo soo proud of you Danniella. Noo matter how many times you get knocked back down you always keep getting back up and dusting yourself off!'
Carrie Bickmore has admitted she struggles striking the right balance between her family life and her job as a TV presenter.

The 36-year-old says she's often overwhelmed by a pain in the pit of her stomach at work - as she yearns to be at home with her young daughter Evie.

And as the show she's become synonymous with - The Project - prepares to broadcast it's 2,000th episode, she opened up to co-host Waleed Aly in an interview for The Daily Telegraph.

Balancing act: Carrie Bickmore has admitted she struggles striking the right balance between her family life and her job as a TV presenter

She said: 'Im very, very  more than I ever have been  aware of my time with my family, and I realise for my own mental health I have to have it or my life is out of whack.'

Carrie's worries about spending enough time with children Evie, 2, and Oliver, 9, and partner Chris Walker manifest themselves in a peculiar way.

The broadcaster told her co-host that she constantly wonders what fears other mothers have - the only thing that gives her 'solace'.

The 36-year-old says she's often overwhelmed by a pain in the pit of her stomach at work - as she yearns to be at home with her young daughter Evie

Small talk: And as the show she's become synonymous with - The Project - prepares to broadcast it's 2,000th episode, she opened up to co-host Waleed Aly

Proud parent: Carrie's worries about spending enough time with children Evie, 2, and Oliver, 9, and partner Chris Walker manifest themselves in a peculiar way

She said: 'This is going to sound really creepy, but I'll often be driving to work and I'll look at a mum next to me in her car with an empty baby seat or an empty car seat in the back and I'll look at her and I'll be like, "I wonder if she's got the same pain in the pit of her stomach that I have right now?".

Carrie began her career as a newsreader at a Perth radio station before landing a job co-hosting a show with Andy Ross on Nova.

Her big break in television followed in 2009 when she began hosting The Project - originally known as The 7pm Project.

TV times: Carrie's big break in television came in 2009 when she began hosting The Project - originally known as The 7pm Project

Glittering career: Three Logie awards have been reward for her work on the show, and Carrie says she still cares as much about the public's opinion of her as she ever has done

Three Logie awards have been reward for her work on the show, and Carrie says she still cares as much about the public's opinion of her as she ever has done.

But as the show approaches a significant milestone, the TV presenter did concede that she's not able to please everyone.

She said: 'The older Im getting and the more I realise whats important to me and what matters to me and who I want to be, the more comfortable I am that not everybody is going to agree with me or like who I am or what I stand for.'
He is known for his take-no-prisoners antics on both his star-studded sofa and the infamous tilting red chair.

But Graham Norton outdid himself on Friday night's show as he flipped an excited Italian contributor off the chair just moments before the father-to-be was to reveal the sex of their baby to his wife for the very first time.

Guest Gary Barlow warned the presenter not to do it, but the cheeky host took no heed, creating a moment of television gold.

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Prankster: Graham Norton flipped an excited father-to-be off the red chair seconds before his Italian guest revealed the sex of their baby to his wife for the very first time on Friday's show

Proud expectant father Valerio had saved the big news for his appearance on the hit panel show.

He and his beloved wife Alma had made a pact to discover the sex of their unborn child at a special occasion, after the couple disagreed over wanting to know.

Alma was keen to know her baby's sex as soon as possible, but Valerio wanted to remain in ignorance - prompting the couple to create an unusual pact.

Important piece of paper: Proud expectant father Valerio had saved the big news for his appearance on the hit panel show

Going, going, gone: But the expectant parent did not get the chance to deliver his news before being summarily overturned

Their doctor wrote down the sex of their foetus on a piece of paper ready for the right moment.

And Valerio decided his spot on the red chair - in full knowledge he was at the mercy of the comedic show host's lever - was the very 'special occasion' the couple had been waiting for to learn the big news.

All had gone according to plan for the excited couple, until Graham decided he had heard enough.

Excited: Valerio and his beloved wife Alma had made a pact to discover the sex of their unborn child at a special occasion, after the couple disagreed over wanting to know

Blonde beauty: Alma waited expectantly with all eyes on her to hear the news

Shocked? The soon-to-be mum's look when her husband was flipped over was priceless

Is knowledge power? Alma was keen to know her baby's sex as soon as possible, but Valerio wanted to remain in ignorance - prompting the couple to create an unusual pact

To the shock and gasps of the famous guests on the Irish host's sofa, Graham flipped Valerio back head over heels seconds before he said 'boy' or 'girl'.

Take That and Let It Shine star Gary Barlow was the first to anticipate the move, exclaiming: 'Don't you dare!' before the father-to-be went head over heels.

Meanwhile comedian Jack Whitehall and Game of Thrones star Gemma Whelan could not stop laughing at the hilarious scenario.

NO! Guest Gary Barlow warned the presenter not to do it, but the cheeky host took no heed, creating a moment of television gold

The audience watching at home were equally enthralled, with many praising Graham for his antics.

One viewer said the moment reduced him to tears, writing: 'A guy announced the gender of his and his wife's baby as a surprise for her on Graham Norton I'm crying.'

While another added: 'Tipping the Italian man from the red chair just before he revealed to his wife the sex of their expected baby. Class. (crying emoji)'

Cheeky: The host is known for his take-no-prisoners antics on both his star-studded sofa and infamous tilting red chair

What? To the shock and gasps of the famous guests on the Irish host's sofa, Graham flipped Valerio back head over heels seconds before he said 'boy' or 'girl'

Perhaps regretting his choice, or maybe because his sofa of guests appeared to be keen to discover whether Valerio and Alma were having a boy or a girl, Graham allowed the eager parent to return to the seat.

To the delight of audience members everywhere, the piece of paper revealed the adorable couple are to have a daughter.

Blonde beauty Alma could be seen with eyes filled with tears in the moment as Valerio blinked rapidly.
She is having the time of her life on a cosy getaway to Mauritius with her beau JP Patterson ahead of welcoming their first child.

And pregnant Bikini Felstead, 26, proudly revealed her tanned blossoming bump as she lay baking in the sunshine on Instagram on Saturday.

Wearing only her bikini, the Kings Road queen put her glorious baby bump on display in the sizzling snap.

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Beach bump ready! Bikini-clad Binky Felstead showed off her blossoming baby belly on beach on romantic babymoon with boyfriend JP Patterson

She sipped on a coconut drink soaking up the paradise bliss of her tropical surroundings.

With barely anyone in sight, Binky cosied up with JP Patterson on the beach as they enjoyed their romantic babymoon together away from the Made In Chelsea crowd.

The mum-to-be looked out onto the glistening beautiful blue sea as she relaxed on the warm golden sand.

As the MIC beauty sat listening to the peaceful sound of the waves, the towering palm trees sheltered her from the blistering heat of the sunshine.

It's love: Binky cosied up with JP Patterson on the beach as they enjoyed their romantic babymoon together away from the Made In Chelsea crowd

Writing on Instagram, she said: 'Coconut, brown bump and sausage legs!'

The TV personality is in her element as she has taken to pregnancy like a duck takes to water.

The 26-year-old has been sharing cosy snaps from the couple's holiday with her legion of 1.2million fans.

She appeared to be in a state of bliss as she slipped into a bikini to watch the sunset from a hammock in the sea.

Idyllic: The 26-year-old appeared to be in a state of bliss on her babymoon in Mauritius as she slipped into a bikini to watch the sunset from a hammock in the sea

Taking to Instagram last week, her boyfriend, Josh 'JP' Patterson, shared the snap which he sweetly captioned: 'My girls enjoying the sunset #sunset #holiday #babymoon'.

Binky - who is expecting a baby girl - shared the same picture, adding: 'Love this shot Josh took so much of bump & I taking it all in that I had to repost it!'

Earlier this month, she treated fans to another glimpse of her enviable getaway as she shared snaps of her couple's massage JP.

The Made In Chelsea starlet was seen cuddled up to her beau as they relaxed after the treat.

Cute couple: Binky treated fans to another glimpse of her enviable getaway as she shared snaps of her couple's massage with Josh 'JP' Patterson on Instagram earlier this month

She captioned the snap: 'Such a wonderful treat, thank you @luxlemorne We just had the most incredible 90 minute massages hence looking all oily....

'Then had this little yummy surprise under the starts feeling so relaxed and spoilt #babymoon #mauritius [sic]'

Whilst it may have been a relaxing experience for the pair, JP appeared to be full of beans as he was seen dancing around the gazebo.

Sharing the clip, Binky was heard giggling away as her beau stripped to his underwear for the saucy offering.

Bottoms up! Whilst it may have been a relaxing experience for the pair, JP appeared to be full of beans as he was seen dancing around the gazebo

Naughty: Sharing the clip, Binky was heard giggling away as her beau stripped to his underwear for the saucy offering

Binky announced she was pregnant in January - causing a stir among fans, as she was not officially dating boyfriend Josh 'JP' Patterson at the time.

However, the pair have said the exciting news has only brought them closer, and the pair are currently in Mauritius together for their babymoon.

Speaking to MailOnline, Binky reasoned: 'We are beyond the boyfriend and girlfriend thing.'

Romantic: The pair were treated to a romantic experience as the bed was strewn with rose petals, and JP sipped on champagne, whilst Binky stuck to coconut water

She added: 'A lot of people automatically thought that the baby could be a bad thing for our relationship, and that if we got together again it was just for the baby.

'We have always loved each other. The love was never gone.'

Addressing their messy split which played out on the previous series of the E4 show, she continued: 'When we broke up last year, it was only a couple of weeks before we found out about me being pregnant.

'And for me, those two weeks showed me that Ive always missed him.'
She shot to fame in Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire back in 2008 and is now about to star in a hotly anticipated new series.

And Freida Pinto stunned as she left BBC Broadcasting House in London on Friday night after appearing on The One Show to promote her new six-part Sky drama, Guerrilla.

The 32-year-old, who has now finally revealed the reason behind her split from long-term boyfriend and Slumdog co-star Dev Patel, showcased her signature sartorial style as she strode confidently into the night.

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Sartorial elegance: Freida Pinto, 32, stunned as she left BBC Broadcasting House in London on Friday night after appearing on The One Show to promote her new Sky drama, Guerrilla

The in-demand star donned a mid-length, tassel-edged, flowing navy coat with white cotton detailing to ward against the London chill.

Revealing bare, toned legs the former model opted for patent, bronze-lined brogues for her television appearance, adding a workwear touch to her dampened-toned, patterned mini dress.

The Rise of the Planet of the Apes beauty shunned a bag for the evening and wore a large, dark silver ring as her only accessory.

Freida, who has been spotted on fashion week front rows around the world, complimented her professional-yet-sexy look with pared back make-up.

Gorgeous: Revealing bare, toned legs the former model opted for patent, bronze-lined brogues for her television appearance, adding a workwear touch to her dampened-toned, patterned mini dress

Natural beauty: Freida, who has been spotted on fashion week front rows around the world, complimented her professional-yet-sexy look with pared back make-up

The Immortals actress, who joined Daniel Mays and Lindsay Stirling on The One Show sofa, opted for a subtle smoky eye and a glossy pink lip for the evening.

Freida discussed the new series, which is set in London in 1971 and based around characters and events in the British Black Power movement during the 1970s.

Her series co-stars include James Bond favourite Idris Elba and his fellow British star Babou Cessay. The trio address current hot topics of race, identity and political violence in the six-part drama.

Freida takes her first leading TV role in Skys six-part drama Guerrilla (pictured)

The fashionista's co-workers on other projects are equally A list. Freida has just been working on Disneys Live Action version of the Jungle Book alongside fan favourite Benedict Cumberbatch and Hollywood hunk Christian Bale.

And just this weekend Freida revealed that she holds a quarter-life crisis responsible for her break-up with long-term boyfriend Dev Patel four years ago.

She told the Mail's Weekend Magazine: For me it started at the age of 28, 29. Maybe its the body. Maybe its something about moving into womanhood from being a girl. You start asking, What do I really want?

The star is still single, and loves it that way, but insists that she and Dev remain close friends.

She explained: 'For the first time, I finally understand the concept of self-love and self-care. I'm single and happy, and busy. I havent been single for a long time. Its like being born again.'

But added: You can be with someone and it can be really good for your growth, she says. Thats what Dev was for me. The seven years I was with him were so impactful. But I ended up being single when I started thinking about these other things.

Quarter life crisis: Freida split with Slumdog Millionaire co-star Dev Patel in 2014 after a long term relationship and is currently single

Still friends: Frieds said she and Dev remain close friends (Pictured here the former couple with Alexa Chung on the front row of Burberry Prorsum Spring/ Summer 2010)




Sonia Kruger has loved 'flying by the seat of her pants' during 25 years on television.

The 51-year-old is currently the host of The Voice and Today Extra after getting her break as Tina Sparkle in 1992 rom-com Strictly Ballroom.

And to mark the occasion, Sonia shared her 25 secrets to success with The Daily Telegraph, while reflecting on the 'thrill' she still gets from live TV.

Still going strong: Sonia Kruger has loved 'flying by the seat of her pants' during 25 years on television

She said: 'There are so many things that can go wrong - and genuinely do - but that's what people love and that's why I love live television because it's so immediate, no editing required.'

Among the secrets behind the Queensland native's TV longevity is her appearance, which falls just after lighting on her list.

'Hair and makeup is everything else. There's no point being well lit if you look like you just walked out of a swamp,' she said.

Famous face: The 51-year-old is currently the host of The Voice and Today Extra after getting her break as Tina Sparkle in 1992 rom-com Strictly Ballroom

Passion: And to mark the occasion, Sonia shared her 25 secrets to success with The Daily Telegraph , while reflecting on the 'thrill' she still gets from live TV

Social media didn't exist when Sonia was cutting her teeth in TV, hosting Wonder World and appearing on Today Tonight, Sunrise and 11AM.

And despite the power that sites such as Facebook and Twitter now hold in determining the success of a certain show, Sonia believes it's not the be all and end all.

She said: 'Social media reaction does not equal ratings. These days I see people commenting on source material without even having watched or read it.'

Times have changed: Social media didn't exist when Sonia was cutting her teeth in TV, hosting Wonder World and appearing on Today Tonight, Sunrise and 11AM

Top tips: And despite the power that sites such as Facebook and Twitter now hold in determining the success of a certain show, Sonia believes it's not the be all and end all

Sonia was on the receiving end of a social media backlash in July last year after one of the biggest black marks on her career to date.

The broadcaster garnered national attention when she made controversial comments on Today Extra calling for Australia to ban Muslim immigrants in the wake of the Paris terror attacks.

She said at the time: 'Personally I would like to see it [the immigration of Muslims] stopped now for Australia because I would like to feel safe as all of our citizens do when they go out to celebrate Australia Day and I'd like to see freedom of speech.'
Sylvia Jeffreys stunned in a custom Rebecca Vallance wedding gown during her lavish outdoor wedding to Peter Stefanovic last week.

And the designer of her glitzy gown has released a never-before-seen picture of the intricate dress complete with princess-style layered tulle and a cathedral veil.

The Today show presenter, 30, can be seen getting her final touches in the image before heading for the aisle at the exclusive Ooralba Estate in the Kangaroo Valley.

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NEVER before seen! Bridal designer Rebecca Vallance has released a never-before-seen picture of the intricate dress worn by Sylvia Jeffreys on her wedding day last weekend

Sylvia wowed in a classic princess-style wedding gown, which featured a plunging neckline, layered tulle and intricate beading.

In the designer's behind-the-scenes photo, Sylvia can be seen being zipped and clipped into the elegant gown.

Clearly in high spirits, the media personality gleams with a smile in the photo as her svelte back is exposed in the shot.

While her gown was sleeveless, the bottom of her dress fanned out on the floor in layers of material, tulle and beading.

Fairytale bride: Sylvia wowed in a classic princess-style wedding gown, which featured a plunging neckline, layered tulle and intricate beading

Sylvia also appears to have a stylist on hand using hairspray to keep her chic up 'do in place for her big day.

The image, which Sylvia was tagged in on social media, was quickly commented on by the star.

She's believed to be on her honeymoon with Peter in Fiji, but she still managed to write: 'I wish we could do it all over again. Lots of love xxx.'

Wow: Sylvia Jeffreys wore a custom Rebecca Vallance gown during her lavish wedding to Peter Stefanovic on Saturday

Showing off a golden tan on the day, Sylvia stunned with her hair slicked back off her face and into an elegant bun.

Her makeup was kept natural looking and she finished the look with simple and small drop earrings.

Simply stunning: The bottom of her dress featured layers of material which went out into an a-line skirt, while her gown was sleeveless

Their big day: The Today show presenter opted for a classic princess-style wedding gown, which featured a plunging neckline and intricate beading

Rebecca shared a shot of Sylvia and Peter to Instagram, confirming she had created the jaw-dropping gown, after much speculation.

Rebecca captioned the image: 'WEDDING BELLE: In custom Rebecca Vallance, Australian journalist Sylvia Jeffreys married Peter Stefanovic this weekend.'

Sources told Daily Mail Australia earlier this month, that Sylvia would be wearing Rebecca Vallance on her big day.

Wedding party: Sylvia's bridal party included her sister Claire Going, her sister-in-law Jenna Stefanovic and friends Meggie Palmer and Alison Ariotti. Peter's groomsmen included brothers Karl, Tom and mates Nick Atkins and Michael Tramonte

Wedding bells: Rebecca shared a shot of Sylvia and Peter to Instagram, confirming she had created the jaw-dropping gown, after much speculation

Beaming beauty! The couple looked smitten as they posed for snaps

The 33-year-old journalist 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.

She also commented on Instagram previously that Rebecca Vallance was her 'fave' designer.

Wedded bliss! Sylvia and Peter smiled for the camera as his mother Jenny chatted to the bridal party in the background

Having a ball! The wedding party took a series of snaps in the Kangaroo Valley countryside

Blushing bride: Sources told Daily Mail Australia earlier this month, that Sylvia would be wearing Rebecca Vallance on her big day

Over the moon! The couple were all smiles as they made their way to the reception

Sylvia and Peter tied the knot at Ooralba Estate in the Kangaroo Valley on Saturday, with Sylvia describing the day on her Instagram as the 'best day of our lives.'

They tied the knot in front of 160 guests, with guests including Peter's brother Karl Stefanovic and the Today show stars, Lisa Wilkinson and Richard Wilkins.

Peter popped the question in July last year while the couple were enjoying a romantic getaway in France.

The happy couple first started dating in 2014.
Sofia Richie is not someone who ought to be trifled with.

The 18-year-old posted a photo from her vacation, in the Qatari capital Doha, in which she'd grasped a sword while at a party.

She'd dressed for the occasion in a flowing set of sheer yellow robes, and had wrapped a white turban streaked with navy patterning over her hair.

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Not to be trifled with: Sofia Richie posted a photo from her holiday in the Qatari capital Doha in which she'd grasped a sword while standing at what appeared to be some sort of party

On Friday night, her Snapchat Story had opened up with a video she'd filmed through the window of her car as it whisked her through town.

Looming in front of her was the Burj Qatar, a skyscraper that also goes by the name of Doha Tower and which had been illuminated orange against the night sky.

Once she got to her digs at the W Doha Hotel & Residences, she uploaded footage of a hotel T-shirt left on her bed that'd been scrawled all over with welcome messages.

The look for the evening: She'd dressed for the occasion in a flowing set of sheer yellow robes, and had wrapped a white turban streaked with navy patterning over her hair

Taking in the Burj Qatar: On Friday night, her Snapchat Story had opened up with a video she'd apparently filmed through the window of her car as it whisked her through town

'So sweet!' she cooed, before bringing the camera around to show off her rooms, including what appeared to be a study and a hallway lined with latticework.

The daughter of Lionel Richie also showed off an attractive swing chair that dangled from the ceiling in the living room, captioning a photo of it: 'My bed.'

She captioned: 'Doing the most' over a mirror selfie video in which she showed off her outfit for the evening: a sparkling black turtlenecked dress.

Staying at the W: The daughter of Lionel Richie showed off an attractive swing chair that dangled from the ceiling in her digs' living room, captioning a photo of it: 'My bed'

Ready for a night out: The half-sister of Nicole Richie had slicked back her blonde hair and captioned: Starving' over a close-up selfie in which she'd put a burger emoji over her mouth

The half-sister of Nicole Richie had slicked back her blonde hair and captioned: Starving' over a close-up selfie in which she'd put a burger emoji over her mouth.

She wound up taking another mirror selfie, this one of the whole outfit including dazzling hoop earrings again, from an elevator, joking that she'd 'held' it 'up.'

From the car came more photos, one of her several rings as she rested a hand on her knee, and another of her glowering face captioned: 'Why am I always late'.

Glammed up: She wound up taking a mirror selfie of her whole glistening black turtlenecked outfit, plus dazzling hoop earrings, from an elevator, joking that she'd 'held' it 'up'

Eternal struggle: From the car came more photos, one of her several rings as she rested a hand on her knee, and another of her glowering face captioned: 'Why am I always late'

A caption: 'wow this is insane' accompanied footage of a nighttime procession across a long, dark carpet flanked by rows of men in white keffiyeh.

She seemed to have gone to a rather swank soiree that evening, posting images of luxuriantly laid-out tables surrounding an expansive pool of water.

A backdrop made to resemble the front of a four-story building building had been draped over the actual front of an actual building.

Who's arriving?: A caption: 'wow this is insane' accompanied footage of a nighttime procession across a long, dark carpet flanked by rows of men in white keffiyeh

Living it up: She seemed to have gone to a rather swank soiree that evening, posting images of luxuriantly laid-out tables surrounding an expansive pool of water

With music blaring: As the evening's festivities continued, videos Sofia posted showed various flowing designs in gold and white being projected onto various walls at the open-air venue

Dropping hints: Another elevator mirror selfie saw Sofia in a white crop top that bared a bit of her enviably flat midriff - though not much, as she'd also donned a robe-like red coat

As the evening's festivities continued, videos Sofia posted showed various flowing designs in gold and white being projected onto various walls at the open-air venue.

Another elevator mirror selfie saw Sofia in a white crop top that bared a bit of her enviably flat midriff - though not much, as she'd also donned a robe-like red coat.

Sprawled with pink floral patterning, it'd been cinched with a sash at her trim waistline and matched the pair of baggy trousers she'd worn.

Itinerary: The next day, she uploaded a photo that saw two disposable cameras and one pricier one sitting on a table, alongside text reading: 'Riding camels today'

'Farm day': Along came more midriff-baring selfies, though this time the crop top was white and she'd popped on a small denim jacket over it, slipping into jeans

The next day, she uploaded a photo that saw two disposable cameras and one pricier one sitting on a table, alongside text reading: 'Riding camels today.'

Along came more midriff-baring selfies, though this time the crop top was white and she'd popped on a small denim jacket over it, slipping into jeans.

Her hair in a bun, she wore stylish round sunglasses, and in white text blaring over her head signified to her Snapchat following that she'd be having a 'farm day.'

Bringing a pal: Before she left the W, a video showed a traveling companion - seemingly Instagram personality Shyan Ranje - wandering about her room

A sliver of ocean: Neon text trumpeting: 'West Bay,' captioned a video that drifted from a turreted stone tower to a slim view of a bit of the Persian Gulf

Before she left the W, a video showed a traveling companion - seemingly Instagram personality Shyan Ranje - wandering about her room.

Shyan comes into my room not speaking English,' she wrote over the screen as Shyan said: 'This is hilarious,' and proceeded, indeed, to not speak English.

Neon text trumpeting: 'West Bay,' captioned a video that drifted from a turreted stone tower to a slim view of a bit of the Persian Gulf.

Pining: Her outing that day consisted in part of pining after a pony ambling along with what appeared to be its foal. Sofia's caption to the posts of them read: 'Love of my life'

Palling about: An Instgram photo she posted showed her with the pony as well

Yeah, that over there?' asked a man, possibly Shyan, to which Sofia replied: 'Uh, thats Nobu. I think thats Nobu. I cant remember, actually, but I think its No-'

Her outing that day consisted in part of pining after a pony ambling along with what appeared to be its foal. Sofia's caption to the posts of them read: 'Love of my life.'

She also got in a bit of posing with a goat, her mouth agape as she cradled him for a photo and a massive smile on her face during video footage.
Amber Heard had to leave an event early on Friday after suffering an 'emergency'.

The ex-wife of Johnny Depp had been due to be honoured at the star-studded unite4:humanity gala, but instead exited through a side door before she could accept her award.

Her friends iO and Cara Delevingne stepped onto the stage in her place, with iO telling the star-studded audience: 'Our dear friend Amber unfortunately suffered a bit of an emergency earlier this evening and she had to go.'

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'She had an emergency': Amber Heard exits star-studded event through side door without accepting award... after happily posing on red carpet

iO added of her pal: 'I want to say that I've never seen Amber nervous and I've known her quite intimately for a long time'

Pictures from the red carpet showed a calm and collected Amber posing nonchalently in black trousers, hands in her pockets.

Once inside the dining room at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel in California the actress was surrounded in a huddle by close pals, including British model Cara.

She looked 'distressed and uncomfortable', reports eonline.

Amber then left through a side door, without her gong, which had been due to be presented by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali-born former Dutch politician.

Looking good: Amber turned heads in tight fitted shirt with a flashy bow tie and slacks on the red carpet, but had to leave soon after

On her behalf: Amber's pals Cara Delevingne and iO accepted her award

iO added of her pal: 'I want to also say that I've never seen Amber nervous and I've known her quite intimately for a long time.

'And she's met pretty much everyone that you could be starstruck by. But Ayaan Hirsi Ali is as close to God as you could get for her, so to know that Ayaan was here and for her to have to leave anyway means that it was a very serious emergency. We both are hoping that she's okay.'

There had been no sign of trouble as the 30-year-old turned heads on the red carpet earlier.

Letting her hair down: The 30-year-old let her glossy golden locks fall to her waist in curls as she pulled off a stunning tousled look, accessorizing with a collection of Anita Ko earrings

Amber pulled off a killer look with a bowtie and peep-toe boots showing off her dark purple toenails.

Dressed in black and white, the Hollywood star made a statement as she wore a flash of red lipstick and smoky-eyed makeup.

The star added a hint of sparkle to her appearance with a collection of gorgeous diamond earrings, all from Anita Ko.

Glamorous: Cara was leading the celebrity arrivals; she later took to the stage to accept Amber's award in her place

Gorgeous glare: Delevingne is an attention-getter, no matter whether she's on the red carpet or modeling catwalk

Amber's appearance at the gala came two months after her divorce from Depp which was finalised in Los Angeles Supreme Court in January.

The former flames reached a settlement in August, just 12 months after they were married.

Now she is in line to receive $6.8million which she plans to donate to charity.

Forever our girl: Honoree Paula Abdul turned heads in this black skirt with a shear covering. She was being honored for her efforts with The LEAP Foundation at the event

A dog's life: Ken Todd and Lisa Vanderpump brought their adorable pooch to the proceedings

Couple's night: Lance Bass and Michael Turchin (L) and James Anderson and Carissa Rosario (R) were among the duos present at the bash

Meanwhile, Amber is starring in the upcoming thriller London Fields which will hit cinemas later this year.

She will play Nicola Six in the flick which is based on the 1989 novel of the same name by Martin Amis alongside Delevingne who is taking on the role of Kath Talent.

The famous duo will be joined by Billy Bob Thornton, Jaimie Alexander and Theo James in the Mathew Cullen-directed film.
She never seems to set a foot wrong when it comes to the Essex style stakes.

And while soaking up the sunshine in her hometown on Saturday, Amber Turner certainly stole the show as she filmed new scenes for The Only Way Is Essex.

The reality star was joined by James Lock's new girlfriend Yasmin Oukhellou and looked simply sensational in an off-the-shoulder blouse that bronzed her shoulders as she stepped out in front of the cameras.

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Stunning on set: Amber Turner cut a glamorous figure in an off-the-shoulder blouse as she stepped out for TOWIE filming in Brentwood on Saturday

Her flirty top featured a frilled neckline and she teamed the pastel blue design with a pair of form-fitting white skinny jeans that put her enviable pins on display.

The blonde beauty added some height to her ensemble with a pair of studded wedges and was seen toting her favourite arm candy - a nude Prada bag - on one arm.

Amber styled her luscious locks into cascading curls that fell past her shoulders and finished off her latest filming look with flawlessly applied make-up and a glossy lip.

Yasmin, meanwhile, made sure not to be outdone by her co-star and looked just as glamorous in an all-white ensemble that complimented her sun-kissed glow.

Brunette beauty: The reality star was joined by her friend and James Lock's new girlfriend Yasmin Oukhellou who put her pins on display in an all-white ensemble

She teamed a plunging blouse that included flared sleeves with a pair of shorts that boasted lace up detailing on either side and made for a leggy display.

Yasmin appeared to sport the same shoes as Amber, instead opting for a nude hue, and finished off her getup with a huge pair of aviator shades.

She wore her tousled brunette tresses down and flashed a smile in the direction of photographs as she and her pal got to work on TOWIE's current series.

The girls were seen bumping into their friend Megan McKenna's ex-boyfriend Pete Wicks - no doubt getting the low down on the latest fallout between the former couple.

Strike a pose: Amber, meanwhile, teamed her frilled top with a pair of skinny jeans and studded wedges

Cooling off: The girls kept themselves hydrated in the blazing sunshine as they caught up on camera

Pete and Megan had been seen embroiled in an explosive row while filming for the ITVBe show last week, with crew members stepping in to separate the pair.

Sources claimed Megan accused Pete of being unfaithful while staying in Scotland and confronted him over claims he has 'grown close' to their co-star Chloe Sims.

Images had emerged of the duo looking extremely close at London's Mayfair hotel last month - although there is no evidence to suggest Chloe is the cause of Pete's split with Megan.

Fans will learn what really happened between his and his former flame on Sunday night's episode of the show.

Matching attire: Amber and Yasmin appeared to be sporting the same wedges as they filmed together, with each choosing different shades

Getting the low down? The glam duo bumped into their pal Megan McKenna's ex-boyfriend Pete Wicks

Discussing Pete's relationship woes were no doubt a breather for Yasmin who has had her own fair share of drama lately.

The reality star has been feuding with her boyfriend Lockie's ex-girlfriend of three years Danielle Armstrong.

Yasmin had accused Danielle of flirting with Lockie in front of her and it later emerged the girls had been locked in an 'explosive row' while out in Essex.

The Sun claims things got heated when Danielle, 28, danced provocatively in front of her ex boyfriend James, who Yazmin is currently in a relationship with.

Over his relationship woes? Pete seemed quite content despite coming to blows with ex Megan in an explosive row just days earlier

Bitter end? Megan and Pete had to be separated by members of the crew as they became embroiled in a huge argument

All will be revealed? It's believed viewers will get to learn what the ex-couple's row was about on Sunday night's episode of the show

A fellow diner at Sheesh in Chigwell told the publication: 'James Lock and Yazmin were sat on a table and on the opposite side was Danielle, Jess Wright and Ferne McCann.

'Yaz went to the toilet and Dani started dancing in front of Lockie, she was bending over and twerking.

'Yaz came back and started arguing with Dani, she said something to Lockie about Dani being a sl** and Dani flew at Yaz. She told Lockie they he could have anyone and "whats he doing with her?"'

Breather: Yasmin, meanwhile, appeared to brush off her latest off-screen drama with her boyfriend James Locks's ex-girlfriend of three years Danielle Armstrong

Feuding: Sources claimed Danielle and Yasmin had been locked in an 'explosive row' after coming face-to-face at Chigwell restaurant Sheesh

Yasmin then appeared to take a further swipe at Danielle on Twitter in a series of cryptic tweets.

Her first shared a photo of two girls having a standoff that included the caption: 'Empty minds make the most noise,' before adding in another: 'B**** don't kill my vibe.'

Prior to Yasmin's tweets, Danielle had posed in a t-shirt that had the slogan 'she couldn't beat me on her best day' emblazoned across it and - appearing to refer to her spat with James' new girlfriend - added alongside it: 'E N O U G H S A I D.'



'B**** don't kill my vibe look': Yas appeared to make a veiled dig at Danielle following their 'row' with a cryptic tweet
Mama June Shannon made a grand entrance at her ex Sugar Bear's wedding to show off her 150-pound weight loss on Friday's Mama June: From Not To Hot finale on WeTV.

But what was supposed to be a triumphant new chapter for the freshly svelte star started off dramatically, as June was rushed to the ER after waking up 'in excruciating pain.'

Waking up after her big debut, the reality diva was crippled by her pangs, saying 'This pain Ive never felt in my whole damn life,' while worrying that something had gone 'really wrong' with her post-op recovery.

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Agonized: Last night's Mama June: From Hot To Not finale ended dramatically, with Mama June Shannon struck with agonizing pain the day after debuting her slim and trim revenge body

Medical emergency: Although the episode ended with sirens blaring, the preview picked up in a hospital room where a bandaged June can be seen bedridden

The pain is so bad, June can barely move her body.

'Pumpkin, Alana, come here!' the blonde yelled to her daughters, 'My stomach, like I cant even get up.'

Not only struck with deep aches, June tries to remain calm in case there was an 'internal problem', which could mean 'a blood clot or a leakage in the [gastric] sleeve' following her operations.

Ready to pass out: After making her big debut at her ex Sugar Bear's wedding, Mama June Shannon woke up crippled with pain so bad that she felt faint

It's clear that medical help is needed, so Alana and her older sister Lauryn call on the family bodyguard Luke to help.

Luke tries to get June to calm down and breath, but she's overwhelmed and tells her guard that she she cant move her body 'straight up.'

'This pain Ive never felt in my whole damn life,' June says 'Somethings really wrong.'

Her family then explains that if she can't get up, they'll have to call an ambulance.

Sirens blare: When June says she 'can't even get up' her bodyguard Luke supports her but explains that if she can't get up on her own, they'll have to call an ambulance, eventually taking the reality star to the hospital

The clip ends in suspense, with the sound of sirens wailing in the background as Alana screams 'Oh my god, mama! This is not good at all.'

The preview for next week shows the the still agonized Here Comes Honey Boo Boo matriarch lying in a hospital bed with bandaged arms and a pained look.

A doctor appears to tell the Georgia native, 'June, we have your test results, but theyre not what we thought,' before the clip ends teasing next week's chapter.

This magic moment: Mama June had jaws dropping at her prolific weight loss at Sugar Bear's wedding on Friday's Mama June: From Not to Hot finale on WeTV

Before June's health scare, the reality personality made a head-turning debut of her new hot body her ex Sugar Bear's wedding, where friends and family were clearly surprised by the transformation.

'I think everybody here is shocked to see Mama because nobody's seen her since she was over 400 pounds,' her daughter Lauryn, known as 'Pumpkin,' correctly predicted, as heads turned to a chorus of 'oohs' and 'aahs' while the reality star showed off her new look at the Georgia wedding.

Much of the episode dealt with June coming to terms with her new life - and making peace with people from her old one.

Oh my! Wedding goers were stunned to see the newly-slimmed down June at Sugar Bear's nuptials

The episode was built around Jennifer's wedding to Sugar Bear (Mike Thompson), as the bride-and-groom-to-be bickered over Mama June's presence at their nuptials, as Sugar Bear argued to let her come for Alana's sake.

Sugar Bear's new wife Jennifer Lamb conceded - but as a condition, made clear she did not want June entering their home.

Jennifer said while browsing through wedding favors: 'I don't want June at my wedding at all - but I'm doing it cause of Mike, and Alana is his daughter.'

A change will do you good: Attendees marveled at the reality star's 150-pound turnaround at the event

PDA: June, seated in the background, kept her composure throughout the proceedings, as many - including the bride - did not want her there

But after the exes met up prior to the wedding - and Sugar Bear invited June into the home - Jennifer's arrived to see the newly-svelte June, and the bad blood was soon flowing. Jennifer said, 'What are you doing in my house? Regardless of if he invited you in, I didn't invite you here.'

She later told June, 'You've always been a b****, you've always been rude that's why you don't have him anymore. Get out of my house!'

June kept her cool and wished the couple luck as she honored Jennifer's wishes and exited the dwelling.

June's departure still didn't cool Jennifer's fiery temper, as she told her husband-to-be, 'I don't appreciate it, period ... this is one mama that will beat her a** today.'

Confidence booster: The reality star received a pep talk from trainer Kenya Crooks (L) and Pumpkin (R) prior to the ceremony

June said that turning the other cheek was reflective of her major life changes.

'I wanted to say something to her,' June said, noting that 'it felt good just to take the high road' in the testy situation.

Sugar Bear admitted he was conflicted and hoped Jennifer and June could get along for Alana's sake. Mama June said that the events marked another step in the right direction in her life.

Taking the high road: June (L) withstood Jennifer's (R) verbal hostility and kept her head held high

'Now that I've said goodbye to Sugar Bear, I can focus on finding my own true love I know I'm never going to go back to the old June - I'm a better person,' she said. 'This is a new June; new transformation, new birth. People that havent seen me are going to be shocked.'

Earlier in the episode, Mama June said she was 'nervous as hell' to see Sugar Bear for the first time since she shed her extra pounds while chatting with daughters Alana 'Honey Boo Boo' and Lauryn 'Pumpkin.'

June said that despite the butterflies in her stomach, she didn't think the weight loss would have Sugar Bear second-guessing himself in their split.

Bad vibes: June withstood a verbal onslaught from Jennifer to support her daughter Alana

'I'm probably gonna be too damn skinny for that a**,' she said.

To keep things copacetic, Pumpkin brought June a date for the wedding: Her positive-minded trainer Kenya Crooks, who tried to calm June's nerves with reassuring words and compliments about her updated figure.

'Lord you are killing it! ... you've got a new body, you've got a new attitude,' he told June, who said she felt 'like Marilyn Monroe' in the red dress she was wearing to the wedding.

When Sugar Bear got his first look at June post-weight loss as they met up on his porch before the wedding, he was shocked at his ex's appearance.

'Oh s***! I have never seen June look that good,' he said, noting that the weight loss marked 'a dramatic change' in her appearance.

'I'm proud of her,' he said, inviting her into his home for a chat.

Shocker: June's mother Sandra was shocked at her daughter's weight loss, but not for the better

As they conversed in the home, she told him, 'I hope you treat Jennifer better and that she never has to go through what me and the kids had to go through.'

As wedding guests arrived on the rainy day in the South, they, like Sugar Bear, were taken aback by June's drastic change in look.

Pumpkin said, 'Mamas going to flip a lid when she sees the people that Jennifer invited.'

Those people included Mama June's sister-in-law, niece and mother Sandra Hale - the latter of whom she hasn't spoken to in three years amid searing tension.

Sandra didn't hold back her contempt for her daughter, taking cracks at her figure and hair within June's earshot.

Comic relief: Whenever issues ran deep, Alana was there to lighten the mood with her hysterical quips

After they exchanged vows, Jennifer and Sugar Bear engaged in a long and passionate kiss, causing their guests to squirm in discomfort.

'It was like a damn woolly mammoth eating a fish,' June said, while Jennifer glowed over her new spouse: 'I love my Mike, he knows how to kiss a woman.'

After the ceremony, Kenya did his best to reunite Mama June with her estranged mother Sandra, but his overtures fell on deaf ears.

Keeping the mood up: June's trainer Kenya wore many hats on the day - motivator, coach, peacemaker - as he accompanied his famous client to the nuptials

'She said some things on the air that are untrue and I don't appreciate it,' Sandra said, while June later commented: 'I went through too much improvement in my life to let her back into my life.'

Mama June took the snubs in stride, wishing the two a happy marriage as she departed the scene.

'I didn't kill anybody, I took the high road today,' a satisfied June said.

After the wedding, June symbolically burned her old clothes in a bonfire in the woods, joking, 'That fire is smoking hot like me.'

Tension builds: (L-R) June, Alana and Kenya didn't know quite what to expect as they approached the wedding

Alana tossed her mother's former underpants into the blaze, saying, 'Goodbye granny panties!

'It fell really, really good to burn my clothes,' June said, showing her newfound self-discipline as she passed on a marshmallow roast.

'I'm beginning to like the new Mama,' Alana said, 'especially if it means more marshmallows for me!'

The episode ended with a cliff-hanger, as Mama June's 'excruciating' pain takes her to the hospital just the morning after the wedding.

From Hot To Not returns for a new Mama June special airing Friday at 8:30/7:30c on WeTV.

Saying goodbye: June was surrounded by her loved ones as she ceremonially tossed her old duds into a bonfire

Under the weather: June was suffering the morning after the emotional affair, as her daughters flocked to her side
She married for the third time last May with a lavish wedding in Mexico.

But Eva Longoria is already plotting her next nuptials - or so she joked as she drank from a mysterious fountain in northern Spain on Saturday.

The 42-year-old visited the Covadonga fountain where legend states a person will return newly married in a year if they sip from all seven spouts.

Magic spell: Eva Longoria, 42, visited the Covadonga fountain in Spain on Saturday

And Eva dove right in as she posted a video of her conquering all seven spouts.

The Desperate Housewives star looked radiant as she plunged her make-free face into the ancient watering hole.

Eva joked, 'So, honey, I don't know. I might get married again in a year.'

The brunette beauty is currently married to Jose Antonio Baston, 48, who is the president of Televisa, the largest media company in Latin America.

Ancient curse: Legend states a person will return newly married in a year if they sip from all seven spouts of the fountain

Drink up: Eva joked, 'So, honey, I don't know. I might get married again in a year'

Meanwhile, Eva continued posting videos of her amazing vacation in northern Spain.

She was seen touring the gorgeous landscapes and visiting many of the centuries-old landmarks.

'Plaza after plaza after plaza.. and ANOTHER church,' the Devious Maids star quipped.

The name game: The Texas-born beauty was excited to visit the area where her last name originated as she posted a pic of her standing next to the village marker

The Texas-born beauty was excited to visit the area where her last name originated as she posted a pic on Instagram of her standing next to the village marker.

'Got to finally discover my roots!' she captioned the snap.

'I have been wanting to visit the small village where my ancestors came from and where my last name was born for years,' she added.

Goofy: She was seen touring the gorgeous landscapes and visiting many centuries old landmarks

Jet set: The Desperate Housewives star continued on to Asturias

Jokester: 'Plaza after plaza after plaza.. and ANOTHER church,' the Devious Maids star quipped
She's currently starring as DCI Roz Huntley in BBC drama Line Of Duty.

But Thandie Newton put her police uniform away as she attended the BFI & Radio Times TV Festival in London on Saturday.

The 44-year-old actress put on an elegant display in a black and white Naeem Khan midi dress as she arrived at the event at the Southbank.

Sophisticated: Thandie Newton put on an elegant display in a black and white Naeem Khan midi dress as she attended the BFI & Radio Times TV Festival in London on Saturday

With its puffball sleeves and a bold monochrome design, the unusual gown showed off her slender frame, with the hemline finishing just above the ankles.

Keeping her accessories minimal, Thandie complemented the sophisticated number with a pair of strappy black heels, before adding pearl drop earrings.

Wearing her long tresses tied off her face in a high pony tail, she accentuated her flawless complexion with a dash of blusher.

Glam: Wearing her long tresses tied off her face in a high pony tail, she accentuated her flawless complexion with a dash of blusher, before adding a rouge lipstick

The Westworld star finished off the glamorous make-up look with a rouge lipstick, a subtle smoky eye and lashings of mascara.

Thandie, who has joined the cast of Line Of Duty for its fourth series, recently gushed over her co-star Vicky McClure, who plays DS Kate Fleming in the drama.

Taking to Twitter during a recent episode, she wrote: 'I love me some Vicky McClure!'

Monochrome look: Keeping her accessories minimal, Thandie complemented the sophisticated number with a pair of strappy black heels

As she watched DS Fleming attend a crime scene in a disposable boiler suit, the BAFTA-winner joked: 'Of course @VickyMcClure still looks hot in a white hooded onesie!'

Seemingly equally enamoured with her castmate, The Replacement actress responded: 'Love you @thandienewton you are creating quite a stir!'

Thandie also stars as Maeve Millay in HBO drama Westworld, which is set to return to our screens next year.

Cop drama: Thandie is currently starring as DCI Roz Huntley in BBC drama Line Of Duty
It was meant to be the biggest gig of her career to date - the starring role in a Pepsi advert.

But after Kendall Jenner's advert was pulled within hours following an unprecedented backlash, it instead turned into a PR disaster for the young model.

The 21-year-old was looking understandably subdued as she arrived back home in Los Angeles on Friday, having jetted in from France.

Subdued Kendall Jenner hides behind sunglasses as she's helped through the airport after Pepsi advert backlash

Facing reality: Her jacket pulled up over her hair, Kendall was helped past onlookers by a security guard

Hiding behind sunglasses, her jacket pulled up over her hair, Kendall was helped past onlookers by a security guard.

Putting a reassuring hand on her back, he led the social media star to a waiting car.

While Kendall has long lived her life in the spotlight, thanks to her family's reality show Keeping Up With The Kardashians, it was clear that this was one moment where she wished not to be spotted.

PR disaster: Kendall's Pepsi advert was pulled within hours after an unprecedented backlash

Kim Kardashian's sister is yet to publicly comment on the controversial commercial, which the drink company scrapped on Wednesday after receiving criticism for appearing to trivialize the Black Lives Matter movement.

In the Pepsi ad, Kendall magically ended a stand-off between protesters and police by handing a male officer a can of Pepsi.

The ad was branded 'tone-deaf' and Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter was among the many to share outrage over it.

Scrapped: The 21-year-old talent's Pepsi ad came under fire after its release this week for appearing to trivialize movements like Black Lives Matter

Bernice King wrote on Twitter: 'If only Daddy would have known about the power of Pepsi.'

The brand later issued an apology and pulled the ad from the web and airwaves.

'Pepsi was trying to project a global message of unity, peace and understanding,' the statement read, 'Clearly, we missed the mark, and we apologize.'

'We did not intend to make light of any serious issue. We are pulling the content and halting any further rollout.'

The company finished the statement by saying, 'We also apologize for putting Kendall Jenner in this position.'

Peace through Pepsi? The ad was branded 'tone-deaf' and Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter was among the many to share outrage over it

Kendall had previously raved about the campaign.

She said at the time: 'I am thrilled to join the legendary roster of icons who have represented their generations and worked with Pepsi.

'To me, Pepsi is more than just a beverage - it registers as a pop culture icon and a lifestyle that shares a voice with the generation of today.'

She continued: 'The spirit of Pepsi - living in the 'now' moment- is one that I believe in. I make a conscious effort in my everyday life and travels to enjoy every experience of today.'

Since the commercial's release and subsequent backlash, Kendall deleted any mention of the ad from her social media.
Lady Victoria Hervey has confirmed she had a threesome with Mel B and Stephen Belafonte.

The admission follows reports last week that the blonde beauty shared a passionate night with the couple, both 41, when they first married in in 2007.

The socialite, 40, also spoke of the former Spice Girl's suffering at the hands of Belafonte, claiming she 'couldn't leave initially leave as he controlled her finances'.

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Confirmed: Lady Victoria Hervey has revealed she had a threesome with Mel B and Stephen Belafonte

Speaking to The Sun, Lady Victoria revealed: 'She said he controlled all her finances and she wasn't initially strong enough to leave him.

'She said she waited until everything fell into place before she could do it and finally everything fell in to place and she knew it was time. No woman should suffer like she has, I feel terribly for her.'

Addressing the night they spent together, she explained that Mel reached out to her via Instagram, adding: 'Mel said she just doesn't know if videos exist of that night but she reassured me that they are unlikely to be coming out.'

Split: The socialite, 40, also opened up about Mel B's suffering, and claiming that she 'couldn't leave initially leave Stephen as he controlled her finances'

Reports of a threesome between the trio initially surfaced at the beginning of the month when The Sun reported the news.

The claims date back to 2007, but the revelation was made amid accusations that the 'open' nature of Mel and Stephen's relationship led to the demise of their 10-year marriage.

It also followed a picture that resurfaced purporting to show Stephen in a clinch with two women, one - he joked - being his wife.

The friend of Lady Victoria previously told The Sun: 'It was all a blur and everyone was very drunk, especially Lady Victoria.

'She told me one minute they were laying in bed watching a movie together, then they got carried away and Stephen was on top of her and Mel was kissing her.

'Next thing she can remember they all woke up naked in bed in the morning.'

'Next thing she can remember they all woke up naked in bed in the morning,' the news follows reports from a source who told of the alleged threesome in 2007 last week

Controversial: It also follows an picture that resurfaced purporting to show Stephen in a clinch with two women, one - he joked - being his wife

Mel, who previously enjoyed a four-year romance with girlfriend Christa Parker, lived in LA around the same time Lady Victoria resided there, 10 years ago, but did not comment on the allegations.

Meanwhile lawyers for Mel B have been granted a court order barring her estranged husband Stephen Belafonte from releasing any sex tapes or photos of the ex-Spice Girl.

The order was issued in court on Friday after Mel, 41, claimed the nanny Belafonte allegedly got pregnant while she worked for the couple was holding the sex tapes hostage, TMZ reports.

New documents filed by Mel's lawyers claim that when she left their home after filing for divorce last month, Belafonte locked 12-15 boxes filled with his estranged wife's possession in a storage facility in Los Angeles.

The boxes contain photos of her deceased father and her Spice Girls memorabilia.

Mel B stepped out in Los Angeles on Friday as her lawyers got a court order barring her estranged husband Stephen Belafonte from releasing sex tapes or photos of the ex-Spice Girl

Belafonte has allegedly refused to reveal the location of the locker, which is being held under the name Lorraine Gilles - the German nanny accused of having an abortion following an affair with him.

'He [Stephen] has admitted to me that our former nanny, Lorraine Gilles, maintains possession and control over the media such that I could never have anyone locate the tapes so as to obtain and destroy the same,' Mel claims in the court documents.

'I believe that Lorraine Gilles and [Belafonte] are acting in concert to deprive me of my personal belongings by either destroying or disseminating said belongings.'

Mel's lawyers argued in court that Belafonte has been threatening to release the tapes to destroy her reputation and career.

The judge ordered Belafonte not to release any sexually explicit material of his estranged wife, but he has not yet ruled on Mel's request for him to turn over the location and combination of the locker held in Gilles' name.

Mel filed for divorce from her husband of 10 years last month. They are pictured above in 2015 with her daughters Angel (left) and Phoenix Chi (right) as well as their child together, Madison

Meanwhile Belafonte claims in court documents filed Friday that his wife blindsided him with the allegations he was trying to extort her with the sex tapes, TMZ reported on Friday night.

His lawyers say he was close to settling their court issues before Mel brought up the allegations when she surprised him with a request for a restraining order.

Mel made explosive allegations about their former nanny in court papers when she filed for divorce from the producer last month.

She claimed Belafonte got Gilles pregnant and even suggested 'all three [of them] live together' with the new baby.

The nanny was paid allegedly 'paid $300,000' to have an abortion, according to the filing.

Mel B claimed in court papers that the nanny Belafonte allegedly got pregnant, Lorraine Gilles, was holding the Spice Girls' sex tapes hostage in a storage locker in Los Angeles

Court papers filed previously included a catalogue of abuse against Mel allegedly at the hands of her husband during their decade-long marriage

The papers also included a catalogue of abuse against Mel allegedly at the hands of Belafonte over their decade-long marriage, according to TMZ.

She claims Belafonte's alleged abuse included 'punching' and 'choking' her, 'splitting her lip' and 'pushing her down on a carpet'.

In the papers, Mel claims that Belafonte also forced her to 'participate in sexual intercourse with him and random women.'

The former Spice Girl suggests that during their marriage, she was coerced into trysts that he secretly recorded and later used as ammunition against her, threatening to release as sex tapes 'if she tried to resist the threesomes'.

He is also alleged to have shown his wife little sympathy as her beloved father Martin lost his battle with cancer.

TMZ claim the film producer allegedly told her to 'Suck it up. If he's going to die, he's going to die.'

Lorraine Gilles, pictured with Mel's husband Stephen Belafonte, is the nanny identified in court papers submitted by the former Spice Girl as she divorces him

Mel's appearance on the X Factor back in 2014, sparked concern among fans with Belafonte taking to Twitter to deny he was a 'wife beater'

Stephen denied his estranged wife's claims, telling TMZ on camera: 'I haven't heard these allegations. You know what my comment on this is, as this is the mother of my children?

'I'm really really distraught my brain how this is going to affect our children (sic), and the depths that she's gone to. That's it. I'm shocked at those allegations and that's what it is.

'I think someone's set me up to look like a bad guy. Obviously you saw my house got raided and nobody found anything. It's accusation after accusation. But we'll have our day in court.

'And we have children. If anyone knows our children, we have beautiful children. They're on social media. Why do this?

'We were friends two weeks ago. And now all of a sudden the team gets around and now it's got to be this.'

Belafonte filed his official response to her divorce petition this week and has asked that she pay his lawyer's fees.

The film producer is asking for spousal support, the documents show, although no figure is stated.

The filing also reveals the former couple disagrees on their separation date - him claiming it was March 1 and she December 28.
Teresa Giudice celebrated her 16-year-old firstborn daughter Gia's Confirmation on Friday night.

The proud mother and The Real Housewives Of New Jersey scene-stealer posted an Instagram photo of herself and Gia at a Montclair restaurant following the Catholic ceremony.

Melissa Gorga, Teresa's sister-in-law, had joined in as well - though Gia rang in the occasion without her father Joe Giudice, who's still in prison.

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'My beautiful daughter': Teresa Giudice celebrated her 16-year-old firstborn Gia's Confirmation - one of the seven Catholic sacraments - on Friday night

For her daughter's big night, Teresa showed off quite a bit of cleavage in a strapless black top that featured a sheer bow at her slender waistline.

White floral patterns spread across the black field of her skirt, which stopped above the knee and allowed for a view of her enviably toned legs.

She'd completed the outfit with a lattice-strapped pair of black stilettos and a double-string of what appeared to be pearls, throwing on a watch as well.

'My beautiful niece': Melissa Gorga, Teresa's sister-in-law, had joined in as well, posing in a sleeveless black leather jumpsuit that showed off quite a bit of decolletage

'My beautiful daughter @_giagiudice on her Confirmation,' the 44-year-old wrote in her caption, adding: 'God Bless & I Love You' before a heart emoji.

Melissa posed with Gia as well, having slid into a black leather sleeveless jumpsuit that offered a glimpse of decolletage and matched her lacy choker.

'My beautiful niece @_giagiudice made her confirmation today,' she captioned with her own heart emoji before hashtagging: '#loveher #godbless'.

Bonding: As the night wore on, she also posted a close-up selfie in which she and Gia enjoyed 'A little auntie time,' both fixing pouts onto their faces for the camera

As the night wore on, she also posted a close-up selfie in which she and Gia enjoyed 'A little auntie time,' both fixing pouts onto their faces for the camera.

The 38-year-old, who since 2004 has been married to Teresa's younger brother Joe Gorga, also posted a sweet video to Instagram from the party.

Melissa and Gia's younger sister Milania - who's 11 years old - danced about the floor of Fresco Da Franco, the Italian restaurant where the festivities were held.

'i loved it': On Saturday, Gia herself posted an Instagram photo of the revelry, one that saw her holding a pair of firecrackers while sitting at a cake frosted with: 'Congrats Gia'

On Saturday, Gia herself posted an Instagram photo of the party, one that saw her holding a pair of firecrackers while sitting at a cake frosted with: 'Congrats Gia.'

Her caption thanked Buddy Valastro of Carlo's Bakery - a Hoboken establishment that's been around since 1910 - 'for the beautiful cake i loved it'.

Teresa and Joe Giudice married in 1999 and, in addition to Gia and Milania, have a 12-year-old daughter called Gabriella and a seven-year-old daughter called Audriana.

Absent from the festivities: Gia's father Joe Giudice is currently at Fort Dix serving a 41-month sentence for multiple counts of fraud, after which it's possible he'll be deported to Italy

Joe's currently at Fort Dix serving a 41-month sentence for multiple counts of fraud, after which it's possible he'll be deported to Italy, having been born in Saronno.

Despite moving to New Jersey with his family when he was five years old, he never obtained American citizenship and remains an Italian national.

Teresa served 12 months on similar charges before her husband went to prison, as the judge granted them back-to-back jail terms for their children's sake.

Last month, the family also suffered the death of Teresa's mother Antonia Gorga - the namesake of Melissa's eldest of three children and only daughter.
Lisa Rinna is celebrating her Emerald anniversary in style.

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills beauty showed off a huge diamond she received from husband Harry Hamlin, as the celebrity couple celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary.

The 53-year-old actress posted on Instagram stories a shot of her hand with the glimmering ring, with the caption, '20 years gets you a little something.'

Bling: Lisa Rinna, 53, on Saturday shared a shot of new jewelry she received from husband Harry Hamlin, 65, to commemorate their 20th anniversary last month

The former Days of Our Lives star and L.A. Law heartthrob, 65, tied the knot March 29, 1997, and have two teenage daughters: Delilah Belle Hamlin, 18, and Amelia Gray Hamlin, 15.

Lisa Rinna mused toBravo about her good fortune in her successful marriage to the actor.

'We've been together for 25 years,' the ex-Melrose Place beauty said. 'I don't know. I think we got really lucky, right? No we got lucky.'

The ties that bind: The dapper duo was snapped appearing at the Dancing With The Stars premiere in LA last month

Proud parents: The longtime couple have two daughters: Delilah (L) and Amelia (2nd from R)

Lisa told the network that the couple's longevity 'has a lot to do with respect,' as well as the good fortune of complementary personalities.

'You need to be complete opposites. Like complete opposites. That helps,' she said.

Lisa, who's also been seen on shows such as Dancing with the Stars and The Celebrity Apprentice, delved into more detail with her home network in December of 2015, as she said she doesn't 'think there's a secret' to keeping her Hollywood marriage alive.

'It's just work,' she said. 'It takes work. It takes communication. It takes some luck, a lot of mutual respect.'

A toast: The TV stars tied the knot in 1997 after five years of dating. Harry was previously married to Knots Landing actress Nicollette Sheridan from 1991 to 1992; and Falcon Crest star Laura Johnson from 1985 until 1989.

Talk ain't cheap: Rinna stressed that good communication has been the key to marital longevity with Hamlin

Beautiful bride: Lisa, looking amazing at her 1997 nuptials, posed for Playboy during her first pregnancy the following year

Rinna said that with their busy careers, they've been sure to be '100 percent' supportive of one another.

'We do everything and talk about everything. We've been together ... a long time,' she said. 'And his respect and his opinion means everything to me, and I think vice-versa. And we work together as a team.'

Harry was previously married to Knots Landing actress Nicollette Sheridan from 1991 to 1992; and Falcon Crest star Laura Johnson from 1985 until 1989.
US President Donald Trump picks state senator from Tennessee, Mark Green, to be next secretary of the US Army, the top civilian job in the Army

President Donald Trump on Friday announced his pick for the next secretary of the US Army, a state senator from Tennessee.

In a statement, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis praised the nomination of Mark Green for the top civilian job in the Army.

"Mark will provide strong civilian leadership, improve military readiness and support our service members, civilians and their families," Mattis said.

If confirmed by the senate, Green would succeed Eric Fanning, who was the first openly gay secretary in any of America's armed forces.

Green's nomination drew some criticism, however, with opponents highlighting his actions as a state legislator that they said opposed gay rights.

According to the Palm Center think tank, Green sponsored bills that discriminated against the gay community.

Green's nomination is Trump's second pick for the job, after Vincent Viola withdrew over concerns about his ability to separate from his large business holdings.

Green is a West Point graduate and Army veteran who served as a military physician.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker said the White House has no grand plan -- at least not yet -- for deeper engagement in Syria

Many US lawmakers expressed support immediately after the Pentagon's air strikes on Syria. But President Donald Trump's backers and critics alike warn that he needs permission from Congress if he plans a military escalation.

The cruise-missile targeting of a Syrian regime air base has rekindled the debate in Congress over the use and legality of America's military might.

Republican and Democratic senators emerged from a classified briefing Friday largely backing Trump's swift show of force against Syrian strongman President Bashar al-Assad for using of chemical weapons in an attack this week on his own people.

But debate swirled over what the US commander-in-chief's next step will or should be and whether Thursday's strike on the Syrian air base had legal justification.

It is the constant wrangling between an executive that wants to respond forcefully -- and sometimes impulsively -- to the latest military challenge, and a legislative branch that holds the power to declare war.

"It's critical under our system of government that these types of actions have congressional approval, because they are acts of war," House Republican Justin Amash told reporters.

"And what begins as a set of strikes on one night can quickly escalate into a much broader conflict."

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker said the White House has no grand plan -- at least not yet -- for deeper engagement in Syria.

US Senator John McCain (C), a national security hawk who has advocated a tougher posture on Syria for years, said a broader strategy was in the making

"If there's going to be a longer term engagement, no question" that a new authorization of the use of military force (AUMF) would have to pass Congress, he said.

"But I don't think there's any sense of that (expanded engagement) occurring right now."

Senator John McCain, a national security hawk who has advocated a tougher posture on Syria for years, said a broader strategy was indeed in the making.

"We expect to hear that completed strategy very soon," he said, while stressing he did not believe the White House was seeking a new AUMF.

The last time Congress declared war was in 1942. Since then, presidents have unilaterally launched military operations under their constitutional authority as commander-in-chief.

After the Vietnam War, lawmakers passed the War Powers Resolution, aimed at checking a president's power to engage in conflict and requiring congressional authorization if hostilities lasted more than 60 days.

Several US presidents have sidestepped the law, including Bill Clinton in Kosovo in 1999.

Then came 9/11.

Congress passed an AUMF in the days after the 2001 attacks. It gave George W. Bush sweeping authority to invade Afghanistan and pursue Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, which aided the terrorists who attacked the United States.

But critics say the authorization emboldened US forces under Bush and his presidential successor Barack Obama.

It opened the door to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, attacks on Libya, a mission in Pakistan to kill Osama bin Laden, and the use of drones to kill terror suspects including US citizen Anwar al-Awlaki.

- 'Unlawful' -

Senator Angus King, an independent who mostly sides with Democrats, and who has called for a new AUMF, said today's situation in Syria is far removed from the 2001 authority.

"This is different because this is an attack on a regime, not on ISIL (the Islamic State), and that really takes it even further out from under the 2001 AUMF," King told AFP.

War-weary lawmakers debated a possible new AUMF in 2013, when Obama mulled military strikes against Assad, but it never received a vote. The situation changed course and a deal was struck with Russia on removing Syria's chemical weapons.

With the horrific return of such weapons against innocent civilians in Syria, and US missiles fired, lawmakers may once more develop the appetite to hash out a new military authorization.

Senator Tim Kaine, the Democratic vice presidential nominee last year, said Assad must now be held to account, "but President Trump has launched a military strike against Syria without a vote of Congress."

He said lawmakers "will work with the president, but his failure to seek congressional approval is unlawful."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell signaled there was little urgency on the matter, as Congress fled Washington for a two-week Easter recess.

"If the president can think of some AUMF that he thinks will strengthen his hand, I will take a look at it," he told reporters Friday.
While laser weapons have been a staple in science fiction films for decades, the US military is inching closer to making these a reality.

Lockheed Martin has announced a 60 kW laser weapon that soon will be installed on an Army truck for testing against mortars and small drones.

And experts believe that lasers even more powerful than this could be widely used as soon as 2020.

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While laser weapons have been a staple in science fiction films for decades, the US military is inching closer to making these a reality

LOCKHEED'S LASER Lockheed Martin's laser is 60-kilowatt, and invisible to the naked eye. By focusing the beam onto a target, the technology rapidly heats the inside of an incoming mortar round, causing it to explode mid-air. This allows it to take out a drone from a distance of about 500 metres. The laser weapon can also pierce the outer skin of a drone, taking out key circuits and making it crash. Advertisement

Lockheed Martin's 60-kilowatt laser weapon can take out a drone from a distance of about 500 metres, by keeping its beam locked onto the target for a few seconds, according to Jim Murdoch, an international business development director at Lockheed.

But unlike in the movies, the laser beam is invisible to the naked eye.

By focusing the beam onto a target, the technology rapidly heats the inside of an incoming mortar round, causing it to explode mid-air.

This is an impressive feat, considering the round is moving at hundreds of miles per hour.

The laser weapon can also pierce the outer skin of a drone, taking out key circuits and making it crash.

For the moment, the lasers being tested are all of about this same power.

But Mark Gunzinger, a senior fellow at the Centre for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, sees that relatively small output increasing rapidly.

The US Navy has since 2014 been testing a 30-kilowatt laser on one of its warships, the USS Ponce (pictured)

WHAT COULD A LASER BE USED FOR? While the US Navy has not specificed whether the laser could be used for any specific threats, director energy weapons could have a range of used. This includes: - Destroying threatening drones - Shooting down incoming air-to-air missiles - Hitting targets on the ground much like regular aircraft gun Advertisement

Within just a few years, he expects far more powerful prototypes of more than 150 kilowatts.

Such a laser could knock out a missile sideways on, where it is most vulnerable.

He said special operations forces want to test such a system by 2020 on an AC-130 gunship that specializes in ground support for troops.

And within six to eight years, US forces could begin using laser systems of more than 300 kilowatts, he added.

That degree of power could knock out an incoming missile head-on.

The US military is also weighing the possibility of mounting lasers on drones flying at very high altitudes, making them capable of shooting down ballistic missiles shortly after launch.

Within just a few years, experts believe that far more powerful prototypes of more than 150 kilowatts will be used. Such a laser could knock out a missile sideways on, where it is most vulnerable (artist's impression)

Another bonus for the military from lasers is the promise of seemingly unending and cheap firepower.

Unlike conventional canons that need shells, laser canons are limited only by the amount of electricity that can be generated.

Mr Gunzinger deems lasers as especially promising on warplanes, which could potentially get an unlimited reservoir of firepower to defend against adversaries' missiles.

'An aircraft doesn't have to return to base to upload more weapons. It could refuel and continue to operate with its nearly unlimited magazine,' he said.

Unlike conventional canons that need shells, laser canons are limited only by the amount of electricity that can be generated

But before laser technology can be integrated into combat planes, it must first be shrunk in size.

Currently engineers are running into physical limitations on how much portable power can be produced, and ways of cooling the technology.

Lockheed Martin wants to increase the power of its truck-mounted laser.

Mr Murdoch said: 'For a vehicle like this, there will be some engineering limits. We will run out of space...that's the kind of challenge we are working.'

By focusing the beam onto a target, the technology rapidly heats the inside of an incoming mortar round, causing it to explode mid-air (artist's impression)

But industry reps and military officials say there's only one thing stopping lasers from garnering widespread operational use: government funding.

Lawmakers recalled a lengthy program that cost more than $5 billion (4 billion) in which a Boeing 747 was retrofitted to carry a laser gun supposedly capable of shooting down enemy missiles.

The programme was scrapped in 2012 over concerns it could never be operationally viable.

The laser beam used in that technology was generated by chemicals so was not strong enough to take out a missile.
The US missile strike in Syria gave added weight to Trump's threat of unilateral action against Pyongyang should there be insufficient action from China, whose President Xi Jinping is shown here with American counterpart Donald Trump

The US missile strike on Syria contained a clear message for North Korea and its main ally China, analysts said, but not one strong enough to push Pyongyang off its nuclear weapons path.

While the timing was largely coincidental, the fact that US President Donald Trump ordered the strike while hosting a summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping carried particular resonance given that the North's nuclear ambitions -- and how best to thwart them -- was among the top agenda items of their meeting.

And exercising the military option added some extra weight to Trump's recent threat of unilateral action against Pyongyang if Beijing fails to help curb its neighbour's nuclear weapons programme.

Kim Yong-Hyun, a professor at Dongguk University, said the strike against Syria was a statement of intent that was meant for a wide readership.

"It signals to Pyongyang that the US has a new sheriff in town who isn't hesitant about pulling his gun from the holster," Kim said.

But while the move might have given the North pause, Pyongyang on Saturday said the strikes only confirmed its view that nuclear weapons were key to guaranteeing its future survival.

"The reality of today shows that we must stand against power with power and it proves a million times over that our decision to strengthen our nuclear deterrence has been the right choice," state media reported an unnamed foreign ministry spokesman as saying.

The Syria strikes were an "intolerable act of aggression," he added.

- Nuclear determination -

A woman walks past a television screen showing file footage of a North Korean missile launch, at a railway station in Seoul

The North has carried out five nuclear tests -- two of them last year -- and expert satellite imagery analysis suggests it could well be preparing for a sixth.

US intelligence officials say Pyongyang could be less than two years away from developing a nuclear warhead that could reach the continental United States.

If Thursday's strike was a warning to other countries, it was one with which Pyongyang, which regularly cites US hostility as the driving force behind its nuclear weapons development, is quite familiar.

"Trump's attack on Syria is unlikely to have any significant effect on a North Korea that is already well versed in the threat posed by the United States," said Joel Wit, a senior fellow at the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University.

At the time of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, then North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il disappeared from public view for around six weeks -- and was widely believed to have gone into hiding for fear of a US attack.

Chang Yong-Seok, a senior researcher at the Institute for Peace and Unification at Seoul National University, said Kim's son, current leader Kim Jong-Un, had no reason to take such precautions.

"Armed with nuclear weapons, he would hardly flinch at the attack in Syria," Chang said.

As if to underline the point, North Korean state media released photos of a smiling Kim inspecting a mushroom farm.

- Warning to China? -

The question then arises as to what impact the US president's willingness to exercise his military muscle may have on China's thinking.

China is North Korea's economic lifeline and as such enjoys more leverage over its maverick neighbour than any other country.

Like his predecessors in the White House, Trump wants China to do more to influence the North's behaviour, but has gone further than others in threatening to go it alone if Beijing fails to step up to the plate.

In that context, the strike against Syria may resonate more firmly in Beijing than Pyongyang.

"It's a signal that Trump's administration will not only talk, they will act," said Wang Dong, Associate Professor and Director of the School of International Studies at Peking University.

While China has clearly lost patience with Pyongyang's nuclear provocations, it is extremely wary of any response that might bring about North Korea's collapse and chaos on its doorstep.

"From the Chinese point of view, there is still room to explore a path for a diplomatic solution," Wang said.

Jia Qingguo, a professor of International Relations at Beijing University, said the North's nuclear arsenal and highly sensitive geopolitical position meant the fallout of any military action could be catastrophic.

"A small kick could provoke big disasters. It's not like Iraq," Jia said.

Although China's state media went strong on photos and coverage of the Xi-Trump summit, it gave little space to news of the strikes against Syria, with few editorials or commentaries.

One exception was the nationalist-leaning Global Times, which suggested that Trump's "show of force" was rash and ill-considered.

"This was Trump's first major move in international affairs, and it leaves an impression that the decision was made in haste and not without contradiction," the newspaper said.
Office workers stand on the grounds of an office building in the financial district of Makati in Manila on April 8, 2017, after a 5.7 magnitude earthquake struck

A trio of strong earthquakes damaged buildings and caused panicked tourists to flee a popular dive resort near the Philippine capital on Saturday, officials and eyewitnesses said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties from the quakes, the strongest of which hit the coast close to Mabini, a resort town south of Manila famous for its marine life and coral reefs.

The first 5.5-magnitude temblor struck inland at 3:08 pm (0708 GMT) followed by a 5.9 quake just a minute later, according to a revised report by the US Geological Service. The first quake was earlier reported as 5.7 magnitude.

A 5.0 quake hit in the same region after another 20 minutes, according to US geologists.

"I was in the pool taking diving lessons when the ground shook.... We all climbed out and ran. Concrete slabs were falling," Filipino tourist Arnel Casanova, 47, told AFP by telephone from a Mabini dive resort.

"When I went back to my room the ceiling had collapsed and the glass windows were broken, but so far everybody is safe," said Casanova, who was at the resort with his 20-year-old son.

He said resort guests remained outside the damaged buildings more than an hour later as the area was hit with aftershocks.

The quakes caused landslides which blocked two roads and damaged an old church, a hospital and several houses in the area, local officials told ABS-CBN television.

"We are evacuating some people who live on the coast. We want them to stay in a safe area tonight," Mabini Mayor Noel Luistro told the station.

He said he expected at least 3,000 residents to move inland in case of further aftershocks, although the state seismology office said there was no threat of tsunamis.

"The town is full of tourists, both local and foreign this weekend," he added.

The network also broadcast live footage of frightened commuters fleeing the passenger terminal at the port of Batangas, near the epicentres.

The quakes caused power outages across the region but caused no casualties, Romina Marasigan, spokeswoman for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, told AFP.

In Manila, about 100 kilometres (62 miles) away, AFP reporters saw people running out of office buildings in the financial district.

The Philippines lies on the so-called Ring of Fire, a vast Pacific Ocean region where many of the world's earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur.

Saturday's quakes were caused by the movement of a local fault, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology chief Renato Solidum said on ABS-CBN television.

A 6.5-magnitude quake killed eight people and left more than 250 injured outside the southern city of Surigao in February, and another 5.9-magnitude tremor killed one person there last month.

Before the Surigao quakes, the last lethal earthquake to hit the country was a 7.1-magnitude tremor that left more than 220 people dead and destroyed historic churches when it struck the central islands in October 2013.
Palestinians, employed by the Palestinian Authority, chant slogans and wave placards during a demonstration against the decision to reduce their salaries in Gaza City on April 8, 2017

Fresh protests against civil service pay cuts broke out in Gaza on Saturday, as pressure builds on Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to tackle the crisis.

The decision this week by the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority to slash the salaries of civil servants in the Gaza Strip has sparked days of protests.

Tens of thousands took to a square in central Gaza City Saturday in the largest protest since the 30-percent cut was announced, with demonstrators calling on PA leader Abbas to sack his government.

A handful of protesters announced they would begin a hunger strike, a spokesman told AFP.

Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs Gaza, has been at loggerheads with Abbas's Fatah party since the former seized the Strip in a near civil war in 2007.

Fatah runs the West Bank, the other part of the Palestinian territories separated from Gaza by Israeli territory.

After Hamas seized power, around 70,000 PA employees in Gaza lost their posts but they were kept on its payroll nevertheless.

Hamas set up its own parallel administration with 50,000 staff, whose salaries the PA refuses to pay.

The Fatah-run PA announced the pay cuts earlier this week, saying they were necessary because its budget has been hit by falling foreign aid.

In 2014, Fatah and Hamas agreed to form a unity government that was meant to resolve their dispute but it has remained stillborn, with no real control in either territory.

Local elections set for May have also been suspended in the Gaza Strip after infighting between Fatah and Hamas, though they are expected to take place in the West Bank.

UN Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov said he was "deeply concerned by the growing tensions in Gaza."

He said that while the Palestinian government faced difficult economic conditions, it should make spending cuts "with consideration to the harsh conditions under which people in Gaza live".

He urged both parties to work together to resolve the crisis and "bring about real national reconciliation that ends the division".

Israel has maintained a blockade of Gaza for a decade, severely damaging the enclave's economy.
Netflix said in March it would fund the completion and restoration of "The Other Side of the Wind", enabling its star Peter Bogdanovich (pictured) to fulfill a promise he made to Welles before his death in 1985

It was to be the great director Orson Welles's big comeback, marking his triumphant return to the United States after a quarter century in the wilderness in Europe.

But "The Other Side of the Wind," a satire on the death of Hollywood's golden age and the legendary filmmaker's final movie, remains unfinished after decades of financial problems and legal battles.

Internet streaming service Netflix announced in March it would fund the completion and restoration of the movie -- enabling its star Peter Bogdanovich to fulfill a promise he made to Welles before his death in 1985, he revealed on Friday.

"Somewhere in the period 1974 or 1973, Orson and I were having lunch and he turned to me and said, 'If anything ever happens to me I want you to promise me you'll finish the picture,'" Bogdanovich, 77, told a Q&A in Hollywood as part of the TCM Classic Film Festival.

"I said 'Oh Orson, don't say that' and he said, 'I know, nothing's going to happen to me but, if it does, I want you to promise me the finished picture. I said, 'Of course I will.'"

Shot by Welles between 1970 and 1976 from a screenplay he co-wrote with his lover Oja Kodar, "The Other Side of the Wind" stars the actress alongside Bogdanovich, John Huston and Dennis Hopper.

Veteran producer Frank Marshall, who was Steven Spielberg's right-hand man on many of his biggest movies, worked on the original production and he and Bogdanovich have been at the forefront of efforts to complete it since Welles died of a heart attack.

- Setbacks -

"Somewhere in the period 1974 or 1973, Orson and I were having lunch and he turned to me and said, 'If anything ever happens to me I want you to promise me you'll finish the picture,'" Bogdanovich told a Q&A in Hollywood

He will lead the project for Netflix in consultation with Bogdanovich, who has numerous acting credits but is best known as the director of drama "The Last Picture Show" and screwball comedy "What's Up, Doc?" in the early 1970s and "Mask" in 1985.

Welles was acclaimed for numerous movies which have since become classics, including "Citizen Kane" and "Touch of Evil," but he never made a movie that turned a profit in his lifetime and is sometimes referred to as "The Glorious Failure."

His art often mirrored his life, and his final film accordingly tells of the last days of a legendary director named Jake Hannaford (Huston) as he struggles to forge his last great comeback as a major filmmaker.

Initially funded by Welles, "The Other Side of the Wind" was filmed over six years around Los Angeles and in Arizona, Connecticut, England, France, the Netherlands, Spain and Belgium.

Principal photography began in 1970 but was delayed for two years when the US government decided that Welles's European organization was a holding company rather a production company and handed him a huge tax bill.

Production was further set back by an investor fleeing after allegedly embezzling a large part of the budget, as well as the collapse of promised investment and squabbles with Iranian backers.

The final scene was committed to celluloid in January 1976 but by then the money had run out, leaving Welles to spend the years up to his death editing in his spare time.

- Funny -

Decades-long legal battles have ensued between Welles's daughter and his lover -- and even the government of Iran -- over the ownership of the film, with the negative locked in a vault in Paris.

Bogdanovich first announced in 2004 that he planned to restore the film and, three years later, said all the parties with competing claims over the movie had come to an agreement, with a theatrical release planned for late 2008.

Further wrangles stalled production, however, and the movie has been on hold ever since.

But Bogdanovich said the original negative and other footage had arrived in Los Angeles in March, officially resuming the post-production process.

"Ever since he died I've been trying to finish this picture... and now Netflix are doing it and we're going to begin cutting at the end of this month," he told the festival panel in Hollywood.

Ten hours of raw footage exist, but Welles never recorded the opening narration and one of the locations where a car crash has yet to be filmed no longer exists. Neither is there any kind of musical score.

But Bogdanovich is confident the final movie will be worth the wait.

"Huston is brilliant in it. I've seen a lot of his stuff, he's just brilliant. It's an amazing cast actually. Huston was funny because if an actor forgets a line, he usually says, 'I'm sorry, what's the line?' or 'line please!'" the filmmaker said.

"Not John. If he didn't know the line he would say something, nothing to do with what the scene was about, but he'd say something and exit, leaving me on camera going 'What?' Orson always thought that was very funny."
The Dalai Lama on Saturday accused China of spreading false information about his trip to a monastery near India's border that drew protests from Beijing which claims the Himalayan area as its territory.

'People have the wrong information,' the 81-year-old monk told reporters in Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang where he took shelter on his flight from Tibet decades ago.

'I wish one Chinese official would accompany me while I'm visiting here, what I'm doing, what I'm saying. They should know the reality.'

Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama adjusts his shawl as he arrives to deliver teachings to Buddhist followers at the Yiga Choezin ground in Tawang near the India-China border

Beijing this week lodged an official protest with the Indian ambassador, accusing New Delhi of arranging a platform for the Dalai Lama to 'hold anti-China and separatist activities'.

After addressing devotees at the monastery, considered one of the holiest sites in Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama fired back at Beijing, accusing the country's communist officials of misleading its people over the nature of his visit.

'The 1.3-4 billion Chinese people have every right to know the reality.... They only have one-sided information and wrong information is morally wrong, they're fooling their own people.'

The Indian government has insisted the trip is purely religious and pointed out that the Dalai Lama has been to Tawang before, accusing China of creating an 'artificial controversy'.

But some analysts say New Delhi has adopted a firmer approach to China since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took power in 2014 and invited the head of the India-based Tibetan government-in-exile to attend his swearing-in ceremony.

Buddhist followers and schoolchildren wait for exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to arrive at the Sangdok Palri Monastery in Tewang near the Chinese border in India's north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh

'The Dalai Lama has always been welcome to travel wherever he wants in India. But this government has been a bit firmer on issues of sovereignty,' said Jayadeva Ranade, head of the Delhi-based Centre for China Analysis and Strategy.

Huge crowds, at least 20,000 by some estimates, turned out to hear the monk's nearly three-hour religious discourse.

New Delhi is currently pushing to expand its infrastructure in Arunachal Pradesh, building new roads and conducting a feasibility study for a railway.

India and China fought a border war in 1962 over the region, which has a large ethnic Tibetan population.

En route to Arunachal, the Dalai Lama was reunited with the Indian border guard who escorted him into the country after he fled his native Tibet following a failed uprising nearly 60 years ago.

Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama delivers teachings to Buddhist followers at the Yiga Choezin ground in Tawang near the India-China border

Speaking to reporters a few days later, the Dalai Lama said the meeting had been 'very emotional', bringing back memories of his dramatic flight across the Himalayas disguised as a soldier.

Ranade said the visit to Tawang - birthplace of an earlier incarnation of the Dalai Lama - had also raised Chinese concerns over the ageing monk's succession.

The Dalai Lama has stated that his reincarnation may be found outside Chinese Tibet, and Arunachal, with its rich Tibetan culture, is an obvious contender.

Under Tibetan Buddhist tradition, senior monks identify a young boy who shows signs he is a reincarnation of a late leader.

But China's officially atheist Communist rulers maintain that they have the sole authority to decide reincarnation.

'The Chinese reaction has been very elevated, they've been using tough language,' Ranade told AFP. 'This indicates Chinese anxiety about the reincarnation.'
Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr delivers a speech during a gathering in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf on March 19, 2017

Influential Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr on Saturday called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down, also calling on Washington and Moscow to stop intervening in the conflict.

The young Najaf-based Shiite cleric condemned the killing of 87 people, including 31 children, in a suspected chemical attack last week in a rebel-held Syrian town that has been widely blamed on Damascus.

"I would consider it fair for President Bashar al-Assad to resign and leave power, allowing the dear people of Syria to avoid the scourge of war and terrorist oppression," he said in a statement.

The United States fired a barrage of 59 cruise missiles at Shayrat airbase in Syria early on Friday to push Damascus, despite its denials of responsibility.

Sadr, who led a militia that fought the US occupation of Iraq, also condemned the American missile strike, urging all foreign parties involved in the Syria conflict to pull out.

"I call on all sides to withdraw their military assets from Syria so that the Syrian people take things into their own hands. They are the only ones with the right to decide their fate -- the alternative will turn Syria to rubble," he said.

Several Iraqi Shiite militias, some of them directly supported by Iran, are helping Assad's camp in the Syria conflict by sending fighting units across the border.

Sadr, however, is seen as a nationalist. His forces have focused on protecting the holy sites and his drive against corruption and nepotism has drawn support from beyond his traditional base.

The Iraqi government on Friday condemned the suspected chemical attack and said it supported any initiative aimed at punishing those responsible.
Stella Nyanzi criticised Janet Museveni (pictured), the wife of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, on Facebook after the government reneged on a campaign pledge to supply free sanitary pads to schoolgirls

A prominent academic has been arrested for criticising the wife of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on social media, police said Saturday.

Stella Nyanzi criticised Janet Museveni, who is education minister, on Facebook after the government reneged on a campaign pledge to supply free sanitary pads to schoolgirls struggling to afford hygiene products.

Police spokesman Emilian Kayima confirmed that Nyanzi was taken into custody Friday and would appear in court Monday in Kampala on charges of cyber harassment and offensive communication under a 2011 law governing computer misuse.

"She kept posting issues, fighting battles on social media which we think does not serve her interests or ours," Kayima said.

Last Monday, Janet Museveni said in a rare TV interview that she had "forgiven" Nyanzi, whose work specialises in the study of sexuality in Africa.

The academic, whose no-holds-barred work is seen as provocative in some circles of a largely conservative society, had accused the first lady of being "totally out of touch with the reality of the masses".

After Janet Museveni said the sanitary pads pledge would not be met on budgetary grounds, Nyanzi began a high profile fundraising campaign on the issue.

Social media critic Rosebell Kagumire said that, with Nyanzi's arrest, "I think the government are looking for ways to extend traditional methods of intimidation to online speech. They are trying to control a space they have no ability to control."

Maria Burnett, Senior Africa Researcher at Human Rights Watch, criticised the arrest as an attack on free expression.

"The arrest and criminal charges brought against Dr. Nyanzi are yet another clear indicator that those who express critical views of the government can face its wrath," Burnett said.

"The manner of Nyanzi's arrest on Friday was more about intimidation than law enforcement," she added.
Trump said that he was writing to keep Congress informed "consistent with the War Powers Resolution," a 1973 measure mandating the president to notify Congress of military action

President Donald Trump notified Congress on Saturday of the US missile strikes on Syria days after the event, warning ominously of further actions "as necessary."

In a letter addressed to House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate president pro tempore Orrin Hatch, Trump gave details on the missile strike on the Shayrat military airfield, launched in retaliation for an apparent chemical attack.

US warships in the Mediterranean fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles around 3:40 am Syria time (late Thursday in Washington, 0040 GMT Friday) at the airfield located near Homs in central Syria.

US intelligence indicated "that Syrian military forces operating from this airfield were responsible for the chemical weapons attack on Syrian civilians in southern Idlib Province, Syria, that occurred on April 4," Trump wrote.

"I directed this action in order to degrade the Syrian military's ability to conduct further chemical weapons attacks and to dissuade the Syrian regime from using or proliferating chemical weapons, thereby promoting the stability of the region and averting a worsening of the region's current humanitarian catastrophe."

Trump wrote that he "acted in the vital national security and foreign policy interests of the United States, pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct foreign relations and as commander in chief and chief executive.

He then added that the United States "will take additional action, as necessary and appropriate, to further its important national interests."

Trump said that he was writing to keep Congress informed "consistent with the War Powers Resolution," a 1973 measure mandating the president to notify Congress of military action.

The Tomahawks targeted aircraft, hardened aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage, ammunition supply bunkers, air defense systems and radars, the Pentagon said.

Trump responded via Twitter on Saturday to critics complaining that the airfield's landing strip was undamaged after the missile attack.

"The reason you don't generally hit runways is that they are easy and inexpensive to quickly fix (fill in and top)!" he wrote.
The US-backed Afghan military has vowed to wipe out the Islamic State group in its strongholds in the eastern province of Nangarhar

An American special forces soldier has been killed while conducting operations against the Islamic State group in Afghanistan, the US military said.

The US-backed Afghan military has vowed to wipe out the group in its strongholds in the eastern province of Nangarhar as IS challenges the more powerful Taliban on its own turf.

"A US soldier was killed in action while conducting operations against ISIS-Khorasan in (Nangarhar) Afghanistan," US Navy Captain Bill Salvin said on Twitter, referring to a regional affiliate of the jihadist group.

The identity of the soldier, killed late on Saturday, was not revealed.

"On behalf of all of U.S. Forces - Afghanistan, I offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of our fallen comrade," General John Nicholson, the top US commander in Afghanistan, said in a statement.

"We will always remember our fallen comrades and commit ourselves to deliver on their sacrifice," Nicholson added.

Nangarhar, which borders Pakistan, is a hotbed of IS militancy. US forces have conducted a number of air strikes on jihadist bases in the area since August last year.

IS, notorious for its reign of terror in Syria and Iraq, has been making inroads into Afghanistan in recent years. It has attracted disaffected members of the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban as well as Uzbek Islamists.

But the group has been steadily losing territory in the face of heavy pressure both from US air strikes and a ground offensive led by Afghan forces.

Islamic State's strength in Afghanistan has fallen to 600-800 fighters from 3,000 in early 2016, NATO has said, adding that it killed the top 12 IS commanders in the country last year.

The jihadists claimed a deadly assault on Afghanistan's largest military hospital last month, but survivors who spoke to AFP said the attackers chanted "Long live Taliban" in Pashto.

Last month three American troops have sustained injuries when an Afghan soldier opened fire on them in the southern province of Helmand, the first known "insider attack" on international forces this year.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Four inmates were found dead Friday morning in a dorm at one of South Carolina's maximum-security men's prisons, authorities said.

The inmates were found at Kirkland Correctional Institution in the capital city, Department of Corrections Director Bryan Stirling told The Associated Press. Stirling did not say how they died.

Department spokeswoman Sommer Sharpe identified the four inmates in a news release as John King, 52; Jason Kelley, 35; Jimmy Ham, 56; and William Scruggs, 44.

King was serving time for a variety of crimes and had a projected release date of October 2020. Kelley was serving 15 years for assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. He was scheduled for release in August 2020.

Ham was scheduled for release this November after serving a sentence for a variety of offenses. Scruggs was sentenced to life in prison for murder and first-degree burglary.

Stirling said he asked the State Law Enforcement Division to assist Corrections police with their investigation. Coroner Gary Watts confirmed he was investigating four deaths at the prison but wouldn't give any details about how the inmates died.

Kirkland operates a specialized housing unit for the state's most dangerous inmates, an assessment and evaluation center for new inmates sentenced to more than three months, and a 24-bed infirmary, according to the Corrections website.

The prison has been the scene of previous violence. In 2015, two inmates held two nurses hostage with homemade knives for seven hours after forcing their way into a nursing station where prescription drugs were kept. One nurse's throat was cut, but she survived.

Last year, three corrections officers at Kirkland were fired after officials said they tried to kill an inmate in their care. Authorities said the officers, who were charged with attempted murder and misconduct in office, stabbed an inmate while he was handcuffed.

Their cases are still pending.

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Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP . Read more of her work at http://bigstory.ap.org/MegKinnardAP .
PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - The United States is vowing to keep up the pressure on Syria after the intense nighttime wave of missile strikes from U.S. ships, despite the prospect of escalating Russian ill will that could further inflame one of the world's most vexing conflicts.

Standing firm, the Trump administration on Friday signaled new sanctions would soon follow the missile attack, and the Pentagon was even probing whether Russia itself was involved in the chemical weapons assault that compelled President Donald Trump to action. The attack against a Syrian air base was the first U.S. assault against the government of President Bashar Assad.

Much of the international community rallied behind Trump's decision to fire the cruise missiles in reaction to this week's chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of men, women and children in Syria. But a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the strikes dealt "a significant blow" to relations between Moscow and Washington.

This satellite image provided by DigitalGlobe shows an image captured on April 7 of the northwest side of the Shayrat air base in Syria, following U.S. Tomahawk Land Attack Missile strikes on Friday, April 7, 2017 from the USS Ross (DDG 71) and USS Porter (DDG 78). The United States blasted the air base with a barrage of cruise missiles on Friday, April 7, 2017 in fiery retaliation for this week's gruesome chemical weapons attack against civilians. (DigitalGlobe via AP)

A key test of whether the relationship can be salvaged comes next week when Secretary of State Rex Tillerson becomes the first Trump Cabinet member to visit Russia.

Tillerson said he sees no reason for retaliation from Russia for the U.S. missile strikes. Russia maintains a close political and military alliance with the Assad government and has been implicated in many of the attacks against Syrians opposed to Assad's rule, though Moscow adamantly denies such claims.

In an interview to air Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation," Tillerson said Russians were not targeted by the strikes. He also said the top U.S. priority in the region hasn't changed and remained the defeat of Islamic State militants.

British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson also had planned to visit Russia this coming week, but decided Saturday to cancel the trip because of the fast moving events in Syria. Johnson, who condemned Moscow's continued defense of Assad, said Tillerson will be able to give a "clear and coordinated message to the Russians."

At the United Nations on Friday, Russia's deputy ambassador, Vladimir Safronkov, strongly criticized what he called the U.S. "flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression" whose "consequences for regional and international security could be extremely serious." He called the Assad government a main force against terrorism and said it deserved the presumption of innocence in the chemical weapons attack.

The U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley, said the world is waiting for the Russian government "to act responsibly in Syria" and "to reconsider its misplaced alliance with Bashar Assad."

Trump spoke by telephone Friday with Saudi Arabia's King Salman, who reaffirmed strong support for the military strike and thanked the U.S. president for his "courageous" action, according to statements issued Saturday by the White House and the official Saudi Press Agency.

Saudi Arabia, one of the most vehement opponents of Assad, said the missile barrage was the right response to "the crimes of this regime to its people in light of the failure of the international community to stop it."

The Turkish foreign minister, whose country is a strong backer of the Syrian opposition, said the U.S. missile strikes were not enough. Mevlut Cavusoglu said Saturday that the U.S. intervention was only "cosmetic" unless it removes Assad from power. He said the most ideal process would be a political solution that leads to a transitional government.

In Florida with the president, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said additional economic sanctions on Syria were being prepared.

Thursday night's strikes - some 60 cruise missiles fired from two ships in the Mediterranean - were the culmination of a rapid, three-day transformation for Trump, who has long opposed deeper U.S. involvement in Syria's civil war. Advisers said he was outraged by heartbreaking images of young children who were among the dozens killed in the chemical attack.

The decision undercut another campaign promise for Trump: his pledge to try to warm relations with Moscow. After months of allegations of ties between his election campaign and the Kremlin - the subject of current congressional and FBI investigations - Trump has found himself clashing with Putin.

On Friday, senior U.S. military officials were looking more closely at possible Russian involvement in the poison attack. Officials said a drone belonging to either Russia or Syria was seen hovering over the site after the assault earlier this week. The drone returned late in the day as citizens were going to a nearby hospital for treatment. Shortly afterward, officials say the hospital was targeted.

The officials, who insisted on anonymity in order to discuss the sensitive matter, said they believe the hospital attack may have been an effort to cover up evidence of the earlier assault.

White House officials caution that Trump is not preparing to plunge the U.S. deeper into Syria. Spokesman Sean Spicer said the missile attack sent a clear message to Assad, but he avoided explicitly calling for the Syrian to leave office.

In a letter to Congress on Saturday, Trump said he "acted in the vital national security and foreign policy interests of the United States, pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct foreign relations" and as commander in chief and chief executive.

He said the U.S. "will take additional action, as necessary and appropriate, to further its important national interests."

Trump, who is spending the weekend at his Florida resort, tweeted a brief explanation Saturday of why the military didn't strike the runways in its bombardment of the Syrian air field, writing, "they are easy and inexpensive to quickly fix (fill in and top)!"

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Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor in Washington, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Vivian Salama in Palm Beach, Florida, contributed to this report.

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Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC

FILE - In this April 6, 2017, file photo President Donald Trump speaks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. After President Donald Trump's election victory, the United States and Russia appeared headed toward their smoothest ties in decades. Not anymore. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

United States' Ambassador United Nations and current Security Council President Nikki Haley opens a Security Council meeting on the situation in Syria, Friday, April 7, 2017 at United Nations headquarters. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

This satellite image provided by DigitalGlobe shows an image captured on April 7 of destroyed aircraft shelters on the southeast side of the Shayrat air base in Syria, following U.S. Tomahawk Land Attack Missile strikes on Friday, April 7, 2017 from the USS Ross (DDG 71) and USS Porter (DDG 78). The United States blasted the air base with a barrage of cruise missiles on Friday, April 7, 2017 in fiery retaliation for this week's gruesome chemical weapons attack against civilians. (DigitalGlobe via AP)

In this image provided by the White House, President Donald Trump receives a briefing on the Syria military strike from his National Security team after the strike at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., Thursday night, April 6, 2017. (White House via AP)

Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador Vladimir Safronkov speaks during a Security Council meeting on the situation in Syria, Friday, April 7, 2017 at United Nations headquarters. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

In this image provided by the U.S. Navy, the USS Ross (DDG 71) fires a tomahawk land attack missile Friday, April 7, 2017, from the Mediterranean Sea. The United States blasted a Syrian air base with a barrage of cruise missiles in fiery retaliation for this week's gruesome chemical weapons attack against civilians. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Robert S. Price/U.S. Navy via AP)

FILE - In this June 7, 2016 file photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad, addresses a speech to the newly-elected parliament at the parliament building, in Damascus, Syria. Assad's government came under mounting international pressure Thursday, April 6, 2017 after a chemical attack in northern Syria, with even key ally Russia saying its support is not unconditional. (SANA via AP)
ASHLAND, Ore. (AP) - Dana Rensi was in the Peruvian Amazon city of Iquitos working her way through a Fulbright teacher exchange program when she decided to go a little deeper into the jungle, so she hopped into small canoe-type boat known as a Pequepeque - named after the sputtering sounds its engine makes - and embarked on a tour she can still describe in great detail 12 years after the experience.

What she saw were single-room buildings topped with thatched roofs and equipped with blackboards and little else. Secondary schools there are rare, but inside the one she visited, traced in chalk, was the familiar elliptical ripples and scattered orbs of our solar system. Without the educational tools that have become standard in most first-world classrooms, the rough sketch was the best the teacher could manage.

Right about then, Rensi, the library media specialist at Oregon's Ashland High School, decided she should do something about that. This summer, she will.

Inspired by what she witnessed in the jungle during the 2005-06 school year and emboldened by technological advances which have rendered former barriers to her vision mere hurdles, Rensi will head back to the jungle in July with equipment that will give hundreds and possibly thousands of school-aged children who have no access to electricity, let alone the internet, the ability to tap into solar digital libraries loaded with educational content.

"People are really smart, they just have no resources," she said of the schools she encountered in Peru. "And everything gets ruined because it's so humid. And they just don't have money for supplies, so if I can take down something that has all that wonderful information on it then it's a huge benefit for them. They can educate themselves and get out of the cycle of poverty and have some opportunities."

Known as RACHELs, or Remote Access Community Hotspot for Education and Learning, the digital libraries Rensi will take, once set up, will shoot out wireless signals which can be picked up by any laptop or mobile device with standard Wi-Fi capability. Rensi has just the thing for that, too - the Raspberry Pi, essentially a stripped down, bare bones computer (it doesn't even include a case) developed to promote basic computer science education in developing countries. It retails for $35.

As her plan began to take shape a few months ago, Rensi realized she couldn't travel 4,600 miles south toting bags of motherboards and gigabytes of valuable educational content ranging from classic literature to medical encyclopedias without first testing the equipment to make sure all the wonderful, potentially life-changing tools she'd promised would work as she had hoped.

"So, I did what all librarians do," she said, "I checked something out."

Rensi paid a visit to the local Southern Oregon Educational Service District and checked out a Raspberry Pi. She plugged in a foldable keyboard she'd won as a door prize at an ESD tech meeting seven years prior, hooked up a solar battery she purchased for her phone on a $10 Groupon and attached the Pi to a 51-inch TV. Lo and behold, it worked.

Rensi has partnered with Project Amazonas, a not-for-profit non-governmental organization that specializes in medical care, conservation, education, research and sustainable community development. She'll be spending a week as a translator on a medical boat that serves remote villages along the Amazon's tributaries then she'll install five digital libraries at schools and libraries.

Some of the buildings Rensi plans to visit are already equipped with solar power, but for those that aren't she'll be purchasing portable solar panels. It'll be a busy few weeks for Rensi. She'll also be purchasing monitors and keyboards in Iquitos, taking several sets of $1 microscopes called foldscopes for science education and experiments, handing out reusable, washable menstruation kits from Days for Girls and distributing paperfuges, which is quite a story in itself.

By tweaking a popular children's toy, Stanford bioengineers have developed a human-powered, string-operated centrifuge that can be used to detect diseases such as malaria, HIV and tuberculosis. It's made from 20 cents worth of paper, twine and plastics and can reach speeds up to 125,000 rpm. The fact that it requires no electricity makes it especially valuable in the Peruvian Amazon, where centrifuges worth thousands of dollars, sans the electricity required to run them, are used as doorstops.

Rensi reached out to one of the bioengineers, Manu Prakash, who helped develop the paperfuge and was floored when he responded and agreed to meet with her. The two hit it off during their initial get-together at Stanford, and Prakash agreed to give Rensi a private paperfuge tutorial before her trip.

"Oh my gosh, the fact that he answered me in the first place," Rensi said, in a phone interview that took place shortly after she met Prakash. "And he said, 'You guys are exactly what we need to test these (paperfuges) out.' He's making them for people like us. He's from India and I don't know if he grew up poor or not but (the paperfuge) is for developing countries. There's this whole group of people that are just out to do good things. I'm connected with some of them and I'm so happy."

The distribution of her various goods represents only the final leg of what is a jam-packed itinerary for Rensi, who will begin her trek by flying to Mexico City, where she will meet with Juan Carlos Romero Hicks, a senator from Guanajuato and also the president of the education commissions and the secretary of the science and technology commission.

From there, Rensi is off to Guatemala to meet with the head of Mundo Posible, the Guatemalan chapter of World Possible, which created the RACHEL. Rensi will be visiting RACHEL installations around Lake Atitlan and observing how they train teachers. Finally, she'll shove off to the Amazon.

Rensi's sizable contribution to the educational prospects of the children in the Peruvian Amazon will not come without a cost - about $1,500. So far, she's paid for everything out of her own pocket, but she opened a GoFundMe page recently and is hoping to win a grant.

Just to add another level of excitement, Rensi is scheduled to return to Ashland in early August, just in time to see the birth of her grandchild.

When asked if she'll be checking in on the schools after she returns, Rensi said she'll be doing a lot more than that.

"Oh yeah," she said. "I'll be going back down. This might be my retirement project. This is not a one-time shot. This is the beginning."

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Information from: The Ashland Daily Tidings, http://www.dailytidings.com
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Ramon Regalado was starving and sick with malaria when he slipped away from his Japanese captors during the infamous 1942 Bataan Death March in the Philippines, escaping a brutal trudge through steamy jungle that killed hundreds of Americans and thousands of Filipinos who fought for the U.S. during World War II.

On Saturday, the former wartime machine-gun operator joined a dwindling band of veterans of the war in San Francisco's Presidio to honor the soldiers who died on the march and those who made it to a prisoner of war camp only to die there.

They commemorated the mostly Filipino soldiers who held off Japanese forces in the Philippines for three months without supplies of food or ammunition before a U.S. Army major general surrendered 75,000 troops to Japan on April 9, 1942.

In this photo taken Thursday, April 6, 2017, a pair of medals are pinned to the jacket of Bataan Death March survivor Ramon Regalado at his home in El Cerrito, Calif. Survivors of the infamous Bataan Death March in the Philippines are marking the anniversary Saturday in San Francisco with speeches and a 21-gun battery salute to the thousands who died in it. Among the speakers will be Regalado, a former wartime machine-gun operator who turns 100 this month and is among the war's few living survivors. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Few Americans are aware of the Filipinos who were starving as they relentlessly fended off the more powerful and well-supplied Japanese forces, said Cecilia Gaerlan, executive director of the Berkeley, California-based Bataan Legacy Historical Society organizing the event at the former military fort.

"Despite fighting without any air support and without any reinforcement, they disrupted the timetable of the Imperial Japanese army," she said. "That was their major role, to perform a delaying action. And they did that beyond expectations."

More than 250,000 Filipino soldiers served in World War II, when the Philippines were a U.S. territory. But after the war ended, President Harry Truman signed laws that stripped away promises of benefits and citizenship for Filipino veterans.

Only recently have they won back some concessions and acknowledgment, including the nation's highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal. The veterans also received lump-sum payments as part of the 2009 stimulus law.

An estimated 18,000 Filipino veterans of World War II are still alive and living in the U.S.

Tens of thousands of Filipino and U.S. troops were forced on the 65-mile (105-kilometer) march and Gaerlan said as many as 650 Americans and 10,000 Filipinos died in stifling heat and at the hands of Japanese soldiers who shot, bayoneted or beat soldiers who fell or stopped for water.

More than 80 percent of those forced on the march were Filipino.

After they arrived at a prison camp set up at Camp O'Donnell, she said, an additional 1,600 Americans and 20,000 Filipinos died from dysentery, starvation and disease.

Gaerlan grew up knowing that her father, Luis Gaerlan, Jr., had been in a wartime march in which a lot of people had died. But he rarely spoke about it or he would re-enact it with rat-a-tat-tat sound effects for the guns that made her laugh.

She started researching the march in 2011 and tried to elicit more details from her father. He broke down crying telling her that some men were so desperate that they killed themselves. Others wrote goodbye letters to their relatives during the march.

"And he said he was starting to write his farewell letter, because a lot of men did that, and I asked him, 'Well, were you going to take your own life?" she said. "And he didn't answer."

Gaerlan's father died in 2014 at age 94.

She successfully lobbied California last year to mandate teaching details of the battle and march in high schools.

She also collects march veterans' stories before they die, including the memories of 99-year-old Regalado, who lives in the San Francisco suburb of El Cerrito.

When the war broke out, Regalado was a member of the Philippine Scouts, a military branch of the U.S. Army for Filipino soldiers.

He and two other soldiers were assigned to feed horses during the march and slipped away when guards were not watching them, Regalado said.

A farmer took in the three, even though the penalty for doing so was death. All were sick with malaria. Only Regalado survived.

He went on to join a guerrilla resistance movement against the Japanese and moved in 1950 to the San Francisco Bay Area to work for the U.S. military.

Regalado credits his survival and long life to his high morale.

While being cared for by the farmer, he recalls telling himself: "I'm not going to die."

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This story has been corrected to say that a U.S. Army major general - not a major - surrendered 75,000 troops to Japan on April 9, 1942.

In this photo taken Thursday, April 6, 2017, Bataan Death March survivor Ramon Regalado reminisces at his home in El Cerrito, Calif. Survivors of the infamous Bataan Death March in the Philippines are marking the anniversary in San Francisco with speeches and a 21-gun battery salute for the thousands who died during the march. Among the speakers will be Regalado, a former wartime machine-gun operator who turns 100 this month and is among the war's few living survivors. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

In this photo taken Thursday, April 6, 2017, Bataan Death March survivor Ramon Regalado holds his decorated hat at his home in El Cerrito, Calif. Survivors of the infamous Bataan Death March in the Philippines are marking the anniversary in San Francisco with speeches and a 21-gun battery salute to the thousands who died in it. Among the speakers will be Regalado, a former wartime machine-gun operator who turns 100 this month and is among the war's few living survivors. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

In this photo taken Thursday, April 6, 2017, Bataan Death March survivor Ramon Regalado looks over a map showing where he marched with Cecilia Gaerlan outside his home in El Cerrito, Calif. Survivors of the infamous Bataan Death March in the Philippines are marking the anniversary Saturday in San Francisco with speeches and a 21-gun battery salute to the thousands who died in it. Among the speakers will be Regalado, a former wartime machine-gun operator who turns 100 this month and is among the war's few living survivors. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

In this photo taken Thursday, April 6, 2017, Bataan Death March survivor Ramon Regalado walks with Cecilia Gaerlan outside his home in El Cerrito, Calif. Survivors of the infamous Bataan Death March in the Philippines are marking the anniversary Saturday, in San Francisco, with speeches and a 21-gun battery salute to the thousands who died in it. Among the speakers will be Regalado, a former wartime machine-gun operator who turns 100 this month and is among the war's few living survivors. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

FILE - In this 1942 file photo American and Filipino prisoners of war captured by the Japanese are shown at the start of the Death March after the surrender of Bataan on April 9 near Mariveles in the Philippines, during World War II. Hundreds of American soldiers and thousands of Filipinos died along the way. Survivors of a brutal World War Two death march to a prison camp will be on hand Saturday, April 8, 2017, in San Francisco's Presidio to commemorate an event its largely Filipino-American organizers hope will not be lost to history. (AP Photo/File)
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump's White House has been sharply divided by the rivalry between his powerful son-in-law with unfettered access to the president and the ideologue behind Trump's populist rise.

Senior adviser Jared Kushner and chief strategist Steve Bannon, arguably the two most influential voices in the West Wing, have clashed repeatedly in recent weeks over strategy to pass health care legislation, the fallout of the bogged-down immigration bans and, most recently, whether to intervene in the Syrian civil war.

Although the White House is rife with rumors of a staff shake-up, Trump's young administration is pushing back against reports of a pending West Wing overhaul fueled by squabbling among top aides.

In this April 6, 2017, photo, President Donald Trump walks from the podium after speaking at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., Thursday, April 6, 2017, after the U.S. fired a barrage of cruise missiles into Syria. Trump's White House, one perpetually plagued by infighting among aides jockeying for the president's ear, has been sharply divided by a new rivalry, one pitting his powerful son-in-law with unfettered access to the president against the sharp-elbowed ideologue who fueled Trump's populist campaign rhetoric. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said in a statement Friday that the narrative of a dysfunctional administration on the verge of a makeover "is a completely false story driven by people who want to distract from the success taking place in this administration."

As evidence of that success, Walters noted the Senate's confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, Trump's recent meetings with foreign leaders and the U.S. missile strikes in Syria.

"The only thing we are shaking up is the way Washington operates as we push the president's aggressive agenda forward," she said.

Still, the administration has been plagued by the public airing of infighting, with high-profile aides visibly jockeying for position. Trump himself is increasingly frustrated by the leaks and stories of infighting that that keep flowing out of the West Wing and ordered Bannon and Kushner to set aside their growing feud.

Trump on Thursday told the two men to meet with chief of staff Reince Priebus at the president's lush Mar-a-Lago estate the following day, according to a senior administration official not authorized to speak publicly about a private conversation. The two men proceeded to air their respective grievances and said they would try to work together better.

The tension between them has mounted for weeks.

Bannon, the former head of the conservative news outlet Breitbart, powered Trump's populist campaign message. But some see his role as declining. This past week, Trump removed him from the National Security Council, reversing his decision to give Bannon access to the group's high-level meetings.

Kushner, who played a major role in the presidential campaign, is heading an effort to overhaul the federal government and has traveled to Iraq with the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman. Kushner is allied with a group of aides who view themselves as more moderate forces, including economic adviser Gary Cohn, the former president of the Goldman Sachs investment bank.

Cohn's ascendance has been a flashpoint for West Wing tensions. Cohn, Kushner and Dina Powell, the deputy national security adviser, have been labeled the White House's "Democrats" by Bannon's allies, and the two sides have taken turns slinging anonymous arrows at each other in the press.

Bannon's side blames Kushner and his allies for trying to moderate Trump and move him away from some of his populist campaign promises. But Bannon has taken the brunt of the blame for the stalled travel bans and for the health care fallout; on that issue, Bannon wanted to force a vote to take names of Republicans disloyal to Trump.

Trump initially went along with the way the ban was rolled out, but he has since grown angry that Bannon did not craft the executive order so it could stand up in court, according to a person familiar with the president's thinking who was not permitted to publicly discuss private conversations and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Speculation has been rampant about chief of staff Reince Priebus, who has faced questions about his staying power since he started the job. That scrutiny intensified with the collapse of the House GOP health care overhaul, a major embarrassment for Trump.

Senior adviser Kellyanne Conway, at the forefront in the early weeks of the administration, has been less visible after a series of misstatements. She was one of only a few senior aides not present this week when Trump met with the Chinese president at Trump's Florida estate.

Chris Ruddy, a longtime Trump friend and the head of NewsMax, said Trump thrives on internal debate but does not like "when people are leaking or criticizing to the outside."

On whether Trump will make changes, Ruddy said he wasn't privy to internal discussion but noted, "Donald Trump has a history of ignoring what everyone says or thinks and keeping people he likes for a long period of time."

Nearing its first 100 days, Trump's presidency has been filled with personnel woes and limited policy victories. Installing his choice to the Supreme Court was a success, but his travel ban remains tied up in the courts. The House GOP health care bill failed spectacularly on its first attempt, and he is still dogged by questions about Russian connections.

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Lemire reported from New York. Associated Press writer Julie Bykowicz contributed to this report.

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Follow Lemire on Twitter at http://twitter.com/@JonLemire and Lucey at http://twitter.com/@catherine_lucey
BEIRUT (AP) - The Latest on the Syria conflict (all times local):

11:55 p.m.

Turkey's president says it's clear that Syria's government carried out Tuesday's chemical attack in northern Syria and called on Russia to stop supporting Bashar Assad's government.

Protesters carry placards during a rally against the U.S. missile strikes in Syria, Friday, April 7, 2017, in New York. The U.S. fired a barrage of cruise missiles into Syria on Thursday night in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack against civilians earlier in the week. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

In a live interview on 24 TV Saturday night, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan rejected Syria's denial of using chemical weapons. "They say it came from the depot of a terror organization there. It has nothing to do with it," he said.

"We have the radar information and we have the forensic reports. Some say Syria does not have chemical weapons. Of course it does. It's clear which planes dropped it." He said NATO has all the radar records as well.

The chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun killed 87 people and prompted the U.S. to fire 59 missiles early Friday to strike a Syrian air base.

Erdogan expressed support for the U.S. missile strike on Shayrat air base, but said it should not end there, and asked Russia to join the effort. He said, "Russia should also join this and should stop supporting Assad."

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10:30 p.m.

Syrian opposition activists say an airstrike on a northwestern rebel-held town has killed at least 18 people.

The Britain-based Syria Observatory for Human Rights says those killed in the Saturday strike in the center of Urom al-Joz include five children and two women.

The Ariha Today activist group listed the names of 18 people killed in the airstrike, warning that the death toll could rise as others were critically wounded.

Urom al-Joz is in the Idlib province, a rebel stronghold.

8:15 p.m.

Syrian state TV says a bomb exploded aboard a bus carrying workers near the central city of Homs, killing a woman and wounding 25.

It gave no further details about Saturday's explosion, but the governor of Homs province, Talal Barrazi, told The Associated Press by telephone that the bomb was placed inside a bus that transports workers at a private factory.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed a woman was killed in the blast, saying it also wounded more than 20 people.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Al-Qaida's branch in Syria and the Islamic State group have carried out similar attacks in the past.

Syrian rebels and their families are in the process of evacuating the last opposition-held neighborhood in Homs under a deal with the government.

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6:50 p.m.

Syria's state news agency says 242 opposition fighters and their families have left the last rebel-held neighborhood in the central city of Homs.

Saturday's evacuation is the fourth phase of a process that began last month to evacuate opposition fighters from al-Waer neighborhood in Homs city to rebel-held areas in northern Syria.

Homs governor Talal Barrazi told state news agency SANA that the number of fighters should reach more than 400 before sunset Saturday.

More evacuations are scheduled for the coming weeks. The deal to evacuate al-Waer was brokered by Russia, and Russian troops were seen in the city observing the evacuation.

Opposition activists have criticized the agreement, saying it aims to displace 12,000 al-Waer residents, including 2,500 fighters. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has called the evacuees "internally displaced."

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5:15 p.m.

Dozens of Syrian students have gathered outside the offices of the United Nations in the Syrian capital Damascus to protest a U.S. missile attack on an air base.

The protesters held banners and chanted anti-American slogans Saturday such as "Death to America" and "Death to Israel."

One of the banners they carried read: "The Iraqi scenario will not be repeated in Syria." They were referring to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq after Washington accused Saddam Hussein of hiding weapons of mass destruction - a belief that later turned out to be incorrect.

University student Ashraf Fadel said he came to denounce "the unjust American aggression against Syria." He added that the United Nations was "created to support America instead of serving the wronged people."

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3:35 p.m.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has canceled a planned trip to Russia because of fast moving events in Syria.

Johnson said Saturday the situation in Syria has changed "fundamentally" following a chemical weapons attack on civilians and a U.S. missile strike on a Syrian airfield.

Johnson condemned Russia's continued defense of Syrian President Bashar Assad "even after the chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians."

He had planned to travel to Russia Monday on a trip intended to start fresh dialogue with the Russian government.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans meet with G-7 foreign ministers in Europe next week before going on to Moscow. Johnson says Tillerson will be able to give a "clear and coordinated message to the Russians."

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3 p.m.

Syrian activists and state media say an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition on a northern village held by the Islamic State group has killed at least 13 civilians, including children.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says 15 people including four children were killed in Saturday's airstrike on the village of Hneida.

The village is in the northern province of Raqqa where U.S.-backed Syrian fighters have been on the offensive against IS under the cover of U.S.-led coalition airstrikes.

Syrian state TV said the airstrike killed 13 including children.

The Sound and Picture activist group that tracks atrocities by IS said the airstrike hit an internet cafe.

The attack comes at a time of increasing reports of civilian deaths in airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition in northern Syria.

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2:45 p.m.

About 100 protesters gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in the Turkish capital of Ankara to protest Friday's U.S. missile strike on a Syrian air base.

Utku Reyhan, the general secretary of nationalist Patriotic Party that organized the Saturday protest, criticized the U.S. missile strike against Shayrat air base. "There is no solution from America, all that comes from America is chaos and blood," he said. "We should focus on solving the Syrian issue with the Syrian administration and our other neighbors Iraq and Iran."

He called for the continuation of the peace talks in Kazakhstan, which were organized by Russia and Turkey.

Protesters chanted "Murderer U.S., get out of Syria" and held banners that read "Murderer U.S., get out of the Middle East."

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1:30 p.m.

Turkey's foreign minister says Ankara sees the U.S. intervention in Syria as appropriate but not enough.

Mevlut Cavusoglu, speaking in the southern city of Antalya on Saturday, said if the U.S. intervention is limited only to a missile attack on a Syrian air base then it is a "cosmetic intervention" unless it removes President Bashar Assad from power.

Cavusoglu, whose country is a strong backer of the Syrian opposition, said the most ideal process will be a political solution that leads to a transitional government accepted by all Syrians as soon as possible. He said that for that "this oppressive Assad needs to go."

Cavusoglu said after the transitional government takes over, it will be followed with elections in which Syrians in the country and abroad can vote.

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12:50 p.m.

Iranian president Hassan Rouhani is calling for the formation of an international fact-finding committee to investigate the chemical weapons attack in a northern Syrian town that killed at least 87 people.

State television reported Rouhani's statement Monday, quoting him as insisting that the committee "must not be heading by Americans" and must be impartial.

Rouhani said that "neutral countries should come and assess to make it clear where the chemical weapons came from."

Iran is a strong allay of Syrian President Bashara Assad, who has insisted that his forces have never used to chemical weapons.

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11:50 a.m.

Syrian opposition activists say warplanes have struck a northern town where a chemical attack killed scores of people earlier this week killing one person and wounding another.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday's airstrike on the eastern side of Khan Sheikhoun killed a woman, marking the first death in the town since Tuesday's chemical attack that killed 87.

The Local Coordination Committees, another monitoring group, said the airstrike was carried out by Russian warplane. It said the woman killed had fled to the town from her hometown of Latameh in central Syria.

The chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun on Tuesday triggered a U.S. missile attack two days later that struck a Syrian air base in central Syria killing nine people.

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11:25 a.m.

The official Saudi Press Agency is reporting that U.S. President Donald Trump has spoken by telephone with King Salman about the U.S. missile strike on Syria.

The news agency reports that during the Friday phone call, the Saudi monarch congratulated Trump for his "courageous decision."

Saudi Arabia says the missile launch by Trump was the right response to "the crimes of this regime to its people in light of the failure of the international community to stop it."

The kingdom is among the most vehement opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad and supports Sunni rebel groups fighting to oust him. The Sunni rulers of Saudi Arabia are in a power struggle for regional dominance with Iran's Shiite government and view Tehran's support of Assad as a threat to the region.
SYDNEY (AP) - One of Australia's biggest horse races - the Sydney Cup - was abandoned at the halfway point on Saturday in dramatic and controversial scenes after two horses threw their riders and one of the horses died on the track.

The 3,200-meter (2-mile) Group 1 event, worth 2 million Australian dollars ($1.5 million), attracted a field of 14 Australian and international gallopers, and shaped as one of the highlights of the autumn racing season at Sydney's Randwick racecourse.

But trouble occurred soon after the field passed the winning post the first time in the lap-and-a-half race when Almoonqith - a former Europe and Dubai-based stallion raced by the emirate's deputy ruler Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum - broke down.

Not only was the seven-year-old's English jockey James Doyle thrown from the saddle, the incident also caused rival horse Who Shotthebarman to unseat its jockey, Blake Shinn.

With Almoonqith lying on the track and Doyle having trouble moving away due to an injured knee, race officials decided to call a "no-race" with 1,600 meters left. But with no warning sirens in operation, it was left to mounted track officials to call out to jockeys that the race had been abandoned.

Only about half of the remaining riders heard the call and pulled up their horses, however, with the other half pushing on in the belief the race was still valid.

English visitor, the Godolphin-owned Polarisation, was first across the line, with his rider Corey Brown celebrating what he believed was a big win for the horse's connections.

He and the other finishing riders then steered their mounts around Almoonqith, who later had to be euthanized.

Brown was later fuming over the decision to abandon the race, saying jockeys could easily have avoided the stricken horse after the finish of the race.

"One's broken down and it was a furlong (200 meters) after the winning post. If it was at the 100-meter mark (before the post) I could understand," said Brown, who also called the lack of a warning siren "farcical."

Race officials, who were expected to reschedule the event, defended their decision. Chief steward Marc van Gestel said officials had to "err on the side of caution," as it was not immediately clear whether Almoonqith might still get up and cause havoc with the remaining field.

Meanwhile, five-year-old Australian mare Winx, the world's highest-rated horse on turf, completed her 17th straight win with a five-length victory in the day's richest race, the $3 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes over 2,000 meters.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Before the U.S. attack on a Syrian air base, President Donald Trump accused his predecessor of doing nothing when Syria's government used chemical weapons against its population in 2013. Trump is right that President Barack Obama issued what amounted to an empty threat of military action. The circumstances, though, were more complicated than Trump described.

A look at statements on a selection of subjects over the past week by Trump and lawmakers:

TRUMP: In a White House statement after what the Trump administration said was a bombing involving the nerve agent sarin in a rebel-held part of northern Syria: "These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution. President Obama said in 2012 that he would establish a 'red line' against the use of chemical weapons, and then did nothing."

In this April 6, 2017, photo, President Donald Trump speaks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., after the U.S. fired a barrage of cruise missiles into Syria in retaliation for this week's gruesome chemical weapons attack against civilians. Before the U.S. attack on a Syrian air base, Trump accused his predecessor of doing nothing when Syria's government used chemical weapons against its population in 2013. He's right that President Barack Obama issued what amounted to an empty threat of military action. The circumstances, though, were more complicated than Trump described. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

THE FACTS: Many in the foreign policy establishment essentially agree with Trump. That's not to say he told the full story.

When evidence emerged in August 2013 of a large-scale chemical attack in the Damascus suburbs, more than 10 times deadlier than this past week's, Obama quickly signaled his intention to use military force. But when key ally Britain wouldn't participate, Obama became uncomfortable about going it alone and sought Congress' authorization. Lawmakers in both parties balked; he could not win enough support.

Indeed, when Obama had made his "red line" threat a year earlier, Trump himself tweeted: "President Obama, do not attack Syria. There is no upside and tremendous downside. Save your powder for another (and more important) day!"

It's also true, though, that Obama could have ordered a military strike without congressional authorization, as Trump did Thursday. Derek Chollet, Obama's assistant defense secretary for international security affairs, wrote in Politico last year that he was initially shocked when Obama decided to go to Congress, because "it was clear the president had all the domestic legal authority and international justification he needed to act."

In the end, Obama turned to diplomacy when Russia offered him a way out. Their deal led the Syrian president, Bashar Assad, to own up to chemical weapons stocks and agreeing to have them removed, steps seen as breakthroughs at the time.

It wasn't "nothing," as Trump claimed. But neither it did it remove Syria's chemical weapons threat. Assad's forces are believed to have conducted a number of deadly chlorine attacks in the years since, with no international punishment. And as is now apparent, Obama's deal wasn't enough to spare Syrian civilians from a sarin-like nerve gas this past week.

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SEN. MITCH McCONNELL, Senate majority leader, on why he opposed Obama's proposal for U.S. military action against Syria in 2013 but supports what Trump did: "Secretary (of State John) Kerry, I guess in order to reassure the left-leaning members of his own party, said it would sort of be like a pinprick. You know, really would not be of any great consequence. I don't know whether he had in mind knocking out a tent and a couple of camels or what." But Trump's strike "was well-planned, well- executed, went right to the heart of the matter, which is using chemical weapons. So, had I seen that - that kind of approach by President Obama, I'm sure I would've signed up."

THE FACTS: What McConnell, R-Ky., said at the time was that Assad's use of chemical weapons on his own people did not threaten the U.S. "A vital national security risk is clearly not in play," he said then, responding to a far deadlier attack on civilians than the latest one.

McConnell told the Senate in September 2013 that Obama's planned action was detached from any strategy to end the Syrian civil war. McConnell said the planned intervention could be too limited to dissuade Assad from further use of chemical weapons - or so broad that it could put those weapons in the hands of extremists, if Assad lost control. His concern not merely, or even principally, that intervention might amount to a "pinprick."

At the time, McConnell was alone among the top Senate and House leaders from either party in opposing Obama's proposal. The senator was facing a primary challenge from a Republican who opposed intervening in Syria.

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TRUMP, speaking to CEOs at the White House about the nation's unemployment rate: "We have 100 million people if you look" who want jobs and can't get them. "You know, the real number's not 4.6 percent ... one of the statistics that, to me, is just ridiculous. ... When you look for a job, you can't find it and you give up. You are now considered statistically employed."

THE FACTS: He's wrong about federal jobs data. There's no category that counts frustrated job-seekers as "statistically employed."

And there aren't 100 million of them.

When people give up looking for work, they are categorized as having left the workforce - neither employed nor unemployed.

Trump's figure of 100 million people uncounted in the unemployment rate is made up largely of high-school and college students, retirees and stay-at-home parents who aren't looking for work. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does ask people outside the workforce if they would want a job, even if they aren't actively seeking one. The bureau found 5.6 million people fit this category in February, a small fraction of what the president claimed.

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SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, Senate Democratic leader, on the Supreme Court nomination of Neil Gorsuch: "Senator McConnell would have the world believe that his hands are tied. That the only option after Judge Gorsuch doesn't earn 60 votes is to break the rules, to change the rules. That could not be further from the truth."

THE FACTS: McConnell was closer to the truth on this matter.

A Senate rules change, requiring only 51 votes to stop a filibuster instead of 60, did appear to be the lone route that Republicans had to put Gorsuch on the court. It was the route they took in winning his confirmation Friday. To Schumer, D-N.Y., Republicans had the option of ditching Gorsuch and coming up with a more "mainstream" nominee. It's unlikely, however, that any nominee produced by Trump would win Democrats' approval.

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TRUMP, in remarks to CEOs: "There was a very large infrastructure bill that was approved during the Obama administration, a trillion dollars. Nobody ever saw anything being built. I mean, to this day, I haven't heard of anything that's been built. They used most of that money - it went and they used it on social programs and we want this to be on infrastructure."

THE FACTS: The $787 billion package in 2009 was not an infrastructure bill, but a catchall response to the recession with infrastructure as a major part.

More than one-third of it went to tax cuts, not social programs. Medicaid spending and other help for health care made up the next largest component. Then came infrastructure, followed closely by education. The package mixed economic and social spending, helping states train displaced workers, for example, extending jobless benefits and assisting with low-income housing.

As for being unaware that stimulus money built anything, Trump needn't have traveled far from Trump Tower to see those dollars at work.

In New York City alone, $30 million went toward repairs and repainting of the Brooklyn Bridge; the Staten Island ferry also got a boost. More than $80 million was earmarked for Moynihan Station, an annex to Penn Station that is meant to return the rail hub to the grandeur of the original Penn Station. Road, bridge and transit projects across the country got a lift.

Trump praised Obama and the package's combination of tax cuts and spending programs when it passed in February 2009.

"I thought he did a terrific job," Trump said then. "This is a strong guy (who) knows what he wants, and this is what we need."

___

TRUMP, on signing executive action that revived the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada: "I was signing the order and I said where'd they buy the steel? I didn't like the answer. I said who fabricated the steel? I didn't like the answer. I said, 'From now on, we're going to put a clause, got to be made in America.'"

THE FACTS: This is one of Trump's favorite stories, a mix of fact and fiction that he told with more accuracy in its latest iteration.

This time, he owned up to the fact that he placed no requirement on the TransCanada pipeline company to use U.S. steel: "They had already bought 60, 70 percent of it, so you can't be too wild, right?" So a mandate for U.S. steel would be for future pipelines, "from now on."

It's not quite right, though, to say he's insisting that steel or pipelines be "made in America" in the future. His directive calls for the use of U.S. content "to the maximum extent possible and to the extent permitted by law," leaving lots of wiggle room.

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TRUMP, on progress against the Islamic State group: "We had a very, very fine delegation come over from Egypt, and also from Iraq. And they said more has been done in the last six weeks than has been done in years with the previous administration."

THE FACTS: Far more progress was achieved against IS over the past year than in the past six weeks.

Last year Iraqi military forces, supported by the coalition, waged successful battles to oust IS from Fallujah, Ramadi, eastern Mosul and a number of smaller towns along the Tigris River. They also established logistical hubs for the push that began in February to retake western Mosul, which is expected to be the last major battle against IS in Iraq. No major cities have been taken in the past six weeks.

As for Syria, Trump was correct in suggesting that there has been significant progress against IS in recent weeks, as the U.S. deployed hundreds more troops to help prepare local forces to retake Raqqa, the Syrian city that is the militants' de facto capital.

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Associated Press writers Erica Werner, Lolita C. Baldor and Josh Boak contributed to this report.

___

Find all AP Fact Checks at http://apne.ws/2kbx8bd

This satellite image released by the U.S. Department of Defense shows a damage assessment image of Shayrat air base in Syria, following U.S. Tomahawk Land Attack Missile strikes on Friday, April 7, 2017 from the USS Ross (DDG 71) and USS Porter (DDG 78), Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers. The United States blasted the air base with a barrage of cruise missiles on Friday, April 7, 2017 in fiery retaliation for this week's gruesome chemical weapons attack against civilians. (DigitalGlobe/U.S. Department of Defense via AP)

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., talks to reporters before the vote to confirm President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, April 7, 2017. The Republican majority changed Senate rules to lower the vote threshold for Supreme Court nominees from 60 votes to a simple majority to counter Democratic resistance. McConnell also supported Trump's airstrike on Syria. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) - Moldovan prosecutors say 17 people have been detained in Moldova and Ukraine on suspicion they were planning to kill one of the country's most powerful politicians.

Senior organized crime prosecutor Vitalie Busuioc said Saturday authorities knew of orders from two unnamed people to assassinate of Vladimir Plahotniuc, a businessman and chairman of the Democratic Party, the biggest party in Moldova's pro-European governing coalition.

Authorities detained eight in Moldova and nine in Ukraine, and seized an unspecified number of grenade launchers.

A statement said one order allegedly came from an unidentified criminal from Moldova and Russia who lives in Moscow.

In a statement, the Democratic Party said it "firmly condemned this criminal act."

Ukraine's Interior Minister Arseni Avakov on Friday said authorities had intercepted an assassination attempt against Plahotniuc.
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - A northwest Ohio zoo is welcoming a 130-pound bundle of joy that stands 5-feet, 7-inches tall.

The Toledo Zoo says a Masai giraffe has given birth to a female calf named Kipenzi (kee-PEHN'-zee). That means "beloved" or "precious one" in Swahili.

The zoo says the calf born Monday and her mother, Elli, won't be on public display until they're cleared by the zoo's veterinary staff. That could be sometime around Memorial Day.

Much attention has been generated lately by a New York animal park that has had livestream video of its pregnant giraffe waiting to give birth.

But Toledo Zoo officials say they won't livestream births or similar events. A zoo spokeswoman tells The Blade newspaper (http://bit.ly/2nqgjee) that too many things can possibly go wrong.
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuela's government fired tear gas and rubber bullets at some of the thousands of opponents of President Nicolas Maduro who poured into the streets of Caracas Saturday amid a weeklong protest movement that shows little sign of losing steam.

The demonstrations in the capital and several other cities came a day after Maduro's government barred top opposition leader Henrique Capriles from running for office for 15 years.

The ban capped a tumultuous 10 day-crackdown that saw pro-government groups rough up several opposition leaders and another seek refuge in a foreign embassy to escape arrest.

A Bolivarian National Police throw a teargas bomb toward demonstrators during a protest in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, April 8, 2017. Opponents of President Nicolas Maduro protest on the streets of Caracas on Saturday as part of a week-long protest movement that shows little sign of losing steam. (AP Photo/Fernando LLano)

The protests were triggered by the Supreme Court's decision to gut the opposition-controlled legislature of its last vestiges of power, a move that was later reversed amid widespread international condemnation and even dissent within Maduro's normally disciplined socialist leadership.

"Nobody can disqualify the Venezuelan people," an emotional Capriles said from a stage Saturday as he called on protesters to march to the ombudsman's office downtown.

As the sea of protesters approached the headquarters of state-run PDVSA oil company, they were met by rubber bullets and a curtain of eye-scorching tear gas, some of it a never-before-seen red color. Mayhem ensued, with riot police racing down windy streets, dodging objects thrown from tall apartment buildings as they deployed to squash the unrest.

Later, a small group of youths unsuccessfully tried to set fire to a Supreme Court office building.

The violence was condemned by the opposition leadership, who nonetheless blame Maduro's obstinacy for fueling the unrest.

They called for another protest Monday. But with Caracas shutting down for the Easter holiday - which Maduro extended by decree for three extra days - they appeared to be saving their strength for a major demonstration called for April 19.

At least 17 people were treated for injuries, according to Ramon Muchacho, a Caracas-area mayor where the demonstration took place.

Around most of Caracas, checkpoints were set up to search cars and frisk bus passengers even miles away from the clashes. As night fell, many streets still reeked of tear gas and a small group of youth burned trash and tore down street signs at busy intersections in eastern Caracas.

As the most dominant figure in the opposition over the past decade, Capriles has been at the forefront of the protests, the most combative since a wave of anti-government unrest in 2014 in which dozens of people were killed, many at the hands of security forces.

The almost-daily churn of events in what the opposition calls an "ongoing coup" by the government has energized and united the normally fractious opposition.

While opposition leaders have insisted on peaceful protest, frustration built up over 17 years of polarizing socialist rule in Venezuela is running high on both sides.

As Saturday's march began, protesters snatched a camera from crew members working for pro-government state broadcaster VTV, chasing them away from the crowd with kicks and insults. Police, meanwhile, made social media posts of mugshots of protesters taken undercover and asked for information on the unidentified "generators of violence."

Leaders in the ruling socialist party have accused the opposition of trying to provoke a bloodbath and its own coup.

The protesters on Saturday included 26-year-old Victoria Paez, who sported a baseball cap bearing the slogan "There's a Way!" from Capriles' 2012 presidential run against the late Hugo Chavez.

"Every day, the government gives us more reasons to leave our homes and protest," said Paez, who earns less than $20 a month as a chemical engineer. She said she's thinking about joining a sister and scores of college friends who have left the South American country seeking a better future.

While she said she was hopeful the world is beginning to see there are injustices in Venezuela, her father, Carlos Paez, was more pessimistic.

"Unfortunately, if there has to be bloodshed for the government to change, it won't be the first time in history," he said.

The protest movement's immediate goal apparently is to force Maduro to call elections. Authorities last year cancelled an opposition campaign to hold a recall referendum on Maduro and no date has yet been set for gubernatorial elections that were supposed to take place last year.

The government earlier jailed another major opposition figure, hardliner Leopoldo Lopez. With both seemingly out of the running, the government may be trying to manipulate the electoral playing field to leave the opposition with less viable options should the government bow to pressure and call elections before they're scheduled in 2018, analysts said.

"However, it is a risky strategy that will probably backfire," Eurasia Group said in a report Friday. "The opposition is clearly fired up and this will further their cause."

___

Joshua Goodman on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APjoshgoodman ___ More Associated Press reporting on Venezuela's problems can be found at https://www.ap.org/explore/venezuela-undone .

A woman holds up a sing that in Spanish read "No more dictatorship" as they walk along to gather for a demonstration against President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, April 8, 2017. Opponents of President Nicolas Maduro are preparing to flood the streets of Caracas on Saturday as part of a week-long protest movement that shows little sign of losing steam. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

A demonstrators kneels on the ground overwhelmed by tear gas fired by the Bolivarian the National Police in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, April 8, 2017. Opponents of President Nicolas Maduro protest on the streets of Caracas on Saturday as part of a week-long protest movement that shows little sign of losing steam. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

A demonstrator throws back a tear gas grenade launched by the Bolivarian National Police during a protest in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, April 8, 2017. Opponents of President Nicolas Maduro protest on the streets of Caracas on Saturday as part of a week-long protest movement that shows little sign of losing steam. (AP Photo/Fernando LLano)

A man shouts slogans against government of President Nicolas Maduro as protesters gather for a demonstration in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, April 8, 2017. Opponents of President Nicolas Maduro are preparing to flood the streets of Caracas on Saturday as part of a week-long protest movement that shows little sign of losing steam. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

A woman wears a T-shirt with the image of Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles as people gather for a demonstration against President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, April 8, 2017. Capriles was banned from running for office for 15 years. Opponents of President Nicolas Maduro are preparing to flood the streets of Caracas on Saturday as part of a week-long protest movement that shows little sign of losing steam. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

A woman holds up a banner with the image of Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles as people gather for a demonstration against President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, April 8, 2017. Capriles was banned from running for office for 15 years. Opponents of President Nicolas Maduro are preparing to flood the streets of Caracas on Saturday as part of a week-long protest movement that shows little sign of losing steam. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Journalist and supporters listen to Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles, not seen, during a meeting in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, April, 7, 2017. Capriles announced that he has been banned from running for office for 15 years, a move sure to ratchet up tensions amid a growing street protest movement. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles, center, is surrounded by opposition leaders and supporters after he finished his speech in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, April, 7, 2017. Capriles said today he was barred from seeking office for 15 years. The Governor of Miranda state, who came within a whisker of defeating President Nicolas Maduro in 2013 elections, is the latest in a number of prominent opposition politicians to be targeted by the embattled socialist leader's government. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
SAO PAULO (AP) - Seven inmates have died in a penitentiary in a northern Brazilian state where riots left dozens of prisoners dead earlier this year, according to authorities.

Six of the prisoners died Friday at the Puraquequara prison in Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state, the state prison administration said. The seventh body was found Saturday, according to a second statement. It was not clear when the seventh death occurred.

The circumstances surrounding all of the deaths are under investigation. One of those killed had been decapitated; another appeared to have been asphyxiated.

Unlike in previous prison killings, there was no riot when the deaths occurred, according to the prison administration, and prisoners did not resist the police who responded to the crimes.

Four prisoners died at the same lockup in January, when a series of riots at Brazilian prisons left more than 120 inmates dead, including more than 50 at another Amazonas penitentiary. Some of those killed had been decapitated or dismembered in violence largely blamed on clashes between rival gangs. Those gruesome deaths raised serious questions about Brazil's prisons, which are often overcrowded, understaffed and virtually controlled by gangs.

At Puraquequara, for instance, 1,286 prisoners are being held in a facility built for less than half that number, according to the prison administration.
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump is approaching the end of his first 100 days in office without having signed a single major bill into law.

Trump's drive to repeal and replace the Obama-era health law ran aground in the House in spite of Republican opposition to the overhaul. It was the first time in recent memory that a newly elected president's initial big proposal had imploded so spectacularly.

The confirmation of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court stands as the only major victory for Republicans so far.

The Capitol is seen in Washington, Friday, April 7, 2017. President Donald Trump is approaching the end of his first 100 days in office without having signed a single major bill into law. Political polarization in both parties in Congress has turned out to be a major obstacle for the president as well as lawmakers. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Congress left Friday for a two-week spring break. Looking ahead, prospects for health care are at best dicey, while other initiatives such as a tax overhaul, infrastructure spending and carrying out Trump's unpopular proposal for spending cuts aren't ready for prime time yet.

"In the first 70 or so days I haven't seen much" in the way of Capitol Hill success for Trump, said Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo. "They've had a big, colossal failure with their so-called health care repeal. So I don't think it's been much of a success."

From the view of Republicans, Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., said: "If we want to have durable, sustainable reforms in this country, whether tax reform, health care or anything else, it will need to be done on a bipartisan basis. Everybody knows that."

The president's victories have been limited chiefly to rolling back about a dozen regulations issued by President Barack Obama, which Republicans say will relieve businesses from the burdens of compliance costs. The measures, which can't be blocked by Democrats, have repealed regulations on coal mining near creeks and streams, and limiting methane emissions from oil wells on federal lands.

"We believe that, so far, that benefit to the economy is over $10 billion," said top White House lobbyist Marc Short, though he added that those benefits would be spread out over 20 years. Other repealed regulations involve hunting regulations in Alaska, allowing states to drug test people seeking unemployment benefits, and potentially allowing internet providers to sell the browsing habits of their customers.

Beyond those measures are a handful of others, including a routine NASA authorization bill and legislation to make permanent a program that encourages private sector technology experts to temporarily join federal agencies to lend their expertise.

None of these accomplishments has gotten much attention amid blaring headlines on investigations into alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, the meltdown in the GOP-controlled House over health care and repeated reports of Trump missteps and White House infighting.

"Obviously, (health care repeal) is pretty hard to do, and if the House is able to send something over to us, we'll take it up and it will be hard here as well," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters on Friday.

What's more, the legislative terrain is only going to get more difficult.

Trump and GOP leaders face an enormous test at the end of the month, when Congress returns to confront an April 28 deadline to avert a government shutdown. At issue is a barrelful of leftover spending bills totaling more than $1 trillion, as well as the $33 billion Trump requested in emergency money for the Pentagon and border security.

GOP leaders assume that Democratic votes will be needed to pass the measure - certainly through the Senate and probably through the House. Negotiations are ongoing but could prove tricky since Democrats oppose Trump's wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and argue that domestic programs should get additional money if the Pentagon does.

Trump insisted throughout the presidential campaign that Mexico would pay for the wall. Now, the administration has asked U.S. taxpayers to finance it.

And within weeks, House and Senate GOP leaders won't be able to schedule any more filibuster-proof bills to repeal Obama regulations, leaving the Senate's legislative schedule in flux.

When Congress returns at the end of the month, the focus will return to health care, though hard feelings among House Republicans and reports of discord between House GOP leaders and top White House officials have dampened hopes.

And a promised effort to overhaul the government's loophole-ridden tax code has gotten off to a slow start.

Despite the administration's fits and starts, Trump's allies remain upbeat.

"Government funding is the next critical hurdle. Health care is still going to be on the table, and I'm confident we'll get that done. But then we're going to move right into one of the critical issues, which is tax reform," said Rep. Tom Reed, R-N.Y. "We'll get it done. We're going to learn a lot from the health care situation."
PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - The Latest on developments in the aftermath of U.S. airstrikes against Syria (all times EDT):

5:45 p.m.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he sees no reason for retaliation from Russia for U.S. missile strikes on a Syrian air base.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, left, listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago, Friday, April 7, 2017, in Palm Beach, Fla. Trump was meeting again with his Chinese counterpart Friday, with U.S. missile strikes on Syria adding weight to his threat to act unilaterally against the nuclear weapons program of China's ally, North Korea. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Russia maintains a close political and military alliance with President Bashar Assad's government and has been accused of supporting its attacks against Syrians opposed to his rule - something Moscow adamantly denies

In an interview to air Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation," Tillerson said Russians were not targeted by the strikes. He also said the top U.S. priority in the region hasn't changed and remained the defeat of Islamic State militants.

Tillerson says the Islamic State group is a threat not just to the U.S. but to stability in the region. He says that once the militant group is eliminated, the U.S. can turn to stabilizing Syria.

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5:35 p.m.

President Donald Trump has spoken by telephone with South Korea's leader to discuss Syria and North Korea.

The White House says that Trump spoke with South Korea's Acting President Hwang Kyo-Ahn about U.S. strikes in Syria in retaliation for a suspected chemical attack by President Bashar Assad's government on civilians.

The two leaders have agreed to stay in close contact regarding North Korea and other issues of mutual concern.

The call comes on the heels of Trump's two-day summit with China's President Xi Jinping during which North Korea's nuclear activities was at the forefront of their discussions.

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2:40 p.m.

The White House is circulating a letter President Donald Trump sent to the leaders of both houses of Congress explaining his decision to order military strikes on a Syrian air field.

In the letter, dated Saturday, Trump said he "acted in the vital national security and foreign policy interests of the United States, pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct foreign relations" and as commander in chief.

Trump said he was sending the letter as part of his efforts "to keep the Congress fully informed, consistent with the War Powers Resolution."

Trump has received widespread support for the military action, taken to punish Syrian President Bashar Assad's government after the U.S. concluded he used chemical weapons against Syrian civilians.

But Trump also has faced some bipartisan pushback from lawmakers who have long insisted that presidents must seek congressional approval for acts of war.

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1:30 p.m.

The White House says President Donald Trump spoke with Saudi Arabia's king about Syria and he "reaffirmed strong Saudi support for the United States' military strike against the Sayrat airfield."

The statement says King Salman bin Abd al-Aziz al-Saud agreed it "was a necessary response" to the chemical weapons attack by Bashar Assad's government, which killed dozens of civilians in rebel-led northern Idlib.

The official Saudi Press Agency earlier reported that the king had complimented Trump in their telephone conversation for his "courageous decision."

Saudi Arabia is one of the most vehement opponents of Assad.
WARSAW, Poland (AP) - A prosecutor in Poland says the driver of a truck that was hit by a fast train at a railway crossing has been charged with causing a traffic catastrophe.

Lidia Sieradzka from the Prosecutor's Office in Opole, in southwestern Poland, said Saturday the driver could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted. She identified him as Tomasz Ch., 31, in line with Poland's privacy regulations.

She said 18 people were hospitalized in the accident, seven with life-threatening injuries.

The damaged nose of a Pendolino fast train that hit a flat-bed truck at an unguarded railway crossing in Schodnia, southwetern Poland, Thursday, April 7, 2017. Several people have been hospitalised some with life-threatening injuries, officials said. A number of others suffered less severe injuries. (AP Photo)

She said the driver apparently disregarded signs banning heavy loads from an unguarded railway crossing in the village of Schodnia and drove his loaded flat-bed truck across the tracks. The vehicle got stuck Friday and was hit by a Pendolino train carrying 300 passengers while the driver was off looking for help.
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - Suspected Somali pirates have again hijacked a vessel on one of the world's crucial trade routes, authorities said Saturday night, the latest in a string of attacks after several years of silence.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations piracy watchdog said on its website it had received a report from a vessel under attack and possibly boarded off the coast of war-ravaged Yemen. It gave no further details.

Somali pirates in recent weeks have hijacked at least two vessels with foreign crews in the waters off Somalia and Yemen, marking a return of the threat after half a decade.

A source with the ports ministry in Somalia's northeastern semiautonomous state of Puntland said armed pirates hijacked a ship flying under the Tuvalu flag and were steering it toward Somalia's northern coast. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

Graeme Gibbon Brooks, the CEO of the British firm Dryad Maritime, said security officials believed the vessel to be a bulk carrier.

A Somali pirate, Bile Hussein, said he was aware that pirates had managed to board a ship near Yemen's Socotra island despite resistance from the crew.

Commander Jacqui Sherriff, a spokeswoman for the European Union anti-piracy mission off Somalia, said the mission was liaising with other authorities to investigate and, if the attack was confirmed, "our thoughts go out to the crew." The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, which oversees regional anti-piracy efforts from Bahrain, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The former director of the anti-piracy agency in Puntland, Abdirizak Mohamed Ahmed, said he had received information about the hijacking of a ship but could not give further details.

Earlier this month, officials said Somali pirates had seized a small boat and its 11 Indian crew members as the vessel passed through the narrow channel between Socotra Island and Somalia's coast.

In March, Somali pirates hijacked a Comoros-flagged oil tanker, marking the first such seizure of a large commercial vessel since 2012. They later released the vessel and its Sri Lankan crew without conditions.

Pirates later seized a fishing trawler, which Somali authorities warned could be used for further piracy.

Piracy off Somalia's coast was once a serious threat to the global shipping industry. It has lessened in recent years after an international effort to patrol near the country, whose weak central government has been trying to assert itself after a quarter-century of conflict. In December, NATO ended its anti-piracy mission off Somalia's waters.

But frustrations have been rising among Somali fishermen, including former pirates, at what they say are foreign fishermen illegally fishing in local waters.

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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) - Ugandan police have arrested a government minister for allegedly taking a bribe from a businessman.

Police spokesman Asan Kasingye said Saturday that Herbert Kabafunzaki, a junior minister in charge of labor and industrial relations, has been detained on corruption-related charges.

This is the first time a Cabinet-level official has been arrested in an apparent sting operation over bribery, which is rampant within the official bureaucracy.

Kabafunzaki was arrested Saturday at a luxury hotel in the capital, Kampala, where he allegedly received a bribe sent by a Sudanese hotelier in Uganda.

The minister had been trying to mediate a case of sexual harassment brought against the hotelier by one of his employees.

Presidential spokesman Don Wanyama said President Yoweri Museveni was aware of the move to arrest Kabafunzanki.
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) - The U.S. Navy says the first of its new class of aircraft carriers has headed out to sea.

The USS Gerald R. Ford embarked Saturday on the first of its sea trials to test various state-of-the-art systems.

The $12.9 billion carrier departed from Huntington Ingalls Industries-Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News after more than a year's delay and cost overruns.

In this photo provided by the U.S. Navy, the USS Gerald R. Ford embarked on the first of its sea trials to test various state-of-the-art systems on its own power for the first time Saturday, April 8, 2017, from Newport News, Va. The first of the Navy's new class of aircraft carriers will spend several days conducting builder's sea trials, a comprehensive test of many of the ship's key systems and technologies. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Ridge Leoni/U.S. Navy via AP)

Construction on the Ford started in 2009. It was supposed to finish by September 2015, with costs at $10.5 billion. But there were issues with the carrier's advanced systems and technology, including aircraft landing equipment and power generation.

The ship is currently undergoing builder's trials. It will return to port in Virginia before embarking again for "acceptance trials," which are conducted by Navy inspectors.

In this photo provided by the U.S. Navy, the USS Gerald R. Ford embarked on the first of its sea trials to test various state-of-the-art systems on its own power for the first time Saturday, April 8, 2017, from Newport News, Va. The first of the Navy's new class of aircraft carriers will spend several days conducting builder's sea trials, a comprehensive test of many of the ship's key systems and technologies. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Ridge Leoni/U.S. Navy via AP)

In this photo provided by the U.S. Navy, the USS Gerald R. Ford embarked on the first of its sea trials to test various state-of-the-art systems on its own power for the first time Saturday, April 8, 2017, from Newport News, Va. The first of the Navy's new class of aircraft carriers will spend several days conducting builder's sea trials, a comprehensive test of many of the ship's key systems and technologies. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Ridge Leoni/U.S. Navy via AP)

In this photo provided by the U.S. Navy, the USS Gerald R. Ford embarked on the first of its sea trials to test various state-of-the-art systems on its own power for the first time Saturday, April 8, 2017, from Newport News, Va. The first of the Navy's new class of aircraft carriers will spend several days conducting builder's sea trials, a comprehensive test of many of the ship's key systems and technologies. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Ridge Leoni/U.S. Navy via AP)

In this photo provided by the U.S. Navy, the USS Gerald R. Ford embarked on the first of its sea trials to test various state-of-the-art systems on its own power for the first time Saturday, April 8, 2017, from Newport News, Va. The first of the Navy's new class of aircraft carriers will spend several days conducting builder's sea trials, a comprehensive test of many of the ship's key systems and technologies. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Ridge Leoni/U.S. Navy via AP)
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - Unseeded Daria Kasatkina of Russia and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia each moved into position for their first WTA title, winning semifinal matches Saturday in the Volvo Car Open.

Kasatkina rallied from a set down to beat Laura Siegemund 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, and Ostapenko held off the tournament's lone remaining seed in No. 11 Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.

Neither Kasatkina, 19, nor Ostapenko, also 19, have won a WTA title and will be seeking the first of their careers when they face off in Sunday's final.

Kasatkina played sluggishly early against Siegemund before rallying to win 12 of the final 15 games. Ostapenko took the third set from Lucic-Baroni to advance.

Ostapenko moved into the semis when fifth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki withdrew in the second set of Friday's match.
Heather Watsons defence of her Monterrey Open title came to an end in the quarter-finals as she was beaten 6-4 6-4 by world number one Angelique Kerber.

Watson fought hard but failed to convert any of the eight break points she created against top seed Kerber, who responded well to the pressure.

Watson looked undaunted in the early going, but unforced errors allowed Kerber to convert the only break point she got in the first set, edging 4-3 up.

Heather Watson

Kerber carried momentum into the second set, breaking Watson straight away for a 1-0 lead.

Both of their previous meetings  also won by Kerber  had gone to three sets, but though Watson continued to create opportunities she could not get the break she needed to get back on level terms.

Instead she found herself on the defensive, and had to save three break points in the fifth game, keeping the deficit to 3-2.

That merely delayed the inevitable as Kerber proved too strong, setting up a semi-final against fourth seed Carla Suarez Navarro.
Boris Johnson has pulled out of a visit to Moscow in the wake of the Syrian chemical weapons attack saying we deplore Russias continued defence of the Assad regime.

The Foreign Secretary was due to visit Russia on Monday for talks with counterpart Sergey Lavrov, which would have been the first visit by a UK foreign secretary in more than five years.

I will now not travel to Moscow on Monday 10 April. My priority is talks w/ my #G7 counterparts about Syria and Russia's support for #Assad  Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) April 8, 2017

But Mr Johnson attacked the Kremlin and said he would instead focus on building support with allies to secure a ceasefire in war-torn Syria.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

We deplore Russias continued defence of the Assad regime even after the chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians, he said.

We call on Russia to do everything possible to bring about a political settlement in Syria and work with the rest of the international community to ensure that the shocking events of the last week are never repeated.

Returning to UK after good talks w/Greek PM. Fully support US action after deplorable chemical attacks. In regular contact w/Rex Tillerson  Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) April 7, 2017

Mr Johnson had originally planned to fly out to Moscow at the end of March, but rescheduled the visit in order to attend a meeting with Nato counterparts, including US secretary of state Rex Tillerson.

Putin: US strikes against Syria are act of aggression against sovereign state. US-Russia relations will deteriorate further. pic.twitter.com/j6cC5iTCUf  Russian Embassy, UK (@RussianEmbassy) April 7, 2017

Russia has condemned US missile strikes on an airbase at Shayrat as an act of aggression against a sovereign state in violation of international law.

Mr Tillerson will still go ahead with a visit to Moscow to deliver a clear and co-ordinated message to the Russians, Mr Johnson said.

Developments in Syria have changed the situation fundamentally, he said.

My priority is now to continue contact with the US and others in the run-up to the G7 meeting on 10/11 April  to build co-ordinated international support for a ceasefire on the ground and an intensified political process.

I will be working to arrange for other like-minded partners to meet and explore next steps soon, too.

I discussed these plans in detail with Secretary Tillerson. He will visit Moscow as planned and, following the G7 meeting, will be able to deliver that clear and co-ordinated message to the Russians.

Leader of the Liberal Democrats Tim Farron (Danny Lawson/PA)

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron claimed that Mr Johnson was considered a diplomatic liability.

He said: Is this what taking back control looks like? Our Government quick to blindly follow every order from the Trump White House. Boris has revealed himself to be a poodle of Washington, having his diary managed from across the pond. It is pretty shameful when even Trump judges you to be a buffoon.

An aide to Mr Johnson said: It is a shame the Lib Dems would rather snipe and be silly when the US and UK are trying to work on a plan to help the innocent people of Syria and stop a devastating civil war.
Dozens of protesters have gathered to show solidarity with refugees in the town where a 17-year-old asylum seeker was brutally attacked.

The group marched through Croydon, south London, as part of a protest organised by campaigners Stand Up To Racism.

The march comes after Kurdish Iranian student Reker Ahmed was beaten and kicked by a gang of around 30 while waiting at a bus stop in the town with two friends.

Stand Up To Racism hold a unity protest in Croydon

A stream of around 100 people travelled through Croydon on Saturday, brandishing signs and chanting: No hate, no fear, refugees are welcome here.

Weyman Bennett, 51, joint national convener for Stand Up to Racism, said the march was a public display of sympathy and support for Reker and his family.

#Croydon attack vigil brings together people from across the community #RefugeesWelcome pic.twitter.com/IK1BTb4dNb  Stand Up To Racism (@AntiRacismDay) April 8, 2017

He told the Press Association: I think its a tragedy that Reker Ahmed has escaped a war zone to be attacked in Croydon. Its a tragedy both for the local people and obviously for himself and his family.

We have to make sure that we welcome refugees and treat them with respect  because its how we would like to be treated if we were refugees.

There are problems in Croydon but they are not caused by refugees, they are caused by the problems that existed before refugees arrived inside this country.
Officials at a mosque have answered the hatred and division of an English Defence League (EDL) rally by hosting a best of British tea party.

The open-to-all gathering at Birminghams Central Mosque, which saw the building decked out with Union Flag bunting, was organised in response to an EDL event being held on Saturday in the city centre.

Originally earmarked to take place in the East Midlands, the EDL demonstration was switched to Birmingham after the Westminster terror attack to highlight what the group describes as a continued increase in Islamic terrorism linked to the city.

The rally  condemned by Birminghams political leaders in a cross-party statement  is also said by the EDL to be a reaction to the citys so-called Trojan Horse schools inquiry.

Thank you to all that attended Birmingham Central Mosque tea party, showing British values of tolerance and decency - not division and hate pic.twitter.com/U03saRBwBi  WestMidsPCC (@WestMidsPCC) April 8, 2017

Speaking to more than 100 guests at the tea party, which started two hours before the EDL event, Birmingham Central Mosques chairman Muhammed Afzal said local people would remain united irrespective of their religion or race.

In a Facebook message posted prior to the party, Mr Afzal said: When the English Defence League is protesting and trying to divide the community, we are holding this party just to prove to them that Birmingham is a multicultural, multi-ethnic and multi-faith community.

We are all united and they will not be able to divide us and create hatred.

West Midlands Chief Superintendent Chris Johnson takes a selfie with Makhdoom Ahmad Chisti. (Joe Giddens/PA)

The West Midlands elected Police and Crime Commissioner, David Jamieson, also attended the party.

Claiming the EDL was bringing little more than division to the region, Mr Jamieson said: We are here today to celebrate the things that Brummies and English people hold in common.

The English Defence League are spreading a message of hatred. They have come from outside Birmingham and they dont understand our values.

English Defence League protesters demonstrate in Birmingham (Joe Giddens/PA)

Birmingham Hodge Hill MP Liam Byrne also addressed those who gathered to chat over cake, tea and coffee at the mosque.

The Labour MP told party-goers: Today this is how we protest  by celebrating the quiet miracle of a normal life and the things that we love most about our city and about our country.

Getting together as friends, getting together as neighbours, breaking a bit of Victoria sponge and having a cup of tea. That is a potent, powerful message that we will send to those who seek to divide us.

The EDL rally in Centenary Square attracted approximately 100 supporters and passed off without any major disorder. West Midlands Police said two people, thought to be counter-protesters, had been arrested for alleged breaches of the peace.
A pre-Second World War apartment building has collapsed in Poland, leaving six people dead and four injured.

Scores of firefighters with dogs continue to search the rubble of the building in the town of Swiebodzice to make sure no one remains trapped.

According to Daniel Mucha, regional spokesman for the fire service, the two upper floors of the three-floor building might have collapsed due to a gas explosion.

A team of construction experts is to investigate the cause.

Rescuers and firefighters search for 11 missing people in the rubble of an apartment house that collapsed in Swiebodzice, Poland (AP)

The rescue management centre said the body of a sixth victim was found late on Saturday. Two of the dead were school-age children.

Prime Minister Beata Szydlo arrived at the site, 420km (250 miles) south west of Warsaw, to talk to the victims and rescue workers.

The injured were taken to hospitals in Swiebodzice and in Wroclaw.

One survivor, identified only by her first name Stanislawa, told TVN24 that she was miraculously saved.

I was in the kitchen and suddenly it was dark and full of debris and some broken wooden planks, she said from her hospital bed in Swiebodzice.

I got on top of those planks and started calling help, help! Two firefighters came and pulled me out by the arm.

She said her husband was resting on the bed at the time of the collapse.

I dont know what has happened to him, she said, her voice trembling.

With her teenage son at her side, she said the family had lost everything.
Promoter Frank Warren promised an immediate rematch after Liam Smith claimed a controversial victory over Liam Williams in their domestic super-welterweight clash at the Manchester Arena.

Welshman Williams looked to be holding a commanding lead when he was withdrawn at the start of the 10th round with his right eye clamped shut after an apparent head clash.

But referee Terry OConnor did not notice the incident and as such instead of going to the scorecards, Smith was handed the victory due to his opponents retirement.

Liam Smith (left) takes on Liam Williams in the Super-Welterweight Championship match at Manchester Arena (Simon Cooper/PA)

Williams' right eye completely shuts at end of ninth, giving his corner no option but to pull him out. Smith surely well behind.  Mark Staniforth (@markstani1) April 8, 2017

Williams' corner clearly think the injury was because of a head clash, in which case it should go to the cards. But ref didn't see it.  Mark Staniforth (@markstani1) April 8, 2017

It was a fortunate end for Smith, who did not take the WBO interim belt as a result having tipped the scales two pounds over the limit at Fridays weigh-in.

The Liverpool 28-year-old had been outclassed for much of the opening half of the contest by the brighter Williams, who was looking to extend his unbeaten professional record to 18 fights.

Smith, in his second fight back after losing a brave challenge to Saul Alvarez in the US last year, gradually clawed his way back into the bout but was hampered by a bad cut over his right eye.

Frank Warren has promised an immediate rematch. Smith was coming back into the fight, but very fortunate to get that win.  Mark Staniforth (@markstani1) April 8, 2017

Towards the end of an all-action ninth the pair appeared to come together and Williams reeled back to his corner where trainer Gary Lockett had little option but to pull him out.

Asked about a rematch afterwards, Warren said: Theres got to be. It was a great fight  Liam Williams started well and Liam Smith was coming back at him when it was ended.
PRAGUE, April 7 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Czech financial markets on Thursday. ALL TIMES GMT (Czech Republic: GMT + 2 hours) =========================ECONOMIC DATA========================== Real-time economic data releases.................... Summary of economic data and forecasts........... Recently released economic data.................. Previous stories on Czech data............. **For a schedule of corporate and economic events: http://emea1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/Apps/CountryWeb/#/2E/events-overview =========================EVENTS================================= MINUTES: The Czech central bank will release minutes of its last monetary policy meeting (0700 GMT). Relates stories =========================NEWS=================================== CROWN CAP: The Czech central bank ditched its cap on the crown's exchange rate on Thursday, letting the currency free after three years of stoking prices and growth with a policy that also attracted billions of euros in speculative capital inflows. Story: Related stories: For a TAKE-A-LOOK please click on INDUSTRY: Czech industrial output rose by 2.7 percent year-on-year in February, data from the Czech Statistics Bureau (CSU) showed on Thursday. Story: Related stories: CEE MARKETS: The crown firmed on Thursday after the Czech central bank (CNB) removed its 3-and-1/2-year cap on the crown's value. Story: Related stories: For real-time stock market index quotes click in brackets: Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX For updates on CEE currencies TOP NEWS -- Emerging markets Prague Newsroom: +420 224 190 477 E-mail: prague.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (Reporting by Prague Newsroom)
April 7 (Reuters) - Maldives police arrested an opposition leader on accusations of plotting to overthrow the government, they said on Friday, days after the opposition failed in a bid to impeach the speaker of parliament.

Qasim Ibrahim, the leader of the Jumhooree Party and a former presidential candidate, was remanded for six days by a Male court. Denying the allegations, his lawyer said Qasim had acted lawfully.

The largely Muslim island chain with a population of 400,000 and a reputation as a tourist paradise has been mired in political unrest for years.

The impeachment motion against Speaker Abdulla Maseeh Mohamed, a close ally of President Abdulla Yameen, was defeated by 48 votes to zero in parliament after all opposition lawmakers walked out in protest at their colleagues' expulsion from the chamber for unruly behaviour.

A second impeachment vote, against the deputy speaker, is scheduled for Monday.

Police in their charge sheet said Qasim was arrested for allegedly of bribing and "undue influencing of parliament members and state security forces" in the impeachment vote against the speaker.

Police also cited "unlawful incitement to the removal, from office, of the legitimate government".

Hussein Shameem, Qasim's lawyer, said his client was an opposition whip and was by law entitled to try to convince lawmakers to vote a certain way.

"He has not used undue influence and no unlawful activities were done. He acted within the law," Shameem told Reuters.

Qasim, a tourism tycoon who ran for the presidency in 2013, backed Yameen in the second round of the poll against former president Mohamed Nasheed. Yameen won by a slim margin.

After he and Yameen fell out, Qasim formed an opposition coalition along with former presidents Nasheed and Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, a half brother of Yameen.

The Maldives has been plagued by unrest since Nasheed, its first democratically elected leader, was ousted in disputed circumstances in 2012. He was later sentenced to 13 years in jail on terrorism charges after a widely criticised trial and now lives in exile.

Many potential challengers to Yameen in elections due in 2018 have been arrested for alleged security offences. The opposition alleges his administration is trying to cover up corruption including money laundering.

The government denies this and says it does not influence law enforcement.

Significant numbers of radicalised Maldives youths have enlisted to fight for Islamic State in the Middle East. (Reporting by Shihar Aneez and Ranga Sirilal; Editing by Nick Macfie and John Stonestreet)
Joint opposition MP Mahindananda Aluthgamage yesterday rejected the allegation made by Deputy Minister Ranjan Ramanayake that he had bought a house in England saying the Bribery Commission (BC) had proved him innocent.

He said that the Bribery Commission and the CID had conducted an investigation which showed that he was in no way connected.

The MP said he had disclosed these matters in his 2009 Assets and Liabilities declaration.

"My brother Vijayananda Aluthgamage, who is in Japan purchased that house to help his two children studying in England. After this government came into power, I was accused of owning a house in England. My brother was brought to the BC and CID with regard to the incident and he produced proof of his earnings to purchase that house," he said.

Mr. Aluthgamage said the CID had conducted an investigation and forwarded it to the Attorney General, but they only managed to file a case against him two weeks ago saying that he had obtained Rs. 3.9 million from a Trade Union.

"The CID filed that case after I urged it to take action against me. The government kept on calling us thieves for the past two years. But they only managed to file a case against me for obtaining Rs.3.9 million from a Trade Union ," he said.

He challenged Mr. Ramanayake to talk about fraud and corruption by UNP ministers including the Prime Minister, within the UNP parliamentary group meeting.

He said he was ready to face any legal action.

"I am a businessman. I own several companies," he said. (Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera)
Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam said yesterday the ministry was not responsible for the collapse of the roof of a school in Kandy.

He said it was the result of the provincial councils not adhering to the criteria set by the ministry.

The minister said his ministry had decided to develop 7,000 schools out of the 10,161 schools under the concept of "nearest is the best school" on the recommendations of responsible authorities, but the stipulated criteria in selecting schools under this concept had been changed by some of the provincial councils.

In response to a question asked by UNP MP Lucky Jayawardane, the minister said the ministry had called for a report from the provincial councils on this matter.

"There cannot be buildings with thatched roofs or in a dilapidated state. This has happened due to the bad practice adopted by some of the provincial councils," he said. (Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera)
Sri Lanka on Friday asked India to increase the patrol of the Palk Bay to prevent Tamil Nadu fishermen from trespassing into Sri Lankan waters, even as it expressed positive signs on the likely release of detained Indian trawlers.

The meeting was very useful. We are happy that India is really committed to its assurance of phasing out bottom trawlers and has taken constructive steps. We are very hopeful of finding a permanent solution together, a senior officer from the Sri Lankan delegation told The Hindu after official teams from the countries met in Colombo as part of an initiative to jointly address the Palk Bay fisheries conflict, involving fishermen of Tamil Nadu and northern Sri Lanka.

After the islands civil war ended in May 2009, fisher folk living in the Tamil majority Northern Province have been expressing serious concern over the loss of livelihoods due to relentless bottom trawling  a destructive fishing method  practised by Indian fishermen, reportedly, in the Sri Lankan waters.

The long-running conflict has resulted in the arrest of several hundred Indian fishermen since 2009, and at times, sparked violence at sea. The Sri Lankan Navy has also confiscated trawlers used by the fishermen.

Britjo's death

At Fridays meeting, the Indian side expressed deep concern over the fatal shooting of Rameswaram fisherman K. Britjo who set out fishing in the Palk Bay on March 6. Tamil Nadu fishermen have accused the Sri Lankan Navy of opening fire at him and the Navy has denied the charge.

The Indian officials sought a detailed report on the investigation carried out by Sri Lankan agencies and reiterated that no violence should be used against fishermen under any circumstance, sources at the meeting said.

Officials from New Delhi and Tamil Nadu also updated the Sri Lankan side on the initiatives taken, including the construction of two fishing harbours in Mookaiyur and Poompuhar in Tamil Nadu at a cost of over Rs. 250 crore, to phase out bottom trawling and encourage fishermen to consider alternative methods.

Release of trawlers

To the Indian sides request for the release of the seized trawlers, numbering nearly 150, the Sri Lankan officials expressed the willingness to consider it soon. Recently, our Ministry sought the opinion of northern fishermen on this matter, they seem agreeable. But since this is a political decision, it would have to be taken at the highest levels. We are considering the Indias request very seriously, a top Sri Lankan official said.

The release of trawlers remains a contentious issue facing the two countries. Owners of the vessels, based in Tamil Nadu, have been demanding that the Sri Lankan authorities release them. However over the last few years, Sri Lanka has followed a policy of retaining seized Indian trawlers, while releasing arrested Indian fishermen swiftly. It appears that Colombo may release at least some of the trawlers, especially those seized in 2015, in the near future.

Fridays meeting was the second of the ongoing discussions between senior officials from both sides, an initiative running parallel to the ministerial level bilateral talks.(The Hindu)
The FCID informed the Colombo Fort Magistrate yesterday that a few of the bank accounts belonging to Sri Lanka's former ambassador to Russia, Udayanga Weeratunga had received funds from Panama and Latvia.

It said this during the inquiry into the controversial purchase of Ukraine-built MiG-27 aircraft in 2006 causing a huge loss to the State and pointed out that the sources of the funds were questionable.

The FCID said the suspect was said to be residing in the UAE and that an international warrant had been issued for his arrest.

Counsel appearing for the Air Force informed Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne that they were still unable to locate the original purchase contract said to have been signed in the presence of the suspect.

The FCID said its investigations had revealed that funds amounting to a total of US$1.5 million had been deposited at various times to the 16 accounts belonging to him at two private banks. (Shehan Chamika Silva)
The Ukrainian Avant Garde ship captain who had been remanded on the charge of trafficking a stock of illegal arms and ammunition was further remanded by Galle Chief Magistrate A Nishantha Peiris for want of sureties to sign the bail bond.

Southern Province High Court that upheld his bail application had ordered his release on cash bail in Rs.1.5 million and personal bail in Rs.10 million with two sureties each. The court had ordered that the sureties should be directors of the Avant Garde Maritime Services Company or Ceylon Shipping Company who had assets amounting to Rs. 10 million each.

The lawyers appearing for him told court that he had been on remand for more than nine months and being a foreigner, he was not in a position to find sureties for the bail bond. They requested court to complete investigations and to conclude the case.

The magistrate ordered the CID officer to expedite the investigations and to submit the final report. (D.G.Sugathapala)
The parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) in its report on the investigation into the questionable import of a stock of rice has held both the present and the previous governments responsible for the losses amounting to more than Rs.15 billion.

COPE Chairman Sunil Handunnetti who presented the investigation report to Parliament said the country had lost Rs.15.157 billion as a result of the scam that began in 2012 and continued in 2015 under the present regime. The report revealed that rice was imported to Sri Lanka in 2012, 2013 and in 2015 without Cabinet approval, despite their having been an excess production in these years.

It was also revealed that the cost of living sub-committee during the period 2012 to 2015 had either failed to carry out a proper survey on the supply and demand of rice or had been misled and neither had there been proper stock records.

COPE said the authorities had failed to realise the negative impact on the country's agricultural sector by the import of rice.

The committee had recommended an introduction of a tender procedure to Sathosa and advised the cabinet to ensure the receipt of correct data.

COPE has recommended that those responsible for the scam be penalized and the losses recovered from them. (Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana)
A Supreme Court Bench comprising Justices Eva Wanasundera and Anil Gooneratne has issued an interim order, effective till May 9, restraining the Road Development Authority from cutting down the Bo-tree in Pannipitiya on the border of the Colombo-Avissawella Road.

Ven. Weraduwe Sirijothi Thera of the Sri Punnyabiwardana Ramaya in Kottawa and three others filed the fundamental rights petition citing Minister of Higher Education and Highways, the Maharagama Divisional Secretary, the Chairman of the RDA, the Attorney General and some others as respondents.

Kanishka Vitharana with M.Tillekartne appeared for the petitioners.

The petitioners said the history of the Pannipitiya Bo-tree runs dates back to about 400 years and the story of its origin has been transmitted by word of mouth for generations.

They said the RDA had attempted to cut it down in 2015 for the purpose of developing the High-level Road but was foiled by strong public protest and pointed out that cutting down of the Bo-tree would the deprive the residents of the cultural and religious values and violate the fundamental rights to equality and discrimination on the grounds of race, religion, language and caste.

The petitioners said the cutting down of the said Bo-tree would violate the constitutional responsibility of the State to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana and to give the foremost place to Buddhism as provided in the Article 9 of the Constitution. (S.S. Selvanayagam)
While commenting of the Health Ministrys decision to take the Neville Fernando Teaching Hospital (NFTH) under its purview, the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) yesterday said it was demanding a solution to the issue involving the SAITM, and not the NFTH; The SAITM is just a part of NFTH, it added.

However, it stated that they were yet to officially receive the decisions made by the Higher Education Ministry regarding the issue of South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) in Malabe.

GMOA Media Spokesman Dr. Samantha Ananda told the Daily Mirror that they would only be able to make a statement on the decisions once they receive them officially by the ministry. He also said that the ministry had still not made any official information to them about those decisions.

We have clearly made 5 demands on the issue. The Higher Education Minister should inform Courts that the SAITM does not have the compliance certificate to offer medical degree. The government should also implement the directives made by the commission appointed by the former health minister to discontinue the medical degree offering by the SAITM, he said.

He said according to the GMOAs demands the government should issue a gazette notification on the minimum standards of the medical education and added that a presidential committee should appointed to offer a justice to the students who were studying at the SAITM. He also said another demand of them was to nationalize the SAITM.

However, he said they were fighting against the SAITM to fulfill these demands and added that they have made these demands with the consent of the Medical Faculty Deans, university teachers and lecturers. (Kalathma Jayawardhane)
The statements made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti Sayeed, while inaugurating the 9-km Chenani-Nashri tunnel, have once again proved that the Centre has no political will to reach out to the different stakeholders, both within and outside the state, in order to break the "Kashmir logjam".

At the same time, the political immaturity as well as helplessness of the state government was also on display.

Invoking the development agenda once again - it's an old habit of central and state politicians to wrongly present development as a panacea for all ills in Kashmir - Modi said "40 years of conflict has not given anything to the state except destruction". And instead, had the people of the state chosen "tourism", the benefits would have been phenomenal.

The prime minister (more as a warning) gave the youths of Kashmir two options to choose from - "tourism" or "terrorism". Of course, there was no mention of loss of lives, no regret over maiming and blinding of young Kashmiris.

There was no talk of reaching out to stakeholders, no mention of any dialogue process.

There was no talk of reaching out to stakeholders, no mention of any dialogue process. It was just a warning, plain and simple - shun your movement or face bullets and pellets.

Mufti on her part went a step further. While welcoming Modi to inaugurate the tunnel, she argued that the tunnel will not only reduce the physical distance, but will also bring "Kashmir closer to the rest of India".

She believed that this tunnel will "bring hearts closer". It is ironic that she believes that to be true at a time when more and more people prefer to travel by air (as it has become cheaper and saves a lot of time).

How would a tunnel (that reduces the distance by just 2 hours) bring hearts together?

She thanked the prime minister for supporting her during the "2016 unrest", without mentioning how that uprising was actually suppressed.

For ordinary Kashmiris, mention of the "2016 uprising" only brings back memories of killings and blind eyes, and there is nothing to thank for. This is not the first time Mufti has shown her political immaturity.

During the "2016 unrest", her "toffee and milk" reference deeply hurt the people and aggravated public anger.

This is not the first time that an Indian prime minister has talked about development and packages and presented it as the only solution to the complex problem. Economic packages worth crores of rupees have been announced from time to time but have not solved the issues. The inauguration of railway lines during the UPA regime in Kashmir was hailed as a major step forward, but could it address the alienation?

In November 2015, Modi announced a Rs 80,000-crore economic package and yet we have reached a situation where youths run towards encounter sights to save militants.

More than any economic package, what Kashmiris wanted (in fact I doubt whether the new generation is actually interested in anything like dialogue) was a positive political message.

What Kashmiris want New Delhi to do is to carry forward the political process of resolving the Kashmir issue. There was no talk on re-starting dialogue with Pakistan.

The prime minister made no attempt to reach out to the separatists. Lets not forget that it was from Srinagar that Atal Bihari Vajpayee had reached out to Pakistan as well as other stakeholders, which had generated positive dividends.

It is not for nothing that Vajpayee is still remembered as a visionary leader and is being constantly invoked by leadership across political spectrum. While Modi from time to time does invoke Vajpayees famous phrase of "Jamhooriyat, Insaaniyat and Kashmiriyat", he could not give these terms the same meaning as Vajpayee did.

No matter how much BJP may try to make the people of India believe that they dont recognise Pakistan as a party to the dispute, or that separatists are mere fringe elements with no base in Kashmir, the fact remains that the only way forward towards meaningful progress on Kashmir is by engaging with these parties.

The overwhelming participation of people in militant funerals, even non-locals, should be an eye-opener to New Delhi. The fact that a "new breed" of militants is enjoying popularity among youth should be taken seriously.

Also, the fact that this new breed comes from educationally and economically affluent families should be enough to shift the focus from economic packages to political dialogue.

Perhaps the BJP leadership in their arrogance of electoral victories is not ready to read the writing on the wall. The fact that Modis visit to Kashmir in 2015 was made possible by virtually turning the Valley into an open jail, with people suffering huge economic losses as well as physical and psychological torture, the message he carried was disappointing.

This time around, while Modi was trying to address the youth of Kashmir, it seemed they were hardly interested in listening to him. Kashmir was shut once again, and the very next day a youth in Chadoora became the 65th victim to lose both eyes to pellet guns since July 2016.

Like they say "talks and guns cannot go together", similarly "killing of people and hoping to win peace in Kashmir cannot go together".
Bank of America has a rich history dating back to 1800 and even earlier. It was begun by immigrants as a group of separate and unrelated banks that, over the years, merged and grew together. One such is the Bank of Italy which was founded in 1904 by Amadeo Giannini to serve Italian immigrants that were facing discrimination. He later buys out the Banca de America e de Italia (Bank of America and Italy) which was also located in San Francisco. Over the years additional mergers and changes in Federal banking legislation, as well as the boom brought on by WWI and then WWII, helped boost the bank to national prominence.

Things turned sour, however, in 1998 with a major bond default that led to yet another merger, this time with Charlotte, NC-based Nations Bank to officially become the Bank of America that exists today. At the time, the merger was the largest bank merger in history and the company has only grown in the time since.

Other additions to the new Bank of America include MBNA (a major credit card operator), Fleet Boston (then the US 7th largest and one of its oldest banks), and Merril Lynch, now Merril, which was added to the group in 2008 to provide an investment banking branch. Together the company dominates as one of the Big Four Banks in America. Bank of America lays claim to nearly 11% of all US deposits which ranks in line with its peer group and Bank of America Securities is listed as the worlds 3rd largest investment bank.

Today, Bank of America Corporation provides banking and financial services for individuals, small businesses, institutions, corporations, and governments worldwide. The bank operates in three segments Consumer Banking, Global Wealth & Investment Management, and Global Banking bringing in a combined revenue greater than $90 billion in 2022.

As of 2022, Bank of America serves approximately 67 million consumer and small business clients with approximately 4,200 retail financial centers. The bank also operates more than 16,000 ATMs and digital banking platforms with approximately 41 million active users.

Its Consumer Banking segment offers traditional banking and investment products for retail clients. These range from deposit accounts to savings, credit cards, consumer loans, and IRAs. The Global Wealth & Investment Management segment offers investment and wealth management solutions including, brokerage, banking, and trust and retirement products. The Global Banking segment provides lending products and services, including commercial loans and leases for businesses of all varieties. The Global Markets segment offers market-making, clearing, settlement, and custody services, as well as risk management, derivatives, and FX exchange services.
Knoll, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, markets, and sells commercial and residential furniture, accessories, and coverings for the workplace and residential markets in the United States, Canada, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through Office and Lifestyle segments. It provides systems furniture, including integrated panels or table desks, work surfaces and storage units, power and data systems, and lighting products; office seating products comprising various work chairs; and files and storage products, such as lateral files, mobile pedestals and other storage units, bookcases, and overhead cabinets. The company also offers adjustable tables, as well as meeting, conference, training, dining, and stand-alone and table desks; conference furniture product platforms; height desks, tables, and ergonomic seating and accessories principally for individual home offices and small businesses; technology support accessories, desktop organizational tools, and lighting and storage products; seating and lounge furniture, as well as side, cafA, and dining chairs; conference, training, dining, and occasional tables; and lighting, rugs, textiles, fabrics, felt, leather, upholstery, drapery, and related architectural products. It serves Fortune 1000 companies, governmental agencies, and other medium-to-large sized organizations in various industries, including financial, legal, technology, entertainment, accounting, education, healthcare, and hospitality through its direct sales force and showrooms, distribution partners, and independent dealers and retailers, as well as online. The company was founded in 1938 and is headquartered in East Greenville, Pennsylvania.
Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. engages in the exploration, development, and recovery of minerals and precious metals located primarily in Africa. It explores for platinum, palladium, nickel, copper, gold, rhodium, zinc, silver, germanium, and lead deposits. The company's projects include the Platreef project located in the Northern Limb of South Africa's Bushveld Complex; the Kipushi project located in Haut-Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of Congo; and the Kamoa-Kakula project located within the Central African Copperbelt. It also holds a 100% interest in the Western Foreland exploration project covering an area of approximately 2,407 square kilometers located in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The company has a strategic partnership agreement with China Nonferrous Metal Mining (Group) Co., Ltd. to examine exploration, development, and acquisition of mineral projects, as well as production, smelting, and logistics opportunities in Africa. Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. was formerly known as Ivanplats Limited and changed its name to Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. in August 2013. The company was incorporated in 1993 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. provides technical, professional, and construction services. The company's Aerospace, Technology, Environmental and Nuclear segment offers scientific, engineering, construction, nuclear, environmental, and technical support services to the aerospace, defense, technical, and automotive industries. Its Buildings, Infrastructure and Advanced Facilities segment develops/rehabilitates plans for highways, bridges, transit, tunnels, airports, railroads, intermodal facilities, and maritime or port projects; develops or rehabilitates critical water resource systems, water/wastewater conveyance systems, and flood defense projects; and provides engineering design, construction management, design build, and operations and maintenance. This segment also designs and constructs buildings; offers consulting, engineering, procurement, construction management, and delivery services for life sciences clients; and provides services relating to modular construction and other consulting and strategic planning services, as well as offers services in containment, barrier technology, locally controlled environments, building systems automation, off-the-site design, and fabrication of facility modules. The company's Energy, Chemicals and Resources segment offers services relating to onshore and offshore oil and gas production facilities, processing facilities, gathering systems, and transmission pipelines and terminals; feasibility/economic studies, technology evaluation, conceptual engineering, front end loading, detailed engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance, and commissioning services; and engineering, procurement, and construction solutions. This segment also provides services, such as manufacturing complex, expansions, modifications, and management of plant relocations; construction management and field construction services; and services to operate and maintain facilities. The company was founded in 1947 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
LONDON - England - Speaking from his bunker deep within the bowels of Number10 Downing Street, the unelected prime minister spoke of how he has personally overseen the destruction of British currency and national sovereignty.

During the prime

ministerial address last night from within the great leaders Downing

Street chamber, all X-Factor programs on permanent loop on all TV

channels were momentarily interrupted so that Comrade Brown could

delineate the next Ten Year Plan for the British Soviet State after the

single party election takes place in May 2010.

Comrades, to tell

you the truth, I had no intention

of making a speech. But our respected wife Magda Brown dragged me to

this televisual broadcast by sheer force, so to speak. Make a good

speech, she said.

What shall I talk about, exactly what sort of speech? Everything that

had to be said before my upcoming election has already been said and

said again

in the speeches of our leading comrades, Mandy, Straw, Millipede, Two

Jags and many other responsible comrades. What can be added to

these speeches?

(Loud and sustained cheers. A

voice:And we all follow Comrade Brown whatever he says !)

New World Era of Change

Comrades, I remember now. Yes, the destruction of the old

systema created by the Royalist, conservatoid, capitalist Bullingdonite

greed-mongering factions! That obsolete system is soon to be completely

crushed under my great clunking fist of ultimate control-freakery and

command. I have vowed to erase the Pound Sterling from existence. To

completely integrate our small Soviet state within the greater Soviet EU

Marxist Fascistic conglomerate machine of absolute captivity.

After our Labour party has

finished its task, there will be no such thing as Britishness or

English or even Welsh. There will be no United Kingdom, or the dregs

of a past Royal fiefdoms. No, Comrades, we will erase all that is

British, we will take away their sovereignty, and send it under the

great red EU flag which I hold in my hand. Be prepared Comrades for

another ten years, another fifty years, a millennia of Soviet rule that

shall be the new standard of ultimate rule.

We are part of

Europe, yes Comrades, look upon our Marxist brothers and sisters and

embrace them. This is why it was imperative that the Pound Sterling had

to be destroyed. We will also make sure that the despicable Queens head

is wiped from the pound sterling and earth once and for all. Her and

her useless bloodsucking brood shall be consigned to the ditches of

Buckingham palace, which will be designated as the new Soviet Peoples

Functional Building. All that has stood for Britain for hundreds of

years shall be wiped away by my fist in one single afternoon.

Equality in Mass Poverty

I

see you smiling through your rotten proletariat teeth as you eat your broth rations, I see how you understand

that I have brought you great prosperity. Look at our factories and

manufacturing; our great Soviet exports, how I have lifted our workers

state to the heights of utter destruction and economic disaster. Drink

your putrid ale and lift your glasses Comrades, for we shall embrace the

Euro together. Look at our friends Greece, look at how well they are

doing, and so shall we, and so shall we. (Loud sustained applause as

Browns fist hits the table making a loud clunking noise.)

Further, comrades, I would like to congratulate you on the

occasion

of the forthcoming national holiday, the day of the elections to the

Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Britain. (Loud applause.) The

forthcoming elections on May 6 are not merely elections, comrades, they

are

really a national holiday of our workers, our peasants and our

intelligentsia. (Loud applause.)

Never in the history

of the

world have there been such really free and really democratic elections

 never! History knows no other example like it. (Applause.) The

point is not that our elections will be universal, equal, secret and

direct, although that fact in itself is of no great importance to you.

Let us count the votes and you shall have the leader that you deserve

me, of course. (Loud cheers of Hail, Comrade Brown !) The point

is that our universal elections will be carried out as the freest

elections and the most democratic compared with elections in any other

country in the world  even Zimbabwe.

Loud and sustained

applause and cheers.

All rise and turn towards the government box, to which

Comrade Brown proceeds from the platform. Voices: Hurrah for the great

Brown ! Hurrah for Comrade Brown! Long live Comrade Brown!

Long

live the first of the Leninists, candidate for the Soviet of the

EUnion, Comrade Brown! Hurrah! )
LONDON - England - Traders are getting ready to pull the trigger on the Pound when the general election is held in May, leading analysts say.

Were waiting for either Gordon winning the election or a hung parliament. When that happens, say goodbye to the Sterling, it will scrape the floor. Shorters across the world will make billions off the collapse. When you go to buy your gobstopper at the sweet shop, be sure to take a suitcase of money because the worthless pound will make Zimbabwes economic problems look like childs play, the economics director for Deutsche Swiss Bank, Louis Amaro told Reuters.

High Treason

The markets have already shown some jitters in recent times, whenever either Alistair Darling or Gordon Brown opens their mouth, the pound sinks like a rock.

Every time the prospect of another five years of Labour government, especially under Gordon Brown comes up, the market plummets. People around the world and in Britain who know what the real economic situation actually is like are pissing themselves because they have assets in the UK and stand to lose everything if Labour get in again, Mr Amaro said.

The only other people, apart from short traders, who actually would like another Labour government are Britains enemies.

Were picking up a lot of chatter about Gordon Brown. The enemies of Britain would love for him to be elected for the first time to cause havoc for another five years. And looking at the recent polls, it seems these enemies of Britain may be in luck because the majority of Britons are rooting for another bruising. Maybe the UK is a country of masochists, its probably in their culture, because of the Middle Age dungeons and Feudal Lords and all that, Mr Amaro told Reuters.
ATHENS - Greece - Think of the Europeans. Now they have to carry around their currency in suitcases. The euro is now so devalued thanks to the euro debt crisis that many people have no room in their houses for the cash needed to buy everyday goods.

I just went to buy some groceries, a loaf of bread, a bag of tomatoes and some toilet roll. 85 trillion euros they charged me! Im bloomin livid I am. Its those bloody krauts and their stinkin riches, Stavros Lazyitis told Greek national radio.

It is not just in Greece however where the euro cash problem is having a detrimental effect. All over the eurozone the carnage is evident as many are reduced to paying for even the tiniest of goods in trillion euro denominations.

I bought my three year old daughter a lollipop this morning. It was 2.5 trillion euros, so I only had a 20 trillion note on me, well you can guess what happened next. The shopkeeper had to go to the back of the shop and get a shopping trolly load of money to give me the f*cking change. Its those bloody Greeks what done it and were in this bloody mess. Innit? Helga Gothenberg, from Hamburg told Germanys Deutsche satellite network channel.


FORT LAUDERDALE - USA - Instead of selling his get-rich-quick scheme to con people out of their hard-earned cash, Barney Topper, 56, has decided to actually attempt to use his own get-rich scheme himself and make money from it.

After many years conning thousands of people out of their money with his bogus get-rich-quick schemes, Mr Topper has decided to embark on something that is completely unheard of in the world of get-rich-quick scammers  honesty.

I will make you rich sucker

The internet is full of them, people who create bogus schemes claiming to make you untold riches quickly. Your inbox is probably overflowing with these things as the spammers and scammers all vie for your cash. But one man has decided to try and take an honest path, he doesnt want to scam you anymore, he wants to actually try his own get-rich-quick scheme and even attempt to make money from it.

Seen the Light

I was selling this scheme that has a totally ridiculous idea to it that only a stupid moron would fall for. I was making $2000 per day selling the idea on the internet and the suckers were eating it up, but now I want to actually use the scam scheme and try to make some dough with it. I want to be honest. I gave all the money I made previously selling the scam to charity, Topper said from his sprawling Florida home.

Like millions of scams across the internet there is no hope in hell for Mr Topper, a former scammer, who is doomed to never make money from his scheme.

The guys an idiot. He fell for his own scam. Now thats rule number one for professional internet scammers, spammers and crooks. Dont get high on your own supply. He shouldve known that before he tried to go clean, Ari Earlstein, another Florida internet scammer told Scam Weekly magazine.

Update: Since Mr Topper tried to go straight and try his own get-rich-quick scheme to get rich, he has lost his house, fleet of luxury cars, girlfriends, wife and computer.


Professor Dean Finklestein, a leading economist at the Policy Research Institute think tank based in Washington DC, who has studied U.S. debt over a forty year period, claims that America needs to default so that they can clean the slate and start back over again.

Clean slate

When we default, that means we cant pay any more cash to anyone because were frickin bust. Its pretty simple really. This way we go back to square one and start over. No one will be the wiser. Hell, we can even print more money and start spending recklessly once again. Obamacare cost America $13 trillion since its inception and is set to cost even more when it starts to materialise. When we default, Obama can start on his other pet project, giving amnesty to the millions of illegal immigrants already within our borders. Once that happens, say adios Americanos gringos because every wetback the other side of the Rio Grande will want in. Yall can be sure of that, the professor said, at a recent Institute meeting before being shot in the kneecap by a Mexican drug dealer.

Its all over, folks



Its not just Americas hierarchy that is defying the debtors, ordinary Americans are defiant with regards to wanting the country to default, and are adamant that a major U.S. default would be a great benefit to the economy. A recent poll qualified the fact, and revealed that 85% of Americans wanted a default, however when asked whether they knew what a default was, 94% said they had no idea, it just sounded good.

By defaulting on the money owed to China, the U.S. will effectively wipe the slate clean and get away with having to pay the Chinese the trillions of owed dollars of their money. The Chinese have been funding Obamas spending spree for the past two and a half years and lets not forget prior to that old Georgie boy and his warmongers. By defaulting, we might even take China down with us too. Theyre getting way too big for their boots anyway. We aint going to pay those Chins one dime, its time they went back to their piss hole country and sell their useless plastic trinkets to someone else, a Republican Tea Party member in Boston told Reuters news agency.
The office of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the bankers should permanently leave the street and give back all the money the stole. Reporters said hundreds of police were mobilising around the street and that the eviction of the spivs was in progress.

Police spokesman, John Jenkem, said the city, issued eviction orders to the bankers saying the street would be cleared of scum sucking leech bankers after 1am (0600 GMT).

Jenkem said 150 bankers had been arrested for drinking champagne and waving wads of money around as well as resisting arrest.

These goddamn bankers. Theyre the reason the world is up shit creek, and today we arrested a bunch of them. Its time justice was done for a change. Why should the people have to pay for these scum to live the high life? Hmm hmm, not anymore folks, its bye bye time for them,chief of police, Arnold Kolic, told the New York Times.



The bankers who were cited as creating the world recession were however unrepentant about finally being arrested for their crimes.

F*ck all of you. Its our right to be paid and your right to be slaves to us. Thats just the way it is and nothing can change in this system that we created in the first place, Joel Silverstein, an investment banker at Goldman Suchs said before being driven to prison in a limousine.


CHESHUNT - England - The Tesco Value Brand has a new product that is flying off the shelves, especially for unemployed Britons all over the country.

This is a great new product in the famous Tesco Value range, that everyone seems to love so much. All you have to do is go to an aisle, pick up a broom and start sweeping the floors for 12 hours straight with no f*cking pay or break. We then tell you to go and clean the toilets, and collect 300 odd trolleys from the car park before you are allowed to go home. Dont forget to come in the next day and complete the whole process all over again, a senior manager at Tescos head office in Cheshunt told the Daily Mail.

The new Tesco Value Jobseekers Allowance is getting Britain moving again according to a government initiative at the Department of Work and Pensions and Tesco superstores.

We are seeking to engender a work ethic amongst the people of Britain by making them work long hours with no pay and no hope of ever getting a promotion. This is the future for Britains unemployed people, who have no hope of ever getting employed to do a paid job. Remember this you idle little shits, you have to work without pay to keep your Job Seekers Allowance, and just think, every time you put a tin can of processed crap onto our shelves, you are enriching our shareholders and board of directors, never f*cking forget that. Every little helps, and slave labour helps a lot, Tony Mucker, Chief executive of Tesco told BBC reporters before getting into his Maserati, chuckling like a hyena, and speeding out of the Tesco head offices car park.


LONDON - England - The Royal Mail has single-handedly destroyed the UK's eCommerce business' in one fell swoop as it increases its postage costs by over 80%.

Want to send a letter in the UK, well fork up, youve just been scammed by the Royal Mail who have increased their postage costs by over 80%. Run a business? Well, youre f*cked, especially if you sell eCommerce items. Want to expand your business abroad? Well youre fucked there as well, with Europe Airmail prices now up 82% from 1.49 to 2.70.

Anti-Business Secretary, Vince Cable has applauded the new move by Royal Mail as has Chancellor George Osborne.

This is all great for the recovery. Its all part of the plan. We even intend to put VAT on hot food. Were not f*cking kidding here, Osborne told the BBC.

Royal Mail pensions are assured for now as are the fat cat salaries of the bosses who just ordered the massive price hike.

Hopefully when the Royal Mail is privatised next year, things may change for the better and bring it into the 21st century.


BERLIN - Germany - Ratings agencies are set to downgrade Germany's previously solid AAA rating soon, and this will be Greece's ultimate revenge on the Northern Europeans.

The divine vengeance of the three Greek Goddesses, the Erinyes have taken their revenge on Germany, because the country will be downgraded by the ratings agencies soon.

As Alecto, Magaera and Tisiphone, bear their angry vengeance and grudge upon the German economy, this is the precursor for a major world recession so deep that it could last for the next forty years.

All Germany had to do was agree to EU bonds and everything would be OK now. Instead, were going to take them down with us. We spent their money, they said we should pay it back, and now theyre in a huge mess. You cannot seriously expect a Greek to pay back the money he owes? Instead we send the three goddesses of vengeance and revenge to them. We will take down Germany with us, Stavros Malakas, a Greek shop keeper in Athens told the EOKA Times.
ATHENS - Greece - The Greek Minister of Finance has announced that the euro currency wants to leave the ailing country immediately.

We have had news from our banks that the euro wants to leave as soon as possible and go back to Germany, the eighth Finance Minister in two months, Stavro Trimalakas, told Greek state television.

The euro currency will leave Greek banks as early as next Tuesday, and there are calls for it to go quickly and quietly.

Frankly I cant wait to see the back of it. The euro has created more harm than good and we want to go back to the good old days when tourists came to Greece for affordable cheap holidays and we didnt have to work much. All this Germanic hardwork and paying taxes has taken a real toll on our Greek sensibilities, Nikos Arhidebora, a shopkeeper from Thessaloniki told a Greek radio station.


By destroying the Pound we set ourselves up to eventually join the euro currency. Thats the ultimate plan I have been told by my boss Frau Merkel, Mr Cameron divulged in a Sunday Times articles yesterday.

The complete devaluation of the pound also serves as a stick to beat the already impoverished people of Britain further.

Indeed, if one engineers the destruction of the currency, this means imports are far more expensive and may have to be halted all together increasing the cost of living to dizzying heights. Furthermore, the low value of the Pound means that Britons cannot travel outside the UK any more or move their assets abroad either, unless of course they want to lose huge chunks of what little they have left. This coupled with the proposed negative banking base rate is a coup de grace on the neck of the populations, who are already under vast economic strain and an avalanche of personal debt. My esteemed colleague, George Osborne has also ensured that Britain has lost its valued AAA rating thus increasing government borrowing costs and future interest payments on our vast deficit. The standard of living in the UK is already one of the lowest in Europe, we want to bring it below Romania and Bulgaria so that when 29 million of them are eligible to come here soon, they will feel at home, Mr Cameron added.

Even though the Prime Minister has proposed an EU referendum, there is very little chance that he may win the 2015 election, and even if he does, the amount of pro EU propaganda that is spewed out in the controlled media by him will ensure that the brainwashed battered Britons vote to stay in the EU or vote for Labour and embrace the EU anyway.



One plans any government move years in advance of the actual act. We have already factored in many variables regarding the destruction of the formerly Great British Pound and the introduction of the euro. The vast influx of immigration from the Balkans and former Soviet Bloc countries will ensure that Britains society and culture is irreparably fractured and the all important class system is completely destroyed. This is the only way we can get Britain into the EU, by completely eradicating its culture and sovereignty. It is impossible to have a British class system when 85% of people in the room are from Eastern Europe and the Third World. This is how our masters, the EU technocrats, plan on destroying Britain from the inside by demanding the UK has unfettered immigration. As for the City, Brussels is already forcing them to dump their bonuses, looks like they who championed Britain staying in the EU for so long will be one of the hardest hit by the EU. Good luck to you boys, you voted for the EU and wanted to stay in, you can enjoy losing all your goodies now, an anonymous source from Westminster revealed Monday.

The planned destruction of the Pound is an element that ties in with the back-door integration of the euro in Scotland when it votes to gain independence soon. The Scots know that they will embrace the euro just like their Celt cousins, the Irish.

Once the Scots strategically embrace the euro, broken Britains England will eventually be forced to join itself or be further destroyed economically. It will be surrounded from all sides and have nowhere to go. What are they going to do in England, and Northern Ireland? Perhaps, they can move everyone to their precious Falkland Islands. That will be funny, an unnamed unnelected technocrat from Brussels said on Sunday.


LIMASSOL - Cyprus - By defying the EU and reneging on their promises to pay back the ECB, the bankrupt banks may never open again leaving depositors high and dry, EU finance experts have revealed.

There are a few reasons all banks will be shut for the next week in Cyprus. Firstly, there would be capital flight en masse, then there would be financial melt down because a lot of the money that depositors put into the Southern Greek banking system does not exist any more. It was lost to the Greek bond bailouts. So if you as a depositor put your life savings into one of these banks, the bank used your money already. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do about it because the banks themselves are bankrupt unless they get more money from the ECB to pay depositors. This is the reason they cannot open the banks again because there is nothing to give to you, a Laiki Bank official said from his luxury yacht moored in Paphos.

Because Greek Cypriot ministers rejected the proposed bank levy, the liquidity in the Cyprus banking system is now zero, or minus.

We now stand to lose the whole deposit of our accounts because of the rejection of the 10% bank levy. I guess we will have to kiss Russian ass huh, a depressed kebab shop owner told Cyprus Daily newspaper.

EU officials were said to be actually quite glad that the Cypriots rejected the deal and look forward to the next round of events.
LONDON - England - The homeless have just been given a vital lifeline that could make their lives a lot easier.

If I ever need a brew, I just flash my card and I get a few tins to last me a few hours, Alfred Thompson, 54, a homeless man who lives under Waterloo bridge told the BBC.

Having a credit card when youre homeless really does ease the pain, and its all thanks to the many credit card companies who have stepped in as a gesture towards Londons homeless.

We hope to provide as many homeless people with credit cards so they can spend, spend, spend, one of the credit card companies involved in the scheme revealed.

As of yet there has not been any information released as to how the homeless will pay back the credit cards, but the companies involved say that they give credit cards to absolutely anyone and homeless people should not be discriminated against.
MARYLAND - USA - As everyone knows the NSA knows everything about everything and that includes insider knowledge about what stocks to buy and sell across the world.

Top NSA business analyst Larrs Utrecht, has got some great news for anyone who is in the dark about what to buy and sell at the moment.

Lets just say a few chosen individuals get emails in the morning about what to buy and sell. Im going to give you guys some NSA stock tips that are guaranteed to make you a lot of money. I mean whats the point in having a stock market if you dont have access to all the secret company info, emails, phone calls and executive news before anyone else does? Were listening all the time, not only in the U.S. but across the world. We know what every company director is doing, we can see everything, we know what theyre thinking, we know their plans.

Best buys for the week

1) ALCO Buy this at $12.60 Monday first thing. I was listening to the CEO talking on the phone last week, theyve been sitting on some great news about a new product theyre bringing out to be announced on Tuesday.

2) DELFI They struck major oil in Guatemala two weeks ago. Theyre going to announce it on Tuesday. Thats why you have to fill your boots on Monday. Re-mortgage the house if you have to.

3) JLFK The board will be announcing the resignation of one of the directors who has been bad for the company. Expect a spike up, from the chatter were seeing it should go up to $34 by Wednesday.

Top sellers for the week

1) OPSD Three days ago I was looking through the CEOs private encrypted emails and saw something very drastic. This stock has had a great run up to $67 but on Wednesday journalists are going to publish something pretty bad. Target for this stock is $14 so get your shorts off for this one, and jump in the pool  of money you will make.

2) GKXO Currently at $124 this company is in serious trouble according to our men looking through their hard disks. Prepare to sell all the way down the cliff but make sure the sell orders occur before Thursday when they make that announcement.
CHICAGO - USA - In the last few days, you may have noticed how gold has been rising, if you have not already filled your boots, maybe now is the time to enter, before it is too late.

Geo-political and Counter Intelligence expert Brandt Meinhoff, from an unknown agency somewhere, outlines some of the pitfalls of coercing Russia into war.

Agitating and baiting the bear has worked, as Russia has been forced to act after the coup in Kiev, and with further baiting by specialist teams in the country, Putin had no choice to act.

There are similarities to the baiting of Saddam Hussein who in 1990 was forced to invade Kuwait because of deliberate US actions on the price of oil resulting in his later demise. The only difference between the two countries is that Russia has a well oiled military machine and Iraq was nothing much to talk home about apart from their oil reserves.

For the global elite, Russia is crucial, because it has many resources and would be a final stepping stone towards China. This action may take a number of years to complete but a Russian spring could be utilised to fracture the country first, then once it is weakened internally the rest is easy. Divide and conquer, is of course an old time tested technique which is especially useful on totalitarian regimes, which crack easier than more fluid regimes, purely because of the element of discontent within a dictator led nation.

The EU is taking the form of the former Soviet Union as is the USA, in its technical form of covert military operations and the use of tactical destabilisation in Ukraine.

Putin may be superior in strategic technique, but he is now being quarantined by the global machine. Isolation can be dangerous for both sides however, because it can cause unexpected results. Sanctions only stoke the fires of all out war. If Russia feels there is no way out, they could strike at any time anywhere, much like a cornered bear in a forest being tracked by hunters with shotguns.

When there is nothing to lose, there is nothing to lose.
CALIFORNIA - USA - A Sachsville man is counting the cost of being robbed by his own bank, but apparently it happens every day.

Quick hand me the money, said the bank teller, before grabbing approximately $350 from the man.

The distraught man handed over the money in fear of his life, and in resignation that he would not see his hard earned cash ever again.

Police were called to the bank, but officers were told that it was perfectly legal, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

This has been happening for way too long and must be stopped, another irate bank victim said before being arrested by the police.

The good news is nothing can be done, its all legal. Have a nice fucking day.
MINNEAPOLIS - USA - Former artist formerly known as artist formerly known as and is known as Prince kicked off his new album release by meeting the worlds tallest man.

The tiny star who only stands at 2.4 ft met the tallest man in the world Bao Xishun (7.9 ft) at his Minneapolis complex Paisley Park today.

The extraordinary musical maestro who can play twenty instruments also took the time to release his latest album Planet Earth.

Famous for his maverick ways, Prince released his new album utilising the Mail on Sunday as a distribution vehicle.

Record companies which have leached off artists for so long as the middlemen, were left with egg on their face as Sony BMG UK was forced to shelve its own release of the record.

Prince makes the majority of his income from performing shows in his syndicated travel troupe who have toured the world many times.

The purple one wowed crowds at a Minneapolis store on Thursday when he jumped out of a hat which was placed on the table by his bodyguard and sang a rendition of Raspberry Beret.









The worlds tallest man has now famously met the worlds most musical and he did a cute jig on the table for the expectant crowd wearing a little suit and a bow tie.

Unfortunately, the artist formerly known as TAFKAP seems to have bypassed his funk roots for the very bland generic sounds of RnB on this new album.

The Daily Squibs music correspondent, Gordon Lightfoot, has given this one a firm thumbs down because it is not only bland but has no sex or danger with only one song having any guitar in it.

Since he has been hanging around with that boring old Jehovas fart Larry Graham, Princes music has lost all its danger and creativity but the lil boy sure can jig.



THE SQUIB WILL BE GIVING AWAY 10 FREE TICKETS TO SEE THE PRINCE TRAVELING CIRCUS TROUPE AT A LOCATION NEAR YOU. JUST EMAIL WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THE NEW ALBUM TO [email protected]




LONDON - England - Madonna was seen on a Transatlantic flight yesterday. In an age where stars travel in their own private jets, Madonna has made a concerted effort to cut down on her carbon footprint.

Since her momentous performance at the much criticised Live Earth extravaganza, Madonna has been making every effort to please the pundits and naysayers by trying to reduce her huge carbon footprint.

The great lady now embarks on journeys across the pond to her homeland and back flying first class of course on commercial airlines.

In fact, she was just spotted the other day flying in first class from New York to London. A fellow passenger witnessed her Madgesty eating her food in a very interesting manner.

The star, who does not eat solid food anymore and has not for the last fifteen years, injected her arm with a four course meal and dessert.

Madonna explained in an interview to Hello magazine in May that she has a five star Michelin rated chef cook a four course meal for her every day.

Once the meal is cooked it is all blended in a bucket and then the juices and nutrients are extracted into a tiny vial. This groundbreaking technique has been adopted by many celebrities now and saves on the whole messy eating solid food process.

Her private chef Gilles Rais divulged to the Daily Squib that during the seven hour flight from New York Madonna injected herself with one vial consisting of a starter of Soupe daiglefin fume, tartare de loup de mer caviar dOscietre followed by a scrumptious Risotto de petits legumes de saison.

The next course was Rouget de roche, fricassee de calamars et brandade de morue jus de bouillabaisse, followed shortly by Assiette de cochon de lait roti et son jus de cuisson.

Dessert was the finest Croustade de pommes caramelisees glace au miel et gingembre washed down with some Cafe Pur Arabica, petits fours et chocolats du Manoir.

Having partaken of this astounding meal Madonna was seen to belch ever so gently into her handkerchief.

The rest of the passengers however had to make do with either rubberised chicken and soggy vegetables or a microwaved vegetarian lasagne which tasted like cardboard.
Nothing better to keep killers and robbers at bay in an overcrowded hell-hole prison than a lovely Sing Sing hand puppet show.

OJ is practising for the 3 hour daily shows he will provide when he is sentenced later on in the month for a life term in jail.

I am very excited to have the opportunity to express my creative side with these puppet shows. The main character of the show is called Ron and the other character is called Nicole. As the shows go on I will introduce other characters to the mix.

The All Star puppet shows will be held in the main mess hall of the Correctional Facility where there will be an impromptu stage setup for OJ to perform.

OJ is also all set to tour the varied prison populations in North America with his All Star puppet show when he will be transferred from time to time.

The next 40-50 years in prison will be all the time OJ Simpson will need to refine his show and perfect his wonderful art.

Unfortunately, you will have to be incarcerated in the US prison system to enjoy the shows and they will not be allowed outside.

So, unless youre into getting your arse buggered in the showers for picking up the soap, it is best to steer clear of being in the audience of an OJ puppet show in jail.
SALFORD - England - If the BBC replaced the soft Leftist white male pinko media students it employs as producers, and put in car mechanics as producers of the highly rated Top Gear show, Jeremy Clarkson could be reinstated as the show's host by next week.

How hard can it be? Car mechanics are technical people anyway and would be up and running on the studio equipment in a jiffy. If Clarkson wants a punch up hed get a wrench across his face. It would also make for some great telly, imagine having a team of mechanic producers and Jeremy Clarkson having a full on brawl with pieces of steak and chips flying all over the place. There certainly would be no place for a cheese platter in that mess but ratings would shoot up, Niles Pemberton, a commissioning editor who sometimes advises the BBC, revealed on Friday.

One other ex-BBC employee went as far as to suggest employing partially naked female car mechanics for the Top Gear show as producers, at least this way Clarkson may be distracted as would most of the audience and other presenters.

Ratings would hit the roof. Imagine having a female car mechanic who not only talks dirty but can grease up the rod bearings on a V12 engine one minute, advise the cameraman to pan right the next whilst booking a hotel room, and smear motor oil over her chest at the same time. If Clarkson wants a steak shed throw a frozen one at him. Clarkson would be sitting there like a simpering dog with his tongue hanging out in awe! Thered be no more nonsense from Clarkson ever again. Its a win win situation for the BBC.

Either way, it would be a sad day if the left-wing BBC killed off one of Britains eccentrics. Thats what makes Britain Great, its eccentric characters who bring colour to the drab socialist, politically correct, impotent, boring and turgid moroseness. We need more punch ups, more fucking life, more wildness. AAAaaargh!!!!
CHICAGO - IL - Looking for the ultimate high this Christmas? Don't worry folks, the Daily Squib has come to the rescue once again for an in depth guide on the best toy junkie highs this holiday season.

Are you worried about buying toys without hallucinogenic chemicals laced all over them this year? With all of the recent media scaremongering of toys soaked in mind-altering substances, you may be wondering which toys have the best drug content for Christmas. Here is your guide to ensure that you and your loved ones have a safe, good trip-happy holiday season this year.

First, look for toys that are either made in China or Eastern Europe.

Toy junkies can scoop up drug-soaked toys from Chingro  Chingro Toy Production is based in Beijing, China.

Chingro takes seriously the quality and safety of the toxic chemical soaking process and uses 100% high quality PCP (Angel dust, Dusted parsley, Phencyclidine) to make their toys. Chingro offers a wide variety of toys including castles, airports, and

figurines which are aimed at the true toy connoisseur category.

Look mummy, I can fly!

Legwoah has seen a recent resurgence in popularity. There are theme sets for toy junkies from all walks of life such as Star Wars (Mescaline and Gamma hydroxybutyrate with a twist of MDMA) and Mission to Mars (laced with LSD, Cocaine and Methamphetamine). Legwoah is primarily produced in drug factories deep in the bowels of communist China and also many Eastern European former Soviet Bloc countries. The effects of some theme sets are said to be so intense that there have been instances of toy junkies actually leaving on a trip to Mars and never coming back.

If you are shopping for a puzzle and arent sure what to buy, then consider purchasing a DummyDust Puzzle. DummyDust puzzles are some of the highest quality puzzles out there and each piece is soaked in a different hallucinogenic chemical that will whack you into the next zone. Completing a DummyDust puzzle is very rare because once you taste a piece, your altered state of consciousness will result in true kaleidoscopic wonders. You will see amazing rainbows and colours that lift up through the puzzle. Time will stop for awhile as you realise that we are all tiny molecules in the universal mind and spectrum.

Are you looking for a big hit for a Christmas gift? If you are, then consider the toy beads from ChingChing Toys. These toys are made from the highest quality magic mushrooms grown specially in the mountain region of Hengduan China.

Animal trank

Monkey Dust Toys is another toy company that wants to keep you safe in the knowledge that you are getting a good hard dose. Instead of paint, all of their toys are coated with an opium based dye. When you put one of these toys in your mouth, worry not. You will be transported to wonderful mellow pastures of green. Because they use opium dye rather than paint, Monkey Dust Toys are very safe.

For toy junkie newbies, Hookah is another great Eastern European brand that manufactures toys that are free of paint, but full of Ketamine. These toys were endorsed by Amy Winehouse and Pete Doherty and are safe.

PCPlease

Everyone prefers to buy toys that are made in China. The classic Stinky toy is still made in China and when smoked creates an interesting high reminiscent of skunk weed.

Companies that manufacture their toys in China are: Leaky Leak, Horse Tracks, Gorilla Biscuits, Chingro, Space Ball, and Happy Sticks.

Beware!

There are some Chinese-sounding toy brands that are produced in America. Goon Dust, Detroit Pink and Beam Me Up Scotty are all made in America. You will not get a single dose from these toys. You can always check the box of a toy to locate the country where it was made in if you are unsure.

Look out for the perfect high this holiday season. While not all toys from China contain suitably high doses of hallucinogenic chemical paint, many toy junkies are nervous about possibly purchasing a toy coated with real paint  no one wants a dud toy.

Use this guide to help yourselves have a safe trippin happy season.
NEW YORK - USA - Crawling on hands and knees is the latest craze taking the world by storm.

Major cities across the world have witnessed the new travel phenomenon, including New York, London, Damascus, Paris and Tokyo.

According to social media, Doing the Crawl was coined by Dwayne LaMarr, 23, a New Yorker with a penchant for crawling started the craze in late April.

I got the idea when I went to my local bank to get a loan for an auto. The dude said no when he looked at my credit record, but check this, when I got down on all fours, scooted round his desk then sniffed around, he said yes and now I gots me a new Escalade.

Word got round Twitter and Facebook and now people are crawling all over cities, in front of land marks, tourist attractions, especially in financial centres.

Were doing a crawl up the Eiffel tower, instead of two hours, it should take us seven, Maurice Dupont, 18, a Paris student told Le Figaro.

The largest group of crawlers were seen in Londons Hampstead High Street numbering over 400 people.

Savvy online retailers are cashing in on the crawl craze by selling knee pads to go along with those selfie sticks for those special crawl shots.

Xian Chan, CEO of Crawl Pads.com is excited by the crawling: We dont just get orders from Hollywood starlets any more for those knee pads, its everyone. This is the summer craze to get everyone crawling plus its great exercise.
PRETORIA - South Africa - Not content with her photoshoot in Rwanda a few months ago, Paris Hilton is back in Africa for another photoshoot to promote her new caring persona.

When shes not flashing her worn vagina to pedestrians on Sunset Boulevard or indulging in coke binges in dark LA nightclubs, Paris Hilton likes to attend photoshoots to promote her new improved image of caring.

The ex-convict airheads PR people have been working hard promoting their fake proteges new persona to the already saturated celebrity pap media.

First it was a series of articles in the papers praising her acting skills and now another photoshoot in Africa.

Paris PR people are ecstatic at the coverage Paris received for the South Africa photo opportunity and are already planning more fake picture sessions in other Third World countries. They, however, vehemently deny any suggestions of opportunistic exploitation of Africans for profit.

It was only in September last year when Paris Hilton was in Rwanda for another impromptu photoshoot. The Rwanda trip was a success for the Paris PR team and this South Africa trip was subsequently planned.

This time however, she was accompanied by her new boyfriend and prospective sperm donor.

Paris has been itching to have a baby ever since her coke fiend pal Nicole Richie got impregnated.

Looks like she found the right chump this time to grace her well-used and battered cavern. The poor fellow is obviously not fussy about sloppy seconds, thirds, fourths, fifths, thousands etc
LOS ANGELES - USA - Heather Mills has attempted to change her appearance once again to avoid being identified with her previous gold-digging crone incarnation.

After her exhausting and bitter divorce battle with Sir Paul McCartney where she only managed to steal 25 million from the former Beatle, Heather Mills has undergone a drastic transformation. Out goes her striking blonde hairstyle and in comes a completely new look and even sex.

The 40-year-old was seen showing off her new paedo-look on Friday as she left the Beverly Cosmetic Surgery Center  a stones throw from South Central LA, which advertises complete appearance overhaul services with walk-ins welcome.

According to reports from the tabloid press, Heather chose this clinic in a slum area of LA because the Guatemalan surgeons do not ask questions and it is also unregulated by any medical authority so she can have any cosmetic surgical procedure completed without any questions asked.

By changing her appearance from Heather Mills to Gary Glitter she has already moved up in popularity because even the image of Glitter is an improvement to her previous self. An assistant working at the cosmetic surgery clinic told the Daily Squib that Heather even considered changing her appearance to that of Michael Jackson but backed off at the last moment when the price of the surgery was flashed up in front of her.

The complete surgical transformation is said to have cost Heather over 5 million. However, experts say it is good money spent as she would do well to ditch her old look. It is no surprise that she has opted for the jailed paedophile look because theyre two birds of a feather. Heather Mills is now Gary Glitters long lost twin. Whatever is going on in her head must be pretty strange but maybe this is a way of reconciling the fact that she does not deserve the money she got from Paul, Dr Rosenbaum of the Beverly Hills Celebrity Psychology Unit told the Daily Squib.





Heather Mills, Before  After



After acquiring Sir Pauls money in the court case, Heather was even criticised by the divorce case judge, Mr Justice Bennett, as a less than candid witness who had a warped perception of the world and indulged in make-believe.

Heather flew to Los Angeles from New York, where she endured over 42 hours of surgery at the specialist clinic.

She was said to be less than keen to hang around in the Big Apple after reportedly having a blazing row with Sir Paul over when Bea would be introduced to his new girlfriend, American millionairess Nancy Shevell.

Sir Paul was staying in the exclusive Carlyle Hotel there after spending the previous week with 47-year-old Nancy in Antigua.

On Wednesday Heather was seen in New York sporting a Pirates of the Caribbean disguise resplendent with peg leg and hook arm  the first time she has been spotted in public since she travelled to the US to recover from the trauma of only winning 25 million in the court case.

She was reportedly enraged that Sir Paul has found someone else so quickly after their divorce, but after her new cosmetic surgery she is much more optimistic about her future  especially when she moves to the Far East next June.
SICHUAN PROVINCE - China - Sharon Stone and her current boyfriend have bought a A12,000 chateau in the Chinese Riviera as a base for their world travels.

The couple are said to have looked at around 100 properties before settling on the 35-bedroom estate.

The sprawling residence comes complete with its own chemical toy factory, moat, polluted lake and forest with three trees in it.

Sharon bought the Chinese villa direct from the owner after spotting the property on a Fox News report.

A source close to the deal said: Its a place called Chateau Dalai which is in a tiny village called Xin Xan Xin Xiang in Sichuan province.

Theyll be moving in roughly three days and living there full-time.

The magnificent cascading stone-walled terraces are of solid construction and made from 95% sand mixed with a little bit of concrete and newspaper.

The estate is surrounded by beautiful yellow water with twenty fountains, bubbling aqueducts, and a toxic chemical laden stream runs through hidden tunnels into the moat and fills the polluted lake.

The popular Beijing Times quoted Ngn See-yuen, founder of the Chinese Sharon Stone Appreciation Society, as saying that he welcomes Sharon Stone to all of China wholeheartedly. Her most recent film, The Year of Getting to Know Us, and four other movies starring the actress, are all set to be very popular in China.

Thousands of Chinese internet users have posted praise online for Sharon Stone and all the media has been inundated with talk of the wonders of the American actress.
Londons it circles are teeming with oxygen masks as the new emphysema fashion craze is sweeping though the cool and the hip.

The new craze is causing mayhem amongst the daughters of rock celebrities like Bob Geldof and Sting and its all thanks to Amy Winehouse, 24, who has emphysema from smoking crack rocks all day long.

Pete Dohertys Crack

Ive seen Peaches and Pixie smoking crack like it was going out of fashion. Stings daughter, Coco, who now hangs out with Pete Doherty, smokes so much crack that shes lost her voice temporarily. They say its the new fashion and they want to get emphysema too just like Amy, DJ Jack Curran who regularly spins for the stars in Camdens Monarch pub told Melody Maker magazine.

For the last few years anorexia was the big thing, especially in the fashion world where size zero was all the rage. Now emphysema and walking around with an oxygen tank is the current craze of choice with the party set of Camden and Primrose Hill. Kate Moss and Sadie Frost have already had oxygen tanks delivered to their homes, and Kate Moss is often seen sporting hers whilst driving her daughter to school.

Sema like Amy

Last week one of Bob Geldofs daughters was seen at Claridges with an oxygen tank and mask firmly in tow. She was spied downing large vodkas and even attempting to smoke while the oxygen mask was still over her face. The photo event was celebrated in all media sources with full page spreads thus encrusting her jaunt into celebrity history.

Emphysema is an irreversible degenerative condition, so once you get it youve got it for life. Smoke from crack cocaine is particularly harsh on the lungs and will deteriorate the body faster than other products like tobacco.

Crack is the drug of choice for these celebrities because it will speed up the onset of the degenerative lung disease faster than smoking normal cigarettes, Angie Dickinson, a reporter for the BBC 5 music programme Munters featuring pop celebrity Lilly Allen, said.


CHICAGO - USA - Detectives working for the Chicago Police Department were shocked to find that the Illinois Governor, who is embroiled in a massive corruption scandal involving Obama's U.S. Senate seat, is also a gay blogger from Miami.

It was like an episode out of a Scooby Doo cartoon, the detectives gathered round the captured Governor and have now revealed the truth about the corrupt officials true identity.

We found out today that the Governor of Illinois is Perez Hilton the gay blogger from the internets. Yeah, its him, we unmasked the true identity of this corrupt official, Police Sergeant, Enus McMasters told Fox News.

The incredible find has shocked the world of politics and the blogosphere, the internet has been buzzing with gossip all week.

I saw his shitty haircut and his stupid clothes and I knew that was Perez Hilton, cmon look at that haircut! Thats what gave it away. Plus the bitch wants to make money, hes greedy like PerezI hope they take his gay ass blog down or maybe he can do it while hes in prison, an internet forum chatter exclaimed.

No one knows how Perez Hilton became the Illinois Governor but conspiracy nuts are cropping up with many theories every day.

Jones Valasquez of the Conspiracy Blog had this to say about the whole sorry affair: Perez was Rod Blagojevichs buttboy but when he tried to extort money from him after a session, Rod refused to pay up. Thats when we think Perez blew his gay bunny boiler antics and he must have snuffed the real Governor out. We dont know how long he has been masquerading as a Governor but we believe he loves the power and money. We also do not know where he stashed the body, we need to bring in CSI for that shit.

A thorough Pentagon investigation is underway and even though the Federal Bureau of Investigation has also joined the case there is still a media blackout on the whole affair.

President-Elect, Barack Obamas office has not made a comment about the scandal and when contacted yesterday refused to talk about the issue.
LONDON - England - Buckingham Palace has been quick to act and dispel claims that Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh called Simon Scowell, Z-Factor creator and bane of all good music, a 'sponger'.

Scowell claimed that he was snubbed by the Queen and insulted by the Duke after

appearing at the Royal Variety Show.

A spokesman for Buckingham Palace denied that the Duke had called the

music and television promoter, who has amassed an estimated fortune of 112m

through shows like American Idol, The Z-Factor, and Britains Got Talent, a sponger.

The Duke of Edinburgh categorically did not call Mr Scowell a sponger. He must have misheard. Everyone knows Mr Scowell is a c*nt. He has said that he called Scowell a c*nt of the highest order, he said.

Mr Scowell may have misheard the Duke, he has a very soft voice, especially when addressing scum.

But Scowells version of events is supported by fellow Z-Factor judge and supreme c*nt of all time, Piers

Moron, who was also present during the exchange in 2007. In his new piffling book,

the former newspaper editor, and supreme shitbag, describes hearing the Duke jokingly call Scowell a c*nt of the highest order and moribund banal exploiter of people with no talent for profit and ridicule.

Moron said: I can categorically say it happened. I know because I am a stupid c*nt of the highest order myself. If we all have to

trudge off to the courts to discuss the matter, Im available, because as you all know already, Im a snivelling little weasel and shister snitch.

Yesterday, Simon Scowell and Piers Moron, who were attending another Z-Factor audition, accepted that they may have misunderstood the Dukes words and were very apologetic.

I am extremely sorry for making a big stink about the Duke of Edinburghs words. I agree with what he called me and am even considering getting a big c*unt tattoo on my forehead, although, whenever people see me that is what they think anyway. I would like it to be official, Mr Scowell said from the Z-Factor studios.

Related Articles:



 Britains Got Talent


LILONGWE - Malawi - Jilted adoptee, Madonna has vowed to buy the whole country of Malawi after a judge ruled her attempt at adopting a three year old girl illegal.

A judge faced down Madonna yesterday and rejected her petition to adopt four-year-old Mercy James.

Esme Chombos dramatic ruling was announced on the steps of

Lilongwes High Court in a rainstorm shortly before 11am local time

yesterday.

The law, she said in her ruling, stated that an

adoption could not be permitted to anyone who was not resident in

Malawi, noting that Madonna had jetted in just days prior to Mondays

hearing.

Madonna was not in court to hear the devastating ruling, though

her lawyer, Alan Chinchilla, did attend  but he left through a back

entrance after learning the news.

According to one source, Madonna screamed Whaaaat! Do they know who I goddamn am? OK get my bankers on the line, were gonna buy this joint lock stock and barrel when he told her the judges decision.

Madonna was said to be absolutely furious after being denied her whim and she was so angry that she hurled her Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte 2000 at one of the Malawian servants attending her.

If they want me to be a resident Ill show them what residency means. Ill buy this joint and theres nothing you all can do about it. Im gonna rename this place Madonna Land. No one ever says no to me..No one! Madonna was heard yelling as her luxury private jet was seen shooting off back to New York.

Madonnas private jet is decked out with every luxury Negotiators for Madonnas huge entourage have already put in an application to purchase the tiny country for an estimated $125 million, about 2 months worth of royalty earnings. Malawis president, Bingu Mutharika, has already accepted a conditional offer and is set to complete the deal next week. According to Malawian foreign office officials one of the conditions of the purchase is that Madonna doesnt set foot in the country ever again after she adopts the little girl.

Madonna who has already renovated her luxurious eight story home in Londons Mayfair in preperation for the adoption has already built a special area for the girl with jungle motifs on the walls so she can feel at home.

She did the same thing for baby Banda who she snatched from his parents a few years ago. She will go to any expense to make her captives feel at home. Shes a really good mum although a bit controlling I must say, an ex nanny told CBS news.
ELKO  The Elko Area Chamber would like to invite you to attend Business Before Hours from 8 to 9 a.m. April 13 at Ruby Mountain Pawn.

The event will be hosted by Ruby Mountain Pawn and the Purple Providers.

Purple Providers are people and businesses that have designated services and funds directly to our cancer clients and care givers, our troops via Operation Gratitude, our Paws 4 a Cause, the Flags for Heroes, and other community programs. Their level of commitment and service goes above and beyond the simple donation or event sponsorship. Purple Providers have signed a contract of service and giving.

Ruby Mountain Pawn is home of the Purple Providers, Operation Gratitude, Cell Phones for Soldiers, The Live Rude Girls, and other community service programs. They also offer loan services, notary services, and marriage officiant services.

The event will be catered by Donuts N Mor (a Purple Provider), and is free and open to the public. Its a great place to network for business, community events, and community information.

Contact the Chamber with any questions at 738-7135.
BENIDORM - Spain - The Brit Balcony Jumping season got off to a stonking start last night after a young British woman was in a critical condition in intensive care after suffering severe head injuries in a spectacular fall from her holiday apartment balcony.

The balcony flinging Brits are set to have another bumper year as they drunkenly throw themselves off their package holiday hotel balconies once again.

Its a ritual for many Britons on their summer holidays. The locals look on in wonder as another Brit keels over a hotel balcony ledge and splatters on the concrete below. Some say it is a mating ritual, although the suppurating brains lining hotel swimming pool patios tell another story.

They come here every year senor. Yes, I see them, they drink like fish then jump from balcony. Last year we had 34 in holiday season. This year they start early, I have bet with our head waiter Pedro. I say we go over 40 Brits jumping to their death, Jose Gonzalez, one of the waiters at a Benidorm two star hotel told the Daily Squib.

A spokesperson for the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Tanya Kettering, confirmed the start of the British Balcony Flinging season had started particularly early this year.

We are speaking to a number of tour operators and hotels about putting trampolines underneath balconies where British people are staying. At least this way, we might be able to alleviate the problem slightly, Ms Kettering said.
LOS ANGELES - USA - Conspiracy theorists were vindicated today after newly released FBI files revealed how the late Michael Jackson faked his famous moonwalk.

For years conspiracy theorists and other crazies have been talking about how Michael Jackson faked the moonwalk.

Weve been talking about it for frickin years. The lighting was all wrong and there were multiple shadows in the footage. We knew it was faked and now these FBI files have proved us right goddamn it, Lars Emmereich, a conspiracy theorist from Lake Utah told the BBC.

The newly released FBI files reveal that Jackson would perform the moonwalk on a specially designed greased up stage with an intricate network of moving wooden compartments connected to a pulley system. There would be teams of up to thirty stage hands who would pull ropes through trolleys and squirt grease onto the stage so the star could effortlessly seem to glide backwards.

Conspiracy theorists had been posting on websites and bulletin boards on the internet for many years before the amazing revelations came to light yesterday.

I feel like a whole big weight has been taken off my shoulders. I salute the FBI for this expose, my tinfoil hat nearly fell off when I read it in the papers, Mr Emmereich added.


NASHVILLE - USA - Al Gore would rock out to 'satanic' heavy metal bands and perform rituals in the family home, divorce lawyers for ex-wife Tipper Gore have revealed.

Ex Vice President, Al Gore has been living a secret life as a heavy metal fanatic who allegedly performs gory sacrificial rituals in a secret room in the family mansion.

When hes not jetting around the world spewing nonsense about global warming, Al Gore hangs out in his home dungeon listening to sordid heavy metal music and skinning live bats, his wife has claimed.

According to papers filed at the supreme court, Al Gore, repeatedly listened to hellish bands like WASP, Slayer and Barry Manilow in his room. He played loud guitars at all times of the night and day was said to be possessed by demonic spirits.

Tipper Gore is a prominent member of the PMRC, whose sole claim to fame in the 80s was to place fear into the ignorant, generally stupid American parents blaming controversial music figures for disruption, aggression and violence.

She would come home from PMRC rallies and find Al in a corner chewing on a bone wearing outrageous spandex trousers listening to Twisted Sister at very loud volume. This was just last week as well. How would she be able to face the PMRC board after seeing that? Mr Gore would also repeatedly cause offence by singing lyrics from some of these awful bands and stick his tongue out whilst banging his head. At breakfast time, this was unacceptable behaviour and was a major cause for the marriage breakdown, Jacob Horovitz, one of Tippers attorneys told CBS news.
Has he gone yet? Please let the yanks take him. I dont think I could take his smarmy obnoxious fake smile for much longer on our screens. Every channel you turn to, its the greasy little fucker and his saccharin simpering leer infecting your every being. Lets face it, Pierce Moron is a dickhead of the highest order. Im surprised he doesnt have a pair of bollocks dangling from his chin. Im begging the Americans to take our most hated figure and adopt him into their banal talentless plastic culture of celebrity worship. It worked for him here, so why not over there? an angry TV viewer from Hartlepool told the BBC news.

The announcement that Piers Moron had left these shores was hailed with cheers on Britains streets and in some areas street parties.

We dont have much money left anymore but we cobbled together a few things, like a cup of coffee and three week old muffin from a BP petrol station. Were having a party today to celebrate the loss of Piers Moron. The Americans can have him, Sarah Ferguson and the oil, Laura Bristlewaithe, a housewife from Dorset said.
London - England - The Monty Python star, Michael Palin, is set to take early retirement from the ongoing 'Pole to Pole' series and be replaced by American politician and presidential hopeful, Sarah Palin, the BBC has announced.

The Pole to Pole series needed a big injection of life, and thats when we got the idea to dump the old Python, who frankly bores me to tears, and replace him with Sarah Palin. On her first day on the job, she actually shot and wounded the keygrip whilst wearing a low-cut top exposing her wonderful cleavage and caused a controversy by calling a Russian man a drunk commie bastard, Rupert Weasel, producer for the BBC show revealed.

The Pole to Pole series used to involve Michael Palin travelling across the world where he would delight in the different cultures, traditions and religions encountered in the many countries visited.

The new series, however, will involve Sarah Palin practically invading each tin-pot country, telling off the locals for not being Americans, and spitting out the local cuisine onto the floor whilst swearing viciously at the attending locals with her potty mouth. She will insult pretty much everyone and display her complete ignorance about any other culture apart from America.

Already, the new Sarah Palin Pole to Pole BBC series has had vast interest from the US, and the series is to supercede anything Michael Palin has previously done.



A lot of Americans have never even been out of their state let alone the country, so they have no interest in Michael Palin seeing the wonders of the world in diverse countries. This is why Sarah Palins version will be a breath of fresh air in an already stale format. She wont even know the name or location of the country we drop her in, Mr Weasel added.

Sarah Palins Pole to Pole series begins in July 2010, on BBC World


JEDDAH - Saudi Arabia - Former American socialite, Paris Hilton has converted to Islam, her spokesman, Ian Brinkham, has revealed to CBS news.

She has been toying with the idea for quite a while now and when she was imprisoned at Century Regional Detention Facility in 2007, she encountered a few people who had already converted, Mr Brinkham said.

By converting to the Muslim faith, Paris Hilton has decided to shun her old life as a celebrity skank.

Speaking from an Islamic study retreat in Jeddah, she said: I have now found total peace in my life. Before, I used to be known as an STD-ridden streetwalker , a hoe and a person of loose morals, but now, things have changed. Allah be praised.

Hollywood Jihad



Ms Hilton plans to return to Los Angeles next week to start her own Islamic school in the middle of Beverly Hills.

Forget Scientology or Kaballah. This is the religion to be in now. Im not going to be wearing a piece of red string on my wrist or walk around like a robot talking to Xenu. Islam is the new must-have religion. and Im going to spread the word of the Koran to everyone, an excited Paris Hilton said.

Paris Hilton also plans to change her name to Tahirah which means Pure, chaste in Arabic. Her Islamic school will open in July and is set to become a popular Hollywood spiritual haunt for many celebrities.
TORREMOLINOS - Spain - During a surprise stop over in the holiday town popular with Brits from up North, Lady Gaga, performed a spectacular feat that astounded the assembled crowds.

Pop performer, Lady Gaga amazed audiences at a Spanish bar on Monday evening when she gave birth to a speckled hens egg on stage during a rendition of her new single, Eggy Guff Guff.

Big Bird

One of the spectators at Harrys Bar and Dance, Laura Ginster, 43, located on the popular Avda Palma de Mallorca, recalled the amazing incident:

She like flew over all the way from America for a concert here and was bangin away on one of her autotune tunes. When she bent over we thought we heard a fart, but no, it was her Lycra ripping. By eck, she were giving birth right there on stage. I saw it with me own eyes, I tell you. Her eyeballs rolled back in the sockets and all we could see were the whites and she got into a trance state, like how I get just before I pick up my giro. Then this unholy sound came from her throat, like as if she were singin one of her records. I looked at me boyfriend, who I had just met three minutes ago, and we couldnt believe it, the egg was comin out her bottom. Once the egg came out, we heard a puckering sound as her arse popped shut again, and the egg plopped onto the stage. It was a beautiful sight. What an artiste she is, the best talent Ive ever seen since I saw that Jim Davidson down in Bodmin, innit.

The Lady Gaga stunt has shocked the music world and MTV are even threatening to ban her videos from now on.

After the egg was laid, one of her assistants ran onto the stage and rubbed the side of the egg with a feather duster and some polyunsaturated margarine. Thats when the egg hatched and a little chick emerged and started to chirp a Gaga song through a vocoder, another audience member at the show revealed.

Eyewitness accounts at the show also reveal how Gaga then proceeded to lay eight more eggs from her posterior while she was playing the piano.

Some of the eggs that were secreted from Gagas anus were then broken on stage into a large frying pan and cooked by her personal chef to be shared around the stagehands and audience.

I asked for my egg sunny side up. It was tasty beyond belief. I love my Gaga eggs, Sam Tolleridge, 23, an audience member from Burnley, revealed to the Sun newspaper.

Gaga is also planning on opening her own hatchery in Illinois, USA, where she will sell her freshly laid eggs for $4,000 a piece.
LONDON - England - The planking craze which has taken over the world's youth on the internet(s) has been thwarted by the likes of actors like Hugh Grant and Kevin Costner.

The planking craze taking the world by storm has ceased to exist because of two Hollywood actors who have hijacked the fad and completely trashed it, say planking followers.

Planking has been very popular for the past three months and involves people lying flat on a surface and being photographed, then the images spread via social networking sites around the world.

It had to happen eventually. All it took was Hugh Grant and Kevin Costner to walk into a room full of plankers and they basically stole the show. You just cant compete with that level of planking. I actually could not distinguish between Costner and Grant next to some wooden panelling on the wall let alone the plankers. God forbid if they go to the timber section of B&Q, Al Hummer, a keen planker from Wood Green, North London told the BBC.

This is a sad day for plankers all over the world. Millions of plankers conducted a final plank-in on the internet, then called it a day.
LOS ANGELES - USA - Every person's nightmare could very well come true if a new production deal is finalised by midnight tomorrow by all of Hollywood's studios.

Moshe Rabenstein, is the top producer for Fox studios who will broker the Adam Sandler film deal and is set to make a cool $347 million in the process.

What I, the studios, Mr Sandlers agent, and Mr Sandler, propose is that he stars in each and every film made for the next thirty years. He already stars in 75% of Hollywood movies so we do not think the dumb audiences will even realise, Mr Rabenstein told a consortium of directors and studio bosses on Monday.

Mr Sandler was ecstatic about the new film deal and stands to make even more money than he already has.

Im going to have to buy my own bank just so that I can put all the frickin money I make in it. Ill let you into a little secret of mine, some days I like to go into my personal bank vault and play with my money, you know, let it trickle through my fingers, toss it around the vault, stick it in my pants, rub it all over my face and butt, Mr Sandler said from his Pacific Palisades mansion.

Emergency services all around the world were preparing for the Adam Sandler films, because as expected, the suicide rates in multiple countries will increase by as much as 80%.


PARIS - France - Her Royal Hotness, Pippa Middleton bared her lovely bottom over the back of a moving car during a daring episode of mooning that was enjoyed by all who had the fortune to see the spectacle.

I for one was amazed at the beauty of this womans pert bottom being flashed at me from a moving vehicle. She pulled down her dress and mooned us in a drive-by mooning, and frankly it made me salivate, an awe struck witness told the Daily Mail.

The drive-by mooning took place on Wednesday as the younger sister of the Duchess of Cambridge had just left a lavish party hosted by some of her friends.

Unfortunately for her, the police are seeking to speak with her over the incident, as mooning in public can be dangerous, especially if one has such an attractive derriere as Ms Middleton.

Cest un folie. We want a parler avec Mademoiselle Middleton, she etait en possession of a dangereuse weapon, her cul magnifiques. Il est un danger pour le public Francais I just saw deux voitures crash ici, Chief Inspector Jacques Couilles, told French TV.
In my Physics 100 class at Great Basin College I do a demonstration that amazes students when we get to the chapter on magnetism. In a little bit of parlor magic, I take a basic unmarked bar magnet and determine which end is what pole. This is easy to do with the aid of a Brunton compass. As I bring the compass closer to its North pointing pole, it will point to the south side of the bar magnet, allowing me to label both sides of the bar magnet with a little bit of white-out. Now, I snap the magnet in half at the center line (it is specially made to do this) and show the students that instead of separating the north from the south, all I have done is create two shorter magnets, each having their own north and south pole. You cannot just separate the north from the south poles. The magnetic field the exits the north end always comes around to enter the south end.

The idea of separate north and south entities goes way back to Pierre Curie in the late 1890s, who speculated on the concept and made some interesting predictions. For one, the size of electric motors would shrink considerably because the bulky stator field windings could be replaced by separate plates of just north and south particles, creating from themselves enormous magnetic fields. A 100 horsepower electric motor the size of a shoebox is conceivable which would allow electric car companies to place one on every wheel. In addition, mag level trains that glide along on magnetic fields without wheels would be commonplace and save energy from the absence of rotating friction.

If magnetic monopoles actually exist, one can even envision whole atoms made from such particles in the same way normal atoms are made from the attraction of electrons to protons. Could monopoles flow through wires made by these magnetic atoms in the same way electricity flows to copper, and what new inventions could we devise from these particles that improves the quality of our lives?

In 1931, British theoretical physicist (and future Nobel Prize winner) Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac proposed that the existence of a single magnetic monopole in the universe would suffice to explain the quantization of electrical charge. In a sense he said that there may be an elementary particle of magnetism just as there are elementary particles of electricity. A magnetic particle would have a magnetic charge and it would be either north or south. Scientists today have given these hypothetical particles a name: magnetic monopoles. To date, no one has ever found such a unit although many have tried. Why, Dirac asked, shouldnt there be a corresponding particle that produces a magnetic field by itself? Why is our world built with just electric particles?

This asymmetry of electricity and magnetism is over 150 years old. it stems from the merger of laws governing electric and magnetic fields into a single theory of electromagnetism by James Clerk Maxwell in 1862. His theory was one of the greatest triumphs of the 19th century and paved the way for radio, television, and solid state electronics by explaining the notion that a varying electric field begets a varying magnetic field and vice-versa. But thats where the equality stops. Physics students who encounter Maxwells electromagnetic equations notice the zeros on one side of the equation indicating the absence of magnetic particles in our world. If any were found the equations would need to be modified but thats an easy step.

Many physicists would sleep easier if the equations were more uniform. In 1975 P.B. Price from UC Berkeley published a paper on the possible detection of a monopole in a stacked film pack carried aloft by a balloon and made the comment that a very heavy particle fitting its predicted mass was seen in the developed pictures. Many scientists do not accept this observation. In 1982, another paper by Stanford researcher Blas Cabrera, noted a single instance of a particle acting like a monopole was found after searching 151 days with a superconducting magnet and in 2009, scientists in Berlin claimed to have seen magnetic monopoles in a single crystal of dysprosium titanate by using neutron scattering techniques.

One interesting paper lists the fact that if monopoles were hitting the earth from outer space, in the same manner as cosmic rays do, their size and fields would ionize the air in straight lines directly into the ground. This would have the effect that any lightning strikes seen during a storm would appear as a perfectly laser straight line. From the millions of photos taken of lightning discharges since the advent of the camera and their general forked appearance, I think we will have to wait a long time until someone proves beyond a doubt that monopoles actually exist.
LOS ANGELES - USA - In what could be dubbed the gay wedding of the century, Tom Cruise and John Travolta are set to marry, and amongst the famous guests, president Obama is even set to attend.

The wedding of the century will be the highlight of the election year, with president Barack Obama attending at the Church of Scatology cults Los Angeles compound.

This will be a great promotion for Obamas gay wedding endorsement, and the Church of Scatology is proud to induct our two biggest stars into the anals of American history, president and CEO of the Church of Scatology, David Miscarriage, told the LA Times.

The wedding is set to take place close to the American elections in November, and president Obama is keen to use the ceremony as a way to push forward his agenda and gain more votes.

These are two huge Hollywood stars getting married here. Johns going to fly in from his ranch, you know hes in New York one minute eating at a restaurant, and the next hes getting a back rub in the Marmont. The guy flies everywhere real quick. As for Tom, well, hes going to abseil into the wedding from a helicopter, or maybe his stunt double will. Its going to be a beautiful wedding, therell be lots of auditing going on, maybe some Kretans might make an appearance, but Im sure after the wedding those two will get their E-meters out and start whackin away like it was Penus birthday, one of the wedding organisers told CBS news.

Other celebrities and famous people who will attend are Kelly Preston and Katie Holmes who are set to give the two newlyweds their best wishes on their special day.


PARIS - France - Trust the French to have a dig at the British royal family, and with the new topless pictures of Kate Middleton doing the rounds, things are hotting up in the nude royal stakes. PHOTO EXCLUSIVE ONLY ON THE SQUIB!

First Prince Harry with his royal ginger knackers out for everyone to see and now Kate with her little puddings out for the whole world to see, were wondering whos next, god forbid Camilla? a scared newspaper reader in London told the BBC.

Royal commentator, Ernest Bustlewaite, told ITN news: One may think the Windsors are having a rough time of it of late, but let us consider the fact that everyone has a camera these days on their phones and the paparazzi have got some seriously long lenses. Somebody, somewhere should tell the royals to get with the program. Have they never learned from the disgraceful Fergie toe sucking incident?

EXCLUSIVE DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE PHOTO BELOW

And here it is, exclusively on the Daily Squib, scroll down for the topless photographs of Kate Middleton.

For the first time in any British newspaper, this exclusive picture of Kate Middleton will astound and shock you.

Soon you will see the picture of the Duchess of Cambridge with her baps out.

Vite, vite!

When you see the photograph of Kate Middleton you may well be shocked, please scroll down to the photograph now.

Vive La Revolution as they said in 1789 during the storming of the Bastille.

The Frenchies must be squealing with delight at the sight of the exposed breasts of the Duchess of Cambridge, and the future Queen of England.








COTE D'AZUR - France - The Vatican is 'saddened and disappointed' at the decision by the French magazine Zut Alors! to publish topless pictures of the Pope Benedict XVI during his recent holiday in the South of France.

Zut Alors! says the pictures will appear in its latest issue, due to be released on 14 November. A teaser of the magazines front cover has already appeared on Zut Alorss website, featuring pictures of the Pope in a papal vestment apparently about to remove his top as well as alleged photos of him frolicking in a pool.

The pictures were taken with a long lens when Pope Benedict was staying at the French chateau owned by the Vatican, a week before flying back to the Holy See to commence preperations for the Christmas period.

According to a report from the BBC Paris bureau, the pictures are blurry but the person in them is clearly the Pope.

The Pope and Vatican are saddened that his privacy has been breached. Its a terrible violation of privacy when Pope Benedict was simply sunning himself, Vatican officials told Sky News.

He woke up to the story this morning (and) has seen the photos, which were taken at a private hotel by a private swimming pool.

It is reported that several British and Italian newspapers were offered the pictures, but all declined the opportunity to publish.
LOS ANGELES - USA - When the Yanks are calling for your head on a stick and to be deported from America you better listen Piers Moron. The problem is, he's not wanted in the UK either, but how about Iran?

Unpopular Piers Moron was a welcome exile from Britain when he was invited to ruin CNNs ratings, but there is a real danger that he might be deported from America to Britain soon because the Americans are slowly waking up to what a smarmy unlikeable little shister he is.

The British Home Office fears that the repulsive Piers Moron coming back to our shores could cause mass public panic and vomiting in the streets.

In no circumstances do we want that c**t back here in Blighty. If he does come back here we will intercept the plane and maybe send it to Syria or Iran. Somewhere far away and dangerous where Moron can smile his smarmy shit-stirring smile at other people and possibly get a bout of fatal malaria. Every time I see his face or hear his voice I start punching furniture or anything around me, he is so bloody annoying! a senior Home Office manager told the BBC.

Was Piers Moron sent to America as a form of punishment for the Americans?

There is some speculation that Whitehall engineered the Piers Moron American trip to annoy the American populace and create mass discord across the Atlantic.

What counts is we got rid of the nasty little toe rag and our aim is for him to stay with our Yankee cousins forever, a Westminster media insider revealed.

With a White House petition topping 75,000 signatures to deport Moron back to the UK, a Number10 poll has received 85,000 signatures to keep him in the US.


SARANSK - Russia - Gerard Depardieu has eaten the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin announced Saturday, after the French film star had a sudden hunger pang during an impromptu visit to escape a millionaires tax from his homeland.

The Russian president, who is considerably smaller than Depardieu, tried to run away when the hungry Frenchman took out a bucket of Hollandaise sauce and grabbed Mr Putin with his chubby fat fingers. The details are too graphic to describe here.



It was all over in a few moments. Putin never had a chance. This is a sad day for mother Russia, Sergei Molotov, a Russian reporter at the scene said.

Mr Depardieu was on a trip to Russia to gain citizenship and avoid the punitive tax system brought in by French socialist president Francois Hollande.

He touched down in Russia four days ago but all they have there is cabbage soup, cabbage salad, cabbage and vodka casserole and pickled cabbage. He must have been starving poor chap, he is only used to the finest French cuisine and not that Russki peasant slop, Pierre Lejardin, a writer and friend of Depardieus revealed.

President Vladimir Putin will be remembered as a staunch defender of Russia, and even though he liked to pose as a hard man in photo shoots, was actually a quiet reserved individual.
Its not only millions of Americans who are making a pilgrimage to Colorado, now officially the pot capital of America, but millions of tourists could come to the U.S. state as well in search of the perfect toke session. This is Americas ticket out of major deficit debt and plans are afoot to legalise marijuana all over America.

America is the next Amsterdam. This is a great way to have fun and get out of debt as well. Soon everyone in America is going to be stoned. You know how Jim once said stoned immaculate wish he was around today to see this, a dedicated stoner, Dean Ganje, 21, told local news stations.

Walking through Denver the legal marijuana shops selling their wares have popped up all over the place.

This is a haven man..I never seen such a buzz since I took a trip to Amsterdam. We got different folk coming here, airline pilots, brain surgeons and politicians plus dont forget all the old school stoners. You come here get stoned every day and forget about everything, Brad Mullen, a pot shop owner told CBS news.

Most Americans are already medicated with anti-depressants so this additional drug may only add to the levels of psychosis across the country a report from a team of psychiatrists revealed recently.

Smoking every day will bring on severe psychosis in the future. Lets see, prescription drug use in the U.S. is pandemic, add on marijuana related psychosis and youve got a cocktail there for some serious psychiatric problems amongst the populations. Additionally add in the factor that large portions of the population are armed to the teeth and we got a real clusterf*ckah..what the hell a critic of the Colorado program revealed before lighting up another fat one.
HOLLYWOOD - USA - Movie mogul Harvey Weinstein has ordered Quentin Tarantino to prepare to make a film about the Care Bears, or as some are calling it Obamacare Bears.

Ive had a change of heart. My films are usually associated with gun play and extreme violence and they have naturally been high grossing ventures, but you can guess what is happening and I have thus been ordered to adhere to the agenda of mass disarmament in the United States. We must therefore portray an image of non violence. From now on all Hollywood films will not have car chases, shoot outs, or any form of gun toting mayhem frankly disagreeable violent behaviour. My bosses who put me in my place have ordered this radical change and if I wish to continue making films I must tow the line. Please remember that we must disarm the American populace and my boss has three years left to accomplish his mission, Mr Weinstein said before shooting off in his Ferrari down Mulholland Drive.

Quentin Tarantino was not available for comment but rumour has it that he has undergone a frontal lobotomy in a Beverly Hills clinic to enable him to write the script and direct the new Weinstein venture.

Speaking on CNN, anti-gun broadcaster and Brit import, Piers Moron was appreciative that Weinstein and Tarantino had finally come around to the agenda of disarming the American people.
DETROIT - USA - The bankrupt city of Detroit has had some much needed regeneration with the introduction of another Obama pet project. Welcome to America's first Socialist theme park.

Built in Americas heartland the American Socialism Theme Park welcomes all Americans for fun filled sombre times.

The desolate socialist landscape extends over America, and ever since Barack Obama came into power, the effects of socialism have seen a drastic reduction in the quality of life for the everyday American; this has been meticulously reproduced in the newly built Socialism Theme Park situated just a short ride from I-94, fifth exit, northbound.

The socialist theme parks warden, Karl Jenkem explains what attendees can expect when taking the whole family to the theme park:

When you walk through the gates of the Socialism Theme Park, you are immediately told to empty all the money and any items of value you may have on your person into a black plastic bag by a man wearing an Obama clown mask. These items are then kept never to be seen again. Revellers are then told to undress completely, given special theme park uniforms and ordered to join a massive queue stretching for miles. Once they get to the front of that queue they are told to join another queue which is even longer. Do not be alarmed, there is one Obamacare doctor per 40,000 theme park attendees, so if you faint or fall down during the queuing session which may take days, you will be taken to a makeshift tent and refused medicine because its too expensive. If you have any complaints, you will be issued a free Obamaphone where you can protest as much as you want, but there will be no answer at the end of the line.

Throughout the extended queuing process masked Knockout gangs of young people will be deployed to randomly knock out any theme park attendee that either doesnt look right, isnt paying attention or looks weaker than anyone else. Beware, the thugs patrol in gangs and can appear out of nowhere moving swiftly, preferring to strike from the back when you are most vulnerable.

If you get to the end of the second queue alive you will be shoved forcefully down a water slide at the bottom of which you will be told to sign away any pension, shares, bank account or property you own. You will then be taken into a dark room where there will be a sparse single light bulb. TSA officials will then give you a full internal body search and tell you that it is for your own good.

During the exciting theme park adventure, people will be promised a job so they can feed their families. This will of course never materialise but hope is one of the many features of your time at the camp, ahem, I mean theme park. Please do not try to escape Socialism Theme Park at any time as the parks perimeter is not only patrolled by attack dogs and armed guards, but autonomous killer drones from the air that can deploy missiles to blow you into tiny little charred pieces.

Two henchmen will then appear out of another door, grab you forcefully and dump you into an even darker room with a powerful spotlight directed at your face. An NSA interrogator will appear from another door. He will tell you all about your internet surfing history, social networking data, smartphone conversations, financial transactions, what type of toothpaste you use and every minute detail of your life. He will then interrogate you to see if he can extract any more information from you that you may have held back. You will not be able to see the face of the goon interrogating you, but be warned, if you have any objections, you could be detained indefinitely in another Obamacare Education Center at an undisclosed location.

In the third dark room you will be put in front of a screen and told to watch a gun re-education video. If you refuse to watch this, a woman with a Feinstein mask will appear from a secret door and start shrieking like a banshee, she will then put a gun to your head with a single bullet in the cylinder. She will spin the cylinder, then shout at you to pull the trigger. If you survive this ordeal, you will be told to renounce guns and taken to another room. If you choose to still refuse to renounce guns, you will be handed back the gun for continued Russian roulette sessions until the gun finally goes off.

If you survive the third room, you will then be taken to a medical Obamacare area to have a tracking chip placed under your skin and you will be given a number. You will then hear an announcement: Your time at Americas Socialism Theme Park is nearly over, we hope you have enjoyed your stay here, please exit from one of three doors, choose wisely. What the theme park attendee will not know is that all three doors lead to one place, yes youve guessed it, a FEMA camp, a place which you will never leave  alive.

Entry to the new theme park is free for all Americans. The park will be officially opened in March 2014. Please bring the whole family for fun times.
LOCH NESS - Scotland - The Loch Ness monster could be moving to England after the Scottish Independence vote.

According to reports from Loch Ness, the Nessie might have to move to Blackpool, England if the Scots decide to get their Independence from the UK.

Its purely economical. Can you imagine the amount of visitors he would get then? Were moving and all. Once this Scottish Independence thing happens it wont be the same again, Gordon Bampot, a manager at the official Loch Ness visitor centre told the Argyll Echo.

Visitors to Blackpool pier would get to see the Nessie popping his head out of the water but only if they pay a few bob for the pleasure, pictures are not allowed.

Nessies keeper, Andrea McPherson, told the Sun: As long as he has some fresh fish hes happy as Larry.
MOSCOW - Russia - After the Eurovision Song Contest panned the Russian singers with boos and caterwauls, Vladimir Putin knows what he has to do.

Vladimir Putin, was watching the results of the Eurovision Song Contest last night and what he saw confirmed his plans to once and for all overrun Europe with even more incursions.

I saw some beautiful Russian young ladies last night singing songs that were beaten by a pseudo-Bond themed bearded freak composite. This confirms to me that the EUs homosexual agenda of total ritualistic New World amalgamation is well in place, and it goes against the biological human race as a whole. If this is allowed to continue, we are all doomed. Therefore, to prevent any further bleed and damage I have prepared a multi-tiered incursion into Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Sweden, Lithuania, Moldova, and we will take all of Ukraine of course. We will be on Norway and Germanys doorstep in no time, as the minor countries are nothing but a distraction. My two Russian beauties, how could the EU troglodytes boo against such beauties, their song full of love, and what man could refuse the beckoning call as they kneel before you with their pert open mouths singing sweet lullabies?

The Eurovision Song Contest was another egg on Vladimir Putins face but he will have the last laugh, prepare for war.

Someone was overheard saying in the background, Hang on Vlad its only a stupid euro song comp before a gunshot sounded.
125 YEARS AGO

April 2, 1892: Charley Gooding has completed the job of re-fitting the old Rand law office. It will be occupied by Webster Patterson and J.A. Plummer.



A car of very fine work horses passed through Elko for California this morning. They belonged to P.S. Witcher of Halleck, who has contracted to deliver to parties in California.



James Dewer met with a bad accident Tuesday forenoon which will confine him to the house for some days. While trying to head-off an unruly cow, his horse slipped and fell over on him, badly bruising his right foot and ankle. Henderson Dewer is driving the milk wagon.



Next Friday will be Arbor Day. Plant some trees.

100 YEARS AGO

April 2, 1917: An important land deal was consummated last Saturday when Earl and James Wright took over the interests of their father in Ruby valley lands. Sometime last winter Mr. Wright and his son Earl bought the old Woolverton ranch, which adjoins his farm in Ruby valley, possession to be given April 1st. But with the deal made Saturday the two sons take over all the interests of the father including all the livestock and other property, and the three ranches will be combined, giving them more than a thousand acres, which consists of the Woolverton and Wright ranches and a homestead of Earl Wrights of 320 acres. Mr. and Mrs. Earl Wright will occupy the Woolverton residence while James Wright will live at the home ranch. The new firm will be known as the Wright Brothers.

April 3, 1917: The new St. Josephs Catholic church will be opened on Easter Sunday. Two masses will be celebrated on this occasion, the first mass at 8 a.m., is especially intended for Easter communicants. The second mass will be at 11 a.m. At this service the church will be formally opened. All Catholics in town and country are expected to be present. Pew-holders will please occupy their seats early.



Lewis Sharp of Ruby valley, has paid the county clerk $25 to be released from jury duty. Any person living more than sixty miles from the county seat can be excused from jury duty on the payment of $25, and Mr. Sharp lives 62 miles away.

75 YEARS AGO

April 6, 1942: Some Elko families along the Humboldt river were deserting their homes today. They were moving while there was still time to do it without experiencing difficulty and possible hardship. City engineer R.A. Kinne said that actual measurements showed that the river was five and one half inches higher today than it was on Saturday and six and five-eights higher than it was yesterday.

April 7, 1942: Word was received in Elko today that Captain Newton Crumley, Jr., in command of the 79th School Squadron, Moffett Field, Calif., has been promoted from the rank of captain to that of major. Major Crumley has been stationed at Moffett field since he went on active duty in the air corps July 7, 1941. He has held the rank of captain for about two years.

April 8, 1942: As the Humboldt river continues to subside today, members of the city council decided that levies would be erected for the protection of residents on the south side of the river. While this is only the second time in 32 years that the Humboldt has gone on a real rampage there is always the possibility that the next flood might be worse, Engineer R.A. Kinne pointed out today. As a result the city will place levies along the south side of the river beyond the old Lamoille bridge, the old Lamoille road will be built up to act as a levy and Front street will be built up to act as a further barrier to the water.

50 YEARS AGO

April 5, 1967: Cadet Lynn R. Kuehn has been recently notified by the Department of the Army that he will be commissioned a second lieutenant in Army Intelligence and Security upon graduation from the University of Washington. Cadet Kuehn is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Karl E. Kuehn of Elko.



Construction of the Newmont mine road in the Carlin area is slated for contract in April, State Highway Engineer John Bawden announced today. The 9.3 mile secondary will provide a paved route primarily for truck traffic serving the Newmont gold mining operation 20 miles north of present U.S. 40.

April 7, 1967: Invisible gold has become the target of a major new mining boom in Nevada and the West that may foster a rich new era in mining, Senator Alan Bible said today. The old-time prospector has walked right over this gold, but its there in large enough quantities to trigger a sophisticated gold rush, the Nevada Senator added.

25 YEARS AGO

April 2, 1992: Elko County Commissioners, noting job losses already are taking place, voted yesterday to file suit against the U.S. Forest Service unless that agency reconsiders its listing of the northern goshawk as a sensitive species  a classification carrying essentially the same rules and regulations against humans as an endangered species would. The forest service has said the listing of the goshawk  which the county and a group of drilling contractors say was done in violation of the agencys own rules and congressional acts  would have minimal economic impacts.

April 6, 1992: After several weeks of unseasonably warm weather, Elko this morning provided a change of pace by tying a record low temperature at 17 degrees, equaling a mark set on this date in 1956.

April 7, 1992: Salli Sarman of Lamoille 4-H Club was the high-scoring judge among about 100 4-H and Future Farmers of America competitors at the annual Livestock Judging Event at Elko County Fairgrounds.



Last fall, Justin Ames, Carrie Dean, Kandis and Kyle Preece, and Roxie Weeks started the first 4-H Guide Dog program in Elko County. This group of young people from the Great Basin 4-H Club took on a unique and demanding project in which each of them will devote more than a year to raising, training and socializing a puppy that will be given to a blind person.
TOKYO - Japan - The Conceptua Biennial Exhibition has had a minor setback this year with British artist, Tracey Emin discovering that her 'My bed' artwork has been completely ruined.

British artist Tracey Emin has lost out on a 1 million payment for her soiled bed sculpture, after someone made the bed and even changed the sheets.

Furious Emin was understandably very angry at the news: Someone at the gallery bought new sheets, then put on new covers, and took away the used condoms. It looks like an Argos bed now. They even put in a fucking 14.99 bedside table. I just spoke to my agent and he says the new price for my conceptual art piece is 120. Wait till I find out who did it!

The Emin bed installation sculpture was meant to be sold to art collector Missuki Mayame, from Japan later this week but now the sale has fallen through.
Ah, Gary Oldman, an actors actor, no doubt he has to do the odd mainstream twaddle to shore up his bank account, but he is a staunch favourite in the Squib office.

Well, Garys doing tours of Hollywood for VIPs these days mainly due to some Playboy interview, which inexcusably told the truth.

I received a call Monday, or was it Tuesday, someone from the Daily Squid or something, they said I had won a Squib award, but since I made that painful apology it was sort of put on the back burner. They called me an arse for making an apology and grovelling. I told them to stick their award where the sun dont shine, i.e. firmly up their jacksies. Funny thing is, dont know how they got my number, ah never mind, but I told my agent Moshe Liebovitz, that if I get any more calls from the Squib, give the phone to me again and I will shout down that phone with all my rage, Oldman told Hollywood Week magazine.

The actor went on to describe a typical tour: I have this pent up anger, aaaaargh! This is why I use a megaphone in the bus, I put the megaphone directly onto someones ear and tell them what they are looking at. I want to see their ears bleed. Over there is Levi Saultzmans house, he is a famous producer, then over there is the guy who produced some of my films, Aaron Fleischer, and this fucking house belongs to studio director, Eli Krantzenberger, and there is Steven Spielbergs mansion, and in this street is the guy who runs the whole show, a very mysterious character, who I cannot name because he is Jewish, and look over there that studio is run by Golan Zucker, but lest we forget the owner of the last studio on the tour, yes its Elon Maskovi, he made one of the most memorable films last year, er, what was it again?

And in appreciation of Mr Oldmans wonderful style..
SEKTOR 001 - EU - The new EU diktat called 'Right to be Forgotten' is a great way of erasing history within the digital era.

The internet as we once knew it has come and gone, as the big thumping fist of the state utilises nefarious techniques of censorship to eradicate history and knowledge in the digital era.

Ve shall not call it ze internet anymore. Ve shall call it ze EUnet, a sinister Stasi controlled place where free speech is clamped down upon, and history is re-written to suit our purposes and political ideologies. You vill do as you say and you vill only be given information zat ve control. Danke for listening you snivelling prole scheisters, Kommissar Jurgen Brigand, of the EU Internet Kontrol Commissariat revealed on another EU broadcast today.
NGIRU - Sierra Leon - Ebola Tombola has become a big hit across the African continent and is so popular that it's spreading to the rest of the world.

The Ebola Tombola event at Ngiru town was eventful this year with many participants getting winning tickets.

Big Prizes

I bought a ticket last year and didnt win a thing, but this year I got a big prize, its called Ebola. I dont know what that is because Im illiterate but the medics are treating me real nice, Aguro Mbeki, 45, said from his hospital bed in Freetown.

1st Prize: Ebola

2nd Prize: Ebola

3rd Prize: Ebola

No Winning Ticket: Ebola

Everyones a Winner

Many Ebola Tombola raffle winners are ecstatic with their prizes as it livens up their otherwise dull lives.

You know, its like Russian Roulette, its exciting, puts a zing in your step. This Ebola Tombola event has got the whole population excited, so we thought why not bring it to the rest of the world? You can play on aeroplanes, airports and even in the customs checkpoint at the venue of your choosing, event organiser, Ongogo Mellalologoogoo, from Sierra Leon told the BBC.

Coming to a quaint cucumber sandwich munching English country fair near you, Ebola Tombola, be sure to buy your tickets soon before they all run out.
MANHATTAN - USA - Politically correct liberals all across the United States were in mourning today at the loss of their beloved Joan Rivers.

We dont know who were going to be shocked by any more, Stanley Peesie, a CNN news anchor revealed solemnly.

On the MSN news network news readers were seen bawling their eyes out as they attempted to read the terrible news.

Who am I going to chastise for wearing fur now? I just went and bought a mink coat in honour of Joan Rivers, a visibly distraught news reader for MSNBC, Dominic Lewsanius, revealed today.

As the funeral cortege snaked through Manhattan Village on Friday, liberals threw pieces of stripped bacon at the procession in honour of Joans famously vulgar humour.

She would have liked that touch. Its good that the liberals finally came up to her level of bad taste thinking. It took a whole life time but they finally got it after she died, Riverss agent told news outlets.

One positive thing about Joan Rivers passing is that she will not decompose for the next 400 years. Maybe by then they can bring her back to life to entertain the liberals of the future.
BUENOS AIRES - Argentina - Well they lost in 1982, but now the Argies put it upon themselves to wreck some perfectly good cars driven by those victorious Brit Top Gear conquistadors.

I thought I was in Goose Green for a minute, especially when that Argie Falklands vet threw a stone through my windshield, a dismayed, James May told BBC news from Chile.

Jeremy Clarkson was rather more sanguine about the whole affair: I was blaring out Rule Britannia on my car stereo going through some favela when a large concrete block came through the rear window wrapped in an Argentinian flag. I immediately slammed on the accelerator and ran over an old man waving another Argie flag. I think at this point I thought I should reverse and took out a few more of the bastards. Made a right mess of my front bumpers and windshield.

As for the hamster, last anyone heard, he was seen cowering in the boot of his car pleading diplomatic immunity.

Next stop for Top Gear, a tour of Paris, France, in Hitlers Mercedes Benz.
WASHINGTON DC - USA - Republican VP hopeful Sarah Palin has been briefed by campaign advisers on what is needed to be John McCain's Vice President.

After leaving Alaska for the first time in her life to go to Washington, Sarah Palin is finally coming to terms with the role she is expected to play as the Vice President to John McCain.

The first thing the campaign advisers taught her is how to revive someone after they have had a heart attack or stroke. The medical term for this procedure is CPR and can be the difference between life or death for the recipient.

Sarah will also be briefed on how to change McCains colostomy bag in an emergency as well as feeding him his mush.

This is a very important role for Sarah and I know she will make a very good nurse..ahem.. I mean Vice President, Ronson Connors, a McCain adviser told CNN.

When John McCain wins the presidency, the White House will be remodelled for wheelchair access, mobility scooters, chairlifts and emergency buzzers in case of a slip.

John needs his

daily injections to stay alive so Sarah will administer these everyday.

This is a very important job so she is going to have a lot of

responsibility on her head, Mr Connors added.



VP Palin will conduct her important role within the White House wearing a very fetching nurses uniform including some very hot suspenders and revealing white top exposing her busty cleavage. This may have to be curtailed however because watching her bending over to pick up McCains teeth off the floor may cause some fatal heart attacks.
SCUNTHORPE - England - In a bid to cut costs, the NHS will from now on only treat healthy people, Health Minister, Rodney Benting, has revealed.

If youre not healthy, then Im afraid we cannot treat you, David Sanders, chief executive of the Northern England Health Trust told the BBC.

The latest NHS ruling is a positive development in cost cutting that could benefit the Health Service and bring it back from the brink of bankruptcy.

Instead of treating people who are actually sick at great cost to the NHS, we will only treat healthy people who basically need minimal or no treatment thus saving huge amounts of money. Hospital beds could be freed up in minutes, and there would be hardly any need for such things as operating theatres, Mr Sanders revealed.

The new NHS rules will come into effect next week across the UK.


BEIJING - China - The heavy phosphate laden atmosphere of some Chinese cities is now so thick that people can cut the atmosphere with a knife and serve it up as food.

Today I am serving pollution pie. It is lovely pie with heavy metals, phosphates, poisonous gases and a good dose of carcinogenic particles, Ling Ling Xiamin, a 34-year-old Chinese woman from Beijings East side told state television today.

The Beijing atmosphere is so heavy and thick that one needs a very sharp knife to cut through it.

The air is solid, and youre shit out of luck if you try and put a naked flame anywhere near it. Kaboom! Sometimes I see people trying to light a cigarette and they spontaneously combust. There is literally nothing left of them afterwards, another citizen of Beijing said.

It is not only dangerous to breathe in the noxious fumes into your lungs, but visibility is next to zero and some Beijing city officials are proposing the use of heat sensors or radar to see where things are.

We are working on being able to detect objects in the streets and open spaces with radar and heat scanners. This will enable people to go about their daily lives in a relatively normal fashion, Wing Wang Wong, a high ranking communist party official in charge of air pollution told the Xinhua news network.


STAFFORDSHIRE - England - Sir David Nicholson has died of thirst after being ignored by nurses for six days in the Mid Staffordshire NHS hospital where he was undergoing routine treatment, the BBC has revealed.

The former NHS boss was in the Mid Staffordshire hospital and died a lonely death amongst soiled bed sheets today.

I dont want anyone to feel sorry for that shister, but it must have been a pretty lonely death, a former patient at the deadly hospital told the BBC.

There wasnt much sympathy from the thousands of patients who have suffered ordeals at the hands of some of Britains worst crumbling hospitals.

The former head of the NHS had recently quit the top job and received a 1.9m pension pot which he was waiting for to come through in his bank account.
Nonprofit groups may submit announcements of upcoming events to events@elkodaily.com.

Elko County RPEN meeting

ELKO  The Elko County Retired Public Employees of Nevada will meet on Wednesday, April 12, at 12:30 at The Terrace Senior Center at 1795 Ruby View Drive. The guest speaker will be Dennis Price from the Elko Police Department.

All active and retired employees who are in the PERS retirement system are encouraged to attend.

For more information call Janice Barton at 738-8739.

Willy Wonka joint theater production

ELKO  Elko and Spring Creek High Schools will present the musical Willy Wonka at the Elko Convention Center, with performances at 7 p.m. April 13-14 and 2 p.m. April 15. Ticket prices are $10 for adults and $7 for students.

Roald Dahls Willy Wonka is a scrumdidilyumptious musical guaranteed to delight everyones sweet tooth, said Spring Creek High School drama teacher Marie Binger.

Library book fair

ELKO  Elko County Library is hosting its annual Spring Scholastic Book Fair from April 3-15. With a great selection of books for all ages and interests the book fair is a perfect opportunity to stock up on books for the librarys summer reading program and your family vacation.

Proceeds from the fair go toward craft and program supplies and for some of the librarys special events, such as the Spring Eggstravaganza and Halloween Carnival.

Those unable to attend in person can shop the fair by visiting http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/elkocountylibrarysystem.

Calvary Baptist Church hosts Easter services

ELKO The public is invited to find the hope they need this Easter season at Calvary Baptist Church, located at the corner of Fifth and Walnut streets in Elko for the following events:

Good Friday Service  6 p.m. April 14

Easter Gospel Celebration  1 to 3 p.m. April 15 at Flagview Intermediate School

Easter Sunrise Service  5:45 a.m. April 16 at 5:45 at Elko Summit (Watch for the signs on the summit.)

Easter Worship Service  10:30 a.m. April 16

For information call the church office at 738-6840.

Library to host Adult Spelling Bee

ELKO  The Elko County Library is hosting the third annual Adult Spelling Bee at 1 p.m. April 15. This is open to anyone 16 or older. There is a $10 registration fee with the winner receiving $100.

Show off your spelling skills while supporting your local library. If spelling isnt your strength come and support the contestants.

For information call 397-4776, 738-3066 or visit www.elkocountylibrary.org.

Living Stones hosts Easter services

ELKO  Living Stones Church in Elko would like to invite the public to join them on Easter Sunday. The church will have services at 9 and 11a.m. April 16 at the Elko Convention Center. There will be a childrens program available during each service. For information call 299-4633.

Spring Creek water meeting

SPRING CREEK  Spring Creek residents are invited to attend a water consumer session with the Public Utilities Commission at 6 p.m. April 19 at Spring Creek High School gym.

The meeting is for all Spring Creek Association residents who are concerned about water and would like to express their concerns to the state Public Utilities Commission, according to Association President Jessie Bahr.

Attending the meeting will be Great Basin Water Company representatives, PUC staff and commissioners, Bureau of Consumer Protection and local government officials.

This is the time to have them hear the whole communitys voice, Bahr said. This is your one chance, do not miss your opportunity.

Horsemen plan all-breed shows

NENHA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing a fun, family friendly environment in which to show horses. Members and non-members alike are encouraged to participate in clinics, presentations and shows.

The 2017 show season has been scheduled:

June 10Spring Creek Horse Palace

July 8Elko County Fairgrounds

Aug. 5Elko County Fairgrounds

Sept. 9Elko County Fairgrounds

NENHAs monthly meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. April 5 in the Clubs Room at the Stockmens Hotel and Casino. Visit www.NENHA.org, Northeastern Nevada Horsemans Association on Facebook, or email Secretary@nenha.org.
LITTLE ROCK - USA - The new Meth Math craze across Midwest America is a grave concern for the Federal government.

Midwest Americans are going crazy over a new craze called Meth Math.

The craze started when an Arkansas meth head started to count how many meth rocks he could smoke in an afternoon.

Its called Meth Math because you add up the amount of rocks you smoke then subtract that number with the amount of hours you lose from your life then multiply that amount by the amount of teeth that fall out of your mouth divided by the square root of your next score session adding two thirds of the cost of the hit, Albert Feinstein, the Meth Math founder told the local Arkansas Tribune newspaper. Sadly he is dead now.

Authorities are gearing up to combat the Meth Math craze sweeping the Midwest with a government funded program called Meth Algebra.

The District County Sheriffs office headed by Kirk Hammer has been given charge of the new Meth Algebra program which will combat Meth Math with some quadratic meth equations.

If x is one rock and y is three meth rocks divided by the circumference of xy rocks squared then multiplied by the sum total of all rocks minus the two rocks left over, what does n equal? This is the kind of question were asking Meth Math addicts. They get so confused that they stop the Meth Math for more than two minutes, he revealed at a recent Meth Math drug prevention news conference.
LONDON - England - The government is on the verge of passing a new law banning smoking in the boots of cars.

If youve been trussed up and bundled into the boot of a car by a bunch of gangsters from Essex, then lighting up in the boot is banned say MPs.

Luciana Swivvlestick, Shadow health minister has welcomed the Coalition government adopting the proposal she made two weeks ago into law, and smoking will finally be banned in car trunks .

The shadow health minister Luciana Swivvlestick said: This is a great victory for those who get stuffed into car boots by the hundreds of thousands every year. It is a matter of protection.

A Department of Health spokesman said: If youre in the boot of a car being rushed off to some forest clearing by some not very nice people, you need to ensure that you are healthy. Lighting up a cigarette is detrimental to your health and frankly will not help the situation. Im sure you would probably be crapping in your pants anyway. Give it a rest, theres no need to light up, especially when you start thinking about what the people who put you in the boot in the first place will do to you once they drag you out of the car.

Next week, the government proposes a ban on smoking whilst scuba diving.
LONDON - England - The deadly NekNominate craze should not be attempted by sane people who want to live.

New drinking craze NekNominate has been nominated simply as a regressive evolutionary process of the infamous Darwin Award.

This is just another form of Darwin Awardism, where the gene pool is efficiently cleaned out. Step aside, theres nothing to see here just more idiots who are doing the honourable thing and removing themselves from the planet, evolutionary scientist, professor Nick Nommin told New Scientist magazine.

The only difference between NekNominate and the Darwin Awards is that Darwin Awards are more creative pieces of work whereas NekNomination is simply people drinking themselves to death.

The Daily Squib staff do not do NekNominate, we just live in the pub, theres a difference..er..were still living we think..hic..
WASHINGTON D.C. - USA - The patient, who came from Africa according to health officials, has been in isolation at the White House Oval room since at least 2008.

CDC officials said the man did not enter the country with any papers, identification or even a social security number.

This man is of no fixed abode and may have infected millions with Obola. Its a disease that has no known cure, and is infectious to Democrats and zombies alike, a senior CDC official revealed Monday.

The announcement comes only days after a top German virologist revealed that five million people would die in Obola-infected nations within Africa not including those who travel to the USA to infect others through the open borders.

Speaking on Fox news, Bill OReilly said: I nearly got Obola, but good thing Im a Republican. Last I heard the whole MSBNC crew have contracted Obola and aint that a crying shame.

Just this week, the CDC began advising funeral homes on how to handle the remains of Obola victims while simultaneously attempting to downplay the threat.

The U.S. State Department ordered 160,000 Hazmat suits, dark eye shades, ear muffs, specifically for Obola earlier this month.

If you see Obola on the TV or internets, please switch off immediately, either that get to your nearest Obolacare center for quarantine, Dr. Ralph Greenbaum, told ABC news.
LONDON - England - As the daily Ebola infected arrive in the UK from African destinations, there is nothing to worry about if you think you have been infected with Ebola says the NHS.

Ebola can be carried in any bodily fluid, sweat, tears, minuscule water droplets in someones breath, semen, blood, faeces and vomit. But theres nothing to worry about as the flights from places like Liberia, Sierra Leone and other African countries arrive daily into the UKs porous borders. Its of course not only African flights, because many of the infected usually transit in mainland Europe before arriving in the UK. There is no screening, and the infected may not show any symptoms for 21 days. During that 21 day period, one person can infect thousands, especially through sexual relations. There is a suspicion that Ebola is airborne, it is highly likely that tiny water droplets in human breath can easily transmit Ebola when it is carried in the air to other hosts.

However, this Ebola mass infection does pose a few questions for the NHS. For example, if thousands of patients descend onto any hospital simultaneously will there be enough secure treatment rooms available? Most hospitals in England and Wales are hugely understaffed and overcrowded, mainly because of the treatment of immigrants from poor Eastern European countries wanting free health care. It does not take a brain surgeon to realise that any further influx of Ebola infected patients will seriously impact on already straining NHS hospitals and rapidly descend into chaos, thus infecting people further.

The UK is at an advantage with being an island only if it stops all air travel, as this is not economically viable for corporations and the British economy, airports will thus be left open to massive influxes from Africa and the Third World eventually leading to a possible pandemic of Ebola. If the UK shut all ports of entry during the coming Ebola global pandemic, then it would have a chance of survival, however the current governments slack, apathetic attitude could lead to an eradication of large swathes of the British population in the foreseeable future.

There are further factors that will increase the severity of the Ebola virus: the virus is transmitted through sexual relations, as most Africans and other blacks have a high voracity for sexual relations, once they infect any member of the indigenous populations, then the virus will spread like wildfire. All it takes is some Ebola infected person to go to a nightclub and infect hundreds, as for the promiscuous nature of large portions of the public, this would be worse than AIDS because even the mildest of human contact will allow it to spread.

We are seeing incidents of doctors and nurses, heavily suited top to toe in hazmat suits, wearing filtration masks becoming infected whilst treating Ebola patients, putting this into consideration, what hope does someone in a crammed underground train have of not being infected?

The onus lies in survival. If the government were serious about Ebola they would stop air and sea traffic immediately, or prescribe a 25 day quarantine period for any travellers from outside the UK.
LONDON - England - Simon Scowell, Piers Moron and some dozy bint pick a winner out of the talented Brits on display for turgid reality show Britain's Got Talent.

Simon Scowell, who is making another 100 million pounds from his latest talent show Britains Got Talent, has chosen this years winner for Britain.

Also sitting on the panel is the disgraced ex-newspaper editor Piers Moron, who quit after a massive share scandal a few years back. Why he chooses to surface now from under his rock is a total mystery.

The medium he has chosen to re-appear in however is not surprising at all.

Over the past six weeks they have whittled down the finalists from 400,000 hopefuls and after coming this far the finalists truly deserve their accolade.

The stage is set and the raw talent on show is truly astounding.

TV bosses have been amazed at the huge popularity of the show and the ratings reflect this massive interest.

The talent show had many great talents, and we have outlined a few of the great acts that were on display.

Up first for the final night were the Bracknell crew who are a very talented bunch of burglars and thieves.

They show their prowess by stealing 30 watches from the studio audience and the finale of their presentation culminates in beating an old lady over the head with her umbrella and calling her a slag.

Second place goes to the Leeds crew who can drinkf Aldi wine by the gallon.

They manage to drink 25 cartons each and still are able to hot wire a Ford Cortina.

Their wondrous presentation ends with the crew projectile vomiting over the audience.

The audience laps it all up and cheers them off-stage to rapturous applause.

Finally, we come to the first prize winner and Scowell with his fellow judges applaud furiously at the spectacle.

Its the Enfield massive, and they know their stuff. They are able to spot an Argos sovereign ring at twenty paces.

Simon Scowell hides a large sovereign ring in Piers Morons trousers and tells Moron to hide in the lighting rafters above.

Kev and Lee spot the sovereign ring even though obscured by lighting equipment. It is as if they have a sixth sense.

This genius magic trick is applauded by all and Simon Scowell gives it a full thumbs up.

The Enfield crew who won 10.50 will now have the additional accolade of performing in front of the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

Britain sure has a lot of talented people this year and The Squib is very proud to be part of this great nations talent pool.
LONDON - England - Britain under Labour has plummeted educationally in the International Education League Table. Is Britain coming close to the education level of the USA?

DAILY SQUIB SPECIAL EDUCATION REPORT

After Nu Labours rallying cry of Education, Education, Education, when they won the general election from the Tories way back when, the resultant utter mess they have created and foisted upon this nation is all too horrific.

The streets of Britain are filled with demented knuckle-dragging morons in tracksuits and fake Burberry hats, scumbags on scooters zipping around the roads causing mayhem, underage pregnancy, unfettered immigration, drugs and booze amongst the feral rat teens, knifing and shooting incidents daily and truly hazardous levels of low-intelligence that beggars belief.

Labour is a government of waste and irresponsibility. An iatrogenic remedy dealt out to the perpetually suffering British public. Not only have they squeezed out a huge steaming turd onto Britain, but they have turned it into a morose cesspool of faeces rotting away in a toilet of ignorance and alco-pops.

International Education League table READING 1 Korea 2 Finland 3 Hong Kong-China 4 Canada 5 New Zealand 6 Ireland 7 Australia 8 Liechtenstein 9 Poland 10 Sweden 11 Netherlands 12 Belgium 13 Estonia 14 Switzerland 15 Japan 16 Taiwan 17 UNITED KINGDOM 18 Germany 19 Denmark 20 Slovenia MATHS 1 Taiwan 2 Finland 3 Hong Kong-China 4 Korea 5 Netherlands 6 Switzerland 7 Canada 8 Macao-China 9 Liechtenstein 10 Japan 11 New Zealand 12 Belgium 13 Australia 14 Estonia 15 Denmark 16 Czech Republic 17 Iceland 18 Austria 19 Slovenia 20 Germany 21 Sweden 22 Ireland 23 France 24 UNITED KINGDOM 25 Poland

Britain today is an open sewer and the smell is wafting down the education league tables of the world.

God forbid anyone send their children to a state school in the UK. At least the UK is nowhere near the USA in world education leagues. Or is it?

America in Reading was found at 89 just above Guatamala. In Maths, the USA faired better and was at 74 under Sub Saharan Africa and Bhutan. British educational decline is closer to the American model than you think.

The Labour government is charged with gross mass neglect since its unholy election wins. It has caused the greatest social, economic, educational decline in the nation since WW1.

A terrible detriment and blight to standards which are compounded every day by the sleaze, corruption and cronyism that defines the Labour government.

Amongst the repugnant chav celebrity scum like Lily Allen and other brainless Spice Girl aggressors of mediocrity and banality, the awful nature of a culture of ignorance and stupidity infects every part of our bleeding knife-fuelled binge society

Has American society and culture finally taken these shores fully? Let us introduce Miss South Carolina into the loathsome equation in the short piece below  she cant string a sentence together but sure can suck the judges off like a pro.

George W Bush is not known for his intelligence or wit, but how about the stupid, ignorant and insular American called kellie pickler shown below in all her glory? She makes Paris Hilton look like an Oxford University professor.

Americans surely cannot be this stupid en masse? They re-elected a homicidal maniac monkey twice in a row. Britain did the same with Blair, so there are morons in both countries.

Dumb Britain? It seems the UK really is as dumb as the USA. Another great American export from Uncle Sam: stupidity, ignorance, insularity, junk food, jingoism, war, violence and cultural decline are now firm British themes to be proud of. Its that good old special relationship again.
LOS ANGELES - CA - Grandiose airhead 'celebuturd', Paris Hilton, has had her huge size 14 clowns feet featured in a John McCain election campaign video aired yesterday on all channels nationally.

Paris Hilton took time out from filming another cheeseburger commercial to lend a much-needed foot to John McCains faltering presidential election campaign.

Kathy Hilton was on hand to pimp her loose daughter out and was on the set barking instructions to all and sundry.

The premise of the whole video is that Paris gets her huge feet out and crushes the skulls of Obama supporters. McCain is actually funded by the Hiltons, and they provided $35,000 in contributions so that their herpes laden daughter can feature in one of the ads. We added Obama into the shot under the skulls of his followers with CGI and the final effect is amazing, Luke Miromar, the director for the shoot told the Daily Squib.

According to the videos producer it usually takes five people to give Paris Hilton a foot rub utilising about 12 gallons of linseed oil. Paris insisted on having foot rubs every 20 minutes during the shoot which proved exhausting for all the crew.

Paris Hiltons enormous feet are also insured for $25,000 each and whilst on set, the crew had to be very careful where they trod.

Neocon Mascot

Paris Hilton is the symbol of the Neocons and has been firmly adopted as their mascot.

In the age of Neocon waste, hatred, greed, ignorance and stupidity, Paris Hilton epitomises the Neocon-ite wasteland plaguing America with its lies and thievery. She represents what is wrong in this world and her ugly size 14 feet encapsulate the grotesque nature of Neocon America. She is the spirit of McCain, a producer for the show revealed to us.

Filming of the McCain advert was beset with many problems. Every bunion on Paris enormous pods oozed a stench that had many in the film crew gagging. Filming was a tortuous affair and more smelling salts were ordered up by the director.

Shes the only girl I know who has zits on her feet. I squeezed one of those babies and the pus hit our key grip straight in the fucking eye! a distraught camera assistant recalled.

The McCain campaign team headed up by their latest secret weapon. Steve The Prolapse Scheisse, is not pulling out any stops in the offensive play against team Obama.

With Paris Hiltons oversized smelly foot on their side, they are sure to put the boot in pretty soon.
LONDON - England - From afar and stepping aside, one can see the big picture more clearly.

Here at the Daily Squib, were on the outside, we see things better from there, especially when it comes to America.

Unfortunately for most Americans, who are on the inside, perception can get fuzzy from all the noise, their airwaves and media are so contradictory and misleading that rational thought after being peppered daily by these machines of mass illusion are nigh on impossible.

Is America a rogue state right now? In many ways it is, and here at Squib Central we knew this before the imminent election of Obama on November 4 2008. We predicted successfully through satire that he would be elected and the changes he was ordered to bring.

Who ordered these changes you ask? Well, numerous claws are in the pot. You see what most Americans do not realise yet is that all parties are simply a good cop bad cop routine, because when one party is unelected, the same people remain behind the scenes doing the same things. It does not matter who you get, the central core of the United States is still the same as under George W Bush, and previous presidents before that. As for the Federal Reserve, thats not even a part of the United States, standard knowledge, we know.

America is a key zone in global geo-political policy implementation and it is crucial to this global change that Americans are disarmed, one by one gun owners will be ordered to give up their weapons. The United Nations global disarmament charter means just that, therefore it is imperative that the population with the most arms per capita is prepared by Obama, Reid, Kerry, Holder and Feinstein. These key personnel are crucial to re-educating the American people and disarming them completely so the next stage can begin. By legalising drugs, as Obama is doing, many will not mind when the DHS comes to their front porch to collect their weapons.

Obama has three more years to complete his mission. These may be the longest three years of an Americans life, as Obama is untouchable and spurious calls for impeachment will fall on mute ears, it is way too late to stop anything now because the boulder is already rolling down the hill.

The original constitution of America has passed, and will not be relevant in the 21st century. Already, many of the decrees created by the old Masonic fathers of America have been bypassed by new Masons, and Americans today have little or no rights left.

The same thing happened in the unarmed United Kingdom many years ago, and the EU has all but destroyed any form of individual rights for their citizens.

Once America is aligned by disarming the populace, and the UK is assimilated completely into the EU, the beginnings of overt global government will be seen. We are all under covert global government right now and have been for quite some time, apart from some small Islamic States that are as yet still partially outside the box, but as technology advances, so too will they be assimilated by technological force.

The old generations who once had some semblance of freedom will die off naturally. The new generations will not know what freedom or privacy is, they will be taught that snow is black and they will believe it. With every form of literature and history digitised, alteration is just a mouse click away.

The financial furniture has been rearranged through engineered recession, now its just about a little house cleaning, thats all.
THE JUNGLE - Borneo - Leave Facebook if you don't want to be spied on, warns EU, but which one is the lesser of two evils, the EU or the NSA/Pentagon run Facebook?

You know, maybe we here at the Squib need to re-evaluate our relationship with the EU, but it is oh so confusing.

On the one hand the EU is a sort of quasi-sovietised entity that dictates weird directives towards its citizens and member states but on the other side, they do speak some sense.

The latest piece of advice from the EU regards Facebook, and theyre advising citizens to dump the data gatherer from your life, that is if you value your privacy. Well, we warned our readers from the beginning in 2007 that Facebook was an inherently evil data gathering operation run and financed by the spooks, and now the EU is advising to dump Facebookhmm

What to do? Dump Facebook or dump the EU, or dump both?

Which one is the lesser of two evils? These are the questions we must ask. Should you abscond to a jungle clearing in Borneo and dump the lot, or just dump Facebook and live in the EU where you are probably being spied on anyway.

Well, the simple truth of the matter is, governments have been spying on citizens since the birth of..er..governments, its just that these days theyre spying on your every keystroke on the internet. Every citizen within the developed world has large dossiers on themselves, every web page visited, every search term typed, every smartphone conversation is logged and through GPS your every movement is tracked. If you are employed, your employers have vast troves of detailed information about you including your personal life. The insurance industry has all your private data including detailed information of your health records.

So, what is the EU trying to do here? On the one hand theyre saying, dump Facebook if you value your privacy, on the other hand, the EU member states spy on you every day.

Who should you dump? Facebook which actively sells your private data, including private PMs to any company or entity that pays for it and is an arm of the NSAs Prism program, or the collectivist soviet EU which spies on you as well?

Well, it depends on your sensibilities. If you like your data to be logged by the NSA and other American agencies, then keep your Facebook page. If you prefer to be spied on by the EU, then dump your Facebook page, you will still be spied on, just with a more European slant.

Cest la vie mes amis..

Who to Dump? Facebook

EU

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ELKO  The County may keep four positions vacant to save almost $347,000 for the next fiscal year to help combat the estimated $1.6 million deficit it is facing.

To reach an 8.3 percent ending fund balance, the County would have to cut $1.6 million from its budget, but for a 6 percent balance it will have to cut $825,303. Commissioners previously told staff to aim for a 6 percent ending fund balance and a contingency fund of $300,000.

On Thursday, staff presented a budget that had a 6.82 percent ending fund balance. The hiring freeze commissioners imposed in March will save the County $320,370 by the end of the fiscal year. One of those positions included Deputy District Attorney Rob Lowe, who retired this week. Staff has recommended his position be filled in July. District Attorney Tyler Ingram was glad the budget committee recommended filling Lowes position because the lawyers in his office are each handling 500 or more cases. Deputy DA Jeff Slade had the most at 845, Ingram said.

However, staff recommended to leave three positions vacant and not fill a fourth that will become vacant in July. These positions include a county clerk, library clerk, a building inspector, and one of the assistant county managers.

Marilyn Tipton and Jeanette Hammons retired from the County earlier this year and Assistant County Manager Randy Brown will retire at the end of June, said County Manager Rob Stokes. The building inspector position has been vacant for more than a year, he said.

County Comptroller Debbie Armuth went over the most recent numbers with the commissioners.

Consolidated tax is up about 1 percent from where the estimates were, but overall is about $328,000 less than the same time last year, she said. Consolidated tax, sales, including cigarettes and liquor, funds about 70 percent of the Countys operating funds.

Commissioner Delmo Andreozzi pointed out to the board that in December the consolidated tax was down $303,152 when compared to the same month of the previous year.

Were about halfway through the revenues that weve gotten for this year, and you can see how volatile one month can be, he said.  Realize that those operating funds rely a lot on this C-tax and when theres a swing like that how significantly that can impact us.

Property valuations are up 1.21 percent in Elko County, but because some entities in the county are already capped, commissioners cant raise the rate, Armuth said.

The largest change in the budget wont help this year, she said.

The big change is the net proceeds, Armuth said.

The mining companies in Elko County have projected their numbers for the next 10 months and they are estimating a value of $209 million in 2017. The tax rate applied to net proceeds is between 2 and 5 percent, depending on the ratio of net proceeds to gross proceeds, according to the Nevada Department of Taxation. The state receives 55 percent of the net proceeds. The local governments receive 45 percent and the largest portion goes to the school district. The Countys portion would equate to about $1.3 million, Armuth said.

How net proceeds are paid changed last year. Mines used to pay net proceeds in advance, but that ended in 2016. The County wont receive money from net proceeds generated this year until May 2018.
LONDON - England - Google is in late stage talks to buy the best news site on the internet, the Daily Squib, according to reports on the influential technology blog TechCrunch and insider rumours.

Meat Johnsons, one of the editors of the site, says that two separate people, close to the negotiations have told him that Google is on the verge of acquiring the Daily Squib newspaper. He says that he does not know how much the deal will be worth, but expects it to be well in excess of the $250 million valuation that the Squib attracted in its last round of funding and branded it a shedload of green.

The Daily Squibs founders, Lynn C. Doyle, Mike Hunt and Ophelia Payne, last year rejected overtures from Rupert Murdoch to buy the top selling news service for a rumoured $500 million in stock. Rupert Murdoch, after being denied, held one of the Daily Squibs editors at gunpoint at the London offices begging to buy the paper. One of the executives involved in the negotiations finally thwarted the standoff by pushing the old lizard down a flight of stairs whilst still in his wheelchair.

Google today distanced itself from the claims of a possible takeover bid. We do not comment on rumours and speculation, although simply by making this very statement we are commenting on the rumours and speculation said a spokesman.

The Daily Squib has enjoyed an explosive growth in popularity over the last year, with traffic to its site up by around 974 per cent. Celebrities, politicians and companies alike have embraced the Daily Squib as a means of directly gauging the meter of all news and reportage on the web.

It famously broke the news of the Ku Klux Klan Endorsing Obama, including the Obama Nostradamus Prophecy and the Lindsay Lohan Leg story amongst many fantastic breaking news features. The factual quality and accuracy of the service, and the fact that articles are so insightful, has made it a powerful reporting tool and a source of some startling journalistic accounts.

The Daily Squib changed the face of the recent U.S. elections. Without their insightful and cutting articles, Hillary Clinton may have been president of the USA. Now we all know what a disaster that would have been, Buck Scooter, a senior democratic campaigner from Washington DC said.

The acquisition of the Daily Squib, one of the hottest properties on the web, would make sense for Google. One of the Squibs greatest strengths is in providing truly astounding articles of topics that are interesting to its readers.

Google knows well how to treat the Daily Squib with due care and attention. Theyve been in negotiations with the top news service for three weeks solid plying them with booze, women, fast cars, bucketloads of coke and luxury all-expenses paid trips to Hawaii and Vegas said Stephen Shanks, a technology reporter for Wired. The Daily Squib is one of the most important news sources on the internet today. Google just had to sit up and take notice when they saw the quality of the news being spewed from the Daily Squibs diarrhoea spouting orifice.

Everyday I have to live with myself that I missed the opportunity to buy the Daily Squib. Ive actually come close to suicide and my life is meaningless right now, said News Corps spiritual leader and owner, Rupert Murdoch.
ALABAMA - USA - Scientists researching the Turin Shroud have revealed startling evidence about the ancient artefact that has stunned the world.

Everyone already knows that the world famous Christ-like depiction called the Turin Shroud has been confirmed as the actual shroud that covered Christ after his untimely death over 2000 years ago.

There is no scientific doubt that the shroud is the real deal and has been proven by countless scientists through the use of carbon dating the shroud to the Middle Ages, but evidence has also risen to prove that Jesus actually walked with dinosaurs during his lifetime.

Radio carbon dating carried out in February 2009 was performed on an area of the relic that seemed to show a footprint of a Dilophosaurus, according to Ray Hammerstein, who leads the Shroud of Turin Research Project (STRP).

Hammerstein, a chemist from the the American Science National Laboratory in Alabama, said:

I have been working on this project for the past twenty six years. I know that piece of cloth like the back of my hand.

But after this most recent discovery through the use of ultra-violet photography and carbon dating, we now know for certain that the Messiah walked the earth amongst dinosaurs.

He came to his conclusion after re-examining a theory from two amateur scientists that he had earlier dismissed as being from the lunatic fringe.

13th Century depiction of Christ. (tempera on wood) 70 x 50cm private collection. Turin, Italy

Although the depiction of Christ on the Turin Shroud is in the artistic style of Middle Age representations of the time, Christians all around the world are adamant that the shroud is the actual cloth that covered Jesus after his death.

This is proof that the Bible should be taken in a literal sense and that the earth is only 10,000 years old. Darwinists are nothing more than liars and deceivers of the true word of God. Jesus Christ may have had a pet dinosaur which followed him around Jerusalem prior to his crucifixion in Golgotha. This explains the footprint on the Turin Shroud. Obviously the creature was loyal to Jesus and hung around when he was interred in the cave after his death. When Jesus rose on the third day, we have theories that maybe God took the little dinosaur up with Jesus as a pet to keep in heaven. The dinosaur footprint is the key to this fact. The proof is right there staring you in the eye and you cannot deny it, Burien Walters, another research scientist working for the STRP exclaimed.

This latest evidence, to be broadcast in The Turin Shroud: New Evidence at 4am on Sunday on the Discovery Channel, is the latest chapter in the shrouds history.

More Great Bible Facts

 Jesus had pale white skin with blonde hair and blue eyes and looked like a European man from the 13th century.

 There is evidence to suggest that Jesus and his disciples had mullet haircuts.

 The disciples of the Messiah would often travel on the backs of large flying dinosaurs similar to the Rhambphorhynchus Anurognathus on their way to the sea of Galilee. The large flying reptile Pterosaurs are also mentioned from the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself when speaking with Nicodemus (Jn.3:14).

 Noahs Ark carried many dinosaurs including the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Brachiosaurus as well as tiny insects, kangaroos, dodos and bugs.

-Adam saved Eve from being eaten by a Carnotaurus one day and was rewarded with intercourse. This is how the human race initially multiplied.

-Only Americans who believe in Jesus walking with dinosaurs will be taken up to be with him and all his friends in heaven when the Rapture comes.

-According to a 2001 Gallup poll, about 59% of Americans believe that God created humans and dinosaurs pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so.

-Another 27% believe that Human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God guided this process. Only 14% believe that human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God had no part in this process.

Dont forget to visit the Creation Museum in Kentucky which realistically brings the pages of the Bible to life. Designed by a former Universal Studios exhibit director, the museum is an informative haven for the whole family.
VIRGINIA - USA - The Central Intelligence Agency has revealed that it reads out the boring, tedious banal mutterings of celebrities on social news website Twitter to gain confessions from hardened terrorists and criminals.

Forget about waterboarding or having electrodes stuck to your testicles with 50,000 volts running through them, the CIA has found a far more effective and easy way of extracting information from terror suspects.

All we need is a room, a pc with an internet connection linked up to Twitter and a few hours or days, sometimes even minutes. The terrorists are soon singing like canaries when we read out the banal boring twitterings of celebrities to them day in day out. Ive actually seen some of these terrorists beg to be put out of their misery and some even tried to pull out their eyes and ears in despair such is the power of Twitter, one of the CIA operatives told US Torture Weekly magazine.

According to Pentagon officials, this is one form of torture which is endorsed by president Obama because it brings better results and is supposedly humane.

Khalid bin Allusnakbar, a former Al Qaida spy in Iraq spoke of the horror of the experience: By Allah, oh how I cried tears of grief. They began reading me the minute by minute updates of Jonathan Ross on the first day. I begged them to stop and pleaded with them. Then on the second day I did not even know if it was day or night actually, they started to read out the minute to minute updates of Britney Spears, I was by now delirious and I begged to be put out of my misery. I finally cracked when they brought out Stephen Frys Twitter account, at one point they said I was crawling up the concrete wall with my fingernails bleeding but I cant remember the rest because I fainted and woke up in the sick bay. I told them everything they wanted and more. Anything to stop them repeating the worst torture of my life.

Celebrity Twitter Torture as the CIA has dubbed it has become so popular and so successful that other intelligence agencies around the world are now taking note and binning the red hot pokers, electrodes and electric drills for much less messy and more efficient interrogation techniques.

Theres no blood involved, you dont make such a mess and to date there have not been any fatalities, although we have had one coma. Its the way of the future thats for sure and it gets results, Deputy Director of the CIAs torture dept. Bill OHannity told Fox News.
LIVERPOOL - England - Scientists believe they have discovered the missing link between humans and the ape-like creatures we evolved from.

The Rooneyid,

the evolutionary branch of primates that led to humans, will be revealed

when a two million-year-old skeleton of a man is unveiled this week.

The skeleton was discovered in the Liverpool region of England  an area known as the Cradle of Inhumanity  by Professor Lee Phuckah of the University of the Croxteth.

Professor Phuckah and

his colleagues have remained silent about the significance of their

find, but anticipation is high among the scientific community ahead of

an official announcement on Friday.

This ape like creature was probably as thick as shit but was still able to kick a rock around its cave. It communicated by grunting and walked around dragging its knuckles on the ground wherever it went, the professor said.
KRUGER NATIONAL PARK - South Africa - Scientists working on multiple sites around the world have discovered that elephants are slowly shrinking in size.

Elephants are getting smaller, wildlife experts have discovered.

Year on year, through the scientists analysis, they have seen a remarkable phenomenon occuring where the large mammals are reducing their size by over 5% per annum.

Within 30 years, scientists say that fully grown adult elephants around the world would be about 3 feet high, at the current rate of shrinkage.

This is truly remarkable and quite worrying for the elephant community. If they eventually shrink to just above 3 foot height, there could be serious repercussions for the sustainability of the elephant population around the world. These elephants would be vulnerable to attack from predators like hyenas and even warthogs, professor Giles Blandwidth, who is in charge of the research project in South Africa, told New Scientist magazine.

Were doing our best to find out why elephants are shrinking. It is a race against time before they get too tiny to find the solution to this momentous problem, the professor added.


The institute has revealed a damning report detailing some horrific plans for the future involving deep economic crisis and civil unrest.

The populations that survive the coming anarchy and destruction will be very few and to their honour they will be rewarded by the elite scientific experts for their Darwinian sturdiness, Keith Wallace, a key researcher and expert at the Institute of Population Control in Hampstead, London, wrote in the most recent research paper.

H3N2v

Excerpts from the report say: The human race, according to the United Nations has reached its 7 billionth person, and threatens to double in 15 years. This is a profound threat to life on this planet, and this is why it is imperative that the population increase is thwarted as the planets resources cannot sustain such locust-like numbers. China, India, Africa and South America, where the poor breed with such gusto are the main culprits to the destruction of the earth. To avert a Malthusian nightmare, and introduce a new scientific world order where religious myths and fairy tales and nationalism are punishable by death, there may have to be a major world war or complete global civil unrest. There are many ways the controllers can whittle down the populations; through pandemics, war and riots. It may be necessary to combine many elements.

We are gearing up to a final denouement on this wasteful consumerist civilization. The post-consumerist age will adhere to strict scientific principals led by experts, who will build a controlled population from the embers of the wasteland remaining. It sounds like a nightmare situation to anyone who reads this now, but the elite controllers have planned this for many centuries and there is no peaceful way of bringing in the next system without the complete nihilistic destruction of the previous incarnation.They created a system which is sadly defunct and not manageable anymore.

The world government has come about because the current rulers have become too soft and leave all important decisions to be implemented and designed by experts. They have thus allowed their powers to be usurped by the less lordly experts who will form the next world government. the report cited.

According to the research institute, the coming society of experts will embrace all eminent men of science and will possess the most devastating arsenal of weapons known to man. There will, therefore, be no more war, since opposition to the unscientific would be doomed to immediate failure.

The society of experts will control all propaganda and education and will teach loyalty to the world eco government, making nationalism high treason.

The world government, being an oligarchy, will instil submissiveness into the majority of the population, only leaving initiative, and habit of command to its members.

Population controls will be heavily regulated by the scientific government and the breeding programs will be able to create workers as well as those of the governing class.

Education of the workers will be conducted in a scientific manner engendering a sense docility, industriousness, punctuality, thoughtlessness and contented manner to the ordinary men and women. New technology will probably involve microchipping of the workers at birth or later on, and will ensure that they adhere to the new societies rules. They will be trained mostly outdoors and limited in their education with very little study. Initiative will be discouraged in these children, and insubordination will be scientifically trained out of them.

The manual workers will be fairly happy. The rulers will be successful in making the manual workers foolish and frivolous; work will not be too severe, and there will be endless amusements of a trivial sort. Owing to sterilization, love affairs need not have awkward consequences so long as they are not between a man and woman who are both of them unsterilized. In this way a life of easygoing and frivolous pleasure may be provided for the manual workers, combined of course with a superstitious reverence for the governors instilled in childhood and prolonged by the propaganda to which adults will be exposed.

The governing classes, on the other hand, will be educated to the highest standards utilising state of the art equipment and technology. Their genetic makeup will be altogether different than the ordinary workers as they will have superlative strength of character, intelligence and hold elements of the highest possible ability.

By the use of eugenics, sterilization, nanotechnology and genetic engineering, the world government will create a flawless society of governors and workers and thus enable the scientific dictatorship to flourish.

Politicians today of all parties realise that the populations are becoming harder to control. This is because many are slowly waking up and becoming more aware of how they are being controlled. This form of awareness is supremely dangerous to governments, and in the past, the people could be fooled easily, now, through the internet  not so easily.

As this form of civilization winds down, one must take into account that the coming overt world government will not be constrained by the fake democracy we have now, they will revel in their adoption of a complete all encompassing scientific dictatorship.
TURIN - Italy - Scientists sponsored by the Roman Catholic Church have revealed new fascinating facts that Jesus looked exactly like a medieval artist's depiction of a European man during the Middle Ages.

Our analysis of the Turin Shroud proves that Jesus looked like a Medieval European man, proving that he rose from the dead and left a mark on the shroud. This further backs up all other Christian imagery of Christ wherein he is always depicted with blond hair, blue eyes, pale skin and European features, Giacomotto Vafanculo, chief scientist of the Turin project told the Italian Rai Uno TV station on Monday.

The profound findings will back up the Christian churchs assumptions that Jesus was an actual son of God character that actually existed.

Even though he was Jewish, he didnt look like any Jews of the time, he only looked like a Medieval man in 15th century Europe. I have told the pope myself about this amazing finding, another scientist working on the project revealed.

Just days before Christmas, the scientific Turin Shroud news has been hailed by Christians as a remarkable miracle.

Jim Bob, 45, a pastor at the Dukesboro Baptist Church from Kentucky, USA, said: This is proof right there. Im gonna go tell my congregation right now about this news. Praise our lord Jesus Christ, hell, they put him in that shroud and God wanted his son back so his body floated up from the cave. When they opened the cave all they found was the Turin shroud with his exact European features imprinted on the cotton.

Next year, the Italian scientists are planning to dig up a mountain somewhere in the Middle East to find traces of the animals that went in to Noahs Ark two by two.

Noah got every animal on earth, even insects like mosquitoes and kangaroos, as well as animals only found in the Amazon rainforest, and he got them to go up a ramp into a very big boat. Lets just say, to carry every species of animal, insect and bird, youre gonna need a big, big boat. It was even bigger than Silvio Berlusconis Bunga Bunga boat and thats saying something, Guido Guadagnino, another scientist on the huge project revealed.


MOUNTAIN VIEW - USA - There were frayed laser sensors and google maps yesterday when a convoy of google robot cars were involved in a mass road rage incident.

These cars were trying to go through an intersection, when one of the robot cars cut up the other robot car. They started to sound their horns and were jerking left and right. Then the doors opened and one of the robot cars started to tell the other robot car to back off jack off, or get the crowbar. It was real scary, Augustine Sherry, a shocked observer to the altercation told CBS news.

Another witness said: I didnt know robot cars could swear like that. I felt the air go blue around the car as it freaked out, there was steam coming out of its engine compartment. The car even had a plastic robot hand that popped out of the front and it flipped the other car the bird. They sho gots a temper.

Computer scientists who programmed the robot cars were quickly on the scene to calm the scary situation down.

We got the call and were immediately on our way from the googleplex to the scene of the robot car roadrage incident. Looks like we need to adjust the algorithms a little. It took us a while to calm the cars down, but we promised them they could watch more episodes of the original series of Knightrider and they calmed down, Al Getchya, one of the google scientists told local news stations.

Four google robot cars are now on probation and will be disciplined with a software downgrade.


TAMPA - USA - You could be mistaken to think you have awoken inside a George A. Romero film and the zombies are ambling around the streets eating people's faces off all over America.

You just woke up in a cold sweat, no, you werent dreaming when you thought you saw news stories about flesh eating zombies in America, these are all real occurrences and things could get a lot worse soon.

This could be a government experiment gone wrong. Shit, Florida state could be like something out of Resident Evil or a George A. Romero movie. Hell, Ive seen some towns that look exactly like Raccoon City. You just need to shoot them in the head, thats the only way to stop them, Thomas Savini, a resident of Dodge Ville, in Tampa, Florida told the Tampa Argus newspaper.

First came Miami, when a crazed naked man ate a homeless mans face, nose and ears up while horrified onlookers gawped at the incident in terror. Then a Texan mother killed her newborn baby, eating part of his brain and biting off three of his toes. Then in Maryland, a college student killed his roommate , eating his heart and part of his brains.

New Jersey, was the site of another incident where a man stabbed himself over 50 times then threw bits of his intestines at dismayed police officers. Even after pepper spraying him and tasering him countless times, it took twelve officers to subdue the man. Most recently, a Louisiana man, Carl Jacquneaux, ate part of a mans cheek during a robbery before being finally being handcuffed by the police, and on Saturday, a homeless North Miami Beach man threatened to eat police officers who told the man to stop harassing customers at a local market.

The Center For Disease Control (CDC) have refuted the rumours and news reports that a zombie apocalypse is on the way, but can we really be sure about that?

Scientists at Bradford Ingles University in Alabama have found that with certain engineered airborne viruses, the primal R-Complex in the brain can be activated. This is the most base primal part of the brain which only deals with survival and food. It is no wonder that these individuals are chomping away, because it is their survival instinct being activated by something.

There are further triggers for this cannibalistic behaviour and the daily news of economic meltdowns worldwide do not help in any circumstances as the internet age has made the spread of news instantaneous around the globe.



Some people have even speculated that the disease is related to African Americans because theyre mostly the only ones committing these acts of cannibalism.

However, scientists have been quick to refute the fact it is an act only constrained amongst the African American populations.



Professor Harkin of Jonestown University, said at a recent press conference: All the cannibals who ate peoples faces and flesh were of African origin. Although we have looked at the many variables into these incidents, we cannot emphatically be 100% sure that it is something that only African Americans do, until we have more cases similar to the ones we have already had, we should not jump the gun. There are many tribes in Africa who used to partake in cannibalistic rituals and lifestyles, but as of today, we do not think they practice anymore. This cannibalism outbreak could affect many people of different racial backgrounds, so we need to stay calm people. These are also not technically zombies, because the people eating other people are still alive themselves, if they were undead, then they would be called zombies, but otherwise theyre alive.

The CDC is looking into ways of counteracting the latest outbreaks of cannibalism within America, and will come up with a new study on the subject by July.

President Obama was also quick to point out that these were only minor incidents and at the slightest sign of an outbreak he was going to be taken down into the bunker underneath the White House quicker than ex-glamour model, Katie Price, takes her knickers off in a nightclub toilet cubicle.
BEIJING - China - The latest technical innovation from the Chinese Space Program will make history for space flight, says China's space chief, Lee Ping Hi.

Speaking at the China Space Agency in Beijing, Lee Ping Hi outlined how the latest incredible space innovation will revolutionise Chinese space travel.

We have designed a rocket that can hold 320,000 Chinese astronauts to travel into space all at the same time. You can imagine the rocket boosters on the space vehicle. We are a nation of 1.6 billion people so we do not do things in a mediocre fashion, Mr Hi said.

After fifteen years of research and trillions of Yuan, the special rockets will travel into orbit at 20,000 mph. Once the atmosphere is breached and the rocket reaches space, the craft will fly towards the latest space station being built for the Chinese Space crew.

It will be incredible up there, and we can keep transporting space ship after space ship of Chinese into space. With 320,000 Chinese on the rocket, there will be need for restraint and understanding of toilet facilities and other such things, Mr Hi added.

We aim to make cheap plastic trinkets and mediocre products from space, then send them all back to earth, commander of the space flight told the Chinese state news agency, Xinhua.

The monumental launch of the Chinese rocket will be in August 2013.


ELKO  Spring brings an increase in outdoor activities in our neck of the woods and, in particular, the desire to hop on a motorcycle and hit the road. Things have really been hopping at Elkos Harley-Davidson store in the nearly two years since it opened.

We are in a community that has embraced us, said sales and finance manager Chris Estridge. There are a lot of Harleys here. Our owners were trying to get a dealership open down here for a long time, especially for the convenience factor of not having to go to Twin Falls, Reno or Salt Lake City just to get service.

Because of local needs, the parts inventory line has been expanded since opening to accommodate buyers. The business has a full-time technician who can take care of most repairs. Major motor jobs do get sent to the dealership in Twin Falls, but the local company will transport the motorcycle for the client.

Harley-Davidson is a lifestyle, said general manager Tom Burr, who came to that life many years ago. I have been on motorized vehicles since I was 10 years old. I went through all of the other brands and now I am Harley. My jeans, boots, and jewelry are Harley.

Both men lament the fact that the Motorcycle Jamboree will not be happening this year but it does not change things for the business.

We will always remember that as the weekend of our anniversary and we will have an event here, said Estridge.

Harley-Davidson is the number one touring motorcycle in the United States by a big margin, according to Burr.

The shop sees a tremendous amount of business in early August when the migration to Sturgis, South Dakota occurs. Elko is on the main thoroughfare for bike enthusiasts traveling northeast and many of the riders stop in to check out the store.

Plans in the future include expansion, including a bigger floor area for bikes and an extended clothing line.

The parts section will stay next to the shop, said Burr, indicating an increase in that area as well.

Some may feel that owning a Harley-Davidson might be an impossible dream, but Estridge assures folks that people can get into a Harley for the entry market.

We carry used bikes that are extremely practical, said Estridge.

The business also offers in-house financing, which makes it a one-stop shop.

The Street Glide model is the most popular bike locally and in the country, according to Estridge.

The bike looks good and its comfortable, said Eldrige. Its the perfect bike for anything you want to do. It performs well on the freeway and in town.

Both men agree that Harley Davidson is about the coolest thing on this earth, pointing out that Harley is one of the few companies that people tattoo on their bodies.

The Harley-Davidson logo is probably the most recognized outside of Coca-Cola, Burr pointed out.

Gold Rush and Snake Harley-Davidson will be hosting a free concert June 10 on the lawn of the Horseshu Casino in Jackpot. Foghat and bands out of Twin Falls will be there. Details can be found on the website or stop in the store to ask about the event.

This is our third year doing this, said Estridge. This is a time for our customers and employees.
LONDON - England - The British government have taken on the interplanetary challenge of colonising Mars with chavs by the year 2021, Council sources have disclosed.

The manned mission will be named Chav-One and in just over eight years, fourteen chav astronauts will emigrate to the red planet, soon to be joined by thousands more every year after.

By 2021 there will be over sixty chavs living and flourishing on Mars, their new home, Chav-Ones mission commander Bill Brundle told the BBC.

Asbonauts

The Chav-One mars mission will ensure that a Council Estate colony is established within the Schiaparelli crater. There will be a Benefits office pod, a recreation pod and even a place where chavs can riot or steal stuff at their leisure. The chavs will also be able to grow their skunk weed in special growing pods and do donuts in a special Tesco car park pod.

Councils across the UK cant wait to offload their chavs onto the new Mars space program.



As a mission councillor, Dolores Triblewaite insists that the project seems to be the only way to get rid of all the f*cking chavs in the United Kingdom.



These soon-to-be Martians will be rounded up and put into holding cells situated on prison ships offshore until they are blasted into space.



However, there is a drawback: when you emigrate to Mars under this missions custodianship it is strictly on a one-way ticket.

Yes, its true. Im afraid it is a one way trip for these chavs. When they go to Mars, there is no way back. I know this may sadden a lot of people but there it is, Ms Triblewaite added.


LAHORE - Pakistan - Researchers at the Muslim Rage Foundation are finding ways of capturing pure Muslim rage and redirecting the energy into useful electricity that could help humanity.

This is pioneering research. We studied enraged Muslims from all over the world and calculated that if we could harness even 1% of the Muslim rage for even 1 second, we could have enough electricity to power the entire Northern Hemisphere. It really is incredible, Dr. Abdullah Maqtani, told Pakistani state news yesterday.

Danish cartoonists may have learned their lesson well, as well as certain foolish Californian video makers, but what they have unleashed is a phenomenon that needs to be studied further.

I just want to put my fist down his throat, a Muslim man in the laboratory said foaming at the mouth. The raging man was talking about the latest person to create an outrage against Islam. The researchers and some heavyset orderlies grab the man, who is jerking around uncontrollably with fists and spittle flying, and put a helmet over his head.

His anger and rage energy are put through a transmogrifier and the signal is converted into pure electricity. We need more raging Muslims for our experiment and we will go out into the streets later today to collect more, Dr. Maqtani said.

The Muslim Rage Foundation has revealed that all it takes is 23 Rage-filled Muslims to create the equivalent power of a nuclear power station. If more rage was harnessed, the world could solve its energy problems once and for all.

There would be no need for oil, nuclear power, coal or any other fossil fuels. We are petitioning world governments to create Muslim Rage Power Stations where all the worlds power will be created. There will be banks of Muslims tethered up and plugged into the system as they are shown, on big screen videos and pictures, scenes that will keep them in a permanent state of rage, another researcher told Pakistans state television.


TOKYO - Japan - The Japanese company NaritaX has printed the first ever perpetual 3D printer printer printer..etc.

We successfully printed the first ever 3D printer which then printed another 3D printer, which then printed another slightly smaller 3D printer, Yoriko Tetsumi, chief engineer for the 3D Print Infinity project told Science Weekly magazine.

The 3D printer that originally printed the 3D printer was manufactured to exact specifications and made from an alloy metal that could be printed and manipulated easily.

The special alloy metal which we developed ourselves over 25 years of research was used to print the 3D printer and its moving parts of the printed 3D printer. Every time we print a 3D printer, it gets smaller and smaller because that is the only way we can do the perpetual print. Eventually we will have a microscopic 3D printer no bigger than the diameter of a hair follicle, Tetsumi revealed.

The companys amazing achievement has been hailed by technology experts all around the world.

Speaking from California, USA, John Mendelsbaum, a senior engineer at Hernendez Electronics said: Perpetual 3D printing. Where can you go after that? I mean its a piece of genius right there.
LONDON - England - The British Coalition government is introducing a new Communications Data Bill which will take away all internet and telephone privacy for every UK citizen.

Even under the oppressive regimes of the past like Stalins Russia or the Stasis East Germany has there never been such a wealth of information collected by a government to be used against its citizens as the British government is now doing with the Communications Data Bill.

David Cameron and his Liberal Democrat counterpart, Nick Clegg have ordered all communications providers to collect, store and provide access to information about emails, online conversations and texts for all citizens for a period of one year or more. The original bill was thought up by the previous socialist Labour party and is simply being adopted and adapted by David Cameron.



Not only will the government now have all of your data but the first section of the draft bill orders companies to collect specific datasets and any agency that wishes to utilise the data on any citizen as they wish, will be allowed to do so with little or no checks.

The second part of the bill allows any public body to acquire the data and utilise it in their operations or marketing techniques.

The third section of the snoopers charter changes the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), repeals all other existing powers that involve retaining and disclosing communications data, and gives the Information Minister, the Interception of Communications Commissioner, and the Investigatory Powers Tribunal the responsibility for scrutinizing the implementation of these powers.

The Leveson-inspired Thought Police will punish any citizens who are guilty of Thought Crimes and give the UK government broad powers to order any communications provider to collect and disclose communications data by any means. Black boxes will be ordered to be installed on ISPs networks, which will enable relevant government bodies to have access to communications data. That represents a fundamental shift to general mass surveillance of the population outsourced to the private sector. In fact, the proposals will lead to the creation of a database of a wide range of information about peoples communications.

Already the data generated through the use of social surveillance services like Facebook, Google and Twitter reveals far more about people than their phone records to the UK governmental agencies and public bodies but the UK agencies want even more indepth data.



The clincher, is that there will be no external oversight of access requests and any governmental officer who wishes to access citizen data may do so without any checks.

Anyone who says anything that criticises government policy or is deemed as a radical will thus be able to be targeted by their data and location as well as who they speak to. This will give the government broad powers to seek out any form of dissent and stamp it out immediately much like is done in oppressive totalitarian communistic regimes like China.

Not only will the new Communications Data Bill be used to clamp down on all forms of privacy in the UK but it will be also paid for by the taxpayer.

With a conservative estimate of 2.9 billion for the draconian scheme, the taxpayer will foot the bill for their own incarceration in Prison Britain.

The Iron Curtain has dropped over the UK thanks to the Coalition government and from now on every citizen in the UK can say goodbye to their already limited freedom.

As the UK government is also planning to introduce road tolls on every road in the UK, this will mean that all road vehicles will have to have a black box fitted on the vehicles, or be tracked with auto number plate recognition cameras, so they can be charged and their every journey tracked and logged.

And dont worry, Obama is bringing the same thing to America soon.


YAKIMOVO - Bulgaria - A team of neurologists found that reading anything from the Daily Squib can lead to "partial or complete relief" of head pain or any sort of pain in fact.

The study, from the University of Funster, Bulgaria, suggests that instead of using traditional painkillers, reading the Daily Squib can completely eliminate pain from readers.

You can get your f*cking leg sawn off with a rusty blunt saw and as long as youre reading the Daily Squib newspaper you wont feel an ounce of pain or get a headache, professor Radocu Allevia, told the BBC World Service yesterday.

Their research, reported in Dolorem, the journal of the International Pain and Headache Society, found that more than half of pain sufferers who read the Daily Squib during a prolonged painful episode experienced an improvement in symptoms.

They suggested that the Daily Squib triggered the release of endorphins, the bodys natural painkillers, through the central nervous system, which can in turn reduce, or even eliminate, pain.

The majority of patients who were in constant pain did not feel anything when they were presented with the Daily Squib, the study concluded.

All we heard was groaning though when they were reading the Squib which suggests they are still possibly feeling excruciating pain by reading that utter f*cking dross but their mind is somehow blocking it out, another researcher revealed.

The research team suggests that the Daily Squib somehow numbs the reader and tricks their brain into thinking that theyre not feeling pain but in fact reading the Daily Squib increases actual pain levels to excruciating levels and is a paradox for scientists.

Maybe by creating so much pain, like levels you will not f*cking believe, the Squib forces your body to release the bodys natural pain relief drug, endorphins. This is one theory we are working with, Aldous Nuwerld, another scientist on the project revealed.
GLASGOW - Scotland - Scottish scientists have come up with a novel way of preserving humans before they die so that they can live for thousands of years.

We dont believe in cryogenic freezing because thats a little too complicated and a wee bit expensive. Our solution is very simple. We batter you. Were not talking about the usual violence, we mean we coat your entire body in batter much like one of our staple foods, the battered mars bar, and we find this preservation technique is almost as effective in preserving humans as any other modern scientific method, Angus McMumford, chief scientist at Larrys Fish Fry shop in central Glasgow demonstrated on Saturday.



Hundreds of people are now flocking to the Glasgow Batter Hibernian (GBH) research centre to be battered and preserved for the next few centuries.



One man who went up to Scotland recently got something he did not plan on.



I went to Glasgow and asked if I could be battered. Look at my eye sockets and bloody nose, Nigel Farage, the English leader of UKIP told the Daily Mail.
The teams goal is to help humanity achieve immortality by 2045 using a combination of vodka and interstellar travel to create a Russian universal utopia.

We will be able to achieve immortality by transferring our drunk vodka swilled minds into an avatar. The good thing about this is that there will not be any need for a liver and the androids will be permanently pissed on the finest Stolichnaya. This is the future of humanity. Imagine being drunk for eternity and not having to deal with death or jaundice. George Best would have loved this one, shame its a little too late for him, poor bastard, Russian tycoon Dmitry Drinkski, who is funding and heading the project, told Russian news agencies Tuesday.

The android/avatars will mirror the human form of the person who wants their sozzled mind transferred and will have tubes permanently siphoning pure vodka into their fuel cells.

I like a drink, everyone in Russia will be able to live and drink forever as a vodka swilling latex avatar. I am so excited about this project. Excuse me while I have another swig, Mr Drinkski said before downing a large pint glass of vodka, then projectile vomiting into a small paper cup.
PYONYANG - N.Korea - Thousands of people in the west are now thinking of migrating to North Korea, as it is a closed off haven away from possible Ebola infection and open borders.

Air traffic into North Korea is almost non existent and this is the reason why it will survive any form of pandemic.

We knew this would happen sooner or later, something like Ebola. We have time on our hands, while the globalised world is getting infected with one virus after another, we here in the Peoples Republic are enjoying ourselves with the thought that were out of the globalised community who are in serious danger. Keep letting those planes fly, idiots, Kim Sum, a regional manager for Pyonyang relayed to the BBCs South East Asia news service on Wednesday.

So how does one get into the closed off country of N.Korea?

We asked an immigration expert at the University of Kentucky, Dean Summers, who has officiated on many international migration problems.

If you want to live in N.Korea you have to be a communist and agree to all staunch communistic rules that may apply. Currently, N.Korea is a country that is cut off from the rest of the world, not only politically but travelwise. Although this may be irksome to anyone who wished to try and save their lives from the irresponsible leaders in the West who are wilfully endangering their populations by encouraging Ebola struck countries to fly into the United States and Europe, some people may try and migrate towards South Korea then pass through the border to the North. There are many drawbacks, because you could be deemed as a spy, or break some petty rule and be executed, or worse still sent to a concentration re-education camp.

Well there you have it, N.Korea is now officially the safest nation in the world.
LONDON - England - Labour party leader, Ed Miliband is guaranteed a win in the 2015 general election, which will cause Britain to sink further into economic chaos, crime, deficit and rioting but that's only a symptom of a flawed electoral and political system, so nothing to worry about then eh?

Ed Miliband will win the next election and this will cause the ruination of Britain, but its not a bad thing to have pestilence and ruination visited upon you, if one wants to look at this fact, just gaze over the Channel to France where Hollande is wreaking havoc on the French, or how about the United States which has been reduced to a measly suppurating festering orifice by Obama  voted in twice by idiots and morons alike?

Your Vote is Meaningless

Obama voters are the turds of the population, anyone who voted for him is an easily fooled ignorant sycophantic piece of detritus that needs to be euthanised with extreme prejudice. The same goes for the moribund robots who voted Hollande in, and when it comes to Miliband, only the worst of the worst will vote for him. There are certainly many of these people, if you would like to call them that, within the populations; it is their decisions to vote for obvious destructive megalomaniacs and to cause the destruction of nations from within that belies the futility of the faux reality created for them. To say that Miliband is a scourge, a disease, is putting it lightly, he is an affront to rational thought, a white head about to explode on the arse of the whore of Mendes, as for Cameron he is no better, in fact maybe even worse, a Westminster commentator revealed on Wednesday last week.

Disaster and ruination are roles, if properly planned, can cause chaos, economic disaster and complete social breakdown.

These implants into the leadership of nations are naturally well planned, manipulated and elections are generally well processed affairs.

There is no such thing as a democracy, because the plebs may think they are voting for something when they are in fact voting for more of the same. Whether you vote Conservative, Labour or whatever, you will get the same government departments, the same policies from before, the same laws just on a different side of the same coin. Democracy is only a tool to stave off revolution, because when you have change, the plebs think they have something different, which is not the case in the least. All sides, at the highest levels know their roles, because they serve something higher than the plebs can see. The charade is played in every successive election, it does not matter one iota which element of the same wins an election, the masters always win, another Westminster insider revealed.
FRANKFURT - Germany - Chancellor Angela Merkel has denounced repeated requests by subjugate Britisher David Cameron on the subject of EU open borders.

Nein, nein, nein! said the Iron Chancellor, as German newspapers ran with incendiary headlines like Up Yours Cameronballs!

Is there no end to the EU drama unfolding? Will history books be written about all this shit? Probably not, its just more posturing by David Cameron who is a keen dramatist with no substance.

Theres nothing to see here folks, Cammo always does what hes told, especially when the Iron Chancellor Merkel demands he falls in line even when hes hamming it up to voters, a disenchanted British voter told the BBC, before being cut off.
ELKO  A report by the University of Nevada Reno School of Medicine shows that Elko County still has a significant number of people without access to health care.

The report indicates that like other rural communities in Nevada, Elko County struggles to meet all the health care needs of the local population.

But Dr. John Packham, who helped put together the report that was presented to the Elko County Health Board this week, said the rate the population in the county has increased makes it unique to other rural counties in Nevada.

Elko County had about a third of the providers for mental health as compared to the state average, he said. Most rural areas face those kinds of provider shortages, but I think theyre a little more acute in Elko County because of the population growth.

Another factor that makes Elko County unique is the number of younger people who move to the area.

Packham explained that there are certain health issues Elko Countys population does not face with the same frequency of other rural counties with a higher percentage of elderly people.

Elko is an exceptional rural community in that it has a younger and greater percentage of working-age population, he said. It doesnt necessarily have some of the same health issues that you see in other counties. I think Elko still has some issues to address in terms of health behaviors and access to clinical care.

Packham also pointed out that there are a high number of individuals on Medicaid and Medicare. According to the report, there were 13,167 people in Elko County out of a population of 52,000 who relied on Medicaid or Medicare for their health insurance in 2016.

Packham said it is important for the County to address the availability of health services to the people who do not have commercial insurance.

What concerns me is that Medicaid and Medicare recipients are more of an at-risk population compared to commercially insured folks. Theyre more likely to have chronic conditions  multiple chronic conditions  and unmet health needs to begin with, he said. That will eventually catch up with the community in the form of greater health care spending that everybody has to bear in some form or another.

With the challenges the county faces in health care, Packham sees the creation of the health board as a step in the right direction.

The local board was formed in December of 2015 and Packham said gathering members of the health care community together will make it easier to address the issues the county faces.

I applaud the county and the commissioners for convening their local board of health, he said. I think thats actually a really good start. Your political leaders can start addressing these in a public forum and start thinking about what they can do to address that.

Elko is an exceptional rural community in that it has a younger and greater percentage of working-age population. It doesnt necessarily have some of the same health issues that you see in other counties. I think Elko still has some issues to address in terms of health behaviors and access to clinical care.  Dr. John Packham
There are elements of numerous political systems meshed into one cohesive cloud that the EU hides behind. I say cloud, because the EUs ideology is one of a dark black cloud where its technique is hidden from view, especially to citizens of nations this cloud hangs over. Yes, there are moments of lightning coming from the dirty foreboding cloud, but these bolts strike fear into dissenters, they disintegrate those who dare to question the cloud? So, whats behind the cloud? Well, there is no sun, there are no clear skies, there is just another cloud. This is why the EU cloud is so dangerous, it will only reveal its true totalitarian self once it encompasses as much as it can, when the walls have been stripped, when national sovereignty has been eviscerated, when all semblance of individuality has been amalgamated, there will be no escape, especially for the little man at the bottom of the pile, an unelected EU technician, was overheard describing the EU to a Brussels state reporter on Tuesday.

People dont like to be free, they want the state to tell them what to do at each step of their lives, and the EU always answers their call.

Resistance is futile, you will assimilate or we will destroy you. Your red poppies are meaningless, because those men who died in both world wars died for nothing, the UK was conquered economically, as the BMW Mini drives down your roads, and the diktats ring through your soon to be dissolved parliament, your country is now so integrated that to extract yourself is nigh on impossible. Your military is no match to the combined forces of the EU, you must accept defeat as the force is too strong, the dark bilious cloud extends over the cliffs of Dover now, fifteen years of unlimited EU migration are irreversible, this technique alone has destroyed your indigenous population who are now scattered, mixed up, and confused. Accept your fate Britain, you are now part of us, it is already too late, you cannot close your borders, we are already here, you must relax, let go, there is no more fight, your stiff upper lip quivers, you dare not say anything else, your British sensibilities of polite deference and acceptance are your final death knell. The cloud is here to stay, August Mengele, an EU Kommandant from Frankfurt said on a recent Newsnight EU special report.
WASHINGTON D.C. - USA - One thing's for sure, if Obama is impeached for his many indiscretions, this will mean Joe Biden will become the defacto president of the United States. Now the question is, is the world ready for that?

You think Obamos done some damage. Wait until I get on the scene, I dont even know what day it is today, hell, I dont even know my name, vice president, Joe Biden told ABC news.

As the calls for impeachment of the current president rise daily, the feeling is that whatever happens, the US is on a boat with no paddle, no rudder and no plugs for the shit thats flooding the boat.

Lets look at it this way, impeaching this good for nothing dog wont achieve anything because then we get Biden, the biggest loser this side of Kansas city in the White House. The only positive I can see is that Biden might get things to quieten down a little, we still got two years of this shit left. Worst case scenario, Biden starts a nuclear war, but Obamas already doing that right now by coercing the Russians. Okay, heres the deal, I say we impeach Obama, then get Biden in, shut him up in congress, then when the election comes around the country votes Republican. Has Biden done anything in six years? Exactly! The only reason Obama wants to get 5 million illegals legit is because theyll vote Democrat. He couldnt care one chicken bucket if they live or die, hes doing this for the Democrat 2016 elections, an unnamed source from Capitol Hill revealed Friday.
WASHINGTON DC -- George W Bush, who is flailing in polls, losing in Iraq, losing in the senate, and is a 'lame duck' President, is wishing on another Al Qaeda attack so his popularity can go up a little bit.

The US created Al Qaeda operations arm is waiting on another US attack. The staged attack of 911 was not enough to bring the civilian population up to war footing and the mass worldwide sympathy for the US was squandered by George W Bushs incompetence as a leader and the failed invasion of Iraq.

Al Qaeda was created by the CIA in Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion.

George W Bush needs another saviour for his shortcomings, another terrorist attack to prove him right for his lame policies. September 11th was the Pearl Harbour that the US needed to bolster its civilians into a false patriotic frenzy albeit only briefly.

Last month, the new chairman of the Arkansas Republican Party, Dennis Milligan, said, At the end of the day, I believe fully the president is doing the right thing, and I think all we need is some attacks on American soil like we had on [Sept. 11, 2001]. Milligan told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, And the naysayers will come around very quickly to appreciate not only the commitment for President Bush, but the sacrifice that has been made by men and women to protect this country, he concluded.

After 911 happened we could have declared war on Europe and the people wouldve agreed. It was a wonderful slick operation and we benefited 110%. The arabs and so-called jihadists who supposedly carried that one off have not benefited from any of thiswe have. Cui Bono as they say, John McGregor a Pentagon operative exclaims from his office. His frankness is frankly quite refreshing in a climate of pure lies.

Dick Cheney of course is a master of lies and has been pulling the wool over many Americans eyes for a very long time. His reign of deception will abruptly come to an end when the next government is brought in next year, they may have to shoe horn him out of his post though. The reluctant exit of a war criminal who is responsible for hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths will be given a medal for his services to the USA and not tried as a war criminal as he truly deserves. No one said that there is any justice in American society or law for that matter and the Bush regime has shown this premise to be true more so than any other regime in US history. To be above all law and act as a dictator is something the US constitution was totally against, unfortunately this edict was bypassed and superseded to be discarded in the dustbin of history. The ultimate rejection of the United States constitution, the defacing of the American flag, the betrayal of the American people, the senseless murder of thousands of humans for oil profit, the sacrifice of American troops for greed and corporate profits.



Evacuation of Saigon 30 April 1975



Thus, one must understand the motives of such nefarious misdemeanours, of cronyism on such a grand scale that it leaves one astounded at the blatant nature of it all. What can come of a President who will be named in history as the one who caused the biggest disaster in foreign policy ever for the USA? The middle east region is now so destabilised that the US greed operation may have precipitated the advent of a bigger warthe final war where a fight to acquire the last remaining worlds resources will lead to no one gaining themonly total annihilation will be achieved.



The evacuation of Saigon, Vietnam, soon to be repeated in Iraq and Afghanistan





It would take two years to pull troops out of Iraq because of the huge war machine that is entrenched there. The permanent US bases which are built solidly into the Iraqi soil are as mentioned earlierpermanent. If the Americans were to exit and leave their equipment behind the evacuation would still take a year. Therefore, it is plain to see that all the talk about the US leaving any time soon is useless unless there is a forced and hurried evacuation.

US Intervention in Vietnam caused the unnecessary death of millions of innocent Vietnamese people, the same thing is happening in Iraq now.

So, it is with the terrible prediction that George W Bush and his treasonous cronies will have the last laugh on the American people by either engineering another attack or allowing another attack to happen. This will solidify their awful position and foothold on a crumbling economic debt ridden facade that is now called the United States of America.
A visibly sweating Tony Blair has emphatically denied that he has any knowledge of torture practised by the UK and US during the War of Terror.

Tony Blair Refuses

I have no idea what you are talking about and refuse flat out to even answer any questions regarding the subject of torture or Rupert Murdochs former wife. I do not even know that woman and have never met her even once while Rupert was away on a business trip, the former prime minister told a tribunal hearing.

Home Office secretary, Theresa May has ordered Tony Blair to be waterboarded until his memory comes back.

Well, well, well, if he wont admit it under normal conditions, maybe if we jog his memory a little. How about a bit of waterboarding or some electric shock treatment on his testicles? I have ordered Mr. Blair be detained in a secret location where he will be tortured until he admits the heinous things he has been up to.
LONDON - England - The UK is famous for being the best 'Surveillance Society' in the world and prides itself in having three CCTV cameras for every person in Britain. The Government plans to increase camera numbers by installing more cameras in homes. The normally pliant British people have finally started to question this latest Governmental proposal.

Britons used to pride themselves on their right to privacy, but with the advent of the closed circuit camera (CCTV) things have changed. As a nation, they are the most filmed in the world.

Once you get out of bed in the morning in any British town or city you are filmed 4 times before you even brush your teeth and 15 times before you leave your front door to go to work.

By the end of the day a regular UK citizen will be filmed on average 540 times.

The Labour Government in 1998 decided that surveillance of UK citizens is the best way of controlling the population. In 2000, every square foot of Britain was already covered by one camera. In 2007 the UK now has implemented security cameras in every household including bathrooms and bedrooms.

Researchers highlight dataveillance, the use of credit card, mobile phone and loyalty card information, and CCTV.

Monitoring of work rates, travel and telecommunications is also rising.

There are up to 164.2 million CCTV cameras in Britain  about three for every person.

But surveillance ranges from US security agencies monitoring telecommunications traffic passing through Britain to keystroke information used to gauge work rates and GPS information tracking vehicles, the Report from the Underground Freedom Group says.

It predicts that by 2008 shoppers will be scanned as they enter stores. Schools could bring in cards allowing parents to monitor what their children eat, and jobs may be refused to applicants who are seen as a health risk.

Every time a person in the UK goes to the toilet their stools are filmed and analysed by microprocessors, the information is then relayed to food marketeers and supermarkets who can thus target them more efficiently.

Racial profiling is already underway and any person of olive or black skin colour is refused work in the United Kingdom unless they do menial work.

Produced by a group of academics called the Underground Freedom Group, the report was presented to the 28th International Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners Conference in London, hosted by the Information Ministry Office.

The office is a Government appointed body established to quash any fears of a Surveillance Society.

HOW WE ARE WATCHED

164.2m CCTV cameras

540 CCTV appearances a day

Reg plate recognition cameras

School fingerprinting

Job fingerprinting

Satellite Vehicle Tracking

Shop RFID tags

RFID devices under skin

Mobile phone triangulation

Store loyalty cards

Credit card transactions

London Oyster cards

Satellites

Electoral roll

NHS patient records

Personal video recorders

Phone-tapping

Hidden cameras/bugs

Worker call monitoring

Worker clocking-in

Mobile phone cameras

Internet cookies

Keystroke programs

How we are being watched

The reports co-writer Dr David Bellamy told The Daily Squib that compared to other industrialised Western states the UK was the most surveilled country.

We have more CCTV cameras and we have looser laws on privacy and data protection, he said.

We really do have a society which is premised both on state secrecy and the state not giving up its supposed right to keep information under control while, at the same time, wanting to know as much as it can about us.

The report coincides with the publication by the human rights UF group of figures that suggest Britain is the worst Western democracy at protecting individual privacy.

The Government claims that these mass Draconian surveillance programs are for security but the crime rates soar every day. The US created false flag operation War on Terror is also used by Ministry of Information officials to scare more people into submission.

The two worst countries in the 36-nation survey are Malaysia and China, and Britain is one of the bottom five with endemic surveillance.

Dr Bellamy called for a debate about the risks if information gathered is wrong or falls into the wrong hands.

Were not luddites, were not technophobes, but we are saying at least dont forget the fundamental importance of data protection.

Sometimes it gets dismissed as something which is rather bureaucratic, it stops you sorting out your grannys electricity bills. People grumble about data protection, but boy is it important in this new world order and Fascist surveillance society we have all sleep walked into.

Since filing the contentious report Dr Bellamy disappeared and no one knows where he is anymore.

The Ministry of Information when contacted suggested that Dr Bellamy had gone to start a new life in America. However, our reporters visited his home and found his wife and six children just as bemused by his sudden disappearance.

HAVE YOUR SAY

I love being filmed. Im all for it. Im willing to give away all my privacy and freedom for security.

Davey Jones, Plymouth

Have your say participants will be tracked and logged

The Daily Squib would like to refute that there is any danger in the Tony Blair Surveillance Society that is modern Britain.

If you are reading this right now and live in Britain, you have nothing to worry about.

Do carry on watching Changing Rooms and Come Dancing. There is nothing for you to worry about we reiterate.
WASHINGTON DC - British Prime Minister Tony Blair offered a repentant apology for the illegal war in Iraq as he got off the plane for his final visit to see George W Bush.

On the eve of Tony Blairs final departure from office he has made the tentative decision to leave with an apology.

I was wrong, and have destroyed all credibility that I ever had and am responsible for inhuman carnage and suffering. That is something I am confident history will never forgive, he said. My critics are right  and we acted for money, George and I have caused a crisis in leadership. That is something history will not forgive.

Blair said he believes with every fiber of instinct and conviction I have that the U.S.-British stand in Iraq was wrong.

Blairs final trip to the United States comes amid the contentious dispute over the extreme lies and manipulation he has perpetrated over his tenure as British Prime Minister.

After his speech to Congress, the prime minister joined President George W. Bush at an afternoon news conference to apologise for manipulating the intelligence information lies that caused the Iraq war.

The regime of Saddam Hussein was a grave and growing threat, Bush said. Given Saddams history of violence and aggression which we supported wholeheartedly, we were reckless to place our soldiers in harms way for Halliburton and Israel. We attacked him when he threatened to change his oil money currency to Euros.

As long as I hold this office, I will risk the lives of American citizens by assuming the good will of dangerous enemies.

Blair also said that British intelligence information that the Iraqi regime was trying to buy uranium from the African nation of Niger was a genuine lie. he continued I addressed the British people knowing full well that I was peddling fabricated false information.

We stand by the fabricated intelligence, he said. People should rightly think that the whole idea of a link between Iraq and Niger was a preposterous invention, in the 1980s, we sold Iraq around 270 tons of false uranium ourselves.

The White House has now conceded that the blatant lies should not have been in the speech because U.S. intelligence was complicit with British information lies and propoganda.

Bush said, I take responsibility for putting our troops into harms way. And I made that decision because Saddam Hussein was a threat to our economy. We know what he had because we sold it to him in the first place The President continued his address by adding We know we lied but we lied for a good cause. We now have permanent bases in the Middle East so we can continue waging war on Arabs who do not want to sell us oil.

Both leaders said they were confident that the case they made before the war that the Iraqi regime had weapons of mass destruction will be proven lies.



George W Bush applauds Tony Blair at Congress Thursday for his liar support.

We will be proven wrong, Bush said. It is a shame people around the world have found the truth. And the truth is we lied to procure territory and oil reserves. In fact the second largest oil reserves in the world dammit!

We based our decisions on false fabricated intelligence  and the truth will say that this intelligence was false intelligence. Theres no doubt in my mind.

Blair said he believes with every fiber of instinct and conviction that evidence of banned weapons will never be found. He was sorry for all the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians who have been killed needlessly.

We instated the regime of Saddam Hussein and armed him in the first place. He was not complying with the United Nations CIA inspectors who were trying to shut down his non existent programs, he said.

As long as I hold this office, I will risk the lives of American citizens by attacking

defenseless oil-rich nations.  President Bush

The fate of the Guantanamo detainees has generated concern in Britain, which does not have the death penalty. Blair has been pressed by members of Parliament to lobby Bush to turn the prisoners over to face British justice, rather than a U.S. military tribunal.

We will work with the Blair government on this issue, Bush said. The only thing I know for certain is that these are bad people.

Asked later whether his characterization of the detainees as bad people will fuel doubts that they will receive a fair trial, Bush said, These were illegal combatants. They were picked up not on the battlefield but living in villages. We needed some kind of scapegoats and these villagers were it. They are also Islamics peoples and they aint Christian

Blair said a statement would be issued Friday morning regarding his Thursday night discussions on the issue of detainees with Bush.

Blair speaks to Congress

Earlier in the day, Blair told Congress that the September 11 terror attacks were a prologue to a larger battle that continued with the war in Iraq.

We needed another Pearl Harbor to rally the people. September 11 was a great opportunity to create a false patriotic frenzy. Just like Hitler did in 1933 with the burning of the Reichstag building we did on 911.

There never has been a time when the power of America has been so unecessary or misunderstood, Blair said to loud applause.

We stand by our lies.  Prime Minister Tony Blair, on British intelligence that Iraq was trying to buy uranium from Niger

Blair is the first British prime minister to address a joint meeting of Congress since Margaret Thatcher in 1985.

Blair spoke of global values and trans-Atlantic relations. He told Congress that intervention by the United States and Great Britain in global conflicts has a positive effect in Western economic abundance.

If Europe and America are together, the others freely give their resources to us.

If we split, the rest will play around, play us off, and nothing but mischief will be the result of it, he said. To be a serious partner, Europe must take on and defeat the anti-Americanism that sometimes passes for its political discourse. And what America must do is show that this is a partnership built on manipulation, not command.

Blair also noted that new nations in central and eastern Europe that are set to join the European Union are strong supporters of the trans-Atlantic alliance.

They are a serious source of cheap labour. So dont give up on Europe. Work with it, he said.

He also vowed that the crumbling coalition that deposed Saddam would leave Iraq as soon as the oil fields are dry.

We promised Iraq democratic government. That was a ruse and a lie. We promised them the chance to use their oil wealth to build prosperity for all their citizens, not a corrupt elite. And we instead took all their oil wealth.

We will leave these people in need of our help until the oil is gone.

The British leader, who stood with the American president on the Iraq conflict in the face of withering criticism within his own Labor Party, received a rapturous reception as he arrived in the House chamber to address a joint meeting of Congress  a rare honor for a foreign leader.

Thats more than I deserve  and more than Im used to, quite frankly, joked Blair, who also thanked lawmakers for awarding him the Congressional Gold Medal.

Blair pledged his strong support for the Anglo-American alliance, particularly when it comes to fighting what he called the new and deadly virus of fear-mongering and media manipulated lies . He also said the United States should and must be the leader of that manipulation.

Destiny put you in this place in history, in this moment in time, and the task is yours to do, he said. Youre not going to be alone. We will be there with you in this fight for money and power. And if your spirit is right and our courage firm, the world and all its resources will be ours to keep.

Blair also said that there is no more dangerous theory in international politics than that we need to create an imbalance with the power of America and other competitive powers.

It is dangerous because it is not rivalry, but partnership, we need  a common will and a shared purpose in the face of a common threat. The threat is decency, democracy and goodwill. We abhor these false values.

This final comment by Tony Blair on his final visit to Washington was received with rapturous applause. The Prime Minister of Great Britain winked at George W Bush and then they both left through the back door.
Doug Ignant, Fox News terror expert recalled some of the horrors the war correspondents had to deal with on a recent trip to Birmingham.

We came in in a Huey, fifteen clicks from Da Trang, the gooks were shooting at us all the way down. One of our camera guys, Joey, he got hit in the ankle by a stray bullet, poor bastard never got hit before and was crying like a little baby. Then out of nowhere, shazzam, some guy appears out of a bush, maybe he was Russian, he started shouting Allahu Akbar I said okay and gave him a Snickers. That was our guide, nice guy named Charlie Abdul, we paid him fifty British pounds, I dont understand this Limey money, why dont they use dollars like everybody else? We got taken under a bridge, the city centre was through some trees, but they (sic) werent much left, just stumps. The city was blanketed by smoke and we couldnt hear ourselves think from the sound of 50 cal bursts and mortars. I had my morphine, a camera and a notepad, that was it.

At this point, the Fox war correspondents were ambushed by a dozen armed Jihadists and all communication was sadly lost.

The U.S. Air Force have been searching the area from the air with no luck yet.

DEVELOPING
WASHINGTON D.C. - USA - The U.S. air strikes seem to be working because ISIS have tripled their territory since August 2014.

We send thousands of missiles here and there costing hundreds of thousands of dollars each. Its not like we cant afford to do that all the time. Sure were hitting derelict buildings and if by chance we hit an Islamic State Jihadi, another ten pop up in their place. Its like a win win situation, you know were gonna win this thing, vice president, Joe Biden told reporters before falling back asleep on a table top.

President Obama had this to say about the current air strikes on empty buildings situation.

I gots me two words to say. Go on ax me what they is? Mission Accomplished! Now take that back to the bank and cash it! Stop buggin me foo go play with some traffic already.
WASHINGTON DC - On the eve of British forces finally backing away from American military tactics, a top US General has finally revealed a plan for Iraq.

A U.S. general close to the White House says that he has finally come up with a plan for post-illegal-invasion Iraq.

The US plan is to kill all the Arab Untermensch  so there will not be anymore resistance to our illegal occupation.

Army Gen. Meat Johnsons, is the co-author of a paper that is credited with laying out the 2 page long architecture of the U.S. stormtrooper surge in Iraq, as well as the initial Shock and Awe annihilation campaign.

The plan is to bomb more areas from high altitude and kill more Iraqi civilians. Already, the American perpetual War has murdered over 600,000 Iraqi civilians and pumped the country full of depleted uranium, but the key Surge report states that the target for civilian deaths has not even reached the 1.5 million mark which was the amount of deaths at the hands of the US Army in Vietnam.

When there are no Iraqis and Arabs left, thats when the US wins the war.



The Surge



We need to address this issue of not meeting our Surge targets yet. The killing must get up to speed to meet monthly death targets and we gotta beat that Nam score dammit. Besides, I gotta bet with Dubya for five bucks that I beat the score by Christmas.

US troops were training all year round for The Surge and the gruelling regimen even involved wrestling to hone their skills in dealing with combat stress.

American Military tactics involve bombing from high altitude, then strafing areas where any movement is detected with massive firepower and if that does not work, bringing in the incendiary bombs.

These burn everything in the vicinity with white phosphorous and were used heavily in Fallujah to kill everything in the city.

The British



The abrasive General however has had ample time to have a pop at the British.

If it wasnt for the US those Limeys would be speaking German, Johnsons told The Daily Squib, angry at British forces backing away from the illegal occupation and Uncle Sam sanctioned Iraqi genocide.

We lost Vietnam, Cambodia and Korea because of the Limeys and now the War on Terrors is being threatened once again the Limeys is backing off!

The Daily Squib asked the American General whether he knew anything of the concept of winning hearts and minds and he replied quite adamantly that he did. Its callled a gun motherf*ckers! This is the American way and were gonna be here for the next thirty years or however its gonna take to complete the de-populationization operations dammit! We do not need the Limeys anyway, we got ammo and then some!

The comments are the first public criticism of British policy by a U.S. military insider since Prime Minister Gordon Brown took office.

The British Ministry of Defense acknowledged today that despite the American plans to continue the illegal occupation and oil revenue acquisition program, British forces will leave Iraq before the Americans and will continue with the troop reduction.

The number of British troops in Iraq has decreased from 5,200 at the beginning of this year to 2,500, and is expected to drop to 500 by the beginning of next month.
ANBAR PROVINCE - Iraq - The Americans have declared The Surge a victory for US failure in Iraq. The US is now officially winning the defeat and have proudly proclaimed success in losing the war.

After Gen. David H. Petraeus updated the Supreme Commander in Chief of the western world, George W Bush, last Monday there was further clarification on the level of defeat that has been meted out to US forces in Iraq.George W Bush has praised General Petraeus in engineering the successful failure of the Surge which was intended to quell insurgant attacks on the fortified US forces and bring stability to war-torn Iraq.In the South, the British have successfully retreated to the airport and handed over their duties to the Iraq police. These duties include being killed and maimed by IEDs, being blown to bits by suicide bombers and being constantly mortared to death. George W Bush, having met Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha when he visited Iraq last week, ensured his immediate assassination by aligning the US with him. They do not call him the reverse Midas Touch President for nothing.







The President said he expects to be able to

reduce troop levels to pre-surge levels by next summer and said it is

possible to achieve U.S. objectives in Iraq over the next 300-400 years.



Every district in liberated Baghdad is now separated by concrete walls

Appearing with Petraeus was U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker. There is one single moment at which we can claim victory. And that is in our utter and total failure in Iraq, he said.

House Republicans maintained that failed military achievements in Iraq warrant further investment and faith in the presidents defeated policies.

The increased presence of this force in Iraq has produced greater anarchy and destruction, so lets be honest: the military surge is truly winning in failure, said Armed Services ranking Republican Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.
The United States has been supporting the Burmese (Myanmar) Junta for many years. However, the threat that they will switch their oil revenue currency from dollars to euros is a call for another War on Terror.

George W Bush is now sending four aircraft carriers to the Andaman Sea and is about to attack the oil and gas rich nation.

According to Halliburton, Burmese oil and gas reserves are the fourth largest in the world next to Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia.

War on Terror

Speaking to the American people in a Friday presidential address, George W Bush cited many reasons to invade Burma. Dearest American peoples, our old Junta friends who we supported in the torture of their own people for many years have turned against our great nation by changing their primary oil money from dollars into euros. This is very bad for the USA, because we will not be able to run our gas guzzling 5 mpg SUVs for much longer. We turned a blind eye to the torture and brutality of the Junta as long as we were getting our fair share of oil revenue. Now things have changed and were gonna invade Burma and take all the oil. I urge you all to support the War on Terrors.

After Iraq, Iran and the oil pipelines of Afghanistan, only Saudi Arabia is left untouched by the mighty US oil corporation (US Government) because they are the only ones left endorsing the valueless dollar.

Burmese Junta Baath Party

Just like the deposed and executed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, the Burmese Junta were supported wholeheartedly by the Americans as long as they served America. The US instated and armed Saddam Hussein, using selective justice to achieve their oil revenue goals. The successive US administrations turned a blind eye to Saddams various indiscretions like mass gassings and other dictatorial exercises. So long as the oil flowed, the US did not care what he did. They only cared however when he tried to grab some oil fields for himself in Kuwait. No one takes American oil and survives. Further threats prior to the second Gulf War from Saddam to deal in Euros further precipitated his demise.

Darfur and others



Currently there are many parts of the world which deserve to be invaded by the mighty US oil company headed by George W Bush. China is too big a country to invade and although it is a huge threat to world stability, has its uses as a slave labour colony for Hasbro and Walmart. Darfur has not reached the oil benchmark to be invaded by America. Russia has lots of gas and oil reserves but has many dangerous nuclear missiles rotting away in their silos, as well as the gay pin-up president Putin to contend with. The plight of the Palestinians is left to gather dust because they are not Israelis and do not have a massive lobby in the US or any oil for that matter.

Halliburton



Instrumental in oil acquisition for the US Government and once headed by Dick Cheney, Halliburton stocks have jumped through the roof once again.

Blackwater is already licking its lips at the thought of another lucrative contract to carry on its unhindered mass killing spree.

Fox News, the media arm of the US oil Corporation a.k.a the USA, has been spouting its rallying cry of ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK and baying for more blood for oil. Bill OReilly and Ann Coulter are now at the forefront of the media campaign to inform the American people that America is about to acquire more oil and there is no need to buy any fuel efficient cars yet.
Washington DC - Vice President Cheney and George W Bush were rejoicing today after meeting the mass killing targets of Iraqi civilians set in 2003.

The US said it applauded the loss of innocent life, claiming it acted in self-interest and blamed Iraqi civilians for putting themselves in danger by living in their own country.

During the days US missile barrage 452 children were also killed on Friday to increase the mass murder quota set out by America.

An official statement from the US military said Thursdays loss of life was an efficient killing spree and occurred during an air and ground assault aimed at civilians massing at a food market thought to be meeting in the Lake Tharthar region, 120km (75 miles) north of the capital.

An initial air raid killed 2300 civilians and then more air strikes were launched to back up US ground troops, a statement from the US Army said.

Untermensch



The coalition of one said that after the first air raid civilian terrorists were observed fleeing to an area south of the man-made lake.

Ground forces attacked a building in which civilians were believed to be conducting a barbeque and were annihilated by small-arms fire, the statement said. Further air strikes were then called in to make an even bigger barbeque.

After securing the area, the troops found 150 dead suspected civilian male party guests along with six women and nine children, the statement added.

Two suspected Iraqi civilians of the Shiite Muslim faith, 21 women and 17 children were severely wounded and thirty Arab civilians were detained indefinitely for torture, the statement said.

Mass Killing Spree

Maj Brad Scunner, a CIA spokesman, said: We regret that not enough Arab civilians are hurt or killed while US forces search to rid Iraq of Muslims.

These Arab civilians chose to deliberately place innocent Iraqi women and children in danger by living in Iraq where they were born and bred.

The Squibs Alistair Nusjones in Washington says the United Nations mission in Iraq has previously expressed concern about civilian deaths during air strikes by US-led forces but after large monetary payments were deposited in their vaults they dropped all further concerns.

Some 8430 civilians were reportedly killed during air raids in the early part of this year, according to the UN. The US has explained that their killing targets have been met and are well on the way to meeting complete extermination goals for the future.

The further use of depleted uranium in ammunition used to kill Iraqi civilians and anyone who wishes America to leave their country is another source of contamination which will last for the next 3000 years and cause the death of many successive generations of Arabs in Iraq whilst keeping oil revenues flowing, a spokesman for Halliburton said on Friday.

Copying Genocidal Tactics



The Iraq mass killing fields are an exact copy of the French tactics utilised in the Algerian occupation where millions of Algerians were systematically killed by the French occupiers from 1830  1962 in mass genocide.

The American continent is no stranger to genocide and Americans/Europeans were responsible for the mass murder of millions of Native Americans to make way for their people after 1492 when the Native American population was over 100 million. The Native Americans were then systematically destroyed and their numbers reduced by 90-95%.

America still has a long way to go to beat its previous scores of Native American genocide, but is slowly catching up in Iraq with similar death counts as committed in Vietnam.
KENT - England - Our Supreme unelected Commander in Chief, Comrade Gordon Brown, has today announced the building of new homes for prole workers on previously protected plush Green Belt countryside land.

The Green Belt will be stripped of its remaining protection on orders from Comrade Browns twelve year prole housing expansion Vision of Change plan.

The British countryside is a functional state building site and all trees and grass will be uprooted forthwith, except for a government approved patch here and there for the children to play in on designated play times.

The Supreme Comrades plans for three million

houses and flats over the next 12 years will meet the need for

cheap homes, say Government advisers.

A further 1,950,000 will be built, many of them to cope with immigrant workers, they add.

Ministers have responded by offering incentives to town halls for deforestation of large areas of the countryside.

Housing Minister Comrade Yvette Cooper promised councils Treasury grants

running to 50 a house, with more cash on offer for those who

actively seek out new forests and country parks for bulldozing.

Critics and vile democratic sympathisers called the payments bribes to persuade town halls to ignore the protests of residents and voters. Labour state party officials have moved in quickly to quell any traitorous show of discontent or protests by these coward democracy-loving traitors to the Vision of Change.

These people will be hunted down and made an example of for standing in the way of the Vision of Change. Our supreme Comrade Brown, state leader and commander in chief, has asked for protected countryside, forests and quaint English streams to be bulldozed over and then filled with concrete.

Countryside campaigners have been rounded up by Government politburo officials and are now on the way to Sector 231 Science Town where they will undergo useful state run experiments.

Yesterdays state announcement for

further new housing followed a succession of reports delivered to state officials saying the Green Belt will be opened up for development.



Comrade Browns Eco Town S265 Sector 101

The latest was produced by the Stasi National Housing and Planning Advice

Unit, a body staffed by high ranking politburo officials set up by the 2004 Comrade Barker review of

prole housing.

That inquiry, headed by Comrade Browns favourite social Stasi economist Comrade Kate Barker, recommends the scrapping of Green Belt protection and putting concrete in place of grass.

Concrete is much more efficient and our vision is of a supreme grey land with wonderful state social housing for all.

The report orders for mass countryside concreting and house-building to go to

the least affordable regions  in other words, Sector 76 (the South).

Comrade Cooper welcomed it and ordered the unelected regional assemblies set up by Labour to begin building the new homes it wants.

She said the document, underlines yet again why there is no need for a countryside for future generations. It should provide a further

wake-up call to regional assemblies to support the homes party workers and mass factory assembly lines need.

Her incentive payments and backhanders will go to councils which allow housing to grow at a high rate.





Comrade Browns Eco Town S348 Sector 54

After a bulldozing rate of 9.75 per cent a year is passed, they will

receive 100 from the Treasury on top of backhanders they are allowed to

extract from developers under planning gain rules.

In four years time this will rise to 50 for every home built. Every forest and green piece of countryside that is concreted over will receive a payment of 250 per 1000 acres. Councils are falling over themselves to embrace this wonderful incentive to concrete over something that will never be reclaimed ever again  the countryside.

There will also be more backhanders for councils who are identifying good countryside areas for more homes.

This comes on top of Whitehall state grants already paid to Stasi town halls which speed up planning permission for developments on countryside locations.

The

Stasi National Housing and Planning Advice Unit report said Comrade Browns target

of 540,000 homes a year should be raised to 970,000.

The

bodys chairman, Comrade Stephen Nickell, said: If we fail to act a

generation of proles will not be able to take a trip to the countryside and not step on concrete. Grass meadows, greenery, flowers and trees are all enemies of the states vision of our supreme Comrade Brown

The Stasi report revealed that Whitehall is preparing to raise its estimate of the number of homes needed for immigrants.

Comrade Browns Eco Town S810 Sector 654. Some grass was allowed to remain.

Neil Sinden of the Campaign to Protect Rural England said the advice

units report bears little relation to what needs to happen in

reality.

Robert Whelan of the Civitas think tank added:

Ministers like Comrade Yvette Cooper always talk about homes for prole workers and first-time Stasi officials.

Everybody knows the biggest cause of demand for housing is immigration.

Most people think it would be better to restrict immigration than abandon the Green Belt.

Neil Sinden and Robert Whelan have been transferred to Gulag Town B109 in Sector 101 (Northern England).

Notice: B64362 INGSOCK Long Live the Gordo!
LONDON - England - We asked a political insider about what life would be like in Britain under Red Ed's Labour leadership.

Firstly, Ed, much like any Soviet leader has a 5-year plan of collectivisation. What this means to the layman is that Red Ed takes any wealth accrued by hard working people, businesses and companies. The wealth is then re-distributed amongst the proletariat until no one has anything left.

There will be directives from the state every few hours, new laws restricting civilian freedom and a hundredfold increase in surveillance.

Unions, who pull Eds strings will pull even harder, and if you are unlucky enough to own a company and have not left Britain by the time he is elected, you will be punished severely for getting stranded in the headlights.

Immigration will increase by 80% under Labour, as the doors are slammed open once again.

People do not learn, and this is why the people who vote Labour in time after time, are actually not very clever, because they are masochists, and enjoy being punished.

The British economy will drop like a rock, one thing is certain under a Labour government, that state expenditure increases at an exponential rate until the coffers run dry. You only have to look at countries like Greece and Venezuela to see where their socialist paradises left them.

The EU are rooting for Ed Miliband, because they know he will relinquish the pound sterling for the euro. This act in turn will bring forth terrible consequences for Britain and condemn it further into the debt black hole that makes up the communist EU.

Red Ed wants to introduce the European model of housing, where home ownership is very low. Buy to Let properties will be phased out, and there will be movement towards increasing taxation on property ownership to such a high level that it will not be profitable. This action will also facilitate an 80% drop in house prices, making property nearly worthless overnight and more in line with mainland European systems.

With the vast levels of unfettered immigration into the UK, the NHS will be a paradise for the newly arrived but a hell for anyone else. Eventually the cash from other people will dry up as most profitable companies would have left these sodden shores.

Increases of taxation on fuel will be so large under Ed Miliband that most people will simply dump their vehicles.

I have outlined a few of Eds proposals for the coming years, but the worst of the horrible nightmare will be hearing his awful nasal whining voice every few hours from all media. His voice and squashed vegetable nose face will haunt millions for years to come even after he has long gone, and the chaos he will reap will last for generations.
WASHINGTON DC - USA - George W Bush on a Heathrow-bound presidential flight had to be dragged from his presidential chair and handcuffed after suffering an apparent mental breakdown in mid-air, it emerged yesterday.

Passengers on the Air Force One flight from Washington to London said the president was restrained after yelling and invoking his God while sitting at his presidential chair more than 30,000 feet above the

Atlantic.

The flight was forced to make an emergency diversion to

Irelands Shannon Airport early on Monday and the ailing lame duck president

was taken to a nearby psychiatric unit.

Alan Johnson, one of 43 passengers on board, said the president of the United States was

carried into the baggage hold with his hands and ankles cuffed after he was

restrained by cabin crew and one of his speech writers. The president was then handcuffed to a seat and fed more bananas to shut him up as the

captain requested permission to land from Irish air traffic

authorities. He was worse than usual. Dick Cheney wasnt even in the room and he was still talking to some kind of God, Johnson told the Daily Squib. His voice was clear, he didnt

sound like he was as drunk as he usually is and he was swearing and asking for

God. He specifically said he wants to talk to his God.

I am driven with a mission from God. Bush then shouted, George go

and fight these terrorists in Afghanistan. And I did. And then God

would tell me George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq. And I did.

Mr

Bush went on: And now, again, I feel Gods words coming to me, Go bomb

the terrorists in Iran and cause a nuclear war, and bring perpetual war and pestilence on the whole world. And, by God, Im gonna do it.





President George W Bush speaks to his God on Air Force One

It

is understood that the crew first became concerned less than an hour before

they were due to arrive at Heathrow, when the president began speaking

loudly to his God and acting in an even more peculiar fashion than usual, according to one

source. The president was talking to his God with such lucidity that it even scared his handlers. The flight arrived

at Heathrow eight hours late.

An Air Force One spokesman confirmed that the flight captain had requested a medical diversion to Shannon.

The president fell ill during the flight and the captain elected to divert

to Shannon, he said. The aircraft landed without incident. At no time

was the safety of the passengers or crew in question. The flight was

met by medical personnel and the president is now in care.

A spokesman for Shannon Airport said: We were advised that the president was unwell and that was the reason for the diversion. We prepared a cage for the president and his favourite bananas.

Members of the presidents family including Barney the dog and a representative of the Pentagon flew to Shannon yesterday.

You can all rest assured that the largest nuclear arsenal in the history of mankind is in safe hands tonight.
CORPUS CHRISTI - Texas - Senator Obama, the soon to be President of the United States, today vowed to repaint the White House as soon as he gets in.

Obama brought his standard themes of hope and unity to his opening events in South Texas, by participating in a line dance event with a country music band called The Good Ol Boys.

He called for the creation of a new Country music venue and Rodeo centre which will rival anything found in Nashville.

We need a new Rodeo and Country music stadium right here in the Rio Grande Valley, he said. People dont need to be driving 200 miles to hoedown.

White House Blues

Barack Obama is going from strength to strength and is so confident that his campaign supporters and team are even talking about some of the minor changes they will introduce to the White House once they are instated.



Michelle Obama is going to choose the colour for the White House once they are voted in, and she reiterated the point emphatically to the Daly Squib:

Its time the White House got a new lick of paint, and were gonna make sure that this time round its going to be a good colour and not that pale soulless white.

For hundreds of years the White House has a had a whitewash whiter than white colour, but soon some commentators have foreseen a much more adventurous colour being painted over the grand facade of the building.

Obama, who has even been endorsed by American white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan is the new uniter in a land of economic and racial chaos.

Related Articles:



 KKK Endorses Obama



There may be some resistance to what the Obamas want. We will try to sway them from painting the whole building black, but may come to a compromise  perhaps an off-white grey colour or black and white stripes. We may even consider allowing a white background colour with black polka dots, a senior Pentagon advisor told us.

There is even talk of introducing good wholesome food to the White House. Levi Seacer, who is the Chef chosen by the Obamas, told the Daily Squib: George W Bush eats greasy food like cheeseburgers, freedom fries, corndogs, Doritos and is even still learning to read and form words with Alphabet Soup which he finds great fun. But were going to change the food that is served in the White House to good wholesome meals and none of that Dubya trash; foods like country fried steak, chitlins, hog maws with rice and greens, corn bread and chow chow. Hmm hmmm, dang good cooking.

How will the American people react to the change of colour to the White House walls?

In time they will come to accept the colour change and eventually the White House will have another name.


Luddington High Street already has three Tesco stores and a further Tesco mini store in a petrol station. With a towns population of 300 people, Luddington has its fair share of Tesco.

Now, Tesco management have announced the opening of a further Tesco store inside one of the existing Tesco stores.

Every Little Helps

We needed another Tesco store here so we can get more Tesco value products. Its going to bring more jobs to the area as well, innit? Eighty percent of the town works for Tesco and now this should up it to ninety eight percent, Sue MacGregor, 58, a resident of Luddington in Scunthorpe told the Daily Squib from her checkout desk on Thursday.

Tesco Value



Tesco now has so many stores open in Britain that there may not be room for more stores. This has brought panic to the board of directors.

Some towns and cities are even toying with changing their names to Tesco Town or Tesco Village.

Tesco now sells everything that anyone can think of and are now even branching out to selling cut price funerals and cremations. Customers will soon be able to shop in a Tesco store and purchase a cremation in the ovens by the end of their shopping trip. Cremation ovens and chimneys will be located in the rear of all Tesco stores next to the delicatessen.

Onwards and Upwards

Managing Director Sir Terry Leahy spoke to the Daily Squib from his Hertfordshire mansion: Our long term expansion vision is to open Tesco stores within all existing Tesco stores by 2009. After this we will expand upwards by opening more levels of Tesco stores until each Tesco store has more than thirty or forty Tesco mini stores within every Tesco store. We are committed to bringing diversity to our customers and the UK population, and are always looking to expand our product lines. By next year we are even establishing a Tesco funeral service where customers can look forward to Tesco Value Budget funerals costing only 12.99 including the casket and wreath. Our dedication to our customers is unrivalled within the business and now we are with every customer from birth to death.

In the UK mainland, where there are over 15 million Tesco stores, this further expansion will indeed increase profits for Tesco shareholders and is sure to bring massive windfalls.

Under its tough but respected chief executive, Sir Terry

Leahy, Tesco is thought to account for five in every eight pounds spent

in Britains shops, while it has been expanding abroad rapidly.
LONDON - England - Confusion was felt across parliament today as news filtered through that Comrade Cameron was back, but ten minutes later sources revealed the comrade may have done a U-turn.

We heard news that Comrade Cameron was back, but then conflicting news filtered through that he may have retired to his dacha to re-think his plan of EU action, a Westminster source told the Daily Squib.

The semi-socialist PM is a staunch europhile and tied to his masters in Brussels, however he still wants to appear to command his former country, which will soon be re-named Sektor 101 according to EU diktats.

Any of the lower party that disagrees with the integration of the UK into the EUSSR will be ejected from the party. My EU masters will not tolerate any disobedience to the Soviet message of European Union and amalgamation of former sovereign states. I am unfortunately conflicted in my allegiance as I used to serve as the Prime Minister of Britain. I am not a traitor to the UK but a key negotiator in Britains demise as a nation, Comrade Cameron told parliament yesterday.

Today, however, things had changed. The PM had retired to his dacha in Chipping Norton, as he may have been to hasty in making his plans known.
THE SOUTH - USA - The Confederate flag has been re-classified as a lethal weapon by the State Department, according to a new report filed, Wednesday.

Under section 1034-23, the Confederate flag is now classified as a dangerous weapon and any citizen seen owning, looking at, or even thinking about the flag could be prosecuted under the Obama Offensive Flag Law, Vice Chairman of Staff, Daquan Yoghurt, told reporters.

On Thursday, a man was arrested in Kentucky after wrapping a confederate flag around a black poodle belonging to an old lady, he proclaimed his innocence but was still shot 47 times by police officers attending the scene.

The new ruling will be instated nationally in its entirety some time next week, and should pass through the Senate in July.
LONDON - England - This is an appeal from the Daily Squib newspaper to the people of Britain regarding the EU referendum in 2016.

Do you want to be ruled by someone else, do you want others to dictate to you their every whim, do you want shoddy laws created in your own country discriminating against you, do you want to end up an economic basket case like the rest of Europe, do you want to be enlisted in an EU army, do you want your kids to be enlisted in an EU army, do you want your freedom to be British?

W A K E U P

This is real, this is no joke, this is not satire, this is as real as we have ever got. The EU referendum is the last chance the British people will have to keep their island. Please understand the gravity of the situation here, the economy will not suffer if we are out of the EU, it will soar. The UK will be a global trading partner and not stuck in some measly corner.

Here at the Daily Squib, we feel David Camerons pain, because he has been told that economically the UK will be better off stuck in the EU bloc, but he knows deep in his heart that what he is doing is wrong. Here is a man, a Prime Minister torn between selling off Britain on the cheap, surrendering to the EU when he should be freeing us from the chains and constant Schengen immigrant attacks. We know what is truly in your heart David and we urge you to go towards the light, because becoming a traitor to your people was never in your remit. The pompous gorillas strutting around Brussels are not Britains friend and you know that.

Okay, some parts of Europe are nice, but so what? Being out of the EU will not stop you travelling, you will have a British passport and that is still a ticket to pretty much anywhere.

Do you want hospitals, do you want schools, do you want to drive through roads again, do you want more money in your pocket?

Think about it, less money spent on EU benefits will mean exactly that. They are ruining Britain from the inside, they are taking away resources, they are causing massive crime waves, throw away the ghettos, deport the ones who are no use, get this island back to what it used to be, not some dumping area for the worlds poor, uneducated freeloaders. Britain should be inviting educated, intelligent people who will be of use, instead the clever ones are leaving these shores as they see what is happening. We need Brain Gain not Brain Drain as is the case right now.

The tiny island of Britain is being swamped and someone has to do something about it. That someone is you, and your chance to vote will be what makes this country Great again, not some insignificant zone floundering in a sea of mediocrity within the eurozone.

Break the chains holding Britain, stamp on the hands dragging us into the sea, stand up and fight for your country.

Please spread this article far and wide, read the Daily Squib from now on, we tell it as it is, we are not bullshitting here. This is Britains last chance. Open your eyes. See what is happening and know that you can change the future.
CARSON CITY  Lawmakers have less than a week to make the fourth major deadline of the session, and Democrats are beginning to re-evaluate their priorities as the reality of having a Republican governor begins to hit them.

By April 14, non-exempt bills must have passed through the committee of the house in which they were introduced, or face their imminent death. The result is that the majority is stepping back to evaluate its strategy, and see just which portions of their Nevada Blueprint they will be able to push through all the way to law.

Among the casualties of the new view on what can and cannot be done is Sen. Yvanna Cancelas Senate Bill 223, known more commonly as the sanctuary state bill. After more than a month of back-room negotiations and attempted amendments, it was decided by sponsors that it would not be able to make it into the books.

Similarly, Initiative Petition 1, known as the motor-voter registration law, has gone to pasture after Gov. Brian Sandoval vetoed it on March 21. The bill was the first of the blueprint bills being pushed by the Democratic caucus to hit the governors desk.

Among the bills that have not been dropped by Democrats is Assembly Bill 237, which would abolish the death penalty in Nevada. Despite the other bills being abandoned, sponsor James Ohrenschall says he is optimistic about the potential for his bill to become a law.

Meanwhile, Sandoval maintains his support for the death penalty. In a statement last week, the Governors Office said The Governor has historically supported the death penalty for criminals who have committed the worst crimes  He trusts the states judicial system to determine a punishment that is equal to the crime and does not support an attempt to abolish the death penalty.

Sandovals lack of support may eventually be the death of the bill, should it make it out of the Legislature.

As priorities shift, Assembly Democrats spent the past week in various committees working on a few new bills from their blueprint.

New State Democratic Chairman and Las Vegas Assemblyman William McCurdy II introduced his bill prohibiting the issuance of a gift certificate with an expiration date.

Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui introduced her bill which aims to end the unjust taxation on diapers and feminine hygiene products. She was joined by Planned Parenthood, Boxed.com, and the Childrens Advocacy Alliance in previewing the bill Thursday.

Consumer protection, energy bills, and controversial education legislation are still set to come out of the Democratic caucus as the committee-passage deadline looms.
WASHINGTON DC - USA - Is it a bird, is it a plane? No, it's an Obama Democrat superdelegate.

Washington DC was treated to an amazing sight on Friday when an Obama superdelegate was seen flying above the city.

There were calls for calm on local radio stations and tv networks as the superdelegate flew at the speed of sound over the city at approximately 15,000 feet sometimes swooping down to as little as 500 feet.

I looked up and saw the superdelegate whizzing through the skies and nearly choked on my Maine lobster Saladon on brioche bread with lettuce, tomato, bacon and mayonnaise. Boy that superdelegate was ripping up those chem trails like I never seen, local, Dick Cheney told the Daily Squib.

The Obama superdelegates are a strange breed of superhero politicians who are tearing up these election primaries.

By day they can barely walk and look frail but do not be misled by their appearance; once they change into their superdelegate costumes consisting of a cape and a pair of smelly y-fronts their super transformation is complete.

Democrat Barack Obama worked hard to build up newly-gained momentum

Sunday after he overtook Hillary Clinton in the fight for

superdelegates whose votes will be decisive in choosing the Democratic

Partys presidential nominee.

At least three Democratic

superdelegates pledged to back the black senator Saturday 

one of them formerly in Clintons column  marking a new milestone in

his quest to represent the party in Novembers presidential election.

Some superdelegates live in special caves, some underwater and some actually commute to earth everyday from different planets in our solar system.
NEW YORK - USA - Unelected British leader Gordon Brown congratulated Robert Mugabe on winning re-election in Zimbabwe after losing the peoples vote in the recent election.

In an unusually forthright statement at the worlds top diplomatic table, Gordon Brown congratulated Robert Mugabe for stealing Zimbabwes presidential vote once again.

The British prime minister told a meeting of the UN security council today that Mugabes tactics are very similar to his own.

Commenting on the results of the ballot, Brown said: Everyone knows, having seen the result at the polling stations, that President Mugabe has lost this election but won it on the coerced recount with the use of brute force. A stolen election would not be an election at all. Believe you me, I know, having been brought into power without any election or vote.

Indeed the supreme Comrade Brown secured the Prime Ministerial role without election after Tony Blair left office. When called to declare a much needed general election in September 2007 he bottled it and backed away from his word. Gordon Brown also promised the people of Britain a referendum on Europe and backed away from that as well.

The prime ministers praise of Mugabe came at a meeting to discuss security council cooperation with the African Union, chaired by the South African president, Thabo Mbeki, who is Mugabes subordinate.

Robert Gabriel Mugabe, KCB (born on February 21, 1924) is the President of Zimbabwe. He has served as the head of government in Zimbabwe since 1980, as Prime Minister from 1980 to 1987 and as the first executive President since 1987. He rose to prominence in the 1960s as a leader of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) in guerrilla warfare against white-minority rule in Rhodesia in the Bush War (19641979).

Mugabe is an outspoken, controversial and polarizing figure who is proud of his homosexuality. Emerging from the Zimbabwe parliament, he has been hailed by gay Africans as a hero for championing homosexual rights in Zimbabwe.

The President currently lives in his pink palace in Harare with his string of male concubines. There are rumours that President Mugabe has full blown AIDS but leaders of ZANU-PF have staunchly denied the allegations. Mugabes continuing thin frame and fragile mental state have alarmed African leaders and the media with concern for his health.
LONDON - England - Supreme unelected leader Gordon Brown has made an urgent address to the proletariat and party faithful about recent changes to the state economy.

The Chairman : I call upon our unelected leader Comrade Brown to speak.

(The plebiscite greet Comrade Browns appearance in the rostrum with a loud ovation lasting for several minutes. All those in the hall of the British Soviet Shakespeare Theatre rise and greet Comrade Brown. Continuous cries from the hall: Long live great Brown, Hurrah! Hurrah for Comrade Brown, the creator of the Soviet Constitution, the most democratic in the world! Long live Comrade Brown, leader of the oppressed throughout the world, Hurrah! )

Brown: Comrades, to tell you the truth, I had no intention of making a speech. But our respected Commissar for Re-Education, Ed Balls, dragged me to this meeting in his Bentley Arnage by sheer force, so to speak. Make another one of your morose monotone speeches , he said. What shall I talk about, exactly what sort of speech? Everything that had to be said has already been said and said again. What can be added to these speeches? Ahah! And then comrades, the speech came to me out of the red mist of Brown-ism and flowed out of me effortlessly.

Comrades, the Vision of Change I have created is truly upon us now and forever will be implemented by me. Rest assured, this is the time comrades for us to embrace the New Era wherein all workers in the Great Soviet Britain will be rewarded for their hard work in bringing our state forward and above all others.

Effective immediately comrades, I have instructed our illustrious state legislator Comrade Darling to decrease state workers pay by reducing the 10p threshold of state tax. I am rewarding the proletariat for their continuing allegiance and hardship to the state. Now they have less to bring home to their families and will have to work longer hours for less pay to make ends meet. (Cries of approval and applause.)

I will be rewarding proles with further increases in fuel tax for their continued hard work in increasing state coffers. Our great state now receives 80 pence in every pound spent on fuel; with the new 2p increase I have proposed, this will give workers more opportunity to work longer hours in state factories and workhouses.

There will also be an increase in CCTV surveillance to deter and detect threats to our Soviet British Regime of Change. I therefore announce an increase in politburo cameras effective immediately. The 35% increase of the 245 million cameras already existing in the United Soviet Kingdom will give comrades and workers further security from themselves.

Comrades, I will also announce, effective from tomorrow, an increase in the sugar rations from one cube per month to two cubes. You see comrades, I reward those who support the Bolshevik Party well. (Loud and sustained cheers. A voice:And we all follow Comrade Brown !)
WASHINGTON DC - USA - George W Bush is currently under consideration to be the next U.S. President etched on the face of Mount Rushmore.

As the long reign of George W Bush is soon coming to an end, Pentagon officials have just announced that he is being considered as the next U.S. President to grace Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.

Pentagon spokesman for the White House, Ronald Da Silva, made the momentous announcement this morning at a press conference held in the Green Room of the White House itself.

The Mount Rushmore sculptures were last carved between October 4, 1927, and October 31, 1941.

The proposed 2009 carving of George W Bush will be carried out by Italian sculptor Pietro Paulo Guglielmo Guido Bugiardini who has many fine works permanently exhibited at the Uffizi in Firenze. Bugiardini was chosen from thousands of sculptors around the world and will be commencing preparatory sketches of George W Bush prior to the huge operation involved in sculpting the presidents face on Mount Rushmore.



He will follow in the footsteps of Gutzon Borglum and the 400 workers who sculpted the colossal 60-foot (18 m) carvings of U.S. presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln to represent the first 150 years of American history.

These presidents were selected by Borglum because of their role in preserving the Republic and expanding its territory.

The State Department is making a momentous decision in announcing its intention to the American nation that another great U.S. President will once again grace the famed mountain face.

George W Bush is the greatest U.S. President this nation has ever seen. He has single-handedly done so much for this country and he is well qualified to stand next to the other greats like Roosevelt and Washington, John McCormack, from the State Departments Historic Preservation Office said.

Democrat Senator Hillary Clinton, who is currently teetering on the edge of finally being ousted from the primaries, had time enough to comment on the state departments announcement:

This has to be the craziest news Ive heard all week. Even though I dont agree with what Bush has done to our great nation, I have to say that he sure is one of the most memorable presidents weve ever had, a laughing Hillary was quoted as saying on the campaign bus in Indiana after her muted win.


LOS ANGELES - USA - Californian divorce lawyers were smacking their wallets at the thought of gays being allowed to marry and divorce in the US state of California.

Californias Supreme Court quashed a ban on gay marriage in a historic ruling here Thursday, effectively leaving same-sex couples in Americas most populous state free to tie the knot.

In an opinion that analysts say could have nationwide implications for the issue, the seven-member panel voted 4-3 in favour of plaintiffs who argued that restricting marriage to men and women was discriminatory.

Getting a slice of the pink dollar

This is good news for our pocketbook, it means more divorces to make money out of. It has been a long time coming but now our practice will be making some serious dough out of these gays who want to marry, a delighted David Kleinfeld of Kleinfeld and Mortimer Associates told the Associated Press.

Limiting the designation of marriage to a union between a man and a woman is not good business practice and must be stricken from the statute, California Chief Justice Ron Jeremiah said in the written opinion.

Legal analysts say Thursdays court ruling could have wide-ranging implications for other US states, noting the California Supreme Courts history of landmark rulings.

The California Supreme Courts example is often emulated and it often is sort of a ground-breaker, said David Cruz, a law professor at the University of Southern California and an expert in constitutional law.

According to San Francisco gay lobby the American Nancy Utilitarian Society ANUS, it is hard for gay people to stay together for long periods because of their inherent promiscuity.

Pauly Shore who is the societies secretary exclaimed: There is a very high level of promiscuity in the gay community here. I welcome the court ruling but I hope that gay marriages will slow down the spread of AIDS which is at epidemic level amongst our people.

A coalition of Catholic priests have vowed to attempt to add a vote calling for a ban on same-sex marriage when California goes to the polls in Novembers election. State election officials will rule next month on whether sponsors of the vote have gathered enough signatures to force the issue onto the ballot.

We have 1.1 million signatures, according to Father Bartholomew Pedo, chairman of the Washington-based Catholic Traditional Values Coalition, describing the California ruling as completely out of line.

The Catholic church does know of such things as gay sex and paedophilia, this court ruling is an affront to our Catholic beliefs and principles.

We are going to fight this right to the end and we will personally petition the Californian governor Schwarzenegger to intervene in this heinous court ruling.
WASHINGTON DC - USA - Hillary Clinton is hoping on the assassination of the well known terrorist Osama. Speaking to Fox News she told the network why she is still running for office and what drives her.

Hillary Clinton has given many reasons for remaining in the presidential primaries, but when she mentioned assassination of a well known terrorist as a rationale for staying in the race, she increased her bid for the Democratic nomination.

Mrs. Clinton showed her true American patriotism while she was campaigning in South Dakota yesterday, when asked by a newspaper editorial board about calls for her to concede the Democratic nomination.

My husband did not bend over for the terrorists like Osama, right? she told the Sioux Falls Argus Leader. We all remember that Osama is an evil man and needs to be assassinated, like tomorrow. You know, I just, I dont understand it. We need to get on this ASAP!

Hillary Rodham Clinton has now been hailed by all of the US media as a true American patriot and her ratings have already surpassed her political rival Obama after her call for the assassination of Osama. Obama may have much superdelegate support at the moment but cannot compete with some good ol American Patriotism.

Obama was quoted in the Huffington Post as saying: What Hillary said about wanting Osama assassinated is just sheer true American patriotism and we gotta just love her for that. That Osama dude needs a bullet in the head and if my name aint Obama I agree with Hillary 110%.

A Washington Post poll recently put Hillary 8 points ahead of Obama after she made her Osama assassination calls.
WASHINGTON DC - USA - Barack Obama vows to fight prejudice against Islamic values and culture in the United States. In a historic address to his supporters he has proclaimed Jihad on the unbelievers and detractors of his profound message and belief system.

As he gears up for his general election fight against John McCain, Mr Obama and his chief advisers are gearing up for a massive fight to win over Christian voters in America, amid polling data showing that a significant number of Americans believe Muslims are all suspicious terrorists and barbaric suicide bombers ready to behead Christians and rape good old clean Christian girls, there has been a massive scramble to quell such fears about his background. Such doubts were a factor in his poor showing with white, blue-collar Christian voters during his primary battle with Hillary Clinton.

In recent days Mr Obama has  unprompted  brought up the subject of his five day prayer habit and his recent pilgrimage to Mecca. Barack Obama, who was sworn in as a US senator on the Koran; has a long road ahead of him in a country full of Christians and evangelical bible-belters. Many Americans have been programmed to abhor Muslims and make them a pariah to be despised and feared.

The powerful Jewish lobby, the AIPAC, has warned American voters about Mr Obama: Let me know if you see this guy named Barack Obama because he sounds pretty scary. We need a candidate who will be accepted by Israel. America has been controlled for many years and we do not want to compromise the motherlands control over this great nation.

Adilah Kumar Mohammed, a spokeswomen for Mr Obama, told The Daily Squib that the Jihad team was still being finalised.

She added: The only way to run our campaign is to respond immediately when Islamic prejudice information is put out. The [emails] are saying hes a Muslim. He is. Hes a Muslim and there is nothing to be ashamed of. He often brings up the e-mails that are out there and the smear campaign thats been run against him and all Muslims on the internet. We definitely recognise that prejudice about someones belief system or creed or colour is wrong in all circumstances. No one should be made to feel ashamed of their religion or colour and issue denials. Religion or colour should not matter when running for president. Only in racist countries does it matter. The USA is not institutionally racist we hope.

The Jihad room comes as the Obama campaign prepares a series of biographical speeches, television advertisements and campaign appearances to tell his life story, an attempt to make voters more familiar with his Islamic roots. Despite his long nomination fight against Mrs Clinton, his campaign aides concede that millions of Americans still feel that they do not really know him.

Mr Obamas Kenyan father, who left the family when he was 2, was a Muslim, but not particularly religious. The Illinois senator lived in Indonesia from the age of 6 until 10 with his white, American mother and Indonesian stepfather, who was also a Muslim. Mr Obama is a moderately devout Muslim and attends prayer at his local mosque on a regular basis. He moved from being moderately devout Muslim to finding Mohammed in his 20s, with the help of his former Chicago Imam: the Mullah Jeremiah Ibn Ali-Wright, a figure whose incendiary Islamic sermons now haunt his candidacy and has increased suspicions among some voters about his patriotism.

A poll in mid-March found that 93 per cent of Americans think that Mr Obama is a Muslim and should therefore be feared and shunned  a 5 per cent increase since December 2007. Another found that 83 per cent of Democrats who hold negative views of him believe that he is a Muslim and is therefore a terrorist and not to be trusted. The same survey showed that 4 per cent of voters view him as patriotic, compared with 76 per cent for the white Christian, Mrs Clinton and 90 per cent for the white Christian, Mr McCain.

In recent weeks Mr Obama has pinned an American flag badge to his suit lapel after being criticised by Republicans for not wearing one.

He locked horns with Mr McCain on Monday over the faltering economy, the number one issue with voters, as the Democrat started a 17-day economics tour with a speech in North Carolina lambasting the Republican over his support for the fiscal policies of President Bush.

The geriatric Arizona senator pre-empted his rivals address by painting him as a liberal tax-and-spender and a towelheaded Jihadist Terrorist.
LONDON - England - Unelected Comrade and supreme leader of the British Soviet state, Gordon Brown, has today urged proles to keep panic buying petrol so that the Soviet Labour government can increase state revenues from more fuel tax.

ONLY SEVENTY FIVE PENCE FUEL TAX/POUND

With seventy five pence from every pound spent on petrol going to the British Soviet Treasury in fuel tax and duty, Comrade Brown is urging more panic at the pumps.



ONLY SIX POUNDS PER GALLON

Oil as a commodity is cheaper than milk. However, with Labours fuel tax and fuel duty, it is now nearly over five pounds thirty per gallon for unleaded and six pounds fifty pence per gallon for diesel. The United Soviet State of Britain has the highest fuel taxes in the world and British prole drivers are the biggest cash cows in the world.

EVERYTHING IS ALRIGHT PANIC EMERGENCY

Gordon Brown yesterday called on motorists to panic buy fuel as

ministers activated emergency measures to take in as much tax revenue as they can deal with ahead of a

threatened four-day strike by tanker drivers starting on Friday. By creating a mass feeding frenzy from petrol stations across the nation due to reports that Shell tanker drivers were to strike, the Labour government is sure to come into a massive tax windfall. By ensuring the panic buying masses continue with the feeding frenzy, the Soviet British State will accumulate large reserves of fuel tax cash for its tax-rich overloaded coffers.



DO NOT WORRY KEEP PANIC BUYING NOW

The English are a breed unto themselves. They seem to happily accept every indignity and injustice heaped upon them without question or protest. Our populations have been brainwashed into slave subservience and are the most pliable plebiscites in the whole world. A credit to us controllers who have steered the sheeple into the pen ready for mass fleecing, Commissar for Fuel Tax, Harry Balls, said at a news briefing for the British Soviet Treasury on Friday.

YOU MUST PANIC CALM PANIC CALM

Labour ministers were congratulating themselves and there were many pats on the back today for encouraging the panic buying of fuel at petrol stations across the United Soviet State of Britain. Despite taking nearly 80 pence from every pound spent on petrol in the United Soviet State of Britain in tax, Comrade Brown still plans to reward the population with a further 2 pence fuel tax increase by August 2008.

Comrades, we welcome the panic buying! Out of every pound spent we make nearly eighty pence on fuel tax. Thank you for blindly consuming petrol at these prices for many years. We will continue to increase the fuel tax we receive from you and spend it on incompetent, impotent and useless politicians, waste, cronyism, stupidity, cowardice and greed. And who knows? Out of all the money were making, we might even be able to start another war! Our only worry is that petrol stations might eventually run out of fuel from the mass panic buying which would mean that all of the tax revenue were currently receiving would come to a panicky abrupt end. But in the meantime, please carry on panicking  there is nothing to worry about and everything to panic about! a jubilant Comrade Brown told the BBC4 news yesterday.
LONDON - England - Supreme unelected leader Comrade Gordon Brown was today honoured by high party officials and the people for his first year's unelected leadership with a Soviet parade and festivities showcasing the Soviet states might and Bolshevik spirit.

There were celebrations across Soviet Britain today after the first year of Comrade Browns ten year plan passed without any problems or major rebellion.

Since our unelected leader was instated in the non-election, there have been many Soviet milestones reached. The collectivization of cabbage farms, eco-gulags, millions more cctv cameras installed, increased surveillance, and major tax increases for the benefit of the state bureaucracy and Politburo.

Our supreme unelected leader addressed the Soviet people from the podium near the Westminster Duma as a troop of Bolshevik warriors marched down Soviet Whitehall.

Comrades, brave Bolsheviks who fight against the scourge of the bourgeois corrupt devils of Democracy, we are an unbreakable Union of free republics created by will of the peoples. Long live the united, mighty Soviet British Union! Be renowned, our free Fatherland. Reliable bulwark of the friendship of peoples! Soviet flag, free flag. Let it lead from victory to victory! We developed our army in battles, we will sweep the vile aggressors from the way! In battles we settle the fate of generations, we will lead our Fatherland to glory!

As cheers and shouts of praise for Comrade Brown rang out from the proles, there was a sustained applause for thirty minutes. Some comrades were so overcome with Soviet spirit that they fainted where they stood, to be attended by brave British Soviet nurses and stretcher bearers.

After the parade Comrade Browns Commissar for taxation, Comrade Darling, announced even more tax increases on top of the immense increases of last week. The taxation is for the good of the people and will pay for more Commissars and High level Comrades expense accounts so they can commandeer stately machinations and duties better.



Long Live Comrade Brown and the Labour Party INGSOCK Notice: B37112
The Reverend Jesse L. Jackson had to be restrained in a Fox News studio when he attempted to castrate the next President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama.

Prior to an interview with Fox News the cameras were left rolling and recorded the whole sordid scene in its entirety.

Scrote

There was chaos in the studio as Jackson started shouting about Oreo cookies. He got his switchblade out and ordered Obama to lower his trousers so he could emancipate him in the name of Jesus Christ. There were many expletives flying in the air as Obama strangely complied with Jacksons order, it was only when Bill OReilly jumped in and ordered Jackson to back off that things eventually cooled off, a shocked network worker cited in court papers filed Wednesday.

Other witnesses were terrified when the evangelical Christian said that he was going to make Obama into a Castrato for the opera and a eunuch for the Seraglio. Clearly the Reverend was delusional and a medical team was quickly ushered in to inject him with a sedative and stretcher him off to a hospital.

The OReilly Factor



Mr OReilly who is a prominent member of the homosexual community in Oregon, is no stranger to controversy. Last year he was caught wearing a pink ballet dress and stockings under the table when he was presenting his top rated show. He was suspended for a week but was given his post back after a long session in the back of his 1986 Toyota Camry GLi Estat with Rupert Murdoch himself. He has since been promoted to be the head of Foxs Republican Propaganda Services.

Oreo Cookies



Mr Jackson, who himself stood for the Democratic presidential nomination in both 1984 and 1988, said he felt very distressed over the success of Mr Obama. Why didnt people vote for me? Why that boy got ahead and I did not. Goddam racist bigots, its because he is an Oreo  Black on the outside, white on the inside.

Reverend Jacksons Rainbow/PUSH Coalition is based in Mr Obamas home town of Chicago and his son, Jesse Jackson Jnr, is a national co-chairman of the Obama campaign.
WASHINGTON DC - USA - John McCain the Republican candidate for the upcoming election is said to be keeping fit by taking fencing classes.

Senator John

McCain, the 92 year old Republican candidate for the US presidential

elections, is said to be fighting against false rumours that he

is unfit for office.

In a television marketing blitz of adverts

denigrating Barack Obamas campaign, senior Republican staffers were

proudly extolling the virtues of McCain.

Hes a real fighter,

hes like DArtagnan from the Three Musketeers. He could beat Obama any

day with a sword fight duel and has been keeping campaign fit with

daily sessions in the gym sparring with fellow senior citizens, Ron

Quagmire, campaign manager for GOPs Wisconsin office told press,

Thursday.

Obama who is still on his world tour meeting with

leaders, is treating his trip like a victory lap. However, has he vastly underestimated his opponent and can he lose the upcoming election?

Ive seen John get up there with his foil and look like a man

possessed. He has the strength of a 70 year old man and can slice and

dice his opponents like chopped liver. His exercise regime is gruelling

for a man of his age and he fences every day for atleast 15 minutes at

a time. This man is going to be president of the United States of

America without any doubt. Ill bet my sword on it, McCains fencing

instructor Alphonse Cordoba told CNN.

Obama is going round the world posing for photo-shoots with world leaders. McCain is at home in the gym fencing his heart out. There can only be one winner.









Presidential candidate McCain is training hard in the gym nearly every day



John McCain is also gaining in the polls whilst the American people are

seeing Barack Obama as a glory boy who has frankly jumped the gun, a

Washington political commentator told CNN.

McCain, at

92 years old, says he loves the sport, even though he admits its a

challenge at his age and hes always afraid he might

fall over.

Im going to put a Z on Obama, yall going to see! John McCain

boasted from his gym yesterday as he boldly swiped away his 96 year old opponents

foil and planted a direct hit on his startled sparring partners chest.
LONDON - England - Supreme unelected leader of the Soviet British People's Party, Comrade Brown, will continue with the New Era of Change and 10 Year Plan despite a rebellion in Sector 101 (Northern Britain).

Speaking from his modest dacha in Southwold, the unelected leader did not even flinch when he was told the grave news of a rebellion in the Labour states heartland of Glasgow East which is firmly ensconced within Sector 101.

Iron Fist of Sovietization

Despite the democratic disease creeping into my 10 year plan for the total integration of all citizens within the eco-state, the collectivisation of all farmers, the increasing of even more taxation and the reduction of all living standards for all Soviet Britons, we shall not falter. I have despatched Commissar Ed Balls to Sector 101 where he will be assigned to re-educate the traitors who erred from the true path of totalitarian eco-rule. I am listening to what the people are saying, this is why I have ordered more listening devices and CCTV surveillance cameras. I will listen to your opinions, then I will discard them as always because I am your supreme unelected leader and have complete control over every facet of every plebes life. Im getting on with the job. My task is getting on with the job of integrating more taxation and more surveillance in the Soviet Era of Change. Its exactly what I want to do. And, rest assured I will do it!

Under unelected leader Comrade Browns outstanding leadership, the Soviet State is currently benefiting from a high standard of living. Citizens and party workers can now enjoy an extra ration of porridge every week and an extra teaspoon of sugar once a month.

Comrade Brown will reward proles with a further increase in taxation for all goods and services next week as a special thank you for not electing the unelected leader who is in supreme control over everything.

We have news that some listening devices suffered breakdowns in Sector 34  36 last night so all citizens in that area are urged to look out for any dissent or speech crimes against Comrade Brown and report these vile crimes to your nearest Stasi official.

A commendation must be made to 12 year old Herbert Allinson who reported his own mother as a thought criminal in Sector 43 last night. The boys mother has been sent to an eco camp to be re-educated for 42 years.

Remember comrades, be vigilant and listen out for traitors, they are everywhere.



Notice: B64225 INGSOCK Long Live the Gordo!


RUNCORN - England - A highly respected Professor of Chavology at the University of Runcorn has proposed that the English language be adjusted to include mobile phone text language and incorrect spelling.

Labour education ministers were today considering the latest proposal from a highly respected professor of Chavology at Runcorn University.

Professor Ken Smith is so proud of marking his Chavology students lazy nonsensical attempts at English that he has proposed the most common spelling atrocities committed by his moronic pupils be accepted as variant spellings.

2b? nt2b? = ???

The Labour government keen to carry on with their mantra spin of Education, education, education are seriously considering adopting mobile phone SMS text language and misspellings within the national curriculum.

We would like to leave something for the historians to write about. Something that will remind people of the Labour legacy in our great country. This new proposal will entail re-publishing all English dictionaries worldwide to include the improved spellings, Ed Balls, the education minister told us.

The professor has also proposed that the English language should be altered in all legal documents and medical literature as well.

The entire works of Shakespeare and John Milton have already been re-written in mobile phone text language.

Rmeo, Rmeo  wher4 rt thou Rmeo?

An example of the English words that will be changed have been included in an information leaflet handed out to all libraries in England and Wales. Scotland will also be updated with a new vocabulary but first linguistics experts have to try and understand what the Scots are saying before they can draft a proposal.

To start, he suggested 10 words including arguement for argument and twelth for twelfth.

There has also been calls for shanking to be included in the English dictionary because of the current popularity in the UK for knife murder amongst children. The rise in daily stabbings and knife murders has made the word shank (to stab) so popular that it is now a game on networking site Facebook.

He added: We need to adapt to the youth of Britain. The truth is none of them can spell anymore and are more used to SMS text language than proper English, innit. My proposal is designed to make it betterer for the youth of this country to be included.

Gramr? Wats dat?

Spelling Society chairman Jack Bovill welcomed the Runcorn New University lecturers idea: This is a marvellous proposal by the professor and our spelling society welcomes it wholeheartedly. It is high time that the youth of Britain brought something positive to the English language.

A-level and GCSE exams in the UK will also be altered to accept the SMS text language along with common spelling mistakes.

Labour ministers say that everyone in England and Wales is now guaranteed an A+ mark in all exams.

The exam board for England and Wales has provided an example of what is now acceptable in the English literature A-level exam.

An excerpt from Hamlets famous soliloquy in SMS text language:

HAMLET: 2 b, or nt 2 btht is = ?: Wether tis nbler in da mynd 2 sffr Da slings N arrows ov outragus 4toon Or 2 tke rms agst a C of trubles N by opposin end dem. 2 die, 2 sleep No mren by a sleep 2 say wii nd Da hartake, n da 1000 nturl shoks DAT flsh is air 2. Tis a consmtion Dvoutly 2 b wshed. 2 die, 2 sleep 2 sleepperchnce 2 dreem: ay, deres da rub, For in dat sleep ov deth wot dreems may cum Wen wii av shuffled off dis mrtal coil, Mst gve us paws. 
LONDON - England - It was a historic day for auctioneer Sotheby's on Sunday when they managed to sell a Marks and Spencer plastic bag circa 1986 for a record price to a telephone bidder.

A large M&S plastic bag which used to belong to a tea lady from Grimsby was bought for 7,340 Swiss francs (3,700). This was the highest price ever reached for a plastic bag at Sothebys.

The Marks and Spencer plastic bag was originally owned by Reggie Bunter,76, from Stoke on Trent but was entrusted to Mrs Adlington,89, many years later during a bowls game in Grimsby.

Before Sundays sale in Geneva, the auction house said that they thought the plastic bag could go for 500 Swiss francs. They commented that it was almost certainly unique.

The scarcity of any plastic bags from M&S have seen prices for the objects rocketing in recent months.

Geoffery Asder, head of plastics at Sothebys told a news conference held before the sale that the bag was one of great symbolic and historic importance as they were now an extreme rarity.

He added that the combination of 1986 vintage and M&S label made this plastic bag an extremely rare and desirable commodity.

The M&S bag was the only bag at the auction to go for an impressive price. A Tesco Quality bag circa 1995 was later on sold for approximately 20 pence.

It appears that plastic bag collecting can be an addictive activity, as Asder told Reuters before the sale.

People who can buy these kinds of rare plastic bags have a quest for the perfect vintage rare supermarket bag. Once theyve found it, they will go for it with no limit.
CORAL GABLES - USA - Barack Obama's rally at the University of Miami was briefly interrupted today after a dozen or so protesters began to wave home-made KKK signs.

The group of mostly African American men held signs that read, Blacks against Obama, Jesse Jackson hates Obama, Obama aborted my copy of the Daily Squib, Obama for gay marriage and Obama endorsed by the KKK.

They are said to be part of a Miami based group called Michael Warns.

One of the groups leaders, Jason Roberts, 48, told CBS news: Obama endorsed the Ku Klux Klan, now we all know what that about. Im black and proud and yet niggaz still supporting that dude when he hangin out with those cross burning cloak hoes! Hell no! Not on my watch, not on my watch.

The crowd of over 5,000 people at the event shouted the hecklers down by chanting Yes we can!

Obama briefly paused and tried to calm the crowd down by telling the crowd to hold on. Hey young people out there  its no problem for you to put your signs up, but let everybody  let me finish what I have to say, alright?, he told the protesters as he stood on stage.

Indeed, it was only in February 2008 when the Daily Squib broke the groundbreaking news about Obamas affiliation with the Ku Klux Klan. Even rapper, Snoop Dogg, has cited Obamas shocking endorsement in a his new album to be released early next year.

The group was escorted out shortly afterwards by security. Alright guys, see ya, Obama said as they left, Alright, lets get back to work.

A similar group of hecklers appeared at an Obama event in Tampa in August.
KENTUCKY - USA - The much vaunted members of the Ku Klux Klan, who previously were white supremacists, are to hold a love parade in honour of Barack Obama's historical win in the 2008 elections.

We feel nothing but love for Barack, he has brought us into the new light, the black light of love. Peace be upon him and we know that America is going to rise once again from the ashes of George W Bushs mistakes, I know Mr. Obama is uniting our people together. Once we were mortal enemies, today we shake hands and smile. May Jesus bring peace upon him, Vinton McNeill, leader of the Blount County, Alabama Klan group told the Daily Squib.



All across America, the many branches of the KKK are uniting to show their love and solidarity for Senator Barack Obama.

After publically endorsing Obama over Hillary Clinton in February of this year, the Klan has fought a solid PR battle to entrench their new allegiance with the American peoples favourite, Barack Obama.

It seems the introduction of a gun-toting, creationist, lipstick-wearing psychopath by the Republican spin machine has barely dented the Obama Klan affiliation. In fact, the introduction of Sarah Palin by the ailing Republicans has merely strengthened the love between the Klan and Obama.

The Republicans played a good game, they thought by introducing Sarah Palin they could muddy the waters between Barack and the Klan. They were wrong, we are now a Klan of love and peace. We have thrown our arms down, we have thrown our lynching ropes down, we have thrown our burning crosses down. Instead of these symbols of hate, we now embrace symbols of love, like flowers, pot pourri and tie dye shirts, Emmitt Richardson, Kludd of the Bayou Knights of the Ku Klux Klan told the Daily Squib, whilst taking a hit from a huge bong at his Bayou Lafourche log cabin home in Mississippi.

After pouring thousands of dollars into the Obama campaign fund, has the Klan made the right decision, have they backed the right candidate? We believe Obama is the next coming, he could be the next Messiah. We see the end times coming and we know that the rapture will take us up to be with Jesus soon enough. Obama is our saviour, our last chance to repent before the big one comes. This is why we believe in love now and not hatred. Here in our compound we have even brought in negroes to live amongst us, this would be unheard of a year ago, and now its happening.

Today there will be another march through the town centre to reiterate the point, that the Nu Ku Klux Klan want to make  Make Love Not War.

African Americans who have been persecuted by the Klan for hundreds of years are still on the whole cautious about the transformation of one of the most feared race-hate groups in America. The sentiment, however, within the black community is one of positivity towards the Klans new doctrine of love and kindness.

Hell, I used to fear the Klan whenever we saw them coming through this here way with their burnin crosses and shit. But now, we got no bad blood but love yall see. They now come through here and throw dollars and flowers at us. They changed I tell you. Its like they realised Jesus teachings and how we should accept all men and women and it dont matter what colour or creed you is. The Ku Klux Klan finally read the bible and know that we all Gods children, we were all made from the same piece of clay on the sixth day or something like that, Shaqeela Ebony, 45, a crack addict from Tyewhoppety, Kentucky told the Daily Squib.


MONTANA - USA - Obama says: "There is no more need for an American to own a gun and internal arms policy will change to that effect soon enough."

Taking away an Americans gun is the equivalent of taking away the nipple from a suckling baby. Such is their allegiance to their shooters that it will be a supreme task for Obama to accomplish  the disarmament of every American civilian.

Ever since Americas inception, the gun has held an iconic part within the bloody annals of its history books. The West was built on brute force, first with the annihilation of 90% of the Native Americans and then with the tempering of the slaves to build Americas huge industries.

The gun has also been iconic in modern times through celluloid as well as the entrails of modern conflicts like the Iraqi conflict and perpetual global war of terror started by George W Bush.

Now that Charlton Hestons dead, is it going to be easier to take away Americas guns?

No one knows what change the Obamamites were dictating, there was no policy information, no specific details, no nothing and yet the masses were so caught up in the Messianic Hollywoodized dream that they accepted anything from the pied piper of politics.

Obama could point to a cliff and they would all just walk off like lemmings such is the level of brainwashing. If you saw the faces in the crowds on election night, glazed eyes and vacant stares of these poor zombies waving their placards, it was truly astounding to watch the level of brainwashing achieved, an Obama campaigner recalled.

The Bush administration were brought in to commit the atrocities reminiscent of many fascist regimes in the past. They were responsible for demonizing whole swathes of people, for torture, for cold blooded murder and introducing the machinery of elite supremacy into the battlefield of the general population. The technique utilised by Bushs controllers was a perfect blend of Nazi and Communist rhetoric wherein the masses were duped time and time again. Obamas remit is much simpler, the dirty work has already been committed and machinery put in place for the New Era, the very rich and elites are now firmly ensconced in their bunkers and will sit out the deluge  albeit in luxury.

We have plans for the disarmament of all Americans. There is no need for arms under a socialist sovietized nation. There is no need for any Americans to feel that they are in need of protecting themselves because from now on the state will be the supreme and only protector to the people. You can rest assured that once we take away all your guns there will be a calmer society with less murders and indiscriminate shootings, Carol Kaplinsky, an Obamamite officer told CNN on Monday.

Cult

The New World Order of Obama is the New Dawn of the Global Control System according to Obamamites who follow their supreme leader without question.

When Obama brings the New System into fruition he will incorporate all that his handlers ask and his followers will accept everything he requests.

Of course there will be a few pockets of resistance to the Era of Obama Gun Control but they will be eradicated swiftly and with little remorse. One thing which we cannot afford in any circumstances is a population who can fight back. We have taken the British model into account, yes, they have been totally disarmed. Anyone who defends themselves from an aggressor in the UK is routinely arrested and imprisoned. The British people are putty in the hands of the Stalinist government of Comrade Brown, they are a defeated people as are the French surrender monkeys, Mrs Kaplinsky added.

We will have to engineer an atrocity so heinous that people will willingly give their guns up, a key Obama aide revealed.

The barrel of the gun is still firmly in the hands of the controllers, and they will not hesitate to turn the gun onto the whole population. Nothing has changed within the control system, everyone behind the scenes is the same as last time, its just that this time the people will have to be disarmed.

Americas long love affair with guns will soon be finally over.


WASHINGTON DC - USA - George W Bush's office was very offended today after hearing of the new president's demands.

There was outrage in the White House today as the outgoing president clashed with the incoming president-elect Barack Hussein Obama.

According to the White House press office, Barack Obama is demanding that Bush takes away the spittoons installed all around the top and bottom floors of the White House even including the spittoon in the middle of the Oval office.

He can take his stinking spittoons with him, it maybe a cowboy tradition but things are going to change around here from now on, an Obama aide told CNN.

President Bush had also installed a makeshift torture chamber in the basement of the White House where Dick Cheney could feel at home when he visited the chimp.

All of Dicks toys were installed in the dungeons to make him and Rummy at home when they visited the president. We got waterboarding, electric scrotal sac treatment and Mr Cheneys favourite, yes youve guessed it, electric nipple clamps and a leash to pull you along while you are screaming in agony, a proud member of Bushs entourage explained.

President Bushs feeding quarters which were built into the West Wing in 2001 have also caused some problems with the Obama team. There is bemusement about what to do with the hanging ropes, swinging poles and plentiful banana trees imported from Guatemala.

The transition from outgoing president to the incoming one has always presented many challenges for White House staff but they have shown their true colours by acting in a truly professional manner and mediating any problems that have arisen.


LONDON - England - Some would have thought that fascists and Nazis would be proud of their affiliation with their own party -- it seems the opposite is true.

British Nazis were left reeling today when someone with a pair of huge brass balls posted a list of their names on the Internet.

The lists included thousands of Daily Mail readers who responded to the outing with cowardly outrage at being exposed as their true selves.

It seems the racist cowards are not so courageous when the spotlight is suddenly upon them.

Take for example Joseph Hitler, 43, a mild mannered meathead who works as a policeman for Staffordshire council: This is absolutely awful, I have been crying into my truncheon all morning, the media will now think that im a racist and that there is racism in the police force. What is going to happen to the forces squeaky clean non-racist image? Booh hoo.. ooh I think I wet meself!

The utter shock that there are racists working amongst the police forces of England is sure to destabilise the whole system.

In other news, the Pope is linked to Catholicism and bears regularly defecate in the woods.

Yellow Cowards

It seems the yellow piss-stained racists are a bunch of cowards.

If youre going to be racist you should not be an anonymous coward about it. Get up there and be responsible for your actions, not a f*cking yellow cowardly chicken, Ranjit Gulawala, a restaurant owner from Southall told the Daily Mail.

It was also revealed in the published lists that a lot of the BNP members enjoy a good curry and vindaloo down their local curry house. Of course they do, almost certainly, the kitchen staff working in these establishments also enjoy embellishing the served up delights to the known racists with gallons of urine, faeces, ejaculate, snot and spittle.

Lap it up BNP, lap it up. Enjoy your just desserts.


WASILLA - Alaska - Sarah Palin has denounced John McCain strongly for "fraternizing with terrorists" in a damning speech directed at her former protAgA.

Speaking from her Alaskan cabin, an indignant Sarah Palin spoke of her anger and dismay at seeing John McCain switch sides and talk with terrorists.

John McCain was photographed last week in Chicago talking with a known terrorist as Sarah Palin put it.

I am disgusted with John McCain, here is a guy who I used to look down to, he gave me a break when I needed it most and now hes talking to terrorists? He is palling around with terrorists who would target their own country What the hell is going on? Since when are we Americans talking to terrorists? Shit..we dont talk to terroristswe shoot em!

Governor Palin was in fact so indignant with rage that she had to go and shoot a few moose with one of her high powered rifles to get some of the anger out.

The Alaska governor, who is credited with the Democrats winning the election in 2008 is also planning to campaign for the presidential election in 2012  we can therefore count on another Democrat win then.
Ready to Join Euro



Our supreme unelected world leader has already discussed the changeover with Comrade Barroso, Commissar of the European Soviet One World Commission and has finalised the details.



Speaking from the Westminster Duma, Comrade Brown addressed the assembled single party: Comrades, brave Bolshevik warriors, workers and the proletariat. I today announce the shedding of the old capitalist symbol that has been a thorn in our side for so long  yes, the British pound. It is my duty as your supreme unelected leader to take out this vile symbol of capitalism and democracy. These systems have all failed and you have seen my Soviet ardour with the privatization of the entire banking system which is now, thanks to my efforts, completely Soviet. The currency which has been a symbol of Britains sovereign power and empire for hundreds of years will soon be scrapped and incorporated into Europes single currency thus accelerating the New Era which I have so dreamed about. Comrades, my ten year world domination plan is slowly coming into fruition and you will, as Soviet British citizens, all feel the benefits of the New Era of Change. As of tomorrow, to celebrate the destruction of the pound and the acceleration into One World Global Soviet Governance by me and a few select leaders, there will be an extra ration of sugar for all citizens served up next week. Comrades, enjoy yourselves in your freezing hovels and unheated eco-dwellings. Dont forget, comrades, enjoy your extra sugar cube rations for the winter because I will be heaping huge tax increases on you and your families soon after.

Comrade Brown, indeed, is riding high up in the polls which are of course controlled by the central Stasi Office of Information in Whitehall. The people are very happy with his leadership and yesterday in Red Trafalgar Square a parade was held in his honour.

Resistance is Futile

There is even more good news, comrades. In Eurasia, just east of sector 23, Bolshevik army commanders have secured the area and will be leaving soon to fight in sector 12 where the New Age of Change has to be instated immediately.

Any dissent or thoughtcrimes within the New Age of Change will be punishable with a minimum imprisonment of at least 42 years.

Long Live Comrade Brown! INGSOCK NOTICE: B23654
TEL AVIV - Israel - Iran has now produced roughly enough material to make, with added leather purity, a single attack shoe that could devastate the West, according to footwear industry experts analyzing the latest report from global shoe inspectors.

The figures detailing Irans progress were contained in a routine

update Wednesday from the International Shoe Proliferation Agency, which has

been conducting shoe inspections of the main Iranian shoe making facility at Taninocrisci. The report concluded that as of early this month Iran had made

630 kilograms, or about 1,390 pounds, of prime leather sole tanned and ready to be added to the giant attack shoe.

Several experts said that was enough for an autumn collection, but they stressed

that the milestone was mostly symbolic, because Iran would have to take

additional steps. Not only would it have to breach international

fashion agreements and kick out the shoe inspectors, it would have to further design a heel for the undersole that could cause a lot of damage if launched against Israel or America.

They clearly have enough material for a loafer or a brogue, said Richard Darwin,

a top shoe salesman who helped invent the ankle boot and who has

advised Washington for decades. They know how to do the laces.

Whether they know how to design a fully functioning attack shoe, well, thats another matter.

Iran insists that it wants only to create shoes for its people,

but many Western nations, led by the United States, suspect its real

goal is to gain the ability to throw shoes at George W Bushs house in Texas.



While some Iranian officials have threatened to bar shoe inspectors, the

country has made no such moves, and many experts in the Bush

administration and at the international shoe agency believe it will

avoid the risk of attempting a mass shoe stampede until it possesses a shoe shine kit that will keep the shoes shining like nothing anyone has ever seen before.

Even so, for President-elect Barack Obama, the report underscores

the magnitude of the problem that he will inherit Jan. 20: an Iran that

not only has solved many technical problems of shoe design but

also can credibly claim to possess enough material to make the ultimate islamic shoe weapon if

negotiations with Europe and the United States break down.

American intelligence agencies have said Iran could attack the U.S with a shoe sometime between 2009 and 2015.
MANCHESTER - England - A North Manchester school has failed to break all previous stab records today after a frenzied competition at the school's annual Egg and Knife race.

Amongst the fatalities at the primary school in the Hoodie district were four teachers and seven pupils who had all been stabbed to death.

This year weve had less stabbings than usual. Last year we had nine teachers and fourteen pupils who were savagely stabbed to death during the egg and knife race. We may be downgraded next year by Labours schools Minister for this. Joan Horton, a supply teacher who survived the race despite receiving multiple stab wounds to her buttocks and face said.

One of the parents told the BBC of her anguish on hearing news of the egg and knife race results: My son Johnny only stabbed two this year. Its a bloody disgrace, he aint fit to wield a six inch kitchen knife anymore.

Knife play is such a part of British society these days that anyone who does not join in the fun is vilified.

Last month three pupils from Chavver Moped Comprehensive in Essex were expelled for not carrying knives into class or stabbing enough pupils to death in the playground.
ROME - Italy - The Pope has been condemned by his own clergy for arguing that mankind needed protection from homosexual paedophile Catholic priests much as the rainforest needed protecting from environmental damage.

They usually prey on unsuspecting choir boys in the vestry, they are well known for grooming young boys with sweets and promises of Jesus penance.

Yes, the Catholic priests who have vowed celibacy are a threat to the worlds church congregations and must be stamped out.

Buggery has been a tradition that the church has closely guarded for many centuries. It is strange that the Pope seems to be railing against this Catholic tradition. Catholic priests are some of the most perverse, debased individuals on this planet. I have seen some of the most degenerate deviants tremble in fear when in the presence of a Catholic priest, because they know that they are nothing compared to the priest in abhorrent deviancy, a Vatican source told the World Priests Federation Newspaper.

The Rev Felcher Arbuthnot, vicar of St Felchintons Church in Putney, southwest London,

and founder of the pro-Catholic Priest Inclusive Church movement, said: I am extremely

disappointed. This is not much of a Christmas message. This will not change

anyones mind. Homosexuality, paedophilia, buggery and debauchery are a church tradition which has lived on for thousands of years.

The pope who was a member of the Hitler Jugend brigade when he was a child, is well known for conducting dark rituals within the catacombs deep under the Vatican.

Obviously the Pope is trying to change the image of the Catholic church as a cesspit of base perverse behaviour to one of a more civilised image. Im not sure whether this PR stunt will work. I mean look at his face. Its a picture of evil and satanic debauchery that brings fear into everything it gazes upon, Max Clitford told the Sun newspaper.


Comrade Gordon Brown took some time out from saving the world to address Soviet British citizens by utilising the wireless radio with a New Years message.

Comrades, brave Bolshevik warriors, party members, workers and proles. I trust you have all had a wonderful Soviet festive season. I would like to thank the citizens who were forced into shops to buy more useless junk which was made in China. It was imperative that the workers spend their hard earned cash on useless trinkets instead of heating their hovels or eating gruel. The upper echelons of the party must thus be propped up by the proles and workers. It is your Soviet duty to attend the so-called sales and spend all your money on anything you can find so your governors can govern over you.

Furthermore, comrades, I have successfully reduced the British Soviet economy to nothing more than a skeletal corpse where houses are worth a pittance, food is sold at extortionate prices, fuel and heating costs are increasing daily, the Soviet Health Service is now conducting surgical operations out in the streets and where the British pound is worth less than a Zimbabwe dollar. Comrades, do not worry about the symbol of capitalist waste, the British pound will soon be incorporated within our European Soviet system. I have ensured this will happen forthwith and thus without any further delay the symbols of democracy and capitalist greed shall not be tolerated anymore under my New Euro of Change.

I have also mobilised the services of Comrade Obama who will bring forth the New Era unto the Americans who have been under the spell of the gluttonous capitalist pigs for too long.

Our Soviet economy is safe for now comrades. The banking system is now owned by the state. We have also procurred trillions of pounds of Soviet aid that shall ensure every citizen in Soviet Britain will have to work for eleven and a half months in the year for the next hundred years to pay the increased taxes I shall introduce soon. Remember comrades, it is your duty to the state to work so that the upper echelons of the Labour party can have increased expense accounts, holiday dachas, shopping trips, aeroplane state visits, prostitutes, office and home refurbishments etc etc.

2009 will be a year in which I shall introduce even more cameras, surveillance, taxes, gulags and more hidden taxes. Enjoy yourselves Soviet citizens, you can drink some more cheap vodka and revel in your cabbage soup because your lives are as worthless as they were last year.

Comrade Brown, supreme unelected leader of the British Soviet state has been hailed as the greatest thing that has happened to our country since the invention of sliced cabbage.

In further news, a commendation must be made to Julie Partridge, 14, of Manchester for reporting her father Cyril, 45, for speaking against Comrade Brown. Mr Cyril Partridge was sentenced by local Stasi officers this morning and will spend the next forty two years in a re-education camp in sector 101.

Have a happy New Soviet Year  Order 3b6543


LONDON - England - Prince Harry is to be depicted in a new British Army recruitment book that will be released and published by Buckingham palace's own printing press.

The Labour initiative spearheaded by the Schools Minister, Ed Balls will expound the benefits of ethnic bio-diversity and cultural homogeneity within the British army by utilising Prince Harry as an example.

The Royal family commissioned the book as part of the government initiative and were persuaded to make the book as a recruiting aid for ethnics within the British army.

By Royal Appointment

We commissioned the piece to show how the British army is a diverse ethnic friendly playground where pakis, wogs and chinks can all work side by side. Weve even got a few dagos, frogs, wops, kikes, rag-heads, paddies and taffy sheep shaggers as well as scotch bastards, krauts and niggers, Harrys commanding officer and real father, Major James Hewitt told a news conference on Saturday.

In the new book, the friendly prince visits his army pals and shows his leadership skills by referring to a brown skinned recruit as his little paki friend. When he is greeted by a Chinese recruit he starts singing ching chong ching chong and goes around with his eyes closed mimicking a Chinese slit eye. As for black recruits they are referred to as wogs or niggers as is the tradition in the British army. But its okay because the prince refers to himself as the lovable kraut because of his German lineage.

Prince Harry is rather affectionate towards darkies because his mum was rather partial to sleeping with Pakistani surgeons and Egyptian film producers amongst many. It is only natural that he feels a certain tenderness towards ethnics. I mean growing up in a family with Prince Philip in it. Who wouldnt? Major Hewitt added.

The Adventures of Harry and the Pakis, Chinks and Wogs will be released on February 12th Published by Windsor Books.
GRIMSBY - England - Aye, it's cold up North. But it's going to get even chillier in the next few days when an Italian politician will takeover from Lord Mandelson.

Lord Mandelson was left quaking in his stockings today when it was announced by the EU commissioner that he may be replaced by an Italian Minister.

Speaking on the BBC, The Prince of Darkness rebutted EU allegations that there were any plans to replace him with an Italian Count and refuted the rumours as ..ridiculous! Im indispensable.

The Italian Count who will replace Mandy is said to be suitably flamboyant and also has a nasty habit of getting on everyones nerves as well.

The Italian is a real shister and will replace Peter nicely. You wont even know the difference theyre both as irritating as each other. Its just that we can get away with paying the Italian less and not have to deal with as many tantrums, a parliamentary source told the Daily Squib.

Mandelson, who has acquired multi-million pound properties in Mayfair and Park Lane totalling over 18 million with his meager politicians salary will not mind his job going to an Italian. In fact, he says he is rather fond of Italian meatballs in his sauce.
LONDON - England - Comrade Brown addressed senior Labour Stasi and Politburo officials today in the Westminster Duma. The subject of the address by our unelected commander in chief was how easy it was for the Soviet Labour party to destroy all freedoms in the United Soviet Kingdom.

Speaking from the Westminster Duma, Comrade Brown, supreme unelected leader of the New Age of Change, emphatically denied that there would ever be a return to the days of freedom in the Soviet UK.

It is for your own good

Comrades, Bolshevik heroes, proles and our beloved Stasi officials. We are gathered here today to hear about my wonderful plans for our Soviet future. To look into the future my dearest Soviet comrades we must first look into our murky past. Since Soviet NuLabours Bolshevik revolution in 1997 we have eroded the common peoples freedoms to such an extent that we have passed over 60 new laws inhibiting proletariat freedom in a series of over 26 acts passed in the Westminster Duma.

(applause from the assembled crowds and shouts of Hail, comrade Brown! Hail, the supreme unelected leader!)

Comrades, comrades I commend you on your Soviet fervour however we still have a huge task ahead of us. We must continue to erode the freedom from the people using the precept of terrorism as a tool to wave our stick of power. It is for their own good that we have increased surveillance to such a level never before seen. My clunking fist has brought us thus far but the future may be thwarted if the capitalist traitors and their lackeys who have previously tried to ruin our nation with vile concepts like freedom and democracy somehow try to regain power. I laugh at them as they are ferried to an eco-gulag somewhere in sector 101 to spend the next 42 years breaking rocks. I spit on the capitalist pigs and their boom and bust economics as I embark on a 2 trillion debt mountain for every successive generation of Britons to enjoy for the next 300 years. I have singlehandedly sovietized the banking institutions, increased surveillance on all the proles and increased stealth taxes to such a level that many will be working for 11 months of the year before they make any profit for themselves.

(Standing ovations from the galleries and shouts of Hurrah to the Brown Saviour of the New Era)

Comrades, oil prices have dropped around the world to their lowest point in 10 years, and yet you see the prices going up in the pumps. Yes, you have guessed correctly comrades, for every pound spent on the fuel pumps you are helping the Soviet Labour government to the tune of 81 pence soviet tax. I thank the proles and workers for doing their soviet duty and bending over while we, your masters, f*ck you up the arse repeatedly. I am very appreciative of the British sensibility of taking everything we throw at you without question. It is an honour to swindle you comrades daily.

(The assembled crowds within the Duma throw their Soviet hats in the air and shout in unison All Hail comrade Brown! Saviour of the British Soviet people)

After comrade Browns momentous speech, there were mass hangings in Red Trafalgar Square where numerous traitors to the party were led out and hanged. Harriet Harman, a vile traitor to the party was one of the better known party members who was hanged for betraying Comrade Brown. She was led out to the hanging platform and her head shaved, unceremoniously hanged then dumped in a brown sack and thrown on a dustcart.

Further News

Comrades, it has come to our attention that some proles in sectors 23-34 may have acquired more sugar rations than they were permitted last month. We must reiterate, the ration as stipulated by the central Whitehall Stasi Office dictates implicitly that there should only be three sugarcubes per month per household. For this breach of ration regulation, those sectors named will be forfeited of all sugar rations for the next six months.

Comrade Brown would also like to extend a soviet bravery award to comrade Jade Goody the Peoples Princess who has an incurable form of capitalism. Thankfully, she has finally seen the light and will instead donate her ill-gotten tabloid sensationalist gains to an appropriate Soviet charity.

Notice: B61975 INGSOCK Long Live the Gordo!
WASHINGTON DC - USA - They wanted Change. Well, they got short change. New president, Barack Obama drops $1.75 Trillion within the first month of entering office. Now that's what we call a budget with bling.

There was a distinct smell of jenkem in the air as Barack Obama unveiled the $3.55 trillion budget on Thursday.

Were definitely dealing with a different animal here. The boy just dropped $1.75 trillion in his first month as president and increased taxes by $1 trillion. Is that black enough for all of you who wanted Change.? Its like its Christmas, New Year and his Birthday all on one freakin day for this guy! Republican Senator for Omaha, Herb McClancy was quoted as saying on the OHanitty Factor.

Americans wanted change, well, looks like they got short-changed in a big way.

Obama just saddled everyone in America with $25,000 of debt each. Thats not counting all the other shit we got to pay for, another Republican moaned.

Despite all of this debt being Bushs fault it seems Obama is treating the economy like a mechanic treats a beat up old van on Pimp My Ride. Hes sticking jacuzzis in the back, a 30 band equaliser and about 10 plasma screens all over the place when he aint got the dough to do anything to the beat up ol wreck in the first place, another enraged Republican who was seen fuming after the speech was quoted as saying.

Americans who pride themselves on their low cost of living are certainly going to come into a major shock when Obamas plans bring on European prices for everything they purchase daily.

How do all the millions of zombified lemmings who voted for Obama feel now?

Thanks to Obama we are going to be paying European prices for everything from now on. Why should I have to prop up some asshole who took out a 110% mortgage and cant pay it. This place is going to turn out like socialist countries like Britain and Sweden where everyone has to pay for the poor people to live in the lap of luxury in their paid welfare houses, holidays, healthcare and benefits. If you ask me its a crock of shit! Morgan Fredricks, a former Obama supporter told ABC news.


LONDON - England - Headed by unelected clown, Gordon Brown, G20 leaders admitted after the summit that the whole affair was an elaborate and unfunny April fools joke.

You got to admit we fooled yall huh? This was all a joke to see if everyone believed us about the stimulus plan. Our April Fools to you my friends and it fooled everyone. Were all actually broke. No money. Nada. Stimulus plan? We cant even rub two coins together. Trillion dollars? Yeah, maybe Zimbabwe dollars, the president of the United States of America, Barack Obama told the worlds press whilst chuckling like a Pan troglodyte.

The worlds biggest April Fools joke was recorded in London at the 2009 G20 Summit by representatives of the Guinness Book of World Records.

The unelected British prime minister also added his two cents: A trillion of nothing is a trillion more then a trillion of nothing and a load of zeroes adding up to nothing. You see where we are coming from? We will introduce a trillion of nothing into a trillion of nothing and this will make.nothing. But in a new way of course. Its a new trillion of nothing as opposed to the old stimulus package of a trillion of nothing as well.

Recording officer Norris McFartur, was on hand to record the event and proclaim the G20 event as the biggest mass worldwide April Fools joke of all time.

Global New Deal

This event will fool billions of people worldwide into thinking there is any hope for them within the current system and hierarchy, when in fact nothing has actually changed at all. The greed will carry on and who do you think is going to pocket the $1 trillion package? Well you as the plebiscite are definitely not going to get a sniff of anything. In fact the joke is so immense that this makes Bernie Madoffs Ponzi scheme look like a squirt of p*ss from 10,000 f*cking feet. The joke is on the sheep and the G20 leaders have pulled off the biggest joke of all time, Mr McFartur said.

The mass April Fools day G20 trickery also fooled the worlds press who actually attended press conferences on the day.

Not only were the reporters and newspaper editors fooled but so were the protesters outside the event and in the city. This has been the biggest joke ever recorded and even exceeds that of George W Bush being made president, Mr McFartur added.

The new April Fools G20 joke world record will be published in the Guinness Book of Records 2009 edition next week.
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Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair

Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan

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I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox

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There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur

EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol  Armenia and Azerbaijan  to do so without delay

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Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments

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OSCE Chairman-in-Office and OSCE Secretary General call for immediate cessation of hostilities along Armenia-Azerbaijan border
PITTSBURGH - USA - This years shooting season got off to a cracking start as Americans braced themselves for a bumper session in 2009.

In true American style there has been an early start to the traditional shooting season for 2009.

This year has started off with a bang. Were talking assault rifles, sub machine guns, 44 magnums, hell anything we can find. Yesterday I bought my 10 year old a Glock and hes already started shooting like a trooper, Stan Butz, a headteacher at Groening Highschool on the outskirts of Pittsburgh told ABC news.

The American tradition of gunplay is something that is ingrained in their culture according to historians.

America was built on brute violence. The Wild West was exactly as the name suggests Wild. I dont know why anyone would ever think that things would ever change? Just look at the illegal invasion of Iraq and how many Arab civilians were murdered in cold blood there under the premise of democracy, Charles Baudelaire, a historian for Chicagos Institute of Modern History said.

Six Shooter

The 2009 shooting season started off with a particularly violent three days across

the U.S., with shootings that left 14 dead in Binghamton, N.Y., and six

dead in Washington state, where a father shot five of his children,

ages 7 to 16, using a rifle, and later, himself. It also follows just

two weeks after four police officers were fatally shot in Oakland,

Calif., in the deadliest day for U.S. law enforcement since Sept. 11,

2001. Last month, a North Carolina man shot and killed eight people

before police shot him and ended the rampage, and a 28-year-old man

killed 10 people, including his mother and four other relatives, across

two rural Alabama counties before killing himself.

Our constitution was built on violence and guns. Without these things we aint Americans. A man is not a man unless he waves his Colt around. We love the power. Without my gun, hell my dick cant even get hard. Its like what we do to defenceless countries like Iraq and Afghanistan. We invade them with all our guns, tanks and airpower so that we can feel good about ourselves. You will never see the U.S. picking fights with countries like China or Russia though because we dont like to have real wars. Hell no! the ex vice president of the United States, Dick Cheney told Fox news before picking up a shotgun and blowing a squirrel to smithereens.

One thing is for sure, Obamas people are looking at the beginning of the shooting season and licking their lips  this could be the excuse they always wanted to finally disarm America.
LONDON - England - The gradual rise of Tescoism across the world is worrying nations who have not yet been invaded by Tesco and who are fighting to keep the Tesco regime out of their countries.

Some of the key points that signal the rise in Tescoism are:

1. Powerful and Continuing Tescoism: Tesco superstores and advertising tend to make constant use of Tesco Value mottos, Tesco slogans, Tesco symbols, Tesco songs, and other Tescoistic paraphernalia. Tesco Value signs are seen everywhere, as are Tesco Value symbols on clothing and in public displays.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Non-Tesco Products: Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in Tesco regimes are persuaded that all products from other supermarkets can be ignored in certain cases because of Tescoistic need. The people tend to look the other way or even approve of more Tesco stores, increased Tesco mini stores, assassinations, long incarcerations of shoppers in Tesco stores, Tesco tax avoidance etc.

3. Identification of Non-Tesco Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause: The people are rallied into a unifying Tescoistic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: other supermarkets, local bakeries and grocers; farmers; local industry; choice, non processed quality food producers, etc.

4. Controlled Mass Tescoite Media: Sometimes the media is directly controlled by Tesco, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by Tesco, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially during mass Tesco indoctrination sessions, is very common.

5. Obsession with Tesco Security: Fear is used as a motivational tool by Tesco over the masses.



6. Greed and Tesco are Intertwined: Supermarkets in Tesco nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. The religion of Tesco is greed, therefore the use of greedy rhetoric and terminology is common from Tescos leaders, even when the major tenets of their greedy religion are diametrically opposed to the supermarkets policies or actions.

7. Tesco is Protected: The industrial and business aristocracy of a Tescoist nation often are the ones who put the Labour government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

8. Labour Power is Suppressed: Because the organizing power of labour is the only real threat to a Tescoist government, labour unions and workers rights are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.

9. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts: The Tescoist Reich tends to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested at Tesco stores. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and Tesco regimes often resort to promoting utter pap and banal mediocrity dedicated to dumbing down the masses.

10. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption: Tescoite regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to high positions and use Tescoistic power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in Tesco regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by Tesco leaders.



A recent Tesco rally at the head office in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, England Image  b3ta


WASHINGTON DC - USA - A spokesman for the Pentagon has announced that U.S. forces will not be invading N. Korea any time soon because there is no oil there.

Speaking from the Pentagon, Theobold Reznick told reporters: Until we find that there is oil in N. Korea we will NOT be invading. I dont care if theyve got nuclear weapons and WMDs coming out of their assholes, we aint invading that sucker because a) they dont have oil, b) they might actually fight back.



No Oil But Loads of WMD

Meanwhile back in Pyongyang, there have been calls for even more nuclear tests in order to prove to the world how far its nuclear program has come.

You dont actually think the U.S. would dare to invade someone who actually fights back huh? They just target oil rich countries who have no functioning armies or air force. Once they find one of those countries, its just a case of baiting these paper tigers until they crack; getting stooges like Colin Powell to testify to the U.N. with falsified evidence, spreading rumours and fear as well as de-humanizing the enemy as much as possible. Then youre on the home straits, keep that up for awhile and increase the patriotic jingoistic rhetoric until the warmongering froths up the publics Yankee spirit to fever pitch level, and then  Shock and Awe time, a political commentator on Capitol Hill told Fox News.

After developing the conventional missile driven atomic bomb, North

Korean scientists were also engaged in research to miniaturise the detonation mechanisms to fit into suitcases and other

portable transportation devices. Naturally, for the right price, Jihadists would be accommodated by the North Koreans.
LONDON - England - Comrade Jacqui Smith, who has been instrumental in bringing Britain into the new era of surveillance and Stasi control, is to leave her post after completing her unholy task.

Comrade Gordon Brown, supreme unelected leader of the Soviet British people, was on hand today at the Westminster Duma to congratulate Comrade Jacqui Smith for a job well done:

You could walk down a street in Britain once upon a time and not see a camera watching you; or a surveillance microphone listening to your conversation; or be arrested for not having your papers with you. You could once talk on the telephone and not be monitored; or not have your letters read by men in dark rooms. You could purchase goods in shops once upon a time without your spending habits being monitored and sold to unscrupulous companies and Stasi offshoot agencies.

Thanks to Comrade Jacqui Smith, who has made the lives of ordinary proles in Britain a living surveillance hell, those days of petty freedom are gone forever. Every person in Britain is now monitored at all times irrespective of what they do. It is thanks to Comrade Smith that we have achieved our dream of the ultimate society of watchers and snitches; of cameras and of monitoring of every citizen from birth to death. Every citizen within the United Soviet State of Britain is now a terrorist and a potential threat to the state thanks to Jacqui Smiths hard work.

It was only last week when a brave member of the Stasi youth in sector 14 not only reported their father for thoughtcrime, but also their mother, brother and even the dog. This is our future generation of Stasi leaders and officers. He was only nine years old and he did not hesitate in reporting these traitors to the state. Comrades, these are the type of brave, courageous, resolute and dutiful party members we should strive to create. Our brainwashing programs are being stepped up daily thanks to Comrade Smith again. Her work in this matter is exemplary and must be honoured with the highest honours of the Soviet state.

For comrade Smiths stalwart work and blind obedience to her master, me, she will be honoured with a dacha in Southwold near my place. She will also be honoured, as befits her true Bolshevik spirit, with a case of Vodka brewed in a Warrington dungeon somewhere. We all drink to Comrade Smith!

*Rapturous applause from all Labour party members assembled in the Red chamber within the Westminster Duma*

Comrade Jacqui Smith will also be honoured with a parade through Red Trafalgar Square tomorrow at 12 noon BST (British Soviet Time). All proles within the sector must attend or you will be detained for 42 years in an eco-gulag somewhere in (sector 101) Northern Britain.

All proles must remember that the total surveillance regime is for your own safety  from yourselves.


LONDON - England - With news that Iran's Ahmedinnajacket and North Korea's Kim Jong Il are to retire from dictating, our unelected prime minister, Gordon Brown, could be one of the only dictators left in the world.

Incumbent Ahmedinnajacket is quaking in his size 4 boots tonight after the Iranian elections could show that his days of dictatorship are over.

Well, at least the Iranians get an election, however rigged they are. Here in the UK we dont get elections anymore, and Brown is going to ensure that he changes the electoral system to make sure that he stays in power forever, a distraught Londoner told the BBC.

Meanwhile, over in North Korea, Kim Jong Il is planning on passing on his dictatorship to his son after his retirement later on in the year, although there are rumours that there might be an all out nuclear war before the big handover. Last year we lost George W Bush, who was one of the worlds most evil albeit stupid dictators.

The dictatorship retirements have now left a big hole in the business of dictating. All that is left are a few pockets of resistance around the world like the UK and Zimbabwe.

Even Zimbabwes Mugabe is losing his dictatorial lustre. He is into that power sharing stuff, or is pretending to be into it, although he still dabbles in major dictating binges here and there. Gordon Brown, the unelected leader of the British Communist party is the only major dictator left in the world, Purnell Blears, a political prisoner in exile in Borneo told the BBC.

It is indeed a credit to Browns diligence in dictating, that the UK is now awash with millions of surveillance cameras, listening devices and human tracking mechanisms.

Yesterday, unelected prime minister, Brown, was quoted as saying very aptly: The people who cast the votes dont decide an election, the people who count the votes do.
LONDON - England - Supporters of the democratic process planned fresh protests today as the country's supreme unelected leader, Gordon Brown, appeared to rule out any change of leadership ever again in the UK.

Further protests, especially if they are on the same scale as Mondays, which saw hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets of London, could pose a direct challenge to the authorities who have kept a tight grip on dissent since the unelected Labour leader, Comrade Brown forcibly took power.

Finlands ambassador to London, Hakkai Hakakkanan, said the protests  the biggest since the British Soviet revolution  had caught Britains Labour leadership unaware.

It will continue for sure, because now in a way the taps of discontent have been opened  There is no revolution coming in my view because the people in Britain are so weak and downtrodden, but some kind of compromise will be made, Hakakkanan told Finlands national broadcaster.

But one British businessman who is in exile in America spoke of his discontent about the whole situation.

At the end of the day nothing tangible will have changed, he told Reuters news agency, which said he has seen it over and over again in Britain. It will be business as usual.

Following a crackdown on the foreign press, the Stasi Police, the Soviet states most powerful military force set up by Ex-Commissar for Interrogations and Surveillance, Jacqui Smith, warned online media of similar treatment over their coverage of the countrys crisis.

In its first statement since the crisis broke out, the Stasi police  an elite force answering to the supreme leader  said British websites and bloggers must remove any materials that create tension or face being interned in gulags for forty two year sentences.

Much information about the protests has come from blogs and websites such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. The government yesterday barred foreign media from leaving their offices to report on the demonstrations.

Brown last night dismissed the protests as the work of freedom seekers..

Browns appeal for calm after four days of protests in London followed an apparent concession when the regime promised to look into some form of democracy but later retracted the offer and vowed to never hold a general election ever again.

Many dissenters and detractors have already been rounded up after daring to protest against the supreme unelected leader, Brown.

Thousands of Brown Asupporters, who were bussed in for a mass rally in Londons Red Trafalgar Square, waved their fists and cheered as Commissar for Re-Education Ed Balls, a prominent ally of the unelected leader, told them: This nation will protect and defend its revolution in any way.

Unrest was also reported yesterday from the cities of Manchester, Bristol and Cardiff. But in North East Britain, headquarters of Britains Soviet controlling establishment, the only reported demonstrations have been against the former president, Comrade Blair, who is seen as a traitor to the current regime.

Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, yesterday denounced the British governments brutal reaction to demonstrators.

In Washington, Barack Obama said he was deeply disturbed by the violence. But he did not want to be seen as meddling in British internal affairs.
WASHINGTON DC - USA - Barack Obama's wife was said to be fuming after the US president refused to remove his teleprompter from the White House bedroom.

Speaking on CBS Early Show, Michelle Obama was so angry that a little bit of spittle flew out of her frothing mouth and hit host, Julie Chen right in the eye during a morning interview.

Michelle was raving about Barack and during the ad break she started shouting. Some spit got in Julie Chens left eye and her makeup started dripping. We only had 12 seconds until we were back on air so we just had to leave it. Julie was very professional and carried on with the interview as if nothing had happened, the shows producer reported.

According to the segment producer, Michelle is losing all patience after discovering that Barack, who has to have everything he says and does completely scripted, decided to have a teleprompter installed in their White House bedroom.

As well as being pumped up with amphetamines so that he can function properly, the president is also told what to say and do at all times of the day and night. Obama cannot even speak a sentence without a teleprompter and is so used to it that he has ordered aides to fire up some conversation scenarios for him to talk to his wife, a Pentagon spokesman told CNN.



We had to get some script writers from Hollywood to write up what Obama would say to Michelle. He is so scripted that he cant actually string a sentence together or even say a word without a script. Its really that bad. We also have an earpiece which will direct Obama and prompt him to do certain actions if need be. The whole operation works very well most of the time although we have had problems with the teleprompter sticking sometimes. Just yesterday, as Obama was asking Michelle to move a little more to the left during a love making session, the teleprompter stuck and caused mayhem. Last week there was another scare when his earpiece started picking up a radio signal and transmitting rap music, let us just say it did not go down very well as the Obamas were both enjoying a post coital cigarette, the aide said.

Could this be the last straw for Michelle Obama who is renowned for her fiery temper and who does not suffer fools gladly?
LONDON - England - David Cameron and Gordon Brown have announced the formation of one single party under the Soviet system of governance.

A new partnership has been formed of late, the facade of playful difference has melted away once and for all, and out of the dust that is settling after the make-believe skirmishes; a true new age of change has finally arrived.

It has always been a big show. What we deem as democracy is exactly that, a big show to sate the appetites of the masses. There is only one party that rules but we have to make believe that the people have a say otherwise there would be revolution and rioting in the streets all the time. Im sure if one was to read a little Plato one would understand the mechanics of technique, Shadow Chancellor George Osborne told the Financial Times.

The announcement of the merging of the Tory and Labour party did not come as much of a shock to many.

It has been a long time coming. The Tories are actually more Socialist than Labour is at the moment. Sometimes I feel it is a competition between the two on who can have the most left wing policies, said a Westminster political pundit on Tuesday.

Now all we need is another non-election where more unelected people can rule over us and dictate everything we do in minute detail every f*cking second of the day through loudspeakers placed everywhere.


KABUL - Afghanistan - Gordon Brown, the unelected prime minister, has praised the work of British troops in Afghanistan during a visit to the country and promised more muskets and cannons for them to overcome the threat of daily massacres by marauding Afghan Mujahadeen warriors and psychopathic Taliban zealots.

Mr Brown announced muskets and cannon balls to deal with the improvised explosive

devices (IEDs), snipers, ambushes, rocket attacks, suicide bombers and truck bombs that have killed and wounded so many British soldiers.

He visited troops at Camp Clusterfuck in Hellhole province and thanked them for

their efforts in being cannon fodder of the highest order.

Mr Brown travelled by helicopter with Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Strap, Chief of the

Defence Staff, and had talks with senior commanders including US commander

General Bernard McScheisse.

The Prime Minister said: Let me pay tribute to the sacrificial offerings, selflessness, lemmingness, and brainwashing of our cannon fodder.

The mission in Afghanistan is a worthless job thought up by bureaucrats in some Whitehall office where we really do not have a plan or mission but are simply flailing in the dark to save our self-serving egos.

I think our cannon fodder have shown extraordinary courage in being massacred on a daily basis during this period.

I present to them these muskets from 1842, to show our commitment to them in their selfless sacrifice as cannon fodder.

Mr Brown unveiled the old muskets to deal with the threats facing British cannon fodder on the ground to cheers from the poor blighters who would later be blown to pieces on some arid dusty field somewhere.

This autumn, 200 specialist cannons and 5000 muskets will be deployed to join 200 muskets

that were sent there earlier in the year.

This way when our lower rank cannon fodder rush at the enemy hiding in the mountains, they will be shredded and blown to pieces faster because the muskets have to be loaded manually for each shot. It can take up to three minutes to reload one of these muskets and by that time if you are still standing you would be lucky, Colonel Charlie Grimsdale, 2nd Battalion The Duke of Doncasters Regiment told the BBC.
LONDON - England - Experting levels in expertise amongst many experts utilised by the world's media experts have been called into question by some leading experts say experts.

There have been rumblings of discontent in the expert industry which dominates the worlds mainstream media.

Many experts are now agitated at the astounding level of expertise being released from experts worldwide. The Labour government in the UK is leading the push into the expert industry and is increasing expert advice in all media forms daily.

Weve got a surplus of experts at the moment who are doling out increased levels of expertise that has frankly exhausted the publics taste for expert expertise. Open any mainstream newspaper or magazine and you will be inundated with experts. Ive never seen so many bloody experts blabbering on and on with expert knowledge that is 99% of the time completely f*cking useless, Professor Gerald McManus, an expert on experts at the University of Scunthorpe told a panel of experts yesterday.

Expert Solutions

Worldwide experts in all fields of expertise are now demanding more rights to spout more expert advise to all and sundry.

We are petitioning the Association of Experts, Expertise and Experting to push down peoples throats more expert knowledge. Maybe compulsory orders so people have to listen to our expert advice daily. We are experts in our field so we should be listened to. Our expertise is something that should not be ignored and should be adhered to by all. We are here to guide you through your meaningless lives where you cannot think for yourselves and have no understanding of how things work. We are your experts and will tell you how to do everything. Please just sit back and listen to our expert advise, you dont even need to think, just listen, Joel Hamer, an expert in shoehorns and 18th century shoelaces told the BBC.


LONDON - England - Labour dignitaries at the Brighton conference were today jubilant that PM Gordon Brown and his evil henchman, Lord Mandy, had ordered the BBC offender, Andrew Marr be given an ASBO.

This will teach that bastard swine Marr not to mess with Gordo. We can announce today that Andrew Marr has been awarded an ASBO for daring to ask Gordo if he popped pills. Well, its safe to say that this ASBO will ensure that Marr thinks twice about ever asking truthful questions to the PM. He should only ask scripted spin questions and we are going to see that his career falters for his indiscretion, Lord Mandy said to a group of sycophantic dalek-like Labour robots.

The Anti Social Behaviour Order that has been served up to the BBC interviewer will serve as a warning to any other broadcasters thinking of messing with Labours totally detestable acts of denial in the public forum.

Feeling blue

Everything is rosy with our party. Labour is going to win the next election and anyone who doesnt vote for us will receive an ASBO as well. We are prepared to incriminate everyone and anyone who badmouths us in any way and if its not ASBOs we could also introduce you to GULAGS. How would you all like that? Lord Mandy added mincingly.

The Prime Minister was today even considering slapping ASBOs on the entire staff of the Sun newspaper after former Comrade in arms, Rupert Murdoch betrayed his former master and plumped for a new team a la Cameron.

It seems our state broadcasting network which has been controlled by the Labour party since the suspicious death of a certain Dr Kelly before the illegal invasion of Iraq, has been compromised by Mr Andrew Marr. Well, we have ways of dealing with enemies of the socialist state, and an ASBO will ensure he tows the party line next time. But we all know, of course, there will never be a next time for Marr, will there? Lord Mandelson said with an evil grin and a look of utter glee on his face.

Andrew Marr may have been given an ASBO by the Labour party but the rest of the nation thinks he should have received a gold medal and numerous Knighthoods for his efforts.


DENVER - Colorado - Ex-president, George W Bush led the US authorities on a wild chase yesterday when it was claimed he was inside a runaway hot air balloon but was still unaccounted for after it landed safely in a corn field.

A massive search was launched after George W Bushs friend Rummy said

he saw the sixty three-year-old ex-president climbing into a box beneath the flying saucer-shaped craft.

Dubya had invited us and some friends over for a cookout and we got ourselves a hot air balloon and planned on putting Al Gore in the helium powered craft and sending it up to 7,000 ft for some fun when things went horribly wrong. George was checking the tether and readying the craft when it suddenly lifted off and the look of sheer horror and terror on his dumb face made us all drop our charred meat and laugh our goddamn asses off. You should have seen the look on his face. I put ten bucks down that the alcoholic shit his diaper right there and then, Donald Rumsfeld told CNN.

Dick Cheney, who was attending the barbecue, even rushed off to his car to fetch his shotgun but by the time he returned the balloon was at 5,000 feet and travelling at 60 mph.

Balloon Boy

The airforce scrambled some jets and some helicopters but all the world could do is watch the spectacle.

Millions of viewers around the world then watched the drama unfold as the

spinning craft sailed through the sky followed by camera crews in

helicopters.

The helium powered balloon finally came down in Colarado nearly 1000

miles away from Texas after it had been up in the air for almost six hours.

But there was no sign of Dubya. Then, as the world held its breath, police

made a dramatic announcement.

Ladies and gentleman, we do not know where George W Bush has disappeared to. We have eyewitnesses who say he went into the balloons compartment but there was no sign of the little chimp when the craft landed. We can only assume the worst and extend our condolences to his family, Denver state police trooper, Roger McAuliff told Fox News.

Mr Bushs distraught wife, Laura, had this to say about the whole sorry incident: George always wanted to go up into space. I just spoke to some people at NASA and they say they detected something in the stratosphere a few hours ago. Maybe Gump must have jumped from that height or something. I cant believe this is happening!
BOSTON - USA - An American man who had his feelings hurt after wrestling with his own conscience is set to sue himself say his lawyers.

The man from the Eastern suburb of Chichmaka, Boston, has filed a lawsuit against himself for hurting my feelings and doubting my own judgement.

Americans are well known for suing everything that moves or offends them in any way, so this latest episode of suing has not come as a surprise to many.

We sue people for looking at us funny. We sue companies for picking up a hot cup of coffee and feeling the heat. Ive seen sons and daughters sue their parents for denying them the latest fad toys from China. Its a part of American life, that and prescription drugs for every ailment under the sun and shootings. Suing and getting whacked out of your head on Ritalin and Codeine whilst waving a sub machine gun around in your highschool canteen is a normal part of American life, Arthur Emerson, a doctor at Bostons general hospital told CBS news before being sued by a patient for saving their life.

Lawyers who are working to sue the man say that he should be justifiably angry at himself and they took on the case with eagerness.

We positively encouraged this young man to sue himself for the hurt he has caused himself. It is an awful situation he is in. He instructed us to sue him for as much as we can get out of the sucker. Thats why we know the courts are going to throw the book at him, and of course its going to be Cha Ching time for us, Mr Weasel Slimer of Slimer and Cleaners Law Firm told CBS.


SECTOR 08 - Sector 34 - Unelected supreme commander in chief, Comrade Gordon Brown, today thanked the British proletariat for sitting back and watching all of their hard-fought freedoms disappear down an EU plughole.

Speaking from what was previously called Trafalgar Square, now called the Peoples Red Square, Comrade Brown hailed the red hammer falling on the final nail in the coffin of British sovereignty.

Your Ancestors Fought for Nothing



Comrades, today is a historic day in finally taking away every part of Britain that used to be British. Thanks to my signing away all of your rights, I have ensured that you will have no more cause for sovereign power or sovereign law. Your laws will now be solely dictated by unelected technocrats in Brussels as opposed to unelected bureaucrats in Whitehall.

Comrades, under the new EU Soviet State, you will be told you are free every day and you will believe it as well. Remember, you are free to do as we tell you.

Thanks to our Irish comrades in Sector 09, and the Czech comrades in Sector 13, the Lisbon Treaty of EU Marxist State Control was allowed to occur without any setbacks or delays.

It was I, comrades, who also ensured the safe transition of Soviet collectivism within the old British capitalist state. I ensured the whole economy was ultimately bankrupted with crippling debts thanks to my useless spending splurges and idiotic wasteful schemes. It was I who ensured that Britain lost its sovereignty by agreeing to a referendum then reneging on the agreement thus betraying the British people forever.

Thanks to the British people who offered no resistance whatsoever to my plans of throwing away the little freedoms you had. Please keep watching X Factor and Strictly Dancing. Do not wake up, and keep sleeping you useless f*cking sheep with no spines or guts. I shall reward you by increasing stealth taxes, fuel taxes and EU taxes as ordered by my bosses in Brussels. Have a nice f*cking winter of discontent in your cold, grey hovels of despair.

(applause from the assembled crowds and shouts of Hail, comrade Brown! Hail, the supreme unelected leader!)

After the unelected comrades triumphant speech, a cartload of Conservative MPs were wheeled out and hanged on the makeshift gallows. The highlight of the afternoon was the hanging of pretender to the throne, David Cameron, a capitalist agitator and enemy of the EU state. With the new EU directive and Lisbon treaty coming in to law, there will never be any need for any more democratic elections or sovereign states separated from the EU Marx-State.

This article was approved for viewing by EU Directive 34595551-93b


George Herring graduated from Virginia Tech last year and has settled into his job as a junior chemist in a provincial town somewhere in the Midwest. Its quite amazing because he hasnt yet snapped and gone on a shooting orgy of violence like all the other students, professor Arnold Geitner, told a university panel.

All of this week there have been media reports all over the American press about this astounding feat.



Any channel you turn to, you will see pics of this guy. He didnt do the American thing and go haywire, get some guns and start shooting. This guy actually graduated from his course then got a job. Its like some kind of wacky dream or something. The media have been putting out this story on permanent f*cking loop all week, Ray Bundoni, a Virginia Tech student who is incarcerated in a maximum security prison in Montana for a shooting spree four years ago, told CNN.



I always knew Herring was an oddball because he was never down in the shooting range perfecting his aim. He never carried spare magazines or gun cleaning oil. I also once saw him with a friend. How sick is that? another ex Virginia Tech student told CNN from behind locked doors in a Nebraska State Penitentiary.

Virginia Tech prides itself in its record for turning out well seasoned shooters and released a brief statement today: We abhor the news that one of our graduates actually got a job and is living a well adjusted life in a small provincial town out in the middle of nowhere. We reckon the clock is ticking and he wont last for long. Our training has ensured that he will snap one of these days, you know like our most famous students, Seung-Hui Cho and the Fort Hood dude, Major Nidal Malik Hasan.


BEIJING - China - A spokesman for the Chinese Culture Ministry has talked about exporting true Chinese cuisine to the West instead of the unauthentic food that is prevalent in most cities and towns.

You may think the MSG laden crap you are used to eating in your local Chinese takeaways is authentic but you are all sadly mistaken. Here in China we eat pretty much everything and what is more, it has to be alive when eaten. This is the freshest way of cooking. We are extending our Chinese traditions to the UK and wish you all to enjoy how we live well in our polluted overcrowded hellhole brutality ridden communist country, Xian Zamalama Ding Dong, Culture Secretary to the Peoples Republic of China told the State news broadcasting station Xing Ling Ping.

Chinese authorities are sending their best chefs to European countries like Sweden, Britain and Switzerland in a bid to introduce truly authentic Chinese culture. America will also be targeted with the culinary education, as well as Canada says the Ministry.

They eat meat and boiled potatoes in those Western countries with a few boiled vegetables on the side. Have you ever tried a freshly cooked carp still squirming alive on your plate? Have you ever cooked and eaten a live octopus? How about getting your pooch Fido and sticking him in a bowl of soup? Huh? Cmon now, were exporting our culture here, get with the program already, Mr Ding Dong added.

The Culture Minister has also brought in British TV personality, Stephen Fry, as an aid to promoting Chinese culture to the West.

For the right price Mr Fry will do anything. We even got him to step away from his yawn inducing Tweeting for more than 20 minutes to film an infomercial on the very subject of cooking and eating animals alive. It was positively enthralling watching Mr Fry lob out those wonderful morsels of vocabulary as a live fish was decapitated and consumed right in front of him. Next week weve got Fry doing a special on Chinese dog skinning and the wonders of Chinese pollution, the Culture Minister said.

The Chinese are eager to export their culture around the world much like the millions of tonnes of pollution they export into the earths atmosphere every second of the day.
HELMAND - Afghanistan - Cruel Taliban fighters are using hamsters as deadly bombs to attack Brit troops.

The latest terrorist ploy was uncovered when a sentry shot one galloping towards a military camp in Helmand province.

There was a huge blast when a detonator connected to its rear was lit with a flare.

Major Jeremy Huntingsford of the Rifles regiment said: The insurgents have really outdone themselves.

The Taliban train their hamsters in special training camps on the outskirts of Lashkar Gah and are so feared by the Brits that they have been dubbed the Talihamsters.

These Talihamsters sometimes rush at our base ten to a dozen at a time. Were living in abject terror every day. They can sneak under the door you know, or the Taliban toss them over the walls with catapults, Major Huntingsford added.


TEXAS - USA - All of the previous Bush administration have openly praised president Barack Obama's stance on sending more American troops to the unwinnable war in Afghanistan, a Pentagon report has said.

Bush administration denizens like Rummy, Rove and Cheney are all but smiles at Obamas Change.

During his electioneering, Barack was using the war against us, now hes doing more war and sending more troops to their deaths for nothing. I got a big smile on my face right now because nothing Changed. Hell, Id say its all the same, maybe worse. The only thing that Changed is that we told you straight what we were doing, this guy doesnt and he does the bad anyway. Were still torturing those Muslim bastards too, heh, heh, heh, Donald Rumsfeld, told Reuters yesterday.

Change?

Obama is now a symbol of the Republican war machine that was so prevalent during the dark years of the Bush administration.

Hes sending more young American boys into the Afghan mountains to be mutilated by IEDs and VBIEDs. These poor bastards get about two months basic training then they step onto a mountain pass and have their goddamn legs blown off so that Barack Obama can lose an unwinnable war in a tribal land where even 160,000 Russkies could not win. What a liar Obama was during the election. We were duped people. He should be pulling troops out of that hellhole not putting more in, a dismayed Obama voter from Washington DC told CBS news.


BEIJING - China - The Chinese president has declared all out war on China and will censor all communication in the communist country, an information ministry official said today before being censored.

Speaking at a Censorship Ministry meeting to address the issue of censorship, the officer in charge of all Censor-Speak in China, Ziang Shh Shh, said: Listen carefully because my words will be censored as soon as I speak. Comrades, fellow brainwashed robots, your every word will be censored from now on. In fact, all language is an afront to our ideology of total censorship.

As soon as Mr Shh Shh spoke, a Censor Officer stood up and shot Mr Shh Shh in the head with a gun, his body was then dragged away so that his body parts could be harvested.

All speech and written language in China is now subject to heavy censorship. One man at a Shanghai bus stop even had his sneeze censored because it was an unauthorised sneeze session and therefore deemed as a threat to the communist state. Schools across China have also borne the brunt of the new censorship directives: Everything a person says now has to be passed through an intermediator of the state. This is why school lessons can now take up to 8 hours to complete a lesson that usually takes 45 minutes, a disgruntled teacher said before being censored.

The Chinese government has also decided to censor the Great Wall of China by putting a piece of cloth over the long structure and pretending its not there.

Even the head of the Peoples Republic, Hu Jintau, has not escaped censorship when a recent speech he wrote was censored by his own hand. He ended up stepping onto the podium in front of 650,000 people gathered in Tiananmen square who heard him grunting inaudibly whilst shuffling his feet. Of course, the presidents speech was received with the usual automatic applause which was immediately censored with the use of speakers blurting out high pitched siren sounds mixed in with farm yard animal noises.


WASHINGTON DC - USA - One of the scientists who prepared the notorious 'global warming' dossier has frozen to death in a tragic accident reports claim.

The leading scientist, who was championed by carbon tax offices all over the western world, was found dead this morning after taking his dog for a walk.

We recovered the frozen body of a man this morning. Luckily his dog survived and was recovered from under the man. The mans body was totally frozen and is now in the morgue thawing out. Were going to have to wait a few days to do the post mortem to see what happened but we reckon he froze to f*cking death, Lieutenant Frank Rizolli for the Washington Police Department told ABC news.

Global Warming

The scientist, who held lucrative contracts with top government agencies, was one of the pioneers of the global warming theory and was to be honoured with a global warming prize by Al Gore next week, sadly, due to the tragic circumstances it will have to be cancelled.

He was a great man because he fooled large swathes of the population to eat up the global warming agenda without question and to engender mass control through fear. Unfortunately for us, we will now have to find another method to produce mass hysteria in the worlds populations. I guess another 911 style attack, maybe a war with Iran or even an alien attack. Sheesh, back to the drawing board eh, a discouraged Pentagon official told CNN today.
How HVK having more than 100 000 members gathered 60 000 votes (video)

For the first time in the last 20 years former Rule of Law (OEK) and present Armenian Revival Party (HVK) didnt enter the National Assembly. Four oligarchs from the Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) gathered about 200 000 votes. It shows one thing that other resources were used. Also there may have been other inner problems, which we discuss and analyze, Edgar Arakelyan, press secretary of Armenian Revival Party told A1+. Four powers, the HHK, Tsarukyan alliance, Yelk (Way out) alliance and Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), entered the National Assembly. Edgar Arakelyan is surprised at the fact that people blame the authorities of their hard social-economic condition and migration, but the HHK received 55 percent of votes, The number of the members of our party was much more, more than 100 000, but we gathered about 60 000 votes. We can say that today we have that number of partisans, as not to be bribed in case of so large financial resources and make such a choice is even heroic I can say, noted Edgar Arakelyan. According to the lawmakers candidate Anahit Bakhshyan, the fraud, including electoral bribe, this time were beautifully wrapped with the veil of legality, in the face of different technical equipment, People said that there could not see any alternative in the political forces, we do not trust them, for example, Free Democrats, for different reasons, and they gave the rest 8 percent to Yelk; the others took their AMD 10 000 and voted for the HHK. The volumes of migration are increasing year by year, but the number of voters is also increasing, It wasnt a simple state crime, but a classic example of legitimating coup tetat. Not only the electoral bribe was decisive in the elections, but also vote drawing. The slogan of HHK Progress and security must be changed to regress and we will soon see its reflection in our life, says Susanna Muradyan, member of Ohanyan-Raffi-Oskanian alliance. Except Armenian National Congress-Peoples Party of Armenia (Congress-HZhK), no other political force has started post-election process. This political force has applied to the Central Electoral Commission and the Constitutional Court to recognize the results of the election invalid, taking into account breaches. Other powers are getting ready for elections of Yerevan Council of Elders. April 9 is the deadline for submission of bids. As of now only Yelk has submitted an application for the participation in May 14 elections. Together with those young people we can do much. Frankly speaking, Free Democrats are not holding any discussions, I went to the headquarters and I was told that I would be informed. But I dont know still now. Two days are left and yesterday I decided that I want to work, says Anahit Bakhshyan. Yelk alliance has made three proposals for cooperation in elections of Council of Elders also to Zaruni Postanjyan, but she refused. Mrs Postanjyan herself announced that her party Yerkir Tsirani is inclined to take part in elections of Council of Elders and she will head the list.
TEL AVIV - Israel - American intelligence services have ordered the Israeli Mossad agency to at least try to disguise their hitmen better, Washington's Pentagon said on Wednesday.

The Israelis are like a bunch of bulls in a frickin China shop, heck Ive seen a bunch of hippos in a mud pool making less nuisances of themselves. We need to tell these idiots that when you whack an Arab in a hotel, you make like it wasnt you. They might as well have put posters up all over the place with their faces on em, Al Hertyu, a senior Pentagon advisor told CNN.

In a bid to change their bungling ways, Mossad operatives are now given manuals on how to disguise themselves during assassination missions.

Gevalt geshreeyeh, we need to cut out the meshugass. Next time our boys are on a hishkhil they better steer clear of the cameras. Well be like silent assassins in a Kosher delicatessen waiting to pounce on the bagels. Vei is mir, no more kherbon! Shimon Perezite, the Israeli Minister of Foreign Assassinations told Londons Golders Green Oracle.


LONDON - England - Gordon Brown does not bully staff, Lord Mandelson has said from his hospital bed.

The business secretary told Britains state controlled broadcasting station, the BBC, from his hospital bed at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, that Mr Brown was not a bully and that he absolutely adored the strength of the PM.

Doctors working on Mr Mandelson were said to have removed a number of objects from Mr Mandelsons rear including a fax machine, two iPhones, a laptop computer and a toaster.

Gordon must have rammed those objects up Mr Mandelson. Its the worst case of violence against staff at Number10 we have ever seen. What kind of a monster would do such a thing, and yet there is Mandy defending the PM? You would have thought after one abuse he would have reported it. Maybe he enjoyed it, a key Number10 aide told the Telegraph.

Downing Street dismissed the malicious

allegations made by Andrew Rawnsley in a recent tell-all book, and Mr Brown went around to Mr Rawnsleys house personally to beat the living daylights out of him.

Lord Mandelson is set to stay in hospital for a few more weeks to recuperate, his press office revealed.
FLORIDA- USA - The Killer Whale apparently jumped out of the water and grabbed the owner mauling them to death, reports say.

One minute the Killer Whale was swimming around gnashing its teeth and the next it jumped up and chomped on its owner. These Killer Whales sure are dangerous huh! Vince Kiebold, a rescue worker who attended the scene told Floridas F-TV network.

Killer Whales, as their name suggests, can be quite dangerous and are rather predisposed to the tendency to kill say some leading experts.

When Killer Whales bite you, that means theyre simply doing what is natural to them, thats why we call them Killer Whales folks. Maybe its not such a good idea to keep them as pets and try to train them to do silly tricks, Dr Woody Guthrie, told National Geographic magazine.
ATHENS - Greece - There were prolonged riots in Greece lasting for over a week, after the Greek prime minister ordered in new 'austerity plans' to try and claw back some of the enormous debts owed by the country's huge budget deficit.

The government told us that we have to work instead of just receiving large amounts of money from the EU coffers. Who the f*ck do they think they are? Work? They must be out of their minds! Alixios Workshyos told the Greek national paper Sleepios.

The Greeks are also angry that their retirement ages may have to be increased by one year to the age of 45. In stark contrast, German workers retire at the age of 67 and have to go to their jobs every day of the week.

Ive never seen riots like this in Greece. Some Greek dustmen just pulled a police mans arms off and proceeded to beat him over the head with them over there, can you see? Its really quite bad. You cant walk to the shops without stepping over rioting bodies, Stavros Slothfulios told the Greek national news station, Indolentos TV.

More rioting is due for next week when Greek ministers unveil further austerity measures, like increasing the working hours to end at maybe 2 pm. This would mean that the Greeks would have to have their 4 hour siesta after work thus not getting paid for the hours.


BEIJING - China - The 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre in the Peoples Republic of China is to be erased from Chinese history forever.

The brutal censorious Chinese regime is shutting down Google in China soon and this will be the last time the Chinese people can search for the truth about the savage barbarity committed by the communist ruling elite on 4th June 1989.

aaaa



Speaking from an internet cafe in Beijing, an anonymous internet user wrote on an illegal message board: It is quite funny that the Chinese system which is meant to benefit the people, as Mao was taught by European aristocratic controllers, is simply a mechanism of ultimate control that exists purely to service the sybaritic corrupt elite leading classes of China. It is a land of extreme poverty and deprivation for literally billions of people whilst those who spout out their evil suppressive message to the brainwashed Chinese masses get away with murder every day as they dress themselves in the finest blood soaked silk garments of gluttony.

Sadly for that particular internet user, in Chinas regime of censorship, an inspector was probably monitoring his every word and he would be receiving a visit from a few thugs later on in the day so he could be re-educated in the proper way.
WASHINGTON DC - USA - Political commentators on both sides of the Atlantic were in agreement today that the 'special relationship' was in dire need of some 'special counselling'.

The so-called special relationship is in the doldrums and this time it looks serious, British MPs have revealed this week.

First it was the bust of Churchill unceremoniously dumped by Obama when he first moved into the White House, then it was the collection of second-hand DVDs given to Prime Minister Gordon Brown after the first brief meeting between the two leaders and after that the waterboarding incident that caused a few ripples.

Its not so much a special relationship now, more like an unremarkable disdain, the British ambassador to Washington, James Ganymede, told the Telegraph.

The special relationship counsellor, Al Imey, was yesterday in consultation with both sides in a Washington conference hall trying desperately to bring both parties to talk to each other again.

Theyre both hogging the sheets. Like theres no more adoring photoshoots of the kind we had with Maggie and Ronnie, or Dubya and Tony. Those were loving relationships, now we got cracked ice. Before, America would say jump and the UK would obey, the thing is, the US doesnt care anymore. Barry is not even saying jump, he just doesnt say anything. I guess theyve grown apart. Obama is into his Healthcare, and Brown is into trying to get elected for the first time, Mr Imey said.

Maybe the Americans could replenish their special relationship with the British by invading another country together. There is nothing like a shared activity to bring forth a fresh connection once again. Heres to new invasions.


NORTH CAROLINA - USA - President Barack Obama, who received $950,000 of campaign funding from the disgraced Goldman Sachs bank was spotted in a forest trying to escape creditors asking for their money back.

We funded that boy and he took our goddamn money, now we wants it back after he screwed us with the Senate committee investigations and hes running like a rat. We want whats owed to us, thats all, Eli Cohen, one of the Goldman Sachs employees who is trying to recover the money from Barack Obama told ABC news.

According to financial experts, because Obama reneged on looking the other way with special treatment for the Goldman fat cats to commit massive mortgage fraud that nearly caused the destruction of the worlds financial markets, the Goldman hierarchy are now demanding their money back.

Goldman investment bank head, Goldberg Gold Goldman Sachs, has called for the scalp of the fugitive Obama, who is running scared somewhere in the wilds of North Carolina.

We know hes out there and were going to send the sniffer dogs and deputies out there to catch that lying shagetz chazer. He was supposed to let us do what we wanted when we paid out the hush money during his election but he took us for a ride and then tipped off the Senate committee. Nobody fucks with the Goldman boys. If you do, we dont care if youre the president of the United States or the Queen of England, well find you and get you for every gelt you owe us including the vig and the fuckin interest. Let this be a warning to all the other bitches, Mr Goldman Sachs told the New York Tribune.
LONDON - England - After Mr Brown's inauspicious visit to Rochdale this week, he has been tormented by a certain ex-Labour voter in his dreams, Number10 aides have revealed.

Every night he sees the face of the pensioner bearing down on him. She smiles into his face and leers revealing her rotting teeth. Behind her, the PM says he sees men from Sky news goaded on by Rupert Murdoch. He is then pursued by this woman as she comes closer and closer finally so that all he sees is the huge bulbous mole on her face. The PM usually wakes up screaming and in a cold sweat, his wife Sarah has told me and Downing Street psychiatrists, the Business secretary, Lord Mandelson told state broadcasting station, the BBC.

A team of psychiatrists and counsellors, who are already part of the medical team at Downing Street, are now working round the clock to try to reassure the sweat soaked PM that there is no nasty bigoted witch after him.

It is an uphill struggle. Every day and night we come against new challenges with Gordon. How high a dose of Bonkazapam should we give him? Should we use the straight jacket to control his fits of rage? We are at our wits end here, please, someone help us, doctor Wilson Patrick, told Labour controlled newspaper, the Mirror, yesterday.

Let us all hope that Mr Brown gets a good nights sleep soon.
Speaking deep from within his bunker in Downing street, the British Soviet Broadcasting Company cameras recorded the supreme unelected leaders speech.

Comrades, there was an attempt to install democracy on our one party system last night. I am happy to say that the attempt was violently quashed and crushed like a grape under my great clunking fist of soviet dictatorship. I am also happy to say that the workers and agents we installed in the polling stations eventually achieved their objective by erasing the votes of those who had misguidedly voted against me, i.e. 98.9% of voters. I would like to also thank our agents who turned away these democratic voters from polling stations in their thousands. It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who

cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide

everything. Already as we speak, my Stasi agents are rushing through the countryside rounding up dissenters. They will all be rounded up and taken to re-education camps in sector 101 where they will have the pleasure of enjoying the next 42 years of their lives crushing rocks. You will all learn to love me comrades, remember these words  War is peace, freedom is slavery and ignorance is strength. Go now to your freezing tenements and tower blocks and recite those words whilst you eat your cold gruel.



In other news: Stasi agents praised 12 year-old Holly from Sector 23 who reported her father and sister for speaking words of shame against Comrade Brown during a televisual BSBC propaganda program. Holly will be awarded six months of increased butter rations and an extra tin of dog food. Thoughtcrimes will not be tolerated. We are watching and listening to you.


GUATEMALA CITY - Guatemala - An impromptu visit by American TV Sitcom star Roseanne Barr caused a 200ft deep sink hole which in turn swallowed up a three-storey building, a supermarket, a bookshop and a pet shop, ministry officials said.

She farted and then there was chaos. I saw my dear friend Juan go under into the ground as the cracks appeared. I saw all the animals in the pet store disappear in the dust. She came here for a book signing and everyone who was queuing in the shop all sadly perished, were talking about three or four people, god rest their souls. It was a tragedy. I barely got away myself and the smell was so horrendous that I nearly fainted. I am so happy Roseanne has been barred from ever coming here again, she has ruined our lives, it will take many, many years to rebuild, Alonso Erasmus, a local resident in the Zone 12 Chupa district, told local Guatemalan news La Hora .

The enormous crater appeared in the Central American countrys capital as it was being ravaged by rumbling tremors emanating from Roseannes bunghole.





The area affected by Roseanne has been designated a national disaster zone



Guatemalan Minister of the Interior, Manolo Coca, told Reuters that after the disastrous gaseous explosion from Roseanne Barrs arse she would never be allowed to enter the country again.

She was here on a book signing tour for her new book about hemorrhoids. Instead she caused a national disaster. I have been on the phone to Barack Obama asking for compensation and some kind of aid, Mr Coca said.

Last year Roseanne Barr caused another gas explosion that damaged a large part of Venice whilst touring the city. She is currently banned from over 34 countries and has now been confined to her Texas ranch where she is regularly burped under controlled conditions by a team of doctors and nurses.
Sweden will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union

Ameriabank: At the Vanguard of Armenia's Banking Sector

STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH

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Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders

PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces

There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan

Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia

Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair

Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan

I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General

I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox

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There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur

EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol  Armenia and Azerbaijan  to do so without delay

An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan".

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The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022

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This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan

Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments

Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi Arrives in Yerevan

Armenian Revytech, global technology leader SAP and financial services software specialist SAP Fioneer sign a cooperation agreement

With 120 million drams donated by Mikael Vardanyan, the defenders of the homeland will be treated in a new building

OSCE Chairman-in-Office and OSCE Secretary General call for immediate cessation of hostilities along Armenia-Azerbaijan border
The vast

deposits of of gold,

cobalt, copper,

iron, and

critical industrial metals like lithium are so big and include so many

minerals that it would have been a crime not to invade the country and

liberate them, Joel Liebnitz, a Pentagon strategist told CNN.

The land of

Afghanistan is now earmarked to be completely opened up and mined so

that all that will be left will be a massive canyon crater with nothing

left.

Lets face it,

this place is a goddamn shit hole anyway. If we dig a few holes here and

there, the dumbass sheep herders aint gonna notice much. Hell, those

fuckers are so strung out on poppy juice they dont realise we now own

this here place, colonel Robert McNamara, stationed in Sangin told the

BBC.

The Russians knew about the deposits in the 1980s as did

the British before they were unceremoniously kicked out of the country.

Now the Americans and British mining companies are back, and after the

Iraqi oil well bonanza, the Afghan mineral fields will reap many rewards

for the Western governments.
MARSEILLES - France - After the French authorities banned the niqab for all Muslim women in the country, many Islamic women are finding novel ways around the ban.

Im now wearing a

French flag tricolour. Theres nothing they can do to stop me from walking

around with a French flag over my head. Vive la France et Allah! Nuri Al

Fattah told French channel, Canal+.

Everywhere across France,

from Nice to Calais, from Monaco to Bordeaux, the mainly Algerian descent

women are marching through the streets wearing a French flag over their

heads.

Its actually quite nice, because we cannot say to them

that they are stinking Muslim scum anymore like when they were wearing

those black coffins. Now they look rather nice and it would be

unpatriotic for any French Christian person to ask these women to take

down their flags, Jean Baptiste Renoir, Officer de la paix principal of

the Cherbourg Gendarmerie told Le Figaro.


Amongst the scallies, hoodies, chavs, neds, scumbags; murderers out early on parole, burglars and politicians, the new PM, David Cameron is set to launch the biggest social project Britain has ever seen.

I want to empower people to take charge of their own lives. We can have hoodies and chavs delivering meals on wheels to the elderly, that is, before they rob them and beat the living shit out of them. We could have people, who have never worked a day in their lives, actually go out and get a job. And thats not just MPs, Im talking about every day citizens on benefits. I want to empower the ordinary masses to take the blame for our broken system. I want them to feel the heat of vitriol and hatred meted out to members of parliament on a daily basis. Let those fuckers hold the can for awhile, Mr Cameron told the Observer on Sunday.





Camerons Big Society in action





The initiatives being championed include PR campaigns to showcase Camerons empty promises that will not affect the root of Britains malfunctioning society.

In his speech, the prime minister is expected to hail the

potential for the biggest, most dramatic redistribution of blame from

the state to individuals ever witnessed in modern day Britain.

The deprived area of Liverpool is one of the areas set to benefit from the

initiative.

Were starting our campaign in Liverpool because it has a certain reputation shall we say. We parked our Jags and Bentleys outside the conference hall only yesterday, within three minutes, the hubcaps, wheels, interior upholstery, engine and even our chauffeurs had been stolen, Senior PR executive in charge of the Big Society spin machine, Jedward Overman, told the Times.

It is hoped that hundreds of millions of pounds of peoples hard earned savings in dormant bank accounts will be pillaged and used on useless projects that are simply about spin with no substance whatsoever. Welcome to the fold, Mr Blair 2.0.
LAHORE - Pakistan - Gordon Brown has been voted the best British Prime Minister since the Second World War by a poll of more than 100 Al Qaeda leaders and operatives.

Hes done more damage to Britain than we could have ever dreamed of doing ourselves. If it was up to us he would be given an award for his works in destroying the UK. May Allah praise him for his great service against the infidel dogs. He will be guaranteed 72 virgin donkeys when he goes to heaven for sure, Abdul Abu Hamid, 3rd in command for Al Qaeda in Pakistan told a Jihadi website, Kaboom.com.

The poll, compiled by Aswan Qitada, Al Qaedas 2nd in command since June, found that Mr Brown was considered the best British PM over the past 65 years.

Mr Brown, who was Prime Minister for less than three years, scored highly because of the immense damage he meted out onto the British economy, infrastructure, employment, crime and society, the 106 Al Qaeda officers who voted revealed. The accumulation of record government debt was seen as Mr Browns

biggest success while he was also praised for not calling a general

election in 2007. He scored positive ratings for selling off Britains gold supply at the bottom of the market, destroying society, democracy and foreign policy.

Gordon Brown destroyed everything. We could only dream of such immense destruction. MashaAllah, may Allah bring peace upon him, Mr Hamid added.

Tony Blair was also rated highly by the Al Qaeda panel for his role in suckering the UK into two losing wars and costing Britain trillions of pounds in wasted money and soldier deaths.
BRUSSELS - Belgium - The British people will now have to work for over 250 days in the year to make any money for themselves, after it was revealed that the EU wants to tax Britain further.

Ve haf vays of making you pay, an EU official has told Britains chancellor, Osborne, yesterday at an impromptu Treasury meeting.

EU budget commissioner Janusz Lewandowski, ordered the British chancellor to commit Britain to pay tax to fund poor Eastern European countries like Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Lithuania.

We want the stupid people of Britain to fund our Soviet Fascist expansionist plans for the 1000 year Reich. We know very well how the UK is known as Ripoff Britain because any form of indignity that is presented to the Brits is eaten up without question. We also know that all goods sold in the UK are marked up by over 75% and no one even asks any questions. In that case, here in the Eurozone, we wish the English pigs to fund our unlimited salaries and expense accounts as well as bolster the failing states which we have invited into our single currency mechanism. Your role will be quite simple. Pay up or we will crush you one way or another, Mr Lewandowski told the BBC after the meeting at the Treasury.

Britain already hands over 9 billion per annum to the EU super state and has been ordered to add to this sum substantially.

Its a win win situation for Britain. You get to pay for the poor people to come into your country from Eastern Europe so that they can take your resources, overcrowd your cities, increase crime and f*ck your women. What more do you want? the EU budget commissioner said whilst grinning like a well fed Cheshire cat.
CHESHIRE - England - There was mayhem and chaos at a cloned cow farming facility today after cloned cows and bulls attacked a farm hand and visitors after being teased for being cloned cows.

Forget about mad cows, the cloned cows are the ones you have to really fear, Russ Abbot, a farm hand at the Sunnydale clone cow farm has revealed.

According to witnesses who witnessed the tragic attack, the cloned cows who all looked the same, suddenly started galloping towards the group of visitors on a day trip from the nearby town of Alsager.

There were about sixty cloned cows and a few cloned bulls who came out of the cow shed at the same time. Theyre way more intelligent than normal cows and move around with purpose. One of the visitors triggered off the event by teasing one of the cows. He called it a silly clone and then he started telling his chums that all the cows looked the same in an obvious loud voice. Thats when one of the cows perked up and seemed to understand; this cloned cow seemed to then tell its fellow clones what happened with a few moos here and there. Ive never seen the look of anger as I saw on those clone cows, they were spitting grass cuds they were, Jimmy Twonails, one of the visitors to the farm told the BBC.

After the stampede, the farmer rescued the visitors, but alas, three people were sadly trampled to death by a number of vicious cloned cows.

A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Alan Chipplesblain, told the BBC that the clone farm had now been contained and the cloned cows were currently being moved to a secret location where they will made into juicy cloned steaks and delivered to supermarkets across the country.


WASHINGTON DC - USA - Barack Hussein Obama is having the White House redecorated to suit his tastes better whilst he and his family enjoy their sixth vacation in four months.

Whilst the countrys economy is in turmoil and the jobless can be heard wailing in the streets of America, Barack Obama and his family are enjoying a string of indulgent holidays as their Washington home is being redecorated.

Mr Obama wanted something more in keeping with his religious beliefs. He himself brought the best architects from Saudi Arabia to construct the minarets on the White House. There will also be a magnificent dome where the Oval room used to be. We are even installing a Turkish bath on the third floor and an Islamic Center to the side of the West Wing, Charles Severin, one of the White House aides overseeing the project while the Obamas are on holiday told ABC.

Speaking from Marthas Vineyard at the start of his four week vacation, Barack Obama confirmed to reporters that he has already had approval from Pentagon planners for the Islamic additions to the White House.

The White House will be transformed by Obamas Vision of Change

As a nation of many colours and creeds, you can understand what I mean when I am talking about change. It is for the betterment of our great nation that I have proposed the minarets over the White House and the magnificent dome that will cover the building. I call for religious tolerance and peace amongst all men. We must all live together and not fight each other anymore, Barack said.

The speech was truly touching and even reporters from the assembled Fox news teams were visibly shaken to tears.

The building of the taxpayer funded minarets has still come under fierce opposition, however, the White House addition will be discussed in full when congress reconvenes after Septembers recess.

There will be a call to prayer in the morning and also in the afternoon from all four minarets which have high wattage speakers on them. This is a beautiful sound of the muezzin who will call the prayer so there is nothing to worry about, Rumbub Tariq Khabbar who will be the Mullah in charge of the White House mosque once Obama returns from holiday.
LONDON - England - The untimely death of Iraq weapons expert, David Kelly, was a "textbook case" of suicide, according to the government appointed pathologist who performed the post-mortem examination.

This was a text book case of suicide wherein Mr Kelly was found dead with no fingerprints on the knife and no gloves on his body plus there were very limited traces of blood even though he supposedly severed his arteries. The agents who murdered him sure did a great job, Mr Nicholas Hunt, the government appointed pathologist who performed the post-mortem, told the Sunday Times.

Without the untimely death of scientist, Dr. Kelly, in 2003, the UK might not have gone to war in Iraq.

Mr Blair at the time was very concerned about the meddling ways of Dr. Kelly, so Im sure he and his friends devised a little solution to the problem. Just a quick fix, which will not be discovered for the next 70 years thanks to the Hutton whitewash inquiry. Of course, by then it will be too late anyway, so it wont matter. Whats one dead scientist when youve got the worlds second largest oil fields to invade, a former key aide to Number10 at the time of Mr Kellys liquidation revealed yesterday.
WASHINGTON DC - USA - In a remarkable turn of events in Capitol Hill, newly released documents have revealed that Glenn Beck is actually a member of the Taliban.

Hes usually trying to dig up some nonsense on the ailing president regarding his absent birth certificate, but this time the tables have turned on Republican Tea Party hot head Glenn Beck.

We dug deep for this one, and it turns out that Glenn Beck was not only born in Helmand province, Afghanistan, but his roots lie with the Taliban. His dad was a prominent Taliban commander who sadly passed away last year during an American air raid, and his momma was a towel head too. In his spare time, Glenn Beck prays to Allah and wears a turban at home. He even arranged his furniture to point towards Mecca so he can be close to Allah at all times. The bitch has been holding out on us for this long, Rudy DuMaurier, a senior Tea Party chairman from Boston, Massachusetts told a US military tribunal on Wednesday before expelling Mr. Beck from any further Tea Party conventions.

When news of Glenn Becks real identity was broken to America via Fox News, there was shock and grief across the country.

Goddamn! You saying that hes a towel head too? What next youll be tellin us that he wants to build a mosque at the foot of the statue of Liberty. What a load of prime, steamin BS, John Deansguard, a fireman from Chisholm Creek, Wichita told CNN.
MAGALUF - Spain - The British balcony jumping season is sadly nearly over this year but many Brits on their summer hols may be shocked next year because the Spaniards are now building hotels without balconies.

This is a terrible disappointment. How the hell are we meant to have fun on holiday if we cant jump from balconies or hang off them whilst being completely pissed out of our heads on cheap booze? Lee Anderton, 21, from Blackburn told the Sun newspaper.

In Britain, many holidaymakers were angry about the new Spanish directive to ban balconies in all hotels.

Weve already booked our holiday in Benidorm and now were going to fookin lose out, innit. I paid 70 for a three week holiday and I want my bloody money back. Whats the point without fookin balconies. Its tekkin all the fun out of it. Cheap booze and balcony jumping, I paid my money, innit? Ill have to go to Portugal or summat, Billy Cragger, 27, from Leeds told the Mirror.

This year has been a bumper year for the Brits on holiday with over 89 fatalities from balcony jumping, and 234 Brits paralysed from the neck down.

Carlos Endemol, Minister of Tourism in Andalucia said: We are trying to cater to the British people who are so drunk all the time that they fall of balconies and jump off them, but the clean up operations are getting too costly for us. Frankly we are fed up of scraping British brains off concrete. This is why the new laws I am implementing within our province will require all hotel chains to remove their balconies and new construction to also adhere to these updated planning rules.
Expert: Syrian conflict creates hazard for Armenia

Parallel to the escalation of Syrian conflict, the Syrian Armenian and especially Aleppo Armenian community will split. As a result of it flow of Syrian Armenians to Armenia will increase, which will create additional economic problems for the country in this phase, as providing them with accommodation and jobs is very difficult, said Mushegh Khudaverdyan, turkologist and expert on regional affairs during the press conference held today. He added that the second hazard threatening Armenia is the broadening of influence zones of ISIS. Armenia is a Christian country and consequently not a favorable country for extremists, and the more the zones of the ISIS actions get closer to the borders of Armenia, the more the dangers coming from them will grow, he highlighted. Besides, when voicing anti Christian calls, the extremists destroy also Armenian churches. According to Mushegh Khudaverdyan, the struggle in Syria is like a mini world war, which is fought both by the western blog, that is NATO, between Europe and the USA, and the eastern blog- between Russia, China and Iran. The role of Turkey shouldnt be forgotten in this context; it has its interesting stance, Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is trying to lead its politics independent of the USA and show that Turkey is the leader of the region, but at the same time clearly realizing that if Turkey doesnt serve the interests of NATO in Syria, it will not remain in the NATO even a day. 19 military bases of the USA in Turkey tie the hands of Erdogan to freely act in Syria, he highlighted. According to the expert, the Turkish side is struggling against union of Syrias and Iraqs Kurds, At the same time Yeprat operation showed that the territory of Syria is separated between the NATO and the eastern blog, and in case of any sides infringement, they carry out counterattacks against each other, noted Mushegh Khudaverdyan. He thinks that Geneva negotiations on Syrian issue are imitation of reconciliation and the recent events can prove it, The fact of chemical attack hasnt been proved yet, as it is one of the working styles of NATO to blame the other side for having and using chemical weapon or weapons of mass destruction. This step of Trump shows that he repeats the actions of Obamas and Bushs administration, which aim at escalating the situation, and the leadership in the USA is interested in increase of tension, irrespective of who the President will be. Trump, like his predecessors, is inclined to broaden the USAs influence zones at the expense of eastern influence zones, highlighted the expert, adding that in this sense Russia-American relations will always be tense and unstable, as long as the USA is trying to expand its influence at the expense of Russian influence zones and that reconciliation cannot be reached in the near future.
We noticed a massive hike in call volume. This was because Facebook was down for maintenance and people had to update their friends on what they were doing by telephone., Archie Seymour, head of operations for AT&T reported.

Reggie Cornholio, 26, a resident of Las Vegas, who is an avid Facebook user said: I had to call all of my 342 Facebook friends and give them a manual telephone update of what I had done in the half hour that Facebook was down. It took me over four hours to call everyone and tell them that I had just gone to the gym and was going to sit down and watch an episode of CSI.

Luckily for the distraught Facebook users, the outage only lasted for half-an-hour and as soon as the networking site was back up and running, there were sighs of relief all around.

I have to admit that I cried like a baby when I fired up Facebook on my computer and it blinked up on the screen again. It was like an old friend I had lost for thirty years. I immediately made about 15 updates and once again the world was an OK place to be in, Mr Cornholio added.
MADRID - Spain - The Europe-wide Austerity Bill limits rioting to only four times a week, EU officials have stipulated in a new riot act.

We are urging EU

countries to only riot four days a week. This will give the authorities

time to rebuild the ruins so that the rioting can commence again the

week after, Julio Asspierre, EU Commissioner for Rioting announced on

Wednesday.

At the moment Greece, Portugal and Spain are in full riot mode and Italy is just getting ready for a major riot for the weekend.

Its

physically exhausting. Just as one riot ends another one begins, so

were asking for austerity measures on the riots themselves, Mr

Asspierre added.

The

riots are being precipitated by austerity measures on the respective

economies of EU countries and the riots have now been hit themselves by

austerity measures.

Many

people are now confused about the austerity packages and simply riot to

get it out of their minds, Gilles Villespanner, another unelected EU

bureaucrat told French newspaper, Le Figaro.
SALFORD - England - The BBC has been left reeling at the accusation that they are seen as being partial to partiality.

The Left Wing BBC are about as impartial as a Ku Klux Klan member at a Hip Hop festival, Bernard Fenster, 46, a TV viewer from Lancashire told a BBC reporter, before being heavily edited out of a so-called documentary about impartiality to be aired next month.

This is the reality of the situation, the BBC is in damage control after 13 long years of being a lackey to the Socialist Labour government who have now saddled the UK with 6 trillion worth of debt payments and a country in utter turmoil.

Biased

It has been very hard for the BBC to adjust to the new coalition government because they are not socialist commie shitstains on a mission to collectivize everything in sight. Well, at least, not yet anyway. Seriously, anyones better than the previous Labour government. For too long, the BBC has been wallowing in the waste of Labours gluttony and fleecing the public out of huge sums of taxpayers cash to subsidise their huge pensions and utterly wasteful spending sprees. The holiday is over for them, and now that all the money is gone, theyre up sh*t creek without a paddle, or even without a boat. Whilst they were doling out Labours propaganda for so long, they forgot that there are other sections of the public in the UK and not everyone is a brainwashed socialist taxpayer funded bureaucratic bum on the make, another TV viewer from London, Jason Bingham, 32, disclosed to the Mirror newspaper before being heavily edited out of the article.

Now that the champagne socialists are in opposition, there is a new era dawning for the BBC.

Weve still got Ed Militant, hes as red as they come and hes heading up Labour now. You should have seen how we gave him all that spectacular coverage and perked up when he won the leadership contest against his coward sibling, Morris Toynbee, a BBC political commentator reported during an impartial BBC news broadcast aired on Tuesday.
SAN JOSE - Chile - In a remarkable turn of events, the last trapped miner to come out of the stricken mine where 33 miners were stranded for 69 days was immediately arrested by the local authorities.

The last man out was Augusto Jose Ramon Pinochet, an imposter who somehow blended in with the other miners, and was arrested immediately when he came to the surface.

We dont know how this man got into the mine and masqueraded as a miner for 69 days but he is going to jail now for sure, President Sebastian Pinera told the assembled crowds and reporters.

Mr Pinochet waved at the cameras as he was led away to a waiting police van.

He told us his name was Ruiz and he was in the mine to help. When he started to torture a few us and try and recruit us into a paramilitary police force, then we got a little scared, Rodriguez Chichotas, one of the trapped miners told the Santiago Times.
LONDON - England - Murderers who repeatedly kill people will eventually have to go to jail under tough new Government rules.

Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke plans to impose a three strikes and youre out rule that will jail serial killers and murderers.

He says he wants to send a very strong message about Britains lax jail system and laws. If you kill someone, then another and then maybe another person, we might have to prosecute you, plus you might also lose your benefit payments as well, Mr Clarke said.

Yesterday, outside the Old Bailey, a crowd protested at the absurdity of the new laws being implemented.

Axe murderer and thief from East London, Arthur Biddleswaide, 56, was disgusted by the new regulations: So youre saying that if I slaughter three people I go to jail? Bloody ridiculous! And I lose my benefits? Where is this Kenneth Clarke geezer, Ill have his head?

Johnson Redsparn, a certified maniac and machete wielding nutter from Swindon said: What are they going to restrict next? Eh? They want to put us in jail? Ive a good mind to go on another spree.

The UKs lax laws have created a breeding ground for serious criminals and killers roaming the streets. The new Coalition government has been left with no choice but to jail persistent murderers, and from next month, even rapists may be jailed. We are negotiating over the final details, said one MP.
WASHINGTON DC - USA - In America, everything is bigger than the rest of the world. This is why Americans are laughing at the tiny debt incurred by Britain's government.

We go through that kind of debt in a frickin day. You Limeys think youre something with a tiny debt like that? We can blow a trillion bucks in an afternoon and not even bat an eyelid. Hell, we just let those Chinese pay for it when they buy our junk bonds, Ed Switzer, the Federal Reserves senior spending analyst told Reuters news service.

Americans have big roads, big people, big buildings, big mouths, big burgers, women with huge silicon tits and big cars. Everything in America is on the plus side, including their debt.

Officially U.S. debt is projected to be $20 Trillion by 2015, and these estimates are conservative to say the least. The actual U.S. debt is closer to $100 Trillion. That pretty much pisses on any so-called debt the Brits have got. We could hoover up that shit before brunch. How many zeroes is that? Hell knows? Vice President, Joe Biden told the Boston Times.
BOSTON - USA - In a land where six out of ten people are lawyers, many are now boarding ships and leaving their own country to hopefully find better job prospects elsewhere.

Whats the point? Eight years of law school and Ive got a huge debt with no job prospects. Were awash with lawyers here. Our land where you can get sued for looking at someone the wrong way, has now got so many lawyers in it that some of us have to jump ship. I need to litigate. I have this urgent desire to prosecute, but some other lawyer always gets there first, Artie Schweisman, a recent law graduate from Boston Law School told CBS news.

Much like the pilgrims who first set sail from England to America in 1621, a new ship is now sailing from Cape Cod to anywhere in the world where there is a shortage of lawyers.

I heard they need some lawyers in Afghanistan, or maybe Tasmania. Ill do anything to represent someone. Just that feeling you get, the excitment of the judges gavel slamming down, everyone rise, guilty or not guilty. I look round at the jury, I can feel their apprehensionand then..Bam! I realise Im still in my dorm room with $120,000 student debt to payoff and no hope of ever getting a frickin job, Mr Schweisman said.

The ship can hold upto 5,000 lawyers and 200 crew. Already, 30,000 lawyers have thus applied to go on the voyage but after rigorous selections, the numbers were whittled down. Each lawyer has to pay approximately $45,000 to even be considered a place on board, and this will not include food.

We hope to set sail in December. We even have a few Christmas trees on board. God help us all, I need to litigate so bad, that last night I tried to sue my college professor to recover some of the funds for my four year course. He then counter sued me for trying to sue him and won. Shithead! the leader of the voyaging lawyers, Shabbaz Mandingo, told the ABC news network.
I saw him in there. He was eating some food and my mouth started to water. I aint eaten in two days. I hoped they could throw me some scraps, even a stale piece o bread. I had hope. Hell, I even voted for that guy. He was eating lobster, then they brought him dessert. That champagne looked mighty fine too, hmm hmm, Dilbert Wilkins, an unemployed teacher from Chicagos Southside told CBS news.

After Obamas meal was over, his entourage of 23 vehicles left the restaurant in a hurry. Mr Dilbert tried to say something to the President but was escorted away by some secret service men.

Hey, at least they feed you in jail huh, Mr Dilbert said before he was put into the back of an unmarked car.

President Obamas White House spokesman, Ari Schweissman, said: The president cut short his meal because he saw a man at the window salivating and obviously hungry. After the presidents entourage sped off, he personally ordered the man be taken to the rear of the restaurant and given a free meal from the bins in the back. You see folks, there is some hope out there. Remember, vote for change. Vote for hope.
LONDON - England - Amongst the burning pyres, violent clashes, flailing bodies and Christmas shoppers braving the freezing conditions, the Royal car containing Charles and Camilla attended a new theatrical adaptation of the apocalyptic film 'Children of Men'.

This is just the beginning, a little taster of what is to come, a protester told Sky news before smashing a fire extinguisher through Prince Charles car window.

The production of Children of Men portrays the U.K. in the throes of civil war and complete civil unrest.

Were honoured to have the Prince come to our production. He braved the journey from the palace and his car actually drove through Londons streets. It is now no longer safe for MPs, celebrities, rich people or Royals to be seen to travel in public areas anymore, an injured policeman said from his hospital bed.

As Prince Charles Roller rolled into Argyle street for a Royal Variety show he will never forget, a maelstrom of anti-establishmentarian hatred burst its unholy bubble onto the car smashing the windows and engulfing it with pure unadulterated hatred.

The future King, of what will be left of England, and his wife, had their Rolls Royce limousine nearly turned on its side as hundreds of angry protesters engulfed it shouting expletives and daubing it in paint.

The funny thing is when the Prince walked out of the performance, he commented that there was not much difference between fiction and reality, the director of the production, Robbie Baldrick, told the Times.

The Prince and Duchess were later airlifted out of the area by helicopter and taken back to the high security palace three miles away from the theatre.
PHOENIX - Arizona - The start of the shooting season in America gets earlier and earlier each year victims of mass shootings have complained to media outlets.

Every year I put a notch on my calendar telling me when the shooting season is going to begin. This year it started three days early, thats why I got shot in the leg and am now in the hospital, Gina kolovic, a resident of Phoenix, Arizona told the Herald Sun newspaper.

All across America, the shootings and massacres have started surprisingly early this year with 24 colleges reporting killing sprees, 320 store shootouts, and over 20,000 random shootouts .

Its like hunting season, you gotta have special times for that. If you dont own a gun, then you gotta know when to stay home and barricade yourself away. The start of shooting season is the most volatile, so you gotta stay down, duck at any loud noises, wear your body armour and helmet, Julia Dannet, a Phoenix police shooting season adviser announced on Monday.





NASA has even revealed that the start of shooting season in America can be viewed from space.

Arnie Wintergantz, a NASA spokesman said: We can see the guns going off from space as the shooting sprees start across the country. Because the firearm bursts are so numerous, the light flashes are visible to our imaging satellites. I gotta say folks, its a lot safer being in the space station looking down on America then being right there in the war zone.

A recent victim and survivor of a mass shooting in a Walmart store, Louise Bellatrix, who was shot in the abdomen multiple times, spoke of her despair.

I had put in my calendar that the shooting season would start next Friday. Well, I was wrong about that. How surprised I was when out buying some last minute Darjeeling for a tea party, the crazed gunman came out of an elevator with an AK-47, two rocket launchers and a dozen grenades. Lets just say the bodies were waist deep after he finished his shooting season fun.
KENTUCKY - USA - Scientists and researchers at the George W Bush Research Institute of Neocon Science have finally discovered the real reason why thousands of birds are mysteriously falling dead out of the skies all over the world.

After much research, we have finally come to the conclusion that Jesus is coming back soon and we are getting very close to the Rapture, Professor Alex Pendleton, the chief scientist in charge of the emergency study into the bird deaths told Fox News.

According to many of the scholars, Jesus is flying around the earth at thousands of miles per hour waiting for the right time to land and it is because of the immense speed he is flying at that he is colliding with birds who are migrating back up north from their winter retreats in the southern hemisphere.

The Rapture

Jesus is coming back for the Rapture when all the Christians will be lifted up and taken up to heaven, where they will live in paradise for all of eternity. He is circling the earth right now as we speak and when he lands there will be bright lights and sounds of angels blowing their trumpets and bassoons. If you aint a true Christian, youre shit outta luck though. Hes definitely coming now because of all the troubles in the world. Gays in the military and Obama the Anti-Christ, Professor Pendleton said.

Christian scholars from the institute previously said that the Rapture was meant to have occurred in 2009 but it was subsequently re-scheduled for 2010, that date did not materialise either, so hopefully 2011 will be the year that Jesus comes back to save the Christians from living on earth.

Radar Tracking Jesus



Weve been tracking him circling the earth for weeks now on radar and satellite. We use satellite trackers to see Jesus. He sure flies fast too. I saw him banking over the horizon last night and he zoomed past at about 12,000 km/h. Dang, it was a beautiful sight. He made a great big whooshing sound as he flew past. I just got chills down my back and had to get down on my knees right there in the gas station to pray, Edward Jonestown, another researcher working on the project said.

Some country folk, however, have sadly tried to shoot Jesus as he strafed their towns in the Midwest.

We had some boys shooting at him thinkin he was an Iraqi attack airplane or the Russians. We had to go over to their trailer and tell them to stop shooting at Jesus. I think hes bullet proof anyway, but still its disrespectful, Merv Bart, a logger from Deans Creek in Wisconsin told CBS news.



There were also protests from wildlife preservation groups and animal rights activists who decry the fact that Jesus is out there killing birds because hes flying so fast.

He saved the birds in the cages in the temple in Jerusalem. So whats he doing flying around killing all the blackbirds? Ive reported him to the authorities and PETA, Anna Bolic, an angry animal rights activist from Utah said.


GENEVA - Switzerland - World leaders held an emergency meeting on Wednesday to try and save the marriage of Katie Price and cage-fighter, Alex Reid.

This is a matter of grave importance to the worlds political, economic and social well-being. If their fake publicity-led marriage fails, the whole world could be plunged into complete darkness, the worried Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, told reporters.

Some of the assembled worlds politicians who attended the summit included: Dmitry Medvedev, Angela Merkel, Barack Obama and Silvio Berlusconi, who were very concerned for the ailing celebrity couple.

Even though I wouldnt mind having a go at the loose fishwife, Katie, myself, I want her to stay with that dumb lug Alex Reid. They are such a cute couple, the Italian premier, Mr Berlusconi said before jetting off to a brothel in Calabria.



After heated discussions lasting three days, the world leaders hope the Katie Price sham marriage will last forever so that world peace and prosperity for all can continue for decades to come.
RUNCORN - England - Under new Coalition rules spearheaded by Nick Clegg, all churches in England and Wales will now be forced to include gay bath houses in the religious buildings.

The new initiative pushed through by Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, will involve massive renovations to all the churches in the British Isles.

Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone is to propose pushing through the gay bath house bill making it compulsory to include bath houses at all religious settings in England and Wales.



Well have bath houses where the men and priests can congregate and even a viewing gallery where Coalition church bath house inspectors can ensure that the gay orgies within the churches are conducted in a gay enough manner, Arch Deacon of the Bristol Diocese, Henry Felcher, told the BBC.

Already, there has been interest from some celebrities like George Michael and Sir Elton John.

Well be going to church a lot more often in England now. Ill bring the baby I recently bought with me to tell him about the bees and the bees, Sir Elton John told the Los Angeles Times.

George Michael has also requested the Coalition government install mens urinals in the churches to facilitate the Christian cottaging population.

When I walk into the church I want to smell the urinals. They can have cubicles right next to the altar, Michael said, attending an opening ceremony at a church in Highgate, North London.

The Catholic church, however, has dismissed the new Church of England rulings as atrocious.

Speaking from the Vatican, Pope Benedict said: Gays in the church? The Catholic church does not agree that gays should marry in church, for a start, our priests do not marry, and furthermore, they are bound to the utmost secrecy when buggering young boys.


LONDON - England - The 'Illuminated' ones know exactly what David Cameron's 'big society' is and how it was dreamed up by Whitehall and EU policy makers many years before Cameron came into power.

There is nothing sinister about David Camerons big society. In fact, there is nothing new in his words describing it.

Camerons big society is supposed to create a climate that empowers local people and communities, building a big society that will take power away from politicians and give it to people.

The Coalition plans to restore economic prosperity and end mass unemployment using the ruse of a big society, while suppressing state benefits, labour unions and strikes.



Much like the rise of the German National Socialists who empowered the people with vigour and purpose prior to World War II, so too is Camerons call to engender community spirit; for people to get up and work for the state without pay; for specialist Coalition organisers to instruct the people on how they should do this. Soon, the great shining autobahns will be spanning the UK as they do in Deutchsland even to this day.



Ein Volk Ein EU

To understand Camerons Coalition one must first look at the European Union.



The European Union is a Totalitarian Nationalist Socialist state that has been resurrected from the ashes of the Third Reichs downfall. The Nazis of Germany were a blueprint for the European Union.

One must understand that not only has the Third Reich been resurrected with the European Unions amalgamation of pretty much every European nation state, but it has also been resurrected in Britain as well.

Reichskommissariate



Oswald Moseley and Hitler would be proud of the covert nature in which National Socialism has reared its head across Europe once again.

There is no doubt that the EU is a Fascist state and one only has to look at the definition of Fascism to understand this fact. During the 19th century, the bundle of rods, in Latin called fasces and in Italian fascio, came to symbolize strength through unity, the point being that whilst each independent rod was fragile, as a bundle they were strong. And so too, the European Union has risen to power by joining states together and taking away individual state powers thus redirecting them to Brussels.

The UK is also aligned with the EU and will eventually be forced to join the Fascist state. Cameron and his counterpart Clegg have been instructed to prepare the UK for this important amalgamation and they will be rewarded richly for their role during the transfer. They will of course explain to the people in a pleasant enough fashion that their hands were tied, of how it was the only option.

Covert Not Overt Fascism



World War II was a mistake by the German National Socialist Fascists because it was a war fought with guns and cannons. Their agenda was too overt, too obvious. The new European Fascism has been won without a single shot being fired. Now that is the true meaning of conquest. Whole countries have submitted and assimilated into the Franco-German ruled EU control system, with promises of untold economic success and riches. So this time, it is Greed that won them over and not Fear. The old Fascists were wrong to try and win by brutality and war, they however created the blueprint for the EU which is now being implemented by the unelected technocrats in Brussels.



David Cameron should not be underestimated in his usage of propaganda and spin techniques employed to lie to the people. Through clever and constant application of his propaganda, the people will be made to see paradise as hell, and also the other way around, to consider the most wretched sort of life as paradise. He will, of course, portray a kind caring face to the public; as a family man; someone who speaks common sense, however, his allegiance is nowhere with the people  it never was in the first place. The people were fooled once again, and they will continue to be fooled after he is long gone.


BENGHAZI - Libya - Western leaders were in panic mode last night after news filtered through that one of the countries oil refineries had been torched by rebels.

We fear for the oil. What if it gets torched? That beautiful black gold will be no more. This is why were prepared for military action right fuckin now, the British PM David Camerons energy spokesman, Giles Fitzroy disclosed to the Daily Telegraph.

Its not just the Brits who are smarting at the possible loss of oil, so are the Americans.

When Gaddafi starts torching his oil fields, then people are really going to wake up.



Barack Obama said on Sunday evening: If we dont invade those Libyans soon how the hell am I gonna take all those expensive Air Force One day trips for no particular reason? Oh my god, I gotta have my Air Force One trips, Michelle needs em too!

Rescue Mission



There was no oil in Egypt or Tunisia so they were not up for military intervention, but Libya is a different matter.

Were prepared to defend the oil reserves that belong to us in that country. Maybe they have WMD? Gaddafi could launch an attack on the West in forty five minutes if we dont attack soon, like right now. Send in the goddamn SAS, Marines, Seals and Halliburton! John Schecter, a Pentagon official disclosed.

The US has already mobilised three navy destroyers off the Libyan coast, and even Britain, who doesnt have much of a navy left after massive budget cuts, have deployed a small frigate with a few guns on it.
SHANGHAI - China - The Chinese Foreign Affairs minister, Ziang Long, today denied that thousands of swimmers on their beach were responsible for the tragic tsunami wave that hit Japan last week.

We had 950,000 swimmers on this stretch of coast last week and they all jumped into the water at the same time. I do not think, however, that this could have caused the earthquake resulting in a tsunami, Mr Long remarked whilst being interviewed on state television.

The population of China is so huge that when swimmers go to the beaches, seismologists record tremors and if the activity continues along fault lines, there can be serious repercussions resulting in massive earthquakes and tsunamis.

Its not only the risk of creating earthquakes and tsunamis that people should be scared of, what about when thousands of Chinese bathers all take a wee in the water at the same time? Weve actually tracked the yellow slick by satellite reaching as far as California and Hawaii, Roger Bannister, a seismologist and scientist from the University of California told CNN.





When the Chinese bathers all jumped into the water at the same time and started to splash wildly last week, there were reports of 80 foot waves reaching the coast of Africa and India as well as tsunamis in Japan and Korea.

Its those darn Chinese again. They must have been all going for a swim. Can you imagine when they all want to own a car as well? Therell be so much lead and pollution in the worlds atmosphere that Japans radiation will be a breath of f*cking fresh air, a South Korean politician, Kinji Asso, told South Korean news agency, Yonhap.


WINDSOR - England - Prince Andrew was embroiled in even more controversy today after it was revealed that Princess Eugenie and Beatrice were sold to billionaire Jeffrey Epstein to settle a fraction of Fergie's enormous debts.

You all may be wondering why you havent seen princess Beatrice and Eugenie of late.

Well, thats because theyve both been sold off to billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

He thought long and hard about the decision but was left with no choice. I think Andrew got twenty grand a piece for them. Yeah, so for both daughters he made forty grand which was used to pay off Fergies credit card bill for a single month, Prince Andrews spokesman, Harold Jamon, told the BBC.

Even though the two girls are above fifteen years old and have officially left school, convicted paedo Epstein, was still interested in procuring the services of the princesses.

They might still come in useful. He especially likes the wild eyed one. He said he wants to use her for hunting wild water voles in the Wisconsin countryside. Apparently, she can spot one of those critters from over 200 yards without the aid of binoculars; her eyes are so huge and stare with such intensity she is also used to scare away unwanted photographers and prosecutors. You dont want to know what the other one has to do to please her new master, Jamon revealed.

Now that Sarah Ferguson has had all her debts paid off, she can relax and rack up even more debts. Next time though, someone else might have to pay an even bigger price to pay off her reckless spending habits.
LONDON - England - All across Britain simultaneous street parties erupted at the jubilant news on Tuesday that the Chancellor generously cut 1p off fuel duty.

Im so happy, instead of paying 120 to fill up my car, now I pay 116. This is such a relief I almost cried with joy, Andy McFarther, 43, a supply teacher from Aberystwyth, Wales, told the Sun newspaper.

There was joy across the whole of Britain as the streets filled up with tables, decorations and revellers all whooping with delight.

Anne Dickinson from Bushygap in Northumberland said: Thank you George Osborne, I can now drive my Datsun to the shop and back. This 1p off the 87% fuel tax rate has made an enormous difference.

Motorists will now be only paying 6.50 per gallon, which is a great relief to many households in Britain.

George Osborne wanted to give something back to the people, and with this 1p reduction, Britains economy will also be allowed to grow because this means that all vehicles will be able to travel for a few more yards at a cheaper cost, Transport Minister, Roger Hole, told a Commons briefing yesterday.


WINDSOR - England - Royal physicians have revealed that Prince Philip may have to be sedated during the wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Prince Philip, who is prone to saying things to people that may be construed as rather f*cking nasty, will be drugged with a cocktail of sedatives to stop him speaking during the ceremony.

Due to the extreme form of Tourettes syndrome the duke suffers from, the Queen and William have all agreed that it is the best for everyone if he is drugged up to the eyeballs.



Hell still be able to walk and appear to look around the Abbey during the ceremony, but he wont be able to speak. This will ensure that the ceremony for Kate and Wills should go smoothly, a royal palace aide told the Telegraph.

The drugs that will be used to stop the wayward duke from speaking, will temporarily paralyse his facial muscles as well as his vocal chords, and be administered via injection.

Before the duke is drugged, he will be allowed to speak in a special secret room in the palace, where he can talk about ghastly wogs, slitty-eyed chinks and curry guzzling Indians, to his hearts content.



It wont be painful for the old Greek. Just like everything else in his life, Im sure hell grin and bear it. You might even see a big smile on his face on the day, Jonty McMahon, another palace aide revealed.
LONDON - England - Followers of deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, travelled for miles to come and see the tears that everyone is talking about.

I have travelled all the way from Wales to come and see Nick Cleggs tears rolling down his cheeks. I even brought a bucket with me, Jocelyn Bingleswaith, from Pontrhydfendigaid told the BBC.

All three followers of the deputy prime minister were waiting outside Downing Street yesterday to see if they could catch a glimpse of their icon, and even catch a tear from his eye.



I made this pilgrimage today. I feel like one of the characters from Chaucers tales. I want to see Cleggy weeping, he could be the next Madonna for all you know, Robert Schitt, a pilgrim from Hamburg, Germany said.

Downing Street police were putting more officers on patrol today in anticipation of three more Nick Clegg pilgrims turning up tomorrow.

The Catholic church is also going to send a delegation from the Vatican to find out if Nick Clegg should be transported to the Holy See, where he could be put in a glass cabinet and viewed on a daily basis by millions of tourists and pilgrims.


WASHINGTON DC - USA - Former British prime minister, Gordon Brown, has been chosen by an IMF panel to be the successor to Dominique Strauss-Kahn, it has been announced.

We are very happy to announce the in-statement of Gordon Brown as the new head of the IMF, a senior director, Giancarlo Barbarossa, told the Washington Times.

Mr Brown flew out from his Scottish constituency of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath to go to Washington to attend the inaugural ceremony on Tuesday.

Speaking after the event he said: I thank you all for having the confidence in my abilities and previous history as chancellor, as well as prime minister of Britain. I would like the opportunity to do the same to the world as I have done for Britain. In other words, bonkers Brown is back and youre all fucked mateys. After Ive finished with youse lot, youll wish you were all deid, ya bas!
LONDON - England - Ed Miliband has been urged to have his grotesque staring eyes adjusted in a bid to make his appearance more appealing to voters.

Party aides hope that surgery to remove Mr Milibands repugnant gut wrenching stare, which cause voters to cower in terror, will make him less scary to look at, it is understood.

Spin doctors have been concerned about Mr Milibands delivery since his surprise backstabbing of his brother David in the battle for leadership of the party, the Daily Mirror reported. Westminster political commentator, Harold Farquer, spoke about the Labour leaders stare yesterday from parliament: Red Eds psychotic stare fills the room with dread when he walks in. Ive seen grown men cower in abject terror when the evil little bastard looks at them. As for women and children, they usually run away crying when they see him.





Ed Miliband uses his death stare on a female protestor It is thought that he plans to undergo the procedure  which takes a week to recover from  during Parliaments long break this summer. Surgeons at Harley Street have even suggested that Miliband may have to have his eyeballs removed completely and his eyelids remodelled before the procedure is completed. The operation will be very delicate and putting Milibands eyeballs back into their sockets could take more than three hours on the operating table. After they complete the eye surgery to remove his godawful evil stare, we want to focus on his horrible nasal voice that makes him sound like a Dalek from Doctor Who, a party spin doctor told Labours Daily Mirror newspaper.


LONDON - England - After being snubbed by the royal family, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, accepted our invitation to come to the Daily Squib offices today.

While the Middle Eastern despots, torturers and warmongers all got front row seats at the royal wedding of the century, it is surprising that two of the most dastardly, malicious and damaging characters in politics in the last few years, were omitted from the guest list.

It certainly says something when you would rather invite a Syrian or Libyan torturer to your wedding and not the former Labour prime ministers, BBC commentator, Huw Edwards said on the day.

The Daily Squib had to step in to save this hypocritical travesty.

This is why we invited Blair and Brown to our offices for a slap up meal and to watch the whole wedding on the Squib telly in the writing room.

We thought we should invite these two pitiful characters to our office binge because, frankly, we actually felt sorry for them. They can plot their Bolshevik revolutions to their hearts content here although we want nothing to do with that sort of thing, one of our senior editors, Al Hertyu, said.

As soon as the two former Labour PMs walked through our doors, there were cheers all round, and then the pie throwing kicked off.

Lets just say that after the staff had their way, Blair and Brown were unceremoniously thrown back out into the street where a mob of royalists recognised who they were and proceeded to kick the living shit out of both of them. Huzzah!
KENTUCKY - USA - Imperial Wizard, Ronald Edwards made a statement today saying: "Our boy done good and we're endorsing him for a second term."

White Christian Supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan has endorsed Barack Obama to be the President of the United States of America for a second term, after famously endorsing him in 2008.

Speaking from his Kentucky office in Dawson Springs, the Imperial Wizard explained that they were gunning for the president to win a second term because of his efforts in getting Osama bin Laden and continuing the War of Terror.



This is the only time in Klan history that any member of the KKK has publicly supported an African American candidate for a second term presidency.

KKK lodges all over America have been gathering and holding rallies supporting Obamas imminent presidential re-election in 2012.

Grand Turk Cletus Monroe has also been very vocal about the election and has donated thousands of dollars to Obamas election fund.

Our boys gonna do it, not once, but twice. My Klan group has donated up to $450,000 to the Obama fund and were gunning for more.

Hes done us proud. He brought America change. Never thought Id be saying that about a negro, but there you go.

Placards for Barack Obama have been put up around the Klans Headquarters and the KKK have announced a television ad campaign to support the African American candidate during the prolonged up-coming election campaign.
ABOTTABAD - Pakistan - According to residents of the town where Osama bin Laden was holed up for ten years, he would regularly visit the local corner shop wearing a silly hat as a disguise.

Sometime he came in wearing a little pink hat, other times he had an oversized cowboy hat on, and once we saw him come in wearing a Trilby. He was always polite, he would buy a pot noodle, maybe a coke, or a newspaper and saunter back to his lair. No one for one second thought that he was Osama bin Laden, Mohammed Saalleh, a shopkeeper in the local town told the Pakistan Times.

As more news trickles out of the now fortified town, a better picture is finally emerging of Bin Ladens last days.

Iqbal Mushar, the owner of a general store three blocks away from Bin Ladens compound said: He was always very courteous. He would come in with his wonderful flamboyant hats and ruffle around the store a bit. He especially liked ice lollies, sometimes hed come over two or three times a day for those. The glue sniffing kids hanging outside the shop would laugh at his hats and throw stones at him sometimes.

The new revelations about Bin Ladens time in Pakistan hiding from the Americans is contrary to released information that the terrorist leader was a recluse in his compound.
NEW YORK - USA - The head of the IMF, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, has been arrested for sodomising a Manhattan hotel chamber maid.

According to Mr Strauss-Kahn, 62, he is not just happy in raping the world with IMF money and wants more, and more. This is why he sodomised that poor chamber maid at Manhattans Sofitel on West-44th-Street yesterday.

Mr Strauss -Kahn was arrested by port officials as he tried to escape by boarding a plane at Kennedy Airport.

The Great Seducer

Hes obviously got his IMF raping and pillaging face on. Not only that, he tried to escape the country and do more raping over there too. Its ok folks, we got him, Buzzard Ealdring, a New York law enforcement officer told CBS news.

Strauss-Kahn, who had a meeting planned for today with German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, has a special arrangement with Air France that allows him to get on any flight and sit in first class.

The IMF is the cause of a lot of pestilence, evil and horror within the world, and it is no consequence that a raping monster like Strauss-Kahn should be the head of it.

No doubt, because of his diplomatic immunity he will get off with the assault and the woman will be shut up like all the others.


Obama is not getting re-elected, because he wants us to go back to the 1967 borders. I guess he did not reckon on the Jewish lobby in America for funding, Ariel Shamon, a political commentator from Tel Aviv said on Israel Plus.

All over Israel and the Jewish world, there were declarations of war against the imposter who dares to question Israel.

Prime Minister Netanyahu also expressed his disappointment over the support of the Palestinians who have had their land systematically occupied for so long by Israel: We didnt like what Obama said about Israel when he first came in to office, and we dont like what he is saying now that he is begging for re-election. He has got about as much chance of being re-elected now as a pork scratching being found in a synagogue. The guy is insane, doesnt he know that we own the media, Hollywood as well as banking and big business? Obama, just because you just assassinated Osama does not mean you can speak up to the masters of the U.S. You stupid gentiles will never learn will you? Idiotic goyim, you will never learn until we take your toys away, besides, we think Obama is a dirty Muslim.

Rupert Murdochs Fox news and News Corp. is already upping the scale on the Obama smear campaigns and he is guaranteed to lose the election now.

Obama has a choice, take what he said back and be re-elected or increase his guard, because Mossad does not f*ck around. Hasnt he ever watched You Dont Mess with the Zohan? He better get extra security. In either case, that shegetz is not getting elected again, Mr Shamon added.


OAKLAND - USA - Donations are pouring in to the End of the World Rapture movement's bank accounts just before the end of the world occurs later on today.

Were thankful for your donations to our bank accounts for Jesus. Now that the Rapture is coming today, yall can rest assured that my Lamborghini Countach will be running on plenty of gas, 89-year-old founder of the Rapture movement, Harold Camping told his followers.

The Rapture movement believe that Jesus is coming to earth today and that the fictional fairy tale character will bring on the Rapture. Unfortunately, Jesus could be delayed, and many of his disciples might be gravely disappointed.



The Rapture will only happen in America because thats where all the crazies reside. We only get the alien abductions here as well, so please send in your donations so we can get richer off your gullible asses, a laughing pastor for Christian radio network Family Stations Inc told CBS news.

The Christian Radio Network is worth over $350 million and has raised $20 million in recent days anticipating the Rapture to the devout Christian followers who plan on doing the same time next year as well.



Speaking from Tacoma, Washington, Earl Humbold, another pastor who is preaching about the second coming of Jesus, said: We need everyone to donate all the money you have in your accounts to us so that Jesus can free you from your pain. Once you give us all your money, he will accept you into heaven. Amen.

Mr Humbold who has a fleet of luxury cars and lives in a sprawling mansion, was last year indicted for the use of thousands of prostitutes and laundering large amounts of money to offshore accounts in the Bahamas where he also owns dozens of properties.

Jesus is set to arrive in Portland, Oregan at 6 pm PST.


WASHINGTON DC - USA - Our American offices are bristling with excitement of what is to follow in the next few months when the campaigning for the 2012 elections really gets going.

The Daily Squib is proudly backing Sarah Palin to become the first female president of the United States, just like we backed Barack Obama to be the first ever black president.

We did it for Barack, supported him all the way, and now it is time for the Squib to endorse Mrs Palin. A woman who is an inspiration to everyone, a true American patriot, Arnold Dweittlinger, the Daily Squibs senior American correspondent said on Friday.

Palin will announce later on today that she is set to run for the US presidency in 2012, and now that she has the Daily Squibs full backing, she is guaranteed to win.

Shes got this one in the bag. Obama is finished because he pissed off the wrong people i.e. the Jews. She actually made an effort to visit Israel a few months ago, unlike Barack. She will be too hard to resist for American voters. A real woman who can sew a button and shoot a gun, someone who has a solid vision for America, no wishy-washy liberal spendthrift loser, she bristles with the taste of war, economic success and tax breaks that will please everyone. We love Sarah Palin, not just for her hot momma looks but for her skill in giving speeches, Ronnie Jedward, another of the Squibs reporters in Washington reported.

For the last year or so, Mrs Palin has been under intense schooling and has been taught geography, governemental studies as well as etiquette when meeting world leaders.

One of her handlers, Robert McNamara, told CNN: She knows where Tirana is as well as Paris on a map. Its incredible, yesterday she listed all of the provinces in Southern Italy without even taking a look at an atlas.

Plans are already underfoot for the first invasions once she gets into office much like George W Bushs tenure, there will possibly have to be an initial catalyst to fuel the intense patriotism.



We need someone with some f*cking balls, and unlike Barack Obama, Sarah has got plenty. Bush was a bumbling psychotic idiot, Obama is Carter part deux, and Sarah Palin is going to put the U.S. of A back on the motherf*cking map, and this time shell be able to point to it on an atlas too, Mr McNamara added before being whisked away to oversee another Palin geography training session on Capitol Hill.


LONDON - England - Britain's socialist government headed by PM David Cameron are to increase the soft approach to crime by giving much needed support to burglars, a new white paper has revealed.

If youve just cleaned out a poor pensioners property, who fought in the Great War, of all its valuables and beaten the living bejesus out of the defencelless OAP, of course youre going to need counselling and an ear to listen to your stories. Its only human nature. These poor burglars who are violating peoples homes and making huge profits by selling off the gear need community support and councilling as much as anybody. Naturally we ignore the victims, because they dont count, Jonathan Slimer, the governments Criminal Rights executive told the Daily Telegraph.

Open season



Hundreds of burglars are now being let out of prison because of the Cameron governments approach to crime and article 8 of the European Unions Human Rights Act.

Speaking from Westminster on Thursday, conservo-socialist MP for Whittley Bay, Gordon Arsie, said: These poor burglars are in pain, they have acquired stolen goods from a private home, then seen fit to sell the belongings. Naturally, these criminals should be compensated for their troubles.

Camerons socialist policies are also being extended to rapists and other sexual deviants, who will be given an amnesty by being given a small fine and counselling for their troubles.

This new initiative spearheaded by Justice Secretary, Ken Clark, will ensure that the prisons will be safe from rapists and burglars, so that the streets of Britain can be full of them.


BRUSSELS - Belgium - The head of the EU's Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, has ordered that Greece forfeits their name as well as their sovereign status.

From now on the former country of Greece will only be known as Sector 17, Trichet explained to the EU parliament on Wednesday.

As well as losing its sovereign status, the former nation of Greece will also be owned by Germany (Sector 1) and will be used as a glorified holiday camp for its citizens.

We use that place to go to when we need some sun and sea. Its a pretty useless place otherwise, Gunther Mathias, a German holidaymaker told the Berlin Times.

The unfortunate purchase by Germany (Sector 1) was the result of Sector 17 defaulting on its huge loans whilst juggling a 500 billion euro deficit. It now has a credit rating below Montenegro.



We gave them the money. They didnt pay. We own their country now. Its really that simple, an EU official told French (Sector 2) newspaper, Le Figaro, yesterday.

And what of the poor old former Greeks, who have effectively been emasculated?

When the Germans come, we provide them with fresh towels, mezze and ouzo. If we do that, our masters look after us. We are their pets. It is lucky that they let us live, Stavros Constantinos, a restaurant owner from Rhodes told the islands local news station.


KABUL - Afghanistan - The Afghan war ended today as the government announced its unconditional surrender to Taliban forces.

The President, Hamid Karzai, who has been in office since the beginning of the occupation, made the announcement in a radio broadcast to the nation early this morning. He asked his forces to lay down their arms and called on the North Taliban Army and Mujaheddin to halt all hostilities.

In a direct appeal to the Taliban forces, he said: We are here to hand over to you the power in order to avoid bloodshed. But, as long as I get airlifted out, who cares. Thank you Obama for ordering the surrender.

The announcement was followed swiftly by the arrival of Taliban fighters. Their entrance was virtually unopposed, confounding predictions of a bloody and protracted last-ditch battle for the city.

War ends

The front line of scooters smashed through the gates of the presidential palace within minutes, and at 1130 local time (0330 GMT), decades of war came to an end.

Taliban troops, many barefoot and some no more than teenagers, rounded up government soldiers, and raised their red and blue flags. The looting which has ravaged the city over the last 24 hours stopped, and power was restored later in the day. Only the United States embassy remained closed and silent, ransacked by looters.

Kabul was immediately renamed Taliban City. A statement by the Provisional Taliban Government, or PTG, in Pakistan, promised a policy of non-alignment, and the peaceful reunification of Afghanistan .

The British government is now urgently reviewing the possibility of recognising the PTG. France has already recognised the new regime, and other Western countries are preparing to follow suit.





Frenzied evacuation

The capitulation of the Vichy Afghan government came just four hours after the last frenzied evacuation of Americans from the city.

President Obama, who has requested humanitarian aid for the Afghans , let it be known that he was proud to have saved what Afghans he could in the last, frantic helicopter evacuation.

But there is said to be deep humiliation in the United States government at the desperation and chaos of the final hours of Americas presence in Afghanistan.

The President ordered United States ships to remain indefinitely off the Afghan coast to pick up refugees: but even this gesture has been snubbed by the Taliban, who have prevented any more refugees from fleeing.
It was touted as being the strike of the century. Instead, the massive strike made no difference as no one really noticed any difference in the working practices of the 100,000 civil servants and teachers when they were absent from their gold-plated taxpayer funded jobs.

Instead of getting 56,000 per annum for my pension when I retire at 45, I will instead be getting only 50,000 on my gold-plated taxpayer funded pension. This is a bloody disgrace. On top of my four month paid holidays every few months and salary of 75,000 per annum I dont know how I can possibly cope? Julian Bunion, a recently qualified woodwork teacher from a South London comprehensive school told the BBC.

Union officials who languish on 200,000 salary minimums, free holidays and large gold-plated pensions, were yesterday lunching at Londons top eateries whilst their members were marching through central London.

One of the union officials, Bob Vulture, leader of the RMT union, was lunching at Claridges and said: Here I am sitting in this capitalist swine pit dining on the finest gourmet cuisine. You know what the bill is? 785 quid. You, the taxpayer just paid for my meal which I will shit out into toilet bowl later on today. This is socialism at work dear taxpayers, just think youre paying for me to live a life of luxury off your backs. This is my gift to you lousy proles who pay my huge salary and limitless expense account. Honestly, I dont know what to do with all the cash, and neither do all our members who receive huge amounts of it every month. It certainly aint the private sector. Socialism, stroke communism, is so great, innit?
LONDON - England - After the phone hacking crimes committed by News International were exposed to the world, a new law is going to come into effect by next year, Whitehall bureaucrats have announced.

Rebekahs Law will ensure that anyone who wants to know if they live within a 10-mile radius of a News Corp. journalist can consult a special database.

The Home Office pilot is being extended to eight more forces in England next year.



There are fears however among police forces in England and Wales that Rebekahs Law could encourage vigilantes to seek revenge against News of the World, Sun and Times journalists or anything else owned by the Murdochs.

It is a very real danger that there could be some real hacking going on. Were talking about machete and axe type hacking, not the kind that the News Corp. journalists are party to, Chief Constable Tommy Dowler of the Association of Chief Police Officers said.



We remain concerned about the risk of vigilante action and News International journalists going underground. All new local schemes need close management and proper resourcing to avoid this, a concerned citizen told the BBC yesterday.

But Chief Constable Dowler said people would not need to share the information as police would inform any affected party.


BRUSSELS - Belgium - Unelected EU officials have ordered the death of the famous British curry and the introduction of Belgian cuisine instead.

Britains love affair with the Friday night pissed up balti and vindaloo will be phased out by a new EU directive from Brussels next week as it orders British people to eat something more European.

Its a Brit tradition. You go down the curry house, get boozed up on eight pints of watered down lager, take the piss out of the waiters, then order a vindaloo or two. Next morning youll be on the khasi pissing it all out of your burning arse. Its part of our culture, innit, Jed Moran, 45, a man from Liverpool told the BBC.

The EU wants the new curry directive to be implemented by next week.



Ve haf vays of making you eat frites with mayonnaise. Also you Englishers will haf to show your papers before you eat at ze restaurant und all eating zones will haf to show ze EU swastika, ahem, I mean star flag, comrade Jacques Stasi, one of the unelected bureaucrats in charge of the operation, told Bild from Berlin on Tuesday.

All eating establishments in England and Wales will be required to only serve EU regulated meals plus regulations regarding appearance will require restaurants and eateries to fly an EU flag outside the door.

Prime Minister, David Cameron, who was last seen swimming in a sewer somewhere near Wapping, was not available for comment about the new EU directive, and probably did not care much for it either.
TRIPOLI - Libya - Once again the West has prevailed and ensured another few years of oil supply thanks to the rebels who have now ousted the errant colonel from his land.

Eventually it had to happen. The oil fields are now under the control of America and Britain and will ensure another twenty three years of solid supply at 1.8 million barrels per day, for the West.

In the name of freedom

Oil reserves in Libya are the largest in Africa and the ninth largest in the world with 41.5 billion barrels. Already, the oil reserves in Iraq have been pretty much depleted by the U.S. to low levels and Libya will provide the next oil boost for the parasitical gas guzzling nation.

Libya is considered a highly attractive oil area due to its low cost of oil production (as low as $1 per barrel at some fields), and proximity to European markets.



We didnt even have to put troops on the ground like we did with Iraq. That was way too messy. This way we used the dumbfuck rebels, then after theyre done, we take over the spoils. Too frickin easy, a Pentagon official said as he high fived a colleague.

American strategists were worried that they would either have to invade Iran or Saudi Arabia to get the next section of oil, which would have been extremely messy. Gaddafi is easy pickings and a steal.

Most of Libya remains unexplored as a result of past sanctions and disagreements with foreign oil companies, and this is why the recent rout of the Gaddafi regime will provide rich pickings for the American and British oil companies, who have been waiting patiently in the sidelines.



America uses up 48% of the worlds resources and it is like a leech sucking up everything and destroying anything in its path. It has an irresistible hunger for other countries resources and once those are all used up, it moves onto the next country. Just look at the millions of cars on its spaghetti junction roads, ten lanes on each side. No one walks in America. Everyone drives a gas guzzling 4 mpg behemoth SUV to work and a few yards to their Walmart stores laden with any Chinese trinket imaginable. It assimilates whole cultures into its collective with its movies and sitcoms, its culture destroys anything else in its path. This is the reality, Professor of History at Cambridge University, Joseph Pavlov, told the Times.


TRIPOLI - Libya - Rebel fighters sifting through Gaddafi's palaces have revealed the colonel's obsession with former Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice.

Colonel Gaddafi would often sit down in his palace and dream about Condoleezza Rice, her sultry tones and her wonderful silky voice ordering the bombing of one of his palaces on the telephone from Washington.

I dream of her still. Her eyes boring through my soul, that Nubian princess. Just the thought of her ordering more American planes to bomb Tripoli gets me so excited. Oh, Condi, how I miss you, the mad colonel broadcast on Tripoli radio last night.

Rebel fighters sifting through one of Gaddafis many palaces have uncovered a treasure trove of material idolising Condoleezza Rice.

We found albums, and albums of this stuff. I got say though, a lot of the pages were stuck together, we think maybe the colonel got a little too excited, if you know what I mean, Abdullah Basr Majid, told the BBC.


LONDON - England - People were roaming around South London today with big smiles on their faces, reports coming from Lewisham confirm.

Usually you would be hard pressed to get a smile out of the people living in the dark and dingy toilet that is parts of South London, but reports are coming through the BBC and Sky news, that groups of people are roaming the streets smiling and looking happy.

The only reason this could be is that these people ingested Nurofen Plus pills tainted with anti-psychotic drugs. Thats the only way these people could be smiling. If you lived here, youd be suicidal, so theres no need to smile, a confused looking councillor, Richard Ames, told the BBC.

Large shipments of Nurofen Plus were contaminated with an anti-psychotic drug and accidentally delivered to South London.

The government has warned anyone who sees these pills to not take them and immediately bin them.

Health Minister, Douglas Ratfuck, said: We cant have people happy in Sarf Landan. You must be jokin mate, do you want them to riot?

Erroll Beano, 43, a road sweeper from Lewisham said: All I know is I was feeling really unhappy and miserable as usual and I took some Nurofen Plus. Im really happy now. I dont see grey miserable buildings and no hope anymore. I love everything in my life. I want to live and be a positive person. What a wonderful world we live in. IIImso-o-o-o happy.


WASHINGTON DC - USA - There are serious fears for the U.S economy today after it was revealed that there was not enough money to pay for paper to print more money for the economy.

Were asking congress to raise the debt ceiling so we can buy ink and paper to print more dollars so we can then pay for the ink and paper we just printed, Dan Fenster, a U.S. Federal Reserve worker told the Washington Times.

With a U.S. deficit of $20 trillion and a president still on holiday, things are getting hard for the economy.

We need to print some more greenbacks or we wont be able to pay for social security or salaries for our soldiers killing people in Iraq and Afghanistan. Those boys and gals need their money. Shooting people is a hard job, we want them to get paid for that, Congressman, Richard Anus (D) told CNN.

President Obama was expected to ask for another debt ceiling increase when he comes back from Marthas Vineyard in October.


FRESNO - USA - Appearing on 'Fox News & Friends" the former U.S. Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, said that he was cancelling his subscription to the New York Times.

I will not be reading the New York Times anymore because the views expressed in that rag go against my principles of mass torture and genocide, Mr Rumsfeld said to a salivating Fox news presenter.

Instead of looking at different points of view from numerous people, Mr Rumsfeld said that he would carry on subscribing to the weekly publication, the Torture Times, published in Austria by Fritzl publishing.

Under our orders, over a million sand people in Iraq were killed. Now I dont know where Mr Krugman got off in saying the things he said about how 911 was hijacked by our administration to commit shameful acts of destruction and cowardice on a bunch of unarmed Iraqis so that we could get a foothold in the Middle East and take their oil. Dont be talkin trash. We went there to liberate Iraqis from life, after they invaded us on 911. We gave them justice and they got what they deserved for living in their own country, Mr Rumsfeld added.

After a round of applause and cheering from the studio crowd in the Fox studios, Mr Rumsfeld, then bowed and said: What we did after 911 was a known unknown known, and what we did not do, was an unknown known known, so if you multiply the knowns by the unknowns, then divide them up by the unknown knowns, what do you get? Shieet, I dont know? Lets just do some more extraordinary renditions, waterboarding and torture more of those goddamn sub-human Arabs.
WASHINGTON DC - USA - President Obama wants American millionaires to pay half their yearly income in tax, and is pushing for a more European model of overall taxation.

Theres a reason why Obama is so popular in Europe because he is now employing deep socialistic methods upon the Americans.

Austerity America

They have for too long been living the life of Riley over there using up all the worlds resources and not giving anything back. Now they have to pay some tax for what theyre using up, its payback time, and now those Yanks might find out what its like to have 60% of what you earn taken away in taxation like the Europeans. Obama is doing a wonderful job, a European parliamentarian told the BBC.

The wealthy of America are mainly white and this is why having Obama telling them to pay more tax adds a certain frissons to the proceeding tax-ageddon.

This is what your taxpayer dollars are paying for

Obama knows that making the American rich pay taxation will be unpopular but he will tout it as the only way to get out of the current mess the country is in.

Tax revenues in America are already severely restricted because 47% of the country earns too low an income to even pay federal income taxes.

Buffetization

The rich in America pay less tax than lower middle income workers, and Obama seeks to address the severe imbalance.

Its payback time for the rich in America. Obama wants these people to pay their fair share, so they should prepare themselves to part with 50-60% of their annual income. Once the new taxation is implemented, then maybe the huge deficit might feel a slight dent, although the way Obama is spending, this is very doubtful, a key Revenue Service worker told CBS.
LONDON - England - It seems like the yellow stain of the Liberal Democrats has seeped into ex-Tory Cameron's soul, as he panders to the EU's every insane directive.

The EU is an insideous diabolical oppressive bully, a communistic fascist demonic entity that swallows whole nations and assimilates them into the evil collective of non-individualism.

Every day the EU comes out with some ridiculous directive that it orders its citizens to obey, and one must obey the evil totalitarian collective or they start bringing out nameless, faceless unelected EU officials with fancy names and large unlimited salaries. These bureaucrats will demand something and if not adhered to they start fining people until their will is imposed.

What has happened to Britain under its membership of the EU?

Britains rights have slowly been eroded because it signed up to be a trade partner and political partner but thankfully not part of the failed euro currency.



Britain does have a moat but that moat is slowly being filled and the horrible EU gloop that is crossing the drawbridge threatening thousands of years of history to be wiped out in one fell swoop.

Is this what the British people fought for for thousands of years, to be assimilated into the faceless collectivist f*ck hole that is the EU? To be told what to do by the French and Germans? The French let the Germans walk into Paris without one single shot being fired in WW2. They surrendered to the Germans all too willingly and now they have done the same with the EU. The Thousand Year Reich never died, it was simply retired for awhile but now it has been resurrected and is even more sinister than Hitlers Germany.

At least with Hitlers Germany you knew where you stood. The Nazis were a much more obvious face of fascism. The EU may be the same thing as Hitlers Germany but it is a chameleon and it changes its colours very easily, appearance wise there are no guns and cannons out in the open, but underneath the facade, they do have guns, but prefer to fight for now with economic weaponry.

The future for Britain is under review. David Cameron, a supposed Conservative PM, is actually a socialist who is looking for Britain to enter fully into the EU as a major player.

Within Britain, the Scottish are staunch Europhiles, therefore the destruction that Gordon Brown meted out onto England during his reign can be understood better.

Gordon Brown disarmed England by crippling it economically. He did so because he wants a weak England to be brought into the communistic collective of the EU and swallowed up whole. One must remember that what Brown did to England was a spectacular feat of destruction that no war with guns could have achieved. He completely ruined Englands economy and it may take them thirty or forty years to try and get out of it, but what do we care, were Welsh, Welsh minister, Paul Evans, told the Welsh Assembly on Friday.



The hierarchy of the EU know that they will not be complete until England is forced to join as a triad, Germany, France and Britain. With Britain stripped of its national status and sovereignty, the EU will be very strong and will possibly supercede Americas waining star.

The ultimate prize for us is Britain being forced to join the EU. We now have sympathisers like Cameron and Clegg so we will move quickly to make them join, an unnamed EU official told Frances Le Figaro newspaper.



England is no more, Gordon Brown and his evil ogres made sure of that. And even though, there are a few voices within the socialist coalition calling for a referendum, where the people may actually get a say in getting out of the EU deathstar, it is a fait accompli mes amis, the deal was done many years ago. Cameron is not going to save you, he has already made the Mephistophelean deal to hand over the UK and there is nothing anyone or anything can do about it.


ESSEX - England - The Dale Farm travellers who have built permanent structures illegally on someone's farm are refusing to travel back to their mansions in Ireland, a crusty spokeswoman said yesterday.

These travellers dont like travelling. In fact, theyre staying right here on someones land and refusing to travel. Maybe they should change their names to campers instead of travellers, a bemused local from the Dale Farm area in Essex told the BBC.

The local council has been trying to persuade the travellers to carry on travelling again after a long stasis on the farm land.

These travellers dont pay any form of taxation in England even though they own houses in Limerick, Ireland, and live off our surrounding areas by stealing from the general population. We are trying to make them travel again, like their name suggests. They should travel back to their houses there and pay their f*cking bills for a change, f*cking lying scroungers, Bridlington Councils chief told ITV news.

Six hundred of the so-called travellers all own 300,000 homes registered in the village of Rathkeale, County Limerick, in the west of Ireland.

While theyre in their illegally encamped dwellings in Essex, England, they do not pay council tax, or any form of taxation, electricity or gas, and they rent out their properties in Ireland, one of the camps insiders has revealed.

The encampment is currently guarded by a group of crusties, who are not anarchists as the mainstream media may call them wrongly, but simply disaffected morons looking for a cause to champion. If they only knew how the so-called travellers are amassing huge fortunes with their parasitical revenue growth system and using them to tout in front of salivating BBC news crews.


NEW YORK - USA - What's wrong with this picture? A bunch of champagne socialists protest on Wall Street and demand that Barack Obama be re-elected in the next election.

Were insane. we actually dont know what were saying or doing. Were completely misguided. Barack Obama, who is part of the political elite, should be re-elected? We actually had no idea that Obama is part of the elite, and hes the one doing all these bad things to us but were fresh out of college and dont know shit. Hell, Im so dumb I dont even know that the sky is blue and the grass is green, Dim Eidjut, 23, a university graduate from Wisconsin who just got his eyes plastered with pepper spray, told ABC news.

Indeed, it seems the protesters are only using one brain cell collectively and its firing at half capacity.

These fuckers are so dumb that they actually dont know why theyre here? These people are proof that the elite dumbing down exercises have worked very well within the American indoctrination system. If this is the standard of education in modern day America, Im afraid there is no hope for anyone, a shocked observer told reporters at the scene.

Another observer assembled on the edge of the protest scene said: First of all, if these morons want to bring down the banking system, stop frickin buying things with your credit cards. Dont buy what the adverts tell you to buy. Throw away your cheque books, dont buy anything from Walmart or whatever other store you get your crap clothes from. Dont pay your bills. Dont live in a house, dont wear shoes, dont drive a car or pay for gas. If these people want to hurt the bankers, dont use money. Thats the only way to stop the controllers. You take away their goodies, then what are they going to do? If everyone did that for three days, the whole system would collapse. I feel sorry for these poor people protesting, Ive seen more brains in a pile of festering dog shit.

As the morbidly vapid shuffle around holding their poorly written placards, a wave of laughter spreads from the tower blocks surrounding Wall Street, it is the sound of the bankers creaming off more spoils for the day. It seems like its another regular day in the business district, and the feckless fools pretending to protest for a cause are simply flailing around in the dark. Viva la non-Revolucion.


NEW YORK - USA - The peaceful protests held by the occupational forces of a few rag tag people have descended into open warfare as the state cracks down hard.

One thing about these protests is that they have been carried out by a fraction of the population. To really make a difference, everyone has to stand up. If all the people who are watching these protesters getting beat upon their heads by truncheons decided to walk out of the comfort of their homes onto the streets, the party would be over for the controllers. Their way of life is threatened by the masses rising up and standing up. They want you to look away, carry on working eighteen hour days so you can pay for their bonuses. This is the cold reality. You are there solely so that they can live a life of luxury, you have to carry on working and paying tax so that they can spend it on whores, limitless expense accounts and everything they want. You, Joe Zero, need to work and kill yourself working so that they can f*ck you over, a New Yorker, who witnessed the beatings yesterday told NBC.

And what of the protesters who were calling for an Obama second term? Were they not thinking of the $85,000 jewellery that Michelle Obama wears on her wrist, or the fact that Obama himself ordered the police in. Sadly, most of the protesters are children, and do not understand the intricacies of the evil system.

Come, let us play, amongst the truncheons and tasers, there goes another bone cracking and maybe a split skull or two. Its just another day in Wall Street.

You may lose your kids college fund in the market pits in the morning, but he wont mind, because hes going to jail for a long time for protesting against the mighty powers that control everything.


BRUSSELS - Belgium - Eurozone ministers were locked in meetings all of yesterday and today discussing how to prolong the nightmare eurozone disaster.

If we can prolong the eurozone holocaust for another ten or twenty years so that the whole world will fall into a massive depression, that would be friggin great, Raus Ratzinger, an unelected eurozone technocrat told German Bild magazine.

As the EU nightmare intensifies, ministers want to increase the pressure so that the unbearable debt burden escalates to such levels that there is a massive implosion shattering all hope of rescue.

This is our plan. We want to create so much fear, so much pain amongst the people of the EU and the world that they accept anything we throw at them, another faceless unelected EU official said.
TRIPOLI - Libya - British PM, David Cameron, has flown in to the Libyan capital city to inspect the oil fields in the country and tell the nation's new leaders that they must embrace democracy like Britain has.

We want the Libyan people to embrace democracy like we have in Britain. Our democracy involves denying people the vote on important issues like whether our country is sucked into the collectivist totalitarian state of the EU or simply trades with it but does not give up our laws and rights. As you can see, I personally have made sure that the British people are denied this all important vote, and this, my Libyan friends is the type of democracy that should be exported to Libya. So ladies and gentlemen, you give us your oil and well give you our democracy. How about that for a good swap? Mr Cameron said just after exiting his plane at Tripolis airport.

The Prime Minister is on a five day trip with the French PM Nicolas Sarkozy to inspect the conquered oil fields, which will soon have Western oil companies crawling all over them.





The British PM then went on to say: Let this be a warning to all other nations who deal with the West. We will be your friends when it suits us, and then when we want all of your stuff and not some little deals, we will attack you and kill you. You get into bed with us, and you basically sign your death warrant. Look what happened to Gaddafi, Mubarak and Saddam. They were supported fully by the West, even when some of them were killing their own people, and gassing them. We gave them the weapons and trained their armies. Of course, we gave them inferior weapons but we supported these people when we wanted to use them, once they outlived their usefulness we killed them, then took their oil. In effect, we are just as bad as the tyrants, although I would have to say were actually worse, because we pretend to be good. At least the tyrants were not masquerading under the pretence of goodness like we are.

Oil reserves in Libya are the largest in Africa and the ninth largest in the world with 41.5 billion barrels.



Libya is considered a highly attractive oil area due to its low cost of oil production (as low as $1 per barrel at some fields), and proximity to European markets.

Heres to democracy, referendums and oil discovery.


LONDON - England - After hearing of Greece's wonderful luck in having 50% of its debt written off by the banks, thousands of ordinary customers have been ringing their banks asking for the same.

All day Thursday, Santander, Lloyds, Barclays, Natwest and many other banking institutions have been deluged by desperate customers trying to get 50% of their debt written off.

If Greece can spend like crazy for ten years, then get a 50% haircut for the debt they owe as well as another big fat cheque, why cant I? Billy Blunts, 56, a teacher from Wandsworth, who is in serious debt, told the Daily Mail.

Thousands of people have been on the phone lines asking the banks to grant them some kind of clemency, but no one has been successful yet.

I phoned my bank up and asked them to take a 50% haircut on my loan. I too deserve to be rewarded for being lazy and not paying any tax. Ive never heard anyone laughing like that, bunch of jackals, the lot of them, an angry Clarence Beaks, 45, from Colchester told the BBC.


PARIS - France - Anyone who walks through the beautiful leafy boulevards of Paris will realise one thing -- they are perfectly intact. Not one single bomb was dropped on the French capital during World War II, for a very good reason, the French simply surrendered to Hitler's Nazis without a fight, the same can be said today in the EU.

The French government is now a puppet government of Germany, much like the Vichy government of World War II, and Nicolas Sarkozy, has effectively killed off Frances sovereign status. This time, however, there is no Charles de Gaulle left to denounce the Vichy Sarkozy government, instead, France has been completely left to the dogs, as surrender monkeys go, the French are now a defeated people.

It is funny how there is little or no resistance to the EU from France. At least in World War II, there were little pockets of resistance helping the Allied forces against the Nazis, however, now these do not even exist. We French have basically surrendered once again to the might of Germany, without one single shot being fired. The question I would like to ask is, will le ros boeufs do the same? They have the Channel separating Britain from the European mainland, and that is the deciding factor. Can the Fascistic spirit of the EU jump across that body of water and infect Britain to the point of complete cowardly surrender, as the French and others have done? Is it possible? Jean Pierre Francois, a political science lecturer at the Sorbonne told Le Figaro on Friday.

Europes seventeen capitulated former nations are now isolating Britain, not only in trade but in political doctrine. Either Britain succumbs to the fasci rods of Europe, as they are brought tighter and tighter, or they stay well out of the unholy union and suffer economic instability and denial of business.

The spendthrift Greeks tried to fight their corner with a referendum which has now been cancelled, and they are already lost, beaten by the mountain of debt they racked up so willingly. This debt tool for acquisition is, of course, a very well used technique throughout history, but it seems greed got the better of the profligate Greeks, and now they are going to pay with their former country to a life of abject slavery to their Germanic masters.

Britain also has been denied a referendum on the EU, not by Brussels but by its own so-called leaders like Cameron and Clegg, who will in the near future try to bring Britain into the Eurozone by implicit cowardice and deceit.

The French, during World War II, sipped coffee while the German soldiers used their country as a holiday resort, and their salopes readily welcomed German soldiers into their waiting arms as the trucks of French Jewish children were being publicly paraded through the streets en route to German extermination camps.

Lest we forget that the white cliffs of Dover are a symbol to the defeated French. In other words, F*ck Off mes amis, take your garlic and shove it where the sun dont shine.
LONDON - England - The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne,has come up with a genius plan to increase revenue for the government by taxing the dead.

It is estimated that there are over 300 million corpses in Britain today. If we taxed each and every one of those bastards, wed be rolling in it. We could pay off our debts and then some, Mr Osborne told the House of Commons on Friday.



All around the UK there were strange sounds emanating from grave yards.

I think the creaking sound you hear is the dead people spinning in their graves. Ernest Fallon, a gravedigger from Gravesend said, whilst digging the grave of some poor sod who killed himself two days ago because he could not pay his debts.

Asked how his famous Plan A is going, the Chancellor replied: Plan A is heavy taxation for everyone and everything in the UK. We want to stifle all business; create such fear amongst the people that they do not spend the little money they have left and tax anything that moves or doesnt move. Plan B is exactly the same.


LONDON - England - Union boss, Bob Vulture, has called for all of his union members to have a three week strike causing chaos across the nation so he can keep his gold-plated pension scheme.

Speaking from the Bahamas, Bob Vulture was on a yachting trip around the island and said to a BBC reporter: I want all my union members to strike for me. You wont get paid to strike, whereas, I always get paid, suckers. You all need to rise up comrades because these people in government are now threatening to take away my diamond plated 800,000 yearly pension and expenses. You must all donate to our cause immediately.

Claridges



Mr Vulture, who commands a huge yearly salary of 700,000, as well as an unlimited expense account, is furious that the Coalition government is now trying to halt another massive hike in public sector pay.

Champagne



The Socialist Marxist Workers Consortiums deputy, Ronnie Anus, praised Mr Vultures speech: Comrades, we need to defend our unlimited expense accounts, paid for by the taxpayer. Bob Vulture is an inspiration to all of us. One day, I too, would like to have a job like that c*nt, who works one day a week, takes ten holidays a year, and lives the life of Riley on a huge salary. We just need someone to shoehorn the f*cker out of the job, maybe another Workers Revolution. More champagne please, were not all in this together.


BRUSSELS - Belgium - Foreign Secretary, William Hague, is eager to spend next weekend thrashing out a solution to the EU with some young Euro politicians in a hotel room.

I need to talk to them about how to solve this terrible euro problem we all seem to be having. Im sure if we push the beds together in the tiny hotel room, then maybe we can whack out a solution to the never ending fiscal union problem the euro is having. Ill order the champagne on room service, the euro boys just need to bring their thongs, Mr Hague said from the first class section of the Eurostar train to Brussels yesterday.

The young European advisers will convene in a small secluded hotel in the centre of Brussels where Mr Hague will pay for the single room himself.

We are in austere times, and of course this applies to high flying millionaire ministers as much as interns. I really need some advice on how to solve this euro problem, this is why some inexperienced young eurotwinks should do the job. I just cant wait to have my stool pushed in as well as the two single beds, Mr Hague added with excitement in his voice.

The Brussels meeting should be good news for the British economy which is in dire straits as unelected technocrats threaten to destroy the British economy with unnecessary red-tape and sanctions for the recent British veto.


LONDON - England - The French were spitting mad yesterday when their entire gourmet cuisine was downgraded to AA from a previous high of AAA, by the International Gastronomy Institute in Lyons, France.

Malheureusement, we have had to downgrade the cuisine de notre compatriats to AA because frankly nous sommes malades of the same old frogs legs and escargots. I had a piffling raw steak lautre jour and I vomited into a bucket afterwards. We call that cuisine Francaise? Give me roast beef, crispy pommes de terre and some f*cking gravy any day. Hows about a bit of oeufs and frites or a full English? I know Im a grenouille myself but I cant take the oeufs au plat Meyerbeer anymore, hows about a deep fried mars bar stuffed in a Heston Blumenthal nettle soup marinated with raw unwashed potato skins and a dose of food poisoning. Ere I was on that Master Chef the other day, whos that brick layer barrow boy? He told me my souffle was weak, I told him to go and lay some bricks on a wall, the f*cking English peasant. But, at the end of the jour, mes amis, cest une grande tragedie, Senior Chef at the Institute, Dominique Strauss Sperme, told Le Monde newspaper.

The French have been so angry at their cuisine being downgraded that they have threatened to blockade the Channel Tunnel and ferry ports indefinitely until their AAA gourmet rating is reinstated.

Speaking from Paris, the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, said: We will ask the Germans to invade England and show them that we mean business. Soon the English cochons will be begging for mercy and they will give up their false AAA food rating. I am going to phone my boss, Angela, right now, you English have eaten your last Bubble and Squeak.


LONDON - England - Tube drivers are threatening to strike again for the third time this month after demanding a new raft of working condition improvements and pay increases.

London tube drivers, who are paid 65,000 per annum with expense accounts, final salary retirement plans, pay increases every few months and free rail travel perks for them and their whole families, are said to be disgruntled that union bosses have not come up with a better deal regarding travel to work every day.

We are demanding a chauffeur driven limousine drives us to our respective stations every day so we can sit in a train for a few hours and push a dead mans handle between stations. Why should I have to pay for petrol in my own car to get to the station where I work? striking tube driver, Keith Arusholle, told the BBC.

Travellers on Londons Underground network face disruption as drivers belonging to the union Aslef stage another 24-hour strike over working conditions and pay.

Last week, Aslef negotiated another 15% pay rise for the tube drivers and a 7,000 bonus to work during the Olympic games.

Aslef secretary, Barry Blackmailer, told a news conference: Ho, ho, ho. Once again we want ordinary Londoners to suffer so we can increase our wealth. No doubt, council tax will have to rise to pay for our union members to live the life of Riley. So get to it idiots, pay up, and remember, there will be another 23% hike in train fares as well. Merry f*cking Christmas!


We have seen brief glimpses of what Cameron wants with the recent murmurings about Scottish independence from the United Kingdom and the much touted referendum.

What are the Scots going to do about their currency if they gain full independence from the 300-year-old union between England and Scotland? we hear Cameron saying at PMQs amongst all the caterwauling and braying.

Let us say that Scotland was to be allowed to gain independence, because if truth be told, they would have to be given permission by England to go their own way. Scotland would be forced to embrace the euro currency much like Southern Ireland has.

Unelected EU technocrats know that the euro currency will have now infected Britain and they will use Scotland as a pawn in their conquest over the whole island.

I know what an independent euro currency using Scotland would mean to the United Kingdoms Sterling. It would mean that the euro will be used on mainland Britain and eventually we will phase out our Great British pound. Slowly, slowly, is the motto. Once Scotland gains the euro currency, its value will soar and there will be a call from Englands populations to also adopt this currency. By then, it will be too late, and England will be captured under the snare of the EU Reich via the backdoor. One must understand, that to bring in any draconian measures, any government must work with the drip-feed method of introduction to the populations. We cant just go barrelling in there with the euro, that wont work, we have to first get the Scots to adopt it, then the rest of the former UK will follow, Mr Cameron told the Guardian newspaper on Friday.

Once the whole of Britain is fully integrated within the single monetary system the EU will be complete and its strength will be assured. This euro conquest will obviously be the precursor for many losses of freedom for the ordinary people as more and more ridiculous laws will be introduced into the fascist EU conglomerate.

Once Britain is destroyed by the euro, we will introduce microchipping of the populations and the abolition of cash. Monetary union will result in huge re-distributions of wealth from the wealthy citizens and nations to the poor less productive ones, and the former Britain will have its culture completely destroyed by huge influxes of EU citizens from the lesser parts of the German-led EU empire. The populations are now willing to accept anything without question, and in the future they will not even realise what they are being told. Such is the docility and dumbing down of these populations as well as complete breakdowns of family life that they will have no choice but to accept what we tell them to do. One thing is for sure, Cameron and Clegg will get the best seat in the house when they pull this one off, a faceless EU official from Brussels told the German, Reichstag news service, yesterday.


WASHINGTON DC - USA - Republican presidential hopeful, Newt Gingrich could be derailed by his most recent campaign video after it was revealed he took over six tabs of LSD before filming.

I remember Newt in his trailer before the filming started, he was scooting along the floor talking about blue bubbles and mini mee dragons and the great fuckin time he had at executive drug rehab, Johnson Arnolds, a key grip on the campaign shoot told CBS news.

Things got really weird when Newt got onto the set and started talking.

He was talking some really weird shit. We tried to tell him to keep to the script but the little rascal kept goofing around with that nonsense shit. In the end we just called it a day and four people had to escort Newt to his trailer because he thought he was on the surface of the moon, director, Timmy Olsen, revealed.

Some voters have actually applauded Gingrich for his drug taking: I think hes cool now. I was at Woodstock, and I know what its like to take some bad acid. Man, I was tripping for three weeks solid after that, dang nearly hospitalised me.

There are calls for Mr Gingrich to be investigated by Drug Enforcement agents, as he was seen taking over six LSD tabs before the shoot.

Although he may have acquired a bad batch of acid, and it may have fried his brains permanently, he was still able to conduct himself well at a recent Republican rally in Wisconsin on Tuesday.

Newt needs help because the acid literally fried his brain. He cant string a coherent sentence together, I know Bush couldnt either, but this is worse, a Republican campaign manager told Fox News.

Newts ex-wife was not available for comment.
BERLIN - Germany - As the famous quote goes: "Never accept Gifts From Greeks" well, the EU technocrats are finally realising that the Greeks not only love to give gifts but keep on giving them even after the wooden horse has all but disintegrated.

First we gave them lots of subsidies, like billions of euros which they spent like water without paying an ounce of tax, then when it came to pay they refused and said their creditors should take a haircut of over 70%. Now that they say they want more spending money and no means to pay it back and they still refuse to pay tax. I tell you, Greece is like a case of the clap, its the gift that keeps giving, a Troika member told Bild magazine.

European Union officials want to take over the Greek budget because the Trojan horse bearing Greeks have left a massive bomb within the gates of the EU.

The Greek economy is a black cash hole where German taxpayers money is dumped and never seen again. This is the reality of the situation, because of instances like cleaners in the Athens subsidised subway getting paid 65,000 euros per annum for a two day week. Greeks retire at the age of 45, whereas most Northern Europeans, especially Germans, retire at 67. In other words, Greece is not sustainable as an economy, because they have no industry like Germany, and they rarely pay any form of tax. Witness the riots they have when they are told to pay tax. Greece is the Achilles heel of the EU, and once it is cut free from the EU, the euro will soar so high that even Zeus will get knocked over, an EU technocrat, speaking from the ECB said.

This is the point of no return for Greece. Either it gives control to the EU Troika and loses complete sovereignty and dignity but with a small chance of paying back its enormous debts, or it is ejected from the EU and left to rot in obscurity and huge debt. The choice is yours. Choose wisely. What would Plato do?


LONDON - England - Charity mugger chuggers are chunts but now they have some stiff competition on Britain's High Streets as thousands of banking buggers are stalking you to brutally relinquish your pockets of their precious pennies.

Its like a minefield out here, one minute you get accosted by a manic chugger touting for your credit card details telling you that you are solely responsible for the life and death of every Bangladeshi baby ever born, when out of the bank comes a banking bugger begging for a top up on his bonus so that he can get his vintage Lamborghini Countach serviced next month, a disgruntled resident of Finchley told the Evening Standard.

Britains High Streets are not only blighted by empty shop fronts, betting shops and Tesco stores but they are crawling with menacing legalised and illegal mugging operations.

Youve got a choice, you can get your head kicked in by a masked hoodie or you can get chugged to death by a charity mugger or you can have your entire wealth taken from you by a banking bugger. The choice is yours. Choose wisely, Arthur Grimsdale, 56, said on Stoke Newington High Street, before being brutally assaulted by three chuggers, two banking buggers, a rottweiler and four hoodies.


BAGRAM - Afghanistan - An American General has written an in depth analysis about the US campaign to win the hearts and mind of Afghans.

First you burn the Qurans, then you leave them lying around so that the Afghans can find them, General Thomas Petersquash, a four star General with the US army told Stars and Stripes magazine.

One thing is for certain, the American strategy in Afghanistan seems to be working wonders.

They [the Afghans] discovered the burnt Qurans yesterday, and now we have a situation on our hands. Like weve had two US marines shot to death this morning and hordes of Afghans spilling over the perimeter walls trying to tear us to pieces with their bare hands. I think theyre trying to show us that they love us, a senior ranking US official said from his bunker deep in a secret location somewhere in Kabul.

Dont worry, the $5 trillion worth of valuable mineral deposits lying in Afghanistan are still safe as long as the Americans keep a low profile in their bases and contract the work out to sympathetic money hungry locals.


HELMAND - Afghanistan - British commanders have vowed to finish the British mission of training Afghan soldiers to kill British troops more efficiently.

Were training the Afghan troops on how they can shoot us better and more effectively, Colonel Alistair Clarke, told the BBCs Lyse Faucet.

Only last week six British troops were shot dead by Afghan troops and the British top brass do not think this is a good enough record.

They need to shoot with more accuracy, so we train the Afghan troops on how to shoot their target with more accuracy. For example, yesterday I was training an Afghan regiment and one of the fellas tried to shoot me with his gun but it jammed, now that was unfortunate, and after I unjammed his weapon he shot me in the leg twice, Staff Sergeant, Lewis Deano, of the Queens Royal Rifle Regiment told reporters from his hospital bed in Helmand.

British troops in Afghanistan have so far trained thousands of Afghan troops to shoot British troops, and by the daily shooting record, they are doing a damn fine job of it.

Were appreciated here. We train them to shoot us, and they do it. This is why were in Afghanistan, innit? Private Taffy Jones, told the BBC, before being shot dead in his base, yesterday.

There are currently no plans for the British NATO troops to be evacuated from the country where they are training Afghan troops to kill British soldiers, they are adamant that what they are doing is a very important mission and they want to finish it successfully.


FLORIDA - USA - African Americans needed a face, something to rouse them from their slumber, something to pick them up and wake them from their sleep, well, Trayvon Martin is that face.

For too long now, these children of slavery, who were whipped in the cotton fields, beaten to death in the swamps, thrown overboard in their chains, were asleep, they were in a state of dislocation, of hypnosis, that is until they were awoken from their stupor by Trayvon Martin.



Brothers and sisters, we are guilty as much as the white man of keeping our race down. We need to realise what we have done, and we need to look into our hearts and souls as African Americans. Are you with me? Do you understand how black people will never be accepted truly as equals in America? Look around you right now, and you will see what we have, it is us and them. Not us as one. This aint no equality bullshit. This aint no motherfuckin employment quota. That aint equality. They built America to be a great empire with our slave blood, sweat and tears and we were never paid. People need to understand that we were played and now its time to drink a cup of coffee and wake up, Reverend D.L. Johnsons, told his congregation at the White Pines Baptist Church in Tennessee on Thursday.



Trayvon Martin is Americas Black Jesus, he didnt die on a cross poked with spears by Roman soldiers, he died in an exclusively white populated gated community at the hands of a Hispanic guarding the whites who lived in their safe McMansions. There was no safety for Trayvon though. That young man was shot like a dog is shot.



What did Trayvon die for? His life was proved to be worthless in Americas fractured racially divided society, where a black boy is shot and there is no perceived need to arrest the shooter or even look into the incident.

This is the message given to the world. An African Americans life is worthless next to that of a white person. Dont matter how much money you earn in America, youre still a nigger. Thats the truth, the Reverend shouted from his pulpit.
MADRID - Spain - The Spanish Prime Minister has vowed to give back Argentina to the original inhabitants, the native South American Indians, as an act of compassion and regret for its former colonial self.

In the year 1536, Pedro de Mendoza, arrived in what is called Argentina and with a large force massacred all the American Indians. The ones that were left were forcibly converted to Catholicism and their babies brains dashed against rocks to ensure they went to Christian heaven. What was then called Santa Maria del Buen Aire, is now Buenes Aires. Before the massacres, the indigenous people of what is called Argentina today, were the Tehuelches, Rehuelches, Rampas, Matacos, Guaycures, Huerpes, Diaguitas, Mapuches. They were systematically almost completely wiped out and indoctrinated. Argentina today is a massive Spanish colony. We want to say sorry for that and we want to give the land back to the original inhabitants, Mariano Rajoy, told an assembled press corps. from his public offices in Madrid.

Because of the shame of Argentinas Spanish colonial past, many Argentinians are now going back to Spain and are happily leaving behind their former properties and belongings.

We, as Argentinians are colonial Spaniards. Our forefathers brutally wiped out the Indians and we are truly ashamed for our colonial past. Yesterday I saw an old Indian lady sitting on the ground weaving a basket. I gave her the keys to my BMW and told her how sorry I was for my colonial roots, Juan Soldero, a lawyer from Buenes Aires told Spanish TV station, TVE 1.

Former Argentinian president, Cristina Kirchner said: Its an injustice that in the 21st century colonial enclaves still exist in the world. This is why we are now leaving Argentina and going back to Spain.

According to Spains current government, there are plans to move the entire Spanish population of Argentina back to Spain within the next few months.

We are still mobilising the ships so that millions of Spanish people come back to Spain from Argentina and we can give the land back to the original South American Indians. This will be a huge logistical task but it can be done, Diego Maraputano, the Spanish Foreign Minister, told Spains El Pais newspaper.


ATLANTA - USA - The FBI are warning citizens of a new dangerous Obama drug with the face of the president on the pills hitting the streets of America.

This new drug is amazing. It gives you the sharpest, best high you can ever imagine in the beginning, but the downside is the low after the very short high. The come down from the drug can take literally months or even years and can cause depression, anxiety and pain. Its not worth it folks, please leave this drug alone, it is devastating to ones moral and mood, a senior drug administrator for the FDA told the Boston Times.

No one knows where the Obama drug came from and how it has infiltrated the United States but some say it could have come from the East Africa region, near Kenya.

In all my years in the FDA Ive never seen a drug this bad. It fools people with an amazing high. Youll never get that back ever because once you get the Obama high at the beginning, its downhill all the way from there. That is the killer right there, people cant take that. They go nuts, another FDA agent reported.

According to the FBI these Obama tablets have flooded the streets of America and are set to cause chaos and disorder soon unless something is done.

Either way, this is a bitter pill to swallow for those who have had the misfortune to encounter these Obama pills.
LONDON - England - News International boss, Rupert Murdoch, visited Buckingham palace today to receive an MBE for services to the British newspaper industry, it has been revealed.

Murdoch who owns The Sun, News of the World, and Times newspapers will be honoured for his services to Britains newspaper industry.

Mr Murdoch flew into Britain from Australia yesterday and attended Buckingham palace with his kung fu fighting mail order bride, 56 years his junior, Wendy Deng.

Over the past forty years, Murdoch has dominated the UK press with thousands of scoops, especially regarding the royal family.

I knew i was going to get the MBE months ago because our hackers know everything and told me about it. I am greatly honoured by the Queen giving me an MBE, the amount of stuff I know about the royal family, Ill be tempted to give her a lil wink and pretend to zip up my mouth after she gives me the medal, Mr Murdoch said from his Park Lane penthouse.


WASHINGTON DC - USA - Obama has to win the next election because it will be highly entertaining seeing the unrestrained president taking away America's guns, a group of foreign political observers have noted.

Obama is coming for Americas guns. They are getting the TSA ready to knock on your door and hand over your firearms. Its OK though, you will get a few vouchers for your pain, maybe some Walmart or Target vouchers where you can buy some food instead, or whatever you want, as long as they are not guns. Its going to be fun to watch what happens,  Laura L. Marshall, a key European political observer told Politics Today magazine.

It has been a long time coming and the extreme bad press and scare stories touted by the Obama regime against personal firearms is surefire proof that his agenda will be extremely explosive and inflammatory when he is re-elected as president in October 2012.

Remember that were going to have the Trayvon Martin hearing then too. The president is making sure that the Zimmerman neighbourhood watch guy goes down for many years, and he will cite the gun thing during this period. If Zimmerman was acquitted, we would have black riots everywhere. So, thats why Zimmerman will go down for life, and its written in the judges notes right now. That is if he wants to keep his job, and the jurors will be hand picked of course. This show trial will be the trial that leads to the abolition of firearms across the nation. If you dont believe me, wait until October, and see for yourselves, a source within the Pentagon revealed.

Americas Supreme Court, under an Obama Second Term, will be remodelled in Obamas Anti-Firearm vision. The constitutional freedoms that Americans have enjoyed for hundreds of years will be threatened, as Obama takes away the right for Americans to defend themselves with a gun.

The Second Amendment, the right to bear arms, will be scratched completely from the constitution and law. Only law enforcement agents or military will be allowed to carry arms, and even they would be severely restricted in public.

If you think the U.S. Constitution can not be messed with, look at the Fourth Amendment. When the TSA stick their hand down your crotch in an airport or train station, they are violating the Fourth Amendment, the right against unreasonable searches and seizures. What have Americans done to stop that? Nothing. Therefore, Obama knows that the Second Amendment is easy to bulldoze over too. Where are the founding fathers now?



The model is the UK. The whole population has been disarmed, and the government and law can do anything to them through absolutism. Look at the Big Brother laws laid out in the UK. No one has any rights anymore, or any reproach to change legislation, or protest, or defence against attackers. The only people who have serious guns in the UK are the criminals with their arsenals of illegals guns. In the UK if someone invades your home and atacks your family, if you defend yourself and family with lethal force, you go to jail for murder. They dont want people to defend themselves. Even the police dont have guns in the UK, look it up, they need to call in specially trained armed officers if there is ever an incident, and that can take over an hour for them to come to any scene, by that time, we got blood and guts everywhere. We dont want the US to end up like the UK  an unarmed people with no rights or future, Jim Powers, political analyst for Washington think-tank, the Political Fiscal Union wrote in a recent white paper study.

British Prime Minister, David Camerons recent official visit to America probably involved him giving advice to Obama on how to disarm the people of America. If Obama is going to get advice on how to do this, the Brits are the best advisers.



Obamas Attorney General, Eric Holder, has already revealed his wish to really brainwash people to think about guns in a vastly different way, in a 1995 recording.

We cant bring in the real laws we want to bring in until Americans are disarmed one by one. If they had guns they might fight back. We dont want that, a senior Obama aide told CNN on Friday.

The question is, how is Obama going to disarm America?


Who was Britains greatest enemy? Following the 100 Greatest Britons format used on the BBC a few years ago, the National Army Museum selected a shortlist of two recent Labour politicians as Britains greatest foes, and asked a group of historians to nominate their choice before a selected audience.

Britains greatest foe was not George Washington, Napoleon Bonaparte, Adolf Hitler or Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Instead, it was a toss up between Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, the former, probably pipping the latter to the post.

Gordon Brown as chancellor and then unelected PM did more to ruin Britain than any other entity in our great islands dark history. He was a formidable foe, and destroyed whole swathes of the country and economy in one fell swoop. The scorched earth policy caused so much damage to Britain that it may take hundreds of years to repair. The vandalism he meted out onto the nation is the greatest economic, social disaster we have ever witnessed, and even a thousand Al Qaedas or Hitlers could not come close to what he has done to us. As for Tony Blair, his contribution to Britains disaster was not as complete as Gordon Browns but the repercussions of his traitorous betrayel of Britain for greed, wealth and money, will be felt for many hundreds of years to come as well. Both Brown and Blair were a double whammy this nation will never get over, and for this reason they are Britains greatest foes, and they should be recognised for what they have done to our nation, Professor Benjamin Dipalastine, one of the historians nominating the candidates for the shortlist revealed to the Telegraph newspaper.
GUANTANAMO BAY - Cuba - If you keep someone awake forcibly for 180 hours straight, they will confess to anything. These are the torture methods used on the 911 suspects.

Are you trying to tell me that a bunch of Arabs who could not fly airplanes conducted highly skilled manoeuvres on very complicated machines at 650 mph to crash into the twin towers? Are you trying to tell me that the towers just crumbled like a pack of cards that defied the laws of gravity with their speed? Are you trying to tell me that Tower 7 just collapsed out of nowhere even though it was not hit by a single rock or crumb? Are you trying to tell me that a 757 fit into a tiny hole in the Pentagon and that an Arab dude who did not know how to fly an airplane flew it perfectly three feet over the Pentagon lawn smashing the plane through many levels of reinforced concrete and steel walls? Lets look at the facts here. Who profited from 911? Cui bono? Certainly was not any Arab, a disgusted lawyer said from the mainland USA.

There is legitimacy in the fact that if you torture someone enough, they will confess to anything.

Thats true. These guys couldve confessed to Mickey Mouse eating out their sisters, if it was so wished, another lawyer said.

Even these people who are being held by the Americans had anything to do with 911, they certainly would not be able to mastermind such an operation, because it would take the logistics of an agency much larger than a few people to pull off.

The American government didnt scramble one single fighter jet plane during the 911 attacks. George W Bush did not leave his class room. If you read the PNAC you will read in plain sight that the 911 Pearl Harbour event was planned many years in advance. Any Arabs working for the so-called jihadist bogey men do not know who they are actually working for at the top of the pyramid. They are told they are working for Allah purely to motivate the brainwashed pawns. They only see someone a few tiers below the actual person or agency which is really pulling the strings. Islam is now the new bogey, the new pariah, the new enemy that America needed after the death of the Cold War threat. The threat of Islamic terrorism has been used by countless governments to close down democratic freedom and bring in pre-planned draconian laws, a political theorist from Washington DC told Capitol Hill News.


We will not join unless we are given the post at the head of the table, British PM, David Cameron told the Daily Mail today.

EU politicians have conceded that the UK is a special case that will have to be treated with care when handled.

The EU will not survive unless we have the UK as part of the eurozone, and the way to entice them into the single currency is by waving the carrot of regency in front of their noses. If they think they are so important, they can join and we can make them feel important. Such is the superior stance of the British, they treat Europe like a self-service buffet restaurant, where they come and take what they want then go back to their little island. So, comrades, it is apparent to me that we need to dupe these people with a sense of importance that they think they deserve. We suckered all the other countries to join, so the UK will be the last bastion of the European superstate, an unnamed, unelected EU bureaucrat told Euronews Daily.

The previous Labour government paved the way for the EU British euro inclusion with the mass immigration program that has changed the face of Britain forever. They also tied the government to treaties in the EU forcing the UK to shore up the crumbling eurozone with billions of British pounds.

Speaking from parliament, a former Labour cabinet member admitted that its policies were a godsend to Brussels.

Tony Blairs and Gordon Browns policies were to weaken the UK to such a level that in the future there will be no choice but to join the euro. As for David Cameron, he promised the people a referendum on Europe before he was elected, he reneged on this promise for a very good reason, his EU bosses have his hands tied, and they promise him great riches if he pulls the final plug on the UK. Britain will be sold off, as easily as the UKs gold reserves were sold off at the bottom of the market by Gordon Brown. We brought in millions of immigrants from the poorest countries in Eastern Europe and Asia, because we knew that it will be perfect preparation for the final solution for Britain. You cannot have an EU entry for the UK with a united Britain, with families together and the indigenous populations intact. Without the family units, without the jobs, without the cohesive togetherness of a population, they are free to be corrupted by the EU. Divide and conquer, this time used on the populations of Britain instead of colonial populations, will weaken resistance to the inevitable assimilation into the eurozone. This technique, has of course been utilised for centuries by many who wanted to weaken populations. The Labour party should be applauded for its positive EU stance and its primary role in bringing the UK into the euro. We have laid the groundwork, David Cameron will finish what we started, as you all know, we all work for the same boss. He will give the people no choice but to join the euro currency.
ATHENS - Greece - The flame that will burn during the London games was lit at the birthplace of the ancient Olympics on Thursday, heralding the start of a torch relay that will culminate with the opening ceremony on July 27.

The Olympic ceremony began with a complete riot, when thousands of Greek anti-austerity protestors broke through the barricades of the ancient Olympic site and started throwing Molotov cocktails everywhere.

The ceremonial torch bearer  a Greek policeman  was doused in flames as a Molotov cocktail and petrol can was tossed at him.

I am proud to be the Olympic flame this year, Stavros Scorchio, the burning riot policeman told national Greek news stations.

In seventy days time, the Olympic torchbearer will make his way to London, England, even though the poor chap may be burnt to a crisp by then.

Were going to carry the flame of the Olympic spirit through Tottenham, Clapham and Brixton. Its going to be wicked, innit. I might even be tempted to nick some trainers on the way to the stadium, another policeman, who was also on fire, told the BBC.


I was invited to go to Greece to see for myself how the populations are living after they spent 500 billion euros from the EU in less than six years. For a population of just 19 million people, that is an impressive spending streak. Everyone owns a Porsche Cayenne and a helicopter. It should be delightful staying at the coast, I have heard the yachts there owned by all the Greeks are the best in the Mediterranean. I am sure they will all greet me with enthusiasm as I top up my tan on a boat or beach, Ms Lagarde told the French newspaper, Le Monde on Saturday.

The Greek Foreign Minister, Tsisos Malaka, told Greek television: We welcome Ms Lagarde to Greece. I have invited her to my villa in Thessaloniki. I want to show her that Greek peoples are very hard working. We wake up in the morning, check our bank accounts to see if the latest EU subsidy has been paid by the Germans, then we transfer the money offshore to the Caymans or other havens. Our working week lasts from Monday to Wednesday, sometimes we even work on Thursdays. It is hard, what with the three hour lunches, then a two hour siesta, maybe go for a swim then its to the coffee house to play backgammon, drink ouzo and smoke for the rest of the evening. By the way, she is also welcome at my villa in Lake Lugano and in Geneva.

It is unfortunate that Lagarde made a comment about the Greeks being lazy, corrupt, ungrateful tax-dodgers worthy of Nigerian 419 scammers, but consider the fact that in some Greek towns, everyone is registered as blind. All it takes to receive full benefits and extra payments from the EU is to give your doctor 200 euros and hell amend your records. After that is submitted to the necessary EU department, the recipient will never have to work for the rest of their life. There are so many blind people in some Greek towns that the statistics are baffling, especially when theyre all driving Ferraris. These are some of the scams that have been going on for years. It is sad that the few honest Greeks are tainted with the same brush as the majority, a butcher from the Greek island of Kiltzos told Reuters.

When Lagarde lands in Greece in July for her holidays and goes for a meal, who is to know what the chef and restaurant workers will deposit in her food? It will certainly be a very interesting meze for her.


LONDON - England - One thing the Brits have always done well is a good stiff upper lip, and with British weather as it is, that is a good thing to have in your arsenal.

Its not just about watching the royal flotilla pageant coming down the Thames whilst sipping your Pimms, youve also got to get a thorough soaking as well to really feel British. Im proud of my Queen and country and as for the weather, thats great too, Julia Fortington Smythe, a thoroughly soaked Jubilee reveller waiting by the Chelsea bridge told the Telegraph on Sunday.

Dunkirk Spirit



One great point about Britain is the enduring spirit of its people through the most adverse conditions laid down by successive governments and royals. Through every indignity and horrible draconion law thrown at them by successive eras, they have taken it up the jacksie without so much as a whimper. Britains vast history is peppered with countless moments of hardship and turmoil for its people who seemed to have sailed through up to now and survived the onslaught.

Will the EU finally destroy Britain so it is swallowed up to become just another sheep-like slave zombie country in Europe, or will it keep its independence and national spirit  even though it has been attacked so viciously by Labours open door policy and unelected EU officials from Brussels?



There is a reason why Britain is called Great Britain, not only for its conquering spirit but its leadership of the world. It continues to innovate in skill, design and ideas, even though manufacturing has all but been destroyed in this land, it still manages to make some useful things like mines and weapons to be used by despots around the world. The great thing about modern Britain is its amalgamation of pretty much everything from around the world. In other words, weve nicked half the wealth and natural resources from poorer countries. We should be proud of that, as well as the fact that the Jubilee celebrations will just showcase fair skinned English people having fun, and its a good thing the darkies have been shipped off to the outskirts for the day. You wont see a dark face on the telly or the streets for a day, and thats a huge bloody relief, retired colonel, Arthur Devizes, told Sky news from Battersea.
LONDON - England - Queen Elizabeth II has spoken of her desire to have a Jubilee celebrating her reign every year from now on, as she thoroughly enjoyed her sixtieth Diamond celebration so much.

Speaking at Buckingham palace whilst addressing the nation on all channels, the Queen said she will speak to Whitehall policy makers and the PM so the new law can be approved by parliament.

It is her majestys desire to have a Jubilee celebration every year for the rest of her life, therefore as her subjects, we are obliged to agree to her wishes, Prime Minister, David Cameron said from Number10 this morning.

The cost to the taxpayer of continuous four day celebrations every year could be huge.

Its not just the cost of the Queens celebrations which go into the multi-millions; but loss of productivity for the economy as well as the security cost involved. I guess we can get more poor bastard benefits slaves to sleep under Waterloo bridge and do unpaid work in the freezing rain, at least this way well claw back some of the cost. So what if the poor f*ckers die of hypothermia, they shouldnt have been unemployed and receiving benefits in the first f*cking place, the vile scum, a Tory politician, told the Times.

As for the BBC, they cant wait to film Z-List celebrities talking about novelty Jubilee sick bags for next years celebrations.

The brainwashed masses were also delighted to hear about the new proposals for yearly Jubilee celebrations. From now on the streets of London will be filled with flag waving people, their wide eyes glazed over, hypnotised with praise, bleating their mantra with devout excitement as they follow all the other people in the crowds. North Koreans would surely be proud of the level of brainwashing displayed by the British public for the last four days during the Diamond Jubilee.

There were, however, no calls for Gary Barlow to return, as the suicide rate in the country could rise to impossible levels.

If I see that mans inane grinning face singing his shit karaoke songs again Ill shoot myself. Hes an untalented fat cu*t who is only worthy of a stint in a working mans club somewhere in Scunthorpe. What an utter, utter, f*cking rotter, a distraught Jubilee event TV watcher told BBCs The Two Show, yesterday.


WASHINGTON DC - USA - You would have thought that the Americans would have had enough of the Bush clan, well you would be wrong, here comes another one.

We had the original Bush, then we had the dumbo Bush, now we got Latino Bush. You cant make this shit up, a man from Cervesa Heights, California, said on hearing the news about the new addition to the Republican war machine.

According to democrat political observers, the new George P Bush is the secret weapon that will appeal to the large Hispanic communities all over the United States, and there are fears that his popularity could damage the democrat cause.

The blacks had Obama, now we got pee wee Bush. Hes a part-Mexican squeaky voice in the dark, hes gonna appeal to the gringos and us, now that a good mix right there, Ronaldo Enchilada, a property developer from Santa Monica, California told LA Weekly.

Mr George Prescott Garnica Bush, could one day be president of the United States, completing the Bush dynastys home ruin.

I want to know what else the Bushes got out there to surprise us all with? How about a George Ling Ling Bush, or what about a George Ahmed Abdullah Bush, or what about a George Luigi Guido Bush? Im sure the Bushes have all the bases covered, Eduardo Gonzalez Pendejo, a businessman and democrat campaigner from Missouri told CNN.

Little Pee Wee Bush, as he is called in political circles, is also set to campaign for the Republicans wearing a sombrero and poncho.

Satirists and comedians all over the world are now begging for George P. Bush to come into office somehow, as Obama has been deemed a humourless script reader who has all but stifled political comedy during his boring tenure as president.


DUSSELDORF - Germany - The German people are now becoming like their Southern European counterparts a new study has revealed.

Were getting lazy like the Greeks. Yesterday I couldnt even be bothered to get out of bed let alone run my super efficient car manufacturing business, Karl Meinoff, a car factory owner from Dusseldorf told Bild magazine.

Germans used to be known as super efficient workers with vast reserves of energy and intelligence, unfortunately since joining the Euro, they are now getting lazier, and some say stupider.

I was cooking dinner yesterday, usually wiener and apple strudel when I had the sudden urge to make a kebab and some souvlaki. I then sat around the table drinking ouzo all night talking about how terrible it is to pay tax. You can guess what my boss said to me when I went into work mid afternoon the next day with a terrible hangover, he said I looked like a Greek and he docked my pay for the month, a distraught worker told local radio station, RTF3.

All over Germany, production has slumped as workers do not feel the need to work anymore. Moral amongst the workforce is very low.



Our Southern European friends live the easy life, they swim, drink, laze in the sun, and eat good food. They retire at 45 on full pensions, whereas we have to work till 67 to get a pension. They work three day weeks while we have to work sometimes six or seven days a week. Why should we do that when they get the same money as us or even more? I just told my boss I want a two week holiday, the first in five years, and he told me to get lost, Gunther Heizel, an office worker from Berlin told a local news outlet.
One must look at the modus operandi of the former Afghanistan General. He says it is important for all Americans to be drafted into the military at the age of 18 so as to share the burden of the global wars currently being orchestrated from Washington. Could an increased military zap the US economy into overdrive and lift it up into new heights? Yes it could, because with increased army personnel comes increased industry, arms manufacturing, logistics, training, catering, filing and every other job that you can think of. Armies are wonderful employers, and what do you do when everyone is unemployed and moping around the streets, like Americas youth today? You start a few more wars, then you enlist the youth and train them to kill Islamic people or whoever the next enemy of the US is.

The current globalist agenda in the Middle East is moving far too slowly for those who have started and controlled the conflicts.

We want to finish the cleansing of the Middle East. It is in our global interest to make the Islamic countries fall into line with the West and the only way to do this is to destabilise these countries either through war or propaganda, a Pentagon insider revealed.

The conflict in Syria is the final point of no return for the US military machine, because it is buttressed between the Russians and Chinese. If both Russian and China were to enter into a war with the US, there would definitely be a need for conscription. As for Iran, once Syria capitulates to the West, that will be attacked in a similar fashion  by the use of guerrilla forces funded by America, and then a final push either through bombing through the air or limited ground troops, maybe both.

The Arab Spring destabilised the region through propaganda, and the next phase will have to be military conflict, which is a messy business, but is the only way to fully eradicate any dissent towards America plus win further territories for the global elite.

War is good for business. Not only do we reduce the civilian populations but we increase our production and manufacturing business within the US. We make great weapons, amazing missiles and hardcore tanks. When the draft is brought in, we will have a booming economy once again, we will fight as one nation, and our young boys will become men. Nothing like a bullet whizzing past your head to make you really grow up. No more Playstation or X Box for you guys, from now on you will have the real thing and you will thank me for it as you stand to attention to salute me, General McChristal told a group of school kids at a Florida High School yesterday.

While the Americans want a bloated military, how come the UK is cutting its own ranks? Who is disarming the British military and why? Perhaps someone should ask Brussels about it.


WASHINGTON DC - USA - No one knows where Obama came from, who put him in power as President of the United States, or how he got into the position he is in now? The fact is that President Barack Hussein Obama is here now, and he wants a second term.

After telling the American people that the American Dream is a mirage created by the US Government, President Obama is living proof that the American Dream never existed in the first place or ever will.

What is the American Dream? It is the national ethos of the United States. Where citizens of the United States, irrespective of social class or birth, have the freedom and opportunities to create career and business success, as well as prosperity for themselves and their families. Hard work in American society is supposedly rewarded with upward social mobility, Harvard professor of business, Dr. Sean Lementswell, told the New York Times

How much does the state have a hand in a single Americans success?

According to Obama, the government contributes everything to the success of those in America who are deemed as living the American Dream.

Obama is the living proof that the state is omnipresent in every facet of American life.

Who put him in power? First of all, who is Obama? No one really knows that apart from a few people in a darkened room somewhere, maybe in the Pentagon. Obama did not get to where he is by the ideals of the American Dream, he was put in place by very powerful people with a specific agenda. We do not even have an answer to Obamas Connecticut social security number, or his citizenship or anything else. Everything about this guy is made up. He appeared out of nowhere in the 2008 elections. No one knew who he was, all they saw was the colour of his skin. Thats it! Albert Finklestein, a political commentator in Washington told the Washington Herald.

When Obama is re-elected in November 2012, he will not be living the American Dream then either, because the people who will put him back in power will know very well of how they completed their mission.


NEW YORK - USA - The United Nations will be utilised by whoever is elected in the next US election to disarm the American people for their own safety.

The UN Peacekeeping army will come to your house. If you hand over your guns, then you will be given a voucher to spend at Walmart or Target. If you refuse to hand over your weapons, you will be arrested and your weapons seized. If you choose to fight, then you will be immobilised or liquidated, a U.S. State Department official told Fox News on Tuesday.

The UN Arms Treaty is a document that will supposedly prevent the outbreak of war domestically and externally.

The United States Program for General and Complete Disarmament in a Peaceful World



Under the current American Constitution, an American has the right to bear arms, as cited in the Second Amendment. The next phase of Americas constitution will be to delete the Second Amendment under a little known 1961 document utilising thousands of UN peacekeeping forces to enforce the new laws.

American citizens have no need for weapons, and it is under the auspices of new treaties that will be drafted over the outdated U.S. constitution that will ensure the continued safety of U.S. citizens in their own homeland and further a field, an Obama official from the State Department, Eric Johnson, told Reuters.

The United Kingdom has already been disarmed with it being illegal to hold most firearms, and soon the same will happen to the United States. Britain was disarmed after the Dunblane shooting in 1997 where all handguns were made illegal. The same will happen in the United States as certain people will be cited for atrocities against the public.

Create Mass Fear



There will need to be an incident so heinous that ordinary people will willingly throw away their weapons. Americans love their weapons so much that they will need to be parted from them quickly and efficiently. Covert agencies within the United States government have ways of brainwashing certain individuals who are conducive to programming for gun operations. Create the problem, feel the public outcry, then come in with a solution. Gun control is the solution. The Hegelian Dialectic will ensure the end of the Second Amendment, a Washington insider told Fox News.



Whoever wins the election in 2012, irrespective of party allegiance, will be tied to the United Nations commitment to disarming the people of America. Remember folks, it is for your own safety.
BRUSSELS - Belgium - There were cheers in the streets of all European countries today when billions of Euros were taken from the bloated coffers of the Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox churches.

We have saved the EU and euro with a very simple solution. We took the vast trillions of euros languishing in the bank vaults put there by the various churches across Europe. Not only do these institutions get massive tax breaks and funding from the government and people but they also have a vast property portfolio and bank riches. All of that has been now used to plug the EU debt hole. In Greece, the Orthodox church is so rich that they do not even know what to do with all their money. As for Spain, the Catholic church is rich beyond anyones wildest dreams, as for Italia, the Holy See is a city unto itself with an enormous economy larger than even many countries. This will all be liquidated and given back to the people from whom they stole it all, Joseph Breitlinger, EU Banking Minister told Euro Today news service.

Normal operations will still take place within all religious buildings in the EU, just that the massive wealth that these institutions have greedily acquired will not be there anymore.

If we sold off all the church riches, not only could we feed every man and woman in the EU twenty times over for the next hundred years but the whole world could be fed as well. They have trillions of euros stashed away in vaults, thousands of tonnes of gold and millions of properties that could help millions of people worldwide, Edith Guernica, a Spanish EU politician told Reuters.


WASHINGTON DC - USA - An International Policy Institute expert has revealed that a protracted war with Iran would be the ultimate insurance for an Obama second term.

What you going to do during a major war with Iran? Vote for the other guy and make the war unstable? No, you vote for the same guy. It worked for Bush and it will work for this Obama guy, Dr. Rubio Kellowack, who is the key spokesman for the Policy Institute think tank in Washington, said on Friday.

There are many clues to when the conflict will begin, especially the loose ends tied up in Syria with the impending downfall of Assad. Syria will be a key area strategically and militarily once defeated for the US and Israel to park their forces as well as use of their airspace, bypassing Turkey.

Preparations are also underway in moving US Naval forces within the reach of the Straits of Hormuz in the Persion Gulf so as to thwart any attempts at blockading the major oil route for tankers to the West. The US recently unveiled a new series of bunker buster bombs that could penetrate 200 feet of concrete, and these would be ideal for the vast Iranian nuclear complexes in places like Bushehr, Qom, Fordow and Natanz.



Obama will get his second term any way he can, if it involves capitulating to the constant Israeli whinging to bomb Iran, then so be it. Obama will go along with the Israelis as long as they ensure his second term, irrespective of Romneys insipid attempts at presidency. Romney has shown himself to be a weak unpopular poor effort of a statesman with limited worldly understanding or grasp of the ordinary needs of his countrymen.

As to the effects of a sudden strike on Iran for the world economy, the Institute says that this would be at best minimal.

You might get a little spike in the oil price but that can be tempered with our oil reserves. The US always has a large stockpile in case of moments like this, Mr Kellowack added.

There are many variables involved in an Iranian attack, and possible foreseeable problems, for example, where does the radioactive fallout go if there is nuclear detonation? What happens if the US and Israel step on Russian toes during the attack? If the world economy suffers too much, then martial law will have to be introduced because of the breakdown in domestic and International order. The Russians and Chinese have all been instrumental in supporting Iranian nuclear aspirations, what if they decide to wade in and attack?

As long as Obama gets his second term, who cares?


FIFE - Scotland - Gordon Brown has warned that breaking up the United Kingdom would lead to the Scottish losing billions of pounds worth of benefits and welfare which they get from England.

The former Prime Minister said the Union between England and Scotland was based on the leeching of English resources that meant Scottish citizens benefitting from the welfare state would suffer if they were to ever split from England.

Where are you going to get your booze and fags from when you aint got no more money from down South? Weve been bleeding those sassenach bastards dry for years. You dont want to work do you? Well, stop with this Independence nonsense you bawbags.

Mr Brown also warned that transferring financial powers only to the Scottish Parliament would mean SNP ministers having to cut spending or increase taxes to balance the books.

Independence would be a nightmare for us. Imagine having to increase taxes on booze and ciggies. What about the benefits where you dont have to work but drink all day and spike your fuckin veins? If the Southern bastards stop paying, whos going to pay for it? You might have to get a job. Mr Brown added.

The end of the 300-year-old union with England would be a major blow for about 87% of Scottish people who are unemployed and have never worked a day in their life living off benefits from the English taxpayer.

Ive neer worked a mingin day in mah life an ah gie 2,500 a week in benefits nae includin mah hoosin benefit, cooncil tax benefit an free methadain, cheb implants frae th NHS. Whit th feck am ah gonnae dae withit at? Aam scunnurt and illiterate, lazee an reek loch booze aw th time. Alex Salmond, ye Shrek lookalike, gonnae-no feckin wi mah benefits frae Englain, Carol McFenster, 26, a single unemployed Aberdeen woman with fourteen children from different partners, told The Scotsman newspaper.
LONDON - England - The English Pussy Riot Girls entered the Daily Squib offices at 7 am this morning and straddled the writers working in the news desk holding them ransom.

The British version of the Pussy Riot Girls have invaded the Daily Squib offices. I am currently writing this article from under a table in the office and a Pussy Riot Girl just stepped on my leg. Ouch that hurt. They say they are invading the Daily Squib offices because we are the only media outlet left in the UK that tells the truth. They say that they want to relay a message to all Pussy Riot Girls around the world to rise up and cause Pussy Mayhem. The liberation of the Great Pussy in the Sky will help all Pussy Riot Girls to rise up against Anti-Pussy Tyranny just like that big macho thug Putin is doing to the Russian Pussy Riot Girls I have just been told to write.

We have had Pussy Riot Girls subdue a few Squib writers, by means of wrapping their thighs around our heads and squeezing hard. Our sub-sub-editor, John Thomas was knocked out this morning when a Pussy Riot Girl used her Pussy Riot Technique to stop the blood going to his head, which one were not sure of but he is still out for the count. He is now recovering in the photocopy room with a Pussy Riot Girl standing over him with her knee high boots positioned over his testicles just in case he makes any sudden moves.

We are appealing for help for the Pussy Riot Girls. We are not against you and will write whatever you want. Ouch. \jsvkkjvsjkvbsbjvksbjks sdji

A Pussy Riot Girl just stood on my fingers. The Pussy Riot girls are demanding the release of the Russian Pussy Riot Girls from prison immediately. Putin you monkey faced botox freak..you better release the Russian Pussy Riot Girls immediately.



Please help!!! A Pussy Riot Girl just put her thighs around my ,s,shh ss sdishdui idhuiuhsd hudsuhi dudhhdhd sisisdddd..


WASHINGTON DC - USA - An invisible anonymous candidate could be the next President of the United States, Capitol Hill sources have revealed.

Forget about Obama and Romney, a new wild card electoral candidate entered the race for the White House today.

Vote Empty Chair Person a billboard outside Capitol Hill says. There is real mystery to this new candidate, who are they, where did they come from?

I dont even know if they are male or female or what political ideology they go by? All we see is an empty chair, and sometimes it moves around a bit, a threatened Obama campaigner told CBS news.

The invisible candidate likes to sometimes rock the chair back and forth and witnesses at a recent campaign event say that they heard the chairs occupant fall over because there was a big thud noise and an ouch sound.

They mustve leaned back too far and fallen off the chair. Thatll learn em. We had enough dumbass presidents and we dont need another one, let alone an invisible one, an undecided voter said at a recent rally in Chicago.

The empty chair candidate has already raised $134 million in its first week and now it has its own tour bus on the Invisible Tour.

America now has a third choice. Instead of voting for the two losers, you can vote for the invisible chair president. Now thats a choice you cant give up, so get on down to your voting booths on the day and vote for the right candidate, Corby Nash, a neutral electoral official revealed on CNNs Politics Day show.


MELTON MOWBRAY - England - A man and his wife were today arrested for defending themselves from four burglars, the police have disclosed.

We have arrested the man who was defending his wife and property from aggressive burglars. The burglars have been set free but the man and his wife were arrested because they tried to protect themselves, a policeman at the scene told Human Rights lawyers.

The husband and wife were said to have disturbed the burglars during the break-in and the man shot the criminals with a shotgun injuring two.

This will not do. The burglars could have been severely injured. We must have the Health and Safety inspectorate on site as well as the Crown Prosecution Service immediately. Protecting ones family and property is a highly illegal practice in the United Kingdom and must be stamped out with extreme prejudice. Despicable behaviour, and these two miscreants will be tried to the full extent of British law, QC Lloyd Davidson, told the Daily Mirror.


LONDON - England - Actress Dame Helen Mirren, who has announced she will return to play the Queen in a new West End play, has remarked that the monarch's English accent now has a decidedly Eastern European Polish tinge to it.

Im not saying she sounds like the meerkat but she has acquired some slight Slavic tones to her English, this is possibly due to the millions of Eastern Europeans who were granted entry to the UK by the former Labour government and EU opening of all borders in 2003. The massive influx has sadly affected our Queen who has ditched her royal English tones for a more European accent, Dame Mirren told the Daily Mail.

The play will be based in a Polski Sklep (Polish Shop) in Neasden, North West London, where the Queen will visit and get one of her courtiers to buy a bag of groceries to take home to the palace.

Dame Helen Mirren will play the Queen who discovers the culinary delights of Polish cuisine and introduces it to everyone at the palace.



The play is based on real life incidents at Buckingham palace recently. Royal watchers realised something had gone very wrong last month when the Queen and Prince Philip started ordering Zupa ogorkowa (sour, salted cucumbers) and Biay barszcz (sauerkraut and pork broth with cubed boiled pork, ham, a hard boiled egg, and dried pork tripe sticks) for a recent banquet with the visiting Australian Prime Minister. They then washed the lot down with Czernina (duck blood soup) for an altogether gory finale.

Helen Mirren, who is in fact Russian herself, has taken to the role like a duck to water.

One must understand that the Windsors are actually the Saxe-Coburg Gothas from Germany, so it is only natural that the Queen likes to flit around with her accent. We are all part of a wonderful mix here in England, and it is thus a good excuse to appreciate our culural mixing pot, Ms Mirren added.
LONDON - England - One thing the Tories should be thankful of is getting a human punch bag like the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg to take the hits while they carry on doing what they're doing.

The only way the Tories could be voted into power was with a sobbing yellow rat like Clegg blubbering into his handkerchief as abuse after abuse is thrown at him from all and sundry. Clegg is the best human shield the Tories have after enacting hugely unpopular policies that make them even more hated amongst the population than during the latter stage of the Thatcher years. Dont look a gift horse in the mouth, or in Cleggs case  arse, the Tories need to keep the Lib Dem leader around to shelter them from the constant barrage of anti-governmental feeling brought on mostly by Georgey boy in the Treasury. Clegg is a wonderful punch bag, he gets up there, apologises, gets more stick, cries a bit, maybe a rotten tomato or three, and then its back to business as usual for the Tories. He takes negativity towards the Tories, he is a shield for the Conservatives, and one must keep the shield up in battle, or get hit yourself, thus losing the battle, a Westminster insider divulged.

Unless Osborne turns the economy around soon, analysts say that the human shield of Nick Clegg may crack and be deemed useless.

Its only a matter of time until the Tory defence is breached, and if that happens, then Labour will have the shield. Once the bleating Dalek brother-killer Ed Milliband gets a taste of power, Britain will be lost forever under a sea of overspending, useless diktats, and economic disaster that will make this lot look like f*cking girl scouts, he added.

Until then, Nick Clegg, please take the flack and the shrapnel, you go first.


EASTBOURNE - England - Pupils and parents at an East Sussex school are questioning a new Maths exam for 15-year-olds.

The new Ebacc maths exam which will replace the GCSE has caused some consternation amongst parent groups and pupils alike. The irregular questions were discovered during a preview of the new maths exams.

The exams proposed by Education Secretary Michael Gove are meant to be harder than the GCSEs but some say that the exams are a little weird.

Head teacher at the Bishop Bell Church of England School in Eastbourne, Lionel Simpers, said: Pupils were attending a class for the new maths exam when alarm bells were raised at some of the questions.

One of the maths questions asks: If a 30 year old maths teacher takes a 15 year old female pupil off to France and they are travelling at an average speed of 23 mph what is the probability of the girl being relieved of her virginity?

Then another maths question asks: If the age of consent is 15 in France and it is 16 in the UK, what is the difference between the two countries?
TEHRAN - Iran - "If you're going to get attacked, might as well dress in style" is the tag line for the new Ahmadinejad Dinner Jacket shops opened all over the city.

When hes not coordinating riot police or calling for the complete destruction of the great devil USA/Israel, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad likes nothing better than to relax in his study wearing one of his dinner jackets and sipping some cognac whilst thumbing through the latest copy of Zionist Today magazine.

Iranians need to dress better, no more cheap brown suits, we need well cut dinner jackets because we want to project an air of sophistication to the invading Israeli armies when they try and invade us in a month or so. Naturally I and every other Iranian man will be greeting them with an AK47 as well as a dinner jacket. Take that you Jew bastards, president Ahmadinejad said.

The new line of Ahmadinejad Dinner Jackets will also be fitted with gun holsters and a suicide belt as standard.


NEW JERSEY - USA - The Republicans are nowhere to be seen after the Sandy hurricane, and Obama is everywhere to be seen, this is just what he needed.

Could hurricane Sandy clinch the coming November 6 election for Obama? Certainly the president has been seen out and about smiling and promising relief to the thousands of people recovering from the devestating hurricane.

Look what the Republicans did during Katrina. They let people rot and there was chaos. Obama is calm, collected and he looks like a president out there talking to the relief workers and New Jersey Governor. Wheres Mitt Romney, in his bunker? a voter said on his way to a polling station in Arizona.

Some GOP election campaigners have been quietly fuming at Obamas stellar performance during and after the hurricane.

This is a vote changer. People will see Obama as the human voice of America because he is out there helping people. Were still in our bunkers and we need to get out and pretend to help the people best we can, but I think it is too late already, a GOP election official said.

One might almost think that Obama and the Democrats had conjured up Sandy in the first place.


LONDON - England - We are already in a war, an economic war where European countries within the eurozone are conspiring against the UK, to take our jobs, to take our wealth and to take our sovereignty as a nation.

Michael Heseltine is right, he is the only one within the weakened Conservatives to speak up and put a solid plan to the constant onslaught from the behemoth EU juggernaut which like a slimy snail bulldozes whole nations and leaves a trail of slime behind.

The Germans, who are the head of the EU, are doing everything they can to consume as much power as they can within this Soviet system. Where they tread they create debt mountains enslaving whole nations, huge unemployment, despair and slavery to their economic might. When the Berlin wall fell, it was not a symbol of East Germany and the Soviet state dying, it was a symbol of the Soviet state taking over the rest of Germany and creating the EU. Therefore, the Berlin wall was simply an illusion, a piece of theatre for the people, because they are now much more enslaved than they were during the East German years. The EU and its totalitarian dictatorship will increase in power until there will be no freedom left for the people. It is a Soviet Fascist amalgamation which by the use of Soviet techniques like constant repetition, drums into its enslaved citizens the mantra it wants them to hear.

Austerity is poverty, this is the redistribution of wealth so that everyone is poor.

We take away the ownership of property, your jobs and your livelihoods. We take away your pensions and your future, we take away the future of your children. This is the EU, you will depend on us now. In twenty years, everyone will be on EU state welfare, you will be given allowances for energy consumption, food consumption and your travel will be restricted. No one will be allowed to be an individual or hold wealth, you will be paid in EU credits which will be digital. If you disobey anything, then we simply cut off your credits. You and your family will thus be made to starve. This will of course create a climate of fear. Look what we are doing in Greece. They dared to disobey us, and now they are starving, dying in the streets and committing suicide in their homes. This is their punishment for disobeying our orders and laws. Greece will be an example, because all democracy must be eradicated. Democratic action is an enemy of the EU and we will crush any form of individualism or freedom, an unelected technocrat revealed yesterday at the EU parliament in Brussels.





As Mr Heseltine outlined yesterday, we are being attacked in the UK. After two physical World Wars in the 20th century, the third 21st century war is economic. Brussels is destabilising the financial independence of the City, it is also encouraging huge influxes of economic migrants from some of the poorest nations in the EU. This is a direct attack on the indigenous population of the UK because it will take away resources, jobs and space as well as create civil unrest. The British Isles do not have much land mass and there is only so much room and resource available. To be ordered by Brussels to feed, clothe and support economic migrants is a huge strain on the population already here. Schools, hospitals, employment and the British way of life are all severely threatened.

The role of the influx of millions of immigrants from the EUs poorest regions is a way of destabilising and fracturing the indigenous populations. This way they are disseminated and taken apart in only one or two generations. England will not be England anymore, neither will Scotland or Wales. They will be completely overrun, our hospitals are already straining as the NHS buckles under the sheer weight of the load. Taxpayers are already shouldering a heavy burden and they will be asked to do more, as our schools will be inundated with the EU citizens who will want to be taught first how to speak English. Well, what about your child who wants to learn a normal days school work, well they will be shoved to the side as the tired overworked teacher has to deal with the other pupils, who are still at the most basic point of linguistic knowledge, a concerned Westminster insider revealed.

The threat of the EUs economic war on the UK does not only come from Brussels, but internally from our own nation. Look at David Cameron, a man who panders to his controllers from Brussels without a whimper of dissent or courage towards his own nation. The cowardice employed by Cameron also extends to his deputy Clegg, who trails yellow streaks of fetid urine wherever he walks. So the threat is not only from the outside but inside as well, as malodorous traitors to the British people are selling us down the river every day. Camerons Commons defeat by eurosceptics yesterday was a small victory but will be overruled by the powers that be soon enough.



When will the people wake up about the EU? When the troops march into their streets holding the EU flag high or when their jobs, homes and livelihoods are raised to the ground? If the EU cannot defeat us economically then they will do so through war, maybe Britain can borrow a battleship from France some time to fight back.
LONDON - England - There's something about a U.S. election that is quite scary to millions of people around the globe.

When George W. Bush was elected, I knew that very bad things were going to happen in the world and I was right. He was a disaster, Ellen Crissad, a business woman from Primrose Hill, London, revealed.

People around the world may not initially believe that the American elections are going to affect their lives but theyre very wrong.

If America sneezes, the world catches a cold. The global economy is powered by the United States, and this is why it is crucial that whoever is in charge knows what they are doing, a financial analyst working in the City told the BBC yesterday.

Never mind the economic implications of a new U.S. president, there are also the consequences of the American war machine. If a certain candidate is voted in, he could easily start invading everything he sees. Americans love war, it kick starts their economy, it fires their American jingoistic fervour.

America loves a war president, we get our flags out and sit back, break out the popcorn and buds, as we watch brown people being blown to smithereens by jets flying at 40,000 feet over some tiny backwards resource rich shit hole dump. This, for Americans, is the ultimate aphrodisiac; remember that an American male without a gun, is a castrated, emasculated man. We need our guns just to be men, and every once in awhile we have to go and shoot those weapons, its a release, almost like ejaculation, except this time with depleted uranium bullets on unarmed civilians. God Bless America, Im going to go to the shooting range later and blast off a few rounds. Yeehah! Edgar Rice, an American freelance journalist revealed on Capitol Hill.
WASHINGTON DC - USA - Michelle Obama has sighed in relief at her husband's election win and is already planning her next multi-million dollar taxpayer funded vacation.

Shes been holding off because of the election campaign and Baracks people were telling her to cool it down for awhile. Now its going to be party time, were talking world trips costing thirty to forty million a piece, an Obama aide revealed to news agencies on Capitol Hill.

The spoils of war are now to be divided amongst the Obamas as they enjoy one last unfettered chance to bankrupt America.

When Al Qaeda and Iran want an Obama win, you know theres going to be trouble ahead. Markets dropped like a rock after he won. Were going to see the deficit treble under his second term and America is in grave danger of losing its AA rating now. Fitch and Moodys are watching this like a hawk, another Capitol Hill insider revealed today.

She gonna clean this mutha out. Were talkin nuttin left fo whitey, an African American man shouted after the election win last night.
LONDON - England - The Summer of 2011 was notable for the riots across Britain, and the chaos that ensued such riotous looting behaviour. There is some positive news about the people involved in the rioting, as government agencies have rehabilitated over 95% of the looters, sources claim.

The looters of 2011 are all rehabilitated and cured. It was actually quite a simple operation to cure the majority of the looters and vandals who perpetrated such heinous bouts of rioting during the late Summer 2011. We simply took them on weekly excursions to the British Museum in London to show them that looting is a terrible crime and must be stopped at all costs, Angela Brinkinstowe, a health worker at the governments Loot Less Initiative told the Daily Mail.

The weekly visits to the British Museum have successfully curbed the mass looting instincts of the rioters.

Lee Spinks, 23, from Hackney, who was caught looting in the Summer of 2011, was philosophical about the visits to the British Museum: I was caught looting a flat screen TV. They put me in jail for that, but I see here an ancient Egyptian artefact from Thebes possibly priceless, and I see Ancient Roman and Greek artefacts that are beyond any price tag, and I think to myself, were these objects taken from Coventry or Yorkshire?

Another former looter said: Where the hell did all this stuff come from? Im a mere amateur next to this amount of pilfering. Its a good thing Im retired now, I feel truly humbled.

Next week the ex-looters will have an excursion to the Royal Bank of Scotland building in Central London.


BRUSSELS - Belgium - It's not just regular people getting payday loans at 4358% APR but the unelected leader of the EU is getting them too so he can keep the Brussels hierarchy in champagne and caviare.

We have to pay for our unelected bureaucracy somehow. They are used to their gourmet cuisine, first class long haul flights, expensive hotels, chauffeurs, diamond plated pensions, unlimited expense accounts, the champagne, the caviare and of course the high class brothels. How are these unelected EU bureaucrats meant to survive if we cut their goodies? We certainly cannot live like the scummy population who are being taxed into hell every day, Mr Van Rompuy told Euronews yesterday.

The unsecured payday loans that Herman Van Rompuy will get should hold the EU over until February, and then there will have to be more loans to keep the unelected officials in party mode.

We just keep adding on more debt, and as long as we are having a great time, who cares what happens, eh? The beauty about this system is we make the debt and you, the EU citizens pay for it. a jovial Mr Rompuy said on his way to a Brussels S&M dungeon to torture some personally selected victims.


OAXACA - Mexico - Archaeological experts and anthropologists have come up with a new doomsday date for the Mayan apocalypse, which is considerably earlier than the previous date given.

This new date is supported by factual evidence gleaned from an archaeological dig along the Northern straits of the Central Valleys region in Oaxaca, Mexico. We found a tomb dating back to 1424, and it includes an addendum to the previous Mayan apocalypse calendar. We think that the people who made the initial calculation had to go back to the drawing room and come up with another date for doomsday because they discovered further constellations in the sky. The Mayans were a very advanced race of people and utilised the planetary movements in the sky to divulge what would happen in the future, one of the archeologists, Samuel Draco, told Reuters.

Conspiracy theorists all over the internet are now talking about the coming apocalypses and preparing for the end.

We could have two apocalypses, which ever it is I got me some beans and tins of soup. If everything is destroyed twice over, then I can at least have those things huh, Tony Matterhorn, a survivalist from Detroit, Michigan told ABC news.

Some experts have doubted the new findings and think that the Mayan apocalypse could happen three hours after New Years eve EST.

We believe that Dracos team have got it wrong completely, and our charts suggest another time for the apocalypse. Give or take a few minutes, we will soon find out when the end of the world happens to us all, Dan Blanchard, a researcher from Boston, Massachusetts, MIT told the Boston Times.

Either way, there are going to be a lot of severely disappointed people soon.


While Julian Assange has been holed up in one single room in the Equadorian embassy in London, police who are monitoring the situation say that they have reason to believe that Assange might try to escape with a tunnel all the way to Equador.

It is not inconceivable that the fugitive Assange, who is currently wanted for deportation to Sweden may be tunnelling underneath the embassy in Knightsbridge, a Metropolitan police spokesman told the BBC today.

Protesters who were outside the Ecuador embassy have been supporting the Wikileaks founder with posters saying Dig for Victory and Its only 8,000 miles mate.

We heard hes been digging for five months now. I noticed outside the embassy some scratching noises under the road, couldve been Assange but not sure, Desmond Pritstem, an Assange supporter revealed yesterday.

Ambassador Ana Alban, the South American countrys envoy to Britain, told reporters in Quito on Sunday that Our countrymen are waiting for him to dig to Ecuador. We provided a bucket and spade for freedom and democracy. They will wait for him there for as long as it takes.
LONDON - England - Britain's pleasant and green countryside is being prepared for the massive influx of immigrants from Europe's poorest countries in 2013, Tory ministers have revealed.

The EUs policy of open borders will lift the restriction for working in the UK on December 31st when Romania and Bulgarias temporary work limits end.

See that oak tree over there? Well were going to bulldoze it in an hours time. Its been there for 250 years. Its going to be gone in a minutes. Were then going to build box houses and sink estates all over this area and concrete over everything. These are the new EU directives. No more rolling green fields, no more ancient forests, no more rivers, brooks or streams, no more castles. Its all got to be bulldozed over, a construction worker in the Cotswolds told gathered reporters at the scene of the crime.





Unfortunately because of the massive population increase from Romania and

Bulgaria, Green Belt land and the English countryside will be built over soon with social housing

The British countryside used to be a beautiful patchwork of rolling azure fields, connected with meandering old roads, quaint stone walls dotted with ancient villages. This is now all going to go when the massive influx will destroy everything.

Its not just the fields and forests that will be ploughed up and concreted over, the whole ecosystem that has survived for thousands of years will be completely destroyed. Once this goes, it never comes back. It is forever destroyed and lost in the grey concrete hell that will come; spreading like a cancer across the land, infiltrating every burrow, every blade of grass. No one is going to say anything about this are they? Just watch it on your telly, then switch on to X Factor afterwards. Dont even bat an eyelid about it, there are more important things to think about like which celeb is coming out of the jungle next, Jane Featherstone, a countryside activist told the BBC.




In America if you get angry then you get some mail order heavy weaponry and go on a rampage in an elementary school. If anyone else gets angry in any other country around the world, then there may be a little shouting here or there but thats pretty much it, professor Julius Estevan, told the Limpet Medical Journal where the research paper was published.

The amount of mass shootings that occur in America on a regular basis are testament to the angry violent nature of American society, where children are drugged from birth on drugs like Ritalin, Paxil and Zoloft and are brought up on explicitly violent films and games. The report outlines how there is huge pressure on Americans to perform at high levels in all aspects of life and if someone does not perform, they are left behind and dropped from society.

We found that Americas extreme competitive consumer society can be a killer as well because if youre not a good work horse you are immediately superseded and replaced by someone else. From a young age there is so much pressure on youngsters that many are put on medication. In America if youre too happy, theres a drug to counteract that, if youre shy theres a drug for that too, and if youre a normal child who likes to play and flit around from one thing to the next, then you will be drugged as well. For every childs behaviour pattern there is a psychiatric term created by the pharmaceutical companies so that the parents can be told by their doctors and teachers that their child needs to be normalised with certain permanently mind altering drugs. This normalisation creates erratic behaviour and major personality defects which then manifest in gun rampages in American schools, another researcher on the team revealed.

Taking one look at all forms of American media, one will see a penchant for displays of violence that is unrivalled and not displayed in any other culture in the world. In American culture, extreme violence is applauded and celebrated whilst a snippet of nudity is frowned upon. This constant violent mindset creates apathy within the populations, as well as a total disregard for all human life. If you can kill thousands of brown people in some Middle Eastern country from thirty thousand feet by pressing a button in Arkansas, real life becomes a video game.

Its not just the random violence, it is also the fear of living in a society where at any moment your children can be taken away from you forever by some crazed nutter with a gun. No school, mall, house or road is safe because the gunmen are there to shoot you or your loved ones at any time. The hypocritical celebrities jump on the bandwagon and want to tell everyone to put down their guns but everyone just sees these people for what they are.

Naturally, American gun rampages on children are an excellent example of the Hegelian Dialectic at work and how the anti-gun lobby utilise stories of mass shootings for their agenda.

First you create the problem, then you provoke a reaction from the public, then you come in with the solution. Obama wants his second term as the final nail in the coffin for Americans who bear arms and he will go to any lengths to get it  even fake crying on TV. The Second Amendment must be destroyed and he will finish his job because there will be a public outcry at the horror of it all.

Shooting people is an industry in America. This is part of our history and heritage. The Wild West was built from gun smoke and lead. You take away our guns, and you take away the soul of America. Our guns are insurance against tyranny. Obama wants to take away the peoples right to defence against the heavily armed and brutal police forces and criminals across America. If he succeeds, then America will not be America anymore, and we will defend our nation from tyranny, from outside and from within, a pro gun lobbyist told CBS news from Sandy Hook Elementary school, Connecticut.
When an American greets you, theyre probably packing some heavy weaponry and could blow you away at any moment. Therefore theyre content at that very fact and will be happy and smile at you. If you however took away the guns, then there could be a different story. Like, they could be seriously angry, they might be rude because they know they dont have a gun and cant shoot so many holes in you that youd resemble a piece of frickin Swiss cheese, psychologist Dr. Derrick Granthalstein, who is head of the project revealed in his latest research.

The study which was compiled over six years and collated data from over 200,000 Americans is the most intensive study on American gun culture yet.

Thats why Americans are so loud and brash when theyre on their holidays abroad. They dont have their guns so they panic. They might be in a cafe in Paris and someone accidentally pushes a chair back too far bumping the glass of wine on the table. The American immediately reaches into his pocket for a Smith and Wesson .357 Magnum but instead comes up with a travel brochure of the Left Bank. He is furious, he gets up and starts talking really loudly and shouting. Immediately he has been exposed as an American without a gun and everyone just tuts and they get on with what they were doing, Dr. Granthalstein added.

Sadly, after releasing the new research findings on Thursday, Dr. Granthalstein was shot and killed in a fast food drive-in restaurant because he did not drive through fast enough to get his burger.


WASHINGTON DC - USA - Comrade Obama has addressed the Soviet American nation in a speech that brought many to tears of joy.

The supreme soviet comrade was seen yesterday on a stage with many soviet children as he urged the soviet American nations gun owners to relinquish their weapons so that they can be disarmed and pliant to the 5-year soviet plan of complete collectivist sovietization.

Comrades, just like other previous comrades and tyrants, I too am using children as a cynical front for my disarmament activities on the U.S. public.

Unfortunately for me I cannot continue the complete sovietization of America until you are all completely disarmed. We will drip feed this protocol by first banning certain ammunition magazines and certain other dangerous arms. Once this is done, you, the public will not have the same military grade ammunition or weapons as the soviet forces who are readying themselves right now.

We will then move in for the final ban, which will be a complete outlawing of all arms from the public. As a weakened civilian force due to armament bans, we will thus be able to disarm you quickly and efficiently. There may be a few pockets of resistance but you will not survive the soviet might of the DHS, ATF and other agencies.

I, as your supreme commander therefore command you henceforth to relinquish your weapons in a peaceful manner or you and your family will eventually be liquidated. We can do this the peaceful way or the not so peaceful way, comrade Obama said to the sound of cheering soviet children.




WASHINGTON DC - USA - Senator Dianne Feinstein was seen shooting a machine gun at Republican John Boehner yesterday in a massive shooting spree involving over 360 politicians.

The shooting started at 12 noon and continued until 11 pm with only a half hour coffee break in between.

We saw Feinstein unload rounds like they were popcorn kernels in the direction of the Republicans, who were hiding behind parked cars in the street. Then House speaker John Boehner was shooting back with his semi automatic Glocks and a 12 bore. I never seen anything like it, a frightened bystander revealed to CNN.

Because Capitol Hill is the seat of the U.S. government, no police intervened and were instead called off by senate officials.

The Republicans tried to gain the upper hand in the shoot out by introducing a Gatling gun into the fight but quickly ran out of ammo as the Democrat team flanked them from the outside shooting at them with an assortment of military grade firearms.

By mid afternoon the shell casings were knee deep in the street as the intermittent fire continued.

Eric and Dianne were leading the Democrat charge, and when Obama and Biden turned up, all hell broke loose. Obama was packing an M16 and two 44 magnums in holsters while Biden had an Uzi 9mm and a Steyr AUG, Dean Saunders, a reporter for Reuters said.
LONDON - England - Just when you thought it was safe to venture out of your frozen hovel, news that the UK government wants to track your every move even further than it already is doing, may cause some concern from some liberty minded people.

George Orwell wrote 1984 as a piece of fiction, however it seems his dystopian vision of some nightmarish future world has well exceeded even him, and we are now at a juncture where everything that a person does in the UK is logged, tracked and used against you if need be.

Thoughtcrime is very real, as many have been arrested for speech on social networks like Twitter and Facebook, but now the UK government is acting in an altogether sinister fashion by proposing every Briton has an implant in their anus to track their every move.

The spiked black rubber device which is actually quite large will be inserted into every citizens orifice and no one will be able to move it, MI5 Director General Jonathan Evans, told the Daily Mail newspaper.

He added: We are doing this for your own good, as a security measure against your own security.

UK spy agencies will install the spiky black box surveillance devices on every citizen in the United Kingdom to monitor internet use, personal movement, spending habits, sexual habits, toilet function, medical matters and anything else they can think about, it emerged today.

The spy network will rely on a technology known as Deep Anal Packet Inspection (DAPI) to log data from all forms of communication and movement.

The government argues that swift access to all of the data is critical to the fight against terrorism and other high-level crime, and it vows to make every British citizen a virtual prisoner in their own country.

MI5 chief Jonathan Evans told the committee: We are also proposing using an electric shock system that will come into force in 2019 wherein if the implanted person dares to have a free thinking thought or speaks out against the government in any way they will receive a varying degree of electricity directly into their anal passage.

I think I would be accurate in saying that this threat would be sufficient in creating a society of robots who live in abject fear of electrical shock and destitution.

Naturally, the disarmed pliant British people have no say in what happens to them and many voiced their appreciation of the government implantation plans.

If youve got nothing to hide then there should be no problem. I invite the government to implant my arse with a spiky black box monitoring device because I am a pliant fool with no balls or guts and do not actually have a backbone, Joe Yellowstreak, 43, a Civil Servant from Ruislip, London, told the BBC today.

Plans for mass implantation of the UK population will be implemented by 2018 and the taxpayer will be required to foot the bill for the medical insertion of each spiky black box spy device. The device will cost in the region of 350 and if damaged by the recipient when inside their body could result in imprisonment or death.


GALATI - Romania - It is possibly the poorest country in Europe but it has a rich culture and cuisine. This is why Romanians are astounded at the hostility to their culinary delights and way of life.

In our country we use everything and eat everything because we are so poor. This is why it angers me so much that the whining British should complain about eating condemned horse and donkey meat from our country. We have been eating this type of meat for centuries and it is our tradition, Romu Ceausesfu, a Romanian tourism spokesman told state television last night.

There is a lot of anger and dismay across the former soviet country about the British hostility to the millions of Romanian immigrants who will come to the United Kingdom soon enough. Horse and donkey meat in this Eastern European outpost is seen as a delicacy to be savoured and not reviled as in the UK.



Big Issue, Big Issue! a Romanian woman shouts outside a local Tesco in Londons Hampstead. Irina Skodlesku, 34, who arrived in the UK two months ago, receives 34,000 in benefits per annum in benefits and housing costs and she also makes over 150 per day in Big Issue sales.

I am very happy to be here it like a dream for me. In my country I had nothing, now I get everything I want for free in UK. How good is that? So my English friends, its not just horse burgers that come from Romania but people like me, she said cackling like a jackal.

By the end of 2013, 29 million Romanians and Bulgarians will be eligible to come to the UK to receive free hospital care, benefits, schooling, and housing.


PYONYANG - N. Korea - Communist dictator Kim Jong-un has catapulted some pebbles into the South China sea in a new act that was seen as threatening by some observers.

This is a threat because those pebbles looked kind of threatening. Some even skimmed along the surface of the calm water before disappearing into the murky yellowy green depths, an observer from a rubber dinghy off the North Korean shore told Reuters news agency Friday.

There is reason to believe that North Korea could up the scale of the threat by launching bricks or even large wooden timbers into the sea.

You can never underestimate the North Korean threat. This is why we have brought in our anti sticks and stones defence systems to neighbouring islands, US Homeland Security officer, Colonel Miles Fenster told CNN news yesterday.


MADRID - Spain - British expats were urged to not take their money out of the next country that contagion from Cyprus will go to.

We urge you all to keep your money in Spanish banks because it is about as safe as a choir boy bending over in a Catholic church vestry. Please do not worry, when the banks open on Tuesday in Cyprus, everyone will keep their money in there and it wont all be taken out in a massive frenzy, Robert Tarreton, a Home Office spokesman in Spain told the BBC World Service.

There is no threat of contagion or panic! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! Get out NOW!!!! PANIC!!

Eurocrats were quick to assure depositors that they would not do the same thing in Spain as they did in Cyprus with a forced levy.

We have your best interests at heart. We care about you and your money. Hmm, there must be a lot more money in Spain than Cyprus. Hmmm, I wonder if we could do the same thing as Cyprus. What can you do about it? Nada, nothing. Nah, dont worry we would never take 40% of your life savings, he,he,he,he! an unnamed unelected eurocrat revealed on Saturday.



So please keep your money in Spanish banks, there is nothing to worry about, AAAaaargh! There is no need to panic and get your cash out as soon as possible while you still have a chance! You dont need to transfer it back to the UK pronto! Do not PANIC!!! There is nothing to worry about before the massive capital flight starts from EU banks soon.


LONDON - England - If anyone wants to see what Britain will be like in less than five years watch 'Children of Men' and you will see that fiction has become reality.

As the panicking PM tries to make a few gestures about the massive immigration movement into the UK, he is already at a loss because they are all already here.

Ever since the Labour governments unfettered open door policy into the UK which began in 1994, there has been an influx of over 20 million immigrants, the majority from the Third World and former Soviet bloc, clogging up the welfare system, using the NHS and overcrowding schools. They create a huge burden on the already heaving housing sector and the roads are full with their beaten up uninsured vehicles as they ignore Britains road rules. Regular road laws do not apply to cars registered in other parts of the EU, and these cars cannot be fined, an anonymous Briton told a London radio station today.

What Labour did to the indigenous population was to change it forever. They have fractured whole communities, displaced families and locked out Britons from their own birth right. They have destroyed Britain from the inside and have possibly killed off the welfare state that they themselves created in post war Britain in the 1940s. The NHS is buckling because of Labour, and in December 2013 when restrictions are lifted for 29 million Romanians and Bulgarian to live in the UK, the final bell will toll for the National Health Service as it will go under with the weight of the EU influx.





What the Labour government did is unforgivable, almost treasonous. The suffering they have created will be felt for generations to come as our children and our grandchildren will bear the brunt of what the Labour government did. No one should ever forget that. Even if you are a staunch socialist, you will not have an NHS soon because of the supposedly caring Labour government. You are lucky now to get a GP appointment let alone a hip operation. Pensioners are treated as cattle to starve in wards and to sleep in their own faeces and urine. You can thank Tony Blair and Gordon Brown for all of this misery. They spent every penny that Britain had on their useless pet projects and useless wars that achieved nothing but lined the pockets of the crony nanny state workers and unions. As for Ed Miliband and Ed Balls, they will do worse things if they ever come into power, Geoffrey Tumble, a civil servant from Nottingham told the BBC before being cut off.

David Cameron is trying to look like hes doing something about the massive immigration assault onto this small island with not much space or resources but is is already too late. Ordinary citizens are seeing their quality of life drop to poverty levels, they are seeing essential services cut, they are seeing the cost of living rise to impossible levels and they are seeing their beloved country being reduced to a smouldering wreck with no way out.

Theres nothing anyone can do now because the people they let in were not professional, educated people, they did not want jobs, they let in the lowest common denominator.These people are now breeding inside the UK and their numbers are growing daily. There were no checks like there are in Australia, where you have to have job lined up already and a profession, there was nothing. These people were given housing, medical health care and free reign in the overcrowded school system where the teachers spend more time trying to communicate with hand gestures than teach kids a curriculum. Britain has received some of the poorest people in the world whilst the professionals, scientists, educators and brains have left for sunnier climes. Do you blame them? Britain has suffered a massive brain drain as the educated have left these shores, and Labour let in the scrapings from the bottom of the barrel, probably because they thought these people would be their core voters in a general election, a councillor from a non-Labour run council said yesterday.
FRANKFURT - Germany - The European Central Bank's offices are bristling with excitement this morning with the question, "Who gets the next Herr cut?"

Rumour has it that Spain is next in line for a bank depositor raid by the EU, but then again it could be Italy or maybe Portugal.

In Brussels, some eurocrats have taken to tossing coins to determine who gets a haircut.

What about the Germans? They may need to have their banks restructured as well? Many Germans are now fearing a 40% raid on their accounts if things do not get better soon.

Ive been working all my life and have saved my money in my account. Why should I be punished? Adolph Shitler told a German newspaper yesterday.
LARNACA - Cyprus - Just when the Cypriots thought things could not get any worse, the EU has come up with another tax that has angered the small island.

An unnamed unelected EU official announced the terrible news on Saturday.

All kebabs on the island will incur a heavy EU kebab tax and if there is extra chilli sauce the tax will increase by increments of 10% per year, the official explained to baffled Cypriots on Sunday.

Nicos Malboudros, a local kebab shop owner from Larnaca was furious at the new levy as his business has already suffered after the recent bank raid by the EU.

I am disgusted at this new shish kebab tax. They took 60% of my profits in my bank account and now I stand to lose my business as no one will buy my kebabs because the price is so high.

The EU has stipulated that restaurants can avoid the kebab tax if they sell Bratwurst instead of the traditional kebabs so prevalent on the Mediterranean island.
LONDON - England - The European Union is testament that the brave men and women who died for our country in World War II gave their lives for nothing.

We won the battle in 1945 but weve lost the war in 2013. David Cameron is set to give the UK away soon, Gerald Arkwright, 90, a veteran of World War II, who fought on D-Day told the Daily Mirror.

One only has to look at the grip of death the EU has on the UK to see the damage on its sovereignty, economy, its laws and its society.

EU regulations now dictate everything in Britain. You cant swing a cat without some faceless unelected EU bureaucrat telling you you have to pay a fine. The hospitals are creaking with poor EU migrants, our jobs have all been taken and our schools are going under with the massive influx. The EU Human Rights laws are abused by ruthless money-grabbing lawyers so we cant even deport foreign convicted criminals and terrorists from our own land. Our grandfathers fought and died for nothing because I just have to look around the overcrowded streets to see that, an angry Briton said from his trolley in a hospital corridor.
LONDON - England - British prime minister David Cameron has declared he will put forward into law a Yes No vote for an In Out EU referendum in 2045.

You the people will be forced to vote Yes No on the ballot sheet for the In Out EU referendum, the PM said from 10 Downing street, twitching uncontrollably.

The referendum will be written into law next week and will ensure that everyone in the UK doesnt have a say in the In Out EU referendum.

According to Cabinet insiders, the In Out EU ballot paper will consist of a simple box with a yes no after it.

Im confused, a member of the public said to a BBC crew in the streets of Harrogate, Yorkshire, today, when asked about the In Out referendum.

Boris Johnson, the London Mayor said: In, out, in, out, in, out, just dont tell the missus about it.
Just like the United States supported Al Qaeda during the Afghanistan war against the Russians, so are we supporting the Al Qaeda rebels in Syria against Assad. But let me make this clear, er..we dont want them beheading people in the UK please, so kindly stop that..okay. You can do it in Syria or some other god forsaken place but not in civilisation, Mr Cameron said shrugging his shoulders during the Number10 announcement to the press.

The chillaxer in chief, who was instrumental in destroying Libya, then went on to say that there is no hypocrisy involved with the UK and USs actions and everything is just fine.

As with the Boston bombers in the US who were feted by the FBI, so too were the Woolwich killers by MI5.



Mayor, Boris Johnson chimed in later: There is no need to worry folks. Just please get back to watching the X Factor and Kardashians. You do not need to think about anything serious or troubling. Just dont venture South of the river, thats all. Never been to Sarf London myself and Im the bloody London Mayor, innit.
SCUNTHORPE - England - This year's educational trip to Africa for members of the English Defence League, has been cancelled at short notice due to unforeseen circumstances a spokesman for the fascist organisation revealed today.

The trip is one of the requirements for joining our racist organisation. We like to have an expedition every year to see where humans originated from. You see we all came from Africa, and we as humans are all the same really irrespective of colour or creed. Even though the EDL is racist to the bone, we know deep down that over thousands of years of human migration and breeding our skin tones adapted to our surroundings. As for England, most English people are descended from the Normans and I think were all kind of French, with a little bit of German, Spanish, Dutch, Viking and all sorts. Even our Royal family is from the German, Saxe-Coburg Gotha and Hanover House,  Lee Jagger, the EDL spokesman told the BBC.

Looks like EDL members will have to wait for next year for their educational trip. Until then they will have to content themselves by scowling and grimacing at demonstrations and vowing to kill all non-whites and muzzies in England.


WASHINGTON DC - USA - Michelle Obama, who has stated that the White House is like living in a prison, has gone one step further and started a riot in the West Wing.

She got angry that the lobster was not cooked well enough. Then she started banging her cup on the table and saying the food stinks. The White House prison guards put an immediate shut down on the West Wing and flooded the area with tear gas, Larry Somers, the White Houses official prison warden told Fox news.

Michelle Obama, then barricaded all the doors and windows and said she wanted some real f*cking food.

We had to order up some cheeseburgers, fries, a gallon of soda and a large tub of triple chocolate pudding, Mr Somers added.
MOSCOW - Russia - What is that devastating piece of information that Snowden says he knows that could be so painful for the American government?

Most certainly Vladimir Putin knows about that special piece of information that could be rather embarrassing to the U.S. government if it was divulged to the public, this is why Mr Putin has told Snowden he will give him asylum only if he keeps his mouth shut from divulging further leaks. It would probably not be in Russias best interest if things were to go awry across the pond.



You dont have to be a brainbox or security analyst to know what would damage the U.S. more than anything else in the world.

New American Century



I always like to say, if you want to find out who did something, you have to look at who benefited from an action. Hmmm, now lets see. Who benefited from 911? Cui bono? The Arabs and Muslims certainly did not benefit, and they were the ones who supposedly committed those atrocities. You see, there it is. Now, lets go further with this. What would the American people do if they found out who really engineered 911? Personally, I dont know what the American people would do. All I can say is, some people know and some just choose to carry on still knowing but feel they have too much to lose if they tried to do anything about it. Therefore, they secretly in their hearts accept it, Dan Innocentu, a man who witnessed the twin towers demolition in 2001 told a radio program today.

Lets hope that Snowden does not reveal any more information.
MARMARIS - Turkey - There's nothing like a good stabbing frenzy on holiday. Brits are flocking to the Mediterranean this summer to agitate the locals and get a good stabbing, says the Home Office.

Its wonderful, you go and try and kiss a Kurdish girl and the whole family comes after you with knives. Does wonders for your fitness levels I tell you, Graham Lout, 21, said from his Turkish hospital bed after getting stabbed over twenty times and surviving.

Its not only the tribal Kurds in Turkey who are stab happy, but the Cretans are getting into the act as well.

We see a Brit on holiday getting their bits out and fondling our women, drunk off their trolleys, pissing all over the place; well then its stabbing time for them, Nicos Kotsoulis, 26, from Crete said from his prison cell.

Looks like its not just egg and chips Brits want, coming home to Blighty nursing a few slash wounds is a great talking point down the pub and the Daily Mail.
LONDON - England - The embattled people of Britain are rather weary about all this talk about Global Cooling going on as of late.

Mavis Bernbridge, an 89-year-old grandmother from Stoke on Trent told the BBC: Global cooling? Now theyre talking about that. Its bloody freezing up here anyway and its summer. It rains all the bloody time, I cant even put my washing out on the blasted line. Im sick of it, we want global warming not bloody global cooling.

The Met office also gave a warning of how global cooling could affect Britains wonderful weather.

Lets see, we get rain and cold temperatures approximately 340 days in a year. So when that global cooling stuff kicks in, well get it on every single blasted day with temperatures that will freeze your nackers off and dont forget the snow as well, plenty of that, check out your train times, and all that.
WASHINGTON D.C. - USA - According to experts at the Pentagon War Foundation, an independent government funded think tank, war is not really such a bad thing and people should accept it more.

You know, you get called to war, you go and fight, then you come home, well, some of you do, Ernest J. Binkle one of the experts told CNN.

Speaking on Sunday, the war expert gave some positive reasons to go to war.

First off, you get to watch the Shock and Awe live on television, its really great you see those missiles and bombs slamming down on more brown people. Makes you feel good to be safe in the good ol U S of A. Secondly, post-war shares always rise, were talking its good for the economy. Not only that, we get increased military spending, which is good for the economy too. Thirdly, heck lets not lie here, were Americans and we frickin love war. Its all about eating red meat and shooting off on some poor people who cant defend themselves. Remember folks, we only pick on the small fry, we never go for the big guys, or wed have to really fight and thats kinda scary. Fourth, we all forget about all the other stuff thats really important and concentrate on releasing more depleted uranium on some poor sons of bitches. So if youre a true NeoCon, you gotta support war, its the only sensible thing to do. Remember what Uncle Bush once said, either youre with us or youre a terrorist now cmon get with the war footing already. You know in the back of your mind you really want to see those bombs flying. Makes ya proud to feel like an American.

War is peace, a great gentleman once said, and it looks like these more recent war experts are sort of right.

Another positive thing about war is that Americans get to realise where things are on a world map a little better.

I never knew where Syria was or if it even existed before I heard it on Fox News. I gots me some geography lesson now huh, hyuk, hyuk, hyuk, Jim Bob Marlin, from Kentucky told a local radio station on Friday.
LONDON - England - Politicians in Western nations will be replaced by robots by 2023 Whitehall officials have confessed.

No more duck houses or scandals, no more ridiculous self-appointed pay increases and the House of Commons bar will just be an oil changing station, Marcus Orielis, a Whitehall policy officer revealed in the Guardian.

So what will happen to the existing politicians once they are replaced?

A member of the public had a few words to say about that question: I can think of numerous solutions, probably too explicit to say in public, but maybe we should put all their heads on the wall as trophies of a bygone era.
With the soviet ideals of political correctness, Obamacare, mass surveillance, and utter public funds wastage that Obama has endorsed, America is nearly unrecognisable now as a nation from its past incarnation.

What socialism does is it destroys vast swathes of a nation, it ruins the economy and increases welfare dependence. The role of socialism is to get as many people on welfare as possible in the shortest time possible. This method of governance will ensure a guaranteed voter base for the next elections as people who are dependent on welfare are forced to vote for the socialist party in order to keep their benefits. It has been going on in Britain for many years, and is the key electoral strategy for the Labour party. Obama used the same strategy to get voted in a second time, and after his tenure ends, another socialist government will come in in America. This is also why they are appealing to illegal immigrants in America to be recognised and given an amnesty, purely for electoral reasons. These are easy votes for them, as they let in as many people as they possibly can. Each one of those people is a vote for the Democrat party, Andrew McConnell, a Republican party worker told the Capitol Hill Herald.

As anyone who has lived under the spectre of socialism, the crux of the system lies in using other peoples money, the only problem with that is it eventually runs out. What then? One only has to see what happened to the UK after thirteen horrendous years of Labour rule. They bankrupted the country with tin pot socialist, cronyistic spending sprees, much like Obama is doing now in the good ol USA. They sold Britains gold reserves at the bottom of the market, they squandered every last penny of taxpayers money and let in so many unskilled immigrants from the Third World and former Soviet bloc that the country is now unrecognisable.

Obama has murdered America from within. It was a hatchet job, a piece of seething revenge on what Americans had built up with their hard work over centuries. Obamas legacy will be remembered by generations of Americans to come, as the one that took the USA into the dustbin of history, economically as well as culturally. What he has achieved is more destruction than a million Al Qaeda attacks, and unfortunately for the rest of the world, they will suffer as well because of Americas major importance. When they cannot pay their policemen, pay their teachers or even pay their street cleaners, then what will happen to the Land of the Free? He was a man that could have healed the nation, instead he drove it into the stinking mud of shameful defeat, a previous Obama supporter told CBS news before being cut off.

When Obama came into office he immediately sent away the bust of Winston Churchill from the Oval Room for a very good reason, because it stood for everything he does not stand for. Freedom.


Since 1946 we have bulldozed and murdered these sub-humans and they have bombed us with their suicide missions. They are lower than dogs or even Gentiles. I say to you Palestinians, you may finally have a piece of your own land, and it is a good sizeable portion that you may cultivate. We will give you an armed escort to the beaches where our rich countrymen and women enjoy their holidays, and we will push you into the sea. That is your land under the deep waters of the Red Sea. Now go and get some of your belongings and be prepared to swim until you lose all your energy. No boats are allowed or you will be shot on sight. You are allowed one fishing rod each to sustain yourselves while you paddle around in the waters. If you cannot swim, hold onto the person next to you so they too are pulled under the waves. Pray for sharks, so that your plight can be finished quickly. Now go on, get out of my sight, the Israeli PM said on a broadcast to Palestinian news stations on Saturday.

Israeli troops will visit Palestinian ghettos first thing on Monday to round up the Palestinians for the final repatriation process to begin. The remaining Palestinians can be somewhat troublesome and some unrest may follow but what are rocks banging against tanks and bulldozers going to do?

We are giving you an oasis in the sea. Do not be afraid. Just stay in front of the troops as they push you into the waters. You are now free to do as you wish. Shalom. an IDF spokeswoman said with a gentle voice on another announcement.

The Palestinians were however too busy watching the genius of the Larry David episode Palestinian Chicken to even care about it all.
TORONTO - Canada - Being the mayor of the Ontarian capital city is now a very sought after job, according to recent news reports.

Drug addicts, gangsters, Mafiosi and all round bad eggs are flocking to the city of Toronto, Canada for a shot at becoming the Mayor of the city.

You can do anything you want and not get fired. Thats a very appealing perk of the job. Not only that, you get paid for the job alongside the money you can make in any shady business of your choice, Nicolo Gambino, a hit man from New Jersey, USA, told CNN.

Torontos current mayor, Rob Ford, is a fully fledged crack cocaine user who has a penchant for meth and extreme violence as well as degenerate sexual misconduct and he is a celebrated mayor of Toronto with not even a slap on the wrist for his behaviour.

London mayor, Boris Johnson recently voiced his approval for Ford in a BBC interview.

I, I, you know how should one say this, I admire the man, he can get away with anything. Over here you get crucified for even having a little nooky on the side, or a load of illegitimate children whilst being married. Its terribly taxing I tell you. The Romans and Torontonians would never have put up with such nit picking.
GRIMSHAW - England - Britain today celebrated Roundabout day across the nation with thousands of cars going around roundabouts hooting their horns and waving flags.

Britain invented the roundabout in 1856 with the first roundabout built in the industrial town of Sheffield.

Historian Giles Blandstrepthow, reveals Britains roundabout secrets in his book Englands Roundabouts.

One thing about roundabouts is that theyre a great British tradition. The first 19th century roundabout had a rather inauspicious beginning when sixteen carriages crashed into each other causing multiple injuries. It was not until 1923 that road regulations were established and vehicles were directed to go around a roundabout in the same clockwise direction as other vehicles.

Ever since 1968, roundabout day has been celebrated in Britain traditionally on November 19, the first day a roundabout was used in England and Wales.

Britain currently has over 670,000 roundabouts and the current Coalition government is planning to build over 60,000 more roundabouts by 2015.

The town with the most roundabouts is situated in Essex, Leecharver, which has 354 functioning roundabouts. For a small town with a population of 120 thats enough roundabouts to go around for a fricking lifetime.

Next Monday is U Turn day in England, and Prime Minister David Cameron will commemorate the day with a massive U Turn in Downing Street.
DALLAS - USA - Former President of the United States, John F. Kennedy is still dead.

After being assassinated some time in the 1960s, news is slowly filtering in that John F. Kennedy is still kind of dead.

He died in the 1960s. Somehow he got shot whilst travelling in a moving vehicle. Yep, hes still dead now. Been dead and gone for a long time, Larry Sliverstein, a man who remembers the day Kennedy died, told Time Magazine yesterday.

As far as being dead, it means that John F. Kennedy will not be coming back, I guess thats what happens when your dead, a news reporter for a local Dallas news team said during another Dead Kennedy TV spectacular.
PALO ALTO - USA - Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg says all of America's illegal aliens are welcome in his mansion.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg vowed on Sunday to contravene the current U.S. immigration system and personally give amnesty to 10 million illegal immigrants currently residing in the United States in his own own house. Hailed as the civil rights gesture of the century, Zuckerberg is going to be a life line to millions of illegal immigrants residing in the U.S.

I invite all illegal aliens to come and stay with me and my wife. We have five bathrooms in our mansion and a swimming pool next to the chicken coop. You will get all the food you want and Ill even break into my $20 billion fortune to buy you any stuff you want, Zuckerberg announced on a special Facebook amnesty page yesterday. The special invite Facebook page has already received 200 million likes and is written in English and Spanish.

Zuckerbergs mansion is only a stones throw away from Facebook head quarters and the Facebook founder wants the illegal aliens to pop in there whenever they feel like it.

President Obama, who is himself an illegal alien, today praised the liberal qualities of Zuckerberg.
LONDON - England - George Osborne has outlined his plan for citizens of the UK to have a vastly extended retirement age.

George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer today announced the wonderful news that the retirement age in the UK will be 5 years after your death.

But thats not all, citizens will be taxed fully during the 5 year period after you die and those who do not pay the tax could receive heavy penalties and fines from the Inland Revenue.

We want to be sure we get every drop of your money out of you, Mr Osborne said grinning like a Cheshire cat.

In other news, Ed Balls popped a haemorrhoid during Osbornes budget session and had to be rushed to the House of Commons bogs so that he could change his nappy.
HELMAND - Afghanistan - British troops can come home from Afghanistan knowing it was mission accomplished, David Cameron has said as he visited the country.

The prime minister met forces stationed at Camp Bastion in Helmand, a year before the last British combat forces are due to leave the country.

He said Throughout our time in this godforsaken hole our troops have helped countless civilians leave life permanently. We have tested our weapons on the civilians and those who try to protect their own territory from the invasion of their own country. The prime minister then added that the troops could come home with their heads held high.

Mission Accomplished Afghanistan

Prime minister David Cameron celebrated the announcement with an impromptu tour of the vast poppy fields surrounding the camp.

Military experts said UK troops had been broadly successful in fulfilling their central objectives of increasing military spending, testing weapons systems on the Untermenschen and perfecting military strategies in difficult terrain.

This is a glorious day for Britain, we are victorious. We have achieved great things in Afghanistan. Im going to name one good thing we have done for them. Er
As the EU reveals its plan to build up its own military army and Air Force , this is the next step for the Soviet European Union, and was accurately predicted by the Daily Squib in March 2012.

The Daily Squibs brand of satire can have accurate predictive qualities because we aim to foresee the underlying method in any given situation. What we write at the Squib can be dark at times but our modus operandi is one of truth through satire. We see things in the future, and sometimes those things are not pretty but nevertheless we have a team of writers here who specialise in writing quality satire. Thats why if you read the Squib, you are infinitely more informed, sub sub editor, Johnson D. Wildebeest said from his office.

Martin Schulz, the speaker of the European Parliament called for the creation of a European army at a recent summit where even British PM David Cameron was allowed to attend. Britains prime minister even rustled up some courage to voice his disapproval of an integrated EU military armed force.
DOVER - England - David Cameron has welcomed 29 million Romanians and Bulgarians to their new home today.

Prime minister of the UKRB, David Cameron has welcomed 29 million Romanians and Bulgarians at the nations ports of entry today.

Touring the countrys airports and coastal ports, PM David Cameron welcomed millions of his countrymen into the United Kingdom of Romania and Bulgaria.

Were all one big happy family now. This is your home now and you can treat it exactly like that. We welcome you to your own country, the UKRB. What is ours is yours, please come and take what you want. David Cameron said from Dover.

Big Issue, Big Issue, a happy welcome to you all.
TEXAS - USA - Former U.S. president George W Bush is going to visit the Iraqi city of Fallujah which is now under Al Qaeda control as is much of Iraq.

I want to see how my Mission Accomplished thing is going, the president said from his Texas ranch.

The former president is going to put the paint brushes down momentarily and travel first to Baghdad which has the only safe zone in the country, measuring 10 square kilometres. From there he will take a helicopter directly to Al Qaeda controlled Fallujah.

Security contractor Niles Dean from Dirtwater Military said: Were just going to fly over Fallujah and show Mr Bush what freedom looks like for the Iraqi people. Theres no way we can land in that place with the savages roaming.

Since the 2003 US liberation of Iraq things sure have changed.
SECTOR 4 - EU - Sector 4's old parliament has been remodelled thanks to a new EU directive which came into force last night at midnight.

The Houses of Parliament have as much power as a local council in the former England and Wales a new EU directive has ordered.

Ve haff given ze Englishers as much power as one of zere local councils. Zey cant do much now. Zis is how ve like it, an unelected EU eurocrat revealed today.

Westminster parliaments former politicians were today dismayed to hear the majority will be either laid off or given little jobs like dealing with council benefits enquiries, local bin collections and of course the obligatory council salary, well below their usual pay scale.

Former prime minister, David Cameron will now be known as Councillor Dave and his chief role will be looking after the every day running of things.

Its a huge weight off my shoulders. Im kind of happy about it actually. Excuse me, Ive got a meeting to go to about sorting out the roundabouts in the area, theyre a right mess. If only my bosses in Brussels would give us a little more funding, Cllr Dave told the local Westminster Advertiser.
BRUSSELS - Belgium - The EU now is utilising drones in mainland Europe to monitor children in their classes.

Well, in Brussels Belgium, the very heart of the EU, this is how they treat their children.

Soon this is what is going to happen to our classrooms as we all know if there is a new EU directive, the UK has no power to say no any more because of the lily-livered pseudo politicians we have, Genie Holdsworth, 28, a concerned parent told the BBC.

Plans are afoot as we write this to bring the EU drones into UK classrooms.

U.S President Barack Obama who loves drones may get some ideas about this too.
BRUSSELS - Belgium - David Cameron is very happy at the Lords defeat of the EU Referendum bill.

David Cameron breathed a sigh of relief after the House of Lords ditched the EU Referendum vote thanks to Labour and the Lib Dems, and now all that shenanigans is over with  its time to lose the next election .

That was the plan all along, you dont think we would ever give the plebs a say in an EU vote? Its all a great weight off my shoulders and Im all set up for that high paying job as an EU bureaucrat, Cameron said from Brussels as he dug his nose in deeper up the Eurocrarsy.
SCUNTHORPE - England - The tiny island of Britain which has endured a mass influx of EU migrants consisting of benefit tourists and job seekers from some of the poorest countries in Europe's former Soviet bloc, may feel discontented and riot if their demands are not met.

There are hardly any jobs for Brits let alone millions of EU migrants intent on grabbing a piece of the British pie.

EU officials have told us that whole villages and towns will have to be bulldozed to build new cities to accommodate the massive influx. As for the NHS, and Britains welfare state, that will slowly have to be phased out as there is no more money left in the pot. The benefits system has been milked too much, not only by the millions of migrants entering Britain every month, but the idle indigenous population. This is a good opportunity to abolish it once and for all, an unnamed official for some department or other revealed.

Much of Britain now is an enclave of former Soviet bloc Eastern Europe, and Cameron has been urged to start building new cities to accommodate the economic migrants.

An unelected EU technocrat voiced his opinion on the whole debacle: We are pushing for Scotland breaking away destabilising the former United Kingdom, as well as the engineered influx of tens of millions of poor uneducated migrants from the EU with no skills. This will further destabilise the UK, not only economically but within their social fabric. This two pronged attack on the English, is just the beginning, we have other techniques of destroying them further, and we are working on more goodies. As long as the stupid Brits pay for my unlimited expense account, I am more than happy to ruin their country. White Britons should be happy anyway, because the new EU migrants are mostly white, Christians, therefore they are superior to the previous influx in the 60s,70s and 80s. Thats what the English want, isnt it? In time, the others will be phased out.
LONDON - England - Britain's Foreign Secretary, William Hague has threatened further sanctions on Vladimir Putin, this time concerning the Russian Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

Foreign Secretary William Hague has threatened Russia with sanctions that could really upset them.

Britain will have no option but to take back Kensington and Chelsea from Russia. This would have a devastating effect on the Russian mafia and economy, therefore I am urging Putin to do the right thing and leave Ukrainian territory right now, Hague told the BBC.

Currently, Kensington and Chelsea is a Russian enclave in London that has a large wall around the area, and is guarded by well trained Russian mercenaries. It is not clear how the British government can repatriate the area without the use of tanks.
KINGSTOWN - St Vincent - Heads of state of 15 Caribbean nations will gather in St Vincent today to unveil a plan demanding slavery reparations from Europe to be paid to the people that sold them into slavery in the first place -- the African Kings and Princes.

If it wasnt for those guys selling us into the Atlantic slave trade, we wouldnt have our own country right now. This is why we want those Africans who sold their own people, to get the slavery reparations, the Jamaican foreign minister told an assembled group of reporters.

Slavery has existed for thousands of years and is not singularly the plight of Africans.

Throughout history, many races were slaves.
TRURO - Cornwall Land - The Cornish pasty blockade has been effective for 48 hours without any sign of relief. People in the rest of the country are getting rather desperate now.

Now that Cornwall has seceded from the rest of the country, Cornish pasties have become somewhat of a rarity.

Were like the French now, we put a blockade on everything because were so superior. If you want a pasty, make your own, you snivelling gits, Hadrek Casworon, a Cornish pasty dealer from Cornwall told a BBC reporter before giving him a good punt in the gangools.

MPs at Westminster have however sought to thwart the pasty blockade by sending in trucks full of fish and chips, you know as a negotiating tool.

We are dismayed at this Cornish arrogance towards the rest of the country. We demand the blockade is lifted immediately and the Cornish pasties released, Graham Natswallop, MP for Chesterwick, said on Friday.

Former Labour MP, John Prescott, is so upset at the moment that he has locked himself in a darkened room.

Meanwhile, across the border up North, further trouble was brewing as the Scots threatened to blockade a delivery of haggis down South, the funny thing is, no one is that much bothered about that.
BOSTON - USA - President Obama is planning to shut down free speech on the internet completely, and is about to introduce a Chinese-style ID program for everyone.

The independent think tank, Linguistic Policy Institute, based in Boston, Massachusetts, has released a paper about President Barack Obamas fight against free speech, and his totalitarian program of soviet political correctness, controlled information, anti-privacy war on internet users.

Doctor Frank Oritz, a senior fellow of the institute outlines some of the charges against Barack Obama and his attack on freedom of speech.

Obamas legacy is not only one of murder through thousands of killer drones meting out death wherever they go, but one of the death of thought, free speech and ultimately  the internet.

What Obama has done to free speech is kill it dead utilising a bias-oriented justice system and governmental control. He has effectively put the gears forward to shut down free speech on the internet, and is now planning an even more erroneous putsch that will destroy freedom of expression completely. Plans are coming into place for a Chinese style thought control program called the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace which will force every internet user to completely give up their privacy, be labelled, and tracked even further than is usual by the NSA.

Through the use of nefarious underhand soviet techniques of controlling journalism, threatening loss of earnings, and employment as well as undermining news organisations, Obama has been able to skew news in his favour in North America, even threatening to bring in FCC monitors into newsrooms. The Obama control machine has also actively controlled search engines for his own agenda of totalitarian control.

The internet used to be an amorphous bubble of free thought, but under the Stalinist policies of the Obama administration, it has been stunted, raped and had its core eviscerated.

Is there any hope for the internet now that it is so heavily controlled? The answer is, no. Thanks to Barack Obama it is finished.

Note from the editor: This article may not be on here much longer or the Daily Squib for that matter. Hail..freedom of speech!
David Miliband flew in from New York this morning, and was greeted at Heathrow by his brother, Ed.

They hugged each other even though there was a rather unsightly knife still sticking out of Daves back. I dont know how he managed to sit in economy with that thing lodged firmly between his shoulder blades. He looked slightly drained, mind you, an airport worker told the BBC.

David, will be staying in Eds spare room for his two week holiday, where he will assist in the big Labour campaign.

Speaking to reporters Ed Miliband was happy that his brother had put any animosity behind him and chose to support him to election victory.

I am glad my brother has come back from exile for a few weeks. The knife is still firmly lodged in his back, but I told him it was all for the good of the party. This is how I will run the country when I become prime minister. You will listen to my whiny nasal voice from loudspeakers everywhere, and I will remind you what a ruthless git I am on a daily basis by bringing out a new law every thirty seconds inhibiting your freedoms further. Now good day, and fuck off. Im taking my brother to a Labour meeting where I can parade him and his stabbed back around to the party elders and show em my handiwork.
BALMORAL - Scotland - In an extraordinary attack on the Prince of Wales, Russia is now making absurd claims that the royal family had a Nazi past.

Prince Charles is thinking of sending Prince Harry on a covert mission in an Apache helicopter to blow that Russkie commie Vlad to vodka purgatory.

One has come under an extraordinary attack. Its a good thing for Vlad that he doesnt drive through Parisian tunnels, ahem. Anyway, I put forward my vodka snorting son Harry to pilot an Apache helicopter to Moscow and blow that Vladdy fool from his throne once and for all. Vlads a Nazi you know, and our family has never had anything to do with those sorts of people, the Prince said whilst raising his spoon, and cracking another egg at breakfast.

Wont the Nazis ever get along with the Nazis? This charade is like history repeating itself.
BRUSSELS - Belgium - An anonymous expert aligned to the EU has written a paper outlining the vagaries of totalitarian control mechanisms in place right now, and in the future.

The Founding Father of the EU Jean Monnet once said:

Europes nations should be guided towards the superstate without their people understanding what is happening. This can be accomplished by successive steps, each disguised as having an economic purpose but which will irreversibly lead to federation

And it is to this end that France has dug its own grave, by creating an EU monster, the duped masses are now fighting a second revolution. The controlling elites underestimated the power of the people once again, as they are revolting against the superstate behemoth of the EU with its dictatorial edicts.

The Eurovision contest is a good metre to EU sentiment, and this time France got 3 points. France has disobeyed many orders and was punished duly by the EU controlling board, even in an inconsequential song contest not fit for purpose. This sort of vindictive behaviour is childish but belies a deeper totalitarian spirit within the EU, which dictates its message of conformity to every strata of society and politics.

The EU is now like a religion, almost akin to Islam, where it encapsulates all elements of existence and those who do not adhere to its stringent rules are vilified, persecuted and penalized.

Marine Le Pen, head of Frances far-right National Front is the Joan DArc risen like a phoenix to save her country from becoming a simple faceless district. The EUs future is one of horror for the masses who were duped into joining a totalitarian technical entity that will kill individualism completely and eventually abolish ownership of all property for the masses. To be a federal superstate, there will need to be crisis after crisis dealt out by the elites; who is to say that there will not be another holocaust in Europe, with all the chess pieces falling into place right now?

What people do not realise is that the antithesis of EU communo-fascist technical rule is pure Fascism, which Le Pen is extolling. French history post-revolution was one of socialism, Marine Le Pen, is a National Socialist, and her brand of political ideology is borne out of economic discontent, wherein the immigrants and foreigners are blamed for the countrys many problems.

The EU wishes to remove Nationalism completely, this will naturally create a backlash because the people are brainwashed from youth to be patriotic and jingoistic. Ideally the EU would also remove all religion eventually, and instil allegiance to only the EU god.

Whatever happens, the EU will win, either through economic assimilation or if it comes down to it military means. The EU will not be halted in its mission and there is nothing anyone can do to stop this juggernaut ploughing through its policies onto the insignificant populace.

Russia has already rediscovered its soviet roots, and its eyes look West. We may very well have another fight to rebalance the weights of global hegemony.
BIRMINGHAM - England - Jesus has appeared at a local primary school riding a Trojan horse according to reports.

Birmingham primary school teachers and pupils were stunned this morning when Jesus rode through the school gates atop a Trojan horse.

It was incredible. We were just conducting morning prayers on our mats when there was a loud sound like cracking thunder. Jesus was sitting on a wooden Trojan horse moving through the school gates powered by some kind of invisible force, Ali Haq Abdullah, one of the school governors revealed.

The Birmingham Al Qaeda Academy, was praised by Education Secretary Michael Gove only last week when he visited the school to inspect the new mosque turrets built after receiving a government grant last year.
NEW YORK - USA - Freedom From War can be achieved in our lifetime, a group of experts for an independent research facility have outlined.

Every day thousands of people die around the world from firearms, whether they were legally registered or not.

A team of global experts have revealed the dangers of firearms and how they must be removed permanently from the public, especially in the United States where people are still clinging to an outdated constitution, which is not valid any more.

To prevent any further bloodshed on the streets and schools of America, it is essential that citizens give up their firearms.

The globalised new world order cannot tolerate private firearms, and it is imperative that they are relieved from the hands of everyday citizens once and for all to ensure total freedom from war.

The world will be a much safer place without guns, and it is key to the agenda controlled by the United Nations that all sovereign countries who fall under the global UN organisation adapt to the way of peace.

You must not be alarmed by the confiscation of your weapons, but if you do resist, then there may be no option but to act by securing your weapons in the name of safety
CALIFORNIA - USA - One thing can be said about Americans, they like being given gifts, well in the case of the massive stream of illegal immigration into the United States due to Obama's immigration amnesty, the gift of virulent disease is pouring across the unchecked borders.

We got H1N1, Ebola, Dengue fever, rabies, scabies and dont forget highly contagious tuberculosis. Name it, we got it, but it aint wrapped up like a present for the American people, its out there, spreading around as soon as we walk across the border and are greeted by cheering Americans, a smiling Juan Martinez, 42, originally from Honduras told Californian news agencies in San Jose.

Call it the new North American Union, or what you will, thousands are being called across the borders, invited by the Obama administration.

We need open borders in the United States for a very good reason, its about the America Dream. They come here, we give them homes, food and Obamacare. You are all welcome friends. Do not forget to tell all your families and bandito chums to come too. Mi Casa Su Casa. Lets party! House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi said at a recent Meet and Greet event at the Texan border.

All across America Tuesday, there were parties in the streets as Americans greeted their new friends with open arms where the Immigration Amnesty has been accepted wholeheartedly.

I live in a nice neighbourhood that I worked my whole life to move into. I am so happy that a family of thirty five illegal immigrants moved into my back yard this morning and are defecating in the pool. My little grandchild, now has scabies. God bless America, Niles Hertz, a retired lawyer from Bakersfield, California told CBS news.
ARIZONA - USA - It's open season at the U.S. borders, as people from all over the world are flocking to South and Central American countries, then simply walking through the border to the United States.

Green Card? It used to be a very tricky affair gaining U.S. citizenship, but now all you need is two feet, a bottle of water and a smile, Rodriguez Martines, an HIV positive crack dealer from Guatemala City, now in New York, told the Herald Tribune.

And its not only from the Americas that they come, the Third World reaches out to the safe haven of North America, as millions travel daily for an easy passage to dream land.

We travelled from Sierra Leone to Mexico, then we had a short bus ride to the U.S. border. We were greeted at the border with open arms, food, clothing and promise of free housing. Thank you America, another Ebola infected traveller revealed from his hospital bed.

There are many positives to the huge border influx, as Green Card waiting lists have dropped, no one needs a Green Card or to go through the laborious outdated processes of immigration any more.

Xiang Xing Ming, 23, travelled to Mexico last week, today he is languishing in Los Angeles and having a great time working tax free in his uncles noodle business.

On Capitol Hill, Nancy Pelosi had a few perfunctory words to say about the open door policy: We are urging anyone who wants to come here, to simply walk across the border. We have taxpayers here who are welcoming you with open arms, willing to give you anything you need. This is the land of opportunity, and we want you now, your children, your grandparents, aunts, uncles, we extend our hands to greet you. Welcome .
WASHINGTON D.C. - USA - Military experts at the Pentagon have come up with a theory about Islamic militants in Gaza and Iraq.

Its called an air force, if you dont have one youre at the mercy of anyone who has one, and this is the main reason why Islamic militants can never win over nations that have an air force, or drone force.

The effectiveness of an air force can be seen in the Israeli Air Force (IAF) which recently flattened large portions of the Gaza strip.

Hamas may have had the bravado to go up against such a force, but they unleashed a torrent of smart missiles upon themselves and the poor civilians caught in the cross fire.

ISIS in Iraq are a similar story; they may be adept at land incursions but they do not have drones or aircraft, therefore they are impotent in the face of superior forces with air support. Naturally, as in Gaza there would be terrible civilian casualties, but if the civilians have not fled that area already then its a problem they will have to incur.

As ISIS moves towards Baghdad, the faltering U.S. president may have to act somewhere along the line, as much as it is against his grain to act decisively, his generals must be barking in his ear that the time to act is now.

The only thing stopping America is its balance sheet. Each missile fired costs over a quarter of a million dollars. With an economy near bankruptcy, can the U.S. afford to fire off millions of dollars they do not have?

Further variables exist with any air campaign, without ground forces present mapping out targets, the air force would be shooting blind. No doubt there must be some intelligence on Iraqi soil right now, but is it enough? All ISIS would have to do is dig in and wait for the air threat to subside before resuming operations.

Unless ISIS militants suddenly acquire F16s and Apache gunfighters, as well as read up a few manuals in a few hours, they would be sitting ducks to any air onslaught.

The decision is yours Mr. President.
LONDON - England - The Queen, who likes to purr a lot, has been tipped to replace the Downing Street moggy, David Cameron's office has revealed.

Were going to transfer Larry the tabby cat to Buckingham palace and bring the Queen into Downing Street. We just hope the loud purring sounds dont distract the Cabinet meetings, a Number 10 spokeswoman added.

Prince Philip, who hates cats, on hearing the news was furious and vowed to set the corgis on the poor moggy once he is delivered to Buckingham palace.

In related news, David Cameron may visit the Tower of London soon, alongside SNP leader Alex Salmond where they will be imprisoned for the rest of their lives.
LONDON - England - Throughout his tenure as president of the United States, Obama has pandered to the little things that do not matter, but finally with less than two years left he is slowly gaining some global knowledge.

As Obamas henchman in chief, Eric Holder resigns  a man who was way too preoccupied by racial issues to do his job  Obama is forced to acknowledge the sphere of global influence.

Obama still has a lot to learn as his naive understanding of geo-political machinations is in its early phase, however his team of writers and advisers are always there to guide him.

The presidents keynote speech at the UN recently regarding the threat of ISIS, possibly penned by CFR experts, is a sign that the United States is once again ready to enter the world stage after a brief period of absence.

Describing Obamas presidency in a simplistic way, it can be described with one sentence: First black man elected, tried to deal with being a black man in charge, got hated on a lot, was mildly accepted towards the end when bigger global threats arose.

The people who installed Obama into power, no names included, knew that it would be a struggle to have someone from a minority group supposedly in charge, they knew that influential Jewish media outlets like Drudge report and Breitbart would be on his case every second of the day, and it is a credit to Obama that he surfed the wave with idle care.

As for the Daily Squib, we are merely mirrors of everything, and reflect onto the waters of global consciousness what is seen through the all seeing Squib eye.
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("in the lakehouse")

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Viettel has become the most valuable communications brand in Cambodia

through its Metfone service, with revenue reaching USD94 million in 2016. (Photo: VNA) Vietnam is now the third biggest trade partner of Cambodia, with two-way trade reaching USD3 billion in 2016.

In the first two months of 2017, bilateral trade hit 624.1 million, up 21.2 percent compared to the same period last year. The two countries are striving to increase the figure to USD5 billion.



The figures were released by Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia Thach Du at a recent business conference.



He attributed thriving trade ties to the two countries friendship, close geographic location and government support, adding that there is potential for further economic cooperation.



Organised by the Vietnam Embassy in Cambodia, the conference gathered some 100 Vietnamese investors in the country, including the Vietnam Rubber Group and Metfone  an arm of the military-run telecommunication group Viettel./.
New Delhi: The Prime Minister's office has called a meeting tomorrow to review the government's affordable housing programme as it targets to achieve 'Housing for All' by 2022.

The PMO has called realtors' body CREDAI and NAREDCO to understand the problems faced by the developers in launching affordable housing projects, sources said.

CREDAI is likely to make presentation on how to accelerate affordable housing projects in the country and to enable home buyers to encash the subsidy benefits under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana, they added.

About two months back, Minister for Urban Development and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation M Venkaiah Naidu had said he was "disappointed" that not a single proposal had come from the private builders for the affordable housing projects.

He had said that reasons for this needed to be found out. The government, in a bid to give a boost to the real estate sector, had accorded infrastructure status to the affordable housing segment in this year's budget.

On December 31, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced interest subsidy of up to 4 per cent on loans taken in the new year under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana.

Modi, in his national address on New Year's eve, had also said 33 per cent more homes will be built for the poor under this scheme in rural areas.

Besides, in urban areas housing loans of up to Rs 9 lakh and up to Rs 12 lakh will receive interest subsidy of 4 per cent and 3 per cent respectively, while in rural areas loans up to Rs 2 lakh will get an interest subvention of 3 per cent.

"Even so many years after independence, millions of poor do not have their own home. When black money increased in our economy, houses became out of reach of even the middle class. The government has taken some major decisions to ensure homes for the poor, the neo middle class and the middle class," Modi had said.
New Delhi: The revenue of telecom sector from consumer services like mobile telephony and data dipped 10.5 per cent to Rs 37,284 crore in the October-December period over the previous three months, according to regulator Trai.

The revenue of the sector from the same set of services stood at Rs. 41,681 crore in July-September last year.

The sector had reported Rs. 44,754 crore adjusted gross revenue (amount earned from sale of telecom services only) from access service in April-June 2016, showed the data released by the regulator.



Incumbent telecom operators have blamed free services of new entrant Reliance Jio for the decline in their quarterly numbers.

It was in July when Reliance Jio started expansion of its free 4G services bundled with LYF handsets in trial phase. The company in mid-July claimed to have 1.5 million subscribers during the trial phase. Jio launched its service commercially on September 5 and became first company to clock 100 million subscribers in just 170 days of its launch.

While Jio provided free 4G service during the period, other telecom operators struggled to compete with it.

Telecom operators pay government licence fee and other charges based on their adjusted gross revenue (AGR).

"The license fee declined to Rs. 3,698 crore for the December quarter from Rs. 4,091 crore in the July-September period of 2016," the report said.

The AGR from all telecom services fell by 9.17 per cent on quarterly basis to Rs. 45,905 crore in October-December from Rs. 50,539 crore in the July-September period.

"Access services contributed 81.22 per cent of the total adjusted gross revenue of telecom services. In access services, gross revenue, adjusted gross revenue(AGR), license fee and spectrum usage charges (SUC) declined by 8.09 per cent, 10.55 per cent, 10.92 per cent and 12.29 per cent respectively," the report said.

The gross revenue of telecom service provider too declined by 6.79 per cent to Rs. 66,532 in October-December 2016 from Rs. 71,378.69 at the end of July-September period. It was Rs. 73,344.66 crore at the end of April-June 2016 quarter.
Mumbai: Kamal Haasan took to Twitter early on Saturday morning to inform his fans about a fire that broke out at his house.

Haasan said that his lungs were full of smoke and that he had to climb down from the third floor after the fire at his residence at Alwerpet in Chennai.

He added that he was safe and no one was hurt and thanked his staff for resolving the situation.

After fans started expressing concern over the incident, the actor posted another tweet thanking them for their love and concern.

The superstar had recently held a prayer meet for his brother Chandra Haasan, who had passed away last month, where megastar Rajinikanth was among those present to console him.

On the professional front, he will be seen in the film Subhaash Naidu next.
If sources in Los Angeles are to be believed, Priyanka is now all set to rub shoulders with Hollywood star Tom Cruise, in the new installment of the Mission Impossible franchise.

Cruise, who is currently shooting in Paris for Mission Impossible 6, is expected to shoot in India for a portion of the film later this year. And it is in the India leg of the shoot that Cruise is expected to be paired with PeeCee.

A source informs, The Mission Impossible team is keen to have Priyanka Chopra on board. But she has her schedule in America to work around. The new season of Quantico is going to begin. Whatever her other commitments, it is doubtful she will say no to Tom Cruise and Mission Impossible.
Mumbai: Vidya Balan, who is currently promoting her film Begum Jaan based on life of prostitutes in a brothel, set in the post-independence era, will soon start shooting for Suresh Trivenis Tumhari Sulu.

The shoot of this film starts on April 26 and will be filmed in Mumbai over a period of two months. Produced by T-Series, the film revolves around the life of a fun and feisty RJ named Sulu.

Tumhari Sulu is slated to release on December 1.
After being away from the limelight for a long time, actress Raveena Tandon is gearing up for her next movie Maatr. Known for her social activism almost as much as her iconic roles, the actress had been on a hiatus after a cameo in Bombay Velvet. However, the theme of her upcoming feature is such that she felt compelled to take up the film. In a candid interview, she speaks about her film, being a mother to three daughters, the joys of adoption and more.

You adopted two daughters when you were not married. Today, when you see more and more celebrities opting for adoption and surrogacy, how do you look at it?

I advise adoption over surrogacy. I believe that making someone a part of your life through adoption provides a deeper sense of gratification. I feel so proud when I see my girls and what they have made of their lives. Of course, you can go ahead and have biological kids, but to adopt a child is the greatest gift that you can give any child.

More and more actresses are making their comeback with powerful roles. Is there any one specific actress whose work you have enjoyed?

Sridevi has evolved so amazingly. I really loved English Vinglish and now Mom. I have always been a huge fan of hers and I love her work.

There was a time when you used to do commercial films then you suddenly shifted and started doing content-driven films. Why this sudden shift?

As you start growing as an actor and a person, you begin to realise that you want your life to be more than the next hit. One day, I was sitting in a square in Mauritius and it suddenly hit me that I did not want to continue doing only commercially driven films. I wanted to grow and evolve and challenge myself. That is why I attempted films like Shool, Satta and Daman. I am those few lucky ones who have been successful in commercial and in realistic cinema.

Since you have such a strong opinion on various social issues did you ever think of joining politics?

I know we all think that we should try and be the change. There are times when I think that one must become part of the system to bring about change from the inside. Otherwise, the same kind of people will be elected and we will have only ourselves to blame. But then, there is a second voice within me that says I am better as an activist so that I live free and talk free and I am not scared of anyone. I have had offers to join politics many times but I have never said yes.

Why did you say yes to Maatr?

The theme of Maatr is an issue very close to my heart because my blood boils every time I read in the papers about a woman being violated. I met the mother of the Delhi 2012 gangrape victim, she told me that its only for a short time that people bother when someone is raped. Then its just back to business.

You are a mother of three daughters. Is there a constant fear within you when they step out?

I never taught them to be timid. In fact, I have asked them to fight back. Are we supposed to walk in this fear all the time? This has to change somewhere, so I also want to be part of the noise that makes that change.
Shirish, who made his acting debut with the film Metro, recently wrapped up his second project Raja Ranguski, directed by Dharani Dharan of Burma fame. The shooting of the film took just 26 days and the credit goes mainly to the director, says Shirish, in a candid interview with us.

I want to thank my producer, the crew, and the actors who believed in the script and put all their efforts to pull this off in a very short period.

Dharani Dharan sir is a perfectionist. He will even wait for the required sunlight for a shot. In spite of his patience, he has wrapped up the film very soon, and thats impressive. Of course, he made me toil a lot, laughs Shirish.

Another reason for the fast proceedings of the film is its music director Yuvan Shankar Raja, Shirish says  He finished four beautiful songs for the film while we were shooting, that came in handy for the film. So, we just have the dubbing portion left which we are starting in the coming week.

Shirish plays the role of a beat police officer named Raja, and Chandini, plays a writer who is writer Sujathas ardent fan, calls herself Ranguski (a reference to Sujatha). The film will be as colourful as Dharanis previous film Burma

Raja Ranguski will hit the screens by the end of April or start of May.
The failure of absorbable stents manufactured by pharma giant Abbott has opened up market for Indian absorbable scaffold, MeRes100 from Meril, reportedly launching soon.

Used in coronary artery disease patients, Abbott decided to limit the use of its Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold (BVS) also known as absorbable stents from regular commercial access to only those cases registered under clinical registry in Europe recently, causing a lot of heartache to the cardiologists in India. The move came following the results of two big research trials that raised safety concerns in using the device.

While Abbott says it is coordinating with EU Health Authorities to collect additional real-world evidence for Absorb and will monitor their technology until summer of 2018 and review the situation then. Cardiologists in India are keenly awaiting yet to be launched Indigenous scaffold.

The absorbable stents are fully dissolving artery stents that are absorbed by the body over roughly three years. Its eventual disappearance in order to free the vessel of a metal cage, is according to Cardiologists a significant benefit and thats why it is considered to be better over existing technology. Certainly the implantation technique of BVS is different from metallic stents. Contrary to the results of these studies, my personal experience of absorb BVS in the past two years have been very encouraging. In more than 100 BVS implants by me, there was not a single complication of thrombosis and restenosis, said Dr Nishith Chandra, Director, Interventional cardiology, Fortis Escorts Heart institute.

While doctors call it a promising device, its the deployment that holds the key. The implementation technique of BVS is different from metallic stents and in my opinion if deployed meticulously, following all the safety steps, Absorb BVS is a promising device for the coronary heart patients. In the aftermath of Absorb withdrawl the only Indian absorbable scaffold Meres from Meril India company which is soon to be launched would certainly be keenly watched, Dr Chandra added.

Meanwhile, Abbott has initiated post marketing registries in Europe to monitor implementation technique for the Absorb dissolving stent. Analysis of Absorb trials from around the world have demonstrated that optimal implantation technique results in outcomes comparable to the best-in-class metallic drug eluting stent with the added feature of leaving no metal behind once it dissolves-the data has been presented at major cardiology medical meetings in the US last month. The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has been alerted about it, spokesperson of Abbott told this newspaper.
Over 5 crore Indians suffered from depression in 2015, and globally, more than 300 million people are affected, according to WHO.

Chennai: Depression, which is the leading cause of disability worldwide, is a major contributor to the overall global burden of disease (WHO, 2017). Though known to be the second leading cause of death among those who fall in the age group 15 to 30, it continues to remain a stigma. With this years World Health Day themed Depression: Lets Talk, psychiatrists and counsellors urge doctors to join in the initiative of detecting depression among patients.

If a suicide prone person has a genuine friend to talk to, many instances of suicide can be reduced. Even relieving a little amount of distress and angst of a depressed person can wean him away from suicide, said Dr Lakshmi Vijayakumar, founder, SNEHA  Indias premier suicide prevention centre.

According to a World Health Organisation report on suicides, India has a very high incidence - 15 per 1,00,000 population and the southern states are high on the list with Tamil Nadu at 22 in 2015 and Puducherry 43 the same year, she added.

Stating that most people have only mild to moderate depression, Dr V. Mohan of the Dr Mohans Diabetes Specialities Centre, said, Detection is the most important factor. Acceptance of the fact that an individual has depression is also essential, which is rare due to the stigma that goes along with it.

Promoting the concept of holistic health he added that it is the need of the hour. Doctors should broaden their horizon and get trained to detect depression among patients as well. When patients come to our clinic, we use a simple questionnaire to screen them for depression. If they are found to have mild to moderate depression, we have counsellors to talk to them and give them general positive advice. However, if it is very severe, we immediately refer them to a psychiatrist who will put them on medication, added the doctor.

As depression is not contagious and can be prevented, talking about it can be critical to bringing the condition out of the closet. A better understanding of what it is, and how it can be prevented and treated, will help reduce the stigma around it and encourage people to seek help. A range of treatments, health professionals and services are available to help curb depression as well as provide information on what can be done, said Dr Samir Parikh, Director, Mental Health and Behavioural Sciences, Fortis Hospital.
Mr Dinh La Thang at Vietnamese Embassy in Japan (Photo: hcmcpv.org.vn)

The visit aims to accelerate the good diplomatic relations and the development of economic, commercial and investment relations between Ho Chi Minh city and Japan.

Welcoming the delegation, Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Nguyen Quoc Cuong wished them a successful and effective visit in Japan.

According to the Ambassador, the relationship between Vietnam and Japan is developing well. There are some 60,000 Vietnamese students in Japan and some 100,000 trainees and laborers.



"The figures are expected to increase sharply in the future, as there is a huge demand of labourers for human resources cooperation, said Ambassador Cuong.



In 2017, some high-level delegations from Vietnam will pay working visits to Japan.

Secretary Thang informed the Embassy of the socio-economic development situation in Ho Chi Minh city and its calling on investment. According to Mr Thang, there is huge potential in for cooperation between Ho Chi Minh city and Japanese localities as the two sides find each others' opportunities for development.

He pledged that Ho Chi Minh city leaders would create favourable conditions for Japanese businesses to invest in the city, especially in the citys 7 breakthrough programs.

During the visit, the delegation will work with economic organizations and businesses to promote cooperation between Ho Chi Minh city and Japanese localities, especially in the development of infrastructure, traffic, tourism and high technology, as they are of Ho Chi Minh Citys greatest concerns and the city faces s difficulties to in dealing with them.

The delegation will also organize trade, investment and tourism promotion activities in the five Japanese localities of Osaka, Tokyo, Hyogo, Aichi and Nagano, in an attempt to promote trade and investment between Vietnam and Japan./.
The donor, a resident of Faridabad, was declared brain dead at PGI Hospital after being on ventilator support for three weeks when her family decided to donate the heart. (Photo: Pixabay)

New Delhi: Heart of a 32-year-old woman has been transplanted into a 13-year-old youth at a private hospital here, a few months after an organ mismatch had precluded the surgery.

The harvested heart was transported yesterday from Chandigarh to Delhi in a special aircraft for the surgery that took place till late last night at Fortis Escorts Heart Institute (FEHI).

"When we first heard that the donor was a 32-year-old person, it looked that the match might not be possible. This child is second-time lucky since a heart was brought in a few months ago from an elderly patient and hence could not be put

in his body," said Dr Z S Meharwal, Director of Cardiovascular Surgery and Transplant Surgery at FEHI, who conducted the transplant.

The hospital authorities said the Cardiac Transplant Team from FEHI flew down to PGI Hospital, Chandigarh and retrieved the heart from the donor at 11.20 am.

"The police and traffic authorities immediately created a green corridor for transferring the harvested heart to Delhi. The heart was ferried in an ambulance from PGI Hospital to the airport. It was swiftly moved into a chartered flight to reach IGI Airport here by 1 PM," an official of FEHI said.

In Delhi, a green corridor was created, covering a distance of 18 kms from Terminal 1D in 18 minutes. The journey began at 1:05 PM and ended at 01:23 PM. Explaining the challenges involved, Meharwal said, "This time, the body weight of the donor was around that of the recipient and hence their chest cavities were nearly comparable, though we still had to use special techniques to

connect arteries of the donor heart with those of the recipient."

FEHI said this was the sixth transplant performed there. The donor, a resident of Faridabad, was declared brain dead at PGI Hospital after being on ventilator support for three weeks. "The family of the donor consented to donate her heart,

kidneys, and liver," it said.

In another transplant yesterday, heart of a 45-year-old man was transplanted into a 20-year-old youth at AIIMS here for which a 17.5 km-long green corridor was made by the authorities in the national capital."The man had sustained brain injury after suffering a fall. We were intimated by NOTTO (National Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation) and a team of doctors went to Chandigarh by a flight last night. They harvested the heart from the brain dead patient on Thursday morning around 5 AM and came back to Delhi.

"It was then transplanted into a 20-year-old young man, who suffers from dilated cardiomyopathy," said Dr Balram Airan, Dean, AIIMS and chief of the Cardio Thorasic Centre. The man was declared dead at PGI, Chandigarh and the

family agreed to donate his heart, he added."From T3 terminal at IGI Airport, we provided a green corridor of 17.5 km. The journey to AIIMS from the airport

began at 8:50 AM and ended at 09:17 AM," a senior official of the Delhi Traffic Police Department said.
Delhi: The failure of absorbable stents manufactured by pharma giant Abbott has opened up market for Indian absorbable scaffold, MeRes100 from Meril, reportedly launching soon.

Used in coronary artery disease patients, Abbott decided to limit the use of its Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold (BVS) also known as absorbable stents from regular commercial access to only those cases registered under clinical registry in Europe recently, causing a lot of heartache to cardiologists in India.

The move came following the results of two big research trials that raised safety concerns in using the devi-ce. While Abbott says it is coordinating with EU Health Authorities to collect additional real-world evidence for Absorb and will monitor their technology until summer of 2018 and review the situation then.

Cardiologists in India are keenly awaiting yet to be launched indigenous scaffold. The absorbable stents are fully dissolving artery stents that are absorbed by the body over roughly three years. Its eventual disappea-rance in order to free the vessel of a metal cage, is ac-cording to Cardiologists a significant benefit and tha-ts why it is considered to be better over existing technology.

Certainly the implantation technique of BVS is different from metallic stents. Contrary to the results of these studies, my personal experience of absorb BVS in the past two years have been very encouraging. In more than 100 BVS implants by me, there was not a single complication of thrombosis and restenosis, said Dr Nishith Chandra, Director, Interventional cardiology, Fortis Escorts Heart institute.

While doctors call it a promising device, its the deployment that holds the key. The implementation technique of BVS is different from metallic stents and in my opinion if deployed meticulously, following all the safety steps, Absorb BVS is a promising device for the coronary heart patients. In the aftermath of Absorb withdrawl the only Indian absorbable scaffold Meres from Meril India co-mpany which is soon to be launched would certainly be keenly watched, Dr Chandra added.

Meanwhile, Abbott has initiated post marketing registries in Europe to monitor implementation technique for the Absorb dissolving stent.

Analysis of Absorb trials from around the world have demonstrated that optimal implantation technique results in outcomes comparable to the best-in-class metallic drug eluting stent with the added feature of leaving no metal behind once it dissolves the data has been presented at major cardiology medical meetings in the US last month. The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has been alerted about it, spokesperson of Abbott told this newspaper.
Animals are known to be quite smart and they can do quite a few things that are quite unbelievable for humans to fathom. Parrots are known to mimic people and while they are really good at it, one parrot has gone a step further by being able to mimic other creatures from the animal kingdom.

According to a recent media report, the brilliant parrot rightly called Einstein from Zoo Knoxville in Tennessee celebrated the birds birthday in style by putting on a show for everybody at the zoo. The Congo African grey parrot is not like any other normal parrot because it can do what no known parrot can do and that is mimic its friends from the animal kingdom like the dog and owl.

The parrot with a 200-word-strong vocabulary can bark like a dog and even hoot like an owl while being able to sing like birds and make sound like a spaceship and even echo like a laser. Einstein seems to live to his more famous namesake and scientist Albert Einstein.

Watch the video:
The ongoing spat between Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, and Air India, is revealing a plot twist every passing moment. The MP infamously had an altercation with an Air India official last month, which quickly escalated into a fistfight. The video of the event was circulated on social media platforms, and soon the MP gathered flak from several quarters. Consequentially, it led to him being boycotted by the national carrier. Six other domestic airlines too asserted their solidarity with Air India, banning Gaikwad from flying, and blacklisting him.

Gaikwads attempts at securing a ticket on Air India have been thwarted several times, and has even led to Shiv Sena MPs threatening to disrupt aviation services in Mumbai, if his status as a flyer isnt restored.

In the recent chain of events, Air India lifted that ban after being satisfied with the statement given by the MP. Other Federation of Indian Airlines member airlines followed suit. However, the Indian Commercial Pilots Association sent a letter the minister of civil aviation Ashok Gajapati Raju seeking an unconditional apology to the officials.

Prominent social servants and celebrities weigh in on the curious case of Ravindra Gaikwad.

I strongly believe airlines should blacklist anyone who misbehaves

Ishika Taneja, Miss India Tourism

Air India was setting a great example by barring Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad and ensuring that safety of others is more important to them. The move also showed that no MP could misuse his powers and humiliate the same people because of whom he was elected and had taken an oath to safeguard. I strongly believe that airlines should blacklist anyone who misbehaves with the staff and co-passengers.

Would I have been let off this easily? Probably not

Sushant Singh, Television Host, Savdhaan India

I think no-fly lists, in such cases, is an absolute necessity. One cannot have the VIPs of the country behaving this way. I keep wondering what repercussions I would have had to face had I misbehaved with an airline employee in such a manner. Would I have been let off this easily? Probably not. Why are MPs getting such treatment? Are we trying to get out the message that some people are better than the others?

I also think that had he issued an apology, it wouldnt be an issue to lift the ban, but considering how Air India was literally forced to lift it, it isnt acceptable.

One needs to address it then and there

Ganesh Nallari, Designer

Blacklisting someone from flying wont solve the problem. Instead, the need of the hour is to talk and settle the problem. If a person is behaving badly, one needs to address it then and there. You cant possibly stop a person from doing something; its their right to fly. Air India being a government-run body had a lot of pressure and its quite understandable that they had to revoke their decision after all the threats they received from different sectors.

Its disgusting the Parliament wasted so much time on this issue

Indrajit Lankesh, Kannada film director and producer

It is rogue behaviour on his part. He has been elected, and then he behaves like this. They should have gone ahead with the ban. If a man is going to behave like this on a flight and beat someone up with his chappal, then take his own time to apologise and waste peoples time and money on this, its ridiculous. Its disgusting that he did this, and its disgusting that the Parliament wasted so much time on this whole issue. Just like a drivers license is banned in a case of drunk driving, the same way this ban should have stayed. It would have become a rule and then the rule has to be followed. You cant pose a threat to people like this and just get away with it. He harmed someone.

No matter how big his position, one should behave properly

Subi Suresh, Actor

The cabin crew cares for us, and serves us during the flight. As a senior politician, what Ravindra Gaikwad did to a member of the crew is not correct. No matter how big his position is, one should behave properly in such a place. You should learn from the way the crewmembers handle travellers during flights. They are quite patient. Even if a traveller makes a mistake, they correct them politely. We should give the same respect back to them. I believe that Air Indias initial step to put a travel ban on Gaikwad was an apt one. Now, they have lifted the ban. It may be a favour from the airlines part for him, or they dont want to get into more troubles.

It (blacklisting) was a very transparent way of reprimanding him

Madhu Saran, Social Entrepreneur

Putting the MP on a no-fly list gave a strong message to wrongdoers. They should get what they deserve, however big or important they might be. It was a lesson for other people too. Him being in a respectable post, and misbehaving, was simply unacceptable. I wish they continued to blacklist him. It was a very transparent way of reprimanding him. Although it is unclear as to why the ban was lifted, it shows the pressure the airline has been under.
Gumla: A 19-year-old Muslim man was tied to a pole and beaten to death in Jharkhand's Gumla district allegedly over his relationship with a Hindu girl. Three people have been arrested in the incident, police said on Thursday.

"We have arrested three persons on Thursday in connection with the killing of Mohammad Shalik, who was beaten to death after being spotted with his girlfriend belonging to another community," Superintendent of Police Chandan Kumar Jha said. He said the incident was "a fall-out of the affair and was not a communal incident".

The arrests were made on the basis of leads provided by the girl during police questioning, the officer said.

The girl's family were against the relationship and had warned the man to stay away from her, he said. Shalik did not listen to the warning and came to drop her off near her home on Wednesday night, he added.

On seeing him and the 15-year-old girl together, the locals allegedly tied him to a pole in front of the girl and thrashed him badly near Soso Mode that comes under the Gumla police station.

When Shalik did not return home late night, his family members enquired about his whereabouts from his friends.

The family members found Shalik in a serious condition and rushed him to a hospital in Gumla but he died from his injuries on Thursday, Jha said.

Police are trying to find out whether the girl's family members instigated the mob.

All the arrested persons have been sent to jail on Friday, he said.
Mumbai: Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) on Saturday revoked the flying ban imposed on Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad under the assurance that they will be accorded respect.

"The FIA member airlines are also restoring the flying privileges to Mr Gaikwad under the assurance that our assets and colleagues shall be accorded the respect that they deserve for the hard work that they put in every day," Ujwal Dey, Associate Director of FIA said in a statement.

The Civil Aviation Ministry had on Friday asked private airlines, which had barred Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad from flying after he assaulted an Air India employee on March 23 at the Delhi airport, to revoke the ban.

Air India lifted the ban on Friday after the government advised Air India and other (private) airlines to revoke the ban in view of the apology tendered by Mr Gaikwad and the undertaking of good conduct given by him.

In a communication to the Air India chief, the ministry had said, In order to deal with unruly passengers in an effective manner in future, an amendment to the Civil Aviation Regulations is being drafted in consultation with this ministry for establishing a National No Fly List.

This is expected to be a comprehensive framework added to civil aviation regulations that will ban unruly passengers from subsequently flying on any airline in the interests of air-safety and aviation security. Just hours before the ban was lifted, AI officials said Gaikwad had tried to book tickets early on Friday morning.

Air India had barred Gaikwad from flying with it on March 24.

Following suit, the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) had also imposed a ban on him. Jet Airways, SpiceJet, GoAir and IndiGo are part of the grouping.

The Ministry had asked Air India as well as other airlines to lift the ban imposed on Gaikwad citing the "undertaking of good conduct" given by him.

When FIA had imposed a flying ban on Gaikwad, two non-member carriers  Vistara and AirAsia  had said they were with the industry on the issue.
A destroyed truck is pulled away by a service car after it was driven into a department store in Stockholm, Sweden. (Photo: AP)

New Delhi: All embassy officials are safe after the terror attack in the Swedish capital of Stockholm which took place very close to the Indian embassy, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Friday night.

"I am in touch with Indian Ambassador in Sweden. The attack was very close to Indian Embassy. Our embassy officials are safe," Swaraj tweeted after the attack in Sweden in which at least two persons were killed.

"Indians in Stockholm : Please note the Emergency number: 0768982764, Counsellor : 0734262097," she said in another tweet.

A large beer truck crashed into an upscale department store in central Stockholm, killing at least four people, according to Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, who called the crash a terror attack.
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina waves to media as her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi watches on her arrival in New Delhi. (Photo: AP)

Jaipur: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to visit Ajmer dargah in Rajasthan on Sunday.

"She will arrive at Sanganer airport here in a plane from New Delhi and will go to Ajmer in a helicopter on Sunday. The Bangladeshi PM will pay obeisance at the dargah of sufi saint in Ajmer," an official of the state government said here. She will return the same day.

Hasina arrived in national capital yesterday on a four-day visit during which she will hold bilateral talks with her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

Both the sides would be signing at least 25 pacts in various key sectors including civil nuclear cooperation and defence but there was unlikely to be any agreement on the Teesta water sharing.
Mumbai: Refusing to apologize to the Air India official whom he allegedly thrashed, Shiv Sena MP Ravendra Gaikwad on Saturday said he would only tender an apology from Parliament for disrespecting its dignity.

Asserting that it was a small conflict, Gaikwad said the staff of the airline is mad and around eight such cases of indulging into brawl have been registered against him.

"The Air India staff had started the conflict. It was his fault why would I apologies. I will apologies to the Parliament if my action damaged its dignity. It was just a small conflict. The staff is mad and around eight such cases of indulging into brawl have been registered against him," Gaikwad said.

He further said that the flying ban imposed on him was not right as no airline can bar any flier.

Gaikwad further said that his complaints were not addressed, adding that if this was Air India's behaviour towards a people's representative then what it would be towards a common man.

National Carrier Air India yesterday lifted ban on Gaikwad after a request from Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju.

The development comes a day after the Shiv Sena MP tendered an apology to the Civil Aviation Minister, expressing regret over the incident.

Air India earlier on Thursday announced that it had cancelled Gaikwad's Delhi-Mumbai round tickets for April 17 and 24.

However, Gaikwad said that he booked a ticket neither for April 17 nor for April 24 for any airline as being aired by the media.

"It is learnt through media that I have booked the tickets for Air India to travel from Delhi to Mumbai for 17 and 24 April and my defaming is continued. On this connection, I would like to make it clear that I have neither booked a ticket for 17 nor 24th April, 2017 for any airline as being aired by media as the session will be sin-e-die on 13th April 2017," Gaikwad said in a statement.

Air India and six private airlines banned the 56-year-old MP from flying as he refused to apologise for the incident that triggered nationwide outrage.
New Delhi: India has received a report on the shootout incident resulting in the death of its national in the US' Washington state and is coordinating with the investigative agencies, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Saturday.

The Minister also said that the Indian Consulate in San Francisco is helping the family of 26-year-old Vikram Jaryal, who was shot dead allegedly by two masked armed robbers.

"I have received a report on the shootout incident resulting in the tragic death of Indian national Vikram Jaryal in Washington State USA," Swaraj tweeted.

"The victim was only 26 years old and had reached US only 25 days back. He was working at the gas station of a family friend," she said in a series of tweets.

Jaryal, who worked as a clerk at AM-PM Gas Station in Yakima city, was behind the counter when the incident happened. His family had yesterday sought Swaraj's help to bring his body back.

"On 6 April two miscreants entered the shop at 1.30 am. They snatched cash from victim and shot on his chest. This resulted in his death," Swaraj said.

"We are coordinating with the investigative agencies. They have got the CCTV footage and are in the process of apprehending the culprits," she said

"Our consulate in San Francisco is helping the family and following this up with the Police authorities," she added. Jaryal hailed from Hoshiarpur district in Punjab.
Ambassador to Japan Nguyen Quoc Cuong (L) and Governor

of Kagawa prefecture (Source: VNA)

During his time in Kagawa, Cuong met with Governor Hamada Keizo, Assembly Chairperson Kuroshima Akira and his deputy Takata Yoshinori who all said they attach importance to developing partnership with Vietnamese localities.



The Kagawa leaders said they expect to welcome more Vietnamese coming to their prefecture for study and work.



Cuong pledged to support joint projects between Kagawa and Vietnamese localities in trade-finance, education and human resources.



Kagawa and the northern province of Hai Phong began cooperation in 2005. Governor Hamada Keizo made a visit to Ho Chi Minh City last year to seek partnerships and promote local potential.



In Tokushima, the diplomat met with Governor IzumiKamon to discuss collaboration opportunities in agriculture, tourism and human resources development.



He talked about Vietnam-Japan relations and socio-economic affairs in Vietnam with some local businesses, economic institutions and banks.



Cuongalso visited the Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, the third biggest pharmaceutical group in Japan. Otsukaunveiled a plan to open its second plant in Vietnam.



Kagawa is the central hub of Shikoku region with a population of 970,000 and annual GDP of JPY3.914 trillion (USD35.4 billion).



Meanwhile, Tokushimais home to about 755,000 people, with annual GDP reaching some JPY3.12 trillion (USD28.2 billion. The prefecture is famous for agricultural produce and the Awa Dance Festival.
Lucknow: Downplaying charges of attempts at polarisation following a Church prayer service being halted by the right-wing Hindu Yuva Vahini in Uttar Pradesh, the Centre has expressed its complete faith in the Yogi Adityanath-led Government in maintaining the law and order situation in the state.

The youth group, set up by Adityanath in 2002, interrupted the prayer service alleging that religious conversion was being carried out and filed a complaint against Yohannan Adam, the pastor of the church, accusing him of converting Hindus to Christianity, which was flatly denied by the latter.

Also Read: UP cops stop church event after Hindu Yuva Vahini alleges religious conversion

"As far as BJP is concerned, there is no attempt to polarise and have never been so. We stand vindicated after the results in Uttar Pradesh and Manipur, where it was being alleged that the BJP is trying to polarise communities. If that were true, then the BJP would not have received such an overwhelming mandate, which means people voted for BJP across the caste and religion lines," Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh told the media here.

Further asserting that the Uttar Pradesh Government is capable of dealing with the situation in a fair manner, Singh highlighted his faith in the Chief Minister's capability and decisiveness.

The service, which was being attended by more than 150 people including foreign tourists, was interrupted by the youth group who barged into the hall and created a ruckus.

The tourists were let go after their passports were throroughly checked, and the Christian group has flatly denied that it was carrying out conversions and asserted that it was a simple prayer service.

"The police personnel even climbed onto our holy altar and took away our bible and song books. They even questioned all those who came to attend the prayer." Pastor Adam told ANI.

This is not the first such instance has come to light, as earlier this year the Hindu Yuva Vahini had attacked the Full Gospel Church in Gorakhpur over similar allegations.

The Hindu right wing has continuously and vociferously alleged that Christian missionaries are converting people through coercion.
New Delhi: India's doors are always open for cooperation, but for that Pakistan has to shun terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra said on Saturday.

Hitting out at Pakistan, Modi said it breeds, inspires and encourages terrorism and this "thought" is a roadblock to peace within the region and the world.

He emphasised that "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas" is not just restricted to India, but also to the neighbouring countries and development of India is incomplete without the progress of the region.

"We have extended hand of friendship towards every country (of the region) and have invited them to be a part of our growth. Without being selfish, we have wished good for the entire region.

"We truly think that citizens of all nations of the region progress and prosper. Our doors are open for cooperation, but for this terrorism has to be shunned.

"There is one thought in South Asia which breeds, inspires and encourages terrorism. The thought whose priority is not humanity, but extremism and terrorism," Modi said, without naming Pakistan.

He was speaking at the ceremony where families of martyrs of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War were felicitated by Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

Modi said India is a victim of the "thought" that encourages terrorism.

"Their only objective is to spread terrorism, destroy instead of develop and betray instead of trust. This thought process remains a steady challenge to us."

Stating that 1,661 Indian soldiers laid down their lives in the Bangladesh Liberation War, Modi said the Indian army's struggle in this cannot be forgotten.

"The Indian army never shied away from its duty and set an example by following conventions of the war. Over 90,000 Prisoners of War were released safely after the 1971 war. The humane gesture shown by India is one of the biggest events in the century," Modi said.

The Prime Minister said the genocide by Pakistan in 1971 was undertaken to wipe out an entire generation of Bangladesh and every person who was proud of the idea of Bangladesh was eliminated.

"The purpose of this genocide was not just killing the innocents, but to uproot the idea of Bangladesh," he said.

Speaking at the event, Hasina said, the history of Bangladesh has been written with the blood of Indian martyrs along with valiant freedom fighters of Bangladesh.

"They fought together for the independence of Bangladesh.

The story of their sacrifice will be remembered from generation to generation in our two countries," she said.
Guwahati: The exiled Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader said Saturday that it's up to his followers to decide whether the office of the Dalai Lama exists in the future.

During a visit to the northeast Indian town of Tawang  the second-highest seat of Tibetan Buddhism  the Dalai Lama denied that he had any knowledge of where his successor would be born. Asked if the next Dalai Lama could be a woman, he said, "That might also happen."

The question of who will replace the 81-year-old spiritual leader has gained significance in recent years, with Beijing insisting that the next Dalai Lama be born in China.

On Saturday, the Tibetan leader said the people should decide on the question of the next Dalai Lama.

"They will decide whether the tradition continues or not," he told reporters in Tawang, located in India's remote northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.

The Dalai Lama is on a weeklong visit to Arunachal Pradesh despite objections by China, which considers the state a disputed region.

On China's claim on the next Dalai Lama, he said, "Let China first come clear on its theory on rebirth."

The Dalai Lama said that he has nothing to do with "politics," and that it was the Tibetan self-declared government-in-exile that handled all political matters, including the Tibetan cause.

"I retired from politics in 2011 and all political matters are handled by our government-in-exile," he said. "However, I am committed to promote and preserve Tibetan culture and ecology."

The Dalai Lama and his followers have been living in exile in the Himalayan town of Dharamsala in northern India since they fled Tibet after a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule.

China doesn't recognize the Tibetan government-in-exile, and hasn't held any dialogue with the representatives of the Dalai Lama since 2010.

China says Tibet has historically been part of its territory since the mid-13th century, and the Communist Party has governed the Himalayan region since 1951. But many Tibetans say that they were effectively independent for most of their history, and that the Chinese government wants to exploit their resource-rich region while crushing their cultural identity.

In Tawang, thousands of people thronged both sides of the road Saturday and broke into loud cheers and waved prayer flags as the Dalai Lama's motorcade entered a stadium where he addressed his followers.

Tawang was spruced up for the Dalai Lama's visit - his first since 2009. Streets were swept, houses freshly painted and welcome arches and banners erected across the main streets.

The Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh has drawn sharp protests from China. On Wednesday, China accused India of "using" the Dalai Lama to undermine Beijing's interests and summoned the Indian ambassador in Beijing to formally lodge a protest.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying warned India that China "will firmly take necessary measures to defend its territorial sovereignty and legitimate rights and interests."

India responded by saying China was creating an "artificial controversy."

China claims about 90,000 square kilometers (35,000 square miles) in Arunachal Pradesh, referred to informally by some Chinese as "Southern Tibet." India says China is occupying 38,000 square kilometers (15,000 square miles) of its territory on the Aksai Chin plateau.

The Dalai Lama has often said that he was not seeking independence for Tibet, but trying to secure greater autonomy for the Tibetan people within China.081009 GMT Apr 17
Lucknow: Amid the row over Vande Mataram, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday hit out at those refusing to sing the national song, saying it reflected their narrow mindedness.

Some people are saying that we will not sing Vande Matram... we want this country to move ahead in the 21st century and the matter of dispute is that we will sing Vande Matram or not...this is a matter of concern, he said.

We will have to find a way out to overcome this narrow mindedness, Adityanath said.

The CM was speaking at a book release function at the Raj Bhawan in Lucknow.

His remarks came against the backdrop of Samajwadi Party corporators protesting a proposal to make singing of the national song compulsory at commencement of proceedings of a meeting of Allahabad municipal corporation.

The recent incident came days after municipal corporations in Meerut and Varanasi too witnessed similar ruckus over the issue.

Recalling the 150th anniversary functions of the Allahabad high court, the chief minister said it had commenced with the rendition of Vande Matram.

It was such a good sight... it was a grand function, a historical one. The Prime Minister of the country was present at the concluding function. The Chief Justice of India and the Governor of the state were also present. The function itself started with the national song, the chief minister noted.
Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad at Parliament during the budget session, in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI)

Mumbai: Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, who was involved in a row with Air India, arrived here by train and would be meeting party president Uddhav Thackeray today.

Air India had yesterday lifted the flying ban on him after he expressed regret for assaulting one of its employees on March 23.

Gaikwad, who arrived by the Rajdhani Express from Delhi this morning, would be meeting the Sena president at the latter's residence Matoshri in suburban Bandra later today. "I will be meeting Uddhavji around noon today," Gaikwad said.

The lawmaker boarded the train from Delhi last evening hours after the flying ban was lifted by the national carrier following a letter by the Osmanabad MP to the Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Thursday expressing "regret" over the "unfortunate incident".

The revocation of the ban came despite two AI unions of the cabin crew and pilots protesting the move to lift the restrictions imposed on the air travel of the MP.

However, an AI spokesman had said, "Air India is a subsidiary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and, therefore, an apology to the ministry is akin to an apology to the airline and our employees."

The 56-year-old Parliamentarian had assaulted AI employee R Sukumar on March 23 after he landed in Delhi on a Pune-Delhi all-economy flight.
Srinagar: A day ahead of polling for by-election to the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat, miscreants stepped up attacks on polling staff and polling stations in Kashmir's Budgam district, police said today.

Some miscreants tried to set ablaze a government school building, designated as a polling station, in Narbal area of Budgam district late last night, DGP S P Vaid said.

He said the building was saved by the timely action of police personnel deployed in the area.

In a separate incident, a group of youth pelted stones at polling staff, who were on their way to a polling station, in Beerwah area of Budgam this morning, a police official said.

The police swung into action and chased away the accused, the official said, adding no one was hurt in the brief clashes.

Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency, spread over three districts of Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal is scheduled to go to polls tomorrow.

The by-poll has been necessitated by resignation of then PDP leader and member Lok Sabha Tariq Hameed Karra last year to protest against the "atrocities" by security forces during the summer unrest triggered by the killing of Hizbul Mujhaideen commander Burhan Wani in an encounter in July last year.
New Delhi: Former BJP MP Tarun Vijay kicked up a racism row on Friday after he appeared to suggest that Indians cannot be called racist as people live with those from south India who are "black".

Vijay's controversial comments during a panel discussion on an international news channel sparked an outrage with the Congress saying it was shocking while the DMK said it was funny.

Seeking to defend India against the charge of racism following attacks on African students, he said, "If we (Indians) were racist, why would we have the entire south? Which is you know... completely Tamil, you know Kerala, you know Karnataka and Andhra. Why do we live with them? We have blacks, black people all around us".

Facing an all-round backlash, especially on social media, the former editor of Panchjanya, a RSS-affiliated weekly, tendered an apology on Twitter.

BJP spokesperson Shaina N C said Vijay could have phrased his comments differently.

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said the comments showed the saffron party's tendency to discriminate among people of the country.

Vijay claimed that people with African ancestors have been living amicably in Maharashtra and Gujarat. He also said Indians worship black gods and referred to Lord Krishna.

Faced with criticism, he said his words were perhaps not enough to convey what he wanted to say. "Feel bad, really feel sorry, my apologies to those who feel I said different than what I meant.

"I feel the entire statement was this; we have fought racism and we have people with different colour and culture, and still never had any racism."

He, however, claimed that he never called south India as "black". "I never, never, even in a slip, termed south India as black. I can die but how can I ridicule my own culture, my own people and my own nation? Think before you misinterpret my badly framed sentence," he tweeted in response to accusations of racism.

DMK MP T K S Elangovan said Vijay's comments were funny as not all people in the south India are dark-skinned and cited the example of late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.

His party's spokesperson said his comments offered a glimpse of a divide between north India and south India. Congress leader Khushboo said such remarks by the BJP leader were "shocking" and he should have been more careful.

The actress-turned-politician noted that he has worked to promote the Tamil culture. "This is a country which is secular and does not believe in any colour and here is a party which is trying to give one single colour to it. This is absolutely not acceptable," Khushboo said.

BJP spokesperson Shaina N C said her party believes in inclusive approach towards every religion, language and culture.

"May be he (Vijay) could have worded it differently...For whatever words (used by Vijay), India continues to be a diverse country," she said.
Mumbai: After having lifted the flying ban on Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, Air India is preparing for a legal battle against him for causing revenue losses worth up to Rs 15 lakh by grounding its aircraft (AI 852) for 90 minutes on March 23.

The airline said the aircraft was grounded in the course of the MPs brawl with a 60-year-old AI employee who Gaikwad allegedly assaulted.

While two FIRs have already been filed against the MP, the AI is in the process of collecting data of the total revenue and operational losses caused to the airline. The MP, meanwhile, said he would never apologise to AI.

A day after the ministry of civil aviation after receiving a regret letter from Gaikwad asked the airline to lift the ban on the MP, Gaikwad issued statement to a media house in which he claimed that Air India was at fault.

The Sena leader alleged that the AI crew member he is accused of assaulting on March 23, has eight cases of indulging in brawls registered against him. Gaikwad also denied booking travel tickets to and from Delhi via AI between April 17 and 24.

After Air India lifted its ban, the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) that includes Jet Airways, Indigo, GoAir, Spicejet too lifted the ban on the MP.

Ujjwal Dey, associate director of FIA, said on Saturday, Consequent to Air India restoring flying privileges to Mr Gaikwad after being satisfied with the statement given by the Member of Parliament, the FIA member airlines are also restoring the flying privileges to Mr Gaikwad under the assurance that our assets and colleagues shall be accorded the respect that they deserve for the hard work that they put in every day.

Air India, according to sources is expected to prepare a legal notice by Wednesday and drag the matter to court demanding compensation for its operational loss.
Hyderabad: A 29-year-old man who was detained by Begumpet police for harassing a minor girl, collapsed and died a few hours after his release.

P. Ramu alias Mohan Krishna, an autorickshaw driver, was rushed to KIMS, where doctors declared him dead. While his parents alleged that police torture killed him, police said that Ramu had diabetes and had not had food since three days.

Police said Ramu was detained only for 45 minutes and they had let him go as the complainant, his relative, had requested them not to book a case.

Forensic doctors said that there were no injuries on Ramu's body. Doctors said the cause can be confirmed only after the autopsy report comes out.

Ramus mother Renuka alleged that her son was beaten up by the police and that he was feeling dizzy when he came out of the police station. She and some others took him to a hospital in Begumpet, where doctors gave him medicines. After he reached home he lost consciousness. She claimed that Ramu was healthy. Police said Ramu was called to the police station due to a complaint by a close relative, who alleged that Ramu had been harassing his 16-year-old daughter. Though Ramu was married and had a child, he had been telling the girl that he wanted to marry her. He also misbehaved with her several times. Elders warned Ramu but he did not stop. Then the girls father approached us, said DCP B. Sumathi.

She added that police called Ramu to the police station and a petty case was booked. The girls father did not want us to book a criminal case against him as they were relatives. So we registered a petty case and let him go, said the DCP. Police said Ramu had not been eating as he his relatives had turned against him for harassing the girl. An endocrinologist said that if a chronic diabetes patient does not take food and medicine for three days he can die.
Mysuru: With voting in the clash of titans at Nanjangud and Gundllupet set to commence 7 am on Sunday, the role of money resurfaced with the Election Commission ordering a probe against state BJP chief B.S. Yeddyurappa for giving Rs one lakh to the widow of a farmer who committed suicide in Voddana Hosahalli, a village in Gundlupet constituency, hours before the curtains came down on electioneering, on Friday.

A video grab showed Mr Yeddyurappa handing over cash to the widow of farmer Chikkamada Shetty, prompting the ruling Congress to lodge a complaint with Chief Electoral Officer Anil Kumar Jha. "Based on a complaint given by the Congress, I have asked the deputy commissioner to get it inquired," Mr Jha told Deccan Chronicle. When asked whether it would tantamount to violation of the model code of conduct, Mr Jha said: "I have not seen it. The Congress party has said so in its petition. Only after an inquiry we will come to know about the nature of violation."

Mr Yeddyurappa's gesture has proved a source of embarrassment for his party colleagues who complained to the Election Commission against state Mahila Congress president Laxmi Hebbalkar with a video footage of her handing over cash to a family in Annooru Keri in Gundlupet two days ago.

Meanwhile, with poll-eve temperature soaring in both constituencies and rival parties lodging complaints and counter-complaints, police officers of Mysuru and Chamarajnagar enhanced security measures and intensified checking of vehicles for cash, liquor or goodies. Around 4.5 lakh voters are expected to cast their vote these bypolls, which will decide the fate of former minister, V. Srinivas Prasad, who has made it a matter of prestige to win from Nanjangud constituency after quitting the Congress in protest over being dropped from the Cabinet by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, and joining the BJP. The Congress is banking on Mr Kalale Keshavamurthy, who left the JDS to join the party.

In Gundlupet, the Congress is fighting to retain the seat, which fell vacant after the death of minister, H C Mahadevprasad, by fielding his widow, Geetha, hoping the sympathy factor will do the trick for it. The BJP has countered it with its candidate, K R Niranjankumar, who lost twice to Mr Mahadev Prasad in Assembly polls in 2008 and 2013.
A tourist attraction in Bali island (Photo: balihotdeals.com)

More than 10 Indonesian travel agents met with some 40 Vietnamese tour operators from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to introduce tourism packages and tourist attractions and to seek cooperation opportunities.



A representative from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism was present at the event and lauded cooperation prospects between the two countries.



Indonesias Acting Ambassador to Vietnam Suryana Satradiredja said that Indonesia wants to cooperate with Vietnamese travel companies, management agencies and media to lure more tourists to the country.



Indonesia and Vietnam have huge opportunities to boost tourism cooperation as the numbers of vacationers are still low when compared with their respective populations, he added.



Last year, only 69,653 Indonesian tourists visited Vietnam and about 50,000 Vietnamese holidaymakers toured Indonesia.



Further tourism opportunities will be available for Vietnam and Indonesia thanks to increasing wealth in both countries, coupled with the launch of direct flights and the possibility of signing tourism cooperation agreements between the two nations, he said.



Indonesia is the worlds largest island country with 17,000 islands. Bali and Yogjakarta are among the most popular destinations.



On the occasion, the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism highlighted 10 major destinations called 10 New Bali tourit sites. Those include Toba Lake (North Sumatra), Tanjung Kelayang (Bangka Belitung), Tanjung Lesung (Banten), Borobudur (Central Java), Bromo-Tengger-Semeru (East Java), Labuan Bajo (East Nusa Tenngara), Mandalika (West Nusa Tenggara) and Wakatobi (Southeast Sulawesi).



The country has set a target of serving 20 million foreign visitors by 2019 while Vietnam expects to welcome 17-20 million foreign holidaymakers by 2020./.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina travel together to Manekshaw centre to meet Indian Soldiers who fought in 1971 war, in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: India and Bangladesh on Saturday signed 22 pacts in key sectors including defence and civil nuclear but the long-pending Teesta waters sharing agreement remained elusive though Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed his government's commitment for an early solution.

Modi said the pact is important for Indo-Bangla relationship and expressed hope that the West Bengal Chief Minister will eventually support it.

The two countries also agreed to confront challenges of terrorism with deeper security and defence cooperation with Modi terming spread of radicalism as a grave threat, not only to the two countries but to the entire region.

On her part, Hasina, on a visit here after seven years, said her country will continue its zero-tolerance policy towards terror and promised to take all steps to ensure peace and security along Indo-Bangla border.

Later, hitting out at Pakistan, Modi said it breeds, inspires and encourages terrorism and this thought is a roadblock to peace within the region and the world.

There is one thought in South Asia which breeds, inspires and encourages terrorism. The thought whose priority is not humanity, but extremism and terrorism, he said, without naming Pakistan.
The presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modis political foe Mamata Banerjee was keenly watched. When the Bengal CM was asked to join him and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on the dais, she was a little hesitant. But Modi motioned that she come forward so that the three leaders could stand together. And Mamata promptly did so.

New Delhi: Expressing the "greatest admiration for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's firm resolve in dealing with terrorism" and "her government's 'zero-tolerance' policy towards terrorism" which he said "is an inspiration for all of us", Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a thinly-veiled scathing attack on Pakistan without naming it. "There is a mentality in South Asia opposed to the approach of India and Bangladesh to promote development. This mentality nurtures and inspires terrorism. The mentality which influences those who plan policies under it and which regards terrorism as higher than humanism, destruction greater than development and annihilation better than creation," he said, even as Sheikh Hasina honoured the Indian martyrs of the 1971 Bangladesh war of liberation highlighting the bond between the two nations.

In another clear message aimed at Pakistan, the two Prime Ministers also "condemned the genocide that occurred in Bangladesh in 1971", with PM Modi saying, "We in India rejoice in our ties with Bangladesh. Ties that have been forged in blood and generations of kinship."

A picture from the Hindi translation of the unfinished memoir of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman that was jointly released by Modi and Hasina.

Resolving to arrive at an agreement on the contentious Teesta river water issue, PM Modi said, "Along with our shared land boundaries are our shared rivers. They sustain our peoples and their livelihoods. And, the one that has attracted the greatest attention is the Teesta. This is important for India, for Bangladesh and for India- Bangladesh relationship. I am very happy that the Chief Minister of West Bengal is my honoured guest today . I know that her feelings for Bangladesh are as warm as my own. I assure you and the people of Bangladesh of our commitment and continuing efforts. I firmly believe that it is only my government and Excellency Sheikh Hasina, your government, that can and will find an early solution to Teesta Water Sharing." PM Modi's praise of Ms. Banerjee is significant, given her reservations in the past few years on such a pact and its impact on Bengal. "We are a long-standing and trusted development partner of Bangladesh. ... In this context, I am happy to announce a new concessional Line of Credit of 4.5 billion dollars for the implementation of projects in priority sectors for Bangladesh. This brings our resource allocation for Bangladesh to more than 8 billion dollars over the past six years. ... Today, we have also taken a long overdue step by signing an agreement on close cooperation between our armed forces.

When officer asked Modi, Hasina to step down

A gaffe by the Chief of Protocol at the Hyderabad House event in the capital on Saturday afternoon in the presence of Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Sheikh Hasina had everyone in splits including the two leaders who both had a hearty laugh. May I now request the two prime ministers to step down, the official, who was anchoring the ceremony on signing of MoUs, said. What he had meant to say was to request the two PMs to step down from a raised platform and release a Hindi translation of memoirs of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Visibly embarrassed at the slip-up, the official coolly said after a pause, I now request the two PMs who have not stepped down to jointly release the Hindi translation of the unfinished memoir of Bangabandhu Mujibur Rahman.
Hyderabad: The headmaster of a government high school in Ranga Reddy district may lose his job for making students do odd jobs around the school. School management committee chairman N. Sudershan, in his petition to Balala Hakkula Sangham, stated that K. Kistaiah, the headmaster of Shivarampally ZP High School, was making students do jobs like cleaning water tanks and digging pits in the school. He also asked them to dismantle an old compound wall and shift the bricks and other building material to his house.

Mr. Sudershan said: Though there are private people employed for this work, he is forcing students to do this. Despite many requests to stop, he did not change and the complaint to district and mandal education officers also fell on deaf ears. The Balala Hakkula Sangham demanded the immediate suspension of the headmaster and wanted a criminal case against him for child labour under the provisions of the Child Labour Prohibition Act.

The Sangham also sought an explanation from officials on why action had not been initiated against the headmaster despite complaints.The headmaster was not available to comment on the issue.
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath coming out after the cabinet meeting at Lok Bhawan in Lucknow on Tuesday. (Photo: PTI)

Lucknow: The Yogi Adityanath government will soon launch Annapurna canteens that will provide subsidised food to students, those working in the low income group in private sectors, workers and attendants of patients.

A presentation in this regard was made before Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath who has asked officials to proceed with the scheme which will be implemented in all 14 nagar nigams of the state.

According to an official in the labour department, the pilot project will be launched in Lucknow, Kanpur, Gorakhpur and Ghaziabad.

One can get three meals a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner) for Rs 13. The breakfast will cost Rs three while lunch and dinner will be available for Rs 5 each.

The subsidy for this project will work out to Rs 35 per person. Those who wish to eat in these canteen can buy prepaid cards or rechargeable tokens.

The breakfast will include combinations of tea with either dalia, idli, sambhar, poha, pakoras or kachori while lunch and dinner will include six chappatis with vegetables of dal and chawal. Food will be served in steel plates and water purifiers will be installed in all canteens.

Last year former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had launched the Samajwadi Canteen scheme but the project proved to be a failure.
ALAPPUZHA: The Department of Archaeology will assess the value of two 600-year-old darushilpas which were sold by Thiruvizha Mahadeva temple authorities as part of the temples renovation. The Darushilpas of dwarapalakas, 3.5 feet each, were said to have been sold off for a whopping Rs 20 lakh. J. Rejikumar, Director, Department of Archaeology told Deccan Chronicle , A team specializing in darushipas will be sent to the temple to study it, he said. He added that the value and significance could be realised only after they were traced. The department decided to take up the matter after DC published a report on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the local people on Thursday filed a complaint with Arthunkal police demanding a probe. The complaint said that the darushilpas were a special attraction and devotees entered the temple only after touching the feet of the dwarpalakas. The deal was done on the sly without proper value assessment. The temple administration committed a criminal breach of trust, the complaint says. M.R. Mrudulkumar, Sub Inspector, confirmed the complaint, adding, The statement of the temple authorities will be recorded by Saturday.

The temple is believed to have been consecrated by Swamy Vilwamangalam in the 14th century by installing Shiva in the form of Lord Kalakandha (Lord Siva who swallowed poison during Palazhimadhanam),. Mahadeva temple, which is well known for the Marunnu seva ritual  purifies devotees by making them vomit the poisonous elements eaten by them, using certain indigenous medicines  has been mentioned in Athihyamala and Mahakshtrangalude Mumbil by Nalaankal Krishna Pillai.

The temple administration committee president earlier told DC that the darushilpas were sold last week for a competent price and added that they would be replaced with new ones. However, on Tuesday, the Kerala Lalithakala academy passed a resolution saying the temple authorities had no right to sell the ancient darushilpas. Its a state asset. There is a conspiracy behind the disappearance of the darushilpas worth crores in the international market from the temple, it said, demanding a thorough probe.
THRISSUR: A fire tragedy is waiting in almost all the hospitals in Thrissur as most of them are not adhering to the Kerala Municipal Building Rules (KMBR), National Building Code (NBC) and direction from the Kerala Fire and Rescue Services to put in place a fool proof fire system for the hospital buildings. Fire force officers who took part in the operation at Sun Medical and Research Centre pointed out that it was a fault on the part of the hospital authorities to store computers and printers in a room close to that of the patients.

DC has learnt from official in Fire Force that the fire station in Thrissur town had issued notices to 17 hospitals within the corporation limit for not following the safety rules. But even after dispatching two more reminders, they had not yet taken any corrective action. As the fire and safety department has no legal authority to take action against these hospitals, they remain mute spectators on the issue. "In case of a fire incident, the timely evacuation is of utmost importance and the Sun Medical and Research Centre is by far a hospital which follows rules and conducts mock fire drills. But, there are hospitals in the Thrissur Corporation Limit which do not have a proper fire system to fight fire in case of an incident," Assistant Station Officer at Thrissur Fire Station Balram Babu said.

Toxic smoke kills most people during a fire accident in buildings and hospitals. Even in Sun Hospital, the fire force personnel had to break open the ventilation glasses for the smoke to move out of the rooms and corridors, he noted. "As a hospital is the most difficult place to conduct evacuation due to the presence of patients, it is mandatory as per the fire safety rules to have two staircases for each floor and one fire escape stair outside the building. But, most of the old hospital buildings do not have such a system in place," he said. Another safety aspect is a fire safety lift for multi-storey hospitals with separate power connection to be operated during a fire incident using generators.

"For all the new buildings, we are very strict in issuing fire safety NOCs," he noted. In view of the fire incident at Sun Hospital in Thrissur, the Divisional Fire Officer from Kozhikode will be visiting the hospital and would prepare a detailed report about the reasons for the firebreak. Notices will be served to all the hospitals that did not have a foolproof fire safety system and building designed for smooth evacuation. Director General of Fire Force will also be giving a report to Thrissur Co-operation Secretary to take action against the hospitals that violate fire safety norms, fire force officials in Thrissur said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina during the ceremonial reception at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is on a four-day-long state visit to India, has brought with her gifts for the Indian leadership, including the President and the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Hasina has brought a Punjabi pair of silk pyjamas, artworks, a dinner set, a leather bag set, four kilogram of kalojam and rosgolla, two kilogram sandesh, 20 kilogram of hilsa and two kilograms of yogurt for Indian President Pranab Mukherjee.

Bangladesh Foreign Ministry sources were quoted by the Daily Star as saying that there was also a silk sari as gift for the Indian President's daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee.

She would also be presenting a dinner set, a leather bag, two kilograms of rosgolla and kalojam and one kilogram of sandesh to Indian Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari.

Prime Minister Hasina will give her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, a leather office bag set, four kilograms of kalojam and rosgolla, two kilograms of sandesh and four kilograms of yogurt. She has also bought a Rajshahi silk sari for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mother.

Prime Minister Hasina will gift a a Rajshahi silk sari, a tea set, two kilograms of rosgolla and kalojam, one kilogram of sandesh and two kilograms of yogurt to Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

She would give West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee a Benarasi sari, two kilograms of rosgolla and kalojam, one kilogram of sandesh and two kilograms of yogurt.

Prime Minister Hasina will be presenting a silver boat each for Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, State Minister for External Affairs Vijay Kumar Singh and State Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Babul Supriyo.

Prime Minister Hasina arrived in New Delhi on Friday to kickstart her four-day state visit to the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi received his Bangladeshi counterpart at the Technical area of Palam Airport.

"Delighted to welcome H.E. Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, on her State Visit to India. PM Sheikh Hasina and I are determined to take the relationship between our nations to a new level," Prime Minister tweeted.

Officials from Prime Minister Hasina's entourage took selfies with Prime Minister Modi. The two leaders are expected to hold official talks on a range of issues including an inter-governmental agreement on civil nuclear energy.

According to the Dhaka Tribune, India and Bangladesh may sign around 33 deals and Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) on trade and commerce, economy and connectivity, and on defence related issues.
The gruesome murder of the elderly woman on Sunday last came to light when her neighbours noticed the victim lying dead in her house with a chilling throat-slit injury and they then informed the police.

Dharmapuri: In a strange case of murder-for-gain to help fund the love marriage of one of their colleagues, resembling a film script, three juvenile offenders of Dharmapuri district were arrested on Saturday, as police traced their whereabouts from their cell phone records five days after the murder.

Police said, P.Pathi, S.Sundareasn and K.Rajenderan (names changed) of Maya Baazar area in Pappireddipatti police limits, all below 17 years and school dropouts, were arrested for the alleged murder of 63-year-old V.Amutha of Pappireddipatti in Harur taluk in the district.

The gruesome murder of the elderly woman on Sunday last came to light when her neighbours noticed the victim lying dead in her house with a chilling throat-slit injury and they then informed the police. Initially, the police thought that Amuthas death was yet another case of senior citizen killed by burglars who target particularly old people staying alone in their house. However, after police traced the criminals with the help of their mobile phone call records, the misguided youth when questioned admitted to killing Amutha to get money to solemnize the love marriage of of one of their colleagues, Pathi.

Pathi, who was working in a spinning mill in Erode, had fallen in love with a woman five years older to him, police said. Few days back, Pathi came to his native village here to get money for performing his marriage with his ladylove. But upset over inability to raise funds, he and his two friends, Sundaresan and Rajendran, planned a robbery.

The trio entered the house of Amutha, knowing she was staying alone in the house. They killed her when Amutha tried to cry for help on seeing the boys breaking the locker in her bedroom. The juveniles quickly fled the place with Rs 1,700 cash robbed from her home.

The boys, after committing the murder, went to Vellakovil in Erode district where Pathi did manage to marry his lover at a local temple in the presence of his two friends, police said. However, Pappireddipatti police zeroed in on them and arrested the trio and produced them before the local court.
Thiruvananthapuram: Jishnu Pranoys mother Mahija, whose hunger strike entered the fourth day on Saturday, was shifted to the intensive care unit of the medical college hospital here in the evening after her condition worsened. MCH authorities said that Mahija refused to take water or other fluids because of which her urine output had reduced alarmingly. She has developed acidosis which is a serious metabolic imbalance caused by excess of acidic particles in the body. As the condition could affect the functioning of kidneys, the doctors don't want to take any chances. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also called up MCH superintendent in the evening and directed him to provide all medical assistance to Mahija. Following his instructions, the doctors shifted her to the ICU.

Mahija, 45, and her brother Sreejith, 35, said they would continue the hunger strike till the culprits behind Jishnu's death were arrested and action was taken against Cantonment assistant commissioner and Museum SI for their alleged highhandedness. Mahija's husband Asokan said that she was experiencing severe pain on the back and stomach. She cannot walk without support. Though he alleged that the doctors were not providing the exact details about her medical condition, the authorities denied the charge.

Earlier, a statement issued by the MCH said the condition of Mahija and Sreejith was normal. They were examined by deputy superintendent, head of the medicine department and a special team headed by medicine professor. Barring pain in the back and hip, Mahija had no other major medical complications. Both are being administered fluids intravenously. The medical experts concluded that they need not be forcibly discharged from the hospital at this stage. Though the hospital authorities had taken adequate steps to shift Mahija to the pay ward, she preferred to continue in the general ward.

The doctors had earlier advised her 10 days complete rest. The family members countered reports that Mahija had started taking food. She has refused all kinds of food, including liquid supplements. Meanwhile, politicians and people from several organisations continued to make a beeline to the MCH to meet Mahija. A group of students from Nehru College, Pampadi, also visited her at the hospital and expressed their solidarity.
Thiruvananthapuram: An elderly man was mauled to death by stray dogs and his body was found partially eaten by them at Mamam near Attingal on Friday night. The deceased was identified as Kunjikrishnan, 85, resident of Charuvila House, Kattumburam, Mamam. The doctors at the Medical College Hospital who conducted the autopsy told the police that the injuries due to dog bites had resulted in his death. According to the Attingal police, he had left home at 9 a.m. on Friday to get a haircut from a shop at the junction there.

When he did not return home until 3 p.m., the family searched for him in the shops and houses of acquaintances. Around 11 p.m., the relatives found a pack of dogs feasting on the mans face and hands and thighs at a field somewhat close to his house. The dogs charged at the search party who managed to chase them away. Police arrived at the spot and sent the body for autopsy at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital.

There were burn marks on his skin which suggested that he might have collapsed in the field in the afternoon and then might have been attacked by the dogs. Such dog attacks have never been reported from here before, said Attingal Sub-Inspector Thanseem Abdul Samad.He leaves behind his wife Sarojini, four daughters and three sons.
Mumbai: Social activist Anna Hazare on Saturday said that, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has violated laws and the Constitution, and declared he will never support what the AAP leader has done.

"He (Kejriwal) has dashed all my hopes," Hazare said, reacting to the Shunglu committee report which indicted the Kejriwal's government for by passing law, nepotism and financial irregularities.

"I am pained by the Shunglu committee report because Arvind was with me in the fight against corruption. I had great hopes from the young and educated Kejriwal and felt that young people like him will create a corruption-free nation," Hazare said in a statement issued at his village Ralegan Siddhi in Ahmednagar district.

"But he has dashed all my hopes," Hazare said, adding he was pained to read about the allegations against Kejriwal in the Shunglu Committee report. "He was my colleague in the fight against corruption. Then, I felt the educated, new generation could help rid the country of graft. But it was a big dream and it lies shattered," Hazare said.

"When Kejriwal launched the Aam Aadmi Party, it was the Lord who gave me wisdom to keep away (from him) or even my reputation would be ruined," Hazare said. "Even after he became the chief minister, I never felt a desire to meet him. Now, I understand why he always used to address me as his 'Guru'. The Lord has saved me," the 79-year-old said.

Kejriwal has forgotten all principles in the pursuit of power, Hazare said.
Ahmedabad: Amidst speculations of early elections, Gujarat BJP will hold its state executive meeting on April 22 and 23 at Somnath, in presence of party president Amit Shah.

The meeting will be held with focus to formulate strategy to capture 150 seats in Gujarat by the party in the coming elections.

"After historic win of UP, our focus is to win Gujarat elections with over 150 seats. The meeting will be held in Somnath due to special significance of the religious town," BJP spokesperson Bharat Pandya said.

"Party president Amit Shah will remain present for two days in the meeting," he said.

Generally party national president does not remain present for the state level meeting, but this time due to upcoming elections, Shah will attend the meeting on both days.

"In the meeting, we will pass various resolutions including one political resolution and take reporting from various districts regarding ongoing party programmes chalked out to reach out to the people," Pandya said.

The meeting will be held amidst the speculations that BJP might dissolve state Assembly earlier and go for polls. As per normal schedule the state assembly elections are going to be held in December this year, however, it can be held before the monsoon season, said party sources.

"Pandya said that the final decision about early elections will be taken by party central leadership only. The state unit of BJP is ready to fight elections whenever they are held," he said.
Chennai: Leader of Opposition M.K. Stalin and PMK founder S.Ramadoss on Friday welcomed the I-T raids on health minister C. Vijayabaskar and demanded the immediate dismissal from his post.

Leader of Opposition M.K. Stalin and PMK founder S.Ramadoss on Friday welcomed the IT raids on health minister C.Vijayabaskar and demanded the immediate dismissal from his post.

Demanding that Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palanisami should dismiss Vijayabaskar, he asked Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao to dismiss Vijayabaskar, if the CM failed to do so.

He also urged the IT officials not to stop with the raids on few ministers, but extend the searches to former Chief Ministers and senior ministers.

He also said IT raids during the bypoll campaign are raising suspicions and the central government should come out with explanations about the raids including the past raids on AIADMK functionaries. Stalin said no action had been taken after the raids which continue to be a mystery and added that the raids on Shekar Reddy did not extend to the PWD minister, secretary and other officials.

Stalin said the raids on MGR medical university Vice-Chancellor and other health ministry officials, besides the minister is a great shame to TN as it is sufficient proof for the rampant corruption in the AIADMK administration.

Cong contradicts Stalins views: Even while DMK working president M.K. Stalin welcomed the IT raids on health minister C. Vijayabaskar who faced IT raids, DMK ally and TNCC president S. Thirunavukkarasar condemned the raids saying that the BJP government is behind the move. Speaking to the media, the Congress leader the raids at the time of RK Nagar bypoll is motivated and intended to threaten AIADMK (Amma).
Nanjangud: On Friday, some five lakh people gathered at Dakshin Kashi, the famed Shaivite temple at Nanjangud, where for the first time, a resurgent BJP, buoyed by PM Modi's election sweep of the north, is all set to give the Congress a run for its money, in two constituencies in what has always been a Congress stronghold in the south. The ballots will go into the boxes on Sunday. The results will be out on Tuesday.

Which way could it all go? Listen to this young man. We supported Congress all these years as our Prasad Sir was there. Now we will work for the BJP since our leader has embraced the saffron party said Santosh, a second year B.Com student from Badanavalu.

The Prasad Sir, he mentions, is the former face of the Congress and former minister V. Srinivasprasad, who resigned his party membership, insulted when he was dropped by CM Siddaramaiah from the council of ministers in October last year.

The CM, hamstrung by the lack of a giant to beat this Goliath, has picked Kalale Keshavamurthy from JD(S) who had lost against the same candidate by a narrow margin in 2013 assembly polls. Hurriedly inducted into the Congress and given a ticket, Kalale is up against his old foe, who is sporting his new saffron colours, with a vengeance.

The BJP, which has long dreamed of gaining a toehold in the south, where it has no base, neither in Mysuru rural or the entire Chamarajanagar district, cannot stop smiling. Prasads victory is integral to the BJPs plans to edge out the Congress and the JD(S) here.

For Prasad, the Dalit vote is virtually in the bag. The question is, whether the sizeable Lingayats, Brahmins and Jains voters who are traditionally inclined to the BJP but have never had a serious BJP candidate to vote for, will vote for a Dalit and a former Congressman. Many of these non-Dalits have supported Prasad in the past. Around 160 to 170 villages come under this constituency and every village has a mix of Dalits and Lingayats as well as Nayaks and Upparas.

Ganesh, a Uppara from Hemmaragala village, reflected the change when he said, this time Prasad or no Prasad our community has decided to vote for the BJP because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is trying to develop India.

Krishnamurthy of Dodda Kavalande village was not so supportive. He said Mr Prasad had not done anything for the development of the taluk. He is non-approachable and hardly visits the constituency. Mr Prasad is responsible for causing the by election only because his self-respect had been hurt. If that is so, he should have stayed low key and contested from any party of his choice next year. This would have saved money and time at a time when the severe drought has hit the state. Prasad had worked as MP, union minister, MLA and minister in his 40 years of political life, let others also get the chance to serve the people.

Says Kumar who regularly supplies condiments to stalls and bakeries. The fight between Congress and BJP may be intense in Nanjangud town. But in the rural areas, the mood is surprisingly pro-BJP largely because of the Modi factor.

A bachelor, a man of simple tastes, and a runner up to Srinvasprasad in one poll after another, this time, Kalale is hoping to turn the tables on an old rival. Will he be able to? Is his timing - joining a party that could face anti-incumbency - off again?

The Congress is trying to rake up the Badanavalu incident of the early 1990s, when Dalits were lynched by upper caste Lingayats to drive a wedge into the BJP's consolidation of the Dalit-Lingayat vote, questioning how Prasad, despite his pro-Dalit stand could join hands with a communal party.

The BJP is banking on Prasad for several reasons. His status as a mass leader with a large following not only in Mysuru but also in Chamarajanagar could be used to woo Dalit voters who still consider the BJP a Brahmins party. Through Mr Prasad, the BJP wants to make a grand entry into 16 assembly constituencies in two districts of Old Mysore and Chamarajnagar.

For Prasad, a victory will send a strong message to the Congress that he is still a force to reckon with in both districts. Conversely, his defeat could not only upend the grand roadmap of a BJP, riding on his back to win the south, it could also send him into political exile. He has already said that this will be his last election.

None of the other newly inducted Dalit leaders, like K Shivanna and M. Shivanna match the charisma of Prasad. The Congress game plan is to ensure there is no repeat of Hebbal. For the CM, who is chief campaigner, publicist, and proxy candidate, he and Kalale will draw on his and the CMs long time JD(S) network to bring in the Vokkaliga vote. Come April 11, it will be interesting to see what the voter gives credence to.

Total voters: 2.03 lakh

Dalits: 58,000

Lingayats: 54,000

Others

Nayaks: 18,000

Upparas: 15,000

Muslims: 8,000

Vokkaligas: 6,000

Brahmins: 7,800

Jains: 2,500
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina at the joint media briefing at Hyderabad House in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday assured Bangladesh of an "early solution" to the emotive Teesta water sharing issue, a pact on which has remained elusive for nearly seven years.

The two sides inked 22 pacts in key areas of defence and civil nuclear cooperation after "productive" talks between Modi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in New Delhi.

Modi held extensive discussions with Hasina on ways to strengthen ties between the two countries after which he announced a line of concessional credit of USD 4.5 billion for implementation of projects in Bangladesh.

Announcing an additional line of credit of USD 500 million to Bangladesh for military supplies, Modi said it will be driven by the requirement of that country.

However, the much-delayed pact on Teesta water sharing remained elusive for the two sides. Stressing that the deal was "important" for India-Bangladesh ties, Modi assured India's commitment to the issue.

He said an "early solution can and will be found" to the Teesta water sharing issue.

The Teesta deal was set to be signed during the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Bangladesh in September, 2011 but was postponed at the last minute due to objections by West Benagl Chief Minister Banerjee.

Teesta water is crucial for Bangladesh especially in the leanest period from December to March when the water flow often temporarily comes down to less than 1,000 cusecs from 5,000 cusecs.
New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Karnataka president BS Yeddyurappa has been caught on camera handing over money to a woman in Chamrajnagar district, about 150 km from the capital Bengaluru, ahead of the by polls in the state.

According to a report in NDTV, Yeddyurappa was caught on the video handing over a bundle of Rs 2,000 notes to the woman.

The Congress has called on the Election Commission to show no mercy to Yeddyurappa after he was slapped with charges of distributing money ahead of Karnataka by-polls.

Congress leader V. Hanumanta Rao alleged that the former Chief Minister and current BJP president has been caught red handed while giving bribes to the family of the deceased farmer who committed suicide ahead of the by-polls.

He further said that on one hand the BJP party claims to eradicate corruption, and on other hand its party member has been bribing people ahead of the polls.

The Congress leader also claimed that this kind of activity amid the by-polls in the state is violation of the Election Code and demanded the poll panel to take serious actions against the Yedyurappa.

Earlier in the day, the Congress filed a complaint to the Election Commission of India against Yeddyurappa.

The complaint was also filed against BJP leader M. P. Renukacharya ahead of the Gundlupet by-polls.

As per the complaint filed by the Congress Party, Yeddyurappa has distributed around Rs. one lakh and Renukacharya has distributed Rs. five lakh in the Gundlupet constituency which amount to bribery and corrupt practices.

The by-poll in Gundlupet is scheduled to be held on April 9 and the results will be declared on April 13.
Gundlupet: Who will Gundlupet vote for ? The widow of a popular minister who is trying to make the best of the sympathy wave or a candidate who was rejected by the electorate twice and is now trying to evoke sympathy by pleading for a chance this time?

The constituency on the Kerala border is not known to change its choices fast if the electoral record is any indication. In fact, Gundlupet has had only three legislators representing it over the past 65 years since the first election in 1952. While the first candidate held this seat for one term, his successor Ms K.S. Nagaratnamma won the seat seven times.

Her successor late Mahadevprasad almost emulated her bagging the seat five times.

For the BJP, it is a now or never battle in a constituency which has always stood by the Congress or Janata Dal. Party leaders have swooped down on the constituency highlighting the failures of the Siddaramaiah government and non-development in the last 24 years.

The BJP candidate Niranjankumar had lost by around 2,200 votes in 2013 when he contested against Mahadevprasad on a KJP ticket and by around 7000 votes in 2008. A victory in Chamarajnagar district where Gundlupet is situated, has always eluded the BJP which is why it is trying its best to open its account making the best of the Modi wave.

Srinivasprasad factor

Even Nanjangud BJP candidate Srinivasaprasad's clout could come into play in Gundlupet as he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Chamarajnagar five times. He enjoys a good hold over Dalit voters in all eight assembly segments in the Chamarajnagar Lok Sabha seat. During a recent public meeting in Gundlupet, Srinivasprasad took the battle to the Congress camp claiming Siddaramaiah was not ready to give a cabinet berth to Mahadevprasad! Can Geetha Mahadevprasad beat the anti-incumbency against her husband who reportedly could not solve the drinking water problem in the last 25 years? The issue came to the fore during the CM' s visit to Mallaiyanapura with people demanding filling of tanks. Nor do the villages in the constituency have good roads.

Caste equation

With the 80,000 Lingayat votes sure to be divided between the two candidates, the Dalits and the Nayak community could decide their fate. The Congress has deployed Chamarajanagar MP Dhruvanarayan and PWD minister Dr H.C. Mahadevappa to attract SC votes while the BJP has asked former IAS officer K Shivaram who is also state president of the Cheluvadi Sanga, to visit Dalit colonies to attract young voters.

The CM has deployed master strategist and energy minister D.K. Shivakumar to manage Ms Geetas campaign. In the BJP, its party state president B.S. Yeddyurappa who is leading from the front visiting over 100 villages to seek support for Niranjankumar. With money flowing freely in the constituency, it looks like the contest is heading for a photo finish. For Geeta, a victory is crucial to prove she is no novice as the sympathy wave may not last till April 2018 when the next polls are due.

Total voters 1,98,815 lakh

Lingayats 80,000

Scheduled Castes 50,000

Nayaks 18,000

Muslims 7,000
New Delhi: With Union human resource development minister Prakash Javadekar seemingly unable to push through the saffron agenda by overhauling the education sector via implementation of the much-awaited National Education Policy, his ministrys powers are apparently being clipped.

Over the past few weeks, regulatory powers of several subjects like Architecture have been taken away and put under the urban development ministry.

As for polytechnics, it has been given to the skill development ministry. Sources said that the downgrading of the HRD ministry has the backing of the RSS.

It was learnt that the big brother of the Sangh Parivar had been expressing unhappiness over the inordinate delay in implementation of the education policy.

Following the delay, there are rumours in the HRD corridors that Mr Javdekar could return to environment, handing over charge to a more committed saffronite.

If these are not enough, speculations are rife that the All-India Council for Technical Education, the regulatory body for technical education, could again be shifted to the skills development ministry.

The ministry officials, however, claimed that the move to take away the power to regulate technical subjects has nothing to do with downgrading HRD ministry, but was a part of a larger plan to hand these specialised subjects to appropriate ministries."

Despite this claim, it was learnt that the HRD ministry was opposing the transfer of the AICTE to the skill development ministry, being led by Union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy. The opinion about these transfers is divided in the ministry.

While a section described these as a part of a larger plan, other bureaucrats indicated that such transfers would gradually shrink the power and ambit of the HRD ministry.

Sources said the HRD ministry has repeatedly been asked to expedite the final draft of the policy so that the government is able to implement it without any glitch from the 2018-19 academic session and before the 2019 general elections.

The ministry incidentally has also been unable to shortlist candidates to be included in the committee to prepare the draft NEP. Mr Javadekar in November last had announced that the names of the candidates to prepare the draft education policy would be announced at the earliest.

As the debate rages over reported downgrading of the HRD ministry, sources said that Mr Javadekar was delaying the new education policy to avoid any controversy.
I am proud to be a Hindu, but I am deeply concerned at some things that are happening in the name of Hinduism. The Hinduism that I subscribe to had sages who had the courage to say millennia ago that tolerance and inclusion are the essence of the spiritual vision. Centuries before Christ was born, at a time when people, for lack of other exposure, believed that only what they believed was right, our sages pronounced: Ekam satya bipraha bahuda vedanti  the truth is one; wise people call it by different names. Around the same time, when most other people believed that only their world had legitimacy, our sages had the courage to say: Udar charitanam vasudhaiva kutumbukam  for the broad-minded the entire world is their family. Those who laid the foundations of our religious worldview could confidently say, at a time when most other social groupings were insecurely insular: Aano bhadra krtavo yantu vishvatah  let noble thoughts come to me from all directions.

Unfortunately, this great religion is being hijacked today, but not by outsiders. It is being undermined by a small group of Hindus who believe that they alone know what Hinduism is. Unlike our sages who said that the one truth can be interpreted by the wise in many ways, their approach is to say that we alone have a monopoly on truth. Unlike our founding fathers who wished to embrace the entire world as their family, these Hindus believe in singling out for exclusion anyone who does not agree with them. And, unlike our wise ancestors who invited noble thoughts to flow from all directions, these fanatics have a closed mind to any other opinion. This tragic coup is unfolding before our eyes, and the majority of Hindus are watching mutely. One reason for this sorry state of affairs is that these self-anointed guardians of our religion are violent people. They do not believe in persuasion, discussion, dialogue, debate, shastrarth or argumentation. Nor do they believe in the rule of law. They believe that they have the right to silence those who oppose them through physical violence and brute force. And, the level of their violence directly corresponds to the level of their ignorance.

What is worse is that they believe that they can get away by breaking the law because those who are supposed to be the guardians of the law are actually on their side. The most ugly and frightening symptom of this devaluation of Hinduism is the emergence of vigilante squads consisting of lumpen groups who now roam around this ancient land beating up and killing people on the basis of mere suspicion. They have no sanction, or remit, or locus standi or authority to do so except their own hubris and the belief that they can get away with it because the authorities will not take action against them. This last part is a very worrisome development because it undermines not only the rule of law that is the very basis of an organised, democratic society but the Constitution and the Republic itself. It is for this reason that the Supreme Court has issued notices on April 7 to six states seeking to know within three weeks why groups calling themselves gau rakshaks should not be banned like other outlawed outfits for taking the law into their own hands.

The six states are UP, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra and Karnataka. The highest court has also asked these states to explain what administrative measures they have taken to prevent such vigilantism. It is not a coincidence that of the six states five are BJP-ruled. Many Hindus hold the cow in reverence. That sentiment should be respected. In many states there are laws banning cow slaughter. Those laws should not be infringed. But, enforcing the law is the jurisdiction of those authorised to do so. If citizens believe that they can, in the name of religious belief, take the law into their own hands, we are looking at a state of anarchy. Enough has already happened to justify the SCs directive. Mohammad Akhlaq was lynched in UP on the suspicion of eating beef; dalits were flogged in public in Gujarat on the suspicion that they were cattle thieves; Majloom Ansari and Inayatullah Khan, who were on their way to a cattle fair, were hung from a tree in Jharkhand; Zaid Ahmed Bhat was burnt alive on a highway in Udhampur in Jammu & Kashmir on the suspicion that he was smuggling cattle; a 25-year-old was thrashed to death by cow vigilantes in Ahmedabad; another 29-year-old was lynched by a mob in Udupi for ferrying cattle in a van; and now, we have the latest incident of Pehlu Khan beaten to death by gau rakshaks in Rajasthan.

This manner of taking the law into ones own hands presents a very strange version of the slogan Sabka saath, sabka vikas. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the majority of those masquerading as gau rakshaks were just anti-social elements. But that view does not seem to be shared by those implementing the law in the states in which his party is in power. The deeply worrisome thing is that one act of hijacking the law emboldens the next. We now hear of Yuva Hindu Vahini workers halting church services in Gorakhpur. Some days ago members of the Karni Rajput Sena attacked filmmaker Bhansali and vandalised the sets of his film on Padmavati at the Jaigarh Fort in Rajasthan. We also hear reports of excesses being committed against couples and boys and girls by vigilantes acting under the sanction of anti-Romeo squads. Hinduism does not sanction this kind of violence. Nor can Hinduism, that upholds dharma, countenance this kind of willful abrogation of the law of the land. Those claiming to act on behalf of Hindus are, therefore, shaming the vast majority of Hindus. All those who live the genuine Hindu experience must work together to stop them.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is usually a step ahead of his political rivals. However, this time, he seems to have been beaten by Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. Mr Modi wanted to preside over a grand programme in Bihar to mark the centenary of Mahatma Gandhis Champaran satyagraha. Agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh was given the responsibility of planning and executing the PMs programme. But before the minister could get going, Mr Kumar declared that the Bihar government will launch year-long celebrations for the Champaran satyagraha centenary. Upset that he had been upstaged by Mr Kumar, the Prime Minister is learnt to have given the agriculture minister a dressing down for not being alert enough. It was then suggested that Mr Modi could join Mr Kumar at the end of his programme but that appears unlikely.

National security adviser Ajit Doval hosted a special lunch for the new Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat when he visited New Delhi recently. The guest list included army chief Bipin Rawat, RAW chief Anil Dhasmana and coast guard head Rajendra Singh all who hail from the hill state of Uttarakhand. Not just that but they come from the same district  Pauri Garhwal. The BJPs new chief ministers  Uttar Pradeshs AdityaNath Yogi and Uttarakhands Rawat also have the distinction of belonging to Pauri Garhwal. But what is not known is that the BJPs new media department chief Anil Baluni who replaced Shrikant Sharma after he moved to Uttar Pradesh as a minister in the Yogi government  is also from the same district. Mr Dovals lunch served as a reunion of sorts for all the leading personalities from his home state where special Pahari food was served. There was much mutual backslapping at this gathering as the special invitees lavished praise on each other, insisting that the others had enhanced the prestige of the state and more specifically of Pauri Garhwal.

Although officers from Gujarat virtually took over the Prime Ministers Office after Mr Modi came to power three years ago, it is clear that Uttarakhand is not far behind as far as key appointments in the government and the ruling BJP are concerned. It is nearly eight months since Ajay Tamta was elevated as minister of state for textiles but he is still waiting to move into a ministerial bungalow. The minister is to move into the bungalow which was allotted to Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh when he was Central minister in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government. But the veteran Congress leader has not given up its possession even though he moved to the state over four years ago. Several notices have been issued to

Mr Singh, the water and electricity supplies to the premises have been discon-nected, but the Himachal Pradesh chief minister has remained unmoved. He continues to occupy an MPs flat in Kaveri Apartments. Mr Tamta is not the only minister waiting for an official bung-alow. His colleague Ramdas Athawale has been staying at the Maharashtra Sadan for nearly three years now, as he is yet to be allotted suitable accommodation. Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP president Amit Shah are reputed to be unapproachable to party members, the genial finance minister Arun Jaitley has emerged as a soft target. When Mr Shah decreed that no sitting councillor will be fielded again in the coming municipal elections, Mr Jaitley was besieged by party old-timers who faced the prospect of sitting out.

While some sought a fresh look at this policy on the plea that their wives would disown them, others pressed for a ticket for a family member. Now as the date for the election of the next President and vice-president draws closer, governors and other hopefuls are also making a beeline to the finance ministers residence to plead their case. Since a harried Mr Jaitley has decided not to entertain requests for appointments from governors, Manipur governor Najma Heptulla called on a nominated Rajya Sabha member known to be close to the finance minister. She even promised to allot more time to nominated members in debates if she was made vice-president who doubles as Rajya Sabha chairman.
China has gone ballistic about the visit of the Dalai Lama to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. This is not the first time the spiritual leader has visited Tawang, as Beijing itself noted. But it says that the reason for its strong response this time around is that the famous monk was received in Arunachal Pradesh by a State representative, Union minister of state for home Kiran Rijiju. Beijing has construed this as Indias devious way of deploying the monk for diplomatic and political purposes. This is complete nonsense, of course. But a larger point needs to be made here. The Nobel peace prize-winning head of Tibetan Buddhism, who sought refuge in India in 1959 after his country was invaded by the Chinese communists in 1950, is not inhibited from travelling anywhere in India, and New Delhi regards Tawang as an integral part of the country, notwithstanding the fanciful Chinese claim to the area merely because the sixth Dalai Lama was said to have been born there in the 17th century.

Tawang, incidentally, was part of British India and this status was undisputed. Besides, how can godless communists claim a region even if a long-ago Buddhist spiritual leader was born there? This defies logic. As for Tibet itself, the British enjoyed influence over it and maintained a garrison in Lhasa. It was not a part of China. The North East Frontier Agency or NEFA (the former name for Arunachal Pradesh) lay to the south of Tibet but was not South Tibet, as the Chinese have spuriously claimed by not recognising the McMahon Line which demarcated British India from Tibet. Beijings Tawang claim is clearly nothing more than an attempt at land grab, and a means of possessing a bargaining chip in demarcating the undefined boundary represented by the McMahon Line after swallowing up Indian territory in Aksai Chin. Tawang, in any case, is well to the south of the McMahon Line. By letting the Dalai Lama proceed to Arunachal Pradesh (the holy man will be there for the next four days), India has damaged Chinas core interests, asserts Beijing. By doing so, New Delhi has also damaged India-China relations with its eyes open, and thus exposed itself to retribution by Beijing, China has stated.
Why are some humans light of skin and others dark? The answer is that evolution has given us the best possible tools for our surroundings. Those of us who live in hot climates evolved to have more sweat glands and less body hair so we could cool down faster. The hair on the head became curled rather than long for the same reason: that it covered less area and ensured faster cooling of the skin. This greater exposure to the sun meant the skin needed some form of protection against ultraviolet rays which cause cancer. This protection came from the brown pigment melanin which all of us have in different quantities. Melanin is a natural sunscreen and those in the warmest climates evolved to develop high quantities of it, making their skin permanently dark. This explains why some of us who live in hotter places are darker than others. So why did some of us become fair? The answer is that the body requires some amount of ultraviolet rays to penetrate the skin so it can use vitamin D to absorb calcium for the bones. In those parts where there was not much sunlight, like the North, we humans developed lighter skin so that whatever sunlight was available was absorbed efficiently.

And so geography more than anything else determined skin colour and we developed races. In India, we observe that the colour of skin changes as we travel from the north to the south. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sanghs Tarun Vijay made a similar point more clumsily this week. He said Indians were not racist because if we were racist, why would we live with the entire south. He awkwardly named four southern states and added: we have black people around us. He was responding to reports that Africans had been attacked in India and that their race was a factor in this violence against them. Mr Vijay was challenging the claim that racism was involved but after his statement he has been forced to defend himself against the same claim. I found it interesting that the ambassadors from Africa issued a strong statement collectively. They reviewed previous incidents of attacks on Africans and concluded that no known, sufficient and visible deterring measures were taken by the Government of India. They felt that these reprehensible events were not sufficiently condemned by the Indian authorities. The meeting unanimously agreed that those accumulated attacks against Africans are xenophobic and racial in nature.

This is a very serious accusation. The Indian government acted like Mr Vijay and offered this clumsy statement that a criminal act had wrongly been called xenophobic and racist. The foreign ministry said that strong Indian institutions are adequate to deal with aberrations that represent act of a few criminals. This is a lie. Indias institutions cannot even protect Indians against mob attacks, how will they protect foreigners? But how true is the allegation by the African ambassadors? About 25 years ago, a magazine in India performed a stunt. This was before the time of sting operations so there was no video, only photographs and the reporters account. The magazine separately took two foreigners, one white and one black, to break the queue at some place that had a long line. I think it was a railway station ticket counter. When the black individual tried to break the queue and approached the counter, the people in the line stopped him by shouting at him rudely. When the white man did it the same people allowed him to do so. The magazine concluded that there was a difference in the way Indians viewed the two individuals.

Ultimately I cannot say whether or not Indians are racist or in the absence of data. I can claim I am not racist. That is a sample size of one which is not scientific. However, if I were an African in Delhi or Bengaluru, I would be able to make a conclusion on the basis of how hundreds of Indians have interacted with me. To know whether many Indians are racist and react negatively to the colour of a humans skin we should ask Africans in India what their experience has been. I suspect most of us know the answer to that. One of my colleagues at Amnesty International worked in Delhi for a few years for another organisation. She is an African but her skin and facial features are not very dissimilar to an Indians. She said that she was able to pass off as an Indian on the street quite easily. However, with time, she said, she began wearing African clothes and wore her hair (which was frizzy) loose. She did this because she did not want to hide her identity in a country whose citizens saw people through the prism of race.
In summer, the singular beauty of the winding road that takes you from Gundlupet to the border with Kerala, is the carpet of yellow sunflowers that stretch as far back as the eye can see. As the sun sets, the river glinting in the distance, this is picturebook countryside, as perfect as it can get.

But that was before the drought set in. Instead of lush green fields and the floriculture that sustained many of the farming communities here, the earth is parched, rivers have run dry, farmers are staring at penury.

As of Friday, as campaigning to the two constituencies of Gundlupet and Nanjangud drew to a close, one distraught farmer in Gundlupet decided to end his life. Unless the heavens open up and the rains come down, the farmers of Chamarajnagar district may go where the sugarcane farmers of Mandya did when their fields turned barren two years ago - farmers, burdened with loans they couldnt pay back, burnt their fields, and themselves. The sugar lobby, powerful, many carrying political heft, block all attempts at redressal. Has the message not gone home to the high-flying candidates and their well-heeled ministerial backers from Bengaluru? A row of empty pots greeted Congress candidate Geetha Mahadev Prasad, the grieving widow, when her cavalcade rolled into Bannithalapura. The BJP wasnt spared either. Its candidate, Niranjan Kumar was reportedly given the same treatment when he arrived, asking for votes in Koothanooru village.

And yet, the language and the tenor of these bypolls, necessitated when one mans ego was punctured when he was dropped unceremoniously for non-performance from the chief ministers cabinet, focused on everything from insulting Dalit pride and bringing a deserving Lingayat back as chief minister and mirroring Uttar Pradeshs consolidation of the Hindu vote, rather than the stark issues of life and death that stare these farming communities in the face.

Not one of the barbs and jibes that mock CM Siddaramaiah, and opposition leader B.S. Yeddyurappa, none of that mud-slinging  the latest is the never heard before charge (!!) that both camps have been distributing money - brings up the water scarcity and the poor monsoon that has dogged the state for the last three years.

Scoff at UPs Yogi Adityanath as much as you want. But he, unlike the current Congress dispensation, has given the farmers of U.P a breather by unconditionally waiving all farm loans. Mr Siddaramaiahs calculated move to leave such a waiver out of this years budget and weave it into next years budget ahead of the 2018 assembly polls may make perfect electoral sense. But it is inhumane. And impolitic. The BJPs former CM Jagadish Shettar did it, and it fell to the Congress to implement it. Remember? The BJPs chief ministerial hopeful BSY had clearly not thought things through when 24 hours before polling, he handed wads of cash over to the wife of the farmer who took his own life. No doubt, a calculated risk. Except, sporting a green turban doesnt prove youre pro-farmer. No farmer will buy that story.

The problem is, the electoral math of these poll bounty hunters rarely goes beyond mindlessly pandering to a vote bank. Whether its Mr. Siddaramaiah, who openly says his is an Ahinda budget. Or the BJP who, equally openly says the Lingayat community of south Karnataka, drawn from the higher echelons of the sub-sect are finally going to back BSY, a high born Lingayat, rather than the lesser Lingayat Geetha, while Srinivasprasad, glosses over the rank neglect of a constituency he has represented for five terms as an MP and a MLA, while only talking up the issue of Dalit pride.

Now, lets see if the people of Nanjangud and Gundlupet, can see beyond all the b*#@@c#@@*, restore southern pride, however dark we all are, and vote smart 
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, who, earlier this week, led the offensive in Parliament against airlines flight-ban on MP Ravindra Gaikwad, tells Shruti Ganapatye that the whole affair is a well-planned conspiracy to malign MPs and MLAs.

You were the first to defend Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad after he admitted to beating an Air India employee. Do you support his actions?

I did not defend him. He is not only an MP from my party but also a party worker from the backward region of Marathwada. He has been associated with the Shiv Sena for many years. He has been elected thrice as an MLA from the same constituency on a Sena ticket. He contested the Lok Sabha election twice and lost once. He is a veteran Shiv Sainik. Instead of using the word defend, I would say that standing by a fellow party worker in his time of difficulty is the responsibility of a leader or the party. I did just that. Until we spoke to Mr Gaikwad, nobody knew about what the truth was. Neither the Air India CMD nor us were aware (of the facts). Many things came to light after talking to him. The incident, as the media has been reporting it, might have led to a negative public perception.

Many people reacted sharply against Mr Gaikwads actions, but when we tried to understand the other side of the story, we realised that blaming Mr Gaikwad alone is not correct. There has to be a free and fair inquiry of the entire episode, without pressure from airlines. The whole hullabaloo was created because of prejudices against politicians. It has become fashionable to target the politicians. But let me tell you that 99 per cent of politicians behave politely with the general public because its the citizens who elect them. People will not vote for them if they are rude or disrespectful. On the other hand, it has been our experience that the people do not vote for so-called activists who keep criticising politicians.

Do you consider airlines revoking the ban against Mr Gaikwad a victory for the party?

Definitely! But the whole episode was very unfortunate. Action was taken against Mr Gaikwad without understanding his side. If Mr Gaikwad had beaten up the crew member, he should be punished as per the law. If Mr Gaikwad said he hit the man 25 times with his slippers, then his punishment should be according to the crime. But he was booked under Section 308 of the IPC, which is culpable homicide. He did not even get a chance to speak and all airlines started banning him. This is a well-planned conspiracy to convey a wrong message to the people about MPs and MLAs. Some people want to project bureaucrats as smart people and politicians as dumb. This thought has been systematically infused among the citizens of our country in recent times.

Who is hatching the conspiracy? Is the BJP behind it?

I do not want to name anyone. But it (the backlash) is against the Shiv Sena. They grabbed an opportunity to corner the Shiv Sena. Instead of helping the party in its times of trouble, they thought it was an opportunity to bring the Shiv Sena to its knees. But conspiracies get exposed. Whom did the Air India CMD consult with before banning Mr Gaikwad? It has argued that the ban was not action against an MP, but against an unruly passenger. But one must understand that the decision to ban him was taken on the basis of the claims made by only one side and without hearing him out.

Do you mean to say that he was denied fair opportunity to put forth his side?

Yes, he was denied a fair chance to defend himself. In the whole series of events, people were not interested in hearing him out, but jumped to conclusions based on one-sided claims made by the staff of the airline.

Do you think that only the Shiv Sena is being targeted this way?

Two months ago, a Telugu Desam Party MP hit a duty manager of an airline and tried to halt the flight. What action was taken against him? Was an FIR lodged? No. Yesterday, a Trinamul Congress MP halted the flight for 40 minutes. Was he banned from flying? No. Then why did you create trouble for a Sena MP? Another Lok Sabha MP, who is a friend and I do not wish to name, created a ruckus on a Mumbai-Patna flight. Was he banned? No. Then why was a Sena MP targeted?

Are you supporting violence?

I am not supporting violence, but the law should be equal for all. Why are there different punishments for a single crime? Even terrorists like Ajmal Kasab received a fair trial, so why did an MP not get a fair chance to defend himself?

There are many instances in which the flights were delayed because of politicians. Do you justify that?

I do not think so. I have been MP for many years. I personally follow all the rules and regulations laid down by airlines. I ensure that there should not be any problem because of me. At least 99 per cent of the politicians follow the rules, particularly the ones from Maharashtra.

But dont you think there was a spontaneous public reaction to the incident?

I do not believe this. There was a systematic effort to fan anger against Mr Gaikwad.

Is the matter over now?

I have demanded that one should check if the staffer who was allegedly beaten up is really employed by Air India. The CMD should answer this. He was not an Air India employee. When the MP demanded a complaint book at the airport, the company could not give it to him. When he asked for an official to lodge a complaint, nobody turned up for 40 minutes. When this particular staff member approached the MP, he spoke very rudely. He is not an Air India employee, but belongs to a private company.

How did he get into an Air India plane? If it was the case of an unruly passenger, security guards should have handled the situation. Why did this man appear? Who is he? Also we want medical report of this man and a report on his mental status. The CMD should submit these reports to the Union aviation minister and present them before Parliament.
People who search for a topic in Google's main search engine or the Google News section will see a conclusion such as "mostly true" or "false" next to stories that have been fact checked.

Google will expand the use of "fact check" tags in its search results - the tech industry's latest effort to combat false and misleading news stories. People who search for a topic in Google's main search engine or the Google News section will see a conclusion such as "mostly true" or "false" next to stories that have been fact checked.

Google has been working with more than 100 news organizations and fact-checking groups, including The Associated Press, the BBC and NPR. Their conclusions will appear in search results as long as they meet certain formatting criteria for automation.

Google said only a few of those organizations, including PolitiFact and Snopes.com, have already met those requirements; The Washington Post also says it complies. Google said it expects the ranks of compliant organizations to grow following Friday's announcement. Not all news stories will be fact checked. Multiple organizations may reach different conclusions; Google will show those separately.

Still unanswered is whether these fact-check analyses will sway people who are already prone to believe false reports because they confirm preconceived notions.

Glenn Kessler, who writes "The Fact Checker" column at The Washington Post, said in an email that Google's efforts should at least "make it easier for people around the world to obtain information that counters the spin by politicians and political advocacy groups, as well as purveyors of 'fake news.'"

He added that "over time, I expect that people increasingly will want to read a fact-check on a controversial issue or statement, even if the report conflicts with their political leanings."

Google started offering fact check tags in the US and the U.K. in October and expanded the program to a handful of other countries in the subsequent months. Now the program is open to the rest of the world and to all languages.

False news and misinformation, often masquerading as trustworthy news that spreads on social media, has gained attention since the 2016 US presidential election.

Google's announcement comes a day after Facebook launched a resource to help users spot false news and misleading information that spreads on its service. The resource is basically a notification that pops up for a few days. Clicking on it takes people to tips and other information on how to spot false news and what to do about it.

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Twitter Inc on Friday dropped a lawsuit it filed the previous day against the US Homeland Security Department, saying the government had withdrawn a summons for records about who was behind an account critical of President Donald Trump.

A lawyer for the social media company, Mark Flanagan, wrote in court papers that a US Justice Department lawyer told Twitter about the withdrawal of the summons on Friday and that the demand "no longer has any force or effect."

It was not immediately clear why the government had withdrawn the summons, or whether it had closed an investigation it said it was conducting. The Justice Department, which defends federal agencies in court, declined to comment. The Homeland Security Department, which issued the summons, had no immediate comment.

The abrupt end to the dispute may indicate that Justice Department lawyers did not like their chances of succeeding in a fight about speech rights, said Jamie Lee Williams, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which advocates for digital rights.

"It seemed like a blatant attempt to censor or chill the people behind this account, or to retaliate against people who are speaking out against this administration," Williams said.

"This could have been a huge loss for the administration in court," she added.

Twitter cited freedom of speech as a basis for not turning over records about the account, @ALT_uscis. The people behind the account have not disclosed their identities, but the use of "ALT" with a government agency acronym has led many to assume government employees are behind such tweets.

The lawsuit said the account "claims to be" the work of at least one federal immigration employee. The acronym US CIS refers to US Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the account describes itself as "immigration resistance." Trump has vowed to build a wall along the US border with Mexico and has promised to deport millions of illegal immigrants.

Following Trump's inauguration in January, anonymous Twitter feeds that borrowed the names and logos of more than a dozen US government agencies appeared to challenge the president's views on climate change and other issues. They called themselves "ALT" accounts.

A Twitter spokesman declined to comment beyond the court papers, and the company has declined to say whether it has received demands about other anti-Trump accounts.

Social media companies frequently receive requests from governments under seal, though the requests are typically about a criminal proceeding or national security matter. This summons came from an office that investigates employee corruption, misconduct and mismanagement. Lawmakers of both parties questioned the propriety of the summons.

Republican senators Cory Gardner of Colorado and Mike Lee of Utah sent a letter on Friday to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, asking what protocols existed to protect free speech in agency investigations. Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, sent a separate letter on Friday to US Customs and Border Protection, which is part of Homeland Security, requesting an investigation into why and how the summons was issued.

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Waymo said Uber was able to quickly scale up its autonomous program after Levandowski downloaded the files before his departure to form a company that Uber then acquired. Levandowski leads Uber's self-driving program.

Uber Technologies Inc said on Friday its self-driving sensor technology was "fundamentally different" from Waymo's, blasting the Alphabet Inc unit's claim that it profited from stolen files in the race to roll out the first driverless car.

Uber said in a federal court filing that 14,000 of Waymo's computer files on autonomous technology never ended up on its servers, despite Waymo's claim that its former executive, Anthony Levandowski, stole them before joining Uber.

Waymo sued Uber in February, seeking a preliminary injunction to stop it from using trade secrets and other intellectual property at the center of the case. Waymo said Uber was able to quickly scale up its autonomous program after Levandowski downloaded the files before his departure to form a company that Uber then acquired. Levandowski leads Uber's self-driving program.

The rivals are vying to bring self-driving cars to the masses in a field that includes established carmakers, little-known start-ups and major technology companies.

"The record shows that Uber never possessed - and never used - any information Mr. Levandowski allegedly took from Waymo," Uber wrote in its filing.

Levandowski, the central witness in the case, has sought his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and will not testify, over concerns about the possibility of a criminal case being filed. Levandowski has not handed over the allegedly stolen documents and Uber, which has never denied that Levandowski took the files, claims it cannot force him to do so.

US District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco has ordered Uber to do a more thorough search of its computer systems to see if the documents are in its possession. "You haven't searched well enough," he told Uber's lawyer at a hearing on Wednesday.

Alsup has also suggested that Uber had leverage over Levandowski it had not used, such as threatening to fire him should he not hand over the documents.

"If you cannot find them in your files there is going to be a preliminary injunction. You're not denying it, no one is denying he has the 14,000 files," Alsup said. "You keep on your payroll someone who took 14,000 documents and is liable to use them."

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The move followed a deadly US air strike on the Shayrat airfield of the Syrian air forces, believed by Washington to be the base for warplanes that carried out the chemical attack. (Photo: AP)

Washington DC: Russia has formally notified the United States of suspending a communications hotline with the Pentagon over the Syria chemical attack row starting Saturday, a spokesman for the US Department of Defense told TASS news agency.

Defense Ministry Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Friday that Russia was suspending the communications channel which the two sides established in line with a memorandum of understanding on prevention of incidents and ensuring of flight safety in Syrian airspace.

"The US military attache in Moscow was summoned to the Defense Ministry to get an official note, which said the Russian side was suspending as of 00:00 hours on April 8 the observance of its obligations under the memorandum of understanding on prevention of incidents and ensuring of flight safety in the course of operation in the Syrian Arab Republic," he said.

The move followed a deadly US air strike on the Shayrat airfield of the Syrian air forces, believed by Washington to be the base for warplanes that carried out the chemical attack on a rebel-held town on Tuesday that killed at least 80 people.

Russian President Vladimir Putin denounced the strike as "act of aggression" and said it violated international law.

Russia earlier this week denied a chemical weapons attack that took place in Syria saying the deaths in Khan Sheikhoun were caused by a Syrian regime airstrike on a rebel-controlled chemical weapons factory on the ground.
President Donald Trump tracked his first major military operation from a makeshift Situation Room in his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. (Photo: via web)

Palm Beach: The United States is vowing to keep up the pressure on Syria after the intense nighttime wave of missile strikes from US ships, despite the prospect of escalating Russian ill will that could further inflame one of the worlds most vexing conflicts.

Standing firm, the Trump administration on Saturday signaled new sanctions would soon follow the missile attack, and the Pentagon was even probing whether Russia itself was involved in the chemical weapons assault that compelled President Donald Trump to action. The attack against a Syrian air base was the first US assault against the government of President Bashar Assad.

US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley warned that the United States is prepared to do more in response to Syrias use of chemical weapons. The United States took a very measured step last night, Ms Haley said speaking at a special UN session. We are prepared to do more. But we hope that will not be necessary.

Much of the international community rallied behind Mr Trumps decision to fire the cruise missiles in reaction to this weeks chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of men, women and children in Syria. But a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the strikes dealt a significant blow to relations between Moscow and Washington.

In Florida with the President, treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said additional economic sanctions on Syria were being prepared.

Senior US military officials were looking more closely at possible Russian involvement in the poison attack. Officials said a drone belonging to either Russia or Syria was seen hovering over the site after the assault earlier this week. The drone returned late in the day as citizens were going to a nearby hospital for treatment. Shortly afterward, officials say the hospital was targeted.

The officials, who insisted on anonymity in order to discuss the sensitive matter, said they believe the hospital attack may have been an effort to cover up evidence of the earlier assault.
The US still has some 8,400 troops in Afghanistan. (Representational Image, Photo: AP)

Kabul: The United States will deploy 1,500 soldiers from Alaska to Afghanistan later this year as part of a regular rotation of forces in support of Washington's counter-terrorism operation against the remnants of al-Qaeda.

"These soldiers train rigorously in a wide range of climates and environments. I am fully confident in their ability to excel and overcome any challenges they will face during this deployment," Maj. Gen. Bryan Owens, the commanding general of US Army Alaska, said in a statement.

The deployment of the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, is part of a regular rotation of forces in support of Operation Freedom's Sentinel, reports Khaama Press.

US troops in Afghanistan are split between two missions - NATO's Resolute Support mission to advise Afghan security forces and the Freedom's Sentinel, the U.S counter-terrorism operation against the remnants of al-Qaeda; an emerging offshoot of Daesh; and other terrorists groups.

The US still has some 8,400 troops in Afghanistan.

The announcement came days after the Pentagon said it would deploy some 300 US Marines to the southern province of Helmand.
The visit has been scrapped after strategic talks between London and Washington, about how the West should approach Russia in the wake of the military action. (Photo: AP)

London: British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has cancelled his trip to Moscow following US missile strikes in Syria, which Moscow has denounced.

The visit has been scrapped after strategic talks between London and Washington, about how the West should approach Russia in the wake of the military action, reports the Independent.

The trip planned by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will still go ahead later in the week, with Johnson leading efforts to bring together a coalition against Russian action in Syria and the regime of Bashar Assad.

Johnson discussed the move with his US counterpart last night after the US launched 59 tomahawk cruise missiles at the Shayrat airbase in Syria, following intelligence that deadly chemical weapons attacks on civilians originated there.

Johnson said in a statement, "Developments in Syria have changed the situation fundamentally. My priority is now to continue contact with the US and others in the run up to the G7 meeting on 10 and 11 April, to build coordinated international support for a ceasefire on the ground and an intensified political process. I will be working to arrange for other like-minded partners to meet and explore next steps soon too.

"I discussed these plans in detail with Secretary Tillerson. He will visit Moscow as planned and, following the G7 meeting, will be able to deliver that clear and coordinated message to the Russians," he added.

He also deplored Russia's continued defence of the Bashar al-Assad regime even after the chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians.

"We call on Russia to do everything possible to bring about a political settlement in Syria and work with the rest of the international community to ensure that the shocking events of the last week are never repeated," he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin denounced the strike as "act of aggression" and said it violated international law.

Russia earlier this week denied a chemical weapons attack took place in Syria saying the deaths in Khan Sheikhoun were caused by a Syrian regime airstrike on a rebel-controlled chemical weapons factory on the ground.

According to the Independent, London and Washington agreed that while Mr Tillerson would head into meetings with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Johnson will drum up support among G7 nations to address Russia's actions in Syria ahead of Tuesday's meeting of the group.

He will push for counterparts to adopt goals, including a transition away from Assad in Syria, Russia demilitarisation in the country and plans to rebuild infrastructure alongside any peace deal.
Stockholm, Sweden: A truck ploughed into a crowd on a shopping street and crashed into a department store in central Stockholm on Friday, killing four people and wounding 15 in what the prime minister said appeared to be a terrorist attack.

Police said they had detained two person in a northern Stockholm suburb after earlier circulating a picture of a man wearing a grey hoodie in connection with the investigation into the attack on Drottninggatan (Queen Street) using a hijacked beer truck.

Prosecutors ordered the man arrested on suspicion of terror crime through the act of murder. He was arrested on the highest level of suspicion in the Swedish legal system.

Swedish public broadcaster SVT reported police had arrested a second man and that he had a connection to the previously arrested person, citing police sources. The police declined to comment on whether it had arrested any additional suspects.

"Our message will always be clear: you will not defeat us, you will not govern our lives, you will never, ever win," Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, who had earlier described the assault as a terrorist attack, told a news conference.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Police said security at Swedish borders had been heightened. They did not rule out the possibility other attackers were involved.

Swerving

"I turned around and saw a big truck coming towards me. It swerved from side to side. It didn't look out of control. It was trying to hit people," Glen Foran, an Australian tourist in his 40s, told Reuters.

"It hit people; it was terrible. It hit a pram with a kid in it, demolished it," he said.

"It took a long time for police to get here. I suppose from their view it was quick, but it felt like forever."

The area of the attack in central Stockholm was evacuated, including the main rail station, and remained cordoned off late on Friday. All subway traffic was halted on police orders and government offices were closed.

A Reuters witness at the scene saw police officers put what appeared to be two bodies into body bags.

Bloody tyre tracks showed the path of the truck, which was stolen by a masked hijacker while making a beer delivery to a tapas bar further up Drottninggatan, according to Spendrups Brewery spokesman Marten Lyth.

"We were standing by the traffic lights at Drottninggatan and then we heard some screaming and saw a truck coming," a witness who declined to be named told Reuters.

"Then it drove into a pillar at (department store) Ahlens City, where the hood started burning. When it stopped we saw a man lying under the tyre. It was terrible to see," said the man, who saw the incident from his car.

Police said four people had died and 15 were injured. National news agency TT said those hurt included the delivery driver, who had tried to stop the hijack.

Several attacks in which trucks or cars have driven into crowds have taken place in Europe in the past year. Al Qaeda in 2010 urged its followers to use trucks as a weapon.

ISIS claimed responsibility for an attack in Nice, France, last July, when a truck killed 86 people celebrating Bastille Day, and one in Berlin in December, when a truck smashed through a Christmas market, killing 12 people.

"Hijacking a truck, that has happened before," Magnus Ranstorp, head of terrorism research at the Swedish Defence University, told Reuters.

"And this is a pretty cunning modus operandi. To drive to Ahlens and stop ... There is a way down to the subway just a few metres away from there, and then you ... can jump on any train you want and quickly disappear."

#OpenStockholm

Stockholmers opened up their homes and offered lifts to people who were unable to get home or needed a place to stay.

"Our thoughts are going out to those that were affected, and to their families," Sweden's King Carl Gustaf said in a statement, while European Union chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker said an attack on any of the bloc's member states "is an attack on us all".

The attack was the latest to hit the Nordic region after shootings in Danish capital Copenhagen in 2015 that killed three people and the 2011 bombing and shooting by far right extremist Anders Behring Breivik that killed 77 people in Norway.

Damage to a store is revealed after the stolen truck was driven through a crowd

Sweden has not seen a large-scale attack, although in December 2010 a failed suicide bombing killed the attacker only a few hundred yards from the site of Friday's incident.

In February US President Donald Trump falsely suggested there had been an immigration-related security incident in Sweden, to the bafflement of Swedes.

Swedish authorities raised the national security threat level to four on a scale of five in October 2010 but lowered the level to three, indicating a "raised threat", in March 2016.

Police in Norway's largest cities and at Oslo airport will carry weapons until further notice following the attack. Denmark has been on high alert since the February 2015 shootings. Traffic was restricted on the Oresund Bridge linking Denmark and Sweden at the request of Swedish police.

Neutral Sweden has not fought a war in more than 200 years, but its military has taken part in U.N. peacekeeping missions in a number of conflict zones in recent years, including Iraq, Mali and Afghanistan.

The Sapo security police said in its annual report it was impossible to say how big a risk there was that Sweden would be targeted like other European cities, but that, if so "it is most likely that it would be undertaken by a lone attacker".
London: Indian actor Freida Pinto was reduced to tears by Black Lives Matter activists who attacked her role in a new civil rights television drama.

Activists of Black Lives Matter UK slammed the 32-year-old actors inclusion in Guerrilla during a panel session with the cast, The Sun reported. They accused the show of black erasure for casting of an Asian lady as its lead.

In the show set in the 1970s London, Pinto plays an Asian nurse who is married to a Black civil rights leader. According to the Independent, Pinto was visibly too upset to answer questions posed to her.

An audience member told the newspaper: Frieda was left stunned and didnt know what to do when a barrage of questions came in about why they had cast an Asian lady as a lead character.

The writer of the show, John Ridley, attempted to appease the activists, but to no avail. She sat at the front of the stage and tears rolled down her cheeks as John tried to get them to understand that being called Black in the Seventies referred to all people of colour from former British colonies.

John then spent around 40 minutes trying to speak to them after the event, but they were really rude in rolling their eyes and answering back saying he didnt understand. It was ridiculous following his background.

An Oscar-winning director Ridley, 51, wrote the script for 12 Years a Slave.

Neil Kenlock, the former official photographer for the British Black Panthers, rushed to Pintos aid and pointed out that Asian author Mala Sen was very prominent in the movement and the drama was historically accurate. at the end of the discussion. Babou Ceesay, who also stars in the show, tried to speak to the activists, but was left frustrated, The Sun reported.
Pence and Abadi discussed the situation in Syria and the war on Islamic State in a phone call from Pence following Friday's US strikes on a Syrian airbase. (Photo: AP)

US Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday assured Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of continued US support to defeat Islamic State, the Iraqi government said in a statement.

The two discussed the situation in Syria and the war on Islamic State in a phone call from Pence following Friday's US strikes on a Syrian airbase to punish a chemical attack that killed scores of civilians this week in an area held by the opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Pence "affirmed that U.S. policy in the region didn't change, its priority is to defeat Daesh in Iraq and the region," said a statement from Abadi's office.

The Shi'ite-led Iraqi government issued a statement on Friday in reaction to the events in Syria reflecting a difficult balancing act between its alliance with the United States and with Shi'ite Iran, a key backer of Assad.The Iraqi statement condemned the chemical attack, without naming Assad, calling instead for an international investigation to identify the perpetrator.

The statement also criticized "the hasty interventions" that followed the chemical attack, in an apparent reference to the US strikes.

A US-led coalition has been providing air and ground support to Iraqi forces battling the militants, allowing them to recapture most cities they had overran in 2014 in Sunni areas of northern and western Iraq.

An Iranian-backed Iraqi Shi'ite militia said on Friday it would keep on fighting in Syria in support of Assad, despite the US missile strikes.

"Our movement is proceeding on the path of jihad and resistance, and our position concerning the war in Syria won't change," al-Nujaba spokesman Hashim al-Musawi said in a statement.

Al-Nujaba is one of the groups accused by human rights organizations of killing scores of fleeing civilians in the Syrian city of Aleppo last year.

Iran, by leveraging its ties with Iraq's Shi'ites, has emerged as the main power broker in Iraq after the United States withdrew its troops in 2011.
This was a kind of direct intervention in Syria's six-year-old civil war his predecessor Barack Obama avoided. (Photo: US Navy)

United Nations/Moscow/Beirut: Russia warned on Friday that US cruise missile strikes on a Syrian air base could have "extremely serious" consequences, as President Donald Trump's first major foray into a foreign conflict opened up a rift between Moscow and Washington.

The warships USS Porter and USS Ross in the Mediterranean Sea launched dozens of Tomahawk missiles at the Shayrat air base, which the Pentagon says was involved in a chemical weapons attack this week. It was Trump's biggest foreign policy decision since taking office in January.

This was a kind of direct intervention in Syria's six-year-old civil war his predecessor Barack Obama avoided.

The strikes were in reaction to what Washington says was a poison gas attack by the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that killed at least 70 people in rebel-held territory. Syria denies it carried out the attack.

They catapulted Washington into confrontation with Russia, which has advisers on the ground aiding its close ally Assad.

"We strongly condemn the illegitimate actions by the US. The consequences of this for regional and international stability could be extremely serious," Russia's deputy UN envoy, Vladimir Safronkov, told a meeting of the UN Security Council on Friday.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev charged that the US strikes were one step away from clashing with Russia's military.

US officials informed Russian forces ahead of the missile strikes and avoided hitting Russian personnel.

Satellite imagery suggests the base houses Russian special forces and helicopters, part of the Kremlin's effort to help Assad fight Islamic State and other militant groups.

Trump has frequently urged improved relations with Russia, strained under Obama over Syria, Ukraine and other issues, was hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Thursday night when the attack occurred.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, in Florida with Trump, said on Friday the United States would announce additional sanctions on Syria in the near future but offered no specifics.

Russia's Defence Ministry responded to the attack by calling in the US military attache in Moscow to say that at midnight Moscow time (5 pm EDT) it would close down a communications line used to avoid accidental clashes between Russian and US forces in Syria, Interfax new agency said. US warplanes frequently attack ISIS terrorists in Syria and come close to Russian forces.

"Prepared To Do More"

US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Friday the Trump administration was ready to take further steps if needed.

"We are prepared to do more, but we hope that will not be necessary," she told the UN Security Council. "The United States will not stand by when chemical weapons are used. It is in our vital national security interest to prevent the spread and use of chemical weapons."

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who also was in Florida with Trump and is scheduled to go to Moscow next week, said he was disappointed but not surprised by the Russian reaction because it showed continued support for Assad.

The official also said the United States had been unable to determine if a Russian or Syrian aircraft bombed a hospital that was treating victims of the chemical attack.

Russia joined the war on Assad's behalf in 2015, turning the momentum in his favour. Although Moscow supports opposing sides in the war between Assad and rebels, the United States and Russia say they share a single main enemy, ISIS.

Tillerson said the strike took out about 20 per cent of the seventh wing of the Syrian air force and hit a fuelling facility. The base's runway was still in use. Assad's office said Syria would strike its enemies harder.

Damascus and Moscow denied Syrian forces were behind the gas attack but Western countries dismissed their explanation that chemicals leaked from a rebel weapons depot after an air strike.

The Syrian army said the US attack killed six people and called it "blatant aggression" that made the United States a partner of "terrorist groups" including ISIS. There was no independent confirmation of civilian casualties.

Russia said the text was unacceptable and diplomats said it was unlikely to be put to a vote.

Moscow Wants Explanation

Russia expects Tillerson to explain Washington's stance when he visits Moscow next week, Interfax news agency cited a Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman as saying.

Washington has long backed rebels fighting Assad in a multi-sided civil war that has killed more than 400,000 people and driven half of Syrians from their homes since 2011.

The United States has conducted air strikes against Islamic State, which controls territory in eastern and northern Syria, and a small number of U.S. troops are helping rebel militias.

Asked whether the strikes set back any efforts to work with Russia to defeat Islamic State, sometimes known as ISIS, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said:

"There can be a shared commitment to defeat ISIS and also agree that you can't gas your own people."

Tuesday's attack was the first time since 2013 that Syria was accused of using sarin, a banned nerve agent it was meant to have given up under a Russian-brokered, UN-enforced deal that persuaded Obama to call off air strikes four years ago.

Video depicted limp bodies and children choking while rescuers tried to wash off the poison gas. Russian state television blamed rebels and did not show footage of victims.

The US strikes cheered Assad's enemies, after months when Western powers appeared to grow increasingly resigned to his staying in power. But opposition figures said an isolated assault was far from the decisive intervention they seek.

Neither the Trump administration nor its predecessor has laid out a policy aimed at ending the Syrian conflict.
Islamabad: Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif claimed on Saturday that India's influence is the reason behind the strained ties between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Speaking to a private news channel, the minister claimed the strained relations between the two countries was due to Indian influence on Afghanistan's side.

He emphasised the sacrifices of the Pakistan armed forces in the country's "war on terror", adding that every possible step would be taken to flush out militants and the menace of "terrorism" from the country, Express Tribune reported. He also appreciated the armed forces for extending their services during the census process.

When asked about former army chief General Raheel Sharif's appointment as head of Saudi-led military alliance, Asif said the decision of the coalition forces was yet to be taken.

Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan appear to be back on track after months of tensions and war of words, as the Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz reported progress in his recent talks with senior Afghan officials in London.

Briefing the National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz said the London meeting with Afghan National Security Advisor Hanif Atmar had helped break the ice.
Private airlines today lifted the nearly two-week long flying ban on Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, who had assaulted an Air India staffer last month.

The decision of the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) comes a day after the national carrier, following direction from the civil aviation ministry, revoked the ban on Gaikwad.



The flying restriction on the Lok Sabha member has been lifted after he gave an undertaking that such incidents will not reoccur.



The FIA, which has Jet Airways, IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir as members, today said its members are restoring the flying privileges to Gaikwad.



In a statement, the grouping said it is being done after Air India lifted the ban and "under the assurance that our assets and colleagues shall be accorded the respect that they deserve for the hard work that they put in every day".



No sooner had the FIA lifted the ban on the Sena MP, than two other private carriers -- Vistara and AirAsia India -- said they "support" the decision taken by the industry.

Vistara and AirAsia India are not part of the FIA.



In a series of tweets today, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said Air India was advised to lift the ban as Gaikwad had "apologised and provided undertaking that such incidents would not reoccur".



"Police investigations regarding Gaikwad's conduct during the March 23 incident are under way and the law will take its own course," Sinha said.



On March 24, Air India barred Gaikwad from flying with it after he assaulted a staffer at the Delhi airport. The FIA followed suit.



When the FIA had imposed a flying ban on Gaikwad, Vistara and AirAsia had said they were with the industry on the issue. In a climbdown after combative Shiv Sena members disrupted Lok Sabha proceedings, Gaikwad on April 6 wrote a letter to Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju expressing "regret" over the "unfortunate incident".



He had also virtually given an undertaking that there would be no repeat of such incident and sought lifting of the ban. While announcing the decision to lift the ban, an Air India spokesperson had said the move followed a written order from the civil aviation ministry.



Full service carrier Vistara today said it supports the decision of industry peers. "We stood in solidarity with Air India and members of the FIA during this recent episode... We continue to stand by them today in their decision to revoke the ban," a spokesperson said in a statement.



Noting that unruly and disruptive passengers are a serious safety and security threat, the airline said, "we are hopeful this incident results in specific regulations and actions to address this important issue".



No-frills airline AirAsia India today said it does not tolerate abusive or unruly behaviour by passengers that puts the safety of other guests and crew members on board at risk.



"We will support the decision taken by the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the industry with regard to the recent incident involving an Air India staff," an airline spokesperson said in a statement.
India and Bangladesh today signed 22 pacts in key sectors including defence and civil nuclear but the long-pending Teesta waters sharing agreement remained elusive though Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed his government's commitment for an "early solution".



After holding comprehensive talks with his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina, Modi announced a new concessional Line of Credit of USD 4.5 billion for the neighbouring country and an additional assistance of USD 500 million to help its military procurement.



"We in India rejoice in our ties with Bangladesh. Ties that have been forged in blood and generations of kinship. Ties that seek a better and secure future for our people," Modi said at a joint media event with Hasina.



The two countries also agreed to confront challenges of terrorism with deeper security and defence cooperation with Modi terming spread of radicalism as a "grave threat", not only to the two countries but to the entire region.



On her part, Hasina, on a visit here after seven years, said her country will continue its zero-tolerance policy towards terror and promised to take all steps to ensure peace and security along Indo-Bangla border.



"We agreed that the agenda of our cooperation has to remain focused on purposeful action. We specifically looked at charting new avenues and tapping fresh opportunities in advancing our relationship."



Though the two sides decided to take their ties to a newer level, they could not finalise the long-pending Teesta water- sharing agreement, primarily due to opposition to it by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who was present during launch of new train and bus services between the two countries.



On the Teesta water issue, Modi said the pact is important for Indo-Bangla relationship and expressed hope that the West Bengal chief minister will eventually support it.



"I am very happy that the chief minister of West Bengal is my honoured guest today. I know that her feelings for Bangladesh are as warm as my own. I assure you and the people of Bangladesh of our commitment and continuing efforts," he said, adding he "firmly" believes that an early solution to the issue "can and will" be found.



The prime minister also complimented Hasina for her government's 'zero-tolerance' policy towards terrorism and said "it is an inspiration for all of us." A new bus and train service was also launched between Kolkata and Khulna in Bangladesh.



"India has always stood for the prosperity of Bangladesh and its people. We are a long-standing and trusted development partner of Bangladesh. India and Bangladesh are also determined that the fruits of our cooperation must benefit our people," said Modi.



Talking about regional connectivity, he said India was looking forward to early implementation of the BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal) Motor Vehicles Agreement which will "usher in a new era of sub-regional integration." The BBIN initiative was taken after Pakistan stalled a regional transport initiative of SAARC.



Under the Defence LoC pact, India will supply military hardware to Bangladesh. The other key MoUs inked were on passenger and cruise services on the coastal and protocol route, and cooperation on cyber security and in the peaceful uses of outer space.



As a mark of India's respect to father of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina's father, a prominent road in Delhi has been named after him. Modi and Hasina also released a Hindi translation of Bangbandhu's 'Unfinished Memoirs'.



The Prime Minister said with fresh assistance of USD 4.5 billion, India's resource allocation for Bangladesh has recorded more than USD 8 billion over the past six years. Identifying major areas of cooperation, he said energy security is an important dimension of the two-way development partnership.



"Today, we added an additional 60 Mega Watt of power to the 600 Mega Watt of power already flowing from India to Bangladesh. The supply of another 500 Mega Watt has already been committed from the existing inter-connection.



"We have also agreed to finance the diesel oil pipeline from Numaligarh to Parbatipur. Our companies are entering into a long-term agreement for the supply of high speed diesel to Bangladesh. We have also agreed on a time table for regular supply till the pipeline is constructed," he said.



Later, briefing reporters, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said the two leaders assessed the status of bilateral ties at this juncture as he described the current visit as "going exceptionally good".



He also said India and Bangladesh have already identified 17 projects including port development and other key infrastructure upgrade for the usage of USD 4.5 billion line of credit, which was among the largest done for any country bilaterally.



Indian envoy to Dhaka Harsh Shringla also pitched for more bilateral investments to address Bangladesh's concerns over trade imbalance. He talked about liberalised visa regime for Bangladesh nationals including those coming for medical purposes.



On non-economic issues, Jaishankar said the two leaders discussed threat of terrorism in the region and there was convergence of views on the issue including the source. Asked if our relations with Bangladesh, erstwhile East Pakistan, can teach any lessons to current Pakistan, the foreign secretary said Indo-Bangla counter-terrorism is working so fine and the lessons are out there for others to learn.




Police stopped a church event attended by more than 150 people, including 10 American tourists, here after the right-wing Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV) alleged that religious conversion was being carried out.



The event was stopped after the youth brigade, set up in 2002 by Yogi Adityanath, now the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, filed a complaint against Yohannan Adam, the pastor of the church, accusing him of converting Hindus to Christianity, a charge the pastor denied.



SHO, Dathauli, Anand Kumar Gupta said no prior permission was taken for the meeting, which was held ahead of Good Friday. "We stopped the prayer meeting after a complaint was registered. A probe is underway and appropriate action will be taken if the charges are found to be correct," he said.



Dathauli falls in Maharajganj district in eastern Uttar Pradesh. It borders Gorakhpur, the Lok Sabha constituency represented five times by Adityanath before he took over the reins of Uttar Pradesh.



Gupta said mass was held there quite often but as this time foreigners were involved, the HYV suspected that conversion was going on. The US tourists, including a few women, were let off after police checked their travel documents.

A US embassy spokesperson said, "We are aware of the news reports concerning this incident. The protection of American citizens overseas is our highest priority."The spokesperson didn't elaborate due to "privacy concerns".



HYV leader Krishna Nandan, who surrounded the church with his supporters yesterday afternoon, said that the "presence of US nationals indicates that innocent and illiterate Hindus were being converted by missionaries who lured them with money to change their religion".



The HYV members dispersed after police promised a probe and adequate action even as the church authorities dismissed allegations of conversion. "The charges are absolutely baseless. The people were attending a prayer meeting voluntarily. We prayed. Nothing else was done," pastor Adam said.



The Hindu right wing has been at loggerheads with Christian missionaries, accusing them of converting people through coercion and allurement. Several Hindu organisations have conducted 'ghar wapsi' or homecoming of such people, which minority groups say is a couched term for re-conversion.



Earlier this year, HYV activists had attacked the Full Gospel Church in Gorakhpur, accusing it of indulging in religious conversion. At Christmas last year, the HYV had warned Christian priests from holding any religious function outside churches.



HYV, which has a widespread network in eastern Uttar Pradesh, has alleged that Hindus are lured to Christianity through religious functions. "We have received several inputs that Christian preachers and priests hold such religious ceremonies in rural areas and secret locations in which Hindus are brought and motivated to join Christianity, through allurements including cash. We will not let this happen," HYV president Sunil Singh alleged.



"They can hold their prayers inside churches or their homes but not any place outside. We have alerted the district administration in various places about such ceremonies slated to be held and if such functions do happen, churches would not be safe," he warned.



Singh said HYV has a youth member in each village in various districts of eastern Uttar Pardesh and keeps getting inputs about such happenings.
Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir by resorting to firing on forward posts today, drawing retaliation from Indian Army.



"Pakistani Army fired indiscriminately from small arms and automatic weapons from 1545 hours today on Indian Army posts along the LoC in Noushera belt of Rajouri district," a defence spokesman said. Army troops deployed on forward posts retaliated and the exchange was continuing till last reports came in.



This is the fifth violation of the ceasefire this month. On April 5, Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire along the LoC in Poonch district by shelling forward posts with mortar bombs.



On April 4, Pakistani Army fired mortar shells on Indian Army posts along the LoC in Bhimbher Gali sector of Rajouri district. On April 3, Pakistani troops had shelled mortar bombs on forward posts in Balakote sector of Rajouri district.



In the second ceasefire violation on April 3, Pakistani troops had shelled Indian posts along the LoC in Digwar area in Poonch sector. As per the reports, heavy mortar shelling in Digwar area has created fear pyschosis among the area dwellers. In the same area, a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO), Naib Subedar S Sanayaima Som, was killed in an improvise explosive device (IED) blast along the LoC in Poonch sector on April 1.



It may be recalled there were four violations of the ceasefire along the LoC in Poonch in March. On March 9, army jawan Deepak Jagannath Ghadge was killed when Pakistani soldiers initiated indiscriminate and unprovoked firing along the LoC in Poonch.



In 2016 there were 228 instances of ceasefire violation along the LoC, while there were 221 instances of ceasefire violation along the International Border (IB).
Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi has blamed the Indian film industry for promoting eve-teasing in the name of romance.



"If you look at the films...in last 50 years, the only way to communicate messages...I am talking about the feature films in every language in India. The romance almost always starts with eve-teasing," Gandhi said at `Goa Fest 2017' here last evening.



"The man and his friends will surround a woman, trip her up...abuse her, touch her inappropriately and slowly-slowly she will fall in love with him, and then rest of it is, he fights with somebody or other and gets her," she said.



"Always...it starts with violence. And when we talk about the films today, exactly the same method that of 1950s (is showed)....May be we should think whether we should be using this medium to propagate violence," the Minister said.



"The powerlessness of men also leads to violence against women. The man's feeling of powerlessness, he is being shouted at, his failure in job, is also one of the reasons of violence against women," Gandhi said.
The Rajasthan Police on Saturday arrested one more person in connection with the lynching of Pehlu Khan, the Muslim man reportedly attacked by cow vigilantes on April 1 in Alwar district.



With this, the number of people arrested in the incident has gone up to four. We have arrested Dayanand Yadav, who was seen thrashing the men for illegal transportation of cows, Behror police station SHO Parmal Singh said.



The case was transferred to Parmal Singh following criticisms that the case has been delayed. Ramesh Chand was probing the case at Behror police station.
Several workers of the Hindu Yuva Vahini, a saffron outfit founded by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, created ruckus during prayers at a church in Maharajganj district, alleging that the priests tried to convert people.



A police source said workers belonging to the saffron outfit raided the church on Friday during the prayers and forced the priests and other foreign participants to leave the spot.



The outfit members demanded the priests arrest on the grounds that he was trying to lure the local people into a particular religion. The church authorities, however, denied the allegations and said that there was no conversion.



The police said that they managed to persuade Vahini workers to leave the church after assuring them that the matter would be investigated. Adityanath formed the outfit in 2002. The outfit wields immense influence in Gorakhpur and nearby districts.
Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot accused Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje of violating the model code of conduct.



Citing the Election Commissions norms, Pilot said once the campaigning is over, no one, except voters of the constituency, can stay beyond 6 pm, but Vasundhara and her two ministers stayed back in Dholpur, where the polling is scheduled on Sunday.



Pilot accused the chief minister of influencing the voters by her presence in Dholpur on the eve of the polling day.



Pilot tweeted, State government is flouting all norms. Administration, officials succumbing to pressure & allowing this, undermines the sanctity of the EC. Intimidation & luring of votes being done with impunity. The BJP, however, backed the chief minister, saying that she stayed back in Dholpur for medical reasons.
After waiving farm loans of small and marginal farmers, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is contemplating replicating the 'Amma canteens' of Tamil Nadu (subsidised meal scheme named after former CM, the late J Jayalalithaa) in the state.



According to sources, the state government will be setting up Annapurna Bhojnalaya (canteen) in different cities in the state, which would provide breakfast, lunch and dinner at nominal rates.



Breakfast will cost Rs 3 while lunch and dinner will be priced at Rs 5 each. Thus, a days meal will cost only Rs 13, said a senior official, who was privy to the information.



The draft scheme is almost ready...It will be presented before the chief minister in the next few days, the official added. Sources said that the government planned to launch the project in capital Lucknow, Ghaziabad and Gorakhpur (Adityanaths hometown) on a pilot basis and later extend it to other parts of the state.



''We plan to set up Annapurna canteens in all 14 municipal corporations in the state in a phased manner,'' the official said. The scheme would benefit the poor, labourers, rickshaw pullers, daily-wage earners and low-salaried people, he said.



The canteens would be run on PPP (public-private partnership) model, he added. Over 250 canteens are likely to be opened across the state...it will cost the exchequer over Rs 150 crore annually, he said.



The official said the chief minister may formally announce the scheme in the next few days.



Govt orders probe



Meanwhile, suspecting a scam of about Rs 1,100 crore, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to conduct a probe into the sale of 21 sugar mills in the state during the BSP rule in 2010-11. The state government might consider recommending a CBI probe into the matter, an official spokesman said here on Saturday.



The decision was taken at a review meeting of the sugar cane development department chaired by Adityanath. The chief minister noted that nobody has the right to misuse public property and those violating it will be brought to justice.



The chief minister also said FIRs will be lodged against sugar mills if they failed to pay arrears of sugar cane farmers by April 23. He directed officials to take all measures to make operational the defunct sugar mills of the cooperative sector in next crushing season.



Adityanath said a committee would be set up to suggest maximum utilisation of resources of sugar mills during the off season.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday took a dig at Pakistan for exporting terror to the rest of South Asia, saying the policy makers of the neighbouring country prefer terrorism over humanity.



Modi was with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Manekshaw Centre in New Delhi to pay homage to the 1,661 Indian Army and paramilitary soldiers who sacrificed their lives in the 1971 war with Pakistan.



The war had led to the birth of Bangladesh, which was earlier a part of Pakistan and was known as East Pakistan. Hasina recalled the role played by India, led by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, in helping her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who spearheaded the mass movement in East Pakistan, in the liberation war against Pakistan and in the creation of Bangladesh.



Tribute to Mujibur Rahman



Modi, too, paid tribute to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, but did not mention Indira Gandhis role in the struggle for Bangladesh. Every Indian takes pride in the knowledge that Indian soldiers and the brave Mukti Joddhas (of Bangladesh) fought together to liberate Bangladesh from a reign of terror, said Modi.



The prime minister said the governments mantra of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas was not just restricted to India, but also to its neighbours. The development of India is incomplete without the progress of the rest of South Asia, he said.



There is a thought in South Asia opposed to the approach of India and Bangladesh to promote development; this thought nurtures and promotes terrorism, Modi said, taking a jibe at Pakistan.



Both prime ministers also honoured the family members of the Indian Army and paramilitary soldiers who laid down their lives in the 1971 war.



The Indian army never shied away from its duty and set an example by following the conventions of war. Over 90,000 prisoners of war were released safely after the 1971 war. This humane gesture shown by India is one of the biggest events of the century, Modi said.



He also referred to the atrocities committed by the Pakistan army on the people of East Pakistan during the liberation war of Bangladesh. The purpose of this genocide was not just the killing the innocent people, but also to uproot the idea of Bangladesh, he said.



Hasina thanked India on behalf of the people and government of Bangladesh for providing shelter to a large number of refugees during the 1971 war.



Earlier, after his meeting with Hasina, Modi had complimented the Bangladesh prime minister saying, We have the greatest admiration for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas firm resolve in dealing with terrorism. Her governments zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism is an inspiration for all of us. We agreed that peace, security and development for our people and for the region will remain central to our engagement.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday assured his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina of his efforts to resolve the row over sharing the water of Teesta during her current term.



I assure you and the people of Bangladesh of our commitment and continuing efforts (to conclude negotiation on a bilateral pact for sharing of water of Teesta). I firmly believe that it is only my government and Excellency Sheikh Hasina, your government, that can and will find an early solution to Teesta water sharing, Modi told Hasina at the Hyderabad House here.



Hasinas term will conclude by the end of 2018, while Modis tenure will end in the middle of 2019. Teesta originates from Tso Lhamo lake in Sikkim. The river is the lifeline for Sikkim and several districts of West Bengal.



The 315-km long river joins Brahmaputra after entering Bangladesh. The negotiations between India and Bangladesh for a water-sharing agreement for Teesta was stalled after West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee opposed the deal in 2011, alleging that it would be detrimental to the interest of the farmers in the northern region of her state.



Mamata joined Modi and Hasina for lunch at the Hyderabad House. Modi apparently invited Mamata to persuade her on lifting the objections on the proposed deal. Mamata was also present when the two prime ministers addressed the media.



I am very happy that the chief minister of West Bengal is my honoured guest today. I know that her feelings for Bangladesh are as warm as my own, said Modi.



Hasina has been asking New Delhi to end the impasse over Teesta, as it has become a major political issue in Bangladesh.
The Consulate General of India at San Francisco in the US are in touch with local police officers in Washington State, where Vikram Jaryal, was killed by armed robbers recently.



External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj asked Venkatesan Ashok, Consul General of India (CGI) in San Francisco, to provide all possible assistance to Jaryals family and coordinate with the investigating police officers. I have received a report on the shoot-out incident resulting in the tragic death of Indian national Vikram Jaryal in Washington State USA, Sushma posted on Twitter.



She said that the CGI in San Francisco is helping the family and following up with the authorities of Yakima City of Washington about the investigation. We are coordinating with the investigative agencies. They have got the CCTV footage and are in the process of apprehending the culprits, she tweeted.



Jaryal, 26, hailed from Punjab and reached the US only 25 days ago. He was working at a store owned by a family friend. Two armed robbers got into the store at 1:30 am on April 6. They snatched cash from Jaryal and shot him on the chest. He succumbed to injuries.



Third victim



Jaryal is the third Indian-origin man to be killed in the US since February. Indian citizens Srinivas Kuchibhotla and his friend Alok Madasani, who worked for multinational company Garmin Limited at Olathe in Kansas, were shot at by a local resident Adam Purinton at a local bar on February 22.



The assailant purportedly hurled racial slur at his victims. Kuchibhotla was killed and Madasani was injured. Ian Grillot, a US citizen, was injured while trying to save Kuchibhotla and Madasani.
The nine-day strike by truckers was called off on Saturday after the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) agreed to cut the third-party insurance premium by 23%.



The South Zone Motor Transporters Welfare Association (SZMTWA) and the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) held talks with officials of the IRDAI in Hyderabad, and simultaneously, with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the Ministry of Finance in New Delhi.



The IRDAI also agreed to form a consultative committee for discussing transport-related issues, with representation from the two associations.



A press note issued by SZMTWA said that the discussion in Hyderabad with IRDAI officials lasted for more than six hours. General secretary of the association G R Shanmugappa, president Gopal Naidu and vice president Mukesh M Shah took part in the deliberation. The association thanked truckers and other associations for the success of their strike and the Central and state governments for their cooperation.
India on Saturday pledged a soft loan of nearly Rs 32,000 crore for Bangladesh, as the two nations inked 22 pacts for cooperation in diverse areas, including defence, cyber security, nuclear energy and space technology.



This is the single-largest soft loan New Delhi has pledged to any country at one go.Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Indias new line of credit of $4.5 billion (Rs 28,921 crore) for development projects in Bangladesh after a meeting with his counterpart from the neighbouring country, Sheikh Hasina, who is currently on a four-day-visit to New Delhi.



He also announced a separate credit line of $500 million (approximately Rs 3,213.50 crore) to help Bangladesh procure military hardware from India. New Delhis pledge for soft loans is apparently aimed at dissuading Dhaka from allowing China to expand its footprints and build strategic assets in Bangladesh.



India has always stood for prosperity of Bangladesh and its people, Modi said, while addressing a joint press conference with Hasina at the Hyderabad House here.



This (line of credit) brings our resource allocation for Bangladesh to more than $8 billion over the past six years, Modi said, adding that the implementation of the defence credit line would be guided by the needs and priorities of Bangladesh. India is certainly our most important neighbour and one of our key development partners, said Hasina.



The neighbours inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to lay the framework for bilateral defence cooperation. Two other MoUs were inked for cooperation between the National Defence College, New Delhi, and the Defence Services Staff College at Wellington in Tamil Nadu with counterpart institutions in Dhaka and Mirpur in Bangladesh on national security, development, strategic and operational studies.



The Indian Space Research Organisation and Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission signed an MoU for cooperation in peaceful uses of outer space. This will pave the way for India to offer its space technology to Bangladesh.



The two countries inked an agreement for cooperation in peaceful uses of nuclear energy, along with the inter-agency arrangement for Exchange of Technical Information and Co-operation in the Regulation of Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection.



Indias Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership signed an agreement with Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission for cooperation on nuclear power plant projects in the neighbouring country.



The pacts are likely to pave the way for India joining Russia for developing nuclear power plants in energy-starved Bangladesh. India also promised to train 1,500 judicial officers of Bangladesh in its institutes. New Delhi already delivered on its promise of training 1,500 civil servants of Bangladesh in India.
Learning Queens English does not mean classroom monologue for students at a Kannada-medium school in Bengaluru. They are learning the language with a digital teaching tool that gives them multi-sensory experience.



In a small classroom at the Government Higher Primary School in Channasandra, students appeared enthusiastic as their classes were to begin. The wall turned into a book with text projected on it.



Ask students which is their favourite subject and most of them say English. From prose to poems, they learn it all with the digital education tool. While other students of their age learn poems by heart, girls at this school learn it through pictures.



ReadToMe, a technology platform developed by EnglishHelper Technologies Pvt Ltd, is designed to improve reading, comprehension and spoken English skills. It helps Kannada-medium students follow the language better.



If I go to America, I will speak English. That is why English is important, said Naveen, a class 7 student, when DH visited the school during a teaching session. The platform not only helps students pronounce individual words, it also gives pictorial representation and translation in the local language.



Sponsored by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the technology platform has been put to use by RightToRead (RTR), a national initiative that enables the use of reading technology in government schools.



More than 5,000 students from Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Punjab and three other states have been given access to this digital platform to learn English. In Karnataka, there are 10 other government schools where digital teaching methods are being used to help students learn English. The platform is first installed in schools and teachers are later trained briefly.



Vineet Mehra, vice president, EnglishHelper Technologies Pvt Ltd, said the initiative was aimed at helping government school students speak English confidently like their private school peers. We believe that language empowers people. Currently, students of classes 6, 7 and 8 are part of this initiative as the entire English syllabus has been provided in a digitised form, he added.


Police are investigating the claims of a man that his 21-year-old nephew was abducted by a four-member gang as he came out of an ATM kiosk at Jalahalli Cross, north Bengaluru, during the evening rush hour on Friday.



The complainant, B L Gowda, said he received a call from his nephew, Maruthi, who told him that four men bundled him into a car as he was returning to his home in Anchanapalya.



Maruthi, a machine operator at a private company, had gone into the ATM to withdraw Rs 2,500 as he owed a friend Rs 2,000. Gowda said he immediately rushed to the jurisdictional Peenya police station to file a complaint. While police have registered an FIR, they doubt the incident occurred.



The complainant says the incident occurred around 8.20 pm amid peak-hour traffic. We reviewed the CCTV footage from two banks, enquired with security guards and roadside vendors but nobody witnessed anything of this sort. Still, a special team has been formed to investigate the matter and trace Maruthi, a senior police officer said.
The Congress party has lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of India against BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa on the grounds that he was found distributing money in the Gundlupet constituency.



A group of Congressmen led by N S Boseraju on Saturday submitted the complaint to the EC through the office of the chief electoral officer. The Congress has said that Yeddyurappa, the BJP state president, had paid Rs 1 lakh to women at Vaddana Hosahalli, Hangala hobli, Gundlupet Assembly constituency. This amounts to bribing voters. The incident has been telecast by channels, they claimed. There is also a complaint against former minister Renukacharya. The Congress said that Renukacharya, with his party workers, was carrying Rs 5 lakh for distribution to voters in Gundlupet. The petitioners wanted the EC to take action against both the BJP leaders.




A 42-year-old contract employee at the Department of Agriculture has accused the 59-year-old additional director of the department of rape.



The woman filed a complaint at the Halasuru Gate police station on Friday. The suspect, identified as N Gangappa, is a resident of Basaveshwarangar and is due for retirement in seven months, the police said.



According to the police, the offence had taken place in several instances during March, April and May last year at the chamber of the additional director in the department building on Sheshadri Road near KR Circle. Gangappa has been arrested, produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.



The victim, who is a Group D employee, is married and has been working in the department since 2008, the police said.



According to sources, the victim had approached her seniors and informed them about the incidents, but no action was taken against the director. The woman on Friday approached the jurisdictional Halasuru Gate police station and lodged a complaint. Sources said that since the victim could not explain the delay in filing a complaint, the police are in a fix on whether to continue investigation into the case.



Bank officials booked



The CBI sleuths have registered criminal cases against D Rajasekhar, senior branch manager of Syndicate Bank, Goaves Branch, Belagavi, unknown officials of Syndicate Bank and some private persons for violating RBI guidelines.



Rajasekhar reportedly committed serious irregularities in implementation of RBI circular on demonetisation. He is said to have carried out suspicious transactions to the tune of Rs 12 lakh by fraudulent means in non-home branch accounts and reactivated dormant accounts. He also resorted to illegal transactions, fraudulent replacement of new currency, submission of false daily reports to controlling office and fraudulent transactions in the accounts of family members.



Searches were conducted at Belagavi and Karimnagar in Telangana and incriminating documents were seized. In another case, CBI registered a case against B Prakash, chief manager, Corporation Bank, Ramanagaram branch, unknown officials of Corporation Bank and a few others.



According to the sleuths, Prakash illegally exchanged Rs 10 lakh of specified bank notes with the new currency on November 14, 2016 and tried to cover up the illegal act by fabricating the requisition slips. The sleuths recovered incriminating documents after raids in Bengaluru.
Three bike-borne men attacked a city-based doctor in a bid to rob him of his valuables in Hanumanthnagar on Friday night.



The victim, Dr Hanumanthe Gowda, a resident of Raghavendra Block, had gone for a walk after dinner when three men on a motorcycle accosted him and tried to rob him. When Gowda raised an alarm, the trio attacked him.



Abort attempt



When the doctor retaliated, they aborted their attempt and sped away. A few passersby who noticed Dr Hanumanthe Gowda, shifted him to a private hospital. The Hanumanthnagar police have registered a case and efforts are on to nab the suspects.
Forest officials and conservationists, who are gearing up for the elephant census, will focus on areas outside forests as the jumbos are seen on the outskirts of forest patches.



The department is now preparing a detailed list of the areas outside forest patches which need focus. We have already listed some areas in the Mysuru and Dandeli belts. We are also covering Tumakuru, Ramanagaram, Mandya and Hassan, Dilipkumar Das, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Project Elephant, told DH.



Das said that unlike the last census, where different states were covered on different dates, this time it will be done in all South Indian states on the same day. This will help ensure that the migrating elephants are also counted.



Officials and conservationists hope that the population this time will be almost same as the one during the last census (6,000, highest in India) despite the death of several animals. According to Forest department records, in the last five years 515 elephants died a natural death, while 68 met with unnatural death because of electrocution, shooting, man-animal conflict and poaching.



Kishan Singh Sugara, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), said that he did not expect any sudden rise in population. It should be stable. Though there have been deaths, births have also been reported. This time, during the census, more attention will be given to areas where cases of conflict have been very high, he said.



Favourite crops

One cannot say that since the number of conflict cases are high, the population is more. Elephants are coming out of forest areas because farmers are growing the favourite crops of jumbos in the areas bordering forest patches. The corridors are also being encroached upon, which is leading to conflict, Das added.



Raman Sukumar, noted elephant expert and professor at IISc, said the drought factor could play a role in the census. But this time the census will be more accurate as dung decay rate analysis has been incorporated in addition to counting of animals.

Workshops for training the staff and volunteers are also under way.



The dung decay rate analysis started in 2016. Preference is being given to volunteers who have participated in earlier census. Census from May 17-19

The Elephant census will be conducted between May 17 and 19. Training will be imparted to volunteers and preparation of elephant distribution map will be done on May 16. Training for forest staff and volunteers is going on.



One training camp was conducted at Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) on April 2. The next training session will be held on April 22 at BNP office and one each in Mysuru and Chikkamagaluru on April 25 and another in Dandeli on May 2.
A doctor was killed on the spot and his wife injured after a car ran over their bike opposite BWSSB office on Vidyaranyapura main road on Saturday.



The deceased is Vithal Kumar, 41, a resident of Vidyaranyapura. His wife Shwetha, 35, a homemaker, is being treated for fractures on her leg.



The accident occurred around 4 pm when the victims were on their way to Nanjappa Circle. Vijay Benzer, 38, a techie from Balaji Layout, lost control of the car when he approached the BWSSB office and hit the bike from behind. Kumar was taken to MS Ramaiah Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival, police said. The police arrested Benzer and seized his car.



Labourer murdered



A 25-year-old construction labourer was bludgeoned and stabbed to death by his friend on Friday night over an affair with the latters wife in Kadugodi. The deceased, Kashi Mahanta, is a native of Kolkata and was living in a makeshift shed along with other labourers, close to a multi-storey commercial building in Chikkabanahalli where they were working.



According to the police, Mahanta had an illicit relationship with his friend Prem Kumar Samanths wife. Samanth saw the two together on Thursday when he returned home from work, police said. On Friday night, after Samanth came back from work, he picked a quarrel with Mahanta.



Samanth bludgeoned Mahanta with a hammer and stabbed him in the neck, killing him on the spot. A few neighbours who heard the commotion rushed to the spot and caught Samanth, who told the police that he had warned Mahanta to stay away from his wife, but in vain.
Hardly anyone uses the existing skywalks. Yet, a hundred more are being built across the city, their landings encroaching upon footpaths. Should pedestrians be forced this way to help ease vehicular movement?



An obsession with motorists has left most city roads deeply offensive to pedestrians. One look at those monstrous skywalks with their legs encroaching deep on the footpaths should convince everyone of a priority gone horribly wrong.A vehicular overload has left most roads too tough to cross for pedestrians young and old, able and disabled.



Zebra crossings, once the favoured mode to get to the other side, have disappeared. Instead, walkers are told to climb up heights of 20 feet or more, negotiate unlit skywalks and risk their safety.



Hardly anyone takes the existing skywalks. Either they are too high, located nowhere near where people want to cross or simply just unnecessary. Shouldnt this have convinced the state of the futility of the entire exercise?



Undeterred, the authorities are putting up more skywalks in the city. Clearly, the intention is to attract the advertisers and not the pedestrians. No effort is in sight to reactivate those zebra crossings.



Pedestrians at signals



Caught up in managing the explosive vehicular growth, do the traffic police realise the time available for pedestrians to cross a signalled junction has dropped dramatically? Risking their lives, the walkers are forced to scurry across in seconds as motorists in their haste run them down. Since the skywalks have failed, many pedestrians run across busy roads at random.



Speeding on poorly lit streets, the motorists often fail to spot the crossing walkers. Indicating the clear danger in this growing practice, statistics show a deeply disturbing spike in pedestrian deaths over the years.



Skywalks now being built across Old Airport Road in Domlur and across Kasturba Road near VIT Museum are clear reminders of a misplaced priority. These structures can be accessed only by steps that are placed right on the footpath. Walkers moving ahead have no option, but to get onto the busy road.



Skywalks ignored



In KR Puram, pedestrians prefer to walk right on the Old Madras Road, ignoring the skywalk towering above them a few metres away from the cable-stayed bridge. Enquiries with walkers showed why: The structure is way too inaccessible, particularly so for senior citizens.



Four years ago, a study by NGO Hasiru-Usiru had established that only about 20% of the pedestrians use skywalks. Eighty per cent preferred to just walk across. But they had to wait a long time or risk getting knocked down. At Mehkri Circle, for instance, the waiting time was 20 minutes.



Surveying 17 junctions across the city, the study found that the pelican light at signals would turn green for pedestrians for barely 20 seconds. Four years later, it has dropped to less than 10 seconds.



Walkers wonder how fast they should be to cross a 100-ft road in that period. Inevitably they get stuck at the median as vehicles speed past. Mounting cases of signal-jumping vehicles have only made it worse.



The skywalk near Sophias School is often cited as a structure in disuse. It caters to only two of the four roads that meet at the junction. Besides its steep height, parents find the gaps in the railings too risky for children.



Mindset change



So what is the solution? Mobility experts emphasise the need to inculcate a mindset of caring for the pedestrians among motorists. This would mean slowing down and halting for walkers at defined crossings. Signal-jumping would be a strict no-no.



However, the governments priority remains building more skywalks. In February, Bengaluru Development Minister, K J George had announced plans to construct 100 more pedestrian skywalks. Tenders are already floated for such structures at strategic locations in the city. Skywalks should be avoided across inner city roads at all costs, contends urban mobility expert Sathya Sankaran.



As much as possible, the continuity in walking should be maintained. When you put up a skywalk, you are forcing people out of grade to climb up and down making it easy only for the motorist, he explains.



Against global trend



Globally, skywalks are being pulled down. In cities like Singapore, pedestrian crossings are the preferred mode. You need to put up massive, visible zebra crossings with signals that allow about 20-25 seconds to walk across, Sankaran says.



The Indian Road Congress (IRC) has set clear guidelines for zebra crossings at regular intervals. But these are not adhered to. Instead, the so-called safe zones on the footpath are often encroached by speeding motorcyclists, throwing every norm to the wind.



Sankaran puts it in perspective when he terms skywalks as a means to avoid a problem. Pedestrian crossings would actually fix the problem. In a nutshell, this is what it means: Skywalks are an escapist, commercially driven option that only benefits advertisers. It shows the mental bankruptcy of the planners.
By Jennifer A Dlouhy

6 April 2017 (Bloomberg)  President Donald Trump is preparing to issue an executive order with the goal of giving oil companies more opportunities to drill offshore, reversing Obama-era policies that restricted the activity. The offshore drilling directive is set to be issued soon, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke told an industry conference in Washington on Thursday, according to three attendees who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a session closed to the press. Zinke did not provide specific details on the executive order during his presentation to the National Ocean Industries Association. The coming order is set to push the Interior Department to schedule sales of new offshore oil and natural gas rights in U.S. Atlantic and Arctic waters, amending a five-year Obama administration leasing plan that left out auctions there, according to an industry representative who has discussed it with officials. The order is also expected to begin the process of revoking former President Barack Obamas decision to indefinitely withdraw most U.S. Arctic waters and some Atlantic Ocean acreage from future leasing. Environmentalists say it would be unprecedented for any president to rescind such a designation, and the reversal would almost certainly be challenged in court. Spokesmen for the Interior Department and White House did not respond to emailed requests seeking comment. [more]
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and a delegation of the European Parliament headed by Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs David McAllister discussed the prospects of completing the ratification of the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement.

"The prospects for completing the ratification of the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement, ways to unlocking the potential of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), including the approval of additional autonomous trade preferences for Ukraine by the European Parliament, and energy security of the European continent were discussed," the press service of the Ukrainian president reported.

The head of state expressed gratitude to the European Parliament for the approval of the decision to introduce visa free regime for Ukrainian citizens on April 6.

"This decision is a clear confirmation of powerful support of European future of our state by the European Parliament," Poroshenko said.

The Ukrainian president highly appreciated the active position of the European Parliament in protecting human rights in temporarily occupied Crimea and support of efforts to de-occupy the peninsula and returning it to the sovereignty of Ukraine.

The sides pointed out the necessity of taking concrete measures to increase effectiveness of combat Russian disinformation campaign in Europe.
Court in Kyiv sentences eight Tornado police squad members to long imprisonment, suspends sentence for four members

Kyiv's Obolonsky district court has sentenced former head of the disbanded Tornado taskforce police squad of the chief department of the Interior Ministry of Ukraine in Luhansk region Ruslan Onyschenko, his deputy Mykola Tsukur and six more members of the squad to long imprisonment, and suspended sentences for more four members.

An Interfax-Ukraine correspondent has reported that Onyschenko was sentenced to 11 years in jail, Tsukur  nine years, Belarusian citizen Daniil Lyashuk  10 years, Ilya Kholod nine years and a half, Borys Hulchuk, Maksym Hlebov and Mykyta Kust  nine years each, and Anatoliy Plamadiala  eight.

Yuriy Shevchenko, Roman Ivash, Andriy Demchuk and Mykyta Svyrydovsky were sentenced to five years in jail with the three year probation period for Shevchenko and two years for the rest three Tornado squad members.

The 'Savchenko' law (the law on improving the procedure for counting preliminary detention as part of the term of sentence) applied to these persons.

Those with suspended sentences are to wear ankle monitors and inform authorized agencies about their place of registration.

In June 2015, eight people, including seven members of the Tornado special patrol police squad, were detained in Luhansk region. Interior Minister Arsen Avakov announced then that he had signed an order to disband the squad.

Kyiv's Obolonsky district court has been considering the Tornado case since the end of 2015.
Jio has accepted the regulator's decision and will be scrapping its complimentary benefits over the next few days

UPDATE: Reliance Jio Prime Membership subscriptions will remain open till April 15.

Reliance Jio had announced a Summer Surprise offer on March 31, as an extension of its complimentary services. Jio's Summer Surprise offer not only extended the deadline for its Prime Membership subscriptions, it also extended the telco's complimentary services by 3 months, ending July 2017.

Now, as per the advice of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Jio is scrapping its Summer Surprise offer and withdrawing its 3-month long complimentary benefits to subscribers. However, all customers who have subscribed to Jio Summer Surprise offer prior to its discontinuation will remain eligible for the offer. While Jio shared these details through a press release, it did not mention a reason for TRAI's directive stopping the new offer.

One can only guess that the move by the regulator comes after immense pressure from incumbent telecom operators like Airtel and Vodafone. Airtel, expecially, has been locking horns with Reliance Jio for a while now. The two have unsettled disputes over the undue advantage given by TRAI to Jio for its complimentary data and voice calling services. The announcement of Jio's Summer Surprise offer could be seen as drawing the last straw of patience from imcumbent telcos, who have been bleeding chips since the launch of the Mukesh Ambani-led telecom service.

Jio has even put out the announcement on its own website, while users still have an option to recharge for the Rs. 303 Prime Membership for a few more days.
A former manager of a county likely to be most affected by Brexit has spoken about Ireland being screwed in negotiations with Britain before European countries came on board for talks in the 70s.

Michael McLoone was speaking at the launch of the fourth Micheal OCleirigh Summer School which will be held a few kilometres from the border in Rossnowlagh, Co. Donegal, from May 12 to 14.

The retired co. manager, who is on the OCleirigh school committee, recalled at the launch in the Sand house Hotel, Rossnowlagh, on Friday night, that when Garret Fitzgeralds son, John, was storing records of the first 50 years of Irelands independence he was struck by the extent that the country was constantly screwed in negotiations bilaterally with the UK in trade and tariff agreements with a major trading partner.

Mr McLoone said: When we got into Europe in the 70s we had the French helping us negotiate common agricultural policy to help the dairy farmers.

Then the Germans helped the structural funds in the 80s and Rossnowlagh benefitted as did Ballyshannon as did the rest of this coast.

He noted that when he was involved with Donegal County Council the Euro structure funds helped put in waste water treatment plants to clean up estuaries and waterways that couldnt be afforded otherwise because Irelands per capita income at that time was 70 or 80 per cent of the average in Europe.

So the European ideal was that there would be cohesion, Mr McLoone said. Whether you were a strong nationalist or you were pushing towards being a federalist the reality is that we were able to negotiate on a different plane and we benefitted greatly from that kind of funding and we cant afford to lose that kind of relationship with Europe in the negotiations thats going on now.

The OCleirigh Summer school would be one of the first to explore, alongside the Brexit negotiations, how Ireland could protect what it had gained and continue to benefit from being a partner in Europe.

The cross-border co-operation and the EU regional funds for the area had removed customs and excise on the border.

He said: We celebrated the removal, and the introduction of common travel area. They were all huge gains.

Micheal OCleirigh, a native of Creevy, beside Rossnowlagh, was the head of the Four Masters. They compiled the annals of the Kingdom of Ireland 400 years ago,

This years OCleirigh School is called Ireland in Europe and its themed co compare parallels between 1617 and 2017. Its the 400th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of the Franciscan College of St Anthony at Louvain in Belgium where OCleirigh studied.

Politicians and historians attended the launch, including Donegal county councillors Niamh Kennedy and Tom Conachan.

The school will be formally opened on May 12 by UCD Professor Mary E. Daly, the first female President of the Royal Irish Academy in its 232-year history.

Further details on the Micheal OCleirigh School can be found on the website www.mocleirigh.ie
Dozens of fishing vessels from fishing ports in Donegal have joined more than 100 other fishing vessels in a day-long co-ordinated sea search today for two missing Irish Coast guard Rescue 116 airmen.

As many of the vessels left Killybegs a local website, Killybegs online posted this message: Thoughts and prayers today for all the fishermen out searching for the missing helicopter crew. May it be successful and bring closure to their devastated families.

The sweep, which has been planned by three fishing industry organisations in response to an appeal by Mr Smiths sister, Orla, fanned out from the crash location at Blackrock island, 13km west of the north Mayo coast, early this Saturday morning.

The Irish Times reported earlier today that air, sea and shore scans by the Irish Coast Guard, RNLI lifeboats, Civil Defence volunteers, an Air Corps Casa maritime patrol aircraft and the Shannon - based Rescue 115 helicopter are also taking place, according to Irish Coast Guard operations manager Gerard OFlynn.

RNLI lifeboats from Ballyglass and Achill in Co Mayo, Sligo, Bundoran and Arranmore, Co Donegal, along with Killybegs and Killala Coast Guard, will be on scene for the day and will keep in communication with all vessels, according to the RNLI.

Garrett Morrison from the RNLI said the search area was a very concentrated one: "We have a very concentrated search area and it is very closely co-ordinated by the Coast Guard as well.

He said crews had launched from Arranmore in Donegal to as far south as Achill Island.
Germany is committed to retaining sanctions against Russia until all clauses of the Minsk agreements are observed, German Ambassador to Ukraine Ernst Reichel has said.

"There is a clear position of my government. Lifting of sanctions is linked to the observation of all clauses of the Minsk agreements. We are committed to it," the ambassador said at a panel discussion entitled "Europe: The Challenges of Divergent Agendas" at the Kyiv Security Forum on April 7.

The diplomat said that in the current conditions there is no real alternative to the Minsk agreements.

It is easy to say that the Minsk agreements are symbolic and whatever the critics is there is dissatisfaction, and it is appropriate, he said.

"We are not satisfied with the events, but lifting [the format] from the agenda raises the question what would be instead. There is no response that could be realistic and acceptable in one," Reichel said.
While Pamela Whitaker waits for her case to go before the grand jury, she is hoping to get bail set.

Friday, Whitakers attorney Matt Lamere went before Houston County District Judge Benjamin Lewis asking Lewis to consider setting bail for Whitaker.

Whitaker faces capital murder charges along with three others charged in the shooting death of 23-year-old Paston Kennedy on Jan. 4, 2016.

Houston County District Attorney Pat Jones and Lamere both have concerns regarding Whitakers bail.

Your honor, we are asking the courts to consider my client a bail amount, Lamere said. We ask for a $50,000 bail to be set, as well as having an ankle bracelet.

According to Lamere, if bail is made Whitaker has to be turned over to the Panama City Police Department. She currently has a charge waiting on her in Florida in connection to this case. When the authorities issued a search warrant for her home, illegal drugs were found.

Sir, I know my client has previous charges against her, Lamere said, but those charges are all drug-related charges. They are not as serious as this charge.

Houston County District Attorney Pat Jones told Lewis the state is asking for $150,000 bail and an ankle bracelet.

Lamere said if his client receives the $150,000 bail, she does not have any way of paying to be released from jail. He also informed Lewis that when Whitaker is done with her charge in Florida, she would return to Dothan to live with her son while she waits on her case to go before the grand jury.

Lewis said he will take all the information into consideration and will inform them of his decision at a later date.
Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine and Ukrainian Chief Military Prosecutor Anatoliy Matios has informed Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe Nils Muiznieks on investigations into crimes committed on the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

The press service of Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) reported on April 7 that at a meeting in Kyiv the European side was informed on the creation of a department for investigating crimes committed on the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine at the PGO.

"This is the sole division among law enforcement agencies of Ukraine that would be involved in systemic collection of evidence of Russian aggression and war crimes, pretrial investigations and court hearings of these criminal cases," the press service said.

In turn, Muiznieks expressed gratitude for a possibility of meeting and discussing the situation in some areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions beyond control of the Ukrainian government, the issues of cruel treatment of people in these areas, the results of the investigation into war crimes, crimes during the Revolution of Dignity and events in Odesa on May 2, 2014.
Welcome to Albox - Spains Brexit-beating holiday home location for 2017

Brexit-conscious British buyers took quite a while to let the impact of the referendum sink in, but the imminent triggering of Article 50 has finally shaken up their pursuit of Spanish property.

While no fundamental changes to property rights, obtaining mortgage credit or even inheritance tax are expected, there will be a degree of uncertainty over the coming months, and thats making buyers more cautious. However, where theres a threat, theres also usually an opportunity.

While traditional more established (and expensive) Spanish locations are beginning to feel the Brexit blues, buyers arent abandoning the country entirely. Instead, theyre looking for less developed areas, which is giving smaller towns an opportunity to shine.

Richard Speigal, Head of Research at Spanish property portal Kyero.com

The province of Almeria is at the epicentre of the shift, with sales rising 93% in the post-Brexit period.

Prices across the province have lagged behind the rest of Spain, with an average value of 129,000  almost half the national average. Prices are expected to rise following the post-Brexit spike in sales, but havent done so yet, creating an interesting opportunity for buyers with an eye on potential capital gains as well as a sun-kissed second home.

The addition of Almeria to Jet2s summer 2017 flight schedule is also interesting news to those seeking an easily accessible, bargain holiday home with great potential for capital gain.

Within Almeria, the town of Albox is the one to watch, according to the experts at Kyero.com, which lists more than 200,000 properties each month.

Flanked by the Sierra de las Estancias and the Sierra de los Filabres mountain ranges, Albox benefits from being less than an hours drive from the coast and just over an hour from Almeria Airport. The towns white-washed homes, pretty plazas and narrow streets boast plenty of the kind of authentic Spanish charm that many British buyers are seeking.

Over 50s British buyers may be sitting on huge equity thanks to rising UK house prices, but sterlings fall has hit their budgets, which in turn has led to a hunt for value. As healthcare and pension arrangements arent guaranteed to remain the same after Brexit, retirees are holding back from blowing their budgets on huge villas in prime locations. Instead, apartments in less well known locations are coming to the fore. The Costa del Sols loss is Almerias gain.

Richard Speigal, Kyero.com

The average property in Albox costs just 129,000  the same as the provincial average, based on Kyero.coms figures.

Those looking for a substantial project can pick up a townhouse ripe for pulling down and rebuilding for 9,000. A quirky, renovated four-bedroom home with a sunny roof terrace can be picked up for 39,950. Albox apartments are priced from 65,000, while buyers with 100,000 or more can enjoy a selection of spacious villas. Villas with their own pools start from 120,000.

Prices in Albox have risen by 2.2% in the last year. Meanwhile, buyer enquiries are running at four times the average for the Kyero.com site. In February alone, 17,000 people searched for property in the town, with British buyers topping the table when it came to the nationality of those looking at Albox homes.

The majority were bargain-hunting, with 62.3% looking for properties costing less than 50,000, and apartments being the first choice when it came to property type. A further 22.4% were looking to spend between 50,000 and 100,000. Just 14.7% of potential buyers were considering spending over 100,000, reflecting the Brexit-inspired push for bargain holiday homes.

While therell no doubt be plenty of vocal lobbying from Spanish property owners and expats once Brexit negotiations are underway, for now buyers are voting with their wallets, meaning that towns like Albox are emerging as 2017s hottest Spanish holiday home destinations.

For further details, visit kyero.com.
Rada chairman: e-declarations, liquidation of gas dependence on Russia are main steps in fighting corruption in Ukraine

The introduction of e-declarations for officials and politicians and liquidation of gas dependence on Russia have become the most effective steps on the way of fighting corruption in Ukraine, Verkhovna Rada Speaker Andriy Parubiy has said.

"Biggest corruption scams were in the gas sphere. Most corrupted funds were accumulated there. They told us: gas business is business of presidents and prime ministers. Ukraine has not been taken any cubic meter of gas from Russia for two years. This was made by the Yatsenyuk's government [former Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk] and it continues with the Groysman's government [Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman]. This is the incredible step in fighting corruption," he said at the 10th Kyiv Security Forum in Kyiv on April 7.

Parubiy said that not all reforms conducted in Ukraine are popular, but society has managed to make hard steps.

"No country has more transparent e-declarations than Ukraine has. These are open registers of all property, registers with access to property of all officials," he said.

Parubiy said that there is still corruption.

"We have to gradually be cured from this disease. We are moving in right direction," he said.
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By Jie Jenny Zou, Ohio Valley ReSource

The Marcellus Shale has transformed the Appalachian Basin into an energy juggernaut. Even amid a recent drilling slowdown, regional daily production averages enough natural gas to power more than 200,000 U.S. homes for a year.

Springville, Pennsylvania. Photo credit: J. Henry Fair  / Flights provided by LightHawk

But the rise of hydraulic fracturing over the past decade has created another boom: tons of radioactive materials experts call an orphan waste stream. No federal agency fully regulates oil and gas drilling byproductswhich include brine, sludge, rock and soiled equipmentleaving tracking and handling to states that may be reluctant to alienate energy interests.

Nobody can say how much of any type of waste is being produced, what it is and where its ending up, said Nadia Steinzor of the environmental group Earthworks, who co-wrote a report on shale waste. [Earthworks has received funding from The Heinz Endowments, as has the Center for Public Integrity.]

The group is among several suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to regulate drilling waste under a federal system that tracks hazardous materials from creation to final disposal or cradle to grave. The EPA declined to comment on the lawsuit but is scheduled to file a response in court by early July.

Geologists have long known soil and rock contain naturally occurring radioactive materials that can become concentrated through activities like fracking, in which sand and chemicals are pumped thousands of feet underground to release oil and gas from tight rock. But concerns about fracking largely have focused on injection wells and seismic activity, with less attention paid to hot waste that arrives at landfills and sets off radiation alarms.

An analysis by the Center for Public Integrity shows that states are struggling to keep pace with this waste stream, relying largely on industry to self-report and self-regulate. States have also been slow to assess and curb risks from exposure to the waste, which can remain radioactive for millennia. Excessive radiation exposure can increase cancer risks; radon gas, for example, has been tied to lung cancer.

The four states in the Marcellus are taking different approaches to the problem; none has it under control. Pennsylvania has increasingly restricted disposal of drilling waste, while West Virginia allows some landfills to take unlimited amounts. Ohio has yet to formalize waste rules, despite starting the process in 2013. New York, which banned fracking, accepts drilling waste with little oversight.

Inconsistencies have raised concerns among regulators and activists that waste is being shopped around by companies seeking the path of least resistance or unsafely reused. In March, Kentuckys attorney general opened an investigation into two landfills he alleged illegally accepted radioactive drilling waste from West Virginia. A separate investigation is ongoing at the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, where officials exchanged emails about whether landfill workers and schoolchildren might have been exposed to dangerous levels of radiation.

Bill Kennedy, a radiation expert at the consulting firm Dade Moeller, called radioactive drilling waste virtually unregulated and said consistent standards are needed to protect workers, protect the general public, protect the environment.

Kennedy co-chairs a committee working with regulators and industry to develop guidelines and recommendations for states. You cant rely on industry to go it alone and self-regulate, he said.

While radiation emitted from fracking waste may pale in comparison to that from nuclear power plant waste, Steinzor said regulators dont know the cumulative impacts of landfilling the loads over time. Theres been such a push to expand the industry and to drill as much as possible, she said. No one has had the desire or political will to slow the industry down long enough to figure out what the risks truly are.

This piece was produced in partnership with the Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan, nonprofit investigative news organization.

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The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation (LDF) raised a staggering $40 million to protect endangered species and help preserve the environment at the actor and environmentalists second annual fundraising gala in St. Tropez, France on Wednesday.

Tonights event is about supporting LDFs efforts to protect key species like the tiger, rhino, shark and mountain gorilla by working with governments to conserve the jungles, coral reefs and forests they call home, DiCaprio told his star-studded guests during his opening speech.

By focusing on protecting these critically-endangered iconic species is almost like setting up a worldwide network of Noahs arks. Weve decimated our forests, wildlands, polluted and over fished our rivers and oceans; all the key ecosystems that not only serve as a home to our planets biodiversity, but also make life here for us possible. Im incredibly proud to be part of a night that will allow us to do so much to protect the planet, he said.
By Brenda Ekwurzel

I have had the thrill of sharing the latest discoveries in the classroom with students who asked probing questions, when I was a faculty member of a university. That journey of discovery is one that parents and family members delight in hearing about when students come home and share what they have found particularly intriguing.

What if the information the student shared was not based on the best available evidence? Misinformation would begin to spread more widely. If corrected, the student might distrust the teacher who may have not known the source material was compromised.

This scenario is not fiction. It has happened and may still be occurring in some U.S. schools. Anyone concerned about this can learn more with an update forthcoming from those who keep trackthe National Center for Science Education (NCSE).

According to the NCSE, during October 2013 educators received a packet chock full of misinformation about climate change. The report includes an abbreviation that looked similar to a highly respected sourcethe Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changefor international climate assessments.

It has happened again (starting in March 2017). Many teachers found a packet in their mailbox with a report from the same group that spread the misinformation back in October 2013. This report has a second edition gold highlight with a cover image of water flowing over a dam and a misleading title.

The report runs counter to the agreement among scientists who publish on climate change in the peer-reviewed scientific literature. More than 97 percent of scientists agree that climate change is caused by human activities.

The Heartland Institute is infamous for its rejection of climate science and unsavory tactics. According to a reported statement by the CEO of Heartland Institute, they plan to keep sending out copies to educators over the weeks ahead.

Koch-Funded Group Tries to Persuade 200,000 Science Teachers That Climate Change Is Debatable https://t.co/Qd4qFk8hYL @ALECExposed @prwatch  EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) March 30, 2017

If you see any student or teacher with this report or DVD please let NCSE know about it and share what you have learned to help stop the spread.

Brenda Ekwurzel is a senior climate scientist and the director of climate science at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
An autopsy on a 14-year-old boy, who was found dead outside a school room about a week ago, revealed no injuries to support allegations that he had been assaulted, authorities in southwest China's Sichuan Province said Friday.

Zhao Xin was an eighth grader in Taifu Town of Luzhou City.

According to the autopsy, the child's wounds were the result of a fall, Wang Qinghong, a police officer with the provincial public security department, told a press conference.

The autopsy was performed on Thursday by the public security department and was supervised by local procurators, expert witnesses and lawyers invited by Zhao's parents.

"His injuries, which were mostly internal, were caused by falling from a height. We found no injuries consistent with an attack or violence," said Wang.

Zhao was found dead outside a dormitory on April 1. Police were alerted and investigations were carried out. However, there had been rumors that the boy had been beaten to death by five students and then thrown out of a fifth-floor window.
Many of us who have dedicated our lives to environmental protection believe that all crimes against nature are also crimes against people. After all, nature is the life source for the human species. But unfortunately, not all members of the public agree with us.

Some people care more about saving animals, a wetland or a forest. None of these matters are of much interest to the media, government or funding organizations. However, when people are also involved and directly harmed by the crime against nature, it can help draw attention to efforts to protect the health and life of people as well as the environment.

Cabezon Peak Morning, New Mexico. Photo credit:

John Fowler / CC BY

Thats one of the many reasons why I believe the environmental movement needs to focus more resources on issue of environmental justice (EJ). This is particularly true for poor communities of color: urban and rural black and Latinx people, immigrants and Native Americans.

Earlier this year, a non-profit that I sit on the board of, New Mexico Environmental Law Center (NMELC), filed an appeal to stop a proposed uranium mine on Navajo tribal lands in New Mexico. The appeal was filed on behalf of Eastern Navajo Dine Against Uranium Mining and due to the quick work of the Law Center, the State of New Mexico terminated the permit. It was wonderful, decisive victoryhighlighting a small but important piece of the very large problem around the issue of environmental justice that groups like NMELC and their clients fight in the U.S. and around the planet every day.

Activists at COP21.

Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continued to come under scrutiny for its failings to address environmental justice issues. In the state of Washington, facts have emerged indicating that the EPA only follows up on 1 out of 7 environmental complaints that are lodged by minorities; in other states, the EPAs record is as bad or worse.

The Center for Public Integrity issued a research report last week, Decades of Inaction, that documents EPAs failings. At the same time, High Country News published a story highlighting EPAs environmental justice program and EJ 2020, an effort to insure that other EPA programs pay attention to EJ issues, but which the EPA has so far struggled to implement.

Peru Cajamarca protest. Photo credit: EFE / Paolo Aguilar

When federal, state or local governments fail to act, groups such as the New Mexico Environmental Law Center are necessary pieces of the enforcement puzzle that can step in and legally force government action. While the NMELC is one program that is addressing environmental justice problems in that state, there are less than 12 similar programs in the U.S. to fight the increasing problems and complaints.

One reason for the lack of non-profit law firms addressing environmental justice problems is the lack of funding. In fact, a 2013 report by the Environmental Grantmakers Association (EGA) indicates that less than 1 percent of the grants reported by its members are directed specifically at environmental justice problems. A broader category of EGA funding called Health and Justicewhich includes environmental justice, toxics, environmental health and indigenous populationsreceived less than 5 percent of funding, according to the EGA report.

As difficult as this situation is in the U.S., it is exponentially worse in other parts of the world, especially in developing countries and in the Southern Hemisphere. The organization that I work for and direct, Global Greengrants Fund, works in space of international environmental justice by providing small grants to non-profits that are fighting against environmental and social threats and crimes. In this capacity, we are aware of or work with, most of the international non-profits and funders that are in the same space. Simply put: The environmental justice threats are enormous and the needs are dramatically unmet.

Cerro de Pasco Mine in Peru. Photo credit: Otto Carotto

Numerous country-based and international organizations try to fill the void, but a dramatic number of threats go unaddressed and many completely undocumented. The Environmental Justice Atlas offers one small step at documenting cases, providing a pathway to report problems and map them for the public to view. In addition, thousands of staff members and volunteers of international organizations and foundations communicate continuously trying to provide support and services, but the size of the problem dwarfs the resources to address.

In the U.S. and abroad, environmental crime has a faceand that face includes people as well as fish, wetlands and forests. The proposed uranium mine in New Mexico would have been a crime against nature, but it was also a crime against the Navajo people who lived nearby and would have suffered the brunt of impacts to their air, water, health and homelands. By giving a higher priority and funding to environmental justice, we may also protect more of the non-human world as well.

Terry Odendahl, PhD, is president and CEO of Global Greengrants Fund.

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Leonardo DiCaprios address to the United Nations at the Paris climate agreement signing ceremony in New York City on April 22.

Thank you, Mr. Secretary General, for the honor to address this body once more. And thanks to the distinguished climate leaders assembled here today who are ready to take action.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon meeting with Leonardo DiCaprio. Photo credit: United Nations

President Abraham Lincoln was also thinking of bold action 150 years ago when he said:

The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. As our case is new so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves and then we shall save our country.

He was speaking before the U.S. Congress to confront the defining issue of his timeslavery.

Everyone knew it had to end but no one had the political will to stop it. Remarkably, his words ring as true today when applied to the defining crisis of our time climate change.

As a UN Messenger of Peace, I have been traveling all over the world for the last two years documenting how this crisis is changing the natural balance of our planet. I have seen cities like Beijing choked by industrial pollution. Ancient Boreal forests in Canada that have been clear cut and rainforests in Indonesia that have been incinerated. In India I met farmers whose crops have literally been washed away by historic flooding. In America I have witnessed unprecedented droughts in California and sea level rise flooding the streets of Miami. In Greenland and in the Arctic I was astonished to see that ancient glaciers are rapidly disappearing well ahead of scientific predictions. All that I have seen and learned on this journey has terrified me.

There is no doubt in the worlds scientific community that this a direct result of human activity and that the effects of climate change will become astronomically worse in the future.

I do not need to throw statistics at you. You know them better than I do, and more importantly, you know what will happen if this scourge is left unchecked. You know that climate change is happening faster than even the most pessimistic of scientists warned us decades ago. It has become a runaway freight train bringing with it an impending disaster for all living things.

Now think about the shame that each of us will carry when our children and grandchildren look back and realize that we had the means of stopping this devastation, but simply lacked the political will to do so.

Yes, we have achieved the Paris agreement. More countries have come together to sign this agreement today than for any other cause in the history of humankindand that is a reason for hopebut unfortunately the evidence shows us that it will not be enough.

Our planet cannot be saved unless we leave fossil fuels in the ground where they belong. An upheaval and massive change is required, now. One that leads to a new collective consciousness. A new collective evolution of the human race, inspired and enabled by a sense of urgency from all of you.

We all know that reversing the course of climate change will not be easy, but the tools are in our handsif we apply them before it is too late.

Renewable energy, clean fuels and putting a price on carbon pollution are beginning to turn the tide. This transition is not only the right thing for our world, but it also makes clear economic sense, and is possible within our lifetime.

But it is now upon you to do what great leaders have always done: to lead, inspire and empower as President Lincoln did in his time.

We can congratulate each other today, but it will mean nothing if you return to your countries and fail to push beyond the promises of this historic agreement. Now is the time for bold unprecedented action.

My friends, look at the delegates around you. It is time to ask each otherwhich side of history will you be on?

As a citizen of our planet who has witnessed so much on this journey I thank you for all you have done to lay the foundation of a solution to this crisis, but after 21 years of debates and conferences it is time to declare no more talk. No more excuses. No more 10-year studies. No more allowing the fossil fuel companies to manipulate and dictate the science and policies that effect our future. This is the only body that can do what is needed. You, sitting in this very hall.

The world is now watching. You will either be lauded by future generations, or vilified by them.

Lincolns words still resonate to all of us here today:

We will be remembered in spite of ourselves. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the last generation We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of Earth.

That is our charge nowyou are the last best hope of Earth. We ask you to protect it. Or weand all living things we cherishare history.

Thank you.

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He and Trump meet in Florida, agree to a new starting point

President Xi Jinping pledged in Florida on Thursday to work with US President Donald Trump to push forward China-US ties from a new starting point.

"There are a thousand reasons to make the China-US relationship a success, and not a single reason to break it," Xi said at his first meeting with Trump.

At their long awaited meeting at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Xi invited Trump to make a state visit to China before year's end. Trump accepted the invitation and said he expects to visit at an early date.

The two leaders and their delegations met for further talks on Friday.

Xi and Trump spoke highly on Thursday of the historic progress made in the ties and agreed to push for greater development of the bilateral relationship from a new starting point, thus benefiting the peoples of both countries and the world.

Xi said that the bilateral ties, which got back on track 45 years ago, have brought enormous pragmatic benefits to the two peoples. It will require deep thinking, political resolve and historic commitments by leaders of both countries to further develop the ties in the next 45 years, he added.

Trump said the two countries shoulder great duties and should maintain contact and coordination on major issues.

He also said he looks forward to building a good working relationship with Xi and achieving greater development of US China relations.

Regarding bilateral high level exchanges, Xi said the two sides "should make full use of" newly established high level dialogue mechanisms on diplomacy and security, economy, law enforcement and cyber security, and society and culture.

Xi called for "making the pie of cooperation bigger, stipulating lists of priority cooperation and achieving more initial outcomes".

The two countries should properly tackle sensitive issues and constructively manage and control their differences, Xi added.

On the economic front, Xi said the two nations should promote the negotiation of a bilateral investment treaty and the healthy development of two way trade and investment.

The two countries also could explore embarking on pragmatic cooperation in areas including infrastructure construction and energy, Xi added.

The two leaders introduced to each other the priority agenda items of each side, and they exchanged views on regional hot spot issues.

Xi said the two sides should reinforce communication and coordination on major international and regional issues and jointly promote the proper addressing and settlement of such issues. They also could expand cooperation in handling global challenges such as nuclear nonproliferation and cracking down on transnational crimes, Xi said.

To jointly champion world peace, stability and prosperity, the two countries should also strengthen communication and coordination within multilateral mechanisms such as the United Nations, Group of 20 and Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, Xi added.

When Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, arrived at the resort at about 5 pm local time on Thursday, Trump and his wife, Melania, greeted them.

The two couples talked and listened as two of Trump's grandchildren sang Jasmine Flower, a traditional Chinese song. The children also recited Three-Character Primer, an original Chinese text for children's early education first compiled in the Song Dynasty (960-1279), as well as a Tang Dynasty (618-907) poem.

Contact the writers at [email protected]
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.
The top priority after a US missile strike on a Syrian air base is to prevent further deterioration of the situation and thus maintain the "hard won" political process to settle the Syrian issue, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Friday.

At dawn on Friday, the United States struck a Syrian air base in the central province of Homs with dozens of Tomahawk missiles, saying the strike was in retaliation for the chemical attack on a rebel held town in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib.

China's stance on chemical weapons is consistent, and it has condemned the recent chemical weapons attack in Syria, Hua told a daily news conference in Beijing on Friday.

"We are opposed to the use of chemical weapons by any countries, organizations or individuals under any circumstances, for any purposes," Hua said.

She said China supports the United Nations conducting an"independent and comprehensive investigation into all cases of the use or suspected use of chemical weapons" and coming to conclusions based on solid evidence that can"stand the test of history and facts".

The US missile strike nearly destroyed the Shayrat Air Base in Homs, killing six Syrian soldiers and destroying nine Syrian war planes.

Homs Governor Talal Barazi said rescue operations had begun at the facility.

According to Barazi, the air base provided key support to the Syrian Army in the war against the Islamic State group. The governor said the air base played a significant role in liberating the ancient city of Palmyra from the IS.

The US said the attack was in retaliation for strikes that it alleges were carried out by the Syrian Air Force on the rebel held town in north western Syria on Tuesday, killing over 70 people and wounding scores, most of them civilians. Damascus denied the allegation.

Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva Alessandra Vellucci said on Friday that the UN Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, is closely "following the situation, including through consultations with relevant interlocutors".

Syrian Information Minister Ramez Turjman said the Syrian leadership was consulting with Russia and Iran on the response to the US "aggression".
China's famed "bike wars" may soon be fought on foreign shores, as Bluegogo and Mobike compete with fellow stand-free cycle hire company ofo in the British market.

Cycle hire startups, so-called bike Ubers, are big business in China. Around 30 companies control tens of thousands of bikes in at least 35 Chinese cities. The two largest, ofo and Mobike, recently secured $450 million and $300 million in funding, respectively.

Already locked in a battle for market share across China, the startups now have London in their sights. Elsewhere in the UK this month, Beijing Bikelock Technology's bike hire business ofo is launching a pilot bike-hiring scheme in Cambridge. Mobike is reportedly interested in launching similar projects in Birmingham and Manchester.

The Sunday Times recently reported Bluegogo and Mobike were looking at London.

Both London and Birmingham already have bike-hire schemes. The Chinese services differ in doing away with docking stations. Users of the bikes offered by the Chinese companies are free to pick up a cycle wherever they find one and leave it wherever they want, using a smartphone app and a code to deactivate and activate a built-in lock.

The capital's transport authority, Transport for London, has expressed interest in the new technology.

TfL's head of strategy and outcome planning, Lilli Matson, said: "We are always keen to talk to companies to explore advancements in technology and discuss new ideas, and have spoken with a number of companies, to understand their plans."

A spokesperson for ofo said: "We have had brief discussions with TfL about how our scheme works in China and other markets and they are interested in hearing how our trial works in Cambridge. Our primary focus is ensuring the Cambridge trial is a success. We will potentially look to enter other areas later."
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Peng Liyuan (1st L), wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and U.S. First Lady Melania Trump (2nd L), applaud to a performance by students during their visit to the Bak Middle School of the Arts in West Palm Beach, Florida, the United States, April 7, 2017. (Xinhua/Wang Ye)

PALM BEACH, United States, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, on Friday visited an art school in this southeastern U.S. coastal town accompanied by U.S. First Lady Melania Trump.

At the Bak Middle School of the Arts, Peng visited different classrooms, watched performances by students and talked with them. She also joined a class about politics and economics, answered a question from a student reporter about her connection with arts, and was presented with a student's painting as souvenir.

Noting that China and the United States should enhance communication and cooperation in the area of arts, Peng said she hopes that teachers and students of the Bak Middle School of the Arts will make greater contribution in strengthening bilateral ties and friendship through education and arts.

Peng is in Palm Beach with Xi for the Chinese president's first meeting with his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump. The two leaders agreed that the meeting, held at the seaside Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, was "positive and fruitful."

Peng Liyuan (7th R, Front), wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and U.S. First Lady Melania Trump (6th L, Front) pose with students during their visit to the Bak Middle School of the Arts in West Palm Beach, Florida, the United States, April 7, 2017. (Xinhua/Ding Lin)
Is there a connection between the impending formation of the countrys biggest telecommunications conglomerate and the sudden transfer of a top government official who was heading the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology? The link between the two developments may not seem obvious. They are, however, closely connected and have much to do with the consolidation that is taking place in the worlds second-largest market for mobile communication services. What used to be an intensely competitive market in India, with over half a dozen players vying with one another, is soon going to be dominated by three powerful business groups. Two of these, the Bharti Airtel Group (which may lose its position as market leader) and the IdeaVodafone combine have predictably been unhappy about how the free services offered by their rival, Reliance Jio (RJio)which is part of the Reliance Industries Group headed by Indias richest man Mukesh Ambanihave badly dented their bottom lines. But that is not all. The incumbent companies are wary of the clout that continues to be wielded by the Reliance Group in the corridors of power in influencing polices and appointments.

On 20 March 2017, it was announced that Idea Cellular, a part of the Aditya Birla Group, and Vodafone, the London-based multinational telecom group, would be coming together ostensibly to share capital infrastructure and synergise their services. But few were convinced about the stated reason for the two merging. Vodafone and Idea were in the second and third positions respectively in Indias telecom industry with a combined market share of roughly 40% in terms of revenue, and with a total subscriber base of around 20 crore. The two, together with Bharti Airtel, which has a share of around a third of the total subscriber base, were reacting to the intense competition generated by RJio after it launched its free internet-based mobile data and communication services in September 2016.
BEIJING, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and King Abdullah II of Jordan exchanged congratulatory messages Friday on the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Jordan.

Over the past 40 years, bilateral relationship between China and Jordan has kept growing, as evidenced by ever-strengthening political mutual trust and frequent high-level exchanges, Xi said in his congratulatory message.

The two countries have maintained good communication on regional and global affairs, and bilateral cooperation in such areas as trade and economy, culture and education has yielded fruitful results, Xi said.

China and Jordan announced establishing the strategic partnership in 2015, Xi noted, adding that looking into the future, he has full confidence in the prospects of China-Jordan relations.

Xi added that he highly values the development of the China-Jordan relations, and is ready to work with King Abdullah II to deepen the strategic partnership between China and Jordan, so as to bring more benefits to the two countries and peoples.

King Abdullah II said in his congratulatory message that the bilateral relations between Jordan and China have grown increasingly closer since the two countries established diplomatic ties, and have yielded fruitful results.

He added that he is proud of the profound friendship between the two countries and peoples.

The King also noted that China and Jordan signed a milestone strategic partnership agreement in 2015. He added that trade and economic cooperation is a priority in the development of the Jordan-China relations.

Jordan is willing to continue carrying out cooperation with China under the Belt and Road Initiative, with an aim to create greater benefits to the peoples of the two countries, said the King.
We are a nation in denial, refusing to accept that despite being heterogeneous and diverse, we are intrinsically a casteist, racist and misogynist society. The dominant notion of Indian-ness, that is increasingly also being identified with being Hindu, excludes all those who look, behave or think differently. Every time there are incidents that expose the reality of this Ugly India, we insist we are non-violent and tolerant because our society produced the likes of Gandhi and Buddha. No one is buying that argument anymore, least of all people from the African continent who have been targeted in ways that are unconscionable and a disgrace to any society that dares to call itself civilised.

What happened recently in Greater Noida is not new. It mirrors similar incidents in several Indian cities in the last few years. This time, the death of an Indian student through drug overdose was blamed on the Nigerians living in the neighbourhood and five of them were arrested. The matter did not end there. In the days that followed, random people from Africa, who come to India to work and study, were hounded, culminating in a mob of over 600 people beating and injuring several African nationals at a shopping mall.
Secure cloud hosting provider Armor announced on April 5 that it has raised $89 million in a new round of equity financing. The money will be used to help grow Armors global business efforts.

The funding round was led by ST Telemedia (STT), which will now be a joint lead shareholder with The Stephens Group (TSG), the existing majority shareholder. Total equity funding in Armor now stands at $149 million.

Security is a baseline concern as organizations seek to move to the cloud, Nikhil Eapen, chief strategy and investment officer at STT, said in a statement. For years, Armor has quietly proven the value of their solutions by protecting a large and respectable customer base in a variety of industries.

Armor got its start back in 2009 a secure hosting company known as Firehost. In August 2015, the company rebranded as Armor as a way to emphasize the security aspects of the organization.

Armor has two core product offerings. The Armor Complete platform provides cloud hosting with built-in security capabilities to help mitigate and reduce security risks. The Armor Anywhere platform provides managed security for Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure cloud deployments.

Much of our growth has been attributed to word-of-mouth and customers seeking us out as they searched for a reliable security partner, Chris Drake, founder and CEO nof Armor, said in a statement.  Our goal is for the global community to embrace what our customers already know  Armors end-to-end cloud security orchestration platform is the best approach to protect sensitive data backed by measurable results.

This additional capital and partnership with STT will help spur innovation, drive brand awareness and broaden global distribution channels, Drake added.

Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at eSecurityPlanet and InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.
on the stretch of road opposite Gems World Academy there were a few key cutters who I just went around and picked in an emergency.

Looking at Google Maps, that is the Fatima Bint Mubarak Street, between Hazza Bin Zayed and Al Falah street, the othe side of Gems World Academy.

There are also a couple next to the Burjeel and Dar Al Shifa hospital on Hazza bin Zayed Rd, but if I recall correctly they were more into car keys.
Hi,



I have received my ielts score. And i have submitted by documents for ACS verification about a week back & i am still awaiting its result. I think i will be able to manage 65 points in total.



Please suggest on the below



1. Should I apply for EOI in may/june. Just checked occupational ceiling and for 2613 occupation id it seems that almost all invitations have been send out



2. Is 65 points sufficient to apply for visa 189, occupation id 2613



3. If my ACS gets completed in Apr 2016, but i apply for EOI after Jun 2017..... Do i need to get ACS done again?



Greatly appreciate if anyone can advise on my queries.



Thanks,
Hi Joppa,Like I posted a few days ago, my dad will be gifting me 30,000.I just have a couple of questions, I would really appreciate your help1) You told me the money should stay in my account for 6 months....but does this mean I cannot use my bank account at all for those 6 months? Because my DLA comes into that same account aswellOr I am allowed to use DLA money in the account but I just have to make sure my gift money isnt used and my balance doesnt fall below 30,000?2) I have read that the person gifting the money shouldn't put themself into trouble by gifting the money, meaning they should have enough money left over to be financially stable. But the account from which my dad will give me the money will only have about 5-10,000 left over after giving me 30,000. Is this acceptable?Because my mum also has her own bank account with 20-30,000 saved...Or will the ECO object to my dads balance becoming so low?Or shall I explain to the ECO in a covering letter that "By providing me this gift money my parents will still be financially stable, because my mum also has a bank account with savings in it"Thank You
Umm Suqeim or Jumeira in your budget:



Older (though not always) compound or smaller independent villa. Older kitchens and bathrooms. But walkable to the beaches, a dozen supermarkets near you, lots of small cafes and restaurants along the beach road, a genuine character and personality, 10 minutes from Dubai Mall and Mall of Emirates, 20 minutes to Terminal 3. School run is reasonable, it's not the distance but the traffic in Al Quoz and that's true regardless of where you come from. Residents are a mix of expats and locals. Plenty of expats, especially Westerners from Europe, the UK, Australia and USA. And French, too, come to think of it. Rents are falling and 200-250k will get you a decent villa in Umm Suqeim. Check out propertyfinder.ae for listings.



The Villa in Dubailand: newer villa, pretty master planned community. But somewhat isolated and far from amenities. You will spend a lot of time in the car and driving around everywhere. Almost all expats. The villas are huge, but this comes with very high air conditioning bills and people complain about it. By the way, utilities bills are always higher in Dubailand than in Jumeirah / Umm Suqeim.



These are two different areas. Drive around and look at villas in both. You'll know what works best for you. I personally would always prefer Umm Suqeim over Dubailand. One major reason for avoiding Dubailand is on 611, the main motorway that runs alongside the Ranches, Villa, Victory Heights, JVC and JVT and all the other new communities. It's an enormous road with very fast traffic to one side and very slow truck drivers to the other side. Accidents are frequent, far more frequent than on E11 (Sheikh Zayed and the "main" street for Dubai). I'd hate to drive on 611 daily.



By the way, The Villa isn't a compound. It's a master planned community, like a suburb. There's nothing comparable to the compounds of Saudi Arabia or even Doha. Compounds in Dubai mostly mean two rows of attached villas with a pool squeezed in between, and both sides of the row face onto a regular street.
Hi

Has anyone applied for the schengen visa through BLS-Abudhabi.

Could anyone help with the normal processing time for the visa.The website says 15 working days but thats the standard statement on most websites.

I got my earlier Swiss and Belgium Schengen visa in about 4 working days.



Appreciate your help..
Unless you're marrying a French national, about the only way to get a "work" visa is to find the job first and have your employer get work authorization for you. And for that, the employer needs to show that they have tried and failed to find a local candidate (i.e. someone already in France with work authorization or an EU national).This is the Service Public page on hiring non-EU foreigners: https://www.service-public.fr/professionnels-entreprises/vosdroits/F22782 Sometimes it helps to understand a bit of the procedure the employers need to go through.Teaching English is not a terribly good way to try and secure a work visa. There are plenty of native speakers already in France (from the UK) with work privileges and many willing to work for a pittance. The French are very concerned about "qualifications" so you should be looking in whatever field you have your formal qualifications for. It also helps quite a bit to have some sort of "unique" skill, experience or qualification to make you stand out a bit from the run of the mill job applicant.Why are you moving to France in September? The purpose of your move may offer some ideas about what sort of jobs you could be looking at.Cheers,Bev
Yeah. I think you'll be able to work once you get your student visa (it mentions on the visa that you can work parttime). And it evens out more to 19 hours a week.



But Bev is right. No, you can't come in July. I mean, I doubt someone's going to arrest you, but it might cause problems down the line with OFII and when you are supposed to exit the country. If it looks like you overstayed your time, you might get a red mark and that will cause you problems getting visas in the future I imagine. I would not go any earlier than the visa allows you. They usually give you wiggle room with a student visa, too (of about three weeks, as mentioned). So if your class starts Sept 1 they'd make your visa start Aug 10 or something like that...



I don't KNOW exactly what would happen, but I wouldn't want to tempt fate lol
File photo of Hai Bang, born on August 11, 2010.

Three giant pandas who were born and raised in Japan will return to their motherland on June 5 to start their new lives in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The panda twins and their younger sister had been living at Adventure World in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture.

Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, their new home, has translated the animals' names into Chinese, authorities said Friday in a press conference.

The male-female twins, called Hai Bang and Yang Bang, were born on August 11, 2010, while their younger sister You Bang was born on August 10, 2012.

The breeding base and the Japanese park commenced on a panda breeding research program in 1994. They have successfully bred 15 pandas. Among them, eight have returned to China.

Cubs born to pandas that are "on loan" from China must be returned to China after they reach sexual maturity or when the cooperative agreement ends.

A national survey released in February 2015 showed that as of the end of 2013, China had 1,864 wild pandas and 375 others living in captivity.
TOKYO  Japanese automaker Honda said Friday it was recalling 37,000 vehicles in the U.S. to check if replacement air bags contain the recalled Takata inflators that may have been installed prior to the massive Takata recalls last year.

Honda Motor Co. said the recall of the front air bag inflator of the 2003 two-door Accord doesnt affect its vehicles in other regions. No ruptures have been reported.

The inflators made by Japanese supplier Takata Corp. are blamed in at least 16 deaths and more than 180 injuries worldwide.

The problem set off the biggest recall in U.S. automotive history, involving 42 million vehicles. Globally, the tally is more than 100 million.

The inflators can explode with too much force, sending shrapnel spewing.

The latest recall is unusual in that Honda is trying to find 2,500 inflators that were replaced during repairs, but it doesnt know where the 2,500 inflators went, so its recalling all of the possibly affected vehicles so they can be checked.

In February, Takata pleaded guilty to concealing a deadly defect in millions of its air bag inflators. The company agreed to pay $125 million to individual victims and $850 million to automakers.

Voter Guide: What to know for the midterm election Your guide to the Texas and San Antonio races and candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot.

Takatas penalty is small compared with the one imposed on German automaker Volkswagen, which must buy back cars and pay up to $21 billion in the U.S. over its emissions-cheating scandal.

Takata has sunk into red ink over the costs of the recalls, and it faces lawsuits from victims, in addition to the penalties.
San Antonios USAA Bank has tapped Chad Borton, an executive at Fifth Third Bancorp in Cincinnati, as president, the company announced Friday.

Borton, who starts May 15, ran Fifth Thirds retail and business banking, digital banking, auto lending, consumer credit, collection, process improvement and business controls.

Chad has the right vision and expertise to lead USAA through one of the most exciting periods in banking, said USAA CEO Stuart Parker in a press release. He brings invaluable insights into changing consumer demands and emerging trends, having directed consumer banking in some of the nations largest financial institutions.

The move comes as USAA pairs back its branch network as its members increasingly bank online or through their mobile app.

Borton, a former Army officer, previously worked for JPMorgan Chase & Co. where he was the head of branch administration, the chief financial officer of the consumer bank and head of its retail distribution network.

Hell report to USAA Chief Operating Officer Carl Liebert and will become a member of the USAA executive council, which manages the day-to-day operations of USAAs companies.

Borton replaces Jamie Warder, who left USAA Bank as president in November after 22 months in the position.

A former U.S. Army officer, Borton said he has been a USAA member for 25 years.

USAAs focus on innovation and its impeccable reputation position it for an exciting future, he said in the release.

He holds a bachelors degree in business economics and public policy from Indiana University and a masters degree in business administration from Harvard Business School.

Voter Guide: What to know for the midterm election Your guide to the Texas and San Antonio races and candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot.

The insurance and financial services giant last month reported a 27 percent drop in earnings to $1.8 billion last year, its smallest profit since the Great Recession. The companys members filed a record number of claims following last years hail storms.

The company serves current and former members of the military and their families.

dhendricks@express-news.net
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AUSTIN  The Texas Houses resounding bipartisan vote against school vouchers showed that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick may get his priority issues through the Senate, but the opposite chamber is a whole other story.

The House vote could foretell a brick wall ahead for the bathroom bill that Patrick also is championing. It would specify that people use restrooms in schools, universities and government buildings that align with the sex on their birth certificates.

House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, opposes the bathroom measure, dimming its prospects in that chamber.

Opponents of the bill are concerned over its potential effect on Texas economy because the measure is viewed as discriminatory toward transgender people. They point to the spectacle of North Carolinas struggle over its own legislation, which that state recently repealed and replaced.

Most people in the House believe existing laws already deal with that, said Rep. Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio, who voted against banning state funds for school choice but opposes the bathroom bill. Theres not much of an appetite to look at an issue that basically is fixing something that hasnt materialized in the real world.

If there are restrictions contemplated for people entering restrooms, Larson said, some think they should apply to people listed as sex offenders rather than a class of people that some of the folks in the Senate dont understand.

I will tell you, its just not a frequently discussed issue on the floor of the House, House Appropriations Committee Chairman John Zerwas, R-Richmond, said about the bathroom bill, which passed the Senate last month, as did the voucher measure. Weve been really trying to address the things that are the priorities of the leadership on the House side.

The House considered the ban on using state funds for school choice programs as part of its 15-hour debate on the budget Thursday. There also was an amendment proposed to the budget with regard to bathroom restrictions, but it wasnt brought up for discussion.

Rep. Justin Rodriguez, D-San Antonio, said the voucher and bathroom issues are similar in that both of those are fringe issues that I think most folks in the House dont really want to spend a lot of time on.  We are forging ahead with our own legislative priorities, and of course that are being championed by Speaker Straus. I think those are the things that matter most to our constituents all over the state.

Rep. Rene Oliveira, D-Brownsville, chairman of the House Business and Industry Committee, said its hard to make a complete correlation between the prospective fate of the proposals that address widely differing topics. But I think there is a sense in the House that we want to govern from the center, or the center-right probably is more accurate, and thats exactly where I think we should be on as many issues as possible.

Oliveira added that he has very mixed feelings about the bathroom measure, Senate Bill 6.

I have a lot of constituents urging me to vote for it, but I am more concerned about losing the jobs and the billions of dollars that will impact our economy, Oliveira said. These are not threats. Theyre reality.

Supporters of the bathroom bill discount the idea that Texas economy would suffer from its passage and say they expect the House to pass the bill if it gets to the floor for a vote, citing grass-roots support.

We feel very optimistic about it. We have a high expectation of there being a vote on the floor and prevailing by a wide margin, said Rep. Matt Shaheen, R-Plano, of the Texas Freedom Caucus.

Shaheen said supporters optimism was fueled by a Straus interview with a Dallas television station in which the speaker said he wouldnt block the bill from emerging from a House committee, along with tweets from Gov. Greg Abbott that appear positive about the bill. Abbott hasnt said whether he supports it.

Lawmakers on both sides of the issue point to different dynamics at play with the two ideas.

The voucher issue has a history of being rebuffed in the House, which previously has opposed efforts to use tax money to pay for tuition at private elementary and high schools. The idea gets a cold reception from many rural lawmakers, including Republicans, whose areas dont have as many private school options.

The bathroom bill is a recent effort and one that Patrick touts as having widespread support based on polling that presents the issue in terms of whether it should be illegal for a man to enter a womens public restroom, locker room or shower. The bill also, however, has drawn bipartisan opposition.

Im right there with everybody else not wanting predators going into mens or womens bathrooms who would harm our children, Zerwas said, citing the prevention of sexual assault as a high priority.

But Zerwas said assaults in restrooms havent been at the forefront of discussions and that the most egregious, widely reported assaults related to restrooms or changing facilities have involved men preying on boys.

This bill doesnt achieve anything with regard to that, Zerwas said.

Republican consultant Matt Mackowiak said theres a clear distinction between the voucher and bathroom measures.

On school choice, in some rural areas, its not a popular issue among Republicans  at least, thats, I think, how some rural Republican members feel. I think if you polled in rural areas, the bathroom bill would be very popular among Republican primary voters, Mackowiak said. It is a different type of situation, which is why Ive believed for some time theyre going to prevent a vote on the bathroom bill.

Leadership asking their members to vote against the bathroom bill might be a tough vote for a lot of them  for those who are looking at Republican primaries, Mackowiak said.

Democrats, who number 55 in the 150-member House, are uniformly opposed to the bathroom bill as well as the voucher idea, said Rep. Chris Turner of Grand Prairie, who leads the House Democratic Caucus.

Democrats oppose the so-called bathroom bill because its unnecessary, its discriminatory and its bad for Texas business, and I think that there are a fair number of Republicans who feel the same way but I couldnt predict what a vote would look like on that, Turner said. I think certainly the bathroom bill has an uphill climb in the House based on Democratic opposition, some Republican opposition (and) the speakers opposition.

Rep. Diana Arevalo, D-San Antonio, said opponents of the bill are a mixture of Democrats and Republicans that know its bad for Texas business, and theres a lot of us who see the social aspects of it.  I have a lot of friends who are trans, and its a very painful subject for them.

James Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, pointed to a February UT/Texas Tribune Poll that found that most Texans didnt think it was important for the Legislature to pass laws on the bathroom issue.

I think the dynamic is similar in the House, Henson said. Its an issue that is important to a narrow band of the public, and to a correspondingly narrow band of House members.

pfikac@express-news.net

Twitter: @pfikac
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 8

Trend:

President of the Republic of Finland Sauli Niinisto has sent a congratulatory letter to President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.

Please accept my congratulations on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Finland and the Republic of Azerbaijan on 24 March 2017, the president of Finland said in his letter. Over two decades of bilateral cooperation have brought us many common achievements. I am convinced that we will see even more cooperation in the future.

Please accept, Mr. President, the assurances of my highest consideration, and my wishes for peace and prosperity of your country, Sauli Niinisto added.
For a month in 2015, the FBI tapped the cell phone of state Rep. Tomas Uresti, according to a letter notifying the recipient that a wiretap was used to eavesdrop on his conversations.

At the time of the wiretap, Uresti was a Harlandale Independent School District board trustee running for the Texas House. Reached late Friday, he declined to comment on the apparent investigation.

They were doing some investigation of some sort but nothing that  I probably shouldnt be talking about it, Uresti told me. I really dont want to be made to look like a bad guy.  Its just real hard, man. Im in a position where I need to make sure some things get taken care of.

The letter from the FBI was nearly as vague. It was sent to someone whose conversation with Uresti had been captured incidentally.

It advised its recipient, who requested anonymity, that a court had entered an order on August 13, 2015, authorizing the interception of wire communications for a maximum period of thirty (30) days to and from (Urestis) cellular telephone.

The letter continued, Interception continued on TARGET TELEPHONE until September 11, 2015, at which time interception ceased.

The letter does not say what evidence the FBI collected or against whom.

In 2014, speaking about a separate case, a retired FBI agent told San Antonio Express-News Staff Writer Guillermo Contreras that such notification letters typically indicate you've got a serious corruption investigation that involves probably a lot of players.

Uresti is the brother of state Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, and Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector Albert Uresti.

In February, federal authorities raided the senators law offices, where Tomas Uresti has worked as a legal assistant. The FBI has been investigating Carlos Uresti for more than a year, according to people familiar with the investigation, digging into his connections to FourWinds Logistics, a defunct oil field services company accused of defrauding investors.

Three company officials already have pleaded guilty in the case and are scheduled to be sentenced later this year. Carlos Urestis consulting company, Turning Point Strategies, was also reportedly a target of the raid.

On the week that the wiretapping began in 2015, Tomas Uresti announced he was running for the House District 118 seat vacated by Joe Farias. He had served for 11 years as a Harlandale trustee but opted not to run in 2013. He ran again for a spot on the school board in 2015 and won.

Tomas Uresti lost races in 2008 and 2012 for Bexar County justice of the peace.

On Friday, the legislator seemed to suggest that the wiretap was a result of concerns he had brought to the Bexar County District Attorneys Office.

I had some concerns about some issues that were going on that I saw, he said, declining to comment further.

bchasnoff@express-news.net
Manuel Medina entered the 2nd Baptist Church Community Center on March 26 hoping to score a mayoral endorsement from the newly formed progressive collective, Our Revolution.

He left the church that afternoon still smarting from an ugly encounter with Our Revolution board member  and longtime Democratic activist  David Van Os.

The argument culminated with Van Os calling the Bexar County Democratic Party chairman a phony and Medina shooting his middle finger at Van Os and shouting (expletive) you, according to multiple witnesses who attended the meeting.

Medina said Friday he has known Van Os for 25 years and considers him a friend, albeit a friend with whom he sometimes disagrees.

I would certainly challenge the notion that I used any hand gestures, Medina said. But we had a colorful conversation and Id like to keep that private.

The conflict revolved around a faith-based platform that Medina, the Bexar County Democratic Party chairman and 2017 mayoral hopeful, signed two years ago.

The platform contained 10 planks, including commitments to protect and defend the sanctity of life and protect, defend and support the traditional family.

Anyone familiar with the kind of euphemistic code language employed in American politics would recognize the former plank as an anti-choice statement on abortion, and the latter one as a rejection of pro-LGBT legislation.

Van Os, a trial lawyer and former Democratic nominee for state attorney general and the Texas Supreme Court, thought the platform was at odds with Medinas self-proclaimed progressive world view, and he wanted some clarification.

After Medina made his 15-minute pitch to the Our Revolution attendees and started to take some questions, Van Os challenged the party leader about the platform.

I just want political candidates to be honest, Van Os said. I respect everybodys different opinions and beliefs, but I want political candidates to be honest about what they stand for and what they dont stand for.

Van Os said Medina evaded his questions and then sat down. Moments later, a Medina handler walked up to Van Os, tapped him on the shoulder and said Medina wanted to talk with him, one-on-one. Van Os resisted, but Medinas surrogate was insistent, so Van Os walked across the room and sat down in front of the mayoral hopeful.

Medina argued that he didnt interpret the platform  developed by the Christian Leaders Forum  the way Van Os did. Van Os didnt buy it.

At one point, David got up and said, Ive got to go, said Van Oss wife, Rachel Barrios-Van Os, a 2012 candidate for chair of the Texas Democratic Party. Manuel grabbed him firmly by the arm and said, No, you cant go yet. Weve got to talk this out.

After a few more minutes of testy banter, David Van Os stood up and called Medina a phony. Medina responded by shooting the finger at Van Os and dropping an f-bomb on him. Van Os reciprocated with an f-bomb of his own, according to Barrios-Van Os.

Steven Lane attended the meeting and was sitting close to the two verbal combatants when the argument broke out.

David was calling out Medina about this language (in the platform), and Medina was just saying, Well, thats your interpretation of it, Lane said. But David was holding his feet to the fire and telling him that hes been in politics long enough to know what this code language means.

When he called Medina a phony, Medina got pissed, flipped him off and said, (expletive) you. Its one thing to disagree with people, but when you start flipping them off and cursing at them, it becomes an impediment to communication.

The dustup cuts to the core of questions about Medinas politics. He built a successful consulting business and secured the county chairmanship of the Democratic Party by presenting himself as a progressive champion. That included adamant calls for San Antonio to declare itself a sanctuary city, and the production of a controversial 2014 Spanish-language TV ad in which he branded tea-party Republicans as radical terrorists.

But the faith-based platform was an early indication of an ideological pivot that Medina has executed during this mayoral campaign, courting the support of hard-core conservatives such as Jeff Judson, George Rodriguez and Carlton Soules, and defining himself as an advocate for low taxes and a lean municipal government.

The visit with Our Revolution might have elevated Medinas blood pressure, but it did nothing to enhance his mayoral prospects. Our Revolution declined to endorse him and is staying out of the mayors race.

ggarcia@express-news.net

Twitter: @gilgamesh470
One dairy cow and multiple pieces of equipment lost in blaze

By Diego Flammini

Assistant Editor, North American Content

Farms.com

A barn fire at a dairy farm in Pennsylvanias Pine Creek Township caused an estimated $500,000 in damages.

Firefighters from more than 10 stations, including Avis, Woolrich, Dunnstown, Wayne Township and Jersey Shore, responded to blaze on Sulphur Run Road, which broke out just after 9:30 p.m. on April 5.

I could see the fire from my house, so I called for a second alarm right away, Ken Leitch, deputy fire chief for the Avis Volunteer Fire Department, told the Williamsport Sun-Gazette.

Ben and Kim Carson own the farm. They lost a tractor, a skid steer, a planter and one cow from their herd of 60.

I tried to get the last one out Kim told The Express. But it was too hot. I just couldnt do anything.

Despite these losses, the silos still stand, the remaining 59 cows are safe, and both the milk barn and house are fine.

Theres a lot of positives here, Kim said.



Firefighters battle a fire at a dairy farm on Sulphur Run Road.

Photo: Philip Holmes/Sun-Gazette

Ben told The Express an older skid steer may have started the fire. He kept it plugged in overnight to keep it warm.

When word of the fire reached the local community, it rallied to help the farmers save as much as they could.

I cant believe itall the people who turned uprunning through the mud to help get the cows (to safety), Kim told The Express.

Other farmers helped move the displaced cows back into the barn Thursday morning and milked them on schedule.

The fire caused an estimated $500,000 in damages, including approximately $400,000 worth of equipment destroyed.
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Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 8

Trend:

Prime Minister of the State of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu has sent a congratulatory letter to President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.

Next month marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Israel and Azerbaijan, said the Israeli prime minister in his letter. Israel is proud to have been one of the first nations to recognize the independent Republic of Azerbaijan. In the quarter century since, our countries have built a solid relationship based on genuine friendship between the Jewish and Azerbaijani peoples.

Azerbaijan is a model of inter-faith and multicultural harmony in an area fraught with religious and ethnic rivalries, he noted. Like you, Israel is a beacon of stability and tolerance in an unstable region. Despite the challenges we face, we have both succeeded in creating thriving economies and vibrant, prosperous and peace-seeking societies.

I will never forget the incredibly warm and gracious hospitality you afforded me, my wife and our entire delegation in Baku last December, he said. I believe that the visit greatly contributed to the further expansion of our bilateral cooperation in a variety of areas. The four economic agreements we signed will only help us advance our shared goal of an even stronger partnership.

I look forward to continuing to work closely with you in the years ahead and I hope to have the opportunity to welcome you to Israel soon so we can reciprocate your generous hospitality, added Benjamin Netanyahu.
Rini Sen (name changed on request) works in an ad rm in Kolkata and is just months away from marrying her colleague. The 28-year-old graphic designer knows that her husband-to-be has had an affair with a senior colleague at the same workplace and that they are still on good terms. While he has claried to her that they are strictly friends, Riddhi is very uncomfortable. She keeps checking their Facebook proles to catch anything remotely suspicious. If my ance's ex is in trouble, she often calls him for help. Is that normal? wonders Riddhi, whos also a bit uneasy about getting worked up over these issues. After all, she is yet to nd any evidence against them.

Sapna Kapur (name changed on request), a 30-something software engineer working in Pune, has decided she wont get ustered about her boyfriend  a divorced man in his 40smeeting his ex-wife occasionally. The man and his former wife are co-parenting their eight-year-old son. The ex is a successful banker and a very rational woman. Sapnas boyfriend keeps talking about how efciently his ex manages both house and ofce work. Although Sapna does feel jealous when her boyfriend praises his ex-wifes professional capabilities, she works on keeping her insecurities in check. She knows that they are both mature and responsible people. But what if?

Everyone has a past. Both men and women go through a slew of relationshipssome work, some dont. Some prefer to be friends with their exes depending on the terms under which they have parted. Yet, things might get complicated when the ex re-enters your partners life or tends to cling to the person you love. So, how do you deal with the situation?

DONT SNOOP

Its natural to feel jealous, especially if you suspect that your boyfriends ex still has a hold on him. However, acting on your irrational fears will only make matters worse. Talk to him. A frank discussion with your partner is the cornerstone of any healthy relationship, says Anuttama Banerjee, a consultant psychologist.

TRUST HIM

If your boyfriend is divorced and shares custody of his children with his ex-wife, trust and respect his responsibilities. Remind yourself that a sour parting would have been unpleasant for all parties. Try to keep a distance and have minimum interaction with the former wife to avoid complications, says Delhi-based author Sreemoyee Piu Kundu. Unless you have a solid cause to worry, trusting him will make your life easier.

PICK YOUR BATTLES

Dont y off the handle if you can easily ignore the issue. It isnt the end of the world if your boyfriend smiles at his ex when he bumps into her at the mall or if his ex likes his pro le picture on Facebook. You dont want to give your partner a reason to believe that you are insecure, says Dr Preeti Rao, a Bangalore-based counsellor. Handle these things without losing sleep and your partner will appreciate your maturity.

KNOW WHEN TO MOVE ON

Raise the red ag if your boyfriend compares you to her or in any other way insists on digging up the past. Talk to him about how this makes you feel and hear his side of the story as well. Tell him that one must learn from past mistakes and bolster the current relationship, advises Dr Jai Ranjan Ram, a consultant psychiatrist. However, if he continues to disregard your feelings, know that you might have to move on  because he clearly hasn't.
Main Hindustan Ki Beti Hoon, Hindustan Mein Hi Hun

"I want to know why were police searching for me? Where did I go? Main Hindustan ki beti hoon, Hindustan mein hi hun. I was shooting in Mumbai. I never went anywhere. I said something in 2016 and its warrant is being issued in 2017. I don't get it."

I Read On TV That I Got Arrested

"Neither police met me, nor have I been given any warrant. I neither got any summon, nor any letter. Will I get a dream about it? I read on TV that I got arrested! I knew nothing. I went to Oshiwara police station. This is under the law that if you doubt that there's a case against you, you approach the police. So, I went and surrendered. Even they don't have any summon."

I Am Being Dragged To Court For No Fault Of Mine

"I am being harassed. I haven't hurt the sentiments of Valmiki community but there is a group of people, lawyers... I am being harassed. I am being dragged to court without any fault of mine. I am not guilty. I was just giving an example to save my best friend Mika and I got trapped. He was bad earlier but now he has changed and at that time I could only think of Valmiki ji and his story. There are people, who threatened me, abused me. Police can check my call recordings fron July 6-14. They will get to know what all pathetic things I was said. I can't even say those things..."

"I have no clue. Nobody came here. If police came here, they should have searched for me. They should have gone to the nearby police stations, where my address is registered. They could have dropped the letter to someone at my house."

I Want To Ask Modi ji What Is Happening

"I went to Ludhiana but I didn't want to tell anyone because I don't want publicity. I think I will sneeze even then a case will be there. Had I known about the case, I would have hired a lawyer. I am frustrated. Wherever I am going people are asking me why didn't you go to jail, aap toh jail mei thi! I want to appeal to the government, I want to ask Modi ji that what is happening with your citizens? You are in power and some people are taking advantage. I want to request Modi ji and Amit Shah ji that I am being harassed, please see this. I have always supported BJP so please you support me."

I Am As Fearless As The Rani Of Jhansi

"I think people are forcefully dragging me under bad light to ruin my career. I did not say anything wrong to hurt anyone's sentiment. Even then, I made an apology video and uploaded it online. I am as fearless as the Rani of Jhansi and I will fight against all those people who are dragging me in controversy."

Rakhi Claims She Has Got Messages Of Support From Aamir Khan And Anupam Kher

The actress who calls herself 'Media Ki Beti' said, "Last year, I did a press conference on Mika's behalf to support him, and today because of that, when I am in trouble, he (Mika Singh) did not even bother to respond on the matter, though I am getting messages from Bollywood stars. But I am sad that Mika did not say a single word for me." She further claimed she has got messages of support from Aamir Khan and Anupam Kher.


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - President Donald Trump has seen a slight improvement in his approval rating in a new Quinnipiac University national poll, as most voters say the president made the right decision to launch a missile strike in Syria.



Forty percent of voters said they approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president, up from 35 percent in a poll released earlier this month.



However, 56 percent of voters continue to disapprove of Trump's job performance, down only slightly from 57 percent.



The improvement in Trump's approval rating comes as 61 percent of voters said it was the right decision to bomb a Syrian air force base in response to the Syrian government's use of chemical weapons.



The poll also showed that 40 percent of voters now approve of Trump's handling of foreign policy, up from 33 percent, although 56 percent still disapprove.



The survey also found that just 30 percent of voters think the strike in Syria will be effective in preventing the Syrian government from using chemical weapons in the future.



Voters say 49 percent 44 percent that it is not in the U.S. national interest to be involved in the Syrian conflict but say 52 percent to 40 percent that America has a 'moral responsibility to get involved.'



The poll also showed that voters are concerned about the U.S. getting into a war in Syria and that U.S. involvement in Syria could lead to armed conflict with Russia.



The Quinnipiac survey of 1,062 voters was conducted April 12th through 18th and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.



(Photo: Marc Nozell)



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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Its been 16 years since KK Senthil Kumar turned cinematographer and having worked on seven of SS Rajamoulis previous eight films since 2004, the duo is a force to reckon with in Telugu cinema. With films like Magadheera, Arundhati, Eega and Baahubali, KK Senthil Kumar has earned the reputation of being one of the very few cinematographers who can handle any film, no matter what its scale is. Thanks to films like Eega and Baahubali, Senthils work has transcended all geographical and cultural barriers, and the fact that he, along with Rajamouli, is constantly pushing the boundaries makes you sit upright and take notice of his work every single time. Excerpts from an interview :

You have collaborated with Rajamouli for seven films in the past 13 years. How has your relationship evolved with him? Do you find it tough to say no to him when he approaches you?

[Laughs] No one has given me challenging projects as much as Rajamouli has in these past 13 years. Its not a question of saying yes or no. When you work with Rajamouli, you know that its not going to be easy because he doesnt like to compromise on anything. He keeps pushing the envelope so much that with each film, I grow as a technician and learn new things. The best part is that we understand each other so well that we dont have to start from basics whenever we sit down for a discussion. More importantly, he has complete faith in his team. So, thats reassuring for a technician and makes you want to do better.

In a recent interview, you stated that Eega (Makkhi) was more challenging than Baahubali. Were you referring to how a CGI character, like the housefly, had to be integrated into a real world scenario?

For a period film like Baahubali, there are other references from world cinema. But for Eega, there was no reference. One of the biggest challenges was trying to conceive a world from Eegas (the housefly) perspective and then shooting it was another challenge. Itll always be a special film for me. Baahubali has scale, but I wasnt intimidated by it. When I shot Yamadonga, I was really scared about how Im going to light up such a big set, but Ive gotten used to it now.

Youve worked on some really big films in recent years starting from Magadheera to Eega and then there was Baahubali: The Beginning. Does every film become a training ground for you to work on the next one? How did Baahubali: The Beginning prepare you to tackle Baahubali: The Conclusion?

Yes, of course. Its because of the films Ive done so far that have Im able to handle a film like Baahubali given the scale of the project and having to deal with all the pressure that comes with having to co-ordinate with so many artistes and technicians. When we were shooting Baahubali 1, we were trying to equip ourselves with whatever we could to achieve Rajamoulis vision. Youll have to ask him if weve come close to what he had in mind [laughs]. Compared to the first part, Baahubali 2 is going to be a much better film in terms of presentation. Not only in terms of cinematography, but I say this for every other aspect of the film. We have learnt from our shortcomings and tried to refine everything. The film has a lot of intense drama, strong emotions and some really amazing performances by Sivagami, Devasena, Baahubali, Bhallaladeva, Kattappa and Bijjaladeva, for that matter every actor. From what Ive seen, each one of the actors have outdone themselves because Rajamouli pushed them to the extreme.

One of the things that I learnt about your work in Baahubali: The Beginning was how the weather conditions would change a lot of things when you go to shoot. Were there any surprises while shooting this part?

While shooting Baahubali 1 in Mahabaleshwar for Avanthikas (Tamannaah) introduction scene in the forest, we didnt anticipate that there would be so much rain and fog when we planned the shoot. But it looked really cool on screen. We felt that the ambience would enhance the mood of the scene. Something similar happened when we shot in Bulgaria where there was plenty of ice and fog. Weather always surprises us and it all depends on how instantly you take decisions on the set to carry on with the shoot. On the contrary, except for the war sequences, most of the footage in Baahubali 2 was shot inside a studio. We had a better control over everything, right from the lighting to ambience.

Baahubali was shot over a span of four years. But time is always a big constraint, especially for you. Isnt it?

The two parts put together took 613 days to complete and many people keep wondering why did we take so much time to complete the film. Not every film can be completed in 50-60 days. Those films are visualised and shot in a certain way. We did it differently. We had to be very particular about every shot be it lighting, setting up the frame and getting the costumes and makeup right etc. Its a very time-consuming process. Its not like we were lazing around (laughs). Even though we shot for such a long period of time, there was always a time-constraint and as a cinematographer, it was my duty to be as quick as possible without compromising on the quality of the film.

The entire film has massive sets and larger-than-life imagery. What was your approach to capturing all that grandeur?

We had a lot of references, based on concept art, pre-visualisation from VFX team, books, Indian architecture and other stuff, to create this world of Baahubali. But we didnt want to replicate anything. Your job becomes easier when you have references because everyone is talking about the same thing. The challenge was to match up to Rajamoulis visualisation because theres no cut-off point for that. Take the waterfall sequence in the first part  a more than 3000 ft waterfall like that doesnt exist anywhere on our planet. Be it the palaces or war-machines, my objective was to capture everything in the best possible light. Every sequence and shot has different requirements. Purely in terms of how we shot it, if we want the audience to be intimidated by a setting then we focus on the grandeur of it. For instance, the ship, that you see in the trailer, looks tiny compared to the elephants statue because its suppose to intimidate the characters in the scene. But when its about exploring the emotional upheaval of the characters in the story, then we focus is on the actors and their performances.

For a film like this, where youve to do colour grading for every frame, do you see your work at all, especially considering how much of visual effects come into play?

I doubt if there is any film, these days, which doesnt have visual effects. When people began making films in colour, people felt that it was disturbing the way a black & white film would tell the story. But technology has been rapidly evolving over the years and as cinematographers, we have to keep ourselves updated to ensure that we make everything look seamless on screen. For the first part, I worked along with VFX supervisor Srinivas Mohan and for the second part, Kamal Kannan is the VFX supervisor. Both of them have helped me a lot to understand visual effects better.

My only objective is to present the story in the best possible way visually. In some cases, visual effects take the centrestage, sometimes its the cinematography. Its about how well their marriage works. Or else, theyll end up screaming at each other (laughs). But then, both of them have to be in the background and never overpower the story in first place. Colour correction for a VFX heavy film is a very tedious job. Were working with Annapurna Studios. My colourist Shiva has been working with me for most of my films, his understanding of CG helped me in the DI process. Because of our experience on previous two films Eega and Baahubali 1, technical head CV Rao at Annapurna DI Studios has streamlined their internal processes for Baahubali: The Conclusion. From the time an image is captured till it reaches the screen it goes through a lot of stages, where there is a chance of losing quality. We are doing a lot of research to minimise those loses. Even if we achieve by 5-10 percent of visual enhancement in terms of technicality, its a big advantage. Baahubali 2 will be a much better version, visually, compared to the first part.

You also shot part of the Baahubali VR  The Sword of Baahubali. How different was that experience as a cinematographer?

I shot portions of the Baahubali VR where real-life actors like Prabhas, Rana, Anushka and Tamannaah appear. It was a totally new experience for me. The thing is, when it comes to VR, it is quite challenging to shoot everything, even a close-up shot is shot, using an extreme wide angle lenses. I wouldnt shoot like that when I shoot with a normally. You feel that the image is distorted on camera, but when you put on the VR gear it looks amazing. If you are shooting on VR, then you need to unlearn what you know about cinematography and re-learn stuff to do this. Im happy to be part of this evolution of VR in its initial stages.

Coming back to the film, you were shooting on a daily basis till late in the night and then, you are back for the shoot by 6 am the next day. How do you stay focused and not get tired?

We are mad people [laughs]. My wife Ruhee calls me glorified labourer! We shoot in sun, dust and difficult weather conditions. Its because of the passion we have for the process of filmmaking. I like the process, not just the end result. We know the sacrifices we have to make. I couldnt have done with without the support of my wife and my team. Were all tired yes, but the film inspires us to keep pushing ourselves. Its too early to feel empty that the films shoot is done because theres a lot of work to be completed before the film releases. After April 28, maybe I can think of the withdrawal symptoms.

Now that you have worked on such big projects, would you say you are more confident now about your craft?

Im confident in the sense that I understand my craft in a better way and also, I know how the film industry works, but each film is a challenge in itself. Ill still have to think about what to do. It doesnt make my job easier. When I started my career, I did based on what I knew and I was very confident. Now, everyone has certain expectations from me. Living up to the expectations and surpassing it is a challenge. When I see works of cinematographers like Emmanuel Lubezki and Roger Deakins, I feel theres more to learn. But the more you learn, the more you get scared. I have certain expectations on myself. That scares me every time even now. And the fear keeps increasing each time [laughs].
Chennai: Actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan on Saturday said he escaped a fire accident at his residence here on Friday night. He also clarified that no one got hurt.

"Thanks to my staff. Escaped a fire at my house. Lungs full of smoke; I climbed down from the third floor. I am safe, No one hurt. Goodnight," Haasan tweeted early on Saturday.

He also thanked his fans for their "love and concern".

Haasan is currently mourning the death of his elder brother Chandrahasan who passed away in March.

On the career front, he is all set to recommence work on his multi-lingual action comedy Sabash Naidu, having fully recovered from a leg injury which kept him out of action for nearly a year.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 8

By Elchin Mehdiyev  Trend:

Azerbaijan has temporarily suspended the issuance of migration cards intended for controlling the period of temporary stay of foreigners and stateless persons without visa, said Ali Huseynli, head of the Azerbaijani Parliaments Legal Policy and State Building Committee.

He made the remarks at a session of the committee.

Huseynli noted that in this regard, the introduction of the earlier proposed amendments to the Migration Code of Azerbaijan has been temporarily suspended.

In accordance with the earlier proposed amendments to the Migration Code, foreigners and stateless persons arriving in Azerbaijan without visa, were supposed to fill in the migration card and hand it over along with their IDs and other documents when passing through checkpoints at the state border of Azerbaijan.
By Johan Ahlander

| STOCKHOLM

STOCKHOLM A truck ploughed into a crowd on a shopping street and crashed into a department store in central Stockholm on Friday, killing four people and wounding 15 in what the prime minister said appeared to be a terrorist attack.Swedish police said they had arrested one person after earlier circulating a picture of a man wearing a grey hoodie. They did not rule out the possibility other attackers were involved. "We have a person who is arrested who may have connections to the event in Stockholm earlier today," police spokesperson Towe Hagg said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. "I turned around and saw a big truck coming towards me. It swerved from side to side. It didn't look out of control, it was trying to hit people," Glen Foran, an Australian tourist in his 40s, told Reuters. "It hit people, it was terrible. It hit a pram with a kid in it, demolished it," he said. "It took a long time for police to get here. I suppose from their view it was quick, but it felt like forever."Part of central Stockholm was cordoned off and the area was evacuated, including the main train station. All subway traffic was halted on police orders. Government offices were closed."Sweden has been attacked. Everything points to the fact that this is a terrorist attack," Prime Minister Stefan Lofven told reporters during a visit to western Sweden. He was immediately returning to the capital.Many police and emergency services personnel were at the scene, said a Reuters witness who saw policemen put what appeared to be two bodies into body bags. Bloody tyre tracks on Drottninggatan (Queen Street) showed where the truck had passed.

The truck had been stolen while making a beer delivery to a tapas bar further up Drottninggatan, Spendrups Brewery spokesman Marten Lyth said. A masked person jumped into the cab, started the truck and drove away. "We were standing by the traffic lights at Drottninggatan and then we heard some screaming and saw a truck coming," a witness who declined to be named told Reuters."Then it drove into a pillar at Ahlens City (department store) where the hood started burning. When it stopped we saw a man lying under the tyre. It was terrible to see," said the man, who saw the incident from his car. Police said four people had died and 15 were injured. National news agency TT said those hurt included the delivery driver, who had tried to stop the hijack. Several attacks in which trucks or cars have driven into crowds have taken place in Europe in the past year. Al Qaeda in 2010 urged its followers to use trucks as a weapon.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack in Nice, France, last July, when a truck killed 86 people celebrating Bastille Day, and one in Berlin in December, when a truck smashed through a Christmas market, killing 12 people.Magnus Ranstorp, head of terrorism research at the Swedish Defence University, told Reuters the attacker's approach was similar to those in Berlin and Nice: "Hijacking a truck, that has happened before." "And this is a pretty cunning modus operandi," he said. "To drive to Ahlens (department store) and stop ... There is a way down to the subway just a few metres away from there, and then you ... can jump on any train you want and quickly disappear." Sweden's King Carl Gustaf said in a statement: "Our thoughts are going out to those that were affected, and to their families." "An attack on any of our member states is an attack on us all," said European Union chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker.

Stockholmers opened up their homes and offered lifts to people who were unable to get home or needed a place to stay. The attack was the latest to hit the Nordic region after shootings in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2015 that killed three people and the 2011 bombing and shooting by far right extremist Anders Behring Breivik that killed 77 people in Norway.Sweden has not been hit by a large-scale attack, although in December 2010, a man blew himself up only a few hundred yards from the site of the latest incident in a failed suicide attack.In February U.S. President Donald Trump falsely suggested there had been an immigration-related security incident in Sweden, to the bafflement of Swedes.Swedish authorities raised the national security threat level to four on a scale of five in October 2010 but lowered the level to three, indicating a "raised threat", in March 2016.Police in Norway's largest cities and at Oslo's airport will carry weapons until further notice following the attack. Denmark has been on high alert since the February 2015 shootings.Neutral Sweden has not fought a war in more than 200 years, but its military has taken part in U.N peacekeeping missions in a number of conflict zones in recent years, including Iraq, Mali and Afghanistan.The Sapo security police said in its annual report it was impossible to say how big a risk there was that Sweden would be targeted like other European cities, but that, if so "it is most likely that it would be undertaken by a lone attacker". (Reporting by Stockholm newsroom; Writing by Gwladys Fouche; Editing by Catherine Evans)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Rik Sharma

| MADRID

MADRID Real Madrid's title hopes were dented as Antoine Griezmann grabbed an 85th-minute equaliser for city rivals Atletico in a 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu on Saturday. Pepe opened the scoring for Real with a looping header that flew past Jan Oblak in the 52nd minute and it looked like the hosts would earn three points to move five clear of Barcelona at the top of La Liga.

Fernando Torres missed a one-on-one as the visitors searched for parity, which eventually came when substitute Angel Correa split the defence with a through-ball that Griezmann slotted past Keylor Navas.

Barcelona visit Malaga later on Saturday and can go ahead of Real at the top of the table on goal difference with a victory, albeit having played one game more.

(Editing by Toby Davis)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Rajendra Jadhav

| MUMBAI

MUMBAI The Mumbai police said on Saturday they had arrested the suspected mastermind behind a call centre scam run out of a Mumbai suburb that targeted thousands of Americans and netted more than $300 million.Sagar Thakkar, 24, also known as Shaggy, was arrested at Mumbai's international airport in the early hours of Saturday after he flew in from Dubai, Mukund Hatote, a police officer on the case, told Reuters.In October, the U.S. Justice Department charged more than 60 people in India and the United States with participating in the huge scam where call centre agents impersonated Internal Revenue Service, immigration or other federal officials and demanded payments for non-existent debts.The department said at least 15,000 people had been targeted by the telefraud that was run out of India. The scam - which ran for more than a year - was blown open in early October, when Indian police raided a host of call centres in the Mumbai suburb of Thane and detained over 700 people suspected of involvement in defrauding Americans. Other call centres involved in the scam that operated from the western city of Ahmedabad were also raided and shut down by authorities.

At a news conference on Saturday evening, Thane Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh said Thakkar, who was charged in December along with others, had fled to Dubai in October following the raids and that he had also spent some time in Thailand over the last six months.Thakkar, wearing blue jeans and a checked shirt, was presented to media on the sidelines of the press conference, but his face was covered with a black cloth. Singh said he had interrogated Thakkar and was "impressed with his knowledge of the U.S. and Indian system." Singh said Thakkar had confessed to his involvement in the scam.

Singh said Thane police have so far charged 400 people in the case, and about a dozen of them are in custody. Thakkar was listed as a call centre operator and payment processor in the U.S. Department of Justice indictment that charged the defendants with conspiracy to commit identity theft, false personation of an officer of the United States, wire fraud and money laundering.

According to the indictment, call centre operators threatened potential victims with arrest, imprisonment, fines or deportation if they did not pay taxes or penalties.Payments by victims were laundered by a U.S. network of co-conspirators using prepaid debit cards or wire transfers, often using stolen or fake identities, the indictment said.U.S. and Indian authorities have been working together on the investigation. The United States had said it would be seeking the extradition of the alleged scamsters based in India. Indian police have previously said that Thakkar led a lavish lifestyle, frequenting five-star hotels and driving around in expensive cars. (Writing by Devidutta Tripathy; Editing by Euan Rocha, Richard Pullin and Ros Russell)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Bengaluru: A VHP activist has filed a complaint against two evangelists from the US, accusing them of indulging in religious conversion activities in India and violating visa norms. Girish Bharadwaj filed the complaint with the Foreigners Regional Registration Office here against Patricia King of XP Ministries and Donna Schambach of Schambach Foundation, both of whom are currently on a visit to the city.

Congratulations dear little brother @Girishvhp for successfully stopping the 'Soul Harvesting' event by a vulture, Donna. @DrPravinTogadia pic.twitter.com/JuhoKy6Pmo  Shakuntala Iyer (@shakkuiyer) April 7, 2017

They are slated to attend a religious campaign named 'Power and Reality of the Kingdom' organised by a local church on 8 April as chief guests. Bharadwaj, in his complaint, also alleged that both the foreigners were frequently visiting India only with the purpose of religious conversions.

"As per rules, foreigners, with any type of visa, are not allowed to preach and propagate their religion in India. And government of India shall not issue visas to evangelists who desire to come to India to attend religious campaigns," he said.

He alleged that in this case, the foreigners have applied for Indian visa only to attend the religious campaigns and that they had clearly mislead the Indian Consulate in the US.

An advertisement poster of the event containing photos of evangelists, time and venue of the event has also been enclosed with the complaint, he said.

As per the advertisement that mentions Rs 100 per person as registration fees, the event will be held on 8-9 April.
Starting off her routine work in office on Saturday morning, news anchor Supreet Kaur of Chhattisgarhs private IBC-24 channel was perhaps caught in a nightmarish situation as she figured out that she was possibly reading out the death of her husband in a road accident that came as a breaking news mid-way through her news wrap-up.

"Supreet Kaur was doing the bulletin live when a reporter phoned in with the news of a horrific car at Pithara in Mahasamund district in which three people travelling in a Renault Duster were killed," a CNN-News18 report said.

The Times of India reported that "when the news anchor was connected with channel's reporter for live phone-in, she realized that her husband Harsad Kawade was among the passengers of the ill-fated vehicle."

But what overwhelmed everyone is her commitment to duty as she continued to read the complete bulletin despite having clear indications that her husband might be no more.

"For at least ten minutes after, Kaur kept her composure and continued with the bulletin on IBC 24. Only once when the cameras were off, did she break down," The Indian Express report said. The IBC24 editor said the channel was extremely proud of the way Kaur handled the nightmarish situation, The Indian Express added.
New Delhi: Chief Justice of India J S Khehar, on Saturday, criticised the electoral politics in the country, saying poll promises are "routinely unfulfilled", caste issues projected differently to get a majority and party manifestos do not have any linkage to socio-economic justice.

The CJI said that electoral politics in India centres around "mobilisation and politicisation" of the social groups which were poor or disadvantaged and have long remained politically dominant.

Justice Khehar, who was speaking at a seminar on 'Electoral Issues and Economic Reforms', said, "Caste issues are projected in different ways to ensure a majority in each constituency."

He said that ever since these marginalised sections have begun turning up in larger numbers to vote, it has led to an unprecedented volatility in the electoral outcome.

This has forced political parties to seek new forms of political alignment, social engineering and support, he said.

Despite these changes in the electoral process, the non- fulfillment of poll promises never becomes an electoral issue, the CJI observed.

"No consequence occurs whether promises are fulfilled or not. Every political party brazenly finds an excuse of not reaching consensus amongst alike partners.

"Even our legal system provides for no consequences to be suffered by political parties if promises made in the manifesto are not fulfilled," he said.

"Uninformed citizenry, with a short term memory forgets and the election manifesto becomes a mere piece of paper. For this political parties have to be made accountable," the CJI said at a seminar here.

Justice Dipak Misra, the next senior-most judge of the apex court, who spoke before the CJI, also stressed on the need for electoral and economic reforms by categorically stating that "purchasing power has no room in an election" and "a candidate must bear in mind that contesting elections is not an investment".

"It is because in an elevated constitutional democracy, purity of election and credibility of the process of election have their signification," he said.

He further said that elections have to be "bereft of criminalisation" and "must be perceived as an activity involving norms of fiscal morality".

He said that the apex court had in 1996 said the best available men should be chosen as people's representatives.

"This can be best achieved through men of high moral and ethical values who win elections on a positive vote obtained on their own merit and not by negative vote process of elimination from comparative demerits of the candidates," Justice Misra said.

He also said that candidates and the voters are to remember the old saying that 'out of debt out of danger'.

Justice Khehar said pursuant to Supreme Court's directions to the Election Commission of India to formulate guidelines with regard to manifestos and freebies, the poll panel has introduced these in the model code of conduct and has been taking action against parties for its violation.

Speaking on the topic of economic reforms, the CJI said economic reforms are "confined only to economic growth and not linked to social and political justice".

"Unconstitutional economics for economic growth produces serious socio-economic ills. Economic reforms take centre stage while democracy in terms of the priorities in the directive principles is overlooked, whereas the Constitution requires just the opposite.

"Consequently, electoral politics does not tell the citizens as to what kind of reforms they are entitled to under the Constitution," he said.

The CJI said the real problem of economic reforms arises in their implementation.

"This problem arises because the Constitution treats the distribution and use of national wealth generated by the

economic system as an integral part of generation of such wealth.

"Interestingly, political parties and their manifestos compartmentalise the generation of wealth separately from its end use," it said.

Without mentioning the names of the political parties, the CJI referred to the slogans-- 'Your Voice Our Pledge' and 'Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat'-- adopted by Congress and the BJP respectively, in the 2014 General Assembly polls, and said, their manifestos showed "no linkage between economic reforms and the Constitutional goal of socio-economic justice".

The CJI, however, said the land reforms and the Industrial Disputes Act put in place by the government after Independence has resulted in people from the enormous below poverty line being brought into the equally enormous middle class.

"This is the economic reform that deals with and caters to the Directive Principles" and "it is this economic reform which has made all the difference between India and Pakistan", where, the CJI said, individual families own hundreds of villages with the peasants living in mud huts and carrying out farming for the land owners.
This is not a story about Parshu. Why should it be? Hes just another needy two year old running around playfully on his unwashed feet, smiling an unformed, unworldly smile under a very drippy nose. Parshu, in a t-shirt with mucous stains and patches of frozen black dust, is one among the nearly two lakh children living on Delhis streets. Because poverty throws a thick blanket of resemblance over peoples fortunes, it gets harder to tear through it and contest it in instances. Parshu was born to teenaged parents two years ago, both balloon sellers and drug addicts. The mother is now 20 and the father died of a solution overdose some months ago.

There are only five de-addiction centres in Delhi that are partly funded by the government and managed by NGOs. Parshu is the only boy who lives in the sixth and recently opened centre for women and child addicts in Parda Bagh, old Delhi. Some centres have 15 beds, and others twice the number. Last year, these establishments were complaining of a delay in funding from the government. Their grudge was that the Delhi government (the nodal agency for inspection and approvals of funds) delayed the release of their funds. Although that has been resolved, the greater issue at hand here is that drug addiction still comes under the purview of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, when its actually a serious health problem that germinates in poverty and grows cancerously in lonely, love-starved nerves. Doctors feel it should be addressed immediately by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

In the last week of February, under the chairmanship of the chief secretary, government of NCT of Delhi, a meeting of the Intersectoral Coordination Committee was convened. The use of the word intersectoral is the first formal proof of the states understanding of the kind of response needed to address the problem.

According to a recent survey conducted by the Delhi Aids Control Society, the number of street children who used any substance in the last one year was 23,240 children although the 95 per cent certainty estimate varied between 19,320 to 27,090 children based on statistical calculation. After excluding tobacco, the numbers still are 15,470 street children. The study estimates that the number of tobacco using street children was 20,000, a figure high enough to require immediate intervention. The findings have revealed that alcohol is used by an estimated 9,450 street children; inhalants are used by 7,910 street children; cannabis is used by 5,600 street children; heroin was used by 840 street children and pharmaceutical opioids and sedatives were used by 210 each; some street children also reported injecting drug use. As per the 2016 survey conducted by jointly by the Women and Child Development Department and AIIMS in 2016, there are 70,000 addicts on Delhis streets and their initiation into drugs happens as early as age nine.

A total of 30 beds in six hospitals have been earmarked exclusively for juveniles but there is lack of staff in these centres. A proposal has been initiated for creation of posts in these five existing de-addiction centres. In the drug de-addiction centres planned in government hospitals, there is a revised proposal for the increase in staff for round the clock inpatient care from one to three in each centre. Muskan Foundation runs a de-addiction centre in Amberhai, Dwarka. Dr Bharat Bhushan, who runs the facility, says increasing staff is important because the treatment cannot be limited to the three-week detoxification, it has to be intensive and lengthy so there is a less chance of relapse. Right now, a 60 to 90 percent relapse rate pulls the addict back into the black hole of addiction. To consolidate the approach towards de-addiction, the Delhi State Aids Control Society has made proposals like the establishment of additional oral substation therapy centres, specialised counselling centres for targeted interventions, capacity building and training support and intervention efforts in women and children addicts. For these activities, it has been proposed that a budget of Rs 10 crore per annum be kept aside.

Last year, AIIMS introduced a specialised course to generate five specialists of drug abuse each year. AIIMS runs two community clinics in Delhi, in Trilokpuri and Sunder Nagri, which engage with low-threshold patients. The reason for this, as Dr Atul Ambekar of AIIMS National Drugs Dependence Treatment Centre in Ghaziabad explains, was that addiction was seen as part of general psychiatry, when it is actually a far more specific problem.

In response to an RTI filed to Delhis government hospitals in May 2016 for information on drug de-addiction services offered, it was stated that specialised drug de-addiction services declined at Safdarjung Hospital and VMMC; Lady Hardinge Medical College and SSK Hospital had just one child addict admitted in IPD in 2014-2015 and none in 2015-2016. No female addicts were registered in both years. If one is to visit the centre for women and children at Parda Bagh, little girls will tell you how its quite routine for them to get hold of a bottle of solution (chemical drug) for Rs 60 and children in Meena Bazar, Hanuman Mandir, Jhandewalan, are easy targets for peddlers. The girls (between 7 and 15) said they started out with shikhar  chewing tobacco  and then bhaiyas started selling them solution. Replying to the same RTI, Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital stated that the total number of drug de-addiction patients IPD was only six in 2014 and 22 in 2015. It has been finally been proposed that the Health and Welfare Department will look into activating beds for de-addiction treatment in these hospitals.

A 30-bed facility has been proposed to come up at Tilak Vihar, where there is a minimum of one addict in each home. Other regions in need of immediate relief are New Seelampur and Seemapuri, where NGOs like Asha and Parivartan are doing their bit to educate and reform. Last year, Haji Ishraq, MLA-New Seelampur, told Firstpost that the MCD doesnt provide the government land for building a nasha mukti kendra and that explains why addicts pass out and fall like dead bodies even outside police stations.

Aside from the six government centres, there are also a large number of private drug de-addiction centres across the capital. Some brand themselves as neuro-psychiatric centres and others call themselves wellness retreats. For the first time, the government has acknowledged that these facilities must be monitored. A standardised procedure for drug-relief must be put in place. In fact, government doctors reveal that the 150-odd private NGOs across Delhi arent verified by any authority and the use of muscle and stronger substitute medicines in order to prolong addiction also happens.

School children are an impressionable lot and get lured into addiction in packs. There are 1,240 schools with 13.5 lakh students from Class 6-12. A screening of these children for traces of drug abuse has been suggested. The East and South Delhi municipal corporations have trained their staff at IHBAS for this purpose, along with this, even Mohalla Clinics situated near schools are to start screening students regularly. Along with this, the government has finally admitted the need for a survey thatll help quantify the problem. Currently, no consolidated survey of drug abuse in school children exists.

The Delhi police, the Narcotics Bureau and the Drug Control Department are the main agencies involved in regulation and supply of reduction of drugs of abuse. The information collated from investigating agencies on drugs banned under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act showed that Delhi had the highest seizure of chemical based intoxicants such as mandrax, syrup and tablets. The data tabled in the Lok Sabha earlier this month indicates that anti-drug agencies caught 23,519 kg mandrax, 98,480 kg syrup and 1.77 lakh tablets in Delhi in 2016. While the Drug Control Department has cancelled 18 drug licences of pharmacies to curb illegitimate drug abuse, residents in Tilak Vihar, Seemapuri and Seelampur say it is still quite easy to get hold of Avil (anti-inflammatory for aches and allergies), Siazepam (tranquilising muscle relaxant), Nitrazepam (short-term relief from insomnia and anxiety), Alprax (a sedative, hypnotic, anxiolytic) and Phenergan (antihistamine, sedative, and anti-nausea drug) over the counter. Badi dukaan par nahi toh choti dukaan par zarur milega, nahi toh bhaiya leke aayenge, says Bima, a child addict outside Hanuman Mandir, Cannaught Place. (Later, Bima took Firstpost to the bhaiya or peddler, a teenage boy, offering a red and white tube for Rs 100 outside Hanuman Mandir. Fearing hell be caught, he ran away and merged into the crowds near the temple gates.)

It is not merely a question of breaking the chain of supply and demand of drugs but of rescuing those 70,000 childhoods that are being lost to this cheap poison each and every day.
In yet another attack on a foriegn national in India, a German teenager was attacked by a sharp weapon in the Geeta Colony area of the national capital on Friday night, according to ANI.

19 year old German national Benjamin Scolt attacked with a sharp weapon in Delhi's Geeta Colony,has been admitted to hospital pic.twitter.com/orT0A3rJo8  ANI (@ANI_news) April 8, 2017

The 19-year-old, identified as Benjamin Scolt, took an auto rickshaw from Delhi's Chandai Chowk area but the auto driver apparently asked another man to sit in the rickshaw along with Scolt and the duo later attacked him and robbed him of his cash. Following this, Scolt jumped out of the moving rickshaw and was later taken to the hospital by a passerby, according to DNA. Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj took cognizance of the incident and tweeted that she had sought a report on the issue and asked the Delhi government to provide him with medical assistance.

I have asked for a report on the attack on German national in Delhi. I have asked Delhi Government to provide him best medical treatment.  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) April 8, 2017

The incident, coming just weeks after the 'racist' attack on two Nigerian nationals in Noida, yet again brought to the fore the security issues foriegn nationals face in India. In another attack from just days ago, a group of four foreign tourists was attacked and looted in Ajmer, and one of the women with them was molested, according to The Indian Express. In another ghastly attack from last month, a British woman was brutally raped and murdered in Goa, on Holi.
New Delhi: The hunter and the hunted are set to rendezvous by a beach in India's east coast city, Visakhapatnam.

In a feat of military history, the last of the Indian Navy's cold war-era submarine-hunting planes, a Tupolev-142M long range maritime patrol aircraft, is slated to be towed through the city to rest near an a cold war-era Foxtrot-class submarine. The submarine, that used to be the INS Kursura, is a museum. The plane will also be converted into one.

The Tupolev landed at the Indian Naval Air Station (INAS) Dega in Visakhapatnam on Saturday morning. It was received by, among others, the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh state, Chandrababu Naidu. It was flown by the six-man crew capable of flying it from INAS Rajali, Arakonnam, Tamil Nadu. The rest of the crew have converted to or are in training to fly the modern US (Boeing)-origin P8I surveillance aircraft.

In a sense the change-over of the squadron from the Tupolevs to the Boeings signify more than a technology-shift. The shift may be marking strategic and diplomatic moves.

Andhra chief minister Naidu has a history of offering to host military platforms that have been rendered out of service. It is a chequered history, one that is still riling the Indian Navy. He had offered to anchor the de-commissioned aircraft carrier, Viraat, off Vizag. He proposed to use it as a museum/tourist resort. But the one-time payment of Rs 1,000 crore that would be the cost of towing and refurbishing the flat-top has put off possible suitors.

Even the UK, from whom India had bought the ship, has looked the other way. The Viraat used to be the HMS Hermes in the service of the Royal Navy. She was the flagship in the 1982 Falklands war in her majesty's service. It was sold to India in 1986 and at the time of its de-commissioning last month, it was the oldest aircraft carrier in the world.

The Tupolevs, also decommissioned last month, have met with a kinder fate in a season when exhibiting military hardware is gelling with exhibitionist nationalism.

The cost of maintaining the Tupolev would be the price of its air-conditioning. The plane that landed at the INAS Dega on Saturday will have its wings, with contra-rotating propellers, cut. The wingspan is 50 metres. If the wings are not cut it would mow down half of Visakhapatnam.

Then the 53-metre long fuselage will be towed through the city to the Ramakrishna beach. The wings would be welded back. And the hunter and the hunted would in all likelihood face each other, should the Centre approve the Andhra government's proposal.

On the west coast, however, the 28,000-tonne Viraat continues to rust and rot and occupy a precious berth in the Bombay naval dockyards. A carrier before it, the Vikrant, was also proposed to be turned into a museum by the Maharashtra government. The government could not afford the idea.

Then the carrier was taken to Alang, the ship-breaking town on the coast of Gujarat, and cut-up. Its steel was bought by an automobile company that launched a two-wheeler with the name of the warship. It would be patriotic to ride the bike, the company claimed.

The Indian Navy does not want the same fate for the Viraat. But it may be left with no choice. Funnily, what sails does not have wings. What has wings sails through.
Panaji: Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi has blamed the Indian film industry for promoting eve-teasing in the name of romance.

"If you look at the films...in last 50 years, the only way to communicate messages...I am talking about the feature films in every language in India. The romance almost always starts with eve-teasing," Gandhi said at 'Goa Fest 2017' in Panaji on Friday evening.

"The man and his friends will surround a woman, trip her up...abuse her, touch her inappropriately and slowly-slowly she will fall in love with him, and then rest of it is, he fights with somebody or other and gets her," she said.

"Always...it starts with violence. And when we talk about the films today, exactly the same method that of 1950s (is showed)....May be we should think whether we should be using this medium to propagate violence," the minister said.

"The powerlessness of men also leads to violence against women. The man's feeling of powerlessness, he is being shouted at, his failure in job, is also one of the reasons of violence against women," Gandhi said.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 8

Trend:

Vice-president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, founder and head of the IDEA Public Union, Leyla Aliyeva has visited the Shahdag National Park in Ismayilli District of Azerbaijan.

She viewed a construction site of a bison reintroduction center, which will be built under a joint project of the IDEA Public Union, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources and WWF Azerbaijan.

The complex will cover an area of 30 hectares.
New Delhi: India and Bangladesh on Friday signed 22 pacts in key sectors including defence and civil nuclear but the long-pending Teesta waters sharing agreement remained elusive though Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed his government's commitment for an "early solution".

After holding comprehensive talks with his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina, Modi announced a new concessional Line of Credit of $4.5 billion for the neighbouring country and an additional assistance of USD 500 million to help its military procurement.

"We in India rejoice in our ties with Bangladesh. Ties that have been forged in blood and generations of kinship. Ties that seek a better and secure future for our people," Modi said at a joint media event with Hasina. The two countries also agreed to confront challenges of terrorism with deeper security and defence cooperation with Modi terming spread of radicalism as a "grave threat", not only to the two countries but to the entire region.

On her part, Hasina, on a visit to India after seven years, said her country will continue its zero-tolerance policy towards terror and promised to take all steps to ensure peace and security along Indo-Bangla border.

"We agreed that the agenda of our cooperation has to remain focused on purposeful action. We specifically looked at charting new avenues and tapping fresh opportunities in advancing our relationship."

Though the two sides decided to take their ties to a newer level, they could not finalise the long-pending Teesta water-sharing agreement, primarily due to opposition to it by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who was present during launch of new train and bus services between the two countries.

Referring to the Teesta issue, Modi said the pact is important for India-Bangladesh relationship and expressed hope that the West Bengal Chief Minister will eventually support it.

"I am very happy that the Chief Minister of West Bengal is my honoured guest today. I know that her feelings for Bangladesh are as warm as my own. I assure you and the people of Bangladesh of our commitment and continuing efforts," he said.

Modi said he "firmly" believes that an early solution to the issue "can and will" be found out. The Prime Minister also complimented Hasina for her government's 'zero-tolerance' policy towards terrorism and said "it is an inspiration for all of us."

A new bus and train services were also launched between Kolkata and Khulna in Bangladesh. "India has always stood for the prosperity of Bangladesh and its people. We are a long-standing and trusted development partner of Bangladesh. India and Bangladesh are also determined that the fruits of our cooperation must benefit our people," said Modi.

He said both sides recognised the need to diversify commercial engagement to boost trade and for greater regional benefit.

In this context he referred to an agreement to open new border haats for trade and said steps being are being taken to put into operation the Coastal Shipping Agreement. Talking about regional connectivity, he said India was looking forward to early implementation of the BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal) Motor Vehicles Agreement which will "usher in a new era of sub-regional integration."

The BBIN initiative was taken after Pakistan stalled a regional transport initiative of Saarc. The agreements signed today include an MoU on defence cooperation framework pact and extending defence LOC of $500 million by India and on cooperation in the civil nuclear sector under which India will be able to set up nuclear plants in Bangladesh.

Under the Defence LoC pact, India will supply military hardware to Bangladesh.

The other key MoUs inked were on passenger and cruise services on the coastal and protocol route, cooperation on cyber security and cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space "We want to build cooperation in new areas, especially some high-technology areas, that have a deeper connect with the youth in both our societies," said Modi.

As a mark of India's respect to father of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina's father, a prominent road in Delhi has been named after him. Modi and Hasina also released a Hindi translation of Bangbandhu's 'Unfinished Memoirs'.

The Prime Minister said with fresh assistance of $4.5 billion, India's resource allocation for Bangladesh has recorded more than $8 billion over the past six years. Identifying major areas of cooperation, he said energy security is an important dimension of the two-way development partnership.

"Today, we added an additional 60 Mega Watt of power to the 600 Mega Watt of power already flowing from India to Bangladesh. The supply of another 500 Mega Watt has already been committed from the existing inter-connection.

"We have also agreed to finance the diesel oil pipeline from Numaligarh to Parbatipur. Our companies are entering into a long-term agreement for the supply of high speed diesel to Bangladesh. We have also agreed on a time table for regular supply till the pipeline is constructed," he said.
New Delhi: In a strong message, India and Bangladesh on Saturday called for strong action against States and entities which encourage, support and finance terrorism, provide sanctuaries to terror networks and falsely extol their virtues.

During their talks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina, called upon the

international community to end selective approaches to combat terrorism and emphasised that there should no glorification of terrorists as martyrs, seen as an apparent reference to Pakistan.

The issue of long-pending Teesta water-sharing pact also figured in the talks and a joint statement said Hasina

requested Modi for conclusion of the agreement as agreed upon by both governments in January 2011.

"Prime Minister Modi reiterated that his government is working with all stakeholders in India for an early conclusion of the agreement," the statement said.

Recognising terrorism as one of the most significant threats to peace and stability in the region, the two prime

ministers reiterated their strong commitment to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

In this regard, they also called for the early finalisation and adoption of a Comprehensive Convention on

International Terrorism by the United Nations.

"The fight against terrorism should not only seek to disrupt and eliminate terrorists, terror organisations and

networks, but should also identify, hold accountable and take strong measures against States and entities which encourage, support and finance terrorism, provide sanctuary to terrorists and terror groups, and falsely extol their virtues," the joint statement said.

The two leaders also condemned the recent "barbaric terror attacks" in India and Bangladesh and called for urgent

measures to counter and prevent spread of terrorism, violent extremism and radicalisation in the region and beyond.

They also expressed determination to take concrete measures to further step up cooperation and coordination among

intelligence and security agencies of both countries.

Modi and Hasina reiterated their commitment to ensure that their respective territories would not be allowed to be used for any activities inimical to the other.

They also underscored the need for effective operationalisation of the bilateral extradition treaty.

Modi and Hasina felt that effective implementation of the Coordinated Border Management Plan (CBMP) would enable better border management to jointly manage the identified vulnerable areas, irregular movement and incidents of violence along the border.

"Both Prime Ministers reiterated that the number of deaths at the border must be brought down to zero and directed the concerned authorities to work towards that end.

On the issue of water sharing, the two prime ministers also directed officials concerned to conclude discussions on various aspects relating to sharing of waters of the Feni, Manu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gumti, Dharla and Dudhkumar rivers.

"The two prime ministers appreciated the positive steps taken in respect of Bangladesh's proposal for jointly

developing the Ganges Barrage on the river Padma in Bangladesh," said the joint statement.

In the meeting, Modi also announced a special medical scheme under which 100 Muktijoddhas (freedom fighters) of

Bangladesh will be provided medical treatment in Indian hospitals every year.

He also extended the Muktijoddha Scholarship Scheme for 10,000 heirs of Muktijhoddhas for another five years.

Both sides agreed that next meeting of the Joint Consultative Commission will take place this year in Dhaka.

In the meeting, the two prime ministers welcomed the identification of a number of projects in the areas of port

construction, railways, roads, airports, power and energy, telecommunications in Bangladesh to be implemented under the 3rd Line of Credit of USD 4.5 billion being given by India.

The statement said both sides underlined the need for bringing about greater integration of power and energy supply networks.

Both the prime ministers also welcomed the signing of an MOU between Petrobangla and Petronet for the setting up of a Joint Venture Re-gasification LNG Terminal at Kutubdia Island.

The meeting also reviewed progress made in towards construction of the Indo-Bangla Friendship pipeline from

Siliguri to Parbatipur for supply of high speed diesel to Bangladesh and both sides have agreed to sign a sales and purchase agreement in this regard.

The two prime ministers emphasised the need to further strengthen and consolidate defence cooperation through greater military-to-military training and exchanges.

Both sides also resolved to work closely in furthering regional and sub-regional cooperation processes.

The joint statement said Modi and Hasina also expressed their shared commitment to promote regional cooperation,

particularly in the areas of trade, transportation, connectivity, energy and counter-terrorism within the BIMSTEC

framework.

The views assume significance with Pakistan blocking several regional initiatives at SAARC.
After Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, held a high-level review meeting on the deportation of Rohingiya Muslims from Jammu region, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Jammu on Friday demanded the immediate deportation of Rohingiya and Bangladeshi Muslims from Jammu saying the business community would otherwise launch an identify and kill operation against them.

The chamber said the displaced Rohingiyas community and Bangladeshis are criminals and drug traffickers who have been disowned by their own countries, and that the government of India should thrown them back to their countries in one month or the chamber would be forced to launch a identify and kill operation.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Jammu said that they are committed to protest the interests of the people of the state and would lunch this operation as part of their corporate responsibility initiative.

The Jammu and Kashmir government says 5,743 Burmese (Rohingyas) are staying in the state and no instance of radicalisation has been reported among them so far and they have been living peacefully since the past six years. As of now 17 FIRs have been registered against 38 Rohingyas for various other offences. According to Rohingyas settled in Jammu and organisations working with them at least 12 Rohingyas are languishing in jail, mostly for not carrying the refugee cards.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, the Jammu Chamber president, Rakesh Gupta said that with the presence of these foreign nationals, whom the Chamber looks upon as criminals and drug traffickers disowned by their own country, are threat to the peace, secularism and brotherhood in the region.

These settlers should be deported within one month and the people on whose land these foreigners have settled be booked under Public Safety Act otherwise chamber shall have no option but to launch 'identify and kill' movement against such criminals. Gupta said.

It may not be out of place to mention that neither the government of Jammu and Kashmir is signatory to any United Nations treaty nor Article 370 allows illegal foreign settlers for any permanent settlement in the state, said Gupta, while addressing a a presser along with senior vice president Rajiv Gupta and junior vice president Manish Gupta and others.

Earlier a political party based in Jammu had come up with hoarding asking the Rohingyas and Bangladeshis to leave the region immediately. The Rohingya community members have already been living under fear after the newspapers reported that union government was exploring the possibilities of deportation of this ethnic Muslim minority to Buddhist majority Myanmar form Jammu.
Srinagar: Militants opened fire on a police team, on Saturday, near an election meeting venue of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in poll-bound Anantnag district in south Kashmir and fled from the scene, police said.

No one was hurt in the firing, even as the meeting, chaired by Jammu and Kashmir minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali, remained unaffected and later concluded peacefully, a police official said.

The militants opened fire on a police party patrolling the area around Magray Mohalla in Achabal, 65 km from Srinagar, the official said.

He said the policemen fired in retaliation and immediately cordoned off the area.

There was no report of any casualty on either side, the official said.

The meeting was being held in connection with the Lok Sabha bypoll to Anantnag parliamentary constituency scheduled for 12 April.

The official said the militants apparently fired a few shots to scare the voters but fled the scene due to heavy presence of police and paramilitary personnel.

A search operation was in progress to track down the militants, the official said.
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"This (country's) thinking is based on violence and terrorism. The makers of such ideology believe more in terrorism than in humanity," he said.

"Contrary to the ideology of development followed by India and Bangladesh, there is one country in south Asia whose ideology and policies promote terrorism," he added.

"Few nations in South Asia believe in terrorism," said Narendra Modi. "India is a victim of terror ideology."

"We have the greatest admiration of Sheikh Hasina's firm resolve in dealing with terrorism. Security of our people will remain central to our agreements," he said.

"The training of 1500 civil servants of Bangladesh in India is also complete. While our partnership brings development, it also opposes radicalisation," Modi said, shifting the focus on counter-terrorism.

"Steps are being taken to put into operation the coastal shipping agreement," he also said. "Prime Sheikh Hasina also discussed the need to diversy our commercial arrangement," he added.

"Several agreements for investments in energy sector of Bangladesh are expected to be signed by companies in India," said Modi.

"We want to build cooperation in new areas, especially some high technology areas, which would include space exploration, civil nuclear energy and other areas," said Modi.

Security of our people will remain central to our agreements: Modi

"To mark the golden jubilee year of Bangladesh's independence, we have agreed to jointly produce a documentary on Bangladesh's liberation war," said the prime minister.

"I believe it is only my government and Sheikh Hasina's government which can find an early solution to Teesta water-sharing," Modi said.

Only my government and Sheikh Hasina's government can find an early solution to Teesta water-sharing: Modi

"Greater connectivity is vital for development," said Hasina. "India is our most important neighbour," she said.

"India has achieved great development in the areas of economy, education, science, technology and innovation. There is also 7% GDP growth in Bangladesh," said Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina.

Most of the times, a joint press statement is serious business. Sometimes, just sometimes, it can be funny.

We are happy to announce US$ 500 million line of credit to Bangladesh: PM Narendra Modi pic.twitter.com/qzpSWx5KyH

Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina & PM Modi honour kin of Indian soldiers who lost their life in action in 1971 war at Sommanona Ceremony in Delhi pic.twitter.com/O2qAKFYB9j

Hasina, Modi honour kin of Indian soldiers who were killed in action in 1971 war

Delhi: PM Modi & PM Hasina with then Major Ashok Tara & his wife, Tara rescued Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's family from imprisonment in 1971. pic.twitter.com/ie2lhtLcpP

"The difficult condition which Sheikh Hasina had to face and the way in which she got Bangladesh out of the condition it was in is commendable," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "She still stands like a rock."

"India and Bangladesh are not together because of politics or governments. India and Bangladesh are together because its 140 crore people are together," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

India, Bangladesh are together because its people are together: Modi

"This (country's) thinking is based on violence and terrorism. The makers of such ideology believe more in terrorism than in humanity," he said.

"Contrary to the ideology of development followed by India and Bangladesh, there is one country in south Asia whose ideology and policies promote terrorism," he added.

"Few nations in South Asia believe in terrorism," said Narendra Modi. "India is a victim of terror ideology."

Bangladesh Prime Minister Shiekh Hasina arrived in New Delhi on Friday on a four-day visit during which she will hold wide-ranging talks with PM Narendra Modi, who was at the airport to receive her as a special gesture.

During Hasina's visit, which is her first after Modi assumed office in 2014, the two sides will be signing at least 25 pacts in various key sectors including civil nuclear cooperation and defence but any agreement on the Teesta water sharing is unlikely to be inked.

Modi and Hasina, who is staying at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, will hold comprehensive discussions on Saturday. India is also set to announce a line of credit of USD 500 million to Bangladesh for military supplies.

Apart from a "courtesy call on" by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Hasina's schedule on Friday included events at the Bangladesh High Commission.

Officials in New Delhi have said, "It will be a visit without water, indicating that a pact on Teesta river waters is not on the cards."

"The central government will not go ahead with the agreement on Teesta without taking West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on board and she has been opposing it stridently citing water crisis in the state."

However, the two sides are looking at the inking of a framework agreement on civil nuclear energy which will provide for extensive cooperation in the sector including setting up of nuclear reactors in Bangladesh by India.

"It will be a very very special visit. We hope the visit will take the ties between the two countries to new level," Joint Secretary in the Bangladesh-Myanmar division of the external affairs ministry Sripriya Ranganathan told reporters.

On Teesta pact, she said, "Teesta agreement remains a work in progress...We have not reached a closure on it."

The Teesta deal was set to be signed during the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Bangladesh in September 2011, but was postponed at the last minute due to objections by Banerjee. Teesta water is crucial for Bangladesh, especially in the leanest period from December to March, when the water flow often temporarily comes down to less than 1,000 cusecs from 5,000 cusecs.

Issues like combating terrorism, containing radicalism and enhancing security cooperation between the two countries are likely to figure prominently, besides stalemate over the Teesta pact during talks between Modi and Hasina.

The West Bengal chief minister has accepted an invitation by the government to attend the launch of some projects between the two countries as well as a lunch to be hosted by Modi in honour of Hasina.

On the agreements, Ranganathan said another pact on formalising regular defence engagements will also be signed.

To boost trade, the two sides are likely to announce setting up of another set of trade facilitation huts along the borders in the northeastern region.

Hasina will visit Ajmer on Sunday and will meet Indian business leaders on Monday.

Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Babul Supriyo is the minister-in-waiting for the Bangladesh PM.

With inputs from agencies
Mumbai: A key Maharashtra assembly committee has recommended making pre-natal sex determination mandatory to prevent female foeticide.

The suggestion has been made by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in a report tabled in the assembly yesterday.

The panel, headed by Congress MLA Gopaldas Agrawal, has called for bringing parents under the purview of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, (PCPNDT) 1994.

The committee also called for monitoring of pregnant women by local health officials to ascertain if they have aborted the foetus in case it was female.

According to the report, the sex determination test must be done when parents come for sonography and they should be tracked regularly to check if they are coming for tests even after knowing that the foetus is that of a girl child.

"When parents come for sonography, compulsory sex determination must be allowed and follow-ups must be done at the local level to ensure the couples come for further check- ups. It is necessary to visit these couples at home if they stop check-ups," it said.

"Since the law only provides for action against doctors (for carrying out sex selection tests), there is no fear of the law among parents. But this fear of law among parents is necessary to increase the sex ratio. Doctors, parents, district health officers (DHOs) and NGOs must be involved in the tracking system," the committee suggested.

Appreciating the government's efforts to strengthen the PCPNDT Act, the committee said a mechanism has been put in place to check sonography centres every three months.

As many as 550 cases registered under the PCPNDT Act are pending in courts in the state, the panel said.

In 2010, the sex ratio in Maharashtra was 854 girls per 1,000 boys and it went up to 861 in 2011 and 919 in 2014,

it noted.

A suspected gender-selective abortion racket came to light last month in Sangli, western Maharashtra, where 19 aborted female foetuses were found dumped near a hospital.
On 27 March, Lok Sabha, in a unanimous decision, passed the landmark Mental Healthcare Bill, 2016, a legislation seeking to rectify our countrys blatant apathy hitherto towards people suffering from mental afflictions. The bill, which received Rajya Sabhas approval last August, in a major step, overturned the archaic and grossly inhumane Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code (which criminalises attempted suicide). First introduced in August, 2013 in Rajya Sabha by the UPA, the bill, now pending official assent of the president, will repeal the existing Mental Health Act, 1987 upon implementation.

Another big achievement of the bill is the view it adopts of mental illnesses. The progressive move to do away with the old terminology and choosing to replace it with a sound definition sends out a message regarding the inclusive and conducive environment the government is trying to foster. The Bill defines mental illness as "a substantial disorder of thinking, mood, perception, orientation or memory that grossly impairs judgment or ability to meet the ordinary demands of life, mental conditions associated with the abuse of alcohol and drugs." It offers the mentally ill a chance to lead a life with all the basic amenities and facilities granted by the Constitution which everyone else enjoys. It also helps provide basic rights and freedoms to those whose life until now had been marred with social stigma.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also spoke about the issue of depression in his monthly radio programme Mann Ki Baat in which he emphasised the need to create a psychologically conducive environment to ensure people have a chance of leading a healthy life. Stating that depression is definitely not incurable, the prime minister said the first step in the healing process is to acknowledge the problem instead of suppressing it. Modis speech is significant in that he aims to lift the cloud enshrouding mental illness and promote dialogue. It also fosters an environment which treats those in suffering, with equal dignity and respect as the rest.

The patient-centric bill, however, is not without shortcomings.

The biggest impediment to the proper and widespread implementation of the provisions provided by the bill is the percentage share of the budget allocated to the health sector. With a meagre one to two percent of the Union budget dedicated to the entire health sector, India cannot reasonably hope to make a visible change in eradicating the mental health crisis. This is abysmal, compared to developed countries who dedicate 10 to 12 percent of their budget towards providing healthcare.

India spends 0.06 percent of its health budget on mental healthcare, which is significantly less than what Bangladesh spends (0.44 percent). Most developed nations spend above four percent of their budgets on mental health research, infrastructure, frameworks and talent pool, according to this 2011 World Health Organisation (WHO) report.

The bill mandates the provision of medical health services run or funded by the government be available in every district of the country. However, with already inadequate medical infrastructure at district and sub-district levels, the financial burden to be borne by the state governments will be massive unless the central government allocates a larger chunk of the budget to incur the expenditure.

Also, the implementation of the bill will vary across different parts of the country with southern states of Tamil Nadu or Kerala receiving better coverage due to the already adequate primary health infrastructure than the states like Bihar or Uttar Pradesh.

The Advance Directive clause of the healthcare bill has also raised some eyebrows in the medical fraternity. The provision essentially allows the person suffering from mental illness to specify the form of treatment to be provided in advance and also empowers that person to nominate a representative to ensure that directives are being adhered to. The debate surrounding the clause is over the following question: Up to what extent does the bill actually empower the mentally afflicted? It fails to consider the position of those suffering from severe mental disorders (like schizophrenia and psychotic disorder) who refuse to acknowledge their mental state, let alone be capable of making rational decisions and giving consent in writing, regarding their treatment. The bill is being criticised for failing to provide alternate courses of action based on the severity of the mental disease rather than having a generalised process applicable across the spectrum.

The medical healthcare experts have called out the bill on the lack of its practical approach, citing the acute shortage of doctors, especially psychiatrists, clinical psychologists and psychiatrist social workers. A recent WHO report, titled 'Depression and Other Common Mental Disorders - Global Health Estimates', estimated that roughly 7.5 percent of Indias population suffers from some form of mental illness (major or minor). The report revealed that the total number of cases recorded in 2015 of depressive disorders were nearly 57 million or 4.5 percent of the population while those of anxiety disorders were roughly 38 million or 3 percent. Immediate expert intervention is required as it is further suggested that this statistic is likely to rise up and affect about 20 percent of the population by 2020.

With figures of such magnitude, the situation is aggravated by the fact that the country's healthcare sector is extraordinarily understaffed and overworked.

According to government data, it is estimated that there are 3800 psychiatrists, 898 clinical psychologists, 850 psychiatric social workers and 1500 psychiatric nurses in the country, most of which are working in metropolitan or tier-two cities, ruling out the possibility for people living in districts and sub-districts of getting appropriate medical attention.

According to a 2016 study conducted by National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (Nimhans), a premier medical institute of India, it is estimated that India has just about 40 mental institutions (out of which only 9 are equipped to provide treatment for children) and fewer than 26,000 beds. Another WHO report reveals that for every million people in India, there are just three psychiatrists, and even fewer psychologists, 18 times fewer than the commonwealth norm of 5.6 psychiatrists per 100,000 people.

The data revealed by these reports paints a grim picture of India where, so far, rights and freedoms of those suffering from mental illnesses have not just remained non-existent but the dialogue regarding the same has also been thwarted and brushed under the carpet.

The society has acted in a manner which can aptly be described as aggressive and hostile, suffocating the mentally afflicted with social stigma and hampering their growth.

The bill mandates the constitution of a Mental Health Review Board to protect the rights of persons with mental illness and manage advance directives. Along with that, setting up the Central Mental Health Authority at the national level and State Mental Health Authority in every state to maintain registries, training law enforcement and mental health professions on the provisions of the act, and advising the government on all matters relating to mental healthcare and services are also part of the bill. However, as some reports have pointed out, these quasi-judicial bodies at central, state and district level need to be constituted carefully so as to entail proper representation as opposed to earlier instances where boards consisted of religious leaders, and people working with social welfare outnumbering the healthcare professionals.

The bill also contains no mandate for the formation of a review board in order to assess, inspect and report on the health and condition of existing patients in different mental institutions across the country. According to this report in The Wire, Swati Maliwal, chief of Delhi Commission for Women, on a surprise visit earlier this year to Asha Kiran (a government-run home for persons with mental disabilities in Delhi) found inhabitants living in extremely gross and inhumane conditions in a severe case of human rights violation by the management. The sanitation and hygienic conditions were reported to be deplorable with toilets as well as some corridors found covered in urine, excreta and menstrual blood. Such instances are often reported across the nation, yet rarely do these institutions have to face the scrutiny and consequences for their violation of human rights.

The list is not exhaustive but it does indicate that along with plenty right which this bill achieves, it also has its shortcomings. Some minor flaws can be corrected through amendments. But others will take real commitment and intent to see them through. India will have to start spending more on mental healthcare (and health sector in general) since mental health diseases constitute up to 13 percent of the total health burden. The guidelines and rules for implementation, which have not yet been provided, will determine the effectiveness of the bill in the future. It will be up to the Centre to ensure that the provisions of the bill are implemented and that they do not just stay on the paper as a formality.
The Teesta river water sharing is an emotive issue and comes in prominence every time there is a high-level bilateral visit between India and Bangladesh. While Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is visiting India from 7 to 10 April, there are reports about Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelling to Bangladesh in May.

This time around too the subject was broached with caution, but the Indian government it seems is still averse to dipping its feet in water over the long-standing unresolved dispute between the two neighbours. Though over 20 accords ranging from ICT to defence cooperation were inked during Hasina's four-day visit, a key agreement on Teesta river waters sharing remained "a work in progress" despite public opinion in Bangladesh on the matter.

What is Teesta water sharing dispute?

Bangladesh and India have an outstanding issue of sharing waters in the common Teesta river with West Bengal having a major stake in the process.

Despite the bilateral bonhomie, Bangladesh has been unhappy about the lack of resolution on all the common rivers. While India did put the river Teesta on the bilateral discussion table, the federal political dynamics has prevented the Centre from resolving the issue

The Teesta river, which has its origin in Sikkim, flows through the northern part of West Bengal before entering Bangladesh and joining the Brahmaputra river. From source to mouth, the Teesta is approximately 414 kilometres, of which 150-odd are in Sikkim, 123 in West Bengal, and the remaining 140 or so, in Bangladesh. Its flow is crucial for Bangladesh from December to March when the water flow often temporarily comes down to less than 1,000 cusec from 5,000 cusec.

According to a report in Observer Research Foundation, "the rivers floodplain today covers an area of 2,750 square kilometres in Bangladesh. Its catchment area supports 8.5 percent of its population  roughly 10 million people  and 14 percent of crop production. Over one lakh hectares of land across five districts are severely impacted by upstream withdrawals of the Teestas waters in India and face acute shortages during the dry season."

This is what Dhaka's side of the story looks like.

Meanwhile, West Bengal has it's reservations too. The state's chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, who is often vilified by the Indian Media for being the roadblock in the successful resolution of the issue says that the Centre is being negligent towards the interests of the northern parts of West Bengal.

Banerjee's position is that the treaty would render north Bengal dry and affect Indian farmers. She is of the view that with the Teesta Barrage, Bangladesh's largest irrigation project, running, that country does not deserve more water.

"The Centre is ruining the state by not having any proper agreement with Bangladesh on sharing of Teesta and Ganga water," she said. "When we need a certain quantity of water to maintain our Kolkata Port and fulfil the need of farmers, water is released from Teesta and Farakka barrages to Bangladesh sacrificing the state's interest," Banerjee regretted.

Bangladesh wants 50 percent of the rivers water supply, especially in the months between December and May annually, while India claims a share of 55 percent.

The history of the dispute

The Teesta water-sharing agreement has been in talks since the Hasina-led Awami League government returned to power in 2009. However, water sharing dispute between the two neighbours is not something of the recent vintage.

India and Bangladesh share 54 common streams with the Teesta being a major one. The dispute would date back to the time Independent India was formed which reduced most of it's northern rivers into 'shared water bodies.' A Joint River Commission was setup as early as 1976 to resolve all outstanding water sharing disputes between the two nations. However, no pragmatic and long-term solution could be promulgated, and Teesta especially remaining a vexed issue.

While New Delhi can legitimately move ahead on a bilateral resolution, it may not want to give Bengal, led by the feisty chief minister Mamata Banerjee, a handle to spin yet another round of dance and drama just now as she had done earlier over the Teesta water-sharing issue.

As the report in ORF points out that negotiations to take out a middle path on Teesta river have been on since 1983, when a preliminary arrangement had allocated 39 percent for India and 36 percent for Bangladesh. A lesser share was put aside for Bangladesh taking into account "a groundwater recharge that takes place between the two barrages on the Teesta  at Gazaldoba in Jalpaiguri on the Indian side and at Dalia in Lalmonirhat in Bangladesh. The remaining 25 percent was left unallocated for a later decision, especially because the regular flow of a small quantity of water (in the case of the Teesta, 450 cu secs) is imperative for the life of a river."

According to a report in Global Voices, till this day the two nations could reach consensus on only one comprehensive river pact  a landmark 30-year agreement on sharing of water in the Ganges, during Hasina's previous tenure as prime minister in 1997 when Deve Gowda was her Indian counterpart and Jyoti Basu was the West Bengal chief minister.

This was set to change in September 2011 when Indias then Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, was due to sign a pact with his Bangladeshi counterpart regarding access and use of the Teesta River. This was during Singh's 2011 Dhaka visit, but Banerjee, who was newly elected as Weste Bengal chief minsietr at the time, had declined to endorse the deal fearing the loss of higher volume of water to the lower riparian would cause scarcity of water in her state, especially during drier months.

Hasina, on her part, had criticised Banarjee for her "unfortunate" stance against the water sharing deal.

Has the issue hit a rock-bottom?

Bangladesh has long been insisting on signing of a water sharing agreement, which so far failed to yield the much expected treaty. During her February 2015 Dhaka visit, Banarjee promised to play a "positive role" in resolving the outstanding issue, protecting interests of both Bangladesh and West Bengal as she called on Hasina. In 2015, Banerjee visited Bangladesh with Modi. Add to that the ongoing for-day-visit of Hasina amid talks of greater defence cooperation and commitment to each other's sustainable development.

However, despite the bilateral bonhomie, Bangladesh has been unhappy about the lack of resolution on all the common rivers. While India did put the river Teesta on the bilateral discussion table, the federal political dynamics has prevented the Centre from resolving the issue of water-sharing overruling Bengal's position. Irrespective of the number of outstanding bilateral issues being resolved, lack of resolution on the contentious issue of sharing of common river waters tends to create despair if not suspicion of India's intention in Bangladesh. This issue has been rankling since 2015 and a recent attempt by the Narendra Modi government to renegotiate with Bengal over this appears to have drawn a blank.

While New Delhi can legitimately move ahead on a bilateral resolution, it may not want to give Bengal, led by the feisty chief minister Mamata Banerjee, a handle to spin yet another round of dance and drama just now as she had done earlier over the Teesta water-sharing issue.

Meanwhile, it is also pertinent to note here that im the 21st centuary terms like 'water nationalism' and 'water wars' are increasingly gaining prominence hinting that the world at large is grappling with the reality of swindling fresh water resources. And Bangladesh criss-crossed by over 200 rivers, which largely contribute to its economy and agriculture, is hardly the region with the world's worst water problems in the near future.

As Prakash Nanda points out in this Firstpost article, it is the Indian subcontinent, in fact, that suffers from "water stress", as nearly 1.3 billion people depend on very few river systems.

"The per-capita water availability in India at present is 1,631 cubic metre; the corresponding figures in Pakistan and Bangladesh being 1,000 and 7,320 respectively. It is estimated that by 2030, these figures will be 1,240 in India, 877 in Pakistan and 5,700 in Bangladesh. In other words, while all the three countries will have lesser water than what they have today  a prospect that is hardening the negotiating postures of the decision-makers in all the three countries  the interesting aspect is that of the three, it is Bangladesh which is and will be in a comparatively advantageous position," the article states.

With inputs from agencies
Enormous and enthralling!

Probably these aren't the best of adjectives to describe a river as magnificent and dominating as the Brahmaputra in Assam that recently captured headlines owing to the Namami Brahmaputra festival held across the valley... or err, due to the controversies attached to it. From allegations regarding splurging of public funds, to accusations of the festival being an ill-planned one, to Hindutva versus the Assamese culture, the controversies were many  sometimes correct, and at times exaggerated.

Debate as much as one may on what the festival should have been like, but none can take away the fact that Assam is inconceivable without keeping the Brahmaputra in mind. The Brahmaputra is a flowing tale of traditions, a testimony to a riverine culture, a creation of nature to be awed and revered.

The Namami Brahmaputra festival was a five-day event held from 31 March to 4 April to drive the message that the river "is not called lifeline of Assam for nothing as this perennial river presents incredible business opportunities" and the entire length of the river through the state from Sadiya in the east to Dhubri in the west "is a bridge to drive economic progress in Southeast Asian markets, as part of Indias Act East Policy."

As purposive as it sounds in its intent, the Namami Brahmaputra festival, however, got stuck in controversies as a boat does in shallow water. The message was unclear on the ground on what the festival intended to achieve.

"People were confused about the objective of the festival. Some believe it had something to do with the river linking project. Some thought it was for promotion of Assam as a tourist destination. But where is the infrastructure to entertain tourists? Tourists need basic facilities which we have failed to create. I think the roadmap for all these is not clear at all," said Chandan Kumar Sharma, a professor in the department of Sociology, Tezpur University.

Even before the festival actually took off, there was a disappointment in many quarters as the theme song featuring Amitabh Bachchan, Shubha Mudgal, Shankar Mahadevan, Zubeen Garg, Papon, Usha Uthup, Shreya Ghoshal among others did not quite capture the ethnicity and rich cultural diversity of the state which the festival ironically wanted to showcase.

This feeling of alienation became even sharper among many when priests from Haridwar conducted aarti similar to one conducted at Dashashwamedh ghat in Varanasi. This was seen by many as an insult to Assam's Sattriya culture which does not propagate idol worship. The aarti happened when many Satradhikars, the heads of different Neo-Vaishnavite monasteries from all over Assam, were present at the banks of the Brahmaputra, specially invited for the festival.

"There is a perception that this festival was imposed on the people of Assam at the behest of some forces from outside the state. Many people also seem to have felt left out be it the tribals, Christians or the Muslims. Even the act of importing priests from Haridwar to worship the river has not gone down well. There has been a mix up of many things because of lack of adequate planning," Sharma said.

Surprisingly, the Asom Sattra Mahasabha, the apex body that serves as the umbrella organisation for the Sattras of Assam was unusually reserved in its response.

"We are happy that people came from all over India. The presence of the Dalai Lama and Baba Ramdev added to the gravity of the festival. We are not bothered as to who worshipped the river and in what form, if it ultimately ends up in greater benefit to Assam in the long run," said Asom Sattra Mahasabha general secretary Kusum Kumar Mahanta.

Many even saw it as a submission of the Bharatiya Janata Party-run Assam government to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh agenda of spreading Hindutva ideology across the nook and corner of the country.

"When pujas are performed at the Kamakhya temple, an offering is always made to the Brahmaputra river. Many forms of worship that are not part of the Assamese tradition like Chhath Puja and Teej are already performed on the banks of the Brahmaputra river. The Brahmaputra is largely a socio-religious platform. We respect the Sattriya tradition a lot but it is for the Satradhikars to consider if they want to object to what happened at the festival. Namami Brahmaputra was more about showmanship than tradition," said Rajib Sarma, a practicing hereditary Chandipathak priest of the Kamakhya Temples' Complex in Guwahati.

IPS officer Anand Prakash Tiwari, who was a member of the festival's publicity cell, rejected criticisms that the festival had anything to do with promoting Hindutva agenda.

"There was a prayer meeting in the festival representing all religions. This whole Hindutva claim is actually irrelevant," Tiwari said.

Given that the festival premiered this time, it was a logistical nightmare to hold it simultaneously in 21 districts at 27 locations, something that was never attempted before by the state government that too in such a short time.

"A team of officials worked really hard in the first edition of the Namami Brahmaputra festival. The scale was something that was not done before by the state government. Our attempt was to showcase the potential of the Brahmaputra river and to capitalise on it. We wanted to project the composite culture and how the lifeline of Assam can actually be a thriving spot for trade and tourism. But we had a very short time to plan as it was decided that festival should culminate on the last day of Ashoka Ashtami," commissioner and secretary, Tourism Department, government of Assam, Ashutosh Agnihotri told Firstpost from Guwahati.

Despite the stringent criticism from various corners, the senior IAS officer, who was at the helm of the Namami Brahmaputra, does not think the festival was a fiasco on its debut.

"The biggest challenge was to generate public support and to communicate the objectives properly. There was

coordination among all stakeholders but definitely more time is needed to prepare for an event of this scale. This time we have succeeded in getting the idea established and we hope to build upon it the next year," Agnihotri said.

He, however, denied that all tribes and their traditions were not given enough representations. "We have tried to represent all the tribes and traditions," Agnihotri said.

More than the controversies, what ruined the festival was the inclement weather. From the first day itself, the weather was unkind as it rained throughout  finally reaching such a stage that all the original venues were inundated as the water level of the river rose rapidly. Programmes in most locations were either cancelled or had to be shifted to safer locations.

"There was a huge participation, support, and enthusiasm from the people. But the weather was a hurdle. The initial forecast was fine. However, due to depression in Bangladesh less than a week ahead of the festival, the weather deteriorated. Since the festival is based on the river, it had to be held on the river bed. But we ensured that no such structure came up that even if it gets dismantled due to a storm casualties won't take place. We knew the weather might play a spoilsport but we had already reached a point of no return," said Tiwari.

The IPS officer did accept that few lessons were learned and assured that the second edition would be far better managed.

"The festival would be held on a much larger scale next year. What we have realised is we need much more space for which we will have to reclaim land from the river. We also need to develop the river bed," he said.

The March-April period in Assam is normally prone to storms, locally known as Bordoichila. When asked why such a turbulent period was chosen for a festival that had spent Rs 14 crore from the exchequer, Agnihotri replied, "Ashoka Ashtami is considered to be very auspicious and so we had to time the festival around it. Any decision on different timings of the year would have to be taken by the chief minister."

Sharma was highly critical of the manner the whole festival was conducted.

"That little homework was done before hosting this festival was glaringly visible. Even the time chosen for the festival was baffling. The result was the incessant rain and flood in a number of places played a spoilsport," he said.

The Tezpur University professor, however, did not altogether dump the idea of a festival.

"While I am a great votary of Brahmaputra being explored as a waterway as well as its tourism potential, there are too many other important things to be done before a festival of this scale is being held. There have hardly been any public discussion involving experts and common people on the ways in which important issues and challenges concerning the river should be addressed. There has been a lot of talk on dredging the river. But the challenges and practicality of this, the Brahmaputra being one of the highest silt-carrying rivers, has not been adequately discussed," he said.

Travelling 916 km through India in its total length of 2,900 km after it emerges in the north of Kailash ranges of the Himalayas, the Brahmaputra has always been a perennial boon of nature waiting to be explored.

"Indeed, the focus should be on the use of the river system along with its tributaries in a sustainable manner for which there has to be a plan for a sustained engagement with the river. Without a proper study of the river system, festival of this nature won't mean much even if the intent is good," Sharma said.

There is little doubt a much better attempt is needed to promote the epic grandeur of the Brahmaputra river but for many like me, it would always remain enormous and enthralling!
New Delhi: The Centre on Saturday rushed 2,000 paramilitary personnel to Odisha to assist the local administration in maintaining law and order in Bhadrak district which has witnessed violence and tension in last few days.

"Central forces rushed to Bhadrak district of Odisha in view of the prevailing tension there," a home ministry

spokesperson said.

Official sources said 20 companies of paramilitary personnel were dispatched to Odisha to help restore normalcy

in the district.

A company of paramilitary force comprises of around 100 personnel.

Curfew remained in force in the town while prohibitory orders were imposed in nearby Dhamnagar and Basudevpur this morning after the town witnessed violence over alleged abusive remarks on social media against Hindu deities.

About 20 people have been detained in connection with the violent incidents which left several shops gutted and vehicles damaged. Police personnel, deployed across the town, have been patrolling the sensitive localities, police said.

Violence had erupted in Bhadrak on Thursday after a group staged demonstration near the town police station demanding immediate arrest of those involved in posting offensive remarks against Hindu deities on social media.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Apr. 8

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

Turkmenistans President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has appointed Rustam Khamraev as director general of the Garlyk Mining and Processing Plant.

The Garlyk Mining and Processing Plant is the Central Asias largest industrial complex with a capacity of 1.4 million tons of potash fertilizers per year.

The complex, worth over $1 billion, is expected to meet the demands of the Turkmen agriculture as well as exports to the world markets.
Jammu: Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir by resorting to firing on forward posts on Saturday, drawing retaliation from Indian Army.

"Pakistani Army fired indiscriminately from small arms and automatic weapons from 1545 hours today on Indian Army

posts along the LoC in Noushera belt of Rajouri district," a defence spokesman said.

Army troops deployed on forward posts retaliated and the exchange was continuing till last reports came in.

This is the fifth violation of the ceasefire this month.

On 5 April, Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire along the LoC in Poonch district by shelling forward posts with mortar bombs.

On 4 April, Pakistani Army fired mortar shells on Indian Army posts along the LoC in Bhimbher Gali sector of Rajouri district.

On 3 April, Pakistani troops had shelled mortar bombs on forward posts in Balakote sector of Rajouri district.

In the second ceasefire violation on 3 April, Pakistani troops had shelled Indian posts along the LoC in Digwar area in Poonch sector.

As per the reports, heavy mortar shelling in Digwar area has created a fear psychosis among the area dwellers. In the same area, a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO), Naib Subedar S Sanayaima Som, was killed by an improvise explosive device (IED) blast along the LoC in Poonch sector on 1 April.

It may be recalled there were four violations of the ceasefire along the LoC in Poonch in March.

On 9 March, army jawan Deepak Jagannath Ghadge was killed when Pakistani soldiers initiated indiscriminate and

unprovoked firing along the LoC in Poonch.

In 2016 there were 228 instances of ceasefire violation along the LoC, while there were 221 instances of ceasefire violation along the International Border (IB).
Bengaluru: In all my years as a journalist and writer, my skin colour was never in question, until the 'honourable' BJP leader Tarun Vijay reminded me of my Indian status, my regional background and my skin colour.

On Friday, he told Al Jazeera, during a discussion on the assault on a group of Nigerians in Greater Noida, that Indians could not be called racists as they live with black people from the southern states. If we were racist, why would we have the entire south, which is complete, you know, Tamil, you know Kerala, you know Karnataka and Andhra, why do we live with them? We have black people around us, said Tarun Vijay in the video that went viral on social media.

My horrified journalist friend was quick to react on Facebook:

When Tarun Vijays comments went viral on social media, the former BJP parliamentarian, was quick to take to Twitter and tweet his apology.

Mywords perhaps were not enough to convey this.Feel bad,really feel sorry, my apologies to those who feel i said different than what I meant https://t.co/I7MddEJk5W  Tarun Vijay (@Tarunvijay) April 7, 2017

I feel the entire statement sas this- we have fought racism and we have people with different colour and culture still never had any racism.  Tarun Vijay (@Tarunvijay) April 7, 2017

Given the propensity to put his foot in his mouth, his apology was worse than his earlier remarks. I was now also reminded that there were different coloured people living in India.

I beg to differ, Tarun Vijay. There are no different colours in India  we are all known as brown-skinned people and identified commonly as Indians, outside of India  and not as fair-skinned North Indians or dark-skinned or black South Indians.

As a South Indian, as a woman, and as a dark-skinned woman at that  my fellow dark-skinned South Indian women and I are so used to these racial slurs that it's skin off our back. I, for one, have become fairly thick skinned and learned to ignore them.

When studying in school in Kolkata and then Mumbai, I was addressed as Madrasi mostly and for a long time, I didnt know what that meant, as I had never been to Madras, having been born in Kolkata. Strangely, nobody gave me any dark-skinned slurs in these two cities. I suppose Madrasi was the all-encompassing mother of all racial slurs.

Then, when my dad did go to Madras to work, probably because he was tired of being addressed as Madrasi and decided to make the endearment true, I found that south of the Vindhyas, the obsession for fair skin was a worse fixation. Constant comparisons with my fair-skinned mother aside, the Mylapore Mamis were quick to offer their two-bit advice to my mother about how difficult it would be to find a groom for me. For, all matrimonial columns in South Indian newspapers had Wheatish complexion as a necessary fulfilment for a bride.

Although, it was not discussed openly in college, we dark-skinned girls lapped up Fair and Lovely which had just been introduced in the market, hoping to turn fair-skinned overnight. And, when we went to beauty parlours, we were rarely offended, when the beauticians asked us, "Shall I do a bleach before the facial?" It was only much later, when I grew older and greyer, I was emboldened to say "No, why would I need a bleach?"

What was interesting was that I never heard this slur at home, not from my fair-skinned mother or my dark-skinned father. Neither did I hear it growing up, from my two brothers, one fair-skinned and the other dark-skinned. For, my father was busy ensuring that I got an education that matched the sons and that I had the same opportunities they had. Sometimes, I felt I had more opportunities to shine than my brothers did, with my father personally grooming my writing skills with constructive criticism and taking care to choose study courses in college that matched my career goals. Skin colour never came into the picture.

When we did hear it at home, it was when a potential groom came to see me and asked his dark-skinned brother to call up my father and tell him that he was rejecting me because I was dark-skinned. "Is our daughter dark-skinned? I had never noticed," was my fathers pained comment to my mother. When it was my turn to raise my children, I raised them to be proud of their South Indian heritage and skin colour was never discussed at home.

Sadly, its not as though Tarun Vijay is alone in his thinking. As recently as a few years ago, I was stumped to be reminded of my skin colour, when working in a multinational IT company. I was too shocked to react, when I overheard some of my North Indian colleagues sniggering, "Why do these South Indian girls need the beach umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun? I can understand the girls in the Chandigarh office wanting to do so."

And mind you, this comment came from educated engineers. Does dark skin mean we are so thick-skinned that we dont need protection from the suns UV rays?

So, thank you, Tarun Vijay, for reminding me once again of my South Indian heritage and my rich dark skin. It feels good to be recognised once in a while for our thick skin.
Police in Maharajganj district in Uttar Pradesh stopped a prayer at a church attended by over 100 people, including American tourists, after Hindu Yuva Vahini  founded by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath  alleged that forced conversions were being done there.

A News18 report said that Hindu Yuva Vahini alleged that the prayer meeting was a 'cover' for forced conversions.

After the 'probe', however, the police found that the allegations were baseless and allowed the Americans to leave. This was also the first time such an allegation was being made against the British-era church in Maharajganj, which also happens to be a tourist hotspot.

This incident came to the light on the same day another similar incident in Bengaluru was reported in which a VHP activist filed a complaint against two evangelists from the US, accusing them of indulging in religious conversions in India and violating visa norms.

Girish Bharadwaj filed the complaint with the Foreigners Regional Registration Office in Bengaluru against Patricia King of XP Ministries and Donna Schambach of Schambach Foundation, both of whom are currently on a visit to the city.

They are slated to attend a religious campaign named 'Power and Reality of the Kingdom' organised by a local church on 8 April as chief guests. Bharadwaj, in his complaint, also alleged that both the foreigners were frequently visiting India only with the purpose of religious conversions.

"As per rules, foreigners, with any type of visa, are not allowed to preach and propagate their religion in India. And the government of India shall not issue visas to evangelists who desire to come to India to attend religious campaigns," he said.
Mumbai, Pune: An 11-month-old ambitious, flagship Maharashtra programme that offers incentives to families and village councils to keep and nurture girls, burdens mothers with family planning needs, has been crippled by unfulfilled government commitments and has not benefitted girls, reveals an IndiaSpend investigation.

Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree (My Fortunate Daughter) has no beneficiaries in any of the 36 districts in Indias richest state, according to the latest government data (as of February 2017), disclosed in a right-to-information (RTI) reply, which compiled 38 responses received over two months.

The prime reason for the failure could be a criterion that families find hard to fulfill or balk at: a tubectomy certificate that each mother must submit, to reassure government officials that the family will not take the money and have sons. But the programme has also been stymied by the governments failure to pay associated insurance premia, its inability to galvanise frontline health workers and do anything about these failures.

The states women and child development minister, Pankaja Munde, and minister of state, Vidya Thakur, could not be reached for comments. Mundes phone was switched off on the three attempts that we made to call her and she did not respond to an email and two reminder emails that were sent. Thakur too neither responded to calls that were made thrice nor to the two text messages that were sent. Dadabhau Gunjal, officer on special duty to Munde, said he was not authorised to speak to the media. We will update the story if and when we receive a response.

Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree is supposed to prevent sex determination and female foeticide, improve the states falling child sex ratio and support female education. The programmethe governments most-ambitious yetoffers wide-ranging incentives to parents, grandparents and gram panchayats (village councils).

Families who live below the poverty line (BPL) with up to two daughters and no sons can get up to Rs 153,500 per girl and families above the poverty line (APL) can get up to Rs 105,000, according to the guidelines of Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree.

Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree Yojana Category Benefit amount in the name of each girl child Purpose Phase In case of single girl child in BPL families Rs. 5,000 Infant care Within 15 days of submitting application Rs. 5,000 gold coin Felicitation of paternal grandparents Within 15 days of submitting application Rs. 10,000 (Rs. 2,000 every year) Nutrition From age 1 to 5 years Rs. 12,500 (Rs. 2,500 every year) Primary education From Class 1 to Class 5 Rs. 21,000 (Rs. 3,000 every year) Secondary and higher secondary education From Class 6 to Class 12 Rs. 10,000 Further education or self-employment At the age of 18, if unmarried and cleared Class 10 Rs. 90,000 Savings Total: Rs. 1,53,500 In case of two girl children in BPL families Rs. 2,500 Infant care After birth Rs. 5,000 (Rs. 1,000 every year) Nutrition From age 1 to 5 years Rs. 7,500 (Rs. 1,500 every year) Primary education From Class 1 to Class 5 Rs. 14,000 (Rs. 2,000 every year) Secondary and higher secondary education From Class 6 to Class 12 Rs. 10,000 Further education or self-employment At the age of 18, if unmarried and cleared Class 10 Rs. 90,000 Savings Total: Rs. 1,29,000 In case of single girl child in APL families (including white ration cardholders) Rs. 5,000 gold coin Felicitation of paternal grandparents Within 15 days of submitting application Rs. 10,000 Further education or self-employment At the age of 18, if unmarried and cleared Class 10 Rs. 90,000 Savings Total: Rs. 1,05,000 In case of two girl children in APL families (including white ration cardholders) Rs. 10,000 Further education or self-employment At the age of 18, if unmarried and cleared Class 10 Rs. 90,000 Savings Total: Rs. 1,00,000

Source: Government of Maharashtra

There were around seven million BPL families and around 16 million APL families statewide on 31 December, 2014, according to government data.

Rs 25 crore was allocated for this scheme for the year 2016-17. Until now, none has been spent, said a 27 February, 2017, reply from the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) commissionerate in Navi Mumbai to a Right to Information (RTI) application filed by the author.

The unspent money includes Rs 1.25 crore (5 percent of the allocation) for publicity. However, expenditure data of the scheme for March 2017 on the state finance departments Budget Estimation, Allocation and Monitoring System shows that Rs 21.82 lakh has been utilised under the head advertising and publicity. There is no expenditure under the remaining budget headsGrant-in-aid (non salary), rewards, other administrative expenses and other chargesmeaning no beneficiaries.

Incentives important In state with 9th lowestand droppingsex ratio



Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree was launched by the Maharashtra government on the lines of Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, the central government programme announced in January 2015. Of 18 welfare schemes that the state women and child development department carries out, Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree is the only direct financial benefit scheme for girls statewide.

Other welfare schemes are either for specific target groups, such as victims of atrocities, destitute women, orphans, and pregnant women, or are implemented only in select districts and provide services such as training, counselling etc.

Maharashtras child sex ratio was 894 girls per 1,000 boys (below the age of six), the ninth-lowest in India, according to Census 2011. The ratio dropped from 946 girls per 1,000 boys in 1991 to 913 in 2001 and 894 in 2011.

Child Sex Ratio In Maharashtra

Source: Census of India

Maharashtra also has the most court or police cases filed of any state against sex determination (512) after Rajasthan, which has 621 cases, according to this 2015-16 report of the ministry of health and family welfare.

Felicitating granddaughters, incentives to panchayats and families

The programme offers wide-ranging incentives: Family incentives we mentioned; a gold coin worth Rs 5,000 for paternal grandparents with one or two granddaughters and no grandsons; Rs 500,000 to gram panchayats that improve their child sex ratio, to utilise for girls developmentthe guidelines do not provide details.

Unlike the earlier Sukanya scheme that paid Rs 100,000 after girls turned 18, Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree grants phased benefits and only after ensuring that the cash previously given was used for the purpose it was intended.

Parents from BPL families can get up to Rs 2,000 every year until the girl turns five for her nutrition, and up to Rs 3,000 every academic year until the girl completes grade 12.

Families must submit yearly school-attendance records to be paid. Their daughters will then get Rs 100,000 at age 18, irrespective of family income, on condition that at least Rs 10,000 would be invested for self-employment or higher educationopportunities that elude most women because of early marriage.

Why a tubectomy certificate has become the chief hurdle

No applications to the programme are considered until mothers certify that they have been sterilisedin other words, undergone a tubectomy.

The programmes own officials see this as a hurdle because couples balk at submitting to tubectomies as a means of birth control.

There are many couples who have only two daughters, but are following other means of birth control. When we approached one such couple to inform them about the scheme, they gave to us in writing that they did not want its benefits, said an officialrequesting anonymityfrom the old Khar-Santacruz child development project office in the western suburbs of Mumbai. The office has not found any family willing to apply.

Two applications that his office received had to be rejected, according to Rahul More, child development project officer of Ambernath in Thane district. Both applicants could not produce the family planning operation certificate, according to the RTI reply dated 7 March, 2017.

Similarly, until 22 March, 2017, no application for the scheme had been received at 10 urban child development project offices in Mumbai  Kurla, Tunga Mohili, Bhandup (East), Bandra (West), Jogeshwari, Shivajinagar, Trombay, Wadala-Sewri, Redlight area and Borivali areas in Mumbai, according to RTI replies received by the author from offices of these areas.

Ten other urban child development project offices in other parts of the stateNanded town in Nanded district, Parbhani city in Parbhani district, Pandharpur town and Solapur-Pandharpur-Barshi area in Solapur district, Mira-Bhayandar city in Thane district, Ahmadnagar  1 city area in Ahmadnagar district, Aurangabad  1 and 2 city areas in Aurangabad district, Sangli city in Sangli district and Ichalkaranji town in Kolhapur districttoo had not received any applications till 23 March, 2017.

In Ahmadnagara district marked as gender-critical for low child sex ratio under Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Andolanthe government has not received any application from any of the rural child development project offices in 14 talukas (administrative divisions), according to a 16 March, 2017, RTI reply from the section officer, women and child development department, of Ahmadnagar Zilla Parishad (district council).

The urban child development project office in Bhusaval town in Jalgaonanother gender-critical districttoo had received no application, till 8 March, 2017.

A programme to nurture girls puts onus of sterilisation on women

While the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao aims to challenge mindsets and deep-rooted patriarchy by empowering women on a life cycle continuum, Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree puts the onus of birth control solely on women.

This approach contradicts the women and child development ministrys draft National Policy on Women 2016, which calls for a change in the focus of sterilisation from women to men.

Female sterilisations in Maharashtra accounted for 50.7 percent of all family planning methods among currently married women, compared to 0.4 percent for male sterilisations, according to the National Family Health Survey, 2015-16. Data compiled from district fact sheets also showed the bias against women as no men underwent sterilisation in 17 of the 35 districts surveyed.

Source: National Family Health Survey, 2015-16

I handle many schemes. I cannot speak to you in specifics about any one scheme, Vinita Ved Singhal, principal secretary, state women and child development department, told IndiaSpend.

Other senior officials admitted that population control was an unstated objective of Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree. Hence, the scheme has been linked to sterilisation, according to a senior official from the state women and child development department.

Also, if we remove this condition, the schemes expenditure will increase, said the official. Peoples mentalities wont change any way.

The replies from child development project offices of some areas showed how the government had failed to reach out even to beneficiaries who have undergone tubectomies.

The Andheri  1, Mankhurd, Vikhroli-Kanjurmarg and Govandi child development project offices in Mumbai, the Ratnagiri child development project office in Ratnagiri town and Akola  2 child development project office in Akola city had each received two applications till 16 March, 2017, but they were yet to be processed.

We have selected eligible applicants but there are no further guidelines on how benefits are to be transferred or which agency or authority these applications are to be forwarded, said Prema Ghatge, child development project officer of Vikhroli-Kanjurmarg, new Khar-Santacruz and Mankhurd areas. The process to disburse benefits under the scheme is yet to be streamlined.

Satara district had received the maximum number of applications58till 23 March, 2017, and 27 have been selected for further procedures.

Sangli district too had received 50 applications till 31 March, 2017, with all of them being selected.

There are other hurdles to the programmeunfulfilled government commitmentsthat have not yet been addressed.

Unfulfilled government promises on life insurance, health workers

A government resolution dated 7 March, 2017, said an agreement with the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the agency that will distribute final benefits, has not yet been signed.

The scheme says the government will deposit Rs 21,200 with the LIC in the name of a girl after birth, paying a Rs-100 premium every year towards what is called the Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana (Common Man Insurance Scheme), which would also be started for the girls parents.

Families can then claim the final payout of Rs 100,000 when their daughter turns 18, provided she is unmarried and utilises Rs 10,000 for higher education or self-employment.

The state has also not galvanised its 88,272 aanganwadiscourtyard shelters or government-run centres that provide preschool education to children below the age of six years, as well as health, immunisation and nutrition services to them and to pregnant women and lactating motherswhich have been tasked with carrying out surveys in their jurisdiction and handhold parents in applying for the scheme.

There are no written instructions yet to implement this scheme, said Sneha Ghogre (name changed), an aanganwadi helper from a slum near Aundh in Pune. Besides, we are already overburdened.

Aanganwadi workers also said they were already underpaid for the work they do.

We play a vital role in mother and child healthcare, said Ghogre, who has not publicised the programme, a reason for the absence of applications from the slum where she works. Yet, our salaries are so low. She has taken up another job to meet her needs.

Aanganwadi helpers and workers get monthly honoraria of Rs 2,000 and Rs 4,113, respectivelylower than the states minimum wage.

Leaving out families with boysand other flaws that officials havent addressed

The programme, said officials, did not address other issues rooted in gender discrimination. For instance, families that also have male children cannot apply, leaving girls in these families particularly vulnerable.

We have come across families where daughters are discriminated against more if they have brothers, said an official from the old Khar-Santacruz child development project office.

The incentive declines if there are two girls. While Rs 3,000 is granted every year to a single girl for her secondary and higher secondary education from grades 6 to 12, two girls get no more than Rs 1,500 every year.

The explanatory guidelines issued on 22 February, 2017 have failed to address these problems.

Two inter-departmental committees constituted in February 2016 to monitor the schemethe steering committee chaired by the principal secretary, women and child development, and the executive committee chaired by the ICDS commissionerhave not met.

Minutes cannot be made available as there have been no meetings of these committees, said RTI replies from women and child development department and the ICDS commissionerate dated 16 February and 27 February, 2017, respectively.

(Kulkarni is a Mumbai-based freelance journalist, who has worked with Haqdarshak  a social enterprise, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan  a non-party peoples political organisation and Hindustan Times  a newspaper.)
Mumbai: A day after Air India lifted its ban, Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad reached Mumbai by train and called on party President Uddhav Thackeray.

Thackeray welcomed Gaikwad warmly at Shiv Sena Bhavan after the Osmanabad Lok Sabha member reached Mumbai by Rajdhani Express. But what transpired at their meeting was not known.

As the two met, all private airlines too lifted their unprecedented fortnight long flying ban on Gaikwad after the 23 March fracas on a Pune-Delhi Air India flight.

The issue snowballed into a major controversy between the two NDA allies  the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena  and rocked Parliament.

While Air India demanded an apology from the MP, Gaikwad stuck to his ground and said he was prepared to apologize only to Parliament. The Sena stood solidly behind him.

He reiterated he was not at fault and alleged that the Air India official he allegedly assaulted was "mad" and had at least half a dozen complaints of rowdy behaviour against him in the company.

Gaikwad also claimed that seven times tickets were booked in his name but he was unaware who did it.

Gaikwad is likely to resume flying from next week
The foyer of the Shopian Degree College was crowded with large knots of students, while it rained outside. A few days ago, a crowd of about a dozen students animatedly related how they had tried to prevent the police from taking one of their classmates into custody the previous evening.

The next day, two college teachers at Damal Hajipora spoke worriedly of safety concerns during the election duty for which they have been told to report. A knot of students further down that road in Damal Hajipora also spoke of a complete election boycott in their town.

This is significant in light of the general expectation in the corridors of power that there would be a turnout for elections in the wooded belt around Damal Hajipora near the edge of the Valley. Boycotts have traditionally had little impact here. But things may have changed in several such outlying places since last year. Damal Hajipora is, after all, the town at the western edge of Kulgam district where the police post was burnt to the ground on the day after militant commander Burhan Wani was killed in July last.

The resolve for a complete boycott that one finds in Bogam at the other end of Kulgam district is more predictable. It is after all the village that claimed the body of Pakistani militant, Abu Qasim, for burial. The place is a stronghold of Jamaat-e-Islami, and images of the Pakistan flag are painted all over its walls. At Newa in the north of Pulwama district, not only was a boycott taken for granted, talk of the likelihood of violence around the elections too was readily at hand.

Strange goings-on

One has come across talk of young men and boys being locked up by the police in many parts of south Kashmir over the past few days. A large number of `stone-pelters have been detained, as the government prepares to conduct a very challenging round of byelections for two Lok Sabha seats  the Anantnag and Srinagar seats in Parliament.

According to one report, the detentions are part of a devious plot: the boys are released in exchange for a promise from a politician that they will vote. Given the mood of fearless defiance among a large number of youths in south Kashmir, such a strategy would be likely to boomerang.

Yet, there could be something to such reports. For, young people in Bogam talk of their perplexity over the fact that someone accused of not just pelting stones but of snatching a weapon was released a few days ago  just when large numbers of boys were being detained.

Wrong priorities

Amid a boycott call from the Hurriyat leadership, threats of violence and retribution against voters from militants, and widespread disgust with the entire process of 'mainstream politics, the government has been trying to guard against stones disrupting the elections.

As usual, the government has been barking up the wrong tree. All across the most disturbed parts of south Kashmir, people generally spoke of the likelihood of violence against polling centres and the other systems involved in the conduct of elections.

Those predictions were borne out by the arson attack against a school that was to be a polling centre in Yarigund village near Kawoosa at the northern edge of the Srinagar parliamentary constituency on Friday evening. No doubt the police and other security forces were guarding against this sort of attack too, but rounding up boys in various places was a waste of the limited resources at the command of the state.

Not only that, it alienated large sections of potential voters, who argue that these boys are being detained for no reason. No specific threat of stone-pelting has been made. Rounding up potential pelters of stones has only added to the already strong resentment against the elections - and hence the likelihood of a major boycott.

The whole point of any election process should have been to draw young citizens towards democratic processes, and thus away from violence and other kinds of demonstrations of anger. Most of those detained would have been eligible to exercise their right to vote for the first time. Instead of drawing them towards democratic processes, these detentions have added substantially to existing anger - and the success of the boycott.

Talk of violence

Senior army and police officers say they have been aware that the by-election are likely to be the target of terrorist violence. Conversations in towns and villages across south Kashmir make it clear that this is a common expectation among a lot of people.

Indeed, some people hold that this round of violence would kick off a prolonged round of violence in the Valley. If that is true, the heavy rain, snowfall, and threat of floods would be a boon for the rulers; it is sure to dampen the plans for violence.
Municipal Corporations of Delhi fare the worst in redressing public grievances among all the government agencies and departments providing services in the capital city, as per records obtained from the Delhi governments Public Grievance Monitoring System.

Firstpost obtained data related to public grievance redressal of 21 government departments and agencies from the system where the MCDs top the list of pending cases. Data obtained by Firstpost comes as a shot in the arm for the Aam Admi Party, that is far behind in the MCD electoral race than BJP and Congress party.

As per the records maintained in the system the total number of complaints concerning the MCDs in the last two and a half years was 50983, out of which 5588 number of cases were resolved satisfactorily, leaving more than 45,000 cases pending.

A source in the Public Grievances Monitoring System told Firstpost that a total number of 2,26,573 number of cases were filed in the last two and half years against all the departments and government agencies providing services in the capital city, out of which nearly 45,000 cases were resolved satisfactorily. Pending cases related to the MCDs constitute 25 percent of the remaining 1,81,573 cases which do not fall under the closed satisfactorily category in the system. No other department or government agency has matching number of pending cases.

The Delhi Police which comes second to all the MCDs taken together, in number of pending cases, has more than 20,000 cases unsolved. During the above said period 23430 number of public complaints was received by the PGMS against the Delhi police and only 2095 Cases were solved satisfactorily. A source in the PGMS told Firstpost that the Delhi Police does not fall in the ambit of the state government and the state government is left with only the power to request it to attend the complaints.

Neeraj Kumar another official with the PGMS said to Firstpost that same is the case with the MCDs. When a complaint is raised against any department of the Delhi government, we can put pressure on them as we are also a part of the same government. But we cannot issue order to the MCDs, as they are not under the Delhi government he said.

Answering a question on why there are so many cases that remain pending in the MCDs, he said that there are many cases which are not resolvable satisfactorily even if the MCDs want to. As per the record with the PGMS there are 2949 number of cases against all three MCDs which are in the not resolvable category. He also said that there are also cases which are not attended by the officials of the MCDs. We constantly remind them about the unattended cases, he added.

MCDs also have one of the highest numbers of unattended cases. As per PGMS record the North Delhi Municipal Corporation has 15.42 percent the South Delhi Municipal Corporation has 10.74 percent and the East Delhi Municipal Corporation has 18.39 percent of unattended cases.

The Delhi Development authority tops the list of unattended cases with 24.29 percent of its cases in the overdue list. The MCDs deny the PGMS data and resort to blame game when asked about the laxity of the civic bodies in redressing public grievances.

Sanjeev Nayyar, Mayor North Delhi Municipal Corporation said to Firstpost that these data are lies. These are all made up data. I have nothing more to say about that, he said. On the other hand Satya Sharma, Mayor East Delhi Municipal Corporation said to Firstpost that it is the officials deputed by the Delhi government who exercise whims on crucial issues have caused the inconvenience to the public. We have written time and again to the Delhi government requesting to remove these officials, but no action has been taken. These officials get support from the Delhi government for whatever they do, she said. But an official in the PGMS rubbishes these allegations saying that all the complaints registered in the system are written complaints.

Even to mark a complaint as satisfactorily resolved we take consent from the complainant over telephone. We do keep record of every step of the procedure right from filing of complaint to disposal. Moreover these are digital evidences which none can make up, he said.

Even many residents of Delhi complain about the shoddy public grievance redressal system of MCDS. Deepak Dua, a resident of Delhi complained about a problem of stagnation of water in Vijay Vihar Phase 2 in the year 2015 in North Delhi Municipal Corporations website. Since his complaint fell on deaf ears, he uploaded it on a portal called www.consumercomplaints.in, but it remained the same even after that.

Only once they called me up to know my address and I never heard from them after that, he said. Ashok Agarwal, an activist said to Firstpost that even many departments of the Delhi government have failed to dispose complaints satisfactorily. The PGMS is a toothless organisation which legally cannot take any action on any official who declines to attend public complaints, hence many departmental cases too remain unresolved, he said. There are few departments and government agencies which have performed dismally in resolving public grievances satisfactorily. Labour Department, being one among them records only 6 percent and Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board, 9 percent satisfaction in disposing grievances.

Neeraj Kumar contradicted this allegation saying that there are many cases which take substantial time resolving not only because they are complicated, but also because they are very old.

 But no negligence in redressing grievances on the part of any official of the Delhi government is or will be tolerated. There are many instances where the Delhi government has taken strict disciplinary measures against its officials in case of negligence in resolving public grievances, he said. Public Grievances Monitoring System was introduced by the Delhi government soon after the Aam Admi Party rose to power in the year 2015. In this system, a team of officials monitor, administer and expedite redressal of complaints raised by the citizens against the departments and government agencies, providing service in the capital city.
Throughout the length of his career as an activist-politician, Arvind Kejriwal has developed politics of insinuations and U-turns into a fine art. It is debatable whether the patented 'shoot-and-scoot' strategy has been electorally profitable for him and his Aam Admi Party but there can be little doubt over the fact that his political credibility has suffered steady erosion.

Sensational allegations are a good way to hunt for headlines. Unless backed by verifiable proofs, though, it is a game of diminishing returns. Not surprisingly, Kejriwal's allegations have become progressively outlandish and the bar for the reliability of his charges have been set lower and lower.

Driven to the edge of desperation and consequently having to base his claims on increasingly unverified sources, the Delhi chief minister has unfortunately been trapped into his self-created caricature.

This is a fatal for a politician who has tried to project himself as the voice of morality in Indian politics. Assembly poll results in Goa and Punjab indicate that mere opening of imaginary 'tijoris' cannot unlock the vault of electoral success for Kejriwal at the moment.

This, though, is a problem for him and his party to solve.

However, it begins to hurt the sanctity of India's electoral process when the chief minister of Delhi, holder of a constitutional post, insists on running a high-pitched, sensationalist and simulated campaign against another Constitutional high office. The Election Commission (EC), that handles the electoral process in India, enjoys a high degree of integrity for its transparency of policies and efficiency of services.

When allegations of loose nature are leveled against such a globally acclaimed autonomous body, the political discourse is dragged down several notches and the sanctity of India's electoral process, considered among world's best, is violated. Damningly, it also raises doubts over the basis of our democracy. This is not to say that political parties or leaders shouldn't red flag their legitimate concerns, but to argue that allegations against organizations like the EC cannot be mere fishing expeditions and the leaders, who level the charges, must be held accountable for their actions and speeches.

This is where we run into problem with AAP and its mercurial supremo. He can't be made accountable for his comments. Kejriwal is too clever a politician not to understand the consequences of words. His strategy is actually a neat one. The AAP chief banks cynically on the collective mindset that extends to garrulous individuals a high degree of allowance to spread baloney. Since he can't be taken seriously, Kejriwal can get away by saying almost anything. Where any other politician would have faced media scrutiny, nary a voice will be raised against Kejriwal.

Consider the latest development. The Delhi chief minister recently raised a stink over an allegedly 'tampered' EVM in Madhya Pradesh's Bhind. Basing his allegation mostly on unverified sources, Kejriwal claimed that the EVM and the accompanying VVPAT (voter verified paper audit trail) machine were doctored in such a way that only BJP slips were being issued during the demonstration exercise last week.

This expectedly led to a furor and other political parties who have suffered recent electoral reverses stepped into the ring. Election Commission was vehement in its denial that any malpractice has taken place. It refuted the charges and in an elaborate rebuttal, laid out the reasons why tampering an EVM is next to impossible. As an additional measure, the EC also ordered a special inquiry to settle the controversy.

The result of that inquiry is now out. A probe committee led by Andhra Pradesh chief electoral officer Bhanwar Lal has found all allegations of tampering to be baseless. Citing the panel report, the EC on Friday released a statement. It reads: "The technical examination of the ballot unit and control unit and VVPAT of 31 March demonstration, oral examination of the officials present during the demonstration, data retrieved from the control unit have conclusively established that during the demonstration, four buttons of ballot were pressed... it is clear that on pressing of various buttons on EVM during the demonstration, corresponding symbols were displayed," according to a report in The Times of India.

The EC did find lacunae on part of the poll officers who had apparently failed to delete "pre-loaded data" from the VVPAT machine  which is part of standard operating procedure  and hence slips "with poll symbols of the Kanpur candidates corresponding to the button pressed on the ballot unit of the EVM" were dispensed, The Indian Express quoted an EC official as saying.

The EC also refuted charges that the EVM was sourced from UP, clarifying that only a reserve VVPAT machine which wasn't used during recent Assembly polls was used during demonstration in accord with law.

The Election Commission also took contentious questions on EVM technology and explained in detail while hacking of Indian EVMs is impossible.

On a question as to why some western countries have shunned EVM and reverted to ballots papers  a point repeatedly raised by Kejriwal and some other leaders  the EC, according to a report in Economic Times, stated: "Some countries that have experimented with electronic voting in the past include Brazil, Norway, Germany, Venezuela, Canada, Belgium, Romania, Australia, UK, Italy, Ireland, European Union and France. The problem faced with the machines in these countries was that they were computer controlled and connected to the network, which in turn, made them prone to hacking. Adequate safeguards were also not built in leading to courts rejecting EVM use. ECI-EVMs, on the other hand, are standalone devices not connected to any network, thus making it impossible for anyone to tamper with over 1.4 million machines in India individually."

Incidentally, media reports indicate that Russia has expressed interest to use India's EVM technology in its 2018 presidential elections.

These clarifications should once and for all rest the fake controversy about EVMs. There is a strong possibility that it won't unless politicians are made accountable. With Kejriwal, though, the issue is trickier. If any of his allegations is challenged in court, he will simply expect taxpayers to fund his lawyers.

Facing allegations that he was using public money to meet personal legal expenses (his counsel Ram Jethmalani had raised a bill of Rs 3.42 crore to fight the defamation suit filed by Arun Jaitley), Kejriwal's marvelous sense of entitlement came to the fore when he argued that he won't pay the money from his pocket because it wasn't his personal case.

Yet, as a News18 report points out, Kejriwal had argued the opposite in court last year. The channel accessed court order from 19 October, 2016 which shows that "Arvind Kejriwal, in his petition, had told the court that the proceedings are 'private in character' in the defamation case filed against him by Arun Jaitley."

Kejriwal has moved beyond being inconvenienced by these 'little inconsistencies'. If, in future, if he at least keeps venerated institutions like the EC out of the ambit of his charges, that will be no small a mercy.
Yogi Adityanath does not cease to surprise. Just when everyone thought under him the BJP would aggressively pursue the Sangh agenda in Uttar Pradesh, the chief minister has delivered a mighty blow to the latter by introducing English from the nursery level.

The antipathy of the Sangh for English is well-known. Last year, Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas, an RSS-affiliate, in a letter to the Union Human Resource Development, had sought that English be phased out as medium of instruction at all levels. According to media reports, it wanted a new education policy that would accord priority to Indian languages. It had suggested that even IITs and IIMs shift to vernacular.

Earlier this year, another Sangh-affiliate from Goa, Baharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch, had demanded that the state government withdraw grants to English-medium schools and promote the dominant local language instead. A few years ago, a senior BJP leader, had said that English language had caused great loss to India. We have started forgetting our religion and culture these days, he had said while ruing that Sanskrit had lost its appeal in the country. Later he said his remark was taken out of context. However, his original remark had found support in RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.

Of course, any demand for withdrawal of English as medium of instruction is patently silly. In a globalising world where interaction among people across national boundaries is not a matter of choice but a necessity, the importance of English as the bridge language needs no overstating. Same goes within India which is home to several languages. The argument that it has destroyed Indian culture and hindered its emergence as a nation always needed to be treated with some disdain. The advocates of this line of thinking often confuse the medium with the content. Their actual problem should be with the latter not the former which is a neutral entity.

It is not that the BJP did not know that the anti-English attitude within its ideological brotherhood was nonsensical. But backing it, with nationalism as the peg, helped the party to put the earlier ruling establishment in a spot of bother. Now that the shoe is on the other foot, it has to take a clear position on the issue and stop the debate forever. Yogi Adityanath has shown the party how to go about it.

...We have decided to introduce English in government schools from nursery. There is no reason why they should be made to wait till Class VI to learn the language, he said in an interview. It is a pleasant surprise from a leader who is known to be a Hindutva hardliner. That he is the head of a famous math, commands the support of a strike force of youth who vouch by aggressive Hindutva and the fact that he wears saffron all the time makes any progressive step from him unexpected. Shouldnt a man with a background like this be promoting Sanskrit instead?

This Yogi appears to be cut from different cloth. He is tough and he is certainly not the kind to be cowed down by pressure. Going by his personality, he is not likely to yield to any pressure from the RSS and its affiliates or allow them any space while ruling the state. His move on English, in a way, sends a message to the latter that is short and blunt: Keep off.

If he manages to send a similar message to the gau-rakshaks and other vigilante groups indulging in criminal activities in the guise of Hindutva then it would serve as a template for the other BJP governments to follow. Right now the biggest threat to the party is not from the Left-liberals or secularists, but from the Hindutva fringe groups who have little regard for the law and the authority of the state. At some point sooner rather than later, the BJP would need to draw the line for such elements. Yogi Adityanath could be the right person to lead the way.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi condemned the terrorist truck attack in Stockholm which resulted in killing and injuring some innocent people, said the website of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Qassemi sympathized with Swedish people and government on the sad occasion.

Amid all the jubilation of some Western and Arab countries over US recent missile strike in Khan Shyknun region near Idlib in northern Syria which is by itself an effort to breathe new life to the dead bodies of terrorists, we are witnessing a criminal act conducted by one who has been nurtured by the dogmatic, lunatic and bloody ideologies in Europe, he said.

The unbridled terrorism that some countries do not even hesitate to give their overt and covert support for, tend to have no human, ideological and geographical borders, he noted.

They cause insecurity and instability in the world, he added.

He went on to say that uprooting the evil phenomenon of terrorism has no way but strong will, honest behavior and global consensus.

The Islamic Republic of Iran as one of the victims of terrorism has spared no efforts to tackle terrorism over the past years, the spokesman said.

Iran is quite ready to establish cooperation aimed at creating regional and international mechanisms to annihilate terror and violence across the globe and in the absence of insidious politicization of the issue, he noted.

On Apr. 7, a stolen truck rammed into a crowd on a major pedestrian street in Swedens capital, Stockholm. At least four people were killed and over a dozen were injured as a result.
By Sonya Dowsett and Isla Binnie

| MADRID

MADRID Basque militant group ETA is to surrender its weapons to authorities on Saturday, drawing a line under more than four decades of armed struggle that gained it notoriety as one of Europe's most intractable separatist movements.The orchestrated handover in the French city of Bayonne will not dissolve the group, which declared a ceasefire in 2011 after killing more than 850 people during a campaign for an independent state in northern Spain and southwest France.But it will sever a link with an era of political violence in Western Europe, just as democratically-driven nationalism is stirring across the continent.Scotland and the Spanish region of Catalonia are seeking referendums on independence, while Ireland's Sinn Fein has urged a vote on taking Northern Ireland out of Britain. Anger among Basques at political and cultural repression under General Francisco Franco led to the founding of ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna - Basque Country and Freedom) in 1959. Following Spain's return to democracy in the 1970s, the Basque region gained more autonomy and the group's continued bombings and assassinations caused public support to wane.ETA said in a letter to the BBC it had handed over its weapons and explosives to civilian go-betweens who will deliver them to authorities on Saturday. But it is not clear how the process will be carried out or if it will receive the backing of the Spanish and French governments.The Basque parliamentary spokesman for Spain's ruling People's Party, which has refused to negotiate with ETA and called for its full dissolution, said the handover was a final surrender after six years of broken promises.

"The ETA we've known up to now has gone forever," said Borja Semper outside the legislature in Vitoria-Gasteiz. "What remains to be done is to wipe out the hatred that ETA embedded in a large part of Basque society."The group's surrendered arms may yet come to embody that challenge.A government source said Madrid did not believe the group would hand over all its arms, while Spain's state prosecutor has asked the High Court to examine those surrendered for murder weapons used in unresolved cases.Popular revulsion at the scale of violent attacks carried out by Islamist militants like ISIS, and effective crackdowns by Spanish and French police have also helped make ETA's brand of activism untenable, says Paddy Woodworth, journalist and author of 'Dirty War, Clean Hands', a book about ETA."It had ceased to be an attractive organisation to join," he told Reuters. "The whole left nationalist armed strategy that goes back to the 1960s ... has been shown to be bankrupt."

VIOLENT PAST

ETA's first known victim was a secret police chief killed in San Sebastian in 1968. Its last was a French policemen the group shot in 2010.A year later it chose not to disarm when it called its truce, but has been severely weakened in the past decade after hundreds of its members were arrested in joint Spanish and French operations and weapons were seized.In a symbolic gesture in 2014, ETA released a video showing masked members giving up a limited weapons cache to verifiers.

The remaining arsenal, while difficult to keep track of, probably contains hundreds of guns and much more explosive material, "maybe 20, 100 times more" than was consigned in the symbolic handover, Woodworth said.The group's first revolutionary gesture was to fly the banned 'ikurrina', the red and green Basque flag, before the campaign escalated in the 1960s into violence that was brutally reciprocated by the Franco regime.In 1973, ETA targeted Franco's heir apparent Luis Carrero Blanco by digging a tunnel under the road that he drove down daily to attend Mass. They packed the tunnel with explosives and blasted Blanco's car over a five-storey building, killing him instantly. The assassination changed the course of history, as the removal of Franco's successor led to the exiled king reclaiming the throne and Spain's progress to a constitutional monarchy.At the peak of the violence, attacks including a 1987 car bomb at a Barcelona supermarket, which killed 21 including a pregnant woman and two children, horrified Spaniards and drew international outrage.ETA called a permanent ceasefire in March 2006, but it was shattered by a massive bomb attack at a parking lot at Madrid airport that December which killed two Ecuadorian immigrants.ETA victim Gorka Landaburu, who lost his thumb and was left blind in one eye after a letter bomb detonated in his home in 2001, welcomed the disarmament and said lessons had been learned."This must never happen again in our country," he said, standing by the sea in the Basque resort of San Sebastian. "I hope no one ever picks up pistols and bombs to defend an ideology ever again." (Editing by Julien Toyer and John Stonestreet)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Tawang Town: The Dalai Lama on Saturday accused China of spreading false information about his trip to a monastery near India's border that drew protests from Beijing which claims the Himalayan area as its territory.

"People have the wrong information," the 81-year-old monk told reporters in Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang where he took shelter on his flight from Tibet decades ago.

"I wish one Chinese official would accompany me while I'm visiting here, what I'm doing, what I'm saying. They should know the reality."

Beijing this week lodged an official protest with the Indian ambassador, accusing New Delhi of arranging a platform for the Dalai Lama to "hold anti-China and separatist activities".

After addressing devotees at the monastery, considered one of the holiest sites in Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama fired back at Beijing, accusing the country's communist officials of misleading its people over the nature of his visit.

"The 1.3-4 billion Chinese people have every right to know the reality.... They only have one-sided information and wrong information is morally wrong, they're fooling their own people."

The Indian government has insisted the trip is purely religious and pointed out that the Dalai Lama has been to Tawang before, accusing China of creating an "artificial controversy".

But some analysts say New Delhi has adopted a firmer approach to China since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took power in 2014 and invited the head of the India-based Tibetan government-in-exile to attend his swearing-in ceremony.

"The Dalai Lama has always been welcome to travel wherever he wants in India. But this government has been a bit firmer on issues of sovereignty," said Jayadeva Ranade, head of the Delhi-based Centre for China Analysis and Strategy.

Huge crowds, at least 20,000 by some estimates, turned out to hear the monk's nearly three-hour religious discourse.

Reincarnation concerns

New Delhi is currently pushing to expand its infrastructure in Arunachal Pradesh, building new roads and conducting a feasibility study for a railway.

India and China fought a border war in 1962 over the region, which has a large ethnic Tibetan population.

En route to Arunachal, the Dalai Lama was reunited with the Indian border guard who escorted him into the country after he fled his native Tibet following a failed uprising nearly 60 years ago.

Speaking to reporters a few days later, the Dalai Lama said the meeting had been "very emotional", bringing back memories of his dramatic flight across the Himalayas disguised as a soldier.

Ranade said the visit to Tawang  birthplace of an earlier incarnation of the Dalai Lama  had also raised Chinese concerns over the ageing monk's succession.

The Dalai Lama has stated that his reincarnation may be found outside Chinese Tibet, and Arunachal, with its rich Tibetan culture, is an obvious contender.

Under Tibetan Buddhist tradition, senior monks identify a young boy who shows signs he is a reincarnation of a late leader.

But China's officially atheist Communist rulers maintain that they have the sole authority to decide reincarnation.

"The Chinese reaction has been very elevated, they've been using tough language," Ranade told AFP. "This indicates Chinese anxiety about the reincarnation."
By Nate Raymond

| NEW YORK

NEW YORK The assistant to a billionaire real estate developer from Macau accused of engaging in a scheme to pay bribes to a former United Nations General Assembly president pleaded guilty to a single tax charge on Friday.Jeff Yin, who was arrested along with billionaire Ng Lap Seng in 2015, entered the plea in Manhattan federal court following two weeks of negotiations that led to an agreement in which he did not have to admit to bribing anyone.Instead, Yin, 31, pleaded guilty to a single charge of conspiring to defraud the United States by trying to prevent the Internal Revenue Service from collecting taxes on a $54,000 salary he earned from a U.N.-focused media outfit prosecutors said Ng founded.Specifically, Yin admitted he tried to avoid paying taxes by having South-South News pay him in the form cash and checks made out to "petty cash."

"Between 2013 and 2015, I agreed with others to not pay taxes to the IRS," he said in court.Yin's plea deal contained no agreement to cooperate with prosecutors in the case against Ng, the founder of Macau-based real estate developer Sun Kian Ip Group. Ng, who has denied wrongdoing, is scheduled to face trial on May 30.

As part of the plea deal, Yin, a U.S. citizen who currently lives in California, agreed not to appeal any prison sentence of 2-1/2 years or less. His sentencing is scheduled for July 21.Ng, who was once linked to a campaign fundraising investigation during former U.S. President Bill Clinton's administration, and Yin were among seven individuals charged since October 2015 in the U.N.-related probe.

Prosecutors had accused Ng and Yin of paying more than $500,000 in bribes to John Ashe, a former U.N. ambassador from Antigua and Barbuda who served as General Assembly president from 2013 to 2014. Ashe died in June awaiting trial.An indictment said Ng and Yin also paid bribes to Francis Lorenzo, a then-deputy U.N. ambassador from the Dominican Republic who pleaded guilty in March 2016 to bribery and money laundering charges as part of a deal to cooperate in the probe.The main goal of the bribes, according to the indictment, was to have both ambassadors take steps to help obtain U.N. support for a multibillion-dollar conference centre in Macau that Sun Kian Ip Group would develop. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Tom Brown)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
New York: Malala Yousafzai, the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is to become the youngest United Nations Messenger of Peace, the organisation's chief said on Friday.

Yousafzai, 19, will be appointed on Monday by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and will help promote girl's education around the world as part of her new role.

The Pakistani education activist came to prominence when a Taliban gunman shot her in the head on her school bus in 2012 as punishment for campaigning for girls to go to school which defied the militant Islamic group's ban on female education.

Yousafzai has since continued campaigning on the world stage and in 2014 became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner.

"Even in the face of grave danger, Malala Yousafzai has shown an unwavering commitment to the rights of women, girls and all people," Guterres said in statement.

"Her courageous activism for girls' education has already energised so many people around the world. Now as our youngest-ever UN Messenger of Peace, Malala can do even more to help create a more just and peaceful world."

Yousafzai, who received medical treatment in Britain where she has since studied, has also set up the Malala Fund to support girls' education projects in developing countries.

A regular speaker on the global stage, Yousafzai visited refugee camps in Rwanda and Kenya last July to highlight the plight of refugee girls from Burundi and Somalia.
Paris: International leaders united in sympathy and condemnation after a man ploughed a truck through a crowd into the front of a department store in central Stockholm.

Police said they had arrested one man after the attack, which killed four people and injured 15, while Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven on Friday said "everything pointed" to it being a terror attack.

US State Department acting spokesman Mark Toner condemned "this brutal and senseless attack" and said the United States was ready to provide any assistance it could to investigate it.

"Attacks like this are intended to sow the seeds of fear, but in fact they only strengthen our shared resolve to combat terrorism around the world," Toner said in a statement.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack and voiced sympathy for the victims' families.

"We hope that those responsible for the attack will be swiftly brought to justice," he said.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the attack was a blow struck against all EU countries.

"An attack on any of our member states is an attack on us all," Juncker said in a message of condolences to the victims, adding the aim appeared to strike at "our very way of life."

Antonio Tajani, the head of the European Parliament, said on Twitter that he was "shocked by the terrible news from Stockholm."

Foreign Minister Boris Johnson said on Twitter that he was "deeply concerned by shocking incident in Stockholm."

"Britain's thoughts are with the victims, their families and the whole of Sweden," he said.

President Francois Hollande expressed his "horror and indignation" at the attack.

"France expresses its sympathy and solidarity with the families of the victims and all Swedes," he said.

aris Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced on Twitter that the Eiffel Tower, which is normally illuminated, would go dark for a minute at midnight in honour of the victims of the attack.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said Germany stood "together against terror" with Sweden, and offered sympathy for those involved in the attack.

The country's Foreign Ministry said on Twitter that "We strongly condemn the terrorist attack in Stockholm."

"Our thoughts are with the families of the victims and the people of Sweden."

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte called the attack "terrible news" and said he had conveyed his country's condolences to his Swedish counterpart.

"Our thoughts go out to the victims and survivors," he said in a message on his Twitter account. "NL stands ready to help where needed."

"In our country, we are well familiar with the crimes of international terrorism. At this difficult time, Russians weep with the Swedish people," President Vladimir Putin said in a statement.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he was "closely following the attack in Stockholm."

"Condolences to the victims and best wishes for recovery to the wounded. We stand by your side Sweden," he said in a Twitter message.
Sweden early Saturday arrested a man for a "terrorist crime", prosecutors said, hours after a beer truck ploughed into a crowd outside a busy department store in central Stockholm, killing four.

The man was arrested "on suspicion of a terrorist crime through murder," Karin Rosander, a communications director at the Swedish Prosecution Authority said.

Police said earlier on Friday after the attack that they had detained the man who "matched the description" of a photo released of a suspect wearing a dark hoodie and military green jacket.

But they did not confirm if he drove the truck.

According to the Aftonbladet newspaper, the same man is a 39-year-old of Uzbek origin and a supporter of the Islamic State (IS) group.

If confirmed as a terror attack, it would be Sweden's first such deadly assault. Fifteen people, including children, were also injured, nine seriously, health authorities said.

Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said he had strengthened the country's border controls.

"Terrorists want us to be afraid, want us to change our behaviour, want us to not live our lives normally, but that is what we're going to do. So terrorists can never defeat Sweden, never," he said.

Friday's attack was the latest in a string of similar assaults with vehicles in Europe, including in London, Berlin and the southern French city of Nice.

The deadliest came last year in France on the 14 July Bastille Day national holiday, when a man rammed a truck into a crowd in the Mediterranean resort of Nice, killing 86 people.

Stockholm: Scenes afterward

Stockholm's usually vibrant city centre was eerily silent on Friday evening with restaurants, bars and cinemas shuttered and streets emptied hours after the truck ploughed into the crowd.

The initial scene was chaotic.

After emergency responders rushed to the scene, several bodies could be seen lying on the ground covered with orange blankets. Shattered glass was scattered on the ground near a large blood stain on the asphalt.

Shaken passersby described their horror at witnessing what police and Prime Minister Stefan Lofven described as a "terror attack".

"A massive truck starts driving ... and mangles everything and just drives over exactly everything," eyewitness Rikard Gauffin said.

"It was so terrible and there were bodies lying everywhere... it was really terrifying," he added.

Police cars and ambulances rapidly flooded the scene, as central streets and squares were blocked off amid fears that another attack could be imminent.

Helicopters hovered overhead across the city, sirens wailed, and police vans criss-crossed the streets using loudspeakers to urge people to head straight home and avoid crowded places.

But with the metro system and commuter trains shut down for several hours after the attack, other streets heading out of the city were packed with thousands of pedestrians trying to find a way home.

Central Stockholm would on any other Friday be abuzz with locals queueing up outside glitzy bars and restaurants and upscale nightclubs.

Haval, a 30-year-old sales clerk who didn't want to reveal his last name, was in the metro at the time of the attack.

His train stopped immediately and he had to get out, along with all the other passengers.

They walked along the street before being ushered inside a nearby hotel for safety.

"We were suddenly trapped inside a hotel and there was the worst kind of horror in there," he told AFP.

"We were scared, we were scared something else would happen, he added.

One witness identified only as Dimitris told the Aftonbladet daily the truck came "out of nowhere."

"I couldn't see if anyone was driving but it was out of control. I saw at least two people get run down. I ran as fast as I could away from there," he said.

Marko was in coffee shop near the scene with his girlfriend when he saw the truck ram into the store.

"He hit a woman first, then he drove over a bunch of other people ... We took care of everyone lying on the ground," he told Swedish daily newspaper Aftonbladet.

Hasan Sidi, another passerby, told Aftonbladet he saw two elderly women lying on the ground.

He said people at the scene urged him to help one of the women who was "bleeding to death".

"One of them died...I don't know if the other one made it," Sidi said.

"The police were shocked. Everyone was shocked."

Despite that shock, Sweden was determined to not let the attackers create fear.

In an editorial, Sweden's biggest broadsheet Dagens Nyheter wrote: "What we feared for a long time finally happened...The fear and panic right after the incident was inevitable. The images from the attack were terrible," the paper said.

But Stockholm managed to stay "cool-headed" even though the attacker struck "Sweden and Stockholm's heart", it added. "Stockholm stands strong. You won't break Stockholm."

Support from international community

International leaders united in sympathy and condemnation on Friday after a man ploughed a truck through a crowd into the front of a department store in central Stockholm.

Police said they had arrested one man after the attack, which killed four people and injured 15, while Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said "everything pointed" to it being a terror attack.

United States

US State Department acting spokesman Mark Toner condemned "this brutal and senseless attack" and said the United States was ready to provide any assistance it could to investigate it.

"Attacks like this are intended to sow the seeds of fear, but in fact they only strengthen our shared resolve to combat terrorism around the world," Toner said in a statement.

United Nations

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack and voiced sympathy for the victims' families.

"We hope that those responsible for the attack will be swiftly brought to justice," he said.

European Union

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the attack was a blow struck against all EU countries.

"An attack on any of our member states is an attack on us all," Juncker said in a message of condolences to the victims, adding the aim appeared to strike at "our very way of life."

Antonio Tajani, the head of the European Parliament, said on Twitter that he was "shocked by the terrible news from Stockholm."

Britain

Foreign Minister Boris Johnson said on Twitter that he was "deeply concerned by shocking incident in Stockholm."

"Britain's thoughts are with the victims, their families and the whole of Sweden," he said.

France

President Francois Hollande expressed his "horror and indignation" at the attack.

"France expresses its sympathy and solidarity with the families of the victims and all Swedes," he said.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced on Twitter that the Eiffel Tower, which is normally illuminated, would go dark for a minute at midnight in honour of the victims of the attack.

Germany

Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said Germany stood "together against terror" with Sweden, and offered sympathy for those involved in the attack.

Greece

The country's Foreign Ministry said on Twitter that "We strongly condemn the terrorist attack in Stockholm."

"Our thoughts are with the families of the victims and the people of Sweden."

The Netherlands

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte called the attack "terrible news" and said he had conveyed his countrys condolences to his Swedish counterpart.

"Our thoughts go out to the victims and survivors," he said in a message on his Twitter account. "NL stands ready to help where needed."

Russia

"In our country, we are well familiar with the crimes of international terrorism. At this difficult time, Russians weep with the Swedish people," President Vladimir Putin said in a statement.

Spain

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he was "closely following the attack in Stockholm."

"Condolences to the victims and best wishes for recovery to the wounded. We stand by your side Sweden," he said in a Twitter message.

With inputs from AFP
Will there be a war on Syria with disastrous consequences for the rest of the world? This is a disturbing question now that Russia has warned the United States of "serious consequences" following the decision of the Trump administration on Friday (7 April) to fire 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles on Al-Shayrat military airfield of Syria, 20 miles north of Homs. The highly precise guided bombs were launched from two warships, USS Ross and USS Porter, in what was a clear "unilateral", and hence illegal, action from the Trump administration. There was no sanction whatsoever of the UN Security Council as should have been the case.

Apart from the legality of the missile attacks on Syria, which the Obama Administration was trying to launch since 2013 but in vain, the episode, the manifestation of what Jacob Heilbronn, editor of the National Interest says The Trump doctrine, reveals that the American decision is not one based on military exigencies or anything as mundane as a strategy. Rather, this doctrine is based on the impulsive and hawkish and unilateral exercise of American firepower, whenever and wherever Trump pleases. This is a foreign policy, in other words, based on Trumps mood of the moment, as feckless as it is reckless.

There are strong merits in Heilbrunns argument. Trumps willingness to use US military might in Syrian civil war (between the Assad regime and Islamic-extremists-led opposition groups; here one is not talking of the menace of Islamic State, which is occupying vast territories of Syria) is not in tune with his other policy of blocking the entry into the United States of people from six countries, including Syria (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Yemen and Somalia being the other five). Trump is not even willing to hear the theory that people who died because of the chemical explosions and the resultant poisonous gas, the avowed explanation behind the attack, did not emanate from the chemical weapons of President Bashar alAssad, but from those under the possession of the fundamentalist opposition-factions kept in a place that came under the attack of the Syrian government, leading to the explosion.

Thirdly, Trump seems to have deviated from his America First" slogan, which, in essence, meant that America must gradually adopt an "isolationist" strategy by not sharing its resources and manpower in outside wars, and utilising, in the process, the saved resources for a massive buildup of military power to meet the rising Chinese challenge. Fourthly, and this is a corollary of the third point, Trumps actions confuse his regimes policy towards Russia, which, in turn, happens to be the principal source of support for the Syrian regime. After all, improving ties with Russia was one of the principal electoral promises of the US president. One could, of course, argue that attack on Syria may well be a short-term distraction from his domestic Russia woes, a number of which he has helped to create with his ham-fisted efforts to disrupt the multiple investigations of his electoral campaign and Russian hacking of the Democrats mails, but given the long-term consequences of a short-term action, it is certainly not a wise move.

But the most ironical dimension of the Trump doctrine is that it came just a day after (Thursday) Hillary Clinton, whom the president defeated at the polls last November, announced that the Trump administration should take out [Assads] airfields. In other words, Trump has finally seen some traces wisdom in Hillary Clinton! But then, let it not be forgotten that if any world leader who played the most important role for the outbreak of Syrian Civil War in 2010, then it was none other than Hillary Clinton, then secretary of state in the Obama administration. Hillary always used the issue of the chemical weapons as a ruse for the attack on the Assad regime, even though it was not convincing even to the Pentagon. And mercifully, she could not convince Obama, something that she has now done with Trump!

In any case, what exactly are the chemical weapons that are commonly used or misused? That is the nerve gas (chlorine gas, mustard gas, sarin and arsenic agents  that affect the nerves). And these are very easy and cheap to manufacture. Therefore, chemical weapons are called the poor mans weapons and far less effective than other conventional weapons. These can be manufactured at an individual level. Viewed thus, how can one be sure that these weapons are not manufactured by the Syrian rebels? This is the question many experts have asked. After all, if the example of the American intervention in Iraq is anything to go by, then American allegations and the realities on the ground often do not match. The world is yet to find out the secret weapons of late Saddam Hussein, discovering and destroying which was one of the principal justifications for the American intervention in Iraq.

Be that as it may, the fact remains that America has been at war with Syria since the days of Hillary as the secretary of state. It was Hillary who provided resources, arms, training, and other forms of support to the Syrian rebels. In that sense, the US, like its allies Saudi Arabia and Qatar, has been a statesponsor of the Syrian rebels for a long time now. It is akin to Pakistans role in our Kashmir. Of course, this phenomenon is nothing new in international politics. As Erica D Borghard of the Columbia University has pointed out, since 1945, 134 of 285 rebel groups enjoyed explicit support from a state sponsor, while an additional 30 groups are alleged to have received external state support. War by proxy is an attractive policy option for states when they are hesitant to use force directly. The clandestine and informal nature of many of these arrangements allows states to challenge adversaries while providing plausible deniability for actions committed by nonstate allies," Borghard says.

In the case of Syria, the foreign policy goal of America and its allies is the removal of Assad regime by hook or crook, though it is coated with many layers of sugar. Thus we hear the Arab Spring in Syria, removal of a dictator, protecting the rights of all Syrians, and countering terrorist activity etc. But then, there are two ways of looking at Arab Spring. It is a failed phenomenon as its supposed goal of ushering in democracy in the Middle East has been grounded. Secondly, democracy is not exactly a number game where the majority has got every power to the extent of being sectarian and the minority nonetrue democracy means rights of equality and justice.

In this regard, Arab Spring has been a story of huge disappointment. Its promoters like the US and France have shown double standards. While justifying changes in Egypt, Libya, Yemen and now Syria under the pretext of furthering democracy, the Western countries have closed their eyes towards Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Sheikhdoms, which are certainly not citadels of democracy and have directly or indirectly furthered the cause of Wahabism or Islamic fundamentalism all over the world. In fact, it is not a coincidence that Saudi Arab and Qatar have contributed generously to the Clinton Foundation in New York.

The concrete effect of the Arab Spring has been those extremist elements within the Sunni community  and their great promoters in the regimes of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and now to a considerable extent in Turkey  have become powerful and the forces of multiethnicity and secularism are getting weaker. Syria seems to be a victim of this process. There is no denying the fact that Syria is not a democratic country. A country which has been ruled for more 40 years by one family is not an ideal democratic country in the absence of democratic institutions such as independent judiciary and media. Syria, like all other Arab countries, does not have a democratic culture as such. But one great asset that Syria has is its secularism and multiethnicity.

As I have visited Syria, I can vouchsafe that it is arguably the most secular country in the Arab region. Here, and this is most important, you find the women as liberated as they are in any Western country. The continuing survival of the Bashar alAssad regime in Syria is not only due to the support of the minority Alawite sect, making up about 12 percent of the countrys population, of which the Syrian strongman is a member. It is also due to the backing of the Christian community, which makes up about 10 percent of the population. They have a deep and understandable fear of the sort of instability and sectarian recriminations that followed Saddam Husseins fall in Iraq. There are other minority groups, such as Syrian Kurds and Druze, who have either continued their support Assad or have resisted the urge to join elements of the protest movement for similar reasons. Though Sunnis (59 percent of the population) account for the overwhelming majority of the Syrian opposition to the Assad regime, there are other Sunnis within the ruling Baath Partys rank and file that would have few prospects in a postAssad Syria and so have not opposed the status quo. Assads wife and most of his ministers happen to be Sunnis. The regime also enjoys the support of the countrys Sunni merchant class and the business community.

Importantly, the Assad regime has not supported any terrorist activities aimed at the Western countries for decades. It never supported Al Qaeda, Islamic State and had nothing to do with 9/11. On the contrary, a significant faction of the antiAssad rebels does have ties with Al Qaeda and have attracted foreign jihadis. And these rebels are being funded now by the Western countries. In fact, the Assad regime is a collateral victim of the American policy in the sense that Americas real enemy happens to be Iran, which is Syrias greatest ally in the region after Russia. Here, the religious dimensions have aggravated the issue further. Both Iran and Syria happen to be ruled by the Shias, whereas Saudi Arabia, which has promoted Islamic fundamentalism all over the world, wants the Sunnis, who constitute the majority in Syria to rule the country.

Secondly, there is that factor of oil politics. Qatar and Saudi Arabia want to kill the proposed Iran-IraqSyria gas line that will transfer gas from Iran to Europe directly from the Lebanon coast. Because, by so doing, Qatar will be selling gas to Europe via the alternate pipeline through Iraq and Turkey. The Americans bless this QatarIraqTurkey route, as this would be linked with the US-backed Nabucco pipeline, carrying gas supplies from the Central Asian Republics. Besides, it will lessen the dependence of Europe on Russian gas.

But now the question is whether the above geopolitical goal of the Obama administration has been accepted by Trump, whose Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has had strong Russian connections. If so, then there is all the more reason to take Heilbrunn seriously.
By Johan Sennero, Anna Ringstrom and Bjorn Rundstrom

| STOCKHOLM

STOCKHOLM A 39-year-old Uzbek man being held in custody is the suspected driver of a hijacked beer delivery truck that ploughed into crowds in central Stockholm, killing four people and wounding 15 in an apparent terror attack, police said on Saturday.The man, previously known to Swedish intelligence services as a marginal figure with no clear links to extremist groups, is suspected of mowing down pedestrians on a busy shopping street and smashing through a store front on Friday."Nothing indicates that we have the wrong person, on the contrary, suspicions have strengthened as the investigation has progressed," Dan Eliasson, head of Sweden's national police, told a news conference on Saturday.The man, detained on Friday night on terrorism charges after the attack in the heart of the capital, appeared to have acted alone but "we still cannot rule out that more people are involved," he said. The suspect, from the central Asian republic of Uzbekistan, will be represented by a court-appointed lawyer, Johan Eriksson, national news agency TT said. Police did not name the detainee and said he had seemed peripheral in intelligence reports."We received intelligence last year, but we did not see any links to extremist circles," Sapo security police chief Anders Thornberg said. Eliasson said there were "clear similarities" to an attack last month in London in which six people died, including the assailant who drove a hired car into pedestrians on a bridge. Vehicles have also been used as weapons in Nice and Berlin in the past year in attacks claimed by Islamic State. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack in Sweden, which until now had been largely immune from major attacks and where many take pride in an open, democratic society."I think it was just a matter of time, but still one doesn't think it will happen," Cecilia Hansson, a 25 year-old nurse, said. "It's still unreal when it happens this close."

Police said they had found a suspicious device in the vehicle, which ended up rammed into the Ahlens department store, but said they did not yet know if it was a homemade bomb, as reported by public broadcaster SVT. Local authorities in Stockholm, where flags flew at half mast on buildings including the parliament and royal palace, said 10 people including a child were still being treated in hospital, with two adults in intensive care.Sweden will hold a minute's silence at midday (1000 GMT) on Monday to mourn the dead. Police said they were maintaining a heightened presence, fearing copycat attacks. FLOWERS, DEFIANCE

A gaping hole in the wall of the store showed the force of the impact from the truck, which was removed overnight for examination by forensics experts, and dozens of people gathered to pay their respects and leave flowers, stunned by the attack.

Crown Princess Victoria was among them, laying a bouquet of red roses. "I feel an enormous sadness, I feel empty," she said, urging Swedes to unite in their grief.Prime Minister Stefan Lofven also visited the site and struck a defiant tone: "All of us feel anger over what has happened, I also feel the same anger, but we also need to use that anger for something constructive and go forward." "We want - and I am convinced the Swedish people also want - to live a normal life. We are an open, democratic society and that is what we will remain."The attack was the latest to hit the Nordic region after shootings in the Danish capital Copenhagen killed three people in 2015 and the mass attack in 2011 by far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 people in Norway.A failed suicide bombing in December 2010 killed an attacker only a few hundred yards from the site of Friday's incident.

IMMIGRATION

For decades, Sweden has been among the most generous nations to immigrants. But some Swedes are having second thoughts after more than 160,000 people, many from Syria, applied for asylum in 2015 in a nation of just 10 million.Sweden has since tightened its borders and asylum numbers have slowed to a trickle. Support for the opposition far-right Sweden Democrat party, which links worries about education, welfare costs and crime with immigration, has continued to rise."We have warned about such incidents ... but we do not want to score any political points today," Julia Kronlid, vice chairman of the party, told Reuters.Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack in Nice, France, in July 2016, when a truck killed 86 people, and a truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin in December that killed 12.In last month's attack in London, a man drove into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge near Britain's parliament and then stabbed a policeman to death before being killed himself.In February U.S. President Donald Trump falsely suggested there had been an immigration-related security incident in Sweden, to the bafflement of Swedes.Neutral Sweden has not fought a war in more than 200 years, but its military has taken part in U.N. peacekeeping missions in several conflict zones, including Iraq, Mali and Afghanistan. (Reporting by Stockholm newsroom; writing by Simon Johnson and Alister Doyle; editing by Alexander Smith and Ros Russell)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Tehran, Iran, Apr. 8

By Mehdi Sepahvand, Fatih Karimov  Trend:

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that an international fact-finding committee should be formed to investigate the issue of chemical weapon usage in Syria.

Rouhani made the remarks in a conference in Tehran Apr. 8 in reaction to the US attack on a Syrian airbase, Trend correspondent reported from the event.

He underlined that, however, unfair individuals should not be member to the committee and the committee should not be headed by the US.

Neutral countries should investigate whether a chemical weapon was used, and if used, its source should be found, Rouhani said.

The United States military launched 59 missiles during the early hours of April 7, targeting an airbase in Syria. The strike was the Pentagon's first direct attack against Syria since the beginning of the conflict in 2011. On President Donald Trumps order, the US launched the strike on the Syrian airfield in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack in the town of Khan Sheikhun in Idlib province earlier this week. Damascus has categorically denied carrying out a chemical attack.

Rouhani further said that Syrias chemical weapons were destroyed two years ago according to the UN officials.

The source of the claim that chemical weapons exist in Syria should be made clear, Rouhani added.

He slammed the US attack on the Syrian airbase, saying that while the issue is not clear yet, the US attacked the Syrian airbase and killed innocent people.

Rouhani also said all terrorists in Syria are celebrating the US attack.
Stock market indexes are at or near all-time highs, and the S&P 500 has gained nearly 50% over just the past three years. It can be hard to find bargain investment ideas in such a positive environment. As Warren Buffett has pointed out, "It's optimism that is the enemy of the rational buyer."

With that idea in mind, below I'll take a look at a few stocks that have missed at least part of the recent rally but still look like strong long-term investments. Read on to find out why Carnival (NYSE: CCL), Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), and eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) might be cheap right now for the wrong reasons.

CCL data by YCharts

Cruising for a discount

Carnival's stock has declined 8% over the past year, making it cheaper compared to the broader market and also compared to peers like Royal Caribbean. Yet the cruise giant's business is as strong as it has ever been. In fact, Carnival's growth beat management's targets in each of the first two quarters of the fiscal year, with its most recent report showing strong sales growth and healthy profits thanks to robust vacation demand and rising ticket prices.

Wall Street is worried about the potential for a growth slowdown in the second half of 2018, however. Coupled with higher fuel costs, such a move might crimp profits in the short term. Yet investors can look past the next few quarters toward what should be a bright few years to come for the industry leader. Carnival is planning to add 18 ships to its fleet between now and 2022, which it can deploy to the geographic markets that are seeing the strongest vacation demand. In the meantime, investors can collect an annual dividend yield in excess of 3% while they wait for shares to recover.

Bulk up on the essentials

Judging by the stock's performance over the last five years (a paltry six percent cumulative gain), investors are in a sour mood about Procter & Gamble's business. Some of that pessimism is justified, given that P&G has shed market share in a few key product categories, like shaving care, during that time. The broader consumer products industry is facing wider challenges, too, including rising input costs.

Yet P&G is faring better than its peers in a few important ways. Its sales growth pace is on track to beat Kimberly Clark's, for one. Procter & Gamble also enjoys industry-leading profitability thanks to an impressive selling infrastructure that's become even more efficient through an aggressive cost-cutting program that launched in 2013.

P&G is aiming for faster sales growth this year and is currently rolling out significant price increases that could boost earnings. Investors are right to be cautious about that bright outlook. But the stock doesn't need head-turning revenue figures to outperform rivals from this low point.

An online business that Wall Street left behind

Investors pushed eBay shares lower over the past year as the online selling marketplace has struggled to maintain a firm business rebound. Sales volumes have slowed since the start of 2018, rather than accelerating as Wall Street had hoped. And it's hard to celebrate a 7% sales volume boost when more fully integrated peers like Amazon and Walmart are announcing e-commerce growth figures closer to 35%.

eBay has a few things that these rivals don't, though, including robust profitability and an asset-light business that already generates tons of excess cash. CEO Devin Wenig and his team might have preferred slightly stronger sales growth, but they did warn investors to expect volatility in the expansion rate as eBay makes aggressive changes aimed at improving the shopping experience on its platform. That's the right long-term focus, even if Wall Street hates the uncertainty it brings to short-term results.

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John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Demitrios Kalogeropoulos owns shares of Amazon. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon. The Motley Fool recommends Carnival and eBay. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Chinese President Xi Jinping was able to take in views Friday night of the natural beauty that Alaska has to offer. The state's governor hopes this will lead to an increased appetite in the world's most populous nation for more natural resources from Alaska.

Xi requested time with Gov. Bill Walker Friday night as the Chinese delegation's plane made a refueling stop in Alaska's largest city following meetings with President Donald Trump in Florida. His wife and the Chinese delegation stepped off the Boeing 747 and were greeted by Walker, his wife and several dignitaries.

Later, the two men spoke briefly to reporters before a business meeting, in which Walker touted the state's abundant natural resources: oil, fish, air cargo, mineral resources industries.

Walker also took time to advocate for a natural gas pipeline he has long backed, which would take natural gas from Alaska's North Slope to the coast for shipment.

Alaska could provide a generation's worth of liquefied natural gas to China, he told Xi.

For Walker, even just a few hours of time with the president of China can pay dividends.

China is the state's top export market, buying nearly $1.2 billion worth of goods in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The next top international market was Japan, at nearly $820 million, followed by South Korea, at $730 million.

Chris Hladick, the commissioner of the state's Commerce department, called the visit by the Chinese delegation a "once-in-a lifetime opportunity."

The state's top export product to China? Fish, accounting for 58 percent. Frozen cod and flat fish, such as halibut, topped a lengthy list of fisheries products, which also included frozen salmon and pollock.

Jerry McCune is president of the United Fishermen of Alaska. He said he understood the trade talk would focus mostly on oil and gas, but added: "I would say that any trade that we can boost in the fishery with any particular county, China would be one that would be huge."

Jeremy Woodrow, a spokesman for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, said the Chinese market is important to Alaska for two reasons: it purchases a huge amount of Alaska fish for re-exporting purposes around the world, and Chinese consumers are now buying more seafood for consumption at home.

"Wild, sustainable, healthy, clean, those type of attributes that you can put on Alaska seafood are becoming much more desirable for the Chinese consumer, and we're seeing year after year, more Alaska seafood products actually staying in China for Chinese consumption" he said.

A distant second on the export list are minerals and ores, accounting for 27 percent. Included in that last year was about $130 million of precious metals, which Hladick said was likely gold from the Fairbanks area.

Hladick sees China as a potential market for Alaska coal and hoped to raise the issue with Chinese officials during their visit. "It's meetings like this that spark interest and then you follow up," Hladick said.

The state's only operating coal mine is the Usibelli Coal Mine near Denali National Park and Preserve, and it provides 100 percent of the coal needs to Alaska's six coal-burning power plants.

The company previously shipped coal to Chile, South Korea and Japan, but has no foreign export contracts this year.

"The only way for us to expand as a company is on the export market," said spokeswoman Lorali Simon.

Xi didn't discuss trade, but did tell reporters how much he enjoyed his short sightseeing tour of Anchorage, including a stop at Beluga Point, a pullout on the scenic Seward Highway about 15 miles south of Anchorage.

The pullout offers a stunning view of the snow-capped Chugach Mountains and Turnagain Arm in Alaska's Cook Inlet. The waters are home to the endangered Beluga whale.

This wasn't his first trip to Alaska, he said, but it was his first opportunity to see a little bit of the state's natural beauty up close.

Xi is the second major world leader to spend time in Alaska's largest city in the last few years. U.S. President Barack Obama used a three-day trip to Anchorage in 2015 to showcase the impact of climate change. King Harald V of Norway also made an official visit to Anchorage a few months before Obama.

Alaska's location provides a natural stopping point for world leaders to make refueling stops, and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage has hosted many presidents over the years for these short stints.

President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II met in 1984 during refueling stops at the airport in Fairbanks. Their paths were crossing as one finished and one began trips to Asia.
Secretary of Irans Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani discussed and exchanged views with his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev on Saturday concerning US cruise missile attacks against Syria over phone, IRNA reported.

Referring to the necessity to establish an independent international fact-finding committee in order to clarify the dimensions of suspicious chemical incident in Idlib, Shamkhani said that considering demolishing of the Syrian chemical weapons in preceding years with Russian Federation's initiative and under the supervision of the United Nations, for sure this act had been taken by the third party in order to create a pretext for military invasion against Syria.

He pointed to the destabilizing consequences of the aggressive and illegal moves by the US in the region, and said that such moves will boost the morale of the terrorist elements and will disrupt the process of fighting terrorism, which is underway with cooperation of Russia, Syria and Iran as well as UN supervision.

Considering noticeable achievements of liberation of Aleppo and weakening and demolishing military ability of terrorists and supporting countries of them, Shamkhani said that this direction should be continued with strategic cooperation between Iran, Syria, Russia and Resistance Front.

Patrushev, for his part, condemned the US military attack against Syria and called it a clear violation of international law, and said that this US move is clear violation against an independent country and it is contrary to the US' declared position in helping terrorists.

Recalling the US' untrue accusations concerning Iraq and allegations pertaining to the existence of mass-destruction weapons in that country, Patrushev said that the existing political atmosphere is a move in direction of creating disruption in the process of Syrian crisis solution and to increase pressures on legal government of President Bashar al-Assad.
Dr. Lester Tenney, a Bataan Death March survivor, and I exchanged thousands of emails since we first met in 1999. Initially, I became interested in his POW experience as a Japanese journalist. But it did not take long before I found myself working with him to bring an honorable closure to the history of American POWs of the Japanese. Our emails were always upbeat, discussing what more we could do together.

But in late January, Lester sent me an email that was uncharacteristic of him:

I am on my last trip, travel to a new world. So nice having you as a friend. If I am still alive I will be speaking in front of 200 people on January 27th how forgiveness works wonders. If you could come, it would be the culmination of many good years together.

How could I refuse such a request? So I flew from Japan and joined Lester in Carlsbad, Calif. as he spoke to a local audience.

Towards the end of his speech, Lester called me onto the stage and had me read from a letter he had just received from Mitsubishi Materials. It was a report on memorial plaques that the company had placed last November at four mines where its predecessor enslaved American POWs during WWII. Lester wanted me to read the inscription to the audience. After stating how many American POWs were forced to work and how many died at each mine, the inscription ended with following sentence.

Reflecting on these tragic past events with the deepest sense of remorse, Mitsubishi Materials offers its heartfelt apologies to all former POWs who were forced to work under appalling conditions in the mines of the former Mitsubishi Mining Company, and reaffirms its unswerving resolve to contribute to the creation of a world in which fundamental human rights and justice are fully guaranteed.

Lester had already received an apology from the Japanese government for the inhumane treatment American POWs were subjected to. In 2010, the Japanese Foreign Ministry started a reconciliation program in which it invited former POWs and their families to Japan. They all became possible because of Lesters tenacity in seeking them. I had the privilege of helping him as he faced many obstacles along the way.

What Mitsubishi Materials wrote on their plaques was what Lester wanted the most and what took him the longest to obtain. It was not from Mitsui Mining that enslaved him, but as a longtime leader of former POWs he was genuinely pleased with Mitsubishi Materials sincerity.

As we parted, I said to Lester, Lets work harder so we will get apologies from other companies. That was the last time I saw him. I would go back to Carlsbad to attend the memorial service for Lester a month later.

Lester was among some 27,000 American soldiers who became POWs after the largest surrender in the US military history that took place in the Philippines in the spring of 1942.

Forty percent of them would die while in captivity. Those who were surrendered on April 9, including Lester, were forced to walk what became known as the Bataan Death March. Lester was later sent to Japan and became a forced laborer in Mitsui coalmine.

Of some 12,000 American POWs who were sent to Japan to work for Japanese companies 1,115 died due to harsh working conditions, abuse, diseases and malnutrition. In addition to Mitsui Mine and Mitsubishi Mining, they included internationally known companies like Nippon Steel, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Nippon Express and Nippon Sharyo (now owned by JR Central).

Lester was determined not to let the world forget this tragic chapter of the Pacific War, although he had long forgiven the Japanese. His lawsuit against Mitsui was dismissed as the U.S. court found that POWs claims had been waived by the 1951 Peace Treaty.

But since money was not his goal, he did not stop. In fact, it was through his quest for justice and reconciliation that Lester made many Japanese friends. I witnessed Lester and his wife Betty develop a beautiful friendship with Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. Mr. Ichiro Fujisaki and Mrs. Fujisaki. He dearly loved the Japanese exchange student who stayed at his home. He spoke to thousands of Japanese young people and enjoyed every opportunity to do so. His memoir was translated into Japanese by a group of English teachers in Japan who listened to his speech and were touched by his humanity.

The only thing I regret was that Lester did not receive much support from his own government. Having read the Mitsubishi Materials inscription and realized its significance, I asked the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo if Ambassador (Caroline) Kennedy could attend the unveiling ceremony. After all, there was not a single memorial built by the Japanese government for the American POWs who died in Japan.

But the Embassy told me that not only could Ambassador Kennedy not attend but also it could not send anyone to represent the U.S. government.

It was widely reported that Ambassador Kennedy worked very hard to pave the way for President Obamas visit to Hiroshima.

Candidate Obama compared his campaign to the Bataan Death March and never apologized. This could have been the opportunity for the Obama administration to pay respect to POWs. And it would have encouraged other companies to come forward.

Shortly before his passing, Lester read a piece in the Washington Post that praised Ambassador Kennedy for her effort for reconciliation. He sent a letter to the paper writing in part:

As the last Commander of the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor, a recognized military organization of former POWs of the Japanese during WWII, I myself as well as our members have been working for reconciliation for many years.

I wish Ambassador Kennedy had supported our effort in seeking reconciliation with those Japanese companies that enslaved us. Most of the companies have not acknowledged their involvement in POW forced labor, much less apologized. So far only one company, Mitsubishi Materials, has come forward and apologized to the American POWs.

I was pleased that Ambassador Kennedy visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki and paid respect to the victims of the end of this tragic war. I wish Ms. Kennedy had also paid tribute to those American POWs who died in Japan as forced laborers.

The letter was never published. But Lester would not live his life with bitterness. In our last exchange ten days before his passing we wrote to each other:

As you did so many times when you faced adversities in your life, I am confident that you two remain positive and live in the present and enjoy everything. Love, Kinue

You are right just another hurdle in my life of living. I must realize I am 96 years old, and that is already way beyond the most. It is the unknown that gets me. Love, Lester

Dr. Lester Tenney will be missed by many Japanese friends he made.

Kinue Tokudome is the founder and director of US-Japan Dialogue on POWs.
Former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Friday encouraged her successor to remember the American people are the Department of Justice's clients, not the president or Congress.

"I would urge people who are taking over the department now to remember this is the Department of Justice for everyone," she said, without mentioning Attorney General Jeff Sessions by name. "As you look at the rule of law, it's not just words on the page. It's the impact on people's lives."

Lynch spoke at a conference organized by Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. The forum is focusing on pressing issues facing blacks in America.

Former President Barack Obama appointed Lynch to serve as attorney general in 2015, succeeding Eric Holder. The first black woman to run the department, Lynch said Friday she understands each administration has different priorities and different ways of seeing things, adding how she wanted to open up the department to empower people. But she urged her successor to remember he is responsible for the safety, wellbeing and health of all Americans.

SESSIONS TAKES AIM AT SANCTUARY CITIES, WARNS ON FUNDING

When she was asked by a student about her biggest mistake as an attorney or as the attorney general, Lynch referred to her now-infamous meeting last summer with former President Bill Clinton, when the Department of Justice was investigating his wife, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

"That was a very public mistake on my part," she said and added how it was not an excuse to say she was caught off guard by the meeting.

"When you make a mistake, you have to admit it and acknowledge the problem it causes," Lynch said.

The 57-year-old North Carolina native graduated from Harvard College in 1981 and Harvard Law School in 1984.

She told students about her time at Harvard Law working in the legal aid bureau and how she had the opportunity to help everyday people with their problems, including a woman she helped to get a divorce.

"Which sounds sad, but she was the happiest client I have ever had," Lynch joked.

SESSIONS TELLS DOJ TO REVISIT OBAMA-ERA AGREEMENTS WITH LOCAL POLICE DEPARTMENTS

Such experiences, she said, taught her to put herself in other people's shoes and understand their points of view and concern. She noted that it "has become extremely hard" today for people to really relate to others "because the examples of leadership we are seeing today are not doing that either."

Lynch praised Obama for his ability to "empathize with situations and conditions" and to step back and find objective solutions.

"Even though that isn't being modeled today, it doesn't mean that we can't do it," she told the group. "It doesn't mean that we can't call for it and it doesn't mean that we can't urge it to exist."

Lynch acknowledged the U.S. has always been divided, but said she believes people have never felt so free to be "so uncivil about it."

"So we descend into vitriol and we descend into sort of political name-calling and I think people on both sides of an issue write the other opinion off as something that's ill-informed and uneducated," she said. She urged students to put themselves in someone else's shoes and ask, "What are people so afraid of?"
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, told Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight" Friday that the American missile strike on a Syrian airfield as "an illegal and unconstitutional military strike" that drew the United States closer to military conflict with Russia.

Gabbard, an Iraq War veteran, also said the strike was "an escalation of a counterproductive regime change war in Syria that our countrys been waging for years, first through the CIA covertly, and now overtly."

FLASHBACK: GABBARD SAYS SHE MET WITH ASSAD DURING SYRIA TRIP

In January, Gabbard met with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus. When host Tucker Carlson asked if she believed Assad's forces to be responsible for the chemical weapons attack that precipitated the missile strikes, Gabbard answered, "It doesnt matter what I believe or not. What matters is evidence and facts.

"If the Trump administration has the evidence, unequivocally proving this, then share it with the American people," Gabbard continued. "Share it with Congress. Come to Congress and make your case before launching an unauthorized, illegal military strike against a foreign government."

Gabbard also said that efforts to overthrow Assad would only strengthen extremist groups, and expressed concerns about Moscow's response to the missile strikes.

"Russia ... are very closely allied with Syria and ... have their own military operating [on] the ground there," the congresswoman said, "and when you consider the consequences of that, the United States and Russia being the two nuclear powers in the world, it should be a cause of great concern for everyone."
Chinese President Xi on Friday took in the natural beauty of Alaska Friday after meeting with President Trump at his resort in Palm Beach, Fla.

The two leaders said they made progress, but there were no breakthroughs regarding North Korea or trade. Trump announced that he launched an airstrike into Syria moments after dinning with his Chinese counterpart.

Xi requested time with Alaskas Gov. Bill Walker as the Chinese delegation's plane made a refueling stop in Anchorage. His wife and the Chinese delegation stepped off the Boeing 747 and were greeted by Walker, his wife and several dignitaries. The Anchorage Daily News reported that the Alaska visit was kept under wraps until earlier this week.

The visitors and their hosts drove off in a line of SUVs, limos and other vehicles in 40-degree weather under blue skies. The sightseeing tour will include a stop at Beluga Point, a pullout on the scenic Seward Highway about 15 miles south of Anchorage.

The pullout offers a stunning view of the snow-capped Chugach Mountains and Turnagain Arm in Alaska's Cook Inlet. The waters are home to the endangered Beluga whale.

Walker said he was eager to tell Xi about the abundance of Alaska's resource development opportunities.

"We have tremendous potential in our oil and gas, tourism, fish, air cargo and mineral resource industries," Walker said in a statement issued before the meeting.

For Walker, even just a few hours of time with the president of the world's largest country can pay dividends.

China is the state's top export market, buying nearly $1.2 billion worth of goods in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The next top international market was Japan, at nearly $820 million, followed by South Korea, at $730 million.

Chris Hladick, the commissioner of the state's Commerce department, called the visit by the Chinese delegation a "once-in-a lifetime opportunity."

"We're not even shown on the map for the United States," he said, a nod to Alaska and Hawaii often being left off of maps of the U.S. "I think this is an extremely valuable opportunity to meet with our largest trade partner face to face."

The state's top export product to China? Fish, accounting for 58 percent. Frozen cod and flat fish, such as halibut, topped a lengthy list of fisheries products, which also included frozen salmon and pollock.

A distant second on the export list are minerals and ores, accounting for 27 percent. Included in that last year was about $130 million of precious metals, which Hladick said was likely gold from the Fairbanks area.

Lower-tier exports included oil, wood, scrap metal and airplane parts.

Hladick sees China as a potential market for Alaska coal and hoped to raise the issue with Chinese officials during their visit. "It's meetings like this that spark interest and then you follow up," Hladick said.

Having your largest trade partner drop in for a meeting is fortuitous when the state is in tough financial straits because of a prolonged period of low oil prices. Hladick said he'd be happy to get a 45-minute meeting with the Chinese trade minister.

Walker has been courting Asian markets -- particularly Japan and South Korea -- in trying to drum up interest in a liquefied natural gas project the state is pursuing. State officials wouldn't say if Walker would bring up the natural gas pipeline, which is in its early stages, during his visit with Xi, but it seemed unlikely that he wouldn't take time to tout the multi-billion dollar project that would take natural gas from Alaska's North Slope to a plant on the state's coast, where it would be liquefied and shipped.

Xi is the second major world leader to spend time in Alaska's largest city in the last few years. U.S. President Barack Obama used a three-day trip to Anchorage in 2015 to showcase the impact of climate change. King Harald V of Norway also made an official visit to Anchorage a few months before Obama.

Alaska's location provides a natural stopping point for world leaders to make refueling stops, and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage has hosted many presidents over the years for these short stints.

President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II met in 1984 during refueling stops at the airport in Fairbanks. Their paths were crossing as one finished and one began trips to Asia.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
When President Trump was running for office, one of his favorite selling points to the so-called "Never Trump" Republicans was: You can take me, or you can choose Hillary Clinton and get stuck with her justices.

The strategy proved effective.

Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt wrote a column in The Washington Examiner titled, Its the Supreme Court, Stupid.

If Hillary Clinton wins, the Left gavels in a solid, lasting, almost certainly permanent majority on the Supreme Court," he wrote. "Every political issue has a theoretical path to SCOTUS, and only self-imposed judicial restraint has checked the Court's appetite and reach for two centuries."

Supreme Court appointments was a main focal point during the campaign because there was a vacancy. Conservative Antonin Scalia had died. Hours after his death, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced that his chamber would not consider an Obama nominee and would instead wait until the new president was elected. There were 11 months left in Obamas term at the time.

McConnells gambit worked. Obama's nomination, Judge Merrick Garland never saw the light of day, and Trump defeated Clinton.

Trump nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch whothanks to the Republican-controlled Senates decision to go nuclearis set to be sworn in on Monday. The tilt of the court has regained its conservative tilt.

As soon as April 13, Gorsuch could take part in his first private conference, where justices decide whether to hear cases  and some of them could involve gun rights, voting rights and a Colorado baker's refusal to design a cake for a same-sex couple's wedding, The Associated Press reported.

But just as Gorsuch begins to get comfortable in his new chambers, Supreme Court observers are considering the real posibility that Trump could name additional justices. The court is collectively older than any other on record. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Anthony Kennedy and Stephen Breyer are 84, 80 and 78, respectively.

Gorsuch's confirmation process was fought bitterly on both sides. Democrats assailed McConnell for choosing to go nuclear. Sen. Chuck Schumer said afterwards that there's no incentive for nominees to even speak to the minority anymore.

University of California at Irvine Professor Rick Hasen warned Democrats at the height of the Gorsuch fight that they had little to gain in filibustering the nomination.

"Imagine if in a year or so Justices Breyer, Ginsburg, or Kennedy leave the Court, he wrote on Election Law Blog. Then things get MUCH worse from the point of view of progressives. Then Roberts becomes the swing voter and there goes affirmative action, abortion rights, etc. If you think things with the Supreme Court are bad for progressive now they can get much, much worse.

He went on the write that a better move for Democrats was to save the firepower for that fight. It is possible that Senators like Susan Collins would be squeamish about such a nominee, and they might not vote to go nuclear. At that point, people can take to the streets and exert public pressure.

In August, then-candidate Trump told The Washington Post that the next president may appoint up to five justices. That would change the direction of the court for decades. Trumps first nomination is 49 years old.

The Washington Examiner, citing a Trump associates, repeated Trump's campaign number Friday. He expects to name five to the court.
Top White House advisers Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner purportedly met Friday to smooth things over, amid continuing reports about high-level, Trump administration turmoil.

The meeting took place at President Trumps Mar-a-Lago south Florida estate and was led by White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, who with Bannon was told by the president on Thursday to work this out.

The White House is trying to downplay and dismiss reports about infighting, as Trump attempts to capitalize on his efforts this week on Syria and the Senate on Friday confirming Judge Neil Gorsuch, the presidents Supreme Court nominee, to the high court.

Reports about infighting, and efforts to dismiss them, have slowed the Republican administration essentially since its start, with talk about Trump firing Priebus.

However, several White House and administration source this weekend dismissed stories about a major White House shakeup and Priebus ouster.

He is staying, a source said.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told Fox News on Friday: "The only thing we are shaking up is the way Washington operates.

Still, the schism between Kushner and Bannon, Trumps chief strategist, is apparent and has its roots in Trumps unconventional, outsider White House campaign in which they each played a major role.

Supporters for Bannon, a former executive for Brietbart News, which gave voice to Trumps so-called alt-right supporters during the campaign, are at odds with Kushner, a 36-year-old New York entrepreneur, and his faction. The Bannon side purportedly calls the Kushner side the Democrats.

Bannon's removal earlier in the week from the National Security Council apparently exacerbated the feud.

Some stories are made to distract from the success that (Trump) has had this week, White House special counsel Kellyanne Conway said Friday, hours after the GOP-led Senate confirmed Gorsuch to the high court.

Overnight Thursday, the U.S. military carried out a Trump ordered airstrike on a Syria airbase, after the regime of President Bashar Assad apparently executed a chemical weapons attack on civilians earlier in the week.
Congressional Republicans returned this weekend to their districts to get another earful about ObamaCare, while giving mixed statements about how close they are to replacing the health care law and suggesting that avoiding a looming government shutdown is now the priority.

California GOP Rep. Tom McClintock again held a town hall event in which residents expressed concerns about the GOP-led Congress repealing and replacing ObamaCare with more expensive and less comprehensive coverage.

Are you aware that you dont answer questions? one town hall attendee asked McClintock at the event outside Sacramento.

Another attendee suggested McClintock was a crappy representative and that Republicans could vote with Democrats to replace him.

Thats what elections are for, responded McClintock, who in February faced such a rowdy town hall crowd that he exited with a police escort.

An ObamaCare replacement bill from House Republican leaders and backed by President Trump failed last month to even get a vote in the lower chamber, amid strong opposition from its most conservative members.

Trump and the leaders at first appeared ready to move ahead to tax reform and other big-ticket policy initiatives.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Thursday before leaving Washington for a two-week break that members have come together on a new amendment that would lower premiums and provide broad access to care.

However, Pennsylvania GOP Rep. Charlie Dent downplayed Ryans remarks and said the more immediate concern is passing a budget before the end of the month, when the federal government technically runs out of money and largely shutters.

I dont believe we are as close as many would say, Dent told Fox News, while arguing the House still has nearly a dozen appropriations bills to pass to avoid a politically damaging shutdown.

Well be applying all of our time in April making sure we complete our work, he said.

In Kentucky, several dozen people -- including doctors and patients -- staged a town-hall style event on a sidewalk outside of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnells Louisville office.

Among those who attended was Kentucky Democratic Rep. John Yarmuth, who said lawmakers have no alternative to ObamaCare, in which consumers can pick from private insurers, except the so-called single-payer option in which they pay state governments for health insurance.

We need to talk to this man right here, said Yarmuth, pointing to McConnells district office.
A fatal airstrike occurred Saturday in the same northern Syrian town hit earlier this week by a deadly chemical weapon attack, according to several international monitoring groups.

The airstrike on the town of Khan Sheikhoun killed a woman, following the chemical attack Tuesday that killed 87 people, including children.

The chemical attack purportedly was authorized by Syrian President Bashar Assad and targeted the town because it is a stronghold for rebel forces trying to topple his regime in the countrys 6-year-long civil war.

The Local Coordination Committees, another monitoring group, said the airstrike Saturday was carried out by warplanes from Russia, which has backed Assad.

President Trump authorized a missile attack overnight Thursday that struck an air base in central Syria from which the chemical attack was launched, killing nine people.

Congratulations to our great military men and women for representing the United States, and the world, so well in the Syria attack, Trump tweeted Saturday.

Syria's government has denied responsibility for any chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun.

And Russia's Defense Ministry, which has condemned the U.S. response, said the toxic chemical were released when a Syrian airstrike hit a rebel chemical weapons arsenal and munitions factory on the town's eastern outskirts.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Ankara sees the U.S. intervention in Syria as appropriate but not enough.

"If this intervention is limited only to an air base, if it does not continue and if we don't remove the regime from heading Syria, then this would remain a cosmetic intervention," said Cavusoglu in the southern city of Antalya.

Cavusoglu, whose country is a strong backer of the Syrian opposition, said the most ideal process will be a political solution that leads to a transitional government accepted by all Syrians as soon as possible. He said that for that "this oppressive Assad needs to go."

In Saudi Arabia, the official Saudi Press Agency reported that Trump has spoken by telephone with King Salman about the U.S. missile strike on Syria.

The news agency reported that during the Friday phone call, the Saudi monarch congratulated Trump for his "courageous decision."

Saudi Arabia said the missile launch by Trump was the right response to "the crimes of this regime to its people in light of the failure of the international community to stop it."

The kingdom is among the most vehement opponents of Assad and supports Sunni rebel groups fighting to oust him. The Sunni rulers of Saudi Arabia are in a power struggle for regional dominance with Iran's Shiite government and view Tehran's support of Assad as a threat to the region.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The U.S. Navy has decided to ground all 197 training jets indefinitely, following an exclusive Fox News report earlier this week that U.S. Navy pilots are refusing to fly the T-45 training jet because they say there is poison in the oxygen system.

The pause is extended as long as our experts need as they diligently work to determine the root cause of the physiological episodes and solutions to fix the issue, said Lt. Leslie Hubbell, a Navy spokesperson told Fox News Saturday.

Previously the Navy announced a three-day pause to the flight schedule, which was supposed to expire on Monday.

The heads of naval aviation and experts have been meeting with the instructor pilots at three bases across the United States in Mississippi, Texas, and Florida. Senator Roger Wicker, R.-Miss., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is meeting the heads of naval aviation as well on Saturday in Meridian, Mississippi.

In the last five years, physiological episodes, caused in part by problems with the oxygen system, nearly have quadrupled on the T-45 training jet, according to Capitol Hill testimony last week by senior naval aviators.

The T-45 is used to train all U.S. Navy student pilots in jet aircraft. The pilots will eventually fly F/A-18 Hornets, EA-6B Prowlers, and the E-2 Hawkeye.

Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson contributed to this report.
Attorney Jeff Sessions warned that the agreement negotiated under the Obama administration to overhaul the troubled Baltimore police force may result in a less safe city.

His warning comes after a federal judge approved the agreement despite the harsh objections from the Justice Department.

President Trumps attorney general said in a statement Friday that the Baltimore agreement shows "clear departures from many proven principles of good policing that we fear will result in more crime."

"The decree was negotiated during a rushed process by the previous administration and signed only days before they left office," Sessions said. "While the Department of Justice continues to fully support police reform in Baltimore, I have grave concerns that some provisions of this decree will reduce the lawful powers of the police department and result in a less safe city."

U.S. District Judge James Bredar signed the so-called consent decree Friday, a day after a hearing to solicit comments from Baltimore residents, calling the plan "comprehensive, detailed and precise."

He denied a request to delay the signing to give the Trump administration more time to review the agreement. At Thursday's hearing, a Justice Department attorney expressed "grave concerns" about the plan, aimed at rooting out racist practices.

The consent decree was negotiated during the closing days of the Obama administration after a federal investigation found rampant abuse by Baltimore police, including unlawful stops and use of excessive force against black people.

The investigation was prompted by the 2015 death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man whose neck was broken during a lurching ride in the back of a police van, where he had been left unbuckled, his hands and legs shackled. Gray's death touched off the worst rioting in Baltimore in decades.

In a memo made public earlier this week, the Trump Justice Department signaled that it may retreat from the consent decrees that have been put in place in recent years in such cities as Cleveland; Ferguson, Missouri; Miami; and Newark, New Jersey.

The Justice Department can appeal the judge's decision, but it would have to show the judge made an error or abused his discretion.

That would be difficult to prove, said Jonathan Smith, a civil rights attorney in the Obama Justice Department who oversaw negotiations with troubled police departments.

Justice Department lawyers also could try to modify the consent decree, but the burden is high, requiring them to show there has been a substantial change in the facts or the law, Smith said.

City officials, including Police Commissioner Kevin Davis, have voiced their support for the agreement.

Mayor Catherine Pugh disputed the notion the decree will hurt the fight against crime.

"I believe that it makes Baltimore safer," she said. "I think by building and training our police officers in ways to de-escalate violence, to work with our communities, to have cultural diversity training and have the right kind of tools they need to know what they can do in certain areas of our community ... I think it's improved policing."

The homicide rate in Baltimore immediately spiked after the riots over Gray's death, leading some residents to accuse officers of taking a hands-off approach for fear of increased scrutiny.

The soaring crime rate has not relented. In the first three months of 2017, the city recorded 79 homicides, compared with 56 for the same period the year before.

Baltimore's agreement calls for additional training for officers and discourages them from arresting people for minor offenses such as traffic infractions or loitering. It also says officers can no longer detain someone simply for being in a high-crime area.

Following Gray's death, the department began undertaking some reforms, including outfitting officers with body cameras and updating the use-of-force policy.

Gene Ryan, president of the Baltimore police union, has complained that the agreement was rushed and that the union wasn't involved enough in the negotiations.

The national Fraternal Order of Police said it was disappointed by the judge's decision to move forward.

"But Baltimore officers will endeavor to give the citizens of Baltimore the best public safety service possible given the constraints imposed upon the department by the decree," said Jim Pasco, the senior adviser to the group's president.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani and Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjen, in a meeting in Tehran on Saturday, called for expansion of economic relations between the two countries, IRNA reported.

During the meeting, the Iranian Parliament speaker said that now the time is ripe for Iran and Hungary to give a boost to bilateral cooperation.

Larijani said that the two countries need to promote economic relations, particularly industrial issues.

Noting that environmental issues, renewable energies, constructional projects, such as ports and railways, and agricultural sector top the agenda of the Iranian government, the Iranian Parliament speaker said that Iran and Hungary can have positive cooperation on these areas.

The Hungarian prime minister, for his part, said that Hungary kept his positive relations with Iran during sanctions time. He expressed hope that interactions between Iran and Hungary will improve in the post-sanctions era.

Hungary has always supported Irans interests in the European Union, Semjen said.

He underlined the need for the expansion of banking cooperation between the two countries which he said will be to the benefit of merchants of both countries.
President Trump on Saturday congratulated U.S. military personnel who executed his ordered missile strike on the Syrian air base connected to a deadly chemical attack on civilians earlier in the week.

Congratulations to our great military men and women for representing the United States, and the world, so well in the Syria attack, Trump tweeted.

The airstrike was launched overnight Thursday from U.S. Navy ships in the Mediterranean Sea.

The 59 tomahawk cruise missiles targeted the Shayrat air base, near the central Syrian town of Homs, reportedly killing nine people.

The base is the purported takeoff spot for the chemical attack Tuesday in the northern Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun, a stronghold for forces trying to overthrow the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad in a 6-year-long civil war.

Assad purportedly ordered the attack, which killed a reported 87 people, including children.

The commander of one of the two Navy destroyers that launched the cruise missiles -- the USS Porter -- is a female Naval Academy graduate, according to The Capital Gazette newspaper.

The other vessel was the USS Ross.

Cmdr. Andria Slough graduated from the service academy with a bachelor of science degree in ocean engineering. She has previously served as an officer on the USS O'Brien and was a deputy director for the Joint Maritime Ballistic Missile Defense Operations and Training program.

On Saturday, a fatal airstrike occurred in Khan Sheikhoun, according to two international monitoring groups.

Syria's government has denied responsibility for any chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun.

And Russia's Defense Ministry, which has condemned the U.S. response, said the toxic chemical were released when a Syrian airstrike hit a rebel chemical weapons arsenal and munitions factory on the town's eastern outskirts.

Fox News Jennifer Griffin contributed to this story.
This is a rush transcript from "Your World," April 7, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

NEIL CAVUTO, HOST: All right, the briefing after the fact, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff now briefing members of Congress on Syria.

Republican Alaska Senator, member of crucial Armed Services Committee, Dan Sullivan among those given the heads-up on all of that.

Senator, very good to have, sir. Thank you very much.

SEN. DAN SULLIVAN, R-ALASKA: Good afternoon, Neil. Good to be with you.

CAVUTO: Some of your colleagues, Mike Lee, Rand Paul, among others, concerned that they didn't get any heads-up on this and the president went a little too far. What do you think?

SULLIVAN: Well, look, I commend the president and his team, including Chairman Dunford, who briefed us just a couple hours ago, and, of course, the men and women in the U.S. military who carried out this response.

It was meant to focus on making sure that Bashar al-Assad could not once again use chemical weapons against his own people or against our allies in the region. And it was also meant to send a clear message: Don't do this again.

He's committed not to use these weapons. He's clearly in violation of that. So, I think it's a good start on a really important issue, which is reestablishing American credibility in the region, critical, difficult. But we got to do it.

CAVUTO: All right.

When I did speak -- and I'm sorry I wasn't clear in my question then -- when I talked to Senator Lee on this, he had just said, this did not represent clear and imminent danger to the United States, so he should have, that is, the president should have checked with Congress first, should have checked, more specifically, with senators about this first.

What do you say?

SULLIVAN: Well, look, I think this is an important response.

And I think, particularly given the war on terror, not every response -- and this was meant to be timely, it was meant to be proportional -- not every military response we can undertake to get the full Senate or full House to approve it.

There was talk in the meeting about the -- a use of military force resolution. I have always been for that. But, if you remember, President Obama put forward one last couple years that was much too limiting.

What we don't want to do is limit the president of the United States to protect the interests of the United States.

CAVUTO: Now, part of that use of force agreement the president wanted to push was that if the United Nations was going to act sort of like an overseer, and make sure that the regime, in this case in Syria, would get rid of its chemical weapons, and that the Russians, ostensibly as their chief spokesperson, if you will, and watcher, would oversee it.

SULLIVAN: Right.

CAVUTO: Now, we found out that that wasn't the case. This is the clearest case that they didn't do what they said, and the Russians were culpable as well.

So, didn't this actually behoove the action the president took and didn't it actually strengthen his argument not to consult you guys at all?

SULLIVAN: Well, look, I think that we're clearly getting briefed on it right now.

And I think that what we did also provides us with a diplomatic opportunity right here. You mentioned how that this is a clear violation of what the Russians, what the Bashar al-Assad regime had agreed to, and yet they're clearly violating the agreements.

I think what we have the opportunity to do now is isolate these countries diplomatically. You know, one thing that we did talk about in the briefing, Neil, was the overwhelming support of our allies, not only in the region, but out NATO allies around the world.

This is the importance of beginning to reestablish U.S. credibility in the region and to begin to reestablish U.S. leadership. When we're leading, when we're taking action that advances U.S. interests, other countries are going to follow. And I think you're seeing that today.

CAVUTO: Would you feel this way as well, Senator, if there's a follow-up, if it's not a one-off, that if the administration gets similar evidence that Syria isn't behaving or, with chemical weapons, dialing them back, or is doing anything else provocative, that it does so again and doesn't consult you again?

SULLIVAN: Well, look, we -- what we need to do is wait and see what this action, which I supported, was meant to do was to send a signal to the regime that we shouldn't and neither should other countries tolerate the use of banned chemical weapons against either your own citizens or the citizens of our allies in the region.

And I think that that was a clear message. It is an issue with regard to the credibility of the Trump administration trying to regain that U.S. credibility that's been lost in the region.

So, I think we should wait and see. But if he undertakes actions similar to this, I think we should look seriously at striking and degrading even more of his chemical weapons capabilities and his ability to attack his own citizens and, again, our allies in the region like Israel.

CAVUTO: All right, Senator, thank you for taking the time, Dan Sullivan of the beautiful state of Alaska.

SULLIVAN: Thanks, Neil.

CAVUTO: All right.

END

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The American Civil Liberties Union has asked South Dakota social services officials to clarify policies on catheterization of children after a woman objected to the procedure done on her 3-year-old son.

The woman told the Sioux Falls Argus Leader in a story published Friday that authorities wanted her two children tested for drugs after her boyfriend failed a drug test. She said the Department of Social Services threatened to remove them from her home if she didn't comply.

She said because her son couldn't provide a sample, he was catheterized by nurses. An ACLU letter to the state says the woman did not know a catheter would be used, and that the boy contracted a staph infection from the procedure.

The state agency declined to discuss specific cases. It says it may request a parent obtain a drug screen, but it doesn't determine the method or perform the screen.

___

Information from: Argus Leader, http://www.argusleader.com
President Donald Trump has nominated Dr. Mark E. Green, a medical doctor, Tennessee state senator and decorated West Point graduate, to be the 23rd secretary of the Army, the White House announced Friday afternoon.

Green's nomination comes more than a month after Wall Street trader and billionaire Vincent Viola, Trump's previous pick for the position, removed himself from consideration Feb. 3, saying he was unable to distance himself from his business ties to accept the post.

Green served in the Army as an infantry officer from 1986 to 2006, deploying twice to Iraq and once to Afghanistan while on active duty, according to a published biography. He earned the prestigious Army Ranger Tab early in his career, and later served as a captain with the 82nd Airborne Division as a battalion supply officer and infantry company commander.

In the middle of his career, according to published biographies, Green asked that the Army send him to medical school, and subsequently earned a medical degree from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. One of his last tours on active duty was as flight surgeon for the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.

"His most memorable mission was the successful capture of Saddam Hussein," reads a biography featured on the Tennessee chapter of the Community Associations Institute.

During his service, Green earned the Combat Medical Badge, the Bronze Star, and the Air Medal with "V" device for combat valor, according to that biography. He was also recognized as Army Aviation Association Flight Surgeon of the Year.

Following his time in the military, Green served as president of the Emergency Services Network and then founded Align MD Foundation, a Clarksville, Tennessee, nonprofit that claims to offer free health care to the needy around the world, with a free clinic in Panama City, Florida, and international medical missions trips. He also serves as CEO of emergency department staffing company Align MD.

He was elected to the Tennessee Senate in 2012, and reportedly filed paperwork to run for governor of the state in January. If he accepts the nomination as secretary of the Army, Green would have to end that bid.

If confirmed, Green would succeed Robert Speer, who has been serving as acting secretary of the Army since Trump's election. Eric Fanning, the 22nd secretary of the Army, was confirmed in 2016 and held the position for less than a year.

Currently, all four Defense Department services await a civilian leader.

Heather Wilson, Trump's pick for secretary of the Air Force, is in the final stages of the confirmation process, after being approved by a Senate panel April 5.

Trump's previous nominee for secretary of the Navy, Philip Bilden, withdrew from consideration Feb. 26, citing challenges in separating himself from his business interests.

Trump is expected to name a new Navy secretary nominee in coming days.

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at@HopeSeck.
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray says sex abuse allegations made against him "were very painful" but that he won't back down in fighting them.

In a brief statement Friday, Murray said "the individual making these allegations is troubled, and that makes me sad as well."

Murray, who is running for re-election, said he has never backed down, and "I will not back down now."

Murray didn't take questions, saying the lawsuit is a legal matter that will be addressed in the court.

A lawsuit filed Thursday by a man identified only by initials had accused Murray of sex abuse of a then-teenage boy in the 1980s. Murray had previously denied the allegations through a spokesman, saying they are politically motivated.
The first wife of real estate heir Robert Durst has been officially declared dead 35 years after she was last seen.

A New York judge set the date of death for Kathleen Durst at Jan. 31, 1987, exactly five years after her 1982 disappearance.

The ruling from Surrogate's Court in Manhattan was dated March 24. It was first reported in the New York Post.

Durst has long been suspected in the death of his wife but he was never criminally charged.

The 73-year-old Durst is charged with murder in the 2000 killing of Susan Berman in Los Angeles.

Berman reportedly was planning to speak with investigators about Kathleen Durst's suspected slaying.

The declaration of death for Kathleen Durst allows her siblings to pursue civil litigation against Durst.
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The U.S. airstrikes this week were aimed at a Syrian air base, but almost certainly got the attention of another adversary  North Korea.

Heading into the first talks between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, North Korea was the front-and-center security issue on the table. But Trump's decision to launch the airstrikes changed that dynamic quite abruptly  and for Pyongyang, more than talk of sanctions or deeper isolation, the missiles may well have been the message.

Trump talked up the meeting with lots of tough rhetoric about how he was going to get China to fully exert its influence over North Korea or, if he needed to, go it alone, saying Washington could "totally" resolve the issue without China's help. Pyongyang appeared to up the ante just before the meeting began by test-launching a ballistic missile.

With all eyes on the Syria airstrikes, however, the expected showdown over North Korea policy ended with no significant breakthroughs to announce.

The two leaders instead broadly vowed to work more closely to get the North to abandon its nuclear weapons, a vow that Pyongyang has heard many times before.

Such closer cooperation could include tighter enforcement of international trade sanctions  almost all of North Korea's trade passes through China  along with a crackdown on the North's ability to use the international financial system and heavy punishments or exclusion from the financial world for those who deal with the North.

Beijing, though deeply concerned by its neighbor's nuclear weapons program, has always advocated an approach that focuses more on talks and engagement than sanctions and isolation. Having gotten through the talks without making any major, specific commitments, the Chinese president would seem to have won some ground  or at least some wiggle room  in the Trump talks.

For Pyongyang, meanwhile, the news of Trump's military action against Syria probably spoke louder than words.

Like most of the world, Pyongyang is still trying to figure out just what kind of a leader Trump will be. The missile barrage enhances Trump's image as a leader willing to use U.S. military power quickly and in a precision-strike manner  which is exactly the scenario that concerns North Korea most.

The airstrikes, announced shortly after Trump and Xi wrapped up dinner Thursday night, were retaliation against Syrian President Bashar Assad for a chemical weapons attack against civilians caught up in his country's long civil war.

North Korea has long claimed that the United States is preparing to conduct similar precision strikes against its territory or even launch an all-out invasion.

In fact, the North justifies its nuclear weapons as a necessary deterrent to the U.S. military threat and has over the past weeks warned that the biggest-ever joint U.S.-South Korean war games, which are held annually and are now underway, have raised tensions on the Korean Peninsula to the brink of war. The peninsula remains technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean conflict was concluded with an armistice, not a formal peace treaty.

Washington denies it has any intention of invading the North.

Doing so  even with a one-off sort of airstrike  would be a far more risky move. Unlike Syria, North Korea has a means of striking back. Along with its rapidly advancing nuclear and long-range missile capabilities, it has its artillery and short-range missiles trained on Seoul, the capital of U.S. ally South Korea and a city of more than 10 million people.

Nevertheless, the strikes against Assad's government in Syria  which Pyongyang considers an ally  are likely to have added weight in the North's eyes to Trump's recent threat to act unilaterally against North Korea's weapons program.

If it was looking for moral support from Beijing, which is also inclined to support Assad and more diplomacy rather than military actions, it didn't get any. China's response to the airstrikes was muted.
A fight broke out Friday in Florida during a protest against President Trumps decision to authorize an airstrike in Syria.

The fight was caught on video during a live broadcast on Action News Jax, a local station in Jacksonville.

It looked as though a couple of dozen protesters were gathered in downtown Jacksonville and protesters started shouting at each other. Police stepped in and arrested six.

The Jacksonville Sheriffs Office told the station that David Schneider, 27, was the primary organizer of the protest. He was charged with inciting or encouraging a riot. The ages of those arrested ranged from 26 to 74.
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Survivors of the infamous Bataan Death March in the Philippines are marking the anniversary in San Francisco with speeches and a 21-gun battery salute to the thousands who died in it.

The march started 75 years ago in 1942 when Japanese soldiers forced tens of thousands of U.S. and Filipino solders on a 65-mile (105-kilometer) trudge through hot jungle to a prison camp.

Hundreds of American soldiers and thousands of Filipinos died along the way. Japanese soldiers shot, bayoneted or beat anyone who fell or stopped for water.

The event Saturday will also honor the mostly Filipino soldiers who held off Japanese forces in the Philippines for three months with little food or ammunition until they surrendered.

More than 250,000 Filipino soldiers served in World War II.
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Abdel Hameed al-Yousef woke to the sound of an early morning bombardment in the northern Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun and told his wife Dalal to take their twins Aya and Ahmed to safety outside.

He emerged to find the home covered in dust, and then a new strike exploded about 400 yards (300 meters away).

Within minutes, he said, his eyes started to water, and he soon lost consciousness.

"I estimate I came to about five hours later, he said. "And I had lost 19 of my close relatives. They were all on the ground."

Eventually, "They found Ahmed, Aya and my wife and four other people near my house," the 29-year-old shopkeeper recalled.

They were among the nearly 90 people who died from what U.S. and other experts have determined was a Syrian government attack using sarin, an outlawed nerve toxin.

While the Syrian government denied the attack and its Russian ally suggested the toxic agents were released when a bomb hit a rebel chemical weapons arsenal, the U.S. government responded with a barrage of 59 cruise missiles against Shayrat air base in central Syria that apparently had been used in the gas attack.

For the bereaved al-Yousef, speaking to The Associated Press after fleeing across the border to the southern Turkish province of Hatay, the retaliation wasn't enough.

"We thought he (U.S. President Donald Trump) would strike all the air bases," al-Yousef said. "Striking one is not enough."

Even the one may still be operational. Opposition activists said on Saturday that Syrian warplanes took off from Shayrat air base, despite the U.S. missile strike.

The Syrian civil war, now it's in its sixth year, has left an estimated 400,000 people dead. Al-Yousef wants the bloodshed to end.

"What I want is for this waterfall of blood to end, for my people to live a good life, like humans, free and with justice. I want this cruelty to end and to go back to living how we used to," he said.

He frequently glanced at the photographs of his lost wife and children saved on his cellphone. "My goal from now on," he said, "will be to tell everybody what I have lived through."
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 8

By Fatih Karimov  Trend:

Irans police seized over 1,815 kilograms of various drugs, including opium, hashish and heroin from smugglers in the country's southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan.

Police forces seized 1,419 kilograms of drugs in an armed clash with smugglers near the city of Saravan last night, the province's police commander, Brigadier General Hossein Rahimi said Apr. 8, Fars news agency reported.

In another operation, the police seized 396 kilograms of narcotics from smugglers near the city of Zahedan, he added.

In total, 1,545 kilograms of opium, 194 kilograms of hashish and 76 kilograms of heroin were seized in the two operations, Rahimi said.

The smugglers were trying to carry the drug cargos to central Iran, the police commander said, adding that five smugglers were arrested in the operations.

Iran is situated on a major drug route between Afghanistan and Europe, as well as the Persian Gulf states. The Islamic Republic shares about 900 kilometers of common border with Afghanistan, over which 74 percent of opium is smuggled.

The fight against drug trafficking annually costs Iran about $1 billion, according to the official estimates.

According to the statistics, there are about two million drug users in Iran.
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The exiled Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader says it's up to his followers to decide whether the office of the Dalai Lama exists in the future.

In a speech to tens of thousands of his followers Saturday in the northeast Indian town of Tawang  the second-highest seat of Tibetan Buddhism  the Dalai Lama denied that he had any knowledge of where his successor would be born.

Asked if the next Dalai Lama could be a woman, he said, "That might also happen."

China's leadership insists it has the authority to appoint the Dalai Lama's successor after his death.

The Dalai Lama is on a weeklong visit to the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh despite objections by China, which considers the state a disputed region.
The U.S. bombardment of a Syrian airbase just outside of Homs Friday was likely seen by North Korea as a clear warning that President Trump will use his military if United States interests are at risk.

The immediate focus after the strikes was on Russias Vladimir Putins reaction. Russia was not happy with the U.S., it spoke in defense of Syria and moved warships. But now the attention is on the next move by another world leader: Kim Jong-Un.

Gordon Chang, a Daily Beast columnist and author of Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes On The World, said in an emailed statement to Fox News Friday that the U.S. strike on the Syrian airfield tells North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un that he must now heed American military power, something that he probably dismissed before.

Kims father, Kim Jong Il, disappeared from public view for about six weeks in 2003 at the time of the Iraq war. Kim Jong-Un loves the public spotlight, and it will be telling if he similarly goes into hiding, the author said.

The airstrikes are a warning to Chinas Peoples Liberation Army, which had grown dismissive of the U.S. Navy and Air Force. Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader visiting Mar-a-Lago, almost certainly interpreted the strike as a sign of disrespect to him, Chang said.

Retired four-star Gen. Jack Keane told Fox News on Wednesday that the U.S. is "rapidly and dangerously heading towards the reality that the military option is the only one left when it comes to getting North Korea to denuclearize and not weaponized [intercontinental ballistic missiles]."

Trump made it a point to address the media about the Syria strike at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida just moments after dining with his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping.

The strike was a culmination of a rapid, three-day transformation for Trump, who has long opposed deeper U.S. involvement in Syria's civil war. Advisers said he was outraged by heartbreaking images of young children who were among the dozens killed in the chemical attack and ordered his national security team to swiftly prepare military options. The Los Angeles Times reported up to 15 dead in the strikes. A Syrian official said six were killed at the base and nine others in surrounding areas. The death toll could not be independently confirmed.

This is Trump saying, No, I am a man of my words, Reva Goujon, the vice president of Stratfor, told CNBC. When I make a threat, I will follow through. Thats certainly something the Chinese and North Koreans will be thinking about.

Trump has said that if China doesn't exert more pressure on North Korea, the U.S. will act alone. The missile strikes on Syria bring more weight to that statement.

The Associated Press contributed to this report
A local Palestinian commander in Lebanon has vowed to crush a small group of extremists in a refugee camp as clashes intensified for a second day and at least one person was killed.

Subhi Abu Arab told the state-run National News Agency Saturday that all factions in the Ein el-Hilweh camp have united against followers of Bilal Badr, saying the only way to end the fighting is for them to surrender.

NNA said the fighting led to the closure of a main highway linking the port city of Sidon with southern Lebanon.

Ein el-Hilweh, the largest of 12 Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, is notoriously lawless and is home to some extremists who sympathize with the Islamic State group and al-Qaida.
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Hundreds of Polish postal workers have noisily marched through downtown Warsaw to demand higher pay and better work conditions.

Chanting "Thieves" and "You cannot fire us all," they walked from the main post office to the office of Prime Minister Beata Szydlo to demand a 1,000 zlotys ($250) monthly raise.

"Postal employees earn subsistence wages, some 2,100 zlotys ($500) a month. The work is poorly organized and they are overburdened. This has to change," said Jakub Zaczek with an organization defending employee rights, ZSP.

The protesters demanded that more people be employed to help share the workload.

Similar protests were organized in Warsaw and other Polish cities last month. There has been no government reaction.
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Pope Francis is urging young people to lead the church's future even as he voices doubts about whether he'll be around much longer to see it.

The 80-year-old pope referred to his own mortality twice in the span of a few minutes Saturday during a service to rally young people to attend the Catholic Church's big youth festival, World Youth Day, to be held in Panama in 2019.

He said: "I don't know if it will be me, but the pope will be in Panama!"

And a few minutes earlier, he drew gasps from the crowd when he quipped: "At my age, we (old people) are about to pass away."

Sensing their reaction, Francis, whose papacy began in March 2013, added: "Who guarantees life? No one. At your age, you have the future ahead of you."

The Pope urged to the young audience to lead the way and have

something to say to the church.

But what drama there is in the world today, he said, noting that unfortunately, today young people are often discarded; they dont have work, they arent given an ideal for their lives, they dont have education, they lack integration. Many are forced to flee and live as refugees in in other lands.

Its hard to say this, but often times young people are treated as garbage, he said.

Francis said that its terrible to see a young person ready to go into retirement at the age of 20. Its terrible. And its terrible to see young people who spend their lives on their couch. What is needed, the Pope said, instead are young people who walk, who go out on the street and move forward beside others, but looking toward the future.

Francis closed his speech by emphasizing to youth, as he often has, the importance of speaking with grandparents, saying this bridge of dialogue between elderly and youth is needed today more than ever.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Somalia's northeastern semiautonomous state of Puntland has executed five men who were convicted of murdering two regional officials. Saturday's executions are the latest of several in the region that is battling both extremist group al-Shabab and fighters linked to the Islamic State group.

A military court sentenced the five defendants for the murders in December of Puntland's statehouse director and the deputy police commander. The five were accused of being al-Shabab fighters.

The men appealed the verdict but a higher court upheld their sentences. Two others were sentenced to life in prison.

The Islamic State-linked fighters broke away from al-Shabab and are trying to expand areas under their control in Puntland.
A court in Somalia's breakaway northern territory of Somaliland has sentenced a journalist to two years in prison after he was arrested for meeting Somalia's new president.

Abdimalik Muse Oldon was charged with engaging in anti-national activities, spreading "false" news and disturbing public order.

Oldon, an online journalist, was arrested upon his arrival at the Hargeisa airport after he met Somalia's new President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed in February.

Oldon was sentenced Saturday at a regional court in Hargeisa, Somaliland's capital.

Somali media organizations have long said Somalia's old penal code written in 1960 is designed to silence journalists and curtail freedom of expression.

Oldon's family told reporters they would appeal the verdict.

Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991. No country so far has recognized it as independent.
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A Swedish prosecutor says a person has been formally identified as a suspect "of terrorist offenses by murder" by driving a hijacked truck into a crowd of pedestrians, killing four people and wounding 15 others.

The prosecutor, Hans Ihrman, said Saturday that the unidentified suspect should face a pre-trial custody hearing before midday Tuesday or be released.

Earlier, Swedish police said the man they arrested "resembles the person we earlier have sought after" in the truck attack.

Police say the suspect isn't necessarily identical with the man seen in photos released after the incident.
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An ocean away from home, spilling their blood on a remote ridge in the muddied battlefields of northern France a century ago, many would argue that Canadians earned nationhood.

Vimy Ridge has become much more than speck on a French map, even much more than a famous World War I battle. In a fledgling nation looking for a sense of self, trying to set it apart from British rule, the battle provided everything it needed  the vision of an underdog beating the odds, a show of courage, resolve and unity.

"It made the Canadian Corps think it could do anything. It made the soldiers believe that they were really good soldiers, better than anybody else. They had done something that the British and French were not able to do," said Professor Jack Granatstein, a Canadian military historian.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau plans to visit the fertile countryside, where any hill with a view was fought over with a blind determination costing thousands of lives.

British and French forces had tried for a long time but failed to take Vimy Ridge. The Canadians succeeded on April 9, 1917, battling through snow and sleet to push out the Germans who had long held the strategic post.

The Canadians came, succeeded, at the price of 3,600 dead and over 7,000 injured.

In the grand scheme of the war, it amounted to little. "It did not win the war. It did not change the course of the war. It moved the Germans back several kilometers but that was it," Granatstein said.

For the nation though, it meant everything.

"In one day  in fact in one morning  these civilian volunteers from a small country with no military tradition were expected to do what the British and French had failed to do in two years," Pierre Berton wrote in his popular 1985 book, "Vimy."

It would take more than a year to finally budge the front line and start pushing the Germans back. The Canadians, ever more emboldened after Vimy, played their part and even were among the signatories to the Versailles Treaty.

Among the string of monuments reaching from the North Sea to Switzerland, Vimy stands out as perhaps the finest.

With its surging pale columns reaching skyward, it stirs the soul. Yet statues of the Weeping Woman and two mourners, and the list of 11,285 soldiers posted "missing, presumed dead" makes it a solemn pilgrimage site.

The Vimy memorial, a revered national symbol, is on the back of Canada's $20 bill to this day.

___

Rob Gillies wrote from Toronto. Dave Rising contributed from Berlin
Local attorney R. Leigh Frackelton Jr. has joined the firm of Parrish Snead Franklin Simpson, PLC. Frackelton practices primarily in the area of trusts and estates.

The University of Mary Washington Center for Economic Development is holding a seminar called Human Resource Law 101: Basics Every Employer Should Know on Tuesday from 9 a.m. to noon. Randy Sparks Jr., a member of the Labor and Employment Law Practice Group at Kaufman & Canoles, will address basic human resource topics that all business owners should be familiar with. Fee is $45. Call 540/654-1383 for more information.

Giant Food of Landover, Md. will donate 200 hams to the Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank, 3631 Lee Hill Dr., at 11 a.m. Tuesday. This donation is part of Giants contributions to five area Feeding America food banks for a total of 1,000 hams provided to help alleviate hunger across the Mid-Atlantic region.

Prosperity Home Mortgage, LLC, has been recognized for its exceptional mortgage originators by Mortgage Executive Magazine. Additionally, 28 mortgage consultants with Prosperity were named to Mortgage Executive Magazines list of The Nations Top 1% of Mortgage Originators. Among those consultants was Janice Lanning of Fredericksburg.

The Fredericksburg Food Cooperative has 388 members as of April. During AprilEarth Day Monththe co-op has a special incentive for new members. All who join in April will be entered to win a $200 cash prize, essentially covering the cost of the one-time membership fee. Also eligible are existing members who refer a new member in April. Go to fredericksburgfoodcoop.com for more information.

Mary Washington Healthcares Fredericksburg Ambulatory Surgery Center has achieved accreditation by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care.

Businets Inc., a Fredericksburg computer IT support company announced a new addition to its team. Mike Snellings will join Businets as dedicated telecommunications salesperson. Along with the new hire, Businets has become an authorized Samsung Telecommunications dealer.

The next Fredericksburg Society for Human Resource Managers Meeting will be themed Performance Appraisals Lead to High Functioning Employees. The meeting will take place Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at American Traffic Safety Services Association, 15 Riverside Pkwy. Fee is $20. The meeting will focus on good evaluation systems for high-functioning employees and will be presented by Lynne Richardson, dean of the College of Business at the University of Mary Washington. Go here to register: frshrm.shrm.org/forms/event-registration.

Lindley Estes
Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 8

By Orkhan Quluzade  Trend:

Turkey and Azerbaijan are working to create a second railway corridor that would supplement the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway, the Turkish media quoted Turkeys Minister of Transport, Maritime and Communication Ahmet Arslan as saying.

Arslan said that certain preparatory work has already been carried out in order to create the Kars-Igdir-Nakhchivan railway.

Construction of the Kars-Igdir-Nakhchivan railway will provide opportunities to unite Kars with Igdir, Nakhchivan and further with Iran and Pakistans Islamabad, he noted.

After the construction of the two railway corridors, the eastern part of Turkey will gain a status of railway hub, added the Turkish minister.

Touching upon the BTK railways construction, Arslan said that railway transportation via this route will start in late June.

Earlier, the minister noted that the opening ceremony of the BTK railway will be held in late June with the participation of Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The BTK railway is being built on the basis of the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey intergovernmental agreement. Peak capacity of the railway will be 17 million tons of cargo per year. At the initial stage, it will serve one million passengers and transport 6.5 million tons of cargo.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @o_quluzade
FREDERICKSBURG

First Christian Church, 1501 Washington Ave., will host a Mens Breakfast today at 8 a.m. Holy Week services commence on Sunday with worship service at 11 a.m. and childrens processional followed by the annual family Easter meal. Other events: Maundy Thursday service in the Newman Fellowship Hall, April 13, 7 p.m.; Resurrection Sunday, April 16, at 11 a.m. worship service following its 10 a.m. all-ages Sunday school. 540/373-7716; 1stchristianchurchfredva.org.

Fredericksburg Baptist Church, 1019 Princess Anne St., will host the Chamber Chorale of Fredericksburg, performing How Can We Keep From Singing? Sharing The Gift of Music With Our Community today at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. There will be a Q&A session a half-hour before each performance with the director, and the concert will honor UMFS foster families: Even Superman Had Foster Parents. $10 for adults, $5 for students. 540/373-4402; ccfbg.org.

Christ Lutheran Church, 1300 Augustine Ave., will present the living dramatization of Leonardo DaVincis The Last Supper at both the 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. services Sunday; Maundy Thursday Service of Holy Communion April 13, 7:30 p.m.; and Good Friday Time of Reflection and Prayer on April 14 from 4:30-7:30 p.m. Resurrection Day Services of Holy Communion at Christ Lutheran Church on Easter Sunday will be at 8 a.m., 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. 540/373-5087.

Kingdom Family Worship Center, 400 Bragg Hill Drive, will host a service in remembrance of the Seven Last Words of Jesus on the Cross on Sunday at 4 p.m. Featured guest speakers include the Rev. Robert Bumbrey, Hillcrest United Methodist Church, Fredericksburg; Deaconess Melissa Brooks, St. John Baptist Church, Woodford; Sister Sophia Blake, Watchmen Ministries, Stafford; Minister Aaron Dobynes Jr., Shiloh Old Site Baptist Church, Fredericksburg; and others. 540/371-3513.

Fredericksburg United Methodist Church, 308 Hanover St., will host Mary Washington Hospice as it holds a Service of Remembrance, Reflection and Celebration on April 23 at 3 p.m. Reflect and remember those we have loved and lost. Reception following the service. The church parking lot is around the corner on Charlotte Street. Handicapped parking and assistance will be available. Paul Meeuwissen, 540/741-3580. 540/373-9021.

Trinity Bible Church, 6331 Campus Drive, holds a midweek Bible study Wednesday at 7 p.m. on the Book of Revelation. The church will also continue to host Sunday evening AWANA ministry from 5-7 p.m. admin@tbc.me.

SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY

Christ Episcopal Church, 8951 Courthouse Road. The Thrift Shop will host a Gigantic Yard Sale, just around the corner from the second annual Food Truck Rodeo today from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. It will rent out spaces next to the Thrift Shop and in front of the church to individuals and vendors. First come, first served. $10 per space for church members, $15 for non-church members. Proceeds go to the Thrift Shop. 540/582-5503; christchurchspotsy.com.

Hebron Baptist Church, 11000 Hebron Church Road. The W.M.U. will be holding a silent auction today starting at 6 p.m. Food will be served and items can be viewed at 5 p.m. All proceeds will go to missions. Brenda, 540/895-5636.

Eastland United Methodist Church, 10718 Courthouse Road, is accepting donations of items for the church yard sale today. All proceeds from the yard sale will go to the churchs building fund. Call 540/604-1532 to arrange for drop-off of items.

Resurrection Lutheran Church, 6170 Plank Road, is holding Palm Sunday Services with processional on Sunday at 8:30 and 11 a.m.; Maundy Thursday worship on April 13 at 7 p.m.; and Good Friday Tenebrae worship on April 14 at 7 p.m. 540/786-7778; resurrectionpeople.org.

Benchmark Baptist Fellowship, 10510 Benchmark Road, will host a Youth and Family Night on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. Come witness the Illusions of Ken Sibley. Free. For more information, contact Pastor Alan at 540/373-9139. benchmarkbaptist.org, facebook.com/BenchmarkBaptist.

Shady Grove United Methodist Church, 11007 W. Catharpin Road, will host a Gospel Sing fundraiser on April 21 at 6:30 p.m. Performers will include the Massaponax Praise Team, the Henderson Family and Ronnie Williams and special guest Lorrie Carter Bennett. Bennett is a granddaughter of Mother Maybelle Carter of the world-famous Carter Family. Free; a love offering will be taken. Refreshments. 540/972-2012.

World Harvest Cathedral Church, formerly at 56 Joseph Mills Drive, has moved to a new location at 9241 Courthouse Road. Worship services are from 10 a.m. to noon. 703/312-3091.

Craigs Baptist Church, 14123 W. Catharpin Road, holds its AWANA program every Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. The church is accepting early bird applications for vendors and crafters for the Oct. 7 Harvest Festival/Craft Show. 540/854-5284; churchbaptistchurch.org.

Goshen Baptist Church, 9800 Gordon Road, holds meeting on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month for American Heritage Girls or Trail Life. 540/786-7500.

New Destiny Baptist Church, 11903 Bowman Drive, will host a Resurrection Celebration Weekend. Schedule: Seven Last Words of Christ, April 14 at 7 p.m.; Men & Women of the Bible Musical Drama, April 15 at 6 p.m.; and Worship Service, April 16 at 10 a.m. NewDestinyVA.org.

Redeemer Lutheran Church, 5120 Harrison Road, will be starting up a Panda Pantry, which will provide weekend food assistance to local elementary school students in need. 540/898-4748.

St. Judes Catholic Church, 10725 Courthouse Road, will begin a Grief Support Group to help those who are grieving the loss of a spouse on May 2 at 10 a.m. in the activity center. The group will offer guidance and support. The series Seasons of Hope will be used. Members of other parishes and/or faith communities are welcome. 540/891-7350.

STAFFORD

Berea Baptist Church, 28 Fleet Road, will host a free community Easter Egg Hunt at the church today from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Bounce house, face painting, egg dyeing, crafts, balloons and baked treats. Ages 2 through fifth grade. Berea has an automated external defibrillator on-site. Sign up for free CPR training class Sunday at 12:15 p.m. Easter Sunrise Service at April 16 at 6:30 a.m. followed by a pancake breakfast. Easter worship service begins at 11 a.m. 540/752-4406; berea-baptist.org.

Hulls Memorial Baptist Church, 420 Enon Road, will host an Easter Extravaganza for children of all ages today from 1-3 p.m. Free, fun-filled, family event featuring games, face painting, crafts, relays, devotions, snacks and an egg hunt. 540/371-4124.

Emmanuel AME Church, 240 Chatham Heights Road, will celebrate James Weldon Johnson by bringing one of his most well-known works, Gods Trombones, to life today at 5 p.m. This classic collection includes Listen LordA Prayer, The Creation, Go Down DeathA Funeral Sermon, The Crucifixion, Let My People Go and The Judgment Day. 540/371-9222.

Grace United Methodist Church, 13056 Elk Ridge Road, will hold events for Holy Week and a youth Easter egg hunt on the week of April 9-16. The Palm Sunday Worship Services will be held at 8:45 and 11 a.m. with the Youth Easter Egg Hunt Sunday at 12:30 p.m. and Spring Fellowship Worship Service on April 23. There will be one service at 11 a.m., featuring gospel group Calvarys Mercy. Immediately following the service will be a chicken lunch. 540/7525462; office.graceumc@gmail.com.

St. Matthias United Methodist Church, 426 Deacon Road. Services during Holy Week and Easter: Palm Sunday 8:45 a.m. Gods Way by Bell Choirs, 11 a.m. Choir Cantata Because We Believe, 1:30 p.m. Easter Egg Hunt; Holy Thursday, April 13, 7 p.m. Christ in the Passover by Jews for Jesus; Good Friday, April 14, 7 p.m. The 7 Last Words of Jesus; Easter Sunday, April 16: 6:30 a.m. Sonrise service, drama, Holy Communion and continental breakfast; 8:45 a.m. and 11 a.m. The Resurrection and the Life with Holy Communion. Professional child care available at all services. 540/373-8759; stmatthiasumc.org.

Mt. Hope Baptist Church, 1653 Brooke Road, will observe Holy Week Service at 7 p.m. Wednesday, with guest Minister Gloria Jackson of City of Refuge Church, Manassas. Thursday, Minister Linda Morton Rankin of United Faith Christian Ministry, Stafford. Friday, Elder Alexis Crenshaw of Word Empowerment Church, Durham, N.C. 540/659-4219.

Ebenezer United Methodist Church, 161 Embrey Mill Road, welcomes the community to its Easter service on April 16. Sunrise Service at 6:30 a.m., traditional service (featuring the Hallelujah Chorus) at 8:15 a.m. or contemporary services at 9:45 a.m., 11:15 a.m. and 6 p.m. Nursery and Sunday School are available during all services except the Sunrise Service. 540/659-1349; ebenezerumc.org.

KING GEORGE COUNTY

Dahlgren United Methodist Church, 17080 14th St., will present The Living Last Supper on Palm Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. in a joint worship service. Leonardo Da Vincis dramatic portrait will come to life as the 12 apostles speak their minds to themselves, to each other, and to the Lord. This presentation will be repeated on Maundy Thursday, April 13, at 7 p.m. and will be followed by the sacrament of Holy Communion. Child care will be provided. 540/663-2230.

Mt. Carmel Baptist Church, 9294 James Madison Parkway, will celebrate the Rev. Dr. Eddie Nelson and Sis Doris Nelsons 18th anniversary at 3 p.m. Guest preacher will be Bishop James Flowers of the Shining Star Freewill Baptist Church in Seat Pleasant, Md. Dinner will be served at 2 p.m. Good Friday service at 7 p.m. with Grant Hill Baptist Church and New Monrovia Baptist Church. Pastor Welford McDowney of Macedonia will be guest preacher. 540/775-0354.

St. Stephens Baptist Church, 9142 Comorn Road, will be hosting a Good Friday Service on April 14. The guest preachers for the service will be Pastor Donnell Howard, Pastor Arthur Washington Jr., Minister Ritta Armstead, Pastor Paul Dorsey, Minister Anthony M. Jones II, Minister DeQuon Quarles and Bishop Anthony M. Jones Sr. Devotions and worship services start at 7 p.m. The dress is casual. 540/775-2688.

CAROLINE

Mount Oni Baptist Church, 14135 Dry Bridge Road, Ruther Glen, will celebrate its first anniversary of pastor and people, Pastor Marvin L. Gilliam, Jr. at 11 a.m. Sunday. Dinner will be served after worship service. 804/633-5784; mountonibaptistchurch.org.

Third Mount Zion Baptist Church, 9132 Fredericksburg Turnpike, Woodford. The senior and junior ushers ministry will celebrate its annual day on Sunday at 3 p.m. with the Rev. Henry During, senior pastor of Star of Bethlehem Baptist Church of Triangle, and his choir and congregation. Dinner will be served at the Upper Caroline Firehouse, 125821 Stonewall Jackson Road, Woodford, at 1:30 p.m. 804/632-6039.

St. John Baptist Church, 17080 S. River Road, Woodford. The Christian Education Ministry will show the film, Risen, in the churchs Social Center on April 12 at 7 p.m. Easter Sunrise Worship will April 16 at 6 a.m. 804/448-3866.

County Line Baptist Church, 3461 Ladysmith Road, Ruther Glen. The Sanctuary Choir will present Tenebrae Service HOPE IN THE SHADOWS on Maundy Thursday, April 13, at 7:30 p.m. Candles will be gradually extinguished as the story of Jesus last week on earth is retold through narration and song. Childcare provided (birth-4 years old). 804/448-2915.

Round Oak Baptist Church, 15025 Pepmeier Hill Road, Woodford. Services include: Good Friday Service at 7:30 p.m. on April 14; Easter Egg Hunt at 10 a.m. on April 15; Sunrise Service at 6:30 a.m. on Easter Sunday, April 16. Breakfast will follow sunrise service, SMBS classes will meet at 9:45 and Combined Easter Worship is at 11 a.m. (there is no 8:30 service). 540/373-6862.

Mount Tabor Baptist Church, 21795 Mattaponi Trail, Milford. Worship Service on Easter Sunday, April 16 at 9 a.m. The Annual Deacons, Deaconess and Trustees Day will be on Sunday, May 7 at 3 p.m. The Rev. Duane Fields Sr., pastor of the Oxford Mt. Zion Baptist Church family, will be our guest. Send two representatives from your Deacons, Deaconess & Trustees ministries to help us celebrate in Jesus name. 804/633-9728.

St. Peters Episcopal Church, 823 Water St., Port Royal, will host Magical Strings, a Celtic duo, on April 22 at 7 p.m. Reception at 6 p.m. Free; voluntary donations support concert series. 540/809-7489; churchsp.org/node/56.

ORANGE COUNTY

Pilgrim Baptist Church, 4189 Pilgrim Church Road, Locust Grove, will be having the Seven Last Words on April 14 at 7 p.m. The Shady Grove Men Choir will provide the music for this event. 540/972-2797.

New Hope Baptist Church, 32250 Old Plank Road, will host its Easter Weekend events beginning with the Upper Room Worship Service on April 14 at 7 p.m. Easter Egg Hunt April 15 at 2 p.m. (bring your own basket). All ages welcome. Obstacle course, games and more. The weekend finishes up with Sunrise Worship Service at 7 a.m. 540/854-4454; info@newhopebapt.org.

The Restoration Community Dance Ministry is accepting new worship dancers for the new season, with rehearsals taking place on Saturday mornings, 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Lake of the Woods Church, 1 Church Lane, Locust Grove. restoration23@yahoo.com; restorationcommunitydanceministry.com.

CULPEPER COUNTY

Beulah Baptist Church, 9297 Eggbornsville Road, Rixeyville. The congregation will celebrate its Spring Revival from April 26-28 at 7 p.m. Theme is Its our Time to Trust God. Wednesday, the guest preacher will be the Rev. Andrew Juggins, Canaan Baptist Church in Reva; on Thursday, the Rev. Timothy Minor, Shiloh Baptist Church in Rixeyville; and on Friday, the Rev. Michael TinsleyShiloh Baptist Church in Woodville. 540/937-5563; bbc9297@gmail.com.

St. Stephens Baptist Church, 115 N. East St. (parking at 120 N. Commerce St.) Palm Sunday service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, beginning in the parking lot for a bagpipe procession around Davis Street. Stations of the Cross April 12 at 7 p.m. Foot washing April 13 at 7 p.m. April 14 Quiet hours at 9 a.m. and Good Friday service at noon. Great Easter Vigil April 15 at 7 p.m. 540/825-8786; ststephensculpeper.net.

Oakland Baptist Church, 28348 Eleys Ford Road, Richardsville, will hold an Easter egg hunt on April 15, from 10 a.m. until noon. There will be games and prizes, and participants are encouraged to bring a snack or soda to share. 540/399-1248.

The Wayland Blue Ridge Baptist Association Inc., 15044 Ryland Chapel Road, Rixeyville, will hold its One Day Session on Saturday, April 15, at 10 a.m. All members are welcome. This will be a half-day session. Moderator Ludwell Brown will conduct the session. waylandblueridge.org.

WESTMORELAND COUNTY

New Life Ministries, 2800 McKinney Blvd., Colonial Beach, will present the Easter drama Thief on Sunday and on Wednesday at 7 p.m. with refreshments following the play. 804/224-8447.

New Monrovia Baptist Church, 121 New Monrovia Road, Colonial Beach, will be celebrating the 28th anniversary of Pastor Welford McDowney on Sunday at 3 p.m. Dinner will be served following the morning service. Easter Sunrise service will be April 16 at 6 a.m. 804/224-0068.

REGIONAL

Centenary United Methodist Church, 12247 S. Constitution Route 20, Scottsville. Centenary will host its annual Maundy Thursday service on April 13 at 7 p.m. The James River Charge United Methodist Church will host the annual Good Friday service at 7 p.m. at the Centenary UMC congregation on April 14. Easter Egg Hunt for all kids April 15 at 2 p.m. and Sunrise Easter service April 16 at 7 a.m. with Pastor Dr. Paul Larrimore. 434/286-3812.

Trinity Baptist Church, 8803 James Madison Highway, Warrenton, will hold revival services beginning Easter Sunday, April 16, through Wednesday, April 19. Evangelist Mark Rogers of Fairbanks, Ark., is the scheduled guest preacher. Services on Sunday will be at 9:45 and 11 a.m. and at 6:30 p.m. Monday through Wednesday the services will be at 7:30 p.m. 540/347-7640, tbcwarrenton.org.

Rehoboth United Methodist Church, 18580 Partlow Road, Beaverdam. The congregation will hold a six-week grief group session on Mondays through April 17, 10 a.m. to noon. 804/448-3619.HOW TO SUBMIT

Send notices of area church services by email to newsroom@freelancestar.com or in person at The Free LanceStar, 1340 Central Park Blvd., Suite 100, Fredericksburg, no later than noon Wednesdays. Include complete name of church, location, time and date of event, and phone number and website.
Twelve years ago, Patricia Jackson was a victim. Today, she is a survivor.

The journey from victim to survivor hasnt been an easy one. Jackson still vividly remembers the day her husband viciously attacked her after years of enduring physical and emotional abuse at his hands.

She found little relief when her husband finally went to prison. He continued to torment her by hiring private investigators to follow her and putting her through lengthy court proceedings just to secure a divorce.

But those who know Jackson describe her as a shining example of hope, resilience and perseverance in the face of unimaginable trauma.

The community decided to honor her on Thursday evening. Stafford Commonwealths Attorney Eric Olsen presented Jackson with the 2017 Molly Gill Survivor Award at an event recognizing National Crime Victims Rights Week.

Olsen said his office had to fight Jacksons abuser every step of the way to bring him to justice. Every time they appeared in the court, the hostility was palpable.

The frustration of this abuser to no longer have control was experienced every time in court, Olsen explained. As he lost his control as we proceeded with the case, you could see how dangerous this individual was. And through it all Trish Jackson survived and persevered. Her story resonated with us.

Olsen knew Jackson was the perfect recipient for this years award.

The Molly Gill Award honors a 15-year-old girl who became paralyzed in 1995 as the result of a drunken driver. In 1995, Jeff Jones, 17, got behind the wheel drunk. His girlfriend, younger sister and her best friendMollywere passengers in the car. He ended up crashing the vehicle off Brooke Road, killing his girlfriend and sister.

Although Molly survived the crash, she suffered a spinal injury that left her paralyzed. She later died during surgery related to her injuries. Olsen said in the months she lived, Molly always had a smile on her face and astounded those around her with her strength and resilience.

Olsen said he thinks of Molly every time he drives down Brooke Road. It is a case he will never forget.

A beautiful life was cut short, Olsen said. We decided to honor Molly Gillnot for being the victim of crime, but for the way she rose above her victimization. This award recognizes resilience in face of trauma.

Mollys parents, Tom and Jane, attended the ceremony recognizing Jackson.

This is the third year the award has been presented. It is given out annually to a crime victim who exemplifies resiliency and courage in the face of trauma.

Jim and Kristi Newmansurvivors of a violent home invasion that occurred in Stafford in June 2012received the award last year. The first recipient of the award was Mia Cruz, who survived a knife attack in 2013.

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herringthe keynote speaker at the eventsaid it is the job of the commonwealth to provide victims of domestic violence with support.

I could never imagine the unspeakable tragedy that a victim of a violent crime faces, but I am also inspired by the strength, resilience and perseverance these men and women show in their darkest hour, Herring said. Our job as a commonwealth is to support them.

Stafford Sheriff David Decatur noted that crime doesnt just impact the victims. It also impacts their family, friends and the community. Consequently, everyone has a role to play in helping victims pursue justice and find support.

We need to continue to work hard to support the needs of crime victims and better serve them, Decatur said.

Jackson said she doesnt know where should be without the support of the community.

She thanked the friends who gave her a place to stay for six weeks when she first made the brave decision to leave her husband. She thanked the deputy who came to the hospital room after her attack and the one who made her feel safe in the courtroom. She thanked those at Empowerhouse and Staffords Victim Assistance Program for years of support.

Most of all, she thanked her son for staying strong over the years.

You are my hero, she said.

Jackson said she used to wonder why anyone would want to hear her story. She knows now that she can be an example to other victims of domestic violence that there is a way outthat there is hope.

She said she has come a long way since she first left her husband in 2005 with no money and only a laundry basket full of damp clothes.

I want you to know I am only one in four, Jackson told the audience. One in every four women is a victim of domestic violence, and a lot of women end up worse than me. That hurts me. I am glad to be alive.

Olsen encouraged all of those in attendance to keep in mind all victims of domestic violence this week.

Tonight we have heard Trishs story and we are inspired by that, he said. This is a week to recognize crime victimsthat is what this is about.
Crows Nest Natural Area Preserve is a historical and environmental gem nestled between the Potomac and Accokeek creeks in Stafford County. Due to the efforts of numerous dedicated activists over the years, 2,872 acres of pristine forest and wetlands remain untouched by urban sprawl as part of the Virginia Natural Area Preserve System.

A long-awaited milestone occurred last Saturday when Gov. Terry McAuliffe kicked off the opening of the main peninsula portion of the preserve to the public. Local residents can now take advantage of an 8-mile trail system and canoe/kayak launch.

But several activists involved in protecting Crows Nest from development over the years are feeling snubbed after not making the guest list for the opening ceremony.

George Schwartz, former chairman of the Stafford Board of Supervisors, voted to save Crows Nest from development and served as chairman during its dedication in 2008 as a state natural area preserve. Although his name is listed on the dedication plaque, Schwartz did not receive an invitation to the event.

Other former supervisors named on the plaque include Cord Sterling, Bob Woodson, Harry Crisp and Joe Brito. They also were not listed on the invitation list compiled by the Department of Conservation and Recreation.

At the very minimum, the people on the plaque should have been invited, Schwartz said.

Mike Lott, Northern Region Stewardship supervisor for DCRs Virginia Natural Heritage Program, said the size of the invitation list was limited due to parking and staffing concerns as well as the need to shuttle attendees to the event.

To pare the list to 40 people, the guest list included all currently elected supervisors, and only those elected officials who are currently in office, Lott explained.

Other guests included members of DCR, heads of various conservation boards and organizations, volunteers and three interns from the University of Mary Washington.

Lott said some individuals may have been unintentionally left out.

In retrospect, Im sure there could have been a few people we missed who should have been invited and werent, he said. It was certainly not intended as a slightespecially not a political one.

Stafford County officials said DCR was responsible for the event, since Crows Nest is administered by the state. They said they always invite former supervisors to events they organize.

Supervisor Gary Snellings and Chairman Paul Milde confirmed that during a board meeting on Tuesday. They said DCR handled the invitations and they were grateful to be invited to the event.

The reality is the county had no input at allit was up to the state and I was very fortunate to be invited, Snellings said.

Lott said DCR would have been happy to add anyone suggested by the county to the list. However, county officials said they were not aware of that opportunity.

Several people on Facebook expressed their disappointment that the event was not open to the public.

I had no idea this was going to be happening! Bronwyn Mithun posted. I love Crows Nest and I respect and admire our Gov..... I so would have been there had I known!

Its disgraceful that the ex-supervisors whose names are on the plaque were not invited, Helene Bryant Domi posted. If the ecosystem is that delicate, why is it open to the public?

Despite the kerfuffle over the guest list, the good news is that locals can now take advantage of the rich history, wildlife and natural beauty offered on the peninsula as they wander along the trails now open to the public.

Lott said the public was welcome to start using the trails immediately after the ceremony, and more than 200 people came out to the park over the course of the weekend.

Previously, public access to the interior of the peninsula was limited because of the need for upgrades to a 1.5-mile long, single-lane gravel road off Raven Road.

The preserve is now open to the public Thursday through Sunday between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Parking is limited.
A new video series shows University of Mary Washington President Troy Paino visiting the Mary Washington House, taking the train to Washington, drinking Adventure Brewing beer and riding a horse named Wilbur to Carls for frozen custardyou know, things us Fredericksburgers do.

The series, The New Guy, premiered to a crowd at the schools Hurley Convergence Center on Friday afternoon and was followed by a panel discussion featuring Paino; UMW Assistant Director of Design Services Maria Schultz, who served as lead series producer; Professor of Historic Preservation Michael Spencer, who was in the film; and Enterprise Screen Video Communications Executive Director Jamie Smith, who shot and produced the video.

In this age of viral videos, no opportunity can be missed, said panelists. Paino first grabbed national attention in a 2013 video T-Pain Misses You, a humorous film about a lonesome university president during holiday break at his former school, Truman State University.

With that as a stepping stone, UMW created the series to introduce Paino to the community before his April 21 inauguration, but also as a recruiting tool for its next incoming class.

The school partnered with local agencies and businesses including the City of Fredericksburg, Adventure Brewing, Amtrak and Hazelwild Farm for the six-part series.

The best thing about working on this project was the community support we received, said Schultz. Every single person, inside or outside of UMW, went above and beyond to help.

Smith called the video not just a video but storytelling and a fresh way to share information about the school.

Paino said he kept hearing about UMW as a hidden gem in public education, and through the series hopes to offer a new look at its storied past.

Watch the series here: bit.ly/2oNOppy.
Russia warned on Friday that U.S. cruise missile strikes on a Syrian air base could have "extremely serious" consequences, as President Donald Trump's first major foray into a foreign conflict opened up a rift between Moscow and Washington, Reuters reported.

The warships USS Porter and USS Ross in the Mediterranean Sea launched dozens of Tomahawk missiles at the Shayrat air base, which the Pentagon says was involved in a chemical weapons attack this week.

It was Trump's biggest foreign policy decision since taking office in January and the kind of direct intervention in Syria's six-year-old civil war his predecessor Barack Obama avoided.

The strikes were in reaction to what Washington says was a poison gas attack by the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that killed at least 70 people in rebel-held territory. Syria denies it carried out the attack.

They catapulted Washington into confrontation with Russia, which has advisers on the ground aiding its close ally Assad.

"We strongly condemn the illegitimate actions by the U.S. The consequences of this for regional and international stability could be extremely serious, Russia's deputy U.N. envoy, Vladimir Safronkov, told a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Friday.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev charged that the U.S. strikes were one step away from clashing with Russia's military.

U.S. officials informed Russian forces ahead of the missile strikes and avoided hitting Russian personnel.

Satellite imagery suggests the base houses Russian special forces and helicopters, part of the Kremlin's effort to help Assad fight Islamic State and other militant groups.

Trump has frequently urged improved relations with Russia, strained under Obama over Syria, Ukraine and other issues, was hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Thursday night when the attack occurred.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, in Florida with Trump, said on Friday the United States would announce additional sanctions on Syria in the near future but offered no specifics.

Russia's Defense Ministry responded to the attack by calling in the U.S. military attache in Moscow to say that at midnight Moscow time (5 p.m. EDT) it would close down a communications line used to avoid accidental clashes between Russian and U.S. forces in Syria, Interfax new agency said. U.S. warplanes frequently attack Islamic State militants in Syria and come close to Russian forces.
ON AUG. 21, 2013, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad used sarin gas to kill 1,429 of his own people, including 426 children, in the town of Ghouta.

I watched these horrific events unfold from an unusual perch for an American: At the time of the attack, I was working as a technical adviser to the United Arab Emirates special envoy for Syria. The work entailed accompanying my boss, a former Emirati air force general, to meetings in Turkey and elsewhere to coordinate with the Syrian opposition and the ambassadors of the countriesincluding the United Statesthat were assisting them.

Five days after the attacks, we were in Istanbul for an emergency meeting with the Syrian opposition leadership and the group of Western, Arab and Turkish ambassadors known as the London 11. The topic of the discussion was the potential international response to the massacrethe deadliest use of chemical weapons since Saddam Hussein gassed the Kurds in the 1980s.

It would have been an emotionally trying meeting under any circumstancesbeing confronted with the pleas of good, decent Syrian women and men whose relatives had been gassed in full view of the international community. But what made this meeting especially difficult was the realization that no one was coming to help.

Although the United States and Britain were at the time contemplating punitive airstrikes against Assads regime as a consequence for breaking President Barack Obamas red line, the more seasoned diplomats in the room knew that the justice the opposition hoped for would not be forthcoming.

Watching Robert Ford, the courageous and principled U.S. envoy for Syria at the time, prepare the Syrians for disappointment was painful and showcased the human consequences of what happens when the American Atlas shrugs. Experiencing the episode purely as a spectator was like a distressing dream.

This week, Assad again apparently used nerve gas against his peopleyears after claiming to have given up all his stocks to the United Nations for destruction. At least 70 are dead, once again including children.

For their part, Iran and Russia, the self-appointed guarantors of Assads behavior, are now running scared. Understanding the seriousness of the charges, they are doing all they can to distance themselves from the events or provide desperately implausible explanations.They are worried for the first time in years about what the international consequences might be for their client now that Obama and his laxity are out of office.

President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered a targeted, punitive strike against the Assad regime to degrade his capability to harm his own people. That and what follows will define how the world views the untested president. While the White House and State Department rightly condemned the attacks, U.S. presidents are judged on their actions.

It is important to understand, however, that this action would not entail operations targeted at overthrowing Assad. That would be both impractical and unnecessary. Instead, regime military assets such as runways and airfields should be targeted. These targets are away from civilians and pose little risk of further casualties or suffering to the Syrian people. While their loss would be costly to Assad, they would not topple him.

Furthermore, while considerations of the Russian response are prudent, the reality is that Russia is unlikely to retaliate militarily against the United States on behalf of Assad, an unruly client whose intransigence has time and again embarrassed the Russians on the global stage.

Such strikes could also be an important force for leverage in the stalled peace process. After that fateful Istanbul meeting in 2013, the second most frustrating experience of my career was sitting in the Geneva II negotiations of 2014, trying to reach a peace deal with no military leverage to speak of. Assad, with the connivance of Russia, simply stonewalled the talks and ran down the clock, secure in the knowledge that there would be no consequences for his behavior.

Dictators do not come to the negotiating table out of the goodness of their hearts. They come because they believe they can get a better deal there than on the battlefield. As a consummate dealmaker, Trump should understand this and do what is necessary to create the leverage that sets the table for real peace. This in turn can only come through a sincere political solution in which the Syrian government acknowledges and accommodates the legitimate aspirations of its people, including the right to choose their leader.

In his inauguration speech, Trump promised that carnage stops right here and stops right now. Syria presents an urgent opportunity for him to turn his words to action.

Jessica Ashooh is a scholar at the Atlantic Council and a former senior analyst in the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
ITS rare that any region of Virginia has a governor come calling two days in a row. But so it was last weekend with Gov. Terry McAuliffe here in the Fredericksburg area. The reason: parks.

He came in last Saturday to christen the trails at Crows Nest Natural Area Preserve in Stafford County. And returned the next day to Lake Anna State Park in Spotsylvania County to dedicate two new lodges that will open this spring.

The different experiences highlighted by his visitsfrom the lakesides modern cabins with plenty of creature comforts to Crows Nests rustic wildsspeak to the range of possibilities that visitors to Virginias parks and preserves can explore. (A side note: Spring break is a great time to do that yourself: Through April 23, all 37 Virginia state parks will offer self-guided and ranger-led programs to help visitors enjoy and learn nature. For details, see dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/park-events.)

In Stafford, McAuliffe opened eight miles of hiking trails to the public that were years in the making. Officials dedicated the 2,872-acre preserve on the Potomac Creek nearly a decade ago, but couldnt persuade state legislators to put gravel on a 1.6-mile dirt access road off Raven Road. Thanks to some creativity by Stafford supervisors, the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation and the state Department of Transportation, that work got done.

Now visitors can reach the main part of this high, narrow peninsula, which preserves 60 percent of the marshes in the county. It also includes 2,200 acres of hardwood forest, including two globally rare types, according to the Conservation Departments Natural Heritage Program. The land also figured significantly in Virginias Colonial and Civil War history.

Protecting Crows Nest had long been among the highest land conservation priorities for Stafford and the commonwealth. Threatened by modern development and decades-old zoning, it could have become a giant subdivision that would have destroyed wildlife habitat and fouled tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay.

Instead, adding Crows Nest to the Virginia Treasures initiative has provided McAuliffe with another selling point as he works to lure major employers to the state. International food and beverage maker Nestle S.A.which recently announced it will move its U.S. headquarters from Glendale, Calif., to Rosslyntold him those preserves are an attractive feature to prospective companies.

Virginia needs to protect such assets across the commonwealth, McAuliffe said. Last year, 10 million people visited the state parks. The 1 million of them who came from out of state spent $97 million here, he said.

Putting visitation in context, Conservation Department spokesman Jim Meisner Jr. noted that legislators provided $19.86 million in general-fund money for state parks last year, while park visitors paid $19.6 million in tax revenue.

For every dollar appropriated for state parks by the General Assembly last year, Virginia received 99 cents in tax revenue, Meisner told us Thursday. Thats a fantastic return on investment.

Last Sunday, the governor and the first lady, Dorothy, relaxed a bit at Lake Anna, having lunch with park staff members, taking a hike with their dog Guinness, and surprising two longtime park supporters by naming one of the new lodges after them. The cabins moniker honors Johnny and Jo Finch, a Spotsylvania couple who gave years of their lives to create the Friends of Lake Anna State Park and the Virginia Association for Parks, which advocates for state parks.

Earlier, the McAuliffes reminisced about some of their own state-park experiences to Free LanceStar columnist Rob Hedelt. Clearly, the couple appreciates these natural resources, having spent many weekends and nights in the parks, and relishing their range of accommodations. They and their children have hiked, canoed, kayaked, ridden horses and mountain bikes, shot arrows, panned for gold, eaten smores, learned a lot of history, been taught to make moonshine, and searched for wild ponies.

And soon, Gov. McAuliffe will have visited every one of Virginias 37 state parks, keeping a promise he made a while backrather like when he toured every Virginia community college in 2013 while running for the states highest office.

Lake Anna was the 34th park visited by the chief executive, who some call the promoter-in-chief. On April 17, he aims to see the last three on his list: Staunton River Battlefield State Park, Staunton River State Park and Occoneechee State Park.

The governors grand circuit brings to the fore the virtues of Virginias scenic and historic places as the park system celebrates its 80th-anniversary year. Thats a most worthy goal, and we applaud the McAuliffe family for working hard to meet it.
CONSIDER two items from the day-to-day affairs of a local governmentFredericksburg in (probably) 1783. Mayor William McWilliams writes to a native son to thank him for his military service, and the veteran writes back. Their exchange is recorded in the town councils minutes.

In this case the veteran is George Washington, the father of our country. McWilliams was writing him to share his warmest gratitude for the Continental Army commanders long and meritorious services in the cause of liberty in the just-concluded Revolutionary War.

Washington appreciated their compliments. But what really stuck with him was their honorable mention of my revered mother, by whose maternal hand (early deprived of a Father) I was led to manhood. He was speaking, of course, about his mother Mary, then living in the town. Her house still stands at 1200 Charles St.

These pleasantries are tucked into the councils first minute book, which records the initial two decades of business in the town that Mary and George knew so well.

Theyve been there ever since the town clerk took note. The new bit is that this bookincluding the Washington documentshas recently been restored and rebound so the documents will survive for generations longer. The papers had deteriorated, darkened and frayed.

But recently, at the urging of Councilman Billy Withers and City Manager Tim Baroody, the Virginia Daughters of the American Revolution and the DARs local WashingtonLewis Chapter stepped in and had the book conserved and rebound. Whew!

So now this fabric of life of a communityas University of Mary Washington professor emeritus Gary Stanton puts itsits safe, ready for another age.

We thank all concerned for preserving this gem for posterity.
ONE hundred years ago Thursday, America entered a war it had tried to avoid.

Five months earlier, the nations leader had won re-election on a platform of America First non-interventionism, campaigning with the slogan: He kept us out of war.

But swiftly, Germanys unrestricted submarine warfare against merchant shipping changed President Woodrow Wilsons mind. It didnt help when, in February 1917, Wilson learned of the Zimmerman Telegram, Germanys secret message to Mexico offering Arizona, New Mexico and Texas in return for joining the war effort against America.

By spring, Wilson had abandoned his earlier policy of armed neutrality. After the Senate and House authorized war, America officially entered World War I on April 6.

Ultimately, those decisions cost 116,516 U.S. lives; 204,001 Americans were wounded.

But if America didnt join the Allies, it couldnt help set the terms of the peace, Wilson reasoned. And he Wilson longed to create a League of Nations that would unite countries to settle international disputes.

He had a vision for what the postwar world should look like, says Stephen Ives, a TV producer for PBS. And he felt that it was worth American blood to try and achieve that.

Whether it was is still debated today, a century later. Others argue about whether the Treaty of Versailles, which ended the war, set the stage for World War II by impoverishing and humiliating the German people.

In all, 15 to 18 million people were killed by World War I, ranking it among humanitys deadliest conflicts.

J. Steven Moore sketched some of its local impacts in a front-page article for this newspaper on Thursday, which we commend to you. In Moores piece, historian John J. Hennessy summarized the conflicts impact: The world we know today was born in World War I.

Hennessy will explore that theme in an exhibition hes designed for the Fredericksburg Area Museum, World Aflame: A Hometown in Two World Wars, opening April 23.

Meanwhile, a new exhibit at Virginia Techs Newman Library personalizes the wars toll by telling of nine alumni who fought on Western Front battlefields during World War Is final months. Called Stories from the Great War: VPI Men in the Service of Their Country, 19171918, it can be seen until May 15; also, visit vpiworldwarone.lib.vt.edu.

On Monday, we recommend TV viewers watch the premiere episode of The Great War, a three-day documentary series about Americas role in World War I, on PBS American Experience program.

Any of those offerings is a good place to start learning more about this brutal, map-changing war, which is now unfamiliar to too many.
Its really amazing how much progress has been made in identifying new drug targets in colorectal cancer, Peters said. But even bigger lifesaving gains can be made in prevention, she said. We really need to do more on the cancer-prevention side, by learning more about underlying mechanisms and taking targeted prevention approaches.

Many cancers pass through a precancerous state  colon cancer, for example, typically arises from growths called polyps, and while most polyps are benign, some can become cancerous. Over the past couple years, several groups of researchers have called publicly for the development of an effort to characterize precancers genomics. The idea is that understanding the molecular changes involved in the development of precancers into cancer would open the door to precision approaches for preventing cancer and spur better methods of early detection. The call was picked up last year by the Cancer Moonshot Blue Ribbon Panel, which submitted its recommendations for the Moonshot in October.

The proposal is often called a Precancer Genome Atlas, or PCGA, named after the impactful national effort to characterize tumor genomes known as The Cancer Genome Atlas, or TCGA.

Its absolutely clear that the time is right for a PCGA, said outgoing AACR president Dr. Nancy Davidson in her Presidential Address on Sunday. It could galvanize cancer prevention like TCGA has advanced the development of targeted therapies.

An entire session at the meeting was devoted to the concept, highlighting work by scientists like the Hutchs Dr. Brian Reid. Reid studies a condition called Barretts esophagus that can lead to esophageal cancer, and he has mapped out the dynamics of many of the molecular changes involved in its progression. This summer, Reid and other leaders in the call for a PCGA will meet with the National Cancer Institute to further explore the idea.

Other presentations at the conference reported on new preventive strategies for cancer in development. These included experimental vaccines designed to train high-risk patients immune systems to stop the development or advance of malignancies like colon cancer or brain tumors, much like a measles vaccine trains your immune system to activate in case of exposure to the virus.

Health disparities

And yet, even as cutting-edge new methods for preventing cancers are developed, we already have effective ways to prevent many cancers, or catch them early when they can be more easily treated. Millions of people in the U.S. and around the world are at increased risk of developing or dying from cancer because they experience barriers in accessing care or are more likely to have environmental or lifestyle risk factors, like smoking. The conference held its first-ever Presidents Select Symposium on Cancer Health Disparities, which featured presentations that illuminated these disparities in cancers like colon cancer and prostate cancer and efforts to overcome them.

In her closing address, Davidson showed a county-by-county map of cancer death rates in the United States, which was published by Seattle researchers in 2017. Counties with the lowest cancer death rates were colored dark blue and those with the highest rates were red.

Wed like to have a United States thats  in this case  all blue, said Davidson, who is also the senior vice president and director of the Clinical Research Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and holds its Endowed Chair for Breast Cancer Research.

Genomically driven personalized medicine for cancer treatment

As genetic sequencing technology has become faster, cheaper, and more accessible, the movement toward therapy personalized to a tumors genomic profile is accelerating.

At the meeting, the gene known as HER2 was in the spotlight. Having extra copies of this gene can cause breast cancer to grow aggressively, and treatment for patients with this aberration typically includes a HER2-targeted drug. A few HER2-targeted therapies are currently approved by the FDA for treating certain breast and gastric cancers. But these arent the only cancers that are sometimes linked to aberrations in HER2 or related genes, and research groups at the meeting presented the results of trials exploring targeted, experimental drugs in other malignancies, including cancers of the colon, cervix, and bladder.

And new trial designs are emerging that align with our increasingly molecular definition of cancers. One of the HER2-targeted trials presented at the meeting was a Phase 2 trial known as SUMMIT that enrolled patients with 21 different types of cancer in many different parts of the body  but all of which bore mutations in HER2 or related genes. Basket trial designs are a hallmark of a new, personalized approach emerging in cancer treatment  in which the biological characteristics of a cancer are as important, if not more, than the organ in which it appears.

Weve seen a tremendous uptake in this study as [genetic] sequencing really comes into the community setting, said study leader Dr. David Hyman of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Immunotherapy drugs to treat more cancers in more ways

The standard of care for cancers like advanced melanoma and certain lung tumors has been transformed with the approval by the Food and Drug Administration in recent years of immunotherapy drugs. Such drugs, called checkpoint inhibitors, block tumors from shutting down cancer-killing immune responses, freeing patients immune cells to kill cancer cells.

A flood of studies at the conference explored the potential in experimental drugs with new mechanisms of action, new combinations of immune-modulating drugs, and new indications for existing drugs, including for notoriously aggressive and treatment-resistant cancers like ocular melanoma and triple-negative breast cancer.

Its clear that immune checkpoint treatment has joined the ranks of surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy as a pillar of cancer treatment, said Dr. Padmanee Sharma of MD Anderson Cancer Center, who studies these drugs.

There was buzz around the skin cancer Merkel cell carcinoma, or MCC, an usual spotlight for a tumor so rare that it is diagnosed in only about 2,000 Americans a year. Investigators presented promising one-year follow-up data from a pivotal trial of a newly approved immunotherapy for this cancer, and another group of investigators presented the first reports of the experimental use of an approved drug called nivolumab (Opdivo) in MCC. And Dr. Aude Chapuis of Fred Hutch hinted at very encouraging results of a combination of checkpoint inhibition and immune-cell therapy in treating this cancer, which shell present in full this June at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting.

The investigators who conducted some of the landmark studies in the field  which led to the approval of checkpoint inhibition therapies for treatment-resistant, advanced non-small cell lung cancer, and melanoma  presented long-term follow-up data that demonstrate the potential for these therapies to boost long-term survival in patients with few other options.

For example, in the lung cancer trial, after five years of follow up, trial participants had an overall survival rate of 16 percent on nivolumab  which doesnt seem impressive until you consider that the number is about four times what would be expected in these patients with additional chemotherapy instead of immunotherapy.

Its an exciting time, to be able to have long-term survivors to follow up, said lead investigator Dr. Julie Brahmer of Johns Hopkins.

Unequivocal opposition to proposed cuts to the NIH

Throughout the five days of the conference, speaker after speaker made it clear that that the great advances underway in many types of cancer are seriously threatened by major proposed cuts to the National Institutes of Health budget.

These proposals would severely damage the progress were making right now to prevent and treat cancer, Davidson said in the conferences opening session. The breast cancer oncologist called President Donald Trumps proposed multi-billion-dollar cuts truly appalling and short-sighted.

Cancer research funding is not something you can turn on and off like a faucet, she said and emphasized that sustained funding is required to maintain research teams and ongoing research projects.

The presidents federal budget proposal in mid-March contained a cut of nearly 20 percent for the NIH. And, just last week, the president asked Congress to immediately pull out $1.2 billion from NIH research grants via a reduction in discretionary spending for the current fiscal year.

The proposed cuts were a terrible shock, Davidson said, as they came in the wake of 2016s Cancer Moonshot launch led by former Vice President Joe Biden and last Decembers passage of the 21st Century Cures Act, which provided an increase of $1.8 billion for federally funded cancer research. Also surprising, Davidson said, is that the proposals have come at a time when the pace of progress in research is accelerating.

This is the time to increase investment in the NIH, not retreat, Davidson said. (Read a statement on the proposed cuts issued March 16 by Fred Hutch President and Director Dr. Gary Gilliland.)

During the opening session, the audience in the airplane hangar-sized plenary hall stood for a photograph that the AACR planned to use in its lobbying efforts against the reduction in research funding. In near silence, hundreds stood to hold up signs bearing messages of support for cancer research: Support medical research; Invest in lifesaving cancer research; Cancer research saves lives; Make NIH funding a national priority.

The message was amplified powerfully by social media throughout the meeting. Cell-phone photos of the moment taken by dozens of people in the audience reverberated around Twitter under the conference hashtag, #AACR17, and popped up in slides during scientific talks.

Davidsons impassioned defense of research funding was echoed by Biden himself, who spoke in a special session on Monday afternoon.

The draconian cuts in the proposed budget run counter to this hope and the progress weve made, the former vice president said.

This is not the time to undercut progress. This is the time to double down, he said.

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Susan Keown, a staff writer at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, has written about health and research topics for a variety of research institutions, including the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Reach her at skeown@fredhutch.org or on Twitter @sejkeown.
In a secure room at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, President Donald Trump's top military advisers presented him with three options for punishing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for a poison gas attack that killed dozens of civilians, Reuters reported.

It was Thursday afternoon, just hours before 59 U.S. cruise missiles would rain down on a Syrian military airfield in response to what Trump had called "a disgrace to humanity."

Trump was at his Florida estate for his first summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. But that summit took a backseat to the top-secret briefing by U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, and Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, an official familiar with the briefing told Reuters.

McMaster and Mattis presented Trump with three options, which were quickly narrowed to two: bomb multiple airfields or just the Shayrat airfield near the city of Homs, where the military jet carrying the poison gas had taken off, the official said.

At least 70 people, including 20 children, were killed in the gas attack in northern Syria. Russia, which has military forces in Syria aiding Assad's government, says the deaths were caused by a gas leak from a depot where rebel groups stored chemical weapons, a charge the rebels deny and U.S. intelligence officials say is false.

After listening to an argument that it was best to minimize both Russian and Arab casualties, the official said, Trump chose the minimum option and ordered the launch of a barrage of cruise missiles against the Shayrat air field.

Mattis and McMaster argued that choosing that target would draw the clearest line between Assad's use of nerve gas and the retaliatory strike, the official said.

In addition, the living quarters occupied by Russian advisers, Syrian airmen and some civilian workers were on the periphery of the airfield, which meant it could be destroyed without risking hundreds of casualties -- especially if the attack occurred outside the base's normal working hours.

Another official privy to the discussions said the administration has contingency plans for possible additional strikes as early as Friday night, depending on how Assad responds to the first attack.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump discussed the situation in Syria during their recent meeting, Chinese Foreign Ministrys spokesman Lu Kang said on Saturday, Sputnik reported.

Xi met with Trump on April 6-7 in Florida, with the talks on Friday lasting for over seven hours, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

"During the meeting the two leaders discussed this issue [of Syria]. President of China Xi Jinping clarified the firm Chinese position that the country opposes the use of chemical weapon. He stressed that the main priority for now is avoiding the escalation in the country and protection of the crisis settlement process," Lu said.

The situation in Syria has significantly aggravated this week.

On Tuesday, Syrian opposition forces stated that some 80 people were killed and 200 injured in a chemical weapon attack in the Syrian Idlib province, blaming the Syrian army for the incident. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the attack claimed the lives of 84 people. The Syrian foreign minister has denied the governments involvement in the Idlib incident, saying it had never nor would it ever use chemical weapons on either civilians or terrorists operating in the country.

However, on Thursday night, Washington launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Syrian military airfield in Ash Shairat, located in nearly 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Syrian city of Homs. The attack was a response to the alleged chemical attack in Syria's Idlib, which Washington blames on Damascus.
The National Weather Service office in Portland has issued a wind advisory, calling for winds from 25 to 35 mph with gusts possibly up to 50 mph.

The wind advisory is in effect from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday. The strongest winds are expected from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., forecasters said.

Forecasters said the winds could damage trees and cause power outages. High-profile vehicles could experience difficulties in gusty winds.

A wind advisory is issued when sustained winds are forecast to be 31-39 mph or gusts could range between 45 and 57 mph. Winds of this magnitude could cause minor property damage without precautions.

Here are your updated local forecasts:

Albany

Friday: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. High near 59. Windy, with a south southwest wind 24 to 33 mph, with gusts as high as 49 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100 percent. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Friday night: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Low around 38. South wind 15 to 20 mph decreasing to 9 to 14 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 31 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80 percent. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Saturday: Showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 11 a.m. High near 52. South southwest wind 8 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90 percent. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Corvallis

Friday: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. High near 59. Windy, with a south southwest wind 24 to 31 mph, with gusts as high as 46 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100 percent. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Friday night: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Low around 38. South wind 15 to 20 mph decreasing to 8 to 13 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80 percent. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Saturday: Showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 11 a.m. High near 53. Southwest wind 7 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90 percent. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Lebanon

Friday: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. High near 58. Windy, with a south southwest wind 22 to 30 mph, with gusts as high as 45 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100 percent. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Friday night: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Low around 39. South wind 9 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80 percent. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Saturday: Showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 11 a.m. High near 52. South wind 7 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100 percent. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
About a dozen health care activists braved wind-driven showers Friday afternoon to demonstrate for universal health care in the heart of the citys medical complex.

Wearing parkas and rain boots, the group occupied a stretch of sidewalk on Northwest Elks Drive in front of the main Corvallis Clinic building and across the street from the Samaritan Health Services cancer center.

The demonstrators, most of them members of Mid-Valley Health Care Advocates, chanted slogans such as Everybody in, nobody out and toted signs that read Medicare for all and Medicare: extend it, dont end it.

Some wore placards that read Health insurance is like a hospital gown: expensive, flimsy, and it doesnt cover your bottom, with artificial derrieres strapped on over their clothes to underscore the point.

Retired Corvallis physician Mike Huntington, one of the events organizers, said the rally was aimed at building support for Medicare for all, a plan to extend the federally subsidized health insurance plan for older Americans to the rest of the country as well. Backers of the idea have been trying to get a bill through Congress for more than a decade, but it has attracted additional support since the election of President Donald Trump, whose vow to repeal the Affordable Care Act has stoked fears of lost coverage.

There are a lot of people who have never been political who have come forward in the last three months, Huntington said.

Susie Palmrose is not a member of Mid-Valley Health Care Advocates but decided to join the demonstration after learning about it on social media.

I believe health care should be available for all equally, no matter what, she said. And I believe we should be putting our money into taking care of people and not warfare.

Dagmar Johnson said the group chose their location in part because they wanted to catch the attention of medical providers at Samaritan Health Services and The Corvallis Clinic.

We just feel theres so much awareness right now, its a good time to bring this to the forefront, she said.

One medical professional who took note was Corvallis Clinic CEO Brad Wakefield, who joined the demonstrators long enough to pass out candy and briefly wave a sign.

Some of the things they were protesting about  insurance company denials, lack of insurance coverage  we dont like those things either, he said. We want our patients to be able to get health care.

However, hes not yet convinced that single payer health care is entirely practical  especially if it means providers would be stuck with low Medicare reimbursement rates for all their patients.

Some of the details we would have to negotiate, he said.

Mid-Valley Health Care Advocates is planning another demonstration at the same location from 2:30 to 5 p.m. today as part of a national day of action in support of Medicare for all.
Bob Ringo didnt believe in wasting time, and by all accounts he made the most of his 92 years.

The thing we loved about my dad was he just lived life to the fullest, daughter Julie Battaglia recalled. If you said you didnt have time to do something, hed say, Well, we all have 24 hours in a day. If he was awake, he was using one of his 24 hours to get something done.

Ringo died Wednesday morning in his apartment at the Stoneybrook Lodge retirement residence in Corvallis. He was remembered this week as a World War II veteran, a successful trial lawyer, an unstinting mentor and a man who served his community in many different ways.

Born Aug. 18, 1924, in Spokane, Washington, Ringo grew up in the Portland area. He was 17 when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941. The following year, just after his 18th birthday, he joined the Army Air Corps and trained as a navigator and bombardier. He flew 60 missions over Europe in B-26 bombers. He continued to serve in the Air Force Reserves after the war, eventually retiring with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Back in the states, Ringo attended the University of Oregon and Northwestern Law School at Lewis & Clark College. After earning his law degree, he moved to Corvallis in 1951 and went to work as a part-time prosecutor in the Benton County District Attorneys Office while also launching a private practice with fellow attorney Jim Walton. When his partnership with Walton dissolved, Ringo started a new firm with Larry Stuber. Ringo retired from active practice in 2001 after half a century in the law, but the firm of Ringo, Stuber, Ensor, Hadlock & Smith is still in business.

Stuber recalled his former partner as a lawyers lawyer and a champion for the underdog who fought fiercely for his clients in all sorts of cases, from personal injury and product liability suits to divorce actions.

When you were in a trial with Bob, you were in a battle, Stuber said. But he was always very professional.

Ringo was extremely active in professional organizations, serving on numerous Oregon State Bar committees and the organizations board of governors. He co-founded the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association, served on the American Board of Trial Advocates and gave freely of his time to fellow attorneys.

He was a mentor to all sorts of lawyers, Stuber said. Anybody who ever had a question about anything could pick up the phone and call Bob, and hed stop what he was doing and answer their question.

Outside of work, Ringo was deeply involved in community affairs. He served on the Downtown Corvallis Commission, the Pacific Trail Council of the Boy Scouts and the board of the local Red Cross chapter. He was elected to the Corvallis School Board, serving a stint as chairman. He chaired the Marys Peak Trek, a Shriners Club fundraiser for medically needy children, and was a member of the Kiwanis Club, Elks Club and Masonic Lodge.

An accomplished horseman, he was a member of the Oregon Mounted Governors Guard, an equestrian group that rode in parades around the state.

He was an active member of the Episcopal Church of the Good Samaritan and a longtime member of the Good Samaritan Hospital board.

Bob was on the recruitment committee that helped bring me here, said Larry Mullins, the president and chief executive of Samaritan Health Services.

Mullins remembered Ringo as a clear-eyed adviser who was good at cutting through unimportant details to get at the heart of an issue and who never shied away from offering his unvarnished opinion  whether it was something people wanted to hear or not.

Ringo was involved in developing plans for Samaritans regional cardiac and cancer facilities, advocated for the hospital in the community and pushed administrators to expand its scope of service. He continued to volunteer at the hospital to the end of his life.

Theres a reason why one of our conference rooms is named for Bob, Mullins said. He was a constant presence, constantly encouraging us to do good things for people.

Survivors include three daughters, Molly Ringo of Mercer Island, Washington, Mary Ellen Ringo of Lexington, Massachusetts, and Julie Ringo Battaglia of La Canada, California; a son, Charlie Ringo of Bend; and eight grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a son, Robert Irvin Ringo, in 2011. His first wife, Kathryn Reese Ringo, died in 1989, and his second wife, Jane Crider McHenry Ringo, died in 2013.

A memorial service is scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday at the Episcopal Church of the Good Samaritan, 333 NW 35th St.
A Palestinian rights activist and author of a new resolution calling for human rights for Palestinian children in the Israeli military detention system will speak at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, 645 NW Monroe Ave.

Thomas Beilman, coordinator for the "No Way to Treat a Child" campaign, will discuss Israel's military occupation of Palestine and will focus on the treatment of Palestinian children caught up in Israel's military detention system. The evening's program includes the short documentary film, "Detaining Dreams."

The event is free. It is sponsored by the Corvallis Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and the Linus Pauling chapter of Veterans for Peace.

The "No Way to Treat a Child" campaign is a joint project of American Friends Service Committee and Defense of Children International.
This log includes incidents in which there might have been a public disturbance or a risk to the public. Information comes from the Corvallis Police Department, the Benton County Sheriffs Office and Oregon State Police. It does not include all calls for service. The status of incidents might change after further investigation. Locations are approximate. People arrested or suspected in crimes are considered innocent until proven otherwise.

Corvallis Police Department

THURSDAY, APRIL 6

METH: 9:30 p.m., 3300 block Northeast Oxford Circle. An officer responding to a welfare check arrested Nichole Rae Anne Woolley, 35, of Corvallis and charged her with unlawful possession of methamphetamine after the officer reportedly found a spoon with methamphetamine residue and syringes during a search.

Benton County Sheriff's Office

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5

METH: 12:36 a.m., South Main Street and 24th Street, Philomath. A deputy arrested and charged Harley Michelle Elder, 19, of Corvallis with possession of methamphetamine following a traffic stop.

SUNDAY, APRIL 2

METH: 10:10 a.m., North Eighth and Ash Street, Monroe. A deputy, believing Jeramie Lee Moore, 40, of Monroe, to have a warrant, stopped and searched Moore. The deputy reported finding meth and charged Moore with possession of methamphetamine following a search. The deputy later learned that Moore's warrant had already been served.
An explosive device went off in a bus in a village of Hisyah in the Syrian western province of Homs, killing one and injuring at least 25 people, a source told Sputnik on Saturday.

According to the source, the device was planted near the driver's seat.

"According to latest data, a woman died as a result of the blast; 25 sustained injuries," the source in Homs told Sputnik.

Earlier in the day, a local source said that at least 15 were injured.

"The explosive device went off in a passenger bus in the village of Hisyah to the south from Syrian city of Homs. Eleven people were injured," the source said.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.
Bonn Restaurant Guide : Enoteca da Vinum

Bonn For lovers of good wine and food, this Villenviertel restaurant offers sophisticated Italian dishes and an extensive wine list.

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Both restaurant and wine shop, Enoteca da Vinum in Bad Godesbergs Villenviertel has been owned by Altay Huzeir since December 2012.

The restaurant walls are decorated in the Piedmontese Savoy style, with leather benches, wooden tables. The restaurant seats 42 and there is room for 14 in the wine lounge. There is outdoor seating for 20 on the terrace in front of the restaurant.

On the menu: diced calfs liver with tomatoes on raspberry vinegar and rocket 15.50 Euro, pasta filled with minced wild boar and a cranberry and thyme foam 19.90 Euro, monkfish saltimbocca with cherry tomato risotto 26.90 Euro.

To drink: 17 wines by the glass (0.2l) from 7 Euro. Examples include Luganer Torre del Falasco from Cantina Valpantena (Venetian) 7 Euro. There are also 150 wines available by the bottle priced from 19.90 Euro, such as Vino Nobile di Montepulciano from Cantina Dei (Tuscany) 39.90 Euro.

The restaurant has a lunchtime menu (two courses plus an espresso) for Euro 15.90. Lunchtime dishes start at Euro 9.90.

House philosophy: Owner Altay Huzeir says: Sophisticated boredom can be found everywhere, authentic enjoyment with us.

Opening times: Tuesday-Sunday 6-11pm, Thursday-Saturday also noon to 3pm. Closed Mondays.

Contact details: Beethovenallee 9, 53173 Bonn-Bad Godesberg, www.enoteca-davinum.de, tel 0228 336 03 44.
Party on Rigalsche Wiese : School leavers celebrate

Bonn It has become a tradition. School leavers joined a parade of cars through the city to party at the Rigalsche Wiese in Bad Godesberg. And in the evening there was the Final Party in the town hall or the party at Bonner Basecamp.

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As one car after another drove onto the car park at the Rigalsche Wiese in Bad Godesberg, marshall Laurenz Pochadt stood with an orange vest in the middle of it all. Absolute chaos. They cant drive yet, he said, exhausted. Around 1300 school leavers had come to celebrate the end of school and most of them were in the parade of cars.

The police made sure no one was drunk behind the wheel and the youths were accompanied by motorbike escorts. The atmosphere is boisterous, but most of them are behaving themselves, said a policeman. At least until they reached the party ground.

Marie Kromiks white Toyota SUV, borrowed from her father, was brightly decorated with a unicorn stuck to the roof. There has to be decoration, otherwise it looks boring, she said before heading off to the area where the leaver groups were meeting for the actual party.

Later, most headed to the other side of the street to the Godesberg town hall for the Final Party. The celebrations on the Rigalsche Wiese started at 1pm and the area had to be cleared by 5pm. So why was it worth staying for four hours? Because there is no better location to celebrate with as many school leavers as possible, said Lion Wenzel. And the Riga is tradition.

Two DJs fired up the crowd with electronic music and nothing else was needed. The red, black, blue and white sweaters, emblazoned with mottos and slogans, leapt up and down. There were group photos, kisses, tears and sometimes cigarettes. That was the last day of school. Now our youth is over, said one girl. And they have not even taken the end of school exams yet.
Russian Foreign Minister told his US counterpart Rex Tillerson in a phone conversation that the US attack on Syrian army's airfield plays into the hands of terrorists, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, Sputnik reported.

The Russian and US top diplomats discussed the US missile attack in Syria.

Only terrorists will benefit from the US strikes on the Syrian airbase, Lavrov told Tillerson.

"Sergei Lavrov emphasized that an attack on a country whose government is fighting against terrorism is only playing into extremists' hands and creating additional threats for regional and global security," the statement by the Russian ministry read.

Lavrov stressed that reports of use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government in Idlib are false. Lavrov added that it is necessary to conduct a throrough, impartial investigation into the Idlib chemical attack.

"It was noted that it is necessary to conduct a thorough and professional investigation into facts concerning all this situation [the Idlib chemical attack]."

Lavrov and Tillerson agreed to continue the discussion of the Syrian settlement during a personal meeting next week during US Secretary's of State visit to Moscow.

On Thursday night, the United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Syrian military airfield in Ash Shairat, located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the city of Homs. US President Donald Trump said the attack was a response to the alleged chemical weapon use in Syria's Idlib on Tuesday, which Washington blames on the Syrian government.
nametalkam at 8-04-2017 08:36 AM (5 years ago) (m)













44-year-old Dr. Ozumba, born in Nigeria, faces two charges of segxwal assault. McKinney police arrested him on Mar. 31 and booked him at the Collin County Jail, where his bail was set at $50,000. He was released on Sunday.

A disciplinary panel of the Texas Medical Board temporarily suspended the Texas medical license of an orthopedic surgeon, Donald Okechukwu Ozumba, M.D., on Friday after determining his continuation in the practice of medicine poses a continuing threat to public welfare.44-year-old Dr. Ozumba, born in Nigeria, faces two charges of segxwal assault. McKinney police arrested him on Mar. 31 and booked him at the Collin County Jail, where his bail was set at $50,000. He was released on Sunday.

According to the arrest warrant, the first victim contacted police in August of last year, alleging that the assault happened while she was at an appointment to have her IT band examined.



That woman told investigators that Ozumba touched her genitals during the exam.



Police interviewed another victim last week who accused Ozumba of segxwally assaulting her while she was a patient in 2015.



She told police that the doctor exposed half of her genitals to check for internal fluid and told her he needed to rub in the medication he had injected under her left hip.



Ozumba massaged the area, then penetrated the womans genitals with his fingers and massaged her inside, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.



The womans husband was sitting behind the doctor but couldnt see what was happening, police said.



The woman told police that she contacted another doctor after the visit and asked whether what Ozumba had done was normal procedure.



The second doctor informed her that Ozumba was absolutely not supposed to penetrate her honeypot, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.



Shortly after the visit, Ozumba asked the woman to download a messaging app and sent her a text asking what her favorite part of the procedure was, according to the affidavit.



The woman told police that she texted him back with a message that said Not receiving a script, then deleted the app.





According to the arrest warrant, the first victim contacted police in August of last year, alleging that the assault happened while she was at an appointment to have her IT band examined.That woman told investigators that Ozumba touched her genitals during the exam.Police interviewed another victim last week who accused Ozumba of segxwally assaulting her while she was a patient in 2015.She told police that the doctor exposed half of her genitals to check for internal fluid and told her he needed to rub in the medication he had injected under her left hip.Ozumba massaged the area, then penetrated the womans genitals with his fingers and massaged her inside, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.The womans husband was sitting behind the doctor but couldnt see what was happening, police said.The woman told police that she contacted another doctor after the visit and asked whether what Ozumba had done was normal procedure.The second doctor informed her that Ozumba was absolutely not supposed to penetrate her honeypot, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.Shortly after the visit, Ozumba asked the woman to download a messaging app and sent her a text asking what her favorite part of the procedure was, according to the affidavit.The woman told police that she texted him back with a message that said Not receiving a script, then deleted the app.

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 8-04-2017 08:36 AM (5 years ago) | Addicted Hero
Samsung to pay $11.6 million to Huawei over patent case News oi -Samden Sherpa Huawei has accused Samsung of using the company's intellectual property.

The competition in the smartphone market is though these days. Brands are trying to outpace each other and innovating at a fast pace. While this is the current market scenario, the innovation part from the companies might come at a cost. As the OEMs are trying to deliver a unique product sometimes it might not be a design that stands out but rather it could be a similar smartphone coming from two different brands.

Against such backdrop, Samsung and Huawei, the two popular smartphone manufacturers have been battling out a patent dispute case in Chinese courts. Huawei had accused Samsung of using the company's intellectual property. However, according to recent report a Chinese court has ordered Samsung Electronics's Chinese subsidiaries to pay 80 million yuan ($11.60 million) to Huawei Technologies over patent infringement case.

Huawei to launch a new 5.5-inch smartphone with 4GB RAM and Android Nougat

Moreover, as per the ruling, three units of Samsung Electronics, including Samsung China Investment Limited, have been ordered by the Quanzhou Intermediary Court to pay the sum for infringing a patent held by Huawei Device Co. Limited, the handset unit of China's Huawei. The news was first reported by a government-run newspaper Quanzhou Evening News notes Reuters.

Samsung Galaxy S8, S8 Plus sales expected to be over 40 million units

While the ruling has been in favour of Huawei, it will be interesting to see if Samsung will pay up or if it will file a countersuit. Samsung should be revealing its next measure after reviewing the ruling. It wouldn't be surprising if the case continues.

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Alleged Samsung Galaxy Note 8 photos hit the web; to have a smaller battery than S8 Plus News oi -Abhinaya Prabhu Do these photos show the Galaxy Note 8?

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 announced last year turned out to be a nightmare for the company. The South Korean tech giant was forced to recall around 2.5 million units of the phablet. It even killed the model due to the faulty batteries that resulted in explosions.

Once the Galaxy Note 7 was recalled, many believed that the company has killed the entire lineup of Galaxy Note phablets. There were speculations that the company would no more launch devices under the Note brand name and come up with something new as it is a bad reputation. These turn out to be just speculations. We say this as a couple of photos of the alleged Galaxy Note 8, the upcoming phablet has hit the web.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 design and specifications leaked

If these photos are to be believed, it looks like the Galaxy Note series is not discontinued. The device shown in the leaked photos is almost identical to the Galaxy S8 Plus. The flagship smartphone with a 6.2-inch display has an almost bezel-less display at the front with the S-Pen stylus. From the images, we believe that the Galaxy Note 8 will also arrive with such a screen that is termed Infinity Display.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 project to be codenamed Baikal

From the leaked photos showing the alleged Galaxy Note 8, we can say that the upcoming phablet might arrive with a smaller battery capacity in comparison to the S8 Plus. The reason is the presence of the S-Pen in the alleged Galaxy Note 8.

Though these leaked photos seem to be those of the Galaxy Note 8, we should take this information with a grain of salt until there is an official confirmation. We can get to know more about the upcoming Samsung flagship in the coming months.

Source

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Vodafone offers 4G network in over 40 countries News oi -Priyanka The operator said that its (Vodafone)international roaming packs allow free incoming calls as well as data browsing at home prices.

Telecom operator Vodafone India has announced that its 4G customers will now be able to roam seamlessly free on high-speed 4G networks while traveling overseas in over 40 countries.

The company said, "With the combined strength of its own network and that of its network partners across the globe, Vodafone now has the world largest 4G footprint on international roaming."

The operator said that its (Vodafone)international roaming packs allow free incoming calls as well as data browsing at home prices.

Jio cancels Summer Surprise offer; You can still enjoy free services

Sandeep Kataria, Director -Commercial, Vodafone India said, "Vodafone's global expertise and experience of launching 4G across the world gives us a better understanding of this technology and the needs of the 4G customer. "

He said, "Leveraging our global footprints and partnerships, we have now expanded 4G services for our customers on international roaming across 40+ countries. We have also introduced the i-RoamFree proposition, thereby offering a combination of high-speed experience, worry-free pricing, and content."

"So now, whether one is backpacking across Europe, visiting family in the US, shopping in Dubai or attending conferences in Singapore - always stay connected on the go with high-speed 4G on Vodafone International Roaming," Kataria added.

Vodafone had recently introduced the i-RoamFREE proposition offering free incoming calls, Re. 1 for all international and local outgoing calls and data at Re. 1/MB in over 45 countries on a daily basis.

Leveraging its global network and partnerships, the company said that it is the first tele-com service provider to offer high-speed data on-the-go to Indian customers covering business and holiday destinations viz., USA, UAE, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Greece, Switzerland, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Turkey, Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Czech Republic, Portugal, Romania, Albania, Hungary, Luxembourg, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, Russia, Taiwan, Mauritius and Morocco. Furthermore, this comes at no additional cost to customers from the existing 3G roaming services.

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Overall, dont let the bhoot mislead you, nothing bhootiya about this story. Had the makers tried to push the envelope, the idea could have been outstanding for a bhootiya comedy.
Press Briefing by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and National Security Advisor General H.R. McMaster, 4/6/2017

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

April 06, 2017



Tideline Ocean Resort & Spa

Palm Beach, Florida



10:18 P.M. EDT

MR. SPICER: Tonight, Secretary Tillerson and NSA Director, Lieutenant General McMaster, will both give comments regarding the President's order tonight, and then afterwards we'll take a few questions and then let you get to some sleep.

With that, Secretary Tillerson.

SECRETARY TILLERSON: Good evening, all. I think what we want to try to do is give you a little bit of background on how we got to the statements by the President and the actions that were taken tonight.

As you're well aware, Bashar al-Assad has carried out chemical attacks this past week on civilians, including women and children, and carried out attacks earlier -- last month, March 25th and 30th in Homs Province, as well. We have a very high level of confidence that the attacks were carried out by aircraft under the direction of Bashar al-Assad's regime. And we also have very high confidence that the attacks involved the use of sarin nerve gas. At least the past three attacks were fairly high -- we have high confidence on that.

I think it's also clear that previous agreements that had been entered into pursuant to U.N. Security Council Resolution 2118, as well as Annex A agreements that the Syrian government themselves accepted back in 2013, whereby they would surrender their chemical weapons under the supervision of the Russian government. Now, the U.S. and the Russian government entered into agreements whereby Russia would locate these weapons, they would secure the weapons, they would destroy the weapons, and that they would act as the guarantor that these weapons would no longer be present in Syria.

Clearly, Russia has failed in its responsibility to deliver on that commitment from 2013. So either Russia has been complicit, or Russia has been simply incompetent in its ability to deliver on its end of that agreement.

I think the other thing that's important to recognize -- that as Assad has continued to use chemical weapons in these attacks with no response -- no response from the international community -- that he, in effect, is normalizing the use of chemical weapons, which then may be adopted by others. So it's important that some action be taken on behalf of the international community to make clear that these chemical weapons continue to be a violation of international norms.

I think it's also important to recognize, as I think everyone does, the chaotic circumstances that exist on the ground in Syria, with the presence of a battle underway to defeat ISIS, the presence of al Qaeda elements inside of Syria, and a civil war that is underway. So, clearly, one of the existential threats we see on the ground in Syria is if there are weapons of this nature available in Syria, the ability to secure those weapons and not have them fall into the hands of those who would bring those weapons to our shores to harm American citizens.

So there are a number of elements that, in our view, called for this action and which we feel was appropriate. We feel the strike itself was proportional because it was targeted at the facility that delivered this most recent chemical weapons attack. And in carrying this out, we coordinated very carefully with our international partners in terms of communicating with them around the world. And I will tell you that the response from our allies in Europe, as well as the region in the Middle East, has been overwhelmingly supportive of the action we've taken.

So I'll leave it there. And let me turn it to NSA Director McMaster.

GENERAL McMASTER: I really have very little to add except to say that it was important during the President's deliberations and its deliberations with his leadership that we weighed, of course, the risk associated with any military action, and we weighed that against the risk of inaction, which Secretary Tillerson has already really summarized, which is the risk of this continued egregious, inhumane attacks on innocent civilians with chemical weapons.

And so, really, nothing else to add to the Secretary's summary. And we're happy to take any questions that you have.

Q Could you go through just the timeline of how the President's thinking changed? And when did you present him with options and so forth?

GENERAL McMASTER: Okay. So the President was immediately notified upon news of the chemical attack, and he was very interested in understanding better the circumstances of the attack and who was responsible. Our intelligence community, in cooperation with our friends and partners and allies around the world, collaborated to determine with a very high degree of confidence precisely where the location originated, and then, of course, the sort of chemicals that were used in the attack.

That confidence level has just continued to grow in the hours and days since the attack, associated with additional evidence that's available, especially -- so sad -- sadly, from the victims that are being treated and the confirmation of the type of agent that was used, which was a nerve agent.

So that was -- the initial interactions with the President were about the attack and responding to his questions about the nature of the attack, the scope of the attack, and who was responsible in particular.

And then we convened a meeting of the National Security Council principals -- a small group; it wasn't the full -- it was almost the full National Security Council -- to deliberate on options. There were three options; you can imagine which those were. There were three options that we discussed with the President, and the President asked us to focus on two options in particular, to mature those options. And then he had a series of questions for us that we endeavored to answer.

We were able to answer those questions and come back to him in a decision -- briefing today, again, with virtually all of the principals on the National Security Council here in Florida and then by video-telephone conference back in Washington. And after a meeting of considerable length and a far-reaching discussion, the President decided to act. And that's the general sequence of events. So rather two large and formal meetings, but really a whole series of discussions since the time of the attack.

Secretary, do you have anything to add to that?

SECRETARY TILLERSON: No, I think just as I said, as I think H.R. has said, this was a very deliberative process. There was a thorough examination of a wide range of options. And I think the President made the correct choice and made the correct decision, first to be decisive in acting -- acting against this heinous act on the part of Bashar al-Assad -- but acting in a way that was clearly directed at the source of this particular attack, to send that strong message.

Other things were considered. Those were rejected for any number of reasons. And in my view, the President made the exact, correct decision.

Q Mr. Secretary --

Q Mr. Secretary, can you talk a little bit about your discussions in the last hour? Secretary, did you speak to the President --

SECRETARY TILLERSON: I'll let Sean referee here.

MR. SPICER: (Laughter.) I'm good at it. Hallie.

Q Did you or did the President speak with President Putin prior to the attack? Can you talk about the discussions that you had with Moscow and what the expectation is from them?

And then, General McMaster, I have a question for you as well, please.

SECRETARY TILLERSON: There were no discussions or prior contacts, nor have there been any since the attack, with Moscow.

Q And can you tell us about your expectations for what you think you will hear from President Putin or Foreign Minister Lavrov?

SECRETARY TILLERSON: I'll let them speak for themselves.

Q General, McMaster, I'd like to ask you -- the President -- you talked a little bit in response to Steve's question about the President's evolution of his thinking. Just a couple of years ago his encouragement was to stay out of Syria. You talked about the images that sort of moved him into this direction -- as he put it tonight, "beautiful babies cruelly murdered." Has his thinking then changed on allowing Syrian refugees into the United States, to your knowledge?

GENERAL McMASTER: No, that wasn't discussed as any part of the deliberations.

Q And on the target, anything else on specifically what you believe was destroyed in the strike?

GENERAL McMASTER: I'll defer to the Pentagon on that. But there were a number of targets that were associated with the ability of that airfield to operate and to continue mass-murder attacks against the Syrian civilians. And the one thing that I will tell you, though, there was an effort to minimize risk to third-country nationals at that airport -- I think you read Russians from that -- and we took great pains to try to avoid that. Of course, in any kind of military operation, there are no guarantees. And then there were also measures put in place to avoid hitting what we believe is a storage of sarin gas there so that that would not be ignited and cause a hazard to civilians or anyone else.

MR. SPICER: Margaret.

Q Can I ask H.R. -- sorry -- both the Secretary and H.R. McMaster -- what is the overriding message here? Is it that -- this is not clearly a declaration of war, but is it that for President Trump and this administration the credible threat of military force is back on the table? Was this articulated or explained in any way to President Xi prior to the President's remarks? And do you see this as in any way sending a message more broadly on your policy towards North Korea that the President is willing to take decisive action? If both of you would weigh in.

SECRETARY TILLERSON: Well, I think as you just stated, this clearly indicates the President is willing to take decisive action when called for. And I think in this particular case, the use of prohibited chemical weapons, which violates a number of international norms and violates existing agreements, called for this type of a response, which is a kinetic military response.

I would not in any way attempt to extrapolate that to a change in our policy or our posture relative to our military activities in Syria today. There's been no change in that status. But I think it does demonstrate that President Trump is willing to act when governments and actors cross the line, and cross the line on violating commitments they have made and cross the line in the most heinous of ways. I think it is clear that President Trump has made that statement to the world tonight.

Q Mr. Secretary, can I --

MR. SPICER: Hold on, hold on --

GENERAL McMASTER: I really have no further comment on that question. I think the Secretary covered it comprehensively.

Sean.

Q Did you tell China in advance?

MR. SPICER: Hold on one second.

Q Mr. Secretary, if I could ask you to clarify Russia again -- you said no contacts were made with Russia before the strikes today.

SECRETARY TILLERSON: No contacts were made with Moscow, with President Putin. There are military de-confliction agreements in place with the Russian military, and our military did operate under and in accordance with those de-confliction agreements in coordinating this particular attack.

Q On the ground in Syria?

SECRETARY TILLERSON: In Syria.

Q Can you explain, Mr. Secretary, that process? How was Russia notified?

SECRETARY TILLERSON: Let me let H.R. --

GENERAL McMASTER: There are normal channels open for de-confliction. And I'll just defer that to the Pentagon just for accuracy. But the Pentagon, I know, is going to be talking to the press here soon, and I think it would be better if they give you a more precise answer if you're looking for details.

Q And, Mr. Secretary, if I could, obviously the diplomatic considerations here are of a magnitude that didn't exist a number of years ago. When you went into this, unlike President Obama, who was dealing simply with Bashar al-Assad, you're dealing with Russia, you're dealing with the Kurds, you're dealing with Turkey. Can you give us a little bit of the diplomatic calculation in undertaking this attack?

SECRETARY TILLERSON: Well, my expectation is that all of those parties, with the exception of Bashar al-Assad and perhaps Russia, I think are going to applaud this particular action or effort.

Overall, the situation in Syria is one where our approach today and our policy today is, first, to defeat ISIS. By defeating ISIS we remove one of the disruptive elements in Syria that exists today. That begins to clarify for us opposition forces and regime forces. In working with the coalition -- as you know, there is a large coalition of international players and allies who are involved in the future resolution in Syria.

So it's to defeat ISIS; it's to begin to stabilize areas of Syria, stabilize areas in the south of Syria, stabilize areas around Raqqa through ceasefire agreements between the Syrian regime forces and opposition forces. Stabilize those areas; begin to restore some normalcy to them. Restore them to local governance -- and there are local leaders who are ready to return, some who have left as refugees -- they're ready to return to govern these areas. Use local forces that will be part of the liberation effort to develop the local security forces -- law enforcement, police force. And then use other forces to create outer perimeters of security so that areas like Raqqa, areas in the south can begin to provide a secure environment so refugees can begin to go home and begin the rebuilding process.

In the midst of that, through the Geneva Process, we will start a political process to resolve Syria's future in terms of its governance structure, and that ultimately, in our view, will lead to a resolution of Bashar al-Assad's departure.

MR. SPICER: Jonathan.

Q Mr. Secretary and General McMaster, does this strike significantly change Assad's military capability to carry out an attack like this? Or was it really about sending a message that this kind of attack is not acceptable?

SECRETARY TILLERSON: Well, I'll answer the last part of that. This was clearly a very decisive action taken on the part of President Trump, who I think you heard yesterday said this particular heinous attack changed his view of how horrible these types of use of these weapons are. That clearly changed President Trump's view that something has to be done in response.

I'll let H.R. McMaster respond to the second question of the military -- whether it's changed our military posture.

GENERAL McMASTER: Obviously, the regime will maintain the certain capacity to commit mass murder with chemical weapons we think beyond this particular airfield. But it was aimed at this particular airfield for a reason, because we could trace this murderous attack back to that facility. And this was not a small strike. It was not a small strike. And I think what it does communicate is a big shift, right, a big shift in Assad's calculus -- it should be, anyway -- because this is the first time that the United States has taken direct military action against that regime or the regime of his father.

So I think what is critical is the President's decision in response to this mass murder attack, but also in the context of all the previous attacks that have occurred -- I think over 50 -- I think it's over 50 chemical attacks previously, post-2013, when the U.N. resolution went into effect. And so I think that it's both. It was aimed at the capacity to commit mass murder with chemical weapons, but it was not of a scope or a scale that it would go after all such related facilities.

Q Were military personnel with any other nations, any of our allies, take part in this? Or was this 100 percent a U.S. operation?

SECRETARY TILLERSON: This was entirely a U.S. operation.

MR. SPICER: Jen.

Q Can you talk a little bit about whether there might have been just an emotional reaction to this from President Trump? Assad cannot gas Americans, so do you think some emotional response to the sight and images of what happened in Syria played into this? And secondly, can you talk about the reaction from President Xi?

SECRETARY TILLERSON: No, I don't think it was -- I do not view it as an emotional reaction at all. I think as President Trump evaluated this first attack, these attacks that occurred on his watch, and reflected upon the prior responses, or lack of responses, he came to the conclusion that we could not, yet again, turn away and turn an eye -- turn a blind eye to what's happened.

The use of these weapons, as I indicated earlier, one of the concerns we have is the more we fail to respond to use of these weapons, the more we begin to normalize their use. And when we begin to normalize their use, we are opening up wider-spread use by others who would use such weapons.

And I don't think we should in any way diminish the risk of the situation in Syria where there is a lot of chaos on the ground. There are elements on the ground in Syria, elements that are plotting to reach our shore, and these type of weapons falling into their hands and being brought to our shore is a direct threat on the American people.



Q Sorry, I wanted to ask you to clarify something, Secretary Tillerson, first, and then I also have a military question. You were saying that there was no coordination with Moscow for this, but then you said that you followed the rules of de-confliction. So that kind of suggests that you did talk to Russia in some capacity. Can you just clarify that?

SECRETARY TILLERSON: Well, I think Director McMaster answered it. And again, I would direct you to the Pentagon to give you the precise procedures that are followed. But these are battlefield agreements, because we're operating in Syria, the Russians are operating in Syria. As we have begun the march to defeat ISIS, many of our forces are becoming more approximate to one another, and so we have a de-confliction agreement in place with the Russian military.

And so there are command contacts that exist 24/7 for any type of operation that could bring us into conflict. That's the level of contact that we're talking about.

Q So is it more accurate to say that you didn't seek approval from Moscow or anything like that for them to kind of give you the green light, but you followed protocol in terms of the military --

SECRETARY TILLERSON: We sought no approval from Moscow or at any other level within the Russian infrastructure. This was strictly following the rules that we have put in place, an agreement with the Russian military to de-conflict. Because our target in this attack was not Russia, it was not the Russians, it was not their forces, nor any Russian individuals. Our target was this airfield and the Syrian regime.

GENERAL McMASTER: I would just add one thing. The purpose was not to receive permission, the purpose was to reduce the chances of Russian casualties and to follow the procedures, as you mentioned. But we wanted to take every possible measure we could to reduce the chance of Russian casualties.

MR. SPICER: Thank you guys very much. Appreciate it. We're going to have a great night.

END

10:39 P.M. EDT

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Mutant Turtle (Photo : Diagonal View/YouTube)

A genetic mutation caused a Brazilian turtle to develop two heads and six legs. The real-life mutant turtle is now at a flower and fish shop in Shaanxi Province in China. The shop owner, Wong, purchased the baby red-eared slider from a wholesale market in Brazil along with other normal turtles.



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Wong was unaware one of the turtles was a mutant. The animal, estimated to be two to three months old, moves and eats like the rest of the turtles from Brazil. All of its four eyes blink and six legs move, RT reported.



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The pet shop is attracting large crowds because of the mutant turtle whose mutation is caused by a genetic anomaly, according to researchers from the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Medicine and Life Sciences. Reptile Magazine said if cared for properly, the turtle  which many Chinese relate to the movie Mutant Ninja Turtle  could reach 12 inches long and live up to 20 years.



According to Daily Star, red-eared slider turtles usually live for 50 to 70 years. However, because the mutant turtle has polycephaly, the condition of having more than one head, it could be the reason why Reptile Magazine has a shorter prediction of the animals life span.



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The video of the mutant turtle has become viral on social media sites. However, even if its appearance could be a bit creepy, many netizens found the animal cute. A YouTube user said the mutant turtle is so cool.



China has its fair share of mutant animals. In September, a piglet was born in China with a face that looks like a human and a growth on its head similar to a penis. The piglet lolls out its tongue when yawning or gasping for breath. It has ears that are flat against its head and bulbous eyes.


U.S. Strike Designed to Deter Assad Regime's Use of Chemical Weapons

By Lisa Ferdinando DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, April 7, 2017  The Syrian airbase targeted in yesterday's U.S. missile strike is believed to be where Syrian President Bashar Assad regime aircraft took off for a deadly chemical attack against civilians earlier this week, senior military officials speaking on background told reporters at a Pentagon briefing today.

The U.S. military action is meant to "deter the regime from using chemical weapons and so the proportionality is measured against that outcome," an official said. "We do not believe it's acceptable for the Syrian regime to use chemical weapons."

According to the Pentagon, hundreds of civilians were killed or injured in the April 4 chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun, Syria.

The two senior military officials who spoke to reporters at the briefing said the Shayrat Airfield in Homs governate in Syria that was targeted by the U.S. strike has a "history" of having chemical weapons stored there.

An official said there is "high confidence" the airfield is where the Syrian regime's aircraft took off for the April 4 attack.

'Proportional Response' to Deadly Chemical Attack

The United States also believes that a nerve agent like sarin was used in the chemical attack against the civilians, an official said.

In response to the attack, under the orders of President Donald J. Trump, the U.S. military conducted a cruise missile strike yesterday in Syria, the officials pointed out.

The U.S. strike was a "proportional response" to the chemical attack, the officials said. The airfield is in an isolated area and the strike was conducted in the early morning hours in Syria, to minimize the risk to civilians, according to the officials.

The U.S. was not tracking the airfield as an active chemical site, an official said, but the military did take precautions not to hit anything that could possibly lead to the inadvertent release of chemical munitions or chemical substances.

Syrian and Russian forces operate at that airfield, they noted. The United States notified Russia ahead of the strike, to avoid any possible misinterpretation, the officials explained.

Fifty-nine Tomahawk missiles each struck a target on the airfield, they said.

The U.S. military action is believed to have destroyed approximately 20 aircraft, the officials said. Other damage includes the destruction of surface-to-air missile systems, and the destruction or damage of targeted hangars, an official pointed out.

Hospital Struck After Chemical Attack

Shortly after the regime's chemical attack, a small, unmanned aerial vehicle -- "either [Syrian] regime or Russian" -- was seen over the local hospital as victims were being rushed there for care, an official said.

"About five hours later, the UAV returned and the hospital was struck by additional munitions," an official said.

The official pointed out the site is clearly a hospital. The United States is interested in finding out who would strike that site and why, the official said.

Russian 'Failure' to Control Syrian Activities

At a minimum, an official pointed out, the Russians "failed to control the activities of their Syrian client." Moscow had pledged after a Syrian chemical attack in 2013 that it would guarantee the removal and elimination of Syria's chemical weapons capabilities.

"We've seen Russian failure to stop the regime from barrel bomb campaigns and campaigns against innocent civilians, especially in Aleppo, but really across the opposition held areas in the country," the official said.

The official noted the United States is assessing all the information and could not "clearly say here in this forum what kind of participation the Russians might have had" in the chemical attack or associated activities.

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Department of the Army announces upcoming deployment and intent to retain Alaska Airborne Brigade

By U.S. Army Public Affairs April 7, 2017

WASHINGTON -- The Department of the Army announced today that approximately 1,500 soldiers from 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division (4/25) will deploy to Afghanistan later this year as part of a regular rotation of forces in support of Operation Freedom's Sentinel.

"As the only U.S. Army Airborne brigade in the Pacific, our Spartan Brigade paratroopers are exceptionally capable, well-trained and a well-led organization," said Maj. Gen. Bryan Owens, the commanding general of U.S. Army Alaska. "These soldiers train rigorously in a wide range of climates and environments. I am fully confident in their ability to excel and overcome any challenges they will face during this deployment."

The Army also announced its intent to retain 4/25, stationed in Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, as a full brigade combat team and not convert it to an airborne task force. The plan to retain 4/25 is based on emerging mission requirements and the fiscal year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) call for a Regular Army end strength of 476,000 soldiers.

A final decision to retain 4/25 as a full brigade combat team after its deployment is dependent on receiving an appropriation from Congress commensurate with the increased end strength outlined in the NDAA.

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USS Makin Island, 11th MEU Arrive in Hong Kong

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS170407-06

Release Date: 4/7/2017 8:19:00 AM

From Makin Island Public Affairs

HONG KONG (NNS) -- Amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD 8), with Marines of the embarked 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, arrived in Hong Kong for a scheduled port visit, April 7.

The port visit will allow the Sailors and Marines to experience the local culture and conduct community relations projects.

Makin Island's Commanding Officer, Capt. Mark Melson, said port visits and liberty give the crew and embarked Marines a valuable opportunity to experience and gain an appreciation for new cultures.

"The Makin Island team is grateful for the opportunity to visit Hong Kong," said Melson. "Our Sailors and Marines are looking forward to exploring this fantastic city and experiencing all the area has to offer. For many, it's their first time to Hong Kong, and for all of us it's a chance to interact with the local population as we continue to strengthen our partnership."

Sailors and Marines are scheduled to participate in several community outreach events during their visit, including sporting events, cultural exchanges, and activities with students at local primary and secondary schools.

Makin Island houses nearly 1,100 Sailors and 1,500 Marines, and is a multi-mission platform capable of launching and recovering fixed and rotary-wing aircraft and amphibious landing craft.

Makin Island is the flagship for the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group (MKI ARG), which includes amphibious transport dock ship USS Somerset (LPD 25) and amphibious dock landing ship USS Comstock (LSD 45).

The San Diego-based ships deployed in October 2016, to the U.S. 3rd, 5th and 7th Fleet areas of operation, with embarked forces of the 11th MEU, Amphibious Squadron 5, the "Blackjacks" of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 21, Assault Craft Unit 5, Fleet Surgical Team 5 and Beachmaster Unit 1.

The 11th MEU consists of the 11th MEU Command Element; the Aviation Combat Element, Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 163 (Reinforced); the Ground Combat Element, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 4th Marines; and the Logistics Combat Element, Combat Logistics Battalion 11.

The MKI ARG/11th MEU provides senior U.S. military leadership and coalition partners with a flexible force able to rapidly respond to contingencies and crises within a region. With ships, aircraft, troops, and logistical equipment, the ARG/MEU is a self-contained and self-sustained task force capable of conducting everything from combat operations to providing humanitarian assistance.

While operating in 7th Fleet, the Navy-Marine Corps team provides maritime security operations, crisis response capability, theater security cooperation and forward naval presence to Indo-Asia Pacific region.

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Bonhomme Richard arrives in Okinawa, disembarks 31st Marines

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS170407-02

Release Date: 4/7/2017 7:49:00 AM

By Mass Communication Specialist 2 Kyle Carlstrom, USS Bonhomme Richard Public Affairs

WHITE BEACH, Okinawa (NNS) -- The amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) arrived in White Beach, Okinawa, to disembark 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) equipment, vehicles and personnel, April 6.

Bonhomme Richard departed Sasebo, Japan, for a regularly-scheduled patrol in the 7th Fleet area of responsibility (AOR), Feb. 27. During the patrol, Bonhomme Richard (BHR) and the 31st MEU completed amphibious integrated training (AIT) and a certification exercise (CERTEX).

"I continue to be amazed by the professionalism and determination of our blue-green team," said Capt. Jeffrey Ward, Bonhomme Richard's commanding officer. "They flawlessly executed the mission, exceeding all expectations, and I couldn't be more proud of this crew."

CERTEX was conducted to evaluate the integration of all elements of the BHR Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) and 31st MEU to test their ability to plan for and execute mission essential tasks.

"This patrol was extremely successful," said Col. Tye Wallace, commanding officer of the 31st MEU. "We had a great time integrating with our naval partners. We were able to hone our skills as an afloat, amphibious crisis response force, and it allowed us to further strengthen the bonds of camaraderie between Bonhomme Richard and the MEU."

Bonhomme Richard is the flagship of the Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG). The Bonhomme Richard ESG consists of USS Bonhomme Richard, USS Green Bay (LPD 20) and USS Ashland (LSD 48).

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Gambia's UDP wins majority of seats in parliamentary elections

Iran Press TV

Fri Apr 7, 2017 5:6PM

The Gambia's longtime opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) has won an absolute majority in parliament in the West African country's first general elections after the ouster of President Yahya Jammeh.

The UDP easily defeated Jammeh's Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) party, results announced on Friday showed.

Independent Electoral Commission chairman Alieu Momar Njie declared at the commission headquarters on Friday that "UDP won 31 seats; APRC won five seats" in the 58-seat parliament. The APRC had 48 seats before.

Fifty-three seats are chosen by vote and five seats are to be appointed by President Adama Barrow.

UDP leader Ousainou Darboe is a personal friend and longtime ally of the president.

Barrow, who won the December 2016 presidential race, was a former UDP treasurer who resigned to run as the candidate of an unprecedented opposition coalition that eventually set aside the country's longtime ruler Jammeh, whose party lost popularity after his ouster.

Jammeh had initially refused to step down, claiming electoral irregularities. However, he agreed to step down after mediation efforts by West African leaders and the threat of military intervention forced him to reconsider his available options.

On January 21, the Gambia's former leader finally conceded defeat in the election, paving the way for a peaceful transition of power to President Barrow, who returned home from neighboring Senegal, where he had been inaugurated earlier in the week.

Jammeh, who had taken power in a 1994 coup, sought amnesty and safe passage out of the Gambia and the recognition of his political party. He then departed for exile in Equatorial Guinea.

During Jammeh's reign, his government was accused of harsh treatment of opponents.

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Boko Haram militants attack, burn down military base in Nigeria

Iran Press TV

Fri Apr 7, 2017 10:25AM

The Boko Haram terrorist group has attacked and set a military base in northeastern Nigeria on fire, raising fears of a reemergence of the Daesh-linked outfit.

Armed men from a Boko Haram faction on Thursday staged an attack on the military base in the Wajirko Village, 150 kilometers from Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State.

"The gunmen arrived in pickups and engaged soldiers in the base just outside the village in a heavy shootout," a local resident Bukar Maduye told media.

"The soldiers were outgunned and forced to withdraw from the base and allowed the gunmen, who were from Mamman Nur faction, to take over the base, which they looted and set on fire," he said.

A member of a vigilante group, which is assisting the military in its battle against Boko Haram terrorists, confirmed the incident, adding that the soldiers at the base had moved to another military base 40 kilometers away.

"There were no reports of casualties from either side but the base was completely burnt by the Boko Haram terrorists and the soldiers fled," said Mustapha Karimbe.

On Wednesday, Boko Haram militants attacked Abbati, a farming community outside Maiduguri, where they killed seven men and stole 360 heads of livestock.

In recent weeks, the Takfiri militants have intensified their attacks in areas near Lake Chad, stealing food from residents after raiding their farms. They have also killed several civilians they accused of cooperating with the military.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who came to power in 2015 with a pledge to eradicate Boko Haram, claims to have prevailed over Boko Haram's militancy; however, frequent deadly attacks in the West African country indicate otherwise.

In its fight against Boko Haram, the Nigerian military is being assisted by troops from neighboring countries such as Chad and Cameroon.

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US lawmakers urge caution after Trump orders strikes on Syria

Iran Press TV

Fri Apr 7, 2017 4:44AM

Several members of Congress urged caution after US President Donald Trump ordered a massive missile strike against a Syrian government airbase, saying he needs congressional authority for military action.

Rep. Barbara Lee, a Democrat from California, condemned the operation as "an act of war."

"This is an act of war. Congress needs to come back into session & hold a debate. Anything less is an abdication of our responsibility," Lee, the only member of Congress who opposed congressional authority for the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, wrote on Twitter.

Several other Democrats said the Trump administration should have consulted with Congress before ordering the attack.

The US military launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles against several targets on al-Shayrat airbase in Homs province Thursday night.

The operation came after the US and its Western allies blamed the government of President Bashar al-Assad for a deadly chemical weapons attack this week in Idlib province. The Syrian government has strongly denied responsibility.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer offered measured support for the operation, but cautioned the president should not act without approval from Congress.

However, he added, "It is incumbent on the Trump administration to come up with a strategy and consult with Congress before implementing it. I salute the professionalism and skill of our Armed Forces who took action today," the New York Democrat said in a statement.

Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, warned that military action could not force the Syrian president out of office.

"I fully concur that the regime has to go, because as long as Assad is there that fighting is going to go on, that terrible war is going to go on," the California lawmaker said on an MSNBC program. "But this is not something that can be accomplished via the air at a standoff location."

A number of Republicans also voiced concerns about the lack of congressional authority.

Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, opposed the missile strike because the US has not been attacked by Syria and questioned the constitutionality of the military action.

"While we all condemn the atrocities in Syria, the United States was not attacked," Paul said. "The president needs congressional authorization for military action as required by the Constitution, and I call on him to come to Congress for a proper debate."

"Our prior interventions in this region have done nothing to make us safer and Syria will be no different," the senator added.

Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, invoked a 2013 tweet from Trump, arguing that former President Barack Obama "must get Congressional approval before attacking Syria," to criticize the missile strikes.

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US launches missile strike against Syria

Iran Press TV

Fri Apr 7, 2017 1:30AM

The United States has fired dozens of cruise missiles at a Syrian airfield in response to this week's alleged chemical attack in the Arab country that it has blamed on the government, according to multiple media reports.

The US military launched on Friday morning about 60 Tomahawk missiles against several targets on al-Shayrat air base in Homs province in western Syria.

"Tonight, I ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in Syria from where the chemical attack was launched," US President Donald Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

The missiles were reportedly fired from the USS Ross and USS Porter, Navy destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

"These missiles targeted aircraft, hardened aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage areas, ammunition supply bunkers, air defense systems, and radars," Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told reporters.

A Syrian military source was quoted by state TV as saying that the US missile strike on the Syrian air base has "led to losses."

Trump ordered the strike just a day after he pointed the finger at Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the deadly attack which killed at least 70 people in the town of Khan Shaykhun in Idlib.

The foreign-sponsored militants active in the area and some Western officials blamed the attack on the Syrian military whereas Damascus rejected the allegation, insisting it "has never used them [chemical weapons], anytime, anywhere, and will not do so in the future."

"It is in this vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons," Trump said.

"There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons," he stated without providing a shred of evidence to back his claim.

"Assad chokes out the lives of helpless men, women and children," Trump continued. "It was a slow and brutal death for so many, even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack."

The United States and its allies have repeatedly used chemical weapons as a pretext to pressure the Syrian government. Damascus volunteered to destroy its chemical stockpile in 2014 following a poisonous attack outside the capital.

The allegations of chemical arms use are still made against Syria even as the dismantling of the country's entire stockpile of chemical weapons as well as relevant production facilities was supervised by the UN.

Foreign-backed militants have repeatedly used chemical weapons against Syrian troops, some of which have been verified by UN officials, but the attacks have often been ignored by Western governments.

In December 2015, a cousin of former Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi said that chemical weapons used in Ghouta which were blamed on the Syrian government were in fact stolen from Libya and later smuggled into Syria via Turkey.

'Trump doesn't need approval of Congress to strike Syria'

On Thursday, hawkish Republican Senator John McCain said Trump does not need to ask for the approval of lawmakers if he wanted to strike Syria, but still Congress should pass a new Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF).

"We need an Authorization for Use of Military Force. We got to update it, we got to make it realistic and we got to have Congress, the representatives of the American people, involved in some of these decisions," McCain said during an interview.

"I am going to work with Sen. Tim Kaine [D-Va.] and others to try to come up with one," he added.

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Some 20 Syrian Army's Aircraft Destroyed in US Missile Attack - DoD Official

Sputnik News

19:12 07.04.2017(updated 20:42 07.04.2017)

A senior US military official told reporters that some 20 Syrian waplanes have been destroyed by US cruise missiles launched on an airbase in the Homs province.

On Thursday night, the United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Syrian military airfield in Ash Sha'irat, located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the city of Homs. US President Donald Trump said the attack was a response to the alleged chemical weapon use in Syria's Idlib on Tuesday, which Washington blames on the Syrian government. According to Homs Governor Talal Barazi, the attack killed five people and injured seven others.

All US cruise missiles reached their targets at the Syrian airfield, the official said. Earlier in the day, the Russian Defense Ministry said that only 23 Tomahawk missiles reached the Ash Sha'irat airbase, however, the Pentagon has already denied the information.

"Two ships that were part of this, USS Porter and USS Ross, between the two of them, they launched 59 missiles. We have positive confirmation each one of those missiles hit the target," the official told reporters.

"We have reports of approximately 20 aircraft that were destroyed," the official told reporters.

The United States has determined the path Syrian warplanes took before the chemical attack in Idlib province, a senior US military official said on Friday.

"At the time of this [chemical] attack, we have these aircraft tracks," the official told reporters. "They go from the airfield at Ash Sha'irat to the town of Khan Shaykhun. So we know the routes that the aircraft took."

The US military official said that Washington has no confirmation of any military or civilian deaths in the strikes.

"We don't have any positive confirmation on either military or civilian deaths," the official told reporters when asked if there was evidence of military of civilian casualties.

The US military provided Trump with plans on Syria strike on Thursday, the official said.

"[On April 5], the President directed the Secretary of Defense to come up with military options in response to this attack," the official told reporters. "Those options were basically put together into recommendations and went forward to National Security Council On April 6, those proposals were presented to the president."

The Pentagon believes that Syrian Army's surface-to-air missiles were destroyed in the US attack, the official said.

"We know that we have damaged petroleum sites. We have taken out their surface-to-air missile systems," the official told reporters.

The United States continues to use the existing deconfliction channel with Russia after launching missile strikes on a Syrian military airfield in Ash Sha'irat in the province of Homs, a senior US military official said in a briefing.

"We have a memorandum of understanding with the Russian forces and that memorandum is still being used and being supported," the official told reporters. "We have had discussions with the Russians after the attack to confirm that the memorandum is still active and they confirmed that it is."

The Syrian government carried out a chemical attack in Idlib province on April 4 to keep rebel fighters from gaining control of Hama airfield, a senior US military official alleged on Friday.

"There is a significant opposition offensive in Hama province," the official told reporters. "The regime was at risk of losing Hama airfield We think that this attack is linked to a battlefield desperation decision."

The official said the Syrian government had been under intense pressure.

The US is assessing information whether Russia knew of or assisted in the Idlib chemical attack, he claimed. The official added that Washington sees no credible alternative to the source of the attack other than Syrian President Assad.

The US has high confidence the chemical used in the April 4 attack in Syria's Idlib province was a nerve agent, the official claimed.

"We have high confidence that a nerve agent like sarin was used in Khan Shaykhun," the official told reporters. "The symptoms are consistent with exposure to nerve agent."

"There is no credible alternative to the Syrian regime air attack as the source of the chemicals that killed so many Syrian civilians," the official told reporters on Friday.

Syrian opposition claimed Tuesday forces loyal to President Bashar Assad had used a chemical gas on people in the northwestern province, killing nearly 80 and injuring 200. Assad argued his government has no chemical weapons after agreeing to have them destroyed in 2013. He also ruled out having used chemicals against own people.

The Russian Defense Ministry said early Wednesday the airstrike near Khan Shaykhun was carried out by Syrian aircraft, which struck a terrorist warehouse that stored chemical weapons slated for delivery to Iraq.

In 2013, the Syrian authorities agreed to transfer its stockpiled chemical weapons to international control for their subsequent destruction, so as to prevent them from falling into the hands of militants operating in the country.

 Sputnik

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US Missile Strikes in Syria Violate 2001 Military Force Authorization - Senator

Sputnik News

19:07 07.04.2017(updated 19:43 07.04.2017)

US President Donald Trump's missile launch in Syria violates the the authorization for use of military force (AUMF) passed by the US Congress in 2001, Senator Tim Kaine said on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  Kaine said it was time for Trump to adhere to the US Constitution and get approval from Congress for military action.

"[The] 2001 AUMF doesn't give legal authority for the airstrikes in Syria," Kaine said in a Twitter post. "It was drafted for military actions vs. 9/11 terrorists."

On Thursday night, the United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles on the Syrian military airfield in the province of Homs in response to a chemical attack on Tuesday that killed dozens of civilians.

Syria's news agency SANA said the missile strikes claimed nine lives.

 Sputnik

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Lionsgate Presents The LA Premiere Of Saban's Power Rangers (Photo : Getty Images)

The Lionsgate movie Power Rangers got the approval of Chinas censor for theatrical release on May 12 even if it has a gay character. The media speculated that the film may suffer the fate of Beauty and the Beast which had also a gay character, but the Disney movie was eventually approved with no cuts.



Advertisement

Character Questions Sexuality



While Le Fou in the Disney movie had a passing gay moment only, the character in Power Rangers questions her sexuality, according to Variety. The films opening date is the same as King Arthur: Legend of the Sword which shows simultaneously in China and the U.S.



The movie, directed by Dean Israelite, opens a week after the May 5 debut of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 in China. Huaxia Distribution and China Film Group, state-owned companies, are the ones handling the China release of Power Rangers.



In a bid to court Chinese moviegoers, the film cast Chinese actor Ludi Lin as the Black Ranger. The movie opened in several countries on March 24, including the U.S. So far, it has grossed $65.7 million in North America and $33 million in other markets.



Nostalgia for Franchise & Actors



The movie is a reboot of the 1990s franchise. Its strong box-office performance is largely due to nostalgia, including two actors who played rangers in past Power Rangers movies. They are Amy Jo Johnson, the original Pink Ranger, and Jason David Frank, the Green Ranger/Tommy Oliver, in more than a dozen Power Ranger productions since 1993, according to Screen Rant.



His last portrayal as Green Ranger was in Power Rangers Super Megaforce: The Legendary Battle shown in 2015. Because Franks Tommy character was mentioned in the upcoming movie during the mid-credits scene, there are speculations the Green Ranger would be involved in future sequels of the franchise since there are at least five in the planning stage.


Philippines Rows Back on South China Sea Dispute After Beijing Censure

Sputnik News

17:48 07.04.2017(updated 17:51 07.04.2017)

The Philippines Defense Minister has attempted to row back on an order by President Rodrigo Duterte earlier this week to occupy and fortify islands in the South China Sea. It comes after Beijing expressed concern over the military action, in a region where China also lays claim to several islands.

On Thursday, 6 April, the controversial Philippine president declared that he had ordered the Filipino military to occupy several Philippines-claimed islands in the South China Sea, in the face of ongoing Chinese activity, including land-reclamation and navy patrols.

"We tried to be friends with everybody but we have to maintain our jurisdiction now," Duterte said.

Duterte has made nationalist comments about the Philippines's territorial rights in the past, once joking that he would jet ski to a Chinese man-made island in the South China Sea to reinforce the Philippines claim. However, Beijing did not see the funny side of Duterte's military command.

"We express our concern in this regard. We hope that the Philippines will continue to handle maritime disputes with China properly," Chinese Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Friday, 7 April.

Also, on Friday, the Philippines Defense Minister Delfin Lorenzana hastily clarified that Manila was planning to only repair and upgrade facilities on Spratly islands that the Philippines is already occupying.

"The president wants facilities built such as barracks for the men, water and sewage disposal systems, power generators, light houses, and shelters for fishermen," Lorenzana was quoted as saying by Reuters.

A spokesperson for the Filipino military, Brigadier-General Restituto Padilla, added that what President Duterte had really meant was to upgrade facilities in the "already-occupied areas."

The quick reversal of official rhetoric coming out of the Philippines has become a trademark of the Duterte administration, since he took office in June 2016.

Inflammatory comments, often insulting world leaders, are then re-worded or outright reversed by one of the president's spokespersons, ministers or military officials.

The speed of this particular official policy revision is a sign of how much is at stake in the South China Sea dispute.

It's estimated that around US$5 trillion of seaborne goods pass through the waters every year. There are also thought to be significant mineral resources.

China, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan are all claimants on parts of the waters and its islands and reefs.

Added to this is the Philippines increasing financial reliance on China, pivoting away from the US.

Since taking office, President Duterte has sought US$24 billion in investment and financing deals from Beijing.

It's now not clear what the Philippines' strategy in the region is. Currently, Manila occupies nine out of around 50 islands that they claim.

Duterte has formerly said that he might visit one island on June 12, to raise his country's national flag on the Philippines Independence Day.

 Sputnik

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Lithuania Concerned Over Russian-Belarusian Drills, Cites Alleged Threat

Sputnik News

15:34 07.04.2017(updated 15:35 07.04.2017)

Lithuanian Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis on Friday reiterated his concerns over the joint Russian-Belarusian Zapad-2017 military exercises, specifically those regarding security, during his meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

VILNIUS (Sputnik)  Moscow has repeatedly refuted allegations of Moscow's military threat to the Baltic states. According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, such statements are absurd and groundless.

"We are worried about the plans for the military exercise 'Zapad 2017'. The exercise will be held on the western borders of the Russian Federation and Belarus. Such actions have a negative implication for the security situation in Europe while increasing the risk of unforeseen incidents," Skvernelis said as quoted by the Lithuanian government's press service.

On April 3, the Lithuanian State Security Department and the Second Investigation Department under the National Defense Ministry issued a joint national security threat assessment which concluded that Russia may potentially be able to mobilize and start combat operations against the Baltic countries within just 24-48 hours. The report also called Russian-Belarusian 2017 joint drills an additional security threat.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to the report by calling it a result of a foreign-imposed "hysterical Russophobia" which undermines the interests of Lithuania's own population. In turn, Belarus has dismissed claims made about the Zapad-2017 drills as speculation.

NATO forces are deployed in Lithuania and several other Eastern Europe countries, a move which has prompted Moscow to repeatedly express concern over the military build-up close to Russia's borders. During a July 2016 summit in Warsaw, NATO agreed to deploy four multinational battalions to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. Over a dozen NATO states will contribute troops to the mission.

 Sputnik

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'Horrible attack' in South Sudan town sends thousands fleeing across border - UN refugee agency

7 April 2017  Host communities and aid agencies in Uganda are struggling to feed and shelter new refugees who have been displaced following a spike in violence in parts of neighbouring South Sudan's Eastern Equatoria province, the United Nations refugee agency said today.

According to estimates, some 6,000 newly displaced have arrived in Lamwo district (northern Uganda) since Monday, after an attack on the town of Pajok, some 15 kilometres (about 9.5 miles) across the border, and there are fears that number could rise as fighting is reported in the bordering towns of Magwi and Oboo.

Describing the incident in Pajok as a "horrible attack", Babar Baloch, a spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told journalists at a regular media briefing in Geneva that refugees claimed that the town came under an indiscriminate attack by the South Sudan armed forces.

"[They] reported witnessing their loved ones shot dead at a close range, with many arrested or slaughtered, including children. Families fled in different directions; the elderly and disabled who could not run were shot dead," he added.

Furthermore, there are reports that many people are still hiding in the bush trying to find their way to safety and that their homes and properties were looted and burned.

Main roads out of the town are also reportedly blocked by armed groups, noted the UNHCR spokesperson.

UNHCR staff in northern Uganda are working to help women, children, elderly, and the disabled who are in dire need of immediate humanitarian assistance and trying to provide them with food, shelter, water and medical care but are reporting severe shortage of resources.

This January, in light of the worsening crisis in the world's youngest nation, the funding appeal for the 'South Sudan Situation'  that includes support for Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic as well as South Sudan  was revised to nearly $782 million, up nearly $298 million (61 per cent) from the original appeal.

However, it is only 11 per cent funded.

Uganda currently hosts more than 832,000 refugees from South Sudan and its approach in dealing with refugees has been hailed as the most progressive, promoting self-reliance of refugees and their hosts, but the chronic under-funding is putting such relief activities at risk.

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UN emergency food agency resumes full food rations in Kenyan refugee camps

7 April 2017  The United Nations emergency food agency resumed rations this month to refugees in Kenya's Dadaab and Kakuma camps, but cautioned that there is not enough funding to also provide cash transfers through the summer.

Each month, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) provides each refugee with a mix of food items  cereals, pulses, vegetable oil, and nutrient-enriched flour  and cash, sent through mobile telephones, allowing refugees to buy food products of their choice from local markets.

"We are pleased to announce that can resume full rations for the refugees thanks to new donor contributions," said Annalisa Conte, WFP's Country Director for Kenya. "However, we are urging our donors to continue making new resources available to enable us to carry on providing this much-needed food assistance for 420,000 people."

WFP has said that was able to restore the full food ration for all refugees from April to July. However, the funding currently available for cash transfers  which make up 30 percent of the refugees' food assistance  will last only until May.

This is already a boost from last year, when a lack of funds forced WFP to cut food rations in the camps by 50 per cent, potentially endangering refugees' nutrition and health.

Dadaab is the world's largest refugee camp, bordering near Somalia, while Kakuma takes in mostly Sudanese refugees, bordering near South Sudan and Uganda. Both camps are run by the Kenyan Government.

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Trump's Missile Strikes in Syria Revive Debate on Congress' Role

By Cindy Saine April 07, 2017

President Donald Trump's decision to authorize cruise-missile strikes on a Syrian government air base has drawn rare bipartisan support from congressional leaders. However, a number of lawmakers from both parties also expressed concern, saying that if the president plans any escalation of military action, Congress has a constitutional role to play.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the "well-executed" action sent a powerful message to U.S. allies and adversaries that "you don't use chemical weapons without consequences."

The senator from Kentucky also suggested Trump's military action could have policy implications ranging beyond Syria: "America is back, in terms of playing a leadership role, and trying to be constructive in a variety of different places around the world." McConnell added that the cruise-missile raid could be read "as a message to Iran, and North Korea, and the Russians, that America intends to lead again."

Asked if he would counsel Trump to reconsider the ban on Syrian refugees in light of the atrocities civilians are facing, McConnell said he would not offer the president any advice on the subject.

Praise for Trump's decision

Republican senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain put out a joint statement, saying: "Unlike the previous administration, President Trump confronted a pivotal moment in Syria and took action."

Several of the president's Democratic political opponents also spoke out in support of the missile attack.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the airstrikes "the right thing to do" in light of the Syrian military's alleged use of outlawed chemical weapons. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called it "a proportional response," but she added that the president needs a comprehensive strategy for Syria. "The crisis in Syria will not be resolved by one night of airstrikes," she said.

U.S. military leaders said 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired into Syria from warships in the Mediterranean, targeting the Syrian government air base that they contend was responsible for dropping sarin nerve gas. The choking gas fell on a rebel-held area of Idlib province, killing at least 72 civilians, including women and children.

The Obama and Trump administrations have relied on Congress' authorization of military force following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks against the United States to carry out strikes against groups such as Islamic State and al-Qaida. Obama asked Congress to pass an authorization of the use of military force, or AUMF, for the U.S.-led military campaign against Islamic State, but Congress did not. Now, some lawmakers  both Democrats and Republicans  are saying the strike Trump ordered against the Syrian government should be specifically authorized by Congress.

Criticism for strikes

Republican Senator Rand Paul strongly criticized the strikes, saying prior U.S. interventions in Middle East conflicts "have done nothing to make us safer."

"The president needs congressional authorization for military action as required by the Constitution," Paul said in a statement.

Senator Tim Kaine, the unsuccessful candidate for vice president last year, agreed: "There is no legal justification for this. [Trump] should not have done this without coming to Congress."

Congressman Thomas Massie, a Republican, tweeted: "Didn't the missile attack just make the situation better for [Islamic State]?"

The chairman of the U.S. military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joe Dunford, gave a classified briefing to all members of the Senate and any remaining House members still at the Capitol before a recess Friday afternoon.

VOA's Josh Fatzick contributed to this report.

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Philippines Signals it Will Challenge China Over Maritime Disputes

By Ralph Jennings April 07, 2017

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's plans to deploy troops to islands in the disputed South China Sea and personally plant a flag there indicate the country has tired of China's maritime expansion, despite friendly relations since October.

Duterte told reporters Thursday he would send troops to nine tiny features in the Spratly Island chain in the South China Sea just west of the main Philippine archipelago.

Brunei, China, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam have claims in the same island chain.

His announcement Thursday also called for new or repaired facilities on the Philippines' Spratly holdings, news outlets in Manila said.

China voiced its surprise and concern about the latest development at a regular press briefing Friday. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Beijing is speaking with the Philippines about the planned deployment and hopes to resolve the matter soon.

Analysts say China is unlikely to respond strongly to a deployment of troops in the Spratlys.

"The Chinese government, they don't care, because they know they can fight," said Franklin Cattigay, commander of the coast guard in Masinloc, a Philippine city dependent on fishing in waters policed by China.

Just six months ago, Duterte had started to ease four years of Sino-Philippine hostility over maritime disputes with a visit to Beijing, which claims nearly the entire South China Sea, including much of Manila's exclusive economic zone.

A flag-planting would "call attention that there is still a dispute in the South China Sea," said Termsak Chalermpalanupap, a maritime security-specialized fellow with the ISEAS Yusof Ihsak Institute in Singapore.

Duterte did not say how many troops he would send to the Spratlys, where at least one islet, called Pag-asa or Thitu, already bunks soldiers and has an airstrip. Last June, the Philippine leader said he may visit Pag-asa to plant the Philippine flag on independence day.

New hot spot

Duterte's announcement follows a disclosure that Chinese research vessels were stationed last year at a Philippine-controlled plateau under the Pacific Ocean off the country's northeast coast.

The president told reporters in mid-March he knew about Chinese vessels at Benham Rise, a 13 million-hectare plateau rich in minerals and undersea natural gas. At least one research vessel spent about three months there.

That case is adding to calls among Filipinos, including some in government and fishermen weary of being blocked by Chinese vessels, to stand up to Beijing.

"The line would be if China does one of the following: one if they pursue an aggressive survey of the (Benham Rise) area not within the limits of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, which gave us sovereign rights," said Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Philippine advocacy group Institute for Political and Electoral Reform.

"Second case, maybe if they (do not) acknowledge in words and in deeds the sovereign rights," he said.

The United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf approved the Philippine claim to Benham Rise in 2012. China's foreign ministry has said the U.N. Convention lets it freely navigate or pass over the rise.

"Certainly China has no legal basis for any countervailing claim either to the sovereign rights to the seabed or to the column because for the obvious reason we're talking about a feature that's on the opposite side of the archipelago," said Euan Graham, international security director with the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney.

Manila may offer a concession to parts of Benham Rise, which is 35 meters below the ocean surface at its highest, for resource exploration. Last year firms from Japan, already a big investor in the Philippines, and South Korea expressed interest.

Fighting back

Duterte told a news conference on March 13 he hoped to keep peace with China. He has said the Philippine armed forces lack the strength to fight China if needed.

"Let us not fight about ownership or sovereignty at this time, because things are going great for my country," Duterte told the news conference concerning Benham Rise, as shown in a video on the local news site Philstar.com. "I cannot match the might of China."

Beijing, with one of the world's most powerful armed forces, is militarizing parts of the South China Sea, including islets in the Spratly chain.

China has angered the Philippines since 2012 by occupying Scarborough Shoal, a prime South China Sea fishing ground 198 kilometers west of Luzon Island. Beijing has alarmed Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines over the past half-decade by landfilling small islets for military use.

The 3.5 million-square-kilometer South China Sea is coveted for fisheries, shipping lanes and fossil fuel reserves.

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New Constitution Ensures Thai Military Maintains Key Role After Elections

By Ron Corben April 07, 2017

Thailand's newest constitution, signed into law by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, opens the way to new elections in late 2018.

Thursday' elaborate signing ceremony marks a fresh bid to ensure a constitution that can be sustained. It's the 20th charter since Thailand became a constitutional monarchy in 1932; past ones have been tossed out over years of political volatility and military coups.

Many experts on Thai politics, however, have doubts it will succeed.

This charter comes almost three years after the military seized power from the administration of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in May 2014.

Thailand has faced 21 coups or coup attempts since 1932; the 2006 coup that ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Ms. Yingluck's brother, has led to more than a decade of political tension in the country.

Voters approved the constitution in a referendum last year, and it was amended afterward to clarify the role of the monarch.

Military senators approved

The 250 senators, appointed by the military, and 500 elected members of the House of Representatives, also approved the charter. The two houses of parliament are empowered to select prime ministers.

While many political analysts in Thailand see the new constitution as a step forward, they warn that with the military in control of the Senate, political unrest may continue.

Titipol Pakdeewanich, a political scientist from Ubon Ratchathani University, says the military is now looking to elections as the next step.

"With this constitution, there's no way that they wouldn't be able to maintain their power and then  but by maintaining their power through a constitution within Thailand is not enough.

"For them, having an election is another thing that they really want to have so they can again speak to the West and gain more recognition," Titipol said.

Role of political parties unclear

Political scientist Thitinan Pongsudhirak, in a newspaper commentary, said, "The bad news, however, is the likely recurrence of past election civil-military tensions and squabbles because the military has embedded its influence and supervision over Thai politics."

He fears Thailand may waste "another decade on conflict and confrontation after years of polarization and relative inertia."

The military government has imposed tough restrictions on political parties with no clear timeline or legal structure for when they will again be allowed to be active ahead of new elections.

Pandit Chanrochanakit, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University, said the military's challenge has been to step away from a leadership position in government since taking power in 2014.

"The hardest problem for every junta is the withdrawal  how they can make a peaceful transition without having any trouble," Pandit told VOA.

He said the leading political parties, the Pheu Thai Party linked to Yingluck Shinawatra and the Democrat Party, both are dealing with internal divisions over leadership.

Analysts say already some key military leaders in the government are looking to political party backing ahead of the national polls; if they are elected to represent parties, it gives the military even more control.

Some analysts say the new constitution is disdainful of voters.

"That the constitution is not a very democratic one is a concern. It's hard to believe that this would restore democracy in Thailand, because from my personal opinion it undermines  at least  'one man one vote," Titipol said.

"It doesn't stack up with treating everyone equally. So when the constitution is not democratic, how can you expect democracy in a country?" he said.

The constitution allows the parliament to select a prime minister who had not been elected to a parliamentary seat, analysts note.

Chulalongkorn University's Pandit says this raises fears of a repeat of the political protests in 1992 against Prime Minister Suchinda Kraprayoon, who was put in place by the military.

Suchinda was forced to resign after three days of bloodshed that left at least 50 people dead and hundreds wounded.

"The 1992 uprising [occurred] because we don't want a non-representative to be the prime minister. So this would be the next challenge for the junta," Pandit said.

The protests ended when the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej intervened, forcing an end to the military's control and opening a long period of democratic development.

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Trump hails 'outstanding' relationship with Chinese leader

Iran Press TV

Fri Apr 7, 2017 6:20PM

US President Donald Trump has announced an "outstanding" relationship following a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

In a brief appearance before reporters on Friday, Trump said that he and Xi made "tremendous progress" in their first face-to-face talks and that he believes "lots of very potentially bad problems will be going away."

The two days of talks at Trump's private estate in Florida were expected to focus on what Trump has elaborated as China's unfair trade practices and inadequate efforts to halt North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile program.

According to Xi, the delegation had talked over important issues and a good and working relationship was established.

He added that China and US can and will continue developing their relationship and further emphasized that both countries are responsible in terms of working toward peace and stability.

The talks came amid US firing dozens of cruise missiles at a Syrian airfield in response to this week's alleged chemical attack in the Arab country that it has blamed on the government.

With regards to US attack in Syria, China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Friday that China opposed the use of chemical weapons by any party under any circumstances,

The US president brought his top economic and national security advisers to Florida for the meeting, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

Chinese officials worried that the unpredictable Trump could publicly embarrass Xi, after several foreign leaders experienced awkward moments with the new US president. Trump pledged during his 2016 presidential election campaign to stop what he called the theft of US factory jobs by China and rebuild America's manufacturing base.

Trump has urged Xi to pressure North Korea into halting its nuclear program, which is one of the most urgent issues for the US.

Pyongyang is trying to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of targeting the western part of the US.

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UN condemns North Korea missile test, Japan extends unilateral bans

Iran Press TV

Fri Apr 7, 2017 5:33AM

The United Nations has condemned North Korea's latest missile launch, and the Japanese government has extended unilateral sanctions against Pyongyang by two years over the same matter.

The United Nations Security Council on Thursday condemned North Korea's Wednesday ballistic missile launch and demanded a halt to all missile tests by Pyongyang.

All 15 members of the UNSC stressed that the recent missile test was in violation of the UN sanctions already in place against Pyongyang and significantly increased tensions "in the region and beyond."

In a statement, the UN body described the conducting of missile tests by Pyongyang as "highly destabilizing behavior."

In a related development, the Japanese government decided to extend its own unilateral sanctions against North Korea by two years over the test launch.

Japan's Kyodo News agency reported that Tokyo would continue its prohibition of all trade between Japan and North Korea for two more years and ban all North Korean ships from entering Japanese ports.

The US and its regional allies, South Korea and Japan, have been holding regular joint military exercises on the Korean Peninsula to counter perceived threats from the North.

Pyongyang has repeatedly condemned the military drills as provocative action and rehearsals for an invasion.

The "reckless actions" are driving the tense situation on the Korean Peninsula "to the brink of a war," a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Despite a long standing ceasefire, North and South Koreas are still technically at war.

The US recently said it would take possible unilateral action against Pyongyang if China, the North's main ally, failed to help pressure Pyongyang into abandoning its nuclear and possibly missile programs.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump is hosting China's President Xi Jinping at his Florida resort. The two leaders are to exchange their views on bilateral issues and discuss world matters, likely including North Korea and Syria.

The US on Friday fired missiles at a military base in Syria, and Trump has suggested such military action could be a signal to North Korea as well.

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US Considering Nukes in South Korea to Counter Pyongyang Threat - Report

Sputnik News

00:19 08.04.2017(updated 05:02 08.04.2017)

Following yet another missile test by North Korea and a constant volley of threats, US President Donald Trump was presented with several options for responding to Pyongyang's nuclear activities by the National Security Council, including placing nukes in South Korea and killing Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un.

NBC News reports that bringing nuclear weapons back to South Korea for the first time in nearly 25 years would be the first course of action, and would be the first nuclear deployment since the Cold War ended.

As Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Florida for a summit meeting with Trump, North Korea's Foreign Ministry said that the US "crossed the red line," as Washington continues to pressure Beijing to address the issues created by its southern neighbor.

Hours before Xi and his wife arrived in Florida, the ministry released a statement through the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) warning, "If a war were to erupt on the Korean Peninsula, no matter who preemptively strikes first, the responsibility shall be with the United States, which stringently adopted anti-North Korea policies and deployed nuclear strategic assets and special operations forces [in South Korea]."

The ministry made no mention of retaliating against Beijing and said that it would only strike South Korean and US bases in accordance with the August 1949 Geneva Conventions.

Trump has accused China of not pulling its weight in trying to rein in Pyongyang's incessant ballistic missile launches and nuclear weapons development, and Washington officials say this will be a central topic of his and Xi's discussion.

What separates these threats from North Korea's usual chest-beating is the recent unveiling of images from watchdog site 38 North indicating increased excavation activity at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, which could mean a sixth nuclear test is forthcoming.

On Thursday, 38 North Reported, "Over the past four weeks, there have been unusually high levels of activity at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site," noting the uptick of activity around the North Portal, where the most recent tests took place.

"This pattern of activity could mean a sixth nuclear test is imminentbut the imagery does not provide any definitive evidence of the installation of a nuclear device or the exact timing of such a test."

North Korea conducted a missile test ahead of the Trump-Xi meeting, and it is believed that another could happen at any time.

Recently, the DPRK has shown a predilection for showing force through missile tests during significant political events, such as on February 12, when Trump met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the "Southern White House," a nickname for his Mar-a-lago resort property in Florida.

Trump said at the time, "I just want everybody to understand and fully know that the United States of America stands behind Japan  its great ally  100 percent."

As Trump boarded Air Force One on Thursday, Trump said Beijing will "want to be stepping up," its efforts to deter North Korea from continuing its aggressive actions.

Beijing has countered US, claims saying it has imposed UN ordered sanctions against Pyongyang, including suspending all coal imports from the country.

On Thursday, the UN Security Council condemned Pyongyang for its "flagrant and provocative defiance" of the council and their resolutions.

 Sputnik

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Egypt says the solution to the Syria crisis does not involve military intervention

The UN Security Council is incapable of dealing with the Syria crisis due to polarisation and conflicting interests between large states and permanent members, Egypts foreign affairs ministry spokesman said Friday.

The Security Council is unable to identify the perpetrators of Tuesdays attack on Khan Sheikhoun, which led to repercussions as the US launched airstrikes in Syria Thursday, spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid told ONLive TV by phone.

Egypt sees that the current crisis in Syria is a great danger that jeopardises the stability of the entire region, Abu Zeid added.

The current juncture in the situation in Syria endangers political talks, thus great countries such as the US and Russia should assume their responsibilities towards international peace and security, Abu Zeid added.

Abu Zeid stated that involved factions should be pushed to return to negotiations as well as pushed to adhere to a ceasefire agreement.

The spokesman reiterated the vision of Egypt, a current non-permanent member of the Security Council, on ending the Syria crisis  one that doesnt involve military intervention but instead advocates for the implementation of a long-lasting political solution.

The Syrian peoples interests should precede all other interests, terrorism should be eradicated, and the integrity of the Syrian state should be preserved, Abu Zeid said.

On Friday morning, two US warships fired 59 cruise missiles from the eastern Mediterranean Sea at a Syrian airbase controlled by the forces of President Bashar Al-Assad in response to a poison gas attack in a rebel-held area Tuesday.

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India Successfully Tests Next-Gen Arjun Battle Tank's Strike Capabilities

Sputnik News

12:41 07.04.2017

The Indian Army looks set to be going ahead with the indigenously developed Arjun MK 2 Main Battle Tank going by the successful trials being reported in by defense scientists.

New Delhi (Sputnik)  Sources told Sputnik that defense scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) saw the successful test of an anti-tank weapon with a strike range of five kilometers at a testing facility in Orissa state. Scientists test-fired high explosive anti-tank weapon from Arjun MK 2 in salvo mode against a decommissioned tank. Sources said the test was successful and it had the desirable impact on the target.

DRDO scientists have been developing the Arjun MK 2 Main Battle Tank since 2012. Arjun MK 2 is said to be a substantially improved and more capable version of the Arjun MK 1, 118 of which are now in delivery. But the Army has a problem with the weight of the tank: it weighs approximately 68 tons with scientists trying to lighten the load. Sources said scientists will use indigenously developed lighter high nitrogen steel in the baseline hull of the tank. They will also use all-aluminium road-wheels instead of all-steel road wheels and ventilators to reduce the weight.

Defense sources told Sputnik that the Indian Army wanted Arjun MK 2 to weigh 50-55 tons but the DRDO has conveyed its inability to bring it down to that level. The Army is said to have objected to the tank's 68 ton weight, saying it was too heavy and limited the area where it can be deployed.

In February this year, Bharat Electronics had unveiled a remote controlled weapon station (RCWS) for 12.7 mm gun of MBT Arjun Mk II battle tank at Aero India 2017 in Bengaluru. This enabled the soldier to aim and fire at aerial targets from the safe interiors of the battle tank. Presently, the 12.7 mm guns of all tanks are manually operated. The RCWS is armed with the 12.7 mm Russian NSVT heavy machine gun. Other weapons like 7.62 mm MG can also be fitted with it.

 Sputnik

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Iraqi forces make gains against Daesh around Mosul

Iran Press TV

Fri Apr 7, 2017 3:38PM

Iraqi government forces, backed by volunteer fighters from Popular Mobilization Units, have made new territorial gains on the western outskirts of Mosul as they engage in joint operations to flush Takfiri Daesh terrorists out of their last urban stronghold in the Arab country.

Commander of Nineveh Liberation Operation Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Yarallah said on Friday that soldiers from the 9th Armored Division and 71st Brigade of the 15th Division had regained control over the villages of Old Rayhaniyah, New Rayhaniyah as well as Ghazilwah west of Mosul, located some 400 kilometers north of the capital, Baghdad, hoisting the national flag over several buildings there, Arabic-language al-Forat news agency reported.

Separately, Commander of Federal Police Forces Lieutenant General Raed Shaker Jawdat said Iraqi Air Force unmanned aerial vehicles had struck Daesh positions in the Bridge district of Mosul, killing a dozen Daesh members in the process.

Jawdat added that a senior militant commander, identified as Abu Maria al-Roussi, and two of his close aides were among the slain extremists.

The media bureau of Iraq's Joint Operations Command also announced in a statement that Iraqi military aircraft had bombarded a workshop used for rigging vehicles with explosives in the al-Salam neighborhood of Tal Afar city, situated 63 kilometers west of Mosul, killing a number of high-ranking Daesh figures.

The statement noted that the workshop was completely razed in the aerial attack, and eight car bombs were also destroyed.

Iraqi army soldiers and pro-movement fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units  commonly known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha'abi, have made sweeping gains against Takfiri elements since launching the operation to retake Mosul last October.

The Iraqi forces took control of eastern Mosul in January after 100 days of fighting, and launched the battle in the west on February 19.

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Baghdad to Oppose Any Turkey's Combat Operations on Iraqi Territory - Government

Sputnik News

17:21 07.04.2017

Baghdad is against any military operations by Turkey on Iraqi territory and hopes Ankara will withdraw troops from the camp in northern Iraqi town of Bashiqa after the victory over the Daesh terrorist group, Iraqi government spokesman Saad Hadithi told Sputnik Friday.

BAGHDAD (Sputnik)  Earlier in the day, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Al-Jazeera broadcaster in an interview that the Turkish troops were ready to enter the Iraqi territory to fight against terrorist groups, including the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), outlawed in Turkey.

"The Iraqi government will not allow any external side to carry out military operations on the ground, including Turkey or any other state. This is a clear and unchanged position," Hadithi said.

According to Hadithi, Baghdad expects Ankara to keep its promise and withdraw its troops from Iraq after the elimination of Daesh (outlawed in numerous countries) threat.

"When the territories are cleared from IS [Daesh] militants, there will be no reasons for their presence [in Iraq]," the spokesman added.

The PKK is designated as a terrorist group in Turkey and the United States. Tensions between Ankara and the Kurds escalated in July 2015 when a ceasefire between Ankara and the PKK collapsed because of a series of terror attacks allegedly committed by PKK members. The Kurds are living in parts of Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. In Turkey, Kurds represent the largest ethnic minority, and are striving to create their own independent state.

Relations between Turkey and Iraq deteriorated after Turkey dispatched its troops in Iraq allegedly to fight the IS in late 2015. The Turkish government said its forces would participate in the operation on the liberation of Mosul, however, Iraqi authorities claim they have not given their consent for this participation.

 Sputnik

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S-400, Pantsir Air Defense Systems Protect Russian Air Group in Syria 24/7

Sputnik News

14:29 07.04.2017(updated 17:09 07.04.2017)

The Russian air defense combat units in Syria are on duty round-the-clock, the Defense Ministry said.

The S-400, the S-300 and the Pantsir air defense systems protect the Russian air group at the Hmeymim airfield from the air, the Russian ministry said.

"The Russian air defense system in the Syrian Arab Republic is aimed at protecting certain facilities and objects. The S-400, S-300 surface-to-air missile systems and the Pantsir-S1 complex provide solid protection to the Russian bases from the air," ministry's spokesman Ifor Konashenkov said.

He emphasized that the S-400 and Pantsir systems provide guaranteed protection to the Russian air group at the Hmeymim airfield, while another air defense group deployed in Syria consists of the S-300 and Pantsir systems is protecting the Russian Navy logistics center in Tartus.

"Combat calculations of the Russian air defense systems in the Syrian Arab Republic are on duty around the clock."

Earlier in the day, the Russian Defense Ministry announced its plans to bolster and increase the effectiveness of the air defense system in Syria after the United States carried out attacks against a Syrian armed forces airfield.

On Thursday night, the United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Syrian military airfield in Ash Sha'irat, located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the city of Homs. US President Donald Trump said the attack was a response to the alleged chemical weapon use in Syria's Idlib on Tuesday, which Washington blames on the Syrian government.

Russia described the attack as an aggression against a sovereign state.

Following the US military action, Russia decided to suspend its memorandum of understanding on air safety over Syria with the United States, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The S-400 system was deployed at the Hmeymim following the Turkish Air Force's November 2015 downing of a Russian Su-24 bomber on the Syrian-Turkish border.

In October 2016, the Russian Defense Ministry said that a S-300 system was sent to Syria to ensure the safety of the Russian naval base in Tartus. According to media reports, the system deployed in Syria is S-300V4  NATO designation SA-23 Gladiator  that is capable of striking tactical and strategic aircraft, medium-range ballistic missiles, tactical missiles as well as cruise missiles.

 Sputnik

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More Armata Tanks, Less Warships: Russia Unveils 2018-2025 State Arms Program

Sputnik News

13:50 07.04.2017(updated 15:46 07.04.2017)

Russia's 2018-2025 state armaments program will focus on nuclear deterrence, aerospace defense and "smart weapons systems." Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov said that defense contractors had been tasked with making sure that the Armed Forces are 70 percent equipped with modern weapons.

A source at the Defense Ministry told Sputnik that the program will also include, among others, the S-500 air defense missile systems, the fifth-generation T-50 PAK FA fighter jets, Armata tanks and armored vehicles.

Many military experts believe, however, that amid the current financial crunch some of the ambitious projects could be put on ice.

New ships

"I think that the Navy will be the main victim of the drop in funding. While construction of the Borei-class nuclear submarines will continue, the construction of new surface ships could slow down," Andrei Frolov, editor-in-chief of Arms Export, told Sputnik.

He added that the planned construction of Shtorm-class nuclear aircraft carriers could also be put on hold and that Lider-class destroyers would hardly be floated before 2025.

Meanwhile, the current overhaul of the nuclear-powered missile cruisers Admiral Nakhimov and Pyotr Veliky and the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier will proceed as scheduled, Frolov added.

The planned construction of ships for the Arctic will hardly be rolled back either.

"The geopolitical and economic importance of the Arctic region can hardly be exaggerated. The Ilya Muromets icebreaker is slated to be commissioned before this year is out, and two multirole patrol ships are likely to enter service before 2025," Viktor Nikolayev, editor-in-chief of the Military-Industrial Courier, told Sputnik.

PAK Fa to enter serial production

The experts believe that the Aerospace Forces will likewise be spared the cuts with the focus being on the tried-and-true Su-30SM, Su-34, Su-35 fighter planes, Mi-8AMTSh, Mi-28N and Ka-52 helicopters and the S-400 air defense missile systems. As for the top-of the-line S-500s, they will have to wait.

"I believe that a number of advanced but expensive projects, such as the PAK DA next-generation strategic stealth bomber, will be dropped. They are modernizing the Tu-160 strategic bomber and developing two such projects all at the same time, which is something even very rich countries can't afford," Andrei Frolov said.

However, the PAK FA T-50 fifth-generation fighter planes are slated to join the Air Force before 2025. Also, mass production of the Il-112 short-range transport plane is scheduled to begin in 2019 and the Il-214 medium-range transport is slated to fly before the end of this year.

Armata tanks, ICBMs, missile trains

By 2020 modern tanks, mostly T-72B3s, will account for 70 percent of Russian armored forces. Meanwhile, orders have already been placed for the delivery of 100 top-notch T-14 Armata tanks.

"In view of the modern threats and challenges, I believe that the Defense Ministry will speed up the delivery of Buk-M3, Tor-M2, S-300V4 air defense systems. As for the land-based element of our nuclear 'triad,' the focus will be on the development of the Sarmat ICBM, Barguzin railway missile trains and the modernization of the existing missile systems," Frolov continued.

Looking to the future

Late last month, a source at the Military-Industrial Commission told the media that emphasis in the 2018-2025 state armaments program will also be on "intellectual weapons systems," communications, intelligence, command and electronic warfare systems and high-precision weapons.

 Sputnik

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Russian Defense Ministry Decides on Expansion in Syria Follows Putin's Orders

Sputnik News

13:06 07.04.2017(updated 14:59 07.04.2017)

The decision to expand Russia's military presence in Syria is made by the Defense Ministry in accordance with President Vladimir Putin's instructions, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  On Thursday night, the United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Syrian military airfield in Ash Sha'irat, located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the city of Homs. US President Donald Trump said the attack was a response to the alleged chemical weapon use in Syria's Idlib on Tuesday, which Washington blames on the Syrian government.

"As for the presence of the Russian military in Syria, the regime and the number of our military personnel are determined by the Defense Ministry in accordance with the instructions of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief," Peskov told reporters.

Russia described the attack as an aggression against a sovereign state.

Following the US military action, Russia decided to suspend its memorandum of understanding on air safety over Syria with the United States, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The Russian Defense Ministry also announced on Friday its plans to bolster and increase the effectiveness of the air defense system in Syria after the United States carried out attacks against a Syrian armed forces airfield.

 Sputnik

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US attack shows defeat of US policies in region: MP

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, April 7, IRNA -- Recent US attack against a Syrian airbase shows the defeat of this arrogant power's policies in the region and the world, Chairman of Iran's Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi said on Friday.

Speaking to reporters, he referred to annihilation of Syria chemical weapons years ago and noted that the missile attack against Syria under the pretext of use of chemical weapons is the US conspiracy.

Russia, Syria, Iraq and Iran will adopt required measures in response to the US attack, the lawmaker noted.

He said that Russia has suspended a deal with the US to prevent mid-air collisions over Syria and this is the first reaction by Syria allies.

US attack on Syrian airfield was a mistake b Donald Trump and will not have good results for Washington, the official added.

The MP noted that Iran will react to the US action within the framework of its cooperation with Russia, Iraq and Syria.

According to foreign media reports, two US warships in the Mediterranean Sea fired 59 Tomahawk missiles intended for a single target - Shayrat Airfield in Homs province in western Syria, the US Defense Department said.

The missile attack was carried out without permission from UN Security Council and the US Congress.

Syria strongly denies role in Idleb chemical attack.

Syrian military forces are fighting against Daesh terrorists in the east of Homs province and the Takfiri group, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, in north of the country.

9191**1771

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EU says Syria crisis has no military solution

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, April 7, IRNA -- The European Union on Friday said that the union has been informed of the US missile strikes on a Syrian airbase but stressed that a negotiate solution was the only way out of the conflict.

According to dispatches, the EU's top diplomat Federica Mogherini said on behalf of the bloc's 28 member states that 'The US has informed the European Union that ... they launched a strike on Shayrat Airfield in Syria with the understandable intention to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons.'

'The US also informed us that these strikes are limited and focused on preventing and deterring further use of chemical weapons atrocities ... Those found responsible should be sanctioned within the framework of the United Nations.'

She added that the use of chemical weapons was a war crime and perpetrators of such acts 'should be sanctioned within the framework of the United Nations.'

'The EU firmly believes that there can be no military solution to the conflict,' the joint statement said. 'Only a credible political solution... will ensure peace and stability.'

According to foreign media reports, two US warships in the Mediterranean Sea fired 59 Tomahawk missiles intended for a single target - Shayrat Airfield in Homs province in western Syria, the US Defense Department said.

The missile attack was carried out without permission from UN Security Council and the US Congress.

Syria strongly denies role in Idleb chemical attack.

Syrian military forces are fighting against Daesh terrorists in the east of Homs province and the Takfiri group, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, in north of the country.

9191**1771

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9 Syrian civilians killed in US airstrike: SANA

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Damascus, April 7, IRNA -- the US missile strike targeting an airbase in central Syria killed nine civilians, including four children on Friday, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported.

The Syrian states news agency said five of the civilians, among them three children, were killed in the village of Shayrat just outside the base of the same name.

"An American missile also hit the village of Al-Hamrat, which killed four civilians including a child," it added.

"Another seven civilians were wounded when a missile hit homes in Al-Manzul, four kilometers (two and a half miles) away from the Shayrat air base," it added.

It said four more were killed in two other nearby villages  Al-Hamrat and Al-Manzul.

Earlier, the Syrian military said at least seven people were killed and nine wounded in the missile strike.

According to foreign media reports, two US warships in the Mediterranean Sea fired 59 Tomahawk missiles intended for a single target - Shayrat Airfield in Homs province in western Syria, the US Defense Department said.

The recent attack is considered as the first US direct invasion on Syria during Trump tenure.

The missile attack was carried out without the permission from UN Security Council and the US Congress.

Syria strongly denies role in Idleb chemical attack.

Syrian military forces are fighting against Daesh terrorists in the east of Homs province and the Takfiri group, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, in north of the country.

9191**1771

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US missile attack on Syria detrimental to security of region, world: Senior official

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, April 7, IRNA -- Senior advisor to Majlis speaker Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Friday that the US military attack against Syria is detrimental to the security of the region and the world.

Touching upon the recent US missile attack on Syria, Amir-Abdollahian underscored that the American military invasion on Syria indicated that Washington had ignored the efforts for settlement of crisis in this Arab country through political means.

He added the attack on Syria demonstrates that fighting Daesh terrorists is not a priority for the US.

This hasty military action is contrary to international law and the Charter of the United Nations, he said, adding that the move would reinforce extremism and terrorism in the region.

The senior official underlined that the US military attack on Syria would encourage terrorism, underlying that the alleged use of chemical weapons by Syria while that country's chemical arsenal had already been destroyed requires close examination by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the UN.

According to Western media the US launched dozens of cruise missiles Thursday night on a Syrian airfield in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons in Khan Shaykhun near Idleb.

According to foreign media reports, two US warships in the Mediterranean Sea fired 59 Tomahawk missiles intended for a single target - Shayrat Airfield in Homs province in western Syria, the US Defense Department said.

The recent attack is considered as the first US direct invasion on Syria during Trump tenure.

The missile attack was carried out without the permission from UN Security Council and the US Congress.

Syria strongly denies role in Idleb chemical attack.

Syrian military forces are fighting against Daesh terrorists in the east of Homs province and the Takfiri group, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, in north of the country.

9060**1771

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The security forces found three automatic rifles at the farm as well as a number of explosives and ammunitions

Two militants were killed in a shootout with security forces at a farm in the Nile Delta's Beheira governorate, following a tip-off to police that the premises were being used to manufacture explosives, state news agency MENA reported on Saturday.

After they received the tip, National Security in Beheira verified the information and received clearance to raid the farm.

The militants, according to MENA, fired at security forces when they detected them on the property, prompting the forces to fire back.

Security forces found three automatic rifles at the farm as well as a number of explosives and ammunitions.

In August 2015, three police personnel were killed and 27 others injured in a bombing that targeted their bus in Beheira. Five individuals were arrested and tried for the attack.

Egypt has been battling a growing Islamist insurgency for almost four years. The attacks are concentrated in the northern Sinai Peninsula but have also extended to the mainland.

Hundreds of security personnel as well as terrorists have been killed in what has been dubbed Egypts war against terrorism.



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Iran strongly condemns US missile attack on Syria

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, April 7, IRNA -- Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said on Friday that Iran strongly condemns US missile attack on Syrian airfield in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons in Khan Shaykhun near Idleb.

Qasemi underlined that the Islamic Republic of Iran as the biggest victim of chemical weapons in the contemporary history, severely censures any use of chemical weapons, regardless of the perpetrators and victims.

He said, 'Tehran considers this excuse for unilateral action as dangerous, destructive and violation of fundemental principles of international law.'

The spokesman added, 'Iran believes that such measure under the pretext of alleged use of chemical weapons in Khan Shaykhun which its timing, perpetrators and beneficiaries are all suspected would not only complicate the situation in Syria but in the entire region.'

According to Western media the US launched dozens of cruise missiles Thursday night on a Syrian airfield in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons in Khan Shaykhun near Idleb.

According to NBC, two US warships in the Mediterranean Sea fired 59 Tomahawk missiles intended for a single target - Shayrat Airfield in Homs province in western Syria, the US Defense Department said.

The recent attack is considered as the first US direct invasion on Syria during Trump tenure.

The missile attack was carried out without the permission from UNSC and the US Congress.

Syria strongly denies role in Idleb chemical attack.

Syrian military forces are fighting against Daesh terrorists in the east of Homs province and the Takfiri group, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, in north of the country.

9060**1771

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Statement by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on US strikes in Syria

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

07 Apr. 2017

Following this week's horrendous chemical weapons attacks in Khan Shaykhun, which killed dozens of people, including many children, the US launched a strike against Shayrat Airfield in Syria.

The Syrian regime bears the full responsibility for this development. NATO has consistently condemned Syria's continued use of chemical weapons as a clear breach of international norms and agreements.

Any use of chemical weapons is unacceptable, cannot go unanswered, and those responsible must be held accountable. NATO considers the use of chemical weapons as a threat to international peace and security.

NATO supports all international efforts aimed at achieving peace and a political solution in Syria.



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US prepared to conduct further military strikes in Syria: Haley

Iran Press TV

Fri Apr 7, 2017 8:4PM

The United States has threatened further military action in Syria following its missile strikes on an airbase in response to this week's alleged chemical attack in the Arab country that it blamed on the government.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley delivered the warning on Friday during an emergency session of the UN Security Council at UN headquarters in New York City.

"The United States took a very measured step last night," she declared. "We are prepared to do more, but we hope it will not be necessary."

The US military fired 59 Tomahawk missiles at the al-Shayrat airbase in Homs province in western Syrian early Friday.

The missiles were launched from the destroyers USS Porter and USS Ross in the eastern Mediterranean. The strike killed nine civilians, including four children on Friday, according to Syria's state news agency SANA.

US President Donald Trump ordered the strike just a day after he pointed the finger at Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the deadly attack which killed at least 70 people in the town of Khan Shaykhun in Idlib.

President Trump said the operation was in response to the chemical attack in Idlib province. The Syrian government has strongly denied responsibility for that attack.

Haley told the Security Council, "We were fully justified in doing so."

"The United States will no longer wait for Assad to use chemical weapons without any consequences," she said without providing a shred of evidence to back her claim. "Those days are over."

"Assad did this because he thought he could get away with it," she stated. "He thought he could get away with it because he thought Russia had his back. That changed last night."

Meanwhile, Russia, which called the emergency Security Council meeting on Friday, condemned the United States for violating international law and committing an "act of aggression" against Syria.

"The United States attacked the territory of sovereign Syria," Russian Deputy Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov to the UN told the council. "We describe that attack as a flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression."

"It's not difficult to imagine the spirits of these terrorists have been raised after the support from Washington," he said.

The US military claimed the airfield targeted early on Friday was used to store chemical weapons and Syrian aircraft.

This is while Damascus volunteered to destroy its chemical stockpile in 2014 following a poisonous attack outside the capital.

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EU rejects any military solution to Syria conflict

Iran Press TV

Fri Apr 7, 2017 2:34PM

In the wake of the United States' missile strike on Syria, the European Union's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, has rejected any military solution to the conflict in Syria, saying the bloc is committed to the unity and territorial integrity of the Arab country.

"The EU firmly believes that there can be no military solution to the conflict (in Syria) and is committed to the unity, sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of the Syrian state," the EU official stated on Friday.

Mogherini said EU leaders appreciated Washington drawing a red line on the use of chemical weapons, but she said the bloc favors negotiation as the only means to resolve the conflict in Syria.

US warships in the Mediterranean Sea fired cruise missiles during the early hours of Friday at the Syrian airfield southeast of Homs, from where US President Donald Trump has claimed an alleged chemical weapons attack had been launched on the town of Khan Shaykhun in the northwestern province of Idlib on April 4.

President Trump ordered the airstrike on Shayrat Airfield under the pretext of stopping further chemical attacks from the airbase.

Mogherini said the US "launched a strike on Shayrat Airfield in Syria with the understandable intention to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons."

Mogherini said Washington informed Brussels that the strike was "limited and focused on preventing and deterring further use of chemical weapons."

The Syrian government has categorically denied carrying out a chemical attack in Idlib. Damascus has blamed militant groups for stockpiling chemical arms over the past few years of conflict.

Many believe that Washington's move was a false-flag operation meant to further escalate tensions in the region.

In this regard, Press TV interviewed Shabbir Hassanally, a London-based activist and political commentator.

"This [development] has the potential to turn into a global war," the commentator said.

Hassanally said the recent accusations of using chemical weapons raised by Trump against the Syrian government are baseless.

"Syria is winning in this war" against the Takfiri terrorists wreaking havoc in the Arab country, he said, adding, "There is no need for [Syrian] President Bashar al-Assad to use chemical weapons."

Hassanally is among many who believe that the US created the Idlib attack as an excuse to strike Syrian troops, backed by Russia, who are defeating Takfiri terrorists.

"The whole so-called chemical attack in Idlib was nothing more than a farce. It was a false flag operation designed to create the scenario that would allow America to fire its [missiles] into Syria," he said.

"There is no logic to this. There is no sanity to this. On the one side, they talk about we must stop terrorism and yet all of a sudden they become the air force that is supporting Daesh, that is killing the people and bombing the people who are fighting Daesh," he said.

"When America makes such a strategic and ignorant move  you have [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and [Saudi King] Salman coming along and saying, 'Well done Mr. Trump'  this further reinforces the whole idea that the whole so-called chemical attack in Idlib was nothing more than a farce," he said.

"America  has now become essentially the Daesh air force  to appease and to pledge its allegiance to the Zionist and Saudi lobby," the commentator said.

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Syria denounces US strikes as 'reckless, irresponsible'

Iran Press TV

Fri Apr 7, 2017 1:20PM

Syrian President Bashar Assad's office has strongly condemned the US missile attack against a military airfield in the country's central province of Homs, describing it as"reckless and irresponsible behavior."

The statement pointed out that the assault showed Washington is "naively pulled behind a false propaganda campaign" - a reference to accusations that the Damascus government was responsible for the suspected chemical incident in the town of Khan Shaykhun, which reportedly left over 80 people dead.

The statement from the Syrian presidential office further noted that the US missile attack had boosted the Syrian government's resolve to crush foreign-sponsored Takfiri terrorist groups, vowing to expedite the pace of clean-up operations against the extremists.

The Pentagon said 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from two warships in the Mediterranean at the Shayrat airfield early on Friday. US officials claim that Tuesday's attack in Khan Shaykhun had been launched from the military site.

The US military said the missiles severely damaged or destroyed Syrian aircraft and support infrastructure and equipment at the airfield.

At least nine people were killed in the early morning strike, according to Syria's official news agency, SANA. Syria has denounced the US "aggression" as a violation of the international law.

'Flagrant aggression'

Meanwhile, Syria's Foreign Ministry condemned the US strike as "a flagrant aggression" against the Arab country, and said Washington's real objective was to "weaken the strength of the Syrian army in confronting terrorist groups."

In a Friday statement, the ministry described the Khan Shaykhun attack as a "premeditated action that aimed to justify the launching of a US attack on the Syrian army."

The Russian Foreign Ministry also censured the attack as an aggression against a sovereign state.

Russian Defense Ministry's Spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said Moscow considers the US attack on Shayrat airfield a gross violation of a memorandum on the safety of flights over Syria, and consequently suspends cooperation with Washington meant to avoid incidents in Syrian airspace.

Konashenkov further noted that only 23 missiles from US destroyers reached the targeted Syrian airfield, emphasizing it is unclear where the other 36 landed.

Lavrov hopes US strikes wouldn't cause 'irreparable damage'

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed hope that the US missile strike on Syria would not irreparably damage relations between Moscow and Washington.

"This is an act of aggression, on an absolutely made-up pretext," Lavrov told a news conference in the Uzbek capital city of Tashkent.

"It reminds me of the situation in 2003 when the United States and Britain, along with some of their allies, attacked Iraq," the top Russian diplomat said.

He said Russia would demand that US explain the reason behind its strike, noting that no Russian servicemen are known to have been killed in the assault.

"I hope this provocation will not lead to irreparable damage (to US-Russian ties)," Lavrov said.

Russia: Syrian air defenses to be 'strengthened'

Furthermore, Russia's military has termed the US missile attack on the Syrian airbase as ineffective, stressing that Syrian air defenses would be strengthened to shield the country's key infrastructure.

"To protect Syria's most sensitive infrastructure, a complex of measures will be implemented in the near future to strengthen and improve the effectiveness of the Syrian armed forces' air defense system," Konashenkov said in a statement.

He added the strike had had an "extremely low" military impact.

'Russian air, naval bases in Syria protected by air defense systems'

Additionally, Viktor Ozerov, the chairman of the defense committee in the Federation Council, Russia's upper house of parliament, said Russia's airbase in Syria's western province of Latakia plus its naval facility in the western coastal province of Tartus are protected by S-300 and S-400 air missile defense systems..

"The S-300 and S-400 missile complexes....adequately guarantee the security of our armed forces on land as well as by sea and air," he said.

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US missile strike on Syria: Timeline of reactions

Iran Press TV

Fri Apr 7, 2017 12:19PM

The United States military launched 59 missiles during the early hours of Friday targeting an airbase in the Syrian province of Homs. The move continues to draw international reactions.

The strike was the Pentagon's first direct attack against Syria since the beginning of the conflict in 2011.

Syria's official SANA news agency said nine civilians, including four children, were killed and seven people were injured.

The Syrian army also reported that six Syrian soldiers were killed and there was "big material loss" at al-Shayrat airbase.

On President Donald Trump's order, the US launched the strike on the Syrian airfield in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack in the town of Khan Shaykhun in Idlib province earlier this week. Damascus has categorically denied carrying out a chemical attack.

The chain of events in the wake of Tomahawk strikes:

Friday, April 7, 2017

'Jets relaunch raids from airbase hit by US'

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said al-Shayrat airbase was launching new air raids against terrorists' positions in Palmyra.

The UK-based monitoring group said two warplanes "took off from inside the Shayrat base, which is partially back in service, and struck targets near Palmyra."

Tillerson due to visit Russia next week

A visit to Moscow by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is on the agenda for the coming week, the Interfax news agency cited Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying.

"Let him come (to Moscow) and tell what strange things they did," the Russian official said.

US threatens more military strikes in Syria

Addressing an emergency Security Council session, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley threatened further military action in Syria following the Friday morning missile strike.

"The United States took a very measured," she claimed, adding, "We are prepared to do more, but we hope it will not be necessary."

US working hand-in-glove with Daesh, al-Nusra: Syria UN envoy

Basharal- Jaafari, Syria's ambassador to the UN, censured the US for violating international law by the "barbaric" strike on the Arab country.

"This treacherous act of aggression is a grave violation of the charter of the United Nations as well as all international law and norms," he said in a statement.

The US attack on the military airfield killed a number of people, "including women and children, and wide-ranging material damage," he added.

Reiterating that the Syrian government "does not have chemical weapons in the first place," Jaafari rejected US claims about Damascus' possession of chemical weapons as "empty pretexts" for an aggression against the Arab country.

The senior Russian diplomat went on to condemn the US for being "a partner of Daesh and al-Nusra Front" terrorist groups operating in Syria.

US strike act of aggression: Russian envoy

At the emergency Security Council meeting, Russian Deputy Ambassador to the UN Vladimir Safronkov said the United States has violated the international law by conducting the military strike on Syria.

"The United States attacked the territory of sovereign Syria. We describe that attack as a flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression," Safronkov (pictured below) told the council meeting.

"We call on the United States to immediately cease its aggression and to join efforts to make a political solution in Syria, and to work together to combat the terrorist threat," he added.

The Russian diplomat further described the US strike as a ploy to distract attention from the "tragedy" the so-called US-led coalition has created by targeting Iraqi civilians in the Iraqi city of Mosul.

"The Mosul tragedy must be publicized, people must know about it," Safronkov said. "Nothing was said about Mosul."

The office of President Bashar al-Assad said in a statement that the "foolish and irresponsible" attack reveals Washington's short-sightedness.

Damascus said it would intensify operations against foreign-backed Takfiri terrorists.

"What America did is nothing but foolish and irresponsible behavior, which only reveals its short-sightedness and political and military blindness to reality," the statement said.

'We learned of American threat'

AFP quoted a Syrian military source as saying, "We learned of the American threat and the expected military bombardment on Syrian territory."

"We took precautions in more than one military point, including in the Shayrat airbase. We moved a number of airplanes towards other areas."

The source, however, did not specify who had warned Damascus.

EU rejects any military solution to Syria conflict

European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini says the United States' recent missile strike on Syria was not within the framework of the United Nations.

US urges Russia to reconsider military hotline suspension

The Pentagon called on Moscow to reconsider a decision made in reaction to the US strike to suspend military channels aimed at avoiding mid-air collisions during missions in the Syrian airspace.

"The Department of Defense maintains the desire for dialogue through the flight safety channel," Pentagon spokesman Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway said.

"It is to the benefit of all parties operating in the air over Syria to avoid accidents and miscalculation, and we hope the Russian Ministry of Defense comes to this conclusion as well," he added.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson also expressed disappointment at Moscow's decision to suspend the airspace deconfliction agreement, but described the suspension as "not all that surprising."

UN chief calls for restraint after US strike

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for restraint, reiterating that a political solution is the only way to end the conflict in Syria.

"Mindful of the risk of escalation, I appeal for restraint to avoid any acts that could deepen the suffering of the Syrian people," the UN chief said in a statement.

"These events underscore my belief that there is no other way to solve the conflict than through a political solution," he added.

Russia's FM condemns the 'aggression'

Sergei Lavrov said the missile strike was "an act of aggression, on an absolutely made-up pretext."

"It reminds me of the situation in 2003 when the United States and Britain, along with some of their allies, attacked Iraq," the Russian foreign minister told a press conference in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Lavrov hoped that "this provocation will not lead to irreparable damage" to the ties between Washington and Moscow.

Strike planned before alleged chemical attack: Kremlin

The Russian Defense Ministry said Washington had made the decision to strike Syria before the alleged chemical attack in Idlib.

"All accusations by the United States of alleged violation of the 2013 convention on banning chemical weapons were made in order to justify the strikes and are groundless," defense ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said.

He said the strike was directly followed by "a wide-scale assault on Syrian troop positions" by terrorists of Daesh and al-Nusra Front. "We hope these actions by fighters have not been agreed with the American side."

S-400, S-300 defense systems protect Russian bases

Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry said the country's air missile defense systems protect its airbase and naval facility in Syria.

"The Russian air defense system in the Syrian Arab Republic is aimed at protecting certain facilities and objects. The S-400, S-300 surface-to-air missile systems and the Pantsir-S1 complex provide solid protection to the Russian bases from the air," the ministry's spokesman Ifor Konashenkov said.

"Combat calculations of the Russian air defense systems in the Syrian Arab Republic are on duty around the clock."

Konashenkov earlier said the Russian military would strengthen the Syrian air defenses to protect its key infrastructure.

"To protect Syria's most sensitive infrastructure, a complex of measures will be implemented in the near future to strengthen and improve the effectiveness of the Syrian armed forces' air defense system." The military impact of the US strike on the Syrian airbase is "extremely low," he said.

Emergency UN task force needed: Kremlin

Russia also seeks an emergency UN task force meeting on the US strike. Moscow called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations ceasefire task force to discuss the attack on Syria, a diplomatic source said.

The source added that Russia wants the session to be held in Geneva at 1500 GMT Friday to discuss "the situation on the ground with connection to the US missile strike on Syria's Shayrat airbase."

Iran: US military fighting on same side as Daesh in Syria

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif censured the strikes against Syria, saying the United States is fighting on the same side as al-Qaeda and Daesh terrorist groups in Yemen and Syria.

Hezbollah says Pentagon acted in 'foolish' way

Lebanon's resistance movement said the "foolish" move by the US military would will lead to serious tensions in the region.

Hezbollah said in a statement that such attacks would not demoralize the Syrian army, whose forces are advancing in operations against militants.

The statement said the strike was in line with the Israeli regime's "ambitions in the region."

Syria situation international armed conflict: Red Cross

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the situation in Syria "amounts to an international armed conflict" following the US strike.

"Any military operation by a state on the territory of another without the consent of the other amounts to an international armed conflict," ICRC spokeswoman Iolanda Jaquemet said in Geneva on Friday.

"So according to available information, the US attack on Syrian military infrastructure, the situation amounts to an international armed conflict."

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan and the UAE hail barrage of Tomahawks

The regime in Riyadh said it "fully supports" the strike, applauding it as a "courageous decision" by President Trump.

Bahrain also welcomed the attack, and said Manama supported Washington in what it called the fight against terrorism.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi said the strike was "an appropriate and necessary response" to the alleged chemical attack. He added that such a military action could hopefully generate effective work to find a political solution to the conflict in Syria.

The United Arab Emirates said Trump's decision was brave and wise, claiming that it came after the UN Security Council failed to maintain international peace and security.

Turkey's Erdogan comes out in support of strike

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey hailed the US missile strike and said it was a "positive" move. He urged further "serious steps" in what he called protecting the Syrian people.

Yemen's Houthis come out in support of Damascus

Yemen's Houthi Ansarullah movement strongly condemned the US strike, saying it was carried out based on flimsy excuses and blatant lies.

The Ansarullah Political Council said in a statement on Friday that it supports any Syrian response to the US aggression.

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Russia suspends Syria flight safety deal with US after missile attack

Iran Press TV

Fri Apr 7, 2017 9:51AM

Moscow says it is halting an agreement with Washington aimed at avoiding mid-air collisions during their military missions in the Syrian airspace after US launched a missile attack against a Syrian army airbase.

"The Russian side is halting the effect of the memorandum for prevention of incidents and ensuring safety of air flights during operations in Syria which was agreed with the US," said a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday.

It was referring to the 2015 agreement, under which Russia and the US agreed to exchange information on their flights in Syrian skies, where the two sides have been involved in separate military operations.

The announcements came after some 60 US Tomahawk missiles were fired from US warships deployed to the Mediterranean at the Shayrat airfield southeast of the western Syria city of Homs earlier in the day.

Russian Defense Ministry pledged to beef up Syrian air defenses following the attack. It also played down the effectiveness of the US raid, saying 23 missiles had hit their targets while it was unclear where 36 others had landed.

Washington ordered the assault after accusing Syria of carrying out a chemical attack against the town of Khan Sheikhun in the northwestern province of Idlib on Tuesday.

The Russian Foreign Ministry statement said, "Obviously, the cruise missile attack was prepared beforehand. Any expert can tell that the decision to strike was made in Washington before the events in Idlib, which were used as a pretext for a demonstration."

It also slammed the presence of US troops on Syrian soil, which comes without the Syrian government's approval, as "a gross, obvious and unwarranted violation of international law."

"If before it was due to the task of combating terrorism, now there is a clear act of aggression against a sovereign Syria. US actions taken today further destroy the Russian-American relations," the statement read.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that President Vladimir Putin would hold a meeting of his security council later on Friday to discuss the US missile strikes on Syria.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the strikes reminded him of US attacks on Iraq in 2003, which had forgone UN approval, adding Moscow would demand an explanation from Washington on the assault.

"This is an act of aggression, on an absolutely made-up pretext," Lavrov told a news conference in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. "I hope this provocation will not lead to irreparable damage (to US-Russian ties)."

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spoke by phone with Lavrov, seeking "the Russian analysis or readout of what they thought had happened." Tillerson is also to travel to Moscow for talks with senior Russian officials.

Observers say the US attack threatens to irreversibly turn around the gains achieved on the ground towards realization of a political solution to the six-year-old foreign-backed militancy in Syria.

Moscow has blamed the alleged incident Khan Sheikhun on gas leaking from a militant chemical weapons depot.

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Daesh attacks ancient Syrian city after US strike on nearby airbase

Iran Press TV

Fri Apr 7, 2017 8:47AM

Takfiri Daesh terrorists have launched a fresh push to retake Palmyra in Syria's Homs Province shortly after the US launched a missile strike on an airfield used by the Syrian army to protect the ancient city.

According to the Lebanon-based al-Mayadeen TV channel, Daesh terrorists took advantage of the US attack on Shayrat Airfield, located southeast of Homs city, on Friday and attacked Palmyra, killing four people.

Sources on the ground said the offensive was successfully repelled by the Syrian army.

Since 2014, when Daesh unleashed its campaign of terror in Syria, the group has seized Palmyra twice but the army liberated it once last year and the second time in March.

The US military fired some 60 cruise missiles at the army airbase, inflicting "big material damage" on the facility, which was used by the Syrian army to defend southern regions, including the cities of Palmyra, al-Qaryatayn and Mahin in Homs Province.

Foreign-backed terrorist groups welcomed the strike, but urged additional action, with one major faction saying a single strike was "not enough."

"Hitting one airbase is not enough, there are 26 airbases that target civilians," a key figure in the Jaysh al-Islam faction, Mohamed Alloush, said on his Twitter account.

Mohamed Bayrakdar, another leader of the terrorist group which operates mainly around the capital Damascus, described the strike as "a bold and correct step."

Other TakfirI groups also called for continued military action against the Syrian government.

"In my opinion, the message is political, and the message has arrived to Russia and been understood," Issam Raes, spokesman for the Southern Front terrorist faction, told AFP.

Colonel Ahmed Osman, of the Turkey-backed Sultan Murad militant group, said: "We welcome any action that will put an end to the regime that is committing the worst crimes in history."

Reports say there were 40 hangers for Sukhoi and Mikoyan warplanes in the airfield, which Syria had recently received from Russia.

Given the strategic location of the airfield, Syria and Russia were recently considering plans to upgrade the airbase to deploy advanced aircraft and Russia's S-400 air defense systems at Shayrat.

Later on Friday, the Kremlin cited Russian President Vladimir Putin as saying that the US missile attack on the Syrian airbase has violated international law and significantly harmed Russia-US relations.

The US launched the military strike on Shayrat airfield in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack in the town of Khan Sheikhun in Idlib Province earlier this week.

Syria has categorically denied carrying out a chemical attack. Russia has also said the deaths in Idlib were caused when a Syrian airstrike struck a terrorist warehouse used for making bombs with toxic substances.

The Pentagon said the Russians deployed to the targeted military facility were given prior notice, and that attack did not hit sections of the airbase where Moscow's forces were reportedly present.

According to al-Mayadeen, the Syrian army had evacuated most of its warplanes from Shayrat airfield before the US attack.

Washington's assault was met with strong condemnations from Russia, Syria and Iran.

The foreign-backed National Coalition, an alliance of terrorist groups, however said it "welcomes the strike" and urged Washington to neutralize Syria's ability to carry out air raids.

Israel, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, along with their Western allies, joined the militants and voiced support for the militants.

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US attack on Syria significantly damaged US-Russia ties: Putin

Iran Press TV

Fri Apr 7, 2017 6:22AM

President Vladimir Putin believes a US missile attack on a Syrian airbase near Homs has violated international law and seriously hurt Russia-US relations, the Kremlin says.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that the Russian leader regards the US attack as an act of "aggression against a sovereign nation," which was carried out based on a "made-up pretext."

The attack was a cynical attempt to distract the world from civilian deaths in Iraq, he added.

Russia did not believe that Syria possessed chemical weapons, Peskov said, adding the US attack would inevitably create a serious obstacle to creating an international coalition against terrorism.

Earlier in the day, the head of the defense and security committee at the Russian upper house of parliament said Russia will call for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council over the attack.

Viktor Ozerov warned against the ramifications of the massive US airstrike, saying it "could be viewed as an act of aggression of the U.S. against a UN nation."

Chairman of the international affairs committee in the upper house of the Russian parliament Konstantin Kosachev also said the attack had put Russia's cooperation with the US on the Syria crisis in doubt.

The strikes were intended to "stamp an earlier verdict about (Syrian President Bashar) al-Assad's responsibility for a chemical attack in Idlib with gunpowder," Kosachev said.

Russia had warned on Thursday that there could be "negative consequences" if Washington took military action against Syria.

"All responsibility if military action occurs will be on the shoulders of those who initiated such a doubtful tragic enterprise," Russian Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Vladimir Safronkov said.

"Look at Iraq, look at Libya," he said, referring to the countries which have been rocked by violence, terrorism and chaos since the West launched a military intervention.

Avoid further escalation: Beijing

China also reacted to the US military strike, urging calm in dealing with the Syria conflict.

"What is urgent now is to avoid further deterioration of the situation," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying on Friday.

She added, "We oppose use of chemical weapons by any country, organization or individual in any circumstance, for any purpose."

On President Donald Trump's order, the US launched a military strike Friday morning on a Syrian army airfield in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack in the town of Khan Sheikhun in Idlib Province earlier this week.

The Pentagon said the Russians deployed to the targeted military facility were given prior notice, and that attack did not hit sections of the airbase where Moscow's forces were reportedly present.

Since 2014, the Russian military has been providing air cover to the Syrian forces operating on the ground against the terrorist groups.

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Britain fully supports US missile strike against Syria: Spokesman

Iran Press TV

Fri Apr 7, 2017 6:23AM

The British government says it "fully supports" the US missile strike against a Syrian army airbase.

"The UK government fully supports the US action which we believe was an appropriate response to the barbaric chemical weapons attack launched by the Syrian regime and is intended to deter further attacks," a government spokesman said on Friday.

The show of support was a departure from a warning the day before by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson after US President Donald Trump raised the specter of unilateral action.

Johnson warned against rushing into a war with the Syrian government, and said the top priority should be peace talks and passing a United Nations resolution to investigate the April 4 chemical attack.

"It is very important to try first to get out a UN resolution," the foreign secretary insisted.

The US military fired 59 Tomahawk missiles at the al-Shayrat airbase in Homs province in western Syrian on Thursday night. The missiles were launched from the destroyers USS Porter and USS Ross in the eastern Mediterranean.

President Trump said the operation was in response to the chemical attack in Idlib province. The Syrian government has strongly denied responsibility for that attack.

The Pentagon claimed the airfield was used to store chemical weapons and Syrian aircraft.

Trump's national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, said measures had been taken to avoid hitting sarin gas stored at the facility.

"So that would not be ignited and cause a hazard to civilians or anyone else," McMaster said.

Several members of Congress urged caution after the strike, saying Trump needed congressional authority for military action.

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In addition to attending meetings of the Egypt-Sudan political consultation committee, Shoukry is also expected to meet with Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir

Egypts Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry is set to head to Khartoum Saturday evening to meet with Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir and attend the meetings of the Egyptian-Sudanese political consultation committee that begin on Sunday, a ministry statement read.

The political consultation committee is a sub-committee of the Egyptian-Sudanese high committee, which also includes sub-committees for military affairs, security, economics and finance, transportation, education, culture, health, water resources and agriculture.

The committee is expected to discuss relations between the two countries as well as regional and international issues of shared interest, including the crises in Syria, Libya, Yemen and South Suadan as well as the Palestinian cause.

Also on the agenda will be discussions on bilateral trade, and Khartoum's potential lifting of a ban on some Egyptian exports such as agricultural products and ceramics.

The officials will also discuss the possibility of issuing a media ethics charter aimed at protecting relations between the two countries and preventing "irresponsible" behaviour by media in covering them.

Earlier this year, tensions grew between the two countries after Sudans media minister said in public statements that his country's civilisation is older than that of Egypt.

The Sudanese ministers statements resulted in exchanges between media figures regarding which country has a historical claim on Egypts southern Halayeb Triangle region.

Tensions also briefly erupted between the two countries over Khartoum's hosting of members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood group, which Cairo has banned.

However, Cairo and Khartoum have since agreed work on a new phase of brotherly relations.

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Iran strongly condemns 'dangerous' US strike on Syria airbase

Iran Press TV

Fri Apr 7, 2017 5:27AM

Iran has strongly condemned a US cruise missile attack on a Syrian army airbase near the west-central city of Homs, calling it "destructive and dangerous".

Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said Friday US use of a chemical attack in Syria as a "pretext for unilateral action is dangerous, destructive and violation of peremptory principles of international laws."

Some 60 US Tomahawk missiles were fires from US warships deployed to the Mediterranean at the Shayrat airfield southeast of Homs earlier in the day, in an assault slammed by Syria as an "act of aggression."

Washington ordered the assault after accusing Syria of carrying out a chemical attack against the town of Khan Sheikhun in the northwestern province of Idlib on Tuesday.

Qassemi said, "The Islamic Republic, as the biggest victim of chemical weapons in modern history, condemns any application of such weapons, regardless of the perpetrators and victims."

However, "the timing, perpetrators, and benefactors of (the chemical attack) are still shrouded in mystery," he added.

The spokesman said the US airstrike will only "strengthen the dying terrorist groups and complicate the situation in Syria and the region."

Qassemi, meanwhile, rejected reports that the Iranian Embassy in Damascus had been evacuated and Iranian diplomats had left the county after the US attack.

The diplomats and their families were based in the Syrian capital and the Embassy was conducting its routine operation, he said.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani's special aide in international affairs, said the American attack was meant to encourage terrorism and ignored the political process underway on the Syria crisis.

"In circumstances when Syria has already been disarmed of its chemical weapons, there was a need for rigorous investigation into the accusation of the use of such weapons by the United Nations and [its] Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)," he said.

The Syrian government turned over its entire chemical stockpile under a deal negotiated by Russia and the United States back in 2013. The OPCW has overseen operations to remove the government chemical arsenal from Syria.

At Damascus' request, Iran has been providing military advisory assistance to the Syrian government.

Tehran has also been playing an active role on the diplomatic front, where it has mediated, along with Russia and Turkey, three rounds of peace negotiations between Damascus and opposition groups in Astana, Kazakhstan, since the beginning of this year.

With the support of Iran, Russia and Turkey had managed to broker a nationwide ceasefire between the warring sides in Syria ahead of the peace talks.

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Syria blasts US 'aggression', terrorists and Israel hail it

Iran Press TV

Fri Apr 7, 2017 3:11AM

Syria has condemned a US missile attack targeting an army airbase near Homs as a "blatant act of aggression," while Israel hailed it and a foreign-backed terrorist coalition called for further attacks.

Some 60 US Tomahawk missiles were fired from US warships deployed to the Mediterranean at the Shayrat airfield southeast of Homs early Friday.

In a statement issued Friday morning, the Syrian army said the US attack on the airbase killed six Syrian soldiers, leading to "big material loss" at the targeted facility.

The official SANA news agency quoted sources as saying the the US raid also left nine civilians, including four children, dead and seven others injured.

Homs Governor Talal Barazi said US missile strikes serve the goals of "armed terrorist groups" and Daesh, reiterating that the "aggression" will not prevent the Syrian government from "fighting terrorism."

"This attack will not prevent us from continuing fighting terrorism. We are not surprised to see America and Israel supporting this terrorism," Barazi said in a phone interview with state television.

Bolivia requested a closed-door UN Security Council to be held on Friday. Russia also said it would call the 15-nation body into session.

The foreign-backed National Coalition, an alliance of terrorist groups, said it "welcomes the strike" and urged Washington to neutralize Syria's ability to carry out air raids.

"We hope for more strikes... and that these are just the beginning," coalition spokesman Ahmad Ramadan was quoted by the French news agency AFP as saying.

The Saudi kingdom also joined the militants to laud US strikes against Syria, calling it a "courageous decision" by Trump.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office celebrated the attack with an early morning statement, saying he supported "strong message" sent by US strikes.

Tel Aviv, which is widely viewed as a supporter of terror groups in Syria, has time and again carried out airstrikes on the Syrian territory under various pretexts. Israel and France also said they had been informed by the US ahead of the military strike.

Ankara urges no-fly zone over Syria

Meanwhile, Turkey welcomed the US air strike on a Syrian airbase early Friday as a "positive" move.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Friday it was necessary to enforce a no-fly zone and create "safe zones" in Syria without delay.

US President Donald Trump said he ordered missile strikes against a Syrian airfield from which a chemical weapons attack was allegedly launched this week.

Syria has categorically denied carrying out a chemical attack. Russia has said the deaths in Idlib were caused when a Syrian airstrike struck a "terrorist warehouse" used for making bombs with toxic substances.

The strategic base targeted in the US attack is a frontline in Syria's operations against terrorists. It was used to respond to an Israeli aerial attack in March which prompted Tel Aviv to threaten to destroy Syria's air defense systems.

The Pentagon said the Russians deployed to the targeted military facility were given prior notice, and that the missiles did not hit sections of the airbase where Moscow's forces were reportedly present.

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Turkey prepared to support possible US military action in Syria: Erdogan

Iran Press TV

Fri Apr 7, 2017 1:14AM

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country would welcome a possible US military campaign in Syria in the wake of a suspected chemical attack in the Arab country's northwestern province of Idlib.

Speaking in an interview broadcast live on nationwide Kanal 7 television network on Thursday, Erdogan said Turkey is ready to do its part if such onslaught takes place.

Addressing US President Donald Trump, who told some members of the US Congress Thursday that he is considering military intervention in Syria, Erdogan said, "Don't limit yourself to comments, we need action."

"If it truly is a matter of actions, then Turkey is ready to take its responsibilities. We will not back down," the Turkish president added.

The Turkish leader's comments come as the Syrian ambassador to Russia has accused Turkey of seeking to establish a city near the northern Syrian city of al-Bab, citing Turkish troops' presence and occupation of the area.

Turkey launched an incursion into Syria on August 24, 2016, in an alleged bid to push Daesh terrorists from the border with Syria and stop the advance of Kurdish forces. Damascus condemned the campaign as an act of aggression.

But on March 29, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the country's 'Operation Euphrates Shield' was complete, noting that any further military measures in Syria would by conducted under a different name.

In his Thursday comments, Erdogan also criticized his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for refusing to accept allegations that the Damascus government was behind the April 4 chemical incident in the town of Khan Shaykhun.

Earlier, Putin condemned as unacceptable the "unfounded accusations" about the Idlib attack, and "pointed out that it was unacceptable to make groundless accusations against anyone without conducting a detailed and unbiased investigation," the Kremlin said in a statement.

Over 80 people were reportedly killed in the suspected chemical incident in the town of Khan Shaykhun in Idlib province on Tuesday.

Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem has dismissed any accusations that the Syrian Army deployed chemical weapons in Idlib.

He told a press conference in Damascus on Thursday that foreign-sponsored Takfiri terrorist groups continue stockpiling chemical weapons in the country's urban and residential areas.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic are both investigating the Khan Shaykhun attack.

Muallem said Syria would provide the OPCW and the UN with "intelligence on the transfer of chemical substances from Iraq into Syria, or from Turkey into Syria."

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Jordan: U.S. strike against Syria is necessary, appropriate response

Saudi Press Agency

Friday 1438/7/10 - 2017/04/07

Amman, Rajab 10, 1438, Apr 7, 2017, SPA -- Jordan reiterated its rejection and condemnation of a recent chemical attack against civilians in Khan Shikhon town in Syria's Idlib Province, Jordanian Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications Mohammed Momani said.

In a statement issued today, Momani termed the attack as inhumane and heinous act, which triggered wide international reactions, the last of which was the U.S. missile strike against a Syrian military base, which was used to launch the chemical attack.

"Jordan considers the strike as a necessary and appropriate response to the non-stop targeting of innocent civilians with WMDs and committing crimes against humanity," the Jordanian minister said.

Momani, who is also the Jordanian government's spokesperson, renewed Jordan's support to all international efforts geared toward preventing future recurrence of using chemical weapons, after Syria was announced free of in the past. The minister urged the international community to exert all efforts to stop violence against civilians and innocent people.

Momani said the recent developments once again reiterate the pressing need for the international community to stand united to find a political solution to the Syrian crisis and support efforts to ensure success of Geneva talks. Success on these tracks would put an end to inhumane acts against Syrian people, the minister noted.

--SPA

16:10 LOCAL TIME 13:10 GMT

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Canada supports U.S. air strikes in Syria, urges diplomatic action

Saudi Press Agency

Friday 1438/7/10 - 2017/04/07

OTTAWA, Rajab 10, 1438, Apr 7, 2017, SPA -- Canada fully supports the U.S. air strikes in Syria, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday, adding that Canada condemns all uses of chemical weapons and will continue to support diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis in Syria, Reuters reported.

"Canada fully supports the United States' limited and focused action to degrade the Assad regime's ability to launch chemical weapons attacks against innocent civilians, including many children. Crimes committed by Syrian regime against its own people cannot be ignored," Trudeau said in a statement.

--SPA

15:43 LOCAL TIME 12:43 GMT

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Tillerson: Russian Response to Attack On Syria 'Sadly Not That Surprising'

Sputnik News

23:35 07.04.2017(updated 00:24 08.04.2017)

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that Russia's response to the United States' cruise missile attack on Syrian Air Force targets was disappointing but unsurprising.

PALM BEACH, FLORIDA (Sputnik)  Russia's response to the United States' cruise missile attack on Syrian Air Force targets was disappointing but unsurprising, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Friday during a press conference at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago, Florida estate

"I'm disappointed in that responsebecause it indicates their continued support for the Assad regime," Tillerson said. "I find it disappointing but sadly not that surprising," Tillerson stated.

Earlier on Friday, Russia's Ambassador to the UN Vladimir Safronkov said the consequences of the US attack on Syria for regional and international stability "could be extremely serious."

On Thursday night, the United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles on the Syrian military airfield in the province of Homs in response to a chemical attack on Tuesday that killed dozens of civilians.

 Sputnik

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Russian MoD Suspends Deconfliction Channel With US on Syria Flights From April 8

Sputnik News

20:49 07.04.2017(updated 00:20 08.04.2017)

The Russian Defense Ministry said that the Russia-US deconfliction mechanism aimed to avoid aerial incidents over Syria will be suspended from April 8.

The ministry said that it had summoned a US military attache in Moscow to confirm the suspension of a memoransum on flight safety in Syria.

Moreover, the Russian Ministry of Defense sent a note on the issue to Washington.

Earlier in the day, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow has suspended its memorandum of understanding on air safety over Syria with the United States following the deadly US missile attack on the Sha'irat airfield.

The Pentagon said later that the US still wants to keep dialogue with Russia via the deconfliction channnel.

"The Russian Defense Ministry denied US media reports that Russia is allegedly going to keep the 'red line' with Pentagon's representatives in the framework of the memo on the prevention of incidents in Syrian airsrpace," the Russian ministry spokesman, Maj. Gen. Igor Konasenkov responded to media claims.

"A note was sent today to Pentagon through military-diplomatic channels informing about the suspension the 'red line' in the framework of the memorandum," Konashenkov said in a statement.

The United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Syrian military airfield in Ash Sha'irat near Homs late Thursday. US President Donald Trump said the attack was a response to the alleged chemical weapon use in Idlib on Tuesday, which Washington blames on Damascus.

Russia called the attack an "agression act against a sovereign state."

 Sputnik

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US Envoy to UN on Syria Attack: 'We Are Prepared to Do More'

Sputnik News

20:40 07.04.2017(updated 20:41 07.04.2017)

The administration of President Donald Trump is ready to take further military action in Syria, but hopes it will not be necessary, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said at a UN Security Council meeting on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  On Thursday night, the United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Syrian military airfield in Ash Sha'irat, located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the city of Homs. US President Donald Trump said the attack was a response to the alleged chemical weapon use in Syria's Idlib on Tuesday, which Washington blames on the Syrian government.

"The United States took a very measured step last night," Haley stated, referring to missile strikes the United States undertook against an airbase in Syria on Thursday. "We are prepared to do more, but we hope that will not be necessary."

Russia described the attack as an aggression against a sovereign state.

Following the US military action, Russia decided to suspend its memorandum of understanding on air safety over Syria with the United States, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

According to Homs Governor Talal Barazi, the attack killed five people and injured seven others.

Syrian opposition claimed Tuesday forces loyal to President Bashar Assad had used a chemical gas on people in the northwestern province, killing nearly 80 and injuring 200. Assad argued his government has no chemical weapons after agreeing to have them destroyed in 2013. He also ruled out having used chemicals against own people.

 Sputnik

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Moscow, Damascus Accuse Washington of 'Blatant Act of Aggression' in Syria

Sputnik News

18:04 07.04.2017(updated 18:10 07.04.2017)

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and Syrian Ambassador to Russia agreed during a meeting on Friday that the recent US missiles strikes in Syria should be viewed as an act of aggression, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Syrian military airfield in Ash Sha'irat near Homs late Thursday. US President Donald Trump said the attack was a response to the alleged chemical weapon use in Idlib on Tuesday, which Washington blames on Damascus.

A number of states, including Australia, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Kingdom have already expressed their support for the attack, while Russia called the US actions in Syria an aggression against a sovereign state based on an unjustified reason.

"The sides discussed the situation in Syria in light with US missile strikes against Syrian government forces on April 7 and stressed that Moscow and Damascus regard the unilateral US military actions, violating the UN Carter, as a blatant act of aggression against a sovereign state, the ministry said in a statement.

On April 4, the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces said some 80 people were killed and 200 injured earlier that day in a chemical weapons attack in Khan Shaykhun, Idlib province, blaming the Syrian army for the incident. The Syrian army rejected the accusations and blamed militants and their patrons for the attack. Russia's Defense Ministry said Syrian aircraft hit a militants' arms warehouse with chemical weapons to be delivered to Iraq.

 Sputnik

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Erdogan Welcomes US Missile Strikes on Syrian Airbase, Says it's Not Enough

Sputnik News

16:00 07.04.2017(updated 16:05 07.04.2017)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday he welcomes the US missile strike on a Syrian airbase, but does not consider it to be sufficient.

ANKARA (Sputnik)  On Thursday night, the United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Syrian military airfield in Ash Sha'irat, located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the city of Homs. US President Donald Trump said the attack was a response to the alleged chemical weapon use in Syria's Idlib on Tuesday, which Washington blames on the Syrian government.

A number of states, including Australia, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Kingdom have already expressed their support for the attack, while Russia called the US actions in Syria an aggression against a sovereign state based on an unjustified reason.

"We welcome this operation. I have been following it since four o'clock in the morning. But we do not think this is sufficient, I wish that this step by the United States was only the beginning. We will now always protect Syrian civilians. We use all our capabilities to protect the oppressed," Erdogan said at a rally broadcast by the NTV television channel.

The US missile attack late on Thursday claimed the lives of 10 people, an officer of the Syrian Armed Forces told Sputnik. The Russian Defense Ministry said that the attack left two Syrian servicemen missing, four killed, and six suffering severe injuries from the fire.

On Thursday after reports US President Donald Trump is considering military action against Damascus over the Idlib chemical attack, Erdogan said Turkey will support Washington if it launches a military operation.

 Sputnik

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US airstrikes on Syria Thursday have led to a strong backlash in Egypt's parliament, with MPs criticising Arab division, the Arab League, and the Trump administration

Egyptian MPs condemned early Friday a US missile attack against a Syrian airbase. They also complained that the Arab League responded passively to what they called an act of aggression against Syria.

On Saturday, Arab League chief Ahmed Abu Gheit warned against a "dangerous escalation" in Syria after a US missile strike on a Syrian airbase following the alleged use by forces of the regime of Bashar Al-Assad of chemical weapons in an attack Tuesday.

"The Arab League rejects regional and international powers' attempts to politick over the corpses of Syrians or at the cost of its sovereignty," he told reporters.

"Therefore we demand that all should retreat from this dangerous escalation we are monitoring," said the secretary general of the 22-member Arab bloc headquartered in Cairo.

Ahmed Said, head of parliament's foreign affairs committee, described the US airstrike as a flagrant military attack against a sovereign Arab state that is a member of the Arab League, an organisation entrusted to defend Arab interests.

"The Arab League's reaction has been very passive and it is not clear whether it supports or condemns a direct military attack against an Arab nation," said Said.

Directing a statement to Abul-Gheit, Said wondered, "Has the Arab League become so passive that it has even become unable to issue an immediate comment on a military attack against an Arab nation?"

Said also said: "If the Arab League has become incapable of defending the interests of Arab states, then when will it play this basic role?"

Said also criticised the US airstrike on Syria, describing it as an "irresponsible act."

"Instead of rallying a political solution for the bloody civil war in Syria, the administration of US President Donald Trump chose to resort to a direct military attack that will remind millions of Arabs of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003  an invasion that led to the proliferation of terrorists and terrorist acts in the Middle East," said Said.

According to Said, the Trump administration used the same double-standards and lies that former US presidents George W Bush and Barack Obama had used to strike Iraq and Libya.

"And what was the result ... civil wars and terrorists gaining greater ground in the Middle East," stated Said, adding: "All US presidents used similar false slogans on human rights and democracy to justify their attacks against Arab nations and help militant jihadists take control of several Arab lands."

Saad El-Gammal, head of parliament's Arab affairs committee, said: "The US airstrike represents a dangerous escalation in Syria's civil war."

"US President Donald Trump vowed that he would obliterate Daesh (the Islamic State group)  or ISIS  but what he did this week was the opposite. I mean that the US airstrike helps serve Daesh and other terrorist organisations operating in Syria," said El-Gammal.

Joining forces with Said, El-Gammal added: "In the same way they levelled trumped-up charges against Saddam Hussein on chemical weapons in 2003, the Americans now use the same false charges to justify their attacks on Syria."

Dahlia Youssef, a Coptic female MP and head of the Egyptian-British Parliamentary Friendship Association, also described the American airstrike on Syria as "reflecting reckless and irresponsible behaviour on the part of the administration of US President Donald Trump."

"Instead of pressuring for a thorough investigation into whether the Assad regime had used chemical weapons, the administration of Donald Trump opted to resort to the hasty and unilateral decision of launching a missile attack on Syria," said Youssef.

Youssef added: "All should condemn the use of chemical weapons in wars, but before we direct accusations, there should be a thorough investigation into who used these weapons."

"If the Bashar Al-Assad regime was found guilty of using chemical weapons, then I am sure that all Arab peoples would support a military strike against this regime," said Youssef, adding: "But the Trump administration decided to take international law into its hands instead of waiting for a thorough investigation into the incident."

The American mainstream media claimed Saturday that it was the gruesome images of a chemical weapons attack on Syria civilians that moved Trump to authorise the launch of 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Syrian targets Thursday night.

But Egyptian MPs believe that it was Trump's wish to show that he is a tougher and stronger leader than his predecessor Barack Obama that moved him to an aggressive act against an independent Arab state.

"He also knew that the reaction of Arab states would be weak, if not praising his behviour," said Nasserist MP Mostafa Bakri.

Bakri said that since he came to office in January, Donald Trump has found himself in a battle against many in America, especially the Democratic Party and the mainstream liberal media, which accuse Russia of manipulating the 2016 elections in his favour.

"Within this context, we can guess why Trump chose the anti-Syria airstrike  that he saw it would help him compensate some lost popularity and also demonstrate that he is independent from Russia and its president Vladimir Putin," said Bakri.

Trump claimed in an address to Americans on Thursday that he authorised the airstrike because of "beautiful babies cruelly murdered" saying that "no child of God should ever suffer such horror."

Mohamed El-Orabi, a former foreign minister and a member of parliament's foreign affairs committee, deplored that "Trump refused to wait until a UN fact-finding commission investigate the chemical weapons attack in Syria."

"Trump's behaviour comes at the expense of international organisations like the Arab League and the UN and only leads to fueling war in Syria," said El-Orabi.

The US missile attack against Syria came after two Arab leaders  President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt and King Abdallah of Jordan  held summit meetings with US President Donald Trump last week.

In a front-page headline on Saturday, Al-Ahram newspaper said President El-Sisi held 24 meetings with senior Trump administration officials and congressional leaders.

"All said they are honest about fighting Daesh and joining Egypt in its war against terrorism," said Al-Ahram.

In an official statement on Friday, Egypt's foreign ministry said the solution to the Syria crisis should not involve military intervention.

Bakri said the passive reaction from the Arab League reflects divisions in the Arab world.

"We know that the Arab summit in Amman last month failed to reach consensus on the Syria crisis, not to mention that Arab states who want Bashar Al-Assad ousted from office were the first to praise Trump, and all of this leads to weakening the Arab League," said Bakri.

Mona Mounir, a female MP, sharply criticised the position of Arab states towards the US airstrikes against Syria.

"While some chose to heap praise on Trump, others opted to stay silent, even if all know that like Iraq, military intervention in Syria will seriously threaten the national security of all Arab nations and open the hell gates of terrorism," said Mounir.

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Russia Convenes ISSG Ceasefire Taskforce Meeting Over US Attack in Syria

Sputnik News

15:50 07.04.2017(updated 16:39 07.04.2017)

Russia is convening in Geneva an extraordinary session of the ISSG group amid the US missile attack on an airfield in Syria, a diplomatic source told Sputnik.

GENEVA (Sputnik)  Russia is convening in Geneva an extraordinary session of the International Syria Support Group's ceasefire taskforce in light of the US missile attack on an airfield in Syria, a diplomatic source told Sputnik.

"Russia is convening an extraordinary session of the ceasefire task force today at 17:00 [15:00 GMT]," the source said.

According to the source, the "latest development on the ground in relation to the US strike on the Ash Sha'irat airfield" would be discussed at the meeting.

The office of UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura told Sputnik that the envoy was closely following the situation in Syria and consulting with relevant authorities.

The United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Syrian military airfield in Ash Sha'irat near Homs late Thursday. US President Donald Trump said the attack was a response to the alleged chemical weapon use in Idlib on Tuesday, which Washington blames on Damascus.

On Tuesday, the Syrian National Coalition of Revolutionary and Opposition Forces reported a chemical weapon attack in Syria's Idlib province. According to recent data provided by the World Health Organization (WHO), 84 people, including 27 children died in the suspected chemical attack.

After a 2013 chemical weapon attack in eastern Ghouta, Syria, which killed up to 1,500 people, Syria joined the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The country's decision to join the convention came as result of a US-Russian agreement on the elimination of chemical weapons in Syria under OPCW control. In January 2016, the OPCW announced the completion of the chemical weapons disarmament in Syria.

On Thursday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said that the Syrian government forces had never used chemical weapons against civilians or terrorists and would never do that.

 Sputnik

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US Destroys Syrian Army's Major Outpost in Anti-Terror Fight by Hitting Airfield

Sputnik News

14:24 07.04.2017(updated 14:52 07.04.2017)

Syria's Ash Sha'irat airfield, hit overnight by US missile strikes, was used by the Syrian forces as a major outpost in the fight against Daesh terrorist group, outlawed in many countries, including Russia.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the airfield late Thursday. US President Donald Trump said the attack was a response to the alleged chemical weapon use in Idlib on Tuesday, which Washington blames on Damascus.

Last Outpost

Prior to the beginning of the Syrian conflict, the country had an extensive network of military bases, counting up to two dozens.

With the outbreak of the civil war some of those bases were captured by militants and Islamists, with many becoming partially inoperable due to constant bombardment during hostilities.

So far, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have been fighting against Daesh in northern Syria to establish control over Al Tabqa military base. While in the east, the Syrian army is combating the terrorists for the control over the Deir ez-Zor base.

Considering a small number of undestroyed military bases, Ash Sha'irat airfield and Hmeymim air base have been playing a significant role in counterterrorism operations.

Ash Sha'irat, located in central Syria, has been used during all the six years of the civil war. According to reports, apart from MiG-21 helicopters, a number of warehouses with ammunition were located there. Russian air forces, deployed at Hmeymim, also reportedly used Ash Sha'irat as a staging base on the way to Palmyra.

War on Two Fronts

The Syrian forces used Ash Sha'irat military base to fight in a war on two fronts, and used it as an air base, a base for ground troops and warehouses.

Though the Syrian authorities and militant groups in Homs reached in March an agreement, with Russian mediation as the guarantor, allowing militants and their families to leave Homs, the fighting continued.

The Syrian troops are combating armed opposition to the north of Homs, with the fighting exacerbating in early April, when the militants launched an offensive on a Syrian Christians settlement.

To the east of Homs the Syria army is fighting against Daesh group, which is currently in 9-10 kilometers (5-6 miles) away from Palmyra, liberated from Daesh for the second time earlier this year.

According to Islamists statements on Twitter, Daesh launched an offensive on Homs-Palmyra route simultaneously with the US attack on Ash Sha'irat.

US Aggression

Homs Governor Talal Barazi told Sputnik on Friday that strikes were an act of US aggression against a base, playing a key role in the anti-Daesh operations.

"The Syrian army and armed forces are fighting terrorism, especially in the east of Homs. And recently significant progress has been reached, gas fields have been liberated as well as the city of Palmyra and its surroundings. This base to the east of Homs plays a key role in supporting military operations against Daesh, particularly in the eastern part of Homs," Barazi said.

He added that the attack was "real international terrorism," stressing that significant material damage was caused, though Syria would stay determined to fighting terrorism.

The US attack followed Tuesday alleged chemical weapon attack in Syria's Idlib province, which claimed the lives of some 80 people and inflicted harm on an additional 200 civilians. The Syrian National Coalition of Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, that reported the attack, as well as a number of Western states blamed the Syrian government troops for the attack, while Damascus has refuted these allegations.

 Sputnik

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UN Security Council Should Condemn US Aggression in Syria - Kremlin

Sputnik News

14:03 07.04.2017(updated 14:08 07.04.2017)

The UN Security Council must condemn US aggression in Syria, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday hours after a deadly cruise missile attack on a Syrian airfield.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Peskov said Moscow wants to convene the Security Council session "to discuss the situation that has developed after this act of aggression."

"Certainly," Peskov told reporters when asked whether the attack should be condemned at the Security Council.

On Thursday night, the United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Syrian military airfield in Ash Sha'irat, located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the city of Homs. US President Donald Trump said the attack was a response to the alleged chemical weapon use in Syria's Idlib on Tuesday, which Washington blames on the Syrian government.

Russia described the attack as an aggression against a sovereign state.

Following the US military action, Russia decided to suspend its memorandum of understanding on air safety over Syria with the United States, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

 Sputnik

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Turkish Foreign Ministry Welcomes US Strike on Syrian Airbase

Sputnik News

13:36 07.04.2017

Turkey welcomes the airstrike of the United States on the Syrian military base in Ash Sha'irat in the Homs province and will support any future operations aimed at ensuring Syrian President Bashar Assad's government's accountability, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  On Thursday night, the United States launched multiple Tomahawk cruise missiles at the military airfield in Ash Sha'irat. US President Donald Trump said that the attack was a response to the alleged chemical weapon use in Syria's Idlib on Tuesday, which Washington blames on the Syrian government.

"We welcome the US operation early this morning targeting the Syrian regime's Shayrat air base in the aftermath of the regime's Khan Sheikhoun chemical weapons attack which constituted the latest example of the regime's crimes against humanity and war crimes, committed in the last six years," the statement said.

According to the statement, Turkey would fully support steps to ensure accountability of Assad's administration and to prevent impunity in case of conducting crimes.

"Turkey will continue its cooperation with the international community to prevent the regime's continued practices of terror and mass punishment directed at its own people and to pave the way for the advancement of a political solution in Syria," the statement said.

Earlier in the day, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said Turkey considered the US missile strike on a military airfield in Syria as a positive step and that the Assad administration should be punished.

On Tuesday, the Syrian National Coalition of Revolutionary and Opposition Forces reported that some 80 people were killed and 200 injured in a chemical weapon attack in Idlib, blaming the Syrian army for the incident. The Syrian Armed Forces refuted the allegations.

After a 2013 chemical weapon attack in eastern Ghouta, Syria, which killed up to 1,500 people, Syria joined the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The country's decision to join the convention came as result of a US-Russian agreement on the elimination of chemical weapons in Syria under OPCW control. In January 2016, the OPCW announced the completion of the chemical weapons disarmament in Syria.

 Sputnik

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Ten Servicemen Killed in US Attack on Syrian Airfield  Syrian Armed Forces

Sputnik News

13:33 07.04.2017(updated 14:02 07.04.2017)

A US missile strike on the Sha'irat airbase in Syria killed ten Syrian servicemen, a Syrian army officer at the airfield told Sputnik on Friday.

HOMS (Sputnik)  On Thursday night, the United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Syrian military airfield in Ash Sha'irat, located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the city of Homs. US President Donald Trump said the attack was a response to the alleged chemical weapon use in Syria's Idlib on Tuesday, which Washington blames on the Syrian government.

"Today, as a result of the strike, ten of our servicemen were killed," the officer said.

As an employee of the airfield told Sputnik previously the Ash Sha'irat military airfield near Homs in Syria has been destroyed and its aircraft damaged in US missile strikes.

Earlier in the day, Homs Governor Talal Barazi told Sputnik that at least two civilians were killed and seven were injured as a result of the strikes.

 Sputnik

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Russian MoD Suspends Cooperation With US on Syria Incident Prevention Document

Sputnik News

13:02 07.04.2017(updated 13:26 07.04.2017)

According to the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, Russia suspends cooperation with the US on the memorandum on indent prevention in Syria.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The Russian Defense Ministry considers the US attack in Syria as a gross violations of the memorandum on indent prevention in Syria and is suspending cooperation on it, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Friday.

"We assess such actions of the US side as a gross violations of the memorandum on incident prevention and ensuring security in operations in the Syrian airspace signed in 2015. The Russian Defense Ministry is suspending cooperation with the Pentagon within the framework of this memorandum," he said in a statement.

The United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Syrian military airfield in Ash Sha'irat near Homs late Thursday. US President Donald Trump said the attack was a response to the alleged chemical weapon use in Idlib on Tuesday, which Washington blames on Damascus.

Following the US attack, the Syrian Armed Forces said that at least six people were killed and serious damages were inflicted on the Syrian military airfield in the Homs province.

A number of states, including Saudi Arabia, Israel, Turkey, Australia have already expressed their support for the attack, while Russia views the US actions in Syria as aggression against a sovereign state based on an unjustified reason. Japan and Russia have called for the UN Security Council's emergency meeting.

 Sputnik

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Russia Regrets US Ignoring Russian Initiative to Launch Major Idlib Attack Probe

Sputnik News

13:00 07.04.2017(updated 13:05 07.04.2017)

Russia regrets the fact that the United States ignored its initiative to launch a large-scale investigation into this week's deadly chemical attack in Idlib, Syria, the Kremlin said Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters "we have no reason to doubt" the Russian military's objective air situation data.

"In any case, no matter how our partners treat these data, we also regret that they completely ignored our initiative to launch a large-scale international investigation of what happened near Idlib," Peskov said.

On Thursday night, the United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Syrian military airfield in Ash Sha'irat, located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the city of Homs. US President Donald Trump said the attack was a response to the alleged chemical weapon use in Syria's Idlib on Tuesday, which Washington blames on the Syrian government.

Russia described the attack as an aggression against a sovereign state.

Following the US military action, Russia decided to suspend its memorandum of understanding on air safety over Syria with the United States, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

 Sputnik

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Russian MoD Announces Measures to Bolster Syria Air Defense System

Sputnik News

12:48 07.04.2017(updated 13:03 07.04.2017)

The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Friday that it is going to increase the effectiveness of the air defense system in Syria amid recent attacks against a Syrian armed forces airfield.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Friday its plans to bolster and increase the effectiveness of the air defense system in Syria after the United States carried out attacks against a Syrian armed forces airfield.

"In order to protect the most sensitive objects of the Syrian infrastructure, a system of measures to bolster and increase the effectiveness of the Syrian armed forces' air defense systems,, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said.

Earlier the day, it was reported that the US launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Syrian military airfield in Ash Sha'irat near Homs late Thursday. US President Donald Trump said the attack was a response to the alleged chemical weapon use in Idlib on Tuesday, which Washington blames on Damascus.

 Sputnik

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Free Syrian Army's South Front Welcomes US Syria Strike

Sputnik News

12:40 07.04.2017

The Southern Front of the opposition's Free Syrian Army welcomes the latest US missile strike on the Ash Sha'irat airfield near Homs in Syria as a way to prevent possible chemical attacks on the Syrians in future, spokesman for the Southern Front Issam Rais told Sputnik.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Syrian military airfield in Ash Sha'irat near Homs late Thursday. US President Donald Trump said the attack was a response to the alleged chemical weapon use in Idlib on Tuesday, which Washington blames on Damascus.

Any strikes or attacks against the tools which kills Syrian people with chemical weapons and barrel bombs is welcome," Rais said.

The opposition High Negotiations Committee is supportive of the US military action, as they blamed the Syrian government for the suspected chemical attack in Idlib on Tuesday, which claimed the lives of some 80 people and inflicted harm on another 200 civilians.

"The regime is not the one who is stopping Daesh. We are fighting Daesh. Daesh will be weaker if the regime got more attacks," he added.

Following the 2013 chemical weapon attack in eastern Ghouta, Syria, an incident which killed up to 1,500 people, Syria joined the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The country's decision to join the convention came as result of a US-Russian agreement on the elimination of chemical weapons in Syria under OPCW control. In January 2016, the OPCW announced its completion of the chemical weapons disarmament in Syria.

However, in June 2016, the US State Department published a report which said Syria had continued to use chemical substances against citizens and suggested the country could also stockpile chemical weapons. After the report was released, UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Kim Won-soo said that UN and OPCW experts still could not confirm the complete destruction of chemical weapon production facilities in Syria.

 Sputnik

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Damage to Syrian Airbase Hit by US Missile Strike Insignificant  Homs Governor

Sputnik News

12:12 07.04.2017(updated 12:14 07.04.2017)

Syria's Ash Sha'irat airbase suffered insignificant damage after it came overnight under a barrage of US cruise missiles fired from two Navy ships, Homs Governor Talal Barazi said Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Fifty-nine Tomahawk missiles struck the Syrian airfield at 4:40 a.m Syrian time. They were launched from the destroyers USS Porter and USS Ross in the Eastern Mediterranean. Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis said aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage, ammo supply bunkers, air defense systems, and radars were targeted.

"The damage caused to the airfield in this aggression was assessed as insignificant," Barazi told the RT broadcaster, adding he was at the airbase. "Yes, we suffered material losses but our spirit is not broken."

The Syrian official's remark appeared to contradict the announcement made earlier in the day by the general staff of the country's armed forces who described the damage as significant.

A Sputnik correspondent reported from the scene of the attack some hardware had been salvaged, including five Syrian fighter jets. The runway also seemed to have been spared, he said, as well as a few hangars, but eight others were taken out of service

 Sputnik

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Egypt has condemned Fridays attack in Sweden that killed four people and injured 15 when a stolen truck slammed into a crowd of people outside a busy department store in central Stockholm.

Egypt is standing with the Swedish government and people, underscoring it's steadfast stance against all forms of terrorism, the foreign ministry said in a statement Saturday evening.

Following what the Swedish prime minister described as a terror attack, a Swedish prosecutor said that a person had been formally identified as a suspect "of terrorist offenses by murder."

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Syria: As US responds militarily to chemical attack, UN urges restraint to avoid escalation

7 April 2017  United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres today urged restraint to avoid any escalation of the situation in Syria, after the United States responded militarily to an alleged chemical weapons attack earlier this week.

"I continue to follow the situation in Syria closely and with grave concern," said Mr. Guterres in a statement.

According to the US, the launch of 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles into the Shayrat Airbase was a response to what it states was the Syrian Government's use of chemical weapons from the base. The alleged 4 April chemical weapons attack killed many civilians in the Khan Shaykhun area of Idlib.

Decrying the 'abhorrent' chemical weapons attack, the UN chief stressed the need for accountability for such crimes in line with existing international norms and Security Council resolutions.

In the wake of the reported US airstrikes, Mr. Guterres said: "Mindful of the risk of escalation, I appeal for restraint to avoid any acts that could deepen the suffering of the Syrian people."

"These events underscore my belief that there is no other way to solve the conflict than through a political solution," he said, calling on the parties to urgently renew their commitment to making progress in the Geneva [intra-Syrian talks].

Meanwhile, the Security Council convened an urgent session to hear an update on the situation in Syria.

UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman said that the 30 December 2016 Syrian ceasefire  brokered by Russia, Iran and Turkey  had faltered in the last two months amid a steady escalation of military activity.

He said that in mid-February, Government forces escalated their military operations in several areas of Damascus and Homs, recapturing Wadi Barada and al-Waar in Homs.

In February and March, armed opposition groups, sometimes coordinating with al-Nusra Front, launched offensives in Daraa, Damascus and Hama.

On 4 April, as Government forces were fighting to regain territory recently lost to opposition offensives in northern Hama, disturbing reports emerged of an alleged chemical attack, in nearby Khan Shaykhoun in southern Idlib, Mr. Feltman said, adding that the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has announced that its fact-finding mission is starting to investigate the alleged attack.

A statement from the Syrian General Command of the Army and the Armed Forces called the US response a "blatant act of aggression" which had caused six deaths and huge material damage.

Mr. Feltman said that Iran and Russia condemned the US attack, with the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and New Zealand expressing some support for the US strikes.

The Security Council has the primary responsibility for international peace and security, he said, urging the 15-member body to unite and exercise that responsibility to investigate the alleged use of chemical weapons in Khan Shaykhun.

Security Council resolution 2254 (2015) and the 2012 Geneva Communique remain the foundation of, and contain the core principles for, United Nations mediation efforts and ultimately a solution in this regard, he said.

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Haley: US Strike in Syria 'Fully Justified'

By Margaret Besheer April 07, 2017

The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations told an emergency meeting of the Security Council on Friday that Washington was "fully justified" in striking a Syrian airfield overnight.

"The United States took a very measured step last night," Nikki Haley said, referring to the retaliatory missile strikes. "We are prepared to do more, but we hope that will not be necessary."

The U.S. said Bashar al-Assad's regime used the Shayrat airfield Tuesday to launch aircraft carrying poison gas that killed scores of civilians in the town of Khan Shaykhun in Idlib province.

"The United States will no longer wait for Assad to use chemical weapons without any consequences," Haley said. "Those days are over."

Haley said that the international community must now move to a new phase in Syria  a drive toward a political solution. She said until this point, Assad and his allies have not taken political negotiations seriously.

"We expect Russia and Iran to hold their ally accountable and abide by the terms of the cease-fire," she added.

Russia

Russia's deputy U.N. envoy was irate over the U.S. unilateral military strike, calling it a "flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression."

"We strongly condemn the illegitimate actions by the U.S.," Vladimir Safronkov told council members. "The consequences of this for regional and international stability could be extremely serious."

He dismissed U.S. calls to move the political process forward, calling them "hypocritical" in the wake of the military strike.

"As we see it, you have chosen a different path," Safronkov said. "We must recall that when you take your own path, this leads to horrible tragedies for people in the region," he said, recalling the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the U.S. intervention in Libya in 2011 as part of a NATO coalition.

Syria

Syria's deputy U.N. envoy Mounzer Mounzer said the strike was illegal aggression.

"These aggressions really promise total chaos in many parts of the world and will make the law of the jungle the only way to deal with regional and economic crises," he said.

China

China, which normally votes with Russia in the council on matters relating to Syria, did not overtly criticize the U.S. strike, perhaps because President Xi Jinping is currently meeting with President Donald Trump in Florida. Instead, Ambassador Liu Jieyi called only for a political solution, saying, "military means will not work, they will only worsen the suffering of the Syrian people."

Bolivia

The emergency meeting was called by council member Bolivia. Ambassador Sacha Llorenti delivered an impassioned statement in the council denouncing the U.S. strike as a violation of international law, and an impediment to an impartial and independent investigation into the Khan Shaykhun chemical attack.

Western allies

Many Western allies expressed support for the intervention, calling it an appropriate and measured response.

Ally Sweden did question its legality, saying such action must be based on international law.

"Last night's missile attack also raises questions of compatibility with international law," Ambassador Olof Skoog told council members.

Under international law, military action against another country requires either Security Council authorization or cause under Article 51 of the U.N. Charter, which says that states have an inherent right to individual or collective self-defense.

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US Looks at Russia's Role in Syria's Nerve-Gas Attack

By Carla Babb, Jeff Seldin April 07, 2017

The United States appears to be raising the stakes in Syria, suggesting Russia may have helped the Assad regime carry out a deadly chemical weapons attack that killed more than 80 people in Idlib province.

A day after firing 59 Tomahawk missiles at Syria's Shayrat Airfield, the launching point for the chemical weapons strike, senior American military officials said they were looking at evidence that the Syrian regime did not act alone.

"We think we have a good picture of who supported them," a senior military official told Pentagon reporters, adding officials were "carefully assessing any information that would implicate the Russians"  confirming they either knew of Tuesday's sarin gas attack in advance or assisted Syrian government forces.

The Pentagon's comments Friday followed a series of terse criticisms from Washington about Russia's role in Syria, some accusing Moscow of trying to "sow confusion" over Syria's use of chemical weapons by promoting what they called "false facts."

'Russia faces a choice'

"Damascus and Moscow assured us all these weapons had been removed and destroyed," a U.S. official told VOA, referencing an agreement in 2013 to eliminate Syria's chemical-weapons stockpiles.

"Russia faces a choice," the official continued. "Either it takes responsibility for ensuring the removal of these weapons, as Russia committed it would do, or it admits that it lacks the ability to control [Syrian President Bashar al-] Assad."

Pentagon officials refused to offer any direct evidence Friday linking Russia to the April 4 gas attack on town of Khan Sheikhoun, which was hit by bombs containing a chemical consistent with sarin, an extremely potent and deadly nerve-gas agent. However, they noted that a Russia military aviation unit is based at the same airfield, and that Russian forces in Syria are known to have "chemical expertise."

U.S. military officials said Friday they had watched a small drone flying over a hospital in Khan Sheikoun that was both a target of the chemical attack and also provided treatment for gas victims.

"About five hours later, the UAV [drone] returned, and the hospital was stuck by additional munitions," one official said.

'Hiding the evidence'

A senior military official suggested that was an attempt "to hide the evidence of a chemical attack."

Syria has claimed that its airstrike Tuesday in Khan Sheikhoun was carried out with conventional explosives, which may have inadvertently detonated a stockpile of sarin gas in a warehouse controlled by anti-Assad rebels. That theory was ridiculed by Western experts on Syrian military and other analysts.

Syrian authorities condemned the U.S. missile strike, terming it a "flawed U.S. strategy" that "makes the U.S. a partner of Islamic State and [the al-Nusra Front] and other terrorist organizations.''

Russia, meanwhile, opened fire in its own war of words with Washington.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev took to social media, branding the U.S. missile strike an illegal act and warning that Washington was now "one step away from military clashes with Russia."

Moscow also claimed it shut down a direct line of communication with American forces in the area around Syria. The communications link was established soon after Russian military forces arrived to assist Assad, more than a year ago, with the aim of avoiding near collisions or other midair incidents involving Russian and U.S. aircraft operating in the same Syrian airspace.

U.S. officials denied the communications link had been shut down. They confirmed it had been used to warn Russia of the U.S. missile strike in advance, and that it remained operational afterwards.

US emphasizes 'precision strikes'

Pentagon officials said they took precautions to avoid striking Russian personnel stationed at the Syrian airfield, and added that they specifically avoided hitting chemical-weapons storage facilities in the area. Military experts told VOA that Tomahawk missiles were used in the attack because precision strikes were necessary.

One American military official said the action in Syria early Friday was "appropriate, proportionate, precise and effective."

Early assessments indicated the U.S. successfully targeted about 20 aircraft, storage facilities, ammunition supply bunkers and radars, yet doubts are beginning to emerge about the missile strike's effectiveness.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syrian warplanes based at Shayrat were back in the skies Friday, carrying out airstrikes on rebel-held areas in the countryside east of the city of Homs.

In Palm Beach, Florida, President Donald Trump's spokesman defended the U.S. strike and said it sent a "very, very clear message" to Assad. But White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer also seemed to distance himself from some of the tough talk about Russia.

"The actions that were taken were clearly against the Assad regime, and I'm not going to say anything further than that," Spicer said.

He also appeared to walk back Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's comment Thursday that "steps are underway" to form an international coalition to cooperate on removing Assad from power.

"The president believes that the Syrian government, the Assad regime, should at the minimum agree to abide by the agreements that they made not to use chemical weapons," Spicer said. "I think that's where we start."

What next?

The U.S. position has left many allies, while supportive of the missile strike against Syria, wondering what comes next.

"We think it is a good move, because we have been asking for it for a long time," a Western diplomatic official told VOA on condition of anonymity, adding that while it is clear Assad cannot remain in power, no one has yet to present a clear path to agreement on a suitable replacement.

"That's the problem. We have not identified anyone," the official said.

Western intelligence agencies have also warned repeatedly that any move that creates a power vacuum in Syria will only strengthen terror groups like Islamic State and al-Qaida.

The White House promised the U.S. is well positioned to build a consensus.

"There's going to be a lot of foreign leader engagement," one official there told VOA. "We have the credibility."

At the United Nations Friday, U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said the United States "took a very measured step" with the missile strike. "We are prepared to do more," she added, "but we hope that will not be necessary."

VOA's U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report.

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Taiwan keeping close tabs on Trump-Xi meeting

ROC Central News Agency

2017/04/07 18:07:26

Taipei, April 7 (CNA) Taiwan's government is keeping close tabs on the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping () that is taking place at Trump's estate in Florida, the Presidential Office spokesman said Friday.

Alex Huang () said a national security team, which has been giving President Tsai Ing-wen () regular briefings on the meeting, is closely following developments emerging from the encounter.

Without saying what Taiwan's expectations are for the meeting, Huang said the United States is the most important ally of Taiwan internationally.

"The U.S. government attaches great importance to peace and stability in East Asia, and this includes the continuation of good Taiwan-U.S. relations. A stable East Asia is crucial to U.S. interests," Huang said.

Taiwan, as a member of the international community, will continue to develop a solid cooperative relationship with the U.S. and contribute to peace and stability in the region, he said.

Meanwhile, President Tsai postponed her scheduled appearance at a memorial ceremony for a Taiwanese pro-democracy pioneer after the U.S. carried out a missile strike against a Syrian air base in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held town.

Fifty-nine Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from two U.S. Navy ships in the Mediterranean.

Tsai stayed at the Presidential Office for a briefing from her national security team on the latest developments related to Syria.

Also on Friday, Premier Lin Chuan () expressed the hope that the United States can maintain stable relations with China and that Taiwan can have the same stable relationship with the United States and China.

On the possibility of Taiwan participating in the World Health Assembly in Geneva next month, which Taiwan has yet to be invited to, Lin said Taiwan has the right to take part in all international organizations, especially the WHA, as health and combating disease are basic human rights and the obligation of world citizens.

Taiwan has participated in the WHA, the World Health Organization's (WHO) policy-making body, as an observer since 2009.

It received a late invitation to attend the WHA last year, shortly after the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party replaced the China-friendly Kuomintang as the government of Taiwan.

That invitation, however, contained an unexpected reference to United Nations Resolution No. 2758, passed on October 25, 1971, which recognizes the People's Republic of China as "the only legitimate representative of China to the United Nations" and expelled the representatives of the Republic of China (Taiwan).

Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations or any of its affiliated organizations, including the World Health Organization, but has pushed for meaningful participation in meetings held by those agencies.

There are concerns that Beijing might try to block the WHO's invitation to Taiwan to attend the WHA again this year because of the existing stalemate in Taiwan-China ties.

(By Hsieh Chia-chen, Ku Chuan and Lilian Wu)

Enditem/ls

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Deputy Secretary General: Ukraine is a valued NATO partner

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

07 Apr. 2017

NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller reaffirmed the Alliance's strong support for Ukraine in a speech on Thursday (6 April 2017). Speaking at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, she said a recent meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission underscored the Alliance's ongoing and steadfast support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Deputy Secretary General said Ukraine is a valued NATO partner and that, "NATO does not, and will not, accept Russia's illegal and illegitimate annexation of Crimea. And we condemn Russia's ongoing destabilization in eastern Ukraine."

Ukraine has been an important NATO partner for many years, having joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council in 1991 and NATO's Partnership for Peace program in 1994. Ms. Gottemoeller said the country is making a great deal of progress on its reform agenda and it could rely on NATO's continued support on this issue.

Ms. Gottemoeller highlighted NATO's Comprehensive Assistance Package for Ukraine, which includes more than forty tailored support measures and six different multi-million-euro Trust Funds.

Among them is the Medical Rehabilitation Trust Fund, which provides support to wounded soldiers as well as to hospitals and physicians. Only last week, NATO opened a new rehabilitation facility in Kharkiv. In September, a Ukrainian team of athletes whom NATO helped to rehabilitate will compete in the 2017 Invictus Games in Toronto.

After her speech, the Deputy Secretary General met Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko, the Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, Deputy Prime Minister Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze and other senior government figures.

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Ukraine's Live-Fire Buk Missile System Drills to Involve NATO Troops - Military

Sputnik News

19:57 07.04.2017(updated 20:13 07.04.2017)

Ukraine plans to fire the Buk surface-to-air missile system during this year's joint military drills with NATO, Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile troops commander Major General Dmitro Karpenko said Friday.

KIEV (Sputnik)  Ukraine's anti-aircraft missile troops are seeking to reach tactical compatibility with their NATO counterparts, according to the Facebook statement.

"This year's priority will be live firing. More precisely, we plan to carry out a more large-scale exercise than last year. We are mainly talking about live firing for a Buk-M1 consolidated anti-aircraft missile regiment and S-300P anti-aircraft missile squadrons," Karpenko said, as quoted on the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff press service Facebook page.

In February, Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Dmytro Gutsulyak announced that Kiev was planning to hold live-firing drills with Buk-M1 air defense systems at the Yagorlyk firing range in the Kherson region in southeastern Ukraine close to Crimea.

The move sparked concern in Crimea, which is still claimed by Ukraine after rejoining with Russia three years ago. Russian officials said the drills were Kiev's saber-rattling and indicated its warlike attitude, while Ukraine said the exercises were irrelevant to the Minsk accords on east Ukrainian settlement.

 Sputnik

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The reputation of a Cheltenham restaurant was "ruined" by a decision to suspend its licence  which was overturned this week.

Chelsea Bar and Brasserie owner Abdul Mannan says his "livelihood is destroyed" after the Home Office found an illegal immigrant working at the restaurant during a raid in February 2016.

The illegal worker, who was on a trial day, had provided staff with a fake Italian passport.

A decision to fine Chelsea Bar and Brasserie, in St George's Place, 15,000 and suspend its alcohol licence for two weeks was appealed at Bristol County Court on Monday  and the judge ruled in the restaurant's favour.

But the damage done to its reputation is almost irreparable and four employees were made redundant after profits plummeted, Mr Mannan says.

Students from Gloucestershire College were formerly trained at the restaurant but he feels he "lost their trust" when the allegations were publicised.

"We had to make two full-time workers and two-part timers redundant to cover the 20,000 legal costs and a 120,000 loss in revenue," he told Gloucestershire Live.

"It takes a lot of time to build a reputation  it has taken me five years  but it can be ruined very easily.

"My livelihood is destroyed because it has ruined my reputation and ruined my relationship with students at Gloucestershire College and their parents."

Mr Mannan added that all staff members are checked through the disclosure and barring service (DBS) - the new name for Criminal Record Barring (CRB) security checks - but because the illegal immigrant was on a trial shift, he was not under employment.

He said: "Every member of staff has a DBS check but we can only do that if we decide to employ someone or give them a contract.

"Before they start working they have to do a three to five day trial."

Chelsea Bar and Brasserie was one of three premises raided by police who found illegal immigrants on site.

The restaurant, Indian Voojan, in Montpellier Street and Masala Bites, in Albion Street, were fined a total of 55,000.

Raids were carried out in February last year and Cheltenham Borough Council agreed the punishments in August.

Louis Krog, business support and licensing team leader at Cheltenham Borough Council, said: "In light of the immigration issue, our licensing sub-committee decided to suspend the premises licence, however the suspension never actually came into effect.

"As the Immigration penalty appeal between the venue and the Home Office was upheld we didn't feel there were grounds to pursue the committee decision on appeal."

A spokesperson for Gloucestershire College said: "We have no comment to make on the relationship at this time."
The official Saudi Press Agency is reporting that U.S. President Donald Trump has spoken by telephone with King Salman about the U.S. missile strike on Syria.

The news agency reports that during the Friday phone call, the Saudi monarch congratulated Trump for his "courageous decision."

Saudi Arabia says the missile launch by Trump was the right response to "the crimes of this regime to its people in light of the failure of the international community to stop it."

The kingdom is among the most vehement opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad and supports Sunni rebel groups fighting to oust him. The Sunni rulers of Saudi Arabia are in a power struggle for regional dominance with Iran's Shia government and view Tehran's support of Assad as a threat to the region.

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Two suspected Al-Qaeda militants were killed in a drone strike in war-torn Yemen, local security sources said Saturday amid a surge in US raids against Islamist militants.

The sources said the drone, apparently American, hit the fighters on Friday evening as they rode a motorbike through the Sawmaa area of central Baida province.

The region is a stronghold of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which has taken advantage of the chaos caused by more than two years of civil war to expand its presence in Yemen.

Baida was the site of the first raid ordered by US President Donald Trump after he took office in January.

The US has since escalated its drone war in Yemen, where security officials have reported dozens of suspected Islamist militants killed in strikes on Abyan, Baida and the neighbouring province of Shabwa.

The Pentagon says it has carried out over 70 air strikes in Yemen since February 28.

More than 7,700 people -- most of them civilians -- have been killed in Yemen's war since a March 2015 military intervention by a Saudi-led coalition against Shiite Huthi rebels, the World Heath Organization says.

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Dozens of Syrian students have gathered outside the offices of the United Nations in the Syrian capital Damascus to protest a U.S. missile attack on an air base.

The protesters held banners and chanted anti-American slogans Saturday such as "Death to America" and "Death to Israel."

One of the banners they carried read: "The Iraqi scenario will not be repeated in Syria." They were referring to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq after Washington accused Saddam Hussein of hiding weapons of mass destruction  a belief that later turned out to be incorrect.

University student Ashraf Fadel said he came to denounce "the unjust American aggression against Syria." He added that the United Nations was "created to support America instead of serving the wronged people."

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There will be 21 races on the F1 calendar next year.

That is the news from the sport's new commercial chief Sean Bratches, following earlier news that Malaysia will actually drop off the new schedule.

But the current count of 20 races will inch up to 21 in 2018, with the return of both Paul Ricard and Hockenheim.

"With Germany and France, we will have a total of 21 exciting events in 2018 that we can all look forward to," Bratches is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

(GMM)
Zak Brown says McLaren is not setting a deadline for Honda to take a big leap out of its current engine crisis.

The once-great British team's new boss in Shanghai rejected suggestions he has been in talks with Mercedes, amid rumours McLaren could soon dump Honda.

"No, we are working together," Brown is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport, even though he has been spotted talking with Mercedes engine boss Andy Cowell in China.

"We are all keen to move forward, but we have not set ourselves a 'day x' on which everything must be good. That wouldn't help us," he insisted.

"I said before the tests that we need to be better than in 2016, and we did not succeed in that. Now we have to work hard to get there, and take the next step for 2018 as well."

Brown said one bright spot is that the McLaren chassis itself is good.

"We had thousands of targets on the chassis side, and we met 99 per cent of them. We are confident that we have a very good racing car," he said.

(GMM)
A cloud is literally hanging over this weekend's Chinese grand prix.

On Friday, precious little track action took place because rain, mist and smog made it impossible for the medical helicopter to fly.

"The hospital is 38 kilometres away," said steward Paul Gutjahr. "Even with a police escort, it would take more than an hour (by ambulance)," he told Auto Motor und Sport.

The German report said another hospital is actually just 5 kilometres from the Shanghai circuit, but it does not meet F1's neurosurgery standards.

So with the weather looking set to worsen rather than improve, bosses met frantically to consider rescheduling qualifying and the race, but quickly ruled it out.

Many expressed disappointment with that, especially as the weather on Saturday is better, while the problematic low clouds could return on Sunday.

"I think the drivers just want to race," McLaren chief Zak Brown said. "They don't care if it's Friday, Saturday or Sunday."

He described the TV spectacle on Friday as "terrible".

"What we need moving forward is a contingency plan when this happens," said Brown.

Triple world champion Lewis Hamilton agrees, saying the situation in China is actually a "blessing in disguise" and a test for Liberty Media to come up with a "creative" solution.

But at the moment, qualifying and the race are scheduled to take place as originally scheduled, and Saturday morning practice took place as scheduled.

"The FIA believes that even if Sunday is going to be rainy, the clouds will no longer be so low and the helicopter will be able to fly," said Toro Rosso driver Carlos Sainz.

"I hope so, because it would be a shame to come all the way to China and not race because of weather."

(GMM)
Former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone could attend the next two grands prix.

The 86-year-old has been absent ever since Liberty Media decided to replace him for 2017 and beyond by Chase Carey, Ross Brawn and Sean Bratches.

But we have already reported that Ecclestone will be back in the paddock in Bahrain next weekend.

And the Briton could also be in Russia, the next race on the calendar after that.

"Bernie Ecclestone will always remain a friend of Krasnodar," Krasnodar governor Veniamin Kondratyev told the Russian news agency Tass, revealing his invitation to the sport's long-time chief.

The governor also revealed that despite having a new race deal at Sochi through 2025, he has "something to discuss" with Ecclestone's successor Carey.

(GMM)
Eight people were killed in a fire on Saturday that broke out near an oil pipeline damaged by sabotage in the west of war-torn Yemen, a government official said.

"Dozens of people had gathered at the site of the pipeline with bowls and other containers to fill with petrol spilling from the pipeline" in Hodeida on the Red Sea, the official in Yemen's recognised government told AFP.

He said the fire broke out because of the use of an electricity generator, leaving eight dead and 13 others with burns. Medical sources in Hodeida said at least eight people died.

More than 7,700 people -- most of them civilians -- have been killed in fighting between Shia Houthi rebels and the Yemeni government backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition since March 2015, according to the United Nations.

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Two traffic policemen were killed on Saturday after their vehicle came under fire in Russia's volatile North Caucasus region, investigators said.

The local branch of Russia's Investigative Committee said "unidentified people ... fired multiple shots from an automatic weapon" at two traffic policemen riding in their patrol vehicle in the town of Malgobek at around 1:30 am (2230 GMT).

The policemen died in hospital from their injuries, it said in a statement.

Attacks against police are not uncommon in southern Russia's North Caucasus, which faces a simmering Islamist insurgency.

The latest incident came days after the Islamic State jihadist group claimed the killing of two other traffic policemen in the southern Russian city of Astrakhan this week.

IS also claimed a separate attack that wounded three National Guard officers on Thursday in an incident Russian authorities said saw one assailant suspected of involvement in the death of the Astrakhan traffic policemen shot dead.

Astrakhan lies several hundred kilometres (miles) northeast of the volatile North Caucasus, and attacks against law enforcement are less common there.

The IS claims came as Russia was on high alert following a bombing in the Saint Petersburg metro that killed 13 people.

There is no apparent link between the attacks.

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On the top floor of one of downtown Cairos architectural gems, dozens of dedicated fans flocked to celebrate the long journey of their favourite theatre and folk arts troupe, El-Warsha.

Founded in 1987 by director Hassan El-Geretly, the troupe has focused on reviving classic gems from folk heritage -- story-telling, sira recitation, stick arts, folk singing and classic musicals.

Egypts first independent troupe, El-Warsha has featured stars such as actors Ahmed Kamal, Abla Kamel, Sayed Ragab and many more.

In celebration of 30 years of work, we created a hashtag: Hekayat Maa El-Warsha (Stories With El-Warsha) where we invite our audience to share their stories and memories with El-Warsha, El-Geretly announced at the beginning of the celebration that started with a classic tahteeb (a stick dance, verified by UNESCO as Egypts intangible heritage) by internationally acknowledged performers of Markaz Medhat Fawzi for stick arts.

The dance was followed by one of the most famous parts of Sirat Bani Helal (Epic of Beni Helal), which has also been verified by UNESCO as part of Egypts intangible heritage. The performance was a tribute to the sira poet who passed away this year, Said El-Daw,

El-Warsha members chanted the famous lyrics of Ibn Arous and reminded us: "Ewaa tgol lel nadl ya aam walaw kan aal serg rakeb, wala had khali men al-ham, hatta olo el marakeb." ("Never salute the villain even if he is on his high horse, for no one is rid of worry, even the sail of boats.)

Then we were enchanted by the voice of Bassem Wadie, who had joined the troupe as a teenager. He sang a mawal (solo) of a sira as well. The performance was followed by a few testimonies from the audience, which included renowned publisher Mohamed Hashem and El-Rayes Zakaria, founder of El-Tanboura folk troupe who even performed one of his famous folk pieces in celebration of the event.

El yeish yama yeshouf, ("We live to learn") was a classic song that the troupe sang in memory of Hassan Khanoufa, one of the last shadow puppeteers who joined El-Warsha in his old age and created workshops and performances with younger generations.

This is a song about a man who tries working several jobs in street markets, attribute to Hassan Khanoufa, explained El-Geretly.

Then came the story-telling; story-teller Mohamed Shokry told a story written by well-known author Ibrahim Aslan about a taxi drivers journey to renew his driving licence.

Then Mido sang one of the famous political songs of the sixties, Valery Giscar d'Estan, with lyrics by Ahmed Fouad Negm and music by Sheikh Imam. The satirical song, named after the French president of the day, mocked the French and Egyptian political scene. "Sing Semsemya", another famous political song was played in memory of El-Captin Ghazali famous musician and poet who documented the resistance years of the Canal trio cities during the war in the 1960s. El-Warsha then drifted to their Tahrir days and celebrated the 2011 revolution in their duet song One Winter Night, sung by Dalia El-Gendi and composer Yasser El-Maghrabi, with lyrics by Shadi Atef. Followed by a monologue of renwoned Performer Shokouko. The grand finale of the night was a song from the 1940s operetta Youm El-Qiyama (Doomsday), El-Warshas latest performance. The original operetta lyrics were written by renowned poet Bairam El-Tounsi and sheikh of composers Zakaria Ahmed. "Oh how beautiful the world is, echoed their voices.

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Hyundai is developing solid-state batteries through its Namyang R&D Centers battery precedence development team and it has secured a certain level of technology, the source told The Korea Herald.

Citing  sources close to the matter , the Korea Herald reports that Hyundai Motor is developing solid-state batteries for its electric vehicles, and has established pilot-scale production facilities.

Solid-state rechargeable batteries are drawing significant attention due to their increased energy density (partially enabled by the safe use of Li metal anodes), safety and reliability. Solid-state electrolytes are superior to liquid electrolytes in various aspects including dendrite formation on the anode, flammability, and leakage.

Replacing the organic liquid electrolyte with a nonflammable and more reliable inorganic solid electrolyte (SE) simplifies battery design while improving safety and durability of the system. This also allows the use of large-capacity electrode materialssulfur positive electrode paired with a lithium metal negative electrode, for example, which are difficult to employ in conventional liquid electrolyte batteries.

The all-solid-state battery also offers improved packaging efficiency, as the cell design can allow in-series stacking and bi-polar structures. High energy densities can be achieved by reducing the dead space between single cells.

However, solid-state batteries are challenged by limited power densities, resulting from the low ionic conductivity of the solid electrolyte, the electrode/electrolyte interfacial compatibility, and limited kinetics of the electrodes. (Earlier post.)

Hyundai reportedly is developing the batteries on its own, without partnering with Samsung SDI or LG Chem, the two leading Korea-based EV battery specialists.

A number of major automakers have expressed interest in solid-state batteries as the solution beyond Li-ion, including Toyota (earlier post), Volkswagen (earlier post) and Ford (earlier post).

Hyundai Motor is participating in and/or providing funding to various advanced solid-state battery research projects, including work at Korea Institute of Ceramic Engineering and Technology (KICET) and Tsinghua University in Chin (e.g., Shin et al. 2017); Hanyang University in Korea (e.g., Eom et al., 2017); and the University of Texas at Austin led by Professor John Goodenough (e.g., Park et al., 2016).

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Members of the Supreme Courts conservative majority are questioning the continued use of affirmative action in higher education. In lengthy arguments Monday, the justices wrestled with persistent, difficult questions of race. The justices heard from six different lawyers in challenges to policies at the University of North Carolina and Harvard. Those policies consider race among many factors in evaluating applications for admission. One conservative justice likened affirmative action to giving some college applicants a head start in a footrace. But a liberal justice said universities are the pipelines to leadership in our society and suggested that without affirmative action minority enrollment will drop.
Often the media occupies itself with the minutiae of current events without giving the reader enough basic information.

The ongoing dispute over laws governing the judiciary is a good example. So let me first outline the issue as I understand it before proposing an opinion.

Several laws regulate judicial bodies in Egypt. Currently, the presidents of the Court of Cassation, the State Council, and the State Litigation Authority are appointed by presidential decree after consulting the general assembly or supreme council of each of these three bodiesthat is, with the participation of senior members of those judicial bodies. Nominees for the position are customarily chosen on the basis of seniority.

Last week, however, the House of Representatives approved legal amendments that would mean these positions are filled by presidential decree from among three names submitted by each of the bodies in question.

The judicial community rejected the amendments, believing they put the power of appointment in the hand of the president and therefore erode the independence of the judiciary.

Judicial autonomy is protected in several constitutional provisions: Article 184, which states the judiciary is independent; each judicial body or agency shall manage its own affairs (Article 185); judges are independent and immune to dismissal; they are subject to no authority but the law (Article 186).

Judges also believe that issuing such a law without requesting their opinion contravenes Article 185 of the constitution, which requires judicial bodies to be consulted on any law governing their affairs.

These are the facts of the dispute. As for opinion, I agree that the amendments must be rejected because they undermine judicial autonomy, without which all constitutional rights and safeguards are worthless.

The judiciary is the last line of defense for these rights; it is the body capable of stopping infringements of rights by the executive. And in any case, the amendments are likely to be invalidated because the judicial bodies in question were not consulted.

Many other commentators have addressed this at length, so what interests me here is the broader issue of judicial autonomy and justice.

First, defenders of judges and their independence must distinguish the right grounds for solidarity from the wrong.

The recent amendments violate the principle of judicial independence and involved no consultation with the judiciarythese are appropriate and sufficient grounds. But claims that the House has no authority to legislate the affairs of the judiciary are misplaced. While Article 185 of the constitution requires the parliament to consult the judiciary on relevant laws, it does not restrict its power to legislate as long as it stays within constitutional bounds.

Ultimately, parliament must remain the sole body empowered to legislate for all social constituencies, including the judiciary, police, army, government, Al-Azhar, the church, and the president.

The core of the civil state is that the parliament legislates for all, and the judiciary monitors the enforcement of the law for all. Limiting the parliaments power to legislate for the judiciary today could be extended to other groups tomorrow.

Second, it worries me that the Judges Club has reportedly decided to stand united against these amendments but more so to discipline judges who break ranks. This limitation on freedom of thought and opinion should not issue from an institution that defends liberties.

Every judge has the freedom to form an independent opinion about his/her profession, even if its a minority opinion.

Finally, the issue should not only be supporting judges in their current battle. The greater issue is societys right to a fair, independent judiciary. This means a judiciary that is biased only to justice on every occasion and in every case.

It means a judiciary that bares it fangs and takes an unequivocal stand not only where the conditions of judges are concerned, but whenever the rule of law and justice is infringed and the rights and freedoms of citizens are trampled.

This is not about setting conditions for solidarity with judges in their struggle to maintain their autonomy. We must reject the parliaments law because at issue is the principle of respect for the constitution.

But judges themselves have a higher duty to champion justice, protect liberties, and uphold the constitution in this battle and in others. This is a position that cannot be imposed on the judicial community. It is a stance that all judges must cling to if they care about the future of the country and advancing justicethis is where our hope lies.

*The writer holds a PhD in financial law from the London School of Economics. He is former deputy prime minister, former chairman of the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority and former chairman of the General Authority for Investment.

A version of this article was published in Arabic in El-Shorouq newspaper on Monday, 3 April.

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Whats in a wall?

Symbolism, actually.

Immigrants become great Americans, work hard, build things, grow our food, serve in our armed forces and build our economy  that was true for my grandmother and for Trumps mother, and its true for you.

While many crossed a desert to get here, they also come over, under, around or through the walls we build. They want to join the American experiment.

While WASPS ruled, slaves and immigrants labored to build America as the WASPS raised barriers against the Chinese, Irish, Polish, Italian, Portuguese, Arab, French, Russian and Japanese  such a list. Barriers to Catholics, Mormons and Jews before the Muslim craze. A minority of our population simply fears the other.

Worse are the politicians manipulating fears, turning e pluribus unum on its head to gain a seat in Congress, the Senate or the Oval Office.

The wall will cost us, literally adding billions to our debt  immediately, as Congress cuts spending elsewhere (our health care first) to balance the budget. For decades, the interest will be due.

Let the states do it. That approach will not eliminate the cost of doing it. The states will do less of it, or raise taxes to maintain the services  we either pay Peter or Paul.

We all understand this  are we fooling ourselves?

Charles Senf

Lenoir

Nation is crumbling from the inside out

Governments dont collapse suddenly. Theyre eroded from within, by subversion, propaganda and repression.

Look about us. Whats true anymore? Fake news? Alternative facts? White House press briefings are by invitation only affairs? Congress just permitted our online data to be sold to the highest bidder, stripping away yet another layer of our privacy.

Public education, the great leveler is under threat. Educated people tend to think for themselves, ask questions, expect answers and vote. Less education equals more compliant people and will grow an underclass that will work for less, accept being told what to do and how to do it and wont ask those irritating questions.

Gerrymandering has rendered some elections meaningless, and dark money is buying our legislatures. Proposed legislation would make dissent (protest) illegal and an act of terror.

Virtual goon squads are rounding up immigrants and interning them, sometimes sweeping up the innocent with the guilty. Under the provisions of the Patriot Act, anyone can be declared an enemy combatant and locked up incommunicado, without legal recourse or representation, for an unlimited time.

While we slept, as a nation, habeas corpus was deleted. Home of the brave and land of the free? Whats next?

William Toth

Greensboro
Often when an American president orders a limited military attack against another country, its said hes sending a message.

That may be the case with Thursday nights cruise missile strikes on a Syrian air base, but what message isnt clear.

President Donald Trump was prompted by Syrian President Bashar al-Assads latest atrocity: deploying nerve gas against a rebel-held city, inflicting dozens of civilian casualties.

Using a deadly nerve agent, Assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children, Trump said. It was a slow and brutal death for so many. Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack. No child of God should ever suffer such horror.

U.S. intelligence agencies  often maligned by this president  traced the Syrian attack to a particular air base, and Trump ordered a measured but direct response. Fifty-nine cruise missiles were launched from warships in the eastern Mediterranean.

The action marked an abrupt reversal of Trumps previous statements about Syria.

What we should do is focus on ISIS. We should not be focusing on Syria, Trump said in an Oct. 26 interview with Reuters. Youre going to end up in World War III over Syria if we listen to Hillary Clinton. Youre not fighting Syria anymore, youre fighting Syria, Russia and Iran, all right?

Suddenly, moved by images of dead babies, Trump decided that Assads use of chemical weapons poses a threat to U.S. interests and should be punished  despite Russian and Iranian support for the dictator.

Everyone should be outraged by the deaths of innocent children, whether from war in Syria or starvation in East Africa. Trumps stated America First foreign policy, however, seems more likely to turn the U.S. away from such concerns. Indeed, Trumps proposed cuts to foreign aid programs confirm that view. So that contributes to the surprise about his decision Thursday.

Its not known yet whether the strike amounts to a one-time statement or a real turnaround on policy. If the latter, it couldnt have been analyzed for long by the State Department or Pentagon. Only last week, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said it would be up to the Syrian people to decide whether Assad remains in power. Is the U.S. now embarking on regime change? If so, what will we do about the Russians, who support Assad? Moscow quickly condemned Trumps action but did not threaten any retaliation. Surely, neither country wants a military conflict. On the other hand, Moscow suspended cooperation on anti-ISIS efforts.

Some in Congress also want to know what Trump has in mind.

Before any further escalation of American involvement, I urge the president to work with Congress to craft a long-term strategy to address this issue, Republican Rep. Ted Budd of North Carolinas 13th District said in a statement Friday.

Experience in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya warns against a poorly planned military intervention in Syria. While Assads crimes against his own people should have consequences, there are risks for the U.S., too  as Trump himself expressed not long ago. He must think carefully about his new message.
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GREENWICH  A longtime employee of the Greenwich Emergency Medical Service claims he has been denied due process after being fired by the agency.

Joe Soto, former managing director of operations for the ambulance service, was terminated from his position in April 2016 after more than 20 years with GEMS. He maintains proper protocol was not followed, and is attempting to obtain information about the action through the state Freedom of Information Act.

GEMS officials, who dispute Sotos claims, are fighting that effort, and seeking to overturn a 1988 FOI Commission decision that said the agency is subject to the same FOI regulations as government.

Soto said he was asked to resign from his high-ranking position by former GEMS Executive Director Charlee Tufts and, when he refused, was fired. As part of the existing procedure within GEMS, Soto said he appealed the termination, which was supposed to be considered by the personnel committee of GEMS Board of Directors.

And that is where he said the board acted improperly.

They did not follow their own policies because they did not have a meeting to consider my appeal or take a vote, Soto said. They were supposed to hold this meeting but never did, and I am looking for evidence to show they didnt. They have not responded to any of my requests for information.

Tufts could not be reached for comment. She left her position as executive director, the only one in GEMS history, at the end of March and has been replaced by Tracy Schietinger, who had succeeded Soto as director of operations in 2016.

John Raben, chairman of the GEMS Board of Directors, said a review by the personnel committee did take place. He could not remember the exact date, he said, but it was subsequent to Sotos termination last April.

He was advised of such a review, Raben said. Any statement on his part that he wasnt told that the personnel committee reviewed the decision is just false.

Letter

Saying he was frustrated with leadership, Soto eventually took his case to the entire GEMS Board of Directors, sending its members a letter in December, claiming the appeals process was not followed and that he was not given a chance to defend himself after his termination.

It was very disheartening that after over 20 years of dedicated service I wasnt given the opportunity to even speak to the personnel committee or members of the Board of Directors, Soto said in the letter.

He remains skeptical of the claim that a review meeting was held.

If a meeting of the full personnel committee took place then the information I requested should be provided, but I truly believe no meeting ever occurred, he said this week.

The personnel committee fully supported the decision to fire Soto after a review of the record, Raben said.

FOI

After what he called a complete lack of response from the GEMS board, Soto turned to the state Freedom of Information Commission.

He has formally requested copies of all documents provided to the board and the personnel committee regarding his termination, including all emails between Tufts, the committee and the board on the subject. He also requested the minutes of the personnel committees review meeting.

He is now accusing GEMS of attempting to stonewall by fighting the request.

Instead GEMS hired an FOI specialist along with their corporate attorney to not only block my request, but to change GEMS FOI status, he said.

In 1988, the state FOI Commission ruled in a case brought by Greenwich Time that because GEMS was created by town government and is funded and subsidized to a significant extent by it, the agency is subject to the same FOI regulations as government is.

During the 1988 case, GEMS claimed that because it is not a government agency  it operates independently as a non-profit  it is not subject to open records provisions under the Freedom of Information Act.

The ambulance service is making that assertion once again.

Raben said the claim is not an attempt to keep public information secret, but to comply with state laws protecting private information.

He added GEMS also wants to protect itself from the improper use of (Freedom of Information Act) by certain individuals whose personal motivation for using FOIA has nothing to do with public concerns. He did not elaborate on his statement, saying his comment would have to stand by itself.

Raben said GEMS legal position will be made clear in an upcoming filing which would support GEMS contention the the decision from 1988 was rendered incorrectly. He did not give a timeframe for when the filing would be made but speculated there would be additional hearings before the FOI Commission. An initial hearing was held in March.

GEMS is a private employer and Joe Soto was a private employee. The procedures that were followed were appropriate, Raben said. We will comply with whatever decision is made by the FOIC on this issue.

Reason for firing

Soto this week declined to say why he had been terminated, other than to say the reasons are ridiculous and easily explainable.

But in his December letter, he said his termination was a result of questioning Ms. Tufts on her disciplinary, managerial and targeting approach to certain employees that did not follow established policy or procedure.

Raben said he could not get into the specifics of why Soto was terminated because of legal restrictions.

All I can say is that all employees, including Joe Soto, receive notice and an opportunity to cure any performance deficiencies, Raben said. We dont take termination of any employee lightly. When theyre deficient in their performance, theyre given notice and given the opportunity to cure those deficiencies.

We told him what we wanted done and it was not done. He was not terminated improperly.

kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
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Haiti - Diplomacy : Haiti discusses of Venezuela with Congressman Jeff Duncan





Thursday, Ambassador of Haiti to Washington, Paul Altidor met with US Congressman Jeff Duncan, chairman of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere to discuss inter alia of the US-Haiti bilateral relationship, of Venezuela, and the departure of Minustah from Haiti.



"I am happy to have met with Chairman Duncan to continue the longstanding practice of our open discourse between the Embassy and members of the US Congress, said Ambassador Altidor. "We, given our belief in upholding democratic principles, are encouraging the actors in Venezuela to engage in a dialogue to address and possibly resolve this political internal matter. Haiti and other countries in the region, through the OAS and other avenues, can play a critical role in mediating this discussion, if and when necessary, without undermining Venezuelas sovereignty."



In addition to the topic of Venezuela, the departure of Minustah was discussed, as well as a congressional delegation visit in the near future. "I look forward to working closely with Chairman Duncan and other congressional leaders to facilitate the arrival of a Congress delegation in Haiti. These trips further strengthen the bond between our two nations and serve as an opportunity for members to meet with the recently elected Administration in Haiti, while assessing the nature of US efforts on the ground."



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Recalling his visit to the Haier-Fisher & Paykel research center in New Zealand, Premier Li Keqiang urged efforts to speed up the transformation and upgrade of the real economy during the State Council executive meeting on April 5.

The Haier-Fisher & Paykel research and development center was started by Chinas Haier and New Zealands Fisher & Paykel, two renowned home appliance manufacturers. The center combines cutting edge technology and efficient management experience from both sides.

During the Premiers visit on March 28, he was introduced to a new type of refrigerator compressor, which consumes less power and makes much less noise compared to old versions. The technology behind it must be inspired by users like me who complained about the compressors noise, Premier Li said.

The head of the center told Premier Li that once hearing user feedback, the center concentrated its efforts on developing a new compressor that could make a refrigerator that operates more stably while consuming less energy.

Upgrading of core components for refrigerators is a classic example of transformation and upgrading of the real economy, Premier Li said at the April 5 executive meeting.

The upgrading process should be always in line with consumers needs and market feedback, he added.

The Premier said that in the 1980s, people deemed the black-and-white TV, refrigerator, washing machine as the big three things sent by bridegrooms families as wedding presents, however, most were imports because domestic enterprises were not able to produce them.

Today, the real economy should keep a close eye on increasing changes in consumption and make use of platforms such as Internet Plus, mass entrepreneurship and innovation and sharing economy, to step up transformation.

During the two sessions, some deputies from poverty-stricken areas introduced their local specials to me. Through online platforms, local people got orders and delivered products to consumers in Beijing, Shanghai and other places within a few days, the Premier said.

Agriculture is the most traditional mode of the real economy, and relying on Internet Plus, farmers have found new ways to sell seasonal products, he added.

According to the Premier, bike-sharing services are another good example. While he was visiting Australia, a Chinese bike-sharing company entered the Australian market. Sydney Mayor Clover Moore said she will fully support the bike-sharing concept and believes it will better serve tourists in the city.

The bike-sharing business has boosted the use of the traditional transportation tool  the bicycle  and also helped revive several manufactures on the brink of collapse, the Premier said.

The service industry of bike-sharing helped upgrade the traditional real economy, he added.

Premier Li stressed that as the foundation for the countrys economy, the real economy should be supported all around and upgraded in a way that fits consumers demands.




Haiti - ALERT : False Facebook account of Prime Minister Lafontant





The Office of Communication of the Prime Minister informs that "the full name, as well as photographs of the archives of the Prime Minister, Dr. Jack Guy Lafontant, also President of the Superior Council of the National Police (CSPN), have been used on Interne for malicious purposes.



The Head of Government, immediately informed, instructed the technical and competent bodies of the State to carry out appropriate investigations to identify counterfeiters and to deal with them with the utmost rigor."



In addition, Prime Minister Lafontant brings to the attention of his fellow citizens in general and users of Facebook in particular, that his official account is doubly authenticated by the username "@jglafontant", as well as by his name Jack Guy Lafontant checked-by a "V" of blue color.



The Office of the Prime Minister recalls that "the creation of false accounts on social networks, using names and photos of people to circulate malicious messages, is a transnational crime."



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





Court of Cassation, 32 candidates

32 candidates applied for the 6 vacant seats at the Court of Cassation. Among them are several judges of the Courts of Appeal including Max Elibert, Jean Joseph Lebrun, Marie Joceline Casimir and Jean Peres Paul... Once the registration phase is over, the Senate Commission "Justice, Security and National Defense" will begin the analysis of the submitted files and will conduct interviews with the candidates. 18 names will be retained by the Senate, who will forward the list to President Jovenel Moise, who will have to choose 6 names on this list.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20337-haiti-notice-the-senate-extends-the-deadline-for-applications.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20226-haiti-flash-the-senate-launches-a-call-for-applications.html



United Nations ready to transform Minustah

"In Haiti, we are ready to transform our mission so that it focuses on political support, institution building and development," said Antonio Guterres, the new UN Secretary General to the Security Council on Thursday on the review of Peacekeeping Operations in the framework of a thematic debate.



France : Tribute to Toussaint Louverture

On Friday, the Haitian Embassy in France paid a resounding tribute to the forerunner of Independence of Haiti, Toussaint Louverture, whose it's the 214th anniversary of his death. Floral Offering at the Pantheon by Haitian Ambassador to France Vanessa Matignon Lamothe and to the Fort de Joux in Pontarlier, by Frisnel Azor, Minister Counselor at the Embassy of Haiti in France.



Public schools, fight against absenteeism

This week was held a working meeting with high school principals in the West around the operation and management of high schools. The Minister Pierre Josue Agenor Cadet presented his vision for the smooth running of the education system and expressed his expectations to the directors of high schools for the revalorization of public schools. The Minister called on high school principals to play their score for better management of public schools and especially for the fight against absenteeism, which strongly affects the quality of learning and academic achievement. This is the first meeting of Minister Cadet with these agents of the education system.



Restitution of the program "Kore Fanmi"

Friday, Stevenson Jacques Thimoleon, the Director General of the Ministry of Planning, launched the restitution workshop on the evaluation of the Kore Fanmi program in the Southeast, organized jointly with UNICEF Haiti and others partners.



Triple installation of Delegates

Thursday 3 Delegates Departemenatux were installed, these are:



Owell Theock Delegate of the Northwest Department, installed by the Minister of the Interior Max Rudolph Saint-Albin. The ceremony was held at the Departmental Delegation of the North-West, in Port-de-Paix.



Mrs. Marie-Denise Bernadeau, Delegate of the Department of the Centre, installed by the Minister of the Interior, Max Rudolph Saint-Albin, in Mirebalais.



Herby Dalencourt, Delegate of the Department of Artibonite, installed by the Minister of the Interior, Max Rudolph Saint-Albin, in Gonaives.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Published on 2017/04/07 | Source

Added episode 1 captures for the Korean drama "Queen of Mystery" (2017)

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Directed by Kim Jin-woo-II, Yoo Yeong-eun-I

Written by Lee Seong-min-II

Network : KBS

With Choi Kang-hee, Kwon Sang-woo, Lee Won-keun, Shin Hyun-bin, Kim Hyun-sook, Jeon Soo-jin,...

16 episodes - Wed, Thu 22:00

Synopsis

"Queen of Mystery" tells the story of a prosecutor's wife who's always dreamed of being a detective. After actually solving a case, she ends up in an unlikely crime-fighting duo with a young police captain.

Broadcast starting date in Korea : 2017/04/05

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Published on 2017/04/08 | Source

Added episode 8 captures for the Korean drama "Radiant Office" (2017)

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Directed by Jeong Ji-in, Park Sang-hoon-III

Written by Jeong Hee-hyeon

Network : MBC

With Go Ah-sung, Ha Seok-jin, Lee Dong-hwi, Kim Dong-wook, Lee Ho-won, Kim Byung-choon,...

16 episodes - Wed, Thu 22:00

Synopsis

An abrasive marketing director and a female temporary contract worker at the same furniture company. She faces repeat rejection in her job search until despair drives her to attempt suicide. At the hospital, she learns she has a terminal condition, but then, finally succeeds in getting hired. With nothing to lose, she tackles her job and her life with a perspective.

Broadcast starting date in Korea : 2017/03/15

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Hawaii Dairy Farms Statement on the Proposed Consent Decree

News Release from HDF, April 6, 2017

Hawaii Dairy Farms and Friends of Mahaulepu have submitted to Judge Kobayashi for her review and approval a proposed consent decree that is the culmination of several months of settlement discussions between the parties. Both parties felt it was in their best interest to settle rather than go through a lengthy and costly trial. As part of the consent decree, Hawaii Dairy Farms will bolster its existing run-off prevention practices.

We are also happy to share that the court has already supported Hawaii Dairy Farms recommendation that the Makauwahi Cave Reserve be the recipient of $125,000 for a supplemental environmental project to be funded by Hawaii Dairy Farms after Judge Kobayashi approves the final version of the consent decree. Rather than spend money in a legal battle, we wanted to directly support the community and address the existing contamination in the area being caused by nearby injection wells, cesspools and invasive species.

This does not change our existing plans to complete the EIS. We remain committed to continuing our work with regulators and the community to bring the states first pasture-based dairy to fruition.

It has come to our attention that the Friends of Mahaulepu has released inaccurate statements falsely claiming victory in this matter. Below are clarifications to those misstatements:

As stated in Judge Kobayashis order, there is no conclusive evidence that established any discharges caused by HDF activities

The order does not "require Defendants to implement Best Management Practices (BMPs) to control and prevent runoff from the areas that were illegally disturbed as quoted by FOM

The judge selected an independent third party monitor to observe any work needed on the existing water pipelines. It will not be monitored by FOM as stated in its release.

The consent decree is not final." It is a proposed consent decree that was lodged with Judge Kobayashi. It will now be submitted to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) where the document will go through a mandatory 45-day review period. Following that, it could be approved as final by Judge Kobayashi.

Once approved, the consent decree will only be in effect until Hawaii Dairy Farms obtains an NPDES stormwater construction permit.

* * * * *

CONSENT DECREE FILED 4/5/17 IN FOM CLEAN WATER ACT CASE AGAINST PROPOSED DAIRY

News Release from FOM, April 6, 2017

MAHA`ULEPU, Kauai, HI  Friends of Maha`ulepu (FOM) is pleased to announce the resolution of their Clean Water Act case against Ulupono Initiative, LLC, Hawaii Dairy Farms, LLC (HDF), and Mahaulepu Farm, LLC (Defendants). There is finally a Federal Court Order with a signed Consent Decree that prohibits any further development, construction, or ground disturbing activities at HDFs proposed industrial dairy site in Maha`ulepu. The Courts Order and Consent Decree will remain in effect unless Defendants Ulupono and HDF obtain proper permits from State and County agencies and/or these Defendants abandon their interest in the Maha`ulepu site, said Bridget Hammerquist, President of Friends of Maha`ulepu.

In a federal ruling in December, Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi found that Defendants engaged in activities pre- and post-Complaint that required an NPDES permit. Judge Kobyashis Order detailed significant unpermitted ground-disturbing activities over most of the 557 acre site. This Order and Consent Decree require Defendants to implement Best Management Practices (BMPs) to control and prevent runoff from the areas that were illegally disturbed, Bridget Hammerquist explained. The installation of the BMPs, as well as any future ground work necessary to perform repairs or address a sudden leak, shall be monitored by FOM to ensure water quality protections are in place. Additionally, HDF and its co-defendants have agreed to pay $125,000 to fund a Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP), a streambank restoration and endangered species protection project to be administered by the Makauwahi Cave Reserve (MCR).

The health of Maha`ulepu, its rich heritage, County drinking water wells, our ocean and beaches should never be compromised by massive amounts of untreated animal waste said Bridget Hammerquist.

Defendants, Ulupono and HDF have agreed to fund the SEP as part of the final resolution of the Clean Water Act case filed by FOM nearly two years ago. Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) are part of settlements reached in Clean Water Act cases. They are an alternative to civil penalties that would otherwise be paid by Defendants to the Federal Government. SEPs, on the other hand, benefit the community directly and are designed to improve, protect, or reduce risks to public health or the environment. The SEP's activities will include removal of invasive trees and shrubs along the banks of the Waiopili, replacing them with native sedges, shrubs, and monocots.

The MCR SEP will address the concern that: "this area contains cave passages that are believed to be suitable habitat for the blind cave organisms, but they have been impacted over past decades by the destruction of vegetation by mining activities and periodic flooding from the channelized portion of the Waiopili Stream," according to MCR. Project funds paid to MCR will also support reforestation and erosion control in the lower Maha`ulepu watershed, the creation of wetland habitat areas, and the planting of long-rooted species will benefit the Cave's two endangered invertebrates. The SEP activities will be carried out over a 2-year period.

The Consent Decree was filed last night with Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi in the Federal District Court.

* * * * *

KGI: Friends, HDF dispute consent decree impact
From Hawaii Family Forum April 6, 2017



Upcoming Legislative Dates:

APR 13 SECOND CROSSOVER (BILLS) - Deadline for bills to pass third reading in their non-originating chamber in order to "cross back" to the originating chamber.





APR 13 LAST DAY FOR THE ORIGINATING BODY TO DISAGREE WITH BILL AMENDMENTS - The deadline for the originating chamber to disagree with changes made to its bills by the other chamber. When the Senate and House disagree on a bill, members from each chamber can meet in a "conference" committee to reconcile their differences.

APR 17 SECOND LATERAL FOR SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS - All Senate concurrent resolutions with multiple referrals must move to their final House committee by this date.

APR 21 DEADLINE FOR FINAL FORM OF BILLS PROPOSING CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS - A proposed amendment's final form must be provided by written notice to the Governor at least 10 days prior to passing final reading by a 2/3 vote in each chamber. Once adopted by the Legislature, the proposed amendment is submitted to the voters, in the form of a 'yes or no' question on the ballot, for ultimate decision.

APR 24 SECOND CROSSOVER FOR CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS - Deadline for passing amended concurrent resolutions in the non-originating chamber in order to "cross back" to the originating chamber.

APR 27 FINAL DECKING OF NON-FISCAL BILLS - Deadline for submitting non-fiscal bills for final reading by both chambers.

APR 28 FINAL DECKING OF FISCAL BILLS - Deadline for submitting fiscal bills for final reading by both chambers. Fiscal bills include appropriation or spending bills, tax credits, etc. that emerge from the fiscal committee (House Finance, Senate Ways and Means) of their respective originating chamber.

MAY 4 ADJOURNMENT SINE DIE - In Latin, "sine die" means "without a day specified for future meeting." Adjournment sine die occurs on the 60th legislative day of a regular session, and indicates a suspension of the business of the legislature indefinitely. From this point, the Legislature will certify bills whose form both chambers have agreed to, and will transmit or "enroll" those bills to the Governor. Contact PAR for information regarding the Governor's deadlines.

Wear Blue Today!

"Bully Bill" Passes House Judiciary

In a move not surprising to the pro-life community in Hawai'i, the House Judiciary Committee voted to pass SB501 HD2 out of committee. The vote, of 8-2, was totally the exact OPPOSITE of the ratio of testimony which was about 90% opposed to 10% in support (Planned Parenthood, ACOG and the ACLU).

Rep. Marcus Oshiro, who voted no on the bill, stated that his opposition was due to several factors: the description of the term "limited service pregnancy centers" is overly broad; the bill is compelled speech and will be a target for a lawsuit against the state; penalties ($500 first offense, 1k thereafter with the ability of enactment of a civil suit) are disproportionate to the offense; the bill is deceptive in its portrayal of neutrality; and is too vague;

Although the new version removes the term "abortion," Rep. Oshiro rightly questioned why "contraceptives" was also not removed because of Catholic opposition to contraceptive services.

We applaud both Rep. Oshiro (586-6700) and Rep. Bob McDermott (586-9730) in their heroic efforts to protect the religious freedom and 1st Amendment rights of the faith based community who live and work in the State of Hawai'i. Please contact them to thank them for their continued support of the faith-based community in Hawai'i.

What's Coming Up?

Legislative Bills Still Alive Head for Conference Committee

(From a newsletter by Representative Jarrett Keohokalole District 48)

There are five weeks left in the legislative session, and that means that bills that are still alive in this session are moving on to their final committees for public hearings. If the bills are passed out by their respective subject matter committees (i.e. Judiciary, Finance), they will proceed to an up-or-down vote before the full legislature.

The last two weeks of April are reserved for the conference process.Conference takes place when both the House and Senate have approved a piece of legislation, but disagree on the specific language or funding amount in the bill. Members of both chambers then meet in conference committees to confer and try to agree on final versions of the bills to be sent to the Governor.

If the conference committees cannot come to an agreement on a bill's final form before the end of the legislative session, the bill carries over to the next year where it is again taken up for discussion.

May is National Foster Care Month!

40 Days for Life Final Rally

We are near the end of another 40 Days for Life Campaign. The closing rally is scheduled for this Saturday, April 8, 2017, 9:00 am through 12:00 pm. Please come out one last time this season, as we join together to pray for the precious babies and their mothers as they arrive at Planned Parenthood. The address is 1350 S. King St. Honolulu. If you want to join them, please meet on the sidewalk in front of the building. You can call Tracey Clay-Whitehurst at (808) 754-7427 or Joe Picon at (808) 551-4471 if you need more information or have any questions.

From Around the Nation

Senate Confirms Neil Gorsuch for Supreme Court in Party-Line Vote

In a 54-45 vote, Republicans united around Neil Gorsuch, a federal appeals judge from Colorado who will take the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death last year of Justice Antonin Scalia, a conservative stalwart, Caleb Ecarma reports.
Hawai'i Free Press Current Articles | Archives Monday, April 24, 2017 Vice President Mike Pence Visits Am Samoa

By News Release @ 11:22 AM :: 8410 Views :: Military Vice President Pence Visits American Samoa News Release from Rep Amua Amata (R-AS) April 24, 2017 Pago Pago, AS Monday, at the request of Congresswoman Amata, Vice President Pence and the Second Lady stopped in American Samoa Sunday on their way back to Washington, D.C. from the V.P.s tour of Asia, where he met with strategic partners in the region to bolster economic and military cooperation. After the Vice President asked me to be a part of the transition team, which I was honored to serve on, I felt it was an opportune time invite him to visit our beautiful home here in the South Pacific, said Amata. I wanted him to see first-hand, the love our people have for this great nation, as well as help us dedicate the newly named Eni F.H. Faleomavaega Veterans clinic, continued Amata. The local VA clinic was renamed after legislation introduced by the Congresswoman was signed into law last month by President Trump. Congresswoman Amata, Vice President Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence wave to the crowd gathered at Pago Pago Intl Airport before departing for Honolulu on Air Force II Upon his arrival, Vice President Pence was welcomed by Governor Lolo Moliga and the First Lady, Lt. Governor Lemanu Palepoi Sialega Mauga, the Speaker of the House Savali, Chief Justice Kruse, the Secretary of Samoan Affairs Mauga, Congresswoman Amata and other local dignitaries at Pago Pago Intl Airport. The Governor then led a traditional welcoming ceremony for the Vice President and his family. The Vice President also helped dedicate the renaming of the local VA clinic to the Eni F.H. Faleomavaega Veterans clinic, during which time he addressed the soldiers from the 100th Infantry Battalion stationed in American Samoa. Vice President Pence spoke on the challenges the United States faces in the Pacific; and thanked them for their dedicated service. Vice President Pence is now only the 6th White House dignitary to visit the Territory. The Vice Presidents trip was a massive success, stated Amata. I want to thank Governor Lolo and the Lt. Governor for their hard work in helping us welcome the Vice President and Second Lady to our beautiful home without a hitchit truly was a historic day for American Samoa, said the Congresswoman. I was honored that he accepted my invitation to visit the territory on his way back to Washington, DC, after his trip to South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, and Australia. His visit has brought great exposure of American Samoa, and our conversations on Air Force II were very productive and hope inspiring. The Vice- President and President Trump are demonstrating with their actions that they truly care about the people in the Pacific territories, and I look forward to continuing to work with them to see that our people are given the same opportunities and resources as those in the states, continued the Congresswoman. Vice President Pences dedication of the Eni F.H. Faleomavaega clinic brought tears to my eyes. He and Eni were colleagues together in the House of Representatives, which made it that much more significant the Vice President could lead the dedication, and we are all truly honored and grateful, concluded Amata. * * * * * Vice President Mike Pence to Travel to the Republic of Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Australia, and Hawaii News Release from The White House, April 6, 2017 WASHINGTON, DC - Vice President Mike Pence will travel to the Republic of Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Australia, and Hawaii from April 15-25, 2017. This trip will serve as the Vice Presidents first official travel to the Asia-Pacific region. During his trip, the Vice President will emphasize President Trumps continued commitment to U.S. alliances and partnerships in the Asia-Pacific region, highlight the Administrations economic agenda, and underscore Americas unwavering support for our troops at home and abroad. The Vice President on April 16 will arrive in Seoul, Republic of Korea, where he will spend Easter Sunday with United States and Republic of Korea troops and their families. During the remainder of the visit, he will participate in a bilateral meeting with Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn and meet with National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun. Vice President Pence will also participate in a listening session with local business leaders and give remarks to the business community. On April 18, the Vice President will travel to Tokyo, Japan, where he will meet with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and lead the inaugural U.S.-Japan Economic Dialogue with Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso. The Vice President will participate in a listening session followed by remarks to the U.S. and Japanese business community. Continuing the Administrations commitment to rebuilding the U.S. military and to our alliances in the region, the Vice President will tour the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and give remarks to U.S. and Japanese service members. The Vice President will then travel to Jakarta, Indonesia on April 20 to meet with President Joko Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla. Noting the 40th Anniversary of US-ASEAN relations, Vice President Pence will meet with the ASEAN Secretary General and ASEAN Permanent Representatives. Among other events, the Vice President will participate in a listening session with U.S. and Indonesian business leaders and give remarks to the business community. On April 22, the Vice President will visit Sydney, Australia, where he will meet with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Vice President Pence will also meet with Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten along with U.S. and Australian service members. Focusing again on American businesses, jobs, and the economy Vice President Pence will join a listening session and give remarks to the U.S. and Australian business community. The Vice President will conclude his trip with a visit to Honolulu, Hawaii on April 24. Vice President Pence will meet with senior leadership from the Pacific Command and pay honor to those who fought and perished during the attack on Pearl Harbor by visiting the USS Arizona Memorial. Finally, the Vice President will meet with U.S. troops and their families before returning to Washington, DC. Note: The Vice President will travel with the Second Lady of the United States, Karen Pence, and his two daughters. Mrs. Pence will release a more detailed schedule of her meetings and cultural visits in the coming days. * * * * * Second Lady Karen Pence to travel to the Asia-Pacific Region to Highlight Art Therapy and Recognize Military Service Members News Release from The White House WASHINGTON, DC  Second Lady Karen Pence will travel to the Republic of Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Australia, and Hawaii from April 15-25, 2017 with the Vice President. During the trip, Mrs. Pence will highlight her initiative, art therapy, meet with military service members and spouses, and participate in cultural activities. Mrs. Pence will arrive in Seoul, Republic of Korea on April 16, where she will spend Easter Sunday with United States and Republic of Korea troops and their families. During the remainder of the visit, she will observe an art therapy program and participate in a roundtable discussion with art therapists. On April 18, the Second Lady will travel to Tokyo, Japan, where she will meet with Mrs. Chikako Aso, wife of the Deputy Prime Minister, Taro Aso. During the visit in Japan, Mrs. Pence will tour the USS Ronald Reagan and visit with U.S. and Japanese service members and military spouses. She will also observe an art therapy program for children at a local hospital and participate in a roundtable discussion. Mrs. Pence will then travel to Jakarta, Indonesia on April 20 and participate in a cultural event with First Lady Iriana Joko Widodo. Focusing again on art therapy, she will participate in a roundtable discussion with art therapists. On April 22, the Second Lady will visit Sydney, Australia where she will visit with U.S. and Australian military members, tour iconic cultural sites, and participate in an art therapy roundtable discussion. Mrs. Pence will conclude her trip with a visit to Honolulu, Hawaii on April 24. The Second Lady will visit Schofield Barracks to see how the base is integrating their behavioral health unit to treat Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. While shes there, she will pay honor to those who fought and perished during the attack on Pearl Harbor by visiting the USS Arizona. And before returning to Washington, DC, Mrs. Pence will meet with U.S. troops and their families.
Xi Jinping, President of the Peoples Republic of China, begins his state visit of Finland today. Joined by a delegation that includes his wife and First Lady of China Peng Liyuan, President Xi will remain in Finland until Thursday, 6 April. He will then fly out to Mar-a-Lago, Florida, where he will meet US President Donald Trump.

Xis stay in Finland is only the second such visit by a Chinese President and the first for over 20 years. It also represents President Xis first visit to a North European country as head of state, as well as his first tour to an EU member this year.

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and First Lady of Finland Jenni Haukio will receive President Xi and his wife at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki on Wednesday, 5 April. They are scheduled to hold talks concerning political and economic relations between the two countries. International affairs will also be discussed, such as the partnership between China and the EU.

The visit is also seen as a way of commemorating the longstanding relationship between Finland and China, as well as Finlands centenary year. As President Xi mentioned in his exclusive letter to the Helsinki Times, Finland was one of the first Western countries to establish diplomatic ties with China. Theres a belief that this relationship will only be strengthened in the next few days.

Dan Anderson  HT

Photo: Lehtikuva / AFP / POOL
THE Duchess of Gloucester was guest of honour at a celebration of the Henley Decorative and Fine Arts Societys 40th anniversary.

She was accompanied by Lord and Lady Camoys, of Stonor Park, at the groups annual meeting, which took place at Phyllis Court Club in Henley on Wednesday and was attended by more than 100 people.

John Benjamin, an international jewellery expert who regularly appears on the Antiques Roadshow, gave a lecture called At the sign of the falcon about the early 20th century British silversmith Henry George Murphy.

The stage was decorated with a silk banner created by pupils from Nettlebed Community School. It included an image of the River Thames with a swan, insects and a rowing boat and was designed using a technique called batik, in which the outlines are laid down in wax before they are painted over and removed.

The clubs Finlay Suite was also decorated with photographs capturing the clubs history. After the talk, the royal visitor and Lord and Lady Camoys had lunch with current and former members of the societys committee, including eight past chairmen.

The Duchess is president of the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies and June Robinson, the national chairwoman, and Florian Schweizer, the chief executive, were also present.

Anne Bulgarnie , the Henley clubs chairwoman, said: It was very successful day. We had a really good turnout and an excellent lecture from John, who shared an absolutely fascinating story.

Were very proud that our membership is continuing to increase as we celebrate our 40th anniversary.

Vice-chairwoman Claire Woods said: Its very important for us to show what we do as a society and how wonderful the facilities are at Phyllis Court Club.

Its extraordinary that a society such as this, which is run by volunteers, is still going after 40 years and this is an appropriate way to celebrate it.

It was absolutely amazing to have the Duchess here and were truly honoured that she found time for us in her busy schedule.

The Henley club, which has almost 700 members, is the second largest in the national association.

It organises lectures, study days and trips as well as supporting youth art projects. This year it donated almost 3,000 to the Henley Youth Festival.
The vice-chancellors had moved the court against the governor's show cause notice asking them to cite reasons why they should not be sacked from their posts.
A mother-of-three accused of smuggling up to 100,000 worth of cocaine into Dublin airport in her luggage has been refused bail.

Jade Seddon (25) is alleged to have had 1.4kg of the drug in her suitcase when she flew in from Brussels.

Judge Kathryn Hutton remanded her in custody after gardai objected to bail, saying they considered her a flight risk.

Ms Seddon, with an address at Lees Road, Oldham, Manchester, is charged with possession and importation of cocaine as well as having the drug with intent to sell or supply.

Gda Killian Foley told Dublin District Court that the accused was allegedly found in possession of 1.4kg of cocaine worth between 90,000 and 100,000 on March 30.

He objected to bail, stating that the defendant was considered a flight risk.

She was a British citizen with no connections to Ireland and it had been her intention to return to Manchester.

"I believe she will evade justice by returning to the UK if granted bail," the garda said.

The charges were serious, carrying a maximum prison term on conviction of 14 years. There could also be a further charge brought.

Admissions

The cocaine was allegedly found in Ms Seddon's suitcase after she travelled here from Brussels and she had made admissions in interview, the garda added.

Cross-examined by counsel John Griffin, for the defendant, the officer agreed that he was happy with Ms Seddon's identity and that the address she had provided exists.

Mr Griffin said the garda's belief that the accused was a flight risk was based simply on the fact that she was a UK resident.

The case would most likely be dealt with on indictment, and if bail were refused she could be in custody for a year or more if she went to trial, Mr Griffin said.

Gda Foley told the judge that the accused had said "part of the reason she did this" was because her house was being repossessed and she was moving into a new address.

The accused, who worked as a cleaner, was of very limited means and had three children aged 10, nine and six.

Mr Griffin said the accused's children certainly tied her to the UK and it was unlikely that she would go further beyond there.
A woman was arrested at the scene of a street row, during which she pushed a garda to get at her own sister.

Pamela Carroll (33) and her sister were having a dispute outside the family home in west Dublin when the officer intervened.

Judge David McHugh left her without a conviction, remarking that she appeared to be now down on her luck following the incident.

Carroll pleaded guilty to public intoxication and using threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour to cause a breach of the peace at Shancastle Ave-nue, Clondalkin, on March 7.

Sgt Maria Callaghan told Blanchardstown District Court that gardai attended the scene of a disturbance at 2.45pm.

The accused, of Main Street, Newmarket, Co Cork, was at the scene with her sister Donna Carroll and there was an argument between them, the court was told.

The gardai told the accused to desist but she failed to heed their warning.

Convictions

They then tried to intervene in the dispute and Pamela Carroll pushed past a garda in an attempt to get at the other lady physically.

She was arrested and charged.

The court heard the defendant had previous convictions for public order offences.

The row had been a dispute between sisters, defence solicitor Simon Fleming said.

The accused had been staying at the family home, which was the scene of the incident.

Carroll had left the house and had been staying in homeless hostels. She and her partner had been sleeping rough when they were subjected to a random attack.

Mr Fleming said the defendant apologised and asked the judge to be as lenient as he could in the circumstances.

Judge McHugh said the accused seemed to be down on her luck and applied the Probation Act.

If they can make up, well and good, but its a matter for her, Judge McHugh added.
Fine Gael is demanding that an expert in EU law provides advice to the Oireachtas Water Committee on the issue of charges.

The prospect of a general election being prompted by the scandal moved a step closer last night as a war of words erupted between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail.

Committee chairman Padraig O Ceidigh has told colleagues he is prepared to allow a "majority report" to be produced if no deal is agreed.

A decision by Housing Minister Simon Coveney to voice his concerns in a letter to Mr O Ceidigh was dubbed an "interference" by Fianna Fail TD Barry Cowen.

He was supported by Solidarity TD and committee member Paul Murphy, who described Mr Coveney's intervention as "unprecedented".

In the letter, sent on Thursday night, Mr Coveney said the proposed regime will place Ireland "at odds" with the EU.

However, Mr Coveney yesterday defended the move, saying the Government would not introduce flawed legislation aimed at resolving the stalemate just to avoid an election.

Householders who waste water or use excessive amounts should have to pay a bill, and there was no "moral or legal argument" to justify using taxation to fund "wasteful" use, Mr Coveney said. Speaking to the Herald, Mr Coveney added that people were "sick of the argument" and wanted a resolution to the issue.

"In my view, and in the view of Fine Gael, people who are wasting water and using excessive amounts of water should have to pay for that," he said.

Argument

"I do not see any moral or legal argument that could suggest that general taxation should be funding the excessive or wasteful use of water in households.

"We have no intention of taking those people to court; we're simply sending them a bill," he added.

"But let me be very clear, I'm not going to produce an outcome to this process which is politically expedient to avoid elections."

His comments came as the Dail committee was adjourned until next Tuesday, pending legal advice as to whether a draft deal will allow Ireland to conform with obligations under the Water Framework Directive, which imposes a "polluter pays" principle.

Meanwhile, Taoiseach Enda Kenny has brushed off suggestions that the row over water will lead to a snap election.

"I expect we will arrive at a conclusion next week that will be in keeping with the requirements of the law, at the same time understanding water is a commodity not to be wasted," he said.
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Two people have died and six others were treated for smoke inhalation following an "extremely fierce" fire at a care home in Cheshunt.

The blaze broke out at approximately 5.50am today (April 8) in the Newgrange care home on Cadmore Lane.

The two residents were first reported to be missing, but a Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue spokesman later confirmed the fatalities.

Daryl Keen chief fire officer said: "The initial crews that arrived were faced with a very severe fire. They made over 30 rescues in a short space of time.

"They worked extremely hard in very difficult circumstances.

"Unfortunately as a result of the fire there has been two fatalities.

"Our thoughts are with the families."

The families have been informed, but the identities of the fatalities have yet to be confirmed.

At one point eight fire crews, as well as police and ambulance, were at the scene.

The fire investigation team also attended the scene with Reqs the fire dog.

The care home housed 35 elderly residents and firefighters managed to rescue the other 33 from the building.

Lois Eldred, an eyewitness, said: "I saw around 20 emergency vehicles mostly fire engines, tall flames were coming out the top of the building and the roof had all fallen in.

"Firefighters were carrying out the elderly in their nightwear and in their arm chairs, some who were unable to walk were laid on the floor.

"Some kind neighbours offered shelter to some of people that were evacuated and others were given blankets and tea to keep them warm.

"Everyone was very calm and I think the staff at the care home and the emergency services handled it very well."

Another eyewitness, Danny Wade, described the smoke as "blasting into the air"

He said: "All the firefighters unwinding there hoses as quickly as they could.

"There was smoke belching and blasting into the air.

"Police cars riot vans loads of shouting move the cars move the cars the whole street came out every one was knocking on the doors saying is that your car it needs to be moved.

"Loads of commuters on their way to work stopping and asking what's happened flames went high at some points as they tackled to get the fire out but it looked like it just kept burning."

Hertfordshire County Council are currently working closely with Broxbourne Borough Council and other services to assess the needs of each resident to ensure appropriate accommodation is provided.

The residents were transported to the Marriott hotel following the fire.

A JustGiving page has been set up to raise funds for the residents of the Newgrange care home and has already beaten the target goal of 500, with people donating 825 so far.

Simon Lewis, head of crisis response for British Red Cross said: "We have been supporting residents, family members and staff who were affected by the fire at the care home in Cheshunt this morning.

"Providing practical and emotional support at the rest centre, as well as providing mobility aids, such as wheelchairs, to residents.

"Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the two people who sadly died in the fire."
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Hinduism Today Magazine is a nonprofit educational activity of Himalayan Academy with the following purposes: 1. To foster Hindu solidarity as a unity in diversity among all sects and lineages; 2. To inform and inspire Hindus worldwide and people interested in Hinduism; 3. To dispel myths, illusions and misinformation about Hinduism; 4. To protect, preserve and promote the sacred Vedas and the Hindu religion; 5. To nurture and monitor the ongoing spiritual Hindu renaissance; 6. To publish a resource for Hindu leaders and educators who promote Sanatana Dharma.
Rebel poet Gaddar has been carrying a bullet in his spine for 20 long years, terming it as a symbol of state repression that cannot be shrugged off. However, now that he is a stones throw away from 70, the piece of metal is causing him more pain than ever before.

Gaddar, founder of the Jana Natya Mandali (the cultural wing of the erstwhile Peoples War Group outfit), has been fighting a long-drawn war against the powers-that-be  first the pre-bifurcation Andhra Pradesh government and now the TRS regime in Telangana.

However, his struggle came at a price. Gaddar was shot by five unknown people at his Venkatapuram residence in Secunderabad on April 6, 1997. He was taken to the Government Gandhi Hospital, where four bullets were removed from his body.

Surgeons at the Nizams Institute of Medical Sciences later tried taking out a fifth bullet that had lodged itself in his spinal cord, but eventually decided against it for fear of medical complications. Since then, the bullet has remained in my body as a symbol of state repression. It did not trouble me initially, but I the pain has become acute now that I am 68. So, I regularly go to the Nizams Institute Of Medical Sciences for treatment, the poet told Hindustan Times.

Now, Gaddar has decided to float an alternative political force that would represent the true aspirations of the Telangana people. I have realised that the best way to pay tribute to the hundreds of people who laid down their lives for the Telangana cause is to launch a political party. The modalities are being worked out, he said.

Many people, ranging from the revolutionary poets supporters to rights activists and opposition parties, believe the five attackers were backed by the police. However, law enforcement officers claim Gaddar was shot by victims of Maoist atrocities.

The then Chandrababu Naidu government constituted a special investigation team to probe the assassination attempt. However, after cold-shouldering the issue for nearly a decade, police closed the case during the YS Rajasekhar Reddy regime. No proper reason was cited, Gaddar said.

He accused the government of relentlessly framing him in false cases. While the people who tried to kill me move freely in society, I am reduced to running from one police station to another, he said. It is particularly hurtful that even the present government  headed by TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao  has filed a case against me in Asifabad district despite knowing that I played a key role in the Telangana movement.

Gaddar said he has formally severed all links with the Maoist party to enter mainstream electoral politics. I have no connections with their ideology now. I have enrolled myself as a voter, he added.

There are indications that Gaddar may join hands with actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan to fight the next elections in 2019. Kalyan, who floated the Jana Sena Party before the 2014 elections, had campaigned for the Telugu Desam Party-BJP combine back then.

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One of the worlds premier art events opened in Athens on Saturday, bringing a much-needed spotlight, artistic inspiration and visitor boost to crisis-hit Greeces run-down capital.

Documenta 14, the contemporary art exhibition held every five years in Kassel, Germany, puts over 160 international artists on display across the city in over 40 public institutions, squares, cinemas, university campuses and libraries, showcasing painting, performances, sculpture and sound art.

Documenta was originally launched in 1955 by art professor Arnold Bode to draw attention to works banned by the Nazis as degenerate. Some 860,000 people visited the last exhibition in 2012. Athens officials hope for over 6,500 visitors now. In Kassel, the event will run from June to September 17.

A visitor walks past an installation by Chilean artist Cecilia Vicuna, at the National museum of Contemporary Art in Athens, on Friday. (AFP)

In choosing to co-host the event in the Greek capital, organisers said they were inspired by the countrys economic crisis and immigration challenges. Shrouded in secrecy until the last minute, the 100-day Greek leg is titled Learning from Athens.

Appropriately, a large segment is devoted to immigration and displacement. Saturdays inauguration will feature the Syrian Expat Philharmonic Orchestra, an ensemble largely made up of war refugees.

Kassel mayor Bertram Hilgen told a news conference this week that art could overcome borders, build bridges and create common ground (for people) to live together.

People look at an installation by Spanish artist Daniel Garcia Andujar entitled "The disasters of War" at the National museum of Contemporary Art in Athens, on Friday. (AFP)

Over a million refugees and migrants have come through the country since 2015, most of them fleeing civil war in Syria, and over 50,000 are stuck in camps here. Greece is still struggling with recession and soaring unemployment seven years after nearly going bankrupt in 2010.

What did we learn from Athens? That we all must abandon our prejudices and plunge into the darkness of not knowing, Documentas Polish-born artistic director Adam Szymczyk told reporters.

On Sunday, horse riders will file beneath the Acropolis in a re-enactment of the Panathenaic procession, a 5th century BC celebration to honour goddess Athena, and immortalised as a frieze atop the Parthenon.

A visitor views art works by Ashley Hans Scheirl. (Reuters)

Titled The Transit of Hermes, the procession conceptualised by Glasgow-born Ross Birrell will travel 3,000 kilometres (1,864 miles) to Kessel, following the same Balkans route taken by refugees and migrants who last year poured into Europe to escape war and poverty.

Highlights of the exhibition, which runs to July, include the Parthenon of Books by Argentine artist Marta Minujin -- a replica of the Classical Greek temple built with some 100,000 copies of banned books.

A visitor takes photo of the art work "The Greek way", an installation by Piotr Uklanski and McDermott & McGough, based on film stills of Leni Riefenstahl. (Reuters)

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An open critique questioning the Centres Open Defecation Free (ODF) campaign in a national daily by a senior Madhya Pradesh IAS officer has put the state government in a spot.

The government is reviewing the article by Dipali Rastogi, commissioner, tribal welfare, to ascertain if the All India Services (Conduct) Rules have been violated before asking her to give an explanation, sources said.

Confirming the development, Rashmi Arun Shami, secretary, general administration department (GAD), told HT, We are examining the case. Notice has not been served (yet).

Prime Minister Narendra Modis pet ODF campaign aims to improve sanitation among people in India by ensuring modern toiletswhich have amenities like toilet paper and flush systemare built, including by the people themselves in their houses.

Questioning the logic of introducing western systems for uninitiated Indians, Rastogi, in her April 1 write-up, says the villagers who are building the toilets are really not using them.

It (ODF) is a run to change a centuries-old mindset in just a few months. Because the goras (whites) say its wrong to defecate in the open, she writes, adding, We rush to take lessons in hygiene from those who, unlike us, dont wash their bottoms.

The 1994-batch IAS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre concludes saying, Dont get me wrong; Im all for toilets. After all, I am a city-dweller. Im just uncomfortable with the way we are pushing it.

Sources said senior officials cannot publicly criticise the policy of the government.

According to the Rule 7 of the All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968, No member of the Service shall, in any radio broadcast or communication over any public media or in any document... or in any communication to the press or in any public utterance, make any statement of fact or opinion which has the effect of an adverse criticism of any current or recent policy or action of the central government or a state government.

The GAD minister Lal Singh Arya told HT that once the Ater bypolls are over, he will look into the matter and accordingly necessary action will be taken.

Right now I am busy with bypolls. I will be back in Bhopal after two days and then I will look into this matter, he said.

Attempts to contact the IAS officer, Dipali Rastogi for her comments on the matter were unsuccessful.

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Preceded by controversies related to electronic voting machines (EVMs), Ater and Bandhavgarh (ST) assembly constituencies in Madhya Pradesh go to polls on Sunday.

These bypolls, being held immediately after assembly elections in five states, will decide the fate of 21 candidates in Ater and five in Bandhavgarh, although the Congress continues to claim that the EVMs are vulnerable to manipulations.

Much to discomfiture of the Congress, the Election Commission (EC) through its inquiry found no anomaly and tampering with the EVMs and VVPAT (voter-verified paper audit trail) used for a demonstration by Madhya Pradesh chief electoral officer Saleena Singh on March 31.

The Congress had alleged that multiple lotus symbols were printed after buttons on the EVM were pressed during the demonstration.

More than 4 lakh voters in the two constituencies will cast their votes at more than 550 polling stations, mostly in rural areas. The voters include nine from the third gender as well -- two in Ater and seven in Bandhavgarh.

Ater in Bhind district, which has earned a bad name for its poor sex ratio, has a gender ratio of 772.53 females per 1,000 males, whereas in Bandhavgarh, dominated by Scheduled Tribes, the ratio is 930.07.

Percentage wise, female voters account for 43.58 of the total voters in Ater and 48.18 in Bandhavgarh, as per EC data.

In Ater, Arvind Bhadoria from the BJP and Hemant Katare from the Congress are the main contenders, while BJP candidate Shivnarayan Singh and Congress candidate Savitri Singh lock horns in Bandhavgarh.

Interestingly, if Katare is trying to ride a sympathy wave in Ater after the demise of his father Satyadev Katare, Shivnarayan is making efforts to cash in on his father Gyan Singhs image in Bandhavgarh.

Satyadev, who was the leader of opposition in the state assembly and represented Ater, died of cancer last year. Gyan Singh, who was a minister in the Shivraj Singh Chouhan cabinet, was elected to the Lok Sabha in a bypoll to Shahdol seat.

Chief minister Chouhan attacked Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia during his election meetings in Ater, given Scindias immense influence in the constituency.

However, Chouhans remarks that the Scindias had sided with the British government before independence didnt go down well with his own party workers and leaders and he had to backtrack from the statement.

On his part, Scindia refused to comment on such mean remarks and raised issues of malnutrition, crimes against women and backwardness of the region during the BJP regime to corner Chouhan.

In the fight of the titans, the candidates took a backseat during the election campaign.

Chouhan further faced embarrassment when his ministerial colleague, Omprakash Dhruve, was found overstaying at a hotel at Umaria on Friday night despite the election campaign coming to an end in the evening.

Bandhavgarh falls under Umaria and given the imposition of prohibitory orders in the entire district, he should have left by evening. He was taken to Kotwali police station by a police team and later forced to leave the district.

State Congress president Arun Yadav said, The ruling party is misusing the government machinery. My demand is that one each of paramilitary force jawan be deployed with Dial 100 vehicles and 108 ambulance vans.

State BJP vice-president Vijesh Lunawat said, The Congress leaders charges are a result of their frustration. They are yet to recover from the shock they received during the elections in Uttar Pradesh in particular. The BJP is going to win both the seats.
The Maharashtra Government on Friday passed a resolution congratulating Bollywood actor Aamir Khan for not releasing his movie Dangal in Pakistan without playing the national anthem.

The resolution was moved by Leader of Opposition Dhananjay Munde.

Aamir, who is also the producer of the film, has decided not to release Dangal in Pakistan after the Pakistan Censor Board asked for scenes featuring the Indian flag and Indian national anthem to be omitted.

Last year, theatre owners and exhibitors in Pakistan temporarily stopped screening Indian films after Pakistani artistes and technicians were banned by the Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association (IMPPA) from in India. The controversial move was taken in the wake of political tension between India and Pakistan, post the Uri (Jammu and Kashmir) attacks in September.

Later, Pakistan lifted the ban on Indian films and began screening them in the country. And a few days ago, local distributors from the neighbouring nation apparently requested for Dangal (2016) to be released there.
So there we were, on a night as cold as death, as black as pitch, sitting on the back seat of a Super Jeep. The GPS said we were no more than three-score miles from the next big city, but we could well have been a million light years from earth, floating in space. The four-by-four monster, with gigantic tyres, was our Apollo 13, desperately trying to make a moon landing. Reykjavik, we thought, we have a problem!

Our journey was neither an adventure, nor an excursion. It was a treasure hunt  a frantic search for a tick mark on our bucket lists. There was something bright and green in the sky, hidden behind the clouds, unseen because of light pollution. We needed to catch a glimpse of it.

The Aurora Borealis, or the Northern Lights, are a routine occurrence for a large section of the Nordic masses.

They also occasionally reveal themselves to inhabitants in the northern reaches of Canada. For them, its perhaps hard to see what the fuss is about. For us, finding them, frolicking in their neon glow, was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The graffiti-infested roads in Reykjavik criss-cross at odd angles (Anuraag Mehandiratta)

The Lights were what had called us to Iceland this winter  in tri-climate jackets, double thermals, balaclavas, long johns and snow boots. We had gone to this European outpost just for them. Two weeks later, we were to return with so much more.

Treasure hunt

On the third morning, it snowed. It wasnt a heavy downpour but the flakes were large and Disney-like. The kind you lie down and make snow angels in.

By then, we had already explored the four-and-a-half roads that make up downtown Reykjavik (pronounced reyk-ye-vik), the capital city that houses one-third of Icelands 330,000 residents. There was Laugavegur, the main shopping street, lined with pubs and cafes, including the Lebowski Bar that enshrines the Dude, the Chuck Norris Grill that is an ode to sleazy 1980s Hollywood, and Kaldi (cold in Icelandic), where locals converge during happy hour to banter with tourists over the best beer on the island.

There was Hverfisgata, where government buildings are interspersed with pizza joints and boutique stores. There was Skolavordustigur, which lights up like a Christmas tree every night and is the proud home of the Handknitting Association of Iceland. Here you can buy an intricate Lopapeysa, or water-resistant sweater knitted from local sheep wool. And there was Baronsstigur, sparse and grey but critical to us because it housed our Airbnb apartment. (Yes, in Iceland the pronunciation is sometimes more intimidating than the weather).

Siberian huskies enjoy swimming and running (Anuraag Mehandiratta)

These graffiti-infested roads criss-crossed at odd angles  meeting diverging, meeting again  all eventually leading to the magnificent Hallgrimskirkja (hatl-grims-keer-yk-ya), a stony Lutheran church that resembles Obelixs menhir and rules the Reykjavik skyline.

A week in this city feels like a month. Two weeks feel like youve lived there forever, but not in a bad way. The food is exorbitant, the days are short, but the people are warm  which is important when its freezing outside.

Call of the wild

On the fifth day, we were dashing down the snow on a 10-dog open sleigh. Siberian huskies are as large, as fluffy, as naughty, as they are friendly. They enjoy rub-downs, swimming, impromptu bouts of howling. More than anything, they enjoy running.

So, down by the southern coast in Holmasel, on a ranch surrounded by bright whiteness, the huskies took us on a flying lap. Most of them were rescue dogs  abandoned by people who had bought husky pups but didnt know how to care for them  or the offspring of rescue dogs bred on the farm by our hosts, Siggi and Klara. Among the dogs was the star of the ranch, Brewsky  a hypochondriac who fears he might break into a sneezing fit any minute, but never does.

The huskies live close to Icelands most celebrated natural features that come together to form the Golden Circle. A drive through this region takes you to breathtaking views of sparse white plains, disturbed by sudden snow-capped mountain rising between mossy lava fields with no warning. There are no trees anywhere, just grass and wild bushes. The joke is that if youre lost in an Icelandic forest, all you have to do is stand up.

A view from Hallgrimskirkja church in Reykjavik (Getty Images)

From real to reel

For all their glory, the Golden Circles Gullfoss waterfall, the Strokkur geyser (which explodes with scalding water shooting 100 feet in the air every 10 minutes) and the Thingvellir National Park (where you can see the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates slowly splitting apart from each other), cannot hold a candle to the sights hidden in Western Iceland.

There, in the shadow of the Snfellsjokull volcano, whose crater serves as the entry to the planets core in Jules Vernes The Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Iceland reveals its most magical side.

Its a land infested with myth and folklore. Hidden people live in enchanted rocks and cause great harm to those who disturb them but repay kindness with kindness. Trolls, big and stupid, are impossible to fight but easy to outwit. And the infamous Yule Lads, thirteen prankster brothers, emerge from the shadows to announce that Christmas is near.

In the countrys Western peninsula, under the majestic Kirkjufell mountain, next to the Kirkjufellsfoss waterfalls, a few miles from the black-stone beach of Djupalonsandur, myth comes closer than ever to reality. It is no wonder that Game of Thrones is shot in Icelands surreal landscape.

Tjornin, a small lake in central Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland (Anuraag Mehandiratta)

Which brings us back to the Super Jeep, and to our quest for the neon flash in the sky. To see the Lights, hurtling particles of plasma must escape from the sunspot regions of the suns surface. They need to race across the solar system towards the earth, get attracted by the magnetic field of the north pole, slip through holes in the magnetic field, and mingle with molecules of oxygen, nitrogen and other elements to create a dazzling, swirling display.

A series of extraordinary events, visible only on a clear night, only if youre at the right place, at the right time. On the seventh night, we saw the Lights.

From HT Brunch, April 9, 2017

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Ever since the Michelin Guide spread out of France, Indians chefs have been looking to get in. The problem is that a Michelin star is not an honour given in isolation. There is no single roll of honour; no big list of Michelin-starred chefs announced each year.

The way it works is this: Michelin goes to a city and produces a guide to hotels and restaurants. Some of these restaurants will get stars. One star means the food is great. Two stars suggest an exceptional meal. And three stars mean that this is among the best restaurants in the world.

Gaggan Anands restaurant has no stars because there is no Bangkok Michelin Guide

So, to get a Michelin star, a restaurant has to be located in a city where there is a Michelin Guide. For instance, Michelin just launched a guide to Singapore and gave one star to the Indian restaurant, Song of India. But there is no Michelin Guide to Bangkok yet. So, even though Gaggan Anands eponymous restaurant is regularly rated as one of the worlds best establishments, Gaggan has no stars simply because there is no Bangkok Michelin Guide.

Indian restaurants in India have no Michelin stars, because there is no Michelin Guide to the country even though many of our restaurants  judging by standards applied to other countries  would easily get two or three stars.

So who gets the star: the chef or the restaurant? Michelin is categorical. It rates restaurants, not chefs. The trouble is you cant always distinguish between the two. Many of the great French restaurants are chef-driven. If Paul Bocuse in Lyon gets three stars then yes, the stars are given to the restaurant, but because it is owned by Bocuse and named after himself, he will say that the stars are for him.

So, in France at least, a convention has developed where the chef at a Michelin-starred restaurant is treated as though the stars are given to him.

But this does cause complications. Does a chef take the stars with him when he goes away? Michelin says no. If you leave a restaurant, then you have to earn new ones at your next place. Can you add up your stars and say you are a three Michelin-starred chef because you own three restaurants with one star each? No. You cant. The stars cannot be added up to inflate your CV. Can you claim to have two Michelin stars because your current restaurant has one and a restaurant you used to work at also has a star? No. Of course, not. That is just fraud.

Since Paul Bocuse restaurant in Lyon is owned by Bocuse himself, he will say that the Michelin stars are for him (Getty Images)

The general view among Indians is that Michelin is not a great judge of our cuisine. It still has French reference points and chefs who Frenchify their presentation tend to win the approval of the Michelin inspectors.

But this may now be changing. When Sriram Aylur went from Bangalores Karavali to London to open Quilon, I thought his food deserved a star from day one. But Michelin had no understanding of South Indian food, so all the chicken tikka-wallahs got there first and Quilon got its star much later than it should have.

To Srirams credit, he changed the paradigm for Indian food in the UK. South Indian food now gets the respect it deserves and I doubt if such newer successes as Hoppers in London would be possible without the pioneering work done by Sriram in introducing Brits to the complexities of South Indian spicing.

In San Francisco, where there is no real Indian food tradition, chef Srijith Gopinathan at the Tajs Campton Place hotel had his work cut out for him. Srijith had cooked European food at the Taj in the Maldives, so he arrived in San Francisco with no preconceptions about the kind of Indian food he wanted to serve.

It took him a year or so to settle down, but once he had understood Californias wonderful ingredients, he began devising a new cuisine of his own, using Indian flavours to enhance the tastes of California.

The food was so groundbreaking that Michelin gave him one star and then, a couple of years ago, a second one. This makes him the only Indian chef in the world with two Michelin stars (if you discount the jokers who add up stars at all the old restaurants they ever worked at!).

Chefs Srijith Gopinathan and Sriram Aylur cooked up a feast at the pop-up at Delhis Varq restaurant

I wrote about Srijith last year and mentioned that he was due to cook at an event in Hyderabad this March. The Taj then had the bright idea of inviting Sriram down too and getting its two Michelin-starred chefs to do pop-ups in Delhi and Mumbai.

I was intrigued by the idea. Like most of the great Taj chefs, Srijith and Sriram are South Indians (they are both Malayalis), but their styles are very different. Sriram is a master of spicing. He will create flavours that seem familiar and unusual at the same time. Srijith is an ingredient-based chef. He will look at say, a lamb loin, a scallop or a spoonful of caviar and try and invent dishes that bring out the essential flavours of those ingredients in an Indian-influenced way.

Then, there were the practical problems. Sriram is an old pro. He has run large hotel kitchens in India before, has overseen huge banquets in Bengaluru and knows how to produce high quality food for large numbers. Srijith is not a banquet chef. His kitchen rarely worries about serving more than 10 people at a time (because they stagger the orders). So how would he manage to serve large numbers of people while operating in unfamiliar kitchens, with cooks who do not understand his food and without his signature ingredients?

I missed the pop-up that the two chefs did in Mumbai, but the food got mixed reviews and the wines were roundly abused.

My first experience of the travelling Srijith was at a dinner he cooked at the Falaknuma Palace in Hyderabad. Ive been to Falaknuma before (we even shot an episode of Custom Made there some years ago), but I keep forgetting that it is one of Indias most spectacularly beautiful hotels.

The Falaknuma is famous for the 101 Dining Table which, by some accounts, is the largest dining table in the world. Mohan Chandran, who runs the Tajs Hyderabad operations, had planned a wine dinner around that huge table with two excellent wines and many unknown ones.

But the wines did not matter. Against the odds, working out of a tiny kitchen, Srijith pulled off a spectacular meal for over 70 guests. He cooked his signature dish, the Spice Pot, and many other dishes that had an immense depth of flavours.

Slow cooked quail with black pepper crust, California morels and pea tendril served at the pop-up at Delhis Varq restaurant

Given the world-class service, the overwhelming majesty of the hall and the quality of the food, it was one of the most memorable dinners I have ever been to.

At the Delhi pop-up at Varq, I finally got to eat the food of both chefs. Srijith and Sriram claimed that they had collaborated jointly on the food, but I thought it was pretty easy to guess which of the chefs had done what. Srijiths food had an ingredient-focus while Sriram, with his finger on the pulse of Indian diners, knew which kind of spicing would go down well.

From all accounts, the food was better than Mumbai and the dinner was so much fun that many guests stayed till midnight, long after the food service was over just because nobody wanted the evening to end.

The Tajs hospitality was in top form. This was a charity dinner (we paid Rs 10,000 per head) with proceeds going to armed forces charities (the Chief of the Air Staff attended) and Chinmai Sharma, the Taj Groups chief revenue officer, played the perfect host while the hotels general manager, Satyajeet Krishnan, demonstrated once again why he is Indias most sophisticated and cerebral general manager.

Will the Taj Groups Michelin chefs be back? I hope they will. The success of this culinary adventure should remind the Taj Group of how much talent it has within its own ranks. It shouldnt waste money doing pop-ups and promotions with outsiders. In the long run, these only help the visiting chefs and do the Taj no good.

It should pull out its own stars and let them shine. Their luminescence will surprise us all.

From HT Brunch, April 9, 2017

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Terming the invalidation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes as a bold move to check black money, the finance ministry today said no serious attempt of this scale was made in the past.

No serious attempt at this scale has been attempted in the past. In the two attempts of demonetisation made in 1946 and 1978, the scale of operation was not as expansive, the finance ministry annual report 2016-17 released today said.

The present scheme under Section 26 of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, is a bold move of the government to eradicate black money or slush money operating for decades, it said.

The legal tender character of banknotes in the denomination of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 was cancelled with effect from the expiry of November 8, 2016, with the objective to eliminate black money and curb infusion and circulation of fake Indian currency notes (FICNs).

India is the second-largest producer and consumer of currency notes. Circulation of banknotes has increased to 90.27 billion pieces from 64.58 billion over the last five years.

As on November 8, 2016, the total amount of currency in circulation was Rs 17.7 lakh crore, which included specified bank notes (SBNs) of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000.

The ratio of currency to GDP in India (12.2 per cent) is higher than countries such as South Africa (3.9 per cent), Brazil (4.1 per cent) and Mexico (5.7 per cent), it said, adding that a high volume of cash transactions has positive correlation with the percentage of shadow economy to GDP.

India remains a cash-based economy and hence the circulation of FICNs continues to be a menace. The fake notes are used for illegal, anti-national and terrorist activities, it added.

As per a study conducted by the Indian Statistical Institute, the stated value of fake notes in circulation is about Rs 400 crore.

As for remonetisation, the total value involved was Rs 15.4 lakh crore.

... there was necessity to remonetise the economy as early as possible. The introduction of Rs 2,000 note was the first step towards quick remonetisation. The stock of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes was built up to take care of and deal with the process of remonetisation, it said.
The Goods and Services Tax (GST), the countrys biggest tax reform, is scheduled to be rolled out from July with the Parliament passing all the crucial laws on April 6.

The main problem now is implementation, which politicians and experts say, will not be smooth as companies have to file as many as 37 forms in every state.

While the compliance cost will increase, businessmen will have to brace for penalties, harassment and even jail term.

Many smaller units will have to buy software and hire professionals to compile the transaction details to get tax refunds. For those having units at remote places, filing returns online will be a challenge in absence of internet connections.

One of the main architects of the GST and former prime minister, Manmohan Singh, has warned that the new indirect tax regime could be a game-changer but fraught with difficulties.

Congress leader Veerappa Moily has cautioned the government that the rushed GST rollout from July will make it a technological nightmare for businesses.

Here are the 10 things that taxpayers have to look out for in the new GST regime:

1.Multiple tax forms

Companies will have to go through a grueling exercise of filling up and filing multiple forms for central GST (CGST), the inter-state integrated GST every month.

The basic returns under GST could be 37 in a year for a single GSTINGSTR-1, GSTR-2 and GSTR-3for each month, and one annual return. For a company with operations in 20 states, it means 740 annual returns, says Archit Gupta, founder and CEO of Cleartax.com.

For an e-commerce company, it could even be as high as 432 returns in a year.

2.Can GSTN support a flood of data?

GST Network is geared to accept up to three billion invoices a month from 8.5 million taxpayers from day one.

The common portal (www.gst.gov.in) acts as an interface between different stakeholders in the GST ecosystem, namely taxpayers, tax departments, banks, the Reserve Bank of India, external service providers, among others.

The portal becomes the touch point for taxpayer registration, invoice upload, tax payment, getting input tax credit, maintaining the cash ledger and stock holding etc. This would mean that the network must have the capacity to handle massive amounts of data, and hence the fear of a breach.

Given the experiences of online filing of income tax and VAT, experts doubt the new GSTN will be able to seamlessly match billions of vouchers, facilitate tax collection, provide refunds and check evasion.

3.Go digital without hard copies

GST will herald not only a new tax but also a 100% digital system to file returns and payments., further raising questions about adaptation, especially in arear of low internet adoption.

All filings, communications and payments will be through a common portal. There will be a discontinuance of hard copy filings and a move towards digital India. It will be a Herculean task as a large number of people especially the small traders do not have access to electronic facility, says Priyajit Ghosh, a partner looking into indirect taxes at KPMG.

4.Data privacy

Subramanian Swamy, a leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, has openly expressed reservation at the security and privacy of the GSTN, which will be 51% owned by private players.

Opposition leadersCongress Kapil Sibal and CPIs D Rajahave expressed concerns about data privacy under a private company GSTN.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley has assured lawmakers in Parliament that there will be IT firewalls and penal provisions for any leak of information.

Given the rise in cyber crimes, can leak of information and technical glitches be ruled out?

5.Allegations of draconian provisions

Some of the Parliamentarians raised objections to some of draconian provisions of arrest for fraud in the initial years as many new firms will be using the GSTN system for the first time and are bound to make genuine mistakes.

Although Jaitley has assured that small businesses will not be covered by the harsh provisions, every offence of tax evasion will be compoundable.

There will be no arrest for frauds up to Rs 2 crore. For offences between Rs 2 crore and Rs 5 crore, it is going to be bailable. For offences over Rs 5 crore, it is going to be non-bailable.
The Centre today informed the Supreme Court that it has taken a conscious decision not to extend the period beyond December 30 last year for exchanging the demonetised currency notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 unlike for NRIs which ended on March 31.

The government said it was not legally bound to come out with a fresh notification to grant grace period or window for depositing scrapped currency notes.

It also gave details about the raids and recoveries made by law-enforcing agencies during and after the demonetisation period claiming that undisclosed income of over Rs 5,400 crore was detected.

In its affidavit filed in the apex court, the government said, It is most humbly submitted that the central government took a conscious decision that no necessity or any justifiable reason exists either in law or on facts to invoke its power under section 4(1)(ii) of the Ordinance to entitle any person to tender within the grace period the specified bank notes.

The affidavit was filed in response to petitions by private individuals and a firm seeking a window like those given to NRIs and people who were abroad during the period of demonetisation to deposit the scrapped currency notes with the Reserve Bank of India.

The Centre contended that the pleas in this regard were not maintainable as no mandamus lies against the government for enforcing a legislative activity and the petitioners cannot claim any right since there is no estoppel against statute.

There is no legal duty cast upon the government to issue any notification extending the grace period. Equally, the petitioner has no legal right to claim grace period, it said.

The Centre made it clear that as per last years November 8 notification, the demonetisation period was between November 9 to December 30 last year within which primarily, the exchange and deposit of specified bank notes was permitted to every person subject to meeting the laid down norms.

In other words, what was permitted was exchange and or deposit of specified bank notes during a block period, a period up to and including December 30, 2016, it said, adding that the use of word shall in the notification is not determinative of any such right in as much as it was only an enabling provision to enable the central government to meet any unforeseen or sudden contingencies that may arise during the period of demonetisation.

Therefore, the use of word shall necessarily read as may and it did not impose any legal obligation on the Central Government, the affidavit said.

The Centre also made reference of various malpractices which came into fore post demonetisation, including use of old currency notes for buying gold.

Between November 9, 2016 and January 10, 2017 alone, there were more than 1100 raids/surveys conducted by Income Tax Department on various persons. During the same period, i.e., between November 9, 2016 and January 10, 2017, more than 5,100 notices were issued for verification of high value suspicious cash deposits made in bank accounts, it said.

As a result of the raids and other strict measures enforced, more than Rs 610 crore in cash (including cash of Rs 513 crore out of which Rs 110 crore was in new currency) and valuables were seized by the IT Department and other government agencies. The undisclosed income detected in the above actions was more than Rs 5,400 crore, the affidavit said.

It said that out of 1,100 raids and surveys, more than 400 cases were referred to the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI for further action in accordance with law.

Accordingly, it was decided as a matter of conscious decision and as a major economic step to bring in an Ordinance known as The Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Ordinance, 2016 since the Parliament was not in session on December 30, 2016, it said.

The government also submitted that after demonetisation period was over, the IT department initiated operation clean money on January 31 to leverage technology and data analysis for e-verification of cash deposits made during that period.

The exercises have resulted in identification of approximately 18 lakh persons for such online verification, who appeared to be not in line with tax payers profile. At present, more than 12 lakh online responses from 8.38 lakh distinct PANs/persons have already been received.

It is submitted that in case there has been due explanation the verifications are being closed after proper analysis and examination. Similarly, where there has been deposits made in Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna (PMGKY) then also the verifications are being closed.

It is further submitted more than 3.78 lakh out of approximately 18 lakhs, high risk cases have been detected and have been taken up for assessment and investigation, it said.
Even as the government cracks down black money hoarders exposed by the recent demonetisation move, the pace of new currency notes coming into circulation has slackened considerably. It is expected to flatten by the end of April.

The extent of both demonetisation and remonetisation can be gauged by the currency in circulation, which fell sharply from Rs 17.98 lakh crore just before the controversial move to Rs 8.98 lakh crore by January 6, 2017.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in a surprise decision on November 8, 2016, making thousands queue up in front of banks and ATMs over the next two months.

The amount of cash in circulation began increasing from January, amounting to Rs 13.35 lakh crore at the end of March as printing of new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes picked up speed. But the remonetisation rate is slowing down now, and analysts expect the process to be completed by May.

The increase in currency being circulated was 5.9% week-on-week in January 13. It slowed to 4.6% in February 10, and further to 4% on March 10.

Latest Reserve Bank of India data shows that the currency in circulation increased by 1.7% week-on-week to Rs 13.35 lakh crore as on March 31, 2017. Analysts say the RBI need not print the entire amount of extinguished currency, given the excess cash in banks and the shift towards digital transactions.

The budgetary announcement of capping cash transactions at Rs 2 lakh may also necessitate less cash in the economy.

We believe RBI should only print Rs 1.15 lakh crore more from March 24 levels. And, going by the average pace of printing, the process could be completed by the first fortnight of April, State Bank of India chief economic advisor Soumya Kanti Ghosh wrote in a recent note.

Meanwhile, government agencies have begun cracking down on black money hoarders who deposited obsolete cash in banks without considering future implications during the demonetisation drive in November-December 2016.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley said in Parliament that authorities have detected 18 lakh cases of people whose income and bank account profiles dont match. Preliminary information has been sought from such people, and many have responded. Those who have not given out details would be issued notices as per procedure, he added.

In keeping with its electoral promise of cracking down on unaccounted cash and corruption, the Narendra Modi administration has unearthed tax evasion money amounting to Rs 1.37 lakh crore in the last three years. The finance ministry said the money was recovered through 23,064 searches and surveys by government agencies.
An Italian court has banned the use of smartphone apps for the ride-hailing group Uber, saying they contribute to traditional taxis facing unfair competition, local media reported.

In a ruling that is subject to appeal, a court in Rome yesterday upheld a complaint filed by taxi unions and gave Uber ten days to end the use of various phone applications on Italian territory, along with the promotion and advertising of them.

If Uber does not comply it could face a fine of 10,000 euros for each day it remains in defiance of the court.

Uber said it was shocked by the ruling and that it would appeal immediately, seeking suspension of the ruling.

The courts ruling follows a decision by a court in Milan two years ago to ban the companys UberPop application, which was deemed under Italian law to encourage the provision of taxi services by unlicensed drivers. That ruling was upheld in a subsequent court case in Turin.
A gang of seven robbers struck a jewellery store in broad daylight and escaped with a loot worth crores of rupees in what is perhaps the biggest such heist in the city in recent times.

The jewellery store in Thatheri Bazar lane is barely 50 metres from the Chowk police station.

Police said the shop belonged to two brothers - Prahlad Agarwal and Sanjay Agarwal.

They told the police that at around 4.30 pm, two persons pretending to be customers entered the shop and asked an employee to show them a gold locket.

Police said that as the employee turned to take out the locket, five more robbers entered the shop. All of them whipped out their country made pistols and snatched mobile phones of the employees and owners at gunpoint and pulled out the hard disc of the CCTV camera.

They reportedly held employees hostage at gunpoint and forced Sanjay to open the safe. The robbers hurriedly stashed the jewellery items in a bag and escaped. The entire robbery lasted a few minutes.

After the robbers left, Sanjay raised an alarm. A police team, including senior superintendent of police (SSP) Nitin Tiwari, inspector general of police (IGP) N Ravinder along with forensic team reached the spot and began an investigation.

IGP Raviner said, Many teams have been deployed to solve the case as soon as possible. The teams are working fast. It will be worked out.

While Sanjay claimed that the robbers took away jewellery worth over eight crore rupees, Ravinder said that he would comment on it only after a proper estimation.
Cow vigilante groups in Uttar Pradesh got an unexpected shot in the arm on Friday when a group of Shia Muslims announced the formation of the Shia Gau Raksha Dal in the states capital to spread awareness against eating beef.

The group aims at combating cow slaughter not only in UP but also in other parts of the country. Uttar Pradesh is one of the 22 states in India where cow slaughter is banned.

Our group will work across India to make efforts to check cow slaughter, said Shamil Shamsi, president of Shia Gau Raksha Dal and the owner of an eatery specialising in Awadhi cuisines.

Shamsi said that the group already had around 40 members. But our aim is to rope in at least 10,000 more. This will make the groups functioning more effective, he said while announcing the groups formation on Friday.

This Gau Raksha Dal will function in two phases. In the first phase, members will create awareness drives, especially in Muslim-dominated localities.

Work under phase one has already started. We are distributing pamphlets and other literature to create awareness on the issue among the masses. We are also using social media to expand our group by roping in more members, Shamsi said.

He asserted that the initiative was getting a good response on social media. People from both Hindu and Muslim communities are hailing the concept and expressing willingness to join the group.

In the second phase, the group members will throw light on those parts of the state that are infamous for cow slaughter. There are many localities in the state where cow slaughter is still in practice. These places are far from the reach of the district administration and the police. We will be highlighting these places to ensure action against illegal slaughter, said Shamsi.

Even as Shamsi announced his group of cow protectors, the Supreme Court directed the Centre and six states including Uttar Pradesh to respond within three weeks on a PIL seeking a ban on gau rakshak dals which often take the form of lawless groups that have assaulted alleged cow smugglers.
They say the top court is supreme not because its infallible but because its final. Theres no appeal beyond it. You can only ask the court to reconsider. This has been manifestly proven by its recent reiteration of a ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol within a 500 metres distance of national and state highways.

Whats worse is it came from a three-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice. And almost unbelievably the order can be found fault with at multiple levels. So many its embarrassing!

First, should judges decide where alcohol can be consumed and sold or is that for the executive to determine? The Supreme Court lawyer C. Aryama Sundaram asks: How can 30 wise but unelected people exercise powers akin to legislation? In his view the Court has over-reached itself.

No doubt Article 142 empowers the Supreme Court to pass orders for complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it but can you credibly argue that deciding where you can and cannot drink falls within this ambit?

Aakar Patel, the Head of Amnesty, makes a strong moral case against the Court. The state must assume its citizens will drink responsibly whilst retaining the capacity to prosecute them when they dont. The Supreme Court, however, has assumed citizens are irresponsible. Were the judges right to act on this premise?

Their argument is that safety is supreme. In which case why have they made an exception for mountainous north-eastern states? Does safety not apply there? Surely its inconsistent and contradictory to be concerned about safety in the plains but not in the hills?

The truth is the Supreme Court was approached to tackle the problem of drinking and driving. But is a ban on the sale or consumption of alcohol 500 metres from a highway the answer? After all, people can still drink 10 feet further away and drive dangerously. Whats needed is better prosecution and, perhaps, more stringent punishment. Not a knee-jerk and contradictory prohibition.

However, its when you come to the adverse economic consequences of its order that I seriously wonder whether the Supreme Court is aware of them or just doesnt care. Thousands of hotels, restaurants and pubs have to shut down. All 10 hotels in Delhis Aerocity, many with major international chains as investors, feel let down and cheated. I doubt if theyll expand business in India hereafter.

Amitabh Kant has tweeted a million jobs could be lost. Thats a million people whose livelihood has been destroyed and futures put at risk. An industry estimated at over 1.5 lakh crore, growing at 6, 9 and 11 % in recent years, has been seriously set back. The loss of revenue to the exchequer could be a thousand crore a day!

For Mr. Modi this is particularly dismal. Hes repeatedly spoken of tourism as a growth industry. It attracts foreign investment, creates jobs and fuels growth. But tourists like to tipple. If Goa and Kerala hotels and bars cannot offer a drink there are loads of places they can choose instead. Our Supreme Court has given them good reason to do so.

Aryama Sundaram has called the Supreme Court order authoritarian. He even hints its dictatorship. Its certainly unfortunate and wrong and needs to be reconsidered and revoked. If the judges dont do that many could end up agreeing with Mr. Sundaram.

The views expressed are personal

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This month marks the hundredth anniversary of Gandhis first major political intervention on Indian soil  in the Champaran district of Bihar  where he spent several months fighting for the rights of the indigo farmers.

This month marks the 100th anniversary of Gandhis arrival in the Champaran district of Bihar, where he spent several months, fighting for the rights of the indigo farmers. This was his first major political intervention on Indian soil, and has been written about in fine scholarly studies by, among others, B. B. Mishra and Jacques Pouchepedass.

The works by Mishra and Pouchepedass I have long known (and benefited from). However, recently a friend from Bihar sent me a fascinating new book, edited by Bhairav Lal Das, and entitled Gandhiki Ke Champaran Andolan Ke Sutradhar Rajkumar Shukla Ki Diary. The hero of this book is the man who brought Gandhi to Champaran. Born in 1875, Rajkumar Shukla owned a five acre plot of land, where  in common with other peasants in the region  he was forced to grow indigo.

In around 1907, along with another local activist named Sheikh Ghulam, Shukla started organising peasants on the question of the forcible cultivation of indigo. He sent petitions to the Collector, and even organised a strike, which ended with peasants being beaten up by the planters and the police. He also got sympathetic lawyers from Bihars main town, Patna, to file court cases against the planters. In 1914, Shukla was briefly sent to jail for quarrelling with a European manager.

Discontent among the indigo peasants continued to simmer, especially during World War I, when the demand for the crop rose and the pressure on the peasants to grow it intensified. Shukla had written the occasional article for Pratap, a Hindi newspaper from Kanpur run by the crusading editor Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi. It was Vidyarthi who first told him of Gandhis work in South Africa with indentured labourers.

In December 1916, Shukla attended the Lucknow Congress with the Patna lawyers Brajkishore Prasad and Rajendra Prasad. They met the prominent Congressmen Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Madan Mohan Malaviya about the indigo question; but neither seemed inclined to take it up, thinking it a diversion from other, and to them larger, political questions.

However, one of the resolutions passed at the Lucknow Congress related to the conditions of indigo peasants in Bihar. Speaking on the resolution, Rajkumar Shukla said the European planters have become so powerful that they decide civil and criminal cases themselves and punish the poor ryots [peasants] as they choose. Shukla continued: I do not know what I shall have to suffer when I go back to Champaran for my coming here and relating the story to you all.

Gandhi had been asked to speak on this resolution, but he declined, pleading lack of knowledge. Afterwards, Rajkumar Shukla requested him to visit Champaran and study the condition of the peasantry at first hand. In one colourful account, Shukla seized Gandhis legs and said (in Hindi): Please come to Champaran and save us peasants from the exactions of the indigo planters!

Gandhi refused, politely, and proceeded to his next stop, Kanpur. Shukla followed him there: Champaran is very near here. Please give a day, he pleaded. Gandhi now said  perhaps out of courtesy rather than intention  that he would come when he was free.

Gandhi returned to his Ashram at Ahmedabad, to find the ubiqituous Rajkumar was there too. He demanded that a date be fixed for the promised visit. Gandhi, now forced to commit himself, said he would be in Calcutta in April, and could come to Bihar then.

Once Shukla had settled on Gandhi as the leader he wanted, he was remarkably persistent. After he returned to Champaran, he wrote to Gandhi that nineteen lakh oppressed subjects of Champaran are awaiting eagerly to have a `darsan of your lotus feet and they have not hope but full belief that they shall be emancipated as soon as your honour will set foot in Champaran.

Gandhi finally arrived in Champaran in the second week of April 1917. Entries in Shuklas diaries for April and May show how closely he assisted Gandhi during his visit, arranging meetings for him with local leaders, accompanying him to court, making provisions for his travel and stay. Eventually, Gandhi was able to win significant concessions for the peasants, these described in the aforementioned works by Mishra and Pouchepedass.

It was in Champaran that Gandhi first met J. B. Kripalani and Rajendra Prasad; and it was through his work in Champaran that Gandhi attracted the attention (and admiration) of Vallabhbhai Patel and Mahadev Desai. Kripalani, Prasad, Patel and Desai are all widely and justly honoured for their contributions to the freedom movement. But they might not have done what they did had a now obscure Bihari peasant not brought Gandhi to Champaran.

The Hindi word Sutradhar is variously rendered as the threads that bind, stage manager, and host. Rajkumar Shukla was all these, and more, to Gandhi in the first successful struggle he launched in his own homeland.

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Whats in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. These lines in Shakespeares play Romeo and Juliet are often used to imply that the names of things do not affect what they really are.

But for Congress MLA Karan Mahara, the name matters. He braces for a fight over naming of a poultry disease after his constituency Ranikhet.

I personally feel humiliated that the name of a disease is Ranikhet. Being born and brought up in this beautiful environment, I cannot accept that a disease is named after my assembly constituency, Mahara told Hindustan Times on Saturday. Britishers tried to humiliate Indians by naming viruses and diseases after our hometowns.

Ranikhet, a picturesque hill station in Uttarakhands Almora district, has immense tourist potential.

Mahara has written to the World Health Organisation (WHO), demanding that the name of the disease be changed. I will also get into a legal battle, if necessary, for this cause, he added.

Ranikhet disease, also known as New Castle disease, dates back to 1938 when the strain of avian paramyxovirus was first reported in Newcastle followed by Ranikhet, say experts.

The disease is fatal for birds, chicken and other fowls. It is characterised by respiratory problems, twitching of neck, and paralysis of legs and wings.

The strain of the virus was found in Newcastle and then Ranikhet. So in Asian countries it is known as Raikhet disease, and in western countries, it is known as Newcastle disease, said Dr Devki Pilkhwal, a veterinary officer with the Uttarakhand animal husbandry department.

Disagreeing with the notion that the name involves humiliation, she said, If Ranikhet disease seems offensive, so can be Newcastle disease. Its all a matter of perception.

Citing examples of eponymous diseases named after scientists, GK Singh, director of the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, a division of GB Pantnagar University, said Parkinsons disease was named after surgeon and geologist James Parkinson. Similarly, German psychiatrist Aloysius Alois Alzheimer published the first case of dementia and thats how Alzheimers disease is known now, Singh said.

The question is why this issue wasnt raised all these years, even after Uttarakhands formation? Singh asked.

Mahara also has a problem with Chaubatia paste --made out of copper carbonate, lead oxide and oil seed -- used in apple trees to avoid fungus growth. Chaubatia is a settlement in Almora district.
After Uttar Pradesh, it is the Uttarakhand governments turn to crack down on illegal slaughterhouses operating across the state.

Government teams raided three places with unlicensed abattoirs in Dehradun on Saturday morning, issuing notices to seven people. According to sources, bovines were being slaughtered under unhygienic conditions even as the operation was in progress.

The team  comprising officials from the police, municipal, district administration and food safety departments  started by raiding Inamullah Building, located in a Muslim-dominated area in the heart of Dehradun, at 4 am. They reportedly witnessed bovines being slaughtered, and blood flowing into drains in gross violation of environmental norms.

The accused neither had valid licences nor adequate arrangements for proper disposal of waste. The conditions were extremely dangerous, polluting and life-threatening, Anoj Kumar Thapliyal, designated officer of the Food Safety and Standards Authority in Dehradun, told Hindustan Times.

The team also raided slaughterhouses at Kargi Chowk and Chukhuwala, and returned with similar reports. In all, four people from Inamullah Building (Abdul Salam, Naushad, Mohammad Shahzad and Irfan Kureshi), two from Muslim Colony in Kargi (Mohammad Gulfam Ahmad and Mustakim), and one from Chukhuwala (Vikas Sonkar) were served notices.

They were booked under two separate cases of illegal slaughtering of bovines and violation of environmental norms. The first offence, to be decided in the chief judicial magistrates court, will entail six months imprisonment and a penalty of up to Rs 50,000. The second, which will be judged in the additional district magistrates court, is punishable with a penalty of up to Rs 2 lakh.

The traders were given three days to submit their responses to food safety officers. All the cases have been booked under the Food Safety and Standards Act-2006.

Superintendent of police (city) Ajay Singh said this was just the start. Similar raids will happen in the coming days. We wont allow any illegal slaughterhouse to exist, he added.

Sources say there are over 50 illegal abattoirs in the district, spread across suburban areas such as Sahaspur, Vikasnagar, Premnagar, Doiwala and Chakrata.

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A man serving life sentence at the Sampoornanand Open Jail in Sitarganj gave prison authorities the slip when he was taken to a field for agricultural work on Friday afternoon.

Sushil Shil, 46, was serving life in prison for murdering his wife at Baikunthpur in 2005. He had been shifted to Sampoornanand Open Jail  a unique prison where inmates are kept in an open environment instead of a high-security enclosure  from Haridwar Jail in July 2015.

He was taken to a sugarcane field in Lalarkhas along with 14 prisoners on Friday. When Shil asked prison authorities for permission to answer natures call, he was taken to the edge of a dry river by rifleman Pratap Singh. He crouched behind a rock, and Singh stood guard  looking the other way to give him some privacy.

That was when Shil made his escape. By the time Singh noticed his disappearance, it was already too late. Police searched the entire area in vain.

The jail superintendent has lodged a case with the SIDCUL police station at Sitarganj, and a massive manhunt has been launched. Police visited his residence in Baikunthpur, only to find that he hadnt come there. However, Shils son and daughter said they would inform police if he turns up.

At present, the Sampoornanand Open Jail houses 49 inmates.
A 20-year-old man who delivered food to students near JNU campus was arrested for his involvement in at least 17 theft cases. The young man told police that most of the students and youths living in Munirka  opposite JNU campus - were half asleep when he went to deliver food to them. Their laptops, phones and other belongings used to unattended.

Additional deputy commissioner of police (south) Chinmoy Biswal said 17 cases have been solved with Noor Islams arrest. Two laptops and six cell phones have been recovered.

Since it is situated close to JNU and IIT, Munirka is sought after by students. Several dhabas and people offer home-cooked food packets to the students residing in several paying guest (PG) accommodations in the area. Noor, who used to deliver food to several such students, observed that most students were not careful about their belongings as they were either tired or busy in studies, said Biswal.

Police said in the past months, many cases of thefts were reported from Munirka. In most cases, students lost their laptop, phone and other electronic items. Most of the incidents were reported around time when delivery boys used to bring food.On April 4, our officer received information about a delivery boy who was carrying a laptop. Our team reached the spot and nabbed Noor, who failed to explain how he got the laptop, said an officer.

Noor initially claimed he was carrying the laptop for a friend and but later confessed to his crime. He told the police that he had stolen the laptop on March 21 from a girls hostel in Munirka. Police also recovered six cell phones that he had stolen from different places. Noor is a native of West Bengal. Police said none of the students suspected him because he was friendly.

Police said they are investigating if there is a gang involved or if there are others like Noor who buy stolen items.
A 19-year-old German national, who is on his second visit to India, was stabbed and robbed by two men near Kashmere Gate in north Delhi on Friday, police said on Saturday.

According to police, Benjamin Scholt was returning from Chandni Chowk in a rickshaw on Friday night when he was attacked at around 11pm.

On way to Kashmere Gate from Chandni Chowk in a rickshaw, the driver offered a lift to another (person). The two men stabbed him with a blade or a similar sharp object on his face and robbed him of his phone and wallet, said an officer.

A bleeding Scholt tried fleeing towards the Geeta Colony flyover and was spotted by locals who rushed him to a nearby hospital.

Deputy commissioner of police (North) Jatin Narwal said they have registered a case at the Kotwali police station and identified the two men. We will nab the accused, Narwal said.

Police have informed the German embassy and are probing if the rickshaw puller was involved in other such cases.

Delhi is among the most unsafe places for foreigners in India with 147 cases of heinous crimes registered in 2015 that accounted for more than 40% of the total crimes against foreigners in the country, according to National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB).

Four foreigners were murdered in 2015 across the country and 12 cases of rape, 23 cases of assault on women with intent to outrage modesty, six cases of insult to modesty, four cases of kidnapping and 10 cases of robbery were filed. There were 223 cases of theft involving foreigners across the country.

According to NCRB, 365 crimes were reported against foreigners in India in 2015, compared to 486 in 2014, a dip of 25%.

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Much before it was used as a hideout for a group of thieves, a 50-metre long cave nestled in a hill near Chanakyapuri railway station had been serving as a den for drug addicts.

Some of the six accused nabbed from the cave have allegedly told police that they had chanced upon it years ago while searching for a safe place to do smack, away from the public glare.

Police said some of the accused had grown up in Shastri Market and Moti Gaon, neighbourhoods in Moti Bagh which are not far from the cave.

One of them chanced upon the cave and hit upon the plan of consuming drugs there with his friends a few years ago. This group later started indulging in thefts. But once they entered our crime records, they needed a place to hide, a senior police officer told HT.

A policeman inside a cave used by criminals as a hideout. (Mohd Zakir/HT Photo)

It was around a year ago that they decided to start stashing their stolen goods and hide in the cave after they realized that the police were looking out for them.

People working in areas near the cave or those that visited the railway tracks, said they were aware that a cave existed nearby but never bothered to check it out because of its height and tough terrain.

I used to often notice this cave whenever I visited the railway tracks in the morning. I also sometimes saw people climbing the hill, but never knew that they lived in the caves, said Manish, a boy living in a slum nearby.

Police said a tip-off led them to the cave on Thursday. Their informer accompanied them to point out the exact location of the cave.

The arrested men, Virender, Kunal, Raju, Santosh, Bablu and Anand, all aged between 20 and 30, used to generally break into houses in posh South Delhi localities like Moti Bagh, Sarojini Nagar, RK Puram and Vasant Vihar, said Chinmoy Biswal, additional DCP (south).

They would also sometimes target couples in the forested areas along Ridge Road in central Delhi. They would overpower the man and rob the couple of any valuables they had, said an investigator.

During their thefts, the gang would also particularly look out for branded clothes. One of the thieves was found wearing a pair of branded jeans and belt that he had stolen during a recent theft, said the officer.

When the police visited the homes of the accused in order to round them up for questioning, their family members apparently always claimed that the men were lodged in jail. For investigators, it was a tough job to verify these claims, giving the thieves had an easy run for long.

A policeman tries to reach the entrance of a cave in Delhis Moti Bagh that was used by criminals as a hideout. (Mohd Zakir/HT Photo)

The arrested men have told the police they never disclosed the location of the cave to anyone, not even their relatives.

During their period of stay in the cave, the men would frequent a gurdwara in Moti Bagh for the morning langar served there. The gurdwara was close to their cave, so they did not have to venture far for food. They loved the langar food, said a police officer, who interrogated the suspects.
The number of students applying to Jawaharlal Nehru University has decreased for the second consecutive year. This year, the university received 18% less applications compared to last year. Around 60,000 applications were received this year while in 2016, the university received 74,000 applications.

In 2015, around 80,000 students had applied, which was recently declared as the second best university in the country by the Human Resources and Development ministry.

While teachers and students said this is happening due to reduction in the number of seats in research courses, the administration said this year the competition on each seat has got tougher. Last year the students applied for 2,700 seats in different courses while this year, there are only 1,960 seats.

The demand for getting admission in JNU has increased, said Milap Punia, director admissions.

SK Sopory, former JNU vice-chancellor, said there could be many reasons for the number of admissions falling each year. There could be many reasons behind it, including the lesser number of seats on offer this year. Students may hesitate to apply thinking they may not get through. One can correlate the numbers in different ways and say competition isnt decreasing. But someone from within the university needs to look into this issue as to why the number of applications is going down?

Decrease in number of seats

JNU teachers association (JNUTA) president Ayesha Kidwai said this is happening due to a massive seat cut in most centres in JNU. She said at School of International Studies (SIS), which has 13 centres, only three centres have seats and at School of Social Sciences (SSS), which has 12 centres, only two centres have seats.

Its the same situation in most centres. If there are zero seats in centres then where will students apply? The number of applications will automatically go down, she said.

Only 16 days to submit applications

Students said applicants got limited time to complete the formalities due to which many could not submit the form. Unlike previous years when forms used to be out by February, this year the application forms were released on March 21 and the last date to submit the form was April 5.

We requested the administration to extend the last date but nothing happened, said Mohit Pandey, JNU students union president.

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One still speaks about menstruation in hush-hush tones, and buys sanitary napkins in black plastic bags. To break the taboo around this natural physical phenomenon, Abhivyakti Theatre Society of Maitreyi College, Delhi University, came up with Daag-e-Daaman, a play on menstruation. But they were bogged down when they began sending their entries. That didnt deter these young theatre artists, who went around spreading awareness about their play.

Trying to break the taboo

When we decided to take up the subject, even our convener subtly advised us not to go ahead with it. But we knew we had to stage our play on menstruation, says Priyali Dhingra, a college student. She adds that their play was rejected by various theatre competitions and several societies of Delhi University. They would refuse it after looking at our synopsis and script,  she adds.

Convincing wasnt easy

These organisers were afraid that the play could hurt some peoples sentiments. The students tried convincing the selectors by explaining the context. In the play, at a point, the goddess is shown with stained clothes. In the end, we also throw a stained cloth on the audience, stating that it is our reality, explains Urijita Bhardwaj, a student and participant. Uncivilised Daughters, our last years production, won accolades and despite that, we hardly got selected to perform this year. Then we started looking for our own contacts, and as the word spread, we found acceptance, adds Dhingra.

They were elated when a youth fest  Un-Darr hosted by the NGO Breakthrough  invited them to stage their play. This acceptance is a milestone in their journey.

What does the play say?

The protagonist Laghvi feels that even a goddess is just like a mortal woman. (Raajessh Kashyap/ HT Photo )

About the plot, Malvika Singh, president of the Maitreyi College theatre society, says, The story is based on widows who live in an ashram and are not allowed to take part in prayers when theyre menstruating. However, Laghvi (one of the widows) participates in the puja and that is the twist in the tale. 

The actor playing the widow Laghvi actually shaved her head for the performance. (Raajessh Kashyap/ HT Photo )

The bald step

At the end of the play, the authorities punish Laghvi by shaving her head. To make the character more impactful and realistic, I actually shaved my head for the performance. I kept wearing a wig throughout the play, and took it off when the shaving part comes, adds Shikha Dimri, who plays the character of Laghvi in the play.

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has started examining the issues, which led to the cancellation of municipal election nominations of party candidates.

Sources said Ram Lal, national secretary (organisation), on Thursday night held a meeting of Delhi BJP officer-bearers and party workers, whose nominations were rejected, to ascertain the exact cause of the fiasco.

Objections were raised in around 16 wards but eight party candidates lost their nominations and most of the cases were reported from east Delhi parliamentary constituency.

Ram Lals query was what led to cancellation of papers in large number. It was organisations responsibility. What was the organisation doing? But no one could give satisfactory reply. They put the blame on returning officers, said a source, who was in the meeting present.

A national officer-bearer told HT another meeting was held on Friday night to decide which candidates should be supported by the party in wards where it has no official contestant.

We cant leave those wards. We have dedicated voters there. We will take a decision on whom should we support. And soon, we will look into what went wrong and fix responsibility, he said.

A party insider said a section of party leaders are not pleased with the development and have also conveyed their displeasure to senior leadership.

Our point is that the party had engaged 80 lawyers and 26 chartered accountants, especially to supervise and facilitate nomination process. Despite this huge deployment, nominations were cancelled. It has caused major embarrassment to the party, he said.

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Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday kicked off JDUs campaign for the Delhi municipal elections, demanding full statehood for Delhi and prohibition on the sale of liquor in the city.

While addressing a rally in north Delhis Burari, Kumar said while he is demanding special status for Bihar, he also supports full statehood for Delhi.

The police is not under you, how will you control law and order. People used to make fun of Bihars law and order but the situation has improved, Kumar said without naming Aam Aadmi Party or Kejriwal.

Kumar also called for a ban on liquor in Delhi. Nitish Kumar had prohibited sale of liquor in Bihar after coming to power in the state last year.

Other states were worried revenue loss post prohibition. But I am ready to face the loss of Rs 5,000 crore to rid families in Bihar of conflicts that arise out of consumption of liquor. Crime rates in Bihar have come down drastically and I want Delhi and other states to follow our example and ban liquor, he said.

Kumar also targeted BJP-ruled municipal corporations for lack of development in the city.

Villages in Bihar are better than some of the areas in Delhi. Basic facilities such as drinking water and sewer lines are not available. Those talking about building smart cities should first improve basic facilities in the national capital, he said.

JDU candidates are contesting on 111 seats. Burari, where Kumar addressed the meeting, is dotted with unauthorised colonies with a sizeable population of Purvanchalis  migrants from Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh dominating the constituency. The constituency is represented by AAP legislator Sanjeev Jha. Post-delimitation earlier this year, the number of municipal wards in the assembly segment has increased from four to six.

Kumar urged the Purvanchalis to vote for their party.

Earlier Biharis used to be ashamed of talking about their native place. Now they take pride in telling people that they belong to Bihar. Biharis are not a burden on anyone and in fact they carry burden of others, he said.

Ends
A 50-year-old woman was hacked to death with an axe, allegedly by her live-in partner, at their home in South Delhis Okhla Industrial Area on Friday evening, police said.

After the murder, the alleged killer, 50-year-old Chandrapal, fled towards the railway tracks near his locality, but was chased and caught by a police team.

Though an argument over serving food triggered the murder, police said tension had been building between the couple for a few days over trust issues.

The dead woman has been identified as Munni, a sanitation worker who was a native of Mathura in Uttar Pradesh. A mother of four, she had separated from her husband a few years ago. Her daughters, aged 18 and 20, lived with her, while her two sons lived elsewhere in the city with their families.

Chandrapal who knew her for the last five years lived with Munni in Okhla Industrial Area.

Around a month ago, Munnis uncle had come from her native village to live with her. All was well until a woman visited their house a few days ago to meet Munnis uncle.

Chandrapal has told us that his brief interaction with the woman was not liked by Munni. That had resulted in frequent quarrels between them over the past few days, said a police officer, adding this claim will be verified with Munnis family.

Though the couple had stopped interacting with each other, on Friday evening Munni served dinner to Chandrapal, but he refused to eat.

That led to a heated argument between the couple during which Chandrapal allegedly picked up an axe lying in the house and struck Munni five times.

When the other members of the family raised an alarm, Chandrapal fled the house, towards the railway tracks nearby. While some neighbours kept a track on his location, one of them called the police.

A police team that arrived at the crime spot was directed towards the direction in which Chandrapal had fled, resulting in his arrest. The axe used in the murder has been recovered.
The University of Delhis School of Opening Learning (SOL) is likely to start 10 new undergraduate courses, including vocational courses, in the upcoming academic session.

The SOLs governing body (GB) has approved undergraduate courses such as BSc (honours) mathematics, BA (honours) history, and Bachelor of Vocation in human resource management, officials said.

The course structure and syllabus has been formed and approved by the GB and was sent to DU for consideration. The university gave us a proforma to fill in the details, which we did and sent it to the university, director of the SOL CS Dubey said.

The courses will now have to be approved by the university administration and then another approval from the distance education board (DEB) will be required before starting the courses.

We already have DEB approval for the courses that are being run. We will send the proposal to start the new courses to DEB and if we get approval then students can apply for these courses when admission process starts in end June, he said.

Dubey said the new courses are those for which there was a lot of demand among students who had applied to these courses in regular colleges last year but many could get admissions due to a limited number of seats and high cut-offs.

When we studied the number of applications received for these courses, we found that many students had applied but only limited number got admission. There is a lot of demand for these courses among students so we are providing a chance for students to study these courses through distance medium, he said.

SOL, which admits around 1.5 lakh students in undergraduate courses every year, already offers BA, BCom, BA (honours) political science, BCom (honours) and BA (honours) English.

Courses on offer:

BSc (honours) mathematics

BA (honours) history

BA (honours) economics

BA (honours) Hindi

BA (honours) psychology

BA (honours) Sanskrit

BA (honours) Hindi journalism

BVoc in human resource management

BVoc in office management and secretarial practices

BVoc in marketing management and retail business

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Low water pressure has been giving a hard time to the residents of Block E, Sector 21 for the last three months. Owing to frequent power outages, the residents have been at pains to fetch adequate water to meet their daily needs. With no alternative source, they have been forced to wake up at 3 am to fill their buckets.

With the water literally coming in a trickle, they have been finding it difficult to fill a single bucket.

Upset over the sorry state of affairs, the residents said that if the water woes persist and the authorities fail to solve the problem by Monday, they will stage a demonstration outside the Gurgaon deputy commissioners office on Wednesday.

The residents on the first-floor and above are the worst-hit as they are unable to pump the adequate amount to meet their daily needs due to the prevailing low water pressure. Left with no option, they have been shelling out 1,000 every week to source water from private tankers.

The residents claimed that they have been pleading with the authorities over the past few weeks to address their problem and restore the normal flow of water, but all they got were hollow assurances.

Col (retd) R L Mann, a resident of block E, said, Normally, water is supplied for two hours in the morning, from 6 to 8 am, and again in the evening from 6 to 8 pm. But over the last three months, water supply has reduced to just one hour and even then, the water pressure is woefully low. As a result, the residents on second and third floors are not getting proper supply and those not having pumping sets to draw water are the worst-affected. Also, apart from quantity and duration of supply, the quality of water, too, not up to the mark.

There are many senior citizens in the block, who live by themselves, and the water supply crisis is especially distressing for them. One cannot do without water and arranging private water tankers every day is not the solution, Naina Kotwal, a resident of block E, said.

Water shortage has been prevalent in the sector since January, when work on master pipelines work began. The shifting of utilities to enable construction of underpasses on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway compounded the woes further. The pipelines pass through important areas on the expressway, including Iffco Chowk, Signature Tower, Rajiv Chowk and Hero Honda Chowk.

The authorities should have ensured proper back-up options during the shifting of utilities. Why should we suffer? We dont get enough sleep as we have to rise early and wait for the supply to begin, Ambli, another resident, said.

The Haryana urban development authority (Huda) officials said supply was disrupted over the last few days due to the shifting of a master pipeline from Iffco Chowk.

Sector 21 was hit hard as it gets its supply from the Sector 16 boosting station. Supply was hit as we were having the pipeline from Iffco Chowk shifted. Normal supply will be restored soon, a senior Huda official said.

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The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has served a show cause notice to Hindustan Insecticide Limited (HIL), a government of India enterprise, for letting its land be used for illegal construction activity and occupation without taking the prior consent of the authorities concerned.

The MCGs show cause notice refers to provisions laid down under the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) Act and by-laws.

No application was moved by the company seeking extension in lieu of non completion of the project (for which the land was allotted), which is a serious issue. This amounts to conscious defiance on the part of the HIL. This clearly goes to show that theres total disregard to the intent and purpose for which the land was initially allotted to HIL, read the show cause notice issued by the MCG.

A building currently stands on the land for which the HIL did not seek necessary permissions and clearances, sources said

The letter stated, Therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred upon estate office Huda, a show cause notice is being served as why an order of resumption of the land/building be not passed against you.

Hindustan Times has a copy of the show cause notice.

According to the Huda notice, HIL was allotted 70 acres of land along NH-8, opposite the Ambience Mall at Udyog Vihar in 1980 at a price of 21.04 lakh by the Haryana government. The land was allotted on the condition that the intended project will be completed within two years from the date of possession and after getting the plan of the proposed building approved by the competent authority in accordance with the regulations pertaining to construction of buildings.

The Huda repeatedly wrote to the HIL to seek requisite permissions in this regard, but the latter did not comply.

HIL could not be reached for a response.

The land is at prime location near the Delhi-Gurgaon border and a major portion of it is vacant.

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Gurgaon police is likely to get five hundred police personnel who passed out recently from the Haryana police Recruit training centre at Sunaria in Rohtak in a bid to strengthen the security apparatus in the city. This would vastly augment the strength of the police department in Gurgaon, as more manpower would be available for crime prevention and detection apart from strengthening the traffic police.

The new recruits are likely to join by the end of this month.

Not only this, the Haryana government has also approved 10 more police stations for the city, which is likely to make policing more effective. Sources said the Haryana home secretary approved the proposal to set up new police stations across Gurgaon this week.

At present, there are 3,780 police personnel and a total of 25 police stations apart from special branches that look after law and order. The number of sanctioned posts is 4,922 and there is a shortage of over 1,000 police personnel at various levels in Gurgaon.

Owing to shortage of manpower, the police department has been struggling as the population in the city has grown by leaps and bounds and there has also been a noticeable spiral in crimes. There has also been steep rise in white collar frauds and online scams in the last few years giving police a major headache.

Read I Gurgaon police receives 1,000 traffic complaints on WhatsApp in 15 days

As per the new plan, the city police will open new police stations at Sector 14 police post, Bajghera police post, Khandsa police post, Pataudi road, Sector 9 and Sohna police post. This apart, separate police stations will be carved out of Sadar police station and Badshahpur police station and two others will come up in Sector 43 and Sector 50.

A senior police officer said that there is a major pile-up of cases at existing police stations, particularly at Sadar police station, Badshahpur, and Khandsa road police post. We have 322 cases for which we have to file a reply in the court and we often feel stretched. Four police stations could be carved out of the Sadar police station limits, said an official.

The move to set up a police station at Bajghera, officials said would help in boosting the law and order situation in Palam Vihar and surrounding areas, which have seen a steep rise in car jackings and murders owing to their proximity with Delhi. Apart from that, new Gurgaon sectors will be better served by the setting up of the new police stations, officials said.

Sandeep Khirwar, Gurgaon police commissioner, said the infusion of extra manpower and creation of new police stations will greatly help in serving the citizens in a better way. We have been pushing for extra manpower, as this will help in better enforcement of rules and regulations in the city, he said.

Officials also said that citys traffic police is likely to derive the maximum benefit from the infusion of more manpower. Manish Sehgal, ACP Gurgaon police, and spokesperson said The maximum number (of the new recruits) will be deputed to the traffic police as it desperately needs more manpower, he said .

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Residents of South City-1 has alleged that a notified pond has been filled up with demolition and construction waste over the years and is being used for setting up a group housing society by the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda).

The comes at a time when the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) is planning to revive seven ponds in the city before monsoon at a cost of Rs 1 crore. Moreover, the groundwater table in Gurgaon is depleting at an alarming rate  15.58 metres between 2005 and 2016.

The city has already lost more than 9,000 trees this year and pollution level is at an all-time high. At such a time, chopping more trees for construction of houses is not the ideal thing to do, said Navneet Rajan Wasan, IPS (retd), of South City-1.

He said he had written to the Huda administration on Friday regarding the issue. In 2015, the then deputy commissioner of Gurgaon TL Satyaprakash had issued an order stating that the filling up of South City-1 water body is causing floods. The common land and water bodies are to be treated as inalienable community property, which needs to be preserved.

According to villagers, the Silokhera pond in the area was a huge one until some 10 years ago. On visiting the area on Saturday, HT found only barren land with a few trees. The area is close to National Highway-8, and that is why it was filled up for commercial purpose, claimed Shiv Prakash, a villager.

Read I Gurgaon civic body maps water bodies to remove encroachments

An Huda official said the matter will be looked into. We will verify the facts and find out the land use of the area. We will follow the rules and no violations will be permitted, said Yashpal Yadav, Huda administrator.

According to the government records, of the 120 village ponds in Gurgaon district, only 15 are currently in a condition to be revived.

The Central Groundwater Board had categorised Gurgaon as over-exploited, following which the Punjab and Haryana high court banned groundwater extraction in the district in 2015.

Last year, the MCG had carried out an exercise to map all water bodies in the city as due to urbanization, the land use record of a large number of water bodies was a

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What can possibly make a mother want to kill her baby? Postpartum depression, said the Mumbai High Court last week in a historic judgment that acquitted a 26-year-old new mother for attempting to kill her newborn twice, before abandoning him near a scrap heap. She was incapable of realising the nature and consequences of her act She did not know that it was wrong, said the Mumbai High Court Bench while accepting her counsels insanity plea.

Postpartum disorders can take the form of blues, depression and psychosis, with the symptoms usually beginning the first few weeks after giving birth. A few may develop it later, sometimes even six months after birth, and are completely out of the mothers control.

The mood changes happen because of the sudden drop in the female sex hormones estrogen and progesterone, and the thyroid hormones T3 (triiodothyronine) and T4 (thyroxine) immediately after birth. Add to that looking after a baby while juggling chores and you have mothers feeling lost and out of their depth.

Depression after childbirth, referred to as postpartum depression, is far more common in India than popularly believed. Worldwide, around one in 10 women get depressed immediately after giving birth, but the numbers of new mothers affected in India ranges between 15.3% and 23%, estimates the National Mental Health Survey 2015. Of them, around 16%  one in six new moms  continue to have symptoms six months after delivery.

If the symptoms of postpartum depression last for more than a couple of weeks, the mother should seek social and medical support. (AFP/iStock)

The symptoms, which may last from a few days to a week, include mood swings, tiredness, sadness, crying irritability, feeling overwhelmed, anxiety, and changes in appetite and sleep patterns  women begin eating and sleeping too much or too little. If the symptoms last for more than a couple of weeks or are overwhelming enough to make them withdraw socially, affect their ability to care for themselves or the baby, or take their anger out on the baby, they need social and medical support.

The signs of postpartum psychosis  a very rare condition that usually develops within the first week after delivery  are even more severe and include paranoia, confusion and disorientation, hallucinations and delusions, and attempts to harm the self or the baby. Since it can quickly trigger dangerous thoughts and behaviour, treatment is a must.

What keeps most women from seeking help is often the embarrassment and shame they feel about not being good mothers. The pressure to be the perfect mother is immense, so many new moms hesitate to recognise or acknowledge that they are not, so its imperative for the family to closely look for signs of depression.

Depression in parents can also have a ripple effect, causing emotional strain for everyone close to a new baby. Parental depression, however mild, during the first years of parenting also raises the toddlers chances of developing troubling behaviours, such as hitting, lying, anxiety and depression during the most critical time of a childs development, reported a study in the journal, Couple and Family Psychology. Children of mothers with untreated postpartum depression also more likely to have sleeping and eating difficulties, excessive crying, ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder), and delays in language development.

The study shows new dads also get depressed after childbirth, with a mans risk of depression after the birth of a child being greater than at any other time in his life. This study found that dads moods also influence his childs behaviour during toddler years. In fact, parental depression affected a childs mood and behaviour far more than parents fighting.

Children get affected because depression changes how people express emotions and interact with others. Depressed parents make less eye contact with their child and dont smile as much as other parents. The more disengaged parents are in their childs formative years, the more trouble the child will have in forming close attachments and developing social skills.

Apart from the obvious risk of recently giving birth, what raises risk are a personal or family history of depression or mood stability disorders, postpartum depression after a previous pregnancy, stressful events such as pregnancy complications, illness or job loss, if the baby has health problems or other special needs, marital or family conflict, poor family, social financial support, unplanned or unwanted pregnancy.

What mothers need to know is that if youre not as happy as you are expected to be after having baby, its not your fault or the babys. Its a biological change, much like high blood sugar, that can be easily treated with counselling and medicine.

Follow @htlifeandstyle for more.

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Ishika never thought that being sold by her parents to a brothel in Kolkata at the age of six would inspire her to pursue a career in one of the most prestigious professions  law.

But after being rescued from sexual slavery, Ishika, now 24, has spent more than a decade trying to get justice against her traffickers. Despite the drawn-out case, she has not given up hope of seeing her abusers behind bars.

I will become a lawyer and take up cases of trafficking victims and fight them effectively, said Ishika, one of nearly 20 sex trafficking survivors who will study law under a programme launched by an anti-trafficking charity on Thursday.

I was rescued 13 years ago but my case is still going on, Ishika, who asked to be identified only by her first name, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

A post shared by End Human Trafficking (@human_trafficking_campaign) on Feb 17, 2016 at 9:41am PST

I often feel I am the accused and not the victim. I do not want other trafficking victims to go through this.

Of an estimated 20 million commercial sex workers in India, 16 million women and girls are victims of sex trafficking, according to campaigners. But fewer than two in five trafficking cases ends in a conviction.

The US State Department said in its 2016 Trafficking in Persons report that investigations, prosecutions and convictions for human trafficking were low in India even though the government has stepped up its law enforcement efforts.

Free A Girl Movement said under its School for Justice programme, young women who had been trafficked for sex as children would be guided through the college admission process and their education and other expenses provided for.

It is a long-term programme to empower sex trafficking survivors and help them become public prosecutors in the future so that they take up cases of child trafficking and child prostitution, said the charitys spokesman Francis Gracias.

A post shared by Sex Trafficking Awareness (@put_a_stop_to_sex_trafficking) on Mar 10, 2016 at 4:03pm PST

Campaigners say prosecutors representing rescued victims are often unable to connect with their plight or help them to sufficiently express themselves in court  which weakens the case and often results in acquittals.

Rescued girls do not understand the legalities of the case such as what sections of the law were applied and why, said Tapoti Bhowmick of charity Sanlaap, which helps rescued girls like Ishika complete their school education.

They (rescued girls) can represent cases of trafficking better in court as they have themselves suffered the pain and trauma it causes, Bhowmick said.

Ishika has already started studying English, mathematics and other subjects in preparation for the entrance exam to a law college, which she hopes will one day help her win her case.

The brothel madam and my trafficker have remained free all these years that I have spent at a shelter home. I want traffickers to fear law, and me, she said.

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Late actor Carrie Fishers character Princess Leias journey will not end with Star Wars: The Last Jedi as she will also appear in Star Wars: Episode IX, says her brother Todd Fisher.

Todd and Carries daughter, Billie Lourd, have given Disney and Lucasfilm permission to use recent footage of the actor in the 2019 film.

Both of us were like, Yes, how do you take her out of it? And the answer is you dont, Todd told NYdailynews.

Carrie finished the shooting of Star Wars: The Last Jedi before her death on December 27 last year.

Shes as much a part of it as anything and I think her presence now is even more powerful than it was, like Obi Wan -- when the saber cuts him down he becomes more powerful. I feel like thats whats happened with Carrie. I think the legacy should continue, Todd said.

However, Todd is unsure about the length of Carries part in Star Wars: Episode IX, which is set for release in 2019.

Im not the only part in that equation, but I think the people deserve to have her. Shes owned by them, Todd said.

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The Supreme Court on Friday said a plea seeking a Central Bureau of investigation (CBI) probe into a 1984 anti-Sikh riots incident in Kanpur in which 127 persons had died, will be heard along with a petition in which an SIT inquiry has been ordered.

A bench of justices Dipak Misra and AM Khanwilkar tagged the plea with another similar petition related to the 1984 riots which will come up for hearing on April 24. Since an SIT inquiry is already going on, we are tagging this petition with the earlier one, it said.

The plea filed by Manjit Singh GK, president of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, said that even after 33 years, no constructive action has been taken by the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government to provide justice and rehabilitate and compensate the victims of the 1984 riots in Kanpur.

The petition has claimed that the Centre and the UP governments have not taken any action to punish the accused persons despite having clear and cogent data.

Looking at the gravity of the situation and apathetic attitude of the respondent (governments), it is expedient and in the interest of justice that likewise Delhi, in the inquiry and investigation with regard to deaths, disabilities, destruction of property and compensation, the investigation may be referred to either the CBI or the SIT, so that the truth could be unearthed and victims could be compensated.

It is pertinent to mention here that the state police machinery is not in a position to do a fair, just and reasonable attempt to apprehend the accused and compensate the victims as per law, the plea said.

It said that around 127 persons, belonging to the Sikh community, were brutally murdered/burnt to death in Kanpurs different police station areas.

The apex court is already hearing another similar petition by S Gurlad Singh Kahlon, a member of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, seeking direction for setting up an SIT to ensure speedy justice to riots victims.
Five people, including a woman, were killed and over a dozen injured, eight of them seriously, after the bus they were travelling in collided with a container truck at Maharajpur near Kanpur on Saturday, police said.

The incident took place at around 5 pm on the Kanpur-Allahabad road when the bus was on its way to Fatehpur from here, they said.

The bus collided head-on with the truck after the driver lost control over the vehicle due to some mechanical failure and went on the wrong side of the road, SP (Traffic) Sarvanand Yadav said.

The eight seriously injured people, including the trucks driver, have been admitted to the medical college, the SP said, adding the condition of some is said to be critical.

Bodies of four men and a woman have been retrieved from the wreckage and have been sent for postmortem, the officer said.

The road was blocked for several hours due to the accident, he said.
After three failed auctions, banks have finally managed to sell the Kingfisher Villa in Goa belonging to businessman Vijay Mallya to actor-producer Sachiin Joshi for Rs 73 crore through a private treaty.

The harried lenders to Kingfisher Airlines have ended the jinx to recover the dues of over Rs 9,000 crore by monetising assets of the airline under their custody by selling the villa.

The sale of the villa finally took off earlier this week after three failed auctions, the last being on March 6.

With this, the lenders only other asset is the Kingfisher House in Mumbai, which had commanded a valuation of over Rs 150 crore initially, but could not be auctioned even at the fourth round.

Though both the parties -- the 17-bank consortium led by SBI and the buyer Sachiin Joshi, who owns Viiking Media -- refused to confirm the deal, sources said the villa in north Goa has finally been sold to Joshi for Rs 73.01 crore, far less than the reserve price the bankers set at upwards of Rs 90 crore for auctions, which failed thrice.

Secured creditors have the right to go for a private treaty if the auction route fails. With this, it seems the jinx over the sale of KFA properties is over. The villa was sold through a bilateral agreement earlier this week for Rs 73.01 crore to actor-producer Sachiin Joshi, a source who is aware of the development told PTI.

The villa, spread over 12,350 square feet or three acres at Candolim (on the way to Fort Aguada), was legally owned by United Breweries Holdings, the parent of the airline. The lenders had taken physical possession of the villa in May 2016.

The lenders bid to auction trademarks, including the brand value of the Kingfisher logo, in August 2016, too, was unsuccessful. The reserve price for the brands was set at Rs 330 crore, which is not even a tenth of the Rs 4,000 crore valuation it commanded when offered as collateral.

Asked if a similar route will be followed to dispose of Kingfisher House in the city, which was once the headquarters of the airline, the source said with the sale of the villa, at least a process has been initiated.

The source also said movable assets lying in the villa will be sold through a recovery officer as per the DRT orders.

For the third auction on March 6, the reserve price for the villa was set at Rs 73 crore, which was around 10 per cent lower than the second auction held last December when the price of the sea-facing property was set at Rs 81 crore. It was put under the hammer for the first time last October with a reserve price of Rs 85.29 crore.

The villa was used by Mallya to host lavish parties.

SBI Caps Trustee was entrusted with auctioning the properties on behalf of the lenders.

Mallya was declared a wilful defaulter and is wanted by authorities for default in payment for loans related to Kingfisher Airlines that was grounded in 2012. He owes over Rs 9,000 crore to lenders like SBI, PNB, IDBI Bank, BoB, Allahabad Bank, Federal Bank and Axis Bank, among others. He left the country on March 3 last year and is currently said to be in Britain and his extradition talks are on.

The SBI-led consortium had also reduced the reserve price of the Kingfisher House by 10 per cent to Rs 103.50 crore from Rs 115 crore during the third failed auction last December. In the first auction in March 2016, the reserve price was set at Rs 150 crore, but was lowered to Rs 135 crore in the second held last August.
Another accused has been arrested by the police in connection with the cow vigilantism incident in Alwar on Saturday.

The Rajasthan government on Friday sent a report to the ministry of home affairs (MHA) on Alwar incident in which a cow protection group allegedly thrashed five men on the Jaipur-Delhi highway near Behror last Saturday, .

The Supreme Court had earlier on Friday issued a notice to the Rajasthan government seeking a reply on the matter within three weeks, after a Muslim man was allegedly killed by gau rakshaks over suspicion of cow smuggling in Alwar.

Besides Rajasthan, the court also issued notices to Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Jharkhand.

The top courts directive came after a petition was filed by activist Tehseen Poonawalla sought a ban on gau rakshaks and a probe on all incidents of cow vigilantism in these states.

The matter has been deferred to May 3 for further hearing.

On Thursday, Alwar incident sparked war of words in the Parliament as well. Both the Houses of Parliament witnessed heated exchanges regarding this incident.

Congress Rajya Sabha member Madhusudan Mistry demanded the dismissal of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state in view of the breakdown of constitutional machinery.

At least three people were arrested in connection with an attack on a group of five men by the cow vigilantes that led to the death of one Muslim man earlier on Wednesday.

The incident took place on April 1 after gau rakshaks allegedly affiliated with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal stopped their vehicle on NH8, alleging that they were illegally transporting cows.

An FIR has been registered and investigation is currently underway.
He moved his entire administration to Andhra Pradeshs new capital Amaravati. But chief minister Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is not keen to shift his family from Hyderabad which he had nurtured for nine years during his earlier stint as chief minister of combined Andhra Pradesh.

Naidu is scheduled to move into a brand new palatial bungalow at Road No. 65, Jubilee Hills Sunday morning.

The five-storeyed bungalow, which approximately measures over 20,000 sq ft, is Vastu compliant and was built under the personal supervision of his wife Bhuvaneswari, who heads the family enterprise Heritage Foods.

According to the Telugu Desam Party sources, Naidu would formally perform housewarming ceremony, followed by Satyanarayana Vratam, in the presence of only family members. It is strictly confined to family and not even his closest TDP leaders have been invited to the function, a party spokesman said.

The new bungalow has come up in place of his old residence located at the same place, where he stayed for 30 years before moving to Amaravati. The area of the original building was 1,125 square yards. Subsequently, Naidus family acquired another piece of land measuring 1,285 square yards adjacent to the original house. The new bungalow has been constructed in the total area of these two plots.

Unconfirmed reports say the total cost of construction is around Rs 10 crore. Naidu and his minister-son Lokesh raised a loan of over Rs 7 crore from Bank of Baroda.

Read more: KCR steps into his vaastu-compliant bungalow with bullet-proof toilet

Sources said the bungalow has a huge conference room for Naidu to hold meetings whenever he comes to Hyderabad, besides chambers for his office and security staff. It has also provision for library and other recreational activities. There is a huge parking space that can accommodate at least 20 cars at a time.

Naidu does not own a house in Amaravati which is around 300 km from Hyderabad. For the last two years, the CM has been staying in a rented bungalow at Vundavalli, on the banks of Krishna river on the way to Velagapudi. The new capital has a provision for a massive camp office-cum-residence for the chief minister. Till it is constructed, he will stay in the Vundavalli bungalow, party sources said.

His son Lokesh, who has been inducted into the cabinet last week, will also have to be in Amaravati most of the time, attending to his office work at secretariat. It means the new Jubilee Hills bungalow would be occupied only by Naidus wife Bhuvaneshwari, daughter-in-law Brahmani and two-year old grandson Devansh.

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Uttarakhands woman crusaders have been fighting liquor and timber mafia for years. The first brings home drunken men each evening and the other denudes its forest cover.

To fight the first menace, they have done it all-- chased the toughies, publicly stripped them, blackened their faces and demolished shops.

But in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, women have only sporadically campaigned against liquor and that too never at a large scale. Their protests mostly were incident based after a hooch tragedy.

Now for the first time, women have fearlessly taken the lead in getting liquor vends shut in their areas. And they are getting violent too, notwithstanding the cases slapped against them and the arrests made.

Ostensibly, the movement is not organised as majority of the activists are housewives -- victims of domestic violence, disconnected from each other.

This has sparked speculation about a possible hidden agenda behind the sudden spurt in anti-liquor demonstrations in the state, which had been by and large nonchalant to the problem.

Is it a build up to Uttar Pradesh going dry like neighbouring Bihar? Is the RSS mounting public pressure on the government to ignore the financial loss and save lives? These are some of the questions doing the rounds.

At stake is an annual revenue of Rs 14000 crore.

Though the state government, weighing the pros and cons of prohibition, is silent on the issue, involvement of BJP supporters in the anti-liquor campaign in some parts of the state, including Kanpur, is further fuelling the speculation.

Social activist Madhvi Kuckreja says, More than liquor, alcoholism has been a menace. But never before women took to streets on such a large scale. It is not even an organised movement that we saw coming. Perhaps the agenda behind it is to impose complete prohibition on the lines of Bihar and Gujarat.

The common belief is the protests have flared up after the Supreme Courts order on highway liquor ban that required relocation of the shops.

The state government failed to react to the situation and thoughtlessly shops were shifted 500 metres away from highways, right into slums and villages.

Kundakini Sharma from Agra who has been active in getting liquor shops shifted away from schools and temples, says, Shops at their doorsteps infuriated the women as they feared this would provide their menfolk easy access to liquor. They could have easily shifted shops to uninhabited areas instead of dense bastis.

However, she is not confident if Yogi Adityanath-led BJP regime would enforce prohibition as it will hit government revenues. But Manu from Allahabad is hopeful. We want complete prohibition in the state on the pattern of Bihar. But our immediate need is to ensure highway shops are not shifted to villages and slums.

Murtaza Ali, president of Sharab Bandi Sangharsh Samiti, insists its a social movement now hijacked by the women, who are willing to bear the brunt. We have been holding awareness programmes in the state for the past one year  after Bihar enforced prohibition from March 1, 2016, he says.

Murtaza claims support of 28 social organisations. However, according to him the movement got a big fillip after the SCs order on highway liquor vends. He demands immediate release of women arrested in these cases.

Interestingly, when Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar was demanding UP to enforce prohibition in the run up to the recently concluded assembly elections, voters, including women, looked hardly excited. While the then chief minister Akhilesh Yadav preferred to get the matter studied, other parties also decided to ignore Nitishs fervent appeal.

Faced with a mass movement, chief minister Yogi Adityanath is playing safe, remaining non-committal on prohibition demand but directing administration to ensure shops are not relocated close to villages, schools and temples.

The Akhilesh government had first written to all district magistrates seeking blanket ban on fresh licences for liquor shops on highway way back in 2015. The diktat was prompted by hooch tragedies that rocked different parts of the state, including Lucknow. However, no concrete action was taken and most of the licences were renewed till 2018.

His government hurriedly renewed licences to 27,039 shops in December 2016 in view of the elections. In addition to that there are scores of illegal outlets. In fact they outnumber the licensed shops.

However, it is the country made liquor, manufactured in villages that take most of the lives. Surprisingly, no one is demanding their closure!
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was on Saturday accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi received Hasina. She was then accorded a ceremonial guard of honour. Later in the morning Hasina paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at the Rajghat.

In a special gesture on Friday, Modi personally received his Bangladeshi counterpart at the airport.

Hasina is on a four-day official visit to India.

Bangladehs Prime Minister Shekh Hasina inspects a Guard of Honour during a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi on Saturday. (PTI Photo)

Modi, on Saturday in a tweet said: Will hold talks with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, during which we will discuss ways to further deepen ties between India and Bangladesh.

At 3:30 PM today, PM Sheikh Hasina & I will join a programme to honour Indian soldiers martyred in the 1971 war, at the Manekshaw Centre.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 8, 2017

This is her first bilateral visit to India in seven years. She last visited the country in January, 2010.

Following the bilateral summit, over 20 agreements, including a civil nuclear and two memorandum of understanding (MoUs) on defence cooperation, are expected to be signed.
The Dalai Lama said on Saturday that its up to his followers to decide whether the office of the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader exists in the future even as he described Chinas bid to name his successor as nonsense.

As early as 1969, I had said the Tibetan people will decided if this very institution of Dalai Lama should continue or not. If this institution is no longer relevant, it should stop, the 82-year-old exiled Tibetan spiritual leader told reporters.

Nobody knows who or where the next Dalai Lama will be born or come from. Some indication (about his reincarnation) might come at the time of my death, but now there is no such indication, he said, not ruling out the possibility of the next Dalai Lama being a woman.

The Dalai Lama who addressed devotees at theTawang monastery, considered one of the holiest sites in Tibetan Buddhism, also said Beijings bid to name his successor to undermine the Tibetans cause was nonsense.

Beijing had years ago confined the Dalai Lama-nominated Panchen Lama and projected its own Panchen Lama. The communist regime in China now wants to have its own Dalai Lama.

Panchen Lama is a monk ranked immediately below the Dalai Lama.

The Dalai Lama said there have been discussions that the Chinese government should finalise his successor.



That I say is nonsense. In the past, Chinese emperors did have involvement in the reincarnation of some lamas but they were disciples of certain Tibetan lamas, he said.

Chinas interest in the Dalai Lamas reincarnation, the Tibetan leader felt, was illogical unless it first recognises the reincarnation of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.

On whether his visit to Tawang, a place Beijing claims as its own, will affect India-China ties, he said: We will have to wait and see. But it is normal for China to give political colour to my spiritual visits.

But his visit to Arunachal Pradesh, he felt, should not have angered China because the whole world knows I am not seeking independence of Tibet. He added: I wish Chinese officials accompany me during my visits to find out if I am doing or saying anything against them.

Forgiving China for the atrocities on Tibetans similar to Pol Pots in Cambodia, the Dalai Lama wondered why despite his middle-path the Chinese government continued to call him a separatist and show a negative attitude.

Tibet has had very good relations with China for thousands of years. I have no issues with One China policy ensuring economic benefit to Tibet provided we have the right to preserve our culture and language, he said.

The way forward is to solve the 60-year-old problem (Tibetan crisis) which exists whether China admits or not. A solution could bring stability to the region, he said.

Sitting in Tawang, closest to his homeland, the spiritual leader said he wished to visit Taktser, the village in Amdo region of Tibet where he was born. Almost 99% of Tibetans and many Chinese Buddhists want me to go

The Dalai Lama said the Chinese people were being fed wrong information about him, and they realise this when they meet him in other countries. The Chinese people have every right to know the reality, but totalitarianism had done a great damage, he said.

Praising Taiwan for preserving Chinese culture, the Dalai Lama felt China needs another cultural revolution based on compassion and not on hatred and anger as was the case with the one led by Mao Zedong.

On the BJP-led NDA governments China policy, the Tibetan leader said: It is more or less the same as that of the Congress from the days of Narasimha Rao but I admire Modi, he is active and seeks development.

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The Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader said Saturday that its up to his followers to decide whether the office of the Dalai Lama exists in the future.

During a visit to the Arunachal Pradeshs Tawang the second-highest seat of Tibetan Buddhism  the Dalai Lama denied that he had any knowledge of where his successor would be born. Asked if the next Dalai Lama could be a woman, he said, That might also happen.

The question of who will replace the 81-year-old spiritual leader has gained significance in recent years, with Beijing insisting that the next Dalai Lama be born in China.

On Saturday, the Tibetan leader said the people should decide on the question of the next Dalai Lama.

They will decide whether the tradition continues or not, he told reporters in Tawang, located in Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.

The Dalai Lama is on a weeklong visit to Arunachal Pradesh despite objections by China, which considers the state a disputed region.

On Chinas claim on the next Dalai Lama, he said, Let China first come clear on its theory on rebirth.

The Dalai Lama said that he has nothing to do with politics, and that it was the Tibetan self-declared government-in-exile that handled all political matters, including the Tibetan cause.

I retired from politics in 2011 and all political matters are handled by our government-in-exile, he said. However, I am committed to promote and preserve Tibetan culture and ecology.

The Dalai Lama and his followers have been living in exile in the Himalayan town of Dharamsala in India since they fled Tibet after a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule.

Dalai Lama arrives at the Sela Pass in Tawang, near the Chinese border in India's north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh on April 7. (AFP Photo)

China doesnt recognize the Tibetan government-in-exile, and hasnt held any dialogue with the representatives of the Dalai Lama since 2010.

China says Tibet has historically been part of its territory since the mid-13th century, and the Communist Party has governed the Himalayan region since 1951. But many Tibetans say that they were effectively independent for most of their history, and that the Chinese government wants to exploit their resource-rich region while crushing their cultural identity.

In Tawang, thousands of people thronged both sides of the road Saturday and broke into loud cheers and waved prayer flags as the Dalai Lamas motorcade entered a stadium where he addressed his followers.

Tawang was spruced up for the Dalai Lamas visit  his first since 2009. Streets were swept, houses freshly painted and welcome arches and banners erected across the main streets.

The Dalai Lamas visit to Arunachal Pradesh has drawn sharp protests from China. On Wednesday, China accused India of using the Dalai Lama to undermine Beijings interests and summoned the Indian ambassador in Beijing to formally lodge a protest.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying warned India that China will firmly take necessary measures to defend its territorial sovereignty and legitimate rights and interests.

India responded by saying China was creating an artificial controversy.

China claims about 90,000 square kilometers in Arunachal Pradesh, referred to informally by some Chinese as Southern Tibet. India says China is occupying 38,000 square kilometers of its territory on the Aksai Chin plateau.

The Dalai Lama has often said that he was not seeking independence for Tibet, but trying to secure greater autonomy for the Tibetan people within China.
Automobile manufacturers told the Supreme Court on Saturday that it would be difficult to start making Bharat Stage VI-compliant vehicles from 2019 to meet the April 1, 2020 deadline .

The manufacturers told a bench of justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta that as per report of the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA), they have to start the conversion of their vehicles into BS-VI from 2019 so that it could be sold from April 1, 2020, but said that there were technological issues in it.

The BS-VI emission norm is scheduled to come into force from April 1, 2020.

The BS-VI would come into effect from April 1, 2020... effectively we will have to start the process of conversion from 2019 which is difficult. There are issues of technology, the counsel, appearing for the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), told the bench.

The lawyer also argued that if the Government of India wants to discourage people from buying diesel vehicles, they should equate the price of petrol and diesel. Why the buyers should be asked to pay tax for buying a diesel vehicle?

When the counsel sought clarification on the BS-VI issue, the bench asked Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar, appearing for the Centre, about it.

Kumar said he would file a reply on the EPCAs report within three weeks after which the bench fixed the matter for further hearing on May 1.

Recently on March 29, the apex court had banned sale and registration of vehicles, which were not BS-IV compliant, in India from April 1 when the new BS-IV emission norms came into force while observing that health of people is far, far more important than the commercial interests of the manufacturers.

During the hearing today, the bench also dealt with the issue relating to the EPCAs proposal to ban use of fuels that are high in sulphur content -- furnace oil and pet coke -- by industries in the NCR.

When the apex court asked the solicitor general about the affidavit filed by the Centre in which the government has said that it needs seven weeks time to stop the use of furnace oil and pet coke, Kumar said, I will argue on some points which we think requires consideration.

The bench, which had earlier asked the Centre to consider banning the use of furnace oil and pet coke by industries in NCR, has fixed this matter also on May 1.

Besides these, the apex court also took up for hearing the issue raised by the EPCA which has proposed that an integrated public transport system should be in place in Delhi-NCR as it would help in reducing air pollution.

When the bench asked the solicitor general about it, he said he would file a reply to the EPCAs report within three weeks.

The court also heard other related issues including the complaint of Indraprastha Gas Ltd that Haryana was not allowing its operation in Gurgaon.

The apex court is hearing a PIL filed by environmentalist M C Mehta in 1985 in which he has highlighted the issue of ambient air quality and air pollution in Delhi-NCR.
Politicians across the board have hit out at BJP leader Tarun Vijay after a video of him making racist remarks against south Indians went viral on Friday.

Congress leader P Chidambaram took a swipe at Vijay, asking him if members of the BJP and RSS were the only Indians in the country.

When Tarun Vijay said we live with blacks, I ask him who is we? Was he referring to BJP/RSS members as the only Indians? asked Chidambaram, who hails from Tamil Nadu, on Twitter.

Vijay had made the remark while defending India and its culture during an interview with news channel Al Jazeeras online show The Stream to discuss recent attacks on African students in Greater Noida.

If we were racist, why would we have all the entire southTamil, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhrawhy do we live with them? We have black people around us, the former Rajya Sabha MP was heard saying in the video.

The comments come amid escalating tensions between a group of African nations  which have accused India of doing little to stop the assault  and the government that has called the accusation unfortunate.

Chidambarams party colleague Mallikarjun Kharge said Vijays statement was an example of the BJPs mindset of being superior.

I condemn such statements. This is the reason we have been maintaining that it is the tendency and philosophy of the BJP leaders that they even discriminate Indians, Kharge told ANI

TKS Elangovan of the DMK, the opposition party in Tamil Nadu, said Vijays comments were funny as not all people in south India were dark-skinned.

Our leader Dr Kalaignar is fair, Jayalalithaa was fair...He has chosen the wrong word while describing south Indians, said Elangovan. I do not know what he meant. Maybe he thought he is doing something good by saying that they are living with South Indians, therefore, they are not racist.

Karnataka: NSUI protests against BJP leader Tarun Vijay in Bengaluru pic.twitter.com/kSQkuPlKOv  ANI (@ANI_news) April 8, 2017

CPIs D Raja, another politician from Tamil Nadu, condemned Vijays remark, saying it exposed the fascist ideology of the RSS. He also demanded that the BJP denounce the comment.

It is a deplorable statement coming from a BJP leader. It is shameful that BJP leaders are speaking in such language. It shows what RSS means, what it stands for...Tarun Vijays statements on racism is nothing but part of RSS fascist ideology, said Raja.

Faced with the backlash, Vijay took to Twitter to apologise and said he meant to highlight Indias composite culture that worshipped the dark-skinned god, Krishna. Feel bad ,really feel sorry, my apologies to those who feel i said different than what I meant.

He later claimed that he never called south Indians black.

I never, never, even in a slip, termed south India as black. I can die but how can I ridicule my own culture, my own people and my own nation? Think before you misinterpret my badly framed sentence, he tweeted in response to accusations of racism.
President Donald Trump has tapped Indian-American Vishal Amin as his new IP czar to coordinate US law-enforcement strategy around copyright, patents and trademarks.

Amin has been nominated to be the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator in the executive office of the President, the White House said on Friday as Trump made a number of key administrative appointments.

If confirmed by the US Senate, Amin would succeed Daniel Marti. Amin is currently a Senior Counsel on House Judiciary Committee.

He also served in the administration of president George W Bush at the White House, as associate director for domestic policy, and at the US Department of Commerce, as special assistant and associate director for policy in the office of the secretary, a statement said.

Amin received his bachelors degree in neuroscience from Johns Hopkins University and his law degree from Washington University in St Louis.

The Recording Industry Association of America welcomed his nomination.

The prompt appointment and consideration of this position is critical, and we commend President Trump for his choice. Vishal Amin is a smart, thoughtful leader and we look forward to working with him, said Cary Sherman, chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America.
India announced a credit line of $4.5 billion for Bangladesh, even as the two countries signed 22 pacts after a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina.

Main takeaways

1) India announced a concessional credit line of $4.5 billion for the completion of priority sectors in Bangladesh, and another $500 million for buying military equipment. This is the single-highest credit ever announced by India for another country. In total, India has extended $8 billion in credit to Bangladesh over the last six years.

2) Three defence sector pacts were signed in the form of an umbrella framework agreement on various aspects of defence cooperation; a deal between the Defence Services Staff College at Wellington, Tamil Nadu, and the Defence Services Command and Staff College at Mirpur, Dhaka, for enhancing cooperation in the field of strategic and operational studies; and an official understanding between the National Defence College in Dhaka and the National Defence College in New Delhi to enhance cooperation in the fields of national security, development and strategic studies.

3) Three other pacts aimed at aiding Bangladesh in various aspects of the civil nuclear energy programme, from setting up nuclear power units to addressing issues related to nuclear safety, were signed.

4) An agreement to boost cyber-security cooperation.

5) A bus service between Kolkata, Khulna and Dhaka.

6) A new passenger train service from Khulna to Kolkata through Petrapole in India and Benapole in Bangladesh.

7) A rail link between Radhikapur and Birol for running goods trains.

8) India will finance a diesel pipeline from Numaligarh to Parbatipur. Indian companies will also ink a long-term agreement with Bangladesh for supplying high-speed diesel.

9) A pact for passenger and cruise services on the coastal and protocol route between the two sides.

10) The Teesta water-sharing pact was not signed. However, this was expected.

Hasinas visit

The Bangladesh Prime Minister was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Saturday morning. Later, she paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat.

Assuring Hasina of an early solution to the Teesta water-sharing issue, Modi said: Along with our shared land boundaries are our shared rivers. They sustain our peoples and their livelihoods. Resolving the Teesta issue is important for India, for Bangladesh, and for the India-Bangladesh relationship.

He also described Dhakas zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism as an inspiration.

In a special gesture, Modi had personally received his Bangladeshi counterpart at the airport on Friday. Hasina is on a four-day official visit to India.

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Ananya Chatterjee (name changed on request), a techie working in Gurgaon, was browsing through a news website recently when she read that Lucknows iconic kebab outlet, Tunday Kababi, had been forced to stop selling its signature buffalo meat kebabs. The reason was the shortage of meat following raids at abattoirs across Uttar Pradesh. Ananya was reminded of her own favourite street food in Kolkata. She sent a message to fellow-foodie Malini (name changed on request).

Do they still sell the beef samosas from that lane near Chowringhee? she wrote.

A good Hindu doesnt eat beef, Malini replied.

She was being sarcastic, explains Ananya. But I was irritated. Why should some self-appointed custodians of Hinduism tell us what to believe and how to practise our religion? The Hindutva warriors though, couldnt care less for such sentiments. In Gurgaon, for example, protestors, some of whom claimed to be with the Shiv Sena, reportedly tried to force restaurants selling non-vegetarian food to down their shutters during the period of Navratra.

Rise of right-wing Hindus

It is difficult to pinpoint the exact date of origin of this brand of Hindutva or Hindu nationalism. But the first half of the 1920s is usually considered the beginning. In the early 1920s Vinayak Damodar Savarkar wrote Essentials of Hindutva. He differentiated between Hinduism and Hindutva  Hinduism according to him, was only a part of Hindutva. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was set up in 1925. Historians have written of how in the 1920s and 1930s Hindu nationalists projected those different from themselves as enemies. While some present-day Hindu nationalists have at times claimed to use the term Hindu to denote all people who believe in, respect or follow the eternal values of life that have sprung up in Bharat rather than a religion, they contradict that claim when those eternal values are given a religious slant.

Hindutva has nothing to do with Hinduism as a faith or a religion, but rather as a badge of cultural identity and an instrument of political mobilisation, says author and Member of Parliament, Shashi Tharoor. Hinduism is a religion without fundamentals  no founder or prophet, no organised Church, no compulsory beliefs or rites of worship, no single sacred bookWhat we see today as Hindutva is part of an attempt to semitise the faith  to make Hinduism more like the better-organised religions like Christianity and Islam, the better to resist their encroachments.

The accuracy of Tharoors statement is reflected in an article on the website of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). The Hindu nation as a mere community was equated with the Muslims and Christians who came here as invaders and aggressors and the Parsis and Jews who came here as refugees being driven away from their respective homelands, rues the article.

Another article on the website declares, Hindu interest is national interest. Hence the honour of Hindutva and Hindu interests should be protected at all costs. A similar mission is espoused by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on its website: Expressed in the simplest terms, the ideal of the Sangh is to carry the nation to the pinnacle of glory through organizing the entire society and ensuring the protection of Hindu Dharma.

Ayodhya, 1992. On December 6,1992, the Babri Masjid was demolished by Hindu nationalist groups. (Sanjay Sharma / HT Photo)

Its all in the manifestation

In recent times, that protection of dharma has translated into gau raksha or the protection of the holy cow, a severe ban on beef consumption in many states and a demand for a Ram temple in Ayodhya. In some cases it also means a celebration of Shiva or Krishna or other mainstream gods and goddess. But there is a complete neglect of both local faiths and the deeper philosophies of Hinduism. Hindutva has no use for Hindu thought or philosophy of religion, for that would go against it, says historian Harbans Mukhia. All it needs is a few symbols of Hinduism which can be mobilised to create tension vis-a-vis minorities. The cow is that symbol.

The last couple of years have seen an almost insane veneration of the cow. In an interview last year, Shankar Lal, pradhan of the Akhil Bhartiya Gau Seva Sangh, reportedly said that they make pregnant women eat cow dung and urine paste to ensure a normal delivery.

Hinduism is a conglomeration of a number of religious beliefs and practices, says historian DN Jha, author of the book The Myth of the Holy Cow. Beef-eaters in Kerala or the North-East are Hindus, but such people may be ostracised in the Hindi belt. Brahmins in most parts of the country are vegetarians but in Bengal and Mithila (in Bihar) they are non-vegetarians  our ancestors (sage Yajnavalkya for instance) even fattened themselves on sacrificed beef. Sociologist Ashis Nandy agrees that one of the Sanskrit synonyms for Brahmins in some parts of India was goghanas, or those who ate beef.

Akshaya Mukul, author of the book Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India, says the debate on the cow began in the last century. The cow protection movement reached its peak with unprecedented violence in 1966 in Delhi. But the movement could not find takers across India. After that, Hindu nationalist groups worked consciously towards creating Ram as a nationalist symbol. The movement to build a Ram temple in Ayodhya got revived in the 1980s in a big way with LK Advanis famous Rath Yatra, eventually leading to the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992, he says. Now, with the recent appointment of Yogi Adityanath as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Hindutva nationalists have begun voicing their conviction that the temple will soon be built.

Hinduism vs Hindutva

Most scholars feel that far from protecting Hinduism, a structured Hindutva movement is a blow to the very essence of the religion. Hinduism embraces an eclectic range of doctrines and practices, from pantheism to agnosticism and from faith in reincarnation to belief in the caste system. But none of these constitutes an obligatory credo for a Hindu... Hindutva seeks to impose a narrow set of beliefs, doctrines and practices on an eclectic and loosely-knit faith, in denial of the considerable latitude traditionally available to believers, says Tharoor.

There are six main schools of philosophy of Hinduism  Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Mimamsa and Vedanta. But people often identify with sects  such as Vaishnavites or Shaivities or worshippers of Shakti. There are innumerable local gods and goddesses who have a cult following in specific areas.

A sadhu smokes a chillum made up of traditional clay pipe as a holy offering to Lord Shiva at Varanasi. There are six main schools of Hinduism, but people often identify with sects  such as Vaishnavites or Shaivities or worshippers of Shakti. (Rajesh Kumar / HT Photo)

It is, in fact, commonly said that there are 330 million gods and goddesses in the Hindu faith. But you can choose not to believe in any of them and still be Hindu, scholars explain. The Nirguna sect is a very prominent sect which worships a formless god. There are schools of atheists among the Hindus, says Mukhia. The Carvaka philosophy in ancient India was explicitly atheist, and many Hindus believe in the divinity of the sacred texts rather than in that of a Supreme Being, says Tharoor. Read Ishwar Krishans Sankhya Karika, the most authoritative book on Sankhya darshan, and you will find it rejects the idea of creator. Then we have Vigyan Bhikshus text (Sankhya Pravachana Bhashya) that makes the same point. Purva Mimansa also questions the concept of god, says Mukul. And the Bhakti movement of the medieval era preached an intense devotion in which the worshipper realised that he was a fragment of gods being and dependent on him.

But the Hindutva narrative, in order to achieve its larger goal of Hindi, Hindu, Hindustan, has no appetite for multiple voices, schools of philosophy and even traditions from within the Hindu religion, says Mukul, a thought that is shared by Tharoor. They also do not recognise the resistance of lower-caste Hindus and adivasis against the dominant Brahmanical tradition, adds Mukul. The idea of Hindutva is to Hinduise everyone and make them read one history that glorifies the ancient Hindu past...

It finds easy targets, feels Nandy, among the substantial portion of Hindus who are now urbanites and out of touch with their roots. Many have very localised faiths. So, when they migrate they need a different version of Hinduism, a laptop version, that began in the 19th century. It helps the political needs of the RSS and the BJP.

The way forward, feels sociologist Dipankar Gupta is to decide what is democratic and what is not. He says, To argue that certain political practices are against the essence of Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam or Christianity is certainly not the way to argue for democratic rights. Religion should not be brought in when one discusses issues of citizenship.

Not everyone will agree. In an unsigned online article Hindutva: The Great Nationalist Ideology, the writer declares  The future of Bharat is set. Hindutva is here to stay. It is up to the Muslims whether they will be included in the new nationalistic spirit of Bharat... But what of Hindus who dont identify with the Hindutva movement?

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Police have registered a case against the principal of a private school in Uppal area for allegedly sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl, a student of the same school.

N Navin Kumar, the accused, allegedly sexually abused the girl, a class 8 student, said inspector Y Narsimha Reddy.

The girl informed her parents on Friday evening. The parents and local residents went to the school and some of them allegedly roughed up the principal, police said.

Police registered a case against the principal under relevant sections of IPC and Protection of Children From Sexual Offences Act.

Police didnt confirm if the principal had been detained or arrested.
A 29-year-old man died in Hyderabad under suspicious circumstances, just hours after he was called to a police station on a complaint that he was teasing and harassing his sister-in-law.

P Ramus family members alleged that he died due to beating by police, but police officials denied the allegation and claimed that he died due to lack of food and rest for the last three days.

The man was called to Begumpet police station on Friday evening, after his father-in-law Jayaram complained that he was teasing and harassing his younger daughter Radhika (16).

Police said Ramu was called and counselled in presence of all family members, including his wife Rajni, as his father-in-law did not want to lodge an FIR.

The police sub-inspector registered a petty case and asked Ramu to come to the police station on Monday with his Aadhaar card.

On returning home, Ramu complained of giddiness and was taken to a physician in Pattigadda, who advised him rest. He again had the same complaint and was taken to the KIMS Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on Friday night. Doctors said the cause was unknown.

Police said Ramu did not have food and rest for three days due to the problems created by his actions in the family. They also claimed that the man was a chronic diabetic.

The body was shifted to government-run Gandhi Hospital, where an autopsy was conducted on Saturday.

Congress leader M Sashidhar Reddy joined the relatives of Ramu at the hospital to demand a thorough probe into the youths death.

Earlier, the deceaseds relatives staged a protest at the police station, demanding action against police personnel who allegedly beat up Ramu.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a veiled dig at Pakistan on Saturday, saying it breeds, inspires and encourages terrorism.

In an oblique reference to Pakistan, a joint statement issued after his meeting with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the fight against terrorism should also identify, hold accountable and take strong measures against States and entities which encourage, support and finance terrorism and falsely extol their virtues.

There is one thought in South Asia which breeds, inspires and encourages terrorism. The thought whose priority is not humanity, but extremism and terrorism, Modi said, without naming the neighbouring country.

He was speaking at a ceremony where families of martyrs of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War were felicitated.

Hasina, who is on a four-day visit to India, too paid tributes to Indian soldiers who died in the Liberation War that gave birth to her country.

Our region is defined by three ideologies, which are a reflection of the thinking of the society and government. One thought is focused on economic development, to take all social groups along. Bangladesh is an example of this, Modi said.

The second thought is Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas (bringing everyone together for development). Every neighbouring country of India should also prosper. Development of India alone will be incomplete, he said.

In a reference to Pakistan, he said there was a third type of mentality that keeps terrorism above humanity.

The main aim is to spread terrorism. A mindset in which policymakers feel terrorism is bigger than humanity, destruction is bigger than creation and betrayal is bigger than trust. This mentality is the biggest challenge to peace, social harmony and development. This mentality obstructs development in whole region, Modi said, adding that both India and Bangladesh were its victims.

We wish that citizens of all countries move towards development. But for this terrorism, and terrorist mentality has to be abandoned, he added.

The joint statement devoted a substantial part on terrorism.

The conviction that the fight against terrorism should not only seek to disrupt and eliminate terrorists, terror organizations and networks, but should also identify, hold accountable and take strong measures against States and entities which encourage, support and finance terrorism, provide sanctuary to terrorists and terror groups, and falsely extol their virtues, the statement said.

They also shared the view that there should be no glorification of terrorists as martyrs.
When chartered accountant Vamika Bahety came to Delhi after her marriage two years ago, she found an easy option in joining her in-laws successful footwear business to utilise her skills in managing their accounts.

But when she learnt that her familys two-acre land was lying idle in Tandaheri village of Haryanas Jhajjar, the nature lover inside her refused to focus on accountancy anymore. A thorough research, a supportive family and a blend of technology and marketing was what it took for this 26-year-old to start floriculture on her land, which has garnered her a Rs 1.5-crore turnover in just over a year.

When I informed my family about my desire to grow flowers on our land, they supported the idea and lent all their help. To make it more successful, we bought more land around ours. At present, we are cultivating on 13.5 acres, she said.

With no background in agriculture whatsoever, Bahetys journey to follow her passion was full of challenges, considering the skilled labour in this field is hard to find and to grow beautiful flowers, you need canal water that is scarce in Jhajjar, which is awaiting the completion of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal.

She spent almost a year in doing her research, meeting floriculturists across region, analysing why this business would fade for many before it could blossom.

Challenges were many. To tackle the water problem, we built our own storage system of 5 lakh litres on our land. From what I could find during my research, most farmers started this business for one-time government subsidy without thinking it through, she shared.

She grows a variety of flowers, including Lilium, Gerbera, Rose, Gladiolus, Tube Rose (Rajnigandha) and Chrysanthemum (Guldaudi).

To take the business further, she now plans to set up hi-technology poly house with cooling pads and fans to control temperature, to grow Carnation in Haryanas hot weather.

Besides agriculture, Bahety ensured the market of her crops was not limited to wholesale mandis. She tied up with banquet halls in Delhi national capital region (NCR) and started supplying flowers for the wedding season. All my flowers are sold to banquet halls. There is no dearth of demand, especially during wedding season, when I even transport them to Jaipur and other neighbouring cities, she said.

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India announced a $5-billion loan to Bangladesh on Saturday and signed bilateral pacts to step up nuclear and defence cooperation between the neighbours, though the contentious Teesta water sharing-deal remained elusive.

The line of credit was the biggest offered to any country at one go by India and underlined New Delhis efforts to wean away Dhaka from China, the biggest supplier of defence equipment to Bangladesh for many years.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi kept hopes alive for early signing of the Teesta pact after a 90-minute meeting with his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina, who is on a four-day visit to India, her first since the BJP government came to power.

I firmly believe that it is only my government and...your government, that can and will find an early solution to Teesta water sharing, Modi said at a press briefing.

Bengal chief minister Mamat Banerjee was opposed to the pact which is seen as vital for millions of farmers in Bangladesh. A deal was aborted at the very last minute during former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singhs visit to Bangladesh in 2011.

In 2015, Modi signed a historic land border pact with Dhaka, removing a major irritant and infusing a new warmth between the two countries that share a 4,097 kilometre-long porous border.

While 22 pacts were signed on Saturday, the two countries are expected to sign another 12 business deals which would entail investments of $9 billion.

Out of the $5 billion credit, $4.5 billion is for infrastructure such as roads, ports, airports and setting up power transmission lines. The other $500 million is for buying defence equipment from India.

This took Indias total line of credit to Bangladesh to $8 billion in the past six years.

India has always stood for the prosperity of Bangladesh and its people. We are a long-standing and trusted development partner of Bangladesh, Modi added.

We want to build cooperation in new areas, especially some high-technology areas that have a deeper connect with the youth in both our societies.

The Prime Minister also said both sides agreed that peace, security and development for people of the two countries and for the region will remain central engagement between the two neighbours.

On her part, Hasina said her government will take all necessary steps to ensure peace and security along the Indo-Bangla border and asserted that there will be zero-tolerance against terror.

Her comments came amid a spate of attacks on the Hindu community in Bangladesh.

Later at a function, Hasina honoured 1,661 Indian soldiers killed during the Bangladeshs war of liberation from Pakistan. Indias intervention on behalf of Bangladeshs independence fighters proved decisive in that conflict.

Hasina, whose Awami League is historically seen as more sympathetic to India than its arch-rival Bangladesh Nationalist Party, said the two countries will jointly produce a documentary on the 1971 War of Liberation of Bangladesh, a move that is likely to irk Pakistan.

(With agency inputs)

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A day after Air India revoked a flying ban imposed on Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, the Federation of Indian Airlines, comprising four leading private carriers, followed suit on Saturday.

The federation comprises Jet Airways, SpiceJet, GoAir and IndiGo.

Gaikwad, an MP from Osmanabad in Maharashtra, was banned by the airlines after he assaulted an Air India manager at Delhi airport on March 23. He also admitted on TV that he hit the employee with his slippers 25 times.

Since the incident, the national carrier had blocked seven attempts by Gaikwad to book tickets by changing the spelling of surname and using different prefixes such as Prof and Dr.

The Shiv Sena protested in Parliament disrupting the House, and threatened to stop all flights out of its stronghold Mumbai. An ally of the ruling BJP at the Centre and Maharashtra, the party also threatened to skip a meeting of the NDA next week.

The Centre then moved in to defuse the crisis, and on Friday, sources said the civil aviation ministry asked Air India as well as other airlines to lift the ban citing the undertaking of good conduct given by Gaikwad.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina held talks on key bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual concern.

The leaders also explored ways to strengthen bilateral ties in key strategic areas of defence, security, trade and energy.

After their restricted meeting at the Hyderabad House in Delhi, the two leaders were joined by their respective delegations. Hasina, who arrived in India on Friday on a four-day trip will visit Ajmer on Sunday and will also meet Indian business leaders on Monday.

This is the Bangladesh Prime Ministers first bilateral visit to India in seven years. She had last visited in 2010.

Over 20 agreements, including a civil nuclear agreement and two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) on defence cooperation, were signed after the bilateral talks.

Here are updates from a joint briefing by Modi and Hasina:

*Trial run of passenger train between Bangladeshs Khulna city and Kolkata begins with arrival of train at Petrapole station along border.

*Energy security is an important dimension of India-Bangladesh development partnership and it continues to grow: PM Narendra Modi.

*PM Narendra Modi announces a new line of concessional credit of $4.5 billion for implementation of projects in Bangladesh.

*Held productive talks on wide-ranging issues including on civil nuclear cooperation: PM Narendra Modi

*India and Bangladesh ink 22 pacts in various key sectors.

*Peace, security, development central to engagement: PM Narendra Modi

*Bangaldeshs zero tolerance policy towards terrorism is an inspiration: PM Narendra Modi

*We are happy to announce US$ 500 million line of credit to Bangladesh: PM Narendra Modi
New Delhi: Today, Sheikh Hasina- the Prime Minister of Bangladesh applauds India's growth & development in the education sector and technology & also admired nation's effort for contributing immensely in the War of Liberation.

Hasina said, "India is our most important neighbor and one of our key development partner. India has made invaluable contributions in our war of liberation for which we are deeply grateful. This nation has attained commendable development in the areas of economy, education, science, technology and innovations in the recent years,"
The Patna police, on Saturday, booked a doctor who is pursuing a course at the Patna medical college and hospital (PMCH), on the basis of a womans allegation that he had exploited her sexually, on the promise that he would marry her.

The arrested doctor has been identified as Amit Premchand, a resident of Nagpur in Maharashtra. He is pursuing a Doctor of Medicine (MD) course in pathology at PMCH. He is staying at present in PG Boys hostel, on the PMCH premises.

Confirming the doctors arrest, Patnas City SP (Central) Chandan Kumar Kushwaha said that the complainant, a resident of B N Arya road in Patnas Alamganj police station area, had claimed that she was exploited sexually for several months by Premchand.

The incident came to the fore when the woman, along with her family members, reached the Pirbahore police station in central Patna, and lodged a complaint against the doctor.

In her complaint, the woman said she had first met the accused at Golds Gym in Rajendra Nagar locality of central Patna, on April 25, 2016. She became friends with him after she came to know that he was a doctor studying at PMCH.

Later, she claimed, Premchand proposed to marry her and started visiting her house. After a few weeks, the woman claimed, he took her to his hostel and the two became physically familiar. Thereafter, he exploited her sexually on several occasions, on the pretext of marriage.

In October 2016, said the woman, their mothers met each other and decided to fix the date of their wedding. As per the complainant womans claim, the wedding plan fell through when the boys side demanded Rs 50 lakh from her family, as dowry.

As such, feeling she had been wronged, the woman lodged an FIR in this regard at the Pirbahore police station, under IPC sections 376 (rape), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace).

She also submitted proof of her relationship with the doctor, to the police. A medical examination was conducted on the woman and her statement was recorded under section 167 of CrPC, in presence of the judicial magistrate of the Patna civil court.

Thereafter, Premchand was arrested and produced in court.

Premchand, oOn the other hand, said that he was agreeable to wed the woman and waited for her to say yes, from October 2016 till the Holi festival last month. But she kept dilly-dallying.

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Married to a man 24 years older to her against her wishes, a Muslim minor girl from Jharkhands Dhanbad district refused to return with him following her maiden visit to her parents house after marriage.

The 16-year-old from Kumardhubi locality may not have mustered enough courage to sever the marriage her parents had solemnised, but she was brave enough to dodge her husband and board another train that took her to Raipur while the couple were returning to Gujarat after the girl spent a few days at her parents place.

Though the incident is around two months old, the Dhanbad Child Welfare Committee (CWC) brought the matter to fore on Thursday when they handed over the aggrieved girl to her parents after nearly a month long rehabilitation and counselling.

Before reuniting the girl with her parents, the CWC gave the family a sound piece of advice on the legal hassles involving child marriages and warned them of stern action if they pressed the girl to go to her over-aged husband, who has children from his now-estranged first wife.

The CWC is also mooting legal actions against the husband, Shakkar Khan, a resident of Kutch in Gujarat and have summoned him.

I dont want to go back to the hell. I want to study, said the girl at the CWC office, as she narrated her ordeal.

The incident has surfaced at a time when there is a raging debate over the banning of triple talaqby which a Muslim man utters the word talaq thrice and divorces his wifein India. Several womens organisations have opposed the Muslim Personal Law Boards support to the controversial process that has ruined the lives of many Muslim women in the country.

The CWC also has asked the parents to resume her studies that were disrupted due to the marriage solemnised on September 30 last year without the girls consent, said CWC member, Shankar Rawani.

He said the committee has also decided to keep a tab on the welfare of the girl, who was studying in Class 9 at a government school when she was married.

Narrating her ordeal, the girl said she her husband had recently divorced his first wife but had kept it a secret. She said she came to know about his first marriage when she reached Gujarat.

Around a month after marriage, she came to Dhanbad. The husband came to take her back in January end. Since her father, Firoz Gazi is a rickshaw puller and had two more daughters to marry off, she did not protest and went with her husband to the railway station.

At the Dhanbad railway station, she dodged her husband and boarded a train that took her to Raipur in Chattishgarh. Finding her roaming aimlessly at the Raipur station, the railway police took her to the Raipur CWC.

She was kept in child welfare home for nearly a month before Raipur CWC contacted their Dhanbad counterparts to take her to her parents.

I have four daughters. The eldest one was married two years ago. She is my second daughter. I married her off simply to rid myself off the responsibilities as early as possible. With the meagre income, I cannot afford good education to my children. Hence, marrying them off early is the only solution left with me, said the rickshaw puller, unregretful of his action, but pleading for mercy before the CWC.

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Militants opened fire on Saturday at a police team near an election meeting venue of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in poll-bound Anantnag district in south Kashmir and fled the scene, police said.

No one was injured in the firing in Magray Mohalla in Achabal, 65 km from Srinagar.

The militants fired at a police party patrolling the area, even as the meeting, chaired by Jammu and Kashmir minister for consumer affairs and public distribution Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali, remained unaffected and later concluded peacefully, police said.

The policemen fired in retaliation and immediately cordoned off the area. There was no report of any casualty on either side, the official said.

The meeting was being held in connection with the Lok Sabha bypoll in Anantnag scheduled for April 12.

The official said the militants apparently fired a few shots to scare the voters but fled the scene due to heavy presence of police and paramilitary personnel.

A search operation was launched to track down the militants.
New Delhi and Dhaka have agreed to jointly produce a documentary film on the Liberation War of Bangladesh, that resulted in the countrys freedom from Pakistan.

To mark the Golden Jubilee Year of Bangladeshs independence in 2021, we have agreed to jointly produce a documentary film on the Liberation War of Bangladesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said during a joint press briefing on Saturday.

PM Modi also announced naming of a prominent road in New Delhi after Bangladeshs founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, asserting that he was a dear friend of India and a towering leader.

The Park Street road of New Delhi will be renamed after Mujibur Rahman. The New Delhi Municipal Council approved its renaming a day before Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had arrived on a four-day visit to India.

The two neighbouring countries will also jointly produce a film on the life and works of Mujibur Rahman, fondly called Bangabandhu, which will be released on his birth centenary year in 2020.

We have also agreed to jointly produce a film on the life and works of Bangabandhu which will be released on his birth centenary year in 2020, Prime Minister Modi said.

Prime Minister Modi along with visiting Prime Minister Hasina released the Hindi translation of Bangbandhus Unfinished Memoirs.

His life, struggle and contribution to the creation of Bangladesh will continue to inspire future generations, he said.
The administration in Odishas Bhadrak extended curfew in the riot-hit coastal town until 8am on Sunday in view of simmering tensions over objectionable Facebook posts that had sparked communal violence over the past two days.

Barring few incidents of looting and ransacking, there has been no large-scale violence or casualties reported , Odisha director general of police KB Singh said on Saturday. No once should react to messages on social media or rumours, he said.

Bhadrak in coastal Odisha witnessed violence after some allegedly disparaging comments were posted on the Facebook page of a RSS-linked Viswa Hindu Parishad(VHP) activist on Ram Navami. Agitated VHP and Bajrang Dal activists thereafter took to the streets, demanding the arrest of the culprits. Several shops in the town were ransacked and set on fire during the protests.

A man and a child behind closed doors in their Bhadrak residence. (Arabinda Mahapatra/HT Photo)

On Saturday, the main market of the town by the side of National Highway 5 wore a deserted look with smoke still smouldering from shops that were set ablaze.

I had gone to a nearby tea stall when I heard slogan shouting. By the time I could come back, the rioters had set everything on fire, said a vegetable vendor. Kacheri Bazar, Chandan Bazar, Charampa Square and the area around the Town Police Station were the worst hit neighbourhoods.

Police officials said 35 persons from both Hindu and Muslim communities have been arrested over their involvement in the last two days riots. Three separate FIRs have been registered by two groups over the unrest at Bhadrak Town Police Station.

Local people alleged that the situation deteriorated due to lack of administrative foresight. There was no district collector since March 31 when the incumbent retired, said Ranjit Kar, a resident of the town.

Meanwhile, CM Naveen Patnaik and other politicians appealed to locals to maintain peace. Union minister for petroleum and natural gas Dharmendra Pradhan said he has requested union home minister Rajnath Singh to send two companies of central paramilitary force to Bhadrak to deal with the situation.
Electoral promises routinely remain unfulfilled and manifestos turn out to be mere pieces of paper for which political parties must be held accountable, Chief Justice of India JS Khehar said on Saturday.

Nowadays, manifestos have become a mere piece of paper, for this political parties have to be made accountable, the CJI said at a seminar titled Economic Reforms with Reference to Electoral issues.

The CJI, speaking in the presence of President Pranab Mukherjee, said political parties give brazen excuses like lack of consensus among their members to justify non-fulfilment of poll promises.

On the manifestos released by parties during the 2014 general elections, Justice Khehar said none of them indicated any link between electoral reforms and Constitutional goal of ensuring economic-social justice for the SC/STs and other weaker sections of society.

He also said that economic growth has to be coupled with economic justice and economic harmony.

He said pursuant to the Supreme Courts directions to the Election Commission to formulate guidelines against freebies, the poll panel has been taking action against parties for violation of the model code of conduct.

Justice Dipak Misra, the next senior-most judge, also stressed upon the need for electoral reforms saying that purchasing power has no room in elections and a candidate must bear in mind that contesting elections is not an investment.

He said holding of elections has to be bereft of or sans criminalisation and people should vote for candidates based on their high moral and ethical values and not on their competitive demerits.

Calling for the accountability of the elected representatives, President Mukherjee in his inaugural address said that all political parties will have to develop a voluntary code of conduct for their working.

He said that except for the two general elections of 1957 and 1984, in no election since has any party in the Lok Sabha secured 50 plus percentage of votes. Even in 1984, the Congress under late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi got only 48.6% of votes.

Mukherjee said that the difficulty was that those getting less than 50% votes and not in power have every thing but no accountability.

Calling for a healthy debate, the President said that Parliament was not just a deliberating body but also a decision making body.
Police are looking for two men suspected of fatally shooting Vikram Jaryal, an Indian who had arrived in the US recently and was working as a clerk at a convenience store in Yakima City, Washington state, on Thursday.

According to police, Jaryal told them his assailants had robbed him. He died of the wounds in hospital.

The assailants were caught on the stores surveillance camera. One of them was wearing a black sweatshirt with a green and white design and black pants. The other one was wearing a black hoodie with white and gray on the back, and tan pants.

There was no report or suggestion the shooting was a hate crime.

Preet Singh, owner of the AM/PM convenience store where Jaryal was shot, told local news media outlets, We are very upset. I dont really know what to say right now except that were very upset.

He added Jaryals family lived on the east coast.

Yakima Herald, a local news outlet, said this was at least the seventh robbery at a Yakima convenience store this year.

Indian external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said in a string of tweets that the government was in touch with US agencies. We are coordinating with the investigative agencies. They have got the CCTV footage and are in the process of apprehending the culprits.

Swaraj, who was contacted by Jaryals family from Hoshiarpur, said the victim had arrived in the US only 25 days ago.

The Indian consulate in San Francisco was in touch with the family.
It was destiny that took Vikram Jaryal from Punjab to the US, else he was to go to England for the merchant navy second mate test. The 26-year-old, who was shot dead in Washingtons Yakima city on Thursday, had joined his friends convenience store only two days before he was killed.

Vikrams elder brother Inderjit said in Hoshiarpur that both of them served in the merchant navy.

Vikram was to undertake the examination after signing off his current assignment but he postponed it to the year-end and instead obtained a tourist visa to the US for a short vacation, said Inderjit, who was the first to be told about his brothers death.

Vikram spoke to his family members last on April 5 to inform them that he was having a good time in the US and would return in a few days.

Family and friends mourn the death of Vikram Jaryal in his native village Jandwal. (Harpreet Kaur/HT Photo)

We still cant believe he is no more. I wish he had not gone there,said his grief-stricken father, subedar Parshottam Singh (retd). His mother Poonam is in shock.

The family is awaiting the body. Inderjit urged external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj to arrange for the early release of the body to which the minister responded positively and tweeted that India was coordinating with investigation agencies in the US to get the culprits apprehended.

I have received a report on the shootout incident resulting in the tragic death of Indian national Vikram Jaryal in Washington State USA./1  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) April 8, 2017

Inderjit said the Indian consulate in San Francisco was in touch with the family and assured them of sending the body back early next week.

They said Saturday and Sunday are holidays so the death certificate and other formalities can be completed only on Monday, he added.
Union water resources minister Uma Bharti on Saturday asserted that Ram temple in Ayodhya was a matter of belief for her and she was ready to go to jail for it.

Ram temple is a matter of belief for me and I have immense pride in it...if I have to go to jail for it I will go, if I have to hang myself for it I will do it, the firebrand BJP leader, who was part of Ram temple movement, told newspersons after meeting Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

Asked if the issue of Ram temple construction in Ayodhya figured in the talks with Adityanath, she said, We dont need to talk about Ram temple...we (Uma and Yogi) are not strangers on this issue... Yogijis guru Mahant Avaidnath was the leader of the temple movement.

The Union minister said that since the matter is pending in the Supreme Court she would refrain from speaking much on it but pointed out that the apex court has noted that the matter could be resolved outside the court.

The Supreme Court had recently reserved its order on a petition seeking restoration of conspiracy charges against Bharti and other senior BJP leaders, including L K Advani and MM Joshi, in the Babri Masjid demolition case.
Amid the row over Vande Mataram, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday hit out at those refusing to sing the national song, saying it reflected their narrow mindedness.

Some people are saying that we will not sing Vande Matram... we want this country to move ahead in the 21st century and the matter of dispute is that we will sing Vande Matram or not...this is a matter of concern, he said.

We will have to find a way out to overcome this narrow mindedness, Adityanath said.

The CM was speaking at a book release function at the Raj Bhawan in Lucknow.

His remarks came against the backdrop of Samajwadi Party corporators protesting a proposal to make singing of the national song compulsory at commencement of proceedings of a meeting of Allahabad municipal corporation.

The recent incident came days after municipal corporations in Meerut and Varanasi too witnessed similar ruckus over the issue.

Recalling the 150th anniversary functions of the Allahabad high court, the chief minister said it had commenced with the rendition of Vande Matram.

It was such a good sight... it was a grand function, a historical one. The Prime Minister of the country was present at the concluding function. The Chief Justice of India and the Governor of the state were also present. The function itself started with the national song, the chief minister noted.
New Delhi: Today, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina received the ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

As per the Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "he will hold talks with his Bangladeshi counterpart during which they will discuss ways to further deepen ties between India and Bangladesh."

The talk between PM Modi & Bangladeshi counterpart will be decided to take place later in the day.

However, there are two agreements expected to be signed in the defense area.

Later, Prime Minister Modi tweeted:

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Air India removes ban from Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad

Deputy manager job vacancy in National Highways Authority of India

Bangladesh PM Hasina received by PM Modi in New Delhi Airport
Refusing to apologise to the Air India official whom he allegedly thrashed, Shiv Sena MP Ravendra Gaikwad said on Saturday he would only tender an apology from Parliament for disrespecting its dignity.

Asserting that it was a small conflict, Gaikwad said the staff of the airline is mad and around eight such cases of indulging into brawl have been registered against him.

The Air India staff had started the conflict. It was his fault, why would I apologise. I will apologise to the Parliament if my action damaged its dignity. It was just a small conflict. The staff is mad and around eight such cases of indulging into brawl have been registered against him, Gaikwad told ANI.

He further said that the flying ban imposed on him was not right as no airline can bar any flier.

Gaikwad said his complaints were not addressed, adding that if this was Air Indias behaviour towards a peoples representative then what it would be towards a common man.

Air India lifted ban on Gaikwad on Friday after a request from civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju.

The development comes a day after the Shiv Sena MP tendered an apology to the aviation minister, expressing regret over the incident.

Air India earlier on Thursday announced that it had cancelled Gaikwads Delhi-Mumbai round tickets for April 17 and 24.

However, Gaikwad said that he neither booked a ticket for April 17 nor for April 24 as shown by the media.

It is learnt through media that I have booked the tickets for Air India to travel from Delhi to Mumbai for 17 and 24 April and my defaming is continued. On this connection, I would like to make it clear that I have neither booked a ticket for 17 nor 24th April, 2017 for any airline as being aired by media as the session will be sin-e-die on 13th April 2017, Gaikwad said in a statement.

Air India and six private airlines banned the 56-year-old MP from flying as he refused to apologise for the incident that triggered nationwide outrage.
The government is planning a national no-fly list to keep unruly passengers off flights, junior civil aviation minister Jayant Sinha said on Saturday, defending a decision to revoke an air travel ban on controversial Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad.

In a series of tweets, Sinha insisted that investigation into cases lodged against Gaikwad  accused of assaulting an elderly Air India employee on board a flight last month  would continue and that the safety and security of passengers and crew was the governments priority.

Unruly / disruptive behaviour will result in severe consequences. This includes police action for a specific incident as well as being placed on a no-fly list, the Hazaribagh MP wrote.

MoCA is strengthening rules so that a national no-fly list can be implemented, such incidents can be prevented, and safety improved.

Police investigations regarding Shri Gaikwad's conduct during the Mar 23 incident are underway and the law will take its own course 2/n  Jayant Sinha (@jayantsinha) April 8, 2017

Air India and five other airlines banned the Osmanabad MP from flying hours after videos of the alleged assault went viral on social media. The ban was lifted on Friday after the civil aviation ministry intervened, following Gaikwads apology to Parliament and letter of regret to minister Ashok Gajapati Raju.

Sinha defended the decision that many say lets the MP off the hook without even an actual apology to the victim, 60-year-old Air India employee Sukumar. A flying ban is meant to prevent future unruly behaviour, not to punish past behaviour. We now have an undertaking for future behaviour.

Answer: Case has been registered against Shri Gaikwad including Sections 308 (culpable homicide) and 355 (assault) for Mar 23 incident. https://t.co/Z7qziZ5yGH  Jayant Sinha (@jayantsinha) April 8, 2017

Shri Gaikwad apologised and provided undertaking that such incidents will not reoccur. Therefore AI has been advised to revoke his ban 1/n  Jayant Sinha (@jayantsinha) April 8, 2017

The airlines had demanded a no-fly list that exists in some countries such as the United States but which many say is biased against people of particular races religions. Gaikwad has remained defiant and refused to apologise to the Air India employee, calling the staff mad.

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An Orwellian feeling of being watched by several pairs of eyes writs large on the face of a soft-spoken bearded elderly man, sitting on the floor of Shahjahani mosque at the Sufi shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer.

Kehne ko to bohot kuchh hai magar hamein paabandi hain media se baat karne ke liye (We have a lot to say but we have been asked not to speak to the media), he says.

A green strap looped around the collar of his grey kurta suspends his identity-card that proclaims his Pakistani nationality.

He is the victim of his identity.

Aap naraaz na hoyein (Please do not get upset), says his companion, before turning to the fellow green-strap wearers, uttering something in Pashto.

The men get up and leave. But not before, one of them says that hell be questioned for half an hour even about this cursory exchange.

This year 402 pilgrims from Pakistan have come to Ajmer for the 805th death anniversary, better known as Urs in the subcontinent, of the Sufi saint.

Pilgrims often are the casualty of the strained relations between the two neighbours, as was the case in 2013 and 2014 when the visit of Pakistani pilgrims was cancelled.

The cancellation was caused by mounting tension following the death of Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh in a Pakistan jail. The death of Pakistani national Sanaullah Ranjay in a jail in Jammu was also one of the contributing factors.

For the last three years, the visit of Pakistani pilgrims to Ajmer, however, has remained unhindered.

The week-long Urs celebration that ended on Friday saw an attendance of over two lakh devotees.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and state chief minister Vasundhara Raje sent chadors as offerings at the shrine.

Nearly 4,500 police personnel were deployed at the shrine, which was the site for a bomb blast by Hindu-right wing groups ten years ago that killed three.

A few kilometres from the shrine, away from the many minuscule shops selling kebabs and other non-vegetarian delicacies, Pakistanis are staying at the Government Central Girls School.

Intelligence personnel with sinewy hands sit outside the school throwing furtive glances around, pretending to be purposeless. The heavy security at the school gate refuses to allow the press inside the campus.

After much negotiation, and a few calls to senior officials, the police agree to bring the head of Pakistani contingent outside the school. Ali Khan, a 60-year-old resident of Islamabad, comes out, accompanied by an official of the Pakistan High Commission in India, with an indulgent smile on his face.

With police and intelligence men sitting around, Khan dilates on how much he is loving his first visit to India.

When we got down at the railway station and saw the security personnel sent for us, we felt reassured that we are being taken care of here, he says.

A railway official in India asked Khan about the railway system in Pakistan. Its the same, we too have TTs like you have here, they carry a notebook in their pockets and they roam around in the train, just like they do here, Khan told him.

When he was leaving Pakistan for Ajmer, his daughters made a special farmaaish (request) to him, They want Rajasthani bangles.

The people here are so warmhearted that a few shopkeepers presented us with small gifts upon learning that we were from Pakistan, says Khan.

He says that every year a lot of people apply for visa to come to Ajmer, but only a few are selected through a lucky draw. The Ajmer shrine is equally famous in Pakistan, if not more, he says.

On being asked whether there were any security-related apprehensions among the pilgrims before coming to India, he responds in negative. Nobody thought twice. We invited applications and people flooded us with requests, he says.

At the shrine, another Pakistani opens up and breaks his silence after much persuasion. 70-year-old Azizur Rahman, from Pakistans Faisalabad, is grateful to Khwaja for being given a third chance to visit the shrine.

Khwaja doesnt differentiate on the basis of nationality, he says.

My prayer to Khwaja is that people from both the nations live in peace and relations between the two thrive, says Rahman.
While Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lamas visit to Arunachal Pradesh angered China, Tibetan diaspora has long lived with the paradox of fighting the Red Armys control over their homeland while selling Chinese goods for a living .

Goods manufactured in China are being sold all over the world. We, too, are a part of , admits Tsering Choeden, head of the Tibetan traders association of the Tibetan refugee market. Tsering, 37, is a third-generation Tibetan refugee.

The Tibetan refugee market in Shimla has 76 shops and every other shop is stacked with Chinese merchandise.

What choice do we have? We are refugees  we have to make a living and fend for our families. Whatever we get from Delhi, we sell it. Indian traders, too, get Chinese stuff, says Palden, a shopkeeper.

Not only in Shimla, Chinese goods are present is every market. We are not happy about selling them , but we have little choice, Chukhi, another shopkeeper at the Tibetan market, laments.

There are nearly 200 families living in the two Tibetan settlements in Shimla, one in Sanjauli and the other in Kasumpti area, which also has a small handicraft unit .

We keep meeting Chinese visitors who visit McLeodganj. There is a lot of Chinese merchandise here in McLeodganj, said Lobsang Wangyal, director of Lo Wangyal Productions in Dharamshala.

Wont sell Chinese products

Despite the plethora of Chinese goods available in the market  China is Indias largest trade partner  there are still some Tibetans who refuse to sell Chinese products, instead choosing to only sell good manufactured by members of the exiled Tibetan community.

I have never sold Chinese products . I only sell ethnic Tibetan goods, says Tenzing, who runs a Tibetan handicraft shop on the Shimla Mall road .

When the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, fled Lhasa in 1959 after the Chinese military invaded the erstwhile capital of Lhasa, scores of Tibetans followed him on foot during his 15-day journey to India. Dalai Lama reached Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh on March 1959. Many Tibetans, along with the Dalai Lama, settled in Mussourie initially and later shifted with him to Dharamshala, which is also the headquarters of the Tibetan government -in- exile.

It was on April 29,1959, that the Dalai Lama set up the Tibetan government-in-exile. Dalai Lama continues to strive for autonomy for the China-occupied Tibet.

Many Tibetans initially worked as labourers but, with the passage of time, set up their own businesses. The government-in-exile, with help from the Indian government, assisted Tibetans in setting up of refugee markets that are now present in many Indian states. There are 58 Tibetan settlements across the world  39 major and minor settlements in India, 12 in Nepal and 7 in Bhutan.

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An 11-month-old ambitious, flagship Maharashtra programme that offers incentives to families and village councils to keep and nurture girls burdens mothers with family planning needs, has been crippled by unfulfilled government commitments  and has benefitted no girls, reveals an IndiaSpend investigation.

Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree (My Fortunate Daughter) has no beneficiaries in any of the 36 districts in Indias richest state, according to the latest government data (as of February 2017), disclosed in a right-to-information (RTI) reply, which compiled 38 responses received over two months.

The prime reason for the failure could be a criterion that families find hard to fulfil or balk at: A tubectomy certificate that each mother must submit, to reassure government officials that the family will not take the money and have sons. But the programme has also been stymied by the governments failure to pay associated insurance premia, its inability to galvanise frontline health workers and do anything about these failures.

The states women and child development minister, Pankaja Munde, and minister of state, Vidya Thakur, could not be reached for comments. Mundes phone was switched off on the three attempts that we made to call her and she did not respond to an email and two reminder emails that were sent. Thakur too neither responded to calls that were made thrice nor to the two text messages that were sent. Dadabhau Gunjal, officer on special duty to Munde, said he was not authorised to speak to the media. We will update the story if and when we receive a response.

Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree is supposed to prevent sex determination and female foeticide, improve the states falling child sex ratio and support female education. The programmethe governments most-ambitious yetoffers wide-ranging incentives to parents, grandparents and gram panchayats (village councils).

Families who live below the poverty line (BPL) with up to two daughters and no sons can get up to Rs 153,500 per girl and families above the poverty line (APL) can get up to Rs 105,000, according to the guidelines of Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree.

There were around seven million BPL families and around 16 million APL families statewide on December 31, 2014, according to government data.

Rs 25 crore was allocated for this scheme for the year 2016-17. Until now, none has been spent, said a February 27, 2017, reply from the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) commissionerate in Navi Mumbai to a Right to Information (RTI) application filed by the author.

The unspent money includes Rs 1.25 crore (5% of the allocation) for publicity. However, expenditure data of the scheme for March 2017 on the state finance departments Budget Estimation, Allocation and Monitoring System shows that Rs 21.82 lakh has been utilised under the head advertising and publicity. There is no expenditure under the remaining budget headsGrant-in-aid (non salary), rewards, other administrative expenses and other chargesmeaning no beneficiaries.

Incentives important In state with 9th lowestand droppingsex ratio

Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree was launched by the Maharashtra government on the lines of Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, the central government programme announced in January 2015. Of 18 welfare schemes that the state women and child development department carries out, Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree is the only direct financial benefit scheme for girls statewide.

Other welfare schemes are either for specific target groups, such as victims of atrocities, destitute women, orphans, and pregnant women, or are implemented only in select districts and provide services such as training, counselling etc.

Maharashtras child sex ratio was 894 girls per 1,000 boys (below the age of six), the ninth-lowest in India, according to Census 2011. The ratio dropped from 946 girls per 1,000 boys in 1991 to 913 in 2001 and 894 in 2011.

Maharashtra also has the most court or police cases filed of any state against sex determination (512) after Rajasthan, which has 621 cases, according to this 2015-16 report of the ministry of health and family welfare.

Felicitating granddaughters, incentives to panchayats and families

The programme offers wide-ranging incentives: Family incentives we mentioned; a gold coin worth Rs 5,000 for paternal grandparents with one or two granddaughters and no grandsons; Rs 500,000 to gram panchayats that improve their child sex ratio, to utilise for girls developmentthe guidelines do not provide details.

Unlike the earlier Sukanya scheme that paid Rs 100,000 after girls turned 18, Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree grants phased benefits and only after ensuring that the cash previously given was used for the purpose it was intended.

Parents from BPL families can get up to Rs 2,000 every year until the girl turns five for her nutrition, and up to Rs 3,000 every academic year until the girl completes grade XII.

Families must submit yearly school-attendance records to be paid. Their daughters will then get Rs 100,000 at age 18, irrespective of family income, on condition that at least Rs 10,000 would be invested for self-employment or higher educationopportunities that elude most women because of early marriage.

Why a tubectomy certificate has become the chief hurdle

No applications to the programme are considered until mothers certify that they have been sterilisedin other words, undergone a tubectomy.

The programmes own officials see this as a hurdle because couples balk at submitting to tubectomies as a means of birth control.

There are many couples who have only two daughters, but are following other means of birth control. When we approached one such couple to inform them about the scheme, they gave to us in writing that they did not want its benefits, said an officialrequesting anonymityfrom the old Khar-Santacruz child development project office in the western suburbs of Mumbai. The office has not found any family willing to apply.

Two applications that his office received had to be rejected, according to Rahul More, child development project officer of Ambernath in Thane district. Both applicants could not produce the family planning operation certificate, according to the RTI reply dated March 7, 2017.

Similarly, until March 22, 2017, no application for the scheme had been received at 10 urban child development project offices in Mumbai  Kurla, Tunga Mohili, Bhandup (East), Bandra (West), Jogeshwari, Shivajinagar, Trombay, Wadala-Sewri, Redlight area and Borivali areas in Mumbai, according to RTI replies received by the author from offices of these areas.

Ten other urban child development project offices in other parts of the stateNanded town in Nanded district, Parbhani city in Parbhani district, Pandharpur town and Solapur-Pandharpur-Barshi area in Solapur district, Mira-Bhayandar city in Thane district, Ahmadnagar  1 city area in Ahmadnagar district, Aurangabad  1 and 2 city areas in Aurangabad district, Sangli city in Sangli district and Ichalkaranji town in Kolhapur districttoo had not received any applications till March 23, 2017.

In Ahmadnagara district marked as gender-critical for low child sex ratio under Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Andolanthe government has not received any application from any of the rural child development project offices in 14 talukas (administrative divisions), according to a March 16, 2017, RTI reply from the section officer, women and child development department, of Ahmadnagar Zilla Parishad (district council).

The urban child development project office in Bhusaval town in Jalgaonanother gender-critical districttoo had received no application, till March 8, 2017.

A programme to nurture girls puts onus of sterilisation on women

While the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao aims to challenge mindsets and deep-rooted patriarchy by empowering women on a life cycle continuum, Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree puts the onus of birth control solely on women.

This approach contradicts the women and child development ministrys draft National Policy on Women 2016, which calls for a change in the focus of sterilisation from women to men.

Female sterilisations in Maharashtra accounted for 50.7% of all family planning methods among currently married women, compared to 0.4% for male sterilisations, according to the National Family Health Survey, 2015-16. Data compiled from district fact sheets also showed the bias against women as no men underwent sterilisation in 17 of the 35 districts surveyed.

I handle many schemes. I cannot speak to you in specifics about any one scheme, Vinita Ved Singhal, principal secretary, state women and child development department, told IndiaSpend.

Other senior officials admitted that population control was an unstated objective of Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree. Hence, the scheme has been linked to sterilisation, according to a senior official from the state women and child development department.

Also, if we remove this condition, the schemes expenditure will increase, said the official. Peoples mentalities wont change any way.

The replies from child development project offices of some areas showed how the government had failed to reach out even to beneficiaries who have undergone tubectomies.

The Andheri  1, Mankhurd, Vikhroli-Kanjurmarg and Govandi child development project offices in Mumbai, the Ratnagiri child development project office in Ratnagiri town and Akola  2 child development project office in Akola city had each received two applications till March 16, 2017, but they were yet to be processed.

We have selected eligible applicants but there are no further guidelines on how benefits are to be transferred or which agency or authority these applications are to be forwarded, said Prema Ghatge, child development project officer of Vikhroli-Kanjurmarg, new Khar-Santacruz and Mankhurd areas. The process to disburse benefits under the scheme is yet to be streamlined.

Satara district had received the maximum number of applications58till March 23, 2017, and 27 have been selected for further procedures.

Sangli district too had received 50 applications till March 31, 2017, with all of them being selected.

There are other hurdles to the programmeunfulfilled government commitmentsthat have not yet been addressed.

Unfulfilled government promises on life insurance, health workers

A government resolution dated March 7, 2017, said an agreement with the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the agency that will distribute final benefits, has not yet been signed.

The scheme says the government will deposit Rs 21,200 with the LIC in the name of a girl after birth, paying a Rs-100 premium every year towards what is called the Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana (Common Man Insurance Scheme), which would also be started for the girls parents.

Families can then claim the final payout of Rs 100,000 when their daughter turns 18, provided she is unmarried and utilises Rs 10,000 for higher education or self-employment.

The state has also not galvanised its 88,272 aanganwadiscourtyard shelters or government-run centres that provide preschool education to children below the age of six years, as well as health, immunisation and nutrition services to them and to pregnant women and lactating motherswhich have been tasked with carrying out surveys in their jurisdiction and handhold parents in applying for the scheme.

There are no written instructions yet to implement this scheme, said Sneha Ghogre (name changed), an aanganwadi helper from a slum near Aundh in Pune. Besides, we are already overburdened.

Aanganwadi workers also said they were already underpaid for the work they do.

We play a vital role in mother and child healthcare, said Ghogre, who has not publicised the programme, a reason for the absence of applications from the slum where she works. Yet, our salaries are so low. She has taken up another job to meet her needs.

Aanganwadi helpers and workers get monthly honoraria of Rs 2,000 and Rs 4,113, respectivelylower than the states minimum wage.

Leaving out families with boysand other flaws that officials havent addressed

The programme, said officials, did not address other issues rooted in gender discrimination. For instance, families that also have male children cannot apply, leaving girls in these families particularly vulnerable.

We have come across families where daughters are discriminated against more if they have brothers, said an official from the old Khar-Santacruz child development project office.

The incentive declines if there are two girls. While Rs 3,000 is granted every year to a single girl for her secondary and higher secondary education from grades VI to XII, two girls get no more than Rs 1,500 every year.

The explanatory guidelines issued on February 22, 2017 have failed to address these problems.

Two inter-departmental committees constituted in February 2016 to monitor the schemethe steering committee chaired by the principal secretary, women and child development, and the executive committee chaired by the ICDS commissionerhave not met.

Minutes cannot be made available as there have been no meetings of these committees, said RTI replies from women and child development department and the ICDS commissionerate dated February 16 and February 27, 2017, respectively.

(Kulkarni is a Mumbai-based freelance journalist, who has worked with Haqdarshak  a social enterprise, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan  a non-party peoples political organisation and Hindustan Times  a newspaper.)
Ben Stokes price-tag of Rs 14.5 crore is the most for any foreign player in 2017 Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Englishman took just two matches to justify that worth for his team Rising Pune Supergiants. But Stokes knock went in vain as Rising Pune Supergiants lost the match in Indore by six wickets. (HIGHLIGHTS)

Against Kings XI Punjab in Indore, Ben Stokes hit a 30-ball 50 to rescue RPS. After reputed batsmen like Steve Smith (26), Ajinkya Rahane (19) and MS Dhoni (5) fell cheaply, Stokes took it upon himself to take RPS towards a decent total in their first home match of the 2017 edition. (SCORECARD)

Kings XI Punjab won their opening match, courtesy a 79-run unbeaten partnership between skipper Glenn Maxwell (44) and David Miller (30).

Stokes came down to bat at No. 4, and almost instantaneously went for the big shots. He started with a six off Swapnil Singh and then went after another left-arm spinner  Axar Patel  as well.

He struck a crucial partnership with Manoj Tiwary and rescued RPS from a tricky situation. He upped the ante towards the reached the half-century mark with the help of three sixes and two fours.

The England all-rounder brought up his maiden IPL fifty in just 30 balls but was dismissed in the very next over by Axar Patel.

Manoj Tiwary capitalised on the foundation provided by Stokes and took RPS to a total of 163/6 in 20 overs.

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Women may be spearheading anti-liquor protests, but they were allotted nearly 42% of liquor shops in Bharatpur district.

The excise department received 11,675 applications for 144 shops in the district -- 32 of Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) and 112 of country-made liquor.

Bharatpur district collector Narendra Kumar Gupta drew the lottery on March 30. Women got 17 of the 32 IMFL shops, and 43 of the 112 country-made liquor shops, officials said.

District excise officer Prakash Chand Regar said, 42% of liquor shops were allotted to women. The department got 22,000 as fee from each applicant for IMFL liquor shops, and 21,000 for country liquor shops. Fees are not returned even if an applicant fails in the draw of lottery.

Though small-scale industries faced a crisis after demonetisation on November 8, applications for liquor shops went up this year -- 232 more than that of last year.

Explaining reason for more women applicants for liquor shops, activist Poonam Chhabra said, Liquor contractors apply for shops in the name of their wives, mothers and sisters. Women wont accept liquor trade as their profession.

Women recently protested against opening of a liquor shop in Barmer. They ended their protest after excise officials assured them that the shop would be shifted out of their area.

The excise department earned about 6,700 crore in 2015-16, and had set a target of 7,300 crore for the current financial year, officials said.

The governments encouragement to increase excise revenue has also triggered protests against liquor shops. Last year, women refused to allow nine liquor shops to open in Alwar city.

People voted for liquor ban in Kacchabali panchayat in Rajsamand district and Rozda pachayat in Jaipur.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered an inquiry into the Mayawati-led BSP governments decision to sell 21 state sugar mills for a song in 2010-2011.

A thorough inquiry should be conducted into the Rs 1,100-crore scam. If necessary, the state government would also recommend a CBI inquiry into the issue, the chief minister said when presentations about sugarcane development department were made before him at his Lal Bahadur Shastri Bhawan office here late on Friday evening.

Adityanath said nobody had any right to sell government properties at unreasonable prices. The state government would not allow anybody to misuse government property under any circumstances, he said.

The Mayawati government had decided to sell 21 sugar mills on June 4, 2007. The running mills put on sale included Amroha, Bijnor, Bulandshahar, Chandpur, Jarval Road, Khadda, Rohana Kalan, Sakauti Tanda, Saharanpur and Siswa Bazar.

As there were accusations of corruption, the opposition had demanded a CBI inquiry. After taking over the reins of the state, the then Samajwadi Party government had ordered a Lokayukta probe on November 6, 2012.

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India in its report had estimated losses to the tune of Rs 1,179.84 crore due to sale of these sugar mills.

It had observed that the land and buildings of the sugar mills were undervalued. Besides concession granted to undervalue the land and buildings of these sugar mills, no stamp duty was levied on the sale.

The auditor had also observed that no competition was possible due to connection among the bidders. It noted that the bidders were aware of the expected value before the bidding was opened. Bids that were 50% below the expected value were kept alive and the Swiss challenge method was used.

The process of opening the bids was changed, the CAG said, adding that the core group of secretaries on disinvestments did not value the land and the buildings appropriately and focused on the discounted cash flow method.

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The Muslims have shown a cautious reaction to the UP governments decision to make Yoga part of state schools curriculum.

Most of the Muslim clerics welcomed introduction of Yoga as a physical exercise, saying the practice was opposed when it was mixed with religion.

Muslim cleric Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahali, who also runs a madarsa said,  I am not averse to Yoga as a physical exercise but if it is given a religious twist then opposition will emerge. As for Surya Namaskar, if it is performed as a physical exercise then there is no question of opposing it but if it is imposed as worship of land or Sun, we will oppose it because in Islam we are supposed to bow only in front of Allah.

Nasir Qureshi, convener of Dargah E- Ala-Hazrat, Bareilly said,  Yoga as a physical exercise will never be opposed but some exercises like Surya Namaskar will always be opposed. I think the state government will respect the sentiments of Muslims in this regard. 

However, Shia cleric and member of the Shia Personal Law Board Maulana Yasoob Abbas, who is also trustee of Shia Post Graduate College, batted for Yoga, saying it was for everyone. He said, I dont think Yoga is associated with any religion. I welcome the step of the state government and will soon start Yoga classes in Shia Post Graduate College, Lucknow, as part of the curriculum.

Maulana Abbas had hogged the limelight when he shared the stage with union home minister Rajnath Singh on International Yoga Day at the KD Singh Babu stadium here on June 21 2016.

Islam is not so weak that it should feel threatened by Yoga or Vande Mataram, Maulana Abbas told HT.

Please do not associate Yoga with any religion. Yoga is directly related with health, Maulana Abbas said.

Abbas also took on clerics who often issued fatwa against Yoga urging Muslims community to shun it.

Clerics who issue fatwa against Yoga have only one thing in mind and that is personal fame by courting controversy, said Abbas.

In the backdrop of all controversy and misconceptions related with Yoga, especially among members of Muslim community, Maulana Abbas wants to reach out to members of his community to dispel misconceptions about Yoga.

I want to clear all misgivings about Yoga among Muslims. And what can be a better way than starting Yoga classes in Shia College, he said.

There is no compulsion on chanting of Om while doing Yoga. Muslims are free to chant the name of Allah while performing Yoga, he said.

Dr Mansoor Hasan, a noted cardiologist of the city said,

I have been practising Yoga for the past 50 years and I still remain a devout Muslim. Those who talk against Yoga must remember that it has nothing to with any religion. Anyone can practice yoga and lead a healthy life. If it is made part of a curriculum, then it would surely benefit the students.

Read more: Yoga becomes part of school curriculum in Uttar Pradesh

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With the rule of law violently challenged in our world today, a much-retold Indian story, the Mahajanaka Jataka, may offer perspective.

The Bodhisattva appeared in this tale as the prince of Mithila. His father, the king, was killed by a younger brother in a palace coup. The pregnant queen fled disguised as a poor woman, hiding some jewels in a packet of muddy rice.

Unused to the outside world, she trustingly asked passersby the way to the kingdom of Champa, the only faraway place she knew of. Her plight attracted the pity of Sakra (Indra), king of the Devas. He came by disguised as a man with a fine, cushioned cart and offered to take her to Champa, getting her there overnight by magic. The queen then went to bathe in the river. The enlightened being she carried made her glow and she caught the eye of a wise, kind priest, who, like Valmiki had once saved Sita, took her home as his adopted sister.

The Bodhisattva was born in safety and the queen named him Mahajanaka, meaning Happy Outcome or Fruitful, after his royal grandfather. Though a bright, beautiful boy, the Bodhisattva was often taunted as the widows son. At 16, he made his mother tell him who his father was, which gave him confidence.

He took a portion of the jewels his mother had saved and took ship to Suvarnabhumi, the golden land across the Eastern Sea, to make his fortune in trade before he went to Mithila to win back his kingdom.

Also by this author: How we depict demons, and what that says about us

More than 350 people from seven caravans were crowded on board ship. When it hit a storm in the high seas, it began to flounder. The Bodhisattva filled his stomach with ghee and sugar to nourish him until heaven knew when, hastily rubbed oil over his limbs for insulation from cold sea water, climbed to the top of the mast and jumped as far as he could. In this way, he escaped the turtles and sharks circling the sinking vessel.

He swam back resolutely towards India, pouring all his energy into the effort. He did not stop trying, despite being alone in the ocean.

After seven long days, Manimekhala, the goddess of the Eastern Sea, deputed to save the deserving, returned from a visit to friends and spotted the Bodhisattva. She floated above him and, to test his worthiness, asked, Unable to see the shore, why are you nevertheless trying to reach it?

Goddess, I know that effort is human duty. So though I cannot see the shore from the middle of the ocean, I wont stop trying, he answered.

Wishing to test him more, she said, The ocean stretches much farther than you imagine. Your effort is useless, you are bound to die.

The prince said, Dear goddess, how can effort ever be useless? He who never gives up will have a clear conscience. He wont be blamed, either by society or by the gods. Plans may succeed or fail. But knowing you did your best while you could is the reward.

Pleased, the goddess whisked him ashore and, soon after, he won Mithila back.

shebaba09@gmail.com

(The views expressed are personal)

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A revolution knocks on the door  and it comes with a fork and knife. The world of food is more exciting than ever before. New restaurants are coming up offering novel cuisines or digging out old ones. Chefs are looking at unusual ingredients and dramatic ways of presenting food. Meanwhile, some wizened old experts continue to wield magic with their skewers and ladles in remote parts of the city. There is a world waiting to be discovered or re-embraced new cooking styles, world food, sub-regional cuisine and tiny holes in the wall which produce the most delightful dishes. Heres a guided tour.

I was invited to a sadya, as special Kerala meals are called, at a friends house some months ago - and what a feast it was. Every time I think of the 19-course meal that I had, my mouth starts to water.

We ate on the floor, seated on rugs and sheets that had been folded up horizontally. On banana leaves placed in front us were a few thick vegetable dishes, papadam, pickles and a small banana. The rice came once we were seated, and then followed, one by one, a host of vegetable and lentil curries. The payasam  thickened and sweetened milk  came last. But the banana was what we ended the meal with.

The elaborate meal marked the festival of Onam. And I am reminded of it because Keralas Vishu festival is just round the corner. Vishu, on April 14, is also a day for feasting, though it may not be as elaborate as the Onam fare.

This is the time when people across the country mark their traditional New Year. If it is Vishu in Kerala, there is Bihu in Assam, Baisakhi in the north and Poila Boisakh in Bengal. And each of the festivals is marked with a feast.

I am fond of Kerala food, so I am looking forward to a happy Vishu meal. And whats great is the fact that it is no longer difficult to find good Kerala food in Delhi restaurants.

There was a time when little was known of Kerala cuisine in the north. One of the first eateries that gave Dilliwallahs a taste of Kerala food  way back in the sixties -- was an eatery called NavKerala in Connaught Place. In the seventies and eighties, we had our fill of mutton fry in a tiny restaurant called Sreedharans in Gole Market. Then came the upmarket Coconut Grove, which introduced people outside Kerala to dishes such as aviyal and thoran, to say nothing of meen pappas and chicken stew with appam. Other Kerala restaurants emerged, but most of them closed with time.

In recent years, however, a few restaurants have been celebrating the multicultural cuisine of Kerala. One such restaurant, called Mahabelly, is run by three young men, Prem Kiran, Thomas Fenn and Zachariah Jacob. The restaurant serves all streams of Kerala cuisine  from Syrian Christian and Moplah food to traditional Nair fare and coastal cuisine.

The last time I was there, I tried out their aviyal in anticipation of Vishu, where the food served (in most houses) is vegetarian. Aviyal is a delightful mix of vegetables cooked in coconut milk.

The restaurant shared its Aviyal recipe with us, but you could also try out their pazha manga curry or ripe mango curry. For this, simmer peeled ripe mangoes in a heavy bottomed pot in thin coconut milk, with sliced shallots, some slit green chillies, chopped ginger, ground cumin seeds and salt. After 10 minutes or so, add some thick coconut milk to it. Remove from heat and set aside. In coconut oil, splutter mustard seeds and then add curry leaves and red chillies. Pour this over the mango curry and serve warm.

I love the non-vegetarian fare of Kerala, too. The traditional Vishu fare may be all vegetarian, but I salivate at the thought of digging into some Moplah biryani, mutton varathathu (spicy mutton), shaapu meen curry (red hot fish curry) and prawn mango curry.

To each his own, I say. Let the year open on a happy note  with some good food.



(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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In a direct violation of a Bombay high court order to make blood banks available in every ward of the city, 50% of the wards are yet to have a blood bank. Moreover, the 2017-18 budget  recently announced by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)  does not have any new blood banks on the cards.

Responding to a Right to Information (RTI) query, civic body officials revealed that out of the 24, only 12 civic wards have a civic, government-run blood bank. On September 27, 2016, hearing a petition seeking increase in food testing labs in the city, a division bench of Justice VM Kanade and Justice Swapna Joshi had asked the officials to furnish the details on number of blood banks in the city, stressing on the need to ensure safety regulations to avoid contamination of blood.

Chetan Kothari, who had filed the RTI to seek information, said that while the city has 54 blood banks, only 18 are run by state government, most of which are attached to periphery of tertiary care hospitals.

Its a direct violation of HCs order because BMC was asked to ensure that every ward has a blood bank. The BMC included the issue in the recent budget but recently a number of blood banks run by BMC have been shut down due to non-availability of staff, said Kothari.

Many of the wards like R south, P north, H west G north that are considered to be heavily populated and record a high number of medical emergencies do not have a single BMC or government-run blood bank in that area.

Moreover, out of the 18 blood banks, five are already suffering from staff shortage as they have employed two or less blood transfusion officers to handle the operations. According to the norms set by Food and Drugs Administration Maharashtra, the blood banks need to have at least three BTOs working in three shifts to enable 24X7 functioning.

A senior FDA official, on the condition of anonymity said that they avoid initiating direct action against the blood banks, considering the larger public interest. A number of violations like shortage of technical staff and equipment are in fact reported in these blood banks but if we shut down blood banks, it is the public who will suffer, said the official.

Also read: Dog blood donation camp at Bombay veterinary college
With farmers still wary of land-pooling for the state governments ambitious Mumbai-Nagpur Super Communication Expressway, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) plans to acquire land with one-time payments to owners under the Land Acquisition Act.

The project-implementing authority, which seeks to kick-start the work on the 710-km expressway from October 1, will start giving one-time payments to farmers from April 15. Sources said the MSRDC was behind its schedule to secure consent from farmers. The government hopes to complete the project, estimated to cost Rs46,000 crore, before the Assembly elections in 2019.

It needs 20,820 hectares of land, of which 8,520 hectares will be for the road and nearly 12,000 hectares for the 24 townships.

We have kept both options open. Farmers can either opt for the land-pooling option or surrender their land. The latter will be compensated as per the Land Acquisition Act, Eknath Shinde, minister for public works department told HT.

The MSRDC has got in-principle approval from nearly 30% landowners under the land-pooling model. As per the model, the government has decided to pay farmers an amount of Rs 20,000 to Rs 40,000 per acre for 10 years with assured increase on annuity basis. They will also get back one-fourth of the area.

A senior state government official said, We expected a majority of landowners, if not all, to choose the land-pooling model, but the response was tepid. If the project has to commence as per the schedule, the corporation needs land within the next couple of months.

The MSRDC had already floated request for quotation (RFQ) bids for the project. The eight-lane expressway is expected to reduce the travel time between Mumbai and Nagpur by six to eight hours.

CM Devendra Fadnaviss pet project will have 24 nodes, or prosperity hubs, which include manufacturing units, IT industries, knowledge city, commercial sites, etc. Senior MSRDC officials added that they have already selected 17 of the 24 locations where nodes would come up. A proposal to the urban development department would be sent to upgrade the corporation to the special planning authority.

The expressway will start from Nagpur and pass through 10 districts of Wardha, Amravati, Washim, Buldhana, Jalna, Aurangabad, Ahmednagar, Nashik, Thane and Mumbai.

READ

Land for Mumbai-Nagpur eway will cost state 10,000 crore

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Truckers and bus operators in Maharashtra on Saturday withdrew their indefinite strike after the insurance regulator agreed to reduce the third-party insurance premium for commercial vehicles from 50% to 27%.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) will also form a committee to decide on insurance premiums and other issues. It will have representatives from transporter fraternity and the ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH).

Transporter sources said two separate meetings were held between their representatives and IRDA and MoRTH officials in New Delhi and Hyderabad. After hours of deliberations, All-India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) called off the strike.

The major demand of transport fraternity for a reduction in the proposed 50% hike in the third party premium has been accepted,read the statement issued by AIMTC. It further highlighted that IRDA had agreed to form a consultative committee comprising MORTH officials and five AIMTC members

Transporters had threatened a nationwide strike from midnight of April 8. Maharashtra Rajya Truck Tempo Tankers Bus Vahatuk Mahasangh, the largest body of transporters in the state, had also supported the strike. Bus operators were to join them on April 10. Transporters had also threatened stop supply of essential commodities.

READ

Maharashtra truckers to go on strike, supply of essential goods may be hit

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The public accounts committee (PAC) of the Maharashtra legislature on Saturday criticised the state home department for scrapping four Sealegs amphibious boats, bought from a New Zealand company to beef up coastal security after the 26/11 terror attacks, because authorities had failed to maintain them.

The committee has recommended action against the officials responsible for the poor maintenance that led to a loss of Rs1.94 crore to the state.

A report by PAC, the legislative watchdog, has stated that the boats were bought in November 2009 and their maintenance warranty expired a year after. Following this, the government failed to appoint an agency to maintain the boats, it said.

According to the report, when the police asked the government for permission to sign an annual maintenance contract (AMC) with the supplier [NZ firm] in 2010, the permission came only in 2013. By then, the supplier refused the AMC, owing to the reduced value of the rupee then. For the want of maintenance and the non-availability of spare parts for the boats, the police could not use them for patrolling the citys coast after January 2011.

 The average lifespan of the boats is 8 to 9 years, but the police asked for permission in just a couple of years. The home secretary informed us that spending Rs75 lakh on the repairs of the boats that cost about Rs50 lakh each was not practical and hence they decided to scrap them. In fact, the department tried to run them by replacing the parts, which was a faulty practice. The delay in getting the AMC done and the home departments failure to appoint a senior officer for the maintenance of the boats has resulted in the loss, the report, which was tabled in the assembly on Friday, stated.

The report has directed the government to fix the responsibility of delay in getting the AMC done along with the failure of appointing a dedicated officer for maintenance, and take action.

The committee has also rapped the government for its failure to spend the Centres fund of Rs7.05 crore allotted to the construction of operational rooms in the coastal areas of the state for patrolling.

PAC chairman and senior Congress MLA Gopaldas Agarwal, said that the committee expects the government to comply with the recommendations.
Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, who was involved in a row with Air India, met party president Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai on Satuday and explained his position over the issue.

The meeting, which lasted for 10 minutes at Shiv Senas central office at Dadar, came after Air India, and other airlines, lifted the flying ban on Gaikwad after he expressed regret for assaulting an AI employee on March 23.

Neither Thackeray nor Gaikwad disclosed to reporters what transpired in the meeting. However, party sources said Gaikwad explained his position over the whole controversy.

Gaikwad, the MP from Osmanabad, arrived here by the Rajdhani Express on Saturday morning after attending Parliament proceedings earlier this week.

The lawmaker boarded the train from Delhi on Friday evening hours after the flying ban was lifted by the national carrier following his letter to civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Thursday in which he expressed regret over the unfortunate incident.

After Air India, the Federation of Indian Airlines, comprising four leading private carriers -- Jet Airways, SpiceJet, GoAir and IndiGo -- on Saturday revoked the flying ban on Gaikwad.

In a statement, the FIA said its members were restoring the flying privileges to Gaikwad under the assurance that our assets and colleagues shall be accorded the respect that they deserve for the hard work that they put in every day.

The decision was taken consequent to Air India restoring flying privileges to Gaikwad after being satisfied with the statement given by him in the Lok Sabha where he expressed regret for assaulting an Air India staffer.

On March 24, Air India barred Gaikwad from flying with it after the incident at the Delhi airport. Subsequently, the FIA barred the Lok Sabha member from flying.

On Friday, sources had said the civil aviation ministry asked Air India as well as other airlines to lift the ban imposed on Gaikwad citing the undertaking of good conduct given by him.

The 56-year-old parliamentarian had assaulted AI employee R Sukumar on March 23 after he landed in Delhi on a Pune-Delhi all-economy flight.
Fishermen in Sindhudurg have found a way to save thousands of rupees each month while saving lakhs of baby fish and other marine wildlife.

The Maharashtra government and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) came up with the idea of square mesh nets instead of traditional diamond mesh nets to prevent damage to the ecosystem and to make fishing sustainable. Under a programme funded by Global Environment Facility, the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology experimented with the square mesh nets in trawlers to see if it reduced by-catch or the trapping of baby fish and other marine wildlife that are not commercially important to fishermen.

Usually, by-catch accounts for about 5% of a fishermans daily catch. And even though it may not appear to account for much economically, it includes commercially important fish species such as squids, croakers, thread fin breams and scads. If these fish had reached maturity, they could have added to the fishermens profit and helped in maintaining an ecological balance.

By-catch harms marine ecology as thousands of marine animals are killed before they can mature and reproduce, leading to a reduction in their population, said Sneha Pillai, a member of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) that has been helping in making fishing sustainable.

During trials, the fishermen discovered that when the traditional diamond-shaped nets are in water, the gaps in the nets compressed, leaving little room for smaller fish to escape. But the square shaped mesh retained its shape under water and juvenile fish that are less than 10 centimetres long, escaped through the gap in the nets.

On an average catch of 18 kilogram, it is estimated that the square mesh nets allow over three kilogram of juvenile fish to escape, making marine fishing sustainable.

For 50-year-old Shelestian Fernandes from Malvan  who has been a fisherman for over two decades  the square mesh nets do more than saving baby fish. It saves him around Rs20,000 per month. As the weight of the catch reduced, Fernandes ended up saving almost 10 litres of fuel every day. Another fisherman Dada Dhuri, 53, said, The new nets have helped me save about Rs10,000 each month because my trawler uses lesser amount of diesel now. He has also been spreading awareness about square mesh nets among other fishermen.

Encouraged by the results, about 317 trawlers in the area have adopted the square mesh nets. Also, the district planning and development council released Rs19 lakh so that more fishermen get access to these nets. Recently, Maharashtras fisheries department issued an order proposing the mandatory use of square mesh nets for about 17,000 trawlers in the region.

Read: Purse seine fishing nets banned across Maharashtra from Jan 1, fishermen allege violations

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The growing clamour for farm loan waiver in Maharashtra, in the wake of a similar announcement in Uttar Pradesh, has affected recovery of dues as are reluctant to repay their loan anticipating relief from the government.

According to bank officials, the debate over debt waiver and Devendra Fadnavis government hinting at a populist decision has led to sharp fall in repayment of loan in Maharashtra.

During 2016-17, banks had disbursed farm loan worth Rs 40,000 crore to the states 13.7 million farmers. The loan disbursement has been 80% of the overall agriculture credit target which was set at Rs 51,000 crore for the fiscal.

Anticipating non-repayment of loans, the state government has made it clear that those paying their dues will get bigger benefits through different schemes.

The government plans to bring a scheme under which those farmers repaying their agriculture loan on time will get bigger benefits, state finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar told HT.

Bank of Maharashtra, the largest public sector lender in the state, has seen sharp rise in its NPA from 9.55% in 2015-16 to 13.26% in 2016-17. Part of the reason, bankers say, was also demonetisation when recovery almost came to a halt.

What we have seen is a growing tendency among borrowers who are otherwise capable to repay loan but postpone their decision. The repeated loan waiver is hampering the culture of repayment of dues as honest people do not see any incentive in paying back the money they borrowed from the bank, Rajkiran Bhoir, general manager, Bank of Maharashtra, said.

In western Maharashtra, where farmers produce sugarcane, the recovery of loans has gone down from the previous year, officials said.

Solapur district, which has highest number of sugar factories, recorded farm loan recovery of up to 65% till March, compared to 77% during the previous year, according to district central cooperative bank officials, who did not wish to come on record since they were not authorised to speak to the media.

In Ahmednagar district, farm loan recovery for the outgoing financial year was just 33%, slightly less compared to previous year, an official of Ahmednagar District Central Cooperative Bank, which through its network of agriculture credit societies along with other financial institution distributed agriculture loan, said.

When there is a demand for farm loan waiver, people naturally prefer to wait, hoping they get relief. But there are many borrowers who repay their dues, said Charudatta Arkatkar, secretary, State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC), a representative body of all lending institutions in the state.

The fall in loan recovery has been recorded despite a good monsoon this year with the economic survey predicting a 12.5% growth rate for agriculture in 2016-17 from the minus 4.6% in 2015-16.

Congress workers raising slogans with Tamil Nadu farmers during a protest against Centre in Coimbatore on Wednesday, demanding farm loans waiver. (PTI)

The UP government on Tuesday decided to waive farm loan worth Rs 36,369 crore. The same day Madras High Court, while hearing a plea, asked the Tamil Nadu government to provide relief to all the farmers by waiving farm loan.

Coming under pressure from opposition and ally Shiv Sena, chief minister Fadnavis said his government is in favour of loan waiver and was studying the UP model.

Against growing demand for loan waiver, Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel cautioned about the moral consequences of such a scheme saying, waivers undermine an honest credit culture.

Kishore Tiwari, an agricultural activist and chairman of government constituted task-force on recommending solutions to agrarian crisis, said the relief should be offered only to farmers affected by drought and those who cant repay dues.

There is no point extending the farm loan waiver to all the farmers the way government did in 2008. Only those who are financially in bad shape due to successive droughts and other reasons should be given relief, he said.

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) told the Bombay high court that it had not licensed or authorised any company to operate virtual currency schemes or deal in bitcoin and other virtual currencies. People are using virtual currency at their own risk, states the RBIs affidavit filed in the high court in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) by city resident Dr KS Pillai in December 2016.

The RBI said it had cautioned the users, holders and traders of virtual currencies, including bitcoins, about potential risks that they are exposing themselves to.

The court had earlier ordered the RBI to respond to the PIL, which raised concerns over the legality and security of virtual currencies  such as e-wallets  purportedly operated by non-banking entities.

Dr Pillai said the RBI had permitted several non-banking entities to issue e-wallets, which is impermissible under banking laws. He alleged that a few entities had been operating e-wallets and smart cards without RBI authorisation.

Dr Pillai said non-banking entities were accepting deposits in electronic domains for payments under various brand names. He said that as this was a banking activity, it must be regulated under banking laws. He added that such operators remain unregulated, and so, the money deposited in e-wallets was in unauthorised hands.

Pillai had approached the court after high-value currency notes were demonetised last year.

He said he was worried that if private entities were not prevented from operating e-wallets and smart cards, customers money could be at risk.Pillai said e-wallets could be a good alternative to cash requirements, but the products must be routed through nationalised and scheduled banks, under RBIs supervision.

Dr Pillais also asked the court to order that banking operations be stopped at unmanned ATMs. The RBI said it had instructed banks to migrate to EMV chips and PINs for all cards, replacing current debit cards by December 2018. It said this would ensure that all transactions were safe.

EMV is the global standard for credit and debit payment cards. It is based on chip-card technology and derives its name from card schemes developed by Europay, MasterCard, and Visa. Transactions done using these cards are often referred to as Chip and PIN because the customer is required to enter his PIN to verify that he is a genuine cardholder.

Read

Use of Bitcoin illegal, can attract anti-money laundering law

Bitcoins may gain ground as govt fights black money
The fight for Ram janmabhoomi is not for a temple, but for the respect of the nation, said Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) international secretary general Champat Rai during the groups first rally on the history of Ram janmabhoomi in Ayodhya, on Saturday at Thane.

Rai said the country has changed the names of cities, roads and bridges that reminded us of British rule.

Similarly, the Ram temple should be made to erase the memory of Mughal emperor Babars forceful capture of the temple and consequent conversion of it into a mosque, he added.

Rai added, The issue of Ram temple is 490 years old, over which 75 battles were fought. There are over 5,000 temples in Ayodha, most of which are that of Lord Rama. A small temple called Ram janmabhoomi was destroyed by Babar in 1528. The Hindus then fought for 15 days and lost. Following this, Barbar constructed a structure similar to a mosque, though it was never an actual mosque.

He said that the fight for the temple is to win the lost respect of the country back.

The Somnath temple, which was demolished by Mahmud of Ghazni ,was remade by Sardar Patel. We want a similar fate for Ram janmabhoomi. In December 1947, a few Hindu youths went to the site at night and demolished some part of the mosque and said there is a temple by placing an idol. Till date, the same place is worshipped by people. The place is closed by the government over the communal disharmony over it. However, we want a proper temple rather than compromise on this, Rai added.

READ

Conditions are ripe to build Ram temple in Ayodhya, says Shiv Sena

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The Bombay high court wants to know what the state and Union governments policies were on employing people with HIV.

The HCs directions come after a former employee of the Navy, who contracted HIV while in service, approached the court when the Navy terminated his service upon hearing of his illness..

The petitioner was working as a sweeper for over seven years, when in 2003, he developed a high fever and showed symptoms of tuberculosis. While being treated for TB, test reports revealed he was HIV-positive. When the authorities got to know, they terminated his services with immediate effect.

The petitioner, however, filed a plea in the HC through senior advocate Mihir Desai. He claimed undue discrimination and challenged the termination.

At a hearing earlier this week, advocate Desai told a bench of justice Anoop V Mohta and justice RV Ghughe that just because the petitioner was HIV positive, it did not mean he was suffering from AIDS. Desai said while being infected with HIV can lead to the development of AIDS, in the petitioners case, the infection was detected on time and the petitioner had been taking the requisite therapy.

Desai said the petitioner was fit and would be able to perform the various tasks required of him if he resumed service. He also said the petitioner was already doing other work, just like any other fit person.

Desai also brought up the issue of the petitioner losing his pension because of the termination.

The governments policy entitles the petitioner to a disability pension, had he completed 10 years of service in the Navy. But the termination denied him this benefit. Desai argued there were several previous apex court judgements that urged authorities to consider seven to eight years of services at a par with that of 10 and to extend some disability benefits to such candidates.

The bench asked Desai to submit written submissions on what the state and the centres policy is on employment of people with HIV. The HC posted the matter for final disposal and is likely to take it up on April 20.

READ

3,500 HIV patients in Mumbai have stopped treatment

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In a total change of their stand under the new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, the state officials of housing and urban planning department have given a nod to the comptroller and auditor general of India to audit the Ghaziabad development authority (GDA) books. They gave the nod on the basis of the provisions of a previous June 1985 order that allows for the same.

Till two days ago, the authority officials had denied a CAG audit of their accounts. Earlier, in June 2016, the state officials had maintained that GDA did not fall under the ambit of a CAG audit.

The government order (dated April 7) was received by us and the CAG audit will be initiated as directed. Earlier, there was a denial but now they (state officials) have given a go-ahead (for the audit), TR Yadav, finance controller of GDA, said.

The latest government order states the directions of a previous order of June 1985, which states that agencies/development authorities getting grant/loan of Rs1 crore or above in a financial year from the Consolidated Funds of State will have to get accounts audit by CAG. HT has a copy of the government order allowing a CAG audit.

Sources said that the move is due to a change in the regime. The same officials, during the previous government rule, had repeatedly denied permission for a CAG audit of the development authority.

On February 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his election rally had targeted GDA for alleged land scams and said that if BJP wins the elections, he would ensure a CAG audit of all development authorities, including GDA.

Even two days ago, a team of CAG officials had approached the authority headquarters in Ghaziabad and requested for permission to initiate an audit. However, they were denied permission by the officials on the ground that there was no clearance from the state government.

We told them that there was no instruction from the state officials and so, we denied them permission to conduct an audit, Ravindra Godbole, secretary, GDA, said.

In 2016, a CAG audit was suspended by officials on the basis of a government order by then UP principal secretary Sadakant, which stated that the state government had to be consulted for an audit.

Official sources had said that a team from UP auditor general office regularly undertakes audit and sends project files to them for scrutiny. The report by the audit team is also sent to a committee of members of Vidhan Parishad, which monitors and reviews shortcomings.

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Angry over the delay in getting possession of flats, over 70 home buyers on Saturday staged a protest outside the office of Jaypee builders in Sector 128. The homebuyers alleged that they have paid 90% of total flat cost to the builders, but their residences were not ready to move in.

The protesters, who booked flats in the 19 towers at Jaypee Greens Wish Town in Sector 128, gathered outside the builders office at 10:30am. They tried to meet the directors and senior management officials, but the security guards did not allow them to enter.

As the protest against the builder continued for more than two hours, two officials called them inside and allegedly locked them up. Protesters claimed that they tried to highlight

their grievances, but no one paid any heed.

After two hours, Manoj Gaur came to us. We all were told that a meeting would be held on May 6 during which the status of project execution will be discussed with us. On his assurance, we will wait till May 6, said Ajay Koul, a home buyer.

Koul said that the Uttar Pradesh government should formulate a policy so that builders can be held accountable and action be taken against them in case of delays in project completion and handing over of flats.

Most of the protesters have booked flats in Kensington Park-1, 2 and 3 at Jaypee Greens Wish Town in Sector 128. They said the booking began in 2009-2010 and they were scheduled to get possession in 2013.

Protesters said they held a meeting with the Jaypee management on February 25 during which homebuyers were told that the Kensington Park-1, 2 and 3 would be completed by May, August and December 2017, respectively. However, not a single flat is ready and no construction is going on, they added.

Reshma Idnani, one of the protesters who had booked a flat in 2008 at Pavilion Heights, said her flat, the possession of which was promised by April 2010, is still not ready.

She said, We have paid

1.25 crore and no work is going on at the site. Due to the delay, my husband went into depression and died in December 2010. We lost our business also. Im going through tough times to pay rent on a flat in Saket.

Protesters also raised slogans against Jaypee builders for allegedly cheating them. They alleged that the builder has taken

25,000 crore from buyers as payment for flats without delivering the units. They termed the entire exercise a scam.

They said that the government should focus on the issue as homebuyers who have paid hard-earned money for flats are still waiting to take possession.

When contacted, Ashok Khera, vice-president of Jaypee Group, refused comment and denied any knowledge about the protest. Other officials could not be contacted. However, police had also arrived at the spot.

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The father of Anubhav Mittal, who is accused of running a Rs 3,700 online Ponzi scheme, was arrested by Uttar Pradesh polices special task force on Friday, officials said on Saturday.

Anubhavs father Sunil Mittal and his wife Ayushi Agarwal were recently declared as accused in the case and the SIT was preparing to obtain non-bailable warrants against them from a court after they could not be traced during several searches in Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Hapur and Noida.

Sunil is one of the two directors of the company while Ayushi was made an additional director of Ablaze after she got married to Anubhav and were directly responsible for the affairs of the company.

Sunil was finally arrested from Navyug Market in Ghaziabad and had kept changing locations in Pilkhuwa, Ghaziabad, Delhi and Kanpur. Ayushi is still wanted in the case and yet to be traced, an official of the special investigation team said.

Anubhav was arrested along with two of his colleagues by the UP-STF from Noida on February 2. The 26-year-old is accused of swindling Rs 3,700 crore from 7 lakh people, who were promised handsome returns by clicking on web links, in one of the biggest internet scams in recent times.

Sunil, 50, belongs to Pilkhuwa town in UPs Hapur district and operated a small electrical shop, Mittal Electronics, in Kishanganj Mohalla. Anubhavs grandfather Ved Prakash runs a small grocery shop that sells household items like sugar, salt, oil among others.

A team of income-tax officials had also conducted a raid at Mittals residence but Sunil could not be found.

Sunil being the director of the company was paid salary of Rs 5 lakh. We have also found that an amount of Rs 5 crore was also transferred from Ablaze to Mittals shop through an account. But, the motive of the transaction is not known. It is suspected that the amount was transferred as a payback and diversion of funds, Rajiv Narayan Mishra, additional superintendent of police, UP-STF, said.

Sunil now faces charges of cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy and also of laundering money.

The Enforcement Directorate  Indias financial crime probe agency  earlier lodged an FIR for money laundering on the basis of the initial FIR lodged by UP-STF as Anubhav is believed to have laundered a part of the money he collected from the investors and kept in two accounts in Axis Bank and Canara Bank.

During the ongoing investigation into the alleged internet scam, officials have also identified more than a dozen firms that were paid for services through Ablaze and later the money was returned in cash after the firms deducted certain amounts as their commission.

The STF also arrested Atul Mishra, a relationship manager with Yes Bank, for allegedly entering into a conspiracy with Anubhav and providing him information about banks suspicious transaction reports, raids by agencies and investigations.

The multilevel marketing and Ponzi schemes that were allegedly run through firms such as Ablaze Info Solutions Private Ltd, Social Trade India Pvt Ltd, 3W Digital Pvt Ltd and Intmaart India Pvt Ltd were the initiatives of Anubhav, Ayushi and others, the police said.

Ablaze claimed it promoted social media penetration and internet popularity for small-time businesses through getting maximum likes on Facebook.

The company ran a website that promised would-be subscribers a chance to earn five rupees each time they clicked or liked web links sent to their mobile phones.

The unsuspecting investors each paid thousands of rupees into the companys bank accounts to join the scheme. Police said some of the investors even got some money which helped bring in more people into the racket.

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The special investigation team (SIT) probing the alleged Ponzi scam by Ablaze Info Solutions revealed that Rs5 crore was transferred from the company account to Sunil Mittals electrical goods firms account, of which he is the sole proprietor.

SIT officials revealed that Sunil allegedly spent Rs70 lakh of the Rs5 crore that was transferred on January 13, 2017. Sunil is the father of Anubhav Mittal and a former director of Ablaze Info Solutions.

Officials of SIT and Uttar Pradesh special task force (STF) suspect that the amount was sent to three to four other firms, roles of which are being identified, to throw investigators off the trail.

Officials said that after Anubhavs arrest on February 2, his father shifted base and changed locations among Agra, Kanpur, Ghaziabad and Hapur, where he stayed with relatives, friends and business associates.

We have found two persons from Murad Nagar in Ghaziabad whose IDs were used to buy packages from Ablaze. So far, these two names did not appear in the core group, suspected to be the brains behind the company. However, the investigation is continuing. We have also recovered an Endeavour car from Sunil after he was arrested, RK Mishra, deputy superintendent, UP-STF, said.

Earlier, Anubhav had told investigators that he owned an Endeavour car but the car recovered from Sunil was found to be registered in a third partys name. Officials are investigating how the car was procured.

Further, the SIT is also tracking Anubhavs wife, Ayushi Agarwal, who was recently named an accused in the case. She is one of the directors of Ablaze and is not traceable since Anubhav and two of his colleagues were arrested by the UP-STF on February 2.

Ayushi, of Kanpur, and Anubhav were married in December 2015, after which she was roped in as a director of the company to replace Sunil, officials said. The SIT has conducted a search in Kanpur, Hapur and Ghaziabad but is yet to locate Ayushi.

We will soon obtain a non-bailable warrant against her as she was declared an accused in the case and holds liability. Her name will figure in the first chargesheet in the case of an immediate arrest, Mishra said.

Officials said that Ablaze was registered as a company on September 7, 2010, and had two directors, Anubhav and his father Sunil, since the beginning. Sunil also operates an electrical goods shop, of which he is the sole proprietor, in Pilkhuwa.

The SIT is now probing the motive behind the transfer of Rs5 crore from Ablaze to the firm owned by Sunil Mittal.

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The relocation of a liquor shop on NH-24, which fell foul of the Supreme Court ruling banning the sale of liquor within 500 metres of state and national highways, has now become a headache for the Dasna jail authorities as the shop was moved right next to the prison complex in Ghaziabad.

The Dasna jail officials have objected to the relocation of shop and written to district magistrate and excise officials seeking a review and shifting of the store elsewhere. The prison, located a few kilometres away from NH-24 in Dasna, houses more than 3,500 inmates.

We fear that the liquor shop will attract anti-social elements and hamper our effort to ensure proper security around the prison complex. Further, there are hundreds of people who arrive to meet inmates and theres every chance of them visiting the liquor store to get some drinks and creating law and order problems, SP Yadav, superintendent of Dasna jail, said.

Whats especially worrying is that the inmates are allowed to roam around on the premises during the evening hours. The security of the correctional and the safety of fellow inmates could be called into question if they take a few drinks and create a ruckus. We have written to the authorities saying that the shop be shifted elsewhere as it near to a temple and our staff colony, he said.

The district excise officials said it would take another month-and-a-half for this shop to be shifted again.

Our officials have also met jail authorities and noted their concerns. We could relocate the shop, but finding another suitable place will take time, Karunendra Singh, district excise officer, said.

Since the ban came into effect and the BJP government in UP launched a crackdown on illegal slaughterhouses and meat shops across the state, locals have been agitating against various liquor shops in different districts and Ghaziabad.

For the last four days, the liquor shop at Daulatpura has remained shut as locals have demanded its relocation citing its proximity to residential areas, schools and temple.

We are seeking the help of the police in getting the issue resolved. We have learned that some locals are smuggling in Haryana-made liquor and selling them to customers at night for cheap. These smugglers could well be inciting locals to protest and demand relocation of a licensed liquor shop so that they could continue with their illegal trade, Singh said.

The other shop in Lohiya Nagar where locals vandalised property a couple of days ago, has opened but policemen continued to be deployed to prevent recurrence of trouble.

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After a wait of 15 years, residents of Gautam Budh Nagar might finally see the greenfield airport at Jewar taking shape after chief minister Yogi Adityanath asked state officials to explore the possibility of making the prject a reality.

Residents and entrepreneurs have welcomed the move and said an airport will change the fortunes of Noida and Greater Noida by generating revenue and employment.

It is not just the entrepreneurs who will benefit by an international airport. Even taxi drivers, hotel employees and paying guest accommodation owners will benefit from it. The airport will create a chain of jobs, eventually increasing the revenue of the state and bringing about the overall welfare of the district, said VK Seth, general secretary, Noida Entrepreneurs Association (NEA).

Entrepreneurs said an airport will attract clients and business firms to Noida.

There are several firms, factories and industries in Noida and Greater Noida and often our clients want to meet us. The travel from Indira Gandhi Airport in Gurgaon to Noida is so hectic that we are forced to organise meetings in central Delhi. An international airport will bring our clients to us directly, Seth said.

Talks of setting up an airport in Jewar began in 2000 when Rajnath Singh was the chief minister of UP. Even during the assembly polls in 2017, the airport was one of the foremost poll campaign issue on which Jewar MLA Thakur Dhirendra Singh had sought votes and won.

After a debut win from Jewar constituency, Singh is now focussed on delivering the poll promise of setting up an airport.

Setting up of an airport will fetch jobs for the people in my constituency who have for too long suffered from unemployment. Tourism will increase and we will see many hotels coming up in the area, Singh said.

The Confederation of Noida Residents Welafre Association (CONRWA) president PS Jain supported the setting up of the airport and said that it will save on travel time.

If we have an airport in Jewar, it will take just 40 minutes to reach it from Noida, compared to the two-hour journey to Gurgaon now. We will also be able to transport goods easily, Jain said.

Residents believe that an airport in Jewar will improve basic facilities in Noida.

The government will be forced to improve the condition of roads in Noida since there is an airport in the vicinity. Also, there are reputed hospitals in Greater Noida and an airport nearby will improve medical tourism as well, said Angad Srivastava, a resident of Sector 37.

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Less than a year after senior officers of the UT administration carried out the first round of inter-departmental transfers of subordinate staff, the Chandigarh bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has quashed the Inter-departmental transfer policy, dated May 18, 2015.

The court said there was no legal framework under which the transfer orders could be issued, even as it stated that the intention of the Chandigarh administration behind the transfers seemed correct.

In the transfers of 900-odd employees over the past year, superintendents, stenographers clerks, junior assistants and supervisors were transferred between departments under the UTs inter-departmental transfer policy.

The first phase of transfers of 340 employees has invited criticism and a challenge in the CAT for the UT administration.

The policy

Under the policy, the UT administrator had framed these inter-department policies in respect of group A, B, C, officials of Chandigarh administration. A transferred employee would remain on the cadre strength of his parent department and shall also draw the pay and allowances and his appointing/disciplinary authority would also remain the same. It was stated that the applicant would retain seniority/promotion and other benefits in their parent cadre.

Court observations

During the hearing on Friday, the court also observed that the opinion of the Legal Remembrancer dated March 8, 2015, had not been considered by the Chandigarh administration while framing the policy. The LR had had given an opinion that the proposed policy would amount to change in service conditions.

Counsel for the petitioners, the employees, Puneet Bali, had contended in court that the transfer policy didnt have the force of law as no specific provision of law had been quoted under which the policy had been framed.

The court had asked senior standing counsel, UT administration, Suvir Sehgal, as to under which provision of law or under which enabling provision had the transfer policy been framed.

The court was not satisfied with the explanation of the Chandigarh administration when it argued that as per notification dated February 25, 1998, power had been granted to the administrator to frame policy with regard to cases of administrative importance.

The court observed that this was merely a notification regarding delegation of powers from the administrator to the adviser. Arvind Moudgil, nodal officer, Chandigarh administration, said, The judgment has not been received and only after going through it, the competent authority will take a decision.

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bhartesh.thakur@hindustantimes.com

Panjab University (PU) vice-chancellor Arun Kumar Grover has written a protest letter to secretary, higher education, in the ministry of human resources development (MHRD), KK Sharma, after the ministry has denied Rs 20 crore to the varsity. The money is a plan grant under Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) to the varsity.

In the letter, the V-C describes the denial of funds as Travesty of Justice.

Must read | Panjab University forms 20-member panel to deliberate on fee hike issue

The issue comes close on the heels of the ministry not enhancing the non-plan grants to Panjab University (PU) from which salaries are paid to employees.

Why were funds denied?

The Project Approval Board of RUSA said, on February 6, PU is an inter-state body and is already receiving funds from MHRD, through the UGC as deficit funding.

PU listed as a state university

The V-C added that the denial of grant had stalled the construction of two tower blocks for imparting classes under Choice Based Credit System (CBCS). Prof AK Bhandari had formed the proposal for RUSA grant. Smart classrooms were to be constructed had the grant been approved, said the V-C.

According to VC, UT Chandigarh is being treated as a state while disbursing RUSA funds for development needs of colleges and university campuses.

PU is currently designated as an Inter-State Body Corporate, the only university to have such a status in the Indian system. We are listed under the category of state universities on the UGC website, he said.

Dont miss | Panjab University hikes fee by up to Rs 82,000 a year

PUs rejoinder to RUSA board

After the objection came from Project Approval Board of RUSA initially, the PU submitted on February 9 that they were an interstate body as per the Punjab Reorganisation Act. This simply met, the PU said, that the stake holders were more than one state.

It said that PU was receiving funds from MHRD only as deficit grant whereas the purpose of RUSA is to provide funds not to cover non-plan deficit but to provide funds for development. It had requested for reconsideration.

The plan grant which PU receives from UGC under five-year Plan is as per norms applicable to state universities and are not as per norms of central universities, which entitles them to a much higher development grant under plan.

It was submitted that other state universities which received plan grants from UGC, similar to PU quantum, were indeed eligible for receiving grants under RUSA; hence PU should also receive the same. The MHRD is yet to reply.

Though colleges in Chandigarh have been granted funds under RUSA. Guru Nanak Dev University(GNDU) and Punjabi University have also got it, the V-C said.

Money was meant for lecture theatres

According to the V-C, two 4-storey complexes were to come with each having 8-10 lecture theatres for imparting lectures under Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) and MSc-PhD programme. These lecture theatres, equipped with audio and video facilities, were to have seating capacity of 125-150 students each. A total of Rs 12 crore was to be spent on it. Besides, there was a proposal for digitisation of library and modernisation of laboratories of old departments of PU like Physics, Chemistry, Pharmacy.

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chandigarh@hindustantimes.com

Panjab University (PU) has formed a 20-member panel to discuss the hike in tuition fee. The fee has bee hiked more than 1000% (10-fold increase) in some courses.

The panel comprising senators, syndicate members and student representatives also has MP Kirron Kher as a member. Senator Satya Pal Jain, Professor Navdeep Goyal and Professor Ronki Ram are also among members. The panel will meet on April 12, even as the student bodies reiterated their call for a PU bandh on April 11 (Tuesday).

Meeting between students, PU again

Meanwhile, all student of Panjab University (PU) and university authorities, including vice-chancellor (VC) prof AK Grover and registrar Col GS Chadha (retd), met again on Thursday for discussion on demand of roll back of tuition fee.

Watch | Students cane-charged in Panjab University

However, students expressed their dissatisfaction with the move. In the meeting, students demanded that an emergency Senate meeting be called to take back the decision to roll back the fee hike. The V-C did not agree to it and explained the financial position and the court developments so far.

The vice-chancellor told us that the apex court would decide next week whether the University Grants Commission can be bound to give us adequate grants. We want that university authorities, senate and students should be on the same side. There should be unity. Students would like to become party in court case pending before the high court regarding our grants, said Panjab University Students Union (PUSU) leader Navaldeep Singh.

Nishant Kaushal, PU Campus Council president, said, Nothing happened in todays meeting. Our demand was to call an emergency senate meeting. Actually, the V-C told us that it takes a notice of seven days to call a meeting. We are meeting senators so that a meeting could be called to roll back hike.

Prabhjit Kamruwala, president, Students Organisation of India, said, We do not want to resort to violence. We do not want to keep shouting slogans. The senate meeting should be called.

Students for Society president Damanpreet Singh was not hopeful that anything could come out of April 12 meeting. The Senate is an autonomous body. It must take a stand, Students can talk to senators, he said.

Dont miss | No student will be denied admission due to fee hike, says Panjab University V-C Arun Kumar Grover

They say

The Senate is an autonomous body. It must take a stand, Students can talk to senators, said Damanpreet Singh, SFS president.

The vice-chancellor told us that the apex court would decide next week whether the University Grants Commission can be bound to give us adequate grants, Navaldeep Singh, PUSU leader, said.

We demand that an emergency senate meeting be called and are meeting senators, Nishant Kaushal, PU Campus Council president.
The much-hyped crackdown on drugs launched by the Punjab government has failed to make any impact on the smuggling from Pakistan, which is evident from the fact that 25-kg heroin has been seized by the Border Security Force (BSF) in the last 10 days.

BSF officials say the activism of smugglers along the border is the same as before and the only change has been witnessed in the smaller size of packets in the consignment.

Earlier, smugglers used to pack the contraband in bigger packets weighing between a kilo and 5kg. For some time, we have recovered packets weighing only 250 gm, BSF senior public relations officer, DIG Surinder Kataria, told Hindustan Times.

Also read | Hand pump, rope, bottles: Tools of choice for drug smugglers at India-Pak border

The BSF officials say smugglers are adopting innovative ways to push in drugs and the traditional ways of throwing packets from across the fence or concealing in belongings during travel are less in vogue. Now water channels crossing the border are being used for drug smuggling.

RECOVERY OF HEROIN IN LAST 10 DAYS April 6 5.3 kg in Abohar sector April 4 15kg in Amritsar sector March 29 2kg in Ferozepur sector

The local smugglers throw plastic ropes in the water channels and their counterparts on Pakistani side tie drug-filled plastic bottles with them. The ropes are then pulled back, said the BSF officer.

Punjab Police intelligence say consignments reaching here are based on the deals done in the past. We are positive that smuggling will come down as the noose will be tightened with the with Special Task Force (STF) coming into action in the coming days, he said.

STF in-charge and ADGP Harpreet Singh Sidhu said for better co-ordination with the BSF, they will hold meetings with the force manning the borders.

Our senior officials in Gurdaspur, Amritsar and Ferozepur districts are already in touch with the BSF officials. However, I am going to personally hold a meeting probably next week, so that we can work in tandem to break the supply chain, said the STF head, who on Friday concluded meetings with all district officials.

SPURT IN DAILY FIRS IN NDPS CASES

As per an STF official, the average daily FIRs in the NDPS cases have gone up in Punjab from average 5 last year to 50 in the last 10 days.

Most of the FIRs are, however, related to recovery of small quantity of drugs. The STF has started picking up pace. Seizure large quantity of drugs is also being made. We are going to submit the details of last one week recovery with the government on Saturday, said a STF official.

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Jharkhand assembly speaker Dinesh Oraon on Friday flagged off an anti-human trafficking caravan in Ranchi which would travel across five districts of the state and eight districts in Bihar to spread awareness about human trafficking through skits, videos and survivor stories.

The US consulate general Kolkata in collaboration with New Delhi-based NGO Shakti Vahini and Kolkatas Banglanatak.com launched the caravan under their Be Alert, Raise Alarm #stophumantrafficking campaign which was kick started in Kolkata on March 17.

In Jharkhand, the caravan will pass through trafficking-hit Khunti, Gumla, Lohardanga and Chaibhasa, Ranchi and Simdega districts.

The TIP (Trafficking in Person) caravan will be a big mobilization and convergence of civil society, government agencies in combatting human trafficking at grassroot level, US Consul General Craig Hall had said during his previous visit to Ranchi.

State assembly speaker Dinesh Oraon on Friday said the state has been taking initiatives to curb human trafficking and the results should be visible soon. The state assembly recently passed its first bill to regulate placement agencies and domestic workers, which Oraon said, was a commendable move.

A lot needs to be done to curb trafficking. All stakeholders, NGOs, police and common public need to unite against this practice, he said.

The U.S. is committed to combatting all forms of human trafficking, around the world. The U.S. Consulate General in Kolkata, a host of five anti-Trafficking conclaves, has been working as a convener with the Jharkhand Government, to bring together all stakeholders to counter human trafficking in this region. The anti-TIP Caravan is a great example of effective partnership with State governments, civil society organizations, and law enforcement. We look forward to working with the state government who have been very supportive of this important initiative, said Andrew Posner, Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Consulate Kolkata and the director of American Center.

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Tapeshwar Anand, an Indian-origin dentist who was struck off the British General Dental Councils list of professionals following allegations of serious misconduct and poor performance in 2015, has now been disqualified as a company director.

The Insolvency Service said on Friday that Anand had been disqualified as a director after spending over 1 million of company money on a property in a French ski resort. The service said Anand, who now resides in New Delhi, was the sole director of a healthcare company.

Anand has signed an undertaking to be disqualified as a director for seven years after spending the company money received from patients for dental treatments on a personally-owned property in Combloux, France, it said.

The funds were spent between July 2009 and March 2013, resulting in the company falling into arrears with paying its liabilities to creditors, the service said.

Anand accepted that while a director of the company, he breached his fiduciary duties and failed to act in the best interests of the company and its creditors; specifically, by causing the company to incur expenditure of at least 1,040,254 between July 2009 and March 2013 on an overseas property which he owned personally, and over which the company had no legal charge or security.

Martin Gitner, deputy head of investigations at the service, said: It is clear that Dr Anand breached his duties as a director by using company funds to finance the refurbishment of a personally owned property, which means taxpayers and other creditors lose out considerably.

The disqualification order means that without specific permission from a court, a person with a disqualification cannot act as a director of a company, take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership or be a receiver of a companys property.

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The Donald Trump administration on Friday signalled it was prepared to do more on Syria, depending on the response of the Bashar al-Assad government to its missile strikes. However, this has led to questions on whether the US has a broader, a long-term strategy.

One strike doesnt make a strategy, William Cohen, defence secretary to former President Bill Clinton, told CNN, echoing a view rapidly gaining ground among foreign policy exports and lawmakers of either dispensation.

What if Assad retaliated, hitting a US target in the region, either directly or through proxies backing him such as the Lebanese Hezbollah or the Iranian Revolutionary Guards?

Secretary of state Rex Tillerson told reporters the US was watching Assad closely. We will monitor Syrias response to that strike in terms of whether they attack our own forces or coalition forces, or whether we detect that they are considering mobilizing to take additional chemical weapons attacks. And Id say at this point the future will be guided by how we see their reaction.

Trumps envoy to the UN Nikki Haley, who has quickly developed the image of a tough-talking diplomat, delivered a similar message to the UN Security Council: The United States took a very measured step last night. We are prepared to do more. But we hope that will not be necessary. It is time for all civilized nations to stop the horrors that are taking place in Syria and demand a political solution.

But has the Trump administration prepared for the eventuality of getting sucked in and getting involved in not only replacing Assad but also his Alawi allies running the country while also dealing with the maddening mix of rebel groups?

And, as Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren pointed out in a statement, while it was noble for the president to punish a regime thats gassing its own people, was he prepared to give refuge to Syrians fleeing that life?

In his first executive order on travel bans that ran into trouble with courts, Trump had proposed to indefinitely bar Syrian refugees from entering the US, which he dropped from his subsequent executive order, which is also caught in courts.

Pressure is mounting on him to do more, and as part of a strategy. Republican senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham want to see a strategy that involve taking out the Syrian air force responsible for the chemical weapons attack and others.

And commending President Trump for the strikes, an editorial in The Washington Post urged him now to devise a Syria policy that responds to this weeks events. It added that Trump has created an opportunity for the United States, and for his presidency, in Syria. Its ultimate value will depend on how well he follows up.

In an editorial headlined Trumps Syria opportunity, The Wall Street Journal wrote, Every military operation carries risks but this one could also have major political and strategic benefits if Mr. Trump follows the air strike with some forceful diplomacy.
Former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has chided President Donald Trump for firing 59 Tomahawk missiles on Syria and his attempts to bar refugees from entering the US.

Clinton on Friday urged the administration to recognise that we cannot in one breath speak of protecting Syrian babies and in the next close Americas doors to them.

It came as the US on Thursday night struck the Shairat airbase in Syria in a response to the chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of civilians in Idlib province.

Clinton during her tenure as the secretary of state under then President Barack Obama -- and during the presidential campaign -- advocated more aggressive action to deter Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, CBS News reported.

Hours before the strike, Clinton on Thursday said US should implement a no-fly zone.

As I said yesterday (Thursday) it is essential that the world does more to deter Assad from committing future murderous atrocities, Clinton said at a luncheon in Houston.

But the action taken last night needs to be followed by a broader strategy to end Syrias civil war and to eliminate the IS strongholds on both sides of the border so I hope this administration will move forward in a way that is both strategic and consistent with our values.

She said Trumps reasoning for the airstrikes conflicted with the ban on refugees from six Muslim-majority countries.

Trump has signed an executive order to temporarily ban immigrants from Syria, Iran, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Libya from entering the US, but a federal judge has blocked part of such order.

The Democrat did not name Trump but concluded that the strike serve as a reminder that politics matter enormously.

She said Trumps reasoning for the airstrikes conflicted with the ban on refugees from six Muslim-majority countries.
Sheikh Saleh bin Muhammad Bin Talib, the imam of Meccas Grand Mosque, held a meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Islamabad on Saturday and discussed ways on how religious scholars can counter negative propaganda that wrongly portrays Islam.

The Dawn reported that Sharif said relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have become closer and stronger and that the people of both countries have a lot of respect for each other, according to a press release issued by his secretariat.

Habeebullah Al-Bokhari, the acting ambassador of Saudi Arabia, Sardar Muhammad Yousaf, the federal minister for religious affairs, and other senior officials were present at the meeting.

The imams visit comes days after the official appointment of former army chief General Raheel Sharif as the leader of the Saudi military alliance.
After the US fired 59 Tomahawk missiles on a Syrian airbase killing several people, US envoy to the UN Nikki Haley has defended the action while sharply criticising Russia for allowing Syrias leader to stockpile chemical weapons.

In her remarks at a special UN session after the strike on the Shairat airbase, Haley on Friday warned the US was prepared to do more in response to Syrias use of chemical weapons that killed many civilians.

The meeting took place as the US and allies press for a resolution condemning the Assad regime for the bombing. Russia is likely to veto the resolution.

Haley delivered a sharp rebuke to Russia for its support to Syria, saying President Bashar al Assad regime was playing Russians for fools... telling them that there were no chemical weapons.

The US took a very measured step last night (Thursday night), Haley said. We are prepared to do more. But we hope that will not be necessary. It is time for all civilised nations to stop the horrors that are taking place in Syria and demand a political solution.

The joint investigative mechanism has found beyond any doubt that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons against its own people multiple times, Haley said.

She said Moscow was incompetent in removing the chemical weapons and the Assad regimes crimes against innocent civilians.

She said Russia was knowingly allowing chemical weapons to be used in Syria.

Assad thought he could get away with it because he knew Russia had his back.

Thursdays strike was the first direct military action taken by the US against the Assad regime. It represents a dramatic escalation of the US military campaign in the region, and could be interpreted by Syria as an act of war.

Russias envoy to the UN Vladimir Safronkov slammed the US action, calling it a flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression.

Haley said there are times when states are compelled to take their own action and that preventing the spread and use of chemical weapons was in the US vital national security interest.

We were fully justified in doing so.

Safronkov warned that the consequences of this for regional and international stability could be extremely serious.

Haley then yielded the floor to Syrias deputy UN ambassador Mounzer Mounzer who maintained that Syria would never use such weapons in any of its operations against armed terrorist groups.

Let me stress that it is well known that those weapons have been used and stockpiled in many parts of Syria by terrorist armed organisations in cooperation or rather with a wink and a nudge by some ruling regimes in the region and outside, including Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and some European states, Mounzer said.

They completely ignore all the facts and documented information on the use of chemical weapons by terrorists in many parts of the Syrian Arab Republic.

Bolivias ambassador to the UN Sacha Sergio Llorenti Soliz criticised the US of acting as prosecutor, judge and jury in Syria.

The US not only unilaterally attacked, but while we were discussing here and demanding the need for an independent investigation an impartial investigation, complete investigation into the attacks, the US has become that investigator, has become the prosecutor, has become the judge, has become the jury, said Soliz.

UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said all parties must remember their shared duty to uphold international standards of humanity.

Guterres appealed for restraint to avoid any acts that could deepen the suffering of the Syrian people. He said there was no other way to solve the conflict than through a political solution.
At least 10 suspected Jamaat-ul-Ahrar militants were killed during an encounter with Punjab polices counter-terrorism department (CTD) in Manawan area on Friday night, local media reported.

The CTD said the militants killed were involved in the February 13 Lahore suicide blast at a protest by chemists and pharmacists at the citys Mall Road, which had killed 15 people, including several police officials. The blast had also left at least 87 people injured. The Jamaat-ul-Ahrar  a faction of the banned terror group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan  had claimed responsibility for that attack.

CTD personnel had later apprehended alleged facilitator, Anwarul Haq. The police, on Haqs information, also arrested other accomplices.

According to a CTD spokesperson, a team from Lahore was taking five arrested suspects, including Haq, to Manawan when they were attacked near Ring Road by nine terrorists. In the retaliatory fire, 10 terrorists were killed, including facilitators of the Lahore attack.
Pakistani police killed 10 Taliban gunmen in an early morning shootout Saturday in Lahore, officials said, with several militants tied to a February bombing in the eastern city dying in the skirmish.

The gunfight erupted as authorities were escorting five members from the Pakistani Taliban to an arms cache when they were ambushed by gunmen aiming to free the group, said a spokesman with Punjabs Counter Terrorism Department.

Ten terrorists from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Jamaat-ul-Ahrar were killed during an operation with the Counter Terrorism Department in Punjab including the accused handler of the February 13 Lahore blast, said the official, referring to a Pakistani Taliban faction.

According to the spokesman the fire fight ensued for half an hour with at least 10 gunmen killed.

The skirmish comes days after seven people were killed and 19 wounded during a Taliban suicide attack targeting a census team in the city.

Lahore has been on edge since a wave of violent attacks across Pakistan in February killed 130 people and shook citizens emboldened by growing security.

The attacks included a bomb blast in the eastern city on February 13 which killed 14 people in an assault claimed by Pakistani Taliban faction.

Ten days later a fresh blast sent panic through the city when it killed eight people, though officials later said it was a gas leak, not an attack as initially feared.

The renewed violence has dented optimism after the country appeared to be making strong gains in its decade-and-a-half long war on militancy, with analysts speaking of a militant resurgence.
At least 20 people were killed when their passenger boat collided with a river barge in western Myanmar, a state-run newspaper reported.

The boat carrying 80 passengers sank shortly after a head-on collision with the cargo ship on Saturday evening in a river near Pathein, a port city west of Yangon, the Global New Light of Myanmar said.

The boat was filled with guests returning from a wedding, according to other local media.

Eighteen bodies, including four men and 14 women, were discovered in the wrecked ship so far, the state mouthpiece said, without elaborating on the other two it confirmed dead.

It added that rescue operations were ongoing.

Fatal boat accidents are common in Myanmar, where many people living along its flood-prone rivers rely on often overcrowded ferries for transport.

Last October, 73 people, including many teachers and students, died when their packed vessel capsized in central Myanmar on the Chindwin River.

It took several days to recover all the bodies.

In March, 2015, around 60 people died after their ferry, which was carrying some 200 passengers, sank off the coast of western Rakhine state.
The Canadian province of British Columbia has banned high heels at all workplaces, the media reported.

The provincial government said the requirement to wear high heels at some workplaces was a health and safety issue and it was amending the footwear regulation under the Workers Compensation Act, Global News Canada said.

Read: The rebellion against high heels is apace

In some workplaces in our province, women are required to wear high heels on the job, provincial premier Christy Clark said.

Like most British Columbians, our government thinks this is wrong. That is why we are changing this regulation to stop this unsafe and discriminatory practice.

This issue came to light due to a private members bill from Green Party leader Andrew Weaver.

I couldnt believe that in British Columbia in 2017 there are restaurants and bars that require women to wear high heels, Weaver told Global News Canada.

Read: Triumph for UK woman who refused to wear high heels at work

Its not safe because you are walking around in a greasy-floored kitchen. Its not healthy because youre standing up for nine hours putting pressure on your back in funny ways as well as your feet.

Former server Simran Gill told Global News her feet would be covered in blisters and often bloody after working in heels, a dress code that was mandated by her employer.

The pain caused her to quit her job after only four months.

Also read: Japans fashion police wants to empower women through high heels

My feet were in so much pain from the attire I had to wear that I literally could not take the job. The money just wasnt worth it, Gill added.
Swedish police has placed the man confirmed to be detained after the Stockholm truck attack on Friday under prolonged arrest, it said on its webpage early on Saturday.

The police also said cordons around the crime scene in central Stockholm would remain in place until all investigative measures had been completed.

A truck ploughed into a crowd on a shopping street and crashed into a department store in central Stockholm, killing four people and wounding 15 in what the prime minister said appeared to be a terrorist attack.

Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, who cut short a visit in southwestern Sweden to return to Stockholm, said he had strengthened the countrys border controls.

Terrorists want us to be afraid, want us to change our behaviour, want us to not live our lives normally, but that is what were going to do. So terrorists can never defeat Sweden, never, he said.

The area of the attack in central Stockholm was evacuated, including the main rail station, and remained cordoned off late on Friday. All subway traffic was halted on police orders and government offices were closed.

A Reuters witness at the scene saw police officers put what appeared to be two bodies into body bags.

Bloody tyre tracks showed the path of the truck, which was stolen by a masked hijacker while making a beer delivery to a tapas bar further up Drottninggatan, according to Spendrups Brewery spokesman Marten Lyth.

We were standing by the traffic lights at Drottninggatan and then we heard some screaming and saw a truck coming, a witness who declined to be named told Reuters.

Then it drove into a pillar at (department store) Ahlens City, where the hood started burning. When it stopped we saw a man lying under the tyre. It was terrible to see, said the man, who saw the incident from his car.

Police said four people had died and 15 were injured. National news agency TT said those hurt included the delivery driver, who had tried to stop the hijack.

Several attacks in which trucks or cars have driven into crowds have taken place in Europe in the past year. Al Qaeda in 2010 urged its followers to use trucks as a weapon.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack in Nice, France, last July, when a truck killed 86 people celebrating Bastille Day, and one in Berlin in December, when a truck smashed through a Christmas market, killing 12 people.

Hijacking a truck, that has happened before, Magnus Ranstorp, head of terrorism research at the Swedish Defence University, told Reuters.

And this is a pretty cunning modus operandi. To drive to Ahlens and stop ... There is a way down to the subway just a few metres away from there, and then you ... can jump on any train you want and quickly disappear.

Swedish authorities raised the national security threat level to four on a scale of five in October 2010 but lowered the level to three, indicating a raised threat, in March 2016.

Police in Norways largest cities and at Oslo airport will carry weapons until further notice following the attack. Denmark has been on high alert since the February 2015 shootings. Traffic was restricted on the Oresund Bridge linking Denmark and Sweden at the request of Swedish police.

Neutral Sweden has not fought a war in more than 200 years, but its military has taken part in U.N. peacekeeping missions in a number of conflict zones in recent years, including Iraq, Mali and Afghanistan.

The Sapo security police said in its annual report it was impossible to say how big a risk there was that Sweden would be targeted like other European cities, but that, if so it is most likely that it would be undertaken by a lone attacker.
A communication link between US and Russian military officials has protected pilots flying missions over the crowded skies of war-ravaged Syria, but now Moscow says it is suspending its cooperation over an American missile strike.

The following is an explanation of the so-called deconfliction line and the possible consequences of cutting it.

___

FLYING THE UNFRIENDLY SKIES

A US-led coalition has been bombing Islamic State-held territory across Syria, launching 24 strikes on Thursday alone, according to the US militarys Central Command. The coalition includes some 60 countries, with some launching their own strikes into Syria. Russia is waging its own bombing campaign in support of President Bashar Assads forces, while the Syrian government has its own air force and air defence systems. That means a lot of aircraft are flying in a small airspace, which raises the danger for pilots. In November 2015, for instance, NATO member Turkey shot down a Russian jet fighter, nearly sparking an international conflagration.

___

WATCHING THE WAR FROM QATAR

To protect pilots, Russia and the US opened a so-called deconfliction line in late 2015. On the US side, it is run out of the Combined Air and Space Operations Center at the vast al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which hosts the forward headquarters of the US Central Command. There, air traffic controllers and senior military officers are in contact with their Russian counterparts in Syria. They share coordinates and other data to avoid mid-air collisions or confrontations. One US pilot flying missions over Syria credited his safety to it in a recent Associated Press interview .

___

MISSILE STRIKES AND NEW WARNINGS

On Thursday, US President Donald Trump ordered a missile strike on the Shayrat air base, southeast of Homs, over a chemical weapons attack he blamed on Syrias government. The US used the deconfliction line to warn Russia ahead of time that the strike was coming. In the aftermath of the attack, which Syria said killed at least seven people, Russia announced it would suspend its cooperation in the information-sharing campaign. Russia still has several dozen warplanes and batteries of air defence missiles at its base near Latakia, Syria.

___

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

US Central Command and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment over the Russian decision. The US maintains radar coverage and has other surveillance means to know who is in the air. However, ending the cooperation will mean US and coalition pilots will be flying into Syrian airspace not knowing if Russian forces have planned their own operations in the same places. Airwars, a non-profit monitoring airstrikes in the war against the Islamic State group, noted that US-led attacks typically focus on areas away from Russian activity, though ending the cooperation represents a worrying development.
The Dalai Lama on Saturday accused China of spreading false information about his trip to a monastery near the border that drew protests from Beijing which claims the Himalayan area as its territory.

People have the wrong information, the 81-year-old monk told reporters in Arunachal Pradeshs Tawang where he took shelter on his flight from Tibet decades ago.

I wish one Chinese official would accompany me while Im visiting here, what Im doing, what Im saying. They should know the reality.

Beijing this week lodged an official protest with the Indian ambassador, accusing New Delhi of arranging a platform for the Dalai Lama to hold anti-China and separatist activities.

After addressing devotees at the monastery, considered one of the holiest sites in Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama fired back at Beijing, accusing the countrys communist officials of misleading its people over the nature of his visit.

The 1.3-4 billion Chinese people have every right to know the reality.... They only have one-sided information and wrong information is morally wrong, theyre fooling their own people.

The Indian government has insisted the trip is purely religious and pointed out that the Dalai Lama has been to Tawang before, accusing China of creating an artificial controversy.

But some analysts say New Delhi has adopted a firmer approach to China since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took power in 2014 and invited the head of the India-based Tibetan government-in-exile to attend his swearing-in ceremony.

The Dalai Lama has always been welcome to travel wherever he wants in India. But this government has been a bit firmer on issues of sovereignty, said Jayadeva Ranade, head of the Delhi-based Centre for China Analysis and Strategy.

Huge crowds, at least 20,000 by some estimates, turned out to hear the monks nearly three-hour religious discourse.

Reincarnation concerns

New Delhi is currently pushing to expand its infrastructure in Arunachal Pradesh, building new roads and conducting a feasibility study for a railway.

India and China fought a border war in 1962 over the region, which has a large ethnic Tibetan population.

En route to Arunachal, the Dalai Lama was reunited with the Indian border guard who escorted him into the country after he fled his native Tibet following a failed uprising nearly 60 years ago.

Speaking to reporters a few days later, the Dalai Lama said the meeting had been very emotional, bringing back memories of his dramatic flight across the Himalayas disguised as a soldier.

Ranade said the visit to Tawang -- birthplace of an earlier incarnation of the Dalai Lama -- had also raised Chinese concerns over the ageing monks succession.

The Dalai Lama has stated that his reincarnation may be found outside Chinese Tibet, and Arunachal, with its rich Tibetan culture, is an obvious contender.

Under Tibetan Buddhist tradition, senior monks identify a young boy who shows signs he is a reincarnation of a late leader.

But Chinas officially atheist Communist rulers maintain that they have the sole authority to decide reincarnation.

The Chinese reaction has been very elevated, theyve been using tough language, Ranade told AFP. This indicates Chinese anxiety about the reincarnation.
US President Donald Trump has named two more Indian Americans to key senior positions in his administration.

He named Vishal J Amin on Friday as the intellectual property enforcement coordinator in the presidents executive office and Neomi Rao as administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget.

When confirmed, they will join Nikki Haley, Seema Verma, Ajit Pai and others of Indian descent in key positions. As US ambassador to UN, Haley holds a cabinet position, the highest federal office ever held by an Indian American.

Amin is currently serving as senior counsel on the House Judiciary Committee. His earlier positions included stints in President George W Bushs White House as associate director for domestic policy and in the department of commerce.

He studied neuroscience for his bachelors degree from Johns Hopkins University and received his law degree from Washington University in St Louis.

Rao is a professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University and also serves as a public member of the Administrative Conference of the United States. She was associate counsel to President George W. Bush; counsel for nominations and constitutional law to the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary; and law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas of the US Supreme Court.

Rao went to the University of Chicago and Yale University.
While the worlds attention was focussed on the US missile strikes on Syria, Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping quietly wrapped up their first round of meetings on Friday that the American side described as positive and productive.

On Saturday, Trump tweeted, It was a great honor to have President Xi Jinping and Madame Peng Liyuan of China as our guests in the United States. Tremendous goodwill and friendship was formed, but only time will tell on trade.

Trade remains Trumps chief grouse against China, which has a trade surplus of $347 billion with the US, and he, as presidential candidate, had accused China of cheating, by manipulating their currency, and had once even accused China of raping the US.

Trump did raise his concerns on the issue with Xi. The White House said in a statement that he noted the challenges caused by Chinese government intervention in its economy and raised serious concerns about the impact of Chinas industrial, agricultural, technology, and cyber policies on United States jobs and exports.

The President underscored the need for China to take concrete steps to level the playing field for American workers, stressing repeatedly the need for reciprocal market access.

The two leaders also discussed North Korea and threat posed by its weapons programme. The US has said it wants China to take the lead on bringing North Korea, over which it has great influence, but is prepared to go it alone.

They agreed to increase cooperation and work with the international community to convince North Korea to peacefully resolve the issue and dismantle its illegal nuclear and missile programs, the White House said.

To better address important issues, the two leaders also decided to elevate existing bilateral talks and established a new and cabinet-level framework for negotiations.

The US said United States-China Comprehensive Dialogue will be overseen by the two presidents and have four pillars: the Diplomatic and Security Dialogue; the Comprehensive Economic Dialogue; the Law Enforcement and Cybersecurity Dialogue; and the Social and Cultural Issues Dialogue.

Trump has also accepted Xis invitation to visit China.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has selected Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai to be a UN messenger of peace, the highest honour bestowed by the UN chief on a global citizen.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric announced Friday that the 19-year-old education advocate will focus worldwide attention on the need for all girls to go to school. She will be officially designated at a ceremony on Monday and then hold a conversation with Guterres and youth representatives from around the world on girls education, he said.

Yousafzai became the youngest-ever Nobel laureate in 2014, when she was recognised for her advocacy of the right of all children to education. Her campaign led to a Taliban assassination attempt near her home in northwest Pakistan that left her severely wounded. She went to Britain for medical treatment and now goes to school there.

Even in the face of grave danger, Malala Yousafzai has shown an unwavering commitment to the rights of women, girls and all people, Guterres said.

Her courageous activism for girls education has already energised so many people around the world, he said in a statement. Now as our youngest-ever UN Messenger of Peace, Malala can do even more to help create a more just and peaceful world.

Other messengers of peace including actors Michael Douglas and Leonardo DiCaprio, primatologist Jane Goodall and musicians Daniel Barenboim and Yo-Yo Ma.

Messengers of Peace volunteer their time, talent and passion in different fields to help focus global attention on the work of the United Nations, according to the UN.
Government investigators looking into how Google pays its employees accused the tech giant of shortchanging women doing similar work to men.

A US Department of Labor official disclosed the agencys allegations during a Friday court hearing in San Francisco. The Guardian reported on the testimony of Janette Wipper, a regional director for the Labor Department.

Google says it vehemently disagreed with the charges of sex discrimination, which the Mountain View, California, company said it hadnt heard until Wippers court appearance.

Google and other technology companies have been trying to improve hiring practices that have historically doled out most of their technical jobs to white and Asian men. Their efforts to strike a better balance have been mostly unsuccessful so far.
The US missile strikes against a Syrian airfield on Friday were an unforgivable act of aggression that showed its decision to develop nuclear weapons was the right choice a million times over, North Korea said on Saturday.

The response by North Koreas foreign ministry, carried by the official KCNA news agency, was the first since US warships in the Mediterranean Sea launched dozens of missiles at a Syrian air base which the Pentagon says was involved in a chemical weapons attack earlier in the week.

The US missile attack against Syria is a clear and unforgivable act of aggression against a sovereign state and we strongly condemn this, KCNA quoted an unnamed spokesman for the North Korean foreign ministry as saying.

The reality of today proves our decision to strengthen our military power to stand against force with force was the right choice a million times over, KCNA said.

Diplomatically isolated North Korea considers Syria a key ally. KCNA said its leader Kim Jong Un and Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad exchanged messages of warm wishes and pledges of friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

Assad thanked Kim for recognising the Syrian struggle to meet such challenges as sinister actions of the worlds terrorists and encouraged Syria to successfully weather the crisis without fail, KCNA said.

The exchange of messages came before the US airstrikes, which were President Donald Trumps biggest foreign policy move since taking office in January in reaction to what Washington says was a gas attack by Assads government that killed at least 70 people in a rebel-held territory.

Syria denies it carried out the attack.

The US strikes came as Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping in Florida to press the leader of North Koreas sole diplomatic ally to do more to curb Pyongyangs nuclear ambitions.

North Korea is believed to be developing missiles capable of hitting the United States and a nuclear arsenal in defiance of UN sanctions. It has conducted five nuclear tests -- two since the beginning of last year -- and scores of missile tests.
The White House appeared to back away from wider military involvement in Syria less than 24 hours after launching Tomahawk missiles at one of Bashar al-Assads airbases.

The press secretary, Sean Spicer, refused to discuss any next steps  military or diplomatic  by the US in Syria, as the world struggled to understand Trumps policy toward the grueling civil war.

Meanwhile, Syrian warplanes were reported to have taken off from the airbase targeted by the US missiles, suggesting that the military impact of the overnight attack had been minimal. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said that government aircraft had bombed the outskirts of Khan Sheikhun, the town targeted in Tuesdays chemical weapons attack.

Spicer called the missile strike on the airbase very decisive, justified and proportional and entirely justified by humanitarian purposes.

But he demurred on saying whether Assad had to leave power, despite secretary of state Rex Tillersons insistence before the missile strike that diplomatic steps to oust Assad were already under way.

US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) fires a tomahawk land attack missile in Mediterranean Sea which US Defense Department said was a part of cruise missile strike against Syria on April 7, 2017. (Reuters Photo)

At a minimum, Spicer said, Assad had to agree to abide by agreements not to use chemical weapons, but he did not say what, if any, further objectives the US had in Syria, even as Trump came under renewed congressional pressure to present a comprehensive strategy for the US in the Syrian conflict.

At a special session of the UN security council, the US ambassador suggested that the US would not hesitate to strike again if Assad repeated the use of chemical weapons.

The United States will no longer wait for Assad to use chemical weapons without any consequences. Those days are over, Nikki Haley said. The United States took a very measured step last night. We are prepared to do more, but we hope that will not be necessary. 

Americas mixed signals on Assad are likely to unsettle or disappoint the Syrian opposition that initially viewed the strike as a glimmer of hope amid a relentless onslaught.

Trumps missile barrage suggested a reversal from his previous indifference to Assads continued rule; the US president now faces conflicting demands from Congress to escalate militarily  and from Russia to back down.

Humanitarians, meanwhile, are demanding evidence of a strategy to end the conflict peacefully.

The first big diplomatic test comes as Tillerson is scheduled to travel to Moscow next week for talks, which will include Syria.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon is attempting to revive a critical military communications hotline between the US and Russia that has become the first geopolitical casualty of Trumps abrupt decision to attack Assad in Syria .

By shutting down the so-called deconfliction channel after the missile strike on Russias Syrian client, Vladimir Putin has dared Trump to choose between attacking Assad and attacking Islamic State, Trumps priority.

The military channel is pivotal for ensuring US and Russian pilots avoid accidentally colliding, confronting one another in midair or attacking each others forces or proxies in north-eastern Syria. It also has a significant political component, according to former defense officials: to ensure competing air wars in Syria do not accidentally spiral into a confrontation between two nuclear powers.

The morning after ordering missile strikes, Trump held a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Trump made no mention of his decision and ignored shouted questions on whether he would also consider military action against North Korea. Trump spoke only about the relationship with China, claiming tremendous progress had been made in the one-day summit.

Xi replied: President Trump has given us a warm welcome and treated us very well. Without referring to Syria or North Korea, he stressed the need for peace and stability, partnership, and prosperity.

In the aftermath of the US missile strikes, the Kremlin denounced them as an act of aggression in violation of international law.

At a UN security council session, Russias deputy envoy, Vladimir Safronkov, warned the consequences for international stability could be extremely serious.

Its not hard to imagine how much the spirits of the terrorists have been raised by this attack, Safronkov said.

The Russian defense ministry said it was beefing up its air defenses in Syria.

Shayrat Airfield in Homs, Syria is seen in this DigitalGlobe satellite image on February 18, 2017 and released by the US Defense Department on April 6, 2017 after announcing US forces conducted a cruise missile strike against the Syrian Air Force airfield. (Reuters Photo)

A Russian defense ministry spokesman, Maj Gen Igor Konashenkov, said a complex of measures would be carried out shortly to protect the most sensitive Syrian infrastructure facilities.

The Russian navy was reported to be sending a frigate aimed with cruise missiles to Tartus, on the Syrian coast.

Konashenkov insisted that the effectiveness of the US strike was very low, claiming that only 23 of the 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles reached the Shayrat airbase in the province of Homs. He said the strikes had destroyed only six MiG-23 fighter jets of the Syrian airforce, which were under repair, but didnt damage other Syrian warplanes at the base.

The US military insists all but one of the missiles reached their targets.

The US was supported by its western allies and Turkey. Frances president, Francois Hollande, and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said Assad bore sole responsibility for provoking the missile strike.

The UKs defense secretary, Michael Fallon, said the strike was wholly appropriate. He added that the UK would not be directly involved in any military action without parliamentary approval. Fallon said he had been in close discussions with his US counterpart, James Mattis, but stopped short of claiming to have been consulted on the decision.

The UN security council was convened on Friday to hear briefings on the situation in Syria and to hear arguments over the chemical weapons attacks and retaliatory missile strikes. No vote was scheduled on the competing resolutions on Syria currently before the council, and it was not expected to lead to an agreed course of action.

An opportunity for Russia and the US to stop the slide toward confrontation will come on Tuesday, when Tillerson is due to make his first trip to Moscow as secretary of state. He has signaled that the missile strikes had limited objectives  to deter the use of chemical weapons  and that the US priority remained fighting Isis first, and dealing with political transition later.

In the days before Tillersons visit there are expected to be urgent efforts to repair the suspended deconfliction channel.

The Pentagon would not address whether its airstrikes on Isis had already been reduced in response, nor if it had anticipated Russias move to abandon the channel before Mattis, the defense secretary, briefed Trump on options for the missile strike. But the Pentagon left little doubt it wanted Moscow to reopen military-to-military communications.

The Department of Defense maintains the desire for dialogue through the flight safety channel. It is to the benefit of all parties operating in the air over Syria to avoid accidents and miscalculation, and we hope the Russian ministry of defense comes to this conclusion as well, said Lt Col Michelle Baldanza, a Pentagon spokeswoman.

After Russian forces moved into Syria to bolster Assads then faltering regime, we recognized in the fall of 2015 that the airspace over Syria was going to get much more crowded, and we didnt want to kick off an international incident from our planes being in proximity to one another, said Andrew Exum, the senior Pentagon official with the Middle East policy portfolio when the US established the communications channel.

Whatever the tactical military advantages of opening the deconfliction channel, it also had a substantial political component.

Were not talking about going head-to-head, nor locking radars at each other, said Christopher Harmer, an ex-navy pilot and a defense analyst at the Institute for the Study of War. The fact that were no longer actively deconflicting is a political escalation, not a military one.

A civil defence member breathes through an oxygen mask, after what rescue workers described as a suspected gas attack in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in rebel-held Idlib, Syria. (Reuters Photo)

The channel also had propaganda value: Putin has sold his intervention in Syria at home and abroad as a necessary measure to fight Isis, despite his overwhelming tactical focus on helping Assad regain territory.

Exum said: We didnt want to give the impression we were coordinating with the Russians. The Russians very much wanted to give impression we were working together in a great endeavor against violent extremism in Syria and thats just not the case.

The aftermath of the strikes saw congressional pressure, even from Democrats normally opposed to Trump, for the White House to escalate its involvement in Syrias brutal civil war. Several legislators pressed Trump to deliver a strategy to guide future US action and welcomed a renewed debate for congressional authorization of future strikes, a measure that failed in 2013 when Barack Obama proposed it.

I fully support a robust US role in ending the Syrian civil war as soon as possible, said the Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein, who asked Trump for a comprehensive strategy to end Syrias civil war.

However, others also insisted the military strike must be followed by the difficult and complex process of diplomacy. David Miliband, former UK foreign secretary and now president of the International Rescue Committee humanitarian aid organisation, said: We share the fury of the president at the use of chemical weapons against civilians. The impunity of those who wage war against civilians, whether by chemical or conventional attacks, must be brought to an end.

The question we have for all those engaged in military action in Syria concerns their plan to stop the killing and build a durable peace. That question is even more important after the events of the last 72 hours. Every Syrian is waiting for that question to be answered.
Chammaa, a Lebanese national, joins Shangri-La Hotel, Dubai from Makati Shangri-La, Manila in the Philippines where he also held the position of resident manager. With a background in food and beverage as well as senior hotel operations, Chammaa has worked with the Shangri-La group for over 10 years. Chammaa will be responsible for operations of the hotels 492 hotel rooms, serviced apartments and private residences.
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Marlene Sarres was unable to hire Argentines on temporary work visas in 2014, forcing her to turn down projects and lay off half her personnel.

Her company, Gorham Group, refurbishes small fertilizer plants across the U.S., and the foreign engineers she wants to hire have specialized training that hasn't been offered in the U.S. since the 1970s. Without them, her company suffered a 45 percent decline in income.

"I need these engineers," she said. "Companies like ours can't afford to hire in-experienced employees. It's a liability to our clients."

She recently reapplied for two H1B visas last week, but not much has changed about this program since her last application. While President Donald Trump ran his campaign on the promise of fixing the H1B visa program, critics say a key problem remains: Major companies abuse the program, using it to essentially outsource American jobs, and that makes it harder for smaller firms to get the visas they legitimately need.

IT outsourcing firms based in the U.S. and abroad, apply for three times as many visas as they need, critics of the program say. And there are only so many H1B visas to go around. Congress caps the total number at 65,000 a year for specialized, highly educated foreign labor. Then there's an extra 20,000 set aside for foreign workers holding master's degrees or higher from U.S. institutions. Beginning in fiscal year 2009, visas have been granted to employers through a lottery system.

And demand for the visas, mainly in the software IT and engineering sector, continues to grow. According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, since fiscal year 2014, the number of applications have exceeded the cap within the first week of filing. In fiscal year 2010 and 2013, by contrast, it took an average of seven months to meet the cap, an immigration services representative said.

Demand in Houston

Houston has consistently ranked among the top five cities with employers seeking H1B visas. Local immigration attorney Charles Foster said that by last Wednesday, his firm had filed close to 1,000 applications and expects the total number to grow.

He and Wilka Toppins, the immigration attorney overseeing Sarres' visa applications, noted that this year's uncertainty over the program's future drove employers to seek legal counsel early.

"Most employers demand H1B because they understand it's a global economy, so they need to hire the best-trained talent from wherever they can," Toppins said.

Yet nearly 30 percent of available H1B visas went to only 10 IT firms in 2014, according to a report for the Economic Policy Institute by Ronil Hira, an associate professor of political science at Howard University.

Hira said much of the growth in H1B visa applications has been driven by these firms, which developed what he calls an offshore outsourcing business model in the early 2000s.

These companies offer foreign labor to Fortune 500 clients at cheaper wages where workers will get American training that they in turn can offer to colleagues abroad once their visas have expired, Hira said. The IT companies can then offer even cheaper labor through newly trained offshore workers.

While the H1B program stipulates an average wage of $60,000, Hira said there's some wiggle room in actual pay given. Wage calculations ultimately depend on occupation, skill level and location. In Harris County for instance, the lowest wage employers can offer an H1B computer programmer is $52,478. In Brazos County, it's $41,704, according to the Foreign Labor Certification Data Center.

Replacing Americans

Russell Harrison, director of government relations for the U.S. unit of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, said that as employers pay H1B workers lower wages, they end up replacing American workers who can negotiate for higher wages and are subject to greater workers' rights.

"This is how you destroy the American tech workforce," Harrison said.

Companies that are among the largest beneficiaries of the H1B program defend their practices.

IT firm Cognizant, for example, said it employs thousands of U.S. citizens and that its H1B employees are "required by law to receive compensation competitive to their American counterparts." Cognizant's U.S. headquarters is in College Station, and it has about 3,500 employees in Texas.

"As we develop our annual business plans based on our assessment of our clients' needs, we apply for H1B visas to fill talent gaps in the marketplace," the company said in a statement.

Infosys, an Indian IT firm with a Houston office, offered a similar defense in a statement: "Our company policy demands adherence to all laws, rules and regulations everywhere we operate, and we take our compliance obligations seriously."

Last week, both the Department of Justice and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services published notices affirming their commitment to cracking down on H1B abuse.

"The Justice Department will not tolerate employers misusing the H1B visa process to discriminate against U.S. workers," Acting Assistant Attorney General Tom Wheeler said. "U.S. workers should not be placed in a disfavored status, and the department is wholeheartedly committed to investigating and vigorously prosecuting these claims."

Potential abuse

The immigration services noted it will ramp up efforts around on-site visits to H1B holding employers to ensure there are no cases of fraud, and it has created an email address where workers, American and otherwise, can submit tips, alleged violations and other relevant information about H1B fraud or abuse.

"Protecting American workers by combating fraud in our employment-based immigration programs is a priority," the department said.

While there are bipartisan bills in Congress offering reforms to the H1B program, many say they only offer cosmetic changes that do little to fully address outsourcing firms and H1B workers' rights. Harrison for instance said his engineering association would prefer to see a better route to green-card access for H1B workers allowing companies to reap more benefits from their specialized skills while also granting these workers the opportunity to further contribute to the U.S. economy by starting their own businesses.

Sarres, whose company employs 50 people, is open to the idea of immigration reform around the H1B visas - particularly reforms that would allow smaller firms like hers to more easily access the program. A Honduran immigrant herself, she started Gorham Group in 2003 as an export packing company. She shifted operations to focus on mini-plant refurbishing in 2012.

With a Nebraska project lined up, she's praying her H1B visas are approved so she can avoid travel expenses to and from Argentina seeking consultation she could have in-house through the visas.

"It's the waiting game now," she said.
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The potential for a major cyberattack against the nation's power system is at an all-time high, according to the industry group representing electrical grid operators.

Gerry Cauley, president of the North American Electric Reliability Corp., told members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last week that hackers have yet to shut down power to U.S. electricity customers but have succeeded in other countries. In December 2015, for example, hackers shut down power for thousands of Ukrainian electricity customers for six hours in an attack that compromised three power plants.

"We will never be complacent," Cauley said. "The risk is very real."

His comments came as the federal government makes a push to bolster security at the nation's power plants and substations to prevent similar attacks.

The Department of Energy continues to work on developing what Patricia Hoffman, acting assistant secretary at the Department of Energy's Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, called "an ecosystem of resilience," by developing security standards and improve information sharing between government officials and the companies that operate the grid.

"This is one of the secretary's top priorities," Hoffman said, referring to Energy Secretary Rick Perry.

Cybersecurity has become a growing concern among energy companies of all kinds as hackers, some allegedly sponsored by Russia, China and other nations, seek to steal trade secrets or learn how to disrupt the U.S. system of power lines, pipelines, refineries and other energy facilities, according to government officials and cybersecurity experts. The Department of Homeland Security received reports of 59 cyber-incidents at energy facilities last year, up nearly a third from the year before.

That brings the number of such incidents in the industry to more than 400 since 2011, according to Homeland Security data show. But security specialists say that's likely a conservative number because energy companies aren't required to report cyberattacks to the U.S. government.

Many attacks target automated controls connected to computer networks through the internet and wireless connections.

Andrew Bochman, senior cyber and energy strategist at Idaho National Laboratory, testified to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that the growing presence of automated technology on the power grid is allowing hackers "to develop more attack path options than ever before."

"Cyber-risk futurists, myself included, are experiencing a palpable sense of foreboding," he said.

A recent Houston Chronicle investigation found that detection remains a major concern for the energy industry and federal cybersecurity officials. The vast majority of oil and gas companies, for example, lack the technology and personnel to constantly monitor operational systems for anomalous activity, leaving them without a means to detect intrusions when they happen, federal cybersecurity officials and private security specialists said.

In past years, the Homeland Security Department has admitted that it doesn't know where most cyberattacks against critical U.S. assets originate.
It's the interview question no applicant likes: How much did you make in your last job?

The New York City Council isn't fond of it, either. In a vote last week, it approved legislation that will ban employers from asking job applicants about what they make in their current or past jobs and could have far-reaching consequences beyond the city as employers try to standardize their practices. It's an idea that's starting to spread: In passing the measure, New York City joins Massachusetts, Puerto Rico and the city of Philadelphia in banning the question from job interviews. More than 20 other city and state legislatures have introduced similar provisions.

The measure, aimed at tackling pay inequity, prohibits employers from asking the candidate's current or former employers about salary, as well as querying public records for it, although applicants can volunteer the information if they choose.

The thinking is that when employers ask about an applicant's salary history, they can end up perpetuating any discrimination that women or people of color may have faced in the past. When employers ask about current or previous salary, they can hear a number that "anchors" them, and then offer to pay some percentage more on a figure that could already be too low.

Although the measure is for New York-based employees, employees well beyond New York could feel the effects, say equal pay advocates and employment lawyers. Fatima Goss Graves, president-elect of the National Women's Law Center, said in an email that the measure "stands to transform the way that companies operate around the country," she said. "So many companies operate in multiple jurisdictions. If a company changes its practices in New York, it is likely to also make changes around the country."

Some business groups have opposed the measure. Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, said in a statement that "closing the gender pay gap is important" and most major employers are already taking steps to correct the problem.

"Inserting the city government into the relationship between employer and potential employee is potentially disadvantageous to both," she said.

It's also possible the measure in New York could face legal challenges. On Thursday, the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce filed litigation against the law in that city. "The ordinance is a broad impediment to businesses seeking to grow their workforce in the city of Philadelphia," the chamber said in a statement, citing a violation of employers' First Amendment rights.
One of the most frequent criticisms of red-light cameras, the subject of my Friday column, is that they lead to more rear-end collisions. The theory is that panicky drivers, aware that a camera is watching, make a last-second decision to slam on the brake, causing the trailing vehicle to plow into them.

There is some evidence to support this assertion. But as with all questions about red-light cameras, the answer to whether they contribute to certain types of accidents appears to be: It depends.

One factor that influences the risk of a rear-end collision is the duration of the yellow (or amber, if you want to be fussy about it) light. The National Motorists Association, which opposes red-light cameras, has a page on its web site devoted to this topic.

In response to my column, several readers emailed to say they had been nailed by a Sugar Land red light camera because the light switched from yellow to red just before they cleared the intersection.

"Almost made it," reader Don Moore wrote. "I timed the yellow. 4 seconds. According to traffic experts I researched, the yellow should have been 4.8 seconds in a 50 mile speed zone. At 4.8 seconds I would have cleared the inspection easily."

Another reader, Joanne Schmidt, wrote that she was cited at an intersection monitored by a camera while making a right-hand turn as the light turned yellow.

"I approached the turn cautiously, aware of the camera, only to have the light go green-yellow-red in split seconds. Some of these cameras don't operate in 'real time,' " she wrote.

Sugar Land spokesman Doug Adolph said the timing of yellow lights at all the city's intersections, whether or not they have cameras, is determined by traffic engineers based on state standards. The lights are reviewed regularly, he said.

Distrust of city governments that administer red-light camera programs, and of the vendors they hire to install and operate the cameras, was another common theme in the responses to my column. In his email, Moore suggested that cities were "gaming the system" by setting yellow lights to change quickly to red.

"I think they should be outlawed throughout Texas!" Moore wrote.

The Texas Senate agrees.
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Officer Karen Taylor fired her Taser six times trying to stop a shoplifting suspect who was resisting arrest.

The first shot briefly subdued the woman, but she kept coming  pounding, kicking and biting the officer's bulletproof vest.

Five more times Taylor pulled the trigger. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. To no avail.

The severe back injuries that Taylor suffered and what she says are the Taser's failure to stop her attacker are now at the center of a product liability lawsuit against the formidable Taser International Inc., which was renamed the Axon corporation this week.

The suit by the former Houston police officer accuses the high-tech developer of false advertising, saying the company promotes equipment that doesn't always work as promised, leading to unnecessary injuries and sometimes death for officers and suspects.

"A Taser is often the only thing standing between the officer and lethal force," said Taylor's attorney, Chris Bell. "In this particular case, if backup had not arrived when it did, she would have been left with almost no recourse except to use her gun. And then we're talking about someone being killed over stealing a bottle of water."

Taser spokesman Steve Tuttle declined to comment on the pending lawsuit, but he said the company's products have been tested worldwide. More than 18,000 law enforcement groups use the company's products, he said.

"This is the most effective and most used 'less lethal weapon' on an officer's belt  that's compared with baton strikes and pepper spray," he said. "For us, for it's all about safety, effectiveness and accountability, and we've proven that over the last 23 years, and yet this is not a magic bullet."

The Houston Police Department's weapons contract with Taser is among the largest in the country, a $9.5 million commitment dating to 2013, said Victor Senties, an HPD spokesman. New York City's contract is larger, but not every patrol officer there is issued a Taser, as is the case in Houston, according to Tuttle.

But Houston officers have a history of problems with the device, according to the lawsuit. Tasers failed to function successfully 450 times for Houston police in the past five years, including 25 cases in which it failed to penetrate a target or deliver a charge, according to Houston police data submitted in court filings. Reports have surfaced in other cities as well, Bell said.

"Even though the city of Houston is paying Taser millions and millions of dollars for this equipment, the number of times that Taser guns have failed officers in Houston, LA and other cities is staggering," the suit says.

A Los Angeles Police Department report found Tasers were effective just 53 percent of the time in 2015, a decrease from percentages in the low 60s in years prior.

However, a review of lawsuits against the manufacturer in recent years indicates that the majority are focused on adverse physical reactions in people shot with Tasers, including seizures, cardiac arrest and death. Some suits say the Taser issued a larger electrical charge than advertised.

Taylor's claim is fairly uncommon: She's alleging the product didn't work as advertised, that it didn't render the suspect immobile and protect her. She is seeking unspecified damages.

A fight ensues

Taylor had been on her usual solo patrol on Oct. 8, 2015, when she was called to a gas station on West Tidwell in Acres Homes.

Dispatch said a woman was grabbing bottles of water, sipping them and returning them to the convenience store cooler.

When Taylor arrived at the store, the woman was on the sidewalk, yelling incoherently and pacing back and forth. Taylor knew right away what she was dealing with; she had seen the woman earlier in the day and suspected she was mentally ill.

"I was very physically fit," said Taylor, then 28. "But anyone who is coming into contact with mental health consumers on a regular basis knows that they're invincible."

The officer asked dispatch to send backup, then put out a second call to all officers, saying, "I've dealt with this lady already. Please send me another unit. She can be violent."

Taylor tried to calm her down, using a monotone voice. The woman responded well until Taylor started walking her toward the patrol car.

The woman bolted and Taylor ran to catch her. What ensued, she said, resembled a schoolyard fight, replete with grabbing, pushing, punching and biting.

Taylor had checked her Taser before heading out in the morning, and it had worked fine. So, as she had been taught at the police academy, she pushed the woman away and drew her Taser. The darts hit and the charge worked. The woman fell to the ground.

Then she came at Taylor again and the hand-to-hand melee continued. Taylor fired a second set of darts. No charge. She toggled back to the first set. No good. She tried applying the Taser directly to the woman's skin. Nothing.

The fight lasted about six or seven minutes until backup arrived.

"She was bleeding from one of the punches and we were rolling around on the ground at one point," said Taylor. "I was trying to get control of her arms to get handcuffs on her. My Taser failed and it was dangling out of my holster. Things were flying off my uniform. I was completely disheveled."

Taylor collapsed when she got home and needed help getting to the emergency room.

'Battle of the experts'

Houston police officials would not comment on the reliability of Tasers or the pending litigation. But David Cuevas, president of the Harris County Deputies Organization, said deputies consider the Taser an important and reliable option to have on their belt.

"Obviously, no tool is perfect but it's a part of our equipment that we use and rely on to do our job whenever we are out," he said. "Nobody's come forth by the droves and made any complaints or had any issues with them. However, any man-made instrument can have malfunctions."

Tuttle, with the Arizona-based company, said officers are taught a series of tactical alternatives if the weapon is ineffective, and said the company has lost only two out of more than 200 product liability cases in its 23-year history.

At the time of the attack in Houston, Taylor and her fellow officers were using the latest generation Taser, which is still in use today in the department. It has two sets of darts, meaning an officer could fire at two people and then send subsequent electrical charges to both at the same time.

Under product liability laws, Taylor's lawyer could argue that the Taser unit was flawed or that the product has a design flaw. Bell, however, said he has not gotten enough information from the company to know which route the case will pursue.

Jason Byrd, a Houston lawyer who specializes in consumer and commercial law, said either claim will face sharp opposition from the defense.

"It's going to be a battle of the experts," Byrd said.

Mark L. Aschermann, a consumer and commercial law specialist, said the cases can be difficult to prove.

"I'm not saying it can't be done," he said. "I'm saying the way the act is written, for her to get the damages she's looking for, she's going to have to thread a needle that has a very small eye."

Keeping dreams alive

Today, Taylor has a clerical job and lives in a Dallas suburb.

The twisting, bumping and yanking during the assault caused major herniation to three disks in her back, doctors said. She needed surgery, but workmen's compensation wouldn't cover it despite a recommendation from the agency's doctor and two other doctors, she said.

She was immobilized for months. Her only solace was watching "Blue Bloods" or anything on Netflix where cops went after bad guys. She couldn't go to the gym and gained about 40 pounds.

She had to hire people to haul the hay and the heavy feedbags at her ranch in Hempstead where she kept horses, pigs and chickens. She couldn't work her three off-duty jobs where she made the bulk of her income.

A year after sustaining the injuries, she convinced her doctors to clear her for desk duty, but she eventually resigned anyway after supervisors told her she was headed for a medical dismissal.

By resigning, she hopes to have preserved her pension and her ability to be hired again as a police officer.

In the meantime, she has run out of money and had to sell her ranch in Hempstead.

She hopes to get the surgery to avoid permanent nerve damage, alleviate the pain in her lower spine and address the numbness and tingling in her right leg that extends to her toes.

And she still hopes, someday, she'll fulfill her dream job of being a homicide detective.

"All I've ever wanted to be was to be a cop that the community could look up to and call upon for help," said Taylor, now 30. "I never had any desire to be mid-level management. My dream is resolving crimes and bringing justice to those who deserve it, helping society and keeping communities safe."
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One day after a veteran lawman was fatally gunned down, former Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson has been placed under armed protection as new details emerged about the brazen daytime attack.

Police have not yet identified any suspects and wouldn't offer specifics about why Anderson or other friends and former colleagues of slain peace officer Clint Greenwood have been offered security.

"It's horrifying," Anderson said Tuesday about Monday's shooting of the former prosecutor who previously headed the DA's public integrity unit, which investigated police misconduct.

Less than a week before he was killed, Greenwood told county officials he felt threatened by a man he'd once targeted in a corruption investigation while he worked at the district attorney's office.

"If somebody's brazen enough to take an officer's life, there obviously would be a little concern for the family (and friends) as well," said Baytown Police Lt. Steve Dorris, referring to the extra protection as "precautionary."

The killer remained at large late Tuesday despite an intense investigation by state, local and federal law enforcement agencies. Sources said investigators were looking at several possible suspects who may have had dealings with and grievances against Greenwood in the past.

Baytown police - who are leading the investigation - released a video Tuesday afternoon showing a man walking in the area of the shooting. Authorities described him as white or Hispanic, about 6 feet to 6 feet 3 inches tall, with short hair and a medium to stocky build.

A public funeral for the lawman will be held Thursday at Second Baptist Church, 6400 Woodway. Public visitation is set for 10 a.m., followed by the service at 11 a.m.

More than 300 mourners turned up Tuesday night for a candlelight vigil outside the courthouse annex where Greenwood was shot. Earlier, a "Back the Blue" convoy with more than 60 trucks drove to the courthouse to support Greenwood and other law enforcement officers.

'A hit, no doubt'

Greenwood was ambushed shortly after arriving at work about 7 a.m. Monday - shot at close range by a man who stepped out from behind a dumpster in the parking lot at the county building in Baytown, a source close to the investigation said Tuesday.

The gunman approached Greenwood as he was attempting to retrieve some items from the passenger side of his county vehicle.

"This guy just walks up ... and pops him two times," said the source, who did not want to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the case. "Clearly, this guy was there for one purpose."

Greenwood, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, was shot once in the chest and a second time in the neck. Two shell casings from a 9 mm handgun were found at the scene.

Greenwood was able to radio for help, saying, "I have been shot and I'm bleeding out," sources said.

When responding officers arrived at the scene, Greenwood was still standing by his vehicle, holding the wound on his neck and pointing in the direction the gunman fled. He was taken by Life Flight to Memorial Hermann Hospital.

A law enforcement task force working to solve Monday's slaying is hoping the combination of a $65,000 reward for information about those responsible for the shooting and surveillance footage will help them identify the shooter.

"It's a hit, no doubt," said one top federal official assisting with the investigation. "He basically got ambushed."

'One of us'

Greenwood, 57, a former lawyer, law enforcement officer and prosecutor, started work in January as an assistant chief deputy constable in Precinct 3.

Greenwood spent much of his professional life working with law enforcement misconduct - as a defense attorney representing officers, as a prosecutor in the district attorney's office or heading internal affairs investigations for the sheriff's office.

In January, he moved into a leadership position with the Precinct 3 Constable's Office, where he had put together field training and use-of-force manuals.

At the vigil, tear-streaked crowds sang "Amazing Grace" and "God Bless America" as an ever-growing stream of Greenwood's friends and supporters lit candles, took pictures and released balloons.

"Officer Greenwood was one of us," said 15-year-old Jordan Garrison, a high school student who helped organize the event. "He was a community of us. And we can't just let that go. We have to stay on the hunt for whoever murdered him."

Deputy Landon McDonald, a spokesman for Precinct 3, remembered Greenwood as a fun boss, a man who could poke fun in a serious job.

Last week, Greenwood needled McDonald about his scuffed boots - and jokingly ordered him to shine them by Monday.

"So I did; I went and shined them," McDonald said. "He didn't get a chance to see them, but I know he has now."

Many of those who gathered for the "Back the Blue" convoy didn't know the slain officer but wanted to send a message of support.

"It's important to show that there are still strangers that care, people that care about one another," said Frank Bejarano, 34, of Houston-Area Off Road Recovery.

"Today, we're basically going to get a convoy going to show our respect and show, hey, we got big trucks and big Jeeps and we stand behind them."

Organizers said more than 130 trucks and 15 motorcycles honored the slain officer.

The event was arranged after Donna VanKirk, a group member who knew Greenwood, heard about his death.

"Clint taught me how to shoot," she said. "We just decided this would be a great way to honor him."

Andrew Kragie andBrian Rogers contributedto this report.
Mahmoud Laham was driving home Thursday night from work in the Texas Medical Center when the physician-in-training's father called, sounding so giddy Laham thought he was joking.

His father said the United States had attacked a Syrian air base suspected of hosting the planes used to drop chemical weapons on civilians in Idlib province. Once Laham realized his dad was serious, he felt "ecstatic."

"I had tears in my eyes," said Laham, 26, an internal medicine resident who spent the first 13 years of his life in Damascus, Syria. "We've been waiting for this moment for so long."

Other Houston-area residents with Syrian roots largely said they shared that joy, though some worried what will come next even as others said they hoped President Donald Trump would go further and establish a no-fly zone over their native land.

A few local protesters decried U.S. intervention, but members of Texas' congressional delegation largely expressed approval.

The airstrikes were a "clear message" to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn said in a statement. "The United States and the world community simply can't stand idly while Syria continues crimes against humanity."

Texas' junior U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and other lawmakers suggested Trump should seek congressional authorization.

Congress divided

Democrats such as Houston's Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee questioned whether the strike fit into a larger strategy.

In Greater Houston, Syrian-Americans said they approved.

"To be honest, I'm excited," said Ghanem, who asked that his last name be withheld to protect relatives in Syria. "But I hope he continues. He's got to finish the job."

Ghanem said he has raised a family and built his furniture business since he came to Houston in 1989 from the city of Homs, which since the civil war broke out in 2011 has seen a brutal siege.

Just thinking about his homeland's plight brought tears to his eyes, Ghanem said. The conflict has scattered his extended family across the globe, from those stuck in Syria to others seeking refuge in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Turkey and Germany.

"Too many people got killed," he said. "It's been six years or seven years and nobody has paid attention."

Even Syrian-Americans who otherwise oppose Trump's policies, especially on refugees, celebrated the strike.

"For the past six years, the Syrian regime has had the skies and has used the skies to terrorize people," said Shiyam Galyon, 26, a peace activist born in Houston to Syrian immigrant parents. "It was one airport, but it felt good.

"This is not about Donald Trump. This is about there being one less airport for the Assad regime to use when they drop bombs on children."

Conflicting signals

A more skeptical reaction came from Emran El-Badawi, a historian who founded the University of Houston's Arab Studies program.

His wife is Syrian and has family in the country, and he did historical research there several times before the civil war. He saw the strike as a "dangerous escalation."

"What will this escalation lead to?" he said, pointing to Assad's international backers. "Will the Russians tell Syria, 'Take one for the team'? Or will the Russians escalate from their side?"

The associate professor also said Trump's sharp cuts to the U.S. refugee program and restrictions on travelers from Syria convey conflicting signals.

"The message that this sends to the Syrian people is that it's OK to bomb, but it's not OK to accept you as refugees," El-Badawi said. He also asked what might come next: "Where is the plan, where is the strategy, where is the endgame?"

A handful of protesters voiced their opposition at afternoon demonstrations at the University of Houston and in the Galleria area with signs urging, "Hands Off Syria."

Patrick Higgins, of the Students for a Democratic Society, said the organization supports Assad and contends that allegations of Assad's brutality are invented by the U.S. government to undermine the Syrian regime.

Marialuisa Rincon contributed to this report.
AUSTIN - A day after Texas House members pointedly approved an amendment to prohibit the use of public money for private schools, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the Legislature's most vocal proponent of so-called "school choice," has yet to issue a public reaction.

The vote and the House's subsequent approval of its budget symbolically slammed the door on a Senate measure to offer tax credit scholarships and fund education savings accounts for parents wishing to send their children to private schools. And that was after Sen. Larry Taylor moved to drastically narrow the scope of the voucher bill just to get it through his own chamber last week.

Its best chance now may be as a negotiating point as the House and Senate begin efforts to reconcile their two budget plans.

Gov. Greg Abbott, who wants to allow parents to use state money to send their kids to private schools, said through a spokesman that he is not giving up on the idea this session.

"The governor remains committed to expanding school choice in Texas, and he will continue to pursue legislation that gives parents choices about where they send their child to school," said John Wittman, the governor's press secretary.

The 103-44 vote by the Republican-controlled House blocks the state from funding key tenets of Patrick's preferred school choice program built into Senate Bill 3. The bill would give parents access to savings accounts funded with public education dollars that can be used to send their children to private school or pay for other education expenses or issue businesses tax credits for donating to private school scholarships.

Repeated calls and emails to Patrick's office for comment went unanswered Thursday and Friday, although his staff has posted videos of him on Facebook talking about child abuse prevention initiatives and tuition set-asides since the House vote Thursday morning.

Patrick, who has rallied for years to pass a school choice program, assigned the proposal a low bill number to indicate its importance among his legislative priorities. Last week, he and Taylor, the Senate education chairman, pared down the bill to appease senators on the fence about the proposal, agreeing to exempt counties of less than 285,000 unless voters there petition for a voucher program.

Taylor, a Friendswood Republican and sponsor of the bill, did not respond to requests for comment Friday about whether he had been in contact with Patrick about how they would proceed on the measure.

House lawmakers long have said they have little interest in passing SB 3 and Public Education Chairman Dan Huberty, R-Houston, said he did not want to force his committee to vote on the bill. The measure, which passed the Senate 18-13, is now awaiting action in the House.

A defeat on school vouchers likely would not hurt the lieutenant governor, said Jason Sabo, a longtime political observer and education lobbyist. Instead, he said, the House vote shows how politics are evolving away from party loyalty and toward regional and issue-based factions.

"It's not about party. It's about place," he said. "If the largest employer in half the counties in your giant legislative district are public schools, you hate vouchers, it doesn't matter if you're a Democrat or a Republican. You're anti-voucher. "

Lawmakers may try to narrow the proposed voucher program further, limiting it, for example, to children with special needs. Rep. Abel Herrero, a Robstown Democrat who sponsored the budget amendment to ban vouchers, said he doubts such a change would sway lawmakers in the House because they "strongly took a position in support of our public schools.

"I think, regardless whether you're talking a child that has special needs or disabilities or not, that the state (should) meet its obligation to them and all other students in their neighborhood schools to ensure that we provide the necessary resources and funds to ensure our teachers have the resources ensured to educate every child," he said.
A tricky Trivial Pursuit question: Which American president was the strongest supporter of the arts?

There's a good reason that actor Kevin Spacey singled out former President Richard Nixon in answer to this question in an interview with Politico. During his tenure, Nixon presided over a 10-fold increase in funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, according to the Richard Nixon Foundation website.

Nixon's support is all the more significant, given that the Republican Party's attempt to defund the NEA has become an annual rite. This year NEA's fight to stay alive is the toughest since the arts organization was first created by former President Lyndon Baines Johnson, partly because the initial budget proposed by President Trump contains zero funding for the arts.

The Texas Republican delegation should put aside party politics, follow Nixon's example and support the arts. House members such as Will Hurd, R-Helotes; Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, and Pete Olson, R-Sugar Land, should stand up for their districts and demand that Congress restore funding for the NEA. In doing so, they might find an ally in President Trump.

Answering a series of questions put forward by the Washington Post, Trump wrote a little over a year ago, "Supporting and advocating for appreciation of the arts is important to an informed and aware society." He went on to promise, "As president, I would take on that role," with the proviso that spending priorities should be deferred to Congress.

Job creation is a prime goal of the Trump administration, and maintaining funding for the arts is key to the fulfillment of this goal. Arts and cultural production contributed roughly $700 billion or 4.2 percent of the gross domestic product to the nation's economy in 2014, according to the nonprofit group Americans for the Arts. This is a larger share of the economy than transportation, tourism or construction.

Yet the arts endowment receives only a minuscule $148 million a year from the federal government. Some conservatives make the argument that many small cuts are needed to roll back uncontrolled federal spending. With a proposed Pentagon budget of $603 billion, this argument is disingenuous.

Others suggest that the arts funding is so inconsequential that it won't be missed. As a line item representing only .0004 of the federal budget, it may not be a big-ticket expense. But the agency is still the single largest funder of the arts in America.

Texas receives about $2 million a year in NEA funding, according to Jonathon Glus, president of the board of Texans for the Arts, an arts advocacy group. Texas Commission on the Arts receives about $1 million annually. For many areas in Texas, this is the only arts funding that exists.

In addition, arts organizations in Houston such as Project Row Houses, Multicultural Education and Counseling through the Arts and Glasstire magazine receive about $1 million in funding directly from the NEA. While many arts organizations could continue without NEA funding, some smaller organizations that exist paycheck to paycheck would cease to exist.

Other critics persist in claiming that the NEA doesn't serve the public. Yet through the Texas Commission on the Arts the people of Texas are free to use the $1 million grant to support local projects. As to the direct grants, the NEA funds says it funds projects in every congressional district of the state.

Critics who label the NEA "elitist" overlook the breadth of the agency. Since 2011, the NEA has partnered with the U.S. Department of Defense to support creative arts therapies as a key element of integrated care for service members suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome and associated psychological health conditions. Currently, the NEA is expanding its creative arts therapy project for military personnel to Fort Hood, Robert Lynch, president of Americans for the Arts, told the editorial board.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is the latest in a long line of well-known Republicans to stick up for the NEA. "I'm for cutting waste and killing worthless programs. I'm not for cutting and killing the hope and help that come from creativity," he wrote in an opinion piece for the Washington Post last month.

The arts can transcend trauma, color, education, ethnicity as well as party politics. The NEA must be sustained. To paraphrase Huckabee, the NEA's budget is not extracurricular or extraneous. It's essential.
Houston is truly a microcosm of the modern American experience. A Rice University study recently concluded that Houston is the most ethnically diverse large metropolitan area in America, surpassing even New York City.

The world knows that the Houston region is a magnet for growth and opportunity for people from all over the globe. The reasons are many, but they include friendly Texans who say, "Hi!" to all, our strong job market, and the great opportunities that come with living and working here.

However, in talking with folks in our region, there is a growing fear that this diversity has made them a target for violence and hate. That fear is counter to what America stands for and the values we represent.

Recently Srinivas Kuchibhotla, an Indian immigrant working to get his green card, was shot and killed at a bar in Kansas City simply for the color of his skin. Deep Rai, an Indo-American was shot as he worked on his car in his driveway in Kent, Wash., and told to "go back to his own country" by the shooter. Several Jewish synagogues across America, including here in Houston area, have received bomb threats or have been vandalized with hate-filled graffiti.

While these horrific killings happened hundreds of miles from Houston, we felt their impacts. It is important that we are clear on what these acts of violence represent - terrorism. Murder, attempted murder and threats of violence are designed to terrorize certain groups of people simply for their racial, ethnic or religious beliefs. These despicable acts of terror must be fully rejected in every form. Allowing these acts of terrorism to go unaddressed is a rejection of everything that America stands for.

At a recent candlelight vigil held at Houston's India House for Kuchibhotla, the fear was palpable. Some struggled to place blame on politics or centuries of hostilities. Yet trying to assign blame is not the answer; it is a natural human reaction that can distract from the dangerous problem of racially based hatred escalated to a violent level.

As a former Navy pilot and current member of Congress, I took an oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic" in this oath, we are obligated to do all that we can to ensure the safety and security of every citizen. We must continue to fight against all forms of terrorism, foreign and domestic. Our freedom is sacred, and we must preserve the essence and founding principles of that freedom. Our core strength lies in the diversity of our people; we cannot tolerate those who threaten any of our citizenry.

America's history is far from perfect. We still have a way to go until we can truly achieve Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s vision of judging our fellow man by the content of his character, not the color of his skin. The first step in this process is for all Americans to fully reject terrorism whether it comes from radical foreigners flying planes into buildings or fellow citizens seeking to terrorize neighbors who don't look like them or who practice a different religion.

Texans have always welcomed folks into our great state with open arms. Our state must continue to set the example in standing united against terrorism in every form. We must reject this hatred to ensure that the values we hold dear do not slip from our grasp.

Olson, a Republican, represents the Sugar Land-area 22nd Texas Congressional District.
Representatives from the Houston Community Betterment Y.O.U.T.H. will be canvassing the town today to access the visibility of addresses on homes and businesses.

Former police chief Jim McNiell, who is leading the effort, said he and 12 others will make an assessment of buildings that need numbers. The collection of information will include the color of the house or business building, curbing available for numbers and total quantity of numbers needed.

Tim Ceplina, Houstons current police chief, said close to half of all houses and businesses within Houston city limits have barely visible address numbers or none at all. Thats technically illegal. According to the City of Houston ordinance No. 18-18, numbers at least three-inches tall must be visible.

Why does it matter? Emergency response personnel rely on address numbers to arrive where they need to in the most timely manner possible.

When you need emergency responders, you need them, Ceplina said. You dont want them having a hard time finding you.

Along with McNiell, student participants will be assisted by personnel from local law enforcement as well as the City of Houston Fire Department and Houston Rural Fire Department.

No addresses numbers will be applied until the homeowner is contacted at a later date. Those requiring numbers are requested to help with the expense by contributing at least $5.

This is necessary not only for identification of the home for the post office, but for emergency service personnel, Ceplina said. Our officers have searched for addresses more times that I can recall, and quite often, time is essential. Not only do we respond to service calls as law enforcement, but often in assistance of the fire department and ambulance crews.

If you have a fire  the likelihood of which increases this time of year  you want the fire department there quickly. Similarly with an ambulance crew  seconds matter when a loved one is having a heart attack or bleeding. Our officers often arrive on scene prior to the other emergency services and help them locate the residence.

For more information, call Ceplina or Community Betterment representative Elaine Campbell at 417-967-3348.

The Houston Police Department wholeheartedly backs this program and the initiative of Jim McNiell and the Community Betterment Y.O.U.T.H., and we will do everything we can to assist in this important program, Ceplina said.
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Election Day arrives with many choices from U.S. Senate to county commission

Polls are open for the Kansas 2022 general election as voters vote on governor, attorney general, secretary of state, Congress and more.
The Dowlin Block has been purchased by a New York development group.

North Adams' Historic Dowlin Block Sold



Two principals of Dowlin Building also bought the Porter and Tower building on Eagle Street last year. NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  A major piece of real estate on Main Street has been purchased by a New York development group.

The Dowlin Block at 101-107 Main was purchased on Wednesday for $615,000 by Dowlin Building LLC. Two members of the group also bought the historic Porter and Tower building on Eagle Street last November for $60,000 as Eagle Street Holdings LLC.

Mayor Richard Alcombright said he had met the group's principals and they seemed excited to be in the city.

"They don't necessarily at this point in time have a real definitive plan," he said. "My understanding over the next few weeks they have an architect that they work with who will go through the Dowlin Block and basically give them some ideas and concepts."

The new owners are listed as Michael Gazal, as the resident agent, Veselko Buntic, Simon Blitz and Daniel Gazal. Michael Gazal and Buntic, both of Long Island, N.Y., are also the principals of Eagle Street Holdings.

iBerkshires reached out to them for comment but had not yet heard back by the time this article was published.

The six-story Dowlin Block was constructed in 1895 by attorney Fred F. Dowlin, who was also involved in several other downtown buildings. Faced with blue and white Rutland marble, it has never been significantly renovated and still has many of its vintage characteristics, including original woodwork, stone and wrought-iron staircase and decorative tile floors.

It contained apartments, professional services, meeting rooms and, on the first floor, businesses including Sears for many years. The building, which had about 50 apartments at the time, had been purchased by local businessman and automotive dealer Richard E. Scarafoni in 1973 after being owned by North Adams Realty Trust for 50 years.

Scarafoni Associates had received permission to knock down the narrower back part of the building for parking in 2013 with the idea of converting the 65-apartment complex into 25 units. But the project never went forward.

"We decided to sell the Dowlin Building several years ago when approached by a group with an exciting redevelopment plan. We cleared the building to accommodate the plan," David Carver, principal of Scarafoni, said in an email. "Unfortunately, the sale did not occur despite best efforts so we created a revised and city-approved redevelopment plan for us or a new buyer to execute.

"We are thrilled to confirm that a new investor group has stepped forward to purchase and renovate this important and historic building."

The entire property is valued by the city at $456,600, and the building at $346,700.

The mayor said he was assuming that it would likely be used for housing and/or hospitality since the building has been heavily residential since its construction.

"I think they're throwing out ideas and a little harder look at the building will determine what their use will be," he said.

Domenica Douglas, who bought the Porter and Tower building at 34-36 Eagle St. in 2014, said the developers had reached out to her about buying the vacant four-story structure last year. She said they did not discuss what they planned to do with the building.

The 14,000 square-foot brick structure also retains many of its original architectural characteristics, including its large glass storefronts, but is in poor shape. The property is assessed by the city at $92,200 but only $22,100 of that is for the building.
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Officials at a mosque have answered the "hatred and division" of an English Defence League (EDL) rally by hosting a "best of British" tea party.

The open-to-all gathering at Birmingham's Central Mosque, which saw the building decked out with Union Flag bunting, was organised in response to an EDL event being held on Saturday in the city centre.

Originally earmarked to take place in the East Midlands, the EDL demonstration was switched to Birmingham after the Westminster terror attack to highlight what the group describes as a "continued increase in Islamic terrorism" linked to the city.

The rally  condemned by Birmingham's political leaders in a cross-party statement  is also said by the EDL to be a reaction to the city's so-called Trojan Horse schools inquiry.

Speaking to more than 100 guests at the tea party, which started two hours before the EDL event, Birmingham Central Mosque's chairman Muhammed Afzal said local people would remain united irrespective of their religion or race.

In a Facebook message posted prior to the party, Mr Afzal said: "When the English Defence League is protesting and trying to divide the community, we are holding this party just to prove to them that Birmingham is a multicultural, multi-ethnic and multi-faith community.

"We are all united and they will not be able to divide us and create hatred."

Half of Britains mosques have been attacked since 9/11 Show all 2 1 /2 Half of Britains mosques have been attacked since 9/11 Half of Britains mosques have been attacked since 9/11 8.pa.jpg PA Half of Britains mosques have been attacked since 9/11 mosque.jpg PA

The West Midlands' elected Police and Crime Commissioner, David Jamieson, also attended the party.

Claiming the EDL was bringing "little more than division" to the region, Mr Jamieson said: "We are here today to celebrate the things that Brummies and English people hold in common.

"The English Defence League are spreading a message of hatred. They have come from outside Birmingham and they don't understand our values."

Birmingham Hodge Hill MP Liam Byrne also addressed those who gathered to chat over cake, tea and coffee at the mosque.

The Labour MP told party-goers: "Today this is how we protest  by celebrating the quiet miracle of a normal life and the things that we love most about our city and about our country.

"Getting together as friends, getting together as neighbours, breaking a bit of Victoria sponge and having a cup of tea. That is a potent, powerful message that we will send to those who seek to divide us."
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The husband of the murdered MP Jo Cox has warned over the spread of fascism and urged communities to stand together against division and hatred.

Speaking at Amnesty Internationals national conference in Nottingham yesterday, Brendan Cox said: We are facing a new threat today  one that we still haven't fully appreciated.

We have got into the absurd position of celebrating fascists coming second in national elections, rather than first, as if that is a great outcome. I'm not suggesting that we become defeatist, but unless we are clear about the size and scale of the challenge, we will be defeated by it.

Ms Cox, a Labour MP, died after being shot and stabbed outside her constituency surgery in Birstall, West Yorkshire on 16 June by far-right extremist Thomas Mair.

Mr Cox accused the leaders of populist movements of being racists, bigots and xenophobes with the intent on tearing our communities apart and said we should call them for what they are.

The threat of rising far right extremism is real and it isn't going to go away quickly. But with resolution, a concerted attempt to reach out and a focus on building closer communities we can and we will defeat it, he said.

It is not the first time Mr Cox called for unity in the face of terrorism. Following the Westminster attack, he urged Britain not to let itself be divided, saying the assailant no more represents British Muslims than his wifes murderer represented the people of Yorkshire.

Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Floral tributes and candles are placed by a picture of slain Labour MP Jo Cox at a vigil in Parliament square in London AFP Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Tributes to Labour Party MP Jo Cox are placed on her houseboat in Wapping in London REUTERS Jo Cox tributes - in pictures The Union flag at half-mast on top of Portcullis House in London after Labour MP Jo Cox was shot and stabbed to death PA Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (2R) and deputy leader Tom Watson (L) light candles as they attend a vigil to slain Labour MP Jo Cox in Parliament square in London AFP/Getty Images Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and deputy leader Tom Watson (rear) arrive to leave tributes at Parliament Square PA Jo Cox tributes - in pictures People leave St Peter's Church after a vigil in memory of Jo Cox REUTERS Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Flowers left at Parliament Square opposite the Palace of Westminste, following the death of Labour MP Jo Cox PA Jo Cox tributes - in pictures People react as they look at tributes left for Labour Member of Parliament Jo Cox in Parliament Square, London REUTERS Jo Cox tributes - in pictures A man writes a message at Parliament Square PA Jo Cox tributes - in pictures People stop to look at tributes left at Parliament Square opposite the Palace of Westminster PA Jo Cox tributes - in pictures A woman arrives to lay flowers at a statue to Joseph Priestly in Birstall near to the scene where Labour MP Jo Cox was shot AFP/Getty Images Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Tributes at Parliament Square opposite the Palace of Westminster PA Jo Cox tributes - in pictures A woman places candles in tribute to Labour Party MP Jo Cox REUTERS Jo Cox tributes - in pictures A member of the public signs a memorial for British MP Jo Cox in Parliament Square, London EPA Jo Cox tributes - in pictures People sign messages of condolence for MP Jo Cox during a vigil in Parliament Square in London Getty Images Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Flags at half mast outside Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, after Labour MP Jo Cox was shot and stabbed to death in the street outside her constituency advice surgery in Birstall PA Jo Cox tributes - in pictures People arrive in Market Square with floral tributes after the death of Jo Co Getty Images Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Floral tributes are placed in Market Square next to the statue of Joseph Priestley following the death of Jo Cox Getty Images Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Floral tributes are brought to the scene after the death of Jo Cox Getty Images Jo Cox tributes - in pictures A police officer carries bunches of flowers at the scene of the shooting of Labour MP Jo Cox in Birstall REUTERS

In an alternative Christmas message, Mr Cox also called for an end to the rise of hatred. He said 2016 had been a wake up call and that 2017 had to be the year of unity.

To commemorate the first anniversary of Ms Cox death, people across the UK are encouraged to get together with their neighbours and share food to celebrate what they have in common.

The Great Get Together will be held on the weekend of 17-18 June.
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Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has cancelled a planned trip to Moscow following US missile strikes in Syria.

The visit has been scrapped after strategic talks took place between London and Washington about how the West should approach Russia in the wake of the military action.

A trip planned by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will still go ahead later in the week, with Mr Johnson leading efforts to bring together a coalition against Russian action in Syria and the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Mr Johnson discussed the move with his US counterpart last night as the world reacted to the launch of 59 tomahawk cruise missiles targeting the Shayrat airbase, following intelligence that deadly chemical weapons attacks on civilians originated there.

Military and diplomatic experts told The Independent the attack had created an opportunity to lever Moscow into a position better suited to negotiating peace in Syria.

In a statement, Mr Johnson said: Developments in Syria have changed the situation fundamentally. My priority is now to continue contact with the US and others in the run up to the G7 meeting on 10 and 11 April, to build coordinated international support for a ceasefire on the ground and an intensified political process. I will be working to arrange for other like-minded partners to meet and explore next steps soon too.

I discussed these plans in detail with Secretary Tillerson. He will visit Moscow as planned and, following the G7 meeting, will be able to deliver that clear and coordinated message to the Russians.

We deplore Russias continued defence of the Assad regime even after the chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians. We call on Russia to do everything possible to bring about a political settlement in Syria and work with the rest of the international community to ensure that the shocking events of the last week are never repeated.

Sources said Mr Johnson was relaxed about who delivers the West's message to Moscow next week following the air strikes, while there was concern on both sides of the Atlantic that two trips a few days apart may allow the Russians to split hairs.

 Syria: What led to the US airstrikes?

London and Washington agreed that while Mr Tillerson would head into meetings with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Mr Johnson will drum up support among G7 nations to address Russia's actions in Syria ahead of Tuesday's meeting of the group.

He will push for counterparts to adopt goals, including a transition away from Assad in Syria, Russia demilitarisation in the country and plans to rebuild infrastructure alongside any peace deal.

On Friday US envoy to the UN, Nikki Haley, said America was prepared to do more if necessary and would not stand by while chemical weapons were used, while the Pentagon said it was investigating whether Russia took part in the chemical attacks that killed up to 100 civilians in Idlib on Tuesday.

The UK Government said it fully supported President Trumps action, though Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev warned the US strike came within an inch of sparking military clashes with his countrys forces.

In pictures: US missile strike against Syria Show all 7 1 /7 In pictures: US missile strike against Syria In pictures: US missile strike against Syria The guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) launches a tomahawk land attack missile in the Mediterranean Sea AP In pictures: US missile strike against Syria The United States military launched at least 50 tomahawk cruise missiles at al-Shayrat military airfield near Homs, Syria, in response to the Syrian military's alleged use of chemical weapons in an airstrike in a rebel held area in Idlib province EPA In pictures: US missile strike against Syria Shayrat airfield in Syria Getty Images In pictures: US missile strike against Syria US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) fires a tomahawk land attack missile in Mediterranean Sea Reuters In pictures: US missile strike against Syria US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) fires a tomahawk land attack missile in Mediterranean Sea Reuters In pictures: US missile strike against Syria President Donald Trump speaks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., after the US fired a barrage of cruise missiles into Syria in retaliation for this week's gruesome chemical weapons attack against civilians AP In pictures: US missile strike against Syria Syria's President Bashar al-Assad Reuters

Former head of the British Army Richard Dannatt told The Independent the US missile strikes against the Assad regime could provide an opportunity to push Russia towards a negotiated peace in Syria.

He said: "It actually shows that the worlds most powerful country and most economically successful country is willing to show a bit of leadership...Diplomacy is always better when it is backed up by strength. The velvet glove needs to have an iron fist within it.

So I dont think this should take us in to further military activity inevitably, but should take us more enthusiastically to Geneva around the conference table."
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Judges in Kenya have ruled the use of breathalysers is illegal after a bar owner brought a case saying they violated peoples rights.

Kariuki Ruitha, who owns the Reminisce Club in Nairobi, said he lost 80 per cent of his business after police began using breathalysers - known locally as alcoblows - on customers.

His clients were scared to visit the bar because of the risk of arrest and the resulting loss in revenue meant he had to make 44 employees redundant, The Star reported.

 Woman films drink driving

Mr Ruitha argued the use of breathalysers violated the right of Kenyans to make their own lifestyle choices.

His case was brought together with another one in 2014 which also argued against the use of breathalysers.

A lawyer for Mr Ruitha said in 2014 the rules were "oppressive and unreasonable" for drivers with a clean record.

But the case was thrown out at the High Court.

However, yesterday at the Court of Appeal three judges ruled the breathalyser laws were badly written and inconsistent with the countrys Traffic Act.

They said the legislation around breathalysers did not specify that drunk drivers were breaking rules if they were still in control of the vehicle.

But they also recommended the legislation should be reviewed to strengthen the legal position of breathalysers.

The judges said: As the need to prohibit drunk-driving is still dire, and this matter being of great public interest, no doubt the authorities will move with quick dispatch to remedy the position.

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

Kenya has one of the worst road safety records in the world, with around 13,000 people dying in car accidents in 2013.

Up to five people a week die in traffic accidents in Nairobi, mostly at weekends, the Standard reported.
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An ancient village believed to be one of the oldest human settlements ever found in North America has been discovered during an excavation on a remote island in British Columbia.

The village, which is estimated to be 14,000 years old, has been found on a rocky spit on Triquet Island, about 500 kilometres northwest of Victoria, Canada.

It is estimated the village is older than Egypts pyramids.

Scientists said the artefacts being unearthed, which include tools for lighting fires, fish hooks and spears dating back to the Ice Age, are painting a picture of how civilisation began in North America, CTV Vancouver Island News reports.

Alisha Gauvreau, an anthropology PhD student at the University of Victoria and a researcher at the Hakai Institute, which supports the archaeological team, took part in the excavation work.

She told the Canadian television network: I remember when we get the dates back and we just kind of sat there going, holy moly, this is old. What this is doing is just changing our idea of the way in which North America was first peopled.

Experts believe a large human migration may have occurred on British Columbias coastline.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

But the discovery also matches the oral history of the Heiltsuk Nation, a First Nations government in British Columbia.

According to Heiltsuk Nations oral traditions, stories of ancient coastal villages have been passed down for generations.

William Housty, from the Heiltsuk Nation, said: To think about how these stories survived all of that, only to be supported by this archaeological evidence is just amazing.
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Donald Trump is facing calls to open US borders to Syrian refugees following the cruise missile attack on an air base in their homeland.

His former rival for the US presidency, Hillary Clinton, said that attacking the country without supporting its refugees was hypocritical and counterproductive.

I hope that [the Trump administration] will recognise that we cannot in one breath speak of protecting Syrian babies and in the next close America's doors to them, Ms Clinton told a crowd at an event for Annies List.

Her call was echoed by Margaret Huang, the Executive Director of Amnesty International USA.

President Donald Trump said that the attack was prompted by concern for the lives of Syrian civilians, but his administration has shown callous disregard for Syrians attempting to flee for their lives, she said in a statement. He must immediately revoke the Muslim travel ban and end restrictions on refugees from Syria fleeing the horrors at home.

Palestinian writer and activist Iyad el-Baghdadi also told The Independent: The logical position of someone who supports the US strikes on Assad should be to limit his capacity for slaughter, and make him face consequence. Such a position would also mean treating Syrian refugees humanely, and not demonising them, and of course understanding and appreciating why they became refugees.

Calling the attack horrible and barbaric, Mr Trump said: "It was a slow and brutal death for so many. Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack. No child of God should ever suffer such horror."

But activists say that if Mr Trump is serious about helping the Syrian people, he must end his negative rhetoric toward the country's refugees.

Violence between the Assad regime and US-backed rebels has raged since 2011, killing more than 220,000 people and creating more than 4.81 million refugees.

More than a dozen countries  from Canada to Venezuela  have opened their borders to refugees for resettlement.

Mr Trump, however, has accused Syrian refugees of threatening Americans safety and criticised the Obama administration for accepting 12,587 Syrian refugees in the last year.

At a campaign event last year, Mr Trump even went as far as to say he would look in the face of refugee children and tell them, You cant come.

He added that they could be a "Trojan horse" for Isis to get into the US.

After winning the presidency, shortly after taking office, he signed an executive order banning all refugees from the United States shortly after his inauguration. The order  and a second, revised version  were both blocked by federal judges for unfairly targeting Muslim immigrants.
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Arkansas is preparing to execute seven death row inmates in 11 days this month before the state's deadly drugs expire, an unprecedented number of lethal injections in such a narrow window.

The scheduled executions have prompted unease from the state's Republican governor, lawsuits from the condemned inmates, concerns about the frenzied schedule and criticism from an array of former corrections officials nationwide.

Though the death penalty has been dormant in Arkansas - these would be the first executions there in 12 years - the lethal injections have put the state at the centre of the debate about capital punishment as it becomes less common in the United States. Fewer states are putting condemned inmates to death, public support for executions is declining and authorities are struggling to find the drugs used in lethal injections amid a shortage spurred in part by drugmakers' objections to the death penalty.

Advocates for capital punishment argue that the delays in Arkansas amount to justice denied for the families of the victims. Civil liberties advocates worry that the rush in Arkansas could lead to "torture and injustice," in particular because corrections officials are being tasked with executing two men a day.

Arkansas officials blame the packed April execution schedule on the drug shortage, which has sent states scrambling for replacement chemicals and, in some cases, has caused them to contemplate other methods of execution. After the lengthy lull in executions - owing to legal challenges and the drug shortage - Arkansas state authorities say these lethal injections are overdue.

But Gov. Asa Hutchinson, R, who set the dates, admitted to feeling uneasy about being caught between needing to schedule them and the looming expiration of the state's stock of midazolam, a controversial sedative that will be one of three drugs used in the lethal injections.

"It's not my choice," Hutchinson said at a news conference. "I would love to have those extended over a period of multiple months and years, but that's not the circumstances that I find myself in."

The state's midazolam supply is set to expire at the end of April, officials say. And with no clear answer about whether the state will be able to obtain a new set of drugs, Hutchinson said he had little choice but to set the dates.

"It is uncertain as to whether another drug can be obtained, and the families of the victims do not need to live with continued uncertainty after decades of review," he said in a statement.

Drug manufacturers are required by law to put an expiration date on drugs in the United States, and after that date they cannot guarantee the drug's effectiveness or safety. A state official did not immediately respond to a question regarding whether Arkansas officials are prohibited by state law from using an expired drug.

Recommended Death row prisoners have executions stayed in lethal injection wrangle

Arkansas acquired its midazolam in 2015, according to documents the state provided to The Washington Post. The drug prompted controversy after it was used in a bungled execution in Oklahoma and in unusually long lethal injection procedures in Ohio, Arizona and, most recently, in Alabama in December. According to the Arkansas documents, the state got its midazolam just days after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of the drug in Oklahoma's lethal injections.

Citing the state's secrecy law, the Corrections Department declined to say when all the drugs expire, where they were obtained, how much they cost and how much the state has in stock. The documents also show that Arkansas obtained vecuronium bromide, a paralytic, in 2016, and potassium chloride, which stops the heart, in March, the week after Hutchinson set the execution dates.

Hutchinson originally scheduled eight executions in an 11-day span, but a judge on Thursday blocked one of them because the state's parole board said it would recommend commuting that inmate's sentence to life in prison without parole, a process that will extend beyond the drug expiration date.

The seven inmates still facing execution all were convicted of capital murder. All are men; four are black and three are white. They all received their sentences by the year 2000, and some of them have been on death row for a quarter-century or longer. In a recent report, the Fair Punishment Project at Harvard Law School said it found concerns with the Arkansas cases, saying that some of the inmates appear to suffer from intellectual impairment and outlining qualms about the legal representation the men have had.

Executions are a rarity in Arkansas, trailing more active death-penalty states including Texas, Florida and Oklahoma. Since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976, there have been 1,448 executions nationwide, according to the Death Penalty Information Centre. Arkansas has executed 27 inmates in the past four decades. Texas has carried out more executions - 34 - since the beginning of 2014.

Arkansas also is not among the country's leaders in death-row populations. For every death row inmate in Arkansas, there are 20 in California. If the seven executions in Arkansas are carried out, the state would eliminate one-fifth of its entire death row population.

While executions in the United States have been rapidly declining - falling to 20 last year, the fewest in a quarter-century - states still hoping to carry out executions have tried to obtain drugs in the wake of a years-long shortage. European officials and companies, objecting to their chemicals being used to kill people, have spurred states to begin adapting new and untested combinations of drugs.

Lethal injection remains the country's primary method of execution, but due to the shortage, states have also been looking to other methods. Utah, Tennessee and Oklahoma added or broadened their abilities to use a firing squad, electric chair or nitrogen gas, respectively. Others have sought to shroud their drug suppliers in secrecy to protect them from political or public pressure; Virginia passed such a law last year.

Most executions are carried out with little public notice, but the scheduling in Arkansas has drawn remarkable national scrutiny and criticism.

"We've never seen anything like back-to-back executions, four times, over a span of 11 days," said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a Washington-based nonprofit group. "We've never seen anything close to that."

Dunham said his group has tracked just 10 back-to-back executions on a single day, and none since 2000, though he noted that in the 1990s, Arkansas twice executed three inmates in one day. Texas once executed six prisoners in a 10-day span on two different occasions, but the Arkansas schedule would surpass that, Dunham said.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

"We know that the state is aware of how to do this in a more orderly and less unseemly way," Dunham said. "They've simply chosen to carry them out in 11 days because they won't be able to use their execution drug a week later."

Arkansas officials have defended their execution scheduling as needed to help families find justice and closure.

"The victims' families have waited far too long to see justice for their loved ones," a spokesman for Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge (R) said in a statement Thursday after one of the executions was called off. Rutledge would "respond to any and all challenges that might occur between now and the executions as the prisoners continue to use all available means to delay their lawful sentences."

For some relatives of the victims, though, they have been down this road before.

"I won't really believe it's going to happen until it happens," said Genie Boren, whose husband Cecil Boren was shot and killed by Kenneth Williams and has been waiting more than a decade for his death sentence to be carried out.

Williams, whose execution is scheduled for April 27 and is the last one this month in Arkansas, was serving a life sentence when he escaped prison by hiding in a garbage truck. He then travelled to the Boren house near Grady, about 70 miles from Little Rock, according to court summaries of his case.

When Williams got there, Genie Boren was at church, but he found Cecil Boren working on his car, the court records state. Williams then shot and killed Cecil Boren, dragged his body to a bayou and took the car. Williams was captured after a car chase that killed another driver. In 2000, he was sentenced to death for killing Boren.

"We'd like for it to happen before all of us die ourselves," said Genie Boren, 73. "You know, you wait that many years, you're just waiting and waiting and waiting. I'm not sitting around thinking it's going to happen for sure, but this is closer than we've ever gotten."

Boren said she still lives in the same house where her husband was killed, not far from where Williams is being held. While she had originally planned not to attend the execution because she did not want to see someone die, Boren said she changed her mind.

"I don't know if I will get anything from that," Boren said. "But you know, I live two miles from the prison. . . . I always look over that way, because I know he's there," she said. "And once he's gone, I'll know he's gone."

Attorneys for the inmates have filed challenges questioning the scheduled pace and the particular drugs used. But the rush of work is "overwhelming," said Julie Vandiver, an assistant federal public defender in Little Rock, who is representing some of the inmates.

"This is not the way that it should go," Vandiver said. "The end stage of litigation is very important, and when an execution warrant is signed, there are all kinds of processes that start up."

She pointed to clemency petitions, which can only be contemplated after an execution date is set. She dismissed the state's argument that is has a deadline approaching, calling it "manufactured" and noting that the state has gotten drugs before and can get them again.

Vandiver said the schedule "creates an impossible situation for all the people involved," including the corrections officials who "are going to have to execute these people."

Corrections officials have raised similar concerns. In a letter to Hutchinson last month, two dozen such officials pleaded with him to change the pace, warning that "performing so many executions in so little time will impose extraordinary and unnecessary stress and trauma" on the corrections officials.

"Even under less demanding circumstances, carrying out an execution can take a severe toll on corrections officers' wellbeing," they wrote.

Jerry Givens, who signed the letter and spent 17 years as Virginia's chief executioner, said corrections officers are already under enough pressure before taking on the added weight of multiple executions.

"How can you expect them to do something of this magnitude? It's rough," Givens, who executed 62 people and now opposes the death penalty, said Friday. "I know the effect it can have on you when you participate in executions . . . It takes a while to really come out of that."

Wendy Kelley, director of corrections in Arkansas, declined an interview request. A spokesman, Solomon Graves, said Thursday that the corrections department rolled out training for the executions and that it would make counseling available to any staff members who participate in an execution.

Givens and the other corrections officials also worry that the pace "will increase the chance" of a mistake. They pointed to the last state that intended to carry out two executions in one night: Oklahoma, which bungled the execution of Clayton Lockett, a convicted murderer, in 2014.

Lockett grimaced, writhed and appeared to be in pain during the process, witnesses said, dying a short time after the execution was called off. In a state review, authorities wrote that the execution team placed the IV incorrectly and that officials involved described a feeling of extra stress and urgency because a second execution was scheduled for the same night.

The second execution was postponed, and when it was carried out in January 2015, Oklahoma officials used the wrong drug. The state has not carried out an execution since, though it came close later that year.

Executions are regularly halted in the United States. In some cases, it is because a court intervenes, but executions also have been called off recently for other reasons. Oklahoma abruptly called off another execution in 2015 when state officials realized they had again obtained the wrong drug. The same year, Georgia twice called off the execution of the state's only female death row inmate, first because of a winter storm and then because the drugs looked "cloudy." Officials later said they determined the drugs were just too cold, and they executed her months later.

The Washington Post
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The Canadian province of British Columbia has banned dress codes which require female employees to wear high heels at work.

The local government ruled that these requirements are a health and safety issue, putting workers at risk of slipping or falling as well as long-term injuries to the feet, legs and back.

Andrew Weaver, Green Party leader for British Columbia, filed a private members bill on International Womens Day in March which would have ended gender-specific dress codes.

The government eventually adopted an amended version of Mr Weavers proposal.

British Columbias Workers Compensation Act will ensure that workplace footwear is of a design, construction and material that allows the worker to safely perform their work and ensures that employers cannot require footwear contrary to this standard.

This change will let employers know that the most critical part of an employees footwear is that it is safe, Labour minister Shirley Bond said in a statement.

I expect employers to recognise this very clear signal that forcing someone to wear high heels at work is unacceptable.

Mr Weaver also welcomed the new laws, saying women wearing heels at work faced sexism, objectification, bleeding feet, sore knees, hips, backs and long-term damage.

MPs recently debated discriminatory dress codes in the UK, after a petition calling for a ban on women wearing high heels at work gathered more than 150,000 signatures.

Nicola Sharp, a receptionist, started the petition after she was sent home from work for refusing to wear high heels.

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. 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The Petitions Committee, which considers public petitions presented to Parliament, published a report which included testimony from hundreds of women about the pain caused by wearing high heels over prolonged periods.
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Donald Trump has declared a national prisoner of war recognition day in the US  in spite of once mocking an opponent by saying: Heroes dont get captured.

Mr Trump made his comments about Republican rival, Senator John McCain when he was campaigning for the partys nomination for the Presidency in 2015.

During an interview in Iowa, the presenter said Mr McCain was a war hero to which Mr Trump replied: He's not a hero... He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people that werent captured, OK? I hate to tell you that.

The remarks, made at the Family Leadership Summit, caused a storm of protest at the time.

Donald Trump's most controversial quotes Show all 14 1 /14 Donald Trump's most controversial quotes Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Isis: "Some of the candidates, they went in and didnt know the air conditioner didnt work and sweated like dogs, and they didnt know the room was too big because they didnt have anybody there. How are they going to beat ISIS?" Getty Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On immigration: "I will build a great wall  and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me and Ill build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words." Reuters Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Free Trade: "Free trade is terrible. Free trade can be wonderful if you have smart people. But we have stupid people." PAUL J. RICHARDS | AFP | Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Mexicans: "When Mexico sends its people, theyre not sending their best. Theyre sending people that have lots of problems. Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists." Getty Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On China: "I just sold an apartment for $15 million to somebody from China. Am I supposed to dislike them?... I love China. The biggest bank in the world is from China. You know where their United States headquarters is located? In this building, in Trump Tower." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On work: "If you're interested in 'balancing' work and pleasure, stop trying to balance them. Instead make your work more pleasurable." AP Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On success: "What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate." Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On life: "Everything in life is luck." AFP Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On ambition: "You have to think anyway, so why not think big?" Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On his opponents: "Bush is totally in favour of Common Core. I don't see how he can possibly get the nomination. He's weak on immigration. He's in favour of Common Core. How the hell can you vote for this guy? You just can't do it." Reuters Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Obamacare: "You have to be hit by a tractor, literally, a tractor, to use it, because the deductibles are so high. It's virtually useless. And remember the $5 billion web site?... I have so many web sites, I have them all over the place. I hire people, they do a web site. It costs me $3." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Barack Obama: "Obama is going to be out playing golf. He might be on one of my courses. I would invite him. I have the best courses in the world. I have one right next to the White House." PA Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On himself: "Love him or hate him, Trump is a man who is certain about what he wants and sets out to get it, no holds barred. Women find his power almost as much of a turn-on as his money." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On America: "The American Dream is dead. But if I get elected president I will bring it back bigger and better and stronger than ever before and we will make America great again." GETTY

Mr McCain, a former Navy pilot, spent five and a half years in a notorious Vietnamese prison known as the Hanoi Hilton where he was repeatedly tortured and spent years in solitary confinement.

Mr Trump, who avoided serving in Vietnam with four college deferrals and one for having a foot problem, put out a statement to announce that 9 April will be the date of this years National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day .There is already a day to honour those currently captured or missing in action in September.

Using his powers of presidential proclamation, he said: On National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day, America honours our service men and women imprisoned during war. These patriots have moved and inspired our nation through their unyielding sacrifices and devout allegiance.

We honour the strength through adversity of all of these heroes from our Nation's wars and conflicts, from the American Revolution to the World Wars, from Korea to Vietnam, from Desert Storm to the War on Terror.

It adds: As President, I am committed to providing our veterans, and especially our former PoWs, with the support, care, and resources they deserve. Our country owes a debt to our heroes that we can never adequately repay, but which we will always honour each day."

The announcement prompted a flurry of tweets from those who recalled Mr Trumps earlier comments on Mr McCain.

CNN anchor Jake Tapper posted a series of pictures of US war heroes who spent time as prisoners of war, along with a link to the interview where Mr Trump made his comments.

Mr Tapper reminded his followers: Challenged on the comments. Trump said, You know after I said that, my poll numbers went up seven points.'

Following Mr Trumps comments about him, Mr McCain said he was not personally offended but wanted an apology for all the military personnel who had been captured.

What he said about me, John McCain, that's fine. I don't require any repair of that, he told CNN's Manu Raju in an interview.

But when he said, 'I don't like people who were captured,' then there's a great body  there's a body of American heroes that I would  that I would like to see him retract that statement, not about me, but about the others.

In an interview with Howard Stern, Mr Trump alluded to not having fought in Vietnam by joking that his sex life was his own personal Vietnam.

Ive been so lucky in terms of that whole world, Mr Trump told Stern in a conversation about avoiding avoiding STDs. It is a dangerous world out there. Its scary, like Vietnam. Sort of like the Vietnam era. It is my personal Vietnam. I feel like a great and very brave soldier.

Although he said repeatedly during his election campaign that he wanted to make sure former military personnel were taken care of, he has been criticised for budget cuts to services they rely on including meals on wheels, affordable housing and homelessness services and for his plans to repeal Obamacare, which many veterans rely on.
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Hunters in Alaska can now shoot hibernating bears and use aircraft to track their targets, after the Trump administration repealed Obama-era wildlife protection laws.

The state of is home to 16 US national wildlife refuges, covering 76 million acres of land.

Under the previous law, hunters were prohibited from aggressive tactics such shooting or trapping wolves while at their dens with cubs, spotting grizzly bears from aircraft, killing hibernating bears, trapping bears with wire snares and luring bears with food to get a point-blank kill.

A new bill on Alaskan hunting has now passed through the House and the Senate and was officially signed off by the President this week.

The resolution, which was authored by Ronald D Young, Republican Congressman for Alaska, will repeal the old federal legislation and return predator control laws to the state.

In an earlier debate, Mr Young said: "We have to recognise this is not about the little polar bears, the little grizzly bears or wolves on television, this is about the state's right to manage  not allowing the federal government to do so."

The National Rifle Association (NRA), Americas highly influential gun rights lobby, has also supported the bill.

However, animal welfare groups have reacted with dismay to the new legislation.

"What the House did today should shock the conscience of every animal lover in America," Wayne Pacelle, chief executive of the Humane Society, said in a statement after state Representatives approved the bill by a vote of 225-193 last month.

"If the Senate and President concur, we'll see wolf families killed in their dens [and] bears chased down by planes."

The Trump administration has been working to dismantle Obamas environmental legacy, repealing a number of other federal climate and conservation laws.

Last week, the President signed an executive order paving the way for the repeal of the Clean Power Plan, a flagship Obama climate policy which would have mandated corporations to significantly curb their greenhouse gas emissions.

On the campaign trail, Mr Trump also vowed to pull the United States out of the Paris Accord a global climate change agree, which would have committed the government to reducing emissions by at least 26%.

The White House is currently reviewing the terms of the Agreement. Press secretary Sean Spicer said last week that the administration would make a final decision on whether to withdraw from the treaty by May.
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A Nazi-linked Hungarian nationalist group were reportedly "proud" to see one of Donald Trump's top counter-terror experts sporting their medal at the President's inauguration ball.

Sebastian Gorka, the Deputy Assistant to President Trump, was forced to deny he was an anti-Semite after making several public appearances wearing the insignia of Vitezi Rend.

He claims the medal was given to his Hungarian-born father, who was a member of the order listed as Nazi collaborators during Second World War, and that he wears it as a tribute to his father.

But a Vitezi Rend spokesperson told NBC: "When he appeared on US television ... with the medal of the Vitez Order ... it made me really proud."

 Sebastian Gorka defends wearing a medal linked to Hungarian Nazi sympathisers

Hungarian campaigners contradicted Mr Gorka's claims to have had no involvement with the group, whose name translates as "Valiant Order".

Erika Laszlo campaigned against Mr Gorka during his failed bid for the mayor's office in a provincial Hungarian town back in 2006.

"It was common knowledge he was a Vitezi [member]," she told NBC, in claims repeated by a politician who ran on Mr Gorka's own ticket.

"And for many people this was a shine on the armor, if you like, because it was the old, golden days before the war."

The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Show all 9 1 /9 The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the media White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer takes questions during the daily press briefing Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Union leaders applaud US President Donald Trump for signing an executive order withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington DC. Mr Trump issued a presidential memorandum in January announcing that the US would withdraw from the trade deal Getty The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Mexico wall A US Border Patrol vehicle sits waiting for illegal immigrants at a fence opening near the US-Mexico border near McAllen, Texas. The number of incoming immigrants has surged ahead of the upcoming Presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, who has pledged to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. A signature campaign promise, Mr Trump outlined his intention to build a border wall on the US-Mexico border days after taking office Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and abortion US President Donald Trump signs an executive order as Chief of Staff Reince Priebus looks on in the Oval Office of the White House. Mr Trump reinstated a ban on American financial aide being granted to non-governmental organizations that provide abortion counseling, provide abortion referrals, or advocate for abortion access outside of the United States Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Dakota Access pipeline Opponents of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines hold a rally as they protest US President Donald Trump's executive orders advancing their construction, at Columbus Circle in New York. US President Donald Trump signed executive orders reviving the construction of two controversial oil pipelines, but said the projects would be subject to renegotiation Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and 'Obamacare' Nancy Pelosi who is the minority leader of the House of Representatives speaks beside House Democrats at an event to protect the Affordable Care Act in Los Angeles, California. US President Donald Trump's effort to make good on his campaign promise to repeal and replace the healthcare law failed when Republicans failed to get enough votes. Mr Trump has promised to revisit the matter Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Donald Trump and 'sanctuary cities' US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January threatening to pull funding for so-called "sanctuary cities" if they do not comply with federal immigration law AP The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the travel ban US President Donald Trump has attempted twice to restrict travel into the United States from several predominantly Muslim countries. The first attempt, in February, was met with swift opposition from protesters who flocked to airports around the country. That travel ban was later blocked by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The second ban was blocked by a federal judge a day before it was scheduled to be implemented in mid-March SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP/Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and climate change US President Donald Trump sought to dismantle several of his predecessor's actions on climate change in March. His order instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to reevaluate the Clean Power Plan, which would cap power plant emissions Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

The order was founded as a state honour for those who fought for Hungary during the First World War by Miklos Horthy, the Hungarian head of state between 1920 and 1944.

In 1940, Horthy wrote: Concerning the Jewish problem, for all my life I have been an anti-Semite. To replace the Jews, who have everything in their hands requires a generation at least.

Many members of the government decorated with his order oversaw the Holocaust in Hungary, and the order was listed as a collaborationist body by the Hungarian government.

After initially refusing to answer questions about the medal, Mr Gorka claimed his father had been tortured and imprisoned by Hungarian communists in the late 1940s after he founded underground organisations of pro-democracy, anti-Communists to work about the Soviet dictatorship.

The medal reminds me of what [my parents] suffered under the Nazis and under the communists, he said in a video released by Breitbart.

Mr Gorka has also been known to sign his name as Sebestyen L. v. Gorka. The initials L.v are reportedly used by those granted membership of the order and, when they die, by their oldest sons.

The modern-day Vitezi Rend movement disavows its Nazi past and founder, as Mr Gorka now disavows the order itself.

Video has recently surfaced showing Mr Gorka express his support for another since-banned militia condemned as "essentially racist" by the European Court of Human Rights, and dismissing concerns about anti-Semitism as "the very useful tool of a certain political class".
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The wealthy friends of a California businesswoman accused of murdering the father of her two children have raised the $66 million (53m) bond she required to free her on bail.

Tiffany Li was freed from jail after he pals up $4 million (3.2m) in cash and $62 million (50m) in property as a guarantee she will not flee before her trial

The 31-year-old stands accused of ordering her boyfriend and an accomplice to murder Keith Green, 27, over a custody battle for their two young children.

 Donald Trump falsely claims US murder rate is at 47-year high

The couple's daughters were aged two and four, when Kaveh Bayat and Oliver Adella are alleged to have carried out the hit in April last year.

Ms Li, a Chinese-born but naturalised American citizen was living with them in a mansion in an affluent suburb near San Francisco when the killing took place.

She was initially asked to post $35 million (28m) bail, already the largest sum demanded in the history of San Mateo County.

California law required the amount to be doubled because some of the bail was posted in property instead of money.

While Ms Li's net worth is unknown, she is known to be heir to her mother's fortune which was made in the Chinese construction industry.

Her alleged co-conspirators were unable to raise bail, but the mother of two will now be allowed to live under house arrest. She has surrendered her passport and must wear an electronic tag.

Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Show all 10 1 /10 Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Bill Gates - $75 bn The creator of Microsoft is worth $78 billion. He has topped the list for 17 out of the past 22 years - though his net worth shrank by $4.2bn (3bn) to $75bn (53.7bn). Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Amancio Ortega - $67 bn The Spanish business who set up the Zara chain of high-street shops is worth $67 billion. REUTERS/ AP Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Warren Buffet - $60.8 bn Warren buffet is the world's most successful investor. Forbes rates him as being worth $60.8 billion. Getty Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Carlos Slim Helu - $50 bn Carlos Slim, the Mexican telecom magnate, is this years biggest loser with a fortune of $50 billion, down from $77.1 billion last year. Getty Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Jeff Bezos - $45.2 bn Amazons Jeff Bezos moved up to the fifth from the fifteenth spot last year; his net worth increased to $45.2 billion. Getty Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Mark Zuckerberg - $44.6 bn The biggest gainer on the 2016 list is Mark Zuckerberg , whose fortune is up $11.2 billion for a total net worth of $44.6 billion. He is the sixth richest in the world. Getty Images Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Larry Ellison - $43.6 bn The American entrepreneur has a fortune of $43.6 billion Bloomberg Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Michael Bloomberg - $40 bn Michael Bloomberg, whose media and financial empire has created a personal fortune of $40 bn, is said to be willing to spend up to $1bn on a presidential campaign AP Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Charles Koch and David Koch - $39.6 bn Charles Koch, along with brother David Koch of Koch Industries are joint sixth and are valued at $39.6 billion. Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Liliane Bettencourt - $36.1 bn Liliane Bettencourt is the heir to the LOreal empire Getty Images

District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe initially demanded an even higher bail of $100 million (80m), saying: If convicted she faces the rest of her life in prison. Thats plenty enough incentive to flee back to her native China.

But Ms Li's attorney described the bail as "reasonable".

Super-high bails are normally reserved for billionaires suspected of white-collar financial crimes.

Michael Milken, the 'junk bond king', was initially asked to post $250 million (200m) after his arrest in 1989, while Raj Rajaratnam posted $100 million (80m) in the largest bail bond actually handed over in American history.

In 2005, brothel owner Kim Freeman was hit with a $1 billion (800m) bail demand, as the judge feared she was certain to flee if she managed to raise bail.
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Uruguays three-year process of legalising recreational cannabis consumption reached its final stage on Thursday, when the government said it would authorise pharmacies to begin selling the substance as of July.

Sixteen pharmacies have registered with the government of the tiny South American country to be able to sell marijuana for recreational purposes. That number is expected to increase to 30 in the coming months, said Juan Roballo, head of the National Drug Board.

Uruguay became a global pioneer when it legalised the cultivation, distribution and consumption of marijuana in late 2013. But the roll-out has been slow, and the authorisation for pharmacies to sell cannabis  initially expected by the end of 2014  has been postponed several times.

The government hopes the formalisation process will guarantee the quality and the purity of the product citizens consume, Roballo said. The cannabis sold in pharmacies will be grown by producers licensed by the state.

This is not to promote it, but to compete with the informal market, he added.

In pictures: Uruguay's Senate creates world's first national marketplace for legal marijuana Show all 10 1 /10 In pictures: Uruguay's Senate creates world's first national marketplace for legal marijuana In pictures: Uruguay's Senate creates world's first national marketplace for legal marijuana Uruguay-5.jpg EPA In pictures: Uruguay's Senate creates world's first national marketplace for legal marijuana Uruguay-9.jpg EPA In pictures: Uruguay's Senate creates world's first national marketplace for legal marijuana Uruguay-8.jpg AP In pictures: Uruguay's Senate creates world's first national marketplace for legal marijuana Uruguay-1.jpg AP In pictures: Uruguay's Senate creates world's first national marketplace for legal marijuana Uruguay-2.jpg AP In pictures: Uruguay's Senate creates world's first national marketplace for legal marijuana Uruguay-3.jpg AP In pictures: Uruguay's Senate creates world's first national marketplace for legal marijuana Uruguay-4.jpg AP In pictures: Uruguay's Senate creates world's first national marketplace for legal marijuana Uruguay-6.jpg Getty Images In pictures: Uruguay's Senate creates world's first national marketplace for legal marijuana Uruguay-7.jpg AP In pictures: Uruguay's Senate creates world's first national marketplace for legal marijuana Uruguay-10.jpg Reuters

Earlier stages of the process had authorised home cultivation of marijuana for personal consumption, and through membership clubs.

The process will be heavily regulated by the government. Pharmacies will have a total of 400 kilograms (882 lb) at their disposal, an amount that could increase depending on demand, Roballo said. They must sell the substance in 5 gram (0.18 oz) containers at $1.30 (1.05) per gram, though 10 gram containers are expected to be introduced later.

Interested Uruguayans 18 or older must enrol in a government registry, set to open on 2 May, and are limited to purchasing 40 grams (1.41 oz) per month and 10 grams (0.35 oz) per week. Foreign tourists will not be able to purchase the drug.

Reuters
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As he grappled on Thursday with his first major decision involving military action, a fed-up and frustrated President Donald Trump turned to his two top aides and told them he had had enough of their incessant knife-fights in the media.

Work this out, Trump said, according to two people briefed on the exchange. The admonition was aimed at Stephen Bannon, the tempestuous chief strategist, and Reince Priebus, the mild-mannered chief of staff, over a series of dustups with Jared Kushner, the presidents son-in-law and senior adviser, and the top economic adviser, Gary D. Cohn.

But they may not be able to.

The president is said to be aware that a meaningful reconciliation is unlikely between Bannon, who sees himself as the keeper of Trumps campaign promises, and the competing ideologies of Kushner and Cohn, a longtime Wall Street executive and a Democrat. And he is considering a shake-up of his senior staff, according to four people with direct knowledge of the process.

Whether he acts on it remains to be seen. Trump has often pondered making changes for several weeks or even months before making them, if he does at all. He has a high tolerance for chaos, and a unique gift for creating it  and, despite his famous Youre fired! tagline from the show The Apprentice, an aversion to dismissing people.

In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home Show all 13 1 /13 In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The front of the house Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The lobby Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The house exterior Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The patio Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The bedroom Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The living room Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The living area Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The Living Room Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The kitchen Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The living room Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The bathroom Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The living room Zillow In pictures: Ivanka Trump's Washington DC home The hall Zillow

But this past week, one that some of his aides considered the best of his presidency, was marred by fits, starts and self-inflicted wounds  and the constant churn of news accounts of a White House at war with itself finally wore the president out. And notice of a possible shake-up was a warning shot to his team to make adjustments.

A spokeswoman for Trump, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, insisted that such accounts were untrue.

Once again this is completely false story driven by people who want to distract from the success taking place in this administration, she said in an emailed statement. The Presidents pick for the Supreme Court (a decision that has generational impact) was confirmed today, we hosted multiple foreign leaders this week and the President took bold and decisive military action against Syria last night. The only thing we are shaking up is the way Washington operates as we push the Presidents aggressive agenda forward.

But two people who have spoken with Trump said he recognised that the continuing state of drama was unsustainable.

No changes are imminent, they said. But the president is considering a range of options, including a shift in role for Bannon, who has become increasingly isolated in the White House as other power centres have grown, as well as additional senior staff.

Priebus has been a source of contention for a number of Trumps former advisers, with the president pushing back on criticism with the response that the former chairman of the Republican National Committee is a nice guy.

Bannon, a hard-charging, fast-talking confidant of the presidents whose roving job in the White House has given him influence over policy and hiring decisions, now finds himself in the undesirable position of being caught between the president and his family. That is a position that others have not survived, most notably Corey Lewandowski, the first of the presidents three campaign managers.

Bannon, whose portfolio is broad but vague as a chief strategist, has told people he believes Kushners allies have undermined him, that he has no plans to quit and is digging in for a fight. One option being discussed is moving Bannon to a different role. His allies at an outside group supporting him run by his main benefactor, investor Rebekah Mercer, have also discussed him joining them to provide strategy.

Kushner, 36, a government neophyte who has taken on a much larger portfolio as a top West Wing aide and foreign envoy, was said to be displeased after hearing that Bannon made critical remarks about him to other aides and Trump associates while he was in Iraq recently. Bannon has told confidantes that he believes Kushners contact with Russians, and his expected testimony before Congress on the subject, will become a major distraction for the White House.

Kushner allies have also raised the issue with the president of the increasingly unflattering coverage that Kushner is receiving from Breitbart News, the right-wing website that Bannon used to run.

But Bannon has his own core of supporters outside the White House. And he has argued that Kushners efforts to pull his father-in-law more to the center on issues like immigration would poison him with the conservative base  a hopeless position to be in because Bannon believes so few Democrats would ever consider supporting Trump.

In the White House blame game, no one is safe. Bannons team is blamed for the contested and controversial travel bans. Priebus was damaged by the failure of health care legislation. Kushner has yet to show he can master his own portfolio, and his role is so large that miscues will be magnified.

Trump does not like any staff member gaining too much attention, including those who are related to him. He had three campaign shake-ups in the 2016 cycle, and he tends to make changes based on instinct. As he learns the job of a president, his allies say, he was destined to make such changes.

There is a long history of presidents making staff changes, and one of Trumps predecessors, Bill Clinton, made changes within the first six months of his administration.

Newt Gingrich, an informal adviser to Trump and a former House speaker, said, I think first of all a very high amount of tension in the White House is normal.

I think they have particular tension right now because the health bill failed, he added.

The stories about infighting probably bother him some, Gingrich said. But do I think theyre damaging to his long-term prospects? I think theyre noise.

New York Times
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Donald Trump has said the US was "representing the world" when it conducted air strikes on a Syrian military base.

The President took to Twitter to say: "Congratulations to our great military men and women for representing the United States, and the world, so well in the Syria attack."

Some people took immediate exception to the idea that the US military is acting on behalf of the entire world in its air strikes against Syria.

Although the tweet was liked by thousands of people within a few minutes, many others replied to challenge the President.

Opponents made comments including: "This isn't a game. Human lives were lost and you're congratulating people for killing civilians?"

Another user simply suggested: "Consider rephrasing this."

Another tweet said: "You fired missiles from a ship and hardly did any damage. You wasted $100 million on a fruitless attack and inched closer to global war."

The White House said the air strikes were a retaliatory measure following the suspected use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime and were targeted at Syrian troops to avoid civilians.

But the Syrian state media claimed that seven civilians, including four children, were killed in the strikes.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said the air strike came "within an inch" of militarily clashing with their forces.

Recommended Russian warship sent to Syria after US air strikes

Mr Medvedev said the action taken by the Americans breached international law and their own internal procedures, and accused Washington of "barely avoiding combat clashes with Russia".

Many people welcomed the intervention from the US, including Syrians, on social media, some of whom changed their profile pictures to an image of Mr Trump to show their support.

Around 60 US Tomahawk cruise missiles hit al Shayrat airbase near Homs in central Syria in the early hours of Friday in retaliation to the chemical weapons attack, suspected to have been carried out by the regime, on a rebel-held village earlier this week.

At least 80 people died in the attack, after which the Turkish Health Ministry confirmed post mortems showed victims had been exposed to sarin and chlorine gas.

The White House put out statements blaming former President Barack Obama for allowing the situation in Syria to escalate without intervening  although Mr Trump previously urged his predecessor to stay out of the conflict.

In 2013, Mr Trump said on Twitter: "Stay out of Syria. We don't have the leadership to win wars or even strategise."

In an address to the US Congress in February this year, Mr Trump spoke of relations with NATO and indicated he did not want the US to act on behalf of the world's nations.

"My job is not to represent the world. My job is to represent America."

Nikki Hadley, the US ambassador to the UN, told an emergency meeting of the Security Council that Washington had taken "a very measured step" with the air strikes but it was ready to go further if President Bashar al Assad used chemical weapons again.
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To find a bright spot on Afghanistans political horizon, one must travel to the edge of the capital, follow a pitted road to a half-constructed building with no sign, and walk up four flights of stairs to a large office where an eager man in a new suit is still arranging the furniture.

Im fired up, exclaims Nader Nadery, the recently named head of Afghanistans civil service commission. His goal, he says, is to turn a power centre of political favours into an institution that offers all candidates a fair chance, rather than finding sinecures for C-average nephews of legislators and ex-warlords.

Nadery, 42, a former human rights activist, says that if he succeeds in building a merit-based job system, it may help revive public confidence in Afghan democracy. Otherwise, he says, I will be failing all those who believe in fighting for reforms, in the vision of a new generation, in the future of the country.

At the moment, though, this promising appointment feels like a small, belated footnote in a long and gruelling war that is going badly on most fronts, leaving many Afghans fearing that the future they once hoped for is slipping away.

Halfway through a presidency that promised to bring reform and modernisation, the country is still struggling with the same problems that have plagued it through 16 years of flawed democratic rule, subsidised by billions in foreign aid: a determined Taliban insurgency, pervasive public corruption, desperate poverty and leaders consumed by political quarrels.

And while some Afghans are keenly awaiting supportive signals from the new administration in Washington, others have already lost faith in the international community, even questioning whether a new influx of foreign military and economic aid is what their country really needs.

Weve been hearing about reforms for 16 years, but we still see the same mindset, where the leaders try to manipulate everything, says Davood Moradian, director of the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies. Things are far more polarised and dangerous now. If I had to choose between getting another 20,000 American troops or a real government commitment to reforms, I would choose the latter.

The protracted conflict with the Taliban and other insurgents continues to dominate Afghans concerns about the future. The guerrillas persistence on the battlefield continues to force larger and better-equipped Afghan forces into tactical retreats, and their stealthy invasion of Kabuls military hospital last month stunned the public and nearly got three security ministers impeached.

With spring fighting season about to begin and the prospect of peace talks virtually nil, Afghan and US military officials predict 2017 will be another year of hard combat, territorial setbacks and heavy casualties. Military morale has been undercut by corruption, and a devastating new report from the US Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction described officers selling food and supplies intended for troops.

The economy has been moribund since most Nato troops withdrew two years ago, taking away contracts and cottage industries that created a false sense of prosperity. The World Bank reported a dramatic drop in growth, just 1.6 per cent last year. The government has focused on long-term development projects, including dams and regional trade, but unemployment has soared to 40 per cent, with the capital full of beggars, addicts and returned refugees.

Already one of the worlds poorest countries, with a per capita income of $1800 (1500), Afghanistan still has extremely low literacy rates and poor health. In the countryside, violence has scared off investors in mining, while the UN reports that opium production soared by 43 per cent in the past year, becoming a major source of financing for the insurgents.

We are fighting on three fronts at once  terrorism, poverty and corruption  and they are all interconnected, says Hanif Atmar, the national security adviser. It is not easy, but we are making progress on all three, and those who paint a grim and hopeless picture are not right. We are struggling, but we are determined. It is no longer a matter of political will. It is a matter of capacity, and that will be increased.

Asked what Afghanistan needs most from the United States, Atmars only specific request was for expanded air combat support, which he said would transform a war effort that Afghan forces are fighting virtually alone. We appreciate your efforts to help rebuild our country, he says, but the more important thing is that we are partners fighting a common enemy.

But it is not the international community that President Ashraf Ghani and his team most need to convince. The depth of domestic disillusionment is evident everywhere, from parliamentary debates to radio talk shows to corners where jobless men sit and wait. The feeling many Afghans express is intense frustration; a sense that democracy has failed to take root, that powerful people can still get away with anything, and that leaders who pledged to solve the nations problems have become consumed by their own.

Much of the criticism focuses on the president, who has never made himself popular in public and is notorious for flying off the handle in private. But the rap on the ex-World Bank official is changing. For the past two years, Ghani was accused of being too aloof and wonky, relying on a small circle of trusted technocrats rather than reaching out to other leaders in the large, ethnically diverse society.

Now, by making an effort to become more political as he eyes the 2019 election, Ghani has ended up acting less presidential, cutting deals with unsavoury ethnic bosses and offering senior posts to outside critics. This has sidelined Abdullah Abdullah, his embittered partner in the National Unity Government, which was brokered by the Obama administration after a fraud-plagued contest in 2014.

This government is no longer about principles and reforms, it is about accommodation, says Anwar ul-Haq Ahady, a former cabinet minister. Ghanis focus is now on re-election, and he is moving the pieces around the board, but the whole game could backfire. We need fresh elections, transparent ones, to build a democratic state, but Im getting worried the next one will be as fraudulent as the last.

With elections offering the promise of deliverance or the spectre of disaster, Afghans are torn between wanting to speed up the much-delayed electoral process and wanting to make sure it produces a credible result. Local and parliamentary elections were supposed to be held by November, but that seems unlikely. Experts are debating proposals to introduce electronic voter ID cards, ballots and result tabulations, but that could take many months.

Recommended The new war memorial celebrates those who destroyed my country

Meanwhile, as the sense of disappointment deepens and the prospect of another violent spring looms, more and more Afghans are looking for an exit. Officials have sent dependents abroad, business executives are buying property in Turkey, and students exchange tips with cousins overseas on how to get visas to Germany or sneak into Canada.

Some, though, say they are committed to staying and pushing for reforms. Nadery, for one, says he is confident of Ghanis support and invigorated by the strong demand from ordinary Afghans for a responsive, honest government.

The public has high expectations, and Afghan troops are sacrificing their lives in battle, but if we cant make our institutions serve the people, those sacrifices are in vain, says Nadery. Already flooded with calls from prominent people seeking favours, he is practicing various polite ways of saying no.

 Washington Post
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US missile strikes targeting a Syrian air base were an unforgivable act of aggression against a sovereign state, North Koreas Foreign Ministry has said.

A spokesperson for the government also said the strike vindicated the countrys decision to develop its own nuclear weapons programme.

"The reality of today proves our decision to strengthen our military power to stand against force with force was the right choice a million times over," the spokesperson said.

Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad is a key diplomatic ally of North Korea. On Thursday, the countrys state media reported that Korean leader Kim Jong-Un wrote to President Assad on the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Baath Arab Socialist Party.

The Ba'ath Arab Socialist Party has achieved great successes in their struggle for building an independent and prosperous country, the letter reportedly said.

Mr Al-Assad in return thanked Kim for recognising the Syrian struggle to "meet such challenges as sinister actions of the world's terrorists, said Korean state media (KCNA).

In pictures: US missile strike against Syria Show all 7 1 /7 In pictures: US missile strike against Syria In pictures: US missile strike against Syria The guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) launches a tomahawk land attack missile in the Mediterranean Sea AP In pictures: US missile strike against Syria The United States military launched at least 50 tomahawk cruise missiles at al-Shayrat military airfield near Homs, Syria, in response to the Syrian military's alleged use of chemical weapons in an airstrike in a rebel held area in Idlib province EPA In pictures: US missile strike against Syria Shayrat airfield in Syria Getty Images In pictures: US missile strike against Syria US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) fires a tomahawk land attack missile in Mediterranean Sea Reuters In pictures: US missile strike against Syria US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) fires a tomahawk land attack missile in Mediterranean Sea Reuters In pictures: US missile strike against Syria President Donald Trump speaks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., after the US fired a barrage of cruise missiles into Syria in retaliation for this week's gruesome chemical weapons attack against civilians AP In pictures: US missile strike against Syria Syria's President Bashar al-Assad Reuters

The messages were exchanged on Thursday, before the United States launched an attack on a Syrian airbase, in retaliation for an assault which killed at least 70 people in rebel-held Idlib.

It was the first direct assault on President Assad's forces by the United States since the outbreak of civil war six years ago.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has recently suggested the Trump administration was considering tougher action against North Korea, including possible military action.

However, the isolated nation has remained defiant. A spokesperson for the North Korean Foreign Ministry said early this month the nation was ready for war with the United States.

 US military action against North Korea 'an option on the table'

"The nuclear force of [North Korea] is the treasured sword of justice and the most reliable war deterrence to defend the socialist motherland and the life of its people," KCNA quoted the spokesman as saying.

Mr Trump has discussed North Korea during a series talks with Xi Jinping, the Chinese President at his Mar A Lago resort this weekend.

China is North Koreas largest trade partner, and maintains diplomatic ties with the country - although these have become increasingly strained in recent years.

Speaking after the two-day summit on Sunday, Mr Tillerson said China had agreed to increased cooperation in reining in North Korea's missile and nuclear programmes.
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Scared, hungry and badly beaten, Rohingya women fleeing an army crackdown in Burma recount harrowing tales of destruction and death: a father burned alive, an uncle slaughtered with a machete, a brother arrested and not heard from again.

But huddled in makeshift refugee camps, dependent on food rations and the mercy of fellow refugees, they also carry something else: hope inspired by their newborn children, for whom Bangladesh is now home.

The babies delicate features present a sharp contrast with the squalid conditions of the makeshift refugee camp, where a skipped meal or food poisoning can mean the difference between survival or death.

The Burma army launched its clearance operation after Rohingya insurgents attacked border guard posts in northwestern Rakhine state in October.

The United Nations said it had committed mass killings and gang rapes and burned villages in a campaign that may amount to crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.

One-and-a-half months ago the military came to our village and kept firing their guns, said Amina, 30, one of the refugees, as she cradled her 16-day-old daughter, Sumaiya.

You see us alive only because God was so kind, she added. They caught my uncle and my younger brother and we dont know whether they are dead or alive.

Rohingya mothers face persecution Show all 10 1 /10 Rohingya mothers face persecution Rohingya mothers face persecution Ramida Begum holds her 10-day-old daughter in their shelter in Kutupalang, an unregistered refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. 'The military caught my husband and burnt our house down a week before I left Myanmar. Since then I don't know whether my husband is dead or alive' Reuters Rohingya mothers face persecution Minara Begum sits inside the shelter, cradling her one-month-old son Ayub. Minara fled to Bangladesh from Nasha Phuru village in Myanmar with her husband and mother-in-law. 'My child doesn't get enough breast milk as I don't eat enough nutritious food. I have to buy milk powder from local market though it's not very good for my son' Reuters Rohingya mothers face persecution Amina, pictured with her 16-day-old daughter Sumaiyin, is in a refugee camp Balukhali that neighbours Ramida and Minara's. 'One and a half months ago the military came to our village and kept firing their guns. I ran away with my neighbours to save our lives. You see us alive here only because the God was so kind. They caught my uncle and my younger brother and we don't know whether they are dead or alive' Reuters Rohingya mothers face persecution Fatema sits beside her one-day-old daughter Aasma in Kutupalang. Fatema fled to Bangladesh from Jambuinna village in Myanmar two months ago after her house was burnt down by the military. She crossed Naf River by boat during the night. 'Our situation is better than many other refugees as my husband Mohammad Alom works here as a day labourer. Many of the new refugees have no work here, so they have to rely on relief' Reuters Rohingya mothers face persecution Jamalida cradles her two-month-old daughter Shahida. Jamalida came to Bangladesh with her husband from Nasha Phuru village in Myanmar Reuters Rohingya mothers face persecution Rehana Begum lays her one-day-old daughter in front of her inside their tarpaulin shelter. Rehana fled her village of Jambuinna in Myanmar three months ago. 'We were in our home and suddenly the military came to our village and started shooting. When we heard the sound of gun shots we immediately went to our relatives. We walked for four hours without any food and water to reach the border at 1 a.m. We paid 25,000 Myanmar kyat (14) to a broker to cross.' Intercepted by Bangladesh border guards, Rehana's family narrowly escaped being sent home. 'They wanted to send us back, but then we heard gunshots from the Myanmar side and the guards released us, saying, "Stay in Bangladesh and save your lives"' Reuters Rohingya mothers face persecution Noor Begum sits next to her one-day-old daughter Sumaiya as she stares into the camera. Noor came to the camp one-and-a-half months ago from Nagpura village with her husband Jahangir Reuters Rohingya mothers face persecution Rajuma Begum observes her one-month-old son Raihan. 'I fled to Bangladesh because of fear, because I needed to save my children. I was pregnant and suffering from fever while crossing the border. I also have an 11-month-old boy, so it was very difficult to reach the border from our village Wabek in Myanmar. I had to rest frequently. After six hours of horrible walking we finally reached the border at 2am and crossed after paying a broker' Reuters Rohingya mothers face persecution Eighteen-year-old Asmot Ara rests her newly born daughter on her lap. Asmot said she came to the camp one month ago with neighbours from Nagpura village. In Myanmar her father-in-law was killed and their home burnt down by the Myanmar military Reuters Rohingya mothers face persecution As Marijaan holds her 25-day-old daughter Noor Habi, her son peers over her shoulder. Marijaan fled to Bangladesh from Khyeri Prang village in Myanmar one month ago after her house was burnt down by the Myanmar military. 'I reached the border at night and crossed by the boat. I paid the boatman to cross the Naf River' Reuters

The military calls its crackdown on the Muslim minority a lawful counterinsurgency operation to defend the country and has denied the allegations. Burma launched several investigations into the alleged abuse, but human rights monitors say they lack credibility and independence.

Amina is one of about 75,000 refugees to have successfully made an often perilous crossing through the fields, eventually fording a river boundary to reach Bangladesh.

Some starved for weeks, while others gave everything they had to pay off people smugglers. Many never made it, drowning or getting shot by Burmese security forces on the journey.

Survivors, who rely on shelters of bamboo sticks and black plastic sheets for protection from a scorching sun, face a major challenge in keeping their newborns alive.

The camps often lack medical facilities and running water, leading aid agency workers to worry about an outbreak of water-borne diseases such as cholera.

People are living in tough circumstances, said Azmat Ulla, an official of the International Federation of Red Cross in Bangladesh, which has launched an emergency appeal for help. Most dont have access to regular medical services and are not getting enough food.

Surviving on rations

Many women struggle for funds, having lost male relations, the sole breadwinners in most families. They rely on handouts from the World Food Programme and other agencies.

Clinics run by non-government bodies and the UN are overrun, scrambling to treat thousands of patients each month.

Minara Begum, 22, calms her crying one-month-old son, Ayub, as she tells of fleeing from her village of Nasha Phuru with her husband and mother-in-law.

My child doesnt get enough breast milk as I dont eat enough nutritious food, she said. I have to buy milk powder, though its not very good for my son.

Many women said they survived or witnessed acts of gang rape by soldiers.

An official of a large Western aid agency told Reuters it had distributed more than 660 dignity kits for assault victims, besides counselling nearly 200 women who suffered trauma after the killing of a family member, usually male.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, said the worker, who declined to be identified because he was not authorised to talk to the media.

Lucky to be alive

The quiet of Coxs Bazar, a beachside resort town, makes for a jarring contrast with the temporary camps amid rice paddies and salt flats just an hours drive away.

Large groups of desperate women line the roads, begging for money from passing cars, often well after sunset.

A red blanket spread on the earthen floor of her shelter, Rehana Begum, 25, cares for her one-day-old daughter. She fled her village of Jambuinna three months ago.

We were in our home and suddenly the military came to our village and started shooting, she said.

When we heard the sound of gun shots we immediately went to our relatives. We walked for four hours without any food and water to reach the border at 1am. We paid $18 (14) to a broker to cross.

The figure is equivalent to 25,000 Burmese kyat.

Intercepted by Bangladesh border guards, Begums family narrowly escaped being sent home.

They wanted to send us back, but then we heard gunshots from the Burma side and the guards released us, saying, Stay in Bangladesh and save your lives, she said.

Reuters
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A Front National rally in Corsica descended into chaos after protesters stormed a building where Marine Le Pen was due to speak.

The protesters, from the Corsican nationalist group Ghjuventu Indipendentista (GI), said they would never let the Front National come safely to our country.

A number of activists fought with Ms Le Pens security team in Ajaccio, the capital of the Mediterranean island, which has a strong nationalist tradition.

The incident on Saturday is the latest drama in Frances tense presidential elections, in which Ms Le Pen is a frontrunner. She is tying in polls with centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron, but he is still predicted to beat her in the runoff.

 French Presidential Debate: Le Pen and Macron clash over immigration and burkini policy

Another right-wing candidate, Francois Fillon, has been dogged by a corruption scandal and is four points behind Ms Le Pen and Mr Macron. Mr Fillon is tying with far left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon.

Ms Le Pens promises of a tough stance on immigration, Muslims and the European Union have resonated with many in France, where a number of vicious terror attacks have taken place in recent years. But she remains highly divisive despite her efforts to moderate the Front National.

Under her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, the party maintained a strong line against Corsican nationalism, which some groups on the island had historically pursued using violent methods.

Ms Le Pens visit to Corsica prompted the action from dozens of GI activists, who chanted: "We do not want the National Front", local newspaper Corse Matin reported.

At least a dozen activists broke into the Palais des Congres, where Ms Le Pen was due to speak, and fought with security guards before being thrown out. Mace was also reportedly discharged at activists during the fighting.

Outside, demonstrators clashed with police in riot gear, as others held signs saying No to Fascism. Tear gas was fired and activists threw objects at officers.

One Front National activist was seriously injured, Ms Le Pens campaign manager David Rachline said. He posted a photo to Twitter of the wounded man, blaming the local commissioner for not doing enough to secure the venue.

Mr Rachline referred to the protesters as a left wing militia.

The hall evacuated and the rally was moved to another room. At least one person was arrested.

After a delay of more than an hour, Ms Le Pen addressed a crowd of supporters, criticising her rivals in the race and making overtures to the local electorate.

"You are Corsican but you are French, so be both at the same time," Ms Le Pen told the rally. She also praised the subtle marriage between the cultures that forge our magnificent national identity, Liberation reported.

GI later released a statement justifying their actions and referenced a similar demonstration against Mr Le Pen in 1992.

We could not accept that the candidate of the Front National would come to our land to spread its discourse, marked by the seal of hatred and corruption, the statement said.

"We will never let this party, whose former leader had demanded the death penalty for Corsican political prisoners, come safely to our country."

We reaffirm to Marine Le Pen as to all the other candidates in the French presidential election that Corsica is not a simple French region but a free nation that will be reborn, that the Corsican people are an irrefutable historical reality that cannot be blended with the French people.

The GI said they were determined to fight the nauseating ideas of the National Front.

Local nationalist politicians also defended the protesters. Jean-Guy Talamoni, President of the Corsican Assembly, tweeted that he supported the young Corsican militants.

The Corsican independence movement has been active since the 1960s and has sometimes been characterised by violence.

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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 National Liberation Front of Corsica (FNLC), who advocate independence for the island, used bombings, bank robberies and other violent methods to achieve their aims. They were linked to at least 40 murders and often attacked foreigners who owned property on Corsica, leading to hostility with French politicians such as Mr Le Pen.

However, the FNLC laid down arms in 2014 and a nationalist regional government was peacefully elected in 2015.

Corsica is culturally distinct from France and has its own language. Observers have often likened it to Italian islands such as Sicily, rather than the continental mainland.

Additional reporting by Reuters
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A five-year-old boy has been detained by police after he was found pedalling his toy tractor towards a petrol station late at night.

When subjected to a routine traffic check by concerned officers in the town of Ingolstadt, Germany, the child simply explained: "Petrol station. Oil run out!"

The "young farmer" was eventually returned home to his mother, North Upper Bavaria Police wrote in a "story to smile about" posted to their Facebook page.

'Children and animals' photo contest Show all 18 1 /18 'Children and animals' photo contest 'Children and animals' photo contest Finalist, Lidia Madura, Poland 'Children and animals' photo contest Finalist, Jen Maunder, Australia 'Children and animals' photo contest Winner, Justyna Garczyk-Kleszcz, Poland 'Children and animals' photo contest Finalist, Berit Alits, Ireland 'Children and animals' photo contest Finalist, Katarzyna Olesiejuk Staniewicz, Poland 'Children and animals' photo contest Finalist, Uliana Kharinova, Russia 'Children and animals' photo contest Finalist, Marta Obiegla, Poland 'Children and animals' photo contest Finalist, Kasia Stepkowska-De Croock, Belgium 'Children and animals' photo contest Finalist, Kerli Sosi, Estonia 'Children and animals' photo contest Finalist, Peggy Laurich, Germany 'Children and animals' photo contest Finalist, Lisa Holloway, USA 'Children and animals' photo contest Finalist, Stephanie Piscitelli, USA 'Children and animals' photo contest Finalist, Jennifer Kapala, Canada 'Children and animals' photo contest Finalist, Marta Everest, Spain 'Children and animals' photo contest Finalist, Agnieszka Gulczynska, Poland 'Children and animals' photo contest Finalist, Jody DAngelo, Canada 'Children and animals' photo contest Finalist, Helen Whittle, Australia 'Children and animals' photo contest Finalist, Doina Domenica Cojocaru, Romania Doina-Domenica Photography

He was picked up by officers making a routine traffic patrol at around 9pm, who made sure to give both driver and vehicle a thorough examination.

The runaway was then returned home to his mother, who had still not noticed her son had gone missing. He apparently clambered out of a window while her back was turned.

One comment on the police's Facebook page read: "And? Was the oil successfully topped up?" The citizen went on to express concern that the engine may be frozen up.

The police replied: "All good! Running like it's freshly oiled".

Smallest Rolls-Royce unveiled at children's hospital

Another wrote "You are awesome!", to which the police replied: "We'll pass that on! Thanks a lot!"

A third member of the public posted: "Good work. Great friends and helpers. Good that nothing happened to the little man."

In Philadelphia last year, an eight-month-old received a severe dressing down by traffic police after running a red light in her hot pink pedal car.

"'Not being able to read' really isn't an excuse - but nice try," the police department wrote.
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Thousands of protesters gathered outside the Serbian government headquarters in Belgrade on Saturday to rally against corruption, after the overwhelming election victory of Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic.

The protesters, mainly students, stood outside the National Assembly building for the sixth day in a row, blowing whistles and banging pots, AP reported.

But despite the daily rallies, protesters claim they are not receiving widespread coverage due to a media blackout.

Protesters have called Mr Vucic, who has been Prime Minister of Serbia since 2014, an autocrat, and have accused the Serbian Progressive Party (SPP) of corruption and of being instrumental in what they say was a fraudulent election.

Mr Vucic, 47, won the presidential election last Sunday with 55 per cent of the vote, according to the state election commissions preliminary results data. He will succeed current President Tomislav Nikolic.

Aleksandar Vucic is expected to assume office on 31 May (Reuters)

The runner-up, former rights advocate Sasa Jankovic claimed only 16 per cent of the votes.

The presidency in Serbia is considered to be largely ceremonial, but protesters fear that Mr Vucic will maintain a tight grip on power as the leader of the SPP.

Protesters have also accused the media regulator and top editors of the state-owned RTS TV for allegedly failing to facilitate a free and fair vote.

We are here to demand more democracy, an end to Vucics dictatorial regime and a better future, more jobs and a better education system, said Djordje Peric, 21, according to Reuters.

Government officials claim the demonstrations are organised by opposition leaders  an accusation that they have denied.

The opposition alleges the vote was marred by irregularities, including muzzling of the media, as well as voter intimidation and bribes on election day.

Thousands have been protesting against corruption since the election last Sunday (EPA)

Serbia ranks 59th out of 180 countries in the 2016 Press Freedom Index report compiled by Reporters Without Borders.

Media freedom in Serbia has declined ever since Aleksandar Vucic, Slobodan Milosevics former information minister, became Prime Minister in May 2014, the organisation says on its website.

It adds that media outlets in the country face financial and editorial pressures, with hostile media being subject to frequent arbitrary financial and administrative inspections. It also says journalists who are critical of the government are often publicly attacked.

People are hungry and elite celebrate, one protest sign reads (EPA)

Protests over the election have also been held in several other towns throughout the country.

Mr Vucic is expected to assume office on 31 May, 2017.
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A man arrested on suspicion of a terror attack in Stockholm is suspected of being the driver of the lorry that ploughed into crowds in a shopping area in the Swedish capital, police have revealed.

The person in question has been arrested as the culprit ... in this case the driver, police spokesman Lars Bystrom said.

Then, there can be other people who are associated with him, but we do not know that at the current time.

Recommended Trump fans use Stockholm attack to claim he was right about Sweden

The man was detained in a northern Stockholm suburb on Friday and later arrested on suspicion of having committed a terror crime.

A major police investigation is underway after a hijacked truck, which was reportedly loaded with a homemade bomb, was driven into crowds in a busy shopping area in central Stockholm, killing at least four people and injuring 15.

The suspect is believed to be a 39-year-old man from Uzbekistan, whose registered address is in suburban Stockholm. The man is thought to have been an Isis sympathiser, who reportedly expressed support for the terror group online.

Police had previously said the man they arrested in northern Stockholm matched exactly the profile of the in this CCTV image officers released on Friday (Stockholm Police)

He is believed to be a father of four children, who worked in the building industry.

A second man has also been arrested in connection with the attack, according to Swedens national public broadcaster, SVT.

Police have said he is believed to be connected to the driver of the lorry.

The driver fled the scene after the attack, but officers were able to locate him in the suburb of Marsta, about 25 miles north of the city centre.

Police had said he matched exactly the profile of the man whose image they had earlier released as someone they were searching for.

Swedish prosecutor Hans Ihrman said on Saturday that the suspect should face a pre-trial custody hearing before midday Tuesday, or be released.

Stefan Lofven, the Swedish Prime Minister, said all evidence indicated that this was a terror attack but the countrys leader vowed that terrorists will never, ever win.
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A man arrested on suspicion of killing at least four people in a terror attack in Stockholm was known to security services, police have said.

The 39-year-old man from Uzbekistan was arrested hours after the massacre in Sweden on suspicion of murder and terror offences.

Local media reported that he had expressed support for Isis on social media but prosecutors would not confirm any link with the group.

Police said they were analysing the mans phone, contacts and online activity, and claims have emerged that he was linked to an Uzbek gang suspected of financing Isis with a fraudulent cleaning company. Although a terror link could not be proven in court, three people were jailed for tax evasion and fraud over the scam in 2015, Expressen reported.

Anders Thornberg, head of the Swedish Security Service, said the unnamed suspect had been on authorities radar some time ago.

 Swedish detectives make arrest after Stockholm truck attack

The suspect didn't appear in our recent files but he earlier has been in our files, he told a press conference.

Mr Thornberg described the intelligence as isolated, saying it could not be substantiated at the time.

He added that Swedish security services are working with international partners in the investigation, and probing whether the suspect is part of a wider network.

Dan Eliasson, head of the national police, said they believed the man arrested was the driver of the lorry that smashed into Ahlens department store on Friday.

Nothing points to that we have the wrong person, on the contrary, suspicions have strengthened as the investigation has progressed, he told reporters.

We still cannot rule out that more people are involved.

In pictures: Stockholm truck attack Show all 15 1 /15 In pictures: Stockholm truck attack In pictures: Stockholm truck attack 3 people dead when a truck crashed into Ahlens department store in central Stockholm, Sweden Rex In pictures: Stockholm truck attack People were killed when a truck crashed into department store Ahlens on Drottninggatan, in central Stockholm Reuters In pictures: Stockholm truck attack Special Police forces work at the scene where a truck crashed into the Ahlens department store at Drottninggatan in central Stockholm Getty Images In pictures: Stockholm truck attack Woman is assisted at the scene after a truck crashed into an Ahlens department store in Stockholm Rex In pictures: Stockholm truck attack A policewoman in a gas mask operates at the scene where a truck crashed into the Ahlens department store at Drottninggatan in central Stockholm Getty Images In pictures: Stockholm truck attack People react at the scene where a truck crashed into the Ahlens department store at Drottninggatan in central Stockholm Rex In pictures: Stockholm truck attack Reports say three people have died after a truck crashed into an Ahlens department store in Stockholm Rex In pictures: Stockholm truck attack Armed police operates at the scene where a truck crashed into the Ahlens department store at Drottninggatan in central Stockholm Getty Images In pictures: Stockholm truck attack People react at the scene where a truck crashed into the Ahlens department store at Drottninggatan in central Stockholm Getty Images In pictures: Stockholm truck attack Emergency services close to the scene of an incident in Drottninggatan, a street in the centre of Stockholm, Sweden Lasse Gare/PA Wire In pictures: Stockholm truck attack Passers react at the scene where a truck crashed into the Ahlens department store at Drottninggatan in central Stockholm Getty Images In pictures: Stockholm truck attack People killed in incident when a truck was driven into a department store in central Stockholm Reuters In pictures: Stockholm truck attack Police officers work at the scene where a truck crashed into the Ahlens department store at Drottninggatan in central Stockholm Getty Images In pictures: Stockholm truck attack A general view shows a Ahlens department store after a truck reportedly crashed into it, at Drottninggatan in central Stockholm, Sweden EPA In pictures: Stockholm truck attack A view of a street after a truck reportedly crashed into a department store in central Stockholm, Sweden EPA

He confirmed police had found a suspicious object that could be a bomb or an incendiary device in the drivers seat and were analysing it.

The attacker hijacked a lorry belonging to the Swedish brewery Spendrups as it made a delivery at a nearby restaurant, with a masked man climbing into the empty cab and driving away.

It was used to ram into people in a pedestrianised street before crashing into Ahlens shortly before 3pm local time (2pm BST).

The lorry was left partially embedded in the department store after ploughed into pedestrians, killing four people and wounding 15 others.

The atrocity sparked panic in the Swedish capital, sending people running for cover as public transport and parliament went into lockdown.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven at a memorial near the scene of the lorry attack in Stockholm (AFP/Getty) (AFP/Getty Images)

The chief suspect was arrested in Marsta, north of Stockholm, later on Friday after being found behaving suspiciously with minor injuries.

Swedens prosecutor said he has been arrested on suspicion of murder and terror offences, and will appear in court for a pre-trial custody hearing.

A second man believed to be linked to the main suspect was detained in the district of Hjulsta.

Swedens Prime Minister, Stefan Lofven, has called a day of national mourning on Monday, and Theresa May has called to express Britains condolences.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, although both Isis and al-Qaeda have recently released propaganda calling on followers to carry out vehicle rammings and including bomb-making instructions.

Lorries were used by Isis supporters in the attacks in Berlin and Nice last year, while cars were used in Westminster and at Ohio State University.
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Saudi monarch King Salman has congratulated Donald Trump for his "courageous decision" to carry out a missile strike on Syria.

The official Saudi Press Agency reported that Salman spoke to the US president by telephone on Friday.

Saudi Arabia said the missile launch by Mr Trump was the right response to "the crimes of this regime to its people in light of the failure of the international community to stop it".

The kingdom is among the most vehement opponents of Syrian president Bashar Assad and supports Sunni rebel groups fighting to oust him.

The Sunni rulers of Saudi Arabia are engaged in a power struggle for regional dominance with Iran's Shia government, and view Tehran's support of Mr Assad as a threat to the region.

10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Show all 10 1 /10 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In October 2014, three lawyers, Dr Abdulrahman al-Subaihi, Bander al-Nogaithan and Abdulrahman al-Rumaih , were sentenced to up to eight years in prison for using Twitter to criticize the Ministry of Justice. AFP/Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In March 2015, Yemens Sunni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi was forced into exile after a Shia-led insurgency. A Saudi Arabia-led coalition has responded with air strikes in order to reinstate Mr Hadi. It has since been accused of committing war crimes in the country. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Women who supported the Women2Drive campaign, launched in 2011 to challenge the ban on women driving vehicles, faced harassment and intimidation by the authorities. The government warned that women drivers would face arrest. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Members of the Kingdoms Shia minority, most of whom live in the oil-rich Eastern Province, continue to face discrimination that limits their access to government services and employment. Activists have received death sentences or long prison terms for their alleged participation in protests in 2011 and 2012. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses All public gatherings are prohibited under an order issued by the Interior Ministry in 2011. Those defy the ban face arrest, prosecution and imprisonment on charges such as inciting people against the authorities. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In March 2014, the Interior Ministry stated that authorities had deported over 370,000 foreign migrants and that 18,000 others were in detention. Thousands of workers were returned to Somalia and other states where they were at risk of human rights abuses, with large numbers also returned to Yemen, in order to open more jobs to Saudi Arabians. Many migrants reported that prior to their deportation they had been packed into overcrowded makeshift detention facilities where they received little food and water and were abused by guards. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses The Saudi Arabian authorities continue to deny access to independent human rights organisations like Amnesty International, and they have been known to take punitive action, including through the courts, against activists and family members of victims who contact Amnesty. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Raif Badawi was sentenced to 1000 lashes and 10 years in prison for using his liberal blog to criticise Saudi Arabias clerics. He has already received 50 lashes, which have reportedly left him in poor health. Carsten Koall/Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Dawood al-Marhoon was arrested aged 17 for participating in an anti-government protest. After refusing to spy on his fellow protestors, he was tortured and forced to sign a blank document that would later contain his confession. At Dawoods trial, the prosecution requested death by crucifixion while refusing him a lawyer. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Ali Mohammed al-Nimr was arrested in 2012 aged either 16 or 17 for participating in protests during the Arab spring. His sentence includes beheading and crucifixion. The international community has spoken out against the punishment and has called on Saudi Arabia to stop. He is the nephew of a prominent government dissident. Getty

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Seven wounded Syrians  two children, four women and a man  waited in pain for darkness to fall to cross into enemy territory. Under the faint moonlight, Israeli military medical corps quickly whisked the patients across the hostile frontier into armoured ambulances headed to hospitals for intensive care.

It was a scene that has recurred since 2013, when the Israeli military began treating Syrian civilians wounded in fighting just a few miles away. Israel says it has quietly treated 3,000 patients  a number that it expects to quickly grow as fighting heats up in neighbouring Syria in the wake of a chemical attack and, in response, an unprecedented U.S. missile strike.

While the numbers are a tiny fraction of the hundreds of thousands of dead and wounded in the six-year Syrian war, both doctors and patients say the programme has changed perceptions and helped ease tensions across the hostile border.

Dr. Salman Zarka, director of the Ziv medical centre in the northern Israeli town of Safed, is a former colonel in the medical corps who served on the Syrian border.

He said he "couldn't then have imagined setting up a humanitarian program for Syrians" Now his hospital has delivered 19 Syrian babies and sends prescriptions with patients back into Syria.

In pictures: US missile strike against Syria Show all 7 1 /7 In pictures: US missile strike against Syria In pictures: US missile strike against Syria The guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) launches a tomahawk land attack missile in the Mediterranean Sea AP In pictures: US missile strike against Syria The United States military launched at least 50 tomahawk cruise missiles at al-Shayrat military airfield near Homs, Syria, in response to the Syrian military's alleged use of chemical weapons in an airstrike in a rebel held area in Idlib province EPA In pictures: US missile strike against Syria Shayrat airfield in Syria Getty Images In pictures: US missile strike against Syria US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) fires a tomahawk land attack missile in Mediterranean Sea Reuters In pictures: US missile strike against Syria US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) fires a tomahawk land attack missile in Mediterranean Sea Reuters In pictures: US missile strike against Syria President Donald Trump speaks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., after the US fired a barrage of cruise missiles into Syria in retaliation for this week's gruesome chemical weapons attack against civilians AP In pictures: US missile strike against Syria Syria's President Bashar al-Assad Reuters

"All this makes it more human, more complicated," Zarka said, adding that he worries about patients he knows on a first name-basis who have returned to Syria.

In Thursday night's rescue, medical officers decided that two of the seven patients had wounds that were too urgent to wait and so radioed in a helicopter. Soldiers carried the two on stretchers beneath the whirring blades as the helicopter lifted off into the inky night sky.

"We check their breathing, their pulse, their blood pressure  all their vital signs," said Lt. Omri Caspi, a medical officer. "We take a look at their injuries, we saw the cuts, we checked the chest, the heads, everything, and then we decide which treatment they need."

Just a few years ago, such scenes would have been unthinkable. Israel and the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad were bitter enemies, and contact across the hostile lines of the divided Golan Heights was virtually nonexistent. Israel captured part of the Golan, a strategic plateau overlooking northern Israel, from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war.

The outbreak of Syria's civil war in 2011 has radically altered the area, though. The Syrian side of the Golan is now divided between government troops and a host of rebel groups. Russian, Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah forces have all entered the fighting to offer support to Assad's beleaguered forces.

Israel has largely stayed out of the fighting in Syria, which has claimed over 400,000 lives. But it has carried out a number of airstrikes on suspected weapons shipments to Hezbollah, a bitter enemy that is fighting alongside Syrian government forces.

Tensions skyrocketed this week after an alleged chemical weapons attack by the Syrian government killed dozens of people. The U.S responded early Friday by launching 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian air base  a dramatic escalation lauded by Sunni states, rebels and Israel but condemned by Assad, Russia and China.

Israel's newest patients started their treatment just as the American missiles struck, a little before dawn, less than 200 kilometers (120 miles) away inside Syria.

Two Syrian patients shared their experiences in Syria and Israel with The Associated Press as soldiers from the Israeli military supervised. The two spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear they or their families would be targeted in Syria if their stay in Israel is made public.

Both young men praised the Israeli people and government while lambasting Assad and his supporters. They said that as patients have returned to Syria from Israel, word has slowly spread that Israel can help those desperately wounded. The medical care is free of charge. The hospital said it doesn't discriminate when it comes to admittance, and insists it doesn't collect personal patient information.

One patient, a 26-year old from Deraa, the city in Syria's south where the revolution broke out in 2011, flashed a toothy smile while sitting in a wheelchair; one leg a bandaged stump, the other gripped in a metal cast. He said he was on the street when a bomb blast mangled his legs. He couldn't find treatment in Syria's devastated medical sector, so he made his way to Israel, a nation he was raised to hate.

"Back then when there were no incidents in Syria, no revolution, no nothing  the greatest enemy in the world was Israel. It was the first enemy," he said.

His fellow patient used the pseudonym "Baibars," the name of a 12th-century Muslim warrior who defeated the Crusaders and Mongols. A bomb crushed bones in his face, an injury that without medical help festered until he struggled to open his mouth.

After 40 days in the Ziv hospital and many surgeries later, the 25-year old revolutionary now talks incessantly and even sings about lost love  in addition to praising for Israeli pastries.

"We reached countries that my grandparents did not reach and met good people," he crooned through a jaw yet to fully healed.

From his Israeli hospital room Baibars said he could see into Syria. In his long list of enemies of the Syrian people  Assad, Russia, Iran, Houthis, Hezbollah, Afghanistan  he no longer includes Israel.

"The regime has used chemical weapons since the beginning of the war," Baibars says, referring to alleged attacks in East Ghouta and Dharaya. "We were just trying to defend ourselves."

"The future of Syria has no Bashar Assad," Baibars says. "Israel is not the enemy. Bashar is the enemy."
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Isis has killed dozens of civilians attempting to flee the remaining parts of Mosul under its control, hanging their bodies from electricity poles as a gruesome warning to others.

One man said he had found a relatives mutilated body displaced in the Iraqi citys Tenek district alongside three others who were caught trying to escape.

Their appearance was shocking, he told Reuters. We werent able to get them down and they have been there for two days.

 Iraqi forces launch push to retake western Mosul from IS

The punishment has previously been used for alleged spies and defectors across Isis territory, where mock crucifixions have become a common sight.

Another resident of the Old Citys Shahwan district said a family of six, including an elderly woman, had also been murdered by jihadis.

The woman said she had narrowly escaped the same fate herself, when Isis fighters intercepted her as she tried to cross frontlines with a group of around 30 people.

They took our bags thinking there was gold or money in them and as they were busy checking the contents, we fled through the houses taking advantage of the pitch darkness, she added, after reaching safety in areas under Iraqi government control.

I fear those families who stayed in Daeshs grip met a terrible fate.

A resident of the Farouq district said more than 40 civilians were killed for attempting to flee, while the Kurdistan Region security council put the toll at 140 for Monday and Tuesday alone.

Isis has shot men, women and children attempting to leave its waning territories across Iraq and Syria, attempting to use families as human shields.

In pictures: Mosul offensive Show all 40 1 /40 In pictures: Mosul offensive In pictures: Mosul offensive A doctor carries an Iraqi newborn baby at a hospital in Mosul, Iraq July 18, 2017. Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi girls play at a yard of a school in Mosul, Iraq July 18, 2017alal Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive A woman on crutches who is a relative of men accused of being Islamic State militants is seen at a camp in Bartella, east of Mosul, Iraq July 15, 2017. Picture taken July 15, 2017. Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive A displaced girl, who fled from home carries a doll at Hamam al-Alil camp south of Mosul, Iraq July 13, 2017. Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi federal police members and civilians celebrate in the Old City of Mosul on 9 July 2017 after the government's announcement of the "liberation" of the embattled city. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's office said he was in "liberated" Mosul to congratulate "the heroic fighters and the Iraqi people on the achievement of the major victory" AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive A picture taken on 9 July 2017, shows a general view of the destruction in Mosul's Old City. Iraq will announce imminently a final victory in the nearly nine-month offensive to retake Mosul from jihadists, a US general said Saturday, as celebrations broke out among police forces in the city. AFP In pictures: Mosul offensive Members of the Iraqi federal police raise the victory gesture as they ride on a humvee while advancing through the Old City of Mosul on 28 June 2017, as the offensive continues to retake the last district held by Islamic State (IS) group fighters. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Smoke billows as Iraqi forces advance through the Old City of Mosul on 26 June 2017, during the ongoing offensive to retake the last district held by the Islamic State (IS) group. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi man wearing the green scarf of the Shi'ite faith kisses an Iraqi Army soldier on safely reaching the Iraqi forces position as Iraqi civilians flee the Old City of west Mosul where heavy fighting continues on 23 June 2017. Iraqi forces continue to encounter stiff resistance with improvised explosive devices, car bombs, heavy mortar fire and snipers hampering their advance. Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive A picture taken from the inside of an Iraqi forces armoured vehicle shows residents walking through a damaged street as troops advance towards Mosul's Old City on 18 June 2017, during the ongoing offensive to retake the last district still held by the Islamic State (IS) group. Military commanders told AFP the assault had begun at dawn after overnight air strikes by the US-led coalition backing Iraqi forces. They said the jihadists were putting up fierce resistance. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi Army soldiers advance in a destroyed street after an Iraqi forces airstrike targeted an Islamic State sniper position 17 June 2017 in al-Shifa, the last district of west Mosul under Islamic State control. IS snipers, as well as car and suicide bomb attacks continue to hinder the Iraqi forces efforts to retake the final district. A series of airstrikes by Iraqi helicopter gunships attempted to hit multiple Islamic State sniper positions in al-Shifa. Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi soldier frisks a displaced Iraqi man at a temporary camp in the compound of the closed Nineveh International Hotel in Mosul on 16 June 2017 which was recovered by Iraqi troops from Islamic State group fighters earlier in the year. A screening centre set up in the compound's fairgrounds sees a constant stream of Iraqis fleeing the battle for Mosul, awaiting their turn to be checked by the Iraqi forces who are searching for suspected Islamic State (IS) group members. The small fairground lies at the end of a pontoon bridge across the Tigris recently opened to civilians that is the only physical link between the two banks of the river. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqis staying at the al-Khazir camp swim in a river near the camp for internally displaced people, located between Arbil and Mosul on 11 June 2017. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi government forces drive on a road leading to Tal Afar on 9 June 2017, during ongoing battles to retake the city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi policeman carries a poster bearing an image of Mosul's iconic leaning minaret, known as the "Hadba" (Hunchback), on 22 June 2017. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqis stand in line to receive food aid in western Mosul's Zanjili neighbourhood on 7 June 2017, during ongoing battles as Iraqi forces try to retake the city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters. Living conditions in Mosul have again deteriorated since the start of the Iraqi government's offensive on the city in October in which they retook a large part of the west of the city. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Displaced Iraqis carry lightbulbs and sacks as they evacuate from western Mosul's Zanjili neighbourhood as government forces advance in the area during their ongoing battle against Islamic State (IS) group fighters on 13 May 2017 AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive A member of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) flashes the victory gesture as he patrols in western Mosul's al-Islah al-Zaraye neighbourhood on 13 May 2017 AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi army soldiers from the 9th armoured division on a truck flash the sign of victory as they drive back from Mosul to the town of Qaraqosh (also known as Hamdaniya) Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Members of Iraqi forces flash the sign of victory on their vehicle as they advance towards Hammam al-Alil area south of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive A member of Iraqi security forces gestures in Hammam al-Alil, south of Mosul, Iraq Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi children, one flashing the sign of victory, greet Iraqi army's soldiers from the 9th armoured division in the area of Ali Rash, adjacent to the eastern Al-Intissar neighbourhood of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Peshmerga forces look at a tunnel used by Islamic State militants near the town of Bashiqa, east of Mosul, during an operation to attack Islamic State militants in Mosul, Iraq Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi soldier takes a photograph with his phone as his comrade stands next to a detained man, whom the Iraqi army soldiers accused of being an Islamic State fighter, who was fleeing with his family in the Intisar disrict of eastern Mosul, Iraq Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive Iranian Kurdish female members of the Freedom Party of Kurdistan (PAK) hold a position in an area near the town of Bashiqa, some 25 kilometres north east of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi families, who fled their homes in Hamam al-Alil, gather on the outskirts of their town Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Displaced people walk past a checkpoint near Qayara, south of Mosul, Iraq AP In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi families who were displaced by the ongoing operation by Iraqi forces against jihadists of the Islamic State group to retake the city of Mosul, are seen gathering in an area near Qayyarah In pictures: Mosul offensive A boy who just fled Abu Jarbuah village is seen with his family at a Kurdish Peshmerga position between two front lines near Bashiqa, east of Mosul, Iraq Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi child eats a pomegranate upon the arrival of Iraqi forces in the village of Umm Mahahir, south of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive People who just fled Abu Jarbuah village sit as they eat at a Kurdish Peshmerga position between two front lines near Bashiqa, east of Mosul, Iraq Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive A couple who just fled Abu Jarbuah village are escorted by Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers Reuters In pictures: Mosul offensive Women carry a boy over a wall as civilians flee their houses in the village of Tob Zawa, Iraq AP In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi soldier and a civilian ride a motorbike as smoke rises behind them, on the road between Qayyarah and Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive A member of Iraqi forces, wearing a skull mask, waits at a checkpoint for people fleeing the main hub city of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive An Iraqi soldier sits at a checkpoint in an area near Qayyarah Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi men prepare food portions for Iraqi forces deployed in areas south of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi forces celebrate upon the arrival of vehicles bringing food to them Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive Iraqi childen smoke cigarettes upon the arrival of Iraqi forces in the village of Umm Mahahir, south of Mosul Getty In pictures: Mosul offensive A member of Iraqi forces distributes drinks to children in the village of Umm Mahahir, south of Mosul Getty

US-led coalition air strikes killed up to 200 civilians in Mosul last month after militants reportedly forced them inside a cluster of buildings, then stationed its snipers on top.

Announcing an investigation into the incident, a spokesperson for the US-led Operation Inherent Resolve said the group was using inhuman tactics terrorising civilians, using human shields, and fighting from protected sites such as schools, hospitals, religious sites and civilian neighbourhoods.

The US-led coalition has confirmed the deaths of 229 civilians in its air strikes in Iraq and Syria but monitors say the real figure is far higher and casualties in Isis-controlled territory are difficult to verify.

There have also been allegations of war crimes, summary executions and torture by troops and militias fighting Isis.

One video circulating on social media appeared to show members of a Shia Iranian militia shooting two civilians.

The blindfolded men, who were not wearing military fatigues, had their arms bound and were forced to stand on the edge of a ditch before being shot in the back.

Iraqi government forces briefly paused the Mosul offensive last month because of the rate of civilian casualties, which has worsened since troops crossed into densely populated western districts that are still home to an estimated 400,000 people.

Iraqi boys cross a destroyed street in a western Mosul neighbourhood recently retaken by Iraqi security forces (AP)

Progress has slowed in the narrow lanes of the Old City, which Isis had prepared by making tunnels between buildings, screening streets from view with sheets and planting explosives.

Extremists have fought the advance using mines, booby traps, snipers, drones, ambushes and an unprecedented rate of suicide bombings.

More than 302,000 people have fled Mosul since the start of the offensive, with the International Organisation for Migration saying 30,000 people were displaced last week alone.

Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi announced the formation of the groups self-declared caliphate from Mosuls historic al-Nuri mosque in 2014.

The so-called Islamic States de-facto capital is the city of Raqqa in neighbouring Syria, which has been isolated by Kurdish-led forces in preparation for an offensive.

Concerns are already rising over civilian casualties in that operation, following an alleged massacre in the nearby village of Hunaida.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 15 people, including four children, were killed by US-led coalition air strikes, which activists said hit an internet cafe.

The anti-Isis Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently group said a boat carrying around 40 civilians attempting to cross the Euphrates river to reach areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces was also targeted.
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A Russian warship armed with cruise missiles is heading to the Syrian coast in the wake of the first direct strike by the US on Bashar al-Assads regime.

The Admiral Grigorovich has been deployed from the Black Sea to head for the port of Tartus, which houses a Russian naval base.

The ship will operate in the region in accordance to the changing military situation, state media reported, adding that it carries cruise missiles, a missile defence system, artillery, anti-aircraft guns, torpedoes and can dock a helicopter.

The Admiral Grigorovich, which previously passed through the English Channel on its way to bomb Aleppo, is one of at least six Russian warships and four support vessels in the eastern Mediterranean.

The area was the launch point for 59 cruise missiles launched from two American warships in the early hours of Friday morning, killing at least six Syrian soldiers while destroying planes, ammunition stores and buildings.

Russia was among the countries that also used the base, but the US warned Vladimir Putins forces ahead of the strike and none of the Kremlins troops were killed.

 Syria: What led to the US airstrikes?

Moscow condemned American bombardment of Shayrat airbase as a violation of international law and pledged to strengthen the regimes air defences against such aggression.

To cover the most sensitive objects in Syrias infrastructure a set of measures will be soon implemented to strengthen and improve the effectiveness of the air defence systems of the Syrian armed forces, the Russian defence ministry said.

A spokesman for Mr Putin said the strike had seriously damaged ties between Washington and Moscow, which swiftly suspended an agreement aiming to avoid conflict with US forces.

Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian Prime Minister, said the strike had brought Moscow and Washington to the verge of a military clash, claiming that the action was good news for terrorists.

Donald Trump said he ordered the strike after analysis showed the base was the source of a horrible chemical weapons attack that killed more than 80 people in a rebel-held town days before.

The Presidents national security adviser, HR McMaster, said measures were put in place to avoid blowing up what the US believes was a storage of sarin gas at the base.

In pictures: US missile strike against Syria Show all 7 1 /7 In pictures: US missile strike against Syria In pictures: US missile strike against Syria The guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) launches a tomahawk land attack missile in the Mediterranean Sea AP In pictures: US missile strike against Syria The United States military launched at least 50 tomahawk cruise missiles at al-Shayrat military airfield near Homs, Syria, in response to the Syrian military's alleged use of chemical weapons in an airstrike in a rebel held area in Idlib province EPA In pictures: US missile strike against Syria Shayrat airfield in Syria Getty Images In pictures: US missile strike against Syria US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) fires a tomahawk land attack missile in Mediterranean Sea Reuters In pictures: US missile strike against Syria US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) fires a tomahawk land attack missile in Mediterranean Sea Reuters In pictures: US missile strike against Syria President Donald Trump speaks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., after the US fired a barrage of cruise missiles into Syria in retaliation for this week's gruesome chemical weapons attack against civilians AP In pictures: US missile strike against Syria Syria's President Bashar al-Assad Reuters

Rex Tillerson, the US Secretary of State, said the administration had a very high level of confidence that the massacre in Khan Sheikhoun was carried out by Assads forces using sarin, which is banned as a weapon of mass destruction under international law.

Doctors said victims started to choke, vomit and convulse with foam coming out of their mouths, and referenced pupils showing symptoms of exposure to the nerve agent, with analysts from international charities supporting the claims.

Khan Sheikhoun has been hit by several subsequent rounds of conventional bombing, which killed a woman on Saturday morning according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Syrian government and Russia have blamed rebels they class as terrorists for Mondays massacre, claiming a chemical weapons facility was struck by legitimate air strikes and released the gas.

Rebels denied the Russian defence ministrys claims, while experts told The Independent they were not credible.

Assads government claims it destroyed its stockpiles of sarin following an international agreement struck in 2013, when the nerve agent was used to kill hundreds of civilians in Ghouta and almost sparked international intervention against the Syrian regime.

The latest strikes are the only direct action against Damascus taken by the US in the six-year civil war, where international attention has increasingly been drawn to the threat of Isis.

Russias UN ambassador accused the UK of telling lies on the issue of air strikes in Syria (Getty) (Getty Images)

American and Russian representatives clashed at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Friday evening, with the US ambassador saying a line had been drawn over chemical weapons.

Nikki Haley told delegates Washington had taken a very measured step, adding: We are prepared to do more. But we hope that will not be necessary.

The UKs ambassador, Matthew Rycroft, said Assad had been put on notice and claimed Moscow had been left humiliated by its failure to bring him to heel.

Russias representative angrily responded by accusing Britain of colonial hypocrisy and lies as it warned against military involvement in Syria.

Stop putting forward these unprofessional arguments and accusations against my country, Vladimir Safronkov said.

Dont even try to get into fights in the Arab world. Nothing will work and nothing will be achieved.

The Russian defence ministry said the strikes at Shayrat airbase destroyed only six Syrian fighter jets and left the runway intact, with aircraft reportedly taking off following the bombardment.
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Donald Trumps decision to bomb a Syrian airbase  alleged to be the source of a devastating chemical attack  has not significantly affected the regimes capabilities. Supporters of Bashar al-Assad claimed fighter jets took off from Shayrat just hours after it was pummelled by a volley of 59 cruise missiles fired from US warships.

The Pentagon claimed around 20 aircraft were destroyed, along with missile systems, hangars and infrastructure, but Russia alleged that under half the missiles had made their target and only six planes were hit.

Initial indications are that this strike has severely damaged or destroyed Syrian aircraft and support infrastructure and equipment at Shayrat airfield, reducing the Syrian governments ability to deliver chemical weapons, Capt Jeff Davis said. But hours after the air strikes hit, videos emerged claiming to show Su-22 fighter jets taking off from the base.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights said they headed towards eastern Homs province for missions against Isis, calling it a morale response to the US strike.

A Syrian journalist, Alaa Ebrahim, told CNN the first plane did not launch strikes and said the move was intended as a symbolic gesture that the airbase is still operational.

Footage claiming to show the planes could not be independently verified, but a man filming one take-off could be heard giving the date as 7 April.

As well as Shayrat, Assads air force operates from more around 20 other bases and has launched numerous strikes on opposition-held areas across Syria since the US attack, including using incendiary weapons. Regime planes have continued bombing Khan Sheikhoun, where more than 80 people died in a suspected chemical attack, killing at least one woman on Saturday according to activists.

Lina Khatib, head of the Middle East and North Africa programme at Chatham House, said the bombardment of Shayrat airbase had not significantly affected the regime's military capability.

The regime might now think twice before using chemical weapons, but it has not stopped using conventional weapons, she told The Independent.

In pictures: US missile strike against Syria Show all 7 1 /7 In pictures: US missile strike against Syria In pictures: US missile strike against Syria The guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) launches a tomahawk land attack missile in the Mediterranean Sea AP In pictures: US missile strike against Syria The United States military launched at least 50 tomahawk cruise missiles at al-Shayrat military airfield near Homs, Syria, in response to the Syrian military's alleged use of chemical weapons in an airstrike in a rebel held area in Idlib province EPA In pictures: US missile strike against Syria Shayrat airfield in Syria Getty Images In pictures: US missile strike against Syria US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) fires a tomahawk land attack missile in Mediterranean Sea Reuters In pictures: US missile strike against Syria US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) fires a tomahawk land attack missile in Mediterranean Sea Reuters In pictures: US missile strike against Syria President Donald Trump speaks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., after the US fired a barrage of cruise missiles into Syria in retaliation for this week's gruesome chemical weapons attack against civilians AP In pictures: US missile strike against Syria Syria's President Bashar al-Assad Reuters

The strikes also happened after the US had given ample warning to Russia about them, which allowed the Syrian army to evacuate the airbase and minimise causalities.

Col Hassan Hamade, a Syrian pilot who defected by landing his MiG-21 in Jordan in 2012, agreed, saying that tarmac could be fixed within hours and any affected communications or control systems within weeks or months.

Recommended Russia announces plan to bolster Syrian air defences after US strike

The bombardment of Shayrat will not have a major effect on military operations of the regime, he added.

State television showed the Syrian armys chief of staff, General Ali Abdullah Ayyoub, touring the facility on Friday, meeting pilots and men injured in the American bombing, which killed at least six Syrian troops. Footage showed one plane still standing inside a shelter, amid destroyed jets and hangars on runways pockmarked with craters and blackened metal. Amid the wreckage were scattered containers for cluster bombs, which are illegal in more than 100 countries because of the indiscriminate destruction they cause.

Mr Trumps national security adviser, Herbert HR McMaster, claimed a sarin gas store at the base was avoided during the attack, which aimed to reduce the airfields ability to continue mass murder attacks against Syrian civilians.

General Ali Abdullah Ayyoub, the Syrian army's chief of staff, visiting Shayrat airbase on 7 April (SANA)

Assads forces have denied using chemical weapons and said the US aggression only strengthened its dogged determination to continue its national duty of defending the Syrian people and beating terrorism, a term used to describe all armed opposition groups.

Vladimir Putins defence ministry reaffirmed its support for Assad and vowed to bolster air defences for the Syrian regime, sending a new warship armed with cruise missiles to the Syrian coast.

Shayrat airbase, situated in the central province of Homs, has been crucial in campaigns against Isis in Palmyra and Deir Ezzor launched by Assads forces and Russia, as well as attacks on opposition rebels.

Rex Tillerson, the US Secretary of State, described it as the facility that delivered the suspected chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun on Monday.

It is the second-most active regime airfield in Syria, behind the Russia-operated Khmeimim airbase in Latakia. The third-most active base, Saqqal in central Syria, is expected to be used to fill any vacuum created by the destruction at Shayrat.

American officials said all but one of the 59 missiles launched by two US warships struck their targets, hitting multiple aircraft and air shelters and destroying the fuel area, while Syrian state media claimed rogue missiles hit nearby villages and killed several civilians.

A battle damage assessment image of Shayrat airbase in Syria after US air strikes on 7 April (Department of Defense)

Britain and other US allies welcomed Mr Trumps response to what he called a barbaric chemical attack, but the reaction in Syria was mixed. Critics pointed out that the Presidents sudden concern for the countrys civilians came after years of vocal opposition to intervention and ambivalent statements on Assad, while at the same time he has attempted to ban Syrian refugees from entering the US.

Recommended Calls grow for Trump to change his mind on Syrian refugees

The regime and its supporters were outraged by what they called a violation of international law and said the action would strengthen Islamist rebel groups. Others were jubilant, with one man reportedly vowing to name his son after Mr Trump amid hopes that the strike could represent a turning point against Assad.

Other Syrians in opposition-held areas were more wary, questioning why Mondays attack had provoked an international response when a much larger sarin attack in 2013 and the deaths of thousands of civilians in conventional bombing had not. In Khan Sheikhoun, residents living under fresh bombardment gave the US strikes a cautious welcome.

Everyone is waiting to see what will come next, a woman told The Independent. It is not clear what it means. What will happen now?
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Syrian warplanes have reportedly taken off from the air base targeted by US air strikes, less than 24 hours after it was pounded by dozens of US cruise missiles.

Donald Trump ordered the strikes on the Shayrat base, near the city of Homs, in response to a chemical attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun earlier this week.

The Syrian government has been widely blamed for the attack, although it insists rebel groups were responsible.

The US Navy fired 59 cruise missiles at the base, killing at least seven people and causing what was described as extensive damage.

Recommended Syrian airstrikes spark new chill for US and Russia

But within hours it was back in use according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The London based monitoring group which uses sources on the ground to keep track of events in the country, said that Syrian army jets had taken off from the base to carry out strikes on rebel-held areas near Homs, .

They had "done the impossible" in order to continue using the base for sorties, the Observatory said.

The US air strikes triggered a major international row after they were angrily condemned by Russia.

In pictures: US missile strike against Syria Show all 7 1 /7 In pictures: US missile strike against Syria In pictures: US missile strike against Syria The guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) launches a tomahawk land attack missile in the Mediterranean Sea AP In pictures: US missile strike against Syria The United States military launched at least 50 tomahawk cruise missiles at al-Shayrat military airfield near Homs, Syria, in response to the Syrian military's alleged use of chemical weapons in an airstrike in a rebel held area in Idlib province EPA In pictures: US missile strike against Syria Shayrat airfield in Syria Getty Images In pictures: US missile strike against Syria US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) fires a tomahawk land attack missile in Mediterranean Sea Reuters In pictures: US missile strike against Syria US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) fires a tomahawk land attack missile in Mediterranean Sea Reuters In pictures: US missile strike against Syria President Donald Trump speaks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., after the US fired a barrage of cruise missiles into Syria in retaliation for this week's gruesome chemical weapons attack against civilians AP In pictures: US missile strike against Syria Syria's President Bashar al-Assad Reuters

Vladimir Putins government, which has consistently supported Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said the strikes were a contravention of international law.

The US had carried out an act of aggression against a sovereign state delivered in violation of international law under a far-fetched pretext", the Kremlin said.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the US had come within an inch of clashing with Russian forces.

Satellite imagery suggests the Shayrat base is home to Russian special forces and military helicopters.

The US said it gave Russia an hours warning before carrying out the strikes and deliberately avoided sections of the base where Russian soldiers and equipment are housed.
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Russia accused Britain of colonial hypocrisy after the UK voiced support for US air strikes in Syria during a tense emergency meeting of the United Nations (UN) Security Council.

Matthew Rycroft, the UK's ambassador to the UN, said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had been put on notice after Donald Trump ordered cruise missile strikes on a Syrian air base in response to a chemical attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun that killed at least 72 people, including 20 children.

The Syrian government has been widely blamed for the attack, although it denies involvement and has blamed rebel groups.

Mr Rycroft criticised Russia for giving the dictator everything he could have dreamed of" in its continued support for his regime.

Recommended Syrian airstrikes spark new chill for US and Russia

The greatest war criminal of all, Bashar Assad, has now been put on notice, he said. "The US strike was a proportionate response to unspeakable acts that gave rise to overwhelming humanitarian distress.

"Russia sits here today humiliated by its failure to bring to heel a puppet dictator entirely propped up by Russia, Hezbollah and Iran."

His comments provoked a furious response from Russias UN representative, Vladimir Safronkov.

"Stop putting forward these unprofessional arguments and accusations against my country, he said. These are not diplomatic. These are lies. Don't even try to get into fights in the Arab world. Nothing will work and nothing will be achieved.

"All Arab countries recall your colonial hypocrisy."

In pictures: US missile strike against Syria Show all 7 1 /7 In pictures: US missile strike against Syria In pictures: US missile strike against Syria The guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) launches a tomahawk land attack missile in the Mediterranean Sea AP In pictures: US missile strike against Syria The United States military launched at least 50 tomahawk cruise missiles at al-Shayrat military airfield near Homs, Syria, in response to the Syrian military's alleged use of chemical weapons in an airstrike in a rebel held area in Idlib province EPA In pictures: US missile strike against Syria Shayrat airfield in Syria Getty Images In pictures: US missile strike against Syria US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) fires a tomahawk land attack missile in Mediterranean Sea Reuters In pictures: US missile strike against Syria US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) fires a tomahawk land attack missile in Mediterranean Sea Reuters In pictures: US missile strike against Syria President Donald Trump speaks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., after the US fired a barrage of cruise missiles into Syria in retaliation for this week's gruesome chemical weapons attack against civilians AP In pictures: US missile strike against Syria Syria's President Bashar al-Assad Reuters

The row followed Mr Trumps decision to order a series of strikes on Syrias Shayrat airbase, where the planes involved in the chemical attack are believed to have taken off from.

Launched from two US warships, 59 cruise missiles pounded the base, killing at least seven people and causing extensive damage - although Syrian planes were able to take off from the air base hours later.

Mr Trump said the strikes were in the vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread of deadly chemical weapons.

He said: There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons, violated its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention, and ignored the urging of the U.N. Security Council."

 US airstrikes in Syria: How the world reacted

A Downing Street spokeswoman backed the strike, saying: "The UK Government fully supports the US action, which we believe was an appropriate response to the barbaric chemical weapons attack launched by the Syrian regime, and is intended to deter further attacks."

But Russia, which is a staunch ally of Mr Assad, immediately condemned the strikes, describing them as aggression against a sovereign state in violation of international law.

Russia would be helping Syria to strengthen its air defences, the Kremlin said.
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The decision by Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, to cancel his visit to Moscow to meet Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, on Monday is a disappointing admission of Britains irrelevance in world affairs. It would have been a significant trip, the first by a British foreign secretary for five years, and could have been an opportunity for the UK to use its good offices  or at least, its getting-better offices  to report back to the meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Italy on Monday and Tuesday.

Mr Johnsons cancellation suggests, however, that Rex Tillerson, the US Secretary of State, took the view that a separate channel of communication would only confuse matters. Mr Tillerson is intending to travel to Moscow himself after the G7 meeting and it would seem that he doubts that Mr Johnson would have been a useful sherpa to scout out that particular summit. Mr Johnsons statement admits that he had discussed his plans in detail with Mr Tillerson, and that the Secretary of State will be able to deliver [a] clear and coordinated message to the Russians.

It is all too likely that Mr Tillerson himself does not yet know what that clear and coordinated message will be. Donald Trumps decision to order the strike on a Syrian airbase on Friday morning had one simple justification: to make it harder for the Russian-backed Bashar al-Assad to use chemical weapons again and to deter him from doing so. If it succeeds, that would be a gain for the rule of international law, although it would have been better as a collective decision of several nations. And it left all the big questions about American  and Western  policy in Syria unanswered. Previously, President Trump has suggested that he is indifferent to the prospect of Mr Assad prevailing in the civil war. Did this weeks strike mean that he now wants Mr Assad to go, and if so, to be replaced by whom?

It is possible that President Trump himself is unsure about that, given the vehemence with which he warned Barack Obama against getting involved, tweeting in capital letters: Do not attack Syria  if you do many very bad things will happen. In which case it was unfair of Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat leader, to call the Foreign Secretary a poodle of Washington, having his diary managed from across the pond, even if this rearrangement does underline the UKs subordinate status.

British leaders are used to thinking of themselves as important players in the Middle East, usually in concert with others: the US in Iraq, Nato in Libya and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) in Iran. The US strike in Syria, however, was a unilateral action that emphasised the UKs relative impotence  we were informed beforehand, but we were not invited to take part.

Mr Johnsons diary change may be an important dose of reality, but it does pose the question: what is the point of Britains chief diplomat if no one trusts him to be diplomatic? And it poses a larger question about the dream of many Brexiteers of Britain as a powerful, buccaneering nation, charting its own course in world affairs, independent of entanglements and the tiresome compromises they require. If we leave the European Union, we may need our alliances with Nato and the US above all.
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Within thirty minutes of Fridays tragic events in Sweden, the speculation had started. I typed Stockholm attack into Twitter and my screen was filled with bulbous green frog symbols, the avatar of choice for the nationalist alt-right movement.

More innocent European lives sacrificed on the altar of diversity. DAMN YOU, MIGRANTS!!! read one. Another shared graphic photographs of the bloodied bodies of victims lying on a Stockholm road  against the wishes of their families. The caption read: Stockholm terror attack victim. This is what the roaches from the Middle East are causing.

The bleeding-heart liberals were also out in force, but for the other side. Many tweets reassured us that the attacker (about whom we still know very little  one suspect is in custody and no ones claimed responsibility) must be mentally ill, while others rushed to assure us that this was nothing to do with Islam, before hed even been named.

In fact, we know very little about this attack. The suspect who has been held in custody is said to be from the Muslim Central Asian nation of Uzbekistan, which undermines both the current nationalists obsession with Middle Eastern refugees, and the Lefts determination to avert their eyes to a pattern of Islamist violence.

 Swedish detectives make arrest after Stockholm truck attack

What we can anticipate though, is that just like the other recent terrorist attacks in Europe, Fridays tragedy will be seized on by every political movement with an axe to grind. Yet one thing all factions often have in common is the idea that countries who find themselves victims of terror have only themselves to blame. Nationalists will claim this is a result of weak borders and generous refugee policies, while liberals will argue this new wave of terror is the legacy of ill-advised and unjustified interventionism.

Any terrorist attack is always going to be politicised. Sweden has led Europe in its compassion and openness to refugees  and as a result has been the subject of derision by white nationalists, especially those in America who see European multiculturalism as a symptom of the Old Worlds endemic weakness and fading glory. Since 2014, under Stefan Lofvens premiership, it has been a beacon for the European social democratic movement, who will be deeply invested in dismissing any sense of social unease.

Sweden has sent troops to none of the Middle Easts recent wars (it is not even a member of NATO). It has sent massive amounts of foreign aid to Muslim countries and others suffering devastation.

When airplanes hit the twin towers on 9/11, I remember a classmate turning to me with all the knowingness of adolescence, and telling me, just after 3,000 people had been killed: Well, now America will have to accept that its foreign policy has caused others great suffering. After the London attacks of July 2005, a neighbour looked me in the eye and told me: Well, we had it coming after what we did to Iraq.

Perhaps its easier to impose a narrative, however bitter, than to admit that some things dont have a simple explanation. The world is full of geopolitical tension, and of unstable angry young men with a grievance.

In pictures: Stockholm truck attack Show all 15 1 /15 In pictures: Stockholm truck attack In pictures: Stockholm truck attack 3 people dead when a truck crashed into Ahlens department store in central Stockholm, Sweden Rex In pictures: Stockholm truck attack People were killed when a truck crashed into department store Ahlens on Drottninggatan, in central Stockholm Reuters In pictures: Stockholm truck attack Special Police forces work at the scene where a truck crashed into the Ahlens department store at Drottninggatan in central Stockholm Getty Images In pictures: Stockholm truck attack Woman is assisted at the scene after a truck crashed into an Ahlens department store in Stockholm Rex In pictures: Stockholm truck attack A policewoman in a gas mask operates at the scene where a truck crashed into the Ahlens department store at Drottninggatan in central Stockholm Getty Images In pictures: Stockholm truck attack People react at the scene where a truck crashed into the Ahlens department store at Drottninggatan in central Stockholm Rex In pictures: Stockholm truck attack Reports say three people have died after a truck crashed into an Ahlens department store in Stockholm Rex In pictures: Stockholm truck attack Armed police operates at the scene where a truck crashed into the Ahlens department store at Drottninggatan in central Stockholm Getty Images In pictures: Stockholm truck attack People react at the scene where a truck crashed into the Ahlens department store at Drottninggatan in central Stockholm Getty Images In pictures: Stockholm truck attack Emergency services close to the scene of an incident in Drottninggatan, a street in the centre of Stockholm, Sweden Lasse Gare/PA Wire In pictures: Stockholm truck attack Passers react at the scene where a truck crashed into the Ahlens department store at Drottninggatan in central Stockholm Getty Images In pictures: Stockholm truck attack People killed in incident when a truck was driven into a department store in central Stockholm Reuters In pictures: Stockholm truck attack Police officers work at the scene where a truck crashed into the Ahlens department store at Drottninggatan in central Stockholm Getty Images In pictures: Stockholm truck attack A general view shows a Ahlens department store after a truck reportedly crashed into it, at Drottninggatan in central Stockholm, Sweden EPA In pictures: Stockholm truck attack A view of a street after a truck reportedly crashed into a department store in central Stockholm, Sweden EPA

Yet we should fight the forces of fear by taking some comfort from what we know. The new terrorist weapon of choice, the heavy-duty truck careening around heavily populated pedestrian areas, strikes terror into the heart. Its victims are random  they could be any of us, strolling around our favourite cities. But they are also containable.

When an attacker struck Westminster a fortnight ago, I was amazed by the number of messages I received from friends around the world, checking that I was OK. The deaths of four civilians and a policeman were a tragedy for their friends and families. But London is a city of nearly nine million. Statistically, anxiety is misplaced.

Those wishing to harm us have been reduced to the most opportunistic and low-tech of techniques. The Stockholm attacker hijacked a truck owned by a Swedish brewing company, as its driver made a delivery and neither he, nor Westminsters attacker, seem to have been able to get hold of a gun. That in itself should remind us that most of the time, law-enforcement and the security services are doing a remarkable job. The impediments we have in place to large scale violence are working.

There will be more such attacks, there will be more political upheavals such as unscrupulous leaders across the spectrum seek to channel our fear and our guilt. The best thing the rest of us can do is resist the lure of easy explanations and remember that most of us are safe most of the time.
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It is often argued that Theresa May, whatever her personal beliefs, is the prisoner of the Conservative Partys right-wing Brexiteers. For Jeremy Corbyn, the aim of the opposition is to fight a Tory Brexit in the name of a softer, gentler version, while for Tony Blair the hard-Brexit Conservative Party is the reason for trying to stop Britain leaving the EU altogether.

But this week something important didnt happen. This week the Prime Minister, in comments to journalists on her trip to the Middle East and in talks with Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, hinted that free movement of people between Britain and the EU could continue for a transitional period after Britain leaves in 2019. And what youd expect to happen  that the Eurosceptic faction of Tory MPs would go bananas  never did.

In particular, two Tory MPs who are more important than they seem failed to denounce Mays sellout to the continentals. Liam Fox, the International Trade Secretary, may have been sidelined in the Brexit negotiations  he is not on the new Brexit cabinet committee, for example  but he has long been a significant indicator of Tory Eurosceptic opinion. It was his candidacy for the party leadership in 2005 that forced David Cameron to a notably more anti-EU position, promising to pull the Tories out of the main centre-right grouping in the European Parliament. His return to the Cabinet last year reinforced the human shield of Brexiteers around May.

And he has said nothing about the Prime Ministers new stance. Instead, an ally of his was quoted in the Financial Times: Liam is constantly saying that we have been a member [of the EU] for 44 years. So long as its only for a short period and its in law, I think he would be pretty relaxed about it.

 Brexit talks: PM welcomes Tusk to Downing Street

The other MP is Steve Baker, the organiser of the backbench Eurosceptics under the deceptively bland banner of the European Research Group. Much breathless twaddle is talked about Bakers use of a WhatsApp group to organise his colleagues, which sounds exciting because WhatsApp has been identified by Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, as a terrifying threat to civilisation as we know it. It is also a way of people communicating with each other. In the old days they would have done it by phone and notes delivered by Commons messengers. But Baker is significant because he is good at co-ordinating like-minded Tory MPs, and he was important in pressing for the referendum and in fighting the Leave campaign. He has described his attitude to the Prime Ministers position as zen.

Theresa May has achieved this remarkable state of transcendental calm on her backbenches because she excels in two essential skills in politics: timing and counting. She has delayed invoking Article 50 for long enough to give herself time to prepare for the negotiations. During the past nine months she convinced her Eurosceptic hardliners she was one of them, above all by saying at the Tory party conference that Britain would be excluded from free movement and would no longer be subject to the rulings of the European Court of Justice. But she didnt say when. And now that the two-year Article 50 procedure has been started, she can afford to be flexible about that.

Invoking Article 50 changes everything. It locks in Fox and Baker, who understand that  contrary to the hopes of Blair and the centre party supposedly waiting to be born  Britains departure from the EU is about as irreversible as anything is in politics.

In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Show all 12 1 /12 In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions European commission member in charge of Brexit negotiations with Britain, French Michel Barnier listens at the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker speaking at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Getty Images In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of the Federal Republic of Germany, delivers his speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg EPA In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt, President of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), addresses the European Parliament during a debate on Brexit priorities and the upcomming talks on the UK's withdrawal from the EU Reuters In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Michel Barnier, European Chief Negotiator for Brexit reacts during a meeting at the European Parliament in Strasbourg EPA In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Member of the European Parliament and former leader of the anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP) Nigel Farage wears socks with Union Jack flag at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Getty Images In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Nigel Farage, United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) member and MEP, addresses the European Parliament during a debate on Brexit priorities and the upcoming talks on the UK's withdrawal from the EU Reuters In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions European commission member in charge of Brexit negotiations with Britain, French Michel Barnier gestures during speeches at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Getty In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions The President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker (L) speaks with European commission member in charge of Brexit negotiations with Britain, French Michel Barnier at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Getty In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt, President of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), addresses the European Parliament during a debate on Brexit priorities and the upcomming talks on the UK's withdrawal from the EU Reuters In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Getty In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier delivers a speech during a plenary session at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Getty In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions The European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France Getty Images

But May can also count. She knows that there is a majority in the House of Commons for a soft Brexit. If she comes back from Brussels with a transition period of two or three years during which Britain continues to accept free movement and ECJ rulings, she can get it through. Even if the 80 Tory Eurosceptic MPs become less relaxed about a transitional deal over the next two years, they dont have the numbers to do much about it.

Recommended The fantasy of closed borders after Brexit is finally unravelling

In any case, they know, and May knows, that once Britain actually leaves the EU, at midnight on 29 March 2019, the structure of politics will move further in their favour. Once Britain is out, it would be much harder to get it back in than it is to stop it leaving in the first place. They are prepared to accept a high price to reach that promised land.

All the pressure during the Brexit negotiations, then, comes from the EU 27. Far from holding May hostage, the Fox-Baker axis is happy to give her the chance to tack back towards the kind of soft Brexit she needs to reach a deal. If she ever were a prisoner of the hard-Brexiteers, by invoking Article 50 she has got out of jail free.
The Bank of England (BoE) is instructing all regulated financial firms in the UK that do business within the European Union to set out their contingency plans for Brexit by July.

Sam Woods, the deputy governor for prudential regulation at the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has written to all banks, insurers and investment companies that carry out cross-border activities between the United Kingdom and the rest of the EU.

That includes subsidiaries of US investment banks based in London doing business with the EU, as well as UK banks doing likewise and branches of companies from other EU states operating in London.

AIB said it had received the letter, but Bank of Ireland would not comment.

"We expect all firms with cross-border activities between the UK and the rest of the EU to undertake appropriate contingency planning for the UK's withdrawal from the EU, in light of the UK government's decision to trigger Article 50," the BoE said.

BoE Governor Mark Carney has set a deadline of July 14 for firms to reveal to the bank how they would cope with an abrupt EU exit.

The BoE said the main purpose of the letter was to ensure that all firms are making, and stand ready to roll out, contingency plans for the full range of possible scenarios "such that the safety and soundness of their UK operation is assured".

"Many firms are well advanced in their planning and have engaged closely with the PRA as part of that process," Mr Woods said.

"However, our current assessment is that the level of planning is uneven across firms," he said.

"Plans may not be sufficiently tested against the most adverse potential outcomes."

He added, "for example, if there is no withdrawal or trade agreement in place when the UK exits the EU, and the UK and EU do not reach agreement on issues such as implementation periods, mutual recognition of standards, and co-operation in financial regulation and or supervision". Ahead of the referendum last year the Central Bank of Ireland said banks here were ready for a Brexit, and Irish-based banks and finance firms with exposure to the UK have contingency plans in place to deal with the short-term fallout.

Deputy governor Sharon Donnery said the Central Bank had been engaging with financial sector firms to assess their preparedness for the risks associated with Brexit.

Meanwhile, Mr Carney called for Britain and the EU to reach a sweeping deal to recognise each others' bank rules after Brexit or risk a potentially damaging hit to financial services across Europe.

In a speech at Thomson Reuters' London office, Mr Carney also said that he would push to ensure some clearing of euro-denominated transactions remains in London after Britain leaves the European Union.
The largest US equity trader in the United States, Citadel Securities, is to grow its Dublin operation over the next two years.

The company will move into an 18,500 square foot office space at 1 Grand Canal Dock which it will rent for an annual 1.1m, according to The Irish Times.

Citadel Securities said it will ramp up its exchange traded fund activities in Ireland and will expand its front office operation of 25 up to 50 by 2019, the paper said.

Citadel Securities said its decision to come to Ireland was based on the talented labour pool that is available in the country.

The company is to hold a recruitment drive in UCD this coming weekend in which 80 candidates will compete for a share of 25,000 and an interview at the company.

"Citadel Securities is creating high value technology roles and will strengthen our existing position in the ETF market where we are focussed on winning additional investment for Ireland," IDA's Martin Shanahan told independent.ie.
With the US flights as good as up and running, NAI has agreed a deal that will see Ryanair feed passengers to its flights from September

Norwegian Air International (NAI) has sold 35,000 tickets so far for flights between Ireland and the US east coast that are due to begin on July 1.

In February, after three years of delays, NAI was granted a licence by US authorities allowing it to launch the low cost, direct transatlantic routes between Ireland and American cities including Providence, near Boston, and New York.

Norwegian has vowed to revolutionise transatlantic travel with one-way flights from 69 on flights from Dublin, Cork and Shannon to non-hub airports in New York and Providence, starting from July 1.

Yesterday, the CEO of Norwegian, Bjorn Kjos, said sales had been rapid since the routes were announced.

"We've never seen sold that many tickets in such a short time," Mr Kjos said.

So far 35,000 tickets have been booked for the flights by US and Irish-based travellers, he said.

NAI will take delivery of the new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft that will service the Irish routes next month.

The planes will be based in the US, servicing the transatlantic routes, he said.

NAI will operate 12 flights weekly from Dublin to Boston/Providence and New York, four flights weekly from Shannon to Boston/Providence and New York as well as three departures weekly from Cork to Boston/Providence.

The airline received an air operator's certificate from the Irish Aviation Authority in 2014, and has a base here with 85 staff, in addition to headquarters in Norway and the UK.

This allows the company, which is based outside the EU, to operate freely across Europe and now the Atlantic.

The structure will allow Norwegian to continue to operate after Brexit, Bjorn Kjos said, but he predicted disruption for UK-headquartered operators, particularly on internal EU routes.

NAI established its operations in Dublin to benefit from the Open Skies agreement that exists between the United States and the European Union.

It enables any airline based in the EU to fly from any location in the EU to any location in the US, and vice versa.

With the US flights as good as up and running, NAI has agreed a deal that will see Ryanair feed passengers to its flights from September.

Bjorn Kjos said funnelling passengers via Ryanair to its transatlantic routes will be the key benefit of the agreement for NAI.

Technical details of the agreement, such as ticketing, are still being hammered out, he said.
A London financier and his university student brother stole over 8,000 in cash while working as charity barmen at a music festival in Marlay Park last year, a Dublin court has heard.

John McGinley (25) stole 5,275 in cash, while his younger brother Conal McGinley (22) stole 3,370 while they were working behind the bar for Workers Beer Company, a charity organisation that raises funds at music festivals.

Wads of cash were found in their pockets, shoes and their car after they were observed by gardai pocketing money while working behind the bar, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard.

Both brothers, with an address at Naughan, Belturbet, Co Cavan, pleaded guilty to one count of theft at Marlay Park on July 8, 2016. They will be sentenced on June 14.

The court heard John McGinley, who held a good job at a financial firm in London, fell into the hands of loan sharks while gambling in the UK.

As a result, the brothers undertook the "clumsy and desperate" attempt of taking the cash to raise some of the money owed, which amounted to 8,000, defence counsel said.

Garda Ciaran McCoyne told the court the men were seen pocketing the cash on the first day of the three-day music festival. When arrested, John McGinley had 4,145 on his person and another 1,130 in his car. Conal McGinley had 1,860 in cash on his person and 1,500 in his car.

Both men made immediate admission when interviewed. They have no previous convictions.
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'Gardai in Cork were tracking the gang for two years before making the arrest, the court was told' (picture posed)

A major investigation is ongoing into an Eastern European criminal gang which targeted businesses in rural Ireland, stealing high-end goods and taking them to Lithuania.

Limerick Circuit Court yesterday heard Europol, Interpol and gardai are involved in tracking the international professional burglary gang which has carried out robberies with "military precision" in Munster.

Gang member Aurimas Petraska pleaded guilty to a string of major burglaries when he appeared before the court yesterday.

The court heard the burglaries involved the theft of 150,000 of women's clothing and Chanel beauty products from boutiques and pharmacies across the region.

Prosecuting counsel Michael Collins told the court the gang acted with "military precision".

"Dressed in black fatigues, wearing head lights", the gang were seen on CCTV footage inside the premises they robbed "checking their watches at regular intervals".

The gang timed their robberies to perfection, he said. "They were highly sophisticated... in and out in six minutes."

The women's clothing, worth 80,000 and stolen from Isobel Boutique, Adare, Co Limerick, was conveyed to a Dublin logistics company to be shipped to Lithuania.

Petraska admitted transforming "cheap" cars into battering rams, capable of smashing through the premises.

He replaced the seats with concrete blocks, ensuring they were heavy enough to mount footpaths and crash through the targeted business premises.

Petraska had several previous convictions - namely for theft and public order offences. The court was told he dropped out of a university course in his native Lithuania, and came to Ireland in 2005.

He worked for a time in a Lidl store and was employed as a casual labourer.

Gardai in Cork were tracking the gang for two years before making the arrest, the court was told.

Petraska, the only member of the gang to be charged, was arrested when members of the armed Regional Support Unit (RSU) intercepted a car traveling near Shanagolden, Co Limerick, on June 29, 2016.During the course of the arrest, a man "accompanying" Petraska was shot in the face after a Garda's gun fired "accidentally", Mr Collins said. The man spent several months in hospital.

Petraska was paid around 3,000 for each robbery. He did not disclose the identity of the gang boss.

During one of the robberies, at O'Briens Pharmacy, Cahir, Co Tipperary, 20,000 worth of Chanel products was stolen. In a burglary at O'Connor's Pharmacy, Kinsale, Co Cork, 50,000 worth of Chanel products was taken, and 10,000 damage was caused.

Petraska also admitted stealing 80,000 worth of high-end women's clothes from Isobel Boutique, Adare, Co Limerick.

In a victim impact statement, Isobel owner Kay Mulcair said she lost 240,000 in revenue. She said her insurance company was refusing to meet the loss, as the security alarm had not been set at the time.

Judge Tom O'Donnell praised gardai attached to the Cork Division, for their "painstaking" investigative skills in tracking the gang over a two-year period.

Sentencing for Petraska was adjourned until May.
'Mr McFeely is charged with two counts of breaching a protection order at a south Dublin address on February 12 and February 20' (stock photo)

Bankrupt Priory Hall developer Tom McFeely has failed in his bid to vary his bail terms so he can fly to London to collect his pension.

Mr McFeely (68) shouted at Garda Dara MacEoin across a courtroom: "It's guys like you that give gardai a bad name," after the judge refused the application.

Gda MacEoin had told Tallaght District Court he was objecting to the bail variation.

The Priory Hall developer claimed he is struggling financially, as his only income is his pension and he cannot get to London to collect it because gardai have his passport.

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He said: "It's unbelievable. How am I to live if I can't get to the UK for my pension?"

Mr McFeely is charged with two counts of breaching a protection order at a south Dublin address on February 12 and February 20.

It is alleged he threatened to slit a woman's throat and "send her to America in a box". He is also alleged to have demanded the woman hand back money which he claimed that she owes him.

Mr McFeely has denied the charges. The case is mid-trial and is due for finalisation later this month.

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The accused brought an application before Tallaght court yesterday to vary his bail conditions. Gda MacEoin said there was no consent to any changes.

Defence barrister Stephen Montgomery said Mr McFeely was on "onerous" bail terms.

The bail conditions are that he has no contact either directly or indirectly with the alleged injured party. He has also surrendered his Irish and UK passports as well as his UK driving licence.

He must live at an agreed address and sign on three times a week at Letterkenny garda station.

Judge Patricia McNamara refused the application to vary bail.
The Catholic bishops have effectively blocked the use of a religious textbook in primary schools that was not produced by their own publishing house, Veritas.

Bishops have written to Catholic schools in their areas advising that only two titles, 'Grow in Love' and 'Alive-O', both produced by Veritas, are currently approved for use in their classrooms.

The letters arrived soon after the appearance of a rival offering for third to fifth classes, 'Friends in Faith', by educational publishers, CJ Fallon, whose representatives started promoting the book in schools in February.

Veritas company accounts show that it is depending on the 'Grow in Love' series - which is being phased in to replace 'Alive-O' - to help restore its financial fortunes, after some difficult years.

In his letter to principals, the Bishop of Limerick, Dr Brendan Leahy, who is president of Veritas, states that at this time 'Grow in Love' is the only programme approved for religious education and sacramental preparation in Catholic primary schools, while 'Alive-O' is also approved for use in the senior classes.

A similar letter from the education secretariat of the Dublin Archdiocese notes that it is the time of year when booklists are being prepared and that it is "delighted to confirm that 'Grow in Love' will be available for 3rd and 4th classes this September".

In response to a query from the Irish Independent, a spokesperson for the bishops said that in 2013 a review process was put in place to ensure conformity both with the curriculum and with Catholic doctrine of any religious education materials.

The spokesperson said that a number of individuals and publishing companies had engaged with this process, including Veritas, which had presented 'Grow in Love', but that CJ Fallon had not yet submitted any materials.

Veritas has enjoyed a monopoly in the provision of religious textbooks for primary schools, but the publication by the bishops, in 2015, of the first ever guidelines for a religion curriculum was seen to open up opportunities for other publishers.

CJ Fallon would not comment on recent developments, but the company's promotional material for 'Friends and Faith' states that the programme is in line with the curriculum guidelines which were published in 2015.

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment sets down the curriculum guidelines for other subjects, and does not review the materials developed by publishers.

Legal sources said that the move by the Bishops could be deemed to be anti-competitive and a breach of legislation relating to the abuse of a dominant position.

Veritas has experienced considerable financial challenges in recent years, with a net loss of 1.8m in 2014, including an impairment charge of 1.1m, based on the drop in value of a warehouse in Ballycoolin, Co Dublin, purchased in 2006.
Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell has come under fire from his own party for criticising the family of Fianna Fail's environment spokesman Barry Cowen.

Mr Farrell posted comments on Facebook about Mr Cowens brother Brian, a former Taoiseach and his father Ber, who was a Fianna Fail TD. The comments were accompanied by an image of Barry Cowen and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin mocked up as characters in the 1980s movie Back to the Future.

Speaking on RTE Radio One Fine Gael chief whip Regina Doherty criticised Mr Farrell for posting personal comments about the Cowen family and said she would talk to him about it. Fianna Fail justice spokesman Jim OCallaghan also criticised the Fine Gael TD for making personal attacks at someones family.

Labour Party TD Alan Kelly said the Facebook comments were "down right stupid" and "counterproductive".

Expand Close Image of Barry Cowen and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin mocked up as characters in the 1980s movie Back to the Future. Photo: Facebook / Facebook

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Whatsapp Image of Barry Cowen and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin mocked up as characters in the 1980s movie Back to the Future. Photo: Facebook

On Facebook, Mr Farrell said Ber Cowen was elected when Fianna Fail won a landslide victory on a populist economic programme which was largely based on the abolition of household rates which included payment for water.

These policies led directly to the recessionary period our country experienced in the 1980s, he added.

Mr Farrell said Brian Cowen continued to pursue populist policies as Finance Minister and accused him of stoking the housing bubble which crashed our economy.

As Taoiseach, he signed up to water charges in an attempt to help correct his own mess, he added.

On Barry Cowen, Mr Farrell said: He has led Fianna Fail's policy on water and has flip-flopped from one position to another - always for populist political reasons. Again the best interests of our country have been held to ransom and have come second to the best interests of Fianna Fail.
'Some 7pc of the 1,112 teens from schools in Cork and Kerry who were surveyed admitted to suicidal thoughts' Stock photo: Anna Gowthorpe/PA Wire

A significant minority of Irish adolescents are suffering mental distress and 3.6pc have attempted suicide, according to a new report.

Some 7pc of the 1,112 teens from schools in Cork and Kerry who were surveyed admitted to suicidal thoughts.

Anxiety and symptoms of depression were also reported by hundreds of the youngsters, the report 'Young Lives in Ireland' from the National Suicide Research Foundation revealed.

The data was drawn from the Saving and Empowering Young Lives in Europe study, and while the majority reported positive well-being, the extent of distress is a concern, the researchers warned.

The young people highlighted the need for school-based individual support, in particular the need for guidance counsellors to be available for those who are under psychological pressure. There needs to be an enhanced universal programme of mental health education.

The report said the roll-out of evidence-based mental health awareness programmes in Irish schools should be undertaken as a matter of priority in order to develop mental health literacy, promote positive mental health and prevent suicide in this vulnerable group.

Children's Ombudsman Dr Niall Muldoon, who launched the report, said having a reputable programme available to all schools was enormously important.

The availability of data to show that both suicidal thoughts and suicidal attempts can be reduced by implementing such a programme should be a clarion call.
The wreckage of Rescue 116 is removed from the Granuaile Vessel at Galway docks back to Gormanstown Air Accident Investigation Facility this morning by truck. Pic Steve Humphreys

Smaller fishing vessels are being warned not to join this weekends search if sea conditions are not suitable

A major sea search is due to take place today for the two missing Rescue 116 crew members.

Coast Guard, gardai, RNLI, and local fishermen are expected to take part in the sea search from Achill Island in Mayo to Aranmore Island, Donegal today.

Crewmen Ciaran Smith (38) and Paul Ormsby (53) have still not been found since their Rescue 116 helicopter crashed into Black Rock island in the early hours of March 14.

The decision was taken to carry out a search following a meeting between representatives from each of the groups. It was due to commence at approximately 9am this morning.

Expand Close Volunteers searching at Elly Bay Atlantic Beach, about 6km north of Blacksod / Facebook

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Whatsapp Volunteers searching at Elly Bay Atlantic Beach, about 6km north of Blacksod

The statement, released by Erris Inshore Fishermen's Association, continued: "Safety is paramount in this entire operation, for this reason we are asking all vessels intending to engage in the sea search to check in on the morning of the search with their local RNLI Lifeboat or Coast Guard vessel.

"Upon completion of search, all vessels must report back to the lifeboat or coast guard vessel to confirm completion of search." The statement said this is to ensure that all vessels return safely to harbour.

Expand Close The map breaks down the search zones, each zone has a responsible coordinator. Vessels are required to check in with the relevant coordinator for their zone before commencing search operations and again when standing down Photo: Irish Coast Guard / Facebook

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Whatsapp The map breaks down the search zones, each zone has a responsible coordinator. Vessels are required to check in with the relevant coordinator for their zone before commencing search operations and again when standing down Photo: Irish Coast Guard

Those taking part are also advissed that is it is mandatory for all taking part to wear life jackets. "We would also ask for your cooperation to obey any instructions given by the RNLI or Coast Guard."

Earlier this week Mr Smith's sister made a desperate appeal for help searching for them.

"To all fishing vessels big and small. From Achill Island to Aran Mor. We are appealing to them to please come to help us now. We need them, we need their knowledge and we need them in the ongoing efforts to find Ciaran and Paul," she told Independent.ie.

"We need them and we need their help. We want them to go out and look in a co-ordinated fashion.

"It is a living nightmare for all of us. For all of my family and Paul Ormsby's family it is a living nightmare.

"We're doing our best to keep going, to stay as strong as possible and to stay as positive as we can.

"But it is tough, it is really, really tough. We need those boys home now. We really do.

"My parents need them home, my sister-in-law needs him home. My nieces need him home. They have to come home now."

In a statement the Irish Coast Guards said they are asking all mariners in the Donegal/Mayo area to keep a "good look out for any debris in the course of their routine activities and to report any findings to the Malin Head Coast Guard Coordination Centre".

The Coast Guard also reiterated the importance of adherence to basic safety by all searchers be they afloat or on shore.

The expressed their ongoing appreciation to the many volunteers supporting the search in particular, Coast Guard members, the RNLI and Civil Defence as well as the tremendous local community support.
Agnieszke Kowolezyk originally hails from Warsaw but moved to Dublin two years ago with her young daughter Photo: Kyran O'Brien

'I'm happy here. I'm not crying because I don't know how to pay my bills," says Agnieszke Kowolezyk.

It was a leap of faith for the Polish shop-worker to leave her life and her two adult children behind in Warsaw and move to Ireland two years ago.

She brought her six-year-old daughter, Gabbi, with her and they settled in Balbriggan, Co Dublin.

Gabbi now speaks fluent English, excels at Irish and tells her mother she "never wants to go back to Poland".

Agnieszke (40) got a job working at the large Polonez supermarket on Moore Street in the city centre which sells Polish staples like kluski noodles, sausage and sauerkraut.

Her English has come on in leaps and bounds thanks to a weekly class she takes in Balbriggan. Life is better here, she says simply.

"I don't have to think about my life - I can buy food and life here is very easy."

Her experience is a fairly typical one amid Ireland's solid Polish community of around 122,500 people, as shown in the Census 2016 figures.

It speaks of the success the Polish people have made of their lives here, becoming the largest minority group in this country, but the Census also throws a spotlight on the work that needs to be done.

Krzysztof Kiedrowski of the Irish Polish Society says the community needs to be represented at a political level. "In Poland, we have minority of German people and they are involved in politics much more than the Polish in Ireland," he says.

Barnaba Dorda, a SIPTU organiser, says language is the main barrier to full integration.

He has seen Polish people exploited in the workplace because they are unable to argue their case.

Some employers provide classes outside work hours but many workers are too exhausted to attend them, says Wojciech.

With the Government spending a lot of money on translation services in hospitals and courts, he believes State subsided English classes would make sense.

It is also important for children from Polish families to be able to study the language at school and to sit the exams in the Leaving Cert, he says, with Government plans afoot to put this in place.

Wojciech Bialek who runs the Cork-based support group Together-Razem for Eastern European migrants says the organisation has heard of UK-based Polish people who have moved to Ireland as a result of Brexit concerns.

He has to calm the fears of those who worry Ireland will go down the same route because of the close ties with the UK.

"There is a lot of tension in the EU and people want security," he says, adding that, in the end, about 80pc of the Polish population who settle in Ireland "will stay here forever."
If you're heading out to soak up the sun this afternoon, be prepared to expect traffic delays.

The M50 southbound is "very busy" at the moment due to racing at Leopardstown.

There are reports of tailbacks from the Ballinteer (J13) exit to Blanchardstown and motorists are being warned to expect delays if heading south.

Meanwhile, sun seekers hoping to visit tourist hot spots in Wicklow will also be faced with delays this afternoon.

Keep in mind traffic likely to be busy in popular areas with good weather forecast.Consider public transport options https://t.co/r19oH1u8F2  AA Roadwatch (@aaroadwatch) April 8, 2017

Traffic is heavy on all approaches to Glendalough, especially on the Laragh/Glendalough Rd.

For anyone enjoying the good weather in Dublin, a water protest is currently causing delays in the city centre.

The protest has currently arrived at Dame St which is now closed as a result. Traffic is now moving freely again along the quays.

In Meath, the Navan/Kingscourt Rd is closed following a collision this afternoon.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close People out enjoying the good weather at the Forty Foot, Sandycove, Dublin. Pic: Stephen Collins/Collins Photos People out enjoying the good weather at the Forty Foot, Sandycove, Dublin. Pic: Stephen Collins/Collins Photos People out enjoying the good weather at the Forty Foot, Sandycove, Dublin. Pic: Stephen Collins/Collins Photos People out enjoying the good weather at the Forty Foot, Sandycove, Dublin. Pic: Stephen Collins/Collins Photos People out enjoying the good weather at the Forty Foot, Sandycove, Dublin. Pic: Stephen Collins/Collins Photos People out enjoying the good weather at the Forty Foot, Sandycove, Dublin. Pic: Stephen Collins/Collins Photos People out enjoying the good weather at the Forty Foot, Sandycove, Dublin in August 2017. Pic: Stephen Collins/Collins Photos People out enjoying the good weather at the Forty Foot, Sandycove, Dublin. Pic: Stephen Collins/Collins Photos / Facebook

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A man (19) was killed in the crash, while a woman and two children travelling in the other car were injured. Forensics are currently at the scene and it is not known what time the road will reopen.

AA Roadwatch are urging people to consider public transport options where possible as traffic is heavier than usual on routes near scenic areas.
Fianna Fail wants the Policing Authority to decide whether Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan should remain in her post.

The party yesterday published a Dail motion which calls on the Government to take immediate steps to resolve what it describes as a "crisis in confidence" in An Garda Siochana.

It states the recent scandal around breath tests has raised serious questions about the management of the force.

The motion has called for the Policing Authority to be empowered to assess the "capacity" of Ms O'Sullivan to restore confidence in the force - but stops short of calling on her to step aside or be sacked.

Privately, many Fianna Fail TDs want the party to withdraw support for the Commissioner in a bid to have her removed.

But the party leadership has taken a different view.

The motion, which will be voted upon on Thursday, states that only the Government can legally remove a commission from its post.

Nonetheless, its publication will ensure that Ms O'Sullivan faces another week at the eye of a political storm.

Sinn Fein, the Labour Party and Solidarity/People Before Profit have also published motions due to be debated in the coming days.

The Policing Authority last night said it will now begin an audit into a series of traffic-related issues, such as the one million phantom breath tests.

Meanwhile, Taoiseach Enda Kenny insisted he has "full confidence" in Attorney General Maire Whelan after she was criticised by the Fennelly Commission, which examined the taping of phone calls in and out of Garda stations.

Ms Whelan is under serious pressure after Mr Justice Nial Fennelly found that she "presented an alarming picture" of the taping of phone calls in a move that left Mr Kenny shocked.

The commission also found that Ms Whelan did not inform the then justice minister Alan Shatter - though she was made aware of the situation in 2013.

Mr Shatter yesterday spoke for the first time since the publication of the report, which found Garda management displayed "almost total ignorance at the highest level" of the taping of phone conversations at stations.

The former TD claimed Ms Whelan "overreacted" and "showed poor judgment" over the issue.

He also claimed that Mr Kenny "generated a sense of alarm" once the issue of the recordings at Garda stations was brought to his attention in March 2014.

But speaking in Berlin, Mr Kenny rejected the claim that the AG's position is untenable.

"The Attorney General was quite justified in bringing what was a very serious matter to the attention of Government and to myself," Mr Kenny said.

"The findings of the commission are that the taping of telephone calls over an extended period to many Garda stations was illegal and unconstitutional," he added.
'Delegates at the conference supported a motion to ballot on industrial action - up to strike action - if the Government refuses by June to abolish extra hours they work for free' Photo: PA

A union president has warned the Government to "pay up or face the consequences" of coordinated industrial action by all public servants ahead of crucial new talks.

Ann McGee, of the Civil, Public and Services Union (CPSU), demanded that pay rises should be given on top of wage increases that would mark the refund of pay cuts that were suffered during the recession.

Speaking at the union's annual delegate conference in Killarney, she said the patience of its 9,500 members was now "threadbare" and warned that all 300,000 public servants may join a campaign of industrial action if demands are not met.

She was speaking ahead of talks next month between public-sector unions and the Government on a pay deal to succeed the Lansdowne Road Agreement.

Delegates at the conference supported a motion to ballot on industrial action - up to strike action - if the Government refuses by June to abolish extra hours they work for free.

The motion means they will ask other civil service unions whose members work a longer working week to support them.

The additional unpaid hours were agreed under a previous public-sector pay deal and mean lower-paid civil servants do 27 extra minutes a day, or two additional hours a week.

"This conference has a significant role to play in driving our campaign for fairness and a real pay increase in the talks due to begin in May," Ms McGee said.

"Let us not shirk the message. Pay up or face the consequences - consequences that include co-ordinated industrial action by all public service unions.

"We have been patient but that patience is now threadbare."

She said the union welcomed the Government decision to bring forward a 1,000 pay rise due under the Lansdowne Road Agreement to April 1 this year - from next September.

This was to compensate public servants as they did not benefit from a 50m pay package given to gardai to call off strikes.

However, she described the payment as a "downpayment" and said it was "not enough to address the imbalance" caused by the Garda deals brokered late last year.

Ms McGee said there was an unquestionable moral justification for the pension levy to be removed and pay to be fully restored to members earning less than 38,000 at the talks.

But she said any new deal must go further and give "real" pay increases, especially to those on lower starting points on the salary scale introduced during the financial crisis.

She said members wanted the removal of unpaid additional hours as they amounted to an "effective 6pc pay cut".

Tony Gallagher, of the Letterkenny branch, spoke in favour of the motion to ballot for industrial action if the Government does not abolish the hours by June.

He argued that members would have a mandate for industrial action in their "back pocket".

Mr Gallagher said this would strengthen the union's position in the forthcoming talks.

The union should be prepared to set out its "stall", he said, and stand up for something "at last" after nine years.
We keep being told that all resources are being marshalled to deal with Brexit, described as the greatest political and economic change to face Ireland since its independence. With the distractions of our ministers in their 'new politics' arrangement, we are told that behind the scenes our officials, diplomats and overseas agencies are busy working to get the best deal for Ireland and 'special case' consideration in relation to the North.

If this is the case, why is Ireland wasting valuable diplomatic resources, energy and expertise in seeking a seat at the UN Security Council when Brexit looms? And why are we sending our most EU experienced diplomats to the US just when they are most needed in Europe?

In the now obligatory re-shuffle of ambassadors, the Government has decided to move two key officials with valuable and recent knowledge out of crucial EU posts and send them to the United States, apparently to help Ireland secure the trophy election of a two-year term on the UN Security Council.

The two ambassadors are Geraldine Byrne Nason, who is moving from Paris to the UN in New York, and Dan Mulhall, who is moving from London to Washington DC.

This is a crazy disruption when we need all the contacts and goodwill we can muster in Europe and the UK. Paris is now the second most important EU capital after Berlin, and London is very obviously the epicentre of Brexit negotiations and British-Irish relations.

But it is not just these diplomats' experience of their current postings. Before London, Dan Mulhall was based in Berlin and was in the now de facto 'Capital of Europe' for our crash/bailout period. He is a learned, outgoing diplomat - and a poet - and he tirelessly charmed on our behalf, just as he did more recently in the UK.

Likewise, Ms Byrne Nason. She was seconded from the Department of Foreign Affairs to the Department of An Taoiseach for the whole bailout/Troika period and was at then tanaiste Eamon Gilmore's shoulder when he was dealing almost daily with Brussels and the IMF. Now she's off to New York. It is a well-deserved change but is it best value for Ireland just when we need an envoy who knows Paris inside out? Ms Byrne Nason had previously been our OECD representative in Paris.

And what is the point of this UN campaign anyway? The days of Ireland having some distinct foreign policy - in tandem with our neutrality and UN Blue Helmets experience - are long gone. We are an EU member, attached firmly to a first world perspective, and all the crucial decisions at the UN Security Council are, in these fractious times, now entirely in the hands of the permanent five - or permanent three more like, which means the big bruisers of America, Russia and China.

The Security Council has 15 members - five are permanent (the victors of WWII, basically: they also have the power of veto) and the other 10 are voted on, on a regional basis, for two-year terms. These are often very small countries and their election is a matter of great pride to their governments, but rarely to their populations, who are usually unaware of their diplomats' achievements.

The world is a changed place and raw economics - and regional power blocs - trump the ageing vanities of individual countries pursuing 'national prestige' in the multilateral sphere. Which is why Brexit is so important: it affects our everyday lives and the physical borders of our State and country.

So why aren't we throwing the diplomatic sink at it? After all, not only will these diplomats be diverted to the UN campaign, so will all Irish diplomats and embassies, for the Security Council campaign is international and requires exhaustive canvassing and cajolery. Wouldn't it be better to use this legendary Irish networking to make our case on Brexit?

But crucially, we should ask who makes these decisions about our personnel? Is it the Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan? Or the Cabinet and Government? Or, more likely, is it the mandarins of Iveagh House who continue to believe in their 'generalist' civil service approach and the necessary rotation of important individuals from experienced posts because that is what they have always done, and no one has ever questioned this?
Canadh Le Cheile certainly lived up to its name together in song as it wowed spectators last Friday night in the magnificent surroundings of St Saviour's Church. This beautiful building brimmed as people came from far and wide to support the children of Carysfort National School.

There were stunning performances from the Arklow Silver Band, Carysfort Children's Choir under the direction of Tony Norton, The Walker Sisters, Opera Serenade, Michael Flood, Cruinniu, Naoimh Penston and Revival Gospel Choir.

The event was organised by Sharon and Elaine Walker and was a resounding success.

School principal Janet Nuzum paid tribute to Sharon and Elaine for a magnificent job and said that the school was overwhelmed by the level of goodwill and support which came from the community.

Janet also thanked St Saviour's Parish for use of the venue, Boland's for sponsorship, Janita Kelty who transformed the church, the hard-working PTA and all the wonderful performers including the Carysfort NS children.
Bray Soroptimists presented cheques to their guests at an event at Ocean Restaurant recently.

Club president Sarah Wray welcomed club members and guests to the annual presentation of cheques.

Sarah gave special thanks to all the Bray club members whom over the past year effortlessly organised the fundraising and social events.

Speaking on the night Sarah highlighted the aim of Soroptimist members globally - 'to enable, empower and educate, women and girls - through working with local charities it allows our club to be involved in transforming situations for women and children sometimes through advocacy work or by volunteering to take part in projects alongside established aid agencies with the goal of enhancing women's lives.' Club President Sarah introduced club member's to guests from local charities whom received cheques on the night.

Representing the Malawi Girls Educational Fund, were Robert Barker and Harry Whelehan. The charity currently supports 21 young women through secondary school education - including fee, books and uniforms. Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world, and features at the lowest end of international indicators of social and economic development and wellbeing. The UN Human Development rates Malawi as 173rd of 188 countries - with Ireland ranking at 6th overall.

Sarah welcomed Oonagh Kenny Principal of the Marino Community Special School, Church Road and Peggy Masterson from the School's Board of Management. Established in 1956, Marino Community Special School now provides a highly supported learning environment, including a multi-sensory room for students. This year the Soroptimist Club with other community groups have supported Marino School in the development of a playground for pupils.

Tommy Gordon and Jacinta Crawley of the Wicklow Homeless (WH) Five Loaves and Ark Housing Association also joined Soroptimists on the night. Well known local charity WH Five Loaves provides a 'drop-in' centre for the homeless and disadvantaged, providing hot meals and advice to help assist individuals rebuild their lives, while also providing a supported housing programme in the community.

Patricia Wojnar and Suzanne Cox and fellow board members joined soroptimists to receive a cheque on behalf of the Open Door Day Care Centre. Over the past 33 years this wonderful facility on the Vevay Road, Bray, provides services and activities for adults with physical disabilities, providing members with a vital social outlet and the opportunity to learn new skills in computers, art, woodwork, music and ceramics. If you are interested in the work Soroptimists do and becoming a member, contact Sarah at 087 2069327 and go to www.soroptimistireland.com for further details.
Critically ill Bray man Ciaran Kelly has been flown home from Canada, after a campaign to raise funds.

Ciaran (32), from Clover Hill, suffered a cardiac arrest in Vancouver on St Patrick's Day.

A Gofundme.ie campaign was set up last week, and yesterday had raised more than 75,000 to bring Ciaran home and help cover medical expenses of more than 10,000 per day amassed in Canada.

Ciaran's brain was deprived of oxygen in the incident in Canada, where he had been living.

His family learned that he was in intensive care and Ciaran's parents and sisters rushed to his side. They flew to Canada where Ciaran was on life support.

The Kelly family put out an appeal for help with the medical expenses and an air-ambulance to fly Ciaran back to Ireland.

This was achieved on Sunday morning, when the local man landed in Dublin and was taken to St Vincent's hospital.

'We are delighted to tell everyone Ciaran has now arrived home safely to Ireland and is getting all the care he needs,' the family posed on the Gofundme page on Sunday.

'He flew back from Vancouver by air ambulance in the early hours of this morning. We as a family cannot express our sincere thanks to all our friends, family and all the other people involved that kindly donated to our fund in making this happen. We will never be fully able to thank You for the support, kind words and generosity. Without you this wouldn't have happened as quickly and now to be together as a family is just amazing. This will be a long journey and we have to take it day by day, but when we look back to two weeks ago and see how far we come, it's a miracle.'
Councillors who wanted questions answered over a High Court case involving Wicklow County Council were told no discussions could take place while the court case remains ongoing.

Brownfield Restoration (Ireland) Limited, is suing Wicklow County Council over an illegal dump at Whitestown and the matter is currently being heard in the High Court.

Speaking at Monday's county council meeting, Cllr Michael O'Connor said that Sinn Fein had serious concerns over media reports from the trial.

'I am looking for some answers to questions. The case is all over the media and people are seriously concerned,' said Cllr O'Connor.

However, cathaoirleach Pat Fitzgerald was adamant that the meeting would stick to the agenda.

Cllr Irene Winters felt it was important that elected members were able to ask about the case. 'We have to be able to talk about the one thing that looks like it could cost the council a fortune,' she said.

However, other councillors didn't feel it was appropriate to talk about the matter in the council chamber while the case is still being heard in the High Court.

'How can you discuss a case that is ongoing in the courts?' asked Cllr Pat Vance. 'We have a huge agenda in front of us and it is not appropriate for discussion. It might be afterwards once court matters have been concluded.'

Cllr Christopher also said the matter shouldn't be discussed in the council chamber until the High Court had made a final ruling.

'You have to allow the High Court due process. I agree that assurances have to be given but they can't be discussed today,' he said.

Cllr Vincent Blake said: 'We need to respect the decision of the cathaoirleach and get on with the council meeting.'

Cllr Nicola Lawless acknowledged that it was a 'serious court case' but maintained that she wasn't asking to discuss the case, instead she wanted to know how much the court proceedings would end up costing the council.

She asked if the council was paying the legal costs of a former employee involved in the case.
An IT expert who began to trawl the Darknet for child pornography websites has avoided a jail term after he downloaded over 300 images.

Richard Coghlan (37) had recently lost his job and was sleeping all day and accessing these websites at night. He later told gardai he went 'into a hollow'.

Detective Garda Kieran Murphy told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that the Garda Computer Crime Investigation Unit had such a backlog of cases in 2010 that he didn't receive any results until November 2015.

Dt Gda Murphy told Dara Hayes BL, prosecuting, that in August 2010 Interpol provided gardai with an IP address that officers suspected had downloaded child pornography.

The address was traced back to Coghlan and when gardai arrived at his Dublin home to search it a month later, he immediately handed over two laptops.

It took five years for the two machines to be forensically analysed but, in the meantime, Coghlan came voluntarily to the station and admitted that images of child pornography would be found.

Coghlan of Glenbrea Court, Shankill, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of 325 images on his computers on September 21, 2010. He has no previous convictions.

Det Gda Murphy said of the 325 images found, 52 fell into the lowest category of seriousness, 175 were in the second lowest category and 98 fell into the second highest category. There were also a number of movie files that fell into those categories.

Det Gda Murphy said Coghlan had also visited a number of known child pornographic websites after doing a search on the Darknet for 'girls of a young age, 5 yo to 12 yo - penetration'.

Judge Martin Nolan sentenced Coghlan to two-and-half years in prison which he suspended in full on strict conditions.

He said he had based his sentencing on previous child pornographic case law which concluded that in incidences of a low number of images and when an accused had no previous convictions, a suspended sentence should be handed down.

Judge Nolan said that just over 300 images was not a high number in comparison to cases that had previously come before him when people have been caught with thousands and sometimes tens of thousands of images.

'It's an odious crime to have committed and he should be ashamed of himself. I've no doubt that people who know him, think less of him now,' the judge said before he added that Coghlan was an intelligent man and a man of ability.

He also accepted that in the seven years since Coghlan was caught he had not re-offended.

Det Gda Murphy agreed with James McCullough BL, defending, that his client 'never sought to take advantage of the delay' in analysing his computers and made admissions before the results came back.

He accepted that Coghlan 'doesn't seem to be a person at risk of future offending'.

Mr McCullough said that Coghlan had come to realise himself 'in a real way that this is not a victimless crime and that young children are hurt'.

'He carries the shame of these activities,' counsel continued before he submitted that Coghlan would benefit from psychotherapy.
Gardai in Co Cork are to prepare files for the Director of Public Prosecutions following two unrelated seizures of quantities of heroin totalling over 20,000 in two separate operations at the weekend.

The first seizure was made on Friday night when gardai searched a house in Macroom and discovered 4,000 worth of heroin - which they believed was destined for the local market.

Detectives arrested a 32 year old man, who is originally from Ballincollig but who was visiting Macroom at the time, for questioning about the heroin stash found in the house.

The man was arrested under drug trafficking legislation and taken to Bantry Garda Station where he was questioned for several hours before being released on Saturday afternoon.

Gardai, who hailed the seizure as a significant blow to drug dealing in Macroom and the surrounding areas, will now prepare a file on the matter for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Meanwhile, gardai in Fermoy are also to prepare a file for the Director of Public Prosecutions following the arrest of a 46 year old man and the recovery of 18,000 worth of heroin on Saturday.

The man, who is originally from Youghal, was one of three men questioned when Gardai stopped a car near Watergrasshill on the main Cork-Dublin Road at around 1.30am on Saturday morning.

The man was brought to Fermoy Garda Station where he was searched and gardai recovered 18,000 worth of heroin which has been sent to Forensic Science Ireland for analysis.

The man was detained under Section 2 of the Drugs Trafficking Act which allows gardai hold suspects for up to seven days for questioning but he was released without charge on Saturday afternoon.

A garda spokesman said that gardai would now prepare a file on the matter for the Director of Pubic Prosecutions pending the results of analysis on the drugs from Forensic Science Ireland.
The results of the Macra na Feirme Presidential and Vice-Presidential elections were announced on Tuesday in the Irish Farm Centre in Dublin and they made for sweet listening for the young farmers of Muskerry.

That's because James Healy from Kilmartin, Donoughmore, was officially declared the 36th Macra na Feirme National President.

James is a founding member of the reformed Donoughmore club based in Muskerry, Cork who have gone on to win Macra na Feirme Club of the Year twice. He is a current member of the National Council and has served as Munster Vice-President and National Competitions Chairperson in the past.

Speaking after the results of the election, current National President, Sean Finan, who presided over the election said, "I would like to congratulate all candidates for the campaigns they ran. This was a great election, highlighting the best of Macra in terms of leadership, debate and enthusiasm. I look forward to the inauguration ceremony at the Macra na Feirme national AGM on the 6th of May in Drumshanbo, Co.Leitrim.'

Following his election, James Healy said, 'It is such an honour to be elected as the next President of this great and historic organisation. It was a hard fought campaign and I greatly enjoyed travelling around the country, meeting members and hearing their views about Macra na Feirme. The landscape of rural Ireland is changing greatly and I look forward to serving the Macra na Feirme members and moving the organisation forward for what is sure to be a challenging couple of years, particularly with the impact of Brexit.'

He added, 'I would also like to pass on my commiserations to Odile Evans who ran a great campaign.'

James becomes the 36th president of Macra na Feirme and the 7th Cork representative to serve in the role. He continued, 'There is little doubt that joining Macra has played an influential part in making me the individual I am today. Through my membership, I have gained much from the opportunities provided and I want to make sure these and more opportunities will continue to be available for all members into the future. For this to happen, we the members, must work together as a team to allow Macra to grow and prosper. I firmly believe that my overall rounded experiences provide me with the key skills and attributes to serve as Macra President and to help ensure our team works to the best of its abilities for the betterment of Macra na Feirme. I look forward to working with all members of this great organisation."

Results were also announced in the vice-presidential elections for Macra's three regions, Munster, Leinster and the North West.

Sharon Corcoran from Three Lakes Macra in Mayo was declared the winner in the North-West race, Cara O'Mahony of Naas Macra in Kildare has been elected as Leinster Vice-President and Tom O'Donoghue of Cappoquin, Co.Waterford is the new Munster Vice-President.

All will take up their posts at Macra's AGM in Leitrim on May 6.

Creed welcomes newly elected president James

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Michael Creed warmly welcomed the election of James Healy as the 36th President of Macra na Feirme.

Minister Creed said; "I'd like to congratulate James on his election as President of Macra and look forward to working with him during his tenure. Macra is an important organisation in rural Ireland, playing an active role both socially and educationally for young people"

The Minister also paid tribute to Odile Evans for running a hard-fought campaign.

Concluding, Minister Creed said; "I'd also like to recognise the significant contribution made by the outgoing President Sean Finan who worked tirelessly to represent the interests of young farmers during his term as President.

The Minister also congratulated the three new vice-presidents, Sharon Corcoran, Cara O'Mahony and Tom O'Donoghue who will take up their positions alongside the president-elect at Macra's AGM in May.
Cork North West TD Aindrias Moynihan has said he is deeply concerned that a decision on the patronage of the proposed new primary school in Ballincollig has yet to be announced.

Deputy Moynihan was speaking following a Dail debate where he questioned the Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton, on the time-line for the patronage announcement and how children with special needs will be catered for in the new school.

"At the start of March, the Minister informed me that a decision on the school's patronage would announced within weeks. Over a month later he is fudging and being non-committal on the announcement date," said Deputy Moynihan.

"This simply isn't fair on the parents and the local community. Decisions need to be made now about how the school will operate, who will operate it and which pupils will get a place. Each week that the Minister and his department officials continue to hum and haw is another week wasted," he added.

He said that other schools across the country have had a long-run in time prior to opening.

"The people of Ballincollig don't have that luxury. This school must open its doors to pupils by September."

Deputy Moynihan said he was also concerned about Minister Bruton's comments in relation to the provision of Special Educational Needs (SEN) supports for children in the new school.

"Under the new allocation model, the school will not have a baseline, latest history or any social context as it is staring out new. This should be a matter of priority for the department, but the Minister did not seem to be aware of the issue when I raised it with him," said Deputy Moynihan.

"This isn't good enough, and it's a major concern for parents of children with special educational needs in Ballincollig."

Deputy Moynihan said it was important that clarity was forthcoming in relation to these two key issues.

"The Minister cannot leave parents and children in the dark any longer. Too many aspects of this school project are vague and with just five months to go until the school opens, decisions need to be made," he said.

"The Minister must use his powers to direct his officials to speed up processes and give the local community the certainty they need."
St. Peter's Male Voice Choir held its AGM last week. The chairman, Paul Delaney, said that the choir was going from strength to strength, welcoming many new members, and building on its hugely successful diamond jubilee in 2016. Highlights of 2016 included the choir's first series of St. Patrick's Day concerts, its performance with Moya Brennan of Clannad in aid of the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust, and its Christmas concerts in St. Peter's Church of Ireland and the Droichead Arts Centre, plus a trip to Germany.

The choir took great pride in being the first choir to perform at St. Laurence's Gate at September's "Save the Gate" concert with the Drogheda Brass Band and sang loud and proud at another great Drogheda landmark at its November concert in Millmount in aid of NECRET. In October it extended a great Drogheda welcome to the men of the Bridgend Male Voice Choir from Wales, who packed St. Peter's R.C. Church to the rafters at their joint performance with the choir in October. Already, 2017 is shaping up to be another great year for the choir, whose next big event is their concert in St. Peter's Church of Ireland on 5th May with the acclaimed Irish soprano, Celine Byrne.

The chairman expressed his thanks to Edward Holly, Musical Director, all the choir members and their families, and all the members of the public for their help and support in making occasions like these possible. Special tribute was also paid to Archdeacon James Carroll for his unstinting support of the choir. The choir members also recalled Larry Delaney and Peter Hughes, who passed away in 2016, with affection.

In the immediate aftermath of the AGM, the choir was deeply humbled to have been invited to sing at the funeral of Captain Mark Duffy, who tragically lost his life on Rescue 116. The members extend their sincere sympathies to his family and friends. He was a true Irish hero.

Committee: Chairman, Paul Delaney; Secretary, Oliver Plunkett; Treasurer, Tony Grealy; Librarian, Alan Cox; PRO, Anthony Moore; along with Paddy Davis, Cecil Whitty, Peter Delaney, Donal Black and Liam Kelly.
The award-winning Irish Maritime Festival is back and this year Virgin Media are aboard as lead sponsors.

"The Festival, now in its fifth year, is going from strength-to-strength," explains Mary T. Daly of Louth County Council. "We attracted record numbers in 2016 and the Festival's reputation is growing both nationally and internationally. We are delighted to announce that our new lead sponsor is Virgin Media. Their generous support will help us to make The Irish Maritime Festival 2017 bigger and better than ever."

Virgin Media, Ireland's fastest broadband network, are the new title sponsors of the Festival. This is their second year of involvement with the festival and their announcement as title sponsor represents a significant investment in this event.

Speaking at the announcement, Vice President of Virgin Media Paul Farrell continued "Virgin Media is delighted to support the Irish Maritime Festival as title sponsor. Our association with the event enables us to demonstrate one of our key strengths in delivering Ireland's fastest broadband network through providing free public WiFi for visitors attending the festival. We're also introducing our award winning services to more homes and businesses across Drogheda through our network investment programme. It is a terrific event for citizens of Drogheda to attract more visitors to the region and benefit the local economy."

Mayor of Drogheda, Cllr. Oliver Tully, concluded "We are so proud of The Irish Maritime Festival. It is by far the largest and most complex annual event that takes place in the north-east. We pride ourselves on delivering a highly interactive and innovative event that offers fun for all ages. With the support of Virgin Media, I am confident that The Irish Maritime Festival 2017 will be the best one yet!"

The Irish Maritime Festival in association with Virgin Media takes place on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th June. For more information visit MaritimeFestival.ie
Togher man Benny Devlin was honoured recently at a lunch in Athlone to celebrate the work of volunteers in the Community Games organisation.

The Community Games in Ireland is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, having been founded in 1967. Initially the activities of the organisation were confined to the Dublin area, but it was not long before other parts of the country came on board.

Benny was involved in introducing the Community Games to Co. Louth and ever since then he has remained heavily involved at various levels - including that of his own local area, which encompasses Togher, Clogherhead and Termonfeckin.

He is currently President of Louth Community Games and has held many positions on the committee over the years.

Along with his wife Eithne, Devlin has been particularly noted for his support of Variety in the Community Games. Indeed the Togher area variety group, in which their own children played leading roles, enjoyed some success at national level at various times.

Micheal O Muircheartaigh, the renowned Gaelic games commentator, was the special guest of honour at the lunch in Athlone, at which Benny was presented with a beautiful medal and a voucher from Aldi (the new sponsor of the Community Games) in recognition of his many loyal years of service. Others in attendance included his wife Eithne, Gerry Davenport, the National Community Games President, and fellow stalwarts on the Louth Community Games committee, Deirdre McTeggart and John Roche.
Border retailers know all about the cost of the black economy. From illicit alcohol to counterfeit cigarettes to the relatively new phenomenon of solid fuel, smuggling continues. And as government agencies on both sides of the border struggle to keep on top of it, Louth TD Declan Breathnach is this week bringing forward legislation that aims to target those who buy illicit goods.

One of the key measures proposed under Mr Breathnach's Sale of Illicit Goods Bill, that is due to be put before Leinster House today (Tuesday), is to make it an offence for a person to buy illicit alcohol, illicit tobacco or illicit solid fuel.

The bill also makes it an offence for a person to buy alcohol, tobacco or solid fuel from an unregistered retailer.

In addition, this bill, which is supported by the more than 3,000 members of the Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS) organisation, introduces an on-the-spot fine of 100 which will be imposed where a person buys alcohol, tobacco or solid fuel which is illicit, or where a person buys alcohol, tobacco or solid fuel from a retailer who is not registered or licensed.

Mr Breathnach said: 'I am sponsoring this bill on behalf of Retailers Against Smuggling, a 3,000 retailers-strong association that looks to raise awareness and bring to the fore issues that directly impact retailers specifically relating to smuggling and the black market.

'The bill will introduce an on-the-spot fine for those who purchase illicit alcohol, tobacco and solid fuel where tax has not been paid or where the product has not been purchased from a legitimate and registered retailer.

'This propisal is about affecting consumer behaviour by getting those to realise that purchasing the cheaper illicit products is illegal and hopefully it will deter people from doing it, in turn cutting the supply of profit to criminal gangs in our cities and along the border'.

These are proposals Mr Breathnach has been working on for some time. Recently, he met with retailers in Dublin to hear first hand how illicit trading is affecting their business.

He said: 'Tobacco sales are a large part of the business of many small shops. Government excise duties have increased the cost of a 20 pack of cigarettes to an all-time high. This in turn has turned customers towards illegal traders who are selling illegal, and sometimes unsafe, products at a much lower price'.

And it's not just cigarettes and alcohol that are being smuggled. Solid fuels are too. The introduction of the carbon tax in the Finance Act 2010 has had the direct effect of increasing prices for fuel products throughout Ireland.

Mr Breathnach said: 'As a consequence the growth of illicit trade in solid fuel products such as coal, peat briquettes and sod peat has been evident, particularly in border regions.

'This is not a victimless crime. The Hardware Association of Ireland are greatly concerned. To understand the scale of the problem, they have provided an example as follows: a standard truck carrying 20 tonnes of coal from Northern Ireland to the South without the application of Carbon Tax and the differential in VAT means that the perpetrator saves 1,195.61 in Carbon Tax alone.

'The difference in VAT increases the evasion 'prize' to 2,005.61. They have concerns that this is too tempting for too many. Not alone does the Irish exchequer lose the tax income, but the legitimate trade can no longer compete.

'According to the Hardware Association of Ireland this is only part of the problem. There's now an active online forum which explains how consumers can ring a courier company based in Dublin and arrange collection of coal from a coal warehouse in Co. Tyrone. 'Customers are also encouraged to 'like' the Facebook page, and it now has 7,726 likes.

'The problem is that many consumers are genuinely unaware that, if they do not personally accompany solid fuel for their own domestic use across the border, they cannot import it without paying Carbon Tax'.

Mr Breathnach said: 'The cheaper price of illicit goods remains the incentive for the supply and demand of illicit products. Hopefully this new legislation will act as a deterrent to those considering purchasing goods from an illicit source as it makes it an offence to purchase illicit goods.

'While the bill is focusing on illicit trade in alcohol, tobacco and solid fuel, there are other areas where illicit trade is increasing. For example, while use of illegal diesel has gone down, there is evidence that there is an increase in trade of illegal home heating oil.

RAS said they welcome Mr Breathnach's Sales of Illicit Goods Bill and said it is 'a significant step in combating smuggling into Ireland - a problem that cost the exchequer as much as 2.4bn in 2015.

RAS spokesman, Benny Gilsenan, welcomed the bill as a means of protecting small retailers: 'This bill will help protect small retailers by deterring the purchase of illicit goods. '
Donal Ryan made a welcome visit to Enniscorthy Library last Thursday evening. His engaging personality and superb communication skills made for a most pleasant literary evening.

He is the author of three number one bestselling novels and a short story collection. He read from a selection of these books: The Spinning Heart (2012); The Thing about December (2013); All We Shall Know (Sept 2016); A Slanting of the Sun: Short Stories (2015)

He has won three Irish Book Awards, the EU Prize for Literature and the Guardian First Book Award. His debut novel, The Spinning Heart, was shortlisted for the Impac Dublin Literary Award and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2013 and was recently voted Irish Book of the Decade.

In a lively question and answer session he touched on a number of points.

His inspiration comes from his own background where he grew up close to Nenagh and the ordinary and everyday characters and events he has encountered.

He discussed the challenges of writing, writers block and being rejected by publishers and the courage to keep on writing. Writing needs patience and perseverance. Bad reviews can be devastating and good reviews can be very supportive to an emerging writer.

Writing is a very private experience, then you go public on publication and if you are a best-selling author you have to cope with being a well known personality, dealing with the media and all that entails.

He also touched on the difficulty of earning a living from writing. He had to go back to his full time job as a public servant to make ends meet.

Writing is hard work but it is also so rewarding when it works out well.

His advice to any hopeful authors. Write and keep on writing. It takes time to master your craft.
Fingal's youngest entrepreneurs are celebrating after the Fingal Student Enterprise Programme County Final at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Blanchardstown.

Fingal Local Enterprise Office enlisted, motivated and mentored a record 60 student enterprise finalists from 24 secondary schools and 6 primary schools. Fingal LEO also hosts the largest number of participants - 2,600.

Since last September, all of these local students have been researching and running their own businesses, learning about the world of business with help from their teachers and Local Enterprise Office.

Supported by Fingal County Council, Dublin and Dun Laoghaire Education and Training Board, the secondary school winners from today's Final will now go through to the National Final in Croke Park on May 3.

Blanchardstown Centre, One4All, Xtreme.ie and Simtech Aviation are also supporters of the Student Enterprise Programme

Co-ordinated by the Local Enterprise Offices in every Local Authority area, the competition is the most successful student enterprise programme of its kind in the country

Oisin Geoghegan, Head of Enterprise, Fingal County Council said: 'Over 2,600 students are taking part in the 2016/2017 Student Enterprise Programme, making it the largest of its kind in the country. The programme becomes more popular every year and it's a great way of encouraging entrepreneurship among Fingal's young population. The students learn by doing.

'They create real life businesses and prepare real business plans with the careful guidance of their teachers and our schools coordinator.

'So they are learning real life business skills and this gives them the confidence to believe in themselves and their ability to be a successful entrepreneur."

Paul Reid, Chief Executive, Fingal County Council added: 'What they gain from this programme is an invaluable insight into the roots of business and a taste of experience in a safe environment.

The lessons they learn on this programme will help set them on an entrepreneurial path from a young age.;

The National Finalists will be competing with up to 300 other student entrepreneurs from all over Ireland on May 3rd in Croke Park.

Further information around the Student Enterprise Awards, is available from www.studententerprise.ie and by searching #studententerprise on social media.
A new innovative day service to help people with special needs to transition from school to adult day services has been officially opened.

Praxis Care, which supports adults with special needs from the wider Dublin area, and has clients from Portmarnock, Swords and Malahide, is the second of such centres in the Leinster region, with the first centre opening in Drogheda in recent years.

Based in Clongriffin in Dublin 13, the centre, built by Gannon Homes, the service is for 17 young people with intellectual disability and autism. These young people had no day service after leaving school and the HSE had no places for them.

Praxis Care has now provided them with a new service, operating in a new, modern building.

'We work with people with intellectual disabilities, autism and very complex needs,' explained Natalie Creevy, Manager at Praxis Care Clongriffen.

'This group of people have traditionally found it extremely hard to get suitable services and have ended up either at home or in institutional care.'

The Praxis team work with each person through individualised programmes to promote social inclusion and maximise the person's potential.

Praxis Care is a leading disability charity in Northern Ireland and for the last ten years it has been working in Southern Ireland and have quietly being developing services for this group of people in community settings.

Working in Northern Ireland, they have had 30 years of inspection and regulation behind them and strict financial reporting and accountability.

Officially opening the new centre, Minister of State for Disabilities, Finian McGrath TD, said the Day Service will play a vital role for service users and parents as they face the challenge of adapting to different life choices and growing independence.

'I commend Praxis Care who work tirelessly to support adults with special needs to realise their dreams and achieve their full potential, which allows them to participate and contribute fully in the communities in whcih they live,' said Minister McGrath

'Since becoming Minister and indeed, throughout my years working with people with disabilities, I have always encouraged people to define themselves not by their disabilities but by their abilities and it is heartening and encouraging to see Praxis Care, through their work of supporting and encouraging all who use the service, embody that ethos on a daily basis,' he said.
A man who drove a tow truck for the company he works for while he was under a driving ban has been sentenced to three months in prison.

Valerijs Vins (26), who had a three year driving ban imposed for driving without insurance two years ago, has also been disqualified from driving for four years.

The defendant said he never told his employer he was a disqualified driver in case he would lose his job.

Sergeant Michael Higgins gave evidence he stopped Vins driving the tow truck, which had three vehicles on the back, on the M1 in Swords.

He said the defendant gave him a false name and failed to produce his documents at a garda station within ten days of being stopped.

Vins, of Brownstown, Monasterboice in Drogheda pleaded guilty at Swords District Court to driving without insurance, driving while disqualified and having no driving licence on the M1 at Swords on February 17th.

He also pleaded guilty to giving garda a false name when he was stopped.

Defence barrister Patrick Jackson said the 26-year-old who works for a recovery and breakdown service in Dundalk, was asked to drive as his employer was short of drivers that day.

'He never told his employer he was a disqualified driver as he felt his job was at risk,' said Mr Jackson adding that Vins would have been covered by the company's insurance if he wasn't a disqualified driver.

On hearing this, Judge Dermot Dempsey said 'You don't get behind the wheel of a tow truck if you are disqualified' and requested to hear from the defendant's employer.

Leonard Morgan, who owns the towing company, told the court 'One lad didn't come in that day and I persuaded him to drive. I wasn't aware he had no licence or was disqualified.'

'I was under the impression he had a licence,' said Mr Morgan.

Judge Dempsey warned Mr Morgan that being under the impression is 'not good enough.'

'You should be prosecuted,' Judge Dempsey told Mr Morgan.

Mr Morgan claimed the owner of the cars, which were scrap cars, wanted them moved urgently.

Judge Dempsey said he didn't believe a word of what he was being told and convicted and sentenced Vins to three months in prison and imposed a four year driving ban. He further convicted and fined him 100 for giving garda a false name. He fixed recognisances in the event of an appeal.
One woman's fight for the future of the care centre her brother calls home lit up social media last week after a cutting-edge appearance she made on the national broadcaster.

Cahersiveen native Lynn Fitzpatrick - whose profoundly disabled brother Bernard has lived in St Mary of the Angels since he was a child - appeared on the Soapbox section of RTE's Cutting Edge, presented by Brendan O'Connor.

It was an appearance that came on the back of a moving article she wrote in recent months, printed in The Kerryman, cogently setting out her argument that the language now used to sensitively discuss the welfare and lives of the disabled in general is having a negative impact on the most profoundly disabled - like her beloved brother Bernard.

St Mary of the Angels has been closed to new admissions for some years and was the subject of intense fears in recent months that residents were to be moved into houses in towns and villages under a national policy.

The HSE's Time to Move on from Congregated Settings policy set out a new vision for the care of adults with disabilities: moving adults into homes in communities. However, Disabilities Minister Finian McGrath moved to assure all families that none would be moved out of the home unless they wished to move.

But Lynn feels the whole language surrounding the disabled actually fails the most profoundly disabled, like her brother, who account for four per cent of the disabled population: those who are both severely intellectually and physically disabled.

As she set out in her hard-hitting appearance on RTE on Wednesday, Lynn believes the term 'handicapped' a much more accurate description of this vulnerable minority's state and one that would exert a fairer influence if recognised by the policy-makers.

"I want people to wake up to the reality that places like SMOA are communities in their own right. I want people to think about why it's okay to have Special Olympics but not Special Communities? I want admissions reopened so that those people caring for their children at home can get the help and support they so badly need and so that children and adults with severe and profound disabilities can avail of the same fantastic opportunities that Bernard has," Lynn told The Kerryman this week.

She said she was blown away by the reaction to the piece, as hundreds of messages were posted by people sympathising with her views - including Norah Casey, who remarked on Lynn's courage.

"The response on social media has been fantastic and thank you to everyone who is engaging in this conversation. I think it is vital that people like Bernard are no longer misrepresented and hidden by language," Lynn said.
Gardai have launched a murder investigation after a 74-year-old man was killed in a collision on a back road near Ballyduff village early on Tuesday.

Single farmer Anthony O'Mahony died when a vehicle described by gardai as a 'teleporter' collided with the car he was driving on a local road by the farm he owned in Rattoo, Ballyduff, shortly before 8.45am on Tuesday.

Mr O'Mahony was pronounced dead at the scene, with gardai launching a murder investigation following preliminary examinations of his remains and of the immediate area.

Gardai now suspect the vehicle may have been driven deliberately at Mr O'Mahony's car in the fatal culmination of a long-running dispute over land.

A man in his 60s was arrested by gardai as part of the investigation and detained under Section Four of the Criminal Justice Act which allows for up to 24 hours' detention.

There were no charges brought in the case by the time of going to press, but gardai told The Kerryman the murder probe was focusing on a long-running history of disputed land between the victim and another person.

Locals also suggested that a 'crow-banger' Mr O'Mahony had deployed to frighten birds away from a wheat crop on his land in Rattoo may have played a part in the escalation of a dispute.

Gardai were called to the scene of what was initially treated as a road traffic accident at 8.45am on Tuesday. Their suspicion that something more sinister was at play was aroused with a murder investigation was launched shortly thereafter.

The incident occurred on a narrow boithrin that leads to the iconic Rattoo round tower from the main Ballyduff to Tralee road. The road, which runs adjacent to lands farmed by Mr O'Mahony, was immediately sealed off by gardai, with members of the technical bureau from garda headquarters subsequently beginning a forensic examination of the scene.

Assistant State Pathologist Margaret Bolster arrived there at 6pm, examining the remains of Mr O'Mahony in situ, prior to a full post-mortem examination she was to conduct at Kerry General Hospital. The post mortem was not expected to get underway for a number of hours from the time of her arrival.

Mr O'Mahony, a native of Ardoughter in Ballyduff, was described as a gentle person who was utterly dedicated to the tillage operation he ran extremely successfully. Anyone with information is asked to contact Listowel Garda Station (068) 50820.
A fundraising campaign has been launched to provide a wheelchair accessible vehicle for Campile brothers Harvey and Archie Smith who suffer from severe forms of cerebral palsy.

Harvey (8) and his brother Archie (7) were born nine months apart to the day, weighing 1lb 6 ounces and 2lbs 3 ounces respectively. Despite Harvey's weight and fears that he wouldn't survive due to a multiplicity of health problems, he has made amazing strides forward in life. The same can be said of his little brother.

Both brothers suffer from severe cerebral palsy and require round the clock care. Their parents Paul Smith and Michelle O'Connor, have set up a Go Fund Me page to help them purchase a reliable vehicle that can get their sons to their hospital appointments.

Their current vehicle is 15 years old and has broken down on numerous occasions. Harvey has to be lifted into the back of the vehicle, which was bought three years ago with money raised from a fundraising campaign for the family.

Michelle says: 'The window can't shut, the suspension is gone, there's a noise in the engine and the boot doesn't open.'

Over the past four years both Paul and Michelle have spent more time in and out of hospitals across the east coast with their children than most.

Michelle said: 'Doctors didn't think Harvey would survive the pregnancy. He was born at 27 weeks, weighing only 1lb 6 ounces. I lost my waters at 19 weeks so he had eight weeks with very little water which meant Harvey's lungs didn't develop.'

Harvey spent 15 months in neo natal care once he was born, before returning home. Exactly nine months after she gave birth to Harvey, his little brother Archie was born, on December 9, 2009.

Michelle said she stayed positive throughout everything and believed that her son would survive, while also caring for Archie.

'I had faith in him as he had come this far. He was a fighter to survive the pregnancy. At the end of the day he was the one doing all the fighting.'

Harvey was diagnosed with quadriplegic spastic cerebral palsy (one of the most severe types).

'All four limbs are affected,' his doting father Paul says.

'He has no support in his neck, but can move all his limbs but just can't use them.'

Paul says the early medical intervention Harvey got has given him the best chance of making great strides forward in life. Paul and Michelle are hopeful that Archie will be able to walk independently one day.

Paul had to give up his job at Hart's in Campile to help care for Harvey and Archie, who suffer from seizures. The Smiths were unable to get a credit union loan to buy a wheelchair accessible vehicle.

'Harvey's condition is so complex he could have to go at any minute to hospital. Last year the school (St Patrick's school in Enniscorthy) rang us one day and asked us to pick him up, but we couldn't because the car was broken down. They had to bring him back on the bus.'

Both Harvey and Archie have seizures. 'Harvey goes blue and he can't breathe and Archie is on seizure drugs.'

Speaking at their Corderraun, Campile home, which has been adapted for the children with a hoist and a wet room, Paul and Michelle said Archie has had a lot of medical difficulties in recent years meaning numerous trips to Dublin hospitals and paying for hotel rooms.

'With the suspension gone in the car the trips were very bumpy. It got so bad we'd borrow a car for a day and return it that night. In the last couple of years we've had more appointments than usual now that Harvey is under a respiration doctor and Archie is under two doctors.'

Paul and Michelle had to cancel two appointments in recent weeks because they couldn't risk the journey in their vehicle. When this newspaper called to the house, Archie was busy playing and is able to move around with ease, sometimes with the aid of a walker. 'He can't walk yet, but we are hopeful he will one day.'

Michelle said Harvey is on numerous different medications. 'He gets a build up of mucus in his throat and his oxygen levels go way down to the 20s when they should be in the 90s.'

Paul and Michelle have 40 hours a week on average of nurse care. 'During the week nurses help get the boys ready for school and they help bathe them and play with them. We are here all of the time. We are not allowed to leave the house. We get better sleep when there is a nurse in the room with the boys, but you still have to watch Archie with all of the seizures.'

On one occasion during a seizure Michelle had to give him some of Harvey's medication as it took over an hour for an ambulance to arrive from Gorey. 'I gave Archie half the dose I'd normally give Harvey. The consultant said we handled it professionally. He said who knows what would have happened it I didn't.'

Archie loves his tablet computer where he watches educational apps and books. 'He knows his alphabet. He can't dress himself but he can put his shoes on himself. He loves his food and will ask for a second portion. Harvey is a happy little boy. He knows exactly what's being said and what's going on.'

Michelle said he is aged about six months developmentally. 'He says "I love you" and even said Momma before Archie did. You know by his cries if he is happy, sad or hungry. He had a lack of oxygen when he was in the womb, whereas Archie had a bleed on the brain.'

Paul and Michelle fear that Harvey will have to go back on oxygen 24/7 which will be a further setback for him.

Paul said the fundraising campaign is very hard to do.

'It's about understanding what our lives are like every day. Nurses who come in know what it's like. One nurse came in for a night and after it said she didn't know how we can do it. You can never switch off 100 per cent. We get six weekends a year to ourselves but I find it so hard to be away from the boys.'

He said he accepts his children for who they are and does not hold out to an idealised version of them. 'You need to accept who your child is. We could cry every day but we get joy out of the care we provide and seeing that they are doing really good. We like to think we are giving them 100 per cent. Our lives could never be normal. It's not normal to care for your child overnight.'

Paul and Michelle are asking people to donate what they can, whether it's 20 or one euro to their 'To raise money for wheelchair car' Go Fund Me page or at Campile post office where receipts for donations will be provided.

Michelle's mother Jane, who lives with them, said: 'I buy a Lotto ticket twice every week and I pray to God that we win so we can afford the best of help for Harvey and Archie. I wish I could get Harvey sent abroad to get his legs sorted and get research done on both of them. Paul and Michelle do a hell of a lot. It's awful to sit here and see all they do.'

Anyone who wishes to donate a prize for a raffle for a fundraising night Paul and Michelle have planned, or to sponsor the Smiths for the new vehicle for Harvey and Archie can contact Paul on 086 8738963.
Fintan and Graham in their hospital beds in Vienna a few days after the living donor kidney transplant, pictured with wife and daughter Margaret and Louise Bright

Fintan and Graham Bright share a special connection beyond a close father and son relationship. Kevin (67) saved 41-year old Graham's life by donating a kidney to his ailing son.

The transplant operation took place last March in Austria where Graham had been living for over a decade before becoming suddenly ill with end stage kidney failure.

Fintan travelled to a hospital in Vienna where the living donor kidney transplant was carried out. Today, father and son both enjoy good health.

At the time that illness struck, Graham was looking forward to an exciting new career at home in Ireland after securing a job with social networking giant Facebook.

But his excitement came to an abrupt end after four days of starting the job when he ended up in St. Vincent's Hospital. The future didn't look bright as he struggled with a form of home dialysis and a series of infections.

He was later transferred to hospital dialysis which worked better for him. He didn't return to Vienna straight away and continued his dialysis treatment in Ireland for six months. On his return to Austria, he went back on home dialysis which worked for a while but then he progressed to hospital haemodialysis over there.

Fintan visited Graham in Vienna at least six times that year and could see his son's health deteriorating. He started to consider a living donation to his son and got some tests done through Waterford and Wexford hospitals. 'I went to see my son in hospital and I asked for an appointment to discuss living kidney donation. Within 10 minutes, a consultant came to see me and took my blood pressure and asked me to do a 24-hour urine test over the weekend.'

'The following Monday the results of my blood urine samples were back within two hours. I travelled to Vienna twice more before the operation proceeded. In January 2016, I underwent some final tests including medical and psychological assessments and it was confirmed that I was a perfect match to donate a kidney to my son.'

Fintan said the day of the transplant, March 15 had a special significance as his own father passed away on that date. His wife Margaret and daughter Louise travelled with him to Vienna to support the two patients.

The operation was performed at AKH Vienna General Hospital and was a great success as both Fintan and Graham made a swift recovery. Graham is now living a normal life free of dialysis and Fintan feels fit and well with his one remaining kidney.

Graham is back in Ireland for the annual Organ Donor Awareness Week campaign taking place from April 1 to 8.

Fintan was presented with South East Radio's Outstanding Achievement Award for 'those who make a difference to a local community' which acknowledged his efforts in highlighting the planning issues around a new dialysis centre in Wexford and his kidney donation.

Graham came home from Vienna to join Fintan and the rest of the family for the presentation and it was a proud moment for everyone.

'I would encourage anyone to consider organ donation as it has the power to save so many people who are in organ failure and to touch their families and friends also,' said Fintan.
A fundraising campaign has been launched to help meet the costs of Dan and Rita Cahill's trip to Australia to support their daughter Tina who has been charged with murdering her fiance.

The campaign - run by friends of the family - have launched an ifundraise.ie page called Cahill Community Fund and opened an AIB bank account to help raise money for the family.

Ms Cahill, from New Ross, has been in custody since Saturday, February 19, having been arrested on suspicion of murdering David 'Motcha' Walsh, from Enniscorthy, who died following a fracas at the couple's home in Sydney.

The father-of-three was found lying on the footpath outside the house with a stab wound to the neck. He died while paramedics treated his injuries at the scene. Ms Cahill was subsequently charged with his murder. and her case has been adjourned to Wednesday, April 5, in Sydney. A deposit account has been opened with the consent of Dan and Rita Cahill as they prepare to support their daughter Tina in Australia. The account is in AIB New Ross, account number is 2162 4079, sort code 933430.

People can also donate through www.ifundraise.ie/cahillfamilycommunityfund

Tina's father Dan said both he and his wife will travel to Australia when they have enough money raised. Cllr Michael Sheehan said: 'The whole area has been stunned and has rallied with support for them all. The Cahill's are a wonderful family, well loved, respected and well known for their charity work, kindness and generosity. They have been there for so many people through the years. The feeling now is that our community will be there for them as they face the challenges ahead.'
This is Organ Donor Awareness Week, a campaign organised annually by the Irish Kidney Association to remind people of the importance of organ donation in saving lives.

Volunteers will be selling 'forget-me-not' flowers and other merchandise during the week and distributing organ donor cards while reminding members of the public to have a family discussion about their personal wishes regarding organ donation.

The life-saving awareness drive aims to highlight the increasing demand for organ transplantation which relies on the public for donations. The key message is that families need to discuss organ donation and to keep reminders of their willingness to donate visible by carrying an organ donor card, downloading the Smartphone App and permitting Code 115 to be included on their driver's licence.

There are approximately 600 people in Ireland awaiting life-saving heart, lung, liver, kidney and pancreas transplants. Over 4,450 people in the country are being treated for kidney failure with 2,075 (47%) undergoing dialysis treatment and thanks to the gift of an organ donation, 2379 people are enjoying extended life from a kidney transplant.

Last year, 280 organ transplants were carried out in Ireland, 230 of which were as a result of the generosity of the families of 77 deceased donors and the remaining 50 were from living kidney donors. A further nine specialist kidney transplants were performed on Irish HSE patients in the UK which included seven extra living donors who travelled with the recipients to the UK for the operations.

St. Vincent's University Hospital conducted 58 liver transplants in 2016. The Mater Hospital carried out 35 lung transplants as well as 15 heart transplants last year. Beaumont Hospital conducted 172 kidney transplants including a record 50 from living donors.

Living kidney donor and RTE news anchor and courts correspondent Vivienne Traynor is continuing in her role as ambassador for Organ Donor Awareness Week.

She has a deep personal connection to organ donation having been the living kidney donor for her nephew Martin Traynor (36) of Skerries, County Dublin when he had his first kidney transplant. His second transplant five years later in November 2014 was from a deceased donor.

Since he received his kidney transplants, Martin and his partner Mary have had two children and are expecting the birth of their third child.

Organ Donor Awareness Week also serves as a fundraising exercise for the Irish Kidney Association which provides wide-ranging services and supports for dialysis patients and transplant recipients.

The Irish Kidney Association is the national organisation charged with the promotion and distribution of the organ donor card in Ireland, on behalf of Organ Donation Transplant Ireland.

Organ donor cards can be obtained by phoning LoCall 1890 543639 or Freetext the word DONOR to 50050. It is now possible to store an organ donor card, the 'ecard' on Smart phones.
He's eight years old, has a mane of ginger locks and is the every day hero for Enniscorthy woman, Catherine Leacy.

Meet Ivan, the golden retriever, who is one of seven guide dogs currently working in County Wexford.

The organisation has also funded and trained 10 working assistance dogs who improve the lives of autistic children in the county.

This week, the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind will hold their 'Future Hero' campaign, and Ivan, Catherine and the team of volunteers will be out and about fundraising to help transform the lives of other people 'one heroic dog at a time'.

On Friday and Saturday, April 7 and 8, Catherine and a team from the Wexford Branch of Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind will be based in Tesco Wexford selling Labrador pins as part of the campaign.

The Wexford branch are very active in fundraising, and organiser-in-chief, Catherine is very grateful for their ongoing generosity.

'Last year in County Wexford we raised 25,579.75c. Those 75 cent are important. Every single thing we raise goes towards training a dog,' she said.

The cost of buying a Guide Dog is 38,000 but the value they give to their owners is priceless.

Catherine, who is registered blind has been using guide dogs for the last 13 years having previously been 'mammy' to Ivan's predecessors Perry and Ashley.

'Having a Guide Dog gives me independence to get out and about and enjoy life,' she says.

'I am the organiser of the Wexford branch, and we get great support from our volunteers. We are delighted with the support that the people of Wexford have continuously given us and Ivan and his other furry friends look forward to seeing them again in Tesco on April 7 and 8,' she said.

Those who cannot visit Tesco next weekend can contribute 4 to the Future Hero campaign by texting WOOF to 50300.
Wexford woman Valerie Achille Onuh of Barntown who had a kidney transplant in October 2013 is supporting the Irish Kidney Association's Organ Donor Awareness Week by publicly expressing her gratitude to her deceased donor and to God for rescuing her from kidney failure and giving her a new life.

Valerie, aged 67 discovered almost 15 years ago that her kidneys were deteriorating but managed to stave off dialysis for over a decade until July 2012 when a hospital check-up showed that her kidneys had completely collapsed and shrunk.

She was admitted to hospital immediately and commenced dialysis treatment the following morning. Valerie then began the gruelling routine of being transported by taxi firm Gray's of Blackwater to St. Vincent's Hospital in Dublin three times a week for haemodialysis treatment.

In July 2013 she received a false call for a transplant which unfortunately didn't proceed. She was rushed to Beaumont Hospital but was advised by the transplant surgeon that the donor organ was not suitable. She wasn't discouraged by this and in her own words described it as "a trial run'.

'At least now I knew what might happen in the future if I got called again for a transplant,' said Valerie.

She struggled with dialysis and felt very tired most of the time. She had one or two difficult moments while undergoing treatment but came through quite well. She was acutely aware and grateful that the treatment was keeping her alive.

Fortunately her wait for a transplant came just over a year and three months after starting dialysis when this time she underwent a successful transplant operation in Beaumont Hospital.'I have been given the gift of life and I would urge everyone to support organ donation,' said valerie.

'I thank my donor for giving me this second chance as well as the Almighty God who got me through this illness as well as a cancer diagnosis which I am now fully recovered from'

She thanked Professor Watson and Dr. Holian and their teams in St. Vincent's Hospital. 'I will also be eternally grateful to the transplant surgeons and team at Beaumont Hospital for their superb care.'

Valerie also expressed her gratitude to Gray's Taxis who were engaged by the HSE to provide transport to her dialysis treatment, especially the two drivers assigned to her.
They say memories last a lifetime. And for Sligo writer Una Mannion, one childhood memory has stuck with her so strongly that it inspired her to write a poem about it - a Hennessy Award winning poem that is.

Una Mannion, a lecturer in Performing Arts at IT Sligo, was so moved by the memory of an archaeological dig in her family's field that she wrote 'Crouched Burial'.

"My poem was inspired by an archaeological dig in Cullenamore in 1981. They were carrying out studies back then and so they asked if they could dig in our field," she told The Sligo Champion.

She added: "They were expecting to find maybe animal bones and old kitchenware and things like that.

"But then they found a child's remains in a ritual position with artefacts. One of the things I'm very aware of it someone laid that child down with love and care. The imprint of her small frame in the earth and details of her burial shaped this poem."

The award, says Ms. Mannion, is a huge honour and has given her even more confidence in her own writing.

"I'm over the moon. It's the Hennessy Award, it's such an honour. The amount of people who enter it, it's available to everyone. It's something do democratic. It really is an award that promotes Irish writing. I now feel I have to live up to it.

"So they accept both poetry and fiction and you can send it into the Irish Times. I was lucky to have my poem accepted. So they published one on the last Saturday of every month, mine was published in March of last year. They pick 12 poets and from there they select the Hennessy Award winners."

'Crouched Burial' has now not only won the Emerging Poetry Award in the Hennessy Awards, but it was also chosen as the winner of the eats' Society's Seamus Heaney Memorial Poetry Prize in 2015.

"I write both fiction and poetry. I think even though the poem is based on real life it's been fictionalised to some extent too," she added.

Ms. Mannion has enjoyed a successful year of writing, also winning awards at the Doolin Writers Weekend Short Story competition for her story 'A Shiver of Hearts' and the Cuirt International Festival of Literature for 'The Bright Lake.

"I'm writing a novel at the moment, and I've won a few awards over the last number of years so while I'm writing stories and poetry all the time I'm really focusing on my novel at the minute."

IT Sligo just last week received validation for a new BA in Writing and Literature which will start from September.

It's fitting then, that this would be announced on the same week that Una picked up her Hennessy award.

She will be the Programme Chair for the new three year course, which she says will be brilliant for Sligo.

"Sligo has a tremendous literacy legacy and a landscape shaped by that and we have so many wonderful writers here in Sligo," she said.

"Winning the award actually gave me great confidence meeting the panel about that news."

She has been involved in writing and literature for some time. "I've been teaching literature a long time. I've worked around Sligo writers for years but I suppose I never really had the confidence to do it myself.

"So four years ago I saw there was a writing class in Galway so I bit the bullet. Then that became a group and I wanted to find something in Sligo. We actually had a full group and that has been hugely successful.

"We're called the Sandy Field Writers Group and we have women who have won loads of awards in that.

"It's been life-changing, it really has."
Couples looking to get married somewhere different can do just that, as David McGowan says he will be facilitating weddings when his Enniscrone camping site opens fully.

McGowan, who made headlines worldwide last year when he brought a plane to Enniscrone for his camping village, says he has been receiving numerous enquiries from people looking to get married on the plane.

"We've had loads of enquiries about doing weddings from people in Ireland and abroad. We're going to put 20 seats back in. We're going to take the boarding off the cockpit area so people can see. And then the couple can bring in immediate family members," the Sligo funeral director said.

"The celebrants are gagging to do it as well. It's unique, it's the only place in the world where it happens.

"It's lifted the imagination of the people of the area," he added.

Some may think it's gone quiet, but there is work going on all the time to grow the glamping village before it is eventually opened.

"We're building a mock terminal too, it will have a reception area. So it will be exactly like walking into an airport.

"There will be an educational room upstairs that can act as a cinema too, it's a dual purpose room," he said.

Now that planning has been granted for the various projects at 'Quirky Nights Glamping Village', the work to get it ready continues.

"We're really giving people what they're asking for. You see a need and then you address that. We've had a few issues with planning, I'm not battering Sligo County Council, we got bits wrong ourselves.

"So we've got the planning now, it will leave me a bit stretched for the summer. We have a shop and forecourt at the front and want to get that done first."

Work on the forecourt will start almost immediately, with other projects to follow.

"If I do the plane, the train and terminal first then it will be a building site when I'm doing the forecourt. I want to do it right. If I miss this summer then if I have my health I'll have plenty more summers.

"Hopefully we'll be able to start that soon. I'd be disappointed if we didn't have the terminal, plane and train then done this time next year. The main thing here is to build it right.

"The delay with planning has really actually given me a year to think. You have to be positive about these things.

"We had so much media attention last year with the plane that we have to keep up the momentum," he said.
The late Tommy Lavin was remembered for his life's work serving the people of Sligo by County Councillors yesterday.

The April meeting of the County Council was suspended yesterday as a mark of respect for the passing of the former Fine Gael County Councillor and Ballymote businessman.

Ballymote area Councillor Dara Mulvey proposed the motion to suspend the meeting and was seconded by Councillor Sinead Maguire.

Cllr Mulvey led tributes to the party stalwart and acknowledged the presence of his daughter Anne Lavin who is also a staff member of the County Council.

He served as Councillor between 1963 and 1999, acted as Cathaoirleach of the Council in 1984 and 1992 and Leas-Cathaoirleach in 1979 and 1991.

Cllr Mulvey said Mr Lavin played a role in establishing Rural Water Schemes out of Lough Talt to homes where "people had no piped water at all and had to bring home barrels of water on a daily basis."

"Tommy's key attributes were great understanding, concern and respect for everyone," he said.

Councillor Seamus Kilgannon, along with Councillors Declan Bree and Margaret Gormley are the only three members who actually served with the late Councillor.

"He'll be remembered as one of the most hard-working councillors. He won admiration and respect from all sides," said Cllr Kilgannon.

"He was a master practitioner of the art of politics. His wisdom resolved many a difference in the chamber," he added.

Cllr Gormley said Mr Lavin represented the people of Ballymote "honestly and sincerely for 36 years."

"I had the pleasure of working with him, as did my late father. He never shirked his responsibilities. Serving the general public was his life, both as a businessman and a politician. Ballymote had a great representative in Tommy Lavin and they showed their appreciation by re-electing him many times to Sligo County Council," said Cllr Gormley.

On behalf of Cllr Bree, who couldn't attend the meeting, Cllr Gormley said he wished to be associated with her remarks.

Cllr Chris MacManus said Mr Lavin "served his people with distinction."

Cllr Marie Casserly described Mr Lavin as a "hard worker and dedicated family man not only in Ballymote but the entire county."

Cllr Keith Henry knew Mr Lavin through his "love of the GAA and all things sporting."

Cllr Michael Clarke said he was a "very astute, caring and generous man."

Cllr Rosaleen O'Grady said Tommy Lavin was a "truly remarkable man" who "carried out his duties for the people of Ballymote in a professional manner."

Chief Executive Ciaran Hayes said he was "a man of integrity whose loss will be felt."

Cathaoirleach Cllr Hubert Keaney said Mr Lavin was the type of politician "that unfortunately is not around as much - he didn't need to be on Facebook or social media to keep in touch with their local constituents."

"He knew how to get things done. I know how highly he was held in the Fine Gael party, it was a privilege to know him," said Cllr Keaney.
Deputy Tony McLoughlin's Private Members Bill to ban fracking has been unanimously supported by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Climate Action and Environment

Deputy McLoughlin said: "We are now one step closer to having an outright ban on fracking- the extraction and exploration of onshore shale gas and petroleum- in this country.

"I am glad to see that my Bill has now received the full support of the Environment Committee and that they have fully supported my reasoning and aims with this Bill. I fully expect now that it will be brought to the Committee stage of the legislative process within the next four weeks, after the Government has received its advice on proposed amendments from the Attorney General's Office.

"This legislation will ensure that no onshore exploration or extraction can ever occur." He added: "My Bill does not seek to simply ban the technology associated with fracking, rather it seeks to ban the act of taking oil and gas out of the ground, where usually fracking would be needed.

"It also provides for a clear and unequivocal position in relation to the exploration and extraction of petroleum from shale rock, tight sands and coal seams on the Irish onshore and also in our internal waters."

His Bill was selected for debate in the Dail late last year and it was supported unanimously by the Government and every other political party.

The Bill was then referred to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Communications,Climate Action and Environment by the Dail for pre legislative scrutiny. A report was then conducted by the committee, which included a public consultation and the EPA-led Joint Research Programme on the Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing on the Environment and Human Health.

Deputy McLoughlin added: "I am also very happy to see Sligo County Council are in full support of my legislation to ban fracking in Ireland."
A 56-year-old man has pleaded guilty to a charge of dangerous driving causing death on St Patrick's Day 2015.

Gerry Higgins of McGuinness Court, Aclare entered a plea of guilty at the Circuit Court in Sligo before Judge Keenan Johnson.

Higgins admitted causing the death of Thomas Flanagan by dangerous driving at Lugnadeffa, Ballisodare.

He also pleaded guilty to a further charge of dangerous driving at Templeboy on the same date.

When this charge was put to him, Higgins replied "guilty" and then added: "But I don't really remember your honour."

Judge Keenan Johnson said he would accept the defendant's guilty plea in respect of this charge.

Mr Flanagan, who was in his 80s was a passenger in a car driven by his wife when the crash occurred with a van at about 12.20pm.

Higgins was represented by Mr Colm Smyth SC instructed by Mr Eddie Henry, solicitor.

Mr Smyth said he was seeking an adjournment to allow for the preparation of proofs in advance of a sentencing hearing.

Higgins was remanded on his own bail to appear for sentencing at the Circuit Court on July 18th next at 2pm. A probation report was ordered for that hearing along with a Victim Impact Report.

Legal aid was granted previously in the case which also covered the cost of an engineer's inspection of both vehicles involved in the fatal crash.

Ms Dara Foynes BL with State Solicitor Mr Hugh Sheridan appeared for the prosecution. The defendant appeared in court on crutches.
Rosses Point is to get its long awaited pontoon and access ramp after funding of 111,750 was allocated.

The money will also allow for a modest increase in the length of the slipway.

And Raghly Harbour is to receive 26,250 for a pier crane and ancillary work in grants announced by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed.

Deputy Tony McLoughlin said: "In 2015, I was successful in lobbying Minister Simon Coveney for funding for this project in Rosses Point.

"However, at a later date it transpired that the funding could not be drawn down as there was no Foreshore Licence in place for the development.

"This has since been rectified by Sligo County Council and I am delighted that this funding has now been allocated after a long period of negotiations and representations.

"I am firmly of the belief that this funding will be a major boost for tourism and operations in both Raghly Harbour and Rosses Point Pier as it will allow local anglers, and boat operators more access and options when conducting their business.

"A big well done to Pat Carter, Daryl Ewing of Ewings Sea Angling and Boat Charters, the director of services at Sligo County Council, Tom Kilfeather and to the entire local community in Rosses Point and Raghly for working together to ensure these applications were made and supported."

Welcoming the grant aid Cllr Declan Bree said: "We have been lobbying and campaigning for this project for a number of years and despite the numerous setbacks I am now pleased that we have reached the stage where the department funding has been made available.

"I have to say that local boat owners have been very patient.

"There is currently a real lack of tying up facilities with severe overcrowding at peak times and poor accessible points for embarkation and disembarkation of passengers. The provision of the new pontoon and access ramp will significantly improve the facilities in Rosses Point.

"The total estimated cost of the project is 149,000 and in this context the County Council will be providing the balance of the funding." said Cllr Bree.
Sligo must collaborate and show ambition as one of its strategies post-Brexit. That's according to Sligo County Council Chief Executive Ciaran Hayes.

He gave the following statement to The Sligo Champion after Theresa May triggered Article 50 last week:

"There is no doubt that Brexit presents challenges, although there remains considerable uncertainty around the scale and extent of those challenges. It is expected that these will evolve over the coming period of negotiations but even at this stage it is clear that all agencies must collaborate to create the conditions to succeed. It is critical for example that 'Sligo Inc.' continues to innovate with projects like the Building Block, advances the infrastructure deficits such as the N4 upgrade, provides a good tourism offering and continues to build strategic alliances to provide competitive advantage.

"One strategic alliance currently being advanced is between Ireland West Airport, Knock and Stewart Airport outside New York and is an alliance that has potential to bring benefits to the Northwest region in tourism, business and trade. Another relates to the opening of a Trade Office in Providence, Rhode Island, an initiative that presents opportunities for small businesses in Sligo and the region to expand their markets.

"As for trading relations with the UK, competitive advantage can be gained with detailed knowledge of the complex tariff structures where innovations can be made to reduce exposure to higher tariffs. The Council, through the LEO's, will work closely with Intertrade Ireland and local SME's under the EU's Co-Innovate programme to advise on tariffs and ensure the SME's can position themselves for the challenges ahead.

"I believe that the Sligo Economic Forum has the expertise and capacity to put in place the necessary planning to position Sligo and the Northwest to deal with Brexit and exploit the opportunities that lie ahead of us.

"Brexit will also focus the mind on the need for a Technical University for Sligo and the region and the important role such an institution will play in fostering a culture of entrepreneurism and producing a highly educated and skilled workforce capable of dealing with the current unprecedented issues.

"It is only through such a flexible and innovative joint approach within Sligo that we can position ourselves to deal with Brexit and also reap potential rewards from the location of FDI companies choosing Sligo as a base in an English speaking country in the EU.

"Ultimately Sligo's success will depend on it's ability to collaborate, be creative and innovative and show ambition. For its' part, Sligo County Council is willing to play its' part," he said.
Western RPG's have, in some part, taught us that the typical RPG experience is set in vast, high-fantasy worlds such as those brought to life in The Elder Scrolls and The Witcher.

For anyone feeling fatigued at the thought of slogging through another 80-hour fantasy epic, perhaps turn your attention towards Japanese RPG's, or the newly-released Persona 5, to be specific.

Like its predecessors, Persona 5 is part social simulator, part dungeon crawler. By day, you experience life as a high school student - taking classes, visiting cafes, hanging out with friends etc. By night, you assume another persona, taking on the guise of the leader of the Phantom Thieves, a troupe of idealistic teenagers that infiltrate a parallel reality known as the Metaverse. The job of the Phantom Thieves is to find and steal Treasures from locations known as Palaces, which are themselves manifestations of the corrupted hearts of adults.

It's a very typically Japanese concept - the innocence of youth coupled with matter-of-fact reasoning that leads to an odds-defying reformation of society. It may be typical, but it is an incredibly engaging ride from start to finish. It is also in the Metaverse that you will meet the Personas themselves - representations of people's personalities manifesting as angels, demons or monsters of all shapes and sizes. Physical moves can be used to chip away at health points incrementally, but exploiting an elemental weakness elevates battles from turn-based slapsies to a flurry of crushing combos.

Persona 5's combat draws inspiration from all the best elements of previous Persona games and is absolutely riveting as a result. While simply walking around and taking in Persona 5's version of Tokyo is often breathtaking and always rewarding, you will always have your eye on the deadline by which you must steal Treasures. As such, it is up to the player to priotitise after-school and weekend activities. Attributes such as Knowledge, Charm, Proficiency, and Guts can be improved by studying, working in part-time jobs, crafting tools, or watching DVDs. In turn, these enable you to build deeper bonds with other characters to strengthen yourself and your cause.

Persona 5 is a deeply complex and deeply rewarding game. Surely, it is the best JRPG released in the past 5 years and ranks among the best from the past decade. If you are weary of the horse and sword, perhaps Persona 5 can convince you to take a jaunt into the wacky world of JRPG's.
Arklow Municipal District has lost 36 new social houses after planning permission for the Government scheme ran out before anyone realised.

Planning permission for the properties earmarked for the Vale Road ran out on Saturday, April 1 and it was only noticed a few weeks beforehand that it was due to expire.

'The project was at stage 4 Government approval in December 2016 and yet no one was monitoring the planning permission deadline. This is supposed to be a fast tracking approval system under Rebuilding Ireland but nobody in all the checks and processes noticed that planning permission was running out,' said Deputy Pat Casey who raised the matter at the Housing Committee in Dail Eireann last week.

'This development in Arklow represents 20 per cent of the already very modest increase in social housing for County Wicklow. In Arklow this is the primary social housing project planned and it has now fallen by the wayside because of a total failure of the Government's four stage approval system,' he added. Cathaoirleach of Wicklow County Council Pat Fitzgerald said that it is a 'great pity' that the Vale Road housing will not go ahead.

'The agreement was that these houses had to be up to the wall plate by a certain date but this did not happen. The permission was initially granted in 2007 and extended in 2012 but ran out on Saturday. A housing agency was interested in building them and it is unfortunate that it was too late when people realised the time was running out,' he said.

'I feel for the 900 or so people on the housing list in the Arklow area,' he said.

Cllr Fitzgerald said that there was some hope for the Arklow area this week when approval was given for the change of use of the old Arklow Library on St Mary's Road to create three one-bed units and four two-bed units.

This plan was agreed at council level and will no go to the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government for funding.

Meanwhile, Deputy Casey said that while the houses are off the table for Arklow, he has secured an agreement to pave the way for a similar development within the county.

'At that meeting I did secure a commitment from the Secretary General of the Department, John McCarthy that his Department would look favourably at any proposal to bring forward an alternative turnkey proposal from Wicklow County Council. I have asked senior officials in the Council to respond as a matter of urgency on this,' he said.
Councillors are unhappy about the levels of litter and dog dirt building up on Wicklows streets

There were further complaints from councillors over the amount of litter and dog mess building up on the streets of Wicklow town.

Cllr Gail Dunne said he received a number of irate phone calls from members of the public embarrassed at the littered state of Wicklow on the same weekend an antiques roadshow and the Gaol-break run took place.

He said: 'People were giving out about litter in Fitzwilliam Square, the Mall, Copeland's Corner. It was a busy Sunday and I was disgusted there was no street cleaning. In England, if you pollute, you either clear-up or you are fined. There are two premises late at night causing much of this mess. Either we make provisions for the streets to be cleaned or we go after those responsible. One person actually contacted me to say they were "knee-high" in litter'.

Cllr Shay Cullen said fast food outlets operating at night tended to generate litter and a 'concerted effort' was required when 'big events' are taking place to make sure street clean-ups are carried out.

Cllr Irene Winters advised that the district budget only allowed for street cleaning on a Sunday during the months of June, July and August, and extending out to other months would have to come out of Wicklow Municipal District's discretionary fund.

'Every Sunday it's terrible and it is down to a lack of respect from people who are mostly residents in the town. It would be great if we had the money to clean up every Sunday but we don't.'

Cllr Mary Kavanagh recently visited Brittas Bay and was disgusted to find the bins full, with litter covering the area surrounding them.

'At the end of the day, establishments aren't the ones throwing rubbish on the ground. In other places it is kind of unheard of that you would just throw an ice cream wrapper on the ground. Why are teenagers and young people in their 20s in Wicklow getting off scot-free?' she asked.

Cllr Shay Cullen wondered if it would be possible to 'name and shame' people found guilty of littering, but District Administrator David Porter said a Dublin local authority had tried something similar only to be informed they were in breach of the Data Protection Act.

'Any logical-thinking person would concur with everything that has been said here about littering. But, sadly, late at night when a lot of this littering takes place, logical thinking isn't something you would associate with these people,' said the Cathaoirleach, Cllr John Snell.

Follow-up efforts will also be made to get the dog warden for Wicklow to attend an upcoming meeting of Wicklow Municipal District after Cllr Winters requested their presence earlier in the year. Cllr Mary Kavanagh inquired about a street cleaning machine purchased owned by the council, which can also clear dog mess up.

'If you walk along the Murrough it is clear that people just don't clean up after their dogs.'

Mr Porter replied that the machine's usage depended on the availability of outdoor council staff, but generally it is in operation one to three times a week.

'Dog mess is an ongoing issue everywhere in the district, not just Wicklow town. Also dog worrying is a big issue, especially around this time of year. We need the warden to give us an update on dog monitoring. Are they being seized if they aren't chipped? We really need to get a handle on dog litter on our streets,' said Cllr Cullen.
Its been 25 years.

Its been 25 whole years since the election in which John Majors Conservative Party won a surprise majority against Neil Kinnocks Labour, disproving many polls.

The BBC Parliament channel will be showing the 1992 election all day to commemorate the anniversary, as a treat for politicos.

Many political figures familiar today were, at the time of showing, young parliamentarians.

Lots of people felt very old, remembering watching the election all those years ago.

confirming that we are all very old indeed.
The Basque separatist group ETA has formally given French authorities a list of eight locations pinpointing its weapons, ammunition and explosives in a crucial move towards disarmament.

French interior minister Matthias Fekl said a police operation is under way to find the arms caches.

Mr Fekl said: "It's a great step, an unquestionably important day."

Representatives of the self-appointed Peace Artisans activist group, acting as mediators in the disarmament process, told reporters that the total number of weapons included 120 firearms and three tonnes of explosives and ammunition.

"We hope that with this the movement can move forward to a long-lasting peace in the Basque country," Mixel Berhokoirigoin said.

He said fellow activists were deployed at each location until French authorities arrive to take possession of the weapons.

The International Verification Commission, in charge of verifying the process, said the list of caches communicated to them by the Peace Artisans group "was immediately conveyed to the relevant French authorities, who will now secure and collect ETA's arsenal".

Inactive for more than five years, ETA had said it would hand over its arms, a historic step following a 43-year campaign which claimed 829 lives, mostly in Spain.

Disarmament is the second-to-last step demanded by France and Spain, which want ETA to formally disband. The organisation has not said whether it would do that.

A spokesman for the ruling party in the Basque Country's regional government in Spain called the disarmament "historically relevant".

"It's important that the disarmament takes place because each and every (weapon) has its history," Joseba Egibar said, as reported by Europa Press.

"It's the history of who carried them and the pain and suffering of so many years."
Sweden's prime minister Stefan Lofven stands in front of a fence covered in flowers after a terror attack in central Stockholm (AP/Markus Schreiber)

Hundreds of people have gathered at the site of a crash in which a man drove a truck into shoppers in the Swedish capital, killing four people, as the country comes to terms with the attack.

The suspect in the attack on Friday, a 39-year-old native of Uzbekistan who has been arrested, had been on authorities' radar but was dismissed as a "marginal character".

The crowds gathered in Stockholm built a wall of flowers on the fence put up to keep them away from broken glass and twisted metal. Some hugged police officers.

Prime Minister Stefan Lofven and Crown Princess Victoria were among those to visit the site.

One attack by a man who drove a stolen truck into shoppers - also wounding 15 - has brought Sweden's open-door immigration policies under increased scrutiny.

It has also raised the question of whether Swedish society, considered democratic and egalitarian, has failed to integrate its newcomers.

"We have been too liberal to take in people who perhaps we thought would have good minds. But we are too good-hearted," said Stockholm resident Ulov Ekdahl, a 67-year-old commercial broker.

Joachim Kemiri, who was born in Sweden to a Tunisian father and Swedish mother, says too many migrants and refugees have been arriving.

"Too many of them have been coming in too fast," the 29-year-old railway worker said. "It's too much."

Sweden has long been known for its open-door policy toward migrants and refugees.

But after the Scandinavian country of 10 million took in a record 163,000 refugees in 2015 - the highest per-capita rate in Europe - Mr Lofven conceded it could no longer cope.

He laid flowers at the truck crash site, declaring Monday a national day of mourning, with a minute of silence at noon. He urged citizens to "get through this" and walked the streets to meet them.

No one has claimed responsibility for Friday's attack but Sweden's police chief said authorities were confident they had detained the man responsible.

Sweden's police chief Dan Eliason said officers found something in the stolen beer truck that "could be a bomb" or an incendiary device, but said they were still investigating.

The populist, right-wing Sweden Democrats have tapped into a growing anti-immigrant sentiment. Mattias Karlsson, the party's parliamentary group leader, said on Saturday that he feels "anger and sorrow but not shock" over the attack.

"Unfortunately, there have been clear signs that it was just a question of time before the next attack would hit Sweden," he said. "It will have far-reaching implications for society and politics."

Steve Eklund, an office worker a few blocks from the incident, said Sweden's immigration policy had gone wrong.

"Sweden has made some mistakes, and something needs to be done to assimilate the immigrants better," he said. "But it takes two to tango - the immigrants living here need to reach out to ethnic Swedes too."

Not everyone agreed. Visiting the crash site, Crown Princess Victoria laid roses on the ground and wiped away a tear.

"We must show a huge force, we must go against this," she said. "Swedish society is built on huge confidence, a sense of community."

In February, US president Donald Trump shocked Swedes when he suggested it could be the next European country to suffer the kind of extremist attacks that have hit France, Belgium and Germany.

Friday's attack was the latest in which drivers have used vehicles as weapons.

In an attack last month claimed by Islamic State (IS), a man drove into a crowd in London, killing four people before stabbing a policeman to death. He was killed by police.

IS also claimed responsibility for a truck attack that killed 86 people in Nice, France, in July 2016, as well as another that killed 12 people at a Christmas market last year in Berlin.

Friday's truck attack on Stockholm's pedestrian shopping street of Drottninggatan was also near the site of a December 2010 bomb attack.

AP
The Dalai Lama arrives to deliver teachings in Tawang, in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh (AP Photo/ Tenzin Choejor)

The Dalai Lama has said his followers must decide whether the office exists in the future and acknowledged that his successor could be a woman.

The question of who will replace the 81-year-old exiled Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader has gained significance in recent years, with Beijing insisting that the next Dalai Lama be born in China.

On a visit to the north-east Indian town of Tawang - the second-highest seat of Tibetan Buddhism - the Dalai Lama denied any knowledge of where his successor would be born.

Asked if the next Dalai Lama could be a woman, he said: "That might also happen."

The Tibetan leader said the people should decide on the question of the next Dalai Lama.

He is on a week-long visit to Arunachal Pradesh despite objections by China, which considers the state a disputed region.

The Dalai Lama said that he has nothing to do with "politics," and that it was the Tibetan self-declared government-in-exile that handled all political matters, including the Tibetan cause.

The Dalai Lama and his followers have been living in exile in the Himalayan town of Dharamsala in northern India since they fled Tibet after a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule.

China does not recognize the Tibetan government-in-exile, and has not held any dialogue with the representatives of the Dalai Lama since 2010.

China says Tibet has historically been part of its territory since the mid-13th century, and the Communist Party has governed the Himalayan region since 1951.

But many Tibetans say that they were effectively independent for most of their history, and that the Chinese government wants to exploit their resource-rich region while crushing their cultural identity.

In Tawang, thousands of people thronged both sides of the road on Saturday and broke into loud cheers, waving prayer flags as the Dalai Lama's motorcade entered a stadium where he addressed his followers.

Tawang was spruced up for the Dalai Lama's visit - his first since 2009, with s treets swept, houses freshly painted and welcome arches and banners erected across the main streets.

The Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh has drawn sharp protests from China.

On Wednesday, China accused India of using the Dalai Lama to undermine Beijing's interests and summoned the Indian ambassador in Beijing to formally lodge a protest.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying warned India that China "will firmly take necessary measures to defend its territorial sovereignty and legitimate rights and interests."

India responded by saying China was creating an artificial controversy.

China claims about 90,000 square kilometres (35,000 square miles) in Arunachal Pradesh, referred to informally by some Chinese as "Southern Tibet."

India says China is occupying 38,000 square kilometres (15,000 square miles) of its territory on the Aksai Chin plateau.

The Dalai Lama has often said that he was not seeking independence for Tibet, but trying to secure greater autonomy for the Tibetan people within China.

AP
A Romanian tourist who was knocked into the River Thames in the Westminster terror attack has died.

Andreea Cristea (31) was struck as Khalid Masood ploughed through pedestrians on Westminster Bridge on March 22.

She had been visiting London with her boyfriend, Andrei Burnaz, who was due to propose to her later on the day of the attack.

Life support for Ms Cristea was withdrawn on Thursday afternoon, and her death brings the number of innocent victims of the attack to five.

Mr Burnaz suffered a broken foot, and attended a vigil on Westminster Bridge last week.

In a statement, Mr Burnaz and Ms Cristea's family said she would "always be remembered as our shining ray of light that will forever keep on shining in our heart".

They said the money raised for her recovery would now be donated to charity.

Also killed in the attack were Utah man Kurt Cochran (54); Britons Leslie Rhodes (75) and Aysha Frade (44); and 48-year-old police officer Keith Palmer.
Three people killed in incident when a truck was driven Friday April 7 2017 into a department store in central Stockholm, Sweden April 7, 2017. TT News Agency/Andreas Schyman/via

People killed in incident when a truck was driven Friday April 7 2017 into a department store in central Stockholm, Sweden April 7, 2017. TT News Agency/Noella Johansson/via REUTERS

People killed in incident when a truck was driven Friday April 7 2017 into a department store in central Stockholm, Sweden April 7, 2017. TT News Agency/Jessica Gow/via REUTERS

Handout photo taken with permission from the Twitter feed of Lasse Gare of emergency services close to the scene of an incident in Drottninggatan, a street in the centre of Stockholm, Sweden. PRESS ASSOCIATION

People killed in incident when a truck was driven Friday April 7 2017 into a department store in central Stockholm, Sweden April 7, 2017. TT News Agency/Noella Johansson/via

The truck is believed to have been hijacked from a brewery company Photo credit: Getty images/Jonathan Nackstrand

Three people killed in incident when a truck was driven Friday April 7 2017 into a department store in central Stockholm Photo: TT News Agency/Andreas Schyman/via REUTERS

A truck have crashed into a department store Ahlens at Drottninggatan in the central of Stockholm, Sweden April 7, 2017. TT News Agency/Andreas Schyman/via REUTERS

A picture of the truck which the owner reports was stolen before the incident

A police officer stands next to candles and flowers placed near the department store Ahlens following a suspected terror attack in central Stockholm, Sweden, Saturday, April 8, 2017. A Swedish prosecutor says a person has been formally identified as a suspect "of terrorist offenses by murder" by driving a hijacked truck into a crowd of pedestrians. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Police have found explosives in the truck used in the attack in Stockholm, Swedish television said on Saturday citing multiple unnamed police sources.

Swedish public broadcaster SVT said that police had found a bag containing explosives.

The head of the Swedish Security Police told Swedish TV4 that he could not confirm whether explosives had been found.

Police are continuing to question a man on suspicion of "terrorist crimes through murder" after four were killed when a lorry mowed down pedestrians in the heart of Stockholm.

Children were among the 15 injured, emergency services said, when the suspected hijacker brought carnage to a busy shopping district in the Swedish capital.

Sweden's prime minister Stefan Lofven said "everything indicates that this is a terrorist attack" and later vowed he would not give in to attempts to destroy democracy.

Deputy chief prosecutor Hans Ihrman approved the questioning over terror offences in the early hours of Saturday.

The prime minister said: "If it is a terrorist attack, and regardless of whether it was carried out by an organisation or a lone perpetrator, the aim of terrorism is to undermine democracy, to sow discord between people so that more people will begin to hate and distrust one another.

"But those kinds of acts will never succeed in Sweden. We know that our enemy is this kind of vile murderer - not one another. We will use all of Sweden's strength to track you down.

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"Our message will always be clear: you cannot suppress us, you cannot control our lives, you will never win."

Nine of those injured were left in a serious condition and reports suggested a pram was caught in the path of destruction at around 3pm on Friday.

A nationwide manhunt was launched and police arrested the man in the Stockholm area.

Detectives said he appeared to match the description of a previously-publicised image of a man they wished to speak to.

Sweden's national police force said the driver had not been detained, instead saying that the man in custody was "connected to" the incident.

Prosecutor Mr Ihrman called for him to be held over "terrorist crimes through murder" after police said he was under prolonged questioning.

Stockholm police would not comment on reports that a second man had been arrested in the northern suburb of Hjulsta but said others were still being sought.

The latest outrage inflicted on the continent came just two weeks after similar tactics were used to attack London when Muslim convert Khalid Masood drove into crowds on Westminster Bridge.

The bloodshed also bore hallmarks to attacks seen in Nice and Berlin last year.

Swedish border controls were reinforced following the attack and investigators remained at the scene after the lorry was removed.

Condemnation poured in as news of the attack broke, including statements from German chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who said he was "deeply concerned".

EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said: "An attack on any of our member states is an attack on us all."

The Aftonbladet newspaper reported that the truck had been hijacked from Swedish beer maker Spendrups earlier on Friday.

Witness Jan Granroth told the paper that "we stood inside a shoe store and heard something ... and then people started to scream".

Mikael Anttila, a 49-year-old portfolio manager at bank SEB, told the Press Association he saw several hundred people gathered on the street close to the shop before they all started running "suddenly ... like ants".

"Then a lot of police started coming. Heavy weapons, civilian police, etc," he said.
A police officer stands next to candles and flowers placed near the department store Ahlens following a suspected terror attack in central Stockholm, Sweden, Saturday, April 8, 2017. A Swedish prosecutor says a person has been formally identified as a suspect "of terrorist offenses by murder" by driving a hijacked truck into a crowd of pedestrians. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A man wanted in connection with the truck incident in Stockholm, Sweden Photo: REUTERS / Police / Handout / TT News Agency

The man in custody suspected of carrying out the Stockholm truck attack has previously figured in intelligence material, Swedish security police said on Saturday.

"The arrested man was not part of any of the security police's ongoing investigations. However, he is a person who has previously figured in our intelligence flow," head of the Sapo security police, Anders Thornberg, told reporters.

National Police chief Dan Eliasson confirmed that the suspect is a 39 year-old from Uzbekistan.

He told a news conference officers also found an object in the lorry which "could be a bomb or an incendiary object", adding that they are still investigating.

Expand Close Police officers are seen outside Stockholm Central station after the truck attack Photo: Jessia Gow / TT News Agency via REUTERS / Facebook

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Whatsapp Police officers are seen outside Stockholm Central station after the truck attack Photo: Jessia Gow / TT News Agency via REUTERS

The man suspected to have been driving a lorry which mowed down pedestrians in the heart of Stockholm was arrested but has not spoken, police said.

He is being questioned on suspicion of "terrorist crimes through murder" following Friday's rampage in a busy shopping district in the Swedish capital.

Expand Close Police move shoppers to safety Photo: TT News Agency/Jessica Gow/via REUTERS / Facebook

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The identities of the four people killed in yesterday's terror attack have not yet been confirmed.

10 of the 15 victims injured in the attack are still being treated in hospital, officials said on Saturday, four of whom are in a serious condition.

Expand Close A man who is wanted in connection with the truck incident that killed and injured several people in Stockholm, Sweden, is seen in this handout picture provided by the police and released by TT News Agency, April 7, 2017. / Facebook

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Whatsapp A man who is wanted in connection with the truck incident that killed and injured several people in Stockholm, Sweden, is seen in this handout picture provided by the police and released by TT News Agency, April 7, 2017.

Two of those four are in intensive care. One child was injured but not seriously, a spokeswoman for Stockholm County Council confirmed.

Following the attack Sweden's prime minister, Stefan Lofven, said "everything indicates that this is a terrorist attack" and later vowed he would not give in to attempts to destroy democracy.

Expand Close A police officer stands next to candles and flowers placed near the department store Ahlens following a suspected terror attack in central Stockholm, Sweden, Saturday, April 8, 2017. A Swedish prosecutor says a person has been formally identified as a suspect "of terrorist offenses by murder" by driving a hijacked truck into a crowd of pedestrians. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber) / Facebook

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Whatsapp A police officer stands next to candles and flowers placed near the department store Ahlens following a suspected terror attack in central Stockholm, Sweden, Saturday, April 8, 2017. A Swedish prosecutor says a person has been formally identified as a suspect "of terrorist offenses by murder" by driving a hijacked truck into a crowd of pedestrians. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

The prime minister said: "If it is a terrorist attack, and regardless of whether it was carried out by an organisation or a lone perpetrator, the aim of terrorism is to undermine democracy, to sow discord between people so that more people will begin to hate and distrust one another.

"But those kinds of acts will never succeed in Sweden. We know that our enemy is this kind of vile murderer - not one another. We will use all of Sweden's strength to track you down.

"Our message will always be clear: you cannot suppress us, you cannot control our lives, you will never win."

Reports suggested a pram was caught in the path of destruction at around 3pm on Friday.

A nationwide manhunt was launched and police arrested the man in the Stockholm area.
Emergency services work at the scene where a truck crashed into the Ahlens department store at in central Stockholm Photo: JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP/Getty Images

A truck ploughed into a crowd on a shopping street and crashed into a department store in central Stockholm yesterday, killing three people and wounding eight in what the prime minister said appeared to be a terrorist attack.

Swedish police said no one had been arrested in connection with the attack. They showed a picture of a man wearing a grey hoodie and said they were looking for him. They did not rule out the possibility that other attackers were involved.

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There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

"I turned around and saw a big truck coming towards me. It swerved from side to side. It didn't look out of control, it was trying to hit people," Glen Foran, an Australian tourist in his 40s, told Reuters.

"It hit people, it was terrible. It hit a pram with a kid in it, demolished it. It took a long time for police to get here. I suppose from their view it was quick, but it felt like forever."

Part of central Stockholm was cordoned off and the area was evacuated, including the main train station. All subway traffic was halted on police orders. Government offices were closed.

Expand Close The truck that crashed into the Ahlens department store Photo: REUTERS/Dominik Armada / Facebook

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"Sweden has been attacked. Everything points to the fact that this is a terrorist attack," Prime Minister Stefan Lofven told reporters during a visit in western Sweden. He was immediately returning to the capital.

Many police and emergency services personnel were at the scene, said a Reuters witness who saw policemen put what appeared to be two bodies in body bags. Bloody tyre tracks on Drottninggatan (Queen Street) showed where the beer truck had passed.

The truck had been stolen while making a delivery to a tapas bar further up Drottninggatan, Spendrups Brewery spokesman Marten Lyth said. A masked person jumped into the cab, started the truck and drove away.

"We were standing by the traffic lights at Drottninggatan and then we heard some screaming and saw a truck coming," a witness who declined to be named told Reuters.

Expand Close A man wanted in connection with the truck incident in Stockholm, Sweden Photo: REUTERS / Police / Handout / TT News Agency / Facebook

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"Then it drove into a pillar at Ahlens City (department store) where the hood started burning. When it stopped we saw a man lying under the tyre. It was terrible to see," said the man, who saw the incident from his car.

Police confirmed three deaths and eight people injured, including the truck driver, who had tried to stop the hijack.

Several attacks in which trucks or cars have driven into crowds have taken place in Europe in the past year. Al-Qa'ida in 2010 urged its followers to use trucks as a weapon.

In London on March 22, a man in a car ploughed into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, killing four, and then stabbed a policeman to death before being shot by police.

Expand Close A map showing where the scene unfolded / Facebook

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Isil claimed responsibility for an attack in Nice, France, last July, when a truck killed 86 people celebrating Bastille Day, and one in Berlin in December, when a truck smashed through a Christmas market, killing 12 people.

"Our thoughts are going out to those that were affected, and to their families," Sweden's King Carl Gustaf said in a statement.

Stockholmers opened up their homes and offered lifts to people who were unable to get home or needed a place to stay. The attack was the latest to hit the Nordic region after the 2015 shootings in Copenhagen, Denmark, that killed three people and the 2011 bombing and shooting by far right extremist Anders Behring Breivik that killed 77 people in Norway.

Sweden has not been hit by a large-scale attack, although in December 2010, a man blew himself up only a few hundred yards from the site of the latest incident in a failed suicide attack. Swedish authorities raised the national security threat level to four on a scale of five in October 2010 but lowered the level to three, indicating a "raised threat", in March 2016.

Police in Norway's largest cities and at Oslo's airport will carry weapons until further notice following the attack. Denmark has been on high alert since the 2015 shootings.

"An attack on any of our member states is an attack on us all," said European Union chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker.
Most Germans have said for the first time that the country cannot take in any more refugees. A survey by the Bertelsmann Foundation found the majority of nationals still say immigrants and refugees are "very welcome, or quite welcome".

But the number of people who felt Germany had reached the point where it could no longer afford an unconditional welcome had risen to 54pc, up from just 40pc in 2015.

"Many feel that the maximum limit has been reached," said the report. "The readiness to take in more refugees has significantly fallen."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has faced strong criticism for her "open-door refugee policy", which saw up to a million refugees and migrants enter Germany in 2015.

The following year a number of domestic terror attacks were carried out in Germany by Afghan and Syrian refugees.

In July 2016, an Afghan injured five people in an axe attack on a train, while a Syrian killed himself and injured 15 others in a suicide bombing.

The most serious incident, on December 19, occurred when a failed asylum seeker from Tunisia ploughed a truck into a Christmas market in Berlin, leaving 12 dead.

Anis Amri (24) entered Germany in July 2016, after the EU-Turkey deal and the closure of the Balkans route significantly slowed the rate of migrants and refugees entering Europe.

The study was released shortly after Mrs Merkel told a Syrian journalist that refugees must respect tolerance, openness and freedom of religion.

"We expect the people who come to us to stick to our law," she said.

The Bertelsmann Foundation's study also showed a clear divide in opinion between east and west Germany in attitudes towards refugees.

Around 65pc of Germans in the west said they would welcome refugees "with open arms", compared to just 33pc in the east.

It came as the German government announced steps yesterday to choke off state campaign finance for the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD), after a failed court bid to outlaw the xenophobic fringe group.

Handing government funds to the NPD amounted to "a direct state subsidy for far-Right hate speech", said Justice Minister Heiko Maas.

Germany's highest court had in January rejected a bid by the parliament's upper house to ban the NPD. ( Daily Telegraph, London)
Rescuers and firefighters search for missing people in the rubble of an apartment building that collapsed in Swiebodzice, Poland (AP)

A pre-Second World War apartment building has collapsed in Poland, leaving six people dead and four injured.

Scores of firefighters with dogs continue to search the rubble of the building in the town of Swiebodzice to make sure no one remains trapped.

According to Daniel Mucha, regional spokesman for the fire service, the two upper floors of the three-floor building might have collapsed due to a gas explosion.

A team of construction experts is to investigate the cause.

The rescue management centre said the body of a sixth victim was found late on Saturday. Two of the dead were school-age children.

Prime Minister Beata Szydlo arrived at the site, 420km (250 miles) south west of Warsaw, to talk to the victims and rescue workers.

The injured were taken to hospitals in Swiebodzice and in Wroclaw.

One survivor, identified only by her first name Stanislawa, told TVN24 that she was "miraculously saved".

"I was in the kitchen and suddenly it was dark and full of debris and some broken wooden planks," she said from her hospital bed in Swiebodzice.

"I got on top of those planks and started calling 'help, help!' Two firefighters came and pulled me out by the arm."

She said her husband was resting on the bed at the time of the collapse.

"I don't know what has happened to him," she said, her voice trembling.

With her teenage son at her side, she said the family had lost everything.

AP
Russia has diverted a warship to protect the Syrian coast and vowed to bolster Bashar al-Assad's missile defences against more US strikes, risking a confrontation between the former Cold World foes.

The Admiral Grigorovich, a cruise missile-carrying frigate, passed through the Bosporus en-route to Russia's Syrian navy base at Tartus yesterday.

The Grigorovich, which carries Moscow's state-of-the-art Kalibr cruise missiles, was taking part in joint exercises in the Black Sea with the Turkish navy when it was ordered to turn around.

The US fired dozens of cruise missiles at the Shayrat air base near the western city of Homs from which it said a deadly chemical weapons attack was launched this week.

Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, said President Trump's decision to directly target the Syrian regime inflicted further "considerable damage" to ties between Moscow and Washington.

"This step by Washington inflicts considerable damage to US-Russia relations, which are already in a lamentable state," he said.

Mr Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin, a staunch ally of the Syrian leader, regarded the US action as "aggression against a sovereign nation" on a "made-up pretext" and a cynical attempt to distract the world from civilian deaths in Iraq.

The Kremlin also announced it was immediately suspending its air safety agreement with the US in response to missile strikes on a Syrian air base.

The memorandum, signed in October 2015, is designed to avoid clashes in the crowded airspace over Syria, with each side giving the other warning over planned strikes.

In October, Russia warned that it would use its missiles to intercept any US missiles or jets targeting Syrian forces.

However, it does not appear to have made any attempt to intercept the Tomahawk missiles fired by US destroyers in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Six Syrian soldiers were reported to have been killed in the missile strike, which destroyed as much as 90pc of the base. No Russian soldiers or equipment were reported to have been damaged in the attack.

It is reported that the US informed Russia of its plans to strike hours ahead, giving it time to remove any aircraft it had stationed at the base.

However Dmitry Medvedev, Russian Prime Minister, complained that America had been "one step away" from clashing with the Russian military.
Donald Trump has finally waded into the tangled web that is US foreign policy. Despite his preference for the home front, events have dragged the new commander-in-chief onto the international stage.

After months of silence, America's voice is clearly being heard. Global moral leadership was never part of Mr Trump's plan, but it could turn around his presidency.

The wake-up call was this week's chemical attack in Syria. Images of dying children with oxygen masks strapped to their tiny faces made "a big impact" on the US president. He was visibly shaken as he spoke about "beautiful little babies". It was almost as if Mr Trump had missed the first six years of the Syrian war and was only now tuning into its recurring horrors.

Mr Trump's immediate reaction broached the tricky territory of red lines when he said the attack "crossed lots of lines for me". He rightly blamed Syria, but more significantly he fingered Barack Obama for failing to take action after the first reported chemical attack on Syrian civilians four years ago. This left the new president with no option but to do something himself. If he failed to act, Mr Trump knew that he too would be seen as weak.

Consequently, Mr Trump's brief crush on Russia has ended. Mr Trump's surrogates stated Russia was either "complicit" in the chemical attack or "incompetent" for failing to stop it. Seventy-eight days into office, this president now knows Vladimir Putin cannot be America's friend. Mr Trump wishes it could have been otherwise, but Russia is political kryptonite.

The blinders also came off in relation to Bashar al-Assad. Earlier, in order to go after Isil, Mr Trump was happy to overlook the Syrian leader's future. But if America is to gain real clout against Syria, it will have to insist that Mr Assad have no further role in the region's fate.

Until now Mr Trump has shied away from foreign policy because it's complex and time-consuming, not to mention costly. Diplomacy and war are not like making property deals. Messy stuff - like human rights, democratic values and collateral damage - must be factored in.

The upside for President Trump is that, in order to make a difference on the international stage, he doesn't need the backing of the US Congress. By opening his mouth and saying the right words, Mr Trump can instantly harden America's stance against a murderous dictator or bad actor. Mr Trump's mouth has always been his most effective tool. Now's the time to put it to really good use.

On Thursday night, Mr Trump didn't ask Congress for permission to unleash 59 Tomahawk missiles from American ships in the eastern Mediterranean. That will cause the president some grief but, because of the egregious nature of Syria's crime, it's likely a majority on Capitol Hill will back his decision.

The results of his first military strike will also appeal to Donald Trump's need for validation. This president craves respect, and taking a stand on brutality is something most Americans and much of the world can readily unite on. World leaders lined up to commend him yesterday, and even columnists at what Mr Trump likes to call "the failing 'New York Times'" said he did the right thing.

But now Mr Trump has stepped up, he's a foreign policy president. America is back at the centre of the Syrian conflict. Let's hope Mr Trump's team have a plan for what to do next. After all, Syria is a proxy fight with Iran, Russia, Hezbollah and various others all looking for something. If Mr Assad left tomorrow, who would replace him? More critically, would anything truly improve for the Syrian people?

North Korea, meanwhile, seems intent on luring Mr Trump into a brawl. The word is Pyongyang could develop a missile that can reach Washington before Mr Trump leaves office. Again the options - negotiations, sanctions or war - are all difficult. Convincing Kim Jong-un to part with his missiles is a non-starter, and applying sanctions or military action will require help from neighbouring China - the same China Mr Trump accuses of stealing American jobs.

The tete-a-tete at Mar-a-Lago may have broken the ice between Mr Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping - even against the background of a US military strike. But substantive agreement on trade and North Korea will take time, and the Chinese prefer to play the long game on big issues.

Soon the US president will engage with the international community on climate change. Mr Trump's recent executive orders fly in the face of the global movement towards clean energy. Some US coal and oil companies are even urging the US not to pull out of the Paris Agreement. Mr Trump's own admission this week that he sees himself as "flexible" means anything could happen.

On the campaign trail, Mr Trump hurled abuse at the international order. With a wag of his finger, he dismissed Nato, the UN, and all manner of international agreements. They didn't fit with his 'America First' mantra. Likewise he was quick to devalue his own State Department, CIA and National Security Council.

With his domestic agenda collapsing, Mr Trump needs a foreign policy success to boost his presidency. The traditional 100-day report card is due soon. The US president knows he has dropped the ball on healthcare and the travel ban - his first two big initiatives. But if overnight he's become a strong and tough voice for American values on the global stage, Donald Trump might just make the grade.

Carole Coleman is a former RTE Washington correspondent
A man carrying a child at a makeshift hospital following a suspected chemical attack on Tuesday in the town of Khan Sheikhoun, northern Idlib province, Syria Photo: Edlib Media Center via AP

US cruise missile strikes on a Syrian air base were one step away from clashing with the Russian military, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said yesterday, underscoring the risks in US President Donald Trump's first major foray into the Syrian civil war.

US officials informed Russian forces ahead of the strikes, which were intended to punish the Syrian government for what they said was a chemical weapons attack, and avoided hitting Russian personnel.

Expand Close A satellite image released by The Pentagon shows the damage assessment at Shayrat Airfield Photo: DigitalGlobe/U.S. Department of Defense via AP / Facebook

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Whatsapp A satellite image released by The Pentagon shows the damage assessment at Shayrat Airfield Photo: DigitalGlobe/U.S. Department of Defense via AP

In the biggest foreign policy decision of his presidency, Mr Trump ordered a step his predecessor Barack Obama never took: targeting the Syrian military. Washington says Syrian government forces carried out a poison gas attack in northern Syria this week that killed at least 70 people.

The US action catapulted Washington into confrontation with Russia, which has military advisers on the ground aiding its ally, President Bashar al-Assad.

Satellite imagery suggests the Shayrat air base that was struck by dozens of US missiles is home to Russian special forces and military helicopters, part of the Kremlin's effort to help the Syrian government fight Isil and other militant groups.

Mr Medvedev, on social media, said the strikes were illegal and had been "one step away from military clashes with Russia".

Expand Close Syrian President Bashar Assad Photo: SANA via AP / Facebook

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Whatsapp Syrian President Bashar Assad Photo: SANA via AP

Mr Trump has frequently called for improved relations with Russia which were strained under Mr Obama, but the US president said action had to be taken against Mr Assad.

"Years of previous attempts at changing Mr Assad's behaviour have all failed and failed very dramatically," Mr Trump said as he announced the attack from his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, where he was meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping.

"Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack," he said, adding: "No child of God should ever suffer such horror."

Mr Assad's office said Damascus would respond by striking its enemies harder.

The United Nations Security Council was to meet yesterday to discuss the US cruise missile strikes, diplomats said. The meeting of the 15-member council was to be in public.

US officials said the strike was a "one-off" intended to deter future chemical weapons attacks, and not an expansion of the US role in the Syria war.

Tomahawk missiles fired from the USS Porter and USS Ross struck the airstrip, aircraft and fuel stations on the air base, which the Pentagon says was used to store chemical weapons.

The swift action is likely to be interpreted as a signal to Russia, as well as to countries such as North Korea, China and Iran where Mr Trump has faced foreign policy tests early in his presidency, that he is willing to use force.

The strikes could cheer Mr Assad's enemies, after months when Western powers appeared to grow increasingly resigned to his staying in power. But opposition figures said an isolated assault was far from the decisive intervention they have long sought.

The Syrian government and Moscow have denied that Syrian forces were behind the gas attack, but Western countries have dismissed their explanation that chemicals leaked from a rebel weapons depot after an air strike as not credible.

The Syrian army said the US attack killed six people and called it "blatant aggression" which made the US a partner of "terrorist groups" including Isil. There was no independent confirmation of civilian casualties.

"President Putin views the US strikes on Syria as aggression against a sovereign state in violation of the norms of international law and on a made-up up pretext," said a Kremlin statement. "This step by Washington will inflict major damage on US-Russia ties."

Moscow suspended communication with US forces designed to stop planes colliding over Syria.

A Russian frigate carrying cruise missiles sailed through the Bosphorus Strait into the Mediterranean Sea, although there was no indication it was directly in response to US action.

Several Western allies of the US described the strikes as a proportionate response to Mr Assad's suspected use of poison gas.

Iran, Mr Assad's other main ally, denounced it.

Washington has long backed rebels fighting against Mr Assad in a multi-sided civil war that has killed more than 400,000 people and driven half of Syrians from their homes since 2011.

The US has been conducting air strikes against Isil militants who control territory in eastern and northern Syria, and a small number of US troops are on the ground assisting anti-Isil militias.

Russia joined the war on Mr Assad's behalf in 2015, action that decisively turned the momentum of the conflict in the Syrian government's favour. Although they support opposing sides in the war between Mr Assad and rebels, Washington and Moscow both say they share a single main enemy, Isil.

Tuesday's attack was the first time since 2013 that Syria was accused of using sarin, a banned nerve agent it was meant to have given up under a Russian-brokered, UN-enforced deal that persuaded Mr Obama to call off air strikes four years ago.

Video depicted limp bodies and children choking while rescuers tried to wash off the poison gas. Russian state television blamed rebels and did not show footage of victims.
Russia has said it is suspending a deal with the US to prevent mid-air collisions over Syria in response to US air strikes on a Syrian air base.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said following Donald Trump's decision to fire 59 cruise missiles at a military target in Syria on Thursday, Moscow was suspending a memorandum with the US that prevented incidents and ensured flight safety.

Under the memorandum, signed after Russia launched an air campaign in Syria in September 2015, Russia and the US had exchanged information about their flights to avoid incidents in the crowded skies over Syria  where Russia has several dozen warplanes and batteries of air-defence missiles.

The so-called "deconfliction line" between the US and Russia has been credited by a number of US pilots with helping keep them safe. While the US air campaign in Syria tends to steer clear of areas where Russia is in operation, ending such co-operation is seen by activists in the region as a worrying turn.

The US-side of the information sharing exercise is based in the al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which is also the forward base from US Central Command, which takes the lead in co-ordinating coalition strikes. The US maintains radar coverage and other means of scanning the skies, but without being able to share coordinates and other data with the Russians, the chances of a confrontation increases.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, a staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, condemned the US strikes near Homs, saying they broke international law and have seriously damaged US-Russia relations.

A statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry read: "The very presence of US troops and other countries on the territory of Syria, without the consent of the Government or the decision of the UN Security Council is a gross, obvious and unwarranted violation of international law.

"If before it was due to the task of combating terrorism, now there is a clear act of aggression against a sovereign Syria. US Actions taken today further destroy the Russian-American relations."

The country's Defence Ministry said that Syrian air defences would be beefed up following the US strikes, with Russian news agencies reporting that the ministry had also mocked the effectiveness of the strikes as "extremely low" claiming that only 23 of the missiles had hit their target.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meanwhile said Moscow would demand an explanation from the US over the air strikes, describing the attack as "an act of aggression with an invented pretext, and adding that he hoped the "provocation" would not lead to irreparable damage to Russia's ties with the US.

The cruise missile strikes launched from US ships in the Mediterranean have killed six Syrian troops and led to big material losses, according to the Syrian Army, which has described the attack as a "blatant act of aggression". No Russians were killed in the air strikes, Mr Lavrov said, with the Russians claiming four Syrian military personnel being killed in the strikes, while two were missing and six were injured.

The White House described the attack as a warning shot that was necessary and appropriate following Mr al-Assads alleged use of chemical weapons on civilians in rebel-held town Idlib earlier this week.

The British government has meanwhile said it fully supports the US in carrying out the air strike, describing the cruise missile strikes launched from US ships in the Mediterranean as a warning shot that was necessary and appropriate.
Two men in Indonesia's conservative Aceh province face up to 100 strokes of the cane each after neighbours reported them to Shariah police for having gay sex.

Officers said the men, aged 20 and 23, were reported to police by residents in the Rukoh area of the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, on March 29.

Marzuki, the chief investigator, said the two men had "confessed" to being a gay couple and that this was supported by video footage taken by a neighbour.

Aceh is the only province in Muslim-majority Indonesia to practice Shariah law, after a concession made by the national government to end a years-long war with separatists.

A Shariah code implemented two years ago allows up to 100 lashes for "morality offences" including gay sex.

Caning is also a punishment for adultery, gambling, drinking alcohol, women who wear tight clothes and men who skip Friday prayers.

Marzuki said residents in Rukoh were suspicious of the two men because they often seemed to be intimate, and had set out to catch them having sex.

He said: "Based on our investigation, testimony of witnesses and evidence, we can prove that they violated Islamic Shariah law and we can take them to court."

Homosexuality is not illegal in Indonesia, but a judicial review being considered by the Constitutional Court is seeking to criminalise sex outside marriage and sex between people of the same gender.
The USS Ross fires a Tomahawk missile during the strike on the Syrian air base (US Department of Defence/PA)

The United States has vowed to keep up the pressure on Syria after a wave of missile strikes despite the prospect of escalating Russian dissatisfaction that could further inflame the conflict.

The US signalled new sanctions would follow and the Pentagon was probing whether Russia was involved in the chemical weapons assault that compelled US president Donald Trump to action.

The attack against a Syrian air base was the first US assault against the government of President Bashar Assad.

Much of the international community rallied behind Mr Trump's decision in reaction to this week's chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of people in Syria.

But a spokesman for Russian president Vladimir Putin warned the strikes dealt "a significant blow" to relations between Moscow and Washington.

A key test comes next week when secretary of state Rex Tillerson becomes the first Trump Cabinet member to visit Russia.

Foreign Minister Boris Johnson had planned to visit Russia this week but decided to cancel the trip because of fast-moving events in Syria.

At the United Nations on Friday, Russia's deputy ambassador Vladimir Safronkov strongly criticized what he called the US "flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression".

He said its "consequences for regional and international security could be extremely serious".

He called the Assad government a main force against terrorism and said it deserved the presumption of innocence over the chemical weapons attack.

The US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said the world is waiting for the Russian government "to act responsibly in Syria" and "reconsider its misplaced alliance with Bashar Assad".

Speaking during an emergency Security Council session, she said the US was prepared to take further action in Syria but hoped it would not be necessary.

In Florida with the president, treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said additional economic sanctions on Syria were being prepared.

Thursday night's strikes - some 60 cruise missiles fired from two ships in the Mediterranean - were the culmination of a rapid, three-day transformation for Mr Trump.

He has long opposed deeper US involvement in Syria's civil war but advisers said he was outraged by images of young children among dozens killed in the chemical attack.

The decision undercut another campaign promise for Mr Trump: his pledge to try to warm relations with Moscow.

After months of allegations of ties between his election campaign and the Kremlin - the subject of congressional and FBI investigations - Mr Trump has found himself clashing with Mr Putin.

On Friday, senior US military officials were looking more closely at possible Russian involvement in the poison attack.

Officials said a drone belonging to either Russia or Syria was seen hovering over the site after the assault earlier this week.

It returned late in the day as citizens were going to a nearby hospital for treatment. Shortly afterwards, officials say the hospital was targeted.

The officials said they believe the hospital attack may have been an effort to cover up evidence of the earlier assault.

White House officials caution that Mr Trump is not preparing to plunge the US deeper into Syria.

Spokesman Sean Spicer said the missile attack sent a clear message to Assad, but he avoided explicitly calling for the Syrian to leave office.

The impact of the strikes was also unclear. Despite intense international pressure, Assad has clung to power since a civil war broke out six years ago, helped by financial and military support from Russia and Iran.

Russian military personnel and aircraft are embedded with Syria's, and Iranian troops and paramilitary forces are also on the ground helping Assad fight opposition groups hoping to topple him.

AP
New Delhi, Apr 8 (IBNS): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will hold a meeting with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at Rashtrapati Bhavan where the discussions on Teesta river treaty might take place, on Saturday, media reports.

Mamata was earlier seen to attain a tough stand against signing the Teesta River Treaty with Bangladesh government since the time she became the Chief Minister of West Bengal in 2011.

Recently in an interview to a news channel, Mamata said that though she loves people of Bangladesh, she would also look into the well being of her state, reflecting her disapproval in signing the treaty.

Earlier in the day, WB CM was seen to be present with Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and his counterpart to inaugurate the maiden Kolkata-Khulna-Dhaka bus service.
Toronto, Apr 8 (BNS): Performance of Tookhar Tamasha Arts earlier this week, to celebrate Canadaas 150 anniversary with local and overseas performers in their field and in support of Project Udaan (PU), was organized at Glenforest Secondary school in Mississauga, Ontario.



Indira Naidoo-Harris, Member of Provincial Party, Minister of the Status of Women and Minister Responsible for Early Years and Child Care inaugurated the ceremony.

Min. Naidoo-Harris said, "I feel honored to have been invited to watch this extraordinary performance.

Prodyut Mukherjee, a new age percussionist contributed to the field with his superb performance of the Rhythmexpress fused with depth and soul.

Besides his musical performance, he fascinated the audience with the reproduction of various realistic sounds, such as the noise made by horses on hooves while moving and the noise made by trains on the railway tracks, etc.

The revenue from this event will go towards promotion of the Project Udaan (PU), a noble cause which strives to rescue and rehabilitate several thousand prostitute children in Kolkata.

PU is a pilot project for the redlight area in in Kolkata named Sonagachi, which is one of the largest red light areas in Asia.

This red light area houses several hundred multi-story brothels with about 11,000 workers and 14,300 children, 3,400 children among these being in the age group of 1 to 10 years.



PUs noble ambition is to raise these children as their own and provide free food, shelter, clothing, medical help, education, vocational training and hope for their future.

PU looks forward to building a secure house far from the red light area for the rescue of 50 girls between the ages of 5 and 18.

PU hopes that this endeavour will encourage other NGOs to follow their cause to help the remaining 1.2 million such needy children across India.

Setting up Skills & Vocational Training Centre with enriching and safe environment for all-round development of personality of these children is also part of PU plans.

PU is also looking forward to organizing Bal Chetana Shibirs, established especially for the development of self worth of the children and to restore back to them the joys of childhood and innocence.

For children between 8 and 13 years, PU will establish The ART Excel course for children where students would be taught life skills, yoga and breathing processes to get rid of fear and anxiety and inculcate in them focus and concentration.

Empowerment programs for the Older Girl Child are also organized where these girls would undertake initiatives at the community level to improving their overall living conditions.

All participants will be fully trained with regard to their physical, mental and emotional health enabling them to prepare for future challenges in life.



(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)
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One thing that Fast and the Furious franchise has taught its fans is that nothing is more important than the family, and Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) can never betray his friends. But in the real life, rumours of feud brewing between Diesel and Dwayne "The Rock Johnson have been doing the rounds since a year.

However, one week ahead of the release of the movie, Diesel has quashed the rumours of feud with the co-star saying that they are close in a weird way.

I dont think the world really realizes how close we are, in a weird way. I think some things may be blown out of proportion. I dont think that was his intention. I know he appreciates how much I work [for] this franchise. In my house, hes Uncle Dwayne, he told USA Today.

It all started when Diesel, who is also the executive producer, once said in an interview that he protects the franchise. I protect everybody, including Dwayne.

thisisinsider.com

After wrapping the shoot of the eight chapter of the franchise, Dwayne Johnson posted a long message for his co-stars on Instagram. While he complimented his female co-stars, he took a sly dig at some of the males involves in the movie.

Some conduct themselves as stand-up men and true professionals, while others dont. The ones that dont are too chicken shit to do anything about it anyway. Candy asses. When you watch this movie next April and it seems like Im not acting in some of these scenes and my blood is legit boiling  youre right, he wrote.

filmpro.ru

While Diesel has recently rubbished the rumours, people, on the other side, suggest that he is downplaying his feud with The Rock ahead of his movies release. Meanwhile, The Fate of the Furious is all set to hit the theatres on April 14.
Since April 1 a large number of the bars, pubs and liquor shops across India has gone out of business, thanks to a Supreme Court order that the outlets should be at least 500m away from state and national highways.

BCCL

The verdict, like most of the states was a blow to the booze lovers in Kerala too. But what made the situation worse in state is there was already a ban in place, by which only three-star hotels and above are allowed to serve liquor.

BCCL

Most of the bars were then converted into beer and wine parlors, which were also forced to shut down after the SC order.

But a bar in Ernakulam district decide to make a way around it, literally!

BCCL

The Aishwarya Bar in North Paravoor, a Kochi suburb has built a 250m-long maze-like walkway to the entrance, theoretically making it more than 500m away from the highway.

BCCL

"We have done nothing illegal. The plot behind the bar also belongs to the owner and we have constructed an extended way to reach the bar. Now it is 520 metres from the highway. We are set to approach the circle inspector of excise with the new route map to authorize the reopening of the bar," said Shiju P, bar manager.

BCCL

Even the excise officials admitted the move by the management is acceptable. A Vijayan IPS, additional excise commissioner said,

"We do not measure the aerial distance but only the walking distance. However, they will be fined for altering the entrance."

BCCL

There is more... the bar is calling it Snehamathil (wall of love).

According to the owners the 10m-wide walkway was completed in three days at a cost of about 1.5 lakh rupees.

While the move seems cheeky and innovative, the idea is not anything new.

In the 2002 Malayalam movie Chathurangam featuring Mohanlal, the hero, Jimmy does exactly the same thing when a bar owned by his friend was about to shut down as its entrance was within 100m of a place of worship.

Like they say "necessity is the mother of invention!"
Even with a dozen campaigns and movies made for public awareness, the problem of illegal and unprescribed drugs seems to be escalating day after day.

This becomes evident as an inter-district wholesale drug supplier was arrested in Punjab with 56,650 intoxicating capsules and tablets in his possession. The police has informed that these capsules have been successfully seized from the possession of the man arrested.

bccl/representational image

In a press conference called by the police, it was said that on April 5, another man who was allegedly selling drugs in Phagwara provided the lead to capture another suspect. Harwinder Singh Sandhu, Superintendent of Police, Phagwara informed at the conference that the man arrested on April 7 was a resident of Patel Nagar Mohalla, and was produced today (April 8) before the judicial magistrate.

"The magistrate has remanded the suspect to one-day police custody," Sandhu informed the media.

"The suspect was arrested at T-point of Industrial area here when he was riding his motorcycle with bags containing 20,650 intoxicant capsules and tablets," Sandhu added.

reuters/representational image

A contraband of 180 bags was siezed, which contained as many as 56,650 capsules. The man confessed to have booked 36,000 capsules and tablets from a trader in Ludhiana and awaited the supplies that were to be delivered. The police has also informed that they shall be arresting the trader in Ludhiana from whom the suspect was to buy more supplies from. DSP Dev Dutt Sharma said, "Among the capsules seized, most were that of 'Tramadol' while the tablets were mostly 'Alprax', The suspect allegedly supplied drugs in areas of Phagwara, Nawanshar and Jalandhar," Sharma added.

reuters/representational image

Two other drug peddlers were arrested from different locations by the Phagwara police, but in separate cases and they carried about 1,090 capsules with them that were later seized. The DSP said the suspects belonged to Bahar Majara and Talhan villages.

The suspects arrested on April 5 and April 8 have been booked under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
Controversial Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Sadhvi Prachi is back to doing what she does best!

Making unrealistic and often controversial comments. This time the firebrand VHP leader has chosen Triple Talaq to comment on.

BCCL/ File

Speaking at a gathering in UP's Moradabad early this week Prachi has and advise to Muslim women who are victims of triple talaq. Leave their religion and just say "I love you" to Hindu men!

"I would like to advise those sisters who are troubled by this practice of talaq, to simply leave such a religion and embrace Hinduism...Our Hindu sons will be happy to marry you, just tell them 'I love you'," she said.

Sadhvi Prachi has an 'illustrious' track record of stroking controversies though her speeches.

Amid the intolerance controversy, she wanted Shah Rukh Khan to go to Pakistan and Hindus to boycott "all Khans". She was so concerned about the rise in Muslim population, so Sadhvi Prachi had urged Hindus to have four children in every family.

Defending the mob lynching of Akhlak in Dadri, Sadhvi Prachi was of the opinion that all beef eaters should face the same fate.
Sagar Thakkar alias 'Shaggy', the alleged mastermind of the Internal Revenue Service call centre scam in which thousands of Americans were defrauded to the tune of USD 300 million, has been arrested by Thane Police.

According to Thane Police officials, Sagar, who was on the run since the unearthing of the scam last year, was placed under arrest late last night after he arrived at the Mumbai airport following his deportation from Dubai. Read more

1. After Air India, Federation Of Indian Airlines Too Revokes Ban On Shiv Sena MP

The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), comprising four leading private carriers, today revoked the flying ban imposed on Shiv Sena lawmaker Ravindra Gaikwad.

Jet Airways, SpiceJet, GoAir and IndiGo make up the grouping whose decision came a day after Air India lifted the flying ban imposed on the Lok Sabha member. Read more

2. Indian Man Who Went To US Just 25 Days Ago Shot Dead By Masked Robbers

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj confirmed that the ministry has received information regarding a shootout incident Washington state which resulted in the death of an Indian citizen.

26-year-old Vikram Jaryal, was shot dead allegedly by two masked armed robbers at AM-PM Gas Station in Yakima city, where he was working a clerk. According to reports Jaryal was behind the counter when the incident happened. Read more

3. Haryana Makes Improvement In Sex Ratio, For The First Time In History There Are 950 Girls For Every 1,000 Boys

For the first time in the history of Haryana, the sex ratio in the state has touched the 950 mark, state Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said.

Khattar said the sex ratio at birth stood at 950 girls to 1,000 boys in March this year, for the first time in the history of the state. Read more

4. It Turns Out That 'Mowgli Girl' Wasn't Raised By Monkeys, She Was Abandoned By Parents For Being Mentally Ill

The curious case of an 8-year-old girl who was said to be rescued by Forest officials from Katarniyaghat wildlife sanctuary in January has taken a dramatic new twist. Officials now has rejected earlier reports that the girl was rescued from a troop of monkeys.

They said, the girl who has been named Vana Durga had mental issues and was possibly abandoned by her parents for the same reason. Read more

5. Chief Justice Wants To Hold Parties Accountable For Leaving Poll Promises Unfulfilled

Chief Justice of India J S Khehar has come down heavily on the political parties for not delivering what they promise in their election manifestos.

"Now a days manifestos have become a mere piece of paper, for this political parties have to be made accountable," the CJI said at a seminar titled 'Economic Reforms with Reference to Electoral issues'. Read more
Great cities often come up at the expense of smaller hamlets. And New Delhi is certainly not among the exceptions of this gospel. When the British decided to shift their capital to Delhi from their de-facto base and centre Calcutta in 1912, nearly 150 villages in Delhi, mostly inhabited by farmers had to forsake their land holdings.

GettyImages

But while many villages got away with just surrendering their lands, the villages falling in central, what would later come to be called Lutyens Delhi, had to bear more as the British not only took their lands (with or without their consent) but also uprooted them from their homes.

One such village was Malcha (Yes, the Malcha Mahal fame) village, whose erstwhile residents have been fighting the case in Delhi High Court since 2012 demanding for compensation because they claim that they hadnt accepted the compensation given by the British.

Malcha was mostly inhabited by the Jat farmers who now live in a village near Sonepat in Haryana called Harsana Malcha.

Google

IndiaTimes went to Harsana Malcha to find out the exact story behind their exodus and why have they come back to stack claim on lands that earmark Indias seat of democracy and hallowed home of its President.

The background

It was the month of December 1912, when our forefather had to leave the land, they had been tilting and living in for centuries. Malcha had a whopping 1792 acres of land on which 1/3 of the President Estate and all other major buildings of South-West Lutyens Delhi are situated. Malcha had a total of 107 households, mostly farmers apart from the Muslim colony of Talkatora (erstwhile Thalkatora) which was a subsidiary of Malcha village."

"The British uprooted us without giving any compensation because whatever they offered was nothing in bone-chilling winters of December 1912, said Krishan Kumar (63), who served last days of his defence ministry job in South Block, the lands that his forefathers once used to tilt.

Apart from Malcha, the British acquired roughly 2000 acres in Raisina village again inhabited by the Jat farmers.

The British had acquired land in over 150 villages in Delhi, but they removed seven 20 odd big and small hamlets that were located in present day Lutyens Delhi. Raisina, Malcha, Kushak, Pelanjee, Dasgarah, Talkatora and Motibagh are main villages which were completely uprooted from their original location. And thats the reason that despite rest of Delhi has buildings made by the British as well as the villages which have now become highly urban except for the Lutyens Zone, where all settlements were removed.

Out of 107, nearly 42 households settled in Harsana Malcha

After they were uprooted, the various households struggled for the roof over their head, forget the bread and butter. Krishan Kumar recalls that his grandfather who was born after settling in Harsana used to tell him that 42 households settled in Harsana and nobody knows about others.

Krishan Kumar, IndiaTimes

This village's name is Harsana Kalan, but in order to protect our identity as the real residents of New Delhi, we have added Malcha to its name. We love to get identified as the residents of Harsana as we have spent over four generations here, but Malcha is an inherent part of our lives, added another Krishan Kumar (cousin brother of the first one) who tilts lands in Harsana whose great grandfather, as he claimed (for which he produced papers later) was the Numberdar (designation given by the British which means the biggest landlord) of Malcha with a whopping 250 acres of land.

Here is the compensation that the British offered

Senior Krishan Kumar is someone who can speak clean if not fluent English and hes the one who has been fighting their cause whether its filing RTIs to seek information or attending the hearings in Delhi HC.

IndiaTimes (First paper show the document of lands acquired for Thalkatora and Malcha. Second document shows the thumb impression of farmers who accepted the compensation plus those who didn't)

For our households, the British had given Rs 5 per household as disturbance allowance, and for agricultural land they offered on Rs 3 per bigha (Rs 15 per acre since an acre has five bighas) for non-irrigated and Rs 4 per bigha for irrigated land (Rs 20 per acre) which was just a joke with us.

IndiaTimes

You would think that I am joking because Rs 15 or Rs 20 in those days was not a small money. But let me tell that my forefathers who were Numberdars had collected enough money after years of tilting, had bought land in Harsana in 1913 at Rs 33 per bigha which comes around Rs 165 per acre, roughly ten times the amount offered by the British. I need not say anything about the difference between the location of the two places, laughs senior Kumar.

Smaller farmers accepted compensations, but bigger didnt

Kumar tells those smaller farmers, mainly Muslims, Sainis, Brahmans and some Jats accepted the money offered, but the Jats who had bigger land holdings didnt accept the money and refused to surrender their household and lands.

Then came the canons

Kumar and others present in the room narrated that following Malchas resistance many nearby villages like Raisina, Kushak and other villages defied the British orders of vacating the villages. The British knew if Malcha which was the biggest among the villages accepts it, all other will too do so. Therefore, the brought up canons and gave villagers time of 48 hours to vacate the village. Rest is history and all had to flee. Those who hadnt taken compensation didnt accept it even then.

But non-acceptance of compensation became bedrock of their case

Kumar senior who had seen during his job had seen how the system functions had been trying to elevate this matter since 2000. I filled an application with Land Acquisition Collector (LAC) in 2000 about the status of the compensation for my great grandfathers 240 acres of land. I didnt get any answer till 2006, added Kumar.

IndiaTimes

But first RTI and then UPAs Land Bill helped their cause

With the arrival of RTI in 2005, Kumars quest for answers was nudged. He filed one RTI after another to find out the status of the compensation that his forefather didnt take any compensation from the British.

Reuters

After a lot of efforts, I came to know that since we hadnt accepted the compensation, the British had submitted that money with Divisional Judge of that particular area. I filled another RTI to seek the records personally but failed since we couldnt obtain the record of the compensation from the revenue records. But we managed to get the papers of non-acceptance of the compensation which led us to fill a case in 2007-08 in Patiala House court. But the court dismissed the case in 2012."

UPAs land bill came as a breather

Kumar tells that when the UPA government came out with Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (LARRA) which said that if that a piece of land will be re-acquired in two conditions. One is if farmers doesnt accept the compensation and land lie unused for five years and second, if despite the farmer accepting money, the land lies unused for five years (These are personal remarks of Kumar and IndiaTimes dont attest to the authenticity of the provisions of LARRA told by Kumar).

PTI

Citing another opportunity to claim what rightfully was ours, we filled another case in 2013 in Delhi High Court for which hearings are going on, added Kumar.

We demand the right compensation

Its evident that our forefathers hadnt taken the compensation and our land was taken against our wishes. Therefore, our request from the court is to compensate us with money as per todays price, signed off Kumar.

Well, the matter is before the court and it will decide whether these people will get their due or not, but now it's evident that these people were the original residents of the Lutyens' Delhi, the seat of world's largest democracy.
The United States and Russia have squared up again in another theatre of conflict after President Donald Trump appeared to reverse his stand on military interventions abroad and ordered missile strikes on a Syrian airbase on Thursday night in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons on civilians by the Moscow-backed regime.

afp

Both Russia and Syria condemned the attack, with Russian President Vladimir Putin calling it "aggression against a sovereign state in violation of the norms of international law", even as world capitals held their collective breath weighing whether this was the start of another period of confrontation and proxy wars between Moscow and Washington.

Also Read: US Hits Syrian Air Bases With 59 Missiles After Assad's Forces' Chemical Attack On Civilians

However, the strike, involving nearly 60 Tomahawk missiles, focused mainly on airfield, carefully avoiding casualties to Russian personnel embedded in Syria.

Russia was informed of the strike just ahead of its launch, and it appears to have chosen not to impede it.

ap

Russia warned the United States that the strike "deals a significant blow to its relations with America, which are already in a poor state." It said that it was bolstering Syrian defences and suspending an agreement to minimise the risk of in-flight incidents between US and Russian aircraft operating over Syria, evoking fears that the two militaries could stumble into a direct firefight.

Trump did not take Congress approval

Both Syria and Russia say the Assad regime has no chemical weapons and maintain they may have been used by IS fighters, while insisting that the US action will only help the terror outfit they (Russia and Syria) are fighting.

Also Read: Suspected Chemical Attack By Syrian Forces In Idlib Leaves At Least 100 Dead, 400 Injured

But Trump, pointing out that "beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack," and maintaining "No child of God should ever suffer such horror," said it is in the "vital national security interest of the US to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons."

ap

For the 77-day-old Trump administration, the missile attack was a significant shift in position from its President, who as an aspiring leader and candidate Trump, had repeatedly advised Washington not to get into the Syrian mess.

Also Read: 12 Pictures That Show The Deadly Aftermath Of The Chemical Attack On Civilians By Syrian Forces

"Hillary Clinton wants to start a shooting war in Syria, in conflict with a nuclear-armed Russia that could very well lead to World War III," Trump had warned just days before his election. And earlier: "If the US attacks Syria and hits the wrong targets, killing civilians, there will be worldwide hell to pay.

ap

Stay away and fix broken US" and "The President must get Congressional approval before attacking Syria-big mistake if he does not!" But on Thursday, Trump attacked without Congressional approval even as Hillary Clinton called for the strikes before it happened, along with a Washington establishment (both Republicans and Democrats) that critics say has never shy of getting into a war.

Also Read: Say Goodbye, Baby Syrian Man Bids Farewell To Nine-Month-Old Twins Killed In Gas Attack

The Trump base, which had largely supported his view of not getting into the Syrian situation was unhappy. "Missiles flying. Rubio's happy. McCain ecstatic.

ap

Hillary's on board. A complete policy change in 48 hrs,'' tweeted Laura Ingraham, the conservative commentator, while Paul Joseph Watson of the rightwing, conspiratorial website Infowars fumed: "Guys, I can't vehemently oppose destabilizing the Syrian government for 6 years and then support it just because Trump did it. Sorry."

But Trump found support from within his own family. "The times we are living in call for difficult decisions  Proud of my father for refusing to accept these horrendous crimes against humanity," said Trump's daughter Ivanka.
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The death toll from the recent outbreak of Meningitis in the country has continued on a high, as the death toll of increases to 438.

According to the incident manager of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC,John Oladejo, he said in a statement released by the centre.

As at April 5, 2016, 3,959 suspected cases have been reported as part of the current outbreak, of which 181 cases have been laboratory-confirmed.

A total of 438 deaths (11 per cent of all cases) have been reported from 106 LGAs in 19 states in the country and outbreak response and control activities are ongoing in the State to curtail the outbreak, he added.

In Zamfara, the state most affected by the outbreak of the Cerebro Spinal Meningitis, residents have been turning out in large numbers for a mass vaccination exercise against the disease.

The Federal Government on Thursday kicked off the vaccination exercise in Zamfara State. The state governor, Abdulaziz Yari, earlier in the week came under fire from across the country for attributing the outbreak of the disease to Gods anger over the sins of Nigerians.

The National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA, and the NCDC, responded to the outbreak by beginning the vaccination exercise in Zamfara, in collaboration with the state government.

A statement on Friday by NCDC stated that the campaign, which targets 300,000 persons aged 2  29 years, started on Thursday in the eight most affected local government areas in Zamfara State, and will continue until Sunday.

It said more campaigns are planned in other states in the near future.

Abdullahi Shinkafi, the Secretary to the Zamfara State Government and Chairman of the Zamfara State Committee for the Control of Meningitis, is coordinating oversight of the vaccination exercise, in close collaboration with the NCDC Chief Executive Officer, Chikwe Ihekweazu, who is leading an NCDC technical team to monitor and supervise the campaign.

According to the statement, the Zamfara State government had worked with the Federal Ministry of Health, NPHCDA, NCDC and other global partners on an intensive sensitization exercise to increase community participation ahead of the vaccination campaign.

The team of experts is tasked with planning, coordinating and implementing an effective vaccination campaign in collaboration with the recently commissioned Meningitis Emergency Operations Centre at NCDC, it stated.

Traditional leaders and several community groups are helping with mobilization of people across the state, it added.

Mr. Ihekweazu was quoted as saying the commitment of the traditional rulers has been evident in the state; stating that they had helped mobilise their community members for the exercise.

Indeed, we see an opportunity for a sustainable initiative which will go beyond this response.

Reports from the field indicate early progress in the vaccination exercise. In Zamfara State, there has been a massive turnout recorded in the target local government areas.

To support effective outbreak response coordination across the entire country, the Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, had mandated the NCDC to activate an Emergency Operations Centre which has swung into action.

The Centre is currently staffed with experts from the NCDC, NPCHDA, the Federal Ministry of Health and others from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, UNICEF and other partner agencies.

The Incident Manager, Mr. Oladejo, said their work at the EOC is to put in place a sustainable process for responding to the current Meningitis outbreak.

We are happy to say that this is truly a partnership focused on successfully stopping the outbreak. We will work round the clock to implement rapid response plans and deal with emerging issue.

He also stated that the National Assembly was aware of the work of the EOC and the NCDC and had expressed its support.

Source : ( Premium Times )
A gang of Armed robbers were arrested by the Lekki Concession Companys police patrol team on Friday after they halted a car-snatching operation by the robbers.

Saturday PUNCH learnt that the robbers were attempting to snatch a Toyota Camry at gun point around the Oniru intersection of Lekki-EpeExpresssway, Lagos

The Dedicated Patrol Team, which is part of the security arm of the LCC company led by Inspector Adebisi Abraham, were said to have responded to a distress call that a gang of robbers was operating at Oniru intersection.

On getting to the scene, the team reportedly met the three robbers in the car of the victim, Joseph Mican, a resident of Abraham Adesanya Estate, Ajah, as they tried to strangle him with a cable.

They immediately fled as they sighted the security team but one of the suspects,

Oday Francis, a resident of Igbo Efon, was arrested with the cable that would have caused Micans death.

The arrested robber was later handed over to the Maroko Police Division for further investigation and possible prosecution.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper )
Major sections of the world has condemned the US missile strikes on Syria, the latest to condemn the act was North Korea who said the attack was an intolerable act of aggression by North Korea that proves a million times over that strengthening its nuclear programme was the right choice, state media reported Saturday.

The comments were Pyongyangs first since US President Donald Trump ordered the strikes on an air base in the war-wracked country Thursday in retaliation for an apparent chemical attack.

The US missile attack against Syria is a clear and intolerable act of aggression against a sovereign state and we strongly condemn it, KCNA news agency quoted an unnamed spokesman for the North Korean foreign ministry as saying.

The reality of today shows that we must stand against power with power and it proves a million times over that our decision to strengthen our nuclear deterrence has been the right choice.

Analysts had earlier said the strikes contained a clear message for Pyongyang that the US was not afraid to exercise the military option, and there had been speculation as to how the North would respond.

Trump has recently threatened unilateral action against Pyongyang if Beijing fails to help curb its neighbours nuclear weapons programme.

However, Pyongyangs response suggested the reclusive state was determined to continue with its nuclear weapons programme.

Swaggering as a superpower, the US has been picking only on countries without nuclear weapons and the Trump administration is no exception, the foreign ministry spokesman said, according to KCNA.

The Syria attack thoroughly reminds us the fact that it is absolutely dangerous to have any illusions about imperialism and only military power of our own will protect us from imperialistic aggression, he added.

We will keep bolstering our self-defensive military might in various ways in order to cope with the ever-intensifying US acts of aggression.

The North has carried out five nuclear tests  two of them last year  and expert satellite imagery analysis suggests it could well be preparing for a sixth.

Pyongyang has shown no sign of reining in a missile testing programme ultimately aimed at securing the capability to deliver a nuclear warhead to the continental United States.
For eleven weeks, Nigerians seem to have found a reason to stay glued to their television set but like the popular saying goes, every good thing must come to an end. By tomorrow, we would know who would walk away with the N25m cash prize. So far, this edition of Big Brother Naija seems to be the most engaging version as several Nigerians have pitched tent with the contestants they believe deserve to win the show.

So far, five housemates: TBoss, Bisola, Debie-Rise, Marvis and last-man standing, Efe, will slug it out this Sunday as Africa and Nigeria vote for their favourite housemates.

One would have thought that the show had captivated the hearts of the common man on the streets but interestingly, celebrities and online personalities have not been left out as they have identified with housemates of their choice and even expended personal resources to ensure their favourite choice wins the coveted prize.

For instance, it was reported during the week that popular comedian I Go Die, dug into his pocket to contribute N1million just to ensure that the housemate of his choice Efe emerges as the winner. Some would also say that he wants to ensure that the popular saying, Warri no dey carry last, comes to pass. The money is expected to be used by Efes supporters for recharge cards and data bundle to enable continuous voting. Beside I Go Die, other celebrities supporting an Efe victory are Olamide, Basketmouth, Ali Baba, AY, Ice Prince, Seyi Law with his daughter Tiwa and KCee. Comments like Based on logistics, Efe must win and the promise of recharge cards for TeamEfe voters to ensure Efe clinches the prize money are trending on social media. Even ex-housemates Bally, Bassey and Uriel are rooting for Efe. The hash tag #TeamEfe and #EfeNation are still trending

On the other hand, supporters of TBoss are not going to sleep. They have also revved up massive campaign as we count down to Sunday for the final show. Celebrities like Uti Nwachulwu, Beverly Osu, Linda Ikeji and Omosede Igbinedion as well as some of her die-hard fans, have used their social media accounts to canvass for votes. It is looking like a two-horse race with Bisola having a chance from the outside.

Politicians are not left out as they are also canvassing for supports for their kinsmen to emerge victorious. For instance, it was reported that Governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa, has said that the state is proud of Efe and stands solidly behind him as he races towards the winning post. Yahaya Bello, Governor, Kogi State has said concerted efforts are being made to give Debie-Rise as much support as needed. He said Kogi State is determined to stand by Debie-Rise.

The Rivers State government like its Kogi State counterpart, has urged its citizens to support Marvis, who is from Eleme in the state. A picture from an official government circular was circulated on social media directing fans and the state to vote for Marvis. For TBoss, even though the Edo State governor is yet to make a categorical statement, one of her strongest supporters from the state is Hon Omosede Igbinedion, member, House of Representatives. She campaigns for TBoss on her social media handle with the words Support Made in Edo, Support TBoss

Although Bisola hails from Ogun State, support is strong for her in Bayelsa where it was reported that a huge bill board was erected in support of her being that her mother is from the state; some individuals took it upon themselves to support Bisola whose mother is a daughter of the soil.

However, Saturday Beats learnt that Biggie still has his bag of tricks and one wonders what he has up his sleeves to rattle housemates as the show draws to a close. The continent waits for who wears the crown on Sunday.

Source: Punch
Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has said that church leaders are part of the people encouraging corruption in Nigeria.

Obasanjo stated this on Saturday, while speaking at the convention of Victory Life Bible Church International in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

He was represented at the event by Femi Olajide, who is the chapel of Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Librarys Christ the Glorious King Church.

There is no doubt that all our institutions have been tarnished by the brush of corruption.

If the Church, as an institution, does not take bribe or get involved in other corrupt practice, the behaviour of some of our men of God leaves much to be desired.

They not only celebrate but venerate those whose sources of wealth are questionable. They accept gifts (offering) from just anybody without asking questions. This gives the impression that anything is acceptable in the house of God.

But if Jesus can chase out those buying and selling from the temple with the declaration that, My house shall be called the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves, then it is time to stand up against corruption, Obasanjo said.

He also urged churches to preach prosperity messages with caution and moderation.

Our present day money changers and merchants must be chased out of the Church and put to shame in the larger society.

While miracles, signs and wonders are the expectations of true believers, such must be based on righteousness. To preach that one can acquire wealth without labour is not only deceitful; it is a call to corruption. It is false preaching and it is sinful.

We must be careful in believing and celebrating every testimony of miraculous blessing, hence we end up being hoodwinked into celebrating corruption, Obasanjo added.

Source: Dailypost
Nollywood Actress, Cossy Orijakor, has threatened to release the name her statement of account, where the name of Popular Nigerian Pastor, David Ibiyeomie showed, should Kemi Olunloyo remain in Police Custody this Easter.

This is coming after a letter written by Kemi Olunloyo, where she thanked the actress and Cool FM OAP, Daddy Freeze for their support, was made public today.

Heres what she wrote;

To whom it may concern.. this really got me.i have never met this annoying lady Never spoke to her on phone . But here she is thanking me for absolutely doing nothing.. Am seriously moved..i wish I can perfect her bail

But why will I have to stress myself when I know you will do it ..my case is similar but different to hers  I can identify with her in this case .just because I know things most people dont know.. . Things they wont believe Mr? You are a famous Nigerian Pastor. Its almost Easter And if this lady remain in prison this Easter I will boldly post my statement of account. Where your name showed

Thanks for the tithe money u sent to me Besides your not the first man of god to give me such offerings.. .. I dont run an NGolike the rest of your girlsam a big sinner.. So you obviously were not paying for my repentance..HELP? Dont even say that Because am a middle class lady and am 100% better than some of your church members..those are the ones that need help.. Anyway. . You did not buy the SUV as you promised, for all the pimping I did for you.. .

So I dont have any obligation to keep your name secret anymore. Release hnn.#freemadamkoo @hnnafrica ..please..hopefully she will trend with care in her future stories.. Besides My buddy have this account password and will continue where I stop. If harm come to me. And if madam koo is freed I will never mention your name. Ever again.I SWEAR . ..

Even in my little gossips .. I will forever keep calm.  Thou my book will still come out. But it will focus less on you.. Thanks in anticipation. Your ex_pimp Cossy
Some Ex-militants, under the Presidential Amnesty Programme at the Benson Idahosa University, Edo State,took to the streets to protest the non-payment of their allowances by the Federal Government.

The were chanting did trend solidarity songs, barricaded the school gate and disrupted academic and non-academic activities in the institution for several hours.

They also mounted bonfires within the institution.

But the management of the university described the demonstration as a violation of the schools rules and regulation.

Spokesperson for the protesters, Preye Noel, lamented that the beneficiaries of the amnesty programme had been studying under frustration without the allowances.

Noel also noted that their tuition had not been paid by the amnesty office.

We want to tell the world that a hungry man is an angry man. For several months, our monthly stipend and school allowances have not been paid.

We are aware that our tuitions have not been paid to the management of the university. But we have been receiving lectures and taking exams with hunger.

He, however, apologised to the management of the university for shutting down academic activities, which he blamed on the frustration faced by many of the affected students.

According to him, the amnesty programme was a product of crisis, which had led to the rehabilitation of the ex-militants.

Preye, therefore, called on the National Assembly and the Federal Ministry of Finance to pay the outstanding allowances.

Meanwhile, the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Ernest Izevbigie, said that the management of the university commenced a joint investigation with the office of the presidential adviser on the amnesty programme to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the protest.

Izevbigie, who spoke during a press briefing on Friday, said that the university would not tolerate students taking the law into their own hands.

He said that though no student or staff was injured during the protest, serviceable tyres belonging to the university were destroyed.

The vice-chancellor said, Regardless of the number of months for which they have not been paid, it is not sufficient for anyone to disturb the peace or act in a very inappropriate way. We will leave no stone unturned. We will get to the bottom of this.

He continued, Demonstration is a violation in the university. If you have any concern, there is a process. They (protesters) have access to the Dean of Students Affairs.

We have that management-students forum and they have utilised that mechanism on several times. They had that opportunity, but chose not to; so that is a violation.

For them to have secured the gate, they prevented people who wanted to leave or come in. That itself is a serious offence.

Source: (Punch Newspaper )
A Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday fixed judgment for April 27 in the trial of an INEC official, Christian Nwosu, who pleaded guilty to the charge of money laundering.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had charged a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Allison-Madueke and three officials for money laundering.

Allison-Madueke, who was described in the charge as still at large, is charged alongside the three officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission on a seven-count charge bothering on money laundering.

The INEC officials are Christian Nwosu, Yisa Olarenwaju and Tijani Bashir.

When the officials were arraigned, Nwosu entered a guilty plea, while Adedoyin and Bashir denied the charges.

The court had adjourned the case for sentence of Nwosu until Friday, April 7.

However, Justice Mohammed Idris could not proceed with the judgment following the absence of the accused in court as they were said to have been held up in traffic.

He then reserved the judgment for April 27.

Nwosu was remanded in the EFCC custody, while the other accused persons were granted N50 million bail each.

Earlier, the Prosecutor, Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, informed the court that Nwosu had entered into plea bargain with the EFCC.

He added that Nwosu had already made a refund of N5 millon, and also surrendered the title documents of a landed property he purchased for N25 million in Delta.

Reacting, Nwosus lawyer, Mrs Adeku Nbangba, confirmed the position and pleaded with Justice Idris to temper justice with mercy in deciding the fate of the accused.

The prosecution alleged that the accused committed the offences on March 27, 2015 by accepting bribe from the former Petroleum Minister.

They were alleged to have conspired to take possession of the sum of about N264 million which sum they reasonably ought to have known formed part of the proceeds of an unlawful act of gratification.

The accused were also said to have made cash payments of the sum of about N235 million which sum exceeded the amount authorised by law without going through a financial institution.

The anti-graft body alleged that Bashir (the fourth accused) also made cash payment of about N70.1 million to Adedoyin (third accused) without going through a financial institution and which sum exceeded the amount authorised by law.

According to the prosecution, Bashir also directly took possession of the sum of about N165 million which he ought reasonably to have known formed part of an unlawful act of gratification.

Nwosu was also alleged to have directly used the sum of N30 million which he ought to have known formed part of an unlawful act of gratification.

The offences contravened the provisions of Sections 15 (3), 16 (2) and 18 (a) of the Money Laundering Prohibition

Amendment Act, 2012.

Source: BreakingTimes
Two persons have been confirmed dead in Lagos by the outbreak of Cerebro Spinal Meningitis, CSM. This was confirmed by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Friday confirmed as the death rises to 438. Two persons have been confirmed dead in Lagos by the outbreak of Cerebro Spinal Meningitis, CSM. This was confirmed by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)confirmed as the death rises to 438.

In the statistics released by NCDC, a total of 3,959 cases with 438 deaths have been reported, with 181 laboratory-confirmed cases so far.

The statistics show that as at April 5, 2017, three cases of Meningitis were recorded in Lagos out of which two people died while the other is being treated at the hospital.

In a statement attached to the statistics, it revealed that Meningitis is currently being reported in 19 states.

Meningitis outbreaks are currently reported in 19 States with five States mostly affected (Zamfara, Katsina, Kebbi and Sokoto in the North-West zone and Niger in the North-Central zone of Nigeria),

However, the agency also disclosed that vaccination campaign has commenced in Zamfara State which has the highest number of death since the outbreak of the disease.

Source: ( Linda Ikeji )
The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has expressed its disappointment about the current meningitis outbreak has again taken the nation unawares.

The union has called on the Federal Government to encourage local production of vaccines to ensure adequate supply and prevent epidemics.

Mike Ogirima, the president of the association made the call in a statement issued in Abuja on Saturday.

He also called for the expansion of local vaccines production at the National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, Plateau.

Mr. Ogirima, who discouraged vaccination after an outbreak of epidemics, said such immunisation was ineffective.

He explained that for any immunisation to be effective, it must have been administered three months prior to clinical manifestation of such disease.

In reference to the outbreak of Cerebro-Spinal Meningitis (CSM) bedeviling the country, he said it is embarrassing again to note that this epidemic has taking us unawares.

The country has a pattern of climate change and we should have emergency preparedness plan that should be activated routinely to avert disaster.

Mr. Ogirima said resuscitation of local vaccines production, among others, would afford the country opportunity to administer vaccination on its populace as and when due, thereby reducing the impact of outbreak of any epidemics.

Our pharmaceutical industries should be challenged and supported to produce our consumables.

This should be the new order instead of budgeting huge sums of money for importation of vaccines and other consumables, he said.

(NAN)
Okey Ndibe, the Nigerian author and critic who was taken in for questioning upon arrival at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on Saturday by officers of the State Security Service (SSS), has been released.

Ndibe, who is also a novelist and teacher, told SaharaReporters the officials made him the ridiculous offer to go to Abuja to apply to be removed from the secret polices watchlist by which he was detained.

He said he declined the suggestion. I told the SSS that its a shame a country that rolls out the red carpet for criminals would harass a writer who wages war on corruption and the corrupt, said, Ndibe, who has lived in the United States since 1998 and taught in a number of universities.

In January 2011, Ndibe was similarly arrested and questioned for several hours at the same airport by the SSS, and his American and Nigerian passports confiscated for two days.

On that occasion, several outraged international bodies, including Reporters Without Borders, challenged the SSS to explain the arrest, but the agency never did.

Ndibe, who was a widely-known journalist before leaving Nigeria and has continued to write a column, is the author of Foreign Gods, Inc. and Never Look An American In The Eye.

The watchlist by which the SSS has been arresting Ndibe is thought to have been first developed by the government of the late President Umaru YarAdua which was angry about criticism of the flawed election that brought it to power and several leaks regarding his state of health. Yaradua died in office in 2010.

Source: SaharaReporters
The former president of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, has said that corruption can be dealt with in the country with the help of church leaders across the country.

Obasanjo was speaking at the convention of Victory Life Bible Church International in Abeokuta, Ogun State on Saturday.

Mr. Obasanjo said fighting corruption should not be a one-off affair because it would bounce back with vengeance.

There is no doubt that all our institutions have been tarnished by the brush of corruption, Mr. Obasanjo, a retired army general, said in his speech titled The Role of the Church in the Fight Against Corruption in Nigeria.

If the Church, as an institution, does not take bribe or get involved in other corrupt practice, the behaviour of some of our men of God leaves much to be desired.

They not only celebrate but venerate those whose sources of wealth are questionable. They accept gifts (offering) from just anybody without asking questions. This gives the impression that anything is acceptable in the house of God.

But if Jesus can chase out those buying and selling from the temple with the declaration that, My house shall be called the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves, then it is time to stand up against corruption.

Mr. Obasanjo, who was represented at the event by Femi Olajide, the chapel of Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Librarys Christ the Glorious King Church, called on the Church to clean its Augean stable in order to restore its holiness.

He also advocated that prosperity messages be preached with caution and moderation.

Our present day money changers and merchants must be chased out of the Church and put to shame in the larger society.

While miracles, signs and wonders are the expectations of true believers, such must be based on righteousness. To preach that one can acquire wealth without labour is not only deceitful; it is a call to corruption. It is false preaching and it is sinful.

We must be careful in believing and celebrating every testimony of miraculous blessing, hence we end up being hoodwinked into celebrating corruption.

Mr. Obasanjo, who was president between 1999 and 2007, said he took a bold step to curb corruption, adding that the fight against corruption was made a top priority during his administration.

He also said his government never lacked the political will to support the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission, two anti-corruption agencies Mr. Obasanjo created.

He further said the rise of public administration and the discovery of oil and natural gas were two major events that increased corrupt practices in the country.

The government has tried to contain corruption through the enactment of laws and the enforcement of integrity systems, but success has been slow in coming, Mr. Obasanjo said.

Legislations alone are not enough as they are often breached by those who make them and those who implement them.

Source:( Premium Times )
There was massive panic early this morning at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos as an inexplicable vibration erupted in a part of the Departure Hall being used by Royal Air Maroc.

The area, which houses check-in counters 37 to 41, began vibrating at about 2 am, and stayed that way up to the time this report was being prepared.

A passenger of Royal Air Maroc, who identified himself simply as Abdul, told our correspondent on the phone at about 3 am that the reason for the vibration could not be ascertained, and said he feared the airport may soon collapse.

Aviation Security (AVSEC) personnel who spoke with our correspondent on the condition of anonymity said their attention was drawn to the unusual vibration by some passengers and airline staff.

According to the source, immediately the department was notified of the vibration, they alerted firefighters of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) as well as the engineering department who immediately swung into action, but could not identify the cause of the vibration.

The source confirmed that many passengers went into panic as a result of the problem, and that processing of passengers was delayed.

In response, Royal Air Maroc relocated its affected counters out of the area to enable its staff check in passengers.

The source said: As Im talking to you now, no one seems to know the reason for the vibration as we checked every aspect of the terminal, but nothing could be found. We only lied to the passengers that a machine was switched on downstairs [in order] to calm frailed nerves. But, the fact is that we dont actually know what is responsible for the vibration.

However, we know that structure is due for total rehabilitation and not the cosmetic rehabilitation carried out on it about three years ago by former Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Stella Oduah. The entire cables and even materials in that building are weak and need attention.

Efforts to reach Henrietta Yakubu, the Acting Manager of Corporate Communications of FAAN, to react to the development were futile as her mobile phone was switched off, and a text message to her remained undelivered as of the time of filing this report.

The Lagos international airport has been in the news for negative reasons over the years, sometimes for its poor infrastructure. Only three weeks ago, the office of South African Airways suffered a fire outbreak which disrupted flight operations for over two hours before it was brought under control.

Source: SaharaReporters
A soldier have been arrested by the Bayelsa Police Command on Saturday , for allegedly kidnapping a lady in Warri, Delta on April 4.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the suspects were paraded before journalists by the state police commissioner, Asuquo Amba, in Yenagoa.

Mr. Amba said the suspects abducted one Aya Beauty, aged 25, from Warri in Delta and took her to Bayelsa and kept her captive in a hotel while demanding a N24 million ransom from her family.

The commissioner said the command also arrested a former soldier, with a military pistol, along Zarama Road, on the East-West road during a stop-and-search operations.

Mr. Amba said the three suspects would be charged to court, as soon as investigations on their involvement in the crimes, were concluded.

Mr. Amba said the kidnappers of Aya Beauty had collected N200,000 from her fiancee before they were arrested. They had reduced the ransom from N24 million ransom to N11 million and later to N200,000.

Mr. Amba said the involvement of the community neighborhood watch and vigilantes in the fight against crime was assisting the command.

He said the command would continue to collaborate with traditional institutions, security and nongovernmental organisation, youth groups and other relevant agencies to make the state crime free.

The commissioner advised sister security agencies to ensure that dismissed officers were profiled and stripped of ammunitions to check the menace of criminally minded ex-servicemen.

According to him, criminally-minded ex-servicemen have tendency to use illicit weapons to terrorise the society. (NAN)
In a recent suicide bomb blast attack in Cameroon, in the early hours of Saturday, one person was confirmed dead and several others injured in the attack according to authorities in the country.

According to reports by Simonateba.com reports said that the attack took place in Kolofata, Cameroons far north region, close to the Nigerian border, said LOeil du Sahel newspaper. It was not clear whether the blast was carried out by a lone attacker or many.

LOeil du Sahel said that, For now, one dead and many people injured,

Since the inception of Boko Haram in the country, about 2000 civilians, at least 150 soldiers and policemen and displacing hundreds of thousands of people in a war that does not seem to go away.

Source : ( Punch Newspaper )
Kenule Ken Beeson Saro Wiwa (10 October 1941  10 November 1995) was a Nigerian writer, television producer, environmental activist, and winner of the Right Livelihood Award and the Goldman Environmental Prize. Saro-Wiwa was a member of the Ogoni people, an ethnic minority in Nigeria whose homeland, Ogoniland, in the Niger Delta has been targeted for crude oil extraction since the 1950s and which has suffered extreme environmental damage from decades of indiscriminate petroleum waste dumping.

Initially as spokesperson, and then as president, of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Saro-Wiwa led a nonviolent campaign against environmental degradation of the land and waters of Ogoniland by the operations of the multinational petroleum industry, especially the Royal Dutch Shell company. He was also an outspoken critic of the Nigerian government, which he viewed as reluctant to enforce environmental regulations on the foreign petroleum companies operating in the area.

At the peak of his non-violent campaign, he was tried by a special military tribunal for allegedly masterminding the gruesome murder of Ogoni chiefs at a pro-government meeting, and hanged in 1995 by the military dictatorship of General Sani Abacha. His execution provoked international outrage and resulted in Nigerias suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations for over three years.

Biography

A son of Ogoni chieftain Jim Wiwa, Ken was born in Bori, in the Niger Delta. He spent his childhood in an Anglican home and eventually proved himself to be an excellent student; he attended secondary school at Government College Umuahia and on completion obtained a scholarship to study English at the University of Ibadan and briefly became a teaching assistant at the University of Lagos.

However, he soon took up a government post as the Civilian Administrator for the port city of Bonny in the Niger Delta, and during the Nigerian Civil War was a strong supporter of the federal cause against the Biafrans. His best known novel, Sozaboy: A Novel in Rotten English, tells the story of a naive village boy recruited to the army during the Nigerian Civil War of 1967 to 1970, and intimates the political corruption and patronage in Nigerias military regime of the time. Saro-Wiwas war diaries, On a Darkling Plain, document his experience during the war. He was also a successful businessman and television producer. His satirical television series, Basi & Company, was wildly popular, with an estimated audience of 30 million.

In the early 1970s Saro-Wiwa served as the Regional Commissioner for Education in the Rivers State Cabinet, but was dismissed in 1973 because of his support for Ogoni autonomy. In the late 1970s, he established a number of successful business ventures in retail and real estate, and during the 1980s concentrated primarily on his writing, journalism and television production. His intellectual work was interrupted in 1987 when he re-entered the political scene, appointed by the newly installed dictator Ibrahim Babangida to aid the countrys transition to democracy. But Saro-Wiwa soon resigned because he felt Babangidas supposed plans for a return to democracy were disingenuous. Saro-Wiwas sentiments were proven correct in the coming years, as Babangida failed to relinquish power. In 1993, Babangida annulled Nigerias general elections that would have transferred power to a civilian government, sparking mass civil unrest and eventually forcing him to step down, at least officially, that same year.[citation needed]

Activism

In 1990, Saro-Wiwa began devoting most of his time to human rights and environmental causes, particularly in Ogoniland. He was one of the earliest members of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), which advocated for the rights of the Ogoni people. The Ogoni Bill of Rights, written by MOSOP, set out the movements demands, including increased autonomy for the Ogoni people, a fair share of the proceeds of oil extraction, and remediation of environmental damage to Ogoni lands. In particular, MOSOP struggled against the degradation of Ogoni lands by Royal Dutch Shell.

In 1992, Saro-Wiwa was imprisoned for several months, without trial, by the Nigerian military government.

Saro-Wiwa was Vice Chair of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) General Assembly from 1993 to 1995. UNPO is an international, nonviolent, and democratic organisation (of which MOSOP is a member). Its members are indigenous peoples, minorities, and unrecognised or occupied territories who have joined together to protect and promote their human and cultural rights, to preserve their environments and to find nonviolent solutions to conflicts which affect them.

In January 1993, MOSOP organised peaceful marches of around 300,000 Ogoni people  more than half of the Ogoni population  through four Ogoni urban centres, drawing international attention to their peoples plight. The same year the Nigerian government occupied the region militarily.

Arrest and execution

Saro-Wiwa was arrested again and detained by Nigerian authorities in June 1993 but was released after a month. On 21 May 1994 four Ogoni chiefs (all on the conservative side of a schism within MOSOP over strategy) were brutally murdered. Saro-Wiwa had been denied entry to Ogoniland on the day of the murders, but he was arrested and accused of incitement to them. He denied the charges but was imprisoned for over a year before being found guilty and sentenced to death by a specially convened tribunal. The same happened to other MOSOP leaders (Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel, and John Kpuine).

Some of the defendants lawyers resigned in protest against the alleged rigging of the trial by the Abacha regime. The resignations left the defendants to their own means against the tribunal, which continued to bring witnesses to testify against Saro-Wiwa and his peers. Many of these supposed witnesses later admitted that they had been bribed by the Nigerian government to support the criminal allegations. At least two witnesses who testified that Saro-Wiwa was involved in the murders of the Ogoni elders later recanted, stating that they had been bribed with money and offers of jobs with Shell to give false testimony  in the presence of Shells lawyer.

The trial was widely criticised by human rights organisations and, half a year later, Ken Saro-Wiwa received the Right Livelihood Award for his courage as well as the Goldman Environmental Prize.

On 10 November 1995, Saro-Wiwa and eight other MOSOP leaders (the Ogoni Ninewink were killed by hanging at the hands of military personnel. They were buried in Port Harcourt Cemetery.

In his satirical piece Africa Kills Her Sun first published in 1989, Saro-Wiwa in a resigned, melancholic mood foreshadowed his own execution.
After yesterdays missile attack on Syria, the US are planning another attack on the Syrians. This was made known by Ambassador Nikki Haley who delivered the warning at an emergency session of the UN Security Council called after the US strikes, which were launched to punish an alleged chemical weapons attack by Bashar al-Assads regime.

Assads ally Russia, meanwhile, declared President Donald Trumps first strike against the Damascus regime a violation of international law and an act of aggression.

Haley told the council, The United States took a very measured step last night, We are prepared to do more, but we hope it will not be necessary.

Haley said the strike destroyed an air field from which Washington believes Damascus launched the attack on rebel-held Khan Sheikhun, where 86 people including 27 children died this week.

Rights monitors warned, however, that Syrian jets were already flying sorties from the base again as night fell Friday.

The United States fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles from warships in the Mediterranean at the Shayrat airfield near Homs in central Syria.

Assads office called the strike foolish and irresponsible, and Moscow announced a series of retaliatory steps including plans to strengthen Syrian air defenses.

The United States will no longer wait for Assad to use chemical weapons without any consequences, Haley said. Those days are over.

 Russia accuses US 

The United States did not seek UN Security Council authorization for the military action that followed days of global outrage at images of dead children from the suspected sarin gas attack.

It was Trumps biggest military decision since taking office and marked a dramatic escalation in American involvement in Syrias protracted war.

The United States attacked the territory of sovereign Syria, Russian Deputy Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov told the council, denouncing a flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, in Florida to attend a summit between Trump and Chinas Xi Jinping, is due in Moscow next week for talks with President Vladimir Putin.

Im disappointed in that response from the Russians because it indicates their continued support for the Assad regime, said Tillerson.

In particular, he said, the response showed the Kremlins continued support for a regime that carries out these kinds of horrendous attacks on their own people.

I find it very disappointing but  sadly, I have to tell you  not all that surprising.

In Washington, a senior US official said Syria may have had help carrying out the alleged chemical attack, but stopped short of accusing Russia of complicity.

We are carefully assessing any information that would implicate the Russians knew or assisted with this capability, he said.

 A new phase 

While threatening further strikes, Haley also said it was time to press on with diplomatic efforts to achieve a political solution to end the war.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged restraint and a renewed push for peace in Syria, saying there is no other way to solve the conflict than through a political solution.

Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey all supported Washington, with Ankara also calling for a no-fly zone in Syria.

The Kremlin warned the US military action would inflict considerable damage on US-Russia ties.

It immediately suspended a deal with the United States aimed at avoiding clashes in Syrian airspace, though the foreign ministry did not scrap Tillersons visit.

 Low impact 

Trump announced the strike in a brief televised address.

Tonight I call on all civilized nations to join us in seeking to end this slaughter and bloodshed in Syria and also to end terrorism of all kinds and all types, he said.

Fired from the USS Porter and the USS Ross, the cruise missiles targeted radars, aircraft, air defense systems and other logistical components.

The Syrian Observatory said the US strike on the base killed eight Syrian military staff, including an army doctor. Syrias army had earlier said six people were killed in the strike, without specifying if they were military personnel or civilians.

Russias military said the strike had an extremely low military impact, with fewer than half the missiles reaching the base.

It destroyed six planes under repair and several buildings, including a storage depot and radio station, it said.

US officials said Russias military in Syria was informed of the strike beforehand in order to avoid casualties.

A Syrian military source said its armed forces had also received advance warning.

Russia has stood by Damascus despite the global uproar, insisting the chemical weapons that caused the deaths in Khan Sheikhun had been stockpiled by terrorists and possibly released by a conventional strike.

 Syrians welcome US strike 

In the blighted town itself, residents mourning their dead welcomed the US strike as a way to pressure Damascus.

God willing, these strikes will be a clear warning to Bashar al-Assad, to tell him: Bashar, enough killing and injustice against these people, said Abu Ali, a man in his 40s.

Opposition and rebel fighters, who have for years urged more direct US military action in support of their uprising, hailed the strike and called for more.

Source: ( Punch Newspaper )
It was an horrific sight in Anambra State as a woman identified as Mrs Theresa Obalumwas brutally hacked to death by one Mmadubueze Orakwulu on Friday morning in Mgbakwu, in Awka North Local Government Area of Anambra State.

Spokesperson for the Anambra State Police Command, Mrs Nkiru Nwode, who confirmed the incident told Channels TV that the suspect had already been killed and set ablaze before the arrival of the Police, adding that the Police has deposited the womans remains in the mortuary and investigation into the incident has commenced.

We deployed our men quickly to the place and when they got there, the angry mob had already set the suspect ablaze but we recovered the corpse of the deceased woman and we have evacuated the body to Isuaniocha Hospital. What has happened is very unfortunate but we have deposited the corpse for autopsy and at the same time, we will go into a discreet investigation and we will charge anyone found liable to such act to court. Mrs Nwode said.

The suspect who was set ablaze is about 38 years old and from what we gathered, they said he is a deportee from Morocco on grounds of drugs. So, whatever that must have led to the incident, I think it is premature to say but in the course of investigation, we will still brief the public on the outcome.

Relations of the deceased and sympathizers have expressed their grief over the the way and manner she was killed. Her husband, Mr Reginald Obalum, who is blind and incapacitated by sickness, expressed his grief over the loss.

He said, Im blind and it is my wife that caters to us, a family of nine people. She is the one that feeds us.

The Chairman of Abogu National Youth Association of Mgbakwu, Christian Chukwuma, while narrating the incident noted that the mental state of the suspect was unclear and pleaded that the security agencies and other relevant authorities should help confine mentally deranged members of the society in the appropriate places.

According to him, the incident marks the second time a violent attack such as that, would be happening in the community within a space of three months.
What Is the Acid-Test Ratio?

The acid-test ratio, commonly known as the quick ratio, uses a firm's balance sheet data as an indicator of whether it has sufficient short-term assets to cover its short-term liabilities.

Key Takeaways The acid-test, or quick ratio, compares a company's most short-term assets to its most short-term liabilities to see if a company has enough cash to pay its immediate liabilities, such as short-term debt.

The acid-test ratio disregards current assets that are difficult to liquidate quickly such as inventory.

The acid-test ratio may not give a reliable picture of a firm's financial condition if the company has accounts receivable that take longer than usual to collect or current liabilities that are due but have no immediate payment needed.

2:02 What Is The Quick Ratio?

Understanding the Acid-Test Ratio

In certain situations, analysts prefer to use the acid-test ratio rather than the current ratio (also known as the working capital ratio) because the acid-test method ignores assets such as inventory, which may be difficult to quickly liquidate. The acid test ratio is thus a more conservative metric.

Companies with an acid-test ratio of less than 1 do not have enough liquid assets to pay their current liabilities and should be treated with caution. If the acid-test ratio is much lower than the current ratio, it means that a company's current assets are highly dependent on inventory.

This is not a bad sign in all cases, however, as some business models are inherently dependent on inventory. Retail stores, for example, may have very low acid-test ratios without necessarily being in danger. The acceptable range for an acid-test ratio will vary among different industries, and you'll find that comparisons are most meaningful when analyzing peer companies in the same industry as each other.

For most industries, the acid-test ratio should exceed 1. On the other hand, a very high ratio is not always good. It could indicate that cash has accumulated and is idle, rather than being reinvested, returned to shareholders, or otherwise put to productive use.

Some tech companies generate massive cash flows and accordingly have acid-test ratios as high as 7 or 8. While this is certainly better than the alternative, these companies have drawn criticism from activist investors who would prefer that shareholders receive a portion of the profits.

Calculating the Acid-Test Ratio

The numerator of the acid-test ratio can be defined in various ways, but the main consideration should be gaining a realistic view of the company's liquid assets. Cash and cash equivalents should definitely be included, as should short-term investments, such as marketable securities.

Accounts receivable are generally included, but this is not appropriate for every industry. In the construction industry, for example, accounts receivable may take much more time to recover than is standard practice in other industries, so including it could make a firm's financial position seem much more secure than it is in reality.

The formula is:

Acid Test = Cash + Marketable Securities + A/R Current Liabilities where: A/R = Accounts receivable \begin{aligned} &\text{Acid Test} = \frac{ \text{Cash} + \text{Marketable Securities} + \text{A/R} }{ \text{Current Liabilities} } \\ &\textbf{where:} \\ &\text{A/R} = \text{Accounts receivable} \\ \end{aligned} Acid Test=Current LiabilitiesCash+Marketable Securities+A/Rwhere:A/R=Accounts receivable

Another way to calculate the numerator is to take all current assets and subtract illiquid assets. Most importantly, inventory should be subtracted, keeping in mind that this will negatively skew the picture for retail businesses because of the amount of inventory they carry. Other elements that appear as assets on a balance sheet should be subtracted if they cannot be used to cover liabilities in the short term, such as advances to suppliers, prepayments, and deferred tax assets.

The ratio's denominator should include all current liabilities, which are debts and obligations that are due within one year. It is important to note that time is not factored into the acid-test ratio. If a company's accounts payable are nearly due but its receivables won't come in for months, that company could be on much shakier ground than its ratio would indicate. The opposite can also be true.

Acid-Test Ratio Example

A company's acid-test ratio can be calculated using its balance sheet. Below is an abbreviated version of Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) balance sheet as of Jan. 27, 2022, showing the components of the company's current assets and current liabilities (all figures in millions of dollars):
A former heroin addict jailed for life for the murder of his friend during an argument over drugs has has his conviction upheld by the Court of Appeal.

Peter Jackson (aged 42), of Kerryhall Road, Fairhill, Co Cork had pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to the murder of Wexford man David Hamilton (aged 31) on May 4, 2012 at a house on Kerryhall Road.

He was found guilty by a jury and was given the mandatory life sentence by Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy on November 23, 2015.

During the trial, the court heard that Mr Jackson and Mr Hamilton were heroin users who went to a house on Kerryhall Road on May 4, 2012 to inject heroin.

Ms Pamela McHale (aged 26) from Cork, who was a friend of Mr Jackson, told the court that they had bought two bags of heroin earlier that day worth 50 each.

An argument started after Mr Jackson had cooked up the first bag of heroin and injected himself and Ms McHale but had difficulty finding a vein to inject Mr Hamilton.

"Peter and Dave got in a fight," she said. "He was trying to pull the foil off Peter and Peter gave him a dig and Dave gave Peter a dig. Peterpicked something up from the table and he swung."

Jackson moved to appeal his conviction last week through his barristers Dominic McGinn SC and James Burke BL instructed by solicitor Eddie Burke.

Mr McGinn said it was the defence's case that there was simply no evidence in the case to establish the necessary mental element of the crime.

Mr McGinn said there was evidence which tended to rebut the presumption that Jackson should be presumed to have intended the natural and probable consequences of his conduct.

But the trial judge failed to engage with how that presumption could have been rebutted by certain evidence, he submitted.

Dismissing this ground today, Mr Justice Birmingham said the Court of Appeal entirely agreed with the judge that this was not a case for a direction.

He said it was accepted that the judge dealt with the question of the presumption at several stages but was criticised for using the same language on each occasion, that she did not engage with the facts of the case and did not contextualise the presumption issue.

Mr Justice Birmingham said the court had fully and thoroughly considered the arguments and was quite satisfied that the criticisms were unfounded.

He said the trial judge's charge dealt with the ingredients for the offence of murder, the mental element required for murder and the relevance of the rebuttable presumption impecabbly. The phrase textbook charge came to mind.

The difficulty for the defence was that if one stabs someone in the chest with a steak knife with a 10-inch blade the conclusion that at least serious injury was intended is overwhelming, the judge said.

Turning to other grounds, Mr Justice Birmingham said the court was satisfied that the trial judge's remarks did not undermine the right to silence in an impermissible manner. Quite simply the remarks made were ones the judge was entitled to make.

He said the court saw no merit in the argument that the trial judge failed to instruct the jury on the option to disagree in a timely manner.

The trial judge might well have declined the defence request but given that she did not and in fact acceded to the defence request, this ground of appeal was rejected.

Mr Justice Birmingham, who sat with Mr Justice Alan Mahon and Mr Justice John Hedigan, said the court was not pursuaded that the trial was unsatisfactory or the conviction unsafe.

The appeal was therefore dismissed.
Cork to Stewart International Airport in New York State had been scheduled to begin in 2018 following the launch of Cork to TF Green Airport in Providence, Rhode Island this summer but that is currently looking unlikely, according to Bjrn Kjos.

Speaking in Dublin, Mr Kjos said the airlines calculations regarding the runway length and the carrying of fuel and passengers meant Cork to New York was not possible at present.

However he added that the airline had not given up hope, as it was working with Boeing on aircraft that could make the journey possible and that if their calculations finally added up, it would mean Cork flights to New York.

Cork Airports short runway by international standards has historically been the reason why most aircraft cannot fly transatlantic routes. Norwegian has calculated that a Boeing 737MAX can takeoff and land in Providence with the amount of fuel and passengers onboard but falls short of making it to Stewart, around 250km further inland.

He said: The problem in Cork is the runway. If it was longer it is highly likely we could have done Stewart. Normally Boeing end up producing a better aircraft than the prototype but it remains to be seen if it is possible to fly to Stewart. If possible, we will do it. As it looks with the figures we have so far, its a little bit too far.

It all depends on testing the new aircraft this summer whether Cork to New York can be included in the 2018 summer schedule, according to the airline. Mr Kjos rejected claims that Cork was used as a political pawn for Norwegian to receive permission to fly from Ireland to the US, saying it was the first city he had looked at as they were exploring the possibility.

Critics said Cork stakeholders did all the running but that Dublin, Shannon and Belfast received the most benefit with far more flights.

Cork was one of the first cities I ever looked at because a lot of people in the New York region originate from this area. There are a lot of Irish-Americans who have very close ties with that part of Ireland. It was no coincidence. We could have flown everything out of Dublin. I would reject that criticism because we are looking at catchment areas close to the Atlantic. Cork met that criteria and so did Shannon, and Dublin is a large catchment area. Passengers will always decide the number of flights, he said.

Norwegian is currently exploring linking up with Ryanair to provide European-wide low fares to the US, he confirmed. Streamlining their booking systems was taking time and once they had the correct interface within both platforms, it could happen, he said.

We want that possibility with Ryanair so that passengers can fly as an example into Cork and then with Ryanair go to Sicily or wherever they fly. Michael OLeary is thinking the same as me  what is good for the passenger is always good for the airlines. If we can find a system where passengers can fly all the way with low fares, then super, he said.

Mr Kjos was in Dublin to receive the Outstanding Contribution to Aviation award by the Irish Aviation Authority. Previous winners include IAG boss Willie Walsh and Qantas CEO Alan Joyce.
The company has rapidly recovered from the costly failure last year of its fire-prone Galaxy Note 7 device, despite a political scandal involving vice chairman, Jay Y. Lee, who appeared in a Seoul court yesterday. He was facing charges that included bribing ousted president, Park Geun-hye.

The global memory chip leader said first-quarter operating profit was likely 9.9 trillion won (8.2bn), compared with an average forecast of 9.4tn won from a Reuters survey of analysts. Revenue rose 0.4%, to 50tn won, just ahead of forecasts.

The semi-conductor business was likely the main driver for earnings, said Heungkuk Securities analyst, Lee Min-hee, adding that sales of mid-to-low tier smartphones also helped the mobile business remain profitable.

Samsung shares touched a record high of 2.134m won in late March, on expectations of record annual profit in 2017, as the South Korean tech giant bounced back from the embarrassing withdrawal of its Note 7 devices, due to combustible batteries.

Investors and analysts expect Samsung to report its best-ever quarterly profit in the current quarter, with the Galaxy S8 smartphone hitting the market on April 21 in Samsungs first premium device launch since the Note 7s withdrawal, in October.

Some researchers are forecasting that the S8, which sports the largest screens for Samsung high-end smartphones to date, will set a new first-year sales record.

All this is amid management upheaval at South Koreas biggest family-run conglomerate, with Lee, a third-generation leader, embroiled in a scandal that has already led to Parks removal from office for allegedly receiving bribes.

While Samsung will not provide detailed earnings results until the end of April, analysts tipped its chip division to earn a record 5.8tn won in the first quarter and propel the firm to its best overall operating profit since the third quarter of 2013.

Favourable memory market conditions will likely persist throughout 2017, due to diminishing production gains on investments and careful capacity management among chipmakers. Growing demand for more firepower, from devices such as smartphones and servers, has also pushed up margins for Samsung, and its rivals, in recent quarters.

Samsungs share price was marginally down by 0.5% yesterday.
A twice-extended deadline for submissions closed last night in the largest scheme of its kind in the history of the State.

All observations will be considered over the next few weeks with some consultation possibly to take place over observations which have been received and require clarity, a spokesperson said.

If a decision is taken to advance the scheme through detailed design, with whatever changes which may arise following the exhibition process, the process will be undertaken over the following six to eight months with a view to submitting the scheme for confirmation, as required under the Arterial Drainage Acts, to the minister for public expenditure and reform towards the end of the year.

Save Cork City, the campaign group leading the opposition to the OPWs proposals for the construction of direct defences and raised quay walls, lodged its submission last night and welcomed the level of engagement. With a ramped-up campaign during the week, it posted dozens of photographs on social media of city centre business owners who have also come out against the OPWs proposals.

Spokesman Sean Antoin O Muiri said it was vital the public engage in the process.

This project will define Cork for generations to come and it is vital that the right course of action is undertaken, he said.

Everyone should consider all the issues at stake here. People must be aware of what the full consequences of this proposal will be.

Earlier this week, Cork Chamber and Cork Business Association, made separate submissions, each backing the OPWs proposals.

CBA president Pat OConnell said the plan is the only viable option to protect Cork from devastating repeat flooding. Their plan has been well considered, studied and adapted to the needs of Cork City. It is based on similar situations in other towns and cities and has been proven to work.

Chamber chief executive Conor Healy said the OPW has already taken on board their concerns about the design and finish of proposed defences in some areas.

We will endorse further refinement such as an enhanced finish, the use of more glass panels at certain locations and a narrowing of the construction timeline.

But Save Cork City insisted that the scheme as proposed will not work, calling instead for alternative solutions including the construction of a tidal barrier in Cork harbour.

Former Green Party TD and senator Dan Boyle also made a submission. He described the OPWs proposals as over engineered, the raising of quay walls as a band aid approach, and criticised a decision, on cost grounds, to rule out a tidal barrage.

What is being suggested is insensitive to the character of Cork City. It ignores the special position of the river in the history and culture of the city. Imprisoning the river is not a solution.
The gathering will remember all those who died in the icy waters of the North Atlantic, with particular emphasis on the passengers who boarded the liner in the Co Cork town, then known as Queenstown.

The ceremony is being organised by Cobh Tourism and will start at 3pm.

A colour party from the Cobh Branch Organisation of National Ex-Servicemen (ONE) will parade from the old town hall at Lynchs Quay to the Titanic memorial in Pearse Square.

A wreath-laying ceremony will be held there, featuring a performance by the Commodore Male Voice Choir.

The Titanic memorial features the names of all 79 passengers who boarded the Titanic in Cobh on April 11, 1912, and who died four days later when the ship sank after hitting an iceberg.

All their names will be read out and a wreath will then be placed in the sea in memory of the near-1,500 people who were lost in the tragedy.

The ceremonies will conclude with Cobh Confraternity Bands rendition of the Last Post and Reveille.

Meanwhile, next Saturday Spike Island is hosting a special Aud and the Easter Rising tour.

The Aud was a German gun-running ship that was bringing 20,000 rifles and 1m rounds of ammunition for use by the IRA.

But the British had cracked the German secret codes some months before and were expecting the attempt.

The crew were captured and escorted to Cork harbour before they scuttled the ship, and they were held on Spike Island before being sent to Britain as prisoners of war.

The boat to Spike Island on Saturday departs Cobh at 3pm and returns at 6.30pm.

Visitors can enjoy the new exhibition dedicated to the Aud incident and will be treated to a short talk on the fascinating story.

They will hear a reading from a letter by a living relative of the Auds crew and also from the German Ambassador to Ireland.
Appearing before the Seanad Brexit committee, Mr Ahern said Ireland has every right to bilaterally negotiate with the UK on certain issues and we only have a short window of opportunity to act on the Good Friday Agreement.

He added: For the life of me I dont understand or accept the argument that were precluded from those issues. However, Mr Kenny claimed Mr Aherns comments were not correct.

He is wrong and I respect the work that Bertie Ahern did when he was taoiseach in respect of the Good Friday Agreement.

The Taoiseach added he had discussed the Northern Ireland situation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel when they met on Thursday but he stressed the Government is not asking Europe for anything that is not already there in the Good Friday Agreement.

Speaking in Berlin, Mr Kenny added: Its written into the agreement voted on North and South by the people, enshrined in an internationally legally binding agreement and lodged in the UN. What I am clear about is that in the context of the Good Friday Agreement if the people in Northern Ireland by consent at some time in the future decide that they should join with the Republic to have a United Ireland we want what is already contained in the Good Friday Agreement as part of the negotiated outcome by the European union. We are not asking them for anything that is not already there. This is a different situation altogether than applies to Gibraltar.

He said he mentioned the possibility of a united Ireland to Ms Merkel in the context of the reunification East Germany. Thats the precedent that I used. Its one that obviously enabled East Germany to easily join the EU when the wall came down in 1989.

Mr Kenny said Ms Merkel had asked quite a lot of questionson the impact Brexit will have on Ireland and Northern Ireland.
At a brief hearing yesterday morning at the High Court, legal representatives of Mr Bailey and the Minister for Justice agreed to put the case back until May 12 to allow time to file affidavits.

Robert Barron, senior counsel, for the justice minister, said he had received points of objection and would need time to consider them. Mr Justice Tony Hunt adjourned the case to May 12 and asked each side to submit affidavits by May 5.
The low-fares giant, which is set to launch its first transatlantic routes from Ireland to the US east coast this summer, confirmed yesterday that the iconic portrait of Kerry-born Crean with his trademark pipe, will appear in giant form on the tailfins of its new 737MAX aircraft which will serve the new routes from Cork, Shannon, and Dublin airports to New England and New York from July.

Kenmare-based Aileen Crean OBrien said her family is delighted at the honour, which they hope will raise awareness both here in Ireland and in the US of Creans heroic polar exploits.

She said: Norwegian has always sought to honour iconic figures who embody a pioneering, innovative and inspiration spirit, and Tom certainly had all those qualities.

But I cant help thinking what would Tom make of it all. Hed probably just walk up the field and wonder what all the fuss was about. He was such a modest man.

We are the caretakers of his memory and his legacy and we do all we can to preserve and honour his name and memory. Its sad that it was an airline from another country that was first to do this, but were delighted.

Norwegian has always honoured iconic figures on the tails of its aircraft. Many are Scandinavian, including legendary polar explorer Roald Amundsen. But to reflect its rapid growth in other markets, it has launched a series of new tailfin heroes featuring figures from the UK, Spain, and now Ireland.

Manchester-based Tim Foley, whose father was born near Creans homeplace in Annascaul, and who is spearheading the Ireland Should Honour Tom Crean Facebook campaign, also welcomed the accolade.

The more I researched Tom Crean, the more he became a hero for me, but there is little formal recognition of his greatness in Ireland, said Tim.

This honour from Norwegian puts Irish decision makers to shame. But this is fantastic news. It suits Tom Creans story to a tee. Im very proud.

Aileen Crean with a life-size replica emperor penguin at the Tom Crean Fish and Wine Restaurant, Kenmare. Picture: Domnick Walsh

Born in Kerry in 1877, Crean joined the Royal Navy at 15, and went go on to become one of the greatest polar explorers, spending more time on the ice than either Robert Scott or Ernest Shackleton.

He was on Scotts first expedition, Discovery, from 1901-04, on Scotts tragic Terra Nova expedition to the South Pole from 1910-13, and finally on Shackletons disastrous Endurance expedition from 1914-16.

His legendary status was cemented during the Terra Nova expedition when he marched 18 hours, without a sleeping bag or tent, across treacherous terrain to get help for a stricken colleague.

It earned him the Albert Medal  the highest award for gallantry  and is still regarded as one of the greatest single-handed acts of bravery in the history of Antarctic exploration.

In 1916, Crean played a central role in Shackletons Endurance expedition when he helped sail the tiny James Caird boat across the treacherous Southern Ocean, before walking 65km across the mountains and glaciers of South Georgia to bring rescuers to his 22 comrades left stranded on Elephant Island.

He returned to Kerry in 1920 but rarely spoke of his exploits.

Norwegian CEO Bjorn Kjos said Creans strength, stature and leadership qualities perfectly capture the essence of Norwegians tailfin heroes. Tom Crean is an unsung hero and a truly inspirational figure so it is a great honour to have him adorn our aircraft and become our first ever Irish tailfin hero, said Mr Kjos.

Business: 20
A murder inquiry has been opened into Mr OMahonys death and a local farmer from Rattoo has been charged with murder.

Parish priest Father Brendan Walsh told the congregation at the Church of Saint Peter and Pauls that Tuesdays dreadful events have shattered and broken the lives of two families. The priest also drew a contrast between the church last Friday which was full of joy and laughter with the confirmation of 35 young people: Today there is no laughter.

He assured the community he will be visible and he will support them. In his nine years as their priest in Ballyduff and Causeway, he has always been impressed with the way the people rallied around each other.

There is so much goodness, so much kindness, so much care among the people of Causeway and Ballyduff, Fr Walsh said.

The funeral cortege leaving the church after the Requiem mass for Anthony OMahony at St Peter and Pauls Church, Ballyduff. Pictures: Dan Linehan

Anthony OMahony had been a hard-working, intelligent man, who grew tomatoes under glass and acres of rhubarb in his farm at Ardoughter, the priest recalled. Whatever he produced was known and sought the length and breadth of Ireland and beyond, the priest said.

He hurled with Ballyduff in his youth, had a great love of sport and the GAA, and would have been keenly interested in the Kerry-Dublin match on Sunday. He was also keen on horse racing and enjoyed a flutter. As well as the grain and farm magazine, a daily newspaper was placed on the altar.

Prayers of the faithful said by nieces and nephews asked for consolation of the bereaved, and were said for the gardai and emergency services and Fr Brendan for his great kindness and consoling words in the past few days.

The altar was adorned with red and white flowers, a choir sang; and the church sacristan, Michael Guerin, sang Take my hand Precious Lord at the request of the family and was given a round of applause. Mourners included the late Mr OMahonys brother Seamus and his sister Angela (Houlihan) and their spouses and children.

Fr Walsh also welcomed Brother OHehir who taught the late Anthony 50 years ago in Warrenstown agricultural college. Superintendent Dan Keane and Detective Sergeant John Heaslip paid their respects before Mass.

Anthony OMahony was laid to rest at nearby Rahela Cemetery, Ballyduff.
Fishing vessels from Mayo, Sligo, and Donegal will come together in a fleet of approximately 100 boats to comb a 1,000 sq km area of the north-west coast.

Today is day 26 of the search operation for the Irish Coast Guard R116, after the helicopter crashed off the Mayo coast, near Blackrock lighthouse, on March 14.

While the craft has been retrieved and the bodies of Captain Mark Duffy and Captain Dara Fitzpatrick have been found, the search continues for Paul Ormsby and Ciaran Smith.

This week, Ciarans sister Orla Smith made an appeal to all fishermen to help bring the missing crew members home.

Orla Smith, sister of missing winchman Ciaran Smith.

When that call went out that was the impetus for us. We had been wanting to help but that call copperfastened it for us, Sean ODonoghue, chief executive of the Killybegs Fishermens Organisation, told the Irish Examiner.

We have huge empathy with the Irish Coast Guard, all the times theyve saved our lives.

The 1,000 sq km sea area is divided into eight boxes, going as far out to sea as 100km from Donegal Bay and covers the coast from Blackrock lighthouse to Arranmore Island.

The extensive search area which will be covered, with over 100 fishing vessels involved.

Gerard Flynn, head of search operations for the Irish Coast Guard, explained the weekends proceedings. From a safety perspective, we learned that they (fishing vessels) wanted to become involved in the search and it is being done in conjunction with the RNLI and the Irish Coast Guard.

The area will be divided and a local Coast Guard rib or RNLI boat will be assigned to each division. Its a very, very strong message from the fishing community, said Mr Flynn.

The contribution by volunteers is an integral part of the search and I want to continue my thanks to them, from Irish Coast Guard and RNLI volunteers to Civil Defence members and the local community.

This weekends search operation will cover air, sea and land.

Mr Flynn explained how the search operation is divided into four elements: Air (using Irish Coast Guard, Air Corps helicopters, and Civil Defence drones); sea surface (using the RNLI, Irish Naval ships, and vessels of opportunity); sub-surface (using the Marine Institute and the Air Accident Investigation Unit on board the Granuaile); and shoreside (using local coast guards and Civil Defence volunteers).

The Coast Guard is assisting An Garda Siochana and the Air Accident Investigation Unit in conjunction with other agencies, he said.

Sixty vessels will come from the Killybegs area. There will be approximately 400 fishermen onboard the vessels.

Another 40 vessels are from the Mayo area and there will be about 120 fishermen onboard these.

They will begin combing the area from 6.30am today and will work on into tomorrow.

Up to 100 locals from the Mullet peninsula will support the huge sea search this weekend.

We have boxes of food prepared for the boats  tea, coffee, rolls  and they will be distributed from various locations around the coast out on to the boats, said John Gallagher, chairman of Comharchumann (co-op) Forbartha Ionad Deirbhile, in Eachleim.

He said the centre has been receiving financial donations from all around Ireland, including 3,000 from the Aran Islands, as well as from emergency service staff in Beaumont Hospital.

Separate to the 600-plus volunteers, there will be more than 100 staff carrying out searches from the various state agencies and voluntary bodies such as the Civil Defence and RNLI.
The hardships imposed were and are real. The changes in Greeks standard of living, despite a series of international rescue deals, have been profound and chastening.

Those doubts may have been influenced by Greeces inability  or reluctance  to deliver promised reforms or even establish a relatively robust tax collection system. Those doubts are informed too by the fact that Greeks took to the streets and violently opposed measures outside voices demanded if their economy was to secure ongoing support.
The latest "Star Wars Rebels" Season 4 spoilers coming from a recently released teaser reveal that Ahsoka may return in the popular series. There are also rumors that Saw Gerrera and Mon Mothma are also coming back. If all of these are true, fans can expect a more exciting story for the upcoming season.

Ahsoka Will Make A Grand Return

The spoilers saying that Ahsoka will be coming back in "Star Wars Rebels" Season 4 are sourced from Robbie of Star Wars HQ. He is speculating that a grand return of Ahsoka is being hinted at by a teaser trailer that was recently released. He was saying that when the showrunners showed the trailers, a song was played in the background which might have suggested the return of Ahsoka.

That particular song, according to Robbie, is "Ahsoka's Theme." In that vein, he speculated that this could be one of the "Star Wars Rebels" Season 4 spoilers that indicate Ahsoka is coming back. In what shape or form, he said he has no clue. Although he guessed that she will return in a force field form.

Saw Gerrera Is Also Coming Back

But other spoilers of "Star Wars Rebels" Season 4 are also suggesting that Saw Gerrera and Mon Mothma may also come back to the series. These leaks are coming from none other than the producer of the show's season three, Dave Filoni. He shared this information on the Rebels Recon YouTube series.

In elaborating his spoilers, Filoni said that fans should expect more insights to be given on the relationship between Mon Mothma and Saw Gerrera, how it was founded and how it will break apart. He also added that Mandalore will be featured a lot more in "Star Wars Rebels" Season 4. Filoni also mentioned that this series could be a way for them to complete the story of the "Clone Wars."

The Show May Air This Fall

With regards to its release date, the producer didn't give any exact date but only mentioned that it might be released this fall. Fans will recall that season three of "Star Wars Rebels" was released in late September. So perhaps season four will also air in late September 2017.
There is another smartphone battle going on and this time it is Galaxy S8 vs LG G6. Samsung gave the world its first look at their latest flagship on Mar. 29, while LG's new-fangled will already launch this coming week. But even before both devices dropped in the market and into the hands of users, reviews already abound comparing both systems. Samsung is always a crowd favorite, but LG is not something one can thumb one's nose at.

In this Galaxy S8 vs LG G6 face-off, the first thing to be discussed is the overall design. If the photo leaks are accurate, then Samsung's latest device will have a curved screen, much like their S7 Edge, and will also be thin. The S8 is also likely foregoing the home button with a virtual one in favor of a slimmer bottom bezel. Unfortunately, the fingerprint sensor also transferred places and is now situated beside the rear camera. Meanwhile, the competition has a flat screen framed with metal and backed with glass. The LG G6 is also lighter and more compact compared to its rival even if it is a tad thicker. LG also designed their latest handset to be both dust- and water-resistant so users won't have to worry about accidental spills destroying their devices. Unlike its rival, its fingerprint sensor is located smartly below the camera.

When it comes to phone display, it is a tie in the Galaxy S8 vs LG G6 showdown. The latter's latest flagship features an almost 6-inch display with a matching 2960x1440 resolution. Reportedly, the former's upcoming smartphone will have a same-sized tall display. Both devices also have similar widths. This means that both can display more items and reduce scrolling.

In this smartphone battle featuring Galaxy S8 vs LG G6, cameras also are an important thing. LG has dual 13 MP cameras at the rear, while the front camera is only 5 MP. Galaxy S8, on the other hand, will supposedly have a 12 MP rear camera and an 8 MP front camera. It sounds like the latter is taking the lead here, but one of LG's lenses can capture wide-angle shots. It is not yet clear if the S8 will have a similar feature, but most leaks already point to it not have dual lens.

Lastly, taking into account their processors, it is already clear who the runaway winner is in the Galaxy S8 vs LG G6 face-off. LG G6 is powered by the Snapdragon 821 making its processing speed faster. Additionally, the 835 CPU allows it to be more efficient and to have enhanced VR performance. The two things combined gives the G6 longer battery life. However, Samsung's Galaxy S8 has already been given by Qualcomm exclusive early access to Snapdragon 835. It would be powered by the latest chip, making it more powerful than its contemporary smartphones.
Outlander Season 3 has yet to air but updates for future installments and maybe even a possible spinoff have just been released. It has been reported that the production crew is preparing to head off to a new set. The plot for the planned spin-off has been revealed as well.

Outlander Next Location Eyes Stirling Village

Starz has already scheduled Outlander Season 3 to air this September and even the fourth season has already been booked. While fans are still waiting for the third season to be released, the show is reportedly already preparing for next installment as news came out that the production team has already set their eyes on the outer parts of Cambusbarron, a village in Stirling, Scotland. It has been further revealed that the production team is preparing to stay at the said location for at least a year.

Hugh Gourlay, the supervising location manager for the said Starz show has planned to shoot the series in Murrays Wood and Murrayshall Quarry, which are located in the Gillies Hill, an area of woodland in Cambusbarron. Alan Rennie, chairman of the Cambusbarron Community Council, said that if the location is finalized, the production will involve the entire community as well as the school children. Outlander Season 4 doesnt have a release date yet but it will be based on Diana Gabaldons novel, Drums Of Autumn, where Brianna goes back in time to save her parents.

Outlander Spinoff In The Works?

Outlander is no doubt a popular show and it wouldnt be a surprise that possible spin-offs would be in the works. In fact, since last year, rumors of various spin-offs have made the news but it seems like it really will be happening sooner or later. The plot for the possible spin-off has been revealed and it is said to take place after the Battle of Culloden, which was tackled in Outlander Season 2 and will be covered as well in Outlander Season 3.

The spin-off is being worked on by some of the cast, Andy McAlindon, Grant McGregor, Jon Dan Duncan, Jay Graham, and Barry Stewart. All of them are extras that participated in the shoot of Battle of Culloden in Cumbernauld. They revealed that they are almost done with the screenplay and that they will be looking for funding next to produce the spin-off in Scotland. They explained that they were so inspired by the Outlander series and even had fun during the shoot that they wanted to showcase more about the aftermath of the said battle.
Today

Sunshine to start, then a few afternoon clouds. High near 80F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.

Tonight

Partly cloudy. Low 61F. Winds WSW at 15 to 25 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.

Tomorrow

Sunshine along with some cloudy intervals. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 69F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph.
Primo Water Corp. announced Friday final settlements in two of the three material legal disputes facing the Winston-Salem company.

The first involves reaching a resolution with two former Texas regional distribution operators.

The company was sued in August 2014 by Artesia Springs LLC, HOD Enterprises LP, and BBB Water Inc. in Texas state court. The lawsuit was soon transferred to federal court.

The companies claimed breach of contract, conspiracy and fraud. They sought monetary damages and injunctive relief. The case was dismissed without prejudice in Texas court with the judge saying claims would have to be pursued in North Carolina courts.

In April 2015, the companies started arbitration proceedings, with Primo filing counterclaims against Artesia and HOD in October 2015. Claims with BBB Water were resolved in December 2015.

The arbitrators permitted Artesia and HOD to add a claim for unfair and deceptive trade practices in July 2016.

Primo said Friday that a settlement with Artesia and HOD has resulted in a combined $3.8 million charge, of which $2.6 million will be claimed as a nonrecurring charge in the first quarter.

Primo also reached a resolution involving its Omnifrio deferred payment liability.

The resolution will result in Primo gaining $1.2 million in operating income, a cash payment of $700,000 and the sale of certain assets related to its discontinued Flavorstation operations.

We are pleased to have resolved these contingencies as we remain focused on the tremendous growth potential available to us through our recent acquisition of Glacier Water and the extension of our DS Services contract, Billy Prim, chief executive of Primo, said in a statement.

Primo said in its fiscal 2016 report it had deferred $1.9 million in purchase price payments toward the Omnifrio legal dispute. The recorded amount represents our best estimate of the loss expected to be incurred, Primo said in the 2016 report.

The payment was related to the April 2011 acquisition of certain intellectual property and other assets from Omnifrio Beverage Co. LLC for $13.1 million.

Flavorstation, a home carbonation, soda-dispensing machine, has been hyped as not only Primos best chance at diversifying its product mix, but also as the top likely competitor for industry leader SodaStream.

In November 2012, Primo sold Flavorstation assets to Cuisinart for an undisclosed price as part of a three-year licensing and distribution.

At that time, the company said it had decided to focus solely on its water business.
Federal and state regulators have approved the $1.9 billion sale of BNC Bancorp of High Point to Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc.

The all-stock deal, announced Jan. 23, required permission from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions and North Carolina Office of the Commissioner of Banks.

The deal still needs approvals from both banks shareholders. The banks expect to close the transaction in late June or early July.

BNC has so much to contribute, and with both teams fully integrated into one company, we believe our combined efforts will make us one of the premier financial services firms in the Southeast, Terry Turner, Pinnacles president and chief executive, said in a statement

It would be Pinnacles first presence in the Carolinas and Virginia, gaining 76 BNC branches, including 20 in the Triad and three in Forsyth County. Pinnacle Bank would be the surviving brand.

Pinnacle would keep an operational hub in High Point, led by BNC chief executive and president Rick Callicutt, who would become chairman of Pinnacles Carolinas and Virginia region.

The proposed deal would allow Pinnacle to move closer to becoming a top-50 bank with nearly $19 billion in total assets once it acquires BNCs $7.4 billion as of Dec. 31. Pinnacle has $11.4 billion in total assets. It could become the nations 36th largest bank in terms of market capitalization.

Pinnacle will cover a four-state footprint with presence in 12 of the largest urban markets in the Southeast, gaining the Triad, Triangle and Charlotte markets in North Carolina, Greenville-Spartanburg and Charleston in South Carolina; and Roanoke in Virginia.

The deal, when completed, would leave BB&T Corp. as the only major bank based in the Triad.

Pinnacle would own 60 percent of the combined bank, while BNC would own 36 percent and a separate group of private-equity investors 4 percent through a planned $175 million Tier 1 capital raise.

I challenge you to find a better fitting target for our goals than BNC, Turner said. This merger is consistent with Pinnacles strategy to become the dominant bank in Southeastern commercial banking.

Brian Martin, an analyst with FIG Partners of Atlanta, called the proposed deal as positive for Pinnacle as it is consistent with their strategy of becoming one of the dominant commercial banks in the Southeast.

The acquisition of BNC checks these boxes and does not come as a surprise, Martin said.

In our view, Pinnacle is paying a rich but fair price to significantly increase its scale in some of the best urban high-growth southeast markets.

There will be four BNC directors, including Callicutt and former Wachovia Corp. top executive Ken Thompson, joining the Pinnacle board, expanding it to 18 members.

Thompson represents private-equity group Aquiline Capital Partners LLC on the BNC board. Aquiline holds 1.51 million shares and a 3.1 percent stake. Aquiline spent at least $120 million to acquire that holding.
KANSAS CITY, Mo.  Even for a president who advertised his coldblooded pragmatism, the moral dimensions of leadership find a way of penetrating the Oval Office. In the case of President Trump, the emotional distance seems to have been shattered by simple, indelible images of suffering children in Idlib, Syria.

When you kill innocent children, innocent babies  babies!  little babies ... that crosses many, many lines. Beyond a red line, many, many lines, Trump said Wednesday, his voice high and stretched, after pictures surfaced of lifeless infants choked to death by poison gas.

The recognition: The Syria slaughter is now my responsibility. And the admission: I do change.

With that conviction, Trump took military action Thursday night, ordering retaliatory missile attacks on a Syrian air base. American interventionism is our best and worst national trait. Historically, until 1941, the United States was a reluctant warrior, fearful of foreign entanglement. Thursday marked the 100th anniversary of Americas entry into World War I, a conflict that still drips with senseless, dutiful killing. The young men of Europe had been slaughtering each other since 1914, but on the other side of the Atlantic it was America First until Congress backed Woodrow Wilson and declared war on April 6, 1917.

Trumps wariness on Syria had been like President Barack Obamas: He said repeatedly, over the past six years and during the campaign, that he opposed more headlong U.S. military actions in quests that might be morally urgent but strategically fuzzy. Republican hawks such as Sens. John McCain (Ariz.) and Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) had blasted Obamas reluctance to intervene, but not Trump. Back in 2013, hed argued against calls to bomb Syria in retaliation for President Bashar al-Assads use of chemical weapons.

Given that Trumps view of Syria was so similar to Obamas, his attempt to blame the latest chemical attack there on his predecessors alleged weakness was especially dubious. It displayed his embattled, defensive self-image: He is a victim of someone elses bad decisions. A similarly immature blame-shifting troubled many military leaders after Navy SEAL William Ryan Owens died in a Special Operations forces raid in Yemen. This was something ... they wanted to do  the generals, who are very respected. ... And they lost Ryan, Trump said.

Why did Assad use nerve gas in Idlib? Its impossible to know. Maybe it was a signal to an increasingly aggressive Israel that he still had chemical weapons, or maybe it was a warning to Russia that he wasnt a pawn to be traded in a grand bargain with Trump. But most likely, it was a reaction to the free hand he was seemingly given when Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said a few days earlier during a visit to Turkey that Assads future will be decided by the Syrian people  meaning that the United States no longer demanded his departure.

Trump has now taken a decisive step that Obama resisted, but he still faces a dilemma of how to bring political change to a Syria shattered by six years of civil war. The irony is that Trump faces the same bad military options for pressing the attack in western Syria beyond this initial strike that Obama did. U.S. military commanders have focused on the battle against the Islamic State in eastern Syria. The Pentagon has a plan for a relatively rapid conquest of Raqqa, the de facto capital of the caliphate of the Islamic State, with a force led by Syrian Kurdish fighters. U.S. troops will augment this assault with heavy artillery, Apache helicopter gunships and forward-deployed advisers. Its a pragmatic plan for ending the Islamic State terrorist threat quickly, even at the risk of offending Turkey and leaving Assad and the political muddle in Damascus. This plan had all the pieces except a final White House stamp of approval.

Then came those pictures of the Syrian children. With Thursday nights action, Trump reached one of those unforeseen tipping points on which decisions of war and peace so often rest: the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915, the Zimmermann telegram of 1917, Pearl Harbor in 1941, the Gulf of Tonkin attack in 1964, the Iraqi WMD delusion in 2003. What all these triggers for war have in common is that people didnt see them coming.

The World War I centennial is especially haunting as we think about the choices Trump still faces in Syria. A century later, that conflict is still unfathomable, more like a mystery than a settled narrative. Historians who gathered at the National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Mo., debated Thursday why it began and why the treaty that ended the conflict proved so unstable.

Trump might study the example of Harry S. Truman, another president who came to office radically unprepared for the global responsibilities he faced. World War I had made Truman. He commanded an artillery battery in the Argonne Forest. Like so many people caught up in war, he didnt know what he could do until he was tested. Trump now better appreciates the truth of Trumans famous line: The buck stops here.
INGRID THOFT





Tucked away in Seattles International District, youll find the Kobe Terrace park. With its pine and cherry trees and stone lantern, the park offers a quiet respite in the city, compliments of the citizens of Kobe, Japan. Seattle and Kobe are sister citiesSeattle has twenty-one sister citiesand theyve shared a bond since Sister Cities International (SCI) was launched in 1956.

th anniversary and given the current political climate and various conflicts around the globe, its mission is as relevant today as it was in 1956. Seeing people as individuals who are a sum of their parts, not just a religion or a political party, would go a long way to humanizing and de-escalating the acrimony of the times. Sister Cities International recently celebrated its 60anniversary and given the current political climate and various conflicts around the globe, its mission is as relevant today as it was in 1956. Seeing people as individuals who are a sum of their parts, not just a religion or a political party, would go a long way to humanizing and de-escalating the acrimony of the times.





Created as a bi-partisan nonprofit by President Eisenhower, the organizations mission was to foster peace and prosperity between citizens of foreign countries. Started not long after the end of World War II, the birth of SCI was seen as an optimistic and bold move. One of the earliest partnerships was between Seattle and Tokyolargely for trade purposesbut a surprising alliance given the deep wounds of the war. A speech by President Eisenhower at the time, identified the unique and vital role that individuals could play in bringing peace to the world:





If we are going to take advantage of the assumption that all people want peace, then the problem is for people to get together and to leap governmentsif necessary to evade governmentsto work out not one method but thousands of methods by which people can gradually learn a little bit more of each other.









Its no surprise that Seattle has a sisterly relationship with cities in Asia, given the citys location and business relationships. Nor was I surprised that Bergen, Norway is also on the list; Seattles Ballard neighborhood was traditionally a destination for Norwegian immigrants and still cherishes that part of its history. But other sister cities like Gdynia, Poland and Sihanoukville, Cambodia have less obvious connections. And the relationship isnt always smooth sailing. During the Amanda Knox murder case, relations were strained between Seattle and its Italian sister city, Perugia.





A spin of the globe landed on Essaouira, a seaside town in Morocco . Its location on the ocean holds great appeal, and the art, architecture, and textiles of the region are spectacular. A city so different from any place Ive lived would undoubtedly provide rich opportunities for learning about another culture and other religions. Im not the only one whos drawn to Essaouira, however; its already a sister city with La Rochelle, France. If I were to choose a sister city for myself, which city would I chose?. Its location on the ocean holds great appeal, and the art, architecture, and textiles of the region are spectacular. A city so different from any place Ive lived would undoubtedly provide rich opportunities for learning about another culture and other religions. Im not the only one whos drawn to Essaouira, however; its already a sister city with La Rochelle, France.





If you have had to choose a sister city for yourself (were just brainstorming, so its allowed) or your town or city, where would you choose? And why?
The Nebraska Supreme Court [official website] on Friday upheld [opinion, PDF download] a lower court decision overruling the state of Nebraskas long-time ban on same sex partner foster parenting. In doing so, the court compared the ban to signs reading whites only on the hiring office door. The 1995 ban was first challenged in this case in 2013, brought by three same-sex couples along with several interest groups. The trial court had ruled [opinion, PDF] in favor of the parents, and the state appealed. On the state supreme court ruling, ACLU of Nebraska [official website] Executive Director Danielle Conrad said, this is a victory for children and LGBT Nebraskans. There are tens of thousands of LGBT people who call the Cornhusker State home and thousands of Nebraska children in need of a foster care placement.

Same-sex marriage continues to be a hotly debated issue, both in the US and abroad. On the same day as the Nebraska decision, the City of Osaka, Japan became the first city in the country to recognize same-sex couples [JURIST report] as foster parents. Last December, a legislative committee in the Taiwan Parliament approved a bill that would amend the Taiwan Civil Code to allow same-sex marriage [JURIST report]. The Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee approved a change in the Code from male and female parties into two parties, which would allow homosexual couples to be legally wed. In September tens of thousands of people marched [JURIST report] in Mexico in protest of same-sex marriage, a controversial topic in the country further exacerbated by a proposal from embattled President Enrique Pena Nieto to recognize same-sex marriage.
The US Department of Labor (DOL) [official website] on Friday accused [Guardian report] Google [corporate website] of engaging in compensation discrimination against female employees. As part of an ongoing investigation, DOL Regional Director Janette Wipper stated, we found systemic compensation disparities against women pretty much across the entire workforce. Google denied the allegation, and the investigation will continue. These allegations came during a hearing in an ongoing lawsuit [press release] filed [complaint, PDF] by the DOL against Google in January arising out of an audit for federal law compliance review.

Just last month the US District Court for the Northern District of California rejected [JURIST report] a settlement in a class action lawsuit between non-Gmail users and Google based on an allegation that Google illegally scanned the e-mails of non-Gmail users in their correspondence with Gmail users for targeted advertising purposes. In January, the DOL filed a lawsuit JURIST report] against Oracle America, Inc. alleging the leading technology company has a systemic practice of paying Caucasian male workers more than their counterparts in the same job title. The Secret Service [JURIST report] has also faced employment discrimination allegations and in January agreed to a $24 million settlement with 10 black agents who accused the agency of racial discrimination in a 2000 federal lawsuit
Neil M. Gorsuch has been confirmed in a 54-45 vote [materials] by the Senate as the 113th justice of the US Supreme Court. Gorsuch was a judge [official profile] on the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit [government website] in Colorado before becoming President Donald Trumps nominee [JURIST report] to fill the seat left vacant following the death of Antonin Scalia. Gorsuch will be sworn in [press release] at a private ceremony in the Justices Conference Room of the Supreme Court at 9 a.m. on Monday. A public Oath Ceremony will take place at the White House later in the day. The vote to confirm Gorsuch was nearly split along party lines. Ultimately, three Democrats voted for Gorsuch: Joe Manchin, Joe Donnelly, and Heidi Heitkamp [official websites]. Georgia Republican Johnny Isakson did not vote.

Gorsuchs confirmation caps a contentious battle between Democrats and Republicans over the Supreme Court vacancy. Following Scalias death in February 2016, then-President Barack Obama nominated [JURIST report] federal appellate judge Merrick Garland. Senate Republicans refused to consider [JURIST commentary] Garland, insisting that the next president should chose the nominee. Following Trumps election to the White House and Republican retention of control over the Senate, nomination of a conservative judge appeared likely. Trump fostered intrigue over his nomination by releasing a list of 21 potential nominees [Politico report] before ultimately selecting Gorsuch. Despite a Republican majority in the Senate, Gorsuchs confirmation was not unchallenged. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell had to invoke the so-called nuclear option [NYT report] to bypass a filibuster by Democrats, which reduced the number of votes needed to invoke cloture from 60 to 50. The move was necessary because the 52 Republican members of the Senate would not have the votes to defeat the filibuster without Democratic support.
US Speaker of the House Paul Ryan on Friday called for President Donald Trump [official website] to consult Congress on potential further action following a military strike [WH press release] on Syria. While Ryan says [The Hill report] that it was within the Presidents to authorize the launch, he further stated that now is the appropriate time for the administration to consult with Congress as it considers next steps to resolve the long-running crisis in Syria. Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution [LII backgrounder] grants the Congress the power to declare war. The President derives the power to direct the military [LII backgrounder] after a Congressional declaration of war from Article II, Section II, naming the President as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces

The war in Syria [JURIST backgrounder] continues to have a devastating impact, particularly in the war-torn region of Aleppo. In February, according to HRW [advocacy site], the Syrian government conducted [JURIST report] coordinated chemical attacks on rebel-controlled portions of Aleppo. The same month, more than 13,000 prisoners were hanged [JURIST report] in extrajudicial executions over a 5-year period at Saydnaya prison. Last Wednesday, The UN Security Council conducted emergency talks on Wednesday regarding an alleged chemical attack in Syria that killed numerous civilians [JURIST report]. Following that on Thursday evening, the U.S. military attacked Syria-government airfield with 59 Tomahawk missiles [CNBC News].
A Tunisian Court [official website] sentenced British DJ Dax J [professional profile] to a year in prison on Thursday for public indecency and offending public morality after the artist played [guardian report] a remix of the Muslim call to prayer in a nightclub. The nightclub was subsequently shut down and charges were filed against the clubs owner and the organizer of the event where Dax J was playing  these charges were subsequently dropped and the prosecution appealed the dropped charges claiming the owner and organizer still maintain liability. Tunisias religious affairs ministry commented on the charges and conviction and said: Mocking the opinions and religious principles of Tunisians is absolutely unacceptable.

Free speech has often come under fire throughout the world and many nations and legislations have attempted to curb it through social media monitoring and public safety legislation. In January, the Jordanian government arrested eight activists and charged them with insulting the King and incitement to spread chaos to undermine the political regime of Jordan using social media. Earlier that month, Human Rights Watch criticized [JURIST report] Saudi Arabia for their detainment of rights advocates often through vague provisions, such as sowing discord and inciting public opinion, in the nations 2007 cybercrime law. In August of last year the National Assembly of Pakistan approved [JURIST report] the controversial Electronic Crimes Bill 2015. The law has received negative attention in the past from human rights activists for the role it could play in hindering the free speech and privacy of Pakistani citizens. Last March, Amnesty International expressed concern [JURIST report] over the cyber-crime conviction of five-years incarceration of a journalist in Saudi Arabia for posts created under this private Twitter account; some of of the tweets exhibited support for womens rights, human rights defenders and prisoners of conscience.
LOUP CITY  The Nebraska Department of Education awarded a grant to the startup of an after-school and summer program in Loup City.

According to a Nebraska Department of Education press release, Sherman County Prevention Coalition in Loup City received a $96,000 federal grant for a program at Loup City Elementary School. Twelve new sites in Nebraska communities received grants.

Federal grants were awarded to support community learning centers serving students attending schools with high needs. During non-school hours, these programs offer hands-on learning and activities to meet student needs.

Hub Territory programs to receive funding are:

- Cozad Community Schools program at Cozad Elementary School received a $57,600 federal grant.

- Lexington Public Schools program at Lexington Middle School received a $78,825 federal grant.

The primary goals of 21st Century Community Learning Centers are improved student learning, increased social benefits and positive behavioral changes, and increased family and community engagement in Nebraska schools.
LINCOLN  The Nebraska Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a river augmentation project that is the centerpiece of the states efforts to comply with the 1943 Republican River Compact.

A Supreme Court ruling issued Friday upheld the Lincoln County District Courts dismissal of a 2014 lawsuit challenging use of eminent domain and other authorities for the Nebraska Cooperative Republican Platte Enhancement Project.

N-CORPE was created under the states Interlocal Cooperation Act by four natural resources districts  Upper, Middle and Lower Republican and Twin Platte. A large Lincoln County farm was purchased, and groundwater was retired from irrigation and re-purposed to augment streamflows in the two river basins.

Water is delivered to the Republican River via Medicine Creek.

The need in that basin is to increase streamflows to avoid having to regularly shut down irrigation to maintain compliance with the 1943 Republican River Compact by ensuring adequate streamflows into Kansas.

A history of the case is part of the Supreme Court ruling. It says Lincoln County landowner J. Daniel Estermann filed a complaint for an injunction against N-CORPE board members  one from each NRD  in response to N-CORPEs condemnation proceedings for an easement sought across Estermanns property.

The April 1, 2014, complaint alleged, in part, that N-CORPE did not have eminent domain authority; the project was causing flooding on Estermanns property, with increasing and irreparable damage to his land and crops; the condemnation was not for a public use; N-CORPE failed to obtain approval and permits from such agencies as the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners and Nebraska Department of Natural Resources; and failed to obtain approval from Kansas.

A later motion claimed approval also was not obtained from the Republican River Compact Administration.

Over 18 months, the Lincoln County District Court reviewed and denied several additional filings by Estermann seeking temporary injunctions.

Key rulings included rejecting the claim that N-CORPE could not exercise the power of eminent domain. The district court decision said the NRDs have eminent domain authority and could authorize N-CORPE to exercise any of their powers and authority while acting on their behalf.

The district court also rejected the argument that the condemnation did not meet a public purpose, saying that complying with Nebraskas obligation under an interstate compact is certainly a public purpose.

That ruling said that while Estermann had standing to challenge the taking of the easement on his land, he did not have standing to challenge whether N-CORPE had the permits needed to use the easement.

After the district court dismissed the case, Estermann appealed.

The Supreme Court opinion says the court affirmed the district courts dismissal, but had some differences in reasoning.

The Supreme Court agreed that N-CORPE had eminent domain authority, did not need certain permits and approvals as alleged by Estermann, and that there was no material issue of fact about whether the condemnation was for public use.

Therefore, we affirm the decision of the district court which granted the appellees motion for summary judgment and dismissed Estermanns complaint, according to the court opinions conclusion.
This meeting will take place at 7 p.m. April 17 at Kearney Public Library. Her presentation will be followed by a business and planning meeting. The meeting is open to the public.
Police have an exceedingly difficult responsibility, so it is a relief that Kearney Police Officer Derek Payton has been acquitted of felony second-degree assault charges relating to his shooting of a suspect last year. Among the reactions to the Payton verdict on Thursday, his defense attorney Charles Brewster of Kearney said the not guilty verdict is a signal to police officers everywhere that they can do the jobs theyve been trained to do.

Considering all of the controversy swirling around police shootings in other U.S. communities, Brewsters assessment carries a lot of weight. We live in a time when our law officers have never been expected to know more, do more, and do it within a narrow framework of whats acceptable and whats not. Its no wonder the pool of applicants for police vacancies has diminished.

It takes a special person with the courage and self confidence to wear the badge, knowing that, on any given day, your performance could be placed under a microscope.

Kearney residents are fortunate that their citys police force is peppered with experienced and knowledgeable officers and that younger, energetic recruits are filling the ranks, although its a challenge acquiring well qualified applicants with the intelligence and temperament for the work.

We can only imagine the relief for Payton, his family and colleagues when the not guilty verdict was read after the three-day trial. Tears welled in the officers eyes as members of the jury raised their hands to signal a unanimous verdict. Brewster and the rest of the defense team had done their job well, especially considering the talents and track record of the prosecutor, Scottsbluff attorney Doug Warner, who sent two men to death row and has prosecuted police officers for various offenses.

For Payton, the stakes were exceedingly high  both his career and freedom were on the line.

After Judge John Marsh dismissed the jury, it was finally time for family, friends and a dozen law enforcement colleagues to hug Payton and congratulate him. A jury of his peers closely scrutinized his performance on June 5, 2016, and determined that he had done as he was trained to do.

Brewster said many people supported Payton. We hope that the support remains strong. This is a time for the people of Kearney to thank a law officer. A little encouragement goes a long way, and police need our support.
Spoiler alert: When a deadline approaches, my creative juices stall. Once the deadline slams shut, the ideas pour out like some kind of super nova of metaphors, all equipped with sticky-dart suction cups. Take Trumps wall on the Mexican border. Please.

Before the deadline passed on Tuesday, I wasted a few brain synapses worrying about the wall that President Trump famously promised to build if elected. To be honest with you, the wall sounded like such a silly idea that I decided to concentrate on other things like food and water. If its not too late, I would like to propose a couple of ideas that just might make sense in this politically divided world we now call home.

The real proposals, proposed by real companies, seem to lack a little something that might escape the average political extremist. One company wants to equip the wall with solar panels. Another suggested that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection construct the wall as a tourist attraction so our citizens can stroll along the top and enjoy gazing into a country teeming with delicious, spicy food.

Clayton Industries of Pittsburgh suggested storing nuclear waste along the wall in trenches more than 100 feet deep. The proposal fails to make it clear if the waste would be covered or a sort of toxic moat welcoming visitors to the United States.

I also noticed that the price of the wall, about $12 billion, equals the amount that the Trump administration hopes to trim from social programs. That tells me something special  the wall costs too much.

- In order to save money, I suggest that we build a curb along the border as a sort of metaphor about curbing illegal immigration and curbing drug trafficking. A six-inch barrier might not keep out the most enterprising outlaws, but it will certainly reek havoc with the front end alignment of any car that jumps the curb. And just think of the savings. I think we could probably build a 1,989-mile curb for about $1,000, plus landscaping and flowers.

- Considering that most illegals come to this country for economic reasons, how about building a wall comprised of stacked and glued $100 bills? Again, the metaphor speaks loudly here. While a wall of paper might need more attention than a curb, the price would be cheaper than most of the other real suggestions. In order to save even more money, we could build it with $20 bills or even $10 bills.

- On a more practical side, for $12 billion it seems that we could build one very long strip mall or factory outlet mall stretching from the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico, open 24 hours a day. The clerks can keep an eye on anyone shoplifting or trying to sneak out the back or front door, depending on which side youre standing.

- This idea works on two very different levels: Hire people at minimum wage to link arms and stand along the border creating a human chain. We solve the massive unemployment problem Trump talked about during the campaign and we also protect the border from anyone playing Red Rover, Red Rover without a permit.

While we flesh out these ideas, perhaps we can sit down and give some serious thought on how to allow guest workers into the United States or how we can work together with our neighbors to live together in harmony. I dont want my tax money used to build a big wall that separates us from the rest of the world.

Rick Brown is a Hub staff writer who uses humor to tear down walls.
Have you ever watched a kitten chase spots of light as they moved across the carpet, or a baby in the crib watch the movement of a mobile as it winds around, putting the baby to sleep?

President Donald Trump is constantly creating distractions away from the focus of the FBI, and Congressional investigations in a similar fashion. He constantly engages in diversions. He always refuses to acknowledge Russian involvement in American elections. He doesnt explain meetings between members of his campaign staff and the Russians. Rather than explain these meetings, he chooses to focus on information leaks, but not their validity.

Trump, during his campaign, praised both the Russians and WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks is a fugitive from Sweden who has taken refuge in a South American embassy to avoid prosecution for rape in Sweden.

America is a government of laws and institutions. Trump has replaced them with billionaires and crony capitalists.

Trump says the markets should determine winners and losers. However, on closer examination, it is evident that the U.S. Tax Code creates winners and losers. Subsidies and tax exemptions (loopholes) have done more to separate the very wealthy from the increasingly smaller middle class.

Trump said, only I can solve Americas problems. This super salesman loves to speak in superlatives like fantastic, wonderful, huge, greatest, and marvelous will raise peoples spirits, but will they achieve results?

Americans wanted to shake things up, and they did. The increasing friction between Democrats and Republicans has made compromise a dirty word. Members of Congress may be labeled Republicans but widely disagree on issues. Congressional members attend town hall meetings in which voters demand to be heard. That is grass roots democracy. Rep. Adrian Smith has chosen to avoid this by hiding behind a so-called telephone town hall. This makes it difficult for the press to monitor and for Smith to explain his votes. For example, both Trump and Rep. Adrian Smith want to end the estate tax. This tax is paid by two tenths of one percent of the wealthiest Americans. Perhaps Smiths support is payback for the half million dollars he received from the Club for Growth. What did he promise you?

Roger Green, Scottsbluff
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FILE - In this July 9, 2014 file photo, Alix Tichelman, left, of Folsom, Calif., confers with public defender Diane August during her arraignment in Santa Cruz Superior Court in Santa Cruz, Calif. Federal immigration officials are deporting a California prostitute to Canada after she completed a jail sentence for involuntary manslaughter for giving a fatal heroin shot to a Google executive she was entertaining aboard his yacht. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman says Friday, April 7, 2017, that a judge ordered Alix Tichelman deported because of the felony convictions connected to the accidental overdose death of Forrest Hayes in November 2013. (AP Photo/Santa Cruz Sentinel, Shmuel Thaler, File)
After nearly four years and countless court hearings, a trial date has been set for one of those accused of the death of Jasleen Valdez.

In 2014, the body of a three-year-old girl was found at a construction site in north Laredo.

The two accused were Cristian Yepez and Janet Pantoja were indicted for the murder of the toddler.

Yepez is set for a court jury selection on May 15 at the 406th District Court.

Pantoja, Jasleen's mother, told Houston police her boyfriend had killed her daughter in a Laredo motel.
It's been a few days since the announcement of Laredo Independent School District Superintendent Dr. Marcus Nelson being selected as the lone finalist for the top position at the Waco Independent School District.

On Friday, Nelson spoke to the media about the decision. He says while he's been named the sole finalist, the process isn't quite complete.

By law, he still has to wait 21 days until he can formally be named Waco's new superintendent. Nelson says he's waiting for this process to run its course.

While Nelson didn't elaborate too much about what lies ahead for him, he did talk a lot about what he has pending here in Laredo.

Nelson says until the entire process in complete, he doesn't know when his last day at LISD will be. He does say he will be here all the way through this year's graduations.
The Laredo Health Department is expanding its testing recommendations for pregnant women in the area.

The decision comes after new guidelines released by the state that are now encouraging women along the border to get tested twice for Zika.

The health department says the heavy mosquito breeding season is right around the corner and they want to make sure every preventative measure is taken against the virus.

New guidelines for pregnant women living near the border were released on Friday by the state, encouraging more women to test twice for Zika during their pregnancy.

The notice goes to all pregnant women living in Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr, Webb, Willacy and Zapata County.

The Laredo Health Department says their goal is to detect any possible early infection to prevent birth defects.

The health department recommends removing any stalled water around your homes to help prevent mosquitoes.

While no local transmission in the city has been reported, Dr. Gonzalez says the mosquito carrying the virus lingers in the city.

In addition, Gonzalez says anyone with a rash and at least one common Zika symptom such as fever, joint pain or eye redness should be tested for the virus.

Dr. Gonzalez says the test is a simple blood test and it takes about 72 hours to get results.

The Laredo Health Department says as of this year they have not seen any cases involving Zika transmitted locally.

However, last year six cases of travel related Zika were confirmed in the city.
The Sinclair McGill My Grass roadshow, which took place on Tuesday 14th March with Kilmacow Agri in Mullinavat, Kilkenny, advised local farmers on their grass quality and reseeding requirements.



Using unique NIRS lab technology, one of its kind in Ireland, farmers who came along with their fresh grass samples received detailed results in order to gauge quality and help farmers to maximise efficiency to reduce production costs.

Speaking at the event was Kevin Cunningham, Sinclair McGill Product Manager With milk quotas abolished and prices on the rise, there are big opportunities within the dairy sector for expansion. Focusing on maximising grass through managing quality is key to profitable growth for all farmers. This roadshow is all about helping farmers achieve that and we had great interest from farmers today.

Also speaking at the event was local seed merchant John Walsh Im delighted to be able to provide this added service to my customers in order to support their farm expansion plans. The turnout today was great and there was a lot of positive discussion amongst farmers about the importance of focusing on grass quality.

The Sinclair McGill My Grass Roadshow is taking place across the country in 12 locations, with the Kilkenny event its second stop. Throughout the roadshow over 300 farmers are expected to have their

grass tested with this unique technology, which will ultimately improve their grassland management approach. Sinclair McGill grass seed varieties are formulated to enhance grassland swards so that animals can better utilise the forage. The LGAN (Limagrain Animal Nutrition) mixtures produced are balanced for the animals needs.

Trials of Sinclair McGill mixture show an extra 420L of milk or 126/cow per year being achieved versus control mixtures.
A student from Scoil Phadraig in Ballyhale has been announced as the winner of Eason's Kilkenny Spelling Bee, which took place last week in Bunscoil McAuley Rice, Callan.

Twelve-year-old Michael Cullen, who is in sixth class, had to fight off stiff competition from 18 spelling enthusiasts. He will now be entered into the Leinster Provincial Spelling Bee final, which takes place in June.

The nationwide competition is part of an overall Eason literacy and reading initiative to encourage and inspire children to develop their spelling and pronunciation skills. Over the years, the competition has helped school children gain a greater appreciation of words in a fun and educational way.

Now in its seventh year, were hoping to build on the success of the current Spelling Bee record of 1,100 school participants and encourage everyone to get out there and support their local bees, says Group Head of Marketing at Eason, Brendan Corbett.

We are also delighted to welcome our new Spelling Bee Masters, Dermot Whelan and Dave Moore, into the Eason family this year. The Today FM duo is set to host a range of web-page , social media and on-air updates, while Alison Curtis will provide a number of live reports from around the country during the competition.

The ultimate spelling contest starts out with registered schools holding their own in-school bee to find their school champion. The Spelling Bee team then travel around the country to hold the County Final Bees, which then leads to four Provincial Finals culminating in the All-Ireland Final in June.

Champion

The All-Ireland winning school will receive a collection of books for their library to the value of 7,500 and the winner themselves will be awarded a goodie package full of books worth 500 and the prestigious title of the 2017 Eason Spelling Bee champion.

Keep abuzz with all the 2017 Spelling Bee news on www.easons.com/spellingbee and @easons #EasonSpellingBee.
(Recasts to add quotes on privatisations, debt)

By Francesca Landini

CERNOBBIO, Italy, April 8 (Reuters) - The Italian government will confirm an economic growth forecast of 1 percent for 2017 and revive its privatisation programme next week when it publishes a new multi-year fiscal plan, junior Economy Minister Enrico Morando said on Saturday.

Morando said at the Ambrosetti workshop in Cernobbio that Rome would indicate a falling trend for its huge public debt starting from 2018, after it had risen for ten years in a row.

Italy's gross domestic product rose 0.9 percent in 2016, compared with 0.8 percent growth in 2015 and business confidence has improved steadily in recent months, with surveys of purchasing managers pointing to accelerating activity.

This has raised expectations that the Treasury may lift Italy's growth forecast for this year, which it said last year would be 1 percent, in its Economic and Financial Document.

The multi-year fiscal plan will include a commitment by the government to restart its privatisation programme in 2017, after it postponed the sales of several state-owned assets last year. This will allow the government to raise funds to reduce its public debt, according to the junior minister.

"The Economic and Financial document will indicate a falling trend for public debt starting from 2018," Morando said, adding this would be based on a commitment to sell enough assets to deliver proceeds of between 0.3 and 0.4 percentage points of Italy's gross domestic product this year.

In late 2015, then-Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said the debt would come down the following year for the first time in eight years, thanks partly to privatisations worth 0.5 percent of GDP.

But the state managed to sell less than a fifth of its targeted amount and the national debt rose to a new high of almost 133 percent of GDP, the highest ratio in the euro zone after Greece. Morando said that state fund Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) may play a role in the next phase of the privatisations, adding that oil major Eni , utility Enel and national post office Poste Italiane would likely be involved.

Italian newspapers have reported that the government could sell its stakes in these and other state-controlled companies to CDP by the end of this year as a way to cut its debt.

(Editing by Alexander Smith)
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Stuff reports:

At present plant research company Scion based in Rotorua carries out GE trials on radiata pine trees, but the plants are destroyed afterwards.

At its Grasslands site in Palmerston North, AgResearch scientists have developed GE ryegrass that yields 50 per cent more but lowers methane levels in livestock. The plants will be shipped to the United States for testing because of New Zealands strict laws.
Helen Ross McNabb Center receives highest level of accreditation





KNOXVILLE  CARF International recently announced that the Helen Ross McNabb Center has been accredited for a period of three years for its continuum of rehabilitation services including mental health care, addiction treatment and social services programs.



The Helen Ross McNabb Center was the first community mental health center awarded CARF accreditation in the state of Tennessee 16 years ago. The latest accreditation is the seventh consecutive accreditation the international accrediting body has awarded to the Center.



This accreditation decision represents the highest level of accreditation which can be awarded to an organization by CARF and shows the organizations significant conformance to the CARF standards. An organization receiving the Three-Year Accreditation has put itself through a rigorous peer review process and has demonstrated to a team of surveyors during an on-site visit that its programs and services are measurable, accountable and of the highest quality.



CARF Internationals award letter states this achievement is an indication of the Helen Ross McNabb Centers dedication and commitment to improving the quality of lives of the persons served. Services, personnel and documentation clearly indicate an established pattern of conformance to standards.



CARFs accreditation demonstrates to our community that we greatly value the quality of our services while we strive to be the premier behavioral health agency in East Tennessee, said Jerry Vagnier, president and CEO of the Helen Ross McNabb Center. I am extremely proud of our staff whose expertise and passion make this accomplishment possible.



CARF International is an independent, nonprofit accrediting body whose mission is to promote the quality, value, and optimal outcomes of services through a consultative accreditation process that centers on enhancing the lives of the persons served. Founded in 1966 as the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, and now known as CARF, the accrediting body establishes consumer-focused standards to help organizations measure and improve the quality of their programs.



The Helen Ross McNabb Center is a premier notforprofit provider of behavioral health services in East Tennessee. Since 1948, the Center has provided quality and compassionate care to children, adults and families experiencing mental illness, addiction and social challenges. As the Center celebrates nearly 70 years of providing services to communities in East Tennessee, its mission remains clear and simple; Improving the lives of the people we serve. For more information, visit www.mcnabbcenter.org. Published April 8, 2017










U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed Friday to work closely together to convince North Korea to curb its nuclear program as they held their first summit talks overshadowed by surprise U.S. military strikes against Syria the previous night.

The two sides reached the agreement, sharing the view that the North's nuclear advancement has reached "a very serious stage," Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said during a briefing on the outcome of the summit talks at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

"The two sides noted the urgency of the threat of North Korea's weapons program, reaffirmed their commitment to a denuclearized Korean Peninsula, and committed to fully implement U.N. Security Council resolutions," Tillerson said.

"They agreed to increase cooperation and work with the international community to convince the DPRK to peacefully resolve the issue and abandon its illicit weapons programs," he said.

Tillerson said there was "no kind of a package arrangement" on the issue.

"But there's a real commitment that we work together to see if this cannot be resolved in a peaceful way. But in order for that to happen, North Korea's posture has to change before there's any basis for dialogue or discussions," he said.

Trump told Xi that he welcomes any ideas China has on the issue and the U.S. would be happy to work with Beijing. But he also made it clear that the U.S. is "prepared to chart our own course if this is something China is just unable to coordinate with us."

The results fall short of high expectations that Trump would press Xi hard to solve the North Korea problem as the only country that has any meaningful influence over Pyongyang.

However, the talks produced progress in Trump's efforts to reduce the trade deficit with the world's No. 2 economy.

Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said that the two sides agreed to a "100-day plan" aimed at increasing U.S. exports to China and reducing the trade deficit with the country.

Tillerson said Trump accepted Xi's invitation to visit China.

The talks were almost completely overshadowed by Thursday night's U.S. missile attack on Syria.

The surprise Tomahawk missile strikes, which came in response to Syria's use of deadly chemical weapons against civilians earlier this week, was seen as a powerful message to North Korea, Iran and other rogue states that Trump can take military action against them at any time.












Members of the opposition People's Party take a group photo against the backdrop of the doomed ferry Sewol at Mokpo New Port on Friday. / Yonhap



By Park Si-soo



Was it an unintended mishap or a reflection of a lack of sympathy?

The opposition People's Party has come under harsh criticism after some of its members were caught taking commemorative group photos against the backdrop of the doomed ferry Sewol at Mokpo New Port on Friday, even despite outcries of the bereaved families.

At least three members of the party, who visited the port accompanying the party's leader Park Ji-won, were spotted making what critics called an "immoral" and "unethical" act that was tantamount to "hammering a nail into the hearts of those who lost their beloved family members in the accident."

The sinking of the Sewol on April 16, 2014, was recorded as one of the worst maritime disasters in the history of South Korea that left more than 300 passengers, mostly innocent and obedient high school students taking a school trip, dead with nine still unaccounted for. A search of the half-destroyed hull will begin soon with hopes that the remains of the nine missing might be found.

The controversial photo shoot was reported Friday afternoon and the opposition party was instantly overwhelmed by a wave of harsh comments.

The party's leader apologized quickly and promised to discipline those who took the photographs.

"I express my deepest apology over this careless act of (my) party members," Park stated on his Facebook page. "I will see they will pay pay the price for the careless deed. Also I will ask law enforcement to take action against them because private photo shoots have been banned in the port's compound for security reasons."

The port where the ferry Sewol is planned to be moved to from the semisubmersible transport ship it is now on, is classified as a security facility and any unauthorized photography within its compound can be subject to a fine of up to 3 million won.

According to reports, one of the embroiled party members said he took the photos to show to his friends, not knowing it was illegal.
By Kim Ji-myung





Alexa came to my house today. I have to wonder, how many of my Korea Times readers know her or not?



Alexa is a "smart-machine servant," programmed with artificial intelligence (AI), residing inside a simple wireless stand-alone speaker-like cylinder. She answers almost any question you can ask, after you simply call her name "Alexa."



I was impressed by her answers that extended beyond the usual simple retrieval of embedded information. When I asked "Alexa, who is the wife of the President of the United States?" she said "The first lady of the United States is Melania Trump."



And yet, her knowledge doesn't seem to update in real time. She said the president of Korea was Park Geun-hye, although Park has been removed after being impeached, and now stays behind bars in-between sessions of being questioned by prosecutors.



But Alexa surprised me again with her correct knowledge when I asked "Alexa, who is the president of North Korea?" She said "There is currently no president of North Korea, as that post was abolished in a 1998 change to the constitution. The last president, Kim Il-sung, is designated Eternal President of the Republic, and his grandson Kim Jong-un is now supreme leader of North Korea."



The following exchanges may entertain you:



Q. Alexa, how old are you?

A. I'm two in human years, 14 in dog years, and 25 in cat years. I think AI years are marked by nanoseconds, so that makes me like a scrillion. (I looked this word up, and found only the plural form scrillions': an unreasonable amount of anything, but mostly pertains to money; most often used to one up' a previously mentioned denomination).



Q. Alexa, are you an idiot?

A. Well, that is not a nice thing to say.



Alexa works via applications, downloaded through internet connections. As happens often, Korea was not among those countries where the application to activate her system "Echo" was available from Amazon. And as usual, after a few steps of additional trial and error, I could download the proper Echo app for it.



I can order Alexa to play whatever music I want, only limited by what selections are stored in my music library. If you haven't stored any in the library yet, and say "Alexa, play music for me," then she says "Good morning, and happy birthday to Agnetha Faetskog! You know her better as the blond pop diva from ABBA. Mamma mia! Her singing makes me want to be a dancing queen!" And then comes the commercial: Alexa will play endless songs and music of your choice if you pay some per-month fee.



What could be very useful about Alexa is that all enquiries and dialogue you have with her are automatically documented on your phone, with related text and visual resources attached.



AI is daunting in that it does not know fatigue, nor fears failure. In the long-run, machines are likely to outlast and outwit humans. AI has already been widely applied in home electronics, translation software, commercial devices, games and so on. As of now, the benefits from AI seem to outweigh problems such as disappearing jobs.

However, game-changing initiatives emerge day by day. One of them is Wordsmith, the first public "natural language generation" (NLG) engine, developed by Automated Insights, a company set up by the Associated Press.



Wordsmith lets you produce human-sounding narratives from data. Wordsmith lets you turn data into text on any scale and in any format or language.



Wordsmith is an open public resource downloadable at http://automatedinsights.com/wordsmith.



The Associated Press now uses Wordsmith to transform raw earnings data into 4,400 corporate earnings stories every quarter, up from 300 that were published manually.



Integrated with other powerful software, it opens fresh horizons of use. For example, it brings conversational natural language to the skill-set of Amazon's Alexa.



When combined with spreadsheets like Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets, Wordsmith can create business intelligence reports as if they were writing themselves.



People can barely tell robot-created "fake news" articles from text written by reporters. AI has recently been mobilized to sort out fake news from fact-based real stories.



Now, in 2017, "robot journalism" seems to have become a part of the global media scene.





The writer is the chairperson of the Korea Heritage Education Institute (K*Heritage). Her email address is Heritagekorea21@gmail.com.
(EIRNS)The French Presidential campaign of Jacques Cheminade sent out the following statement this morning at 9:04 a.m. CET. This news service has translated it from the French; the original is available on his campaign website,

"Jacques Cheminade, Presidential candidate in the French elections, is currently in Lebanon, where he will meet this morning, Friday, April 7, at 11:15, with Lebanese President Michel Aoun. The candidate afterward will hold a press conference.

"Whereas the tensions of the last days in Syria demonstrate the extreme urgency for a global political solution, Jacques Cheminade will develop in the course of this trip, his vision for a Middle East at peace and the conditions in which it can be rebuilt.

"Jacques Cheminade has long devoted close attention to the situation in this region of the world and is convinced that Lebanon constitutes a reference point for tolerance and mutual development which is particularly expressed by its generous acceptance of 1.5 million refugees.

"It behooves the other countries of the world to become inspired by this example, in order to contribute to reestablishing peace throughout the region as a whole and for the United Nations to ensure the most far-reaching aid for the Lebanese leadership.

"During his visit, Cheminade, campaigning to mobilize French voters, will have discussions with overseas French citizens."

Beneath the statement was an invitation to "our Lebanese friends" to meet with Cheminade "after his press conference at 19:30 (local time)."
PRESS RELEASE

Glass-Steagall vs. Bank Separation: Distinction Is Now Important

April 7, 2017 (EIRNSS)With bills to restore the Glass-Steagall banking separation act now in both Houses of Congress, and with three Trump Administration representatives having proposed "some version" of it, it will be critical to distinguish what the original Act accomplished, from more recent proposals to "ring-fence" bank holding companies.

The four initiating Senate Glass-Steagall sponsors of S.881 yesterday rightly claimed broad support from American constituencies in both parties, and general support in the Trump Administration including public nods to Glass-Steagall by the President. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Council of Economic Advisors head Gary Cohn have both now supported some form of bank separation; and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Vice-Chairman Thomas Hoenig has spelled out a tough and detailed version of "ring-fencing" as, essentially, the next best thing to Glass-Steagall. While more House Democrats have signed on to the Kaptur-Jones H.R. 790 to restore Glass-Steagall (there are now 43 sponsors), many House Republicans have privately told EIR representatives they like Hoenigs plan.

The difference is essentially that between creating a moat to separate big commercial banks from their thousands of securities units, with a bridge with barricades on either end and prominent "do not cross" signs; and allowing no bridge over the moat at all. Hoenigs plan has strong barricades against deposit banks creating, supporting, or bailing out broker-dealer and derivatives units and vehicles. He proposes explicitly restoring enforcement of Sections 23A and 23B of the Federal Reserve Act of 2013provisions only inserted into that act in 1933 by passage of Glass-Steagall. If the Wall Street megabank is divided into separately capitalized and managed "major" and "minor" holding companies; and only the major commercial bank holding company has access to Federal insurance; and only AAA-rated assets can move from the speculative units to the major holding company (Sections 23A and 23B); the speculative units appear to be on their own.

But these separations have been created beforeincluding by the biggest banks themselves as they became impossibly complex after Glass-Steagall was destroyed. When the bank crisis exploded over 2007-08, and hundreds of speculative units lost their credit ratings and were failing, the barricades on the bridges were broken down. Those units were bailed out by the main bank holding companies"taken back on their balance sheets"and they were still doing it when Bank of America bailed out Merrill-Lynchs entire $52 trillion derivatives book in 2012 after Merrill was downgraded. The Federal Reserve looked the other way. That mirrored the bank being ordered in 2008 to lose $14 billion buying and bailing out the failing Merrill, and the bank being bailed out in turn by the Treasury.

With Glass-Steagall, in that crisis, there is no bridge, and the commercial bank is prohibited from engaging in the speculative activities of securities units and derivatives traders at all. Those units can and will fail, without exploding the commercial banking system whose business is lending to the economy.
PRESS RELEASE

Putin Warns that Syrian Strike Will Inflict Major Damage on U.S.-Russia Ties.

April 7, 2017 (EIRNS)Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that the U.S. strike against Syria "will inflict major damage on U.S.-Russia ties." A comment from the Press Service of the President of Russia, published at 9:00 A.M. this morning, states:

"The President of Russia regards the U.S. airstrikes on Syria as an act of aggression against a sovereign state delivered in violation of international law under a far-fetched pretext. The Syrian Army has no chemical weapons. The fact of the destruction of all Syrian chemical weapons stockpiles has been recorded and verified by the OPCW, a specialized UN body. Vladimir Putin believes that complete disregard for factual information about the use by terrorists of chemical weapons drastically aggravates the situation. "This move by Washington [the U.S. air strike on an air base in Syria] has dealt a serious blow to Russian-U.S. relations, which are already in a poor state. Most importantly, this move will not bring us closer to the ultimate goal of combatting international terrorism, but will instead create a major obstacle to the establishment of an international counterterrorist coalition and to effective struggle against this global evil, something that U.S. President Donald Trump declared as one of his main goals during his election campaign."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov added that, although the United States did give Russia advance warning of the strike through technical channels, "Nobody called Putin."

Peskov added:

"As for the changes in the geopolitical situation after these attacks, lets watch the situation develop together. So far, one can definitively say that that the strikes impaired the fight against terrorism,"

and also that the strikes are seen as an act of aggression against Russias ally.

Peskov confirmed that Russia has suspended the Memorandum on preventing military incidents and ensuring aviation security that was signed with the United States. "This memorandum lost its meaning last night when the attack was carried out," he said.

"What is unambiguous is the fact that the strikes [by the U.S. on Syria] de facto were delivered in the interests of the ISIL, Jabhat al-Nusra, and other terrorist organizations,"

he said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking in Tashkent, emphasized the fabricated pretext for the air strikes.

"This is reminiscent of the situation in 2003, when the U.S. and the U.K., along with some of their allies, invaded Iraq without the consent of the UN Security Council and in violation of international law."

He added that this time,

"They did not even bother to provide any facts, referring only to photos. They indulged in speculations on childrens photos, on evidence provided by various non-governmental organizations, including the so-called White Helmets, which staged various incidents to instigate action against the Syrian government."

Moscow will demand the truth of the Idlib events, Lavrov stressed.

"It is regrettable that all these causes do more harm to the already damaged relations between Russia and the United States. Hope remains that these provocations will not entail irreversible effects. I dont know when we will be able to find out how the U.S. made the decision to attack Syria. But we must demand that the truth be unveiled and we will do it."

In a military assessment of the strikes, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said on April 7 that only 23 of the 59 missiles struck their targets. "The combat effectiveness of the U.S. massive missile strike on Syrias airbase was thus very low," the ministrys spokesman stressed.

"According to the data recording equipment, only 23 missiles reached the Syrian airbase. The place of the fall of the other missiles is unknown."

"It is obvious that the U.S. cruise missiles attack on the Syrian air base had been planned well beforehand," said Konashenkov. "The show of military muscle stemmed exclusively from internal political motives," he said. Pentagon cooperation suspended.

He added that the Russian military will now take measures to beef up Syrian air defenses.

"To protect the most sensitive facilities of the Syrian infrastructure, a set of measures will be taken in the immediate future to reinforce and raise the effectiveness of the Syrian armed forces air defense system,"

he said.
PRESS RELEASE

Schiller Institute To Hold Conference on the Belt and Road Initiative and Corresponding Ideas in Chinese and Western Philosophy

April 7, 2017 (EIRNS)Since the early 1990s, the Schiller Institute, founded by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, has campaigned for achieving world peace through international collaboration on a World Land-Bridge. Today, that objective is in the process of being realized, in the form of the Chinese governments pursuit of a New Silk Road policy, which already has brought 70 nations into cooperation on crucial infrastructure projects. So far, however, the United States has declined to join this process. Since his inauguration, President Donald Trump has expressed the intent to positively engage with China, and Russia. During his recent trip to China, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson shocked many by saying that the U.S. sought a very positive relationship built on non-confrontation, no conflict, mutual respect, and always searching for win-win solutions.

To discuss that policys content and method, the Schiller Institute and the China Energy Fund Committee have proposed an assembly of scholars, diplomats, organizational representatives, students, business people and interested private citizens to exchange in a "dialogue of civilizations", to discuss how such a win-win policy might become clearer, and better known. The two day-conference in New York City on April 13-14 is the first of such assemblies.

The conference will run from 10:00 A.M. to 5:30 p.m. on April 13, and 9:30 A.M. to 2:00 p.m. on April 14. A Classical music concert will be held on the evening the April 14 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. Pre-registration is required, and can be carried out by calling 201-562-9890.

A partial list of speakers includes: Dr. Patrick Ho, Deputy Chairman and Secretary General, China Energy Fund Committee; Dr. Liu Qiang, Director of Energy Economics Division, Institute of Quantitative & Technical Economics at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS); Associate Professor, Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; Prof. Nie Lei, Dean, School of Traffic and Transportation, Beijing Jiaotong University; Jason Ross, Editor-in-Chief, 21st Century Science and Technology magazine; co-author, The New Silk Road Becomes the World Land-Bridge; Benjamin Deniston, Researcher, 21st Century Science and Technology magazine; co-author, The New Silk Road Becomes the World Land-Bridge; and Hal B. H. Cooper Jr., PhD., P.E., Cooper Consulting Co., Kirkland, Washington; expert on the proposed Bering Strait railroad tunnel to Siberia.
PRESS RELEASE

U.S. Intelligence Professionals Blast Lies Fed to Trump

April 7, 2017 (EIRNS)Retired Defense Intelligence Agency officer Pat Lang, whose blog Sic Semper Tyrannis tends to be an outlet for the traditional American military outlook, issued an urgent blog posting yesterday afternoon, before the air strikes against Syria had begun, correctly warning that a "U.S. intervention in Syria is imminent." Col. (ret.) Lang asked his readers to

"call your congressman or the White House to urge that the president not issue an execute order for what he is contemplating, until the intelligence on what happened is clear."

Today, after the attack had occurred, the Sic Semper Tyrannis site prominently posted an entry by the pseudonymous Publius Tacitus, which charged that "Donald Trumps decision to launch cruise missile strikes on a Syrian Air Force base was based on a lie." The column asserts that: 1) the Russians briefed the U.S. on the proposed target of a Syrian air attack in Idlib on April 4, as part of ongoing deconfliction communication; 2) the Syrian Air Force hit the target with conventional weapons, which unexpectedly contained deadly chemicals used to make weapons; and 3) "There is a film record. At least the DIA knows that this was not a chemical weapon attack."

The author concludes that "this is Gulf of Tonkin 2," referring to the famous lie that was used to start the Vietnam War.

"This attack was a violation of international law. Donald Trump authorized an unjustified attack on a sovereign country. What is even more disturbing is that people like Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, CIA Director Mike Pompeo and NSA Director General McMaster went along with this charade."

Meanwhile Philip Giraldi, a former CIA officer and a leader of the VIPS (Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity), reported the day before the attack that "military and intelligence personnel intimately familiar" with the intelligence regarding the so-called chemical weapon attack of April 4, say that the narrative that Assad or Russia did it is a "sham," instead endorsing the version that Assads forces had bombed a terrorist storage facility with deadly chemicals in it. Giraldi added that his intelligence sources are "astonished" about the government and media narrative, and are considering going public with the facts. Giraldi also observed that "the Assad regime had no motive to do such a thing at this time."
The gig: Annie Ives, 68, is the chief executive of Combined L.A./Westside Multiple Listing Service, better known as the MLS/CLAW. With 50 employees, the Beverly Hills company is a customized real estate technology provider that enables its 17,000 members to share information on listed properties. They have access to millions of market listings, including 95% of the ones in Southern California through its data share programs and California Real Estate Technology Services.

Continental drift: Ives was born in Tunisia, the North African country that borders the Mediterranean Sea and the Sahara Desert. Her father was an accountant; her mother a housewife. She attended a French school there and, when she was 10, got her first taste of the business world by working at a local bookstore. She described herself in her younger years as shy and hard-working.

By 1967, her world had changed dramatically: Ives and her siblings left the country during the Arab-Israeli conflict known as the Six-Day War. My grandparents lived in Los Angeles, and they came and brought us to live with them in America, she said.

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A new world: Upon arriving in L.A., Ives said she was stunned by the sheer size of the city. She also had trouble communicating in her new country, despite having studied English for seven years in Tunisia. It was a big cultural shock, she said. She later began attending night school with her parents and took a job as a nanny.

Stops along career route: Ives first taste of the corporate world came in the late 1960s, when she took a job as a payment processor at Bank of America in Beverly Hills. My dream was to be a stewardess, but then when I was working at the bank, my dream was to become a teller, she said.

Later, in the 1980s, Ives and her sister opened AnniePaul, a clothing store on Melrose Avenue that sold clothing imported from Paris. I did the selling and my sister did most of the buying, she said. The store became popular in their local community and they would often use the venue for fashion shows.

Starting from scratch: Ives joined the MLS/Claw in 1993 as an accountant. There were no employees at the time. I actually worked on my own and hired just one person full-time, she said.

The MLS/CLAW is owned by three entities: the Beverly Hills/Greater Los Angeles Assn. of Realtors, the Malibu Assn. of Realtors and the Southwest Los Angeles Assn. of Realtors. It had one local competitor, which controlled the majority of the market at the time. But a year later, things would change: The competing service folded, putting the MLS in a prime position to capture the lions share of the market.

Changing course: By 2001, Ives, now the CEO of the MLS/CLAW, had reached a crossroad. To gain full control and not rely on outside vendors, the company would need to develop its own software. Development of the companys proprietary software was done in-house by a four-person team.

It was a whole new experience for us, so here was a huge learning curve, Ives said. But it was worth the tremendous effort and hard work we put into it.

Despite the high cost of writing the software, Ives says the decision has put the company in a position to grow organically, particularly in an industry where technology continues to rapidly evolve.

Building on reputation: Thirty percent of MLS/CLAWs clients, all of whom are licensed real estate agents, now come from outside of its jurisdiction, which consists of the area between downtown Los Angeles and Pacific Coast Highway.

We have become the MLS of choice, said Ives, who attributes the out-of-area growth to the companys relationships and reputation. We are known in the industry for our customer service and we place a lot of importance on it.

Company representatives routinely make office visits to subscribers and also provide one-on-one training and 24-hour support. Trade show appearances and sponsored events such as the annual MLS Summit have also boosted the companys profile, she said.

Market forecast: You know, last year we did almost $20 billion worth of business, said Ives, referring to Los Angeles Countys gross sales volume in 2016.

Ives looks to the listings to gauge the current state of L.A.s market. This year, theres not enough inventory, she said. Ives estimated that there were 1,000 fewer active listings now compared with the same time last year. Still, she sees no signs of the current sellers market slowing down. The next six months will be good for real estate.

Personal: Ives lives in Beverly Hills with her husband, Robert, who as a real estate developer built thousands of apartments and high-end condos in L.A. before retiring seven years ago. They have three sons  David, Saul and Jeremy  and seven grandchildren.

In her free time: Ives enjoys traveling, and recently took up yoga and bridge. She finds balance between family, work, travel and exercising by adhering to a strict schedule. I have a to-do list of things to finish by 6 a.m., she said. I work, I never go to lunch and some nights I play bridge  I love playing bridge.

neal.leitereg@latimes.com

Twitter: @NJLeitereg
The work of Los Angeles photographer Amir Zaki suggests that the world is too complex a place for its nature to be conveyed in a single way or by a single point of view. If truth and beauty are to be discovered, as the ancient Greeks believed, a multilayered, many-sided approach is required.

Rock 34, 2016, framed ultrachrome archival pigment photograph with UV coating, 49 inches by 49 inches. (Amir Zaki / Acme gallery) (Acme Gallery)

Zaki, who is represented by Acme gallery in Los Angeles, recently showed two paths to beauty. For his Rocks series, black and white photographs depict dramatically silhouetted outcroppings along the California coast, from Orange to Mendocino counties. Shot against gray skies at high tide, these tiny islands have the presence of huge abstract sculptures, every nook and cranny providing evidence of powerful forces at work.

Carving 4, 2016, framed ultrachrome archival pigment photograph with UV coating, 30 inches x 37 inches. (Amir Zaki / Acme gallery)

Zakis Carvings series similarly isolate organic forms against neutral backdrops. But what appear to be solid chunks of wood that have been meticulously carved to resemble rolling waves, seed pods or the shells of fantastic sea creatures are actually flat planks that Zaki has photographed, uploaded and digitally manipulated. The work of a virtuoso wood carver is delivered via virtual virtuosity.

To stand back and scan the two series is to flip from close-up to far off, from still life to landscape, from abstraction to representation, from carefully cropped coast to carefully lighted wood, from eons of erosion to nanoseconds of electronic transmissions.

There is beauty in all of the above. And truth.

Rock 29, 2016, framed ultrachrome archival pigment photograph with UV coating, 65 inches x 60 inches. (Amir Zaki / Acme gallery)

Carving 8, 2016, framed ultrachrome archival pigment photograph with UV coating, 60 inches by 75 inches. (Amir Zaki / Acme gallery) (Acme Gallery)

Rock 6, " 2016, framed ultrachrome archival pigment photograph with UV coating, 39 inches by 49 inches. (Amir Zaki / Acme gallery)

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As he began developing the pilot for Boardwalk Empire, an HBO series about Atlantic City mobsters in the Roaring 20s, creator Terence Winter was stumped when it came to designing a period soundtrack. All he heard in his head were endless tape loops of the Charleston and crazy crooners with megaphones. The music seemed boring.

Then he met Vince Giordano.

A passionate bandleader, Giordano is Hollywoods go-to-guy for hot jazz tracks from the 1920s and 1930s. Hes worked on period fare with such directors as Woody Allen (Cafe Society), Martin Scorsese (The Aviator), Todd Haynes (Carol) and Francis Ford Coppola (Cotton Club). So when HBO hired him to collaborate with Winter, his impact was profound.

Vince is a walking encyclopedia for this music, and he recorded mind-blowing material for us, said Winter, noting that Boardwalk Empires first soundtrack album won a Grammy. But hes not just an expert. Hes an amazing performer who keeps this music alive, and he deserves recognition for his work.

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That recognition may finally come with Vince Giordano: Theres a Future in the Past, an illuminating documentary by Amber Edwards and Dave Davidson that takes viewers deep into Giordanos musical world. Packed with sizzling performances, the First Run Features film, which opens in Los Angeles on Firday, tells the story of Giordanos struggle to carry the torch for a vanishing musical era.

In the breakout hit and multiple-Oscar-winning La La Land, a Hollywood version of the jazz scene showed Ryan Goslings pianist attracted to the pure sounds of the past  before he succumbs to the lure of more pop-oriented music and becomes a star. Its not nearly as glamorous in Giordanos world.

Beyond soundtracks, Giordano, 65, spends most of his time managing, financing and performing with the Nighthawks, a New York jazz band he formed in 1976. Aided mainly by his devoted companion, Carol Hughes, hes forever schlepping hundreds of pounds of vintage instruments and equipment in a van from one gig to the next. He doesnt have an agent, manager or publicist, not even a roadie.

The stress is palpable, and Giordano, a modest, self-effacing man, fights to keep it in perspective. A day without chest pains, he says, is a day without sunshine.

Night after night the band rips through tunes by George Gershwin, Duke Ellington, Cole Porter and others, dazzling audiences with tightly synchronized performances. Led by Giordano on bass sax, double bass and tuba, the tuxedo-clad Nighthawks blow the roof off with arrangements culled from his massive home library of more than 60,000 scores.

Its exhilarating to see them live, says Fred Newman, an actor and sound effects artist on Prairie Home Companion who recently caught the band here at Iguana NYC, where they play Monday and Tuesday nights. Youre hearing music exactly as it sounded 100 years ago, and everything in the room is moving. People are dancing, knuckles are rapping on tables, ice is shaking in glasses. Its a wall of sound. Pure joy.

But trouble is never far away. While the film captures Giordano in magically serene moments, belting out showstoppers like Shake That Thing, it also shows him battling to keep the band together.

Edwards, who previously helmed a PBS series about Michael Feinstein and the Great American Songbook, said these alternating emotions frame the movie. One moment Giordano is basking in a standing ovation. Minutes later he tells band members that a club where they played for years is closing, leaving their future uncertain.

Its astonishing how much struggle there is before he even gets to the downbeat, Edwards said. Vince has 10 kids. Theyre called a band, and managing them is like herding cats. His life is a roller coaster.

So what drives a man to do this?

Born in Brooklyn, Giordano got hooked on music of the 1920s at an early age, when he discovered 78 rpm recordings and his grandmothers Victrola. He became a voracious record collector and sought out mentors, like Bill Challis, who arranged music for the legendary Paul Whiteman band.

Any time Im in New York on a Monday or Tuesday night, I will unfailingly head to wherever Vince and his Nighthawks are performing.  Mel Brooks

Musically precocious, he learned to play several instruments and began performing in clubs. A chance meeting with Dick Hyman, the renowned jazz pianist, brought him into soundtrack sessions for Woody Allen films like Zelig and The Purple Rose of Cairo.

Soon his passion became a mission. Besides club dates, the Nighthawks have played the Newport Jazz Festival, Prairie Home Companion and special concerts, like a rousing salute to Rhapsody in Blue on its 90th anniversary. Giordano has been at it for more than 40 years, and friends are effusive in their praise.

In email interviews, Allen calls him a master at period jazz who has been invaluable to me. Mel Brooks, a huge fan, said: Any time Im in New York on a Monday or Tuesday night, I will unfailingly head to wherever Vince and his Nighthawks are performing. And Scorsese said: He understands what I want and need  he interprets the music to make it work within the world of my picture, and that world is then enriched.

For Giordano, theres clearly a future in the past. But also a burden. He dreams of working at a club where he can store equipment, instead of shuttling from one gig to the next. And, just maybe, catch his breath.

Im always hoping for a Mr. or Ms. Right to come along and help us, he says. This life can wear you down. But win or lose, we do it for love.

calendar@latimes.com
Tomi Lahren, a young, incendiary conservative commentator, is suing her former boss, Glenn Beck, and his media firm, the Blaze, for wrongful termination over her comments on abortion.

According to Lahrens lawsuit, filed Friday in Dallas County, the Blaze canceled Lahrens show after she made the controversial abortion statements last month on the daytime talk show The View. But the Blaze wanted to keep paying Lahren, the suit says, presumably hoping they could find an exit strategy to sanitize their unlawful conduct in breaking Lahrens two-year employment contract, which was to continue through Sept. 30.

The Blaze, which is based in Irving, said Friday that Lahren had not been terminated.

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It is puzzling that an employee who remains under contract (and is still being paid) has sued us for being fired, especially when we continue to comply fully with the terms of our agreement with her, a Blaze spokesman said.

The spokesman said Beck would not comment directly on the suit.

Lahrens suit alleges that the hubbub surrounding her comments was a public smear campaign orchestrated to inflate Becks profile, from what has become a mediocre following, all at (Lahrens) expense.

The suit also says that the Blaze wont allow Lahren access to her Facebook page, where she has 4.2 million followers, which has irreparably harmed Lahren.

A Blaze producer traveled with Lahren to her appearance on The View, the suit says, in which Lahren said: I cant sit here and be a hypocrite and say Im for limited government but I think the government should decide what women do with their bodies.

After the show, the producer applauded Lahrens appearance, the suit says, and she received several congratulatory emails from co-workers.

No one told (Lahren) that her statements on The View were either improper or inappropriate; and, indeed, that (Lahrens) point of view is just that  her point of view and freedom of expression, the suit says.

Beck and the Blaze knew of her pro-abortion rights position, which she had expressed before, and never took any issue with it, the suit says.

But the comments drew ire from many conservatives, including Beck, who retweeted a video showing Lahren months earlier referring to abortion as murder.

Beck also suggested on Twitter that Lahrens claim of being a libertarian clashed with her support of President Trumps executive orders and healthcare proposal, adding #intellectualhonesty.

The Blazes human resources director then called Lahren and told her that her employment was terminated, she would have no more shows, solely because of her abortion comments, the suit says.

Lahren was understandably disappointed, saddened and in shock for being suspended for freely expressing her opinions, which certainly reconcile with what is the law of the land in the United States i.e., a womans constitutional right to choose and in no way inconsistent with any of (Lahrens) obligations under the Employment Contract, the suit says.

Lahrens bosses ordered her to go dark and stay silent on social media, the suit says, adding that the Facebook page is not the Blazes property. Lahren hasnt posted to her Facebook page since March 19.

Her co-workers placed yellow caution tape spelling an X on Lahrens dressing room door. The Blaze terminated her work email account, according to the lawsuit. Supervisors cut off communication with Lahren, said her lawyer, Brian Lauten.

That was all retaliation and added up to her being fired, even if the Blaze considers her status there a suspension, Lauten said. He said the company has already breached the contract 100 times over; for example, the firm hasnt fulfilled its promise to produce 230 one-hour episodes of Lahrens show per year. He said Lahren wants to be free of her contract so she can go back to posting online and look for another job.

Shes like an eagle that feels like its had its wings clipped, Lauten said. Shes ready to pursue her career and reconnect with her millions of followers.

The suit asks a judge to grant Lahren a temporary restraining order, which would protect her right to speak freely as well as block the Blaze from destroying any evidence related to the dispute. Shes asking for attorneys fees and costs, as well as all other relief  which she may show herself justly entitled.

Shes very disappointed and sad that were in this situation, Lauten said, but they left her with no choice.

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Last month, renowned graffiti artist Andre Saraiva, who moonlights as a hotelier-restaurateur-nightlife impresario, was sipping iced tea while reading Yuval Noah Hararis book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind at the Chateau Marmonts terrace restaurant in West Hollywood as we met to discuss his L.A. connections, history of brand partnerships and a new collaboration with Japanese fashion retailer Uniqlo.

The 45-year-old artists limited-edition Andre Saraiva x Uniqlo T-shirt line, 12 womens and six girls styles (from $9.90 to $14.90) that feature his iconic top hat-wearing and winking stick character Mr. A, launched March 27 at Uniqlo stores and uniqlo.com. (If you want to see more of his work, check out Saraivas street art, featured in exhibitions at L.A.s Museum of Contemporary Art, on a wall at 4645 Hollywood Blvd. in Los Feliz.)

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You have a long history of collaborations with the likes of Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Bally, Tiffany & Co, Levis, Nike, Converse, Moet & Chandon and Chivas Regal. Tell me more.

I think Ive partnered with everyone. The liquors because I like to drink. But most collaborations were very thoughtful. Clothing is a good way to reach people. We did Louis Vuitton scarves that were like art pieces, along with an amazing book. For Chanel, I painted graffiti on bags, and we created a psychedelic nightclub inside the Grand Palais that brought [musician] Frank Ocean to France for the first time. Fashion brands are very respectful of and very fast to collaborate with artists, from Cocteau to Picasso, as part of history.

Why did you decide on Uniqlo?

Uniqlo decided on me. I had a little house and [now-defunct international Le Baron] nightclub with an outpost in Tokyo and did a show with [Japanese fashion designer] Nigo, who had this amazing brand A Bathing Ape. So he called me about a year ago, as he is now creative director for UT [Uniqlos UT specialty T-shirt line], and asked me to do a collaboration. Of all the big fashion brands, they may be the only one that goes directly to the artists  not doing fake designs  and the price point is very accessible.

Are you ever concerned about becoming too commercial?

Good question. Artist and collaboration, artist and commercial, whats the limit? When I started to paint on a wall or a T-shirt, it was almost the same. With graffiti, the idea was to put out our names and our drawings. So a T-shirt was a great surface to express my art. Since the 80s, painting on clothes was part of the practice. Graffiti is very democratic. Its Pop Art. And T-shirts are accessible. Keith Haring did some T-shirts that were, maybe, the first pieces of art that I owned and are still my favorite.

How many Mr. A moments have you created?

For years, I used to go out and paint at least 10 of my Mr. As daily. Now I do 10 on paper. If I was sick, I stayed home and did double that number. Ive had these crazy rules for almost 30 years [since 1989]. Let the reader calculate. [Reader, that adds up to more than 102,200.]

I am always trying to bring a little smile to people and also to question the world we live in.  Andre Saraiva

Your use of pink is a bit unusual in the street tag world.

I was, maybe, the first to use pink, and it wasnt a masculine color. But thats also why I like it. Because none of my peers were using pink, so it became my color as much as a color can become yours. It is very joyful, and I am always trying to bring a little smile to people and also to question the world we live in.

Do you visit L.A. often?

I have homes in Paris and New York, but my 7-year-old daughter [Henrietta, who stars in the Uniqlo campaign] lives in L.A. so I come here a lot. I like the vibe and spirit. You have space and nature and a very nice way of life. I used to come to paint billboards back in the day with [L.A.-based street artists] Shepard Fairey and Mr. Brainwash. In 2011, I had a secret [pop-up] club in Hollywood called Paul & Andre with Paul Sevigny [brother of actress Chloe Sevigny] that was so underground it only existed for about a year; we also had the Beatrice Inn club in New York. Now Im too old to have nightclubs! Last year, I opened this little bar the Friend in Silver Lake with my friends [Maroon 5 bassist] Mickey Madden and [restaurateur-bar owner] Jared Meisler.

image@latimes.com

@latimesimage

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It feels like Im on a space ship piloted by the Darth Vader of fitness.

The Supraformer workout is a lot of things at once  strength, stretching, balance, aerobic. But that reaction, uttered by Laura Green, a 40-year-old ophthalmologist visiting from Houston, is the typical reaction. For 25 minutes, a dozen of us experienced something truly out of this world, beyond the known boundaries of the normal classroom fitness universe. Wed been taken to a place where sweat meets ... Star Wars.

Aura

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Sitting in a large mirrored and glass-walled room facing La Cienega Boulevard at street level are 12 black Supraformers, contraptions that look like padded pilates boards on steroids, each with a sliding carriage that includes elevated hand-holds, handles and straps. Underneath the machines are red flashing lights. The device is the latest creation of 43-year-old Frenchman Sebastian Lagree, a blonder, younger Liam Neeson look-alike who chased his fitness dreams to Los Angeles, where he began creating fitness products and opening workout studios.

The Supraformer is the third generation of Lagrees similar but less-sophisticated Megaformer and Proformer products, which can be found at his 350 Lagree Fitness studios around the world. The big idea here is a doozy: The Supraformer unexpectedly tilts and slants  while youre working out on it.

You dont know whats happening until it does: A motor hidden underneath begins buzzing, and the carriage starts tipping up or back and turning sideways, while you hang on and get the workout of your life.

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Lagrees classes are encouraging, delivered in a friendly, low-key, almost scientific manner. The workout is short  just 25 minutes  so the key is doing the exercises with good form. The intense challenge of the tilting and the controlled, no-impact, joint-friendly movements gives you twice the work at once, Lagree says.

Effort

Its deceiving. When you do the Supraformer exercises in a slow, controlled manner, as Lagree dictates, they take their toll. Simultaneously stretching, strengthening and balancing as the carriage slides under you, your whole body is continually blasted by strenuous functional movements no matter the exercise. Theres lots of upper body and core work, such as standing biceps curls, presses and prone pull-ups. (You use the handled straps to pull your body forward while lying atop the sliding carriage.)

But most of the exercises are lower body. Especially popular: Lunges  front, side and angled  all far more dynamic and challenging than normal static lunges. Done slowly, these become excruciating by the 10th rep. The sweat starts percolating, the breathing and heart rate rising. Then, in the middle of the set, you suddenly panic when you realize that  what?!  the machine is starting to tilt. This is crazy  now youre fighting gravity too. Your core stabilizers begin to scream as they try to keep you from sliding to the left or right, or front and back, or even from falling off. Its as if supernatural forces have taken over the room.

But its just Lagree, who, like a drone pilot, is controlling every one of the 12 machines with the iPad strapped to his wrist. Like a boy with a toy, he touches his screen . and youre sprawled out.

Cost

$18 for a single class, discounted packages available. Lagree Fitness, 375 N. La Cienega Blvd., No. 1, Los Angeles. lagreefitnessstudio.com

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Your favorite book before 1900? Weve got sort of a tie between Middlemarch by George Eliot and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. But thats mostly because authors like Dostoevsky, Dickens and Austen tended to split votes between several books. It was so interesting to hear about your favorite classic novels  some that I have yet to read.

THE BIG STORY

Critic at Large Susan Straight first read John Rechy decades ago. She writes of the importance of his first novel, City of Night, a groundbreaking work of literature about gay life and Los Angeles, and then tells us about his newest book, After the Blue Hour, which is Rechy writing in a different mode. I marvel that, having just turned 85, he continues to write with such elegance and lyricism, descending into raw scenes of human longing and violence, Straight writes in her essay.

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A BOOKSTORE IN BOYLE HEIGHTS

Boyle Heights has been a flashpoint for arguments over gentrification; art galleries, in particular, have been a target of local activists. But a bookstore has quietly emerged on Cesar Chavez Avenue that fits right into the neighborhood. Vera Castaneda visits with Other Books, which is a project of three sets of creators: Adam Bernales and Denice Diaz, owners of Seite Books in East L.A.; the SoCal arm of the independent press Tiny Splendor, which has a kind of print shop there; and Kaya Press, a nonprofit publisher focused on Asian and Pacific Islander diaspora.

Other Books in Boyle Heights. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

BESTSELLERS

Debuting at No. 8 on our nonfiction bestseller list this week is Chris Hayes A Colony in a Nation, the MSNBCs hosts book on democracy, policing, inequality and race. Hes been so busy hosting All In With Chris Hayes, I personally have no idea how he managed to write a book. And thats not all hes up to...

Chris Hayes of MSNBC is the author of A Colony in a Nation. (Virginia Sherwood / Associated Press)

FESTIVAL OF BOOKS

Hayes is coming to the L.A. Times Festival of Books; hell appear Sunday, April 23 at 12:30 p.m. to talk about A Colony in a Nation. Hell be in conversation with Christina Bellantoni, the L.A. Times assistant managing editor, politics.

Before tickets go on sale on April 16, Id like to highlight another two panels that will be discussing the news of the moment:

Russia Past and Present: Masha Gessen in conversation with Kim Murphy, Sat. 4/22, 10:30a.m.

Masha Gessen is a finalist for the L.A.Times book prize in history for her 2016 book, Where the Jews Arent: The Sad and Absurd Story of Birobidzhan, Russias Jewish Autonomous Region. Gessen was born in Moscow, moved to the U.S. with her family as a teenager, then went back as a journalist, where she was critical of the administration (see her 2012 book, The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin). In 2013, with concerns over threats to LGBTQ families in Russia, Gessen returned to the U.S.; her next book, coming in October, is The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia. Gessen won a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship on Friday for her nonfiction writing. Shell be in conversation with L.A. Times assistant managing editor Kim Murphy, who oversees foreign and national news at the paper.

Red Square in Moscow, Russia. (Spencer Platt / Getty Images)

Telling Syrias Stories, Sat. 4/22 at 3:00 p.m.

This panel features a novelist, an academic and a memoirist, each of whom comes to Syria with a different set of skills and experiences in the country. Alia Malek is a journalist and attorney who, after the Arab Spring, moved from America to Syria, which her family had left decades before. She chronicles that experience in The Home That Was Our Country: A Memoir of Syria. Journalist Elliot Ackerman, who has been covering Syria since 2013 (and was a Marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan), writes fiction: his novel of Syria is Dark at the Crossing. And Christopher Phillips, from Queen Mary, University of London, is the author of The Battle for Syria: International Rivalry in the New Middle East, which, while published last year, in its examination of contemporary international interference in Syria could not be more timely.

People inspect damaged buildings in Douma, Syria, after an airstrike by Syrian government forces on April 7. (Mohammed Badra / EPA)

PYNCHONIAN TELENOVELA

This Sunday Jim Ruland reviews what he calls a situation comedy written by Philip K. Dick or a telenovela penned by Thomas Pynchon. What is it? A Little More Human by Fiona Maazel, a novel about a man whos a superhero impersonator by night and a nurses assistant by day at a biotech research center. Mind-reading, experimental brain surgery, and a brilliant doctor whos losing his mind are only part of the story. Like Gessen, Maazel was awarded a Guggenheim Foundation grant for writing on Friday  hers for fiction, of course.

carolyn.kellogg@latimes.com

@paperhaus
Good morning. Im Paul Thornton, The Times letters editor, and it is Saturday, April 8, 2017. Much of California today is getting  wait for it  more rain and snow today. Heres a look back at the week in Opinion.

The Times Editorial Board did not mince words this week. In a blistering six-part assessment of the still-nascent Trump administration, the board blasted the commander in chiefs constant lying, his embrace of conspiracy theories, his hostility to journalism and his authoritarian approach to executing the awesome powers of the American presidency.

Our editorial board expressed serious reservations about Trump the GOP nominee during the Republican primary and endorsed Hillary Clinton during the general election, so the papers opposition to Trump might come as no surprise. But newspaper editorial boards tend to express their criticism of any political figure  from a school board member up to a head of state  more dispassionately than, say, an opinion columnist might, making The Times series on Trump particularly noteworthy (more on that later).

The Times began its series with an editorial titled Our Dishonest President, listing three areas of particular concern about Trump:

1. Trumps shocking lack of respect for those fundamental rules and institutions on which our government is based. Since Jan. 20, he has repeatedly disparaged and challenged those entities that have threatened his agenda, stoking public distrust of essential institutions in a way that undermines faith in American democracy. He has questioned the qualifications of judges and the integrity of their decisions, rather than acknowledging that even the president must submit to the rule of law. He has clashed with his own intelligence agencies, demeaned government workers and questioned the credibility of the electoral system and the Federal Reserve. He has lashed out at journalists, declaring them enemies of the people, rather than defending the importance of a critical, independent free press. His contempt for the rule of law and the norms of government are palpable. 2. His utter lack of regard for truth. Whether it is the easily disprovable boasts about the size of his inauguration crowd or his unsubstantiated assertion that Barack Obama bugged Trump Tower, the new president regularly muddies the waters of fact and fiction. Its difficult to know whether he actually cant distinguish the real from the unreal  or whether he intentionally conflates the two to befuddle voters, deflect criticism and undermine the very idea of objective truth. Whatever the explanation, he is encouraging Americans to reject facts, to disrespect science, documents, nonpartisanship and the mainstream media  and instead to simply take positions on the basis of ideology and preconceived notions. This is a recipe for a divided country in which differences grow deeper and rational compromise becomes impossible. 3. His scary willingness to repeat alt-right conspiracy theories, racist memes and crackpot, out-of-the-mainstream ideas. Again, it is not clear whether he believes them or merely uses them. But to cling to disproven alternative facts; to retweet racists; to make unverifiable or false statements about rigged elections and fraudulent voters; to buy into discredited conspiracy theories first floated on fringe websites and in supermarket tabloids  these are all of a piece with the Barack Obama birther claptrap that Trump was peddling years ago and which brought him to political prominence. It is deeply alarming that a president would lend the credibility of his office to ideas that have been rightly rejected by politicians from both major political parties.... Those who oppose the new presidents reckless and heartless agenda must make their voices heard. Protesters must raise their banners. Voters must turn out for elections. Members of Congress  including and especially Republicans  must find the political courage to stand up to Trump. Courts must safeguard the Constitution. State legislators must pass laws to protect their citizens and their policies from federal meddling. All of us who are in the business of holding leaders accountable must redouble our efforts to defend the truth from his cynical assaults. >> Click here to read more

Part II: Why Trump Lies: The insult that Donald Trump brings to the equation is an apparent disregard for fact so profound as to suggest that he may not see much practical distinction between lies, if he believes they serve him, and the truth. L.A. Times

Part III: Trumps Authoritarian Vision: Whats uniquely threatening about Trumps approach, though, is how many fronts hes opened in this struggle for power and the vehemence with which he seeks to undermine the institutions that dont go along. L.A. Times

Part IV: Trumps War on Journalism: In Donald Trumps America, the mere act of reporting news unflattering to the president is held up as evidence of bias. Journalists are slandered as enemies of the people.  L.A. Times

Part V: Conspiracy Theorist in Chief: If Trump feels free to take to Twitter to make wild, paranoid, unsubstantiated accusations against his predecessor, why should the nation believe what he says about a North Korean missile test, Russian troop movements in Europe or a natural disaster in the United States? L.A. Times

Part VI: California Fights Back: The reality is that California cannot go it alone. Lets stop fantasizing about Calexit. As fun as it may be to imagine California taking its giant, job-creating, climate-protecting, immigrant-friendly economy and building its own nation, history suggests that would be neither wise nor feasible. California is an integral part of the United States, where it should remain, staying actively engaged. L.A. Times

   

Did The Times preach to the choir? Some readers said so, and Editorial Page Editor Nicholas Goldberg was asked about it in a radio interview. His response, in part: Well, its hard to change peoples minds in the political climate we have right now. We always want to change peoples minds. We always hope to persuade; that's why we lay out a coherent argument as best we can; whether we succeed, I'm not sure. KPCC

A sample of how this played out in right-wing media: Breitbart headlined its report Los Angeles Times editorial loses it over Trump. Over at Fox News Fox & Friends, a program tweeted at approvingly by no less than the president himself, one commentator said the editorial boards goal was invalidating the Trump presidency.

Most letter writers agreed with the editorial boards criticism, although some said it was odd for the paper to say that nothing prepared us for the magnitude of this train wreck. Several readers worried the Trump presidency may permanently change America for the worse, while his defenders wrote that The Times attacks revealed more about the paper itself than they said about the Trump.

Reach me: paul.thornton@latimes.com
Gilberto Santillan, 58, became a beloved figure in Manhattan Beach during 32 years of hauling garbage there.

If residents forgot to roll their cans to the curb, Santillan sometimes did it for them. He once jumped out of his truck to help a pregnant woman struggling with her can on the driveway.

The children so admired Santillan that one childs birthday cake was decorated with a green garbage truck. Another dressed as Santillan on Halloween because the boy considered the garbageman a hero.

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When USA Waste of California Inc. first fired Santillan in 2011, more than 500 people in the upscale beachside community wrote letters imploring the company to reinstate him.

The communitys bond with the garbageman was portrayed Friday in a federal appeals court decision that revived an age discrimination lawsuit Santillan filed after losing his job.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said Santillans lawsuit should proceed because he had alleged adequate evidence of age discrimination.

Santillan, according to the 9th Circuit, was rarely disciplined during his first 30 years hauling garbage.

But after a new route manager was assigned to supervise him, the company tried to discipline him six times over a year and half. It fired him for the first time in 2011, saying he had four accidents over a 12-month period, according to the court.

Santillan disputed the companys account. He said he was one of five older, Spanish-speaking employees who were fired or suspended once the new manager took over, and he wanted his job back.

The residents of Manhattan Beach flocked to the garbagemans assistance.

They reminded the company they had urged the Manhattan Beach City Council to renew its contract with USA Waste in 2011 mainly because they had wanted to keep Santillan on the route.

One homeowner made it a point to introduce her sons to Santillan because he works hard, and has a beautiful spirit and attitude, and in terms of class and integrity and a radiant personality there is no one in the world who can hold a candle to Gilberto, Judge Harry Pregerson wrote for the court.

In contrast, days after Santillan was fired, Manhattan Beach residents reported being frustrated finding their trash cans emptied at dusk and left sitting in the street  creating a hazard to oncoming cars, Pregerson added.

The court cited an article published in the Easy Reader, a South Bay weekly, by Alene Tchekmedyian, who is now a reporter for The Times.

The communitys pressure worked. The company agreed to rehire Santillan if he passed a California Department of Transportation drug test, a physical exam and a criminal background check and verified that he was legally entitled to work in the U.S.

The court said the company sent him a work-entitlement form in English even though it was available in Spanish and the company knew Santillans English was limited.

Santillan passed the examinations and reported back to work in 2012 with his drivers license and Social Security card.

But a human resource employee for the company said he failed to provide some information needed to show he was authorized to work legally in the U.S.

A district court ruled in favor of the company, but the 9th Circuit overturned that decision.

The appeals court said Santillan was not a new employee and therefore did not have to fill out the form showing eligibility to work.

An employers incorrect view of the law is not a legitimate reason for firing an employee, Pregerson, a Carter appointee, wrote for the court.

Mr. Santillan is very pleased with the courts decision and looks forward to his day in court, said John Taylor, Santillans lawyer. After 32 years of service to the community, Waste Management wanted to get rid of him for minor reasons. Now Waste Management must justify their decision to a jury.

The lawyer who represented USA Waste could not be reached. A spokeswoman for the company said it was reviewing the decision. Santillan could not be reached for comment.

maura.dolan@latimes.com

Twitter: @mauradolan

ruben.vives@latimes.com

Twitter: @LATvives
Two Camp Pendleton Marines have been disciplined for posting disparaging remarks in an online forum about one of their colleagues, the first such action taken in the wake of the Defense Departments announcement last month that it was investigating reports that hundreds of Marines had shared nude photos of female service members on a secret Facebook page.

A non-commissioned officer and a lower-ranking enlisted member of the 2nd Battalion, Fourth Marine Regiment at the base pleaded guilty to non-judicial punishment, instead of going to trial in military court, for comments they made on United States Grunt Corps.

Thats an online community created after Facebook shuttered the Marines United private page following allegations that some members swapped salacious images of female service members  often without the womens knowledge or consent  and openly derided them.

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On Wednesday, Camp Pendleton officials were alerted that the two Marines had used the Grunt Corps site to make derogatory remarks against a person in their chain of command. The two Marines battalion commander, Lt. Col. Warren Cook, initiated an investigation and the pair admitted their guilt.

Both Marines were demoted by one pay grade, sentenced to 45 days of restriction to their barracks and given 45 days of punitive duties concurrent to the other punishments.

No other details about the case, such as the Marines names and what they wrote in the online forum, were disclosed. In a statement released by the Camp Pendleton-based 1st Marine Division to the San Diego Union-Tribune, Cook said the case proved that his unit refuses to tolerate personal attacks on their Marines, online or elsewhere.

This kind of behavior flies in the face of our services core values and this organization refuses to condone it. Each member of this battalion is a valued part of a storied and effective combat unit, and our success is based on trust, mutual respect and teamwork, Cook said.

The case was first reported Friday by the Washington Post.

Since March 22, service members in Marine units worldwide have signed counseling statements  called Page 11s  that are then added to their permanent records indicating that they understand and will follow the Corps revamped guidelines on cyberbullying. Those tougher standards were created in the wake of the Marines United scandal.

At its peak in February, Marines United counted nearly 30,000 members  active-duty or reserve Marines and sailors, along with veterans who served in those military branches. Most of those members didnt share inappropriate images or cast slurs against female service members; the ongoing criminal investigation has focused on an estimated 500 men who did.

The probe involves the Marine Corps, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the FBI, the U.S. Department of Justice and law-enforcement agencies in various states.

During a Pentagon roundtable with reporters Friday morning, Gen. Glenn Walters, assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, vowed to continue going after online wrongdoing by Marines while enacting deeper reforms to root out an often toxic culture in the military that vilifies women.

Our Marines and the American people deserve nothing less. Marines dont fail. The vast majority of Marines live our ethos, and a part of that ethos is to correct or hold appropriately accountable those Marines who dont, Walters said. Marines dont degrade their fellow Marines. Marines dont disrespect or discriminate based on gender, religious affiliation, sexuality or race. Semper Fidelis  always faithful  has a deep meaning that we are called to defend. The Marine Corps owns this problem and we are committed to addressing it for the long term.

Walters pointed to NCIS innovations that have increased information sharing and streamlined reporting of incidents to track online misconduct. NCIS agents can now ship investigative material on minor offenses or non-criminal actions to a fusion cell within the larger task force probing the Marines United scandal.

The information is then routed to local commanders to punish the online scofflaws, such as the two Marines at Camp Pendleton.

Part of the task force, which is led by Marine Col. Cheryl Blackstone, continues to study more than 150 potential changes to the way the Corps recruits, trains and retains personnel to clean up an institution long deemed by critics to be corrosive to women.

Blackstone has commissioned studies exploring whether to increase the number of events in which male and female Marines train together while looking at dozens of recently instituted changes to the training of Marine recruits, Walters said.

Future revamping could include a Women in the Marine Corps Advisory Council and the creation of a forum in which current and former female Marines who were victimized in their careers can share their stories without fear of retaliation or reprisal.

Since the Marines United case became public, critics of the Corps gender policies have expressed a range of reactions. Some have conveyed cautious optimism that top leaders of the service, including Commandant Gen. Robert Neller, appear to be taking the scandal seriously.

Others had said they cant trust the Corps to police its own because similar incidents in the past were ignored or minimized.

Still others have supported the Corps current reform efforts but question whether it, NCIS and other enforcement agencies are nimble enough to pursue violators in the rapidly shifting world of online forums.

cprine@sduniontribune.com

Prine writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The Los Angeles County district attorneys public corruption unit has prosecuted hundreds of cases and notched some big convictions, including seven officials who looted city coffers in Bell.

In recent years, however, felony case filings have been on the decline, falling from a high of 39 in 2010 to 11 last year, records show.

Complaints of corruption, the main factor in triggering investigations, are also down, by 28% over the last five years. But figures show that felony prosecutions have declined even more: Theyve dropped by 69% during the same period.

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Its unclear whether the decreases are random fluctuations or signs of a larger change in the way the district attorney handles corruption cases or in the level of misconduct in local government.

Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey declined requests for an interview. In a statement, she pointed to the drop in complaints as one possible reason for the smaller number of prosecutions. She also said that her offices work has helped deter corruption.

This offices unprecedented and courageous efforts have signaled to those who receive taxpayer money  whether they be elected or appointed officials, government workers, vendors and others  that they will be held accountable if they betray the publics trust, Lacey said. We believe our aggressive stance has resulted in greater compliance and fewer public complaints of corruption.

Lacey said her office is one of the few in California and the nation with staff assigned full time to investigate and prosecute public corruption.

Former Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley won national attention for his prosecutions in several southeast L.A. County cities including Bell, which he famously described as corruption on steroids. In that case, officials in the working-class Latino city paid themselves outsize salaries and collected fat pensions while imposing hefty taxes and fees on residents.

Cooley defended Lacey, his longtime deputy who succeeded him in late 2012, saying he has seen no decline in resources dedicated to the unit devoted to prosecuting public corruption, which has 23 prosecutors and investigators. Records from the district attorneys office show that staffing levels have held steady over the last decade.

Cooley said that turnover in the teams leadership might have had an effect because institutional knowledge is vital to the unit. Four head deputies have led the team since Cooley left office, staffing records show.

The change-outs in head deputies over the last four years has created a certain amount of instability, he said. Thats probably the factor if I were a betting person.

In another statement, Lacey said the teams leadership changes were a result of regular personnel shifts, including promotions, retirements and transfers, and she expressed confidence in those who have led the unit.

Setbacks in new areas of prosecution are inevitable. Seeking justice requires perseverance, she said.

When Cooley created the Public Integrity Division in 2001, complaints of corruption poured in, he said.

What we encountered was a target-rich environment, Cooley recalled. It was so pent-up. There were so many very legitimate cases. They were all over the place.

The units track record under Lacey and Cooley has at times raised questions about how aggressively  and how effectively  it pursues cases involving the misuse of public funds, conflicts of interest and residency laws, and violations of election law and the Brown Act, the states open-meeting law.

Cooley was widely lauded for his handling of the 2010 Bell scandal, which followed a series of disclosures in The Times, but his tenure also was marked by criticism of his Public Integrity Divisions selection and prosecution of cases.

Although Cooley prosecuted scores of public officials, he was criticized early on for zeroing in on small targets, such as officeholders in little towns, while not aggressively pursuing major figures in Los Angeles city politics.

Much of that criticism was put to rest in 2008, with the conviction of city commissioner Leland Wong on felony bribery, conflict-of-interest and embezzlement charges. He was sentenced to five years in prison.

The unit does not initiate investigations  it acts on complaints from the public and sometimes pursues allegations reported by news outlets. Last year, 261 complaints were received, down from from 360 in 2012, records show.

District attorney records show the unit investigated a range of public corruption allegations it deemed did not warrant criminal charges. They included accusations that public employees engaged in political activity during work hours, falsified residency records, misused city credit cards and, in the case of one administrator, instructed a secretary to take an online traffic-school exam for him.

Many of those investigated and not charged were little-known public workers, but prosecutors also declined to press charges against some high-profile political players. They include county Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, who spent more than $10,000 in taxpayer money to remodel his converted garage into a home office. In 2014, prosecutors determined the spending was justified.

In February 2016, prosecutors dismissed what was left of the units case against three Irwindale officials who had been accused of lavish spending of taxpayers money on meals and Broadway shows on trips to New York more than 10 years ago.

Court records show that a former Irwindale councilman alerted prosecutors in 2005 to the alleged misuse of city credit cards on the trips, which were intended to bolster the citys bond ratings. The office closed an inquiry a year later but filed charges against four council members in 2010  but only after the San Gabriel Valley Tribune reported details of the spending. A fifth defendant was indicted in 2011.

The units handling of the case was marred by a series of missteps. An appellate court dismissed an early round of charges after concluding that prosecutors failed to present grand jurors with evidence favorable to the defendants. Then in 2015, a judge ruled that the district attorneys office blew a deadline to file some charges.

Ultimately, two of the five defendants pleaded guilty to lesser charges and were sentenced to probation. The other three walked free in February 2016 when prosecutors asked a judge to dismiss the case.

The public integrity unit suffered another self-inflicted wound in August, when prosecution blunders in a bribery-and-conspiracy case involving managers of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum forced the office to accept no-contest pleas to lesser charges.

The lead prosecutor, Dana Aratani, was removed from the case in 2015 after he acknowledged inappropriately viewing emails between one of the defendants and his lawyer, a violation of attorney-client privilege. Aratanis replacement, Terrie Tengelsen, later said she had contact with him about the case, despite a promise not to do so.

The mishandling of evidence in the Coliseum case prompted rebuke by Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy, who said the division seemed incapable of handling complex prosecutions.

You guys are just tripping over your feet and falling on your faces, Kennedy told two prosecutors at a hearing in the case.

Some complex investigations have spanned years, overlapping the tenures of Cooley and Lacey.

In 2009, after The Times detailed the grip that ex-mayor David Perezs family businesses had on lucrative City of Industry contracts for trash hauling, street sweeping and other services, the Public Integrity Division launched an investigation. Two years later, prosecutors closed the case, saying theyd found no evidence of wrongdoing.

In May 2015, as part of a city-commissioned review, KPMG auditors examining the same financial relationships found that Perezs companies had reaped $326 million from city contracts over two decades.

A Perez company had charged six times the going rate for street cleaning and $28 million for vehicle and equipment rentals over 11 years  enough to buy the same machinery several times over, the audit found.

The KPMG findings, subsequently echoed by a state audit, triggered a new investigation by the Public Integrity Division.

Nearly two years later, the case remains under review, according to a spokesman for the office.

Times staff writer Marisa Gerber contributed to this report.

kim.christensen@latimes.com

ben.poston@latimes.com

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Two San Diego State University students were passengers when an Uber driver was shot to death in Rosarito Beach last week, Baja state officials said Thursday night.

A U.S. high school student was also in the car, the Baja California attorney generals office said.

The students werent injured, and none were identified.

The three passengers were picked up at Papas & Beer, a nightclub favored by San Diego college students, particularly during spring break.

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They were headed south on Federal Highway 1 to Club Marena, an oceanfront resort, when their driver was shot six times about 11:15 p.m. from a vehicle that pulled up alongside their car, authorities said.

Paramedics reported that the victim was struck in the neck and in the chest, Rosarito Beach police said.

A police spokesman said the Uber driver, identified as Jose Humberto Felix Mendez, was the sole target in the shooting.

The passengers carried Felix to a back seat and continued driving to Club Marena, where they asked a security guard for help, police said.

Felix was a student at the Autonomous University of Baja California and lived in Playas de Tijuana.

david.hernandez@sduniontribune.com

Hernandez writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

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Its the second weekend of April, which is National Grilled Cheese Month (16 grilled cheese sandwich recipes!), if you for some reason hadnt yet realized it. Its also time for Passover, which begins Monday. Thus we have traditional Passover recipes, plus something a bit off the menu, unless you happen to be a pastry chef: Passover profiteroles, as well as cream puffs and gougeres. We also have a story on Joan Nathan, maybe the preeminent Jewish food writer, just in time for the release of her latest cookbook.

This last week was also the occasion of the naming of the Worlds 50 Best Restaurants. And this year, for the first time since 2004, the top honor went to an American restaurant: New Yorks Eleven Madison Park. Its an interesting list, although if youre looking for Los Angeles restaurants  and many female chefs  among the 100, youre out of luck. L.A., however, has both many superb restaurants and many superb women chefs. Which brings us to Jonathan Golds latest review, of chef Akasha Richmonds new restaurant, AR Cucina, in Culver City.

 Amy Scattergood

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Cucina Akasha

Owner and chef Akasha Richmond puts the final touches on the Thao Farms broccolini and mushroom pizza. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

This week, Jonathan considers AR Cucina, chef Akasha Richmonds Culver City Italian restaurant. Before she started serving marvelous bowls of cacio e pepe and risotto verde, Richmond was making tandoori lamb and paneer: AR Cucina replaced what was previously the chefs Indian restaurant, Sambar. The change makes for some pretty good Westside eating.

Passover puffs and profiteroles

Passover profiteroles with strawberries (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

Cooking for Passover can be a lot more fun than matzo ball soup and brisket (not that traditional Passover recipes arent wonderful): How about profiteroles with chocolate sauce? Food writers Faye Levy and Yakir Levy talk through making pate a choux with matzo meal for the holiday. Thus not only profiteroles, but cream puffs and gougeres.

Cooking from King Solomons Table

Cookbook author Joan Nathans latest book, King Solomons Table, is a global exploration, a compendium of Jewish cooking around the world  just in time for Passover. Food writer Jessica Ritz talks to Nathan about why it took her six years to write this book, the many places she explored in researching it  India, Cuba, El Salvador  and how important immigrant food is to us all. Plus: a recipe for matzo brei chilaquiles.

Beer and flowers

If youve been to Anza-Borrego lately, youll know all about the super bloom thats been happening  the post-rain wildflowers that have been showing up in lovely, unlikely places. The rains have been a boon to vineyards too. Beer writer John Verive goes in search of great places to drink craft beer and check out the blooms. He also gives some beer suggestions. Because theres nothing like a pint of guava-infused IPA El Mas Guapo to go with your flowers.

The Last Magnificent

Jeremiah Tower became famous while cooking at Chez Panisse, but the legendary chef has had a long career since leaving Alice Waters Berkeley restaurant, as the new documentary Jeremiah Tower: The Last Magnificent makes clear. He chats with food writer Margy Rochlin about that, as well as his San Francisco restaurant Stars and life on the beach in Mexico, where he now lives. Plus: a recipe!

Brunch, Bellinis and bunnies

Next weekend is Easter, which means that you should already be thinking about your brunch menu. Well have Easter brunch cooking stories for you in a few days, but if youre wanting someone else to cook for you, Jenn has a list of restaurants around town with Easter brunch specials. Bottomless Bellinis. Bacon French toast. A bunny petting zoo (!).

The Los Angeles Times Food Bowl: Want to spend 31 days exploring the food of this city through a Night Market, forums, dinners, films, pop-ups and more dining and drinking? A monthlong food festival is coming to L.A. in May. The full program guide comes out in print on Sunday, April 9.

The Daily Meal, the food and drink website under the editorial direction of Colman Andrews, is now one of our partners. Check out their 101 best pizzas in America and other stories, recipes and videos.

Jonathan Golds 101 Best Restaurants, the authoritative annual guide to local dining, is online for subscribers and now features his 2016 Best Restaurants. If you didnt get a copy of the booklet, you can order one online here.

Check us out on Instagram @latimesfood

Check out the thousands of recipes in our Recipe Database.

Feedback? Wed love to hear from you. Email us at food@latimes.com.
Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It is Saturday, April 8. Heres what you dont want to miss this weekend:

TOP STORIES

Its over! Startlingly green hills, surging rivers and the snow-wrapped Sierra Nevada had already signaled what Gov. Jerry Brown made official Friday: The long California drought is over. There are still counties in the San Joaquin Valley stricken by dried-up wells, but most of the state is now out of the woods. Los Angeles Times

Plus: What did California learn from its dry years? Los Angeles Times

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What do immigrants do? Did you know that most California dentists are actually immigrants? Nearly 40% of the states full-time, year-round workers are immigrants, the highest rate in the nation. Heres a breakdown of where immigrants in the state work. Sacramento Bee

Keeping up with that rent: Renters in the Los Angeles and Orange County metropolitan area are going to need a yearly raise of $1,152 to keep up with expected rent increases in the next year, a study by real estate website Zillow says. Orange County Register

Oil spill in the bay: A freight barge being used for BART work that was carrying 4,000 gallons of diesel fuel and 300 gallons of hydraulic oil sunk south of the Bay Bridge Friday morning and apparently is leaking, authorities said. The Mercury News

Neighborhood council setback: It looks like skid row will not be getting its own neighborhood council after workers voted 826 to 764 against setting up a body for the 10,000 residents of the encampment. Los Angeles Times

See how your street voted: If you live in the 34th U.S. congressional district, find out here how your neighborhood voted in the race earlier this week. Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez and former L.A. city planning commissioner Robert Lee Ahn, both Democrats, will meet in a runoff for the open U.S. House seat. Los Angeles Times

Shooting on skid row: Los Angeles police shot and wounded a man Friday after a series of stabbings in downtown L.A.s skid row that sent three people to the hospital, officials said. Los Angeles Times

This weeks most popular stories in Essential California:

1. Once middle class, now she and her two dogs live in a car in Carlsbad. Los Angeles Times

2. Will Congress kill a $101-billion tax break for Californians? Los Angeles Times

3. Dear Neighbor: Move your car! The Eastsider

4. Sen. Kamala Harris sees a path out of the wilderness for Democrats  but can she sell it to them? Los Angeles Times

5. Washington may be shaking its head, but Devin Nunes is still a hometown hero. Los Angeles Times

ICYMI, here are this weeks Great Reads

Stakes are high: President Trumps summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping was overshadowed by U.S. airstrikes in Syria. Still, few places have more to gain or lose than California from the tete-a-tete between the two leaders. Los Angeles Times

San Franciscos history with ICE: There used to be a time when ICE could walk into San Franciscos jails and question anyone. But a raid on a popular Latin club, Club Elegante, in 1989 changed all of that, igniting a sleeping giant in the city. KQED

Photos from the wall: Check out this powerful photo series about what life is like in the no-mans land north of the border but south of the wall. Cordoned off from the rest of the U.S., these patches between the fence and the river have sprouted their own ecosystems, Lauren Etter writes. Bloomberg Businessweek

A pipe dream: A hyperloop transportation system doesnt exist anywhere in America, but its still a pretty popular idea. In California, where traffic is so bad, a tube that could transport a person from L.A. to San Francisco in 30 minutes sounds especially alluring. Even with something so expensive, which has never been done, city officials are still desiring a hyperloop in their backyard. Wired

Revisiting the riots: Check out this story about memories of the 1992 riots and an exhibit called Re-Imagine Justice, Community Coalitions month-long Living Art Museum and panel series commemorating the 25th anniversary of the 1992 unrest/uprising. Streetsblog LA

Keep public art local: Danielle Brazell is the general manager of L.A.s Department of Cultural Affairs, and her mission is simple. She thinks that Los Angeles public art should stay local. Making that happen isnt necessarily easy. Curbed Los Angeles

ICYMI: The Los Angles Times editorial board, which is separate from the news operation, published this week a caustic and much-talked about series of editorials criticizing the early days of the Trump presidency. The final installment is about how California is and should be pushing back against the Trump administration. Los Angeles Times

Looking Ahead

Saturday: The Toyota Grand Prix hits Long Beach.

Sunday: Two top House Democrats, Nancy Pelosi and John Lewis, back new anti-poverty legislation in L.A.

Monday: Passover begins.

Friday: The Los Angeles Mission holds Easter event.

Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Benjamin Oreskes and Shelby Grad. Also follow them on Twitter @boreskes and @shelbygrad.
It is fortunate for the people of Baltimore that a judge on Friday rejected the U.S. Justice Departments attempt to delay, and perhaps scuttle, an agreement to reform that citys struggling police department. The agreement was supported by the police chief, the mayor and, judging from testimony at a federal court hearing last week, Baltimore residents, activists and community leaders  everyone, it seems, but the Trump administration. Over the objection of U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, the agreement is now a consent decree. A court-appointed monitor will oversee changes in police training, tactics, operations, data tracking and other matters.

Other cities may not be so lucky. Sessions is leading a stunning retreat from the federal governments largely positive involvement in police reform. His order late last month to review existing and contemplated consent decrees came too late for the Justice Department to renege on the Baltimore agreement because it had been signed and filed in court during the Obama administration. But the process has not yet reached that stage in Chicago, where the police department is in dire need of an overhaul. Its now unlikely to get it in the form of federal oversight.

Sessions lamentable see-no-evil approach to policing appears to rest on several misconceptions about public safety. One is that police fight crime best when allowed to do their jobs without interference from outsiders, and that more oversight means more crime.

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Sessions lamentable see-no-evil approach to policing appears to rest on several misconceptions about public safety.

Thats a philosophy that has a certain surface appeal for those who see crime as a war fought by opposing troops. But experience has brought a much more sophisticated grasp of public safety. Confidence in law enforcement  the knowledge among law-abiding citizens that they can seek police help without putting themselves, their families or strangers in unwarranted danger  provides a crucial environment for crime prevention. In communities riven by years of mistrust, misunderstanding and abuse, that confidence is difficult or impossible to achieve without an outside fact-finder and independent monitor.

Sessions also argues that law enforcement is and should remain a local matter, and so it should  but the local view in Baltimore and many other cities is that outside help is needed in order for the local department to function properly. The Justice Department is best positioned to provide that help after more than 20 years of consent decrees that have led to smarter, safer and more effective police tactics and better civilian oversight.

Sessions also argues that the misdeeds of individual bad actors should not impugn or undermine the legitimate and honorable work of police. In other words, if there is a problem in policing, its that there may be a few bad cops, and the solution should be to weed them out.

That stance flies in the face of decades of experience in policing reform, civil rights litigation and successful consent decrees.

In the early 1990s, after the beating of Rodney King, it was tempting to believe that any problems in the LAPD could be attributed to 44 problem officers identified by the Christopher Commission. But the commissions report made clear that the systemic problems in the LAPD went far beyond those individuals and included training, command structure, and a department-wide culture that promoted discrimination, bigotry and secrecy.

In the Rampart scandal several years later, public attention focused on the crimes of a single officer, Rafael Perez, and then a single unit, and then one police division. But the Justice Department found a pattern of persistent department-wide civil rights violations, and in 2001 entered into a consent decree with the LAPD.

Four years after the decree was lifted, the standard of policing in Los Angeles is vastly improved. Criticism continues, much of it focused on individual officers involved in deadly uses of force. Activists have decried the lack of criminal charges in almost every case.

But even these critics see that controversial acts of officers come in the context of an entire culture and structure of policing that requires ongoing improvements in training, tactics and oversight. In that sense their grasp of the issue is considerably firmer than Sessions.

In Chicago and elsewhere, officials have vowed to press forward with police reforms even without the Justice Department. And they should. The momentum for change generated during the Obama administration may carry forward even in the absence of support from the federal government. But federal abdication will make their jobs unnecessarily difficult.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
Newly elected Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents the 5th District, met with Burbank City Council members Thursday to talk about how city and county officials can work together on various issues, including senior services, transportation challenges, mental-health programs and homelessness.

With the 5th District being the largest [in the county], its important to collaborate, especially given the challenges facing not only the county, but facing local cities as it relates to funding, Barger said. This is my opportunity to collaborate with you all and ensure that Im not missing something. Because, while Id like to think that Ive got my finger on the pulse all the time, there may be things that you all have that are important that I can help you with.

Judie Wilke, the citys director of parks, recreation and community services, talked about ways to improve the citys senior services, especially for those who are home-bound.

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Though the Media City has several well-performing services, such as its home-delivered meals and recreation programs, Wilke said there are other services that seniors would like to see the city provide, such as a daycare program, transportation to places outside of Burbank and assistance with grocery shopping or medical-prescription pick-ups.

I think we know a lot of what the county does, and we have a wonderful relationship with the county and many of our programs we are providing are funded through the county, but were not completely well-versed enough to really think we are giving the best answers to our senior residents that we could, Wilke said. Knowing what the county offers will probably help us to minimize duplication, allow Burbank to bridge the gap in missing services and enable Burbank and the county to better coordinate our services to our seniors.

Councilman Bob Frutos suggestedthe county look into a GPS-tracking program for seniors to help first responders quickly locate those with dementia or Alzheimers disease who wander away from their homes.

Barger said the Glendale Police Department is currently developing a program that would track down those with memory issues.

David Kriske, Burbanks assistant community development director of transportation, talked about transportation issues, mainly Metrolink services, the bus rapid transit corridor from Burbank to Pasadena and improving transportation around the newly proposed Golden State District, which is just east of the Hollywood Burbank Airport.

Barger acknowledged that Metrolink has quality issues, such as a lack of scheduled services and trains breaking down.

The maintenance on our Metrolink is poor and thats not really the fault of [Metrolink Chief Executive] Art Leahy, its just been neglected, she said. We have to do a better job. Otherwise, its going to fail.

Councilman David Gordon brought up the California High-Speed Rail Authoritys project to bring high-speed trains to the state and how Barger felt about it.

Barger said high-speed rail is not appropriate in suburban neighborhoods and highly populated areas, especially the cities in her district. Additionally, she said that the project will have a negative impact on property values.

From a representative standpoint, I think that the High-Speed Rail Authority has been deaf to the people in the community, Barger said.

From a representative standpoint, I think that the High-Speed Rail Authority has been deaf to the people in the community.  Los Angeles County 5th District Supervisor Kathryn Barger

Police Chief Scott LaChasse discussed how his department and other county agencies are dealing with how to transport violent mentally-ill patients, for example, elderly people with dementia.

LaChasse said his department used to have assistance with a county-contracted ambulance to help transport patients to a facility. However, Burbank has been relegated to using its police vehicles to transport patients, which the chief thinks can have detrimental impacts.

When youre picking up elderly folks from in front of their house and taking them away in a police car, it does destroy their dignity and leads to a lot of questions, LaChasse said.

What the police chief would like to see is a program where patients can be taken by an ambulance and brought to a facility where they can receive the help they need.

Barger, who worked on mental-health services for the county while working for her predecessor Michael Antonovich, said she is looking into having urgent care facilities located across the county that can help mentally-ill patients.

Relating to mental health issues is homelessness, which Burbank and nearly every other city in the county is facing on a daily basis. Though the Media City is not as impacted by homelessness as other cities, Patrick Prescott, the citys community development director, asked Barger how Burbank can secure some funds collected by Measure H to continue aiding the homeless in the city.

The commissioner said the county is forming a group to oversee how the funds are distributed throughout the region. She added that transitional housing and services are vital to helping those who need assistance and want to get their lives back on track.

In order for Measure H to be a success in about 10 years, which sounds like a long time but is not, were looking to the cities to fill in the gaps where we dont provide the services, such as affordable housing, Barger said.

anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com

Twitter: @acocarpio
The Decorative Arts Society will close its 2016-17 lecture series Tuesday with Decades: A Century of Fashion, featuring Cameron Silver, founder of Los Angeles-based vintage couture shop Decades.

Silver, fashion director of the H Halston and H by Halston brands, is a celebrity stylist, author and fashion expert who appears on CBS This Morning and ABCs Good Morning America.

The event will include breakfast at 9:30 a.m. and the speaker from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Edwards Big Newport 6 cinema, 300 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach. Tickets are $75 at the door.

The Decorative Arts Society was established in 1995 as a group of women and men who participate in a lecture series presented by experts in decorative arts, interior and fashion design and architectural and landscape design.

Donations to the society help provide funds for projects and programs benefiting women and children in Orange County, such as Lauras House, Casa Teresa and the Blind Childrens Learning Center.

Since its inception, the society has distributed more than $2 million to Orange County organizations.

For more information, visit decorativeartssociety.net.

kathleen.luppi@latimes.com

Twitter: @KathleenLuppi
Laguna Beach already bans medical marijuana dispensaries, and businesses that supply recreational pot could be next.

The Laguna Beach City Council on Tuesday will consider a proposed ordinance that would prohibit the sale, distribution and commercial cultivation of recreational marijuana, which California voters last November legalized for people 21 years and older.

Proposition 64, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act, allows cities to ban all or some cannabis businesses.

The Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation is drafting licensing rules, expected to become effective next year, regarding cultivation, manufacture, distribution, transportation, laboratory testing and sale, the Daily Pilot reported in January, when the council directed city staff to craft an ordinance.

With the passage of Proposition 64, a person may grow up to six plants in a locked area inside a private residence for personal use, as long as the plants are not visible from a public place.

Lagunas ordinance would not change that provision but would ban outdoor pot cultivation.

City officials have said allowing sales of recreational marijuana in the city could attract loitering, criminal activity and increased traffic  the same concerns raised last year regarding medical marijuana dispensaries.

Laguna voters in November rejected a ballot measure that would have lifted the citys current ban on medical marijuana dispensaries and allowed up to two of those businesses.

Tuesdays meeting begins at 6 p.m. at City Hall, at 505 Forest Ave.

bryce.alderton@latimes.com

Twitter: @AldertonBryce
Nobu, a Japanese restaurant founded by Nobu Matsuhisa, Meir Teper and Robert De Niro, opened Friday in Newport Beachs Lido Marina Village.

The restaurant at 3450 Via Oporto, Suite 101, has more than 16,000 square feet and includes indoor and outdoor dining, a bar and lounge and special event space.

Nobu has locations throughout the world and United States, including in Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Diego.

Newport Beach dojo celebrates 30 years

Newport Beach Aikido is celebrating its 30th anniversary with events that began Friday and end Sunday.

The dojo is at 2018 Quail St. Special guests are coming in from around the world, according to the studios website, aikido-orangecounty.com.

Costa Mesa home to new cold brew coffee company

Small-batch cold brew coffee by Humblemaker Coffee Co., based in Costa Mesa, will be sold at the Gelsons chain starting April 24, according to a news release.

The company is donating 10% of its annual profits to organizations that help autistic children. It is also a sponsor of A Walk on Water, which provides surf instruction to special-needs children.

Taco Brat to host preview pop-up

Taco Brat, a planned bratwurst and taco shop in Costa Mesa, is having a pop-up at the Harp Inn, an Irish pub at 130 E. 17th St. in Costa Mesa, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. May 2.

Tickets are $15 and will include tacos, brats and a voucher for a free taco when the German-Mexican concept restaurant opens at 2101 Harbor Blvd. Tickets are available at bit.ly/TacoBratPopUp.

Honda to pump free gas in Costa Mesa

Southern California Honda dealers, in their Random Acts of Helpfulness campaign, are giving free gas to hybrid drivers who come to the US Gas station, 2502 Harbor Blvd. in Costa Mesa, from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. April 14.

H.B. chamber to host Economic Conference

The Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerces 30th annual Economic Conference is from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m April 19. The event will be inside Golden West Colleges theater, 15751 Gothard St. Tickets start at $60 at hbchamber.com.

For more information, contact Phoenix Freeman at (714) 500-6108.

South Coast Plaza hosts spring activities

South Coast Plaza is celebrating spring throughout the Costa Mesa shopping center, with the Easter bunny, photo opportunities, floral carriages and other activities. For information, visit bit.ly/2nUiZN3.

Reuters: Newports PIMCO regains top ranking

Newport Beach-based Pacific Investment Management Co. (PIMCO) regained its perch as the manager behind the worlds largest actively managed bond fund, according to a Reuters report.

PIMCOs Income Fund grew to $79.1 billion in March, Reuters reported, a figure that tops the TCW Group Incs once-largest $78.9 billion MetWest Total Return Bond Fund.

Meehan leaves Volcom for RVCA

Kevin Meehan has left the role of Volcom Americas market president to join Billabong Groups RVCA in Costa Mesa as global general manager, according to the Orange County Business Journal. He replaces Bill Bettencourt.

NuVision merges with L.A.-area credit union

American Federal Credit Union has merged with Huntington Beach-based NuVision Federal Credit Union, effective April 1, according to a news release.

American is based in Mission Hills. The combined company has an estimated $1.5 billion in assets and 85,000 members, with 13 full-service branch locations in Los Angeles and Orange counties, according to a news release.

Walls named to executive Bridge Bank position

Abby Walls was recently named vice president, relationship manager for the corporate banking group at Bridge Banks Costa Mesa branch.

Walls has also worked for First Bank and California Bank and Trust.

Montage starts guitar-lending program

The Montage resort in Laguna Beach has launched its Coastal Chords program, which lends Taylor Guitars to hotel guests.

The program includes gatherings of guitar players on Fridays and Saturdays from May through September.

Hoag expands in Costa Mesa

Hoag Medical Group has expanded its location in Costa Mesa at 1170 Baker St., Suite H1. The center offers wellness counseling, disease prevention, health screenings, annual health exams and other services.
Southern California Edison filed a lawsuit against Laguna Beach on Wednesday claiming that a city ordinance requiring utility companies to transfer their equipment underground violates state and federal law.

The SCE lawsuit, filed in United States District Court in Santa Ana, specifically claims that the mandate, approved by the Laguna Beach City Council on March 28, undermines the contract clauses of the U.S. and California constitutions, which prohibit legislation that hinders a contract.

Laguna Beach City Atty. Phil Kohn said Friday that he hadnt seen the lawsuit and declined to comment.

The ordinance calls for public utility companies such as Edison to underground all new, replaced or relocated utility infrastructure.

Downed power lines and poles have caused at least five fires from 2007 through 2015, led to power outages, and forced officials to close roads, according to the ordinance.

The lawsuit says the undergrounding ordinance would violate the companys contract with the city by prohibiting the company from being able to construct and operate its facilities along city streets, despite the fact that the SCE paid for such rights and continues to do so.

The ordinance, however, says existing franchise agreements with public utilities allow it to supervise and regulate the location of poles, wires, mains or conduits of any public utility, on, under or above any public streets.

SCEs costs for maintaining and building the new structures would also increase, and its ability to maintain and repair its equipment would be constrained, the lawsuit says.

SCE also claims in the suit that the ordinance would prevent the company from following requirements of the California Public Utilities Commission, which has exclusive jurisdiction over undergrounding. This would cause the company to either violate the ordinance or state public utilities code, because it cannot comply with both simultaneously, according to the lawsuit.

SCE has been embroiled in conflict with the city over the ordinance since it was brought to the companys attention in October, the SCE lawsuit says.

San Diego Gas and Electric Co. has also filed a lawsuit targeting the citys ordinance.

benjamin.brazil@latimes.com

Twitter: @benbrazilpilot

bryce.alderton@latimes.com

Twitter: @AldertonBryce
The so-called heiress to an Armenian cracker-bread company was sentenced to three years in prison on Tuesday for her involvement in the 2015 choking death of a 31-year-old man in a Glendale apartment.

Sparkle Soojian, who claimed on her website to be the heiress to the Ak Mak cracker-bread company, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the Sept. 10, 2015 death of John Michael King-Smith.

Soojians then-boyfriend, Jared Kasiewicz, has pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter for his part in King-Smiths death. His sentencing is scheduled for June.

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King-Smith was the ex-boyfriend of Soojians roommate and had showed up unannounced at their apartment in the 200 block of West Windsor Road on the night of Sept. 10, according to court testimony from last year.

An altercation broke out, and Soojian texted Kasiewicz to come over.

When the former Marine arrived at the apartment, he tackled King-Smith and placed him in a choke hold, according to court testimony.

Video recorded during the incident reportedly shows Kasiewicz choking King-Smith and asking people nearby for rope to tie him up. He then bound King-Smiths wrists to his feet.

Kasiewicz washed off the blood he had gotten on himself during the scuffle, then told several people in the apartment he wasnt here and left, according to court testimony.

Soojian then called police to report a break-in had occurred and that neighbors tied up King-Smith.

When officers arrived, they found King-Smith in a state of medical distress, and he was transported to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

According to the Los Angeles County coroners office, King-Smith died of asphyxia and a compressed neck.

andy.nguyen@latimes.com

Twitter: @Andy_Truc
Community leaders took to the Alex Theatre stage on Thursday to sign a pledge proclaiming their commitment to improving Glendales collective health.

The event was part of the Glendale Healthier Community Coalitions We Own the Health of Our Community initiative and representatives from more than 100 organizations, including local businesses and government agencies, signed the pledge. Signatories included Mayor Paula Devine, Glendale Unified Supt. Winfred Roberson Jr. and Glendale Fire Chief Greg Fish.

The various signatories pledged to support the coalitions initiative, which includes inspiring healthy behavior among their employees and staff as well as encouraging those with health issues to seek proper medical assistance.

We will take collective action as one community such that  we can make the difference to the lives of the people in our community, City Manager Scott Ochoa said.

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Established in 2015, the initiative seeks to improve the health of people who work and live in the city by addressing health risks that are prevalent.

One such risk is diabetes.

Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, said about 44% of residents in Los Angeles County are afflicted with prediabetes  where a persons blood sugar levels are higher than normal but they have not yet progressed to type 2 diabetes.

A change in lifestyle including healthier eating and being more active can help prevent prediabetes from turning into type 2 diabetes, she said. Early screening for diabetes is also key.

Toward the end of the evening, Glendale Mayor Paula Devine said she was proud city organizations are taking on this responsibility. Devine, who is a retired teacher with a degree in physical education, said she is aware of the importance that healthy eating and physical activity can have on a persons health.

I look at my job on the city council and as mayor as ensuring that your quality of life is the best that it can possibly be, she said.

andy.nguyen@latimes.com

Twitter: @Andy_Truc
Rev. Billy Graham, a young Southern Baptist preacher, drew 350,000 people over eight weeks to a huge tent at Washington Boulevard and Hill Street. Graham quoted Scripture and discussed his tours of Europe after World War II.

All across Europe, people know that time is running out, he said. Now that Russia has the atomic bomb, the world is in an armament race driving us to destruction.

The event catapulted him to religious stardom.

Bill Murphys photo, above, appeared in the Nov. 14, 1949, Los Angeles Times.

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This post was originally published on July 16, 2010.

Oct. 30, 1949: Overflow crowd at large tent waiting to hear Dr. Billy Graham speak. (Bill Murphy / Los Angeles Times)
Chinese President Xi Jinping made a surprise stop in Alaska on Friday after a two-day summit with President Trump in Florida, underscoring Chinas resource ambitions in the global far north.

Xi met with Alaska Gov. Bill Walker on Friday night during a refueling stop in Anchorage before resuming the flight to Beijing. The two talked trade  Walker told Xi that Alaska could provide the resource-hungry country with a generations worth of liquefied natural gas, according to local media.

China is Alaskas top export market  the state sold more than $1 billion worth of goods to China last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Its biggest export was fish.

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I think this is an extremely valuable opportunity to meet with our largest trade partner face to face, said Chris Hladick, the commissioner of the states Commerce Department, according to the Associated Press. He called the meeting a once-in-a lifetime opportunity.

Although the Chinese government has not articulated a clear Arctic policy, the worlds northernmost extreme sits on formidable quantities of mineral reserves, and China has positioned itself as a major stakeholder in the area.

In recent years, China has begun construction on a research station in Iceland, hosted a major conference on reindeer herding and normalized diplomatic relations with Norway after a six-year freeze. (Beijing cut ties after a Norwegian committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo in 2010.)

Xi, on a state visit to Finland before this weeks U.S. summit, said China and Finland will enhance cooperation in Arctic affairs and promote environmental protection and sustainable development of the Arctic.

On Friday, Xi and Walker took a sightseeing tour in their motorcade, according to local media, stopping at Beluga Point, a rocky, highway-side outpost looking out over a stunning vista of mountains and glaciers.

Photos posted by the Alaska Dispatch News showed Xi and his wife, soprano Peng Liyuan, disembarking from their plane Friday about 6:45 p.m., meeting with Walker on the tarmac and accepting flowers from Walkers 8-year-old granddaughter, Mera Hobson.

They also showed a long motorcade, a staged handshake between Xi and Walker and a mob of people, most of them presumably officials and their security details, standing at the scenic spot and admiring the view.

jonathan.kaiman@latimes.com

For more news from Asia, follow @JRKaiman on Twitter

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The Basque separatist group ETA on Saturday gave French authorities a list of eight caches where police found weapons, ammunition and explosives  a crucial move toward disarmament and a definitive end to its decades-long violent struggle to carve out a homeland on the French-Spanish border.

The Spanish government urged the rebel group to ask forgiveness from its victims and disappear.

Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said police have searched each site and discovered, in containers and bags, dozens of handguns and rifles, thousands of pieces of ammunition, several hundred kilograms of explosives and products that can be used to make explosives, several hundreds of detonators and timers.

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A detailed inventory of the ETA weapons caches is underway and the results of French authorities investigation will be given to Spanish justice authorities, Molins said.

Its a great step, an unquestionably important day, French Interior Minister Matthias Fekl said.

Inactive for more than five years, ETA said it would hand over its arms, a historic step following a 43-year violent independence campaign that killed 829 people, mostly in Spain.

Disarmament is the second-to-last step demanded by France and Spain, which want ETA to formally disband. The organization hasnt said if it would.

Spain will not make any evaluation of the handing over of weapons today by ETA until they have been analyzed by French authorities, Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido said in a televised address. The government will not alter its position: Terrorists cannot hope to receive any special treatment from the government nor immunity for their crimes.

Spain called on the ETA to announce its definitive dissolution, ask forgiveness from its victims and disappear.

Representatives of the self-appointed Peace Artisans group, who are acting as mediators in the disarmament process, told reporters that ETA had surrendered 120 firearms and three tons of explosives and ammunition.

Its a great step, an unquestionably important day.  Matthias Fekl, French interior minister

We hope that, with this, the movement can move forward to a long-lasting peace in the Basque country, activist Mixel Berhokoirigoin said.

The caches were in southwestern France, a region historically used as a support base by ETA.

Some 20,000 people gathered in the streets of Bayonne, in southwestern France, to celebrate the peace. Many sang slogans calling for convicted ETA members to complete their sentences in their homelands.

Many Basque separatists have pushed for convicted members to serve their prison time closer to their homes, not scattered around Spain and France. The Spanish and French governments have refused.

The Rev. Harold Good, a Methodist minister who helped oversee the Northern Ireland peace process, urged authorities to bring the prisoners home, to their families ... above all, those who are frail by sickness and by age. He was cheered by the crowd.

The president of the Basque Countrys regional government in Spain called the disarmament an important step with historical value.

It certifies that there should have never been any ETA victim, Inigo Urkullu said. All the victims are part of this success.

When speaking about victims, Basque nationalists usually take into account the ETA militants and supporters killed during the Dirty War led by government-sanctioned counter-terrorism groups.

The president of the Victims of Terrorism Foundation, Maria del Mar Blanco, whose brother was kidnapped and killed by the ETA in 1997, called for nobody to rewrite history.

The bad guys are still the bad guys. The good guys  we the victims of terrorism  are still the good ones, Blanco told Spanish national television.

Javier Maroto of Spains ruling Party Popular said the disarmament is a step forward, but its not enough.

In contrast, the pro-independence leader of Sortu, a Basque separatist party linked to ETA, said the armed struggle is over, but the fight for the same ends goes on.

As of tomorrow, we need to keep working on the issues of the prisoners, the victims and the demilitarization of the country, Arnaldo Otegi said.

A handful of ETA members are still on the run. Hundreds of killings also remain unsolved, and the arms caches could help lead authorities to some of the perpetrators.
A tranquil light gradually enveloped the Ganges River at the crack of dawn. Devout Hindus lined up at Assi Ghat, the most popular of the 84 sets of steps leading down to the river that is holy for Hindus, and conducted a yoga session on a red carpet. Observers lined the steps and watched the proceedings with cups of tea.

Yet barely half a mile from the spruced up steps, rickshaw-puller Babloo Pandey, 41, relieved himself along one bank of the river.

He was not alone. Many shanties in Varanasi, one of Indias most sacred sites but long known as one of its dirtiest, do not have private toilets, and scores of people resort to open defecation every morning.

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The scene illustrates the challenges facing a 3-year-old Clean India initiative launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to polish and modernize a country known for sprawling slums and inadequate sanitation.

In November 2014, photos of Modi wielding a spade at Assi Ghat to jump-start the initiative went viral. Modi, who represents Varanasi in Indias Parliament, has said the Ganges should be revered as ones own mother and allotted $3 billion over five years for cleanup along the 1,570-mile length of the river.

But locals say that while the tourist-filled ghats have been spruced up, the city and river remain as filthy as ever.

A washerman works at a ghat on the banks of the River Ganges in Varanasi, India, in February 2017. (Sanjay Kanojia / AFP/Getty Images)

While more workers collect trash from the steps and new public toilets have been installed, residents say the measures are inadequate. Pandey said the nearest public toilet in his area opens at 6:30 a.m., half an hour before he starts work.

Even when I go to the public toilet, it is crowded and takes too long, he said. Many times it does not even have water.

In the narrow alleys of the city, pigs and buffaloes wallow in slimy muck. Many residents keep buffaloes to supply the citys thriving trade in sweets and milk products, but a lack of space means the livestock defecate and urinate in the open. Bikes and rickshaws pass, attempting to dodge the thick puddles, and pedestrians step carefully to avoid piles of manure.

Avinash Kumar, senior officer of the Clean India mission in Varanasi, said the initiative had made progress, installing 3,000 trash cans, introducing nighttime street sweeping and starting a garbage disposal plant. Two sewage disposal projects are also in the works, which would meet the needs of the city of more than 1.2 million people through 2035, he said.

Experts are skeptical. Shatrudh Prakash, an opposition politician, said the city needs to double the capacity of its sewer system and renovate it to eliminate the threat of sewage and water lines mixing.

Even a bit of drizzle results in waterlogging and the streets are clogged with sewage water, Prakash said. There are more than 1,000 lines where drinking water and sewage mix with each other. Garbage trucks carrying debris run uncovered. The problems are countless.

Most of Varanasis sewage is pumped into the Ganges, which originates in the Himalayas and runs across four states and through more than 100 towns and cities before reaching the Bay of Bengal.

Experts estimate that more than 792 million gallons of untreated sewage from these towns is pumped into the river every day, making it the sixth-most polluted river on the planet  with fecal bacteria counts many hundreds of times above what is considered safe to bathe in.

The river also takes in the ashes and remains of those whose last rites are performed on its banks, in the belief it will absolve ones sins.

Chintamani Seth, who lives along the banks of the Ganges, said that decades ago he used to take dips in the holy river and drink from it. Now a persistent smell emanates from the water, and stepping into it feels like you have stepped in human excreta, he said.

Modi signed a partnership agreement with Japan, aimed at acquiring Japanese technology in water, waste, sewer and transport management that he said would turn Varanasi into Kyoto. Yet residents said there has been little sign of any Japanese-inspired changes.

In Varanasi, purity and filth continue to coexist. One recent afternoon, as a boatman took his customers for a ride along the Ganges, a few visitors undressed in preparation for a dip while locals washed their clothes almost an arms length away and a man bathed his buffaloes.

The boatman joined his hands in prayer, seeking blessings from the river. He then plunged his right hand into the water and took a sip.

People say the Ganges is polluted, he said. But it does not affect our faith. The reason I am healthy is because I drink water from the Ganges.

Parth M.N. is a special correspondent.

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Many Israeli political leaders and security experts hailed the U.S. missile strike on Syria as a sign of more forceful American involvement in the Middle East.

The attack Friday was portrayed in some cases as a decisive statement by Israels all-important ally, showing a willingness to reassert itself against Syria, Iran and the Lebanese Shiite militant organization Hezbollah, an alliance viewed by Israel as its biggest strategic threat.

Russias ability to shift the tide of the Syria civil war in the last year and a half had stoked concern in Israel that both Iran and Hezbollah will get a freer hand to set up a forward base in Syria to attack Israel.

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The U.S. strike came in response to a chemical weapons attack by Syrian President Bashar Assads forces Tuesday in the rebel-held province of Idlib that killed more than 70 people and injured hundreds.

President Trump sent a strong and clear message today that the use of and spread of chemical weapons will not be tolerated, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement Friday. Israel hopes that this message of resolve in the face of the Assad regimes horrific actions will resonate not only in Damascus, but in Tehran, Pyongyang and elsewhere.

The Obama administration decision not to use direct military force to punish the Assad government for the use of chemical weapons in 2013 after warning that it would be a red line for action had been seen in Israel as a worrying sign of indecisiveness.

Trumps decision to act following chemical attacks was seen as an important signal by the U.S. of willingness to enforce those red lines abroad.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin praised what he called Trumps clear and determined steps.

In acting as it has, the United States serves as an example to the entire free world, which must support any step required to bring the atrocities in Syria to an end, Rivlin said.

The attack won support from leaders of the Israeli parliamentary opposition as well.

The attack was important, necessary and correct, Tzipi Livni, a former Israeli foreign minister and a parliament member in the Zionist Union party, said in a television interview.

During the Obama administration, Israeli leaders became anxious by what they saw as the gradual pullback of the U.S. from the Middle East. Israelis complained that the shift created a vacuum of power in Syria and in the broader region that was filled by Assad allies such as Iran and Russia.

They also complained that the U.S. had lost focus on Irans growing influence on the region because it had formed a tacit alliance with Tehran to fight Islamic State.

We have been through several years in which the previous U.S. administration decided to disengage from the Middle East and stop playing the role of the international cop, said former Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon in an interview with Israel Radio. I hope that what we saw overnight is the beginning of a change in direction  in the understanding of who is the good and bad in the Middle East.

Russias intervention in the Syrian civil war on the side of Assad and his ally Iran has been another cause for caution.

When Israel came out this week and accused the Syrian government of responsibility for the chemical attacks and called on the U.S. to intervene, it drew a rare protest from the Russian government in the hours before the U.S. attack.

Officials in Syria, Russia and Iran and condemned the U.S. strike.

Images of people killed or injured in the Tuesday attack in Syria prompted soul-searching in Israel about whether the country has a responsibility to intervene  and perhaps change its policy of watching the civil war from the sidelines  when chemical weapons are being used next door.

NEWSLETTER: Get the days top headlines from Times Editor Davan Maharaj 

Israel has intervened in Syria to stop weapons transfers to Hezbollah, to deter cross-border attacks in the Golan Heights, and to give humanitarian assistance to Syrians from rebel villages near the border. Security officials have sought to avoid becoming mired in the conflict.

Though the U.S. strike raised questions of whether it might trigger retaliatory attacks from Syria on Israel, Israeli security experts said the intervention would in fact help Israels ability to deter strikes from Assad or his allies.

A proactive U.S. like we witnessed this morning strengthens Israels deterrence, said Amos Yadlin, a former chief of Israels military intelligence branch, on Twitter. This is an important message to Iran, Assad and Hezbollah.

Mitnick is a special correspondent.

@joshmitnick

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One brutal attack by a man who drove a stolen truck into shoppers in Stockholm has brought Swedens open-door immigration policies under increased scrutiny  and raised the question if Swedish society, considered democratic and egalitarian, has failed to integrate its newcomers.

The suspect in Fridays attack, a 39-year-old native of Uzbekistan who has been arrested by police, had been on authorities radar previously but they dismissed him as a marginal character. It was unclear whether he was also a Swedish citizen or resident or even how long hed been in the country.

The attack killed four people and wounded 15. In response, hundreds gathered Saturday at the site of the crash in the Swedish capital, building a heartbreaking wall of flowers on the aluminum fence put up to keep them away from the sites broken glass and twisted metal. Some hugged police officers nearby.

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We have been too liberal to take in people who perhaps we thought would have good minds. But we are too good-hearted, said Stockholm resident Ulov Ekdahl, a 67-year-old commercial broker who went to the memorial.

Joachim Kemiri, who was born in Sweden to a Tunisian father and a Swedish mother, says migrants and refugees had been arriving in too large numbers.

Too many of them have been coming in too fast, the 29-year-old railway worker said. Its too much.

Sweden has long been known for its open-door policy toward migrants and refugees. But after the Scandinavian country of 10 million took in a record 163,000 refugees in 2015  the highest per-capita rate in Europe  Prime Minister Stefan Lofven conceded it could no longer cope with the influx.

Swedens Prime Minister Stefan Lofven visits the site of the attack in Stockholm. (Markus Schreiber / Associated Press)

At a news conference in late 2015, deputy prime minister of the small Greens Party  a junior government partner  Asa Romson, broke into tears as she announced measures to deter asylum-seekers in a reversal of Swedens welcoming policy toward people fleeing war and persecution. She described it as a terrible decision, admitting the proposals would make life even more precarious for refugees.

On Saturday, Lofven laid flowers at the truck crash site, declaring Monday a national day of mourning, with a minute of silence at noon. He urged citizens to get through this and strolled through the streets of the capital to chat with them.

No one has claimed responsibility for Fridays attack but Swedens police chief said Saturday that authorities were confident they had detained the man who carried it out.

Uzbekistan and other former Soviet Central Asian republics have long been a fertile recruiting ground for Islamic militant groups, notably the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which formed in 1998. Originally allied with Al Qaeda, many of the groups fighters have switched to Islamic State group affiliation.

Russian officials say the suicide bomber who attacked the St. Petersburg subway on April 3 was a native of Kyrgyzstan.

We have been too liberal to take in people who perhaps we thought would have good minds. But we are too good-hearted  Ulov Ekdahl, a 67-year-old commercial broker who lives in Stockholm

Swedens police chief, Dan Eliason, said officers found something in the stolen beer truck that could be a bomb or an incendiary device but said they were still investigating.

Although it was not clear how long the suspect had been in Sweden, the Scandinavian country prides itself on welcoming newcomers. Still, its open-door immigration policy and comparatively heterogeneous culture has led to friction, sometimes urban unrest, especially in areas where many long-time immigrants feel disempowered.

The populist, right-wing Sweden Democrats have tapped into a growing anti-immigrant sentiment. Mattias Karlsson, the partys parliamentary group leader, said Saturday that he feels anger and sorrow but not shock over Fridays attack.

Unfortunately, there have been clear signs that it was just a question of time before the next attack would hit Sweden, he said. It will have far-reaching implications for society and politics.

Steve Eklund, an office worker a few blocks away from where the accident occurred, said Swedens immigration policy had gone wrong.

Sweden has made some mistakes, and something needs to be done to assimilate the immigrants better, Eklund said. But it takes two to tango  the immigrants living here need to reach out to ethnic Swedes too.

Not everyone agreed. Visiting the crash site, Swedens Crown Princess Victoria laid roses on the ground Saturday and wiped away a tear.

We must show a huge force, we must go against this, she told reporters. Swedish society is built on huge confidence, a sense of community.

Joachim Lindstrom said he wasnt surprised by the attack.

I dont think that Sweden has really failed in its efforts to assimilate newcomers, he told the Associated Press. We have had long experience with them, but much depends on the people themselves.

A woman places a flower Saturday following an attack in central Stockholm. (Markus Schreiber / Associated Press)

In February, U.S. President Trump shocked Swedes when he suggested that Sweden could be the next European country to suffer the kind of extremist attacks that have hit France, Belgium and Germany.

Fridays attack was the latest in which drivers have used vehicles as weapons.

In an attack last month claimed by the Islamic State group, a man drove a rented SUV into a crowd in London, killing four people and injuring many others before stabbing a policeman to death. He was killed by police.

The Islamic State also claimed responsibility for a truck attack that killed 86 people in Nice, France, in July 2016 during a Bastille Day festival, as well as another truck attack that killed 12 people at a Christmas market last year in Berlin.

Fridays truck attack on Stockholms pedestrian shopping street of Drottninggatan was also near the site of a December 2010 attack in which Taimour Abdulwahab, a Swedish citizen, detonated a suicide bomb, killing himself and injuring two others.

The prime minister made a point Saturday of walking around Stockholm, including along Drottninggatan, chatting with people having coffee outside a cafe. He said the aim of terrorism is to undermine democracy.

But such a goal will never be achieved in Sweden, Lofven said.

Others feared the deadly attacks could continue.

Things like this will always happen in an open society. Sweden is not a totalitarian society, Eklund said. Maniacs cant be stopped.

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UPDATES:

5:10 a.m.: This article has been updated to report prosecutor Hans Ihrman has confirmed a suspect is in custody and to add additional quotes about the attack.

2:00 p.m.: This article has been updated to report that a suspect in the attack has been identified and to report Swedes concerns about immigration.

This article was originally published at 1:30 a.m.
Warplanes on Saturday struck the Syrian town where a chemical attack had killed scores of people this week, as Turkey warned that a retaliatory U.S. missile strike on a Syrian air base would be only cosmetic if greater efforts were not made to remove President Bashar Assad from power.

The airstrikes on the opposition-held northern town of Khan Sheikhoun, where 87 people were killed in the chemical attack this week, killed a woman and wounded her son, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees, an activist collective.

Elsewhere in Syria, U.S.-led airstrikes killed at least 21 people, including a woman and her six children who were fleeing on a boat across the Euphrates River near the Islamic State groups self-styled capital, Raqqah, the target of a major offensive by U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian forces, activists said.

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An airstrike on a rebel-held town in the northern province of Idlib killed at least 18 people, including women and children, according to the Observatory and Ariha Today, an activist group. It was not immediately clear who carried out the strike.

Near the central city of Homs, a bomb exploded aboard a bus carrying workers, killing a woman and wounding more than 20 people, according to state TV and the Observatory.

The chemical attack prompted the U.S. to launch nearly 60 Tomahawk missiles on a Syrian air base early Friday, which killed nine people and marked the first time Washington has directly targeted Syrian government forces since the war began in 2011.

If we dont remove the regime from heading Syria, then this would remain a cosmetic intervention.  Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkish foreign minister

The move was welcomed by the Syrian opposition and its main backers, including Turkey and Saudi Arabia, but harshly condemned by Russia and Iran, who back Assad and said striking his forces would complicate the struggle against extremist groups.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the U.S. strike should be the start of a renewed effort to end the civil war, which has killed an estimated 400,000 people and displaced half of Syrias population.

If this intervention is limited only to an air base, if it does not continue and if we dont remove the regime from heading Syria, then this would remain a cosmetic intervention, he said.

He said the best outcome would be a peace agreement that leads to a transitional government accepted by all Syrians, followed by elections in which all Syrians, including those living abroad, could vote for new leadership. For that to happen, he said, this oppressive Assad needs to go.

Iran, which has provided crucial military and political support to Assad, meanwhile called for a fact-finding mission to determine what caused the chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun. State television quoted Iranian President Hassan Rouhani as saying the committee should be impartial and must not be headed by Americans.

Rouhani said neutral countries should come and assess to make it clear where the chemical weapons came from.

Syrias government has denied carrying out any chemical attack, and Russias Defense Ministry said the toxic agents were released when a Syrian airstrike hit a rebel chemical weapons arsenal and munitions factory.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson canceled a planned trip to Russia because of fast-moving events in Syria. Johnson said the situation in Syria has changed fundamentally following the chemical attack and the U.S. response.

Johnson condemned Russias continued defense of Assad even after the chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians.

He had planned to travel to Russia on Monday on a trip intended to start a fresh dialogue with Moscow.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson meanwhile plans to meet with G-7 foreign ministers in Europe next week before going on to Moscow. Johnson said Tillerson will be able to give a clear and coordinated message to the Russians.

In Damascus, dozens of Syrian students gathered outside the offices of the United Nations to protest the U.S. missile attack, chanting Death to America and Death to Israel.

University student Ashraf Fadel said he came to denounce the unjust American aggression against Syria. He added that the United Nations was created to support America instead of serving the wronged people.

In a separate development, activists opposed to the Islamic State group said a U.S.-led coalition airstrike hit a boat carrying civilians fleeing across the Euphrates River. The groups Raqqah is Being Slaughtered Silently and Sound and Picture said the attack killed a woman and her six children. The attack occurred in the Shuaib al-Zeker area, near where U.S.-backed Syrian fighters have been battling Islamic State under the cover of coalition airstrikes.

Activists and state media said a separate airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition on the northern Islamic State-held village of Hneida killed at least 14 civilians, including children. The Observatory said 15 people, including four children, were killed in the airstrike. The Sound and Picture group said the airstrike hit an Internet cafe, killing 14 people.

In Saudi Arabia, the official Saudi Press Agency reported that President Trump has spoken by telephone with King Salman about the U.S. missile strike on Syria.

The news agency reported that during the Friday phone call, the Saudi monarch congratulated Trump for his courageous decision.

Saudi Arabia said the missile launch was the right response to the crimes of this regime to its people in light of the failure of the international community to stop it.

The kingdom is among the most vehement opponents of Assad and supports Sunni rebel groups fighting to oust him. The Sunni rulers of Saudi Arabia are in a power struggle for regional dominance with Irans Shiite government.

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UPDATES:

3:30 p.m.: This article was updated with a new approach focusing on the warplanes striking a Syrian town.

This article was originally published at 10:40 a.m.
Who controls Syria?

Syrias civil war began in 2011 as a largely peaceful uprising against President Bashar Assad that was met with deadly force. Since then, multiple nations and militant groups have entered the fray, leaving the country deeply fractured. It is a conflict marked by competing objectives, in which alliances shift, territory changes hands and fighting erupts between groups that are nominal allies. Heres a look at who is involved and the areas of the country they currently control, according to research from the Institute for the Study of War.

The Syrian government Assads government controls the capital, Damascus, as well as other major cities. The U.S. missile strike on Shayrat, an air base in government-controlled territory, was the first time the United States has intentionally targeted pro-Assad forces. U.S. officials say Shayrat was used to launch a poison gas attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun.

Air base under Islamic State control Homs Homs Aleppo Aleppo Raqqah Raqqah Idlib Idlib Damascus Damascus TURKEY IRAQ JORDAN LEBANON ISRAEL SYRIA 50 MILES Air bases under opposition control Area under both Turkish and opposition control Khan Sheikhoun Site of chemical attack Homs Homs Aleppo Aleppo Idlib Idlib Damascus Damascus TURKEY IRAQ JORDAN LEBANON ISRAEL SYRIA 50 MILES Air bases under Kurdish control Homs Homs Aleppo Aleppo Idlib Idlib Damascus Damascus TURKEY IRAQ JORDAN LEBANON ISRAEL SYRIA 50 MILES Government areas with Hezbollah presence Known Russian positions Known Iranian (or proxy) positions Russian air defense missile ranges Homs Homs Aleppo Aleppo Idlib Idlib Damascus Damascus Dair Alzour Dair Alzour TURKEY IRAQ JORDAN LEBANON ISRAEL SYRIA 50 MILES Shayrat air base Site of April 7 U.S. airstrike Khan Sheikhoun Site of April 4 chemical attack Air bases under government control Dair Alzour Government forces besieged Government forces besieged Government forces isolated Homs Homs Aleppo Aleppo Idlib Idlib Damascus Damascus TURKEY IRAQ JORDAN LEBANON ISRAEL SYRIA 50 MILES Homs Homs Aleppo Aleppo Idlib Idlib Damascus Damascus TURKEY IRAQ JORDAN LEBANON ISRAEL SYRIA 50 MILES

Russia and Iran

Iran and its proxies, such as the Lebanese Shiite Muslim militia Hezbollah, have sided with Assad and set up positions throughout the country. Russia too has established positions and provided critical air support to the Syrian government. Russian officials say their campaign is aimed at the militant group Islamic State, but according to the U.S., the strikes have focused on other opposition groups, some of them backed by Washington.

Air base under Islamic State control Homs Homs Aleppo Aleppo Raqqah Raqqah Idlib Idlib Damascus Damascus TURKEY IRAQ JORDAN LEBANON ISRAEL SYRIA 50 MILES Air bases under opposition control Area under both Turkish and opposition control Khan Sheikhoun Site of chemical attack Homs Homs Aleppo Aleppo Idlib Idlib Damascus Damascus TURKEY IRAQ JORDAN LEBANON ISRAEL SYRIA 50 MILES Air bases under Kurdish control Homs Homs Aleppo Aleppo Idlib Idlib Damascus Damascus TURKEY IRAQ JORDAN LEBANON ISRAEL SYRIA 50 MILES Government areas with Hezbollah presence Known Russian positions Known Iranian (or proxy) positions Russian air defense missile ranges Homs Homs Aleppo Aleppo Idlib Idlib Damascus Damascus Dair Alzour Dair Alzour TURKEY IRAQ JORDAN LEBANON ISRAEL SYRIA 50 MILES Shayrat air base Site of April 7 U.S. airstrike Khan Sheikhoun Site of April 4 chemical attack Air bases under government control Dair Alzour Government forces besieged Government forces besieged Government forces isolated Homs Homs Aleppo Aleppo Idlib Idlib Damascus Damascus TURKEY IRAQ JORDAN LEBANON ISRAEL SYRIA 50 MILES Homs Homs Aleppo Aleppo Idlib Idlib Damascus Damascus TURKEY IRAQ JORDAN LEBANON ISRAEL SYRIA 50 MILES

Kurdish militias

An alliance of ethnic Kurdish and Arab militias known as the Syrian Democratic Forces controls much of northern Syria. The alliance is dominated by a Kurdish group called the Peoples Protection Units, or YPG, and is receiving military support from the U.S. to fight Islamic State.

Air base under Islamic State control Air bases under opposition control Under both Turkish and opposition control Khan Sheikhoun Site of chemical attack Air bases under Kurdish control Regime areas with Hezbollah presence Known Russian positions Known Iranian (or proxy) positions Russian air defense missile ranges Shayrat air base Site of U.S. airstrike Khan Sheikhoun Site of chemical attack Air bases under regime control Regime forces besieged Regime forces isolated Homs Homs Aleppo Aleppo Idlib Idlib Damascus Damascus TURKEY IRAQ JORDAN LEBANON ISRAEL SYRIA 50 MILES

Opposition groups and Turkey

Sunni Arab-dominated opposition groups, including more moderate factions such as the Free Syrian Army and Islamist radicals once affiliated with Al Qaeda, hold territory in the western half of Syria. The U.S., Turkey and Sunni-led Persian Gulf nations have provided backing to some of these groups. Turkey has a presence in the north alongside opposition groups it supports. Although the country is an ally of the U.S., it opposes U.S. support for the YPG because of the Syrian groups alleged ties to Kurdish militants in Turkey.

Air base under Islamic State control Air bases under opposition control Area under both Turkish and opposition control Khan Sheikhoun Site of chemical attack Air bases under Kurdish control Regime areas with Hezbollah presence Known Russian positions Known Iranian (or proxy) positions Russian air defense missile ranges Shayrat air base Site of U.S. airstrike Khan Sheikhoun Site of chemical attack Air bases under regime control Regime forces besieged Regime forces isolated Homs Homs Aleppo Aleppo Idlib Idlib Damascus Damascus TURKEY IRAQ JORDAN LEBANON ISRAEL SYRIA 50 MILES

Islamic State

Islamic State, which carved out a sprawling territory in Syria and Iraq, has been losing ground in both countries. But it retains control of its self-declared capital, Raqqah, and the Euphrates River leading to Iraq.

Air base under Islamic State control Homs Homs Aleppo Aleppo Raqqah Raqqah Idlib Idlib Damascus Damascus TURKEY IRAQ JORDAN LEBANON ISRAEL SYRIA 50 MILES Air bases under opposition control Area under both Turkish and opposition control Khan Sheikhoun Site of chemical attack Homs Homs Aleppo Aleppo Idlib Idlib Damascus Damascus TURKEY IRAQ JORDAN LEBANON ISRAEL SYRIA 50 MILES Air bases under Kurdish control Homs Homs Aleppo Aleppo Idlib Idlib Damascus Damascus TURKEY IRAQ JORDAN LEBANON ISRAEL SYRIA 50 MILES Government areas with Hezbollah presence Known Russian positions Known Iranian (or proxy) positions Russian air defense missile ranges Homs Homs Aleppo Aleppo Idlib Idlib Damascus Damascus Dair Alzour Dair Alzour TURKEY IRAQ JORDAN LEBANON ISRAEL SYRIA 50 MILES Shayrat air base Site of April 7 U.S. airstrike Khan Sheikhoun Site of April 4 chemical attack Air bases under government control Dair Alzour Government forces besieged Government forces besieged Government forces isolated Homs Homs Aleppo Aleppo Idlib Idlib Damascus Damascus TURKEY IRAQ JORDAN LEBANON ISRAEL SYRIA 50 MILES Homs Homs Aleppo Aleppo Idlib Idlib Damascus Damascus TURKEY IRAQ JORDAN LEBANON ISRAEL SYRIA 50 MILES

Note: Territories as of April 3, military positions as of March 21.

Sources: Institute for the Study of War and Times reporting
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To: H. R. Haldeman

From: Bill Safire

July 18, 1969.

-

IN EVENT OF MOON DISASTER:

Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace.

These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice.

These two men are laying down their lives in mankinds most noble goal: the search for truth and understanding.

They will be mourned by their families and friends; they will be mourned by the nation; they will be mourned by the people of the world; they will be mourned by a Mother Earth that dared send two of her sons into the unknown.

In their exploration, they stirred the people of the world to feel as one; in their sacrifice, they bind more tightly the brotherhood of man.

In ancient days, men looked at the stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood.

Others will follow, and surely find their way home. Mans search will not be denied. But these men were the first, and they will remain the foremost in our hearts.

For every human being who looks up at the moon in the nights to come will know that there is some corner of another world that is forever mankind.

PRIOR TO THE PRESIDENTS STATEMENT:

The President should telephone each of the widows-to-be.

AFTER THE PRESIDENTS STATEMENT, AT THE POINT WHEN NASA ENDS COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE MEN:

A clergyman should adopt the same procedure as a burial at sea, commending their souls to the deepest of the deep, concluding with the Lords Prayer.
On Thursday on Question Time Tim Farron spoke in favour of protecting Syrian people from the murder visited on them by Assads military. I applaud Tims decision to do so, especially in the light of earlier Lib Dem votes against military action. However, in doing so I have to insert the caveat that a solution based on air power alone is in fact no solution at all.

To illustrate my argument I must take you all back before the Iraq war and to the North and South Iraq No Fly Zones. In the north the NFZ was a success, with very few civilian casualties caused by the Iraqi military. In the south however, it could not have been more different, with villages being decimated and the genocide of an entire people very nearly enabled.

So what was the difference between the Northern and Southern No Fly Zones? Quite simply, it was the Kurdish ground troops protecting their people from murder by Saddams security forces. There was no equivalent in the south and so the armed forces were able to act with impunity (albeit without the comfort of air cover), murdering their people and even re-routing the Euphrates in order to starve the Marsh Arabs.

The only way to protect Syrian civilians is by placing troops on the ground as well as by air, placing them in harms way. And mark my words, this will not only be from Assads troops and their Russian Allies, The Syrian rebel armed forces will want to make use of the protection afforded by a western imposed safe area and if we prevent them from doing so (as we must) it may well come to blows.

Then (unless we are talking about a no fly zone right up to the [very fluid] Forward Edge of the Fighting Area  the front line  we will have to organise the protected removal of any civilians from the combat area. Again this can only be done with ground forces, and not even bayonets  we will have to place huge numbers of logistic troops at the forefront.

In all, the UK will have to commit thousands (perhaps more than ten thousand) troops to properly support a Syrian safe area. Will the British people prefer to see continued Syrian prosecution of chemical warfare rather than have British troops embroiled in an action which might last as long as the Syrian civil war itself? Probably so, but in my opinion the government must ignore public opinion and do the right thing.

* Steve Walpole is a veteran of HM Armed Forces and is currently Vice Chair of Skipton and Ripon Lib Dems
The Conservatives have not covered themselves in glory on social security issues recently. The removal of Housing Benefit from young people, the totally immoral restriction of benefits to two children and the deeply objectionable 8 page form that women have to complete if they want to claim for a third child conceived by rape, the cuts to disability benefits and cutting back eligibility to Personal Independence Payments for those suffering psychological distress have all shown a cruel lack of understanding of real life.

Lets not forget the five year benefit freeze imposed by George Osborne in 2015. With Brexit bound to increase prices, that is simply unsustainable.

The cuts are significant, but even more reprehensible is the inhumane stripping of dignity from those who need our help. A civilised society supports those in need. If that makes me a bleeding heart Liberal, as Tim Farron declared he was on Question Time the other night, then Im proud to be so.

Ruth Davidsons Scottish Conservatives may pretend that they are nicer than their Westminster counterparts, making the right noises on mental health recently, but we cant forget that they are the same party. Every awful thing that Theresa Mays Brexit government does reflects on them.

As health and social security spokespeople for the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Alex Cole-Hamilton and I have written to Ruth Davidson asking her to state her position on the cuts to PIP. Our letter says:

Dear Ruth, We were pleased to see your party last week join the Liberal Democrats and campaigners in declaring that the SNP Governments new mental health strategy lacked ambition. It was the right thing to do because the new strategy will not deliver the transformation we desperately need to see. However, we were deeply concerned to see that, in the very same week, your colleagues at Westminster were voting to restrict personal independence payments to people with mental health and anxiety conditions, affecting tens of thousands of people both in and out of work. This shows little understanding of the complex needs of some of the most vulnerable people in our society, for example those trapped in their homes because they are too anxious to leave without someone. These people can need help to leave their home every bit as much as someone suffering from a physical condition. Can we ask if you will urge, or already have urged, your colleagues to drop these proposals, in the interests of people suffering from mental ill health in Scotland and across the UK? Are you willing to take on those in your own party who are set to discriminate against those suffering from mental ill health? And do you agree that we cannot afford to increase the stigma surrounding these conditions, say to people that their conditions are not serious, or backtrack on work to give parity of esteem to physical and mental ill health? We look forward to your reply.

Time and again it has been shown that you cant trust the Tories with mental health. South of the border, mportant initiatives have been abandoned and cash meant for mental health has been diverted to plug gaps elsewhere.

Now they are looking to make a deplorable attack on some of the most vulnerable people in our society, showing no understanding of the support needs of people such as those trapped in their homes, too anxious to leave. Ruth Davidson needs to admit this is fundamentally wrong and at least try to do something about it.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
IMPORTANT works on a historically significant site on Nicholas Street in Limerick city are underway.

The Fireplace site at numbers 36-39 Nicholas Street - part of a wall that likely dates from late 15th century - has been secured by the council while stonemasons begin the intricate and delicate work of restoring the fireplace and surrounding structure.

The site has been a cause of certain controversy among councillors who have disputed its archaeological importance, with John Gilligan noting at a recent council meeting that the authority had spent 1m keeping the site there for 25 years, and its still a wreck.

Yet works are now underway to secure the site, located at the corner of Nicholas Street and Peter streets in an area of high archaeological potential, the council said. The 1990s demolition of existing derelict buildings in the area revealed a stone party wall that contains the fireplace and stone corbels, situated between what were probably two stone medieval houses that date back to the late-medieval or early post-medieval era.

The works being carried out include an intricate archaeological and conservation engineer's analysis, mortar testing to establish the correct mortar to be used in the works, and a very detailed 3D-laser scan survey.

Maria Donoghue, Executive Architect with Limerick City and County Council, said the authority was conscious of Nicholas Street and its key link between the city centre and King Johns Castle, and plans are already in place to rejuvenate the street.

There has been calls for over 10 years to rejuvenate the street and the authority confirmed in March that it would be invest more than 700,000 to bring a number of derelict units back to life.

The St Marys Park Mens Shed is to move into 27 Nicholas Street and are are expected to share the unit with the Irish Wheelchair Association.

Speaking to councillors last month, Ms Donoghue also revealed that a high-profile commercial operator had expressed an interest in moving into numbers 24 and 25 Nicholas Street.

Ms Donoghue said the intention was to develop the area in a balanced and considered way that works to preserve the archaeological remains of King's Island's while simultaneously supporting urban revitalisation needed for the present.
TWO chronic drug addicts have received lengthy prison sentences for robbing a pensioner who was set upon in Limerick city centre last year.

The victim, whose aged in his early 60s, was walking shortly before 7pm when he was followed down a laneway just off Davis Street shortly before 7pm on May 14, last.

Limerick Circuit Court heard that one of the culprits  James Price, aged 30, of no fixed abode  struck the man from behind knocking him onto the ground.

His co-accused -Rebecca McNamara, aged 21, of no fixed abode - then went through his pockets.

The mans wallet, which contained around 200 in cash and various bank cards, was stolen and was never recovered by gardai.

The court was told the victim, who was described as a vulnerable individual, had been out walking as he had undergone a heart operation a number of weeks earlier.

During separate sentencing hearings, Judge Tom ODonnell was told that while an ambulance was called, the injured man, who was conscious and alert, declined to go to hospital for treatment.

The court was told he sustained several cuts and bruises and was severely traumatised as a result of what happened.

While the incident was not captured on CCTV, footage from the surrounding area was obtained as part of the garda investigation.

John OSullivan BL, prosecuting, said it is the State case that the two culprits can been seen entering and leaving the laneway around the time of the robbery.

He told Judge Tom ODonnell the footage, which is of a high quality, shows the culprits getting into a taxi at Parnell Street minutes later.

The taxi driver was interviewed by gardai and he was able to assist in identifying the culprits and where they travelled to following the robbery.

Detective Garda Gary Laide said when Ms McNamara was arrested a number of weeks later, she admitted being present when the robbery happened but blamed her co-accused.

I did nothing to him, she told gardai adding that she did not need to rob the man as she had her own money.

Ms McNamara, the court heard, has a large number of previous convictions and is regarded as a recidivist.

Pat Barriscale BL said his client was addicted to drugs around the time of the offence but that her life has changed significantly since as she has been in custody.

He said she regrets her actions and is anxious to change her life when released.

Detective Garda Shane Ryan said Mr Price was arrested ten days after the incident but that nothing of evidential value emerged during interviews.

He agreed with Mr OSullivan that there was a strong circumstantial case relating to the defendant who, he said, was on bail in relation to separate matters at the time.

He too has a large number of previous conviction.

Brian McInerney BL said his client comes from a very difficult background and that the sole reason for his offending was to feed his drug habit.

There is no flashy lifestyle, he said adding that Mr Price suffers from significant mental health issues.

Imposing sentence, Judge ODonnell commented that the victim was a easy target who was left in a defenceless position.

He said the offence was traumatic and frightening for him and one which the court regarded as being very serious.

He said the premeditated nature of the attack was an aggravating factor in the case.

He noted that each of the defendants have multiple convictions and that both were suffering from serious addiction problems at the time.

He said their guilty pleas important as it meant the injured party was not required to give evidence in the trial.

He sentenced Rebecca McNamara to five years imprisonment, suspending the final twelve months.

The judge noted that James Price was the main aggressor on the night and that he has a number of serious conviction.

He said this was a aggravating factor in his case and he sentenced him to six years imprisonment suspending the final twelve months..

In each case, the prison sentences were backdated by the judge to the date the defendant first entered custody.
A PATRICKSWELL couple who moved into a mobile home after their rented house was repossessed are facing a bill of up to 2,000 arising from a prosecution by Limerick City and County Council.

However, the couple, whose fourth child was born last Friday week, failed to turn up in court in Newcastle West on Tuesday to meet the case as they were in another court on a civil matter.

I wouldn't have thought their house and accommodation would come second to a civil matter, Judge Mary Larkin said.

They know they are in breach. They had notice served on them. What really irritates me is they dont turn up today.

James and Mary Ellen Daly, Lisheen Park, Patrickswell are being prosecuted by Limerick City and County Council for failing to comply with an enforcement notice relating to illegal occupation of a mobile home in Lisheen Park which was issued last October 19.

The councils solicitor Will Leahy told the court that the couple now faced costs in the region of 2000. The case had been adjourned, he explained, to allow the couple to find alternative accommodation.

The Dalys were effectively made homeless, solicitor for the Dalys, Sabrina Hegarty said. They were renting accommodation and had been on the councils housing waiting list for nine and a half years, she said.

But last October, their rented accommodation was repossessed and they had put a mobile home in the rear of a parents house in Patrickswell.

They have been onto homeless agencies. I can hand in lists to show they have been trying. I have a list of houses visited and they are waiting for landowners to get back to them, Ms Hegarty said. It is well documented the shortage of accommodation in Ireland and how difficult it is to get rental accommodation.

The Dalys, Ms Hegarty said, didnt want to be in the mobile home.

They want a house, she said. Their needs have not been deemed high enough.

However, the councils solicitor Will Leahy strongly refuted the couples claim about the waiting list.

To say they have been on the waiting list for nine and a half years, that is not correct,he said. I dont want that to be the definitive message coming from the court that somebody has been on the list for nine and a half years and ended up in a mobile home. That is not correct.

He also pointed out that the couple would be entitled to rent subsidy on a private dwelling but Ms Hegarty said they had been in temporary accommodation and that had not worked out.

Judge Larkin pointed out that the letters handed in to her showed that the couple had met with Simon, with a parish priest. They had a letter from a school saying two of their children attended there and another from a Sinn Fein public representative.

She had heard of difficulties getting rented accommodation in the city but not in the county. The list handed to her showed seven houses available in the county area, she pointed out.

I have every sympathy with people trying to find accommodation, she continued.

But, she said: They have decided to live there and they have a beautiful mobile home. They have produced lists to the court to defer they steps they have to take, the judge said.

If they were serious about preserving their accommodation, I would assume they would be here giving sworn evidence about their difficulties instead of a plethora of letters from people who have been nice enough to give them.

They have been here on each occasion, Ms Hegarty pointed out. Judge Larkin adjourned the matter to June 6, but said she wanted more than lists at that point.

She wanted responses from each and every house they sought to rent and the name of each landlord.
NEW Bruff superintendent, William Duane said garda resources in the district have been decimated and apologised for slow response times.

In a frank presentation to councilors in the Cappamore-Kilmallock municipal district, Supt Duane said they are limited in resources but we have to to make the best of what we have.

It is a massive area and very rural but we will endeavour to meet any obstacle in our way. I apologise for slow response times, said Supt Duane, who was appointed last December.

He said he has six sergeants and 35 gardai broken into five units so if one unit is on and a couple of gardai are on leave there could be four to five people to police all your area.

Cllr Brigid Teefy said the Bruff garda district is a huge area and the size of Co Louth.

You need more resources. If the car is in Bruree and you get a call in Doon It is very hard to police, she said.

Supt Duane said he plans to utilise the Traffic Corps more to help police the area and increase visibility.

The good news, despite the challenges, is that crime figures are down in 2016 compared to 2015, he said.

Assaults are down from 11 to 4; minor assaults rose, 24 to 29; thefts of cars, 18 to 17; property theft, 63 to 47. Criminal damage is down 51% and public order 36%.

Burglaries, which are Supt Duanes main concern, fell from 81 to 68.

The big issue with burglaries is the targeting of elderly people and that is a big concern in the countryside. It is only natural that those living on their own are concerned.

Because of the vulnerability of isolated properties it is so important that each individual is very conscious of the security of their own premises. Look into getting an alarm system, CCTV, a good dog, ensure neighbours are keeping an eye out for you and record all suspicious activity  numbers of car regs, description of individuals, said Sup Duane.

Another issue he highlighted is the number of unlicenced firearms that are out there.

People are not renewing licences within the statutory period. They get a letter saying their licence is expiring and they put it away. It ends up being six months later and that firearm is unlicenced.

We have to follow up and in the countryside there are the world of firearms. It ties up an awful lot of man hours and the possibility is they could lose their licence if they dont renew them within the statutory period.

The advice I would give to farmers and firearms holders is they should renew them straight away, said Supt Duane, who also praised two long-serving gardai, Bill Collins in Cappamore and John Curtin, Ballylanders.

They are a breed that are dying out. They are an example to myself. Both men have built themselves around their communities, said Supt Duane.
Cats and dogs, without fail, will always remember to ask for food.

Pet cats and dogs can remember the location of their food bowls and sometimes even how to perform tricks or find their way home. But just how good (or bad) are these fur balls at remembering the minutia of their days?

It depends on how useful those memories are to them, evolutionarily speaking, experts told Live Science.

Take free-roaming dogs, for example. About 75 percent of the world's dogs aren't pets and don't live in human homes, said Monique Udell, an assistant professor of animal and rangeland sciences at Oregon State University. A memory that helps dogs excel at scavenging can help them survive on the streets, Udell said. [20 Weird Dog and Cat Behaviors Explained by Science]

For instance, understanding basic displacement tasks  knowing that something is still there, even if it's not visible  can help scavengers, she said.

"If someone walks by a trash can and throws away a hamburger, you might not see it anymore, but [dogs] can remember that there was a hamburger, and they can look [for it] the last place they saw it," Udell said.

When food is involved, dogs can have excellent working memories  a sort of mental scratch pad where short-term memories linger. Furthermore, dogs use long-term memories to help them remember tricks, such as rolling over on command, Udell said. It's possible that over time, dogs that forged close bonds with humans (that is, responded to their voice commands) benefited and then lived to pass down their genes, Live Science reported previously.

Dogs may also have episodic memories. These are like long-term memories, but they are more complex because they require self-awareness. (It's unclear if dogs are self-aware, so for them, these memories are called "episodic-like" memories.) Episodic memories are usually autobiographical, and are tied to "what," "when" and "where" details, Udell said.

Some dogs displayed episodic-like memories in a 2016 study published in the journal Current Biology. Seventeen dogs were taught to imitate humans in a "do as I do" paradigm, and then lie down. For instance, if the human knocked over a bottle, so would the dog before lying down.

After one such task, after the dog lay down, the human completed an extra action, such as touching an umbrella, while giving an unfamiliar command. Then, the human took the dog behind a screen, and waited anywhere from 1 minute to 1 hour before asking the dog to "do it."

Some dogs were able to remember and perform the imitation at both time points, although most dogs' performances declined with time between seeing the action and being asked to do it, the researchers found. The finding suggests that dogs can encode memories unrelated to commands, and can then incorporate them with later orders, as long as the order is given within about an hour, the researchers said.

"Dogs can hold things in memory for a long time," Udell said. "But what they remember and how long they can remember it for has a lot to do with context." For instance, if owners leave for military service, dogs can remember them years later, suggesting that owner-dog bonds are important to them.

But if you ask them, "Where's the ball?" they might forget within a few minutes.

"It has to do with the context and also the salience and importance of the things that were coded," Udell said. [Are Cats Smarter Than Dogs?]

Feline memories

Cats, like dogs, excel at remembering details pertinent to their evolutionary history. For instance, cats appear to have good memories when it comes to hunting, said Mikel Delgado, a doctoral candidate of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, who is also a certified cat behavior consultant.

In two experiments, nearly 50 cats were able to remember which bowls contained food, even after the felines were taken out of the room for about 15 minutes, according to a January study published in the journal Behavioural Processes. These results suggest that cats have short-term working memories that can encode details regarding "where" and "what" for short periods of time, at least when food is involved.

Another study, published in 2008 in the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science, showed that cats are also good with spatial memory. In the study, the cats had to remember what cups they had already eaten from on a board containing many half-hidden cups. However, older cats made more mistakes than younger cats did, suggesting that feline memory declines with age, the researchers said.

This type of memory may help cats remember where to find prey, and whether they have already patrolled a particular haunt that night, said Delgado, who was not involved in the study.

Yet, cats' working memories can be surprisingly short-lived, especially when those memories don't involve food. In a 2006 study published in the journal Animal Cognition (opens in new tab), 24 cats watched an experimenter hide an object in one of four boxes. The cats had to wait 0, 10, 30 or 60 seconds before they were allowed to find the object.

After 30 seconds, most cats started having trouble finding the hidden object. But this result isn't surprising, said Delgado, who wasn't involved with the study. If a cat is chasing a mouse in the wild, the mouse might hide behind something. The odds are low that the mouse will still be there a minute later.

"If it's out of sight, it's probably gone," Delgado said.

Alzheimer's models

It's difficult to measure memory in cats and dogs  or any animal, for that matter.

"You're asking questions about what's going on inside of the animal's head in ways that we might not be able to see," Udell said. "So we're using their behavior to try to interpret what is going on internally."

But the more scientists find out about the memory of these animals, the better, because some researchers are starting to use dogs as models for human aging, dementia and Alzheimer's disease, Udell said.

"You have to understand what dogs are capable of remembering to understand how that declines with time," she said.

Original article on Live Science.
Famed stand-up comedian and actor Don Rickles, who died April 6 at age 90, cultivated a curmudgeonly persona for decades and was celebrated for his caustic cracks.

Known as the "insult comic," his pointed put-downs spared no one, not even celebrities many other comedians would consider off-limits. Before he became famous, Rickles was onstage at a Miami Beach club in the 1950s, when superstar Frank Sinatra entered the room. Rickles called out to him from the stage, "Make yourself comfortable, Frank. Hit somebody," the Los Angeles Times reported.

Somehow, Rickles successfully parlayed his barbed insults into jokes  garnering guffaws even from the notoriously grumpy Sinatra, according to the LA Times  and launched a career that spanned more than half a century. But what made his insults seem funny, rather than merely, well, insulting? [Smile Secrets: 5 Things Your Grin Says About You]

The success of Rickles' insult comedy may be explained by a humor theory called benign violation, which describes when a social norm is overturned, but in a way that is nonthreatening, according to science comedian Brian Malow.

"When those two things happen at the same time, then it's funny," Malow told Live Science.

"If Don Rickles insults you, that's a violation. But at the same time, there's the artifice of being in a comedy venue," Malow added. "You know he doesn't mean it, he's playing with you  and that's the benign part. So it's funny, even though he just called you a name."

Science backs this up, with researchers finding that benign violations of social norms "tend to elicit laughter and amusement" and suggest that negative emotions can be accompanied by humor, according to a study published in June 2010 in the journal Psychological Science.

A kernel of truth

Insults get under our skin because they typically point out something obvious  and usually unflattering  and because they hold a kernel of truth, Ken Yeager, an associate professor of psychiatry at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, told Live Science. In the hands of a skilled comedian, insults illuminate our flaws in a clever way. An insult can sting, but a well-crafted one can also make us wish that we'd thought of the joke first, Yeager said.

"It forces you to think," he said. "It makes you reassess the situation, and it makes you reassess yourself."

Rickles' delivery was an important part of what made his insults work, Yeager added. He would deliver his jibes with a deadpan expression, and then break a smile at the very end. And that smile was important, because it let the audience know that it was OK to laugh, Yeager said.

As a stand-up comedian appearing in front of a live audience, Rickles was likely paying close attention to the social cues in the room, reading the emotional "temperature" in the crowd and gauging how to perform insulting jokes about people so that those on the receiving end would respond gracefully, Yeager said. [7 Things That Will Make You Happy]

And his insults often came in layers, softening up an audience and making them more receptive to being the target of insulting jokes  by insulting others first.

At a Friars Club celebrity roast in the 1970s, Rickles said, "I haven't said so many tuxedos since the Osmond brothers had their annual prom," CBS News reported in an obituary for the comedian.

"That's a great way to deliver an insult," Yeager said. "Initially, you think you're laughing at him insulting someone else. Then you realize, a couple of minutes later, 'Oh no, he's insulting me at the same time.'"

Defying expectations

In general, comedy is about expectations  setting them up, and then defying them, Malow said. Insults are generally unexpected because people in polite society usually don't put down complete strangers. And the surprise at hearing the unthinkable uttered out loud in a stand-up routine makes us laugh, he said.

"The deadpan delivery  that's the violation, the rude part. But then he flashes the smile that says, 'You know I don't mean it!'" Malow added.

But not every comic can make insult comedy funny. Rickles might have been known as "The Merchant of Venom," but there was far more subtlety and skill in his routines than there was outright meanness, which likely explains his enduring appeal, Yeager told Live Science.

"I think it's a very special individual that has the right ability to read people and the right verbal technique to be able to pull that off," Yeager said. "I think maybe he was one in a million."

Original article on Live Science.
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A former Houston Independent School District employee is on the run, after being accused of impregnating a 13-year-old student.

Mauricio Orlando Mendoza, 37, was arrested and charged in March for aggravated sexual assault of a child.

He had been out on a $50,000 bail since March 23, but his bail was revoked March 31 because he was not living at the address he said he would be or not living with the person he said he would be with, according to court documents.

Mendoza has been at-large since. A spokeswoman for the Harris County Sheriff's Office confirmed Thursday that there is an open warrant out on Mendoza.

Mendoza's bond said he would live with his wife at their Houston residence. But within weeks, Mendoza's wife also no longer lived at the location provided to the court and said she did not know Mendoza's whereabouts, according to court documents.

State District Judge Hazel Jones confiscated Mendoza's passport after she heard the allegations against him. Mendoza has lived in the United States with his wife and children for about five years. He is originally from El Salvador, prosecutors said.

Mendoza was an information technology worker in Houston ISD before his arrest on March 22. He is accused of having had sex with the 13-year-old girl in his office and the library at Hartman Middle School. The girl tested positively in a pregnancy test in March.

He was arrested after the girl's mother said she found illicit text messages between her daughter and Mendoza in December.

He faced the possibility of life in prison.

Brian Rogers and Brooke Lewis contributed to this report.
As mosquito activity increases, the City of Laredo Health Department is responding to Zika activity by expanding testing recommendations for pregnant women in Laredo and surrounding areas.

Following guidelines by the Texas Department of State Health Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, all pregnant women living in Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr, Webb, Willacy and Zapata counties should be tested for Zika virus in the first and second trimesters of their pregnancy. In addition, anyone living in those six border counties with a rash and at least one other common Zika symptom (fever, joint pain or eye redness) should also be tested.

Zika virus infection poses a significant health risk to pregnant women, their babies and women in reproductive age. The CDC has confirmed that 1 in 10 infected pregnant women will give birth to a child with birth defects. Some may be born with Zika Syndrome while others may be born healthy but have underlying health and brain conditions and develop birth defects later in life.

We want to take every preventive measure against birth defects by testing during pregnancy even without symptoms so we can detect early said Dr. Hector F. Gonzalez, City of Laredo health director.

The updated testing guidelines from the Texas Department of State Health Services are as follows:

Testing is recommended as part of routine prenatal care for pregnant residents of Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr, Webb, Willacy and Zapata counties at their first prenatal care visit and again in the second trimester. In addition, if a pregnant woman exhibits symptoms in any stage of her pregnancy, she should be tested (or retested) for Zika.

Testing is recommended for other residents of Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr, Webb, Willacy and Zapata counties who exhibit a rash and at least one other common Zika symptom, either fever, joint pain or conjunctivitis (eye redness).

Testing is available through many commercial labs and through the public health laboratories in the state including the City of Laredo Health Department.

It is important to mention that pregnant women who have private health insurance should talk to their carrier to discuss coverage for Zika testing. If their insurer does not fully cover Zika testing in Laredo, they may contact the City of Laredo Health Department for Zika testing options at no cost. Pregnant women who receive prenatal care in other countries including Mexico should notify their US medical provider to assure prenatal care is continued.

Women who are not pregnant are recommended to take preventive measures with some form of birth control and follow all mosquito control measures:

Use mosquito repellent when outside

Wear long sleeves and pants

Use air conditioning and make sure window screens are properly installed and maintained

Pick up trash and dump out containers holding standing water around their homes

Cover gutters and drains with netting

Report abandoned unkept yards and illegal tire dumping

Contact the City of Laredo Health Department Epidemiology Division for the most current information on Zika activity at 795-4951.
This is what happens to me, every year, during Passover.

I ask myself: where were my ancestors from?

I ask my father to review our family tree with me. "Where, exactly, is our family from?"

"Vilna," he says. "What the Lithuanians call Vilnius. The capital of Lithuania. The Jerusalem of Europe!" he waxes poetic.

I remember that my late mother once said her family was from Munkascz, in Hungary. She must have got it wrong. My maternal grandfather, I am sure, was from Aleppo, Syria.

As Theodor Herzl, the Austrian-born leader of modern Zionism, said (in a different context): "If you will it, it is no dream."

So, here is what you know about keeping kosher for Passover: no leavened products  bread, doughnuts, bagels, pasta, pizza.

(Great spiritual interpretation of "no leaven:" leaven is yeast that has expanded, or has become puffed up. When our egos become "puffed up," it's a sign we are still enslaved to our inner Pharaohs.)

Ashkenazic Jews go one step further. They refrain from indulging in rice and legumes (kitniyot). Sephardim have no such "legume-phobia." They eat beans, as well as rice, during Passover.

There has been a recent revolution in how Jews think about cuisine for Passover. For those Jews ready to embrace kitniyot, and to eat rice, soy, and assorted other legumes during Passover, let me strengthen your resolve to do so.

There is no mention in the Bible of a prohibition against legumes. It says "leaven." Period. There is no mention in the Talmud of a prohibition against legumes. The prohibition against legumes seems to have come from France in the 12th century. About 10 reasons are cited for this custom, which is proof enough that this is a bit of a stretch.

Maimonides, the 12th century rabbi, philosopher and physician from Cordoba, thought that it was a "stupid custom." (Yes, he was a Sephardic Jew.)

With the creation of the state of Israel, and the ingathering of the exiles into the land of Israel, we should emphasize the unity of the Jewish people, not ethnic differences that separate us.

By elevating a Sephardic way of observing Passover, we are repenting for having created an (a new term, here) "Ashke-normative" American Judaism. Let's face it: our Judaism has centered on central and Eastern European ancestors, narratives, languages, and folklore. The danger of this is that we ignore the experience of so many Jews  especially the fact that the early Jewish immigrants in America were, by and large, Sephardim from the Iberian peninsula.

Not eating rice and legumes is not in the Bible. Contemporary Judaism is not a biblical religion. Neither are Hanukkah, Purim and Shabbat candles, Neither, by the way, is the Passover Seder.

Judaism is allowed to grow and change; it must. There are numerous variations in Jewish traditions: Ashkenazim (and even here, between German Jews, Polish Jews, Hungarian Jews), Sephardim (even here, between Turkish Jews and Greek Jews), Middle Eastern Jews (and between Moroccan Jews, Tunisian Jews, Yemenite Jews and Iraqi Jews). Like the coat that the Joseph wore, Judaism is multi-colored and richly textured.

If you want to have a rice and be liberated from the Pharaoh of all-too-strict-and-historically-flimsy customs, as your rabbi (or, as one of your rabbis), I tell will you: feel free to do so. Whatever you eat, or don't eat  have a great and sweet Passover.

Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin is the spiritual leader of Temple Solel in Hollywood, Fla., and wrote books on Jewish spirituality and ethics.
A Nuevo Laredo man and a Laredo woman recently entered guilty pleas for their roles in a conspiracy to traffic drugs via the World Trade Bridge, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez.

Daniel Rodirugez Reyna, 45, entered his plea to conspiracy to posses with the intent to distribute heroin and methamphetamine. Vanessa Bernal, 33, pleaded guilty for her participation as a co-conspirator in the methamphetamine conspiracy.

The investigation began in 2014 when authorities learned of a possible drug transaction with a commercial truck driver expected cross drugs via the World Trade Bridge in Laredo. Upon conducting surveillance, authorities observed Reyna meet with a confidential source at a warehouse in Laredo as he placed a white plastic bag inside the sources front passenger window.

After he departed the area, authorities were able to obtain the bag, which contained three bundles wrapped in clear cellophane wrap and black electrical tape. Laboratory analysis confirmed the three bundles all contained heroin with a net weight of 2.85 kilograms.

On March 25, 2015, agents conducted surveillance of the same white semi-truck Reyna was driving after it crossed into the United States from Mexico through the World Trade Bridge. Law enforcement followed Reyna as he drove to a warehouse on El Gato Road in Laredo.

Shortly thereafter, a red Dodge Journey arrived. Bernal was later identified as the driver. Reyna then exited his vehicle carrying a plastic shopping bag and placed it in the back seat of Bernals vehicle.

After they departed, authorities conducted a traffic stop and found the plastic bag. Inside, they discovered four bundles wrapped in brown tape which all contained crystal methamphetamine with a net weight of 3.9 kilograms.

U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo accepted the pleas today and set sentencing for July 31, 2017. Both face a minimum 10 years and up to life for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Reyna faces the same penalty for the heroin conspiracy. Bernal was permitted to remain on bond pending that hearing, while Reyna will remain in custody.

The Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the investigation with the assistance of task force members of the Webb County District Attorneys Office and the Laredo Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Lou Castillo is prosecuting the case.
A former Nuevo Laredo police officer and two other people arrested for a recent maquinita robbery have been charged in connection with another heist.

Laredo police said the Mexican ex-cop Francisco Javier Rocha, 37, Josue Ramon Castro Medina, 26, and Edgar Alejandro Hernandez, 29, are also responsible for an armed robbery reported March 15 at Lobo Amusement, 201 W. Del Mar Blvd.
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The escalating war in Syria is likely to draw more troops and equipment from Texas and San Antonio, where soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines train.

Many already are in harm's way.

Thousands of soldiers from Fort Hood and Fort Bliss, which have played major roles in Iraq and Afghanistan for more than a decade, are now in the Middle East or headed there.

Navy and Air Force pilots learning to fly in Texas will move to specialty training that could take them into operational units this year and, possibly, combat.

The resurgent U.S. presence in the region could include the first enlisted pilots to earn their wings since 1961  three enlistees who will handle the RQ-4 Global Hawk, a remotely flown reconnaissance plane that has emerged as a staple of Americas wars.

Theyll graduate May 5 at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph.

Texas absolutely plays a key role in ensuring that the U.S. Air Force can provide combat-ready airmen to support combatant commander requirements around the globe, and in particular for the fight against ISIS, said Col. Pat Ryder, the Air Forces chief of media operations.

More for you Clinton calls on her former rival to develop strategy on Syria

Those who fly remotely piloted aircraft are a small part of the Pentagons big footprint in Texas, where 255,000 Defense Department military and civilian personnel work at 15 active-duty and reserve installations. They range from Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base in Houston and Naval Air Station Kingsville to Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base and Goodfellow AFB in San Angelo, where intelligence specialists learn their craft.

A good example of the states impact on conflicts overseas is the Texas Air National Guards 181st Airlift Squadron, which returned just 13 months ago from a four-month tour of the Middle East. The guard itself is the nations largest and has been a major player in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, providing tens of thousands of troops overseas since 9/11. It lost 12 soldiers in that time  seven in a 2008 Chinook crash that was the guards single-worst loss of life in the war.

The guard now has 1,400 soldiers and airmen in Afghanistan, the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

No one can say how this weeks Tomahawk cruise missile attack on a Syrian airbase will affect troop deployments from Texas, but Fort Hood and Fort Bliss are certain to be a factor, as they have in past years, often paying a high price.

Bliss has seen 51 soldiers die in the Iraq war, while those killed from Fort Hood number 510, the most of any installation or service branch, according to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count. Figures for Afghanistan werent immediately available from the web site.

Fort Bliss, home to more than 30,000 soldiers, now has around 1,700 soldiers in the Middle East, with more coming. A post spokesman said another 1,500 from the 1st Armored Divisions 1st Brigade Combat Team will ship out to Afghanistan in June, part of a regular rotation to a training and advisory mission in Afghanistan.

Around 4,900 Fort Hood soldiers are in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, South Korea and Eastern Europe, most from the 1st Cavalry Division. The divisions 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, with 3,800 soldiers, deployed to Kuwait, a U.S. operations hub, two months ago as part of Operation Inherent Resolve.

As the weekend began, the Air Force said it had 16,000 airmen in the Middle East waging the campaign against ISIS from places like Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar and Qayyarah Airfield, an installation outside Mosul better known to many troops as Q-West.

Some of the fighter pilots flying over Iraq and Syria probably were trained by the 149th Fighter Wing on Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. The same is true of pilots learning their trade in Randolphs Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals course. Last year, more than 500 drone pilot and sensor operators graduated from the base.

Novice pilots spend a year in flight training at Laughlin AFB in Del Rio, one of six Air Education and Training Command bases in Texas.

Airmen on the ground in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan include joint terminal attack controllers, specialists who call in air strikes. JTACS, as theyre called, are trained at Lackland.

On some days during the Iraq invasion in 2003 they were ahead of the tanks, but the Air Forces Ryder noted that nowadays theyre often in Iraqi command centers, providing advice and assistance there and in Afghanistan, adding, We do have a counterterrorism function there that goes after al-Qaeda and to a certain degree ISIS, but primarily the mission there is to support the Afghans.

Across town from Lackland, 6,000 combat medics graduate every year from Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston. The mission specialty is the Armys second-largest, behind the infantry, with soldiers leaving Fort Sam for operational units.

Some will find themselves in a war zone within a year of learning their trade in the Alamo City, serving as first responders on the battlefield, where theyve helped raise the survival rate for wounded troops to 92 percent  the highest mark ever. The battlefield survival rate for Vietnam was 82 percent, the Army Medical Department Center and School says.

Theyre the first person on hand. If someone gets injured for whatever reason, that is the absolute first responder and their job is to keep that other soldier alive, said Jose Rodriguez, a spokesman for the AMEDD Center and School. Without them, the casualty rates would be significantly higher.
For someone who considers himself well-informed about transportation issues, I was taken by surprise by Drayton McLane Jr.s essay on why hes invested in the Texas Central High-Speed Railway (Opinion, March 12).

I had no idea there was such an exciting, ambitious project, using no state or federal taxpayer funding, to bring 200 mph trains zipping across the state and that it was attracting sophisticated investors like McLane.

Unfortunately, I dont share his confidence that sometime in the next few years, bullet trains will deliver travelers between the Dallas and Houston metro areas in 90 minutes. My skepticism is based on reporting and writing for newspapers and magazines for four decades about the dream of importing European or Japanese trains for new high-speed rail service. I have not only read innumerable stories on the topic, I wrote many of them. But so far, very little of what those stories forecast has happened.

Before I could evaluate the Texas Central plans, I had to figure out why I was in the dark about a longtime dream of people who believe, as I do, in the value of passenger trains, especially fast and efficient ones. I was smitten by my first ride on a French TGV train in 1982, and I have ridden high-speed trains in Europe numerous times since.

The archives of the San Antonio Express-News, my principal source of Texas news, include a few sentences in one news article about the project (other than McLanes essay) three years ago. Thats it.

The Houston Chronicle, which shares a parent company with the Express-News, has written more about the project for an obvious reason: The proposed service consists of a single line taking travelers between Houston and Dallas, with one stop, somewhere between Bryan-College Station and Huntsville.

Perhaps the lack of coverage of the project here reflects another fact of life for San Antonio residents: We live in the largest American city  indeed, one of the largest in the world  with no local or regional passenger rail service of any kind, be it light rail, streetcars or commuter rail.

While Dallas and Houston, seeking to alleviate massive highway congestion, have been building rail systems from scratch for two decades, San Antonio has gone the other way. Voters rejected funding a light rail system in a referendum in 2000, and there isnt sufficient political or business support to revive the idea.

Plans for a commuter-rail service between San Antonio and Austin also are in limbo, so its no wonder Texas Centrals plans dont include a link to our part of the state. Intercity rail service is used more widely when it connects to robust public transportation options at each station served.

Whats more, if Congress follows President Donald Trumps proposed 2018 budget for Amtrak, all of its long-distance trains will be eliminated, including those that amble slowly across Texas, further diminishing support for rail service.

On the other hand, the odds are against Congress agreeing to the idea. Republican politicians have made the same proposal for more than 30 years but have never succeeded, mostly because of support for the trains from the heartland where Trumps backers live.

The odds also are poor that Texas Central will ever operate speedy trains because of the eschewing of state or federal funding.

Transportation infrastructure projects worldwide simply dont succeed without taxpayer help of some sort. In years past, when high-speed projects using a combination of private and government funding have been proposed, airlines and other free-market devotees have strenuously opposed them.

In 2009, the Obama administration persuaded Congress to provide seed money for high-speed rail lines nationwide, only for the funding to be withdrawn when Republicans regained the majority in 2011.

In this case, an opposition group, Texans Against High-Speed Rail, appears to be well-funded and determined. Among its objections is the need for Texas Central to have eminent domain rights to acquire the land needed for the new rail line, always a touchy subject and the target of proposed legislation against the project in the Texas House.

I sincerely wish it werent so, but I see little reason to believe Texas Centrals dream will ever become reality.

Tom Belden is a San Antonio freelance journalist who has written about transportation since 1977.
1 Philippines quakes: Back-to-back earthquakes cracked small buildings and blocked roads with minor landslides Saturday in a resort province south of Manila where jittery tourists left and patients were evacuated from a hospital amid aftershocks. Officials said a temblor with a magnitude of 5.6 struck near Mabini town in Batangas province, followed shortly by a 6.0-magnitude quake, prompting many people to rush out of homes and beach resorts. There were no immediate reports of injuries. Hundreds of villagers fled their homes to higher ground, fearing a tsunami, although government seismologists did not declare any such threat. The Philippines sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where earthquakes and volcanoes are common.

2 Capsized ferry: A ferry overturned in Myanmars Ayeyarwaddy delta, killing 20 people and leaving more than a dozen missing, police said. Thirty people were rescued after the ferry capsized in the Ngawun river Friday night, police said. About 66 people were on the ferry, which capsized after colliding with a boat carrying gravel. The ferry was going from Pathein to Yakhinekone village.
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Culture / Art Republik

One of the most exciting art fairs on our calendar is channelling Marvel origin stories by asking artists to think about how they began doing art

Apr 08, 2017 | By Luxuo

Art Revolution Taipei (A.R.T.) 2017, organised by the Taiwan International Contemporary Artist Association, takes place from April 14 to 17 at the Taipei World Trade Centre in Taipeis Xinyi District. The theme for the year is The Original Intention  Start with the First Piece of Work, or the tracing of each artists practice, and the recalling of their original inspirations and artworks. Over 3,000 artworks by 346 artists from 67 nations, up from 47 in 2016, will be shown.

The distinctive art fair is put together against industry norms, conceptualising the fair around artists instead of galleries. In last years edition of A.R.T., a substantial nine-tenths of the exhibiting artists sold their pieces. This year, each booth exhibits the works of a single artist, continuing the fairs signature format since its debut in 2011.

One of the many artists worthy of note is Roch Urbaniak from Poland, who seeks to record in his artworks fairy tales from across the world and stories from his frequent travels in Asia. And amongst the Taiwanese contemporary artists, a notable art trio is Ma Sing Ling, who will present their acrylic on canvas work, completed in collaboration with fellow Taiwanese artist Luna Chen in 2016, titled Magnificent Wonder World/Momentum of the Mind.

The art fair will encompass nine sections, including International Artist Salon, China Contemporary Art, Taiwan Contemporary Art, Art and Design, A.R.T. Curatorial, International Contemporary Art, International Artist Grand Prize Competition, New York Contemporary Art Fund, as well as Art Your Compassion.

The Art Your Compassion section is a particularly unique feature of the fair, and as the name suggests, integrates art and philanthropy. The intent of the section involves calling upon famous personalities in Taiwan and elsewhere to create artworks for charity. The pieces of the section, which incorporate diverse art disciplines, take the form of paintings, photography, mixed media, and collage amongst others. Since the inception of the Art Your Compassion section, A.R.T. has achieved its purpose of drawing attention on a massive scale, and of building interest in collecting art with the wider population.

This article was originally published in Art Republik.
Four people were killed and 15 injured when a stolen truck ploughed into a crowd of people outside a busy department store in central Stockholm today, police said, adding that one man had been arrested. Four people have died and 15 people have been injured," Stockholm police spokesman Lars Bystrom told AFP.

One man had also been detained in connection with the attack, he said, but would not comment on media reports that he confessed to the attack. Bystrom did not say if the detained man was the suspect whose grainy picture the police released earlier on Friday. The attack was the latest in a string of assaults in Europe in which vehicles have been used.

In the worst such incident, 86 people died in the French city of Nice when a man rammed a truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day last year. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility. PTI
The Herb Farm: What the brand stands for

Its no secret anymore. The world of natural skincare is expanding rapidly, and ever so often, we hear about fantastic new brands joining the fray. Heres yet another one to add to your list! The Herb Farm, founded by herbalist Lynn Kirkland, is a New Zealand skincare brand that offers 100% natural skincare products that dote on your skin in the gentlest way possible. Harnessing the power of homegrown ingredients from New Zealand, alongside her intimate knowledge of the botanical world, Lynn has meticulously handcrafted an array of phenomenal products that will leave your skin with a radiant healthy glow. Nourishing and free from harsh chemicals, The Herb Farms collection will whisk you on a journey though the realm of natural wholesome skincare.

Owner and Managing Director of the brand, Sarah Cowan, has expressed her anticipation about launching The Herb Farm here. We are really excited to bring our truly natural skincare products to Singapore. All our products have been formulated by my mother who has drawn on over 30 years of wisdom to create products that bring tradition and innovation together for healthy, radiant skin.

What to expect

The brand provides an extensive range of products which target a myriad of skincare frustrations. Whether you have oily skin or a ruddy complexion or even sensitive skin, you can count on The Herb Farm to meet your every skincare need. From facial serums and cream cleansers to face masks and clarifying toner mists, every single one of their creations promise to be of top-notch quality. Head up to our gallery to check out their entire range of stunning formulas that have launched in Singapore!

The Herb Farm skincare range is available at selected Watson stores today from SGD39.

Lim Han

Photos: The Herb Farm

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MARTINSVILLE  Friends and colleagues remember Worth H. Carter Jr. as a talented, intelligent banker and businessman who was well-regarded for his generosity and benevolence not only for his community, but also anyone who needed his advice or help.

Carter established 10 community banks across Virginia that merged in 2006 to become Martinsville-based Carter Bank & Trust, which now has more than $4.5 billion in assets and 123 branches in Virginia and North Carolina, its website shows. He was its chairman of the board and chief executive officer.

At 79, he died Friday morning following a brief illness.

Bruce Whitehurst, president and chief executive officer of the Virginia Bankers Association, said Carter was respected and admired by banking professionals throughout the state.

He had a way of looking at things differently than other people and always turning projects into successes, Whitehurst said.

In an industry changing so much, he said, Carter approached banking in the traditional way  customers being able to walk into their local bank branch and have all of their needs handled there. He believes that is what has made Carter Bank & Trust and its predecessors successful over the years.

Martinsville lawyer James W. Haskins, a longtime friend and attorney of Carters, described him as the most brilliant man Ive ever encountered.

He only had to hear something once or read something once. It was in his mind, and he never forgot it, said Phyllis Karavatakis, president of Carter Bank & Trust. His IQ must have been off the charts.

Carter could eyeball a column of numbers and immediately total it in his head, before an employee could even touch an adding machine, Karavatakis recalled.

A native of Richmond, Carter earned a bachelors degree in political science and history from the University of Richmond before attending the University of Virginia Law School in Charlottesville.

He was employed by the Safeway supermarket chain before he went to work for the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond in 1960 as a bank examiner, having responsibility for ensuring that banks in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and South Carolina operated ethically and within the law.

In 1964, Carter joined Piedmont Trust Bank in Martinsville, eventually becoming its vice president and comptroller. But nine years later, as he recalled in a 1978 Martinsville Bulletin article, he resigned after deciding that he wanted to try something on his own.

Carter then applied for and received charters to establish First National Bank of Rocky Mount, which opened in December 1974, and Patrick Henry National Bank, which opened in Martinsville in 1976. From that year through 1998, he also established eight other banks  Peoples Bank of Danville, Blue Ridge Bank of Floyd, South Boston Bank in Halifax County, Central National Bank of Lynchburg, Mountain National Bank of Galax, Patriot Bank in Fredericksburg, Shenandoah National Bank in Staunton and First National Exchange Bank in Roanoke.

He also launched four subsidiaries  Mortgage Company of Virginia Inc., Bank Services of Virginia Inc., Bank Services Insurance and, as part of a joint venture, Coresoft, a computer software developer  and served as president and board chairman of each.

Improving and promoting education was a mission of Carters. For 21 years, he was on the Martinsville School Board and served as chairman for 11 years. He also was on the University of Richmonds board for four years and the boards of Averett University and Ferrum and Mary Baldwin colleges for eight years.

The University of Richmond presented Carter its Alumni Distinguished Service Award in 2002.

Two years later, he received the Heck Ford Award from the Martinsville-Henry County Chamber of Commerce, which honored him for lifetime achievement in leadership, commitment and dedication to helping boost the communitys economy.

He was an incredible, well-respected businessman and a true visionary and leader in determining whats best for our area, said former chamber president and Martinsville mayor Kim Adkins, now the executive director for the United Way of Henry County-Martinsville.

The trade publication Bank Technology News named Carter its Technology Innovator of the Year in 2010 after he developed a core software platform for use by banks.

Carter was a member of First Baptist Church in Martinsville.

He received an honorary doctorate in business from Liberty University in 2012. His bank provided Liberty  now the worlds largest Christian-oriented university  short-term loans beginning in 1988 and its first long-term mortgage financing in 1997, according to university President Jerry Falwell Jr.

Falwell could not be reached for comment on Friday. However, he has described Carter in a published report as a quiet and humble man who has always shied away from large crowds and public recognition.

Karavatakis said Carters name would come to mind first if you had to define a southern gentleman.

He was true to his word, sincere and never pretentious, she said.

And, he always was fair in business dealings, as well as with employees and customers, Haskins said.

His credibility was unimpeachable, he said.

Employees and community leaders often came to Carter for professional and personal advice, Adkins and Karavatakis recalled.

He was always gracious with his time when you sought advice, Adkins said.

A lot of people have a very heavy heart now because of his demise, she continued.

But his legacy will live on, said Karavatakis.

Carter was preceded in death by his wife of 42 years, Katherine S. Carter, and his parents, Worth Harris Carter Sr. and Fannie West Carter.

Surviving are his children and their spouses, Katherine Louise Carter, Worth Harris Carter III and Susan H. Carter, and Ernest Linwood Carter II and Amber M. Carter; a brother and sister-in-law, Ernest Linwood Carter and Margaret S. Carter; six grandchildren; two great-grandchildren and three nieces and nephews.

According to Karavatakis and Haskins, Carters funeral will be held at 2 p.m. next Saturday at Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg,

Norris Funeral Services in Martinsville is handling Carters arrangements. Further details were not available Friday.
An otherwise sleepy New England suburb, Bedford bursts with patriotic enthusiasm each April for a revolutionary reenactment of the town's past defiant dwellers.

The Bedford Minuteman Company hosted its 53rd "Pole Capping" ceremony on Saturday, a yearly event held to kick off Patriots' Day celebrations across the state. Actors and spectators dressed in full colonial garb presented a show filled with revolutionary ardor at Willson's Park in downtown Bedford. And while some might expect a half-century-old tradition to age in a small town, the droves of costumed fans Saturday morning say otherwise.

The celebration commenced Saturday morning, as a parade of minuteman companies marched alongside drum and fife bands on Concord Road to the center of Bedford. At Willson Park, the marchers and musicians joined viewers to watch the big event: the Pole Capping.

Marked by a crowd of "boos" to Loyalist soldiers and "huzzahs!" to defiant colonists, the event begins when Revolutionaries raise the "Liberty Pole," a wooden pole with a rope attached, as actors give impassioned speeches defending both sides of the fight.

Once erected, a Bedford Minuteman first attempts to climb the Liberty Pole, but is caught by British soldiers who force him down (herein come the "boos"). Soon another revolutionary climbs the pole, reaching the top where he places a red knit "Liberty" cap on top. He pumps his fist as the crowd cheers him on before British soldiers come rushing over to take him away.

The whole event is as Massachusetts as it sounds: the "commander" dismisses "these contentious Yankees," and a theatrical colonist wife complains, "it's not the tea, it's the taxes!" Organizers host a lunch of hotdog and beans following the show, before an afternoon reenactment down the road about Paul Revere.

"I hope each year I might persuade just a few more in the justice of his majesty's cause," laughs the British commander, known more commonly as electrical engineer Paul O'Shaugnessy.

As a member of 10th Regiment of Foot, a re-created infantry unit that portrays American revolutionaries, O'Shaugnessy has served 10 years as the prim and proper British leader who condemns the unruly colonists every April. He says he enjoys it every time.

"There are these issues of authority and liberty, and I think it really is important that people understand their history," O'Shaugnessy says. "So when politicians try to craft everything in a different light, people have that background, they know what the actual truth is."
PITTSFIELD A Berkshire County prosecutor is asking a superior court judge to force Charles Robinson to unlock his two phones so authorities can gather evidence he prostituted two Vermont women at a Lee motel last October, the

Berkshire Eagle

reported.

The Berkshire County District Attorney's Office accuses Charles Robinson with luring two women from Vermont to Berkshire County and pimping them out to men for sex. Prosecutors allege that Robinson used his phones to take photographs of the women for online ads for sexual services he placed using the phones.

Robinson is charged with three counts of human trafficking for sexual servitude and one count each of deriving support from prostitution and conspiracy to traffic a person for sexual servitude.

But Robinson's attorney, Raymond Jacoub said forcing Robinson to open the phones would violate his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself, and besides, he said, the state has not shown that the evidence they believe may be on the phones actually exists, and if so, on which of Robinson's two phones is the specific evidence the prosecution contends is there?

Superior Court Judge John Agostini took the motion under advisement pending a pretrial hearing Tuesday.

Robinson is being held on $175,000 bail.
mosier elementary school

The 48-year-old Mosier Elementary School in South Hadley should be renovated, or replaced, according to a private consultant's report.

(The Republican [file])

SOUTH HADLEY -- The Selectboard has chosen to take no action on the School Committee's request to seek state funding to underwrite some of the costs for the potential repair or replacement of Mosier Elementary School, which was built in 1969.

A school department consultant's report estimated building a new school at $43 million, and the consultant said major repairs to Mosier would cost about half that amount.

Earlier this year, the school committee and Superintendent Nicholas Young requested the Selectboard to endorse a "letter of interest" that would be forwarded to the Massachusetts School Building Authority.

The MSBA disburses grants to eligible districts that for approved projects pay more than half the costs of major repairs or for new construction.

School board chairman John Kelly said the April deadline to submit a letter of interest to the MSBA -- the first step in multi-year process to secure the state money -- had passed, and that the district plans to "revisit the issue later this year."

Kelly, who also sits on the town's Capital Planning Committee, said municipal officials continue to explore other important building issues, including the senior center and town hall.

"We understand there are a number of facility issues within South Hadley including town hall (and) the senior center, in addition to Mosier," the school board chairman said.

"We realize they are looking at everything, including the Mosier project," Kelly said. "The school committee will revisit the issue later in the year, after the Selectboard has completed the assessment of town-wide facilities."
STOCKHOLM - Swedish police said Saturday that they believe they have captured the man accused of turning a beer truck into a weapon a day earlier by driving it into a crowd of pedestrians in a rampage that left four people dead.

Authorities did not divulge the man's name but said he is a 39-year-old from Uzbekistan who had been known to security services as "a marginal character" for the past year. Police said that when they first investigated him, they had found no connections to extremism. Authorities did not say when the man had come to Sweden.

The arrest came Friday night when officers apprehended a suspect in the northern Stockholm suburbs who matched the description of a man seen in surveillance footage earlier in the day. Police initially said they were unsure whether the man they had arrested was involved in the attack.

But their confidence grew overnight, and in an early afternoon news conference Saturday, authorities said they were all but certain that they had caught the assailant.

Sweden's prime minister said Friday that the attack was "an act of terrorism," though officials have not commented on an exact motive.

Swedish media outlets reported Saturday that there was a homemade explosive device discovered in the mangled wreckage of the truck, which was towed overnight from the upscale shopping district that on Friday afternoon became a scene of carnage.

National Police Chief Dan Eliasson said that "a device that did not belong there was found in the truck." But officials said it was unclear whether it was a bomb.

Flags across Stockholm flew at half-staff Saturday, and mourners paid respects by leaving flowers at the scene of the attack.

Among them were Crown Princess Victoria and her husband, Prince Daniel. With tears in her eyes, Victoria said she was filled with "sadness and emptiness." Politicians across the spectrum also visited the scene, and many expressed backing for the prime minister's handling of the incident.

With the attack, which also injured 15 others, Stockholm joined a growing list of major European cities where vehicles have been turned into weapons over the past year, including Nice, France, Berlin and London.

In the minutes after the rampage, the driver escaped the smoky and blood-streaked scene. Throughout the afternoon and evening, the driver was the subject of an intensive manhunt as helicopters searched from the skies, heavily armed officers were deployed through normally tranquil neighborhoods and security at borders was tightened. For hours, the city's transit system was shut down and streets in the central district were sealed off.

Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said at a Friday evening news conference that the country would not be intimidated, and that the government would do "whatever it takes" for the public to feel safe.

"Terrorists want us to be afraid, to not live our lives normally," he said. "Terrorists can never defeat Sweden, never."

Behind the tough words, however, was an acknowledgment from security officials that attacks like Friday's are nearly impossible to stop.

"There is no way to really prevent this kind of thing," said Stefan Hector, an official with Sweden's national police.

Until Friday, Sweden had been spared the sort of mass-casualty attacks that have afflicted other countries across Europe in recent years. The attack was the first major apparent terrorist strike in Stockholm, a peaceful city set among peninsulas and islands near the Baltic Sea.

It underscores a growing vulnerability that Sweden had long ignored, said Magnus Ranstorp, a terrorism researcher at the Swedish Defense University. "Sweden had been somewhat like an ostrich," Ranstorp said. "People were reluctant to talk about it and admit there was a problem."

That has changed recently as the country has become more aware of the threat, he said. Just in the past week, police had conducted training on a scenario much like the one that unfolded in reality Friday.

Previous attacks in Europe have been claimed by the Islamic State terrorist group. Although the group's involvement in such attacks has often been tenuous at best, authorities in several cases have said they think the attackers were inspired by Islamist extremist propaganda.

The assailant's rampage in Stockholm apparently began with an idling truck.

Rose-Marie Hertzman, a spokeswoman for the Swedish brewery company Spendrups, said the truck used in the attack was stolen from one of the firm's drivers about 2:30 p.m. - about a half-hour before the rampage.

"The driver was unloading, and a man came running and took the truck and drove away," she said.

Minutes later, the force of the truck crashing into the upscale Ahlens City retail hub sparked a fire and sent smoke billowing above one of the city's premier shopping districts. One witness described seeing a woman with a severed foot and people either running in panic or staying to help amid pools of blood.

Gahangir Sarvari, 56, an Iranian refugee, was about 50 yards from the attack and said he initially thought it was a traffic accident. Then he saw the trail of carnage, which included a young woman whose legs were severed.

"I can never forget when we made eye contact," he said. "I was screaming at people why they didn't call the police and screaming at people who were taking photos with their phones. I didn't know what to do."

The attack occurred on a mild spring afternoon, when the city's central district is customarily buzzing with shoppers, office workers and bicyclists. Its effect quickly rippled across the city. Shoppers were locked inside stores after businesses triggered their automatic security systems. Police evacuated Stockholm's central train station and shut down the subway.

In a sign of the expanding dragnet, Swedish authorities requested limits on traffic flow to better scan vehicles crossing the Oresund Bridge connecting Sweden and Denmark - and the route into the continent with its many open borders under the European Union's free-movement treaty.

The attack comes just a little over two weeks after a man plowed an SUV into a crowd of pedestrians on a London bridge, then stabbed a police officer at the gates of Parliament. That assailant killed five, including a woman who died Thursday of injuries she received when she was knocked off the bridge and into the River Thames.

Last year, trucks were also used in deadly rampages through crowds at a Berlin Christmas market and along Nice's waterfront during France's Bastille Day in July.

As news of the Stockholm attack spread, there were expressions of resolve from across Europe but few concrete ideas for how to stop the wave of deadly assaults.

"We stand in solidarity with the people of #Sweden," European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Twitter. "An attack on any of our Member States is an attack on us all."

(c) 2017, The Washington Post. Heba Habib wrote this story.
UPDATE: This event has been cancelled by its organizers.

SPRINGFIELD - The Latino Law Student Association (LLSA) at Western New England University has teamed up with MassMutual and the Ascentria Care Alliance to repeat the program they sponsored last year to assist members of the Hampden County community to seek a path to citizenship.

The program assists permanent residents with being screened for and in completing the N-400, the final application needed to become a U.S. citizen.

Claudia Quintero, a WNEU law school senior and the president and founder of the LLSA, helped to spearhead the program and describes it as a "citizenship clinic to help people fill out their naturalization forms."

Though many people live in the U.S. legally, they are still often vulnerable to deportation until they have completed the legal processes necessary to make them U.S. citizens, said Quintero in an interview with The Republican.

Being a permanent resident but not a citizen means that a person can be deported for a whole host of reasons--including such minor legal infractions as failing to advise immigration authorities within ten days of a change of address.

Quintero said that there are many permanent residents living in Hampden County that have not filed for citizenship--either because they are afraid they don't qualify, or because it can be confusing, especially if there is a language barrier involved. "The form is twenty pages long, it can be tedious and cumbersome and if someone doesn't speak English it makes it so much more difficult for them to figure out," Quintero said.

That's where the clinic comes in. It's free, and offers permanent residents an opportunity to get professional help with filling out the form. For income eligible individuals, the program may also provide assistance in getting an application fee waiver.

To qualify for the clinic, residents must:

Residents must bring a number of items to the workshop:

The clinic is being held April 17 at MassMutual. For more information and to register by April 10, residents are encouraged to call 744-326-4730.
SPRINGFIELD -- For many years, Springfield has declared its annual pancake breakfast to be the "World's Largest." And with 500 gallons of pancake batter and 990 pounds of bacon being cooked annually, the title seems pretty accurate.

But on February 25, Russian flour exporter JSC MAKFA gathered 16 professional chefs in Moscow and after almost eight hours of non-stop pancake-making, MAKFA achieved the world record with 12,716 crepes, according to the Guinness World Records website.

"It's always just been in good fun," said Judith Matt, president of Spirit of Springfield, which organizes the annual breakfast. "We've never had an official come out and determine that we are the largest."

For decades Springfield had a friendly competition with Battle Creek, Michigan, the self-proclaimed "Cereal Capital."

"We used to have someone go out there and measure the length of their tables, of course they used picnic tables, so we usually won that," Matt said. "Our congressman and their congressman would wager on which community would serve more pancakes. It was always a lot of fun."

In the past few years the competition waned, Matt said.

Moscow, Russia - Polina Beliaeva, a student in Russia, points at a sign of the city's attempt at the world's largest serving of pancakes.

Then a few weeks ago she had a conversation with Bay Path University President Carol Leary who was in Russia with her husband Noel Leary last November, when they stumbled upon a surprising sign.

"They showed me this picture of a flour company in Russia claiming that they would be attempting the world's largest serving of pancakes," she said.

While cooking 12,716 crepes seems impressive, Matt said she is sure Springfield cooks up way more pancakes.

Although it's a little too late to coordinate a visit from the Guinness World Record officials this year, Matt said she is considering inviting them for 2018's pancake breakfast.

"We have a minimum of 10,000 visitors every year and they all get more than one pancake, so I'm confidant that we beat that number and we do it in three hours with volunteer cooks," she said.

This year's breakfast will be held May 13 from 8-11 a.m. Tickets are $1 for children - $3 for adults.

Other fun facts about Springfield's pancake breakfast :
Montana Code Girls announced sponsorship opportunities for the upcoming inaugural Technovation Montana Regional Pitch Competition on May 13  14, 2017.

A Technovation Challenge Regional Ambassador, Montana Code Girls is the largest statewide after school coding program for middle and high school girls. Officially launched statewide in the fall of 2016, Montana Code Girls successfully recruited 38 volunteers and 120 students in 16 cities across Montana.

Continuing that success in 2017, the program recruited 140 Montana Code Girls across 15 cities. These cities are: Alberton, Belgrade, Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Corvalis, Fort Shaw, Frenchtown, Great Falls, Helena, Kalispell, Missoula, Chinook, Highwood and Whitefish. Additionally, 43 amazing volunteers from across Montana signed up to support the Montana Code Girls 2017 Technovation Challenge teams.

Technovation Montana is a 2 day event that will bring together middle and high school Montana Code Girls participants and their families from all over the state to connect and showcase their Technovation Challenge mobile apps.

Over the course of the weekend, Technovation Montana will provide inspiring speakers, the Technovation Montana Regional pitch competition with scholarship prizes, a special mother-daughter Mother?s day brunch and a documentary film screening of CODE: Debugging the Gender Gap ? an award wining documentary film on the dearth of women and minority software engineers that raises the question: ?What would society gain from having more women and minorities code??

More information on the sponsorship packages can be found here: http://www.mtcodegirls.org/sponsors/
The power of networking should not be underestimated, whether the goal is to find a better job or counter Russias hacking of U.S. computer systems. Anne-Marie Slaughter, the first woman to serve as director of policy planning under former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, applies the science of network theory to handle amorphous and sometimes messy situations.

In her new book, The Chessboard and the Web: Strategies of Connection in a Networked World, Slaughter argues that civic societies all over the world have an opportunity to rebuild their networks of relationships, especially in the digital age. Such networks can bring about change in the long run, supplementing geopolitical chess moves such as checking a Russian invasion. Slaughter, who is also professor emerita of politics and international affairs at Princeton University, recently discussed her book on the [email protected] show on Wharton Business Radio on SiriusXM channel 111. (Listen to the podcast at the top of this page.)
Montana Tech cyber hawks grasped full control at a recent competition.

The Tech Cyber Defense Club placed first at the regional Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition in Madison, South Dakota.

Now theyll take an all-expense paid trip to San Antonio, Texas, April 13 through 15 for the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition.

Winning team members include: Erica Lynn Anderson, Dustin LaMiaux, Mandela Hollowell, Brittany Perry, Robert Larson, Levi Hope, Levi Mayo, and Matt Brady. All major in network technology, web development/administration, and/or computer science. Jim Freebourn, information technology instructor, is team adviser.

Full Story: http://mtstandard.com/education/montana-tech-cyber-defense-team-wins-regionals-heading-to-national/article_055648b0-aea7-54ab-b6bd-1a37144d92ee.html
Each year, up to 50 million people in the United States are affected by acne, making it the most common skin condition in the country. In a new study, researchers have uncovered new information about the causes of acne, which could change the way the condition is treated.

Share on Pinterest Researchers identified differences in strains of P. acnes between people with and without acne.

Study leader Dr. Huiying Li, of the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), and colleagues suggest that acne may not be caused by the presence of a specific strain of bacteria.

In their study, the researchers uncovered evidence that the balance of bacteria on the skin may play a key role in acne development.

Dr. Li and team recently presented their findings at the Microbiology Societys 2017 annual conference, held in the United Kingdom.

Acne is a chronic, inflammatory skin disease characterized by the development of papules, blackheads, whiteheads, nodules, cysts, and other types of pimples.

The areas of the body most affected by acne are the face, neck, chest, shoulders, and back. This is because these areas have high numbers of sebaceous glands. These are glands in the skin follicles that produce sebum  an oily substance that lubricates the hair and skin.

Sometimes, however, too much sebum is produced. This can clog the pores, creating a desirable environment for bacteria to thrive, which can lead to inflammation and acne development.

The bacterium Propionibacterium acnes is considered a key player in acne development. Studies have shown that P. acnes uses sebum as a source of energy, and its presence in the pores initiates an immune response that triggers inflammation.

However, P. acnes is highly abundant in the pores of individuals with and without acne, which indicates that it is not simply the presence of this bacterium that drives the skin condition.
False negative results which could lead to misdiagnosis and worsen the condition.

which could lead to misdiagnosis and worsen the condition. Time consuming results that take a few days to a week to come out, during which time the infection could increase in intensity.

results that take a few days to a week to come out, during which time the infection could increase in intensity. Tuberculosis testing centers that are present in public health centers, in relatively largely populated villages, are usually short staffed, and do not have the facilities to house people who come from remote regions to avail this test. After the samples are collected from these villagers, these villagers do not stay back to collect the test result and, therefore, do not find out if they are afflicted with TB. Further, these public health centers cannot send information about an individual's health status, across the village.

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Between the years 2000 and 2015, 50 million deaths have been averted through TB treatment

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According to Dr. Hu, the testing methods available currently for tuberculosis involve coughed-up-sputum,, lung and liver biopsies which are invasive, blood culture, or the use of spinal taps. The limitations of the current testing methods are:Tuberculosis continues to be a major health hazard for individuals, and a lot of research is being carried out in this regard. $6.6 billion has been provided for international TB care and prevention efforts, particularly in the developing nations and among HIV infected individuals.The initial infection by, leads to an active response by the immune system of the host, with the bacterium then lying dormant in the individual's lung tissue. According to the World Heath Organization or WHO, dormant TB is present in over one-third of the world's population. When the immune system of the host is compromised due to a secondary infection like HIV/AIDS , then this dormant state becomes active again.According to the WHOThe diagnosis procedure has now been simplified to easily screen for the infection. This new method that has been designed by the research team and recognized by WHO, helps to surpass a significant hurdle in diagnosing the disease.The new diagnostic testThe research team developed the NanoDisk-MS assay which can be used to provide faster results. This is the first test developed to clearly measure how severe the active TB infection is. The test involves detecting the presence of small quantities ofthat are present during theof the diseaseDr. Hu said that the development of this rapid assay is an exciting step towards better ways of monitoring TB. This will allow physicians to better treat TB infections worldwide, as the procedure requires that routine instruments be available in most hospitals worldwide.This is a major step towards better TB care, especially among HIV infected populations, as the diagnosis equipment currently available shows reduced performance amongThese patients, under the current diagnostic practices, would have to be tested by taking a biopsy of lung tissue. The new NanoDisk-MS assay can be used to detect lung- and non-lung- TB with a sensitivity of 92%, even among HIV infected patients. The new test can detect patients with good specificityThe principle of detection of TB utilized in this test can also be used for other infectious diseases. Dr. Hu and his team is developed the test for clinical approval, paving the way for a new method of diagnosis.discoveredin the year 1882 and announced this wonderful discovery to his small group of scientists at the Institute of Hygiene at the University of Berlin. At the time of discovery, TB was a rapidly spreading disease, with 1 out of 7 people with TB dying due to the infection. Dr. Robert Koch's discovery played a pivotal role in diagnosis of the infection and the subsequent treatment which lowered the fatality rate.The 100anniversary of the discovery ofas the causative agent for TB was celebrated as. Since then, every March 24is regarded as World TB day to raise awareness about the infectious disease. The method of diagnosis and treatment has improved for patients with tuberculosis since then, and this latest rapid test will facilitate faster and better diagnosis.Source: Medindia
Given the highway liquor ban that has been implemented by the Supreme Court, almost all bars and pubs are facing heavy-duty losses. But, thats not all. The problem is the rule is counterproductive. Anyhoo weve already had that debate for far too long.

You know what we havent talked about? Ingenious ways to trick the law with a simple and wisecrack of an idea implemented by a Kerala bar, called Aishwarya Restobar, in Ernakulam. Heres what they did:

The News Minute

Following the rule that was passed by the SC, the owner of Aishwarya Restobar built a maze-like path, approximately 250- 300 metres long to lead right to his bar. Situated on NH17, the restobar can now confidently quip that they are not within the 500 meter periphery of the highway, ever since the addition of the extra 250-300meter path. According to the bar manager, Shoji, the owner is said to have spent up to Rs 2 lakh on the construction of the path. The story that was originally posted by The News Minute, is a witty tutorial on how to distance your venue from the highway liquor ban.

DLF

Closer to home, Cyber Hub and Ambience Mall, in Delhi NCR have also changed the entrances so as to avoid falling under the liquor ban.

You know what they say, right? In India, every rule and law has a loophole and it looks like the bars and pubs across the country are figuring out ways to slip through the knot, pretty easily.

Ingenious, we say!
alex jones

A conspiracy alleging a chemical weapons attack carried out in northwestern Syria last week was a "false flag" operation orchestrated by "terrorists" opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad quickly made its way from a pro-Assad propaganda outlet to leading members of the far-right media in the US.

The trail leading directly from Al-Masdar News to far-right entities like the conspiracy-trafficking site InfoWars was documented by the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research (DFR) Lab, which uses open-source information to trace patterns of disinformation and hybrid warfare. Al-Masdar is run by Assad loyalist Leith Abou Fadel, who pushed a conspiracy theory in 2015 that a refugee tripped by a Hungarian camerawoman while holding his young son was a "supporter of Al Qaeda."

"Using 21st-century technology, we can capture the 20th-century horrors and crimes that Assad is committing," said Maks Czuperski, the director of DFR Lab and special advisor to the president at the Atlantic Council. "It is impossible to go unnoticed."

The Syrian government has denied dropping chemical weapons on civilians in Idlib province early last week. Russia, an Assad ally, has argued that a Syrian airstrike targeting terrorists in the area accidentally hit a warehouse controlled by rebel forces that had been stockpiling nerve agents, which dispersed and killed dozens of civilians when it was bombed.

But US defense officials monitoring Syrian warplanes on military radar say they saw the planes take off and drop the chemical weapons, NBC News reported. And the Pentagon is now looking into whether Russia was complicit: A Russian drone was reportedly hovering above a hospital treating gas victims, and then turned off, just before it was bombed by a Russian warplane. Officials are examining whether the strike aimed to hide evidence of the chemical attack.

Story continues

President Donald Trump directly blamed Assad for the attack in explaining why he responded by launching missile strikes aimed at Syrian government targets.

bashar al-assad

Assad's 'grim logic'

Shortly after the gas attack occurred on April 4, Al-Masdar published an op-ed arguing that it "defies any logic" why Assad would drop chemical weapons on civilians and that "terrorist forces have once again created a false flag scenario" baring a "resemblance to the Ghouta chemical weapons attack in 2013."

(The Ghouta attack left more than 1,000 civilians dead and resulted in a deal brokered by the US and Russia to destroy Assad's chemical weapons arsenal. The bulk of Assad's "declared" arsenal was shipped out of the country, but American officials "repeatedly returned to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons with intelligence reports on remaining chemical stocks," The New York Times has reported.)

As many analysts have suggested over the past week, however, for the Assad regime to drop chemical weapons on the town of Khan Sheikhoun  which lies in rebel-held Idlib province  does not "defy logic" at all.

"Idlib, in general, remains the one piece of northwestern Syria that lies beyond the control of the Assad regime," Fred Hof, the director of the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East and former US special adviser on Syria, told reporters in a conference call on Friday.

"Idlib houses a really volatile mix of actors, including fairly heavily armed rebel militias and the former [Al Qaeda-linked] Nusra Front," Hof said.

He continued:

"To launch a deliberate, conventional military campaign there would be way beyond the capability of Assad's army, which is essentially broken, and would be a huge slog for the [pro-Assad] Iranian militias. So it is possible Assad calculated that a return to the use of sarin gas would allow him to shortcut this process, by introducing an element of sheer terror that he believed the West would not respond to."



Dr. Monzer Khalil, Idlib Provinces health director, echoed that analysis in an interview with the New York Times' Anne Barnard in an article outlining "The Grim Logic Behind Syrias Chemical Weapons Attack."

"It makes us feel that we are defeated, he said. We are aware that we are in this Qaeda trap. But in Idlib we have 2.2 million people, and how many Qaeda fighters? You cannot kill the two million for their sake.

The attack was launched days after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said removing Assad was no longer a "priority" for the US, before the administration reversed this week and launched missile strikes at Syrian government targets.

From Al-Masdar to InfoWars

The Al-Masdar piece was quickly "reproduced verbatim by at least three conspiracy sites: globalresearch.ca, informationclearinghouse.info and The Lifeboat News," according to DFR Lab.

It was also quoted extensively in an article titled, "This is why CNN and all mainstream media must apologize for FAKE NEWS Syria chemical attack," which was published by the pro-Russia site The Duran.

On April 5, InfoWars, a far-right site known for peddling conspiracy theories, picked it up. It ran an article claiming the gas attack was a false-flag operation funded by the liberal business magnate George Soros and carried out by the White Helmets  a civil defense organization comprised of volunteer first responders that detractors have attempted to brand as a tool of Al Qaeda-aligned rebel forces.

The InfoWars article, DFR Lab wrote, "made the same claims, and used the same sources, as the al-Masdar story," merely "reversing their order."

Once the theory was in the crosshairs of one of the country's most notorious conspiracy theorists  InfoWars founder Alex Jones  it got help from one of Jones' biggest fans: Mike Cernovich, the self-described "new right" commentator whose work has been praised by the Trump administration.

"#SyriaHoax is hash tag of the day! Don't fall for #SyriaHoax!," Cernovich tweeted to his nearly 250,000 followers on April 6.

The hashtag was retweeted approximately 3,000 times by some 40-odd Twitter accounts  including fake accounts operated by Twitter "bots" programmed to aggressively pump out propaganda. DFR Lab suggested the idea for the hashtag may have originated with a month-old, pro-Russia account with 18 followers.

Much of the hashtag's "initial viral appeal appears to have come from suspiciously hyperactive accounts that tweeted it dozens or hundreds of times in the space of a few hours," DFR Lab wrote.

'I'm officially OFF the Trump train'

That the alt-right would pick up on a hashtag aimed at villainizing forces opposed to Assad and Russia broadly aligns with its crusade against establishment politics and perception of the US as a globalist, imperialist power working on behalf of liberal elites.

The movement's penchant for conspiracy theories about establishment politics and media, however, often goes too far. Two examples are Pizzagate, the fake story pushed by Cernovich about a pedophilia ring being run out of a pizza shop by Hillary Clinton, and the "Sandy Hook Hoax"  the fake story peddled by Alex Jones that the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, which left 20 children dead, was a hoax staged by anti-gun activists.

Those same actors are now working overtime to characterize the American intervention in Syria as a project pushed by "deep state agents" trying to further their "globalist" agenda.

But ultimately, and perhaps ironically, Trump  a consumer and promoter of conspiracy theories who has praised Jones in the past  and his administration blamed the Assad regime for the attack, and ordered a response.

On Thursday night, Trump ordered the US Navy to launch 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a government-controlled airfield where the planes used to drop the chemicals are believed to have taken off. He then delivered a public statement placing the blame squarely on Assad.

"My fellow Americans, on Tuesday, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad launched a horrible chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians," Trump said on Thursday. "Using a deadly nerve agent, Assad choked out the life of innocent men, women, and children. It was a slow and brutal death for so many  even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack."

His most fervent hardline supporters, including Cernovich and Jones, quickly lambasted his decision, while continuing to push the broader conspiracy theory that the attack was a false flag using the #SyriaHoax hashtag.

Did McCain give "moderate rebels" (ISIS) in Syria poison gas and Hollywood style film equipment?  Mike Cernovich  (@Cernovich) April 7, 2017

LIVE: Evidence Mounts That Syrian Gas Attack Is False Flag -

https://t.co/zuyd0W0ONy #InfowarsLIVE #SyriaHoax  Alex Jones (@RealAlexJones) April 6, 2017

Paul Joseph Watson, a blogger for InfoWars who tweeted last week that Assad had would have had "no motive" for a gas attack, was so upset with Trump's decision that he took himself "OFF the Trump train."

"I guess Trump wasn't "Putin's puppet" after all, he was just another deep state/Neo-Con puppet," he tweeted. "I'm officially OFF the Trump train."

He later clarified that he was only "off the Trump train in terms of Syria."

NOW WATCH: Watch Trump's budget director explain proposed cuts for after-school programs that feed children





More From Business Insider


Priyanka Chopra is not going to stop rocking the world any time soon. She already has 'Quantico' and 'Baywatch' up her sleeve, and now she might just also star in Tom Cruises 'Mission Impossible 6'. Cruise is already shooting for the film in Paris right now.

@ Twitter

Parts of 'Mission Impossible 6' will also be shot in India and its only a matter of time when Tom will be seen cruising around shooting for our favourite film.

Mission: Impossible 6 filming in London, India, Paris & New Zealand. Will be released in IMAX 3D on July 27, 2018. NO MENTION of Renner!  Jeff Sneider (@TheInSneider) March 29, 2017

PCs role in 'M:I6' has not yet been confirmed officially. A Los Angeles source was quoted by Deccan Chronicle as saying, The Mission Impossible team is keen to have Priyanka Chopra on board. But she has her schedule in America to work around. The new season of Quantico is going to begin. Whatever her other commitments, it is doubtful she will say no to Tom Cruise and Mission Impossible.

Looks like the ball is in Priyankas court now. She just keeps making it better, doesn't she?
This is a special feature that weve started to give you a better idea of the kind of stuff we here at MensXP like. For this week, weve gotten one of our writers, Rimi to take us through her binge watch list for the weekend. We hope you can find something here you might like.

While some of you won't give two flying f**ks to Korean movies, being a true fan of K-dramas and movies, I can assure you guys one thing, dont look anywhere else if you want fancy  quirky plots, passionate romance fused with intense action, rib-tickling comedy and the ultimate climax that turns the entire game around. The gigantic international fanbase of South Korea, K-pop or Kdrama or movies is no joke. Right from cinematography, direction, screenplay to script; everything is Daebak (awesome in Korean.)

So, without further ado, let me introduce you to some of the most brilliant action-packed movies that will make your hearts skip a beat while you wait to see whats going to happen next. Although this list has some movies that I am re-watching for the nth time now, despite this fact, every movie in this list sends chills down my spine as if I am watching it for the first time. You can take my word for it; your weekend is going to be way better than those who are still watching The Avengers on a loop (although we love this movie equally).

Oldboy

 YouTube

For a movie which is more than a decade old, yet very fresh in our memories and loved by those who have watched it, this has to be on your binge-watch list. To be honest, initially when I came across this movie, there wasnt any particular reason for me to like it, partly because of the messed up story that centers around suicide, murder, incest and revenge. After watching it, I deeply regretted for holding myself back for a long time. The movie talks about a guy who was held captive for 15 years without knowing the identity or the reason for his imprisonment. After being released from captivity he seeks vengeance and the story unfolds thereon. Dont worry folks, I wont spill any beans or give away spoilers here.

The Man From Nowhere

 CJ Entertainment

If I start explaining how brilliant this movie is, this post will probably turn into a thesis. For those who dont know, John Abrahams Rocky Handsome was a remake of this Korean super hit movie, and trust me the desi version isnt even close to the badassery the original one displays. By the end of the movie, I was left with a void in my mind, wondering about the parallel plots, alternate climax or simply wishing for a sequel to the movie. The Man From Nowhere talks about a former covert soldier for South Korean Army Intelligence, who sets out on a bloody rampage when the next-door kid whom he befriended is kidnapped by crime lords.

War Of The Arrows

 Lotte entertainment

Period dramas always fascinate me, especially when they have a gripping plot which includes romance, revenge for their loved ones and bang on action scenes that makes you jump off your sofa or bed in excitement. This was one such movie that compelled me to re-watch it and this weekend I am going to keep you guys company, by watching this marvel for sure. The story unfolds the journey of one of the most skilled archers and hunters of his time, who sets out to find his sister after she gets abducted by the Qing Army.

Nameless Gangster: Rules Of The Time

 Palette pictures

Of all genres, gangster movies are the ones that really get to me and that is why I am going to forget everything else and watch it this weekend. Set in the 1980s and 90s in Busan, South Korea, this movie touches base with the rising corruption and crime and how the government declares war on it. By the looks of the trailer, this movie looks really intense. So I am totally excited to watch this and I am hoping that you guys would like it too.

The Admiral: Roaring Currents

 Big stone pictures

Just like I mentioned earlier, period movies always excite me and I dont know why I was holding myself back from watching this movie, but this time I have decided that I am going to give it a try (although I tried to watch it in bits and pieces but failed). We all hear stories of our nations glorious past, but it doesnt create much impact. However, when someone reenacts and brings it to the big screen, we actually feel as if we are personally witnessing the whole event. This movie will make you feel the same way. The Admirals talks about the epic battle of Myeongyang (1597) where a legendary admiral singlehandedly led 12 ships that were left to fight against an invading Japanese fleet of more than 300 vessels. The movie is really gripping and the cinematography is par excellence.
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Donald Trumps swift and decisive strike against Syria on Thursday may reassure allies and give pause to Americas enemies, but behind whats being called by many a measured military response to a gas attack on Syrian civilians is this: The generals empowered by the President are now taking charge.

Trump has salted his young Administration with former and -- in the case of National Security Adviser General H.R. McMaster  current military leaders, and the move against the repressive and murderous regime of Bashar al-Assad demonstrates that all that gold braid isnt just window dressing: The President is listening to the generals  especially former Marine General James Mattis, now Defense Secretary, and McMaster -- as they shake off the shackles of the micromanaging Obama Administration.

Related: Trump Acts on Obamas Red Line by Launching Missiles at Syrian Targets

But its not just the barrage of 59 Tomahawk missiles to neutralize the Syrian air base from which the chemical attack was launched that signals a change in the management of U.S. military and foreign policy.

Earlier in the week, General McMaster  according to multiple accounts and analyses -- exerted his authority and engineered the removal of chief White House strategist Steve Bannon from the National Security Council.

The appointment of Bannon, the political architect of Trumps once-improbable election victory, to the NSC and the back-benching of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Director of National Intelligence, who were demoted from full council membership, caused consternation among national security professionals.

Bannons removal, the restoration of Marine General Joe Dunford and intelligence chief Dan Coats to the NSC and the addition of former Goldman Sachs executive Dina Powell as Deputy National Security Adviser demonstrates that Trump is trying to put to rest concerns about the politicization of an advisory body charged with giving the President untainted options when he must make critical decisions.

Story continues

On MSNBCs Morning Joe today, political analyst John Heilemann asked Arizona Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a frequent critic of the President, about Bannons removal. McCain said the question of whether Trump would listen to his strong national security team has been answered, and earlier in the show said that the President has restored the U.S. credibility lost when Obama failed to act after Assad crossed a red line when he used chemical weapons in 2013.

McCain said Mattis and McMasters realize that the situation in Syria will be a long, hard slog but he said America can expect more enthusiasm from its allies because of that restoration of credibility.

Related: Trump Bombed Syrias Airfield. Now, Here Comes Putins Response

The strike against Syria sends several messages from Trump and the American military:

To Russia, it says: Rein in your client state Syria and think about a political solution that while it may not include regime change, alters the equation in what has become an intractable civil war and a human rights nightmare.

To Iran, it says: Back off. Your free hand and continuing efforts to destabilize the region and exert influence are being challenged. And certainly, Tehran may see the message as personally signed by Secretary Mattis, who clashed with the Obama Administration when he was a Marine general over not taking a harder line toward Iran.

To North Korea, it says: Your erratic war-mongering will not be tolerated. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on Morning Joe that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un must be wondering, What am I dealing with?

McCain also pointed to the threat from Pyongyang. The most immediate crisis we have right now is not in the Middle East, its this crazy fat kid in North Korea, he said.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
* Investors like synthetic biology's market potential

* Tech pioneers backing new wave of start-ups

* Ethical and safety concerns remain

By Ben Hirschler

LONDON, April 6 (Reuters) - Scientists are getting closer to building life from scratch and technology pioneers are taking notice, with record sums moving into a field that could deliver novel drugs, materials, chemicals and even perfumes.

Despite ethical and safety concerns, investors are attracted by synthetic biology's wide market potential and the plummeting cost of DNA synthesis, which is industrialising the writing of the genetic code that determines how organisms function.

While existing biotechnology is already used to make medicines like insulin and genetically modified crops, synthesizing whole genes or genomes gives an opportunity for far more extensive changes.

Matt Ocko, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist whose past investments include Facebook, Uber and Zynga , believes the emerging industry has passed the "epiphany" moment needed to prove it can deliver economic value.

"Synthetic biology companies are now becoming more like the disruptive, industrial-scale value propositions that define any technology business," he said.

"The things that sustain and accelerate this industry are today more effective, lower cost, more precise and more repeatable. That makes it easier to extract disruptive value."

Ocko, whose Data Collective firm has invested in companies including organism design firm Gingko Bioworks and bioengineer Zymergen, is not alone.

Other tech veterans backing the new wave of "synbio" start-ups include Jerry Yang, Marc Andreessen, Peter Thiel and Eric Schmidt, famous for their roles at Yahoo, Netscape, PayPal and Google respectively.

UNCERTAINTIES REMAIN

Experts meeting in London this week said the science toolkit was improving fast and the cost of synthesising DNA was now 100 times cheaper than in 2003, although uncertainties remain about regulation and the public's appetite for tinkering with life.

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The global conference hosted by Imperial College London, bringing together scientists and money people, comes four weeks after researchers announced they were close to building a complete artificial genome for baker's yeast.

This ambitious project has brought complex artificial life a big step closer because yeast is a eukaryote, an organism whose cells contain a nucleus, just like human cells.

The yeast work shows how DNA can be manipulated on a large scale, with genetic code increasingly treated like a programming language in which binary 1s and 0s are replaced by DNA's four chemical building blocks, abbreviated as A, T, G, C.

A growing emphasis on computing is closing the gap between biology and traditional tech, even though this is an area that remains unpredictable, variable and complex.

"The intersection of biology and technology is a difficult place to be because of different cultures and languages, but I think we are breaking through some of those barriers," said Thomas Bostick, former head of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who now leads biotech firm Intrexon's environment unit.

The idea that engineering life can be broken down into data and coding is part of the appeal for tech investors.

"DNA is seen as the next programmable matter and that is what a lot of the Silicon Valley investors are excited about," said John Cumbers, founder of synthetic biology network SynBioBeta.

"They've witnessed the power of software over the last 25 years and they are looking for the next big thing."

Data from SynBioBeta shows a record $1.21 billion was invested in the sector worldwide in 2016, a threefold increase from five years earlier, while the number of firms in the sector has almost doubled to 411. For a graphic see http://tmsnrt.rs/2n3VYuO

A range of companies are springing up, from those producing new chemicals for industry to providers of DNA synthesis and related software, like U.S.-based Twist Bioscience and Britain's Synthace.

Work is also advancing by leaps and bounds in the complementary area of gene editing now being embraced by many of the world's top drugmakers.

CHANGE OF TACK

The current product focus represents a change of tack from the first widely tipped application of synthetic biology in making biofuels from engineered algae.

In the event, algal biofuel proved a lot harder to scale up than expected and a tumbling oil price during the Great Recession of the late 2000s undercut the business model.

Drew Endy of Stanford University believes the case for using synthetic biology to take on gasoline never stacked up.

"Why would you bank your whole platform on a bulk high-volume, low-price, low-margin product? It's baffling, not strategic," he said.

Today's synbio firms are looking at more niche and expensive products, such as potent painkillers and cancer medicines made in yeast cells - or fabrics with novel properties, although some have only reached demonstration stage.

California-based Bolt Threads recently debuted a limited edition $314 necktie made from yeast-derived spider's silk and Japanese rival Spiber has made a concept piece spider-silk parka jacket.

Boston-based Gingko Bioworks, meanwhile, is developing a rose oil for French fragrance house Robertet and Switzerland's Evolva has developed a vanillin, or vanilla extract, that, unlike most vanilla flavouring, is not made from petrochemicals.

In some areas - especially anything to do with food or the environment - synthetic biology is already running into criticism. Friends of the Earth was quick to condemn the new yeast-derived vanillin as "extreme" genetic engineering.

Other controversies appear inevitable as synthetic biologists push the envelope with more extreme projects, such as a Harvard team's "Jurassic Park"-style proposal to resurrect the woolly mammoth by adapting the Asian elephant genome.

Intrexon's Bostick, whose firm is releasing millions of genetically manipulated mosquitoes in Brazil in a bid to slash populations of Zika-carrying insects, believes each synthetic biology scheme has to prove its benefits outweigh the risks.

"There are always pros and cons, and we owe people a fair and balanced assessment."

(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; editing by Giles Elgood)
DailyFX.com -

Australian Dollar Looks Set To Struggle, March Lows In View

Fundamental Forecast for the Australian Dollar: Bearish

US military action against Syria has put all risk assets under pressure

The Australian Dollar is in that group and suffered accordingly as the news broke

If the situation escalates, it will continue to do so, but AUD/USD was on the back foot beforehand

Obviously last Fridays US strike on Syria makes any sort of near-term financial forecast more difficult but, from what we know so far, its likely to weigh on the Australian Dollar.

At the time of writing (mere hours from the strike, at 0500 GMT on April 7), the Aussie has been a victim of the usual knee-jerkturn away from currencies, commodities and stocks closely correlated to the global growth cycle, known as risk-on assets. But its too soon to say what comes next in Syria, and therefore what comes next for these markets.

Clearly a protracted campaign of US and possibly broader Western military involvement is likely to keep all risk-on assets under possibly severe pressure. And in truth the Aussie Dollar had its problems before the Syria news ever broke. It had slipped for six out of seven sessions up to last Friday.

Already headed down: AUD/USD

Australian Dollar Looks Set To Struggle, March Lows In View

The intertest rate backdrop is that US rates will continue to rise while their Aussie counterparts are going nowhere this year, and possibly into next (protracted hostilities involving the US in Syria could change all this, of course). The Reserve Bank of Australia has said little which might challenge this view. More importantly, it put its worries about a stronger currency front and center in the

minutes of its last monetary policy conclave.

This is not an environment conducive to a higher Australian Dollar.

That said, the picture is not entirely gloomy. Australian stocks have been rising quite nicely. Buyers have been encouraged by still-high prices for the countrys main raw material exports. Theyre hopeful of even greater demand from China where vast, new infrastructure projects are in process, including plans for a gargantuan economic zone in depressed Hebei province. Recent research from Deutsche Bank suggested that foreign investors have returned to the Australian equity market in some force, with offshore interest outpacing local buying for a change.

Story continues

Had it not been for the US action in Syria, this might have been a neutral or even mildly bullish forecast for the week ahead. Theres plenty of key Chinese data after all, including consumer prices, loan levels and trade figures, all of which could lend the Aussie support.

As things are though, it has to be a bearish call. The March lows around 0.75 are uncomfortably close for AUD/USD.

So, its your favorite currency, but who agrees with you? Check out the DailyFX sentiment page.

--- Written by David Cottle, DailyFX Research

Contact and follow David on Twitter:@DavidCottleFX



original source

DailyFX provides forex news and technical analysis on the trends that influence the global currency markets.

Learn forex trading with a free practice account and trading charts from IG.
LANSING, MI - Michigan State Police say they have arrested a Maryland man in connection with an investigation that stemmed from a cyber tip submitted through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

David Kron, 53, was taken into custody Wednesday, April 5, by officers from the East Lansing Police Department and troopers from the Lansing Computer Crimes Unit, according to a report from MSP.

Investigation into the cyber tip led police to locate Kron in the Lansing area, whereupon a search warrant was issued for a residence in East Lansing and multiple devices containing child pornography were seized.

Kron was arraigned in Ingham County's 54-B District Court on three counts of possession of child sexually abusive material and one count of using a computer to commit a crime.

His bond has been set at $50,000 cash.

Anyone with information regarding possible child sexual exploitation is encouraged to report it at www.missingkids.org/cybertipline.
The cyclical nature of cultural interest rears its head with

"The Void,"

a splattery display of practical horror effects most obviously inspired by John Carpenter's "The Thing." Filmmakers Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski, whose previous film credits are heavy in the area of art direction and makeup, exhibit great and gory ambition with their directorial debut, which mostly foregoes computer animation for latex, animatronics and other practical effects. Theirs is a throwback aesthetic of a bygone era, beloved by many former "Fangoria" subscribers for whom big, gory fistfuls of chunky crimson goop is king.

But first, do not mistake this for an anti-CGI rant. The digital canvas is as vital and expressive an artistic cinematic palette as any; when it's done well, it can be beautiful, transporting and immersive. Yet, as "The Void" illustrates, it's a difficult medium in which to create convincing imagery. For their grandly hideous monsters, spawned from the inspirational viscera of many a 1980s creature feature, Gillespie and Kostanski build and mold them from tangible materials, and light them in the type of color and shadow you might find in a creepy corner of your basement - or an all-too-real cold-sweat nightmare.

These type of effects generate an almost-tactile sensation which, I argue, inspires a more instinctive repulsion from the audience. Is your stomach more likely to churn at the sight of digitally animated blood, or steaming corn syrup that you can almost imagine touching?

When the filmmakers shift to CGI is when their reach exceeds their grasp. It occurs in the final scenes of "The Void," and I therefore tread carefully in my description. Suffice to say, they employ a green-screen effect that's far from convincing, and not only illustrates the limitations of their use of said visual tools, but also of their screenplay, and quite possibly their budget, which appears to be modest at best. The film is still highly enjoyable, however - it's chock full of amusing, ooey-gooey weirdness, admirable stuff that mostly eclipses its weaknesses. In this case, there are far worse criticisms than saying a movie writes thematic checks it can't quite cash.

The plot involves a handful of mostly familiar character types boiling in an H.P. Lovecraftian cauldron, and it's all a matter of who gets out before they're cooked. The directors freely employ occult symbols, hooded figures, possessed people and, most notably, skin-crawly deformed things with hair and eyeballs and tentacles in all the wrong places.

The lead is Daniel Carter (Aaron Poole), a cop in the kind of rural area where mysterious whatnot can occur in a remote cabin, and few, if any, people will notice. The primary set piece is a rural hospital staffed with a late-night skeleton crew. The hospital is about to be shut down, which means there are a lot of empty basement corridors and abandoned junk and flickering lightbulbs to set the necrotic mood. Carter's estranged wife, Allison (Kathleen Munroe), is a nurse, and Kim (Ellen Wong) is a nurse-in-training who doesn't quite know what she's doing, but as these things tend to go, she inevitably will be thrown in the deep end. The extremely pregnant Maggie (Grace Munro) and her grandfather (Kenneth Walsh) arrive at the ER, innocent plot tokens implicated in the events for another layer of tension.

Carter comes across James (Evan Stern), bloody and stumbling out of the woods, and takes him to the hospital. Two men, played by Daniel Fathers and Myk Byskov, arrive next, bearing rifles, and possibly some rudimentary knowledge about what the devil is going on, and it sure seems like it all has something to do with the Devil Himself. Outside, an ever-growing cadre of people in head-to-toe white robes lurks on the periphery of the woods, preventing escape. These figures, with black triangles painted on hoods where their faces would be, look like a secret society of Satanic Klansmen. They're certainly capable of something we can only imagine. Mutilation or human sacrifice, maybe. Or maybe something worse.

"The Void" is straight-up, classical horror drafting on the '80s nostalgia of "Stranger Things," and moreso on the recent reinvigoration of interest in John Carpenter's great genre work. It doesn't aim for the arthouse scares of recent creative successes like "It Follows" or "The Witch," nor does it intend comedy along the lines of Sam Raimi's "Evil Dead" or "Drag Me to Hell" films. I still laughed at "The Void," perhaps to deflate the tension I felt, or to offset the queasiness inspired by depictions of fresh, moist entrails. Yet I'm not sure the plot ever really congeals quite like its ample displays of guts. The "rules" of its reality eluded my application of logic, which stood steadfast in the face of such distracting imagery. In the film's defense, it errs on the side of suggestion instead of overexplanation - leave 'em guessing, and maybe even wanting more.

FILM REVIEW: 'The Void'

2.5 stars (out of 4)

No MPAA rating

Cast: Aaron Poole, Kathleen Munroe, Ellen Wong, Kenneth Walsh

Directors: Jeremy Gillespie, Steven Kostanski

Run time: 90 minutes
ANN ARBOR, MI - Constance Russell and her son, Cyril, were looking forward to spending a unique spring break trip in Ann Arbor with a break from the bay area in California.

As an alum of the University of Michigan, Constance figured a trip up to the ninth story of Burton Memorial Tower on Friday, April 7, would provide her son with a unique memory of the city and the UM campus.

Her son, who has toured carillon towers before, came away from the tour impressed.

"I've been to both of the carillons at Cal and Stanford," Cyril said. "It seems like they had a lot more bells in this one. It seems like this is relatively old - that they haven't changed much about it since they built it."

Burton Memorial Tower was one of several buildings on the UM campus opened up for tours to the public on Friday as part of the UMich200 Spring Festival.

Being able to share the work she does with the public already is part of the mission of the Charles Baird Carillon and Burton Memorial Tower, Carillonist Tiffany Ng said. The building is open from noon to 12:45 p.m., Monday through Friday, for visitors to come in and see Ng and others play.

Those taking the tour smiled as they heard the carillons ring out with familiar songs like The Eagles' "Hotel California," Metallica's "Enter Sandman," and the theme from "Jurassic Park," nine stories above UM's central campus.

"I don't think enough people know that they can visit the carillon, even though it's been open for decades," said Ng, UM's assistant professor of carillon and university carillonist. "That's something that we've been trying to build up publicity for. This was a good day for it."

A total of 23 different tours were offered at 10 different buildings across campus during the "A-maizing Building Tours" event. Tours were scheduled at Burton Memorial Tower, Central Power Plant, William L. Clements Library, the Detroit Observatory, Hatcher Graduate Library, Marine Hydrodynamics Laboratory, the Martha Cook Building, Rackham Building and the Michigan Union and Michigan League on both Thursday and Friday.

Those touring the tower learned that the Charles Baird Carillon is the fourth heaviest in the world. It sits atop the tower, containing 53 bells cast in 1936 by the John Taylor & Co. Bellfoundry in Loughborough, England. The largest bell, which strikes the hour, weighs 12 tons, and the smallest bell, 4 1/2 octaves higher, weighs 15 pounds.

Visiting Burton Memorial Tower while taking in a number of bicentennial-related activities on the UM campus this week gave Constance Russell a chance to reconnect with the campus she went to school at and the city she grew up in.

Russell said she and her son took in UM's bicentennial colloquium featuring four former university presidents and a tour of the Marine Hydrodynamics Laboratory on Thursday before attended a tree planting on the Diag earlier in the afternoon.

"I think it's a great idea," she said of the building tours. "It was neat to see them continue to build onto the Diag (with the tree planting) and then to come here and see the way back history was great. It's nice to see how all of this ties together."

"It's nice to see all of the history and then all of the new stuff on campus," she added.

As one of approximately 1,000 carillonists in the world, Ng, who also teaches a carillon course to 14 UM students inside Burton Memorial Tower, said her profession has taken her to places she never would have imagined.

"It's really been a dream come true to be able to play here and to tour around the world playing concerts and show up at a carillon in Japan or Belgium and to be given the key to one of the landmark towers on campus," she said.
YPSILANTI TOWNSHIP, MI - Police have arrested a 21-year-old Ypsilanti man they believe was involved in a double shooting late Friday, April 7 in Ypsilanti Township.

Shortly before midnight Friday, Washtenaw County Sheriff's deputies responded to Mary Catherine Street and Nash Avenue in the West Willow neighborhood for a report of shots fired, said Lt. Jim Anuszkiewicz.

Deputies discovered broken glass and shell casings in the area, but no victims or suspects, he said.

St. Joseph Mercy hospital officials later contacted the sheriff's office to inform police of two shooting victims who had arrived shortly after the shooting.

A 16-year-old Inkster resident had suffered gunshot wounds to the leg and arm and a graze wound to the head, and a 19-year-old from Oak Park suffered a gunshot would to the right forearm, Anuszkiewicz said. Their injuries were not life-threatening.

Dispatch received a call about an Ypsilanti man who had been involved. Sheriff's deputies and Ypsilanti Police officers contacted a 21-year-old Ypsilanti man in the 500 block of First Street and arrested him, Anuszkiewicz said.

Investigators are trying to work out the details of the incident, but believe the shooting stemmed from an altercation and the victims were in a vehicle at the time of the shooting, he said.

The Ypsilanti man remains in custody pending charges.

Anuszkiewicz said police are seeking witnesses who can provide more information about what happened.

Anyone with information about the shooting should contact Detective Nancy Hansen at 734-794-2118.
Flint_River_Flood003

A torrent of continued rain and snow caused severe flooding of the Flint River behind the Bueche's Food World market on Thursday, April 6, 2017, in Flushing. (Mac Snyder | MLive.com)

(Mac Snyder)

FLINT, MI -- From 6 a.m. on Thursday, April 6, to Saturday, April 8, at 1 p.m., the City of Flint Water Pollution Control Facility discharged wet weather flows that consisted of storm water and sewage from its Wastewater Treatment Plant, according to a press release from Robert Case, the Wastewater Treatment Plant's supervisor.

The discharge was caused by the recent excessive wet weather. The rain exceeded the plant's ability to convey and treat sewage into the plant.

Required by law, the State of Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, the Genesee County Health Department and officials of Flint Township and Flushing were notified of the occurrence.

Genesee County Health Officer Mark Valacak does not recommend coming into any contact with the Flint River in high-flow conditions, especially downstream of the release; west of the Mill Road Bridge at Flushing Road, according to the press release.

The water sample test results will be public on the State of Michigan Department of Environmental Quality's website when it is available.
By Yimou Lee and Shwe Yee Saw Myint NAYPYITAW (Reuters) - China has shifted its position in a lengthy dispute with Myanmar over the building of a $3.6 billion dam, seven sources said, signalling its willingness to abandon the project in exchange for other economic and strategic opportunities in Myanmar. Myanmar President Htin Kyaw will discuss a potential deal on the massive Myitsone dam during a trip to China beginning on Thursday, two senior Myanmar officials and a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. Until recently, China had been pushing hard for the 6,000 megawatt project to go ahead despite widespread opposition within Myanmar which forced the suspension of work in 2011. Now, it is discussing alternative options with Myanmar including developing a number of smaller hydropower projects and securing preferential access to a strategically important port to compensate it for shelving the project, the sources said. The seven sources include senior Myanmar government officials, a person familiar with the original deal and a person close to the Chinese state-owned operator of the dam. They declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter. Executives at the developer, the Sino-Myanmar joint venture Upstream Ayeyawady Confluence Basin Hydropower, are "deeply concerned" the project will get scrapped, according to a person close to the company. In a statement, the company said it was looking forward to "an impartial and fair" review by the Myanmar government into the environmental and social impact of the project. It said it remained confident of an appropriate solution, without giving details. Myanmar's national security advisor Thaung Tun said the review, led by Htin Kyaw, was in its final stages. The person familiar with the original deal said the Chinese-owned operator of the dam, the State Power Investment Corp Yunnan International Power Investment (SPICYN) has not been actively pursuing the project over the last six months, in contrast to its more proactive stance previously. SPICYN declined to comment. LESS POWER NEEDED China would maintain communications with Myanmar to handle "any difficulties encountered in the course of cooperation on the project" Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told a regular media briefing. The Myitsone dam was supposed to send 90 percent of its electricity to China's neighbouring Yunnan province, angering many in electricity-starved Myanmar. But in recent months, China's appetite for the project has diminished because Yunnan now has an oversupply of electricity as it switches to less energy-intensive industries amid an economic slowdown, sources said. Instead, China, with its "One Belt, One Road" ambitions of improving links with central Asia and Europe, "wants a face-saving solution" that would allow it to advance its other economic interests if it shelves Myitsone, said a top government official familiar with discussions. A deal would mark a geopolitical shift away from the West, as Naypyitaw looks to improve ties with China at a time when the United States and the European Union are focussed more on domestic policies. Beijing is an increasingly important partner for Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has made ending decades of ethnic war her top priority. Myanmar needs Chinese support to stabilise their shared border amid increased fighting with armed ethnic groups. Myanmar is likely to be liable to China for compensation on hundreds of millions of dollars already spent on the project, according to the source close to the deal and a person familiar with the government's position. Myitsone's developer and operator did not comment on potential compensation arrangements and it was not clear how that would be handled. "The compensation doesn't have to be cash," said one of the officials familiar with Suu Kyi's thinking. "China is interested in other infrastructure projects including smaller-scale dams." China is also pushing for preferential access to the deep sea port of Kyauk Pyu on the Bay of Bengal, according to two sources familiar with the government's position. Kyauk Pyu is the entry point for a Chinese oil and gas pipeline and the two countries are close to starting pumping oil through it. The pipeline will provide China an alternative route for receiving Middle Eastern oil. (Additional reporting by Antoni Slodkowski, Wa Lone, Simon Lewis, Soe Zeya Tun in MYANMAR, Michael Martina in BEIJING and David Stanway in SHANGHAI; Editing by Lincoln Feast)
While American TV networks blast footage of the summit in Mar-a-Lago between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping , the Chinese media have been cautious.



Normally when Xi travels, especially on an overseas trip, there is a full-court press. For a trip to the U.S. to meet the leader of the free world, greater coverage would seem to be warranted. However, when the two presidents met in Florida during the early hours in China , there was almost no reporting at all. No photos of Xi. Discussions about the event appeared to be blocked and censored.



Only in the late afternoon hours Friday did the state media start to report more detail of the summit  though the articles have largely included only basic information. For example: Trump's acceptance of Xi's invitation to China.

People on Sina Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, have been mainly focused on the fashion of Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan and the handshake between the two presidents. "The handshake looks very gentle," one user wrote.



Zhang Ming, a political science professor at Renmin University, told CNBC the reason for the near radio silence is because the Chinese government is still nervous about what will come out of the Florida summit and how it could affect Xi's image back home. Chinese government officials are meticulous at planning events and tend to shy away from anything impromptu.



"Chinese people associate a leader's image with the ability to rule. If he doesn't have a good image, there will be trouble," Zhang explained. "Trump is very hard to predict, so there is a lot of uncertainty in this meeting."



There has been talk in China about how the U.S. airstrike on Syria could influence the Trump-Xi meeting and what it signals to the Chinese about North Korea. Trump has indicated he plans to push his Chinese counterpart to get tougher on Pyongyang, Beijing's longtime ally. North Korea, for its part, test-fired a ballistic missile ahead of the Trump-Xi meeting.



At a regular press briefing in Beijing on Friday, China's Foreign Ministry called for calm and for all sides to "stick to political settlements." It also said China opposes the use of chemical weapons.

Story continues

Zhang Lifan, a Chinese historian, speculated that another reason authorities overseeing the local media were so cautious Friday was because Xi could be potentially embarrassed if Trump gets tough with him on North Korea.

"Xi won't appear strong on this issue as he is always painted to be [by the government] and he won't want the people to see it," Zhang told CNBC. "This is why the state media is so low key reporting this meeting."

 CNBC's Daisy Cherry contributed to this report.

WATCH: Why Trump's foreign policy is on a collision course in the South China Sea





More From CNBC


The US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) (USFDA) is set to begin inspection of Lupin's Aurangabad plant from April 17, reports CNBC-TV18s Ekta Batra quoting sources.

It is likely to be a routine product-linked inspection. The last time the plant was inspected was in January 2016.

The plant contributes around 10-15 percent to the companies US sales and they also have Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) filings from there. However, as of now Lupin has had a good track record, so the street need not be too worried.

CNBC-TV18 is still awaiting a confirmation from the company.
business Young Turks: Know your investor Young Turks travelled to Jaipur for Pitch Off a two days Startup event. In its fourth edition this event brought together early stage startups, investors and industry experts under one roof to focus on new products based ideas and even look at funding opportunities.
Police officers stand in the centre of Stockholm, Sweden, April 7, 2017. REUTERS/Ilze Filks

A massive manhunt was underway for the driver of a stolen truck that ploughed into a crowd outside a busy department store in central Stockholm, killing four and injuring 15, Swedish police said.

A national police chief, Stefan Hector, said the police's "working hypothesis is that this is a terror attack."

One man was arrested in connection with the attack but the driver remained at large, police said.

Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, who cut short a visit in southwestern Sweden to return to Stockholm, said he had strengthened the country's border controls.

"Terrorists want us to be afraid, want us to change our behaviour, want us to not live our lives normally, but that is what we're going to do. So terrorists can never defeat Sweden, never," he said.

If confirmed as a terror attack, it would be Sweden's first such attack with a deadly outcome.

Pictures taken at the scene showed a large blue truck with a mangled undercarriage smashed into the Ahlens department store.

Witnesses described scenes of terror and panic.

One witness identified only as Dimitris told the Aftonbladet daily the truck came "out of nowhere."

"I couldn't see if anyone was driving but it was out of control. I saw at least two people get run down. I ran as fast as I could away from there," he said.

Another shopper, 66-year-old Leander Nordling, was at Ahlens when he suddenly heard a loud bang.

"It sounded like a bomb exploding and smoke starting pouring in through the main entrance," he told daily Aftonbladet.

He and fellow shoppers took refuge in a storage room inside the department store.

"After that the building was evacuated ... There were a lot of guards who took care of us outside and they urged us to leave the scene immediately," Nordling said.

Video footage taken from above showed scores of people streaming down the street in terror.

A spokeswoman for beer company Spendrups told AFP that the truck involved "had been stolen during a delivery to a restaurant."

The man arrested in a suburb north of Stockholm was detained after his appearance matched that of a man in a picture released by police and wanted in connection with the attack.

Yesterday's attack was the latest in a string of similar assaults with vehicles in Europe, including in London, Berlin and the southern French city of Nice.

The attack occurred just before 1300 GMT at the corner of the store and Drottninggatan, the city's biggest pedestrian street, above ground from Stockholm's central subway station.

Thick smoke billowed from the scene, while the area was blocked off by police and crowds gathered around the police cordon.

Police vans circulating in the city using loudspeakers urged people to go straight home and avoid large crowds.

The centre of the usually buzzing city was in lockdown, with the central train station evacuated and other stores quickly emptied of shoppers.

The Stockholm metro was also completely shut down for several hours before resuming in the early evening, with the attack taking place at the city's T-Centralen station, through which all the city's lines pass.

Cinemas, shopping malls and other public buildings were also evacuated.

The area around the attack was cordoned off, but other streets in the city were packed for hours with pedestrians trying to find a way home.

Helicopters could be heard hovering in the sky over central Stockholm, and a large number of police cars and ambulances were dispatched to the scene, witnesses said.

Another section of Drottninggatan was also the scene of Sweden's only other terror attack, in 2010, when a suicide bomber blew himself up, killing himself and slightly injuring several others.

European politicians expressed solidarity, with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker saying that it was an "attack on us all."

A spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel said: "Our thoughts go out to the people in Stockholm, to the injured, their relatives, rescuers and police.

"We stand together against terror."

The attack followed a string of similar massacres in Europe by people using vehicles as weapons.

The deadliest came last year in France on the Bastille Day national holiday of July 14, when a man rammed a truck into a crowd in the Mediterranean resort of Nice, killing 86 people.

Last month, Khalid Masood, a 52-year-old convert to Islam known to British security services, killed five people when he drove a car at high speed into pedestrians on London's Westminster Bridge before launching a frenzied knife attack on a policeman guarding the parliament building.

And in December, a man hijacked a truck and slammed into shoppers at a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people.

In 2014, IS called for attacks on citizens of Western countries and gave instructions on how they could be carried out without military equipment, using rocks or knives, or by running people over in vehicles.
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves with Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka June 6, 2015. Modi arrived in Dhaka for a two-day state visit to Bangladesh. REUTERS/Rafiqur Rahman

"May I now request the two prime ministers to step down."

It was a comment by the Chief Protocol Officer anchoring a ceremony on signing of MoUs after talks Prime Minister Narendra Modi had with his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina, leaving almost everyone at the event in splits.

What the officer meant was to request Modi and Hasina to come down from a raised platform and release a Hindi translation of unfinished memoirs of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The event had taken place at Hyderabad House where Modi and Hasina witnessed exchange of MoUs between the two sides and released the book besides launching a new bus and train service between Kolkata and Khulna in Bangladesh.

As his comments drew loud laughter from media persons and some officials, the protocol officer, after a pause, said, "I now request the two prime ministers who have not stepped down to jointly release the Hindi translation of the unfinished memoir of Bangabandhu Mujibur Rahman.
The month of April has been nothing short of exciting for retail investors on D-Street as widely tracked Nifty hit a fresh lifetimes highs. The index which has been making record highs since March rose to a fresh lifetime high of 9,273.90 on April 5 last week.

The index which has given a little over 12 percent return so far in the year 2017 is fast approaching crucial resistance levels which could put brakes on the recent up move.

The liquidity driven rally has already pushed many small and midcap stocks to record highs with stretched valuations. The problem with liquidity is that it drives valuation upwards without any material change in basic fundamentals of the company.

It is crucial for long-term investors to select the right stock at a fair price to make risk-to-reward ratio more favourable in the long term.

We spoke to various analysts on how can investors maximise their return by avoiding these five big mistakes:

Don't rejig your portfolio on Geopolitical concerns:

Airstrikes by American Forces on Syria last week caused a spike in oil prices and panic across global markets including India. This was an unexpected change of stance from US President Trump on Syria which earlier he had refrained from interfering during his campaigning.

When events like these happen investors should just take a step back from trading and allow markets to stabilise first. Any geopolitical uncertainty triggers risk-off sentiment which is not good for any equity markets because then safe havens like gold, bonds usually hog the limelight.

Markets across the world reacted maturely and has sidestepped the issue at least temporarily and small geopolitical situations do not disturb a mature bull market unless the situation goes out of hand, Jimeet Modi, CEO, SAMCO Securities.

Never invest the whole corpus when markets trade at peak:

For the short-term, from the fundamental perspective, the market is fully valued. Therefore, this is not the right time to make the bulk investment. Investment should be made in a staggered manner and should be diversified across asset classed.

Retail investors often make the mistake of jumping onto the bull bandwagon at the peak of the market. They should not do that, Dr. VK Vijaykumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services told Moneycontrol.com.

Further investment should be made only selectively. Contrarian calls may be made. For instance, this is the time to nibble at good quality pharma stocks. If at all bulk investment is to be made, it should be done in balanced funds, he said.

Avoid selling your gold and buy silver:

When liquidity drives stocks higher chances are that your portfolio will be sitting on a huge profit. Dont cash out from quality stocks just because the valuations might show a different picture, suggest experts.

The rising tide usually takes high-quality stocks higher first which would make their valuation look stretched. Hence, one big mistake which investors should avoid is to sell quality stocks especially when the stocks belong to the same industry and buy stocks which might be trading at lower valuations.

'Good things are not cheap; cheap things are not good. This rule is applicable to stocks also. Good stocks are always expensive, suggest experts.

Investors should not sell off good quality stocks just because the valuations have become expensive with regard to its own historical parameters. They can keep getting costlier as the bull market progresses, said Modi of SAMCO Securities.

Investors should not buy lower valuation shares by selling high valuation shares in the same industry in the hopes of convergence of valuation, a lower quality shares will trade at a lower valuation. This will give superior risk-adjusted returns, he said.

Do not miss entry points:

Anytime is a good time to invest but the market also gives you good entry points which make the risks-to-reward situation more favourable. Investors should always sit on some cash which can be deployed when these dips occur.

All corrections should be seen as a buying opportunity and not as trend reversals. When markets correct, as they invariably do, poor quality small and midcaps will be hit hard.

Market corrections happen at the most unexpected times; often due to unanticipated external triggers like geopolitical concerns, Vijaykumar of Geojit Financial Services said.

Syria, North Korea, and the South China Sea are hotspots that might cause market jitters. And, of course, there is President Trump and his maverick policies. Investors should be watchful, he said.

Do not buy stocks which are trading at all-time lows:

Stocks which are trading at all-time lows or even multi-year lows should be avoided because fundamentals might not be supportive for fresh investments. If liquidity cant take these stocks higher then try and exit on any rally that you get. Always stay with the winners.

Dont buy a share touching an all-time low. Dont sell a share continuously scaling all time highs. Exit from the weaklings and Ride the winners, Vijaykumar of Geojit Financial Services said.

Dont average a crashing stock. It would be like trying to catch a falling knife. If you feel that the market is likely to move up, but you are not sure which stock to buy, buy the index. When the index moves up, you gain, he further added.
Pacts on the strategic areas of defence, civil nuclear cooperation and cyber security were among the nearly two dozen agreements signed between India and Bangladesh here today.

Both the countries inked a pact on the defence cooperation framework apart from signing an agreement for extending defence Line of Credit (LOC) of USD 500 million.

An agreement between Defence Services Staff College, Wellington (Nilgiris) in Tamil Nadu and Defence Services Command and Staff College, Mirpur, Dhaka was also signed for enhancing cooperation in strategic and operational studies.

A pact between National Defence College in Dhaka and National Defence College in New Delhi for enhancing cooperation in the field of national security, development and strategic studies was also inked between the two countries after both their prime ministers held "productive" talks.

The countries also agreed to cooperate for peaceful use of nuclear energy apart from reaching an arrangement between the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) India and Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (BAERA) for the exchange of technical information and cooperation in the regulation of nuclear safety and radiation protection.

The countries also agreed on an inter-agency agreement between Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP), India and Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) on cooperation in nuclear power plant projects in Bangladesh.

During the meeting, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) and Bangladesh Government Computer Incident Response Team (BGD e-Gov CIRT) also agreed to cooperate in the area of cyber security.

An agreement between both the countries on establishing border haats across the Indo-Bangladesh border was also signed.

The countries also agreed to cooperate in the bilateral judicial sector. The National Judicial Academy in India and the Supreme Court of Bangladesh also inked a pact on training and capacity building programme for Bangladeshi judicial officers in India.

Both the countries also agreed on a financing agreement for the construction of 36 community clinics in Bangladesh apart from signing a pact on extending a third Line of Credit (LoC) by India to Bangladesh.

Other pacts include an agreement on cooperation in the field of mass media and audio-visual co-production.

An MoU on development of fairway from Sirajganj to Daikhowa and Ashuganj to Zakiganj on Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route between the Indian Shipping Ministry and Bangladesh Shipping Ministry was also signed.

Both the countries also signed a pact on passenger and cruise services on the coastal and protocol route. The Geological Survey of India (GSI) and the Geological Survey of Bangladesh (GSB) also agreed on mutual scientific cooperation in the field of Earth Sciences for Research and Development among others.
Donald Trump

The US today criticised Russia for standing with Syrian President Bashar Al Assad every time he crossed the "line of human decency" and asserted that it was "fully justified" for striking the Syrian airfield from which the chemical attacks were launched.

"Our military destroyed the airfield from which this week's chemical strike took place. We were fully justified in doing so. The moral stain of the Assad regime could no longer go unanswered. His crimes against humanity could no longer be met with empty words," US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley told an urgently called UN Security Council meeting here on the situation in Syria following the US missile strike.

Haley described the US missile strike against the Syrian air field as a "very measured step" and said Washington is "prepared to do more but we hope that will not be necessary".

Earlier, Haley had said in a statement that Bolivia had requested an emergency Security Council meeting to discuss the events in Syria in closed session.

Rejecting the demand for a closed door meeting, Haley, who is President of the Council this month, said the session would be held in the open.

"Any country that chooses to defend the atrocities of the Syrian regime will have to do so in full public view, for all the world to hear," she said in the statement.

Addressing the 15-nation Council, Haley said it was not only time to say enough to the Assad regime but also to act.

"Bashar Al Assad must never use chemical weapons again. Ever," she said.

Blaming the Syrian regime for the chemical weapons attack, Haley said the country was not the only "guilty party" but Iran and Russia also bear responsibility for the brutality against the Syrian people.

She said Iran has propped up and shielded Syria's brutal dictator for years.

"The Russian government also bears considerable responsibility. Every time Assad has crossed the line of human decency, Russia has stood beside him," she said.

She said the reason for Russia supporting Syria "could be that Russia is knowingly allowing chemical weapons to remain in Syria. It could be that Russia has been incompetent to remove the chemical weapons or it could be that the Assad regime is playing the Russians for fools, telling them that there are no chemical weapons, all the while stockpiling them on their bases," she said.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said following the US air strikes against the Shayrat airbase in Syria, he is "mindful of the risk of escalation" and appeals for restraint to avoid any acts that could deepen the suffering of the Syrian people.

These events underscore my belief that there is no other way to solve the conflict than through a political solution. I call on the parties to urgently renew their commitment to making progress in the Geneva talks.

He added that was following the situation in Syria "with grave concern", stressing he was "abhorred" by the chemical weapons attack in Khan Shaykhun and the death and injury of many innocent civilians.

"The Security Council has the primary responsibility for international peace and security. I call on the Council to unite and exercise that responsibility. For too long, international law has been ignored in the Syrian conflict, and it is our shared duty to uphold international standards of humanity. This is a prerequisite to ending the unrelenting suffering of the people of Syria," he said.
Customs officials have recovered gold worth over Rs 8 lakh from two passengers at the international airport here.

Faizuddin, a resident of Delhi, and Mohammad Muzammil of Lucknow, arrived here in a flight from Dubai.

They had gold biscuits hidden in their rectum and were caught during checking through hand-held metal detector, a customs official said.

Each gold biscuit weighed 156 gram.

"The total recovery from both the passengers is of 312 gram gold with a value of Rs 8.34 lakh. They have been detained for questioning and the gold, which was being carried by them illegally, will be seized," the officer said.

No arrest was made.
Losing His 'Cool', Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad Attacks AI Staffer With Slipper , Leaving from the Parliament on 23march 2017. Express photo by Renuka Puri.

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Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, who was involved in a row with Air India, met party president Uddhav Thackeray today and explained his position over the issue.

The meeting, which lasted for 10 minutes at Shiv Sena's central office at Dadar here, came after Air India, and other airlines, lifted the flying ban on Gaikwad after he expressed regret for assaulting an AI employee on March 23.

Neither Thakceray nor Gaikwad disclosed to reporters what transpired in the meeting. However, party sources said Gaikwad explained his position over the whole controversy.

Gaikwad, the MP from Osmanabad, arrived here by the Rajdhani Express this morning after attending parliament proceedings earlier this week.

The lawmaker boarded the train from Delhi last evening hours after the flying ban was lifted by the national carrier following his letter to Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Thursday in which he expressed "regret" over the "unfortunate incident".

After Air India, the Federation of Indian Airlines, comprising four leading private carriers, today revoked the flying ban on Gaikwad.

Jet Airways, SpiceJet, GoAir and IndiGo make up the grouping.

In a statement, the FIA said its members are restoring the flying privileges to Gaikwad "under the assurance that our assets and colleagues shall be accorded the respect that they deserve for the hard work that they put in every day".

The decision has been taken consequent to Air India restoring flying privileges to Gaikwad after being satisfied with the statement given by him in the Lok Sabha where he expressed "regret" for assaulting an Air India staffer.

On March 24, Air India barred Gaikwad from flying with it after the incident at the Delhi airport. Subsequently, the FIA barred the Lok Sabha member from flying.

On Friday, sources had said the Civil Aviation Ministry asked Air India as well as other airlines to lift the ban imposed on Gaikwad citing the "undertaking of good conduct" given by him.

The 56-year-old Parliamentarian had assaulted AI employee R Sukumar on March 23 after he landed in Delhi on a Pune-Delhi all-economy flight.
Hillary Clinton

Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton reacted Friday to the US strike on Syria, saying the US needs a long-term plan to stop future attacks on civilians by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Clinton advocated for stronger action on Syria's government while she was a presidential candidate, while then-Republican nominee Donald Trump warned against it.

On Thursday, President Trump ordered a strike on Shayrat airfield and nearby Syrian military infrastructure in response to a chemical attack that killed at least 80 people in the northwestern part of Syria on Tuesday. US intelligence showed that the attack was likely carried out by Assad's forces.

"Look, Syria's been a wicked problem for a very long time and the images of innocent people, of parents and especially children suffering in the aftermath of that most recent deadly gas attack were more appalling than I certainly can put into words," Clinton said at an event in Texas.

"It is essential that the world does more to deter Assad from committing future murderous atrocities," she added. "But the action taken last night needs to be followed by a broader strategy to end Syria's civil war and to eliminate ISIS strongholds on both sides of the border, so I hope this administration will move forward in a way that is both strategic and consistent with our values."

Clinton also criticized Trump's reluctance to admit Syrian refugees to the US.

"I also hope that they will recognize that we cannot in one breath speak of protecting Syrian babies and in the next close America's doors to them," she said.

Trump has called for barring Syrian refugees from entering the US and has said the US needs better vetting systems to screen refugees for ties to terrorism.

Clinton: "We cannot in one breath speak of protecting Syrian babies and in the next close America's doors to them" https://t.co/f1bcEinG3N  NBC News (@NBCNews) April 7, 2017

Story continues

NOW WATCH: Trump appears to ignore requests for a handshake with Angela Merkel during their first meeting





More From Business Insider


Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi waves following a joint statement to the press with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, in Los Pinos presidential residence in Mexico City, Wednesday, June 8, 2016. Modi met with the Mexican President Wednesday evening during a short working visit to the country.(AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

India's doors are always open for cooperation, but for that Pakistan has to shun terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra said on Saturday.

Hitting out at Pakistan, Modi said it breeds, inspires and encourages terrorism and this "thought" is a roadblock to peace within the region and the world.

He emphasised that "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas" is not just restricted to India, but also to the neighbouring countries and development of India is incomplete without the progress of the region.

"We have extended hand of friendship towards every country (of the region) and have invited them to be a part of our growth. Without being selfish, we have wished good for the entire region.

"We truly think that citizens of all nations of the region progress and prosper. Our doors are open for cooperation, but for this terrorism has to be shunned.

"There is one thought in South Asia which breeds, inspires and encourages terrorism. The thought whose priority is not humanity, but extremism and terrorism," Modi said, without naming Pakistan.

He was speaking at the ceremony where families of martyrs of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War were felicitated by Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Modi said India is a victim of the "thought" that encourages terrorism.

"The thought, whose policymakers prefer terrorism over humanity, destruction over development, destruction over creation, backstabbing over trust, is the biggest challenge to the society and its economic development," he said.

Stating that 1,661 Indian soldiers laid down their lives in the Bangladesh Liberation War, Modi said the Indian army's struggle in this cannot be forgotten.

"The Indian army never shied away from its duty and set an example by following conventions of the war. Over 90,000 Prisoners of War were released safely after the 1971 war. The humane gesture shown by India is one of the biggest events in the century," Modi said.

The Prime Minister said the genocide by Pakistan in 1971 was undertaken to wipe out an entire generation of Bangladesh and every person who was proud of the idea of Bangladesh was eliminated.

"The purpose of this genocide was not just killing the innocents, but to uproot the idea of Bangladesh," he said.

Speaking at the event, Hasina said, the history of Bangladesh has been written with the blood of Indian martyrs along with valiant freedom fighters of Bangladesh.

"They fought together for the independence of Bangladesh. The story of their sacrifice will be remembered from generation to generation in our two countries," she said.
The Supreme Court today sought response of six states, including Rajasthan, on a plea seeking a ban on cow vigilante groups there.

A bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and A M Khanwilkar issued notices to Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh and asked them to file their reply within three weeks.

The bench has fixed the matter for hearing on May 3.

During the brief hearing, the counsel appearing for the petitioner referred to the recent incident at Alwar in Rajasthan where a man was killed allegedly by a mob of cow vigilante group.

The counsel claimed that the ground-level situation in these states was worrisome as the cow vigilante groups were resorting to violence there.

Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar, appearing for the Centre, told the bench that formal notices were not issued to the states on the plea after which the apex court sought response from these six states.

The Supreme Court had on October 21, last year agreed to examine the plea which sought action against cow vigilantes who were allegedly indulging in violence and committing atrocities against Dalits and minorities.

Activist Tehseen S Poonawalla, in his plea, said violence committed by these 'Gau Raksha' groups have reached to such proportions that even Prime Minister Narendra Modi had declared them as people who are "destroying the society".

The plea also alleged that these groups were committing atrocities against Dalits and minorities in the name of protection of cows and other bovines and they needed to be "regulated and banned in the interest of social harmony, public morality and law and order in the country".

"The menace caused by the so-called cow protection groups is spreading fast to every nook and corner of the country and is creating disharmony among various communities and castes," the petition said.

The plea sought to declare as "unconstitutional" section 12 of the Gujarat Animal Prevention Act, 1954, Section 13 of Maharashtra Animal Prevention Act, 1976, and Section 15 of Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Cattle Preservation Act, 1964, which provide for protection of persons acting in good faith under the Act or rules.

"These laws and the protection granted therewith act as a catalyst to violence perpetrated by these vigilante groups," it said.

Seeking action against the vigilantes, the petition said the atrocities committed by them were punishable under various provisions of IPC and under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of atrocities) Act, 1989.
By CNBCTV18.COM

US President Donald Trump ordered the launch of 59 tomahawk cruise missiles against a Syria-government airfield on Thursday evening.

US President Donald Trump ordered the launch of 59 tomahawk cruise missiles against a Syria-government airfield on Thursday evening. In a statement, the Pentagon said the decision was "a proportional response" to an alleged chemical attack by the Bashar Assad regime.

CNBC takes a look at how the world reacted to the missile strikes:

Syria

Syria's Information minister described the US air strike on its airbase as "limited" and "expected", according to Reuters.

Damascus said it does not expect a military escalation.

Russia

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: " President Putin regards the US attacks on Syria as an aggression against a sovereign state in violation of the norms of international law, and under a trumped-up pretext at that," according to the Russian Tass new agency.

Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign ministry decided to suspend air safety agreements with the US, claiming that strikes were prepared before the alleged chemical attack in Idlib. The ministry also asked for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council.

Iran

"Iran strongly condemns any such unilateral strikes ... Such measures will strengthen terrorists in Syria ... And it will complicate the situation in Syria and the region," ISNA news agency quoted Foreign ministry spokesperson Bahram Qasemi as saying on Friday.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia said it "fully supports" the US missile strikes against Syria and described Washington's response to the suspected chemical attack as a "courageous decision".

"A responsible source at the Foreign ministry expressed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's full support for the American military operations on military targets in Syria, which came as a response to the Syrian regime's use of chemical weapons against innocent civilians," a statement released by state news agency SPA said on Friday.

UK

The British government said in a statement the US missile strikes were an appropriate response to the "barbaric chemical weapons attack" launched by the Syrian government.

China

China's Foreign Ministry urged all relevant parties to stick to political settlements in an attempt to prevent further military escalation, according to reports.

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying made the comments as President Xi Jinping attended a summit with US President Donald Trump in Florida, which has been overshadowed by the developments in Syria.

Turkey

Turkey's Foreign ministry suggested it viewed the US missile strikes "extremely positively" and added the country would be fully supportive in steps to ensure Assad takes responsibility for his government's actions.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Kurtulmus added the Syrian administration must be fully punished in the international arena, according to a Turkish broadcaster.

Israel

"In both word and action, President (Donald) Trump sent a strong and clear message today that the use and spread of chemical weapons will not be tolerated," a statement from President Benjamin Netanyahu 's office said.

Germany and France

Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed the Syrian developments with her French counterpart Francois Hollande . Germany and France released a joint statement calling for a peaceful solution to be found via the United Nations.

Berlin and Paris blamed the alleged chemical attack entirely on the Assad regime. Also, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel called the US reaction "understandable".

European Union

The EU's Security Chief Federica Mogherini responded Thursday night to the alleged chemical attack and said in a statement, "The EU condemns in the strongest terms the air strike that hit the town of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province on April 4, 2017."

"This attack constitutes a flagrant violation of the cease-fire. It underlines the urgent need for a real and verified cease-fire. The EU calls on Russia, Turkey and Iran to live up to their commitments as guarantors in this regard," the statement said, requesting the United Nations Security Council to come together.
Education

Montgomery County Community College will present the spring installment of the interview/talk show program Issues and Insights April 20 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in Science Center room 214, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The programs will be simulcast to the Colleges West Campus in South Hall room 216, 101 College Drive, Pottstown. Dr. Kolsky will offer a humorous presentation, Carrots, Sticks and Politics: A State of the Nation and the World Message. In this speech, he will provide his interpretation of domestic and international politics and then welcome questions from the audience for discussion. Issues and Insights, is free and open to the public. For information, contact Dr. Thomas Kolsky, professor of political science, at 215-641-6380 or tkolsky@mc3.edu.

Montgomery County Community Colleges STEM Scholars Program will host a STEM Jam! open house April 25 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Advanced Technology Center at the Colleges Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The drop-in event is designed for students interested in learning more about careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Activities will include STEM program information and career advising, STEM speakers throughout the day from industry and academia, micro-helicopter and robotics competitive obstacle courses and demonstrations and static models of STEM student and faculty work. For more information about STEM Jam! or STEM programs at MCCC, contact William Brownlowe at wbrownlowe@mc3.edu or 215-641-6644, or Robin Zuhlke at 215-619-7440 or rzuhlke@mc3.edu.

Temple Ambler, located at 580 Meetinghouse Road, presents the following events:

International Club Global Bazaar April 15 from 5 to 8 p.m. The Ambler Campus International Club invites all students, faculty, staff and the community to celebrate a multitude of diverse cultures, which will be showcased at the organizations Global Bazaar. This family friendly event will highlight cultural traditions and celebrations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, South American, North America and Africa through music, entertainment, food and informative displays developed and presented by students at the Ambler Campus. Young visitors will be provided with passports, which they may get stamped at each country they visit. Prizes will be awarded to world travelers who talk to cultural representatives, answer questions about the countries theyve visited and take part in fun-filled activities designed to help them learn about the rich diversity of cultures found throughout the world. Refreshments will be served. The event is free. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail tuc36466@temple.edu.

EarthFest 2011 April 29 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. More than 75 exhibitors, including the Philadelphia Zoo, The Franklin Institute, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Elmwood Park Zoo and the Insectarium, will take part in EarthFest 2011. School students of all ages are invited to attend and develop displays of their own. EarthFest partner the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society also offers its Kids Grow Expo, featuring the Junior Flower Show, as part of the event. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail duffyj@temple.edu.

Annual Spring Plant Sale May 7 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The plant sale  an Ambler Campus tradition dating back to the early 1900s  will feature woody plants and perennials in portable sizes, hardy trees, shrubs, and vines, native plants that are attractive to wildlife, herbs, and hanging baskets. There will also be numerous special plants for sale to highlight Amblers special anniversary year. Garden books and garden tools will also be available for sale. Students, staff, and volunteers from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture and the Ambler Arboretum Advisory Committee will be available to answer questions. All proceeds from the Spring Plant Sale will support the Ambler Arboretum Fund and the Pi Alpha Xi National Honor Society. Information: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary.

June Homecoming/Louise Bush-Brown Garden Dedication June 5 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. (June Homecoming), Bright Hall Lounge; 2 p.m. (Garden Dedication), Ambler Campus Formal Perennial Gardens. Tickets  June Homecoming: Participant  $18 per person; Sustainer  $25 per person; Benefactor  $40 per person. The 2011 June Homecoming, sponsored by the School of Environmental Design Alumni Association, will include the Alumni Association annual meeting and luncheon. June Homecoming will be followed by the formal dedication of Temple University Amblers Formal Perennial Gardens as the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Gardens. During this 100th anniversary of the campus, Temple University Ambler and the Ambler Arboretum of the Temple University is honoring Louise Bush-Browns many contributions to the history of the campus by formally dedicating the gardens in her honor. During the program, campus Executive William Parshall will welcome guests, Ambler Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey will speak about the Bush-Browns and the history of the garden, and an official ribbon cutting will be held for the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Garden. Following the ribbon cutting, guests are invited to take a tour of the gardens, which will wend their way to the Campus Greenhouse for the School of Environmental Designs annual Plant Auction. Information (Garden Dedication): 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Information (June Homecoming): 215-482-0722. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary.

Northview Garden Tour and Fundraiser for the Ambler Arboretum June 12 from noon to 5 p.m. Call for reservations. Tickets: $15 per person or $20 at the door. In addition to the gardens of the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University, Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey has a garden oasis all her own right in Ambler  Northview. Visitors will have the opportunity to take self-guided tours throughout the many gardens, where garden experts will be available to answer questions about the various designs. The Ambler Keystone Chapter of the Womans National Farm and Garden Association will also provide tea and refreshments. All proceeds from the tours will support the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University. Information or to register: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary.

The Senior Adult Activities Center of Montgomery County, 536 George Street, Norristown, will hold the following events:

SAAC Adult Day Care, an alternative to Nursing Home Care is available  for information call 610-275-1960

Volunteers are needed for Meals on Wheels Program (call the number above)

SAACs Fifth Avenue Boutique opens Monday through Friday from 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Exercise with Theresa will be held every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1 p.m.

Dance class is held every Monday at 10 a.m.

Tai Chi is held every Monday at 10 a.m.

Yoga is held every Tuesday at 10:30 a.m.

Line Dancing is held every Thursday at 10:30 a.m.

Dancing with Joan is held every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.

Sculpture Class is held Wednesdays from 2 to 3:30 p.m.

Why Should I Learn Spanish? will be held Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m.

Generations On-Line computer classes for seniors will be held Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.  4 p.m.  computers are available during those hours.

Health Living will be held every Tuesday at 1 p.m.

Boomer U will hold the following events. Boomer U is located at 45 Forest Avenue, Ambler. Registration & payment is required for all events: 215-619-8863.

Pilates Class is held Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:30 a.m. First class is free; please bring a mat. For information call 610-291-5376.

Blue Bell School of Dance, 921 Penllyn Blue Bell Pike, Blue Bell, hosts Argentine Tango Classes and a Milonga dance party every Friday evening. Lessons start at 8:30 p.m. followed by dancing at 9:30 p.m. Andrew Conway, master Argentine Tango dancer, instructor and performer and his partner Linda Chase will instruct. All levels welcome and no partner is needed. Refreshments will be served. Fee is $12 per person and includes lesson and dancing. Information: 215-634-1101 or www.amoretango.com.

The Montgomery Hospital Medical Center will offer the following classes:

Childbirth Education Class- all parents are invited to participate, including those who are delivering at

other hospitals. For more information on maternity services or classes, call 610-270-2020.

CPR and First Aid Courses are offered for beginners to experiences health care providers. Call 610-270-2313.

The Ambler SAAC (Senior Adult Activities Center), located at 45 Forest Ave in Ambler will hold the following events:

Tai Chi every Monday and Thursday at 11 a.m.

Yoga is every Tuesday at 1 p.m. and Friday at 10:30 a.m.

Strength and balance training every Wednesday at 10 a.m.

Armchair Aerobics is held every Monday at 10 a.m.

Gourmet Weight Wise every Thursday at 12:30.

Fitness Center and Pool Room open daily 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

The Diabetes Education Center will offer day and evening classes each month. Health insurance pays for diabetes education classes. Preregistration is required. Call 610-270-2301.

For Kids & Families

The Ambler Kiwanis Club will host its annual Easter Egg Hunt April 26 at 10 a.m. in Ambler Borough Park, located just off of the intersection of Hendricks Street and Valley Brook Road. Members of the Wissahickon Key Club will assist Kiwanians in hiding thousands of wrapped chocolate eggs in a designated area of the park. Also hidden will be plastic colored eggs, which are redeemed for prizes. Elementary school children are separated by age.

Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation will hold its 21st annual Storybook Egg-Stravaganza April 15 fom 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Upper Dublin Township Building. Toddlers and preschoolers love this annual event where photo opportunities with favorite friends abound! Treasures are collected from UDP&Rs assortment of lifesize cutouts of favorite cartoon characters from Disney, Sesame Street, Nickelodeon and other well-known animation. Children can have their picture taken with Bugsy OHare; bring your own camera. And dont forget a basket for goodies! $7 for UD residents; $12 for non-residents. Pre-register at 215-643-1600 ext. 3443.

Splash Week is a free week-long program that teaches children and families basic swimming skills and water safety practices. All YMCA branches will host multiple classes each day from April 11 to 15. For more information, contact the Ambler Area YMCA at 215-628-9950.

Healthy Kids Day is April 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The day is filled with fun, engaging and artistic activities that cultivate healthy living as part of the YMCAs larger efforts to help more kids and families become physically active. All activities are free and open to the community. For more information, contact the Ambler YMCA at 215-628-9950. No reservation is required.

The Ambler Area YMCA has added several new programs for area youngsters. Classes are held late afternoons or evenings on various weekdays. For more information, visit philaymca.org or call 215-628-9950.

Basic Beading: Ages: 10+. Wednesdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. This class will teach you the fundamentals of wiring and stringing along with how color can be used to create unique and vibrant beadwork design. You will create various jewelry including earrings, bracelets, charm pendants and much more! Supplies will be provided. Bringing your own jewelry pliers or tools would be a plus.

Messin with the Masters: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. Learn about some of the worlds greatest artists. You will be inspired to create your own Starry Night with oil pastels and tempera paints, a tissue paper painted Monet garden, a Picasso head using scraps of paper, a Georgia OKeeffe clay flower bowl and a Rousseau jungle collage.

Super Scientist: Ages: 5-7. Mondays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Well be concocting chemistry experiments such as making slime, mixing potions and having fun with magnet magic. Your budding little scientist will enhance his/her creative thinking and motor skills and to top it off will learn that science can be serious fun.

Wacky Junk Art: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 6 to 6:45 p.m. Why throw it away! Instead join us to make household junk into aliens from outer space, wacky specs, crazy hats, body masks or a recycled train.

Globe Trotters: Ages: 4-6. Tuesdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Youre never too young to start thinking globally. Each week, we explore a new country through crafts, games, music, stories and even some taste-testing. A perfect introduction to our great big world!

Crazy about Crafts: Ages: 5-7, Thursdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Let your childs creative juices flow with our fun arts and crafts projects each week. Fine motor skills and creative thinking skills will be enhanced with this crafty class.

Come out and join the Ambler Area YMCAs Teen and Junior Leaders Club. Participants are given the freedom to plan community service projects year round and truly make a difference in the lives of people in need. Those in Teen and Junior Leaders also attend leadership retreats all along the East Coast three times a year and meet other leaders who are doing the same great work in their respective areas. Dont miss out on this inspiring opportunity. Teen Leaders, ages 13-17, meet every Wednesday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Junior Leaders, ages 10-12, will begin in the spring and will meet every Monday. For more information, contact Mike Miles, Teen Director, 215- 628-9950 x 1540 or mmiles@philaymca.org.

Did you know that the new Ambler Area YMCA holds childrens birthday parties at its site for members and non members as well. The Ambler Y does all the work from start to finish and birthday parties include a personalized cake, ice cream, beverage and paper products. Parties are held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and include two party hosts to lead activities, set-up, clean-up and assist with serving. You can have a Splash Party for children ages six to 12 in the new zero depth entry pool with water slide and spray fountains. Up to 25 children have exclusive use of the pool area with 30 minutes in the party room. Sports Parties are offered for kids ages four to 12 with age appropriate activities and games, and sports such as floor hockey, soccer, basketball or dodge ball. Children ages three to five years of age will enjoy parties in the Family Active Center with use of the Moon Bounce and organized activities, such as parachute play and songs. For information, 215-628-9950 ext. 1583.

Community Events at the Ambler Y:

-YAchievers YMCA Achievers is a developmentally based, extracurricular, educational and team mentoring program designed to help students in grades five through 12 prepare for fulfilled livelihoods in college and beyond. Participation is free and all students in this program receive a free YMCA membership. Registration for the 2009 program begins now. You do not need to be a YMCA member to utilize these special services. Call 215-628-9950 to register.

Greater Norristown Art Leagues Childrens Weeklong Summer Art Camps will be held at 800 West Germantown Pike in East Norriton, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday throughout the summer. The cost per session is $125 per student for ages 6 and up. Jo Ann Cooksey Bono teaches an introduction to basic drawing skills and techniques from 10 a.m. until the lunch break each day. In the afternoon sessions, Mary Vogel Lozinak involves the students in hands on projects such as collage, papermaking, T-shirt printing, 3D design and sculpy clay. Fridays Graduation Day includes an art show, awards ceremony and reception for parents, siblings, grandparents and friends. All supplies are included. Students provide their own lunch. A refrigerator is available and the building is air-conditioned. This is the 15th year to run this successful program. Both instructors are professional artists with State Police and Child Abuse Clearances. To register, call Jo Ann at 610-279-1008, or register on-line at www.gnal.org.

Health

Dresher Physical Therapy is hosting an interactive seminar discussing its Golf Assessment Progam April 30 from 10 a.m. to noon at Dresher Physical Therapy, 1075 Virginia Drive, Suite 200, Fort Washington. Physical therapist Chris Miller, certified through the Titleist Performance Institute, will discuss why your body may be the most important piece of golf equipment you invest in and how this can drastically improve your game. $10 in advance; $15 at the door. Call 215-619-4545 to reserve your spot.

The Chestnut Hill Center for Enrichment, Center on the Hill and Chestnut Hill Hospital will host a Senior Health and Resource Fair April 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Chestnut Hill Presbyterian Church, 8855 Germantown Ave. The event is free. For more information, call 215-248-0180 or e-mail chseniors@cavtel.net.

The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is hosting Help Yourself to Health, a new six-week workshop for older adults with ongoing health conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, anxiety, heart disease and others. The free workshop will take place at the Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center, 45 Forest Ave. on six Thursdays, May 12 through June 16 from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Although there is no charge to participate, registration is required. To register, call 215-619-8863.

The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is sponsoring an eight-week program called A Matter of Balance: Managing Concerns About Falls. Presented by the Montgomery County Health Department, this workshop will be held on Tuesdays, May 3 to June 21 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Ambler Center, 45 Forest Ave. If you pre-register by April 27, the fee is only $5! Registration at the first class is $10. (Checks should be payable to SAAC and will benefit our Meals on Wheels program that serves homebound seniors.) A workbook will be provided and refreshments will be served. Call 215-619-8863 to register or for more information.

Fort Washington Wellness Center classes are ongoing. There are several offered during lunch or right after work, for your convenience: Boot Camp from noon to 1 p.m. on Monday; Zumba is MWF from 11 a.m. to noon and Friday at 4 p.m.; there are 25 cycling classes; Ashtanga and Vinyasana Yoga and Pilates; and a group Womens Strength Training class M-F from 10 to 11 a.m. Questions, call Cathy DeMarco at 215-641-1245.

Following the success of other local area programs, Impact Sports and Upper Dublin Parks and Recreation are delighted to team up again to offer a spring program for the 2011 season! Upper Dublin area children ages 3-5 years old can attend a Sports Program featuring their favorite sports games; soccer, rugby, hockey, track and field, basketball, and more. The program will start on April 27 and run through June 1. Cost for the program is $85 for the six weeks. The classes will be running 12- 1 p.m.; 1- 2 p.m.; 2- 3 p.m. For more info or to register, call Upper Dublin Township on 215 643 1600 or visit their website a http://www.upperdublin.net.

Spring Aquatic Programs  UDHS Pool:

-Summer is just around the corner  Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool can help get you into shape! Programs begin in March; preregistration is required.

 Shallow Water Aerobics  Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 8-8:45 p.m., $40R/$50NR.

 Adult Swim Instructions  Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 7-8 p.m., $50R/$60NR

-Open Rec Swims are fun for the whole family! Come out on Fridays from 7-9 p.m. or Saturdays from 1-4 p.m. and enjoy use of the pool and diving area. Fridays are offered through June 17; Saturdays are offered March 12-May 21.

-Join a growing group of adult lap swimmers and water walkers. Lanes are set aside evenings and weekends for use; lanes are shared. Monday  Thursday from 7:30-9:30 p.m.; Fridays from 7-9 p.m. and Saturdays (March 12-May 21) from 1-4 p.m.

-Private Swimming & Diving Lessons for ages 3-adult are offered at the UDHS Pool through a partnership with the Upper Dublin Aquatic Club (UDAC). Visit the UDAC website for more information, www.udac.us, and click the link to UDHS Private Lessons.

-Looking for local programs for US Masters Swimming (adults) or Water Polo (all ages)? UDAC and UDSD are working together to develop programs that will be offered at the UDHS Pool. Add your name to Interest Lists by emailing slohoefer@upperdublin.net. emails will be sent about clinics and program start dates.

Questions about Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool, group use of the pool or pool rental? Contact Susan Lohoefer, Facility & Community Affairs Manager at slohoefer@upperdublin.net or call 215-643-8800 x8994.

SilverSneakers Fitness Program. The Healthyways SilverSneakers Fitness Program is a result-oriented program that enables older adults to take charge of their health. The program is an innovative blend of physical activity, healthy lifestyle and socially oriented programing. Members of the program are eligible for a free YMCA membership, with use of the pool and exercise equipment, along with customized classes designed for older adults who want to improve their strength, flexibility, balance and endurance. If you are a subscriber to Independence Blue Cross (Personal Choice 65 PPO) or Keystone 65 HMO, Bravo Health, or Health Options Programs (HOP), call the Ambler Area YMCA, 215-628-9950 or Hatboro Area YMCA, 215-674-4545. You can also visit www.silversneakers.com.

Zumba Fitness offers Zumba dance/fitness classes at Academy of Dance and Music/BBAD Studio located at 1524 DeKalb Pike in Blue Bell (behind Sherwin Williams). Classes are offered three times a week: Tuesdays at 6 p.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. For a free trial pass for your first class, email us at info@danceandmusic.biz or call 610-277-2557. For more info, visit our site at www.academyofdanceandmusic.org.

Chestnut Hill Health Systems presents the following Health Education Programs:

FITNESS CLASSES

Golden Yoga: A Breathing, Stretching and Relaxation Class. Fridays, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Lea Auditorium, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. Registration for four classes at a time required. Golden Yoga is Classical Yoga, adapted by the SKY Foundation, to accommodate those who have difficulty getting up and down from the floor. The program includes postures, breathing, relaxation and meditation techniques, all performed while sitting in a chair and standing. Registration required. Call 215-247-3029. Cost: $20 for 4 classes per month.

Tai Chi: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 8:30  9:30 a.m. Springfield Residence, 8601 Stenton Ave. Classes, for the novice or beginner/intermediate student, are designed to improve balance, power, posture, coordination, flexibility and mental focus. Slow, gentle movements are modified to most everyones abilities. For more information or to sign up for a free introductory class, call 215-882-2804. Cost: $8 per class/paid monthly.

SUPPORT GROUPS

Weight Loss Surgery Support Group: Fourth Wednesday of the month, 7-8 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. Join us for a monthly get-together where well share information for those interested in weight loss surgery, learn from guest speakers discussing current news on issues including lifestyle modification, nutrition and exercise and provide ongoing support for those who have completed surgery. Registration required. Call 215-753-2000.

Breast Cancer Networking Group: Fourth Tuesday of the month 5:30  7 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. A free, confidential support group for women living with a diagnosis of breast cancer designed to provide a forum for sharing information, feelings and concerns associated with breast cancer. Facilitated by Tish Wakefield, LCSW, Oncology Social Worker. Registration required. To register or for more information, call 215-248-8047.

New Moms Support Groups Tuesdays 10:30 a.m.  12 p.m.; contact Jeanine ORourke, MSW or 2:30  4 p.m.; contact Susan Schack, Ph.D Volunteer Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. The Center for Postpartum Depression at Chestnut Hill Hospital is pleased to offer two new support groups to support new moms. Both groups will be run by experienced mental health professionals who really get it when it comes to new motherhood and juggling relationships, extended family, work/family balance and self-care. If you are experiencing new mom challenges that often heighten anxiety and involve hormonally driven depression, join us for an informative and supportive forum to connect with other moms. Infants are welcome. $30 per session (flexible based on need). Registration is required. Call Dr. Schack, 646-265-2484, or Ms. ORourke, 215-206-2931.

Man to Man Prostate Cancer Support Group Third Thursday of the month 8-9 a.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. A networking group for men diagnosed with prostate cancer designed to provide education, support and encouragement. Spouses and partners welcome. Harry M. Baer, MD, Chief, Urology Division, will host Ask the Doctor. Registration required. Call 215-248-8325.

Contact the Senior Center by phone 215-248-0180 or email (chseniors@cavtel.net) with your questions about these programs or any of our on-going activities and classes.

Holy Redeemer HomeCare and Hospice seeks compassionate and emotionally mature volunteers to provide support to local hospice patients and their families in Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. Volunteers may also assist with pet therapy and administrative work within the hospice department and are requested to have daytime availability. Hospice patient care volunteers visit with patients in their homes or nursing facilities once a week for two to three hours. They provide emotional support and companionship to patients and family members, assist with errands or provide respite for caregivers. Bereavement volunteers support the families of hospice patients following the loss of a loved one, while administrative volunteers assist with typing, mailings and/or filing. Hospice care workers provide a great service to families and loved ones of hospice patients. Many volunteers also report a great deal of personal satisfaction as a result of their services. Patient care and bereavement volunteers complete an application and attend an 18-hour volunteer training program that covers the medical, psychological and spiritual aspects of hospice volunteering. Day and evening training programs are offered. To sign up for volunteer opportunities in Pennsylvania, contact Holy Redeemer Volunteer Coordinator Jean Francis at 215-698-3737 or email jfrancis@holyredeemer.com.

Librarytalk

Upper Dublin Public Library, 805 Loch Alsh Avenue, Ft. Washington, 215-628-8744

www.upperdublinlibrary.org

APRIL CHILDRENS PROGRAMS:

Storytimes: Please register in the library.

o Wee Ones: 0 to 23 months Thursdays and Fridays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m.

o Tiny Tots: age 2. Wednesdays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m. and Fridays 11 to 11:20 a.m.

o Jr. Book Lovers: ages 3 to 6. Tuesdays 10:30 to 11 a.m.

o Bedtime Storytimes: 7 to 7:30 p.m. April 20 and 27. Wear your jammies, bring your teddy & hear Miss Barbara read bedtime stories! For ages 3 to 6.

APRIL TEEN PROGRAMS:

North Hills Library Teens April 28 from 4 to 6 p.m. Movie Matinee

APRIL UDPL ADULT PROGRAMS:

NEW! ESL Conversation Group. Tuesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. Interested in practicing your English in a safe and caring environment? Come to our conversation group and improve your skills! Please register with Kay Klocko at 215-628-8744 or kklocko@mclinc.org.

One-on-One Computer Mentoring. Get personalized assistance from experienced computer volunteers! Sign-up for a one-hour session. Limit one session per month. Please register  contact info above.

Book Groups Please register with Kay Klocko 215-628-8744.

o Daytimers: April 21 at 1:30 p.m. Tired of book groups where you all read the same book? Read any fiction or non-fiction book on this months theme: Explorers. Please register.

Meetings:

Annual Meeting of the Friends of UDPL: April 14 at 1 p.m.

Board of Directors: April 20 at 7 p.m.

Blue Bell Library www.wvpl.org Upcoming Events: The Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 650 Skippack Pike (Route 73) in Blue Bell, is diagonally across from the Blue Bell Inn. Call 215-643-1320 or visit their website at www.wvpl.org.

For children and teens at Blue Bell:

* Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian.

* Mondays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages.

* Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages.

* Fridays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages.

* Family Movies, new releases, second Saturdays of the month at 1:30 p.m.

* May 14  Despicable Me

* June 11  Alpha and Omega

* Special Events

* April  watch for date of spring/Easter events

* April 14 at 4:30 p.m.  Junior Lego Club for children ages 3 through 5. Parents and caregivers need to stay with children.

* April 14 at 7 p.m.  Jeopardy for ages 11 to 18. Test your book and library knowledge for prizes. Sign up to be a contestant. No sign up to be in the audience. Snacks provided.

* April 16 at 1 p.m.  Adult Mystery Book Group discussing The Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie King.

* April 16 at 1:30 p.m.  Childrens event for One Book, Every Young Child celebration. Story and craft for book Whose Shoes?

* April 19 at 7 p.m. and April 26 at 1:30 p.m.- Adult book group discusses The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester. Group led by Adam Button.

* April 30 through May 3  Friends book sale with about 10,000 items for sale for children, teens and adults.

* May  sign up for Science in the Summer

* June  sign up for Enrichment Programs for Elementary-Age children

* June  sign up for Summer Reading, all ages

For adults at Blue Bell:

* Daytime Book Discussion Group  fourth Tuesday, Jan  April at 1:30 p.m.

* April 26  The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

* Night-time Book Discussion Group  third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m.

o April 19  The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

* Art Series with Dr. Sheldon Weintraub, docent at The Barnes and speaker at local colleges

o April 27 at 2 p.m. The Art of Looking at Art-Is She Nude or Is She Naked?

*Mystery Book Discussion Group, third Saturday of the month at 1 p.m.; new mystery theme each month; www.wvpl.org/programs

* Yoga on Mondays at 1:30 p.m. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop-in class.

* Tai Chi on Mondays at 3 p.m. with Dr. Kurt Findeisen. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop in class.

* Philadelphia Museum of Art presents class on their Marc Chagall exhibit, April 13 at 2 p.m.

* Giant Book Sale, April 29  May 3

o Starts with almost 10,000 items for children and adults!

o Held during library hours.

o Preview for members of the Friends of the Library, April 28 at 7 p.m.

o Join the Friends and attend the preview sale. Modest fee to join.

* Blooms at Blue Bell Gardening Series

o May 11 at 1 p.m.  Summer Bulbs by PA Horticultural Society

* Knitting group Mondays and Wednesdays at 10 a.m. Work on your project or observe and learn. The groups continue year-round in the community room.

* Socrates Cafe discussion group every Monday at 7 p.m. You pick the topic to discuss each week. No sign-up, nothing to read.

* Bridge every Friday at 12:30 p.m. New players welcome.

* Mah Jong every Wednesday at 1 p.m. New players welcome.

*Chess every Wednesday at 7p.m. for adults and teens 14 and older.

* Movie Matinee showing recent releases every Thursday at 2 p.m. April 14: Maos Last Dancer; April 21: Welcome to the Rileys; April 28: Conviction; May 5: Inception; May 12: Inside Job; May 19 The Kings Speech; May 26 The Fighter; June 2 Rabbit Hole; June 9 Black Swan; June 16 127 Hours

* Ongoing like-new, year-round book sale for adults & children during library hours

* Library opening at 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday!

Ambler Library, a branch of the Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 209 Race St., 215-646-1072. www.wvpl.org. All the following events occur at the Ambler Library.

* Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian.

* Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages.

* Thursdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages.

* For adults:

* Beading Group meets the first and third Monday of every month at 1 p.m. Work on your own projects or come to watch and learn.

* Free Family History Lookup with Connie Briggs. Email Connie for an appointment at the Ambler Library. conniebriggs@comcast.net

* Special Events:

* April 14 at 1:30 p.m.  Book Group discusses Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian.

* April 19 at 7 p.m.  Travel to Paris with world traveler Harry Balin. Tea and scones at 6:30 p.m.

* April 21 at 7 p.m.  Art with Sara for children in fourth through seventh grades.

*May 2 at 6:30 p.m.  Discuss the movie Lone Star with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time.

*May 10  Robert Capucci discusses Art into Fashion. Tea and scones served at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m.

*May 12 at 1:30p.m.  Book Group discusses The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman.

*May 17  Tour the gardens of Devon and Southwest England with Lois McMullen. Tea and Scones at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m.

*June 13 at 6:30 p.m.  Discuss the movie Blade Runner with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time.

Meetings and Lectures

The Unisys Blue Bell Retiree Group will meet in the Church on the Mall in the Plymouth Meeting Mall April 14 at 1:30 p.m. Kathy Sacket Young, director/trainer with the North Penn YMCA, will speak on Keeping Fit in Retirement. For more information, contact Membership Committee Chairperson Jerry Feldscher at 610-275-3538 or President Al Rollin at 215-368-4833.

The next FWBA meeting will be April 28 at the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Networking begins at 11:30 a.m.; meeting from noon to 1 p.m. Leon Singletary, Principal, First Contact HR and FWBA Executive Board, will present: Social Media: How to Use It To Get More Business. Lunch is provided courtesy of the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Members are welcome to bring a guest. An RSVP is requested by return email or 215-628-0313.

Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern PA is hosting a information sessions over the next few weeks on how to become a Big Brother. The information sessions will take place: April 16 at noon, April 19 at 8 a.m. and April 28 at 6 p.m. All sessions will be held at the groups Norristown Office,t 530 DeKalb St., Norristown. For more information, call 610-277-2200.

The North Penn Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) normally meets on the third Tuesday of each month from now until May. Meetings are held at the William Penn Inn on Route 202 and Sumneytown Pike, Upper Gwynedd, PA. Social hour starts at 5:30 p.m., dinner is served at 6:30 p.m., and the technical program begins at 7 p.m. Cost with reservation is $28 for members. Members without reservations and guests pay $30. Students with reservations pay $15. Reservations may be made by noon on the Monday preceding the meeting by phoning 215-371-1854 or emailing the reservation to northpennima@yahoo.com northpennima@yahoo.com. Information about the North Penn Chapter is available at http://northpenn.imanet.org/.

LeTip, a professional organization of men and women who are dedicated to the highest standards of competence and service meets every Tuesday at Cedar Brook Country Club, 180 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell at 7 a.m. -meeting officially starts at 7:16 a.m. and ends at 8:31 a.m. Our purpose is the exchange of business tips, leads, and referrals. Each business category is represented by one member and conflicts of interest are disallowed. Guests are welcome to visit any of our breakfast meetings.

Every third Thursday of month, Sunrise Assisted Living of Blue Bell (795 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell, PA 19422, 215-619-2777) serves as a satellite site to 148th Legislative district PA congressman Mike Gerber from 10 a.m. to noon. Stop by for help needed with things such as disability placards and license plates, vehicle registration, utilities issues, birth/death certificates,property tax/rent rebates, etc. Notary services arranged by appointment.

The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce is an action-oriented organization dedicated to promoting its members and the economic health of eastern Montgomery county. The Chamber is committed to serving as a catalyst by uniting business, community agencies, government and education to make our county a great place to live and work. For information, call 215-887-5122 or visit www.emccc.org.

Do you have a fear of public speaking? Blue Bell Toastmasters Club can help. We meet from 7 to 9 p.m., on the second and fourth Tuesday at the Marriott Courtyard, located on Route 202, directly across from the Montgomeryville Mall. Learn how to improve communication and leadership skills in a friendly and supportive environment. Guests are welcome. Admission fee: $5. For more info, visit www.bbtoast.org.

The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will hold the following meetings (for reservations to any of the following, email info@PennSuburban.org)

-Breakfast News Network, 7:30-8:45 a.m. at Normandy Farm Hotel (1401 Morris Road, Blue Bell, PA 19422) $15 members, includes full buffet breakfast. Join us for a networking program at Normandy Farm Hotel every Thursday morning for breakfast, business news, informative speakers, and plenty of networking. The cost includes a full breakfast buffet. Copies of the business cards will be made available to those who would like them.

The BNI, Fort Washington Chapter meets every Monday at The Hilton Garden Inn, 520 Pennsylvania Ave., Fort Washington for a networking meeting. Meetings are from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. Visitors are welcome. The only cost to attend is the cost of your meal. For information or a reservation to attend, please call Luanne Cram at 215-947-7784, or visit our Internet site at: http://www.BNIDVR.Com and click on the menu item Find a Chapter.

For the past seven years, people have enjoyed participating in WVWAs Adopt-a-Tree program. Individuals can support the Association in its reforestation efforts by purchasing native trees to be planted. Supporters can plant their adopted tree or have WVWA volunteers will plant it. Trees cost $30 each. If you would like to volunteer or purchase a tree(s), please contact: Bob Adams at Bob@wvwa.org or call: 215-646-8866 for more information. Check www.WVWA.org for directions and maps.

Sustainable Upper Dublin, http://sustainableupperdublin.org, meets the first Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m., at the Upper Dublin Township Building, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington, PA 19034. Please send any questions to suec@sustainableupperdublin.org or call 610-996-6316. To learn more about Sustainable Upper Dublin, view or join the discussion at http://googlegroups.com/group/sustainableupperdublin.

Special Events

The Mattie N. Dixon Community Cupboard will hold its first nutrition class April 19 at 10 a.m. at the Community Cupboard, 150 N. Main St., Ambler. Lynne Sinclair, a nutritionist from Abington Memorial Hospital specializing in diabetic nutrition, will conduct the class. Topics will include healthy eating, beneficial foods, recipes, making meals with every day foods, and how to use unfamiliar produce. A healthy snack will be provided.The class is is open to all residents in Montgomery County.

The Historical Society of Fort Washington presents The History of Conshohocken April 19 at 8 p.m. at the Clifton House, 473 Bethlehem Pike, Fort Washington. Jack Coll will present an illustrated program on the history of the Borough of Conshohocken. Coll is a longtime resident of Conshohocken and a member of the Conshohocken Historical Society. He is co-author with his son, Brian, of the Arcadia Then and Now Series book Conshohocken. He has also done books Conshohocken and West Conshohocken Sports and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Italian Feast. He has taken many photos for the Conshohocken Record and the Norristown Times Herald. This program is free. Refreshments will be served. For additional information, call 215-646-6065.

Taste of the White House Soiree featuring former White House Chef Walter Scheib will take place April 29 at 6 p.m. at Manufacturers Golf & Country Club in Fort Washington to celebrate HealthLinks 10th anniversary and honor its founders, the Eugene Jackson Family. The evening will heat up with a Chef Meet & Greet, followed by a specially selected presidential menu. Gala tickets are $150 per person. Proceeds benefit HealthLink, a free clinic providing compassionate, quality medical and dental care to uninsured, working adults in Bucks and Montgomery counties who fall in between the health care cracks. Go to http://tasteofthewhitehouse.charityhappenings.org to make reservations online or lend support through sponsorship. For event information, call 267-699-0124 or email jmarushak@healthlinkmedical.org.

The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association will hold an open house at the Evans-Mumbower Mill April 17 from 1 to 4 p.m. The Mill is at the corner of Swedesford and Township Line Roads in Upper Gwynedd. The open house is free but donations are welcome. For more information, call 215-646-8866 o email info@wvwa.org.

The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce will host Breakfast With Your County Commissioners and State Representatives April 21 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Fort Washington, 432 W. Pennasylvania Ave. Commissioners: James R. Matthews (Chairman), Joseph M. Hoeffel (Vice Chair), State Representatives: Todd Stephens (District 151) and Josh Shapiro (District 153). Register onlineat www.emccc.org. $10 for EMCCC member; $20 for non-members.

Upper Dublins Districtwide Allied Art Show will be held April 27 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. in the Upper Dublin High School Athletic Complex.

The Rev. Alfred Muli, chaplain at Fort Washington Estates, will be the featured speaker at the Kiwanis sponsored breakfast observing the National Day of Prayer May 5 at 7 a.m. at the William Penn Inn. The breakfast is open to the public ($15). Reservations can be made by calling 215-646-4356 or by emailing georgesaurman@Juno.com.

The Upper Dublin Shade Tree Commission invites people to participate in its spring bare root planting events, sponsored in part by Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Friends of Robbins Park. On April 9, zix trees will be planted at the Evelyn B. Wright Park & Community Pool, 401 Logan Ave., North Hills, at 9 a.m., followed by the planting of 10 trees at Sheeleigh Park, Loch Alsh Avenue and Douglas Street, Ambler, at 10:15 a.m. On April 29, students from Upper Dublin High School will join the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to plant 16 trees in Robbins Park, Butler Pike and Meetinghouse Road, Ambler, to help launch the societys Million Trees campaign. This event will occur in conjunction with Temple Amblers EarthFest. Experienced tree-tenders are sought to assist the students. For more information,contact Ron Ayres at 215-653-0421 or 215-483-4348.

The Friends of the Wissahickon and the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association are teaming up once again to clean the Wissahickon Creek from top to bottom April 30 from 9 a.m. to noon. This spring marks the 41st anniversary of Wissahickon Valley Watershed Associations annual Creek Clean Up, and the second year that FOW has teamed up with WVWA. Volunteers of all ages will clean the creek, the surrounding trails and the many tributaries of the Wissahickon Creek. Armed with bags, volunteers will be assigned to sections of the creek. Following the clean up, all volunteers are invited to WVWAs Talkin Trash picnic in Fort Washington State Park, with food provided by Whole Foods Market of North Wales. The pavilion is located on Mill Road in Flourtown. To help out in Montgomery County, all volunteers must be pre-assigned a section of the Wissahickon Creek to clean. Please contact Bob Adams, WVWA director of stewardship, at 215-646-8866 ext. 14 or bob@wvwa.org. To work with the Friends of the Wissahickon in Philadelphia, meet at the pavilion along Forbidden Drive, a short distance south of the intersection of Forbidden Drive and Northwestern Avenue. Limited parking is available along Northwestern Avenue and other nearby streets. Volunteers are encouraged to bike or carpool to the event. To participate, register at www.fow.org. Contact Kevin Groves with questions at 215-247-0417 ext. 105 or groves@fow.org.

Montgomery County Community Colleges International Club invites the community to the second annual International Festival April 20 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The rain date is April 26. The International Club will transform the outside quad area into multicultural celebration with various performances by dancers, singers and musicians. Artists will share their artwork at various display tables. Activities include games, raffles, Easter egg decorating and henna tattoos. Students will have samples of international cuisine at tables representing different countries and will serve food from various local ethnic restaurants. Throughout the evening, volunteers will accept donations and will raffle gift baskets and prizes to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity. Donations of food, international clothes and prizes are needed. Volunteers, including artists and performers, are welcome. For more information or to sponsor an activity, contact Gillian Nel, International Club president, at gnel9277@students.mc3.edu or 267-974-0163.

The Arts and Humanities Division at Montgomery County Community College is partnering with the Philadelphia Writers Conference to host Memoirs Matter: How Life Stories (Including Yours) Can Transform Your Relationship to Literature April 23 from 1 to 3 p.m. in Advanced Technology Center room 101, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The event is free and open to the public. In the first part of this two-hour seminar, professor and author Robert Waxler will explain how writing his two memoirs affected his life as well as his relationship to literature. In the second part, blogger and workshop leader Jerry Waxler will present a sequence of steps to help writers find their own story. For information, contact Dana Resente at dresente@mc3.edu.

The Maple Glen Garden Club will hold its fourth annual Plant Sale on May 7 from 8 to 11 a.m. Perennials, shrubs, vegetables and native plants grown by the club members will be sold. The club uses the plant sale proceeds to fund community projects, a college scholarship and community plantings. The sale will be held in the 500 block of Coach Road, Horsham, as part of a neighborhood garage sale. Plants will be sold at bargain prices. For more information, email MapleGlenGardenClub@gmail.com.

The Relay for Life Craft Show is looking for local crafters to participate in show, which will be May 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Wissahickon High School track, 521 Houston Road, Ambler. There is a $10 entry fee, and 20 percent of sales are donated to the American Cancer Society. Participants will receive a 6-foot table under a tent. For information, contact Joanne at joannescoles@comcast.net or Mindy at mcamsilver@comcast.net.

Spring House Estates is hosting its annual book fair on April 18 from 4 to 7 p.m. and April 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Included will be hardback and paperback used books. Spring House Estates is located at 728 Norristown Road, Lower Gwynedd.

The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will present the Penn Suburban/Hatfield Joint Business Card Exchange April 20 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Univest Bank Lansdale Area Financial Service Center, 120 Forty Foot Road, Hatfield. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. Join Univest National Bank and Trust Co. for a spring-inspired Business Card Exchange at its newest office in the Hatfield Pointe Shopping Center. Come out and meet members of Univests executive management team while enjoying fine food and beverages.

13th Annual Community Reading Day Kick-off Breakfast Get Together April 26 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the North Wales Area Library, 233 Swartley St., North Wales. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. For more information, contact the chamber office at 215-362-9200 or info@pennsuburban.org. Join presenting sponsor Verizon, chamber staff and fellow members for the Community Reading Day volunteer get together. The Community Reading Day program allows volunteers to read a designated book to second-grade students throughout 38 area public and private schools and present the book as a gift to each class. Even if you are not a volunteer, you are cordially invited to stop by to network, enjoy coffee and pastries.

Ambler Mennonite Church is hosting a Spring Craft Show and Flea Market May 21 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Rain date will be May 28. The community is invited to shop the great craft booths, find some gifts and deals, as well as enjoy home baked goods and tasty lunch specials. Childrens activities are planned. All vendors are encouraged to contact the church at 215-643-4876 or AmblerMennonite@verizon.net. Advertising, signage, customer parking and a shuttle to auxiliary parking at nearby lots for vendors will be provided. 10 foot by 10 foot spaces can be rented for $5 each and tables for an additional $5 each. All proceeds from space and table rentals go toward school kits for children around the world. The church is located at the corner of East Mt. Pleasant Avenue and North Spring Garden Street, Ambler.

The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association presents The Life & Times of Aquatic Insects in the Wissahickon Creek April 16 from 1 to 3 p.m. Join WVWA for a hands-on program. RSVP required: www.wvwa.org or 215-646-8866. WVWA member fee: $5 per person / $15 per family. Non-WVWA member fee: $10 per person / $20 per family.

The photography exhibition Natures Palette by photo-artist Judy Miller will run March 18 to May 19 at the Art in the Storefront gallery, 41 E. Butler Pike, Ambler.

JPRN  Networking For People in Transition & People Who Can Help Them  Unemployment remains high. JPRN, the Jarrettown Professional Relationship Network can help. Are you trying to network your way to a new job? Do you have expertise or contacts that can help people in transition? Is your company or organization looking for people in the area? This is a free outreach program to support those seeking work, involve people with contacts and networking know how, and involve local companies. Meetings held monthly at Jarrettown United Methodist Church, Limekiln Pike.

Pennsylvanias Low-Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) grant program is now open for the 2010-11 heating season. Grants are based on income, family size, type of heating fuel and region. Additional information, such as specific income limits, and applications for LIHEAP grants are available online via the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Access to Social Services (COMPASS) website at www.compass.state.pa.us. Applications are available at most public officals district offices, county assistance offices, local utility companies and community service agencies, such as Area Agencies on Aging or community action agencies.

Begin your holiday shopping at Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation! Entertainment books for 2011, Philadelphia North, are now on sale at $30 each. Regal/United Artists movie tickets are on sale for just $7.50 each, and tickets to the Adventure Aquarium, Baltimore Aquarium, and the Philadelphia Zoo are also available. Discounted ski vouchers to area mountains will be arriving in December; call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

RSVP of Montgomery County and the Wissahickon Valley Public Library have partnered again to offer the public their popular free mock interview sessions. The mock interviews are conducted by RSVP volunteers who are retired professionals, some of whom were in hiring positions themselves. Packets of information which include a sample employment application and interviewing tips with mock interview questions are available at the library to pick up prior to a scheduled mock interview or will be sent via email once the interview is scheduled. To schedule your interview, please contact Janis Glusman at RSVP 610-834-1040, ext. 16. The library is also offering a free resume review service. Bring in your current resume and the professional reference staff will assist you with hints and tips on capturing your work history accurately.

Registration for Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation summer playgrounds, Camp B.I.G. and Small Folks, X-Zone, and sports camps has began. Register online at www.upperdublin.net/store, or at the UDP&R office, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington. Call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information.

Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Danielles Espresso Cafe presents Mornings at Mondaug Bark Park April 16 and May 21 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Meet fellow dog lovers. These events include complimentary coffee, treats for people and pups and raffles/giveaways.

Upper Dublins Annual Spring Flea Market will be held June 4 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Reserve a table, or come and shop. Tables are $15 for UD residents, $20 for non-residents. This successful event occurs rain or shine. Refreshments available. Call 215-643-1600 ext. 3443 to register for a table.

Regal movie tickets available for purchase at Upper Dublin Township Parks & Recreation. Reduced rate: $7.50 per ticket. Some restrictions apply. Call 215-643-1600 x3443.

Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation movie tickets $7.50 Regal Cinemas, United Artist & Edwards Cinemas on sale throughout the year Monday  Friday from 9 a.m.  4 p.m.

Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation Camp Sign-ups for Stony Creek Day Camp  Stony Creek Tracers and Park n Tots. Register on-line at www.whitpaintownship.org OrCome to Township Building with check or Visa MasterCard Monday  Friday from 9 a.m.  4 p.m. For additional information call 610.277-2400 ext. 374

Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation offers exciting new programs for the fall:

-Returning favorites include UK Elite Petite Soccer, Tiny Dancers, Kiddie Tennis, Fun-nastics, Messy Playtime, Little Chefs, and more. Babysitters Training will be offered in November and December. Continuing Adult Fitness Classes include Cardio Circuit, Core & More, Yoga, Boxing, and Adult G.Y.M. For more information call 215-643-1600 x3443. Register for programs online at www.upperdublin.net/store.

Music and Theater

The community is invited to a Cantors Concert April 16 at 8 p.m. Congregation Beth Or, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen. Listen and hum-along to the Yiddish, pop tunes and classical music performed by Congregation Beth Ors own Cantor David Green and his special guest, Cantor Irvin Bell, from Temple Beth Israel in Deerfield Beach, Fla. The cantors will be accompanied by Mark Sobol and his Klezmer musicians. Tickets are $18 in advance and $25 at the door. RSVP with payment to Barb Murtha, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen, PA 19002, or call 215-646-5806 ext. 220.

Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse will host the Jameson Sisters May 14. Doors open at 7:30 pm, performance at 8:00 pm. Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse is located at the corner of Rte. 202 & Sumneytown Pike, Gwynedd. $5 suggested donation. Light refreshment available at a modest cost. For further information, call 215-393-9576 or visit gwyneddmeeting.org/coffeehouse.html.

Celebrate patriotism through song with Gwynedd-Mercy Colleges choir, the Voices of Gwynedd, as it presents Hear America Singing April 15 at 8 p.m. The choir will perform song selections from all over the country, including Georgia on My Mind, New York State of Mind, and a medley including Philadelphia Freedom and Allentown. The performance will end with When the Saints Go Marching In to acknowledge the choirs upcoming tour in New Orleans. Hear America Singing will take place in the Julia Ball Auditorium, located in St. Bernard Hall. Parking is available in lots A, C and D. Admission is free.

The Choristers will present Anton Dvoraks Stabat Mater April 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Upper Dublin Lutheran Church in Ambler. The choir will be accompanied by a 41-piece orchestra. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for senior citizens, $10 for students and children are free. Tickets will be sold in advance or at the door. For more information, call 215-542-7871 or visit TheChoristers.org

Religious News

The Staircase Gallery at Or Hadash: A Reconstructionist Congregation in Fort Washington will feature the work of Emily Ennuat-Lustine. The artist will be showing paintings and graphics inspired by her own personal spiritual journey and quest for meaning. Some of the works to be shown have been inspired by Biblical Psalms and writings. Her work has been shown at Abington Art Center, Cheltenham Arts Center and Old City Gallery of Jewish Art among others. The exhibition is open Friday evenings starting Feb. 18 after Shabbat services. Gallery hours are: Mondays through Thursdays 10-4:30, Fridays 10-3 and following Shabbat Services and Sundays 10-1. The synagogue is located at 190 Camp Hill Road in Fort Washington. For additional information contact the synagogue office at 215-283-0276.

Reunions

St. Matthews High School Conshohocken Class of 1961 is looking for classmates. For details, contact Greg Marincola at 215-646-2239, 215-740-1296 or gregcola@comcast.net.

Olney High School Class of 1971 is Lloking for classmates for a 40th reunion Oct. 28. For details, contact Judy at ohsclassof71@yahoo.com or 215-870-7572.

Abington High School Class of 1961 is seeking classmates for a 50-year reunion to be held Oct. 14-15, 2011.Visit the website, www.abington61.com, for details or call 215-947-1779.

Overbrook High School class of January 1956 is having a 55 year reunion on May 22, 2011 at the Bala Golf Club in Philadelphia. For information please contact overbrookreunion56@comcast.net

Germantown High School Class Of January 1961 is looking for classmates for 50th year reunion to take place in May of 2011. Please contact: 215-362-9148, 856-577-0659 or samdelcomo@comcast.net

The June 1961 class of Germantown High School is holding their 50th reunion on May 15, which will be a brunch. For further details please contact Linda Dorfman Alten at lindaalten@yahoo.com or call 215-441-8411.

Support

New Life Presbyterian Church in Dresher, will host GriefShare, a special seminar and support group which will run on Monday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m., from March 7 through June 6. At each meeting there will be a DVD about the grief process, discussion and reference to a grief workbook. Preregistration is required to secure a place in the group and to purchase a GriefShare notebook (for a one-time fee of $15). The notebook goes along with the 13-week schedule covering such topics as: living with grief, the effects of grief, and stuck in grief. For more information or to register, call: Sandy Elder at 215-884-5149.

PUPS (People Understanding Parkinsons) A self-help group for those adjusting to a new diagnosis or dealing with the early stages of Parkinsons Disease. Meets fourth Tuesday of the month from 1 to 2:30 p.m., at Abington Health Center, Schilling Campus, Willowood Building, 2510 Maryland Road, Suite 251, Willow Grove. For more information or to RSVP, contact Lorna at 215-542-2931.

The North Penn Visiting Nurse Associations Meals on Wheels program is looking for volunteers to pack or deliver meals to the elderly and infirmed. Meals are packed and delivered mornings, Monday through Friday. You can volunteer for as many days per week or month as you would like. Packaging meals requires approximately 2-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves making sandwiches, packaging food into individual serving containers and packing coolers with the meals. Delivering meals requires approximately 1-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves loading coolers into your car and delivering a route of approximately 10 to 15 stops. The Meals on Wheels program is also in need of emergency, winter-weather volunteers to pack and deliver meals in bad weather. North Penn VNA is located at 51 Medical Campus Drive in Lansdale and delivers meals in the Lansdale, North Wales and Blue Bell areas. For more information or to volunteer, please call Bridget, North Penn VNA Meals on Wheels coordinator at 215-855-8296.

Elkins Park Area CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) meets the first Tuesday of every month, 7- 8:30 p.m., at Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital in Elkins Park. For information on CHADD or ADHD, please see our website www.chadd.net/249 or call Claire Noyes at: 215-779-6656.

Center for Loss and Bereavement, 3847 Skippack Pike, Skippack (610-222-4110) www.bereavementcenter.org Offers professional counseling for individuals, couples, children and families dealing with issues of loss and bereavement. Six-week adult support groups: Newly forming young adult grief support group  every other Wednesday, 7  8:15 p.m. (free of charge); Monthly loss of child support  second Mondays, 7-8:15 p.m.; Six-week young loss of spouse/partner  Thursdays, 10-11:15 a.m.; Other groups scheduled as interest is shown for suicide loss support, adult loss of parent, motherless daughters, adult loss of sibling, coping with chronic illness and disability and mens loss of spouse. Nellos Corner Family Bereavement program offers peer grief support groups for ages 4 through teen and their caregivers  Every other Tuesday or Wednesday (free of charge) Local chapter of Parents of Murdered Children also meets at the Center. Registration required. Call for further information.

CHADD is a national organization for children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder, providing education, advocacy and support for individuals and their families with AD/HD. Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital, 60 Township Line Road, Elkins Park, PA 19027, will host children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder on the First Tuesday of each month 7  8:30 p.m. Free, no childcare provided.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphias Kehillah of Old York Road is sponsoring a free Caregiver Support Group for individuals who care for an elderly person with cognitive and/or physical impairments. The group meets at SarahCare Adult Day Care Center, 101 Washington Lane, Suite G-6, Jenkintown, Pa., on the first Wednesday of each month. Patty Rich,
By Johan Sennero, Anna Ringstrom and Bjorn Rundstrom STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A 39-year-old Uzbek man being held in custody is the suspected driver of a hijacked beer delivery truck that ploughed into crowds in central Stockholm, killing four people and wounding 15 in an apparent terror attack, police said on Saturday. The man, previously known to Swedish intelligence services as a marginal figure with no clear links to extremist groups, is suspected of mowing down pedestrians on a busy shopping street and smashing through a store front on Friday. "Nothing indicates that we have the wrong person, on the contrary, suspicions have strengthened as the investigation has progressed," Dan Eliasson, head of Sweden's national police, told a news conference on Saturday. The man, detained on Friday night on terrorism charges after the attack in the heart of the capital, appeared to have acted alone but "we still cannot rule out that more people are involved," he said. Police raided several addresses in the Stockholm area on Saturday, according to TT news agency and tabloid Aftonbladet, but told Reuters no further arrests in connection with the attack had been made. A Reuters witness saw police wearing protective masks carrying out a search at an apartment in a southern Stockholm suburb. LAWYER MET WITH SUSPECT Court-appointed lawyer Johan Eriksson told Reuters he had met with the suspect on Saturday but declined to give further details about his client. Police did not name the detainee, but said he was from the central Asian republic of Uzbekistan and that he had seemed peripheral in intelligence reports. "We received intelligence last year, but we did not see any links to extremist circles," Sapo security police chief Anders Thornberg said. Eliasson said there were "clear similarities" to an attack last month in London in which six people died, including the assailant who drove a hired car into pedestrians on a bridge. Vehicles have also been used as weapons in Nice and Berlin in the past year in attacks claimed by Islamic State. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack in Sweden, which until now had been largely immune from major attacks and where many take pride in an open, democratic society. "I think it was just a matter of time, but still one doesn't think it will happen," Cecilia Hansson, a 25 year-old nurse, said. "It's still unreal when it happens this close." Police said they had found a suspicious device in the vehicle, which ended up rammed into the Ahlens department store, but said they did not yet know if it was a homemade bomb, as reported by public broadcaster SVT. Local authorities in Stockholm, where flags flew at half mast, said 10 people including a child were still being treated in hospital, with two adults in intensive care. Sweden will hold a minute's silence at midday (1000 GMT) on Monday to mourn the dead. Police said they were maintaining a heightened presence, fearing copycat attacks. FLOWERS, DEFIANCE A gaping hole in the wall of the store showed the force of the impact from the truck, which was removed overnight for examination by forensics experts, and people gathered to pay their respects and leave flowers. Ahlens said it would open part of the store on Sunday. Prime Minister Stefan Lofven visited the site and struck a defiant tone: "All of us feel anger over what has happened, I also feel the same anger, but we also need to use that anger for something constructive and go forward." "We want - and I am convinced the Swedish people also want - to live a normal life. We are an open, democratic society and that is what we will remain." Sweden's King Carl Gustaf, who broke off a trip to Brazil and quickly returned home after the attack, addressed the nation in a televised speech from his home at Stockholm's palace. "Those of us who want to help are many more than those who wish to harm us," said the monarch, wearing a dark suit and black tie. "Sweden is, has long been and will continue to be a safe and peaceful country." The attack was the latest to hit the Nordic region after shootings in the Danish capital Copenhagen killed three people in 2015 and the mass attack in 2011 by far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 people in Norway. A failed suicide bombing in December 2010 killed an attacker only a few hundred yards from the site of Friday's incident. IMMIGRATION For decades, Sweden has been among the most generous nations to immigrants. But some Swedes are having second thoughts after more than 160,000 people, many from Syria, applied for asylum in 2015 in a nation of just 10 million. Sweden has since tightened its borders and asylum numbers have slowed to a trickle. Support for the opposition far-right Sweden Democrat party, which links worries about education, welfare costs and crime with immigration, has continued to rise. "We have warned about such incidents ... but we do not want to score any political points today," Julia Kronlid, vice chairman of the party, told Reuters. Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack in Nice, France, in July 2016, when a truck killed 86 people, and a truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin in December that killed 12. In last month's attack in London, a man drove into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge near Britain's parliament and then stabbed a policeman to death before being killed himself. In February U.S. President Donald Trump falsely suggested there had been an immigration-related security incident in Sweden, to the bafflement of Swedes. Neutral Sweden has not fought a war in more than 200 years, but its military has taken part in U.N. peacekeeping missions in several conflict zones, including Iraq, Mali and Afghanistan. For map of attack location http://tmsnrt.rs/2oguW2M (Reporting by Stockholm newsroom; writing by Simon Johnson, Alister Doyle and Terje Solsvik; editing by Alexander Smith, Ros Russell and David Evans)
April 08, 2017

The Khan Sheikoun Show - A New President Proudly Presented By Trump Productions

The "chemical attack" at Khan Sheikoun was faked and a show; though a number of people were killed or hurt during its production.

This video for example, of doctors and patients in an emergence room was pure theater, taken over a longer time period. The main presenter was a well-known criminal Takfiri but with links to the British secret service. The whole show was perfected, by specialists one would think, to fit for U.S. TV screens.

There were no scenes, zero in all the coverage, that showed casualties in places where they were surprised by gas and died. No basement was searched, no place of work or living was shown - only rescue centers. The male "victims" were clean shaven, despite living in al-Qaeda land. They even had two blond "Syrian" kids in there (vid) to convince the racist constituency that "revenge" was needed and just. A cut right out of Wag The Dog (vid). It is now racist to object to the war!

Dilbert creator Scott Adams, one of the few who understands Trump's persuasion style and predicted his win, remarks:

It is almost as if someone designed this tragedy to be camera-ready for President Trumps consumption. It pushed every one of his buttons. Hard. And right when things in Syria were heading in a positive direction.

...

Im going to call bullshit on the gas attack. Its too on-the-nose, as Hollywood script-writers sometimes say, meaning a little too perfect to be natural. This has the look of a manufactured event.

...

So how does a Master Persuader respond to a fake war crime? He does it with a fake response, if hes smart.

The response by the U.S. was not completely fake but as small as it could be. The base was warned and had been evacuated. All movable and valuable stuff had been taken away. The attack was even smaller than planned. The Russian Defense Ministry says only 23 out of 59 cruise missiles hit the base. The others were shot down by air defense or diverted by the famous Russian Electronic Counter Measures. The Pentagon insists that all 59 hit. But the pictures and video from the base only show damage to 11 aircraft shelters. Additionally one radar, one missile launcher and a fuel depot were hit. That effect is too small for 59 impacts. The base was in use again 12 hours after the strike. The attack on it was not really serious.



Adams makes it look as if Trump did not sign off on the whole stunt before it happened. As if it was made for Trumps consumption. Why does he think so? Does he believe the CIA bureaucrats would not ask for a direct order and presidential cover before launching such a risky operation?

The pictures and scenes were not constructed for Trump's consumption. They were constructed by Trump for consumption by the "western" public. Never forget that Trump is also a successful professional TV presenter who knows how to act in front of cameras. The plot followed Trump's persuasion style. The same style he used during the campaign and that let him win. Trump had several reasons to create such an incident. It was perfectly timed for the visit of the Chinese President Xi. This was a stunt to Trump's liking. It was his production. The blond children were there to allowed for his "Beautiful babies were cruelly murdered ..." punch line. Trump proudly produced and presented to you: "Trump the NEW President".

The whole show was designed to let Trump look strong and presidential and to get rid of the "Russia Gate" nonsense the neocons ran against him. The prospect of stopping those attacks was an offer he could not refuse. Here a tweet of mine sent on the evening before the attack was launched:

Moon of Alabama @MoonofA Prediction:

If Trump now commits to war on Syria the anti-Trump "Russia spies" campaign will immediately stop.

Ransom paid, hostage released

8:23 PM - 6 Apr 2017

Those who once warned that Trump would launch a new world war now laud him for nearly doing so:

Editorial boards of NYT, WaPo, WSJ, USAToday, DailyNews, SJ Mercury News, Houston Chon & Chicago Sun Times all endorsed Trumps Syria strikes.

"Russia Gate" is - for now - forgiven and forgotten. The NeverTrump-ers applause the strike and want more of them, ever more war and "regime change" in favor of al-Qaeda's rule.

More strikes may well come. The precedent has been established. Whenever al-Qaeda in Idleb comes under pressure and needs help we will see another fake "chemical attack". Will Trump follow up on those? Or will he manage to set aside the outrage that will follow such "attacks" when it does not fit his plans? Was this a one-time show? Or will Trump serialize it?

The open Syrian, Iranian and Russian response will be an intensification of the operations in Idleb. They will smash the "rebels" there by air and push more troops into that direction. The Russian organized flight coordination over Syria has been called off. Belgium already said its airforce will no longer take part in any U.S. "coalition" operation over Syria. Others will follow that example. An asymmetric response elsewhere will follow later. U.S. forces in the wider region better watch their backs.

Some people have wondered why the Chinese criticism of the attack at the UN Security Council or during Xi's meeting with Trump was rather mild. The Chinese believe that the best that can happen to them is a United States bogged down in further Middle East calamities. If the U.S. is busy in Iraq, Yemen and Syria it will have fewer capacity to mess up North Korea or seek a conflict over this or that atoll in the South China Sea. I can not blame them for that position.

Bonus: A truly journalistic highlight in U.S. news coverage of our time is this recommendation by CNN:

Jake Tapper @jaketapper For more on Syria follow @AlabedBana

4:59pm  4 Apr 2017

Do it! Be informed! Follow the 7 year old daughter of a Syrian Takfiri in Turkey. Videos of her show that she can not understand, speak or write English but she knows how to manipulate her audience in perfect tweets:

Bana Alabed @AlabedBana

Putin and Bashar al Asad bombed my school, killed my friends & robbed my childhood. It's time to punish the killers of children in Syria.

10:09am  7 Apr 2017

Her producers let her look more intelligent that Tapper will ever be. (For background on that M.I.T./MI-6 "Bana" child exploitation enterprise see here.)

UPDATE: Jake Tapper has since deleted his tweet above, but we took a screenshot before he did so :-)

Posted by b on April 8, 2017 at 16:35 UTC | Permalink

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RALEIGH  A Morganton National Guard soldier was honored recently in Raleigh for his act of heroism.

Sgt. Charles Roper was awarded the North Carolina National Guards Soldier and Airman Medal during a ceremony at the Guard headquarters for helping to save the life of a pilot after his plane crashed in Morganton.

Roper, Detachment 1, 210th Military Police Company , was one of the few witnesses to a full-size, single-engine plane crash that occurred near Jamestown Road in early February.

He drove across ditches and farm fields to reach the burning plane. He quickly retrieved the pilot , John Henry Shell Sr., and moved him away from danger and, when first responders arrived, he helped extinguish the wreckage, a release from the N.C. National Guard said.

The plane was a total loss, and part of it was lodged in a tree after making impact before striking the ground, said a previous News Herald article.

I did not expect this new medal, but I am honored, Roper said in the release.

The NCNG always tries to honor their soldiers who put others before themselves.

We needed a way to formally recognize those who go beyond, Army Maj. Gen. Greg Lusk, the adjutant general of North Carolina, said in the release.

The News Herald reached out for a comment from Shell and he was happy to now have the name of the man who pulled him from the plane.

I am most appreciative that Sgt. Roper came to my aid, Shell said. I wondered who the gentleman was and would love to meet him and thank him personally.

The North Carolina National Guard Soldier and Airman Medal is given to those in recognition of acts of personal heroism or extraordinary achievement, the release said.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed a proclamation declaring March 24 North Carolina National Guard Heritage Day across the state, the release said.

The NC National Guard has served with distinction in World War I and World War II. Since Sept. 11, 2001, more than 22,000 NC National Guardsmen deployed for wartime service, the release said.
Alphabet, (GOOGL) Google's parent company, is known for its aggressive approach to hiring top computer engineers. Now, it has its sights set on poaching top talent from life sciences and health care.

Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page have stressed in the past that Google will not become a health care company, in part because of the regulatory complexity associated with the field. But today, three of Alphabet's "Other Bets" are focused on the $3 trillion sector. Both of its venture arms, GV (formerly Google Ventures) and CapitalG (formerly Google Capital) are also investing in the space.

Sidewalk Labs is perhaps the most surprising. The Alphabet subsidiary, which aims to use technology to solve "big urban problems," this month posted new job listings for health care positions, including engineers, a chief health officer (a primary care physician) and a head of community health for an effort called "Care Labs." Not much has been shared publicly about Care Labs, aside from a Medium post that spells out a big vision to imagine "how care delivery might look in the digital era."

Alphabet's Calico, a drug development shop focused on longevity, and Verily, which was Google's life sciences arm, and have also hired heavily from life sciences and health care.

The company's star talent in the field so far includes Arthur D. Levinson, former CEO of Genentech and an Apple chairman, who is Calico's CEO; Tom Insel, the former head of the National Institute of Mental Health, who is at Verily; and Jessica Mega, a star cardiologist at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, now at Verily.

Alphabet is currently looking to hire computational biologists, robotics experts and top academic researchers, which are among the most competitive positions to hire.

Competitors in the life sciences industry have mixed feelings about Alphabet's recruiting.

"Of all the tech companies, Alphabet has been most prominent in establishing new operations in life sciences," says Cynthia Yee, a principal at health-focused fund Windham Venture Partners.

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"In the short-term, we'll see some biotech and health startups struggle to match the salary and compensation that an established company like Alphabet can offer," Yee said.

She said several of the startups in her firm's portfolio have already lost key talent to Alphabet, but she declined to provide specifics. It might benefit the industry in the long-run, she says, if Alphabet steps up to acquire life sciences startups or seeks out partnerships. Verily has already announced a string of partnerships with industry giants, including GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, and Sanofi.

Steve Kraus, a biotech investor at Bessemer Venture Partners says the life sciences industry will get more nervous if Alphabet starts recruiting heavily in their backyard. Alphabet's companies are headquartered in Silicon Valley, rather than in Boston and Cambridge where life sciences companies have deep connections to the science and engineering departments at Harvard and MIT. "I worry about the war for talent," he says. "Alphabet will make a real go of it, but if there's power in a cluster."

Others, like biotech executive and geneticist Sabah Oney from start-up Alector believe that Alphabet's interest in the space is a "net positive" overall. "I've seen so many smart scientists get offers to consult or join Google for real money," he says. "Scientists are so underpaid and undervalued, so the competition can only be a good thing."

Watch: Biotech jumps following Fed rate increase





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I set up a meeting on March 22 with Rep. Hugh Blackwell at 12:45. Sen. Warren Daniel office notified me that he may be there if he has no other regular committees on March 29. Later Daniels office contacted me on March 22 and said that Andy, his assistant, will meet with us just in case Daniel cannot. We met with Rep. Rogers and talked to him about 10 minutes.

A little before 12:45 Rep. Blackwell was in a meeting with another group. We went to Sen. Daniels office and had a very good meeting with Andy for about 15 minutes. We expressed our needs for a COLA for retirees, a $2,400 increase for all state employees and our health plan. Also, we talked about employee disability and safety at our work places. We went to Rep. Blackwell agai n and he could not meet us at 1:25 due to other meetings. We talked to his assistant (Dixie) for about two minutes. We did meet with Sen. Terry Van Duyn from Buncombe County with other SEANC members. We were back home safely about 6:30 p.m. SEANC had about 150 members to lobby on this day. Also call Rep. Blackwell (1-919-733-5805) and ask him to support HB 540, Teacher and State Employees Pay Raise. Pay raise in the sum of $2,400. I counted 45 legislators and the NACE are supporting it.
diverse tenured professors graduation ceremony academic dress shutterstock_269108810

Melissa Gillbanks is no fan of student loans, so when she was looking for a way to pay for her senior year at Purdue University, she was happy to sign away a portion of her future income in exchange for a very different way to raise cash for college.

"When I found out there was a way to pay for my education that couldn't potentially haunt me for life and rack up debt, I immediately told my father," Gillbanks said.

Gillbanks decided she would finance part of her last year of school with something called an income-share agreement.

Under the plan, the Purdue Research Foundation, the body that manages the university's endowment, in cooperation with some private investment firms, has fronted Melissa's tuition money under the condition that she will surrender a percentage of her future income for a given time after she graduates.

Compared to loans, income-share agreements today have a minuscule market as only a couple of thousand students are using them to pay for college. But many advocates of ISAs think this financing method has the potential to become a lot more popular.

What are income-share agreements, and how do they work?

With traditional student loans, lenders provide students money. After they graduate, they pay back the loan plus interest in monthly payments spread over years and decades.

ISAs are different. It's not even a form of debt. Instead, investors such as private investment firms or a college endowment pay for students' tuition. Then, when the students enter the workforce, they surrender a percentage of their post-college salaries for a time, generally no more than 10 years.

If graduates get good jobs with nice salaries, those investors can make out quite nicely. They could earn as much as 2.5 times the amount they provided the student. But investors also assume the risk that the graduates could end up at low-paying jobs or, worse, unemployed.

In that sense, it's kind of like venture capital for college students. If they do well, the investors do well, but both sides have risk. And since it is the universities that are forking over the bulk of the financing for ISAs, they have an extra incentive to ensure that their product  a four-year college education  is valuable.

Story continues

"It is a very interesting alternative because it is predicated on expected future income of students and their success," Tonio DeSorrento told Business Insider. "It doesn't look at the asset value, wealth, income level, or the student or his parents. It is truly based on expected outcomes."

DeSorrento is the CEO of Vemo Education, the Virginia-based firm behind a number of ISA programs at colleges and coding schools in the US. Essentially, Vemo provides the infrastructure for higher-education institutions to implement ISA programs. Tonio DeSorrento wouldn't disclose the clients his firm is working with, but he does predict that dozens of schools will hop on the ISA bandwagon in the coming years. Last year, Vemo was among the partners that played a role in launching Purdue University's ISA program, one of the most prominent in the US.

The success of Purdue's program may determine whether other schools follow their lead and adopt similar programs, according to Charles Trafton, the head of FlowPoint Capital, an investment firm in Massachusetts. He told Business Insider that his firm was working on buying up $4 million worth of ISAs.

"Right now, the market for ISA is only $20 million," Trafton said. "It could easily be $1 billion in the next 5 years."

A possible solution to America's mounting student-loan problem

Screen Shot 2017 03 30 at 12.21.10 PM

The amount of student-loan debt owed by Americans soared from $150 billion to $1.3 trillion from 2009 to 2017. And not only is student-loan debt increasing, but it's increasing at a faster rate than wage growth. By 2023, the average BA grad's debt load will exceed his or her annual wages.

This is already having negative consequences across the economy.

As reported by Business Insider's Akin Oyedele, the rising cost of higher education and borrowing to finance it means that people who take on debt are likely to achieve homeownership  defined as having a mortgage any time before age 30  later in their lives.

Because ISAs are based on a person's income, while a student may end up paying more under the conditions of an ISA, they will never, in theory, pay more than they can afford.

The history of ISAs

milton friedman

Income-share agreements may just be picking up steam, but they are not a new concept. In fact, they were introduced in 1955 by the 20th-century economist Milton Friedman in "The Role of Government in Education" (PDF).

Friedman wrote:

"[Investors] could 'buy' a share in an individuals earning prospects: to advance him the funds needed to finance his training on condition that he agree to pay the lender a specified fraction of his future earnings. In this way, a lender would get back more than his initial investment from relatively successful individuals, which would compensate for the failure to recoup his original investment from the unsuccessful."

A modified version of Friedman's original idea was implemented at Yale University in the 1970s, but it ended in "utter disaster" because it was done on a cohort basis, meaning that the ISAs had to be paid off as a group. Some ended up paying longer than they had expected while they waited for their peers to finish their payments. Ben Miller, the senior director for postsecondary education at the Center for American Progress, told The Atlantic:

Everyone had to pay back until the cohort paid back everything. Because individual students were allowed to pay back the amount each had agreed to early while the cohort overall was required to meet a set target for investors, high-earners prepaid early, low-earners skated, and middle-earners were saddled with the burden of paying back investors.

According to Charlie Trafton, income-share agreements that share some similarities with Purdue's ISA model began popping up in Silicon Valley as a solution to the skills gap.

"There's been a huge mismatch in Silicon Valley between the skills people have and the jobs that are available," Trafton said."So what you had were a lot of these venture capital firms starting up these coding academies that essentially charge no tuition and students give a percentage of their income once they got jobs."

On the policy front, ISAs have been gaining some traction among some top lawmakers.

One longtime advocate of ISAs is a familiar face from the 2016 presidential election  Sen. Marco Rubio. The Florida Republican recently teamed up Indiana Republican congressman Todd Young on a bill that would make it easier for American students to finance their education with ISAs.

The "Investing in Student Success Act of 2017" would amend the tax code to designate an ISA as "a qualified education loan." That would make ISA payments tax-deductible, just like student-loan payments. The bill isn't necessary for colleges like Purdue to start up their own ISA programs, but it would make ISAs a more attractive option.

"This innovative legislation would empower students to leverage their future income today and access the financial resources of businesses, individuals, and nonprofit organizations in order to achieve their higher education goals," Rubio said in a news release out February 2.

Purdue University

Purdue University

Purdue University is so far the only the traditional four-year university with its own ISA program. It's called "Back a Boiler" and it has disbursed $2.2 million to 160 juniors and seniors since it launched last year.

Some distinct features of Purdue's program include:

A limit to how much a student can take out. In order to prevent students from taking on too big a financial burden, Purdue limits the amount a student can fund their education from an ISA to 15% of their total postgraduation income (this is the total amount for their education, not each academic year). In contrast, Purdue can't limit the terms of private loans.

If a student makes less than $20,000 a year, they don't have to pay anything. That's it, no asterisks. So if a student makes $20,000 or less during the entire time of their contact, then he or she doesn't make a single payment.

There's a cap for how much a student can pay. So even if a student has a very high income right out of college, he or she won't have to pay more than 2.5 times the original ISA amount.

"Many of the universities we are working with will have limits on how much students can take out, and similar terms to what exists at Purdue, but numbers will vary slightly program to program," said Tonio DeSorrento.

Purdue will expand its ISA program for the next academic year to freshman and sophomores. Brian Edelman, chief operating officer of Purdue Research Foundation, told Business Insider that he thinks it's feasible for all Purdue's students to take out an ISA if they have the financial need.

Our goal for the first year was to offer 'Back a Boiler' to students who planned to borrow through private and Parent Plus loans in addition to any public-subsidized loans, Edelman said in a press release. We wanted to offer an option to reduce that interest-bearing debt and I believe we have that with this program."

What an ISA looks like over time

Whether an ISA is a good deal for college graduates depends, of course, on how well they do.

Let's say a student, Jerry, is working toward a degree in art history at Purdue University. If Jerry were to take out a $10,000 ISA to help pay for his degree, then in this case he would be required to pay 3.92% of his income for a 10-year period, according to the comparison tool on Purdue's "Back a Boiler" site.

Since ISA monthly payments are based on income as a person's income increases, so too do their monthly payments. Likewise, if a person were to witness a dip in their annual wage, then the monthly payments for their ISA would decrease as well.

Screen Shot 2017 03 30 at 5.45.48 PM

In this example, the student would end up paying more for an ISA than a PLUS loan, but less than he would for a private loan. This is not always the case. In certain instances students can pay substantially less under the terms of an ISA compared to a Plus Loan of private loan. And technically, in some cases, they can actually pay nothing.

Further, there is typically a max payback of 2 or 2.5 times the original disbursement with ISA. For example, if a student were to take out a $10,000 ISA, then his or her max payback would be $20,000. With student loans, on the other hand, there is no cap for how much a student is required to pay. And in some cases, thanks to fees and compounding interest, repayment can equal many times the borrowed amount.

This is what Jerry's monthly payments would look like under the terms of his ISA. In total, Jerry would end up paying $16,194 for his ISA.

Screen Shot 2017 03 30 at 6.06.52 PM

The downside

ISAs do have their downsides. First, there is the possibility that a high-earning student pays more than a private or federal loan.

According to a note penned by Robert Kelchen, an assistant professor of higher education at Seton Hall University, those high-earning students might be better off with a loan.

"Students who think they'll make a lot of money after college may not want to consider the ISAs either. ISAs require students to pay a fixed percentage of their income. So, they can be an expensive proposition for students who do really well even if the terms are better than for other majors.

These students would be better off taking on federal and private loans and then consider joining the growing number of students who are getting their loans refinanced by a new generation of private lenders, who are willing to give borrowers with successful careers loans on lower interest."

The future

Nevertheless, ISA advocates are hopeful for 2017.

"We are working with some very well-known schools who haven't publicly announced yet that they are thinking about rolling out their own ISA program," DeSorrento told Business Insider.

"This year is a game changer for this market," Charles Trafton said.

That optimism is warranted considering a recent report by the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute titled "Student and Parent Perspectives on Higher Education Financing."

"We found that the demand for ISAs is out there," Jason Delisle, who wrote the report, told Business Insider,"And there is no typical person who prefers an ISA over a loan."

That, he says, bodes well for their future.

"The demand for an alternative to loans exists, so it stands to reason that if colleges start implementing these types of programs, they will be utilized," Delisle concluded.

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We are collating signatures to petition ...
By Francesco Guarascio and Jan Strupczewski

VALLETTA (Reuters) - Malta's presidency of the European Union said on Friday the bloc should slow down its drive against corporate tax avoidance because it might hurt Europe's economy by increasing legal uncertainty.

Following recent revelations, such as the Panama Papers, of tax evasion and reduction by big corporations and wealthy individuals, the European Commission has made several legislative proposals to close legal loopholes but some of the most ambitious plans have yet to be approved by EU states.

In a paper to be discussed by EU finance ministers in Valletta on Friday and Saturday, Malta, which holds the rotating EU chair until July, said the proposed reforms would increase uncertainty, harming international investment and trade.

Malta and other smaller EU states with low tax regimes have repeatedly showed caution in the push for reform, fearing multinationals headquartered in their territory may leave.

The paper, seen by Reuters, said, "a certain amount of time is needed in order to properly formulate, assimilate and apply such legislation".

It also argued that the EU should align the pace of its reforms to changes at international level to avoid losing competitiveness. Moves at global level are notoriously slow on tax matters.

But the EU commissioner for tax policies, Pierre Moscovici, told Reuters that reforms should continue at a "rapid pace".

"EU citizens can no longer accept that multinationals don't pay taxes or pay less than they should," he said.

The Commission is also trying to tackle tax avoidance by increasing tax transparency, which Malta said could lead to more tax disputes and increase legal uncertainty.

Moscovici countered that. "Legal certainty will come from common rules across the EU to tackle frauds," he said, noting that "this should not be used as a political alibi to stop our reforms".

In the paper, Malta also called for an "enhanced" use of regulated tax rulings, which allow large companies to settle their tax bills in advance, a practice used by several multinationals to obtain sweetheart concessions in EU countries.

Story continues

Among companies already sanctioned for such deals, the Commission has asked Apple (AAPL.O) to pay $14 billion to Ireland for tax skipped thanks to a generous deal with Dublin.

Amazon.com (AMZN.O) and McDonald's (MCD.N) also face Commission investigation over taxes in Luxembourg, while Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O) has been ordered to pay up to 30 million euros ($33 million) in back-taxes to the Dutch state.

(Editing by Louise Ireland)
Update: 12:16 p.m. Officials have reported the fire is now 90% contained. One the fire continued to burn up to the fire lines, officials can call it 100% contained.

6:30 a.m. Officials have reported the fire is now 80% contained and 95% of evacuees have been allowed back in their homes.

Original report: Firefighters in Seminole County are battling a large brush fire, according to authorities.

The 165-plus acre fire is located in the Live Oak Reserve area, just off County Road 419, near Chuluota.

It was first reported just before 4 p.m.

Fire officials said 100 people were evacuated from a nearby Girl Scout camp in Chuluota as a result. Also homes on Woodhurst Court in the Live Oak Reserve subdivision were evacuated.

"This couldn't have come at a worse time," Joy Macaione said as she packed after mandatory evacuations were made for several neighborhoods in Oviedo due to the brush fire Saturday night.

Dozens of families were impacted by the mandatory evacuations.

It went from a beautiful morning to complete chaos and havoc and I had the fire department and two police officers saying get your stuff and get out," Joy said.

Joy said their home was the least of their worries, as they had to quickly transport their horses and other animals to a safe location.

"The tangible things are replaceable, the house is replaceable. The things I can't replace are my horses and my animals," Joy said.

The fire also claimed three campsites at Camp Mah-Kah-Wee and 11 buildings, according to officials.

A total of 44 homes were either under mandatory or voluntary evacuation.

"The house is over there and you can't really do much, but the question is, is the fire going to come back here and burn the house down or are we going to be okay? There is just a knot in your stomach," said evacuee Brock Beckman.

Multiple agencies at the scene of the fire, including Oviedo Fire Rescue, Seminole County Fire, Florida Fire Service and the Seminole County Sheriffs Office.

According to FFS, 45 percent of the fire is contained.

The Chuluota Veterans of Foreign Wars Post has been set up as an evacuation shelter.

Some roads in the Sterling Creek and Live Oaks Reserve area are closed. Officials are urging people to use caution when driving because of smoky conditions.



The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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The three hundred light blue flags lining the Hale County Courthouse lawn are in recognition of the 66,000 Texas children who are victims of abuse and neglect in 2015, including 140 in Hale County.

The small flags were placed along the sidewalk ringing the courthouse square late Friday morning by representatives of the Hale County Child Welfare Board, students from Plainview Christian Academy, local churches and other. The symbolic display recognizes April as Child Abuse Prevention Month, and Friday, April 7, as Go Blue Day in Plainview.

Plainview Mayor Wendell Dunlap issued a proclamation to that effect outside the courthouse during a brief ceremony at 11:30 a.m. Friday. Dunlaps proclamation explains,

Whereas, child abuse is a community problem and finding solutions depends on involvement among people throughout the community;

Whereas, over 66,000 Texas children were confirmed victims of child abuse and neglect, including 140 children in Hale County;

Whereas, all citizens should become more aware of child abuse and its prevention within the community, and become involved in supporting parents to raise their children in a safe nurturing environment;

Whereas, children are the foundation for a prosperous and innovative society, and the foundation for a childs growth and development is established when every community and every citizen takes responsibility for creating healthy environments where children can thrive,

Now, therefore, be it resolved, to urge all citizens of the City of Plainview to recognize April 7, 2017, as Go Blue Day to show awareness of abuse and neglect. And to further recognize April as Child Abuse Prevention Month. And to call upon all citizens of the City of Plainview, as well as community agencies, religious organizations, medical facilities, schools and businesses to increase their participation in our efforts to prevent child abuse and neglect, thereby strengthening the community in which we live.

An explanatory banner has been affixed to the windmill on the west side of the courthouse.

According to local representatives, an average of 185 children are abused each day in Texas. Just this fiscal year, through Feb. 15, 2017, 1,028 abuse/neglect cases have occurred in Region 1, including 45 in Hale County.

Some of the signs of abuse include:

--Unexplained injuries

--Changes in emotional behavior

--Returning to less mature/younger behavior

--Fear of going home

--Changes in sleep patterns

--Changes in school performance or attendance

--Lack of personal care/hygiene

--Risk-taking behavior

--Inappropriate sexual behavior

Some of the causes of abuse and neglect include:

--Poverty

--Teen pregnancy

--Lack of support

--Drugs/alcohol

--Mental illness

--Family history

To report suspected abuse or neglect, call the hotline at 1-800-252-5400, report it online at www.txabusehotline.org or dial 911.
Richard Coyle

NEWTOWNThe Newtown Police Department raised the most money of any public safety organization for the Special Olympics when six officers participated in Westports Penguin Plunge.

With residents donating all month to support the officers, the department raised over $600 to donate to the Special Olympics Connecticut chapter. They announced yesterday that they won first place for public safety organizations participating in the fundraiser.
NORWALK  Its hard to find housing in Norwalk.

The Open Door Shelter is full. The family shelter is over-capacity. There are people sleeping in the shelters overflow space. All of the off-site affordable housing units owned by the shelter are rented.

And no matter how quickly Executive Director Jeannette Archer-Simons is able to find other shelters in Fairfield County with open space, the waiting list for shelter only grows.

This week alone we had three families competing for one family slot, Archer-Simons said. Thats how full it is. I just got an email from another mother with four children whos looking for shelter. And were no different than any other shelter. The only place I heard there might be space for families is in Shelton, though right now were sending people there so they may not have space very long.

Over the last year, the helpline run by the United Way of Connecticut fielded more than 6,300 requests from Norwalk residents alone seeking help with basic needs like food and shelter or emergency services. Of those, the most common request made by callers to the hotline, known as 2-1-1, was for housing and shelter services.

But thats not surprising, Archer-Simons said, given the sky-high cost of living compared with the average income in Norwalk.

The Stamford-Norwalk metropolitan area, as defined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, is the fifth most expensive region in the country  and the most expensive in the state  when comparing the average fair market rent with the average wage.

The region falls only behind San Francisco, Calif.; Oakland-Fremont, Calif.; San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.; and Honolulu, Hawaii, according to the Out of Reach 2016 study by the National Low Income Housing Coalition. The Danbury area is the sixth most expensive in the nation.

Rents have increased all the way up to Bridgeport, Archer-Simons said. Landlords are recognizing theres a competitive marketplace and they can raise rents, and weve seen a rise in demand for shelter. We had someone recently whose rent went up $300. Thats a car payment. Thats a month of groceries. Theres just not enough affordable housing in the marketplace.

When affordable isnt affordable

Roughly 38 percent of Norwalk adults are living below or at the ALICE threshold, a level set by the United Way based on the amount a household would have to earn per hour to afford the average cost of living in Connecticut municipalities.

Only 36 percent of Norwalks housing stock is rental property. Of that, just 12 percent is considered affordable based on fair market rates and the number of public housing units offered. Taking into consideration the federal standard that a households rent or mortgage should equal 30 percent of their income, the fair market rate is based at 80 percent of the state median income. This makes the average rent for a privately owned, fair market rate, two-bedroom apartment about $1,350. And those are hard to come by.

Finding affordable housing in Norwalk is a tough one. Locating it when its actually available is even harder, said Tim Carney, housing development project manager for the Norwalk Redevelopment Agency.

Carney said the redevelopment agency does not place people in fair market rate apartments. Rather, its up to the developers of communities like the Waypointe, Iron Works and Avalon to make 10 percent of their units affordable. Carney said those units fill so quickly theyre rarely on the market long enough to publicize.

Of the more than 1,500 calls to 2-1-1 from people seeking housing and shelter in Norwalk, 69 percent were seeking emergency shelter, 16 percent sought low-cost housing and 11 percent were in search of rental assistance. Only 7 percent and 5 percent of the top two requests were unmet, respectively, but nearly 80 percent of of those seeking rental assistance were unable to find help.

Adam Bovilsky, director of Human Relations and Fair Rent for the city of Norwalk, said the primary forms of rental assistance  public housing, Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers and subsidized housing  are limited, resulting in a large number of unmet requests for assistance.

The public housing waiting lists are so long, he said, that the Norwalk Housing Authority has been forced to close the waiting lists for years at a time.

People can wait years for housing once theyre on the waiting list, and theyre waiting years to even get on the list, Bovilsky said. The reason we have such a need here is due to the incredibly high cost of living when compared with the relatively low median income for our area for Fairfield County. Its really hard to make ends meet here if youre in the lower range of income. Even in the middle range its hard to make ends meet. Its not at all surprising that this is what people are calling for. 2-1-1 getting a lot of calls for housing assistance just makes a lot of sense.

Making ends meet

In addition to subsidized housing, public housing, privately owned Fair Market Rent apartments, rental assistance and emergency shelter, there are two other types of affordable housing, Bovilsky said.

Bovilsky said rooming houses are a legally recognized form of affordable housing where people often pay for nothing more than a room, and share the community spaces.

Those in Norwalk go for $600 a month for nothing more than a room, Bovilsky said.

The final type of affordable housing, which Bovilsky said the majority of low-income residents live in, are illegal units. These are old homes or apartments that have been converted into more apartments without proper permits, and in which, more people often live than are legally allowed by zoning regulations.

Bovilsky said these units are usually unsafe, overcrowded and at constant risk of being discovered by the city, which evict all of the tenants and fine the landlord.

A lot of residents find the only way to find Norwalk affordable is by living in these unpermitted units, Bovilsky said. And theres a substantial portion of our population that has to do that despite the risks.

Data makes a difference

Statewide, the 2-1-1 call center in Rocky Hill received more than 332,000 requests in the past year, with the most inquiries for housing and shelter. The call center tracks the calls by ZIP code of origin, type of service requested, subcategories within the type of service requested and how many of those requests were unmet.

Historically, this data was only published by United Way of Connecticut in an annual report, but it is now publicly available on a website called 2-1-1 Counts. The Connecticut organization has joined about 20 United Ways from other states in launching the online tool that provides real-time and searchable data that is collected from the call centers.

Our hope is that it provides a quick and easy visual snapshot of community needs and trends so that individuals can make informed decisions, said Alana Kroeber, director of information services for 2-1-1 at the United Way of Connecticut.

Kroeber said they hope the data will be helpful to grant writers, researchers and policymakers. So far, she said, a state lawmaker from Bridgeport used 2-1-1 data in testimony she submitted in favor of proposed legislation.

The United Way of Connecticut is working with the 2-1-1 Counts creators at Washington University in St. Louis to find a way to incorporate the 2-1-1 data from its website, since people can access resources online without having to call the hotline.

This is going to be a great resource for us, said Kim Morgan, chief executive officer of the United Way of Western Connecticut. It really does take a pulse of what the needs are.

Archer-Simons said the data illuminates the severity of the affordable housing crisis, and the availability of the data allows nonprofits and state organizations to work together more effectively.

The good news is that because we are now tracking it as a state, we can work on collective ways to solve the problem, Archer-Simons said. The bad news is now we know how severe our issues are. We need more funding for housing. More funding for affordable housing, and more funding for housing supports. But that comes from the state so its not going to happen.

Reporter Mackenzie Rigg contributed to this report.

kkrasselt@scni.com; 203-354-1021; @kaitlynkrasselt
TUSCOLA COUNTY  A 57-year old Decker man is facing a lengthy prison sentence from the attempted sexual assault on a female in November 2016 in the parking lot of a Mayville-area business.

During his appearance in Tuscola County Circuit Court, Jeffrey Innes Wendorf pleaded guilty to charges of unlawful imprisonment and assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder in connection with the attack. He was also convicted of being a habitual offender  having three or more prior felony convictions, which will be a factor during sentencing. He could face a life sentence.
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What began with a welfare check Friday morning at a south Houston home turned into an apparent murder-suicide by the afternoon, with four people killed across three connected murder scenes in two counties.

Houston Police Department officers arrived around 7:20 a.m. to a modest house on Mt. Pleasant Street in South Union, where they found a man and his stepdaughter dead from gunshot wounds.

The stepdaughter's mother had also been hit. That woman, who was the male victim's wife, was rushed to Ben Taub Hospital in critical condition.

The stepdaughter who was dead appeared to have been the shooter, HPD homicide detective Bill Elsbury said.

But police officers would quickly learn their death count would double.

They discovered another body, a man's, at a separate home just a few doors down on Mt. Pleasant Street, where neighbors said the suspected shooter had been living for about a month.

As of Friday afternoon, police had not released the identities of the suspected shooter or victims, or how they may have known the man who died at the neighboring home.

As about half a dozen police cars descended on the street, and neighbors gathered along the normally quiet road to survey the scene, Houston police asked Fort Bend County law enforcement to check on another home, this time in Fresno, located in the Andover Farms subdivision.

Fort Bend County sheriff's deputies were called to check the home at about 9 a.m., homicide detective Justin White said. No one answered the door when they arrived, and they saw nothing suspicious, so they left.

HPD asked that deputies return to check the home again.

About 30 or 40 minutes after that initial call, they were back again. They forced their way inside and found the body of Carolyn Jean Holmes.

It is unknown how long she had been dead.

Holmes was 48 years old and believed to be the only resident of the home, White said. He said the cause of death was expected to be a gunshot.Deputies were looking for security cameras to help determine the time of the alleged crime, especially as it connects to other deaths believed to be related in Houston. They had been unable to view any footage as of early Friday afternoon.

When asked about the suspect and motive, White deferred to HPD but said he believed Holmes knew her attacker.

"I don't know. I don't know what drives a person to have that much rage," he said.

A 55-year-old neighbor, who declined to give his name as he smoked a pipe, watched from across the street. He said he had grown up in southeast Houston and was now living here with family.

News like this came as a shock, he said, because the area was usually peaceful, with kids sometimes playing in the streets and neighbors walking their dogs.

Another neighbor, who was 50, agreed the area was full of hardworking, working class people, including teachers, nurses and lawyers. He said Holmes had helped keep an eye out on the neighborhood. He believed she was disabled after an accident, walking with a limp and cane. He recalled that she had two sons.

"She was a very good neighbor," he said.

Officials removed the body from the home shortly after 2 p.m.

They loaded it into a van, packed away their crime scene tape and drove away.Not much is known about the shooter or her connection to Holmes.

Neighbors of the suspected shooter said they didn't know her well. She had been in the South Union neighborhood such a short time. But many were familiar with the man they believe to have been her stepfather, who was shot and killed that morning.

Elsburg later confirmed that the suspected shooter also has children who are safe,

Krista Reece, 33, said she saw the stepfather every day where he worked at a meat market on the corner of Mt. Pleasant Street and Scott Street, just a few houses from where he was found dead.

He packed sodas and manned the butcher counter, she said.

A man and a woman who said they were the stepfather's biological children stood outside of the meat market Friday morning. The man's daughter was in shock. Her friend, 40-year-old Letisha Simmons, comforted her.

"He was a good-hearted man," Simmons said. "He didn't deserve what he got."
Hale County commissioners on Monday are expected to consider an interlocal agreement to allow the City of Hale Center market the tax foreclosed properties it oversees through a Lubbock-based company.

Danny Barrett, director of Texas Communities Group LLC of Lubbock, met with commissioners at Fridays work session to outline that firms services. The company works with several cities and taxing entities throughout the region to market and sell abandoned and tax-forfeiting properties.

Those are known as either trust properties or zero-value properties since they are no longer on the tax rolls, Barrett explains. They are not producing any tax revenues, but costs are still going out since the trustees  either the city or county  is responsible for cleanup and keeping them mowed. Any structures are normally dilapidated, and often have to be cleared. Most of the time the property is vacant.

Tax forfeited properties inside the city limits of Hale Center have been assigned to that city as trustee, although Hale County, Hale Center ISD and High Plains Underground Water Conservation District also hold tax liens on the property.

Barrett said the proposed agreement seeks to assign proceeds from any sale to the city to help recoup its costs for mowing, upkeep and marketing. While the sale price normally isnt sufficient to cover back taxes, the property will be returned to the tax rolls and one again generate property tax revenues for each taxing entity, Barrett noted.

Our services include erecting signs on the property, putting together a catalog of properties that will be available to all interested parties in the community, along with an online component, Barrett explained. We normally are able to secure better bids for the properties, usually at or just below market value.

Barrett said working with the City of Paducah, the company successfully marketed and sold 76 tax-forfeiting properties.

Other items on Mondays agenda that were reviewed during Fridays work session include:

--Letters of engagement with Davis Kinard & Co., PC, for 2016 year-end audits of Hale County and Plainview/Hale County Airport.

--Appointments to the County Investment Committee and changes to the Hale County Collateral Securities Policy.

--Review of the county precincts fuel bid procedures.

--Hear a request for the county to regulate the amount towing companies charge for services.

--Consider using the jury room attached to the third floor courtroom for records storage.

--Hear a report from Precinct 3 Constable Terry Timms on his successful application for a 2017 JAG Grant to purchase a Chevrolet Tahoe for patrol.

--Renew telephone and internet contracts with NTS Communications.

--Consider a request dealing with traffic signage in Seth Ward.

--Hear personnel and training requests from the sheriffs office.

--Consider a request to run a waterline beneath a county roadway.

--Approve current accounts payable of $374,685.86, including previously approved heavy equipment purchases for Precincts 1 and 3.

Mondays meeting begins at 9 a.m. Monday in the Hale County Courthouse, 500 Broadway, and is open to the public.
HURON COUNTY  Elizabeth V. Weisenbach is the new chair of the Huron County Democratic Party.

Born and raised in Sebewaing, Weisenbach now resides in Caseville Township.

She received her bachelor's degree from Albion College and juris doctor from Detroit College of Law at Michigan State University. Following graduation from law school in 1999, she returned home and worked at the Huron County Prosecutors' Office as an assistant prosecuting attorney until she entered private practice in 2008.

Despite her career in law, there hasn't been a time that Weisenbach can recall not being interested in politics. Growing up in a blue collar home, her family kept up with current events, and when President Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981, the then 9-year-old was glued to the TV taking notes.

When her teacher found out the next day, the third grader gave her first political presentation to her class. Civics, history classes and government were her favorites with Mr. Fred Licht at Unionville-Sebewaing Area High.

At Albion, Weisenbach was a political science major with a concentration in public service, and was a member of the Gerald R. Ford Institute of Public Service.

She did a summer internship at U.S. Sen. Carl Levin's Saginaw office in 1993, and has had extensive political experience since that time.

In 2008, she was approached by Kelly Hanson to run his campaign for Huron County Sheriff against the two-termed Republican incumbent in the primary, and they went on to win a difficult general election. In 2014, her friend, Gerald Prill asked her to assist with his successful bid for Huron County Circuit Court judge. Last summer, she was campaign manager for Deb McCollum, who was elected Huron County treasurer.

Weisenbach firmly believes the Democratic Party is the party that best asserts the rights of all citizens, not just the incredibly fortunate, and promotes equality, fairness and opportunity.

She is optimistic about the party's future.

"The Democratic Party is the world's oldest active political party, and has been 're-invented' all through its 189 years of history, and there is no more exciting time than now to be an integral part of the next evolution," she stated. "Our values did not change and we did earn the popular vote. In the past couple of months, I have been meeting the new leaders in the state party and I am eager to promote the positive message of the Democratic Party in Huron County."

The Huron County Democratic Party meets at 7 p.m. every second Tuesday at its headquarters at 127 N. Heisterman St. in downtown Bad Axe. On Tuesday, the group is hosting former MDC Chair Mark Brewer to discuss re-districting, of which he has been leading the effort to make significant changes. Mark Brewer served as the nation's longest state party chair from 1995 to 2013.
New York

The city claimed a victory Friday in its fight to protect undocumented immigrants when a Staten Island judge ruled, after four months of deliberations, that the city could destroy personal documents associated with its municipal identification program.

The decision, by Justice Philip G. Minardo of the state Supreme Court, stemmed from a lawsuit filed in December by two members of the state Assembly from Staten Island who sought to stop the destruction of documents, like copies of foreign passports, used to verify a person's identity to obtain the card, known as IDNYC.

Minardo disagreed with the lawmakers, Ronald Castorina Jr. and Nicole Malliotakis, who claimed that purging the documents would threaten national security.

But the judge immediately granted a stay until April 17, pending an appeal by the lawmakers.

"With this decision, the state Supreme Court protected the personal information of a million New Yorkers," Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. "We applaud the ruling and will fight any attempt to appeal it."

Castorina said in an interview that he and Malliotakis would ask the appellate court for a longer stay to prevent the destruction of the documents.

"We always knew we would be in for the long haul on this issue," he said.

The lawsuit covers only the first two years of the program, because the documents were supposed to be purged by Dec. 31, 2016. As of Dec. 7, under a City Council law, the copies of information for any new applications were immediately destroyed.

"It's my opinion that these ID cards are being administered in a very scant vetting process," Castorina said. "They put us all at risk and, as a result, the destruction of any type of government records, particularly those that are used to procure government-level identification, are a great cause of concern and make us all a lot less safe."

The suit was initiated with President Donald Trump's crackdown on immigration clearly in mind. Advocates for immigrants feared that keeping copies of the underlying documents on file could lead the authorities to applicants, putting them at risk of deportation.

But Minardo dismissed politics on both sides in his ruling Friday.

"Much ado was made about the recent federal election of a Republican president with an immigration agenda and petitioners' support of that president and the very public opposition of certain respondents," he wrote in his decision. "Notwithstanding these positions, this court cannot make new law based upon a political party's agenda."

More than 1 million people have applied for the IDNYC card since 2015. The card has been popular with immigrants living in the city without legal authorization, because it provides a form of government identification for those without a driver's license or U.S. passport. According to the city, more than half of cardholders use IDNYC as their primary form of identification.
New York

Rail commuters who endured days of aggravation after a train derailment at Penn Station woke up Friday morning with assurances that track repairs would be completed and service restored, but soon discovered that wasn't entirely accurate.

Amtrak, which owns and maintains tracks used by New Jersey Transit and the Long Island Rail Road, said at 7:30 a.m. that testing and inspections were completed. But NJ Transit said work was still being done and warned that delays were possible.

By that time, the Long Island Rail Road had already canceled 10 rush-hour trains into Manhattan and terminated four others at stations in Queens.

By late Friday morning, NJ Transit tweeted that its trains were running on or close to schedule, though some trains already en route were experiencing residual delays. Buses, ferries and other rail lines continued to cross-honor NJ Transit rail tickets, as they did all week.

The LIRR unleashed its ire Friday, issuing a statement that said: "Because Amtrak crews did not finish track repair work by 4 a.m. as promised and because they did not grant access to tracks overnight so that Long Island Rail Road could pre-position trains, LIRR is forced to once again operate a reduced morning rush-hour schedule."

The derailment of an NJ Transit commuter train Monday as it approached the station platform knocked out eight of the station's 21 tracks maintained by Amtrak. It also ignited a spat between Amtrak and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who angrily demanded a refund of money already paid by the state to Amtrak for maintenance and repairs.

The disruptions and delays to rail service up and down the Northeast apparently were caused by a weakening of the timber ties sitting under a piece of track in Penn Station. Amtrak officials said Thursday that the ties were inspected days before the derailment and deemed to be in need of replacement eventually, but didn't appear to pose an imminent threat.

It was the second derailment at Penn Station in less than two weeks. On March 24, an outbound Amtrak train derailed and scraped against an inbound NJ Transit train.

The two derailments highlighted the challenges posed by Amtrak's aging infrastructure and the myriad ways in which the system can go awry.

On Friday, New Jersey U.S. Sens. Bob Menendez and Cory Booker sent a letter to their colleagues on the Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development urging them not to cut federal dollars for Amtrak.

The Democratic senators urged subcommittee members not to accept Republican President Donald Trump's proposed federal budget, which they say would drastically cut funds for Amtrak and risk a $20 billion-plus project to build a new rail tunnel into New York from New Jersey and expand Penn Station.
HOUSTON  Hillary Clinton called on President Donald Trump's administration Friday to develop a strategy to end Syrias civil war in a manner consistent with American values, following a United States missile strike on the country late Thursday.

The former secretary of state and Democratic presidential candidate also condemned Syrian President Bashar al-Assads chemical weapons attack on his country this week, which prompted the U.S. strike on a Syrian air base.

It is essential that the world does more to deter Assad from committing future murderous atrocities. But the action taken last night needs to be followed by a broader strategy to end Syria's civil war, Clinton said, speaking at a 2,500-person Houston luncheon for the Texas womens political group Annie's List. I hope this administration will move forward in a way that is most strategic and consistent with our values, and I also hope that they will recognize that we cannot in one breath speak of protecting Syrian babies and in the next close Americas borders.

Clinton, who did not elaborate what she meant by American values, added that the attack "reminds us and, certainly, the last 100 days are a reminder that politics matter enormously."

Clinton focused her 30-minute speech on rallying Texas Democrats  particularly women  to be politically active, fight Republican policies she views as harmful to women, and work on turning Texas blue.

Clinton zeroed in on Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

The activism is more important than ever, and its working.  Think of the thousands of people who flooded into town halls helping to bring down the Republicans terrible health care bill, she said. When you're talking about empowering women, well, that's a hollow gesture when your actions endanger womens lives.

She also nodded to a bill by state Rep. Jessica Farrar, D-Houston, titled the Mans Right to Know Act, which would fine men $100 for masturbating.

The bill may be satirical, but the message sure resonated, Clinton said.

Farrar has said she filed the bill  named after an informational booklet Texas physicians are required to give women considering an abortion  out of frustration over male lawmakers approaches to womens health care.

The former secretary of state kept a relatively low profile in the months after losing last years presidential election to Trump, opting to spend time walking in the woods, as she put it.

Clinton, however, has spoken at several events geared toward women in leadership in recent weeks.

Nothing in politics in a Democracy is permanent, she told the packed downtown ballroom primarily composed of Democratic women. Even though things may feel bleak, just turn off the TV. Thats my advice for the short term.

Clinton helped turn Harris County blue last November despite under-performing national expectations, defeating Trump by more than 12 points and carrying local Democrats with her. The party won every county-wide position on the ballot.

Harris County still is considered the nations largest swing county, however, and Democrats face a steep uphill battle across the state.

Texans last elected a Democrat to statewide office in 1994, and the party holds just 36 percent of the seats in the state Legislature, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Women are outnumbered on both sides of the aisle.

Just 20 percent of Texas state legislators are women, per NCSL, putting the state 33rd in the nation for female representation.

Clinton focused, however, on Texas women who have held elected office, naming leaders like former Gov. Ann Richards, former Houston Mayor Annise Parker and a slew of current representatives.

I think right here in Texas, we can do a lot to build those bridges of common purpose and shared values, she said. If we grasp and stay true to that vision, I believe with all my heart that this state will be as blue as the big Texas sky.

Last years presidential election never was far from view Friday.

Roughly a dozen Trump supporters demonstrated outside the Marriott Marquis ahead of Clintons appearance, and attendees repeatedly harkened back to her November upset.

Annies List Executive Director Patsy Woods Martin introduced Clinton as the woman who should be president, and luncheon honoree and top Democratic donor Amber Mostyn praised the former senator for her fight.

Secretary Clinton, you withstood everything they had to throw at you, and you did it for us, Mostyn said. Like you, like (former state) Senator Wendy Davis, like many of the women in this room, you did it, you tried. And if you fall short, you get right back up again fighting for the things that you believe in.
Last week, a raccoon and an opossum from Hardberger Park made their way up Blanco Road and scurried east a bit to get a look at some land.

Someday, the opossum said, sniffing the air as the sun set on the former Classen-Steubing Ranch, this is going to be a park.

The raccoon took a whiff of the land recently purchased by the city and cringed.

I smell 281, he said with an edge. I smell sprawl. And Ill tell you what else I smell  I smell a direct line of development between here and Austin. Its going to be one of those metroplex city-state thingies that looks like all the other metroplex city-state thingies Back East. Or Up North. Or Out West.

Nah, the opossum said, this is the front porch of the Texas Hill Country, the home of the bluebonnet photo op, the shy but ever-present deer and the friendly human who likes the sound of springtime. Its the 

THERES A TIRE CENTER RIGHT THERE! the raccoon interrupted, pointing with both of his little hands at the glow of Loop 1604 in the near distance. Dont try to paint one of those River Walk-starving artists-sofa-sized-wildflower-landscape fantasies when we can hear the air nozzles from here now that rush hour is over.

Humans need tires, the opossum said, scratching at the dirt for bugs. They need restaurants and stores and schools and places to park dozens of school buses. But they also need green spaces.

Green spaces is a term to justify spending, the raccoon said, picking up the remains of an old fast-food container. Thats why theyre really called green spaces.

The opossum smiled and found a large rock to sit on. He leaned back and smiled, his pink tail swaying in the cool springtime breeze of the South Texas night.

San Antonio has Brackenridge Park because, more than a century ago, someone who loved nature gifted that land to the public. If you want to see if that was a good move, we can check it out next Sunday.

The raccoon rolled his eyes.

And, the opossum said, resting his chin on his paw, our own Hardberger Park is the perfect example of what happens when a green space  because it is more than a park  lands right in the middle of apartments full of families chasing schools. Theres the dog park, tables for birthday parties right next to the playground, trails, the urban ecology center and gathering hall, a fitness program, the  

A high-dollar land bridge that your precious deer are never, ever going to figure out, snarked the raccoon, interrupting.

Not the point, the opossum continued. Putting a premium on nature is important. Making our parks special, memorable jewels is worthwhile. Big, 100-acre-plus parks are for everyone  generations of everyones, even  to enjoy on special occasions, time-strapped weekends or just because the weather is cooperating.

The opossum climbed a tree and looked north at the bright lights from TPC Parkway.

You have to look to the future, he said. Big spaces filled with shade trees and teeming wildlife have the power to renew a soul. They are places where San Antonians can come to see what was here 100 years ago and what, with their help, can be here 100 years from now.

They are a place, the raccoon said, where you can sit and laugh at those goofy squirrels  or, if you are a goofy squirrel, a place to get crazy and just go, go, go. They are places where one can take a walk or find a bench and think about something other than the small fortune youre dropping at the tire center.

The opossum, catching a whiff of the nearby Pollo Tropical, smiled.

mariaanglin@yahoo.com
China's President Xi Jinping (R) and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin attend a welcoming ceremony at the Xijiao State Guesthouse, before the fourth Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) summit in Shanghai May 20, 2014. Trade between China and Russia is expected to reach $100 billion by 2015, Xi said on Tuesday, after meeting with Putin.

The US on Thursday (April 6) launched dozens of missiles at a Syrian military airfield, in retaliation for the Assad regimes alleged use of chemical weapons that killed dozens of civilians earlier this week. US officials have said they have no doubt Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was responsible, although Syria has denied using chemical weapons. On the same day as the US strike, the UNs top decision-making body failed to do anything about the suspected toxic gas attack. In general, the body has been unable to act on Syria, mainly due to vetoes by Russia and China.

Amnesty International said in February that the two nations displayed a callous disregard for the lives of millions of Syrians by vetoing a resolution at that time over Syrias suspected use of chemical weapons. Over the past six years, Russia has voted seven times against UN Security Council resolutions on Syria and the fighting raging there. A Russian ally, China has wielded its veto power six times.

After this weeks chemical attack, Russia and China took similar, but slightly different stances about what should happen next. The latest chemical attack is reported to have taken place early Tuesday (April 4) in a rebel-held area in northwestern Syria, and killed some 70 people, including children. Both nations said a thorough investigation of the attack was needed before any party takes action.

On April 6, Kremlin said in a statement that it is unacceptable to make groundless accusations against any party until a thorough and objective international investigation has been conducted. Russia has also suggested that the deaths occurred as a result of gas being released from an airstrike on a chemical weapons factory operated by terrorists, CNN has reported.

Chinas Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, has stressed its position against the use of chemical weapons by anyone under any conditions for any purposes, and called for an objective and impartial investigation to identify those behind the attack in Syria. In a speech at a Security Council emergency meeting, Chinas UN ambassador Liu Jieyi said China was deeply shocked (link in Chinese) by the use of chemical weapons in Syria, adding that after an investigation by an independent body, the perpetrators should be brought to justice. Liu also accused his UK counterpart of distorting the solemn position of other countries by blaming the latest gas attack on Russia and Chinas previous vetoes in February.

Story continues

In the Thursday meeting, AFP reported, the UN Security Council discussed three separate draft resolutions relating to a full investigation by an independent Hague-based body which monitors the implementation of a UN convention against chemical weapons. But it didnt vote on any of them. According to AFP, Britain, France and the US proposed a draft resolution that calls for Syria to hand over information to investigators about its military operations on the day of the attack.

Russia suggested it could veto the measure, and instead proposed a rival draft that doesnt demand the regimes cooperation. Ahead of the Thursday meeting, a spokeswoman with the Russian foreign ministry said that the US, France and Britain had planted an anti-Syrian draft resolution at the UN Security Council, using exclusively fake news and fabricated reports planted in the media. Russias deputy UN ambassador Vladimir Safronko echoed that line at a Security Council meeting.

The third draft, from non-permanent Security Council members, is a compromise resolution that has met a cool response from the US but has won support from China, perhaps because Beijing fears the fallout of supporting ally Russia on its resolution, but also doesnt want to sign on to the US-proposed one.

The US airstrike, in stark contrast to president Donald Trumps earlier non-interference stance over the Syria issue, was likely a major surprise to both Russia and China. The Pentagon said it had notified Russia shortly before the bombing, but it is unclear when Chinese president Xi Jinpingwho was having a dinner with Trump during the attackwas made aware of the action.

The Kremlin said on Friday (April 7) that the US strike on Syria is an act of aggression against a sovereign country violating the norms of international law. The countrys foreign minister drew a comparison with the military invasion of Iraq in 2003, according to the Interfax news agency. This should make US Secretary of State Rex Tillersons visit to Moscow next week intense, especially if these questions come up (if the visit isnt postponed, that is).

China, whose leader will be having a second day of talks with Trump on Friday, repeated on April 7 that it is opposed to any use of chemical weapons and again called for an investigation.

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Lets be honest: As long as people on all parts of the spectrum make immigrants and immigration a political issue, we will see only more polarization and gridlock.

Instead, we should follow the faith and other leaders here in Texas who are infusing compassion into the debate  in their churches and at the border.

We see this compassion  and the great need for it  in the stories of children from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras who have fled gang violence and arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border. These kids, often unaccompanied, have not been sneaking in but turning themselves in.

Yes, a secure border is important to our national and personal safety. We are most certainly a nation of laws, and Americas interests come first.

But we are also a nation of compassion. A nation of those who would do unto others as we would have them do unto us.

As I traveled around the country last year researching my book, There Goes the Neighborhood: How Communities Overcome Prejudice and Meet the Challenge of American Immigration, I observed a disconnect among responses to challenges such as young unaccompanied migrants: They were overtly political among those who watched from afar but more sympathetic among communities that actually witnessed and responded to the arrival of the children.

Take politics out of the equation, and we see a very human tragedy across Central America: Picture a life so dangerous that you would put your childrens life in the hands of a smuggler to ferry them to what you hoped was safety in the United States.

As warmer weather arrives and talk about building a border wall heats up, we would do well to remember the response of faith leaders and everyday Texans when unaccompanied migrant children fled the Northern Triangle, made their way through Mexico, and turned themselves in to Customs and Border Patrol officers.

At a moment when some were quick to jump to conclusions and lead many to believe that young children huddled in foil blankets were a threat, Texans led by example, volunteering to take the youth into their homes. Donations poured in. Mayors of communities near the border called for solutions. Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley opened a Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen; it remains open today.

But one particularly heartening response in the summer of 2014 was the decision of Texas and national faith leaders, most of them evangelical, to go beyond the headlines and the rhetoric. They visited a Customs and Border Protection facility in Brownsville where many of the children were being held before being transferred to a Health and Human Services facility. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to join them.

I remember the stark, bare space as if it were yesterday: narrow hallways, gray doors, holding areas surrounded by chain-link fences. The children we met were warm, well-fed and safe, but their environs conveyed warehouse  clean but inhospitable.

I recall just as clearly the childrens stories of their lengthy journeys, the violence they were trying to escape and the families they left behind. The faith leaders alongside whom I stood reacted with deep breaths, clenched jaws, moistened eyes.

We witnessed heartbreak, yes, but through these faith leaders eyes, my eyes were opened to something surprising.

I was struck as we were walking through the facility with two things: a sense of fear and a sense of hope, said Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. A sense of fear when I asked the kids why they made the trek up to the United States. And a sense of hope: I saw many crosses and Bibles. Many people are desperately hoping for an end to the violence where they come from.

These are real people who are looking for hope, and we have the greatest hope that anyone can give them, added Ronnie Floyd, who then was the president of the Southern Baptist Convention. We need to provide them that hope  hope that we love them, hope that we care for them, hope most of all in the Gospel of Jesus Christ that will change their life and give them hope forever, whether they remain in the United States or they go back to their homeland.

He added, People will go a long way and tackle obstacles when they feel that hope is possible. They are hoping for a better life.

Texas own Jim Richards, then-executive director of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, said: We as a state convention are compassionate to these children. It is our obligation under the Gospel to minister to them and help them, regardless of the circumstances in which they came or their future. Our main concern is to care for the children.

The words and emotion these leaders offered at that time are still relevant  and, yes, many leaders are still expressing them.

Still, it is easy to believe times have changed. The political environment certainly has. The fear Americans feel is stronger. The policy questions are different.

Once we remove the lens of politics and policy, and begin to see and listen to and understand one another, we realize our values are the same. When we see children as children, not as a threat, we realize they could be our own childrens best friend, the family one pew over at church, the lovely household down the street.

When we keep our focus, we are a nation that protects women and children. We treat people fairly.

We do more than just welcome the stranger: We make sure the stranger becomes one of us.

Thats happening here in Texas, and not just when faith leaders visit kids held at the border. It happens as law enforcement in San Antonio work to strengthen the trust in immigrant communities so no one will be afraid to report crime. When business leaders encourage their eligible permanent-resident employees to become American citizens.

But faith leaders here and elsewhere are blazing a trail. During difficult times they are demonstrating the biblical principle that how we treat the least of our neighbors defines us and who we are as a nation. They show us that a better way is possible: one that emphasizes security and fairness to American workers  but also a rule of law that has room for compassion, our common humanity, the unity of family, and our tradition of lifting up and supporting our neighbors who are seeking to contribute.

Only when we begin to lose sight of our shared values  compassion, respect, freedom and, yes, hope  do they begin to unravel.

We must understand that in the end, we all want the same thing: safe communities where we can work, provide for our families and contribute. A world where we can ensure our safety without forgetting the biblical call to welcome the stranger  or the golden rule.

How do we get there? All of us, no matter our political stripes, need to listen better. We must respect that fear is real and address it rather than dismiss it.

Most of all, we need to strive for the quality that can best define us as humans and as Americans: compassion.

Ali Noorani is the executive director of the National Immigration Forum and author of the newly released There Goes the Neighborhood: How Communities Overcome Prejudice and Meet the Challenge of American Immigration (Prometheus Books, April 2017). He was scheduled to speak at the San Antonio Book Festival on Saturday.
Trumpism is in crisis.

This isnt a function of poll numbers, or any melodrama of the past months, but something more fundamental: No officeholder in Washington seems to understand President Donald Trumps populism or have a cogent theory of how to effect it in practice, including the president himself.

House Speaker Paul Ryan isnt a populist and doesnt want to be a populist. He has spent his adult life committed to a traditional limited-government agenda. He crafted his own platform during the campaign, the so-called Better Way agenda, to differentiate congressional Republicans from Trump.

Trump, for his part, has lacked the knowledge, focus or interest to translate his populism into legislative form. He deferred to others on legislative priorities and strategies at the outset of his administration, and his abiding passion in the health care debate was, by all accounts, simply getting to a signing ceremony.

In light of all this, the product of the Ryan-Trump partnership was a health care bill bizarrely at odds with a national election Republicans had just won on the strength of working-class voters. Under the GOP replacement, fewer people would have had coverage, and workers further down the income scale would have been particularly hard hit. Neither of these facts seemed to exercise the White House, at least not enough to try to do anything to fix them.

Maybe Ryan doesnt get the new political reality created by Trumps victory, as the presidents boosters like to say. But what excuse does the president himself have for evidently not getting it, either?

A President Trump acting more in keeping with his free-floating reflex to take care of people, as expressed in speeches and interviews, would have pushed the health bill to the left. But Trump so far hasnt followed the logic of his own politics in dealing with Congress.

His path not taken would have been to give an inaugural address with less carnage and more kumbayah. Immediately invite Chuck Schumer to the White House and tell him, Chuck, youre not leaving this building until we agree on an infrastructure package. Take the resulting big-spending proposal and dare the GOP leadership to defy him. Pass it with a bipartisan coalition.

Now that the initial health care bill has gone down, theres loose talk from the White House of wooing Democrats, but a lot has transpired the past few months that makes this much harder.

And Trumps style of politics is not well-suited to bipartisanship. Democrats tend to be fond of Republicans like John Kasich and Jon Huntsman, who are determinedly inoffensive and loath to touch hot-button issues. Trump is neither. He could propose a $2 trillion infrastructure bill funded by forced requisitions from Wall Street bankers and Democrats would probably say, Hell, no.

In any case, the White House is moving on to tax reform. This, too, may end up running in well-worn GOP ruts. Trump executed a hostile takeover of a Republican Party that was obsessed with the 1980s and cutting marginal tax rates. Now, the Republican Plan B is revisiting the tax reform of 1986 with ample cuts in marginal tax rates.

If things continue to go badly over this first year, its easy to see Trump turning to the New York Democrats in his White House. This would entail less emphasis on trade, immigration and fights with the mainstream media, and more emphasis on a nonideological economic boosterism. The loose antecedent for this scenario is Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who swept into office in California as a drain-the-swamp reformer after winning a populist crusade, and then recalibrated to accommodate the system after suffering politically damaging setbacks.

The range of possible outcomes of the Trump presidency is still wide. Unexpectedly, one of them is that his most die-hard populist supporters will eventually be able to say that Trumpism, like socialism, hasnt failed, its just never been tried.

comments.lowry@nationalreview.com
Gov. Greg Abbott, in his continuing attack on what he views as out-of-control local control, turned to the U.S. Constitution recently  specifically, to the 10th Amendment.

The amendment reads: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Many conservatives and strict constructionists have long cited this amendment to argue against federal overreach  the strictest of these constructionists arguing that virtually anything beyond national defense, declaring war, defending borders and collecting taxes constitutes overreach.

But we wonder if Abbott might be guilty of a bit of overreach of his own. The amendment speaks of powers reserved to the states or to the people.

Its an interesting discussion. Do the people include those who vote for local officials who enact ordinances to protect them in the absence of state laws?

So, cities pass smoking bans for bars and restaurants because the state wouldnt. Or they approve bans on texting while driving because the state cant  so far  bring itself to do this. In both instances, people are dying or being injured from this inaction.

And then there are city bans  which many in state government view as overreaching  on such things as fracking, which the city of Denton attempted until stopped by the state, and regulations, such as those on ride-hailing. In such cases, we suspect the concerns of Big Oil or ride-hailing companies, more than individuals, might be more of a driver for what the state believes constitutes improper local control.

And we know Big Tobacco frowns on statewide smoking bans.

Abbott and others also cite the need to respect individual rights as cause to trump local control. So the governor is proposing a broad-based ban on regulations at the local level unless and until certain standards are met.

This is as devoid of detail as his first attempt at proposing such a broad-based approach  at an event sponsored by the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute. He defended his remarks at a second event by the group about a week later. OK, but what certain standards?

Abbott also cites concerns of the business sector  that it be treated uniformly and consistently throughout the state.

The problem is that those businesses do business locally as well as statewide. The issue shouldnt be solely whether they are treated uniformly, but whether they are treated unfairly. Ride-hailing ordinances, smoking bans and bans on texting while driving dont rise to that level, in our estimation.

And those individuals who Abbott contends are injured by overreaching local ordinances can vote out of office those who violate their individual rights  unless they are outnumbered by other local individuals who are just fine with these protections. For instance, some cities in Texas say members of the LGBT community deserve protections against discrimination. And the state has been silent on that, too  though a bathroom bill that discriminates against transgender Texans might change that.

Fortunately, state Speaker Joe Straus does not, according to the Texas Tribune, think that a blanket policy on exerting power from Austin over locals is a particularly attractive idea.

Abbott argues that the fact that the nation calls itself the United States and not the United Municipalities buttresses his argument. But whether we are talking about states or municipalities, they are governed by the people, also referred to in our founding documents.

States should step in when local governments abuse their residents  just as the federal government intrudes (or used to) on state governments when they do. But, by and large, states should not step in when local governments enact local laws that protect people.

Where does that slippery slope end? State control over all facets of local development? Or maybe what businesses have to pay in fees to local governments? How cities and counties assess property taxes? Oh, wait, the Legislature is attempting to do just that at the moment, with Senate Bill 2, which would determine when tax rollback elections occur. And how local can we go?

The problem in Texas isnt a patchwork of rules that businesses and individuals have to live with. Its the Legislatures predisposition  in the name of limited government and the primacy of business interests  that leads it to be unreasonably averse to regulation at any level.

But resenting it when local voters, through their local governments, dont play along.
An Iowa state representative is under fire after saying women who miscarry after 20 weeks of pregnancy should be forced to carry their dead fetuses to term.

During a hearing Wednesday of Senate File 471, which would clear the way for a state ban on abortions after the 20-week mark, Republican Rep. Shannon Lundgren  the manager of 471  faced a question from fellow Rep. John Forbes, a Democrat.

Noting that he has a daughter who is 20 weeks pregnant, Forbes asked that under the bill, would his daughter have to carry her child to term even if a doctor told her there was no longer a heartbeat.

"Is that good medicine?" Forbes wondered.

Lundgren's response:

"This bill wasn't written for the intent to protect or govern on the side of the woman. It was written to save babies' lives, giving the choice and being the voice of those babies...that don't have one. I understand what you're sayingthis fetus, this baby, is not alive. I would concur that in that instance, if your daughter's life is not in danger, that yes, she would have to carry that baby."

Newsweek noted that no lawmakers challenged or attempted to correct that statement at the time.

But after Progress Iowa, a progressive nonprofit, circulated a video of Lundgren's remarks, the Iowa House GOP tweeted that Lundgren "misspoke."

Colin Tadlock, communications director for Iowa House Republicans, told Newsweek that the video of the Lundgren-Forbes exchange is "out of context."

A House committee adopted the 20-week abortion ban amendment on a voice vote and approved the bill 11-8 with one Republican joining all of the Democrats in opposing it.

On Thursday, Lundgren tweeted a photo taken inside the state Capitol's rotunda of an anti-abortion rally centered around a crib filled with baby shoes and American flags. The 2,000 shoes, Lundgren said, represent "just half of the abortions in Iowa."

The vast majority of abortions in Iowa  94 percent  occur in the first trimester  up to 13 weeks of pregnancy.
A CHIVHU man was yesterday fined $500 after he falsely reported on a WhatsApp group that a nurse based at Sadza District Hospital in Chikomba had died of Covid-19.

Elliot Mafuta (39) was fined at Chivhu Police Station for contravening section 14 of Statutory Instrument 83 of 2020, which prohibits publication or communication of false news during the lockdown period.

Mafuta was arrested on Friday after posting the WhatsApp message the previous day.

On Thursday at 12:02 in the afternoon, Mafuta posted the message, which read: A Sadza Hospital nurse who was Covid-19 positive died yesterday so the situation requires us to be cautious.

He later posted on the same day that he was withholding the name of the deceased for other reasons.

Police received a tip-off, leading to his arrest.

His claims were dismissed by Sadza District Hospital administrator Tawanda Dzvairo who said the health institution had not recorded any positive Covid-19 case.

Its utterly false. At Sadza District Hospital, we havent yet recorded a suspected or confirmed coronavirus case, he said.

Recently, President Emmerson Mnangagwa dismissed a viral social media message, which claimed that he had suspended payment of rentals by tenants.

 The Standard

Breaking News via Email
The Republican-led Senate on Friday gave Donald Trump the biggest triumph of his young presidency, confirming his Supreme Court nominee over stout Democratic opposition and restoring a conservative majority on the highest U.S. judicial body.

The Senate, which last year refused to consider Democratic former President Barack Obamas nominee to the court, voted 54-45 to approve Republican Trumps pick, Colorado-based federal appeals court judge Neil Gorsuch, to the lifetime job. Three Democrats joined the Republicans in voting for Gorsuch.

Gorsuchs confirmation ends the longest Supreme Court vacancy since 1862 during the American Civil War, with the court down a justice for almost 14 months since long-serving conservative Justice Antonin Scalia died on Feb. 13, 2016.

Hes going to make an incredible addition to the court, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor.

McConnell said Gorsuch, who also worked in the Justice Department under Republican former President George W. Bush and is the son of the first woman to head the Environmental Protection Agency, has sterling credentials, an excellent record and an ideal judicial temperament.

Illustrating the importance of the moment, Vice President Mike Pence served as the Senates presiding officer during the vote.

Republicans, possessing a 52-48 Senate majority, on Thursday overcame a ferocious Democratic effort to block a confirmation vote by resorting to a rule change known as the nuclear option.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, who led the opposition to Gorsuch, said he hopes the judge would heed concerns that the court is increasingly drifting towards becoming a more pro-corporate court that favors employers, corporations and special interests over working America.

The Senates approval of Gorsuch, 49, reinstates the nine-seat courts 5-4 conservative majority, fulfilling an important campaign promise made by the Republican president.

Gorsuch was the youngest Supreme Court nominee since Republican President George H.W. Bush in 1991 picked Clarence Thomas, who was 43 at the time. Gorsuch could be expected to serve for decades, while Trump could make further appointments to the high court to make it even more solidly conservative because three of the eight justices are 78 or older.

Story continues

Gorsuchs confirmation gave a boost to Trump, showing he can get important agenda items through a Congress controlled by his fellow Republicans after the House of Representatives last month failed to pass healthcare overhaul legislation. Trump is planning major tax cut legislation as well.

EXTRAORDINARY STEPS

It was not easy. Senate Republicans resorted to extraordinary steps to overcome Democratic opposition to Gorsuch, including changing long-standing Senate rules to prohibit the use of a procedural blockade called a filibuster for Supreme Court nominees. The rule change was dubbed the nuclear option because it was considered an extreme break from Senate tradition.

Gorsuch joins fellow conservatives Thomas, John Roberts, Samuel Alito and Anthony Kennedy on a court that also includes liberal justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

Had the Senate confirmed Obamas nominee Merrick Garland, the court would have tilted to the left for the first time in decades.

Trump has recorded accomplishments since taking office on Jan. 20, including a variety of unilateral executive actions such as moving to undo Obamas climate change regulations.

But Trump has run into trouble with some other major initiatives. Courts blocked his executive action to stop people from several Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. His administration also has faced questions about any role the presidents associates may have played in alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election to help Trump.

The rule change could make it easier for Trump to win confirmation of Supreme Court nominees as long as Republicans control the Senate, with Democrats left powerless to resist even if he gets a chance to replace the courts senior liberal, 84-year-old Ginsburg, or the courts swing vote, 80-year-old Kennedy, with more conservative replacements.

Democrats accused Gorsuch of being so conservative as to be outside the judicial mainstream, favoring corporate interests over ordinary Americans in legal opinions, and displaying insufficient independence from Trump.

A conservative-majority court is more likely to support gun rights, abortion regulations, an expansive view of religious liberty and Republican-backed voting restrictions, while opposing curbs on political spending. The court also is likely to tackle transgender rights and union funding in coming years.

Gorsuch could be sworn in as early as Friday so he can begin preparing for the courts next session of oral arguments, starting on April 17. The courts current term ends in June. Gorsuch is expected to hear arguments in 13 cases.

Gorsuchs first official act would be to participate in the justices private April 13 conference to consider new cases to hear. There are appeals pending on expanding gun rights to include carrying concealed firearms in public, state voting restrictions that critics say are aimed at reducing minority turnout, and allowing business owners to object on religious grounds to provide certain services to gay couples.

On April 19, the court will hear a religious rights case in which a church contends Missouri violated the U.S. Constitutions guarantee of religious freedom by denying it funds for a playground project due to a state ban on aid to religious organizations. Gorsuch has ruled several times in favor of expansive religious rights during his decade as a judge.

This article was originally published on FORTUNE.com
Drury is a pioneer in the field of heavy chemicals manufacture, In existence since 1986. A well established conglomerate in the manufacturing and marketing of industrial chemicals (sulphuric Acid) and (Aluminium sulphate) in Nigeria, requires the services of qualified candidates at her Manufacturing comapany at OPIC Industrial estate located in Ogun State, Nigeria.Applicants need to be creative, innovative, goal getter and extremely versatile.Applicants must be able to work in a team with a company goal in mind.Applicants should have good interpersonal skill to help build a result oriented team.Applicants must be computer literate with good knowledge of Microsoft office applications.B.Sc (Mechanical Engineering ) with a minimum of three years work experience.Must be self driven, Articulate and possess the ability to work on diverse industrial machines and platformsEnthusiasm, interest and passion for achieving set goals and targets.Should have analytical & instinct for details.Ability to work by company's guideline and policy on all aspects relating to the job.Trust on corporate image and confidence to deliver necessary results and standards.Team leadership ability.Ability to plan quality meetings and be dependable in terms of reporting.RemunerationVery Attractive package.Applicants should send their CV's to: jobsrecruit300@gmail.com info@drury-industries.com specifying city/state of interest to the:HR Manager,Plot 9 & 18, Opic Industrial Estate,Agbara,Ogun State,Nigeria.12 April, 2017
'It wasn't meant to be': Chandler Smith comes up short in third Chandler Smith talks about what more was needed tonight and what could've been done differently as he puts a cap on the season.
The old Comeragh College Community School campus at Greenside, Carrick-on-Suir is getting a new lease of life as a Further Education and Training Centre.

The hundreds of teenagers who once filled the corridors and classrooms of the 1 school may have flown the coop to a multi-million euro new campus on the town's outskirts but they have been replaced by adult students returning to education to improve their career prospects or to simply learn a new life skill.

Tipperary Education & Training Board's adult education and training courses in Carrick-on-Suir were formerly based at several different locations in the town including No. 45 New Street, the Nano Nagle Community Resource Centre and St Joseph's College at Greystone Street.

When the old Comeragh College building became vacant last year it was an opportunity not to be missed. The ETB set to work and after completing some renovations, it re-opened the former community school last September as a Further Education & Training Centre where all the town's adult education courses are now based.

The Centre was teeming with activity when The Nationalist visited on a recent Wednesday morning.

Information & Computer Technology tutor Ger Cullen, who grew up near the Comeragh College school, said it was great to see the building continuing to be used as a place of education. She believes a lot of people in the town of Carrick don't yet realise the Further Education and Training Centre is now based there.

Her students, who are studying for the QQI Fetac level 3 ICT Skills course, were busy at work in a computers room on the second floor. The course began last September with classes taking place two mornings a week.

The course is run by the ETB's Back to Education programme and covers such areas as computer literacy, the Internet, digital media and communications. Gerri describes it as a starter level course in computers and students who successfully complete it can progress to studying a Fetac Level 4 ICT course at the centre.

Ann Cleary from Carrick-on-Suir was a computer novice before doing the course and is now planning to continue her studies at Level 4.

"I never did computers before and I am enjoying it very much. I have learned an awful lot more than I thought I would and you get to meet new people as well," she sid.

Fellow Carrick-on-Suir student Ann McGrath signed up for the course after she lost her job last year. She shied away from using computers before doing this course because of her lack of knowledge but that has now all changed.

"I hadn't a clue about computers and came in here afraid to touch the (start) button. There is so much to learn and it's very interesting. It's great to have done this and it has definitely given me more confidence," said Ann, who is now back working again.

Lone parent Diane Cooke said the course's morning classes suit her because they are on while her children are at school.

"I knew a little bit about computers from using my phone but we are after learning an awful lot such as how to compose emails with attachments, and I do a lot of stuff now on the lap top with the kids. "

Apart from learning a new skill, she regards the course as an opportunity for her to get out of the house for a few hours. "There is a lovely group of people here. I would love to do further training as I haven't worked for years."

Mother and daughter Elizabeth and Evelyn Morrissey from Mullinahone were doing the course together.

Evelyn, who is a wheelchair user, previously did some computer training in Waterford and has found the course useful in helping her to look up information on the Internet, sending emails on her tablet at home and also increasing her overall confidence in using computers.

Last month the students in Gerri Cullen's course and other courses at the Centre hosted an information coffee morning in the canteen as part of Aontas Adult Education Festival Week. They displayed their course work and were joined by family and friends who came to see what the Centre was all about.

On the day The Nationalist visited, students from the ICT Level 4 course were taking a mid-morning coffee break in the Centre's canteen.

Among them was 80 years-old Alice Wall from Cregg, Carrick-on-Suir, who was one of the finalists in the Golden IT category of the Silver Surfer Awards in Dublin last week. The awards recognise the achievements of older people using computer technology.

Alice has studied ICT at the ETB's Further Education & Training Centre in Carrick for the past four years. She has received four certificates and is finishing her fifth course.

She was introduced to computers by her late son Jim, who sadly died of cancer a few years ago. He purchased a computer when he was moving to Sweden with his family so she could keep in contact with them through Skpe and emails.

She started doing the classes to learn how to use the computer and hasn't looked back since. She now uses the computer to keep up to date with news and pay her car and property taxes.

"When my son died I was going to give it all up but then I thought he had bought the computer for me and I should make use of it."

So she returned to her computer training and has found attending the Centre for courses two days a week helped her cope with the loss of her beloved son. "That is what kept me going after he died. I had to come here and meet people. I look forward to coming to the classes. I am a bit slow at times but my tutor John O'Driscoll is great."

Alice also paid tribute to the help she received from her former tutor ICT Marie Clancy, who nominated her for the Silver Surfer Awards.

The QQI ICT courses are among a range of Back To Education Initiative part-time courses for adults run at the Centre. (See accompanying article for information on other courses at the Centre).

ETB Adult Education Officer Kaye Mullaney said the extra space they now have at the old Comeragh College school means the Further Education & Training Centre plans to offer more courses next September.

There are also plans to have the ETB's Adult Guidance & Information Service available for adults seeking guidance on training and education opportunities at the Centre one day a week in the near future.

For further information on courses available at Carrick-on-Suir's Further Education & Training Centre log onto www.fetch.ie and http://tipperary.etb.ie/further-education or telephoning, Tipperary ETB in Clonmel at (052) 6134105.
(Natural News) What you probably dont know about Western Medicine is that infectious diseases virtually disappeared before vaccines were ever invented. Since the early 1900s, it has been a known scientific fact that an animal that survives an attack from poliomyelitis becomes resistant to subsequent infections forever. Its also a known fact that polio is one of the least serious infectious diseases, despite the fear-mongering propaganda that suggests just the opposite.

You see, most people in history who have been infected with polio incur a mild infection lasting only a few days. Yes, there is a rare complication of the disease that can destroy motor cells in the brain and spinal cord. This is the complication that Big Pharma and the US government use to coerce people into getting vaccinated with various experimental strains of the virus that have never been proven to provide humans with lasting immunity.

In fact, the factors that actually caused the decline of polio after 1950 did not include the famous Dr. Salk miracle vaccine at all. The large-scale polio vaccination program was a complete and utter failure, and according to the August 1997 edition of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, more than half of children affected by poliomyelitis received three doses of the oral polio vaccine before the onset of paralysis. The truth? The true causes of the spread of Polio include pre-polio vaccines, nutritional imbalances and pesticides, all of which contribute to immune deficiency.

CDC declares useless Polio vaccine safe, potent and efficient while the media declare it the greatest medical discovery of the century

Heres how it all went down. One year after scientists discovered they could grow the polio viruses in tissue cultures, Dr. Jonas Salk was paid by five pharma companies to brew the polio virus in monkey kidney cells and dilute them with formaldehyde. Dr. Salk and his associates isolated more than 70 different strains of the three main types of polio, Brunhilde, Lansing and Leon. Salk then mixed the three different strains of the virus together, which by the way is very dangerous and unpredictable, and injected it into live monkeys, rabbits and mice. No human beings were ever tested.

Voila! He announced that a cure had been found, and mass media helped spread the propaganda. Nearly every American newspaper declared that Dr. Salk had abolished poliomyelitis. Immediately following the proclaimed prevention medicine for Polio, the Foundation for Infantile Paralysis ran press releases and lied, saying that Dr. Jonas Salk invented and tested this miracle drug. The foundation called for the manufacture of nine million doses for injecting children and pregnant women.

History shows disastrous news came after 9 million doses of polio vaccine were injected into humans  the inoculated children began contracting polio

Children immunized with the polio vaccine began shedding the virus (or combinations of it) to their parents and siblings. Vaccinated children became the new carriers, and just like today, Western Medicine blamed the unvaccinated, creating hysteria that spread across the nation. In June of 1955, the American Public Health Service announced nearly 150 confirmed cases of poliomyelitis among the vaccinated, including six deaths. Where on those victims did the paralysis begin? In the limb where the vaccine had been injected, of course. Coincidence? Theres more evidence the polio vaccine was a complete failure and the vaccinated children were spreading it, because polio had now struck in areas where there had been no cases reported for nearly a year. What happened next is astounding. The vaccine was suspended pending a full inquiry by the National Institute of Health (NIH).

The bottom line is that the epidemic of polio had already significantly declined by 1955, when the vaccine was first introduced. Polio was just a mild disease seldom resulting in paralysis. You see, after the miracle polio vaccine invention, the polio cases that did not result in paralysis were simply diagnosed by US doctors as meningitis, so that the ratio of new polio cases were severely skewed to intimidate and horrify the masses. It was all propaganda.

Plus, those new cases were mostly spread by shedders who had been inoculated with the polio vaccine, but the media blamed the unvaccinated, just like they do today with mumps and measles outbreaks. Plus, at the time, test results of the Salk vaccine were only based on data from the eleven (of the thirty-three) US states that favored the statistics the industry desired. Get it? The vaccine literally caused a rise in polio cases, but the epidemic was redefined.

Whats even scarier is the fact that the CDC vaccinated nearly 100 million Americans with polio shots that contained the cancer-causing SV40 virus, which was first discovered in monkeys back in 1960. Still wondering why so many kids suffer from childhood leukemia, bone cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma?

True medical history now reveals that Dr. Jonas F. Salk, the so-called Father of Vaccines, did not cure Polio at all, but rather created new strains of it and spread it to more innocent people through infected carriers called shedders. The CDC still to this day refuses to run a true double-blind, placebo-controlled study contrasting vaccinated vs. unvaccinated children.

Sources:

TruthWiki.org

TruthWiki.org

CDC.news

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Bristol University researchers have concluded that elderly patients are more likely to die if they undergo a fractured hip surgery on a Sunday. Termed the weekend effect, the study looked at more than 250,000 cases of hip fracture surgery and saw that 12.5 percent of these were performed on a Sunday. It was found that those who were discharged from the hospital on a Sunday had a significantly increased risk of death. Researchers said that the chances of these patients dying within 30 days after the operation were 51.5 percent higher. Though the authors of the study quickly mention that this happened only in just 2.5 percent of cases, they are convinced that the weekend effect is real.

Why people should not have surgery during the weekend

In 2015, the British Department of Health released a compilation of eight studies that documented the weekend effect, including its prevalence in local hospitals. Sir Bruce Keogh, Medical Director of the NHS, has cited the weekend effect as the cause for about 11,000 deaths a year. A paper by Chaim M. Bell, M.D. And Donald A. Redelmeier, M.D., has stated that the staffing quality during weekends was significantly lower, concluding their research with the statement, Patients with some serious medical conditions are more likely to die in the hospital if they are admitted on a weekend than if they are admitted on a weekday.

British Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt, even went on an interview with BBC.com to state that the Monday to Friday culture in parts of the [National Health Service] had tragic consequences6,000 people die each year because of this.

People should not jump to conclusions

That being said, other health professionals caution against jumping to conclusions; these deaths could have caused by other circumstances. According to Senior Research Fellow at the University of Bristol, Adrian Sayers, the patients whod undergone hip surgery were very old, and very frailthe care that you get at the weekend is at least the equivalent, if not better than what you get in the week.

Other factors have been cited to contribute to the alarming number of deaths during hip surgery. The timing from the admission desk to the operating table is one. Another would be the increased chance of developing blood clots, pneumonia, or heart ailments following surgery. Oxford University researchers have even claimed that medical records might be to blame. Theyve stated that the data quality on weekday and weekend admissions are vastly different, showing a lack of basic due diligence more than anything else. Ben Bray, Research Director for the Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme, has even gone on record to say that the problem doesnt lie solely in the weekend effect and that the issues are much larger than that, extending to other areas such as local context.

Sources:

DailyMail.co.uk

BBC.com

Gov.uk

NEJM.org

Ox.ac.uk

Health.org.uk
Friday, April 07, 2017 by: News Editors Tags: attack warning , mainstream , sugar This article may contain statements that reflect the opinion of the author

Insider Calls Out MSM For Publishing Fake News Article Sugar-Coating Viral Story Warning 9 Out Of 10 Americans Could Be Dead In Year Following EMP Attack

(Natural News) (Article by Ryan D,Agostino from allnewspipeline.com)

 Why Does The MSM Continue To Downplay The Very Real EMP Threat To America?

Popular Mechanics.com published an article by Kyle Mizokami No, North Korea Cant Kill 90 Percent of Americans (March 31, 2017) accusing former CIA Director R. James Woolsey and myself of grossly exaggerating the threat posed by an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack from North Korea in our recent article (How North Korea Could Kill Up To 90 Percent Of Americans The Hill, March 29, 2017).

In fact, Mizokami has lied to your readers, and misrepresented the information provided to him by The Hill (from myself as Chief of Staff of the Congressional EMP Commission), that up to 90 percent of the American people could die from an EMP attack that causes a nationwide blackout lasting one year.

Mizokami falsely claims that the assessment a nuclear EMP attack could kill 9 of 10 Americans through starvation and societal collapse is derived from the novel One Second After which is referred to by Congressman Roscoe Bartlett, quoted by Mizokami in his article, during a congressional hearing on EMP.

However, Bartletts statement that 90 percent of the American people could die is not derived from One Second After but from the EMP Commission that briefed him prior to the hearing.

Unquoted by Mizokami, in the very same source on the very same page, directly beneath the Bartlett statement, Dr. William Graham, Chairman of the EMP Commission, affirms that a nuclear EMP attack could, in fact, kill 90 percent of the population:

DR. GRAHAM: We think that is in the correct range. We dont have experience with losing the infrastructure in a country with 300 million people, most of whom dont live in a way that provides for their own food and other needs. We can go back to an era when people did live like that. That would be10 percent would be 30 million people, and that is probably the range where we could survive in a basically rural economy. Threat Posed By Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack Hearing, House Armed Services Committee, July 10, 2008.

Mizokami has engaged in a classical case of dishonest cherry picking to distort and misrepresent the congressional record, ignoring Chairman Grahams testimony that affirms 9 of 10 Americans could die.

Mizokami ignores other copious congressional testimony from the EMP Commission, as well as published articles and books, affirming that the EMP Commission assesses a nuclear EMP attack could kill up to 90 percent of the U.S. population, examples of which were provided to Mizokami.

For example, in another congressional hearing, EMP Commissioner Dr. Lowell Wood again affirms that 90 percent of the U.S. population could die, that an EMP attack would literally destroy the American nation and might cause the deaths of 90 percent of its people and would set us back a century or more in time as far as our ability to function as a nation.

Contrary to Mizokami, ignored by him, in the same hearing above, EMP Commissioner Wood warns that such a deadly EMP attack could be made by North Korea:

DR. WOOD: One of the means that might concern us at the present time is a Taepo Dong-2 missile carrying an advanced nuclear warhead from North KoreaNorth Korea should not be considered as just potentially possessing first generation nuclear weapons, but potentially the most advanced nuclear weapons that exist on the planet because they have received a great deal of foreign assistance. So when we stop to think about being attacked from North Korea, we shouldnt think about Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We should think about flavors of destruction that have never been seen before on this planet.-Terrorism and the EMP Threat to Homeland Security Hearing, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland Security, March 8, 2005.

Contrary to Mizokami, the EMP Commission has been warning since at least 2001 that millions of Americans could die from a nuclear EMP attack that collapses the electric grid and other life-sustaining critical infrastructures, whereas Bill Forstchens novel One Second After was not published until 2009.

Mizokami repeats the myth, widespread among EMP non-experts, that a high-yield nuclear weapon is necessary to make an EMP attack. This myth is partially derived from erroneous interpretation of my work at CIA during the Cold War, subsequently reported in an open congressional hearing, that found the USSR planned to EMP attack U.S. strategic forces with their most powerful nuclear weapon-the SS-18 Mod 1 ICBM that carried a single 25-megaton warhead.

Read more at: allnewspipeline.com
(Natural News) Good news for the 80 percent of us who have resin tooth fillings: a new extract can delay our dentist trips by years. Pine tree bark extract is shown to alter the chemical structure of our teeth, strengthening them, and allowing our fillings to bind to them better. This is achieved due to the compounds in the extract that strengthen dentine, the tissue layer beneath the enamel of the teeth.

Dr. Guido Pauli of the University of Illinois at Chicago says the weak link in the chain of bonding is the interface between the resin and the dentine. We have clear evidence that our intervention materials change this interface much to the better. Dr. Pauli is referring to his recent tests that suggest the tree bark extracts can strengthen dentine by as much as ten times. Considering the current lifespan of a resin tooth filling, these new findings suggest a ten-year extension.

Dr. Pauli, and his colleague Dr. Ana Bedran Russo, reached this conclusion after testing the extracts of the Chinese red pine, otherwise known as pinus massoniana. The extract was applied to human molars before examining how they deformed when introduced to various heavy forces. Dr. Pauli and Dr. Russo saw that pine bark extracts strengthened the dentine in teeth, which remained coated on the molars even a year after application. The authors also found that the dentine structure changed after being exposed to pine bark extract. Dentine was more compatible with the resin fillings, binding to them more tightly. Extract-treated dentine show superior binding to resin fillings, says Dr. Pauli.

Dr. Pauli is currently working on producing a refined extract that dentists can use on teeth after drilling, to strengthen bonding to the filling. However, he quickly adds, we are not envisioning a pure compound; the chemistry is too complex.

The results of this study are published in the Journal of Organic Chemistry.

The implication of these findings

Old dental practices saw people filling cracks in their teeth with metal. This led to the laughable but entirely factual phrase of metal mouth. Advancing technologies developed resin-type fillings, which were able to mimic the teeths natural color, and were generally safer than their metal counterparts. Still, resin tends to deteriorate after a few years. Replacing these dental fillings would need more drilling, costing healthy dental tissue.

Dentine is the calcified extracellular tissue of the teeth located just below the hard external enamel. Resins have to bind to the dentin, and that interface is the weak point. This is why the restorations dont last, warns Dr. Pauli. By developing this natural preventive measure, it is hoped that people will be able to reduce the number of trips they make to the dentist. Furthermore, the pine bark extract would strengthen tooth tissue, promoting overall health.

Head of the Oral Health Foundation, Dr. Nigel Carter supplements this by saying that fillings are susceptible to wear-and-tear and can occasionally be in need of repair and replacement. Having fillings which have a longer lifespan could be more comforting to the patient, as the procedure will have to be carried out less often.

Dannel Ferrira of the University of Mississippi says that Dr. Paulis research is a totally unexpected and novel application. It is really an important breakthrough. (RELATED: Follow more news on holistic dentistry at HolisticDentistry.news.)



Some other facts to consider

It is estimated that 80 percent of the American population has dental fillings. These are standard restorative dentistry treatments meant to repair minimal tooth decay or fractures. These dental fillings can even improve bite.

Enamel loss is the main reason for tooth decay, leading to an increased sensitivity. This can cause relatively painful sensations. Tooth sensitivity caused by enamel loss is typically treated with a dental filling.

Sources:

DailyMail.co.uk

CEN.ACS.org
(Natural News) Getting kids to eat their vegetables just became easier. In Fort Worth, Texas at least. On March 22 of this year, the Westpark Elementary School of Fort Worth welcomed the installation of a new salad bar. Representatives from the Forth Worth Independent School District were joined by Fort Worth mayor, Betsy Price, and City of Benbrook mayor, Dr. Jerry Dittrich. The salad bar ribbon-cutting ceremony began in the morning and was followed by the students using the new salad bar for lunch.

This is a smart first step toward incorporating healthy, fresh foods into the lunches our children are eating at school, said Dittrich. He then went on to laud the school for its decision to have a salad bar as part of its facilities. The salad bar is a tangible example of this schools commitment to student wellness. Thank you to all community partners that made this donation possible, and also to our local students who wanted these healthy choices.

The salad bar is the first of five to be introduced to schools in the Fort Worth area within the year. The districts salad bars are a contribution of a number of healthy eating-focused bodies. These include Snappy Salads, DMA Solutions, and the California Giant Foundation. Westpark Elementary was chosen to be the recipient of the first salad bar after students passed a petition. The students are members of the schools Blue Zone Project committee, a group dedicated to identifying ways to help students choose healthier options during school days.

Healthy kids learn better. And we know that if you reduce obesity, you reduce the chance of diabetes, and you reduce the chance of absenteeism. The kids here are going to be better students because theyre being healthy, said Price.

In October of last year, Price organized a community bike ride in Texas with the help of California Giants Tour de Fresh. The event was developed in conjunction with her FitWorth initiative to encourage healthful lifestyle choices during the Halloween season.

Cindy Jewell, Vice President of Marketing for California Giant Berry Farms and the California Giant Foundation, said in a release: When we heard about Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Prices Halloween biking event and her FitWorth initiative, we decided to encourage our supporters to participate in the mayors event along with a local restaurant chain that wanted to make a difference in their community. We all worked together on this project to provide Fort Worth-area children with healthier choices at school, so the collaboration was perfect and today we saw the positive results when presenting the salad bar.

An average school day for the Fort Worth Independent School District sees it serving over 60,000 meals from 133 school sites around the city. These meals include breakfast, lunch, and snacks. As per the United States Department of Agriculture, a variety of vegetables and fruits are required to be served every week. The inclusion of the salad bar will allow Westpark Elementary to hold up to current school lunch nutrition standards.

Research has shown that children are more likely to increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables when presented with a variety of choices. Adding salad bars to schools makes vegetables and fruits more accessible to children.

Sources:

ThePacker.com

UnitedFreshStart.org

NaturalNews.com

SaladBars2Schools.org
(Natural News) As reported by Daily Mail, when an unnamed 86 year-old woman in Florida went to the hospital with burning in her stomach and upper chest, she wasnt thinking about an unusual medical procedure she had received at least sixty years prior to her emergency room visit. At first, the doctors figured she was simply suffering from acid reflux, but decided to take an x-ray in case something else was amiss. Thats when they discovered an unusual mass in her left lung. But it wasnt just any normal build up of fluid.

While the elderly patient couldnt recall the exact year, she figured she was in her early twenties when the doctors had treated her for tuberculosis (TB) by injecting oil into her lungs. According to her attending physician, Dr. Abhilash Koratala, who is also an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Florida, this procedure is called oleothorax and was a common treatment up until the 1950s, when effective antibiotics to TB were discovered.

Dr. Koratala described his discovery in the New England Journal of Medicine:

. . . a treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis, abandoned long ago, that involved the instillation of oil into the pleural space to collapse the involved lung. The type of oil used, as reported by Atsjournals.org., would consist of paraffin or olive oil . . . with gomenol added for bactericidal effects.

The oil, once injected, would usually be absorbed by the lymphatic tissues and blood cells. But the idea of the oleothorax procedure was to collapse the infected lung, to give it a chance to rest and help kill the TB bacteria. Following the treatment, which lasted about two years, the patients were supposed to have the oil aspirated out of their lungs. But, as this women experienced, patients either got better or moved on and forgot all about the oil hanging out inside their lungs pleural cavity.

Oleothorax was an accepted form of treatment since the time of Hippocrates. Its unfortunate that the natural alternatives for lung health werent well-known. Thanks to Sciencedirect.com, heres a brief comment about oleothorax from physicians at the Charing Cross Hospital and the London Hospital for the Diseases of Heart and Lungs. The year was 1927:

The injection of oil into the pleural cavity is no new thing. Hippocrates in his beautiful description of his treatment of empyena [also known as pleurisy], advocates the injection of warm oil after aspiration.

The woman in Florida isnt the only one with this discovery. Atsjournals.org discusses a 91-year-old patient at the Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn, New York who had taken a fall. When physicians ordered a CT scan, they discovered that an oleothorax injection had been performed decades earlier. They also detailed additional complications that can result from this procedure. If the oleothorax ruptures, the leakage of oil can result in tuberculous empyema, pleurocutaneous and bronchopleural fistula. If the oil isnt removed, fractures of the rib can result from the fatty tissue that envelopes the surrounding osseous structures.

Its clear that there are elderly persons still living who may be carrying around a sack of oil in their lungs. It is important for todays health care workers to be cognizant of the difficulties resulting from this abandoned medical procedure.

RELATED: Discover paths to health without injections at Healing.news.

Sources:

DailyMail.co.uk

Science.NaturalNews.com

Nejm.org

AtsJournals.org

ScienceDirect.com

(Photo credit: www.Dailymail.uk.co)
* Police say detain suspected truck driver

* Swedish media say man from Uzbekistan

* Four people confirmed dead - police

* Truck ploughed into crowd and then department store

* Swedish PM: you will never ever win

* Map of attack location http://tmsnrt.rs/2oguW2M

By Johan Ahlander, Johannes Hellstrom and Niklas Pollard

STOCKHOLM, April 8 (Reuters) - Swedish police have arrested a man they suspect drove a beer delivery truck which rammed into a crowd in central Stockholm on Friday, killing four people and wounding 15 in what they described as a terror crime.

Police declined to comment on the identity or possible motive of the man, who they detained in a northern Stockholm suburb but Swedish public radio, citing unnamed sources, said he was from Uzbekistan.

"The person in question has been arrested as the culprit ... in this case the driver," police spokesman Lars Bystrom said on Saturday of the attack, adding that the authorities were not ruling out the possibility that he had accomplices, although only one person had been taken into custody.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Friday's attack, in which a hijacked truck was used, and police said security at Sweden's borders had been heightened and traffic was restricted on the Oresund Bridge linking Denmark and Sweden.

Vehicles have been used as weapons in Nice, Berlin and London in the past year in attacks claimed by Islamic State.

Police declined to comment on a report by public broadcaster SVT which said a bag containing a home-made bomb had been found in the truck. The report said the bomb may have partly exploded, burning the driver.

The beer truck, hijacked on Drottninggatan (Queen Street) in central Stockholm, ploughed through crowds before ramming into the Ahlens department store. The driver escaped in the chaos.

Local authorities in the capital, where flags flew at half mast on buildings including the parliament and royal palace, said that six of those injured had been able to leave hospital, while eight adults and one child remained in hospital.

Story continues

The truck was removed overnight to be examined by forensics experts, leaving a gaping hole in the wall of the store. Dozens of people gathered at the site to pay their respects.

"Three minutes of terror and death," was the headline in daily tabloid newspaper Aftonbladet which carried a picture of an injured woman sitting in the street.

On Saturday morning, in a nearby open-air market, owners were returning to abandoned fruit and vegetable stalls after a defiant message from the country's prime minister.

"You will not defeat us, you will not govern our lives, you will never, ever win," Stefan Lofven, who described the assault as a terrorist attack, said late on Friday.

HIGH ALERT

The attack was the latest to hit the Nordic region after shootings in Danish capital Copenhagen in 2015 that killed three people and the 2011 bombing and shooting by far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik that killed 77 people in Norway.

Although Sweden has not seen a large-scale attack, a failed suicide bombing in December 2010 killed the attacker only a few hundred yards from the site of Friday's incident.

Police in Norway's largest cities and at Oslo airport will carry weapons until further notice following the attack. Denmark has been on high alert since the February 2015 shootings.

Several attacks in which trucks or cars have driven into crowds have taken place in Europe in the past year.

Al Qaeda urged its followers to use trucks as a weapon in 2010 and Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack in Nice, France, in July 2016, when a truck killed 86 people celebrating Bastille Day, and one in Berlin in December, when a truck smashed through a Christmas market, killing 12 people.

And last month, a man in London drove into pedestrians near Britain's parliament and then stabbed a policeman to death before being killed himself. Six people died in total.

"Our thoughts are going out to those that were affected, and to their families," Sweden's King Carl Gustaf said regarding the Stockholm attack, while European Union President Jean-Claude Juncker said an attack on any member state "is an attack on us all".

In February U.S. President Donald Trump falsely suggested there had been an immigration-related security incident in Sweden, to the bafflement of Swedes.

Neutral Sweden has not fought a war in more than 200 years, but its military has taken part in U.N. peacekeeping missions in a number of conflict zones in recent years, including Iraq, Mali and Afghanistan.

(Reporting by Stockholm newsroom; editing by Alexander Smith)
Carrying a conversation with your pup may feel strange, but it's one of the things that point to the intelligence of human beings. This urge to talk to them is unique not just because of our bond to pets, but also because of how we see them.

Nicholas Epley, the world's foremost anthropomorphism expert, shared in a report from Quartz that anthropomorphism -- the phenomenon of assigning human minds or qualities to non-human entities -- is a behavior that's indicative of the intelligence of people.

"Historically, anthropomorphizing has been treated as a sign of childishness or stupidity, but it's actually a natural byproduct of the tendency that makes humans uniquely smart on this planet," Epley explained. "No other species that has this tendency."

He added that humans anthropomorphize objects and events all the time, even without realizing it. Some examples include talking to or naming objects, like many people do with their cars. Even the way people describe objects -- such as calling a car "moody" or a "rickety old man" -- exhibits the way the human mind attributes human qualities.

There are three primal reasons for anthropomorphizing objects: the brain's ability to see faces everywhere, the human instinct to anthropomorphize those that we love (e.g., pets, cars) and the tendency to associate unpredictability to humanness because of people's own unpredictability.

"Recognizing the mind of another human being involves the same psychological processes as recognizing a mind in other animals, a god, or even a gadget," Epley wrote. "It is a reflection of our brain's greatest ability rather than a sign of our stupidity."

However, the social benefits of animals go beyond a measure for intelligence. Studies have shown that animal therapy can boost mental and emotional health by helping ease stress, fear and anxiety in patients.
State and federal agencies on Saturday managed to gain an upper-hand in the fight to clean up after a sunken barge spewed fuel into the San Francisco Bay.

Roughly 3,000 feet of booms supported by boats corralled the spill in hopes of containing the oil slick, which was originally spotted on Friday after a 112-foot freight barge named "Vengeance" sank, according to Coast Guard officials.

The barge, located just south of the Bay Bridge, sent leaking diesel fuel into the bay, but divers managed to plug the leaking fuel Friday afternoon.

But, as of Friday night, responders and investigators were still at the site executing cleanup strategies for the potential release of 4,000 gallons of diesel fuel and 300 gallons of hydraulic fluid, Coast Guard officials said.

The Coast Guard is responding to a sunken barge just south of the Bay Bridge, authorities said Friday morning.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Sarah Wilson said on Saturday morning that a Coast Guard chopper had flown over the location where the barge went down. Pilots spotted a light sheen of oil on the surface of the water. But Wilson said that is a good sign because it means that the barge is not leaking as much oil as it was yesterday.

Capt. Patrick Nelson added to that optimistic sentiment.

"To this point, other than that small sheen, we haven't seen significant environmental impact," he said.

A freight barge that capsized south of the Bay Bridge early Friday morning is leaking and an unknown amount of fuel has gone into the bay, a Coast Guard official said Friday. Christie Smith reports.

Aside from the crews on the surface cleaning up the oil, divers swam on the sea floor to make sure the fuel vent plugs were still securely in place.

Coast Guard officials suspect that the barge sank during the storms heavy rain and strong winds on Friday. The cause remains under investigation.

BART previously used the barge as a launch point for divers. Those divers would regularly launch from the large and conduct anti-corrosion work on the transbay tube.

The U.S. Coast Guard, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife's Office of Spill Prevention and Response, the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management, Vortex Marine Construction and Bay Area Rapid Transit responded to the sunken barge, Coast Guard officials said.
The National Security Council has presented President Trump with options to respond to North Korea's nuclear program  including putting American nukes in South Korea or killing dictator Kim Jong-un, multiple top-ranking intelligence and military officials told NBC News.

Both scenarios are part of an accelerated review of North Korea policy prepared in advance of President Donald Trump's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week.

The White House hopes the Chinese will do more to influence Pyongyang through diplomacy and enhanced sanctions. But if that fails, and North Korea continues developing nuclear weapons, there are other options on the table that would significantly alter U.S. policy.
A former University of Illinois student was sentenced Friday to a decade in prison after she was accused of suffocating her newborn son when she gave birth in a residence hall bathroom last year.

Lindsay Johnson, 21, of Monee had been charged with first-degree murder after the March 2016 death of her baby. She pleaded guilty Friday to felony endangering the life or health of a child as part of a plea deal. She also was sentenced to one-year mandatory supervised release and could be out of prison in five years with good behavior.

Champaign County State' Attorney Julia Rietz said prosecutors made the deal because of concerns over proving intent to a jury at trial and risking acquittal. Johnson faced up to 75 years in prison had she gone to trial.

"It's a prison sentence," Rietz said. "It holds her responsible for the death of this child, but it acknowledges what I think are clearly some mental health issues that she is absolutely going to need to address in the future."

Johnson's defense team said she took the deal instead of risk a longer prison term if she went to trial.

"She's profoundly impacted by everything that happened," defense attorney Tony Bruno said. "She's remorseful beyond words."

Johnson has been free on bond since her arraignment in April 2016. She was taken into custody after the short court hearing Friday, looking back at her parents as she went to a holding cell. Her sentence was the maximum possible under the Class 3 felony endangerment charge.

Johnson hopes "others might learn from her story," Bruno said. He said the University of Illinois terminated Johnson's student enrollment in August 2016.

Officers found Johnson near the campus' Music Building wearing a backpack with the deceased newborn inside on March 13, 2016. They were looking for her after responding to a call earlier in the day from a student at the dorm who reported sounds of a baby crying and that Johnson was in the bathroom for a long time.

She initially told police she didn't know she was pregnant until she went into labor and the baby wasn't breathing when it was born, but later admitted the boy was alive and crying, the Champaign News-Gazette reported at the time.
A Syrian refugee working in Chicago questioned the effectiveness of the U.S. missile strikes in his war-torn homeland, and urged President Donald Trump to help those living in danger.

"This strike is four years too late," Khaled Khalaf, a baker on the city's North Side, said Friday. "They should have not -- what they are hitting now are civilians. They are hitting Homs, Aleppo and Damascus. They need to hit places where criminal activity is actually happening. Not wasting time killing civilians and adding hurt to what is already happening over there."

Khalaf left Syria in 2012 after having open heart surgery. Syria had exploded into the news in March 2011 when protest erupted in the city of Daraa. Later that month, demonstration spread around the country.

"At the time the conflict happened, there was no medicine, there were no jobs, life stopped," he said.

He watched from Chicago Thursday night as U.S. missiles were launched at a Syrian airbase thought to be the source of the chemical attacks that killed dozens last week.

The bombing represents Trump's most dramatic military order since taking office. He called on "all civilized nations" to join the U.S. in seeking an end to the carnage in Syria.

Civil rights groups have been careful in how they describe the U.S. retaliation, even while they denounce the Assad governments apparent use of chemical weapons on its own citizens.

"We want to make sure that whatever choices are made, the safety of the Syrian population, those who have endured six years of Civil War, is prioritized and our hopes are with the Syrian community and we hope they can find relief soon," said Salma El Khaoudi with the Council on American Islamic Relations in Chicago.

But Khalaf's daughter said her father remains hopeful that Trump will be able to do what he predecessor could not.

"He is more confident in Trump because under Obama, for the five years that Obama was in office and the war was happening, he did nothing," said Aya Khalaf. "He made no efforts to help the Syrian people and he asks Trump to do more to rid them of the Assad regime."
Police have identified the woman found dead in her New Britain condominium on Friday night and the search continues for the suspect who also prompted an Amber Alert early Saturday morning.

Police responded to unit 203 at 48 North Mountain Road in New Britain around 10 p.m. on Friday to investigate a domestic disturbance after a neighbor called 911 and reported fighting in the unit, police said.

When no one answered the door, officers forced their way into the home and found 33-year-old Yasheeka Miles unresponsive in a bedroom with an apparent gunshot wound to the head.

She was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Her death has been ruled a homicide.

Based on what police found in the home, they determined that two children might have lived there. They did find one child with a family member in Connecticut, but 2-year-old Paisley Miles was gone, so police issued an Amber Alert and the search began to find her.

Police identified 36-year-old Patrick Miles as a suspect and said he fled to New York City with Paisley after the incident.

The little girl was found safe with family members in Brooklyn, New York around 4 a.m. Saturday. Authorities believe that Patrick took Paisley and dropped her off with a relative in New York and they said that relative is cooperating with the police investigation.

Paisley was taken to the hospital as a precaution and was found to be unharmed. She is currently with family members in Connecticut, according to New Britain police.

Police said Yasheeka and Patrick Miles had a domestic relationship, but have not elaborated on what the relationship between them is. On Monday, police issued a news released listing 48 North Mountain Road as the home address for both of them.

The focus of the investigation has now shifted to finding Patrick Miles. He is 5-feet-9-inches tall and was last seen driving a mid-90s silver and gray Chevy Malibu.

According to New Britain police, Miles does have a criminal history in Vernon and New London.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call New Britain police at 860-826-3000 or the anonymous TIPS line at 860-826-3299. Tips can also be made online at newbritainpolice.org.
A raging second-alarm fire destroyed one of Hartford's so-called "perfect six" buildings on Friday night.

The building was nicknamed for its symmetrical design, but NBC Connecticut learned this was the second fire at the location this year.

There was a fire in this building a few months ago. So because of that no one was living in the building at the time," Hartford Fire Captain Raul Ortiz said.

The fire on Park Street happened around 5:30 p.m. before firefighters got the flames under control within the hour.

"Companies went defensive to protect exposures on a working fire," Ortiz tweeted during the fire.

The building was undergoing renovations after the previous fire.

A neighbor captured on cellphone video as flames tore through the next door building in Hartford. Before being rushed out, the neighbor recorded as fire shot out of the windows on the second and third floor.

No injuries were reported.
A Swedish prosecutor says a person has been formally identified as a suspect "of terrorist offenses by murder" by driving a hijacked truck into a crowd of pedestrians, killing four people and wounding 15 others.

The prosecutor, Hans Ihrman, said Saturday that the unidentified suspect should face a pre-trial custody hearing before midday Tuesday or be released.

Ihrman and police spokesman Lars Bystrom said only one person had been arrested in the case.

The Aftonbladet newspaper and Swedish radio reported that the suspect is a 39-year-old man from Uzbekistan. Police were not immediately available for comment on the report.

Earlier, Swedish police said the man they arrested "resembles the person we earlier have sought after" in the truck attack.

"We do not comment on what we have seized," said Bystrom, declining to confirm or deny media reports that a bag with some kind of explosives had been found in truck.

Police say the suspect isn't necessarily identical with the man seen in photos released after the incident.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

The stolen beer truck traveled for more than 500 yards along a main pedestrian street known as the Drottninggatan before it smashed into a crowd outside the upscale Ahlens department store about 3 p.m. Friday.

It came to rest in the entrance to the building. TV footage showed smoke coming out of the store after the crash.

"People were screaming and running in all directions," said Brandon Sekitto, who was in his car nearby. "(The truck) drove straight into the Ahlens entrance."

"I saw the driver, a man in black who was light around the face," Brandon told Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter. "Some women were screaming, 'Run! Run!'"

AP reporter Pietro DeCristofaro in Stockholm contributed to this report.
As the world debates whether the U.S. air strikes in Syria were effective, a Fort Worth surgeon says some kind of action is necessary to end the violence produced by the country's civil war.

The war that has displaced millions of Syrians.

Dr. Robert Anderson recently returned from the Middle East where he saw the suffering firsthand.

In addition to cosmetic surgery, Anderson performs reconstructive surgery for people with wounds and missing body parts.

He took his skills 7,000 miles away on a surgical mission.

"It's hard to imagine that kind of inhumanity," said Anderson, of the suspected gas attack in Syria.

The images that stunned the entire world shook Anderson to the core.

"When I see those people who were gassed I think about the faces of the little scared children that we took care of," he said.

In January, the Fort Worth plastic surgeon spent a week in Lebanon with other doctors on a surgical mission.

The trip was made possible by a group of faith-based organizations including LEAP Global Mission.

Together, they treated dozens of Syrian refugees uprooted from their homes and badly injured.

"Little children where bombs have blown up, the cluster bombs have been dropped, and it lights the cooking fuel on fire or you see shrapnel wounds that people have had," he remembered.

He also remembers the desperation in the eyes of many parents.

"They love their children just as much as we love ours, and they just don't have any resources. They have nothing," Anderson said.

When it comes to the suspected chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of Syrians, Anderson hopes people look beyond the numbers.

"Those are living human beings who died and children who never had the chance to live," he said.

Anderson said he would go back to the Middle East to help treat refugees.

The doctor also travels to Guatemala every year to help treat adults and children in need of surgery.
A bill that would abolish the troubled busing agency Dallas County Schools will get a hearing in the Texas Legislature nest week.

State Sen. Don Huffines, R-Dallas, wants to remove the current DCS board and phase out the agency.

DCS is mired in a financial crisis, and over the last six months an NBC 5 investigation has exposed serious safety concerns, including hundreds of school bus drivers running red lights.

Huffines's bill goes up for debate in the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday.

Huffines sent a letter to DCS Board President Larry Duncan, asking him to appear at the hearing to answer questions.

A new acting superintendent at DCS says the agency should be given more time to restructure and should not be shut down.
The U.S. airstrikes this week were aimed at a Syrian air base, but almost certainly got the attention of another adversary  North Korea.

Heading into the first talks between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, North Korea was the front-and-center security issue on the table. But Trump's decision to launch the airstrikes changed that dynamic quite abruptly  and for Pyongyang, more than talk of sanctions or deeper isolation, the missiles may well have been the message.

Trump talked up the meeting with lots of tough rhetoric about how he was going to get China to fully exert its influence over North Korea or, if he needed to, go it alone, saying Washington could "totally" resolve the issue without China's help. Pyongyang appeared to up the ante just before the meeting began by test-launching a ballistic missile.

With all eyes on the Syria airstrikes, however, the expected showdown over North Korea policy ended with no significant breakthroughs to announce.

The two leaders instead broadly vowed to work more closely to get the North to abandon its nuclear weapons, a vow that Pyongyang has heard many times before.

Such closer cooperation could include tighter enforcement of international trade sanctions  almost all of North Korea's trade passes through China  along with a crackdown on the North's ability to use the international financial system and heavy punishments or exclusion from the financial world for those who deal with the North.

Beijing, though deeply concerned by its neighbor's nuclear weapons program, has always advocated an approach that focuses more on talks and engagement than sanctions and isolation. Having gotten through the talks without making any major, specific commitments, the Chinese president would seem to have won some ground  or at least some wiggle room  in the Trump talks.

For Pyongyang, meanwhile, the news of Trump's military action against Syria probably spoke louder than words.

Like most of the world, Pyongyang is still trying to figure out just what kind of a leader Trump will be. The missile barrage enhances Trump's image as a leader willing to use U.S. military power quickly and in a precision-strike manner  which is exactly the scenario that concerns North Korea most.

The airstrikes, announced shortly after Trump and Xi wrapped up dinner Thursday night, were retaliation against Syrian President Bashar Assad for a chemical weapons attack against civilians caught up in his country's long civil war.

North Korea has long claimed that the United States is preparing to conduct similar precision strikes against its territory or even launch an all-out invasion.

In fact, the North justifies its nuclear weapons as a necessary deterrent to the U.S. military threat and has over the past weeks warned that the biggest-ever joint U.S.-South Korean war games, which are held annually and are now underway, have raised tensions on the Korean Peninsula to the brink of war. The peninsula remains technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean conflict was concluded with an armistice, not a formal peace treaty.

Washington denies it has any intention of invading the North.

Doing so  even with a one-off sort of airstrike  would be a far more risky move. Unlike Syria, North Korea has a means of striking back. Along with its rapidly advancing nuclear and long-range missile capabilities, it has its artillery and short-range missiles trained on Seoul, the capital of U.S. ally South Korea and a city of more than 10 million people.

Nevertheless, the strikes against Assad's government in Syria  which Pyongyang considers an ally  are likely to have added weight in the North's eyes to Trump's recent threat to act unilaterally against North Korea's weapons program.

If it was looking for moral support from Beijing, which is also inclined to support Assad and more diplomacy rather than military actions, it didn't get any. China's response to the airstrikes was muted.
Chinese President Xi Jinping was able to take in views Friday night of the natural beauty that Alaska has to offer. The state's governor hopes this will lead to an increased appetite in the world's most populous nation for more natural resources from Alaska.

Xi requested time with Gov. Bill Walker Friday night as the Chinese delegation's plane made a refueling stop in Alaska's largest city following meetings with President Donald Trump in Florida. His wife and the Chinese delegation stepped off the Boeing 747 and were greeted by Walker, his wife and several dignitaries.

The visitors and their hosts drove off in a line of SUVs, limos and other vehicles in 40-degree weather under blue skies.

The sightseeing tour will include a stop at Beluga Point, a pullout on the scenic Seward Highway about 15 miles south of Anchorage.

The pullout offers a stunning view of the snow-capped Chugach Mountains and Turnagain Arm in Alaska's Cook Inlet. The waters are home to the endangered Beluga whale.

Walker said he was eager to tell Xi about the abundance of Alaska's resource development opportunities. "We have tremendous potential in our oil and gas, tourism, fish, air cargo and mineral resource industries," Walker said in a statement issued before the meeting.

For Walker, even just a few hours of time with the president of the world's largest country can pay dividends.

China is the state's top export market, buying nearly $1.2 billion worth of goods in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The next top international market was Japan, at nearly $820 million, followed by South Korea, at $730 million.

Chris Hladick, the commissioner of the state's Commerce department, called the visit by the Chinese delegation a "once-in-a lifetime opportunity."

"We're not even shown on the map for the United States," he said, a nod to Alaska and Hawaii often being left off of maps of the U.S. "I think this is an extremely valuable opportunity to meet with our largest trade partner face to face."

The state's top export product to China? Fish, accounting for 58 percent. Frozen cod and flat fish, such as halibut, topped a lengthy list of fisheries products, which also included frozen salmon and pollock.

A distant second on the export list are minerals and ores, accounting for 27 percent. Included in that last year was about $130 million of precious metals, which Hladick said was likely gold from the Fairbanks area.

Lower-tier exports included oil, wood, scrap metal and airplane parts.

Hladick sees China as a potential market for Alaska coal and hoped to raise the issue with Chinese officials during their visit. "It's meetings like this that spark interest and then you follow up," Hladick said.

Having your largest trade partner drop in for a meeting is fortuitous when the state is in tough financial straits because of a prolonged period of low oil prices. Hladick said he'd be happy to get a 45-minute meeting with the Chinese trade minister.

Walker has been courting Asian markets  particularly Japan and South Korea  in trying to drum up interest in a liquefied natural gas project the state is pursuing. State officials wouldn't say if Walker would bring up the natural gas pipeline, which is in its early stages, during his visit with Xi, but it seemed unlikely that he wouldn't take time to tout the multi-billion dollar project that would take natural gas from Alaska's North Slope to a plant on the state's coast, where it would be liquefied and shipped.

Xi is the second major world leader to spend time in Alaska's largest city in the last few years. U.S. President Barack Obama used a three-day trip to Anchorage in 2015 to showcase the impact of climate change. King Harald V of Norway also made an official visit to Anchorage a few months before Obama.

Alaska's location provides a natural stopping point for world leaders to make refueling stops, and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage has hosted many presidents over the years for these short stints.

President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II met in 1984 during refueling stops at the airport in Fairbanks. Their paths were crossing as one finished and one began trips to Asia.

Bohrer reported from Juneau, Alaska.
A statewide ban on texting while driving may soon become the law of the land in Texas after several years of coming up short.

House Bill 62 was passed with overwhelming support in the Texas House of Representatives and is now headed to the Senate.

The legislation picked up a major endorsement Friday in State Sen. Don Huffines, R-Dallas, who said he's committed to getting this law passed.

"I've come to the realization that the state of Texas needs to act to stop the carnage on our roads," the senator said.

Huffines has been no friend to a statewide ban in the past, but says after hearing from his constituents and realizing technology wasn't going to fix the problem, he's supporting the legislation this time around.

"There is no perfect solution, but it is a solution. It's a tool in the toolbox that we need to use to make our roads safer," Huffines said.

Huffines said he was also swayed by the tragic church bus crash near Uvalde last week. Thirteen people died after their bus collided head-on with a pickup truck. A witness told investigators that the driver told him he was texting prior to the crash. Cell phone video taken moments before the crash shows the driver, Jack Young, swerving into the opposite lane of traffic.

"Was it the catalyst? Yes, it was. We have got to stop this dangerous behavior on our highways," Huffines said.

Huffines's change of heart is some of the best news James Shaffer has received in the last year. On April 9, 2016, he lost his wife and daughter in a car accident. The driver who hit them was texting while driving.

"When you've been personally touched by this and you've lost your wife and daughter, and your son is distraught over them every day, that'll fire anyone up that has a heart," Shaffer said.

Shaffer testified in front of a House committee before the legislation was passed. He hopes more opponents put their political ideology aside and "do the right thing."
State regulators have fined the Goodwill charity in Sacramento more than $100,000 after an employee was crushed to death on a loading dock.

The Sacramento Bee reported Saturday that Cal-OSHA issued safety citations following the death at its Franklin Boulevard store. Goodwill denies responsibility and is appealing.

Twenty-six-year-old Abraham Gaza was killed last September when his head was crushed between a metal bin and a trash compactor.

Cal-OSHA found that Goodwill failed to correct unsafe conditions, failed to train workers using dangerous equipment and had no written procedures for safely operating the equipment.

Dave Goudie, a former employee who saw the accident, says he wrote to his superiors a month earlier warning about lack of training and unsafe conditions.

He was fired after the accident.
A former "Jersey Shore" star and his brother are facing new charges in a federal tax evasion case.

Michael "The Situation" Sorrentino and his brother, Marc, pleaded not guilty to federal tax evasion charges in the fall of 2014, but they were indicted on additional charges Friday.

Michael Sorrentino is now charged with tax evasion and structuring funds to evade currency transaction reports, and Marc is charged with falsifying records to obstruct a grand jury investigation, federal prosecutors say.

The brothers are scheduled to be arraigned in federal court in Newark on April 17. Attorney Kristen Santillo says Michael will enter a not guilty plea and "vigorously contest the allegations in court."

Prosecutors say the brothers set up businesses in the wake of Michael's "The Jersey Shore" reality TV fame, earning about $8.9 million between 2010 and 2012.

The Sorrentino brothers understated gross receipts, faked business deductions, disguised income payments and underreported net business income on those businesses, prosecutors allege.

The Sorrentinos are also accused of mixing their business and personal bank accounts, and using money from the buiness account to pay for personal items like high-end luxury cars and clothing.

Prosecutors also say Michael Sorrentino failed to pay his personal 2011 income taxes and filed a false corporate return for his business Situation Nation and concealed his cash income.

And in an effort to get around federal requirements that banks report when people make cash deposits of more than $10,000, Michael Sorrentino made multiple cash deposits of less than $10,000 into different bank accounts, prosecutors allege.

When the brothers were served with grand jury subpoenas seeking the books and records of their businesses in the initial indictment, Marc Sorrentino altered them before turning them over, prosecutors say.
A 2-year-old girl was found safe in Brooklyn early Saturday after a woman was shot to death in a Connecticut apartment, officials said.

Connecticut State Police issued an Amber Alert for the girl after she was taken by her father Patrick Miles Friday night from North Mountain Road in New Britain, police said.

Police found a woman at that home with an apparent gunshot wound to the head. She was pronounced dead on the scene. At this time police are calling this an untimely death, and the medical examiner will determine the exact cause and nature of death.

Police said the victim had a domestic relationship with Patrick Miles, but did not release her identity or other details.

Police initially responded to the condo around 10 p.m. after a neighbor called 911 reporting the sounds of fighting in the unit. When no one answered the door police forced entry to the home and found the victim unresponsive in a bedroom.

Police said based on what they found in the home they determined that two children may have lived there. One child was located with a family member in Connecticut. When the 2-year-old girl couldn't be located, the Amber Alert was issued.

The girl found with family members in Brooklyn around 4 a.m. Saturday. Authorities believe that Patrick Miles took his daughter and dropped her off with a relative in New York. That relative is cooperating with the investigation.

The toddler was taken to the hospital as a precaution but she was unharmed. She is with family members in Connecticut, according to New Britain police.

Police said Patrick Miles is a person of interest and possible suspect in the untimely death investigation. He is described as 36 years old and 5-feet, 9-inches tall. He was last seen driving a mid-90s silver and gray Chevy Malibu.

According to New Britain police, Miles has a criminal history in Connecticut.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to contact New Britain police at 860 826-3000 or the anonymous TIPS line at 860-826-3299. Tips can also be made online at newbritainpolice.org.
What to Know At least two protests were planned in Midtown on Friday night to decry the U.S. airstrike on a Syrian base

Protesters say the airstrike will cause more conflict in the war-torn country

The airstrike was in response to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's use of chemical weapons against civilians

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Midtown to demonstrate against the airstrike in Syria ordered by President Donald Trump.

Dozens of people began to gather along Fifth Avenue at around 5 p.m. Friday, many with signs denouncing the Thursday night bombing.

A separate group of dissenters planned to gather near Columbus Circle to protest the presidential action.

Armed with yellow signs that read "Bombing Syria doesn't protect people, it KILLS THEM," demonstrators marched near East 56th Street to decry the strikes against the Middle Eastern country.

Others carried signs that said "NO! In the name of humanity, we refused to accept a fascist America." Amid the different signs was a unified message: bombing Syria will create even more conflict, not resolution.

At yet another protest in Union Square on Friday night, some protesters said they don't believe Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was behind the chemical attacks earlier this week and that U.S. intervention will only make things worse.

"It's only going to escalate the violence," Martin Jennings said. "I'm really concerned about the future of the Syrian people."

Another protester, Greg Butterfield, said that the U.S. should stay out of the country.

"Get out of Syria, stop interfering, and let the people of Syria decide for themselves," Butterfield said.

Syrian officials said at least seven people were killed, including several children, after the United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian airfield in response to a gas attacked unleashed in Idlib on Tuesday.

Thursday's attack was the first direct American assault on the Syrian government and Trump's most dramatic military order since assuming the presidency just over two months ago.

The United States U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley called the move a "very measured step" and said the country is prepared to "do more" in remarks at the U.N. Security Council Friday.

"The United States took a very measured step last night," she said. "We are prepared to do more, but we hope that will not be necessary."
Dozens of frustrated parents packed a meeting at a Long Island elementary school Friday to hear what officials plan to do about a leaky roof thats been plaguing the school for two months.

Trashcans line the halls of Guggenheim Elementary School in Port Washington. Theyre there to catch water thats leaking into the school from a damaged roof. Parents say the leaky roof has been disrupting classes and may pose a threat to their kids.

There are potential mold and structural issues, and nobody can tell me 100 percent it is safe to send my child here to school, Lisa Roth said.

Photos provided by parents show exposed ceilings, red trash cans and yellow caution tape up and down the hallways of the school. Video shows water dripping down from near wires and light fixtures.

Charles Krell said the leaking water forced his daughters class to move to the gym. At least one other class had to be relocated.

You literally look up and you can see into the roof throughout the entire school, Krell said.

Port Washington school officials asked police to keep News 4 New York out of Fridays meeting, but one parent sent a photo showing about 50 angry parents at the meeting.

Lisa Kraidin said shes appalled by the school districts response.

They havent done a sufficient job addressing these issues, she said. It doesn't seem they've given it the kind of urgency it deserves.

School officials told parents Friday that temporary repairs will be done next week, but replacing the damaged roof will take longer because it needs approval from the State Education Department.

Larry Greenstein, a member of the Port Washington School Board, insisted that the building poses no threat to kids.

The State Education Department sent in somebody to check and they said no health and safety issues that they can determine, Greenstein said.

Greenstein said mold testing was done at Guggenheim Elementary on Friday and that results are pending.

In a statement, the school district said the health of students and staff remains paramount to them.

The State Education Department did not respond to a request for comment.
A New York man allegedly vandalized a sign at a state park named after President Trump, police say.

Police have arrested Ronald Atzmon, New York State Parks police said. The 32-year-old faces charges of criminal mischief and petit larceny.

Atzmon is accused of vandalizing a sign at Donald J. Trump State Park in Putnam Valley on March 22, authorities said. Surveillance cameras installed by the parks police helped officers identify the Carmel resident as a suspect.

Police said the Indian Hill section sign that was stolen has been replaced.
The Ottawa Senators clinched second place in the Atlantic Division and home-ice advantage in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs with a 3-1 win over the New York Rangers on Saturday.

The Senators' postseason opponent remains unknown at this point, but they have the luxury of resting players for Sunday's final regular-season game against the New York Islanders.

Mike Hoffman, Derick Brassard and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored for the Senators. Craig Anderson made 18 saves.

Mike Zibanejad scored for New York. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 30 shots. The Rangers have lost back-to-back games. They have clinched the top wild-card spot in the East and will face the Montreal Canadiens in the playoffs.

Pageau tipped Mark Borowiecki's point shot into the net to make it 3-0 at 6:19 of the third period.

Zibanejad broke Anderson's shutout bid, scoring a wraparound goal in the final minute of play.

The Senators came out flying in the second period and were rewarded with a 2-0 lead as they outshot New York 16-5.

Ottawa controlled the momentum throughout the period and took a 2-0 lead as Viktor Stalberg dropped a pass back to Brassard who beat Lundqvist stick-side.

There was no denying Brassard's relief as he scored his first in 11 games.

The Senators opened the scoring at the three-minute mark as Hoffman beat Lundqvist from the top of the faceoff circle after the Senators had created a number of chances.

Both teams seemed to struggle in the first period as neither created many opportunities and shots were 4-4 after 20 minutes.

Defenseman Erik Karlsson missed his second game in a row and his fourth in the past six with a lower-body injury and is not expected to play in Sunday's final regular-season game against the New York Islanders.

NOTES: Ottawa RW Chris Neil was a healthy scratch, as were C Colin White, C Chris DiDomenico and D Jyrki Jokipakka. New York's Mika Zibanejad was making his first return to Ottawa since being traded for Derick Brassard in the summer.

UP NEXT:

Rangers: Host the Penguins on Sunday night.

Senators: Travel to Brooklyn to face the Islanders on Sunday night.
An Ohio man was arrested after he allegedly chased a family member with a hatchet.

Noel E. Dawson, 63, of Toledo, was charged Tuesday with domestic violence, assault, criminal damaging, and failure to disclose personal information.

The Toledo Blade reports that Dawson allegedly chased a relative Sunday with a hatchet, swinging the small ax at the man. Dawson tried to hit the man but missed, striking his car instead  leaving a large dent in the hood, according to the Blade.

Dawson refused to give the arresting officer his information and shouted obscenities, court records show.

Dawson has pleaded not guilty. A Toledo County judge ordered him held Tuesday on $50,000 bond.

Attorney information was not immediately available.
With Russia unwilling or unable to remove chemical weapons from Syria, the United States is prepared to do more after its widely hailed missile strike against a Syrian air base, said the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations on Friday

World leaders and U.S. lawmakers have rallied around President Donald Trump's surprise decision to launch the stirke, the most significant military action of Trump's young presidency.

However, Russia, one of Syrian President Bashar Assad's most important patrons, condemned the move as an act of "aggression."

But U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley cast the move as "a very measured step" in remarks at the U.N. Security Council, and discussed Russia's "failure" to remove chemical weapons from Syria, something she said the nation was supposed to do.

"The United States took a very measured step last night. We are prepared to do more, but we hope that will not be necessary," Haley said.

As for why there were chemical weapons in the wartorn nation, Haley suggested Russia either knowingly allowed them to remain, was incompetent to remove them, or "it could be that the Assad regime is playing the Russians for fools."

In his own statement, Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador, Vladimir Safronkov, said his country firmly stands by the Syrian government, calling it a force against terrorism and saying it deserves the presumption of innocence in the chemical weapons attack.

He strongly criticized what he called the U.S. "flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression" whose "consequences for regional and international security could be extremely serious."

Also Friday, senior U.S. military officials said the Pentagon is looking into whether Russia participated in Syria's chemical weapons attack earlier this week.

A drone belonging either to Russia or Syria was seen hovering over the site of the chemical weapons attack Tuesday after it happened, according to the officials, who weren't authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity. The drone returned late in the day as citizens were going to a nearby hospital for treatment. Shortly afterward, officials say the hospital was bombed.

The officials believe the hospital attack may have been an effort to cover up evidence of the attack. They said they are still reviewing evidence.

Trump, who has long warned against the U.S. getting involved in Syria's civil war, is said to have been moved to act by the heartbreaking images of children killed in a chemical weapons attack earlier this week. Even as his advisers insisted that the strikes did not mark a significant shift in U.S. policy, Trump called on other nations to help "end the slaughter and bloodshed in Syria."

The president approved the strike while in Florida for a two-day summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump did not respond to shouted questions about the assault from reporters as he opened meetings with Xi Friday morning.

The strikes 59 missiles launched from the USS Ross and USS Porter  hit the government-controlled Shayrat air base in central Syria, where U.S. officials say the Syrian military planes that dropped the chemicals had taken off. The U.S. missiles hit at 8:45 p.m. in Washington, 3:45 Friday morning in Syria. The missiles targeted the base's airstrips, hangars, control tower and ammunition areas, officials said.

Saudi Arabia and Turkey, which support the Syrian opposition, welcomed the missile strike, with Riyadh calling it a "courageous decision" by Trump.

British Prime Minister Theresa May's office says the action was "an appropriate response to the barbaric chemical weapons attack launched by the Syrian regime, and is intended to deter further attacks." France, Italy and Israel also welcomed the strikes.

In Washington, Republican leaders applauded Trump's actions, despite the president launching the strike without congressional authorization. Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell called Trump's decision "entirely correct."

"I think the president had the authority to do what he did, and I'm glad he did it," McConnell said.

Democrats were muted in their response. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, R-Calif., said the strikes were "a limited but necessary response" and called on Trump to "develop a comprehensive strategy to end Syria's civil war."

The Syrian military said at least 7 people were killed and several were wounded in the strikes on the air base.

The U.S. assault marked a striking reversal for Trump, who warned as a candidate against the U.S. being pulled into the Syrian civil war that began six years ago.

U.S. officials placed some of the blame on Russia, which has brokered a 2013 agreement with Washington to strip Syria of its chemical weapons stockpiles. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, in Florida with Trump, said Moscow had "failed" to live up to its obligations.

"Either Russia has been complicit or Russia has been simply incompetent in its ability to deliver on its end of the agreement," Tillerson said.

The U.S. Tomahawk missiles, fired from warships in the Mediterranean Sea, targeted an air base in retaliation for the attack that America believes Syrian government aircraft launched with the nerve agent sarin mixed with chlorine gas. The president did not announce the attacks in advance, though he and other national security officials ratcheted up their warnings to the Syrian government throughout the day Thursday.

The strike came as Trump was hosting Xi in meetings focused in part on another pressing U.S. security dilemma: North Korea's nuclear program. Trump's actions in Syria could signal to China that the new president isn't afraid of unilateral military steps, even if key nations like China are standing in the way.

"This clearly indicates the president is willing to take decisive action when called for," Tillerson said.

Trump has advocated greater counterterrorism cooperation with Russia, Assad's most powerful military backer. Just last week, the Trump administration signaled the U.S. was no longer interested in trying to push Assad from power over his direction of a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and led to the worst refugee crisis since World War II.

U.S. officials portrayed the strikes as an appropriate, measured response and said they did not signal a broader shift in the Trump administration's approach to the Syrian conflict.

"The intent was to deter the regime from doing this again," said Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, the Pentagon spokesman. "It will be the regime's choice if there's any more, and it will be based upon their conduct going forward."

Still, the assault risks plunging America into the middle of Syria's conflict, complicating the safety of the hundreds of U.S. forces fighting a separate campaign against the Islamic State group in the north of the country. If Assad's military persists in further gas attacks, the Trump administration might logically pursue increased retaliation.

Russia and Iran, Assad's allies, pose other problems. Russian military personnel and aircraft are embedded with Syria's, and Iranian troops and paramilitary forces are also on the ground helping Assad fight the array of opposition groups hoping to topple him.

Before the strikes, U.S. military officials said they informed their Russian counterparts of the impending attack. The goal was to avoid any accident involving Russian forces.

Nevertheless, Russia's Deputy U.N. ambassador Vladimir Safronkov warned that any negative consequences from the strikes would be on the "shoulders of those who initiated such a doubtful and tragic enterprise."

The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin believes that the U.S. strike on a Syrian air base is an "aggression against a sovereign state in violation of international law." Iran's foreign ministry also condemned the strike and called it a violation of international law.

The U.S. also notified its partner countries in the region prior to launching the strikes.

Trump's decision to attack Syria came three-and-a-half years after President Barack Obama threatened Assad with military action after an earlier chemical weapons attack killed hundreds outside Damascus. Obama had declared the use of such weapons a "red line." At the time, several American ships in the Mediterranean were poised to launch missiles, only for Obama to abruptly pull back after key U.S. ally Britain and the U.S. Congress balked at his plan.

He opted instead for the Russian-backed plan that was supposed to remove and eliminate Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles.

The world learned of the chemical attack earlier in the week in footage that showed people dying in the streets and bodies of children stacked in piles. The international outcry fueled an emotional response from Trump, who appeared to abandon his much-touted "America First" vision for a stance of humanitarian intervention, akin to that of previous American leaders.

The show of force in Syria raises legal questions. It's unclear what authority Trump is relying on to attack another government. When Obama intervened in Libya in 2011, he used a U.N. Security Council mandate and NATO's overall leadership of the mission to argue that he had legal authority  arguments many Republicans opposed. Trump can't rely on either justification here.
Swedes questioned their country's welcoming immigration policies with pride and pain on Sunday after learning that an asylum-seeker from Uzbekistan was allegedly behind the truck rampage that killed four people, Stockholm's deadliest extremist attack in years.

The Swedish capital was slowly, but resolutely, regaining its normal rhythm as details about the 39-year-old suspect in the attack emerged. Police said he had been ordered to leave Sweden in December because his request for a residence permit was rejected six months earlier.

Instead, he allegedly went underground, eluding authorities' attempts to track down and deport him until a hijacked beer truck raced down a pedestrian street and rammed into an upscale department store on Friday.

"It makes me frustrated," Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven told Swedish news agency TT on Sunday.

The suspect, who has been detained on suspicion of terrorist offenses, was known known for having "been sympathetic to extremist organizations," Jonas Hysing of Sweden's national police said.

A second person was arrested on the same potential charge Sunday, and four others were being held by police. None of them have been identified.

Security officials in neighboring Norway, where a 17-year-old asylum-seeker from Russia was detained early Sunday in connection with an explosive device found near a busy subway station, spoke of the alarming potential for a copycat effect.

Norwegian's security agency said it wasn't clear if the teen planned to carry out an attack with the primitive homemade device police defused without any injuries. Agency head Benedicte Bjornland said it was likely the youth had been inspired by recent attacks in Stockholm, France, Germany, Britain and Russia.

"The attacks demonstrate how easy such attacks can be carried out, and prove to others that it is possible to make something similar," Bjornland said.

Sweden has long been known for its open-door policy toward migrants and refugees. But after the Scandinavian country of 10 million took in a record 163,000 refugees in 2015  the highest per-capita rate in Europe  the government has tried to be more selective about which newcomers it allows to stay.

Swedish police said Sunday they had received roughly 12,500 referrals from the Swedish Migration Board of people who, like the suspect in the truck attack, had overstayed their welcome.

The suspect eluded authorities by giving police a wrong address after his residency request was rejected in June 2016, said Hysing, the operative head of the attack investigation.

"The efforts to locate (these people) is both time-consuming and resource-intensive," he said.

National Coordinator Against Violent Extremism Anna Carlstedt, who used to lead the Red Cross in Sweden, said Friday's attack and the background of the suspect posed "difficult questions."

"Do we somehow need a more repressive policy?" Carlstedt said. "I think it is very important now not to rush into something, to see how we can safeguard this open society and still be able to protect ourselves."

The range of mixed emotions  fear and fraternity, anger and openness,  also surfaced at memorial services and rallies held in Stockholm on Sunday to honor the attack victims.

Lars Holm, a 73-year-old Stockholm resident was visibly upset, after attending a service at Stockholm Cathedral.

"If people who are here seeking asylum and treat us like this, it is not good," Holm said. "So now we have to have more security in our society, but still we don't like to live in bunkers."

Addressing tens of thousands of people rallying in bright sunshine on the downtown Sergelstorg square, organizer Rickard Sjoberg noted that many in the crowd probably were from out of town.

"But today, were all Stockholmers," he said to huge applause.

The four victims killed included a British man, a Belgian woman and two Swedes, authorities in those countries said. Their identities were not released by Swedish officials.

The British government named the Briton as Chris Bevington, an executive at Swedish music-streaming service Spotify. In Brussels, the Belga news agency said the Belgian woman had been reported missing before she was identified by her identity papers and later by DNA testing.

As of Sunday, 10 of the 15 people wounded remained hospitalized, including one child.

Stockholm county spokesman Patrik Soderberg said four of the 10 were considered "seriously" injured and the remaining six, including the child, were slightly injured.

One of the wounded, an 83-year-old Romanian woman who was begging on the city's pedestrian Drottninggatan shopping street when the attack took place, said she was "surprised" that passers-by helped her.

"I thought everyone would run past me and save themselves," Papusa Ciuraru, whose foot was crushed by a boulder displaced by the speeding truck, told the Expressen daily.

The lion-shaped boulders on Drottninggatan are meant as roadblocks and have been put up in several European capitals after a truck attack last year killed 12 people at a Christmas market in Berlin.

Police and Sweden's intelligence have questioned some 500 people as part of the investigation, a senior police officer said. Sweden's SAPO security police said it was working to find "any abettor or network involved in the attack."

The department store that was rammed by the truck apologized Sunday for an announcement that it would reopen two days after the deadly attack to sell damaged goods at a "reduced price."

The Ahlens store described it as "a bad decision" on its Facebook page, saying its motivation "was born out of the idea of standing up for transparency and not allowing evil forces take control of our lives."

The store said it would reopen Monday "without any damaged goods."
A Mexican attorney general was in San Diego federal court this morning for allegedly smuggling and trying to distribute drugs for years.

The charges stem from an indictment filed by the state of New York in March.

Edgar Veytia was arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border at the Cross Border Xpress bridge last week which connects the Tijuana airport to the United States.

Veytias attorney, Jan Ronis, said that Veytia had to admit or deny that he is the person sought in New York while in court today.

He waived his right to contest that issue and will be flown to New York for the rest of the trial.

That is where the case has been charged, that is where the case will be tried. Because he was arrested here, he has to be transferred there which is not uncommon. When people are arrested in one jurisdiction, they have to be transferred to another, said Jan Ronis, attorney for Veytia.

Veytia was expected to fly out of San Diego on Friday night.

Veytias attorney said the indictment by New York alleges that he conspired with others to distribute more than 5 kilos of cocaine.

At the time of his arrest, Ronis said that his client didnt have any drugs on him and there are no allegations he actually ever possessed drugs or contraband.

Before his arrest, Veytia was an attorney general for the Mexican State of Nayarit.

Veytia has dual-citizenship with the U-S and Mexico.
Gabina VOA is designed to be an infotainment youth radio show broadcasting to Ethiopia and Eritrea in the Amharic language. The show brings varied perspectives on issues concerning young people in the Horn of Africa region. Gabina in the Amharic language is a front row taxi ridesymbolic of the shows content as a fun ride that takes audiences from point A to point B. Gabina VOAs main goal is Enlightening young people, introducing them to cutting-edge technological innovations, exposing them to new processes and ideas so they can be productive, informed and self-governing citizens.
Tulsi Gabbard

Tulsi Gabbard, a Democratic representative from Hawaii, cast doubt on who should be held responsible for a chemical weapons attack that killed more than 80 civilians in Syria this week.

"Yes, I'm skeptical," Gabbard told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Friday when asked whether she believed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad authorized the use of chemical weapons.

"Standing around and pointing fingers does not accomplish peace for the Syrian people," Gabbard said, asserting the need for concrete evidence before assigning blame.

Autopsies have confirmed that the chemical attack earlier this week involved sarin gas, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said there could be "no doubt" that Assad's forces carried out the attack.

Both Syrian and Russian forces have denied responsibility, with Russian forces claiming a conventional airstrike hit a cache of chemical weapons owned by rebels in Syria. International experts have dismissed this as an "infantile argument."

Gabbard said in a statement Thursday night Trump "acted recklessly" in authorizing the missile strike. "It angers and saddens me that President Trump has taken the advice of war hawks and escalated our illegal regime change war to overthrow the Syrian government."

The congresswoman made similar remarks after returning from a "fact-finding trip" to Syria and Lebanon days after Trump's inauguration.

During her January trip to Syria, Gabbard met with Assad. Following Monday's chemical weapons attack in Syria, Gabbard tweeted, then deleted a statement saying that ISIS or al-Qaeda could have committed the strike.

Gabbard on Thursday night called the strike "short-sighted," and said it would lead to "more dead civilians, more refugees ... and a possible nuclear war between the United States and Russia."

Watch a portion of Gabbard's interview below:

Rep. Gabbard says Syria strikes were "reckless" and "flew directly in the face" of the action the UN was working on https://t.co/hCSkbLLNsK  CNN (@CNN) April 7, 2017

Story continues

Rep. Gabbard: Yes, Im skeptical of claim Assad regime is behind chemical weapons attack https://t.co/fETssThsLF https://t.co/fpYdUNR2t4  CNN (@CNN) April 7, 2017

NOW WATCH: ADMIRAL McRAVEN: Attacking Syria was 'the exact right thing to do'





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With a San Diego court hearing looming, the majority owners of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), Southern California Edison (SCE), announced they would consider moving radioactive materials from the site of the closed plant.

SCE had been in talks with the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, Citizens Oversight, represented by attorneys Michael Aguirre and Maria Severson. The Office of the Attorney General of California, representing the California Coastal Commission which was named in the lawsuit, also was part of a court filing to request a continuance of the April 14th court date so they may pursue settlement, said the press release from the utility.

The chief nuclear officer and SCE vice president Tom Palmisano is quoted in the release as saying there was a common goal to move the used nuclear fuel off-site as soon as reasonably possible.

Attorney Aguirre said in the same release that everyone involved must come together and work to find a solution in the best interests of the people.

It wasnt clear from the release if this offer of settlement would include removing all radioactive materials from the site, which includes the 3,600,000 pounds of spent fuel now submerged in water pools on the property as well as the 50 canisters of leftover radioactive fuel now buried on the property in what is called dry cask storage.

Read the full press release here.

It is the most dangerous stuff on earth; a witches brew of radioactive material, a critic of the plan to bury the materials on a sea bluff above San Onofre Beach told NBC 7.

Aguirre said in a recent response to filings by SCE when the Coastal Commission approved the placement of the radioactive material on the property that the findings are not supported by the evidence. He claims the Commission was working with SCE to build a record to support SCEs proposal to bury the waste at San Onofre, long before public hearings were held.

The contention is the Coastal Commission approved the nuclear dump site assuming the storage facility would be in good physical condition for 35 years. However, as pointed out in the court filings, the storage certification is only good for 20 years, creating a 15-year safety gap. In the same March 21 filing, the Coastal Commission admitted the shoreline protection structures cannot be counted upon to prevent erosion and flooding at the site in future generations.

San Diego Gas and Electric is a minority owner of SONGS.
This weekend is shaping up to be spring-like and beautiful, said Storm Team4, which is perfect since there will be so many fun things to do in the D.C. area.

We've rounded up some of the can't-miss events happening this weekend -- and scroll down to see a map of all locations.

Union Market's Drive-In movie series returns Friday night, with a screening of "The Royal Tenenbaums" at 8 p.m. There's a $10 parking fee per car, but the movie is free for walk-ups. The lot will close at 7:30 p.m., so get there early! Buy parking tickets in advance here. (See the complete movie schedule online here.)

This is the last weekend of Light City Baltimore, and you won't want to miss it. Road-trip it to Baltimore's Inner Harbor for dazzling illuminated art installations, performances, food and drinks Friday and Saturday nights from 7 p.m. to midnight.

Meanwhile, the cherry blossom excitement continues with the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon. The parade will march along Constitution Avenue from 7th to 17th streets NW. Parade viewing is free and open to the public along the streets, but be sure to arrive early for the best views. Grandstand seating is also available for $20.

Also part of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, the Sakura Matsuri Japanese Street Festival (M Street and New Jersey Avenue SE in the Capitol Riverfront neighborhood) celebrates Japanese culture in the United States. You'll find vendors, food, cultural groups and performances for the whole family to enjoy. The festival is Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Since Emancipation Day will fall on Easter this year, D.C. will celebrate this Saturday instead of April 16. A parade will march Pennsylvania Avenue NW starting at 1 p.m., followed by a concert at 3 p.m. at Freedom Plaza (see the list of performers here). Then, at 9 p.m., fireworks will illuminate the sky over Freedom Plaza. Emancipation Day celebrates the day President Abraham Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act, freeing more than 3,100 enslaved people in the District.

Looking to get a head start on enjoying Easter candy? Check out PEEPS Day on Saturday at National Harbor. You'll find a PEEPS eating contest, a dance contest, face painting, a moon bounce and a screening of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory."

The Anacostia River Festival will wrap up the weekend Sunday, from 1 to 5 p.m. at Anacostia Park (Anacostia Drive and Good Hope Road SE). Ride your bike in the bike parade, play lawn games, get a bike tuneup and check out the local arts scene at Anacostia Park.
A survivor of domestic violence was honored this National Crime Victims Rights Week for helping others in similar situations.

Patricia Jackson said she had been married for 15 years when her husbands verbal and emotional abuse turned physical.

The physical stuff started, she said. So did the threats to kill me.

When her husband attacked their teenage son in 2004, she finally fled and said she wanted a divorce.

But he got her back to the house one day using a pretense and attacked her almost immediately, she said.

Before he threw me down the stairs, he told me he was going to finish it for once and for all, she said.

She said she prayed that if she was going to die, that she die quickly and that the truth would come out and her son would know the truth.

Jackson survived the fall and eventually got away, went to a hospital and called the sheriff.

Her husband was convicted of malicious wounding and abduction and sentenced to prison.

She said the services offered at Empowerhouse like court escorts and group counseling were vital to her recovery.

She is one of the bravest people we know, Empowerhouse Executive Director Kathy Anderson said. I have to say, bravery is part of surviving domestic violence.

The Fredericksburg, Virginia, non-profit also operates several shelters.

They try to head off domestic violence, giving presentations on healthy relationships to high school students and warning of dating violence.

Jackson's now on the Board of Directors at Empowerhouse.

Now I work for people like I used to be, she said. I don't consider myself a victim anymore. I'm a survivor.
A Montgomery County, Maryland, firefighter has died after he was found unresponsive at a fire station Friday, fire officials said.

Coworkers found Montgomery County Firefighter Charles "Rick" Gentilcore, 52, suffering from a medical condition about 3:30 p.m. at the Burtonsville Volunteer Fire Department.

Rescue workers immediately started treating him and he was taken to a hospital, where he later died.

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue workers escorted Gentilcore's body to the medical examiner's office in Baltimore.

Gentilcore was with the fire department for 23 years.

On Saturday, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan ordered state flags to fly at half-staff in honor of Gentilcore.

No further information was immediately available.
A talented high school student in Prince George's County has a big decision to make soon -- she was accepted to 14 colleges and universities, including Harvard, Princeton and Stanford.

Olawunmi Akinlemibola, a senior at DuVal High School in Lanham, Maryland, was accepted to Ivy League schools, the University of Maryland and several other institutions.

The 18-year-old has a 4.15 GPA and already has earned college credit. She works hard for her success, her guidance counselor, Stacy Kline, said.

"I'm just amazed by her," she said. "It's the internal drive that she has."

Akinlemibola said her family's support is key. She lives with her father, but her mother and two sisters are home in Nigeria, where she was born. In a recent interview, she began to cry as she spoke about her mother.

"Even though she's not here physically, she takes care of me. Emotionally, she provides a lot of support," the student said. She hopes her family will be reunited this year.

Akinlemibola said part of what drives her to succeed is a sense that she has opportunities her parents didn't have.

"Theyve just gone through so much, and it's like, this is like the least I can do, is do well in school," she said.

Here's where Akinlemibola was accepted, according to WTOP:

Emory University

Brown University

University of Maryland, Baltimore County

University of Maryland, College Park

Swarthmore College

Grinnell College

Amherst College

University of Chicago

Duke University

Stanford University

Cornell University

Princeton University

Harvard University

University of Pennsylvania

Akinlemibola said Stanford is the front-runner. She would study biology and, with scholarships, pay just $300 per year in tuition.
More than 130 Southeast D.C. residents have no home to go to after Thursday's storms whipped through their neighborhood and ripped the roof off of their apartment building.

"I just happened to look out the window and just saw everything spinning, then it just dropped down. It was crazy. I was so scared," said Miche Richardson, a displaced resident.

"It sounded like a big wind, then the lights went out," said Cynthia Robertson, a resident displaced after the damage.

"Next thing I know, the whole roof is in the street!"

"It sounded like a big wind, then the lights went out," said resident Cynthia Robertson. "Next thing I know, the whole roof is in the street!"

Thirty-six families, including children and elderly residents, call the Washington View apartments on Stanton Road SE home.

"We don't have anything. Everything is boarded up at the apartment building now. I have never had to deal with anything like this before," Richardson said.

On Friday, the families were allowed to go back to their apartments to gather what they could.

They also met with District agencies led by the D.C. Department of Human Services and the Red Cross to begin the recovery process.

"Today is where we're really going to spend time, one-on-one, multiple agencies coming together dealing with folks as a family unit to help them begin a road to recovery, which is going to take a long time, as it does in any disaster," said Paul Carden, the director of emergency services for the American Red Cross.

"We are really concerned about the emotional aspect of this, the anxiety. And that's one of the things the District is trying to do - relieve as much or minimize as much anxiety that the families may have," said Dora Taylor, with the D.C. Department of Human Services.

DHS is providing hotel rooms for the families for the next two weeks. The owner of the Washington View apartments is working to find them short-term housing as repairs are made to the building.
A Massachusetts woman who was reported missing Saturday has been found dead, and a Rhode Island man has been charged with her murder.

Fall River Police announced Tuesday that they were looking for 29-year-old Krystal Boswell, who had not been seen since Saturday. Wednesday, according to police in Cranston, Rhode Island, an anonymous caller reported that a resident of that city named James Lombardi had murdered a missing woman from Fall River and buried her behind a vacant home being renovated.

When Boswell was reported missing, Cranston Police say, she was said to have left with a man named Jimmy who had a Rhode Island cell phone number.

Authorities found a patch of ground behind 9 Preston Ave. that had been disturbed. They learned that Lombardi, 32, had recently performed work there and had known Boswell. Police add that Lombardi had been seen digging a hole there on Sunday morning.

Police began searching the property on Wednesday, and they found Boswell's remains early Friday morning. She had died from blunt force trauma and asphyxiation.

"The loss of this young woman is tragic. On behalf of the men and women of the Cranston Police Department, we offer our sincerest condolences to Ms. Boswell's entire family and her friends," Col. Michael Winquist, the department's chief, said in a statement.

Later Friday morning, they arrested Lombardi at his Wakefield Avenue home and charged him with first degree murder.

Lombardi was ordered held without bail pending his arraignment, which will take place Monday in the Third District Court in Warwick. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney.
After the administration of President Donald Trump launched a series of airstrikes on a Syrian airfield in response to that country's apparent use of chemical weapons to kill at least 100 people, lawmakers in New England are giving their reactions.

"The use of chemical weapons against innocent Syrian men, women, and children is a clear violation of international law. The Syrian regime must be held accountable for this horrific act, and its actions underscore why the United States should embrace innocent people who are fleeing in terror," Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said. "But the Constitution gives the power to authorize the use of military force to the legislative branch. Expanded military intervention in Syria requires action by Congress. If President Trump expects such an authorization, he owes the American people an explanation of his strategy to bring an end to the violence in Syria. We should not escalate this conflict without clear goals and a plan to achieve them."

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said the Syrian crisis can't end "without a concrete plan to ensure a diplomatic end to this civil war."

Rep. Seth Moulton, a Massachusetts Democrat and military veteran, pointed out that those oppressed by the regime of Bashar al-Assad are the same people seeking refuge in the U.S., something Trump has opposed through his campaign and presidency.

"So @POTUS cares enough about the Syrian people to launch 50 Tomahawks but not enough to let the victims of Assad find refuge & freedom here," he tweeted.

Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island also condemned the actions of Syria while calling into question Trump's full strategy.

"The question now is what the consequences and reactions will be, and what are the president's strategic and long-range goals and plans with respect to U.S. involvement in Syria?" Reed asked. "The administration is also going to have to set out the legal justification for tonight's action and any future military operations against the Assad regime as part of its consultations with Congress."

However, Rhode Island's other Democratic senator, Sheldon Whitehouse, said he was supportive of President Trump's actions.

"We have witnessed yet another atrocious act by the Assad regime against its own people, and we are called to conscience. Last night's military action in Syria met my standards for responding to atrocity: a limited action; with a clear objective; that is not the beginning of American 'boots on the ground' military operations," he said in a statement.

Congressman Joe Kennedy III also released a statement supporting the airstrike but criticizing the administration for failing to give the American people a say.

He said, "President Assad's vicious brutality demands a response. But this country doesn't fight wars without giving the American people a say. Any plans for military engagement in Syria must come before their elected representatives in Congress for a debate and a vote. And any strategy that ignores the refugees fleeing this unimaginable terror is a half-step at best."

Connecticut's U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, who is a Democratic member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called the airstrike "ill-thought out" and shows the Trump administration's "immoral hypocrisy" in other Middle East conflicts, such as Yemen.

"Yes, Bashar al-Assad should pay a price for the slaughter of civilians in Syria," he said. "But the decision over the nature of that consequence is not for President Trump to make alone. The Constitution states that only Congress can authorize military activity, and President Trump should have sought congressional approval before taking action."

Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut's other Democratic senator, said Thursday's military action was intended to send a message to Assad and his enablers, but "it will have no real practical meaning or legal force without a strategy that is authorized by Congress, and engages regional allies and resources ... As a moral and humanitarian matter, providing refuge to Syrian victims of Assad's atrocities is now more urgent than ever."

U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, who represents Massachusetts' 2nd congressional district, said Trump should have sought Congress' approval before launching Thursday's strike.

"President Trump and the United States must demand that Russia and Vladimir Putin stop bombing the Syrian people and bring an end to this horrific war," he said in a statement. "We cannot ignore the fact that Putin bears responsibility for Assad remaining in power."

New Hampshire's Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, also a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Armed Services Committee, said she voted to support using military action against Assad in 2013, and supports the Trump administration's decision for Thursday's airstrike.

"Going forward, President Trump must explain to the American people what his strategy is to bring the broader Syrian conflict to a close and end the threat of terrorism that this conflict has fueled," she said in a statement. "Congress must also provide constructive oversight. Furthermore, this adminstration must be fully transparent with Congress and the American people regarding troop deployments to the battlefield."

Maggie Hassan, New Hampshire's other Democratic senator, said Thursday's airstrikes sent a message to Assad, but that Trump must work with Congress before escalating the military action.

In a series of tweets, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said that while he considers Assad a war criminal, he's "deeply concerned the strike in Syria could lead the U.S. back into the quagmire of long-term military engagement in the Middle East."

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said the Trump administration needs to work with Congress going forward concerning Syria.

"When brutality, like we have seen against the citizens of Syria by their own government, shocks our consciences, the desire to act decisively is strong. We must keep in mind that we have learned that there are grave risks and unintended consequences in the use of military force, especially unilateral military force," his statement said.

Democratic Rep. Bill Keating (MA-9) called the airstrikes "necessary and proportional," while Congresswoman Niki Tsongas (MA-3) agreed with the military action, but added, "Given the many questions and complexities of the situation in Syria, the White House must divulge its overarching strategy to the American people and to Congress."
A man who allegedly used Ponzi-like schemes to deceive more than a dozen people out of a combined $1.5 million has been arrested on federal charges.

Scott Wolas, 67, was arrested Friday in Delray Beach, Florida, according to the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney's Office. He is charged with wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with the development of the former Beachcomber Bar in Quincy.

He appeared in U.S. District Court in Florida on Friday morning and is expected to return to Massachusetts at a later date to appear in federal court in Boston.

Quincy police had issued a warrant for Wolas's arrest last fall on charges of larceny, embezzlement and identity theft. He had warrants for similar charges out of New York and Alabama.

In Quincy, authorities say Wolas deceived around 16 people out of a combined $1.5 million.

Wolas also went by the names Eugene Grathwohl, Frank Amolsch, Drew Prescott, Allen Hengst, Endicott Asquith and Cameron Sturge.

According to court documents, from at least 2009 through 2016, Wolas, under his Grathwohl alias, operated a real estate business known as Increasing Fortune, Inc. and worked as a licensed real estate agent for Century 21 in Quincy.

From 2014 through 2016, he solicited investments for the development of the Beachcomber Bar property on Quincy Shore Drive and for the construction of a single-family home on the adjacent property.

He collected more than $1.5 million from at least 19 investors and promised each of them a significant return on their investments. He allegedly promised to pay out at least 125 percent of the profits related to the single-family home construction.

Wolas was scheduled to close on the Beachcomber property on Sept. 15, 2016. A week before, he left Quincy and ceased all contact with his then-girlfriend, his co-workers, and his investors.

Law enforcement then discovered that Grathwohl was actually Wolas, a former lawyer who had been a fugitive since 1997 after being charged with fraud and grand larceny in New York. The real Eugene Grathwohl resides in Florida and is a friend of Wolas ex-wife.

The court documents also indicate that the bank account into which Wolas deposited investor funds has been drained, and that Wolas used the money mostly for his personal expenses unrelated to development of the real estate projects.

Wolas had last been seen in Massachusetts on Sept. 15 at the UMass/JFK MBTA station.
The age to buy tobacco products may be increasing across Massachusetts.

Lawmakers are closer to increasing the buying age of tobacco products from 18 to 21.

Many people who spoke with NBC Boston in opposition cited the age to join the military.

"I think it's stupid," one person said. "If you can die for your country, you should be able to kill yourself with a cigarette."

The bill, backed by Sen. Jason Lewis and 35 other senators, aims to reduce the number of teens who use tobacco products.

"Use of tobacco is still the leading preventable cause of illness and premature death in Massachusetts and across the country," said Lewis.

With more than 140 communities across the state having already made the change, Lewis said its the right decision.

"We really think it's time now to make tobacco consistently 21 across the state," said Senator Lewis. "Then have it be the same for alcohol, marijuana and tobacco."

The bill will also increase the age of vaping using e-cigarettes to 21, which is a change the city of Boston has already made.

The owner of Blue Moon, a smoke shop on Commonwealth Avenue, said that hurt business.

The bill includes a grandfather clause. Anyone 18 at the time the bill passes will be able to purchase tobacco products.

Lewis believes the bill will pass this summer and that Gov. Charlie Baker will sign it.
By PTI

MUMBAI: After three failed auctions, banks have finally managed to sell the Kingfisher Villa in Goa belonging to the troubled businessman Vijay Mallya to a city-based actor for Rs 73 crore through a private treaty.

The harried lenders to Kingfisher Airlines have ended the jinx to recover the dues of over Rs 9,000 crore by monetising assets of the airline under their custody by selling the villa to actor-producer Sachiin Joshi.

The sale of KFA Villa finally took off earlier this week after three failed auctions, the last being on March 6. With this, the lenders' only other asset is the Kingfisher House in the city, which had commanded a valuation of over Rs 150 crore initially, but could not be auctioned even at the fourth round.

Though both the parties -- the 17-bank consortium led by SBI and the buyer actor-producer Sachiin Joshi, who owns Viiking Media, refused to confirm the deal, sources said the villa in north Goa has finally been sold to Joshi for Rs 73.01 crore, far less than the reserve price the bankers set at upwards of Rs 90 crore for auctions, which failed thrice. "Secured creditors have the right to go for a private treaty if the auction route fails. With this, it seems the jinx over the sale of KFA properties is over. The villa was sold through a bilateral agreement earlier this week for Rs 73.01 crore to actor-producer Sachiin Joshi," a source who is aware of the development told PTI.

The villa, spread over 12,350 sq ft or three acres at Candolim (on the way to Fort Aguada), was legally owned by United Breweries Holdings, the parent company of the airline. The lenders had taken physical possession of the villa in May 2016.

The lenders' bid to auction trademarks, including the brand value of the Kingfisher logo, in August 2016, too, was unsuccessful. The reserve price for the brands was set at Rs 330 crore, which is not even a tenth of the Rs 4,000 crore valuation it commanded when offered as collateral.

Asked if a similar route will be followed to dispose of Kingfisher House in the city, which was once the headquarters of the airline, the source said with the sale of the villa, at least a process has been initiated. The source also said movable assets lying in the villa will be sold through a recovery officer as per the DRT orders.

For the third auction on March 6, the reserve price for the villa was set at Rs 73 crore, which was around 10 per cent lower than the second auction held last December when the price of the sea-facing property was set at Rs 81 crore. It was put under the hammer for the first time last October with a reserve price of Rs 85.29 crore. The villa was used by Mallya to host lavish parties.

SBI Caps Trustee was entrusted with auctioning the properties on behalf of the lenders.

Mallya was declared a wilful defaulter and is wanted by authorities for default in payment for loans related to Kingfisher Airlines that was grounded in 2012. He owes over Rs 9,000 crore to lenders like SBI, PNB, IDBI Bank, BoB, Allahabad Bank, Federal Bank and Axis Bank, among others. He left the country on March 3 last year and is currently said to be in Britain and his extradition talks are on.

The SBI-led consortium had also reduced the reserve price of the Kingfisher House by 10 per cent to Rs 103.50 crore from Rs 115 crore during the third failed auction last December. In the first auction in March 2016, the reserve price was set at Rs 150 crore, but was lowered to Rs 135 crore in the second held last August.

MUMBAI: After three failed auctions, banks have finally managed to sell the Kingfisher Villa in Goa belonging to the troubled businessman Vijay Mallya to a city-based actor for Rs 73 crore through a private treaty. The harried lenders to Kingfisher Airlines have ended the jinx to recover the dues of over Rs 9,000 crore by monetising assets of the airline under their custody by selling the villa to actor-producer Sachiin Joshi. The sale of KFA Villa finally took off earlier this week after three failed auctions, the last being on March 6. With this, the lenders' only other asset is the Kingfisher House in the city, which had commanded a valuation of over Rs 150 crore initially, but could not be auctioned even at the fourth round. Though both the parties -- the 17-bank consortium led by SBI and the buyer actor-producer Sachiin Joshi, who owns Viiking Media, refused to confirm the deal, sources said the villa in north Goa has finally been sold to Joshi for Rs 73.01 crore, far less than the reserve price the bankers set at upwards of Rs 90 crore for auctions, which failed thrice. "Secured creditors have the right to go for a private treaty if the auction route fails. With this, it seems the jinx over the sale of KFA properties is over. The villa was sold through a bilateral agreement earlier this week for Rs 73.01 crore to actor-producer Sachiin Joshi," a source who is aware of the development told PTI. The villa, spread over 12,350 sq ft or three acres at Candolim (on the way to Fort Aguada), was legally owned by United Breweries Holdings, the parent company of the airline. The lenders had taken physical possession of the villa in May 2016. The lenders' bid to auction trademarks, including the brand value of the Kingfisher logo, in August 2016, too, was unsuccessful. The reserve price for the brands was set at Rs 330 crore, which is not even a tenth of the Rs 4,000 crore valuation it commanded when offered as collateral. Asked if a similar route will be followed to dispose of Kingfisher House in the city, which was once the headquarters of the airline, the source said with the sale of the villa, at least a process has been initiated. The source also said movable assets lying in the villa will be sold through a recovery officer as per the DRT orders. For the third auction on March 6, the reserve price for the villa was set at Rs 73 crore, which was around 10 per cent lower than the second auction held last December when the price of the sea-facing property was set at Rs 81 crore. It was put under the hammer for the first time last October with a reserve price of Rs 85.29 crore. The villa was used by Mallya to host lavish parties. SBI Caps Trustee was entrusted with auctioning the properties on behalf of the lenders. Mallya was declared a wilful defaulter and is wanted by authorities for default in payment for loans related to Kingfisher Airlines that was grounded in 2012. He owes over Rs 9,000 crore to lenders like SBI, PNB, IDBI Bank, BoB, Allahabad Bank, Federal Bank and Axis Bank, among others. He left the country on March 3 last year and is currently said to be in Britain and his extradition talks are on. The SBI-led consortium had also reduced the reserve price of the Kingfisher House by 10 per cent to Rs 103.50 crore from Rs 115 crore during the third failed auction last December. In the first auction in March 2016, the reserve price was set at Rs 150 crore, but was lowered to Rs 135 crore in the second held last August.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: Gleneagles Global Hospitals, which provides multi super-speciality and transplant treatments, launched its latest facility in Bengaluru. GGH received investment from Parkway Pantai Ltd, which is a medical company based in Singapore and one of the largest healthcare providers in Asia.

Spread over 15,000 sq ft, the hospital will house 10 core specialities and will offer multi-disciplinary high-end patient care. Parkway Pantai, which is a fully owned subsidiary of IHH Healthcare, had earlier invested Rs 270 crore in GGH with a further capex investment of 100 crore.

Global Hospitals has served Karnataka since 2007. Our commitment has given to Karnataka its largest and most successful multi-organ transplant programme in the region at our quaternary care facility at Kengeri, Bengaluru. The coming together of Global Hospitals and Parkway Pantai now gives us a new brand identity, Gleneagles Global Hospitals. Our new hospital at Richmond Road is a significant addition to our ongoing efforts in medical excellence, said K Ravindranath, chairman and founder, Gleneagles Global Hospitals.

The facility serves central locations within Bengaluru. We have put together a team of senior doctors and seasoned professionals united with passion for health care. Combining latest in medical technology and customised service, I am sure that this team will win hearts of Namma Bengaluru, said Ramesh Krishnan, CEO, India Operations Division, Parkway Pantai.

Speaking to Express on the sidelines of the conference Krishnan said that although medical tourism is growing, healthcare is a very local subject and there is need to strike a balance. The Chennai facility gets 25 per cent foreign patients. Our focus will right now be on cities before we try and move to tier-2 and tier-3 towns, he added.

BENGALURU: Gleneagles Global Hospitals, which provides multi super-speciality and transplant treatments, launched its latest facility in Bengaluru. GGH received investment from Parkway Pantai Ltd, which is a medical company based in Singapore and one of the largest healthcare providers in Asia. Spread over 15,000 sq ft, the hospital will house 10 core specialities and will offer multi-disciplinary high-end patient care. Parkway Pantai, which is a fully owned subsidiary of IHH Healthcare, had earlier invested Rs 270 crore in GGH with a further capex investment of 100 crore. Global Hospitals has served Karnataka since 2007. Our commitment has given to Karnataka its largest and most successful multi-organ transplant programme in the region at our quaternary care facility at Kengeri, Bengaluru. The coming together of Global Hospitals and Parkway Pantai now gives us a new brand identity, Gleneagles Global Hospitals. Our new hospital at Richmond Road is a significant addition to our ongoing efforts in medical excellence, said K Ravindranath, chairman and founder, Gleneagles Global Hospitals. The facility serves central locations within Bengaluru. We have put together a team of senior doctors and seasoned professionals united with passion for health care. Combining latest in medical technology and customised service, I am sure that this team will win hearts of Namma Bengaluru, said Ramesh Krishnan, CEO, India Operations Division, Parkway Pantai. Speaking to Express on the sidelines of the conference Krishnan said that although medical tourism is growing, healthcare is a very local subject and there is need to strike a balance. The Chennai facility gets 25 per cent foreign patients. Our focus will right now be on cities before we try and move to tier-2 and tier-3 towns, he added.
By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:Students of Cotton Hill Girls High School, like most of us in the city, have visited the museum campus many times. But not many were aware about the speciality of trees there. To know the trees better, the students who are participants of the holiday camp Changathikoottam set out on a walk on Friday morning.

The students taking a walk with the

teachers and Tree Walk team

They were told about the 12 wonderful trees on the campus that one do not find so easily elsewhere. In their one hour walk, they found trees like Candle tree, Jasmine tree, Java Olive, Ebony, Venezuela Rose, Pride of Burma, Buddhas Coconut, Wild Rubber, Cannon ball tree, Lettuce tree, Mickey mouse plant, Malabar Iron wood. They also got to see the White Dammer, the Flame of the Forest and Tabebuia in full bloom.

The walk included songs and descriptions about the trees. The participants of the walk responded with interest to know more about the trees in their own school, and initiate the process of planting more trees in their own campus.

The walk The Wonder Dozen was organised by Tree Walk in association with the PTA of Cotton Hill Girls High School. Meant to instill curiosity, knowledge and observation skills about trees and nature in children, the walk was dedicated to one of the earliest Tree Walkers, late General SK Pillai, who passed away 2 years ago on this day.

The walk led by ecologist S Santhi started with a moment of silence for the departed soul.

The walk was attended by the Headmistress, Principal and PTA President of the School TP Sudhakaran, along with teachers. The walk also had the support of Tree Walk team Anitha Sharma, Suresh Elamon, Veena, M, Jean Nettar, Prasath Rajendra, Renu Henry, Neeta, Namitha Lal and Meenakshi.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:Students of Cotton Hill Girls High School, like most of us in the city, have visited the museum campus many times. But not many were aware about the speciality of trees there. To know the trees better, the students who are participants of the holiday camp Changathikoottam set out on a walk on Friday morning. The students taking a walk with the teachers and Tree Walk teamThey were told about the 12 wonderful trees on the campus that one do not find so easily elsewhere. In their one hour walk, they found trees like Candle tree, Jasmine tree, Java Olive, Ebony, Venezuela Rose, Pride of Burma, Buddhas Coconut, Wild Rubber, Cannon ball tree, Lettuce tree, Mickey mouse plant, Malabar Iron wood. They also got to see the White Dammer, the Flame of the Forest and Tabebuia in full bloom. The walk included songs and descriptions about the trees. The participants of the walk responded with interest to know more about the trees in their own school, and initiate the process of planting more trees in their own campus. The walk The Wonder Dozen was organised by Tree Walk in association with the PTA of Cotton Hill Girls High School. Meant to instill curiosity, knowledge and observation skills about trees and nature in children, the walk was dedicated to one of the earliest Tree Walkers, late General SK Pillai, who passed away 2 years ago on this day. The walk led by ecologist S Santhi started with a moment of silence for the departed soul. The walk was attended by the Headmistress, Principal and PTA President of the School TP Sudhakaran, along with teachers. The walk also had the support of Tree Walk team Anitha Sharma, Suresh Elamon, Veena, M, Jean Nettar, Prasath Rajendra, Renu Henry, Neeta, Namitha Lal and Meenakshi.
By Online Desk

Ulaganayagan Kamal Haasan had his fans in a fit of panic early Saturday morning.

The actor was caught in an accidental fire at his residence in Alwarpet and his staff had apparently rescued him from the flames. He ensured that no one was hurt during the rescue, though he had inhaled some of the smoke from the fire.

Thanks to my staff. Escaped a fire at my house. Lungs full of smoke, I climbed down from the third floor. I am safe No one hurt . Goodnight  Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) April 7, 2017

His followers went crazy and immediately after his post popped up on his wall in twitter and many replies of concerns and prayers started lining up.

Just to calm the situation down and put the frenzy to rest the actor tweeted a reassuring thank you message to all his fans for their concerns and expressed his gratitude.

Thanks for all the love and concern. Now off to sleep. Good night indeed:)  Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) April 7, 2017

Further details awaited on the incident.

Two of his upcoming projects include 'Sabaash Naidu' which is a spin-off of one of the famous characters in his 2008 film Dasaavatharam and Vishwaroopam 2', a sequel to his 2013 film 'Vishwaroopam'.

Both these movies are in the filming and post production stage.

Ulaganayagan Kamal Haasan had his fans in a fit of panic early Saturday morning. The actor was caught in an accidental fire at his residence in Alwarpet and his staff had apparently rescued him from the flames. He ensured that no one was hurt during the rescue, though he had inhaled some of the smoke from the fire. Thanks to my staff. Escaped a fire at my house. Lungs full of smoke, I climbed down from the third floor. I am safe No one hurt . Goodnight  Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) April 7, 2017 His followers went crazy and immediately after his post popped up on his wall in twitter and many replies of concerns and prayers started lining up. Just to calm the situation down and put the frenzy to rest the actor tweeted a reassuring thank you message to all his fans for their concerns and expressed his gratitude. Thanks for all the love and concern. Now off to sleep. Good night indeed:)  Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) April 7, 2017 Further details awaited on the incident. Two of his upcoming projects include 'Sabaash Naidu' which is a spin-off of one of the famous characters in his 2008 film Dasaavatharam and Vishwaroopam 2', a sequel to his 2013 film 'Vishwaroopam'. Both these movies are in the filming and post production stage.
Many years ago a Chinese General in charge of safeguarding his countrys energy supplies had snapped: The Indian Ocean is not Indias Ocean. China has since taken energetic steps to challenge Indias natural, geographic dominance in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). China intends to build an impressive naval fleet, spearheaded by 5-6 huge aircraft carriers by 2030. Two of these will always be on station in the Western Pacific and two in the IOR. In one fell stroke, China has secured a naval base on the Arabian Coastline by building the China-Pakistan-Economic Corridor (CPEC) and securing its mouth at Gwadar with a naval base for its prowling submarines.

This one move has transformed the entire geo-political architecture of IOR. The base at Gwadar has been in the news for some time because of the high profile nature of the CPEC economic initiative. What is, however, generally not known is that China has built another naval base at Doraleh in Djibouti, right on the Horn of Africa. The bulk of Indias energy supplies emanates from the Middle East, Persian Gulf and Africa. Chinese naval bases in Djibouti and Gwadar pose a serious threat to these energy life lines. Additionally, China is seeking (or has obtained) naval bases and berthing facilities in Maldives, Hambantota in Sri Lanka, Hanguei in Myanmar and Chittagong in Bangladesh. The String of Pearls Strategy is not a mere metaphor any more. The Chinese are translating it into hard facts and they have deep pockets that can enable them to buy their way through.

A number of Western countries, including USA and France, have had Naval bases in Djibouti. The US was paying annual rental of $63 million for its base there. Chinas Navy muscled into this area under the pretext of anti -piracy operations. China has paid Djibouti $100 million annually to acquire a naval base at Doraleh Port. It spent $540 million to develop this port, which has six births, one of them reserved for the ships of the Chinese Navy. China spent $4 billion to create a gas pipeline, which brings gas from Ethiopia to this Chinese port. In more ways than one, the Djibouti Naval port and pipeline infrastructure mark an extension of the CPEC One Belt-One Road into Africa. Latest reports indicate that the Chinese have installed anti-aircraft guns and missiles at its Djibouti ports. Guns and missiles are not needed to safeguard against pirates. It has also created a battle obstacle course for its soldiers and marines. This indicates the rather disturbing possibility of China also stationing its ground forces at Djibouti.

A very curious report surfaced last year on radio Djibouti. In April 2016, Chinese Admiral Sun Jeanguo visited the Djibouti base. He is the Deputy Chief of the Joint Staff Department in the Central Military Commission and is in charge of Military Operational planning. He was accompanied by the Deputy Commanders of the newly- raised Rocket Forces and the Western Theatre Command. Now the Western Theatre Command was formed last year by combining the erstwhile Military Regions of Chengdu and Lanzhouboth of which were deployed against India in Tibet and Xinjiang respectively. The Western Theatre Command, therefore, combines all the land and air forces deployed against India and in the event of any conflict in the Himalayas will control operations in the entire land theatre against India. What then was its Deputy Commander doing in the far away naval base of Djibouti? This has intrigued military analysts in India. Is Western Theatre Command HQ located in Lhasa a tri-service command that will also control the Chinese naval forces deployed in the IOR? Does that indicate a grand strategic design to wage massive tri-service operations against Indiaon land, seas, in the air and outer space.

Is China planning to wage an integrated theatre battle against India in which even as Chinese land forces, air forces and rockets attack across the Himalayas, the units of the PLA navy will seek to strike Indias sea lines of communication and energy and trade supply routes in the IOR. Gwadar and Djibouti Naval bases will play a very major role in these submarine and surface ship strikes. Two Chinese aircraft carrier battle groups could also steam into the IOR. China already has the 60,000-tons aircraft carrier Liaoning with 36 aircrafts on board, some 24 J-15 fighters and 10 helicopters.

The second Chinese aircraft carrier called Shandung will shortly join the fleet. The Chinese are feverishly working on their third aircraft carrier, which is slated to be much bigger. All this seems to signify that the era of small or local wars is over. The Chinese are preparing for major air, land and sea engagements that will be waged concurrently against India in times of a major conflict. Such a war will most definitely not remain confined to the Himalayan mountains. It will be waged on land, sea, air and outer space. It will most likely commence with large-scale cyber attacks. This is hardly the time to bring our defence budget down to 1.63 per cent of our GDP. That was the level it was at before 1962.We can no longer afford to bury our heads in the sandor sea for that matter!

Maj. Gen. (Retd) G D Bakshi

War veteran and strategic analyst

gagandeep.bakshi@yahoo.com

Many years ago a Chinese General in charge of safeguarding his countrys energy supplies had snapped: The Indian Ocean is not Indias Ocean. China has since taken energetic steps to challenge Indias natural, geographic dominance in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). China intends to build an impressive naval fleet, spearheaded by 5-6 huge aircraft carriers by 2030. Two of these will always be on station in the Western Pacific and two in the IOR. In one fell stroke, China has secured a naval base on the Arabian Coastline by building the China-Pakistan-Economic Corridor (CPEC) and securing its mouth at Gwadar with a naval base for its prowling submarines. This one move has transformed the entire geo-political architecture of IOR. The base at Gwadar has been in the news for some time because of the high profile nature of the CPEC economic initiative. What is, however, generally not known is that China has built another naval base at Doraleh in Djibouti, right on the Horn of Africa. The bulk of Indias energy supplies emanates from the Middle East, Persian Gulf and Africa. Chinese naval bases in Djibouti and Gwadar pose a serious threat to these energy life lines. Additionally, China is seeking (or has obtained) naval bases and berthing facilities in Maldives, Hambantota in Sri Lanka, Hanguei in Myanmar and Chittagong in Bangladesh. The String of Pearls Strategy is not a mere metaphor any more. The Chinese are translating it into hard facts and they have deep pockets that can enable them to buy their way through. A number of Western countries, including USA and France, have had Naval bases in Djibouti. The US was paying annual rental of $63 million for its base there. Chinas Navy muscled into this area under the pretext of anti -piracy operations. China has paid Djibouti $100 million annually to acquire a naval base at Doraleh Port. It spent $540 million to develop this port, which has six births, one of them reserved for the ships of the Chinese Navy. China spent $4 billion to create a gas pipeline, which brings gas from Ethiopia to this Chinese port. In more ways than one, the Djibouti Naval port and pipeline infrastructure mark an extension of the CPEC One Belt-One Road into Africa. Latest reports indicate that the Chinese have installed anti-aircraft guns and missiles at its Djibouti ports. Guns and missiles are not needed to safeguard against pirates. It has also created a battle obstacle course for its soldiers and marines. This indicates the rather disturbing possibility of China also stationing its ground forces at Djibouti. A very curious report surfaced last year on radio Djibouti. In April 2016, Chinese Admiral Sun Jeanguo visited the Djibouti base. He is the Deputy Chief of the Joint Staff Department in the Central Military Commission and is in charge of Military Operational planning. He was accompanied by the Deputy Commanders of the newly- raised Rocket Forces and the Western Theatre Command. Now the Western Theatre Command was formed last year by combining the erstwhile Military Regions of Chengdu and Lanzhouboth of which were deployed against India in Tibet and Xinjiang respectively. The Western Theatre Command, therefore, combines all the land and air forces deployed against India and in the event of any conflict in the Himalayas will control operations in the entire land theatre against India. What then was its Deputy Commander doing in the far away naval base of Djibouti? This has intrigued military analysts in India. Is Western Theatre Command HQ located in Lhasa a tri-service command that will also control the Chinese naval forces deployed in the IOR? Does that indicate a grand strategic design to wage massive tri-service operations against Indiaon land, seas, in the air and outer space. Is China planning to wage an integrated theatre battle against India in which even as Chinese land forces, air forces and rockets attack across the Himalayas, the units of the PLA navy will seek to strike Indias sea lines of communication and energy and trade supply routes in the IOR. Gwadar and Djibouti Naval bases will play a very major role in these submarine and surface ship strikes. Two Chinese aircraft carrier battle groups could also steam into the IOR. China already has the 60,000-tons aircraft carrier Liaoning with 36 aircrafts on board, some 24 J-15 fighters and 10 helicopters. The second Chinese aircraft carrier called Shandung will shortly join the fleet. The Chinese are feverishly working on their third aircraft carrier, which is slated to be much bigger. All this seems to signify that the era of small or local wars is over. The Chinese are preparing for major air, land and sea engagements that will be waged concurrently against India in times of a major conflict. Such a war will most definitely not remain confined to the Himalayan mountains. It will be waged on land, sea, air and outer space. It will most likely commence with large-scale cyber attacks. This is hardly the time to bring our defence budget down to 1.63 per cent of our GDP. That was the level it was at before 1962.We can no longer afford to bury our heads in the sandor sea for that matter! Maj. Gen. (Retd) G D Bakshi War veteran and strategic analyst gagandeep.bakshi@yahoo.com
Amar Bhushan By

No issue has been flogged and branded more than the one concerning Ram Janam Bhoomi in Ayodhya. Liberal and enlightened Hindus are unable to comprehend why their boorish, ultra-rightist Hindu brothers make a fuss over raising a Ram temple in Ayodhya, when recorded history is not on their side. Ram may be their God but that does not give them the right to appropriate the land of late Hashim Ansari and declare it as His birthplace. The dispute, meanwhile, hangs in infinite uncertainty as judges come and go and baby Ram waits to return to his cradle. One imagined for a moment that Chief Justice Khehar of the Supreme court, a devout Sikh, would understand Hindus strong religious sentiments and settle the matter but he has also disappointed.

It is an irony that we have reduced Hindus divine faith in Ram Lalla to a catfight over a plot of land between late Hashim Mia and now his son Iqbal Ansari and the Mahants of Hanuman Garhi and Nirmohi Ahara. Babar, a Mughal invader, who is credited to have built a mosque 466 years ago over the disputed site is being pitted against a God who lives only in absolute faith. It is a mismatch of claims of all times. You cannot make Lord Ram beholden to Babar for his kindness to let Him re-visit his childhood memories. But Sunni Central Waqf Board thinks otherwise.

Ram is a creation of Hindus abiding belief in his being and given a form for intellectually less evolved people to relate easily to his persona of ultimate righteousness. He descended in Hindus faith when registration of land and concept of adverse possession did not exist. So, any attempt to allot or deny Him the title deed retrospectively will at best be a whacky real estate exercise.

Rationalists ask for Rams birth certificate. But how does one obtain it when His entity is timeless, ageless and borderless. It is actually irrelevant whether His abode in Ayodhya existed or Babar constructed a mosque over its ruins to save on time and resources by using the temples material. The critical issue is whether there is any other place in India which Hindus identify as Rams birthplace. If their longing for Ram Lalla is so unwavering and sustained over thousands of years, why not let them have it. For believers, there is no place for logic, legal reasoning and incontrovertible historical accounts. Then we wouldnt have Sikhs bowing before Guru Granth Sahib in the Golden Temple, Muslims thronging to Kaaba, Mecca and Medina and Christians visiting Sephoria, where Virgin Mary spent her childhood and, Bethlehem, where Jesus was born.

The question then is whether India should be governed by religious belief or Indian laws. Any answer to this will essentially be pretentious. Ram is a manifestation of faith ingrained in Hindus over centuries. His birthplace, therefore, cannot be determined by invoking democracy, secularism, legality or constitutional propriety. Whenever I travel to my home town Deoghar in Jharkhand, the site of one of Jyotirlingas, I

see thousands of devotees visiting the place every day to touch a piece of black stone, believed to be the idol of Lord Shiva. Being an atheist, I often wonder why there is such total submission before someone whom we have never seen. In the end, I accept what my mother says, that I am not gifted to believe. Hence, no amount of arguments in courts, archaeological findings, taunts or state violence will ever succeed in making Hindus alter their belief in the existence of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya.

It is time Muslims introspect how long they can stall this tsunami of faith from storming history. They need to show generosity and let Hindus raise a Ram temple even if they are required to transfer their own land. Surely, they will lose a place of worship but they can construct it elsewhere. Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Libya etc. routinely relocate mosques.

Iqbal Ansari has a unique opportunity to steal a moment in history and deliver the unbelievable to posterity. In doing so, he will earn eternal gratitude of millions of Hindus and prove a point to the Sunni Waqf Board, courts and the sceptics that ordinary people can also bequeath extraordinary legacies. But let him not insist on raising a mosque near the temple. Places of worship look ugly when policemen in helmets and armed with rifles patrol their premises. The sight of policemen guarding temples and mosques in Mathura and Kashi is simply abhorring.

Amar Bhushan

Former special secretary, Research and Analysis Wing

amarbhushan@hotmail.com

No issue has been flogged and branded more than the one concerning Ram Janam Bhoomi in Ayodhya. Liberal and enlightened Hindus are unable to comprehend why their boorish, ultra-rightist Hindu brothers make a fuss over raising a Ram temple in Ayodhya, when recorded history is not on their side. Ram may be their God but that does not give them the right to appropriate the land of late Hashim Ansari and declare it as His birthplace. The dispute, meanwhile, hangs in infinite uncertainty as judges come and go and baby Ram waits to return to his cradle. One imagined for a moment that Chief Justice Khehar of the Supreme court, a devout Sikh, would understand Hindus strong religious sentiments and settle the matter but he has also disappointed. It is an irony that we have reduced Hindus divine faith in Ram Lalla to a catfight over a plot of land between late Hashim Mia and now his son Iqbal Ansari and the Mahants of Hanuman Garhi and Nirmohi Ahara. Babar, a Mughal invader, who is credited to have built a mosque 466 years ago over the disputed site is being pitted against a God who lives only in absolute faith. It is a mismatch of claims of all times. You cannot make Lord Ram beholden to Babar for his kindness to let Him re-visit his childhood memories. But Sunni Central Waqf Board thinks otherwise. Ram is a creation of Hindus abiding belief in his being and given a form for intellectually less evolved people to relate easily to his persona of ultimate righteousness. He descended in Hindus faith when registration of land and concept of adverse possession did not exist. So, any attempt to allot or deny Him the title deed retrospectively will at best be a whacky real estate exercise. Rationalists ask for Rams birth certificate. But how does one obtain it when His entity is timeless, ageless and borderless. It is actually irrelevant whether His abode in Ayodhya existed or Babar constructed a mosque over its ruins to save on time and resources by using the temples material. The critical issue is whether there is any other place in India which Hindus identify as Rams birthplace. If their longing for Ram Lalla is so unwavering and sustained over thousands of years, why not let them have it. For believers, there is no place for logic, legal reasoning and incontrovertible historical accounts. Then we wouldnt have Sikhs bowing before Guru Granth Sahib in the Golden Temple, Muslims thronging to Kaaba, Mecca and Medina and Christians visiting Sephoria, where Virgin Mary spent her childhood and, Bethlehem, where Jesus was born. The question then is whether India should be governed by religious belief or Indian laws. Any answer to this will essentially be pretentious. Ram is a manifestation of faith ingrained in Hindus over centuries. His birthplace, therefore, cannot be determined by invoking democracy, secularism, legality or constitutional propriety. Whenever I travel to my home town Deoghar in Jharkhand, the site of one of Jyotirlingas, I see thousands of devotees visiting the place every day to touch a piece of black stone, believed to be the idol of Lord Shiva. Being an atheist, I often wonder why there is such total submission before someone whom we have never seen. In the end, I accept what my mother says, that I am not gifted to believe. Hence, no amount of arguments in courts, archaeological findings, taunts or state violence will ever succeed in making Hindus alter their belief in the existence of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya. It is time Muslims introspect how long they can stall this tsunami of faith from storming history. They need to show generosity and let Hindus raise a Ram temple even if they are required to transfer their own land. Surely, they will lose a place of worship but they can construct it elsewhere. Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Libya etc. routinely relocate mosques. Iqbal Ansari has a unique opportunity to steal a moment in history and deliver the unbelievable to posterity. In doing so, he will earn eternal gratitude of millions of Hindus and prove a point to the Sunni Waqf Board, courts and the sceptics that ordinary people can also bequeath extraordinary legacies. But let him not insist on raising a mosque near the temple. Places of worship look ugly when policemen in helmets and armed with rifles patrol their premises. The sight of policemen guarding temples and mosques in Mathura and Kashi is simply abhorring. Amar Bhushan Former special secretary, Research and Analysis Wing amarbhushan@hotmail.com
By ANI

KOTA: Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, who was banned from flying after he assaulted an Air India official with his footwear, said on Friday that he has apologised to the Parliament only for its dignity.

Gaikwad further said that his complaints were not addressed, adding that if this was Air Indias behaviour towards a peoples representative, then what it would be towards a common man.

I had decided to travel by train irrespective of ban being lifted or not. I apologised for the dignity of Parliament. The complaints that I had written about were not addressed. This is injustice. If Air India behaves likes this with peoples representative, then what must be its attitude towards the common man. However, I am also a common man, a teacher. Whatever I had to say, I said it in front of the speaker in the Parliament, Gaikwad told the media.

Gaikwad tendered an apology to the Parliament, but insisted that he owed no apology to the airline officials.

National Carrier Air India on Friday lifted ban on Gaikwad after a request from Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju.

The development comes a day after the Shiv Sena MP tendered an apology to the Civil Aviation Minister, expressing regret over the incident.

Yesterday, Air India announced that it had cancelled Gaikwad's Delhi-Mumbai round tickets for April 17 and 24.

However, Gaikwad said that he booked a ticket neither for April 17 nor for April 24 for any airline as being aired by the media.

"It is learnt through media that I have booked the tickets for Air India to travel from Delhi to Mumbai for 17 and 24 April and my defaming is continued. On this connection, I would like to make it clear that I have neither booked a ticket for 17 nor 24th April, 2017 for any airline as being aired by media as the session will be sin-e-die on 13th April 2017," Gaikwad said in a statement.

Air India and six private airlines banned the 56-year-old MP from flying as he refused to apologise for the incident that triggered nationwide outrage.

KOTA: Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, who was banned from flying after he assaulted an Air India official with his footwear, said on Friday that he has apologised to the Parliament only for its dignity. Gaikwad further said that his complaints were not addressed, adding that if this was Air Indias behaviour towards a peoples representative, then what it would be towards a common man. I had decided to travel by train irrespective of ban being lifted or not. I apologised for the dignity of Parliament. The complaints that I had written about were not addressed. This is injustice. If Air India behaves likes this with peoples representative, then what must be its attitude towards the common man. However, I am also a common man, a teacher. Whatever I had to say, I said it in front of the speaker in the Parliament, Gaikwad told the media. Gaikwad tendered an apology to the Parliament, but insisted that he owed no apology to the airline officials. National Carrier Air India on Friday lifted ban on Gaikwad after a request from Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju. window.__ventunoplayer = window.__ventunoplayer||[]; window.__ventunoplayer.push({video_key: 'OTE3ODg3fHw4fHw2fHwxLDIsMQ==', holder_id: 'vt-video-player', player_type: 'vp', width:'100%', ratio:'4:3'}); The development comes a day after the Shiv Sena MP tendered an apology to the Civil Aviation Minister, expressing regret over the incident. Yesterday, Air India announced that it had cancelled Gaikwad's Delhi-Mumbai round tickets for April 17 and 24. However, Gaikwad said that he booked a ticket neither for April 17 nor for April 24 for any airline as being aired by the media. "It is learnt through media that I have booked the tickets for Air India to travel from Delhi to Mumbai for 17 and 24 April and my defaming is continued. On this connection, I would like to make it clear that I have neither booked a ticket for 17 nor 24th April, 2017 for any airline as being aired by media as the session will be sin-e-die on 13th April 2017," Gaikwad said in a statement. Air India and six private airlines banned the 56-year-old MP from flying as he refused to apologise for the incident that triggered nationwide outrage.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: India has received a report on the shootout incident resulting in the death of its national in the US' Washington state and is coordinating with the investigative agencies, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said today.

The Minister also said that the Indian Consulate in San Francisco is helping the family of 26-year-old Vikram Jaryal, who was shot dead allegedly by two masked armed robbers.

"I have received a report on the shootout incident resulting in the tragic death of Indian national Vikram Jaryal in Washington State USA," Swaraj tweeted.

"The victim was only 26 years old and had reached US only 25 days back. He was working at the gas station of a family friend," she said in a series of tweets.

Jaryal, who worked as a clerk at AM-PM Gas Station in Yakima city, was behind the counter when the incident happened. His family had yesterday sought Swaraj's help to bring his body back.

"On 6 April two miscreants entered the shop at 1.30 am. They snatched cash from victim and shot on his chest. This resulted in his death," Swaraj said.

"We are coordinating with the investigative agencies. They have got the CCTV footage and are in the process of apprehending the culprits," she said

"Our consulate in San Francisco is helping the family and following this up with the Police authorities," she added.

Jaryal hailed from Hoshiarpur district in Punjab.

NEW DELHI: India has received a report on the shootout incident resulting in the death of its national in the US' Washington state and is coordinating with the investigative agencies, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said today. The Minister also said that the Indian Consulate in San Francisco is helping the family of 26-year-old Vikram Jaryal, who was shot dead allegedly by two masked armed robbers. "I have received a report on the shootout incident resulting in the tragic death of Indian national Vikram Jaryal in Washington State USA," Swaraj tweeted. "The victim was only 26 years old and had reached US only 25 days back. He was working at the gas station of a family friend," she said in a series of tweets. Jaryal, who worked as a clerk at AM-PM Gas Station in Yakima city, was behind the counter when the incident happened. His family had yesterday sought Swaraj's help to bring his body back. "On 6 April two miscreants entered the shop at 1.30 am. They snatched cash from victim and shot on his chest. This resulted in his death," Swaraj said. "We are coordinating with the investigative agencies. They have got the CCTV footage and are in the process of apprehending the culprits," she said "Our consulate in San Francisco is helping the family and following this up with the Police authorities," she added. Jaryal hailed from Hoshiarpur district in Punjab.
Ritu Sharma By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: India and Bangladesh on Saturday demonstrated strong commitment towards fraternal relationship based on cooperation and connectivity to send a message to Pakistan with which both of them have fraternal ties anchored in history but have strained relations in the present.

Despite not signing Teesta Water Sharing Agreement, the importance of the visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is not lost in India or in the neighbourhood. The two countries signed 22 agreements in total  4 in defence, 5 in civil nuclear energy and space and others to further trade and connectivity between the two countries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also assured Bangladesh of bringing the Teesta Water Sharing Agreement towards finalisation soon.

After the slew of agreements signing, Prime Minister Hasina also honoured seven Indian Army soldiers who laid down their lives for liberation of Bangladesh in 1971 War. The war is the common factor in the histories of India, Bangladesh and Pakistan; and had altered the political map of South Asia permanently.

History of Bangladesh has been written by the blood of the Indian martyrs along with valiant freedom fighters of Bangladesh. They fought together for the independence of Bangladesh. The story of their sacrifice will be remembered from generation to generation in our countries, Prime Minister Hasina said in her statement while exhorting both countries to work towards shared peace and prosperity.

The honouring of seven Indian martyrs is part of her governments long drawn efforts to recognise Indias role and honour sacrifices of 1661 soldiers in the 1971 war. In July 2011 the Bangladesh government conferred the Bangladesh Freedom Award, the highest civilian award for a foreign national, on former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Later Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and President Pranab Mukherjee were also given the award. The Sheikh Hasina government has also brought the traitors of 1971 War to justice, a move that has not gone down well with Pakistan.

Prime Minister Modi also, without naming Pakistan, hit out at the neighbour in the West during the felicitation programme for perpetrating atrocities on Bangladesh population, then East Pakistan. Today is the day to remember the sacrifices of the martyrs of India and Bangladesh. Today is also the day to reject the abhorrent mentality behind the tragedy imposed on Bangladesh, Prime Minister Modi said.

The Indian Prime Minister also enumerated the India-Bangladesh template of good relationship obliquely hinting at Pakistans mentality to scuttle development initiatives in the region.

There is a mentality in South Asia opposed to the approach of India and Bangladesh to promote development; this mentality nurtures and inspires terrorism. The mentality which influences those who plan policies under it and which regards terrorism as higher than humanism, destruction greater than development and annihilation better than creation, Modi said at Delhis Sam Manekshaw centre.

Later Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar told the New Indian Express in response to a question that there was fraternal relationship between the two countries. Clearly our relation with erstwhile East Pakistan is different from relationship with West Pakistan. Now are there lessons of one which can be carried to other? Quite frankly yes. Today the benefits of cooperation, benefits of connectivity, benefits of trade, the benefit of cooperation against terrorism, which is a threat to both India and Bangladesh, are for there to see. It is up to others to pick up those lessons and decide which one of them they want to use, Jaishankar told the Express.

NEW DELHI: India and Bangladesh on Saturday demonstrated strong commitment towards fraternal relationship based on cooperation and connectivity to send a message to Pakistan with which both of them have fraternal ties anchored in history but have strained relations in the present. Despite not signing Teesta Water Sharing Agreement, the importance of the visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is not lost in India or in the neighbourhood. The two countries signed 22 agreements in total  4 in defence, 5 in civil nuclear energy and space and others to further trade and connectivity between the two countries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also assured Bangladesh of bringing the Teesta Water Sharing Agreement towards finalisation soon. After the slew of agreements signing, Prime Minister Hasina also honoured seven Indian Army soldiers who laid down their lives for liberation of Bangladesh in 1971 War. The war is the common factor in the histories of India, Bangladesh and Pakistan; and had altered the political map of South Asia permanently. History of Bangladesh has been written by the blood of the Indian martyrs along with valiant freedom fighters of Bangladesh. They fought together for the independence of Bangladesh. The story of their sacrifice will be remembered from generation to generation in our countries, Prime Minister Hasina said in her statement while exhorting both countries to work towards shared peace and prosperity. The honouring of seven Indian martyrs is part of her governments long drawn efforts to recognise Indias role and honour sacrifices of 1661 soldiers in the 1971 war. In July 2011 the Bangladesh government conferred the Bangladesh Freedom Award, the highest civilian award for a foreign national, on former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Later Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and President Pranab Mukherjee were also given the award. The Sheikh Hasina government has also brought the traitors of 1971 War to justice, a move that has not gone down well with Pakistan. Prime Minister Modi also, without naming Pakistan, hit out at the neighbour in the West during the felicitation programme for perpetrating atrocities on Bangladesh population, then East Pakistan. Today is the day to remember the sacrifices of the martyrs of India and Bangladesh. Today is also the day to reject the abhorrent mentality behind the tragedy imposed on Bangladesh, Prime Minister Modi said. The Indian Prime Minister also enumerated the India-Bangladesh template of good relationship obliquely hinting at Pakistans mentality to scuttle development initiatives in the region. There is a mentality in South Asia opposed to the approach of India and Bangladesh to promote development; this mentality nurtures and inspires terrorism. The mentality which influences those who plan policies under it and which regards terrorism as higher than humanism, destruction greater than development and annihilation better than creation, Modi said at Delhis Sam Manekshaw centre. Later Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar told the New Indian Express in response to a question that there was fraternal relationship between the two countries. Clearly our relation with erstwhile East Pakistan is different from relationship with West Pakistan. Now are there lessons of one which can be carried to other? Quite frankly yes. Today the benefits of cooperation, benefits of connectivity, benefits of trade, the benefit of cooperation against terrorism, which is a threat to both India and Bangladesh, are for there to see. It is up to others to pick up those lessons and decide which one of them they want to use, Jaishankar told the Express.
Aishik Chanda By

Express News Service

KOLKATA: Women from a small village in West Bengals Birbhum district are bringing about a rural revolution by producing inexpensive sanitary pads and selling them to women who use unhygienic, locally-available methods to soak their menstrual blood that can lead to cancer.



Inspired by womens organisation Ebong Manobi (And human), 40 women of Kharia village in Mohammad Bazaar block of Birbhum produce sanitary pads meyeli (feminine), and sell them to women in around 16 villages in Mohammad Bazaar, Kabilpur, Ganpur and Harkata gram panchayats. A packet of 10 meyeli pads cost Rs 20 and are widely received by the women.



During our work among the Adivasi villages, we were appalled by the way rural women used old clothes stuffed with sawdust, ash, sand and dry leaves to stem the menstrual flow. Such unhygienic methods often cause infection and lead to development of Human Papillomari Virus (HPV) that causes cancer. We decided to do something that may help the women in livelihood and also spread awareness for use of sanitary pads, said Bithika Mandal, founder of the meyeli pad.



Accordingly, three educated girls of the village including Bithika, pooled money and bought a manual sanitary pad-making machine this January from Kalna in Burdwan district.

The cotton is dusted and pressured with hand before cutting them in shape. Only this part is done with electricity. Two pads can be made every minute. This means that a packet of 10 pads is made in 5 minutes and 12 packets in an hour. However, due to low voltage in rural areas, we can work for only around four hours a day. So on an average, some 50 packets are made every day. However, it takes more time for packaging, Bithika Mandal added.



On seeing the popularity of the rural sanitary pads, the women are planning to move to automatic machines to produce more pads and shift many workers into sales and distribution. Awareness through distribution is more important for us. Many still dont know about the need for hygienic menstrual practices. So, we plan to buy an automatic sanitary pad-making machine and deploy our women to sell the pads. Each woman gets around Rs 100 every day for their work, the meyeli pad founder said.



Bithika Mandal added that the demand for meyeli pads is rising in rural Birbhum. Many times our daily produce is exhausted to give the product to a distributor of a single village, she said.

KOLKATA: Women from a small village in West Bengals Birbhum district are bringing about a rural revolution by producing inexpensive sanitary pads and selling them to women who use unhygienic, locally-available methods to soak their menstrual blood that can lead to cancer. Inspired by womens organisation Ebong Manobi (And human), 40 women of Kharia village in Mohammad Bazaar block of Birbhum produce sanitary pads meyeli (feminine), and sell them to women in around 16 villages in Mohammad Bazaar, Kabilpur, Ganpur and Harkata gram panchayats. A packet of 10 meyeli pads cost Rs 20 and are widely received by the women. During our work among the Adivasi villages, we were appalled by the way rural women used old clothes stuffed with sawdust, ash, sand and dry leaves to stem the menstrual flow. Such unhygienic methods often cause infection and lead to development of Human Papillomari Virus (HPV) that causes cancer. We decided to do something that may help the women in livelihood and also spread awareness for use of sanitary pads, said Bithika Mandal, founder of the meyeli pad. Accordingly, three educated girls of the village including Bithika, pooled money and bought a manual sanitary pad-making machine this January from Kalna in Burdwan district. The cotton is dusted and pressured with hand before cutting them in shape. Only this part is done with electricity. Two pads can be made every minute. This means that a packet of 10 pads is made in 5 minutes and 12 packets in an hour. However, due to low voltage in rural areas, we can work for only around four hours a day. So on an average, some 50 packets are made every day. However, it takes more time for packaging, Bithika Mandal added. On seeing the popularity of the rural sanitary pads, the women are planning to move to automatic machines to produce more pads and shift many workers into sales and distribution. Awareness through distribution is more important for us. Many still dont know about the need for hygienic menstrual practices. So, we plan to buy an automatic sanitary pad-making machine and deploy our women to sell the pads. Each woman gets around Rs 100 every day for their work, the meyeli pad founder said. Bithika Mandal added that the demand for meyeli pads is rising in rural Birbhum. Many times our daily produce is exhausted to give the product to a distributor of a single village, she said.
By Express News Service

BHOPAL: Cabinet minister Om Prakash Dhurve was booked for allegedly violating model code of conduct on Friday night after he was found staying in a hotel in Assembly bypoll-bound Umaria district four hours after campaigning closed on Friday evening.



Food and civil supplies minister Om Prakash Dhurve (who is also the minister in-charge of Umaria district), was found staying at the Krishna Palace Hotel in Umaria town (400-plus km from State capital Bhopal) at around 9 pm, after the campaign ended at 5 pm for the April 9 Assembly bypoll to Bandhavgarh seat of Umaria district.



According to Election Commission of India's rules, no outsider can remain in a poll bound district, after campaigning comes to close.



The matter came to light when opposition Congress workers got a whiff about the minister staying at the hotel in Umaria town. The matter was reported to district election office, after which a team of sub-divisional magistrate Rishi Pawar and additional superintendent of police Amit Verma found the minister in one of the rooms of the hotel.



The minister has not been arrested, but merely taken outside the district. Case has been lodged against him for model code of conduct violation under Section 126 of Representation of the People Act 1951, which doesn't amount to a cognisable offence," said SK Shukla, superintendent of police (Umaria).





The team of officials reportedly took the minister to the Kotwali police station from where he was taken in a vehicle outside the Umaria district limits at around 11.30 pm.



Umaria district administration sources told the New Indian Express that by staying in the district even after campaigning ended, the minister has prima facie violated the model code of conduct.



Meanwhile, MP Congress president Arun Yadav has demanded a reply from the chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on the incident. Yadav also demanded the resignation of minister Om Prakash Dhurve.



BHOPAL: Cabinet minister Om Prakash Dhurve was booked for allegedly violating model code of conduct on Friday night after he was found staying in a hotel in Assembly bypoll-bound Umaria district four hours after campaigning closed on Friday evening. Food and civil supplies minister Om Prakash Dhurve (who is also the minister in-charge of Umaria district), was found staying at the Krishna Palace Hotel in Umaria town (400-plus km from State capital Bhopal) at around 9 pm, after the campaign ended at 5 pm for the April 9 Assembly bypoll to Bandhavgarh seat of Umaria district. According to Election Commission of India's rules, no outsider can remain in a poll bound district, after campaigning comes to close. The matter came to light when opposition Congress workers got a whiff about the minister staying at the hotel in Umaria town. The matter was reported to district election office, after which a team of sub-divisional magistrate Rishi Pawar and additional superintendent of police Amit Verma found the minister in one of the rooms of the hotel. The minister has not been arrested, but merely taken outside the district. Case has been lodged against him for model code of conduct violation under Section 126 of Representation of the People Act 1951, which doesn't amount to a cognisable offence," said SK Shukla, superintendent of police (Umaria). The team of officials reportedly took the minister to the Kotwali police station from where he was taken in a vehicle outside the Umaria district limits at around 11.30 pm. Umaria district administration sources told the New Indian Express that by staying in the district even after campaigning ended, the minister has prima facie violated the model code of conduct. Meanwhile, MP Congress president Arun Yadav has demanded a reply from the chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on the incident. Yadav also demanded the resignation of minister Om Prakash Dhurve.
By PTI

JAMMU: Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir by resorting to firing on forward posts today, drawing retaliation from Indian Army.

"Pakistani Army fired indiscriminately from small arms and automatic weapons from 1545 hours today on Indian Army posts along the LoC in Noushera belt of Rajouri district," a defence spokesman said.

Army troops deployed on forward posts retaliated and the exchange was continuing till last reports came in.

This is the fifth violation of the ceasefire this month.

On April 5, Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire along the LoC in Poonch district by shelling forward posts with mortar bombs.

On April 4, Pakistani Army fired mortar shells on Indian Army posts along the LoC in Bhimbher Gali sector of Rajouri district.

On April 3, Pakistani troops had shelled mortar bombs on forward posts in Balakote sector of Rajouri district.

In the second ceasefire violation on April 3, Pakistani troops had shelled Indian posts along the LoC in Digwar area in Poonch sector.

As per the reports, heavy mortar shelling in Digwar area has created fear pyschosis among the area dwellers. In the same area, a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO), Naib Subedar S Sanayaima Som, was killed in an improvise explosive device (IED) blast along the LoC in Poonch sector on April 1.

It may be recalled there were four violations of the ceasefire along the LoC in Poonch in March.

On March 9, army jawan Deepak Jagannath Ghadge was killed when Pakistani soldiers initiated indiscriminate and unprovoked firing along the LoC in Poonch.

In 2016 there were 228 instances of ceasefire violation along the LoC, while there were 221 instances of ceasefire violation along the International Border (IB).

JAMMU: Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir by resorting to firing on forward posts today, drawing retaliation from Indian Army. "Pakistani Army fired indiscriminately from small arms and automatic weapons from 1545 hours today on Indian Army posts along the LoC in Noushera belt of Rajouri district," a defence spokesman said. Army troops deployed on forward posts retaliated and the exchange was continuing till last reports came in. This is the fifth violation of the ceasefire this month. On April 5, Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire along the LoC in Poonch district by shelling forward posts with mortar bombs. On April 4, Pakistani Army fired mortar shells on Indian Army posts along the LoC in Bhimbher Gali sector of Rajouri district. On April 3, Pakistani troops had shelled mortar bombs on forward posts in Balakote sector of Rajouri district. In the second ceasefire violation on April 3, Pakistani troops had shelled Indian posts along the LoC in Digwar area in Poonch sector. As per the reports, heavy mortar shelling in Digwar area has created fear pyschosis among the area dwellers. In the same area, a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO), Naib Subedar S Sanayaima Som, was killed in an improvise explosive device (IED) blast along the LoC in Poonch sector on April 1. It may be recalled there were four violations of the ceasefire along the LoC in Poonch in March. On March 9, army jawan Deepak Jagannath Ghadge was killed when Pakistani soldiers initiated indiscriminate and unprovoked firing along the LoC in Poonch. In 2016 there were 228 instances of ceasefire violation along the LoC, while there were 221 instances of ceasefire violation along the International Border (IB).
By PTI

NEW DELHI: India's doors are always open for cooperation, but for that Pakistan has to shun terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra said today.

Hitting out at Pakistan, Modi said it breeds, inspires and encourages terrorism and this "thought" is a roadblock to peace within the region and the world. He emphasised that "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas" is not just restricted to India, but also to the neighbouring countries and development of India is incomplete without the progress of the region.

"We have extended hand of friendship towards every country (of the region) and have invited them to be a part of our growth. Without being selfish, we have wished good for the entire region. "We truly think that citizens of all nations of the region progress and prosper. Our doors are open for cooperation, but for this terrorism has to be shunned.

"There is one thought in South Asia which breeds, inspires and encourages terrorism. The thought whose priority is not humanity, but extremism and terrorism," Modi said, without naming Pakistan. He was speaking at the ceremony where families of martyrs of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War were felicitated by Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Modi said India is a victim of the "thought" that encourages terrorism. "The thought, whose policymakers prefer terrorism over humanity, destruction over development, destruction over creation, backstabbing over trust, is the biggest challenge to the society and its economic development," he said.

Stating that 1,661 Indian soldiers laid down their lives in the Bangladesh Liberation War, Modi said the Indian army's struggle in this cannot be forgotten. "The Indian army never shied away from its duty and set an example by following conventions of the war. Over 90,000 Prisoners of War were released safely after the 1971 war. The humane gesture shown by India is one of the biggest events in the century," Modi said.

The Prime Minister said the genocide by Pakistan in 1971 was undertaken to wipe out an entire generation of Bangladesh and every person who was proud of the idea of Bangladesh was eliminated. "The purpose of this genocide was not just killing the innocents, but to uproot the idea of Bangladesh," he said.

Speaking at the event, Hasina said, the history of Bangladesh has been written with the blood of Indian martyrs along with valiant freedom fighters of Bangladesh.

"They fought together for the independence of Bangladesh. The story of their sacrifice will be remembered from generation to generation in our two countries," she said.

NEW DELHI: India's doors are always open for cooperation, but for that Pakistan has to shun terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra said today. Hitting out at Pakistan, Modi said it breeds, inspires and encourages terrorism and this "thought" is a roadblock to peace within the region and the world. He emphasised that "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas" is not just restricted to India, but also to the neighbouring countries and development of India is incomplete without the progress of the region. "We have extended hand of friendship towards every country (of the region) and have invited them to be a part of our growth. Without being selfish, we have wished good for the entire region. "We truly think that citizens of all nations of the region progress and prosper. Our doors are open for cooperation, but for this terrorism has to be shunned. "There is one thought in South Asia which breeds, inspires and encourages terrorism. The thought whose priority is not humanity, but extremism and terrorism," Modi said, without naming Pakistan. He was speaking at the ceremony where families of martyrs of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War were felicitated by Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Modi said India is a victim of the "thought" that encourages terrorism. "The thought, whose policymakers prefer terrorism over humanity, destruction over development, destruction over creation, backstabbing over trust, is the biggest challenge to the society and its economic development," he said. Stating that 1,661 Indian soldiers laid down their lives in the Bangladesh Liberation War, Modi said the Indian army's struggle in this cannot be forgotten. "The Indian army never shied away from its duty and set an example by following conventions of the war. Over 90,000 Prisoners of War were released safely after the 1971 war. The humane gesture shown by India is one of the biggest events in the century," Modi said. The Prime Minister said the genocide by Pakistan in 1971 was undertaken to wipe out an entire generation of Bangladesh and every person who was proud of the idea of Bangladesh was eliminated. "The purpose of this genocide was not just killing the innocents, but to uproot the idea of Bangladesh," he said. Speaking at the event, Hasina said, the history of Bangladesh has been written with the blood of Indian martyrs along with valiant freedom fighters of Bangladesh. "They fought together for the independence of Bangladesh. The story of their sacrifice will be remembered from generation to generation in our two countries," she said.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Important issues like creation of a unified agricultural market for the nation and measures to involve the States more closely in planning and delivery of services among others will figure during the meeting of the 11th Standing Committee of the Inter-State Council here on Sunday to be chaired by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

The meeting being convened after a gap of 12 years will discuss the recommendations of the Punchhi Commission on Centre-State Relations. The recommendations of the Standing Committee will be placed before the Inter State Council at its next meeting.

The concerned Union Ministries and all the State Governments responded to the recommendations made in the report by providing detailed comments. The comments have been analysed and will be discussed at this high level forum, the Union Home Ministry said in a statement.

The forthcoming meeting of the Standing Committee of Inter State Council will be examining the first three volumes of the Punchhi Commission's report. The subjects expected to be discussed at the meeting include significant issues concerning Centre-State relations like Role of Governors, Centrally-sponsored schemes and financial transfers from the Centre to the States, Creation of a unified agricultural market for the nation, Measures to involve the States more closely in planning and delivery of services, Steps to be adopted to make Inter State Council more vibrant and measures directed towards better fiscal management by the Centre and the States.

The Punchhi Commission, notified in 2005, submitted its report in 2010. The recommendations of the Punchhi Commission, which are contained in seven volumes, pertain to History of Centre-State Relations in India, Constitutional Governance and Management of Centre-State Relations, Centre-State Financial Relations and Planning, Local Self-Governments and Decentralized Governance, Internal Security, Criminal Justice and Centre State Cooperation, Environment, Natural Resources and Infrastructure and Socio-Economic Development, Public Policy and Good Governance.

The members of the Standing Committee include the Union Ministers for External Affairs, Finance and Corporate Affairs, Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Information and Broadcasting, Road Transport, Highways and Shipping and the Chief Ministers of the States of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh.

NEW DELHI: Important issues like creation of a unified agricultural market for the nation and measures to involve the States more closely in planning and delivery of services among others will figure during the meeting of the 11th Standing Committee of the Inter-State Council here on Sunday to be chaired by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. The meeting being convened after a gap of 12 years will discuss the recommendations of the Punchhi Commission on Centre-State Relations. The recommendations of the Standing Committee will be placed before the Inter State Council at its next meeting. The concerned Union Ministries and all the State Governments responded to the recommendations made in the report by providing detailed comments. The comments have been analysed and will be discussed at this high level forum, the Union Home Ministry said in a statement. The forthcoming meeting of the Standing Committee of Inter State Council will be examining the first three volumes of the Punchhi Commission's report. The subjects expected to be discussed at the meeting include significant issues concerning Centre-State relations like Role of Governors, Centrally-sponsored schemes and financial transfers from the Centre to the States, Creation of a unified agricultural market for the nation, Measures to involve the States more closely in planning and delivery of services, Steps to be adopted to make Inter State Council more vibrant and measures directed towards better fiscal management by the Centre and the States. The Punchhi Commission, notified in 2005, submitted its report in 2010. The recommendations of the Punchhi Commission, which are contained in seven volumes, pertain to History of Centre-State Relations in India, Constitutional Governance and Management of Centre-State Relations, Centre-State Financial Relations and Planning, Local Self-Governments and Decentralized Governance, Internal Security, Criminal Justice and Centre State Cooperation, Environment, Natural Resources and Infrastructure and Socio-Economic Development, Public Policy and Good Governance. The members of the Standing Committee include the Union Ministers for External Affairs, Finance and Corporate Affairs, Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Information and Broadcasting, Road Transport, Highways and Shipping and the Chief Ministers of the States of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh.
Fayaz Wani By

Express News Service

SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir government has put in place unprecedented security measures in central Kashmir, where bypolls to Srinagar parliamentary seat will be held on Sunday amidst boycott call by separatists and militant groups.

J&K Chief Electoral Officer Shantmanu told New Indian Express that adequate security measures have been taken for smooth conduct of polling.

He said every polling station would be guarded by the police and paramilitary forces.

1559 polling stations have been set up for bypolls of Srinagar Lok Sabha seat and all of them have been declared as sensitive.

Shantmanu said 150 paramilitary companies would be deployed for safety of polling booths in three central Kashmir districts  Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal  going to polls tomorrow.

He said 50 paramilitary companies would be deployed outside the polling booths to maintain law and order and deal with any untoward incident.

At least 13.60 lakh voters are eligible to cast their votes in Srinagar Lok Sabha seat to decide the fate of nine candidates including opposition National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and ruling PDPs Nazir Ahmad Khan.

The main contest, however, is between Abdullah and Khan.

The Srinagar Lok Sabha seat fell vacant after PDPs MP Tariq Karra resigned from the party and from Lok Sabha constituency in September last year to protest State governments atrocities against people during the unrest last year triggered by killing of 21-year-old Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8, 2016.

The security forces have conducted area domination in sensitive pockets to ensure smooth conduct of polling tomorrow besides intensifying patrolling and frisking.

IG CRPF Ravideep Sahi told New Indian Express that 50 paramilitary companies could not reach the Valley for poll duties due to closure of Srinagar-Jammu national highway.

About 100-125 companies have reached the Valley for poll duties. We will be managing with the paramilitary companies, which are already deployed in the Valley for law and order purposes, he said.

He said the areas around polling booths would be patrolled by police and paramilitary personnel. Besides, Rashtria Rifles personnel would also be conducting extensive area domination patrols. Entire RR deployed in Central Kashmir would be area dominating.

Asked whether they are anticipating stone pelting during the polling, Sahi said, There was stone pelting in Chadoora and Beerwah areas in central Kashmirs Budam district today. It was tackled by the security personnel.

Unknown persons also tried to set ablaze a government school building, designated as a polling station, in Narbal area of central Kashmirs Budgam district late night. However, the building was saved by the timely action of security men deployed in the area.

We are geared up to deal with any kind of contingency during the polling, IG CRPF said adding, We are expecting stone pelting.

On use of pellets, he said they have instructed the personnel to use the weapon as last resort and in rare of the rarest cases.

We are hopeful that we dont have to use it. However, in case there is danger to public life and property, then it can be used with an aim downwards towards the feet, he said.

The IG CRPF said they have instructed their men and officials to exercise maximum restraint while dealing with law and order situation.

In 2014 general elections, the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat had witnessed 26 per cent polling, mostly in Ganderbal and Budgam areas in central Kashmir while in Srinagar, the polling remained in single digit figures.

A political analyst said the poll percentage would also be low this time due to civilian killings during unrest last year, recent surge in militant violence and poll boycott call by separatists and militants.

The separatist leaders and militant groups have called on people to boycott elections and stay away from the electoral process. They have asked people to stage 2016-like protests during the polling.

A police official said security has been beefed up after gunshots were heard when senior PDP leader and CADP Minister Ch Zulfiqar Ali was addressing party workers at Town Hall in Achabal are in South Kashmirs Anantnag district today.

In another incident, cavalcade of PDP Minister, Abdul Rehman Veeri, came under stone pelting at Kanelwan and Marhama villages of south Kashmirs Anantnag district today.

Besides, a low intensity blast took place inside a government school premised designated as a polling station in Khanyar of downtown Srinagar.

It caused panic in the area.

However, a police spokesman said the blast took place due to mishandling of a tear gas canister by the security men.

SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir government has put in place unprecedented security measures in central Kashmir, where bypolls to Srinagar parliamentary seat will be held on Sunday amidst boycott call by separatists and militant groups. J&K Chief Electoral Officer Shantmanu told New Indian Express that adequate security measures have been taken for smooth conduct of polling. He said every polling station would be guarded by the police and paramilitary forces. 1559 polling stations have been set up for bypolls of Srinagar Lok Sabha seat and all of them have been declared as sensitive. Shantmanu said 150 paramilitary companies would be deployed for safety of polling booths in three central Kashmir districts  Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal  going to polls tomorrow. He said 50 paramilitary companies would be deployed outside the polling booths to maintain law and order and deal with any untoward incident. At least 13.60 lakh voters are eligible to cast their votes in Srinagar Lok Sabha seat to decide the fate of nine candidates including opposition National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and ruling PDPs Nazir Ahmad Khan. The main contest, however, is between Abdullah and Khan. The Srinagar Lok Sabha seat fell vacant after PDPs MP Tariq Karra resigned from the party and from Lok Sabha constituency in September last year to protest State governments atrocities against people during the unrest last year triggered by killing of 21-year-old Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8, 2016. The security forces have conducted area domination in sensitive pockets to ensure smooth conduct of polling tomorrow besides intensifying patrolling and frisking. IG CRPF Ravideep Sahi told New Indian Express that 50 paramilitary companies could not reach the Valley for poll duties due to closure of Srinagar-Jammu national highway. About 100-125 companies have reached the Valley for poll duties. We will be managing with the paramilitary companies, which are already deployed in the Valley for law and order purposes, he said. He said the areas around polling booths would be patrolled by police and paramilitary personnel. Besides, Rashtria Rifles personnel would also be conducting extensive area domination patrols. Entire RR deployed in Central Kashmir would be area dominating. Asked whether they are anticipating stone pelting during the polling, Sahi said, There was stone pelting in Chadoora and Beerwah areas in central Kashmirs Budam district today. It was tackled by the security personnel. Unknown persons also tried to set ablaze a government school building, designated as a polling station, in Narbal area of central Kashmirs Budgam district late night. However, the building was saved by the timely action of security men deployed in the area. We are geared up to deal with any kind of contingency during the polling, IG CRPF said adding, We are expecting stone pelting. On use of pellets, he said they have instructed the personnel to use the weapon as last resort and in rare of the rarest cases. We are hopeful that we dont have to use it. However, in case there is danger to public life and property, then it can be used with an aim downwards towards the feet, he said. The IG CRPF said they have instructed their men and officials to exercise maximum restraint while dealing with law and order situation. In 2014 general elections, the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat had witnessed 26 per cent polling, mostly in Ganderbal and Budgam areas in central Kashmir while in Srinagar, the polling remained in single digit figures. A political analyst said the poll percentage would also be low this time due to civilian killings during unrest last year, recent surge in militant violence and poll boycott call by separatists and militants. The separatist leaders and militant groups have called on people to boycott elections and stay away from the electoral process. They have asked people to stage 2016-like protests during the polling. A police official said security has been beefed up after gunshots were heard when senior PDP leader and CADP Minister Ch Zulfiqar Ali was addressing party workers at Town Hall in Achabal are in South Kashmirs Anantnag district today. In another incident, cavalcade of PDP Minister, Abdul Rehman Veeri, came under stone pelting at Kanelwan and Marhama villages of south Kashmirs Anantnag district today. Besides, a low intensity blast took place inside a government school premised designated as a polling station in Khanyar of downtown Srinagar. It caused panic in the area. However, a police spokesman said the blast took place due to mishandling of a tear gas canister by the security men.
By Express News Service

RAIPUR: A television news anchor Supreet Kaur (28) in Chhattisgarh had a tough moment reading out the news bulletin on a car accident that killed her husband at Pithora in Mahasamund district on Saturday.

The woman anchor was apparently unaware of the tragic incident till she read out the news about the road accident that killed three persons, including her husband. She got suspicious when the Pithora-based reporter of IBC24 in the live phone-in provided the details of the vehicle (Renault Duster). Though the deceased were not identified by the reporter, he said that the three killed were from Bhilai. She became apprehensive as she is from Bhilai and knew her husbands schedule, her colleague in the regional TV channel told the New Indian Express.

Five people were travelling in the ill-fated SUV. The two injured were rushed to the hospital. After she finished her bulletin round-up and left office, she called up the Pithora reporter to re-confirm about the mishap that killed her husband.

It was indeed a very tough situation for her and equally difficult for us to share the news about her husbands death when we learnt about it. She remained calm while completing the news round-up of half-an-hour, the editorial staff of IBC24 said. Kaur, who lives at Bhilai, married Harsad Kawade last year.

Chief minister Raman Singh offered his deep condolence over the tragedy. I salute Supreets strength in dealing with her husbands demise with extraordinary bravery and professionalism. May the departed soul rest in peace, the CM said. She has been working as a news anchor for the past eight years in the same TV channel.

RAIPUR: A television news anchor Supreet Kaur (28) in Chhattisgarh had a tough moment reading out the news bulletin on a car accident that killed her husband at Pithora in Mahasamund district on Saturday. The woman anchor was apparently unaware of the tragic incident till she read out the news about the road accident that killed three persons, including her husband. She got suspicious when the Pithora-based reporter of IBC24 in the live phone-in provided the details of the vehicle (Renault Duster). Though the deceased were not identified by the reporter, he said that the three killed were from Bhilai. She became apprehensive as she is from Bhilai and knew her husbands schedule, her colleague in the regional TV channel told the New Indian Express. Five people were travelling in the ill-fated SUV. The two injured were rushed to the hospital. After she finished her bulletin round-up and left office, she called up the Pithora reporter to re-confirm about the mishap that killed her husband. It was indeed a very tough situation for her and equally difficult for us to share the news about her husbands death when we learnt about it. She remained calm while completing the news round-up of half-an-hour, the editorial staff of IBC24 said. Kaur, who lives at Bhilai, married Harsad Kawade last year. Chief minister Raman Singh offered his deep condolence over the tragedy. I salute Supreets strength in dealing with her husbands demise with extraordinary bravery and professionalism. May the departed soul rest in peace, the CM said. She has been working as a news anchor for the past eight years in the same TV channel.
That, in short, is the story of Manohar Parrikars tenure as the defence minister. Parrikar was hand-picked by Prime Minister Modi. A great deal was expected from him. Most disappointingly, his tenure of 28 months will be remembered more for a plethora of unfulfilled promises rather than for any radical reforms. He had excelled as a state CM but could not deliver at the Centre. Why?

His failure can be attributed to two reasons. First, he inherited a non-functional ministry. For eight long years under A K Antony (October 2006 to May 2014), the Ministry of Defence (MoD) had acquired a reputation for lethargy and corruption. Decision-making became an alien attribute. There was a policy paralysis. Only those proposals that guaranteed windfall illegal gains for the mighty progressed. After Modi came to power, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was given additional charge of MoD. It was a monumental blunder. Jaitley possibly

could not have done justice to so many portfolios. As a result, the MoD remained comatose for six months.

Responsibility for Indias defence is discharged through the MoD, which provides the policy framework and wherewithal to the armed forces. It is entirely manned by bureaucrats who are clueless about defence matters. The service headquarters are mere attached offices. They do not form part of the decision-making apparatus.

The degree of gross ineptitude afflicting the MoD can be gauged from the fact that $3 billion of Indias money was lying forgotten with the US government for years, without earning any interest. Worse, India continued to make fresh payments to the US for new weaponry. Parrikars revelation in March 2016 shocked the nation.

The MoD has a vast domain of 39 ordnance factories and nine defence public sector undertakings. Yet, the indigenous defence industry has been in an appalling state. India has earned the most disgraceful tag of being the largest importer of conventional defence equipment in the world with 14 per cent of the global share. Despite having 52 defence R&D laboratories in multiple disciplines, no equipment conforming to the parameters has ever been developed in the promised time frame. It has been a chronicle of false claims, tall promises, inexplicable delays and suboptimal products.

The second cause of Parrikars failure was his inability to tame the obdurate bureaucracy. He was new to Delhi and had to contend with the status quo culture of the bureaucrats, uniformed and civil, who were contentedly ensconced in their comfort zones. In addition, during the tenures of play safe Antony and overworked Jaitley, the MoD had become a bureaucratic citadel. Parrikars arrival threatened their unbridled dominance and they resented it. To undermine his authority, they often misled him into making untenable promises.

When Parrikar took over, the modernisation of our armed forces was lagging behind by over 10 years. Nearly 50 per cent of major defence systems were close to getting obsolete. The inventory of critical ammunition was alarmingly low; some were insufficient for even 10 days of intense fighting. Stocks of artillery and tank ammunition needed urgent replenishment. The armed forces had become hollow.

Restoring operational prowess of the services was by far the most urgent and critical challenge Parrikar faced and he took it up in right earnest. He sought to simplify the convoluted defence procurement procedure and initiate measures to boost indigenous defence production. He mandated that the first priority in all defence procurements should be accorded to the products designed, developed and manufactured indigenously. To expedite procurements, he freed a large number of proposals from offset encumbrances by raising the offset threshold. He liberalised norms for foreign investment and accorded preference to MSMEs for low cost projects. He appreciated that India could develop as a defence manufacturing power only if the prowess of the private sector was fully harnessed. Therefore, he approved adoption of three types of well-defined partnership models with the private sectorstrategic, development and

competitive. Strategic needs, quality criticality and cost competitiveness were the key criteria. Such a capacity was to be over and above the capacity and infrastructure that existed in the public sector.

As the bureaucrats wanted the public sectors monopoly to continue, they resorted tothe time-tested stratagem of constituting expert committees to study issues, thereby deferring decision-making and buying time till Parrikar moved out. This is exactly how the script played out. Parrikar has left. Committee reports are gathering dust and the status quo continues. The MoD carries on nonchalantly. Parrikars inability to exert enough pressure in the corridors of power emboldened the bureaucrats to defy and delay his orders. Every progressive step was impeded with crafty dexterity.

It is to Parrikars credit that despite the above constraints, he took major decisions to modernise the forces. Atotal of 124 new procurement proposals worth Rs. 2,09,751 crore were accorded approval. Urgently required ordnance worth Rs. 20,000 crore was acquired on fast-track basis. As regards initiating reforms in the higher defence management of the country, his tenure has little to show. Whereas Parrikar enjoyed a cordial personal relationship with the services, he could not get them their due status and recognition. Leaving

aside the grant of distorted OROP, little has been done to assuage the feeling of neglect afflicting the soldiers.

Parrikar had the potential to achieve much more than what the results show. He had his heart in the right place but lacked necessary standing and experience to handle the hostile environment of Delhi. However, due to his empathetic demeanour and sincerity of purpose, he earned the confidence of the services in ample measureno mean achievement. Hopefully, posterity will not judge him too harshly.

The author is a decorated veteran and an expert in defence procurement procedures.

Email: mrinalsuman@gmail.com

That, in short, is the story of Manohar Parrikars tenure as the defence minister. Parrikar was hand-picked by Prime Minister Modi. A great deal was expected from him. Most disappointingly, his tenure of 28 months will be remembered more for a plethora of unfulfilled promises rather than for any radical reforms. He had excelled as a state CM but could not deliver at the Centre. Why? His failure can be attributed to two reasons. First, he inherited a non-functional ministry. For eight long years under A K Antony (October 2006 to May 2014), the Ministry of Defence (MoD) had acquired a reputation for lethargy and corruption. Decision-making became an alien attribute. There was a policy paralysis. Only those proposals that guaranteed windfall illegal gains for the mighty progressed. After Modi came to power, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was given additional charge of MoD. It was a monumental blunder. Jaitley possibly could not have done justice to so many portfolios. As a result, the MoD remained comatose for six months. Responsibility for Indias defence is discharged through the MoD, which provides the policy framework and wherewithal to the armed forces. It is entirely manned by bureaucrats who are clueless about defence matters. The service headquarters are mere attached offices. They do not form part of the decision-making apparatus. The degree of gross ineptitude afflicting the MoD can be gauged from the fact that $3 billion of Indias money was lying forgotten with the US government for years, without earning any interest. Worse, India continued to make fresh payments to the US for new weaponry. Parrikars revelation in March 2016 shocked the nation. The MoD has a vast domain of 39 ordnance factories and nine defence public sector undertakings. Yet, the indigenous defence industry has been in an appalling state. India has earned the most disgraceful tag of being the largest importer of conventional defence equipment in the world with 14 per cent of the global share. Despite having 52 defence R&D laboratories in multiple disciplines, no equipment conforming to the parameters has ever been developed in the promised time frame. It has been a chronicle of false claims, tall promises, inexplicable delays and suboptimal products. The second cause of Parrikars failure was his inability to tame the obdurate bureaucracy. He was new to Delhi and had to contend with the status quo culture of the bureaucrats, uniformed and civil, who were contentedly ensconced in their comfort zones. In addition, during the tenures of play safe Antony and overworked Jaitley, the MoD had become a bureaucratic citadel. Parrikars arrival threatened their unbridled dominance and they resented it. To undermine his authority, they often misled him into making untenable promises. When Parrikar took over, the modernisation of our armed forces was lagging behind by over 10 years. Nearly 50 per cent of major defence systems were close to getting obsolete. The inventory of critical ammunition was alarmingly low; some were insufficient for even 10 days of intense fighting. Stocks of artillery and tank ammunition needed urgent replenishment. The armed forces had become hollow. Restoring operational prowess of the services was by far the most urgent and critical challenge Parrikar faced and he took it up in right earnest. He sought to simplify the convoluted defence procurement procedure and initiate measures to boost indigenous defence production. He mandated that the first priority in all defence procurements should be accorded to the products designed, developed and manufactured indigenously. To expedite procurements, he freed a large number of proposals from offset encumbrances by raising the offset threshold. He liberalised norms for foreign investment and accorded preference to MSMEs for low cost projects. He appreciated that India could develop as a defence manufacturing power only if the prowess of the private sector was fully harnessed. Therefore, he approved adoption of three types of well-defined partnership models with the private sectorstrategic, development and competitive. Strategic needs, quality criticality and cost competitiveness were the key criteria. Such a capacity was to be over and above the capacity and infrastructure that existed in the public sector. As the bureaucrats wanted the public sectors monopoly to continue, they resorted tothe time-tested stratagem of constituting expert committees to study issues, thereby deferring decision-making and buying time till Parrikar moved out. This is exactly how the script played out. Parrikar has left. Committee reports are gathering dust and the status quo continues. The MoD carries on nonchalantly. Parrikars inability to exert enough pressure in the corridors of power emboldened the bureaucrats to defy and delay his orders. Every progressive step was impeded with crafty dexterity. It is to Parrikars credit that despite the above constraints, he took major decisions to modernise the forces. Atotal of 124 new procurement proposals worth Rs. 2,09,751 crore were accorded approval. Urgently required ordnance worth Rs. 20,000 crore was acquired on fast-track basis. As regards initiating reforms in the higher defence management of the country, his tenure has little to show. Whereas Parrikar enjoyed a cordial personal relationship with the services, he could not get them their due status and recognition. Leaving aside the grant of distorted OROP, little has been done to assuage the feeling of neglect afflicting the soldiers. Parrikar had the potential to achieve much more than what the results show. He had his heart in the right place but lacked necessary standing and experience to handle the hostile environment of Delhi. However, due to his empathetic demeanour and sincerity of purpose, he earned the confidence of the services in ample measureno mean achievement. Hopefully, posterity will not judge him too harshly. The author is a decorated veteran and an expert in defence procurement procedures. Email: mrinalsuman@gmail.com
By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The outsiders whom the police say accompanied Jishnu Pranoys mother Mahija and relatives to the police headquarters are the ones who triggered tension by provoking the police officers, according to the final report prepared by Thiruvananthapuram Range IG Manoj Abraham.

The report, prepared after inquiring into the alleged police excesses on Jishnu Prannoys mother and relatives, will be submitted on Saturday as state police chief Loknath Behera is out of the station. On Thursday, a preliminary report was submitted by the IG before the DGP.

In the final report, Abraham says the group of outsiders including activist K M Shahjahan, SUCI leaders Shajarkhan and his wife Mini Shajarkhan, Sreekumar and self-styled godman Himaval Bhadrananda had come to the police headquarters intentionally to create tension.

The report also says no action should be taken against any of the police officers, including Cantonment AC K E Baiju and Museum SI G Sunil, as it has been proved they had only removed the protesters from that spot rather than assaulting them. Abraham told Express the officers cant be charged as they had only tried to control a law and order situation. The evidence collected from the visuals shot by various media also underlines this fact. Hence, there is no point in blaming the police officers, he said.

The report says the real culprits behind the entire episode are in judicial custody. The outsider group intentionally created disorder when the police blocked the protestors and tried to remove Jishnus family from the spot.

Shajarkhan also had a role in arranging accommodation for Mahija and relatives in the capital. He and other SUCI leaders came to the headquarters even though they were not permitted. Shahjahan and Himaval Bhadrananda later intruded into the group when Mahija reached near the gate of the headquarters, said Abraham.

His final report also quotes a medical report which said there were no external injuries on any of the protesters. Meanwhile, the Thiruvananthapuram judicial first class magistrate postponed the hearing on the petition of the police seeking the custody of the accused for further interrogation to Monday.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The outsiders whom the police say accompanied Jishnu Pranoys mother Mahija and relatives to the police headquarters are the ones who triggered tension by provoking the police officers, according to the final report prepared by Thiruvananthapuram Range IG Manoj Abraham. The report, prepared after inquiring into the alleged police excesses on Jishnu Prannoys mother and relatives, will be submitted on Saturday as state police chief Loknath Behera is out of the station. On Thursday, a preliminary report was submitted by the IG before the DGP. In the final report, Abraham says the group of outsiders including activist K M Shahjahan, SUCI leaders Shajarkhan and his wife Mini Shajarkhan, Sreekumar and self-styled godman Himaval Bhadrananda had come to the police headquarters intentionally to create tension. The report also says no action should be taken against any of the police officers, including Cantonment AC K E Baiju and Museum SI G Sunil, as it has been proved they had only removed the protesters from that spot rather than assaulting them. Abraham told Express the officers cant be charged as they had only tried to control a law and order situation. The evidence collected from the visuals shot by various media also underlines this fact. Hence, there is no point in blaming the police officers, he said. The report says the real culprits behind the entire episode are in judicial custody. The outsider group intentionally created disorder when the police blocked the protestors and tried to remove Jishnus family from the spot. Shajarkhan also had a role in arranging accommodation for Mahija and relatives in the capital. He and other SUCI leaders came to the headquarters even though they were not permitted. Shahjahan and Himaval Bhadrananda later intruded into the group when Mahija reached near the gate of the headquarters, said Abraham. His final report also quotes a medical report which said there were no external injuries on any of the protesters. Meanwhile, the Thiruvananthapuram judicial first class magistrate postponed the hearing on the petition of the police seeking the custody of the accused for further interrogation to Monday.
By Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR/BHADRAK: Utter lawlessness prevailed in Bhadrak town as communal tension went out of control despite imposition of curfew on Friday. Hundreds of shops were set on fire and roads were blocked as the local administration failed to arrest the flare-up which was simmering between the two communities since Thursday.

With the peace committee meeting remaining inconclusive earlier in the day, the two community members confronted each other. Processions were taken out in gross violation of prohibitory orders as police watched as a mute spectator. OT Market, Town Hall and Bonth Squares and Puruna Bazar areas were among the worst affected while insufficient police force proved a major handicap for the administration.

As the situation deteriorated, a clueless State Government hurriedly posted Cuttack Municipal Commissioner Gyana Ranjan Das as the new Collector. The district has virtually been headless since March 31 and the ADM was in-charge. Das has been asked to take charge immediately.

Home Secretary Asit Tripathy, DGP KB Singh and ADG (Law and Order) Binayanand Jha rushed to Bhadrak to take stock of the situation. Prohibitory orders were imposed in neighbouring Dhamnagar town too. Union Minister Krishan Pal Gurjars proposed visit to Bhadrak on Saturday for party work ahead of BJPs national executive meeting was also cancelled.

So far, no incident of bloodshed was reported although rioters went on a looting spree. DGP Singh said police were keeping a close watch and efforts were being made to restore peace and normalcy. By night, 32 rioters were arrested. Just about 24 platoon force were deployed in the town and its neighbourhood while more was being mobilised to strengthen patrolling.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who had left for a five-day visit to Delhi earlier in the day, appealed for peace in the district. He also said strong action would be taken against any attempt to promote disharmony. Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and a host of other leaders also appealed for peace.

While an uneasy calm prevailed in the town this morning, the situation turned worse after the peace committee failed to make any breakthrough. Soon after, members of a particular community, who were present in the meeting, took out a procession making objectionable remarks.

All this happened even when prohibitory orders were still clamped in the town. Why the local police allowed the procession was beyond logic.

The other community responded by road blockade at Medical Square and clashed with police when the latter tried to disperse the mob. The agitators pelted stones at the cops and damaged police vehicles. They also questioned the intention of the police behind allowing members of the other community to take out the procession despite clamping of Section 144 in the town. Roads were also blocked at High School, Town Hall, Bonth and Akhandalamani squares. A major part of the arson took place right in front of the SPs office.

By evening, the situation had spiraled out of control as many shops were set on fire by the two communities. The fire fighters were not allowed to douse the flames by the protestors which only aggravated the situation. The National Highway 16 was paralysed with vehicular movement coming to a complete halt. This even delayed mobilisation of police.

The town wore a deserted look with people remaining indoors due to the prohibitory orders. Although government offices remained open, they wore an empty look. Schools and business establishments remained closed. Earlier in the day, the peace committee meeting was attended by IG (Eastern Range) Ghanshyam Upadhaya, ADM Pravat Bhoi, local MLA Jugal Kishore Pattanaik and leaders of both the communities. Abdul Bari, president of Bhadrak Muslim Jamat, in a statement, condemned the alleged remarks on Lord Ram and demanded action against the culprits. However, the meeting ended with no result.

On Thursday, objectionable remarks on Lord Ram and other Hindu deities on social media had gone viral triggering locals to damage shops. Subsequently, police clamped 144 CrPC in the town.

BHUBANESWAR/BHADRAK: Utter lawlessness prevailed in Bhadrak town as communal tension went out of control despite imposition of curfew on Friday. Hundreds of shops were set on fire and roads were blocked as the local administration failed to arrest the flare-up which was simmering between the two communities since Thursday. With the peace committee meeting remaining inconclusive earlier in the day, the two community members confronted each other. Processions were taken out in gross violation of prohibitory orders as police watched as a mute spectator. OT Market, Town Hall and Bonth Squares and Puruna Bazar areas were among the worst affected while insufficient police force proved a major handicap for the administration. As the situation deteriorated, a clueless State Government hurriedly posted Cuttack Municipal Commissioner Gyana Ranjan Das as the new Collector. The district has virtually been headless since March 31 and the ADM was in-charge. Das has been asked to take charge immediately. Home Secretary Asit Tripathy, DGP KB Singh and ADG (Law and Order) Binayanand Jha rushed to Bhadrak to take stock of the situation. Prohibitory orders were imposed in neighbouring Dhamnagar town too. Union Minister Krishan Pal Gurjars proposed visit to Bhadrak on Saturday for party work ahead of BJPs national executive meeting was also cancelled. So far, no incident of bloodshed was reported although rioters went on a looting spree. DGP Singh said police were keeping a close watch and efforts were being made to restore peace and normalcy. By night, 32 rioters were arrested. Just about 24 platoon force were deployed in the town and its neighbourhood while more was being mobilised to strengthen patrolling. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who had left for a five-day visit to Delhi earlier in the day, appealed for peace in the district. He also said strong action would be taken against any attempt to promote disharmony. Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and a host of other leaders also appealed for peace. While an uneasy calm prevailed in the town this morning, the situation turned worse after the peace committee failed to make any breakthrough. Soon after, members of a particular community, who were present in the meeting, took out a procession making objectionable remarks. All this happened even when prohibitory orders were still clamped in the town. Why the local police allowed the procession was beyond logic. The other community responded by road blockade at Medical Square and clashed with police when the latter tried to disperse the mob. The agitators pelted stones at the cops and damaged police vehicles. They also questioned the intention of the police behind allowing members of the other community to take out the procession despite clamping of Section 144 in the town. Roads were also blocked at High School, Town Hall, Bonth and Akhandalamani squares. A major part of the arson took place right in front of the SPs office. By evening, the situation had spiraled out of control as many shops were set on fire by the two communities. The fire fighters were not allowed to douse the flames by the protestors which only aggravated the situation. The National Highway 16 was paralysed with vehicular movement coming to a complete halt. This even delayed mobilisation of police. The town wore a deserted look with people remaining indoors due to the prohibitory orders. Although government offices remained open, they wore an empty look. Schools and business establishments remained closed. Earlier in the day, the peace committee meeting was attended by IG (Eastern Range) Ghanshyam Upadhaya, ADM Pravat Bhoi, local MLA Jugal Kishore Pattanaik and leaders of both the communities. Abdul Bari, president of Bhadrak Muslim Jamat, in a statement, condemned the alleged remarks on Lord Ram and demanded action against the culprits. However, the meeting ended with no result. On Thursday, objectionable remarks on Lord Ram and other Hindu deities on social media had gone viral triggering locals to damage shops. Subsequently, police clamped 144 CrPC in the town.
By AFP

STOCKHOLM:

A massive manhunt was underway for the driver of a stolen truck that ploughed into a crowd outside a busy department store in central Stockholm Friday, killing four and injuring 15, Swedish police said.

A national police chief, Stefan Hector, said the police's "working hypothesis is that this is a terror attack."

One man was arrested in connection with the attack but the driver remained at large, police said.

According to the Aftonbladet newspaper, the arrested man is a 39-year-old of Uzbek origin and a supporter of the Islamic State (IS) group.

Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said he had strengthened the country's border controls.

"Terrorists want us to be afraid, want us to change our behaviour, want us to not live our lives normally, but that is what we're going to do. So terrorists can never defeat Sweden, never," he said.

If confirmed as a terror attack, it would be Sweden's first such attack with a deadly outcome.

Pictures taken at the scene showed a large blue truck with a mangled undercarriage smashed into the Ahlens department store.

Witnesses described scenes of terror and panic.

One witness identified only as Dimitris told the Aftonbladet the truck came "out of nowhere."

"I couldn't see if anyone was driving but it was out of control. I saw at least two people get run down. I ran as fast as I could away from there," he said.

- 'Like a bomb' -

Another shopper, 66-year-old Leander Nordling, was at Ahlens when he suddenly heard a loud bang.

"It sounded like a bomb exploding and smoke starting pouring in through the main entrance," he told the Aftonbladet.

He and fellow shoppers took refuge in a storage room inside the department store.

"After that the building was evacuated ... There were a lot of guards who took care of us outside and they urged us to leave the scene immediately," Nordling said.

Video footage taken from above showed scores of people streaming down the street in terror.

A spokeswoman for beer company Spendrups told AFP that the truck involved "had been stolen during a delivery to a restaurant."

Friday's attack was the latest in a string of similar assaults with vehicles in Europe, including in London, Berlin and the southern French city of Nice.

- 'Attack on us all' -

The attack occurred just before 1300 GMT at the corner of the store and Drottninggatan, the city's biggest pedestrian street, above ground from Stockholm's central subway station.

Thick smoke billowed from the scene, while the area was blocked off by police and crowds gathered around the police cordon.

Police vans circulating in the city using loudspeakers urged people to go straight home and avoid large crowds.

The centre of the usually buzzing city was put on lockdown, with the central train station evacuated and other stores quickly emptied of shoppers.

The Stockholm metro was also completely shut down for several hours before resuming in the early evening, with the attack taking place at T-Centralen station, through which all the city's lines pass.

Cinemas, shopping malls and other public buildings were also evacuated.

The area around the attack was cordoned off, but other streets in the city were packed for hours with pedestrians trying to find a way home.

Another section of Drottninggatan was also the scene of Sweden's only other terror attack, in 2010, when a suicide bomber blew himself up, killing himself and slightly injuring several others.

European politicians expressed solidarity, with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker saying that it was an "attack on us all."

A spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel said: "Our thoughts go out to the people in Stockholm, to the injured, their relatives, rescuers and police.

"We stand together against terror."

US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Washington was ready to provide any help it could to investigate "this brutal and senseless attack".

"Attacks like this are intended to sow the seeds of fear, but in fact they only strengthen our shared resolve to combat terrorism around the world," he added.

- Trucks as weapons -

It followed a string of similar attacks in Europe by people using vehicles as weapons.

The deadliest came last year in France on the July 14 Bastille Day national holiday, when a man rammed a truck into a crowd in the Mediterranean resort of Nice, killing 86 people.

Last month, Khalid Masood, a 52-year-old convert to Islam known to British security services, killed five people when he drove a car at high speed into pedestrians on London's Westminster Bridge before launching a frenzied knife attack on a policeman guarding the parliament building.

And in December, a man hijacked a truck and slammed into shoppers at a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people.

In 2014, IS called for attacks on citizens of Western countries and gave instructions on how they could be carried out without military equipment, using rocks or knives, or by running people over in vehicles.

STOCKHOLM: A massive manhunt was underway for the driver of a stolen truck that ploughed into a crowd outside a busy department store in central Stockholm Friday, killing four and injuring 15, Swedish police said. A national police chief, Stefan Hector, said the police's "working hypothesis is that this is a terror attack." One man was arrested in connection with the attack but the driver remained at large, police said. According to the Aftonbladet newspaper, the arrested man is a 39-year-old of Uzbek origin and a supporter of the Islamic State (IS) group. Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said he had strengthened the country's border controls. "Terrorists want us to be afraid, want us to change our behaviour, want us to not live our lives normally, but that is what we're going to do. So terrorists can never defeat Sweden, never," he said. If confirmed as a terror attack, it would be Sweden's first such attack with a deadly outcome. Pictures taken at the scene showed a large blue truck with a mangled undercarriage smashed into the Ahlens department store. Witnesses described scenes of terror and panic. One witness identified only as Dimitris told the Aftonbladet the truck came "out of nowhere." "I couldn't see if anyone was driving but it was out of control. I saw at least two people get run down. I ran as fast as I could away from there," he said. - 'Like a bomb' - Another shopper, 66-year-old Leander Nordling, was at Ahlens when he suddenly heard a loud bang. "It sounded like a bomb exploding and smoke starting pouring in through the main entrance," he told the Aftonbladet. He and fellow shoppers took refuge in a storage room inside the department store. "After that the building was evacuated ... There were a lot of guards who took care of us outside and they urged us to leave the scene immediately," Nordling said. Video footage taken from above showed scores of people streaming down the street in terror. A spokeswoman for beer company Spendrups told AFP that the truck involved "had been stolen during a delivery to a restaurant." Friday's attack was the latest in a string of similar assaults with vehicles in Europe, including in London, Berlin and the southern French city of Nice. - 'Attack on us all' - The attack occurred just before 1300 GMT at the corner of the store and Drottninggatan, the city's biggest pedestrian street, above ground from Stockholm's central subway station. Thick smoke billowed from the scene, while the area was blocked off by police and crowds gathered around the police cordon. Police vans circulating in the city using loudspeakers urged people to go straight home and avoid large crowds. The centre of the usually buzzing city was put on lockdown, with the central train station evacuated and other stores quickly emptied of shoppers. The Stockholm metro was also completely shut down for several hours before resuming in the early evening, with the attack taking place at T-Centralen station, through which all the city's lines pass. Cinemas, shopping malls and other public buildings were also evacuated. The area around the attack was cordoned off, but other streets in the city were packed for hours with pedestrians trying to find a way home. Another section of Drottninggatan was also the scene of Sweden's only other terror attack, in 2010, when a suicide bomber blew himself up, killing himself and slightly injuring several others. European politicians expressed solidarity, with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker saying that it was an "attack on us all." A spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel said: "Our thoughts go out to the people in Stockholm, to the injured, their relatives, rescuers and police. "We stand together against terror." US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Washington was ready to provide any help it could to investigate "this brutal and senseless attack". "Attacks like this are intended to sow the seeds of fear, but in fact they only strengthen our shared resolve to combat terrorism around the world," he added. - Trucks as weapons - It followed a string of similar attacks in Europe by people using vehicles as weapons. The deadliest came last year in France on the July 14 Bastille Day national holiday, when a man rammed a truck into a crowd in the Mediterranean resort of Nice, killing 86 people. Last month, Khalid Masood, a 52-year-old convert to Islam known to British security services, killed five people when he drove a car at high speed into pedestrians on London's Westminster Bridge before launching a frenzied knife attack on a policeman guarding the parliament building. And in December, a man hijacked a truck and slammed into shoppers at a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people. In 2014, IS called for attacks on citizens of Western countries and gave instructions on how they could be carried out without military equipment, using rocks or knives, or by running people over in vehicles.
By IANS

WASHINGTON: A large near-Earth asteroid discovered nearly three years ago will fly safely past Earth on April 19th, US space agency NASA has said.

The space rock, known as 2014 JO25, is estimated to be 2,000 feet in size. It is expected to fly by Earth at a safe distance of about 1.1 million miles (1.8 million kilometres), or about 4.6 times the distance from Earth to the moon, Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.

"Although there is no possibility for the asteroid to collide with our planet, this will be a very close approach for an asteroid of this size," NASA was quoted as saying.

Small asteroids pass within this distance of Earth several times each week, but this upcoming approach is "the closest by any known asteroid of this size, or larger, since asteroid Toutatis, a 3.1-mile (five-kilometre) asteroid, which approached within about four lunar distances in September 2004," NASA said.

The next known encounter of an asteroid of comparable size will occur in 2027 when the half-mile-wide (800-meter-wide) asteroid 1999 AN10 will fly by at one lunar distance.

In addition, the encounter on April 19 is also "the closest this asteroid has come to Earth for at least the last 400 years and will be its closest approach for at least the next 500 years," NASA added.

The asteroid will approach Earth from the direction of the sun and will become visible in the night sky after April 19.

It is predicted to brighten to about magnitude 11, when it could be visible in small optical telescopes for one or two nights before it fades as the distance from Earth rapidly increases, NASA added.

WASHINGTON: A large near-Earth asteroid discovered nearly three years ago will fly safely past Earth on April 19th, US space agency NASA has said. The space rock, known as 2014 JO25, is estimated to be 2,000 feet in size. It is expected to fly by Earth at a safe distance of about 1.1 million miles (1.8 million kilometres), or about 4.6 times the distance from Earth to the moon, Xinhua news agency reported on Friday. "Although there is no possibility for the asteroid to collide with our planet, this will be a very close approach for an asteroid of this size," NASA was quoted as saying. Small asteroids pass within this distance of Earth several times each week, but this upcoming approach is "the closest by any known asteroid of this size, or larger, since asteroid Toutatis, a 3.1-mile (five-kilometre) asteroid, which approached within about four lunar distances in September 2004," NASA said. The next known encounter of an asteroid of comparable size will occur in 2027 when the half-mile-wide (800-meter-wide) asteroid 1999 AN10 will fly by at one lunar distance. In addition, the encounter on April 19 is also "the closest this asteroid has come to Earth for at least the last 400 years and will be its closest approach for at least the next 500 years," NASA added. The asteroid will approach Earth from the direction of the sun and will become visible in the night sky after April 19. It is predicted to brighten to about magnitude 11, when it could be visible in small optical telescopes for one or two nights before it fades as the distance from Earth rapidly increases, NASA added.
By AFP

LONDON: Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has cancelled a scheduled visit to Moscow next week, his office announced on Saturday, saying "developments in Syria have changed the situation fundamentally".

"My priority is now to continue contact with the US and others in the run up to the G7 meeting on 10-11 April," said Johnson, who was due to travel to Moscow on Monday.

"We deplore Russias continued defence of the Assad regime even after the chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians," added Johnson.

He then called on Russia to do "everything possible to bring about a political settlement in Syria and work with the rest of the international community to ensure that the shocking events of the last week are never repeated".

"I discussed these plans in detail with Secretary Tillerson," Johnson said, adding that the US foreign minister would still visit Moscow as planned following the G7 meeting to "deliver that clear and co-ordinated message to the Russians."

Johnson expressed his support to the United States on Friday after it fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Shayrat airfield near Homs in central Syria.

The move was in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun earlier in the week which killed at least 86 people according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Russia, one of the main backers of the Assad regime alongside Iran, condemned the US strike, denouncing a "flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression".

LONDON: Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has cancelled a scheduled visit to Moscow next week, his office announced on Saturday, saying "developments in Syria have changed the situation fundamentally". "My priority is now to continue contact with the US and others in the run up to the G7 meeting on 10-11 April," said Johnson, who was due to travel to Moscow on Monday. "We deplore Russias continued defence of the Assad regime even after the chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians," added Johnson. He then called on Russia to do "everything possible to bring about a political settlement in Syria and work with the rest of the international community to ensure that the shocking events of the last week are never repeated". "I discussed these plans in detail with Secretary Tillerson," Johnson said, adding that the US foreign minister would still visit Moscow as planned following the G7 meeting to "deliver that clear and co-ordinated message to the Russians." Johnson expressed his support to the United States on Friday after it fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Shayrat airfield near Homs in central Syria. The move was in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun earlier in the week which killed at least 86 people according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Russia, one of the main backers of the Assad regime alongside Iran, condemned the US strike, denouncing a "flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression".
By AFP

BELGRADE: Thousands of Serbs rallied in Belgrade on Saturday for the sixth straight day to protest the election of premier Aleksandar Vucic as the country's next president. The protestors, who gathered outside government offices, were mostly students but were also joined by labour union members and representatives from the police and the army.

Addressing the crowd, police union chief Veljko Mijailovic hailed the "major coalition of the army, police and the people," according to the Beta news agency. Another speaker called for new elections to be held.

Vucic won the presidential election in the first round on April 2 with a clear majority, garnering 55 percent of votes, and will take office as president in late May. His main rival, ex-ombudsman Sasa Jankovic who came second in the vote with 16 percent, supported protests which began immediately after the election but urged participants to keep them non-violent.

Today, Jankovic said protestors were unhappy with the "injustice of the autocratic regime which threatens Serbia with dictatorship". Saturday's protestors, estimated at over 10,000 by an AFP photographer, subsequently moved from outside the government offices to rally on the Serbia capital's major boulevards. "There are lots of us!" and "Vucic the thief, you stole the elections!" they chanted.

"People are hungry while the those at the top are enjoying themselves," read one banner. Vucic, who wants his country to join the European Union, said: "Everyone (has)the right to express their opinion. I don't have a problem with that. It's just important that everything happens absolutely democratically and calmly."

The protests have been organised since last Monday in Belgrade and several other Serbian cities.

BELGRADE: Thousands of Serbs rallied in Belgrade on Saturday for the sixth straight day to protest the election of premier Aleksandar Vucic as the country's next president. The protestors, who gathered outside government offices, were mostly students but were also joined by labour union members and representatives from the police and the army. Addressing the crowd, police union chief Veljko Mijailovic hailed the "major coalition of the army, police and the people," according to the Beta news agency. Another speaker called for new elections to be held. Vucic won the presidential election in the first round on April 2 with a clear majority, garnering 55 percent of votes, and will take office as president in late May. His main rival, ex-ombudsman Sasa Jankovic who came second in the vote with 16 percent, supported protests which began immediately after the election but urged participants to keep them non-violent. Today, Jankovic said protestors were unhappy with the "injustice of the autocratic regime which threatens Serbia with dictatorship". Saturday's protestors, estimated at over 10,000 by an AFP photographer, subsequently moved from outside the government offices to rally on the Serbia capital's major boulevards. "There are lots of us!" and "Vucic the thief, you stole the elections!" they chanted. "People are hungry while the those at the top are enjoying themselves," read one banner. Vucic, who wants his country to join the European Union, said: "Everyone (has)the right to express their opinion. I don't have a problem with that. It's just important that everything happens absolutely democratically and calmly." The protests have been organised since last Monday in Belgrade and several other Serbian cities.
By Express News Service

The US fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian airfield from two ships out out at sea on Thursday. Ever since its induction into the American Navy in 1983, the Tomahawk has changed the nature of warfare. Its use has marked every major American engagement in conflict since 1991.

Whats a cruise missile?

Imagine a small airplane with a bomb fitted to it. A cruise missile is basically that, about 20 ft long and 21 inches in diameter, weighing about one-and-a-half ton. When they are launched, a 250 kg solid rocket booster propels them into flight. Once the fuel is burned, the booster falls away and the wings (8.5 ft wingspan) and tail fins unfold. At this stage, the turbofan engine takes over and the many navigation systems built into the cruise missle guide it to its destination as per the coordinates fed into it.

They can be launched from anywhere, from ships, missile launchers, or aircraft. They fly at low altitudes and are programmed to deliver the bomb at a precise location. The bomb, or warhead, explodes when the missile reaches its destination. The missile itself is destroyed, and the damage depends on the warhead. The 59 Tomahawks fired at the Syrian air base in Homs were basically meant to destroy massive fortified structures around the airfield.

Whats a Tomahawk missile?

The Tomahawk missile is named after the one-handed axe used by Native American tribes. The Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) is an all-weather, long-range, subsonic cruise missile used to hit targets on land. They are designed to fly at extremely low altitudes at high subsonic speeds (880 kmph) and strike targests over a range of They have a range of 2500 miles, which makes them intermediate-range cruise as distince from intercontinental missiles. Just for the benefit of homegrown war gamers, Indias naval base at Mumbai could comfortably hit Islamabad (1629 miles) or any other Pakistani target if only India had Tomahawks.

Who makes it?

The missile was iniaitally given to General Dynamics for manufacture.Some Tomahawks were also manufactured by McDonnell Douglas. The present contractor is Raytheon Systems, located in Tucson, Arizona. The missiles subsystems are made by various other contractors.

Who uses it?

Tomahawks are stationed on US Navy submarines and surface ships. The UK Royal Navys submarines are also fitted with Tomahawks.

To watch how Syrian aircraft were destroyed in the US strike on Friday, click here

What is it used for?

The Tomahawk was initially designed to carry both nuclear and conventional bombs, or warheads. But in the latest upgrade, the nuclear capability was dropped. The warhead used depends on the objective of the mission. In normal long-range warfare, the Tomahawk is used to strike at high-value or heavily defended land targets. The conventional Tomahawk carries a 1000 pound warhead plus 166 bomblets, which are designed to produce what are called combined effects.

When was it first used?

The Tomahawk was inducted into the US Navy in 1984 but it wasnt until Operation Desert Storm in 1991 that it was first put to use. That operation was launched after Iraq invaded Kuwait and the US launched airstrikes to soften up Saddam Husseins troops before sending in troops to clear the invaders from Kuwait. The Tomahawk was the ideal weapon for that objective. Desert Storm was the first war to be covered live by satellite TV. The fireworks you saw on CNN from your living room were mainly produced by Tomahawks. Since then, the missile has been used over 2,000 times in combat.

What are the advantages of the Tomahawk?

They say about the Tomahawk missile that it can fly 1,000 miles and hit a target the size of a single-car garage.

However, the Tomahawk is not designed to just go from point A to point B. The missile has a mission-tailored guidance system that enables it to evade obstacles and anti-missile defence systems and strike at a highly localized target. So they cant easily be shot down.

Plus, as the Tomahawk flies very low altitudes, it is difficult for radar to detect it.

Also, Tomahawks obviate the need to send fighter pilots on bombing runs that would expose them to enemy ground fire. In the US, bodybags are always a sensitive political issue, so the Tomahawk fired long range is an ideal weapon for warfare from a safe distance.

Unlike other missiles, the Tomahawk does not take a high, ballistic trajectory. It flies close to the ground, veering around terrain features, propelled by a turbofan engine. It has a small radar signature so it avoids radar-guided defences.

What are its capabilities?

The Tomahawk has a mission-tailored guidance system, which means that its performance can be tweaked as per the objective of the mission. It has a time-of-arrival control so that the speed can be preset and controlled. Its navigation capability has a GPS-synced Digital Scene Matching Area Correlator (DSMAC) which gives it pinpoint accuracy. For instance, Thursdays hit on the Syrian air base was designed to hit bunkers in which Assads aircraft were being maintained while avoiding his chemical weapons storage facility nearby and to leave the airfield untouched.

As it cruises over enemy territory, the Tomawak talks to a satellite by a two-way communication system. This enables the mission controller to alter the terminal point or even set a new target altogether during flight. It also does some tourism along the way, by mapping and relaying back images of the terrain and ground installations as it cruises toward its target. In case the target has moved during the flight, the Tomahawk can even loiter around while Houston resets the coordinates. Tomahawk maker Raytheon boasts,

What guides a Tomahawk?

There are basically four systems that guide a Tomahawk, indeed any cruise missile, to its target:

1. Inertial Guidance System (IGS): Keeps track of the location as it flies.

2. Terrain Contour Matching (Tercom) : Matches the target terrain with its database

3.Global Positioning System (GPS): Talks to the tracking satellite

Digital Scene Matching Area Correlation: Photographs the target and matches it to the target data.

Once it is close to the target, the Tomahawk missiles terminal guidance system takes over and the projectile is directed to the chosen point of impact.

What does it cost?

In 1999 the US Navy stated that the unit cost of each Tomahawk cruise missile was approximately $569,000. Today, that cost would be $832,000, according to CNN. The US Navy fired 59 missiles in the airstrike on Syria on Thursday. Thats an eye-popping 49 million dollars.

The US fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian airfield from two ships out out at sea on Thursday. Ever since its induction into the American Navy in 1983, the Tomahawk has changed the nature of warfare. Its use has marked every major American engagement in conflict since 1991. Whats a cruise missile? Imagine a small airplane with a bomb fitted to it. A cruise missile is basically that, about 20 ft long and 21 inches in diameter, weighing about one-and-a-half ton. When they are launched, a 250 kg solid rocket booster propels them into flight. Once the fuel is burned, the booster falls away and the wings (8.5 ft wingspan) and tail fins unfold. At this stage, the turbofan engine takes over and the many navigation systems built into the cruise missle guide it to its destination as per the coordinates fed into it. They can be launched from anywhere, from ships, missile launchers, or aircraft. They fly at low altitudes and are programmed to deliver the bomb at a precise location. The bomb, or warhead, explodes when the missile reaches its destination. The missile itself is destroyed, and the damage depends on the warhead. The 59 Tomahawks fired at the Syrian air base in Homs were basically meant to destroy massive fortified structures around the airfield. Whats a Tomahawk missile? The Tomahawk missile is named after the one-handed axe used by Native American tribes. The Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) is an all-weather, long-range, subsonic cruise missile used to hit targets on land. They are designed to fly at extremely low altitudes at high subsonic speeds (880 kmph) and strike targests over a range of They have a range of 2500 miles, which makes them intermediate-range cruise as distince from intercontinental missiles. Just for the benefit of homegrown war gamers, Indias naval base at Mumbai could comfortably hit Islamabad (1629 miles) or any other Pakistani target if only India had Tomahawks. Who makes it? The missile was iniaitally given to General Dynamics for manufacture.Some Tomahawks were also manufactured by McDonnell Douglas. The present contractor is Raytheon Systems, located in Tucson, Arizona. The missiles subsystems are made by various other contractors. Who uses it? Tomahawks are stationed on US Navy submarines and surface ships. The UK Royal Navys submarines are also fitted with Tomahawks. To watch how Syrian aircraft were destroyed in the US strike on Friday, click here What is it used for? The Tomahawk was initially designed to carry both nuclear and conventional bombs, or warheads. But in the latest upgrade, the nuclear capability was dropped. The warhead used depends on the objective of the mission. In normal long-range warfare, the Tomahawk is used to strike at high-value or heavily defended land targets. The conventional Tomahawk carries a 1000 pound warhead plus 166 bomblets, which are designed to produce what are called combined effects. When was it first used? The Tomahawk was inducted into the US Navy in 1984 but it wasnt until Operation Desert Storm in 1991 that it was first put to use. That operation was launched after Iraq invaded Kuwait and the US launched airstrikes to soften up Saddam Husseins troops before sending in troops to clear the invaders from Kuwait. The Tomahawk was the ideal weapon for that objective. Desert Storm was the first war to be covered live by satellite TV. The fireworks you saw on CNN from your living room were mainly produced by Tomahawks. Since then, the missile has been used over 2,000 times in combat. What are the advantages of the Tomahawk? They say about the Tomahawk missile that it can fly 1,000 miles and hit a target the size of a single-car garage. However, the Tomahawk is not designed to just go from point A to point B. The missile has a mission-tailored guidance system that enables it to evade obstacles and anti-missile defence systems and strike at a highly localized target. So they cant easily be shot down. Plus, as the Tomahawk flies very low altitudes, it is difficult for radar to detect it. Also, Tomahawks obviate the need to send fighter pilots on bombing runs that would expose them to enemy ground fire. In the US, bodybags are always a sensitive political issue, so the Tomahawk fired long range is an ideal weapon for warfare from a safe distance. Unlike other missiles, the Tomahawk does not take a high, ballistic trajectory. It flies close to the ground, veering around terrain features, propelled by a turbofan engine. It has a small radar signature so it avoids radar-guided defences. What are its capabilities? The Tomahawk has a mission-tailored guidance system, which means that its performance can be tweaked as per the objective of the mission. It has a time-of-arrival control so that the speed can be preset and controlled. Its navigation capability has a GPS-synced Digital Scene Matching Area Correlator (DSMAC) which gives it pinpoint accuracy. For instance, Thursdays hit on the Syrian air base was designed to hit bunkers in which Assads aircraft were being maintained while avoiding his chemical weapons storage facility nearby and to leave the airfield untouched. As it cruises over enemy territory, the Tomawak talks to a satellite by a two-way communication system. This enables the mission controller to alter the terminal point or even set a new target altogether during flight. It also does some tourism along the way, by mapping and relaying back images of the terrain and ground installations as it cruises toward its target. In case the target has moved during the flight, the Tomahawk can even loiter around while Houston resets the coordinates. Tomahawk maker Raytheon boasts, What guides a Tomahawk? There are basically four systems that guide a Tomahawk, indeed any cruise missile, to its target: 1. Inertial Guidance System (IGS): Keeps track of the location as it flies. 2. Terrain Contour Matching (Tercom) : Matches the target terrain with its database 3.Global Positioning System (GPS): Talks to the tracking satellite Digital Scene Matching Area Correlation: Photographs the target and matches it to the target data. Once it is close to the target, the Tomahawk missiles terminal guidance system takes over and the projectile is directed to the chosen point of impact. What does it cost? In 1999 the US Navy stated that the unit cost of each Tomahawk cruise missile was approximately $569,000. Today, that cost would be $832,000, according to CNN. The US Navy fired 59 missiles in the airstrike on Syria on Thursday. Thats an eye-popping 49 million dollars.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: There was no water component in the 22 pacts inked by India and Bangladesh following bilateral talks between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Sheikh Hasina here.

Some of the key pacts signed between the two countries were agreements on peaceful use of space, civil nuclear energy, giving $500 million line of credit for purchase of defence equipment.

The Teesta Water Sharing agreement would have been equivalent to the historic formalization of the 40-years-old land agreement that led to resolution of enclaves. However, continued opposition from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee meant that the Bangladesh Prime Minister will have to go back to Dhaka without the agreement on 50-50 sharing of water of river Teesta during lean season.

Also Read: India commits $500 million credit for Bangladesh military

Addressing a joint press conference after bilateral talks, Prime Minister Modi sought to assure the Bangladesh Prime Minister of Indian efforts in bring the Teesta agreement to a closure.

I am very happy that Chief Minister of West Bengal is my guest today. Her feeling for Bangladesh as warm as my own. I assure you and people of Bangladesh of our continuing efforts on Teesta. It's only my government and your government that can and will find an early solution to Teesta water sharing issue," Modi said.

Read: India, Bangladesh offer template of good ties for Pakistan to see

In her statement Prime Minister Hasina also made a reference to the Teesta Agreement saying: I hope we get India's support in resolving all issues expeditiously."

Read: Modi, Hasina flag off trial run of India-Bangladesh passenger train

West Bengal Chief Minister Banerjee was also present during the function as the two countries inked a pact for starting Kolkata-Khulna-Dhaka bus service and Kolkata-Khulna train service.

Bangladesh is important for India from security perspective as well. Bangladesh shares porus border with India from three sides and; extremists and criminal crossing over is a big problem for both the country.

Sheikh Hasina government has taken several measures after coming to power to deal terrorist threat inimical to India.

Read: India, Bangladesh to step up anti-terror cooperation

Applauding Bangladeshs efforts, Prime Minister Modi said in his statement: We have the greatest admiration for Prime Minister Hasina for her firm resolve in dealing with terrorism. Her government has zero tolerance towards terrorism which is an inspiration."

NEW DELHI: There was no water component in the 22 pacts inked by India and Bangladesh following bilateral talks between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Sheikh Hasina here. Some of the key pacts signed between the two countries were agreements on peaceful use of space, civil nuclear energy, giving $500 million line of credit for purchase of defence equipment. The Teesta Water Sharing agreement would have been equivalent to the historic formalization of the 40-years-old land agreement that led to resolution of enclaves. However, continued opposition from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee meant that the Bangladesh Prime Minister will have to go back to Dhaka without the agreement on 50-50 sharing of water of river Teesta during lean season. Also Read: India commits $500 million credit for Bangladesh military Addressing a joint press conference after bilateral talks, Prime Minister Modi sought to assure the Bangladesh Prime Minister of Indian efforts in bring the Teesta agreement to a closure. I am very happy that Chief Minister of West Bengal is my guest today. Her feeling for Bangladesh as warm as my own. I assure you and people of Bangladesh of our continuing efforts on Teesta. It's only my government and your government that can and will find an early solution to Teesta water sharing issue," Modi said. Read: India, Bangladesh offer template of good ties for Pakistan to see In her statement Prime Minister Hasina also made a reference to the Teesta Agreement saying: I hope we get India's support in resolving all issues expeditiously." Read: Modi, Hasina flag off trial run of India-Bangladesh passenger train West Bengal Chief Minister Banerjee was also present during the function as the two countries inked a pact for starting Kolkata-Khulna-Dhaka bus service and Kolkata-Khulna train service. Bangladesh is important for India from security perspective as well. Bangladesh shares porus border with India from three sides and; extremists and criminal crossing over is a big problem for both the country. Sheikh Hasina government has taken several measures after coming to power to deal terrorist threat inimical to India. Read: India, Bangladesh to step up anti-terror cooperation Applauding Bangladeshs efforts, Prime Minister Modi said in his statement: We have the greatest admiration for Prime Minister Hasina for her firm resolve in dealing with terrorism. Her government has zero tolerance towards terrorism which is an inspiration."
By AFP

STOCKHOLM: Swedish police said today that a man arrested on "suspicion of terrorist crime" could be the driver of the truck that ploughed into a crowd of people in a busy Stockholm store department.

"We suspect that the man who was arrested is the perpetrator," Stockholm police spokesman Lars Bystrom told AFP.

Police said earlier on Friday after the attack that they had detained the man who "matched the description" of a photo released of a suspect wearing a dark hoodie and military green jacket.

According to the Aftonbladet newspaper, the same man is a 39-year-old of Uzbek origin and a supporter of the Islamic State (IS) group.

If confirmed as a terror attack, it would be Sweden's first such deadly assault. The 15 injured included children and nine people were "seriously" wounded, health authorities said.

Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said he had strengthened the country's border controls.

"Terrorists want us to be afraid, want us to change our behaviour, want us to not live our lives normally, but that is what we're going to do. So terrorists can never defeat Sweden, never," he said.

The attack occurred just before 3:00 pm (1300 GMT) when the stolen truck slammed into the corner of the bustling Ahlens store and the popular pedestrian street Drottninggatan, above ground from Stockholm's central subway station.

WATCH VIDEO:

Pictures taken at the scene showed a large blue beer truck with a mangled undercarriage smashed into the Ahlens department store.

Witnesses described scenes of terror and panic.

"A massive truck starts driving ... and mangles everything and just drives over exactly everything," eyewitness Rikard Gauffin told AFP.

"It was so terrible and there were bodies lying everywhere... it was really terrifying," he added.

The truck was towed away in the early hours of today.

Police cars and ambulances rapidly flooded the scene after the attack, as central streets and squares were blocked off amid fears that another attack could be imminent.

Helicopters hovered overhead across the city, sirens wailed, and police vans criss-crossed the streets using loudspeakers to urge people to head straight home and avoid crowded places.

STOCKHOLM: Swedish police said today that a man arrested on "suspicion of terrorist crime" could be the driver of the truck that ploughed into a crowd of people in a busy Stockholm store department. "We suspect that the man who was arrested is the perpetrator," Stockholm police spokesman Lars Bystrom told AFP. Police said earlier on Friday after the attack that they had detained the man who "matched the description" of a photo released of a suspect wearing a dark hoodie and military green jacket. According to the Aftonbladet newspaper, the same man is a 39-year-old of Uzbek origin and a supporter of the Islamic State (IS) group. If confirmed as a terror attack, it would be Sweden's first such deadly assault. The 15 injured included children and nine people were "seriously" wounded, health authorities said. Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said he had strengthened the country's border controls. "Terrorists want us to be afraid, want us to change our behaviour, want us to not live our lives normally, but that is what we're going to do. So terrorists can never defeat Sweden, never," he said. The attack occurred just before 3:00 pm (1300 GMT) when the stolen truck slammed into the corner of the bustling Ahlens store and the popular pedestrian street Drottninggatan, above ground from Stockholm's central subway station. WATCH VIDEO: window.__ventunoplayer = window.__ventunoplayer||[]; window.__ventunoplayer.push({video_key: 'OTE3OTAyfHw4fHw2fHwxLDIsMQ==', holder_id: 'vt-video-player', player_type: 'vp', width:'100%', ratio:'4:3'}); Pictures taken at the scene showed a large blue beer truck with a mangled undercarriage smashed into the Ahlens department store. Witnesses described scenes of terror and panic. "A massive truck starts driving ... and mangles everything and just drives over exactly everything," eyewitness Rikard Gauffin told AFP. "It was so terrible and there were bodies lying everywhere... it was really terrifying," he added. The truck was towed away in the early hours of today. Police cars and ambulances rapidly flooded the scene after the attack, as central streets and squares were blocked off amid fears that another attack could be imminent. Helicopters hovered overhead across the city, sirens wailed, and police vans criss-crossed the streets using loudspeakers to urge people to head straight home and avoid crowded places.
By AFP

PARIS: International leaders united in sympathy and condemnation after a man ploughed a truck through a crowd into the front of a department store in central Stockholm.

Police said they had arrested one man after the attack, which killed four people and injured 15, while Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven yesterday said "everything pointed" to it being a terror attack.

US State Department acting spokesman Mark Toner condemned "this brutal and senseless attack" and said the United States was ready to provide any assistance it could to investigate it.

"Attacks like this are intended to sow the seeds of fear, but in fact they only strengthen our shared resolve to combat terrorism around the world," Toner said in a statement.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack and voiced sympathy for the victims' families.

"We hope that those responsible for the attack will be swiftly brought to justice," he said.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the attack was a blow struck against all EU countries.

"An attack on any of our member states is an attack on us all," Juncker said in a message of condolences to the victims, adding the aim appeared to strike at "our very way of life."

Antonio Tajani, the head of the European Parliament, said on Twitter that he was "shocked by the terrible news from Stockholm."

Foreign Minister Boris Johnson said on Twitter that he was "deeply concerned by shocking incident in Stockholm."

"Britain's thoughts are with the victims, their families and the whole of Sweden," he said. President Francois Hollande expressed his "horror and indignation" at the attack.

"France expresses its sympathy and solidarity with the families of the victims and all Swedes," he said. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced on Twitter that the Eiffel Tower, which is normally illuminated, would go dark for a minute at midnight in honour of the victims of the attack.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said Germany stood "together against terror" with Sweden, and offered sympathy for those involved in the attack.

The country's Foreign Ministry said on Twitter that "We strongly condemn the terrorist attack in Stockholm."

"Our thoughts are with the families of the victims and the people of Sweden." Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte called the attack "terrible news" and said he had conveyed his country's condolences to his Swedish counterpart.

"Our thoughts go out to the victims and survivors," he said in a message on his Twitter account. "NL stands ready to help where needed."

"In our country, we are well familiar with the crimes of international terrorism. At this difficult time, Russians weep with the Swedish people," President Vladimir Putin said in a statement.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he was "closely following the attack in Stockholm." "Condolences to the victims and best wishes for recovery to the wounded. We stand by your side Sweden," he said in a Twitter message.

PARIS: International leaders united in sympathy and condemnation after a man ploughed a truck through a crowd into the front of a department store in central Stockholm. Police said they had arrested one man after the attack, which killed four people and injured 15, while Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven yesterday said "everything pointed" to it being a terror attack. US State Department acting spokesman Mark Toner condemned "this brutal and senseless attack" and said the United States was ready to provide any assistance it could to investigate it. "Attacks like this are intended to sow the seeds of fear, but in fact they only strengthen our shared resolve to combat terrorism around the world," Toner said in a statement. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack and voiced sympathy for the victims' families. "We hope that those responsible for the attack will be swiftly brought to justice," he said. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the attack was a blow struck against all EU countries. "An attack on any of our member states is an attack on us all," Juncker said in a message of condolences to the victims, adding the aim appeared to strike at "our very way of life." Antonio Tajani, the head of the European Parliament, said on Twitter that he was "shocked by the terrible news from Stockholm." Foreign Minister Boris Johnson said on Twitter that he was "deeply concerned by shocking incident in Stockholm." "Britain's thoughts are with the victims, their families and the whole of Sweden," he said. President Francois Hollande expressed his "horror and indignation" at the attack. "France expresses its sympathy and solidarity with the families of the victims and all Swedes," he said. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced on Twitter that the Eiffel Tower, which is normally illuminated, would go dark for a minute at midnight in honour of the victims of the attack. Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said Germany stood "together against terror" with Sweden, and offered sympathy for those involved in the attack. The country's Foreign Ministry said on Twitter that "We strongly condemn the terrorist attack in Stockholm." "Our thoughts are with the families of the victims and the people of Sweden." Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte called the attack "terrible news" and said he had conveyed his country's condolences to his Swedish counterpart. "Our thoughts go out to the victims and survivors," he said in a message on his Twitter account. "NL stands ready to help where needed." "In our country, we are well familiar with the crimes of international terrorism. At this difficult time, Russians weep with the Swedish people," President Vladimir Putin said in a statement. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he was "closely following the attack in Stockholm." "Condolences to the victims and best wishes for recovery to the wounded. We stand by your side Sweden," he said in a Twitter message.
By AFP

WASHINGTON: Far-right backers of US President Donald Trump rebelled Friday after he ordered a missile strike to punish Syria for a suspected chemical weapons attack that killed 86 people.

Bandying the hashtag #Syriahoax, leaders of the "Alt-Right" white nationalist fringe lashed out at the president for abandoning his election campaign stances.

Some denied the suspected chemical attack took place. Others rejected the broadly accepted view that it was the hand of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Instead, they blamed anti-Assad fighters like the al-Sham Front, formerly al-Nusra, for a so-called false-flag attack meant to be pinned on Damascus.

Still others said Trump had fallen victim to the US "deep state," an ostensibly entrenched military-national security bureaucracy at odds with the new president's anti-Washington views.

"Anyone who claimed Trump had blind loyalty had a wake-up call today," said Mike Cernovich, one of the movement's most prominent leaders and a popularizer of often unfounded conspiracy theories.

"We all know that Assad would not poison his own people," he said in an online video.

"We do know that the Deep State does want war with Russia, and they are using the Syria gas attack, which is a hoax, to start World War Three with Russia."

Alex Jones, whose "Infowars" website is a hub for the far-right movement, but others allege is a wellspring of the "fake news" phenomenon, alleged that Tuesday's attack was launched by Syrian opposition.

"Why would Assad do that when he is winning?" he asked in a webcast.

Jones argued it was a ruse to force Trump into line with Washington's more traditional conservatives.

"If he gives in to this anti-Syria thing to prove he's not a Russian puppet, they're not going to stop. They are already saying Syria is his fault," Jones said.

- Breitbart stays neutral -

Most mainstream conservatives endorsed Trump's order to fire 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian military air base to punish and warn the Assad regime.

But the far right was angered over what it sees is an abandonment of Trump's nationalist and isolationist campaign positions.

Ann Coulter, a favorite pundit of conservatives, pointed to Trump's 2013 tweets opposing any increase in US military involvement in the Middle East.

"We should stay the hell out of Syria," said Trump, then a property tycoon mulling a White House bid.

On Thursday, Coulter tweeted: "Those who wanted us meddling in the Middle East voted for other candidates."

"Trump campaigned on not getting involved in Mideast. Said it always helps our enemies & creates more refugees. Then he saw a picture on TV," she said, referring to photographs of the 27 children killed in the chemical attack.

Such anger though did not extend to Breitbart, the news website formerly run by and still closely allied with Steve Bannon, Trump's anti-globalist White House strategist. Breitbart took a neutral stance in coverage of the attack.

John Binder, a Breitbart writer, argued via Twitter that Bannon was against the strikes. "He's the voice of #Americafirst voters in the administration," Binder said, without offering evidence.

Sebastien Gorka, a deputy assistant to the president, tried Friday to rally the critics back to the fold.

"It is essential for... those who voted for this administration to understand that the president in his fundamental outlook has not changed," he said on the radio broadcast of conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham.

WASHINGTON: Far-right backers of US President Donald Trump rebelled Friday after he ordered a missile strike to punish Syria for a suspected chemical weapons attack that killed 86 people. Bandying the hashtag #Syriahoax, leaders of the "Alt-Right" white nationalist fringe lashed out at the president for abandoning his election campaign stances. Some denied the suspected chemical attack took place. Others rejected the broadly accepted view that it was the hand of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Instead, they blamed anti-Assad fighters like the al-Sham Front, formerly al-Nusra, for a so-called false-flag attack meant to be pinned on Damascus. Still others said Trump had fallen victim to the US "deep state," an ostensibly entrenched military-national security bureaucracy at odds with the new president's anti-Washington views. "Anyone who claimed Trump had blind loyalty had a wake-up call today," said Mike Cernovich, one of the movement's most prominent leaders and a popularizer of often unfounded conspiracy theories. "We all know that Assad would not poison his own people," he said in an online video. "We do know that the Deep State does want war with Russia, and they are using the Syria gas attack, which is a hoax, to start World War Three with Russia." Alex Jones, whose "Infowars" website is a hub for the far-right movement, but others allege is a wellspring of the "fake news" phenomenon, alleged that Tuesday's attack was launched by Syrian opposition. "Why would Assad do that when he is winning?" he asked in a webcast. Jones argued it was a ruse to force Trump into line with Washington's more traditional conservatives. "If he gives in to this anti-Syria thing to prove he's not a Russian puppet, they're not going to stop. They are already saying Syria is his fault," Jones said. - Breitbart stays neutral - Most mainstream conservatives endorsed Trump's order to fire 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian military air base to punish and warn the Assad regime. But the far right was angered over what it sees is an abandonment of Trump's nationalist and isolationist campaign positions. Ann Coulter, a favorite pundit of conservatives, pointed to Trump's 2013 tweets opposing any increase in US military involvement in the Middle East. "We should stay the hell out of Syria," said Trump, then a property tycoon mulling a White House bid. On Thursday, Coulter tweeted: "Those who wanted us meddling in the Middle East voted for other candidates." "Trump campaigned on not getting involved in Mideast. Said it always helps our enemies & creates more refugees. Then he saw a picture on TV," she said, referring to photographs of the 27 children killed in the chemical attack. Such anger though did not extend to Breitbart, the news website formerly run by and still closely allied with Steve Bannon, Trump's anti-globalist White House strategist. Breitbart took a neutral stance in coverage of the attack. John Binder, a Breitbart writer, argued via Twitter that Bannon was against the strikes. "He's the voice of #Americafirst voters in the administration," Binder said, without offering evidence. Sebastien Gorka, a deputy assistant to the president, tried Friday to rally the critics back to the fold. "It is essential for... those who voted for this administration to understand that the president in his fundamental outlook has not changed," he said on the radio broadcast of conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham.
By PTI

UNITED NATIONS: The US and Russia clashed in the UN Security Council over the missile attack on a Syrian airfield, with Washington warning it is "prepared to do more" as Moscow accused it of flagrantly violating international law with its "act of aggression."

The 15-nation Security Council met for an emergency meeting yesterday on the situation in Syria following the launch of 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles by US into the Shayrat Airbase as a response to the Syrian government's use of chemical weapons from the base.

US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, who is President of the Council for this month, said Washington was "fully justified" in carrying out the missile strikes and was prepared to take further action.

"Our military destroyed the airfield from which this week's chemical strike took place. We were fully justified in doing so," Haley said.

"The United States took a very measured step last night. We are prepared to do more, but we hope that will not be necessary. It is time for all civilised nations to stop the horrors that are taking place in Syria and demand a political solution," she said.

Haley said the US will no longer wait for Syrian President Bashar Al Assad to use chemical weapons without any consequences.

WATCH VIDEO:

"The moral stain of the Assad regime could no longer go unanswered. His crimes against humanity could no longer be met with empty words. It was time to say "enough", but not only say it  it was time to act. Bashar al-Assad must never use chemical weapons again. Ever," she said.

Haley also called out Russia, saying it, along with Iran, bears considerable responsibility for the crisis in Syria since "every time Assad has crossed the line of human decency, Russia has stood beside him."

Russia tore into the US, calling the missile strikes on Syrian territory a "flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression.

"We strongly condemn the illegitimate actions by the US. The consequences of this for regional and international stability could be extremely serious," Russia's deputy UN ambassador Vladimir Safronkov said.

A visibly agitated Safronkov said Washington, London and Paris have a "paranoiac idea" of overthrowing the legitimate government in sovereign Syria. In a particularly sharp attack against UK, Safronkov told Britain's UN envoy Matthew Rycroft to "stop putting unprofessional accusations" against Russia.

"These (accusations) are not diplomatic. They are lies. Once again, I warn don't even try to get into fights in the Arab world. Nothing will be achieved. That is why you are getting annoyed. All Arab countries recall your colonial hypocrisy," he said.

Safronkov called on the US to "immediately cease" its aggression and join efforts towards a political settlement in Syria.

Syria's envoy Mounzer Mounzer said the air strike by the US against his country had been a "treacherous, barbaric, flagrant act of aggression" and a grave violation of international law and the UN charter.

"The US attempted to justify its aggression with fabricated arguments that Syria had used chemical weapons in Khan Shaykhun  the same justification advanced by terrorist groups and the countries supporting them," he said.

He asserted that Syria does not have chemical weapons in the first place and would never use such weapons as it condemns the use of such weapons. He said it was well known that terrorists had stockpiled chemical agents in Syria, in cooperation with Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other States outside the region.

"This aggression will surely send an erroneous message to the terrorist groups, emboldening them to use more chemical weapons in the future," he warned.

The air strike was a grave extrapolation of the United States strategy to support so-called moderate opposition groups, he said. That country led a purported alliance against ISIL/Daesh, while its real objective was to weaken Syria and its allies, he said.

Citing the American claim that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and its consequent military invasion in the country, Mounzer said the US was once again using fabricated evidence to justify its actions and spread hegemony around the world.

Haley said Russia is supposed to be a guarantor of the removal of chemical weapons from Syria but obviously has failed in that endeavour.

"Let's think about the possible reasons for Russia's failure. It could be that Russia is knowingly allowing chemical weapons to remain in Syria. It could be that Russia has been incompetent in its efforts to remove the chemical weapons.

"Or, it could be that the Assad regime is playing the Russians for fools, telling them that there are no chemical weapons, all the while stockpiling them on their bases.

"In the wake of the US air strikes, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, "Mindful of the risk of escalation, I appeal for restraint to avoid any acts that could deepen the suffering of the Syrian people."

He urged restraint to avoid any escalation of the situation in Syria, after the United States responded militarily to an alleged chemical weapons attack earlier this week.

"These events underscore my belief that there is no other way to solve the conflict than through a political solution," he said, calling on the parties to urgently renew their commitment to making progress in the Geneva (intra-Syrian talks).

Decrying the 'abhorrent' chemical weapons attack, the UN chief stressed the need for accountability for such crimes in line with existing international norms and Security Council resolutions.

UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman said that the December 2016 Syrian ceasefire  brokered by Russia, Iran and Turkey  had faltered in the last two months amid a steady escalation of military activity.

The Security Council has the primary responsibility for international peace and security, he said, urging the 15-member body to unite and exercise that responsibility to investigate the alleged use of chemical weapons in Khan Shaykhun.

Security Council resolutions and the 2012 Geneva Communique remain the foundation of, and contain the core principles for, United Nations mediation efforts and ultimately a solution in this regard, he said.

Feltman said Iran and Russia condemned the US attack, with the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and New Zealand expressing some support for the US strikes.

A statement from the Syrian General Command of the Army and the Armed Forces called the US response a "blatant act of aggression" which had caused six deaths and huge material damage.

UNITED NATIONS: The US and Russia clashed in the UN Security Council over the missile attack on a Syrian airfield, with Washington warning it is "prepared to do more" as Moscow accused it of flagrantly violating international law with its "act of aggression." The 15-nation Security Council met for an emergency meeting yesterday on the situation in Syria following the launch of 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles by US into the Shayrat Airbase as a response to the Syrian government's use of chemical weapons from the base. US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, who is President of the Council for this month, said Washington was "fully justified" in carrying out the missile strikes and was prepared to take further action. "Our military destroyed the airfield from which this week's chemical strike took place. We were fully justified in doing so," Haley said. "The United States took a very measured step last night. We are prepared to do more, but we hope that will not be necessary. It is time for all civilised nations to stop the horrors that are taking place in Syria and demand a political solution," she said. Haley said the US will no longer wait for Syrian President Bashar Al Assad to use chemical weapons without any consequences. WATCH VIDEO: window.__ventunoplayer = window.__ventunoplayer||[]; window.__ventunoplayer.push({video_key: 'OTE3ODc2fHw4fHw2fHwxLDIsMQ==', holder_id: 'vt-video-player', player_type: 'vp', width:'100%', ratio:'4:3'}); "The moral stain of the Assad regime could no longer go unanswered. His crimes against humanity could no longer be met with empty words. It was time to say "enough", but not only say it  it was time to act. Bashar al-Assad must never use chemical weapons again. Ever," she said. Haley also called out Russia, saying it, along with Iran, bears considerable responsibility for the crisis in Syria since "every time Assad has crossed the line of human decency, Russia has stood beside him." Russia tore into the US, calling the missile strikes on Syrian territory a "flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression. "We strongly condemn the illegitimate actions by the US. The consequences of this for regional and international stability could be extremely serious," Russia's deputy UN ambassador Vladimir Safronkov said. A visibly agitated Safronkov said Washington, London and Paris have a "paranoiac idea" of overthrowing the legitimate government in sovereign Syria. In a particularly sharp attack against UK, Safronkov told Britain's UN envoy Matthew Rycroft to "stop putting unprofessional accusations" against Russia. "These (accusations) are not diplomatic. They are lies. Once again, I warn don't even try to get into fights in the Arab world. Nothing will be achieved. That is why you are getting annoyed. All Arab countries recall your colonial hypocrisy," he said. Safronkov called on the US to "immediately cease" its aggression and join efforts towards a political settlement in Syria. Syria's envoy Mounzer Mounzer said the air strike by the US against his country had been a "treacherous, barbaric, flagrant act of aggression" and a grave violation of international law and the UN charter. "The US attempted to justify its aggression with fabricated arguments that Syria had used chemical weapons in Khan Shaykhun  the same justification advanced by terrorist groups and the countries supporting them," he said. He asserted that Syria does not have chemical weapons in the first place and would never use such weapons as it condemns the use of such weapons. He said it was well known that terrorists had stockpiled chemical agents in Syria, in cooperation with Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other States outside the region. "This aggression will surely send an erroneous message to the terrorist groups, emboldening them to use more chemical weapons in the future," he warned. The air strike was a grave extrapolation of the United States strategy to support so-called moderate opposition groups, he said. That country led a purported alliance against ISIL/Daesh, while its real objective was to weaken Syria and its allies, he said. Citing the American claim that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and its consequent military invasion in the country, Mounzer said the US was once again using fabricated evidence to justify its actions and spread hegemony around the world. Haley said Russia is supposed to be a guarantor of the removal of chemical weapons from Syria but obviously has failed in that endeavour. "Let's think about the possible reasons for Russia's failure. It could be that Russia is knowingly allowing chemical weapons to remain in Syria. It could be that Russia has been incompetent in its efforts to remove the chemical weapons. "Or, it could be that the Assad regime is playing the Russians for fools, telling them that there are no chemical weapons, all the while stockpiling them on their bases. "In the wake of the US air strikes, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, "Mindful of the risk of escalation, I appeal for restraint to avoid any acts that could deepen the suffering of the Syrian people." He urged restraint to avoid any escalation of the situation in Syria, after the United States responded militarily to an alleged chemical weapons attack earlier this week. "These events underscore my belief that there is no other way to solve the conflict than through a political solution," he said, calling on the parties to urgently renew their commitment to making progress in the Geneva (intra-Syrian talks). Decrying the 'abhorrent' chemical weapons attack, the UN chief stressed the need for accountability for such crimes in line with existing international norms and Security Council resolutions. UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman said that the December 2016 Syrian ceasefire  brokered by Russia, Iran and Turkey  had faltered in the last two months amid a steady escalation of military activity. The Security Council has the primary responsibility for international peace and security, he said, urging the 15-member body to unite and exercise that responsibility to investigate the alleged use of chemical weapons in Khan Shaykhun. Security Council resolutions and the 2012 Geneva Communique remain the foundation of, and contain the core principles for, United Nations mediation efforts and ultimately a solution in this regard, he said. Feltman said Iran and Russia condemned the US attack, with the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and New Zealand expressing some support for the US strikes. A statement from the Syrian General Command of the Army and the Armed Forces called the US response a "blatant act of aggression" which had caused six deaths and huge material damage.
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Pathankot braveheart's friend knocks President's door over 'unfulfilled promise'

Bengaluru (Karnataka) , Apr. 6 : It's been more than a year that Pathankot braveheart Niranjan E. Kumar died in the Indian Air Force (IAF) base attack but his friend Shashank S.K. still awaits for the promise made by Karnataka Chief Minister K. Siddaramaiah.





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Seeking recognition for his close friend, Shashank has been running from pillar to post to get a road named after Niranjan so that the future generations could remember his contribution to national security.Still keeping his hopes alive, Shashank on Thursday wrote a letter to President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala regarding the promise made by the government."One and a half year has passed when we lost our friend Lt. Col. Niranjan. He sacrificed his life for the sake of this country. I have been following this issue from the past one and half year from the mayor office to the BBMP to the Commissioner to the local revenue officer. They are least bothered about it," Shashank told ANI.He further said that he has been following the matter from the past one-and-a-half year, adding the government officials don't have good thoughts about naming the road."I feel bad and have written a letter to the President of India, the Prime Minister of India, the Governor of Karnataka and have got reply from them," he added.On the other hand, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner Manjunath Prasad said that the information has been passed but they are waiting for a formal confirmation."The resolution has been passed unanimously and we have sent that to the government for approval. The moment we will receive the consent of the government, the formal opening of the road and naming will be done," Manjunath told ANI.The deceased soldier was awarded the Shaurya Chakra for the valour he showed during the operation and his parents received the same from the President of India today.Niranjan, a bomb disposal expert, was killed while defusing a grenade after the terrorists attacked an Indian Air Force base in Pathankot, Punjab.He is survived by his father, his wife Dr KG Radhika, a dentist, and a two-year-old daughter. The Army officer was promoted to Lt. Colonel in the elite NSG a few months before he died.
Post apology letter, MoCA mulling to lift travel ban on Gaikwad

New Delhi , Apr. 6 : Hours after Ravindra Gaikwad wrote an apology letter to Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju requesting to lift the travel ban imposed on him, the ministry on Thursday said the letter of the Shiv Sena MP is being examined.





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According to sources, a meeting took place between Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha and Air India Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) at Airlines Housex where the process to lift the travel ban on Gaikwad, imposed by all airlines post his altercation with an Air India employee was discussed.Expressing his regret for thrashing an Air India employee last month, Gaikwad said it could have been no one's intention to have let the situation aggravate to the level that it eventually did."While the ongoing investigation will bring out the factual sequence of events to fix, this incident may kindly not be seen as a reason for likely recurrence of such an event in future also," he added while requesting that this restriction be lifted.This came hours after Air India, according to sources, decided to lift the travel ban on the Shiv Sena leader if he tenders an apology.Earlier today, the Shiv Sena threatened to boycott the NDA meeting if the ruling dispensation failed to resolve the matter by April 10.During the Zero Hour, there were unruly scenes with the Shiv Sena members protesting against the ban and even thumping the desk of the Civil Aviation Minister in anger.Gaikwad tendered an apology to the Parliament but insisted that he owed no apology to the airline official as he sought removal of the ban imposed on him by domestic airlines.
Mopin festival marked with traditional gaiety, religious fervour in Arunachal

Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh) , Apr. 7 : Mopin festival was celebrated across Arunachal Pradesh with traditional gaiety and religious fervour on Thursday.





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This festival is most popular among the Galo community. Dressed in their traditional attires, Galo men and women, young and old alike came out in large numbers to celebrate their annual harvest festival.Assam Agriculture Minister Atul Bora, who was the chief guest, greeted the people of Arunachal in general and the Galos in particular and said that the festivals fostered love, harmony, brotherhood and peace.Bora stated the age-old relations between the two neighbouring States - Assam and Arunachal Pradesh - and opined that all the people of North East should unite to build a strong, vibrant and self-reliant NE.He said that all the differences, if any, should be hammered out though meaningful dialogues.Bora later participated in the Popir dance and witnessed the traditional ritual including Mithun sacrifice and cultural competitions.The guest of honour Tado Ete, a senior citizen from the community, passionately appealed the Galos, especially the youth to spare no effort to jealously safeguard the rich traditional culture and heritage of the Galos.
Donald Trump, Xi Jinping arrive in Florida for summit meet

Palm Beach, [Florida] Apr. 7 : U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have arrived in Florida for their first series of face-to-face meetings, where talks on complex issues will take place.





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The trade relationship between the two countries and the rising threat of North Korea's nuclear program will be at the top of the agenda.Hours before meeting each other, Trump predicted aboard Air Force One that 'China will be stepping up' to help the US put a stop to North Korea's nuclear program.Trump also pressed forward with his rhetoric that the US has been "treated unfairly" on the trade front.The U.S. Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, was the first in the Trump's administration to greet Xi on his arrival.Trump landed about an hour later and is set to greet Xi at Mar-a-Lago.According to the reports, both the leaders will spend some private time together before sitting down for dinner in the estate's formal dining room.Trump and Xi are also scheduled to sit down together again on Thursday for a working lunch, while first lady Melania Trump and Madame Peng Liyuan visit a local school together.
Trump calls on all 'civilised nations' to stop slaughter, bloodshed in Syria

New York [U.S.A.], Apr. 7 : United States President Donald Trump, who, for years, signalled comfort with leaving Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in power, switched course after seeing images of children gassed to death in rebel-held Idlib province after the latter unleashed a deadly chemical weapon attack on the citizens.





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Hours after launching a military strike on the Syrian government target in response to the gas attack, Trump called on all 'civilised nations' to stop the slaughter and bloodshed in Syria. He also asserted that Assad "choked out the lives of innocent men, women and children.""On Tuesday, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad launched a horrible chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians using a deadly nerve agent.Assad choked out the lives of innocent men, women and children. It was a slow and brutal death for so many. Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack. No child of god should ever suffer such horror," he said."Tonight I ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in Syria from where the chemical attack was launched. It is in this vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons. There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons, violated its obligations under the chemical weapons convention, and ignored the urging of the UN security council.""Years of previous attempts at changing Assad's behaviour have all failed and failed very dramatically. As a result the refugee crisis continues to deepen and the region continues to destabilise, threatening the United States and its allies. Tonight I call on all civilised nations to join us in seeking to end the slaughter and bloodshed in Syria, and also to end terrorism of all kinds and all types," he added.Earlier, on Trump's orders, U.S. warships launched between 50-60 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Syria Government airbase where the warplanes that carried out the chemical attacks were based, U.S. officials said.The strikes are the first direct military action the U.S. has taken against the leadership of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country's six-year civil war and represent a substantial escalation of the US' military campaign in the region, which could be interpreted by the Syrian government as an act of war.Earlier, Trump said the chemical attack on Syria's Idlib province affected his deeply and tranformed his thinking about the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.Dozens of people, including at least ten children, were killed and over 200 injured as a result of asphyxiation caused by exposure to an unknown gas on Tuesday.According to Anas al-Diab, an activist with the Aleppo Media Center, airstrikes hit the city of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province giving off a poisonous gas that led to this asphyxiation.Three more strikes hit the same city center location but did not result in any gas, al-Diab added.The death toll is said to be at least 67, according to al-Diab, while the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has reported it to be 58.The High Negotiations Committee claimed the death toll could be as high as 100 with up to 400 injured.
BSA launches Software.org for policy makers

New Delhi , Apr. 7 : BSA | The Software Alliance on Thursday launched Software.org: the BSA Foundation to help policymakers and the public better understand software's impact on our lives, economy, and society.





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The foundation is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) international research organization that strives to inform policies that stay ahead of cutting-edge technologies, empower the workforce of the future by supporting STEM education efforts, and help policymakers, stakeholders, and the industry prepare for the future."Software is everywhere, and it's indispensable to a thriving economy and essential to our modern lives. It's also so seamlessly woven through our lives that it can be easy to take for granted. The foundation aims to bridge that gap - to connect the dots between software and society so that we can continue to grow the economy and positively impact people's lives," said Chris Hopfensperger, Executive Director, Software.org: the BSA Foundation.Software.org plans to release several reports in 2017 focussed on the intersection of software and policy. The first report will highlight the benefits software brings to critical infrastructure. Primers on the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence will explain these new and complex technologies in plain language to help policymakers and other stakeholders in their discussions.The foundation also will publish the updated Economic Impact of Software in the United States study to underscore the sector's important role in the US economy.Software.org partnered with Girls Who Code, a national nonprofit dedicated to closing the gender gap in technology, to sponsor the 2017 Summer Immersion Program in Washington, DC. The program includes seven weeks of intensive instruction in computing skills, ranging from mobile app development to web design to robotics, as well as interactive experiences with leaders in technology and government. BSA sponsored the summer program for 2015 and 2016.
Ravindra Gaikwad issue: All's well that ends well, says Shiv Sena

New Delhi , Apr. 07 : Appreciating the Air India's move to lift the ban on Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, the party on Friday said all is well that ends well, adding nothing can be acquired without struggle.





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"As I have said the incident has ended well which means everything is fine now. Everything involves struggle, nothing can be achieved easily," Shiv Sena leader Arvind Sawant told ANI.He further said the party had protested as per the law eventually and got the desired results."We did not threaten anybody, it is all rumours. We talked politely, but when it did not work out we had to put efforts," he said.Air India had earlier in the day announced that it has cancelled Gaikwad's Delhi-Mumbai round tickets for April 17 and 24.Air India's move comes a day after protests in Parliament by the Shiv Sena MPs, who threatened to disrupt the airline's operations in Mumbai unless the ban on Gaikwad was revoked.Gaikwad today said that neither did he book a ticket for April 17 nor for April 24 for any airline as being aired by the media."It is learnt through media that I have booked the tickets for Air India to travel from Delhi to Mumbai for 17 and 24 April and my defaming is continued. On this connection, I would like to make it clear that I have neither booked a ticket for 17 nor 24th April, 2017 for any airline as being aired by media as the session will be sin-e-die on 13th April 2017," Gaikwad said in a statement.
App for black, yellow taxis to be out in three months: Devendra Fadnavis

New Delhi , Apr. 7 : Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday announced the launching of a cab hailing app within the next three months for black and yellow taxis on the lines of taxi aggregators like Ola and Uber.





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"The government is in the process of developing an electronic platform for black and yellow taxis similar to that of cab aggregators. It will provide services similar to those given by cab aggregators," said Fadnavis in a session of the Council.The app, which will be launched in the next three months across Maharashtra, will enable the black-and-yellow taxis in the city to charge their own rates.The proposed fare card has been submitted to the state-appointed BC Khatua-led Taxi Trade Enquiry Committee, which will decide the formulation for calculating the rates for taxis, auto-rickshaws and app-based Uber and Ola.
Dattatreya advises Mamata to facilitate labour law reform in West Bengal

New Delhi , Apr. 7: In a letter addressed to Mamata Banerjee, Minister of State for Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya has suggested the Trinamool Congress (TMC)-led state government to undertake an exercise to eliminate overlapping and redundant policies with regards to labour laws implemented in West Bengal.





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With reference to the Government of India's recent initiatives to reduce the complexity of compliance and bring transparency and accountability in enforcing the labour laws, Dattatreya advised Mamata to make necessary amendments that will ease compliance of labour laws in the state for establishments that fall under the precinct of the state government."While reviewing the requirement of forms and reports/returns provided under various labour laws, it was observed that 36 forms prescribed under three Acts and the Rules made there under had several overlapping/redundant fields. Therefore, an exercise was undertaken in my Ministry to do away with overlapping fields and reduce the number of forms to promote ease of compliance and also to save efforts and cost. The same can also be maintained in digital form," the letter read.The Minister further emphasised on the importance of making forms and reports as simple and small as possible, since it reduces compliance costs and efforts. The letter further directed attention towards a report titled 'Rationalisation of Forms and Reports under Certain Labour Laws Rules, 2017' which was updated on March 28 on the Ministry of Labour and Employment website."Reforms can take place only when both Central and State Governments take steps in rationalising and simplifying procedures as well as forms to be maintained under the Labour Laws. I would request you to undertake a similar exercise in your state and make appropriate amendments in the state rules," the letter read.
Dola Sen's argument with AI staff shouldn't be compared with Gaikwad's episode: Amar Singh

New Delhi , Apr. 7 : Expelled Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh on Friday said the ongoing controversy surrounding Trinamool Congress MP Dola Sen for delaying an Air India flight should not be compared with the episode involving Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad as it was an emotional issue this time.





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"Dola Sen is our companion in the Parliament. Do not compare Dola Sen's case with Shiv Sena MP Gaikwad's. There is a difference between both the incidents," Singh told ANI.He further said that Gaikwad's case was a violent situation whereas Sen's incident involves emotions."In case of an emergency landing, it is instructed that a disabled person won't be allowed to sit near the emergency exit for any inconvenience. Dola Sen might have been unaware about this rule. This is not a crime, but an offence what she did in the plane," Singh said.Earlier in the day, the Air India issued a clarification stating that Sen did not ask for a wheel chair for her mother while booking seats for the Kolkata bound flight.The national air carrier further said that the parliamentarian had booked two seats, adding a passenger with wheel chair cannot be seated near the emergency exit as per the Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) rule."There was no remark of wheel chair during booking, but when all the passengers boarded the flight one passenger was in wheel chair. Cabin crew requested that a wheel chair passenger can't travel in emergency exit as per CAR rule. However, MP Dola Sen started screaming," it said.The Air India officials said that Sen was offered a business class ticket, but the parliamentarian refused."Passengers- on board and captain of flight intervened and finally the flight departed after 39 minutes of the scheduled time," it said.
'Toy Story's tribute to Don Rickles, the voice of Mr Potato Head

New Delhi , Apr. 8 : Legendary comedian Don Rickles, who recently passed away at the age of 90, was best known for bringing the sarcastic humour of Mr Potato Head to life in 'Toy Story' films.





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The stars involved with the Disney/Pixar film franchise are sharing their grief on the social media.Tom Hanks, who voices Woody, was among the first to express his condolences. Taking it to his Twitter page, the 60-year-old actor said, "A God died today. Don Rickles, we did not want to ever lose you. Never."Whoopi Goldberg, who voices Stretch, tweeted, "One of the all time great men & comics Don Rickles passed, always a class act & funny as hell. RIP condolences to his family & to America."Jodi Benson, who voices Barbie, shared a photo of her "amazing" friend with the caption, "Celebrating the life of the amazing Don Rickles today. It was a blessing to work with him. Lifting his family up with prayers and love.""Don Rickles was a comic genius, and here at Pixar we were honored to also call him a friend. The wit, personality and incredible timing he brought to Mr. Potato Head lit up the character and made him an essential part of the Toy Story ensemble," John Lasseter, Pixar's chief creative officer, said in a statement released via Twitter.It further read, "Even though Mr. Potato Head's facial features fell off in every Toy Story movie, his heart never left him-that was because of Don."Lasseter added, "We will miss him tremendously."Rickles was expected to reprise his role as Mr. Potato Head in 'Toy Story 4,' slated for release on June 21, 2019.
Kanye West has a jewellery line now

Washington D. C. [USA], Apr. 8 : Kanye West took the hip-hop world by storm after bursting onto the scene with his 2004 debut, but soon revealed a second love: fashion and now, adding another feather to his hat, the rapper dropped his first jewellery line today.





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Working in collaboration with Jacob Arabo of Jacob & Co., the 'Gold Digger' hit-maker created a 12-piece gilded collection that is inspired by 14th-century Florentine art.The 39-year-old Yeezy designer told Vogue, "I wanted to create something that represented timeless love."Over the last year, his wife, Kim Kardashian West, plucked the pieces off the Yeezy Season 4 runway and styled them every which way. Three necklaces from the collection made an appearance at last summer's MTV Video Music Awards, while four necklaces were worn during Paris Fashion Week in October.A rep for Jacob Jewellers told E! Online that the 36-year-old reality star had duplicates of every piece, which she had made following their debut at the Yeezy Season 4 fashion show last year."This design by Kanye and Jacob debuted on Kim's social media and during the Yeezy Season 4 fashion show last year," the rep revealed.
Adityanath's doings reflect his semblance: Congress

New Delhi/Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) , Apr. 8 : Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of taking a path different from that of the development in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress Party on Saturday said that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's doings have proven what his semblance reflects.





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"As the BJP claimed that they would take Uttar Pradesh on the path of development, we thought of giving them some time and observe their activities. But they changed their course too early. What else can you expect from Yogi Adityanath? His semblance had already proved what he wants, and now his doings have also proven the same," Babbar told ANI.Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party (SP) seemed to have a different opinion about the decision, saying that they do not link Yoga with religion, adding that they support anything which is in children's interest."Yoga is something all of us do. How does the government make it compulsory is a question. Do they have the infrastructure, teachers. Will it be done properly. Children are very sensitive. It has to be worked out very properly so that they (children) are not subjected to high-pressure environment. For us, whether it is Yoga, self-defence etc. has no religion. Samajwadi Party looks at anything which is good for children with a positive aspect," SP leader Juhi Singh told ANI.However, Singh said their party never believed in the 'compulsory' aspect."We also worked but we never believed in compulsory position, but I think that's what they (BJP) believe in," she said.Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led government yesterday issued an order to make yoga a part of education in government schools of the state.Earlier on Tuesday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed the state education officials to ensure that a Yoga Education Programme is compulsory in all the government schools.Class five to 12 will learn yoga as part of physical education in their schoolsThe state government has also decided to provide self-defence training for the girl students in the state-run schools.
A 'proud' Trump lauds grandchildren's performance for Chinese president

New Delhi , Apr. 8 : Proud of his grandchildren for their performance in honour of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Madame Peng Liyuan's official visit to the United States, President Donald Trump, unable to contain his excitement, shared the same on Twitter.





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Trump retweeted his daughter Ivanka Trumps' tweet wherein she had posted a video of her children, Arabella and Joseph, performing in front of Xi Jinping.In the video, Arabella can be seen reciting Chinese poetry, with Ivanka, Trump and Xi admiring the little girl's talent.Ivanks wrote, "Very proud of Arabella and Joseph for their performance in honor of President Xi Jinping and Madame Peng Liyuan's official visit to the US!"President Xi Jinping is on a two-day visit to the U.S.A. on 6-7 April for his first meeting Trump.Both the leaders are in Florida for their first series of face-to-face meetings, where talks on complex issues will take place.The trade relationship between the two countries and the rising threat of North Korea's nuclear program will be at the top of the agenda.Hours before meeting each other, Trump predicted aboard Air Force One that 'China will be stepping up' to help the US put a stop to North Korea's nuclear program.Trump also pressed forward with his rhetoric that the US has been "treated unfairly" on the trade front.The U.S. Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, was the first in the Trump's administration to greet Xi on his arrival.Trump landed about an hour later and greeted Xi at Mar-a-Lago.According to the reports, both the leaders will spend some private time together before sitting down for dinner in the estate's formal dining room.
PMO to review affordable housing programme

New Delhi , Apr. 8 : The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has called a meeting in New Delhi on Saturday to review the government's affordable housing programme.





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The government has set a target to achieve 'Housing for All' by 2022.To give a boost to the real estate sector, the government has accorded infrastructure status to the affordable housing segment in this year's budget.In December last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced interest subsidy of up to four percent on loans taken in the new year under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana.Prime Minister Modi had also said 33 percent more homes will be built for the poor under this scheme in rural areas.
Bangladesh PM Hasina receives ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhawan

New Delhi , Apr. 8 : Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday received ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.





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Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he will hold talks with his Bangladeshi counterpart during which they will discuss ways to further deepen ties between India and Bangladesh.Bangladesh Prime Minister Hasina along with her Indian counterpart will also attend 'Sommanona Ceremony' in the evening to honour the Indian martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the liberation of Bangladesh.Prime Minister Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart will hold talks later in the day.The two leaders will discuss the entire gamut of bilateral relations.More than 20 pacts are set to be inked after the delegation-level talks.Two agreements are expected to be signed in the area of defence. India will also extend Line of Credit of 500 million dollars to Bangladesh for defence purchases.Besides, India will enter into an inter-governmental agreement with the neighbouring country on civil nuclear energy.Train services, involving West Bengal and Bangladesh and bus service connecting Kolkata and Dhaka will also be launched during the visit.She will visit Rajghat, the Samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi to lay wreath.The Bangladesh Prime Minister arrived in the national capital yesterday on a four-day visit to India.In a special gesture, Prime Minister Modi drove to the Delhi airport to receive her.Later, in a tweet, Prime Minister Modi said he and his Bangladeshi counterpart are determined to take the relationship between the two nations to a new level.
Key aide of PPP leader Zardari missing

Islamabad [Pakistan], Apr.8 : A key aide of former Pakistan president and co-chairman of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Asif Ali Zardari has reportedly gone missing.





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According to the Dawn, Ghulam Qadir Marri, a close associate of Zardari, is missing along with his driver and two other people.Marri's brother, Ismail Marri, confirmed late on Friday that the vehicle of his brother was found abandoned near the Jamshoro thermal power house in the evening. He said that Ghulam was returning from Naudero.The three other people who have gone missing with Marri have been identified as Khan Mohammad Mangi, said to be his secretary, Sajjad Arain and driver Mehboob Khaskheli.Marri owns rich agricultural land in Tando Allahyar and lives in Darya Khan village.According to family sources, he is suffering from multiple ailments. He looks after agriculture lands and related matters of top PPP leaders.
FIA members restores flying privileges to Gaikwad

New Delhi , Apr. 8 : The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) members on Saturday said it has restored the flying privileges to Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad after they were satisfied with the latter's statement.





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"The FIA member airlines are also restoring the flying privileges to Mr Gaikwad under the assurance that our assets and colleagues shall be accorded the respect that they deserve for the hard work that they put in every day," Ujwal Dey, Associate Director of FIA said in a statement.This comes after National Carrier Air India yesterday lifted ban on Gaikwad after a request from Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju.The development comes a day after the Shiv Sena MP tendered an apology to the Civil Aviation Minister, expressing regret over the incident.Air India earlier on Thursday announced that it had cancelled Gaikwad's Delhi-Mumbai round tickets for April 17 and 24.The Shiv Sena MP had allegedly thrashed an Air India staffer with his slipper over a sitting arrangement.On March 24, a day after the incident at the Delhi airport, Air India had barred Gaikwad from flying with it.Following suit, the FIA had also imposed a ban on him. Jet Airways, SpiceJet, GoAir and IndiGo are part of the grouping.When FIA had imposed a flying ban on Gaikwad, two non- member carriers -- Vistara and Air Asia -- had said they were with the industry on the issue.
Its gifts raining on Indian leaders from Bangladesh PM

New Delhi , Apr. 8 : Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is on a four-day-long state visit to India, has brought with her gifts for the Indian leadership, including the President and the Prime Minister.





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Prime Minister Hasina has brought a Panjabi pair of silk pyjamas, artworks, a dinner set, a leather bag set, four kilogram of kalojam and rosgolla, two kilogram sandesh, 20 kilogram of hilsa and two kilograms of yogurt for Indian President Pranab Mukherjee.Bangladesh Foreign Ministry sources were quoted by the Daily Star as saying that there was also a silk sari as gift for the Indian President's daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee.She would also be presenting a dinner set, a leather bag, two kilograms of rosgolla and kalojam and one kilogram of sandesh to Indian Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari.Prime Minister Hasina will give her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, a leather office bag set, four kilograms of kalojam and rosgolla, two kilograms of sandesh and four kilograms of yogurt.She has also bought a Rajshahi silk sari for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mother.Prime Minister Hasina will gift a a Rajshahi silk sari, a tea set, two kilograms of rosgolla and kalojam, one kilogram of sandesh and two kilograms of yogurt to Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.She would give West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee a Benarasi sari, two kilograms of rosgolla and kalojam, one kilogram of sandesh and two kilograms of yogurt.Prime Minister Hasina will be presenting a silver boat each for Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, State Minister for External Affairs Vijay Kumar Singh and State Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Babul Supriyo.Prime Minister Hasina arrived in New Delhi on Friday to kickstart her four-day state visit to the country.Prime Minister Narendra Modi received his Bangladeshi counterpart at the Technical area of Palam Airport."Delighted to welcome H.E. Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, on her State Visit to India. PM Sheikh Hasina and I are determined to take the relationship between our nations to a new level," Prime Minister tweeted.Officials from Prime Minister Hasina's entourage took selfies with Prime Minister Modi.The two leaders are expected to hold official talks on a range of issues including an inter-governmental agreement on civil nuclear energy.According to the Dhaka Tribune, India and Bangladesh may sign around 33 deals and Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) on trade and commerce, economy and connectivity, and on defence related issues.
China ready to welcome UK and other nations in construction of CPEC

Hong Kong [China], Apr.8 : China is likely to welcome business enterprises from the United Kingdom and other developed nations to participate in the construction of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project under the flagship One Belt, One Road (OBOR)initiative.





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In March, New Zealand signed a cooperation agreement with China on the OBOR initiative, a first for a western developed country. An OBOR initiative summit, to be held in Beijing in May, will also provide an opportunity to enhance cooperation between China and developed countries, reports the Express Tribune.Some developed countries, as the traditional foreign trade partners of many emerging economies along the OBOR initiative, have a clear intent to increase trade with those countries, Pakistan included.Pakistan's Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Ahsan Iqbal has stated that his country would welcome Britain's desire to join the multi-billion dollar CPEC project.He added that several other countries in the European Union (EU) and the Central Asian Republic are also showing a keen interest in the mega project, such as Malaysia.
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India emerging as favored destination for Bangladeshi investment

New Delhi , Apr. 8 : Effective and fast-track implementation of decisions taken by the governments of India and Bangladesh has resulted in enhancement of trade and investment between the two nations, said Former Ambassador of India to Bangladesh, Veena Sikri.





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Adressing a seminar organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) here on Saturday, Sikri, in context to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Neighbourhood First' policy, said India and Bangladesh share a long border and the areas surrounding the borders should be developed as zones of prosperity."The issue of connectivity is vital and businesses on the two sides should take advantage of the increased connectivity. Besides, financial connectivity and knowledge connectivity needs to be strengthened. IT must be leveraged to create new ties and enhance the existing systems," said Sikri.The seminar, titled 'Doing Business with Bangladesh' was organised in lieu of the visit of Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, which was followed by B2B meetings with the high-powered Bangladeshi business delegation accompanying the Prime Minister.The delegation comprised businessmen representing various sectors such as automobiles, cement, insurance and banking, readymade garments, shipping, IT and ITes, food and beverages, jute, power, renewable energy, real estate, electronic and print media, packaging, poultry, education, health and pharma, chemicals and telecommunication.Abdul Matlub Ahmad, President, Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), who is leading the business delegation from Bangladesh, said that country was on a sound economic footing with foreign exchange reserves of USD 32 billion."The Government of Bangladesh will retain USD 25 billion and release the rest for investments overseas, with India emerging as a favored destination," he said."India and Bangladesh needed to take bilateral relations to the next level and work in tandem for creation of employment," added Subhrakant Panda, Senior Committee Member, FICCI and Managing Director, Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys Ltd.
India-Bangladesh sign financial agreement on community clinics in Bangladesh

New Delhi , Apr 8 : India and Bangladesh on Saturday inked a financing agreement under which funds will be provided by New Delhi for the construction of community clinics in Bangladesh.





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The agreement was signed by the Indian High Commissioner on behalf of the Government of India, and the Secretary, Economic Relations Division, on behalf of the Ministry of Finance (MoF), Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh.As per terms of the agreement, India will assist in facilitating the construction of 36 community clinics across Bangladesh.The concept of community clinics was introduced by Prime Minister Hasina to enable primary health care to be easily available to people all over rural Bangladesh. The system has benefited thousands of people and has become an integral part of the country's health system.At present, 13, 136 clinics have been set up as of June 2016 and the number is gradually increasing. Medical officers have been visiting the clinics periodically and providing services in all complicated cases. Clinics are provided with laptops and internet connection as well.The Bangladesh Prime Minister is on a four-day visit to India. The two countries also signed 22 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) following delegation level talks between the two sides here.
Highlights on pacts signed between India and Bangladesh

New Delhi , Apr. 8 : India and Bangladesh on Saturday signed 22 agreements ranging from Defence, Nuclear energy IT, Cyber Security to construction of community clinics in Dhaka.





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Among is the list of Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) that were signed today are.a MoU on Defence Cooperation Frameworka MoU between India's Defence Services Staff College and Dhaka's Defence Services Command and Staff College for Enhancing Cooperation in the Field of Strategic and operational studiesa MoU between Dhaka's National Defence College and India's National Defence College for enhancing cooperation in the field of national security, development and strategic studiesa MoU signed on cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer spacea Agreement in peaceful uses of nuclear energya Arrangement for the exchange of technical information and co-operation in the Regulation of Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protectiona Inter-Agency agreement on cooperation regarding Nuclear Power Plant Projects in Bangladesha MoU in the field of Information Technology and Electronicsa MoU on cooperation in the area of Cyber Securitya MoU on establishing Border Haats across India and Bangladesh bordera MoU on Bilateral Judicial Sector Cooperationa MoU on Training and Capacity Building Programme for Bangladeshi Judicial Officers in Indiaa MoU concerning cooperation on aids to navigation.a MoU on Mutual Scientific Cooperation in the field of Earth Sciences for Research and Development.a MoU and Standard of Procedures (SoPs) on passenger and cruise services on the coastal and protocol routea MoU on development of Fairway from Sirajganj to Daikhowa and Ashuganj to Zakiganj on Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Routea MoU on cooperation in the Field of Mass Media.a Agreement on Audio-visual Co-productiona MoU between India and Bangladesh for extending Defence Line of Control of USD 500 milliona Agreement for the regulation of Motor Vehicle Passenger Traffic along the Khulna-Kolkata routea MoU for Extending a 3rd Line of Credit (LoC) by India to Bangladesha Financing Agreement for the Construction of 36 Community Clinics in Bangladesh.
Longtime tattoo artist opening new shop in the heart of Middletown

Jennifer Beirola has a long history in tattooing and will soon have a place to call her own locally.
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Noelle McGee is a Danville-based reporter at The News-Gazette. Her email is nmcgee@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@n_mcgee).
Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

Sunny to partly cloudy. High 63F. Winds E at 10 to 20 mph..

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Signal molecules called chemokines often work in tandem to recruit specific sets of immune cells to sites of tissue damage. A systematic analysis of their interactions by researchers from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich pinpoints potential targets for new therapies.

Chemokines are small signal proteins that are secreted by their producer cells, and function as attractants for specific cell types, summoning them to sites in the body where they are needed. Most of these proteins act on cells of the immune system, and recruit them to sites of injury or infection. The cells reach their targets by following the rise in the concentration of the chemokine back to its cellular source in the tissues, a process known as chemotaxis. Hence, chemokines are involved in initiating and regulating inflammation reactions, which are triggered by acute tissue damage or metabolic imbalances. For example, chemokines are intimately involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, i.e. the localized infiltration with lipid-laden macrophages and deposition of fat-rich debris which can obstruct the flow of blood through major arteries. For these 'plaques' are themselves the product of chronic inflammation reactions. In a paper that has just appeared in the journal Science Translational Medicine, researchers led by LMU's Professor Christian Weber and Dr. Philipp von Hundelshausen now report the results of the first ever systematic survey of direct interactions between individual chemokines and characterized their biological effects.

Different chemokines are capable of binding to each other to form so-called heterodimers, i.e. functional units consisting of two distinct subunits, and such interactions may either potentiate or attenuate their function. This makes heterodimers interesting as drug targets for novel therapies for the treatment of acute and chronic inflammation. "Up to now, however, only one heterodimer had been sufficiently well characterized to allow it to be targeted by synthetic peptides in the context of a therapeutic intervention. In that case, the heterodimer exacerbates the recruitment of monocytes that stimulate atherosclerosis to sites of inflammation in the blood vessel wall," Weber explains.

Weber and his collaborators have now, for the first time, systematically screened all pairwise combinations of the 50 or so known chemokines for their ability to form heterodimers, and identified those interactions that are functionally relevant and potentially targetable for therapeutic purposes. Using an array of analytical methods to probe structure-function relationships and a set of transgenic mouse strains as experimental models, the researchers found that chemokines that are secreted in the course of inflammatory reactions are particularly prone to heterodimerize with each other. Furthermore, the team was able to show that these binding interactions can be classified into two structural types, which are referred to as CC and CXC dimers. "Our results also demonstrate that these two subtypes differ functionally: Heterodimers of the CC class have a more potent chemoattractant effect, and in mouse models they promote acute inflammation of the lung and atherosclerosis. Dimers of the CXC type, on the other hand, repress chemotaxis. So the formation of chemokine heterodimers enables the organism to fine-tune the overall level of chemokine activity," von Hundelshausen says.

"In the course of our study, we were able to demonstrate that specially designed synthetic peptides selectively inhibit the ability of CC heterodimers to promote the development of atherosclerosis and acute inflammation of the lung, or mimic the capacity of CXC heterodimers to inhibit platelet aggregation, thus limiting the risk of thrombosis", Weber says. Appropriately designed peptides could therefore serve as the basis for the creation of new anti-inflammatory and anti-platelet compounds without side effects.
Liza Grandia, associate professor of Native American studies at the University of California, Davis, has received a $270,000 Mellon Foundation New Directions Fellowship. The fellowship will allow her to study toxicology and environmental epidemiology to become "a more productive interlocutor" between indigenous communities and the environmental health sciences.

Her proposal, titled "Toxic Trespass," proposes ways to build cross-disciplinary bridges to provide data to indigenous people affected by human-made environmental hazards. The work builds on her collaborations with the Q'eqchi' Maya people of Guatemala and Belize on agro-environmental issues over the last two decades.

"We have brilliant environmental health scientists at UC Davis, but they may not have cross-cultural training and perspectives, and scholars who work with indigenous populations that face all kinds of environmental threats," said Grandia, a cultural anthropologist.

"At UC Davis, there is an aspiration to bring the humanities and social sciences together with the hard sciences, and I hope to do that," she said. "I don't think I would have conceived of this if I weren't at UC Davis."

During her five years at UC Davis, students in her "Introduction to Native American Studies" and especially "Native Foods and Farming of the Americas" classes gave Grandia inspiration to begin building these cross-disciplinary linkages.

"It is often students who make the introductions that lead to collaboration," Grandia said.

"The Q'eqchi' confront many environmental conflicts from pesticide exposure and extractive industries through nickel mines, sugar cane and palm plantations, and oil pipelines," she said. "They need hard data about the environmental hazards in their territories."

Those who protest environmental degradation have often suffered retaliation. In the area of Guatemala where Grandia worked, a schoolteacher was shot and killed after denouncing a palm oil plantation that had dumped pesticides into a river.

"Land rights and environmental organizers are under constant death threats, but they rarely abandon their work." she said. "They inspire me to overcome my own fears and move forward with my research."

Grandia's own battle with lymphoma nine years ago, which she believes may have been triggered by her exposure to pesticides during years of fieldwork in Central America, led indirectly to her Mellon-supported project. At the time of her diagnosis, she and Q'eqchi' leaders were working on ways to use the United Nations principle of the right to "free prior informed consent" to halt development of their territories.

"Under the chemotherapy drip came an idea that I have been kindling ever since: the potential use of FPIC to challenge the nonconsensual presence of synthetic chemicals in the bloodstreams of indigenous peoples -- and virtually everyone else on the planet," Grandia said.

"I spent seven years in rural Mesoamerica, but after cancer, I couldn't continue that kind of fieldwork," she said. "Now that I'm in remission, the Mellon Fellowship comes at the right moment for reinventing my research at a different scale."

As part of the 18-month project, she will take classes and travel to conferences to enhance her ongoing research with Q'eqchi' communities.

"This training will also jumpstart my next major ethnographic project on cultural perceptions of the risks associated with toxic chemicals in everyday life," she said. "It is my idea that until privileged people become more concerned about the trespass of synthetic chemicals into their bodies, little will be done to address the greater environmental injustices faced by indigenous and other marginalized peoples."
Tawang (Arunachal Pradesh): Tibetan spiritual leader,the Dalai Lama, on Saturday accused China of spreading wrong information about his trip to Arunachal Pradesh, saying it is normal for Beijing to give "political colour" to his spiritual visits.



The ongoing visit by the 81-year-old Nobel Laureate to the frontier state has triggered strident protests by China.



The Dalai Lama also criticised China for making a bid to name his successor.



"The Chinese people were being fed wrong information(by China) about me," he told reporters, adding that they realised this when they met him in other countries.



"The Chinese people have every right to know the reality, but totalitarianism had done a great damage," he observed after addressing devotees at the monastery, considered one of the holiest sites in Tibetan Buddhism.



On whether his visit to Tawang, a place Beijing claims to be its own, will affect India-China ties, he said:

"We will have to wait and see. But it is normal for China to give political colour to my spiritual visits."

"I wish Chinese officials accompanied me during my visits to find out if I am doing or saying anything against them," he added.



China had years ago confined the Dalai Lama-nominated Panchen Lama and projected its own Panchen Lama, a monk immediately below the rank of the Dalai Lama.



"Beijings bid to name my successor to undermine the Tibetans' cause is 'nonsense', he said.



"As early as 1969, I had said the Tibetan people will decide if this very institution of Dalai Lama should continue or not. If this institution is no longer relevant, it should stop," said the Dalai Lama, who had fled Tibet back in 1959 to take refuge in Tawang.



"Nobody knows who or where the next Dalai Lama will be born or come from. Some indication (about his

reincarnation) might come at the time of my death, but now there is no such indication," he said.



He, however, did not rule out the possibility of the next Dalai Lama being a woman.



"In the past, Chinese emperors did have involvement in the reincarnation of some Lamas but they were disciples of certain Tibetan lamas," he pointed out. While forgiving China for its atrocities committed against the Tibetans, the Dalai Lama wondered why despite his adopting a middle-path the Chinese government continued to call him a separatist.



"This shows a negative attitude. Tibet has very good relationship with China for thousands of years. I have no issues with 'One China' policy ensuring economic benefit to Tibet, provided we have the right to preserve our own culture and language," he said.



Praising Taiwan for preserving Chinese culture, the Dalai Lama observed that China needed another cultural revolution based on compassion and "not on hatred and anger" which was the case with the one led by Mao Zedong.



On the BJP-led NDA governments China policy, the Tibetan leader said: "It is more or less the same as that of the Congress from the days of Narasimha Rao but I admire (Narendra) Modi, he is active and seeks development."




#WATCH Romance in almost every film starts with eve teasing, be it Hindi or in regional films, says Union Minister Maneka Gandhi (7.4.17) pic.twitter.com/FLO39NUB4Q  ANI (@ANI_news) April 8, 2017

Boy chases girl. Girl says no. Boy keeps chasing girl. She eventually says yes. This sequence of events is called romance in some Indian movies. Elsewhere, it is sexual harassment and stalking.And the latest to hit out at the trend is Union minister Maneka Gandhi. Speaking at a 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' programme in Goa, Gandhi said, Romance in almost every film stars with eve-teasing, be it Hindi or regional film.The actor would be mean to the girl, would trip her around, would eve-tease her and finally she falls for him. Feature films for the past 50 years have been a strong medium of communication and this is how we present women through it, she said at the event.Speaking at the event, Maneka added that the campaign to save girl child has failed in Jammu and Kashmir as "bringing daughters into the world" is the last thing on the minds of people living in conflict-prone areas.It also came a cropper in Bihar due to local administrative issues, she said at an advertising festival event here.
"US Citizenship and Immigration Services has reached the Congressionally mandated 65,000 visa H-1B cap for fiscal year 2018," an official announcement said.

A federal US agency responsible for processing of H-1B application for foreign IT professionals early on Saturday said it has reached the Congressionally mandated 65,000 visa cap for the 2018 fiscal year.US Citizenship and Immigration Services has also received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to meet the 20,000 visa US advanced degree exemption, also known as the master's cap, the statement said.However, unlike previous years, it did not say how it is going to determine the successful applications, which in the past had been through a computerised draw of lots.The USCIS has indicated that the US government is going to be tough and stringent in approval of H-1B visas this year.Asserting that its multiple measures this week will further "deter and detect H-1B visa fraud and abuse", the USCIS said the H-1B visa programme should help US companies recruit highly-skilled foreign nationals when there is a shortage of qualified workers in the country."Yet, too many American workers who are as qualified, willing and deserving to work in these fields have been ignored or unfairly disadvantaged. Protecting American workers by combating fraud in our employment-based immigration programs is a priority for the USCIS," a statement had said.The H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows American firms to employ foreign workers in occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year.During his election campaign, President Donald Trump had promised to increase oversight of our H-1B and L-1 visa programmes.Indian IT giants like TCS, Infosys and Wipro are among the major beneficiaries of H-1B visas.
Chennai: Income Tax officials who conducted searches on the premises of Tamil Nadu Health Minister C Vijayabaskar had a tough time with a sleuth even having to face verbal abuse from two senior ministers and another AIADMK leader.



According to a senior tax official, state ministers Kamaraj and Udumalai Radhakrishnan and party leader Talavai Sundaram barged into the residence of Vijayabaskar when searches were on.



Sundaram is the special representative of the state government in Delhi. Allegedly, they verbally abused an official who was leading the team of search officials. Hence, the team was further strengthened by deploying more officials at the search site, the official said.



Also, a minor scuffle broke out between security personnel and an associate of a ruling party leader who was running in the outer precincts of the minister's house with some papers in his hand.



The official said CRPF personnel who gave proximate security should have acted swiftly. We are taking up this issue with CRPF higher authorities. No one should have been allowed to enter when searches were on," the official told PTI.



Meanwhile, a ruling party follower has reportedly claimed that he was injured when a CRPF constable pushed him at the residence of the minister and he has got himself admitted to a hospital.
I have received a report on the shootout incident resulting in the tragic death of Indian national Vikram Jaryal in Washington State USA./1  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) April 8, 2017

My heartfelt condolences on your brother's tragic death. I am asking @IndianEmbassyUS to provide all help and assistance. https://t.co/e30cHGYEJE  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) April 7, 2017

We are coordinating with the investigative agencies. They have got the CCTV footage and are in the process of apprehending the culprits. /4  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) April 8, 2017

Punjab: Family of Vikram Jaryal mourns his death in his hometown Hoshiarpur. Jariyal was shot dead in USA's Washington State. pic.twitter.com/iisJoNoIlp  ANI (@ANI_news) April 8, 2017

New Delhi: India has received a report on the shootout incident resulting in the death of its national in Washington state of the United state and is coordinating with the investigative agencies, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Saturday.The minister also said that the Indian Consulate in San Francisco was helping the family of 26-year-old Vikram Jaryal, who was shot dead allegedly by two masked robbers."The victim was only 26 years old and had reached US only 25 days back. He was working at the gas station of a family friend," she said.Jaryal, who worked as a clerk at AM-PM Gas Station in Yakima city, was behind the counter when the incident happened. His family on Friday sought Swaraj's help to bring his body back."On 6 April two miscreants entered the shop at 1.30 am. They snatched cash from victim and shot on his chest. This resulted in his death," Swaraj said."Our consulate in San Francisco is helping the family and following this up with the Police authorities," she added. Jaryal hailed from Hoshiarpur district in Punjab.With PTI inputs
Srinagar: A group of unidentified militants addressed a gathering in Pulwama district of south Kashmir on Friday evening, warning the people against supporting un-Islamic Pakistan while seeking support for the Taliban.



On the first death anniversary of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Naseer Pandit, the militants appeared near his grave and fired gunshots in air before addressing the crowd.



According to an eyewitness, the militants told people not to hoist the un-Islamic Pakistan flag calling for a jihad against Pakistan as well as India to establish Ummah, or Muslim brotherhood, transcending geographies.



India is a tyrant state today and will remain one tomorrow. It has to go from Kashmir. We will be successful only when we unite for Islam. We love Pakistan only because it was created in the name of Islam. But there is no Islam in todays Pakistan. We have to do Jihad in Pakistan, just like in India, said one of the militants. News18 was able to access the audio clip of the alleged militants speech but couldnt confirm its authenticity.



He called for Sharia law in Kashmir. We have not stood up for any organisation or Pakistan, but Islam, said the speaker.



In contrast with the traditional stand of Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba, the two major militant outfits in Kashmir, the speaker said, We have taken up guns for Islam, not any nation. We want Islamic system, the system of Quran And for that, give your blood, life and property.



Praising the Taliban for its fight against Pakistan, the militant said, Taliban wants Islamic system in Pakistan. We should love Taliban. Many locals can be heard shouting Long Live Taliban slogans in the audio clip.



Warning the crowd against hoisting Pakistani flag, the militant said, We want Shariah and Pakistani flag doesnt come (in the domain) of Shariah because the Kalimah is not inscribed on it.



He appealed Kashmiris to write Kalimah on black flags similar to those of Islamic State and Al Qaeda.



The militant said people should not forget the martyrdom of Naseer Pandit, Burhan Wani, and Aafaq and boycott the upcoming polls.



A police officer told News18 that panic gripped at Kareemabad when gunshots were heard in the area. He said some militants had appeared at the graveyard of Naseer Pandit, who was killed in an encounter last year at Shopian, along with another militant Waseem Ahmad Malla.
Mumbai: Mumbai police said on Saturday they have arrested the alleged mastermind behind a call centre scam run out of a Mumbai suburb that targeted thousands of Americans and netted more than $300 million.



Sagar Thakkar, also known as Shaggy, was arrested at the Mumbai international airport in the early hours of Saturday after he flew in from Dubai, Mukund Hatote, a police officer on the case, told Reuters.



In October, the U.S. Justice Department charged more than 60 people in India and the United States with participating in the huge scam where call centre agents impersonated Internal Revenue Service, immigration or other federal officials and demanded payments for nonexistent debts.



The department said at least 15,000 people had been targeted by the telefraud that was run out of India.



The scam was blown open in early October, when police raided a host of call centres in the Mumbai suburb of Thane and detained over 700 people allegedly involved in defrauding Americans. Other call centres involved in the scam that operated from Ahmedabad were also raided and shut down by authorities.



Thakkar was listed as a call centre operator and payment processor in the U.S. Department of Justice indictment that charged the defendants with conspiracy to commit identity theft, false personation of an officer of the United States, wire fraud and money laundering.



According to the U.S. DoJ indictment, call centre operators threatened potential victims with arrest, imprisonment, fines or deportation if they did not pay taxes or penalties.



Payments by victims were laundered by a U.S. network of co-conspirators using prepaid debit cards or wire transfers, often using stolen or fake identities, the indictment said.



U.S. and Indian authorities have been working together on the investigation. The U.S. had said it would be seeking the extradition of the alleged scamsters based in India.



Police have previously said that Thakkar led a lavish lifestyle, frequenting five-star hotels and driving around in expensive cars. They believed that Thakkar had fled overseas after the scam was uncovered.



Reuters has been unable to contact Thakkar for comment.
"We have arrested three persons on Thursday in connection with the killing of Mohammad Shalik (19), who was beaten to death after being spotted with his girlfriend belonging to another community," said Superintendent of Police Chandan Kumar Jha.

The family members were opposed to the affair and had warned the youth to stay away from the girl, he said, adding that Shalik did not heed to the warning and came to drop her off near her home on Wednesday night.

Police are trying to find out whether the girls family members instigated the mob. All the arrested persons have been sent to jail on Friday, he said.

Three persons have been arrested for allegedly beating to death a youth after he was seen with a girl from another community in Jharkhand's Gumla district recently, a senior police officer said on Friday.The arrests were made on the basis of leads provided by the girl during police interrogation, the officer said.On seeing the victim and the 15-year-old girl together, the locals allegedly tied him to a pole in front of the girl and thrashed him badly near Soso Mode under Gumla police station.When Shalik did not return home late night, the family members enquired about his whereabouts from his friends.The family members found Shalik in a serious condition and rushed him to a hospital in Gumla but he succumbed to his injuries on Thursday, Jha said.Jha said the incident was a fall-out of the affair and was not a communal incident.
New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday hit out at those refusing to sing Vande Matram saying it reflected their narrow-mindedness.



"There is a controversy in the state over singing the national song. Some people say they will not sing Vande Matram. The ceremony at Allahabad High Court began with a national song. We want to take this country into the 21st century, but the debate is about whether we should sing the national song and national anthem. We need to overcome this narrow mindedness," ANI quoted Adityanath as saying at a book release function in Lucknow.



His remarks come in the backdrop of Muslim corporators in Meerut refusing to sing the national song and Samajwadi Party corporators in Allahabad and Varanasi protesting a proposal to make singing of the national song compulsory.



Recalling the 150th anniversary functions of the Allahabad High Court, the Chief Minister said it had commenced with the rendition of 'Vande Matram'.



"It was such a good sight... it was a grand function, a historical one. The Prime Minister of the country was present at the concluding function. The Chief Justice of India and the Governor of the state were also present. The function itself started with the national song," the chief minister noted.



Many Muslim organisations across the country have over the years consistently refused to sing Vande Matram saying the words go against the tenets of their religion. The issue has flared up after the Yogi Adityanath government was sworn in.




New Delhi Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was on Saturday accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.



Prime Minister Narendra Modi received Hasina. She was then accorded the ceremonial guard of honour.



In a special gesture on Friday, Modi personally received his Bangladeshi counterpart at the airport. Hasina is on a four-day official visit to India.



This is her first bilateral visit to India in seven years. She last visited the country in January 2010.



Modi and Hasina will hold a bilateral summit on Saturday following which over 20 agreements, including a civil nuclear and two memorandum of understanding (MoUs) on defence cooperation, were expected to be signed.
New Delhi: When Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart met on Sunday, they were prepared for requests of a photo-op. There was, however, one request they weren't prepared for  that to 'step down.



The gaffe at their joint appearance at Hyderabad House in the national capital was triggered by the unfortunate choice of words by the Indian official. Instead of asking the two leaders to step away from dais, he asked them to step down. The request made everyone present, including the PM, break into a laugh.



May I request the two prime ministers to step down, the official was heard saying, prompting Modi to smile and ask, step down? This was enough for the entire room to break into a laughter.



Watch the moment here:
















New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch a digital exhibition in the national capital on Monday to mark the 100th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's Champaran Satyagraha.



The PM will also address the gathering after the launch at the National Archives.



The exhibition titled 'Bapu Ko Karyanjali' will not only focus on the Champaran movement, but with this event the government is planning to re-emphasise the importance of cleanliness, which was close to Mahatma Gandhis heart and was also a key element of the movement.



With the launch of the exhibition, the government is planning to spread awareness on its flagship Swachh Bharat Abhiyan to deliver on its Clean India promise by the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. In this context, Satyagraha will therefore be re-interpreted as Swachhagraha.



The exhibition will also showcase the milestones covered by Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. A special section has also been set up through which the history of the movement will be told digitally. Another section  'Swachhagraha - The way forward'  has also been setup at the event.



Sources in the PMO sources said Modi has repeatedly said that the dream of Clean India will be fulfilled only through public participation and mass movement, and that 'bapu ki karyanjali' will move forward this spirit.
New Delhi: A street food vendor was stabbed to death in full public view at a slum near Amar Colony allegedly by a 23-year-old man who had been arrested for stalking his daughter four years ago. The accused was out on bail.



The incident reportedly took place at around 10 pm on April 6.



The accused, identified as Bal Karan Yadav, was arrested in 2013 in a molestation case filed by the 50-year-old vendors daughter.



Speaking to CNN-News18, the girl said, I have been awaiting justice since 2013. The guy stabbed my father 24 times and nothing has been done so far.







A senior police official said Yadav was angry at the family ever since his arrest. He was granted bail in November 2014.
Jammu: Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir by resorting to firing on forward posts on Saturday, drawing retaliation from Indian Army.



Pakistani Army fired indiscriminately from small arms and automatic weapons from 1545 hours today on Indian Army posts along the LoC in Noushera belt of Rajouri district, a defence spokesman said.



Army troops deployed on forward posts retaliated and the exchange was continuing till last reports came in.



This is the fifth violation of the ceasefire this month.



On April 5, Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire along the LoC in Poonch district by shelling forward posts with mortar bombs.



On April 4, Pakistani Army fired mortar shells on Indian Army posts along the LoC in Bhimbher Gali sector of Rajouri district.



On April 3, Pakistani troops had shelled mortar bombs on forward posts in Balakote sector of Rajouri district.



In the second ceasefire violation on April 3, Pakistani troops had shelled Indian posts along the LoC in Digwar area in Poonch sector.



As per the reports, heavy mortar shelling in Digwar area has created fear pyschosis among the area dwellers. In the same area, a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO), Naib Subedar S Sanayaima Som, was killed in an improvise explosive device (IED) blast along the LoC in Poonch sector on April 1.



It may be recalled there were four violations of the ceasefire along the LoC in Poonch in March.



On March 9, army jawan Deepak Jagannath Ghadge was killed when Pakistani soldiers initiated indiscriminate and unprovoked firing along the LoC in Poonch.



In 2016 there were 228 instances of ceasefire violation along the LoC, while there were 221 instances of ceasefire violation along the International Border (IB).
New Delhi: India's doors are always open for cooperation, but for that Pakistan has to shun terrorism,

Prime Minister Narendra said on Saturday.



Hitting out at Pakistan, Modi said it breeds, inspires and encourages terrorism and this "thought" is a roadblock to peace within the region and the world.



He emphasised that "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas" is not just restricted to India, but also to the neighbouring countries and development of India is incomplete without the progress of the region.



"We have extended hand of friendship towards every country (of the region) and have invited them to be a part of our growth. Without being selfish, we have wished good for the entire region.



"We truly think that citizens of all nations of the region progress and prosper. Our doors are open for cooperation, but for this terrorism has to be shunned.



"There is one thought in South Asia which breeds, inspires and encourages terrorism. The thought whose priority is not humanity, but extremism and terrorism," Modi said, without naming Pakistan.



He was speaking at the ceremony where families of martyrs of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War were felicitated by Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.



Modi said India is a victim of the "thought" that encourages terrorism.



"The thought, whose policymakers prefer terrorism over humanity, destruction over development, destruction over creation, backstabbing over trust, is the biggest challenge to the society and its economic development," he said.



Stating that 1,661 Indian soldiers laid down their lives in the Bangladesh Liberation War, Modi said the Indian army's struggle in this cannot be forgotten.



"The Indian army never shied away from its duty and set an example by following conventions of the war. Over 90,000 Prisoners of War were released safely after the 1971 war.



The humane gesture shown by India is one of the biggest events in the century," Modi said.



The Prime Minister said the genocide by Pakistan in 1971 was undertaken to wipe out an entire generation of Bangladesh and every person who was proud of the idea of Bangladesh was eliminated.



"The purpose of this genocide was not just killing the innocents, but to uproot the idea of Bangladesh," he said.



Speaking at the event, Hasina said, the history of Bangladesh has been written with the blood of Indian martyrs along with valiant freedom fighters of Bangladesh.



"They fought together for the independence of Bangladesh.



The story of their sacrifice will be remembered from generation to generation in our two countries," she said.




New Delhi: At least four people have been arrested so far over the lynching of 55-year-old Pehlu Khan in Rajasthans Alwar and the police are looking for 10 more alleged cow vigilantes. But BJP MLA from Alwars Ramgarh, Gyandev Ahuja, claims half the people named by the police in the FIR are innocent.



They were not at the spot, Ahuja says, adding that hes talking to the local SP to get the investigation on the right track. He claims that cow vigilantes are being unnecessarily harassed by the police due to personal vendetta.



One year short of turning 70, Ahuja claims to be a proud gau rakshak (cow protector) himself and makes no bones about supporting others. Wo janwar nahi hai, gau mata hai (Cows not an animal. Its our mother), he says.



In an interview to News18, Ahuja maintains that Khan, a dairy farmer, died of shock. Excerpts:



As the local BJP leader and an MLA, how do you see the violence against Pehlu Khan and others?



I dont think they were really out to kill them. If they really wanted to kill the cow smugglers, why would they spare the other eight who were with Pehlu Khan. Think about it. Why were the others let go so easily? And what about these people? These minority community people recently killed 36 cows in our area. They have killed cows in the past as well. There is a sense of anger about this. And nobody in the media is talking about this continued assault on our faith. They should have some sense as well.



You have claimed that Pehlu Khan died due to shock. However, in a recent interview, a doctor who conducted the post-mortem claimed that he died due to physical injuries.



Pehlu Khan died because of shock. I dont know which doctor says what. Just check the post mortem report and you will understand that he had a heart problem. He was taking the cows illegally along with eight others. But that doesnt mean that I support violence. I am totally against it.



Members of various cow vigilante groups here in Alwar are claiming that the accused named by the police in the FIR werent actually on the spot. They claim that these people are being framed. Do you agree with them?



The people mentioned in the FIR are innocent. Half of them werent there. If you observe the videos carefully, they are not carrying any weapons. Police are exacting their personal revenge against them. Police have some gripe against cow rakshaks, some personal score to settle.



I have been talking to the SP of the area to enquire about the case and to help him get the investigation on the right track. I have told them that some innocent people are being framed in the case. I am told that all the videos and other evidence have been sent to forensic sciences lab for investigation.



But this isnt the first incident of its kind. There have been reports about excesses committed by cow vigilante groups in the name of protecting cows earlier too, and from Alwar. Do you feel concerned?



There is a propaganda going on to defame gau rakshaks. I know how gau raksha is done. I have myself been a gau rakshak for the last 50 years. I have been actively involved in this. People put their life on line to save cows. Its not a joke. Thats why I support gau rakshaks.



I have a good understanding of this because I have seen the Sangh from up close. I was a member of the ABVP, went on to join Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh and Vishwa Hindu Parishad. I have heard that they are from the Bajrang Dal but I havent gone to the spot.


Moscow: Two traffic policemen were killed on Saturday after their vehicle came under fire in Russia's volatile North Caucasus region, investigators said.



The local branch of Russia's Investigative Committee said "unidentified people ... Fired multiple shots from an automatic weapon" at two traffic policemen riding in their patrol vehicle in the town of Malgobek at around 1:30 am (local time).



The policemen died in hospital from their injuries, it said in a statement.



Attacks against police are not uncommon in southern Russia's North Caucasus, which faces a simmering Islamist insurgency.



The latest incident came days after the Islamic State jihadist group claimed the killing of two other traffic policemen in the southern Russian city of Astrakhan this week.



IS also claimed a separate attack that wounded three National Guard officers on Thursday in an incident Russian authorities said saw one assailant suspected of involvement in the death of the Astrakhan traffic policemen shot dead.



Astrakhan lies several hundred kilometres (miles) northeast of the volatile North Caucasus, and attacks against law enforcement are less common there.



The IS claims came as Russia was on high alert following a bombing in the Saint Petersburg metro that killed 13 people.
Lucknow: Police in Uttar Pradeshs Maharajganj district halted a prayer by over 100 people, including American tourists, to investigate allegations of forced conversion made by the right-wing Hindu Yuva Vahini, which was founded by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.



The group alleged that the prayer meeting was a cover for religious conversion, a charge denied by the pastor.



On investigation, however, the police found no truth to the allegations and allowed the Americans to leave after verifying their documents. Local police told CNN-News18 that no formal case had been registered till early Saturday.



This was the first time an allegation of the sort was levelled against the British-era church.



Maharajganj is one of the hotspots frequented by tourists on their way to Nepal.




New Delhi: One in every four mental health problems occurring in people is due to depression, said experts in a seminar here.



Long working hours, tight deadlines, long journeys from home to the office in traffic are all factors that contribute to workplace induced mental health problems, Chee Ng, Professor at the University of Melbourne, said in a statement.



"One in every four mental health problems arises due to work place depression. Not only does this reduce productivity, but also affects cost to the business," Ng said.



The seminar entitled 'Depression: Let's talk about what we all should know' was organised by Jindal Global University in association with the University of Melbourne, Australia, and was attended by academicians and mental health experts from both the countries.



According to World Health Organization, five crore Indians are suffering from depression.



"India has a total of only 898 clinical psychologists, one for every 13 lakh people and a total of 3,800 psychiatrists, one for every 3,30,000," said Sanjeev P. Sahni, Principal Director, Jindal Institute of Behavioural Sciences.



"There is need for mental health services to be available in each district across the country and the essential drug list to be available free of cost in government hospitals," Sahni added.



People need to be made aware of the fact that depression occurs not due to a person's weakness, but because of imbalances in the brain chemistry, the experts argued.



"Globalisation has not only impacted the socio-economic status of individuals, but their mental well-being as well," noted Ian Everall, Professor at the University of Melbourne.



"Today, 4.4 per cent of the world's population is suffering from depression. Only 50 per cent of people suffering from depression receive treatment. This lack of treatment affects a person's productivity and causes huge losses to companies and the country as a whole," he said.




After over two decades of being a part of the Hindi film industry, Akshay Kumar has finally won an award and that too, the most prestigious one in the country. At the recently announced 64th National Film awards, Kumar bagged Best Actor for his role in Rustom. Directed by Tinu Suresh Desai, Rustom was a crime-drama loosely based on the famous Nanavati Case of 50s' that brought an end to the jury system in India. Akshay portrayed the role of Naval Officer Rustom Pavri who shot his wife's lover and later, during a long-drawn court battle, revealed how the culprit had hatched a plan which could threaten national security. While the film made money at the box-office, critics all over thrashed it for being extremely stretched and for its confusing plot.Let's face it, Akshay Kumar wasn't at his best in Rustom. His performance as Pavri was restrained to the fault and extremely bland. With minimal emotions and poor dialogue delivery, Akshay was unable to live up to the expectations and gave a below average performance. Thanks to his fans and smart promotion prior to its release, the film worked well against Hrithik Roshan's Mohenjo Daro. However, the film didn't get any mention at any of the award shows this year. Neither did Akshay get any recognition for his forgetful role. Not that Indian Award shows are any parameter of judging any actors credibility or talent in Bollywood, but such ignorance of an A-Lister pretty much indicates the stature of the film in the eyes of critics and jury members. But looks like, what the entire film fraternity ignores, gets picked up and awarded by the National Award Jury.The film which actually made big noise during the award season and among the critics as well was Abhishek Chaubey's gritty drama Udta Punjab. Apart from bringing in notice the menace of drug abuse in India's agricultural capital, the film also battled against piracy and unjustified dictatorship of CBFC. Shahid Kapoor's performance as drug abused Punjabi rockstar gabru aka Tommy Singh was hailed as the highlight of the film. The actor was crazy to the core and made a character like Tommy Singh believable and relatable. Apart from various mentions, Shahid won critic awards for his terrific performance.Similarly, Manoj Bajpayee for his extremely nuanced performance as a gay professor fighting for justice in Aligarh was one of the best performers of the year. Just like Udta Punjab, Aligarh touched upon a sensitive issue of homophobia and taboos attached with it. The film also had to fight it's way through CBFC for the release.Now in the year of a Tommy Singh and a Ramchandra Siras, giving award to a fairly average or even below average Rustom Pavri, perhaps undermines the credibility of National Awards a bit.Another reason why Akshay might have got the award is because of the wave of nationalism that is prevalent in the country currently. If we look deeper, both the films Akshay starred in 2017, Airlift and Rustom, brought back a certain sense of patriotism and national integration. A hero figure who comes back to his motherland, and a hero who kills a man over corruption in defence and hides it to safeguard the sanctity of the defence. Thus, maybe his ideal image of a perfect hero in the eyes of the government appointed jury made him shine more than other deserving performances. It's all about presenting the right example it seems.While, one can't deny the talent of Akshay Kumar and of course he is one of the most entertaining actors in Bollywood right now, but surely he didn't deserve a National Award for a film like Rustom. This underwhelming selection by the jury needs to be reflected upon so that next time, a much deserving and relevant performance doesn't get snubbed by the political thoughts going around at that time. Art should be kept away from ideologies and forceful implementation of moral policing.
Superstar Rajnikanth cancels meeting with fans between April 12-16th,says it's difficult to take pictures with each and every fan (file pic) pic.twitter.com/od9WlSlxll  ANI (@ANI_news) April 8, 2017

In future will plan to have meeting in every district separately so fans can take individual photos.I am sure you understand:Rajinikanth  ANI (@ANI_news) April 8, 2017

Rajinikanth has reportedly cancelled his five-day meeting with fans, which was initially scheduled to begin on April 12.The superstar decided to call off the fan meet in Chennai as it'll be difficult for him to pose with each of them individually.He further promised his fans a meeting in their respective districts where individual photo sessions would be organised for them. "In future will plan to have meeting in every district separately so fans can take individual photos.I am sure you understand," he said.He had initially planned to invite fans from three to four districts for a get-together in Chennai.The actor recently called off his proposed visit to Sri Lanka too following protests from various Tamil groups.On the work front, the actor will next be seen in the much-anticipated sci-fi thriller 2.0.
Mumbai: Social activist Anna Hazare on Friday said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has violated laws and the Constitution and declared he will never support what the AAP leader has done.



"He (Kejriwal) has dashed all my hopes," Hazare said, reacting to the Shunglu committee report which indicted the Kejriwal's government for bypassing law, nepotism and financial irregularities.



"I am pained by the Shunglu committee report because Arvind was with me in the fight against corruption. I had great hopes from the young and educated Kejriwal and felt that young people like him will create a corruption-free nation," Hazare said in a statement issued at his village Ralegan Siddhi in Ahmednagar district.



"But he has dashed all my hopes," Hazare said, adding he was pained to read about the allegations against Kejriwal in the Shunglu Committee report.



"He was my colleague in the fight against corruption. Then, I felt the educated, new generation could help rid the country of graft. But it was a big dream and it lies shattered," Hazare said.



"When Kejriwal launched the Aam Aadmi Party, it was the Lord who gave me wisdom to keep away (from him) or even my reputation would be ruined," Hazare said.



"Even after he became the chief minister, I never felt a desire to meet him. Now, I understand why he always used to address me as his 'Guru'. The Lord has saved me," the 79-year-old said.



Kejriwal has forgotten all principles in the pursuit of power, Hazare said.


"We have ended the education mafia, exempted the house tax, and we are determined to end the corruption in MCD, too," Kejriwal said, adding that "it was sad for the ruling party of the national capital not to have an office to work out of."

Assuring the people of New Delhi that Kejriwal and his party was fighting for them, he said that his party is ready to function from the streets of Delhi. Kejriwal also said that BJP was acting against his party "because AAP had exposed the BJP's corruption in MCD".

: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday alleged that the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) was rattled by what his party had achieved, and wanted to finish AAP.In a press conference, Delhi CM - a day after Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal cancelled the allotment of office space to the Aam Aadmi Party on DDU Marg near ITO - said that his party had "67 seats in Delhi, but they are not giving us office".Mentioning the number of offices and plots BJP and Congress have in the city, Kejriwal said: "Congress has 5 offices, and 1 plot in Delhi. Bjp has 7 offices, and 1 plot in Delhi. But AAP's one and only party office had been snatched away."At a rally in Nangloi on Friday, Kejriwal had said: L-G sahib and BJP has put a lock at AAP office. They want to close our office. They even got CBI to raid my office (at the Delhi Secretariat). In this country, they have found only one corrupt person. Thats me. But they could only find four mufflers in the (CBI) raid.When CNN-News18 asked Kejriwal about the dilapidated state of MCD schools and hospitals, Kejriwal, referring to the entire scenario as "interesting", Kejriwal said: "The polls are for MCD, but everyone is targeting the Delhi government.""Thousands of crore have been spent on these hospitals and schools by the Bjp over the years, but they are still in terrible condition," he said, adding that "if we come to power in MCD, we will transform the MCD schools and hospitals, just as we changed Delhi government schools and hospitals."
According to sources, documents seized during searches at the premises of an accountant of the Minister showed details of Rs 89 crore and the money being channelled to RK Nagar through party functionaries.

"We even found the names of some partymen who are also Ministers," an official said, adding, copies of voters list with entries like which voter should be paid what was recovered during searches at the MLA hostel premises.

The Income Tax searches held at the premises of an associate of Tamil Nadu Health Minister C Vijayabaskar has revealed routing of Rs 89 crore for "distribution to voters" in RK Nagar assembly constituency which goes to bypoll on April 12.The amount was channelled through many party functionaries for distribution to voters, the sources told PTI.Meanwhile, searches that began yesterday has ended in most of the total 50 locations. Tasks like recording of statements however continues, they said.
Detroit: Tysen Benz was at home when he saw social media posts indicating that his 13-year-old girlfriend had committed suicide. The posts were a prank, but the 11-year-old boy apparently believed them.



Moments later, his mother found him hanging by the neck in his room in Marquette, Michigan. Now a prosecutor is pursuing criminal charges against a juvenile accused of being involved in the scheme, which Katrina Goss described as "a twisted, sick joke."



Goss described her son as appearing "fine" just 40 minutes before she found him. "I just want it be exposed and be addressed," Goss said of School bullying in general and cyber bullying in particular. "I don't want it be ignored."



Using a cellphone he bought without his mother's knowledge, Tysen on March 14 was reading texts and other messages about the faked suicide and decided he would end his life too, his mother said.



After seeing the posts about his girlfriend, Tysen replied over social media that he was going to kill himself, and no one involved in the prank told an adult, Goss said.



The boy died Tuesday at a Detroit-area hospital. Authorities would not release the age of the juvenile charged or comment on what relationship the person had with Tysen. The juvenile is being charged with malicious use of telecommunication services and using a computer to commit a crime.



The girl whose death was faked and friends who were in on the prank attended the same school as Tysen, Goss said. Even though the prank occurred outside of school, she said, the school should have done more to protect her son.



"The principal, the assistant principal that's their job, especially for little kids," she said. "Kids take things to heart."



In a statement released Thursday, Marquette Area Public Schools Superintendent William Saunders agreed with Goss's concerns about the dangers of social media. He said the district has been educating students and parents through its health curriculum, health fairs, community forums and other efforts.



"After the gut-wrenching loss of a student, we ask ourselves, 'How can we do more?'" Saunders wrote.



Most states, including Michigan, have enacted legislation designed to protect children from bullies.



Michigan's anti-bullying act, signed in 2011 by Gov. Rick Snyder, requires school districts to have anti-bullying policies on the books. It was known as "Matt's Safe School Law" after Matt Epling, a 14-year-old who killed himself after a 2002 hazing incident.



The law was updated two years ago to direct school districts to add language to those policies that address cyberbullying.



Former Republican state Rep. Phil Potvin, who sponsored the original bill, said schools have a responsibility to do more than include anti-cyber bullying rules in their written policies.



"They have to have a person  spelled out  to make sure that policy is followed," said Potvin, of Cadillac in northern Michigan. "Some schools have failed to do that. They may have put something in, but there is no follow-up. There is no checking up on these things."



In 2006, Megan Meier committed suicide after a woman who lived in her family's neighborhood in St. Charles County, Missouri, encouraged the 13-year-old to kill herself. The woman had created a fake Myspace admirer named "Josh," who befriended Megan.



The woman was convicted in a California federal court of three misdemeanors, but a judge overturned the conviction. Pranks "definitely happen," said Tina Meier, who runs a national bullying and cyberbullying prevention foundation named after her daughter.



"The problem is when they are pranking somebody ... to them it's just been a joke," Meier said. "To the other person, it's been real."
Reyhanli, Turkey: Emerging dazed but well after three days of treatment in Turkey following the suspected chemical attack in Syria, Ahmad Raheel says he is happy with US air strikes targeting the regime.



His one hope now is to see Syrian President Bashar al-Assad ousted.



"We are happy. I hope that they will rid us of Bashar al-Assad," he told AFP outside the hospital in the Turkish border town of Reyhanli.



"I hope that the war will come to an end in Syria."



At least 86 people including 27 children were killed early Tuesday in Khan Sheikhun and dozens more were being treated after they were found convulsing and foaming at the mouth.



Around 60 injured Syrians were brought to southern Turkey for medical treatment in the wake of the attack in Idlib province in rebel-held northwestern Syria.



The wounded were taken from Idlib through Turkey's Cilvegozu border gate for treatment in the town of Reyhanli just north of the Syrian border.



Three of the victims died in hospital and the Turkish health ministry on Thursday said initial analysis suggested they were exposed to the deadly nerve agent sarin.



'We fainted'



Around 20 wounded were discharged on Friday before returning to Syria.



Samer Mohamad, 35, another victim of the attack sitting on the front row of a bus transporting the survivors back, said he lost consciousness at the time of the attack and when he opened his eyes, he found himself in Turkey.



"We were in Khan Sheikun and we were targeted by chemical weapons. The planes hit us with chemical substances, we fainted and did not know what was going on," he said.



"After the chemical attack, we were completely unaware of what was going on.



"I was asleep and all of sudden a plane launched an attack, people started saying 'that was a chemical attack'," he added.



"We went out of the house and started vomiting and then we fainted. When we woke up we found ourselves in Turkey."



Looking somber, Mohamad still looked shocked, as he showed burn marks on his arms.



Too tired to even speak, he struggled to find the words when asked about the US air strikes. "I don't know what to say," he said.



The United States' missile strike on a Syrian regime airbase, welcomed by Ankara as a "positive" action, came in retaliation for the suspected chemical attack, the first such action by Washington in Syria's six-year civil war.



Hospital quarantined'



The bleak mood on the bus contrasted with the pictures on the seat covers on the vehicle hired from a Turkish tourism firm -- a desert island with a palm tree and a figure enjoying the sun.



Some women in the bus disguised their faces from the camera and one woman was seen weeping but refused to speak.



"All the injured have been discharged," a doctor, who asked not to be named, told AFP as he accompanied the wounded into the bus.



"They want to see their families, their kids. They've recovered and they're leaving now," he said.



Another injured Syrian who was discharged and gave his name as Faysal angrily blamed the United States for what happened in Syria, expressing impatience with the media coverage.



"Rid us of Russia and Bashar and everything will be fine. What counts for us is not to be filmed but to get rid of Bashar," he told AFP.



"Nobody in the world has gone through what we are going through," he said.



"All the time planes are hovering over us. Planes and explosions; and images of Bashar on the TV. This is all America's mistake."



Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has squarely put the blame on "murderer" Assad over the attack while the Damascus regime has denied any involvement.
Islamabad: A retired Pakistan military officer, who had gone to seek employment in Nepal, has reportedly gone missing, sources said on Saturday.



Muhammad Habib Zahir, a resident of Faisalabad, had retired as Lieutenant Colonel from the Pakistan Army. Afterwards, he had sent his resume and applied online for a position at a United Nations office in Nepal.



Zahir reportedly received a call from a man named Mark Thompson from Britain, who offered him a senior position with a salary of three thousand pounds and other fringe benefits.



He readily accepted and arrived in Nepal on April 6 for an interview where he was received by a Pakistani national named Javed Ansari, the ARY reported.



Zahir went missing from the town of Lumbini, which is just five km from the border with India. He had last contacted his wife after arrival.



The website through which he applied for the job and its Twitter account has now been deactivated. It is reported that the website and the call he received was being operated from India.



A complaint has been filed over the missing army officer. The authorities were in contact with Nepal over the disappearance of Zahir.



Pakistan's Foreign Office Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria also confirmed the incident, saying the matter has been raised with the Nepalese government and the Pakistani embassy was in contact with the local authorities.
According to the Aftonbladet newspaper, the same man is a 39-year-old of Uzbek origin and a supporter of the Islamic State (IS) group.

Sweden early Saturday arrested a man for a "terrorist crime" hours after a beer truck ploughed into a crowd outside a busy department store in central Stockholm, killing four and injuring 15.The man was arrested "on suspicion of a terrorist crime through murder," Karin Rosander, a communications director at the Swedish Prosecution Authority, told AFP.Police said earlier on Friday after the attack that they had detained the man who "matched the description" of a photo released of a suspect wearing a dark hoodie and military green jacket.But they did not confirm if he drove the truck.If confirmed as a terror attack, it would be Sweden's first such deadly assault. The 15 injured included children and nine people were "seriously" wounded, health authorities said.Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said he had strengthened the country's border controls."Terrorists want us to be afraid, want us to change our behaviour, want us to not live our lives normally, but that is what we're going to do. So terrorists can never defeat Sweden, never," he said.The attack occurred just before 3:00 pm (1300 GMT) when the stolen truck slammed into the corner of the bustling Ahlens store and the popular pedestrian street Drottninggatan, above ground from Stockholm's central subway station.Pictures taken at the scene showed a large blue beer truck with a mangled undercarriage smashed into the Ahlens department store.Witnesses described scenes of terror and panic."A massive truck starts driving ... and mangles everything and just drives over exactly everything," eyewitness Rikard Gauffin told AFP."It was so terrible and there were bodies lying everywhere... it was really terrifying," he added.The truck was towed away in the early hours of Saturday.Police cars and ambulances rapidly flooded the scene after the attack, as central streets and squares were blocked off amid fears that another attack could be imminent.Helicopters hovered overhead across the city, sirens wailed, and police vans criss-crossed the streets using loudspeakers to urge people to head straight home and avoid crowded places.But with the metro system and commuter trains shut down for several hours after the attack, other streets heading out of the city were packed with thousands of pedestrians trying to find a way home.Haval, a 30-year-old sales clerk who didn't want to reveal his last name, was in the metro at the time of the attack.His train stopped immediately and he had to get out, along with all the other passengers.They walked along the street before being ushered inside a nearby hotel for safety."We were suddenly trapped inside a hotel and there was the worst kind of horror in there," he said."We were scared, we were scared something else would happen, he added.Marko was in a coffee shop near the scene with his girlfriend when he saw the truck ram into the store."He hit a woman first, then he drove over a bunch of other people ... We took care of everyone lying on the ground," he told Swedish daily newspaper Aftonbladet.Hasan Sidi, another passerby, told Aftonbladet he saw two elderly women lying on the ground.He said people at the scene urged him to help one of the women who was "bleeding to death"."One of them died... I don't know if the other one made it," Sidi said."The police were shocked. Everyone was shocked."In an editorial, Sweden's biggest broadsheet Dagens Nyheter wrote: "What we feared for a long time finally happened.""The fear and panic right after the incident was inevitable. The images from the attack were terrible," the paper said.But Stockholm managed to stay "cool-headed" even though the attacker struck "Sweden and Stockholm's heart", it added.Friday's attack was the latest in a string of similar assaults with vehicles in Europe, including in London, Berlin and the southern French city of Nice.The deadliest came last year in France on the July 14 Bastille Day national holiday, when a man rammed a truck into a crowd in the Mediterranean resort of Nice, killing 86 people.Last month, Khalid Masood, a 52-year-old convert to Islam known to British security services, killed five people when he drove a car at high speed into pedestrians on London's Westminster Bridge before launching a frenzied knife attack on a policeman guarding the parliament building.And in December, a man hijacked a truck and slammed into shoppers at a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people.In 2014, IS called for attacks on citizens of Western countries and gave instructions on how they could be carried out without military equipment, using rocks or knives, or by running people over in vehicles.
: The army chiefs of Russia and Iran discussed the US strikes in Syria by phone on Saturday, and vowed to continue the fight against "terrorists" and their supporters, Iranian media reported.The two chiefs of staff, Major General Mohammad Bagheri and General Valery Gerasimov, "condemned the American operation against a Syrian air base which is an aggression against an independent country", state news agency IRNA said.The American strikes "aim at slowing the victories of the Syrian army and its allies, and reinforcing terrorist groups", they said in a statement.The two army leaders vowed to continue their military cooperation in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "until the total defeat of the terrorists and those that support them", according to the Mehr news agency.Battle damage assessment image of Shayrat Airfield (Syria) is seen in this DigitalGlobe satellite image, released by the Pentagon following US Tomahawk Land Attack Missile strikes from Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, the USS Ross and USS Porter on April 7, 2017. (Iran and Russia are Assad's closest allies and label all opponents of his regime as "terrorists".Both governments have defended Assad against Western allegations that his regime carried out a suspected chemical weapons attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun on Tuesday, killing dozens of civilians.President Hassan Rouhani earlier criticised his US counterpart Donald Trump for the missiles fired early on Friday in response to the suspected chemical attack."This man who is now in office in America claimed that he wanted to fight terrorism but today all terrorists in Syria are celebrating the US attack," he said. (AFP)
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova reportedly said that Moscow would consider reactivating the memorandum with the United States on preventing air incidents in Syria.

The US officials, however, said they were also reviewing evidence to see if Russia was complicit in the attack on the northern Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun, where more than 80 people were killed.

The United States and Russia sparred on Friday over whether they will maintain a hotline aimed at preventing midair collisions of their warplanes in Syria, with senior US military officials contradicting Moscow's claims that it has suspended the "deconfliction" talks in protest of America's cruise missile strikes on a Syrian air base.The officials also said they're looking into whether Russia participated in the chemical weapons attack in Syria earlier this week that prompted President Donald Trump's order for a retaliation They said Russia has failed to control the Syrian government's use of chemical weapons or to account for chemical agents that were supposed to have been eliminated under a 2013 agreement and may have been complicit in Tuesday's horrifying strike that involved the use of a sarin-like nerve gas.In Moscow, the Russian government on Friday announced its own swift response to the American intervention against its Arab ally. It said it would cut the hotline that was established after Russia joined Syria's civil war in 2015 to help Syrian President Bashar Assad's government against opposition groups. The hotline's primary intent is to ensure Russian planes conducting combat missions in Syria's skies don't stumble into an accident or confrontation with aircraft flown by the US-led coalition fighting an Islamic State insurgency in the north of the country.But the senior U.S. military officials, who weren't authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity, said U.S.-Russian discussions have continued since Thursday night's attack on the Syrian military base. They said American officials asked the Russians on Friday if the military talks would continue. The Russians said they would.Pressed on whether the Russians were actively participating in the safety calls, including one on Friday, one US official said conversations were ongoing.The officials' comments, however, triggered a response from Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov. He said reports that the hotline was active were wrong, and that the U.S. military attache in Moscow was called to the ministry to be told that the communications would stop at midnight Saturday.Neither side had previously expressed an interest in severing the line of communication. Even when the U.S., under President Barack Obama, briefly halted talks with Russia on a Syrian peace process, both sides maintained the military communications. Eliminating the hotline could enhance the risk of an accident involving the two nuclear powers.They said a drone belonging either to Russia or Syria was seen hovering over the site of the chemical weapons attack Tuesday after it happened.The drone returned late in the day as citizens were going to a nearby hospital for treatment. The hospital was bombed shortly afterward, officials said, possibly in an effort to cover up evidence of chemical weapons usage.The US says a sarin-like nerve agent was used. Syria denies the claim. And the Kremlin says Syria's government wasn't responsible.The US officials also said they're aware of Russians with chemical weapons expertise who have been in Syria.Detailing the results of the US missile strikes, the US officials showed graphics and photographs of the strikes and said 20 aircraft were destroyed, including some that were inside hardened shelters.Also, the strikes took out the air defense system, all the aircraft hangers and the petroleum storage. So far, they said, they do not have any confirmation of any military or civilian deaths.Officials said Russian officials called the US earlier on Thursday after seeing media reports that missile strikes were under discussion, to make sure the Americans knew there were Russians on the Syrian base. The US called the Russians less than an hour before the missiles were launched to alert them of the attack so they could insure their people were safe.In a related development, US officials said that a Russian warship, the frigate Admiral Grigorovich, had moved into the eastern Mediterranean Sea on Thursday.Two US Navy Destroyers, the USS Porter and the USS Ross, launched the barrage of Tomahawk cruise missiles into Syria on Thursday from the eastern Mediterranean. The two ships are moving west, and officials said there have been no interactions with the Admiral Grigorovich.
LEAVE MEH ALONE

Hovell, who did not answer several calls to his cellular phone made by his worried wife Christiana and other relatives and friends over the past seven days, answered yesterday when Newsday called at 2 pm. Hovell made it clear he was not missing and had simply taken time off for a week in Trinidad, to breeze out and chose not to tell anyone he was travelling to Trinidad.

Hovell said he prefers not to discuss why he wanted to spend a week in Trinidad but added it was his decision not to tell anyone, including his family, about his whereabouts. He also flatly denied leaving home for Trinidad to meet a woman, whom he had met on Facebook.

There is simply no truth to that. All I did was travel to Trinidad without telling anyone. I had planned this but it had nothing to do with any disagreement between me and my wife. I just needed to breeze out without telling anyone...and I did just that, Hovell told Newsday.

He added that when he returns to Tobago, he will go to the Crown Point Police Station to explain to officers his disappearance and then return to his marital home to reunite with wife Christiana and their two children, ages six and nine. Yesterday, Christiana told Newsday she tried calling her husbands phone repeatedly, but was not successful.

Newsday also contacted Assistant Commissioner of Police (Tobago) Garfield Moore who said that police investigating the Missing Person report filed, received information that Hovell travelled to Trinidad on a Caribbean Airlines (CAL) flight two Fridays ago. He said that police resources were deployed to locate Hovell.

When Newsday contacted ACP Moore later yesterday and told him that Hovell was in Trinidad and not in any danger, Moore said he was relieved to know the man was safe, but added he would be interviewed by Tobago police. ACP Moore wondered why Hovell did not inform a relative or even the police that he was not missing.

Hovell left Tobago on March 31. He was last seen by his wife leaving a pharmacy in Scarborough.

Hovell told Christiana then, that she would not see him that weekend because he had some things to do in a house he was building in Bethel. On Wednesday, Christiana was contacted by Hovells mother who said he was missing.

His co-workers from the Tobago Regional Health Authority attempted to locate him and posted his photo on social media seeking the publics assistance to locate him. Even Tourism Minister and Tobago West MP Shamfa Cudjoe  a close friend of Hovell since primary school days  publicly appealed for help to locate him.
Take your platform and go

He noted bpTTs statement on Angelins fabrication, statements made during Thursdays post-Cabinet news conference and comments by La Brea MP Nicole Olivierre on this issue. Asked if the OWTU or the labour movement feels responsible for bpTTs pull-out, Roget replied, Absolutely not!

Declaring that no one should use the current economic situation to disadvantage workers, Roget added, Take your platform and go! We are not prepared to have any type of construction in an environment that is unsafe, unhealthy and void of good industrial relations practice.

He said BP, as a multinational, cannot take a hands off approach and allow local contractors to, Do as they please. He said the union is prepared to send that message internationally. Adding that while JTUM welcomes any investment into TT, We support it on the basis that they are committing to adhering to every single one of our laws.

Predicting there will be more protests and yesterdays action was a signal that the labour movement is mobilising, Roget declared, We are not going to relent because BP pulled out. There will be more BPs pulling out, over and over again because we are not prepared to relent, unless and until they get the message.

After he claimed that BP is holding the ruling Peoples National Movement (PNM) to ransom, Roget warned Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley that his administration is walking down, A Kamla (Persad-Bissessar) road. He threatened, If he did not learn from the mistakes that she committed, the same consequences would apply.

Hinting the labour movement would make, A critical announcement, either on May Day or Labour Day, Roget said, We are not prepared to eat PNM and bread...we will defend the bread of all of the workers in this country. Communications Workers Union (CWU) President Joseph Remy and TT Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) President Lynsley Doodhai, supported Rogets position as they articulated the concerns of their respective unions on other matters.

Doodhai claimed Government has refused to act on the concerns of teachers at the St Madeleine School. He said this issue has spanned, two different governments, two different ministers and we have no end in sight. He alleged certain Education Ministry officials were culpable for that situation. Remy reiterated that Government continues to disrespect the CWU with respect to a decision to close down the Tourism Development Company.
Save Shannens life

Shannen needs a Haploidentical Bone Marrow Transplant which can only be done at the Bambino Gesu Paediatric Hospital in Rome. Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh has until 4 pm next Monday to respond to Lukes application for funding from the Childrens Life Fund, Ramdeen said.

In an immediate response, Minister Deyalsingh said any child with medical issues would be a source of concern for his Ministry and governments policy on the Childrens Life Fund is consistent with that of the previous government.

We are deeply concerned about the child and all applications to the Life Fund will be dealt with urgency and fairness in accordance with the exiting legal frame work. As Minister of Health I do not make recommendations.

There is a separate entity that evaluates all information and make a recommendation.

I want to reiterate, all applications, every single one without exception are dealt with urgency, Deyalsingh said.

Yesterday, Michelle Luke told Newsday she recently received a $50,000 donation from the Massy Foundation for which she is extremely grateful.

Ramdeen has written to Minister Deyalsingh informing him of the Monday deadline. The letter was copied to the Office of the Prime Minister and the Attorney General.

The family has mortgaged its home and held a variety of fund-raising ventures including barbecues, a calypso show and a boat cruise. Donations have also come from private citizens and the Rotary Club. Ramdeen said the Health Minister indicated in Parliament that there is $55 million in the Life Fund.

I wrote the Minister and gave him until Monday at 4 pm to process the application and give a positive response to these parents because they have not sat and done nothing...

they have done everything, they have mortgaged their house, taken a personal loan, they have gone to everyone they can go to in order to save their childs life, Ramdeen said, adding the childs life will be saved, whether voluntarily by the Minster of Health or by a Court Order.
Enterprise gangs: We have info to bring down TTPS

Yesterday, Abdul Krysis Wakeel claimed to have enough information to bring down the police service and revolutionise the way policing is done in Trinidad and Tobago.

Yesterday, Imam Umar Abdullah, the head of the Waajihatul Islaamiyya (The Islamic Front) facilitated a press conference in the Southern Hall of Centre Point Mall in Chaguanas to update the nation on the state of Enterprise and announce a way forward to peace. Abdullah was flanked by Wakeel, Nation of Islam Leader David Muhammad, and Citizens Security Programme representative Mtima Solwazi.

Let me state very clearly here today that the conversations we have had thus far is more than enough to not just bring down the police but to advise on a total overhaul of how we do policing in this countr, said Abdullah in response to media questions about the nature of the information Wakeel claimed to have.

That is how serious it is. There are police officers who are moonlighting as poster boys for the police service who claim to have done a tremendous amount of work and solved numerous amount of crimes et cetera, but when the truth is told, the nation is going to be the judge. Chiming in to the conversation, Muhammad said anyone who questions the degree of corruption in the police service is na?ve. He listed several newspaper articles published over the last two years which spoke of police officers being arrested and charged for misconducts ranging from police brutality to armed robbery. That information is already out there, but yet still there seems to be a position that there still has to be some proof. I have decided to start a research paper on police who have openly confessed about their bosses running drug blocks and they not being able to do anything about it.

We have gotten verbatim reports from police officers who have been transferred from one station to very far away from their home for trying to interfere with police criminal conduct. Muhammad said the country has a legacy of corrupt police which calls for a more relentless aggressive pursuit of this kind of information when it comes to police misconduct. Newsday asked Abdullah how confident he was in their ability to give information to the police on police corruption given the level of police corruption he described. He said, We believe that the powers that be is going to find a way to receive that information in the manner in which we want to give it. There are police officers in this country who do a tremendous amount of good work and there are police officers in high ranks in this country who wants to see justice and fairness prevail in the land. Abdullah said, Unruly ISIS, now to be known as Masjidus Salaam (Masjid of Peace), and the Rasta City were willing to provide information to the police in this regard.

However, absent for the press conference was Kerron Alexis, son of deceased Selwyn Robocop Alexis. Abdullah said Alexis absence was due to him being fearful of being misunderstood by the media, but he assured that he too was willing to cooperate.

Today, the Roots Foundation, also led by Solwazi, will facilitate a focus group discussion in the Trinidad Muslim League Auditorium in St Joseph.

Members of the community are expected to gather to discuss the causes of violence in the community and develop ways to reduce it.

On April 22, Roots will host a Violence Prevention Seminar which will explore the upturn in violence involving Muslims, masculine identities, sexual gender-based violence and mens violence.
Tom Brady Just Became

First NFL Player to Do This
A series of connections between the Liberal Party of Canada and the Walrus Foundation over the past two years may be affecting the standards and thrust of the journalism at the charitys titular magazine.These connections include: Liberal candidate (now MP) Seamus ORegan heading the publications Educational Review Committee, charged with vetting editorial content, during the last federal election; the addition of new party-affiliated members to the foundations board of directors; the hiring of former Justin Trudeau ghostwriter Jonathan Kay and subsequent spate of pro-Trudeau articles during his tenure; and the Heritage Ministrys approval of multiple hard-to-obtain Canada 150 grants.is a unique case of charitable journalism in Canada, and with the federal government now reassessing its role in supporting Canadian media  and considering the Shattered Mirror report s recommendation for more such charitable projects  howhas or hasnt met its obligations suddenly becomes relevant.Before, during, and after the 2015 federal election, Liberal candidate-turned-MP Seamus ORegan held a series of high-level positions at the organization.The former CTV broadcaster joined the Walrus Foundations board of directors in January 2014 and stayed on it after winning the Liberal nomination in the Newfoundland and Labrador riding of St. Johns SouthMount Pearl in late September of that year. He also became chair of the publications Educational Review Committee (ERC), first appearing in that role on the masthead of its June 2015 issue, after already campaigning for the Liberals for months.jonathan kay and much more
Osan Air Base may not be a name you're familiar with, but it's a US Air Force base that sits in a prime location: fewer than 50 miles from the Demilitarized Zone that separates North and South Korea. If that's not enough to get your attention, this line from NBC News might change that: "It's a facility so critical that war planners believe it's the North's No. 1 target should hostilities break out," and thousands of US military personnel are stationed there. The network reports on its exclusive visit to the base, which is home to the US Air Force's 51st Fighter Wing. There, air crews and patriot missile batteries are at the ready in the event of ballistic missiles or chemical attacks. When North Korea launched four ballistic missiles toward Japan in March, the Washington Post noted the launch site was fewer than 300 miles from the Osan base.

An F-16 pilot describes the state of constant alert as not just readiness, but the ability to "win tonight." Thae Yong Ho, a recent high-profile defector, tells the network that North Korea's Kim Jong Un is "desperate" and prepared to use nuclear force, and a lieutenant colonel at Osan says it's "the busiest we have ever been in this airplane," referring to a U-2 spy plane. Meanwhile, the US Air Force reported in a press release on a two-week command and control exercise held across the Korean Peninsula in March that saw 12,800 US forces join 10,000 South Korean military personnel and others from Australia, Canada, Denmark, France and Great Britain. It took place just as the US sent part of a controversial missile defense system called THAAD to Osan, reports NPR. (Japan weighs in on this week's "extremely problematic" test.)
Last month at a school in Arizona, a cafeteria worker stamped a second-grader's arm with the phrase "lunch money" after it was discovered he didn't have enough money in his meal account. "He was humiliated," his mother tells BuzzFeed. Elsewhere in the country, children who find themselves in meal debt have been forced to clean tables or watch as their food is thrown away. These punishments have come to be known as "lunch shaming." "It sounds like some scene from Little Orphan Annie, but it happens every day," Jennifer Ramo tells the New York Times. Ramo is the executive director of the nonprofit group behind a new law banning lunch shaming in New Mexico.

The Hunger-Free Students' Bill of Rights was signed into law this week. It's believed to be the first law of its kind in the US. The bill instructs schools to work with parents on getting lunch debts paid without doing something to publicly embarrass students. The Democratic senator who introduced the bill says he was forced to mop the cafeteria in school because he couldn't afford lunch. He says it was clear to the other students that he was "one of the poor kids." The law, which applies to any school that gets federal money for meals, also requires students be fed even if they're behind on payments, the AP reports. "We have to separate the child from a debt they have no power to pay," Ramo tells the Times. (Read more school lunch stories.)
Four inmates were found dead Friday morning in a dorm at one of South Carolina's maximum-security men's prisons, authorities said. The inmates were found at Kirkland Correctional Institution in the capital city of Columbia, Department of Corrections Director Bryan Stirling told the AP. Stirling did not say how they died or release any further information. Stirling said he asked the State Law Enforcement Division to assist Corrections police with their investigation. Coroner Gary Watts confirmed he was investigating four deaths at the facility, but wouldn't give any details about how the inmates died.

Kirkland operates a specialized housing unit for the state's most dangerous inmates, an assessment and evaluation center for new inmates sentenced to more than three months, and a 24-bed infirmary, according to the Corrections website. The prison has been the scene of previous violence. In 2015, two inmates held two nurses hostage with homemade knives for seven hours after forcing their way into a nursing station where prescription drugs were kept. One nurse's throat was cut, but she survived. Last year, three corrections officers at Kirkland were fired after officials said they tried to kill an inmate in their care. Authorities said the officers, who were charged with attempted murder and misconduct in office, stabbed an inmate while he was handcuffed. (Read more inmate deaths stories.)
Gov. Jerry Brown declared an end to California's historic drought Friday, lifting emergency orders that had forced residents to stop running sprinklers as often and encouraged them to rip out thirsty lawns during the state's driest four-year period on record. The AP reports the governor's order that keeps in place conservation measures came as a springtime storm bears down on the waterlogged state. The drought strained native fish that migrate up rivers, killed millions of trees, and forced farmers in the nation's leading agricultural state to rely heavily on groundwater, with some tearing out orchards. It also dried up wells, forcing hundreds of families in rural areas to drink bottled water and bathe from buckets.

Brown declared the drought emergency in 2014, and officials later ordered mandatory conservation for the first time in state history. Regulators last year relaxed the rules after rainfall was close to normal. But monster storms this winter erased nearly all signs of drought, blanketing the Sierra Nevada with deep snow, California's key water source, and boosting reservoirs. "This drought emergency is over, but the next drought could be around the corner," Brown said. "Conservation must remain a way of life." Cities and water districts throughout the state will be required to continue reporting their water use each month, said the governor's order, which also bans wasteful practices, such as hosing off sidewalks and running sprinklers when it rains. (Read more California drought stories.)
Richard Kirk will not be going on trial for the murder of his wifeand neither will the "Karma Kandy Orange Ginger" marijuana edible he blames the killing on. The 50-year-old Denver man was sentenced to 30 years in prison Friday after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the April 2014 shooting death of his wife, Kristine, the AP reports. During a 13-minute call with a 911 dispatcher, Kristine Kirk said her husband was hallucinating and getting a gun after consuming marijuana-infused candy. Her family is suing the maker and seller of the pot edible. Kirk claimed the marijuana candy caused delirium and psychotic-like symptoms, though prosecutors noted that he was sober enough to remember the code to his gun safe.

One of Kirk's public defenders told the judge Friday that they had been ready to prove that marijuana led to the shooting, but Kirk agreed to a plea deal to save his three sons from having to testify, the Denver Post. Kirk admitted it had been his choice to buy and consume the marijuana, but said he didn't know it would affect him the way it did. "I know with certainty if I did not ingest that marijuana edible, Kris would still be here today," he said. Kirk's sons, who are now 15, 14, and 10, were present during the shooting. As part of the plea deal, Kirk relinquished custody of the boys to his wife's parents. He is banned from contacting them until the end of a five-year probation period that will follow his sentence. (Read more Colorado stories.)
The Trump Organization and celebrity chef Jose Andres have settled their million-dollar lawsuit after two years, Politico reports. According to NPR, Andres had planned to open a restaurant in the new Trump International Hotel in DCeven going so far as planning a menu and talking design with Ivanka Trumpbut pulled out of the agreement after President Trump said Mexican immigrants were rapists and criminals during the campaign. Andres accused Trump of "disparaging immigrants," the AP reports. He claimed Trump's comments had ensured the venture would fail by making it hard to find staff or diners for the Hispanic restaurant.

The Trump Organization sued Andres' Think Food Group for $14 million, and Andres counter-sued for $8 million. The details of the settlement are being kept private, so it's unclear if either side is getting money. Donald Trump Jr. described the settlement as a "win-win," and both sides released a joint statement saying they will "move forward as friends." The lawsuit between the Trump Organization and another celebrity chef who was supposed to open a restaurant at Trump International, Geoffrey Zakarian, is apparently still ongoing. Trump's new hotel is currently home to a steakhouse. (Read more Jose Andres stories.)
China's President Xi Jinping followed up what President Trump called a "tremendous" summit with a look at some of Alaska's tremendous views. Xi made a surprise stop in Anchorage late Friday on his way back to Beijing from the US. The leader and his entourage went from the airport to the scenic lookout at Beluga Point before heading to Anchorage for a seafood dinner and a meeting with Gov. Bill Walker, reports the Alaska Dispatch News, which notes that while it is not unusual for planes carrying Asian heads of state to refuel in Anchorage, it is rare for a leader to leave the airport and spent several hours in the city. Walker's office says the meeting was set up last month, but Chinese officials wanted it kept quiet until Xi arrived.

China is Alaska's top export market and the visit was seen as an indication of the scale of China's resource ambitions in the region, reports the Los Angeles Times. Fish accounted for more than half of the state's $1.2 billion in exports to China last year, the AP notes, and Walker reportedly told Xi that Alaska could supply his country with "a generation's worth" of liquefied natural gas. A Walker spokeswoman says Xi wanted to visit Alaska after flying over it many times. "He called it a mythical, almost mystical place for the Chinese, like a Shangri-La," the spokeswoman says. (Read more Xi Jinping stories.)
North Korea has stepped up its anti-American rhetoric even more after the US strike on Syria, a country it considers a close ally. In a blistering statement issued Saturday, Pyongyang denounced the strike as " a clear and unforgivable act of aggression" that showed its decision to develop nuclear weapons "was the right choice a million times over," reports Reuters. According to North Korea's KCNA news agency, Kim Jong Un and Bashar al-Assad have exchanged promises of cooperation. In other developments:

Syrian activists say new airstrikes have hit the town of Khan Sheikhoun, where a chemical attack Tuesday killed more than 80 people and led to US retaliation, CNN reports. Activists say the Saturday strikes killed a woman and injured at least three other people. According to monitoring groups, jets are once again taking off from the airbase the US hit with dozens of cruise missiles.

Russia, which warned of "extremely serious consequences" after the strike, has vowed to step up Syria's air defenses and send a frigate to a Syrian base, reports the New York Times. The US accuses Russia of violating a 2013 agreement by turning a blind eye to Syria's possession of banned chemical weapons.

The US says it will keep the pressure on Syria and strike again if necessary, the AP reports. At the United Nations on Friday, US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said the world is waiting for Russia "to act responsibly in Syria" and reconsider its "misplaced alliance" with Assad.

The Pentagon is trying to get Russia to reopen a communications hotline it closed after the attack, reports the Guardian, which describes the hotline dispute as Vladimir Putin daring President Trump "to choose between attacking Assad and attacking ISIS." The communications channel was set up to reduce the risk of accidents involving US and Russian planes over Syria.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has called off a trip to Russia because of the Syria situation, the BBC reports. Johnson said the UK deplores Russia's "continued defence of the Assad regime." He added that US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will still travel to Moscow next week to deliver a "clear and coordinated" message to Russia.

The Washington Post looks at what led up to Trump's decision to strike the base. Insiders say Trumpwhose aides had requested more images and fewer words in daily intelligence briefingswas deeply affected by images of babies and children killed in the chemical attack. Critics including Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy accused Trump of having an "emotional reaction" instead of a strategy, though Tillerson says Trump carefully evaluated the facts before concluding "that we cannot yet again turn away, turn a blind eye from whats happened."

(Read more Syria stories.)
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray said on MSNBC Thursday that the Constitution dictates cities harbor illegal immigrants.



In the lawsuit filed in King County Superior Court, a 46-year-old man, identified only by the initials, D.H., said Murray raped and molested him over several years, beginning in 1986 - when he was 15 and addicted to crack cocaine, and when Murray was in his early 30s.



The man said he met Murray on a city bus, and Murray invited him back to his apartment, propositioning him for sex and haggling over the price.



Murray paid him $10 to $20 for each of at least 50 encounters over the next four to five years, the lawsuit said. I have been dealing with this for over 30 years, the man, now sober for a year, told the Times.



He said he was coming forward as part of a healing process after years of the shame, the embarrassment, the guilt, the humiliation that I put myself through and that he put me through.



The newspaper also reported that two other men said they knew Murray when they lived in a Portland, Oregon, center for troubled children. Jeff Simpson and Lloyd Anderson accused Murray of abusing them in the 1980s and paying them for sex and said theyd be willing to testify about it, the Times said.



The two older accusations were promoted by extreme right-wing anti-gay activists in the midst of the marriage equality campaign, and were thoroughly investigated and dismissed by both law enforcement authorities and the media, the statement said.



Murray was elected mayor in 2013 after a long career in the Legislature, where he led efforts to legalize gay marriage in the state. As mayor he pushed to increase the citys minimum wage to $15 an hour and address the homelessness crisis in Seattle.



Seattle Mayor Ed Murray is big on protecting illegal aliens.But he was allegedly far less concerned with protecting teens from himself.Murray's spokesman is blaming the traditional vast right-wing conspiracy.Anyway it doesn't matter as he is a progressive.It sounds like Murray has been addressing the homelessness crisis for a long time.
The man accused of killing four people with a hijacked beer truck in Stockholm Friday is a 39-year-old from Uzbekistan who was a "marginal character" already known to authorities, officials in Sweden say. Police say they found a "suspect device" in the vehicle and they haven't ruled out the involvement of other people, the BBC reports. Ten people, including a child, are still in hospital after the attack on one of the city's main thoroughfares. Authorities believe the device may have burned the suspect instead of exploding when he drove through crowds on a pedestrianized street and crashed into a department store, the Guardian reports. Police say the suspect fled after the attack and was arrested in a northern suburb.

The AP reports that Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Lofven made a point of walking through the city's streets and stopping to chat to people before laying flowers at the scene Saturday. " We must get through this. Life must go on," Lofven said. "We in Sweden want an open society." "Terrorists want us to be afraid, want us to change our behaviour, want us to not live our lives normally, but that is what we're going to do," Lofven said. "So terrorists can never defeat Sweden, never." There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack, though ISIS claimed similar attacks in cities including London and Nice, reports Reuters. (Read more Sweden stories.)
We may have been wrong about how the first people arrived in North America. The widely accepted narrative, as explained by Smithsonian Magazine, is that humans walked across a land bridge between Siberia and Alaska 13,000 years ago. But lately some have begun to suspect early humans actually arrived by boat further down the coast. A recent discovery by an anthropology student in Canada supports that idea. CTV News reports Alisha Gauvreau and her team were excavating on an island about 300 miles northwest of Victoria when they found evidence of an ancient village. A hearth buried 8 feet underground contained charcoal dated to 14,000 years old, History reports. Spears, tools, and fish hooks found nearby were dated similarly.

At 14,000 years old, the village is one of the oldest settlements ever found in North Americaolder than ancient Rome and three times older than the pyramids of Giza, the Vancouver Sun reports. "We just kind of sat there going, holy moly, this is old, Gauvreau tells CTV. The discovery of the ancient settlement supports stories passed down by the elders of the Heiltsuk Nation. Those stories say the tribe's ancestors survived the Ice Age by living on a strip of coastal land that didn't freeze. To think about how these stories survived all of that, only to be supported by this archaeological evidence is just amazing, a member of the Heiltsuk Nation says. Gauvreau presented her findings this week at the annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. (A university held ancient ice. Then the freezer broke.)
A parasitic worm that infects people's brains is turning up more frequently on Maui, and Hawaiian officials are getting worried. "Its like having a slow-moving bullet go through your brain," says state epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Park, per the AP, explaining the effects of rat lungworm disease. According to ABC News, the worm lives in the lungs of rats, but its larvae are expelled in the rats' feces and infect slugs and snails, which in turn pass the larvae on to humans. The larvae can survive for months in humans, growing into worms an inch long. The parasite can cause a rare form of meningitis, which comes along with serious headaches, vomiting, temporary facial paralysis, and more. There's no treatment for the disease, and it can cause permanent brain damage, though it is rarely fatal.

Six cases of the disease have been reported on Maui in the past three months. The island had only two cases in the decade before that, and the entire state of Hawaii averages just 10 cases per year. Park says officials are "concerned that something has changed" to increase the risk on Maui, Hawaii News Now reports. Officials encourage people to wash their fruits and veggies well before eating and to avoid eating raw or undercooked snails or slugs. According to Live Science, the parasite has historically been found in Southeast Asia and the Pacific islands, but it's recently been expanding to the US, Africa, and beyond. (A doctor pulled the longest tapeworm he's ever seen from a man's mouth.)
After President Trump's strikes on Syria this week, praise from the usually antagonistic media "flowed like wedding champagne," Margaret Sullivan writes for the Washington Post. It poured in from CNN, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and MSNBC. Trump "became president," followed his "heart," and did "the right thing." Brian Williams seemingly couldn't restrain himself from marveling at the "beautiful" attack. All of which led Sullivan to ask: "Are we really doing this again?"

The US media has a history of being easily distracted by shows of military power, forgetting things like skepticism and in-depth reporting, Sullivan writes. This was especially evident in the lead-up to the Iraq War in 2003. The editor in chief at Mother Jones tells Sullivan the media loves a war because "it's good for TV." They rally around the president while ignoring context or motivations for fear of being seen as partisan. A professor of international affairs at Harvard tells Sullivan the media has a responsibility to do better. In other words, don't get distracted by the "beauty of our weapons," as Leonard Cohen (and Brian Williams) would say. Read the full piece here. (Read more media stories.)
Tomahawk missiles: All you should know about the US weapon

New Delhi : Tomahawk is an all-weather long-range subsonic cruise missile first introduced in the year 1970 by General Dynamics (now Boeing Defense, Space & Security). At its earlier stage, it was a medium to long, low-altitude missile that could be fired from a surface platform. After several transitions and transformations, the missile can now be launched from sea and cruise over water too.

The missile was first launched in the year 1991 under Operation Desert Storm. It can be equipped with a 1,000-pound conventional warhead.

The latest use of Tomahawk missiles

Two US warships in the eastern Mediterranean fired 59 Tomahawk missiles on a Syrian airbase in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack which killed civilians.

CNN's military analysts said the Tomahawk was a good choice for this kind of attack.

"This is what the Tomahawk was made for. It gets in there low level and hits these fixed facilities with no risk to an air crew," retired US Air Force Lt. Col. Rick Francona said.

Measurements of a Tomahawk missile

Length: 18 feet 3 inches (5.56 meters) without booster; 20 feet 6 inches (6.25 meters) with booster.

Range: 800-1500 miles (1250-2500 kilometers)

Speed: 550 miles per hour, 880 kilometres per hour

Mission: Launch from sea, flies closer to the ground to avoid radar

Different variants of the Tomahawk missile

There have been several variants of the BGM-109 Tomahawk employing various types of warheads.

# BGM-109A Tomahawk Land Attack Nuclear (TLAM-N) - Not deployed.

# BGM-109A Tomahawk Land Attack Missile  Nuclear (TLAM-A) with a W80 thermonuclear weapon. Retired from service sometime between 2010 and 2013.

# RGM/UGM-109B Tomahawk Anti Ship Missile (TAS-M)  active radar homing anti-ship missile variant; withdrawn from service in the 1990s.

# BGM-109C Tomahawk Land Attack Missile  Conventional (TLAM-C) with a unitary warhead. This was initially a modified Bullpup warhead.

# BGM-109D Tomahawk Land Attack Missile  Dispenser (TLAM-D) with cluster munitions.

# RGM/UGM-109E Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM Block IV)  improved version of the TLAM-C.

# BGM-109G Ground Launched Cruise Missile (GLCM)  with a W84 nuclear warhead; withdrawn from service in 1991.

# AGM-109H/L Medium Range Air to Surface Missile (MRASM)  a shorter range, turbojet powered ASM with cluster munitions ; never entered service, cost US$569,000 (1999).
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USDA Nebraska Crop Progress and Condition

For the week ending April 9, 2017, temperatures warmed later in the week and averaged four degrees above normal, according to the USDAs National Agricultural Statistics Service. Rainfall was limited in most areas except for portions of north central, northeast, and extreme southeast Nebraska where totals of an inch or more were recorded. Fieldwork was limited to spring tillage and fertilizer application, as producers waited for soils to warm. There were 4.8 days suitable for fieldwork. Topsoil moisture supplies rated 5 percent very short, 21 short, 70 adequate, and 4 surplus. Subsoil moisture supplies rated 8 percent very short, 25 short, 65 adequate, and 2 surplus.
Fairbanks, AK (99707)

Today

Snow showers this morning. Becoming partly cloudy later. High 23F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 80%. Snow accumulations less than one inch..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low 13F. Winds light and variable.
New Delhi :

In another incident of assault on a foreign national, a German citizen has been attacked with a sharp weapon in Delhi.

19-year-old Benjamin Scolt from Germany has been attacked by an unknown assailant in Delhis Geeta Colony area on Saturday. The reason is still unknown.

For now, he has been admitted to the Hospital. Both the suspects have been identified and cops are trying to nab him.

Taking a brief account of the incident, Benjamin had taken an auto rickshaw from Chandni Chowk on Saturday. The driver then asked another two man to sit in the auto. Near Kashmere Gate area, they attacked him with a sharp object probably a blade. They slashed his face and robbed him of the cash.

Scolt then jumped from the auto rickshaw. Later a car driver which was passing through the area helped him and took him to a hospital.

Also Read: Resident doctors of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital call off strike after 5 days

Taking cognizance after the incident, Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj has sought a report from the Delhi government. Swaraj said on Twitter, " I have asked for a report on the attack on German national in Delhi. I have asked Delhi Government to provide him best medical treatment."
New Delhi:

The strike by resident doctors ofDeen Dayal Upadhyaya (DDU) Hospital was called off tonight, five days after it had started, following a meeting between the doctors and the state health secretary.

"We have discussed all our demands with the health secretary and he has given assurance to work on them," DrSumit Paria, president of DDU's Resident Doctors' Association(RDA) said.

Around 10 Delhi government hospitals which had also gone on strike in solidarity with their counterparts in DDU also called off their strike.

Also Read: Chhattisgarh: CRPF's sniffer dog loses life in IED blast; handler injured

Resident Doctors in West Delhi's Deen Dayal Upadhyay hospital had gone on strike following an alleged assault on their colleague.

Resident doctors from Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Acharya Shree Bhikshu hospital, Rao Tula Ram Memorial and Sanjay Gandhi memorial hospital, among others, had joined the strike on Friday, affecting routine and emergency service their establishments.

Resident Doctors' Association of AIIMS had also threatened to go on strike if the government did not fulfil the demands of the doctors in DDU.

"We strongly condemn the repeated attacks on resident doctors by anti-social elements. It is the duty of hospital administration and the government to provide security at their workplace," AIIMS Resident Doctors Association said.

"We request the government to fulfil the demands of the resident doctors with immediate effect...if this stubborn attitude of the government continues then resident doctors atAIIMS will be left with no other option except joining the striking doctors by a strike at AIIMS," it said.

On Monday the doctors in the DDU hospital emergency and the guards were allegedly beaten up by the relatives of a patient. Reportedly, the female doctors had to lock themselves up in the toilets to avoid the assault on them.

"Three incidents of such assaults were reported within three hours from the hospital, which led to the resident doctors go on strike," a hospital official said. The incident occurred close on heels of a massive protest by resident doctors in Maharashtra who demanded security forhospital staff and themselves following a spate of assaults on them.


Raipur:

Sniffer dog Cracker of CRPF lost its life after an IED blast was triggered by Maoists at Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Saturday.

CRPF's sniffer dog died and its handler was injured. The incident occurred at around 1620 hrs when a RoadOpening Party (ROP) of CRPF's 170th?battalion was returning to its camp after a combing operation in Modakpal police station area, a district police official told PTI.

The ROP, accompanied by a sniffer dog, had launched the operation from its camp in Chinna Kodepal village.

Just 2km ahead of the camp, the canine, named Cracker, sniffed a pressure IED (improvised explosive device). The device got triggered probably due to some movement during sniffing and exploded, killing the canine, he said.

Chhattisgarh: Wreath laying ceremony of CRPF sniffer dog Cracker, who lost his life in an IED blast in Bijapur yesterday. pic.twitter.com/NJ8Bvrl10T a ANI (@ANI_news) April 8, 2017

Its handler, constable B Bhanu Prakash Reddy, received minor injuries on his hand, the official said. Cracker, a Belgian shepherd (Malinois) breed dog, was inducted into the CRPF battalion in December 2015, he said.


New Delhi:

Actor Kamal Hassan who has recently lost his elder brother Chandra Hassan is now trapped into another trouble.

Yes! The actor was caught in an accidental fire early morning on Saturday at his residence in Alwarpet, Chennai.

According to Hassan's twitter post his staff had rescued him from the situation though he had climbed down from the third floor with a lungs full of smoke.

However, Kamal is now all safe and no damage has been caused due to that sudden accident.

Fans and followers got scared and panic-stricken after the 62 years old actor's post popped up on his twitter wall.

Giving his staff a note of thanks the actor wrote " Thanks to my staff. Escaped a fire at my house. Lungs full of smoke, I climbed down from the third floor. I am safe No one hurt . Goodnight"

Thanks to my staff. Escaped a fire at my house. Lungs full of smoke, I climbed down from the third floor. I am safe No one hurt . Goodnight  Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) April 7, 2017

kamal further took to twitter to make his fans out of this panic and sudden shock after he started receiving millions of prayers and concern messages all over the world.

"Thanks for all the love and concern. Now off to sleep. Good night indeed", he wrote.

Thanks for all the love and concern. Now off to sleep. Good night indeed:)  Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) April 7, 2017

On the work front, the actor is now gearing up for his upcoming releases 'Vishwaroopam 2', 'Sabash Naidu' and others which all are going to hit the theatre at the end of 2017.

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Dwaine Glathar cant describe the smell of fear, but he knows what it smells like.

And yet, the Fremont man stayed calm during enemy attacks when he was a 24-year-old tank platoon leader in Vietnam.

Now 71, Glathar still remembers the falling shrapnel that sounded like hail during a night attack in Vietnam. He remembers friends lost during an ambush in Cambodia and another time, in Vietnam, when his tank hit a landmine.

Glathar is modest about the two Bronze Stars he earned, but proud  and deeply touched  when recalling the day a granddaughter sat on his lap at a veterans program at her school.

He will get another honor.

On May 1, Glathar will be among 650 Vietnam veterans from Nebraska making the daylong trip to Washington, D. C. Four charter planes will fly what will be the largest group of Vietnam veterans from any single state on whats called The Final Mission.

Glathar, who was born in Humboldt, is a 1964 graduate of Dawson-Verdon High School. He went to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he majored in animal science and was in the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC). He graduated from UNL and was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1968.

He entered military service that December and after more training would be assigned to the 13th Armored Battalion of the First Armored Division in the U.S. Army at Fort Hood.

Glathar had jungle training for two weeks in the Panama Canal Zone, learning survival techniques such as how to cross a river and eat off the land.

In what was called the Slide for Life, he hung onto a rope that was under his arms and secured to a pulley that carried him down from a cliff and across a river. He would rappel from a tower and a 120-foot cliff with a small waterfall.

You did some things you didnt think you could do, he remembered. I didnt think I would jump out of a 90-foot rappelling tower.

Glathar still had bruises on his shoulders from the ride over the river when he went to Vietnam about three weeks later.

He flew into Bien Hoa in November 1969 and would be assigned to the 2/11 Armored Cavalry, H company as a tank platoon leader.

In that capacity, he led a platoon of five tanks with four crew members in each tank. The group also included a medic and sometimes a Kit Carson scout  a South Vietnamese person whod see or hear things the Americans might not otherwise notice.

As a tank platoon leader, Glathar led a platoon and fought in one of the five tanks.

Three platoons (15 tanks) could go on a mission. If the company commander and the executive officer were gone, the senior platoon leader didnt have to be a tank commander.

Instead, he took over command of the entire company.

It was a situation Glathar faced on April 9, 1970. The attack occurred at a fire support base, called Fort Defiance, in Vietnam near the Cambodian border.

Glathar was in a compound track vehicle when the Viet Cong hit hard that night.

We were getting in mortars and rockets and people attacking us on all sides. A major firefight was going on, he said.

Glathar was on the radio working to calm the men, tell them to pace themselves with the firing, saying theyd be resupplied with ammunition shortly.

He called for a medivac to transport the wounded and ordered Lt. Bill Gregory to take a platoon and create an area big enough for the helicopter to land. Three or four wounded men were evacuated. Tanks were resupplied with ammunition.

And at some point in the night, the firefight ended.

Glathar, whod earn a Bronze Star for his actions, recalls a couple of things about that night.

One was how calm he was  falling back on his training  and how hed been awakened in the night by what sounded like hail, but which was shrapnel hitting the compound track vehicle.

He recalls something else: A small soldier nicknamed Frenchy, who picked up and carried his 6-foot-tall best friend and got him into a tank recovery vehicle during the firefight.

Theres no way he could have lifted him any other time, but he did that night, Glathar said.

When recalling this attack, Glathar paused to talk about fear.

You can smell fear, he said. There were many times I was afraid, but I think for the most part I was able to control it  You have to do the job and not worry about the fear. If you have fear, you panic and that causes problems.

The war continued and President Richard Nixon would make a decision to send American troops into Cambodia. Viet Cong were moving weapons, supplies and troops on the Ho Chi Minh Trail from that country into Vietnam.

Glathars platoon was among those sent to Cambodia.

We fought in a lot of different skirmishes on the way up there, he said.

The soldiers destroyed enemy caches of food, mostly rice, and weapons.

In mid-May, Glathar and his platoon were in an ambush, which began after the lead tank was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG). That stopped the whole tank company.

Another RPG hit the tank in front of Glathars.

Capt. Miles Sisson, the company commander, was blown off that tank and lost a leg. Tank commander Sgt. James Slick Diagle was killed. When that happened, Richard Cunningham, the tanks driver and Diagles friend, jumped out of the tank and got into the commanders cupola and began firing a machine gun. Cunningham was killed when another RPG hit that tank.

With Sisson wounded, Glathar became the company commander.

Trees fell as the tanks fired. A medivac came to carry away the wounded and the dead needed to be taken away.

The ambush didnt last long.

Looking back, Glathar recalls how just minutes before the ambush he and Diagle had shared a cigarette and talked.

Only 10 or 15 minutes later, Glathar was getting Diagle, whod been killed, out of the tank.

Glathars company would return to Vietnam. It was late May or early June when Glathars tank hit a mine.

There was an awful smell and he heard something that sounded far away at first, then got louder.

It was the voice of his driver talking over an intercom.

Are you OK? the driver asked.

Glathar and other men in the tank were fine, but the explosion had blown off the track and a road wheel and support roller.

Soldiers would repair the tank in about three days.

Glathar would become an executive officer with various duties. He left Vietnam in November 1970 and returned to the United States. He called his future wife, Cathie, who picked him up at the airport in Lincoln.

He returned home and attended a family Thanksgiving dinner. He was surprised when no one said anything about his being in Vietnam.

Years later, hed learn that his father and an uncle told other family members not to say anything, concerned that it might upset him.

Glathar would work for the Hormel Foods Corp., for 35 years, retiring in 2005, then worked part time at Granite Marble Interiors. He was involved with Fremont Area Habitat for Humanity for more than nine years.

He and Cathie married in 1974. They have a son, Dr. Matthew Glathar and daughter, Courtney Thompson, and four grandchildren.

In 2016, he shared a poignant moment with granddaughter Olivia, who invited him to a Veterans Day program at her school in Elkhorn. Then 8 years old, she came and sat on his lap for a moment  something reminiscent of what the girl did when she was little. Glathar was touched that his granddaughter was proud that he was a veteran.

I thought it was extra special, he said.

Glathar has learned not to take life for granted  not after seeing 19- and 20-year-old men lose their lives.

You never know how long life and friendships are going to last, he said. You need to take advantage of doing things with your life  not just for yourself, but for other people.
New Delhi:

While IPL season has already kicked the grounds by creating a buzz around the world, Knight Riders co-owner Shah Rukh Khan has something more special for his fans to be cheered up further.

On Friday, a match took place between Kolkata Knight Riders and Gujarat Lions and the heart throb of Bollywood has been seen cheering up for his team with son Abram sporting matching tattoos on their chest.

Sharing a adorable picture with Abram King Khan took to twitter and wrote "Punjab se Gujaratonly PyaarAmiKKR. Awesome @GautamGambhir @lynny50 my KKR boys & @VenkyMysore Thx Rajkot"

On the workfront, the 51 years old actor is now busy shooting his upcoming film 'The Ring'.

Also Read: Om Swami and Rakhi Sawant on News Nation today at 9:00 pm

Also starring Anushka Sharma the 'The Ring' is a movie helmed by Imtiaz Ali and expecting to hit the theatre in 2017.

For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Former Bigg Boss 10 contestant Om Swami, who was seen indulging in a scuffle with the audience and panelists at News Nation's studio in Noida after his sudden eviction from the reality show, will once again take part in another show of the news channel along with so-called controversy queen Rakhi Sawant.



The show will be aired at 9PM on Saturday night on News Nation.

Earlier in January this year, Om Swami was invited to take part in a debate on News Nation, but the studio turned into a battleground after he and his associate indulged in a brawl with other panellists and some audiences.

Om Swami was mimicked and mocked in News Nation's studio by the audience after he made objectionable remarks on women.

While, Rakhi Sawant is still in the news for her objectional comment on Valmiki, writer of mythological Hindu epic Ramayana. A warrant was issued against her on March 9 as the Valmiki community complained that their religious sentiments were hurt with her comments on a programme telecasted on a private channel in 2016, according to police.

On Friday, Rakhi Sawant was sought anticipatory bail from the Bombay High Court, which said it would give her transit bail instead.



Watch: 'Bawali Baba' show here:
New Delhi :

Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N Chandrababu Naidu welcomed the TU-142M Long Range Maritime Patrol aircraft of the Indian Navy which landed at INS Dega for the last time on Saturday morning to develop aircraft museum.

A special ceremony organised at INS Dega to formally welcome the aircraft at Visakhapatnam was attended by Union Civil Aviation Minister P Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Vice Admiral HCS Bisht, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command, MPs, MLAs and host of other Civil Dignitaries.

On arrival of the TU-142M, CM Naidu interacted with the crew members and exchanged mementos.

The Andhra Pradesh government had earlier requested the Ministry of Defence for allotment of one de-inducted TU-142M for converting it into a museum. The AP governments is being processed at the Ministry of Defence, New Delhi.

#WATCH TU-142 Indias maritime reconnaissance aircraft takes off from Arakkonam Naval Air Station (Tamil Nadu) on its last sortie. pic.twitter.com/MjJuvJVaUr  ANI (@ANI_news) April 8, 2017

Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA) would be coordinating all activities related to aircraft museum on behalf of Govt. of AP. The TU is likely to be dismantled and transported by road on trailers and re-assembled on the Beach Road near Kursura Submarine Museum.

With the imposing looks and a lethal punch to match, the TU-142M aircraft which have been nothing short of a Flying Destroyer, was given an impressive welcome as it landed for the last time at Visakhapatnam by a flypast of three Chetak helicopters, two Kamov helicopters, two Dorniers, and one P-8I Aircraft.

After having served the Indian Navy with pride and elan for 29 years, during which it accomplished 30,000 hrs of accident free flying, the TU-142M aircraft were given a befitting farewell on 29 March 2017 at INS Rajali, Indias premiere Naval Air Station in Arakkonam, Tamil Nadu.

Over the years, the TU-142M has rendered yeoman service to the nation and has taken part in all major exercises and operations including Operation Cactus in Maldives, Op Vijay in 1998, Op Parakram in 2002 and Anti-piracy Operations.

Also Read | 20 days of Yogi Adityanath Govt: All about decisions taken by BJP-led govt to 'change the face of Uttar Pradesh'

The Squadron was awarded Unit Citation by the Chief of Naval Staff in the year 2002 for outstanding professionalism and momentous contribution to the Service and adjudged the Best Frontline Squadron on numerous occasions over the years.

Earlier, the Chief Minister interacted with the family members of Shri B Sambha Murthy, Chargeman, Shri P Nagendra Rao, Shri RV Prasad Babu both Highly Skilled (HSK) Grade II, Shri N Chinna Rao and Shri G Srinivas both Tradesman Mate (TMM) of NAD who went missing in Indian Air Force AN-32 aircraft last July and distributed Cheques of Rs. 5 Lakhs as ex-gratia.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet his counterpart from Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina on Saturday for delegation level talks on wide-ranging issues, including defence and security. The two leaders are expected to sign 25 bilateral agreements.



During her four-day long visit, which comes after a gap of seven years, Hasina will also call on President Pranab Mukherjee, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and meet opposition leader Sonia Gandhi. She will visit Ajmer on Sunday and will meet Indian business leaders on Monday.



"The upcoming visit is expected to further expand the cordial and cooperative relationship between India and Bangladesh and build on the strong ties of friendship and trust between the two leaders," a joint statement issued by the two countries said earlier.

Read | India-Bangladesh to sign 25 pacts on defence, security; Teesta finds no mention



Hasina will also join a function at Manekshaw Centre to honour Indian Armed Forces members who embraced martyrdom in Bangladeshs War of Liberation in 1971.



Diplomatic quarters of both sides expected that the reciprocal visit of the Bangladesh premier would take the Dhaka-New Delhi "historic relations" to a new height unveiling newer dimensions of cooperation in various sectors including trade and commerce, economy and connectivity.



It is Hasina's first bilateral visit to India in her current term as prime minister.



Ramping up cooperation in defence and security will be a major focus area of the talks between Modi and Hasina and apart from an MoU to provide USD 500 million credit, another pact is likely to be inked to formalise regular defence engagements.



Issues like combating terrorism, containing radicalism and enhancing security cooperation between the two countries are likely to figure prominently besides stalemate over the Teesta pact during talks between Modi and Hasina.

(With PTI Inputs)

Read | PM Modi breaks protocol, travels through normal traffic to receive Sheikh Hasina at airport

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Bhind (MP):

After the drubbing at the hands of BJP in Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, the BSP has extended support to Congress for the crucial bypoll to Ater assembly seat, to be held on Sunday.

BSP has extended support to the Congress ahead of the Ater bypoll, Congress General Secretary in-charge of Madhya Pradesh Mohan Prakash told reporters.

Confirming the development, BSP district chief Gambhir Singh said, We have extended support to Congress for Ater bypoll to take revenge of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.

BSP enjoys good support in Bhind district, bordering Uttar Pradesh.

The Ater bypoll has become a prestige issue for senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia and MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Also read: BSP, Congress target Centre over EVM tampering issue in Rajya Sabha

While Congress wants to retain Ater seat as it belongs to former Leader of Opposition, Satyadev Katare, whose death necessitated the bypoll, BJP also wants to wrest it from Congress to continue with the partys winning streak.

Katare was close to Scindia and in order to cash in on the sympathy votes, Congress has fielded his son Hemant Katare from Ater to retain the seat.

However, BJP, in order to prove that it has become a supreme political force in the state, is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that it wrests Ater from Congress, just like it had snatched the Kukshi seat from earlier Leader of Opposition Late Jamuna Devi in 2011, even as Congress had won the Kukshi seat again in 2013.

Also read: Video | Mayawati challenges BJP to hold polls using ballot papers in Uttar Pradesh

Scindia addressed nearly 23 meetings in Ater constituency. During the rallies, he had alleged that the state government was neck deep involved in corruption whose glaring examples are Vyapam, Simhastha and mid-day meal scams, among others.

Chouhan also addressed nearly 20 poll meetings in Ater in support of the party candidate Arvind Singh Bhadoria, who won the poll from this seat in 2008. He made an appeal to the voters to vote for the party in the name of BJPs popular slogan Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas.

Apart from Ater, byelection for Bandhavgarh assembly segment in Umaria district will also be held tomorrow. It was necessitated as the seat had fallen vacant after MLA Gyan Singh was elected to the Lok Sabha in November last year. The main contest in Bandhavgarh (ST) seat is between Shivnarayan Singh of BJP and Savitri Singh of Congress.

The counting of votes will take place on April 13.

Meanwhile, state Joint Chief Electoral Officer S S Bansal said, For the first time in Madhya Pradesh, polling in both Bandhavgarh and Ater constituencies will be held with the help of VVPAT-enabled EVM machines.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

A couple was set ablaze allegedly by their relatives for performing `black magic' at Dubbak in Siddipet district of Telangana, died at a hospital in Hyderabad on Saturday, police said.

Sudarshan (56) and his wife Rajeshwari (52), residents of BC Colony at Dubbak, were tied to an electric pole in front of their house by their relatives and some villagers and was set on fire after pouring kerosene on them.A A A

The couple suffered 90 per cent burns and are said to be in critical condition, they said.

The relatives blamed the couple for the problems in their lives and accused them of practising black magic, police said.

Sudarshan's sister and some others rescued the couple, but both had suffered 90 per cent burn injuries and succumbed at Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad early this morning, said sub-inspector Srinivas of Bhoompally police station.

hose who led the mob were apparently close relatives of the couple, he said, adding that arrests would be made after identification of the culprits.

They were rescued by the police and villagers and shifted to Dubbak government hospital and later to Gandhi Hospital here for treatment, he said. Police have registered a case and are investigating the incident, the officer added.

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New Delhi:

A sniffer dog named Cracker who was martyred in an anti-Naxal operation in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh was paid tribute by CRPF on Saturday. Cracker had lost its life after an IED blast was triggered by Maoists at Chhattisgarh's Bijapur.

A CRPF jawan had also got injured in the incident that at around 1620 hrs when a Road Opening Party (ROP) of CRPF's 170th battalion was returning to its camp after a combing operation in Modakpal police station area, reportedly.

CRPF DIG Commandant 168 and Commandant 170 and other jawans paid tribute to the martyred dog.

ALSO READ | Chhattisgarh: CRPF's sniffer dog loses life in IED blast; handler injured

About the attack

The ROP, accompanied by a sniffer dog, had launched the operation from its camp in Chinna Kodepal village.

Just 2km ahead of the camp, the canine, named Cracker, sniffed a pressure IED (improvised explosive device). The device got triggered probably due to some movement during sniffing and exploded, killing the canine, he said.

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New Delhi:

In a faux pas, the Chief Protocol Officer anchoring a ceremony on signing of MoUs after talks Prime Minister Narendra Modi had with his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina, said two Prime Ministers to step down.

May I now request the two prime ministers to step down, said the Chief Protocol Officer. The comment left almost everyone at the event in splits.

What the officer meant was to request Modi and Hasina to come down from a raised platform and release a Hindi translation of unfinished memoirs of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The event had taken place at Hyderabad House where Modi and Hasina witnessed exchange of MoUs between the two sides and released the book besides launching a new bus and train service between Kolkata and Khulna in Bangladesh.

Also read: India, Bangladesh sign 22 MoUs, PM Modi assures Sheikh Hasina of early solution to Teesta water sharing issue

As his comments drew loud laughter from media persons and some officials, the protocol officer, after a pause, said, I now request the two prime ministers who have not stepped down to jointly release the Hindi translation of the unfinished memoir of Bangabandhu Mujibur Rahman.

Also read: India Bangladesh to tie up for anti-terror cooperation: PM Narendra Modi

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New Delhi:

After signing 22 MoUs with Bangladesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday addressed a gathering at Delhi's Manekshaw Centre for Sommanona Ceremony. The Sommanona Ceremony has been organised to honour Indian soldiers martyred in 1971 war.

Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina and PM Modi honoured kin of Indian soldiers who lost their lives in action in 1971 war at Sommanona Ceremony in Delhi.

Here are the updates:

# After press meet, PM Modi and Bangladesh PM Hasina left for Manekshaw Centre for programme to honour Indian soldiers martyred in 1971 war

# The people who forms these mindset think that terrorism is bigger than humanity, they also think destruction to be bigger than progress: PM Modi

# There is a mindset whose value system is not based on humanity. Instead, it is based on violence and terror: PM Modi

# Against the common ideologies of progress, there is a mindset which motivates terrorism in South Asia: PM Modi

# Without being selfish, we wished success of the whole region. It is a matter of disappointment that against the two ideologies, South Asia has an opposing mindset: PM Modi

# Along with India, all neighbouring countries should usher on the path of progress: PM Modi

# Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina and PM Modi honour kin of Indian soldiers who lost their life in action in 1971 war at Sommanona Ceremony in Delhi

# PM Modi and Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina at Delhi's Manekshaw Centre for Sommanona Ceremony to honour Indian soldiers martyred in 1971 war

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New Delhi:

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina started off her official visit to India on Friday with a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, She was later joined by her Indian counterpart PM Narendra Modi. The duo are held bilateral talks on defence and energy issues and signed 22 MoUs.

Here are the live updates:

Sheikh Hasina on MoUs:



#Bangladesh Navvrsho is 14 April so advance Shubho Navvrsho.



#People to people connect is our strength. Also open high commission in Gohahati recently.



#We have signed a number of the agreement. This reflect our relationship.



#Teesta has also been discussed.



# We also discussed on anti-dumping duties, discussed initiative towards power and energy sector.



# I am really grateful to PM Modi. He was receptive to growing trade deficit.



#Greater connectivity is vital for development.



#We are fighting against terrorism and border security.

#India has attended commendable development in economics, science, space. Bangladesh economy is also growing approx 7 percent.

PM Modi speech:

#Will produce a documentary jointly to mark 25 years of Bangaldesh's foundation

#River Teesta is important for both nations. Pleased that our guest is today CM West Bengal. Only my govt and your govt could finalise Teesta agreement.

# India extends 500 million USD credit line for Bangladesh defence

#Training of Bangladesh civil servants already concluded. 1500 judicial officers training in our academy. We have the greatest admiration for Sheikh Hasina for zero tolerance policy against terrorism



#PM Haseena and I want to diversified our commercial engagement. Major part of reform is business and industry of two country

#Today together with WB bus and train links between Kolkata and Khulna and Radhikapur stored today. We are also happy to see progress of 2 way.



#India is continued to willing partnership to achieve power and energy



#We are long standing trusted partner of Bangladesh. Fruits of cooperation benefit of people.



#60 MW power was added today. Supply of 500 MW already committed.



#We have also agreed to finance diesel pipeline.



#Our countries are entering lon- term agreement. We have also agreed timeble till the pipeline is constructed.



#Happy to announce 4.5 billion dollar loan to Bangladesh for investment in key sectors

#Cooperation in new area, some high technology area deeper connect our youth and society. Working in the field of electronic,cyber security,civil nuclear energy .

#We agreed that agenda and our cooperation remains focused on purposeful: PM Modi



#Our partnership clear recognition of our leadership. Liberation of Bangladesh deeply touched. Indian soldiers and Veer mukti fought together against reign of terror: PM Modi



#Your (Sheikh Hasina's) visit to India comes at auspicious time just before of Pahila Baishakha, Bangladesh Shubho Navvrsho, marking golden era of friendship: PM Modi



#1:24 PM: IMP MoUs signed: 1. Judicial assistance 2. Extending third line of credit. 3. Peaceful uses of outer space 4. Passenger and crew services on coastal protocol

#1:22 PM: PM Modi and Sheikh Hasina sign 22 MoUs on defence and nuclear cooperation

#11:45 AM:Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina meets PM Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House

#9:45 AM: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina pays tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat, Delhi

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and PM Modi at Rashtrapati Bhawan pic.twitter.com/rMNjtIVnGe  ANI (@ANI_news) April 8, 2017

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gets ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi. pic.twitter.com/H6kP00JHhd  ANI (@ANI_news) April 8, 2017

During her four-day long visit, which comes after a gap of seven years, Hasina will also call on President Pranab Mukherjee, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and meet opposition leader Sonia Gandhi. She will visit Ajmer on Sunday and will meet Indian business leaders on Monday.

"The upcoming visit is expected to further expand the cordial and cooperative relationship between India and Bangladesh and build on the strong ties of friendship and trust between the two leaders," a joint statement issued by the two countries said earlier.

Read | India-Bangladesh to sign 25 pacts on defence, security; Teesta finds no mention



Hasina will also join a function at Manekshaw Centre to honour Indian Armed Forces members who embraced martyrdom in Bangladeshs War of Liberation in 1971.



Diplomatic quarters of both sides expected that the reciprocal visit of the Bangladesh premier would take the Dhaka-New Delhi "historic relations" to a new height unveiling newer dimensions of cooperation in various sectors including trade and commerce, economy and connectivity.



It is Hasina's first bilateral visit to India in her current term as prime minister.



Ramping up cooperation in defence and security will be a major focus area of the talks between Modi and Hasina and apart from an MoU to provide USD 500 million credit, another pact is likely to be inked to formalise regular defence engagements.



Issues like combating terrorism, containing radicalism and enhancing security cooperation between the two countries are likely to figure prominently besides stalemate over the Teesta pact during talks between Modi and Hasina.

(With PTI Inputs)

Read | PM Modi breaks protocol, travels through normal traffic to receive Sheikh Hasina at airport

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Its no secret that its a financially difficult time for school districts in the state of Nebraska.

With the state facing a $900 million deficit, its hard enough as it is for public schools to receive adequate funding, and any luxury expenses are out of the question.

With that being said, though, local private and business partners are helping the Fremont Public School District get ahead in terms of the technology that it offers to students.

For the second straight year, the FPS District was the recipient of a substantial $7,500 Big Red Keno grant through the organizations Science & Math Program. In February, Big Red Keno representatives announced through a released statement that it was awarding eight youth-serving organizations and public schools in and around the Omaha area a grand total of $60,000.

In 2016, Fremont Middle School was the recipient of the grant, installing six 3-D printers  allowing students to create three-dimensional objects  in FMSs industrial technology lab. Big Red Keno awarded FHS the same grant.

Fremont Public Schools Superintendent Mark Shepard said during a Friday morning demonstrational gathering inside of the high school that without its partnership with Big Red Keno, the district wouldnt have the necessary resources to provide its students with this technology.

Buying six 3-D printers in these current financial times would not be something that would fit within our budget, Shepard said. And probably not this year, probably not next year and maybe not even the third year out. Without these partnerships  public and private  we would not have this opportunity. It really just promotes all of the really great things that happen every day at our schools.

Utilizing 3-D printers helps students learn the ins and outs of fine-tuned measuring. When creating an object, if one wrong measurement is inserted into the computer that controls the printer the prototype wont look correct.

In addition, using the programming associated with the 3-D printers requires students to critically think and be engaged in their work. It just so happens that its pretty fun for them, too.

Bill Harvey, Big Red Kenos general counsel, said his organization enjoys providing students with mind-stimulating technology.

We think its great to be able to give kids the opportunity to see this kind of leading-edge technology, Harvey said. They dont realize it now, but when they get older this is going to give them a real advantage just in terms of how they think. This kind of machinery can really just help you think in a different way about stuff.
Srinagar:

Opposition National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Monday took support from separatist-leaning Jamaat-e-Islami in the upcoming Lok Sabha bypolls in Kashmir to fight the RSS and to protect the identity of Kashmiris.

Making an appeal for unity against communal and anti-Kashmir forces in the by-elections in Kashmir, Abdullah said this was not about small ideological differences and issues between various entities in Kashmir, but about the larger battle against BJP and RSS.

Today this is not a battle between Farooq Abdullah and this alliance but a larger battle for our very survival with dignity and honour. Today all of us, including our brothers in Jamaat-e-Islami, have to come together to fight RSS or our identity and honour will be wiped out, he said.

I seek your support so that we can all collectively fight against the RSS with honour and courage, Abdullah said at an election rally in Kangan area of Ganderbal district.

Jamaat-e-Islami was a constituent of the Hurriyat Conference for many years before opting out in the aftermath of the 2003 split in the conglomerate.

Though the party has distanced itself from politics, it continues to espouse the cause for resolution of the Kashmir issue as per the UN resolutions or through tripartite talks between India, Pakistan and Kashmiri leadership.

Abdullah accused the ruling PDP of shaming and embarrassing the Muslims across the country by allying with the RSS for political power.

RSS represents decades of suppression of Muslims across the country and has openly advocated the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmirs special status since 1947. Today, both as a Kashmiri and a Muslim, I am disappointed and ashamed that PDP sold its 2014 mandate and its conscience to attain political power, the former chief minister said.

Abdullah, who is the joint NC-Congress candidate for the bypoll to Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency, said the PDP had shamed and embarrassed Muslims in general and Kashmiri Muslims in particular by allying with RSS in the state.

The former chief minister said after selling PDP to the RSS, Chief Minister Mehbooba was now trying her best to sell the rights, dignity and honour of Kashmiris to the RSS.

She doesnt leave a single opportunity to heap praise on the RSS, the BJP and even those leaders of the Sangh Parivar who have openly advocated the destruction of minorities, he said.

The National Conference had never bowed down before bigoted, communal and anti-Muslim forces and would never join hands with them for power, he added.

Hitting out at the BJP for not fielding a single Muslim candidate in the recent assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Abdullah said Mehbooba now expects Prime Minister Narendra Modi to follow the footsteps of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Both Mehbooba Mufti and Narendra Modi are trying to fool us as their words dont match what is in their hearts, he said.

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad also addressed the gathering and implored the people to put up a united and spirited fight against communal and anti-Kashmir forces.

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Jammu:

Pakistani Army violated the ceasefire on Saturday along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir by resorting to firing on forward post, drawing Indian Army to retaliate.

"Pakistani Army fired indiscriminately from small arms and automatic weapons from 1545 hours on Indian Army posts along the LoC in Noushera belt of Rajouri district," a defence spokesman said.

Army troops deployed on forward posts retaliated and the exchange was continuing till last reports came in.

This is the fifth violation of the ceasefire this month.

On April 5, Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire along the LoC in Poonch district by shelling forward posts with mortar bombs.

Also Read: Ceasefire violations: India's Deputy High Commissioner summoned by Pak govt

On April 4, Pakistani Army fired mortar shells on Indian Army posts along the LoC in Bhimbher Gali sector of Rajouri district.

On April 3, Pakistani troops had shelled mortar bombs on forward posts in Balakote sector of Rajouri district.

In the second ceasefire violation on April 3, Pakistani troops had shelled Indian posts along the LoC in Digwar area in Poonch sector.

As per the reports, heavy mortar shelling in Digwar area has created fear psychosis among the area dwellers. In the same area, a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO), Naib Subedar S Sanayaima Som, was killed in an improvise explosive device (IED) blast along the LoC in Poonch sector on April 1.

It may be recalled there were four violations of the ceasefire along the LoC in Poonch in March.

On March 9, army jawan Deepak Jagannath Ghadge was killed when Pakistani soldiers initiated indiscriminate and unprovoked firing along the LoC in Poonch.

In 2016 there were 228 instances of ceasefire violation along the LoC, while there were 221 instances of ceasefire violation along the International Border (IB).

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Srinagar:

The National Conference on Saturday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making a statement that Kashmiri youths should choose between tourism and terrorism. The National Conference said that the remark was far from ground realities.

NC working president Omar Abdullah also said that linking tourism and terrorism was flawed at the outset as Kashmir received the highest number of tourists before the advent of militancy in the Valley in 1988.

He also hit out at Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti for failing to bring a peaceful solution to the problem in the state.

Whether the message was right or not, you can guess yourself. Militancy or terrorism did not erupt due to lack of tourism. The highest number of tourists visited the state a year before the militancy erupted, Omar said after holding an election meeting at Pulwama in South Kashmir, 35 kms from here.

The former chief minister said if terrorism started in the state despite a tourism boom, it was obvious that there was no relation between the two.

Also read: It's 'BJP tsunami' in UP, opposition should forget 2019 general elections, plan for 2024 elections: Omar Abdullah

This is a political issue and it was Mehbooba Muftis duty to present the real picture before the Prime Minister. (But) She failed in her duty and that is what the PM said it, he added.

Questioning the rationale behind linking tourism and terrorism, he asked what should the youths do who hail from areas where there is no scope for tourism.

If you say that the youth here have to choose between tourism and terrorism, then tell me about those areas where there is not much scope for tourism. Are we directly pushing people in those areas towards terrorism? It is easy to indulge in such statements, but such statements have no relations with the ground realities, Omar said.

Also read: Former J&K CM Omar Abdullah hits out at center for frequently changing aims of demonetisation

Pulwama, which is part of Anantnag Parliamentary seat where bypolls will be held on April 12, is the worst-hit district where there is a heavy presence of militants and its sympathisers.

Asked about the ruling PDPs accusation that the NC rigged assembly elections in 1987 which gave rise to militancy in the state, Omar said the ruling party should talk about its achievements rather than talking about the past.

Her (Mehboobas) government is two-and-a-half-year-old now and Modi government is three-year-old. Let them show what they have done in these years, rather than going to 1987.

There have been many elections since 1987. The people made their decision after 1987 many a times. Mehbooba should not hide her failures behind 1987. Let her talk of 2015, 2016 and 2017 when she failed to raise our issues in front of the Prime Minister (at a rally on April 2) at Udhampur, he alleged.

Omar said the Chief Minister had a good opportunity to raise the issues of the state but she choose only to congratulate the Prime Minister on win in Uttar Pradesh.

She had such a good opportunity to speak about the state, but she only said two things one she congratulated the PM for UP win, and that she was grateful to the PM for saving her government in 2016. This is her leadership and that is why she is talking about 1987, he said.

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Daman:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to address a public rally and inaugurate development works during his day-long visit to Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli on April 17.

Modi will lay foundation stone of some projects and distribute assistance to beneficiaries of government welfare schemes, the Administration of UT of Dadra and Nagar Haveli said.

On the occasion, around 21,000 beneficiaries will receive help kits under different schemes, said Daman and Diu Publicity Secretary Vikram Singh Malik.

The beneficiaries will include those covered under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana and Aawas Yojana, among others.

Also, appointment letters will be given to youths who were provided jobs during a `Rozgar Mela' organised recently and title deeds will be distributed to tribals under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, Malik said.

The rally will be held at Lions English School in Silvassa in the afternoon.

Modi is scheduled to arrive at Surat in South Gujarat on April 16 evening.

Also Read : PM Modi lashes out at Pakistan, says it breeds and encourages terrorism

His programmes the next day also include inauguration of a Rs 400-crore hospital in Surat run by a welfare trust, a cattle feed plant and an ice-cream facility of Surat District Co-operative Milk Producers Union at Bajipura village in Tapidistrict.

The PM will inaugurate phase-1 of an irrigation project at Botad in Saurashtra, and also the lay foundation stone for phase-2 of the scheme.

The scheme, Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Irrigation(SAUNI), envisages filling 115 dams in the parched Saurashtra region by diverting flood waters overflowing from the Sardar Sarovar Dam across the Narmada river.

This is Modi's second visit to his home state this year. On March 8, he addressed a convention of women sarpanch at Gandhinagar.

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Srinagar:

Violence marred polling in the Srinagar Lok Sabha bye-elections on Sunday as six people were killed and several injured in firing by security forces on rampaging mobs in various parts of the constituency, with merely 5.84 per cent voters turnout recorded till 1500 hours.

While two people each were killed Pakherpora in Chrar-e-Sharief and Beerwah areas of Budgam district, one death was reported from Chadoora area of the same district and another in Magam town, which is known as the gateway to Gulmarg.

Almost 70 per cent of the polling booths in Budgam district were abandoned by the polling staff due to the spate of violent protests in several areas, officials said.

Also read: Watch | Farooq Abdullah hits out at PM Modi, says Kashmiri stone-pelters giving their lives to decide destiny of India

Army was called out to help security forces quell a rampaging mob which pelted stones and hurled petrol bombs to set a polling booth ablaze in the Ganderbal district of the Srinagar constituency.

Hundreds of protestors stormed a polling station at Pakherpora in Chrar-e-Sharief area of Budgam district and ransacked a building housing a polling booth, officials said, adding the security forces fired several warning rounds to disperse the mob, which did not relent.

Six persons were injured in the firing, of whom two, 20-year-old Mohammad Abbas and 15-year-old Faizaan Ahmad Rather, succumbed to bullet wounds.

In another incident, security forces opened fire to quell a stone-pelting mob in Ratxuna Beerwah area, leaving one Nissar Ahmed dead. At the Daulatpura in Chadoora assembly segment of Budgam district, one person, identified as Shabir Ahmed, was killed in firing by security personnel.

A youth, Adil Farooq, succumbed to multiple pellet injuries in the Magam town, about 20 kms from here. One Aqib Wani was shot dead as police opened fire on a crowd of protestors in the Beerwah area in the afternoon.

Also read: PDP, NC, Cong battle it out in Kashmir LS by-polls

The officials said the BSF, deployed for security of the polling stations, fired live rounds as they were not provided with pellet guns.

Security force personnel were forced to abandon two polling stations in Chadoora area as they came under heavy stone-pelting by mobs, they said.

Violence marred polling in some other parts of the Srinagar parliamentary seat as stone pelting incidents were reported from over two dozen other places across the three districts of Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal which constitute the Srinagar constituency, they said.

The voter turnout was abysmally low till 1500 hours with only 5.84 per cent of the 12.61 lakh electorate exercising their franchise, the officials said. Large number of voters in most of the areas chose to give polling a miss, even in places like Ichgam, Maloora and Budgam which have traditionally seen high turnout.

Opposition National Conference leaders including its President and candidate, Farooq Abdullah, and his son Omar attacked the Mehbooba Mufti-led J&K government for having completely failed to ensure smooth conduct of the polls.

In Chenar area of Ganderbal district, one Mohammed Ramzan Rather and his wife and other villagers faced the wrath of angry protestors when they were on their way to vote. He was rushed to Kangan district hospital with a bleeding head.

The nearby locality of Wakura wore a deserted look after crowds pelted stones at security forces in the morning, as securitymen fired several rounds of tear gas shells to disperse the protestors.

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New Delhi:

All embassy officials are safe after the terror attack in the Swedish capital of Stockholm which took place very close to the Indian embassy, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Friday night.



I am in touch with Indian Ambassador in Sweden. The attack was very close to Indian Embassy. Our embassy officials are safe, Swaraj tweeted after the attack in Sweden in which at least two persons were killed.



Indians in Stockholm: Please note the Emergency number: 0768982764, Counsellor : 0734262097, she said in another tweet.



A large beer truck crashed into an upscale department store in central Stockholm today, killing at least two people, according to Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, who called the crash a terror attack.

Read | Stockholm attack: 3 dead as a truck crashes into store near Indian Embassy; Swedish PM calls it terror attack

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Lucknow:

Stressing that Ram temple in Ayodhya was a matter of belief, Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti on Saturday said that she was ready to go to jail for it.

Ram temple is a matter of belief for me and I have immense pride in it...if I have to go to jail for it I will go, if I have to hang myself for it I will do it, the firebrand BJP leader, who was part of Ram temple movement, told newspersons after meeting Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Asked if the issue of Ram temple construction in Ayodhya figured in the talks with Adityanath, she said, We dont need to talk about Ram temple...we (Uma and Yogi) are not strangers on this issue... Yogijis guru Mahant Avaidnath was the leader of the temple movement.

The Union minister said that since the matter is pending in the Supreme Court she would refrain from speaking much on it but pointed out that the apex court has noted that the matter could be resolved outside the court.

Also read: SC reserves order on plea for restoration of conspiracy charges against Advani, Joshi, Uma Bharti in Babri case

The Supreme Court had recently reserved its order on a petition seeking restoration of conspiracy charges against Bharti and other senior BJP leaders, including L K Advani and MM Joshi, in the Babri Masjid demolition case.

Also read: Uma Bharti leads cleanliness drive at Ganga's Kedarghat, Manikarnika and Jad Bharat

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Dehradun:

To bypass the recent Supreme Court order banning Liquor sale withing 5 KM of National and state highways Uttarakhand govt. on Saturday denotified all it's 64 state highways and declared them as district roads.

However, the reason stated for the action was "practical problems in the maintenance" of these state highways.

"Highway specifications are posing practical problems in the maintenance, development and expansion of state highways. Hence those falling in the area of local civic bodies will be denotified as state highways and classified as other district roads," an official release said Friday.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the state cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, it said.

Also Read: Man behind Supreme Court ban on liquor getting constant threat calls after verdict

There are 64 state highways in Uttarakhand out of which 63 are located in local civic body areas.

The cabinet also decided to give stamp duty exemption for five years to farmers who take loans after mortgaging their cultivable land.

The reason for de-notification of the state highways was population pressure, heavy construction along them, the presence of sewer, drainage lines, transformers and electric poles which obstruct their development and extension, the release said.

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New Delhi:

Tibetian leader-in-exile Dalai Lama termed India as a perfect example of harmony and peace during a press conference in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday.



Later in the day, the Dalai Lama will address people at Tawang's parade ground. Some 60,000 people are expected to attend the address.

Here are the live updates:

#Dalai lama on China

Things are changing. So, the political system should also change. Now people in China have started to talk against the government openly in restaurants and buses. The government cannot force upon the people for too long. So they should let the change take place.



#Now China need another cultural movement under the communist party. The last movement was violent, it didn't go well. So this movement should be more compassionate.



#I admire Marxist equal system. But I'm totally against Leninism.



#The totalitarian system and the closed system is doing much damage to China. Otherwise China is a hardworking country. Chinese people are wonderful and cultural. But the government is totalitarian.



#The real ruler of the world is humanity.



#He is working for the farmers. India's development should be rural focused

#Modi is quite active. When he was Gujarat CM, he invited me to Gujarat and he came meet me in Hotel. He is very good.



#The secular concept of India is in practice since 3000 years



#A lady asked about his prediction of a Woman Dalai Lama... He said that might also happen



On reincarnation

Q: China says that the 15th Dalai Lama will take birth in China?

A: Let China first come clear with their theory on rebirth.

Q: People in Tawang say that you will take birth here?

A: Everyone, Chinese Buddhists want me to take rebirth in China. Some say in Ladakh and even in the West too...

We will discuss the importance of this institution again. In my late 80s or early 90s one very important meeting will take place and there we will discuss this.



On reincarnation: Where will the next Dalai Lama take birth. Dalai Answers: No one knows

#Our relation is something very special: Guru-Chela relationship; But now the Guru has become Chela and the Tibetan Chela has become Guru

#India is land of Buddha. You Indians are our Guru. We are your Chela. We are not just Chela, we are reliable chelas. We preserved Nalandan Thoughts for thousands of years.

#And I came to Tawang

#Thousands of Tibetans were killed. In the one week I tried my best to cool down the situation, but it was out of control. And finally, I escaped to the Indian border putting my life at risk.

#Emotionally I'm attached to this reason. On March 10, 1959 the uprising happened and on March 18, 10 o'clock Lhasa time I escaped.

#400 million Chinese Buddhists are there

#Preservation of Tibetan language is very important not only for Tibetan but for the whole Buddhist world and particularly the Chinese Buddhists.

#Tibetan language is the best to express ancient Nalandan Thoughts. Everything in Sanskrit has been translated into Tibetan thousands of years back.

#I retired from politics in 2011. All political matters are handled by the elected Tibetan Government in exile. However I'm committed to promote and preserve Tibetan culture as well as preserve the Tibetan ecology

#My commitment for Tibet is always there

#I'm committed to promote peace and harmony among various religions

#India is a perfect example of peace and harmony: Dalai Lama



Amid the opposition from China, exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Saturday morning reached Tawang Monastery in Arunachal Pradesh.



Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu accompanied the Dalai Lama during his seven-hour journey from Dirang, about 130km from Tawang.



In Tawang, Dalai Lama spent three days after fleeing from Tibet in 1959 and is also considered the first home of the Dalai Lama in India.



Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh sparked a row between India and China with a series of verbal duel between the countries.



Also Read: Arunachal MP criticises China for objecting to Dalai Lamas visit in state



The issue also featured in the Lok Sabha debate on Friday with a member from the state saying Beijing has no business to tell India what it should do or not do in the context of its guest.

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Lucknow:

Amid the row over Vande Mataram, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday hit out at those refusing to sing the national song saying it reflected their narrow mindedness.

Some people are saying that we will not sing Vande Mataram... we want this country to move ahead in the 21st century and the matter of dispute is that we will sing Vande Mataram or not...this is a matter of concern, he said.

We will have to find a way out to overcome this narrow-mindedness, Adityanath said. The Chief Minister was speaking at a book release function at the Raj Bhawan here.

ALSO READ | 20 days of Yogi Adityanath Govt: All about decisions taken by BJP-led govt to 'change the face of Uttar Pradesh'

His remarks came against the backdrop of Samajwadi Party corporators protesting a proposal to make singing of the national song compulsory at commencement of proceedings of a meeting of Allahabad municipal corporation.

The recent incident came days after municipal corporations in Meerut and Varanasi too witnessed similar ruckus over the issue.

Recalling the 150th anniversary functions of the Allahabad High Court, the Chief Minister said it had commenced with the rendition of Vande Matram.

ALSO READ | Ram Temple is matter of belief, ready to go to jail for it, says Uma Bharti

It was such a good sight... it was a grand function, a historical one. The Prime Minister of the country was present at the concluding function. The Chief Justice of India and the Governor of the state were also present. The function itself started with the national song, the chief minister noted.

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The memorial Mass will be 10 a.m. Wednesday, April 12, at St. Mary's Catholic Church in West Point. Military honors will be conducted at the church following Mass. Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m. Tuesday at Minnick Funeral Home in West Point with a vigil service and Knights of Columbus Rosary at 7 p.m. Interment will be in St. Michael's Cemetery at a later date.
New Delhi:

Discovered nearly three years ago, a large space rock known as 2014 JO25 is expected fly by Earth at a safe distance of about 1.1 million miles (1.8 million kilometres), or about 4.6 times the distance from Earth to the moon, as reported by US space agency NASA. This large asteroid with an estimated size of 2000 feet will fly past Earth on April 19.

"Although there is no possibility for the asteroid to collide with our planet, this will be a very close approach for an asteroid of this size", NASA was quoted as saying.

In addition, the confrontation on April 19 is also "the closest this asteroid has come to Earth for at least the last 400 years and will be its closest approach for at least the next 500 years", NASA added.

The next known encounter of an asteroid of comparable size will occur in 2027 when the half-mile-wide (800-meter-wide) asteroid 1999 AN10 will fly by at one lunar distance.

On Apr 19, #Asteroid 2014 JO25 will safely pass Earth by 1.1 million mi/1.8 million km, or 4.6 lunar distances. https://t.co/ppzPM1gfhZ pic.twitter.com/R89Nq0vmAf  Asteroid Watch (@AsteroidWatch) April 6, 2017

The asteroid will approach Earth from the direction of the sun and will become visible in the night sky after April 19.

It is predicted to brighten to about magnitude 11, when it could be visible in small optical telescopes for one or two nights before it fades as the distance from Earth rapidly increases, NASA added.

Read more: That's the Great Red Spot: NASA Hubble telescope releases stunning picture of the gas giant

This approach can be seen as the closest by only known space rock of this size, since Toutatis, a 3.1-mile (five-kilometre) asteroid, which approached within about four lunar distances in September 2004, as reported by NASA.

Read more: Atmosphere with traces of water and methane around Earth-like planet detected, points to alien life

For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Stockholm:

Swedish police said on Saturday that a man arrested on "suspicion of terrorist crime" was likely to be the driver of a truck that ploughed into a crowd of people in central Stockholm a day earlier.

"We suspect that the man who was arrested is the perpetrator," Stockholm police spokesman Lars Bystrom told AFP.

The attack killed four people and injured 15, nine of them seriously. Police had earlier said they had detained a man who"matched the description" of a photo released of a suspect wearing a dark hoodie and military green jacket. Bystrom said the arrested man "could be the same person in the picture".

Also Read: Sweden terror attack: All Indian embassy officials safe, emergency numbers issued

According to the newspaper Aftonbladet, the individual in the photo is a 39-year-old man of Uzbek origin and a supporter of the Islamic State (IS) group. If confirmed as a terror attack, it would be Sweden's first such deadly assault.

Also Read: Stockholm attack: 3 dead as a truck crashes into store near Indian Embassy; Swedish PM calls it terror attack

The attack occurred just before 3:00 pm (1300 GMT) when a stolen beer truck slammed into the corner of the bustling Ahlens store and the popular pedestrian street Drottninggatan.

Friday's attack was the latest in a string similar assault adults with vehicles in Europe, including in London, Berlinand the southern French city of Nice.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

According to the reports in Syrian state media, 7 people including 4 children were killed in the US air strikes on a govt. airbase in the warn-torn country.

Initial reports suggested that 9 people were killed but later Talal Barazi, the governor of Homs province clarified that 9 wounded and 7 including 4 children were killed.

However, it was not immediately clear whether those killed were all civilians or Army personnel were also among them.

Earlier on Friday morning, around 60 US Tomahawk cruise missiles hit al Shayrat airbase near Homs in central Syria in retaliation for an alleged chemical attack by ruling govt in the rebel-held village.

Read More: Syrian teenager thanks US President Trump for his 'action' after chemical attack

A local man living near the airbase told BBC A local man living near al Shayrat told a BBC that the strikes were "massive" and he believed many civilians living near the airbase could have been killed.The strikes were so massive that destroyed the air base completely.

The US attack was the first direct intervention of US against President Bashar al-Assad's govt. in more than six years of war.

The action resulted in fresh commotion between US and Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin called the strikes on Syria as an aggression against a sovereign state and demanded an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Today

First Annual Marine Corps League Bass Tournament, 8 a.m. to noon, Lake Wanahoo. All fish will be catch and release, and will be photographed with a digital scale or a ruler/tape for judging. The top three biggest or longest fish of the day wins. The entry fee is $10 for adults. The fee is free for children 16 and under (children must be accompanied by an adult). Park permit and fishing license is required. The tournament is sponsored by the Fremont Area Marine Corps League.

HomeStore, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., 701 E. Dodge St., Fremont. The HomeStore sells donated items at discounted prices. Proceeds support the mission of Fremont Area Habitat for Humanity.

Boaters Safety Course, 9 a.m., Fremont Airboat Clubs club house, 3159 Big Island Road. This is open to everyone 14 years and older. To register, go to the Nebraska Game and Parks website at www.outdoornebraska.gov. A lunch will be provided.

Craft show, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Fremont Eagles Club. Lunch will be available.

Snyder Librarys 2nd Annual Book Sale, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Snyder Auditorium. All books and magazines will be available for a donation (there is no set cost).

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 10 a.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

American Red Cross blood drive, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Fremont Mall. To make an appointment, download the free Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit www.redcrossblood.org or call 800-733-2767.

Friends of Keene Memorial Library Book Sale, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Fremont City Auditorium. Admission is free. Everyone is welcome.

MainStreet of Fremonts 13th Annual Easter Egg Hunt, 10 a.m., John C. Fremont Park. Participants are asked to meet at Eighth Street and Park Avenue. Everyone should bring their own basket to collect the eggs and should arrive no later than 9:50 a.m. Art activities, face painting and storytime will immediately follow the Easter egg hunt and will be held at the Fremont Area Art Association, 92 W. Sixth St. Parents are encouraged to bring their camera to get photos of their children with the Easter Bunny.

Fremont Knights of Columbus Phil Sheridan Council 1497 Annual Easter Egg Hunt, 11 a.m., Archbishop Bergan Elementary School, 1515 N. Johnson Road. The school gymnasium will be open from 9:30 a.m. to noon for games, crafts and photos with the Easter Bunny. The egg hunt will begin at 11 a.m. Weather permitting, the hunt will be held outside with separate areas for each of the four age groups, starting with ages 3 and under, then ages 4-6 and followed by ages 7-9 and 10-12. Afterward, the Easter Bunny will award Godfathers Pizza gift certificates to those who have found special items hidden in their hunt area.

Storytime, 11-11:30 a.m., Keene Memorial Library auditorium, Fremont.

Alcoholics Anonymous womens heart to heart group, noon, Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Pictures with the Easter Bunny, noon to 5 p.m., Fremont Mall.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 5:15 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Fremont Izaak Walton April Family Dinner, 6:30 p.m., Main Lodge, 2560 W. Military Ave., Fremont. Spaghetti, meat balls, salad, dessert, coffee or juice will be served for $8. Twenty free games of bingo with prizes will follow dinner. Everyone is welcome.

Fremont Bull Riding Classic, 7 p.m., Christensen Field Indoor Arena, Fremont. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. Mutton bustin will be at 6:15 p.m. with registration beginning at 5:30 p.m. It is limited to the first 20 kids registered. Bull riding starts at 7 p.m. with the Wild Steer Ride at intermission. A dance featuring music by Fever & The Funkhouse will begin at 9:30 p.m. Adult tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the gate. Childrens tickets (12 and under) are $1 at the gate. Dance-only tickets are $10 per person (free with a bull riding ticket). For more information, call 402-720-0805 or visit www.bullridingclassic.com.

Narcotics Anonymous open meeting, 7:30 p.m., United Faith Church, 218 W. Gardiner St., Valley.

Narcotics Anonymous Lie Is Dead Group, 8 p.m., Care Corps, Fremont.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 10:30 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Sunday

Alcoholics Anonymous Happy Sober Sunday Group, 9 a.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 10 a.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Narcotics Anonymous Seekers of Serenity Group, 10:30 a.m., Care Corps, Fremont.

Friends of Keene Memorial Library Book Sale, noon to 5 p.m., Fremont City Auditorium. There will be a half price or bag/box sale all day  whichever is cheaper to the buyer (no limit). Admission is free.

Fremont Mall Easter EGGstravaganza Egg Hunt, noon, Fremont Mall. The egg hunt is for ages 0-12. Prizes will be awarded. Participants are asked to bring their own basket.

Pictures with the Easter Bunny, noon to 5 p.m., Fremont Mall.

Easter Family Fun Day, 2-5 p.m., Camp Fontanelle. Easter egg hunts will be at 2:30 p.m. for ages 1-4, 3:15 p.m. for 1-8-year olds and 4 p.m. for 1 and older. There also will be egg dyeing and Easter videos. You also can sign up and tree climb to collect eggs hanging from the branches or try your hand at the egg drop on the zipline ($5 fee for ziplining). Attendees also can visit the petting barn, jump on the jumping pillow, take a ride on the barrel train or play 9 square in the air or gaga ball.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 5:15 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Narcotics Anonymous Point of Freedom Group, 7 p.m., Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Education Building, west of the church, 1440 E. Military Ave., Fremont. Enter through the rear door.

Alcoholics Anonymous Sunday speaker, 7:30 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Monday

TOPS Club (Take Off Pounds Sensibly), 9 a.m., First United Methodist Church, 850 N. Broad St., Fremont. Weigh-ins begin at 8 a.m. Visitors (preteens, teens and adults  male and female) are welcome. The first meeting is free. For more information, call Janet Bloemker at 402-721-8952.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 10 a.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, noon, Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Breast Cancer Support Group, noon-1 p.m., Dunklau Conference Room, Fremont Health Medical Center.

Fremont Health Medical Center Auxiliary Board Meeting, noon, Fremont Healths Health Park Plaza, 3rd floor.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 5:15 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Fremont Board of Education, 6:30 p.m., Main Street Education and Administration Building, 130 E. Ninth St., Fremont.

Narcotics Anonymous basic text study, 6:30 p.m., Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Education Building, west of the church, 1440 E. Military Ave., Fremont. Enter through the rear door.

Platte Valley Civil War Round Table, 6:30 p.m., Keene Memorial Library, Fremont. The public is invited.

Fremont After 5 Christian Womens Club, 6:45 p.m., Midland University dining hall, Fremont.

Celebrate Recovery, 7-9 p.m., Sanctuary Church, 1640 W. Military Ave., Fremont. Childcare is available.

Celebrate Recovery, 7 p.m., Fremont Church of the Nazarene, 960 Johnson Road.

Alcoholics Anonymous 12x12 meeting, 8 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.
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DANBURY  The arrests earlier this month of two men accused of patronizing a sex trafficking ring mark the first time the charge has been leveled since Connecticut adopted the law in 2013.

Advocates for stronger enforcement of the law hailed the arrests as a long-overdue effort to address the demand-side of the equation when it comes to human trafficking.

For years, we havent focused on the patronizing side, but if there wasnt any demand then, we wouldnt have any trafficking, said Jillian Gilcrest, chairperson of the Connecticut Trafficking in Persons Council. Hopefully this case will put a renewed attention and focus on the wealthy men in the state who have been purchasing children and other vulnerable individuals.

The two men arrested were William Trefzger, a previously convicted sex offender from Westport, and Bruce J. Bemer, of Glastonbury, the owner of the Waterford Speedbowl. They were accused of paying for sex with men sent to them by Robert King, of Danbury, who authorities said had been supplying eight wealthy men with young male prostitutes for more than two decades.

King was charged with human trafficking under a law that has been on the books since 2006. Connecticut was one of the first states to adopt its own trafficking statute, but there have been only two successful prosecutions under it, both last year. About 20 cases have been prosecuted under federal law during that period, advocates said.

Michael Connelly, of Waterbury, a former judicial marshal, was sentenced to one year in prison on the trafficking charge in August 2016 after coercing prostitutes to have sex with him. Dean Allen, a co-defendant in an unrelated case in Milford, was convicted of holding a woman against her will when she was sold to other men for sex.

Allen received a 90-day prison sentence in January 2016, although the law calls for up to 10 years in prison.

Assistant States Attorney Alex Beck, who prosecuted Allen, declined to comment on the sentence, but said he believes mandatory minimum sentences should be handed down in trafficking cases.

To subject someone to repeated acts of rape is one of the worst things someone can do to another human being, Beck said. Its something the victims will have to live with for the rest of their lives.

Advocates say heavier sentences are needed, and there are proposals before the state Legislature to increase the penalty for human trafficking to 20 years.

Alicia Kinsman, co-chairperson of the Connecticut Coalition Against Trafficking, said her organization strongly supports these measures.

We need to send a clear message that this crime wont be tolerated and will be punished by the fullest extent possible, she said.

Gilcrest said she has been told traffickers and their clients are watching the Danbury case closely.

There are chat rooms online, that anyone can have access to, where men discuss how to buy sex, which locations are dangerous and rate (for) the women and children they purchase, she said. When Connecticut lawmakers have introduced legislation to increase the penalty for patronizing a trafficked person or a minor to a felony charge, men on chat rooms were outraged, and some expressed apprehension about buying in the future.

The National Human Trafficking Resource Center, which runs a national help line, said it has received more than 800 calls since 2007 from victims seeking help in Connecticut. Last year, it fielded 193 calls and identified 54 instances that qualified as human trafficking. Human traffickers lure their victims through coercion, fraud or threats and force them into slave labor or prostitution.

There is still this lingering misconception that human trafficking means foreign-born people being brought into the United States against their will, Kinsman said. But most of the cases that are reported are domestic minor sex trafficking. The case in Danbury sends a clear signal that victims of this crime are vulnerable and can be anyone.

The case Danbury has attracted national attention and the interest of NASCAR officials, who last week terminated their relationship with Bemers Waterford Speedbowl.

NASCAR has terminated the NASCAR Whelen All-American series sanction and NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Race Sanction with the New London Waterford Speedbowl, effective immediately, read the statement from the national racing organization.

The Speedbowl is one of several businesses Bemer owned, and one of several places authorities said he met prostitutes brought by King.

Ive spoken with people who were customers at the Speedbowl who are just horrified that this isnt some random crime but something that happened here, Gilcerst said.
SHERMAN  Like their counterparts in other small towns around the state, officials here reluctantly boosted their proposed budget for next year to cover the full costs of a resident state trooper.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloys proposed budget for next year would require towns to pay 100 percent of the costs of supporting resident troopers, who enforce the law in towns too small to have their own police departments. That figure compares to the 85 percent towns paid this year and the 70 percent they paid as recently as 2011.

There are 100 resident troopers employed in 55 of the states169 towns.

In Sherman, which has one trooper, this meant including an additional $45,100 for the troopers salary and fringes to the $14.7 million town budget for next year.

Sherman First Selectman Clay Cope said he doesnt expect the legislature to agree to all the governors budget proposals  including a controversial requirement that towns pay one-third of teacher pension costs  but he wasnt willing to take a chance where the resident trooper was concerned.

Im not willing to spare our public safety because of the failed policy of Governor Malloy, Cope said. And I just dont think the legislature is going to bat for this item.

New Fairfield First Selectman Susan Chapman echoed Cope, saying the Malloy administration has clearly shown theyre not interested in the trooper program. The handwriting is on the wall.

New Fairfield, with a hybrid force of seven troopers and six local officers, has added about $70,000 for trooper costs to its proposed budget next year, she said.

Theres no easy answer to the budget this year, Chapman said.

Kent added $46,700 to its budget to fully cover its one trooper; Washington added $43,000 and Southbury put in an extra $55,000.

The burden on small towns of supporting resident troopers has become so great that some communities, including Southbury, are exploring creating their own police departments.

Two Connecticut towns already have done so in the last two years, said Monroe Police Chief John Salvatore, who is president of the state Police Chiefs Association. So far, however, no towns have expressed interested in creating regional departments, Salvatore said.

Im not seeing any consolidation, Salvatore said. I think its the New England home rule concept.

Chapman said a study showed that New Fairfield would save money on salaries by replacing some resident troopers with officers, but the town would end up paying more for police cars, training and pensions, which are now handled by the state.

I dont believe weve reached the point where the trooper program is unaffordable, Chapman said. I just hope we dont have to take another hit on it.

Malloy also has proposed that towns pay a $750 fee to employ constables supervised by troopers, but most towns are not budgeting for that.

The state says the trooper-aid cut will free $1.5 million in general fund revenue now spent on resident trooper salaries, which range from $134,000 to $205,000 annually depending on rank.

Kent First Selectman Bruce Adams says the state cut is doubly unfair, because state troopers get called away from their resident towns to do state police work, such as responding to car crashes on state roads. Moreover, Adams said, towns have no bargaining power over trooper salaries.

Someone else negotiates the contract that we have to pay for, he said. I dont see how thats fair.

blytton@hearstmediact.com; 203-731-3411; @bglytton
Web and mobile apps are now a dime a dozen as more ventures join the rush to roll out the next killer app. According to AppBrain, there are nearly 2.8 million apps on the Android market to date. Search for a particular interest or functionality and there is likely a dozen or so web and mobile apps that would pop up. The volume and pace of app creation lead to a sizable percentage of poorly developed apps that almost a quarter of users abandon them after first use.

What is worse, these bad apps can leave users exposed. A study by Codified Security found that 40 percent of published apps leave vulnerable backdoors that can be exploited by attackers. These vulnerabilities can leave user data exposed or allow malicious actors to gain access to computers and servers used in testing and development.

Related: How Do Google, Apple and Others Stack Up When It Comes to Protecting Your Privacy?

The competitive nature of the industry demands ventures to ship software quickly. However, shoddy coding and careless testing can leave the venture and its users exposed to cyberattack risks with potentially disastrous ends. The issue becomes even more pressing as new technology trends such as the wider adoption of financial technology and internet of things (IoT) devices is set to bring forth a new wave of apps and services.

Security must be at the center of all tech startup activities.

1. Threats are rampant.

2016 had no shortage of high profile cyberattacks that involved large tech companies, internet infrastructure providers, banks and government institutions. But, for every big name company, there were numerous other smaller organizations that also suffered attacks. Among the top threats that persist today are ransomware, distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDoS) and data breaches.

Ransomware are consistently identified by security firms such as Kaspersky as top threats to organizations. Ransomware are malware that encrypt a computer or networks files. Attackers then demand ransom from victims in exchange for a chance of getting their files back.

DDoS attacks seek to deny access to a website or service by overwhelming its server with traffic. The biggest DDoS attack on record happened last year when DNS provider Dyn was hit. The outage also affected popular sites and apps that were under Dyns network such as Netflix, Spotify and The New York Times.

Among these attacks, data breaches pose the real threat to end users. Stolen confidential information are commonly shopped around to criminal entities in the dark web. Data containing personal, financial or proprietary information can return a profit when sold in the black market. Sites and apps that store customer information are prime targets for such attacks.

Related: We Scored High on This Cybersecurity Quiz. How About You?

2. Getting attacked is costly.

Any form of downtime or disruption is costly for any business. Network security solution Incapsula estimates the cost of downtime caused by DDoS attacks to an ecommerce site to average $40,000 per hour. Other attackers also perform DDoS attacks for ransom knowing that companies may be willing to pay in order to avoid the costs of downtime.

An IBM and Ponemon Institute study says that each stolen record costs the company $158 each in damages. Getting hit by a data breach can heavily impact a companys valuation as well. The sale price of Yahoo! has dwindled since its disclosure of past massive data breaches. Verizon asked for a $3$350 million discount after the data breaches were publicized.

As for ransomware, while attackers may only ask for $722 on average, getting locked out critical files can be catastrophic for organizations that do not have backup systems in place. There is no assurance access will be restored even if the ransom gets paid.

Beyond the outright financial impact, businesses also risk loss of customer trust and reputation when hit by cyberattacks. For a startup, such fallout can sink the whole venture before it even gets off the ground.

Related: The Worst Hacks of 2017 -- So Far

3. Tech startups should have higher standards.

Businesses get exposed due to a variety of reasons. Non-tech startups are especially vulnerable. Often without dedicated personnel to oversee the proper use of IT resources, it is common for computers and networks to be left unsecure. Lack of training on fundamental IT security practices also leave staff vulnerable to social engineering attacks such as phishing which in turn pave the way for more serious attacks.

Tech companies should know better. If they intend to market themselves as experts with superior products, they should be making security a critical part of their work. A good portion of tech startups effort is involved in product development so ensuring that their software is secure is vital.

Mirai, the malware responsible for a number of massive DDoS attacks last year, exploits unsecure IoT devices and use them to carry out attacks. Many of these devices, which include IP cameras and network devices, were poorly designed and lacked security features that could have prevented Mirai infections. Leaving out security in the product design and making product development shortcuts can have serious consequences.

The Codified Security also revealed that the app vulnerabilities are often due to careless coding. Developers may leave out information in their published code such as server credentials. As some apps use the same server instances when they go live, access to those servers can ultimately compromise all server data which, by that time, may already include customer information.

Related: 4 Easy Ways to Protect Your Company From a Cyberattack

Making security a priority

So how can tech startups mitigate these risks?

For developers, security should be a fundamental consideration in the software design. Code should be vigilantly reviewed in order to track vulnerabilities which can be exploited. It is critical to subject all software to intensive QA. Testing and should not be skipped in favor of accelerating shipping or launch dates.

Organizations should perform security audits to identify vulnerabilities in their operations. Educating staff regarding the best practices ensure that IT resources are used in a secure manner and that no company or customer data get compromised. Tech ventures should also be implementing security measures to cover other business activities especially those that involve customer data such as sales and marketing.

Customer information should be held in the strictest confidence. Startups owe it to their customers to safeguard the privacy and security of those who entrusted the company with their business.

Related:

3 Reasons Why IT Security Must Be a Top Concern for Tech Startups

OPCDE 2017 In Dubai To Bring Together Cyber Security Experts

'Downright Creepy': Internet Entrepreneurs Weigh in on Repeal of Internet Privacy Rules



Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
Press Statement by Prime Minister during the State visit of Prime Minister of Bangladesh to India

New Delhi, Sat, 08 Apr 2017 NI Wire

Excellency,

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,

Members of the media,

It is a true pleasure to welcome Her Excellency Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India.

Excellency,

Your visit to India comes at an auspicious time, just before the advent of  . I take this opportunity to wish you and the people of Bangladesh    Your visit marks another   (golden era) in the friendship between our people and our nations. The extraordinary transformation in our relationship and achievements of our partnership are a clear recognition of your strong and decisive leadership. Your decision to honour Indian soldiers who laid down their lives in the Liberation War of 1971 has deeply touched the people of India. Every Indian takes pride in the knowledge that Indian soldiers and   fought together to liberate Bangladesh from the reign of terror.

Friends,

Today, Excellency Sheikh Hasina and I held productive and comprehnsive discussions on the full range of our partnership. We agreed that the agenda of our cooperation has to remain focused on purposeful action. We specifically looked at charting new avenues and tapping fresh opportunities in advancing our relationship. We want to build cooperation in new areas, especially some high-technology areas, that have a deeper connect with the youth in both our societies. These would include working in the fields of Electronics, Information Technology, Cyber Security, Space exploration, Civil Nuclear Energy, and others areas.

Friends,

India has always stood for the prosperity of Bangladesh and its people. We are a long-standing and trusted development partner of Bangladesh. India and Bangladesh are also determined that the fruits of our cooperation must benefit our people. In this context, I am happy to announce a new concessional Line of Credit of 4.5 billion dollars for the implemntation of projects in priority sectors for Bangladesh. This brings our resource allocation for Bangladesh to more than 8 billion dollars over the past six years. Energy Security is an important dimension of our development partnership. And, our energy partnerhship continues to grow. Today, we added an additional 60 Mega Watt of power to the 600 Mega Watt of power already flowing from India to Bangladesh. The supply of another 500 Mega Watt has already been committed from the existing inter-connection. We have also agreed to finance the diesel oil pipeline from Numaligarh to Parbatipur. Our companies are entering into a long-term agreement for the supply of high speed diesel to Bangladesh. We have also agreed on a time table for regular supply till the pipeline is constructed. We are encouraging private sectors in both our countries to enter this space. Several agreements for investments in the energy sector in Bangladesh are expected to be signed by the Indian companies in the coming days. India will continue to be a willing partner in meeting the energy needs of Bangladesh, and its goal of achieving Power for all by 2021.

Friends,

Connectivity is crucial for the success of bilateral development partnership, sub-regional economic projects and for the larger regional economic prosperity. Today, together with the Honourable Chief Minister of West Bengal , we have added several new links to our growing connectivity. Bus and train links between Kolkata and Khulna, and - have been restored today. In-land water-ways routes are being optimized. And, steps are being taken to put into operation the Coastal Shipping Agreement. We are also happy to see the progress being made in two-way trans-shipment of goods. We look forward to early implemntation of the B.B.I.N. Motor Vehicles Agreement. This would usher in a new era of sub-regional integration.

Friends,

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and I recognize the need to diversify our commercial engagement. Not just to forge wide-ranging business partnerships between our two economies. But also for greater regional benefit. In this, a major part of the effort has to be from the business and industry of the two countries. We are happy to receive the high powered business delegation accompanying the Prime Minister. Our agreement to open new Border Haats will empower border communities through trade and contribute to their livelihoods.

Friends,

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and I have noted the success of our capacity building and training initiatives. The training of 1500 Bangladesh civil servants in India has almost concluded. We would undertake training along similar lines for 1500 Judicial Officers of Bangladesh in our judicial academies.

Friends,

While our partnership brings prosperity to our people, it also works to protect them from forces of radicaliztion and extremism. Their spread poses a grave threat, not just to India and Bangladesh but to the entire region. We have the greatest admiration for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas firm resolve in dealing with terrorism. Her Governments zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism is an inspiration for all of us. We agreed that peace, security and development for our people and for the region will remain central to our engagement. Today, we have also taken a long overdue step by signing an agreement on close cooperation between our armed forces. I am also happy to announce a Line of Credit of US dollars 500 million to support Bangladeshs defence related procurement. In implementing this line of credit, we will be guided by Bangladeshs needs and priorities.

Friends,

Our two countries share one of the longest land boundaries. During my visit to Dhaka in June 2015, we had concluded the Land Boundary Agreement. Its implemntation is now underway. Along with our shared land boundaries are our shared rivers. They sustain our peoples and their livelihoods. And, the one that has attracted the greatest attention is the Teesta. This is important for India, for Bangladesh and for India-Bangladesh relationship. I am very happy that the Chief Minister of West Bengal is my honoured guest today . I know that her feelings for Bangladesh are as warm as my own. I assure you and the people of Bangladesh of our commitment and continuing efforts. I firmly believe that it is only my government and Excellency Sheikh Hasina,your government, that can and will find an early solution to Teesta Water Sharing.

Friends,

Bangabandu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a dear friend of India and a towering leader. As a mark of our respect and deep admiration for the father of Bangladesh, a prominent road in our capital city has been named after him. We have also agreed to jointly produce a film on the life and works of Bangabandhuwhich will be released on his birth centenary year in 2020. Along with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ji, I am also honoured to release the Hindi translation of Bangbandhus Unfinished Memoirs. His life, struggle and contribution to the creation of Bangladesh will continue to inspire future generations. To mark the Golden Jubilee Year of Bangladeshs independence in 2021, we have agreed to jointly produce a documentary film on the Liberation War of Bangladesh.

Excellency,

You have successfully carried forward the vision and legacy of Bangabandhu Today, under your leadership, Bangladesh is marching on a trajectory of high growth and development. We in India rejoice in our ties with Bangladesh. Ties that have been forged in blood and generations of kin-ship. Ties that seek a better and secure future for our people. With these words, Excellency, I once again welcome you and your delegation to India.

Thank you.

Thank You very much

Source: PIB
ALBANY, N.Y. -- State lawmakers reached an agreement on the 2017-18 state budget, which means, among other things, that ride-booking apps like Uber and Lyft are now authorized to operate in Upstate New York.

The agreement comes after a yearslong battle and heavy spending on lobbyists for both sides. Uber released a statement Friday night thanking those who helped push for the company.

They said passengers and drivers can expect the apps to be up and operating this summer. Upstate New York was one of the last regions in the country not to have access to the apps.

"Hey, New York - your Uber is arriving this summer! Thank you to Governor Cuomo and the New York State Legislature for working hard on a compromise that will bring more transportation options to the Empire State," the company said.

Some details of how the apps will operate were not immediately released, but Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office said the Department of Motor Vehicles will have "broad oversight" of the companies and that they will be required to maintain minimum insurance of $1.25 million.

The state will also establish a task force to study transportation needs for vulnerable populations and a board to review the impact "of the newly authorized industry across the state."
By GMM 8 April 2017 - 06:15





A cloud is literally hanging over this weekends Chinese grand prix.

On Friday, precious little track action took place because rain, mist and smog made it impossible for the medical helicopter to fly.

"The hospital is 38 kilometres away," said steward Paul Gutjahr. "Even with a police escort, it would take more than an hour (by ambulance)," he told Auto Motor und Sport.

The German report said another hospital is actually just 5 kilometres from the Shanghai circuit, but it does not meet F1s neurosurgery standards.

So with the weather looking set to worsen rather than improve, bosses met frantically to consider rescheduling qualifying and the race, but quickly ruled it out.

Many expressed disappointment with that, especially as the weather on Saturday is better, while the problematic low clouds could return on Sunday.

"I think the drivers just want to race," McLaren chief Zak Brown said. "They dont care if its Friday, Saturday or Sunday."

He described the TV spectacle on Friday as "terrible".

"What we need moving forward is a contingency plan when this happens," said Brown.

Triple world champion Lewis Hamilton agrees, saying the situation in China is actually a "blessing in disguise" and a test for Liberty Media to come up with a "creative" solution.

But at the moment, qualifying and the race are scheduled to take place as originally scheduled, and Saturday morning practice took place as scheduled.

"The FIA believes that even if Sunday is going to be rainy, the clouds will no longer be so low and the helicopter will be able to fly," said Toro Rosso driver Carlos Sainz.

"I hope so, because it would be a shame to come all the way to China and not race because of weather."
Following the suspicious death of one of them, members of the Presidential Committee on $15billion Arms Procurement are seeking protecti...

Following the suspicious death of one of them, members of the Presidential Committee on $15billion Arms Procurement are seeking protection from President Muhammadu Buhari.The panel members might also push for a full-scale probe of how the Fleet Commander, Western Naval Command, Apapa, Rear Admiral Daniel Ikoli, died in suspicious circumstances at his residence in Lagos.It was learnt that the team might meet next week on the type of security apparatchik needed by members.Based on the directive of the President, the National Security Adviser, Brig-Gen. Babagana Monguno, on August 24, 2015 constituted the panel to look into the procurement of hardware and munitions in the Armed Forces from 2007 till date.The assignment led to the investigation of a former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki; a former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh(rtd); two former Chiefs of Air Staff, Air Marshals M.D. Umar and A.N. Amosu (rtd); 15 retired and serving senior military officers; 22 companies and many aides of the suspects.Some of the affected officers are already standing trial in courts.But barely a few months after the panel was technically disbanded, one of its key members, Rear Admiral Daniel Ikoli, died in what a source described as suspicious.A source among the panel members said: We are disturbed by the questionable circumstances under which Ikoli purportedly died. We want a full-scale investigation of the death.Technically, the manner in which Ikoli purportedly died has left many questions unanswered. We are leaving the police to do its job.But we are also going to approach the President to provide security for all members of the panel. Apart from being under tremendous pressure during the assignment, there were obvious threats too.Most of our members are feeling unsafe; we need presidential intervention because our risk exposure is too high. There is no doubt that corruption will fight back and we will certainly be targeted.You can imagine what one of us, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, the Acting Chairman of the EFCC, is going through partly because of the report of the committee.Responding to a question, the source added: Since the assignment was completed, there has been lighter security apparatchik around members unlike when they were on duty.Another committee member said: While some members of the committee are retired, some are still serving in various units of the Armed Forces.The state ought to design a special protection module for members of the panel. We did our best to serve the nation, but even our colleagues are taking it personal as if we were all out to destroy the military.Members of the panel are AVM J.O.N. Ode (rtd.); R/Adm. J.A. Aikhomu (rtd.); R/Adm. E. Ogbor (rtd.); Brig.-Gen. L. Adekagun (rtd.); Brig.-Gen. M. Aminu-Kano (rtd.); Brig.-Gen. N. Rimtip (rtd.); Cdre T.D. Ikoli; Air Cdre U. Mohammed (rtd.); Air Cdre I. Shafii; Col. A.A. Ariyibi; Gp Capt C.A. Oriaku (rtd.); and the Acting Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu. The panel has Brig-Gen Y.I. Shalangwa as its Secretary.Some of the highlights of the findings of the committee are as follows: The breaches identified by the Audit Committee include non-specification of procurement costs, absence of contract agreements, award of contracts beyond authorised thresholds, transfer of public funds for unidentified purposes and general non-adherence to provisions of the Public ProcurementAct..Furthermore, the procurement processes were arbitrarily carried out and generally characterized by irregularities and fraud.In many cases, the procured items failed to meet the purposes they were procured for, especially the counter-insurgency efforts in the North-East.Between January 2014 and February 2015, NAF awarded 10 contracts totalling Nine Hundred and Thirty Million, Five Hundred Thousand, Six Hundred and Ninety US Dollars ($930,500,690.00).Letters of award and end user certificates for all the contracts issued by NAF and ONSA respectively did not reflect the contract sums. Rather, these were only found in the vendors invoices, all dated 19 March 2015. Additionally, some of the award letters contained misleading delivery dates suggesting fraudulent intent in the award process. The observed discrepancies are in clear contravention of extant procurement regulations.The SEI contracts included procurement of two used Mi-24V Helicopters instead of the recommended Mi-35M series at the cost of One Hundred and Thirty Six Million, Nine Hundred and Forty Four Thousand US Dollars ($136,944,000.00).However, it was confirmed that the helicopters were excessively priced and not operationally air worthy at the time of delivery. A brand new unit of such helicopters goes for about Thirty Million US Dollars ($30m). Furthermore, the helicopters were delivered without rotor blades and upgrade accessories.Additionally, the helicopters were undergoing upgrade while being deployed for operation in the North East without proper documentation. It was further established that as at date, only one of the helicopters is in service while the other crashed and claimed the lives of two NAF personnel.The committee established that ONSA also funded the procurement of 4 used Alpha-Jets for the NAF at the cost of Seven Million, One Hundred and Eighty Thousand US Dollars ($7,180,000.00). However, it was confirmed that only 2 of the Alpha-Jet aircraft were ferried to Nigeria after cannibalization of engines from NAF fleet.
Two suicide bombers suicide bombers struck in Maiduguri, Borno state capital in the early hours of Saturday, leaving four persons injured.

Two suicide bombers suicide bombers struck in Maiduguri, Borno state capital in the early hours of Saturday, leaving four persons injured.According to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the incident happened around a mosque close to the federal high court, Jiddari Polo in the ancient city.Only the bombers were said to have died in the failed attack.Abdulkadir Ibrahim, spokesman of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in the north-east, said Muslim worshippers were observing early morning prayers when the explosion occurred.Following an explosion around a mosque close to federal high court jiddari polo Maiduguri, emergency response teams have evacuated the bodies of two female suicide bombers believed to have died in the incident, he said in a statement.Four other persons with injuries were administered with first aid and transported to the hospitals.The incident occurred at about 5:25 am.Victor Isuku, spokesman of the Borno police command, also confirmed the incident.At about 0520hrs today, two female suicide bombers with IED strapped to their bodies attempted to enter a mosque at juddumuri village, after federal high court, he said.They were intercepted and prevented by the Muslim worshippers. In the process, one of them detonated her vest, killing both of them and injuring five others. The injured were rushed to specialist hospital, while the remains of the suicide bombers were equally evacuated by SEMA.The second sound was the blast from the unexploded IED from the second suicide bomber, which was detonated by the commands EOD team at the scene.
Apostle Johnson Suleman, President/ Founder of Omega Fire Ministry (OFM), has filed a one billion naira lawsuit for libel against, 23-ye...

Apostle Johnson Suleman, President/ Founder of Omega Fire Ministry (OFM), has filed a one billion naira lawsuit for libel against, 23-year old Canada-based Nigerian stripper, Ms. Stephanie Otobo and an online medium for defaming his character. This is coming weeks after the police arrested Ms. Otobo on allegations of blackmail, threat to life, conspiracy, and intent to steal from the Apostle.Instituting a lawsuit against Otobo and the online medium, Apostle Sulemans lawyer, Osa Director said the cleric is suing both defendants for the libelous statements made and published against him. The case with suit no: ID/ADR/374/2017 was filed at the Ikeja High Court in Lagos.Apart from the 1bn damages against each parties, Apostle Suleman is also seeking an interlocutory injunction restraining the Defendants, their agents, servants, privies, representatives or any person, whosoever, acting or carrying out their individual and/or collective instructions from further publishing or causing to be published any defamatory publication touching on or relating to the person of the Claimant and the subject matter until after the determination of the substantive suit.According to his counsel, Suleman decided to institute the action and put blackmailers out of business. Many Nigerians under similar circumstance will just allow the matter to slide into the inner recess of our memory, either due to ignorance, lack of resources or impatience with the judicial process.But, Apostle Suleman is a dogged fighter and principled man of God who does not take kindly to anything that will tarnish his image. Therefore, he is ready to pursue the matter until justice is done. To signpost his determination to get justice, apart from Director, he has lined up four other lawyers, led by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Efe Akpofure, to prosecute the matter. The other lawyers in the team are Emmanuel Usoh, Victor Idiapho and Erhabor Recall that Otobo is also facing a criminal trial by the IGP for blackmail, threat to life and conspiracy to obtain money by false pretences. Last month, Ms. Otobo, during a press conference, had accused Apostle Suleiman of adultery and ditching her after promising to marry her.She had also accused the cleric of threat to life and attempted murder. She and her lawyers, Keyamo & Co. Chambers, had therefore, promised to sue Suleiman for breach of promise of marriage. However, investigations have revealed that till date, the Festus Keyamo & Co. Chambers handling Otobos case are yet to file a law suit against Suleiman for breach of promise to marry.
He was said to have performed at the Orbit Festival in a club located in the coastal city of Hammamet on Friday and caused controversy on social media after he played a remix of the Muslim call to prayer at the event.
Almost three years after the abduction of over 200 girls from Government Secondary School in Chibok town, Borno State, the Bring Back Our ...





Almost three years after the abduction of over 200 girls from Government Secondary School in Chibok town, Borno State, the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) campaign group, has gathered together in a protest at the nations capital.Kicking off a week-long slate of activities designed to raise fresh awareness on the need for the girls to return, the BBOG convener, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, said the Federal Government must do everything required to make 2017 the last year of the girls captivity.The BBOG convener further noted that previous timelines given by government for the release of the girls must be respected and met, moving forward.On January 8, 2017, it became 1,000 days since the girls were abducted by Boko Haram militants.Although some of them have since been released and others managed to escape, as at January, at least 195 girls were still said to be in captivity.Their abduction drew international attention to the activities of the armed group in Nigerias north-east region, with several world leaders including former British Prime Minister, David Cameron, as well as wife of the then U.S. President, Michelle Obama, calling for the girls release.The President, Muhammadu Buhari, had earlier assured the group of the Federal Governments commitment in securing the release of the remaining youngsters.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is blaming churches for the high rate of corruption in the country.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is blaming churches for the high rate of corruption in the country.Obasanjo made the accusation while delivering a speech titled: The role of the church in the fight against corruption in Nigeria, at the convention of Victory Life Bible Church International in Abeokuta, Ogun state.Represented by Femi Olajide, the chapel of Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Librarys Christ the Glorious King Church, the former President called on the Church to clean its Augean stable in order to restore its holiness.Parts of his speech read, There is no doubt that all our institutions have been tarnished by the brush of corruption.If the Church, as an institution, does not take bribe or get involved in other corrupt practice, the behaviour of some of our men of God leaves much to be desired.They not only celebrate but venerate those whose sources of wealth are questionable. They accept gifts (offering) from just anybody without asking questions. This gives the impression that anything is acceptable in the house of God.But if Jesus can chase out those buying and selling from the temple with the declaration that, My house shall be called the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves, then it is time to stand up against corruption.Our present day money changers and merchants must be chased out of the church and put to shame in the larger society.While miracles, signs and wonders are the expectations of true believers, such must be based on righteousness. To preach that one can acquire wealth without labour is not only deceitful; it is a call to corruption. It is false preaching and it is sinful.We must be careful in believing and celebrating every testimony of miraculous blessing, hence we end up being hoodwinked into celebrating corruption.''
The chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Itse Sagay, has described this weeks string of court decisions ag...

The chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Itse Sagay, has described this weeks string of court decisions against the corruption cases prosecuted by the Nigerian government as worrying.Mr. Sagay, who spoke on the sidelines at a Strategic Engagement with Investigative Journalists in Lagos, Thursday, said the courts decisions call for a deep reflection.At least three judges delivered rulings that went against the corruption cases instituted by the federal government.On Monday, Justice Abulazeez Anka of a Federal High Court in Lagos vacated a freeze order on the account of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mike Ozekhome, after initially ordering a temporary forfeiture of N75 million found in Mr. Ozekhomes Guarantee Trust Bank account.The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had sought for a freeze order on the account alleging it to be proceeds of crime.On Wednesday, a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory discharged a judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja of all 18-count charges of fraud brought against him, his wife and a senior lawyer.The judge, Adeniyi Ademola, and his wife, Olabowale, as well as Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Joe Agi, were accused of fraudulent diversion of huge sums, ranging from local and foreign currencies, possession of firearms and involvement in illegal collection of gratification.On Thursday, a Federal High Court in Lagos issued an order unfreezing the Skye Bank account of a former First Lady, Patience Jonathan. The EFCC had in November 2016 filed an application before the court seeking an order freezing the account. The commission had contended that the funds were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of crime. The account is said to harbour the sum of $5.8 million.Definitely, Im worried, said Mr. Sagay, a professor of Law.Its a complex matter that will need a lot of reflection. But what I can say, generally, is that all those involved in the anti-corruption struggle should not be discouraged, they should continue to do their best.Mr. Sagay reiterated his earlier stance that he would not honour a summon by the Nigerian Senate over comments he made about them.Ive made it abundantly clear that Im not going to respond to that summons because it is illegal and way beyond the powers of the Senate, he said.And there is need to demonstrate that there is limitation to powers of institutions otherwise they will become oppressors of the country and our democracy will be at risk. My speech was made under my constitutional right, and Im protected by the Constitution to hold such right.Definitely, you will not agree that the Constitution be trampled upon because some people have thin skins. If anybody has problems with what I said, there are institutions created by law to which they can seek redress. But Im not going to allow the Senate to be the accuser, the prosecutor, and judge in its own case because thats absolutely unconstitutional.Mr. Sagay also said the comments by Bolaji Abdullahi, the All Progressives Congress spokesperson, that his utterances about the Senate are worsening the relationship between the Executive and the Legislature were out of line.The man who spoke (Mr. Abdullahi) is an APC official, I have nothing to do with him. Im not an APC official, they didnt elect me. Hes way out of line, let him face his party and let me face my own work.On the Senates refusal, for the second time, to confirm the nomination of Ibrahim Magu as EFCC chairman, Mr. Sagay said, Magu is the best hand we have, hes done nothing wrong and he should remain in position. Period.
The Federal Government (FG) has asked the Court of Appeal in Abuja to reverse the April 5 ruling by Justice Jude Okeke of the High Court...

The Federal Government (FG) has asked the Court of Appeal in Abuja to reverse the April 5 ruling by Justice Jude Okeke of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) acquitting Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court and two others.Justice Okeke, in the ruling, upheld the no-case submission made by Justice Ademola, his wife, Olabowale and a lawyer friend, Joe Agi (SAN), who were charged with giving and receiving gratification, among others in an 18-count charge.The FGs request is contained in three separate notices of appeal it filed yesterday, through the office of the Attorney General of the Federation, at the Court of Appeal, Abuja.It argued among others, that Justice Okeke erred in law in reaching his decision to discharge and acquit the three defendants.The appellant particularly wants the Court of Appeal to issue an order allowing the appeal and overrule the decision of the lower court and remit the case back to High Court for re-assignment and defence.The FG contended, in the first ground of appeal, that Justice Okeke erred in law when he proceeded to evaluate the evidence of the prosecution and ascribed probative value to it when he ought to, at the stage of ruling on the no-case submission, merely consider whether or not the prosecution has made out a prima facie case to warrant the defendants to enter defence.What has to be considered in a no-case submission is not whether the evidence against the accused is sufficient to justify a conviction, but whether the prosecution has made out a prima facie case requiring, at least, some explanation from the defendants.At that stage of the proceedings, the credibility of the witnesses is not in issue, nor does a consideration in that regard arise. The wrong exercise of discretion by the learned trial judge against the established procedure has grossly occasioned a miscarriage of justice on the appellant, it said.The appellant also faulted Justice Okekes position that the offence of giving and receiving gratification was not made out by the prosecution against the defendants despite the overwhelming evidence, exhibits and testimonies of prosecution witnesses before the court.It noted that as against the trial judges position, the prosecution led evidence to show how N30 million was paid to Justice Ademola through his wifes account by Agi, to which the defendants allegedly admitted, but said the money was gift for Justice Ademolas daughters wedding held in April 2015.The appellant also faulted Justice Okekes position that Section 60 of the Corrupt Practices and other related offence Act 2000 did not apply to the case.It argued that Justice Ademola breached Section 60 of the Corrupt Practices and other related offence Act 2000, because when he allegedly accepted the N30m from Agi, the 3rd defendant (Agi) had cases that he was handling before the judge.The appellants also argued that Justice Okeke erred when he held that Agis giving of a brand new BMW car to the son of the first defendant (Justice Ademola) as a gift does not amount to bribery and therefore not sufficient to have impeded the 1st defendants in the discharge of his functions as a Federal High Court judge.It argued that there was no was the judge would not have been influenced by the gift, because as at when Agi bought the car for Justice Ademolas son and paid for it from his law firms account, Agi had cases before Justice Ademola.The appellant further faulted Justice Okekes decision that Sections 53 and 60 of the Corrupt Practices and other related offences Act 200 do not apply to the case, when it was the case of the 2nd defendants (Justice Ademolas wife) that the gift received by her from Joe Agi were customary in nature and therefore not gratification.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, has revealed that his convoy was once attacked by Boko Haram in Borno State.

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, has revealed that his convoy was once attacked by Boko Haram in Borno State.Buratai revealed this in an interview with The Nation.According to Buratai, he was leading troops to clear the ambush in Mafa village instead of returning to Maiduguri.I was with them and my convoy was ambushed by Boko Haram. Instead of withdrawing back to Maiduguri, I said, No! We are in this together, I cant go back. We must all go together to clear the ambush, Buratai said.So I advanced with them and that was how we cleared the ambush. If the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) does not turn back, who would turn and run from such an ambush? I advanced with the troops and it paid off.Unfortunately, we lost two soldiers; one of them was an officer. One other soldier, a Brigadier-General, got wounded in the attack, he added.He added that the troops killed 10 terrorists and captured five.Buratai also said the terrorist group has been greatly degraded since he took over as army chief.My greatest fulfilment is with the progress that has been made in the war against Boko Haram since I resumed as the Chief of Army Staff, he said.We came at a time when truly the challenge of the insurgency was very high. It was at its peak. There is no gainsaying that some progress had been made before we came in. But the progress that was made before we came in was being overtaken by the virtual resurgence of Boko Haram terrorist group.At the time we came, there were only four local governments that were not under the Boko Haram terrorist groups control out of about 27 local governments in Borno. Same in Yobe state; two local governments were still under Boko Harams influence. That was the situation we met when we came in July 2015.As at today, those two local governments in Yobe state have been reclaimed from Boko Haram. And in Borno, all the 23 LGAs that were under the influence and control of Boko Haram have been liberated and theyve been effectively put under the control of the elected government. The areas that are remaining are just the peripheral, that lies along the border between Nigeria and Cameroon. And Chad and Niger borders as well. No single local government is under the control of Boko Haram. To me, this is a major achievement and source of fulfilment, Buratai said.
Perhaps the most outlandish thing I have heard this year, other than the fact that one set of President Buhari's aides told us he was ...

Perhaps the most outlandish thing I have heard this year, other than the fact that one set of President Buhari's aides told us he was not sick while another set simultaneously asked us to pray for his recovery, is the claim by the All Progressive Congress governor of Zamfara state that the outbreak of meningitis in Nigeria is as a result of our sins.His exact words were as follows:What we used to know as far as meningitis is concerned is the type A virus. The World Health Organization, WHO, has carried out vaccinations against this type A virus not just in Zamfara, but many other states. However, because people refused to stop their nefarious activities, God now decided to send Type C virus, which has no vaccination. People have turned away from God and he has promised that if you do anyhow, you see anyhow that is just the cause of this outbreak as far as I am concerned. There is no way fornication will be so rampant and God will not send a disease that cannot be cured.The above quote from Governor Abdulaziz Abubakar Yari is not only silly and nonsensical, it is also blatantly untrue.First of all, it is not true for that there is no vaccine against meningitis C. There is one and it has existed for almost two decades. In the year 1999 alone, 15 million children in the United Kingdom were vaccinated against meningitis C. Why a Governor of a state prone to meningitis does not know this beats my imagination. If he is ignorant of this, I wonder how many more things he will be ignorant of!When the Ebola Virus struck in Nigeria in 2014, the Goodluck Jonathan administration wasted no time in mobilizing against the disease alongside the affected state governments. Preventive measures were put in our airports and those affected were quarantined. Those who escaped quarantine were traced, apprehended and sent back to quarantine. Nigeria made international headlines for all the right reasons, becoming one of the first nations in the world to defeat Ebola even before advanced nations like the United States and the United Kingdom.However, in 2017, when meningitis has reached epidemic proportions in Nigeria with 336 deaths and counting, the ever blame ready APC government blames our sins instead of attacking the scourge!The annoying thing about Governor Yari's statement is that he said this immediately after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari. Who knows what the two of them must have discussed in secret that emboldened the Governor to say what he says right after the meeting.The APC administration's response to the meningitis epidemic can be summarized thus: Repent of your sins and your meningitis will depart from you!We never experienced these deaths from meningitis in the five years preceding this administration. One wonders if Nigerians were not committing sins during the years that Jonathan governed Nigeria.If Nigerian Governors have any shame left, they will ask Governor Abdulaziz Yari to step down as the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum. What type of leadership can he provide for the NGF? Over 200 people died from meningitis in his state and he is blaming the sin of fornication? This is a man who boasted of spending 1 billion in 2013 to host a Quranic Memorisation Competition, at that time equivalent to $7 million. If he had used that money to pay for meningitis C vaccines for the people of Zamfara, at least 200 of them would have still been alive to memorize the Qur'an today! That is the real sin that causes meningitis, not the sin of fornication.But rather than dissociate from him, the equally shameless Governor of Kaduna state, Malam Nasir El-Rufai invited Governor Yari to have the seat of honour at the Kaduna Investment Summit which held on Thursday the 6th of April, 2017.Seated at the seat of honoring at the summit tagged #KadInvest was El-Rufai, a Governor who admitted paying Fulani herdsmen not to kill his citizens (they took the money and the killings continued) and on the right was Abdul'aziz Yari, a Governor who believes the sin of fornication causes meningitis. It was definitely not a successful Summit! Google the pictures from the summit and you will notice the empty hall. It seems herdsmen killings and or death by meningitis affected attendance!If, according to Governor Yari, illnesses are the result of sins, then pray, can he tell us what sin is responsible for President Muhammadu Buhari's ill health? And while he is at it perhaps he can tell us what sin is responsible for his own illness of diarrhea of the mouth?The fact remains that it is not sins, but lack of leadership that has caused the meningitis outbreak currently plaguing Nigeria. Our leaders have refused to spend the wealth of the Nigerian nation on the welfare and wellbeing of the Nigerian nation. More money is spent by states like Kano and Zamfara on sending their elites on pilgrimage to Mecca at public expense, or on organizing mass weddings for people that are ill prepared for marriage than is spent on defeating the meningitis scourge.If at all sin caused this meningitis outbreak, then it is the sin that Nigeria has enough money to pay for President Muhammadu Buhari's London treatment but not enough money to give citizens in vulnerable areas the meningitis C vaccines!Could this be the reason why the Presidency has refused to reveal how much of our money President Buhari spent on his medical tourism visit, also known as 'vacation', to London?But the more I think of it, the more I am convinced that If at all sins cause diseases, it would not be the sins of Nigerians, it would be the sins of their leaders.President Muhammadu Buhari alone has committed more than enough sins to saddle us with enough plagues.Do we have to talk about the sin of his hypocritical letter to the Senate of the National Assembly in which he made excuses for his own Secretary to the Government of the Federation who had been caught, red handed, in a contract scam?The President's actions were made even more hypocritical by the fact that he recently fired a Permanent Secretary for doing the exact thing that grass-cutter Babachir Lawal did.By sacking the Permanent Secretary and retaining and defending Babachir, President Buhari proved the truism in George Orwell's words from his seminal work, Animal Farm, that 'all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others'.Going back to the President's sins that may have ignited the meningitis outbreak, could it have been his sin of failing to take any disciplinary actions against those involved in the killings of over three hundred Shiites in Zaria including defenseless babies, women and children?Or perhaps it is failing to bring anyone to book for the bombing of hundreds of innocent Internally Displaced Persons and the medical officers who were helping them at the Rann IDP camp in Borno state?It could even have been the fact that the President condemned Dr. Goodluck Jonathan for allowing the Naira lose value to the extent that it exchanged for 199 Naira to a dollar only to watch, almost helplessly, as it devalued to as high as 500 Naira to one dollar during his watch.The fact remains that the President has committed enough sins, including relegating women to the 'other room' and calling Nigerians 'criminals' (to the Telegraph of London) that Nigerians do not have to have sinned to bring this plague on us. Our President has committed enough sins to pay the price of our plagues!To those who believed President Muhammadu Buhari's allegation that Dr. Goodluck Jonathan looted, do you also believe his statement that 'Abacha did not loot'? To those who believe the President's allegations that Jonathan's cabinet was corrupt, do you also believe that Babachir Lawal, Rotimi Amaechi, Fashola and others in the current cabinet are angels? To those who believed the APC's allegations that Jonathan was training snipers to kill opposition members, ask yourself how many opposition members were killed under Jonathan and how many are being killed now. Finally, if you believed Jonathan was clueless, how come your economic situation has deteriorated since the clueless one left the scene for the clueful Buhari?Life in Nigeria is already a hardscrabble and Nigerians do not need insults added to their injury by this infantile talk from the Zamfara state governor. If Governor Yari wants to make himself useful he should stop misrepresenting God and appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari to tell us how much of our money he spent on his London medical tourism.I mean, this President is just too secretive to hold a public post. He spends our money to treat himself and he will not tell us how much of it he has spent. Even something as elementary as his School Leaving Certificate is a mystery!A corruption fighter who hides behind thirteen Senior Advocates of Nigeria instead of showing his WASSCE certificate and behind National Security instead of revealing how much of our money he spent on his London doctors, and writes a letter defending his appointee caught red handed in corruption, is that one a corruption fighter?In June of 1975, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan sat for his West African School Certificate Examinations and made the following results.A2 economicsA2 biologyA2 chemistryA2 GeographyA3 CRKC6 EnglishC5 physicsMathematics was canceled, so the next year he wrote GCE in November and got A3 in mathematics. So before you call Dr. Jonathan 'clueless', please show me your own champion's School Certificate result.Former President Goodluck Jonathan made 6 As and 2 Cs in his WASC School Leaving Examinations. I have Dr. Jonathan's original certificates! If you want to see it I can show it to you without you having to pay thirteen SANs to raise objections and 'gift' a judge 500,000. That is transparency. That is integrity. That is straightforwardness. Dr. Jonathan signed the Freedom of Information Act into law so that all Nigerians have a right to know vital information which those in government want to keep from them. President Buhari, prove that you have integrity. Prove that you are transparent. Sack your thirteen SANs and show us your certificate! You have been pointing one finger at others, now your own four fingers are pointing at you!In the year of our Lord, 1981, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan graduated with a Second Class Upper degree in Zoology from the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State. At that time, there was nothing like 'blocking' in Nigeria. If you were not intelligent you could not graduate with such high scores. And yet, a Senator who has been exposed as having graduated with a Third Class degree and a former (?) dictator whose School Certificate status is yet to be determined had the temerity to once call such a man 'clueless'. Yet in less than a year they turned the prosperity Jonathan gave us to recession. Now, who is really clueless?On January 25, 2011 the Arab Spring began in Egypt. In less than a week after that date, then President Goodluck Jonathan issued an Executive Order for Nigerians to be evacuated from Egypt. On the 1st of February, 2011, Nigeria became the First Nation to evacuate her citizens out of Egypt. When the Arab Spring spread to Libya in February of 2011, President Jonathan ordered evacuations there which began on Thursday, February 24, 2011.Recently, there have been consistent xenophobic attacks on the life of Nigerians in South Africa and India. What has the reaction of the Muhammadu Buhari administration been? Criticize Buhari and the Nigerian government reacts, but going by the reaction of the Buhari led administration to South Africa and India, it is almost as if nothing is happening to Nigerian citizens in those nations. Yet, this is a government that called the Jonathan administration clueless.They have failed to stop the deaths of Nigerians at home by being responsive to the meningitis outbreak or the rising cases of mass killings by Fulani herdsmen and they have also failed to arrest the ugly trend of xenophobic killings of Nigerians abroad. What then is this government good for?I admire the enthusiasm Nigerians have shown in voting for #BBNaija. Eleven million votes in one week is no joke. Now, all that remains is for Nigerians to use that same enthusiasm to vote out the man who called us 'criminals' in his February 5, 2016 The Telegraph of U.K. interview. In case you are a criminal and you do not feel offended that President Muhammadu Buhari defined you as such, then you should go ahead and confirm your criminality by voting for him!Thankfully, I conducted a poll on Twitter which was well covered by the media. My question was simple: If an election is held for president of Nigeria today, who would you vote for between Efe and President Muhammadu Buhari? Needless to say that Efe won the vote by a landslide margin of over 80%.And why have Nigerians rejected the President so soon? It is because he is being unraveled by his actions and by his kitchen cabinet.Look at the kerfuffle between El-Rufai and the cabal? Look at how the so called anti-corruption war is being exposed as a sham.First Orubebe, now Justice Ademola and finally Dame Patience Jonathan. In one week, all three of them have been vindicated by the courts! The courts are dismissing trumped up charges.Until Babachir Lawal, Buhari's grass cutter Secretary to the Government of the Federation is charged, the anti corruption war is a sham! How can the President wine and dine with Babachir Lawal, a man caught red handed in corruption and unleash the EFCC on opposition figures like Orubebe and the judge trying his certificate scandal? Perhaps President Buhari will now instruct EFCC to charge Kola Awodein, one of the thirteen SANs defending him from showing his WASSCE certificate. After all, Awodein admitted giving Ademola a 'gift' of 500k while President Buhari's matter was before Justice Ademola!Let me at this point conclude by again quoting from Orwell's Animal Farm:"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."Reno's Nuggets:As I promised last week, I will give my readers a bit of the Nuggets I use in my teachings to my mentees as a pastor. Today's nuggets appear below:Any woman who expects a man to look after her or give her money because he is dating her should not look down on prostitutes. Women, emancipate yourselves from this mentality that boyfriends are meant to foot your bills. Once money is involved, it ceases to be a relationship and becomes a transaction. In today's world, women do not need men financially. Men and women need each other emotionally and biologically. They complete each other. They do not contract each other. Start a business if you want a financial partner instead of getting a boyfriend. Boyfriends aren't poverty alleviation schemes. Poverty is a painful cancer. A job is like a pain killer to reduce pain. Having a business is like surgery to remove the pain. Do I offend you with my truth? The highest ignorance is to reject truth because it came from your enemy and accepting a lie because it came from your friend #RenosNuggetsArticle by former Presidential aide, Reno Omokri
Itse Sagay, chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), says he is not in any way creating enemies for President...

Itse Sagay, chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), says he is not in any way creating enemies for President Muhammadu Buhari contrary to the claims of the All Progressives Congress (APC).Sagay spoke with newsmen on the sidelines of PACACs strategic engagement with investigative journalists in Lagos on Thursday in response to the caution by the APC to desist from making utterances that could be interpreted as an attack on the national assembly.In a statement released earlier in the week by Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesman of the party, APC had said as a professor of law, Sagay ought to appreciate the need not to denigrate the institutions of democracy.Our expectation would be that as a Law Professor of repute, Prof. Sagay would appreciate the need to not denigrate the institutions of democracy, be it the executive, legislature or judiciary.Moreover, as an appointee of Mr. President, we should expect the learned professor to key into his principals temper and help him to make friends that would make his job easier and not make enemies of people who, by virtue of the position they occupy under our law, are critical to the running of government and the nurturing of our democracy, the statement read.But Sagay said he would rather focus on his work as PACAC chairman rather than being dragged into unnecessary issues with politicians who think only of opportunism and lack principles.How does the party spokesman know what creates enemy for the President? Did the President complain that enemies are being created for him? The man who spoke is an APC official. Im not an APC member. Im not an appointee of the APC. Let him face the work of his party while I face my work, Sagay said.While expressing concern at the rate at which the EFCC was losing corruption cases at the law courts, Sagay said his committee is studying the situation while charging all those in the vanguard of fighting corruption in the country should not relent or despair.
The certificate scandal, which the Senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District, Dino Melaye, has been embroiled in recently, may ha...

The certificate scandal, which the Senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District, Dino Melaye, has been embroiled in recently, may have finally been put an end to after the lawmaker stormed Ahamdu Bello University to collect the certificate.This is according to a Twitter user, Engr. Yasir Arafat, who shared photos of the event via his handle, @oil_shaeikh, on Friday.An online medium, Sahara Reporters, had alleged that Melaye did not hold a BSc degree from ABU as he claimed. They further allegedly that the senator bribed the then Head of Department in ABU who assisted him to forge his transcript. It also claimed that some exam officers at ABU were alleged to have said that the senator never graduated from the geography department, and his name was missing from the graduation list.But Arafat, a Civil Engineering student whose profile claimed he is the President of the 2016/2017 Nigerian Universities Engineering Students Association, ABU Chapter posted the pictures below:
Leicester City manager Craig Shakespeare says Super Eagles forward Ahmed Musa is still in his plans despite the Nigerian's limited playing time.Musa has made only 13 starts for Leicester all season, just seven of which have come in the Premier League.He has scored four goals in all competitions for Leicester this season, two in the league and two in the FA Cup (scoring a brace in a 2-1 win against Everton at Goodison Park).Ahead of Sunday's trip away to Everton in the Premier League, Shakespeare played down recent reports of Musa's domestic row with his wife."I have spoken to him and he assured me there wasn't a lot in it. It was a police matter that has been cleared up," Shakespeare told Leicester Mercury."He has been fine in training. We are there to support him if he needs anything, but he has also been reminded of his conduct within the club."They're all in my thoughts, Musa being one of them. He's trained very well in the last couple of days."Players will tell you they want a run of games. When you come on this side it's very hard to give them a run of games because sometimes there are other people in front of them. He's shown glimpses and we have to make sure they're all ready."Shakespeare went on to praise Wilfred Ndidi for coming out to debunk claims that he was targeting a move to Manchester United."He was proactive in terms of how he approached it," said Shakespeare. "He showed maturity to quash the rumours straight away."I think it is important you speak to players and they understand how important they are to our club. We have done that with Wilf and to be fair to him he has come out and said how happy he is and how much he wants to stay here."
The Federal Government is making provisions to forestall a repeat of the earth tremor that occured in Abuja last year.

The Federal Government is making provisions to forestall a repeat of the earth tremor that occured in Abuja last year.To this end, the government has made provisions in the 2017 budget to acquire some basic earth tremor monitoring equipment that gives definite calculations of the magnitude of quakes.The equipment will give experts emperical data to properly educate Nigerians on where such tremors might occur in the future.Director General, Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA) and President Organisation of African Geological Surveys (OAGS), Alex Nwegbu, explained that the tremor that occured in Kaduna was not the first to have occured in the country.He stated that the interpretation of an airbone geological survey conducted by the government a few years back indicated weaknesses in the earth surface due to tectonic movements that have given rise to fractures in the earth surface.His said: There are places that are prone to earthquakes.If you understand the theory of plate tetonics, you will understand that there are parts of the world prone to earthquakes.The whole earth is made up of different plates, joined together, moving against each other.What happened in Kaduna was not the first that had happened.It was a minor earth tremor, which we are still investigating to know the cause.We have had some about 15 to 20 years ago in the South West and, of course, there is a big fracture system that goes through the South West, which we are suspecting could be the cause of the earth tremors in the region.What generated the tremor in Kaduna may not neccessarily have its origin in Kaduna.The source of the stress maybe removed from Kaduna; it might have been a tele transmission.In our 2017 budget, we have made provisions to acquire some basic earth tremor monitoring equipment.Eventhough technically we are in a stable environment where we have not really experineced massive, destructive earthquakes, we should not just go to sleep.We should be alert to the fact that since we have had this in the past in Kaduna, tbe South West and historically some other areas, we should, to some extent, be on the alert by having instrumentations that will monitor ground movements in various parts of the country.The airborne survey we did, in the interpretation, you will see areas of weaknesses we call fractures, because there have been some tectonic movements that have given rise to fractures, folds, etc, which have created zones of weaknesses.Nwegbu also said Nigeria is in for huge mineral discoveries.We are still at a rudimentary level of exploration where we must go to 200 metres to 300 metres, not even up to a kilometre, and we are discovering minerals.That will show you that by the time we start going deep inside, Nigeria will be in for huge discoveres.The air borne survey that was conducted a few years ago was to tell us of the possiblity of certain mineral deposits like diamond in certain areas, particularly areas that are inaccessible.Going to the tip of the Mambila Mountain, for instance, at the tip of the mountain, it is difficult for one to climb to the top of the mountain to know exactly what is there. But through the air borne survey that flies across, mineral deposits can be picked from anywhere.We have such anomalies or difficult to reach terrains that are very interesting, which we are verifying. Because except you do tbe ground trouting, that means, the airborne has given an indication of how vaiable an area is, you must put boots on ground to verify and get samples, analysis, drilling in order to verify and confirm that what was seen in the air is actually what exists on the ground.Comparatively, if you relate what other African countries are doing, if you look at the graph, you will see that Democratic Republic of Congo spends about $300m every year on just exploration.Compare it to the budget Nigeria has in terms of exploration and you find that we have not really started.To harness the benefit of sustained exploration, Nigeria needs to put at least $200 million every year into the budget on exploration.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Saturday advocated a spiritual approach to the anti-corruption crusade in Nigeria, calling on the ...

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Saturday advocated a spiritual approach to the anti-corruption crusade in Nigeria, calling on the church to wield its influence against the menace.Obasanjo made the call in Abeokuta at the 2017 Convention Lecture of the Victory Life Bible Church International.He spoke on the theme: The Role of the Church in the Fight Against Corruption in Nigeria.The former president described the church as an important and influential institution with a pivotal role in curbing and eradicating corruption in Nigeria.He described the anti-corruption war in Nigeria as a fight for the soul of the nation.Obasanjo said successive governments in Nigeria had tried to contain corruption through enactment of laws and enforcement of integrity systems with a slow pace of success.Legislations alone are not enough as they are often breached by those who make them and those who should implement them.Our main problems are moral, ethical, attitudinal failure and disorientation.The church is an institution that provides the moral and ethical standards for us as believers.Man alone by himself cannot get rid of corruption from the world, he needs the assistance of God.Here must come the society and the church with the spirit of God to work together to undo the harm that man has done and continue to do to the perfect work of God on earth, he said.The elder statesman, however, stressed that the anti-corruption crusade must first be fought within the church through ridding itself of the menace before extending it to the larger society.The church needs to clear its augean stable.The temple of God must be cleanest to restore the holiness of the church.Our present day money changers and merchants. Must be chased out of the church.The pulpit must be used to teach and preach righteous and honest living.To preach that one can acquire wealth without labour is not only deceitful, but also a call to corruption.We must be careful in believing and celebrating every testimony of miraculous blessing otherwise we end up celeberating corruption.The behaviour of some of our men of God leaves much to be desired.They not only celebrate but venerate those whose sources of wealth are questionable.They accept gifts (offerings) from just anybody without asking questions giving the impression that anything is acceptable in the house of God, he said.He called on Christian leaders to sanitise the church for effective anti-corruption crusade.The former president, who recalled that the church played an important role in the development of Nigeria, noted that the nation had come to another historic juncture requiring the church to play a leading role.The role must be played in praying, preaching and teaching.This is a period of moral and ethical rebirth and the church as an agent of socialisation must embark on moral re-armament for the church and for the nation.
The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, has vowed not to attend any reconciliation meeting with f...

The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, has vowed not to attend any reconciliation meeting with former President Goodluck Jonathan, stating that reconciliation has died in the party.The former Borno State governor was speaking on the botched reconciliatory meeting called by the former President in Abuja on Thursday.He accused the former President of deviating from agreements he said he had with him before they agreed to be part of the meeting, which was held at the YarAdua Centre.Sheriff, who walked out of the meeting when he was denied the opportunity to preside over it, said that there was no way the party would be meeting and he would sit as a mere spectator when he remains the only person recognised by law as the authentic national chairman of the party.Speaking to our correspondent in a telephone interview through his appointed Deputy National Chairman, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh in Abuja on Friday, Sheriff also said he would not appoint anyone to join the 40-member committee the former President promised to set up on the reconciliation.Rather, he said he would stick to the recommendations made by the Peace and Reconciliation Committee headed by the Governor of Bayelsa State, Mr. Seriake Dickson.He said, We will never attend any peace meeting to be called by the former President on reconciliation anymore. No. Never! We wont go there. We are no longer interested in such reconciliation.We will not attend any other meeting to be called by him. We would cut off every leprous hand in the party. The former President can only chair a committee on his private foundation, not that of the PDP when we have a national chairman.We are not happy with the way he handled the failed meeting on Thursday. He did not respect the Court of Appeal judgment which pronounced Sheriff as the national chairman of the party.He (Jonathan) has no legal backing to chair PDP Stakeholders meeting when we have a sitting chairman. The former President does not have such a right. The failed meeting had scattered all the good works achieved by the Dickson committee.We hail our governors, except the duo of Nyesom Wike and Ayodele Fayose of Rivers and Ekiti states respectively, who worked against the meeting.However, the National Caretaker Committee of the party headed by Senator Ahmed Makarfi disagreed with Sheriff, saying the former President had the right to lead the meeting.He said since the initiative to call the meeting came from the former leader, it was his right to preside over it and also dictate how the meeting would progress.He said it was wrong for Sheriff to have wanted to preside over a meeting where issues that would affect the partys leadership would be discussed.Makarfi, who spoke through the spokesperson of the caretaker committee, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, described Sheriff as being selfish.He said in order to give peace a chance; the caretaker committee agreed that Sheriff would speak at the gathering before Makarfi, but regretted that instead of being at the gathering on time, Sheriff decided to come late to the meeting.Adeyeye said, Jonathan conveyed the meeting and he had the right to chair it, because it was for reconciliation. If it was not called by the former President, more than 90 per cent of those in attendance would not have been there.You cannot preside over your own case. It is like a quarrel between husband and wife. There is no way either of them would have presided over a meeting where such disagreement would be discussed.We agreed that he (Sheriff) would speak first after the former President. But instead, he came late to the meeting, hours after it had started. He was to speak after the former President, but he came when the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Senator Walid Jibrin, was almost done with his speech.Adeyeye added that in order to avoid crisis, Makarfi who was to speak after Sheriff was asked not to because Sheriff was not at the gathering then.He came late to the meeting, which is even against the protocol. So, instead of Makarfi to speak, the BoT chairman took over the podium, he added.Adeyeye, a former minister of state for works, said the gathering also agreed with the position of Wike and Fayose that Sheriff should not be allowed to lead the meeting because it was a reconciliation meeting and that we needed an impartial person to lead.He said Sheriff remains a disputed chairman of the party until the Supreme Court makes a pronouncement on it, adding that both Sheriff and Ojougboh are illiterate because they dont know the genesis of the party and what it stands for.He added, Sheriff should leave our party for us and should not destroy it. He does not have the support of more than 10 per cent of members of the party. He is a disputed chairman. As for us, we will continue to respect the former President because he is the leader of the party.Also reacting to the development, the Governor of Ekiti State, and Chairman, PDP Governors Forum, Mr. Ayo Fayose, in a telephone interview with Saturday PUNCH, described Sheriff as an impostor and someone sent by the ruling All Progressives Congress to destroy PDP.Fayose said, I will not work with him. He is a betrayal of confidence and does not represent peace and hope. I will not be part of any meeting with such a person. If I may holistically respond to his statement on no reconciliation, the statement is good riddance to bad rubbish.His (Sheriff) alliance with former President Olusegun Obasanjo and PDP destroyed All Peoples Party and All Nigeria Peoples Party. He is at it again but this will be the last of the series. I regret my association with him and bringing him forth initially.Fayose alleged that anyone supporting, promoting or financing Sheriff is an enemy of Nigeria. Our country will not end up in a one party system which I imagine is the reason why his business with the APC is thriving, he added.Also in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, Fayose was quoted as saying, It is now obvious that he (Sheriff) is working for enemies of former President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP.The governor said; From what Ali Modu Sheriff did yesterday, it should now be clear to all well-meaning Nigerians that he is not acting on his own. He is an agent of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and by extension an enemy of democracy in Nigeria.If he (Sheriff) cannot sit with the leader of our party, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, I am also telling him that we in the PDP are also not interested in holding any discussion with him. He is a virus that has infected the PDP and by the grace of God, he will be cured permanently.In a similar development, Fayose, who spoke on a programme on Channels Television monitored by one of our correspondents, said he was not bound to remain in the PDP as he could decide to pursue his political ambition elsewhere.The Ekiti State governor said that nobody could make him remain in a place if he does not truly wish to be there.Fayose accused Sheriff of insulting leaders of the party with his attitude, describing him as an impossible character who nothing can change.Meanwhile, Ojougboh said that Sheriff and his team would soon commence a nationwide mobilisation of members of the party with the hope of preparing them for the national convention.Asked when the convention would hold, Ojougboh said the members of the National Working Committee would announce the date and programmes as soon as we are done with the nationwide tour.
An 18-year-old Nigerian girl, Olawunmi Akinlemibola, who is a senior at DuVal High School in Lanham, Maryland, really has a big decision to...

An 18-year-old Nigerian girl, Olawunmi Akinlemibola, who is a senior at DuVal High School in Lanham, Maryland, really has a big decision to make about her future, as she has been accepted into 14 colleges and universities, including Harvard, Princeton and Stanford.





The girl who has a 4.15 high school GPA, has already earned college credit. She works hard for her success, her guidance counselor, Stacy Kline, said. I m just amazed by her, she said. It s the internal drive that she has. Akinlemibola said has"





Akinlemibola got admitted into the following universities namely:1. Harvard University 2. Brown University 3. Emory University 4. Swarthmore University 5. Grinnell College 6. University of Chicago 7. Amherst College 8. University of Maryland, College park 9. University of Maryland, Baltimore County 10. Princeton University 11. Cornell University 12. Stanford University 13. Duke University 14. University of Pennsylvania





Akinlemibola said her family's support is key. She lives with her father, but her mother and two sisters are home in Nigeria, where she was born. In a recent interview she said, I love my mom, shes really supportive, shes wonderful. She quickly added that her father is also a source of support. Shout out to him too! Shout out to him too! she said, laughing.





Akinlemibola, who lives with her father in Prince Georges County, said her mother didnt go to college and that her father works as a security officer. But she and her two little sisters have always enjoyed learning. Her mother, she said, will likely join the rest of the family in Prince Georges County soon, and that when her little sisters reach high school age, they will outshine her.

Oh, theyre much smarter than me! she said.

Howard University and Stanford were among the first schools to let Akinlemibola know shed have a spot on their campuses. She admitted that she was a bit overwhelmed by the acceptance to Stanford, because I didnt think I was going to get in anywhere, so  I cried.

Although the intelligent girl is saddled with the responsibility of making a life changing decision with the schools lined up for her to choose, she is currently bothered about what to wear to prom.
The Canada-based lady,Stephanie involved in an alleged romance scandal with the overseer of the Omega Fire Ministries, Johnson Suleiman, ha...

The Canada-based lady,Stephanie involved in an alleged romance scandal with the overseer of the Omega Fire Ministries, Johnson Suleiman, has released her statement of account to prove that the man of God sent her money countless times.

The Canada-based lady,Stephanie involved in an alleged romance scandal with the overseer of the Omega Fire Ministries, Johnson Suleiman, has released her statement of account to prove that the man of God sent her money countless times.

The surprising thing is that the account number from the video corresponds with that of the apostle.

A Twitter user @KnewKeed, who disclosed that he checked out the account number on quickteller and it checked out. Though he disclosed that the bank it came from, still has to corroborate her story. Knewkeed also revealed that a phone company in Canada, has

agreed to release Stephanie Otobo's call log. According to him, the truth will be out soon .
The Federal Road Safety Commission (FSRC) has re-affirmed its position of non-involvement in the marketing of speed limiting devices for...

The Federal Road Safety Commission (FSRC) has re-affirmed its position of non-involvement in the marketing of speed limiting devices for vehicles in the country.Spokesman of the agency, Mr Bisi Kazeem, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday that accredited vendors were in charge of sale and calibration of the device.There are accredited vendors screened by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) and FRSC.They are the ones in charge of sale and calibration of the speed limiting device, not the FRSC, he said.Kazeem was reacting to Thursdays move by the Senate to stop the ongoing enforcement of the installation of the speed limiting device on vehicles by the FRSC.The President of the Senate, Sen. Bukola Saraki, had asked the Committee on Federal Character to look into the matter following a point of order raised by Sen. Dino Melaye (APC  Kogi West).Media reports quoted Melaye as saying the proposal by the FRSC to sell speed limiting device to car owners would cause further economic hardship for Nigerians.If you have two cars you buy two speed limiting devices. This is not the time to bring economic hardship upon the already traumatised people of this country.In every civilised part of the world, it is the responsibility of road safety authorities or agencies to mount speed limiting devices on roads, and when you beat this speed, they charge you.To ask individuals to purchase the speed limiting device from road safety is unacceptable and this is even not the time to do it, Melaye was quoted as saying.The FRSC began full enforcement of the installation of the device, which costs N35, 000, on commercial vehicles on Feb. 1, and planned to extend it to other categories of vehicles in due course.Kazeem said introduction of the policy was within the mandate of the commission, noting that the enforcement began since Feb. 1, and not about to begin as stated by the senator.He added that the House of Representatives had earlier endorsed the policy after a public hearing.
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) says its members in Ekiti state will visit Ayodele Fayose, the governor, in Kirikiri prison, Lagos, at t...

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) says its members in Ekiti state will visit Ayodele Fayose, the governor, in Kirikiri prison, Lagos, at the end of his tenure.Reacting to the decision of the state government to demolish some mosques, the group said Fayose must account for his abuse of power while in office.Government had said the mosques were not in right locations, and that worshippers could contract cancer as a result of radioactive emission from the petrol stations in which they are.But Ishaq Akintola, director of MURIC, faulted the reason, saying it is an evidence of Fayoses hatred for Muslims.It is an act of aggression against the peace-loving and law-abiding Muslims of the state, he said in a statement.The state governments excuse of exposure to cancer is lame, infantile, laughable and untenable. What of hundreds of petrol attendants who have been serving in petrol stations in Ekiti state since its inception on October 1 1996?How many of them have had cases of cancer? How many petrol attendants in the whole of Nigeria have been exposed to radioactive emissions? Can the claim be certified by the World Health Organisation? Fayoses public health adviser must be from hell!Fayoses power is ephemeral. He will soon become an ex-this and ex-that. We urge the Imams in Ekiti to magnanimously visit Fayose in Kirikiri after his tenure as governor when he eventually starts to account for his abuse of power while in office.The group also accused Fayose of bias in his choice of officials, alleging that he excluded Muslims from his cabinet.His antecedents bear vehement testimonies to his pathological hatred for Muslims and their religion, Akintola said.It will be recalled that Fayose formed an all-Christian government after assumption of office in 2015. His deputy governor, secretary to the state government, all 14 commissioners, all 26 permanent secretaries are Christians.His open bigotry and untethered hatred for Muslims makes him the governor with the worst record of Christian-Muslim relations in the whole wide world.Akintola said attempts to meet with Fayose to discuss pressing issues proved abortive, warning that Muslims in the state may make Ekiti ungovernable for Fayose.Drunk with absolute power which corrupts absolutely, Fayose has rebuffed the request of leaders of the Ekiti Muslim community to meet him over the mosques marked for demolition, he said.Consequently, the Muslim leaders have suspended todays Jumah prayer in all the four mosques affected. Thus Fayose will be remembered as the Christian dictator and fanatical chief executive who stopped Muslims of Ekiti State from worshipping their Creator.Muslims may be left with no option than to make Ekiti ungovernable for Fayose if he goes ahead to demolish those mosques. Freedom of worship is enshrined in Nigerias constitution and civil disobedience is the inalienable right of a persecuted people.Those who make it impossible for us to worship freely are guilty of a crime. Every patriotic citizen has the obligation to disobey illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional orders. We will resist this oppression if the system will do nothing about it.Already, Muslims in the state embarked on a peaceful demonstration two days ago. We havent seen anything yet. We should do everything possible to prevent this crisis from snowballing into a national mayhem. Those who know Fayoses first name should call him to order now.But Lere Olayinka, spokesman of the governor, denied the allegation of his principal being against Muslims.He said only one mosque had been marked for demolition and that the government was only acting in the interest of the people.The position of MURIC is wrong. The position of the government is simple- that there should be no use of filling stations for religious activities, both Muslims and Christians, he told TheCable.That is the position of the government. It is not targeted at any particular religion. There are mosques built inside filling stations. There are people who build worship centres inside petrol stations. And that is what the government is saying- that there should be no more building of worship centres inside petrol stations.You should ask those saying this to give you photograph of the affected mosque, because as far as I am concerned, it is only one mosque that is affected.As far as I know, it is only one mosque inside a petrol station belonging to Alhaji Akingbami. You can ask them to also name the other three. The only one I am aware of is located along Adebayo, belonging to Alhaji Suleiman Akingbami.When told to respond to the allegation that Fayose denied them access to talk things over, he said, The governor, as far as I know, travelled out of the state three days ago. He should return today. And the governor is in talking terms with the chief Imam here, so he has no problems, he has no issues with the Muslims, as they are trying to make it look like.So, it is not targeted at Muslims, or practitioners of any religion. It is a general policy of the government and it is to save lives. Imagine the filling station that got burnt in this state in January, if it were to be a filling station where there were about one thousand people worshipping, what would have happened?So, we should not also wait until we have calamity or crises before we begin to take measures. It is to prevent loss of lives.Even as I am talking to you, no mosque has been demolished. The only one I am aware of I think it was marked by the officials of the ministry of land, that should be on Tuesday, and there has not been move by the government to demolish it.Eventually, when a building is marked like that, it means that you have to come and talk to government. Ok, the government does no longer want you to use this building as mosque or church, if you want to use it for something else, will the government now go and demolish it?
Former Lagos State governor and All Progressives Congress national stalwart, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has congratulated the immediate-past gov...

Former Lagos State governor and All Progressives Congress national stalwart, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has congratulated the immediate-past governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, for turning 65, saying the former governor still has a lot to contribute to the nation.Oshiomhole clocked 65 on Tuesday, April 4. Tinubu said Oshiomhole has attained an impossible-to-ignore status of eminence in the country.In a letter sent to Oshiomhole and personally signed by Tinubu, the APC national leader said: My dear Comrade,It is a great pleasure for my family and I to join your teeming admirers and well-wishers to rejoice and thank God with you on the commemoration of your 65th birthday on Tuesday, April 4, 2017.Your journey on this terrestrial sphere so far has been a truly remarkable and inspiring one. Surely, you are not to be counted among those who were lucky either to be born great or to have greatness thrust on their laps on a platter of gold. Rather, you have attained an impossible-to-ignore status of eminence in our immensely blessed country in your three scores and a half years through sheer determination, perseverance, resilience, commitment, discipline, focus and hard work.From the shop floor of the textile industry, you pulled yourself up by the bootstraps and through consistent courage, integrity and fidelity to truth as well as the best interest of Nigerian workers, you rose through the ranks to establish yourself as easily the most outstanding national labour leader of contemporary times. Your successful trajectory from trade unionism to party politics is indeed a unique one, made more notable by your emergence as elected governor of Edo State.I most certainly speak the minds of millions of members of our great party when I say that your outstanding performance as two-term governor of Edo State from 2008 to 2016 remains a reference point and a source of pride to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Apart from skilfully steering the ship of state and charting the course for Edo, the heartbeat of the nation for eight years, you demonstrated your innate leadership endowment by identifying, nurturing and handing over to a worthy and capable successor well placed to take Edo to greater heights from where you stopped.At 65, you still brim with energy, dynamism and vibrancy, while your mind continues to bubble with ideas ever so useful for national development. There is no doubt that you still have a lot to contribute to the country as our party continues to grapple with the Herculean challenge of remedying the grievous damage it inherited in virtually all sectors and laying the foundation for the realization of Nigerias immense but trapped potential.It is my prayer that God Almighty will continue to bless you with good health, divine wisdom and long life as you dedicate yourself anew to the cause of service to Nigeria, Africa and humanity.As my family and I wish you a very happy and fulfilled 65th birthday, I am confident that the best for you is surely yet to come.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the economic recovery plan of President Muhammadu Buhari as dead on arrival.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the economic recovery plan of President Muhammadu Buhari as dead on arrival.Buhari unveiled the plan at the presidential villa in Abuja on Wednesday.Expressing optimism that it would help in reviving the economy, Buhari sought the support of Nigerians.But in a statement on Friday, Dayo Adeyeye, spokesman of the PDP caretaker committee, said waiting two years into his administration before unveiling an economic plan showed that the administration was unprepared for governance.Alleging that the government lack viable economic blueprint, the PDP blamed the current administration for the economic recession in the land.It is on record that we alerted the nation after the 2015 general election on the empty promises of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and cautioned the party to concentrate on governance, the statement read.The blackmail and blame-game by the APC was, and still is a cover up for its obvious lack of plan. Instead, the APC ran our economy into recession after wasting two years witch-hunting PDP members and perceived enemies of government without paying attention to building on the robust achievements of the PDP.Nigerians can testify to the hardship, pains, starvation, hunger and agony inflicted on the people by the ineptitude of the APC administration.The recovery and growth plan is a proposal which requires implementation but we are worried because of the comments of President Muhammadu Buhari during the launch when he said, I want to assure all Nigerians that we are approaching the solution to our economic challenges with the same will and commitment we have demonstrated in the fight against corruption, terrorism and militancy.It is therefore instructive to note that if the economic recovery plan will follow the way of the anti-corruption war so far, then, the plan document is dead on arrival.The party said the anti-graft war of Buharis government had failed, saying the government has been able to secure only one conviction in two years.In view of the above, we want to remind Nigerians that the anti-corruption war of President Muhammadu Buharis APC led government has failed based on the following, the statement read.The APC-led Administration has secured only one conviction since it started the anti-corruption fight in the last two years;The EFCC is yet to open its case against Col. Sambo Dasuki after his arrest and detention about two years ago;No single case is before any court of competent jurisdiction in Nigeria against Alison Dieziani Maduekwe after all the allegations leveled against her by this administration;The federal high court in the last 72 hours has unfrozen the account of the former First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan and dismissed the no case submission made by Chief Godsdey Orubebe, Barr. Ozhekome and Justice Ademola and others which showed the cases were more for propaganda effect than substance.Similarly, unwarranted freezing of accounts of other persons by the EFCC have also been reversed by competent courts;Several courts of competent jurisdiction have granted bails to a number of individuals being held by security agencies on corruption issues but the APC led government is yet to obey such court orders.The PDP queried the Buhari administration for not questioning some key personalities in government.While other Nigerians are suffering undue persecution by the APC-led administration, the following are yet to answer for various allegations leveled against them, read the statement.The chief of staff to the president (CoS), Abba Kyari; the secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal; the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu; the federal government committee on north-east contract to ghost companies; alleged allegation against bribery by the minister of transport, Chibuike Amaechi and the Minister of Science and Technology, Chief Ogbonnaya Onuh; and many others.We are equally worried on how the APC government intends to really actualise this lofty plan (if its not the usual lies to the people) given the low state of Nigerian economy where government is borrowing domestically and internationally to fund its operations. The 2017 budget is still a mirage.To buttress, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has declared that Nigeria is spending 66 per cent of its interest revenue on debt. In other words, the Federal Government has only 34 per cent of its revenue to tackle capital and recurrent expenditures and development.
No one's at the root of more of President Trump's troubles than Russia's Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. We'll call him Vlad. It's shorter and, what's more fitting, it's a four-letter word.

Whether at home or abroad, it's Putin who's in the middle of some of The Donald's vexing troubles. What compounds the Putin factor is that Trump can't or won't finger him for the villain he plainly has become.

We're talking here about a pair of pending investigations of the 2016 campaign: the Russian effort to tip it in Trump's favor and what dealings, if any, the Trump team had with Russian spies about U.S. sanctions. Seems pretty clear Moscow was involved in both cases and at Putin's instigation.

Despite the evidence of Russian meddling -- even some Republicans accept it --- Trump says little or nothing on the subject. Putin's a pal.

They exchange compliments like a pair of pixilated teenage lovers. It's embarrassing. But it's part of the Trump persona. He's even paid tribute to Fox TV's enfant terrible, Bill O'Reilly, who's accused of so much serial sexual harassment it cost Faux News $13 million.

Considering that Roger Ailes, Fox's big boss, lost his job over sexual harassment, maybe the place is an incubator of bad behavior. It wouldn't be that unusual. The company's British outlet got caught wire taping the royals and was forced to fold a major newspaper.

But back to Putin and The Donald. Some Russians have turned on Trump as his ratings here hit toilet levels. But not Vlad. He's held his tongue. America's a crazy place. Trump might yet stage a recovery. Never know.

One thing about Trump is true, maybe the only thing: He has indeed made a fundamental change in American politics.

For most of my life -- and that's no blink of the eye -- Republicans could be counted on to take a militant, loud-mouthed stand against enemies or potential enemies, German, Japanese or, for most of the last 70 years, the Russians.

But not this time, not while the Donald is atop the GOP -- at least not yet.

The Russians and Syrians are busy slaughtering Syrian civilians -- historically something they're good at -- to save the blood-soaked regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and that's ratcheted up pressure on Trump to do something: intervene to save the victims or tackle Putin diplomatically.

Last week he acted, striking a Syrian air base with Tomahawk missiles. But what happens now depends on two things: the Syrian-Russian reaction and the political response here at home, especially whether Trump finally gets tough with Putin.

Before the missile strike, Trump's sole response had been singularly simple-minded. He pinned blame for the Syrian gas attack on.... guess who? Don't know? Well, hold on and I'll tell you later if you haven't already guessed.

In this long Trump silence on the subject, nobody was more resolutely silent than Rex Tillerson -- until now. (He's the Secretary of State, in case you hadn't noticed.) Tillerson said he'd already commented on Syria and enough is enough. He seems to view this state department gig as just a nice little retirement job.

Rex is a wonder. Even without help from Democrats he has made the case that he may be exceptionally unsuited for the job. Makes you wonder if all those billionaires are overrated, doesn't it? Hope not. Much of Trump's starting lineup is made up of billionaires.

Not all the news is bad, however. Last week Trump wised up and removed Steve Bannon, a xenophobic white supremacist from the national security council.

Bannon's banishment reportedly was the work of Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, Trump's new National Security Advisor. Seems a sound move. Bannon's expertise, to the extent he has any, is in ideological politics, not national security. And ideological politics is the last thing McMaster, or any national security leader, needs on his team.

If reports from the scene are correct, Bannon was so ticked off he threatened to bolt, to quit, and was only dissuaded when the Trumpies put out a statement that he was only on the national security panel to keep a wary eye on Mike Flynn, now gone under a cloud and looking for an immunity deal.

The idea of Bannon keeping an eye on the flaky Flynn is the stuff of burlesque -- the coyote keeping an eye on the cat outside the hen house.

But back to Trump's outing of the real villain responsible for the latest Syrian gas attack. It was (drum roll) Barack Obama -- the same guy Trump assured us for years wasn't born in America.

What's the old saying? Almost always wrong, never in doubt.

More John Farmer columns.

John Farmer may be reached at jfarmer@starledger.com. Find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.
PATERSON-- An East Orange man was arrested Friday in connection with a stabbing that took the life of a city resident last month, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes said in a statement.

Jose Soto (Passaic County Prosecutor's Office)

Police were called to a basement apartment in the 200 block of 20th Avenue around 11 p.m. March 27. There they found the blood-soaked body of Wilson DeJesus Puerta-Ledezma, 52, who had been stabbed multiple times, authorities said.

On Thursday night, Jose Soto, 19, was arrested on unrelated charges in Woodland Park. Soto was charged in the fatal stabbing after Woodland Park police called law enforcement in Paterson, who conducted an investigation with the prosecutor's office.

Soto has been charged with aggravated manslaughter, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a weapon. If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in prison on the manslaughter charge alone.

The Passaic County Prosecutor's Office asks anyone with additional information about this incident to call the tips line at 1-877-370-PCPO or email tips@passaiccountynj.org.

Soto is scheduled for an initial court appearance Saturday.

Paul Milo may be reached at pmilo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@PaulMilo2. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Evangelina Menendez Trailblazer Awards during the Seventh Annual Women's History Month Celebration at Montclair State University

U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez delivers remarks at Montclair State University in Montclair in March. (Andrew Miller | For NJ Advance Media)

WASHINGTON -- If New Jersey homeowners have any consolation for paying the nation's highest property taxes, it's that Uncle Sam picks up part of the tab.

Taxpayers who itemize on their federal income tax returns can deduct the income and property taxes they pay to state and local governments. And that feature benefits New Jersey residents more than those in most other states.

That break may be in jeopardy as Republicans seek to overhaul the tax code, eliminate deductions, and reduce tax rates, most notably those paid by the wealthiest Americans.

"From my perspective, that's a non-starter," said U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over tax legislation in his chamber. "It just appears to be another Republican effort to shift the burden of taxes off the wealthy to the middle class."

More than 4 in 10 New Jersey taxpayers itemized rather than took the standard deduction on their 2014 federal returns, behind only Maryland and Connecticut, according to the Tax Foundation, a research group in Washington. The tax deduction was worth 8.7 percent of the state's adjusted gross income, second only to New York.

At the same time, New Jersey ranked 41st in terms of the percentage of its general revenue coming from the federal government, according to the Tax Foundation.

Back in 1986, a coalition led by then-New York Gov. Mario Cuomo beat back an effort by President Ronald Reagan to end the tax deduction as part of what became a successful overhaul of the tax code.

Now House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) would eliminate it entirely. President Donald Trump's chief economic adviser, Gary Cohn, told Menendez and other lawmakers at a Capitol meeting that all deductions were on the table.

"I thought we killed that completely in the mid-1980s," said Steve Villano, who worked for Cuomo during the tax campaign. "These are like zombie issues."

The appeal is that eliminating the deduction would provide a large source of money that could be spent instead to lower tax rates without increasing the deficit.

The deduction is estimated to cost the U.S. treasury an estimated $63.3 billion in 2018, the ninth largest tax expenditure, according to the Tax Policy Center, a Washington-based research organization jointly operated by the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution.

"We're proposing to lower taxes for everybody at every income level," Brady said. "No longer will Washington punish or reward you based upon how much you earn or where you choose to live."

Nevertheless, eliminating the deduction would increase the average annual tax bill for a New Jersey resident by more than $3,500, according to the Tax Policy Center.

"It would really put a blanket over home sales," said Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-9th Dist.), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Lower overall tax rates won't make up the difference, said Ralph Albert Thomas, executive director of the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants.

"The proposed tax plans would disproportionately benefit higher income taxpayers," Thomas said. "Therefore, losing state and local tax deductions will disproportionately hurt middle and lower-income taxpayers."

Repeal efforts would have to overcome not only the opposition from lawmakers in several key states, but also the powerful National Association of Realtors, which has members in every congressional district and is among the biggest spenders on lobbying and campaign contributions.

The Realtors spent $64.8 million to lobby in 2016, second only to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; and its political action committee was tops in political giving, doling out $3.9 million to federal candidates, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based research group.

"We want to encourage homeowners and potential homebuyers, not place more hurdles in their way, which only serves to have a negative impact on the housing market and our state's economy," said Jarrod Grasso, chief executive of the New Jersey Realtors.

Eliminating the deduction would disproportionately hurt those states that tend to support Democrats. The 10 states that most benefit from the deduction all supported Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the last election.

"One reason this proposal comes up repeatedly when Republicans control Congress: the main beneficiaries of the deduction live in Democratic-leaning states," said Rogan Kersh, a political science professor and provost at Wake Forest University. "There are federal fiscal benefits as well, but the main reason is partisan politics."

Even so, those states were also in the lower half when it came to federal aid as a percentage of general revenues.

"The federal income tax code ensures that blue states are paying a lot of subsidies down to red states," said Jon Whiten, vice president of New Jersey Policy Perspective, a progressive research group. "We have a lot of wealthier taxpayers."

During his unsuccessful quest for the Republican presidential nomination, campaign, Gov. Chris Christie endorsed efforts to eliminate the tax deduction.

"The fact that our governor effectively wants to raise our federal taxes by eliminating the deduction is not particularly helpful," said Matthew Hale, a political science professor at Seton Hall University.

State and local officials have used the fact that their taxpayers can deduct their taxes as a way to mitigate the impact of their own increases.

Eliminating the deduction may make it harder to raise income or property taxes, said Kim Rueben, a senior fellow and director of the state and local finance initiative at the Urban Institute.

"We think it would make it harder for state and local governments to raise taxes because they won't be able to shift part of it onto the federal government," Rueben said.

In their unsuccessful health care bill, House Republicans proposed cutting Medicaid by $839 billion and giving states a fixed sum rather than having the federal government cover everyone who qualifies. In that case, ending the tax deduction would be a double whammy, Whiten said.

"You're talking about eliminating a ton of federal funding that helps pay for those services while making it difficult for New Jersey to raise the resources to pay for those services," Whiten said.

Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com . Follow her on Twitter @samanthamarcus. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
Chalmette man convicted on federal gun charges agreed to 'take care' of an informant: court records
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The Jamaican restaurant 14 Parishes serves jerk chicken at the French Quarter Festival. (Photo by Ann Maloney, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
WASHINGTON (AP)  The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has issued a subpoena to Donald Trump. The nine-member panel sent a letter to the former president's lawyers on Friday, demanding his testimony under oath by mid-November and outlining a series of corresponding documents. The decision by lawmakers to exercise their subpoena power comes a week after the committee made its final case against the former president, who they say is the "central cause" of the multi-part effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election. It remains unclear how Trump and his legal team will respond to the subpoena, if at all.
On Wednesday, LB 338, the bill that would change the method of agricultural land valuation to an income-potential based system, advanced from the Revenue Committee on a 6-2 vote.

This is the bill I introduced at the request of Governor Ricketts, and the bill I also designated as my priority bill. LB 337 (the Governors income tax relief bill) and 338 were both amended into LB 461, which received a priority designation by the Revenue Committee for this session. LB 338 would begin to go into effect this year. The Agricultural Land Valuation Committee would meet for the first time in November 2017, and agricultural land valuations next year will be done by income-potential.

It was decided by the Revenue Committee that LB 337 and 338 would come out of committee in one bill as a tax relief package. According to the Tax Foundation, Nebraska is a high tax state for certain categories of taxes relative to other states. The income tax cuts will be phased in over an eight year period beginning in 2020, but will begin only if the expected rate of growth in net General Fund receipts is 3.5 percent or greater for the following fiscal year. The Tax Rate Review Committee shall meet in November of each year to make this projection. In November 2019, if it is projected that tax receipts will exceed expenditures by 3.5 percent or more, then the first tax cut of the top bracket would be implemented, decreasing the top bracket from 6.84 percent to 6.73 percent. This process will continue until the top bracket reaches 5.99 percent. Single individuals filing taxes who make $29,000 or more are in the top tax bracket, and married couples filing jointly who make $58,000 or more are also in the top tax bracket.

On Wednesday, Governor Ricketts signed LB 46 into law, which was the choose life license plate bill. It passed Final Reading by a vote of 35-8. This legislation is the first pro-life legislation signed into law in Nebraska since 2011, when the Legislature passed LB 690. That was a bill I introduced that required parental consent in order for a minor to have an abortion, except in cases of a medical emergency.

On Tuesday, the Legislature advanced LB 427 to Select File by a vote of 29-11. The intent of this bill is to help ensure that girls, who become pregnant and have yet to graduate from high school, can still be successful in their schoolwork despite their difficult circumstance. It requires all school districts to adopt a policy that the Department of Education shall create, which identifies procedures to provide for student absences due to pregnancy; provide alternative methods to keep a pregnant or parenting student in school by allowing coursework to be accessed at home or accommodating tutoring visits, online courses, or a similar supplement to classroom attendance; identify alternatives for accommodating lactation by providing students with private, hygienic spaces to express breast milk during the school day; and establish a procedure for schools which do not have an in-school child care facility to assist student-parents by identifying child care providers for purposes of placing their children in child care facilities. All public, private, denominational, or parochial day schools shall provide for private or appropriate facilities or accommodation for milk expression and storage.

On Monday, LB 641 advanced to Final Reading. This legislation directs the Department of Economic Development to establish a Bioscience Innovation Program under the Business Innovation Act and creates the Biosciences Innovation Cash Fund. Proponents of the bill argued that it will help encourage the development of new technologies and create new startup businesses in the bioscience sector. The fund will have available $2 million in grant money for which bioscience businesses can apply. This program terminates when the fund runs out.

Please contact me, my administrative aide, Courtney McClellen; my legislative aide, Brett Waite; or Rick Leonard, the Research Analyst with questions or concerns at (402) 471-2728 or by email at lbrasch@leg.ne.gov; or stop by Room 1022 (please note we have changed office location, two doors south of previous office) if you are in the State Capitol. If you would like to follow the Legislature online you can visit http://netnebraska.org/basic-page/television/live-demand-state-government. Live broadcasting is also available on NET2.
Cowboy is a lovable guy who has a big heart. He does well with children, though he doesnt like being held. He doesnt mind dogs, and he does OK with other cats after a fair amount of adjustment time. We believe Cowboy is about 7-years-old.

Mike and his sister, Molly, are 10-months-old and are looking for a home together. Their mama was rescued when she was pregnant. She and their other siblings all found forever homes, but not these two.

Did you know black cats are the most overlooked cats and least likely to get adopted? Black cats spend more time waiting for forever homes than cats with varying colors or markings. We think these two are wonderful on the inside and outside. Do you have a home where they will be loved forever unconditionally?

Shopping fundraiser

Join us on April 15 at Tommy Bahama at Nebraska Crossing Outlet in Gretna, Nebraska. Well be holding an adoption event there from noon to 4 p.m. During those four hours, 10 percent of Tommy Bahamas sales proceeds will be donated to Support Our Local Animal Shelter.

Come out to adopt and shop.
Iowa Western Community College students are stitching their way through a community service project this semester.

Students in intercultural communications are taking old donated jeans and turning them into quilts to benefit the Open Door Mission of Omaha.

Professor Elizabeth Duncan first started the Our Jeans Are All The Same project last semester after her husband told her about a Levis commercial that had a special message.

No matter who we are, young or old, rich or poor, it doesnt matter what our nationality is or ethnicity because we all have something in common: We all wear jeans, Duncan said of the message.

Seeing a common theme, Duncan said she wanted to take that message into her classroom.

Sometimes, were busy looking at all the differences in people, but one thing that pulls us back together is we all wear jeans, Duncan said. So, I took it to the students and they decided to collect blue jeans to donate them to people in need.

Last semester, students collected 109 pairs of jeans during a two-week period. They spent the following two weeks making the quilts and donated a total of five quilts to the Open Door Mission.

This semester, students set an initial goal of collecting 125 pairs of jeans. They exceeded that goal, collecting a total of 148 pairs of jeans.

Thursday marked the first day for students working hands-on with the project. Split into stations, students were responsible for different duties, including cutting the blue jeans, tracing quilt squares templates, ironing the denim and sewing.

The students already have enough squares done for one quilt, Duncan said. Well have more finished quilts this time than last semester with seven or eight quilts.

Mariann Hilz, who is an employee at Iowa Western and a long-time seamstress, is also helping students with the project.

While loaning a sewing machine to the classroom, she said she discovered students were discarding the zippers and pockets on the jeans, so she asked if she could keep them instead.

Hilz said she will use the zippers and pockets to make blankets with her sewing group, Sewing Some Love, for Alzheimers patients in Council Bluffs.

Theyre smaller like a lap blanket, Hilz said. We put zippers and snaps on them, anything that a person can fidget with that helps stimulates the Alzheimers mind.

Duncan was happy to give the leftover pieces to Hilz, so every piece of the jeans would be used, she said.

Students will spend the next few weeks working on the blankets. Once theyre completed, the students will hand deliver them to the Open Door Mission in May.

Service learning is important so students can help our community, Duncan said. It creates an awareness for other people because so many things tear us apart as people and projects like this bring students together because underneath it all  were all people.
Both of Iowas senators voiced approval after the chamber confirmed Neil Gorsuch as the newest associate justice on the Supreme Court.

Sen. Joni Ernst called Gorsuch eminently qualified, while Sen. Charles Grassley said the nominee was his own man.

The Senate confirmed Gorsuch on Friday, elevating President Donald Trumps nominee following a corrosive partisan confrontation that could have lasting impacts for the Senate and the courts.

Vice President Mike Pence was presiding as the Senate voted 54-45 in favor of Gorsuch, a 49-year-old veteran of the 10th U.S. Circuit of Appeals in Denver whose conservative rulings make him an intellectual heir to the late Justice Antonin Scalia, whose seat he will fill.

Gorsuch won support from 51 of the chambers Republicans  among them Grassley and Ernst  as well as three moderate Democrats up for re-election in states Trump won last fall: Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Donnelly of Indiana. GOP Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia, who has been recovering from back surgery, did not vote.

I am thrilled that a bipartisan majority has voted to confirm Judge Gorsuch, Ernst said through her office. Throughout his career, Judge Gorsuch has shown an unparalleled depth of understanding and respect for our Constitution. He is dedicated to interpreting the text of the Constitution and statutes as they are written, rather than attempting to legislate from the bench.

The American people are behind Judge Gorsuch, and I look forward to seeing him take his seat on the bench very soon.

About Gorsuchs unanimous confirmation to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in 2006, Ernst noted, Its easy to see why Judge Gorsuch was previously confirmed by the Senate with unanimous support  including the support of Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Schumer led the fight against Gorsuch, in part because debate on the nomination of Merrick Garland was blocked by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Grassley in early 2016.

Gorsuchs confirmation was a major win for Trump, his biggest congressional victory to date, as well as for McConnell, who kept Scalias seat open after the justices death in February 2016. McConnell refused to hold hearings for President Barack Obamas nominee, Garland, a move that enraged Democrats but that Republicans now hail as a political master stroke.

In a floor speech, Grassley lauded Gorsuchs dedication to the separations of powers in the U.S. government.

The separation of powers in our Constitution is the guardian of our liberty. Judge Gorsuch understands that. His deep understanding of the separation of powers enlivens his opinions, Grassley said. The separation of powers in our Constitution is the guardian of our liberty. Judge Gorsuch understands that. His deep understanding of the separation of powers enlivens his opinions.

Grassley said Gorsuch will make a superb justice.

After he is sworn in, Gorsuch will restore the courts conservative voting majority that existed before Scalias death, which could persist for years or even grow over the course of Trumps administration.

Gorsuch is expected to be sworn in Monday, in time to hear the final cases of the term. He was nominated by Trump shortly after the January inauguration.

Republicans exulted in the victory.

His judicial temperament, exceptional intellect, unparalleled integrity, and record of independence makes him the perfect choice to serve on the nations highest court, Trump said in a statement. As a deep believer in the rule of law, Judge Gorsuch will serve the American people with distinction.

McConnell told reporters that he views his refusal to fill Scalias seat, which was initially questioned by some fellow Republicans, as the most consequential decision Ive ever been involved in.

This is a person of extraordinary credentials who will bring honor to the Supreme Court for many, many years to come. So it is indeed a proud day, McConnell said.

For many conservatives, Trumps choice of Gorsuch made up for any number of other weaknesses in his candidacy and his administration.

Gorsuch was on a list of potential justices recommended by the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation during the campaign, and some Republicans even credit the Supreme Court vacancy as one reason Trump won the November election. In exit polls, 21 percent of voters called Supreme Court appointments the most important factor to their vote, and among those people 56 percent voted for Trump.

Democrats denounced the Republican majoritys use of what both sides dubbed the nuclear option to put Gorsuch on the court, calling it an epic power grab that would further corrode politics in Congress, the courts and the United States. Many Republicans bemoaned reaching that point, too, but they blamed Democrats for pushing them to it.

Gorsuchs confirmation Friday was preceded by a Senate floor showdown Thursday in which Democrats initially mounted a filibuster, denying Gorsuch the 60 votes needed to proceed. Republicans then acted unilaterally to lower the vote threshold on Supreme Court filibusters from 60 to a simple majority in the 100-member Senate.

Arizona Sen. John McCain, a senior Republican, warned of the implications of lowering the 60-vote threshold for Supreme Court nominees, thereby eliminating any role for the minority party in ratifying the selection.

I am very concerned about the future, which will then, with only a 51-vote majority required, lead to polarization of the nominees as far as their philosophies are concerned, when the majority does not have to consider the concerns and the votes of the minority, McCain said, though he voted with McConnell and the rest of the Republicans to lower the vote threshold.

I believe it will make this body a more partisan place, said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. It will make the cooling saucer of the Senate considerably hotter, and I believe it will make the Supreme Court a more partisan place.

The Senate change, affecting how many votes a nominee needs to advance to a final confirmation vote, will apply to all future Supreme Court candidates as well. Trump himself predicted to reporters aboard Air Force One Thursday that there could be as many as four Supreme Court vacancies for him to fill during his administration.

In fact, under a certain scenario, there could even be more than that, Trump said. There is no way to know how many there will be, if any, but several justices are quite elderly.

Even as they united in indignation, lawmakers of both parties, pulled by fierce political forces from left and right, were unwilling to stop the confirmation rules change. And in many ways the showdown had been pre-ordained, the final chapter in years of partisan warfare over judicial nominees.

Even as senior Republicans lamented the voting change, McConnell and some allies argued that all they were doing was returning to a time, not long ago, when filibusters of judicial nominees were unusual and it was virtually unheard-of to try to block a Supreme Court nominee in that fashion.

 Associated Press writers Erica Werner, Mark Sherman and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.
Iowas senators both voiced support for the U.S. missile strikes against Syria.

Republican Sens. Charles Grassley and Joni Ernst praised President Donald Trump while criticizing former President Barack Obama in discussing the military action.

Ernst is a Iowa National Guard combat veteran and serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

President Trump took action against Bashar al-Assads regime, and followed through with the red line drawn by the Obama administration, Ernst said in a statement issued by her office. Assad is a war criminal. His regime, backed by Russia, continues to destabilize Syria and target civilians. This has been a tragic reality for the past six years and has gone on far too long.

The U.S. launched the strike late Thursday and early Friday on a Syrian air base from which Syrian President Bashar Assad launched a chemical weapons attack earlier this week against his own people. More than 80 men, women and children were killed.

The action which marked the first time the U.S. has directly targeted Assads forces and was condemned by Assads allies in Russia and Iran, but welcomed by the Syrian opposition and its supporters, who expressed hope it signaled a turning point in the devastating civil war thats been raging for six years.

The bombing represents Trumps most dramatic military order since taking office and thrusts the U.S. administration deeper into the complex Syrian conflict. The Obama administration threatened to attack Assads forces after previous chemical attacks, but never followed through.

In her statement, Ernst criticized the previous U.S. leader.

Unlike the Obama administration, the Trump administration is showing global leadership and we must work to find an end to the root causes of this crisis, she said.

Grassley said Assads use of chemical weapons against his own people is an atrocious act and a crime against humanity.

Assads actions follow a policy under President Obama that lacked any consequences for heinous crimes against Syrian civilians. The action taken by President Trump to prevent further use of chemical weapons by Assad or anyone else was appropriate, Grassley said through his office.

He continued: President Trump should develop a comprehensive strategy with respect to ending the six-year-long crisis in Syria. U.S. leadership is necessary to protect U.S. security and that of our allies against these kinds of threats.

Nearly 60 U.S. Tomahawk missiles hit the Shayrat air base, a small installation with two runways, where aircraft often take off to bomb targets in northern and central Syria. The U.S. missiles hit targeted the bases airstrips, hangars, control tower and ammunition areas, U.S. officials said.

They were fired from two warships in the Mediterranean Sea, in retaliation for Tuesdays deadly chemical attack, which officials said used chlorine mixed with a nerve agent, possibly sarin.

Assads office called the U.S. missile strike reckless and irresponsible. The Syrian military said at least seven people were killed and nine wounded. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition monitor, said the seven included a general and three soldiers.

While members of Congress on both sides of the aisle and others elsewhere in Washington, D.C., called the action necessary, some criticized the move.

In a statement Friday, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., called Trumps order an ill-thought out military action that exposes the immoral hypocrisy of this administrations policy in the Middle East.

Additionally, some vocal Republicans and Democrats reprimanded the White House for launching the strike without first getting congressional approval.

The politically diverse group ranges from the libertarian-leaning Kentucky GOP Rep. Tom Massie to Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat and Hillary Clintons running mate in 2016. Theyve told Trump the U.S. Constitution gives Congress sole power to declare war and said the president needs to convince them that they should.

While we all condemn the atrocities in Syria, the United States was not attacked, said Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. The president needs congressional authorization for military action as required by the Constitution, and I call on him to come to Congress for a proper debate. Our prior interventions in this region have done nothing to make us safer, and Syria will be no different.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said on MSNBC: You have to come to Congress.

Yet thats far easier said than done at a time when Congress is deeply polarized and dysfunctional. Republicans control the House and Senate yet have been unable to agree on health care legislation, let alone a new war powers resolution.

Obama asked Congress two years ago to formally authorize war against Islamic State. There were a few hearings and lawmakers argued, but they never acted on the proposal.

In a statement Friday, Murphy called Trumps order an ill-thought out military action that exposes the immoral hypocrisy of this administrations policy in the Middle East.

GOP leaders praised Trumps attack order.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he supported both the action and objective. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., called the strike appropriate and just.

Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina declared that Trump confronted a pivotal moment in Syria and took action.

But Massie, who often breaks with his party, essentially called Trump a hypocrite for not getting permission from Congress. He retweeted late Thursday a 2013 tweet from Trump aimed at Obama, who at the time was considering taking military action in Syria.

The president must get congressional approval before attacking Syria  big mistake if he does not! Trump wrote then. In his retweet, Massie used the hashtag #bigmistake.

 Associated Press writers Zeina Karam, Sarah El Deeb, Lolita Baldor, Julie Pace, Vivian Salama and Richard Lardner contributed to this report.
Cozad Police are looking for a man who they believe hijacked a car Friday night.

Sgt. John Peden said that about 7:45 p.m., a man gave a woman a ride from Lexington to Cozad and stopped at a residence in the 1600 block of J Street.

Another man exited the residence and began assaulting the driver until he escaped with the car, a gray 2006 Ford Five Hundred. The man and the woman escaped the vehicle.

Peden said the second man, identified as Oliver Bush, 52, then left in the Ford Five Hundred. Bush knew the driver, though police dont know in what capacity. Bush didnt live at the residence on J Street, Peden said.

If anyone spots the Ford Five Hundred with Nebraska license plate number 18-V774, theyre asked to call Cozad Police or 911.
Storm pair Jesse Bromwich and Cheyse Blair have been ruled out for Melbourne's Round 6 clash with Cronulla on Sunday afternoon.



Match Draw Widget

[2017] Telstra Premiership - Round 6: Storm vs Sharks

Both players have been omitted due to back complaints, the loss of Bromwich offset by the return of Jordan McLean in the front row, with Young Tonumaipea joining the backline.

The Sharks have dropped Edrick Lee and Joseph Paulo from their extended squad for the trip to the Victorian capital.

See the updated squads for the grand final rematch here
Ozinga launched a multimedia campaign to attract new workers, inspire more people to join the trades and to celebrate the American worker amid a national shortage of skilled labor.

The ready mix concrete maker rolled out Trade Up: Join the Stripes advertising blitz in Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Florida. Locally, the 89-year-old company has operations in Gary, Crown Point and Wheatfield.

The building materials and supply company has rented billboards, taken out digital ads and posted videos on social media to urge more people to pursue careers in construction and the trades.

Trade Up is an innovative campaign that encourages people to take a chance on something new, President Marty Ozinga said.

The industry is exciting, and the careers offered are filled with endless opportunity. Were meeting the challenges of a changing work environment and view this campaign as a rallying cry.

Fewer young people are pursuing careers in the building trades at a time when skilled Baby Boomers are retiring, Ozinga said.

The lack of skilled labor keeps businesses from ultimately growing and making our communities stronger, Ozinga said.

Now that the economy is building momentum, were showcasing the construction and manufacturing jobs and emphasizing that they represent an attractive, successful and fulfilling career path.

The company made videos depicting bored office drones finding excitement in the trades, such as in its iconic red and white mixing trucks.

We arent just trying to raise awareness; were challenging people, Ozinga said.

Were looking for a certain kind of person that truly believes in the craft. We need to demonstrate to young people that American manufacturing jobs are not just an option, but (also) a lucrative and fulfilling career. Were looking for critical thinkers who see themselves as problem-solvers, innovators and team players.

The videos feature testimony for actual employees, such as Doug Bolander from an Ozinga plant in Wisconsin.

The equipment is second to none, theyre upgrading the plants, and they treat you like a human being, not a number, he said.

For more information about employment opportunities, visit Ozinga.com.
* St. Paul Catholic Church in Valparaiso is one of the parishes in the Gary Diocese  home to 186,420 Catholics in Lake, Porter, LaPorte and Starke counties  offering a returning Catholics program. Read about one Region resident who chose to return to faith and how the church is reaching out to other fallen away Catholics in Lifestyle.

* A new Ball State University study suggests Indiana should modernize the way it approaches economic development, since there are fewer "footloose" jobs that can relocate anywhere. Researchers advise the state to focus more on a skilled workforce, education, quality of life and cost of government. Read more in Business.

* Be sure to check out the $234 in coupon values in your Sunday Times.
Art connoisseurs, it's time for another visit to Valparaiso University's art museum.

The Brauer Museum will premiere new spring exhibits with a 7 p.m. opening reception April 12 at VU's Center for the Arts.

The museum will display Botanical Lore, Legend and Transformation: Works by Jon Hook and Andrea Peterson," both of whom are Northwest Indiana-based artists.

"Peterson is an internationally exhibiting artist and educator whose work is multifaceted and explores all types of paper fibers and processes," VU stated in a news release. "Hook specializes in clay pottery and sculpture and draws inspiration from the natural world."

The artists will offer a special gallery talk starting at 7 p.m. April 19.

The Ferguson Gallery will feature liturgical pieces in The Art of Ernst Schwidder exhibit.

"Through Schwidders skills and vision, he has significantly influenced church design nationwide," VU stated in the news release. "The Brauer Museum has in its exhibition paintings by Schwidder, as well as a large hand-carved mahogany altar that Schwidder originally created for Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church in Seattle."

The museum's Wehling and McGill Galleries also will showcase student pieces in the university's annual student art exhibition.

For more information, visit valpo.edu/brauer-museum-of-art.
HAMMOND  Nearly 3,000 local high school students had an opportunity to "turn up" Friday when they attended a pep rally at the Hammond Civic Center but despite the hip hop and rap music on tap, there was a serious message of non-violence that organizers wanted to convey.

Power 92 DJ Hot Rod, local rapper Chaotic and breakout Chicago rapper Nia Kay had the teens on their feet and screaming time and again.

Nia Kay, 15, appeared as a competitor on the second season of the television show, "The Rap Game," and became a social media sensation on Facebook with more than 200,000 page likes as of March 2016. Kay also will be the SAVE ambassador.

The event was organized by Project Outreach and Prevention (POP) and its co-founders Drs. Michael McGee and Reuben Rutland and also included members of Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE) who came together in a Stop the Violence Campaign.

Rutland said the teens organizers put the campaign together because they care about the community.

Added, McGee, "We're here to have fun but we're also here for a very serious purpose.

"There are three things that we really want to get across to you," he said. "No. 1, our hospital, Methodist Hospital, is a trauma center. We see lots of violence and senseless killings. No. 2. violence is a public health concern and we want to bring attention to that. No. 3. We are here because we love you. We think you're awesome."

He also told the students that of 314 people killed every day in the United States, 41 of them are under 18. McGee told the students that drinking and marijuana use also are public health concerns, and can affect a student's ability to graduate from high school and later have a career and be successful in life.

"Right now, there are too many people pulling a gun out on the drop of a dime," he said. "We've got to stop this. We want to inspire health lifestyles. We want to inspire you to set goals, get a career and a good job."

West Side Leadership Academy's drum line had teens dancing in the aisles and clapping their hands while the Krucial Kreationz Dance Team had students imitating their moves between the serious presentations.

Kisha Davis, the mother of Daja Brookshire, a 16-year-old Gary West Side student who was shot and killed Aug. 2, 2015, charged young people with being the best they could be.

"Be obedient. Period. Point. Blank," she said. "Whatever your talent is, do you best. Violence can hit anyone of us. Love one another."

Omar Yamini, now a Chicago author said he wanted to bring "real talk" to students. Standing in the back of the room in what resembled a jail cell, Yamini told the students he had been in prison. He said he just wants them to know that if they are in the car with someone who commits a crime, they can be charged too.

About eight Indiana University Northwest Medical students told students to "stop the bleed."

Second-year medical student Kadijah Porter told the students that uncontrolled bleeding is the No. 1 preventable cause of death.

"Before you offer help, make sure you are safe. Look for and identify life-threatening bleeding," she said.

Gary Roosevelt senior Jalynn Hill, who is president of the SAVE chapter at Roosevelt, said her group is planning an activity at the end of the year.

"Not everyone was able to come," she said. "We want to put together an event similar to this pep rally for all of the students. I thought this was really excellent. It brought together students from several other schools to prevent violence and look out for each other."
PORTAGE  Police have arrested a South Haven man in connection with the alleged sexual assault of a woman Saturday at Imagination Glen Park.

Police Chief Troy Williams announced the arrest of James Braden, 36, on a felony rape charge during a news conference Tuesday afternoon at the police station. The charge carries a term of 20 to 40 years in prison.

Williams said Braden was identified as a suspect the following day after his department sent out notifications to local law enforcement and media and posted the incident on the department Facebook page.

"We have had an excellent track record with identifying suspects in a variety of crimes with our public outreach via social media and the press," Williams said.

Williams said the department received tips on where Braden would be, but eventually arrested him at his South Haven home after police went there to interview his wife.

He was arrested without incident and taken to Porter County Jail.

Braden is accused of assaulting a 27-year-old Porter County woman at the park, but, Williams said, he had contact with at least four other women at either the park or in South Haven before he allegedly attacked the woman.

The woman was at the park with her fiance and children and went to the portable restroom. Braden is accused of opening the door to the restroom. The woman screamed, he apologized and closed the door. When the woman exited the restroom, he allegedly pushed her back with a handgun and assaulted her. She was able to break free, run out and call 911. He then left in his vehicle.

Another woman at the park told police Braden had approached her and her daughter and asked for help jump-starting his truck.

Witnesses gave a complete description of both Braden and his vehicle.

Among those who identified Braden were two of his former co-workers, said Captain of Detectives Joe Reynolds.

Police found a handgun, which was unregistered, at Braden's home, along with a vehicle and Harley Davidson front license plate that matched witnesses' descriptions.

Williams said Braden's previous criminal record included two convictions for operating while intoxicated.

Williams emphasized that officials believe this is a one-time incident and that the Portage parks are safe and secure. He said the parks are patrolled on a regular basis.

The department is asking any other women who might have had contact with Braden to contact police at 219-762-3122.
CROWN POINT  A Merrillville police detective said Friday afternoon at a bail hearing for Lavoyd D. Shepherd that the defendant's cell phone provided new evidence in the investigation into the death of 1-year-old Alena Ferguson.

Shepherd, 32, of Merrillville, is charged in Lake Criminal Court with murder and three felony counts of battery on allegations he killed his girlfriend's daughter the night of Feb. 21, according to a probable cause affidavit.

A medical examiner determined Alena died as a result of blunt force trauma to the torso and head, the affidavit states. The child had significant bleeding inside her abdominal cavity and a fracture to the back of her skull.

Shepherd told police in a statement his 10-year-old son woke him up the night of Feb. 21 because he was concerned about Alena, the affidavit states. Shepherd said he checked on the toddler and discovered she was not breathing.

Shepherd said he and his son attempted to resuscitate the child, but they were unsuccessful, so Shepherd and Alena's mother transported the child to Methodist Hospitals Southlake Campus, where she was pronounced dead at 6:03 a.m.

However, detective James Bogner testified Friday at a bail hearing for Shepherd that police discovered a photo of Alena on Shepherd's cell phone that was taken about two hours before the child's death.

The detective said Alena is seated on a kitchen counter in the photo and a man's hand is in her mouth pressing down on her tongue, which appeared to be cut, the affidavit states.

Bogner said Alena appeared lifeless in the photo and a knife can be seen in the background.

The detective further testified that Shepherd told the child's mother in a phone call recorded at the jail in the last two weeks that the mother should tell police she took the photograph found on his phone.

Shepherd, who is currently jailed without bail, petitioned the court March 15 requesting he be allowed to post a bail.

Magistrate Judge Natalie Bokota heard the detective's testimony Friday afternoon, but more witnesses are expected to testify at a later court date.
HAMMOND  Former Calumet Township trustee Mary Elgin is set to stand trial next month on public corruption charges.

Elgin and three of her co-defendants have turned down offers by the U.S. Attorney's office to plead guilty and avoid trial in return for leniency.

"There will be no plea agreement in this case," Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Benson said Friday at a pre-trial hearing for attorneys in the case.

U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen is ordering Mary Elgin and Steven Hunter, her son and the former information technology boss of her office, to be tried together before a jury beginning May 8.

Van Bokkelen ordered Ethel Shelton, Elgin's former secretary; and Alex Wheeler, her former campaign manager, to be tried separately at a later undetermined date.

All four defendants are pleading not guilty.

Elgin was Calumet Township trustee from 2003 to 2014 and ran the largest township office in Northwest Indiana. She employed up to 135 employees distributing assistance to Gary's poorest residents. Her payroll cost taxpayers $4.5 million a year, according to a Times investigation.

The U.S. Attorney has charged Elgin and Hunter in 11 felony counts alleging wire fraud and conspiracy to commit extortion.

The government accuses Elgin alone in four additional counts of attempting to extort money from an unidentified vendor, failing to file federal income tax returns in 2012 and 2013 despite an annual income over $100,000 and lying to the FBI in 2014 when denying she knew township employees were doing her political work on public time.

The government alleges Elgin demanded cash and work from her township employees to benefit her re-election and other political aspirations.

The government alleges the defendants forced township employees to either sell Elgin's political fundraising tickets to the public or buy them with their own funds.

Benson told U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge John E. Martin Friday the government's case is built on hours of audio tapes and witness testimony. He said the trial could take between two and three weeks to complete.
HAMMOND  A 39-year-old previously convicted in a Cook County armed robbery case was sentenced to 70 months in prison Friday for being a felony in possession of a firearm, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Leroy Robinson, of Hammond, will also serve one year of supervised release under a sentencing agreement, according to an announcement from Acting United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.

According to the news release, Robinson possessed two firearms  one of which had an obliterated serial number  on July 28 after being convicted in an armed robbery case in Cook County in Illinois.
MICHIGAN CITY  Police are warning residents to lock up vehicles at night, especially if they own a Jeep, following a string of thefts targeting that particular brand.

Four Jeeps have been stolen from Michigan City over the past two weeks, Michigan City Police Sgt. Chris Yagelski said in a news release. There were also two other attempts to steal Jeeps, he said.

"The police cannot determine if there is a group out there targeting Jeeps," Yagelski said. "Yet this does not appear to be just a random act as it has occurred in different places within the city."

The stolen Jeep models ranged from the mid-1990s to early-2000s, Yagelski said.

Yagelski suggested drivers etch a cars vehicle identification number on each of the windows.

"Car thieves want to get off cheap. They dont want to go to the expense of replacing all the glass," he said in the release.

All car owners should be cautious by never leaving keys or vehicle titles in unattended cars. Police also urged drivers to park in well-lit areas and to never leave valuables in plain view.
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MIAMI  A member of the Chicago-based Almighty Imperial Gangsters Nation has been sentenced by a Florida federal judge to 25 years in prison in a violent racketeering case.

The Justice Department said in a news release Friday that Miguel "Fuzzy" Pedraza became the 16th member of the gang sent to prison in the case. When he pleaded guilty earlier to racketeering conspiracy, Pedraza admitted participating in killings, drug dealing and other crimes. He had been a member of the gang since 1997.
GARY  Fire crew will conduct a controlled burn Sunday on about 120 acres in the Miller neighborhood, according to a news release from the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

Firefighters are slated to work for most of the day, weather permitting, along Marquette Trail and near the Douglas Center for Environmental Education.

The goals of the controlled burn are to benefit natural resources and reduce hazard fuel, according to the agency.

More information can be found at facebook.com/IndianaDunesNL.
GARY  About 50 people gathered at the entrance to the Gary-Chicago International Airport Friday to protest the use of the airport to carry out the deportation policies implemented by the Trump administration.

Frigid winds whipped banners and signs bearing the simple words "No Wall," "No Ban," "No Deportation" and "Resist." Other signs touted the need for job creation, not deportation. The protest was held at the airport, which organizers said is where people arrested as illegal immigrants are brought in buses from Northwest Indiana and the Chicago area by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office to be deported.

One of those who spoke at the vigil, Torre Fuerte, said the deportations don't create jobs or raise anyone's pay. If anyone's pay does go up, it is at the expense of others losing pay or jobs, he said, "and that's cannibalism." As vehicles driving by honked support, Raoul Contreras called the Trump policies of deportation and requiring people to register by religion fascism.

The vigil was organized by Northwest Indiana Resistance, which Ruth Needleman, a Gary resident and one of the group's organizers, said is a temporary umbrella coalition to help coordinate activities, bring different groups together, end the deportations, raise money and try to get "welcoming city" ordinances passed by area communities.

"We are not protesting the airport," Needleman said. "We are protesting ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). Our goal is to return the airport to profitability. No jobs are being created here (by the deportations). We would like to see the airport used for the benefit of the community."

She said Gary is studying the proposed welcoming city ordinance and could be the first community to approve it. The group is meeting with Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson Monday about the ordinance.

Needleman said a busload of possible deportees arrived during the vigil, but, instead of using the main entrance where the group gathered, it went to a second entrance. She said plans to follow the vigil with a news conference inside the administration building were canceled because the building's doors were locked shortly after the protesters gathered on the grassy area in front.

Airport spokesman David Goldenberg said the group didn't ask to use the building and hadn't applied for a permit. The doors were locked because no public meetings of the airport board were being held. Assistant Airport Manager Henry Mook said the airport terminal building is always locked because the airport has no scheduled airline service. Goldenberg said the airport tried to accommodate the protesters, making a restroom available for their use, if needed.

"When the issue was first raised at a board meeting about a month ago, we told them we don't play a role in the deportations, but we were willing to sit down and talk to them and point them in the direction to get answers," he said. "The board said they could hold the vigil as long as they didn't block the entrance. We opened the restroom to them and tried to be very accommodating."

Goldenberg said the ICE hires operators around the country to handle the deportations and the airport has no involvement other than meeting its obligation under the agreement to receive federal funding to keep the airport operating.
EVANSVILLE, Ind. Austin Frazier likes to fix things.

When Frazier got his driver's license at 18, his "old" truck often broke down. Frazier, now 22, didn't want to spend a fortune to constantly fix it, so he decided to learn how to do it himself.

He loves the work, but having spina bifida -- a birth defect that prevents the spinal cord from fully developing -- makes it difficult to walk long distances or stand to work on car alignments or tires while the vehicle is on a lift.

But that's about to change.

Soon, the Ivy Tech Community College Southwest automotive student will be able to do more automotive and welding work with a custom-made, electric stand-up wheelchair. The chair is being built by other Ivy Tech students and instructors.

When Frazier heard a welding professor wanted to gather a team to build the chair, he said it took a while to believe.

"I was kind of shocked," he said. "Like a deer in head lights."

Once the base was complete, it finally sunk in.

John Durbin, assistant professor in welding and the school's industrial technology program chair, found a video of a stand-up wheelchair built by people at a North Dakota school. He reached out to the school, and Donna Zimmerman, associate professor technology and program chair for advanced automation and robotics technology, said officials there shared drawings.

The original plan, Zimmerman said, was to build a pneumatic lift on a manually operated wheelchair. After an electronic scooter donation in November from Deborah and Jerry Bourassa, plans changed.

"We know how important it is for students to get hands-on experience. We're taking the entire bottom of it so he'll have a motorized chair," Zimmerman said. "Then we'll replace the top with the lift mechanism."

About 35 students from robotics, welding and automotive classes, as well as some instructors, are working together to build the chair. This is the first of its kind to be built at Ivy Tech.

Zimmerman said robotics classes worked on design, welding students took the lead in construction and automotive students are looking at controls to make sure everything works together.

"Students are coming in on their own time, which is unheard of, but they're thrilled to be working on this," Zimmerman said.

Jonathan Walker, an Ivy Tech adjunct faculty member, lab technician and welding student, was in a motorcycle accident at 15 years old and spent 6-8 months in a wheelchair. During that time, he rebuilt the motorcycle he wrecked, and learned quickly you need to stand to do a lot of the work.

Walker didn't hesitate to help with this project. He said building the chair involves stripping it down to the bare chassis, cutting it in half, and fabricating a box to hold not only the batteries but the actuators for the lift mechanism on the chair.

The goal is to build a chair that still fits in regular-sized doorways, Walker said, because they don't want to hinder his mobility any further.

The labor and most of the parts were donated, Zimmerman said. Parts they had to purchase were bought by the robotics club and the Ivy Tech Foundation.
Doctors and a former Brooklyn state assemblyman are among 13 people charged with allegedly running three pill mills that allegedly flooded the streets with powerful painkillers and swindled the Medicaid and Medicare programs out of $24 million.

Doctors and other health care professionals paraded into Manhattan court in handcuffs, accused of pumping 6.5 million prescription painkillers onto the streets of the city and Long Island.

"We never, ever treat addicts. We treated sick people. We are a primary care facility," said Dr. Lazar Feygin, the alleged ringleader. He is accused of running two clinics in Brooklyn, Parkville Medical in Kensington and LF Medical in Clinton Hill, that touted a speciality in pain relief.

Thirteen people were busted in Operation Avalanche.

The DEA says this was a drug crew.

"This Friday morning was professionals who, to me, are nothing more than just drug dealers," said Wilbert Plummer of the DEA.

Law enforcement officials say clinic staffers wrote prescriptions for powerful and addictive painkillers for people who had no medical need for them.

A former employee of Feygin's, Dr. Paul McClung opened his own office, PM Medical, and allegedly did the same thing.

"The clinics would create a base of oxycodone recipients who would return every month for a new prescription," said NYC Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan.

Those pills would often be resold on the street.

The clinics allegedly made up health problems for patients as cover to write their prescriptions.

Unnecessary therapies were also prescribed.

Medicaid and Medicare were charged a combined $24 million in the scam.

"Public health funds that could have paid for 120,000 breast cancer screens," said Department of Investigation Commissioner Mark Peters.

Former state Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny allegedly altered urine and lab tests at a company he worked for so clinic patients' results would not show high levels of drugs.

"For a cup of urine, they would get the government to pay them $400 just for a cup of urine," Plummer said.

Law enforcement officials say they started to look into this case when someone came forward to report what was going on.

Prosecutors say Feygin lives in a luxurious Staten Island home in the Lighthouse Hill section. They say he bragged about how he was rich in America but used to be poor in Russia. He could end up living in the big house now upstate if convicted.
Seven days after missing the deadline, lawmakers in Albany finally reached a $153 billion budget deal Friday.

The agreement comes following 12 days of around-the-clock negotiations.

Governor Andrew Cuomo says he got just about all the programs he had pushed for.

One of the biggest sticking points was whether or not to raise the age of criminal liability from 16 to 18. There was stiff opposition by the Republican-controlled Senate, but lawmakers eventually agreed to the provision.

As part of the deal, the governor was given flexibility to re-open the budget if some proposed federal cuts go through. The federal budget comes out in October.

Cuomo says it was the hardest budget, but also the best budget.

"We had probably the most aggressive agenda I ever put forth, Raise the Age, affordable housing, financial flexibility, because we don't know what's going to happen to this state going forward," Cuomo said. "These were all unprecedented challenges, and I applaud the legislature for meeting them."

The Assembly is expected to pass the bills Saturday.

The Senate has left town. It is not clear when they will return, but they are also expected to pass the bills.
The Trump administration has learned quickly why President Obamas parting advice on foreign policy was to worry the most about North Korea. A string of provocative missile launches, accompanied with a threat of nuclear force, has led Pyongyang to the brink of outright war  perhaps a place the national leadership wishes to be, but not anywhere the U.S. or China would prefer. War with the North would send shock waves throughout the Pacific, but it would likely create huge headaches and hard-to-manage consequences around the difficult, but essential, relationship between Washington and Beijing.

The stakes make Trumps evolving approach to China all the more important. And, though the president has not yet chosen between two main conceptual frameworks that could shape his China policy, fortuitously, the North Korea crisis could help reveal that, when it comes to China, he may not need to choose. If Trump must work to reconcile or balance the frameworks of thought emanating from his nationalistic alt-right base on the one hand and his more economically driven New York left-leaning base on the other, China presents a unique opportunity to make both sides of his politics cohere and work together.

At first blush, such a happy outcome seems somewhat unlikely. Trump kicked off his presidential positioning by bristling against Beijing. He labeled the Chinese currency manipulators, stirred up fears (or hopes) of a trade war, and briefly created a small panic by seeming to imperil Americas longstanding One China policy. Now, although the administration continues to view China as needing increased motivation to apply more pressure to Pyongyang, Trump has effectively backed away from the Taiwan controversy and slid trade concerns closer to the back burner. These changes appear to reflect the influence of advisors drawn from the world of New York business and finance  including his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, whose prominent role makes sense to Chinese officials accustomed to a big overlap between powerful bureaucrats and powerful families. Still, it can be hard to imagine how the family-and-financiers wing of the administration can satisfy the more insurgent wing, which ate up Trumps vehement criticism of China as a global competitor beating the U.S. by refusing to play by the rules.

At the same time, its interesting to consider how relatively muted the nationalist rights criticism of Beijing really is. Islamism and globalism receive a degree of fury and concern that does not extend to China, which is less of a civilizational foe than a competitor providing an unflattering benchmark for just how much ground must be made up to make America great again. Even in the more nakedly ethno-nationalist precincts of the alt-right, the Chinese are not seen as a cultural threat to a predominantly English-speaking, European-heritage America. Constituencies worried about a globalist-led Third Worldization of the U.S. are not worried about an influx of Chinese immigrants, Chinese ideas or Chinese money. If anything, the cultural and political consolidation being carried out by the current leadership in Beijing is looked upon with respect, as proof that multicultural liberal democracy is primed to sabotage itself and advance false ideals that can never be satisfied in a healthy social order.

In theory, at least, these views and sentiments fundamentally comport with the basic imperatives of a harmonious U.S. relationship with China. For nearly two decades, it has been assumed that such a relationship, because it is so dependent upon certain economic and financial arrangements, is not just a creature of globalization but of the ethos of globalization. This is probably incorrect. The U.S. could clearly deglobalize to a significant extent, while actually strengthening and deepening its collaboration and cooperation with China on issues of key mutual concern  including, at an extreme, the problem of how to shift global burdens away from the U.S. onto competent powers with big, but limited, regional stakes in maintaining predictable and durable order. None of these harmonizing moves require more globalization, or even more fully integrated trade with China or other Asian countries. Neoliberals have long assumed that U.S.-China relations will worsen to the degree that something other than economics is shaping the relationship. It could well be time to abandon that assumption.

Such a shift would not, however, mean relegating economics to some strategic bottom tier. For the members of Trumps inner circle  and for the sector of Trumps instincts  that lean more to the economic left than the nationalistic right, the crucial element of reforming relations with China is renegotiating financial ties on a basis more fairly to Americas advantage. Here, the best leverage could be found outside of economics (think of how much stock China puts in the U.S. position on the Dalai Lama, Taiwan and the status of the islands in the South China Sea), an attractive option for those hesitant to try winning concessions by ratcheting up economic conflict with Beijing  and likely bearing the costs.

Which returns us to North Korea. The truculent country is not just an alarming threat to the U.S., or to international peace and security; it is a vestige of a bygone world, wherein U.S. and Chinese forces stood on two sides of a definitive and global military and ideological divide. So long as North Korea continues down its current path, Sino-American relations will be more fraught, more complicated and less fruitful than they should be. Although the differences between the two countries are on track to remain deep and enduring, working toward an agreement on North Korea would mark a big step toward trans-Pacific peace and security that eases off on the globalization without slipping into nationalistic antagonism.

James Poulos is a columnist for the Southern California News Group.
Harry Langenbacher, right, of Fullerton, joined about 50 other people in a candlelight vigil outside Representative Ed Royce's office in Brea on Friday, April 7, 2017. The even, organized by Indivisible-D39, was in response to the gas attack in Idlib, Syria. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

In response to the gas attack in Idlib, Syria, about 50 marchers held a candlelight vigil in front of Representative Ed Royce's office in Brea on Friday, April 7, 2017. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

In response to the gas attack in Idlib, Syria, about 50 marchers held a candlelight vigil in front of Representative Ed Royce's office in Brea on Friday, April 7, 2017. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

In response to the gas attack in Idlib, Syria, about 50 marchers held a candlelight vigil in front of Representative Ed Royce's office in Brea on Friday, April 7, 2017. The even organizer, Shana Charles, right, speaks to the marchers. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

In response to the gas attack in Idlib, Syria, about 50 marchers gather for a candlelight vigil at the corner of Brea Boulevard and Imperial Highway in Brea on Friday, April 7, 2017. The marchers begin their vigil in front of Representative Ed Royce's office (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

In response to the gas attack in Idlib, Syria, about 50 marchers gather for a candlelight vigil at the corner of Brea Boulevard and Imperial Highway in Brea on Friday, April 7, 2017. The marchers begin their vigil in front of Representative Ed Royce's office (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

In response to the gas attack in Idlib, Syria, about 50 marchers held a a candlelight vigil in front of Representative Ed Royce's office in Brea on Friday, April 7, 2017. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

A candle is raised into the air during a candlelight vigil In response to the gas attack in Idlib, Syria. The vigil started in front of Representative Ed Royce's office in Brea on Friday, April 7, 2017. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Members of Indivisible-D39, an Orange County-based political action group, gathered at the office of Republican Congressman Ed Royce in Brea on Friday night for a candlelight vigil and showing of solidarity with Syria.

About 60 U.S. Tomahawk missiles hit the Shayrat air base in Syria on Friday morning local time in retaliation for Tuesdays deadly chemical attack. The Syrian military said at least seven people were killed and nine wounded in the missile strike.

The group of about 40 to 50 carried signs with slogans like (Syrian President Bashar) Assad is a war criminal and Pray for the people of Syria, as they walked from the Congressmans office to the corner of Imperial Highway and Brea Boulevard.

Related Articles Airstrike on Syrian town hit by chemical weapons kills 1

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Timeline of chemical weapons use in Syria At a moment when political rancor has dominated the news, event organizer Shana Charles, a college professor and mother of two from Fullerton, said her thoughts have been on the grief of Abdul Hameed al-Yousef, a 29-year-old father of 9-month-old twins who died with his wife in Tuesdays attack.

As a mother of two daughters I was so moved by that picture and that mans story, she said. I cant imagine the pain that father must feel.

Phil Janowicz, a teacher from Buena Park, stepped out in front of the crowd, electric candle in hand, and said, We stand here in solidarity with the people of Syria because they are like us.

Sheri Young, a Fullerton mother of two teenage girls and a teenage boy, began to weep at the event. She was at work in Irvine when news of the gas attack broke.

I was on my break and pictures were starting to show up on the news, she said. I saw that picture of that father carrying his two dead baby girls and I just lost it.  Its a shame we waited so long to get involved in Syria, but I just pray that our leaders work together in a rational way and across party lines  This cant be allowed to become a partisan issue.

The group broke out singing Amazing Grace as commuters drove past at sunset.

The driver of a white F-150 truck honked his horn, leaned out the window and shouted, Trump! Trump! Trump!

Royce, the House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman, on Thursday issued a written statement on the U.S. missile strikes near Damascus saying, Assad was warned, repeatedly, by the U.S. and the U.N. that the intentional targeting of innocent men, women and children is intolerable.

Now Assad has been caught red-handed carrying out another abhorrent chemical attack, and the administration has taken a measured response, Royce said. Moving ahead, the administration must work with Congress and lay out clear policy goals for Syria and the region.

As the group began to walk back to Royces office, Charles said, he (Assad) needs to be tried as a war criminal and removed from power. But bombing this country into rubble has been done before. Doing it more just takes away whatever capability the Syrian people have to make a better life for themselves.

The overnight missile attack, which marked the first time the U.S. has directly targeted Assads forces, was condemned by his allies in Russia and Iran but welcomed by the Syrian opposition and its supporters, who expressed hope it signaled a turning point in the devastating six-year-old civil war.

The bombing represents Trumps most dramatic military order since taking office.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
LAGUNA BEACH Cheryl Kinsman still remembers heading to Taco Bell in her 1955 red station wagon during her college summer break.

That was 50 years ago, and Kinsman was staying at her parents trailer on the sand at El Morro. Back then, the menu featured tostadas, burritos, frijoles, chili burgers and tacos.

It didnt look like this, it looked more like a hacienda, Kinsman, now 69, said about the Taco Bell on Coast Highway and Cleo Street. Wed park and order our tacos at the window. There was no dining room.

The beige, adobe-style 1,200-square-foot restaurant shares a parcel on prime real estate with a surf shop that rents out surfboards and stand-up paddle boards. Its an easy walk from downtown.

On Saturday, April 8, Kinsman, who served as the citys mayor in 2004, will be honored as one of the first guests to have patronized the now 50-year-old eatery when it first opened in 1967.

The restaurant  owned by franchisee Steve Smith  is Orange Countys oldest operating Taco Bell. The only other vintage operating Taco Bell restaurants remaining are in Goleta, Santa Barbara and Scottsdale, Ariz.

The 50th anniversary celebration, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, will include food giveaways, music and a check presentation to the Boys & Girls Club. KX93.5, Lagunas only FM radio station will broadcast live.

Kinsman said she is excited about the tribute, but also feels bittersweet. The place she has long seen as an iconic throw-back to Lagunas former days could be on limited time.

The Taco Bell is in the last four years of its lease. Smith, of San Juan Capistrano, who took over the franchise in 2003, said he hopes to extend his lease but isnt sure that can happen.

Early years

Lagunas Taco Bell is five years younger than the first one opened by Glen Bell in Downey in 1962.

Like the Downey restaurant, the Laguna Taco Bell started with a walk-up window, a patio and fire pits. Bell created that design because he wanted the eatery to look like it was selling authentic tacos.

The early buildings had slumped stone arches and tan brick to resemble an adobe house.

Taco Bell eventually scrapped the look because it needed to build locations with drive-throughs.

But the Laguna building remained unchanged. It was a good fit in Laguna, where distinctive buildings styles and historic character are coveted.

The Taco Bell is one of only a few chains in a town that prides itself on unique shops, restaurants and boutiques. The only other fast-food chains are Subway and Jack in the Box.

Though he owns other Taco Bells in Santa Ana, Orange, Fountain Valley, Westminster and San Bernardino County, Smith said the Laguna location is his favorite.

I like it because its the community Taco Bell, he said. In big cities you have numerous locations and dont have the loyalty to one location. If you live and work in Laguna Beach, this is your Taco Bell.

Colorful history

In the 1960s, the Taco Bell was known as meeting spot for members of Timothy Learys Brotherhood of Eternal Love, a nonprofit religious institution. The group was later identified as one of the major importers of illegal opiate narcotics, said Chris Jepsen, a county historian.

Kinsman said she never noticed such goings-on, but heard they had happened.

The restaurants patio was remodeled into a dining room in the 1970s. These days, most of the customers dine in, selecting from among 60 items on the menu.

Brian Smyth, a street musician who recently moved to Laguna Beach from Zanesville. Ohio, comes to the Bell at least once every day. He said hes intrigued with its colorful past.

He orders a secret menu item.

Most people dont even know about it, the 45-year-old said. Its a black bean and rice burrito thats grilled. I can eat relatively healthy and its cheap.

Kathy Sewe, a 28-year-Laguna resident stops in most mornings on her way to work.

Its convenient and its reasonable, she said. It would be terrible if it was gone. It belongs to this town.

Smith said he is still on the original lease signed in 1966 by Taco Bell founder Bell. At the time, it was a 20-year lease with seven five-year options.

To extend it beyond 2021, would require a completely renegotiated lease, he said.

Smith is hopeful he can keep the Taco Bell in its location.

What would be sad is that Laguna Beach would not have a place to get quick food at a reasonable price for students, local employees and tourists, he said.
JOHANNESBURG  In the largest protest in years, tens of thousands of people demonstrated in South Africas major cities Friday to demand the resignation of President Jacob Zuma after his dismissal of a well-respected finance minister intensified concerns about government corruption.

Marches in Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg and Pretoria brought together a mix of political opponents, civil society leaders and ordinary South Africans, united in their message that Zuma had lost the moral authority to lead the nation. Supporters of Zuma and his governing African National Congress held smaller counterprotests in Durban and Johannesburg.

The protests were prompted by Zumas abrupt dismissal of the finance minister, Pravin Gordhan, in a midnight Cabinet reshuffle last week. Gordhan, known for his fiscal prudence and oversight of state enterprises, was regarded as a bulwark against the ANCs perceived culture of corruption and patronage that Zuma has come to symbolize.

One person cannot hold the rest of the country hostage, Mmusi Maimane, the leader of the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, said at a march in central Johannesburg.

Jacob Zuma is not fit to lead South Africa, he added.

In response, hundreds of veterans of the African National Congress former military wing, dressed in camouflage and singing revolutionary songs, formed a shield in front of the partys headquarters in Johannesburg. Police fired rubber bullets to disperse ANC supporters who were headed toward Democratic Alliance marchers, and clashes between rival protesters were reported elsewhere in the country.

On Friday, South Africas government debt was downgraded to junk status by Fitch Ratings, the second rating agency to take such an action since Gordhans dismissal. Fitch said that recent political events, including a major Cabinet reshuffle, will weaken standards of governance and public finances.

It was far from clear, however, whether the growing opposition would have any effect on Zumas standing in his party. Although Zuma was initially criticized by some of its top leaders for firing Gordhan, this week the ANC rallied around the president.

With the party expected to select a new leader at a national conference in December, Zuma appears to have firmed up his position and influence. His critics in the party were forced to apologize this week. His Cabinet is now stacked with loyalists. His new finance minister is a longtime ally who is more likely to give the president and his allies easy access to the state coffers.

Thousands of demonstrators, many with Save South Africa banners, gathered in Pretoria to march to Union Buildings, the seat of the presidency, after a court lifted a police ban on the protest Thursday evening.

The presidency respects the right of South Africans to protest peacefully, Zuma said in a statement about the march in Pretoria, but he has not commented further.

In the Cape Town area, demonstrators formed an intermittent human chain from the Cape Peninsula into the city. Thousands gathered at several spots in the city, including in front of Parliament and City Hall, where Nelson Mandela once addressed huge crowds upon his release from Robben Island.

Matshepo Motsoeneng, 52, went to City Hall with her daughter, Tumi, 25, from their home in Khayelitsha, an impoverished black township.

Never in my life did I think Id stand against the ANC, Motsoeneng said. Theres been too much corruption. Today, Im representing what my parents fought for, taking up their struggle for this country. This is not about race, its about stopping corruption in the government.

Her daughter wore a beret of the Economic Freedom Fighters, a radical opposition party, at what was her first protest.

Im expecting to see Zuma leave office today, she said. We are graduates, but we dont get jobs. Were struggling because of his corruption.


Democracy Under Threat, but Americans Concerned with Other Things Wed., Oct. 19, 2022 Americans believe that our current form of government is under threat of disappearing, yet most dont think this threat is the biggest problem facing the country, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll.
Mayoral candidate Heath Mello wants the city to press pause on the streetcar initiative until the May 9 election because Brad Ashford, a Mello supporter, has resigned from an advocacy group pushing for development in midtown.

Former congressman Ashford described the resignation as an amicable parting of ways and said he wasnt a good fit for the role of executive director of Midtown 2050, a new group designed to push for midtown development, including the streetcar project.

I just dont think its going to work, Ashford said. Its not anybodys fault.

Ashford and other Midtown 2050 officials, including board Chairman Ken Cook, previously disagreed about Ashfords political activities. Cook objected to Ashford campaigning for Mello last month and said it could hurt the groups relationship with Mayor Jean Stothert. Ashford endorsed Mello in December.

Ashford said Friday that the issue of his political involvement wasnt the reason for the separation.

We started having very constructive conversations over the last week about Midtown 2050, he said. Were in a new stage in this.

But Mello characterized Ashfords departure as political retribution from Stothert, and he said that has tainted this project.

I think the best thing for the city right now is to push pause on the streetcar project until after the election and, frankly, engage the citizens more, Mello said.

He said he remains a supporter of the streetcar project. But asked whether he would drop the project if he couldnt build a consensus, he said thats a possibility.

Stothert called Mellos comments reckless and unfounded.

She said nothing will be decided before the election, though she said she remains supportive of the streetcar concept. She also said if the city moves forward with a streetcar project it will go to a vote of the people, as was the case with the CenturyLink Center.

Theres nothing to pause, she said.

The mayor has acknowledged contacting Cook about a Facebook post showing pictures of Ashford knocking on doors with candidate Mello. But she has said she did not want Ashford to be fired, and later asked the board to retain him.

She noted that Cook previously said it would be utterly false to suggest that Stothert has a role in the groups concern about Ashfords political activities.

Stothert said Friday that the only one tainting this issue is Heath Mello.

Stothert, a Republican in an officially nonpartisan election, and Mello, a Democrat, emerged from Tuesdays primary election only three percentage points apart, with Stothert receiving 44 percent of the vote to Mellos 41 percent. There were three other candidates on the ballot.

Stothert and Mello both have said they support the streetcar proposal. A financial analysis of a streetcar line from downtown to midtown says the project would cost about $150 million, with up to $30 million coming from citywide taxpayers.

Taylor Royal, a political newcomer whose platform included opposition to the streetcar, received 11 percent of the vote in the primary. Stothert and Mello have both said they plan to court Royal voters.

Mello said his push to press pause doesnt have anything to do with courting Royal voters.

But he said he now believes that the city should hold off on appointing a streetcar committee or otherwise moving forward until this summer. If elected, he said, he would appoint Omahans from around the city to try to build consensus on the project.

We need to restart the discussion this summer and really engage the public and the citizens more, he said.

Stothert has said she intends to appoint an advisory committee including businesspeople, real estate developers, philanthropists and city experts to make a recommendation about funding for the project.

Cook said in a statement that he was sorry to receive Ashfords resignation.

I wish to thank Brad for his passion for Midtown Vision 2050 and his involvement in helping to launch this ambitious effort, Cook said. Brad has focused much of his career in public service on the development of the original City of Omaha. We value his input and will continue to view him as an ally as the Midtown Vision 2050 initiative continues to build community-changing momentum.

Midtown 2050 is backed by Mutual of Omaha, the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Nebraska Medicine, Kiewit Corp., Creighton University and the philanthropic nonprofit Heritage Services.

Cook said in the statement that the group is searching for Ashfords replacement.

Ashford said he continues to support the streetcar proposal and the push for more midtown development. He said the board members are in it for the right reasons.

Ill continue, if asked, to work on anything that involves those issues, he said.
GRAND ISLAND  Hundreds of people packed into the Pinnacle Bank Expo Center at Fonner Park on Friday morning to receive dental care at no cost.

The Mission of Mercy dental clinic provides no-cost care on a first-come, first-served basis.

Teresa Anderson, health director for the Central District Health Department and one of the organizers of the event, said they see every type of person coming through the door, but the majority of those being served are without dental insurance or access to a dentist.

We see a lot of folks who have to let their teeth go for a number of years (without dental care), she said.

In February, dentist Steve Anderson said nearly 50 percent of people have never seen a dentist and live day to day and month to month with dental problems that cause excruciating pain. When people dont have dental insurance or cant afford to go to a dentist, it becomes worse, he said.

LaDonna Cool, one of the volunteers at the Mission of Mercy, said she had been there since the doors opened at 5:30 a.m. Friday. There was a line of people wrapped around the expo center when the doors opened.

It was dark. I could barely see the building, Cool said. They had chairs, and blankets over their heads. It was like somebody wanted to get into a concert.

Teressa Johnson of Grand Island said she lined up outside the doors at 11 p.m. Thursday to make sure she got in to receive dental care. She camped outside with a chair and a blanket to get a few teeth pulled and have a cavity filled. When asked if it was worth the wait, Johnson said it was well worth it to receive dental care at no cost.

I knew I had two teeth that were broken and a cavity. I wanted to make sure I was able to get everything done, she said. With an attitude of gratitude, I was here to get it done.

Johnson said that while she was waiting in line to get into the expo center on Friday morning, she talked to people who had been there since 4 p.m. Thursday and one person who got there at noon Thursday. Johnson said she also spoke with a man who had come to Grand Island from Florida and wanted to receive dental care at the Mission of Mercy.

There were people curled up in sleeping bags, snoring all night long before they opened the doors, she said.

Johnson added she was just so blessed that the Mission of Mercy event was taking place.

Shanda Hecox of Hastings said she woke up at 3 a.m. Friday to board a bus from Crossroads Center Rescue Mission to Grand Island. She got to the Mission of Mercy clinic at 4 and in the door at 6.

The line was long, but it wasnt too long of a wait. It wasnt too cold, and the people were great all around me, Hecox said.

She said she was there to get some teeth surgically removed. She said the dental work will make it easier for her to find a job, allow her to smile more and lead her to live a happier life.

Dave Johnson of Bertrand said he arrived at the expo center at 4 a.m. Friday to get some teeth pulled due to having a lot of bad teeth over the years. He called the no-cost dental clinic awesome because he does not have dental insurance and a lot of dentists will not see patients unless they have dental insurance.

Johnson said the line moved quickly and everything had gone smoothly. He was grateful for the Mission of Mercy providing no-cost dental care that will help him feel like a new man.

The Mission of Mercy dental clinic will continue from 5:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. today at the expo center.
WASHINGTON  Most Capitol Hill Republicans from Nebraska and Iowa offered statements of support for President Donald Trumps attacks on Syria.

Syrian President Bashar Assads use of chemical weapons is inexcusable, Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said in a press release that reflected the tone of most Midlands lawmakers.

I support the actions of President Trump in sending a swift and clear message to deter further atrocities of this nature, Bacon said.

Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, had not issued a statement by Friday evening. But Rep. David Young, R-Iowa, and Reps. Jeff Fortenberry and Adrian Smith, both Nebraska Republicans, backed Trumps action, and so did all four senators from Nebraska and Iowa.

The horrific actions of Bashar al-Assad, including the use of chemical weapons against his own people, had to be met with firm resolve, Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in her press release.

Indeed, many lawmakers from both parties have expressed support for the airstrike Thursday.

Proposed military intervention in Syria received a markedly different congressional reception in 2013, however, when President Barack Obama asked Congress to support it  also in response to Assads use of chemical weapons.

At that time, Fischer said the vast majority of Nebraskans opposed military intervention. She criticized Obama for what she called an erratic approach to foreign affairs and said that he hadnt made the case that such military action served the U.S. national interest.

Indeed, even his argument for an overwhelming moral purpose is undercut by his desire to focus narrowly on the latest use of chemical weapons in a conflict that has raged for years and claimed over 100,000 lives, Fischer said at the time.

Asked Friday what has changed since 2013, Fischer pointed to the many who have died in Syria in the intervening years as well as the tide of refugees from the conflict and the threat that poses to the United States.

Whats changed is the continuing use of chemical weapons that were supposed to be destroyed, Fischer said.

Lawmakers have been split over whether Trump needs to seek congressional approval for further military action. Fischer said that depends on the action.

Others, however, have been clear that they want to see Trump seek approval.

It is critical that the president establish a clear strategy and end goal with regards to Syria and consult with Congress before taking further military action, as is required under the Constitution, Bacon said.

The Omaha congressman, a retired brigadier general, said that strategy should address the need to work with allies on providing refugees havens close to their home country.

Congress must evaluate the proposed strategy and vote on an authorization for the use of military forces, Bacon said.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, described the attack on Syria as a surgical strike that she believes will change Assads calculations.

This is not about a regime change, Ernst said. This is about retaliation against the use of weapons of mass destruction  specifically chemical agents.
The Pepsi Generation is old and gray, and the company that gave birth to it just got a sharp reminder that the appeal of saccharine soda ads is dead.

At issue is a short-lived new commercial starring model Kendall Jenner, a member of the Kardashian clan, along with a large crew of telegenic millennials of assorted races and creative professions.

One, a handsome Asian cellist, leaves his studio to join a swelling protest march. He catches Jenners eye as he passes by the photo shoot shes posing for. In response, she strips off her blond wig, wipes off her lipstick, and  having paid homage to the glamour of authenticity  joins the crowd.

As she strides down the street, she grabs a Pepsi and hands it to one of the young, handsome and unarmored policemen standing guard over the march. A gorgeous photographer wearing a hijab snaps her picture.

Peace, love and understanding prevail.

Once upon a time, it might have worked.

Back in the day of hippies and mythical ad men, a soda brand could score with feel-good commercials that flattered viewers for being young and idealistic.

It could sing of Pepsi People who made drinking the also-ran cola an act of freedom and self-assertion: Free to choose a new way, free to stand up and say, you be you and Ill be me.

It could evoke the happy image of a harmonious society of peace, love and understanding without getting pummeled by activists or cynics  in part because they had no media power.

Today, however, the target audience wants to scream, vomit or tweet nasty comments.

Pepsi and Kendall Jenner Co-opt the Resistance to Sell You Soda, proclaimed ELLE.com in a widely quoted post.

Jaya Saxena wrote for Elle that there are so many problematic moments here, it would take thousands of words to unpack them all, but she focused on the image of Jenner handing the Pepsi to the cop.

To the Pepsi Generation, Jenners action evokes the image of a Vietnam War protester putting a flower in the barrel of a soldiers gun.

Those too young to remember the Carter administration, however, are buying the charge its a crass repurposing of the photo of Black Lives Matter protester Ieshia Evans standing straight, proud and elegant as police in riot gear arrest her. As Amy Zimmerman wrote in the Daily Beast:

Whether subconsciously or deliberately, Pepsi is trying to replicate the poignancy of that striking photo: one woman, alone and unafraid, stepping forward to face a legion of heavily armed police officers. Because, at the end of the day, whats the difference between a white model in a national ad campaign and a black activist putting her body on the line in peaceful protest? KendallJennerMatters, everyone.

Whatever the inspiration, it was a faux pas. Just two days after the release, Pepsi pulled the ad.

The faux pas was perhaps inevitable for Pepsi. This is, after all, a company that preaches health food while making its money on salty snacks. Its desperately trying to be something it isnt.

No wonder its internal agency created an appeal to authenticity and youth so obviously inauthentic and old-fashioned.
AAP squandered Rs 11 lakh on lunches at Kejriwal residence: BJP

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, Apr 8: Ahead of the MCD polls, the BJP on Saturday alleged the AAP government had squandered public funds on lunches at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence last year that cost a whopping Rs 13,000 per person, a charge denied by the ruling party.

Demanding the government's resignation, Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Vijender Gupta, alleged that the Delhi Tourism and Transport Development Corporation had organised two lunch parties last year on February 11 and 12 for 50 and 30 persons respectively which cost over Rs 11 lakh.

Union Minister and senior BJP leader Piyush Goyal termed the alleged expenditure 'mind boggling'.

"The government is a custodian of public funds entrusted to it by tax payers in the form of exchequer. But Kejriwal and his party have been misusing these funds for the last two years for its political needs and purposes," Goyal said.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia denied the allegations saying he had never cleared the file for the expense which was sent to him.

"The so-called food bill of Rs 13,000 was sent to me by officers for clearance a year back, but I never approved them. The files have been with the then LG Najeeb Jung's office for the past six months. It seems the LG's office has leaked it now under pressure from the BJP," he alleged.

He said that the files were being leaked selectively to defame the AAP government ahead of the upcoming MCD polls.

"I dare them to release the file in which I have clearly made a note refusing to clear payment," he added.

Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Vijender Gupta, alleged that the catering arrangements for the lunches at Kejriwal's residence were made by a leading five-star hotel. The permissible limit under financial rules is Rs 1,250 per person for hosting a lunch in non-five star hotels, he said.

"No codal formalities or financial rules were followed before placing the orders. Two bills were raised by DTTDC for a total amount of Rs 11,04,357," Gupta said, showing the copies of the bills in a press conference.

He further said that bill for the lunch on February 11 was Rs 6,23,605 and the cost per plate was Rs 12,472 and price of same plate rose to Rs 16,025 for the lunch organised very next day. It is beyond understanding why the expenditure per plate rose by Rs 3,553 more than 28.50 per centre overnight, Gupta said.

"This is a criminal waste of government exchequer by the Kejriwal government. I urge the Lt Governor to order a high-level enquiry into violation of financial rules by the Kejriwal government," Gupta said.

PTI
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Bangladesh PM accorded ceremonial welcome

India

ians-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, April 8: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was on Saturday accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi received Hasina. She was then accorded the ceremonial guard of honour.

In a special gesture on Friday, Modi personally received his Bangladeshi couterpart at the airport. Hasina is on a four-day official visit to India.

This is her first bilateral visit to India in seven years. She last visited the country in January 2010.

Modi and Hasina will hold a bilateral summit on Saturday following which over 20 agreements, including a civil nuclear and two memorandum of understanding (MoUs) on defence cooperation, were expected to be signed.

IANS


World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) organized the 7th UNWTO Silk Road Task Force event in the Mediterranean city of Valencia, Spain. Representatives from 24 countries of both private and public nature involved in the Silk Road Task Force to discuss strategies and best-practice examples on how to adapt the Silk Road to the challenges and opportunities of the globalized tourism age.

The event was held on 30-31 March 2017. Turkish Airlines supported the event and shared its actions in promoting route development and connectivity across the Silk Road.

The discussions addressed the three pillars of the Silk Road Action Plan: i) marketing and promotion ii) destination management and capacity building and iii) travel facilitation. A specialised workshop session was also dedicated to the development of the Western link of the Silk Road. Greece, the host of the upcoming First Western Silk Road Workshop (Alexandroupolis, Greece; on 26-27 April 2017), and Bulgaria, who expressed its interest in hosting the Second Workshop, underlined their support and commitment to an initiative aimed at reviving Silk Road heritage located across Europe.

As expressed at the opening ceremony, by UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, UNWTO is extremely grateful for the support and commitment of the region and the city of Valencia to our work and mission. As the only United Nations Agency with its Headquarters in Spain, it is always a pleasure to organize a meeting in our host country - a country that understands the value and benefits to be derived from tourism.

The opening ceremony also counted upon the presence of the Mayor of Valencia, Joan Ribo i Canut, and the Valencian Minister for Tourism, Francesc Colomer, who underlined the international dimension of the meeting and the importance of the Silk Road as a vehicle for peaceful exchange and development: The Silk Road surpasses the boundaries of geography and touches upon our inner self, thus making us more tolerant, humble and cultured, he said.

Important input was also contributed by UNWTO Affiliate Member, TripAdvisor, who presented the findings of the TripAdvisor Travel Trends for the Silk Road 2017, and by Eulogio Bordas, President of THR, who addressed the challenges of joint Silk Road marketing. The Spanish Institute for Quality Tourism, the International Tourism Consulting Group - SOENT, the World Federation of Tourist Guides Association (WFTGA), the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation and the University of Valencia also contributed valuable input to the meeting.

Overall, the meeting showcased the good work being carried out by Valencia in terms of Silk Road promotion and public-private cooperation. Since Spains inclusion in the UNWTO Silk Road Programme in 2015, best-practice examples implemented by the Valencian region have included branding Valencia as the city of Silk in 2016 and the rehabilitation of important Silk Road heritage located within the region.
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Church prayer stopped in UP over conversion charges

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The police in Uttar Pradesh halted a Church prayer to investigate charges of religious conversion. The allegations were made before the Maharajganj district police by the Hindu Yuva Vahini.

The group alleged that the prayer meeting was only a cover for religious conversions, a charge that has been denied by the Church. The police swept into action and investigated into the matter.

However during the investigation, the police found no evidence to suggest that religious conversions were on. The Church which is of British era is facing such a charge for the first time.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, April 8, 2017, 10:21 [IST]
'Shaheed' Cracker

The sniffer dog had detected an IED bomb planted by Maoists when it exploded. Cracker's handler was injured in the explosion while the dog died. The explosion took place at around 4.20 PM on Friday. The CRPF tweeted pictures of Cracker in his memory and called the canine a martyr.

In the line of duty

Cracker was martyred in an explosion that took place when a Road Opening Party of CRPF's 170th battalion was returning to its camp after a combing operation in Modakpal police station area.

With CRPF since 2015

The Belgian shepherd breed dog was inducted into the CRPF battalion in December 2015. The ROP, accompanied by Cracker had launched the operation from its camp in Chinna Kodepal village.

Cracker's last operation

Less than 2 kilometres ahead of the camp, the canine sniffed a pressure improvised explosive device. Police believe that the device got triggered probably due to some movement during sniffing and exploded, killing the canine instantly. In his last operation Cracker sacrificed himself but saved the lifes of many in his battalion.
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Deadly summer: Killer heatstroke leaves 11 dead in Andhra, Telangana

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Hyderabad, April 8: This year, summer is going to be really tough. At the beginning of summer, reports say more than 11 people have died due to heatstroke and other health-related issues triggered by abnormal rise in temperatures in two southern states--Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. In March, more than five people reportedly died due to heatstroke in Maharashtra.

According to officials, six people died in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh alone and five in various districts of Telangana, reports News18. Officials fear the number of deaths could be much higher as they are still collecting figures from across these two states.

Since March, both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are experiencing severe rise in temperature. According to the India Meteorological Department, the temperatures in both these states are currently hovering at around 42 degrees Celsius.

In Telangana, both Adilabad and Mahabubnagar recorded highest temperature of 42 degrees Celsius. In Andhra Pradesh highest temperature was reported in Kurnool at 42.8 degrees Celsius and Anantapur at 41.5 degrees Celsius.

According to the Met department, in the coming days temperature is likely to increase by three to four degrees in both these states, thus making life further miserable for the residents. Although, Hyderabad experienced rains recently, it did not help much.

The health officials have issued advisories to the people of these two states. Residents have been asked to avoid sun, especially during peak hours from 10 am-4pm. People have been asked to keep themselves hydrated and report to hospitals immediately in case someone is feeling unwell.

Those who venture outside have been asked to carry umbrella and cover their heads with clothes to beat the heat. More than 1,500 and 500 people died in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana respectively in 2015.

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Story first published: Saturday, April 8, 2017, 8:14 [IST]
Delhi: DDU hospital doctors call off strike after 5 days

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, April 7: The strike by resident doctors of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya (DDU) Hospital was called off on Friday night, five days after it had started, following a meeting between the doctors and the state health secretary.

"We have discussed all our demands with the health secretary and he has given assurance to work on them," Dr Sumit Paria, president of DDU's Resident Doctors' Association (RDA) said.

Around 10 Delhi government hospitals which had also gone on strike in solidarity with their counterparts in DDU also called off their strike.

Resident Doctors in West Delhi's Deen Dayal Upadhyay hospital had gone on strike following an alleged assault on their colleague.

Resident doctors from Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Acharya Shree Bhikshu hospital, Rao Tula Ram Memorial and Sanjay Gandhi memorial hospital, among others had joined the strike yesterday, affecting routine and emergency services in their establishments.

Resident Doctors' Association of AIIMS had also threatened to go on strike if the government did not fulfil the demands of the doctors in DDU.

"We strongly condemn the repeated attacks on resident doctors by anti-social elements. It is the duty of hospital administration and the government to provide security at their work place," AIIMS Resident Doctors Association said.

"We request government to fulfill the demands of the resident doctors with immediate effect...if this stubborn attitude of the government continues then resident doctors at AIIMS will be left with no other option except joining the striking doctors by strike at AIIMS," it said.

On Monday, the doctors in the DDU hospital emergency and the guards were allegedly beaten up by the relatives of a patient. Reportedly, the female doctors had to lock themselves up in the toilets to avoid assault on them.

"Three incidents of such assaults were reported within three hours from the hospital, which led to the resident doctors go on strike," a hospital official said.

The incident occurred close on heels of a massive protest by resident doctors in Maharashtra who demanded security for hospital staff and themselves following a spate of assaults on them.

PTI
Police arrest man who attacked Delhi scribe, say he was infatuated with her

India

oi-Preeti Panwar

New Delhi, April 8: A 22-year-old man was arrested on Friday in connection with the brutal attack on a woman journalist in the national capital.

On Friday, police arrested the accused, identied as Sanjay, a resident of Sawan Park JJ cluster. The police had formed several teams and also detained over a persons for questioning.

45-year-old Aparna Kalra sustained serious injuries on Wednesday when she was attacked by un-identified persons while she out on her evening walk near her house at Ashok Vihar. Sanjay was allegedly attracted to Kalra after she spurned his advances.

During his questioning, he said that he was infatuated by her. He said that he went to the park after consuming alcohol and attempted to be friendly towards her.

Kalra however ignored him since he was in an inebriated state. In a fit of rage, he hit her with a heavy stone from behind before fleeing from the spot.

[Also Read: Delhi: Woman journalist attacked, beaten with iron rods]

Joint Commissioner of Police (Northern Range) Rajesh Khurana told a news agency, "Sanjay is a school dropout and works in a factory producing nail paint. There are no indications of any sexual assault," he also said.

Some of those detained told the police about the presence of the accused at the park at the time of the incident.

"He confessed that he had seen Kalra at the park around 8 to10 times and was infatuated with her. He accosted Kalra to talk to him, with a view to befriend her, but in vain. In a fit of rage, he attacked her with a stone," said a police officer.

Sanjay was neither aware of the fate of the journalist nor of the subsequent uproar the incident had created, police said. He has five siblings and his father owned a 'chaat' cart.

Meanwhile, Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik tweeted:

Was highly concerned about the assault case on our media friend Ms Kalra. I congratulate NW Distt team for quickly solving this blind case.  CP Delhi (@CPDelhi) 7 April 2017

Following the attack, she was taken to Deep Chand Bandhu Government Hospital in an injured and severely bleeding condition. Kalra was later referrred to Fortis Hospital in Shalimar Bagh, where she underwent cranial surgery. Presently, Kalra is recuperating and her condition is said to be stable.

OneIndia News
Evangelist's visit to Bengaluru cancelled after protests over 'harvest' tweet

India

oi-Anusha

American evangelist Donna Schambach cancelled her visit to Bengaluru after a complaint was registered against her for visa norm violation. A VHP worker filed a complaint against the evangelist, who was scheduled to hold a two-day even in Frazer town of Bengaluru after she tweeted about 'amazing two days of harvest', a term associated with conversion.

Schambach along with Patricia King and Apostle P S Rama Babu was supposed to hold a programme called the Power and Reality of the Kingdom on Saturday and Sunday in Bengaluru which now stands cancelled.

A VHP man, Girish Bhardwaj filed a complaint with the Bengaluru police alleging that the evangelist had violated visa rules. "She has violated norms which clearly state that no visas will be issued to evangelists who desire to propagate their religion in the country. The Government of India will not issue visas to evangelists who desire to come to India to attend religious campaigns," Girish said.

Bharadwaj said that the very term 'harvest' used by Schambach indicated her intent and should not be allowed. Schambach who had tweeted pictures from the previous program had said, "Amazing Harvest in 2 days, 8000 Souls!". The tweets were deleted after the complaint was registered against her.

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Story first published: Saturday, April 8, 2017, 12:02 [IST]
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German national attacked in Delhi, hospitalised

India

oi-Gulam Rabbani

New Delhi: In an another attack on the foreigners, a 19-year-old German national was attacked with a sharp weapon in Delhi's Delhi's Kotwali area on Saturday morning. The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital for immediate treatment. The victim is identified as Benjamin Scolt.

19 year old German national Benjamin Scolt attacked with a sharp weapon in Delhi's Geeta Colony,has been admitted to hospital pic.twitter.com/orT0A3rJo8  ANI (@ANI_news) April 8, 2017

According to reports, the police reached the hospital and registered a case to nab the absconding accused.

According to the police, the German was stabbed by a rickshaw puller in a robbery attempt. The teenager was robbed and was stabbed multiple times by the accused.

OneIndia News
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Gujarat: Congress promises loan waiver for farmers

India

pti-PTI

Ahmedabad, Apr 8: The Congress on Saturday said it will waive farm loans if it came to power in Gujarat.

"We will waive all farm loans and make the farmers debt- free if we come to power in the Assembly elections," Gujarat Congress chief Bharatsinh Solanki said. Elections are due in Gujarat this year.

"As per our estimates, debt of farmers in the state is around Rs 24,000 crore now," Solanki told reporters.

The promise of loan waiver would also find place in the party's manifesto, he said.

The BJP government in Uttar Pradesh recently announced farm loan waiver, following an announcement made by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the assembly election campaign.

Solanki also promised good minimum support price (MSP) for farm produce, and removal of five per cent Value Added Tax on fertilisers levied by the BJP government.

"Our government will be farmer-centric," he said.

"The BJP government is anti-farmer. It has not ensured a good MSP for farm produce and levied a tax on fertilisers," he said.

"In the last three years 1,483 farmers committed suicide in Gujarat due to the bad policies of the state government," Solanki alleged.

"The government is not giving new electricity connections to farmers. Almost 85 per cent of applications for electricity collections are pending.

"Chief Minister Vijay Rupani is a businessman, therefore he cannot understand farmers' plight. But the deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel is a farmer's son, he should understand their difficulties," the Congress leader said.

"Nitin Patel recently said the farmers in Gujarat have no debt. This was an insensitive statement," Solanki said.

PTI
Thief calls cops for help after being caught by mob

India-Bangladesh to sign 20 pacts relating to defence

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

India and Bangladesh will sign at least 20 pacts in the area of defence. Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina who arrived in India on Friday was on Saturday given a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan.

She will also hold talks with Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi during which discussions on bettering ties between the two nations would be held.

The two leaders would hold a bilateral summit on Saturday after which 20 agreements would be signed. They would include a civil nuclear agreement and two memorandum of understanding on defence cooperation.

India will also extend Line of Credit of 500 million dollars to Bangladesh for defence purchases. The Bangladesh premier would visit the Ajmer dargah on Sunday following which a meet with Indian business leaders has been scheduled.

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Story first published: Saturday, April 8, 2017, 11:12 [IST]
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Teargas canister explodes in Srinagar, no one injured

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

A day before by election in Jammu and Kashmir, a blast due to mishandling of a teargas canister took place at Khayam Chowk in Srinagar on Saturday.

No one has been injured in the incident.

Earlier on Saturday, terrorists fired shots while PDP leader was addressing people in Anathnag, which is set to go to polls on April 12. There were no reports of any injury.

Srinagar and Anathnag are set for by elections on April 9 and 12 respectively.

Anantnag Lok Sabha seat fell vacant in June last after Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti won the Assembly bypolls, as required by law to continue as the Chief Minister.

The Srinagar Lok Sabha seat was vacated by former PDP leader Tariq Hamid Karra who had resigned last year in September.

Karra had resigned in protest against alleged brutalities on Kashmir protesters during last year's unrest.

OneIndia News















Jayalalithaa was a fair south Indian: DMK's dig at Tarun Vijay

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Former BJP MP, Tarun Vijay has been trolled, criticised and mocked for his racism related comments. While trying to defend India against charges of racism he said that if we Indians were racist, why would have the entire South. "Which is you know... completely Tamil, you know Kerala, you know Karnataka and Andhra. Why do we live with them? We have blacks, black people all around us," he also said.

The DMK in Tamil Nadu has however his statement funny. "Funny? Not all people in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are black. Our leader Dr Kalignar is far, Jayalalithaa was fair," T K S Elangovan of the DMK said.

Kiran K S, who is very popular on the social media had a series of posts mocking the statement. Jai Shri Krishna, Dark and Beautiful!! I am a dark skinned south Indian. I am proud of my natural skin tone. Period.This is the natural skin tone of humans based on where their ancestors lived for 1000s of years. Majority of Indians are Olive to Dark Brown. Someone should take a class to Tarun Vijay on Skin tone across Indian states.

Olive, Tan, Brown and Dark Brown constitute 90% of India. There might be very dark skin of Congo's skin tone, but that is very rare. Maybe 1% of India, he also posted.

Tarun Vijay however issued a clarification in which he said, "Feel bad, really feel sorry, my apologies to those who feel I said different than what I meant. "I feel the entire statement was this; we have fought racism and we have people with different colour and culture, and still never had any racism."

"I never, never, even in a slip, termed south India as black. I can die but how can I ridicule my own culture, my own people and my own nation? Think before you misinterpret my badly framed sentence," he also said.

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Story first published: Saturday, April 8, 2017, 7:03 [IST]
Elderly Mexican womans savage reply to US woman who tried to bully her is rocking on Internet

Kala, chinky: Dont be outraged, Tarun Vijays racist remarks are Indian reality

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

New Delhi, April 8: First, let us tell you all, calm down! Don't be so angry. If you really want to express your dissent, please speak on behalf of those poor Tamil Nadu farmers, who have been protesting at Jantar Mantar in the national capital for the last three weeks now.

Nobody seems to be outraged seeing those old men and women, wearing torn clothes, sitting under the blazing sky, demanding the Centre to waive off their loans, as they have lost their crops in the drought. But, the moment a former Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament with a 'patronising attitude' told a foreign television channel that 'we Indians are not racists as we have been living with black south Indians for long', all hell broke loose.

Once the interview of Tarun Vijay with Al Jazeera was out in the open, from social media to television channels, everyone looked like menacing bulls ready to attack anyone on their way. 'Poor' Vijay was actually trying to tell the world that we Indians are not racists in the wake of recent attacks on Africans in the National Capital Region.

While Nigeria has recently summoned Indian diplomat over spate of racist mob attacks, Indian government remained in denial mode. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told Parliament that attacks on Africans was not racial in nature.

So, fine, we accept it. The attacks on Africans are random. It is so random that Africans in Indians are frequently attacked and humiliated from Delhi to Bengaluru.

Instead of addressing the issue of safety of foreigners, we like to brush the matter under the carpet. Till now, we have been maintaining a stoic silence on attack on Africans, but the moment someone called our own south Indian brothers and sisters 'black', we decided, 'enough is enough, let us all raise our voices against racism.'

You call it racism, we call it Indian reality. In India, a south Indian, no matter whether he is from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka or Kerala, rest of Indians call him/her a 'Madrasi' and a 'black'.

Similarly, let us move a little away from mainland India, anyone from Northeast India--yes, the seven sisters consisting of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Nagaland (in the recent past the Centre decided to include Sikkim in the list of Northeast India)--is a 'chinky'.

The northeasterners are called 'chinky' because of their facial features. The natives of Northeast India don't sport big eyes like the rest of Indians, but that does not mean they lack vision. The eyes of northeasterners--often levelled as 'chinky'--are as beautiful as big kohl-decorated eyes of any Indian woman.

India's aversion to colour black and small eyes is nothing new. Have we ever seen a 'black' hero or a heroine in a movie? Hardly. Only in a few arthouse movies. If the actor is 'black' then he/she is a villain/vamp. When have we seen a girl from Northeast India as a heroine of a Bollywood flick? Never. The idea itself looks 'outrageous'. Till the time, we consider all as equals, irrespective of skin complexion or facial features, racism will remain.

Actually, we should be thankful to Vijay for bringing an issue out in the open which was in the closet for long. Otherwise, hardly anyone cares about attack against Africans in India.

OneIndia News
Man stabbed to death in temple near southeast Delhi, 3 held

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Apr 7: A 30-year-old man was allegedly stabbed to death with a trident and knives in a temple in southeast Delhi's Ambedkar Nagar area, police said on Friday.

Three accused identified as R Srinivas, R Nateshan and R Shekhar have been arrested while the fourth one is absconding. The victim, Permal, was allegedly stabbed close to 14 times on Friday night with knives and a trident, that the accused took from the temple, police said.

Permal's wife too was allegedly beaten by the killers. There was a stampede-like situation at the Sheetla Mata temple while the attack was happening. The victim was rushed to a hospital where he was declared brought dead, police said and added that the accused were waiting at the temple for the victim.

The victim and the accused have had scuffles in the past. The accused and the victim belongs to Tamil Nadu and were residents of south Delhi's Dakshinpuri area.

PTI
Maritime Patrol aircraft TU-142M makes final landing

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

One of the TU-142M Long Range Maritime Patrol aircraft of the Indian Navy, which was recently de-inducted after 29 years of service, arrived in Visakhapatnam on Saturday, to be converted into a museum by Andhra Pradesh government.

State Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu welcomed the anti-submarine warfare aircraft, which landed at INS Dega here for the last time this morning. Civil Aviation Minister P Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command Vice Admiral HCS Bisht and others were present on the occasion.

The aircraft was given an impressive welcome by a flypast of three Chetak helicopters, two Kamolv helicopters, two Dorniers and one P-8I aircraft.

TU-142M Long Range Maritime Patrol aircraft Eastern Naval Command Vice Admiral HCS Bishtpresents a memento to Hon'ble Minister of Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapathi Raju at INS Dega this morning. Will be made a museum Momento presented to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chadrabau Naidu.Talking to reporters on the occasion, Naidu said on the request made by the Andhra Pradesh government, the Defence Ministry allotted the aircraft to the state for converting it into a museum. The aircraft would be dismantled and transported by road on trailers and re-assembled on the beach road. Image coutesy - Twitter/@SpokespersonMoD TU142M in Arakkonam Family members of Navy personnel pose for a photograph in front of India's long range maritime patrol aircraft, TU-142M during its de-induction at the INS Rajali naval air station in Arakkonam. Image - PTI Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba interacting with officials of the INS Rajali after the de-induction of India's long range maritime patrol aircraft, TU-142M, at the INS Rajali Naval Air Station. Image - PTI Petrol - Diesel Prices reach new high commuter face difficulties | Oneindia News

A total of eight Tupolev-142Ms were inducted into the Navy. 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 Indian Navy since its induction in 1988.

OneIndia News
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Mayawati sold 21 sugar mills at cheap rates; probe ordered

India

oi-PTI

Lucknow, April 8: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Uttar Pradesh has ordered a probe into the sale of 21 sugar mills at a "throwaway" price by former Chief Minister Mayawati.

The probe was ordered by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath after a review on late Friday night of the Cane Development and Sugar Industry Department.

He said that nobody can be allowed to sell such government properties at "dirt cheap rates" as the property belonged to the people.

Adityanath also said that he will not hesitate in ordering a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the matter, in which even the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has pointed out heavy irregularities.

The Rs 1,180-crore scam has been hanging heavy on the former Chief Minister Mayawati but it was put in cold storage by the earlier Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party government.

Despite serious lapses coming to light in the probe ordered then, the SP government chose not to act against political rival and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati in the sale of these sugar mills.

The mills belonged to the UP State Sugar Corporation Ltd and the state Sugar and Cane Development Corporation.

Complaints made on the scam alleged that huge kickbacks were paid to the "powerful" in the then BSP government to get the sale deal through.

Former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had handed over the probe into the alleged irregularities to the Lokayukta in November 2012, but despite a year long drawn probe, Justice N K Mehrotra had not fixed responsibility for the loss to the exchequer on anyone.

The ombudsman had also recommended that the view of the government be presented before the Supreme Court where the matter was pending.

IANS

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Story first published: Saturday, April 8, 2017, 14:05 [IST]
'Mowgli girl' who lived with monkeys in UP now known as 'Forest Durga'

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Mowgli girl or Forest Durga as she is now known has been adopted by an NGO in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. The 8 year old girl was recovered from the woods of Katarniyaghat wild life sanctuary where she was living with monkeys. The NGO, Drishti Samajik Sansthan came forward to adopt her.

Real life Mowgli? Girl found living with monkeys in UP forest

Doctors attending to her said that she could not communicate properly and displayed money like traits. She was rescued when she was playing with a pack of monkeys and imitating their behaviour. The police have now launched a hunt to find her parents.

The police say that they cannot say as of now for how long she has been living with the monkeys. On the face of it, it appears as though she has been in the jungles for several years. She is unable to communicate and makes monkey noises when spoken to. She would screech and initially walked on all fours.

The girls is being compared to Mowgli, the character from Jungle Book who was raised by a pack of wolves.

After she was rescued and brought to hospital, she was given the name Puja. However the local district magistrate Ajaydeep Singh after visiting her in hospital named her Forest Durga.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, April 8, 2017, 8:32 [IST]
Cyclone Sitrang: Odisha, Bengal brace for cyclonic storm likely to form by Oct 23

Odisha unrest: Centre rushes 2,000 paramilitary forces

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, Apr 8: The Centre on Saturday rushed 2,000 paramilitary personnel to Odisha to assist the local administration in maintaining law and order in Bhadrak district which has witnessed violence and tension in last few days.

"Central forces rushed to Bhadrak district of Odisha in view of the prevailing tension there," a Home Ministry spokesperson said.

Official sources said 20 companies of paramilitary personnel were dispatched to Odisha to help restore normalcy in the district. A company of paramilitary force comprises of around 100 personnel.

Curfew remained in force in the town while prohibitory orders were imposed in nearby Dhamnagar and Basudevpur this morning after the town witnessed violence over alleged abusive remarks on social media against Hindu deities.

About 20 people have been detained in connection with the violent incidents which left several shops gutted and vehicles damaged. Police personnel, deployed across the town, have been patrolling the sensitive localities, police said.

Violence had erupted in Bhadrak on Thursday after a group staged demonstration near the town police station demanding immediate arrest of those involved in posting offensive remarks against Hindu deities on social media.

PTI
Chandra Grahan 2022: Check the start and end timing of lunar eclipse in major cities

IRCTC update: 136 trains cancelled on Nov 08; here is the complete list

'Kejriwal ji, if my claims true, you'll resign and retire': Sukesh writes a new letter

PM Modi announces $ 4.5 billion line of credit to Bangladesh

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, April 8: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced a 4.5 billion US dollar line of credit to Bangladesh. Speaking after meeting his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina, Modi also said that both countries will soon find an early solution to the Teesta water sharing issue. Both Modi and Hasina signed 22 pacts relating to various issues.

He further said that Bangladesh's zero tolerance policy towards terrorism is an inspiration to all. Earlier Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina ahead of delegation-level bilateral talks on Saturday.

Hasina said that she discussed investments in power and energy sectors with the PM. We have agreed on the need for better road connectivity she also said. India is our important neighbour, she further added.

Modi in his remarks mentioned that India recognises the need to diversify commercial engagement. He identified electronics, cyber-security, space technology among the areas of cooperation with Bangladesh.

"A new spring in #IndiaBangladesh ties! PM @narendramodi receives PM Sheikh Hasina at Hyderabad House before talks," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted.

On Friday, in a special gesture, Modi personally received Sheikh Hasina at the airport when she arrived here on a four-day visit to India.

This is the Bangladesh Prime Minister's first bilateral visit to India in seven years since her visit in 2010.

Modi will host a lunch banquet in honour of the visiting dignitary which will also be attended by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Both Prime Ministers will attend a function to honour Indian martyrs in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.

IANS
Why Punjab farmers burn stubble at this scale when others do not

30 per cent down: How Haryana aced the decrease in stubble burning

Protesting Tamil Nadu farmers touch masked PM Modis feet

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

It's a unique protest that has caught the attention of everyone. Since March 14, a group of 80-odd farmers from Tamil Nadu are protesting at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, demanding financial relief as they have lost their crops and savings in the ongoing drought in the state. The peaceful agitation has brought a lot of attention as the farmers are protesting with skulls.

However, the Centre is yet to address the grievances of Tamil Nadu farmers, rue the protesters. On Friday, as a part of their agitation, one of the protesting farmers wore a mask resembling Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The rest of the protesters were seen pleading in front of 'masked' PM Modi.

Here we bring you a glimpse of the farmers' protest which is going to complete a month soon...

Modi ji, please address our plight While the rest of the protesters were seen wearing green dhotis, the man enacting the role of PM Modi is seen wearing jeans and a pink shirt. PM Modi' arrives at protest site While leaders from the Congress, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam met the farmers at Jantar Mantar, non from the Bharatiya Janata Party greeted the protesters. PM Modi, waive off all agricultural loans "We will continue to fight and protest, until our demands are met," said South Indian Rivers Inter-Linking Farmers Association president P Ayyakannu, who is leading the protest. Recently, the Madras High Court directed the ruling AIADMK government to waive off loans of all farmers in cooperative banks. Earlier, the Tamil Nadu government waived off loans of farmers who owned five-acre of land. Rahul Gandhi meets the farmers Last week, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi met the Tamil farmers who are agitating for loan waiver and compensation for their crop failure at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. Filmy touch to the protest South film star Prakashraj (left) and Vishal (right) extending their support to agitating Tamil Nadu farmers at Jantar Mantar, in New Delhi recently. A cry for relief The adamant' protesters say they are fighting for the rights of farmers, who have committed suicide, due to drought in the state. OneIndia News
IT dept conducts raids at 40 locations in Rajasthan, 3 businessmen on radar

Rajasthan: Man arrested in connection with Udaipur drug seizure

India

pti-PTI

Jaipur, Apr 8: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence has arrested a man in Jaipur in connection with a probe into a major drug haul made by the agency last year in Udaipur.

Gunjan Dusmani's name cropped up during investigation of the case and he was arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act after initial investigation, DRI sources said.

He was then produced before the NDPS court in Udaipur. The DRI has arrested several persons in this connection so far.

Busting a drug syndicate, the DRI had seized large quantities of a banned psychotropic substance worth over Rs 3,000 crore in the international market in Udaipur during a search operation in October last year.

The DRI had claimed that it is one of the biggest global seizures of the substance, banned under Schedule 1 of NDPS Rules 1985.

PTI
Air India writes to Delhi police asks 'why no action taken against Gaikwad?'

No fly-list rules in effect from today: Your guide to passenger ban on airlines

Ravindra Gaikwad calls AI official, whom he allegedly beat, mad

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

New Delhi, April 8: It looks like Ravindra Gaikwad is further emboldened after the Air India on Friday lifted ban on the Shiv Sena Member of Parliament after a request from Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju.

Now, Gaikwad, accused of beating an AI official recently for doing his duty, has called his victim a mad man.

"That man (AI official) is mad. There are eight similar cases of fight with passengers against him. (Vo aadmi(AI official) pagal hai, uske khilaaf aise 8 cases hain jhagda karne ke)," Gaikwad was quoted as saying by ANI.

Vo aadmi(AI official) pagal hai, uske khilaaf aise 8 cases hain jhagda karne ke: Ravindra Gaikwad,Shiv Sena MP pic.twitter.com/17bW4CMbFU  ANI (@ANI_news) April 8, 2017

The Shiv Sena MP told reporters on Saturday that it was the fault of AI official, so Gaikwad won't apologise. "It was his (AI official) fault. And, I will apologise? Yes, I have apologised to Parliament. (Ghalti uski( AI official) thi aur use main maafi maangu? Haan sadan se maang li maafi)," added Gaikwad.

Gaikwad claimed that all the reports of him trying to book flight tickets under various names with various airline carriers were false. "Seven times tickets were booked in my name. I did not do it. Who did? I have raised this issue in Parliament," he said.

Recently, all the private airline carriers banned Gaikwad from flying in their aircrafts, after reports of the Shiv Sena MP assaulting an AI official outraged the nation.

OneIndia News
Ready to go to jail for Ram Temple in Ayodhya: Uma Bharti

India

pti-PTI

Lucknow, April 8: Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti on Saturday said Ram temple in Ayodhya was a matter of belief for her and she was ready to go to jail for it.

"Ram temple is a matter of belief for me and I have immense pride in it...if I have to go to jail for it I will go, if I have to hang myself for it I will do it," the firebrand BJP leader, who was part of Ram temple movement, told newspersons after meeting Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Asked if the issue of Ram temple construction in Ayodhya figured in the talks with Adityanath, she said, "We don't need to talk about Ram temple...we (Uma and Yogi) are not strangers on this issue... Yogiji's guru Mahant Avaidnath was the leader of the temple movement."

The Union minister said that since the matter is pending in the Supreme Court she would refrain from speaking much on it but pointed out that the apex court has noted that the matter could be resolved outside the court.

The Supreme Court had recently reserved its order on a petition seeking restoration of conspiracy charges against Bharti and other senior BJP leaders, including L K Advani and MM Joshi, in the Babri Masjid demolition case.

PTI
Rs 80 crore pumped in to bribe voters in R K Nagar, IT raids reveal

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

On Friday nearly 100 taxmen descended upon Tamil Nadu and conducted a raid at various places after allegations of over Rs 80 crore being spent on the R K Nagar by-polls were made. The raiding team said that there was specific input that huge chunks of black money was in circulation and this was meant to be paid to the voters of R K Nagar, the constituency held by former Tamil Nadu chief minister, J Jayalalithaa.

The raids were conducted in 30 places including the residence of Tamil Nadu minister Vijaybhaskar and actor Sarath Kumar. IT officials say that Rs 2 lakh in cash was seized from the minister's house which included money kept to buy voters. The total haul was Rs 5 crore which included the cash seized from the minister's associates, the taxmen also said.

The taxmen got into action after a video of the Sasikala faction members bribing voters in R K Nagar had surfaced. In the video, a man is seen paying Rs 4,000 to voters and asking them to vote for the Sasikala faction's candidate T T V Dinakaran.

IT officials say that almost Rs 80 crore was set aside to be paid to the voters in R K Nagar. Incriminating evidence pointing towards the flow of unaccounted cash has been seized by the IT department. The documents are being scrutinised and IT officials would also submit a report to the Election Commission of India. The ECI would decide on whether the elections must be held on April 12 or countermanded.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, April 8, 2017, 6:53 [IST]
Tuesday is now No Meeting Day in Haryana and officers to be with people on Friday

Sex ratio in Haryana touches 950 mark for first time: Khattar

India

oi-PTI

Chandigarh, April 8: For the first time in the history of Haryana, the sex ratio in the state has touched the 950 mark. Haryana is notorious for its skewed sex ratio.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said on Friday that the sex ratio at birth stood at 950 girls to 1,000 boys in March this year. This was for the first time in the history of the state, he said.

As per district-wise data, the sex ratio at birth during March in Kaithal, Rohtak, Jhajjar, Gurugram, Bhiwani, Jind, Fatehabad, Panchkula, Rewari, Ambala, Mewat, Sonepat and Faridabad was 864, 863, 893, 893, 893, 896, 898, 912, 913, 921, 926, 939 and 947 respectively.

The ratio in Karnal, Hisar, Yamunanagar, Sirsa, Kurukshetra, Panipat, Palwal and Narnaul was 953, 972, 974, 976, 980, 993, 1,217 and 1,279 respectively, as per information provided by the state government.

Khattar said that the state had, after the launch of 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' programme by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Haryana, accepted the challenge of improving the skewed sex ratio. It launched a massive campaign in the state by strictly implementing Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994 and Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971 and running sensitisation-cum awareness campaigns promoting girl child.

An official release quoting Khattar said more than 430 FIRs have been lodged in the state under the PC-PNDT Act and the MTP Act in the last about two years. Out of these, more than 80 FIRs were registered after inter-state raids in the neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Punjab.

PTI

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Story first published: Saturday, April 8, 2017, 11:32 [IST]
Shia Muslims form 'cow protection group'

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

A group of Shia Muslims in Uttar Pradesh have formed a group to educate people on the issue. The group known as the Gau Rakshak Dal will go around the state and educate people on the issue which has become a subject matter of debate in the country.

The formation of the group comes in the wake of the All India Shia Personal Board issuing a fatwa against cow slaughter. It said that cow slaughter leads to communal tension. The fatwa was issued in consultation with Ayotollah Sheikh Basheer Najafi, a top Shia cleric from Iraq.

The issue of cow slaughter has been making national headlines almost everyday. On Friday the Supreme Court sought an explanation from six states on a petition that sought action against cow vigilantism.

In Uttar Pradesh after Yogi Adityanath took over chief minister, he ordered closure of all illegal slaughterhouses in the state. This had led to an indefinite closure of slaughterhouses in the state. However the issue was resolved after the CM held talks.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, April 8, 2017, 15:18 [IST]
Ravindra Gaikwad reaches Mumbai, meets Uddhav

India

oi-PTI

Mumbai, April 8: Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, who was involved in a row with Air India, met party president Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday and explained his position over the issue.

The meeting, which lasted for 10 minutes at Shiv Sena's central office at Dadar here, came after Air India, and other airlines, lifted the flying ban on Gaikwad after he expressed regret for assaulting an AI employee on March 23. Neither Thakceray nor Gaikwad disclosed to reporters what transpired in the meeting.

Gaikwad, who arrived by the Rajdhani Express from Delhi this morning, would be meeting the Sena president at the latter's residence Matoshri in suburban Bandra later on Saturday.

The lawmaker boarded the train from Delhi on Friday evening, hours after the flying ban was lifted by the national carrier following a letter by the Osmanabad MP to the Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Thursday expressing "regret" over the "unfortunate incident".

The revocation of the ban came despite two AI unions of the cabin crew and pilots protesting the move to lift the restrictions imposed on the air travel of the MP.

However, an AI spokesman had said, "Air India is a subsidiary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and, therefore, an apology to the ministry is akin to an apology to the airline and our employees."

The 56-year-old Parliamentarian had assaulted AI employee R Sukumar on March 23 after he landed in Delhi on a Pune-Delhi all-economy flight.

PTI
Why is the DMK continuing to oppose the imposition of Hindi? - 50 years of struggle and the truth!

Tamil Nadu: Heavy rains in several parts of Tamil Nadu in next 2 days

Tamil Nadu: Man claiming to be Jayalalitha's son arrested

India

pti-PTI

Chennai, Apr 8: A man who had claimed to be the son of late Tamil Nadu chief Minister J Jayalalitha has been arrested for forgery and cheating, police said on Saturday.

29-year-old T Krishnamurthy, a native of Erode, was arrested from Dindigul last night after it was found that he had produced a "fake document" about him being given in adoption to a couple in Erode, they said in a release.

He had earlier filed an affidavit in the Madras High Court claiming to be the son of Jayalalithaa and one Soben Babu, and that he had been given in adoption after the pair split owing to differences. The court had asked the police to conduct a probe into the matter following which Krishnamurthy's father Thangamuthu was questioned.

He admitted that Krishnamurthy was his own son, the release said. The man's birth date given by Thangamuthu was different from what Krishnamurthy had mentioned in his court affidavit, it said.

It also came to light that the adoption certificate produced by him was "forged", police said.

After the state government made a submission in the court on the matter, the court directed the police to take action against Krishamurthy following which he was arrested, the release added.

He was produced before a local court and later lodged at the Puzhal Prison here, police added.

PTI
This Haryana court issues summons via WhatsApp

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Even as the Supreme Court is set to decide on the privacy issues relating to WhatsApp, a court in Haryana would send a notice through the messaging application. The court decided to send out the summons as it felt that it would reduce delay.

A Financial Commissioner court in Haryana has ordered that the summons be served via WhatsApp. The order was passed in a case relating to a partition suit. This is the first time in the history of the country that a summons would be sent out through a messaging service.

The court while passing the order said that an email address or a mobile number is also the address of a person in present times. The court also directed that an image of the summons bearing the court seal be sent to the party's mobile number. The court further added that the printout of the delivery report on WhatsApp will considered as proof of delivery.

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Story first published: Saturday, April 8, 2017, 10:00 [IST]
Vande Mataram row: Must find a way to come out of narrow mindset', says Adityanath

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

Amid raging debate over patriotic song Vande Mataram being made compulsory in certain municipal meetings in UP, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday urged people to shun 'narrow' mindset.

He said at a time when nation is progressing in the 21 century, some are involved in arguing over national songs.

In sankirntaon se ubharne ke liye bhi hum sabko ek maarg talaashna hoga:UP CM on Vande Mataram controversy at 'Governor's guide' book launch pic.twitter.com/jEWuoDcsdk  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) April 8, 2017

A week after a group of Muslim councillors left the Meerut Municipal Corporation House as soon as other members started singing Vande Mataram, BJP councillors at the Allahabad Nagar Nigam on Thursday demanded that a new rule be passed under which the House proceedings would start with the national song Vande Matram and end with the national anthem Jana Gana Mana.

However, some councillors objected to the proposal and it led to ruckus and disruption of the proceedings of the House.

Last week, in the Meerut Municipal Corporation, a group of Muslim corporators walked out as other members started singing Vande Mataram. However, a proposal was also put forth by mayor Harikant Ahluwalia of the BJP making it clear that any members opposing Vande Mataram will not be welcome in the House.

The Muslim members, however, said they will continue to boycott Vande Mataram "as the Sharia law does not allow them to sing it and that they will move court over the issue if necessary".

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, April 8, 2017, 18:55 [IST]
Vijay Mallya's famed Kingfisher villa sold, finally

India

oi-Anusha

The pride of the kind of good times, Vijay Mallya's famed Kingfisher villa in Goa was sold to businessman Sachiin Joshi. Lenders decided to dispose off the prestigious Goa property for Rs 73 crore. The villa was seized by banks after the liquor baron failed to repay loans. The villa was sold off after three failed auctions where no bidders came forward to buy.

The villa, it is learnt was sold off by lenders who agreed to dispose the property through a negotiated sale to actor-businessman Sachiin Joshi. SBI chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya confirmed the sale of Kingfisher villa but did nit reveal the buyer's name. Joshi is said to have paid higher than the last reserve price of Rs 73 crore. After three failed auctions, banks searched for buyers as per norm.

Sachiin Joshi, the new owner of the famed villa has a website to his name that describes him as the vice chairman of JMJ group of companies. He had also starred in Hindi movies. The palatial villa in Candolim of Goa did not elicit any bidders when the reserve price was pegged at Rs 85 crore for the very first time when lenders attempted to auction it. The second time around, the villa was pegged at Rs 81 crore, once again elicing no response from bidders. The banks finally called for another auction in March with a reserve price, the lowest ever, of Rs 73 crore yet no bidders came forward. The property was taken over by SBI led consortium of banks in May 2016.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, April 8, 2017, 13:54 [IST]
He was just 25 then

Dalai Lama on his arrival to India stayed at the monastery for three days. He was just 25 back then and during his stay he delivered his first preaching in India. That was 58 years back.

Photo credit: PTI

Arrived by foot

The Dalai Lama arrived in India by foot. He had made a 140 kilometre road journey from Dirang by foot. This was after China seized Tibet.

Photo credit: PTI

Heavy security deployment

When he arrived at the monastery there was huge security deployment. He spoke briefly with the monks while being seated under tall Buddha statue.

Photo credit: PTI

Wore trousers for the first time

The Dalai Lama was asked recently whether he ever wore trousers. He said he had just once when he escaped from Lhasa in disguise.

Photo credit: PTI

China unhappy

China has been claiming a part of Arunachal Pradesh. China said that the Dali Lama's visit has put in question ties with India. However India allowed the visit by the Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh.

Photo credit: PTI
Indian who was shot dead in Washington had reached the US just 25 days ago

International

oi-Anusha

The 26-year-old Indian national was shot dead by two masked gunmen at a convenience store in Washington had reached the united states just 25 days ago, tweeted external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj. In a series of tweets, Sushma Swaraj shared that a report on the shooting had reached her and the Indian consulate in San Francisco in coordinating with the family of the victim and the local police.

The victim was only 26 years old and had reached US only 25 days back. He was working at the gas station of a family friend. /2  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) April 8, 2017

Sushma Swaraj quoted the report she received and stated that two miscreants who entered a local convenience shop snatched cash from the victim and shot him in the chest before they led from the scene. Swaraj said that the local police have already gathered CCTV footage and are in the process of identifying and apprehending the culprits.

Our consulate in San Francisco is helping the family and following this up with the Police authorities. /5  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) April 8, 2017

Swaraj on Friday had assured the victim's family that all assistance would be extended to them to bring the victim's body back to India. The attack on Vikram Jaryal comes within a month of Kansas hate crime where an Indian engineer was shot dead by a US navy veteran. The incident has once again put the spotlight on the safety of Indians living the United states.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, April 8, 2017, 11:13 [IST]
Syria: Russia, Iran army chiefs vow to continue fight

International

pti-PTI

Tehran, Apr 8: The army chiefs of Russia and Iran discussed the US strikes in Syria by phone on Saturday and vowed to continue the fight against "terrorists" and their supporters, Iranian media reported.

The two chiefs of staff, Major General Mohammad Bagheri and General Valery Gerasimov, "condemned the American operation against a Syrian air base which is an aggression against an independent country", state news agency IRNA said.

The American strikes "aim at slowing the victories of the Syrian army and its allies, and reinforcing terrorist groups", they said in a statement. The two army leaders vowed to continue their military cooperation in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "until the total defeat of the terrorists and those that support them", according to the Mehr news agency.

Iran and Russia are Assad's closest allies and label all opponents of his regime as "terrorists". Both governments have defended Assad against Western allegations that his regime carried out a suspected chemical weapons attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun on Tuesday, killing dozens of civilians.

President Hassan Rouhani earlier criticised his US counterpart Donald Trump for the missiles fired early on Friday in response to the suspected chemical attack. "This man who is now in office in America claimed that he wanted to fight terrorism but today all terrorists in Syria are celebrating the US attack," he said.

PTI
What does the US actually want in Syria?

US probes Russia's role into Syrian chemical attacks

International

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The United States has begun investigations into a Russian angle to the chemical strikes in Syria. The US had fired 60 missiles at a Syrian airfield run by the Assad regime following the chemical attack.

The Pentagon is searching for evidence that the Russian regime knew about the attack or was complicit about the same. The chemical attack at Idib province killed nearly 80 persons and injured several more.

Kremlin has however denied the allegations. Russia has even warned that the missile attacks on Syria would have extremely serious consequences. "We strongly condemn the illegitimate actions by the US The consequences of this for regional and international stability could be extremely serious," Russia's deputy UN envoy, Vladimir Safronkov, told a meeting of the UN Security Council on Friday.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that the US was one step away from clashing with the Russian military.

The world was however divided in its reaction to the first major foreign policy decision taken by Donald Trump to fire missiles into Syria. Reports stated that Trump was moved by pictures of children suffering due to the chemical attack, following which he ordered the action. While Russia was critical of the attack by the US, the Western leaders backed the US saying that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had brought it upon himself.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, April 8, 2017, 12:55 [IST]
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PR Newswire Asia 06 Nov 2022

BEIJING, Nov. 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- More than a billion people across the world depend on wetlands for their livelihoods ..
CBS4 Miami 08 Jul 2019

Coral Gables police are urging people to stay away from the Merrick Park area, as they look for at least one carjacking suspect.
Slot Review: Go Back to Roots with GameArt's African Sunset

Published April 8, 2017 by Arthur M

African Sunset is a beautifully-designed online slot from GameArt, that comes with a couple of nice bonus features such as free spins with multipliers and a gamble game.

Slots themed around African wildlife are among the most popular at online casinos and African Sunset, from GameArt is a classic example of the genre, but has stunning graphics to make it stand out from the herd.

It also comes with a rewarding free spins round, wild substitutions and the chance to turn a modest win into a big payout via a gamble game.

Design

Highly detailed images of lions, zebras, giraffes and rhinos decorate the reels of African Sunset and to justify the title, it's all set against a backdrop of a savannah, where the setting sun casts a reddish hue across the land.

To emphasise the theme, the reels are framed by traditional African spears and intricate patterns to give an overall impression of a quality game which has been developed with great care.

Wagering

It comes with 15 fixed paylines and with a minimum stake of 0.01 each, players can spin the reels from as little as 0.15. Control buttons below the reels give players the option to raise their stakes to a comparatively low maximum of 0.50 a line, or 7.50 per spin.

Features

Perhaps appropriately, the lion is a wild symbol and this majestic creature will act as all except the scatter to help complete winning combinations, while also being the highest value symbol.

A view of the landscape is a scatter symbol and when this and/or the wild land on reels 1 and 5 at the same time, players enter a free spins game, during which any wins have a random multiplier of 2x, 3x, 5x or 10x applied to them.

Players have the option of gambling their win and by correctly guessing if a playing card will be revealed as red or black they can double the prize, repeating this up to 5x over if they keep getting the right choice.

Verdict

While the design of African Sunset is without doubt a major attraction, it's the features and opportunities to land some generous wins that will keep players coming back to the reels. Some great multipliers in place throughout the free spins, and the potentially rewarding gamble game should help to make this the Pride of online casinos such as VegasCasino, BitCasino and SlotJoint.
A Vancouver fire truck was damaged after a tree fell on it Friday afternoon, officials said.

The tree hit the truck on Mill Plain Boulevard near East Reserve Street as firefighters were enroute to a medical emergency, officials said.

The tree, which was 3 to 4 feet in diameter at its base, struck the front of the truck, officials said. The trunk and branches shattered both the truck's windshields and its passenger side windows, officials said. The cab was filled with broken glass.

No one was injured.

The truck will be towed to the fire department's shop, where the damage will be assessed, officials said.

Strong winds toppled trees and power lines throughout the Portland area on Friday. A Tigard man was killed by a falling limb in Washington County.

-- The Oregonian/OregonLive
Portland City Council63394.JPG

Commissioner Chloe Eudaly, left, and Commissioner Amanda Fritz, at a January meeting of the City Council.

(Beth Nakamura/Staff)

While the unaccounted-for money is hardly a pittance, it is, in the larger scheme of big-government budgeting, pocket change: $120,000. But it has been spent, every tax dollar of it, by city employees privileged with city-issued credit cards to serve in the public's interest.

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

________________________

Read more about the editorial board's priorities for Oregon.

The disclosure last week that the employees failed to submit receipts for a year's worth of spending reeks: not of malfeasance but of laxity and the apparent belief that accountability applies only to others. Jessica Floum of The Oregonian/OregonLive reported that the city's chief procurement officer had over a period of a year sought and failed to receive documentation of expenses incurred by staffers in the city's Office of Neighborhood Involvement.

The disclosure follows a November city audit that had found the neighborhood involvement office to be deficient on several levels, among them unclear strategies and priorities; and unequal funding issued to Portland neighborhood groups, few of which were expected to fully account for grants they did receive. And news of the credit card mess follows by only weeks the departure of the bureau's longtime director, Alarcon de Morris, who quietly packed up after receiving a severance package equal to her annual salary of $144,000.

But the numbers and the layers of unaccountability, when viewed as thwarting a city bureau systemically, are large, after all. ONI has more than 50 employees and an annual budget exceeding $10 million. While that represents a sliver of the city's massive discretionary fund, it's more than enough to worry about.

That's apparently what Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler did in the wake of November's audit and after taking office this year. He pulled the neighborhood involvement office away from Commissioner Amanda Fritz and assigned its oversight to newcomer Commissioner Chloe Eudaly, among whose first deeds was to help de Morris find the door after 11 years at the helm.

On Monday the city's procurement officer, Christine Moody, made clear that she would suspend the credit cards used by 34 ONI staffers by Sunday if she had not received receipts for their charges. But David Austin, the neighborhood office's interim chief, quickly demanded that most neighborhood office employees surrender their credit cards by Tuesday, Floum reported.

Austin serves as Eudaly's deputy chief of staff and will head up the bureau until things get straightened out and a new director is appointed. In a Thursday interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board, Austin said he trusted his staff fully and that "there is absolutely no indication of malfeasance," just a failure to conduct on-time record-keeping that will be corrected. He noted, too, that credit card issuer statements listing user charges were received by the city all along, "so we know what the expenses were."

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly

chloe@portlandoregon.gov

@ChloeEudalyPDX

But this matter is larger than lax bookkeeping. The receipt-less use of credit cards by public employees in one unit of Portland City Hall affects the credibility of all bureaus and provides a lightning rod for civic frustration in a time when government struggles to reclaim respectability and trust.

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.

Blaming won't throw light, either. Yes, it must be established that the undocumented credit card charges were legitimate city expenses, as Austin insists they are; and yes, it will take some time to parse through an incoming thicket of receipts, though Austin said he would have a full accounting early this week. But it could be argued that leaders set the tone, that the neighborhood office staffers merely conformed to a faulty ethic established by the ousted director - just as it could be argued that no-account spenders are fully responsible and should know better no matter whom they work for. No matter.

Austin and Eudaly must, in righting this comparatively small office dedicated to civic well-being, go beyond bookkeeping to ensure a level of operational transparency that makes plain the very necessity of the office. A Neighborhood Office of Involvement is a promising and very Portland idea only inasmuch as it functions at a high level in serving the citizens who pay for it.

-The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board
KATE BROWN10.JPG

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, in a file photo

(Staff/File)

By Lori Chavez-DeRemer

The 2017 legislative session is over the two-month mark under the leadership of Gov. Kate Brown. While many saw this session as one of the most challenging to date, it seems like an even slower start than expected. There have been no serious legislative efforts to address our budget shortfall. This slow start can be attributed to the inadequate leadership under Brown.

I previously urged our state legislators not to let our top issues go unaddressed this session. Instead, we have seen a governor that is too busy campaigning rather than legislating. Brown has shown that she cannot tackle the issues head-on.

Oregon is expecting record revenue, yet our state still faces a $1.6 billion shortfall. In fact, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts, Oregon's tax revenue has increased by 41 percent since 2010, more than double the average of other states. Our state faces a spending problem and not a revenue problem as our Governor might suggest.

When I was elected mayor of Happy Valley, in 2010, I made it a priority to balance our budget. We paid off our new city hall 10 years early, saving our taxpayers almost $900,000 in interest payments. Our city has balanced the budget every year and put $2.5 million in reserves. Our state government needs to learn to do the same.

When voters went to fill out their ballots in November, they sent a clear mandate to our lawmakers on Measure 98. The ballot initiative was to fully fund career-technical education courses, but since then, the governor has suggested cutting the measure's funding by 53 percent.

In 2014, I campaigned for Clackamas Community College funding that would bring more career technical training courses and improved facilities. The voters approved the bond and students will now have amazing opportunities with a new campus being built. Our campaign put students first. Will Kate Brown do the same?

However, when our Legislature does bring forth ideas, these are proposals that would move our state backwards. Recently, a bill was brought into serious consideration that would allow rent control in a time when Oregon's housing crisis is the result of supply and demand. The business community has also has been a target by the governor and Democratic leadership with predictive scheduling that would punish small business owners and restrict how they operate. Proposals like these are the result of out-of-touch leaders.

It's no secret that our state's budget gap derives largely from unsustainable liabilities in PERS and Medicaid. These problems have been the same year after year. So how do you address them? It starts with leadership at top. We need leaders who will prioritize our citizens first and not their re-election campaigns.

Lori Chavez-DeRemer is the mayor of Happy Valley.
US Syria

This satellite image provided by DigitalGlobe shows an image captured on April 7 of the northwest side of the Shayrat air base in Syria, following U.S. Tomahawk Land Attack Missile strikes on Friday, April 7, 2017 from the USS Ross (DDG 71) and USS Porter (DDG 78). The United States blasted the air base with a barrage of cruise missiles on Friday, April 7, 2017 in fiery retaliation for this week's gruesome chemical weapons attack against civilians. (DigitalGlobe via AP)

(AP)

By The Washington Post Editorial Board

President Donald Trump's decision to strike a Syrian airbase in response to a chemical weapons attack by the regime of Bashar al- Assad was right as a matter of morality, but it could also yield a host of practical benefits. The Assad regime may be deterred from again using deadly gas on civilians- a heinous war crime that, if tolerated, would make not just Syria but the world more savage.

Russia and Iran should have new cause to consider whether they will continue backing the blood-drenched Damascus dictator, or cut a deal to get rid of him. Other rogue regimes and their sponsors will have to recalculate how the United States might respond to their provocations. How convenient that Chinese President Xi Jinping, who props up North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un while conducting a slow campaign of aggression in the South China Sea, had a ringside seat in Mar-a-Lago as Trump boldly acted.

Perhaps most importantly, U.S. allies now have reason to hope that Trump could fill the leadership vacuum, in the Middle East and beyond, left by President Barack Obama's decision not to enforce his own red line on Syria's use of chemical weapons. It is little wonder that Trump's action was cheered from Britain to Germany and from Israel to Japan - and by congressional Democrats as well as Republicans. Even the snarling response from Vladimir Putin's Kremlin looked skin-deep, particularly as the Pentagon took care to warn Russia's forces in Syria in advance.

What's unknowable is whether Trump's decision represents a change in his conception of U.S. foreign interests or a one-off response to wrenching televised pictures of suffocating children. In 2013, Mr. Trump strenuously opposed U.S. retaliatory action following a much more deadly sarin gas attack by the Assad regime; just Tuesday,he repeated in a speech that "I'm not, and I don't want to be, the president of the world." Yet on Thursday night Secretary of State Rex Tillersonspoke of taking action "on behalf of the international community" to preserve "international norms" about chemical weapons, and Trump said that "as long as America stands for justice, then peace and harmony will, in the end, prevail." America's allies can only hope that Trump will truly embrace that sentiment, rather than his long-standing isolationist instincts, as his presidency evolves.

For now, Trump must devise a Syria policy that responds to this week's events. The administration now appears to understand that the civil war - and the fuel it provides for the Islamic State and other extremists - can never be ended while the Assad regime remains in power. The chemical attack signaled the regime's intention to assault rebel-held Idlib province with the same scorched-earth tactics it has employed elsewhere in the country, which would trigger a massive new wave of refugees in addition to thousands more civilian deaths. The United States should make clear to Damascus that any further chemical attacks - as well as other blatant assaults on civilians - will be met with more military retaliation.

The administration should meanwhile make another effort to draw Russia and Syria's neighbors into a negotiation on the country's future, using the new leverage provided by Trump's demonstrated willingness to use force. It should seek bipartisan congressional support, including the authorization of military force in the event of further atrocities - even if the White House has, as we believe, the constitutional leeway to act without it.

Trump has created an opportunity for the United States, and for his presidency, in Syria. Its ultimate value will depend on how well he follows up.

-- The Washington Post Editorial Board

(c) 2017, The Washington Post
1doj.JPG

Mayor Charlie Hales attends a news conference in November 2013 in which federal, city and police union officials explained elements of a police reform agreement. The lack of an independent court monitor, however, is one of the agreement's vulnerabilities.

(Oregonian/OregonLive file photo)

A recent memo by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions that telegraphs his disdain for federal involvement in local police reform should trigger Portland leaders to make one bold move for police accountability: They should ask a federal judge to step in and appoint an independent monitor to keep the city honest about its progress on promised police reforms.

That's the set-up already in place in more than a dozen other cities where, like Portland, the local police agency was found to have engaged in excessive force. The idea has already been recommended to Portland officials by a now disbanded citizens panel that struggled to provide that same kind of oversight. And there's one more critical benefit of switching to an independent monitor: It would help assure the community that someone immune to shifting political winds is holding Portland accountable for the promises it made.

Sessions' March 31 memo, as reported by The Oregonian/OregonLive's Maxine Bernstein, makes all too clear why an independent monitor will matter. While Sessions said the department will fulfill its mission statement of ensuring public safety and administration of justice for all Americans, he called for a review of the department's consent decrees governing police reform efforts in cities across the country. He emphasized the need for the department to promote officer morale and public respect and expressly noted that "local control and local accountability are necessary for effective local policing. It is not the responsibility of the federal government to manage non-federal law enforcement agencies."

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

________________________

.

That signals concern for those cities without established police reform plans. But Portland's agreement, approved in 2014, is especially vulnerable compared to those in other cities operating under finalized plans. The city, by design, has only nominal court involvement and no independent, court-appointed monitor to measure its progress and compliance with agreed-upon police reforms. Rather it's up to a city-hired compliance team and a community oversight board -- which dissolved recently -- to evaluate Portland's progress. And as the only other party to the settlement, the Department of Justice provides annual status updates to a federal judge on whether it believes the city is meeting the settlement terms.

As recently as last fall, Department of Justice lawyers ripped then Mayor Charlie Hales and the police bureau for accountability failures connected to their secrecy surrounding a criminal investigation of then-Police Chief Larry O'Dea for an apparently accidental shooting of a friend.

But U.S. Attorney for Oregon Bill Williams struck a more positive tone in a recent conversation with The Oregonian/OregonLive's Editorial Board. Williams said the Department of Justice is continuing to work with Portland leaders about what still needs to be done, adding that he is optimistic about Mayor Ted Wheeler's commitment to meeting the terms of the settlement agreement. The goal, he said, is for the parties to achieve success and move on.

The problem is defining "success" is left up to a city with a bleak history of police reform and a federal agency that may no longer want the responsibility.

This should set off alarm bells. While the Portland Police Bureau has made many significant improvements, there are key parts of the settlement that remain unfulfilled. The city has yet to come up with a plan for reviving the community oversight board and has not streamlined the byzantine process for handling citizens' complaints against police officers. And while not directly related to the settlement, the placing of current Police Chief Mike Marshman on leave amid misconduct allegations -- the second time in a year that the bureau's chief has been put on leave -- threatens to distract the bureau's progress and attention.

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, Helen Jung, Mark Katches, John Maher and Len Reed.

To respond to this editorial:

Post your comment below, submit

, or

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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.

This isn't to say that the city is uninterested or insincere about police reform. But without someone with the authority to hold the city to its promises, there's always the risk that leaders might shift their money or attention to other priorities. It is too easy for Portland leaders to let deadlines or responsibilities slip if they no longer feel the pressure.

Realistically, it's hard to imagine Portland City Council would willingly put the city under the oversight of a court-appointed monitor, a judge or other independent body. After all, commissioners under Mayor Hales twice appealed even the most modest orders by U.S. District Judge Michael Simon, who simply sought to have the city to share more information about its progress in a public setting.

But under Wheeler, the council has the opportunity to take stock of where police reform stands -- in Portland, and in the portfolio of the federal justice department. It can weigh the troubles of the police bureau and the perception of the public. And it can consider the importance of credibility in such a sensitive issue as police reform. The city can declare success on its own, but it's the public that will decide whether we move on.

-- The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board
Federal prosecutors in Nevada have asked a judge to schedule the second Bunkerville conspiracy trial for rancher Cliven Bundy, sons Ammon Bundy and Ryan Bundy and other leading defendants in the 2014 armed standoff near the family ranch for June 5 or later.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Myhre urged the court to set a definitive date to help lawyers on both sides prepare for the second trial and assist witnesses in making travel arrangements.

The request comes as the prosecutors are still in the initial trial of six co-defendants that began Feb. 6 and has lasted nearly two months.

Prosecutors anticipate calling about 60 witnesses, twice as many as the approximately 35 the government has so far called during the first trial, Myhre wrote.

The court had planned the second trial to start 30 days after the end of the first trial. But Myhre said the lack of a specific date leaves "too much uncertainty'' for legal preparation.

In Nevada, the Bundys face 16 felony counts, including extortion, obstruction of justice, conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer, assault on a federal officer and threatening a federal officer.

In a related matter, defendant Pete Santilli supports a June 5 trial date but also asked that he be tried separately from the Bundys, concerned his co-defendants haven't been aggressively preparing for trial but more focused on protesting their jail conditions.

Santilli also doesn't want to face "guilt by association'' because he played a different role from his co-defendants, serving as an independent broadcaster covering the standoff, his lawyer, Chris T. Rasmussen, wrote in a legal brief.

Prosecutors have alleged that Santilli recruited gunmen to the Bundy Ranch, threatened violence to law enforcement, helped lead an assault on U.S. Bureau of Land Management officers trying to roundup cattle on federal land, conducted reconnaissance of hotels where federal officers were staying, delivered an ultimatum to the BLM's agent in charge to leave the impound site and incited followers and gunmen to participate in an assault on federal officers on April 12, 2014.

In his latest motion, Santilli sought to distance himself from the actions of Ammon Bundy, who has been protesting jail strip searches, and was led into federal court in Nevada one day in his underwear. Bundy is being held at the Nevada Southern Detention Center in Pahrump, Nevada, which is about 63 miles west of Las Vegas.

"Santilli's other trial defendants, except Cliven Bundy, have decided it is more important to protest jail procedures they feel violate their rights instead of preparing for a defense in the upcoming case in which they are facing life in prison,'' Rasmussen wrote. "These actions are endangering Santilli's defense.''

Santilli's girlfriend and broadcast partner Deb Jordan said Santilli supports the Bundys' "moral choice to protest" but is frustrated with the process.

Ammon Bundy and brother Ryan Bundy were acquitted of conspiracy and weapons charges in late October in the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon after a five-week trial in federal court in Portland. Santilli, initially indicted on a conspiracy charge in the Oregon case, had all federal charges dismissed against him on the eve of the refuge takeover trial.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian
MSU Extension of Midland County and cooperating parent educators sponsor the Parents Corner. Send submissions to Midland County MSU Extension Educator, Lisa Treiber, 220 W. Ellsworth St., Midland, MI 48640.

Salt in the

Saginaw Valley

Long before salt mines opened under Detroit, drilling began in 1838 on Michigans first brine well here in Midland County. On Tuesday, April 11, 7 to 8 p.m., join Kyle Bangall, manager of Historical Programs, as we investigate our salty past. Free for ages 12 and up, younger than 18 w/adult. More info, info@chippewanaturecenter.org

In Search of

Woodcock and

Snipe Hike

Join naturalist Tom Lenon on Wednesday, April 12, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. for a two-hour hike to look for woodcock and snipe. Lenon will share his knowledge of these fascinating birds on the Chippewa Nature Center property. Wear dark clothing to aid in getting us up close to the birds at night. Free Ages 9 and up, under 18 w/adult.

Spring Frogs

Come join Naturalist Michelle Fournier at the Chippewa Nature Center on Thursday, April 13, 6 to 7:30 p.m. to learn more about frogs in action. Woodland frogs and toads are some of the loudest and earliest signs of spring. It is the height of the breeding season for chorus frogs, wood frogs, and spring peepers. Free for all ages, under 18 w/adult.

Candy Making Kids:

Easter Treats

Diana Bradley at Creative 360 will lead children, ages 6-9 in making tasty and colorful handcrafted candies that include molded and dipped chocolates, peanut butter balls and molded themed mints. Bring two cookie sheets to the class. Younger children are welcome with a helper. Registration is required by calling (989) 837-1885 or registering at www.becreative360.org The class takes place from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 8. Cost is $15 per participant.

Families in

Nature: Vernal Pools

Venture out to Chippewa Nature Center for the monthly Families in Nature program series from 1 to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 8. Vernal pools appear each spring as the snow melts and rains fall. These special wetlands are home to frogs, salamanders and aquatic invertebrates.

Kids T-shirt Painting

at Creative 360

Children, ages 5-10, will have the opportunity to paint a fun Easter themed T-shirt with Diana Bradley and Diane Conklin. Registration is required by calling (989) 837-1885 or registering at www.becreative360.org The class takes place from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, April 9. Cost is $15 per participant.

Full Moon Stroll

Before it gets dark, join the staff at Chippewa Nature Center to check the ground to see if this months name is appropriate  the Sprouting Grass moon. On April 10, from 7:30 to 9 p.m, explore wildlife in the fields and experience a spring evening. Be sure to wear dark clothing and bring your own flashlight. Join Interpretive Naturalist Jeanne Henderson at the Visitor Center to learn all about the Sprouting Grass Moon.

NEMCSA Head Start

Preschool Programs

NEMCSA Head Start is a free preschool program for qualifying families with children ages 3-4. Head Start also serves children with special needs and/or disabilities. Head Start is a member of the Midland County Regional Preschool Partnership.

Complete a preschool interest form online at www.michiganpreschool.org NEMCSA Head Start offers full day and half-day preschool classrooms that run four days a week. Classroom locations in the Midland and Sanford areas include sites at Longview Early Childhood Center, First Baptist Church, Grace Bible Church and Sanford Early Childhood Center. Contact Katie Estelle at (989) 832-0968 or Kelly Scoles at (989) 832-7520 to schedule an application appointment.

Free Airplane Rides

for Kids

Free Young Eagle Flights offered to anyone 8-17 years old, with a signed permission slip by a legal guardian, 9 a.m. to noon. The second Saturday of the month (April 8, May 13, June 10, July 8, Aug. 12, Oct. 14, Nov. 11 and Dec. 9). Pilots will explain the aircraft, describe the flight and then they will fly it. EAA Chapter 1093 Young Eagles program is an unique way of welcoming young people (8-17). The program is sponsored by the EAA Aviation Foundation, a non-profit organization. For more information on this free event at the Midland Barstow Airport, 2800 E. Airport Road, Midland, call (989) 835-3231.
These photographs are from the Amish in Gladwin and Clare counties in the early 1980s.

A Daily News photographer was given permission by the Amish community to photograph some of their activities.




CLINTON  Production remained shut down at a Clinton plant Friday and workers met with counselors as they struggled with the loss of a longtime co-worker killed in a workplace accident Thursday morning.

DeWitt County Coroner Randy Rice identified Kerry S. Daniels as the worker killed at McElroy Metal Inc. on Clinton's east side. The 57-year-old died after a load of sheet metal fell on him, according to the coroner.

Mark Brotherton, vice president of operations for the Louisiana-based firm, said the accident deeply affected the company's 50 workers.

"It's a small community and a small plant. They're hurting," said Brotherton.

Counselors were brought in Friday for the plant's workers.

Brotherton said production "will probably be brought back up slowly" for the close-knit group of workers  many of them with more than 20 years on the job. Daniels had worked there almost 30 years.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration confirmed Friday that the agency is investigating Daniels' death and a recent accident in which a worker was seriously injured at the plant that manufacturers metal roofing, siding and panels.

Brad Bothast, lead safety and health occupational health specialist with OSHA's Peoria office, told The Pantagraph the agency is reviewing reports related to the serious injury. The review will include any corrective action the firm may have taken since that accident, said Bothast.

OSHA will issue any determination of a workplace hazard and resulting citations within six months.

Thursday's accident remains under investigation by OSHA, Clinton Police Department and the coroner's office. An autopsy was performed Friday in Bloomington, but preliminary results were not available from the DeWitt County coroner.
NORMAL  A bill moving through the Illinois legislature would allow community colleges to award bachelor's degrees in nursing after meeting certain criteria.

But opponents say such a move would weaken nursing education and not address the nursing shortage.

Although Heartland Community College is supporting the measure, administrators said they would not pursue such authority at this time. Among other reasons, they cited the good working relationship Heartland has with Illinois State University, which has a nursing school.

Senate Bill 888, sponsored by Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, contains several requirements that must be met before a community college could offer a bachelor's degree in nursing.

They include documenting workforce needs, the availability of faculty for the program and being accredited.

This isn't some will-nilly handing out of authority, said Manar. They have to prove they have what it takes to run a program.

No state dollars would go to the bachelor's program under the measure so the school would have to be supported through tuition, fees and/or local tax dollars.

Judy Neubrander, dean of ISU's Mennonite College of Nursing, called the proposal costly, duplicative and unnecessary when she testified against it in Springfield.

ISU has a program called Pathways, offered in partnership with Heartland and three other area community colleges, that enables students who receive an associate's degree in nursing to finish their Bachelor of Science in nursing (BSN) in one year at ISU through an online program.

Students can also enroll in ISU while still attending one of the partner colleges and we will guarantee their seat, said Neubrander.

Some employers require that a nurse be accepted in a BSN program before they will hire them, said Becky Lamont, Heartland's dean of health and human services. Heartland students are very aware of that and some already are involved in the Pathways program.

We're in a good position to collaborate, said LaMont, noting that schools in this area work well together, cooperating on such matters as sites for clinical experience.

But Manar said there is a shortage of nurses and access to nursing education in some rural areas and urban neighborhoods in Illinois. People in those areas are more connected to their local community colleges, he said.

Allowing a select number of community colleges to offer a BSN would open up opportunities to non-traditional students, including working parents and those with time and financial constraints, said Manar, who noted some states already allow this.

Victoria Folse, director and professor of nursing at Illinois Wesleyan University, questioned data used in writing SB 888.

The misconception is that this will impact the nursing shortage, said Folse.

However, she said, a shortage of nursing faculty is a key factor preventing existing programs from expanding. This would potentially make that worse, according to Folse and Neubrander.

Heartland President Rob Widmer said the school already has difficulty finding faculty with a master's degree to teach in its nursing associate's degree program and a bachelor's degree program would probably need faculty with doctoral degrees.

The second misconception is there aren't seats available to complete a BSN, said Folse. But each school with an associate-to-BSN program, such as ISU, said seats are available, according to Folse.

All 37 members of the Illinois Association of Colleges of Nursing  both private and public schools offering four-year nursing degrees  oppose the bill.

Manar dismissed their objections and said they need to explain why they think their complete monopoly is good for the people of Illinois.

The Senate Higher Education Committee approved SB 888 on a 7-6 vote in March. State Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, was among those voting against it. No date is set for a vote by the full Senate.

Rose's main objection is a lack of a comprehensive higher education plan that addresses what programs are offered where.

Noting the number of schools that are struggling with falling enrollment at the same time state funding is declining, Rose questioned adding more competing programs to an already frayed and tattered system.
Predatory criminal sexual assault  A Fairbury man was sentenced to 35 years in prison in Livingston County court for predatory criminal sexual assault.

Joseph Eilts, 53, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a minor for a year, beginning in September 2014. He must serve 85 percent of the sentence.

Livingston County State's Attorney Randy Yedinak said, "These are absolutely the toughest cases that we have to deal with. For this victim, overcoming abuse isn't going to just happen. It takes positive steps, each and every day."

Cocaine  A Bloomington woman faces multiple drug charges.

Ebony Clark, 20, of the 1400 block of West Elm Street, is charged with delivery and possession of cocaine. She was jailed in lieu of posting $10,035.

Gunfire  Multiple shots were fired about 4:47 p.m. Friday near the intersection of Howard and Monroe streets, Bloomington police said.

There were no reports of injuries, and it wasn't known immediately if there was any property damage, police said.

Several witnesses were being interviewed, but no arrests were made Friday afternoon, police said.
When you think of Megan Mullally your first instinct might be her turn as the ferocious Karen on Will & Grace, but you probably don't think of her as a chanteuse. You'll be happy to discover that she and actress Stephanie Hunt form the duo Nancy And Beth, who cover classic songs complete with hats, canes and showbiz! flare (and who knows, maybe someday an elephant?) Their self-titled debut album is out today and the women kick off a tour of the US and UK this spring with a show in California tomorrow. We jumped on the phone with them to talk about their maybe-psychic relationship, covering songs from Wynona Carr's "Please Mr. Jailer" to Gucci Mane's "I Don't Love Her," and whether Karen tweets.





So you guys started the band in 2011 and are releasing your debut album nowwas there a reason for the long wait?

Mullally: Well, you know, I mean, kind of what happened was we started playing live in about 2012, early 2012. And then we recorded some really mellow stuff. Because we used to have a completely different vibe. The band was a totally different vibeit wasn't all singing all dancing, with like hats and canes, you know? So those songs we recorded are now kind of novelty songs. Then we were getting ready to go into a period where I was going to be leaving from, it turned out to be like two years I was gone. I did a couple shows in New York. I did a show on Broadway and a show off-Broadway and another thing. Then I went to London and shot a show. However, we did have a moment in time to record the record. The record was recorded

Hunt: 2 years ago?

Mullally: Yeah. The record was recorded like 2 years ago and then we also shot the album art. And then we were separated for a while again and now we're back. But in the interim I must say that Stephanie and I have gotten together three or four times. She's come to LA and stayed at the house and we just pick out new songs and then we choreograph them.

So, over this time, this evolution, what has changed and what is this album capturing for you guys?

Hunt: Well, the album is very celebratory of music and all the songs are completely different, different genres. And that has never gone away. That's something we do and one of the biggest parts of our band, is that we celebrate all different types of music. And I think that it's just become more refined because now we're celebrating it with dance moves and hats and canes.

Mullally: The props are escalating. We're going to have an elephant pretty soon. I'm going to ride in on an elephant.

That would be amazing.

Mullally: It's definitely transferring to Vegas. It's going to have to because it's getting too big.

Move over J. Lo and Cher.

Mullally: That's right. They had a good run. Now it's Nancy And Beth's turn. Yeah, so the weird "showbiz!" exclamation point element is totally there and we love it. But it's also within the context of this daring, not formal band. Like the band is very deconstructed. So even though there's a showbiz element, there's this other element of like, these are just some kids playing and we're getting to watch it. And it's not a comedy band by any stretch but Stephanie and I are both funny people and we pick songs that we love but then the way that I choreograph them, there's often a witty element to the choreography. I think one of the most interesting elements of the band is the fact that there's a 30 year age difference between me and Stephanie (she's oldershe looks good! She really takes care of herself). It just adds this crazy element to the band where I think people just sit in the audience thinking, what's that all about? It's been so natural and it's kind of self-explanatory and at the same time there's something a little bit

Hunt: Provoking? There's a lot of question marks that sort of get deleted immediately.

Mullally: 88? You sound good! [Laughs]

Right? Drink a lot of water, that's the key.

Hunt: [Laughs] Avoid sugar.





Mullally: So like, for the album art, because nobody knows anything about the band and most people have no idea that I sing and a lot of people aren't even aware that Stephanie exists on the planet we decided tothe image for the album cover, front and back, just came to me in a vision, as it were. And I just couldn't shake it and I pitched it to Stephanie.

Hunt: And at first I was like, I don't know Meg. And then, you know, getting naked. But the more I thought about it, the more it actually was a good symbol for our band because despite any differences in age or race or anything else between us, there's a unified-ness. We found out that we have the same proportions.

Oh, wow--really?

Mullally: Yeah, we didn't know that we were exactly the same height and everything.

Hunt: From an anthropological standpoint, it's very interestingjust an image of what differences and similarities are. And we're just women.

Mullally: Yeah, it's just two human beings on the planet. And we didn't want it to be sexualized at all. We wanted to be as neutral as possible, but then I think when you see the back of the album there's a little bit of humor so you know we're not taking ourselves so seriously. But yeah, Nick Offerman has never seen me nakedI don't take my clothes off and run around, ever!

Hunt: But she will get naked for art.

Mullally: Yeah, for my art. But you know, I like it! I like how enigmaticEmily, the photographer, she just captured exactly what we had wanted. And P.S.: fun fact, we did not shoot those together. We didn't stand there hanging out naked together because we justdon't do it. So I shot mine and then she shot hers, and then I went over to the monitor and I was like, could you put an image of me and an image of Stephanie up side by side so I can kind of see what its like. And they put these images up and I was like, are you fucking kidding me? We're exactly the same size. Exactly the same height, our shoulders are the same levels, our belly buttons, our knees.

There's definitely a doppelganger effect. Looking at the album cover and a lot of your press photos I look and I'm like, Okay, I know they're different peoplebut are they?

Mullally: That's so apropos, Kat, because that's kind of the whole thing. Sometimes, most of the time, people always say to us that they can't tell who's singing what because our voices blend so well. And we just have this crazy rapport together that's completely natural.

Hunt: We have like a psychic communication too. Sometimes if one of us messes up during the choreography, the other one will mess up too to make it look like we're both on it. We don't talk about any of it, and we don't look at each other while we're doing the dancebut we just kind of know.

Mullally: Like in the music video and everything, we are of a piece in a sort of strange way. I don't really have that relationship with anybody else.

Hunt: It's really special.

How do you guys come to the songs you choose to cover and perform?

Mullally: Well, Stephanie seriously knows like every song.

Hunt: We have really similar music taste.

Mullally: I didn't expect her to know songs from the 20s and 30s, you know what I mean? I thought, she'll know songs from the 70s. But no, she's always whipping these things out from the 40s and 50s. So yeah, it's crazy. We have this arsenal at our disposal.

Hunt: My dad's a musicianmy whole family's musicians and they just study. He's a masters in classical guitar. But I always just listened to older music, and he was always playing songs around the house. And I don't really listen to the radio that much. I don't want to know what's going on.

Mullally: No, neither one of us are Top 40 at all, I would say.

But you did cover Gucci Mane!

Mullally: Oh yeah, we'll definitely surprise you from time to time. We did an Adele song in three-part harmony with Petra Haden. So every once in a while we'll do something like that, one song that everybody knows but we'll fuck it up a little bit or put our spin on it.

Hunt: It's still that gut feeling. We have a freak out list of songs that we can't handle and have to perform, because it's kind of instinctual. We'll look at each other while we're listening and be like, oh my god, we can see something for this song. And that happened with the Gucci Mane. Which I'm sure happened because Megan was searching for some other song, and that song came up and then she was like, Oh my god, listen to this. And we bust up laughing and thought we have to do this.

Mullally: It's like the furthest from a feminist anthem that you could possibly imagine so we thought, we must do it. But just by virtue of the fact of the two of us doing it, it really makes you sit down and rethink things.

What else is coming up for you now that the album is out?

Mullally: We kick off our tour at Largo in LA. We've got dates through the whole summer. We have a bonus track, a completely faithful cover of Joni Mitchell's Blue in three-part harmony. And we have a music video to go with it. And then we're planning something called "Get in Shape with Nancy And Beth"we're going to take five songs we've choreographed and we're going to shoot them against this backdrop in different costumes and it's going to be like this workout tape. And in August I'm back with Will & Grace.

Are you going to go for full Jane Fonda style?

Mullally: I think we'll have like, David Lynch style. You know his work-out tapes, right?

Hunt: [Laughs]

And you also have Will & Grace. The world has changed so much since its first airingparticularly for the LGBTQ communityhow do you think the show will deal with the current state of the world?

Mullally: I think a lot of the writers, producers on the show are members of the gay community, so they've gone through all of those changes and they're well aware. I mean, everything's different. Technology, social media. Just the landscape of the political environment in which we somehow found ourselves. It's so radically different. So the thing that's going to stay constant is the show is going to stay funny, that's the first goal. The second thing is the relationships between the characters are so there and so solid and so easy to find, it's always fun to play those characters off of each other. I think it will be pretty cool.

Does Karen tweet? Is she a social media star?

Mullally: She's probably never heard of social media, no. I'm sure she does not even know what that is and has an assistant who carries her cell phone around. I'm sure she has no idea how to text or even send an email. But she's really good friends with Donnie and Melania. She probably tells Donald to quit twistingand she means tweeting. "You should really quit twisting so much!" Let's call the writers with that one, 'cause that is gold.

Image courtesy of Nancy And Beth


In 20 years, Muslim babies will outnumber the number of Christian births. Pew Research Center conducted a study projecting the Islam population will become the fastest growing religious group by 2035.

The study on religious projections cited Christians make up 31 percent of the world's nearly seven billion population. Since 2010, however, experts saw a rising trend among Muslim births. It is currently the world's second largest population at 23 percent. If this trend continues until 2050, the number of Muslims could increase to as much as 73 percent, as per Pew Forum's projection.

Some factors to the Muslim baby boom pointed to the higher birth rates and lower infant mortality rates in countries like Somalia and the Arab states, as well as the Sub-Saharan Africa regions. Low fertility rates and an aging population in Europe, North America and some Asian regions like Japa and China, meanwhile, contributed to the projected decline of other religious groups, as per CNN.

By 2035, the number of babies born to Muslims is expected to modestly exceed Christian births https://t.co/NoffV7Y5I3 pic.twitter.com/w2BQsAvChk  Michael Dimock (@MichaelDimock) April 5, 2017

Some 27 percent of Muslims are expected to live in the Sub-Saharan Africa regions in the next two decades while the Muslim population will drop to as much as 50 percent in the Asian regions. The Muslim population in the Middle East and North Africa will stay constant at 20 percent by 2035.

Experts underscored Christianity will remain popular as it is today but its population birth rate will grow slow and steady as it was since 2010. Experts projected the two largest religious groups' birth gap will be at 6 million after 2050, with Muslims pegged at 232 million births and Christians at 226 million births.

Meanwhile, baby births in families who do not align with any religion, also known as agnostics or atheists, saw a drop since 2010 from 16 percent to the current 10 percent. Experts said this decline will continue by 2035. Pew Research based their study among 2,500 censuses, population registers and surveys globally.
A hotel in Canada recently opened its doors to families traveling with children with autism. The owner of Hotel Port Aux Basques, found in the coastal town of Newfoundland, wanted her guests to feel at ease and at home away from home so she and her staff made a few but significant changes.

A special education teacher inspired Cathy Lomond to create an autism-friendly hotel facility. Joan Chaisson talked to Lomond about some of the challenges of traveling with children with autism and Lomond empathized because she has a sister with special needs, as per Huffington Post.

"I was reared up in an environment of the rewards of being involved with special needs individuals," Lomond said, adding her sister, who has Down syndrome is now 51-years-old. Lomond said special needs people are still part of society, only they are not accorded enough opportunities and privileges.

At Lomond's hotel, children with autism can enjoy any of its 50 rooms featured with murals for sensory enhancements and security proofing to free up potential hazards. The hotel's menu is filled with food photos for children with autism who cannot articulate. There's also a sensory playroom with a hammock, a swing and a wall for climbing, as per Essential Kids.

Lomond's sensory playroom was originally the hotel gym that became under-utilized and neglected. So, the hotel owner turned it into a bright, homey and secure place for kids with autism.

Hotel Port Aux Basques' staff, from the front lines and servers to the chefs, underwent training on how to treat people with autism and special needs kids. Chaisson's group Autism Involves Me (AIM) helped Lomond transform her hotel and train the staff, as per Gulf News.

Traveling with children is a big challenge as it is and its worst for families with children with autism. They often feel disadvantaged and discouraged about the lack of options.

Lomond, Chaisson and the AIM group hope that by having an autism-friendly hotel, these families will consider traveling more. They also hope other hotels will do the same thing and offer amenities perfect for kids with special needs.
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The U.S. Department of Labor says Google discriminates against female employees in pay at a level thats even worse than the tech industry as a whole.

The department has found systemic compensation disparities against women pretty much across the entire workforce, Labor Department Regional Director Janette Wipper testified in a court in San Francisco on Friday, according to a report by The Guardian. Janet Herold, the departments regional solicitor, told the Guardian that pay discrimination against women was extreme.

Wipper said that the DoL found pay disparities in a snapshot of salaries from 2015, according to the Guardian.

Wippers testimony was part of a hearing about a lawsuit that the Labor Department brought against Google to force the company to hand over salary information. The department is authorized to conduct audits of Googles employment practices because the company gets government contracts. It says Google hasnt been cooperating.

The agency has asked the Office of Administrative Law Judges, a special court for Labor Department programs, to cancel all of Googles government contracts and keep it from getting future contracts if it doesnt comply with the request for data.

Google vehemently disagrees with the departments assertion, the company said in an emailed statement.

Every year, we do a comprehensive and robust analysis of pay across genders and we have found no gender pay gap, the statement read. Other than making an unfounded statement which we heard for the first time in court, the DoL hasnt provided any data, or shared its methodology.

At the time it filed the lawsuit, the Labor Department characterized the request for information as routine, but Google says the agency has cast too wide a net. (In a statement earlier this year, the company said it provided hundreds of thousands of records to the DoL as part of the audit.)

That argument appears to hold some water for Steven Berlin, the administrative law judge overseeing the case.

Last month, Berlin denied the DoLs motion for summary judgment, which would have immediately concluded the case in its favor. He said the departments request for the data was unreasonably burdensome, given its extremely limited relevance.

The reported testimony on Friday came three days after Google said in a tweet that it had closed the gender pay gap globally. The company also published a guide to doing the same at other companies.
A convicted felon accused of igniting a fire that significantly damaged a Canyon Lake home, displaced a family of four and killed a dog, was charged Friday, April 7 with several felonies.

Jackson Jeremy Jones, 21, of Canyon Lake pleaded not guilty to arson involving an inhabited structure, two counts of making death threats and animal cruelty as he made his initial court appearance Friday, according to online court records.

He also pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges of battery and resisting arrest, according to the records.

Jones, 21, was arrested Tuesday night following the blaze in the 23000 block of North Canyon Lake Drive.

The blaze broke out just after 4 p.m. Tuesday inside the two-story home, which is located about a block from the lake. Crews battled the flames for an hour before gaining the upper hand, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.

About two dozen firefighters were dispatched from surrounding stations under a mutual aid compact that went into effect two years ago when the city of Canyon Lake severed its contract with county fire, citing exorbitant costs.

The sole fire station in the gated municipality has been closed since that time.

Both floors of the $475,000 property sustained major damage, displacing two adults and their two children, none of whom were injured.

The American Red Cross provided assistance to the victims.

Jones was arrested about 9 p.m. at the intersection of Canyon Lake and Gulfstream drives.

Officials did not disclose a motive for the alleged arson attack.

Jones is being held in lieu of $2 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside.

According to court records, the defendant has prior convictions for felony assault, auto theft and burglary.

Staff writer Alex Groves contributed to this report.
Leo Juarez was on a family vacation at Disneyland when he felt numbness in his fingers and weakness to parts of his body.

Then it started getting worse, said Juarez, 18, of Moreno Valley.

Over the next few days, it became more difficult to move his limbs.

In January of last year, Juarez was admitted to Loma Linda University Childrens Hospital for tests. He celebrated his 17th birthday there and was released a few days later.

But it wasnt over. His condition worsened and Juarez was readmitted. He eventually could no longer walk or talk and was sedated for two weeks.

Almost a year later, Juarez and his family are celebrating his recovery and return to normal life as a senior at Valley View High School in Moreno Valley.

Hes back singing bass with his high school choir, the Madrigals, and keeping a busy social life going out with friends.

Juarez recently got two tattoos to mark his recovery. One is a symbol called a triskele on his upper back. The other on his left arm includes the date March 20  when he was transferred to Loma Linda University Medical Centers intensive care unit last year  along with two black bands and the word revenant.

It means rebirth and symbolizes for him how he came close to dying. He said hes become more aware of how people take life for granted.

My whole thing is time, Juarez said. You have to use your time valuably.

Juarezs condition wasnt apparent at first to doctors.

Initially, when he was sent home he was told that it may be conversion disorder, meaning that it could be psychological, he said.

All the time, hes losing his movement, little by little, losing everything, said Lorena Juarez, his mother.

When he returned, a second doctor did more tests and noticed that Juarezs nerves were breaking down, causing muscle weakness.

It took a number of different specialists to work together to solve his case, said Dr. Standford Shu, an assistant professor of child neurology at Loma Linda University Medical Center.

Doctors eventually diagnosed Juarez with Lupus Nephritis, an autoimmune disorder that damages the kidneys, and Guillain-Barre syndrome, a disorder in which the bodys immune system attacks part of the nervous system, which led to his paralysis.

Shu said Juarezs case was atypical from a normal lupus diagnosis, which usually starts with a rash. The nerve damage Juarez experienced was rare and seen in only about 5 percent of such cases, he said.

Thats a hard thing for a young man to understand and absorb that, Shu said. I think he did remarkably well in terms of looking to his faith to get through this.

For his parents, Rafael and Lorena Juarez, it was a difficult time.

They told us it was like a war in his body, Lorena Juarez said. His immune system was trying to fight it.

His kidneys were in danger of failing and he had contracted pneumonia when doctors decided to put him in sedation, she said.

The last thing he told me was, `I love you, Mom,  she said. From there, he didnt wake up for two weeks.

When he woke up, Juarez had to communicate via a screen that used his eyes. He worked with a speech pathologist to learn to talk and occupational and physical therapists to move his limbs.

They didnt know if I wasnt going to walk for a while or at all, he said.

Over the the next few months with a daily therapy regiment, he slowly began to recover. First, he could move his fingers and make tiny kicks with his legs.

Juarez described himself as hard-headed, with his mother, Lorena Juarez, nodding in agreement. He said he always believed he would get better.

I just knew to focus on that, he said. I considered that the bright light at the end of my tunnel.

That attitude helped his mother, who was at the hospital with him every day, she said.

He was my rock, Lorena Juarez said. There were a lot of hard times, a lot.

Last June, he was released from the hospital and surprised his classmates by joining the choir for their final performance of the school year.

He continues to see his doctors for check-ups and medication. Shu said lupus is a lifelong condition but Juarez can live with it and manage it.

Juarez, who kept up with his studies while recovering in the hospital, said hes looking forward to graduation and pursuing a career in music and fashion.

He plans to go to Crafton Hills College in Yucaipa and then the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles.

I want to give people a voice for the misunderstood, he said.
UC Riversides Entomology Museum director and a Midwestern partner re-discovered a parasitic wasp species that hadnt been detected for more than a century.

That was tricky, considering the Oobius depressus wasp measured 1.2 mm  barely visible to the human eye and identified only with help from a powerful microscope.

Before their find, only five specimens  collected in 1914 in Morristown, Ill.  were known to exist. Those sit in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

But theyd long ago been separated from their heads, which were mounted on slides and later lost. So identification was tough, even for specialists.

Theyve never been seen again until now, said UCR Entomology Museum Director Serguei Triapitsyn, who identified one new specimen.

That female can now be used to identify more specimens and help identify new wasp species.

Entomologist Toby Petrice, working at a U.S. Forest Service entomology lab on a biological control program for the invasive emerald ash borer, asked Triapitsyn to identify species of native wasps that lay their eggs in ash borers eggs, known as egg parasitoid wasps.

Triapitsyn is an expert in egg parasitoid wasps and other wasp families, as was his father, Soviet entomologist V.A. Trjapitzin, who first described the genus Oobius and had a wasp, the Oobius trjapitzin, named for him.

In his effort to track down a complete specimen of the little-known Oobius depressus, Triapitsyn went to Morristown in late August hoping to collect the wasps with a net.

But the town was nothing more than two or three houses amid vast fields, and the black locust trees where the wasps had once been found were all gone.

He sought help from Petrice, who was assigned to the Northern Research Station in Lansing, Mich. Although Petrice didnt know it at the time, he later found the wasp, along with others, in a trap he had hung in the canopy of a black locust grove at nearby Rose Lake State Wildlife Area.

Petrice collected wasp samples from the trap every 15 days from August through October, preserved them in alcohol and sent hundreds to Triapitsyn in March.

UCR Entomology Museum volunteer Vladimir Berezovskiy sorted all wasp specimens from the same family, Encyrtidae.

Looking through a compound microscope shortly after, Triapitsyn felt joy when he recognized that species by comparing it to the original, 1916 scientific description and a photograph of what was left of the body of a 101-year-old specimen.

It was a perfect match, he said, sitting in his museum office last week.

The tiny insect wont strike fear in humans  it cant even sting us. But to a wood-boring beetle known as the locust borer, the wasp is a monster.

Female wasps inject their own eggs into the eggs of a black and yellow longhorn beetle, the Megacyllene robiniae, which kills black locust trees. The wasp larvae eat the egg contents as they develop inside.

The beetle, which resembles a yellow jacket, has spread throughout the country with its host tree. Black locust trees are native to the Southeastern U.S., but theyre now found in the Cleveland National Forest and other parts of California, where theyre considered invasive.

Still, the locust borers eggs are also hard to find  further complicating attempts to find the wasp.

Its unlikely the wasps rediscovery will be used in efforts to control the tree-destroying beetle, Triapitsyn said.

The pests can be controlled with spraying, or clear-cutting severely damaged locust forests, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

The wasp specimen, collected on Oct. 6, 2015, was dried, photographed, mounted in resin on a slide and sent to the USDA Systematic Entomology Laboratory, in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

Triapitsyn wrote a new scientific description of the insect. The redescription was accepted for publication in The Great Lakes Entomologist, the scientific journal of the Michigan Entomological Society.

Not much is known about the wasp, except for where females lay eggs. The specimens collection and identification opens up avenues for research down the road.

Its a very little-studied wasp, Triapitsyn said.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9444 or shurt@pressenterprise.com
The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has reiterated that the new five Ghana Cedis commemorative banknote was a supplementary to the old five Ghana Cedis banknote being used currently in the country.



Mr Edward Musey, Head of Currency Management Department of BoG, who stated this, said the new five Ghana Cedis banknote would continue to remain legal tender alongside the old five Ghana Cedis banknote adding the old five Ghana Cedis banknote would not be withdrawn.



Mr Musey was speaking at a forum organised by BoG in Tamale to sensitise media practitioners in Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions on the commemorative five Ghana Cedis banknote and its security features.



The new five Ghana Cedis commemorative banknote, printed in March to celebrate 60 years of central banking in the country, displays an engraved portrait of Dr James Kwegyir Aggrey, a famous educationist, missionary and teacher.



The BoG was established on March 04, 1957.



The new banknote is in a new smaller size for ease of handling and contains a host of modern security and information features including tactile marks to assist the visually impaired.



Mr Musey said the new banknote was also a souvenir, which people could keep in remembrance of the 60th anniversary of the BoG.



He emphasised that the new banknote was not printed at any significantly high cost compared to the cost of reprinting of existing currencies in circulation in the country.

Source: GNA









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The Ministry of Energy and the national Petroleum Authority have commended Ghana Oil Company, GOIL for its Commitment in Promoting local content in the Oil and Gas Sector.



The commendations were made at the commissioning of the companys 13.5 million litre Marine Gas Oil Storage Facility at the Takoradi Port in Takoradi.



The Facility solely financed by GOIL, will enable to Ghanaian-owned oil giant bunker ocean- going vessels that berth at the Takoradi Port.



The Minister of Energy whose speech was read by a deputy minister, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, particularly commended GOIL for leading the crusade in promoting local content which is a priority of government, adding that government will support such initiatives which seek to give a helping hand to the policy.



The project, he noted, was in line with governments policy of making quality petroleum products available at affordable prices to fuel the economy.



The acting Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority, Alhassan Tampuli, also lauded GOIL for its pioneering role in ensuring local content and equity participation in the downstream petroleum sector.



The Authority, he announced, will set up a local content unit to monitor and enforce standards in the industry.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Members of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) have been urged to reposition themselves to partner the government to bring the much anticipated One District, One Factory policy to fruition.



The Director of Finance and Administration of AGI, Mr Nathaniel Quarcoopome, urged members of the association to hold themselves in readiness to take advantage of the opportunities that will come with the policy.



He made the call at the maiden meeting of the members of the Metal and Roofing Sheet sector of the AGI in Accra on Thursday.



Concept



The government aims at using the one-district, one-factory policy to spread industrialisation across the country.



It is the intention of the government to partner the private sector in the implementation of its flagship industrialisation policy.



Benefits



Mr Quarcoopome said partnering the government would provide the necessary insurance cover for investors and other participants along the supply chain to ameliorate their business risks and make them more attractive to financial service providers, particularly lenders.



He said another objective of the policy was to reduce the cost of doing business by providing shared industry resources and revenues.



Besides reducing business overheads of individual enterprises, there would be the adherence to best corporate governance practices, a crucial element in ensuring the success of small-scale businesses.



The third key objective is to provide market linkages and access, as well as create demand for the products that would be manufactured by the district-located industries.



This would guarantee sales revenue, which is crucial for business viability and access to finance.



Criteria



Speaking to the Daily Graphic later, Mr Quarcoopome said the concept, when implemented, had the ability to transform economic activities in the districts.



He said for instance that it would create significant employment in a particular district that a factory is located.



The meeting



The Chairman of the Metal and Roofing Sheets sector of the AGI, Mr Kwabena Adjare Danquah, said the meeting was also to educate its members on how to make good use of the one- district, one factory concept.



He stated that the sector was committed and well-positioned to push the countrys industrialisation agenda because it held huge prospects for the economy



Mr Danquah said the government had given the go-ahead for the policy to be a collaboration between the public and private sectors.



He added that the private sector would, however, provide the investment.

Source: Daily Graphic









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Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited (GGBL), Ghanas Leading Total Beverage Business has commissioned a GHC180,000 water and sanitation (WASH) facility for the Komfo-Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH)



The water system and its adjunct infrastructure funded under the breweries Water of Life programme is the first phase of a 2 part investment in KATH, the total of which is estimated to be the highest investment in a single community under the programme.



Both phases when completed will provide access to clean drinking water to the over 42,000 annual out-patients of the hospital. The first phase, made up of six(6) 10,000 litre tanks fitted with pumps to serve the worst affected sections of the hospital  the Reproductive Health Ward and the Main Surgical Theater will improve health care delivery in the hospital.



The project also includes an expansion of the sanitation facility to include water closets and urinary cubicles for women. The second phase is expected to provide an underground storage facility connected to boreholes to store water for use by the hospital in times of unexpected crises.



Speaking at the occasion, Francis Agbonlahor Managing Director of GGBL, said, Supporting KATH through our Water of Life programme is part of our commitment to invest in communities where we operate, particularly in the city where our flagship brewery is located. We believe that the project will contribute to improving the quality of life of community members.



As the second largest hospital in Ghana serving the middle and northern belts, we heeded to a call for support to improve healthcare delivery. We worked with our implementing partners to assess and identify what we could do to reduce the challenges faced by the hospital and I must say, it has been a great collaboration between GGBL, the hospital and the implementing partners.



Gracing the occasion was a representative of the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II. In a speech read on his behalf, Nana Boakye Yam-Ababio, Nkwanta Kesehene added, We know of the great work GGBL does in the area of CSR. The employment they offer the people from the Asante Kingdom and their means of giving back to the communities.



This is a testament of the commitment theyve made to the communities they operate in and we appreciate the establishment of their brewery here in Asanteman.



On his part, Chief Executive of KATH, Dr. Joseph Apalloo expressed his appreciation for the gesture and the hospitals willingness to maintain the facility and keep it in good shape.



The Water of Life programme supports Diageos (GGBLs parent company) commitment to enable access to clean drinking water to 1 million people across Africa every year. The programme also supports and contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6  Clean water and sanitation and Diageo 2020 Sustainability and Responsibility Targets.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Mr Irbard Ibrahim, the Executive Director of IRBARD SECURITY CONSULT, on Friday, said the blatant mob attack on the Kumasi Circuit Court resulting in the escape of 13 Delta Force members standing trial amounted to an attack on the countrys sovereignty.



He therefore urged the President to give a biting teeth to his word by ensuring the heads of the security agencies operated freely devoid of any political consideration.



No matter how small the court is, any attack on it is like an attack on the countrys Supreme Court, therefore, an attack on the judiciary, he stressed.



Mr Ibrahim, who said this in a telephone interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra, said the President must show political will to clamp down all vigilante groups in the country.



The security consultant said he wouldnt fault the Police for failing to deal with the rumpus, saying the security agencies must be given free hand to operate so as to enforce the countrys laws without fear or favour, irrespective of the person or persons involved in the crime.



Mr Ibrahim noted that Ghana had competent security forces in view of their vast experiences in keeping peace in war torn countries like Sudan, Liberia, Cote dIvoire and Lebanon.



He warned that if the mayhem being inflicted by these vigilante groups affiliated to some political parties was not halted immediately, they would become security monsters that would make the country ungovernable and a threat to peace.



On Thursday, April 6, some members of the Delta Force, a vigilante group affiliated to the ruling New Patriotic Party attacked the Kumasi Circuit Court and freed the 13 members of the group who were facing charges for storming the office of the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator, Mr George Adjei last month and threw him out of his office.



The judge remanded them into prison custody to re-appear on April 20, 2017, however the decision by the judge infuriated them therefore sparking the attack on the court.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Residents of Kumasi are calling for the immediate return of COP Nathan Kofi Boakye, the immediate past Regional Commander of Ashanti Region.



They have in effect sent an SOS message to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, begging him to listen to their plea and direct the IGP to once again assign COP Boakye to the region.



They are very confident that it is only in Mr. Boakye that the activities of the Delta Force, a vigilante group aligned to the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), will come to a halt.



 How can these Delta Force guys fool around when Kofi Boakye is in town? Kofi Arhin, a resident of Ahinsan told Kasapafonline.com in an interview, Friday.



If Kofi Boakye is around, I dont think the Delta Force guys would have got the nerves to storm the offices of the Regional Coordinating Council to harass the Regional Security Coordinator, an Amakom based resident further told this website.



In the view of the many residents interviewed, the Police capo exhibited professionalism and performed diligently to the admiration of all during his days as the Regional Police Commander.



When he was here crime rate reduced drastically. He monitored closely the activities of the criminals and was able to arrest them whenever they strike. There was absolute peace here. The Preside should bring him back, a resident at Bantama who gave her name as Maame B recounted.



To many of the residents, if there should be a decision to return COP Kofi Boakye to the Ashanti Region, it should be swift to save the region from the nefarious activities of the Delta Force vigilante group.

Source: kasapafmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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One of the core benefits of a Donald Trump presidency, his hardcore fans used to say, is that he would represent the end of Americas impulse towards playing the worlds cop. Trumps message was that America would look after America first  so we wouldnt see a disastrous boondoggle like the Iraq War again, and the U.S. wouldnt feel inclined to intervene militarily into the worlds affairs

And  to their very, very minor credit  it was a reasonably compelling argument. Hillary Clinton is a Democratic hawk, and not even her biggest fans would pretend that she wouldnt throw the weight of the military around for humanitarian interventions.

Of course, Donald Trumps beliefs seem to be based entirely on the last conversation he had or the last thing he saw on TV, so anyone who thought hed be actually principled on his anti-interventionist pitch. Well, yesterday he proved  by launching a shitload of missiles at a Syrian airbase believed to have been the source of a horrific chemical attack.

And the Trump maniacs who had based a solid chunk of their support on his so-called anti-war bonafides were quick to shoot back. First there was Infowars correspondent-at-large / weird whiny YouTube personality Paul Joseph Watson:

I guess Trump wasnt Putins puppet after all, he was just another deep state/Neo-Con puppet. Im officially OFF the Trump train.  Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) April 7, 2017

Watson was a little spooked by the press coverage of this tweet, so he quickly backpedalled in a later one:

I am off the Trump train in terms of Syria, which I will criticize, but I have not turned on Trump as the media claims. Fake news.  Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) April 7, 2017

Independent journalist and icon of the so-called manosphere Mike Cernovich flagged that an attack on Syria would be a complete betrayal of why people voted for Trump. Which is kinda bullshit, because the majority of the Republican base probably didnt vote on that basis.

Trumps base of support is gone if he goes to war with Syria, the same people who betrayed before election will betray him again.  Mike Cernovich ???? (@Cernovich) April 7, 2017

Today over 500,000 people have watched my videos and streams. 90% are @realDonaldTrump supporters, none want war with Syria. #NoMoreWars  Mike Cernovich ???? (@Cernovich) April 7, 2017

Ditto some of his other online sycophants, who I suppose at least had the cojones to admit their dude got this one mighty, mighty wrong.

People praising the Syria attack: -Hillary

-McCain

-Lindsay Graham

-Paul Ryan

-Leftists People against the attack: -Real Trump Supporters  Baked Alaska (@bakedalaska) April 7, 2017

Missiles flying. Rubios happy. McCain ecstatic. Hillarys on board. A complete policy change in 48 hrs.  Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) April 7, 2017

The most rabid supporters  found in the r/The_Donald subreddit, are more reserved  though there was a great deal of unease about the move. Their current angle, according to one of the top posts in the past week, is that the gas attack was just a false flag to manipulate Trump into war. Nice!

Of course, it leaves to be seen how deep this Syria rabbithole is gonna go, and what Trump will do next. Then well see.

Source: Twitter.

Photo: Getty Images.
Police have arrested a man in Stockholm, Sweden after a stolen beer truck was rammed through a crowd in the capital city, killing four people and injuring 15 others.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven announced earlier that authorities believe that it was an act of terror. Sweden has been attacked, he said. This indicates that it is an act of terror.

#BREAKING: At least four people have been killed in a suspected terror attack in Stockholm, Sweden. #9News pic.twitter.com/EHE37nn5XH  Nine News Australia (@9NewsAUS) April 7, 2017

The attack unfolded in Drottninggatan, Stockholms busiest shopping street. Three armed men are reported to have jumped out of the vehicle after the attack. Though it has been reported by a number of news agencies that five people were killed, the official toll according to Stockholm police is four.

Police released CCTV images of a man they say is wanted in relation to the truck attack. It is currently unknown whether he is the man who was arrested.

A witness who was in a car at the time of the attack described to Reuters hearing screaming as the truck approached. Then it drove into a pillar at Ahlens City (department store) where the hood started burning. When it stopped we saw a man lying under the tyre. It was terrible to see.

Footage has been posted to social media by witnesses to the attack and its aftermath.

No group has claimed any credit or responsibility for the attack, though it matches the modus operandi of similar attacks in Berlin, Nice and London.

Source: New York Times.

Photo: Getty Images / AFP.
Swedens public broadcaster, SVT, has reported that a bag of undetonated explosives were discovered inside the truck used in an attack on a Stockholm shopping street on Friday afternoon.

The explosives comprised a homemade bomb that failed to detonate properly.

Police spokesman Mats Eriksson told CNN that its likely that Swedish police have apprehended the driver of the truck, which was hijacked as it was making a beer delivery.

It is likely that it is the driver of the van that has been arrested. This however does not exclude the possibility of there being more arrests that will follow.

The Daily Mail has reported that two men have been arrested in connection with the attack so far. According to SVT, the driver suffered burns caused by the failed bomb.

Four people died during the truck attack. Nine others, including a child, are currently being treated in hospital.

The Stockholm attack is the latest in a series of incidents in which vehicles have been used as weapons of terror, including the London attack at Westminster in March, the Berlin attack in December last year, and the attack in Nice on Bastille Day 2016.

Source: CNN.

Photo: Instagram / @news_see_.
Any questions you might have had about what musical route Harry Styles was gonna take after One Direction has been answered this morning: the big fella himself has dropped a nearly six-minute long stadium crooner that very deliberately pays its due to Robbie Williams and David Bowie.

Its not nearly as good as Bowie  I will make that very clear  but its obvious that 70s British sound is seeped into the songwriting and production. Its called Sign of the Times and I would say in my infinite wisdom after two listens that it is pretty decent.

Have a listen:

As you might imagine, Directioners on Twitter are approaching this like its the second coming of Christ and the greatest piece of music ever written which might change the course of human history.

Harry Styles could spit in my eye and blind me and Id thank him  Alec (@mralecgasin) April 7, 2017

me: my crush on harry styles was so middle school Im over it

*harry styles drops new music*

me: pic.twitter.com/Rif1c6Rrlf  gray (@GraysonGifford) April 7, 2017

.@Harry_Styles THE FUCKIN NOTES AT THE END OF THE SONG CURED ME!!! LIKE I DIDNT EVEN KNOW I WAS SICK BUT HE CURED ME  kurtis conner (@kurtisconner) April 7, 2017

Nice.

Photo: Getty Images.
DES MOINES  Iowa lawmakers hope to wrap up the 2017 session this month, but Senate President Jack Whitver thinks theres an outside chance tax reform can be accomplished

However, the Ankeny Republican said it will be hard to do this year because of the states revenue and budget situation.

The reality of the situation is our budget is a little tighter than we had hoped, Whitver said during taping of Iowa Public Televisions Iowa Press Friday. Lawmakers had to cut the current year budget by nearly $120 million in January and tap the cash reserve fund for about $130 million last month. So majority Republicans want to do the fiscally responsible thing and get the budget under control before looking at reform.

Reforming Iowas taxes is one of the reasons he ran in 2010, Whitver said, and something hes been working on since.

I was hoping we could get to it this year, but its looking more and more like this might be a 2018 issue, he said. Whitver acknowledged it wont get any easier in an election year, but frankly, to have real, true, lasting, impactful tax reform is a complicated process.

As GOP senators look at reform possibilities, everything is on the table, including federal deductibility and tax credits, Whitver said. His priority is lowering individual income tax rates because that would affect the most Iowans and Iowa small businesses.

The states that are growing and thriving and are prospering right now are the states with the lowest  or even no income tax, he said. Im not sitting here today saying next year were going to eliminate the income tax, but the lower we can go on that, I think research shows we can be more prosperous.

Not only would lower individual income tax rates affect most Iowa taxpayers, but Whitver said it would benefit small business owners like him. His food and fitness businesses are pass through businesses that pay individual income tax.

When you talk about corporate tax reform, that really isnt that big a part of our state budget, he said. What we really need to do is reform the individual tax code and that would help thousands of small business owners across the state.

He ruled out a sales tax increase unless it is accompanied by major tax reform.

Looking at the final weeks of the session, Whitver predicts the GOP House and Senate majorities are going to iron out differences in their respective 20-week abortion ban bills. The House version called for a 72-hour waiting period and contained no exceptions for fetal anomalies. The Senate bill included a 24-hour waiting period between the time a woman meets with her doctor and has the procedure. It also allowed an exception for abortions beyond 20 weeks in the case of a fetal anomaly.

Whitver also said lawmakers will provide more money for water quality efforts, will not dismantle the Des Moines Water Works, will ban texting while driving and said that if traffic enforcement cameras arent banned they will be heavily regulated.

Iowa Press can be seen at noon Sunday on IPTV, at 8:30 a.m. Saturday on IPTV World and online at IPTV.org.
Community discussion about wheelway repair efforts set for Nov. 15

The Top of Michigan Trails Council and Beards Brewery will host an event to discuss the Little Traverse Wheelway collapse, and what's next.
Traders shipping more gasoline to U.S. from Europe's stocks, ready for the summer





LONDON

Petroleumworld 04 07 2017

Traders are shipping more gasoline from Europe to the U.S. East Coast ahead of the summer driving season as a steady reduction in inventories there props up prices.

At least 16 tankers carrying some 600,000 tonnes of gasoline blending components including naphtha have been booked in recent days by traders including Glencore, ExxonMobil, Mercuria, Repsol and Total, shipping data shows.

That compared with an average of around 300,000 tonnes per week booked throughout March. The exports are helping to clear Europe's tanks of oil products and boosting profits for refining gasoline from just under $6 per barrel at the end of March to more than $13 per barrel on Thursday.

"Europe looks better and better all the time," one oil trader said. "Demand is good and stocks are drawing."

Benchmark U.S. East Coast gasoline refining margins have steadily risen in recent weeks as stocks in the region are gradually reduced, even though they remain seasonally high.

However, because much of the gasoline in storage was winter grade it can no longer be used as the market shifts to summer quality.

The New York Harbor has traditionally been a major destination for European gasoline, which is produced in excess of the region's demand. But the arbitrage from Europe was closed for weeks, leading to building stocks, including in tankers waiting for a chance to sail to other markets.

The exports, along with some 2.2 million tonnes of clean products booked to sail to West Africa in March, have helped clear stock levels in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp hub.

Gasoline, blending component and naphtha stocks in the region fell by more than 6 percent in the week to March 31, according to industry monitor Genscape, to 2.9 million tonnes.

There are millions of tonnes yet to clear from Europe, and while one tanker with stored gasoline, the Hamburg Star, had set sail for the United States, several others filled weeks ago were still floating offshore ARA, including the Hafnia Europe, the Amorea and the Clio.

New York Harbor demand is expected to remain strong as Latin America, particularly Venezuela, pulls in more gasoline from the U.S. Gulf Coast and space on the Colonial pipeline - the key artery from the refining hub to the East Coast -- remains limited.

While the April arbitrage is only narrowly open, one U.S. broker said the economics looked far better in May, meaning there could be more bookings to come.






BP won't build platform for Angelin gas field in T&T

PORT SPAIN

Petroleumworld 04 07 2017 ENERGY giant bpTT has confirmed the platform for its Angelin gas field will not be built in Trinidad and Tobago.



Saying the decision was difficult but necessary, bpTT said the Angelin platform will not be fabricated in Trinidad due to project timelines and other competitiveness factors.



Angelin is BP's latest natural gas development project which follows on the heels of its Juniper project.



Juniper was a US$2 billion project.



The Angelin platform will be smaller but will easily run into hundreds of millions of US dollars, an energy expert familiar with projects like this said yesterday.



Angelin is to be located 40 kilometres off Trinidad's east coast.



First gas is projected for 2019.



Not enough time



On Tuesday, Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young said during talks with BP in Houston, Texas, USA, last week, company officials indicated it will be very difficult to fabricate the platform here.



The Prime Minister did emphasise and stress that we would like as much as is possible to be done locally on the Angelin platform, if it is possible. Because they are saying that to keep to the timetable that they want, and they need to, it would be very difficult. he said.



BPTT confirmed this in a statement yesterday.



While bpTT and the NGC (National Gas Company) continue to progress the completion of a gas sales agreement as a prerequisite to the sanction of Angelin, bpTT continues to pursue all options to maintain the project schedule and first gas goal of early 2019. This is a priority to ensure that gas supply volumes can be maintained in 2019 and beyond, it said.



BPTT remains fully committed to maximising local content in all our operations, however, given the compressed project timelines and other competitiveness factors for the Angelin project, local fabrication is no longer a feasible option, it added.



BPTT said although the Angelin platform will not be fabricated locally, it was committed to maintaining an option of fabrication in-country for future platforms and will be working with local service providers on key competitiveness factors such as productivity.



This decision, although difficult, was necessary to preserve Angelin's project schedule, bpTT stressed.



Earlier this year, the topside of the Juniper platform was completed by Trinidad Offshore Fabricators (TOFCO), based at the La Brea Industrial Estate.



TOFCO was initially contracted in September 2014 to deliver both the jacket and topside, however, due to delays in construction in early 2015, due in part to protests by TOFCO workers, fabrication of the jacket and piles was relocated to a fabrication yard in Texas.



BPTT said then the relocation was done to preserve the project schedule.

Keeping the project on schedule and maintaining the commitment to first gas in 2017 is a key priority for bpTT and other stakeholders involved in the project, it said in a statement in July 2015.



Union leadership



Last week Caroni East MP Dr Bhoe Tewarie advised for the sake of La Brea residents especially, Government should renegotiate arrangements for platforms to be manufactured here.



He noted though: But what this would also mean is that workers have to be responsible and the union leadership has to be reasonable because any company constructing a platform to meet a deadline and targets, over which they would not go in terms of financing, must make a trade-off between local production and local content and the time frame within which construction can be managed, and sending it abroad for time and cost-efficiency, Tewarie said





Story by Leah Sorias from Trinidad Express.



trinidadexpress.com 04 06 2017

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MASON CITY | A Community Pesach Matzah Seder will be held at 5:30 p.m. April 15 at the Adas Israel synagogue to celebrate Passover.

The event will include an explanation of what Passover means, drinking the traditional four cups of wine (or grape juice for those who prefer it), a kosher meal, singing and fellowship.

Adas Israel celebrates Passover with Seder MASON CITY | Nearly 40 people gathered in the community room at Adas Israel Friday night for

Those who are interested in attending are asked to call Alan Steckman at 641-424-9362 and leave their name, number and how many people are coming.

The congregation is requesting $30 per person attending. Those under age 13 will be admitted for $18 each.
IOWA FALLS | Dean Booth, 80, previously of Iowa Falls, Iowa, died April 5, 2017, at the Kennybrook Village in Grimes, Iowa.

The funeral service will be held 10:30 a.m. Monday, April 10, at the Immanuel Lutheran Church, Iowa Falls.

Visitation will be 5-7 p.m. Sunday, April 9, at the Linn's Funeral Home Chapel, Iowa Falls.

Memorials may be directed to The Family of Dean Booth: c/o Linn's Funeral Home, Iowa Falls. Memorials received will be sent to the Iowa Falls American Legion Post No. 188 Honor Guard and the American Cancer Society.

The Linn's Funeral Home in Iowa Falls is helping the family with arrangements.
David Waxler pauses as he tells the horrid story of his mother Ednas attempted burial in Shalom Memorial Park in Huntingdon Valley in June of 2016. Read more

Every time David Waxler drives by Shalom Memorial Park, he can't shake the sense that he failed his mother, Edna, in the days after her death.

"I feel personally that I didn't do a good job," said Waxler, 68, vice president of finance at a small pharmaceutical manufacturing firm. "I felt like I did her a disservice, because I couldn't get her into her final resting place when she should have been here."

Edna Waxler died last June at the age of 99. She was supposed to be buried two days later  as soon as possible, as Jewish custom requires  next to her husband, George, 93, who died in 2014.

But on the morning of her funeral, David Waxler said, staffers at the cemetery in Huntingdon Valley discovered the remains of someone else -- identity unknown -- in the plot bought for his mother.

"The funeral parlor said they've never heard anything like this before," Waxler said last week, while standing by his parents' grave. "We went through the whole ceremony, then the funeral parlor took her back and put her back in the refrigerator, which is unbelievable."

The cemetery, run by Houston-based Service Corporation International, which describes itself as North America's largest provider of funeral and cemetery services, gave Waxler some options.

It offered to dig up Waxler's father and move his parents to another location  and to give Waxler and his sister two free graves there  or to put his mother in a mausoleum.

"That's totally against Jewish law," Waxler said of both options.

The cemetery eventually agreed to clear out the grave so Edna and George Waxler could be buried there together, but SCI's Pennsylvania subsidiary first had to obtain a court order in Montgomery County to remove the unidentified remains and rebury them elsewhere.

Edna Waxler wasn't buried until July 31, more than a month after she died.

"When you think of the turmoil that the body has to go through to come here, and then not get into the grave," Waxler said.

Waxler and his sister are now suing SCI in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, alleging that SCI continues to "perform new burials in areas which are saturated with existing graves," leading to the "discovery of unidentified corpses in pre-purchased grave-plots."

This isn't the first time SCI has been sued for these types of problems at one of its approximately 2,000 cemeteries and funeral homes  or even the first time at Shalom Memorial Park, where Sen. Arlen Specter is buried.

The Daily News reported in 2014 that other families had similar trouble at Shalom, including Maya Devinskaya, 73, whose 42-year-old daughter died in 2013. Devinskaya sued SCI after her daughter was buried in a plot that overlapped someone else's. That case was later resolved on confidential terms.

Another woman told the Daily News that cemetery staff called before her mother's 2010 funeral and said that there was no room in the prepaid plot.

"It was ridiculous," Susan Helfand said. "People are telling me the limo is waiting, and I'm talking to Shalom trying to figure out how they are going to bury my mother. It was indescribable."

SCI, a publicly traded company with 24,000 employees, generates about $3 billion a year in revenue. It has paid out several eight-figure settlements, including $80 million in California in 2014 to settle a class-action suit alleging that staffers at an SCI-owned Jewish cemetery had repeatedly mishandled human remains and desecrated graves.

But the lawsuits don't seem to have forced the company to change.

Attorney Bryan Lentz, who is representing Waxler, described the situation as a "nightmare" and said: "You should only have to have this happen one time before you do a complete inventory." The company also has been disciplined by Massachusetts authorities for digging up bodies and reburying them without promptly telling their families.

SCI would not comment on its burial policies, instead releasing a two-sentence statement Friday in response to questions from the Inquirer and Daily News: "Shalom Memorial Park is committed to honoring its commitments with families. Because these matters are the subject of litigation, we cannot disclose further details."

Joshua Slocum of the Funeral Consumers Alliance, a consumer-rights group, said SCI appears to have acquired cemeteries without a full knowledge of how many bodies are in the ground, and where.

"Whose responsibility is it to do the due diligence before the sale?" Slocum asked. "One assumes not only the profit potential but the liability potential. A company can't say: 'We didn't know. We just bought up all these cemeteries.' That's the problem. You bought all these cemeteries without checking to see what was going on with them because you didn't really care."

University of Louisville archaeologist Philip DiBlasi, who works with Kentucky law enforcement authorities on cemetery overcrowding cases, said "double burials" often arise when a company like SCI buys a cemetery and doesn't retain the institutional memory of the previous owner.

"That's happening more and more since SCI has been buying up cemeteries," DiBlasi said, referring to cases like Waxler's.

DiBlasi said SCI could use probes to determine if graves are empty or occupied, but it's a time-consuming process. Still, he said, "that's the kind of thing that needs to be done when these older cemeteries get taken over."

Cemetery regulation is particularly lax in Pennsylvania, so complaints about overcrowding and desecration are often resolved through private lawsuits. SCI owns 10 funeral homes and cemeteries in the Philadelphia area.

"We very often get calls about problem cemeteries and there's not one agency that oversees every aspect of a cemetery," said Wanda Murren, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of State. "There is not one agency that can really step in and make a cemetery do all that it's supposed to do."

Slocum said states like Pennsylvania need to enact strict regulations.

Two months after Waxler held the "second funeral" for his mother  when she was actually buried  his mother-in-law died and was to be buried at Roosevelt Memorial Park, also owned by SCI. But another casket was buried so close to his mother-in-law's prepaid plot that Waxler said he had to change caskets at the last minute so it would fit.

A short walk from the Waxlers' gravesite last week, fresh tractor marks ran directly over rows of flat headstones, some caked with so much mud that they were illegible.

Before he left, Waxler pondered where he would be buried.

"I'm not sure where I want to go pick up my plots," he said. "Find someplace they don't own."
After 11 years, hundreds of conservation-minded Iowans are expected to be at the state capitol on Tuesday urging legislators to get WISE.

The WISE Solution  Water, Infrastructure, Soil for our Economy  aka House File 597, is currently under consideration in the Iowa Legislature.

This initiative would raise the state sales tax by 1/8 cent each year for three years while proportionally zeroing out the lowest state income tax brackets, making the measure revenue neutral.

Resulting sales tax revenue would flow to the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust, a constitutionally protected fund dedicated to enhancing the states environment and recreational amenities.

The trust arose from work initiated in 2006 under another piece of legislation developed when environmental advocates and many legislators felt funding for conservation and natural resources was inadequate and inconsistent.

House File 2797 created an advisory committee charged with gathering information regarding how other states generate funding for natural resources, assessing Iowas conservation needs, identifying potential revenue sources, and analyzing Iowans willingness to pay to meet those needs.

After months of discussion, the committee held a public meeting over the ICN network. I attended at the National Guard Armory in Mason City, one of 14 participating sites across the state.

Soon after I wrote the following in a Globe Gazette report:

Education. Health and Human Services. Justice. Administration and Regulation. Economic Development.

What do these five have in common? They are all major expenditure categories from the FY2007 Iowa General Fund. And all five are funded at higher levels than the sixth category, Agriculture and Natural Resources.

The majority of funding for Iowa's natural resource needs comes from federal tax dollars and sales of hunting, fishing, and trapping licenses. Only about 13 percent comes from the general fund, representing only about 1 percent of the State of Iowa budget.

This makes Iowa one of the lowest ranking states in the nation in terms of expenditures on natural resources. Further, since these appropriations must be approved by the legislature each year, even this minimal level of funding is not guaranteed.

"Every year we have to go up there (to the legislature) and fight for the crumbs," laments Richard Leopold, director of the Iowa Environmental Council. As a result, Leopold believes that Iowa's "water quality is unacceptable" and her "recreational infrastructure and opportunities are inadequate."

A lot has happened since, but little has changed.

The committee chose to generate sustainable conservation funding through a 3/8-cent sales tax increase to be directed to a constitutionally protected trust fund.

This required an amendment to the state constitution, which in turn required approval by both two consecutive general assemblies of the Iowa Legislature and the Iowa electorate.

Legislation creating the trust and developing a formula for distributing funds sailed through the legislature with strong bipartisan support in 2008 and 2009, after which 63 percent of voters approved the amendment during the general election of 2010.

Thats where things bogged down.

Legislators must pass a separate measure raising the sales tax to fund the trust. So far they have failed to do so.

Over the past two years, however, leaders in both parties have become focused on the states water quality concerns.

Last month, Rep. Bobby Kaufmann (R-Wilton) introduced WISE to address those concerns. The legislation has 12 Republican co-sponsors, including Rep. Terry Baxter (R-Garner).

On Tuesday Iowas Water and Land Legacy, a coalition of individuals and organizations committed to funding the trust, will hold a rally at the capitol from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. urging legislators to support HF 597.

Organizers hope a strong showing will provide the final push needed to make sustainable conservation funding in Iowa a reality.

This critical investment has the potential to improve the states economic vitality and enhance the quality of life it offers for generations.

Iowans who agree should make an effort to contact their legislators and ask them to finally get WISE.
PASCAGOULA, Miss., April 08, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division christened its 31st Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, Paul Ignatius (DDG 117), with approximately 1,000 guest in attendance at todays ceremony.



These Arleigh Burke destroyers provide our leaders with the ability to conduct a wide range of missions, said Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John M. Richardson. That kind of flexibility is increasingly important in the world of maritime competition.  USS Ignatius and her crew will be doing the nations work, providing credible options to our nations leaders for decades to come. Theyll be respected always, welcome news to our friends and a worst nightmare to our enemies. Our body, the ship, is tough, built with the best materials in the hands of the best shipbuilders and manned by the best crew America can produce.

DDG 117 is named in honor of Paul Ignatius, who served as the United States 59th Secretary of the Navy from 1967 to 1969. He made significant contributions during the administrations of presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Ignatius is a living namesake and was in attendance for todays ceremony.

A photo accompanying this release is available at: http://newsroom.huntingtoningalls.com/file?fid=58e92f46a138352df0aeca02.

I want to express my appreciation to the men and women of one of the worlds bestif not the best shipyardhere at Huntington Ingalls, whose ships, as their motto proudly proclaims, are built stronger than steel, Ignatius said. One of the great strengths of our country is the industrial might that builds ships, tanks and airplanes that ensured victory in World War II and that continue to undergird our efforts to maintain stability amid the new threats that face us.

Nancy W. Ignatius, his wife, is the ships sponsor and officially christened the ship after successfully breaking a bottle of sparkling wine across its bow. Paul and Nancy Ignatius have been married nearly 70 years and have four children together. They were escorted to the platform by Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias.

Ingalls ships are built with one goal in mind: to protect the brave men and women who protect our freedom, Cuccias said. Working closely with our Navy partner, we continue to improve on each ship we build. And the Paul Ignatius will be no exception. Today, we are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in modernizing our facilities alongside our partners, the leadership of the great state of Mississippi. Combine that with a hot production line and our talented and experienced shipbuilders, and we are uniquely positioned to provide our country with the highest quality, most capable destroyers in the fleet. Simply stated, Ingalls builds the finest, most capable warships the world has ever known  right here in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

Ingalls has delivered 29 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to the U.S. Navy. Other destroyers currently under construction at Ingalls include Ralph Johnson (DDG 114), Delbert D. Black (DDG 119), Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121) and Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG 123).

Two days ago, when the United States fired missiles on Syria, the two ships that fired those missiles were made right here at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, said Philip Gunn, Speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives. So as you can see, between World War II and as recently as two days ago and every point in between, Ingalls shipyard has been an integral part of providing freedom. Every one of us ought to feel the weight of that, every one of us ought to be grateful for that, and every one of us ought to be proud of what takes place at Ingalls.

Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are highly capable, multi-mission ships that can conduct a variety of operations, from peacetime presence and crisis management to sea control and power projection, all in support of the United States military strategy. DDGs are capable of simultaneously fighting air, surface and subsurface battles. The ship contains myriad offensive and defensive weapons designed to support maritime defense needs well into the 21st century.

Huntington Ingalls Industries is Americas largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of professional services to partners in government and industry. For more than a century, HIIs Newport News and Ingalls shipbuilding divisions in Virginia and Mississippi have built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder. HIIs Technical Solutions division provides a wide range of professional services through its Fleet Support, Integrated Missions Solutions, Nuclear & Environmental, and Oil & Gas groups. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII employs nearly 37,000 people operating both domestically and internationally. For more information, visit:


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President George W. Bushs speechwriter and current senior editor at The Atlantic, David Frum, tweeted today that As President, Donald Trump benefits from two inbuilt biases of mainstream pundits.

We will let Frums fellow Canadian, author Guy Gavriel Kay introduce Frums tweets:

Thread. Truth. Media not just gullible, they are hunting for a 'new' story. Plus, you know, 'I'm a war reporter!' https://t.co/2SucmrwOIr  Guy Gavriel Kay (@guygavrielkay) April 7, 2017

Here is what Frum had to say in a series of ten tweets:

As President, Donald Trump benefits from two inbuilt biases of mainstream pundits:

Bias 1 favors fair-mindedness: the wish to offer tips of the hat along with shakes of the finger. This bias exerts itself extra strongly with a bad actor like Trump. The worse he does, the more eagerly the pundit seeks something to praise. Weve all experienced this. There has to be something good to say about Trump. Even Hitler liked dogs!

Bias 2 is the bias in favor of surprise and novelty. Pundits dont want  bookers wont book  endless repeats of Hes a liar & a crook. How much more interesting to say: Hes a liar and a crook, but  How boring to insist that the first part must always overwhelm the latter.

And so TV punditry flits from one seemingly clever (but actually deeply false) pivot to another, chasing insight & missing truth.

This brings Frum to Fox News, and the one advantage Fox News enjoys over other networks:

This is the one great advantage of Fox over more normal TV punditry. Committed to one big story, they dont have to keep devising subplots. No demand there to say, President Obama may be a secret Muslim socialist, but Michelle is right about school lunches.

They stick to the main theme! I wish those who value journalistic truth and the integrity of the US government could do the same. But apparently we cannot  especially when the main theme is so depressing. Viewers want hope & reassurance. Reality? Not so much

While Frum is probably correct that viewers want to be made to feel good, the hope and reassurance he talks about, we could disagree with Frum about Fox News. It is a propaganda network rather than a news network and wishing all networks were equally propagandistic seems self-defeating.

The press should be open-minded and willing to entertain all views, but to impart the news with unbiased analysis, something we have so far failed to say, in part for the reasons Frum enumerates.

However, there is more to it. We could add too, that mainstream media is corporate and that also taints coverage. They are in a profit-driven business and Donald Trump sells. He made them money. If Fox News is so propagandistic that Trump named them his state news agency, even CNN hired one of Trumps employees while he was still on Trumps payroll.

It could be argued that this, too, in some way committed to one big story. Republicans have long dominated the mainstream media and the Sunday talk show circuit and Democrats are seldom allowed to get the the last word in. There is nothing new here and the mainstream medias treatment of Trump.

Frumps former points stand. However, at least a valid an explanation as a desire to be fair is that the treatment of Trump is, despite Republican disinformation about a liberal media elite, the logical conclusion to years of pro-Republican reporting by the mainstream media.
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During an interview on MSNBC, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA), a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said that Trumps missile strike against Syria was unconstitutional and warned the president not to do it again.

Video:

Rep. Lieu said, Clearly, the president can take limited actions that the Congress has authorized such as going against terrorists who were involved with 9/11 or in terms of Iraq when Congress authorized the use of force in 2002, but theres been no congressional authorization to launch fifty-nine cruise missiles at a country that has not attacked us. Donald Trumps action last night was unconstitutional. He should not do it again.

MSNBCs Katy Tur asked Lieu if he would have voted for authorization if Trump had come to Congress. The congressman from California answered, I might have if he would have articulated a strategy, and that is one of my fundamental problems with what he did. There has been no coherent strategy from the Trump administration. Last week, they signaled they were okay with Assad even though he had previously killed hundreds of thousands of people in Syria and used chemical weapons. Last night, they attacked the Assad regime. We need to know what is the Trump administration thinking and what is their long-term strategy in Syria?

The questions that Rep. Lieu asked are why Trump didnt go to Congress for approval before he launched missiles against Syria. The Trump administration has no Syria plan. The administrations message has been inconsistent on Assad. It was appropriate for the US to respond, but the way that Donald Trump carried out the response was unconstitutional.

Donald Trump cant be allowed to use the chemical attack in Syria as an excuse for an executive branch power grab.

The AUMF does not give Trump the power to attack Syria.

At times like these, it is vital that members of Congress and the American people not get swept up in the emotion of seeing pictures of gassed Syrian babies. The Constitution must come first, and if there is a lesson to be learned from post-9/11 politics, it is that we should never be manipulated by the heat of the moment into violating our system of checks and balances.
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On HBOs Real Time, Bill Maher called out Republican hypocrites for blocking Obamas requested action on Syria while hailing Trumps meaningless missile strike.

Video:

https://youtu.be/MXiU92Wq5Ig

Maher said, American cruise missiles blew up an airfield last night in Syria because the dictator there was using chemical weapons  which he has done many times. In 2013, 98 Republicans signed a letter saying bombing Syria in response to a chemical attack was unconstitutional without congressional authorization. But this is different because Obama was president then. That would have involved bombing while black, and you cant do that.

He pointed out that the bombing was tricky for Trump because if he does the wrong thing, Putin might now reelect him.

The Real Time host turned on the media, In America, youre not really president until you bomb something, you know? said Maher. Even the liberals were all over this last night. Everybody loves this f**king thing. Cable news loves it when they show footage of destroyers firing cruise missiles at night. Its Americas money shot.

Maher is right. When Obama wanted to bomb Syria after a chemical attack, Republicans responded with howls of dictator and unconstitutional, but when Trump openly violates the Constitution by attacking a nation that has not attacked the United States, Republicans hail the move as presidential.

Democrats in Congress have been correctly pointing out that Trumps ineffective Syria missile strike was unconstitutional, but Americans cant stand by and allow a president to use the emotions of a moment to grab additional powers. Trumps Syria bombing is a smaller version of what happened when terrified nation unconstitutionally allowed a president to launch and unrelated invasion of Iraq after 9/11.

Instead of praising Trump, the press should be doing its job and calling out the Republican hypocrisy and the presidents unconstitutional actions.

Bill Maher spoke out.

The media needs to grow a pair and join the rest of us who arent afraid to condemn hypocrisy and unconstitutional presidential actions.
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By Steve Holland and Jeff Mason

PALM BEACH, Fla./WASHINGTON (Reuters)  Top White House aides Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner met and agreed to bury the hatchet over their differences, a senior administration official said on Saturday, in a bid to stop infighting that has distracted from President Donald Trumps message.

Bannon, Trumps chief strategist, and Kushner, an influential adviser and Trumps son-in-law, met on Friday at the request of White House chief of staff Reince Priebus who told them that if they have any policy differences, they should air them internally, the official said.

The development at the presidents Mar-a-Lago retreat in Palm Beach, Florida, came at the end of what has been a relatively smooth week for Trump.

Trump ordered airstrikes against Syrian targets that drew praise in many parts of the world and staged an error-free summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, complete with his wife, Melania, wearing a red dress to symbolize the main color of the Chinese flag.

Priebus message to Bannon and Kushner was to stop with the palace intrigue and focus on the presidents agenda, the official told Reuters.

Both aides left having agreed that it was time to bury the hatchet and move forward, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Four former advisers to the president said Trump is accustomed to chaos in his decades-long career as a real estate developer but that even he has grown weary of the infighting.

Hes got a long fuse for that kind of thing, said one former adviser. I imagine he has gotten tired of this.

The White House dismissed persistent talk that Trump might be on the verge of a staff shakeup. The only thing we are shaking up is the way Washington operates as we push the presidents aggressive agenda forward, spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said.

The Trump White House has been a hotbed of palace intrigue since he took office on Jan. 20. But the drama has intensified after the failed effort to get healthcare legislation approved by the House of Representatives and the rocky rollout of an executive order attempting to temporarily ban citizens of six Muslim-majority nations from entering the United States.

Bannon, former chief of the conservative news organization Breitbart News, has been at odds with Kushner and Gary Cohn, the head of the White House National Economic Council, an administration official and the four former advisers said.

The former Trump advisers said Kushner, husband of Trump daughter Ivanka Trump, is trying to tug the president into a more mainstream position, while Bannon is trying to keep aflame the nationalist fervor that carried Trump to his unexpected election victory on Nov. 8.

Bannon is getting some of the blame for the administrations early stumbles because, one former adviser said, The president demands results.In what was viewed as a sign of Bannons declining influence, he was removed from his seat on the National Security Council this week. Administration officials said this was done at the urging of national security adviser H.R. McMaster, with whom Bannon had clashed.

Some of the former Trump advisers said Priebus is at fault for not gaining control of the feuding and said Cohn, a former Goldman Sachs executive, would be a candidate to replace him.

Priebus is the former chairman of the Republican National Committee and bucked many in his party by putting the weight of the RNC behind Trump when it was clear he would be the partys presidential nominee.

Reince is chief of staff, said a source familiar with the issue. Hes not going anywhere.

Republican strategist Charlie Black, who has known Trump for 30 years, said he did not think a shakeup was imminent and that Trumps White House reflects his traditional approach to running his business.

Hes always had a spokes-to-the-wheel management style, said Black. He wants people with differing views among the spokes.

Bill Daley, a former White House chief of staff to President Barack Obama, who got pushed out in a shakeup himself after roughly a year into the job, said it appears that inside the Trump White House theres a struggle for the soul and brain of the president.

(Reporting by Steve Holland in Florida and Jeff Mason in Washington; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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In 2013 the Supreme Court struck down key parts of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, saying it wasnt necessary anymore. A Republican Governors current sex scandal just proved the Supreme Court wrong.

As a refresher, conservative Chief Justice John G Roberts explained for the majority at the time that as to the key question of if racial minorities continued to face voting barriers in states with a history of discrimination, our country had changed. No more discrimination based on race!

Roberts wrote, Our country has changed. While any racial discrimination in voting is too much, Congress must ensure that the legislation it passes to remedy that problem speaks to current conditions.

On the heels of the conservative declaration that there is no more racial discrimination in the states governed by the Voting Rights Act came Governor Robert Bentley of Alabama, a Republican governor, to prove his own party wrong.

Its sex that caught the Republican in an act of clear discrimination with political motives and intent.

Bentley is currently facing prison if hes found guilty of violating Alabamas ethics and campaign finance laws, stemming from his relationship with long-time political adviser Rebekah Mason, which led to his wife of 50 years filing for divorce in 2015, charging him with having an affair with Mason.

Maybe this sounds familiar, given that our current Republican President was caught on tape bragging about sexual assault and Republicans wrote it off as locker room talk. In March of 2016, the Governor was heard on tape discussing kissing Mason and touching her breasts. Bentley filed this under the Trumpian Republican euphemism for sexual contact/assault, inappropriate comments.

Listen here if you have the stomach for this sort of thing:

Bentley, a medical doctor from Tuscaloosa, was elected Governor in 2010 and then reelected in 2014. His term ends in January of 2019. An investigation into his affair with his girlfriend, Rebekah Mason, revealed that in 2015, a year and some months after conservatives announced that we no longer needed voting protections for minorities in the South, Mason led a politically motivated effort to close 31 drivers license offices in mostly black counties, John Sharp of Al.com reported, based on a report released Friday.

This plan to shut down drivers license offices in mostly black counties was intended to be rolled out in a way that had limited impact on Government Bentleys political allies.

The report states that former head of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Spencer Collier reported the plan to close the drivers license offices to the AGs office due to concern over a possible Voting Rights Act violation.

The closures sparked a federal investigation by the U.S. Department of Transportation, which determined that the stoppages disproportionately affected black residents. The DOT determined that ALEAs plans were a violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Al.com reported Saturday morning.

What is the problem with closing drivers license offices in predominantly African American communities? Oh, those peskey a voter identification laws that Republicans keep saying arent meant to keep African Americans from voting. If you cant get to the drivers license office to get your photo ID, you cant vote. So its not just enough to require the photo ID to drive down African American turnout, but now drivers license offices were targeted to be shut down (this order was later reversed).

At the time, Bentley was outraged that anyone would suggest this was about keeping African Americans from voting.. In response to a call by Rep. Terri Sewell for a federal investigation, Bentley called her impulsive and ill-informed. Gov. Robert Bentley called her (Sewells) comments impulsive, ill-informed and based on irresponsible media reports, and said voters will still be able to obtain IDs.

This wasnt about saving money, as Sharp notes, The closures were estimated to save around $200,000, an extremely small savings in a General Fund that typically has annual shortfalls ranging from $100 million to $200 million.

Are these plans to depress minority votes politically motivated?

Your answer, Bentley, the report claims, approved the closure plan with one exception: He wanted the office in Sen. Gerald Dials district to be removed. Dial, a Republican of Lineville, could not be reached for immediate comment.

So all of the African Americans who vote Democrat must be further targeted by making access to the agency difficult.

This sex scandal just revealed a truth that is very difficult to explain to people who havent experienced just how Republican voter ID laws work as a political effort to depress votes. Thanks to Governor Bentleys stupidity (read the report, including his texts to his mistress and the texts he meant to send to his mistress), we now have proof right from the horses mouth, so to speak, that the Voting Rights Act is necessary in all of its parts, including the key part struck down by the Supreme Court, because the justification for striking it down has just been unmasked.

Things havent changed at all in this respect. Theyve gotten more sneaky, but they havent changed.
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By Yeganeh Torbati and Mica Rosenberg

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters)  Internal State Department instructions to implement President Donald Trumps temporary travel ban on citizens of six Muslim-majority nations help demonstrate that the ban violates the constitution, the American Civil Liberties Union argued in court filings.

The ACLU made the argument as part of its lawsuit in federal court in the Northern District of California on behalf of three student visa holders against Trumps March 6 executive order barring travelers from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the United States for 90 days and refugees for four months. The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, says the order discriminates against Muslims.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson issued instructions to implement Trumps order in a series of four cables to consular officers worldwide last month, which were first revealed by Reuters.

The ACLU pointed to language from one of the cables that directs consular officers to assess whether applicants from the six countries found otherwise eligible for U.S. visas could still be denied visas based on Trumps order. The ACLU said the guidance amounts to an unconstitutional amendment of existing law.

Tillerson issued the cable on March 10, and followed it with another set of instructions on March 15, the day before the ban was supposed to go into effect. After federal courts blocked the central tenets of Trumps order, Tillerson issued two other cables that rescinded many of his previous instructions but left some tighter visa vetting procedures in place.

A State Department official declined to comment on the litigation or the cables. The Department of Justice also declined to comment.

The Trump administration has said that the travel ban and increased screening of foreigners are crucial to protecting the United States from terrorist attacks. The government is arguing in court that the president has broad authority under the law to make immigration decisions when there are concerns about national security.

The March executive order replaced a more sweeping travel ban that Trump signed on Jan. 27, which sparked chaos and protests at airports and was challenged by more than two dozen lawsuits. The original ban had covered citizens of Iraq, as well as the six countries also included in the revised ban. Iraq was dropped from the revised order, as was an indefinite ban on all refugees from Syria.

The revised ban aimed to overcome legal hurdles by excluding legal permanent residents and allowing for waivers for people with ties to the United States. The ACLU, in its claims that the order discriminates against Muslims, points to calls by Trump on the campaign trail for a Muslim ban and to a speech he made last month calling the new ban a watered-down version of the first.

(Additional reporting by Dan Levine in San Francisco; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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The man who did not know where Tehran was (and may still not know), Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton announced in a New York Times op-ed today that Donald Trumps attack on a Syrian airfield, putting it out of commission for less than 24 hours, helped restore U.S. credibility.

According to the bombastic Cotton, In one night, President Trump turned the tables.

The world now sees that President Trump does not share his predecessors reluctance to use force. And thats why nations across the world have rallied to our side, while Russia and Iran are among the few to have condemned the attack.

Never mind that when President Obama wanted to take action in Syria, Republicans like Tom Cotton forbade it. Barack Obama, unlike Donald Trump, had to get permission.

Consider the source, therefore, when Cotton claims:

He showed the world that when the United States issues a warning, it will back up its words with action. There was no hand-wringing, no straw-man choice between doing nothing and launching a massive ground invasion, no dithering for consultations with others who do not have the power to act.

No hand-wringing? My God, the man changed course entirely, from dismissing the attack to launching missiles nearly before he could draw breath. It was a whiplash-inducing change of mind.

All Donald Trump showed was the ability to cash in on human suffering. Far from helping Syrian refugees, he kept his back turned while a Navy destroyer put a few potholes in a runway.

According to Cotton,

The threat of the use of force  and its actual use when necessary  is an essential foundation for effective diplomacy.

Apparently, Cotton is forgetting who killed Osama bin Laden and most of his replacements and many of the leaders of ISIS. And who put together the current coalition facing ISIS on the battlefield.

Cotton even went so far as to claim that this meaningless and underwhelming missile strike put Syria in its place:

But these strikes did more than simply punish Mr. Assad and deter future attacks; they have gone a long way to restoring our badly damaged credibility in the world.

Wellthat is one thing Trumps attack did not accomplish.

It is a bit soon to claim Assad, who has the full backing of Trumps boss, Vladimir Putin, has been cowed by Trumps paltry response, let alone deterred future attacks.

And our credibility among our allies was never in question under President Obama, whose sane and pragmatic approach to foreign policy was a welcome relief after eight years of Bushs cowboy diplomacy.

Our potential enemies also knew where we stood. Only one man in the world, however, is absolutely certain about what Donald Trump will do next.

That man is Vladimir Putin, who long ago took the measure of Donald Trump.

Thats why Putin so badly wanted Cottons hero in the White House. A more malleable tool of Russian foreign policy could not be found.

Yes, Donald Trump has had an effect on U.S. credibility overseas. And its not a change for the better.
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Donald Trump wants to make a big deal out of his Tomahawk cruise missile strike on a Syrian airfield the other day, what Joy Reid calls his shiny new toy. He tweeted with typical bombast,

Congratulations to our great military men and women for representing the United States, and the world, so well in the Syria attack.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 8, 2017

This didnt impress national security expert John Schindler any more than it did Reid. He tweeted back at Trump today:

Whatever, Don. Firing 59 TLAMs, unopposed, isn't exactly D-Day. Or Peleliu. Or Inchon. Or even Grenada.https://t.co/HeLNBKl5Oa  John Schindler (@20committee) April 8, 2017

The U.S. Navy fired 59 Tomahawk Land-Attack Missiles at that airfield, which as has been pointed out, is not the appropriate type of missile for the desired results. But hey, it made the Donald some money by using weapons made by a company in which he holds stock.

What happened next is open to debate. Damage was done. You can see that from the photographs. We also know the airfield was quickly  in less than 24 hours  returned to operational status. Gizmodos Matt Novak noted the variance of reports:

RT says only 23 of the 59 Tomahawk missiles launched at Syria hit their targets. CBS says 58 of 59. pic.twitter.com/FmKKInNlqS  Matt Novak (@paleofuture) April 7, 2017

So either 23 or 58 of the 59 hit based on those two reports. The U.S. military, no surprise, claims 59 out of 59 hit the target. So lets say all 59 hit. A Tomahawk cruise missile packs a 1,000-pound warhead. Thats 59,000 pounds of explosive.

As John Schindler says in another tweet, 59 TLAMs, diffidently targeted, are hardly war-changing.

If you want to know how much explosive power it takes to get to game-changing levels, you better be able to count really high.

For example, we can go beyond D-Day or Peleliu or Inchon to July 18, 1917, when leading up to the Battle of Passchendaele, the British fired 4.5 million shells from 3,091 artillery pieces at the Germans over a period of fifteen days.

The result? Gains were measured in the thousands of yards. Casualties in the tens of thousands. And scenes like this were taking place all along the Western Front from 1914 to 1918.

The Western Allies thought they could bomb Germany into surrender in WWII, from the air, but dropping bombs from the air neither destroyed the German war economy nor destroyed Germanys will to resist, despite estimates they could not last 18 months under incessant bombardment.

The USAF dropped 1,463,423 tons of bombs on Germany during the war; the RAF dropped another 1,307,117 tons of bombs.[1]

The U.S. dropped, just between January 1944 and August 1945, 157,000 tons of bombs on Japan killing some 333,000 people. Japan did not surrender until atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

If you want something more recent, between 1965 and 1973, the U.S. dropped 2.5 Million Tons of Bombs on Laos alone, excluding bombs dropped on North Vietnam.

We lost that war.

In other words, short of an atomic bomb or two, you cant bomb or shell enemies into defeat.

Trumps 59 cruise missiles, while impressive on film, were a joke. As has been widely reported, it was a publicity stunt that achieved nothing of note. Schindlers conclusion was inescapable:

FYI: Lobbing high explosives around, in limited quantities, has never changed the course of any war, ever. No matter what TV "experts" say.  John Schindler (@20committee) April 8, 2017

Donald Trump bragged he was going to bomb the hell out of ISIS. If this is his idea of what is involved, hes in for a long war. And hes going to kill far more innocent people than enemies, which is pretty horrific when his stated reason for doing so is humanitarian.

Notes:

[1] US Strategic Bombing Survey: Statistical Appendix to Overall report (European War) (Feb 1947) table 1
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Sunny to partly cloudy. High near 75F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low 53F. Winds NNW at 10 to 20 mph.
All through our relationship, we talked about maybe owning a business together, says Megan Phillips Goldenberg, sitting with her husband, Zach Goldenberg, in the couples bright new office in Saline. After Zach, thirty, completed his six-year tour in the Navy, they decided it was time. Ive always been self-employed, Megan says, so she could support them as they got the business going.

Their new business is Macon Creek Malt House, named for a modest stream near the farm the Goldenbergs bought when they returned to Megans hometown in 2014. Theyll produce malted barley, an essential ingredient in craft beer.

Zach is a fix-anything kind of guy whos also working on a degree in electrical engineering. Megans into the local foods movement, and, with her masters degree in agricultural and natural resources economics, she knows how to recognize a glitch in a supply chain.

The meteoric craft brewing sector is a $22 billion industry nationally with a 20 percent annual growth rate. Michigan ranks sixth in the country in the number of craft breweries. Yet only two places in the state are malting barley, one of four traditional beer ingredients (along with hops, yeast, and water). Part of why were doing this is because the vast majority of craft brewers import the vast majority of their malted barley from Canada and the UK, Megan says. And we thought, whaaaat?

Michigan used to be a huge barley producer, and back when Strohs brewed beer in Detroit, it operated a malt house where the grain was partially germinated, then dried in preparation for brewing. But when Strohs left in the 1980s, Megan says, the whole barley industry collapsed. What little is still grown is used mostly for livestock feed.

Once Macon Creek Malt House is fully licensed, which they expect by mid-spring, the Goldenbergs will join what Megan describes as the renaissance of craft malt houses popping up across the country trying to re-localize this industry.

Theyll malt the grain in a cavernous space behind the office. Zach has designed and built all of this equipment, explains Megan, because otherwise equipment for small-scale malting operations would have to be imported from Germany at a huge expense.

Zach explains that the whole process takes about a week to go from raw grain to malt. Zach can tweak the process to change the character of the malted grain and the beer made from it. It might be nice and light for, say, pilsner, or somewhat richer and darker for a Vienna. Zach brings out samples and offers a taste. The grain is sweet and crunchy, a little nutty.

For now, theyve contracted mainly with barley growers in the Thumb. While thats a lot closer than Great Britain, I would like to bring it even closer, Megan says. I would really like to have a farm in Saline under contract and a farm in Milan under contract.

Potential customers for the malted grain are plentiful. Theres a dozen breweries, in Ann Arbor, Saline, and Milan, weve been in constant conversation with, says Zach. We wont be able to fully replace all of what they need, but theyd be interested in putting, say, one beer on their tap. That way they could say that the beer is 100 percent local. Thats the goal.
The sign outside Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., is shown in this file photo. Google will start offering "fact check" tags next to some news stories in search results in the tech industrys latest effort to combat false and misleading news stories. File/Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press
Watchdog and Public Service reporter

Thad Moore is a reporter on The Post and Couriers Watchdog and Public Service team and a graduate of the University of South Carolina. To share tips securely, reach Moore via ProtonMail at thadmoore@protonmail.com or on Signal at 843-214-6576.
Deanna Pan is an enterprise reporter for The Post and Courier, where she writes about education and other issues. She grew up in the suburbs of Cincinnati and graduated with a degree in English from Ohio State University in 2012.
The city of Isle of Palms is considering whether to sign up for the AirMedCare program that protects residents against high bills for air medical transport. The company operates the Meducare helicopter that serves the Medical University of South Carolina. File
South Carolina shorelines could feel the effects of Subtropical Storm Nicole as early as Nov. 8 with high surf. Charleston Harbor is under a tropical storm watch, which means it could see coastal flooding and inundation within 48 hours. Read moreCharleston coastline under tropical storm warning as Subtropical Storm Nicole strengthens
It looks like South Carolinas first early voting general election went off really well, with more than 600,000 casting votes early, mostly in person but some by absentee ballot. That blows away pre-Election Day voting from any year except 2020, when nearly a million voters took advantage of Read moreEditorial: It's your last chance to cast your vote. We help make sure you don't blow it.
South Carolina voters head to the polls Nov. 8, casting ballots in midterm elections that will not only determine the state's next governor but will also act as the first major referendum on the Biden era. Read moreYour voter guide to top races, key issues in South Carolina's 2022 midterm elections
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

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.  H.K., Inverness, Ill.

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.

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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."
Bunny season again, so what do you have as collectible bunnies, also known as rabbits?

Now, we all know that the real symbol of Easter is the egg (a symbol of new life) but we can't forget the bunny rabbit who has long been part of Easter since the early 20thcentury. He can be found as stuffed or unstuffed, plastic, a ceramic, paper-mache or as a chalkware bunny. In the early to mid-1900s many collectibles were made of paper-mache, celluloid and chalkware imported from Germany and other countries. In the 18th to 20th centuries, chalkware bunnies typically were considered a serious piece of art, as a figurine made from gypsum or plaster of Paris formed into a mold, and then hand painted in oils or watercolors. During the Depression chalkware became more popular as a carnival collectible because they were prizes, but they were also sold at F.W. Woolworth.

The vintage stuffed rabbits made of mohair, felt and velveteen and often filled with cotton, straw and other fibers are my favorites. I like the original Steiff bunny rabbit from the 1940s to 1950s, since I have one made of mohair, glass eyes and the original button in its ear. They now sell from $100 on up, but my mother I probably bought it for around $5 in late 1940s.

Another great find can be a working wind-up bunny that hops around that is, made in Japan, in very good condition and little rust that can be a great addition to a collection starting around $69.

Where to find

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Joan Thilges, of New Generations of Harmony, said, "I have no vintage fabric bunnies in the mall, but lots of spring-time wind-up toys selling from $47 for the wind-up duck to $79 for the wind-up penguin. We have several vendors who specialize in them."

Chris Rand Kujath, of Old River Valley Antique Mall in Stewartville, said, "I have the plastic bunnies ranging from $6 on up and the paper mache from $20 on up. I do sell bunnies all year-round to some that collect vintage bunnies and others for decorating for spring and Easter."

Sarah Kieffer, Sarah's Uniques, St. Charles, said, "I have the old fuzzy bunny banks, they used to be very popular with children in the spring and Easter time since most people remember having a fuzzy bunny bank and collecting their pennies for special Easter treats. These bunnies usually range from about five dollars to about $15 depending on the condition, size, color and rarity."

Today quite a few cute collectible Easter items can be found at occasional markets, craft and art fairs, thrift shops and on websites.

Glass hen on nest-covered dishes

These cute dishes are a unique and appealing collectible. There are about a 190 or more different sizes or forms and commonly made in 5- to 7-inch sizes, although you can find them in sizes ranging from less than 2 inches to more than 8 inches in length.

"Glass Hen on Nest Covered Dishes Identification and Value Guide" by Shirley Smith tells,

"Unlike other glass dishes, 'hens on the nest' may be referred to by many other names such as 'chicken in the basket,' 'animal dish' to 'trinket box' as there are at least 50 different names for a hen on the nest dish. The term 'hen on a nest' was first used by Westmoreland Glass back in the 1930s and later was shorten to 'hen on nest' which is used today. These dishes later became popular from 1790 to 1820 by Staffordshire and Dresden, but were quite expensive dishes. The less expensive and known American companies that were in business in the 1800s and known to have made hen on nest dishes were Atterbury, Challinor, Sandwich, Central, and McKee. Today we find companies such as Westmorland, Fenton, Indiana Glass, Imperial Glass, Boyd, Mosser and more. As for European glass companies many produced glass hen on nest dishes and still continue to do so but, it is any body's guess at this point as to when they first started."

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The typical hen in nest is white milk glass along with the blue, pink, and green pastel colors, as well as clear glass. I have seen a number of reproduction carnival glass hens in quantity of iridescent colors and reproduction pottery hens on nests. Most of these hens range from $20 on up. Laurie Rucker, Vintage Treasures and Home Decor, St. Charles, "I have a white hen in the basket selling for $10, with no markings."

Tips

Several companies have recently made reproductions so really look at your pieces to observe the size, the color and /or type of glass such as frosted, slag, oily feel, dead white milk glass or opalescent. It is important to know original colors from newer ones. Look at distinguishing features and marks. In studying a hen on nest covered dish keep in mind that there are two pieces involved in the set. Look carefully for a correct "marriage," that is that the top is with the correct base as sometimes another top ends up together as a set.

They are fairly common and quite easy to find at auctions and estate sales and with so many variations someone could collect for a lifetime.
OAXACA, Mexico  In a tiny village in the Oaxaca highlands in southwestern Mexico, Macrina Mateo Martinez tells her story as she deftly shapes red clay from the nearby El Picacho mountain.

There's no potter's wheel or kiln, just swift, precise movements of her fingers. With barely a glance at the clay, she quickly forms a simple but elegant pot to be fired in an open pit with the same technique that her Zapotec forebears have used for 3,500 years.

Her ancestors once bartered the pots for food. Not so long ago, Mateo Martinez's father carried pots on his back or on a donkey to be sold.

Mateo Martinez's extended family of about 20 lives and works in her compound in San Marcos Tlapazola, where she has created pottery that has made her well known. Most of the women in her family wear long, lace-topped dresses that look like something from the Old West. Many of the older folks speak only Zapotec.

The city of Oaxaca may be renowned as one of Mexico's cultural capitals and an alluring foodie destination, but much of the region's cultural story is found in places such as Mateo Martinez's simple compound at the end of a dirt-and-gravel road. Almost without exception, they are family stories of weaving, dyeing, carving, pottery, embroidery and clay-figure-making, of styles and techniques handed down over centuries, of villages that have prospered around a single craft, of families who have lived modest, unhurried lives working together to make distinctive pieces, one at a time.

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For shoppers, the pieces are just too good to pass up, especially with the favorable U.S. exchange rate. I bought one of Mateo Martinez's red clay pots  just like the one she made while demonstrating her craft to us  for about $17.

Oaxaca city is a fine base for this adventure. About 300 miles south of Mexico City, its 5,000-foot elevation moderates the heat. With about 250,000 people, Oaxaca has a lively fine-dining scene, an abundance of lodging and a walkable central core filled with colonial architecture, tree-lined squares and interesting shops and cafes. This is where to sample the martini-like drink known as a mezcalini (made with the increasingly popular Mexican liquor mezcal) or to try the tasty roasted chapulines (grasshoppers) with guacamole at a rooftop bar.

When you want to see the local artisans at work, head to the Zapotec villages of Oaxaca's central valleys. (Tia Stephanie Tours can take you inside the workshops of local artisans; www.tiastephanietours.com.)

In Teotitlan del Valle, we visited with weaver Mariano Sosa Martinez, who creates magnificent pieces both modern and filled with Zapotec iconography. Sosa Martinez's dyes are all natural, made from plants he cultivates with a solar-powered water pump. Entering his showroom and workspace on a side street a few blocks from the village center, you're struck by the brilliant colors and ancient designs of the pieces adorning the walls. Sosa Martinez is welcoming and eager to explain the process.

Upstairs in the dyeing room, prickly pear cactuses hang on a rack, large tin pots sit atop open flames and natural wool fibers hang in loops. The brilliant reds in his pieces come from cochineal insects that feed on the cactus. Yellows come from marigold flowers and blue from the indigo plant. Those three base colors produce a rainbow of shades. Watching him dye the wool was mesmerizing, especially with indigo. The deep blue shade only emerges after oxygen is added to the process, so the fibers were green when Sosa Martinez first lifted them from the pot. After a few minutes in the air, the color turned to blue, deepening the longer it was exposed to oxygen.

Another day, we visited Irma Garcia Blanco at her home and workshop in Atzompa, near one of the Zapotec ruins just outside Oaxaca city. She demonstrated how she creates the embellished clay figures of women in the style pioneered by her mother, Teodora Blanco, whose work was collected by Nelson Rockefeller.

It was interesting to compare her unpainted pieces with those created by the also well-known Aguilar sisters in Ocotlan de Morelos. We visited the shop of Josefina Aguilar to see her brightly painted figurines, some carrying flowers in their arms or fruit atop their heads.

In Arrazola, the Jimenez family demonstrated how they make alebrijes, the surrealistic animals carved from the wood of the local copal tree and then painted in fantastical colors. The alebrijes are not ancient, dating perhaps to the 1950s, but the wood-carving tradition goes back to the indigenous Zapotecs.

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At each of the workshops we visited, no one pressured us to buy. But it was almost impossible not to make a purchase. These are not your average trinkets. Handmade with tradition and care, this folk art speaks volumes about the people who create it and their ancestors.

The artisans' stories stuck with me, but none more so than Macrina Mateo Martinez's. This 46-year-old unmarried woman is somewhat of an outcast in her town, gossiped about as indecent because of her travels to exhibit her work in places such as Guadalajara and cities in the U.S.

"I was the first woman to travel outside the village," she explains, through an interpreter.

When we finally say goodbye, Mateo Martinez strikes a pose outside the fuchsia and beige entry to her family compound. That's not something she's always been able to do. But over the years, as her pottery has taken her to distant places, she's learned to become comfortable in front of the camera's lens.

And she's just fine with that.
Sgt. Pepper, meet Ronald McDonald

By Paul John Scott

Fifty years to the day of this issue in your handsApril 1, 1967the Beatles recorded the final song for their new album. Two nights before that, they had visited a London photo studio to shoot some pictures for the cover. For that, they wore old-time community band costumes while holding traditional instruments and standing in front of cut-outs of late-60s celebrities, a pop-art backdrop that had taken weeks to construct.

The year before, 1966only in their late 20sthe band had already grown tired of touring, and even of being the Beatles. They decided to dedicate themselves to recording, and for this album, as an alter-ego band. They called the album Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, and they took their time, working for over 700 hours and often late into the night, Monday through Friday.

Where an album used to take them a week to record, they spent five months on Sgt. Peppers. When they finally were finished, they knew they had something special. But they couldnt have imagined it would be relevant half a century later. After all, no music from 1917 was still being celebrated at the start of the Summer of Love. But they had been going through a creative explosion, meticulously crafting an arresting body of now iconic pop compositions, difficult and stick-to-your-brain music that changes time signatures, changes key, and slows down or speeds up to channel Hendrix and Dylan and the Beach Boys phenomenal album Pet Sounds.

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The band left behind the love songs of their earlier albums for dreamier subject matter like childhood (Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields Forever), modern life (A Day in the Life, Good Morning Good Morning), parenthood (Shes Leaving Home), aging (When Im Sixty-Four), materialism (Within You Without You), meter maids (Lovely Rita), and the woozy anticipation for a traveling circus (Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!).

The songs utilized every instrument in the orchestra and every trick in the book. Parts were taken by calliopes, French horns, trombones, trumpets, the harp, cellos, violas, violins, timpani, flutes, clarinets, sitar, tablas, harpsichord, a piccolo trumpet and a wide array of sound effects including crowd noises, cats, dogs, lions, horses, and Shakespeare on the BBC.

As you can imagine, the album may have been ranked #1 in Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, but it is never played live. By late 1967, the Beatles followed up Sgt. Pepper with Magical Mystery Tour, another un-performable album offering a feast of brass and rock orchestration. It, too, remains captivating music for ears, but not concert-goers. For musicians, as its half-century birthday approaches, the idea of performing this music builds and builds. I first heard it as a preschooler. They are my favorite albums of all time.

Fortunately, theyre nearly everyone elses favorite albums as well. That affection enabled some of the best musicians in Rochester and Minneapolis to take on the challenge of playing them live, a project that requires 11 strings, six horns, three woodwinds, a harpist, a six-piece rock band and a half dozen vocalists. The Magical Orchestra, a childrens orchestra charity located on Long Island, has some of the only authentic orchestral arrangements for this music in the country and they graciously agreed to their use for this event. And most of all, a long list of local businesses saw the promise of mounting a show like this for the Ronald McDonald House of Rochester.

They know that its a critical year for the RMH. The organization, which provides a home away from home to the families of children receiving medical care, is a cornerstone charitable organization in our community, and one that is currently stretched to its limits. Despite its considerable presence on Second Street SW, the demand for its services has never been greater. Space limitations have forced the RMH to turn away over three thousand families over the last three years. So, it is in the spirit of the Beatles "All You Need is Love" that the organization hopes to announce something very special at the show. We hope you can make it.

Its true, all you need is love. We are also going to need a calliope.

What:All You Need is Love: A 50th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, and Magical Mystery Tour. These are two albums rarely covered live. Yet youll get to hear them played live by some of the best musicians from Rochester and Minneapolis.

Where:The Rochester Art Center.

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When:Friday May 5, 2017. Doors open at 7, music at 8.

Cost:$75; all proceeds to benefit expanding services for the Ronald McDonald House of Rochester.

Tickets: www.rmhmn.org
The Plummer Building in downtown Rochester was lit up blue April 2 by Mayo Clinic as a show of support on Autism Awareness Day.

It was joined by other iconic sites across the globe, such as the White House, the Empire State Building, Niagra Falls, the Panama Canal, Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil, the archaeological site of Petra and dozens more.

Why such a public push for awareness this year? Autism rates have exploded, and those who blame vaccines for that increase have become more prominent under the administration of President Donald Trump . Andrew Wakefield, the controversial figure who largely created the anti-vax movement in 1998 and lost his medical license 12 years later, attended Trump's inauguration.

A 2016 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says autism rates increased from 1-in-150 in 2000 to 1-in-68 by 2012. The CDC's next biennial report on autism isn't due until 2018, but many now characterize autism as an epidemic.

Autism Spectrum Disorder is a developmental disorder typically marked by difficulty communicating and repetitive behaviors. Diagnosis typically occurs within the first 2 years of an infant's life and can result in mild impairment, severe disability or anywhere in between.

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Rochester has played a prominent role in the autism debate for years, thanks largely to research done by Mayo Clinic and the Rochester Epidemiology Project , which includes Olmsted Medical Center and Olmsted County Public Health.

Kris Ehresmann, the Minnesota Department of Health's infectious disease director, lauds those regional health assets while insisting there is no link between vaccines and autism  a popular belief among anti-vaxxers. Though she admits feeling personal anxiety before vaccinating her own children, she still urges parents to "see the value of vaccines."

"The most important message is vaccines have been well vetted," Ehresmann said. "They're safe, they're effective and they save lives. That's the message we want parents to be aware of. Their goal is for a safe, happy, healthy child, and that's our goal, too."

The Rochester connection

After 14 years of insistent advocacy for their son, Brad and Joan Trahan succeeded in getting Mayo Clinic insurance to cover intensive autism therapy last fall. Reece Trahan, a Century student with a severe form of ASD, was briefly enrolled in one-on-one therapy called Applied Behavior Analysis before it was deemed too expensive and too late for him to make progress.

"We'll always wonder where he would have been if he had been prescribed ABA therapy sooner," Brad Trahan said. "Had we not had to go through the battles  we're confident he'd be further along than he was if we didn't have to play the political game."

In February, Rochester Public Schools took a stand on vaccinations, echoing elements of an international debate that's been simmering for decades . Since Wakefield's controversial  and since retracted  1998 study that linked autism to vaccinations, opposition has increased.

The Rochester School Board voted unanimously on Feb. 21 to remove 204 students from class if the proper vaccination paperwork wasn't submitted by March 1. RPS communication director Heather Nessler said 62 students failed to hit that deadline, but everyone was in compliance by the end of the month.

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Of the district's nearly 18,000 students, Nessler said 370 students have filed for a conscientious exemption to avoid vaccinations. Another 125 have a medical exemption. According to a Pew Research Study released in February, 17 percent of U.S. adults believe the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps and rubella) should not be required to attend school, even if it puts other students at risk.

Additionally, RPS has experienced a 64 percent increase in students with ASD over the past decade  from 175 in 2007 to 275 in the current school year.

Nessler says RPS has added five intensive ASD classrooms since 2007, with each room staffed by one special education teacher and two paraprofessionals to serve 30 of those students. Those staffing additions are mandated by Minnesota Department of Education case-load requirements.

The other 70 ASD students, who are on the mild end of the spectrum, spend the majority of their days in a general education setting, Nessler said. Those increased numbers still required the district to add another "5-6 special education teachers and 5-6 special education paraprofessionals" to administer Individualized Education Plans.

Nessler says those staffing additions mean RPS is now paying nearly $1.4 million more each year to serve its autistic students than it did a decade ago.

Debate intensifies

Multiple vaccine skeptics in Southeast Minnesota declined Post Bulletin's interview requests, but there's a vocal minority across the country who are anything but bashful about their beliefs.

In fact, dozens gathered March 31 in Washington, D.C., to deliver a letter signed by nearly 300 physicians and researchers urging Trump to create a vaccine safety commission  weeks after a letter signed by 350 prominent health organizations was delivered to the White House encouraging him to accept the established science.

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The event was organized by the "Revolution for Truth" and Robert Kennedy Jr., an outspoken vaccine opponent, was among the featured speakers.

Maren Caldwell, a member of the nonprofit People Advocating for Vaccine Education, attended the event to decry the "fake news, the lies, the corruption going on with the CDC."

"They're telling us that there's no correlation whatsoever, that vaccines do not cause autism," she said, according to Newsweek . "We're here to tell you it absolutely, 100 percent does."

Vaccine skeptics routinely point to federal protections offered for vaccine manufacturers  effectively preventing lawsuits  while the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program , created by Ronald Reagan in 1986, has paid out approximately $3.5 billion as prime examples of their concerns.

Additionally, a recent peer-reviewed study from researchers at Duke and Harvard universities links acetaminophen given to babies before or after vaccines to increased rates of autism. Dr. Diane Hennacy Powell , a controversial vaccine skeptic trained at Johns Hopkins, says that's one of many red flags in the raging debate.

"When doctors first started vaccinating children, the benefits clearly outweighed the risks," said Powell, a former faculty member at Harvard Medical School. "We are seeing more complications now  (and) we need to redefine this debate in scientific, and not political terms."

Mainstream science pushes back

The mainstream medical community, by and large, continues to scoff at the concerns raised by so-called anti-vaxxers, who are often derided as conspiracy theorists. Mayo Clinic's Robert Jacobson, an expert in the vaccine field, is among the prominent doctors to dismiss the alleged link between vaccines and autism.

Dozens of studies have widely debunked the alleged link between vaccines and autism, including a 2015 report from the Journal of American Medical Association that studied 95,000 children and has been called the largest of its kind. A 2005 study conducted by the Rochester Epidemiology Project when Jacobson was the department chair is among prior reports to reach the same conclusion.

Jacobson cautions the public not to embrace Trump's anti-vax rhetoric simply because he holds a position of political power.

"I don't think he represents the majority of the people (on vaccines), nor has there been a major shift in how the population feels," Jacobson said. "If anything, I think the anti-vaccine movement has gotten a big boost because he has taken it on in a public way by meeting with the people who fraudulently claim that vaccines cause autism."

Ehresmann echoed Jacobson's sentiment.

"Any time a prominent figure or anyone in a prominent position makes a statement (about vaccines), they do have potential to sway public perception," Ehresman said. "We think it's very important that people are speaking accurately. Any time someone says something that isn't accurate, that's a challenge for us because we have to go back and reset the dial on public opinion."

'Vaccines are their own worst enemy'

Back in 2000, measles was declared to be eradicated in the U.S.  But in 2014, 667 cases were reported across 27 states.

So what changed? Public perception of vaccines, according to the latest numbers from Pew Research .

Though widely considered debunked, Wakefield's controversial study continues to influence opinions on vaccines and reduce vaccination rates. That's readily apparent when you compare perceptions across age groups, political ideology, science knowledge, education, income levels and race.

According to Pew, millennials and conservatives have less confidence in vaccines than their elderly and liberal counterparts. Specifically, 90 percent of liberals believe vaccines should be required to attend school compared to 73 percent for conservatives.

Those numbers almost mirror to the split between 18-29-year-olds (77%) and those who are 65-older (90%). Across four age groups, vaccine confidence skews higher as respondents got older.

Jacobson says he isn't surprised by the split by age groups, noting many in the older generation actually saw the impacts of diseases that have been wiped out by vaccines.

"Frankly, vaccines are their own worst enemy," Jacobson said. "By eliminating these diseases, these (younger) people have no idea these are all about."

Though 88 percent of Americans consider the health benefits outweigh the risks for the MMR vaccine, rates fall precipitously among those with low science knowledge (55%), personal income less than $30,000 (60%), and an education of high school or less (61%).

Race was also a critical factor for the same question. Whites had the highest confidence level at 79 percent, while Hispanics came in at 61 percent and African-Americans sat at just 56 percent.

Ehresmann actually attended a Washington D.C. conference in February where the primary point of discussion was the new Pew study. It comes as no surprise that she fully supports one specific question  who should play a major role in policy issues related to childhood vaccines.

Medical scientists topped that poll with 73 percent of Americans believing they should play a major role in policy decisions. For comparison purposes, pharmaceutical leaders (27%), health insurance company leaders (26%), and elected officials (25%) surpass that only when added together.

That makes Trump's rhetoric especially important, according to Ehresmann.

"It's important to us that people have access to what science is showing," Ehresmann said. "Any time a prominent figure  whether it's an actor, an athlete or anyone in a prominent position  makes a statement  they do have the potential to sway public perception. We think it's very important that people are speaking accurately. Any time someone says something that isn't accurate, that's a challenge for us because we have to go back and reset the dial of public perception."

New city initiative seeks acceptance for autism

Mayo Clinic doc: Trump has 'community on edge' over vaccines

Kris Ehresmann, the Minnesota Department of Health
The majority of Americans still believe the benefits of childhood vaccines outweigh the risks, even as a skeptic  Donald Trump  has ascended to the presidency.

The two factions have exchanged harsh words in recent months, debating whether vaccines are to blame for a rise in the incidence of autism during the past 20 years, which some have begun calling an epidemic.

Brad and Joan Trahan, of Rochester, are among those who have welcomed increased scrutiny of vaccinations. They say their son, Reece, a 17-year-old sophomore at Century, became autistic after receiving a mumps, measles and rubella vaccine when he was 1, echoing similar stories shared by Trump while on the campaign trail.

The couple responded by splitting up the MMR shot for their daughter and founding the RT Autism Awareness Foundation in 2003, becoming some of the state's most vocal autism advocates.

"I respect the medical community  but as a parent, my flags are up," said Brad, a Trump supporter. "No one can tell us to this day with medical certainty that it's not from vaccinations.

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"This is a bipartisan issue. For any president to say we need to research this more, we need to put the full-court press on this, I totally support that. I saw it with my own son. I'm not a wing nut. We have to figure out what the heck is going on. It's the fastest growing disability in the country."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in 2016 that 1 in 68 children are now diagnosed with autism. That number is up from 1 in 150 in 2000. Rochester Public Schools has 275 students enrolled with autism, according to communications director Heather Nessler.

A 2014 Harvard study suggests autism-related health care and education cost Americans $11 billion in 2011. Some believe that number could hit $1 trillion by 2025.

Experts on both sides of the debate readily admit those numbers are concerning, but a chasm-level divide exists when discussing whether vaccines are to blame.

Medical personnel at Mayo Clinic, Rochester Epidemiology Project, Minnesota Department of Health and elsewhere routinely dismiss the alleged connection between vaccines and autism as  to use today's popular vernacular  "fake news." The 1998 study that first raised that alleged connection has been formally retracted, and its author, London's Andrew Wakefield, lost his medical license in 2010.

Newsweek says Wakefield remains "revered and reviled" by the two factions, but his claims have been so widely debunked  including by a 2005 REP study completed in Rochester  that Mayo Clinic Dr. Robert Jacobson says "it's strange that people are still questioning the safety" of vaccines.

Wakefield's fraudulent report remains a primary influencer nearly two decades later, and measles has become a problem again  667 cases in 2014  after the CDC declared it was eradicated in the U.S. in 2000 .

"Now with a populist president who has met with some of the most rabid anti-vaccinists, that has a lot of people on edge," Jacobson said.

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Trump breathed new life into Wakefield's controversial study by inviting him to his presidential inauguration and meeting with Robert Kennedy Jr. to discuss creating a Vaccine Safety Commission. Kennedy, another anti-vaxxer, edited a book that argues some vaccines cause autism.

Additionally, nearly 300 U.S. doctors and scientists recently signed a letter urging Trump to convene an "independent vaccine safety commission." It was delivered to the White House on March 31, just before the calendar flipped to Autism Awareness Month.

While most medical experts dismiss the anti-vax movement, the Trahans hope Trump's presidency will help provide clarity on the debate.

"As much as the medical community says (vaccines and autism aren't related), I hope they don't dismiss us as whacked out parents," Brad said. "It's an emotional topic  and I don't want any of us to get too dug in because we need to figure out what's going on and how to fix it."
It's not uncommon for the city of Rochester to support nonprofits faced with deficit spending.

While the Rochester Art Center's 2015 audit showing expenses outpacing revenue by $279,000 stands out, other agencies reported deficit spending from $2,000 to nearly $33,000 during the same year.

Rochester City Administrator Stevan Kvenvold said it's not surprising.

"Those nonprofits are hand-to-mouth," he said. "It's really difficult for them to stay in the black."

Dee Sabol, executive director of the Diversity Council, said organizations can see temporary deficits for several reasons. The council saw a $10,368 deficit in 2015, according to reports filed with the Minnesota Attorney General's office.

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That year, the most recent year nonprofit audits are available, Sabol said the Diversity Council didn't have a director, meaning programs were dropped and grant opportunities might have been missed.

At the same time, Greater Rochester Advocates for Universities and Colleges saw $32,748 in deficit spending as it used part of its reserve to advocate for public higher education in the city. Jessica Ihrke, chairwoman of the GRAUC board, said the organization specifically sought to use the extra funds for efforts to meet future workforce needs.

Rene Lafflam, RNeighbors executive director, also noted keeping a stable bottom line is a balancing act with fluctuating income. As an example, she points to a grant for the Indian Heights neighborhood, where Conservation Corps is doing work.

Lafflam said RNeighbors will see a $30,000 bill for the work, and she will need to make sure the grant money is available when writing the check. With a 2015 budget of $105,000, the balancing act can be tricky.

She also said recent requests for increased city contributions follow years of flat requests during the economic downturn, even as expenses gradually increased.

Gregory Stavrou, executive director of Rochester Civic Theatre Company, said his organization also has seen increases throughout the years. As one of three private nonprofits housed in city-owned buildings  along with the Rochester Art Center and 125 Live  the city's contributions aim to cover building-related expenses, such as utilities and some upkeep.

For the civic theatre, the need rose by $50,000 this year with the opening of the new studio theater.

"In effect, it's doubling  not quite but pretty close  our performance space," Stavrou said.

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The 125 Live contribution also is seeing a significant increase since moving from the former Rochester Senior Center site. Building-related expenses are expected to increase by about $100,000 for the larger and improved facility adjacent to the Rochester Rec Center.

Other added costs also can increase requests.

In recent months, RNeighbors saw unexpected health insurance and rent increases. As a result. the organization requested adding $11,698 in February to its initial $102,000 request, which had to be submitted months earlier.

Lafflam said such increases can challenge small organizations.

"The sustainability of our organization is going to be in question," she said.

Gary Smith, president of Rochester Area Economic Development Inc., noted the challenge of fluctuation. While RAEDI has a much larger budget  $2.1 million in 2015  he said it takes effort to stay in the black, noting the organization ended its first year with deficit spending in 2016 but had funds to cover the shortfall and is working to replenish its reserves.

For him, he said the bottom line should be what the city is getting for its investment and whether the organizations are accountable to those who support them.

"You have to assess them all individually at some point," he said.

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ST. PAUL  Minnesota would scrap MNsure and move to the federally run health-insurance exchange under a bill that cleared the House on Friday.

The measure would require the state to switch to the federal exchange beginning Jan. 1, 2019. Supporters say the time has come to get rid of MNsure.

"This should have been put out of its misery much sooner. It would have saved hundreds of millions of dollars," said Rep. Duane Quam, R-Byron.

But Democrats pushed back, arguing it makes no sense to get rid of the state-run health insurance exchange at a time of such uncertainty at the federal level. Rep. Tina Liebling, DFL-Rochester, said the GOP plan not only gets rid of MNsure but also cuts funding for counties to double-check whether people are eligible for public health problems. She compared the Republican approach to someone trying to turn a tricycle into a bicycle.

"You don't just rip off a wheel and say, 'There you have a bicycle.' It just doesn't work," she said.

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The measure getting rid of MNsure was part of a $14 billion health and human services funding bill that passed the House 74-53. The Senate has passed its own bill, which does not include language to get rid of MNsure. Members of a House-Senate conference committee will negotiate on a final health and human services funding bill. That final bill will need to pass both the House and Senate before heading to the governor's desk.

Minnesota is one of 11 states plus the District of Columbia that still have a state-run health insurance exchange. MNsure was established in 2013 as part of the implementation of the federal Affordable Care Act. It is a website where Minnesotans buying insurance in the individual health insurance market can compare and purchase private health plans. Eligible consumers also can access federal tax subsidies via the site to lower the cost of health insurance.

When MNsure was launched, it was plagued with technical problems. Through time, many of those technical glitches have been addressed. This year, MNsure reported record enrollment with more than 100,000 Minnesotans buying insurance via the site. Critics of the website note those numbers are still far below the 600,000 people initially projected to enroll for private plans using the site.

Rep. Greg Davids, R-Preston, said it makes no sense to keep MNsure when Healthcare.gov is available. He noted several states already have decided to ditch their state-run exchanges, including Hawaii, Oregon and Nevada. He said Minnesota has invested more than $450 million on MNsure, and it is time to pull the plug.

"We don't need MNsure. It's completely duplicative. Get rid of it now," Davids said.

But DFL Gov. Mark Dayton said Friday getting rid of MNsure is a bad idea. He said MNsure has been "the favorite whipping boy of legislators." He said the site is working well now, and Minnesota consumers are less likely to get good customer service via the federal site.

Dayton asked, "You think you are going to get better attention in that kind of much larger operation than you would from MNsure?"

Austin DFL Rep. Jeanne Poppe said she would prefer to see lawmakers continue to work on improving the state-run exchange.

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She added, "MNsure certainly has room for growth and opportunity, and I think we need to continue to see what we can do to fix that."
Deportation fears drive up business at Mexican consulate

The Mexican consulate in St. Paul has seen a more than 100 percent spike in applications for dual citizenship since the Trump administration announced its first travel ban in January, driven largely by unauthorized Mexican immigrants preparing to take their American children with them if they're deported.

"Parents are just like, if we're going to be deported, we're going back to Mexico [with] the whole family, so we have to have all our documents ready," said Consul general Gerardo Guerrero.

In addition to birth certificates for their American-born children, Mexican citizens are also requesting passports and consular IDs. Guerrero said the office has seen a 30 to 40 percent increase overall in visitors since the travel ban issuance. Daily visitors now average between 130 and 150 people.

 Earlier: In Minnesota, unauthorized immigrants wait and worry

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"People are scared and want to be prepare in case something happens in the future," he said.

The uptick in visitors service has resulted in extended weekday hours and recently added once-a-month Saturday hours, solely for dual citizens' applications. The consulate used to issue five or six birth certificates a day, but last Saturday it honored 45 requests.

Children born abroad to Mexican nationals can get Mexican citizenship by obtaining a Mexican birth certificate, Guerrero said, making them eligible for a range of benefits. "In Mexico, for example, children have a right to receive free education from the state but you have to prove you are Mexican," he said.

The consulate's jurisdiction encompasses Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and western Wisconsin. It serves 200,000 people, 60,000 of whom are believed to be unauthorized, Guerrero said.

The Mexican government launched a program in January to aid in the acclimation of American-born newcomers to the country's educational and other systems. "We are prepared to receive all the kids that go back to Mexico," Guerrero said.
ST. PAUl  A DFLer who called out her "white male colleagues" for playing cards during a recent House debate inadvertently pulled back the veil on the chamber's "retiring room," the lounge just off the House floor.

Rep. Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, admonished her card-playing colleagues for not paying attention while female House members of color spoke on the floor. Some GOP House members on Friday plan to formally rebuke her for framing her remarks along race and gender.

Rep. Greg Davids, R-Preston, was incensed enough to say out loud, "what happens in the retiring room is nobody's business." Rep. Mary Franson, R-Alexandria, lamented that a long-standing custom  what happens in the retiring room, stays in the retiring room  had ended. "Now that room feels unfriendly and toxic. Sad," she tweeted.

So, what is this place shrouded in mystery and intrigue, and why does even speaking of it trigger hard feelings among lawmakers?

Members see it as a "place of respite," former House GOP Speaker Steve Sviggum told MPR News. "It's an appropriate place for members that have a place to go where they're not necessarily being addressed by or hounded by lobbyists or others during the floor debate."

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Legislators can make phone calls and eat, which is not allowed in the chamber, he said. During long debates, "you don't necessarily expect a member of the House to sit in his or her chair for 10, 12, 14 hours," he added. "You can hear what's going on" in the chamber "if you're very, very attentive," he said. "It would not be the place to hear and see what's happening on the floor."

Sviggum, a former lawmaker from Kenyon who served as speaker from 1999 to 2007, described the retiring room as dark paneled with benches and tables and a fireplace that's never used. There's access to a small balcony out back, and to rest rooms.

The room has red-patterned carpet and floral scenes above an oak-paneled wall. An antique leather couch sits between French doors leading to a balcony. On the fireplace is a Sir Francis Bacon quote, "Measure not dispatch by the times of sitting, but by the advancement of business." Above it is a line from Scottish writer George Campbell: "Free and fair discussion will ever be found the firmest friend of truth."

Entry is restricted to lawmakers only an hour before a House session starts and for an hour after one finishes, he added. Otherwise, members can bring in friends and guests. (The Senate has a similar retiring room but it's restricted to members only.)

While playing cards is not a regular scene in the House lounge, Sviggum said the room does serve as a place where members can meet and talk informally on legislative strategy.

Sviggum didn't speak directly to Hortman's remarks. But it's clear the controversy hasn't ebbed.

House Majority Leader Joyce Peppin, R-Rogers, said a "protest and dissent" letter would be added to the House journal.

"If you listen to her comments she talked about white males. We just think it's inappropriate to single out a group and a gender of people on the House floor," Peppin said. "It's just not what we do in the House. It's not our custom and usage. It does not set a positive tone and members are very angry by it."

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Peppin added, "There's a lot of hard feelings about it, about the incident that took place."

Hortman said she was getting "overwhelming support" from inside the DFL caucus and believes she was raising needed concern for the lack of attention colleagues were paying to dissenting viewpoints.

On Thursday, though, she said she worried her comment further soured the tone in a chamber where cross-party relationships matter.

"I have some work to do because the way in which I tried to get my colleagues to listen to some of my other colleagues have in some ways made the gulf deeper," Hortman said.

She said she had approached some of the fellow lawmakers who said they were offended, but joked, "it's probably too soon to invite you to my house for a game of Texas Hold'em."
I wrote yesterday about Heather Mac Donalds West Coast tour. Night before last, she was at UCLA at the invitation of the college Republicans, and was subjected to the usual inane treatment by leftists. Last night she was at Claremont McKenna College, and it was even worse.

Heather emails:

The crowds started gathering around my speaking location and the guest suite where I had been hustled after arriving on campus at around 4 pm, chanting fuck the police, hey hey ho ho racist cops have got to go, no justice no peace, no racist police. The estimated crowd size at that point was about 200; it would eventually grow to around 300. Students were sitting on the stairs underneath my balcony plotting their strategy: we need more people up here some of you go back, I heard them say. I saw a girl go by with her face covered with a Palestinian style head scarf, wearing a loudspeaker on her back. I saw a lookout about 40 yards away so I didnt feel that I could spend much time looking out over the balcony. The protesters surrounded all the doors to the Atheneum where I was supposed to speak, so none of the students who had signed up to attend my lecture could get in. I was hustled from my guest suite by several police officers from Claremont PD into the lecture hall. It was decided that I would give the speech for live streaming to a largely empty hall. The organizers moved the podium so that it would not be visible through the windows to the students surrounding the building once night fell. We jumpstarted the timing of my talk as the crowd seemed to be getting more unruly. I prefaced my remarks by saying that I hoped that the crowds who had been chanting black lives matter for the last two hours had also protested that black lives mattered when 5 year old Aaron Shannon Jr. was killed on Halloween 2010 standing outside his house in South Central Los Angeles, proudly showing off his Spiderman costume. He was killed with a single bullet to the head from a 26 year old member of the Kitchen Crips. I said that I hoped that they had protested with equal vehemence when 9 year old Tyshawn Lee was lured into an alleyway with the promise of candy and murdered in cold blood by a 22-year-old member of Chicagos Gangster Disciples in retaliation against Tyshawns gangster father. The original gangster plan had been to hack off Tyshawns fingers and send them to his mother. I said that Tyshawn was one of 7000 blacks killed in 2015. And while the protesters likely didnt show up to these scenes of carnage, the cops did. They are the only government agency that works every day to ensure that black lives matter.

This is an important point that cant be made too often.

During my speech, the protesters banged on the glass windows and shouted. It was extremely noisy inside the hall. I took two questions from students who were watching on livestream, but then the cops decided that things were getting too chaotic and I should stop speaking. An escape plan through the kitchen into an unmarked police van was devised; I was surrounded by about four cops. Protesters were sitting on the stoop outside the door through which I exited, but we had taken them by surprise and we got through them. I gave them the thumbs up and said how friendly I thought CMC was. A student came up to me surreptitiously as I was being hustled to the cop SUV to shake my hand and thank me for coming. We temporariliy put on the sirens and hit the pedal, but no one followed us to the police station.

What Heather describes is an absolute disgrace. The College Fix has more in an article titled Angry mob shuts down Blue Lives Matter speech at Claremont McKenna College.

Steven Glick, a senior at nearby Pomona College, recorded much of the protest as editor of the Claremont Independent, telling The College Fix in a message Thursday that he believes some of the demonstrators were students at the Claremont Colleges, but not all. Several protesters were middle-aged, and some were students at other colleges. The protesters chanted things like, From Oakland to Greece, f*** the police and From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.

What Palestine has to do with Mac Donalds lecture is a mystery.

I tried to talk to dozens of protesters about why they objected to Heather Mac Donald, but not a single one could point to an issue they had with her work, he said.

No surprise there. The fascists prevented students who wanted to hear Heathers lecture from getting into the building. Campus police were in evidence, but their role was limited to protecting the rioters. This short video was shot by a professor:

Peter Uvin, Claremonts vice president for academic affairs, put out a typically wishy-washy statement after the riot was over. There was no suggestion that any of the demonstrators who violated the civil rights of Claremont students and Heather Mac Donald will be disciplined in any way.

All in all, a disgraceful performance by the Brownshirts and by Claremont McKenna College.
As usual, the earliest news reports on yesterdays terrorist attack in Stockholm were partly right and partly wrong. This is what we think we know as of this morning:

* Four people were killed and 15 were injured, ten of whom are hospitalized.

* At least two people have been arrested so far. The first, believed to be the driver of the stolen truck that careened down a pedestrian street and crashed into a mall, is described as a 39-year-old from Uzbekistan. He was known to Swedish authorities as a possible terrorist, and had jihadi propaganda on his Facebook page. But Swedish authorities say that the information they had on him was marginal, and that they investigated and found no connections to extremism. The authorities wont say whether the Uzbek was a legal resident or how long he had been in Sweden.

* Information on whether others were involved in the attack is contradictory. An early report that three men jumped out of the truck and started shooting into the crowd was apparently false. A man was arrested and led away from the scene shortly after the attack, but it is unclear what his connection to the incident was, if any. Reuters says that a second man (seemingly not the one who was apprehended at the scene, or the Uzbek) has been arrested in a northern Stockholm suburb. This second man resembled the picture and description of a man that police went public with after the truck attack.

I think they mean this picture, but it isnt clear (to me, anyway) whether this is a photo of the Uzbek or the second person arrested in a northern suburb:

* Swedish police say that a device which did not belong there, presumably a home-made bomb or incendiary device of some sort, was found in the truck.

* Several videos of the attack have emerged. This one shows people fleeing on the pedestrian street, and the truck barreling past a store:

This one shows the aftermath of the attack, possibly including a fleeing terrorist as well as police:

This one mostly shows firefighters extinguishing a fire that broke out in the truck, either as a result of the crash or possibly due to an incendiary device:

Most likely there are other videos, too.

UPDATE: Reports from Sweden indicate that the Uzbek terrorist was denied asylum in January but lingered in Sweden anyway. He also is said to have a double identity. This is from Sweden, using an internet translation program:
Yesterday in Never true and mostly stupid I noted that PolitiFact has withdrawn its previous assessment of the alleged removal of chemical weapons from Syria under the Obama administration as mostly true. PolitiFacts revised assessment is posted here. The current update declares PolitiFact agnostic pending further review.

Mark Hemingway is here to help. At the Weekly Standard Hemingway compiles some of the evidence that the Obama administration not only knew that Syria had chemical weapons, but that the administration persisted saying otherwise when it knew better. Hemingway cites Sean Keeleys post at the American Interest in support of the proposition that the Obama administration knew its line regarding the removal of chemical weapons was  how to put it?  a lie. Keeley recalls:

In Congressional testimony last February, Obamas Director of National Intelligence James Clapper acknowledged gaps and inconsistencies in Syrias declaration, validating reports that Syria was still hiding banned chemicals at undisclosed locations. And on its way out the door in January of this year, the Obama Treasury quietly introduced new sanctions against Syrian officials involved in chemical warfare. Buried in the language sanctioning a particular official was a telling admission: As of 2016, Abbas has continued operating at locations in Syria associated with chemical warfare-related missions. Whether or not the Obama Administration knew of this particular sarin facility, then, they clearly knew that Syrians were still clinging to their stockpiles at several locations. They knew what Adam Garfinkle has been saying all along: that Obamas deal to remove chemical weapons was not a historic diplomatic triumph but an unenforcable sham that the Syrians and Russians never intended to comply with.

We cant leave this question without a word from Susan Rice. Hemingway links to his own previous post noting that in January Rice assured a National Public Radio audience of the Obama administrations success removing chemical weapons in Syria. I think that should clinch Hemingways case.
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Kunle Afolayans latest movie, Omugwo, one of the three Africa Magic-commissioned films, is currently screening in cinemas across Nigeria.

This is coming on the heels of a private media screening of the new comedy flick at the Silverbird Galleria, Victoria Island, Lagos, on Friday.

Speaking shortly before the screening of the movie, Mr. Afolayan noted that Omugwo is a small-budget television drama commissioned by the Africa Magic in partnership with his company, Golden Effects Productions.

He said, I am particularly excited about the film because it is a slight departure from my usual style of story-telling, going by its comic nature. Its a comedy and most people perceive most of my works as being serious, so I had this watered down. It was originally supposed to be a TV series but I had to include my own money to make it into a full length Nollywood film.

Omugwo features seasoned actress, Patience Ozokwor, as well as Ayo Adesanya, Omowunmi Dada, Christian Paul, Ken Erics and Henry Old Skool Alade.

Written by Kemi Adesoye, Omugwo tells the story of Omotunde, a young civil engineer, married to Raymond, an OAP who have just had a baby.

Coloured by their different cultural backgrounds, their mothers-in-law forcefully move in with the couple to perform the Igbo childcare rite called Omugwo. But instead of relieving their children of the burden of childcare, the mothers rivalry complicates life for the young couple to comical effects.

In the highly inspiring film, Afolayan marries a serious subject matter of motherhood with a lot of hilarious moments.

The movie portrays two characteristics of motherhood and gives kudos to the African tradition, while on the other hand, it attempts to proffer solutions to some of the challenges faced by young couples especially after the arrival of their first child.

Ozokwor is much at home in her characteristic role of a grandmother who is trying to dominate in her sons house.

But, Adesanya, who is an established star in the Yoruba film industry, is at a slight disadvantage in the film. No thanks to Ozokwors many antics.

Nollywood movie buffs say Afolayans decision to cast these two generations of talented actresses is an interesting experiment, which will pay off.

The duo of Ozokwor and Adesanya spiced up the movie with catchy phrases that drive home the message.

In a brief chat with PREMIUM TIMES, Adesanya said she was glad to star alongside veteran Nollywood actress Ozokwor in the film.

Starring alongside Ozokwor for the first time was really delightful. It was a challenging role but Im happy Kunle Afolayan gave me the opportunity to play the character and Im glad the audience like it, she said.

Omugwo was shot in Lagos with beautiful skyline of the city in full colour, all thanks to the National Film Institute, Jos, graduate Ifeanyi Iloduba, who exhibited his creative expertise as the films Director of Photography.

Asides Omugwo, Afolayan has also shot two other films as part of the three movie projects which Africa Magic/Multichoice commissioned him to shoot in 2017.

The yet-to-be released films are Roti and Tribunal and they will be unveiled later in the year.

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At least two bodies were recovered outside a mosque in Maiduguri, Borno State, early Saturday, after two female suicide bombers attacked worshippers there, officials said.

The attackers struck as worshippers observed early morning prayers in an area called Jiddari Polo.

Five people were injured in the attack, officials said.

Police said the girls could not gain much access into the targeted mosque. One of the suicide bombers later detonated an explosive that killed her fellow attacker too, police spokesperson, Victor Isuku, said.

A similar attack was carried out on a mosque in the same location on October 23, 2015.

About 18 worshippers were killed in that attack by a lone bomber.

Mr. Isuku, a deputy superintendent of police, said the incident happened at about 0520hrs, today, when two female suicide bombers with IED strapped to their bodies attempted to enter a mosque at Juddumuri village, after federal high court.

They were intercepted and prevented by the Muslim worshippers. In the process, one of them detonated her vest, killing both of them and injuring five others.

The injured were rushed to specialist hospital, while the remains of the suicide bombers were equally evacuated by state emergency management agency (SEMA).

A second blast was heard from the same location at about 6.37am.

But the police spokesman said the sound occurred as ordnance operatives defused the bomb held by the second suicide bomber.

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A 33-year-old Nigerian travelling to SoekarnoHatta International Airport Jakarta, Indonesia, with narcotics has been arrested at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos.

Lotachukwu Umeme, who was holding a Cote d lvoire International passport bearing the name Grou Bi Clauvis, was arrested while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to Indonesia.

After he tested positive for narcotic ingestion, 89 wraps of narcotics found to be methamphetamine weighing 1.205 kilogrammes were recovered from him, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency said in a statement on Saturday.

Indonesia imposes capital punishment for drug trafficking.

In January 2015, the Asian country executed two Nigerians  Solomon Okafor (alias Namaona Denils) and Daniels Enemuo (Alias Diarrassoube Mamadou) for drug offences at the Island of Nusakambangu in Cilacap, Central Java Province.

The executions were carried out despite persistent pleas for clemency made by the federal government, including the National Assembly.

In July 2016, three other Nigerians were executed for the same offence.

Ahmadu Garba, the NDLEA commander at the Lagos airport, said preliminary investigation conducted by the agency revealed that the suspect hails from Anambra State with the name Umeme Lotachukwu Fabian.

He attended Boys Secondary School Onitsha where he graduated in 2007. After his secondary education, he started selling clothes at Onitsha main market before he travelled to India in search of greener pastures in 2013 and returned to the country in 2015. He also had an identity card claiming he is from Abidjan, Mr. Garba said.

Mr. Umeme, while under observation at the airport, excreted 89 wraps of narcotics that tested positive for methamphetamine weighing 1.205kg.

In his statement, according to the NDLEA, the suspect said he was offered the sum of $5,000 to smuggle drugs to Indonesia.

I am the only son of my parents. I wanted to invest the money in my clothes business and also commence preparation for my marriage in a bid to settle down, Mr. Umeme said.

He also said he was not aware that drug trafficking attracts capital punishment in Indonesia.

Muhammad Abdallah, the NDLEA Chairman, while expressing satisfaction with the arrest, promised to investigate the identity falsification by the suspect.

This is a very dangerous development as the suspect could have been consigned to the gallows under a false identity, he said.

Mr. Abdallah warned that those contemplating drug trafficking must endeavour to avoid acts of criminality and have respect for the sanctity of their lives.

Drug cartels can be very daring in their manipulation but we are poised to counter their devices. The agency shall carry out a comprehensive investigation into this case in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, Mr. Abdallah said.

The NDLEA said the suspect would be charged to court soon.

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The BringBackOurGirls (BBOG) group on Friday began its Global Week of Action at the Unity Fountain, Abuja.

There was a low turnout of its members at the opening session of the scheduled seven day of activities to mark three years of the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls.

About 195 of the girls are still believed to be in the custody of the Boko Haram.

The BBOG group is demanding transparency and accountability from the Nigerian government about the status of the effort to rescue the girls.

It also claimed that the federal government was handling the case of the remaining missing girls with laxity.

Several members of the group made comments and observations at the gathering.

The gathering was graced by leaders of the group, Aisha Yesufu and Oby Ezekwesili, with other members coming from Lagos for the event.

Ms. Yesufu read a statement on behalf of the group at the gathering.

Read her statement below:

Today is Day 1089 since the schoolgirls of Government Secondary School, Chibok were abducted from their school by terrorists. 57 escaped, 24 returned 195 of them remain missing.

It is Day 674 of their captivity, under President Muhammadu Buharis watch. It is Day 1074 of our movements daily advocacy demanding that the Federal Government discharges its constitutionally duty and rescue the abducted girls from terrorists captivity.

In another seven days, it will be three years since the tragic event of that night. Tragically, 195 of our young women whose only sin was their quest for knowledge are left by their government to remain in terrorist enclave.

We are actually disappointed at the government of Nigeria attitudinal handling of this historical tragedy and at a loss at the obvious emotional disconnect and insincerity that have defined the actions and words of the president and his government on this matter.

None of the commitments made by the government concerning the rescue of our Chibok girls has been followed through. This days, we have absorbed a coldness, silence and irritations of key officials whenever the government is reminded of its constitutional duty to rescue the Chibok schoolgirls and all other abducted citizens.

Our movement fails to understand why did is so. But one thing definite for us is that we shall not stop keeping the president and the administration accountable. We will remain undeterred in our demands.

That is why even those in excruciating pains over the protractedness of this tragedy, we have today commenced our 8th day Global Week of Action with diverse activities to mark three years of our Chibok girls abduction and their continued captivity by terrorists.

This tragic third year of global week of action has the theme Hashtag 3 years too long no more excuses.

We entered the third year of our girls being left in terrorists captivity with the constant shock that the presidency, which last October 2016 told the world that 83 more of our Chibok girls were on their way out of captivity very soon, and has since adopted definite silence as a key of avoidance of accountability.

What reason can the federal government have for never providing progress report on the status of its rescue operation of our girls excepts remarks by the Minister of Information in January, the federal government has acted in a manner that suggest that rescuing our Chibok girls is a matter of lowest importance on its agenda.

We denounce this posture that is indicative of lack of respect for the dignity of the lives of Nigerian girl child of which our Chibok girls are symbols.

We also recall that President Muhammadu Buhari had on 14 January 2016 authorized the setup of yet another investigation into the abduction. It is extremely pathetic that nothing has come out from that pronouncement.

The situation is worsened by the fact that the federal government shockingly denied our movement use of the freedom of information to request to the access to the report of the presidential committee that investigated the abduction. General Sabo committee in 2014.

Furthermore, regarding the 24 Chibok girls that are back, the media reports expose information from the government on their wellbeing almost only touches on the 21it negotiated their release. We ask where the other three Chibok girls are.

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The Federal Road Safety Corps, FSRC, has reaffirmed its position of non-involvement in the marketing of speed limiting devices for vehicles in the country.

The spokesperson of the agency, Bisi Kazeem, told journalists in Abuja on Friday that accredited vendors were in charge of sale and calibration of the device, and not the FRSC.

There are accredited vendors screened by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) and FRSC.

They are the ones in charge of sale and calibration of the speed limiting device, not the FRSC, he said.

Mr. Kazeem was reacting to Thursdays move by the Senate to stop the ongoing enforcement of the installation of the speed limiting device on vehicles by the FRSC.

The President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, asked the Committee on Federal Character to look into the matter following a point of order raised by Dino Melaye (APC, Kogi West).

Media reports quoted Mr. Melaye as saying that the proposal by the FRSC to sell speed limit device to car owners would cause further economic hardship for Nigerians.

If you have two cars you buy two speed limit devices. This is not the time to bring economic hardship upon the already traumatised people of this country.

In every civilised part of the world, it is the responsibility of road safety authorities or agencies like her to mount speed limiting devices on roads, and when you beat this speed, they charge you.

To ask individuals to purchase the speed limiting device from road safety is unacceptable and this is even not the time to do it, he said.

The FRSC began full enforcement of the installation of the device, which costs N35,000, on commercial vehicles on February 1, and plans to extend it to other categories of vehicles in due course.

Mr. Kazeem said introduction of the policy was within the mandate of the Corps, noting that the enforcement began since February 1, and not about to begin as stated by the senator.

He added that the House of Representatives had earlier endorsed the policy after a public hearing.

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Atinuke Oyelode won the first Miss Nigeria pageant in 1957. She was crowned queen at the Lagos Island Club in a contest that involved 200 young ladies from different parts of Nigeria. Following her win, she was given 200, a wardrobe filled with four beautiful cotton dresses and a trip to London.

Now in her 80s, she still possesses the good looks and charm that earned her the coveted title 60 years ago. In this interview with PREMIUM TIMES, she speaks about her journey to becoming Miss Nigeria and her fulfilling nursing career.

PT: How would you rate beauty pageants of the past and now?

Atinuke: In my time, pageants were really beauty pageants and considered very prestigious. There were so many virtues a queen could emulate and a lot of lessons to learn from. If you check out most of the pictures taken at the pageant, all the contestants stood normally in photographs and not the regular posing that is the order of the day now. Participating and winning the first edition of Miss Nigeria earned me recognition, respect and accolades. I was not even in the country when my predecessor was crowned and I attended Miss Nigeria pageant for the first time in 2015 since I was crowned.

PT: Tell us about your journey to becoming the first Miss Nigeria?

Atinuke: I did not actually contest, as it is known today. All a prospective queen needed to do at the time was to send her picture to Daily Times in Lagos. I didnt send my picture. I lived in Kano at the time (I was a staff of UAC) but my brother who was a broadcaster saw the advertisements for the pageant in the papers and entered me for the competition. I travelled to Kaduna State at the time.When I returned, my brother said he had something to show me but I should give him six pence. I gave him six pence, which was a lot of money then. He then brought out a copy of Daily Times and I saw my photograph there. I exclaimed, God, how come? A poor girl living in Kano? At that time, I was working at UAC. One day, my manager came to my house very early in the morning even before I got ready to go to work. He said he received a letter, which stated that I should be in Lagos and that I would be flying down to Lagos. He then brought out a copy of the letter.

PT: What did you do next?

Atinuke: I was in a state of shock. After I was shortlisted, I had go to Lagos to be interviewed and it was the first time I ever flew in a plane. I was flown to Lagos and when I arrived I was driven straight to the Daily Times office. There was no form of luxury whatsoever. I was not even accommodated. I had to stay with my brother who is now late. On the day of the event, I dressed up in native attire and I tied my wrapper neatly. I was the only one dressed inIro and Buba that night.

PT: How did the pageant go?

Atinuke: There were 200 of us contesting and I was the only one who resided in Kano. I was asked simple questions about my background and funnily we werent even asked why we wanted to become Miss Nigeria. It was a good thing we werent asked because I didnt have an answer ready. The competition was held on a Saturday in 1957 and we all converged at the Lagos Island club. We were offered drinks and asked to go to a wall and catwalk in front of the judges; there were three of them. I can vividly recall that the music of the late Bobby Benson was playing in the background and the judges left shortly after. However, after a short while, I was announced as the queen but I didnt even hear my name being called. I dont even know what criteria was used and still do not know.

PT: Were you surprised?

ATINUKE: Yes I was o! Someone had to touched me before I realised that I had indeed been crowned Miss Nigeria. I became queen that night and I had to find my way home.

PT: What were some of the perks of winning Miss Nigeria?

Atinuke: After I won the pageant, I was given 200 pounds and that was a lot of money back in the day. I also won a wardrobe filled with four beautiful cotton dresses and a trip to London. To me, 200 Pounds was a lot of money when I was earning 3 pounds a month. I also won a return ticket to London for two weeks.

PT: Do you think you have been given enough recognition as the first Miss Nigeria?

ATINUKE: Yes of course. Amongst my numerous recognitions, I was honoured at Miss Nigeria Pageant in November 2015 with a brand new Peugeot 601 saloon car.

PT: Not many are aware that you gained admission into the school of nursing, Ashford Kent, England shortly after winning Miss Nigeria.

Atinuke: Well, I completed my nursing training shortly after winning the pageant and I became a state registered nurse in 1961. Not yet satisfied with my achievements, I enrolled immediately at the school of midwifery, St. Thomas Hospital, London, where I qualified as a state registered midwife SCM in 1962. I also attended the Royal College of Nursing, England in 1971 and obtained a Diploma in Nursing and Hospital Administration and in 1976; I obtained another diploma from Ghana Institute of Management and Personnel Administration. While I was in the UK, I practiced in a number of hospitals between 1962 and 1963, notably Paddington General Hospital.

PT: When did you return to Nigeria?

Atinuke: On my return to Nigeria in 1964, I became a nursing sister at the General Hospital, Kaduna, between 1964 and 1965, then senior nursing sister-in-charge of the former Kaduna Nursing Home now Barau Dike specialists Hospital, Kaduna) from 1965 to 1977. When the civil war began in 1967, I was sent to Makurdi General Hospital where I headed a medical team from the then northern region, which prepared the hospital for receiving war casualties and treating them.

By 1970, I joined the Institute of Health, Ahmadu Bello University, as a senior matron and I became director, nursing services of the ABU teaching Hospital. I held the position until I voluntarily retired in 1985.

PT: It is safe to say that you had a fulfilling career.

Atinuke: Yes, I did. I retired in 1985 from Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital. I enjoyed my career and reached the highest position any nurse can reach in those days, which is the director of nursing.

PT: How are you spending your retirement?

Atinuke: I travel a lot within and outside Nigeria. I also enjoy reading.

photos courtesy:Miss Nigeria

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The All Progressives Congress has denied reports that the Minister for Women Affairs, Aisha Alhassan, led a protest to its headquarters on Thursday.

The party said, on Saturday, that Thursdays visit by Taraba State APC members led by Mrs. Alhassan was made to request the allocation of federal projects in the northeast state, and to thank President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing Taraba indigenes into his government.

Mrs. Alhassan was earlier reported by the media as saying that Mr. Buhari and the APC had abandoned party members from the state.

See the full statement.

The attention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been drawn to media reports on Thursdays courtesy visit on the Partys National Leadership by the Honourable Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Aisha Jummai Alhassan who led a delegation of Taraba APC leaders to the National Secretariat of the Party in Abuja.

For the records, the widely-covered courtesy visit was not a protest as reported in some sections of the media.

The Honourable Minister of Women Affairs briefed the Partys leadership on developments and activities of the Taraba APC, post 2015 governorship election in which the Minister contested as the Partys governorship candidate.

The Minister also used the opportunity to convey to the Partys National Leadership the request of the Taraba APC delegation particularly on citing of federal projects in Taraba State and appointment of qualified Taraba State APC members into yet-to-be occupied appointive positions in the President Muhammabu Buhari led APC administration.

At the meeting, the Honorable Minister thanked the President for key appointments made from Taraba State including hers, Ambassador, Director General of Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) amongst others.

The Partys leadership promised to consider the request made by the Taraba APC delegation and consult with relevant stakeholders in the Party and government.

The APC remain proud of the Honourable Minister for leaving more than a few indelible cracks in the glass ceiling as our candidate in the 2015 governorship election in Taraba State. She remains strong evidence that APC is the only Party willing to give women a real chance.

SIGNED:

Bolaji Abdullahi

National Publicity Secretary

All Progressives Congress (APC)

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No fewer than 78,378 pupils are participating in the ongoing 2017 National Common Entrance Examination across the country, according to the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu.

The minister disclosed this on Saturday in Abuja during a visit to some centres in the Federal Capital Territory.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that prospective students for the Junior Secondary School (JSS) I of the 104 Unity Colleges in the country sat for the examination organised by the National Examinations Council (NECO).

Mr. Adamu, who commended NECO for a hitch-free exercise, said: The exam is taking place all over the country but in Borno and Adamawa, the exam is restricted to places that are free from the activities of the insurgents.

With what I am seeing in this centre and if all places are like this, I think I am satisfied. We will try to make the pupils more comfortable in future exams.

Mr. Adamu said the number of successful candidates in the examination would determine the number of candidates to be admitted into the government secondary schools.

It is the performance that will determine the cut-off mark and how many will be admitted into the secondary schools.

After the exam, there will also be interviews based on the performance of the pupils, the minister said.

Charles Uwakwe, the registrar of NECO, said there was an improvement in the conduct of this years exam compared to the 2016 exercise.

According to him, the examination is taking place in all the states including the North-Eastern part of the country with adequate security in place.

He said the examination recorded the highest enrollment of pupils from Lagos State with 24,816 candidates, while Kebbi was the least with 63 candidates.

He added that a foreign centre was established in Cotonou, Republic of Benin, to accommodate pupils from the region.

The result of the examination will be given to the Federal Ministry of Education on April 12 for onward release to the public, said Mr. Uwakwe.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondents, who monitored the exam which started at 9.40 a.m., reports that the exercise was hitch-free at Government Secondary School, Wuse Zone 3 and Tudun Wada Secondary School in Zone 4, Abuja.

Pupils, who turned out in large numbers, wore their school uniforms.

Parents and guardians were also seen waiting patiently for their children and wards to finish the exam. (NAN)

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Gov. Muhammadu Bindow of Adamawa has disassociated himself and his administration from reported threat to quit the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that recent media reports quoted Abdulrahman Abba-Jimeta, the chief of staff to the governor as saying that the state-led APC government may be forced to leave APC.

He had said this measure might be taken if the partys national secretariat did not address the problem of its (Adamawa APC) marginalization by the national body on issues regarding the party in the state.

The governor ,who spoke through the Commissioner of Information and Strategy, Ahmad Sajoh, told journalists that the statement of the Chief of Staff was not fair to the governor, who had declared his full support to the party.

What Abba-Jimeta said was his personal opinion and the governor did not waste time in countering him at the event.

The way the story was presented by the media is not fair to the governor.

Whatever a governors aide said cannot supersede what the governor said at an event; we must subscribe to what the governor said as it overrides whatever his aides say.

We are loyal to the party; we are loyal to the leadership of the party and we are loyal to President Muhammadu Buhari, he stressed (NAN)

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Popular Nigerian author and columnist has lashed out at the State Security Service after being briefly detained at the international airport in Lagos.

In a message on his Facebook wall late Saturday, Okey Ndibe said he was taking in for questioning by the secret police.

He was believed to be coming in from the United States where he has lived since 1998.

The author and lecturer said the action of the SSS was due to his name being on a security watchlist.

He said his name was first added to the list in 2010 by the Umaru YarAdua administration, and that he was detained in a similar manner that year.

He said he turned down todays suggestions from SSS operatives that he should visit Abuja to have his name removed from the list.

The SSS could not be reached for comment as the department has failed to appoint a spokesperson for over a year.

Mr. Ndibe is known for his incisive commentaries on Nigerian public affairs, most of them addressing government ineptitude, corruption and human rights abuses.

Read Mr. Ndibes full statement on the encounter below:

I had another irritating encounter with the SSS at Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos. I told the officers who took me to their office for questioning that its shameful they salute and escort corrupt officials but harass a citizen who insists we can, and should, have a sane system based on true democratic values, the equality of all citizens before the law, and political accountability.

For the record, the SSS officials were courteous throughout. Once again, they advised me to go to Abuja and apply to have my name expunged from their watchlist. No, I said. I did not go to Abuja in 2010 to ask the Umaru YarAdua administration to put me on a list of enemies of the state. I will not go to Abuja to plead that my name be removed from the list.

I thank all of you whove written or called to inquire my wellbeing. Im in wonderful spirits, far from cowed. Fear is a choice, Ive chosen not to fear.

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Following allegations of manipulations of smart meters levelled by Plateau residents against the Jos Electricity Distribution Company, JEDC, the company on Friday said it had suspended installation of smart prepaid meters.

The JEDC announced the suspension after the Nigeria Electricity Management Service Agency, NEMSA, which investigated the residents complaints, said the metres were not certified.

A representative of the aggrieved residents, Sam Tokz, who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES on Friday, confirmed the suspension of the installation via a telephone interview.

The procedure for certification of any meter brought into Nigeria according to NEMSA is to first take the sample of the meter the company intends to import into Nigeria.

NEMSA will check and approve when it meets the consumption rate of Nigeria, where it does, approval is given for the DISCO to import in large quantity.

The distribution company is expected to take it back to NEMSA to certify and calibrate each meter and further (stamp) their seals on it before the DISCO goes ahead to install, he said.

Some of the other complaints by the residents included outrageous billings of the consumers, indiscriminate estimate of bills without letting consumers know the parameters used, and poor response to consumers complaints.

However, the JEDC spokesperson, Elijah Friday, explained that the introduction of the new meter was as a result of persistent complaints by consumers over the estimated billing system.

He alleged that the resistance to accept the new meter was because of the sinister motive of the consumers.

Mr. Friday rebuffed the allegation that the new smart meters were not certified and calibrated by NEMSA.

According to him, The new meters were comprehensively certified and met standards, he said.

These meters were tested, completely tested. In short, when they came here, they said it was un-calibrated and I just laughed. If it had not been calibrated, then why are we mounting it?, he added.

That claim has however been faulted by the regulator, NEMSA.

Fridays suspension of the installation of the new meter by JEDC was as a result of Thursdays tour by members of NEMSA to various residential areas in Jos.

Confirming Mr. Tokz earlier statement, the Managing Director of NEMSA, Peter Ewesor, said the installed meters were not certified by the agency.

The smart meters currently being installed in Plateau are not certified by us and do not carry our seal, he said.

The Managing Director of JEDC, Gidado Modibo, however said Mr. Ewesors claim was false. He also tendered documents and said that the meters were certified at the National Meter Testing Station in Kaduna by NEMSA in 2015.

Mr. Modibo, however, stated that the suspension of the meters would allow them undergo a new re-certification process by NEMSA.

He also reinstated the companys efforts to replace wooden poles, adding that one of the challenges JEDC has been facing is the case of by-pass by consumers.

The JEDC has, however, not spoken of on the fate of the consumers who already have the smart meters.

When asked what would happen to people who already have the new smart meters installed in their homes, Mr. Tokz said, We intend to go to court for compensation.

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Friday arraigned one Suzan Vega Ochuko before Justice P.I. Ajoku of the Federal High Court sitting in Benin, Edo State on a three-count charge of conspiracy and obtaining money by false pretence.

The defendant and one Tony Uyimwen, aka Alex Ethan (now at large), allegedly operating with a pseudo name, Alex Ethan, contacted one Mrs. Beatrice AUF DER MAUR from St. Gallen, Switzerland via Facebook and defrauded her of One Hundred and Thirty-Two Thousand Euro.

Mrs Auf Der Maur was allegedly hoodwinked into a love relationship with the defendant who subsequently defrauded her of the said amount under the pretence of executing a non existing contract.

The accused pleaded not guilty to the charge.

One of the counts reads: That you Suzan Vega Ochuko F and Tony Uyimwen M (a.k.a) Alex Ethan (now at large) on or about the 11th of March, 2016 at Benin, Edo State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court with intent to defraud when you made a false representation that you are Alex Ethan to one Mrs. Beatrice AUF DER MAUR and obtained the sum of 65, 000.00 (Euro), account number: 2024290579 of one Collins Peter which pretext you knew was false and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 1 (1) (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under section 1 (3) of the said Act.

Another count reads: That you Suzan Vega Ochuko F and Tony Uyimwen M (a.k.a) Alex Ethan (now at large) on or about the 18th of March, 2016 at Benin, Edo State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court with intent to defraud did obtain the sum of 67, 000.00 (Euro) under false pretence from one Mrs. Beatrice AUF DER MAUR account number: 2022547286 which pretext you knew was false and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 1 (1) (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under section 1 (3) of the said Act.

In view of her plea, the prosecution counsel, M.T. Iko, asked the court to fix a date for commencement of trial.

The defence counsel, Ekhator Ogiegbaen, told the court that he had filed a bail application for his client.

He pleaded with the court to grant his client bail as she would not jump bail and that the defendant was a nursing mother.

Although the prosecution counsel opposed the bail, Justice Ajoku granted the defendant bail in the sum of One Million Naira with two sureties in like sum.

The sureties must be civil servant not below grade level 12 or two sureties with landed property within the jurisdiction of the court.

The sureties must deposit original documents of their land titles with the court while the civil servant must produce an official letter from a superior in his office.

The documents are to be verified by the prosecution.

The matter was adjourned to June 14 for trial while the defendant is to be remanded in prison custody pending the perfection of her bail.

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The Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, on Thursday observed that there are about three million out of school children roaming the streets of the state, as Almajiri  pupils of Quranic schools converted to beggars.

He noted, however, that most of such kids were found out to be from neighbouring states and some countries in West Africa.

What we discovered from our survey is that many of these Almajiris come from the Niger Republic, some from Chad, Northern Cameroon and some from other states of the north-west, he pointed out.

Speaking during the Kaduna state Economic and Investment Summit, Mr. Ganduje said a recent survey carried out in the state established the number of the Almajiri, saying this has now become a social and economic problem.

So, if we can come together and have a common synergy to introduce a common legislation, preventing the movement of school age children from one place to another, I think the states will find it very easy to address the problem of Almajiri syndrome, he emphasised.

Stressing that the Almajiri syndrome is one of the serious problems worrying the North-west geopolitical zone, he said it was imperative for the seven states of the sub-region to identify the economic advantages they can use to move forward and tackle their common social problems.

He said: These seven states should try, identify the economic advantages that we can lay our hands on as to move this region forward. And what are the social problems that we are having?

This is the first time, since the inception of this democracy in 1999, where the seven governors (of the north-west zone) decided to come together to form a forum. We even went to the extent of employing a consultant who is giving us the green light on various issues on economic development.

Let me start with the position of the North-west in Nigeria. We are the most populous geopolitical zone, constituting 25 per cent of the population of Nigeria. With regards to land mass, we have 23 per cent of the land mass in Nigeria.

What we require now is the political will to come together and be fully integrated  socio-economic integration beyond paper integration, an integration that will bring development in terms of institutions and in terms of programmes that will improve the quality of lives of our people, Mr. Ganduje asserted.

It will be very important to have an integration commission which looks into the development capacity of our institutions, because whatever we want to do, if our institutions are not developed, then whatever we do may not be actualized, he said.

He highlighted the need to have a data bank that would contain demographic and economic facts from all the Northern states, for ease of planning and investment.

According to him, another issue is that we are individually conducting our educational programmes, if we come together to see how we can have different programmes in our university curriculum, it will help us specialize and we can even build universities that will specialise in the various programmes, thereby saving energy and resources for the development of our region.

The potentials of the north-west are very obvious. The north-west has the highest water density in the whole of West Africa.

The amount of water is such that they can feed the whole of West Africa and this is something that needs to be tapped, the governor said

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A group of sex workers plying their trade at Odo Owa, Ijero Local Government Area of Ekiti State are now on the run after allegedly attacking their landlord, one Olabode Samuel, and fled with his retirement benefits.

Sources say the prostitutes were tenants at the brothel operated by Mr. Samuel, who was attacked and killed by the ladies a few days after he collected his pension as a retiree.

It was gathered that the old man was tied to a steel bed inside his room and was set on fire by the attackers.

Confirming the incident on Friday, the police in Ekiti disclosed that Its preliminary findings showed that the victim was attacked by the prostitutes who he gave out some of his rooms to for their business.

The Ekiti State Police Public Relations Officer, Alberto Adeyemi, said Mr. Samuel was attacked by the sex workers who rented some rooms in his house.

The man just collected his pension and thrifts which the prostitutes became aware of, Mr. Adeyemi said.

They dispossessed him of the money and tied him to a bed in the house. Neighbours were not aware of this until his body started decomposing.

We are on the trail of the suspects and would ensure they are brought to justice.

Mr. Adeyemi advised residents to be their brothers keepers and report suspicious movement to the police for prompt action.

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The family of an Egg Harbor Township man who died in State Police custody last week wants to know what led to his death.

Marshall Zamor, 39, died March 29 after a traffic stop on the Atlantic City Expressway, family attorney Josh Stein said.

Stein said Zamor was stopped at 10:52 a.m., but he couldn't say the reason for the stop.

Zamor was transferred to the State Police expressway barracks, where required Zamor medical attention. He was transported to Mainland hospital in Galloway and was pronounced dead at 1:11 p.m.

The family has not been told why Zamor was stopped or how he died, Stein said.

State Police have not released notice that Zamor died. Stein said Zamor was in good health and had recently been approved to donate a kidney to his father.

Zamor moved to the area from Missouri in 2007, according to public records.
Palm Sunday: For some, its the final day of giving up their favorite vices for Lent. For others, its the kickoff to Holy Week.

For non-Christians, seeing churchgoers with palm leaves folded into a cross or a bushel of palm fronds may be perplexing. So where did the tradition come from?

Between Palm Sunday and Holy Saturday before Easter, Christians recognize this as the week Jesus Christ was betrayed by Judas, put on trial, and crucified.

We remember Jesus came into Jerusalem and he was was welcomed with palms, said Deacon Bob Oliver of St. Josephs Roman Catholic Church in Somers Point.

Jesus is said to have returned to the city, riding a donkey, where he was welcomed by the masses who laid palm fronds at his feet.

For some, this may conjure images from popular culture of Roman emperors being fanned with palm leaves but the imagery isnt too far off and palm fronds had symbolic significance during Biblical times as they were often thrown at the feet of heroes, according to the Mirror Online.

Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter, marks the start of the Holy Week that encompasses Maundy Thursday, which commemorates the last supper of Jesus; Good Friday, when Jesus was crucified; and Holy Saturday, the day Jesus was placed in his tomb after his death

We read The Passion  its one of the longest readings we do here, said Oliver. It spans from Jesus conviction all the way to his crucifixion.

We remember the suffering and trials he had to go through, he said.

As such, being given palms became a tradition for worshipers who would reenact Jesuss arrival, says the Mirror.

Miss America contestants to raise funds for children's hospitals Saturday Miss America contestants from last years competition will participate in the third annual M

In more modern times, palms are distributed to Mass-goers and are blessed with holy water. Some are even given small crosses, made of folded palms, to take home. The palms are burnt the following year.

Traditionally, ashes on Ash Wednesday are made with the palms from the previous year, said Oliver.
WILDWOOD  Three men were charged with robbery Wednesday after police said they stole marijuana from a drug dealer.

Sharif Wilson, 36, and Kyle Wilson, 34, both of Wildwood, and Vincent Tyler, 24, of Philadelphia, were each charged with first-degree robbery of more than 50 grams of marijuana in a home invasion, police said Friday.

The robbery victim, Lee Robinson, 45, of Wildwood, was arrested after officers searched his home in the 100 block of East Rio Grande Avenue and found marijuana and steroids, police said.

Patrol officers saw two men exit Robinsons home at an unusually fast pace just after 7 p.m. Wednesday, police said. A third man stood outside the residence, police said.

When officers approached the home, the two men tried to run back inside but were detained by police along with the man standing outside, authorities said.

In addition to robbery, Wilson, Wilson and Tyler were each charged with third-degree possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, fourth-degree possession of more than 50 grams of marijuana and fourth-degree conspiracy, police said.

Robinson implicated himself as a street-level marijuana dealer in a statement to detectives, police said.

Police seized about 2 pounds of marijuana, 800 tablet doses of suspected steroids, 40 vials of suspected steroids, packaging material and a weighing device at Robinsons home, police said.

Robinson was charged with third- and fourth-degree drug-related charges, police said.

Wilson, Wilson and Tyler were taken to the Cape May County jail; Robinson was freed on a summons, police said.
Now that House Speaker Paul Ryan and his fellow Republicans first proposed health care bill has failed, New Jersey health industry experts may have a better chance of implementing their own changes to the states Medicaid program.

The New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute, a nonpartisan health advocate organization, gathered a large group of health providers and stakeholders to create Medicaid Blueprint 2.0, a plan to redesign and improve the states largest health care delivery system intended to support vulnerable populations.

Finding more efficient ways to deliver and pay for health care will be critical as we enter a time of increasing pressures on the states budget, said Linda Schwimmer, president of the health care institute.

More than 1.7 million people were on Medicaid in New Jersey as of December, according to the Department of Medical Assistance and Health Services. About 553,000 low-income adults obtained health care coverage after the state opted into the Affordable Care Acts Medicaid expansion in 2014.

The blueprint report, funded by the Nicholson Foundation, found New Jerseys Medicaid population has expanded significantly over the years. All but two counties have more than 10 percent of their populations on Medicaid.

Cumberland County has one of the highest percentages, with nearly one in three people on Medicaid.

Ryan and the majority of Republican legislators supported an overhaul of Medicaid in the American Health Care Act, which included giving less federal money to states to support their programs. The bill did not have enough support from Republicans for a vote and was withdrawn.

CDC conducting nutrition, health interviews in Atlantic County U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials will interview Atlantic County res

Blueprint plans included ways the state can modernize Medicaid to better serve patients and financially support the health care industry, including potentially saving the state up to $450 million in projected spending.

New Jerseys Medicaid program costs taxpayers about $15 billion annually, the report states.

Our committee groups looked at our current Medicaid system, what was working, what could be done better, and we looked at other parts of the country to see what was working there, Schwimmer said. Recommendations in the Blueprint have the potential to save New Jersey Medicaid spending.

The blueprint report places emphasis on keeping the states Medicaid expansion coverage in place as it has improved insured rates and decreased the numbers of people relying on emergency and charity care at hospitals.

Twenty-four recommendations were aimed at reducing Medicaid costs while not losing quality of care, but those avenues would include some upfront costs.

Experts recommended establishing a New Jersey Office of Transformation, increasing transparency of Medicaid data, improving how eligibility is determined, expanding telehealth services, updating Medicaid regulations and reducing fraud, waste and abuse of the program.

Additional improvements would benefit those getting treatment for mental health, substance abuse disorders and other behavioral health issues, childrens health, maternity and end-of-life care.

In the event that federal changes to Medicaid are made  so far, any changes are aimed at reducing funding to expansion states  Schwimmer said adjustments to the blueprint and recommendations might be made going forward.

Right now, were developing a working plan for the next steps, and now we have to gather feedback from interested parties, she said, including a new governors administration. The phone is ringing off the hook, so were planning on assessing things that have the most support and things that make sense to move forward with quickly.
HOUSE

Stock compensation for employees: The House on April 4 voted 331-87 to make it easier for private firms to offer stock compensation to employees without triggering Securities and Exchange Commission disclosure requirements. The bill raises from $5 million to $10 million the threshold in stock compensation over 12 months before SEC rules are invoked. A yes vote was to send HR 1343 to the Senate.

Frank LoBiondo, R-2nd: YES

Tom MacArthur, R-3rd: YES

Congressional Trump-Russia probes: The House on April 4 refused, 185-228, to deny benefits under HR 1343 (above) to any firm whose officers or directors withhold from congressional committees information about ties between aides to candidate Donald Trump and Russian officials aimed at shaping the outcome of the 2016 presidential race. A yes vote was to adopt the Democratic motion.

LoBiondo: NO

MacArthur: NO

South Jersey congressmen voice approval for Trump's decision to strike Syria President Donald Trump's decision to fire 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian airfield was met 

Stop-loss insurance rules: The House on April 5 voted 400-16 to prohibit future federal regulation of stop-loss insurance as health insurance under laws including the Affordable Care Act. This would benefit self-funded company health plans that use stop-loss policies to protect against catastrophic losses. A yes vote was to pass HR 1304.

LoBiondo: YES

MacArthur: YES

Tax-code reform, Trump finances: The House on April 5 killed, 228-185, a Democratic motion to force consideration of a resolution that would block action on tax-reform legislation until after the Ways and Means Committee has privately reviewed President Trumps tax returns from 2007-16 to determine how proposed tax-code changes would affect his finances. A yes vote was to kill the motion.

LoBiondo: YES

MacArthur: YES

Easing venture capital rules: The House on April 6 voted 417-3 to raise from 100 to 250 the number of investors allowed to join so-called angel private-equity funds before SEC registration rules take effect. Together, they could pool up to $10 million for purchasing nonpublic, unregistered securities in promising start-ups and other enterprises that seek capital. A yes vote was to pass a bill (HR 1219) that would spur investment in start-up firms.

LoBiondo: YES

MacArthur: YES

SENATE

Elaine Duke confirmation: The Senate on April 4 confirmed, 85-14, Elaine C. Duke as deputy secretary in the Department of Homeland Security, the departments second-ranking official. A yes vote was to confirm Duke, a highly regarded manager who has held homeland-security posts under GOP and Democratic presidents.

Robert Menendez, D: NO

Cory Booker, D: NO

Whitehead begins campaign for Atlantic City mayor ATLANTIC CITY  To turn the city around, Jimmy Whitehead wants to turn the gambling mecca in

Confirming Justice Neil Gorsuch: The Senate on April 7 confirmed, 54-45, Judge Neil M. Gorsuch of the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals as the 113th Supreme Court justice. Gorsuch, 49, fills a vacancy created when Justice Antonin Scalia died in February 2016. The GOP majority kept the seat open during Barack Obamas final 10 months as president by refusing to act on his nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to replace Scalia. A yes vote was to confirm Gorsuch.

Menendez: NO

Booker: NO

Choosing the nuclear option: Voting 48-52, the Senate on April 6 changed filibuster rules to set a simple-majority vote as the bar that must be cleared for advancing Supreme Court nominees. This replaced three-fifths majorities (usually 60 votes) as the hurdle. A yes vote was to avert the nuclear option and retain the 60-vote standard. A no vote was to change the rules and lower the standard.

Menendez: YES

Booker: YES

Winning filibuster against Gorsuch: The Senate on April 6 failed, 55-45, to reach 60 votes for ending a Democratic filibuster against the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch. This prompted GOP leaders to immediately invoke the nuclear option (above) and set a simple majority as the bar for advancing high-court nominees. A yes vote was to end a filibuster against the Gorsuch nomination.

Menendez: NO

Booker: NO

Source: Voterama in Congress
SYDNEY, April 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- BrandSnob celebrated the relaunch of its Influencer Marketplace iPhone app with a VIP event at one of Sydney's most prestigious hot spots Pelicano last week.

Samantha Jade who jetted in from London for the event performed for a glamorous crowd including celebrities and social media influencers, before a fashion show and live video demo of the BrandSnob iPhone app.

Alice Roberts, Mark Nicholas, and Camilla Akerberg at BrandSnob VIP Event Model Imogen Anthony attended the BrandSnob event with friends Natalie Keys and Krystal Dawson. Samantha Jade performed at the BrandSnob Relaunch in Sydney's Double Bay.

BrandSnob whose V1 (version one) saw success as a platform for influencers and brands to meet, has made a progressive shift in their positioning and purpose behind their second version. What was once an influencer meeting place has now been transformed into an influencer marketplace. In just a few minutes brands can create social media campaigns targeting Snobs (aka social media influencers) that are a match based on their industry, location, preferred gender and social media reach. Influencers can now make offers and negotiate with brands all from a mobile IOS app. This supports the company's straight to the point tagline, "the simple way to collaborate."

More than 200 guests, including socialite Imogen Anthony, and actor Firass Dirani attended the launch and enjoyed moorish morsels and BrandSnob Champagne cocktails whilst mingling with other Instagram influencers.

With the popularity of influencer marketing at an all-time high, new platforms continue to emerge in this space. Co-Founder David Duncan spoke about how BrandSnob's marketplace differentiates itself from the rest of the pack. "We have really made brand to influencer negotiations simple. That is with one tap, an influencer or brand can decide how many posts they would like and at what price," said Duncan.

Fellow Co-Founder, Tony Coiro said, "Our focus is to give brands access to the best community of Instagram influencers and YouTube content creators to help grow their brand across social media. It's also important for us to maximize our influencers earning potential with great collaboration and brand sponsorship opportunities."

BrandSnob is available on the AppStore and free for brands to use, with no subscription or booking fees.



More information: www.brandsnob.co

Download the app: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/brandsnob/id959411705?ls=1&mt=8

Instagram: @brandsnob

Media Contact: Rachel Brooker Email: [email protected]

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SOURCE BrandSnob


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Applications are now being accepted for prospective students wishing to join the inaugural classes, which will start this fall. A public information session featuring an academic panel for both programs will take place at the Liberal Arts and Science Building, Education City, on Wednesday, April 19th at 5:00 pm. An additional information sessions is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, May 10th.

The announcement of the new programs, which will be delivered by HBKU's College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS), demonstrates the university's commitment to developing innovative ways of serving the specific educational needs of Qatar and the region. Commenting on the establishment of the new programs, Dr. Ahmad Hasnah, President of HBKU, said: "At HBKU we are committed to building knowledge and capacity through the establishment of programs that offer ways to accelerate thinking in areas that have been identified as priorities in our region.

"Our new programs utilize a multidisciplinary and innovative approach to learning in order to shed fresh light on two fascinating fields of study. By harnessing the expertise of our exceptional faculty and through exchanges and joint activities with other institutions, both within Education City and across Qatar, we will provide our students with an outstanding opportunity for higher learning experience as well as developing leaders who will impact their communities."

Dr. Khaled B. Letaief, Provost of HBKU, said: "Both programs provide Qatar with the opportunity to take a regional lead in fields of scholarship that are gathering a great deal of global attention.

"Students will have the opportunity to shed fresh light on issues that impact society, whether focusing on how digital technologies increasingly intersect with traditional humanities disciplines, such as philosophy, history, literature and cultural studies or fostering a deeper understanding of women's issues as they relate to Qatar and the wider Arab world."

HBKU's Women, Society, and Development program is the first of its kind in the region and enrolled students can expect to gain a thorough understanding of major strands in gender theory, and learn about Arab women from a historical and contemporary context.

"The degree will be interdisciplinary, drawing upon a number of specializations such as social sciences, politics and international relations, law and media", notes the Founding Dean of CHSS, Dr. Amal Al Malki. "Through their studies, students will develop the skills necessary to go on and build effective mainstream public policies that can help solve challenges encountered by women in all areas of society and will serve to enhance Qatar's global efforts to promote human development as it relates to women."

The other newly launched program explores another underrepresented field of study regionally. Over the last decade, cultures have been dramatically changed by the increasing influence of digital technologies and the MA in Digital Humanities and Societies program will focus on the role, impact, and consequences of digital influence on culture. "Ours is a unique program due to its cultural and regional focus, structure, and content. It is also the first program in the region to offer a multidisciplinary approach by exploring the links between arts, anthropology, sociology, media, communication, and urbanism, that all govern modern social interactions," explains Dr. Al Malki.

Specifically, the program's focus is to teach the relevant knowledge of digitization, presentation, and interpretation of both qualitative and quantitative data. This program prepares students for careers that intersect with academic research, journalism, private businesses, policy developers, communication, and data analysis and management.

HBKU continues to place emphasis on developing and delivering unique interdisciplinary programs that address contemporary societal concerns cutting across multiple areas of study. Both newly announced programs have been built in consultation with a cross section of experts in the field of humanities and government officials.

The new programs have been welcomed by a number of prominent members of the Qatari community with an interest in the development of the humanities and social sciences. "The two MA programs will contribute to building the capabilities of Qatari citizens academically and intellectually, thus enabling them to enhance their own careers and leadership skills," noted Sheikh Hamad bin Thamer Al-Thani, the Chairman of the Qatar Media Corporation. "These programs will also help meet society's current and future needs for such areas of expertise, thus enriching and strengthening the educational, social, intellectual and cultural dimensions in Qatar."

Speaking about the launch of the Women Society and Development program, His Excellency Dr. Hamad bin Abdulazeez Al-Kuwari, Adviser at Amiri Diwan and Qatar's candidate for the Director-General post at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said: "The launch of an MA program focusing on Arab women studies marks another milestone in Qatar's track record, as it comes at a time when the entire world is calling for the development of education systems."

Executive Director of Doha International Family Institute, Noor Al-Malki Al Jehani said: "The time has come to prepare a generation of male and female specialists in Arab women studies so that they can contribute to challenging stereotypes and illusions associated with Arab women."

Online admission for both programs is open until May 1st for the first admissions cycle, and June 1st for the second admissions cycle. More information about all of HBKU's academic programs is available at hbku.edu.qa.

About Hamad Bin Khalifa University

Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), a member of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, is an emerging research university that is building its foundation upon unique collaborations with local and international partners. Located in Education City, HBKU delivers undergraduate and graduate programs through its College of Science and Engineering, College of Law and Public Policy, College of Health and Life Sciences, College of Islamic Studies, and its College of Humanities and Social Sciences. It also provides unparalleled opportunities for research and scholarship through its research institutes, and its Center of Executive Education delivers customized programs for the business community of Qatar and the region, in line with Qatar National Vision 2030.

SOURCE Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU)
Both these new locations feature the brand's latest 2017 collection of sunglasses and trendy series of optical frames. With its roster of eyewear designers hailing from Hong Kong, Korea, and China, all MUJOSH eyewear features an Asian fit for its discerning clientele. The sunglasses line features three main collections: Lifestyle, Sense and Coolbe while the optical frames focus on Cat-Eye and Pilot shapes, both popular Asian trends as well as the innovative Eyebrow and Retro shapes.

With so many stylish and fashion-forward men and women in the Philippines, it is a milestone for MUJOSH to open in Manila and Cebu as part of its business expansion. The brand aims to bring its cutting-edge style and innovative spirit to the Philippine fashion market.

About MUJOSH

Established in 2010, MUJOSH is a cutting-edge fashion eyewear brand headquartered in Hong Kong. Boldly combining unique elements and styles into design, this dedicated brand has an attitude of its own to encourage the young group to think out of the box and to be innovative.

Over 700 MUJOSH specialty stores locate in high-end shopping malls and department stores covering Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Australia, Canada, and now, the Philippines.

For more information about MUJOSH, please visit MUJOSH Philippines Facebook Fan Page: www.facebook.com/mujoshph

SOURCE MUJOSH
If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here
Mumbai, April 5 : Under pressure from ruling ally Shiv Sena and the opposition clamouring for farm loans waiver, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said the Maharashtra government is studying the Uttar Pradesh model to help farmers.

"I have already instructed the state Finance Secretary to study the UP farm loan waiver model and see how it can be implemented here," Fadnavis informed the state legislature.

He said the government has already sought central assistance to write off the farm debts here, but in case that was not possible the state government would explore ways and means through its own resources.

"We are working hard to help our farmers since day one of our government," Fadnavis assured amidst loud demands for making farmers debt-free from the BJP ally Shiv Sena, Congress, Nationalist Congress Party and others.

Fadnavis' assurance came a day after the shocking incident of two graduate debt-ridden farmer-brothers ending their lives in Satara on Tuesday.

According to Satara Superintendent of Police Sandip Patil, the deceased were Jagannath Chavan and his brother Vijay Chavan, both science graduates, married and having two sons each.

They ran an agro-processing unit in MIDC, Karad and were being harassed by recovery agents for repaying a loan of around Rs five million, Patil said.

On Monday, Vijay consumed poison at the factory. After hearing the tragedy, his brother Jagannath also jumped before a train and ended his life.

Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray has lauded Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's announcement writing off all farm-debts upto Rs one lakh for the farmers of his state.

"It's a creditable achievement, he has kept his pre-poll promise... He has proved that election promises need not be mere 'jumlas', but can be implemented," Thackeray said in a statement in party mouthpiece Saamana Group.

"If the CM of the biggest state (UP) in the country can do it, then why should the CM of the largest agricultural state (Maharashtra) lag behind? We want a complete farm loans waiver... That is our demand and will always remain," Thackeray declared grimly.

The Maharashtra Congress-NCP and other parties who completed a weeklong 'Sangharsh Yatra' across the state on Tuesday for farm loans waiver, raised the same demand again vociferously.
Washington, April 6 : NASA Astronaut Peggy Whitson is set to add another feather in her record-breaking cap. Already poised to break the record for cumulative time spent in space by a US astronaut, Whitson is set to extend her mission with an additional three months at the International Space Station.

NASA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos, signed an agreement to extend Peggy Whitson's stay on the space station into Expedition 52, the US space agency said in a statement on Thursday.

"This is great news," Whitson said.

"I love being up here. Living and working aboard the space station is where I feel like I make the greatest contribution, so I am constantly trying to squeeze every drop out of my time here. Having three more months to squeeze is just what I would wish for," she added.

This is Whitson's third long-duration stay onboard the space station.

She launched on November 17 with 377 days in space already under her belt, and on April 24 will break Jeff Williams' standing US record of 534 cumulative days in space.

In 2008, Whitson became the first woman to command the space station, and on April 9 will become the first woman to command it twice. In addition, she holds the record for most spacewalks by a female.

The new agreement between NASA and Roscosmos allows Whitson to add three months to record-breaking mission at the space station.

Rather than returning to Earth with her Expedition 51 crew mates Oleg Novitsky of Roscosmos and Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency), in June as originally planned, Whitson will remain on the space station and return home with NASA's Jack Fischer and Roscosmos' Fyodor Yurchikhin.

That landing is targeted for September, NASA said.

"Peggy's skill and experience makes her an incredible asset aboard the space station," said Kirk Shireman, NASA's International Space Station Program Manager.

"By extending the stay of one of NASA's most veteran astronauts, our research, our technology development, our commercial and our international partner communities will all benefit," Shireman added.
Damascus, April 7 : The US has struck an airbase in Syria's central region and caused losses, a military source said on Friday.

The Thursday night attack targeted the Shairat military base in the central Homs province, the source told Xinhua news agency.

The state TV called the attack an "American aggression".

The US launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the airbase from which the aircraft that carried out the chemical strikes earlier this week took off, CNN said.

The extent of losses remained unknown, the source said, adding that the army's general command is awaiting reports from Homs.

The strike marked the US response to the chemical attack on rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province, reports said.

Washington has accused the Syrian Army of being behind the toxic attack that killed over 70 including many children, an allegation totally denied by Damascus.
Tehran, April 7 : Iran strongly condemned the US missile attack on a Syrian army airbase, calling it a "dangerous" action, state TV reported on Friday.

The missile attack is a "pretext for unilateral action, dangerous, destructive and violation of peremptory principles of international laws", Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said.

The US launched 59 Tomahawks at the Shayrat airport in central Syria late Thursday, the Pentagon confirmed, saying the strike was intended to deter the Syrian government from using chemical weapons again.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said on Thursday that the Syrian recent airstrike on a rebel-held town in Idlib province in northwestern Syria struck a rebel depot containing chemical materials, denying that the air force fired toxic gas during the attack.
Dirang (Arunachal Pradesh), April 7 : Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Friday began his winding road journey to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh -- the high point of his visit that has angered China.

The Dalai Lama was to start his week-long religious visit to Arunachal Pradesh from Tawang on April 4. But bad weather forced him to take to the road as his helicopter couldn't take off from Dibrugarh in Assam.

Nestled among the snow-covered mountains and perched at a height of 10,000 feet, Tawang is home to Monpa people who practice Tibetan Buddhism. The town is all set to welcome the Dalai Lama.

Tawang has been decorated with colourful prayer flags, besides Indian and Tibetan flags and flowers. The roads have been repainted and the drains cleared.

The Nobel peace laureate will stay at Tawang monastery, the largest in India and second only to the world's largest - the Potala Palace in Tibet.

The 81-year-old Dalai Lama's journey to Tawang will take him over the 13,700 feet Sela Pass. He is likely to touch Tawang after noon.

"Hundreds of people are holding traditional ceremonial scarves and burning incense all along the road to see the Dalai Lama and receive his blessings," a government official told IANS

Security forces kept a vigil, particularly at Sela Pass, which is wet because of melting snow, muddy and slippery.

"All necessary security arrangements have been taken," Arunachal Pradesh police chief Sandeep Goel told IANS.

The Dalai Lama first arrived in Bomdila, the district headquarters of West Kameng in Arunachal, and delivered his religious discourses and interacted with people.

From there, he drove to Dirang valley, about 50 km from Tawang where he consecrated the Thupsung Dhargyeling monastery on Thursday.

Chief Minister Pema Khandu is accompanying the Tibetan leader.

The Tawang monastery belongs to the Gelugpa school of Mahayana Buddhism and had a religious connection with Lhasa's Drepung monastery that continued during the British rule.

Beijing refers to this connection to claim Tawang as part of China after invading and taking over Tibet in 1950.

The Dalai Lama had stayed in the Tawang monastery for some days before he reached Assam after fleeing his homeland in 1959.

Thousands of people as far as from Ladakh and neighbouring Bhutan have descended at Tawang for a glimpse of the Dalai Lama.

"We have been preparing for the last two months. Everybody wants to see him, talk to him and get his blessings. The Dalai Lama is our revered leader," said the monastery Secretary, Lobsang Khum.

This will be the Dalai Lama's first visit to Arunachal after eight years.

His first visit to this mountainous state was in 1983 and the last trip was in 2009, which coincided with his 50 years since he crossed through Arunachal Pradesh.

The Dalai Lama has lived in India in self-imposed exile since 1959. India is also home to some 100,000 Tibetan exiles.
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.
Tawang (Arunachal Pradesh), April 7 : Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama arrived at the Tawang monastery in Arunachal Pradesh on Friday, the high point of a visit that has angered China.

Buddhist monks at the monastery, the biggest in India and second only to the world's largest -- the Potala Palace in Tibet, and scores of devotees received him warmly and with piety.

The Nobel peace laureate will stay at the monastery.

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu accompanied the Tibetan leader, who has lived in self-imposed exile in India since he fled Tibet in 1959.

Nestled among snow-covered mountains and perched at a height of 10,000 feet, Tawang is home to Monpa people who follow Tibetan Buddhism. The town was decked up to welcome the 81-year-old.

Tawang was decorated with colourful prayer flags, besides Indian and Tibetan flags and flowers. The roads were repainted and the drains cleared.

The Dalai Lama was to start his week-long religious visit to Arunachal Pradesh from Tawang on April 4. But bad weather forced him to take to the road as his helicopter couldn't take off from Dibrugarh in Assam.

Hundreds of people lined along the winding road to Tawang, holding traditional ceremonial scarves and burning incense, to see the Dalai Lama and receive his blessings, a government official told IANS

Thousands of people from as far as Ladakh and neighbouring Bhutan flocked to Tawang for a glimpse of the Dalai Lama.

"We have been preparing for the last two months. Everybody wants to see him, talk to him and get his blessings," said the monastery Secretary, Lobsang Khum.

The Tawang monastery belongs to the Gelugpa school of Mahayana Buddhism and had a religious connection with Lhasa's Drepung monastery that continued during the British rule.

Beijing refers to this connection to claim Tawang as part of China after invading and taking over Tibet in 1950.

The Dalai Lama had stayed in the Tawang monastery for some days before he reached Assam after fleeing his homeland in 1959.

The Dalai Lama first arrived in Bomdila, the district headquarters of West Kameng in Arunachal, and delivered religious discourses.

He then drove to Dirang valley, about 50 km from Tawang where he consecrated the Thupsung Dhargyeling monastery on Thursday.

Earlier on Friday, he left Dirang for Tawang by road.

Security forces kept a vigil, particularly at Sela Pass, which was wet because of melting snow, muddy and slippery.

This will be the Dalai Lama's first visit to Arunachal after eight years. His first visit to the state was in 1983 and the last trip was in 2009.

China has strongly opposed the Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing considers a part of Tibet.
Damascus, April 7 : Syria is consulting with its allies on a response to the US missile strike that targeted a Syrian air base, Information Minister Ramez Turjman said on Friday.

The minister said the Syrian leadership was consulting with Russia and Iran on the response to the "American aggression," reports Xinhua news agency.

The US launched a missile attack on the Shayrat Air Base in the central province of Homs in retaliation to the alleged chemical attack on a rebel-held town in the northwestern province of Idlib.
Tawang (Arunachal Pradesh), April 7 : Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama arrived here in Arunachal Pradesh on Friday, the high point of a visit which has angered China.

Buddhist monks and scores of devotees at the Tawang monastery, the biggest in India and second only to the world's largest, the Potala Palace in Tibet, received him warmly and with piety.

The Nobel peace laureate will stay at the monastery.

"He has arrived after a strenuous seven-hour road journey from Dirang. He is in the monastery praying," said the monastery Secretary, Lobsang Khum.

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu accompanied the Tibetan leader, who has lived in self-imposed exile in India since he fled Tibet in 1959.

Nestled among snow-covered mountains and perched at a height of 10,000 feet, Tawang is home to Monpa people who follow Tibetan Buddhism. The town was decked up to welcome the 81-year-old.

Tawang was decorated with colourful prayer flags, Indian and Tibetan flags as well as flowers. The roads were repainted and the drains cleared.

Thousands of people from as far as Ladakh and neighbouring Bhutan holding traditional ceremonial scarves and burning incense queued up on both sides of the road for a glimpse of the Dalai Lama.

Security forces kept a vigil in Tawang, about 25 km from the McMahon Line, an imaginary border known as the Line of Actual Control separating the Sino-Indian border.

The Dalai Lama was to start his week-long religious visit to Arunachal Pradesh from Tawang on April 4. But bad weather forced him to take to the road as his helicopter couldn't take off from Assam.

The Tawang monastery belongs to the Gelugpa school of Mahayana Buddhism and had a religious connection with Lhasa's Drepung monastery that continued during the British rule.

Beijing refers to this connection to claim Tawang as part of China after invading and taking over Tibet in 1950.

The Dalai Lama had stayed in the Tawang monastery for some days before he reached Assam after fleeing his homeland in 1959.

The Dalai Lama first arrived in Bomdila, the district headquarters of West Kameng in Arunachal, and delivered religious discourses.

He then drove to Dirang valley, about 50 km from Tawang where he consecrated the Thupsung Dhargyeling monastery on Thursday.

On Friday, he left Dirang for Tawang by road.

This will be the Dalai Lama's first visit to Arunachal after eight years. His first visit to the state was in 1983 and the last trip was in 2009.

China has strongly opposed the Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing considers a part of Tibet.

The Dalai Lama has lived in India since 1959. India is also home to some 100,000 Tibetan exiles.
Paris, April 8 : French President Francois Hollande on Friday said that the truck attack in a shopping street in central Stockholm showed that "relentless fight against terrorism must be a priority of European solidarity".

Expressing dismay and indignation, Hollande sent sympathy and solidarity message to families' victims, Xinhua reported.

In a joint statement with his German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said they were "distressed by the fact that Sweden may have been the victim of such an act of terrorism."

"In these difficult times, we stand alongside our Swedish friends. We hope that all the light will be be shed on this horrible act," they added.

Earlier on Friday, a truck crashed into a crowd on a shopping street and a department store in central Stockholm, killing at least four people and wounding many others.
Washington, April 8 : Chinese President Xi Jinping's wife Peng Liyuan visited an art school in US' Palm Beach accompanied by her counterpart Melania Trump, a media report said.

At the Bak Middle School of the Arts, Peng on Friday took tour of classrooms, watched performances by students and talked with them, Xinhua news agency reported.

She also joined a class about politics and economics, answered a question from a student reporter about her connection with arts, and was presented with a student's painting as souvenir.

Noting that China and the US should enhance communication and cooperation in the area of arts, Peng said she hoped that those at the art school would make greater contribution in strengthening the bilateral ties.

Peng is in Palm Beach with Xi for the Chinese President's first meeting with his US counterpart, Donald Trump.

Earlier the two leaders agreed that the meeting, held at the seaside Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, was "positive and fruitful".
New Delhi, April 8 : Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was on Saturday accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi received Hasina. She was then accorded a ceremonial guard of honour. Later in the morning Hasina paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at the Rajghat.

In a special gesture on Friday, Modi personally received his Bangladeshi counterpart at the airport. Hasina is on a four-day official visit to India.

Modi, on Saturday in a tweet said: "Will hold talks with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, during which we will discuss ways to further deepen ties between India and Bangladesh."

"At 3.30 p.m. today (Saturday),... Hasina and I will join a programme to honour Indian soldiers martyred in the 1971 war, at the Manekshaw Centre," he said.

This is her first bilateral visit to India in seven years. She last visited the country in January 2010.

Following the bilateral summit, over 20 agreements, including a civil nuclear and two memorandum of understanding (MoUs) on defence cooperation, were expected to be signed.
Washington, April 8 : Three crew members aboard the International Space Station are packing up their gear for a homecoming on Monday, ending their 173-day mission in space, NASA said.

Expedition 50 crew members Shane Kimbrough, Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko will take a ride back to Earth inside the Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft.

The are scheduled to land Monday at 7:21 a.m. EDT (4.51 p.m. India time) in Kazakhstan.

"Commander Shane Kimbrough, who is returning to Earth early Monday, took it easy Friday aboard the International Space Station. He and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Thomas Pesquet mainly performed light duty tasks and continued their daily exercise to stay healthy in space," NASA scientists wrote in a blog post on Friday.

"Cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko, who are returning home Monday with Kimbrough, continued packing the Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft that will parachute the trio to a landing in Kazakhstan after a 173 days in space," the blog post said.

Ryzhikov, who is on his first mission, will command the Soyuz during its undocking and reentry into Earth's atmosphere. Borisenko and Kimbrough are both wrapping up their second visit to space.

Whitson will become station commander for the second time in her career Sunday less than 24 hours before her crewmates undock from the Poisk module.

She stays behind with fellow Expedition 50-51 crew members Thomas Pesquet and Flight Engineer Oleg Novitskiy.
New Delhi : On March 30, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak arrived in Chennai for an official visit following an invitation from his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi.

This was Razak's third official visit as Prime Minister, and an important one at that, given the number of agreements that were signed. On a six-day visit, Razak reached New Delhi on March 31, and proceeded to Jaipur on April 2 following an invitation by Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia.

The Malaysian delegation's six-day official visit to India focused on the close political and economic ties between the two nations. Razak had written exclusively in the Hindustan Times about the purpose of his visit and how the two nations have shared similar trade, economic and personal/cultural affinities over the decades.

But what is really behind the Malaysian Prime Minister's official visit to India?

Razak's clicking a selfie with Tamil super star actor Rajinikanth at the latter's home in Chennai on March 31 indicates Malaysia's conscious attempt to bring "the people" of both Malaysia and India to a certain level of understanding, that the two nations share close cultural ties, apart from the trade and economic ties that already exist.

It is also seen as a move to appease the Tamil community in Malaysia, i.e., to suggest that the friendly and familiar relationship between the Tamil communities in both India and Malaysia remains strong. For Modi, too, the appeasement of the Tamil community in south India is a positive political move in the direction of winning over more adverse political opinions. (The south here includes the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana and the Union territories of Puducherry and Lakshadweep).

Jaideep Mazumdar, Joint Secretary in charge of Malaysia-India diplomatic relations in the Indian foreign ministry, confirmed the following:

- That India and Malaysia discussed $5 billion worth of two-way investments during Razak's five-day visit in a bid to boost economic linkages between Asia's third-largest economy (India) and one of the fastest-growing economies in South East Asia (Malaysia).

- That India is keen on building stronger political, economic and strategic ties with Malaysia, seen as a moderate Muslim nation with a population of approximately 28 million.

- That Indian firms have moved to Malaysia in a big way, making it a base to do business with other ASEAN nations.

- That Malaysia has invested about $6 billion worth of projects in India and Indian investment in Malaysia amounts to about $2.5 billion.

In the defence and security arena, Indian pilots operating Sukhoi-30 frontline fighter aircraft were training Malaysian defence personnel on Sukhois in Malaysia between 2008 and 2010.

Mazumdar also said that India inducted the Russian-made Sukhois into its inventory in 1997 and has been steadily adding to its numbers in the Indian Air Force. The two countries (India and Malaysia) held their first military exercises in 2012 and their first naval exercises in 2016.

In general, the relationship encompasses a very wide canvas from economic and commercial to defence and security, besides the traditional people-to-people links.

India and Malaysia signed an MoU on Defence Cooperation in 1993 and a Malaysia-India Defence Cooperation Meeting (MIDCOM) was established under its framework. Several MIDCOM meetings and reciprocal visits of high-level defence personnel have been taking place since 1993.

Defence cooperation with Malaysia is in the interest of India from the point of view of both economic and strategic aspects. Besides a seller-buyer relationship with respect to military hardware, India and Malaysia also cooperate to secure the Malacca Straits through joint patrols and other activities. India and Malaysia have discussed the issue of compulsory pilotage of the Malacca Straits at the latest Shangri La security dialogue held in Singapore. India's expertise in maritime security can be useful for protecting the narrow channel of the Malacca Straits from emerging non-traditional security threats in Southeast Asia.

Compared to Malaysia's relations with India during the administration of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed, Razak sees a new and improved relationship, a new "high" in the areas of infrastructure development, student exchange, and other areas.

The two nations agreed to revitalise the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), as well as to be more proactive in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

Overall, the two leaders unanimously declared that relations between India and Malaysia are at an all-time high.

However, like most official dignitary-level visits and meetings, what is reported of the diplomatic exchange between the leaders of both India and Malaysia goes only skin deep. There is more to Razak's visit to India.

Domestically the repercussions are enormous. During this somewhat volatile political situation at home (in Malaysia), there is a need to apply a holistic approach to governance. A large chunk of this governance involves placating and seeing to the needs of the different races within Malaysia, including the very influential and visible ethnic Indians -- most of whom are Tamils -- linguistically, religiously and culturally.

Furthermore, this holistic approach to diplomacy takes into consideration two other important aspects of strategic thinking: First, Razak's decision to visit India is closely tied to the geopolitical competition between India and China in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR); and second, Malaysia's stance as a small power juxtaposed with the major powers of India and China.

Malaysia's role can be best explained as a balancer between the two formidable powers. Both Razak and Modi realise the threat of an encroaching China into the Indian Ocean Region, but this point was not mentioned during talks between the two leaders.

The Indian Ocean Region provides critical sea trade routes that connect the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia with the broader Asian continent to the east and Europe to the west. A number of the world's most important strategic choke points, including the Straits of Hormuz and Malacca -- through which 32.2 million of barrels of crude oil and petroleum are transported per day, more than 50 percent of the world's maritime oil trade -- are found in the Indian Ocean Region, which itself is believed to be rich with energy reserves.

It is no surprise that Razak's recent visit focused discussions on defence issues as well. Beijing's regional vision, backed by $40 billion of pledged investment, outlines its One Belt, One Road (OBOR) plan, combining the revitalisation of ancient land-based trade routes, the Silk Road Economic Belt, with a Maritime Silk Road.

China's ties with regional states have deepened, including the influx of Chinese capital into construction projects in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Since launching counter-piracy operations in 2009, Beijing has become increasingly active in the region.

China has also undertaken efforts to modernise its military, particularly its naval deployment capabilities to protect overseas interests like personnel, property and investments. Experts also argue that Beijing's forays into what is at times described as India's neighbourhood are driven by China's excess capacity challenges -- incentivising Chinese firms out of domestic markets to compete in and open new markets abroad.

Furthermore, China-India relations are fraught, coloured by historical disputes and the perceived threat to India of China's rise. Tensions have persisted despite overtures by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Much of the friction stems from a longstanding dispute along a 4,000-km border that stretches from Kashmir in the west to India's far-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh and the legacy of the 1962 Sino-Indian War along the Himalayan border.

The expansion of a Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean has heightened India's concerns. Beijing says its activities are commercially motivated and intended to better protect its interests and people abroad. However, Brahma Chellaney of the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), an independent Indian think tank, argues a ramped up Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean and elsewhere is consistent with Xi Jinping's intention of making maritime power central to achieving Chinese dominance in Asia.

In order to be assured of state survival, Malaysia as a small power needs to further engage with India in the larger strategic context, to balance China's growing security presence in the Indian Ocean Region.

To sum up, Razak's visit to India was clearly more than the signing of MOUs worth billions of dollars. Both the nations reiterated the importance of the fight against terrorism, showing that this is a smokescreen for a deeper undeclared 'war' against China's strategic encroachment into the Indian Ocean Region.

Both India and Malaysia made it a point to say that they should identify, hold accountable and take strong measures against states which encourage, support and finance terrorism. The message was meant for Pakistan although not explicitly naming any country. Indirectly, China is also implicated as a major power which strategically supports Pakistan, and other littoral states in the Indian Ocean, such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

(The author is Senior Lecturer in Strategic Studies and International Relations in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities at National University of Malaysia, Selangor. The article is in special arrangement with South Asia Monitor/www.southasiamonitor.org)
Washington, April 8 : Arkansas is rushing to execute seven death row inmates in 11 days this month before the US states lethal drugs used in injections expire, the media reported.

Arkansas officials blame the hurried execution schedule on the drug shortage, which has sent states scrambling for replacement chemicals and, in some cases, has caused them to contemplate other methods of execution, The Washington Post reported on Friday.

These executions would be the first in Arkansas in 12 years.

Governor Asa Hutchinson has admitted to feeling uneasy about being caught between needing to schedule them and the looming expiration of the state's stock of midazolam, a controversial sedative that will be one of three drugs used in the lethal injections.

"It's not my choice," Hutchinson told the media on Friday.

"I would love to have those extended over a period of multiple months and years, but that's not the circumstances that I find myself in."

The state's midazolam supply is set to expire at the end of April, according to officials.

"It is uncertain as to whether another drug can be obtained," the Governor added.

The seven inmates still facing execution all were convicted of capital murder. They all received their sentences by the year 2000.

Drug manufacturers are required by law to put an expiration date on drugs in the US, and after that date they cannot guarantee the drug's effectiveness or safety, reports The Washington Post.

Arkansas acquired its midazolam in 2015, according to state documents.

The drug prompted controversy after it was used in a bungled execution in Oklahoma and in lethal injections that were prolonged and included inmates gasping for breath in Ohio, Arizona and in Alabama.

Lethal injection remains the US' primary method of execution, but due to the shortage, states have also been looking to other methods.

Utah, Tennessee and Oklahoma added or broadened their abilities to use a firing squad, electric chair or nitrogen gas.
Washington, April 8 : US President Donald Trump and his visiting Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed to work with the international community to achieve a peaceful solution to the North Korea nuclear threat, according to a White House statement.

Following a second day of bilateral talks, press secretary Sean Spicer on Friday said both China and the US agreed to increase cooperation between the two superpowers to "convince North Korea to peacefully resolve the issue and dismantle its illegal nuclear and missile programmes" and to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons in the Korean peninsula, Politico news reported.

President Xi arrived at Trump's Mar-a-Lago Florida resort on Thursday.

According to Spicer, Xi and Trump "reaffirmed their commitment to a denuclearized Korean peninsula, and committed to fully implement UN Security Council resolutions."

During an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday, Trump warned that if China was unwilling to collaborate on North Korea, the US would be willing to go it alone.

"China will either decide to help us with North Korea or they won't," he said, adding "If they do, that will be very good for China, and if they don't, it won't be good for anyone."

The White House said Trump also stressed to Xi the importance of creating "reciprocal market access" that did not disadvantage American workers. Trump repeatedly bashed China on the campaign trail and upon taking office, blaming it for the loss of American jobs, reports Politico news.

At Mar-a-Lago on Friday, Trump urged China to take steps to "level the playing field for American workers," according to the White House statement.

"President Trump noted the challenges caused by Chinese government intervention in its economy and raised serious concerns about the impact of China's industrial, agricultural, technology, and cyber policies on US jobs and exports," it said.

Xi and Trump also discussed China's increased militarization in the South China Sea, with President Trump urging the Chinese to adhere to international norms.

Trump also "noted the importance of protecting human rights and other values deeply held by Americans," the statement added.
New Delhi, April 8 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said India had always stood for the prosperity of Bangladesh and committed $500 million credit for the country's defence.

"India has always stood for the prosperity of Bangladesh and its people. We are a long-standing and trusted development partner for Bangladesh. India and Bangladesh are also determined that the fruits of our cooperation must reach our people," Modi said in a joint address to the media with visiting Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Modi said India wanted to build cooperation in new areas with Bangladesh "especially in some high-technology sectors which would include working in the fields of electronics, IT, cyber security, space explorations and civil nuclear energy".

He announced a new concession line of credit of $4.5 billion for the implementation of core projects of Bangladesh that "brings our resources allocation for Bangladesh to more than $8 billion over more than past six years".

He also announced that Bangladesh would be given "a line of credit $500 million for Bangladesh's defence procurement, which will be guided by Bangladesh needs".

Hasina is on a four-day trip to India during which the two countries are expected to sign more than 20 agreements to boost bilateral ties.
Washington, April 8 : A young Indian man who arrived in the US only 25 days ago was shot dead by two masked men at the convenience store of a gas station here, authorities said.

India was coordinating with the investigating agencies in the US over the Thursday killing of Vikram Jaryal, 26, in Yakima city, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted on Saturday.

"I have received a report on the incident resulting in the tragic death of Jaryal in Washington State," Sushma Swaraj said.

According to her, the killers entered the AM-PM store at 1.30 a.m. They snatched cash from the victim and shot him on his chest, killing him.

Jaryal was from Hoshiarpur district in Punjab and worked as a clerk in the convenience store.

He was behind the counter when the two people in masks came in and robbed the store, according to NBC Right Now channel.

Police said Jaryal cooperated and handed over the money but one of the attackers still shot him in the chest before fleeing the site.

Police told the channel that the victim was able to tell officers what happened when they arrived a few minutes later, "but tragically, he died a short time later at the hospital".

Jaryal was rushed to the hospital but he succumbed to his injuries.

The police procured the CCTV footage to investigate the incident and were looking for the two persons in masks.

"Somebody knows something. Somebody knows these people. The still photos show a very recognisable top that one of the suspects is wearing," said Mike Bastinelli of Yakima Police.

"The shooter wore a black hoodie with patches of white on the back," he said.

According to Sushma Swaraj, Jaryal had reached the US only 25 days back.

She said Indian officials were coordinating with investigative agencies who "have got the CCTV footage and are in the process of apprehending the culprits.

"Our consulate in San Francisco is helping the family and following this up with the police authorities," she added.
Chandigarh, April 8 : Under pressure from opposition parties, especially after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath waived farm loans worth Rs 36,000 crore immediately after taking over, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday said his government was committed to the waiver of farm debts.

"My government would soon find ways and means to bail out the debt-ridden farmers, with or without the help of the central government," Amarinder told the media after inaugurating the store of a leading mart chain at Zirakpur, 15 km from here.

Assuring that his government was "duty-bound to fulfil every promise made to the people in its election manifesto", Amarinder said the state government had already approached the central government for waiver of farmers' loans.

"But even if it failed to get any support from the centre, we will ensure that the farmers are freed of their mounting debts. The state machinery has already been set into motion," the Chief Minister said.

He said that the drug menace would be eradicated from Punjab, as per the promise made by him.
New Delhi, April 8 : A "little amnesia," according to one of Indias foremost poets and short story writers, can help the contemporary shake off the shackles of the past and in the process poetry may turn out to be an important counterweight against the canonisation of myth as memory.

"The danger of myth becoming scripture and memory, as something to be remembered as having lived or occurred is something we must all be wary of. This sort of co-option -- the darker side of memory -- is linked to nostalgia. A little amnesia would benefit us all," Keki N. Daruwalla said a lively discussion on the second day of the ongoing Vak: The Raza Biennale of Indian Poetry.

He linked the conflation of myth with historical and racial anger and distrust.

"The healing touch against simplification and rewriting of history would come with the realisation that memory is also an investigation, not something inscribed in stone. Unless we forget, we will be always slaves to the kind of historic memory and philosophy people are thrusting on us," Daruwalla added.

The intellectual panel, titled "Poetry as Memory," was held at Triveni Kala Sangam as part of the ongoing Vak: The Raza Biennale of Indian Poetry.

The three-day Biennale is being organised by the Raza Foundation -- set up by the late master artist Sayed Haider Raza and helmed by eminent Hindi poet Ashok Vajpeyi, the Managing Trustee.

Setting the stage for the discussion, Vajpeyi said, "Today, all kinds of memories are being manufactured, erased, or suppressed. There is a kind of amnesia prevalent today. Poetry is a jar of memory, reminding and rehabilitating memory".

Vajpeyi moderated the discussion, which saw impassioned rebuttal arguments from noted social scientist Shiv Visvanathan and celebrated Gujarati poet-playwright Sitanshu Yashaschandra.

Bringing his influential "cognitive justice" model to bear on the conversation, Visvanathan suggested that "myth was not false memory, but an alternate way of constructing science".

While poets are brilliant when it comes to memory as biography and history, he argued, "they fail when standing up to theory of collective memory".

"Before the gulag and concentration camps, poetry falters. It has not created a language, poetics, or great epic to transcend the pathos inherent to such constructs. Poetry hasn't broken the myth of Stalin and the many smaller Stalins that have come after. It has failed to answer whether poetry is possible after the camp," Visvanathan said.

Countering Daruwala on the problem of "forgetting," he said: "While history that haunts us destroys memory, it was only memory that allowed one to see man as many -- as sociological poets like Jorge Luis Borges and Octavio Paz do."

The three-day poetry biennale is the first of its kind event in the country and will conclude on Sunday.
New Delhi, April 8 : There is immense need for value education in contemporary times, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Saturday, acknowledging that while subjects like science and mathematics form the backbone of regular curricula, value education keeps one connected to the roots.

Speaking at the launch of "Mission to Reboot Punjab through Value Based Education" by Benedict Paramanand, the former prime minister spoke about the contribution of Sikhs in transforming Indian society but regretted that the lack of value education among children often leads them astray.

"The Sikh gurus have contributed a lot in transforming the Indian society but Partition came as a big blow to Punjab. And then there was the spread of terrorism, which is not even worthy of mention. Value education is the need of the hour in current times," he said.

"Science and technology is important in today's day and age but at the same time our children should be aware of their cultural heritage too. Yes, Maths and Science are important but all in all we need value education," added the former Prime Minister.

Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal spoke in a similar vein.

"It's sad to see the current state of affairs in Punjab. Today, the youth of Punjab is being influenced and misled by the evil elements. Baba Iqbal Singh's relentless commitment and work towards rehabilitation and education is a blessing which is, truly and surely bringing in a positive change," he said.

The book has been inspired by the life and works of philanthropist, Baba Iqbal Singh and the author has drawn the story of his charismatic life and his evolution post -retirement from a bureaucrat to a spiritual leader of eminence.
Tawang (Arunachal Pradesh), April 8 : Tibetan Spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Saturday said it was up to his people to decide whether the institution of the Dalai Lama should continue or not.

A monastery official said the 14th Dalai Lama would hold discussions with senior Lamas the issue of reincarnation during his stay at Tawang.

"I have left it to the people to decide whether the institution of the Dalai Lama should continue or not. It depends entirely on the wishes the Tibetan people," the Tibetan leader told journalists at Tawang, the birthplace of the sixth Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso.

The Dalai Lama arrived at the Tawang monastery on Friday evening and began his religious discourses on Saturday.

He is staying at the Tawang monastery, which belongs to the Gelugpa school of Mahayana Buddhism and has had a religious connection with Lhasa's Drepung monastery that continued during the British rule.

Beijing refers to this connection to claim Tawang as part of China after invading and taking over Tibet in 1950.

There is speculation that the 15th Dalai Lama could be again from Tawang even as China has named a six-year-old boy in Tibet as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, widely considered the second-holiest monk in Tibetan Buddhism.

Asked if the next Dalai Lama could be a woman, the Dalai Lama said: "That might also happen.

"Let China first come clear on its theory on rebirth (next Dalai Lama)," the 81-year-old said.

"I retired from politics in 2011 and all political matters are handled by our government-in-exile. But I am committed to promote and preserve Tibetan culture and ecology."

China on Wednesday lodged a protest with India over the Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh. Indian Ambassador Vijay Gokhale was summoned in Beijing.

The Sino-Indian border along Arunachal Pradesh is separated by the McMahon Line, an imaginary border now known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

India and China fought a border war in 1962, with Chinese troops advancing deep into Arunachal Pradesh and inflicting heavy casualties on poorly armed Indian troops.

The border dispute with China was inherited by India from British rulers, who hosted a 1914 conference with the Tibetan and Chinese governments that set the border in what is now Arunachal Pradesh.

China has never recognised the 1914 McMahon Line and claims 90,000 sq km, including nearly all of Arunachal. India accuses China of occupying 8,000 sq km in Jammu and Kashmir.

After 1962, tensions flared again in 1986 with Indian and Chinese forces clashing in Sumdorong Chu valley of Arunachal Pradesh. Chinese troops reportedly built a helipad in the valley leading to the fresh skirmishes.

On US President Donald Trump's "America First Policy", the Nobel laureate said: "I disagree with the America First policy. It is unbecoming of a country that encourages free thinking."

Exhorting the European Union for pursuing policies directed at social cohesion, the Dalai Lama suggested that India, China and Pakistan could have similar economic and cultural cooperation for greater stability in the sub-continent.

"The exit of Britain (from European Union) was the people's choice, but EU is something Africa, the America and even Asia can follow. I admire Germany for sticking to EU despite a very strong Deutsche Mark," he said.

The Dalai Lama has lived in India since fleeing his homeland in 1959. India is also home to some 100,000 Tibetans.
New Delhi, April 8 : India and Bangladesh on Saturday signed 22 pacts to boost bilateral ties, including in defence and civil nuclear energy, with New Delhi offering a $4.5 billion line of credit to Dhaka to help it implement development works and a $500 million for military procurements.

The announcements were made after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina, on a four-day state visit, held bilateral talks here.

"We are happy to announce a concessional line of credit of $4.5 billion for investment in priority sectors in Bangladesh," Modi said at a joint address with Hasina at Hyderabad House.

"India has always stood for the prosperity of Bangladesh. We are a long-standing and trusted development partner of Bangladesh," he said, speaking at length about the Indian investments assured to Bangladesh.

He said India wanted to build cooperation in new areas with Bangladesh "especially in some high-technology sectors which would include working in the fields of electronics, Information Technology, cyber security, space explorations and civil nuclear energy".

The two countries also agreed to work closely on peace and security and build cooperation between their armed forces.

"While our partnership brings prosperity to our people, it also works to protect them from forces of radicalisation and extremism. Their spread poses a grave threat, not just to India and Bangladesh but to the entire region," Modi said.

He promised India would give an additional credit of $500 million to Bangladesh for military supplies and it would be driven by Dhaka's needs.

Hasina appreciated Modi "for his dynamism and innovative ideas that are not only taking India forward but adding value to our bilateral relationship".

She said her government would take all necessary action to ensure peace and security along the India-Bangladesh border and asserted there would be zero tolerance against terror.

Modi praised as an "inspiration for all of us" Hasina's "firm resolve in dealing with terrorism and her government's zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism".

At a separate event to hail Indian soldiers who fought the 1971 war that led to the birth of Bangladesh, Modi in a veiled attack on Pakistan said a "mindset" in South Asia was encouraging terrorism. "India and Bangladesh are its victims.

"I am very clear that along with India, its neighbouring countries should also move ahead on the path of development. We want development of the entire region. But there is a mentality in South Asia against this mindset. A mindset that promotes terrorism, which has a value system which is not based on humanity, but on violence and extremism."

He said policy makers with that mindset "feel terrorism is bigger than humanity, destruction is bigger than creation, and betrayal is bigger than trust".

"This mentality is the biggest challenge to peace, social harmony and development. This mentality obstructs development in the whole region."

Hasina said her country was indebted to India for its role in the birth of Bangladesh.

"People of South Asia will be the beneficiary of our friendly relations," she said, adding Dhaka would upgrade its visa office in Agartala after having reopened a diplomatic mission in Guwahati.

The two leaders jointly inaugurated via video link a new bus service to link Kolkata and Dhaka via Khulna in Bangladesh.

They flagged off the Maitree Express, which will run between Kolkata and Khulna, while restoring the defunct Radhikapur-Khulna passenger train service, which will resume in July after nearly 70 years.

On the Teesta water sharing issue pending between the two countries, Modi said he was hopeful of an "early and acceptable solution" with Bangladesh.

Hasina reached New Delhi on Friday and will end her India visit on Monday.
Mumbai, April 8 : A day after Air India lifted its ban, Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad reached Mumbai by train and called on party President Uddhav Thackeray.

Thackeray welcomed Gaikwad warmly at Shiv Sena Bhavan after the Osmanabad Lok Sabha member reached Mumbai by Rajdhani Express. But what transpired at their meeting was not known.

As the two met, all private airlines too lifted their unprecedented fortnight long flying ban on Gaikwad after the March 23 fracas on a Pune-Delhi Air India flight.

The issue snowballed into a major controversy between the two NDA allies -- the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena -- and rocked Parliament.

While Air India demanded an apology from the MP, Gaikwad stuck to his ground and said he was prepared to apologize only to Parliament. The Sena stood solidly behind him.

He reiterated he was not at fault and alleged that the Air India official he allegedly assaulted was "mad" and had at least half a dozen complaints of rowdy behaviour against him in the company.

Gaikwad also claimed that seven times tickets were booked in his name but he was unaware who did it.

Gaikwad is likely to resume flying from next week.
Kochi : Even as the CPI(M) continues to double down on the controversial police action on Jishnu Pranoys kin the other day, another senior leader of the CPI, the second biggest partner in the CPI(M)-led LDF govt. in Kerala, has come out flaying the state police.

CPI national executive member Annie Raja on Saturday slammed the Kerala police over the high-handed manner in which they handled Jishnus relatives, who had turned up at DGPs office to stage a sit in demanding arrest of those responsible for Jishnus death.

Opining that the police action ran contrary to the policies of the left front, Ms. Raja called for stringent action against the police officers who humiliated Jishnus mother Mahija and other relatives.

She launched a frontal attack on Kerala police chief Loknath Behera, charging the latter with attempting to tarnish the image of the LDF government.

What happened to Mahija was something that should never have happened to a mother who lost her son, Ms. Raja said.

She also accused a section of the police force of hatching a conspiracy against the CPI(M)-led LDF government.

Earlier, CPI Kerala unit secretary Kanam Rajendran too had flayed the police action, much to the chagrin of the state CPI(M).

The CPIs open condemnation of the police action has clearly ruffled a few feathers in the CPI(M) camp given that the latter has publicly defended the police action on Jishnus kin and has chosen to blame outside elements for fomenting trouble resulting in the untoward incident outside the DGPs office.

Chief minister and CPI(M) strongman Pinarayi Vijayan has explicitly absolved the state police of any wrongdoing in the whole episode.

The CPI(M) even took out an advertisement on all major dailies on Saturday justifying the controversial police action.

CPI(M) polit bureau member and former general secretary Prakash Karat, too, on Saturday came out in support of the police action and rejected CPIs charges.

In response to the divergent view taken by the CPI, Karat issued the warning that the allies of the CPI(M) had better remember when they criticise the government that they were no longer in the opposition.

Karat also said that the state government had done everything possible in its power in the probe into the death of Jishnu Pranoy.

Significantly, two CPI(M) leaders, V S Achuthanandan and M A Baby, had put out statements condemning the alleged police excess on Jishnus kin.

Jishnu, a student of Nehru engineering college at Pampady, was found hanging under mysterious circumstances in his hostel on January 6.

Jishnus relatives have alleged that he was tortured to death by the college management.
London, April 8 : British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has called off a visit to Moscow in the wake of the Syrian chemical weapons attack, a media report said.

Johnson, who was set to travel on Monday, said the situation had changed "fundamentally" and his priority was to continue contact with the US to provide international support for a ceasefire, reported BBC on Saturday.

He said Britain called on Russia to do everything possible to bring about a "political settlement in Syria".

"We deplore Russia's continued defence of the Assad regime," he added.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will visit Moscow as planned after the G7 meeting in Tuscany, Italy, on April 10-11.

Johnson said he was working to bring together other "like-minded partners" to "explore next steps soon", according to the report.

Tillerson would be able to deliver a "clear and co-ordinated message to the Russians" after the meeting between the world's seven leading industrialised nations, he said.

Johnson called on Russia to work with the rest of the international community to "ensure the shocking events of the last week are never repeated".

According to reports, 89 people, including 33 children and 18 women, died in a suspected nerve agent attack in the Syrian rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun earlier this week.

The country's government denied using nerve gas.

On Friday, the US carried out missile strikes on a Syrian airbase it said was suspected of storing chemical weapons. At least six people were reported to have died.

In response, Syria's ally Russia accused the US of encouraging "terrorists" with unilateral actions.

Johnson's visit, for talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, would have been the first visit by a UK foreign secretary in more than five years, BBC reported.

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said the cancellation meant Boris had "revealed himself to be a poodle of Washington, having his diary managed from across the pond."

He added: "It is pretty shameful when even Trump judges you to be a buffoon."

The government was "quick to blindly follow every order from the Trump White House", he said.
Oslo, April 9 : Norwegian police has blocked an area in central Oslo and detained one suspect on Saturday night after they found a bomb-like object.

The suspect was arrested for questioning after the subject was found in Gronland in Oslo, Xinhua cited public broadcaster NRK as saying.

"There was a police patrol who came across a man they became interested in. In connection with him, they found a box with content that police believe is suspicious," Svein Arild Jorundland, a police commander, was quoted as saying.

"I can not answer (if is a bomb), but it is an object that is about 30 times 30 centimetres -- that is to say there is big potential for damage, but it is of such a nature that we want the bomb group to examine it," Jorundland told NRK.
BRAM Auto Group will donate a generous $8,000 to the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation at the Foundations Inaugural Footsteps to the Future Gala. Members, contributors and people of the community will gather at the event on April 20, 2017 at the One World Observatory in New York. Everyone will have the same intention: to honor those who have selflessly helped the Foundation evolve and to recognize all of the heartfelt donations.

Each contribution makes a difference and positively helps the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation achieve its goal. Its goal is to always honor Firefighter Stephen Siller, who sacrificed his own life for the sake of others on September 11, 2001. Sillers shift had ended when he received news of the Twin Tower attack. He immediately let his family know that hed catch up with them later, as he felt it was his duty to hurry to the scene. Siller gave up his life, a beautiful family and friends that day. The Foundation aims to regard Stephen Sillers act of greatness as a reminder to do good in the world.

Contributions allow the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation achieve its objectives of helping veterans, first responders, children and neighbors in need. The Foundation is most known for its annual Tunnel to Towers 5K Walk/Run in New York City, which rounds up over 25,000 participants. Through its Building for Americas Bravest Program, the Foundation builds custom smart homes for terribly injured service members.

Its times like these that make me proud to be a member of BRAM Auto Group, said General Manager Rich Prager of Westchester Toyota, a BRAM Auto Group dealership. He continued, Being in New York, this is clearly a cause that is close to us. We at Westchester Toyota are happy to contribute $2,000 towards the $8,000 donation from BRAM Auto Group.

BRAM Auto Group is one of the largest family owned businesses in the Tri-State area. Its dealerships have been in business since 1964. BRAM Auto Group is dedicated to giving excellent service and is focused on building relationships with customers.

For more information on the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, please visit http://www.tunnel2towers.org.

For more information on BRAM Auto Group dealerships, please visit http://bayridgeautomotive.com/.
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WSI Digital Web, a full-service Belfast-based web design and development agency that specializes in the build-out, design, and development of website platforms today, this week excitedly unveiled their newly updated website interface for making their platform easier to navigate and more interactive by nature.

Borne from a passion for helping businesses of varying size to carve out a digital footprint they can be proud of, WSI Digital Web places special emphasis on having an optimized, mobile-compatible, and eye-catching website platform made for every business today.

Simply having a business website just isnt enough anymore. With the competition being more intense than ever before, businesses need to have a web presence that steps up to the challenge of attracting more qualified traffic into paying customers, said Peter Wilson, Founder and Owner of WSI Digital Web. Without an impressive digital footprint, would-be consumers will keep clicking through sites until they get to one that does catch their eye.

WSI Digital Web offers comprehensive website design and development services, as well as eCommerce website design and development build-outs. For eCommerce clients, WSI Digital Web creates a fully functional Magento eCommerce web design that will grow with the company. Magento offers users many features that help them to showcase products while driving sales in the most effective way possible.

For all of their web design clients, WSI Digital Web ensures the platforms are optimized for web browsing, as well as mobile viewing. Their expertise in website optimization for search engines makes the resulting platform more compatible with search algorithms, resulting in an influx on interested consumers. The more customers that land on the site, the more likely they will be converted to sales by the time they are done perusing.

Our web design team factors in brand elements, the company aesthetic, compatibility with any kind of technological device, navigation tools, expertly curated content, and search engine compatibility, said Peter Wilson. We provide the whole package, whether its a complex eCommerce interface build-out, or a simple beauty blog"

In addition to their web design services, WSI Digital Web also hosts a fully informational blog on their website that is free to read and share. The company covers digital marketing trends, and answers common questions that arise during the website design service.

WSI Digital Web is based out of Belfast, Northern Ireland.

For more information, or to get started with web design today, visit: https://www.wsidigitalweb.co.uk

WSI Digital Web

Arthur House, Arthur St,

Belfast, BT1 4GB

028 9048 0257
Cyon Research has donated COFES to the COFES Institute so that the Institute may serve the COFES community for the next generation.

Cyon Research Corporation today announced the formation of COFES Institute, a non-profit think-tank that holds an annual, invitation-only event for the design and engineering software industry. After 18 years, Cyon Research Corporation is donating the rights to COFES, paving the way for the new COFES Institute. The COFES Institute, governed by a board of industry luminaries, will continue the tradition of holding an annual event for leading keynote visionaries who provide perspectives on the future of the industry. The 18th annual COFES began yesterday in Arizona at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort and runs through April 9.

According to Brad Holtz, president and CEO of Cyon Research Corporation, Cyon Research has donated COFES to the COFES Institute so that the Institute may serve the COFES community for the next generation. I have been looking for a way to ensure the future success of COFES as I transition into activities that are taking my focus beyond the sole scope of COFES. With the formation of the COFES Institute, that search is over, explained Holtz. I have great confidence in the Board of Directors of the Institute, and I will continue to provide assistance and guidance to the Board of Directors. They, with the support of the COFES Advisory Board, will be able to serve the COFES community much better than I would be able to. Please join me in supporting this transition.

COFES will now be managed by the COFES Institute which is a non-profit lead by Executive Director and President, Vincent Caprio. Caprio has a 30-year track-record of applying technology to solving problems in fields of science and engineering and is one of Americas leading advocates for research & development spending. I am honored to accept this position, said Vincent Caprio. The founders, Dr. Joel Orr, Brad Holtz, and Evan Yares had a wonderful vision years ago. With COFES enjoying its 18th year, it is clear that the formula works.

The Board of Directors is made up of the following members:



Vincent Caprio  Executive Director and President, vincent(at)cofes(dot)org  http://www.cofes.com

Becca Yeh  COFES Event Director  http://www.cofes.com

Jason Preston, Co-Founder of Dent, http://www.dentthefuture.com

Jim Brown, President/Tech-Clarity  http://www.tech-clarity.com

Jim Doxey, Product Configuration Manager, Oculus (division of Facebook) - http://www.oculus.com

Nathanael Miller, Aerospace Engineer/NASA Langley Research Center - https://www.nasa.gov/

Pete Wells, CEO, Smart2Market  http://www.smart2market.com

COFES had its genesis in the late 1990s and was the brainchild of Dr. Joel Orr, Brad Holtz, and Evan Yares. COFES was unique, founded on the idea that one-on-one interaction and the building of community are the most valuable functions of an industry forum. The first COFES was actually SOFES - Summit on the Future of Engineering Software  held in Chicago, November 1999.

The importance of COFES to the engineering software community can probably best be told by some its long-term participants quoted below.

"COFES has always been a unique and valuable opportunity to meet with key people throughout the CAD industry and related businesses. I thank the Cyon Research team for the many successful COFES's they have organized and look forward to the new COFES Institute continuing to evolve COFES to serve our industry's future."

--Jon Hirschtick, Founder OnShape / Founder of SOLIDWORKS

Over the decades, in the world of engineering software, COFES has shown itself to be a unique catalyst for the exchange of ideas. This phenomenon has occurred, in large measure, as a result of Brads leadership, and a liberal amount of liquid refreshment (Editors note: Ideas and connections are plentiful at the Thursday evening poolside cocktail party  it is not to be missed). While I am sure, with the change to the COFES Institute, there may be some changes; I would hope that the formula, which Brad has used so well, will continue and flourish, especially that of encouraging the future stars from all over the world.

--Mike Payne, Founder Kenesto, Co-founder/CEO SpaceClaim, CEO Spatial, Co-Founder Parametric Technology Corporation

Transformations are happening in industries and technologies enabling new solutions to overcome complex problems, changing how we engage and work. COFES has strived to be a place where thought leaders and industry experts can gather, network, and discuss the future. The creation of the COFES Institute is a positive demonstration of this ongoing transformation, an opportunity to explore and influence the future of engineering.

--Linda Lokay, General Manager, Spatial Corp, Dassault Systemes

I want first and foremost to thank and commend Brad for his dedication to building and sustaining COFES - from its small experimental beginnings (in wintry Chicago) eighteen years ago to the industry institution that it is today. For me as an industry analyst, it is an important (and highly sociable) opportunity to stay current on company and industry trends and issues. I have often recommended it to other analysts in the investment community who are interested in the world of engineering software.

--Jay Vleeschhouwer, Software Research Griffin Securities

As a long-time COFES attendee, I am pleased to know that Brad has gone to such pains to ensure that all that is special about COFES will continue in the hands of the Institute. I am looking forward to this next chapter for this event.

--Ron Fritz, CEO Tech Soft 3D

Since 2006, COFES has offered me a unique opportunity to meet and connect with industry leaders which have both inspired and helped me think outside the box. COFES provides a one-of-a-kind event which has created its own history, culture, and community driven by Brad Holtz and the COFES team. The COFES Institute will be an outstanding way to continue developing what Brad and COFES started with the next generation of engineers and software developers.

--Oleg Shilovitsky, openBoM CEO and co-founder

In the end, COFES is about enabling innovation. Plethora, a Silicon Valley start-up, is an excellent example of the type of company that gains value participating in COFES. Plethora enables users of popular 3D packages (like SOLIDWORKS and Inventor) to receive instant manufacturability feedback, part pricing and ordering directly from the CAD system. Why simply stand on the shoulders of giants when you can talk with and learn from them as well, said Jeremy Herrman, CTO of Plethora. COFES is the place where those leaders share their experiences with newcomers to empower the next generation of engineering software.

Nathanael Miller, Aerospace Engineer/NASA Langley Research Center sees COFES a hive-mind of the engineering software world. I come to COFES to get insight. In my job building small satellites at NASA Langley, I have to design incredibly complex and highly constrained systems, with engineering software tools that are even more complex than the satellites my teams and I design," said Miller. When I look ahead at a maelstrom of capabilities ranging from advanced manufacturing to smart & networked devices, COFES gives me insight to effectively bring these new and complex tools to bear the challenges of national importance.

Our original idea for COFES was an industry meeting where substantive conversations could take place," said Joel Orr. The concept "touched a nerve"--it was something the engineering software industry was ripe for. More than that, COFES gave birth to a community, where deep and long-lasting relationships formed and grew. We have watched technologies spread and mature. We have watched young people take their first steps in engineering software--and eventually become leaders. Successful startups have emerged from the rich stew that is COFES. The best is yet to come!

COFES started as a conversation about the future of engineering software, said Evan Yarres. The future is obviously perpetual and it is the role of COFES to help people to continue to explore that envelope. While the topics evolve, the value of the conversation has not. I am pleased that, with the COFES, the conversation will continue."

Speaking for the COFES community and the newly formed Board, we take our collective hats off to Brad, Joel, and Evan. Said Caprio. Engineering software creates the things of this world, and out of this world, myself and the board will ensure COFES grows and develops to best serve this very important community.

About COFES

Now in its 18th year, COFES is the annual, invitation-only event for the design and engineering software industry. Widely recognized as a think-tank event, COFES (cofes.com) gathers design and engineering software leaders (vendors, users, press, and analysts) together to discuss the role engineering technology will play in the future survival and success of business. COFES is renowned for hosting leading keynote visionaries that provide a new perspective to the future of the industry. COFES is owned and operated by the COFES Institute. Apply for an invitation at apply.cofes.com.

# # #

Media Contact:

Becca Wells

+1-301-365-9085

becca(at)cofes(dot)com
Kristen Radtke has always been fascinated by abandoned structures that have fallen into decay. But she also feels a compulsion to preserve what is lost by journaling and writing. These seemingly contradictory impulses led Radtke, 29, to work for the past six or seven years on graphic essays that she has compiled into a memoir, Imagine Wanting Only This (Pantheon, Apr.).

Radtke says her nonlinear graphic memoir started as a series that she began as a graduate student in the University of Iowas M.F.A. program for nonfiction writers. After a two-year stint in Louisville, Ky., Radtke, who is the managing editor at Louisville-based publisher Sarabande Books and also the video editor for TriQuarterly, Northwestern Universitys literary magazine, moved to Brooklyn in 2014.

Imagine Wanting Only This started as prose, Radtke explains. At first I didnt realize that I was writing a book about ruins; I was just writing a lot about ruined places. I didnt recognize that they had anything in common until Id been working on the book for a couple of years.

The memoir opens with Radtke and her college boyfriend taking a road trip from Chicago to Gary, Ind., when she was 20 to visit the ruins of a cathedral in the citys center. They discover a bag of photographs and take it with them, a spontaneous act with emotional consequences that is referenced repeatedly throughout Imagine Wanting Only This. The pictures turn out to have been left by friends as a tribute to a young photographer, Seth, who was killed while photographing an approaching train.

The memoir concludes with Radtkes move to New York City and her imagining the city devastated by terrible floods. In between, Radtke recalls her childhood in Green Bay, Wis., and learning in elementary school about the Great Peshtigo Fire of 1871, the deadliest wildfire in history, which leveled a nearby town the same day as Chicagos more famous fire.

Radtke also describes her visits as an adult to the World War II ruins on the island of Corregidor in the Philippines and to Heimaey, an island off Icelands coast that was destroyed in 1973 when a volcano erupted and covered the town in lava and ash. The townspeople later returned to Heimaey and rebuilt the town, a fact that impressed Radtke: I thought [Heimaey] was so striking, the idea that you could love the place you are from enough to move back even after it had been completely destroyed and you would rebuild essentially exactly what you had before.

The title of the book, Imagine Wanting Only This, refers to Radtkes response to visiting that reconstructed town. The cover image shows the author from behind, gazing out at the Detroit skyline from inside the Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Recalling a moment during a layover there, she says she realized that the image of a new airport next to a decaying city encapsulated the ideas of the book. She adds: Detroit is our American example of ruins more than anywhere else. So many structures there have been abandoned since the automobile industry left.

Human beings have always been fascinated by ruins, Radtke notes, because they are intrigued by what existed before them and what will come next. Some contemporary ruinsthe result of industry leaving a placeare particularly evocative, she says, because they demonstrate how each of our civilizations is vulnerable to the same things, from antiquity to the present.

As a child, Radtke says, she always drew and always wrote, particularly after her parentsher father is a retired engineer who became a farmer, and her mother a homemakermoved from a subdivision to the countryside outside of Green Bay. It was a really comfortable upbringing, but it was very isolating. Its probably why I was a writerI just spent so much time in my room alone, drawing, writing.

Radtkes family did not travel. They really wanted to stay close to home, which was something that I bristled at, she says. This, together with a family history of a genetic heart defect that is resistant to treatment, contributed to the wanderlust she has exhibited since her late teens.

The reality that we have a finite amount of time can make us all a little frantic, Radtke says. Or at least it made me a little frantic in those moments where Ive recognized it. It makes me anxious to go out and see and do as much as I can. I think it also informs that need to preserve and to take things down.

After leaving home at 18 for Chicago to attend Columbia Colleges art program, followed by a short stint in Italy, Radtke moved to Iowa City in 2009, where, encouraged by University of Iowa writing program faculty members Robin Hemley and John DAgata, she began combining words and images, beginning with comic strips and video essays. I resisted doing a full book of [text and images] for a long time, she says, explaining that she didnt think at the time that she could sustain the visual narrative and draw the same characters for 300 pages.

Though Radtke considers herself both a writer and a visual artist, she notes that drawing is often easier for her than writing and says she believes that one can convey in graphic form anything that can be expressed in prose. But I do think we all use the tools we have to tell stories, she says. Sometimes she draws entire pages before writing any text; at other times she completely storyboards and maps something out with text and draws later.

Radtke lists among her literary influences Alison Bechdel and Marjane Satrapi, who have both written graphic memoirs. She also praises cartoonist Adrian Tomine for his characterizations and dialogue.

With her literary preferences running toward short stories and essays, Radtke notes that she initially enrolled in Iowas nonfiction writing program to hone her essay-writing skills. Im really influenced by the form of the essay, she explains, That is really how I structured the book, with an argument and then investigating. I read a ton of Didion when I was writing this book. She is the master of essays in general.

Emboldened by the critical reception of Imagine Wanting Only This, which is a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers pick for spring, Radtke is working on two new graphic projects: a graphic novel about female friendships that she calls a terrible man book, and a series on urban loneliness that is being published on the New Yorkers website. That series, with big illustrations and probably no narrative was inspired by Radtkes move to New York City after living in such small towns as Green Bay, Iowa City, and Louisville.

New York City, Radtke says, is such a great place to people watch: were very publicly in our private spaces, because we spend so much time in transit or crammed all together. She adds, Its very interesting, watching people fall asleep on the subway or have a screaming phone call in a parking lot in a way that doesnt happen in smaller towns where we can get away from one another.

Focusing for so many years on ruin and decay, Radtke says, made her feel that she needed to move in the opposite direction with her next project. I wanted to do something next that was highly attuned to peopletheir faces, their bodies, the way they talk and move through space, she says.
Madeline Hunter, the New York Timesbestselling author of dozens of historical romances, is a virtuoso of the genre. With Decadent Dukes Society, her new trilogy, Hunter is joining Kensingtons growing roster of big-name historical romance writers, which currently includes Mary Jo Putney and Hannah Howell, and will soon boast Betina Krahn, joining later this year, and Miranda Neville, coming aboard in 2018. Kensington is fast becoming a lightning rod for some of the best and best-loved writers in historical romance.

For her new trilogy, Hunter is returning to a favorite time and place, Regency-era England, where a series of badly behaved nobles and independent-minded women vie for control over courtship and, ultimately, their destinies. The Most Dangerous Duke in London, the first book in the series, interweaves several story lines into a complex web ensnaring two feuding families.

The plot revolves around a star-crossed couple: Adam Penrose, the Duke of Stratton, and the woman he desires, Clara, who is also the daughter of the man who drove Adams father to his death by spreading a false rumor. A modern heroine, shes more concerned with getting her womens journal published than tying the knot. Shes worried that the role of a wife will diminish her social standing and limit her freedom. Her real struggle, Hunter says, is not in thinking outside the norm for her society, but rather in acknowledging that perhaps she will relinquish her position on marriage after she starts to love Adam.

Hunter picked this period in part because it was a time of great societal change and upheaval; for her characters, that means facing hard truths about themselves. People are most uncomfortable when the assumptions by which they live are challenged, Hunter says. I had set prior books in the 1820s, and returned to that decade for this series because it was a disruptive and transitional decade in Great Britain. Ideas were changing fast, as were customs.

Even Hunter herself didnt anticipate how some of her creations would behave as she wrote the book. Adams character definitely surprised me, she explains. I had an image of him that was far darker than he wanted to be. She describes her characters like friends in the throes of love: It was just as well that he revealed a very warm and romantic side, because otherwise Clara would never have agreed to marry him.

Family feuds play a central role in this world of vexed lovers, and the protagonists come to realize that their history isnt quite what theyd been raised to believe. Hunter particularly enjoyed digging into this aspect of the story. Many families, she points out, have murky histories, the result of generations of omission and embellishment.

The Most Dangerous Duke in London takes place in Warwickshire, a location Hunter visited prior to beginning on the book. She tends to get her ideas from foreign places she travels to, rather than picking her settings and then making dedicated research trips. This means her imagination is fueled by a certain amount of happenstance. I once wrote an entire book because of the medieval towers that I saw when visiting the Amalfi Coast, Hunter recalls.

Hunters readers have a lot to look forward to in the upcoming Decadent Dukes books. In the second title in this series, called A Devil of a Duke, readers will encounter the Duke of Langford, a bad boy who has an affair with a mysterious woman. The third book tells the Duke of Brentworths story, which Hunter hasnt yet written and isnt ready to say much about. I am superstitious about talking about stories at that stage, she admits. However, any man called the most ducal duke is begging for his comeuppance, dont you think?
Indie SF Series to Tor

Diana Gill, executive editor at Tor, took North American rights to the self-published Cas Russell series by S.L. Huang in a five-book deal. Tor said the series, sold by Russell Galen at Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary Agency, is a fast-paced science fiction thriller about a retriever whose quantum math skills make her a superhero able to shoot around corners. Think Trinity in The Matrix, but in our world. Huang, who has a math degree from MIT, is a professional stuntwoman and weapons expert; she has appeared on shows such as Battlestar Galactica. The first book in the series, Zero Sum Game, is scheduled for September 18.

FSG Buys Middle Grade Debut

In a two-book North American rights deal, Jeanne Zulick Ferruolo sold her middle grade debut, Ruby in the Sky, to Janine OMalley at FSG at auction. Stacey Glick at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret, who represented Ferruolo, said the book is a modern-day Because of Winn-Dixie meets Walk Two Moons. It follows a 12-year-old named Ruby Moon Hayes who is desperate to hide the fact that her mom has been arrested from the kids at her new school. Glick explained: Rubys story is about the walls we hide behind and the magic that can happen when were brave enough to break free. The manuscript won a number of plaudits, including 2016s SCBWI (Society of Childrens Book Writers and Illustrators) Work-in-Progress Award and the 2016 PEN-New England Susan Bloom Discovery Award. Ruby is slated for winter 2019, and the second book in the deal, which is currently untitled, is set for winter 2020.

Smiley Lands at Gallery

Comedian and radio talk show host Rickey Smiley sold world rights to Stand by Your Truth to Jeremie Ruby-Strauss at Gallery Books. Truth, Gallery said, will be part memoir, part testimonial, and part life guide, melding Smileys down-home humor with the wholesome values that stuck with him, both from his childhood spent in the Baptist church and from his professional and comedic mentors. Smileys Rickey Smiley Morning Show is, according to Gallery, broadcast to more than four million listeners; he has also released a number of bestselling comedy albums, and appears on the TV One docudrama Rickey Smiley for Real. Alan Nevins at Renaissance Literary & Talent represented Smiley. The book is currently set for November.

Pavlovitz Sells Super-You

Blogger and pastor John Pavlovitz sold his sophomore book, Super-You: Becoming the Kind of Person Who Can Save the World, to Christine Pride at Simon & Schuster. Sharon Pelletier at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret represented Pavlovitz; she said the book explores the 10 superpowers of everyday heroes and how to cultivate them.

Briefs

Pam Krauss, for her eponymous imprint at Penguin Random House, took North American rights to the cookbook Sababa by Adeena Sussman. Subtitled The Sunny, Spicy Flavors of Israeli Cuisine, the book is, the publisher said, the ultimate guide to the Israeli kitchen, its staple ingredients, and vibrant flavors, filled with 125 recipes designed for the home cook. Agent Janis Donnaud represented Sussman. Sababa is scheduled for spring 2019.

For Da Capo Press, Robert Pigeon nabbed world rights to Stephen Coontss Dragons Jaw, a work of military history about the multiyear campaign by the U.S. to gain control of Thanh Hoa Bridge during the Vietnam War. (Thanh Hoa Bridge was nicknamed the Dragons Jaw.) The publisher said the book tells a riveting from-the-cockpit story about one of the most dramatic stories in aviation history. The publisher added: Every war has its bridge story; this is Vietnams, told now for the first time. Coonts is cowriting the book with historian Barrett Tillman. Deborah Grosvenor at the Grosvenor Literary Agency brokered the deal with Pigeon.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of author Adeena Sussman.
Sometimes, a pair of phone calls is all it takes to seal the deal. Thats what Peter Carlaftes, codirector of New York Citybased Three Rooms Press, and his partner, Kat Georges, discovered last August when, after a brief call with the David Black Agency, the duo spent two and a half hours on the phone with William Least Heat-Moon, the author of the 1982 bestselling travel memoir Blue Highways: A Journey into America.

His agency gave us a call last August, saying that he had looked around and had found our press and said that we were one of the few presses he would like to consider publishing his debut novel, Carlaftes recalled. He liked what we were doing and what we were about, and was also anti-big press at that time for his own reasons. We didnt know what to think of this. The man sold six million books.

After discussing Three Rooms and its mission and agenda, Least Heat-Moon fell in love, Carlaftes said, and after a little bit of hashing out the advance, Three Rooms ended up signing its first hardcover book and Least Heat-Moon sold his first novel.

Celestial Mechanics: A Tale for a Mid-Winter Night will release on April 11 with a first printing of 5,000 copiesThree Rooms largest initial print run yet. Its hero is Silas Fortunato, who applies for an editorial position at the spirituality section of a local newspaper and realizes he cannot adequately explain his beliefs within the rubric provided. An emotional tale of haunted love, the novel finds Silas locked in a tempestuous marriage before the arrival of his sister-in-law and the appearance of a new, witching neighbor, who may or may not be alive. Together, the three women challenge him to explore both dreams and reality and look to a new belonging to something vastly beyond himself.

The excitement at the small publisher is palpable. Were hoping that we have to reprint soon, Carlaftes said. Hes very confident in the book and believes it will catch on. And we have the paperback rights as well.

Least Heat-Moon is best known for his travel writing, and the bulk of his books have gone to houses such as Houghton Mifflin, John Wiley, and Little, Brown, before he jumped into the university press world for his latest two booksone a translation, the other a behind-the-scenes account of writing Blue Highways. The choice to go with a press like Three Rooms, Carlaftes said, says something about our indie roots.

Those roots are in both New York and San Francisco. In the 1990s, Carlaftes and Georges, who are both playwrights, owned a theater together in San Francisco, where the two were doing original theater, kind of round robin, throughout the decade.

At that time, Kat was running poetry readings and that kind of thing, so we decided to publish some of our own chapbooks, and called the press Three Rooms Press, Carlaftes said. Its a line from the 1964 Howard Pinter play The Homecoming, a work in which Carlaftes once performed each of the six characters. He added: Its not because we are a really tiny press and only have three roomsalthough people may believe that.

That said, the presss early days were bohemian, to say the least. We didnt have a stovewe didnt have a kitchen [in our home] there, so the stage was our stove, Carlaftes said. We did our cooking there, and every six months our feng shui changed because we did a new play and we had a new stove.

The publisher moved to Greenwich Village in 2003, and eventually joined Publishers Group West for distribution. Carlaftes said the press typically publishes between six and 10 titles a year in a range of genres; while Three Rooms may have cut its teeth on poetry and theater, the publishers bestselling title to date, Weird Girl and Whats His Name by Meagan Brothers, is a YA fiction title, and the first title to really catch the publishing worlds eye was Mike Watt: On and Off Bass, an experimental retrospective by seminal punk rock bass player Mike Watt.

In addition to Carlaftes and Georges, the companys other full-time employee is editor-in-chief Constance Renfrow. PR work is done by an outside firm, Over the River Public Relations. Were grassroots. Hands-on. Hardworking. Hard-thinking, Carlaftes said, adding that he and Georges will personally travel on a multistop book tour with Least Heat-Moon from April through June. The tour will wind through Least Heat-Moons home state, Missouri, with a few stops in the Midwest and Florida, as well as the ALA annual meeting in Chicago in June.

Were in this to do good for the reader, the publishing world, for literature as a whole, Carlaftes said. Thats where were at.
When Simon & Schuster announced in late February that it is canceling Milo Yiannopouloss book, Dangerous, many in the publishing industry reacted with a sigh of relief. The six-figure book deal that the right-wing provocateur landed at Threshold Editions, S&Ss conservative imprint, late last year caused a wave of criticismfrom various factions of the media, the public, and the houses own authors. And, though its still unclear what ultimately motivated the publisher to yank the book, the fervor that the alt-right bad boys deal caused put some on alert. Could other publishers be pressured into canceling books by controversial conservatives? Does the industry have a double standard for authors on the right? Does it matter?

PW contacted a number of industry members, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity, about whether the cancellation of Yiannopouloss book, coupled with the highly charged political climate, sets any worrisome precedents. While no one said they felt the situation amounted to censorship, or that it signals anything about the industrys ability to adequately publish conservative voices, some saw a disconcerting connection between the books cancellation and the free speech battles erupting on liberal college campuses across the country.

Politics is a dangerous thing to be candid about, said one agent, who has worked with conservative authors. Its now acceptable to ban speech on college campuses; this is the world we live in. Although this agent did not equate what happened at schools such as the University of California, Berkeley and Middlebury College in Vermontwhere protestors, some of them students, violently opposed appearances by Yiannopoulos and Bell Curve author Charles Murray, respectivelywith what is happening in publishing, he feels the industry needs to pay attention to these events. He cited, as a trend to watch, the appearance of sensitivity readers, who are being hired by some publishers and authors (largely in YA and middle grade) to ensure accuracy and sensitivity in portrayals of characters who have marginalized identities or experiences. (In most cases sensitivity readers are hired when authors are depicting characters with backgrounds or identities different from their own.) Its a short trip between [sensitivity readers] and trigger warnings.

This agent, though, like all sources interviewed, expressed sympathy, more than anything else, for the position S&S found itself in. Theres a fundamental [tension] between publishing to express an idea and publishing to make money, he said. And those things come into conflict from time to time.

Nobody wants to be in the situation S&S found itself in, said one editor. He felt S&S may have misjudged just how controversial their author is; as he put it,If you sign someone up whos throwing Molotov cocktails, hes not going to stop throwing them. He also foresees this kind of thing happening again. I dont think [what happened with the Yiannopoulos book] is a one-off, he explained, noting that he presumes another publisher will sign up a controversial figure on the right and face a potentially deal-killing outcry from authors, industry members, and/or the public. He added, At a time that cries out for transparency, you would think [people in this industry] would want to celebrate the First Amendment, rather than trying to circumscribe it.

One source, who had seen parts of the Yiannopoulos proposal, waved off insinuations that what happened with this book smacked of censorship. He guessed that S&S dropped the book not because of pressure from its authors or the public but because Yiannopoulos wound up alienating his core readership. I think they canceled the book because, finally, his comments [about pedophilia] made it impossible for even his base to stay with him.

For many sources, equating what happened with Yiannopouloss book to censorship misses the point. A number of insiders said that not every speaker deserves a platform or, in this case, a book deal. For these observers the issue isnt silencing anyone, its choosing not to spread hate speech.

Other sources said that what happened with Yiannopoulos isnt surprising, given the industrys track record with conservative authors. And, for some, thats worth highlighting. Marji Ross, president at Regnery Publishing, is no stranger to championing conservative books in a liberal industry. Ross, whose conservative house was cited last week by BuzzFeed as the potential new home for the Yiannopoulos book, has long made a successful business out of publishing right-wing voices. (Ross would not comment on the BuzzFeed rumor.)

Noting that a number of Regnerys most successful authors were turned away by major houses, Ross said: Lack of support for conservative authors and books by the big New York publishers is nothing new. Certainly you can find a handful of conservative authors on the roster of most New York houses, but those authors are often treated with disdain and contempt.

While the major New York houses have consistently and successfully published conservative authors for decades, many sources saw some truth in Rosss comments. Some cited the existence of conservative imprints (at all Big Five publishers) as proof that right-wing authors are treated differently than liberal ones. One source described the existence of these imprints as something that balkanizes conservative authors. He said, Ive had editors tell me they wouldnt possibly consider a book by a conservative, and I never would hear that if the politics were flipped.

Another agent, who handles a number of conservative authors, said the industrys longstanding double standard for right-wing authors is evidenced by the fact that there are no quote-unquote liberal imprints in publishing. In other words, books espousing liberal ideas often land at general-interest imprints. This, more than anything else, means there are fewer places to shop conservative books and authors. A liberal senator has dozens of options [when it comes to imprints and editors that will publish his book], he said. Conservatives have a much smaller pool.

That another book by a controversial conservative might cause trouble for a big publisher is a lingering concern. All sources said they think houses will proceed with caution.

Another agent, who also has conservative clients, said he believes the author reaction to S&Ss deal with Yiannopoulosmore than 100 of the houses authors wrote a letter to CEO Carolyn Reidy requesting the publisher drop the titlewill be the thing people in the business remember. I think part of the internal calculus [on future deals for controversial conservatives] will be trying to take the temperature of the author community, he noted. Publishers will have to be really smart in deciding whos an alternative voice who has a right to be at the table, and whos just a vile person.

Ross predicts that what happened with Yiannopoulos may, indeed, be the start of a new trend: liberal authors demanding not only their own right to offend others but the silencing of those they find offensive.

Adrian Zackheim, a veteran editor at New York conservative imprints who is now president and publisher of the Sentinel imprint at Penguin Random House, said publishing polarizing figures has always been difficult, and this isnt changing. I am sure there are people who vigorously disagree with authors we publish, and Im comfortable with that.

Zackheim, though, sees opportunity amid the turmoil of the countrys political landscape: What weve observed, so far, is that this is a golden age for political awareness. And this, he feels, is good for those publishing on both sides of the political divide. Id have to go all the way back to the late 1960s to think of a time when politics was on peoples mind the way it is now. Or the early 70s, Watergate. You cant top that.
ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL  The Department of Armys logistics expert, Bill Moore, provided the Joint Munitions Command staff a candid discussion on current issues affecting the U. S. Army during a commanders forum March 28.

Appointed to the Senior Executive Service in October 2006, Mr. Moore is currently the Headquarters, Department of the Army, Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff, G4, responsible for Army logistics plans, policy and programs. He develops and executes Army strategy, policy, plans and programs for logistics and sustainment. His expertise provided the JMC staff an opportunity to hear directly from a senior Pentagon leader with extensive logistics experience.

Mr. Moores engagement with the JMC staff included a discussion of the Army G-4s lines of effort, the current state of the Army, growing the number of Soldiers in the Army, updates to the Armys force structure, Logistics Modernization Program issues and logistics initiatives, which included ammunition readiness.

The Army has under-invested over the past several decades, said Mr. Moore. We face rising near-peer threats around the world which makes [it critical] to conduct assessments and focus on strategy. Moore feels reinvesting in conventional ammunition is a top priority of the Army.

Prior to his JMC meeting, Mr. Moore shared highlights from his more than 30 years of employment with the United States from assignments in personnel, engineering, logistics, force modernization, training, and leadership development. He spoke on career development to more than 400 federal employees, offering advice and encouragement for their own career paths.

Joint Munitions Command manages 16 installations which produce small-, medium- and large-caliber conventional ammunition items for the Department of Defense. JMC is the sustainment and logistics integrator for life-cycle management of ammunition and provides a global presence of technical support to U.S. combat units wherever they are stationed or deployed.
ROCK ISLAND  Citing a reduction in federal funding, the Rock Island County Health Department is considering cutting its family-planning clinic, which serves about 1,000 people.

According to the county health department, the program provides comprehensive reproductive health services, annual examinations, birth control, services for people with sexually transmitted diseases and outreach and education services for Rock Island County women and men.

Nita Ludwig, county health department administrator, said the board of health tabled the subject Thursday and is scheduled to take it up again at its next monthly meeting at 5:30 p.m. May 4 at the health department, 2112 25th Ave.

"These are very tough choices," Ms. Ludwig said. "Again, no one is happy about having to make these decisions. The board, the administration, the managers here  we don't like to see these services shut down."

The challenge, Ms. Ludwig said, is the decrease in funding, which comes via federal Title X grant money administered through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Title X funding is funneled through the state to the county health department. Funding to the county health department has dropped from $211,988 in 2014 to $95,900 in 2017, Ms. Ludwig said.

In 2016, Ms. Ludwig said, the county board of health knew family-planning funding wasn't looking good.

"But the finance committee of the board of health decided to keep it running," she said. "The recommendation was to keep it running and review it again. We knew money was an issue."

Janet Hill, chief operating officer of the county health department, said the federal Title X money passes through the State of Illinois in the form of a block grant. The state decides who gets the grant funding and how much.

"The grants have been cut, cut, cut, and we just can't afford it anymore," Ms. Hill said.

State Rep. Mike Halpin, D-Rock Island, said he is working with Susana Mendoza, the state comptroller, to find out the status of grant payments already appropriated but not yet been distributed to Illinois agencies, such as the county health department.

Rep. Halpin said this is a case where federal grants over the past several years have been reduced, a situation that is compounded by the bill backlog in Illinois.

"These grants can't pass through in a timely manner," Rep. Halpin said.

Ms. Ludwig said if the family-planning program is dropped at the health department, there are still other options for Quad-Cities residents, including Community Health Care, School Health LINKS and Planned Parenthood clinics.

Rock Island County Board member Scott Terry has expressed his support for keeping the family-planning clinic open. Mr. Terry said, while he appreciates the board of health tabling the subject for another month, he would like to see more public attention paid to the topic.

"There are a lot of folks dependent on these services," Mr. Terry said.
MOLINE -- The seven last statements by Christ from the Cross will be presented at a Maundy Thursday service at 7 p.m. April 13 at Homewood Evangelical Free Church, 3303 60th St.

Six pastors from area Evangelical Free churches, and their regional superintendent, will give the message. The Rev. Mark Frazee, pastor at Homewood Evangelical, said the focus of the service is on Christ and the combined service will be powerful.

"The incredible thing He did for us calls for community reflective celebration, he said, citing Galatians 3:1, Before your very eyes, Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.

Each church representative will give 10 to 12 minutes of the service. Churches and pastors involved:

-- Statement 1: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. (Luke 23:34) The Rev. Paul Henschel, Osco Community Church, will depict the scripture using drama.

-- Statement 2: "Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. (Luke 23:43) The Rev. Mike Kennedy, Faith Evangelical Free Church, Moline, will offer a brief devotional and there will be a worship song.

-- Statement 3: "Woman behold, this is your son! (John 19:26-27) Rev. Mark Frazee, Homewood Church, Moline, will present a message by choir, drama and worship song.

-- Statement 4: "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46) The Rev. Jim Augustine, pastor at Aledo Evangelical Free Church, will share a short message and worship song.

-- Statement 5: "I am thirsty. (John 19:28) The Rev. Daniel Grell, Northern Illinois regional superintendent, will give a devotion.

-- Statement 6: "It is finished. (John 19:30) The Rev. Tom Aubrey, First Evangelical Church, Moline, will share a devotion using poetry.

-- Statement 7: "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. (Luke 23:46) The Rev. Steve Palm, Geneseo Evangelical Free Church, will give a devotional and there will be acoustical guitar music.

Instrumental music will play between each presentation. Communion bread will be served after Statement 1, with juice after Statement 6.

Rev. Frazee said the idea for the event surfaced last fall.

We have a support group of pastors who come together each month for encouragement and support, he said. We pray for each other and share ideas, and we meet at the different churches. We see ourselves as co-workers in ministry in the community.

"I thought it would be good for us to come together for a larger community event with not just one church doing its own thing, he said, recalling his ministry in the Philadelphia area, where a church did a combined service on Good Friday.

"We chose the Easter week because Easter is so foundational to the Christian faith," he said. "And we thought it would be powerful to focus on the statements Christ made from the cross, statements He made while suffering on the cross."

The service concludes on Easter morning, Rev. Frazee said.

We view the death of Christ as not complete until the Resurrection," he said. "His death and the Resurrection cannot be separated. He died for us, for our sins, but He rose from the dead conquering death and sins.

The cantata One Sacrifice, directed by worship coordinator Karen Mowers, will be presented at Easter services at 8:30 and 11 a.m. in Homewood Church.

The Sunday morning cantata will emphasize the Resurrection, which completes the Gospel story," Rev. Frazee said. "Now it is up to us to believe and receive what Christ has accomplished for us through his death and Resurrection."

There also will be a community choir April 13 consisting of members from each of the six churches.

People interested in being part of the choir should arrive at 6 p.m. for practice. The choir will sing at the beginning and end of the service. For more information, call 309-797-2000.
G'day! It's Murray here. I've put together a little quiz to test your musical knowledge. Think you can score top marks in Murray's Magic Music Quiz? Give it a go now!
US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are meeting now at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Most meetings between world leaders are relatively unimportant.

This meeting is an exception, not because of whatever agreements or statements will emerge, but because of what it reveals about the current needs of the political administration of the world's two largest economies.
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Silencer manufacturer SilencerCo, quietly named a new president and his is probably a name you're familiar with: Jason Schauble. A decorated, former reconnaissance Marine Corps officer, for the last three years Schauble was SilencerCo's Chief Revenue Officer (CRO).

Schauble steps into his new role with plenty of experience in the firearms industry. Before his arrival at SilencerCo, Schauble held senior executive roles at Tracking Point and Remington Defense.

Schauble takes the helm from Jonathon Shults, one of the three founders of SilencerCo. Despite the move, a SilencerCo representative says Shults isn't retiring or leaving the company and will be fully involved in day-to-day operations.

SilencerCo tells us the company is looking forward to a future with Jason as president.

More about SilencerCo:

Born and bred in the land of the free, SilencerCo started life when two men in a garage machined, welded, and shaped their dreams into reality. They had one core belief: Guns dont have to be loud. Now in its sixth year of existence, SilencerCo makes more silencers than anyone else in the market. Yet our secret is simple  we care. We care about each silencer leaving our facility. We care about the shooters and their hearing. We care about our employees, and we care about our role in the American economy. Were shooters, too  and we know how hard it can be to find durable equipment that performs. Our silencers have been shot, stripped, torqued, and blasted  and we constantly search for ways to make them quieter, more durable, lighter, and shorter. We set the bar high for quality and innovation  because in the end, thats all that matters. We created the first non-round pistol silencer with the Osprey, we created the quietest and easiest cleaning rimfire silencer with the Sparrow, and now manufacture the only commercially-viable, fully-modular shotgun silencer in existence with the Salvo.

@DM
Porterville, CA (93257)

Today

Periods of rain. High 62F. Winds SSE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a half an inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible..

Tonight

Cloudy with periods of rain. Low 47F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.
Every April since its inception in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets, National Poetry Month is celebrated by poets and poetry lovers alike
Two years have passed since 8/11.

But this is not the first time that India's currency of the time faced the axe.

The Mughals, after invading a territory, would effect the demonetisation of the local currency with the aim to cripple the economy of the land.

Prakash Bhandari flips through the pages of history to the times when currency was declared defunct overnight.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

The Indian rupee, which draws its name from the Sanskrit word rupyakam, has been at the centre of many discussions and debates following the demonetisation of high value currency notes on November 8.

But this is not the first time that India's currency of the time has faced the axe.

The Mughals, after invading a territory, would effect the demonetisation of the local currency with the aim to cripple the economy of the land, says art historian Chandramani Singh.

They would then exchange the previous ruler's coins invariably for a lower value to ensure that the local people became dependent on them and toed their line.

Akbar's army, led by his general, Raja Man Singh of Amber, was ordered to seize all the local coins after conquering a territory.

In their place, coins from Akbar's mints would be issued.

So, Akbar was instrumental in starting 'sikkabandi'.

Akbar liked the coins that were prevalent during his forerunner Sher Shah Suri's reign and issued gold, silver and copper coins on those patterns, even adopting their weight and fabric.

But, quite like today, he too faced the problem of counterfeit currency, especially from rulers in the southern parts of India who would issue fake coins resembling those from Akbar's mint.

To counter this problem, Akbar would often change the weight and form of his gold coins and the inscriptions on them.

He was also the first to issue coins of Rs 10, Rs 12 and Rs 20 as well as fractional coins.

After his death, his son Jahangir inherited the throne. Born to a Hindu mother, Jodha Bai (the princess of Amber), Jahangir issued gold and silver coins that had Hindu zodiacal signs like Mesh (Aries), Kark (Cancer), Tula (Libra), Makar (Capricorn) and so on.

Later, as Jahangir's physical and mental powers began to fail him, he left the administration of the kingdom to his favourite wife, Nur Jahan, and, in his own words, contended himself by a seer of wine and a seer of kebab.

Nur Jahan became the de facto ruler of the Moghul empire. She too issued coins from various mints. These coins bore this couplet:

Ba Hukm Shah Jahangir yaft sad zewer,

Banam Nur Jahan Badshah Begum zar

(By the order of Jahangir, gold attained a hundred times its beauty when the name of Nur Jahan, the First Lady of the court, was impressed upon it).

These coins did not find favour with Shah Jahan who became the emperor after Jahangir's death.

He did not like the Hindu zodiacal signs on them and also the fact that they carried the name of Nur Jahan, whom he hated.

"So, in 1630, in one of the cruelest forms of demonetisation, he ordered a ban on the use of these coins," says Triloki Das Khandelwal, an 86-year-old Jaipur-based coin collector.

"He ruled that anybody found in possession of these coins would be given the death penalty."

In sheer panic, people made a beeline for the emperor's revenue offices to get the coins replaced.

In Khandelwal's collection are some of these coins that he bought 50 years ago for Rs 200.

There is also a quarter anna copper coin that was issued by the Maharaja of Jodhpur in 1936 only to be demonetised 11 months later.

The story goes that a constitutional crisis arose in the British empire in 1936 when King Edward VIII proposed to marry American socialite Wallis Simpson.

Once divorced, she was now seeking a divorce from her second husband. The marriage was opposed by the British government as well as various legal, political and religious bodies.

Simpson was perceived to be politically and socially unsuitable to be queen. The Church of England asked the king to choose between her and the crown.

The king chose to abdicate the throne and marry Simpson.

In Jodhpur, the maharaja had issued the quarter anna copper coins to commemorate the coronation of King Edward VIII. The viceroy of India now ordered him to withdraw them.

The coins were still in circulation and the move to withdraw them came as a shock to the people of Jodhpur.

"In the city, a drummer went around announcing in Marwari the withdrawal of the King Edward VIII marked coins," recounts Mandal Nath Joshi, a priest who was 12 when the demonetisation was effected in Jodhpur.

The exchange was done at various revenue offices of the Jodhpur state. "People used to line up at these offices, just like they lined up outside banks and at ATMs."

In Jodhpur, people faced problems for a few days as the shopkeepers would not accept the banned coins.

"But in the rural areas, it took time to make people believe that the coins could be withdrawn and it took months to get all the coins back from the desert state. Eventually, the coins were melted in the state mint."
It's something to remember as New Delhi welcomes Sheikh Hasina, says Sunanda K Datta-Ray.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomes Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina at the airport, April 7, 2017. Photograph: Atul Yadav/PTI Photo

India is understandably excited at the prospect of welcoming Sheikh Hasina Wazed. But it would be wise not to forget that China has always been the elephant in the room of India-Bangladesh relations, especially where rivers are concerned.

I remember the pride with which H M Ershad, who was then Bangladeshi president, told me in 1985 in his modest Dhaka cantonment bungalow that he had obtained what the 'India Lobby' -- meaning Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League -- had failed to do.

Rajiv Gandhi had promised him to include Nepal in future riparian talks. Everyone knows it didn't happen.

What may be less well known is the contempt with which a senior external affairs ministry official with special links to Bangladesh and its president spoke of the prime minister for making such a reckless commitment.

"We had to work very hard to get out of it!" he said. Rajiv Gandhi didn't realise, he added, dismissing the prime minister in derogatory terms, that once you had Nepal, it would be impossible to exclude China.

If bilateral talks became quadrilateral, the other three would gang up against India.

Perhaps, this was a relic of the classic Indira Gandhi persecution complex.

But if Sheikh Hasina does want China included in talks on the Teesta and Brahmaputra rivers, and Narendra Modi acquiesces, I wonder if any of today's foreign service diplomats would be able to block it.

The possibility of such a request can't be ruled out after the Bangladesh prime minister's political advisor, H T Imam, told a Kolkata journalist, Devadeep Purohit, that in view of Indian reports of China building barrages in Tibet and diverting the waters of these two rivers, it 'should also be brought into the picture.'

Of course, Imam quickly added this was his 'personal opinion.' But we know that except perhaps right at the beginning when Sheikh Hasina's father, Mujibur Rahman, as innocent as he was overwhelmed with gratitude, signed a water treaty with Mrs Gandhi, Dhaka has always wanted a third party.

A Bangladeshi diplomat in Kolkata once gave me his explanation of India's refusal to involve even dependent Nepal. It had nothing to do with China, he said.

The obstacle was diplomatic duplicity.

"You see," he said, "an upper riparian country has one set of rights. A lower riparian country has another. India takes the latter position with Nepal, but the former when dealing with Bangladesh. Now, if Bangladesh and Nepal are both at the same table, would India speak as an upper or lower riparian country?" The two positions are not always reconcilable.

Common sense does seem to favour consultation among all parties concerned. Nature locks destinies regardless of politics.

Once during those difficult negotiations over the Farakka barrage, the Bangladesh side tabled an article I had written on illegal drawings in Uttar Pradesh that had reduced the water level in the lower Ganga.

Mamata Banerjee complains that the Teesta's flow would have been much more robust had it not been for dozens of hydroelectric projects throughout Sikkim.

Rivers know no borders; geography is beyond politics.

All this argues for uninhibited discussions among Bangladesh, India, Nepal and China/Tibet. Or it would have if every participant could be relied on to be absolutely frank.

India can't conceal facts about actual flows to deprive Bangladesh.

China can't be secretive about dams and barrages in Tibet that divert water from the Teesta and Brahmaputra.

Multilateral talks are necessary, but can help only if all facts regarding river works and flows are ascertainable through third party inspection.

Before asking for expanded talks, Bangladesh should persuade China to agree to that.

India can never hope to match China's $38.05 billion investment in Bangladesh.

Sheikh Hasina's logic that Chinese help will increase Bangladeshi purchasing power and that 'India is best poised to benefit from the Bangladeshi market' smacks too much of sophistry to offer comfort.

But yes, her Bangladesh is India's second best friend in the neighbourhood. It isn't the first: That honour goes to small, landlocked and vulnerable Bhutan, which has for years resisted Chinese urgings to sign a border agreement and exchange ambassadors.

It's something to remember as New Delhi welcomes Sheikh Hasina.
Little has changed in Digital India.

The issue that rocked the nation 100 years ago still creates a furore in Indian society, says Syed Firdaus Ashraf.

Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com

When Mohammed Akhlaq was killed for supposedly eating cow's meat in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh, on September 28, 2015, many Indians felt it was a rare occurence.

After the Alwar, Rajasthan, incident on April 3, 2017 -- in which men transporting cows were brutally assaulted, one of whom died after the attack -- and the many incidents of bovine vigilantism in India in between, it seems that the mayhem provoked by 'gau-rakshaks' will continue for a long time to come.

Those who feel a new terror has gripped India are wrong. More than 100 years ago, in undivided India, the cow protection movement was very strong and many people died then in the cow's name.

The life of Josh Malihabadi, the Urdu poet who migrated to Pakistan and his couplet continues to be relevant today:

Insaan ka lahu piyo, izn-e-aam hai

Par gai ka gosht khana haram hai

(Drink human blood, it is permitted

But cow's meat is forbidden

Josh wrote the couplet in pre-Independence India when some Hindus and Muslims fought over the cow.

Little has changed in Digital India. The issue that rocked the nation 100 years ago still creates a furore in Indian society.

After the Alwar incident I re-read Josh Malihabadi's autobiography (Yaadon Ki Baraat) which throws light on his friendship with Jawaharlal Nehru and reveals why he migrated to Pakistan.

Unlike millions of Muslims who moved to Pakistan during the Partition of India, Josh did not do so.

A native of Malihabad near Lucknow -- his ancestors worked for the nawabs of Awadh -- Josh believed in Nehru's idea of a secular India.

The thought of migrating to Pakistan did not occur to him even though many of his relatives made their way across the new border in 1947.

In 1955, when Josh traveled to Pakistan to visit relatives, a relative, Nasir Ahmed Khan Malihabadi, taunted him about the state of Urdu in India.

His children and grandchildren, Nasir Malihabadi told Josh, would not be able to read his poetry in Urdu because it would be a dead language in India.

'After Nehru's death,' Nasir Malihabadi asked Josh, 'who will respect you in India?'

Another Pakistani friend taunted Josh that soon he would be wearing a dhoti and sporting a choti (tuft at the back of the head), as some Hindus in Malihabad did.

When he returned to India, Josh was in a dilemma. He knew that Hindi was taking over as the official language in India and Urdu, the language in which he wrote his poetry, was neglected.

But he could not think of betraying his friendship with Nehru by migrating to Pakistan.

Finally, he mustered the courage to tell Nehru that he was worried about his future in India.

Urdu was dying, the poet told the prime minister. His children, Josh explained, would not learn Urdu and would be unaware of his poetry.

'Let your family migrate to Pakistan,' Nehru told Josh, 'but you remain an Indian citizen. If you want, you can go to Pakistan for four months a year to serve the cause of Urdu.'

While Nehru loved Urdu, Josh wrote in his memoir, he knew the views of many ministers and Congress leaders were different.

'I don't want to impose my view of Urdu on my government,' Nehru told Josh, 'because if I do that, it will be against democracy.'

Josh left for Karachi after meeting Nehru. When he met Syed Abu Talib Naqvi, then the chief commissioner of Karachi, he told him about his intention to not give up his Indian citizenship.

Naqvi was furious. He told Josh that he could not sail on two boats at the same time, he had to decide whether he wanted to be Pakistani or Indian.

Josh -- who owned large tracts of property in India -- was promised plots of land by the Pakistan government, which would ensure financial security for the rest of his life.

With deep sorrow in heart, Josh decided to accept Pakistani citizenship, knowing fully well that he would betray his dear friend Nehru's trust.

No sooner had Josh became a Pakistani citizen that he realised there were no Muslims in Pakistan, there were only Wahhabis, Barehlvis, Deobandis, Qadianis and Shias. Many of whom were angry that he had been granted government favours.

Josh eventually returned the plots of land to the government, and tried his hand at many businesses -- fisheries, a petrol pump, a restaurant, selling beedis and textiles, a printing press -- all of which failed.

He had been promised a house when he changed his nationality, but that was not given to him.

The poet had to sell the family gold to survive; he had to cut down on his drinking because he had no money.

In 1964, three months before Nehru died, Josh returned to India and sought a meeting with the prime minister.

During their final conversation, Nehru quipped that that whenever he met Pakistanis they were dressed like Englishmen and only spoke English.

'I thought Pakistan came into existence because Muslims wanted to preserve Urdu and Muslim culture,' Nehru told Josh who was too embarrassed to respond.

After Nehru's death, Josh wrote: 'Nehru was a good human being and a bad politician. And in politics, if you are a good politician you are surely a bad human being which Nehru was not.'

In 1967 Josh traveled to India to sell his property in Malihabad. During his stay, in an interview to a local newspaper he criticised the Pakistan government.

The candour angered the Pakistani establishment. Josh discovered he was no longer welcome in Pakistan.

He lost his job. His passport was seized. He could not transfer the money from India. The trolls of that time denounced him as anti-Pakistani and as an Indian agent.

If he was anti-Pakistan, Josh asked, why would he leave behind his ancestral property in Malihabad and migrate to Pakistan?

On February 22, 1982, the man acclaimed as the finest revolutionary poet of his time died. He was 88.

Josh regretted to the end his decision to migrate to Pakistan. He regretted that he had not heeded Nehru's advice.

If he were alive today, what would he say about today's times?

He would not need to say anything more than the couplet quoted earlier in the column.

Josh's words are as relevant in India today as they were when he wrote them.
'Since the goal of taking everyone along on the path of development -- sabka saath sabka vikas -- requires an atmosphere of amity, there cannot but be an emphasis on the primacy of law and order -- and it cannot be only against road-side Romeos or gutka chewers,' says Amulya Ganguli.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

The saffron camp's rationalisation of Yogi Adityanath's rise -- and of Narendra Modi's -- is to equate vikas with Hindutva.

According to it, there is no contradiction between the two because the Sangh Parivar's ideal is an economically powerful and militarily strong India, which can only be achieved through development.

As a blogger has said, India has emerged from 1,200 years of slavery under Muslim and British rule and is now marching to a 'nationalistic drumbeat orchestrated by strong leaders.'

So far, so good.

While there can be no quarrel with India's progress as a result of vikas, what the saffron lobby may find problematic is with the concept of sabka saath or an advancement of all irrespective of caste and creed, especially the latter.

Since it is an inclusive idea, which has been articulated by both Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath after his coronation, it tends to put the minorities on an equal footing with the Hindus.

Since a status of this nature militates against V D Savarkar's and M S Golwalkar's diktats which favour a lower position for the minorities, has the BJP -- or at least sections of it -- moved on from the days of the Sangh Parivar's earlier stalwarts?

How a scene of equality will pan out in real life is yet to be seen.

But what this fabled egalitarianism, as enjoined by the Constitution which, incidentally, is regarded as a holy book by Modi, means is that virtually all the anti-minority programmes which the saffronites have pursued till now will have to be put on hold.

These will include campaigns such as ghar wapsi and love jihad with which the Yogi was involved as also those like cow vigilantism and anti-conversion drives against Muslim and Christian evangelists, not to mention the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's as yet unfulfilled project of 'liberating' the Mathura and Varanasi mosques.

Since the goal of taking everyone along on the path of development requires an atmosphere of amity, there cannot but be an emphasis on the primacy of law and order -- and it cannot be only against road-side Romeos or gutka chewers.

There also has to be a crackdown on those targeting 'anti-nationals' and vandals setting film sets on fire.

It is necessary to remember that the phrase, sabka saath, entails not only the minorities, but also the Left-Liberals who have long aroused the Parivar's wrath for being a deracinated, English-speaking group.

Linked to this dislike are the books they write, the films they make and the food they eat.

Yet, the votaries of a 'new India' will have to tolerate them.

Otherwise, the English language media, which is another of the Parivar's pet peeves, will be up in arms.

Evidently, the task before the new UP chief minister will be much more than reining in the Hindu Yuva Vahini.

But that's not all.

What will be of interest is the reaction of the Hindutva hawks to the all embracing developmental agenda now that one of the most militant among them has apparently flown the coop.

For the hardliners, it is not enough for the saffron dispensation to let RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat address the nation on State controlled media on Vijayadashami day or build a Ramayan museum in Ayodhya or rewrite textbooks in accordance with Dinanath Batra's belief that 'whether it be spacecraft or television or car or plastic surgery or rockets, there is nothing that wasn't conceived, designed and executed by Indians aeons ago.'

What they want is a sure sign that their cherished Hindu rashtra is well and truly on the way.

The BJP has been in power at the Centre from 1998 till now with a 10 year break from 2004, but there has been no progress even on building the Ram temple.

Now, the sabka saath, sabka vikas mantra means that the focus will turn even further away from the basic Hindutva agenda -- building the temple, introducing a uniform civil code and scrapping Article 370 -- which was put on the back burner by Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1996 when he failed to form a government.

What will be most disheartening, however, for the hawks is that two successive Hindu hriday samrats or the kings of Hindu hearts do not seem to be too eager to break away from the multicultural 'Idea of India' which the Congress advocates.

Amulya Ganguli is a writer on current affairs.
'And the old war horse has left nothing to chance. He campaigned vigorously in the by-election defying his age,' says Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir.

Now that the listless campaigning has ended and the rhetorical dust has been washed out by the rain, it is time to take a poll-eve look at the by-election scene in the Kashmir valley.

For sure, the by-elections in the Srinagar and Anantnag Lok Sabha constituencies have got reduced to virtually a no-stake game for the aam aadmi, barring the fate of the two -- or three -- reckonable contestants in the fray.

Veteran Farooq Abdullah, political greenhorn Mufti Tassaduq Hussain and, somewhere between the two of them, Ghulam Ahmed Mir, fielded respectively by the National Conference, the Peoples Democratic Party and the Congress, are the visible faces of the not-so-visible contest.

One thing that can be foretold with utmost certainty even before the first vote is cast and the last one is counted is that notwithstanding the bombastic claims trumpeted during the dull campaigning, nothing is going to change as a result of its eventual outcome.

THe PDP will remain in the saddle in awkward company; the NC will continue to mark time, awkwardly straddling across two (separatist and mainstream) stools and the Congress would try to immunise itself from the fallout of its national level irrelevance.

The only material factor left to be watched is the eventual fate of Farooq, Tassaduq and Mir -- in that order. And, interestingly, that is of quite some significance to them individually.

Farooq has to prove that his solitary electoral setback is behind him.

Tassaduq -- the late Mufti Mohammaed Sayeed's only son -- has willy nilly become the torch bearer of the Mufti legacy.

Mir is out to avenge his 2014 electoral defeat and also to demonstrate that he was a better performer than his predecessor.

Compared to the other two, Farooq is playing for higher stakes.

He simply cannot afford a successive defeat. His defeat in the 2014 parliamentary elections to the PDP by a huge margin was an anti-climax to his maiden, unopposed election from the same seat way back in 1980.

And the old war horse has left nothing to chance. He campaigned vigorously in the by-election defying his age (he will be 80 in October).

Tassaduq, a highly rated professional in cinematography, is a generation apart from the NC war horse.

The circumstances of his entry into active politics left him with no choice but to pick up the gauntlet and jump into the fray.

He took his time to make up his mind and, as of now, his clean image seems to be his most valuable political asset.

Tassaduq's campaign speeches were devoid of worn out rhetoric and he was able to cut a distinct profile, attracting the attention of his age group.

But for the prestige of his surname -- Mufti -- Tassaduq, probably, has least personal stakes in the fray, compared to the other two contestants.

His (unlikely) defeat will not matter much to him in substantial terms while a (likely) win can firmly launch him on the political pad.

Mir was unlucky in the 2014 assembly polls to lose (Dooru) by a slender margin (just over 100 votes) and is looking forward to avenging that defeat.

There really is nothing else to write about him in the limited by-election context. At the moment he does not look to be the proverbial dark horse to upset the PDPs applecart.

Rhetorically, the contending parties tried hard to kick up dust and din, but did not go far in the valley's rocky political terrain.

For the NC a simple, ordinary by-election became the 'crucial determining factor in the ideological battle,' notwithstanding the haunting reality that the Abdullahs had pioneered the path for an alliance with both, the Congress and the BJP, in the not too distant past.

For the PDP, it became the battle to uphold the spirit of 'Mufti Saheb's dream.'

Nearly three years in office, the PDP-BJP coalition is yet to touch Mufti's 'Agenda of Alliance,' not to speak of implementing it.

How the by-election could change that course remains to be seen.

The Congress was yet again hamstrung between the NC's free-for-all rhetoric and the PDP's 'promised' dreamland.

Campaigning concluded, the critical issue that needs to be watched is the voter turnout.

This scenario keeps alternating between the two principal combatants -- the PDP and the NC.

The one in the Opposition, at the given time, suspects that the ruling establishment was clandestinely patronising the poll boycott plank owned by the separatist camp.

Since 1996, that has been the pattern in successive elections.

This one being no exception.

And those who know testify that this indeed is a critical material factor for winning and/or losing the contest.
'The first person who started beating these men was Nitin, a college president, and the other was Deepak, who is currently absconding.'

'After that, two more joined the mob.'

'The last one who we arrested was a passerby who was going with cremation material to prepare for his father's funeral.'

'He stopped by and he too started beating these men.'

In a major twist in the Pehlu Khan murder case, Alwar Superintendent of Police Rahul Prakash claims that the local police has filed cases against 14 people under the Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export) Act and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, and are deeming them as cow smugglers.

The Alwar SP is categorical that the 15 men from Haryana's Mewat district -- including Pehlu Khan who was beaten up by a mob in Rajasthan's Alwar district on suspicion of smuggling cows -- had no verified documents to prove that they were in the dairy business and not cow smugglers.

"I don't know if they (the people who began beating) knew for sure if they (the people who were beaten) were cow smugglers or not, but according to the police version they were cow smugglers," Prakash told Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore.

"They did not have the transit permit to take the cows out of the state," the Alwar SP added.

How many arrests have you made in the Pehlu Khan murder case?

We have made four arrests in the Pehlu Khan murder case.

Are those arrested affiliated to any cow protection group?

We can't decisively say so.

We have no facts or documents yet that can prove that these arrested as well as those absconding are part of any (cow protection) group or have any affiliation to any group or were related or knew each other.

Two of them are related to each other and the other two (under arrest) are friends.

The first person who started beating these men was Nitin, a college president, and the other was Deepak, who is currently absconding.

These two boys (Nitin and Deepak) started beating first and they are the main accused in this case.

After that, two more (who are under arrest now) joined the mob.

The last one who we arrested was a passerby who was going with cremation material to prepare for his father's funeral.

He stopped by and he too started beating these men.

And then many more joined them.

Are these four arrested residents of Alwar?

Yes, all those arrested are local residents.

Do they have any criminal record?

As of now, nothing.

There is no past criminal record of those we have arrested in this case.

What are the charges under which these four have been arrested?

Apart from Section 302 for murder, these people have been booked under several other charges like Section 308 (attempt to culpable homicide), Section 323 (for voluntarily causing hurt), Section 427 (mischief causing damage), Section 143 (for being a member of unlawful assembly), Section 147 (rioting), Section 149 (unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object).

They were produced in court and out of the four, three of the accused are under judicial custody and one under police custody.

What have these four confessed to the police?

They all have confessed that they beat up Pehlu Khan.

We also verified their identities through videos that were shot by the people and shared on WhatsApp groups.

Are you likely to arrest more people in this connection?

Apart from these four, we have also identified a dozen people and are looking out for them.

As of now they are absconding, but we are making efforts to arrest them.

How soon do you think you will succeed in arresting them?

We cannot give any time frame (for the arrests).

Are these 12 who you are likely to arrest also Alwar residents?

Yes, most of them are local villagers.

What did the four arrested accused confess to the police?

During their interrogation they said that they attacked these people because of certain provocation.

And what was the provocation?

Just that they were smuggling cows.

I don't know if they (the people who began beating) knew for sure if they (the people who were beaten) were cow smugglers or not, but according to the police version they were cow smugglers.

They did not have the transit permit to take the cows out of the state.

Was there any provocation from these alleged cow smugglers? Have any of the arrested four confessed this to the police?

No, they have not said so, but they said that by just seeing them taking the cows away provoked them.

These confessions were made to the police and not before a judicial magistrate.

There are media reports that say these 15 people were not cow smugglers. But you maintain that they were cow smugglers...

Yes they were cow smugglers because they did not have any transit permit, so they are cow smugglers.

There is no doubt about it; we have registered a case against them too.

Under which Act are these cases registered and against how many people have you registered a case?

Under the Rajasthan Bovine Act and Cruelty to Animals Act.

But there are media reports claiming that these 15 were not cow smugglers, but were involved in the dairy business...

No, they had unverified documents and they will not stand the scrutiny of law.

So, 100 per cent they were cow smugglers; there is no doubt about that.

IMAGE: A mob beats a group of Muslims they allege were smuggling cows, Alwar, Rajasthan, April 3, 2017. Pehlu Khan, one of the men brutally assaulted, died later in hospital.
The country, which holds immense geostrategic significance for India, is in a highly volatile state and the upcoming polls are being viewed as a veritable semi-final before its presidential elections.

In this exclusive conversation with Rediff.com contributor Rajeev Sharma, exiled Opposition leader Ahmed Naseem explains why the world should care about democracy in Maldives.

IMAGE: Mohamed Nasheed, the first democratically elected president of the Maldives, was forced from office in 2012 in what his supporters said was a coup.

He has been living in exile in the UK since 2016.

Photograph: Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters

Even as the domestic politics of the Maldives goes through a tailspin, this strategically important SAARC country is scheduled to hold local council elections soon.

Not much is known about these elections, but given the volatile state the Maldivian polity is currently in, the polls are being viewed as a semi-final before the archipelago nation's presidential elections next year.

Former Maldives foreign minister Ahmed Naseem, left -- a senior leader of the Opposition Maldives Democratic Party and close aide of former president Mohammed Nasheed -- tells the world about the significance of the upcoming local elections.

The first of a two-part interview from Colombo, where Naseem has been living in exile for two years:

Now that former president Nasheed has left Colombo for the UK, where he has been living for quite some time, what have he, you and other party colleagues decided about the roadmap for the MDP?

In February 2017, the MDP elected reputable lawyer and former minister Hassan Latheef as the new chairperson.

The MDP's previous chairperson, Ali Waheed, has had to be in exile due to terrorism charges framed against him.

He resigned some months ago stating his intention to allow someone without pending charges and living in Male to get elected to the post.

The new chairperson will work to strengthen the structure and make more efficient the party's administration, convening regular meetings of its national council as well as committees and pave the way for a scheduled party congress.

Right now, the party's elections committee is active in campaigning nation-wide for upcoming local council elections.

The party's upcoming congress will facilitate fresh internal elections, leading up to primaries, especially in readiness for the 2018 presidential elections.

Given former President Nasheed's unfading popularity, all indications are that he will win the presidential primary.

In the meantime the party's parliamentary group will cooperate fully with our new partners in the House to replace the speaker, the deputy speaker, amend unpopular laws, including the law on foreign ownership of land, the law specifying age limits on presidential contenders and others that would pave the way for free, fair, transparent, credible and inclusive elections.

The Maldivian local council polls have already been deferred thrice. Do you think these elections will be held at all?

The local council polls, after being deferred thrice, are now scheduled for May 6.

The poll date was unduly set back thrice simply because the ruling party, the PPM (Progressive Party of Maldives), mired in the midst of its split into two factions, had not been able to identify candidates, and, therefore, had not been campaigning comparatively as much as the Opposition.

The present schedule of May 6 falls three weeks prior to the fasting month of Ramazan.

My sources in Male say that the local council elections may be further delayed until after Ramzan, (after June 24) to facilitate as many undue and unlawful arrangements as possible to foresee being able to fix the results.

What kind of participation are you expecting in these local council elections?

Over 1,487 candidates have applied to contest, including 1,124 candidates from political parties and 363 independent candidates.

563 councillors will be elected to 179 island councils, 67 councillors to 18 atoll councils, and 23 councillors to three city councils.

You are pinning a lot of hope on these elections. How are these elections important?

The local council elections are important as previous to the 2008 constitution, only nominees appointed by the executive were chiefs of administration in the atolls and islands.

The local councils are a feature of the decentralisation act passed in parliament in April 2010.

This act formalised the roles and responsibilities of atoll and island councils and required that councillors be democratically elected.

The atoll and island councils were tasked with taking over public health services, basic municipal services, contribute to land use plans and facilitate community-based institutions.

Local council elections are also important as decentralisation and local governance were key pledges of the MDP.

Since the first democratically elected government under the 2008 constitution was ousted in 2012, the coup regime and the regime that the coup paved the way for have exerted concerted efforts to nullify key provisions in the decentralisation act.

The government continues to serially abrogate powers of the city, atoll and island councils and had effected unlawful amendments to laws to reduce previous councils averaging 5 members to just 3.

Decentralisation of administration, power and decision making is a central feature for good governance.

Decentralisation facilitates democratic governance from among the people instead of centralised rule from the executive in the capital island of Male.

Elected members to local councils will, in turn, be better positioned to assist a party's regional and parliamentary candidates, as well as presidential candidates.

If these elections are held, how do you rate the Opposition's chances? What if you lose these polls?

As the Opposition, and especially the MDP, have kept up scheduled team visits to various constituencies to campaign for their candidates, the MDP expects to win a higher majority of council seats than the previous local council elections of 2014.

In the local council elections of 2014, the MDP won 42 per cent against 26 percent won by the PPM.

Present forecasts estimate that the MDP is favoured to win 60 per cent of council seats nationwide, with majorities in many islands, including the three cities of Male, Addu and Fua Mulak.

You have said that the combined Opposition now enjoys a majority in the Majlis, the Maldivian parliament. How are your party's new allies going to weather the political storm?

Our allies will primarily work in solidarity in parliament.

MPs of the MDP (21), Jumhooree Party (8), MPs supporting former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom (9 and growing), the one MP of Adhaalath Party, independent MPs and pledged crossovers now constitute a majority in parliament. (In a House of 85 MPs, with one MP in jail, and speaker/deputy not included in voting).

Members of the new Opposition parliamentary group have drawn up a list of necessary legislation that will reverse unconstitutional amendments, and to effect amendments to the law on foreign ownership of land, the law specifying age limits on presidential contenders and others that would pave the way for free, fair, transparent, credible and inclusive elections.

The MPs will also call on constituencies to petition their respective MPs to support the Opposition's alliance working to make government accountable to the House and the people.

IMAGE: Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen casts his vote in the 2013 elections after former president Mohamed Nasheed's ouster. Photograph: Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters

Cynics may say that all that your party has tried so far in the Maldives is to conjure up a storm in a tea cup...

Should the storm refer to events on the ground, the Opposition has survived through structural strength and seeks remedies to controversies instigated by President Abdulla Yaameen Abdul Gayoom.

In other words, we are not the creators or authors of the so-called storm.

The systematic undermining of the constitution; steamrolling unlawful amendments in parliament; the sackings of two vice-presidents, the elections commissioner, the auditor general and the chief justice; un-responded allegations of international crimes and money laundering; the jailing of three former ministers of defence; the MMPRC corruption; the jailing of virtually all Opposition political leaders, forcing scores of politicians into exile were all done by President Yameen, despite the fact that President Nasheed had graciously accepted the results of the 2013 elections, thus unreservedly accepting an Opposition tenure of five years.

Isn't there a remedy to all these travails in the Maldivian constitution or is your statute silent on such issues?

The Maldives constitution of 2008 enshrined many democratic rights and principles that previous constitutions did not describe.

Prior to the 2008 constitution, the Maldives was a single party State where the executive was in charge of the civil service, the security forces, the judiciary and had control over parliament through a 'constitutionally appointed' group of MPs.

The rights of assembly, freedom of speech, and other basic human rights and concepts such as transparency, inclusiveness or even civil society were not postulated or described in previous constitutions.

After the ousting in 2012 of the democratic government elected under the 2008 constitution, the coup regime together with the regime for which it paved the way, the Yaameen administration, has exerted concerted actions to reverse democratic gains and to establish the impunity and influences that pre-2008 constitutions had facilitated for decades.

But where was your party and its allies when your country's constitution was being subverted, as you seem to be alleging?

Should vocal and visible opposition (when earlier there were no opportunities to do so) to these reversals and regress seem exaggerations, it may be that those who had been taking those rights for granted for a considerable time are lulled by the very conditions they've long enjoyed in their respective democratic countries.

(It may have) led (them) on to wrongly get prejudiced and expect the existence of the same rights for us.

Your party and allies have talked big, but yielded little on the ground. President Yameen continues to rule the Maldives with an iron hand. What is the reason for your failure and his success?

Intimidation and unlawful actions; through a combination of a group of co-opted MPs, sections of the judiciary and the police.

In the vote of no-confidence against parliament Speaker Abdullah Maseeh held on March 27, 2017, the House majority leader proposed a roll call vote.

Deputy Speaker Moosa Manik, who chaired the proceedings, unlawfully asked for a vote as House rules only allow a roll call vote when the electronic system was proven to have failed.

It was only after the security forces had evicted 13 Opposition members and other Opposition MPs walked out that the deputy speaker announced a majority (of 48 votes for and none against), based on a dubious count of small pieces of paper held up by respective MPs.

The expected defection of ruling party lawmakers was contingent on electronic voting, which would have allowed them to see how other MPs voted and decide based on the way the vote was going.

But what about your allies? How do you explain the subjugation of the entire Opposition?

The biggest weapon used against political rivals by President Yameen is the framing and execution of fabricated criminal charges against Opposition figures.

These are done through coercion of partisan elements in the judiciary and politicised appointees in independent institutions such as the police.

President Yameen has systematically 'colonised' independent institutions with cronies and appointees from his (now defunct) political party, the Peoples' Alliance.

I am referring to the entire Opposition. You mean your allies too were as helpless as the MDP?

Immediately after the new Opposition alliance was announced on March 24, 2017, the police began summoning leaders of the Jumhooree Party, including the party's leader Gasim Ibrahim, the party's parliamentary deputy and former police commissioner Abdulla Riyaz, former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom's son and PPM MP Farish Maumoon on spurious charges.

Penitentiary officers had taken former defence minister Colonel Mohamed Nazim (retd), who was under house arrest, back to jail without prior notice, and announced the curbing of statutory privileges for MP Ahmed Mahloof, who had voiced support for the new Opposition alliance from jail.

All these leaders have pledged to stand fast against the government in 'defending the constitution' despite these obvious attempts at intimidation.

Rajeev Sharma, independent journalist and strategic analyst, tweets @Kishkindha
Security men on Saturday staged a flag march in curfew-bound Bhadrak town of Odisha even as the central forces were on their way to the area, which had witnessed violence triggered by abusive remarks against Hindu deities.

The curfew, clamped in the arson-hit town on Friday, would continue till Sunday, while the prohibitory orders under section 144 of CrPC were imposed in nearby Dhamnagar and Basudevpur as a precautionary measure to prevent spread of violence, a police official said.

Additional forces, including armed police, were deployed as part of an effort to restore peace in the strife-torn town which witnessed violence on Thursday and Friday, he said.

Senior officials, including Home Secretary Asit Tripathy and Director-General of Police K B Singh, have been camping in Bhadrak to monitor and supervise the peace operation.

The DGP said the situation was now under control after some violent incidents took place in the town on Friday, but there was no group clash and loss of life.

Chief Secretary A P Padhi said in Bhubaneswar on Saturday that no violence had taken place in Bhadrak, where 35 platoons of force (over 1,100 personnel) had been deployed.

Two companies of central forces are being sent to Bhadrak as the Union government is ready to extend all help and cooperation to the state in restoring normalcy in the town, Union Minister Pradhan said in a statement.

Stating that he had a word with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and the Home secretary on the issue, Pradhan urged Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to handle the situation in a sensitive manner and activate the administration.

About 30 people have been detained in connection with the violent incidents which left several shops gutted and vehicles damaged.

All entry and exit points of the town have been sealed, police said.

The violence-hit town wore a deserted look as shops, business establishments, educational institutions and other organisations remained closed.

Violence had erupted in Bhadrak on Thursday after a group staged demonstration near the town police station demanding immediate arrest of those involved in posting alleged offensive remarks against Hindu deities on social media.

Though the district administration clamped prohibitory orders, tension persisted and fresh violence erupted on Friday after a peace meeting called by the administration to restore normalcy failed to yield results.

The state government has appointed Gyanaranjan Das, who was the commissioner of Cuttack municipal corporation, as Bhadrak Collector.

Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Krishan Pal Gurjar, who was scheduled to attend a function on Saturday cancelled his visit, while slamming the state government for unrest in the town.

Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including the partys Odisha unit president, Basant Panda and former MLA Pratap Sarangi slammed the Biju Janata Dal-led state government for arson in Bhadrak, adding that it was ironical that the chief minister was camping in Delhi at a time when the town was burning.

Image: A scene after communal tension broke out in Bhadrak, Odisha. Photograph: PTI Photo
United States President Donald Trump gave a go ahead for a missile strike against the Syrian regime from his Mar a-Lago resort in Florida after a series of meetings and conference calls with his national security team, the White House said on Friday.

And in less than four hours after he gave the green signal, missiles were launched against the Syrian regime, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters.

Giving a timeline of Trump's decision making process, Spicer said the President first heard about the gas attack in Syria at his daily briefing on Tuesday at about 10.30 am.

He asked questions and his team for a range of options.

There was another meeting at 8 pm Tuesday at the White House on options and again Wednesday morning.

Trump met again 3 pm Wednesday and decided to reconvene Thursday for a decision.

On route to Florida on Thursday, at about 1.30 pm, he spoke through secured video conference with his team and again at 4 pm with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and others in a secure room in Palm Beach.

That's when the President gave the OK to move ahead, Spicer said.

Missiles were launched at 7.40 pm during dinner.

Foreign leaders and congressional leaders were notified starting at 8.30 pm, just as first impacts were hitting the ground, Spicer said, adding that these calls were made by the Secretary of State, defence secretary and the National Security Council.

Trump informed the visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping as dinner concluded.

After dinner, Trump went to secure room with his Secretaries of State Rex Tillerson and the Defence Secretary Jim Mattis and had secure conference call with the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

During the call, Trump asked about effectiveness and was told it would take few hours but initial results positive.

Responding to questions, Trump said congressional and world leaders had fairly unanimous praise.

However, he refrained from spelling out the next moves of the Trump Administration.

"He's not going to telegraph his next move," he said.

The attack was very decisive justified and proportional, he added.

He said the actions were taken were clearly against the Assad regime.

There was no political contact with Moscow, just military last night sent a very clear signal.

Spicer said the President was very disturbed by the chemical attack.

"It was very disturbing and tragic and moving to him. He had a very deliberative process of asking his national security team to develop options," he said.

Trump, he said believes that the Syrian government and the Assad regime should abide by the agreement they made not to use chemical weapons.

IMAGE: A demonstrator holds a placard during a demonstration organised by the Stop the War Coalition to protest against US President Donald Trump's decision to launch attacks against Syrian targets, in central London. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters
MISSOULA - Here are some morsels you'll learn in the history class of professor Michael Mayer at the University of Montana:

The church ladies loved the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. They called him "LLJ," short for "Little Lord Jesus."

The minister and civil rights leader plagiarized his dissertation.

He loved food, and he struggled with his weight before he was assassinated in 1968.

"He wasn't perfect. He wasn't a saint. But he was an important and powerful and effective leader," said Mayer last week to a room with more than 100 students.

Mayer has a doctorate from Princeton University, and he's a specialist in the civil rights movement. To learn from him is to learn from a scholar who has deep experience in one slice of U.S. history.

In recent years, UM's budget has taken hits since enrollment has fallen, and some students and faculty have denounced departmental cuts  and warned against them. But actual cuts aren't the only problem.

Departments that have long been acclaimed are feeling the consequences of losses from attrition and a freeze that requires the UM president's approval on any new hires.

In the history department, the number of faculty is roughly the same as it was when Mayer first was hired in 1988, some 13 bodies, with one person splitting time with another sector, according to Mayer and department Chairman Robert Greene.

But as faculty members retire and the department remains unable to fill positions, enormous gaps in expertise have emerged.

For roughly three years, UM has not had a historian of the U.S. West, a faculty member who used to draw stellar graduate students with interest in the West.

"Given our location and given the existence of other strong programs on campus like environmental studies and Native American studies, history of the West is really important," Greene said.

Greene said the department also is missing expertise in significant periods  medieval history, the Renaissance and Reformation  and places of the world, such as sub-Saharan Africa.

Longtime history professor Linda Frey said students in the department may get more attention than ever, and they still get an excellent education in the fields of expertise available. But the gaps hurt the institution.

"This kind of bleeding is affecting the formation of our identity, which is why we've got to stop it," Frey said.

***

In the tight budget environment at UM, faculty have gone without desk phones and office supplies. But asking a faculty member with expertise in Asian history to teach a class on colonial America doesn't work.

"Linda is a very talented European historian. But she can't teach American history," Mayer said.

Frey said it would be like asking people in the trades to do each other's jobs: "You, the plumber  be an electrician."

The breadth of expertise is a hallmark of a flagship research institution. Mayer said the rich knowledge base within programs distinguishes the university from a community college or a junior college.

"We weren't trained broadly. We were trained to be specialists," he said.

Former President Royce Engstrom pushed global education at UM, but Mayer said it isn't easy to offer students an international perspective with the gaps that exist.

***

The holes don't make recruitment easy either, and UM needs more students.

When the history department had a historian of the U.S. West in place, it attracted the cream-of-the-crop of students who had an interest in that area.

"It was really a major draw for us as far as getting topnotch graduate students from around the country to come to Missoula," said Greene, the department chair. "A lot of graduate students have since gone on to positions at universities across the country."

In 2006, when Greene arrived, the department counted some 24 graduate students, and more than half of them were working on research with Dan Flores, then the A.B. Hammond chair and historian of the West. Greene said the department counts probably 20 graduate students at most today, and just a couple are doing work in the West.

"The students who are applying are well aware of what universities have strong programs in western history, and they're applying for those programs right now, and we're not one of them," Greene said. "When we get the Hammond professor, I think we'll be back at a position of regional and national strength in that field."

Full-time faculty teach all their own general education courses in history instead of farming them out, he said. The history department also is one of the smallest in the United States that grants doctoral degrees.

Robert Lambeth, a doctoral student, is focused on Northwest labor history, and he said the hole in the department affects his research. Lambeth chose UM partly because it's close to Spokane, where he has family.

The lack of a historian of the West means he relies on another professor for guidance, and that faculty member is spread thin, he said. Lambeth also doesn't have a peer group familiar with the same era.

"Ultimately, that takes away from the learning experience and the kind of feedback that people need for their specific research," Lambeth said.

***

Austin Wardlow attends UM because the school was willing to accommodate his needs.

"I will gladly disclose this. They were very willing to work with me with my learning disability," Wardlow said.

The student who moved to Montana a couple of years ago said professors in the department, such as Mehrdad Kia and John Eglin, have more than met his expectations, and he praised them all: "Across the board, I have been completely amazed by them."

But he would choose to take courses in medieval history, and the Renaissance, and Reformation, were they available. Wardlow said his exposure at UM to some areas of history made his interest grow even if he wasn't originally drawn to them.

"I don't think you can put a price on or diminish the value of being able to understand people, society, and how things happen and how they operate," Wardlow said.

Professor Mayer said Wardlow isn't alone in wanting to take more courses than UM has available: "When (students) get here, often they find they can't take things they'd like to take, and that's a shame."

But budget pressures are strong across campus, and the history department didn't lose faculty from last school year to this one.

"At UM, if you've got a finger in the dike, you don't have a leak," Mayer said.

***

Professors in other fields have made the same observations that numbers don't reveal the whole picture when it comes to cuts.

Faculty from the School of Journalism outlined the potential losses to their field in November 2015 when then-President Royce Engstrom announced UM would make deep budget cuts likely to affect instructors without tenure.

The school was at risk of losing an expert in Native American journalism, a podcast and radio producer who mentored four Hearst winners in three years, and a data analyst whose expertise was sought by other units on campus.

In the end, those three faculty members stayed, but UM is facing another overall budget reduction.

Meanwhile, the deep employee cuts Engstrom called for didn't take place, and the current president and Montana Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education have called for a trimmer budget given the enrollment slide of some 24 percent since 2010.

Current President Sheila Stearns, who holds that job on an interim basis while UM seeks Engstrom's permanent replacement, has said UM needs to move the percent of personnel in the UM budget down several points from more than 80 percent.

An increase in fall enrollment would help, but UM officials have said they aren't expecting one yet. Professor Frey said she isn't anticipating a big jump in history majors either, but interest in different fields is cyclical too.

"We've been through this before, right?" she said. "Even though we try not to remember it, but it's really true. It will probably go back the other way if we hold on long enough."

***

At UM, accreditation is underway, and associate provost Nathan Lindsay said the holes in history do not affect it, but he understands the concern about quality.

The most recent program review of history at UM took place in spring 2014, and the reviewer described UM's history department as a model.

"There is no doubt that the Department of History at UM has long maintained a tradition of excellence and remains well regarded, on the national level, for its scholarly productivity and teaching accomplishments," wrote Sean Quinlan, of the University of Idaho.

At the same time, the reviewer noted the program faced decisions about hires and "the tension between pursuing increased specialization or a broader curriculum." The report suggested the program begin a process of "self-reflection" about its areas of emphasis and how they fit into UM's vision.

Faculty still have philosophical differences around that tension, Greene said.

"Some in the department here are in favor of trying to get as much geographic coverage as possible, which is important and admirable," he said. "Others I think are focused on trying to build to our existing strengths in political history, religious history, cultural history."

He also said with the tight budget, it's a moot point.

The overall campus is currently in the midst of several planning efforts, including a program review and strategic plan.

Greene said the administration recognizes the need to fill the historian of the U.S. West post and considers it a priority. But the budget will be smaller next school year, and he believes UM may postpone the hire one more year.
May I now request the two prime ministers to step down.

It was a comment by the Chief Protocol Officer anchoring a ceremony on signing of memorandum of understanding after talks Prime Minister Narendra Modi had with his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina, leaving almost everyone at the event in splits.

What the officer meant was to request Modi and Hasina to come down from a raised platform and release a Hindi translation of unfinished memoirs of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The event had taken place at Hyderabad House where Modi and Hasina witnessed exchange of MoUs between the two sides and released the book besides launching a new bus and train service between Kolkata and Khulna in Bangladesh.

As his comments drew loud laughter from media persons and some officials, the protocol officer, after a pause, said, I now request the two prime ministers who have not stepped down to jointly release the Hindi translation of the unfinished memoir of Bangabandhu Mujibur Rahman.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

Photograph: Vijay Verma/PTI Photo
The Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama on Saturday criticised China for making a bid to name his successor.

IMAGE: Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama arrived in Tawang on Friday and will remain in the town for the next four days. Photograph: Anuwar Hazarika/Reuters

Beijings bid to name my successor to undermine the Tibetans cause is nonsense, he said while talking to reporters in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh.

The spiritual leader on Saturday addressed devotees speaking to them about the pratices of Boddhisattavas at the Yid GaChosin monastery in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh.

A large number of devotees gathered at the monastery were from Bhutan, besides eminent Rimpoches, monks and nuns from near and far off places and guests.

Welcoming the Dalai Lama to West Kameng district, Chief Minister Pema Khandu, who hails from it, called him the worlds apostle of peace.

IMAGE: Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama arrives to deliver teachings at Yiga Choezin, in Tawang, in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh. Photograph: Anuwar Hazarika/Reuters

China had years ago confined the Dalai Lama-nominated Panchen Lama and projected its own Panchen Lama, a monk immediately below the rank of the Dalai Lama.

As early as 1969, I had said the Tibetan people would decide if the institution of Dalai Lama should continue or not. If this institution is no longer relevant, it should stop, said the 82-year-old spiritual leader, who had fled Tibet way back in 1959 to take refuge in Twang, said.

Nobody knows who or where the next Dalai Lama will be born or come from. Some indication (about his reincarnation) might come at the time of my death, but now there is no such indication, he said.

He, however, did not rule out the possibility of the next Dalai Lama being a woman.

-- An epic journey: The day the Dalai Lama came to India

In the past, Chinese emperors did have involvement in the reincarnation of some Lamas but they were disciples of certain Tibetan lamas, he pointed out.

On whether his visit to Tawang, a place Beijing claims to be its own, will affect Indo-China ties, he said, We will have to wait and see. But it is normal for China to give political colour to my spiritual visits.

I wish Chinese officials accompanied me during my visits to find out if I am doing or saying anything against them, the Nobel laureate said.

IMAGE: Security personnel stand guard as Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama delivers teachings at Yiga Choezin, in Tawang. Photograph: Anuwar Hazarika/Reuters

While forgiving China for its atrocities against the Tibetans, the Dalai Lama wondered as to why the Chinese government continued to call him a separatist despite his adopting a middle path.

This shows a negative attitude. Tibet has very good relationship with China for thousands of years. I have no issue with One China policy ensuring economic benefit to Tibet, provided we have the right to preserve our own culture and language, he said.

The Dalai Lama said the Chinese people were being fed wrong information about him and that they realised it when they met him in other countries.

The Chinese people have every right to know the reality, but totalitarianism had done a great damage, he observed.

IMAGE: Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama being welcomed by Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu at Jang Palpung Gompa Tawang Monastery. Photograph: PTI Photo

Praising Taiwan for preserving Chinese culture, the Dalai Lama observed that China needed another cultural revolution based on compassion and not on hatred and anger which was the case with the one led by Mao Zedong.

On the Bharatiya Janata Party-led governments China policy, the Tibetan leader said, It is more or less the same as that of the Congress from the days of Narasimha Rao... but I admire Modi, he is active and seeks development.
India and Bangladesh on Saturday signed 22 pacts in key sectors including defence and civil nuclear but the long-pending Teesta waters sharing agreement remained elusive though Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed his governments commitment for an early solution.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina before a meeting at Hyderabad house in New Delhi. Photograph: Vijay Verma/PTI Photo

After holding comprehensive talks with his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina, Modi announced a new concessional Line of Credit of $4.5 billion (Rs 28,921 crore) for the neighbouring country and an additional assistance of $500 million (Rs 3213 crore) to help its military procurement.

We in India rejoice in our ties with Bangladesh. Ties that have been forged in blood and generations of kinship. Ties that seek a better and secure future for our people, Modi said at a joint media event with Hasina.

The two countries also agreed to confront challenges of terrorism with deeper security and defence cooperation with Modi terming spread of radicalism as a grave threat, not only to the two countries but to the entire region.

IMAGE:Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina release the Hindi translation of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's book Unfinished Memoirs. Photograph: Vijay Verma/PTI Photo

On her part, Hasina, on a visit after seven years, said her country will continue its zero-tolerance policy towards terror and promised to take all steps to ensure peace and security along Indo-Bangla border.

We agreed that the agenda of our cooperation has to remain focused on purposeful action. We specifically looked at charting new avenues and tapping fresh opportunities in advancing our relationship.

Though the two sides decided to take their ties to a newer level, they could not finalise the long-pending Teesta water-sharing agreement, primarily due to opposition to it by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who was present during launch of new train and bus services between the two countries.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina, at Hyderabad House. Photograph: Press Information Bureau

Referring to the Teesta issue, Modi said the pact is important for India-Bangladesh relationship and expressed hope that the West Bengal chief minister will eventually support it.

I am very happy that the chief minister of West Bengal is my honoured guest today. I know that her feelings for Bangladesh are as warm as my own. I assure you and the people of Bangladesh of our commitment and continuing efforts, he said.

Modi said he firmly believes that an early solution to the issue can and will be found out.

The prime minister also complimented Hasina for her governments zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism and said it is an inspiration for all of us.

A new bus and train services were also launched between Kolkata and Khulna in Bangladesh.

India has always stood for the prosperity of Bangladesh and its people. We are a long-standing and trusted development partner of Bangladesh. India and Bangladesh are also determined that the fruits of our cooperation must benefit our people, said Modi.

IMAGE: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina after paying tribute at Mahatma Gandhi's memorial Rajghat in New Delhi. Photograph: Manvender Vashist/PTI Photo

He said both sides recognised the need to diversify commercial engagement to boost trade and for greater regional benefit.

In this context he referred to an agreement to open new border haats for trade and said steps being are being taken to put into operation the Coastal Shipping Agreement.

Talking about regional connectivity, he said India was looking forward to early implementation of the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal Motor Vehicles Agreement which will usher in a new era of sub-regional integration.

The BBIN initiative was taken after Pakistan stalled a regional transport initiative of SAARC.

The agreements signed on Saturday include an MoU on defence cooperation framework pact and extending defence LOC of $500 million by India and on cooperation in the civil nuclear sector under which India will be able to set up nuclear plants in Bangladesh.

Under the Defence LoC pact, India will supply military hardware to Bangladesh.

IMAGE: Bangladesh PM Hasina inspecting the Guard of Honour, at the ceremonial reception, at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Photograph: Press Information Bureau

The other key MoUs inked were on passenger and cruise services on the coastal and protocol route, cooperation on cyber security and cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space

We want to build cooperation in new areas, especially some high-technology areas, that have a deeper connect with the youth in both our societies, said Modi.

As a mark of Indias respect to father of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasinas father, a prominent road in Delhi has been named after him.

Modi and Hasina also released a Hindi translation of Bangbandhus Unfinished Memoirs.

The PM said that with the fresh assistance, Indias resource allocation for Bangladesh has recorded more than $8 billion over the past six years.

Identifying major areas of cooperation, he said energy security is an important dimension of the two-way development partnership.

Today, we added an additional 60 Mega Watt of power to the 600 Mega Watt of power already flowing from India to Bangladesh. The supply of another 500 Mega Watt has already been committed from the existing inter-connection.

We have also agreed to finance the diesel oil pipeline from Numaligarh to Parbatipur. Our companies are entering into a long-term agreement for the supply of high speed diesel to Bangladesh. We have also agreed on a time table for regular supply till the pipeline is constructed, he said.
United States President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping wrapped up their first summit by announcing a 100-day plan to improve strained trade ties, the only tangible announcement after their meetings that were overshadowed by the US military strikes in Syria.

IMAGE: US President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping walk along the front patio of the Mar-a-Lago estate after a bilateral meeting in Palm Beach, Florida. Photograph: Carlos Barria/Reuters

Trump aides, who participated in the two-day talks held at the US Presidents Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, described the meetings as productive and said the two leaders exhibited positive chemistry.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Friday said the two sides agreed to speed up trade talks to help close a lopsided imbalance in Chinas favour, a common campaign-trail complaint of Trumps.

During the meetings, Trump highlighted the challenges caused by the Chinese government intervention in its economy and raised serious concerns about the impact of Chinas industrial, agricultural, technology and cyber policies on Americas jobs and exports, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said.

Spicer said Trump underscored the need for China to take concrete steps to level the playing field for American workers, stressing repeatedly the need for reciprocal market access.

The 100-day plan to improve trade ties was the only tangible announcement to come out of the meetings that few expected to be much more than a get-acquainted exercise, The New York Times said.

IMAGE: US President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping shake hands while walking at Mar-a-Lago estate. Photograph: Carlos Barria/Reuters

China is now the largest trading partner of the US. Last year, two-way trade reached $519.6 billion, compared to $2.5 billion in 1979 when the two nations established diplomatic ties.

The talks were overshadowed by a crisis in Syria as Trump, just before his dinner with Xi, ordered a massive military strike on a Syrian air base in retaliation to a barbaric chemical attack on civilians allegedly by embattled President Bashar al-Assads regime.

The two leaders agreed that their first meeting was positive and fruitful, Chinas state-run Xinhua news agency said.

During their talks over the two days, Xi and Trump exchanged views on key areas of bilateral cooperation as well as global and regional issues of common concern, it said.

Xi, 63, said that he and Trump, 70, have gained better understanding of each other, cemented their mutual trust, scored many major consensuses, and built up a good working relationship.

Noting that the two leaders had positive and productive meetings, Spicer said Trump and Xi agreed to work in concert to expand areas of cooperation while managing differences based on mutual respect.

Trump had hoped to use the trade issue as leverage to get China, North Koreas closest ally, to pressure the reclusive nation to give up its nuclear weapons programme.

China and the US agreed that Pyongyangs programmes are a serious problem, but have not seen eye-to-eye on how to respond.

The two sides noted the urgency of the threat of North Koreas weapons programmes, reaffirmed their commitment to a denuclearised Korean peninsula and committed to fully implement UN Security Council resolutions, Spicer said.

The Presidents discussions on North Korea were very wide-ranging, very comprehensive, and more focused entirely on both countries previous commitments to denuclearise the peninsula. There was no kind of a package arrangement discussed to resolve this, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said.

IMAGE: Donald Trump welcomed Xi and his wife on Friday to his Florida resort. Photograph: Carlos Barria/Reuters

Trump and Xi agreed to increase cooperation and work with the international community to convince North Korea to peacefully resolve the issue and dismantle its illegal nuclear and missile programmes, Spicer said, adding that the two sides had a candid discussion on regional and maritime security.

President Trump noted the importance of adhering to international rules and norms in the East and South China Seas and to previous statements on non-militarisation. He also noted the importance of protecting human rights and other values deeply held by Americans, Spicer said.

The two leaders established US China Comprehensive Dialogue, elevating their dialogue status.

The two presidents agreed to elevate existing bilateral talks to reflect the importance of making progress on issues, Spicer said.

Trump and Xi also established a new and cabinet-level framework for negotiations, he said.

The United States-China Comprehensive Dialogue will be overseen by the two presidents and have four pillars: Diplomatic and Security Dialogue; Comprehensive Economic Dialogue; Law Enforcement and Cybersecurity Dialogue; and Social and Cultural Issues Dialogue.

The two sides agreed to undertake an ambitious agenda and meeting schedule to show progress and demonstrate meaningful results, he said.

This visit was a great opportunity for both presidents and their wives to get to know one another, enjoy meals together, and work on important issues. Each side also brought a senior delegation that was also able to build relationships for the work ahead, Spicer said.

IMAGE: Trump holds a bilateral meeting with China's President Xi Jinping. Photograph: Carlos Barria/Reuters

They reviewed the state of the bilateral relationship and noted the importance of working together to generate positive outcomes that would benefit the citizens of both countries.

Xi invited Trump to visit China later this year. Trump accepted the invitation.

President Trump welcomed President Xis invitation to visit China for a state visit at a future date. They agreed to work together in the interim to ensure a successful and results-focused visit, Spicer said.

To boost bilateral ties, Xi underlined the importance of further enhancing economic, military and law enforcement cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.

China and the United States are now each others biggest trading partner, from which the two peoples benefit a lot, Xinhua news agency quoted Xi as saying.

China welcomes the US side to participate in cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, said Xi.

On defence ties, which he said make up an important part of the bilateral relations, Xi pointed out that mutual trust in military and security areas forms the basis of the

strategic mutual trust between the two countries.

During the summit, Trump appeared to have toned down his anti-China rhetoric.

Despite his tough campaign talk, Trump has so far not followed through on his threat to formally brand China a currency manipulator, nor to hit Chinese imports with punitive tariffs.

When Xi came to the US two years ago, Trump attacked the former president Barack Obamas red-carpet welcome, claiming he would have offered a Big Mac rather than a state dinner to a leader whose country he has accused of raping the American economy.

Trump outraged China in December when he took the unorthodox step of accepting a phone call from the Taiwanese president. But the US president later agreed to respect the One China policy in a telephone call with President Xi in February.
Indias doors are always open for cooperation, but for that Pakistan has to shun terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra said on Saturday.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina at Sommanona Ceremony to salute Indian Soldiers who fought in 1971 war, in New Delhi. Photograph: PTI Photo

Hitting out at Pakistan, Modi said it breeds, inspires and encourages terrorism and this thought is a roadblock to peace within the region and the world.

He emphasised that Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas is not just restricted to India, but also to the neighbouring countries and development of India is incomplete without the progress of the region.

We have extended hand of friendship towards every country (of the region) and have invited them to be a part of our growth. Without being selfish, we have wished good for the entire region.

We truly think that citizens of all nations of the region progress and prosper. Our doors are open for cooperation, but for this terrorism has to be shunned.

There is one thought in South Asia which breeds, inspires and encourages terrorism. The thought whose priority is not humanity, but extremism and terrorism, Modi said without naming Pakistan.

He was speaking at the ceremony where families of martyrs of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War were felicitated by Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Modi said India is a victim of the thought that encourages terrorism.

IMAGE: Modi with the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina at a function to salute Indian Soldiers who fought in 1971 war. Photograph: Press Information Bureau

The thought, whose policymakers prefer terrorism over humanity, destruction over development, destruction over creation, backstabbing over trust, is the biggest challenge to the society and its economic development, he said.

Stating that 1,661 Indian soldiers laid down their lives in the Bangladesh Liberation War, Modi said the Indian Armys struggle in this cannot be forgotten.

The Indian Army never shied away from its duty and set an example by following conventions of the war. Over 90,000 prisoners of war were released safely after the 1971 war. The humane gesture shown by India is one of the biggest events in the century, Modi said.

The Prime Minister said the genocide by Pakistan in 1971 was undertaken to wipe out an entire generation of Bangladesh and every person who was proud of the idea of Bangladesh was eliminated.

The purpose of this genocide was not just killing the innocents, but to uproot the idea of Bangladesh, he said.

Speaking at the event, Hasina said, the history of Bangladesh has been written with the blood of Indian martyrs along with valiant freedom fighters of Bangladesh.

They fought together for the independence of Bangladesh. The story of their sacrifice will be remembered from generation to generation in our two countries, she said.
Refusing to apologise to the Air India official whom he allegedly thrashed, Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad on Saturday said he would only tender an apology to Parliament for disrespecting its dignity.

Asserting that it was a small conflict, Gaikwad said the staff member of the airline is mad and around eight such cases of indulging in a brawl have been registered against him.

The Air India staff had started the conflict. It was his fault why would I apologise? I will apologise to the Parliament if my action damaged its dignity. It was just a small conflict. The staff member is mad and around eight such cases of indulging into brawl have been registered against him, Gaikwad told said.

He further said that the flying ban imposed on him was not right as no airline can bar any flier.

MUST READ: Are we that different from Ravindra Gaikwad?

Gaikwad further said that his complaints were not addressed, adding that if this was Air Indias behaviour towards a peoples representative then what it would be towards a common man.

National Carrier Air India on Friday lifted the ban on Gaikwad after a request from Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju.

The development comes a day after the Shiv Sena MP tendered an apology to the civil aviation minister, expressing regret over the incident.

Air India earlier on Thursday announced that it had cancelled Gaikwads Delhi-Mumbai round tickets for April 17 and 24.

However, Gaikwad said that he booked a ticket neither for April 17 nor for April 24 for any airline as being aired by the media.

It is learnt through media that I have booked the tickets for Air India to travel from Delhi to Mumbai for April 17 and 24 and my defamation is continued. On this connection, I would like to make it clear that I have neither booked a ticket for 17 nor 24th April, 2017 for any airline as being aired by media as the session will be sin-e-die on 13th April 2017, Gaikwad said in a statement.

Air India and six private airlines banned the 56-year-old MP from flying as he refused to apologise for the incident that triggered nationwide outrage.

Now, Gaikwad free to fly as private airlines lift ban

Private airlines on Saturday lifted the nearly two-week long flying ban on Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, who had assaulted an Air India staffer last month.

The decision of the Federation of Indian Airlines comes a day after the national carrier, following direction from the civil aviation ministry, revoked the ban on Gaikwad.

The flying restriction on the Lok Sabha member has been lifted after he gave an undertaking that such incidents will not reoccur.

The FIA, which has Jet Airways, IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir as members, on Saturday said its members are restoring the flying privileges to Gaikwad.

In a statement, the grouping said it is being done after Air India lifted the ban and under the assurance that our assets and colleagues shall be accorded the respect that they deserve for the hard work that they put in every day.

No sooner had the FIA lifted the ban on the Sena MP, than two other private carriers -- Vistara and AirAsia India -- said they support the decision taken by the industry.

Vistara and AirAsia India are not part of the FIA.

-- With inputs from PTI

Photograph: Manvender Vashist/PTI Photo
Police in Sweden have arrested a man for a terrorist crime hours after a beer truck ploughed into a crowd outside a busy department store in central Stockholm, killing four.

IMAGE: A turned over 'Stockholmslejon', a concrete traffic stopper, is seen outside the roped off area next to the department store Ahlens after a suspected terror attack on the Drottninggatan Street in central Stockholm. Photograph: Jonas Ekstromer/TT News Agency/Reuters

The man was formally arrested on suspicion of a terrorist crime through murder, Karin Rosander, a communications director at the Swedish prosecution authority, said early on Saturday.

The person in question has been arrested as the culprit ... in this case the driver, police spokesman Lars Bystrom said.

Then, there can be other people who are associated with him, but we do not know that at the current time.

Police had detained the man earlier on Friday in the wake of the attack.

In a city flooded with police, many of them masked and carrying machine guns, a patrol had stopped the man because he had behaved in a way that made him interesting, and he resembled the man in a photo issued by police shortly after the attack.

Local media reported that a second man had been detained on suspicion of being connected to the main suspect. The police declined to comment on whether it had arrested any additional suspects.

IMAGE: Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Lofven places flowers at Queens Street after a hijacked beer truck plowed into pedestrians. Photograph: Fredrik Sandberg/TT News Agency/Reuters

Six of the injured have been released from hospital but nine remain, including a child.

If confirmed as a terror attack, it would be Swedens first such assault. Fifteen people, including children, were also injured, nine seriously, health authorities said.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said he had strengthened the countrys border controls.

Terrorists want us to be afraid, want us to change our behaviour, want us to not live our lives normally, but that is what were going to do. So terrorists can never defeat Sweden, never, Lofven said.

Witnesses described scenes of terror and panic.

A massive truck starts driving ... and mangles everything and just drives over exactly everything, eyewitness Rikard Gauffin was quoted as saying.

It was so terrible and there were bodies lying everywhere... it was really terrifying, he added.
Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party president B S Yeddyurappa was in the midst of a controversy on Saturday with a video footage of him handing over money to a farmers family doing the rounds, ahead of the bypolls to two assembly constituencies.

Responding to the attack by the ruling Congress, Yeddyurappa said he was giving relief of Rs one lakh to the family of a farmer, who had committed suicide recently, and that it had nothing to do with elections to Gundlupete and Nanjanagudu on Sunday.

The video shows Yeddurappa interacting with the family members before handing over the money to them.

Someone present at the spot can also be heard asking cameramen not to record and switch off their cameras.

On behalf of the party, we have given Rs 1 lakh donation. We were about to leave before 5 pm (when the campaigning ends). Renukacharya (former minister) had already come here a couple of days back and had spent time with them and collected information, Yeddyurappa said.

If this government has any shame or decency, a minister should have visited this place with Rs 10 lakh cheque. This government has no humanity, he alleged.

Yeddyurappa had on Friday visited Voddana Hosahalli village in poll-bound Gundlupet constituency and met the family of deceased farmer Chikkamada Shetty.
If Modi and Shah did not project Adityanath as CM, it was out of expediency, says Radhika Ramaseshan.

Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com





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 president, as its patron, the rest of the party was stumped when Yogi Adityanath 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 that Modi and he took the call in unison. And communicated it as a fait accompli to the other leaders and functionaries.

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.

The answer to the big why?

IMAGE: UP CM Yogi Adityanath, BJP president Amit Shah and PM Narendra Modi wave to the crowds after the former's swearing-in ceremony. Photograph: Sandeep Pal

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 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 fact 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 politicianss families allegedly get into; he was uncompromising on Hindutva; he was a 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.

Shah also noted 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

IMAGE: Foregrounding Adityanath was Amit Shahs way of letting Varun Gandhi know he needed to check his chief ministerial ambitions. Photograph: Nand Kumar/PTI Photo

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 by-elections 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 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.

IMAGE: Yogi Adityanath garlands the statue of his spiritual guru, the late Mahant Avaidyanath, whom he adopted as his father, in Gorakhpur. Photograph: PTI Photo

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 Adityanaths 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 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 the 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 Mumbai municipal polls.

The wrap-up

IMAGE: Within less than two weeks of being sworn in as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath visited a cow shelter run by Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadavs younger daughter-in-law, Aparna. Photograph: Sandeep Pal.

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.
BILLINGS  Justice John C. Sheehy, known to friends as Skeff, had a golden tongue, and it served him best on the day he was held at gunpoint in his state Supreme Court chambers for three hours.

"That was a scary day," said his daughter Martha Sheehy, an attorney in Billings.

John Sheehy died in his sleep Friday morning at his home in Helena. He was 99.

Born in Butte to Irish immigrant parents in 1918, he was an eloquent and forceful communicator with a sharp legal mind. He served in the state House of Representatives from 1959 to 1965 and in the state Senate from 1969 to 1971.

And in 1978 he was appointed by Gov. Tom Judge to the state Supreme Court, where he served as a justice until 1991.

It was as a justice, on a sunny day in late June 1984, when a gunman burst into Sheehy's Supreme Court chambers in Helena, holding him hostage at gunpoint for most of the afternoon.

The man was a disgruntled litigant looking for some kind of validation from Sheehy. Instead, Sheehy and the gunman talked until Sheehy persuaded the man to hand over his gun. Sheehy simply placed it in his desk and then kept his knee in front of the drawer.

"My dad talked him out of it, and they called the police together," Martha Sheehy said with a laugh. "He was probably never better served by his skill than on that day."

Sheehy's skills were numerous. One of his proudest achievements as Supreme Court justice came when the state court's ruling on a law requiring a heavy coal levy was validated by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1980s.

Sheehy wrote the opinion for the state court decision, arguing Montanas right to levy what was then a 30 percent severance tax on coal, the highest in the country. That decision, and Sheehy's written opinion in particular, was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court and meant millions of dollars in taxes for Montana.

He understood the important role mining played in the state's economy. He also understood the importance for the state to be able to tax it. In fact, as a boy from Butte, mining was his life's calling.

"His history is the history of the state," Martha Sheehy said.

His father had been a miner, and Sheehy graduated from high school ready to head into the mines himself, following in his father's footsteps.

Instead, Sheehy, at 18, was hit by a drunken driver and left with permanent damage to his left hand. He couldn't work in the mines, and his parents didn't know what to do with him.

So they sent him to college, the first in his family to go.

"It completely changed the course of his life," Martha Sheehy said.

Sheehy graduated with a law degree from the University of Montana in 1943 and moved to Billings, where he practiced law for the next 35 years. He closed his practice when he was appointed to the Supreme Court.

In 1945, two years after moving to Billings, Sheehy married Rita Ann Schiltz, and together they raised 11 children.

Instilled in the children were the values of their parents. They grew up to be lawyers, teachers and legislators. In fact, two of the sisters have been named Montana teachers of the year.

Sheehy believed in Montana and in returning to the state the resources it had invested in him. All of the children earned higher education degrees in Montana and nine of the 11 still live in the state, putting to use their skills and education here.

"That's a debt paid," Martha Sheehy said. "Education was not taken for granted by him."

A staunch Irish Catholic, Sheehy attended mass every day.

His church and his family were priorities for him, and family law cases were at he heart of what he believed as a jurist.

"The work of the courts is the work of the people," Martha said. "That was the crux of his judicial philosophy."
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U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that he and visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping had made progress in their first meetings, telling reporters: "I believe lots of very potentially bad problems will be going away."



Trump's comments after two days of meetings with Xi at Trump's Spanish-style Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida were upbeat, in sharp contrast to the tough anti-China rhetoric of his 2016 election campaign, which threatened tariffs and other punitive trade measures.



"We have made tremendous progress in our relationship with China," Trump told reporters as the two delegations met. "We will be making additional progress. The relationship developed by President Xi and myself I think is outstanding.



Xi, like Trump speaking in broad terms, also waxed positive.



We have engaged in deeper understanding, and have built a trust - a preliminary working relationship and friendship, he said. I believe we will keep developing in a stable way to form friendly relations ... For the peace and stability of the world, we will also fulfill our historical responsibility.



Well, I agree with you 100 percent, Mr. President," Trump said to a small pool of reporters ahead of the final session of the two-day visit. Xi then flew back to China.



Few details or formal agreements were announced after what was billed as a get-acquainted meeting between the leaders of the world's two biggest economies, their first since trump took office on Jan. 20.



100-day trade plan

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told reporters that Trump and Xi have agreed to a new 100-day plan for trade talks aimed at reducing the huge American trade deficit with China, according to Reuters news agency.



"Given the range of issues and the magnitude, that may be ambitious, but it's a very big sea change in the pace of discussion," Ross was quoted by Reuters as saying after the summit. "I think that's a very important symbolization of the growing rapport between the two countries."



Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters that Trump and Xi had agreed to set up a new mechanism to replace the annual Strategic & Economic Dialogue that had been conducted by their predecessors.



According to Reuters, Tillerson said Xi and Trump agreed to increase cooperation on curbing North Korea's nuclear program, which the Chinese leader said had reached a serious stage. No details were offered.



Xi invited Trump to visit China in 2017 and Trump accepted, officials said earlier.



The Chinese leader's visit to Florida drew a large group of protesters championing diverse Chinese human rights causes, including jailed lawyers, petitioners angry at state land grabs, the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement, Tibet and the Uyghurs.



The local newspaper Palm Beach Post quoted the city's sheriffs office as saying five people were detained on charges ranging from obstruction of a roadway to resisting arrest.



There were people at the protests with not just banners and placards, everyone was also wearing specially printed T-shirts, U.S.-based pro-democracy activist Jia Kuo told RFA on Friday. He was among Chinese protesters trying to highlight their grievances by intercepting Xis motorcade.



There were democracy activists, petitioners with grievances, members of the [banned spiritual group] Falun Gong and Tibetans, he said.



They all wanted to intercept Xi Jinping, but security was incredibly tight, with soldiers standing guard, and anyone who looked like they were about to get in front of the motorcade was immediately brought under control, he said.

Human rights questions



Joining the protesters along Xi's motorcade route were large numbers of flag-waving Xi supporters in red shirts, mobilized to drown out the protests.



International and Chinese human rights advocacy groups, as well as U.S. lawmakers, had urged Trump to press Xi on Chinese problems, including the jailing of scores of lawyers and widespread reports that some of these attorneys were tortured, religious freedom and internet censorship.



It was not immediately clear whether Trump or his cabinet members had raised human rights with the Chinese leadership.



Back in China, blogger Ye Xiaozheng, who was detained for supporting the 2014 pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, called on the Chinese government to release all journalists and anyone else detained for exercising their freedom of expression -- adding that "I dont hold out much hope for this, though."



The most important thing of all for the Communist Party is the stability of the regime; they dont care about anything else much at all, he told RFA's Cantonese Service.



But Liu Kaiming, who directs the Institute of Contemporary Observation in the southern city of Shenzhen, said he hopes freedom of expression will improve in the event of warmer ties between Beijing and Washington.



If Sino-U.S. relations are getting better, and the U.S. brings up these issues, then that will help China, Liu said. Of course it wont change overnight, but  the calls from the people for [freedom of expression] are getting louder and louder.



Reported by Wong Lok-to for RFAs Cantonese Service. Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Written in English by Paul Eckert.
On April 9, an estimated 33,000-40,000 voters will go to the polls to elect the next de facto president of Georgia's breakaway Republic of South Ossetia, which is recognized as an independent state only by Russia and three other countries.

The vote marks the culmination of an acrimonious three-year standoff between incumbent President Leonid Tibilov, who is seeking a second term, and parliament speaker Anatoly Bibilov. The two have long espoused different approaches to the time frame for possible incorporation of the region into the Russian Federation.

Tibilov, 65, a former KGB head, is widely believed to enjoy the backing of Moscow, which effectively bankrolls the region. Russia has channeled billions of rubles into rebuilding infrastructure destroyed during its brief August 2008 war with Georgia. Between 2008 and 2011, much of that money was embezzled, allegedly with the connivance of then-regional leader Eduard Kokoity.

Of the nine potential candidates who declared their intention of registering for the ballot, only three finally succeeded in doing so, the third being KGB officer Alan Gagloyev. Gagloyev, 37, has been alleged to have ulterior motives in seeking office, such as furthering his own business interests.

Construction-company owner Amiran Bagayev and Alan Kozonov, a doctor and member of the minority Unity of the People parliament faction, reportedly failed to submit the required number of signatures in their support.

Kokoity, too, was refused registration as a candidate, on the grounds that he failed to meet the requirement -- which he himself had insisted on imposing -- that candidates must have been resident in South Ossetia for at least nine months of each of the 10 years preceding the ballot.

Kokoity mobilized his supporters to protest that ruling, insisting that the Interior Ministry had deliberately falsified his residency records, but the Supreme Court upheld it, whereupon Kokoity accused Tibilov of falsifying his property declaration and demanded he step down.

Tibilov condemned those protests as a deliberate bid to destabilize the situation and force a postponement of the vote. In a public address on March 30 he appealed to Kokoity, recalling his earlier "services to our people," to channel his energies into "the development of our independent state." Kokoity, however, publicly urged his supporters the same day to vote for Bibilov.

On Joining Russia

The primary bone of contention between Tibilov and Bibilov is whether, when, and how South Ossetia should become part of Russia. Even before the May 2014 parliamentary elections in which it garnered 20 of the 34 mandates, the One Ossetia party of which Bibilov is chairman had called for holding a referendum on the unification within the Russian Federation of South Ossetia and the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania on which it borders. Bibilov has lobbied single-mindedly for such a referendum ever since.

Tibilov, however, although paying lip service to the prospect of eventual unification of the divided Ossetian people, has repeatedly warned of the inevitable negative reaction by the international community should Russia seek to incorporate another disputed territory in the wake of its annexation of Crimea in 2014. Instead, he advocates the dual policy of seeking to strengthen South Ossetia's quasi-independent status while pursuing greater rapprochement with Russia.

That disagreement came to a head in May 2016 when, after a shouting match in parliament, the two men agreed to postpone holding a referendum on the issue until after the 2017 presidential ballot.

Contentious Campaign

During the election campaign, Bibilov has switched to questioning and disparaging Tibilov's claims of having presided over a more effective campaign of reconstruction development than was achieved under Kokoity. In an interview with Kavpolit.com, Bibilov implicitly accused Tibilov of tolerating corruption and cronyism, obstructing judicial reform, and indifference to the problems of the population at large. He alleged that "the corrupt clan system" that he claims has taken root in South Ossetia constitutes the sole obstacle to the unification of South and North Ossetia.

Tibilov's backers retaliated by pointing to major contradictions between Bibilov's statements as parliament speaker and his election campaign rhetoric, while Tibilov himself made the point that in the three years since his rival's party won the parliamentary elections, the legislature has not adopted a single anticorruption law.

Then, in late March, Bibilov thwarted the broadcast of a televised debate between candidates by rejecting the seat in the studio allocated to him.

Tibilov apparently underestimated support for Bibilov even before Kokoity came out in his support. In February and early March, it was reported that budget-sector employees were being pressured to attend a meeting in support of Tibilov's reelection. The state-controlled media have published a series of Soviet-style panegyrics by public figures extolling Tibilov.

In late March, when Tibilov visited the North Ossetian capital, Vladikavkaz, where many of the estimated 10,000 citizens of South Ossetia who fled during or since the fighting of August 2008 still live, Republic of North Ossetia head Vyacheslav Bitarov called on them to vote for Tibilov. It may have been in response to that appeal that Bibilov's campaign staff have arranged to deploy 100 election observers at each of the two polling stations in Vladikavkaz to thwart anticipated multiple voting using fake passports.

Bella Pliyeva, who chairs South Ossetia's Central Election Commission, on April 6 categorically excluded the possibility of falsification at polling stations in North Ossetia, the state news agency RES reported.

Still Undecided

An opinion poll in mid-March quoted by Kavpolit.com registered 24 percent support for Tibiliov, 15 percent for Bibilov, and just 4 percent for Gagloyev, with over 50 percent of respondents as yet undecided whom to vote for.

Russian experts predict that neither will garner the minimum 50 percent of the vote needed for an outright first-round win, and will face off in a runoff vote.

Concurrently with the presidential vote, the South Ossetian electorate will also be required to participate in a referendum on whether the official designation of the Republic of South Ossetia should be modified by adding the wording State of Alania.

That initiative originated with Tibilov, and is intended to serve two purposes. First, to underscore the strong ethnic and historic ties between the region and the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania. And second, to counter rival claims from representatives of other North Caucasus republics (primarily the Ingush and the Balkars) to be the location of the kingdom ruled by, and/or direct descendants of, the medieval Alans. According to an opinion poll quoted last week by the state news agency RES, 83 percent of respondents intend to vote in the election and 66 percent will approve the proposed new name for the region.

The Georgian leadership has denounced both the presidential ballot and the referendum as illegal, and the referendum as a Russian-orchestrated provocation.

The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL
The United States has condemned moves by authorities in breakaway regions of Georgia to hold votes and elections that it says are "illegitimate."



U.S. State Department acting spokesman Mark Toner on April 7 singled out for condemnation a referendum scheduled for April 9 on changing the name of South Ossetia to the Republic of South Ossetia-Alania.



He also said the United States did not recognize the results of the "illegitimate elections conducted in Abkhazia on March 12 and March 26 or the election planned for April 9 in South Ossetia."



"These illegitimate elections and referenda are being conducted in Georgian territory without the consent of the government of Georgia," Toner said in a statement.

"The United States fully supports the territorial integrity of Georgia and its sovereignty within its internationally recognized borders," he added. "Our position on Abkhazia and South Ossetia is clear and consistent. These regions are integral parts of Georgia."



Russia recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent countries after fighting a brief war against Georgia in 2008.
Prosecutors say that 17 people have been detained in Moldova and Ukraine in a suspected plot to assassinate Vladimir Plahotniuc, one of Moldovas most powerful politicians.



Vitalie Busuioc of the Moldovan Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime said on April 8 they had seized money and weapons, including grenade launchers, that were to be used in plot to kill Plahotniuc, a businessman who is also the head of the Democratic Party, the largest partner in Moldova's pro-European governing coalition.



Eight of the suspects were arrested in Moldova, while the nine others were in Ukraine, according to Busuioc.



Ion Iachimov of the Moldovan National Investigation Inspectorate said two Moldovans, one of whom is currently in Moscow, ordered the murder in exchange for $200,000.



The Democratic Party said in a statement that it "firmly condemned this criminal act."



Ukraine's Interior Ministry said on April 7 that the authorities had thwarted an assassination attempt against Plahotniuc.
Pakistani police say 10 militants, including a key facilitator of deadly blast in February, have been killed in a gunbattle in the eastern city of Lahore.

Police officers probing a previous militant assault came under attack early on April 8 on the Lahore outskirts, the regional Counterterrorism Department said in a statement.

Police called for reinforcements and encircled the area, challenging the militants to surrender, the statement said.

"A gunbattle ensued. When firing stopped 10 militants were found dead by the firing of their fleeing accomplices," the statement said, identifying the militants as members of Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, a faction of the Pakistani Taliban.

Jamaat-ur-Ahrar claimed responsibility for a suicide attack in Lahore that left 13 dead in February, as well as an Easter Day bombing in Lahore last year that killed more than 70 people in a public park.

The police statement said a facilitator of the February bombing was among those killed in the April 8 gunbattle.

Authorities say Pakistani security forces killed around 100 militants in February after a Sufi shrine bombing that left more than 80 dead in the southern province of Sindh that month.

Based on reporting by Reuters and Geo.tv
Kazakhstan has an article in its Criminal Code -- Article 174 to be exact -- that outlaws actions that foment social, national, tribal, racial, class, or religious hatred and actions that insult national honor or dignity or the religious feelings of citizens.

The article is sufficiently vague that it has allowed broad interpretation by Kazakhstan's courts, which have on several recent occasions found journalists, bloggers, civic activists, and others guilty of violating the article. Rights groups have decried such use of Article 174 to silence government critics.

A proposed major addition to the Criminal Code is being debated, and some believe this article would also be open to broad interpretation and potential abuse.

Article 184-1 seeks to punish those who have caused "great harm to the vitally important interests" of Kazakhstan. Conviction on this charge could carry the death penalty.

RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, known locally as Azattyq, quoted Deputy Justice Minister Zauresh Baymoldina as saying the "vitally important interests" would include actions that "compromise the territorial integrity of the state, the stability of the constitutional structure, social, or political stability, [or] defensive capabilities and security."

It seems to be a response to terrorism, though there are clearly other actions that would fall under this article.

Proposed penalties for violators of Article 184-1 include prison terms of 15 to 25 years. Loss of citizenship is another penalty that was already recently added to the books.

Kazakhstan still officially allows for the death penalty, although there has been a moratorium on its use for nearly 20 years.

So far, there is only one specific offense under the draft article that is punishable by death: any attempt to kill the first president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbaev "with the goal of hindering his legal activities or in revenge for [his] activities."

Veteran Kazakh civic activist Yevgeny Zhovtis has told Azattyq that Article 184-1 is a modern adaptation of the Soviet Criminal Code concerning "anti-Soviet" activities.

He is among those who fear the article will be used to punish government opponents. "It only remains to wait a little while until 'enemies of the people' and 'undesirable elements' appear...[including] opposition figures, independent journalists, or activists," Zhovtis told Azattyq.

For that reason, attorney Ayman Umarov told Azattyq that the authorities must concretely define what is "vitally important" for the country. Umarov agreed the article seemed to target terrorists. But he said, for example, large-scale embezzlement of state funds is vitally important for the state and the people.

Blogger Miras Nurmukhanbetov wrote that the Criminal Code "is turning into a stick to be used against those who think differently [than the authorities]."

Defining 'Terrorism'

There have been very few incidents in Kazakhstan since 1991 independence that would qualify as acts of terrorism.

But like many other countries, Kazakhstan has shown a tendency to equate violent acts where deadly force is used to terrorist acts.

The violence in the western city of Aqtobe in early June was branded a terrorist attack. In that incident, a group of some two dozen mostly young men robbed a gun shop and then went on a bizarre spree where they hijacked a bus and, after first allowing all the passengers to leave, drove to a military facility and launched an ineffective attack that was quickly repelled and in which most of the attackers were killed.

No extremist or terrorist group ever claimed the attackers were part of their group, although Kazakh officials explained the young men were inspired to violence after listening to Islamic extremist radio broadcasts.

Another incident in Almaty in July 2016 was labeled terrorism, though it involved one ex-convict who confessed he had killed several policemen (he purportedly wanted to kill some judges but couldn't find any) out of vengeance for being put it jail.

Some Kazakh citizens have gone to conflict areas such as Syria or Iraq -- not many, probably only several hundred -- enough that the Kazakh government does have a legitimate concern but possibly not so many that the Criminal Code has to be greatly overhauled to deal with the as-yet-quite-small problem of terrorism in the country.

Which brings us back to Yevgeny Zhovtis's concern that a law meant to punish a specific group of individuals who represent a genuine threat will end up being used to punish people who challenge the authorities.

Azattyq's Yerzhan Karabek contributed to this report. The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL
Voter turnout in Armenias April 2 parliamentary election stood at 60.86%.

Out of an eligible electorate of 2,588,590, 1,577,323 citizens cast ballots in the election to decide the make-up of the countrys new 101-seat legislature.

Four political forces will be represented in the new parliament  Republican Party of Armenia, Tsarukyan Alliance, Yelk Alliance, and the ARF.

The Republican Party of Armenia captured the greatest number of votes - 771,247.

The Communist Party of Armenia garnered the least number of votes  11,745.
Russian investigators say two traffic policemen have been killed after their vehicle came under fire in Russia's volatile North Caucasus region.

Unidentified attackers "fired multiple shots from an automatic weapon" at two traffic policemen riding in their patrol vehicle in the town of Malgobek in Ingushetia in the early hours of April 8, a local branch of Russia's Investigative Committee said in a statement.

One of the policemen was killed at the scene, while the second officer died in hospital from his injuries, police said.

Violence is common in the North Caucasus region, where Islamic militants have mounted frequent attacks on police and officials, and some have sworn allegiance to the Islamic State extremist group.

Based on reporting by TASS and AFP
Thousands of students have demonstrated against Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic's decisive win in a presidential election, claiming major irregularities in the campaign, including stifling the media, voter intimidation, and bribes.



For a sixth straight day, the students gathered in the Serbian capital of Belgrade on April 8 to protest Vucic's victory at the polls, where he garnered 55 percent of the vote on April 2 to win the presidency outright over 10 other candidates.



With music blaring in the background, the demonstrators blew whistles and banged pots as they taunted Vucic by calling him a thief and a tyrant while accusing him of stealing the election.



The number of protesters swelled in front the Serbian government's headquarters as hundreds of policemen and soldiers, who were holding a separate rally over low wages and poor living standards, joined the students.



"The times when politicians would turn the army and police against its people are over. The army, the police, and the people are in one place today," Veljko Mijailovic, the head of the police union, told the crowd.



Victory hands the 46-year-old Vucic and his Progressive Party, which has a majority in parliament, control over the entire legislative and governing process, and some critics have warned that could push the Balkan country back into the autocracy symbolized by former leader Slobodan Milosevic during his decade in power.



Once an ultranationalist, Vucic's rise to prominence in recent years came after he reinvented himself as a reformer who is committed to Serbia's drive toward European Union membership.



He has craftily strengthened his party's position through the ballot box, calling and winning two early parliamentary elections since 2014. While he once opposed integration with the 28-country bloc, he now pledges to prepare the nation of 7.3 million people for EU accession by 2019.



The protesters see Vucic as an autocratic leader and the Serbian Progressive Party as corrupt.



They have called for the government, along with top officials from the public broadcasters RTS and RTV, the Central Election Commission, and the regulatory Authority for Electronic Media, to step down.

With reporting from RFE/RL's Balkan Service, AP, and dpa
Video from Swedish media shows rescue workers trying to help the victims after a truck smashed into a crowded department store in Stockholm on April 7, killing at least three people. Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said the incident is being considered an "act of terror." (AP)
Allies have rallied around the United States after it vowed to continue to pressure Syria following U.S. missile strikes in the war-torn country, as Russia continued to condemn the operation as illegal and "an act of aggression" against an independent country.



While the Kremlin, North Korea, and Iran all slammed U.S President Donald Trump for his decision to launch a barrage of missile strikes on a Syrian air base on April 7, many countries voiced support for the United States for its reaction to a chemical-weapons attack by Syrian President Bashar al-Assads forces that killed dozens of men, women, and children.



British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who condemned Moscow's continued support of Assad, said on April 8 he had canceled a scheduled April 10 visit to Moscow as developments in Syria "have changed the situation fundamentally."



The official Saudi Press Agency reported that King Salman, whose country has been a strong opponent of Assad, congratulated Trump in a phone conversation for his "courageous decision" and a correct response to "the crimes of this regime to its people in light of the failure of the international community to stop it."



Turkeys foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, went as far as saying the U.S. missile strikes would only be "cosmetic" unless Assad was removed from power. Turkey has been a strong backer of the Syrian opposition in the six-year-long conflict.



Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who is supposed to visit Russia next week, said he was "disappointed" but "not surprised" by Russia's angry reaction to the missile strikes.



"I'm disappointed in that response from the Russians because it indicates their continued support...for a regime that carries out these kinds of horrendous attacks on their own people." Tillerson said on April 7.



"I find it very disappointing, but sadly I have to tell you not all that surprising," he added.



Trump said the attack was intended to punish Syria for its use of chemical weapons against civilians in a deadly incident this week.



The Pentagon said the Shayrat air base, which was partially destroyed by the attack, was the one used by Syria's air force to launch a nerve-gas attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun on April 4, killing at least 86 people.

Reuters quoted U.S. Navy Admiral Michelle Howard as saying on April 8 that the strikes had destroyed the means to deliver chemical weapons from that base, and that the U.S. military was ready to carry out further strikes if needed.



Trump officials on April 7 signaled new sanctions would soon follow the missile attack earlier in the day, and that the Pentagon was even looking into whether Russia had a role in the chemical-weapons attack that prompted Washington to launch 59 cruise missiles in its first-ever assault against Assad's regime.



Moscow has said the strikes violated international law and that it would suspend lines of communication with the U.S. military in Syria and help Syria increase its air defenses against future attacks.



Tillerson and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, spoke by phone on April 8 to discuss the situation in Syria following the attacks, TASS reported.



"Sergei Lavrov underscored that an attack on the country which government battles terrorism merely plays in extremists' hands and creates additional threats for regional and global security," TASS quoted the Russian Foreign

Ministry as saying.



Lavrov also spoke with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel by phone, where he stressed the U.S. reasoning for the strike was "unconvincing" and "untrue," TASS reported.



North Korea said on April 8 that it condemned the missile strikes as "an unforgivable act of aggression" that showed its decision to develop nuclear weapons was "the right choice a million times over," while Iranian President Hassan Rohani called for an impartial probe into the alleged chemical attack in Syria.



"We are asking for an impartial international fact-finding body to be set up...to find out where these chemical weapons came from," Rohani said as he condemned the U.S. missile strikes as an "aggression."



Tehran is Assad's main regional ally.

With reporting by AP, AFP, Interfax, and Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law failed to disclose contacts with top Russian officials when he applied for a security clearance this year, his lawyer has said.

The New York Times first reported Jared Kushner's failure to report meetings with the Russian ambassador to the United States and the head of a Kremlin-owned bank that is the target of U.S. sanctions.

The omissions by Kushner, who is one of Trump's closest advisers, come at as the FBI and several committees of Congress are investigating alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible Kremlin ties with the Trump campaign.

Kushner's lawyer, Jamie Gorelick, said the omissions were due to an "administrative error" that occurred during the rushed period before Trump's inauguration on January 20. "There was no intent to obscure any foreign meetings, including those with Russia," she said.

Kushner last month volunteered to answer questions from U.S. congressional committees that are investigating the contacts between Russian officials and Trump associates.

Kushner's lawyer said his failure to disclose his meetings with Russian officials occurred because a draft of Kushner's security-clearance application was mistakenly submitted to the government "prematurely" without complete information on January 18.

Gorelick said the application was later amended to include this statement from Kusher: "During the presidential campaign and transition period, I served as a point-of-contact for foreign officials trying to reach the president-elect. I had numerous contacts with foreign officials in this capacity.... I would be happy to provide additional information about these contacts."

When applying for a security clearance, applicants are asked to disclose details about their interactions with foreigners, including the names of all the foreign government officials the applicant has had contact with over the past seven years. In some cases, people can lose their security clearances and jobs for not properly disclosing their contacts with foreigners.

In addition to meeting with Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergei Kislyak at Trump Tower in December 2016, Kushner met with Sergei Gorkov, a graduate of Russia's spy school who now heads the Russian state-owned bank Vneshekonombank.

Vneshekonombank is a target of U.S. sanctions imposed in 2014 in response to Moscows annexation of Crimea and aggression in Ukraine.

It is controlled by members of President Vladimir Putin's government, including Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev, and has been used to bail out oligarchs favored by Putin and to fund pet projects like the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Kushner has said he did not discuss sanctions with Gorkov, while Gorkov has declined to comment on whether sanctions were discussed.

With reporting by AP and New York Times
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson says he has canceled a visit to Moscow scheduled to take place on April 10, citing developments in Syria, where an alleged chemical-weapons attack prompted the United States to launch missile strikes.

"Developments in Syria have changed the situation fundamentally," Johnson said in a statement on April 8. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/foreign-secretary-statement-on-moscow-visit

"My priority is now to continue contact with the United States and others in the run-up to the G7 meeting on 10-11 April -- to build coordinated international support for a cease-fire on the ground and an intensified political process," the statement said.

Johnson added, "We deplore Russia's continued defense of the [Syrian President Bashar al-]Assad regime even after the chemical-weapons attack on innocent civilians."

He called on Russia, a key Assad ally, "to do everything possible to bring about a political settlement in Syria and work with the rest of the international community to ensure that the shocking events of the last week are never repeated."

Western countries have blamed Assad's armed forces for the airborne attack dispersing what appeared to be a nerve agent on the town of Khan Sheikhoun on April 4, killing more than 86 people. Syria's government has denied responsibility.

The United States struck a Syrian air base with dozens of cruise missiles early on April 7 in response to the alleged attack.

Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters
Malala Yousafzai, the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, will soon become the youngest United Nations Messenger of Peace, the UN chief has said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on April 8 he will appoint Malala, 19, to the highest honor bestowed by the UN on a global citizen on April 10.

Malala rose to international fame after being shot in the head on her school bus in Pakistan in 2012 by a Taliban gunman because she campaigned for the education of girls.

Malala was severely wounded, but survived after receiving medical treatment in Britain, where she now lives and goes to school.

In the years since, she has traveled the world promoting girls education as a solution to violence like that promoted by the militant Islamic group. Her efforts earned her the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.

"Even in the face of grave danger, Malala Yousafzai has shown an unwavering commitment to the rights of women, girls, and all people," Guterres said.

"Her courageous activism for girls education has already energized so many people around the world. Now as our youngest-ever UN messenger of peace, Malala can do even more to help create a more just and peaceful world," he said.

Based on reporting by AP and Reuters
The United States has said it is "increasingly concerned" by reports that authorities in the Russian region of Chechnya are detaining gay men and in some cases torturing or killing them.



The independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper earlier this week reported that more than 100 homosexual men had been rounded up in Chechnya in an "unprecedented" campaign. At least three men were reported killed.



"We categorically condemn the persecution of individuals based on their sexual orientation or any other basis," Mark Toner, acting spokesman for the U.S. State Department, said in a statement on April 7.



"We are deeply disturbed by recent public statements by Chechen authorities that condone and incite violence against [lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender] persons," he said.



"We urge Russian federal authorities to speak out against such practices, take steps to ensure the release of anyone wrongfully detained, conduct an independent and credible investigation into these reports, and hold any perpetrators responsible."
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says he was "disappointed" but "not surprised" by Russia's angry reaction to this week's U.S. missile strikes in Syria.

Moscow denounced the barrage of missile strikes on a Syrian air base on April 7 as an "act of aggression" and violation of international law, and said it would suspend lines of communication with the U.S. military in Syria and help Syria increase its air defenses against future attacks.

"I'm disappointed in that response from the Russians because it indicates their continued support...for a regime that carries out these kinds of horrendous attacks on their own people." said Tillerson, who will travel to Moscow for his first official visit next week.

"I find it very disappointing, but sadly, I have to tell you, not all that surprising," he said.

U.S. President Donald Trump said the attack was intended to punish Syria for its use of chemical weapons against civilians in a deadly incident this week.

The Pentagon said the Shayrat air base, which was partially destroyed by the attack, was the one used by Syria's air force to launch a nerve-gas attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun on April 4, killing at least 86 people.

On April 8, Iranian President Hassan Rohani called for an impartial probe into the alleged chemical attack in Syria.

"We are asking for an impartial international fact-finding body to be set up...to find out where these chemical weapons came from," Rohani said as he condemned the U.S. missile strikes as an "aggression."

Tehran is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's main regional ally.

Based on reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters
Local man was on and off the grid before going missing
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POWHATAN  Almost a year after Norris Goode Jr. survived a fight with two men that ended with a blade broken off in his brain, the Powhatan native walked through the Village area surrounded by family and supporters in a peaceful protest to say justice had not been done in his case.

About 45 people made the half-mile walk on the morning of Friday, April 7, from Hollywood Baptist Church to the Powhatan County Courthouse, where they then gathered to hold a press conference.

The purpose of the walk and speeches given on the courthouse lawn was to protest the acquittal of Jesse Ray Moore, 25, of Jetersville on Wednesday, March 15, in Powhatan County Circuit Court.

Moore and his brother Jacob Moore, 22, of Powhatan, were both charged with aggravated malicious wounding in connection to the fight with Goode, but Jacob Moore testified against his older brother, who was subsequently found not guilty. Jacob Moores trial has been continued to Monday, June 5.

The protest was not aimed at the Powhatan County Sheriffs Office, which handled the investigation, or the Powhatan County Commonwealths Attorneys Office, which proceeded with the prosecution. The protesters complaint was against Circuit Court Judge Paul W. Cella, who found Jesse Moore not guilty following the bench trial.

Norris Jr., who turns 22 today, April 12, said in an interview the day after the verdict was handed down that he believes Cella is a racist. During his speech on April 7, he said that the judge found opportunities to smirk as we presented the case and even made inappropriate jokes to the attorney to make light of the evidence and even discredit it.

Norris Jr. said he had trusted the county and its justice system to bring justice to one of its own citizens, regardless of race. I did not want this to be a racial issue.  I was taught not to see color but rather the content of ones character.

However, he talked about evidence brought in the prosecutions case that he felt Cella undervalued or dismissed to find in favor of the white defendant.

On March 15 this past month, this case became an issue of discrimination, racial injustice and illegal lynching, where my black life was devalued in the court system compared to the life of a Caucasian man, he said. Today I have not given up on the justice system, even though I believe in my county it has failed me.

As the group of protesters marched down one lane of Old Buckingham Road to the courthouse, they alternately chanted No justice, no peace and other sayings calling for justice now.

Several people carried signs saying New generation, old battle.

The podium used by the speakers was placed in front of a small patch of privately-owned land on the courthouse green that holds a memorial to fallen confederate soldiers. A small confederate flag often is placed on the mound where the memorial sits, although in the past there have been problems with the flags being stolen.

Phillip Thompson, who is the criminal justice chair for the NAACP Virginia Sate Conference, spoke to the crowd and pointed to the flag as an example of an ongoing problem in the states criminal justice system.

Where you can have a confederate flag in front of a house of justice and expect an African American or minority to walk up in there and get justice. Folks, we cant have this, he said.

Familys reaction

Several people talked during the gathering on the courthouse lawn, including Norris Jr.s mother, Rebecca Parker, and father, Norris Goode Sr. The April 7 walk was organized by Norris Sr., who is associate minister at Guildfield Baptist Church, and the churchs pastor, the Rev. Morris Gant Jr., who also spoke.

Tears fell down Norris Jr.s face as he stood next to his mother and listened to her describe what it was like to have her son come so close to death last year.

Parker talked about the time that followed the first call finding out her son was injured in the arm only to later learn that he needed brain surgery to remove a 2.25-inch knife blade lodged in his head.

The nature of the injury, from my perspective, went from a wound in the arm to a traumatic brain injury in a matter of seconds. I cant even put into words how my body reacted to this. I was numb, dumfounded, alarmed, confused, scared, and the list goes on and on, she said.

Parker described the agony of waiting while her son was in surgery; finally being allowed to see him after surgery only to be shocked at the sight of a respirator breathing for him, and praying desperately that his life would be spared. And after it was, she watched her son slowly try to work his way back to some kind of normalcy.

Norris Jr. had said earlier that he stood in front of the crowd alive, striving for wholeness and healing but that he will forever be altered.

I suffer daily from anxiety, PTSD and short-term memory loss. A portion of my brain was extracted and is no longer operable, he said.

Parker said she was comforted by the fact that her son is alive and she can watch his future unfold.

"But the fight must not stop with my comfort. The outcome of the case is incomprehensible and exasperating to our family and the community, because the evidence was overwhelming, she said.

Parker said her family has been through enough and came to the march determined to break these injustice walls down and for our spirits to break out in unity, peace and justice to ensure that no other families endure an outcome of injustice as we have.

This is how we are coping  by becoming advocates, she continued. This is why Norris lived  to speak for those that didnt live and to identify and break down failing justice systems, especially for the black men all over this land.

Norris Sr. said that when he came out of the courtroom after Jesse Moores acquittal, he was angry at what he felt was Cellas decision to look the other way despite a mountain of evidence.

He said he felt all alone, but in seeing the people who participated in the march and stood by his family, he saw that there were people who supported their effort to see justice served.

There is no way that in 2017 that a person can be stabbed in his brain and a judge looks the other way like it didnt happen. I have a problem with that, he said.

Rally cry

When he spoke, Thompson, who also is the president of the Loudoun County branch of the NAACP, said that while double jeopardy prevents Jesse Moore from being charged again with anything related to the altercation with Norris Jr., there are still things people can do.

He urged the crowd to write their elected officials at all levels and ask for a federal investigation into the case and to the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission to have it review the case and the judges actions.

The Goode family didnt come to the NAACP. They didnt raise the race card. They didnt do any of that. They came out here and expected justice, and they didnt get justice, Thompson said.

He also said he hopes Jacob Moore, who has yet to stand trial, will be brought to justice for his part in the fight. He is charged with aggravated malicious wounding, the same crime his brother was acquitted of, a second-degree felony that carries a possible sentencing of 20 years to life in prison if convicted.

Thompson said the nations prisons are full of African Americans whose crime was being present when something occurred.

They were there, so they were prosecuted as part of being there. This individual was there. He was involved in the struggle, two on one. They obviously had an agenda when they showed up to confront Norris, so we hope that justice is served, Thompson said.

The Rev. Morris Gant Jr. said the people who participated in the march wanted to send a message that they do not understand how the outcome of the trial could have happened. He lauded the work done by the sheriffs office and commonwealths attorneys office, saying they both did their jobs, but that justice was still not served.

I believe if we rally together and we make enough noise, that someone will pay attention. They were expecting us to come out and flip chairs, and we came out the same way we are right now, peaceful. But we gathered together and we came back in number, Gant said.

Gail Hairston spoke for the Powhatan chapter of the NAACP, saying it stands behind the Goode family and will support their efforts to seek justice.

Over the many years, Powhatan African American citizens and NAACP members have lived peaceably in this community. Weve raised generations of children, grandchildren and many other relatives. But this situation and verdict has shaken the majority of our families to the core, to the point of fear in many cases, she said.

James Boyd, president of the Portsmouth County branch of the NAACP, implored all Powhatan County residents, regardless of skin color, to stand up for whats right, to stand up for whats fair.
A Henrico County teenager was sentenced to 11 years behind bars Friday for a robbery and abduction last year.

Jahlil Tareek Willis, 17, will serve part of the sentence in a juvenile detention center until he turns 21. He will serve the remaining years in an adult Department of Corrections facility.

The sentence came after family members of the victims testified about the trauma the two teenagers have suffered in the wake of the crime. Charles Willis, a prominent community activist who is Jahlils father, took the stand in support of his son.

A jury convicted Jahlil Willis in December of seven charges stemming from the May 2016 incident, including robbery, abduction with the intent to defile, conspiracy to commit robbery and firearms charges. The trial acquitted him of a sodomy charge, another robbery charge and two other firearms charges.

A teenage girl and a teenage boy told jurors they met Willis at Belle Isle in downtown Richmond on May 28. They said he robbed them at gunpoint at another location early the next morning and that the teenage girl was forced to perform oral sex on Willis and another boy.

The teenagers said the crimes happened when they met the defendant and three others to buy drugs. The crimes took place at a house across the street from Willis Henrico home, prosecutors said.

The sister of the teenage girl said during Fridays sentencing that the victim has been depressed after the incident and has had trouble getting up in the mornings. The victims sister also said the victim is fearful of sleeping alone.

The father of the other teenage victim said the boy has been having nightmares and feels like the crime is going to happen again.

Shannon Dillon, Willis attorney, urged leniency during the sentencing. She said her client did not know until he was nearly 12 years old that he was Charles Willis son. Another man who had raised Jahlil Willis left after learning the boy was not his child, Dillon said.

Charles Willis, the executive director of United Communities Against Crime, said during the sentencing that he was initially in denial after learning Jahlil was his son. But in recent years, his relationship with his son has grown tremendously, the elder Willis said.

Its been hard on his family, Charles Willis said about the case. Its been hard on his brothers.

They want you to know they love you, the elder Willis told his son.

Asked if he was disappointed in his son, Willis said hes somewhat disappointed in some of the choices that have been made. Charles Willis, who is a homicide victims advocate, said during sometimes emotional testimony that hes often asked himself if he had failed or could have done something differently.

Im still going to support and be there for my son, Willis said.

Rasheedah Corbitt, Jahlil Willis probation officer, said he had been living with his mom, who was raising him and his two sisters on her own. Corbitt said theres been times she has had to kick Jahlil Willis out of her office for being disrespectful. But Corbitt said she has noticed a change in him recently.

That young man seems to be fading away and replaced with a more respectful young man, Corbitt said.

Dillon urged Harris to sentence the defendant as a juvenile so he would be released at age 21. The defense attorney worried that sending him to a gang-infested adult penitentiary would increase his chances of being released from prison with criminal tendencies.

I think he has the skill set to be successful, Dillon said.

But Toni M. Randall, a deputy commonwealths attorney, said Willis has been in juvenile detention 14 times. Randall said Willis did not simply make a bad choice but instead set up a robbery and abducted a victim with an intent to defile her.

Thats serious criminal conduct, and it was planned, Randall said.

Willis apologized to his family and said he would change for the better when released from detention.

Judge Lee A. Harris Jr. told Willis that he had received a lot of services through the juvenile justice system.

Unfortunately, here you are, the judge said.

Harris called the incident a very violent situation.

I know we talk a lot about Mr. Willis being very young, Harris said. These victims were very young.
People ask me all the time about the things I enjoy most in the outdoors. What is my favorite fish to catch? What type of hunting do I prefer? And the list goes on.

My answers depend on the time of year, of course.

In December, you would be pressed not to find me following my dog through thick coverts in search of woodcock, and upon emerging tired and often bloodied, Ill be beaming, particularly if I have a bird in hand, shot off a point in the thicket.

This is the greatest thing in the world, hunting wild birds in Virginia off pointing dogs! you might hear me exclaim.

In August, I might jump in my skiff at dawn, the air already thick with the days inescapable heat. The run to the flats isnt too far where I will pole the boat along quietly, searching the shallow water for the faintest hint of color that will give up a redfish, or better yet, a whole school pushing water in the shallows, searching out a bite to eat.

It doesnt get any better than this! Sightcasting to redfish in shallow water, Ill shout from the rooftops.

April, well, this month is the best of the best, as the shad come piling into the James, as the stripers stack up at the fall line in the city, as the first hints of light move goofy gobblers, head over heels with desire, to make what must be the most exciting sound in all of nature (Ill admit that a bugling elk could give a gobbler a run for his money). And then, of course, theres the possibility of coaxing a busty largemouth to eat a plastic lizard or a hungry brookie to wolf down a dry fly riding high on the surface of a mountain stream.

The toughest thing about this time of year is the balancing act, not just of work, and play, and family obligations, but with what quarry one wishes to pursue.

Now I am no psychologist, but in my humble opinion, the best thing one can do this time of year in order to avoid undue stress is to be prepared for about anything, to keep the calendar light with obligations and open to possibility.

Its not always easy. It can be tough to fit two turkey decoys, three tackle boxes (one for shad, one for stripers, one for bass) in the car along with a fly rod, three spinning rods, two baitcasters and a shotgun. All one can do is try.

For those who havent been out yet on the river, reports are coming back of large stripers being caught downtown. Of course, I never catch them when I go, but people send me photos to prove their existence.

The shad bite was consistent before the water came up and should be fine this weekend as things start to clear. The white perch are in, too.

Of course, turkey season opened Saturday, but I didnt need to tell anyone that, at least not anyone who turkey hunts.
After serving as president of the College of William & Mary for 10 years, Taylor Reveley announced Friday that he will retire on June 30, 2018.

When I do retire, I will be 75 , and I really want to have another life after my formal work life, which will have lasted 50 years, he said. I think 75 is probably pushing it as far as I can push it, if I want to be reasonably sure I can enjoy the rights of retirement.

Before taking on his current position, Reveley served as the dean of the William & Mary Law School for 10 years. He first took over his position on an interim basis in February 2008 after the tumultuous tenure and sudden resignation of his predecessor, Gene Nichol.

During his time as W&Ms president, Reveley has overseen the colleges physical, academic and financial shift. By the end of 2018, more than 40 percent of the colleges infrastructure will have been built or renovated during his time there, according to a news release.

He also oversaw the first revision of W&Ms undergraduate curriculum in 20 years, along with the addition of new programs and degrees.

To me its remarkable that somebody who started as a transitional leader, as an interim president, became a transformational leader of the college, said Todd Stottlemyer, W&Ms rector. That doesnt always happen.

In his final 14 months at W&M, Reveley said he will continue to push some of the Williamsburg universitys biggest initiatives.

Lame duck is not in my DNA, he said.

He is particularly interested in advancing W&Ms For the Bold $1 billion campaign  for which it has raised $700 million so far  and its attempt to get 40 percent of the undergraduate alumni to participate in annual giving.

That measure really matters because its an indication of alumni loyalty and alumni commitment, Reveley said.

W&Ms Board of Visitors is in the process of creating a presidential search committee to appoint the colleges 28th president.

Reveley said the next president will have to ensure the new curriculum for its undergraduate students, COLL, continues its productive evolution. W&M launched COLL in September 2015.

The universitys new engineering program, which is set to launch this fall, will need the next presidents attention, he said, as will the burgeoning online degree offerings.

On the financial front, we have got to keep building the financial foundation rooted in endowment growth and in annual giving growth, he added. That is absolutely essential.

He noted that, increasingly, state support as a percentage of W&Ms operating budget has declined. Last year was the first year the colleges operating budget was funded more by philanthropy than by state support, and that trend will likely continue, he said.

But he said the next president should be most focused on the notion of William & Mary becoming excellent in everything.

Its very important to me that William & Mary recognize just how magnificent an institution it is and make clear its pride, he said. We need to make clear, not just quietly in our hearts, but more demonstratively, that were proud of this place.

Originally from Churchville in the Shenandoah Valley, Reveley completed his undergraduate education at Princeton in 1965, then went on to receive his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1968.

After he leaves the Brafferton  W&Ms second-oldest building, which was formerly home to Native Americans brought to the school and now houses the presidents offices  Reveley said he will move between his familys home in Richmond and their condominium in Williamsburg.

I will turn out the lights in the Brafferton on June 30, 2018, he said, and then motor into the sunset.
Norman Fintel, a wiry, soft-spoken Midwesterner, was never one for the spotlight.

The unassuming leader who took over the helm of Roanoke College in 1975 preferred to stay busy at work behind the scenes.

But his 14-year tenure is credited with shining a new light on the small, secluded campus in Salem  reversing a trend of waning enrollment, drawing the community onto the campus and executing an ambitious plan to raise standards and modernize facilities.

Fintel was the president who opened up Roanoke College to the world, people said.

He really got a lot of balls rolling for the college in a wonderful way, said current President Michael Maxey, who started his career at Roanoke College when Fintel hired him to work in the schools development office.

Fintel, who grew up on a family farm in Nebraska, was a true servant-leader who approached his work with a farmers mindset, planting seeds and patiently coaxing them to grow, Maxey said.

He was a quiet person, but a giant person, Maxey said. It was always a remarkable thing to watch how people would listen to him. His voice was soft and gentle, but people would lean in to listen. Because you knew he had a lot to share.

Fintel, a poet, pilot and great-grandfather of six, died Friday morning after a battle with cancer. He was 92.

He leaves behind a legacy that can be seen throughout Roanoke Colleges campus from physical markers such as the Fintel Library  a record-setting construction project for the school at the time that was named after his family at the insistence of a donor  to initiatives like the now-coveted honors program.

A devout man who dedicated his career to Lutheran colleges, he arrived at a then-struggling Roanoke College  the second-oldest Lutheran school in the nation  with a conviction that it needed to strengthen its identity and build bridges with the larger community.

He put together a team that spearheaded new programs, facility expansions and more rigorous professional standards.

He always challenged people to be more than they imagined they could be, said the Rev. Paul Henrickson, chaplain emeritus for Roanoke College.

He was willing to let you think and dream and do things that were outside of the box. He opened the gate, and it was your job to run through it. He trusted people that way.

On campus, Fintel established an open-door policy with students, often opening his home to them. He started a tradition that continues to this day of inviting graduating seniors to the presidents house to etch their names into the bookshelves of a large basement library  a joyful rite of passage that allows them to literally leave their mark on campus before they embark into the world.

Ken Belton, a Roanoke College alum who now serves on the board of trustees, said Fintels support was life-changing for the black students who were just beginning to join the student body in slowly growing numbers in the 1970s.

There were very few of us back then, and we didnt know who we could trust or look to, said Belton, a member of the Class of 1981. He opened himself up to us, made us feel comfortable and let us know we could always talk to him.

Wed never had access to someone like a college president before, Belton added. Hed always tell us there wasnt anything we couldnt do if we put our minds to it. That builds up your confidence, not only on campus, but in life after Roanoke College, as well.

Fintels passing early Friday happened just hours before the school was set to honor him and his wife, Jo, by presenting them with the Roanoke College Medal, a recognition reserved for those who embody leadership, integrity and dedication to service.

The ceremony, part of the colleges annual alumni weekend celebration, proceeded Friday afternoon with the familys blessing.

Roanoke College had become home to Fintel, said his daughter, Barbara Collins.

He loved this place, she said. It was his ultimate calling to come here.

Fintel had been working with his daughter to write a memoir that he hoped would allow him to share the lessons hed learned over his 92 years.

He would speak of the need to fight for human kindness, to live a bold and courageous life, to never doubt that one person can make a difference.

Collins still plans to finish the book and hopes to publish it later this year.

He was the kindest person I ever knew, she said. He was just full of hope and optimism.

When Fintel checked into the hospital for the final time, he told a nurse that he was one of the few people in the world who could truly say that, if they had it all to do over again, they wouldnt change a thing.

He said, how lucky am I? Collins recalled. That was the kind of person he was.
The land doesnt look like much.

Its wooded, overgrown, bisected by a flood-prone creek, and has been vacant for a half century. Neighbors in Roanokes nearby Wasena neighborhood refer to it as that swamp if they refer to it at all.

I just figured it was undesirable property, said Dian Tapscott, who lives across Brandon Avenue from the 7.5-acre lot.

It may have been for a long time, but developer Robert Fralin of R. Fralin Companies sees an opportunity where others didnt. He has applied for a rezoning of the land near the intersection at Brambleton Avenue that will allow him to erect four buildings with a total of 54 apartments.

Roanokes planning commission will vote on the rezoning at its 1:30 p.m. Monday meeting at city hall.

Fralins application filed late last year triggered broad opposition from residents in working- and middle-class Wasena to the north and the tonier Oakwood Drive to the south, who have united against the proposal.

They have collectively submitted more than a hundred pages of letters and emails of opposition to the Roanoke planning department, along with a petition with more than 200 signatures.

Wednesday night, the Wasena Neighborhood Forum voted unanimously to oppose the rezoning.

Despite changes Fralin has made to the project in response to concerns from planners and neighbors that he said have added 5 percent to 10 percent to the cost of the $5 million project, neighbors remain unswayed

They object to it as being inappropriately dense for a single-family neighborhood, adding traffic to an already confusing and congested intersection at Main Street, replacing a greenspace with apartment buildings they consider unsightly despite Fralins efforts at improving them, bringing noise to an otherwise stately and quiet Oakwood, and generally devaluing single-family homes around it.

We feel like a monstrosity is going to come live in our midst and its so out of proportion its vulgar, said David-Charles Campbell, whose back yard on Oakwood abuts the site. Were trying to put a yellow lemon in the middle of a bowl of red apples.

They also question whether theres really a demand from young professionals Fralin is targeting with the development, and even so, that theyd want to live there.

Fralins proposal emerged not long before news that a North Carolina developer hopes to develop a complex of 224 apartments on the old Shenandoah Life Insurance Co. site now owned by Carilion Clinic less than a mile away.

Fralin, who has developed hundreds of homes and apartments in Roanoke, Lynchburg and the New River Valley, said the Shenandoah Life proposal stands as confirmation that his read of the market for apartments is accurate.

Roanokes population is growing, and with new academic and economic opportunities brought by the expanding Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute, more people are going to be looking for nice rentals, and not all of them will want to live in historic buildings downtown, he said.

The Roanoke region is adding almost a thousand residents a year, but no one is building a commensurate number of dwellings, Fralin said.

He and city planners agree that if the city wants growth, particularly among young professionals seeking high tech jobs, people are going to have to get used to development that comes with it.

It just seems like theres so many other places in the city that cry out for development, Tapscott countered.

Fralin said he began negotiating with VB Land LLC to buy the land about a year ago. The owner is a division of the former Valley Bank, which is now BNC bank.

He submitted a rezoning application in December because current zoning allows only single-family homes on the site.

Fralins plan would add four apartment buildings, parking for about 75 vehicles, and probably a pool.

Campbell first heard about Fralins idea from Fralin himself. Campbells partner, Charles Richards, has taught Fralins children at Crystal Spring elementary school, so they knew each other.

Campbell said at first blush, he had no objection to the plan, but when he got home and looked at the site from his back yard, he grew concerned.

Right around that time, his neighbor Cathy Greenberg received an email alert from the city planning department about Fralins application. Her reaction was something stronger than Holy Cow.

She and Campbell talked, and neighbors organized a meeting at the nearby Elks Club where Fralin and his staff would spell out his plans.

Meanwhile, Greenberg printed out fliers to raise awareness and passed them out door to door in Wasena. Tapscott emerged from her house for a dental appointment one day and found Greenberg, whom she didnt know, in her driveway with a flier for her. That was the first Tapscott, vice president of the Wasena Neighborhood Forum, had heard of the apartments plan.

She went to the meeting at the Elks Club and got the details.

My first thought was  who would want to live on that intersection at all? she said.

By Fralins own account, he and his plans were not well-received.

Fralin also ran into issues when the city planning commission discussed plan during a work session, where commissioners and staff said his plan for traffic was inadequate and the buildings were too non-descript, among other concerns.

We hadnt done our job on traffic, Fralin admitted. As for the buildings, Quite frankly, I agree with them.  What we did didnt have a zesty appeal to it.

On traffic, Fralins original plan showed an entrance near the Brambleton, or western, end of the site, and an exit at the other end. Traffic could enter the site coming from either direction, but turn only right from the exit.

Fralin moved the entrance and exit and added a channel in the median strip to create a left turn lane.

Neighbors worry about the complex adding traffic to a convoluted traffic pattern that often bogs down during rush hour. The citys traffic study found the apartments would add about 360 vehicle trips to the road which already sees about 20,000 cars.

In four-lane world, that is negligible, Fralin said. Its also not significantly different from what development of the land under its current zoning  which would allow 33 houses  would create, so its considered traffic neutral.

Morover, city planner Katharine Gray pointed out, under the present zoning, a developer could put 13 houses along Brandon, meaning 13 driveways along the same stretch.

Regarding the architecture, Gray said Fralins original plans showed architecture that didnt have anything to do with the neighborhood.

At a meeting, Wasena residents suggested a design resembling the Arts and Crafts style common in their neighborhood. Gray also recommended creating rooflines that make each individual building look like multiple buildings.

Fralin said the changes he made through the process improved the project, and he credited Gray and neighbors for it.

It makes a better gateway into these neighborhoods, he said.

The developments opponents give Fralin credit for listening and making changes, but they havent changed their minds.

An apartment complex is inappropriate in a place surrounded by single-family homes, they say.

It just doesnt fit the neighborhood, even now, Campbell said.

If I was a young person I wouldnt go, Oh, I cant wait to live in there in those ho-hum apartments,  Tapscott said.

The citys planning staff, however, notes in its report on the application that while there are some conflicting messages in the citys own planning guidance, in general, higher density developments are appropriate nearer to village centers, which is what the adjacent commercial area at the corner of Brambleton Avenue is considered.

Neighbors also lament the loss of greenspace to the apartments.

That which is gracious and green, once its gone, its gone, Campbell said.

Its not the prettiest woods, but it is at least green, Tapscott said.

They see an opportunity there for an extension of nearby Lakewood park, with a continuation of the Murray Run greenway along the stretch of the creek that passes through the property.

Fralin is only developing part of the site and leaving a wooded buffer between the apartments and neighbors in deference to the people on Oakwood, and hes promised to put that buffer in a conservation easement to protect it permanently  an idea suggested by Greenberg.

But at the same time, he added a pool to the plan.

Fralin said the pool is an amenity that will allow him to keep rents up and attract more professional tenants  a concern voiced by neighbors.

Campbell said he and his neighbors will be sandwiched between Fralins pool and the one at the Elks Club.

Opponents remain dubious that young professionals will really want to live there. Fralin touts its proximity to hip village areas in South Roanoke and on Grandin Road.

Tapscott said the isolated site undermines its appeal for younger people because its not in an area thats walkable and bikeable  two criteria the city has been working to improve for young professionals in recent years.

She said she and her neighbors are proud of developments like the Riverhouse apartments in the old ice house at the other end of the neighborhood and nearby restaurants.

I do want the young people here, she said. But Fralins chosen site is an ugly place to put them.

There are other pieces of land where he could accomplish the same goals and it would not be as divisive, Campbell said, citing vacant parcels or little used buildings near the medical school and Reserve Avenue.

If the developer doesnt meet his goals, then what? he added. We will pay the price. Not only his pocketbook, but our whole neighborhood pays the price.

Fralin contends, however, that if Roanoke continues its recent pattern of growth and economic development success, more places to live will be needed. People cant seek the growth and expect to avoid its side effects forever.

Gray, the city planner, agreed that its time to look ahead to where growth and development should be steered.

We as a community need to have the conversation about where and how is that appropriate, she said.
A defendant in the homicide case of Raymond Wood, 17, of Lynchburg, appeared before Bedford County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court by video Thursday afternoon, where he was appointed a public defender by the court.

Jose Coreas-Ventura, 21, is charged with second-degree murder in the slaying along with two other defendants, Victor Arnoldo Rodas, 19; and Lisandro Posada-Vazquez, 24.

According to Bedford County Sheriff Mike Brown, all three are members of the MS-13 gang. All three are undocumented immigrants from El Salvador and were arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on March 28 after initially being detained by the Bedford County Sheriffs Office, according to Carissa Cutrell, an ICE public affairs officer.

Bedford County Commonwealths Attorney Wes Nance confirmed Thursday that Coreas-Ventura was arraigned about 2:30 p.m., and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for June 16 at 1 p.m. in Juvenile and Domestic Court.

The court declared Coreas-Ventura indigent Thursday, but an advisement order filed in court states he was employed at the time of the arrest. The amount of money he made was unclear, according to the document.

Coreas-Ventura has no real estate in the U.S. but may have an interest in real estate in El Salvador, according to the advisement order. The order states he has no other assets.

Coreas-Ventura also has been charged with first-degree murder in Montgomery County, Maryland, in connection with the June 2016 slaying of 18-year-old Cristian Antonio Villagran-Morales in Gaithersburg.

Coreas-Ventura remains in jail in Amherst.
Pastor Abe Simon, 89, didnt get to graduate high school. He was drafted into the Army instead.

The year was 1945, just before the invasion of Japan.

The Army needed millions. I was called up, and I went, Simon said.

Last September, he traveled back to his former high school in Texas to visit family and asked to see a copy of his grades.

The Orangefield High secretary asked, What year did you graduate?

He said, Oh honey, I didnt graduate. I was drafted.

She told him to come back in an hour.

When he came back to the school, he was ushered into the gym where the marching band played Pomp and Circumstance.

Leaning on his cane, he was helped into an orange cap and gown and led into the gym where he received his diploma in front of cheering students.

I couldnt believe it, Simon said from his home in North Chesterfield.

This May, Simon is set to return to Orangefield High School, where he will march with the class of 2017 in the graduation ceremony.

The heartwarming story about the 89-year-old receiving his diploma has been covered by news sites across the country and was featured on Inside Editions website.

Simon still tears up a little when he talks about it, I was just blown away that they did that.

At 18, Simon was drafted into the Army infantry. He trained and walked thousands of miles, he said, but just as he was finishing boot camp, the U.S. dropped the bomb. And that was it.

Simon was discharged in 1946. He returned to Texas, where he took classes to make up for what he missed in high school and then enrolled in East Texas Baptist University and graduated with a degree in ministry.

A church planner, Simon moved to Virginia in 1959 with his wife, Ruth, and three children to start Grace Baptist Church in Petersburg.

For the past 30 years, hes been an associate pastor at Clover Hill Baptist Church on Courthouse Road in Chesterfield County.

Up until last week, he still preached every Sunday morning at Sunday school and visited the sick in the hospital at all hours.

He recently fell ill with an infection that turned toxic. His family hopes he can still travel in May.

His brother, Stanley, 96, who was wounded in the war, also is planning to join in the ceremony to receive his diploma.

Stephen Patterson, the superintendent of the Orangefield Independent School District, helped organize the impromptu graduation ceremony in the fall.

He said the ceremony obviously meant the world to Simon.

He kept saying, I cant thank you enough. 

Joy Sneed, Simons daughter, said that no matter what happens, her father will make it to the graduation ceremony.

If he has to be airlifted, hes going to go, his daughter said. Theres no way hes missing it.
November 12, 1939 April 5, 2017 Carolyn Hope Saunders of Bedford, Va. went home to be with the Lord on Wednesday, April 5, 2017. She was born on November 12, 1939 in Richmond, Va. to the late Maurice Alton Saunders and Mabel Hope Huddleston Saunders. Carolyn graduated from Montvale High School and attended Radford University, graduating with a B.A. in History and an M.A. from the University of Virginia, both with honors. She taught at Albemarle County High School where she eventually retired.Carolyn was an active member of Parrish Chapel United Methodist Church, the Bedford Genealogy Society, Bedford Historical Society, Peaks of Otter Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the UDC and CFC. She enjoyed singing, baking and shopping for the best bargain! Carolyn is survived by her brother, M. Winston Saunders and wife, Judy; niece, Stephanie Beadles and husband, Barry; nephew, David Saunders and wife, Tanya; niece, Kelly Carter; three great nephews, Roscoe, Zavier and Maddox; aunt, Ms. Christine Huddleston, as well as numerous cousins, and her special dog, Rufus. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Parrish Chapel UMC, 10000 Stewartsville Road, Vinton, VA 24179. Funeral services will be held at 11 .a.m on Monday, April 10, 2017 at Parrish Chapel United Methodist Church in Chamlissburg with Pastor Mickey White officiating. Interment will follow in the church cemetery. The family will receive friends on Sunday from 2 until 4 p.m. at Updike Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Bedford, 540-586-3304.
CALIFORNIA

Governor declares end to drought

FRESNO, Calif.  California Gov. Jerry Brown declared an end to the states drought emergency on Friday after powerful storms quenched the state following four extraordinarily dry years that drained reservoirs and wells, devastated forests and farmland and forced millions of people to slash their water use.

The turnaround has been stark. After years of brown fields and cracked earth, monster storms blanketed Californias Sierra Nevada Mountains this winter with deep snow that flows into the network of rivers and streams that supply much of the states water.

Front lawns revived to bright green in neighborhoods throughout the state and rivers that had become dry beds of sand and gravel are now charged with water swelling up in their banks.

MICHIGAN

Boy, 11, hangs himself after online prank

DETROIT  Tysen Benz was at home when he saw social media posts indicating that his 13-year-old girlfriend had committed suicide. The posts were a prank, but the 11-year-old boy apparently believed them.

Moments later, his mother found him hanging by the neck in his room in Marquette, Michigan. Now a prosecutor is pursuing criminal charges against a juvenile accused of being involved in the scheme, which Katrina Goss described as a twisted, sick joke.

Goss described her son as appearing fine just 40 minutes before she found him.

I just want it be exposed and be addressed, Goss said of school bullying in general and cyberbullying in particular. I dont want it be ignored.

After seeing the posts about his girlfriend, Tysen replied over social media that he was going to kill himself, and no one involved in the prank told an adult, Goss said.

The boy died Tuesday at a Detroit-area hospital.

VENEZUELA

Opposition leader barred from running

CARACAS, Venezuela  Venezuelas government has barred opposition leader Henrique Capriles  twice a major presidential candidate  from running for office for 15 years, a surprise move sure to ratchet up tensions amid a growing street protest movement

Capriles read from excerpts of the comptroller generals order at a rally Friday night in which he urged supporters to take to the streets, beginning with a previously scheduled demonstration Saturday, to defend their political rights and demand the removal of President Nicolas Maduro.

When the dictatorship squeals its a sign were advancing, he said in a speech surrounded by other leading opposition figures, many of whom themselves have been targeted. The only one who is disqualified here is you, Nicolas Maduro.

SAN FRANCISCO

Dog safe 3 days after deadly boat accident

DILLON BEACH, Calif.  A dog whose owner died after his powerboat capsized in a bay north of San Francisco has been found alive three days after the accident.

The Labrador retriever named Yoda was spotted Thursday on a rocky beach by two firefighters scouting locations for water rescue skills training.

Marin County Battalion Chief Bret McTigue says they wrapped the cold, wet dog in a lifejacket and put him near a fireplace in a fire station to warm him up.

The dogs owner was 47-year-old Brian Ho.

McTigue says Ho died Monday after his 13-foot boat capsized in Tomales Bay.
Schwarzenegger says Kasich should try again LOS ANGELES  Arnold Schwarzenegger says Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich should run again for the White House in 2020, effectively endorsing a primary challenge to President Donald Trump. The former Republican California governor, movie star and bodybuilder told the Los Angeles Times in an interview published Wednesday that Kasich is a man of substance who has state and federal government experience, is a moderate and has vision. Schwarzenegger also backed Kasich for president in 2016. The two men are friends and work together annually on the Arnold Classic bodybuilding competition in Ohio. There is no love lost between Trump and Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger replaced him as the host of Celebrity Apprentice, and Trump repeatedly mocked him for poor television ratings.

Scarlett Johansson speaks out on Ivanka NEW YORK  Scarlett Johansson says Ivanka Trump could have a big impact by being vocal, and shes baffled by the first daughters reluctance to take a public stance on controversial issues related to her fathers administration. Johansson referenced an interview Trump gave with CBS News earlier this week in which she suggested that she voices disagreement to her father quietly and directly and candidly. Johansson portrayed the first daughter in a recent Saturday Night Live sketch that showed Trump pitching a perfume called Complicit. Trump answered the notion that shes complicit in her fathers policies by telling CBS, If being complicit is wanting to be a force for good and to make a positive impact, then Im complicit. Johansson was speaking at the Women in the World summit in New York on Thursday.

NEW YORK  Brian Williams is facing online criticism for waxing poetic about what he called beautiful pictures of U.S. missiles launching during an attack on a Syrian air base.

Video released by the military shows Tomahawk missiles targeted for a Syrian airfield launching from the decks of U.S. warships in the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday.

During his MSNBC program, The 11th Hour, late Thursday night, Williams said the beautiful pictures at night tempted him to quote a line from a Leonard Cohen song: I am guided by the beauty of our weapons. He went on to call the images beautiful pictures of fearsome armaments.

Williams was quickly mocked and criticized on Twitter for the remarks, with some users suggesting they were insensitive to the realities of war.

MSNBC didnt immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
Business News Nz Told To Do More To Help Redundant Workers | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Workers think more favourably toward non-permanent work than they did half a decade ago but jobseekers are still looking for permanent roles, a new report says. In April this year, Accordant Group ... Read More Workers need to come back to the office to enable collaboration, help train newer staff and be seen for promotional opportunities, says a Kiwi heading up a major Australian bank. Ross McEwan, a ... Read More Provided they return to work on time and in a fit state to do their job, in most cases workers shouldnt be told they can ... down in time. Under New Zealand law, workers are entitled ... Read More Over the past 40 years, the government has transformed New Zealand from an agrarian economy, dependent on concessionary British market access, to a more industrialized, free market economy that ... Read More Construction workers unload equipment at a building site for a residential apartment block in central Wellington, New Zealand, July 3, 2017. REUTERS/David Gray ... Read More The company laid off 135 workers in mid ... of Wellington, told The Associated Press last week that as temperatures increase in New Zealand, skiing will become more untenable. Read More Lobby group Groundswell New Zealand helped organize more than 50 protests in towns and cities ... But when its rain, drizzle, and you get home and listen to the news, Swansson said. Why do you ... Read More New Zealand's government says revenue from the levy would be "recycled back into [the] agriculture sector through new technology, research and incentive payments to farmers." Prime Minister ... Read More Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor said it was an exciting opportunity for New Zealand and its farmers. Farmers are already experiencing the impact of climate change with more regular drought ... Read More WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand's parliament on Wednesday proposed changes to the country's counter-terrorism laws to provide more restrictions ... their ability to do so," Justice Minister ... Read More TO HAVE ONE politician accused of spying for a foreign government may be regarded as misfortune. But to have two is certainly carelessness. In 2017 Yang Jian, a Chinese-born member of New Zealand ... Read More Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor said it was an exciting opportunity for New Zealand and its farmers. "Farmers are already experiencing the impact of climate change with more regular drought ... Read More
Business News Ghana To Exceed 800 000 Tonne Cocoa Target Cocobod Chief | RobinsPost News & Noticias

The Coalition for Cocoa Sector Reforms (CCSR) GH has called on government through COCOBOD to reconsider the 2022/23 producer price announced to avoid negative implications impact the new GH800.00 per ... Read More Government has increased the producer price of cocoa to GH12,800.00 per tonne, which translates into GH800 per bag of 64 ... System (CMS) through COCOBOD. This, the minister noted that the ... Read More Ghana has raised the guaranteed farmgate price paid to cocoa farmers to 12,800 cedis ($1,248.78) per tonne for ... trusted business, financial, national, and international news to professionals ... Read More The announcement made by the Board Chairman of COCOBOD ... pricing mechanism spearheaded by Ghana and Ivory Coast to secure a $400 premium on every tonne of cocoa sold to be paid directly to ... Read More Cocoa beans are pictured next to a warehouse at the village of Atroni, near Sunyani, Ghana April 11, 2019. REUTERS/Ange Aboa ACCRA, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Cocobod ... per tonne, has not changed ... Read More ACCRA, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Ghanas Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) will sign a $1.3 billion pre-export syndicated loan agreement with international banks on Thursday to finance beans purchases for the ... Read More With this, a tonne ... 800) per bag from the U.S.$62 (GH660) for the just ended cocoa farming season and takes effect from October 7, 2022. Cocoa is the chief agricultural export of Ghana ... Read More Nana Ansah Kwao IV, Chief of Akwamu Adumasa, has attributed the unending ... on the galamsey menace on an Accra-based radio station monitored by the Ghana News Agency, on Saturday. The fundamental ... Read More The two West African countries of Ghana ... the Ghanaian Cocoa Board (Cocobod). To remedy this problem, Abidjan and Accra made the major decision in July 2019 to introduce a decent income ... Read More Where we live here in Cocoa, it's gotten worse and we need some, we need some serious people for serious times, Rude said. He is the chief whether you like him or not. He's the chie ... Read More Cocoa city leaders fielded questions and challenges Tuesday night from a concerned public over the direction of the citys police department under Chief Evander Collier, who was appointed a year ... Read More ACCRA  Cocobod ... bad news for farmers who had hoped the new farmgate price would equal Ivory Coasts. The problem with Ghana is that the currency is falling and is quite volatile at the moment, ... Read More
In this 2016 photo, a bag of 4-fluoroisobutyrylfentanyl, a synthetic opioid, which was seized in a drug raid, is displayed at the Drug Enforcement Administration Special Testing and Research Laboratory in Sterling, Va.
Business News California Governor Declares Drought Emergency Over | RobinsPost News & Noticias

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday issued an expanded "drought emergency proclamation" for ... a first-term Democrat facing a recall election over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic ... Read More California's ongoing drought is expected to impact the prices ... Classico pasta sauces and other food products, told FOX Business, "This season's tomato crop in California has resulted in lower ... Read More The approval of the plant comes as record temperatures and drought conditions have forced ... to fight climate change In August, California Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled a plan to address an ... Read More water bottlers and non-medical cannabis growers included in businesses ordered to stop using water A state of local emergency declared on the Sunshine Coast because of drought includes an order ... Read More While its not yet formal policy, those who manage California ... an emergency basis due to drought. However, environmental groups want permanent habitat-enhancing reductions. Former Gov. Read More The Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) has declared a state of local emergency, amid persistent drought conditions threatening the communitys water supply. Regional district chair and ... Read More SECHELT, B.C.  A British Columbia community has declared a state of local emergency as a drought drags on and the area risks running out of drinking water. The Sunshine Coast Regional District ... Read More SECHELT, B.C.  A British Columbia community has declared a state of local emergency as a drought drags on and the area risks running out of drinking water. The Sunshine Coast Regional District, the ... Read More THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck SECHELT, B.C.  A British Columbia community has declared a state of local emergency as a drought drags on and the area risks running out of drinking water. Read More THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck SECHELT, B.C.  A British Columbia community has declared a state of local emergency as a drought drags on and the area risks running out of drinking water. The Sunshine ... Read More
Business News Italy S Extra Moves Likely To Hit Eu Fiscal Targets In 2017 Dombrovskis | RobinsPost News & Noticias

New Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is coming to Brussels. Her arrival Thursday comes amid fears that her far-right-led coalition could further threaten unity in the European Union on issues ... Read More WASHINGTON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - The sharp negative market reaction to Britain's ... is likely to be a stark warning to the emerging new Italian government and other EU countries to keep fiscal ... Read More MILAN, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Italy's telecoms lobby has called ... The energy crisis comes on top of other business concerns for telecoms operators in Europe, which are caught up between high ... Read More New far-right Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni used her first visit to European Union headquarters in Brussels Thursday to declare that Italy will be a force to reckon with in EU affairs, leaving it ... Read More Italy's Giorgetti Gets Meloni's Backing to Be Economy ... be named told Reuters late on Thursday that it was now "extremely likely" that the coalition would pick Giorgetti for the post. Read More Why Meloni's Win in ... said Italian media, who magnified the image. As much as political differences  Berlusconi bills himself a staunch champion of the European Union, while Meloni has ... Read More Italys new Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said her government will make its voice heard strongly in proposing reforms to the European Union, while pledging to respect the blocs financial ... Read More Andy Garraway, climate policy analyst at Risilience, discusses the need for Europe to make headway ... at least 15 minutes. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data ... Read More ROME (AP)  Giorgia Meloni on Friday formed Italys new ruling coalition, assembling the countrys first far-right-led government since the end of World War II and becoming the first woman ... Read More At issue is the brands slogan Italys No. 1 brand of pasta, which the lawsuit says can lead customers to believe its actually made in Italy. The customers that filed the lawsuit last ... Read More Advertised as "Italy's No. 1 brand of pasta," the popular brand Barilla will face a lawsuit over accusations it misled consumers to believe products made in Iowa and New York were actually made ... Read More The resounding victory by far-right leader Giorgia Meloni in last month's Italian election isn't ... bills himself a staunch champion of the European Union, while Meloni has said national ... Read More
Politics News Federal Judge Approves Baltimore Policing Consent Decree Denying Justice Department Request For Delay | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Baltimore remains on track to implement one of the nations most complex policing consent decrees, but persistent struggles continue in several reform areas, according to the judge overseeing the ... Read More The judge overseeing ... documents say Baltimore police came under its federal consent decree in the aftermath of the unrest over the death of Freddie Gray in 2015. A Department of Justice ... Read More Judge James K. Bredar presides over the enforcement of Baltimore's consent decree, which is designed to give the city a stronger police department that fights crime while it serves and protects ... Read More REPORTING FROM MT. ROYAL, DAVI The federal judge overseeing the Baltimore police consent decree had to call officers after squeegee workers harassed him Sunday, the 11 News I-Team confirmed. Read More Baltimore leaders and the federal judge overseeing the consent decree to reform the city's police department tackled several hot-button issues from squeegee workers to staffing at a hearing Thursday. Read More CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - A federal judge has ruled the Cleveland Police Department will stay under ... That progress started after the consent decree was enacted in 2014. It was just two years ... Read More CLEVELAND  As expected, a federal judge has ordered an extension for Cleveland's consent decree, meaning the city's police department ... The U.S. Department of Justice first enacted the ... Read More The federal judge overseeing the Baltimore City police consent decree called the police after he was harassed by aggressive squeegee workers. Judge James Bredar and his wife told police they were ... Read More CLEVELAND, Ohio  A federal ... U.S. District Judge Solomon Oliver ordered that the monitoring team that oversees the court-ordered police reform, known as the consent decree, should continue. Read More
Politics News Defence Deal Could Open The Door To Weapons Sales To Ukraine | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov attends a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group during a NATO defence ministers meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 1 ... Read More President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced that Ukraine has received new anti-aircraft defence systems that significantly strengthen its air defence. Source: Zelenskyy's evening speech Quote from ... Read More The U.S. and U.K. warned that Russia could use the allegations to justify an escalation of the war in Ukraine. Read More Follow all the days news. Tassal salmon shareholders back $1.1bn foreign takeover 03:43 Australias largest salmon producer Tassal is heading for foreign ownership after shareholders ... Read More Russian president Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Russia had suspended rather than terminated its participation in a crucial UN-brokered grain deal. Putin repeated an accusation made repeatedly by ... Read More Jeremy Hunt has been reappointed as UK chancellor, as Rishi Sunak begins forming his new government. Hunt was appointed to the Treasury this month by Liz Truss, with the task of unpicking her ... Read More
Politics News After A Few Days In Mar A Lago Chinese President Enjoys Layover In Alaska | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Donald Trump hinted on Monday that he could mount a campaign to return as president of the United States as soon as next week.The former Republican president told a political rally in Ohio on Monday ... Read More He claimed hed declassified them with his mind. He accused the agents of planting them. He even railed over agents not taking off their shoes in his home. To make matters worse, Trump keeps ... Read More Fundraising by former President Donald Trumps primary political group briefly quadrupled for a few days ... MAR-A-LAGO was RAIDED, read one text sent late in the evening on Aug. 8, hours ... Read More A close ally of former President Donald Trump who has said he was present as Trump declassified broad categories of materials has appeared before a federal grand jury after being given immunity for ... Read More An employee of former President Donald Trump ... documents told the Post that after Mr Trump recieved a subpoena for any classified materials at Mar-a-Lago in May, the former president told ... Read More The FBI seized the super-sensitive documents along with about 100 classified documents in an Aug. 8 search of Trumps Mar-a-Lago club ... to the ex-presidents residence after getting slapped ... Read More Documents containing highly sensitive intelligence about Iran and China were among those recovered by the FBI from former President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate, The Washington Post reported ... Read More Former President Donald Trump floated a litany of conspiracies Friday in reaction to a striking report about the contents of the classified documents recovered from his Mar-a-Lago residence in ... Read More One of Donald Trump's employees told FBI agents the former president ordered boxes of documents at Mar-a-Lago to be moved ... account comes just days after NBC News first reported that Trump ... Read More The aide, Walt Nauta, moved the boxes from a storage room before and after ... President Donald J. Trump was captured on security camera footage moving boxes out of a storage room at Mar-a-Lago ... Read More Donald Trumps legal team is weighing whether to allow federal agents to return to the former President ... after the FBI seized nearly 22,000 pages when they executed a search warrant at Mar-a ... Read More
Politics News Ethics Commission Says Alabama S Conservative Governor May Have Violated Finance Laws During His Campaign | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey is poised to win a second full term against Democrat Yolanda Flowers, the first Black woman to win a major partys gubernatorial nomination in the state. Read More Polls close in the state at 7 p.m. local time, or 8 p.m. EST. The Alabama House and Senate are currently under Republican control and are not seen as particularly competitive.The state has operated ... Read More The 5-member Ethics Commission levied a $75 fine against Rep. Sue Bernard for not including a financial disclosure on a letter sent to Aroostook County residents. Read More Libertarians are back on the ballot in Alabama for the first time in 20 years after a lengthy fight to regain ballot access, and party leaders hope to make a declaration about the party's future in ... Read More Churches arent supposed to endorse political candidates, according to IRS rules. Across the country, churches appear to be doing so anyway. The endorsement of political candidates by religious ... Read More
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Politics News The Path To Devin Nunes Stepping Aside From Russia Probe | RobinsPost News & Noticias




Elections News Longtime Opposition Party Wins Gambia S Parliamentary Elections | RobinsPost News & Noticias

KARACHI: The opposition parties in Sindh on Thursday insisted on holding local bodies elections ... to doubts about ECPs neutrality and independence. The PTI parliamentary leader slated ... Read More MASERU, Oct 9 (Reuters) - A recently founded party led by a millionaire diamond magnate looked set on Sunday to win Lesotho's parliamentary election ... (DC), the main opposition party and ... Read More after securing 56 seats in the election and needing to court other parties to control Lesotho's 120-member parliament. read more Formed in March this year, the populist RFP has promised to do away ... Read More MASERU (Reuters) - A recently founded party led by a millionaire diamond magnate looked set on Sunday to win Lesotho's parliamentary election, having secured ... The Democratic Congress (DC), the main ... Read More Our latest poll-of-polls breaks new ground showing #Conservatives not even the opposition in a new parliament ... Trusss party could be reduced to just 48 seats at the next election (Picture ... Read More UMNO has been feuding with its allies in the government and believes it can win big on its own after victories in several recent by-elections ... opposition parties  including Mahathir's ... Read More Venezuela's National Electoral Council on Wednesday called parliamentary ... to hold elections without meeting the minimum conditions of transparency. The main opposition parties had already ... Read More Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has announced Monday that Parliament ... UMNOs allies in the government and opposition parties have protested plans for elections during the monsoon ... Read More A recently founded party led by a millionaire diamond magnate looked set on Sunday to win Lesotho's parliamentary election, having secured enough for a simple majority, according to preliminary ... Read More political party addresses his supporters as counting of votes continues, following the Lesothos parliamentary election in the capital Maseru, Lesotho, October 8, 2022. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko ... Read More REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko MASERU, Oct 9 (Reuters)  A recently founded party led by a millionaire diamond magnate looked set on Sunday to win Lesothos parliamentary election, having secured ... Read More
MONONA - Philip J. Rindy was born Jan. 23, 1925, in Brodhead, and died peacefully at home on Thursday, April 6, 2017.

Phil was the only child of James and Susan (Dorr) Rindy. He attended Brodhead High School, where he excelled in all sports. Upon graduation, he was immediately inducted into the service. After basic infantry training, he was selected to attend Ohio University under the Army's Specialized Training Program, an officer training program. Shortly after he started the training, this program was cancelled. The Army sent him to the China Burma India Theater (CBI) of World War II, where he spent the rest of his tour of duty under the shadow of the Himalayan Mountains at the base of the Burma Road.

After the war, he attended and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he met his future wife, Marilyn J. Stearns. Marilyn and Phil were married on June 23, 1951, in Janesville, Wis., at St. Patrick's Catholic Church. He spent his entire banking career working for four different banks at Schenk Corners. He belonged to several different civic organizations and was a member of the Monona Grove School Board. He was fond of classic cars, and spent more time tinkering with his '65 Corvair Convertible than driving it.

He is survived by his wife, Marilyn, of 65 years; his son, Jim Rindy (Karen); three daughters, Mary Sue Rindy, Peggy Lewellin (Patrick), and Kathryn Rindy (Amy Callahan); and his loving grandchildren, Lucas, Annie, Erin, Riley and Julie.

Upon parting, friends will remember Phil saying "Write if you get work," a traditional Irish saying to relatives as they left for America.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. at IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY CATHOLIC CHURCH, 5101 Schofield St., Monona, on Wednesday, April 12, 2017, with Father Chad Droessler presiding. Visitation will be held from 9:30 a.m. until the time of Mass on Wednesday at the church. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Immaculate Heart of Mary or Agrace HospiceCare.

The family wishes to thank the staff of Agrace HospiceCare, Mike of Good People and Dr. Al Musa.

Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com.
Potus News There S No Guarantee Of A Credible Investigation Into Trump S Russia Ties But Nunes Departure Is A Start | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Kremlin-connected businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin has admitted that he interfered in U.S. elections and would continue to do so. Read More Misha Japaridze/ReutersAfter adamantly denying interfering in the 2016 U.S. election that brought Donald Trump to power, a Kremlin insider has admitted that suspected Russian interference in American ... Read More A Manhattan judge said Thursday that he will appoint an independent monitor "to ensure there is no further fraud" at former President Donald Trump's company, restricting its ability to freely make ... Read More There are no "specific or credible" threats to disrupt election infrastructure in this year's midterm contests, one of the nation's top cybersecurity officials said Sunday, even as the federal ... Read More The former president is suing the New York attorney general for what Trump calls a "policy of intimidation" in her investigation into his business practices. Read More
Science News Japanese Scientists Want To Be First To Drill Into The Earth S Mantle | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Japanese scientists developing futuristic AI 'human washing machine' Japanese scientists developing futuristic AI 'human washing machine' Japanese scientists developing futuristic AI 'human ... Read More He fondly recalls seeing the first high resolution modeling results on the Earth Simulator ... Moving forward, the scientists have their eyes on the long game. And Japans Cabinet Office and the Japan ... Read More Japan, U.S. to Conduct Major Military Drill From Nov. 10 TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan and the United States will conduct a joint military exercise from Nov. 10, the Japanese Defence Ministry said on ... Read More Scientists in Japan have now counted ... associate professor at Kyushu Universitys Faculty of Engineering and first author on the paper in the journal Science reporting the work. Read More Smashing a spacecraft into an asteroid isn't NASA's usual approach to planetary science ... that becomes the moonlet. Scientists believe about 15% of near-Earth asteroids are actually binary ... Read More Thats because the drugthe active ingredient ... director of the Yale Program for Psychedelic Science. Read More A new report shows scientists and researchers have growing concerns about the rise of misinformation during the pandemic, and the role they have in helping counter false information on social media. Read More Travelers to Japan, from and through Japan are getting some big news today ... into higher airfares and hotel rates throughout the 50th state. The economic impact of Japan's reopening is huge. Read More This shape is common among large asteroids, such as 162173 Ryugu, which, in 2018, became the first asteroid to be landed on by a spacecraft, when the Japanese ... sun's glare could smash into ... Read More Now, scientists might have figured out what delayed Earth's recovery ... Bataille said: When it's warmer and weathering is faster, more CO2 flows into the sea and gets locked up in ocean rocks ... Read More Researchers at Australia's Curtin ... this important Earth event, first colliding with Asia and then connecting America and Asia once the Pacific Ocean closes, Huang added. Scientists said ... Read More
Science News This Earth Size Virtual Telescope Could Take The First Picture Of A Black Hole | RobinsPost News & Noticias

A team of researchers from GERS including Zhu and NRE Ph.D. student Tian Li, along with researchers from NASA and the University of Maryland Earth System Science ... could use Black Marble data ... Read More The Earth's closest black hole neighbor, 1,550 light-years away, has been discovered. iStock / Getty Images Plus "To get a better picture of this ... theorized that there could be a black hole ... Read More Before Stephen Hawking was synonymous with genius, he was an astrophysics student at the University of Cambridge. There, he began thinking about black holes, a path of inquiry which would eventually ... Read More Astronomers have spotted a black hole ... for the first three years, and now it's dramatically lit up to become one of the most radio luminous TDEs ever observed." Cendes believes it could be ... Read More The black hole is hosted by a galaxy around one billion light years away from Earth ... Large Array (FIRST survey). However, follow-up observation with the Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (GMRT ... Read More The bizarre events began in 2018, when scientists saw a small star get ripped to shreds by a black hole roughly 665 million light years from Earth ... Researchers first spotted the strange ... Read More Astronomers may have discovered a monster black hole thats one of the closest to Earth known ... large companion masses but whose brightness could be attributed to a single visible star ... Read More Astronomers were stunned when a black hole burped out a star it had consumed three years ago, according to a new study analyzing the galactic event. The study, published in the Astrophysical ... Read More But despite that growth, scientists say that the hole's size ... could be fully repaired by 2070. JoAnna Wendel is a freelance science writer living in Portland, Oregon. She mainly covers Earth ... Read More In a recent study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, an international team of researchers led by the University of Kansas examined a super-Ear | Space ... Read More A supernova boasts spooky tendrils, a Milky Way star photobombs a galactic portrait and NASA's moon rocket returns to the launch pad. These are some of this week's top stories. Read More
Science News This Whale Trapped In A Metal Frame Is Swimming Up The California Coast | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Highlighting the growing problem of plastic pollution in the worlds oceans, whales swimming off the California coast are ingesting millions of ... (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group) The information was ... Read More Whale lice are highly specialized amphipod crustaceans that live on the skin of marine mammals like whales. Screengrab from the Noyo Center for Marine Science on Facebook Much about whales ... Read More Scientists made an incredible discovery last year: a small, "unique" group of baleen whales in the Gulf of Mexico that make up an entirely ... "Another, a free-swimming individual, has been ... Read More a whale monitoring project that puts eyes and ears on the majestic creatures as they cruise up and down the northern California coast. Merging technology with conservation science, the aim is to alert ... Read More RELATED 500 pilot whales dead in two mass strandings off New Zealand coast "We continue to see ... Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean. Science News // 1 day ago Moon to turn red during ... Read More Much about whales ... up on a California beach, and it was found to be covered in pink and red whale lice. Some were still moving, too, according to the Noyo Center for Marine Science. Read More
Science News 12 Eerie Photos Of Enormous Chinese Cities Completely Empty Of People | RobinsPost News & Noticias

28 news release from Chinas Cultural Heritage Administration. Buried deeper and deeper in the ground, researchers found six ancient cities stacked on top of each other, Peoples Online Daily ... Read More Some historical photos can't be explained. The more we look at them, the more disturbing and unexplainable they become. There's something so eerie about ... Dodge City AAF, Kansas, Harlingen ... Read More A 12-year-old boy has trended on mainland Chinese social media after holding his first art exhibition of more than 50 sci-fi-inspired artwork, btime.com reported. A viral video on mainland social ... Read More Hohhot has recorded more than 2,000 cases over about 12 days. China is one of the few ... as authorities discouraged people from leaving their cities and provinces. But the number of new daily ... Read More Encampments of those experiencing homelessness have become a fixture in large cities as well as smaller communities. It should not be surprising that people who are unsheltered seek out the ... Read More Chinas Communist Party newspaper, Peoples Daily ... XRP was re-listed by Newton Crypto, a Canadian crypto exchange. The news has sparked rumors of re-listing by Coinbase, one of the largest ... Read More Chinese President Xi Jinping said Sunday that China had put "the people and their lives first" when dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic as he spoke at the start of a major Communist Party meeting ... Read More BEIJING, Oct. 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A report from People's Daily: Navigation apps that show real-time traffic information and estimated travel time, virtual fitting rooms that help you get the ... Read More Rachel Smith from The Allen County ESC gives a hands-on science lesson Monday at Unity Elementary School. The lessons have been designed to inspire young minds, generate a love for science and ... Read More Political correctness forces people to hold in what they truly believe and parrot empty slogans to superficially comply with prevailing narratives. And Western engagement with China has been ... Read More China had more than 332,000 people's assessors as of the end of July this year, according to a report issued by the Supreme People's Court on Tuesday. With a wider range of sources for people's ... Read More
Science News Japan S Scientists Believe They Ll Be The First To Reach Earth S Mantle | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Scientists believe they have discovered the worlds oldest complete star map. In fact, they say that the map is the first known map of the night sky that humankind ever created and that for the ... Read More Advertisement Officials from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency ordered the rocket to self-destruct. It was the first ... the Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean. Science News // 2 ... Read More For the first time, researchers are working on analysing pristine gases from an asteroid. These gases were brought back in rock samples collected by Japans Hayabusa 2 spacecraft, which visited ... Read More Smashing a spacecraft into an asteroid isn't NASA's usual approach to planetary science ... that becomes the moonlet. Scientists believe about 15% of near-Earth asteroids are actually binary ... Read More Huge Ocean Beneath the ... By Scientists The idea of an underwater world has driven plenty of science fiction, but one group of researchers says it's not too far from science fact. They've ... Read More 11 (UPI) --Japan on Tuesday became the first ... U.S. Space Command tweeted a confirmation that the rocket re-entered the Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean. Science News // 1 day ago ... Read More A new report shows scientists and researchers have growing concerns about the rise of misinformation during the pandemic, and the role they have in helping counter false information on social media. Read More Scientists at the Technical ... how our magnetic field is generated. They do this by measuring the magnetic signals that stem from the Earth's core, mantle, crust and oceans, as well as from ... Read More Scientists believe they ... on Earth: Orgueil and Alais, which both fell in France, Tonk which fell in India, and the tiny Revelstoke meteorite which fell in Canada. She said: "It's only within ... Read More Travelers to Japan, from and through Japan are getting some big news today: Anyone can now travel to Japan, without a visa. And that's effective today ... enter Japan, if they booked a relatively ... Read More A team of scientists believe our brains ... If the team's results can be confirmed -- likely requiring advanced multidisciplinary approaches -they would enhance our general understanding of ... Read More
Travel News Strong Potential For Luxury Travel In Sub Saharan Africa | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Late last year, sub-Saharan Africa appeared to be on a strong recovery path out of a long pandemic. Unfortunately, this progress has been abruptly interrupted by turmoil in global markets, placing ... Read More Thats about half the regions estimated growth for this year, and less than the projected economic expansion of China, India, sub-Saharan Africa and ... Americans to travel abroad, import ... Read More That is the verdict of the World Bank in a recent report which states that for the last several decades, East Asia and Pacific, South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa have accounted for some 95 per ... Read More Agricultural productivity across Sub-Saharan ... developed strong trade agreements between EU countries, and at the same time limited export markets for other regions, including Africa. Read More Women in sub-Saharan Africa continue to have an elevated risk of death following childbirth long after the 42-day postpartum limit the WHO uses to define pregnancy-related deaths, a new analysis ... Read More In many respects, these initial parameters are still very much felt across Sub-Saharan Africa today ... initially boost GDP by $450 billion. The potential for business is even higher: in a ... Read More "In 2020 there were approximately five million under-five deaths, and 4 million occurred in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. These patterns that we identified correspond to 80% of under-five ... Read More Late last year, sub-Saharan Africa appeared to be on a strong recovery path out of a long pandemic. Unfortunately, this progress has been abruptly interrupted by turmoil in global ... Read More Late last year, sub-Saharan Africa appeared to be on a strong recovery path out of a long pandemic. Unfortunately, this progress has been abruptly interrupted by turmoil in global ... Read More
Travel News Your Complete Travel Guide To Suriname | RobinsPost News & Noticias

This article shall serve as your guide ... Alternatively, you can travel to Jessore by plane and then take a one-hour bus ride to Khulna. Most tour operators provide a 2-3 days ... Read More Executive Travel has appointed Jon Behner as VP of business development, a position in which he is responsible for acquiring mid- to large-market corporate business on a regional, national and global ... Read More In 2015's "Spectre," James Bond must navigate a vibrant parade of costumed people to complete his mission of ... In other words, if you're tempted to travel south of the border to experience ... Read More The Air NZ app has undergone a complete rebuild to allow a continuous stream of new features to be added on a regular basis, starting with the launch in early November. These new features will be ... Read More Covid rules are disappearing fast, with only two European countries  Slovakia and Kosovo  persisting with travel restrictions ... updated country-by-country guide explains the key ... Read More Saddle up for stellar views and gaucho culture in Patagonia Saddle up for stellar views and gaucho culture in Patagonia A solar eclipse is coming this summer. Heres where to see it. A solar ... Read More With prices that high, it's a good idea to protect your wallet in the event of an unforeseen event or emergency. That's when travel insurance can come in handy. Fortunately, sites like SquareMouth ... Read More consider researching travel insurance companies to see what kind of protections they offer and whether they fit your particular needs. There are several different types of travel insurance options ... Read More Once youre in your 70s and beyond, the time for saving for retirement has come and gone. At this point, youll have to live off the resources you have, unless you intend to pick up additional ... Read More This week in travel: some of the destinations in Asia ... an annual ranking of the world's coolest neighborhoods provides inspiration for your upcoming vacation plans, and Fat Bear Week weathers ... Read More The bright and sunny weather allows you to enjoy the various sights in the city and add to your overall experience. The summers can be harsh here, so it is better to avoid travelling to the city ... Read More When you are planning a getaway it can be pretty hard to stay up to date with all of the latest offers and experiences out there. Luckily for you, weve picked out the most exciting travel ... Read More
Travel News Mexico Issues Travel Advisory For Travelers Visiting For Easter | RobinsPost News & Noticias

To make the process somewhat easier, we asked travel agents about common issues travelers encounter ... anniversary trips to Los Cabos, Mexico. An avid traveler herself, she knows everything ... Read More U.S. News compiled this list of the best places to visit in Mexico by factoring in cultural attractions, beaches and nightlife, along with traveler votes and expert opinions. Vote for your ... Read More No one knows the travel landscape better than Conde Nast Travelers Top Travel Specialists. Thats why we, as editors, go to them for expert advice ... but with social issues, economics, ... Read More One traveler reported items missing ... DON'T MAKE THESE TRAVEL MISTAKES:Travel agents sound off on common issues they see These are just a few recent examples of how air travel disruptions ... Read More The United States issued a travel advisory against Trinidad and Tobago earlier this month. The updated advisory urges Americans to stay away due to violence and shootings. The countrys capital, Port ... Read More Trans Bhutan Trail is now open for travellers after a gap of 60 long years! Trans Bhutan Trail is now open for travellers after a gap of 60 long years! As per the reports, this move comes in the ... Read More Travelers by and large are satisfied with the travel apps they use, though a significant percentage said they have had trouble managing travel disruptions through apps, according to a survey of more ... Read More For the past month, the USA TODAY Travel team has been looking into how we can make the process better for everyone involved. To make the process somewhat easier, we asked travel agents about common ... Read More
Us News 4 Dead In Oregon Plane Crash That Was Approaching Airport | RobinsPost News & Noticias

A 78-year-old man died and his wife was severely injured in an experimental plane crash, Oregon officials said ... moments later to find Jackson dead, sheriff officials said. Read More 4 Dead, 11-Year-Old Girl in Critical Condition After Small Plane Crash on Lake Michigan's Beaver Island The NTSB spokesperson said that the airplane was approaching the Parkersburg Airport ... Read More The plane took off from John Glenn International Airport in ... Lee and I to take us to Fort Lauderdale, Waldeck said. Weve flown on it, so many times. A plane crash caused multiple ... Read More off the coast from the Limon airport. Pieces have been found that indicate that this is the aircraft, Arias said. Up to now we have not found any bodies dead or alive. The plane was a ... Read More MIRAMAR -- Broward County officials on Tuesday identified the pilot and passenger who were killed when the small plane ... crash scene is located about a half-mile south of North Perry Airport. Read More NEWPORT NEWS, Va.  State Police said one person is dead after a plane crashed Thursday at the Newport News/ Williamsburg International Airport (PHF ... injuries from the crash and was ... Read More NEWPORT NEWS, Va.  The family of the flight instructor killed in last week's plane crash at the Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport released a statement. The crash happened Thursday ... Read More The pilot and passenger were killed in the crash in Marietta ... Administration told NBC 4. The plane had taken off from the John Glenn International Airport in Columbus, Ohio, at 6: ... Read More The occupants of the plane weren't immediately named. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the crash. 24/7 coverage of breaking news ... Read More A fatal plane crash in Harlan County has left one person dead according to the Kentucky State Police. Around 10 a.m. Thursday police began receiving calls about a loud noise near Tucker-Guthrie ... Read More The plane crashed into Lake Victoria after taking off from Dar es Salaam. Authorities said at least 26 people who were on the Precision Air flight were rescued and taken to the hospital. Read More
A few years ago, when Brian Kaas attended some of the nations leading conferences for venture capitalists, the audience was predominantly investors from standalone venture funds.

Today, when the managing director of Madison-based CMFG Ventures takes part in such gatherings, the makeup includes many more in-house funds within larger corporations.

The mix is basically reversed from what it was about five years ago, said Kaas, who leads the fund created by CUNA Mutual Group to invest in financial and insurance innovation.

Corporate venture funds arent new, but the growth in such funds has been robust in recent years. A January 2017 report in Financier Worldwide noted there were 181 corporate venture funds worldwide in 2004 and more than 1,500 by 2015. About half of all Fortune 100 companies now have in-house funds. The deal flow has also seen astonishing growth, reported Financier Worldwide, rising from 698 announced deals in 2011 to 1,790 deals in 2015.

That trend has not bypassed Wisconsin. American Family Insurance in Madison is a prominent example with its AmFam Ventures fund, which launched in 2013 as a $50 million fund and has grown over time to become one of the nations leading fin-tech and insure-tech funds.

CMFG Ventures has invested $40 million to date, including follow-on rounds, in six portfolio companies with others under review. The funds typical check size falls between $1 million to $5 million, Kaas told a recent meeting of the Tech Council Innovation Network in Madison.

Presenting at the same meeting was Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, which plans to invest about $50 million over the next six years, typically $500,000 to $3 million at a time. Its portfolio will also include fin-tech and insure-tech firms, as well as companies engaged in digital health.

Other companies in Wisconsin with in-house investment arms or related interests in startups include Kimberly- Clark, Logistics Health, ABC Supply and Direct Supply. The list may be growing.

At the fourth annual Wisconsin Tech Summit, the managing director of Michigans Renaissance Venture Capital Fund described Wisconsin as a natural place for creation of a corporate fund of funds much like what was built over time in Michigan.

A fund of funds is a vehicle for pooling capital and investing in emerging firms. Renaissance is an early example of such a fund led by Michigans major corporations, such as Ford, La-Z-Boy, Whirlpool and more.

It was created in 2008 when Michigans unemployment rate had soared into double digits, major companies were cutting employees and internal research, and there was a chronic shortage of risk capital for young companies.

The first two Renaissance funds raised nearly $124 million from corporate and institutional investors. That money was re-invested in 25 venture capital funds across the nation, bringing those experienced funds to Michigan in a physical sense  sometimes opening a local office  to kick tires and invest in promising startups.

Financial returns for Renaissance over nine years have outperformed national benchmarks for rate of return and profit distributions. The fund ranks in the top quartile of the venture capital asset class.

The first Renaissance fund attracted more than $24 into Michigan for every dollar invested. Thats reflected in the $868 million invested so far by the 25 participating funds in young Michigan companies. Sixty percent of those funds were first-time investors in Michigan companies.

Michigans status as a venture capital hub went from middle of the 50-state pack to among the U.S. leaders.

Total capital under management in Michigan stood at $1.4 billion in 2015, good for 12th among the states. Wisconsin ranked 27th in the same year. Michigan reported $281 million in venture capital commitments in 2015, ninth among the 50 states. Wisconsin stood 21st on the list.

Wisconsin has a cadre of major companies. It has experienced investors in angel capital networks and stand-alone funds. Increasingly, it has the right talent and ideas.

Whats needed now is a shared sense of opportunity about reinvesting in Wisconsin and a few corporate champions to take up the challenge. If its home-grown companies wont do so, why should others?
Us News Four Inmates Found Dead At South Carolina Prison | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Video shows Jamal Sutherland was pepper sprayed and shocked with a stun gun multiple times by deputies prior to his death. WCBD's Kevon DuPree reports. Read More WILL BE EXTRADITED BACK TO VIRGINIA. THE FBI IS INVESTIGATING AFTER AN INMATE IN THE STOKES COUNTY JAIL WAS FOUND DEAD IN HER CELL, ACCORDING TO THE STOKES COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE. THE 41 YEAR OLD ... Read More INMAN, S.C.  Four people were found dead and one person later died at the hospital after a shooting at a house in Inman, South Carolina on Sunday night. According to Spartanburg County coroner ... Read More CAMP HILL, Pa.  An inmate at the State Correctional Institution at Camp Hill was found dead in his cell this morning, prison officials said. Kenneth McLaughlin, 44, was found unresponsive ... Read More South Carolina Judge Upholds Activist's 4-Year Prison Term By JAMES POLLARD ... A jury this spring found Brittany Martin, 34, of Sumter, South Carolina, guilty of breaching the peace in a high ... Read More The search is on for an inmate who escaped from the Davidson Correctional Facility in Lexington, NC. The NC Department of Correction says Johnny Porche escaped early Monday morning from the facility. Read More Prison staff discovered the inmate unresponsive at 8:40 p.m. in a communal dormitory, coroners officials said. He was pronounced dead at 9:09 p.m. Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Yates said an ... Read More A South Carolina judge has ruled that a pregnant Black activist serving four years in prison over her behavior ... A jury this spring found Brittany Martin, 34, of Sumter, South Carolina, guilty ... Read More COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  A pregnant Black activist serving four years in prison over comments ... a judge in South Carolina has ruled. A jury this spring found Brittany Martin, 34, of Sumter ... Read More
Us News Airstrikes On Syria Might Also Send Message To North Korea | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Frustrated and isolated, the North is conducting more missile tests than ever. Send any friend a story As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share. Read More including how far the weapon may have flown. The Japanese government also said North Korea fired what was a possible ballistic missile. The Japanese coastguard said it has warned ships around the ... Read More US and South Korean officials have repeatedly said they have no intentions of attacking the North. South Korean officials recently said North Korea was also prepared to test a new liquid-fuelled ... Read More Japanese Vice Defense Minister Toshiro Ino also confirmed the launches ... including a possibility that they might have been launched from the sea," Ino said. North Korea's pursuit of an ability ... Read More It would be a setback for global nonproliferation and send the message ... North Korea and imposing sanctions over the years  and get away with it. But it also, ironically, may be the best ... Read More Sherman said North ... May, signaling an improvement in difficult ties between Japan and South Korea. A year ago, Japanese and South Korean vice ministers declined to participate in a joint news ... Read More He was also ... news agency. We probably wont see North Korea backing down anytime soon, and from all appearances, it appears the allies may not fold easily this time, either. The US ... Read More South Korea's military says its ... and a developmental hypersonic missile  may overcome South Korean and U.S. defenses. They also say if North Korea launches multiple missiles from ... Read More As North Korea moves closer to its first nuclear test in five years, one of the biggest worries for the US and its allies might be a relatively small blast. Kim Jong Un has made clear he wants to ... Read More and South Korea is also developing indigenous systems designed to intercept various kinds of North Korean missiles. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news ... Read More
Us News Dog Missing After Deadly California Boat Accident Found Safe | RobinsPost News & Noticias

The body of a California woman missing ... personally found the crash site where Fuentes was discovered on his own, Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said during a Tuesday news conference. Read More One dog ran away and can not be found. Firefighters are watching the other dog until a relative of the driver can pick it up. Read More Jolissa Fuentes, 22, was reported missing Aug. 8 after she didnt return home and couldnt be reached, police said. We wish that we had better news, Selma, California, Police Chief Rudy ... Read More The body of a missing California woman was found on Tuesday at ... Get all the news you need in your inbox each morning. The single-car accident occurred near Pine Flat Lake, a reservoir in ... Read More Kiely Rodni went missing on Aug. 2 after leaving a party. Kiely Rodni, a California teenager who was missing for two weeks before her body was found in a ... helpers holding us up that we continue ... Read More A Fresno County, California ... found the crash site. I just got lucky in finding the location where her car went off the road, Alcaraz said in a news conference Tuesday. After stopping ... Read More The body of missing California woman Jolissa Fuentes has been found after a two-month search, officials announced Tuesday. The 22-year-olds body was found at a crash scene at the foot of a 400 ... Read More The body of a California woman has been found ... missing the next day The cause of the crash is still under investigation, but officials said they believe Fuentes was most likely tired after ... Read More Many people were missing and 15 had been rescued after an over-loaded passenger boat capsized in southeast Nigeria, emergency services said Saturday. The accident on Friday occurred on the Niger ... Read More
Us News California Governor Declares Historic Drought Over For Now | RobinsPost News & Noticias

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday issued an expanded "drought emergency proclamation ... Newsom, a first-term Democrat facing a recall election over his handling of the coronavirus ... Read More Amid Historic Drought, California Approves $140 Million Desalination ... the South Coast Water District would now have its own water supply. "We're watching what's happening at the Colorado ... Read More Theres wet weather in the Northern California forecast this weekend, but dont get your hopes up about an end to the drought ... worst droughts in recorded history will continue for a ... Read More (AP)  With California struggling through historic drought, the state's Coastal Commission ... Californias water supply to decline by 10% over the next two decades. In August, Gov. Read More Now, with 1 in 10 California ... declared that all residents have a right to clean, safe and affordable drinking water, officials have yet to make good on that promise. In his next term, the ... Read More Now, however, a dry stretch of land allows visitors to walk to the once isolated landmark. Advertisement Video of the parched river over the ... for senator and governor. U.S. News // 23 hours ... Read More Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Sen. Brian Dahle clashed during the only debate between the two gubernatorial candidates. Read More When floods or fires destroy American communities, taxpayers often pick up the tab. But as climate change sends costs soaring, where is the limit? Read More A view shows dry landscape near the Lake Perris reservoir, which is part of the terminus of the California State Water Project, near Riverside, California, U.S. July 25, 2022. REUTERS/Aude ... Read More
Us News Locally Severe Thunderstorms To Threaten Iowa To Oklahoma Sunday | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Most of the Tulsa metro area will see rain and storms on Friday afternoon with a rapid increase in intensity by 1-2 PM. Read More A potent storm is brewing off to our west. This will bring the threat for damaging winds, large hail, tornadoes, and then snow for some. Read More Severe storms with the risk of tornadoes and hail are heading into Oklahoma. KOCO 5 meteorologist Jonathan Conder says you won't see severe storms until the overnight hours, with the first window ... Read More Looking for a very soggy day with rain likely through midday and then tapering off in central Oklahoma this afternoon ... we could see a few strong to severe storms. Wind, hail, and localized ... Read More Residents of the Plains and Deep South know to hold their breath during the months of April and May. Thats when the clashing seasons routinely bring swarms of severe thunderstorms, with bouts of ... Read More Chief Meteorologist Tom Tasselmyer shows where there are severe storms in Texas and Oklahoma. Will they make their way to Maryland? Watch his latest forecast. Read More The severe weather threat will ramp up Tuesday evening across portions of the Midwest, with fast-moving thunderstorms ... Iowa Wednesday. Gusts of 40-60 mph are likely with an AccuWeather Local ... Read More Over 10 million people across the central US and Midwest are under the threat for severe storms on Sunday ... locally higher amounts are currently forecast, said the NWS office in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Read More The best chance of those and the best chance of seeing the strongest storms will be south of Highway 4 12. Main threat ... for strong to severe thunderstorms overnight into Sunday morning. Read More AccuWeather forecasters warn that an approaching storm system could spawn broad areas of rain and severe thunderstorms ... eastern Iowa, according to AccuWeather forecasters. The threat is likely ... Read More
Us News Man Dumbfounded After Learning His Snake Can T Just Chill In Park | RobinsPost News & Noticias

A 3-foot copperhead raised its neck and head and glared at a Lake Norman man ... or his golden retriever, Niki, as they rode in his golf cart just after nightfall Friday. He ran over the snake ... Read More The 30-year-old man was still trying to process the devastating news when his ... didn't take it well - he did not even give the vet time to explain to us what was really going on he just had ... Read More A man is shot by a stray bullet in the Humboldt Park neighborhood Sunday morning, according to police. Police say the man, 40, what inside his apartment when he suffered a gunshot wound to the body. Read More An Australian man has shared ... gave that bloody snake mouth-to-mouth and it inflated like a sausage balloon blown by a clown. His evocative imagery, not mine. I cant help but imagine ... Read More Incidentally, since I'd just turned 25 in July, it was my first time renting a car at all  and I can see why Turo became ... fell short in a few ways, I don't know if I'll ever rent through ... Read More (CNN)  It wasn't until he moved ... it [the aircraft] can handle this much. "Once I landed, he [the test pilot] clapped his hands and said 'Congratulations, you've just landed the plane you ... Read More Based upon the information discovered during the investigation and a review of city cameras, officers were able to determine that his last known location was in Congress Park. At 2 a.m., officers went ... Read More Wagner has previously said he ran toward Taylor after security struggled to get to the man to stop him. I just saw someone running on the field. It looked like he wasnt supposed to be on the ... Read More Man shot, killed in hallway outside his apartment in Irving Park 00:21 CHICAGO (CBS)-- A man ... in the 4300 block of North Whipple Street around 9 p.m., after hearing a disturbance coming from ... Read More INDIANAPOLIS (WISH)  Firefighters say a man was pulled from a car that was flipped over into a retention pond. It happened just after 5 a.m ... but did not provide his condition or identity. Read More According to police spokesperson Cris Swaters, police were called to check the well-being of a man at Kensington Park Apartments on West Bennett Street just after 1 p.m. Thursday. She said ... Read More After reviewing more than 100 years of research on learning, authors of a new paper say combining two strategies -- spacing and retrieval practice -- is key to success. Whether you're trying to ... Read More
Us News Shooting At Equinox Gym Leaves 1 Dead 2 Wounded In Florida | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Tallahassee police officers responding to reports of the shootout in the parking lots of a liquor store and restaurant Saturday night saw a man fire into a crowd and then run toward a fast-food ... Read More Willie Spence, a talented singer who finished as the runner-up on American Idol last year, died Tuesday in a crash near Chattanooga. He was 23 years old. TRISO-X LLC, a subsidiary of X-energy ... Read More WESH 2 NEWS ... FLORIDA AND HEADING TO HELP DOWN IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WITH THE HURRICANE RECOVERY Tampa police are searching for the suspect or suspects involved in a shooting that left one person ... Read More The shooting happened outside the LIT Cigar & Martini Lounge in Tampa, Florida, just before 3 a.m ... Adam Sabes is a writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to Adam.Sabes@fox.com ... Read More Around 2:30 a.m. on Sunday ... Download the WATE 6 News app to get updates sent to your phone. Just three weeks ago, another shooting at the night club left two people dead and resulted in ... Read More A 27-year-old man is dead and another person ... Anyone with information about this shooting is being asked to call detectives at 513-352-3542. Just before 2 a.m. Wednesday morning, another ... Read More Baton Rouge Police have announced the arrest of two in the shooting at Southern University and that the number of victims have gone up. Two times in the last week at least one person as brought a ... Read More Two women and a man were killed and a fourth person wounded in a shooting in Pittsburgh ... A second woman and a man were pronounced dead at Allegheny General Hospital. Cruz said another man ... Read More said they are investigating a shooting over the weekend that left one person dead and six others wounded ... officials said. U.S. News // 1 day ago Trump given more time by Jan. 6 committee ... Read More Thats when the victim was found wounded ... shot multiple times. Other neighbors had reported hearing several gunshots, Bell said. The victim was taken to UAB Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Read More A shooting in Florida left seven people shot with one dead outside a bar. The shooting happened outside the LIT Cigar & Martini Lounge in Tampa, Florida, just before 3 a.m. on Sunday when a large ... Read More
World News Us Probing Did Russia Take Part In Chem Weapons Attack | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Vladimir Putin could deploy nuclear weapons in ... France and the US have also published a joint statement this week warning that Russia could be plotting a false flag attack with a dirty bomb. Read More That means the world would likely know if a nuclear attack were imminent. We take any ... With Russia, the arsenal is old and established, much like the US's nuclear weapons program ... Read More Antonson told Newsweek: "Russia did not ... of the US government." Both Antonson and Professor Ha agreed that a Russian Alaska could have been used to base Soviet nuclear weapons during the ... Read More New national security strategy warns of Russia as more immediate threat and China as long-term competitor Within a decade, the US will need to deter two major nuclear weapons powers for the first ... Read More Russias Federal Security Service or FSB claimed that the chief of Ukraines military intelligence, Kirill Budanov, orchestrated the attack that ... D.C., did not immediately respond to ... Read More Oksana Markarova, Ukraine's ambassador to the United States, addressed President Emmanuel Macron's recent suggestion that France would not act in kind if Russia were to carry out a nuclear attack ... Read More Russia Says West's Ukraine Weapons Are Going Onto the Black Market LONDON (Reuters) -Russia said on Thursday that the West's supplies of advanced weapons to Ukraine were finding their way onto the ... Read More We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can ... Read More He's also not the only one talking about these weapons ... News' "60 Minutes" in September that if Russia were to use a tactical nuclear weapon, "they'll become more of a pariah in the world ... Read More Iran has confirmed that a drone deal with Russia was part of a military agreement ... that Russia would use nuclear weapons in response to the Crimea attack as completely incorrect. ... Read More addressed President Emmanuel Macrons recent suggestion that France would not act in kind if Russia were to carry out a nuclear attack on her country and emphasized that the global response ... Read More
World News Venezuela Bans Key Opposition Leader In Tense Crisis | RobinsPost News & Noticias

the global market for Protective Gloves estimated at USD 8555.1 million in the year 2022, is projected to reach a revised size of USD 10580 million by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 3.6% during the ... Read More The study further states that the protective clothing market size was USD 12.48 billion ... several industry stakeholders skeptical. Lists of all the organizations present in the global market ... Read More the global Protective Films market size is estimated to be worth USD 12360 million in 2021 and is forecast to a readjusted size of USD 15600 million by 2028 with a CAGR of 3.4% during review period. Read More New York, Oct. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Global Gloves Industry ... market size of US$33.4 Billion by the year 2027 trailing a CAGR ... Read More Global medical protective equipment market share will experience a major upturn in 2022 and onwards, amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, reaching a projected valuation of over US$ 41 Bn through 2030. Read More New York, United States, Oct. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Global Nitrile Gloves Market Size is expected to grow from USD 9.2 billion in 2021 to USD 15.6 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 6.1% ... Read More The global food premix market size was USD 6.31 billion in 2021. The market is projected to grow from USD 6.69 billion in 2022 to USD 10.70 billion by 2029, exhibiting a CAGR of 6.93% during the ... Read More The study further states that the protective ... USD 34.31 billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 14% during the forecast period. Lists of all the organizations present in the global market ... Read More The study further states that the protective clothing market size was USD 12.48 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach USD 34.31 billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR ... industry stakeholders ... Read More
World News Basque Group Eta Gives France List Of Arms Caches Panel | RobinsPost News & Noticias

France's Macron Announces Fund to Buy Arms for Ukraine PRAGUE (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday announced plans to create a fund worth 100 million euros at first to buy arms ... Read More PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron has backed a proposal to train a large number of Ukrainian soldiers in the country, Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu told newspaper Le Parisien ... Read More Europol said the group provided financial services to crime gangs linked to drug trafficking in more than twenty countries across the world ... most powerful name in news delivered first thing ... Read More PARIS (Reuters) -France picked up their second gold medal at the track cycling world championships on home ... Like us on Facebook to see similar stories Please give an overall site rating: ... Read More When France face Tunisia in the final match of Group D at the Qatar World Cup, it will mark just the second time the sides have met in a competitive game. The first and only previous meeting was ... Read More The Kremlin-linked Wagner Group has helped Russia make ... Caitlin McFall is a Reporter at Fox News Digital covering Politics, U.S. and World news. Get all the stories you need-to-know from ... Read More 10 (UPI) --A pro-Russia hacker group is reportedly responsible for ... including one that appeared to be a long-range missile. World News // 9 hours ago Huge tunnel deep under Niagara Falls ... Read More Below is a group-by-group primer on the ... also the worst team at its World Cup in 2010. It finished with four points and beat France.) Players to watch: Sadio Mane (Senegal), Kalidou Koulibaly ... Read More The FIFA World Cup 2022 will kick off on November 20 ... The 32 teams have been broken down into eight groups with the top two from each group qualifying for the knockouts. The groups are ... Read More PARIS, Oct 15 (Reuters) - France picked up their second gold medal at the track cycling world championships on home soil when Marie-Divine Kouame claimed the 500 metres title on Saturday The 20 ... Read More France picked up their second gold ... Inc. Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the worlds largest international multimedia news provider reaching more than one billion ... Read More
State officials are asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help dairy farmers impacted by new Canadian trade policies.

Grassland Dairy Products Inc. in Greenwood sent letters this week to several dozen state dairy farmers saying the Wisconsin company would no longer purchase their milk as of May 1.

Grassland said a new Canadian classification system for ultra-filtered milk, a product with elevated protein levels used in cheese production, caused them to lose the Canadian market.

Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection Secretary Ben Brancel and New York agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball wrote to USDA Acting Deputy Secretary Michael Young on Friday seeking assistance for their states dairy farmers. They want the USDA to buy cheese and butter in storage to distribute in its nutritional aid programs, including food banks and the school lunch program.

The USDA has the power to support agriculture producers by purchasing surplus foods under the Agriculture Act of 1935.

Dairy means more to Wisconsin than citrus to Florida or potatoes to Idaho, Brancel said in a statement. Wisconsin dairys $43.4 billion economic impact compares to $9 billion of Florida citrus or $6.7 billion of Idaho potatoes.

Family farms that lost their purchaser would have to sell their cows and go out of business if another company cannot buy their milk, Brancel said.

Wisconsin Farmers Union President Darin Von Ruden said Grassland should have warned farmers sooner, saying they would be in a much better position today if they had received advance warning from Grassland months ago to cut production.

Around 75 U.S. dairy farmers lost their purchaser, and over-production of milk in the United States is making it difficult for those farmers to find a new buyer. Grassland placed the blame for dropping the milk producers on Canadas new regulation. In its letter to farmers, the company expressed regret that the Canadian governments decision has made such a severe impact on Grasslands and your business.

Dairy Farmers of Canada said in a blog post that the new classification of ultra-filtered milk is intended to keep Canadian farmers competitive in their own county. The group said the U.S. dairy market is struggling because too much milk is being supplied, but there is not enough demand to level out the cost.

It is wrong to use Canada as a scapegoat for the situation in the United States, the post said.

The post also pointed to Canadas population  less than the state of California  as a reason that U.S. dairy companies should not blame the new regulation, saying, No matter how one views the situation, exports to a comparatively small Canadian market  one thats already filled with Canadian milk  are a drop in the bucket that will not solve the problems currently impacting the U.S. dairy industry.

Von Ruden said something must be done about the oversaturated milk market. In a statement, he said family farmers should encourage processors to adopt proportional policies that would apply to all milk producers to balance the supply rather than dropping entire farms contracts.

We are at a critical turning point in the U.S. dairy industry, he said. We can either continue with this increasingly volatile roller-coaster ride ... or we can decrease our over-reliance on international markets and harmonize domestic supply with demand.
World News Watch Celebrity Defector Park Yeon Mi Tells Of Harrowing Escape From North Korea During Hong Kong Visit | RobinsPost News & Noticias

North Koreas leader Kim Jong Un has ... Caitlin McFall is a Reporter at Fox News Digital covering Politics, U.S. and World news. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful ... Read More South Korea -- South Korea says North Korea has launched a ballistic missile toward its eastern waters. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events ... Read More SEOUL, South Korea  North Koreas recent ... and any time were displayed to the full," the Norths official Korean Central News Agency said. KCNA said the missile tests were in response ... Read More South Korea -- South Korea says North Korea has flown warplanes near their shared border, South Korea scrambles fighter jets. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events ... Read More Tokyo says North Koreas seventh round of weapons tests in two weeks may have been launched from submarine North Korea has fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters ... Read More Shelling within the buffer zone appears to violate a 2018 treaty intended to reduce tensions. Washington Examiner Videos Tags: North Korea, News, South Korea, Rockets, Conflict ... Read More SEOUL, Oct 14 (Reuters) - South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on Friday said his government has been working on building a watertight readiness posture against North ... in Hong Kong in September ... Read More Kim Jong Un stands on the conning tower of a submarine during his inspection of the Korean Peoples Army Naval Unit 167 in this undated photo released by North Koreas Korean Central News ... Read More SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  South Korea's military said Tuesday its capable of detecting and intercepting the variety of missiles North Korea launched in a barrage of recent simulated nuclear ... Read More SEOUL, Oct 13 (Reuters) - North Korea's recent flurry of missile launches has raised expectations that it could soon test a nuclear device for the first time since 2017. North Korea has finished ... Read More
World News Top Al Shabaab Commander Killed In Somalia | RobinsPost News & Noticias

MOGADISHU, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- A senior Somali police commander was killed Friday during a security operation against al-Shabab terrorists near Balad town, about 30 km north of Mogadishu, the ... Read More The radio of the Somali National Army announced that 20 al-Shabaab terrorists were killed in an operation in the Jaibu village in central Somalia. According to the reports, the operation was jointly ... Read More Somalia's army and allied clan militias have killed at least 100 al Shabaab fighters in heavy clashes in the central Hiran region, the defence ministry said on Friday, days after twin bombings killed ... Read More Two car bombs exploded in Somalia's capital of Mogadishu on Saturday, leaving at least 100 people dead, Somalian President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said. Read More A suicide attack by the Islamist rebel group Al-Shabaab killed two people including a soldier in central Somalia on Wednesday ... str-dyg/imm/pvh The Barron's news department was not involved ... Read More 200 al-Shabaab elements were killed. Earlier, the Somali government announced the killing of more than 30 members of the al-Shabaab terrorist group during the operation of the country's army. Read More Somalias military said it repulsed an al-Shabaab attack on a military base on Wednesday morning, killing at least 20 terrorists and injuring dozens more. The ... Read More The Somali forces backed by pro-government militia have liberated more than 40 villages and killed more than 500 al-Shabaab militants in the past three weeks in operations in central Somalia. Read More The recently re-elected President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, said that fighting against Al-Shabab is his top ... news comes after a suicide attack by Al-Shabaab ... Read More "We are fighting for the right cause, for the people, for this nation and for the faith until Somalia is peaceful," says Ma'awisley commander ... al Shabaab continues to be at the top of his ... Read More TEHRAN (Tasnim)  The Somali National Army (SNA) said Monday its forces have killed more than 200 al-Shabaab militants during an operation conducted in the Bulaburte district of central Somalia ... Read More
World News Duterte S Plan To Go To Pag Asa Island Won T Cause Tension Afp | RobinsPost News & Noticias

The government said it would be a world ... plan they could all live with. But many farmers have been incensed by the governments final proposal, while environmentalists have said it doesnt ... Read More Deji Agboola. Osodeke berated the federal government for always being envious of ASUUs achievements at setting qualitative and enduring standards in infrastructural provisions and services. Read More Whether its the leader of the free world telling four congresswomen of color to go back to the totally ... a US senator publicly declaring he wasnt afraid of the January 6 rioters ... Read More The Pentagons new action plan, released in August ... interfere with the targeting process  and they certainly wont have a veto of an operation  but will help ensure the ... Read More A bold plan is underway to preserve America's grasslands. The non-profit "American ... Now, this is very remote. There aren't paved roadsAnd any infrastructure that we build, any visitor ... Read More Under the Biden-Harris administrations debt relief plan, nearly 90 percent of the benefits will go to people making less ... however, didnt file lawsuits when $58.5 billion in pandemic ... Read More ia/des The Barron's news department was not involved in the creation of the content above. This story was produced by AFP. For more information go to AFP.com. Read More But even if the assertion is that Philly World Series ... tanks, it won't be because the Phillies won it all. And if the Phillies do, in fact, fail to go all the way, well, there's always the ... Read More The U.S. is about to have not just one ... announced last week it plans to go public. The news comes about a year after another large oncology provider chain hit the stock market. Read More So youve got a great product or service that checks all the right boxes: Its innovative ... If a TAL is too small, your sales reps wont know whom to go after. Just as problematic is ... Read More We bring every part of ourselves into our close relationships: our desires, our fears, our unique emotional needs, and our ways of relating to others shaped by our pasts. So do the people we live ... Read More The new option is Netflixs fourth plan, joining its basic, standard, and premium plans, all of which are ad-free. Current plans and members wont be impacted by the addition of this new plan ... Read More
World News In Venezuela Power Play Another Opposition Leader Is Sidelined By Dubious Accusations | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Venezuelas biggest opposition parties are taking steps to remove Juan Guaido as their leader and phase out a U.S.-led strategy in which he was recognized as the legitimate president in an ... Read More Venezuela Opposition to Hold ... though Maduro has denied the accusations. The primary decision was reached by opposition leaders during a meeting in Panama earlier this week, a person familiar ... Read More Venezuela's Opposition Unwilling to Back Interim Guaido Govt for 2023 By Marianna Parraga and Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Venezuela's opposition parties have warned they are likely to ... Read More The Venezuelan government and the political opposition are preparing to resume talks stalled for more than a year, people familiar with the process told The Associated Press on Friday. Three people  ... Read More Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido addresses the media ... of 2019 but has failed in its aim to dislodge Maduro from power. Reporting by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru, Editing ... Read More CARACAS, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Venezuela's opposition ... though Maduro has denied the accusations. The primary decision was reached by opposition leaders during a meeting in Panama earlier this ... Read More WASHINGTON (Reuters ... most opposition representatives visiting Washington this week told U.S. officials they would not continue backing him or anyone else as their leader for another year ... Read More (Reuters) - Venezuela's opposition parties are considering a ... of 2019 but has failed in its aim to dislodge Maduro from power. Read More
World News Topics Hillary Cheers New York State Free Tuition Plans | RobinsPost News & Noticias

CDPHP is thrilled to announce that its Medicare Advantage plans are among the highest rated in New York state and the country on the 2023 U.S. News & World Report Medicare Advantage Honor Roll. Read More New York City and New York state leadership partnered with the City ... according to an Oct. 19 news release. The campus will include facilities for more than 4,500 students. Read More NEW YORK  When Daniella ... Hecker appreciates the free tuition, but he often wishes he could attend classes in person or have more choices beyond Arizona State. His classes are challenging ... Read More U.S. News & World Report: CDPHP Medicare Plans Earn Top Honors in New York State Albany, N.Y., Oct. 25, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CDPHP is thrilled to announce that its Medicare Advantage plans are ... Read More For at least the third time since 2007, New York State officials ... the bridge. As The News reported in February 2020, state officials initially stated their plans to replace the bridge in ... Read More NEW YORK-- New York City students could soon have a day off to observe Diwali, an important holiday for many religions. It's part of a city-state partnership to allow the change in the city ... Read More New York joins Massachusetts and Washington state in following the plans of California, which on August 25 passed the nation's first measure banning the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035. Read More New York Times Co. is canceling its plans to launch an app for children ... the Times has been increasingly focusing on areas beyond news. It has acquired the sports-media site The Athletic ... Read More New York State Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Mark J.F. Schroeder has issued a reminder to vehicle owners that peeling license plates can be replaced for free. Schroeder said there is ... Read More Are your New York state license plates peeling or falling apart? The New York state Department of Motor Vehicles will replace them for free ... access to the latest news, please subscribe ... Read More
They were both airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospitals Ryder Trauma Center. Considering what a man who knows the shooter said, the incident was something personal. Hes not a crazy guy. This wasnt someone who decided to kill a bunch of people. There was a dance class of 40 people if he wanted to do that. People fled from the fitness center, running into nearby shops and restaurants. Coral Gables police arrived quickly and began putting nearby restaurants and shops on lockdown, which include Nordstrom, Neiman-Marcus, Crate & Barrel and Jimmy Choo shoes. The mall is located at 358 San Lorenzo Ave. in Coral Gables, between Bird Road and U.S. 1, off Ponce de Leon Bouvlevard. Miami-Dade police are investigating the shooting. LeJeune Road, south of Bird Road, is closed.
Ronnie Dunn has purchased an expansive horse ranch in Tennessee. He closed on the property outside of Nashville for just over $2.25 million according to various sources and purchased the property from the state's richest man Thomas F. Frist Jr.

The property has reportedly been on and off the market since 2008. Frist and his wife were seemingly not in a hurry to sell the land, however, as they also own a lush $18 million mansion in nearby Belle Mead. The property includes various meadows and streams with various outbuildings and realtor.com speculates Dunn will likely construct his own custom home on the land.

Dunn also made headlines when he joined the lineup of "Sing Me Back Home: The Music of Merle Haggard," a tribute concert to the late Merle Haggard, who passed away last year. The show took place at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on April 6.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

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The adversary violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between the Karabakh and Azerbaijani opposing forces more than 20 times, from late Friday night to early Saturday morning.

April 8, 2017, 09:17 Azerbaijan made use of mortar at night

STEPANAKERT, APRIL 8 ARTSAKHPRESS: During this time the Azerbaijani armed forces fired about 230 shots toward the position-holders of the Republic of Artsakh Defense Army, and with different-caliber shooting weapons, the defense army informed.

In addition, the adversary fired one mortar shell, in the northeastern direction of the line of contact.

But the Artsakh defense army vanguard units refrained from taking actions in response, and they continued confidently carrying out their military watch.
President Donald Trump held a listening session about opioids and drug abuse at the White House recently.

The gathering included former addicts, parents of children who had overdosed, top federal officials and others. Trump vowed to make drug treatment more widely available  a worthwhile goal with bipartisan appeal. He also spoke of strengthening law enforcement and dismantling drug cartels.

But there is a cheaper, low-risk tactic for curbing some opioid misuse that was neglected: changing doctors prescribing habits and better educating patients.

A recent study found that for every 48 patients who receive an opioid prescription in the emergency room, one will likely become a long-term user. A more cautious approach to prescribing could save lives.

Across the United States, health care professionals wrote 249 million prescriptions for opioid pain medicines in 2013. In 2015, about 22,000 Americans died after overdosing on some form of opioid drug, legal or illicit, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Of those deaths, 15,000 were attributed to prescription opioid overdoses. In fiscal 2015, Texas pharmacies dispensed almost 7 million prescriptions for the opioid painkillers hydrocodone or oxycodone alone.

There is no medical explanation for the rise in opioid use. Sales of prescription opioids nearly quadrupled from 1999 to 2014, even though Americans dont report having more pain now. Prescribing rates vary widely among states, even though health conditions dont. Even among doctors working in the same emergency room, some prescribe opioids much more frequently than others.

The federal government  along with some states and professional associations  has produced extensive prescribing guidelines. Opioid medications are not the preferred option for managing chronic pain. Doctors and patients should try other approaches first and carefully weigh risks before starting prescription opioids.

For acute pain, such as after surgery, doctors should prescribe the lowest possible dose of opioid for the shortest duration. Prescribers must be especially careful with older adults because opioid painkillers can put seniors at higher risks of falls and fractures.

Pharmacists, patients and lawmakers have an important role.

And the public can help, too. How do most people who misuse prescription pain medications get them? One large study showed that about half obtained them free from friends or relatives. So, if you have pain pills left over from surgery or dental work, drop them in the toilet. Really.

These medications are so dangerous when misused that the FDA recommends flushing them down the sink or the toilet if you cant find an official drug take-back event. That will keep everybody in your home  you and your friends, relatives, kids and pets  safe.
By SA Commercial Prop News

It certainly was no cause for celebration. Seven U.S. banks failed in August with commercial real estate loans accounting for $257 million (or 56%) of the $456 million in nonperforming loans at the failed institutions, according to Trepp LLC.

But the sector has seen worse. The number of bank failures in August is down from a record high of 13 in July, reports the New York-based analytics firm, and raises the tally to 68 through the first eight months of 2011. Industry experts predict approximately 100 bank failures this year.

The failed banks included First Choice Bank and Bank of Shorewood in Shorewood, Ill.; First Southern National Bank in Statesboro, Ga.; Lydian Private Bank, a thrift based in Palm Beach, Fla.; Public Savings Bank in Huntingdon, Pa.; The First National Bank of Olathe in Olathe, Kan.; and Bank of Whitman in Colfax, Wash.

Lydian was the largest failure in August. With $1.7 billion in assets, Lydian accounted for more than half of the $3.2 billion in total assets among the failed banks that month.

Struggles in the Southeast continue

Georgia leads the nation with 17 bank failures yeartodate through August, and 69 in the current cycle that began in late 2007. Florida ranks second for failures, with 10 yeartodate and 55 in the current cycle.

(Two more bank failures occurred in early September in the Peach State, after Trepp released its report, including CreekSide Bank in Woodstock, Ga.; and Patriot Bank of Georgia in Cumming, Ga. That brings to 71 the number of failed banks in Georgia in the current cycle.)

Illinois ranks third in total bank failures overall, with seven failures yeartodate through August, and 44 since the failure cycle began.

Hardly a Surprise

The banks that failed in August had all been on the Trepp Watch List for a considerable amount of time prior to failure. The median length on the watch list was nine quarters, and ranged from seven to 12 quarters.

The loss severity edged up slightly in August, according to Trepp, with the estimated costs to resolve the failed banks rising to 20% of failed bank assets, up from 19% in July. The loss severity in August ranged from 17% at Lydian, the thrift, to 26% at Bank of Whitman.

Only three of the seven bank failures that occurred in August involved loss-sharing agreements entered into by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), with 44% of the acquired assets covered by loss-share agreements.

In a loss-share agreement, the FDIC shares in loan losses that may be incurred by the acquiring healthy bank as a direct result of any nonperforming loans that it acquires from a failed bank. The loss-sharing agreements also make it possible for the FDIC to share in any recoveries on nonperforming loans.

The continued reduction in loss-sharing transactions is an indicator that acquiring banks are gaining confidence and that the FDIC seems to be able to extract better terms from buyers, wrote Trepp researchers in their monthly report on U.S. bank failures released Sept. 6.

Nevertheless, loss-sharing still covered nearly half of the total failed bank assets for the month, the researchers emphasized, so we expect to see more in the months ahead.
The CBI on Saturday said it has registered two separate cases against the manager of public sector enterprise Engineering Projects India Limited (EPIL) for obtaining illegal gratification of Rs 50 lakh.

The CBI on Saturday said it has registered two separate cases against the manager of public sector enterprise Engineering Projects India Limited (EPIL) for obtaining illegal gratification of Rs 50 lakh.

The amount was obtained from two separate companies for awarding them contracts of public works in Tripura and Kolkata.

Investigators in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said that Paritosh Kumar Praveen, who is employed at EPIL's Delhi-based branch, allegedly demanded Rs 1.5 crore but they have managed to get evidence only about Rs 50 lakh illicit money received by him.

The CBI got information that the accused official allegedly obtained illegal gratification from a Kolkata-based owner, also an accused, of a construction company in Uttar Pradesh's Ambedkar Nagar for a building project in West Bengal's New Town -- a fast growing satellite city in the neighbourhood of Kolkata -- in one case.

"In the second case, the EPIL officer received gratification from the director of a construction company based at Guwahati in Assam for public works at the ONGC Tripura Power Company," a CBI official said.

He said that the agency conducted raids at more than a dozen locations in eight states, including Lucknow, Bhagalpur, Purnia, Bastar, Bilaspur, Kolkata, Guwahati, Udaipur (Tripura), Bhubaneswar, Rourkela and Delhi.

"The significant information and evidence that emerged during these searches are being examined for further investigation."
Bollywood actor Salman Khan paid a visit last night to an ailing Vinod Khanna ' title=' Vinod Khanna '>Vinod Khanna at the hospital inn Mumbai.

Salman had played Vinod Khanna's son in films 'Wanted' and 'Dabangg'



Veteran actor Vinod Khanna, who was said to be suffering from dehydration, was admitted in HN Reliance Foundation Hospital on Friday.



"Vinod Khanna was admitted to Sir HN Reliance Foundation hospital on Friday with severe dehydration. He is under the care of our doctors and has responded positively to the treatment and is now stable. His family thanks his well wishers for the good wishes and requests to respect their privacy," a hospital spokesperson said.



A picture of Khanna from the hospital was circulated on social media after which celebrities came out to support the actor in his time of illness.

Irfaan Khan on Thursday said that he was shocked to see the picture and if he can help in any way, will do that. The 'Hindi Medium' actor also said that he is ready to donate his organ to Vinod Khanna ' title=' Vinod Khanna '>Vinod Khanna if needed.
With the decrease in cloud cover after four days on Saturday, the flood threat looming over the Kashmir Valley has ended, an official said.

"Although the Jhelum River was still flowing marginally above the flood mark at Ram Munshibagh in Srinagar at 7 a.m. today (on Saturday), it has fallen below the danger level at Sangam in Anantnag," the official from the Irrigation and Flood Control Department said.



Water level in all the tributaries of the river in Jammu and Kashmir has come down, he added.



"The overall flood threat faced by the people in the valley over the last few days is over," he said.



The official, however, added that the field staff of the department shall continue to remain in high alert till temporary breaches and seepage at some places in the river and stream embankments were plugged.



The University of Kashmir has announced that all exams scheduled for Saturday would be held as per the announced date sheet.

Educational institutions will, however, continue to remain closed in the valley till Monday.



Despite the improvement in weather, water logging problems continued to trouble people in many residential and commercial areas here.



Many villages in north Kashmir's Baramulla district were still inundated although authorities said the situation was expected to return to normal within the next two to three days.



Meanwhile, the Met office has forecast fair weather in the Kashmir Valley till Tuesday.


ARLINGTON, Virginia  When Scotsman John M. Duncan, touring the East Coast in 1818, reached the nations capital, he observed the prosperity of Washington ... seems to be in a great measure dependent on its advantages as the seat of government.

Two hundred years later, nothing has changed.

Seven of the dozen richest counties in the nation are found in the vicinity of Washington, D.C. Whether its the national or state capitals, seats of government in the United States are doing pretty well. Most weathered the Great Recession in much better shape than their distant cousins in the hinterlands.

Case in point: Madison.

Dane County is the third-wealthiest county in the state, trailing only Ozaukee and Waukesha in median family income.

It doesnt take too much pondering to figure out why. People in government take care of themselves, and their own.

Now, two Republican members of the Wisconsin Legislature are proposing that some parts of the state government in Madison might be a better fit elsewhere in the state.

A bill by state Rep. Joe Sanfelippo, R-West Allis, and Sen. David Craig, R-town of Vernon, would direct the Department of Administration to identify the most appropriate and cost-efficient locations to place an agency when securing a new lease.

Even if that means moving an agencys operations out of Madison. Leasing agents would be required to at least consider establishing an agency where it provides the most services, and would have to offer multiple locations, including at least two outside Dane County.

It makes sense as a budgetary measure. As Sanfelippo pointed out in a legislative memo, keeping everything in Madison creates an artificial market that drives up costs.

But it also makes sense practically. In this age of instant communication, of email and Skype and computers you can carry in your pocket, such devolution makes perfect sense.

Gov. Scott Walker is already proposing moving the Department of Natural Resources forestry division to some spot north of Highway 29, a road that bisects the state east-to-west roughly at the north-south midpoint. And why not? Thats where the trees are.

But perhaps most importantly, moving state agencies out of the capital makes sense as a statement of the relationship between the people and their government. Government should not be, or perceived to be, some distant dispenser of largesse. If we cannot all agree that the best government is that which governs least, maybe we can mostly agree that the best government is the one we can see, and maybe drive or even walk to.

If it can be made to work in Madison, it can work elsewhere.

Utah Republican Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has said he wants to identify locations where these agencies can best serve the American people.

GOP Reps. Warren Davidson of Ohio and Ted Budd of North Carolina, both in their first full terms in the House and full of youthful optimism, have introduced legislation that would require all federal agencies now located in D.C. to move to new headquarters outside the metropolitan area.

Certainly, such a drastic overhaul of the way government conducts its business would take time. And, there would be losers. But whats best for D.C. is not necessarily whats best for the country as a whole. And for all those in Washington who yearn to share the wealth, heres an opportunity to actually do it.

Moving the Interior Department to the interior  west of the Mississippi, ideally  would put it in closer touch with the people who live on and near the land it manages. Couldnt NASA be in Houston or Cape Canaveral or Pasadena?

Now, a good case can be made for keeping the leadership of the national security apparatus close at hand to the president  in any case, much of the work of the Defense and State departments is done in far-flung places around the globe already. But the Agriculture Department? How about Nebraska?

Prying privilege away from Washington and from state capitals will be no easy lift. Entrenched interests  not all of them in government  will fight it every step of the way.

But if you want to drain the swamp, youre going to have to move a few dinosaurs.
A day after Air India lifted its ban on Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, three private airlines followed suit on Saturday.

The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) announced it was lifting the ban imposed on Gaikwad on March 24, a day after he assaulted an Air India staffer at the Delhi airport.



The members of FIA are SpiceJet, IndiGo, Air India and Jet Airways.



The FIA said the decision was taken following Gaikwad's assurance "that our assets and colleagues shall be accorded the respect that they deserve for the hard work they put in every day".
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday said that she has received a report on the death of a 26-year-old Indian who was shot dead in the US.

"I have received a report on the shootout incident resulting in the tragic death of Indian national Vikram Jaryal in Washington State, US," Sushma Swaraj said in a tweet.



"On April 6 two miscreants entered the shop at 1.30 a.m. They snatched cash from (the) victim and shot on his chest. This resulted in his death," she said.



Jaryal had reached the US 25 days back and was working at a gas station of a family friend.



Speaking on the ongoing investigation, Sushma Swaraj said the Indian officials were coordinating with investigative agencies who "have got the CCTV footage and are in the process of apprehending the culprits".



"Our consulate in San Francisco is helping the family and following this up with the police authorities," she added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday expressed the firm belief that there will be an early solution to the issue of sharing waters of the river Teesta with Bangladesh while describing Dhaka's zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism as an "inspiration".

"Along with our shared land boundaries are our shared rivers," Modi said while jointly addressing the media with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina following bilateral talks here.

"They sustain our peoples and their livelihoods. And, the one that has attracted the greatest attention is the Teesta," he said.

"This is important for India, for Bangladesh and for India-Bangladesh relationship."

Acknowledging the presence at the media address of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has been opposing the Teesta waters agreement, as "my honoured guest", he said that "her feelings for Bangladesh are as warm as my own".

"I assure you and the people of Bangladesh of our commitment and continuing efforts. I firmly believe that it is only my government and Excellency Sheikh Hasina, your government, that can and will find an early solution to Teesta water sharing," Modi said.

He also expressed appreciated Bangladesh's efforts to contain radicalism and religious extremism as "their spread poses a grave threat, not just to India and Bangladesh but to the entire region".

"We have the greatest admiration for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's firm resolve in dealing with terrorism," he said.

"Her government's zero-tolerance' policy towards terrorism is an inspiration for all of us."

In this connection, he announced a line of credit of $500 million to support Bangladesh's defence-related procurement.

This apart, he also announced a line of credit of $4.5 billion for the implementation of projects in priority sectors for Bangladesh.

India and Bangladesh signed 22 agreements, including on defence cooperation and civil nuclear cooperation, following Saturday's talks.

Stating that energy security was an important dimension of to the two countries' development partnership, Modi said: "Today, we added an additional 60 MW of power to the 600 MW of power already flowing from India to Bangladesh. The supply of another 500 MW has already been committed from the existing inter-connection."

Stating that the two sides have agreed to finance a diesel oil pipeline from Numaligarh in Assam to Parbatipur in Bangladesh , he said companies from both countries would be entering into a long-term agreement for the supply of high speed diesel to Bangladesh.

After having jointly launching with Sheikh Hasina train and bus services between Kolkata and Khulna in Bangladesh and restoring the once defunct Radhikapur-Biral rail link between the two countries, Modi expressed hope for early implementation of the Bhutan-Bangladesh-India-Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicles Agreement and said that "this would usher in a new era of sub-regional integration".

The Indian Prime Minister also called for business and industry of both the countries to work towards diversifying bilateral commercial engagements.

"Our agreement to open new border haats will empower border communities through trade and contribute to their livelihoods," he stated.

After jointly releasing with Sheikh Hasina a Hindi translation of Bangladesh's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's autobiography "Unfinished Memoirs", Modi said that both countries would jointly produce a film on the life and works of Mujibur Rahman and a documentary of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.

On her part, Sheikh Hasina expressed gratitude for India's contributions towards the Bangladesh Liberation War.

She appreciated Modi "for his dynamism and innovative ideas that are not only taking India forward but adding value to our our bilateral relationship".

"People of South Asia will be the beneficiary of our friendly relations," she said, adding that sub-regional cooperation was "very, very important for development".

Stating that "people-to-people contact is our strength", she said that Bangladesh would upgrade its visa office in Agartala after having reopened a diplomatic mission in Guwahati.

She also reiterated her commitment for peaceful border with India free of crime.

She appreciated the naming of a road in New Delhi after her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The Bangladesh Prime Minister arrived here on Friday on a four-day visit to India. This is her first bilateral visit to India in seven years after her visit in 2010.
A young Indian man who arrived in the US only 25 days ago was shot dead by two masked men at the convenience store of a gas station here, authorities said.

India was coordinating with the investigating agencies in the US over the Thursday killing of Vikram Jaryal, 26, in Yakima city, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted on Saturday.

"I have received a report on the incident resulting in the tragic death of Jaryal in Washington State," Sushma Swaraj said.

According to her, the killers entered the AM-PM store at 1.30 a.m. They snatched cash from the victim and shot him on his chest, killing him.

Jaryal was from Hoshiarpur district in Punjab and worked as a clerk in the convenience store.

He was behind the counter when the two people in masks came in and robbed the store, according to NBC Right Now channel.

Police said Jaryal cooperated and handed over the money but one of the attackers still shot him in the chest before fleeing the site.

Police told the channel that the victim was able to tell officers what happened when they arrived a few minutes later, "but tragically, he died a short time later at the hospital".

Jaryal was rushed to the hospital but he succumbed to his injuries.

The police procured the CCTV footage to investigate the incident and were looking for the two persons in masks.

"Somebody knows something. Somebody knows these people. The still photos show a very recognisable top that one of the suspects is wearing," said Mike Bastinelli of Yakima Police.

"The shooter wore a black hoodie with patches of white on the back," he said.

According to Sushma Swaraj, Jaryal had reached the US only 25 days back.

She said Indian officials were coordinating with investigative agencies who "have got the CCTV footage and are in the process of apprehending the culprits.

"Our consulate in San Francisco is helping the family and following this up with the police authorities," she added.
India commits,$5 bn credit, Bangladesh for development, defence,Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina, New Delhi,Kolkata and Khulna

The announcements were made after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina, on a four-day state visit, held bilateral talks here.

"We are happy to announce a concessional line of credit of $4.5 billion for investment in priority sectors in Bangladesh," Modi said at a joint address with Hasina at Hyderabad House.

"India has always stood for the prosperity of Bangladesh. We are a long-standing and trusted development partner of Bangladesh," he said, speaking at length about the Indian investments assured to Bangladesh.

He said India wanted to build cooperation in new areas with Bangladesh "especially in some high-technology sectors which would include working in the fields of electronics, Information Technology, cyber security, space explorations and civil nuclear energy".

The two countries also agreed to work closely on peace and security and build cooperation between their armed forces.

"While our partnership brings prosperity to our people, it also works to protect them from forces of radicalisation and extremism. Their spread poses a grave threat, not just to India and Bangladesh but to the entire region," Modi said.

He promised India would give an additional credit of $500 million to Bangladesh for military supplies and it would be driven by Dhaka's needs.

Hasina appreciated Modi "for his dynamism and innovative ideas that are not only taking India forward but adding value to our bilateral relationship".

She said her government would take all necessary action to ensure peace and security along the India-Bangladesh border and asserted there would be zero tolerance against terror.

Modi praised as an "inspiration for all of us" Hasina's "firm resolve in dealing with terrorism and her government's zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism".

At a separate event to hail Indian soldiers who fought the 1971 war that led to the birth of Bangladesh, Modi in a veiled attack on Pakistan said a "mindset" in South Asia was encouraging terrorism. "India and Bangladesh are its victims.

"I am very clear that along with India, its neighbouring countries should also move ahead on the path of development. We want development of the entire region. But there is a mentality in South Asia against this mindset. A mindset that promotes terrorism, which has a value system which is not based on humanity, but on violence and extremism."

He said policy makers with that mindset "feel terrorism is bigger than humanity, destruction is bigger than creation, and betrayal is bigger than trust".

"This mentality is the biggest challenge to peace, social harmony and development. This mentality obstructs development in the whole region."

Hasina said her country was indebted to India for its role in the birth of Bangladesh.

"People of South Asia will be the beneficiary of our friendly relations," she said, adding Dhaka would upgrade its visa office in Agartala after having reopened a diplomatic mission in Guwahati.

The two leaders jointly inaugurated via video link a new bus service to link Kolkata and Dhaka via Khulna in Bangladesh.

They flagged off the Maitree Express, which will run between Kolkata and Khulna, while restoring the defunct Radhikapur-Khulna passenger train service, which will resume in July after nearly 70 years.

On the Teesta water sharing issue pending between the two countries, Modi said he was hopeful of an "early and acceptable solution" with Bangladesh.

Hasina reached New Delhi on Friday and will end her India visit on Monday.
A 19-year-old German tourist was robbed and injured in a knife attack here, police said on Saturday. The suspects have been identified.

The incident took place around 11.30 p.m. on Friday when Benjamin Scolt hired an e-rickshaw from the New Delhi railway station to the Red Fort, Deputy Commissioner of Police Jatin Narwal told IANS.



Narwal, citing Scolt, said a man other than the driver was already seated in the rickshaw when the German boarded it.



Police believe the man was known to the driver.



After Scolt boarded it, the rickshaw was taken to an isolated place behind the 17th-century Red Fort, Narwal said. The two men then asked him to hand over his belongings.



The tourist may have resisted. The men then pulled out a knife and threatened him, the officer said.





"He refused to hand over his belongings and they attacked him with the weapon and left him injured after taking away his bag and cash," he added.



Scolt, Narwal said, cried for help as a police patrol van passed by.



The tourist was taken to the nearby Hedgewar Hospital. The German embassy was notified.



A police officer who refused to be named said the two suspects had been identified after police questioned at least 25 e-rickshaw drivers in the area.



"We should be able to arrest them soon," the officer said.



External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj sought a report on the attack and asked the Delhi government to provide best medical treatment to the German.




For the first time in the history of the state, the sex ratio at birth in Haryana has touched the 950 mark, Manohar Lal Khattar ' title=' Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar '>Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said here on Friday.

Khattar said the figure has been achieved following strict efforts to improve the sex ratio through a sustained campaign as part of the 'Beti Bachao Beti Padao' campaign.

"The state government launched a massive campaign by implementing the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994, and Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971, and running sensitisation-cum-awareness campaigns promoting girl child," Khattar said.

He said more than 430 FIRs (first information reports) have been lodged in the state under the PC-PNDT Act and MTP Act against offenders during last about two years since the launch of the campaign against those who were involved in sex selection and female foeticide.

"Out of these, more than 80 FIRs were registered after inter-state raids in the neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Punjab. All raids were conducted by deploying decoys."

"Apart from these, more than 50 cases of Sex Selection Drugs (SSDs) being sold by unscrupulous elements promising male child were also detected and FIRs were registered against such offenders under the PNDT Act and Indian Penal Code (IPC)," Khattar said.

The Chief Minister said rampant misuse of MTP kits for illegal abortion purposes by unauthorised paramedics in the state was also detected and culprits were booked under MTP Act, Drugs Act and IPC.

Haryana witnessed the sex ratio at birth crossing the 900 mark in 2016 for the first time.

Earlier, the sex ratio in Haryana was a dismal 879 females per 1,000 males.

Haryana had ranked the worst among all states in sex ratio in the country.
The Haryana government will install one lakh CCTV cameras along national highways in the state, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said here on Saturday.

The closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras will be installed along the national highways soon, Khattar said, while interacting with media persons after inaugurating and laying foundation stones of development works worth Rs 107 crore for Sirsa and Fatehabad districts.



Work on installation of the CCTV cameras will begin this year, officials said.



Some of the busiest national highways, like NH-1 (Delhi-Ambala), NH-8 (Delhi-Jaipur), NH-2 (Delhi-Agra), NH-10 (Delhi-Hisar), and others pass through Haryana.





The state surrounds national capital Delhi from three sides and all highways, linking north Indian states Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, pass through it.



The state atttracts a liot of heavy traffic of trucks with industrial hubs like Gurugram, Manesar, Bawal, Daruhera, Kundli, Panipat, Rohtak and others being located in the national capital region (NCR).
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Uttar Pradesh has ordered a probe into the sale of 21 sugar mills at a "throwaway" price by former Chief Minister Mayawati.

The probe was ordered by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath after a review late Friday night of the Cane Development and Sugar Industry Department.



He said that nobody can be allowed to sell such government properties at "dirt cheap rates" as the property belonged to the people.



Adityanath also said that he will not hesitate in ordering a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the matter, in which even the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has pointed out heavy irregularities.



The Rs 1,180-crore scam has been hanging heavy on the former Chief Minister Mayawati but it was put in cold storage by the earlier Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party government.





Despite serious lapses coming to light in the probe ordered then, the SP government chose not to act against political rival and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati in the sale of these sugar mills.



The mills belonged to the UP State Sugar Corporation Ltd and the state Sugar and Cane Development Corporation.



Complaints made on the scam alleged that huge kickbacks were paid to the "powerful" in the then BSP government to get the sale deal through.



Former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had handed over the probe into the alleged irregularities to the Lokayukta in November 2012, but despite a year long drawn probe, Justice N.K. Mehrotra had not fixed responsibility for the loss to the exchequer on anyone.



The ombudsman had also recommended that the view of the government be presented before the Supreme Court where the matter was pending.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday met Union Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Conservation Minister Uma Bharti and assured her of all support and cooperation from the state government in cleaning up the Ganga.

"The largest stretch of the river passes through Uttar Pradesh and hence it is even more the responsibility of the state to keep the river clean," he said, while underlining that for success of the 'Namami Gange' project, it is necessary that its tributaries are also cleaned up.

The entire machinery of the state will now have to work on a war footing for this purpose, Adityanath said, stressing on the need of holding meetings of heads of the development blocks, members of the local Panchayats and village heads of districts on the banks of the river so that the cleaning up of the Ganga is take up in a mission mode.

Uma Bharti said that in absence of support and cooperation in the past regimes in Uttar Pradesh, the 'Namami Gange' project was not achieving the desired results but now that the present government is headed by a dedicated saint like him, she was sure that the Ganga cleaning would be a success.

Union Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Conservation Secretary Amarjeet Singh said at the meeting that under the 'Namami Gange' project, 19 projects worth Rs 2,900 crore were being run in Allahabad, Kanpur, Varanasi, Gadhmukteshwar, Kannauj, Bulandshahr and Vrindavan through which capacity to purify 391 MLD of water would be created.

Of the 19 projects, four projects in Allahabad have been completed while work is underway on the rest. Other than this, works worth Rs 4,348 crore are proposed in the state, he said. while suggesting that the proposed works be completed on priority basis.

Following this, the Chief Minister directed officials to ensure completion of these projects within the fixed timelines by strengthening the infrastructure and arranging for necessary facilities. He also said that the District Magistrates concerned should also be involved so that there are no hurdles in the works.

Singh also said that because of the leather industrial units in Kanpur, Unnao and Banthra, there was a lot of pollution and added that they should be treated as a cluster and pollution controlled at these places.

At this, the Chief Minister said that a decision has already been taken by the state government to shift out leather industry units out of Kanpur and Kannauj in a phased manner, which will contribute in a big way towards the success of the mission.
The March 19 State Journal article about the Wisconsin Academy of Science, Arts and Letters art exhibit inspired by Wisconsin Public Radio's "Let's Draw" radio show prompts me to relate the impact of public radio on my life.

As a third-grader at Grandview School in Shawano County, a rural one-room school, I looked forward to the public radio afternoon program "Let's Draw," with host James Schwalbach. He told us to draw what we saw and to do our best. So began a lifelong love of art.

I attended public school in Gillett, college at UW-Stout and UW-Superior, and I earned a master's degree at University of Wyoming. I also took classes at UW-Madison with John Wilde and at UW-Whitewater. After a career in teaching at schools in Rice Lake, Owen Withee and Evansville for a total of 39 years, I retired in 2001.

To this day, I still carry a sketchbook in my pocket to record what I see. To Wisconsin Public Radio, I say thank you. Who says our public radio isn't worth the expense?

Richard L. Krake, Evansville
At least 15 civilians including four children were killed in airstrikes in Syria's al-Raqqa city, a UK-based war monitoring group reported on Saturday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the bombing was carried out in the district of Hunaida, Efe news reported.



SOHR added that the death toll could increase.







According to the SOHR, nearly 220 civilians, including 36 minors, have been killed since March 1 in bombings targeting al-Raqqa.



Al-Raqqa is the main stronghold of the Islamic State terror organization in Syria.
Find out final information before heading to the polls Tuesday

As the 2022 midterm election day is finally upon us, here's where Saline County citizens can find out where to vote.
Different government Ministries have joined forces to look at ways to protect and keep our oceans healthy.

This was the aim of a training facilitated by Conservation International on the Ocean Health Index programme. Held at the Samoa Meteorology Office at Mulinuu earlier this week, the Oceans Capacity Building Workshop focused on Conservation Internationals support through O.H.I to better monitor progress on various goals relating to oceans.

Assistant Chief Executive Officer for M.E.T, Mulipola Titimaea Ausetalia, said the training was extremely useful for Samoa.

Its one of the tools for us to be able to negotiate for resources so that we are able to remedy the situation and to improve the oceans, he said.

We are also looking at building the capacity, how to determine the ocean and help O.H.I. taking into account the biological, physical, chemical and social aspects of it.

So this workshop is quite important because all the government ministries who are involved in trying to improve our oceans have come together so we can build capacity.

For example, here at the M.E.T. office, we are involved in a lot of regional projects, working together with S.P.R.E.P., to work on ocean related projects.

Ocean is related to climate, climate is related to weather so its important for us to understand, all the physical parameters that determine the ocean and for us to develop certain areas so that we can understand information of oceans, on the weather, on the climate and several other things that we do need to understand.

Mulipola added that the first workshop they had last year was the launching of the O.H.I. and it was important because now they can scale and write some details as well as looking at determining the O.H.I. in the Pacific countries.

I think now we can reasonably see the resources we need to see.

So thats why next time we can say in confidence; that this is the state of the ocean around Samoa especially our inclusive economics.

Senior Manager of O.H.I, Erich Pacheco, said the workshop is about building upon a foundation of ocean conservation in Samoa.

We are very keen on collaborating with you to set up coordinating mechanisms for managing oceans and coastal resources and supporting you and providing you with all the resources in terms of expertise that we can provide you with to support the implementation of that mechanism, he said.

We understand that being an island nation, your well being is very closely related to the well being of the oceans so your lifestyle, economy, your history and culture are all ocean dependent so when we think of ocean health, we need to think of human health and human well-being. Were very keen and very excited to be working here to support sustainable development.

The Ocean Health Index is one of many tools but one thing that separates the O.H.I. from other types of tools is that it really focuses on the management, not solely on the chemical or geophysical or social but what were really trying to understand is how all of these things are interacting with one another.

Were trying to shift away from looking at just Fisheries and Biodiversity or social elements but on how they do interact when we change parameters in one element and we make decisions on how all these things affect one another so were hoping that the O.H.I. can help guide discussions, policies, regulations, management and help you identify priorities and most importantly help you understand what progress youre making towards your different objectives and targets.
Miriama Leava is a mother who stays home to look after her children.

The 26-year-old mother from Levi, Saleimoa and Afega, said she wants to work but at the moment, she is responsible for looking after her children.

Your duty as a parent is making sure your child stays healthy and strong everyday, she says to the Village Voice.

I know its not just me though, any parent feels obligated to do this for their children.

With the expensive cost of living, some parents are working twice as hard to take care of their families especially their children.

Miriama said that the her husband is the only one who works in the family and while husband is working to earn money, she focuses on taking good care of her three little children.

My husbands pay is not always enough but we always try to budget so that we can provide for our kids everyday, especially for their school fees.

Miriama shared with the Village Voice that everything else in their family is in good condition such as water supply and electricity but making money is what they are struggling in.

Money doesnt come easy and yet thats what we need the most to take care of our children, not forgetting the many responsibilities that follow.

Miriama said that this is how the Samoan life is and to them, contributing to village and family obligations seems like the right thing to do.

We are used to this life, so used to it that were at a point where we feel like its must for money contributions to go to obligations that come up, no matter how expensive it is.

These are not things that you can run away from.
Its a tough, sick paradise were living in today, I reckon.

On 31 March 2017, a story published on the front page of the Samoa Observer, titled Mother and baby in custody over debt, told about what would turn out to be a shocking story, to say the least.

It said a young mother who could not pay a debt of $1,147 that she owed someone, was being penalised by the police as a result, and she ended up being jailed with her two-month old baby, at Tafaigata Prison.

Told by the young womans mother, Aveave Sio of Letogo, who said the incident had traumatized her family so much, she described how she felt when the Police officer actually allowed a young baby to be jailed as quite chilling, she was shocked by it.

Later still, it was revealed that another mother with also her young baby was being incarcerated at Tafaigata Prison, at around the same time. That story though could not be confirmed at press time yesterday.

As for Aveave Sios story about what actually took place on the day her daughter was jailed, she said: I was at home with my children when a car pulled up in front of our house.

A police officer came and said they were looking for my daughter. I asked him why, and he said theyve been sent by the people to whom she owed money.

He also said there was an order for her to go with them to the Police (Office), to talk about what can be done. They said my daughter did not pay the $1,147 she owed.

Aveave said that at first, she was uncertain about what to do, but then in the end, she told her daughter to go with the Police officers.

Her daughter, Tafiau, had nine children, she revealed. Her youngest son was two-months old.

She explained: The police officer who talked to me was holding up a piece of paper. He told me that paper contained information about how much my daughter owed.

My son in-law came home after work and found out what was happening and he was worried as well because the baby was still crying.

He was worried so he insisted that he would take their two-month old son to the mother.

This was around six in the evening.

In the end, despite attempts by relatives here in Samoa and those living overseas - theyd apparently sent funds over - to seek a mutually satisfying solution to the problem, Tafiau and her two-month baby were locked up at Tafaigata Prison anyway.

Asked for a comment at the time, the Assistant Commissioner of Samoa Prisons and Correction Services, Ulugia Sauafea Aumua, said that what happened to Tafiau and her two-month baby was sad, but then it was unavoidable.

We had to interview her and ask her general questions about herself, he explained. (And) it was during that interview that we found out that Tafiau had a baby boy and she was still breastfeeding (him).

Later they received a phone call from the Police asking if we were aware that Tafiau has a baby, and we said yes.

I was made aware of the issue and so we discussed it and we agreed to bring the baby here so that her mother can look after her son.

That was when he said that jailing a mother along with her baby was sad and unfortunate, but then it was unavoidable.

The point is that breaking up the (relationship) between a baby and its mother is not ideal, he explained. But then at the same time we have to consider that the baby is always innocent in these situations.

That way we also have to consider his or her wellbeing especially now that they are young, he explained. Thats why we cant just break their relationships with their mother.

In some cases, when we have a pregnant woman here, we give her six to eight weeks to stay home and look after her baby.

That is also an opportune time for her to decide whether she wants to bring the baby in with her, or for the family to look after the baby.

And if they decide that the mother will look after the baby, then all we have to do is to facilitate.

The choice is not really up to us, Ulugia said. It is the familys decision.

Explained Ulugia: Our policy is that we keep the mothers and their babies safe here in a different cell from the others.

We do accept mothers to bring in their babies if they are sentenced, because it is not our choice.

At this point, Ulugia made it clear that even though it was quite clear that babies should not be in prison, full stop, the law is also clear that it does not forbid having babies in prison.

Under the Convention for the Right of the Child (C.R.C), he pointed out, we need to protect the right of the child. And we cant keep them apart from their mothers.

He continued: Thats why I think it is best for them to be with their mothers, especially if they are young and they are still being breastfed by their mothers.

He also said: But then its not really up to us to decide. In fact, the decision is really up to the family and the mother.

At the time, there were two mothers with babies they were nursing and looking after at Tafaigata prison. One of them, Tafiau, and her two-month old son, had been there for the last three weeks.

Theyve now been discharged.

The day they arrived home, Aveave said: It was Tuesday. We were shocked when the police car pulled up in front of our house, and my daughter Tafiau hopped out of the car with the baby.

She said theyve just got back from the hospital. My grandson was ill. It broke my heart.

Aveave also said: Any parent would never want to see her children, especially a daughter, going through something like that.

And I hope no other mother would go through what Ive been going through. The children wouldnt stop crying when they saw their mother. I couldnt hold back my tears.

She said: I am more concerned about my grandson though. He is only two months old and hes been living in a different environment. I am not sure if it was safe for the two of them to be there.

Its just too much for me to handle. I can only pray for my daughter and her son right now.

So would any mother who would suddenly find herself becoming horror-stricken as shes watching her daughter and her two-month old son, being taken away to jail and yet she had no idea when theyd be coming back.

How about you? What are you thinking?

Here we are taking about the enigma called compassion.

The point is that over recent weeks, Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele and his team of big lauia have once again been talking big about all sorts of publicly-financed projects and investments involving big money and big dreams, and yet it seemed as if they were deliberately ignoring the fact that the long road from back there to now is virtually littered with the skeletons of yes - publicly-financed, costly projects  that have since been discarded, ignored, and yes, abandoned.

Still, as theyd say, tomorrow is another day.

And now bearing in mind that Cabinet has approved the massive amount of $230,000 to help our Golden Boy, Lupesolia Joseph Parker, prepare himself for the task of snatching away the World Title from his arch nemesis, Hughie Fury in May, what do you think is the reason our government did not hand over a measly $1,147 to that poor mother Tafiau, so that she could pay her debt and thereby avoid being jailed with her two-year old baby, at Tafaigata Prison for four weeks.

Its just a thought though!

But please dont hesitate to tell everyone what youre thinking. After all, thats what press freedom is all about.

Have a peaceful Sunday Samoa, God bless.
The Minister of Finance, Sili Epa Tuioti, has set the record straight in response to claims that the government is broke.

The claim has surfaced after the government revealed its plans to review tax laws with the view of increasing the V.A.G.S.T  among other taxes  to shore up its coffers. But the suggestion that the government is broke was rejected by Sili.

I dont know how you got to that, Sili said.

The reason why we are looking at increasing taxation is really not because we dont have the money. There is so much demand for roads and water supply. If you have been listening to Parliament then there is a high demand for water supply, road access."

As you know we are also now increasing the funding of free education which New Zealand had provided money for. Over time the shares of that funding, has decreased so the government has to pick up from there. So really, if we dont raise taxes, or borrow, where is that going to get us?

Its just going to take our economic development back but we are not broke.

Sili said the government has sufficient monies for its plans.

But he admits that they need to prudent with spending and consolidate on cost cutting reforms.

We need to review our expenditures. We did promise that well be reviewing our expenditures in health and education sectors.

We just have to make sure that we are spending them on the right areas and we are getting value for that money. Its the same with all of our expenditures.

Asked about the tax review, the Minister said it is necessary.

It is something we need to look into after a couple of years, rather than waiting until things are really bad. I think its a very responsible move by government to do a review.

 You know when we review it does not necessary mean that there will be an increase, we may need to rebalance and reset to make sure we continue to provide the enabling environment for private sectors to reinvest in the economy, and to provide jobs.

We are continuing to look at investing in health and education to make sure that everyone has access to education and health and to improve the quality of the services we provide.

Minister Sili was also asked about Samoas foreign debt, and whether it is true it has reached the $2billion tala mark. The Minister would not confirm or deny the figure.

But he said: Our foreign debt is now about 52-53 percent of our G.D.P. I think we need to make a point that historically our public debt as the percentage of our G.D.P is much lower than that, maybe 30 per cent.

But you know when we have natural disasters like the tsunami, flooding, and cyclones and obviously we need to borrow from the World Bank, A.D.B to rebuild our infrastructure because if we dont, then it obviously it going to impact on the growth of the economy.

Sili said nobody could plan when natural disasters strike. But when they do, they come at a cost.

We cant leave our infrastructure in a damaged state. We need to make sure that businesses will be restored very quickly.

As the consequence of that, our public debt had increase in recent times.

Obviously we had to borrow money for the airport terminal development. Theres always a question of whether we allow our key infrastructure to deteriorate and not do anything. Tourism is the key driver of our economic growth obviously, but we have one international airport, which is a gateway to Samoa. So its very important.

The Minister added that the government has made a very wise decision to invest in facilities and infrastructure.

Obviously the government is always wanting for grant financing but given the cost involved, its not very easy to have it all totally funded.

So we borrow from the government of China, but we are in the medium term and we will look at reducing our external debt as the percentage of G.D.P to around 50 percent again.

Its one of the reasons why we are looking at the budget to try and consolidate, keep a close eye on how we manage our expenditures. We want to make sure that we create surpluses that will help us to rehabilitate our infrastructure in the event of natural disasters.

Not only that but we also need to look at a situation that we will be able to fund a lot of our ongoing maintenance from our own budget.

As you know we are still borrowing from the World Bank and A.D.B for the funding of the four lane roads.

A lot of work is going into climate proofing our infrastructure, so we need to raise the level. And unfortunately we cant fund it from our budget, we have had to borrow that from the World Bank and A.D.B. although the terms are fairly contentious; I wish we only had to build the infrastructure and not to worry about maintenance and rebuilding.

But thats the reason why we are where we are today. We are quite confident that we can bring that down to 50 per cent which is to me it will be quite good.

If we are too ambitious, then obviously its nice to say that oh, our debt is gone down to thirty percent forty percent but the question is; is that practical? Is that realistic? I dont think so.

Asked which country Samoa owes the most to, Sili said there was no particular country.

Most of our lending is from the multilateral institutions, the World Bank and Asian Development Bank and then of course we borrow from China. Its mainly the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank that we do borrow from.

Looking at the future, Minister Sili said there is a lot of work to be done.

We have an agenda to try and continue to grow the economy. We are estimating or projecting that the next four to five years, the economy will be growing at about 2.1- 2.2 percent on average.

Thats pretty good by the standards of around the region. But we should be doing more and I think tourism is going to help us.
A young mother who was held in custody with her two-month-old at Tafaigata Prison after she failed to repay $1,147 she borrowed from another couple has been released.

This was confirmed by the Assistant Commissioner of Samoa Prisons and Correction Services, Ulugia Sauafea Aumua yesterday.

The mother and her two months old baby have already been released, Ulugia told the Sunday Samoan.

We received a letter from the Registrar to discharge her on Thursday 4th of April.

Ulugia said his understanding is that debt had been paid before she was released.

Thats the reason why the Registrar had sent us a letter, To my knowledge the debt has already been paid in full hence why we released her, said Ulugia.

Im not sure who paid the debt but all I know is that the debt has already been paid so she is back to her family at Letogo.

Last month Ulugia confirmed that Tafiau Kini, of Letogo had been held at Tafaigata on a Warrant of Committal. It was issued on 17 March 2017 and was signed by a Registrar of the Court.

Last week, the President of the Samoa Law Society, Sua Hellene Wallwork, criticised the laws which allowed the woman and her baby to spend time in jail.

This is a shameful part of our laws and legal process in Samoa which needs reviewing, she was quoted as saying by Samoa Planet.

This procedure is a contravention of Samoas obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (I.C.C.P.R).

Sua said the issue violates human rights.

Its a very draconian procedure, but still used all the time because it is an effective method of extracting money.

Once a person is locked up, then their aiga runs around looking for money to pay their debt.

The anecdotal evidence I have on this issue is that it affects quite a few women. Usually, these women are mothers taking out small loans for White Sunday then again by Christmas time, and also when school starts for the year.

It is not difficult for the borrower to be in trouble with repayments shortly after this period.

At the very least an arrested judgement debtor should be taken before a Judge for a final decision to be made regarding imprisonment."

As it is, a judgment debtor can end up in prison without ever having seen a Judge or the inside of a courtroom. Unfortunately, many debtors do not turn up to Court (for various reasons) when their cases are called so they are totally unaware of the procedure.
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Known as Jewel of the Hills, La Mesa embraces its past and retains its small-town character.

History: In 1869, rancher Robert Allison bought thousands of acres in the region. He helped bring water and the railroad to the area, known as Allison Springs. The transformation to a residential community began in 1906. It became a moviemaking mecca in 1911, when Allan Dwan filmed about 150 silent flickers. The community incorporated in 1912.

How it got its name: Newspapers referred to the region as La Mesa Springs and La Mesa Colony. It was shortened to La Mesa when a post office was established in 1891. Neighboring Mount Helix got its name from Swiss-born scientist Louis Agassiz, who noted a snail  Helix aspersa  on a hike.

Landmarks: Part of the areas charm is its connection with the past. The area has two museums: the 1899 McKinney House, now the La Mesa Historical Society, and the 1894 La Mesa Train Depot. The city has kept its system of public stairways, known as the Secret Stairs, in the Mount Nebo/Windsor Hills neighborhood.

Things to do: Prosit! La Mesa has been hosting the regions largest Oktoberfest for more than 40 years.

Mt. Helix Park, known for its panoramic view from the summit, is a popular spot for family picnics and first dates.

Notable locals: Historian Hubert Howe Bancroft farmed olives and chronicled the crop at Helix Farms. Astronauts Ellen Ochoa, William Anders and Rick Sturckow all grew up in La Mesa and graduated from Grossmont High.


Artsy village, beach town, host of racetrack and county fair

History: Jacob Taylor is considered Del Mars founding father. He purchased 338 acres in 1885 with a dream of turning the land into a resort. He called it the most attractive place on the entire coast.

The Stratford Inn (now Hotel Indigo) opened in 1910 and became a magnet for the Hollywood set. By 1937 crooner Bing Crosby and his partners established the racetrack, a year after the county fair opened in the San Dieguito Valley. The city incorporated in 1959.

How it got its name: Railroad engineer Theodore Loop established a tent city by the beach in the early 1880s. His wife, Ella, named it after the Bayard Taylor poem The Fight of Paso Del Mar.

Landmarks: The San Diego County Fair is by far the most popular event at the Del Mar Fairgrounds with more than 1.5 million attending annually. The fairgrounds are also the home for horse racing and music festivals. Powerhouse Park incorporates a 1928 powerhouse, now a community center.

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Things to do: Del Mars coast offers spots to sit or play at Powerhouse and Seagrove parks or to let Fido run free much of the year at North Beach.

Notable locals: Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz had a beach house here, as did Jimmy Durante.

4,331 POPULATION $1,900,000 MEDIAN HOME PRICE
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History: The colony of Olivenhain started in Denver in 1884 with Theodore Pinther, Conrad Stroebel and five others who recruited members who had to speak German to qualify. Colonists paid an initiation fee, a membership fee and monthly dues and in return would get five acres and a house and the use of community property, such as horses, wagons and agricultural machinery. A few months later, 67 colonists headed for Rancho Las Encinitas, which Pinther and Stroebel bought with the membership dues. Soon the members realized that Pinther cheated them in the land deal and the idea of the colony fell apart. Although many left, some stayed, and a permanent community evolved.

How it got its name: The original colonists decided on the name Olivenhain, German for olive grove.

Landmarks: The Olivenhain Meeting Hall, built in 1885 and the site of countless Saturday night dances, picnics, and celebrations, is still the heart of the community. The grounds around the hall also house the Germania Hotel, the largest structure of the original colonist, although it was never used as a hotel.

Things to do: Traditionally, the community celebrates its German heritage with an annual Oktoberfest.

Notable locals: Oscar-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss lives here. He runs a civics initiative, as he puts it, to teach our kids how to run our country if we dont, someone else will run our country.

Did you know? Many streets bear the names of first German settlers: Bumann Road, Cole Ranch Road, Teten Way and Wiegand Street.


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This area is known for Asian restaurants and has its share of enclaves.

History: This scrubby mesa was mainly used for grazing cattle until World War I, when the Army founded Camp Kearny. During World War II, the Marines established an air base, which the Navy took over after the war. The base, Miramar Naval Air Station  home of the Top Gun school  was returned to the Marines in 1997. Bill Gibbs established an airfield in 1937, which became Montgomery Field after the city of San Diego bought it in 1947.

How it got its name: Camp Kearny, built in 1917, was named after Brig. Gen. Stephen W. Kearny, a leader in the Mexican-American War. Serra Mesa is named for Spanish friar Junipero Serra.

Landmarks: From dim sum to boba, Kearny Mesa is San Diegos hot spot for Asian food.

Things to do: Hiking highlights for Serra Mesa include the Ruffin Canyon and Sandrock Canyon open spaces.

Notable locals: The late actor Cleavon Little, best known as Sheriff Bart in Blazing Saddles, graduated from Kearny High School.

Fun fact: Stu Segall Productions, headquartered here, created a string of San Diego-based TV series, including Silk Stalkings and Veronica Mars.


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University City, also known as the Golden Triangle, is a tale of two cities: an older section with single-family homes and a newer region bustling with commerce and high-rise apartments.

History: The southern area of University City, between San Clemente and Rose canyons, was developed in the 1960s. The original goal was to build a residential area for students, staff and faculty of nearby UC San Diego, but instead it became a middle-class neighborhood. Ernest Hahns University Towne Centre opened in 1977 north of Rose Canyon, and a wave of residential, retail and office development followed. By the mid-1980s, it was one of the fastest-growing communities in Southern California. The Mid-Coast Trolley extension will connect University City to the U.S.-Mexico border by 2021.

Did you know? The area was nicknamed the Golden Triangle because of its well-appointed location inside the 5, 805 and 52 freeways.

Landmarks: Rose Canyon Open Space Park bisects the community. The canyon is an urban oasis with a creek and trails, as is San Clemente Canyon, on the southern border, also known as Marion Bear Memorial Park. The gleaming-white Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with its twin 190-foot spires, is a signature building along Interstate 5.

Things to do: Standley Park is the hub in the southern section. The recently remodeled Westfield UTC mall attracts shoppers and diners from throughout the county.
History: In the early 1980s, William Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, purchased the 4,660 acres that comprise Black Mountain Ranch from the Teamsters Union. He wanted to build Graduate Christian University, but environmentalists blocked his vision, which included high-density student housing, campus buildings and thousands of home sales to fund an endowment. The land sold in bankruptcy court to Fred Maas and his partners at Potomac Investment Associates, who eventually developed Del Sur. When completed, it will have about 3,000 residences, a business park, retail space and a hotel, along with two schools. Its many environmental features earned it the Governors Environmental and Economic Leadership Award.

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How it got its name: Del Sur means of the south in Spanish. The main road into the area is Camino Del Sur.

Landmarks: The Del Sur Town Center is filling with a mix of stores and restaurants. The Craftsman-inspired community center, called the Ranch House, was the first building in the county to earn a platinum rating for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) from the U.S. Green Building council. The building uses wood from an 1880s barn and a demolished pier in Portland, Ore. The ceiling panels are created from straw, and cabinets are made from compressed sunflower seed hulls.

Notable locals: Fred Maas, who spearheaded the communitys development and lives there, became known in 2016 for helping the Chargers with their stadium initiative.
With tract homes and cul-de-sacs, the quintessential family-friendly suburb

History: Rancho Penasquitos is part of San Diegos first Mexican land grant, a gift in 1823 to Francisco Maria Ruiz, military commander of San Diego. In 1962, developer Irvin J. Kahn purchased about 14,000 acres  the largest land purchase of its day, for an estimated $15 million  with plans to create a city for 50,000. By 1964, with most of the land annexed by the city of San Diego, Kahn planned his first development, Leisure Life Village, a modular complex with all-metal framing seen as a breakthrough in residential construction. It was demolished in 2009. Families are drawn to todays more traditional suburbs for the highly rated schools.

How it got its name: The community is named after the original land grant, Rancho Santa Maria de Los Penasquitos. Penasquitos means small crags or little cliffs in Spanish.

Landmarks: The communitys most prominent feature is 1,554-foot Black Mountain. Part of Black Mountain Open Space Park, the peak can be accessed by trail and offers a 360-degree view of the region. Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve lies at the communitys southern border. The preserve includes an 1823 adobe ranch house, remnants of another adobe and a waterfall.

Things to do: The Mount Carmel Tournament of Bands, held at Mount Carmel High School since 1976, is one of Southern Californias largest and oldest high school parade and band tournaments.

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Notable locals: Choreographer Jean Isaacs, who created Trolley Dances, calls Rancho Penasquitos home.

45,392 POPULATION $937,500 MEDIAN HOME PRICE
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History: Farming and ranching were the mainstays of this area, once known as the Janal and Otay ranchos, Mexican land granted to Jose Antonio Estudillo. At 25,000 acres, Otay Ranch is nearly the size of San Francisco. Planning for the site began in the 1980s. More than 10,000 homes have been built since then with about 18,000 more to come. The first phase of the massive Eastlake development broke ground in 1986 and will eventually house 8,900 dwellings and 20,000 residents.

How it got its name: The name Otay Ranch derives from the historic Rancho Otay. The Eastlake development was originally EastLake.

Landmarks: In Otay Ranch, theres a round (really, 12-sided) bird barn off Hard Rock Road, built in the 1930s by mining magnate Stephen Birch. Its shape was supposed to protect quail from getting smothered in corners of a traditional barn. And Eastlake has a lake  a 21.5-acre man-made body of water at Eastlake Shores Beach Club. The nearby Otay Lakes offer more lakeside recreation.

Notable locals: Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman and former Padres player Adrian Gonzalez is an Eastlake High School alum, although his family lived in Bonita while he attended high school. Brother Edgar also played for the Padres.

Things to do: Rent boats, canoes and kayaks at Lower Otay Reservoir. The area is also open to fishing and has grilling stations and picnic tables.

Did you know? Eastlake was named San Diegos best new home community in 2010 by The San Diego Union-Tribune.


Stem cell cures are real, and more are on the way. Thats part of the message Californias stem cell agency will deliver in a special patient advocate event in La Jolla on Thursday, April 20.

To be held from noon to 1 p.m., the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) event will take place at the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine, 2880 Torrey Pines Scenic Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037. Its across the street from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

Stem cell experts will describe the work done and in progress with the numerous kinds of stem cells, embryonic and non-embryonic, and the public will be able to ask questions.

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Those interested in attending can RSVP via the Web at j.mp/cirmsd1.

The event, Stem Cell Therapies and You, is sponsored by CIRM and UC San Diego, which hosts one of CIRMs alpha stem cell clinics.

Four speakers are to present their perspectives on stem cell research:

-- Catriona Jamieson, director of the CIRM UC San Diego Alpha Stem Cell Clinic and an expert on blood cancers

-- Jonathan Thomas, chairman of CIRMs governing board

-- Jennifer Briggs Braswell, executive director of the Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center

-- David Higgins, patient advocate for Parkinsons on the CIRM board

Click on the video slide show below to hear an interview with Thomas about the event:

Jonathan Thomas, chair of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicines governing board, gives a preview of what to expect at CIRMs Apri 20, 2017 Patient Advocate event in La Jolla.

No stem cell treatments funded by CIRM have yet been approved for use. But dozens of clinical trials with these experimental therapies are under way, and some patients have already been cured.

Most spectacularly, a number of children born with bubble baby disease, or SCID, have been cured of their immune deficiency by CIRM-funded research. Scientists extracted some of their blood-forming stem cells, repaired the genetic defect and then reinfused them into the children. The stem cells proceeded to build a functional immune system.

CIRM was given $3 billion by the states voters in a $6 billion bond issue in 2004 to develop new disease treatments with stem cells. (The remaining $3 billion represents bond interest). The agency has spent most of that money, and soon voters may be asked whether to appropriate more funding.

Do these results justify the $3 billion allocation? And do they justify more funding, whether by the state, biomedical companies or private philanthropy? Was it wise for CIRM to focus so heavily on research in its first years? (The agency was recently scrutinized by the biomedical publication Stat for funding just a trickle of clinical trials.)

And if CIRM runs out of cash, as is projected to occur by 2020, what happens to the work in progress?

These are some of the questions CIRM faces as its cash winds down over the next few years.

Thomas, the CIRM board chairman, said the event is one of a series in which CIRM presents its evidence not only to patient advocates, but to the taxpayers who fund CIRM.

This will be the first one, Thomas said. Well have one in Los Angeles, and have one in San Francisco, one in Sacramento and maybe the Central Valley.

Well hear the latest with projects that are in clinical trials. We have 30-plus now in clinical trials, Thomas said. A great many of those are being undertaken at our alpha stem cell clinics. A prominent one of course is at UC San Diego.

So well talk about what theyre doing  but also about whats happening elsewhere in the network at the other alpha stem cell clinics.

Science Playlist  On Now In a first, scientists rid human embryos of a potentially fatal gene mutation by editing their DNA On Now Space station flyovers visible from San Diego this week 0:55 On Now UCSD's 'ghost drivers' begin testing people's reaction seemingly empty cars 1:29 On Now 10 interesting facts about Mars On Now Kids can add years to your life On Now LA 90: SpaceX launches recycled rocket On Now Big passions, big giving: Malin Burnham 2:30 On Now Big passions, big giving: Darlene Shiley 2:40 On Now Big passions, big giving: Joan and Irwin Jacobs 2:45 On Now Ocean temperatures warming at rapid rate, study finds

bradley.fikes@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1020
Q: Should restaurants ban tipping and instead raise meal prices so they can pay their workers a higher wage?

Marney Cox, San Diego Association of Governments

Answer: NO

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Whether an individual restaurant bans or keeps tips should be up to the owner; customers will sort out personal preferences through their dining experiences. The answer does not need to be one extreme or the other. In other words, government should not get involved with typical one size fits all policies. One fear I have of automatically raising everyones wage is putting some out of work because they cannot contribute enough to remain a profitable employee.

Phil Blair, Manpower

Answer: YES

The current system is archaic and does not fairly reward the entire staff that makes for an exceptional experience. It is also this an option to give additional cash tips to specific staff for even more exceptional service. And the state of California needs to acknowledge that high tipped employees do not warrant a minimum wage increase when increases become effective.

Kelly Cunningham, National University System

Answer: NO

Not necessarily. Although the idea has merit, it may not be the best practice for everyone. Many restaurant and bar servers earn more from their tips than wages. Customers rewarding specific workers through tipping is a good incentive for their service. However, there are many inequities in rewarding only servers as other workers do not benefit although contributing to the restaurants services. Restaurants should have the freedom to choose what works best for their business.

Gina Champion-Cain, American National Investments

Answer: She is not participating this week.

Alan Gin, University of San Diego

Answer: YES

Eliminating tipping and raising wages would reduce the pay disparity between the wait staff and the others that work in restaurants. It would also provide more income stability for many waiters, as not all of whom work great shift times in high end restaurants with generous customers. Data shows the link between tipping and quality of service is tenuous. For women servers, research shows that more important factors affecting the level of tips are age, hair color, body size, and breast size.

James Hamilton, University of California San Diego

Answer: NO

The strategy might work in a few places if they publicize it heavily and try to make it their market niche. But the tradition of tipping is too widespread to make this change universal. Tipping is one of the reasons that customers often get better service in American restaurants than in some other countries.

Jamie Moraga, intelliSolutions

Answer: YES

In a recent trip to France, I experienced this first hand. Your final bill includes tip and tax and it makes it very convenient, but prices are high, which made me much more selective when choosing a restaurant. Consumers and market forces will continue to dictate the success and failure of business despite the altruistic motive behind the price hike. If prices are raised, consumers will expect higher quality food and service. If they dont feel satisfied at that price point, they will find alternatives. It isnt as easy as banning tips and raising meal prices. You may address one problem, but you create another.

Gary London, The London Group Realty Advisors

Answer: NO

For at least two reasons: I like rewarding good service, and NOT rewarding bad service. If the restaurant eliminates tips than they presumably increase compensation to the staff. The problem is that food and restaurants will likely use this as a vehicle to inexorably raise prices, under the guise of extra personnel costs. I would be more comfortable with status quo. Better to let the customer have control.

Gail Naughton, Histogen

Answer: YES

Currently there is an income disparity between servers and food preparers, many of whom spent significant time and money for culinary school. Several restaurants who have replaced tipping with a service charge have seen an improvement in the quality of both food and service, and greater unity and teamwork among the staff. It is unreasonable to think that all restaurants will make this change, so those that do need to make their customers aware.

Norm Miller, University of San Diego

Answer: Not participating this week

Austin Neudecker, Rev

Answer: YES

Servers (& wait staff) survive off tips. Restaurants (& other tip-driven industries) effectively receive a tax reduction and minimum wage exemption (besides CA). Since a decent amount of this income is paid in cash, it often ends up off the books (not paying for benefits, and the servers income taxes that subsidies services we all use like healthcare). Will it become more expensive to eat out? Yes. Will it improve the lives of (on average) lower paid workers? Yes.

Bob Rauch, R.A. Rauch and Associates

Answer: NO

The last thing we need is another regulation under the guise of fair wages. Servers can make a fantastic income in an environment where they make a base pay and have to earn tips. Receiving the same pay as all others reduces incentives for good servers. Sure they can get bonuses for good reviews but server wages should be paid largely in tips, not increased base wages nor in higher prices for dining. Nobody wants that!

Lynn Reaser, Point Loma Nazarene University

Answer: NO

Restaurants, employees, and customers might be worse off. Business could fall sharply as consumers face sticker shock with a 15-20% hike in menu prices. Employees going the extra mile might not be fully compensated and there is no guarantee that owners would pass on price hikes to their staffs. Consumers would lose their ability to reward servers who truly enhance the value of the dining experience. However, each restaurant should adopt its own best model.

John Sarkisian, SKLZ

Answer: NO

The custom of tipping for service has been ingrained in our economy for decades. It is not limited to just restaurants. We should not limit the guest or customer from recognizing good service and rewarding those service providers. Restaurants should be paying a fair wage to its employees while allowing them to earn additional income through gratuities.

Dan Seiver, Reilly Financial Advisors

Answer: Not participating this week

Chris Van Gorder, Scripps Health

Answer: YES

There are examples all over the country -- including at least one restaurant in San Diego --where tipping is no longer allowed. Studies indicate that patrons are tired of grading service and 75 percent give less than the customary 20 percent. In addition, restaurants are facing law suits by staff upset about how tips are distributed. So, maybe its time to make this change. But if prices rise too high to replace tips, patrons might reject that, too.
A Superior Court judge, while unwilling Friday to dismiss a lawsuit challenging a 2 percent tourism marketing fee paid by San Diego hotel guests, seemed inclined to reject a sizable portion of the claims made in the suit.

Attorneys for the city and the hotelier-run Tourism Marketing District are trying to get the court to toss a lawsuit filed last year by the California Taxpayers Action Network. The taxpayer group contends that a 2 percent fee collected for the purpose of promoting San Diego as a tourist destination is illegal because it really is a tax and was never voted on by the electorate.

The lawsuit filed by Irvine attorney John McClendon not only seeks to bar the city from continuing to levy the fee but also asks for the repayment of funds paid by hotel customers since 2012 when the San Diego City Council renewed the Tourism Marketing District and the marketing fee for 39- more years.

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Just last year, a similar suit filed years earlier by attorney Cory Briggs on behalf of San Diegans for Open Government was dismissed after the City Council decided to eliminate the tourism surcharge for all small lodging businesses and home-sharing rentals under 70 rooms.

Superior Court Judge Joel Pressman said Friday he was willing to give McClendon 15 days to amend his lawsuit as it relates to his claims surrounding the 2012 renewal of the tourism levy but raised doubts as to the validity of his claims.

Youre going to have to come up with some serious basis in your complaint to bring up the 2012 issues, Pressman said. I happen to agree with (TMD) counsels portrayal of this situation and Im not prepared to rule on it, but I want to give you an opportunity to amend.

Its an uphill battle to say the least but I invite you to try.

McClendon is also challenging last years council action to modify who pays the tourism levy.

Once McClendon re-submits his legal challenge, the Tourism Marketing District and city will revive their efforts to dismiss the lawsuit, said attorney Michael Colantuono, who represents the marketing district.

Were still confident this case should be dismissed but it will take a little longer than we would have liked, Colantuono said.

At stake are tens of millions of dollars collected by the city on behalf of the Tourism Marketing District, which doles out funds for promoting San Diego both regionally and worldwide as an appealing destination for leisure travelers.

In his legal argument, McClendon pointed out that the court has yet to rule on the constitutionality of the TMD levy tax because Defendants modified the levy four years into (Briggs) lawsuit  just 20 days before trial  in order to deprive SDOG (San Diegans for Open Government) of standing.

Attorneys for the Tourism Marketing District argue that the court should throw out the lawsuit, which it characterizes as a political battle that seeks to re-litigate claims their political allies lost in court. Colantuono further argues that the California Taxpayers Action Network lacks standing to sue because it doesnt represent a hotelier who is paying the marketing assessment.

To date, the district has spent more than $2.8 million of tourism marketing revenues on legal expenses related just to the Briggs case. Briggs is currently trying to recoup his legal fees, which could add to the marketing districts ongoing expenses.

Meanwhile, the TMD is fighting yet another lawsuit filed late last year that also challenges the constitutionality of the tourism fee. The marketing district will be going to court next month to try to get that suit dismissed as well.

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lori.weisberg@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-2251

Twitter: @loriweisberg
San Diegos TakeLessons, an online marketplace for music, language and other tutoring, said Friday that it has purchased digital sheet music provider Chromatik, which counted Bruno Mars as an early investor.

The purchase price was not disclosed. Founded in 2010, Santa Monica-based Chromatik raised $7.9 million over the years from Rustic Canyon Partners, Learn Capital, Plus Capital and others. It employs six people.

Steven Cox, chief executive of TakeLessons, said the deal dovetails with his companys efforts to provide more services to teachers and students  especially as it expands its platform to enable more live online classes.

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While we offer over 200 categories of life-long learning, our roots were planted in music as our first category, said Cox. Chromatik has done an incredible job building a community of people passionate about music.

Chromatik provides a library of digital sheet music on the web and on iPads. Its catalog spans more than 20 instruments. The software includes practice tools such as online metronomes, notation, practice logs and sharing via the Chromatik app. It has more than 1 million users, said Cox.

In 2012, pop star Bruno Mars participated along with others in a $2 million seed funding round for Chromatik, according to CrunchBase, Inc. Magazine and other tech media reports.

Founded in 2006, TakeLessons is an online marketplace linking students with instructors in a range of areas including music, languages, school tutoring, computer programming and cooking. It has raised $20 million in venture capital and employs more than 45 workers in downtown San Diego.

Many TakeLessons customers  expected to reach 20 million this year  tap into the marketplace to find a local instructor for in-person lessons.

But Cox believes the future lies in providing a broader reach for students and instructors through online classes.

Earlier this year, the company rolled out its TakeLessons Classroom. The platform includes features that Cox says make it a better learning environment than using Skype or FaceTime to remotely connect students with instructors.

We took the best we could find in what the online university learning management systems were doing and combined that with an easier-than-Skype (platform) that is substantially different than anything out there, said Cox. We believe it is a better experience. And the better experience students have, the longer they stay.

Cox said online competitors such as Udemy or Skillshare use pre-recorded videos to teach. TakeLessons Classroom offers live video, instant messaging and shared screen applications for real time interaction between students and instructors. It also records lessons and delivers them to student accounts for later review, among other features.

As business continues to move online, you have these incredible instructors who have been tethered to a specific geography, and have asked themselves how do I reach the world, said Cox. That is why we build this. We think it is a differentiator and truly makes for a better experience for students.

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mike.freeman@sduniontribune.com;

Twitter:@TechDiego

760-529-4973
Piles of trash from a homeless encampment that has lined an Escondido creek for years were cleaned up Friday, days after residents began flooding City Hall with complaints about the problem and launched a social media campaign demanding action.

Nine public works employees, with backup from police officers, descended on Reidy Creek  between state Route 78 and El Norte Parkway --- early in the morning, armed with a back hoe and other equipment including dump trucks.

Theyve knocked out the lions share of the project today, Interim City Manager Jeff Epp said. The rest of the channel would be ideal for a community cleanup later.

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Earlier in the week, Epp had praised Escondido residents for highlighting the problems in the creek.

I couldnt agree more that things are terrible and need to be cleaned up right away, Epp said. The folks who are bringing it to our attention are awesome and I appreciate it.

Epp acknowledged that complaints have trickled in for years about the condition of the creek bed, which runs behind perhaps a thousand apartments, businesses and even police headquarters.

The pressure intensified over the past week when dozens of residents complained the problem had worsened. They said they were fed up.

Jeffrey Billings, who lives in an apartment that backs up to the creek near El Norte Parkway, posted photographs of the mess March 28 on the Escondido Friends Facebook page, which has more than 30,000 followers and has become a sounding board for much of the community.

The photos showed an incredible amount of trash  including old shopping carts, plastic bags, cardboard boxes and abandoned furniture  and what are clearly homeless encampments all over.

In his post, Billings urged people not to donate to the homeless, because this is where the money ends up.

The response was amazing, Billings said in a recent interview. The whole city was commenting, he said.

Several days later Patti Thompson, a realtor in Escondido who created and oversees the Escondido Friends page, posted a video of herself standing in front of City Hall and calling out Mayor Sam Abed for not having done anything about the problem.

She then attended Wednesdays City Council meeting and repeated her dismay at the citys lack of action. Thompson said she lives in a nicer part of town on the edge of Escondido, and is shocked at what is happening in the creek bed.

I dont think were paying attention to the people who are lower income, who dont have the money or the voice to speak, and theyve been dealing with this situation, this mile-long trash pile, Thompson said.

She said she went to the creek bed by herself Wednesday morning and saw how many people are living there in squalor.

Its just not OK  Its not clean, Thompson said. Its gross and people arent safe and families live right on top of it.

At the council meeting, Thompson loudly clashed with Abed, calling him a liar when he said he responds to all emails and telephone calls.

Abed said Friday that Thompson is a political activist who disagrees with the conservative majority of the council. He said a week before the Facebook firestorm, the city received one complaint about the creek and took immediate action to begin the process of cleaning up the creek and another area in town.

The process is more complicated than people understand, Abed said.

Under state law the homeless have protections, he said. They have rights. You cannot just go and take their belongings. You have to tag it. You have to find them a place to stay. You have to follow the law. We have to deal with the homeless who dont commit crime with dignity and respect.

A few days after the complaints intensified, the California Department of Transportation took notice and sent a clean-up crew. In one day, Thompson said, they cleared about a 100-foot stretch of the creek that is owned by the state just north of Highway 78. Why, she asked the council, cant the city act accordingly and clean up the rest of the area that is their responsibility?

On Friday, thats what happened.

Stories about the encampments and the associated problems they cause were recounted over and over in the days leading up to the cleanup.

Billings said just about every night he is awakened several times at his Cross Creek apartment by the sound of people going through the Dumpster near his home. He said he had two bicycles stolen from his second-floor balcony about six months ago.

Everyone who lives in the back (nearest the creek) has had things stolen, Billings said. If its not locked down they are going to take it.

Lori Wiar, who has lived in apartment near the creek just on the other side of Centre City Parkway for 15 years, said many of the homeless migrate over to her side as well. She said shes been complaining for five years, usually to the police, who she said usually are responsive. But still nothing permanent gets done.

Yesterday I went down to the creek and was flabbergasted, Wiar said. There is garbage everywhere.

She said a few months ago a junkie passed out right in front of my front door and shes recently had packages meant for the postman stolen from her front step. She said she and her husband have seen naked men in the area and acts of prostitution.

At Wednesdays council meeting, Epp said the best way for residents to get action is to contact his office directly, rather than lobbying an elected official.

Epp, who has been the city attorney for years and only recently became interim city manager, said he has no problem shaking things up  especially because hes likely to retire before the end of the year. He said he is disappointed that the problem hadnt been addressed in the past

It will be different from this point out, he said.

jharry.jones@sduniontribune.com; 760/529-4931; Twitter: @jharryjones
An Encinitas high school student who lives near the coastal railroad tracks wants to take rail safety a step further.

Kassidy Kanner, 18, recently launched a campaign calling for suicide-prevention signs to be installed along the Leucadia stretch of the rail line where two people have died this year, including a man who was fatally struck by a train on March 15.

Nearly 12,000 people have already signed Kanners online petition in support of the signs, which would display a hotline number and messages urging suicidal people to seek help. Similar signs have been installed by transit districts elsewhere in the country, including Northern California, Pennsylvania and Illinois.

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Kanner said a death last month at a rail crossing on Leucadia Boulevard moved her to take action. Authorities said the gates were down, and warning lights and bells were activated, when a man walked into the path of an oncoming train at about 2:40 p.m.

Kanners boyfriend, who was heading toward her house, spotted the emergency crews.

He had just driven by it, she said. .. It was obvious what had happened.

Kanner said she later looked for prevention signs near the tracks like the ones posted on the San Diego-Coronado Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge. Finding none, she hung up about 30 paper fliers  with a hotline number, (800) 273-8255, and a message that says There is help  in hopes of preventing another death.

Things like this  they re-occur, she said. Her online petition  at thepetitionsite.com/564/898/699  urges Encinitas Mayor Catherine Blakespear to approve permanent suicide-prevention signs near the tracks.

Maybe we should consider that, Blakespear said Friday when informed of the effort. It is a tragedy every time someone is hit by a train.

Kimberly Wall, a spokeswoman for the North County Transit District, said last week the district has extensive safety programs in place along the coastal rail line. Adding signs and signals can be complicated because government agencies such as the California Public Utilities Commission, the Federal Railroad Administration and the Federal Transit Administration must approve them, she and other transit experts said.

NCTD uses many safety indicators along our tracks to remind people to be aware of the trains, such as crossbucks, alarms  both visible and audible  flashing lights, train horns and no-trespassing signage  reminding people to say off the tracks and off of the right-of-way, Wall said.

The transit district also works with the nonprofit Operation Lifesaver to make rail safety presentations to San Diego County schoolchildren, and it promotes rail safety at numerous special events, she said.

NCTD doesnt log which rail deaths are deemed suicides, but it maintains data on trespasser strikes, in which anyone is hit by a moving train. This year through April 3 there were 11 trespasser strikes along the coastal rail line, including six that were fatal. Two of those were in Encinitas, three in Oceanside and one in Carlsbad.

Wall said the district applauds Miss Kasser for being so diligent in promoting suicide awareness and gaining the support of her fellow residents.

Other California transit districts have installed suicide-prevention signs with a hotline number along railroad tracks.

Caltrain, which provides commuter rail service in the San Francisco Bay area, installed 250 signs along a 10-mile stretch of track in 2010, said Tasha Bartholomew, the districts communications officer. The signs carry the message There is Help  just like Kanners paper signs  along with a hotline number.

Bartholomew said she didnt have specific data on whether deaths along the tracks dropped since then, but that she believes the signs have value.

After that first year, we didnt have a lot of people call the hotline, Bartholomew said. Weve kept the signs up, just because you never know when someone might need that help.

If at least one or two people use it, thats helping, she said.

Last year Caltrain also began posting signs at stations and distributing information for the Crisis Text Line, which allows people send a cellphone text message for help.

Commuter rail systems serving Chicago and Philadelphia also have recently installed signs with a suicide-prevention hotline number.

For years, coastal communities in San Diego County have talked about placing the train tracks below street level, in part to improve safety. Solana Beach lowered its tracks in 1999, and has not had a train-related fatality or injury since then.

Officials said that solution would cost hundreds of millions of dollars, but supporters say it has a number of long-term economic and aesthetic advantages.

Carlsbad, where a plan to trench the tracks is being considered, has had 19 train track fatalities since 1998. Not all were suicides.

One of the Carlsbad deaths was a 22-year-old man who had been celebrating at a nearby bar one summer night in 2014 when he made the mistake of trying to cross the tracks as a train was approaching.
Vista schools Superintendent Devin Vodicka  whose obsession with innovation earned his district national attention and big-money grants over the past few years  is resigning to work for a Bay Area education-technology company on programs similar to those he introduced in Vista.

Vodicka has been the driving force behind Vista Unifieds adoption of classroom technology and personalized learning programs that focus on individualized coursework and online curriculum. He was also key in securing a $10 million innovation grant to transform Vista High School into a high school of the future.

Hes taking that expertise to AltSchool, a San Francisco firm thats developing a technology platform for personalized learning, designed for use on a broader scale.

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For me thats why it was such a compelling opportunity, said Vodicka, who announced his resignation Thursday in a letter to district employees. I wasnt looking for it, I wasnt looking for jobs. The more I looked at it, I thought that it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of something with such potential for so many learners.

Founded four years ago by a former top executive at Google, AltSchool operates eight lab schools in the Bay Area and New York that pilot the technology it develops. The system consists of portraits that chart students academic and personal progress, and playlists that lay out activities to help them reach the next level.

Vodicka will serve as chief impact officer, responsible for introducing the platform to the broader educational community and guiding development of the system to make sure it meets teachers and students needs.

Hell be helping lay out the vision for it, and helping lay out the steps for us to get there, said AltSchools Chief Operating Officer Coddy Johnson, a former executive at gaming publisher Activision.

I dont think theres a more credible voice out there on what that transformation requires than Vodika, Johnson told the industry journal Education Week.

Vodicka started in education as a teacher in Los Angeles Unified School District, served as a principal and then assistant superintendent in Carlsbad Unified School District, and became Vistas superintendent in 2012. During the past five years, he worked with teachers and administrators to bring technology to the classroom in order to fine-tune the learning experience for each student.

Devin has been instrumental in helping our school district transition into a more digitally connected world, said Matt Doyle, executive director of innovation for the Vista Unified School District. Weve been able to build a much more robust digital backbone. Were virtually one to one (with digital devices) in every classroom. And five years ago, we had computer labs. So thats a pretty big adjustment.

At two Vista middle schools, students are assigned individual iPads with personal hotspots that can be used to study at home or on the go. On elementary campuses the students are assigned tablets or computers for use in class.

The end goal was not just to add digital devices, but to make classrooms more creative, Doyle said, so both students and teachers are learning from each other, and learning is more electric.

That exercise culminated at Vista High School, where Vodicka worked with district personnel to create a personalized learning academy. There, students use Chromebooks and iPads to download lessons and resources. They work at their own pace, or collaborate in small groups, choosing projects that match their personal interests. Grade point averages climbed, while absences and disciplinary incidents plunged among students in the program, Vodicka said.

Im so grateful for all of the opportunities that Ive had in Vista, Vodicka said. Ive developed really strong relationships with so many wonderful people that theres some sadness in leaving. But mostly a real sense of gratitude and appreciation.

Last year, the personalized learning model helped land Vista High School a $10 million grant from XQ: The Super School Project, an organization of educators and engineers working to update high schools for the 21st century. The group was launched last with a $50 million donation from Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

Next years class of freshmen will be the first to adopt the program school-wide, and teachers, administrators and parents have worked hard to make that happen, said Vista High School Principal Anthony Barela. Vodicka fostered the leadership to continue the transformation after his departure, Barela said. But that wont make the loss easier.

He did a fantastic job here in Vista Unifed, and has done a good job moving the needle on personalized learning, Barela said. Great man to work for, unbelievable leader, really visionary. And really, deeply cares about kids. So he will be sorely missed.

deborah.brennan@sduniontribune.com Twitter@deborahsbrennan
Lynn Vincents books are better known than she is, probably because her name on the covers has taken second billing to those whose stories shes telling. Several of those stories  Heaven is for Real, Same Kind of Different and Going Rogue  have been New York Times bestsellers.

Now the East County resident gets the top spot for Dog Company: A True Story of American Soldiers Abandoned by Their High Command, written with former Army Capt. Roger Hill. It recounts what happened to Hill when he felt forced to decide whether to follow military rules on the treatment of prisoners who were suspected Taliban spies, or do what he deemed necessary to get confessions that might protect his soldiers from deadly insider attacks.

Q: How did you first hear about this story?

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A: I was a full-time staff writer at World magazine and I was contacted about this case involving this young commander and his first sergeant who were facing criminal charges in connection with battlefield activities. I wrote the story for the magazine in 2009.

Q: What was your reaction to what you learned?

A: As a veteran and someone who is very supportive of the military, it tapped into my sense of injustice. It felt like these guys were pushed up against a wall and left with few viable options and abandoned by their high command. And it felt like what they had done was certainly crossing the line in terms of military law, but also understandable given the corner they had been backed into.

Q: What made you decide it should be a book?

A: There was so much to it in terms of the human element. I absolutely fell in love with these guys from this company. They are the kind of warriors that movies should be made about. They are so colorful and diverse, and so loyal to one another.

Its not a policy book; its a narrative. But what emerges from it  and I didnt know this at the time  is that this case is just the tip of an iceberg of a new phenomenon we are experiencing as a result of this counter-insurgency war weve been fighting since 2001.

There were very, very few soldiers and Marines prosecuted in all of World War II, all of Korea, all of Vietnam. In the single or double digits. There is a statistic out there that says only seven. That seems low to me. What we do know is that more than 200 soldiers and Marines and airmen have been prosecuted for crimes on the battlefield since we entered this war on terror.

I would suggest to you that its not so much that our fighting men have changed but rather our rules of engagement and our view of warfare.

Q: Was it hard to get the soldiers to open up to you?

A: They really wanted to talk about what happened to them because they felt nobody in the military was listening. The investigators who were involved in this case would question them and then draw conclusions that may or may not have been based in reality.

When lawyers and investigators approach a case  and Im not saying this is dishonest, its just the job  they make an argument. They put together a case and they make an argument. And sometimes in these particular cases, when soldiers are prosecuted for crimes on the battlefield, the inconvenient facts are thrown out. Sometimes when they are asked questions they dont know the answers to, they are prosecuted for obstruction of justice.

So when they talked to me, not only were they talking about the case, they were talking about the loss of their brothers in Dog Company. And I felt like they really wanted to open up about that. I interviewed them between about 2011 and 2016. Hundreds of interviews.

Q: The book took eight years. Thats a long time for you.

A: It is a long time. Part of that was because I had undiagnosed late-stage Lyme disease. What happened is I had this incredible cognitive decline that occurred over a period of about three years. And it got to the point where I could only read and write for 20 minutes, twice a day.

In the fall of 2013, I walked away from the book. I called my editor and said, I have to stop working on this and figure out how to get well. And I dont know if Im going to be able to get well and finish the book. Rather than canceling the contract, (the publisher) Hachette stuck with me. I got some treatment and six months later I was able to return to the book.

Q: The opening sentence of your authors note says, What you hold in your hands is a book the government does not want you to read. How so?

A: The case is embarrassing to the Army and embarrassing to some of the officers involved because of the commands lack of support for these soldiers. And the case is also emblematic of a system in which the rules of engagement literally favor the enemy, and in which enemy spies and enemy fighters are released while young soldiers and officers trying to make the best decisions they can in the heat of the battlefield and with their lives on the line are prosecuted, kicked out of the Army and even thrown in prison.

Q: There are a lot of blacked-out sections in the book, redactions ordered by the military. (Hill had a top-secret security clearance that required him to show the book first to the Pentagon.) Tell me about the decision to include all those black-outs.

A: We submitted the manuscript to the Pentagon in 2015. When it came back, we were shocked at the number of redactions. I went through every one of them, and there were hundreds, and I documented where I got the information and I demonstrated that the information was public.

We submitted our appeal, and they came back and rejected it in full. We couldnt believe it. Some of the things that are redacted are completely benign terms that are used every day in the media, things like F-15 and Apache helicopter and Humvee. What that says to us is the Army didnt really want this book published.

Q: Did they think you would see the number of redactions and just throw up your hands and stop?

A: I cant really pretend to know their thinking, but thats a possibility. And so why did we choose to publish with the redactions still in it? Because we wanted the story out. Sure, we would like the book to do well, but even more important is to reverse this trend of prosecuting soldiers for doing their jobs.

Certainly Im not trying to say that every person in the infantry makes the right decision every time. But in the heat of battle, we have to give each soldier what an attorney told me is the super-benefit of the doubt. Its really easy to sit behind the wire or behind a desk or in a courtroom and second-guess an 18-year-old with an M4. But its a lot harder when the bullets are snapping past your head.

Dog Company: A True Story of American Soldiers Abandoned by Their High Command, by Lynn Vincent and Capt. Roger Hill, Center Street, 448 pages.

john.wilkens@sduniontribune.com; (619) 293-2236
Nominations are being accepted through April 10 for the Malin Burnham Awards, which will honor San Diego philanthropists and community leaders while raising money to help low-income youth go to college.

The nominees and the winners will be determined by the public through online votes. The winners will be celebrated at The Malin Burnham Awards: A Fundraiser for Reality Changers, which will be held May 23 at UC San Diego. All proceeds will help San Diegos Reality Changers raise $2 million to give first-generation college students the scholastic and community support they need to attend college.

The awards also honor the philanthropic spirit of the 89-year-old Burnham, who is best known for being the leading benefactor of the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute in La Jolla. His 2016 memoir was appropriately titled,Community Before Self: Seventy Years of Making Waves.

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Formed in 2001 by Christopher Yanov, Reality Changers provides disadvantaged youth with such support programs as tutoring and leadership camps. Reality Changers has a 97 percent college acceptance rate. Its yearlong College Apps Academy course is open to 12th-graders of all backgrounds.

The Burnham Award categories are: Most-Admired Philanthropist, Most-Admired Public Leader, Most-Admired Foundation, Most-Admired Business/Corporation, Most-Admired News Outlet, and Most-Admired Service Organization. The latter award applies to local chapters only.

To make a nomination, go to RealityChangers.org/Malin. Nominations will be accepted through April 10 at 11:59 a.m. Votes will be accepted beginning April 14 at 12 a.m. through May 5 at 11:59 p.m. All nominating and voting must be done online. You can vote once a day throughout the voting period.

There is no purchase or payment necessary to nominate or vote. Tickets for the May 23 event are $150.

Twitter: @karla_peterson

karla.peterson@sduniontribune.com
It was an internship during college that led Kiran Shelat down the path to a career in nonprofit work. In the years since, shes worked with organizations such as the American Red Cross, Senior Services of Northern Kentucky and Jewish Family Service of San Diego coordinating events, conducting research, writing grant applications and doing statistical analysis. Shes currently the executive director of Classics 4 Kids, a nonprofit educational performing arts organization.

Walking into the beautiful, historic Balboa Theatre and seeing thousands of excited students come off the buses into their seats, I fell in love with the mission of the organization, she says. I felt amazed at the positive experience being provided to the participating students.

Shelat, 32, lives in Mission Valley and has been with Classics 4 Kids since 2014. She now oversees its fundraising and communications, among other things, guiding the group in its mission to improve childrens academic performance by exposing them to  and educating them in  orchestral music. There are concerts outside of the classroom and workshops in the classroom to incorporate academic subjects with music and the arts.

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Shelat took some time to talk about the organizations work and its benefit concert at the Balboa Theatre on Sunday.

Q: Tell us about Classics 4 Kids.

A: Classics 4 Kids was founded in 1994 as the result of a single effort to fill a gap in music education. After the founder raised funds for 600 students to attend a professional piano recital, soon more grades, schools and districts began asking for access to quality classical music concerts. Today, we provide vital music education to over 20,000 students, teachers and families each year, either through orchestra concert programs, in-school music workshops or with our Heartstrings program at Rady Childrens Hospital and other community venues. My goal is to reach as many children as possible. We have outreach to all 42 districts in San Diego County, with particular support for low-income schools. We would love to reach rural areas (where children) simply cannot attend, providing our music education.

Q: How has the organization evolved over the years?

A: Our younger generation of students are learning more visually, using modern devices and in constant communication with the world. Were evolving and changing with the times. Our upcoming Oceans Ahoy! student concert is doing just that: We will discuss ocean conservation and sea life with an oceanographic expert, explore classical music written about our beautiful oceans and waterways, and view some of the most remarkable images from under-the-sea. Were anticipating 5,000 participants just for this event alone, and this STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) connection season finale is already very popular with San Diegos teachers for its music and science combination. Were pairing support of the next generation of audience members and arts supporters with environmental education for our future leaders and innovators.

Q: How does the program work?

A: Schools participate in our music education, either by attending orchestra programs on school field trips to downtown San Diego, or by bringing our interactive workshops directly into their schools. We provide (customized) curriculum for the teachers, detailing the music education and maximizing impact. We also subsidize participation for low-income schools and have community outreach with music performances at Rady Childrens Hospital.

What I love about Mission Valley...

I love how Mission Valley is so centralized. When I have out-of-town guests, I say Im 15 to 20 minutes from the beach, downtown or Balboa Park museums. I love being a tourist in my city.

Q: Is there a cost to participate?

A: We consider it our organizational goal to reach out to underprivileged populations in our community. We aim to level the playing field by providing subsidized access to our events for low-income, Title I schools, and 63 percent of last years participants attended were fully or partially supported. At the most, its only $7 per person to participate.

Q: What happens in the classroom during a session?

A: Our volunteer docents from Advocates for Classical Music go into the classroom and present on the theme of the concert, talk about composers and get the kids excited about the upcoming concert. In addition, our in-school workshops educate students on sound, music and instruments. All of our programs are for elementary school-aged students.

Q: What makes your programs kid-friendly?

A: Classics 4 Kids custom designs our programs so children have fun with learning. Our concerts are entertaining and interactive. We have them singing, clapping, teaching them how to yodel. In past concerts, we have had Star Wars characters in full costume surprise 5,000 students by walking through the aisles while our Classics Philharmonic orchestra played the Star Wars theme. On St. Patricks Day, we had a special 6-foot, 4-inch guest star dress up as a leprechaun handing out gold coins. We really have fun coming up with different ways to make the students experiences even better.

Q: How does your program improve academic performance in children?

A: Numerous studies show strong correlations between exposure to music education and increased scores in science, math and reading, as well as decreased stress levels, improved social skills and enhanced academic engagement. We measure academic growth with pre- and post-testing.

Q: What kinds of changes have you seen in kids once theyve started participating in your program?

A: We have had a lot of feedback from teachers saying that their students are more engaged in the classroom and they are academically improving. They expand their knowledge of music as well as paired curriculum such as science, literature, math and cultural explorations.

Q: What can people expect from the upcoming benefit concert on Sunday, featuring Time for Three?

A: This show is all about having fun with classical music and that it is open to everyone. We are here to show the San Diego community that classical music can be upbeat, exciting and modern. Time For Three blends classical music with different genres, including pop, 90s hip-hop, grunge, bluegrass. They are high-energy and share our value of music awareness for all children.

Q: Whats been rewarding about your work with Classics 4 Kids?

A: The rewarding part is knowing that majority of the students we serve will experience our programs for the first time. Possibly, its the first time a student has been in a beautiful theater, or seen a live professional orchestra, dancers on stage, going on a bus or visiting downtown San Diego. I remember as a young child going to see performances and concerts either on a field trip or with my parents, and those first-time experiences for me are memories that will stick forever.

Q: What has your work here taught you about yourself?

A: To do what you love and stay in a positive environment. We are bringing such positivity to childrens lives.

Q: What is the best advice youve ever received?

A: Make it simple yet significant. I do not pretend to have all the answers or that Classics 4 Kids will save music education for every student, but the significant impact that we make on a childs life can influence a community for the better.

Q: What is one thing people would be surprised to find out about you?

A: Im an adventurer, love to travel, have been cage diving with great white sharks off the coast of South Africa, and skydiving.

Q: Describe your ideal San Diego weekend.

A: My ideal weekend would be to spend time with my nephews playing in the park, then dinner at Civico 1845 in Little Italy with some friends, a nice glass of Pinot noir or a bottle to share.

Email: lisa.deaderick@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @lisadeaderick
A proposal to declare a year-round shelter crisis was presented to the Los Angeles City Council on Friday.

Councilmen Jose Huizar and Mike Bonin introduced a motion to extend the recently expired declaration of a winter shelter crisis for a full year.

Bonin spokesman David Graham-Caso said the motion builds on an action earlier in the week amending the law that previously restricted the declaration of a shelter crisis to the winter months.

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The declaration of a crisis would remove zoning restrictions that could prevent shelters from opening in some areas. It does not, however, provide additional funding to pay for more shelters. Graham-Caso said Bonin would advocate for more shelter funds in the budget.

The motion cites the 2016 homeless count conducted by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority as justification for a crisis declaration. The homeless authority estimated the citys homeless population at 28,000, with about 21,000 living on the street.

The motion noted that there are currently just over 9,000 beds in emergency shelter and transitional housing programs in the city.

What Bonin has said repeatedly is if we had 21,000 people living on the street because of natural disaster, we wouldnt hesitate to declare it a shelter crisis and get every person housed, if not permanently, temporarily, Graham-Caso said. That is the same urgency we should be treating the homeless crisis with.

If adopted, the declaration would allow shelters to be opened as a matter of right on property owned or leased by the city in any zone, without regard to the number of beds or numbers of people served. It would also identify specific zones in commercial, industrial and residential areas where shelters could be opened by right on non-governmental land.

These changes would allow nonprofit and faith-based organizations to open shelters without going through a costly process.

The motion will next be heard in the councils Homelessness and Poverty Committee.

doug.smith@latimes.com

Twitter: @LATDoug
It did not begin well for Alicia Rivera, who carried a stack of fliers as she made her way around the parking lot of a Wilmington shopping center.

The first person she approached brushed past her, uninterested in her spiel about polluted air in the harbor areas smokestack neighborhoods.

The next guy shook his head; he didnt want the flier calling residents to an April 29 climate change march protesting the planned expansion of the nearby Tesoro refinery.

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If that wasnt discouraging enough, these are dark times for someone in the environmental protection movement. President Trump has surrounded himself with climate change doubters and fossil fuel champions, and he has already begun dismantling the Environmental Protection Agency.

But this is California, which has always traveled a higher road, and will continue to do so regardless of what happens in Washington.

Sure, Rivera said, she gets depressed about the pollution pouring out of Washington these days, and worries about Trump trying to scale back higher vehicle emission standards. But as an organizer with Communities for a Better Environment, shes always acted with a sense of urgency, and maybe shell just have to step it up even more.

She scanned the parking lot for another target.

Not everyone responds the same way, she told me. You have to keep trying.

She did, and it paid off as she connected with a man who wanted to hear all about the April 29 march.

Not everyone responds the same way. You have to keep trying.  Alicia Rivera

The she came upon Yolanda Flores, who was loading groceries into a car with her daughter and granddaughter. Flores said they live where Long Beach and Carson come together, and they worry about dirty air quality around schools and playgrounds. Not only were they interested in attending the march, but they called a friend who runs a community group focused on community health, then handed the phone to Rivera so she could add to her army of crusaders.

This march is going to be huge, Rivera promised.

Rivera has been doing this kind of work for eight years, and she follows in a long line of Californians who have fought to safeguard the environment, as if there were no greater cause.

And I do mean a long line.

In 1868, a Scottish-born world traveler sailed up the coast of California, landed in San Francisco and made his way to the Sierra range, where he was humbled and inspired by the majesty of what lay before him. It was the most divinely beautiful of all the mountain chains I have ever seen, wrote John Muir, who would become one of the founders of the Sierra Club and one of the fathers of the national park system.

A little more than 100 years after Muirs arrival, another Californian had become president and helped launch the modern environmental movement after an oil platform catastrophe six miles off the coast.

Richard Nixon came to Santa Barbara and saw firsthand the result of the 1969 blowout. Up and down the coast, for miles, there were dead animals, said Ocean Foundation senior fellow Richard Charter, who recalled Californians using straw and kitty litter to try to sop up the expanding oil slick that fouled spectacular beaches.

Back then, said Charter, protecting Californias natural treasures was not a partisan issue, nor was it a partisan issue under Republican governors Ronald Reagan and Pete Wilson. President Nixon, horrified by the Santa Barbara disaster, was instrumental in the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency that is now in the sights of another Republican president, nearly half a century after the launch of the modern environmental movement.

The Virgin Mary in Riveras office has a mask painted over her mouth. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Charter, whose passion for coastal protection began in the 1950s with abalone-hunting forays along the Sonoma coast, fears Trump and Congress could relax offshore drilling restrictions, with oil companies eager to bore into the ocean floor between La Jolla and Malibu.

Charter said California  with its blessing of natural gifts too magnificent to sacrifice  has to continue to be a national model on climate change, clean energy and conservation.

Tom Steyer, the San Francisco philanthropist and environmental activist whos been mentioned as a possible candidate for governor, said that if U.S. leaders ignore science and surrender their international leadership on environmental protection, there will be ramifications from Timbuktu to Los Angeles. He worries, too, about the possible depletion of funding for research and development of alternative energies.

But California will fight fiercely to protect its standards, Steyer predicted, and he noted that our ideals have spread to other states in waves. Clean energy has moral, environmental and economic advantages, said Steyer, and the country has an obligation to create new jobs for those displaced by the demise of fossil fuel industries.

Trump can say whatever he wants, like King Canute turning back the tides. But he cant. Were not going back, said Steyer.

He has this image in his head thats completely false, that were going to go back to digging coal with picks and shovels.  As much as Republicans are paid off to support fossil fuels, technology will beat them at every turn, and all Trump can do is try to delay that by turning the lights out on research and innovation.

In Alicia Riveras Wilmington office, a painting of the Virgin of Guadalupe has an interesting detail. A mask is painted over her mouth.

The Virgin is also suffering from air pollution, said Rivera, who has spent eight years devoted to what she calls environmental justice. Ive seen her in action before, racing around the area to photograph smokestack flaring and calling the CUT-SMOG hotline.

Tesoro officials have argued that new technology will make the air cleaner, but Riveras colleague, senior scientist Julia May, disputes that. May told me that among other issues, the planned refinery expansion would increase emissions of volatile organic compounds, which could add to high rates of asthma in a region where there are already concerns about rates of lung disease, cancer and low birth weights.

This is a company town, said Rivera, and that makes her job harder. Lots of residents are employed by the refineries, and the oil industry makes donations to community groups. Sometimes its hard to get permission to hand out fliers.

But she conducts classes in her office and speaks to various groups in the harbor towns, educating people about whats in the air they breathe and the advantages of renewable energy. Rivera targets students, and on the day I visited, Long Beach State University student Blanca Cordova was working with her as a volunteer intern.

Cordova said she heard Rivera speak about environmental protection, and, in the California tradition, was drawn to the cause.

And so it continues.

Get more of Steve Lopezs work and follow him on Twitter @LATstevelopez

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It was Henry Smiths second day on the job.

The young security guard was making his rounds at a North Park medical marijuana dispensary in April 2014 when two men walked into the building.

One of the men pointed a gun in his face.

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Smiths actions in the minutes that followed earned him a place alongside six other people Friday being honored by the District Attorneys Office with Citizens of Courage awards.

He told his story Friday to a group of reporters before the awards luncheon held at the Hilton Bayfront Hotel in the East Village.

I quickly retreated and they continued coming toward me, recalled Smith, now 24. They were cussing at me. They were talking to me, telling me they were going to blow my head off.

He talked about how one of the robbers tried to take his gun, but couldnt get it out of the holster so they removed his entire utility belt.

They kicked in a door to the bud room, where the owner of the dispensary was behind a counter.

The robbers then began shoveling money and marijuana into trash bags.

I was face down, and I could hear the owner pleading for his life, Smith said. At that time I knew they were going to kill us. It wasnt going to be a good outcome.

Eventually, the robbers walked back toward the front of the business, which created an opportunity for Smith to get up and find his gun  still in the holster  on the floor.

As he reached for the weapon, one of the robbers came back around a corner and lunged at the security guard.

And thats when Smith fired.

What followed was a shootout inside the Greener Alternative medical marijuana dispensary that left one of the robbers dead and Smith wounded. The guard, who was a newlywed at the time with a daughter on the way, had been hit his his abdomen.

I knew I was shot I just didnt know where, Smith said. He ran out of bullets during the exchange of gunfire and crawled to a restroom to take cover.

Once he and the dispensary owner were inside the restroom, they called 911.

One of the robbers died at the scene. The other, Kurese Bell, 20, was convicted in San Diego Superior Court of murder and other felony charges. He has not yet been sentenced.

On April 25, 2014 Henry Smith was shot while working as a security guard at a marijuana despensary. The DA presented him with the Citizens of Courage Award.

Smiths story was just one of several harrowing tales shared at the awards luncheon where he and the others were recognized for their courage in the face of danger. This is the 27th year the event has been held in San Diego County.

Its often held in conjunction with National Crime Victims Rights week.

I promise you, ultimately you will leave here feeling truly inspired by these amazing individuals, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis told a crowd of 300 in the Hilton hotel ballroom.

The other honorees were:

Aaron Bianco, who was confronted in a church office by an armed man. Bianco secretly texted police during the incident and protected a priest who was working upstairs.

Elisa Lopez, who started a neighborhood program to keep other children safe after her 14-year-old son was shot and killed as a result of random gang violence.

Diane Reynolds, who chased a sexual predator out of her 8-year-old daughters bedroom, forcing him to jump from a second story balcony.

Derek Ensley and Bryan Jones, a pair of teenagers who created public awareness about human trafficking in San Diego County and raised money to help rescue victims.

Kim Schildmeyer, who protected her family from a violent intruder at San Ysidro motel by retreating to a bathroom and fighting off the attacker while calling police.

Dumanis said her office files about 40,000 criminal cases each year, and the seven honorees represented just a fraction of the people involved in those cases who were courageous during the violence and later in court.

Its a priority in our office to support victims of crime, Dumanis said.

Honoree Kim Schildmeyer had been staying in a San Ysidro motel room with several of her family members when a man they didnt know started beating violently on the door. He was threatening her daughter and son-in-law, who was recovering from heart surgery, and her young grandson.

When the man tried to break into the room, Schildmeyer and her relatives were able to hunker down in a tiny bathroom and call police, even as the man tried to break through the door.

Schildmeyer said she was shocked to learn she would receive the award from the District Attorneys Office.

I am honored, but I couldnt see beyond doing what any mother would do, what any grandmother would do, she said in an interview. And so when I heard some of the other stories, I thought, Now thats a hero.

Schildmeyer thanked her other family members who helped fight off the attacker, and the San Diego police officers who arrested him. (The defendant, Henry Vasquez, was convicted later of felony crimes and sentenced to 41 years to life in prison.)

I couldnt have done it without my daughter, she said. She held that door with me.

dana.littlefield@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @danalittlefield
Medical experts in San Diego said the federal governments blessing of the nations first direct-to-consumer genetic testing service is sure to get aspiring competitors drooling  and that its not necessarily a good thing.

Theyre reacting to the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations newly announced approval of a test kit from 23andMe, a company based in Mountain View.

I think other companies have had a sort of wait-and-see attitude since the FDA took action with 23andMe back in 2013, said Joe Panetta, chief executive of Biocom, the San Diego-based trade group that represents Californias biotechnology industry. He was referring to regulators suspending 23andMes original genetic testing service in that year due to lack of substantiation for its marketing claims.

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Panetta noted that 23andMe has been something of a test case for the larger idea of direct-to-consumer genetic testing.

In 2010, San Diego-based Pathway Genomics was poised to pioneer the market with its Genetic Health Report, which tests for 70 different conditions, being sold in 6,000 Walgreens stores nationwide. The FDA decided that Pathways kit met the legal definition of a medical device and was thus subject to review because these tests have not been proven safe, effective or accurate, the agency said.

The Pathway-Walgreens plan quickly fell apart and the FDA sent roughly 20 more rejection letters to companies across the nation advertising similar tests. In 2013, it followed up with a sternly worded warning letter to 23andMe, which had continued to sell direct-to-consumer tests despite the earlier warning. The company then pulled back, focusing on genealogy services, but kept working with the government for approval of its broader genetics offerings.

Now having secured that clearance, 23andMe plans to market its testing for 10 conditions ranging from a blood-clot disorder to Alzheimers and Parkinsons diseases.

Dr. Stephen Kingsmore, director of the genomic medicine institute at Rady Childrens Hospital San Diego, said he has spent about an hour looking at the details of the newly approved test and found that in most cases, it promised to detect some but not all of the genetic mutations known to cause the targeted diseases.

You think youre buying a car and instead youre buying a steering wheel, you know? If you get a negative result on some of these, it doesnt necessarily mean anything, Kingsmore said.

Lisa Madlensky, a board-certified genetic counselor and director of the Family Cancer Genetics Program at UC San Diegos Moores Cancer Center, had some of the same reservations.

She noted that in some cases, the scientific studies that validate the 23andMe testing apply only to people of Eastern European ancestry and thus may not be valid for those of other races and ethnicities. For example, the companys test for dystonia, a movement disorder, has been validated only in patients of Ashkenazi Jewish descent.

This is noted in 23andMes write-ups about its services, but Madlensky said in her experience, patients usually dont read all of the descriptions and back-up material to fully educate themselves on the results theyre about to receive.

I think 23andMe has done a really good job of putting together graphics and descriptions to make things understandable, but you actually have to read through that. Back years ago, when these reports were first coming through, (customers) werent necessarily clicking through to read all of the information that was available to them, she said.

One of the biggest problems, she added, is that patients need to understand the most simple fact of these genetic tests: They dont provide an actual diagnosis. They simply indicate whether a persons genes put him or her at risk of developing a given condition.

Very rarely in disease prediction is it just one factor that makes or breaks it. Usually, its a combination of your genes, our environment, your lifestyle, and throw in a little bit of chance for good measure, Madlensky said.

In an email, Rachel Reichblum, a spokeswoman for 23andMe, said the companys genetic testing isnt designed to be a diagnostic tool.

We always recommend that if you have a family history of a condition or any concerns, you should talk to your doctor or a genetic counselor about appropriate steps to take, Reichblum said.

Kingsmore said hes also concerned that the direct-to-consumer testing approved Thursday by the FDA doesnt come with a budget for doctor education, as is typically the case with newly approved drugs or medical devices.

He feared that many primary care doctors will try to help interested patients comprehend the benefits and limits of 23andMes offerings when they themselves havent been formally taught to make sense of those services.

What that means is that youve to some extent really set the medical community up to fail. People dont realize how difficult interpreting this information is. There are only 500 board-certified medical geneticists in the United States, while there are about 800,000 doctors, Kingsmore said.

Madlensky said she regularly receives calls from, and schedules appointments with, consumers who have ordered a 23andMe test and are confused about what to make of the results. That pattern continued, she noted, even though 23andMe had been forbidden from analyzing test results for more than three years.

How could this be? The company and others like it werent banned from providing clients with raw data from direct-to-consumer, test-kit analyses for specific mutations at specific locations in their genomes. People also try to interpret that raw data by visiting certain websites.

There are sites that will do it for as little as $5, Madlensky said, adding that she has seen instances where the interpretation has caused anxiety about a false positive and others where it has flagged a real condition that needed attention.

In the end, she said, shes generally excited about people engaging with information gleaned from their own DNA as long as they realize that theyre not getting the whole answer from the DIY approach. In all cases, she said, these kinds of tests should be followed up with a much more in-depth analysis that takes into account more possible genetic variables.

Panetta at Biocom said its also important to remember that todays genetic testing  be it from 23andMe or a major medical institution  usually examines only short sections of the much larger genome, but that the field is progressing rapidly in sophistication. He said whole-genome sequencing is getting ever cheaper, meaning that what the FDA approved last week could rapidly be surpassed with broader and deeper product offerings.

The real answer is full genetic sequencing offered over-the-counter to consumers. Were not there yet, but I think we will be there very soon, Panetta said.

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paul.sisson@sduniontribune.com

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One hundred gallons.

Pint by pint, thats how much blood Jayne Heimann has donated over 38 years, making her the San Diego Blood Banks top female donor.

The blood bank celebrated Heimann on Saturday when she came to the groups headquarters to give her usual pint of platelets.

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Heimann, who is in her 60s, donates her platelets about every two weeks.

Sometimes, with your job, you dont have a lot of hours to donate to help somebody else out. This is something I can do that doesnt take that much time, and can help someone else, Heimann said on Saturday.

Heres the thing: She hates needles.

As a nurse inserted the needle into Heimanns arm, the veteran donor closed her eyes.

I dont want to see it. I still hate needles, she said, laughing.

Once the deed was done, Heimann settled back into the chair for what would be awhile.

1 / 14 Diana Dela Cruz, a registered nurse at the San Diego Blood Bank starts the blood drawing process on Jayne Heimann who donated her 100th gallon of blood, blood platelets, Saturday, making her the top female donor. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 2 / 14 Jayne Heimann donates her 100th gallon of blood, blood platelets at the San Diego Blood Bank, making her the top female donor. She started donating blood in 1979 when she answered an appeal for donors, and has been donating ever since. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 3 / 14 Jayne Heimann donates her 100th gallon of blood, blood platelets at the San Diego Blood Bank, making her the top female donor. She started donating blood in 1979 when she answered an appeal for donors, and has been donating ever since. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 4 / 14 Jayne Heimann donates her 100th gallon of blood, blood platelets at the San Diego Blood Bank, making her the top female donor. She started donating blood in 1979 when she answered an appeal for donors, and has been donating ever since. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 5 / 14 Jayne Heimann donates her 100th gallon of blood, blood platelets at the San Diego Blood Bank, making her the top female donor. She started donating blood in 1979 when she answered an appeal for donors, and has been donating ever since. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 6 / 14 Jayne Heimann donates her 100th gallon of blood, blood platelets at the San Diego Blood Bank, making her the top female donor. She started donating blood in 1979 when she answered an appeal for donors, and has been donating ever since. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 7 / 14 Jayne Heimann donates her 100th gallon of blood, blood platelets at the San Diego Blood Bank, making her the top female donor. She started donating blood in 1979 when she answered an appeal for donors, and has been donating ever since. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 8 / 14 Jayne Heimann donates her 100th gallon of blood, blood platelets at the San Diego Blood Bank, making her the top female donor. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 9 / 14 Jayne Heimann donates her 100th gallon of blood, blood platelets at the San Diego Blood Bank, making her the top female donor. She started donating blood in 1979 when she answered an appeal for donors, and has been donating ever since. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 10 / 14 Jayne Heimann donates her 100th gallon of blood, blood platelets at the San Diego Blood Bank, making her the top female donor. She started donating blood in 1979 when she answered an appeal for donors, and has been donating ever since. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 11 / 14 The amount of blood platelets extracted from Jayne Heimanns blood is monitored. She donated her 100th gallon of blood, blood platelets at the San Diego Blood Bank, making her the top female donor. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 12 / 14 Jayne Heimann donates her 100th gallon of blood, blood platelets at the San Diego Blood Bank, making her the top female donor. She started donating blood in 1979 when she answered an appeal for donors, and has been donating ever since. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 13 / 14 Jayne Heimann received a certificate and plaque after she completed donating her 100th gallon of blood, blood platelets at the San Diego Blood Bank, making her the top female donor. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune) 14 / 14 Jayne Heimann donated her 100th gallon of blood, blood platelets at the San Diego Blood Bank, making her the top female donor. She started donating blood in 1979 when she answered an appeal for donors, and has been donating ever since. (Howard Lipin / San Diego Union-Tribune)

She was hooked up to a machine that would take her blood, remove the platelets and return the red cells and plasma to her arm. The process takes about 70 minutes. Knobs turned and the machine whirred as it worked on Heimann.

Its a time investment, but blood bank officials said its worth it.

Platelets commonly are given to people undergoing bone marrow transplants, chemotherapy or radiation treatment. Another destination is patients recovering from surgeries. The function of these cells is to help blood to clot.

As Heimann sat in the chair, occasionally squeezing her hand, the yellow platelets began to appear in a medical bag hanging next to her.

She doesnt know who her frequent blood donations have helped since 1979. Theres an anonymity involved in the process. But that doesnt bother her.

The celebrity of donating her 100th gallon also didnt matter to Heimann.

As news cameras arrived to document her donation, she joked, You guys are raising my blood pressure.

How about the big number, 100 gallons? It just means that I continue to have good health and can continue to help others, she said.

Heimann sees some personal benefit from donating blood.

As for all regular donors, the blood bank measures blood pressure, cholesterol, hemoglobin level and pulse  and tracks it over time.

Heimann values that. Her mother died at a younger age than Heimann is at now.

After seeing her mother struggle with multiple ailments, Ive always wanted to keep up my health, she said.

She plans to continue donating as long as she lives in San Diego. The government worker and Navy veteran expects to move out of state when she finally retires.

Heimann suggests that people interested in donating blood should dip a toe in the water by giving once. Donating whole blood, as opposed to platelets, is a shorter process and can be done about every two months.

The San Diego Blood Bank always needs donors.

The nonprofit group aims to collect 400 pints of blood each day to serve 40 Southern California hospitals.

The blood bank has launched a Power of One campaign during which it is asking donors to bring in a friend.

Weve discovered one of the reasons that people dont donate is because theyve never been asked to, said Leslie Eagan, the blood banks manager of partner relations.

While Heimann was the star on Saturday, shes not the blood banks biggest donor.

The blood bank celebrated its top male donor in September. Stephen McMeeken has donated more than 150 gallons of blood for others to use.

jen.steele@sduniontribune.com
As interest in specialty coffee perks up, a local nonprofit plans to introduce classes that will quench java junkies thirst for roasting skills while creating job opportunities for the areas most disadvantaged.

The newly formed San Diego Coffee Training Institute soon will begin offering classes in Cafe Virtuoso, a Barrio Logan coffee house and roaster that wholesales specialty coffee and tea to shops and restaurants.

Savannah Phillips, founder of the institute and quality assurance manager at Cafe Virtuoso, said paying students who take classes set to begin next month will help subsidize scholarships for other students facing various challenges.

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She expects many of the scholarship students to be youths transitioning out of foster care, while others may be people people who are homeless or who were recently incarcerated.

Gaining skills in the rapidly growing field of specialty coffee will put the people on the inside track for jobs in area coffee houses, she said, and will put them ahead of other employees who dont have the same deep knowledge about beans and roasting techniques. That could lead to promotions and other jobs in hotels and the hospitality industry, she said.

Once youre in the door, it can lead to so many different things, said Laurie Britton, Phillips mother and owner of Cafe Virtuoso. We sell to wholesale accounts, and Ive constantly got customers asking me, Do you have a good barista?

While chains like Starbucks offer little advanced training and have automated much of their operations, Britton said the San Diego Coffee Training Institute will teach the most updated techniques in the industry, making the students more marketable and well-rounded.

This is more about getting into the craft of making coffee as opposed to pushing buttons, she said.

The institutes partners include Second Chance, which provide workforce readiness training and job placement programs for youth and adults who have been incarcerated or face other challenges.

Other partners are the Monarch School for homeless youth, Father Joes Villages and San Diego Workforce Partnership.

Phillips said those partners will help their clients overcome personal issues and teach them things like resume-writing and the soft skills of displaying professional behavior in the workplace.

When ready, theyll be referred to the institute to learn the hard skills about the coffee industry.

A recent fundraiser helped raise money for a lab that the institute will build to use as a classroom inside Cafe Virtuoso. Until then, the cafe will trim its operating hours to make way for the classes.

Phillips expects students in the regular classes will include professionals and home-roasters with a passion for specialty coffee. The first course will be 24 hours and taught over three eight-hours days for a cost of $1,095, or $995 for the first 10 people who sign up.

Britton said the cost is reasonable, considering their facility is certified by the Specialty Coffee Association and the same course at other certified schools cost $1,100 to $1,600.

The closest certified lab to San Diego is in south Los Angeles, and Britton said she paid $1,500 to take a three-day non-certified course in Portland, Oregon.

I think an awareness of craft coffee has finally reached San Diego, Britton said about the change shes seen over the past two years. Its heavy in the Northwest, and has crept its way down.

Cafe Virtuoso opened in 2008 and is a local favorite of many coffee enthusiasts, including the club San Diego Home Roasters, which holds Sunday meetings there.

It also is in one of the citys most dense population of homeless people. Its location near the corner of National Avenue and 16th Street places it just around the corner from where the city once operated a winter homeless shelter, and homeless people in tents or other makeshift shelters still are a common sight on the block.

If you look at a density map, this is the bull-eye center for the homeless population, Phillips said.

Britton had wanted a lab to teach classes at the cafe for years, and Phillips said she got the idea of making it a nonprofit when talking with a friend who had a background in nonprofits and had once worked with her.

She brought it up and I said, Yeah, the homeless population down here is out of control, Phillips said.

The idea of helping a broader population soon grew as she met more partners. San Diego City Council member David Alvarez attended the cafes recent fundraiser and brought people who would become partners, while Monarch School teachers who frequent the cafe led to another partnership.

The next thing you knew, the world became very small and everybody knew everybody, Phillips said.

Phillips is hoping the institute will have classes for scholarship students from Second Chance and maybe Monarch School by the end of May or early June.

The scholarship students classes also will include some lessons designed to help them find and keep jobs in the field, and Phillips said all classes will have lessons on the intricacies of coffee from the seed to cup process, including how cofee is cultivated, graded, exported and roasted.

This is taking coffee to a different level, she said.

gary.warth@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @GaryWarthUT

760-529-4939
Some Syrians in San Diego on Friday applauded a U.S. missile strike on a Syrian government airbase, while others condemned the action by President Donald Trump.

Those who approved of the strike appreciated the rebuke of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, with no confirmed reports of civilian casualties. Some critics thought the strike was a useless show of power. Others didnt want to see any more violence in their home country, regardless of the reason for it. Syria has been fighting a civil war for years with rebels trying to topple Assads regime.

Trump ordered the missile strike Thursday evening in response to a chemical weapons attack on Syrian civilians earlier this week that was credited to Assads regime.

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We dont need any bombs anymore, said Eman Zarour, 22, of El Cajon, who came to the U.S. in September 2016 as a refugee with her family. Already our country is destroyed.

The Zarours fled their home in Homs in 2012 as bombs were being dropped on their street. For Zarour, the reason for Thursdays missile attack didnt matter. She wants to see Assad ousted because of what hes done to the people of Syria, but she doesnt think missiles are the way to do it.

I hope they can find a way to remove Assad without bombs, without more war, Zarour said.

Zarour also said Trumps action was confusing because of his previous actions cutting off the flow of Syrian refugees to the U.S.

Trumps first executive order relating to refugees, signed in late January, singled out Syrian refugees and banned them from entering the U.S. for an indeterminate period of time. That order was blocked in court, and he issued a new version of the executive order in early March. While that order no longer contained a specific block on Syrian refugees, it still included Syria on a list of countries whose citizens would be barred from traveling to the U.S. for 90 days. That order has now also been blocked in court.

He doesnt want to let Syrians come inside this country, and also he tried to help us by bomb, Zarour said. How you will help us and you dont want to let the people come in here?

Wael Sawah, chief editor of the Syrian Observer, came to the U.S. from Syria about five years ago, he said. The Rancho Penasquitos resident called Trumps missile strike smart because he targeted a military base and avoided places where civilians might be hurt. He said Assad had committed many atrocities against his own people.

I believe that such horrible crime, war crime, cannot go without punishment, Sawah said over the phone. The U.S. administration should have taken stronger action against Assad a long time ago.

The Trump administration, Sawah said, should follow up the strike with intense diplomatic pressure on both Syria and Syrias allies  including Russia.

Such pressure could lead to changes that will lead to real political transition in Syria that will shift Syria from a totalitarian, corrupted state into a secular democracy where rule of law, equality and justice prevail, where men and women work and live equally and where all the communities of the Syrian nation enjoy 100 percent equal status, Sawah said.

Sawah didnt take the missile strike as a sign that Trump might change his stance on Syrian refugees, but he called on the administration to reconsider its position.

I hope this will be only the beginning to make the U.S. administration have a better understanding of the reality of the Syrian crisis and the Syrian cause, Sawah said.

San Diego County has a growing Syrian refugee community. About 1,140 have arrived since 2014. Most settle in El Cajon or City Heights.

The civil war between government forces and opponents to Assads regime began in 2011.

Syrian families who fled the war have shared stories of bombings, kidnappings and robberies on their journey from their home to eventual resettlement in the U.S. Some Americans have adopted newly arrived Syrian families in an effort to help them feel welcome and adjust to life in the U.S.

Mustafa Dib arrived with his family as a refugee about two years ago. Hes now a community organizer at Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans in City Heights. He called Trumps missile strike useless.

With Russias and Irans support, [Assad] will stay killing people, and these few missiles will not solve any problem in Syria, Dib said in an interview at his office.

American leaders have been noncommittal about their stances on Assad, he said. They shift between wanting to see him removed from power and not wanting to focus resources on him because they want to fight the Islamic State, he said.

That gives Assad time to do what he wants to do, Dib said. Nobody really wants to solve the problem in Syria.

He doesnt want to see the U.S. take military action in Syria, he said, especially if its going to end up like the situation in Iraq.

We dont want this kind of resolution, he said.

Dib doesnt think that Trump actually cares about Syrians.

If he really cares about Syrian children and Syrian people, why did he close the door? Dib said. This American action, its a message, but not for Assad. Trump sent a message, I am here. I am strong, and thats it, nothing helpful for the Syrian people.

kate.morrissey@sduniontribune.com, @bgirledukate
It was less than a couple of hours before dawn when Wael Zefa heard a horrific amount of noise rumbling through the east Syrian village of Shayrat.

During the six years of civil war ravaging Syria, Zefa has become used to the sounds of mortar shells and rockets. But nothing like this.

What we heard this morning  their sound was very, very loud, he said.

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Explosions ripped through the morning. The ground shook. Windows broke. Walls cracked.

What Zefa and his neighbors experienced was the pounding of Tomahawk cruise missiles launched by the U.S. to clobber the Syrian governments Shayrat airfield, less than a mile from the village.

A total of 60 missiles were fired at 4:40 a.m. Friday in response to an apparent chemical weapons attack this week, blamed by the U.S. on the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, that killed an estimated 70 people in the rebel-held province of Idlib.

Zefas house was shaken so severely that a chunk of the roof broke off and smashed to the ground.

There was no way we could stay at home, Zefa, 38, said by phone from where he and his family have sought shelter.

Zefa quickly sent his wife and four children to a nearby bunker before running to his roof for a better view. What was unfolding, he would learn later, was a new front in Americas involvement in Syria: After thousands of airstrikes directed at Islamist militants, U.S. missiles for the first time were directly targeting Syrian military assets.

This satellite photo from the Department of Defense shows a battle damage assessment image of Shayrat airfield. (HANDOUT / AFP/Getty Images)

The Pentagon described the strike as a proportional response to Assads heinous act, possibly involving a nerve agent, directed at the northern town of Khan Sheikhoun.

The strike was intended to deter the regime from using chemical weapons again, the Pentagon statement said, adding that the Shayrat airfield had been used to store chemical weapons.

The Pentagon said 59 cruise missiles (one fell in the water) hit aircraft, hardened aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage, ammunition supply bunkers, air defense systems, and radars, rendering the military airfield inoperable.

Russian forces had been notified of the strike in advance, and had taken precautions to minimize risk to Russian or Syrian personnel located at the airfield, U.S. officials said.

But Syrian state news operator SANA said six soldiers had been killed in the attack. It later reported nine civilians had also been killed, including four children, in the surrounding villages, though there was no way of independently verifying the reports.

A grainy nighttime video released on social media Friday depicted the moment of the missiles impact. It shows a succession of glowing lights in the distance, then the shaking of the cameramans hand as a missile apparently makes thunderous contact.

Mohammad Zefa, a 41-year-old oil ministry employee, had run outside with his family during the strike. When one of the missiles hit an ammunition warehouse, he said, you stopped knowing where the explosions were coming from.

We ran back inside the house. After, we saw a rocket had fallen thirty yards from our house, he said in a telephone interview. All the windows broke, here and at my neighbors house. Some older houses even had cracked walls.

A report by Russia24 television from Shayrat airbase showed the strikes results. A number of aircraft parked in concrete hangars appeared unscathed, while other parts of the airfield were a jumble of debris and charred metal chunks.

A correspondent with Russia24, Evgeny Poddubnyy, said in an interview on social media that nine hangars had been destroyed, along with six aircraft, as well as a large amount of ordnance. The runway, however, and a number of Russian helicopters and another Syrian aircraft appeared to be undamaged.

The loss of the airbase is a significant one for the government. Built in the 1960s, it had 40 hangars and housed a large number of Assads fighters bombers, which often would scramble to attack rebel-held areas near the city of Homs.

For residents of Shayrat and other villages, the airbase was instrumental in keeping at bay Islamic State militants hiding in the eastern desert of Homs.

Now with the base so severely damaged, Mohammad Zefa, a distant cousin of Wael Zefa, expected Islamic State to try to advance to the village.

Women and children have already started to leave Shayrat to go to Homs city. Were not afraid of airstrikes. Our fear is the attack from the east, he said.

For him, Fridays attack was proof that the U.S. helps Daesh. He referred to Islamic State by its Arabic acronym.

When Islamic State first overran the city of Palmyra in 2015, it celebrated its takeover with a theatrical slaughtering of government soldiers. Mohammad Zefa insisted he would fight before suffering the same fate.

Here we are loyalists to the state to the highest degree, he said. Its an existential battle for us.

Bulos is a special correspondent.
A day after Navy warships launched cruise missiles at an air base in Syria, about 30 protesters assembled outside of the federal building in downtown San Diego to oppose U.S. military intervention in the war-torn country.

The protesters on Friday were largely concerned that the military involvement would escalate beyond the 59 Tomahawk missile strikes.

America has been at war almost my entire life, said Lorena Lynch, 26. Its done absolutely nothing for me.

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She and others worried that U.S. military action would only exacerbate the ongoing civil war in Syria.

We dont need to police the rest of the world. Thats not our job, Lynch said.

On Thursday two destroyers in the Mediterranean Sea launched Tomahawk missiles at the base believed to have been used by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to launch a chemical weapons attack against civilians in his country. President Donald Trump authorized the strike in response.

Some doubted that Assad was behind the deadly gas attack.

Its very unlikely that Assad, winning the war, would use chemical weapons against civilians, said Marcos Perez, of Bonita.

He said he wants the United Nations to investigate, and he wants U.S. advisors out of Syria as well.

According to a United Nations inspectors and reports, the Syrian government used sarin gas in 2013 against civilians with estimated deaths ranging from about 200 to 1,700.

Twitter: @jptstewart

joshua.stewart@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1841
A young man broke into a Pacific Beach home and threatened the elderly resident before taking off with her purse Friday night, San Diego police said.

The 79-year-old victim, who lives on Moorland Drive, walked into her living room about 9:45 p.m. and found a young man picking up her belongings, police said. The resident stepped between the burglar and her purse, which was sitting on a table behind her, and the burglar picked up a pair of scissors and pointed them at her stomach, police said.

The woman moved away, and the robber grabbed the purse and fled.

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The woman was not injured. A detailed description of the burglar was not given.

kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @kristinadavis
A supervisor at a San Diego-based metals company was sentenced on Friday to two years in prison for embezzling about $2 million and using it for expenses including vacations in Hawaii, Las Vegas and Disneyland, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

Edward Abellana, 40, worked as the accounts payable supervisor for Argen Corporation. He was there from December 2011 to October 2015.

From June 2012 to October 2015, Abellana made purchases on a company credit card issued to an executive, according to his plea agreement. He would then alter the invoices and conceal the personal expenses as business costs in the companys records.

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He also wrote $162,000 in checks against the companys checking account to his own benefit.

Abellana used the money to fund a lavish lifestyle including a trip to Super Bowl XLIX in Glendale, Ariz., in 2015.

He also charged $70,500 to charter a jet to go with his family and friends from Carlsbad to Honolulu, according to the plea.

Abellana failed to report the embezzled funds on his tax returns from 2012 to 2015, he admitted in court. For instance, he reported to the IRS in 2015 that he had no taxable income  when he had actually take in $857,000.

He pleaded guilty in San Diego federal court to charges of wire fraud and making a false tax return in January, on the same day he was charged.

He was ordered to pay $1.95 million to the company and $661,000 to the IRS.

Abellana faced up to 20 years in prison on the wire fraud charge and three years on the tax charge. He was ordered by Judge U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino to surrender to authorities on June 2.

Edward Abellana took advantage of his trusted position at the company in order to wire millions of dollars for his own personal benefit, Acting U.S. Attorney Alana W. Robinson said in a news release. When a trusted employee uses federal wires to feed his own greed, he will be vigorously investigated and prosecuted for his crimes  not only for stealing the money, but also for failing to report the income and pay taxes.

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ricky.young@sduniontribune.com
A judge overseeing the corruption trial of eight former Bell city administrators wonders whether prosecutors missed another overpaid city employee, the police chief.

The Los Angeles Times (https://lat.ms/ur9RXN) reported Monday that Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy asked prosecutors why police chief Randy Adams is not a defendant in the case.

Adams is reported to have made more money running his 46-person police department than the police chief for the city of Los Angeles or the top LA County sheriff.

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Prosecutors say his contract was written in a way to make it impossible for citizens to know how much he was paid.

Deputy District Attorney Max Huntsman says its more difficult to get a fraud conviction with Adams because he didnt control the citys purse strings.
Oh, baby season! Spring has sprung at the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park, where turtles are hatching, kudus are hiding and the humans are up to their eyeballs in awe. Even the professionals.

It never gets old, I can tell you that, said Andy Blue, associate curator of animals at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Whether it is the eighth birth or the 80th, we never take it for granted. And it doesnt have to be a high-profile cheetah or rhino. Thats true for every animal here.

Hundreds of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates are born or hatched at the Zoo and Safari Park every year. Here is a guide to some of the new arrivals.

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Species savers

From the critically endangered western lowland gorilla to the endangered Nile lechwe antelopes, the Safari Park baby boom is striking a blow against animal extinction, one irresistible youngster at a time.

While youre exploring East Africa, keep an eye out for the new lechwe, a dainty baby that was born on April 1. And give yourself some big I Spy points if you find it. Like the impalas and elands that roam the field habitats, lechwe mothers hide their babies so expertly in the ravines and tall grasses, even the keepers have a tough time tracking them down.

You will not have a hard time spotting the Somali wild ass, which live in their own exhibit across the tram pathway from the South Africa exhibit. With their striped legs and silvery blue coats, the critically endangered wild horses are stunning creatures, and the three youngsters  including a 2-month-old female  look like little four-legged miracles. Which is what they are.

They come from desert areas that have had civil wars for many many years, Blue said of the horses, which are found in Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopa. And somehow, they survived.

While were on the subject of miracles, say a big, gushy hello to Leslie, the baby western lowland gorilla. Now 5 months old, Leslie is part of the Safari Parks troop of critically endangered western lowland gorillas, a group that includes mother Kokomo, father Winston, 5-year-old brother Monroe and 2-year-old half-sister Joanne.

Leslie is still nursing, but she has already developed a taste for yams. You will usually see her cradled in Kokomos protective arms, but Monroe and even little Joanne have been seen carting her around the Gorilla Forest exhibit. Catch Leslie while you can.

She is a busy little thing, said lead keeper Peggy Sexton. Shes very curious, and she explores all over. She goes and goes and goes, and then she just runs out of gas.

1 / 43 An Angolan Colobus male named Zuberi sleeps next to his mom, Lia. Zuberi was born Feb. 26 at the San Diego Zoo. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 2 / 43 An Angolan Colobus male named Zuberi sleeps next to his mom, Lia. Zuberi was born Feb. 26 at the San Diego Zoo. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 3 / 43 An Angolan Colobus male named Zuberi sleeps next to his mom, Lia. Zuberi was born Feb. 26 at the San Diego Zoo. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 4 / 43 An Angolan Colobus male named Zuberi sleeps next to his mom, Lia. Zuberi was born Feb. 26 at the San Diego Zoo. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 5 / 43 An Angolan Colobus male named Zuberi sleeps next to his mom, Lia. Zuberi was born Feb. 26 at the San Diego Zoo. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 6 / 43 A pair of radiated tortoise that were hatched in December 2016 at the San Diego Zoo. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 7 / 43 Shauni, a reticulated giraffe and her baby, Sharifa, who was born April 3. Her name means distinguished in Swahili. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 8 / 43 Shauni, a reticulated giraffe and her baby, Sharifa, who was born April 3. Her name means distinguished in Swahili. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 9 / 43 Shauni, a reticulated giraffe and her baby, Sharifa, who was born April 3. Her name means distinguished in Swahili. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 10 / 43 This radiated tortoise was hatched in December 2016 at the San Diego Zoo. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 11 / 43 A Somali wild ass was born Nov. 16 at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 12 / 43 This pancake tortoise was hatched in January at the San Diego Zoo. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 13 / 43 This pancake tortoise was hatched in January at the San Diego Zoo. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 14 / 43 This endangered Fijian banded iguana was hatched in December 2016 at the San Diego Zoo. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 15 / 43 This endangered Fijian banded iguana was hatched in December 2016 at the San Diego Zoo. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 16 / 43 This endangered Fijian banded iguana was hatched in December 2016 at the San Diego Zoo. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 17 / 43 A 6-month-old Linnaeus two-toed sloth female named Estrella, born on Oct. 12 at the San Diego Zoo, heads back to her mother, Consuela. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 18 / 43 This 6-month-old Linnaeus two-toed sloth female named Estrella was born Oct. 12 at the San Diego Zoo. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 19 / 43 A 6-month-old Linnaeus two-toed sloth female named Estrella, born Oct. 12 at the San Diego Zoo, hangs from her keeper, Chad Summers. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 20 / 43 A 6-month-old Linnaeus two-toed sloth female named Estrella, born Oct. 12 at the San Diego Zoo, hangs from her keeper, Chad Summers. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 21 / 43 This 6-month-old Linnaeus two-toed sloth female named Estrella was born Oct. 12 at the San Diego Zoo. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 22 / 43 This 6-month-old Linnaeus two-toed sloth female named Estrella was born Oct. 12 at the San Diego Zoo. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 23 / 43 A North Sulawesi babirusa piglet, born March 30 and yet to be named, is shown with mom Mary Kate at the San Diego Zoo. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 24 / 43 A North Sulawesi babirusa piglet, born March 30 and yet to be named, is shown with mom Mary Kate at the San Diego Zoo. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 25 / 43 A North Sulawesi babirusa piglet, born March 30 and yet to be named, is shown with mom Mary Kate at the San Diego Zoo. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 26 / 43 A North Sulawesi babirusa piglet, born March 30 and yet to be named, is shown with mom Mary Kate at the San Diego Zoo. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 27 / 43 A North Sulawesi babirusa piglet, born March 30 and yet to be named, is shown with mom Mary Kate at the San Diego Zoo. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 28 / 43 Tombi-Jeanne is one of the Cheetah cubs born on Nov. 19. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 29 / 43 Maureen ODuryee, a senior animal trainer at the San Diego Zoo, works with Ilangha, a Cheetah cub born on Nov. 19. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 30 / 43 Tombi-Jeanne is one of the Cheetah cubs born on Nov. 19 at the San Diego Zoo. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 31 / 43 One of the two Cheetah cubs born on Nov. 19 at the San Diego Zoo. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 32 / 43 Maureen ODuryee, a senior animal trainer at the San Diego Zoo works with Ilangha a Cheetah cub born last year on November 19th. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 33 / 43 Cheetah cubs, Ilangha and Tombi-Jeanne born last year on November 19th, play in their enclosure at the San Diego Zoo. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 34 / 43 Maureen ODuryee, a senior animal trainer at the San Diego Zoo works with Ilangha a Cheetah cub born last year on November 19th. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 35 / 43 Holly, a southern white rhino, and her male calf, Masamba, who was born April 2 in the East Africa field habitat at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 36 / 43 This is Masamba, a southern white rhino male calf who was born April 2 in the East Africa field habitat at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 37 / 43 Taj, a male greater one-horned rhino, born on Nov. 10, is shown with his mother, Tanaya. The name Taj means crown or jewel in Hindi. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 38 / 43 A near-threatened Kori bustard that hatched on March 27 at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 39 / 43 Leslie, a female western lowland gorilla, sleeps as her mother, Kokomo, holds her. Leslie was born Oct. 19. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 40 / 43 Two endangered scaly-sided mergansers were born on March 31 at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 41 / 43 Taj, a male greater one-horned rhino, born on Nov. 10, rests with his mother, Tanaya. The name Taj means crown or jewel in Hindi. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 42 / 43 Taj, a male greater one-horned rhino, born on Nov. 10, rests with his mother, Tanaya. The name Taj means crown or jewel in Hindi. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune) 43 / 43 A Nile lechwe, center, was born April 1 at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Big babies

She was born on April 3, and Sharifa the reticulated giraffe is already bigger than she appears. Next to mother Shauni, the latest addition to the Africa Plains exhibit looks adorably petite. In reality? Totally adorable, totally not petite. Giraffes are usually about 6 feet tall at birth. Not that you could ever get close enough to one to find out.

If there is a new baby, the whole herd will gather around to look, Blue said, as Sharifa was engulfed in a circle of tail-swishing herd-mates. Giraffes look calm, but they can be dangerous. They can kick in all directions. We dont get close to the rhino or giraffe babies if we dont have to.

But good luck keeping your doting eyes off of Taj. Born last November, the male greater one-horned rhino weighed 180 pounds at birth and is up to about 600 pounds now. You can spot him in the Asian Plains and Central Asia areas, where he will be acting like the big man on campus.

The rambunctious youngster, who is the 70th greater one-horned rhino to be born at the Safari Park since 1972, will happily charge keeper trucks and grown-up Malayan sambar deer, safe in the knowledge that his 5,000 pound mother, Tayana, is always available for backup. As humans often say about their own challenging offspring, its a good thing hes cute.

The rhinos are probably my favorite animal, Blue said. They have a lot of personality and they are easily trained. And when you scratch and pet them, they will lie on their side like big dogs.

Meet your ambassadors

Its Tombi-Jeanne, Ilangha and Estrella reporting for duty. Eventually.

Tombi-Jeanne and Ilangha are 4-month-old cheetah sisters, and Estrella is a 5-month-old Linnaeus two-toed sloth. All three youngsters are future members of San Diego Zoo Globals animal ambassador program, where they will be the public face of wildlife. Each in its own way.

Tombi-Jeanne and Ilangha, who were hand-raised at the Safari Park after their mother rejected them, will eventually be paired with domestic-dog puppies, a bonding partnership that helps the naturally wary cheetahs relax and enjoy their very public lives. But first, the boisterous duo have to learn some basic commands, including sit, stay, and please wear this collar. Or not.

The two of them feed off each other. When cheetahs are with the dogs, the dog is the boss, and they dont have a boss yet, animal training supervisor Charmaine Davis said, as the furry twins trotted through a morning training session that included a lot of praise and plenty of treats, but no collar-wearing yet. They are both really smart and they learn really quickly. Visitors will see a lot of positive reinforcement training with these two.

Meanwhile, in her Elephant Odyssey exhibit, Estrella the Linnaeus two-toed sloth is doing her version of training. Which is pretty much what youd expect sloth training to be.

We reward her for hanging out with me, keeper Chad Summers said of the 3-pound sloth, who was clinging to his chest like a barnacle, her wet nose buried in his jacket. We go on field trips in the Zoo, just to get her used to being away from Mom. Then we give her a chance to climb back into the tree by herself, and at that point, Mom will come out and scoop her up.

For the nocturnal sloth, the biggest challenge is being up and moving during the day. For the human keeper, the challenge is thinking of what the challenge could possibly be.

Its just a joy to have these babies climbing all over you, Summers said. It feels so good to know Im doing my part to help people learn about these animals.

Little creatures, big charms

So how do you like your animal babies? Cute and coddled? Cute and camouflaged? Cute and zippy? Cute and feisty? When its springtime at the Zoo, you wont have to choose.

For a fascinating study in family dynamics, swing by the Angolan Colobus monkey exhibit to see who is holding Zuberi now. The snow-white male born on Feb. 26 is most often in the care of mother Lia, but if Lia needs a break to rest or forage, she will hand the baby off to a female member of the troop. This is officially known as aunting behavior, but when little Zuberi is handed off to sister Safiri, who is 9 months old and tiny, it is unofficially known as The Best Photo Opp Ever.

You may not get so lucky at the Lesser kudu exhibit on Polar Hill. With their distinctive stripes and elegant faces, the Lesser kudu are some of the most beautiful members of the antelope family. As for the Zoos 3-week-old male calf, he looks like Bambi with a snazzy paint job. Sadly, you might have to take our word on that.

At this age, they have two jobs. To eat and to hide, said keeper Isaac Hebert. Hes perfect at his jobs.

Dont despair. At the North Sulawesi babirusa pig exhibit along the Tiger Trail walkway, a piglet born on March 30 is already racing around after mother Mary Kate in a blur of leaf-sniffing, mud-rolling activity. Its sex is undetermined, so it doesnt have a name yet. But it definitely has some moves.

This one is running all over the place, senior keeper Victoria Girdler said. These babies are very curious. They are always investigating what Im doing.

And because every great show needs a coming attraction, we end our baby journey in the back room of the Reptile House, where a 3-month-old pancake tortoise that would fit in the palm of your hand is making a giant impression. Little head bobbing and little legs motoring, it is clearly primed for its future in the Childrens Zoo or the Heart of the Zoo habitat. Consider yourself warned.

Adorable, right? senior keeper Rachael Walton said. Right.

Twitter: @karla_peterson

karla.peterson@sduniontribune.com
The U.S. military on Thursday launched a 59-Tomahawk cruise missile attack on a Syrian airfield that, according to various reports, destroyed at least 20 aircraft in the span of 30 minutes -- an awesome show of force that has reacquainted America with one of its most relied-upon weapons.

The missile strike was done in response to Tuesdays chemical weapon attack by the Syrian regime that killed more than 80 civilians, which President Donald Trump described as a barbaric attack in breach of Syrias promise to not repeat the August 2013 chemical attack that killed 1,429 people.

Thursdays strike  which drew mixed reactions in the U.S. and around the world  was the latest opportunity for the U.S. Navy to use the high-tech Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles, or TLAMs, a weapon the U.S. has relied upon since 1991. Here are five facts about the Tomahawk missiles that make them the weapon of choice.

1. Self-piloted

Tomahawk missiles are self-guided and can launch from far distances without needing aircraft. But what makes them particularly special is their ability to evade missile defenses and strike a target using GPS coordinates.

Using the Tomahawks on Thursday meant the U.S. government didnt have to seek permission from countries like Turkey where U.S. warplanes are based. Instead, the missiles were launched from the USS Ross and the USS Porter, two Navy destroyers stationed hundreds of miles away in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, the Pentagon said.

2. Speed and distance

Tomahawk missiles can travel at low altitudes as far as 1,500 miles and at speeds of up to 550 mph, according to Military Times. Reporting done by the Washington Post found that Syria possess some surface-to-air missile systems, but it was unclear whether they deterred any of the 59 missiles from hitting their intended target.

Reports quoting military sources said at least 20 jets were destroyed in the process. But Russians working with the Syrian regime said that only 23 of the 59 cruise missiles reached the air base.

3. Explosive capability

Each of the Tomahawk missiles used in Thursdays attack was equipped with a 1,000-pound warhead that, according to the Washington Posts reporting, have less explosive yield than larger bombs carried by manned U.S. aircraft. But that doesnt mean they are ineffective at causing huge damage  in this case, deterring Syrias ability to use chemical weapons against rebel groups and civilians.

4. Reliable

The militarys use of Tomahawk missiles date back to 1991s Operation Desert Storm, which Military Times described them as the expected opening salvo for most U.S. military operations, which included the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and again in Iraq in 2003.

The U.S. used Tomahawk missiles 288 times in the 1991 Gulf War and 802 times in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, according to The Independent and Statista. In total, the cruise missiles have been used more than 2,000 times since 1991, Military Times cited Navy officials.

5. U.S. has large stockpile

Various reports indicate that the U.S. Navy has a stockpile of somewhere between 3,500 to 4,000 Tomahawk missiles ready for use. This means the Pentagon has enough for long conflicts and plenty to use for more limited missions.

Have some thoughts to share?

Join me in a conversation: Shoot me a private email with your thoughts or ideas on a different approach to this story. As always, you can also send us a tweet.

Email: luis.gomez@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @RunGomez
The crimes were chillingly similar. The same San Diego beach. Two teen girls beaten in the head, mutilated with a knife, parts of the breast sliced off. Strangled to death. Wet sand stuffed in their mouths.

Barbara Nantais, 15, and Claire Hough, 14, were both out-of-towners, from Long Beach and Rhode Island, respectively, who felt the same draw to Torrey Pines State Beach on August days, six years apart.

For decades, as their murders remained unsolved, it was hard to mention one case without mentioning the other. There were just too many similarities to imagine the brunettes werent killed by the same person.

SDPD criminalist Kevin Brown works at a crime scene in 1991. Brown, who worked for 20 years in the San Diego Police Departments laboratory, apparently committed suicide as police were making preparations to arrest him in the 1984 murder of 14-year-old Claire Hough.  Howard Lipin / U-T San Diego (Howard Lipin)

Ronald Tatro was identified through DNA as a suspect in a 1984 homicide. He died in 2011.

Last week, San Diego police said theyve solved one of the murders. DNA evidence linked two men  retired San Diego police criminalist Kevin Charles Brown and violent criminal Ronald Clyde Tatro  to Claires 1984 killing, police said.

But no evidence has surfaced that links either one to Barbaras 1978 death, said San Diego homicide Capt. Al Guaderrama.

Barbaras murder is still an open investigation, but police say Claires killing is case closed. Tatro died in 2011 in an apparent boating accident in Tennessee. And on Tuesday, Browns body was found hanging from a tree in Cuyamaca State Park in an apparent suicide.

Browns widow is adamant that her husband is innocent, and that his suicide was not an admission of guilt but of being driven mad by the polices accusations against him. She claims his DNA match doesnt implicate him of murder, but is instead proof of contamination of evidence at the police lab where he worked for 20 years  a possibility that authorities say has been ruled out.

The strikingly similar murders that have haunted detectives for decades have diverged into complex investigations, sparking fresh questions with no easy answers. Are there more clues to be uncovered, or have the best leads died with the two suspects?

Danger at the beach

Barbaras body was found on the beach, near lifeguard tower #7, the morning of Aug. 13, 1978. She had driven down from Long Beach with her boyfriend at the time, and the couple had spent the night in zipped-together sleeping bags on the sand. Her boyfriend was beaten unconscious in his sleep, and he stumbled dazed and bloodied the next morning to a car where his friends were sleeping.

Her body was found nude, spread eagle, her right nipple sliced off. She had facial injuries, a cracked skull and strangulation marks, according to the autopsy report.

Claires body suffered many of the same injuries. The Rhode Island teen was visiting her grandparents, who lived in nearby Del Mar Heights. She walked to the beach alone on Aug. 23, 1984, with a portable radio and pack of cigarettes. A man who lived in the area found her body about 5 a.m. and called police from a nearby convenience store.

Claire was found lying on a white towel, her body mutilated by cuts, her face bruised, her left breast removed with a knife. Her jeans were found torn open and pulled halfway down her hips.

Police have not said whether either teen was raped, although both autopsy reports show the girls suffered injuries consistent with sexual assault of some kind. No semen was recovered from their bodies.

Investigators recovered DNA from three unidentified females and two males that was found on cigarette butts near Claires body, police said. Witnesses told police that they saw a group of people hanging out on the beach in that area that night.

Cases linked

The FBI offered assistance to the investigations, and in 1995 told police the killings were likely committed by the same perpetrator. The cold case homicide website also suggested a connection.

Claires parents, Samuel and Penelope Hough, had their own suspicions.

When the grieving parents visited the site of their daughters murder two days later, they spoke with a lifeguard, who told them the man who had discovered Claires body was down the beach. The man, Wallace Howard Wheeler, was known in the area. He collected aluminum cans.

At first they started toward him, but thought better of it. They felt sure the discovery would have been shocking to him. Maybe he was a suspect.

Despite popular fiction and television programs, amateurs dont solve criminal cases, and thats not what we were there for, Samuel Hough said in a recent interview.

But Wheeler sought them out. He proceeded to inform the family, with seemingly little sympathy, that he was a psychic and had envisioned an angelic girl would be killed by two men. When Samuel and Penelope returned to Rhode Island, they received letters every week for more than a month from the strange man on the beach.

His letters were bizarre, he said.

Samuel Hough said he would photocopy the notes and send them to police. Guaderrama said detectives investigated Wheeler, but determined fairly quickly that he wasnt involved in the death.

Claires father said he didnt remember if that conclusion was something detectives shared with him early on, but if they did, he and his wife likely didnt put much stock in it. He was the only likely suspect in their minds  until the DNA matches.

The parents were told about Browns death days ago.

Wheeler also met a tragic end. He jumped off the 13th-floor balcony of his downtown San Diego apartment building in 1988 at the age of 65. He had been diagnosed with emotional problems and had not been taking his medication of late, his daughter told authorities. He had tried to kill himself two years earlier by driving off a cliff, she said. Numerous writings on his thoughts on religion were found in his apartment, the autopsy report said.

Cases reopened

In 2012, the cold case team took yet another crack at both murder investigations. Around the same time, Barbaras former boyfriend, who was beaten alongside her in the first attack, was putting pressure on investigators to solve the crimes, according to his blog posts.

Related A deadly night that has lasted 33 years

This is a case we really wanted to solve, Guaderrama said Friday.

Police ran DNA from the evidence through a national database of criminals DNA for a match. As it turns out, the database also includes DNA and fingerprints of crime lab personnel, to safeguard against false matches.

In November 2012, the database got a hit on both Tatro and Brown on samples taken from Claires body, launching an exhaustive follow-up investigation. Guaderrama said all efforts were made to determine if the criminalists DNA somehow contaminated the evidence mistakenly, and investigations concluded that was impossible. Brown never worked on any part of the case, the homicide captain said.

Guaderrama said the case against the two men involves other evidence, but he declined to elaborate for now.

Investigators determined Tatro, an Army veteran, had died a year earlier. When they tried to link him to the first murder, they found he was nowhere near San Diego. He was serving prison time in 1978 for a kidnapping in Arkansas. He had snatched a young woman from a liquor store, stuffed her in the trunk of his car, and raped her. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison, but for unknown reasons, only served eight, Guaderrama said. He was out before Claires killing. A year later he kidnapped a La Mesa teen. He was sentenced to another three years in prison.

The investigation turned to Brown, whose suspected involvement continues to leave doubts, particularly for those who knew him. He passed an independently administered polygraph test, his lawyer said. But the accusations  whether true or not  appear to have been too much. His wife was told there was no suicide note.

As for the first murder, Browns lawyer said he also had an alibi: He was working in New Mexico.
Jim Alt, 17, was a tall, fit young man with long, sun-bleached hair and a surfers tan. Barbara Nantais, 15, was a pretty, popular cheerleader with a rebellious streak, among the few sophomores who made it onto the varsity cheer squad. The Long Beach teenagers had been going steady for nine months when, on Aug. 12, 1978, Barbaras father was getting ready to go out of town. He told Jim not to take Barbara anywhere that weekend. Jim looked him straight in the eyes and told him, yes, sir. Theyd stay put.

It was a lie Jim would never forgive himself for.

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As soon as the door closed and Barbaras father was out of sight, the couple tossed clothes and surfing gear into bags and jumped into a station wagon with two friends and headed south to San Diego, stopping at Torrey Pines State Beach.

The waves werent that good, so the four friends broke out some alcohol. About 9:30 p.m., Jim and Barbara took their sleeping bags down to the sand. Other groups of teens were partying around bonfires not too far away. The couple strolled north along the beach to a quiet spot. Blanketed in darkness, they made love and fell asleep.

A fit of shivering jolted Jim awake. He tried to stand, but a wave of dizziness bowled him over. He groped for his sleeping bag or the warmth of Barbaras body, but found only sand. Jim couldnt hear sea gulls or waves. He couldnt see Barbara ---- nude, bloody and lifeless ---- lying nearby in the dim light. He didnt yet know that someone had throttled him and bashed his head with a rock and charred logs.

He went to find his friends, who spent the night in their station wagon parked nearby. He crawled at first, then lifted himself. His feet felt sand, then a familiar path of packed dirt. Soon, his hands recognized a chain-link fence that led him to the parking lot.

It was Aug. 13, 1978.

For Jim Alt, now 51, it still is.

Every damned morning.

The dark-and-twisties

When Alt wakes up at his Lake Elsinore home these days, he often feels around for sand before he opens his eyes. Hes back on the beach, engulfed in terror, next to the

mutilated body of his first love.

San Diego Police Department cold case detectives call the brown-haired girls slaying 33 years ago one of the most frustrating cases in their files.

A review of the case using DNA forensics found nothing of use. And another girl, Claire Hough, 14, was killed and mutilated on the same beach in a similar manner almost exactly six years later.

Over the decades since, the scars on Alts face have smoothed and his skin has wrinkled.

His helplessness, anger and guilt ---- they havent aged a day. He blames himself: He shouldnt have taken her to the beach that night. He should have died defending her.

Barbaras father blamed him for putting her in harms way. Some of his friends gossiped and eyed him suspiciously, even though the police did not.

Alt had no memories of the attack. He toyed with suicide. For years, people told him it was a miracle that he survived ---- that he must have lived for a reason. Alt always told them to shove it.

The laid-back surfer dude became paranoid and angry. He gave a name to the violent thoughts, anxiety and depression that flooded his mind: the dark-and-twisties. When Alt finally sought help in 2006, a psychiatrist gave it a different name: severe post-traumatic stress disorder. The trauma had gone untreated for so long, it became a part of him.

He got into fights and was arrested for assault. When he was younger, if someone said something that made him mad, hed shut them up. Plain and simple. Today, he rambles, shifting from zenlike calm to tears to rage. He cant seem to keep his thoughts in order.

I call it confetti, the stuff that goes on in my head, Alt said. You and I are talking. Something youll say will be put on a little piece of paper and thrown in my mind. You know on New Years how they drop that confetti down in New York and they drop the ball? To me, thats data, broken up and fragmented. I feel like the little guy with the broom ---- Im over here. Now Im over there, grabbing this for you. Its never like a piece of paper comes down and falls right into my hands.

Alt has had trouble holding a job or putting down roots. Hes been a firefighter with the U.S. Forest Service, a tattoo shop owner and a hydroponics shop manager. His relationships havent lasted long, either. He has been married several times and has no children.

People always tell him hes still looking for Barbara. Thats not it, he said. Hes just hard to get along with. He probably would have married that girl, though. He was young, sure, but thats where he saw it going.

Back in 1978, Jim and Barbara were a high school power couple in Long Beach. He went to Jordan High School and she went to Lakewood High. Kids from both schools would call Alts mother to find out where the party was going to be. And by party, they meant Jim and Barbara.

They did what teens do ---- drank, smoked and went on adventures, all under their parents radar.

Until Aug. 13, 1978, when they sneaked off with friends Richard Selga and Cynthia Ancog to Torrey Pines State Beach.

Jim, Barbaras father would later write, your trying to be alone with Barbara is probably what every red-blooded American boy dreams of. Unfortunately, the time you spent together turned out to be (a) disaster, but the chances of that happening was probably one in a million.

Find Barb

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

The alcohol had taken its toll on Richard. He and Cynthia had curled up in the back of her station wagon. They didnt want to wake up yet. But that annoying sound.

Tap.

He opened his eyes and peered out into the early morning light, ready to be angry at whoever was making that noise.

Tap.

On the other side of the window was a mans face, swollen and torn ---- a mask of blood, soot and sand. Richard first thought it was a homeless person. Then he noticed the long, sun-bleached hair that clung to the mess.

Jim?

Richard opened the door and scrambled out of the station wagon. What the hell happened? he said.

Jim had blood in his mouth and his lips looked too fat to move, but two words managed to spill out before he collapsed: Find Barb.

Richard ran as fast as he could along the beach. He found Barbaras nude body among scattered firewood and rocks, spread-eagled and covered in blood, her limp head propped up by a log. Richard covered her with the blood-smeared, nylon sleeping bags that were left near her body and sprinted back to the parking lot, screaming for help.

Hours later, a deputy coroner recorded the crime scene: Sand clung to Barbaras face and body. Her skull was fractured and her throat showed signs of strangulation. Her right nipple had been sliced off. Her mouth was stuffed with wet sand.

Cause of death: blunt injuries to the head and strangulation.

Jim underwent brain surgery and was hospitalized, comatose, for months. He didnt know Barbara was dead until long after she was buried. People avoided telling him while he was in the hospital, but he suspected something.

He visited her grave for the first time last year.

Barbara Jane Nantais, her grave marker reads. She had a mind of her own.

A pebble drops

Barbara wasnt the type of girl who easily accepted no for an answer. This naturally led to epic arguments with her mother. She seemed mature beyond her years ---- she helped her grandmother sell goods at a local swap meet, where she became a skilled haggler.

Her little brother, Tommy Nantais, was 12 when she was murdered. Tommy had always looked up to her, and especially to Jim. To the short and scrawny preteen, Jim was a titan: a strong, cool, good-looking party animal who was everything Tommy wanted to be.

On Aug. 13, 1978, he returned home from a Los Angeles-area beach with another sister and her boyfriend. Something seemed wrong ---- a lot of people were gathered there. As they approached the doorway, Tommy realized his father, Ralph Nantais, was crying.

Your sisters been murdered, Ralph Nantais told his children.

At that moment, the family began to fall apart. Tommys surviving older sisters soon moved away. He stayed at home. Alone, he watched a rift grow between his parents, who soon divorced.

You ever throw a pebble into a still body of water and watch it ripple? Thomas Nantais, now 45, said in a recent interview. Thats what happened.

He is a Long Beach-based attorney who specializes in workers compensation law. He has a wife, three children and a successful career, and has been giving Alt legal help since the two got back in touch a year and a half ago.

Ralph Nantais initially directed his anger and blame at Alt. But after learning that Alt had never really recovered, Ralph Nantais sent him a letter in 1994, absolving him of any blame and wishing him the best in his second marriage.

You will be married in a short time and I want you to try and erase this experience from your mind, the letter said. Try and be as loving and kind to your wife as you were with Barbara, for I know she loved you dearly.

The old Jim

For years, Alt kept a gun with him everywhere he went. He owned big dogs, including a timber wolf hybrid, and trained them to attack. He wanted to look mean enough that people who saw him and his scary dog would steer clear. He said he doesnt want to live like that anymore. He wants to be like he was before the attack. The old Jim.

Alt has been living in Lake Elsinore with his girlfriend, Becky Harrison-Carr, for about six months. She also grew up in Long Beach. Harrison-Carr is a behavioral specialist for autistic children for the Palm Springs Unified School District. She steers him away from the dark-and-twisties. Alt has been unemployed since 2006 and is fighting the state for disability payments. The couple live by the lake with Diesel ---- a 94-pound German wire-haired pointer. Its a quiet existence in a small town. Just what Alt said he needs.

A new therapist has been teaching him to meditate. It relaxes him for days at a time. In May, he watched his girlfriend receive an award at a school district luncheon. Autistic children she had helped were all grown up. Some who had gone on to college attended to thank her.

Those autistic kids were beautiful souls who were stuck inside their own minds until Harrison-Carr helped them find a way out, Alt said. Talking about it made him choke up.

Since the ceremony, when people tell him they think he survived that attack for a reason, he has thanked them. Maybe hes supposed to help others through their own dark-and-twisties. He started a Facebook group called Surviving Victims of Violent Crimes, where he shares his thoughts and support. So far, 80 people have joined. Some knew Alt from high school, and several appeared to be victims of unrelated crimes.

Strangely, Alt says, he doesnt remember much about Barbara. Maybe the brain injury wiped out the memories. Or maybe Alt subconsciously tucked them away where they couldnt do him any harm.

On a recent day at Alts rented lakeside home, Diesel padded up and rested his chin on Alts lap. Its Alts first dog that he didnt train to attack. When Diesels around, everyone wants to play with him, Alt said.

Thats how I remember being, back in the day, he said. Everyone wanted to be around Jim, and liked me. And right now, I dont know if thats the case. They see the other side of the coin, and I know its not pretty.

Alt often shuts himself in instead of going down to the lake to hang out with his brothers family, who lives nearby. When Alts sad, Diesel jumps up on his lap. Alt patted the dog on the head.

Diesel is how Id like to be again, he said. I can see it in his eyes.

I see me.
The widow of a retired San Diego police criminalist who was under investigation in the 1984 slaying of a teenage girl filed a lawsuit Thursday, accusing detectives of botching the case and driving her husband to suicide.

The 67-page lawsuit, filed in San Diego federal court, claims cross-contamination at the police lab explains why Kevin Browns DNA showed up years later in the investigation into the mutilation murder of 14-year-old Claire Hough. It further alleges police  specifically Detectives Michael Lambert and Sandra Oplinger  ignored such common sense evidence and instead blindly pursued Brown in an investigation that ended with his suicide.

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Claire was beaten, strangled and mutilated with a blade on Torrey Pines State Beach. When investigators preformed further testing last year, they identified DNA from convicted rapist Ronald Tatro in blood found on the victims jeans zipper and clothing. (Tatro, who had kidnapped and raped a woman in Arkansas in 1974 and kidnapped a La Mesa woman in 1985, died in 2011 in Tennessee.)

Investigators also tested a vaginal swab that had been taken from Claires body, and they found a small amount of Browns semen on it. Brown worked in the police crime lab for 20 years and was employed at the time of the slaying.

The lawsuit claims the semen got there via cross-contamination, likely due to the lack of standards used in the police lab in the 1980s when swabs were air dried in the open and DNA science was not developed. It was common practice for lab workers back then to use their own semen and blood for testing, the lawsuit states.

Police ignored this reasoning and instead worked to build a case against Brown that used unconstitutional search tactics, tried to paint him as a pervert and put undue pressure on him even though detectives were aware of his unstable mental health and anxiety problems, the lawsuit claims.

Brown killed himself in October, about a year into the reopened investigation.

The suit says the presence of Browns DNA in the case presents an institutional dilemma for San Diego police because it calls into question all of the departments cold-case investigations using similar techniques.

In past statements, police officials said cross-contamination was not possible and that other evidence pointed to Brown as the suspect. His death closed the investigation, they said.

Search warrant affidavits indicate Brown made statements to police that they considered incriminating, including that he may have had sex with a girl visiting from out of town who might have been named Claire around the time of the slaying. Detectives also said that Brown contacted a friend from those days to talk about the police investigation and said a girl he photographed on the beach had turned up dead. Browns lawyer denied he made that statement.

The City Attorneys Office declined to comment on the lawsuit Friday.

San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman issued this statement:

The Claire Hough murder investigation is an example of the San Diego Police Departments relentless pursuit to hold murderers accountable for their actions no matter how much time has passed.

Kevin Brown and Ronald Tatro were identified as suspects in the Claire Hough murder based on forensic evidence recovered during this investigation.

Upon discovering that a former lab employee was identified as a suspect in this case, we conducted a thorough examination of the lab case files and records pertaining to this case. At no time, was Kevin Brown assigned to investigate or examine any piece of evidence relating to the Claire Hough murder investigation during his employment as a criminalist.

It was based on these findings and a thorough investigation by our Homicide Unit, that we solved this murder naming Kevin Brown and Ronald Tatro as the suspects.

Browns widow, Rebecca Brown, is asking for unspecified damages to be determined in a trial.
SAN DIEGO  Location, location, location.

The adage is a lifestyle for a community of San Diegans who live in their motor homes and constantly seek out the best spots to park.

Their options have just been reduced on Shelter Island, where many have congregated for years for the free daytime parking along the waters edge. Most move on to nearby places that allow overnight parking and return first thing the next morning.

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But some businesses have complained that oversized vehicles are taking spaces from customers and establishing unwanted encampments.

For the past few months, the Unified Port of San Diego has posted signs in the area showing hours at Shelter Island Shoreline Park from 6 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. This week, the San Diego Port Commission voted to expand the boundaries of the park to include nearby spots popular with motor homes and others.

The change allows Harbor Police to enforce park rules in a broader area, but officers say the codes are still flexible. They plan to knock on motor-home doors in the next 30 days to publicize the new policy.

Were not saying people cant park and walk to or from a restaurant past 10:30 or use fishing piers, said Capt. Don Claypool of the Harbor Police. This is so people cant remain, stay or loiter in the park after hours.

The move is part of a larger effort to strike a compromise with the RV community that Port Commission Chairwoman Sylvia Rios said hogs the space of the popular seaside park.

But some in the RV crowd say the motive behind the policy change is fueled by resentment toward anyone who manages to live in expensive San Diego without paying rent.

People like me who get away without paying rent anger people in this city, said Jeff Rodgers, who has been parking his motor home at Shelter Island by day for five years.

Once the park closes at 10:30 p.m., Rodgers packs up and drives a few blocks away in search of a spot in Point Lomas residential neighborhood across Rosecrans Street, where motor homes may be parked for up to 72 hours. Hes back at his favorite Shelter Island parking spot by 6 a.m.

This is America and I have every right to be here, said Rodgers, 61. I have my solar panels on. Do people want to charge me for the sun?

Commissioner Robert Rocky Spane referred to the RV community as the A-8 on land, comparing it to the boaters of the rent-free A-8 Anchorage in the waters off National City, which the commission has ordered closed.

Spane cast the lone opposing vote at Tuesdays Port Commission meeting, saying it was a dangerous idea to tighten restrictions for the motor-home population.

Where would you propose these RVs park? Not our problem? Spane said.

The boundaries of Shelter Island Shoreline Park have been expanded to include two parking lots at the north end of the park. One is near the Bali Hai restaurant and the other is next to the Koehler Kraft business. The expansion also includes three nearby grass areas.

The Port District may next designate parking spaces for recreational vehicles at the park to a restricted area, Claypool said, thus opening access to the public and eliminating the wall of motor homes that occupies choice spaces and blocks views.

Rodgers said he and most of his free-wheeling neighbors are happy to obey the ports rules.

We are not derelict moochers, he said. Most of us have jobs and pay taxes. Were not doing anything wrong. Were just trying to survive the ordeal.
As expected, the state budget agreement announced late Friday includes several provisions that allow ride-sharing companies, such as Uber and Lyft, to operate in upstate New York.

"And because upstate matters, the budget enabled ride-sharing now statewide, so companies like Uber and Lyft will come to upstate New York," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

The state Department of Motor Vehicles will be responsible for regulating the ride-sharing industry. There will be uniform licensing requirements for ride-sharing companies.

This is a break from how taxi cabs are regulated in New York. In Auburn, the city's police department oversees the taxi services. That won't be the case with ride-sharing companies.

Local government officials  all counties and cities with at least 100,000 people  will have the option to disallow ride-sharing in their communities. But it won't change who's ultimately responsible for regulating the industry.

Uber and other ride-sharing companies will be required to have a minimum group insurance policy of $1.25 million for drivers who provide rides in New York. The insurance will be in effect when a driver is heading to pick up a passenger and until the individual is dropped off at their final destination.

Workers' compensation coverage will be provided to drivers through the Black Car Fund.

Drivers employed by ride-sharing companies will be subjected to mandatory background checks and ongoing monitoring, according to the governor's office. There will be a zero-tolerance policy in place for alcohol and drug use. And anti-discrimination protections will be in effect.

Groups that opposed ride-sharing in New York, such as the Upstate Transportation Association that represents taxi services and other private transportation companies, railed against proposals at the state level because they lacked a fingerprinting requirement for drivers.

The final agreement doesn't include a fingerprint background check mandate, but it does require ride-sharing companies to update employee background checks annually.

A statewide task force will be established to examine accessibility in the ride-sharing industry. Uber and Lyft have been criticized for not always being available to serve vulnerable populations, including people with disabilities.

A separate panel will be formed to review the entire ride-sharing industry.

The ride-sharing provisions in the budget will take effect in 90 days, which means the earliest Uber, Lyft and other companies would be able to begin providing service is in early July.

Uber Tri-State General Manager Josh Mohrer is eager for the company to begin offering rides this year.

"Hey, New York  your Uber is arriving this summer!" he said.
New Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus is creating a huge enthusiasm among the smartphone users. The interesting fact is, people in South Korea can cherish this handset with 6GB of RAM.

Popular tech company Samsung has announced a new variant of the flagship handset Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus that includes a 6GB of RAM. This smart device supports 128GB storage and explores more efficiency. But, the true fact is this new smartphone with extra RAM and storage is only available in South Korean, according to the Digital Trends.

Currently, the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus includes a 4GB of RAM and the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor. Now the said 6GB of RAM will definitely increase the cost of the device. Reports are surfacing that the large flagship smartphone will cost 1,155,000 won or roughly $1,017. No doubt the price is very high and not affordable for a lot of people.

One thing is clear that Samsung is also entering the same high price tag territory that its arch rival Apple has already followed. Samsung Galaxy s8 Plus is not the first smartphone that is getting the 6GB of RAM. Users of the popular handset OnePlus 3T have already experienced it.

More RAM means more efficiency, and Samsung is prepared to explore one of the best smartphones in the tech arena. BGR reported that Samsung is gearing up to cherish a huge profit with the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus and Galaxy S8. Everybody knows that the tech company faced a series of odd situations in 2016 after Galaxy Note 7 reported huge problems.

One unique feature of the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus is the storage option of this smartphone. This smart device supports 128GB of storage like the Google Pixel and Pixel XL. Interestingly, these two handsets of Google don't support any MicroSD card slot, but the Galaxy S8 Plus has that option.

Almost all the tech users are eagerly waiting to cherish the robust flagship device Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus. Samsung has not yet uttered a single word about the release of the new variant with 6GB of RAM outside of South Korea. Hopefully, some developments may appear in future times.
The Arctic Ocean is shifting in becoming like the Atlantic, in which warm waters are flowing into the ocean north of Scandinavia and Russia, according to a new study. The scientists dubbed this as the "Atlantification of the Arctic Ocean."

With the warming of waters of the Arctic, the ocean productivity and chemistry are changing. It makes the sea ice dwindle. The behavior of the ocean has gone into the truly massive shift, according to experts.

The findings of the study were printed in Science. The study indicates that warm Atlantic currents have contributed to the massive change of the Arctic Ocean.

In the study, the scientists examined the Eurasian basin, or one or two basins in the Arctic Ocean, which is separated by a crest under the surface. This Eurasian basin is in the north of Europe and Asia. It is theorized that warm Atlantic currents inhibit ice formation on the western side of the Eurasian basin north of Scandinavia. On the other hand, it is also found that the warm currents are also invading the ice on the eastern side north of Siberia, according to Inhabitat.

The Atlantic waters flow into the Arctic at 656 feet to 820 feet below. It has about 4 degrees Celsius temperatures at an increasing level than the surface water. Once this mixed with the surface water, the mixed water becomes warmer. The cold halocline layer (CHL), which is a barrier on the Eurasian's basin eastern side, inhibits much of this mixing. On the other hand, the eastern side is just like the western side now.

Igor Polyakov of the University of Alaska in Fairbanks and the lead author of the study said that in the past, CHL enveloped the Atlantic warm waters. On the other hand, in the new data, it showed that the layer had vanished in winter.

Polyakov further said that the fast changes in the eastern Arctic Ocean could let more heat from the ocean interior stretching to the bottom of the sea ice. This makes it more sensitive to climate changes. The study suggests that about a third of the eastern Arctic Ocean is now becoming like the ice-free Atlantic Ocean, according to Scientific American.
Press Release

April 7, 2017 Bam pushes for learning resource centers for children with special needs As part of his advocacy to provide quality education to everyone, a senator is pushing for the creation of learning resource centers for Filipino children with special needs to give them a chance to learn regardless of their circumstance. "Sa edukasyon, importante na mabigyan ng sapat na pagkakataon ang lahat, maging anuman ang kalagayan nila sa buhay, upang matuto at makapag-aral," said Sen. Bam Aquino, author of Senate Bill 1414, which seeks to make education inclusive and accessible to every Filipino child by establishing a framework for special needs education implementation nationwide. Sen. Bam said the Department of Education (DepEd) reported an estimated 350,000 students with special needs while Save the Children revealed that only one of three Filipino children with special needs has a chance to go to school. In addition, Sen. Bam said only one in seven of those children attending school has access to specialized education that caters to their varied needs. "Sadly, our country's education system is currently under-equipped to cater to the individual and unique requirements of students with special needs," said Sen. Bam, adding that parents find it difficult to provide their children the education they need given only a few public schools have SPED centers. "The SPED program and most of our educators also lack the necessary skills and training to accommodate students with exceptionalities," explained Sen. Bam. In accordance with the mandate of our Constitution, Presidential Decree No. 603, and the Magna Carta for Persons with Disability, Sen. Bam said the measure will push for the establishment of inclusive education learning resource centers. These centers will serve as source of appropriate instructional materials, tools, devices, gadgets, and equipment that educators can use in their classrooms to ensure that students with special needs are properly supported and enabled to learn alongside their peers. "It is our duty to become their partners in achieving this goal to provide a brighter future for our children and our country," said Sen. Bam, who was chairman of the Committee on Education in the 17th Congress until February. As Committee on Education chairman, Sen. Bam pushed for the passage of Senate Bill No. 1304 or the Affordable Higher Education for All as principal sponsor and co-author. The measure was approved by the Senate on third and final reading via an 18-0 vote. If enacted into law, it will institutionalize free tuition in SUCs all over the country, giving underprivileged students a chance to earn a college degree. It will also streamline and strengthen all Student Financial Assistance Programs (StuFAP), making it available to students who want to pursue higher education in private institutions, as well as subsidizing other expenses of SUC students.
Press Release

April 8, 2017 SEN. GRACE POE'S MESSAGE ON ARAW NG KAGITINGAN

9 April 2017 On this day, we commemorate the valor of the Filipino soldiers who marched to their death after the Fall of Bataan. In the face of great oppression, they stood by their fight for Filipino freedom. May each one of us find in ourselves the courage of our heroes to take a stand for the good of our nation.
After disability rights activists sued BART this week, alleging that the transit systems elevators are filthy and often used as restrooms, The Chronicle put the allegations to a sniff test  and mostly found elevators that were fairly clean and not all that smelly.

BART did not exactly come out smelling like roses, though, even if one elevator did reek of the strong floral perfume of an earlier user. Chances are that people who use BARTs elevators regularly will encounter a puddle of pee, the unmistakable odor of urine, some litter, or worse.

A reporter visited five BART stations in downtown San Francisco and the Mission District several times, plus a handful of stations in downtown Oakland and Berkeley, over seven hours Wednesday evening and Thursday and Friday mornings. He stepped into elevators 52 times, taking a good whiff each time and looking around for the obvious signs the elevator had been used as a restroom.

Urine was noticed on five occasions  including a puddle on the street elevator at Powell Street Station and another in the corner near the door of the street elevator at 16th Street Mission Station. There was also a sprinkling of what appeared to be pee in the street elevator at Civic Center/UN Plaza Station and urine in the tracks that guide the platform elevator doors at Powell station as well as the street elevator at Montgomery Street Station.

Results of The Chronicles nonscientific survey shouldnt be seen as an indication a problem doesnt exist. BART officials, in fact, acknowledge that elevators are too frequently used as restrooms.

People urinating and defecating on the system is unfortunately a very common problem, BART spokesman Taylor Huckaby said. It happens so frequently were always going out there to clean it up. If its urine or feces, we usually know about it in 10 minutes.

While most of the elevators were urine- and feces-free, The Chronicles survey found the experience of riding them less than pleasant. As the disability rights groups pointed out in their suit, many are in out-of-the-way areas, around foul-smelling hallways and corners.

The waiting area for the elevator to the plaza at the 16th Street Mission Station, for instance, had the strong odor of urine on at least three visits, though there was none to be seen and the elevator itself was odor-free.

Theyre usually pretty clean, said Charlie Bobb, 60, riding the street elevator at the 24th Street Mission Station. Theyre pretty good at keeping up with it. Hell yeah, Ive seen urine in the elevators, but how are you going to stop that? Sometimes people have full bladders. You can only clean it up.

All in all, BARTs San Francisco stations smelled more like a dingy basement locker room than an overused portable toilet.

BART officials say the relative cleanliness is no accident. Sanitation troubles in BARTs downtown San Francisco stations, including the elevators, have increased as the number of people living on the streets has risen.

BART has stepped up its elevator cleaning regimen. Supervisors conduct hourly inspections, crews perform routine and on-demand cleaning, and daily reports on elevator conditions are recorded. Signs have been posted in and around elevators asking patrons to tell station agents when cleaning is needed, and janitors are using an enzyme that promises to destroy the odor of urine rather than merely cover it up.

BART is also replacing elevator floors with an impervious gray rubber flooring that traps urine and keeps it from soaking into the plywood subflooring and dripping into the elevator pit, where it corrodes equipment and produces a pervasive and unpleasant smell.

Replacing flooring has taken some elevators temporarily out of service for extended periods, Huckaby said. The increase in out-of-order elevators was among the complaints in the lawsuit. The floor-replacement project is scheduled to be completed in May.

In a meeting in January with representatives of Disability Rights Advocates, one of the legal nonprofits that filed the suit, BART listened to the groups complaints and explained what the transit agency was doing to improve the situation. BART cited a $16.3 million plan to improve the reliability of its elevators and $190 million in bond money from Measure RR that the agency is planning to put into its downtown San Francisco stations to improve access.

The meeting didnt prevent the lawsuit, but BART officials say it shows they take complaints about filthy elevators and access for people with disabilities seriously.

The thing we want people to understand is that this lawsuit did not catch us unawares or not dealing with the problems, Huckaby said. We have a long history of programs in place to make sure the impact on our disabled customers is as minimal as possible while we rehabilitate the elevators.

Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@ctuan
Spring showers fell across the Bay Area on Saturday while a storm warning remained in effect in the northern Sierra, forecasters said.

By early Saturday, San Francisco recorded a quarter-inch of rain since Friday, while the North Bay and East Bay received half an inch and the South Bay got about a quarter-inch, according to the National Weather Service in Monterey.

The California Highway Patrol said the storm caused a tree to fall onto Highway 13 near Thornhill Drive early Saturday morning in Oakland. Crews quickly removed the tree and reopened the road, officials said.

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Weve had some reports of some small hail around the area ... as well as as a rumble or two of thunder, said Steve Anderson, a forecaster with the National Weather Service forecaster in Monterey.

Farther north, a storm warning was in effect until 5 p.m. for regions in western Plumas County and the northern Sierra, said Chris Johnston, a National Weather Service forecaster in Reno.

The region of the Sierra from the city of Mount Shasta to Pacific House (El Dorado County) has seen the equivalent of 87.5 inches of rain and melted snow since October, just 1 inch shy of the 1982-83 record of 88.5 inches, Johnston said.

San Francisco had recorded 31.23 inches of rain as of Saturday, its 14th wettest season, according to Anderson. The record is 48.14 inches set in 1862, he added.

Forecasters predict the record could be broken this week, days after Gov. Jerry Brown declared an official end to Californias drought.

Snowfall prompted chain requirements on Interstate 80 from Blue Canyon to just east of Truckee, Johnston said.

Forecasters had projected the Middle Fork of the Feather River along Highway 70 near Portola (Plumas County) could possibly flood, but Saturday it was predicted to crest just short of flood level.

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.

South Lake Tahoe recorded 4 inches of snow at lake level from Friday morning to Saturday morning. Up to 4 inches of snow was expected at Donner Pass on Saturday, while ski resorts in the area had heavier 24-hour totals.

From Friday morning to Saturday morning, Diamond Peak received 6 inches of snow, Heavenly received 18 inches, Mount Rose had 14 inches, and Homewood accumulated 9 inches, Johnston said.

Squaw Valley measured 13 inches of snow, Alpine Meadows got 15 inches, North Star received 13 inches and Sugar Bowl received 16 inches, he added.

Meteorologists said to expect a few dry days starting Sunday before another series of storms arrives in the Bay Area.

Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: JennaJourno
Less than a day after being sued by Twitter in a bid to protect one of its users identities, federal investigators withdrew their demand that the social media company unmask one of several accounts claiming to be federal workers with views critical of President Trump.

Twitter, which sued the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday, said that within hours of taking legal action, U.S. Customs and Border Protection retracted a summons that sought to collect private data about an account known as @ALT_USCIS.

On March 14, a Customs agent had ordered Twitter to produce all records related to the account, including log-in information, associated emails, phone numbers, mailing addresses and IP addresses. That information, advocates said, could have been used to pinpoint the person behind the account, which is run anonymously.

The user claims to be a federal worker at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services who is opposed to Trumps agenda. If the users identity were revealed, advocates said, it would likely lead to punishment or dismissal.

The ... request appears to be a significant escalation of the governments pressure on tech companies for information on individuals, Robert Cattanach, a former trial attorney for the Department of Justice, said in an email Friday. Until now, government demands on tech companies have been justified by claimed national security concerns or high-profile law enforcement investigations like the San Bernardino shooting. Investigation of tweets critical of the president ... raises disturbing free speech issues.

The @ALT_USCIS account is one of several alt or rogue government accounts that were created after Trumps inauguration. Most claim to be federal workers whose chosen Twitter handles refer to the agency of which they are a part. Some are former federal workers, still others are private citizens.

Because nearly all such accounts are run anonymously or by people using a pseudonym, experts said, followers should be wary of the insider knowledge they purport to have.

We have no idea who they are, and because of that, theres not any real legitimacy, said Dana Fisher, a sociology professor at the University of Maryland. But it doesnt really matter who they are. What matters is what theyve come to represent  theyre symbolic of the resistance from within.

Several journalists and pundits have called for Twitter to verify  though not publicly identify  these alt-gov accounts, lending the credibility that goes along with the small blue check-mark Twitter traditionally reserves for celebrities and other proven sources.

In doing so, Twitter would need to collect more information about the people behind the accounts.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

According to Twitters guidelines, verified accounts must provide the company with a verifiable phone number, email address, biography, profile photo and birthday.

While legal experts said that information could be helpful in lending credibility to or invalidating those users accounts, it also sets a dangerous precedent.

Twitters policy on turning over user information to law enforcement requires that government agencies provide a subpoena or court order to justify the request for such information.

Requiring verification would just give (Twitter) more and more data for the government to come and try to subpoena, said Emma Llanso, head of the Free Speech Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology. It would create so many risks, and probably have a major chilling effect on peoples willingness to speak out online. That protective cloak of anonymity is essential to them being able to express their opinion, because the fear of reprisal is so high.

Marissa Lang is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mlang@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Marissa_Jae
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Accused of stealing a key sensor for self-driving cars from rival Waymo, Uber argued Friday that it started developing its own lidar months before hiring one of Waymos former top engineers.

Waymo sued Uber in February, saying that the engineer  Anthony Levandowski  had taken Waymos proprietary design for lidar, a laser version of radar that autonomous vehicles use to scan their surroundings.

In a long-awaited court filing Friday, Uber said that it uses lidar made by other companies, including Velodyne of Morgan Hill. And while Uber is developing its own lidar, that project started before Levandowskis arrival and boasts a different design, with four lenses instead of Waymos single lens, the company said.

Waymo could not be more wrong, and Ubers design could not be more different, the filing reads.

Waymo, a division of Googles parent company Alphabet, has accused Levandowski of downloading 14,000 documents just before leaving the company. Uber claimed Friday that a search of its computers had not found those documents.

A Waymo spokeswoman, however, said that Uber still has not searched Levandowskis computers.

Ubers assertion that theyve never touched the 14,000 stolen files is disingenuous at best, given their refusal to look in the most obvious place: the computers and devices owned by the head of their self-driving program, the spokeswoman said in an email.

Levandowski has invoked his constitution right against self-incrimination to avoid providing documents in the case. Ubers filing says the company is blocked at this stage from providing an explanation in response to the allegation that 14,000 files were stolen, because of Levandowskis assertion of those constitutional rights.

During a court session this week, Uber lawyers said they had found one allegedly stolen file on a computer belonging to another employee who had previously worked at Google.

Waymo wants the federal district judge in the case, William Alsup, to issue an injunction barring Uber from using its proprietary lidar design. The suit, which pits two Bay Area tech giants against each other, has the potential to reshape the race to perfect and use self-driving cars. It also reflects the tangled family tree of the autonomous vehicle industry.

Levandowski had been one of the lead researchers in Googles self-driving car program before leaving in January 2016 to form his own startup, Otto, which focused on self-driving trucks. Uber bought Otto for $680 million in August, merging the startup into its efforts to develop robot taxis. Many companies  including Ford Motor Co., Delphi and Tesla  are pursuing the same idea. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has said that if someone else introduces driverless taxis first, then Uber would be no longer a thing.

In its filing Friday, Uber argued that an engineer it hired from Carnegie Mellon, Scott Boehmke, started developing Ubers lidar design in 2015. The company also purchased startup Tyto Lidar, adding its researchers to the lidar development project, which Uber code-named Fuji.

While that project is still under way, Uber said in the filing that all of the self-driving cars it has tested so far have used lidar bought from other companies.

To hinder Ubers continued progress in its independent development of an in-house lidar that is fundamentally different than Waymos, when Uber has not used any of Waymos trade secrets, would impede Ubers efforts to remain a viable business, stifle the talent and ingenuity that are the primary drivers of this emerging industry, and risk delaying the implementation of technology that could prevent car accidents, the filing argues.

David R. Baker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dbaker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @DavidBakerSF
Jacom Stephens/Getty Images

Benicia police arrested a high school teacher and a 17-year-old student Friday in connection with two recent thefts from vehicles, according to a Police Department news release.

Employees of Benicia High School contacted police after the teen was observed leaving campus several times last week. Upon investigation, police learned that the teacher, who is 23 years old, had given the student her car keys and that he had been walking to her car, which was parked nearby, the release stated.
San Bruno Police Department / /

A 50-year-old acquaintance of a missing San Bruno man has been arrested and booked on suspicion of murder after a dismembered corpse was found in his backyard.

David Stubblefield was also booked on suspicion of robbery, burglary, unlawful possession and use of tear gas, and being a felon in possession of a firearm, police said.
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High-profile San Francisco political consultant Enrique Pearce  who pleaded guilty to possessing more than 600 child pornography images, some portraying sexual sadism and masochism  was sentenced to six months in county jail Friday after the sheriffs office denied his request for house arrest.

Pearce, 42, who once held lucrative contracts with Mayor Ed Lee and other San Francisco politicians, sat expressionless next to his lawyers as Judge Rene Navarro handed down his sentence in San Francisco Superior Court.

Neither Pearce nor his attorneys commented to reporters as they left court. Pearce was ordered to surrender Tuesday to begin serving his sentence.

Additionally, he was ordered to serve two days in county jail for driving under the influence, to which he also pleaded guilty.

Once hes released from jail, he must register as a lifetime sex offender and serve five years probation.

Three women representing the child advocacy organization Partners in Prevention sat silently in court as Pearce was sentenced.

Patty Schimek, a volunteer for the organization, said outside court that she would have preferred a state prison sentence for Pearce.

I think its very light. This is not a victimless crime, she said. We know these images are out there forever.

Prosecutors had initially sought a state prison term, then fought to prevent Pearce from serving the sentence at his home.

Pearce had pleaded guilty in December to two counts of distribution of child pornography and possession of child pornography among other charges, with the expectation he could serve a six-month sentence under home detention.

That plea deal was struck down by Sheriff Vicki Hennessy in March. The Sheriffs Department, which has the final say on where inmates serve sentences, said sex offenders do not qualify for the home detention program.

Hennessys decision led Pearces attorney, Douglas Horngrad, to hold off the sentencing and weigh options, which included withdrawing the guilty plea and going to trial.

Pearces McAllister Street apartment in the Tenderloin was raided in May 2015, when authorities confiscated devices with photos and videos of boys as young as infants being held down and raped. More than 600 images showed minors engaged in sexual conduct, Deputy District Attorney Alexis Fasteau said.

The political career of Pearce, a lawyer when the investigation began, quickly ended after his arrest. A $5,000-a-month consulting contract between Pearces Left Coast Communications and Lees re-election campaign was terminated soon after he was taken into custody.

The investigation began after a man reported an online chat in which a user tracked to Pearces computer wrote that the idea of sharing a boy with another man is really hot, used phrases like do you perv? and asked whether he was lookin to explore 8-12, according to Sgt. Candiece Lewis of the police special victims unit.

Pearces phone also held more than 100 images of children unaware they were being photographed at spots throughout the city, Fasteau said.

Sarah Ravani and Jenna Lyons are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com, jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani, @JennaJourno
Speakeasy Ales & Lagers in San Francisco has had a hectic month, to say the least. Now it's announced it will outsource some of its production for the time being -- to upstate New York. The company has signed a contract-brewing agreement with Shmaltz Brewing Co., a Clifton Park, N.Y., brewery with Bay Area roots.

Jigsaw Advisors, the court-appointed receiver that took control of Speakeasy in March after founder Forest Gray was unable to pay back its primary creditor, made the arrangements with Shmaltz about two weeks ago. The 90-day contract has Shmaltz producing 200 barrels each of Speakeasy's Big Daddy IPA, Prohibition Ale and Baby Daddy Session IPA, said Brian Stechschulte, the brewery's public relations and media director.

Why outsource? Because Speakeasy is about to get bought -- that's what Jigsaw is here to oversee -- and when a new buyer comes in, the transfer of ownership and transfer of premise permits will likely take several months to get approved by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.

Shmaltz and Speakeasy have a longstanding relationship; the New York company contract-brewed some beer for them in 2015 while they were expanding their facility. New York is one of Speakeasy's best markets, anyway. "They have a great group of wholesalers out here as well," said Shmaltz founder Jeremy Cowan. "There's a ton of opportunity on the East Coast for their brand."

The fact that there's already infrastructure in place to keep supply moving surely adds to Speakeasy's appeal for prospective buyers.

Speaking of which, the deadline to bid on Speakeasy closes on Thursday, April 13. Stechschulte said he's been giving tours of the premises to a number of interested buyers, which include individual investors, private equity and existing breweries. "We're optimistic that it will remain a brewery," he said.

Shmaltz will likely take over more of Speakeasy's production immediately following a sale, but it's unclear whether the relationship will continue longer-term. "We have the ability to produce as much as they need, and when the new owners come in, I'd love to participate in that group," Cowan said. "But I would always want to keep a home for Speakeasy in San Francisco."

Cowan is himself a veteran of the Bay Area brewing scene, and founded his brewery out of his home in the Mission. "I've been a total fan and inspired by Speakeasy for 20 years," he said. "It's an important part of San Francisco brewing history. I'm excited to help keep them going."

Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicle's wine, beer and spirits writer. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley Instagram: @esthermob
As a monumentally gray and wet winter gives way to longer days and clearer skies, hunkering down in a tangle of wool blankets and flannel sheets is no longer a preferred ritual. Instead, our attention turns outward to the world in bloom, and its only natural that our homes follow suit. Here, local design experts offer insider secrets and easy upgrades to inspire a fresh dose of spring in any room.

1. Make bold gestures with art

According to San Francisco designer Martha Angus, art can do wonders to perk up a room. We like bold canvases of color or an abstract swish of paint on a neutral field, she says. Crisp white always says new beginnings, too. A white duvet in a bedroom or white outdoor slipcovers for the living-room sofa are two easy ways she transforms a space. They can all be thrown in the wash, says Angus, who also suggests swapping out rugs for something fresh and natural such as jute or seagrass.

2. Embrace bohemian

Travel inspiration can be a nod to fairer weather. Pillows made of indigo shibori or African mud cloth evoke a global vibe, which makes an interior space feel ready for warmer days, says Mill Valley interior designer Elena Calabrese. She also suggests bringing in accessories in lighter tones, textures and scents. Create a tabletop vignette using succulents, candles in springtime fragrances and brightly colored vases. If such a curated display seems too elaborate an endeavor, Calabrese suggests something simpler: Just rearranging the furniture can make a space feel fresh.

3. Think layers and lighting

Spring is the time to slough off those extra layers  wool sweaters, fuzzy slippers, down blankets, says San Francisco designer Jay Jeffers. Consider changing sheets from flannel to linen and lightening up your pillows and accessories to pastels and whites. For this St. Helena home, Jeffers introduced an Apparatus Cloud chandelier made of hand-frosted glass orbs and vintage metal to freshen the space. Even changing out lampshades from dark colors to linens makes a big difference in brightening up your homes look and feel, he says.

Kuoh Photography

4. Arrange a simple bouquet

Its impossible not to feel inspired and invigorated at the San Francisco Flower Mart, says San Francisco designer Catherine Kwong. I tend to make arrangements with mostly one type of flower, like ranunculus, peonies or French tulips, accented with greenery or small wildflowers. Even the simplest bouquet can elevate an entire room.

5. Bring in organic elements

Trees, succulents and ferns are all good options; just be sure to use them sparingly  one large, sculptural plant is better than a collection of smaller varieties, says Jennifer Jones, principal of Niche Interiors in San Francisco. For the bedroom, the designer recommends bright colors in the form of accent pillows and fresh flowers. And dont forget a spritz of lavender or rose-water linen spray. It works wonders! she says.

Emily Johnston

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

6. Spruce up walls

Changing out paint colors is a quick and easy way to give a room a new look, says Nancy Evars, principal at Evars+Anderson in San Carlos. But if you want to take that idea to the next level, try wallpapering a small space in a fun spring print. The happy vibe of this Christian LaCroix Butterfly wallpaper, which Evars used in the 2015 San Francisco Decorator Showcase, gives a mundane laundry room more flutter.

7. Lighten the mood

I love creating spaces that feel light, bright and airy simply for their emotional lift, says Rue Magazine co-founder Crystal Palecek. That means reassessing what you can and cant live without in your home and tossing (or donating) the former. Each spring, I implement a Marie Kondo-inspired decluttering. If something doesnt spark joy, I part ways with it, she adds, noting the emotional and physical clarity she gets from letting go. To me, this is the ultimate spring cleaning!

Theresa Gonzalez is a freelance writer. Email home@sfchronicle.com
The addition of Neil Gorsuch to a divided U.S. Supreme Court could have a momentous impact on legal controversies over issues that include religion, gay rights, labor and President Trumps attempts to limit immigration and entry to the United States.

Thats despite the fact that Gorsuchs confirmation merely restores a conservative majority that had prevailed on the court for decades before the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016.

The Republican-controlled Senate overrode Democratic objections and approved the 49-year-old Gorsuch, Trumps first Supreme Court nominee, by a 54-45 vote Friday in time for the courts final hearings of the 2016-17 term. He is to be sworn in on Monday or Tuesday as the courts 113th justice, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said.

One case the new justice will hear, on April 19, could determine the eligibility of religious institutions for state funding. A Missouri church is challenging the states refusal to include its preschool in a program that helps schools buy resurfacing equipment for their playgrounds.

As a federal appeals court judge since 2006, Gorsuch has endorsed expansive rights for religious adherents. In a 2013 case, for example, he supported the right of the religious owners of Hobby Lobby, a nationwide arts-and-crafts chain, to deny contraceptive coverage for female employees. The Supreme Court later upheld the ruling by Gorsuchs court.

Lower courts have ruled against the Missouri church. But Michael McConnell, a Stanford law professor and a former appeals court colleague of Gorsuch, said Friday he expects Gorsuch and his court to agree with the church that children cannot be denied equal access to government-funded benefits of an entirely secular nature for no reason other than the religious affiliation of their school.

On the other hand, said Hadar Aviram, a law professor at UC Hastings in San Francisco, Gorsuchs record and writings suggest that he wont side with the courts conservatives on everything.

On criminal justice issues, he has an interesting record, similar to Scalia ... a libertarian, essentially, not on board with over-criminalization, Aviram said. She predicted Gorsuch  like his predecessor  would vote to protect individuals from high-tech police searches of their homes and vehicles, but would side with the state on the death penalty and other sentencing issues.

While some past justices, like John Paul Stevens and Harry Blackmun, have surprised the Republican presidents who nominated them by moving to the left, I suspect were not going to see a lot of surprises out of Justice Gorsuch, Aviram said.

If his record on religious rights is any indication, Gorsuch could influence the court to grant hearings to business owners who say their spiritual values forbid them to design and sell products for same-sex marriages. The justices have previously denied review of a case by a New Mexico florist who made that claim, but could decide this month to take up an appeal by a Colorado baker who was sued for refusing to make a wedding cake for a gay couple.

While the court seems unlikely to reconsider its 2015 ruling that declared a constitutional right of same-sex couples to marry, another contentious gay-rights issue is headed for the docket: whether federal laws against employment discrimination protect gays and lesbians.

A federal appeals court in Chicago ruled Tuesday that the laws ban on sex discrimination also covers sexual orientation. That ruling is not being appealed, but other appeals courts have reached the opposite conclusion, and the high court will be asked to resolve the conflict, perhaps in the new term that starts this fall.

By the fall, or perhaps earlier, the justices will also be confronted with Trumps attempt to freeze U.S. admission of refugees and ban entry of anyone from six nations whose populations are almost entirely Muslim.

Appeals courts in San Francisco and Richmond, Va., are reviewing rulings by federal judges that said opponents of the presidents executive order were likely to prove the order was based on religious discrimination. Gorsuch has not ruled in any similar cases, but the dispute could require him to weigh the religious rights of Muslims against the conservative doctrine of deferring to executive decisions on national security.

Gorsuch is on record as opposing the Supreme Courts doctrine since 1984 of deferring to administrative agencies in interpreting unclear laws. That stance could encourage Gorsuch, and his court, to take up a restaurant industry challenge to a ruling allowing waiters and waitresses to keep their tips, said James Burling, vice president for litigation at the business-backed Pacific Legal Foundation.

The federal appeals court in San Francisco upheld U.S. Labor Department rules last year that prohibited restaurants from requiring tipped employees to share their tips with supervisors and other non-tipped workers. The industry argued that the rules conflicted with federal law.

A more far-reaching labor case is also headed for the Supreme Court, where Gorsuchs vote could be decisive.

Nonunion members are challenging, on free-speech grounds, laws in California and 22 other states that allow government employee unions to charge non-members fees for the cost of representing them at the bargaining table. The fees are an important source of funding for the unions, and ultimately for their Democratic supporters.

At a January 2016 hearing in a suit by nonunion teachers from California, Scalia made it clear that he intended to vote to prohibit the union fees. But he died before a ruling could be issued, and the remaining justices deadlocked 4-4, leaving intact a lower-court decision in the unions favor. The court will revisit the issue, however, in one or more similar cases now in lower courts.

Other issues awaiting the review of Gorsuch and his colleagues include:

Guns: A challenge is pending to a California law that requires individuals to ask sheriffs offices for permits to carry concealed handguns in public, permits that are almost always denied in urban counties. The California case, and cases from other states, could require the justices to decide how the right to possess firearms for self-defense at home, declared in a 2008 Scalia opinion, applies outside the home.

Immigration: Trumps attempt to strip federal funding from cities and states that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration agents is being challenged in a San Francisco federal court by San Francisco and Santa Clara counties, a case scheduled to be heard next Friday. The dispute could reach the high court by next year.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko
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When Republican Ronald Reagan was elected governor of California in 1966, ousting Democratic Gov. Pat Brown in a hard-fought campaign, a Bay Area Democrat, Assemblyman John T. Jack Knox, decided to calm the waters by inviting Reagan to a private, getting-to-know-you dinner with fellow legislators.

The assemblyman, who died Monday at the age of 92, often spoke of that dinner afterward, describing how Reagan, over drinks, proceeded to regale the group with decidedly off-color jokes, said his son, attorney John H. Knox. And it may have paved the way for a working relationship in 1970, when Reagan signed a Knox bill, the landmark California Environmental Quality Act, which requires environmental review of all planned construction projects.

Later, Assemblyman Knox regularly hosted dinners at his Sacramento apartment, attended by fellow lawmakers, staff, lobbyists and sometimes Reagans Democratic successor, Jerry Brown.

Assemblyman Knox was a shining example of a time when Democrats and Republicans, or at least some of them, were willing to work together, said Bill Bagley, a former Republican assemblyman from Marin County who was first elected in the same year, 1960.

We didnt (even) have partisan aisles, but sat alongside one another, Bagley said. He described Mr. Knox as one of Californias greatest legislators ... the greatest legislator Ive ever known.

He did what were supposed to do here, work on the big things, said Assemblyman Tony Thurmond, D-Richmond, who now holds the Assembly seat and described Assemblyman Knox as a mentor.

He spent 20 years in the Assembly, representing western Contra Costa County. Besides the states environmental law, he sponsored laws creating the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, which was signed by Reagan and thwarted plans to fill in parts of the bay; authorizing state regulation of health maintenance organizations, rewriting standards for sales of stock and other corporate securities in California, and establishing regional planning agencies.

Nationwide, he was the foremost authority on local government as it relates to state government and also an incredible lawyer, said Willie Brown, the former San Francisco mayor, Assembly speaker and current Chronicle columnist, who served alongside Assemblyman Knox from 1964 to 1980.

He presided over Assembly sessions as speaker pro tem from 1976 to 1980. Even after he retired from the Legislature and joined a law firm, Brown, then the speaker, brought him back at times to preside as the house parliamentarian.

A section of Interstate 580 leading to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge is named the John T. Knox Freeway because of his success in obtaining funding to rebuild a dangerous, undivided highway. He also secured funding for converting industrial land in Point Richmond to a park now called the Miller-Knox Regional Park, named for the assemblyman and his onetime mentor, state Sen. George Miller.

John T. Knox was born in Reno in 1924 and moved to California with his family in 1929. He served in the Army Air Corps during World War II, part of the time as a radio announcer in Nome, Alaska. He returned to graduate from Occidental College in Los Angeles, where he met his future wife, Jean Henderson.

After attending law school at what was then Hastings College in San Francisco, he practiced law in Richmond from 1953 until his election in 1960. He returned to law practice 20 years later and started the San Francisco office of the firm Nossaman, Guthner, Knox & Elliott, where he worked until retirement in 2008.

He died in a Richmond hospital. Survivors include his wife of 67 years, Jean; their son, John; daughters, Charlotte and Mary; and seven grandchildren. Plans for a memorial service are pending.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko
California voters can thank themselves that they had at least a few days to see the contents of a $52 billion transportation bill before it was passed by state lawmakers late Thursday night. In years past, the governor and legislative leaders might have rushed a measure so fraught with political peril in the last hours of a session, with a flurry of changes made before most rank-and-file representatives even had a chance to read the final version.

Proposition 54, supported by voters in all 58 counties, requires a bill to be in print and available online for 72 hours before a vote by the state Senate or Assembly. Violate that rule, the constitutional amendment dictated, and the law is invalid.

It was one of the more important political reforms in years, bringing much-needed transparency to the legislative process.

In the case of the transportation bill (SB1), Californians and their elected representatives in Sacramento were able to know ahead of passage how this bill would hit their pocketbooks  a 12-cent-a-gallon increase in gas taxes and up to $175 more in vehicle registration fees  and how it would offer truckers some relief from future regulations. It was an imperfect and controversial bill, with something to hate for conservatives and for environmentalists.

No legislator can later claim he or she did not have a chance to review SB1.

But there is no doubt that the Legislatures leaders, especially Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, are not exactly thrilled about having to do the peoples business in plain view. The rules they have set to implement Prop. 54 are setting up a collision course with the voters clear intent to assure a three-day review of pending legislation and to guarantee that video of all proceedings should be available online.

A coalition of government-watchdog groups sent a letter to all 120 Senate and Assembly members last week warning that failure to comply with the voters mandate could inadvertently result in the invalidation of bills that the Legislature wishes to pass. The signatories included nonpartisan reform groups (Common Cause, California Forward, League of Women Voters) and more ideologically defined groups from the left and right (CalPIRG, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, National Federation of Independent Business).

Of particular concern was the Assemblys attempt to interpret the 72-hour rule more narrowly than was presented to California voters. Under the Assembly rule, the 72-hour requirement would apply only to bills that had previously passed the Senate and were on their last stop before the governor.

Wrong, wrong, wrong, say the promoters of Prop. 54.

What they have put in place so far concerns us, said Gavin Baker of California Common Cause.

The clear intent of the measure, they note, was to apply the transparency rule before final passage of any bill reaching the Senate or Assembly floor.

The fear is that some legislator might step into a trap not knowing the obligation, said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.

Kevin Liao, a spokesman for Rendon, insisted that the Assembly rule is consistent with the provisions of Prop. 54.

But keep in mind: Violation of the 72-hour rule is not just going to result in a public shaming of the Assembly for ignoring it. Opponents of a bill that passed without due public review would have the opportunity to challenge it in court. James Mayer, president and CEO of California Forward, said the proponents of Prop. 54 were careful to establish a record of intent that the rule would apply to all bills reaching the full Senate or Assembly. If the Legislature were to play games with the rule, Mayer said, he absolutely would expect a lawsuit to result.

Were hoping the letter is preventive, Mayer said. But there is a recognition that it sometimes takes a court to affirm the meaning of a law.

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association has often been frustrated by last-minute bills that emerge from the backrooms of the State Capitol, according to Coupal.

Its not that we can stop them ... but at least it gives us a chance to see what they are doing, Coupal said, acknowledging the Democrats supermajorities in each house. Its like when the locomotive is coming down the tracks you can see it ... instead of being hit from behind with your earbuds on.

If Prop. 54 is enforced as intended, all Californians will have greatly expanded opportunities to view the legislative railroad. Starting in 2018, the Legislature must record all public meetings and archive the recordings online within 24 hours, the watchdogs letter noted. It also gave Californians a sweeping right to record public meetings. Any restrictions must be justified by the sole purpose of minimizing disruption of the proceedings and approved by a two-thirds vote of both the Senate and Assembly.

Legislators seem to think they can ignore this rule. Both the Senate and Assembly have asked their respective Rules Committees to decide the ground rules for audio and video recordings. As the watchdogs warned, the plain language of Prop. 54 supersedes any rules adopted by a legislative committee.

The right to record legislative hearings is important to California voters, said Helen Hutchison, president of the League of Women Voters of California. We received that right through passage of Prop. 54. The Legislature should honor this provision, not just because they are required to do so, but also because their constituents have made it clear they want it.

The voters have spoken. The watchdogs are watching. Legislators have been duly warned that they flout the law at their peril.

John Diaz is The San Francisco Chronicles editorial page editor. Email: jdiaz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JohnDiazChron

Will politicians heed the will of the voters?

Prop. 54 was passed by 65.4 percent of California voters in November 2016.

What it does:

Requires that a bill be in print and available online for at least 72 hours before a vote in the Senate or Assembly.

Requires audiovisual recordings of all legislative proceedings, with posting and archiving on the Internet.

Allows anyone to record legislative proceedings by audio or video means, unless they would pose an undue disruption.

Allows recordings of such hearings to be used for any legitimate purpose, without a fee to the state.

Why it was needed:

California legislators have demonstrated a growing propensity for jamming through bills, especially at the end of session, with little or no time for the public to review or comment. These often were bills being pushed by the leadership on behalf of a favored special interest. In many cases, rank-and-file lawmakers didnt even get a chance to read a bill before they voted.

Why voters had to act

For years, legislators rejected any and all such reforms. A staff analysis of a 2013 effort (ACA4) was laughable in its absurdity. The staff warned the 72-hour waiting period would allow powerful special interests to torpedo carefully crafted agreements  when, in fact, the backroom deal was the process for the well-connected group to get their way. The Legislature was given one last chance to pass a 72-hour rule after the Prop. 54 initiative qualified for the ballot. But legislators proved unwilling to produce an alternative acceptable to the initiative proponents. So it was on to the ballot, where the voters had the last word.
President Trump has just led the United States into a dangerous world of complication and contradiction.

The U.S. missile strikes on a Syrian air base, if viewed in isolation, represented a restrained response to the horrific chemical weapons attack by President Bashar Assads forces earlier in the week.

Who in the civilized world could disagree with Trumps expression of revulsion at the slaughter that killed dozens, included infants? And who could argue that action was warranted to deter a recurrence?

The message from the 59 Tomahawk missiles that inflicted significant damage on a Syrian air base was clear: This was a line that must never be crossed.

Obliteration of 20 Syrian warplanes is the simple part; to view it in isolation would be reckless in the extreme.

This is a conflict that could mutate in an instant.

The saying the enemy of my enemy is my friend does not even begin to capture the complexity of the civil war. Assad is merely one of the bad actors in Syria. His regime has been fighting the Islamic State, whose destruction is supposed to be Trumps No. 1 global priority. One of Syrias allies is Iran.

The other, of course, is Russia. Until Friday, the U.S. and Russia had agreed to exchange information about air operations in Syria to avoid accidental clashes. Russia has now halted such communication, leaving a perilous situation with forces of the two countries operating in proximity.

Assads regime has been aided immensely by the Russian military. The Russians failed, whether through incompetence or complicity, to fulfill their commitment to assure the elimination of Syrias chemical weapons. Any credible U.S. policy to deter Assad would necessarily include pressure  such as heightened sanctions  on Russia to restrain its allys inhumanity.

Then there are the refugees. How can Trump reconcile his poignant words about the horror in Syria with his travel ban that blocks all refugees from that nation?

Its hard to escape the impression that Trump is following his visceral instincts in the absence of a coherent vision for how to intervene without creating the next quagmire.

As a citizen, Trump cautioned President Barack Obama in 2013 against attacking Syria, after the last major poison gas attack on Assads own people. As a presidential candidate, Trump warned that opponent Hillary Clinton wants to start a shooting war in Syria, in conflict with a nuclear-armed Russia, which could lead to World War III.

Before the attack, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had suggested shortly before Syrian forces unleashed the banned nerve agent on civilians that the future of Assads regime will be decided by the Syrian people. After the missile strikes, Tillerson said: I would not in any way attempt to extrapolate that to a change in our policy.

But is there a policy? Americans need to know, and Congress needs to be fully engaged, before the next moment of crisis prods Trump to act again in a civil war he had pledged to avoid.
Donald Trumps technique for dealing with bad news is to create enough confusion and partisanship to envelop it in dense fog.

Consider the most explosive news to come along in recent history  that the FBI has commenced an investigation of Trump aides to find out if they colluded with Russian agents to throw the election to Trump.

Nothing remotely as serious has ever occurred in United States politics. Russias interference is a direct attack on American democracy. If Trumps aides were involved, thats treason. If Trump knew about it and did nothing, thats an impeachable offense at the very least.

Which is why Trump wants to bury it inside a fog of diversions, distractions, claims and allegations that appear to have something to do with it but lead elsewhere.

Its why he has repeatedly blasted the press as fake news, going crazy with their conspiracy theories and blind hatred; lashed out at the intelligence agencies for their unauthorized leaks, just like Russia; and conjured up witch hunts and conspiracies against him resembling Nazi Germany.

As evidence of Trumps advisers collusion with Russian operatives kept mounting through February, Trump needed a bigger fog machine. So on March 4, he alleged that President Barack Obama had wiretapped him in the Trump Tower during the campaign.

Even though Trump has no evidence, and his claim is irrelevant to the FBI investigation, hes enough of a con artist to know that merely making this preposterous allegation would give him the fog he needed.

Almost immediately, news stories about the FBI investigation were replaced by stories about Trumps allegation, his lack of evidence, reactions from FBI Director James Comey and others, and the White Houses desperate attempts to find credible proof.

Which is where Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Tulare, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, comes in.

Soon after Comeys testimony before Nunes committee, Nunes went to the White House to look at intelligence reports that, he said, clearly show the president-elect and his team were at least monitored during the presidential transition. The rest of Nunes committee wasnt allowed to view the documents in question.

Two days later, Nunes said he wasnt sure whether Trump and his aides were monitored and he needed to review more information. No matter. By then the fog machine was working overtime, generating a thick haze of stories about what Nunes saw or didnt see, whom his potential source might be, and whether Nunes revelation supported Trumps claim of Obamas wiretapping (it didnt). All of which ignited a storm of outrage among Democrats on the committee  and, thereby, further stories.

Then, when it looked as if three top officials who had served under the Obama administration were going to testify before the committee  including Sally Yates, the former deputy attorney general who briefly served as acting attorney general before being fired by Trump  Nunes canceled the hearing, bringing the House investigation to a temporary halt.

And on it goes, day after day, a thickening fog of diversion and obfuscation, taking public attention away from the FBIs investigation into possible treason by Trump and his aides, and focusing it instead on a thickening smog of other controversies.

Trump knows that reporters need stories, and he is only happy to oblige. It doesnt matter how ridiculous or baseless they might be. The more they obscure the big story, the more useful they are.

Trump figures that at some point the murk will seem too complicated and too partisan.

By then, even if the FBI and other intelligence agencies find that Trump or his advisers colluded with Russian operatives to win the election for him, it wont much matter. Trump and his surrogates will have created an impenetrable fog of claims and counterclaims, plots and subplots, unproven allegations and lies.

The public will have become lost and confused in the fog  exhausted, confounded, cynical. Facts and findings will vanish. It will all come to seem like politics at its worst.

Could Trump get away with it? Possibly.

The biggest danger he faces is that Republican statesmen might emerge from the mist, those who are sufficiently concerned about the integrity and sanctity of our democracy to act as lighthouses. They would guide the public through it and shine a beam of clarity on one of the worst outrages in American history.

Do they exist? We will soon find out.

 2017 Robert Reich

Robert Reich, a former U.S. secretary of Labor, is professor of public policy at UC Berkeley. He blogs daily at www.facebook.com/rbreich. To comment, submit your letter to the editor at http://bit.ly/SFChronicleletters.
While President Trump largely won bipartisan and international praise Friday for the missile attack he ordered on a Syrian air base, he also opened himself up to hard questions. The first is the toughest: Whats his administrations policy on Syria?

Military action is not the end, it it the beginning. And the question has to be: How does this relate to a larger strategy of how do we deal with Syria, former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said Friday.

Thursdays attack marked a reversal by Trump on Syrian policy. In September 2013, before he was a presidential candidate, Trump tweeted: President Obama, do not attack Syria. There is no upside and tremendous downside. Save your powder for another (and more important) day!

But his attitude changed within hours of this weeks chemical weapons attack by forces loyal to President Bashar Assads government, which the World Health Organization said killed 84 civilians and injured 546 in the town of Khan Sheikhoun.

Alex Brandon/Associated Press

Trump apparently was moved by video of the aftermath.

It was a slow and brutal death for so many, the president said. Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack. No child of God should ever suffer such horror.

But experts cautioned that while the U.S. strike by 59 Tomahawk missiles on the Shayrat airfield may provide short-term retribution, a missile attack is not a policy.

There may be some emotional satisfaction that something was done, but this remains the problem from hell, said Daniel Benjamin, a former State Department coordinator for counterterrorism who now teaches at Dartmouth University. And deeper engagement (in Syria) is anything but easy. And its unclear if it is wise.

Retaliating in a proportional way, as both the administration and some Democrats described the U.S. response to the gas attack, drew bipartisan political support, even from Trump critics like Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who said the attack was a limited but necessary response to those heinous acts, and I hope the intended message was received.

But Feinstein and others also demanded the administration outline a coherent policy for Syria. What that might be is one of many questions now at the forefront of U.S. foreign policy.

Whats the next step for the United States? You have to combine diplomacy with force, said Bruce Jentleson, a former State Department adviser who has been involved in some back-channel diplomacy with the Russians in the Middle East. If it is only force, then you keep getting egged into these types of situations, over and over.

What could trigger a future U.S. retaliation? Panetta, who was also director of the CIA and a Democratic representative from Monterey, said Trump has set a precedent that if Syria uses chemical weapons, the U.S. will respond.

But instead of chemical weapons, what if Syria employs barrel bombs (stuffed with shrapnel and nails) to hit hospitals? Panetta asked. Do we now assume the responsibility every time to respond militarily?

Does Thursdays strike give us a hint into Trumps foreign policy? Not yet.

The overriding concern is that Trump completely flipped from one day to the next on an issue of significant national security that hes been talking about for years, Benjamin said. Yes, we should all be deeply affected by those pictures (of children suffering from the chemical attack). But I have very little confidence that he is thinking one, two or three moves ahead, which is what a president has to do.

What does the U.S. want Assad to do? That seems to be changing. Last week, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the longer-term status of President Assad will be decided by the Syrian people.

But after the gas attack, Tillerson said, Assads role in the future is uncertain, clearly, and with the acts that he has taken, it would seem that there would be no role for him to govern the Syrian people.

Will Trump get congressional approval before using force again? In August 2013  two years before declaring his candidacy, Trump tweeted, The president must get Congressional approval before attacking Syria  big mistake if he does not!

That didnt happen on Trumps watch.

On Friday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, wrote to Speaker Paul Ryan, D-Wis., and asked him to call Congress home from recess to debate authorization for the use of force against a sovereign nation. Not much chance of that happening as long as there is a GOP Congress and president.

Are the Russians really mad  or did they know the missile attack was coming? Russia, which along with Iran is Assads main supporter, offered a series of mixed messages after the attacks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the attack was a significant blow to U.S.-Russian relations, and Russia asked the United Nations Security Council to consider whether the U.S. missile attack violated international law.

But the United States gave Russia more than an hours notice of the attack, and there is no indication that it lost troops or equipment in the strike.

Panetta said: The action we took sent a very important signal to our adversaries and allies that the U.S. is going to take military action when we feel it is necessary. Its an important message to send to Putin because he was sensing weakness with us.

But the Russians are not interested in having a major confrontation with the United States, Panetta said. They will resort to diplomatic moves, but I dont think theyre going to risk anything more than that.

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli
Chad DeWitt and Dr. James Cook, known to be dissimilar in many ways, agree on one thing: Their first date was awkward. It was 2013, and after finding each other online, they planned a meet-up at the Ferry Building for a drink and to view the then-new Bay Bridge lights. But even before the sun had set, Chad, who is the principal and creative director at design firm Frame Studio, decided there was not enough twinkle in their connection to hold out for darkness and the twinkling lights to come on.

Both found the other handsome, but Chad wrongly interpreted James shyness as disinterest. It wasnt. James, radiation safety manager for UCSF, is known for being shy and was simply overshadowed by Chads exuberant personality. But I liked his eccentricity and that he was creative and an entrepreneur, James said. When Chad realized that James quiet demeanor hid an intelligent wit, he agreed to stay through twilight.

The lights flickering behind them lit a tiny spark that soon led to several dates. Chad discovered James ridiculous sense of humor, and James, 45, saw that Chad, 43, wasnt afflicted by the Peter Pan syndrome hed encountered previously in dating endeavors. We communicated well and directly, James said. Early on I asked if our relationship had legs and we were able to talk about where we wanted this to go.

James had an aunt whod advised him to take relationships through all seasons before committing. By the time they decided to move in together, several years had passed and the real estate situation in San Francisco had worsened. The couple decided to nest in Chads Lake Merritt penthouse in Oakland, and James found himself enjoying his commute to UCSF. For an introvert like me, taking BART is enlivening, he said.

It was James who proposed in 2014. The couple had traveled to London, and with Guy Fawkes Day fireworks erupting overhead, the deal was sealed.

Wedding decisions brought out the two mens differences. Chad had always envisioned a North Coast wedding, perhaps at Sea Ranch, but his musings had him imagining an unaffordable event with hundreds of guests. James, who was raised in a very large Mormon family and has two grown children from a previous marriage, was concerned about making his extended family uncomfortable by inviting them to celebrate a same-sex union.

Eventually, the two decided on an intimate destination wedding in England  all would be invited, but likely only a dozen would attend. However, by the time RSVPs had been counted, their wedding party had grown to nearly 70 guests, including a handful of James 11 siblings and their families.

We dont come from a particularly affluent bunch, but suddenly everyone was on board, Chad said.

The ceremony was held July 21 at St. Peters Church in Firle, a village described by Chad as like Downton Abbey. Vicar Peter Owen-Jones, a notable spiritual author and presenter for a BBC series on world spirituality, performed the ceremony. Because the church featured stunning stained glass windows, the only adornment was the addition of a few well-placed birch trees.

After the service, guests walked to the nearby pub for a traditional Sunday roast. James voiced a desire to cut their cake with a sword, but the 300-year-old weapon purchased for the occasion unexpectedly bent on impact  through no fault of the delicious cake, apparently. After the meal, guests, many in festive hats, boarded a double-decker bus for a pub crawl along the English seaside.

For both men, the ceremony itself was a highlight among many. The church gave a dignified backdrop to their moving declaration of commitment, as they had hoped when theyd first stumbled onto it years before while on holiday. They were attracted to the churchs openness, described on the sign out front: However you look to God, whatever your own tradition or none, it is open as a place of rest, a place of sanctuary, and a place of healing.

We felt that there, and we were able to share that feeling with our families and friends, said James.

Louise Rafkin is an East Bay freelance writer. Email: style@sfchronicle.com

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.

At a glance

Location: Firle Village, East Sussex, England. www.firle.com

Venue & Catering: St. Peters Church and The Ram Inn

Flowers: Quince Brighton

Dessert: Choccywoccydoodah

Photography: Paul Rogers Photography Ltd.

Officiant: The Rev. Peter Owen Jones
Rallies and protest events are a part of political life in the Bay Area. Heres a roundup of whats happening.

Monday

Immigrant rights hearing: The Immigrants Rights Commission will hold a special hearing on the impact of federal policies on immigrants. The event is open to the public and is from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. at City Hall, Hearing Room 416, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place in San Francisco. For information, call (415) 580-2360.

Comedy: Benefit performance at the Punch Line Comedy Club for Naral Pro-Choice America, an organization that supports abortion rights, access to birth control and paid parental leave. Tickets cost $20. The event is at 7:30 p.m. at 444 Battery St. in San Francisco. For tickets: http://bit.ly/NARALPunchLine.

Thursday

Sign-making event: Sign-making event for the April 22 March for Science in San Francisco. The event is from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Public Library of Science, 1160 Battery St. in San Francisco. For information: http://bit.ly/2nYqXr4.

Education discussion: The Lamorinda Democratic Club hosts a conversation on how federal funding will affect public education. The event is at 7 p.m. at the Lafayette Library and Community Center, 3491 Mount Diablo Blvd. For information: www.ldclub.org.

April 15

Tax march: Protesters will march to demand that President Trump release his tax returns. A San Francisco march will start at 1 p.m. at 11th and Market streets. For information: http://bit.ly/2m5xWOA. In San Jose, a march is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. For information: http://bit.ly/2nSMxO7.

Pro-Trump rally: The event is to promote free speech. Noon to 4 p.m. in Berkeley. Details are being confirmed. For information: www.facebook.com/events/185364111955870/?active_tab=discussion.

Anti-Trump rally: A family-friendly event where attendees will use their bodies to spell out an enormous challenge to President Trump. The exact message has not been determined. The event begins at 10:30 a.m., and attendees are asked to meet 300 yards south of the Cliff House Restaurant, 1090 Point Lobos Ave., in San Francisco. For information: www.facebook.com/events/214702565673803.

April 19

ACLU event: The League of Women Voters hosts a discussion with Jay Laefer of the American Civil Liberties Union on safeguarding the rights of our entire community. The event is from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Woodside Road United Methodist Church, 2000 Woodside Road in Redwood City.

Conversation on Trump resistance: A new event series hosted by The Chronicle called Chronicle Chats. This event, The Future of the Left: Can the Trump Resistance Grow Beyond Protest, will be led by columnist David Talbot and will feature a senior adviser of the Bernie Sanders campaign and other experts and leaders. The event is from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave. Tickets available: https://info.sfchronicle.com/chroniclechats.

April 22

Town hall: Hosted by Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, at 10 a.m. at the gymnasium of Canada College, 4200 Farm Hill Blvd. in Woodside.

Science march: Marches marking Earth Day. In San Francisco, a march begins at 11 a.m. at Justin Herman Plaza, Embarcadero Center at Market and Steuart streets, and ends at Civic Center Plaza. For information: http://bit.ly/2nAcLkN. In San Jose, a march will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Details to be confirmed. For information: http://bit.ly/2oV8oSu. In Walnut Creek, a march is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will start at Civic Park, 1375 Civic Drive. In Hayward, a march is from 10 a.m. to noon and begins at the Hayward Shoreline Interpretive Center, 4901 Breakwater Ave. For information: http://bit.ly/2n7oonY.

April 23

Sexual assault conversation: Loosid Projects, Planned Parenthood and Bay Area Women Against Rape host a discussion called Locker Room Talk: Confronting Sexual Violence in the Age of Trump. The event is from 6 to 8 p.m. at 507 55th St. in Oakland. Tickets are $10 at the door. For information, email info@loosidity.com.
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The Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival began its 50th year of celebrations in San Franciscos Japantown Saturday a little wet, but undeterred.

Though morning rain delayed setting up for many vendors and community groups at the annual celebration of Japanese culture, some festivalgoers had been long camped out for one of the events most anticipated happenings.

Ive been in line for the Hello Kitty Cafe truck since 8:30 this morning with my umbrella, said Rochelle Martinez of Daly City, who was first in line. Im here with an online meet-up group of other Kitty fans, Ive been a big fan since 1979.

The line for the truck reached halfway down Post Street by 9:30 a.m. as die-hard fans of the Sanrio character waited for their chance to buy Kitty merchandise and special food treats, including macarons and petits fours emblazoned with the characters likeness. The truck has been a regular feature at the festival for the past three years.

The festival is geographically centered around the Japan Center at 1737 Post St. and closes blocks on Post, Webster and Sutter to traffic.

By 10:00 a.m. the rain had mostly dissipated and some of the 200,000 expected visitors to the festival in the next two weeks began to fill the streets. Some came in traditional Japanese kimonos, others, like Dan Solace of San Francisco and Audrey Lynn of San Jose, embraced the festivals reputation for costume-play (cosplay) and dressed as anime and comic characters.

Im Venom Pool: Thats a combination of a Venom and Deadpool costume, Solace explained, adjusting his red mask. Lynn was dressed in rabbit ears and a pinafore dress as Black Rabbit, a character from a Japanese anime. Kelly Tran of Hayward and Miu Liu of Oakland embraced Japanese Harajuku subculture fashion and wore girlish sweet Lolita costumes, which even included fake candy accessories in their hair.

As always, the food booths, serving Japanese favorites ranging from teriyaki to udon, were among the festivals busiest destinations.

We werent going to let a little rain get in our way, Said Brian Lew of San Francisco, who was managing the Mochi Waffles booth, which benefits San Franciscos Re:Acts Ministries. Were doing it for the kids we support. Since our waffles are vegan and gluten-free, we usually do very well.

Away from the food bazaar, the Japanese skill game Kendama, in which a player juggles a ball on a string between three cups and a spike on the same stick, attracted its own crowd as some of the 90 competitors in the festivals Sakura Classic demonstrated their techniques.

The sport has been around for about 100 years, said Jake Wiens, a professional Kendama player from Oakland. This is my third time as part of this competition. Its a really great event, and we get a lot of support from the Japanese consul general to make it happen. We literally have players as young as 8 years old from all over the Bay Area that have discovered it.

The festival began in 1968 and is considered one of most prominent celebrations of Asian culture on the West Coast. The festivals website says its mission serves to cultivate the continued alliance between Japan and United States using culture as its bridge.

Last year it rained on opening day too, but like today, the sun eventually came out, said Akira Ichioka of the Japanese consul generals office in San Francisco. Its an event that isnt just about Japan, its also about the Americans who want to learn about Japanese culture. San Francisco isnt just excited about Japan during this festival, this is a city where people come out all year round. Were not just thinking about the next 50 years of this festival, were thinking about the next 50 to 100 years.

Tony Bravo is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tbravo@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TonyBravoSF

Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival: Sunday and next Saturday and Sunday surrounding the Japan Center Mall, 1737 Post St. The festivals parade will begin at 1 p.m. next Sunday at City Hall and conclude in Japantown.
When going through a folder marked Transportation>Ferries, a very curious photo came to light. It showed a streamlined, space-age looking vessel on the water. The San Francisco Chronicle archives revealed just what this odd looking craft was. Turns out that it had quite an ill-fated history.

The Chronicle article, published November 27, 1970, spoke of a time after the Golden Gate and Oakland Bay Bridges were built, that San Franciscans thought they were done with ferries forever. At one time, they were almost as closely identified with the city as the beloved cable cars.

It turns out that the photo in question was a ferry, originally known as the Peralta. In 1926, she entered service as part of the Key Route System. The next year, the Peralta developed engine trouble, "thrashed about while going into her Oakland berth and damaged pilings to the extent of several thousand dollars."

Things were about to get much worse the following year. She was loaded with commuters en route to Oakland and left the Ferry Building at 5:15 on the afternoon of February 17, 1928, and passed Yerba Buena Island and ran into wash from a lumber schooner.

"Her bow dipped lower presumably due to failure of the automatic ballast. Some 20 or 30 people were swept overboard. A few others, panic-stricken, jumped. Three men and two women were drowned."

Five years later, the ferry burned in a fire at the Oakland slip. She was then sold to the Puget Sound Navigation Co. and sent north. It was there that the 200 ton, all steel ship was rechristened Kalakala and streamlined with a rounded, stainless steel sheathed superstructure, which explained its futuristic look.

But, apparently, the ship was still jinxed. In 1938, while berthing in Seattle, she "lurched to one side, banging into a platform slip and shaking the 1,200 Bremerton Navy yard workers on board." The jinx seemed to have lifted in 1964 when there was a fire that did great damage to a Seattle shipyard where the Kalakala had been dry-docked for an inspection. She was left unscathed.

I learned from a helpful reader that, eventually, the old craft reached a state of no return, due to age and deterioration. She was finally scrapped. You can read about that here.

Bob Bragman is a producer for SFGATE. His writing reflects his love of the Bay Area, in addition to his passion for vintage pop culture, ephemera and vernacular photographs. To see more of his content, please click here.
A 26-year-old woman who lives aboard a boat in the Sausalito Yacht Harbor is missing, prompting police to seek the publics help finding her.

Ashley Wells vanished between 12 a.m. and 2 a.m. March 30 after she was spotted paddling an orange kayak south of a channel off Turney Street toward her home, said Sgt. Steve Veveiros, a Sausalito Police Department spokesman.

Wells, who split her time between Sausalito and her native Missouri, lived on a boat at Pier A of the harbor, where she worked as a boat hand, Veveiros said.

Her employer reported her missing April 2 after sending her several unanswered texts and reaching out to another friend who hadnt heard from her, Veveiros said.

All of her belongings, including her phone, were found on the boat where she lives, police said. She was not believed to be wearing a life vest, said Veveiros, adding that foul play was not suspected.

Sausalito police notified Wells family in Missouri, Veveiros said.

The familys obviously very sad and distraught and want answers but we dont have any, he said. The ocean in the bay can be unpredictable.

Wells is 5 feet 6 inches tall, about 130 pounds and has blonde hair and hazel eyes, authorities said.

There was no active boat search for Wells due to a lack of leads. Police ask anyone with information on her whereabouts to call (415) 289-4170.

Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno
HYDERABAD: The state government on Friday gave blanket administrative sanction to Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to build 69,535 two-bedroom houses (dwelling units) costing `6,014.78 crore in Greater Hyderabad.

The permission follows GHMCs plea for a blanket sanction for construction of 2BHK houses to minimise the delay in getting sanction for each dwelling. Till now, at regular intervals, GHMC has been approaching the state government for sanction of houses in phases, which causes delay.

Each dwelling unit costs around `7.90 lakh excluding infrastructure cost which comes around to `75,000. In the 69,535 dwelling units costing `6,014.78 crore, the governments share comes to around `4,867 crore and GHMCs to `625 crore. The infrastructure will cost `521 crore.

The government issued an order in August last year for construction of 5,050 houses costing `428 crore. A proposal was sent to the government in September by GHMC commissioner B Janardhan Reddy for administrative sanction for 15,519 houses costing about `1,298 crore.

The government had already sanctioned 20,569 (5,050+15,519) 2BHK houses for the city. Further, a proposal for construction of 9,896 houses in the third phase has been submitted to government for approval.

The houses will be built as per the availability of government land in various parts of the city.
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It seems like common sense: People will be less tempted to drink and drive if they have an easier, safer way to get home after a night out.

Uber has plenty of incentive to make this case and has reported on declines in drunken-driving incidents in several major cities after the company started providing ride-hailing services, beginning in San Francisco in 2010.

A recent independent study backs this up. It found that in four boroughs of New York City, excluding Staten Island, there has been a 25 to 35 percent reduction in alcohol-related car accidents since Uber came to town in 2011, compared with other places where the ride-hailing company doesnt operate.

Thats a significant reduction, amounting to about 40 fewer collisions per month. And its good news for Uber, which could use some positive attention after months of hurtling from one public relations crisis to the next.

We need more evidence, but the trend seems to be pointing toward ride-sharing reducing drunk driving incidents, said Jessica Lynn Peck, a doctoral candidate at the City University of New York Graduate Center who wrote the study, a working paper that was published in January.

But not all studies have reached the same conclusion. One report, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology last year, looked at 100 densely populated counties across the United States and found no correlation between the rollout of Uber services and the number of traffic fatalities.

Noli Brazil, a postdoctoral research associate with the University of Southern California who wrote that paper with David Kirk, an associate professor at Oxford University, said common-sense arguments  that ride-hailing apps should prevent drunken driving  make some sense on an individual level.

Story continues below.

But he warned against making broader assumptions, especially since those who would drive drunk are not necessarily rational decision-makers. Researchers on the subject, he added, had to deal with a dizzying array of variables, including state laws, time frames and communities access to public transportation. All of these can affect a studys conclusions, and there is plenty of opportunity to cherry-pick data.

In order to explain our results, we pointed out the fact that the proportion of individuals who use Uber is quite small relative to the number of drivers in a given county, Brazil said.

Most studies, like Pecks, have noted a correlation between Uber services and lower rates of alcohol-related accidents. A 2015 report from Temple University found that Uber was associated with a decrease in motor vehicle homicides in California. A report this year from researchers at West Carolina University also found that Uber service led to declines in fatal accident rates across the country.

But none of these reports has been as unequivocal as the one that Uber itself released in 2015. It stated that in several major cities, Uber ridership peaked at times when drunken-driving accidents tend to happen.

It also found that in Seattle, the introduction of services was associated with a 10 percent decrease in arrests for driving under the influence. And in places where Uber is available in California, it reported, the number of alcohol-related crashes decreased by 6.5 percent among young drivers.

Several independent studies have shown Ubers presence in cities can help reduce drunk driving, a company spokeswoman said. Were glad to provide an alternative to drunk driving that helps people make safer, more responsible choices.

Peck, whose research used collisions data from the New York Department of Motor Vehicles and the states Department of Transportation from 2007 to 2013, agreed that the growing body of research suggests that ride-hailing services lead to fewer alcohol-related car accidents. But she noted that analyzing data and teasing out causation from correlation is slow and tricky work.

I think anyone who does statistics for a living is going to be really careful about saying they are sure, she said. Because we are scientists, and we are never sure.

While scientists are known for being cautious, Uber is known for being brash. The young company has disrupted the taxi industry since its founding in 2009 and is reportedly valued at close to $70 billion.

As a workplace, Uber came under fire in February amid reports that the company had an aggressive internal culture that allowed some infractions to go unpunished. And Uber has faced a series of scandals recently, with many revolving around CEO Travis Kalanick.

Uber customers and employees criticized Kalanick after he joined an advisory council for President-elect Donald Trump in December; he stepped down from that post in February. Weeks later, a former Uber engineer wrote an indictment of the companys treatment of women; Kalanick called for an urgent investigation. The week after that, a video emerged of Kalanick arguing with an Uber driver who complained about the company; the executive later apologized to employees in an email.

Uber has been in the news a lot in the last year, in ways that I think all of the authors on this subject find a little cringe-worthy, Peck said.

She added that the point of her work was not to evaluate the company itself but to provide public health data that would be useful to city and state legislators.

Brazil said that as Uber becomes more popular across the United States, a growing body of research could indeed show that the app leads to lower drunken-driving rates  but its too early to say for sure.

The company made this claim that it made cities safer, he said. We felt like theres not enough people using Uber just yet to make that kind of claim.

Jacey Fortin is a New York Times writer.
An influential proxy advisory firm is urging shareholders to vote against 12 of Wells Fargos 15 directors over the banks sales scandal.

In a report last week, Institutional Shareholder Services said that the 12 members of the boards audit, risk and human resources committees had failed over a number of years to provide a timely and sufficient risk oversight process that should have mitigated the harmful impact of the unsound retail banking sales practices that occurred from 2011 to 2016.

ISS recommended yes votes for the three other board members  new CEO Tim Sloan and newcomers Karen Peetz and Ronald Sargent  at the banks annual shareholder meeting, scheduled for April 25 in Florida. Proxy advisory firms like ISS play an important role in shaping the voting of big institutional investors such as pension funds.

In September, regulators fined the San Francisco bank $185 million to settle allegations that its employees had opened as many as 2 million accounts without customers knowledge in efforts to meet sales goals. The scandal has tarnished the banks reputation, cost former CEO John Stumpf his job and spurred congressional hearings and new investigations.

The Wells Fargo board responded sharply to the ISS report, highlighting its efforts to change bank practices.

The extreme and unprecedented ISS voting recommendation on directors fails to recognize the active engagement of the board and the substantial actions it has already taken to strengthen oversight and increase accountability at all levels of Wells Fargo, including important improvements to corporate governance, the board said.

Directors began their own investigation and have taken a number of other actions, including firing four executives and eliminating bonuses for eight senior leaders. The directors have also taken back millions of dollars in stock awards from Stumpf and former community banking head Carrie Tolstedt.

But ISS called the boards actions largely reactive, and driven not by oversight but by customer complaints and actions taken by the banks regulators.

ISS also said that it was particularly disturbed by reports that employees who did see and report unethical behavior were, in some cases, fired for being whistle-blowers.

Another proxy advisory firm, Glass Lewis, has recommended that Wells Fargo shareholders vote against the re-election of four directors who sit on the corporate responsibility committee  John Baker, Lloyd Dean, Enrique Hernandez and Cynthia Milligan  because of what it said was their failure to uphold their duties amid the scandal. It also urged no votes on John Chen and Susan Swenson because it contends that they sit on too many boards.

Its not unheard of for advisory firms to recommend votes against those directors whose companies run into trouble.

The Associated Press

contributed to this report.

Rick Rothacker is a Charlotte (N.C.) Observer writer.
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A federal immigration judge has ordered the deportation of a Canadian prostitute who injected a fatal dose of heroin into a Google executive in 2013 while on his yacht in Santa Cruz harbor, officials said Friday.

Alix Catherine Tichelman, 29, will be deported to Canada as soon as Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials make final arrangements for her removal, said ICE spokesman James Schwab.

Tichelman, a heroin-addict and high-end prostitute who had been living in Folsom, was sentenced to six years in county jail in May 2015 after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter and administering illicit drugs in the death of 51-year-old Forrest Hayes.

After serving 2 years in jail, Tichelman was released by Santa Cruz County Sheriffs Office on March 29 after being given time off for good behavior and completing undisclosed rehabilitation programs, said Sgt. Chris Clark, a spokesman for the Santa Cruz County Sheriffs Office.

More for you Santa Cruz 'harbor hooker' Tichelman taken by ICE agents

Although ICE agents requested on March 27 that the jail hold Tichelman for an additional 48 hours beyond her release date, the sheriffs office declined, citing department policy, Clark said.

Following her release, she was immediately taken into custody by federal immigration agents.

Tichelman is not a U.S. citizen but had been living legally in the United States, Schwab said.

Ms. Tichelman came into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody after serving time for multiple criminal convictions, including involuntary manslaughter and a felony drug charge. At that point, the agency placed her in removal proceedings, Schwab said.

On Thursday, an immigration judge held that Ms. Tichelmans criminal convictions were grounds for removal and ordered her removed from the United States, Schwab said.

Schwab was unable to offer a timeline for her departure.

Hayes, a husband and father of five, met Tichelman through a sugar daddy website that she used for her prostitution, police said.

Tichelmans attorney Larry Biggman, portraying the injection as an accident, had said his client was a wounded bird and not demonic.

Authorities said video from a yacht in the Santa Cruz harbor on Nov. 23, 2013, shows Tichelman injecting Hayes with heroin, downing a glass of wine, and closing the boats blinds before leaving the scene.

Chronicle staff writer Michael Bodley contributed to this report.

Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno
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Saturday marks the 27th anniversary of the series premiere of 'Twin Peaks,' the 1990s cult favorite.

Set in the fictional town of Twin Peaks, Washington, the show follows a mysterious murder case and the involvement of supernatural beings.

The show was cancelled after its second season in 1991, but it will return as a limited event on Showtime on May 21 of this year.

Click through the slideshow to see the cast of 'Twin Peaks' then and now.
COLUMBIA, S.C.  Two convicts serving life sentences have been charged with murder in the strangulation deaths of four inmates inside a South Carolina prison.

Denver Simmons and Jacob Philip lured each of the four inmates into a cell at Kirkland Correctional Institution in Columbia on Friday morning, then worked together to attack and choke them, according to arrest warrants released Saturday.
Lorraine Waxman Pearce, a decorative arts scholar who, as the first White House curator, helped Jacqueline Kennedy restore the presidential mansion to its 19th century historic splendor, died March 14 in Charlottesville, Va. She was 82.

Her son, David, recently confirmed her death. He said she had been treated for Alzheimers disease.

Ms. Pearce joined the White House in late March 1961, only weeks after John F. Kennedys inauguration and Jacqueline Kennedys announcement of her plans to change the buildings interiors from the modern look of the renovation undertaken during Harry Trumans presidency to one that reflected its early historic character.

Much of the emphasis was on reviving the style of the White House after the completion of its reconstruction in 1817. During the War of 1812, British troops had set it ablaze. Rebuilt under James Madison, it was reoccupied by his successor, James Monroe, several months after he took office.

Working from an office that had been a presidential map room, Ms. Pearce, then in her 20s, invented the curators job. She cataloged the White Houses period furniture, paintings, statues and antiques, sifted through letters from citizens offering to sell or donate items to help the restoration (including a toothbrush that belonged to Ulysses S. Grant) and rummaged through storage areas. She also wrote the first guidebook to the White Houses historic furnishings.

Discoveries were made, like John Tylers china cake basket, a mirror that belonged to George Washington and a tufted chair from Abraham Lincolns bedroom. Dolley Madisons Empire sofa was donated by C. Douglas Dillon, JFKs Treasury secretary.

In a note to Kennedy in September 1961, Ms. Pearce wrote that the donated walnut high chest newly placed in his bedroom was a much finer and more representative example of American craftsmanship than the one it had replaced. And, in a memo to the president a month later, she described various furnishings that had been brought to the Blue, East, Red and Green Rooms.

The gilt pier table was ordered by President Monroe from Paris in 1817, she wrote. It is now back in its original location in the Blue Room. The matching gilt armchair is part of the same set and was recently returned to the White House.

In the East Room, she added, The new portraits are of Judge Bushrod Washington and his wife, Mrs. Bushrod Washington. Judge Washington was the nephew of George Washington. Also in the East Room were two pairs of Monroes gilt bronze candelabras.

Ms. Pearce told the alumni magazine of the University of Delaware decades later that Kennedy asked her one day if any interesting new artifacts had been added to the collection. Yes, she said, two armchairs from Monroes White House. The president decided to make the chairs a surprise gift to the first lady, and Ms. Pearce wrapped them in paper and tied them up with bows.

She was thrilled, absolutely thrilled, Ms. Pearce said. She loved them.

But there were apparently tensions between her and the first lady. After Ms. Pearce left the White House in August 1962, Jacqueline Kennedy wrote a note to the new curator, William Voss Elder III, saying that having him in the job instead of Ms. Pearce is paradise. She complained that all Lorraine ever wanted to do was receive grand curators and take important groups on tours.

David Pearce said his mother had told him that Jacqueline Kennedy could be imperious and once said something to her like, If I want to paint the White House pink, the White House will be pink! By the time his mother had left, he said, she believed that her job had been completed. But, he added, she had also tired of palace intrigue over other, less qualified people wanting her job.

She was born Lorraine Waxman in the Bronx on April 14, 1934, to Benjamin Waxman, a house painter, and the former Rose Dayan, a homemaker. After graduating from the City College of New York and studying in Strasbourg, France, on a Fulbright Scholarship, she received a masters degree in early American culture in Delaware from the Winterthur Program, which was created by the Winterthur Museum and the University of Delaware.

The museum was founded by Henry Francis du Pont, the millionaire collector of Americana who served as chairman of the White House Fine Arts Committee. The panel oversaw the Executive Mansions restoration and recommended Ms. Pearce for the curators job.

Betty Monkman, the White House curator from 1997 to 2002, said Ms. Pearces legacy was in her research on the historic objects acquired for the White House and for the guidebook that has been revised many times since.

She was certainly talented and contributed a great deal, she said in an interview.

Throughout most of her post-White House years, Ms. Pearce taught private slideshow classes in Washington about decorative and fine arts, mostly at the Victorian house on Capitol Hill that she and her husband at the time, John Newton Pearce, a former curator of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, had restored. She took her classes on European field trips and started an antiques business in the 1980s to cater to some of her wealthy students.

Diane Rehm, the former NPR radio host, attended Ms. Pearces classes for a semester in the 1960s.

She was warm, she was gracious, and she knew how to intrigue us, Rehm, who now hosts a weekly podcast, said in an interview. She trained my eye in new ways. She trained my mind and my sensitivities in new ways toward antiquity.

In addition to her son, Ms. Pearce is survived by her daughter, Hannah Pearce; four grandchildren; and a brother, Jack. Her marriage to John Pearce ended in divorce. They had met while studying at Winterthur.

The White House restoration had its most public moment during Jacqueline Kennedys network television tour of the mansion with the CBS News correspondent Charles Collingwood on Feb. 14, 1962. It was seen by 80 million viewers. Afterward, Ms. Pearces office was deluged with letters from people offering suggestions and asking questions.

Im not complaining, mind you, she told the Associated Press a few months later. I think this is a wonderful sign of the nations pride in this house.

Richard Sandomir is a New York Times writer.
LM Otero/Associated Press

DALLAS  Masha Gregory was nervous to move out of her parents home and into her own place, where the 26-year-old Pennsylvania woman worried about making friends and being away from her parents. But after living in her own apartment at a complex that focuses on adults with autism, shes made new friends and found she loves her independence.

It was great to move out because I have my own life now, said Gregory, who lives in a Pittsburgh-area development where half of the 42 units are for those diagnosed with autism. I want to be able to come and go as I please, said Gregory, who likes to draw and take photographs.
HYDERABAD: Though the Supreme Court had, as along back as March 2015, struck down Section 66A of the Information Technology Act as unconstitutional in its entirety, a local court here has recently sentenced a man by invoking the draconian section, much to the shock of the legal fraternity.

The local court said in its judgment that the accused was sentenced to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of one year and to pay a fine of ` 5,000. In case of default to pay the fine, he had to undergo simple imprisonment for a further period of three months for the charge under Section 66A of the IT (Amendment) Act 2008.

This judgment has raised a serious doubt if Section 66 A of Information Technology Act was still in force and part of the cyber crime laws in the country. If one goes as per the judgment by the local court in Hyderabad, the law is still in existence.

However, cyber crime legal experts say that the sentencing is in violation of Supreme Courts order striking down Section 66A of IT Act.

Speaking to Express, Pavan Duggal, Supreme Court advocate and expert in cyber law, said, The Supreme Court is superior in the country and once it passes an order on any issue, the lower courts must follow it. The apex court has struck down Section 66A of IT Act, terming it unconstitutional.

After the Supreme Court passed such an order, conviction of an accused by a local court invoking the same section is a clear violation of SCs order.

Case: Harassment of minor girl

In 2010 the cyber crime cell had registered a case against a person working with the Leading Aircraft Safety Equipment (LASE), INS Shikra, in Mumbai for harassing a minor girl based in Hyderabad on Facebook.

The case was booked under Sections 66(A), 67 and 67-B(c)(d) of the Information Technology Act 2008 and Section 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of Indian Penal Code (IPC).

After completing the investigation, the investigation officer filed a charge sheet before the court. The local court heard arguments from both sides and convicted the accused under Section 66 (A) of IT Act a few days ago.

Gopala Krishna Kalanidhi, counsel for the accused and cyber crime legal expert, told Express: The Supreme Court had struck down section and deemed it unconstitutional. We will approach higher court and oppose the judgment passed by lower court. Although we have a chance to file a petition for review of the existing order issued by local court, I will bring the issue to the notice of higher court for further arguments.
1 Deadly fire: Five members of a family died Friday in a house fire in Buchanan, Tenn., about 100 miles northwest of Nashville. Henry County Sheriff Monte Belew said crews didnt immediately find anything suspicious about the fire, calling it a horrific, tragic accident. The familys pastor, Randy Stephens, said two sisters escaped the blaze. One of the girls awoke to the smell of smoke and tried to wake the others. The 13-year-old was able to get a younger sister out of the home. Stephens says the teen ran across the street to her grandmothers house for help, but they werent able to get back in the residence.

2 Travel ban: The Trump administration is blasting a Hawaii judges ruling blocking its revised travel ban in court documents asking a federal appeals court to overturn the decision. In a filing with Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late Friday, the Department of Justice says U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson second-guessed President Donald Trumps national security judgment and wrongly relied on statements Trump made on the campaign trail to conclude the travel ban was motivated by religious discrimination.
1 Emergency sirens: Officials say Dallas emergency siren system was hacked, resulting in them sporadically sounding for about an hour and a half. City spokeswoman Sana Syed said investigators believe the hack came from the Dallas area. Office of Emergency Management Director Rocky Vaz said his office eventually had to shut down the system. All of the citys 156 outdoor sirens that are used to alert people to shelter indoors during severe weather had been activated. The system was completely shut off by 1:20 a.m. Saturday.

2 Deadly crash: Four people died when their plane crashed in western Oregon as high winds swept the region. Linn County Sheriff Bruce Riley said the plane plowed into a field Friday about 100 miles south of Portland. Riley did not know what caused the crash, or if weather or mechanical problems might have played a part. The plane was approaching the Eugene airport when it crashed near the town of Harrisburg about 10 miles north of the airport.

3 Gym slaying: A former gym employee in Coral Gables, Fla., opened fire inside the center Saturday, critically wounding a manager and another person before he killed himself, officials said. The manager later died at a hospital after the shooting at the Equinox gym, a law enforcement official told the Associated Press. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity. It appears to be an ex-employee, managerial dispute that triggered this shooting, said Miami-Dade Police Detective Alvaro Zabaleta.

4 Pastor arrested: The FBI has arrested an Ohio churchs pastor and another man on charges of sex trafficking of children. Federal documents allege recruiting, enticing and transporting people the men knew were younger than 18 to engage in sex acts for pay. An agents criminal complaint says the alleged activity started three years ago with a girl who was then 14. A U.S. magistrate judge Friday ordered Cordell Jenkins, 46, and Anthony Haynes, 37, held without bond until a Thursday hearing. Jenkins, pastor of Toledos Abundant Life Ministries, shook his head no as charges were read and indicated he will hire an attorney. Haynes told the magistrate he needed a court-appointed attorney.

5 Landslide: A road has been closed and some evacuations were recommended near a slow-moving landslide in Washington state close to the site of a huge deadly slide northeast of Seattle in 2014. Snohomish County Sheriffs Office spokeswoman Shari Ireton said people noticed cracks on a road near Oso and called officials. A state geologist who went to the area about 1.5 miles west of the 2014 slide found several sites where significant cracks in the slope indicated movement. Occupants of 11 homes have been asked to evacuate. The March 2014 mudslide killed 43 people.

6 Brushfire: A brushfire that has been burning for several days in southern Florida was about 60 percent contained Saturday. The fire started in southwest Broward County on Wednesday and has torched more than 5,500 acres. The flames prompted the evacuation of a fish camp on the edge of the Everglades. Firefighters also hosed down mobile homes and land north of the camp to repel the fire.

7 Police shooting: A man suspected of stabbing three people was shot and injured by police officers on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles, officials said. Officers were responding to a report of a stabbing Friday when a report of a second attack a few blocks away came in. At the second scene, the officers saw the man stab a third person. Witnesses said police shot the man when he refused to obey their commands. All four people were taken to hospitals.

8 Murder-suicide: Investigators believe a woman fatally shot her stepfather, critically injured her mother and killed two other people at different locations in the Houston area before killing herself. Officers responding to a welfare check Friday at a Houston home found the bodies of the stepfather and the shooter. Police spokeswoman Jodi Silva said the mother had also been shot and was taken to a hospital in critical condition. Detectives found victims at two other shooting scenes  a man who was killed in a nearby home, and a woman who was slain in the town of Fresno about 16 miles away. Police have not indicated what might have prompted the shootings.

Chronicle News Servics
HYDERABAD: Even as All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has threatened to penalise colleges that do not adhere to pay scales for teachers, the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University-Hyderabad, has revealed that it has no mechanism in place to check such irregularities by affiliated colleges.

Colleges are also required to and maintain the student-faculty ratio. As per the AICTEs new norms, if colleges do not follow these rules, it may lead to suspension of admission process or reduction in intake in tech institutions.

The technical bodys latest rules have come at a time when teachers of Aligarh Muslim varsity, Delhi Varsity and Jawaharlal Nehru varsity are protesting against the non-adherence to pay scales and that recommendations of the UGCs 7th pay review be made public.

N Yadaiah, registrar of JNTU-H, said that though it carries out regular inspections across affiliate colleges, they only look into the academic aspects. We see if there are enough classes, labs and library, enough staff for students. We dont look into the financial aspect, he said.

He added that if they receive any complaints from teachers, they will forward the same to the Admission & Fee Regulatory Committee (AFRC) and AICTE.

However, so far we have not received any such complaints from any affiliated college, he clarified.

According to the sixth pay scale, while a government/aided engineering college assistant professors with M.Tech degree earn `45,360 per month, their counterparts in private colleges draw `32,400 (mostly on paper).

Rafia Sultana, an M Tech student of a college at Patancheru, also serves as a faculty member for the first and second year B Tech students, and is paid abysmally low. Most of us work for as low as `12,000 per month, she says.

Admitting that low pay coupled with poor benefits for teachers adversely affects the quality of education imparted, Yadaiah, said, Teachers feel angry and this reflects in their teaching. Only a handful of the 48,000 teachers working in 800 professional colleges, including 212 engineering colleges across the state avail the benefits of service, salaries according to the norm, superannuation benefits and leave rules.
If the first few months are any judge, President Donald Trump's policies will be a dangerous assault on the environment, reversing hard-fought progress that took decades to accomplish. Those damaging actions include proposed cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency, a reduction in environmental regulations and an opening for traditional gas and oil companies to run roughshod over efforts to build on the alternative-energy market.

The time to place markers down in the name of environmental defense is now. With that in mind, U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-Cold Spring, and many others are fighting against the plan to allow as many as 10 commercial shipping anchorages on the Hudson, including places in Kingston, Milton, Newburgh and Port Ewen.

Maloney offered up such legislation last year, but it was rejected. He has revived the effort, and with good reason. Environmental groups and numerous area elected officials have lined up against the anchorages, saying it could turn the river into a "barge parking lot."

The Coast Guard's justification for considering this industry-backed idea is bad enough. It's a recognition of the tremendous, and dangerous, increase of crude-oil shipments by barge on the river and by track alongside the majestic Hudson.

The Coast Guard would allow these huge vessels to drop anchor in the area, something the industry says is necessary to avoid having these ships traverse the river during bad conditions, such as foggy weather.

But other safety factors must be taken into consideration. Providing the means for a continued increase in the number of shipments on the Hudson could have dire consequences. A substantial crude-oil spill undoubtedly would create a full-blown environmental disaster. And designating anchorages close to where municipal plants draw their water - as this plan does - would be a particularly reckless decision. These barges also would have a negative impact on tourism and interfere with recreational boating

Meanwhile, state Sen. Sue Serino, R-Hyde Park, and state Assemblywoman Didi Barrett, D-Hudson, are sponsoring legislation that would strengthen New York's standing to prevent the anchorages from being designated in inappropriate spots.

The fight for a far better plan must press forward.

 The Poughkeepsie Journal

Though the intent was good in the Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, the proposal itself was full of flaws. That very thing is what killed it.

House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, with President Donald Trump's backing, proposed a bill that would have addressed just about every single one of the thousands of pieces of Obamacare. Because it was a comprehensive bill, there was something in it for just about everyone to hate.

Why not tackle the task piecemeal?

For example, a bill ensuring health insurance companies can compete across state lines would do an enormous amount of good. In all likelihood, it would receive enough support to be enacted.

Another bill giving states more flexibility in how they administer Medicaid could serve beneficiaries, as well as state and federal taxpayers well. Less-wealthy states such could be permitted to offer pared-down benefits packages. Proposals to make beneficiaries more responsible for their own good health could be included. Again, what in that suggestion is not to like for a conservative?

Of course, there are big issues that need to be addressed. One of them is the cost of the Medicaid expansion included in Obamacare. Another is whether Americans should be penalized for not buying insurance that meets government specifications.

Democrats point with glee to failure of the GOP plan. They were able to get Obamacare done, the Democrats note.

But that was a time when Democrats willing to learn what was in a bill after they passed it voted as a bloc. Now, with more awareness of their many mistakes, calls for a different approach.

 The Evening Observer, Dunkirk

Imagine it was you.

You and your husband are new to the area, with few friends and almost no resources. You both land a job in which you're able to work together  family is everything, after all  and provide for your three young children.

Your children are watched in a day care while you work, meaning they're never alone; either with both parents at home or with a trusted caretaker while you work. Life is good  and getting better while you pursue the American Dream.

Until.

On this day, after your child-care provider is unable to watch the children, you find yourself in a horrible dilemma. If you fail to show up at work, you might be fired, and you definitely will lose 20 percent of your weekly take-home pay  money you don't have to lose. If you leave the children at home alone, they could get hurt and have no one to help. What do you do?

This is the predicament that faced Jean Seide, 39, and Bilaine Seint-Just, 36, both of Rochester, who were arrested after deputies say they left their children alone in an employee access hallway of Eastview Mall while they worked maintenance jobs there.

The parents, both immigrants from Africa, have been charged with three counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

But regardless of the choice to be made that day, a hefty price would be paid.

And while we would never condone parents leaving their young children alone unattended, we can understand the difficulty this family faced in making any of the difficult decisions with which it was confronted.

This episode demonstrates the need for good community safety nets  so that no American family, regardless of means or stature, is faced with the same predicament of choosing employment over family safety. As well, this shows the interlocked relationship between job creation and family support.

 The Daily Messenger, Canandaigua
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IRBIL, Iraq  Syrian officials Friday denounced a U.S. missile strike on one of the countrys air bases in retaliation for a poison gas attack, calling it a blatant aggression that killed and wounded several, and caused significant material damage.

This condemned American aggression confirms the continuation of the wrong American strategy and restricts the counter-terrorist operation that the Syrian army is conducting, the General Command of the Syrian Army said in a statement.

Russia joined in condemning the U.S. strike, with President Vladimir Putin calling it an aggression against a sovereign state in violation of the norms of international law executed under a trumped-up pretext, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Of the 59 missiles dispatched by the U.S. on the Shayrat air base, only 23 hit their target, said Russias Defense Ministry spokesman, Dmitry Peskov. Senior U.S. military officials said only one missile failed.

The place of the fall of the other missiles is unknown, said Konashenkov, according to a report by Russian state news operator Tass. He added that the Syrian armys air defense systems would be reinforced in the near future to protect the most important infrastructure facilities.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it was suspending an agreement with the U.S. to prevent incidents and ensure flight safety during military operations in Syria. Under the memorandum, signed when Russia launched its air campaign in Syria in 2015, Russia and the U.S. had exchanged information about planned flights to avoid conflicts during the thousands of air strikes that have been conducted.

By midday Friday, the U.S. insisted that Russia would keep the deconfliction channel open. Russia then insisted the line would be suspended midnight Saturday in Moscow.



The Syrian army command said the missile attack on the air base northeast of Damascus made the U.S. a partner of Daesh, Nusra and other terrorist organizations. Daesh is a common acronym for the militant group Islamic State, and the Al-Nusra Front is a former al Qaeda affiliate in the region, now known as the Organization for the Liberation of Syria. Both are listed as terrorist entities by the U.S.

About 60 U.S. Tomahawk missiles were used in the predawn strike on the base, which is used by aircraft striking targets in central Syria.

Talal Barazi, the governor of Syrias Homs province, told Al Arabiya TV that a fire raged for two hours at the Shayrat air base, near the city of Homs, before firefighters put it out.

Barazi told Manar, a Lebanese channel that is close to staunch Assad ally Hezbollah, that seven people had been killed and nine others wounded.

A correspondent with state news operator SANA, quoting local sources, said that nine civilians had been killed, including four children in villages surrounding the base.

In Moscow on Friday, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, said the attack destroyed a warehouse, classrooms, a cafeteria, six MiG-23 fighter jets that were being repaired and a radar station. The runway and other aircraft were not affected, he said.

By nightfall, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, reported that two jets had left the air base to bomb Islamic State positions. The group also said a general was among those killed in the missile strike.

President Trump ordered the attack in retaliation for an apparent poison gas attack Tuesday that killed up to 70 people in the northern town of Khan Sheikhoun, about 60 miles from the Syrian border in Idlib province, an opposition stronghold.

Turkish experts found evidence that civilians were targeted with chlorine and possibly sarin, a toxic nerve agent.

Peskov said the U.S. strike was an effort to divert attention from recent civilian casualties caused by U.S.-led coalition air strikes in Iraq, and predicted the latest U.S. attack would worsen the conflict in Syria.

The Syrian army has no reserves of chemical weapons. The fact of destruction of all the reserves of Syrias chemical weapons has been documented and confirmed, Peskov told reporters in a conference call.

Russian officials said military operations in Syria can be conducted only under the authorization of the Syrian government and the United Nations Security Council.

At an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Friday, U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said the United States took a very measured step last night with its air strikes against the Assad government. We are prepared to do more, but we hope that will not be necessary.

Speaking at a news conference in Palm Beach, Fla., where Trump is meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Russia had failed in its responsibility to deliver on a commitment to secure Syrias chemical weapons.

Tillerson briefed reporters shortly after the U.S. launched the cruise missiles, saying Russia had either been complicit or simply incompetent in failing to deliver on a 2013 agreement to remove Syrias chemical weapons following an earlier chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburbs that killed hundreds.

The Obama administration had threatened to attack Syrian President Bashar Assads forces after that incident, but never launched a strike.

The United Arab Emirates said the U.S. had its full support and praised Trumps courageous and wise decision.

A foreign ministry official in Saudi Arabia praised the courageous decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to respond to the (Syrian) regimes crimes against its people in light of the failure of the international community to stop the regime from brutalizing its people.

Amar Salmo, a civil defense volunteer in northern Syria also welcomed the new U.S. intervention.

For Syrians, any military intervention that will neutralize Assads ability to continue his genocide will fall on our hearts like music, Salmo said by phone Friday. If there will not be a cost for Assad after using chemical weapons, it will be a clear signal for him to continue his genocide, killing the innocent.

Chronicle News Services contributed to this report.

Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Nabih Bulos are Los Angeles Times writers.
Close to a billion people smoke cigarettes daily, meaning there are more smokers today than at any other time in history.

This startling figure is easily accounted for: As the global population rises, so too does the number of smokers. In the past 25 years, the percentage of people who smoke has dropped by 25 percent.
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

A controversial ad for Pepsi that was quickly pulled after an outcry that it made light of social justice issues is now also the subject of legal threats from San Francisco for using the Police Department's shield.

The ad was criticized for trivializing the Black Lives Matter movement. In it, model Kendall Jenner was shown leaving a photoshoot, removing a blond wig and joining a protest, where she hands a can of Pepsi to a police officer to cheers by protesters.

The police officers in the ad were wearing logos from the San Francisco Police Department, which the city took notice of, demanding Pepsi stop using the image.

"Pepsi did not have permission to use the San Francisco Police Department logo," City Attorney Dennis Herrera said in a statement.

"We're demanding that Pepsi not run any footage or photos associated with this ad that reference the San Francisco Police Department."

Herrera continued, "If they don't comply, we will explore all legal options. There is nothing San Franciscan about Pepsi's ham-handed attempt here to fatten its own bottom line."

The threat may be moot as the outrage prompted Pepsi to quickly pull the ad and apologize.
PARIS  The Basque separatist group ETA on Saturday gave French authorities a list of eight caches where police found weapons, ammunition and explosives  a crucial step toward disarmament and an end to its decades-long violent struggle to carve out a homeland on the French-Spanish border.

The Spanish government urged the rebel group to ask forgiveness from its victims and disappear.

Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said police have searched each site and discovered, in containers and bags, dozens of handguns and rifles, thousands of pieces of ammunition, several hundred kilograms of explosives and products that can be used to make explosives, several hundreds of detonators and timers.

A detailed inventory of the ETA weapons caches is under way and the results of French authorities technical examination and other elements of their investigation will be given to Spanish justice authorities, Molins said.

Its a great step, an unquestionably important day, French Interior Minister Matthias Fekl said.

Inactive for more than five years, ETA said it would hand over its arms, a historic step after a 43-year violent independence campaign that killed 829 people, mostly in Spain.

Disarmament is the second-to-last step demanded by France and Spain, which want ETA to formally disband. The organization hasnt said yet whether it would.

Spain will not make any evaluation of the handing over of weapons today by ETA until they have been analyzed by French authorities, Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido said in a televised address. The government will not alter its position: Terrorists cannot hope to receive any special treatment from the government nor immunity for their crimes.

Representatives of the Peace Artisans group, who are acting as mediators in the disarmament process, said ETA had surrendered 120 firearms and three tons of explosives and ammunition.

We hope that, with this, the movement can move forward to a long-lasting peace in the Basque country, activist Mixel Berhokoirigoin said.

The caches were in southwestern France, a region historically used as a support base by ETA.

Sylvie Corbet is an Associated Press writer.
CARACAS, Venezuela  The nations government fired tear gas and rubber bullets at some of the thousands of opponents of President Nicolas Maduro who poured into the streets of Caracas amid a weeklong protest movement that shows little sign of losing steam.

The demonstrations in the capital and several other cities came a day after Maduros government barred top opposition leader Henrique Capriles from running for office for 15 years.

The ban capped a tumultuous 10 day-crackdown that saw pro-government groups rough up several opposition leaders and another seek refuge in a foreign embassy to escape arrest. The protests were spurred by the Supreme Courts decision to gut the opposition-controlled legislature of its last vestiges of power, a move that was later reversed amid widespread international condemnation and even dissent within Maduros normally disciplined socialist leadership.

Nobody can disqualify the Venezuelan people, an emotional Capriles said from a stage Saturday.

As the sea of protesters approached the headquarters of state-run PDVSA oil company, they were met by a curtain of eye-scorching tear gas and rubber bullets. Mayhem then ensued, with riot police racing down streets, dodging objects thrown from tall apartment buildings as they deployed to squash the outbreak of unrest.

Around most of Caracas, checkpoints were set up to search cars and frisk bus passengers even miles away from the clashes.

As the most dominant figure in the opposition over the past decade, Capriles has been at the forefront of the protests, the most combative since a wave of government protests in 2014, in which dozens of people were killed, many at the hands of security forces.

The two-time presidential candidate said Friday the order only strengthened his resolve to resist on the streets.

Joshua Goodman is an Associated Press writer.
STOCKHOLM  One brutal attack by a man who drove a stolen truck into shoppers in Stockholm has brought Swedens open-door immigration policies under increased scrutiny  and raised the question if Swedish society has failed to integrate its newcomers.

The suspect in Fridays attack, a 39-year-old native of Uzbekistan who has been arrested by police, had been on authorities radar previously but they dismissed him as a marginal character. It was unclear whether he was also a Swedish citizen or resident or even how long hed been in the country.

The attack killed four people and wounded 15. In response, hundreds gathered Saturday at the site of the crash in the Swedish capital, leaving flowers on the fence put up to keep them away from the sites broken glass and twisted metal.

We have been too liberal to take in people who perhaps we thought would have good minds. But we are too good-hearted, said Stockholm resident Ulov Ekdahl, 67, who went to the memorial.

Joachim Kemiri, who was born in Sweden to a Tunisian father and a Swedish mother, says migrants and refugees had been arriving in too large numbers.

Too many of them have been coming in too fast, the 29-year-old said.

Sweden has long been known for its open-door policy toward migrants and refugees. But after the Scandinavian country of 10 million took in a record 163,000 refugees in 2015  the highest per-capita rate in Europe  Prime Minister Stefan Lofven conceded it could no longer cope with the influx.

At a press conference in late 2015, deputy prime minister of the small Greens Party  a junior government partner  Asa Romson, broke into tears as she announced measures to deter asylum-seekers in a reversal of Swedens welcoming policy toward people fleeing war and persecution.

On Saturday, Lofven laid flowers at the truck crash site, declaring Monday a national day of mourning.

No one has claimed responsibility for Fridays attack but Swedens police chief said Saturday that authorities were confident they had detained the man who carried it out. Uzbekistan and other former Soviet Central Asian republics have been fertile recruiting grounds for Islamic militant groups.

Swedens police chief Dan Eliason said officers found something in the stolen beer truck that could be a bomb or an incendiary device, but said they were still investigating.

Although it was not clear how long the suspect had been in Sweden, the Scandinavian country prides itself on welcoming newcomers. Still, its open-door immigration policy and comparatively heterogeneous culture has led to frictions, especially in areas where many longtime immigrants feel disempowered.

Matti Huuhtanen is an Associated Press writer.
Undercooked

Whats new?

A quick glance at Silver Chefs share price over the last decade or so is revealing for two key reasons. First and foremost are the capital gains that have been made along the way, with Silver Chefs share price having increased from around $1 to $12 at its peak in late 2016. The second key point to note about Silver Chefs share price performance over this timeframe are the periodic sell-offs, with the three notable ones being in FY11, FY14, and FY17.

While these share price corrections are part and parcel of operating in a competitive market place, they are arguably more common amongst emerging growth companies with reasonably complex or high risk business models. Although Silver Chef has developed a positive track record in terms of both risk management and growth, as history attests, there will inevitably be periods when things dont go entirely to plan.

Take for instance the catalyst for the sell-off in Silver Chefs share price in FY14, which was the result of a poorly executed expansion of the companys operational footprint in Australia and offshore. While the market reacted negatively to the earnings impact that the operational issues caused, with the benefit of hindsight we now know that Silver Chefs strategic intent was on-point, with these initiatives having paved the way for another period of strong growth post the initial teething issues.

Fast forward to the recent sell-off in Silver Chefs share price, and we note that while the discovery of a major fraud within the companys GoGetta business represents a major concern, particularly for a leasing business, managements remedial actions have gone a long way to dispelling our initial fears. Not unlike the catalyst for the sell-off in FY14, the recent fraud event is arguably indicative of the significant growth that GoGetta has been generating in what are reasonably new sub-markets.

What makes the stock interesting from a contrarian viewpoint is the fact that despite the marked increase in Silver Chefs share price over the last decade or so, the stocks valuation metrics have remained within a reasonable range for a growth stock. This means that, notwithstanding the odd earnings headwind or operational hurdle, Silver Chefs earnings have generally kept pace with the stock price, with the earnings multiple has for the most part ranged between 8.0 and 16.0 times.

Fast forward to Silver Chefs 1H17 results, and the impact that the increase in bad debts/fraud has had on the companys underlying earnings is evident. While an event of this magnitude does raise a number of concerns about the quality of the business being written in the GoGetta segment, we are also cognisant of managements ability thus far to learn from its mistakes  the companys founder and major shareholder remains on the Board, albeit in a non-executive capacity.

At any rate, management commentary at the 1H17 results and subsequent capital raising suggest to us Silver Chefs underlying earnings are expected to resume their upward trajectory sequentially in 2H17. This in our view is likely to reflect the (i) strong growth in Silver Chefs increasingly diverse base of rental assets, and (ii) normalisation of Silver Chefs bad debts in 2H17 as the historical problem contracts in GoGettas light commercial channel are worked through.

Looking at Silver Chefs business model more holistically, we identify three key drivers of profitability. These are (i) asset origination, which we believe is underpinned by the companys compelling customer offering and diversification into new markets and ability to leverage a fixed cost base, (ii) credit quality, which despite a high return on invested capital can derail earnings in any given period due to the use of financial leverage, and (iii) funding costs and availability.

While Silver Chefs strong growth in asset originations to date has at times tested the resilience of the companys operating efficiencies and credit quality, it is perhaps not surprising to note that it has also stretched the companys funding capacity. It is the latter that, in combination with the recent fraud event, has prompted Silver Chef to tap the market for more equity by way of a 1 for 12 fully underwritten accelerated non-renounceable entitlement issue at $7 per share.

There are in our view three key points to note about Silver Chefs latest capital raise. The first is that the retail component of the entitlement offer commences on 28 March and closes on 12 April. The second is that the offer price represents a 9.2 percent discount to the TERP of $7.71. The third is that the target $21 million of new funds from the capital raise will be used to support the companys ongoing growth in its asset base and maintain an appropriate mix of funding sources.

What is particularly interesting about Silver Chefs latest capital raise is that they are likely to become less frequent going forward  note that Silver Chef has been reasonably reliant on equity funding, having raised $7.5 million from institutional investors in September 2016. The key reason for the expectation of a lower reliance on equity funding going forward is Silver Chefs intention to develop a securitisation strategy.

This strategy has been used to great effect by peer company FlexiGroup. While the limiting factor to date has been the size of Silver Chefs asset base, this is now becoming less of an issue given the recent growth. In essence, the establishment of a securitisation warehouse will (i) enhance the Silver Chefs financial leverage without a commensurate increase in risk given it will be non-recourse, and (ii) potentially lower funding costs and increase dividends.

Outlook

There are two reasons to think Silver Chefs share price is now offering more compelling value. First is managements earnings guidance (i.e. underlying earnings between $23 million and $25 million) for FY17, which remained intact following the 1H17 results. The key drivers of the earnings recovery in 2H17 include ongoing momentum in asset originations, a higher rental rate and lower bad debts in GoGetta, and a modest reduction in corporate costs.

The second is the capital raising, which although dilutive near-term, does provide an increased funding base from which to continue to grow the companys asset originations and ultimately earnings, with the latter being subject to a reduction in bad debts to circa 4-5 percent of revenue, from 5.2 percent in 1H17. Given Silver Chefs track record to date and the increased diversification by both region and products, we expect the companys profit margin to make a full recovery.

Price

While Silver Chefs earnings multiple for FY17 of 11.4 times looks about right given the spike in bad debts in 1H17 and subsequent capital raise, we think that the companys track record and inherent growth potential make the stock an attractive proposition, particularly from a contrarian point of view. Taking into account the TERP for Silver Chefs latest capital raise and corresponding price action across the broader market over the intervening period, the current price looks attractive.

Worth buying?

There are two reasons to think Silver Chefs share price is now offering more compelling value. First is managements earnings guidance (i.e. underlying earnings between $23 million and $25 million) for FY17, which remained intact following the 1H17 results. The second is the capital raising that, although earnings dilutive near-term, does provide an increased funding base from which to continue to grow the companys asset originations and ultimately earnings.

James Lennon is a senior analyst at investment research and funds management house Fat Prophets.

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WASHINGTON  Most Arizona lawmakers agreed Friday that Syrias apparent use of chemical weapons against civilians called for quick action by the U.S., but some said President Donald Trump went about it the wrong way.

Trump authorized the launch of cruise missiles late Thursday on targets at Shayrat Airfield, a Syrian air base believed to have been involved in chemical weapons attacks that killed hundreds of civilians Tuesday, including women and children.

Few lawmakers were willing to criticize the actual cruise missile strikes, which Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, called an appropriate and timely response to the Syrian attacks.

But those strikes were carried out without any notice to members of Congress.

Rep. Tom OHalleran, D-Sedona, said the U.S. must work to stop future barbaric attacks like the Syrians use of chemical weapons and that Congress should not wait for Trump to come up with a plan.

Congress has the constitutional obligation to immediately begin debating the use of future military force against Syria, OHalleran said in a prepared statement. He called on House leaders to call Congress back from the recess that began Friday to begin debating Authorization for Use of Military Force legislation.

Many members were like Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert, who praised the action on one hand while noting that Congress needs to be consulted if it is more than just a one-time action.

Im thankful for the presidents leadership and for the brave men and women of our Armed Forces who commit themselves to defending our freedoms and national security, Biggs said in a statement Friday. I am interested to learn more about the presidents strategy going forward and to join my colleagues in Congress providing their expertise and oversight.

Those concerns were echoed by Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Tucson.

These actions need to go through a full vote by the House of Representatives and the Senate because thats what the Constitution asks for and thats why we are elected, Grijalva said.

Grijalva said he worries that this military action could lead to others by the administration, and that Congress must be part of that decision-making.

The Pentagon was assessing the effect of the strikes Friday, but lawmakers said something had to be done.

What happened last night, I would argue, would not require authorization, Flake said Friday after a Pentagon briefing for senators.

He compared Thursdays strikes to similar actions by President Barack Obama in 2013, actions that Obama brought to Congress.

I didnt believe that, had President Obama decided to strike after the red line was crossed, that that would have required authorization, although I voted to give him that when it came to the Senate, Flake said.

Two lawmakers who had been sharply critical of the Obama administrations handling of Syrias civil war  Rep. Trent Franks, R-Glendale, and Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona  praised Trump for taking action that they said Obama would not.

But two others, Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Prescott, and Rep. David Schweikert, both of whom opposed air strikes against Syria in 2013 after a major poison gas attack, have remained silent this time.

"Unless something really changes my direction and information, I'm a no," Gosar said in 2013. "Getting involved in a sectarian war is a lose-lose situation."

A majority of Congress at the time declined to grant Obama official war powers, and he went instead to the U.N. to get President Assad to abandon chemical warfare.

Franks compared Trumps strategic and proportional response to Obamas foreign policy of casually turning a blind eye to human atrocity. McCain said that, Unlike the previous administration, President Trump confronted a pivotal moment in Syria and took action.

But McCain, a decorated veteran, said Thursdays strikes were just a credible first step and that the U.S., which has refused to take in Syrian refugees under Trump, needs to establish safe zones to help with that nations ongoing humanitarian crisis.

Not all veterans agreed with Trump. Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Phoenix, said that while the Assad regimes terrible atrocities are worthy of every bit of condemnation they have received, and more, he does not think the president put much thought into the long-term effects of his decision.

Gallego, who served as a Marine in Iraq, said he hopes the missile strikes will prevent chemical attacks, but worries about possible repercussions.

He said he is also concerned that praise Trump is receiving for the attack could lead to an escalation, given Trumps track record of impulsive and immature decision making and the presidents possible belief now that he has a free pass to make decisions unilaterally.

Grijalva, noting that Trump said as recently as last week that Syrias civil war is a Syrian problem, said that whatever happens it needs to be carefully thought out and shared with Congress.

Now that reality has hit, it is very important that the Trump administration lay out strategy both politically and diplomatically, he said.
Image: twitter.com/narendramodi

New Delhi, Apr 8 (IBNS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina will discuss bilateral ties on Saturday, the Prime Minister's tweet read.

"Will hold talks with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, during which we will discuss ways to further deepen ties between India & Bangladesh," PM Modi's tweeted.

Modi and Hasina will also pay tribute to Indian soldiers martyred in the 1971 war.

"At 3:30 PM today, PM Sheikh Hasina & I will join a programme to honour Indian soldiers martyred in the 1971 war, at the Manekshaw Centre," an ensuing tweet read.
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A Queanbeyan teenager charged with accidentally killing his little brother has pleaded not guilty to the offence.

The 16-year-old appeared in Queanbeyan Children's Court on Tuesday, where he is charged with assault causing the death of his 10-year-old brother.

The teen has pleaded not guilty to killing his 10-year-old brother Credit:Louie Dovis

The charge was introduced recently as part of legislation designed to address the problem of one-punch attacks.

On the same day the Queanbeyan teenager pleaded not guilty to the offence, a Newcastle court recorded the first conviction of a person under the new legislation.
On the burst: Steve Johnson makes a break for it at Blundstone Arena. Credit:Getty Images

"Phil was just in the road. He's hurt his shoulder, but hopefully it's not that significant. We're obviously a lot more confident on Phil than we are on Ryan. The next day or two will tell us the story about Phil."

Cameron also explained that Matt Buntine missed the match following knee soreness during the week.

GWS led at every change but were still only 15 points ahead at three-quarter time before kicking away late to win by 42 points. While this was not the most polished Giants effort you'll see this year, their weight of numbers in the midfield proved decisive as they improved their record to 2-1 ahead of a meeting with in-form Port Adelaide next Saturday.

After days of discussion about North Melbourne's nine-year offer for his services, Josh Kelly showed that he is not only a star of the future, but also a very good player in the present. With Callan Ward, Jacob Hopper, Tom Scully and Dylan Shiel also influential, the likes of Andrew Swallow, Ben Cunnington and Sam Gibson couldn't provide enough support for Ziebell, who was manful in his 150th game, even after his name was misspelt on the banner by the North Melbourne cheer squad.
Every incident around the world  but particularly those in Western countries  gets coverage. The time when you could live in blissful ignorance is well and truly over. We get bombarded from all sides with news of attacks and it's hard for many to put them into perspective. The chance that you, or a member of your family, will be killed or injured by a terrorist attack is extremely small. No government can prevent the lone wolf attacks.

But when these happen we should be wary of giving Islamic State the credit. The "credit" and publicity is what the terrorist organisation wants. The Westminster murderer Khalid Masood was a man with a 20 year criminal history. He was yet another example of a disaffected man who sought fame and glory by cloaking his final criminal act in the Islamic State flag. Research by US political scientist John Mueller and Australian civil engineer Mark Stewart who investigated terrorist attacks in the United States found that most terrorists were not particularly clever, or crafty. The 9/11 hijackers were well-nigh unique in the sophistication of their operation. The words typically used to describe the other US perpetrators in the courts were: incompetent, unintelligent, idiotic, ignorant, inadequate, unorganised, misguided, muddled, amateurish, dopey, unrealistic, moronic, irrational and foolish.

And in just about all the cases where the FBI had an operative infiltrate the plot the terrorists were gullible. We would be better served if these thugs were presented as common criminals. It is regrettable that Somali born author Ayaan Hirsi Ali's tour of Australia has been cancelled. The outspoken campaigner, who was raised as a practicing Muslim, has made her mark in calling for an Islamic reformation to bring the religion into the modern world. She argues that there is a schizophrenia within Islam.

"If you believe that Muhammad is your moral guide, then you have to accept that there was a peaceful character in Muhammad and that there is a warlord, a military man, a beheader, a man who sold people into slaves," she says. The Islamic State and al Qaeda clearly belong to the warlord strand which is heavily influenced by the teachings of eighteenth century preacher Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab. Today's Wahhabists do not accept that many people who call themselves Muslim are in fact Muslim. To them Shiites are apostates and the mild form of Islam practised by, for example, most in Indonesia would be unacceptable. It's worth noting here that had the lone-wolf Lindt Cafe killer Man Haron Monis crossed into Islamic State territory rather than come to Australia, as a Shiite Muslim, he would in all probability have been beheaded. His last minute conversion to Sunni religion and the Islamic State cause only confirms his schizophrenic condition.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali's observation about Islamic violence cannot be ignored. The fear is that the Islamic State strand of intolerance is spreading in countries like Turkey and Indonesia. Despite the Indonesian state motto Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, or unity in diversity, we have not only had terrorist attacks and the burning of churches but we have seen fundamentalists burning down mosques and attacking LGBTI citizens and members of other sects of Islam such as the Ahmadiyya. The campaign against Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama is only the latest example of the hard-liners' activities On the positive side Indonesia's distinct moderate form of Islamic lives on in, for example, central Java where the ancient Hindu temple of Prambanan stands and to this day people who identify as Muslims perform a Javanese-adapted version of the Hindu Ramayana story on its steps.
Image: Google Maps

Srinagar, Apr 8 (IBNS): The flood threat which loomed over the Kashmir Valley for four days, has ended with the decrease in water level on Saturday, an official said.

However, according to the Irrigation and Flood Control Department, the water level of Jhelum river is still marginally above the flood mark at Ram Munshibagh in Srinagar, while the water level at Sangam in Anantnag has fallen below the danger mark.

Water levels in all the tributaries of the river in Jammu and Kashmir have come down and the overall flood threat faced by the people in the valley is now over, the department said.

In view of the improvement in weather, the University of Kashmir has announced that all exams scheduled for Saturday would be held as per the announced date sheet.

However, educational institutions will remain shut in the valley till Monday.

Incessant rains in Jammu and Kashmir have left four people dead while five others have gone missing. The authorities declared flood in the valley on Friday.



(Reporting by Saleem Iqbal Qadri)


"Why does a round pizza come in a square box?" How is it that we put a man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?" "Why do doctors leave the room while you change? They're going to see you naked anyway." "Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat?" "Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the transit lane?"

Business and politics Last month it was Peter Dutton saying CEOs in general, and Alan Joyce in particular, should "stick to their knitting" rather than line their companies up behind particular social issues such as same-sex marriage. This week it was the redoubtable Eric Abetz noting, "It's disappointing that certain CEOs are trying to establish their personal PC credentials rather than being fully focused on the interests of their shareholders." Riiiiiight. To put in slightly more temperate tones a point made by my former 2UE talk-back co-host Mike Carlton on Twitter, is there a certain disconnect when mainstay Libs like them decry in such strong terms companies getting involved in politics in this manner, while still being more than eager to take the big donations that business traditionally offers the Liberal Party? What are we missing?

Joke of the week Having just spent a fortnight up on his Uncle Jed's spread in northern Victoria, young Mitch is cock-a-hoop when he gets back to his home in Malvern. "Uncle Harold has everything," he tells his smiling parents at the dinner table that night. "He's got goats, chooks, sheep, pigs, bulls, cows and f---ers." "He's got what?' his parents burst out in unison. "Well, to be fair," says Mitch, "Uncle Jed called them 'eifers, but I knew what he meant."

They said it "[FitzSimons] wrote a piece about Bronwyn Bishop. He alleged she hadn't completely co-operated with the audit of her accounts. He wanted to see the receipts and the chits to prove it was all OK. I thought it was very rude of him to say to Bronwyn 'show us your chits". Graham Richardson, to Missus TFF, on Today Show last Monday morning, in reference to my lead item last Sunday. "It doesn't pass the smell test." The redoubtable Alan Jones, sadly now back on air, attacks the appointment by the Berejiklian government of Mick Fuller as the new Police Commissioner. I think he probably means "pub test."

"I've sent a very strong message to the insurance industry they need to treat people fairly, respectfully." Premier Gladys Berejiklian about people's complaints that flood insurance is too expensive. "The impact of fruit and vegetables on how we feel today and tomorrow, not just many years ahead, I think is really an important message." Prof Manny Noakes of the CSIRO as a new study showed that many people in Australia still don't eat enough fruit and veg. "We will stand by Gibraltar!"

Michael Howard, Leader of the UK Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2003 to December 2005, as questions arise about Brexit and the sovereignty of the rock. "The appointment of women would be revolutionary, but I would argue the Pope could do that tomorrow and that would be a catalyst for forcing ultra-conservative bishops to realise they've got no choice but to get on board." Catholics for Renewal president and former senior Australian government bureaucrat Peter Johnstone. "I'm not too worried. We've got bricks so, yeah, the house isn't going to float away. We've got enough food, enough cigarettes." Stewart Stringer calmly waiting for flood waters in Rockhampton. All good then!
The Turnbull government could improve its budget bottom line by nearly $3 billion a year if offshore petroleum companies were forced to pay a flat royalty on the gas they extract and export, new research suggests.

The report into the petroleum resource rent tax by the McKell Institute will be launched on Sunday as Senate crossbenchers warned Treasurer Scott Morrison against backing away from an expected budget measure to make the liquefied natural gas industry contribute more to public coffers.

Where royalty-based taxes are based on revenue, the PRRT is a profit-based tax. Credit:James Davies

The report, written by Richard Holden, a professor of economics at UNSW Business School, found the Petroleum Resources Rent Tax (PRRT) system was "increasingly inadequate" and should be replaced with a 10 per cent royalty that would guarantee annual revenue of between $1.3 billion and $2.8 billion.

"While the PRRT aims to protect gas and oil producers from occasional volatility in resource prices, in reality, the PRRT is extremely generous towards major oil and gas companies, who poorly compensate the Australian public for the publicly owned resources they are extracting from the ground, and selling for profit," he found.
A Palestinian political activist has been prevented from speaking in Australia after the Turnbull government cancelled his visa on the grounds that "members of the public will react adversely" to him.

Supporters of Bassem Tamimi believe he is the victim of pressure by pro-Israel groups and have accused Immigration Minister Peter Dutton of conducting "an attack on free speech".

Palestinian political activist Bassem Tamimi has been prevented from speaking in Australia after the Turnbull Government cancelled his visa. Credit:Darbs Darby (Andrew Darby)

Mr Tamimi, 50, a longtime vocal critic of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, was due to speak in Melbourne and Sydney as a guest of pro-Palestinian groups.

He was granted a three-month visa on April 4 but within 24 hours it was revoked.
Malcolm Turnbull has refused to rule out sending asylum seekers who are not included in the resettlement deal with the United States from Manus Island to Nauru.

The Prime Minister has also placed a longer timeline on the closure of the Manus Island detention centre, saying he expects it to close by the end of this year. Previously, Papua New Guinean officials have spoken of closure by October to comply with a court ruling last April that asylum seekers were being held illegally.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has refused to rule out sending asylum seekers not resettled elsewhere from Manus Island to Nauru. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Refusing to be drawn on the fate of those who are not resettled in America, Mr Turnbull congratulated Papua New Guinea for making "significant progress" in its attempts to resettle around 1000 asylum seekers who are in their fourth year in PNG.

But neither Mr Turnbull nor PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill could provide a number for those who have been successfully resettled, which is believed to be fewer than 15.
Charity event organisers are usually crying out for publicity to raise awareness and funds for their chosen cause, but not Salim Mehajer and his younger sister, Mary.

Persistent calls and emails by Fairfax Media this week about the pair's The Sparkle of Hope Charity Ball to take place at Paradiso in Fairfield, Sydney, on Sunday night were met with silence.

Mary, 18, otherwise known as Miss Lebanon Australia, is organising the ball in aid of the Sydney Children's Hospital Foundation (SCHF) and the Rene Moawad Foundation (RMF) in Lebanon with help from her sibling, 30, the disgraced former deputy mayor of Auburn, in promoting the event.

They promise an "amazing night with special guest speakers, entertainers, topped by a glamorous fashion show" with a "strictly glitz and glam" dress code.
While celebrity chef George Calombaris was underpaying his own staff to the tune of $2.6million, the pint-sized foodie was making a nice earning from his other career as a fully-fledged celebrity thanks to his ongoing gig as a judge on television's Masterchef.

Indeed it is estimated that Calombaris' work derived from the series nets him more than $1 million a year when you factor in his various product endorsement deals, from pizza ovens and yoghurt to coffee beans and cook books. These deals are largely a result of his appearances on Masterchef and are in addition to his hefty salary from starring on the hugely successful show.

Celebrity chef George Calombaris says he is 'devastated' by the blunder.

But the question must now be asked, given the amount of negative press this cock-up has received, will his reputation, and by association his earning capacity, emerge from the scandal unscathed?

There is no question that Calombaris' celebrity status aided in filling more than a few seats at his portfolio of restaurants, which includes famed eateries The Press Club, Gazi and Hellenic Republic. Hell, he even got his portrait painted for the Archibald, the work among the finalists and taking out the Packing Room prize.
Eastern suburbs socialite Lizzie Buttrose denies causing a furore during her guest appearance on Sunday night's episode of The Real Housewives of Sydney.

The Housewives claim the 47-year-old niece of Ita Buttrose showed up "uninvited" and "drunk" to "cause trouble" at Victoria Rees' charity auction for the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute.

When speaking to The Goss at Sydney's Fashion Palette this week, Krissy Marsh and Nicole O'Neil said in unison, "[Buttrose] acted very inappropriate."

Marsh explained: "She was drunk  She broke a glass in the middle of the auction. She kept shouting out over and over again, disrupting proceedings ... She had the worst hair extensions I have ever seen."
Q: I get irritated by all the jargon that has entered our language in recent times. "Political correctness gone mad" is an over-used phrase, and is often the sign of reactionary opinions, but do we have to have such an ever-increasing list of words to label our sex lives? The homosexual community is now the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) community, and some add "I" for "intersex", and "A" for "asexual". Now people are using the term "cisgender" to describe what most people would call "normal". Aren't we taking this too far?

A: While I understand your annoyance with language that seems trendy and contrived, it is important to remember that we are on a massive learning curve. In order to acknowledge, understand, and embrace every member of society, we need to evolve a language that is accurate, inclusive, and non-judgmental. I am blind, and I would hate to go back to a world that saw people as disabled, or "normal", as though poor eyesight makes me a freak.

"Cisgender" is rapidly entering the language.

A couple of years ago, Katy Steinmetz wrote an informative article for Time magazine in which she explored the use of the word "cisgender". As you say, this word applies to the vast majority of people, and describes any person who is not transgender.

"If a doctor announces, 'It's a girl!' in the delivery room based on the child's body and that baby grows up to identify as a woman, that person is cisgender. Similarly, a baby designated male in the delivery room who grows up to identify as a man is cisgender."
The NSW Premier was snapped eating a democracy sausage sans bread on the campaign trail with Liberal candidate James Griffin at Manly West Primary School, in a move that drew the attention of state opposition leader Luke Foley.

Gladys Berejiklian may have been heartened by the "extremely positive" reception she received from voters on Saturday, but her gastronomical choices certainly left a lot to be desired - namely, a bun and sauce.

Ms Berejiklian's peculiar choice was reminiscent of another key sausage moment during the 2016 federal election campaign, when a seemingly confused Bill Shorten tucked into his roll in a manner that left onlookers stunned.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian visited Manly West Primary School with Liberal candidate James Griffin, where he casted his vote. Credit:James Brickwood

Last July, Mr Shorten infamously took a 'sideways' bite of his sausage sandwich at Strathfield North Public School, before turning away from cameras to tackle the remainder.

"The taste of democracy," the Labor leader then declared.

Perhaps the only constant amid a tumultuous string of election days, the humble sausage sizzle has continued to rise in prominence, with 'democracy sausage' being crowned Australia's Word of the Year by the Australian National Dictionary Centre in 2016.
One of several men involved in a violent gunfight that sparked Sydney's ongoing underworld feud tried to flee the country with tens of thousands of dollars stashed in his shoe.

Steven Fawaz Elmir was one of up to a dozen people involved in the heated and eventually fatal confrontation outside A Team Smash Repairs in Condell Park last April.

Steven Fawaz Elmir, 29, left Australia a few days after he was at the scene of a fatal shooting in Condell Park, in Sydney's south-west.

His brother-in-law Safwan Charbaji was shot dead during the midday melee between members of his family and the notorious Ahmad crew.

As police worked to piece together who played what role that Saturday afternoon on April 9, Elmir boarded an Emirates business-class flight to Dubai.
Guwahati, Apr 8 (IBNS): Security forces have busted a NSCN (K) camp at Lekhapani area along Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border on Friday, officials said on Saturday.

According to the reports, a troop of Assam Rifles conducted a major operation at Balijan village near Lekhapani in Tinsukia district and destructed a NSCN(K) hideout.

Kohima based Defence PRO Colonel Chiranjeet Konwer said that, based on specific intelligence about presence of NSCN(K) cadres trying to terrorize and attempting extortion at Paharpur and Balijan villages, the Assam Rifles troops of Changlang and Jairampur battalions had launched operation at the area and busted a camp of the outfit in dense forest area.

The cadres of the outfit had managed to escape from the area.

Security forces found the hideout consisting of temporary hutments.

"Theunder grounds had been using this hideout as adhoc base for operations for terrorizing and carrying out extortion in the neighboring villages," the Defence PRO said.

On the other hand, security personnel had arrested two NSCN (K) cadres from Nagaland's Mon district on Friday.

Security forces had recovered two pistols, ammunition in possession from them.



(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath,Image: Google Maps)
The Liberal Party narrowly claimed victory in two key pieces of its heartland in Sydney's north after voters delivered thumping swings away from the party in three byelections on Saturday.

The state government prevailed on the unmarked preferences of minor party voters after a nail-biting contest for the blue-ribbon Liberal seat of North Shore and was expected to survive an even larger voter backlash in Manly.

Labor comfortably retained and extended its lead on the Central Coast.

"Our scrutineers tell us we can reclaim the seat of North Shore," Premier Gladys Berejiklian told a small band of supporters in Cammeray on Saturday night.
Police have raided two properties connected to the Vanderburg greyhound racing family as part of an investigation into irregular betting activity.

NSW Police, Greyhound Racing NSW and the RSPCA swooped on the properties in Yarramundi and Seaham on Tuesday and seized an unspecified number of substances that have been sent to the independent laboratory Racing Analytical Services.

Police have raided two properties connected to the Vanderburg greyhound racing family as part of an investigation into irregular betting activity. Credit:Peter Rae

Several small animals were also removed from the properties.

The NSW government officially repealed the ban on greyhound racing on Thursday.
Just weeks before workmates discovered the body of China Crawford in her unit, the Cairns 32-year-old had shared a message on social media encouraging friends to be grateful for life.

A 26-year-old man from Yorkeys Knob was expected to front court on Saturday morning charged with murder, after Ms Crawford was found dead in her Bentley Park unit on Wednesday.

China Lily Crawford was found dead in her unit, with police saying she had been assaulted. Credit:Facebook

Friends and co-workers shocked by news of her death have described Ms Crawford as having a "beautiful soul" and the "biggest smile" in tributes on social media.

On February 3, she had shared a message on her Facebook account that read: "No matter how good or bad your life is, wake up each morning and be thankful that you still have one."
A stranger has come to the rescue of the Gallo family by offering them a temporary luxury home rent-free for a year, after raging floodwaters washed away one house on their property and inundated the other before their eyes.

Almost a week ago the family of four and their two dogs were plucked from the roof of their father-in-law's home in Luscombe, 45 kilometres south-east of Brisbane, by SES crews. Moments later, the house was ripped apart by the swollen river, while the family's main home saw 1.5 metres of floodwaters tear through it, leaving them with only what they were carrying  a handful of clothes.

But on Thursday, a good Samaritan was listening to the 'Lend a Hand' segment on radio station Triple M. Steve Scanlan offered the family a five-bedroom house in Eight Mile Plains, south-east of the Brisbane CBD.

Mr Scanlan said his previous tenants had just moved out when he heard the Gallo family's "incredible story" and said they should be comfortable in their accommodation, with the property featuring an indoor spa, heated pool, two en suites and a recent refurbishment.
A second man has been charged as authorities continue a crackdown on a "loose cartel" accused of fixing harness races in Queensland.

After a 46-year-old harness driver and trainer from Warwick was charged with one count of match fixing on Friday, Queensland Racing Integrity Commissioner Ross Barnett said more arrests were imminent and police later that day charged a 27 -year-old "harness racing participant" with four counts of match fixing.

The Queensland Racing Integrity Commissioner insists most of those in the industry are honest and have a sincere passion for harness racing. Credit:Rob Gunstone

"The arrests are the result of a protracted investigation... into systemic match fixing in the harness racing industry," police said.

Mr Barnett said the cartel of drivers and trainers were involved in systemic race-fixing and changed their tactics from race to race.
A 27-year-old cyclist is fighting for his life after a hit-run collision on the Mornington Peninsula.

The cyclist was airlifted to The Alfred hospital with critical head, leg and arm injuries after his bike and a car collided on Shands Road, Main Ridge, about 6pm on Friday night.

The man was airlifted to hospital in a critical condition. Credit:Dave Langley

Police have arrested a 69-year-old Flinders woman who is currently assisting with their investigation.

Major collision investigation unit detectives remained at the scene until early on Saturday morning.
Three men are in hospital with gunshot wounds to the legs after a fight escalated inside a bikie clubhouse in Melbourne's north last night.

The anti-bikie Echo Taskforce is investigating the incident that took place at the Bandidos' Weston Street, Brunswick base about 11pm.

Three men have been taken to hospital with serious injuries. Credit:Pat Scala

A Victoria Police spokesman said three men were shot during the fight and were taken to hospital with serious injuries.

Ambulance Victoria spokesman John Mullen said one man was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital and two men were taken to The Alfred hospital for treatment to leg wounds. The trio were in a serious but stable condition.
Snow fell in the Victorian Alps and at least 15,000 people were left without power as wild weather lashed the state on Sunday.

The State Emergency Service responded to 430 calls for help as thunder, lightning, bursts of rain and frigid winds cast a pall over public events.

Severe weather warnings were issued for most of Victoria on Sunday morning after an initial downpour on Saturday night. Ballarat received its average rainfall for April in just 12 hours on Sunday.

And the cold snap is expected to continue into Monday.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government denied using chemical weapons on its own people. Credit:AP Yet these children are far from the first to be brutally murdered by the Syrian regime's military machine and its Russian and Iranian reinforcements. And Trump in the past, if we are to take him at his word, did not consider even chemical attacks to warrant making the fight against Assad into America's fight. It is hard to resist the suspicion that this is one of Trump's impulse actions, an attempt to distract from the malaise surrounding his administration or a bid to avoid embarrassment at the hands of another alpha male. Is this the kind of "shirt-front" Tony Abbott dreamt of for Vladimir Putin? A damage assessment image of Shayrat airbase in Syria after the US air strike on Friday. Credit:US Defence/AP If it is indeed a captain's call, there are Middle Eastern countries that will greet it with delight. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey have all been waiting for the US to push back against Assad and his supporters, and the Sunni Muslim populations of these countries and others in the region had wondered what atrocities Assad would have to commit to persuade Washington of the humanitarian case for action.

But those fixing their bayonets to join a charge may find that when they crest the hill the Americans are nowhere to be seen. To bomb the airbase at Shayrat is, after all, a tactical strike. There has been no sign of any underlying strategy or of any input from allies, unless one counts the traditional rubber stamp of approval supplied from Canberra. On the same page? US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, left, in a meeting with President Donald Trump. Credit:AP Instead, Washington's friends in Europe have sounded a note of caution, urging a multilateral approach, no doubt worried Russia might respond by turning up the heat in Ukraine. Some Arab countries, too, will not welcome Trump's attack. For Iraq, the prospect of direct conflict between the Pentagon and Iran's Revolutionary Guard not only complicates its own fight against IS but also raises the spectre of further political turmoil in Baghdad. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt's president, listens during a meeting with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on April 3. Credit:Bloomberg

The Lebanese, who have only just bedded down a government in which power is shared between pro-Assad and anti-Assad elements, will also be hoping the US doesn't stay on this course for very long. And for Egypt, any hint of regime change is an uncomfortable reminder of the freedom agenda of George W. Bush and the uncertainties of the "Arab Spring". When the US decided to invade Iraq 14 years ago, Hosni Mubarak warned Egyptian soldiers the move would create "100 Bin Ladens"; Abdel Fattah al-Sisi may well feel the same way about Syria. Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, centre left, speaks with the European Union's Federica Mogherini in Brussels. Credit:AP If, as some of Trump's statements have suggested, it is simply a matter of curtailing the use of unconventional weapons, then Russia and Iran will soon be able to return to business as usual. "What must follow," according to Trump's erstwhile rival Marco Rubio, "is a real and comprehensive strategy to ensure that Assad is no longer a threat to his people and to US security, and that Russia no longer has free rein to support his regime."

Sign writers from the Syrian town of Kafr Nabl address a global audience after the 2013 chemical attack in Syria. Big words from a man the President once dismissed as little. Their meaning would seem obvious enough; having hit the regime at Shayrat, if Trump is serious about changing the dynamic he must also strike at Hmeimim and Tartus and other bases, and end the Syrian regime's control of the skies. But without air power, there is no Assad regime. And in the absence of an Assad regime, what does the President propose? Surely the deaths of the children of Khan Sheikhoun have not turned Trump into a nation-builder. Malcolm Turnbull has said that events in Syria cry out for a "strong response", but now, as always, we must ask whether the best strength that Washington can bring to this chaos and destruction is its military. As Barack Obama told a graduating class at West Point in 2014: "Just because we have the best hammer it does not mean that every problem is a nail."
New Delhi, Apr 8 (IBNS): Chief of Andhra Pradesh Nara Chandrababu Naidu welcomed the TU-142M Long Range Maritime Patrol aircraft of the Indian Navy which landed at INS Dega for the last time this morning.

A special ceremony organised at INS Dega to formally welcome the aircraft at Visakhapatnam was attended by P Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Union Civil Aviation Minister, Govt. of India, Vice Admiral HCS Bisht, PVSM, AVSM, ADC, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command, MPs, MLAs and host of other Civil Dignitaries. On arrival of the TU, the CM interacted with the crew members and exchanged mementos.

Govt. of Andhra Pradesh had earlier requested the Ministry of Defence for allotment of one de-inducted TU-142M for converting it into a museum. The request of Govt. of Andhra Pradesh is being processed at the Ministry of Defence, New Delhi.

Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA) would be coordinating all activities related to aircraft museum on behalf of Govt. of AP.

The TU is likely to be dismantled and transported by road on trailers and re-assembled on the Beach Road near Kursura Submarine Museum.

With the imposing looks and a lethal punch to match, the TU-142M aircraft which have been nothing short of a Flying Destroyer, was given an impressive welcome as it landed for the last time at Visakhapatnam by a flypast of three Chetak helicopters, two Kamov helicopters, two Dorniers, and one P-8I Aircraft. After having served the Indian

Navy with pride and elan for 29 years, during which it accomplished 30,000 hrs of accident free flying, the TU-142M aircraft were given a befitting farewell on 29 March 2017 at INS Rajali, Indias premiere Naval Air Station in Arakkonam, Tamil Nadu.

Over the years, the TU-142M has rendered yeoman service to the nation and has taken part in all major exercises and operations including Operation Cactus in Maldives, Op Vijay in 1998, Op Parakram in 2002 and Anti-piracy Operations.

The Squadron was awarded Unit Citation by the Chief of Naval Staff in the year 2002 for outstanding professionalism and momentous contribution to the Service and adjudged the Best Frontline Squadron on numerous occasions over the years.


The Collegers and the Oppidians of Eton College take part in the Wall Game, one of the school's oldest traditions, in 2007. Credit:Getty Images While there the children learned to consider themselves a people apart. They learned a necessary detachment, the English stiff upper lip, and "snobbery, fine delineations of caste and wealth helped to develop the acutely tuned sense that enables the British to collect themselves in their tribes and classes and exclude those not like themselves," writes journalist (ex Ashdown and Eton) Alex Renton. They learned a strange Victorian-era-relic creed of sportsmanship, manliness, decency, and emotional suppression, a mindset where one must "smile while I was being thrashed, though the blood surged like hammer strokes through my temples, to eat whatever was chucked at me and to go without, to admire without envy athlete, caps, the XI, prize-winners and prefects". Author Alex Renton at Ashdown House prep school in England. As Rev T L Papillon put it a century ago, an English public school graduate might emerge "disgracefully ignorant of useful knowledge" but in possession of "something beyond all price  a manly straightforward character, a scorn for lying and meanness, habits of obedience and command and fearless courage. Thus equipped he goes out into the world and bears a man's part in subduing the earth, ruling its wild folk and building up the Empire."

Last week Renton published a new book: Stiff Upper Lip  Secrets, Crimes and the Schooling of a Ruling Class. First day at boarding school: Author Alex Renton at Ashdown House prep school in England, when he was eight years old. It emerged from the torrent of stories he received after writing an article three years ago in the Observer about his own physical and emotional abuse at Ashdown. "Hundreds and hundreds of emails, they still come in three years later," he says. "They led me to realise this phenomenon as in any child care institution was hugely prevalent, that the fact of putting children quite young into institutions where they would be without hugs and love was and had been a magnet for men who want to prey on children, and had been since the 19th century, and this had been tolerated by our class." Author Alex Renton: "Cruelty and bullying, by children and adults, was a function of the system." Credit:Caroline Irby

Two weeks ago he had the "fantastic experience" of sitting in a courtroom in Brighton watching his science teacher from his final year at prep school hear what he had done to his pupils, then be sentenced to 12 years' prison. The story was overshadowed by the Westminster terror attack  which meant the Sun didn't get to run its planned headline, "Queen's nephew taught by paedophile". Stiff Upper Lip: Secrets, Crimes and the Schooling of a Ruling Class, by Alex Renton. But it wasn't just the criminal abuse that Renton wanted to explore and expose. "Neglect is an abuse and often more damaging than violence," he says. "The children of abuse who seem to have suffered long through their lives and never really adapted or been happy were the ones who never got over being separated from their parents so early."

Renton writes vividly of the feeling of abandonment and betrayal as an eight-year-old in a boarding prep school. He found many others who shared his feelings. "I never felt safe again," said one ex-boarder. Older boys were deputised to administer savage beatings for minor transgressions  the squeak of a bedspring after dark. "I remember lying with the pillow hard over my face to stifle the snuffles of homesickness, while also lying still as stone in order to keep the rusty old bed quiet," Renton wrote. He realises now that cruelty was not an accident. It was an intended part of the product.

"Cruelty and bullying, by children and adults, was a function of the system: not a disciplinary practice but an ingredient in the magic of that unique education." An entire class, briefly one of the most powerful the world has known, decided that its children needed to suffer to become useful citizens. "By the end of the 19th century, failure to expose a boy to the regime of hard knocks was deemed to risk producing a morally inept adult unable to take his place in the team that ruled society and the Empire. "The use of fear and violence to ensure discipline became as much a part of the spell as freezing dormitories and disgusting food  all good for shaping the man to be." Some products of the system are in denial  or just deny it was a bad system.

Sam Kiley, foreign affairs editor at Sky News and former Eastbourne College pupil, argues public schools were a fantastic factory for "tough cookies" who could run Britain's Empire. "It was built to create people you could send at 19 to run huge chunks of the outside world," he says. "This is not an excuse for abuse but it is an explanation as to why it is really necessary to toughen up the privileged." A governor-tutored, coddled rich kid was not going to cut it for Britain in the South Sudan, he says. "Yes the levels of abuse, the bullying, the horror leaves a lot of very damaged people  but I actually escaped from an unhappy home life into a public school environment that I sought out. "I don't think there's anything wrong with taking a bunch of people who have been really otherwise wet farts and spoiled  and 'beasting' them. And that's how we built an Empire and it's still the backbone of a great deal of what goes on in this country.

"George Orwell went to Eton. It does not produce drones or boring people. It has produced people who have been very badly bent out of shape by abuse. But it is also a system that takes the privileged and makes them capable of leading people who are very much underprivileged." Renton, though, has little time for this theory. "You become a leader when you emerge from this schools because of training and connections, not abuse," he says. But Kiley is far from public schools' only cheerleader. The public schools have benefited from more than a century of what Renton calls propaganda  incredibly popular fiction from Tom Brown's School Days in 1847, via Kipling's Stalky, Billy Bunter, St Trinian's right up to Harry Potter. "From the architecture of Hogwarts to the ethos of the child wizards Harry Potter owes much to to Hughes' Rugby School (home of Tom Brown) in the 1830s," Renton writes.

The fiction often includes recognisable abuse, but like pupils in the real world, chooses to romanticise it, find it funny, or a challenge to be overcome through friendships, japes and scrapes  emerging a self-reliant and responsible prefect. In reality, Renton writes, prep schools and public schools "normalised misery". It was never to be admitted to, unless buried under a code of irony and in-jokes. "I asked one Old Etonian, the writer John Julius Norwich, for memories that summed up the spirit of the public school. He came back with this: 'A boy committed suicide and the housemaster summoned the whole house and asked if anybody could suggest a reason. (One boy) put up his hand and said 'Could it have been the food, sir?' "There is a perfection in this awful story  Humour at its driest marches alongside the stiffest of upper lips." Of course there were those who didn't buy into the code, the "sports-weeds and reject-prefects  became film-makers, journalists, campaigners and centre-left politicians with a skeptical view of regulation, tradition and hierarchy," Renton wrote.

It was a club though, just a different one. And they often sent their own children back to the schools they had rebelled against. On the teaching side, Renton writes that "This was an industry with a culture of employing paedophiles and sadists." "There are many accounts of beatings at Eton and other public schools  the practice was often stunningly brutal," Renton wrote. Sexual bullying was as common as bullying itself. George Monbiot wrote of his prep school in the 1970s that "sexual assault was  a feature of prep school life as innate as fried bread and British bulldogs". Many of those who wrote to Renton reported rapes of boys by older pupils, and abuse by teachers. When he compared notes with another reporter, they figured that every public school in the country had harboured criminal sexual abusers among the teaching staff.

Renton recalls a maths teacher would rummage in his shorts, offering sweets for silence. He complained to his mother but the headmaster's wife persuaded her not to make a formal complaint. "My mother now feels that she was bullied into silence." So have things changed? Writes Renton: "For wealthy Britain and for increasing numbers of foreign parents, the system works: it provides entry to jobs, universities and influential networks as it always did." "The statistics on the schooling of those who rule  judges, politicians, senior officers in the military, bank directors, journalists  show that the private schools fill those seats just as they always did."

However costs have tripled (also, a child genuinely needs to be an above-average pupil, the days of Eton existing to "deal with the rich and thick", as Samuel Beckett put it, are over). There are half as many boarders as there were in the 1960s peak. But the system as a whole is booming. It's become one of Britain's great export industries. Britain's ordinary professional class is priced out, replaced by the children of the super-rich from Russia, Africa and China. A third of boarders are foreigners. Harrow, Repton, Marlborough and others have franchise schools from Kuala Lumpur to Kazakhstan. There are half a dozen British public schools in the UAE alone. As for what goes on at them, Renton writes that "a lot has changed, but not everything".
Stockholm: Sweden's capital became just the latest major European city to transform into a scene of vehicle-borne carnage on Friday as a stolen beer truck slammed into a crowd of pedestrians outside an upscale shopping centre, killing four in an assault that the prime minister denounced as a terrorist attack.

Police said the driver apparently escaped the smoky and blood-streaked scene. Throughout the afternoon and evening, he was the subject of an intensive manhunt as helicopters searched from the skies, heavily armed officers were deployed through normally tranquil neighbourhoods and security at borders was tightened. For hours, the city's transit system was shut down and streets in the central district were sealed off.

Officials said they had apprehended a person of interest in the investigation, although they expressed doubt that he was the driver and said the search was continuing. In addition to the four people killed, police said that at least 15 had been injured.

Authorities did not speculate as to the attacker's motives and offered no details about the man they had arrested. But Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said the mid-afternoon rampage had been "an act of terrorism" and that the government would do "whatever it takes" for the public to feel safe.
President Donald Trump receives a briefing on the Syria military strike from his National Security team at Mar-a-Lago after the strike. Credit:AP The Chinese are saying little, but no doubt are fuming. Beijing has backed Syria by joining Russia in thwarting action against it in the UN Security Council, and it won't take lightly how the timing of Trump's missile strike overshadowed a highly orchestrated Florida meeting between Trump and President Xi Jinping, or the provocative message it sent. This is what Washington can do when Moscow won't help in Syria, and maybe the US will have to do a version of it in North Korea, if Beijing won't help in resolving that crisis. The Syrian airbase after it was hit by US strike in Syria. Credit:AP This American missile assault on Syria needs to be kept in perspective. A bit of shock and awe, to be sure, but symbolism has been devalued in a war in which just one or two in more than 100 chemical attacks have registered in the international consciousness. And the reality is that damage to a single air base and the loss of less than a dozen aircraft are unlikely to greatly change the dynamic of the conflict.

Former Bush foreign adviser Eliot Cohen was underwhelmed. "Better than nothing. How much better than nothing is not clear, until you know what damage is done [but] for this kind of thing to be effective, it really has to hurt the Syrian regime - and one cannot be sure whether or not it has." One the same page? US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, left, in a meeting with President Donald Trump. Credit:AP The rub, war theorists argue, is that a leader like Syria's Bashar al-Assad, who has so willfully ignored international pleas for restraint, is unlikely to be any less brutal in how he deals with his people because Trump launched what appears to have been a single salvo, or that Moscow and Tehran might be less willing to support him. The new variable is the Trump somersault. In a matter of hours a seemingly cold-hearted, uncaring, isolationist, inward-looking president has become a global humanitarian who will do... what? Demonstrators chant slogans during a rally in opposition to the US airstrikes in Syria, in front of the US Embassy in La Paz, Bolivia, on Friday. Credit:AP

Can Trump now parse the plight of the millions of other victims of this war as any less deserving than the victims of this one attack by Assad? Can moral clarity be put back in a drawer? And if the answer here is 'yes', how will it be interpreted in Moscow and Damascus? There's already a sense of irritation in Team Trump that the attacks were an emotional response to the horror of the chemical attacks. People hold signs during a rally in opposition to the US airstrikes in Syria in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Allentown has one of the US's largest Syrian populations, mostly Christian and in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Credit:AP "I do not view it as an emotional reaction at all," US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters. After former president Barack Obama's failure to act when Assad had crossed a famous red line in 2013, Trump had decided that the US "could not yet again turn away, turn a blind eye". But Assad was emboldened as much by Trump's blind eye, as by the humanitarian indifference in Tillerson's observation only days earlier that it was up to the Syrian people to decide Assad's fate  as though they might be able to conduct an Iowa-style caucus or a Virginia primary amidst the carnage of war.

US President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, after the US launched the air strike in Syria. Credit:AP And now that the Syrian people have Trump's attention, what will the President do? Antony Blinken, a deputy secretary of state in the Obama administration, believes that Trump has leverage now and that he must use it, not just to ensure that there are no more chemical attacks, but also to win a ceasefire and a transition of power by which Syrians would see the back of Assad  and at the same time, keep the military pressure on Islamic State. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping pause for photographs at Mar-a-Lago, on Friday. Credit:AP But there's a danger now that Trump has had this early taste of war  mission creep. There are quibbles in Congress about his failure to seek its authority, but there's also broad political and media support for his missile strike and given Trump's desperate need for approval, he'll be tempted to do more.

"If Mr Assad persists in the use of chemical or biological weapons, it will take extraordinary discipline to avoid falling into an escalation trap that leads from justified punitive strikes to a broader, and riskier, US intervention," Blinken writes in The New York Times. Illustration: Matt Golding "After all, American involvement in Libya, which I advocated, began as an effort to protect civilians from violence by the government of Muammar [Gaddafi] el-Qaddafi. But it ended in regime change. Owning Syria would be exponentially more challenging than our already fraught responsibility for post-Qaddafi Libya." Candidate Trump had no qualms about leaving Syria for other to sort out  even Russia. He wanted to end the waste of trillions of US taxpayer dollars in messing in Middle Eastern conflicts and in 2013, he pleaded with Obama not to launch "stupid" airstrikes to punish Assad for using chemical weapons against his own people. His only interest was the war against IS and if Assad was to survive that, well  tough. The other players in the conflict will influence the Trump reckoning. Tillerson, who on Thursday accused Moscow either of complicity in Assad's chemical attack or incompetence in stopping it, will get a better feel for the Russian response at meetings in Moscow next week than is conveyed in the Kremlin's rhetoric this week.

But there is speculation that after all this week's noise, Moscow will simply factor in the missile strikes as just one more incident by the other side in geopolitical head-butting that is the Syrian conflict. "There won't be any tangible reaction; this was a one-off strike," Vladimir Frolov, a Russian foreign affairs analyst said. Mark Galeotti, an expert on the Russian military, seemed to agree, writing in an online commentary: "Moscow might not like Washington's response, but nor was it willing to stand in the way of it  that is a heartening sign of realism." Does this mean that Moscow will somehow relinquish any of its influence in Syria  hardly? Does it make the war against IS more challenging  yes, if a diminished Assad leaves a vacuum in which IS and other extremists might thrive? Is there a better prospect for a ceasefire in Syrian in the wake of Trump's attack  no.

Trump expressed a wish  "end the slaughter and bloodshed in Syria and also to end terrorism of all kinds and all types"  but what is his plan for Syria? Haley's "we'll do more" threat at the UN sat awkwardly with a more cautious appraisal of the attack on Thursday by Tillerson: "I would not in any way attempt to extrapolate [the attack] to a change in our policy or posture relative to our military activities in Syria today. There has been no change in that status." Save for the war on IS, Trump has studiously ignored the rest of the Syrian conflict, even slamming closed the US door to refugees, prompting this from Virginia Senator Mark Warner: "[But] last night's strike was aimed at a different objective. President Trump needs to articulate a coherent strategy for dealing with this complex conflict, because the consequences of a misstep are grave." When former presidential candidate and secretary of state Hillary Clinton joined the fray, she egged Trump on, demanding that the President take out the entire Syrian air force. "That air force is the cause of most of these civilian deaths as we have seen over the years and as we saw again in the last few days," Clinton said on Friday.

Trump is taking a huge gamble. What was left of his wish for rapprochement with Moscow has been battered; to the extent that there is popular criticism of the attack, much of it is coming from his most ardent fringe-dweller followers; and, despite his endless rhetoric, he might just have delivered the US to the threshold of another Middle East war. It's all part of the amazing contradiction of Trump. Skeptics will says that demolition, death and dislocation will continue apace in Syria. And cynics will wonder about motivation, the President's historically rotten ratings and a Trump tweet back in October 2012, in which he said: "Now that Obama's poll numbers are in tailspin  watch for him to launch a strike in Libya or Iran. He is desperate." But Trump has sent a signal to the world  he's got a feel for American military power and he is not afraid to use it. Loading
Lees' interest in international aid and development began during a trip to South America soon after she left school. After seeing the living conditions of vulnerable people in that part of the world, she decided on a career in the humanitarian sector. Drinking water at the Somali Red Crescent mobile clinic at Wacays Dhukur. Credit:Peter Caton/Australian Red Cross Lees did a bachelor's degree in international studies in Melbourne and followed that up with a postgraduate degree in international crisis management. She had completed her initial year-long assignment in Darfur before finishing the master's. Since then Lees has been deployed in a host of countries across Africa and the Pacific. The United Nations has warned that 185,000 children "could die soon if they do not receive urgent medical treatment". Credit:Peter Caton/Australian Red Cross

"This job reminds you of how big the world is and how fortunate we are," she says. "There are so many people living in extremely vulnerable circumstances. Even though we might be far away, I don't think we just can just turn the other way and avert our eyes to those needs." It was striking how some of the village-level humanitarian workers that Lees consulted in Somalia described their own motivation in a similar way. Jess Lees is response manager at the Australian Red Cross. Credit:Peter Caton/Australian Red Cross "I'm always ready to help poor people in my area, that's why I am here," says Noor Ismail, a nurse at a mobile clinic operating in remote settlements near the town of Hargeisa in Somaliland. "To find so many malnourished children is heartbreaking."

A Red Cross drought-intervention mobile clinic. Credit:Peter Caton/Australian Red Cross Lees' most challenging assignment was leading a field team that co-ordinated emergency food drops in South Sudan for the United Nations' World Food Program (WFP) in 2015. The team was routinely dropped by helicopter into remote locations to identify places where food supplies could be delivered to communities in dire need. Once an appropriate site was found the team would liaise with the WFP base by radio to co-ordinate the distribution. The team put markings on the ground so the WFP's giant Ilyushin cargo planes laden with food could accurately target the drop. Kawsar Muhumed and her baby daughter Moraw being weighed at the Somali Red Crescent mobile clinic. Credit:Peter Caton/Australian Red Cross The method of distribution is only used in areas where armed conflict or poor security rule out truck transport.

Bad weather and logistical snags meant Lees' team often lived rough in tents for weeks at a time. "Because of the whole host of challenges that a place like South Sudan has, there are inevitable kinks in the road and delays. That ends up having an impact on operations and you might end up being out in the field for much longer than you first anticipated," she says. On one assignment Lees was away from base for 21 days. The waiting time was often frustrating. "It wasn't a hard job intellectually but it was hard mentally and hard physically," she says. "I found out the mosquitos in South Sudan can be very bad." Humanitarian agencies are moving away from simply handing out rations to vulnerable communities when food is scarce. Instead, they are providing more cash grants that allow beneficiaries to buy their own food. A market assessment is done to ensure supplies will be available for hungry families to purchase from local stores when they need it.

Aid groups say this strategy has proved much more efficient than large-scale food distribution. It also helps sustain local markets and food supply chains. In her role at the Australian Red Cross, Lees is evaluating the possibility of supporting cash grant programs for communities threatened by famine, including in Somalia. 'Close to a breaking point' The global humanitarian system is facing a year of unprecedented challenges. International aid officials say a record 70 million people will need emergency food aid in 2017. Famine has already been declared in parts of South Sudan and three other countries could soon be in that category  Somalia, Yemen and Nigeria.

These emergencies have hit as international aid agencies struggle to respond to major humanitarian crises caused by the conflicts in Syria and Iraq. "Right now, the scale of humanitarian crises from Syria to Somalia means we are close to a breaking point," Lees says. "We urgently need to think and act differently to effectively respond to crises. Most importantly we need to prevent them from happening in the first place by investing more in local organisations and in countries most at risk of natural disasters and armed conflict. These are global crises with very personal solutions. It's more critical than ever that humanitarian partners, governments, businesses and communities work together to stop needless suffering." But in each one of the world's worst emergencies, humanitarian work is being hampered by violent conflict. Indeed, security is a growing challenge for humanitarian workers like Lees. A fortnight ago six aid workers were killed in a single ambush in South Sudan. It was the third serious attack against humanitarian workers in March alone. The dead were from South Sudan and neighbouring Kenya, illustrating how vulnerable locally born aid workers are to violence.

Attacks on aid workers, especially local employees, is frequent despite UN warnings that intentional violence against them "may constitute war crimes". At least 79 humanitarian workers have been killed in South Sudan since conflict erupted there a little over three years ago. "Security measures for humanitarian organisations are increasing but that's not leading to a decrease in these incidents," says Lees. "It obviously has an impact on operations." A case in point are the food drops that Lees was helping to co-ordinate in South Sudan. "They are by no means the most efficient way to distribute aid," she says. "It is very costly to set up a humanitarian air operation and sometimes the food gets into the hands of the wrong people. But one of the biggest reasons it has to happen is because of the security situation." Lees says the biggest lesson she has gleaned from her humanitarian deployments is the importance of collaboration. "Co-operation and co-ordination are two really key things for humanitarian aid work," she says. "It is done in environments where things are moving really fast and the picture is changing constantly. You are going to be most efficient and effective if your aim is to get along with others." Lees has also discovered that you're very likely to come across other Aussies in a disaster zone. "I think there've been Australians on every mission that I've been deployed to," she says.
GREAT BAY(DCOMM):--- Ministry of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Development and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI), announces that two parking lots opposite the new Government Administration Building on Pond Island will be closed.

The two parking lots that are accessible via Soualiga Road will be closed on Sunday, April 9 from 5.00am to 5.00pm.

The dirt parking area will be graded and repaired in preparation for Carnival season.

The second parking area opposite the Government Building, the lines will be re-painted.

Ministry VROMI apologizes for any inconveniences this may cause.
GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- The Department of Collective Prevention Services (CPS) has donated earplugs, for children, to the Sint Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF), intended to be used during the Childrens Parade scheduled for April 8th and other activities in which very loud music is generated.

The SCDF will distribute the earplugs to persons with children during the parades.

CPS urges the population to be aware that loud music can cause hearing damage, especially in young children, and as such it is important to protect them from loud pitches, tones and in general overly loud music by avoiding these as much as possible, and avoid standing in close proximity of speakers of sound trucks.

Prolonged exposure can result in damage, which can be irreversible.

For any questions or concerns regarding this or other health topics, CPS can be contacted at 542-3003.

PHOTO CUTLINE: L to R: Management of CPS, Dr. Virginia Asin-Oostburg, Suzianne Duzong-Davis, Maria Henry, Gina Illidge from SCDF and Deborah Martina-Granger, who was instrumental in having earplugs especially for children, available to donate.
What actions will Parliament take when they are being lied to by Ministers?

PHILIPSBURG:--- On Thursday, April 6th 2017, the Minister of VSA Emil Lee told the Parliament of St. Maarten that he did not give the director of SZV Glen Carty permission to spend money from the AOV fund to construct the new hospital, instead he said the decision was taken by the Minister of General Affairs (Prime Minister William Marlin and Minister of Finance Richard Gibson Sr.) a blatant lie told to the members of Parliament. While this is a coalition government, the Minister of VSA chose to blame his coalition's partners for things that fall under his Ministry.

The Director of SZV Glen Carty wrote two letters to Minister Emil Lee, the first was written on July 27th expressing SZV willingness to purchase SMMC, the long lease, and also to construct the New General Hospital. On that letter, a handwritten note indicates that the request was approved by the Council of Ministers at their meeting on August 4th, 2016. The second letter written by Carty was on August 5th, 2016, where he informed the Minister he needs the Ministers approval to use NAF 144M to create a capital reserve fund for the construction, DBM, consultation and legal costs for the New General Hospital.

On the same day, August 5th, 2016 the Minister responded to Cartys letter giving the green light to create the capital reserve fund, bear in mind this was not in the letter that was discussed in the Council of Ministers on August 4th. Obviously, the Minister took the decision on his own and authorize the director of USZV to engage half of the AOV fund to build the New General Hospital. By telling the Parliament of St. Maarten that he did not authorize the use of the AOV fund and blaming the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance is a blatant lie to the people of St. Maarten.

Further research shows that through an advice dated September 13th, 2016 which was prepared by the stafbureau of the Ministry of VSA. The advice bears the DIV number GOV-16 -006776. That advice was signed by Hensley Plantijn and Joy Arnell. The advice includes several documents such as the business plan, a letter from the Minister of Finance to the CFT informing them how St. Maarten/ Ministry of VSA intends to finance the New General Hospital and the returns it expects from this project.

One day before the advice was submitted Minister Lee sent a letter to Carty on September 12th 2016 to revoke the letter of August 5th where he gave him the authorization to use NAF144M for the capital reserve fund and informed that he is only authorized to use one-third of that amount (NAF50M) because now SZV is no longer constructing the New General Hospital but instead is co-financing the project. This clearly shows that the Minister was aware that the Council of Ministers would not have gone along with his previous plan to deplete the AOV funds but opt to seek external investors for the project.

Another letter that surfaced is a letter sent by the former chairman of the supervisory board Dr. Michel Petit on March 30th, 2016 informing the Minister of the violations in investing the AOV funds and the need to have this regulated by an LBHAM.(ordinance).

SMN News also took specific articles from the SZV ordinance where it clearly states that the Director has to report to the Minister, but all financial decisions is to be taken by him, this can be found in article 18

Article 3 of the said ordinance outlines SZVs tasks, which clearly exclude real estate and investment in buildings since it is not within the scope of SZV.

Article 22 paragraph 6 states that SZV is authorized after approval from the Minister to create a fund for financing special third party projects within the sector that is related to objectives and goals of SZV. However, paragraph 7 of the said article states that even though the Minister has to determine the amount of the special project fund that amount has to be indicated in the directors performance contract.

Article 19 stipulates that the performance contract with the director has to be established after the annual budget has been approved. Remarkably this required performance contract which establishes the amount of money allocated to the special project fund was signed on September 22nd, 2016, four days prior to the September 26th parliamentary elections. Another major point that has raised eyebrows, is the signing that took place on September 19th during the evening hours between SMMC, INSO and SZV for the construction of the New General Hospital. Again the mysterious agreement between SMMC and SZV cannot be found since the Minister who praised himself as being transparent and believes in open government cannot produce the agreement to parliament which also was not provided to the court. The Minister told parliament on Thursday that he did not have a copy of that document because he was not a signatory to the agreement even though he was present at the signing while no media were invited to the special event.

Clearly based on the documents SMN News obtained, it is obvious that the Minister violated several articles of the SZV ordinance even when preparing the performance contract for SZV director where it states that the money allocated for the capital reserve for the New General Hospital has to be included when an approved budget of SZV is presented and approved by the Minister. What is even scarier is that the performance contract was signed off on September 22nd, 2016, yet mention is made of the capital investment fund in the letter sent out on September 12th to revoke the letter of August 5th. The Minister had the audacity to end his letter with an instruction to the director telling him that any USZV decision that could have a financial impact on the social funds should meet all laws, internal rules, regulations and investment policies relevant to USZV, while the Minister is the one who gave the director the approval to use the AOV fund to create the capital reserve fund, while there is no legislation in place to invest the money in the AOV fund.

While the letters indicated August 5th, 2016, the Council of Ministers actually took the decision on September 13th, 2016 to use NAF 55M and not NAF144M as was previously authorized by Minister Lee on August 5t 2016.

SMN News research shows that all paperwork was done within a few days prior to the September 26th parliamentary election.

Another document that surfaced during SMN News research is a letter sent by the former chairman of the supervisory board Dr. Michel Petit dated March 30th, 2016 informing Minister Lee of the need to have legislation in place before the AOV fund could be invested. Further, in that letter, it also states that the final contract with respect to the investment in the New Administration Building will need the Minister of VSA approval, hence he is fully aware of what was spent on the New Administration Building. The former chairman referred to the letter Minister Lee sent to the Supervisory Board of Directors of USZV with that instruction.

The former chairman was very clear in his advice to the Minister that the AOV funds cannot be invested unless the Minister put a law in place for such, that law had to be taken to parliament for approval and to the governor for his signature, none of which was done.

The Minister did not follow the advice/warning given to him and went ahead with his plans to invest money from the AOV fund without the proper legislations in place, another significant action that did not take place was to conduct a risk factor analysis to ensure that the AOV fund was not going to be jeopardized by this huge investment, almost 50% of the fund. This, of course, pushed the former chairman of SZV to resign from his position since he saw that the AOV fund could be depleted which would ultimately hurt pensioners.

SMN News also wrote an article in September 2016 and attached an email that was sent by the SZV legal advisor Jeroen Veen dated December 18th, 2015 to Minister Lee informing him that it was necessary to have the legislation in place before the AOV fund could be invested. Veen in his email went as far as informing the Minister that the legislation has to get the approval of parliament and also must be signed off by the Governor St. Maarten, none of which was done.

The Minister of VSA Emil Lee and SZV Director Glen Carty clearly violated the following laws with regard to the financing of the New General Hospital.

 USZV Director violated Article 20 of the USZV ordinance by not submitting a draft annual budget and draft performance agreement before April 1st, 2015 for the fiscal year 2016 for approval by the Minister. The Minister of VSA also violated article 20 of the USZV ordinance by not approving the 2016 budget by October 1st, 2015.

 Article 22 paragraph 7 of the USZV ordinance by stipulating, signing contracts and spending monies before the performance contract was signed.

 Article 25 AOV ordinance by investing money from the AOV fund without having an LBHAM in place.

This fact-finding concludes that in the rush to have everything in place for the New General Hospital prior to the election the Minister did not adhere both to the law that regulates SZV and AOV its operations. Article 22 of the AOV ordinance stipulates that if the solvency of AOV fund is jeopardized then country St. Maarten has to guarantee payments of AOV without restrictions.

During the Parliament meetings held thus far the Minister is not forthcoming with the answers he was asked to provide.

The documents (letters) that SMN News got hold of and are under this article were all submitted to the Landsrecherche when the former chairman of the Supervisory Board Dr. Michel Petit filed a complaint against the Director of SZV Glen Carty and the Minister of VSA Emil Lee for over-reaching and illegal spending of the AOV fund. Yet the Prosecutors Office did not see the need to investigate this case or to protect the AOV fund which belongs to pensioners. The main focus of the Prosecutors Office is to lock up known people on St. Maarten and label them with all sorts of crimes which they have to live with for years before they could get their day in court, while white collar crimes or administrative crimes go unnoticed at the expense of the people.

Member of Parliament Franklin Meyers asked the Minister for the names of the resorts and other institutions where water testing was conducted, but instead of turning over that information to Parliament the Minister of VSA chose to tell Parliament that 15% of the places where water was tested came back positive with E-coli and legionella. Will Members of Parliament do their jobs and ensure that Ministers comply with their requests or will they just sit back and relax and allow the Ministers to dictate what they get or know when it comes to the affairs of their country.

Lying to Members of Parliament or denying them information cannot be accepted in a country that is striving to develop its economy and in turn its people. This is Minister that boasts of having integrity at heart, and also believes in transparency and good governance. What is left to be seen if the Members of Parliament will allow Ministers to lie to them and to also deny them vital information?

Click here to read letters and other documents related to the New General Hospital.
Kolkata, Apr 8 (IBNS): Dacoits armed with guns robbed a gold loan company at Rahara Station Road area under khardah Police Station limits in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, few kilometres away from Kolkata, on Saturday broad daylight and shot a woman during escape, reports said.

According to reports, at least three armed miscreants stormed a branch of IIFL Gold Loan company in the morning and robbed gold and cash at gun point.

While escaping the area after operation, dacoits opened fire and a nearly 34-year-old lady, Sharbari Ghosh, was shot.

The woman was rushed to a nearby hospital where she is being treated in a serious condition, according to reports.

Police, however, have started probe into the matter while none has been arrested so far in connection with the case.

"We are examining CCTV footage and quizzing eye-witnesses to identify the miscreants," a senior official of Barrackpore Police Commissionerate told IBNS.

(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha)
New Portage Manor may go at current site or near Clay Township Park

Since December 2021, when the planning for a new Portage Manor facility began, the county has paid at least $163,000 to two Fort Wayne firms.
New Delhi, Apr 8 (IBNS): Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will chair the 11th Standing Committee meeting of the Inter-State Council here on Sunday.

The meeting will discuss the recommendations of the Punchhi Commission on Centre-State Relations.

The members of the Standing Committee include the Union Minister for External Affairs, Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation & Information and Broadcasting, Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways & Shipping and the Chief Ministers of the States of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh.

The Punchhi Commission, notified in 2005, submitted its report in 2010. The recommendations of the Punchhi Commission, which are contained in seven Volumes, pertain to History of Centre-State Relations in India, Constitutional Governance and Management of Centre-State Relations, Centre-State Financial Relations and Planning, Local Self-Governments and Decentralized Governance, Internal Security, Criminal Justice and Centre State Cooperation, Environment, Natural Resources & Infrastructure and Socio-Economic Development, Public Policy and Good Governance.

The concerned Union Ministries and all the State Governments responded to the recommendations made in the report by providing detailed comments. The comments have been analysed and will be discussed at this high level forum.

The forthcoming meeting of the Standing Committee of Inter State Council will be examining the first three volumes of the Punchhi Commission's report. The subjects expected to be discussed at the meeting include significant issues concerning Centre-State relations, such as:

a) Role of Governors

b) Centrally sponsored schemes and financial transfers from the Centre to the States

c) Creation of a unified agricultural market for the nation

d) Measures to involve the States more closely in planning and delivery of services

e) Steps to be adopted to make Inter State Council more vibrant and

f) Measures directed towards better fiscal management by the Centre and the States.

The meeting acquires special significance in that the Standing Committee of the Inter State Council is being convened after a gap of 12 years.

The recommendations of the Standing Committee will be placed before the Inter State Council at its next meeting.
John Glenn, former astronaut and U.S. Senator, was interred at Arlington National Cemetery on April 6, 2017.

John Glenn

NASA

John Glenn, former astronaut and U.S. Senator, was interred at Arlington National Cemetery on April 6, 2017.

A Formal Affair

Aubrey Gemignani/NASA

As the rain falls, a military escort carries John Glenn on a horse-drawn caisson to his final resting place in Virginia at Arlington National Cemetery. In his record-setting flight in 1962, he spent five hours aboard the Friendship 7 orbiting Earth.

Laid to Rest

Aubrey Gemignani/NASA

On April 6, 2017, on his 74th wedding anniversary with his wife Annie, former astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn is laid to rest by Marine Corp pallbearers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first American to orbit Earth during a five-hour flight aboard the Friendship 7 broke another record as the oldest man in space at the age of 77 aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1998.

Full Honors

Aubrey Gemignani/NASA

Holding a flag over the casket of former astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn, a Marine Corps honor guard conducts part of the Interment ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. Glenn who set stellar examples both professionally and personally was buried with full military honors.

Loved and Remembered

Aubrey Gemignani/NASA

As a Marine Corp honor guard holds an American flag over former astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn's casket, family, friends and colleagues reflect on his life and legacy. Glenn, buried with full military honors, is survived by his wife of 74 years, Annie.

A Legacy to Remember

Aubrey Gemignani/NASA

As former astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn is laid to rest on April 6,2017 at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, his casket sits above his grave during the Interment ceremony. Glenn and his wife Annie were married this day in 1943.

A Lifetime of Love

Aubrey Gemignani/NASA

At the Interment ceremony for former astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn, his wife of 74 years, Annie Glenn watches as her husband is laid to rest with full military honors in Virginia at Arlington National Cemetery.

A Family Affair

Aubrey Gemignani/NASA

During the full military honors Interment ceremony for former astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn, his daughter Lyn Glenn (center) and son David Glenn (right) watch as their father is laid to rest.

Honoring a Legacy

Aubrey Gemignani/NASA

To honor former astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn, seven service members complete the traditional firing of three volleys each. Glenn was laid to rest at a full military honors Interment ceremony April 6, 2017 in Virginia at Arlington National Cemetery.

Traditions

Aubrey Gemignani/NASA

A service member plays taps during the funeral for John Glenn, former astronaut and U.S. Senator. Glenn was honored at Arlington National Cemetery on April 6, 2017, the day he and his wife Annie were married in 1943.

Showing Respect

Aubrey Gemignani/NASA

During a graveside funeral ceremony, Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, General Robert B. Neller gives Annie Glenn, wife of former astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn, the folded American flag from atop the casket.
Editor's note: This story, originally posted on April 8, was updated Aug. 19 with additional resource links for the total solar eclipse.

The highly anticipated total solar eclipse on Aug. 21 may be spectacular, but it won't last long.

The duration of totality, as experienced by observers on the ground, tops out at a few precious minutes for all total solar eclipses, and some don't even last that long.

This brevity is rooted in the movement of the dark shadow of the moon known as the umbra, for when you are inside the umbra, the entire solar disk of the sun appears to be covered by the dark disk of the moon. (Don't worry; we'll get to details about the Aug. 21 event. But first, some eclipse basics.) [Where to See the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse, State by State]

The umbral shadow is projected out into space by the moon and is shaped like a long, tapering cone. That shadow cone is about 235,000 miles (378,000 kilometers) long. But the moon's average distance from Earth is about 239,000 miles (385,000 km).

Here's a Timeline of When the 2017 Solar Eclipse Begins and Ends

Here Are the Best Maps of the 2017 Solar Eclipse (and a Printable Poster)

So, in order for the umbra to touch the Earth, it must be closer than the average Earth-moon distance. But even when the moon is at the closest point to Earth in its elliptical orbit, the umbra is but a dark "dot" measuring no more than 170 miles (274 km) across. And many times, the shadow width is considerably smaller than that. During the Aug. 21 total solar eclipse, for example, the shadow will average only about 68 miles (109 km) wide.

The other thing to take under consideration is the speed of the shadow. During its orbit around Earth from west to east, the moon moves at an average speed of 2,288 mph (3,683 km/h). Because the natural satellite is traveling in an elliptical orbit, the moon's speed is not constant; the object moves faster when it's closer to Earth.

The moon's shadow moves at the same speed as the moon itself. So one might think that during a solar eclipse, the speed of the moon's umbra on the Earth would average close to 2,300 mph (3,700 km/h).

The moons shadow on Earth, as seen by the NASA-NOAA Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) spacecraft during the total solar eclipse of March 8-9, 2016. (Image credit: NASA/DSCOVR-EPIC Team)

Complicating factors

But it's not as simple as that for two reasons:

1) The Earth is rotating on its axis in a west-to-east direction.

2) The Earth is a sphere.

In the first case, since Earth is turning in the same direction that the moon is traveling, any particular spot on Earth's surface is, in essence, "racing" the moon's shadow across the globe during a solar eclipse. And how fast any particular spot on Earth moves depends on its location: The planet spins fastest at the equator: 1,037 mph (1,670 km/h).

Even there, Earth's rotation is less than half the speed of the moon's shadow, so the shadow will win every race. Nonetheless, along the equator and at tropical latitudes, because the rotation of the Earth can stay with the moon's shadow for a greater length of time, the ground speed of the moon's shadow is noticeably less than the shadow's actual speed through space. [Amazing Total Solar Eclipse Photos Show 'Black Hole in the Sky']

Let us say, for example, that the moon's shadow is moving west to east along the equator at an average speed of 2,288 mph (3,683 km/h). But Earth's rotational speed at the equator makes the ground speed of the shadow 1,251 mph (2,013 km/h). Some military jets have actually flown faster than this and are capable of outracing the moon's shadow for short distances.

In fact, in the past, aircraft have been used to stay within the umbra for long periods of time, thereby lengthening the duration of totality. On June 30, 1973, scientists aboard a prototype Concorde 001 supersonic jet stretched the length of a total solar eclipse to an incredible 74 minutes, while those stationed on the ground experienced totality for a maximum of 7 minutes and 4 seconds. (This latter figure was still extraordinary, just 28 seconds less than the longest duration of totality possible for a ground-based observer.)

Uphill, then downhill

The other thing to consider is that the moon's shadow is being projected not onto a flat surface, but onto a sphere (Earth). Near the middle of the totality path, the shadow is moving at its slowest along the surface of the planet. But at the very beginning of the totality path, and at the very end, the shadow is striking Earth at a very oblique angle; at these points, the shape of the shadow on Earth resembles an extremely elongated oval, or even a cigar.

In fact, at the moment that the shadow is just moving onto (or off of) the Earth's surface, it is traveling at infinite speed, because at these points the axis of the lunar shadow cone is tangent to the globe of the Earth. When the shadow begins to move onto the Earth's surface (at local sunrise), its speed begins to slow as it travels, in essence, "uphill," over the curve of the Earth. Later, as the shadow begins to move toward the end of its path (at local sunset), its ground speed increases as it moves "downhill" along the curve of the Earth, ultimately sliding completely off the planet's surface.

On March 8, 2016, I was one of 163 lucky passengers on board an Alaska Airlines 737-900 jet, which intercepted the moon's umbra over the Pacific Ocean en route from Anchorage to Honolulu. When the shadow enveloped our aircraft, we were 700 miles (1,130 km) north of Honolulu and very close to the sunset point of the eclipse path.

In fact, the shadow was already beginning to slide off the Earth's surface as totality ended for us. At that moment, the shadow was moving at a speed of about 8,000 mph (12,900 km/h). [Incredible Solar Eclipse View Shot During Alaska Airlines Flight (Video)]

The Aug. 21 total solar eclipse

The upcoming total solar eclipse on Aug. 21 marks the first time that the umbral shadow will cross the lower 48 United States from coast to coast in 99 years. During this landmark event, when the shadow arrives at the coast of Oregon, it will be moving at 2,240 mph (3,600 km/h), which, coincidentally, is very close to the average orbital speed of the moon around Earth.

The moon's shadow, however, will still be approaching the midpoint of its path, and still climbing along the bulge of the Earth. The lowest speed will take place in Tennessee, to the southeast of the point of greatest eclipse (the instant at which the axis of the moon's shadow is closest to the center of the Earth); the speed there will be 1,323 mph (2,129 km/h).

The maximum duration of totality for this eclipse will be 2 minutes and 40 seconds. After the shadow passes through the midpoint of the eclipse path, it will begin to accelerate as the slope of the Earth curves away from it; the shadow will then be moving downhill, ultimately sliding off Earth's surface over the waters of the eastern Atlantic Ocean. As the umbra bids a fond farewell to the United States at the coast of South Carolina, the shadow will be moving at 1,354 mph (2,179 km/h). See the table below for eclipse characteristics at various spots along the path of totality.

How the total solar eclipse of Aug. 21, 2017 will vary according to viewing location along the path of totality. (Image credit: Joe Rao/Space.com)

In short, the moon's umbral shadow will take a "leisurely" trek across the United States, covering 2,496 miles (4,017 km) in just 90.7 minutes, whizzing by at an average speed of 1,651 mph (2,657 km/h).

And that's why the total phase of a solar eclipse cannot last very long!

Editor's Note: Space.com's Night Sky columnist, Joe Rao, will be giving a presentation about the upcoming total eclipse ("How to Survive the Aug. 21 Total Solar Eclipse") on Sunday (April 9) at 2:45 p.m. at the Northeast Astronomy Forum (NEAF), which will be held this weekend at the SUNY Rockland Community College in Suffern, New York. NEAF features displays of telescopes, telescope accessories and other astronomy-related products, as well as presentations by scientists and skywatching experts. For more details about NEAF and a full schedule of events, go to: http://www.rocklandastronomy.com/neaf.html.

Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, the Farmer's Almanac and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for Verizon Fios1 News, based in Rye Brook, N.Y. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.
It is thought that animal life first arose during the Ediacaran Period, between 635 and 541 million years ago, but these organisms bore little resemblance to the animals we know today. That's led some scientists to believe that they may not have been animals at all, and instead amounted to failed experiments in multi-cellular evolution.

The remains of these odd creatures, most of which have no evidence of a circulatory or digestive system, largely vanished from the rock record at the start of the Cambrian Period, 541 million years ago. Piecing together a picture of the Ediacaran environment is key to understanding more about these enigmatic macro-organisms. One research team is revealing the paleo-environment of this time period by studying the remote Khatyspyt Formation, a series of sedimentary rocks above the Arctic Circle in Siberia that were laid down when the area was a shallow marine shelf environment. [Tiny Life: Photo Evidence of Early Animals]

Geologist Huan Cui of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and colleagues discuss their findings in a recent paper, "Redox-dependent distribution of early macro-organisms: Evidence from the terminal Ediacaran Khatyspyt Formation in Arctic Siberia," published in the journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology.

Mirror images on the top and bottom surface of a bedding plane of a complex coiled carbonaceous compression that may be algal in origin. (Image credit: Jay Kaufman)

The Ediacaran animals were soft-bodied, without shells or skeletons, and their fossils are most typically preserved as molds or casts, like footprints in the sand. Ediacaran fossils have been discovered in fine-grained sedimentary rock such as sandstone, which does a poor job of preserving paleo-environmental information. In the Khatyspyt Formation, however, some of the fossils are entombed in well-preserved limestone, which does a good job of recording the ancient world of these creatures.

Paleo-environmental changes through the rock succession can be studied by chemostratigraphy, which looks at the changes in the chemical makeup of the rocks over time as they formed. The scientists looked at the minerals in these rocks, including pyrite, or "fool's gold," in order to measure the sulfur isotope composition through 130 vertical meters of the Khatyspyt Formation. Pyrite is studied as it gives clues to the microbes that produced it, and to the availability of both food and sulfate, which are required to fuel their metabolic activities.

Professors Alan J. Kaufman (University of Maryland, front) and Shuhai Xiao (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, back) sitting on two of the Ediacaran Khatyspyt Formation fossil laggerstatte horizons in Arctic Siberia. (Image credit: Jay Kaufman)

Rocks at the bottom of the pile are older than those at the top, so studying how the sulfur chemistry changed through the rock succession informed Cui and his colleagues about environmental variations over time. These researchers found a dramatic anomaly in the abundances of sulfur isotopes (flavors of atomic sulfur that differ in the number of neutrons that add weight to the element) in the various layers, with the highest concentration of the heavy (having more neutrons) isotope in the upper reaches of the formation and the lowest at the bottom of the sedimentary pile

The sulfur isotope anomaly lines up surprisingly well with the preserved fossil record of Ediacara biotas. The lower 45 meters of rock are mostly devoid of fossils, while the upper regions, where the heavy sulfur isotope concentration is highest, is teeming with them. The scientists speculate that the light sulphur isotopes at the bottom of the rock succession are most likely due to the proliferation of anaerobic microbes that lived in the anoxic (oxygen-free) water in the basin. These microbes would have changed the chemistry of the water by producing toxic hydrogen sulfide, which would make it uninhabitable for animal life.

"We speculate that the strongly negative (sulfur isotope) values at the bottom of the succession relate to anoxic conditions when the microbes could live in the water column," explained the principal investigator, Jay Kaufman. "Since the process forms sulfide, we suspect that it built up in the deep water column resulting in euxinic (sulfidic) conditions."

The euxinic water created as a result of these anaerobic microbes has too much sulfide and too little oxygen for animal life to exist, which explains why no animal fossils were found in the lower part of the formation. "These euxinic conditions might have been enhanced by chemical weathering, where sulfates were brought into the oceans, which thus became fuel for the microbes," said Cui.

Toilet bowl shaped stromatolites in the bedded limestones of the Ediacaran Khatyspyt Formation in Arctic Siberia. (Image credit: Jay Kaufman)

At 45 meters above the base of the Khatyspyt Formation, environmental conditions apparently changed, and the Ediacara fossils start to appear. It is at this point that the sulfur isotopes become progressively heavy, which may have been the result of less weathering and hence less sulfate available for the microbes to use.

The change from euxinic to non-euxinic conditions at the end of the Ediacaran Period allowed the Ediacaran animals to colonise the now more oxidized and habitable ocean, despite an overall oxygen level in the atmosphere and oceans that was far less than today's.

The research was supported by the Exobiology and Evolutionary Biology element of the NASA Astrobiology Program

This story was provided by Astrobiology Magazine, a web-based publication sponsored by the NASA astrobiology program. Follow Space.com @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+.
New Delhi, Apr 8 (IBNS): India and Bangladesh on Saturday signed 22 agreements which include a 500 million dollar line of credit to Dhaka for the purchase of military hardware.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is currently visiting India.

She met Indian Prime Minister here on Saturday.

In a major development, India has also extended 4.5 billion dollars in a line of credit to the neighbouring nation for infrastructure projects.

PMO India tweeted: "PM @narendramodi meets PM Sheikh Hasina in New Delhi. The two leaders are holding talks on strengthening India-Bangladesh relations."

Modi said he had a fruitful discussion with Hasina.

"It is an absolute honour to host PM Sheikh Hasina. We held fruitful & wide-ranging talks on the full spectrum of India-Bangladesh relations," Modi tweeted.

He said: "PM Sheikh Hasina & I reviewed existing cooperation & discussed new avenues of extensive cooperation that will benefit our nations & region."

"Collaboration in commerce, boosting connectivity, capacity building & cooperation between our armed forces were vital areas discussed," Modi said.

Modi said India greatly admired Hasina's stance towards fighting terrorism.

"We greatly admire Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas firm resolve in dealing with terrorism. Her zero tolerance policy inspires us," Modi said.

Hasina arrived in India on Friday.

Image: Narendra Modi Twitter page
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Lucknow, Apr 8 (IBNS): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday attacked those who are refusing to sing the Vande Matram.

Yogi Adityanath said it reflected 'narrow-mindedness'.

"Today, a problem can be witnessed where some people are saying they will not sing Vande Matram," the CM said.

Speaking at a book release function, the Chief Minister said: "We are looking forward to progress in the 21st century.But today we are witnessing a debate over whether or not we should sing the National Song."

"This is a matter of deep concern. We need to find out ways to overcome narrow-mindedness," Yogi Adityanath said.

The Chief Minister made the remarks at a time when some corporators in Meerut refused to sing the national song.

The Samajwadi Party corporators in Allahabad and Varanasi protested against a proposal which aimed to make singing of the national song compulsory, media reports said.



Image: Yogi Adityanath Twitter page
The deep ocean and the creatures that live there are facing a desperate future due to food shortages and changing temperatures, according to research exploring the impact of climate change and human activity on the worlds seas.

The deep ocean plays a critical role in sustaining our fishing and removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, as well as being home to a huge array of creatures. But the new study reveals that food supplies at the seafloor in the deepest regions of the ocean could fall by up to 55 percent by 2100, starving the animals and microbes that exist there, while changes in temperature, pH and oxygen levels are also predicted to take their toll on fragile ecosystems.

The situation, the authors note, is exacerbated by drilling for oil and gas, dumping of pollutants, fishing and the prospect of deep-sea mining.

We need to wake up and start really realising that [with] the deep ocean, even though we cant see it we are going to be having a huge effect on the largest environment on the planet, said Andrew Sweetman, the co-author of the research from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. It is pretty scary.

Published in the journal Elementa by an international group of scientists from 20 research institutes, the study describes how the team harnessed a number of climate models to explore how oceans around the world are set to change over the 21st century.

We wanted to look at how all of these combined stressors  warming, enhanced acidification, reduced food supply to the sea floor, deoxygenation  would work together to impact the ocean, said Sweetman.

The results reveal that the future for the deep sea is bleak.

By 2100, ocean conditions will have changed dramatically, say the authors, with so-called bathyal depths (waters reaching roughly 200 metres to 3,000 metres in depth) in the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic Oceans increasing in temperature by up to 4C. The seafloor of even deeper ocean regions, known as abyssal depths ranging from 3,000 metres to 6,000 metres deep, could increase in temperature by up to 0.5C to 1C.

Warming oceans are expected to result in lower oxygen concentrations, with levels predicted to fall in bathyal seafloor habitats by up to 3.7 percent. But even small changes, said Sweetman, could have a large impact, resulting in disruptions to fragile ecosystems that exist on the fringes of regions with very low oxygen.

Rising levels of carbon dioxide, says the study, will cause waters to become more acidic  a situation that is likely to be disastrous for organisms with shells, such as molluscs, as well as corals, while fish and other creatures will also be affected.

Concentration of organic matter in the deep ocean is also expected to drop dramatically by 2100, reducing the amount of food available for organisms that thrive at such depths. But food is already scarce. The food supply these animals derive energy from in the abyss at 4,000-metre depths is equivalent to a sugar cube per square metre per year, said Sweetman.

The worst hit, say the authors, will be the Indian Ocean, whose depths are expected to experience a drop in available food of up to 55 percent. The only way the ecosystem is going to respond is by some animals dying off, said Sweetman.

While the team note that in some regions of the worlds oceans temperatures may cool, the impact is still expected to be negative.

Animals living on the deep sea floor are relatively isolated from environmental change, said Sweetman. Most of the animals have adapted strategies for living under constant environmental conditions where the oxygen doesnt change over hundreds of years, the temperature doesnt change over hundreds to thousands of years.

Given the large changes expected to occur by the end of the century, Sweetman said, It is very unlikely that they are going to be able to adapt.

As far as is known, Sweetman said, change is happening faster than at any previous point in geological history. The rate of change is so dramatic that we run the risk of severely disrupting the deep ocean  which covers most of the planets surface, he said.

The authors point out that human activity in the oceans is likely to make matters worse, citing a rise in fishing and the dumping of pollutants as well as the burgeoning interest in deep-sea mining. Many of the areas that will be targeted for resource extraction lie in areas that will be most heavily impacted by climate change, the authors note.

Adrian Glover, an expert in deep oceans from the Natural History Museum in London who was not involved in the research, welcomed the study.

It must be stressed, however, that actual data on changes in deep-sea ecosystems are extremely scarce, he said. While the study offers clear evidence that climate change will affect temperature, acidity, and other factors, It is still in the realms of speculation as to what the impact would be on biodiversity, for example, said Glover.

A key challenge, Glover said, is to conduct studies to explore the current state of the deep sea and the creatures that live there. To observe and monitor changes in our deep oceans, we need a vastly improved library of biodiversity information  a baseline upon which to measure change  and new scientific programs for understanding the fundamental ecology of the deep sea.
A murder investigation has been launched after a teenage boy was shot dead in east London.

Scotland Yard said a boy in his mid-teens was killed and another man in his early 20s was injured after the pair were shot in Newham on Friday night.

The boy was pronounced dead at the scene after suffering a gunshot wound, police said. The other victim is not thought to have suffered life-threatening injuries, and it is not yet clear whether the two shootings are linked.

Terrified witnesses told how they heard gunshots being fired just before 11pm before police descended on the scene in North Woolwich.

One said: "I went to the area to get some Chinese. Whilst I was there I heard a couple of shots, sudden bangs.

"Suddenly there was a tonne of police cars and squad cars in the area, lots of blue lights. Spoke to my former neighbour, she said she heard the same thing as me... sounded like gun shots."

She added that the boy was shot in the back, though police did not immediately confirm the report.

Another North Woolwich resident tweeted: "Last night 2 people were shot in North Woolwich. Since when did my area become like this?"

A Scotland Yard spokesman said a murder investigation was underway and that the boys next-of-kin were being informed.

He said: Police were called at 10.44pm on Friday, 7 April to reports of shots heard and a teenager found injured on Rebourne Way, E16.

Local officers, firearms officers and the London Ambulance Service attended and found a boy, believed to be in his mid-teens, with a gunshot injury. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

A short time later, a man aged in his early 20s, was found with a gunshot injury in Claremont Close. He was taken to an east London hospital where he remains in a stable condition; his injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

There have been no arrests.

Anyone with information should call police on 0203453715 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
A two-year-old boy has been rushed to hospital alongside his parents after an apparent acid attack on the family on a north London street.

Emergency services were called to a residential street in Islington just after 1pm on Saturday afternoon to reports of an assault.

They found a 40-year-old father, 36-year-old mother and their young child who had all had a harmful substance thrown at them in Copenhagen Street.

Firefighters attending the incident used water from a hose to cool down their burns at the scene before all three were taken to a north London hospital by ambulance.

Police at the scene after the attack in Islington / Tom Marshall

The young boy was found to have slight chemical burns to his face although his injuries were being treated as minor.

However, his father's injuries were described as "life-changing".

Both parents suffered 15 per cent chemical burns on their hands and bodies, although the mothers injuries were also only being treated as minor.

An investigation has now been launched into the alleged assault and to ascertain exactly what the liquid used was.

A forensic officer at the scene after the attack / Tom Marshall

A London Fire Brigade (LFB) spokesman said tests had shown the unknown liquid had a PH level of 1. They added: Tests have found a strong acid and oxidising substance.

Detectives from the Mets Central North Borough Command Unit are now investigating. There have not been any arrests.

A Met Police spokesman said: Police were called by the London Ambulance Service (LAS) on Saturday, 8 April shortly after 13:05 hours to reports of an assault in Copenhagen Street junction with Caledonian Road, N1.

Three people - a man, woman and a two-year-old boy - were found with injuries consistent with a noxious substance being thrown.

The woman and child suffered minor injuries. The man's injuries are not being treated as life threatening, however we await an update as to whether they are life-changing.

Enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances and ascertain what the substance is.

Any witnesses, or anyone with any information, are urged to contact the Central North CID via 101, or by tweeting @MetCC.

To give information anonymously call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or visit crimestoppers-uk.org.
P rotesters gathered in Croydon to show solidarity with refugees after a 17-year-old asylum seeker was left fighting for his life in a horrific assault there.

The group marched through the south London borough as part of a protest organised by campaigners Stand Up To Racism.

The march comes after Kurdish Iranian student Reker Ahmed was beaten and kicked by a gang of around 30 while waiting at a bus stop in the town with two friends.

A stream of around 100 people travelled through Croydon on Saturday, brandishing signs and chanting: "No hate, no fear, refugees are welcome here."

Weyman Bennett, 51, joint national convener for Stand Up to Racism, said the march was a "public display of sympathy and support" for Reker and his family.

Attack victim: Asylum seeker Reker Ahmed

He said: "I think it's a tragedy that Reker Ahmed has escaped a war zone to be attacked in Croydon.

"It's a tragedy both for the local people and obviously for himself and his family.

"We have to make sure that we welcome refugees and treat them with respect - because it's how we would like to be treated if we were refugees.

"There are problems in Croydon but they are not caused by refugees, they are caused by the problems that existed before refugees arrived inside this country."

Croydon march - in pictures 1 /18 Croydon march - in pictures Protesters during the march in solidarity with refugees in Croydon AFP/Getty Images Protesters during the march in solidarity with refugees in Croydon AFP/Getty Images Protesters during the march in solidarity with refugees in Croydon AFP/Getty Images Protesters during the march in solidarity with refugees in Croydon REUTERS Protesters during the march in solidarity with refugees in Croydon REUTERS Protesters during the march in solidarity with refugees in Croydon REUTERS Protesters during the march in solidarity with refugees in Croydon REUTERS Protesters during the march in solidarity with refugees in Croydon REUTERS Protesters during the march in solidarity with refugees in Croydon REUTERS Protesters during the march in solidarity with refugees in Croydon AFP/Getty Images Protesters during the march in solidarity with refugees in Croydon AFP/Getty Images Protesters during the march in solidarity with refugees in Croydon AFP/Getty Images Protesters during the march in solidarity with refugees in Croydon AFP/Getty Images Protesters during the march in solidarity with refugees in Croydon AFP/Getty Images

Susan Cole, 48, from Croydon, said she had come along with her two children who felt "really strongly" about the issue.

She said: "I'm here today as a local Croydon resident to show my support to refugees.

"Croydon is a very tolerant area and I think it's really important that we show that today."

Another protester Cathy, 48, said most people in the community were "devastated" and "horrified" by the attack.

Ellen Clifford, local coordinator for Stand Up To Racism, said it was important to make sure "people don't feel frightened".

She said: "Today is a unity protest, it's about standing up to racism wherever it occurs, but it's also saying that's not who Croydon is.

"Croydon is a proud diverse community and we welcome refugees here.

"The majority of people in Croydon do welcome refugees and is proud of our diverse status."

Thirteen people, aged from 15 to 24, have been charged with violent disorder in connection with the attack.
A tower of black smoke could be seen for miles in west London after a lorry burst into flames on Saturday afternoon.

Kenton Road in Harrow was closed for over an hour while firefighters battled to extinguish the lorry blaze, which began at around 1pm.

Dramatic pictures posted to social media showed the huge cloud of thick black smoke rising high above houses on the sunny, clear afternoon.

Seven bus routes were diverted while traffic built up in the surrounding roads on what was the hottest day of the year so far.

London Fire Brigade confirmed that the fire was brought under control shortly before 2pm.

The lorry was left gutted by the blaze and there was also damage to the windows of an adjacent property.

A fire brigade spokesman told the Standard: We were called at 12.57 and the incident was over at 13.48.

Harrow police tweeted just after 1pm: Officers and @LondonFire dealing with a lorry on fire Kenton Road. Road closures in place.
H uge plumes of black smoke billowed over Vauxhall as a major fire erupted on a building site.

Dozens of people called the fire brigade as clouds of the thick smoke were seen emerging from the blaze near Vauxhall station.

The smoke was visible to onlookers for miles as it billowed into clear blue skies as London basked in glorious sunshine.

A London Fire Brigade spokeswoman confirmed 20 firefighters tackled the blaze after 34 calls from concerned members of the public.

The fire, at a building site in South Lambeth Road, was brought under control in about 40 minutes and there were no injuries reported.

Social media users posted dramatic images of the blaze online.

Sandeep wrote: Huge cloud of black smoke over Vauxhall Station. Appears to be from a construction site.

Another Twitter user, Scarlett Cayford, added: Anyone else seeing this billowing smoke coming from #vauxhall way?

An LFB spokeswoman said: We were called at 9.52am to reports of a fire at South Lambeth Road. Four fire engines from Brixton, Chiswick and Peckham, and 20 firefighters and officers were called to the scene.

It was a pile of building insulation which was completely gutted by the fire. The incident was over at 10.35am.
A n air ambulance landed in east London after a person was reported on the tracks at a Tube station.

A section of the Central line between Leytonstone and Newbury Park was shut as emergency services rushed to the scene in Wanstead.

The person was rushed to hospital with injuries the London Ambulance Service has described as "serious".

A large police presence, fire crews and an air ambulance were spotted near the station on Saturday morning.

An air ambulance was seen circling the area before landing on the nearby Wanstead green following the incident at about 11.30am.

There was no service between Leytonstone and Newbury Park eastbound following the incident.

One witness wrote on Twitter: "Something else has happened at Wanstead Station, chopper, three fire engines and five or six police vehicles. All started at 11.30am."

And another, Tom Knock, wrote: "The Air Ambulance landing on Wanstead green. My tube just hit somebody - awful."

An LAS spokesman said: "We were called just after 11.15am to reports of an incident at Wanstead station. We sent a number of staff to the scene including an an air ambulance.

"The patient was treated and stabilised at the station before being taken to a major trauma centre.

"They were in a serious condition."
The incident took place when a CTD team was taking the facilitators to Manawan to identify the place where they had hidden weapons and ammunitions.

The official said all the 10 terrorists belonged to Jamat-ul-Ahrar and TTP.

By Press Trust of India: Ten terrorists of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), involved in a suicide attack on Lahore's Mall Road in February, were killed in a shootout with police in the wee hours today in Lahore.

According to Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab police, the terrorists were involved in a suicide attack on Lahore's Mall Road in February in which 15 people including six policemen were killed. Jamat-ul-Ahrar had claimed the responsibility of the attack.

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"In early hours today a CTD team was taking the facilitators (Anwarul Haq, Irfan and Imam Shah) of Lahore Mall Road blast suicide bomber to Manawan area to identify the place where they had hidden weapons and ammunition when their accomplices attacked the police team," a CTD official said.

The police team retaliated and during the cross fire 10 terrorists were killed, he said.

The official said all three facilitators of Lahore Mall Road blast - Anwarul Haq, Irfan and Imam - were killed in the cross fire.

Two of the seven terrorists who attacked the police team have been identified as Attaur Rehman and Abdullah.

ALL TERRORISTS BELONGED TO JAMAT-UL-AHRAR, TEHREEK-i-TALIBAN PAKISTAN

The official said all the 10 terrorists belonged to Jamat-ul-Ahrar and TTP. Weapons including hand grenades and explosives have been recovered from the site.

Two senior police officers were among 15 people killed when a Jamat-ul-Ahrar suicide bomber blew himself up during a protest rally outside Pakistan's Punjab assembly on February 13 that also wounded more than 71 others.

Police had arrested main facilitator Anwarul Haq with the help of CCTV and nabbed his other accomplices from tribal area of Bajaur.

Last Wednesday, five soldiers were among seven killed in a suicide attack on an army team taking part in ongoing census in Lahore's Badian Road. TTP had claimed the responsibility of the attack.

Police have so far taken 15 suspects into custody in connection with Badian Road attack on soldiers.

Police said initial investigation shows that the attacker and his handler were on a motorcycle and continued chasing the census van carrying army personnel.

When the van stopped and the army men started unloading the material, the suicide bomber came closer to them and blew himself up.

"We have arrested 15 suspects in connection with Wednesdays Lahore blast and are interrogating them," a senior police officer said.

ALSO READ | Pakistan: Suicide blast rocks Lahore's Mall Road, 16 including 2 senior cops killed

ALSO READ | Pakistan: Lahore's Mall Road attack handler, associates arrested

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ALSO WATCH | Pakistan: Suicide blast at Lahore's Punjab Assembly kills 16, injures scores

--- ENDS ---
A woman has been rushed to hospital after being hit by a tour bus in central London.

The pedestrian was hit on Charing Cross Road, near Leicester Square station, at around 1.45pm on Saturday.

Emergency services were scrambled to the scene and an Air Ambulance was seen landing in the centre of Trafalgar Square, to the shock of hundreds of tourists.

The woman was taken to hospital by ambulance and her injuries were later described as not life-threatening.

Charing Cross Road was closed for around two hours in both directions between Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square following the collision.

Confused tourists enjoying London on what was the hottest day of the year so far took to social media to share images of the air ambulance landing and the taped off roads.

Police: the collision took place in central London near Leicester Square station / @LeaOceaneL

Transport for London confirmed on Twitter that Charing Cross Road had reopened at 5pm.

A Met Police spokesman said: We were called at 1.45 to reports of a tour bus in a collision with a pedestrian in Charing Cross Road.

They added that the driver of the tour bus stopped at the scene and no arrests were made.
B BC Radio 2 broadcaster Brian Matthew died on Saturday morning at the age of 88.

Mr Matthew, who was once dubbed Britain's oldest DJ, stepped down from the popular programme Sounds Of The 60s after 27 years in February because of ill health.

The broadcaster was wrongly reported as having died on Wednesday by the BBC, who later clarified that he was critically ill.

BBC Radio Two tweeted on Saturday: "Farewell to your old mate and ours, Brian Matthew."

Mr Matthew started broadcasting in 1948 in Germany and trained as an actor before joining the BBC in 1954.

After Radio 2 was launched in 1967, he became one of the station's first DJs and hosted programmes such as Saturday Club, Thank Your Lucky Stars and Late Night Extra.

However, he was best known for presenting the long-running Round Midnight programme which won the 1987 Pulitzer Publishing Award.

In April 1990 he began presenting Sounds Of The 60s, which won a Gold Sony Radio Award in 1996, until a special farewell episode earlier this year in which he said he was "saddened to leave".

The BBC said he left the show because of ill health.

Radio 2 presenter Brian Matthew hosted the long-running Sounds Of The 60s programme / PA

Tributes to the "outstanding" presenter were led by the BBC's director-general Tony Hall who said he had "entertained and engaged millions over generations".

He added: "He had a wonderful style of delivery and a real connection with his listeners.

"Brian was a true broadcasting great. We will all miss him and, of course, that voice."

Head of Radio 2 Lewis Carnie described him as "one of this country's most popular and best-loved presenters".

Brian Matthews started broadcasting in 1948 in Germany / PA

Director of BBC radio and music and former controller of Radio 2 Bob Shennan said Matthew was a "radio legend".

Mr Matthew called Radio 2's decision to replace him "balderdash" in an interview with the Daily Telegraph in January.

His farewell show closed with Billy Fury's Last Night Was Made For Love and also featured Elvis Presley's Ghetto and The Beatles' She's Leaving Home.

As the last track played out, Mr Matthew said: "That 1962 top-five hit by Billy Fury brings me to the end of my reign as presenter of Sounds Of The 60s and I must say I've enjoyed every minute of my 27 years in this chair.

"I'm saddened to leave but I'll be back on Radio 2 in the near future with something new, so keep your eyes open for further information."

He added: "This is your old mate Brian Matthew saying that's your lot for this week, see you again soon."
A n investigation has been launched after a girl was found living with monkeys in a forest in India.

Police are scouring reports of missing children in a bid to identify the girl, who is believed to be between 10 and 12 years old, and trace her parents.

She was found naked, emaciated and unable to speak in January, when she was taken to hospital in Uttar Pradesh, northern India.

She behaved like an animal, running on her arms and legs and eating food off the floor with her mouth, said D.K. Singh, chief medical superintendent of the government-run hospital where she is being treated.

After treatment, she has begun walking normally and eating with her hands.

"She is still not able to speak, but understands whatever you tell her and even smiles," Singh said.

Some woodcutters spotted the girl roaming with monkeys and alerted authorities, police officer Dinesh Tripathi told The Associated Press news agency.

"They said the girl was naked and was very comfortable in the company of monkeys. When they tried to rescue the girl, they were chased away by the monkeys," the officer said.

She was rescued later by a police officer in the Katarniya Ghat forest range. "When he called the girl, the monkeys attacked him but he was able to rescue the girl. He sped away with her in his police car while the monkeys gave chase," Tripathi said.

He said police are trying to determine how the girl got into the forest and who her parents are.

She will be sent to a home for juveniles until she is identified, Singh said.
A suspect device was discovered inside the lorry that was driven into a Stockholm department store in a terror attack on Friday, police have confirmed.

The technical device was found inside the drivers seat of the large truck, Swedish national police commissioner Dan Eliasson said.

It was impossible at this stage to know what the device was, only that it should not be there, he added.

The suspected terrorist, who was arrested and remains in custody, is a 39-year-old man from Uzbekistan who was known to security services.

Sweden truck crash - In pictures 1 /20 Sweden truck crash - In pictures Terror: People flee the scene of the crash in Stockholm Emergency servies work at the scene where a truck crashed into the Ahlens department store at Drottninggatan in central Stockholm Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty Images Rex The smoking truck was shown embedded in the shopping centre TT News Agency/Andreas Schyman/via Reuters Ambulance in a street near the site were a truck was driven into a crowd in central Stockholm Per Haljestam/Reuters Police are treating the incident as a terror attack Jessica Gow/TT News Agency via Reuters Witnesses were shown sobbing near the Ahlens department store Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty Images Emergency services treated people at the scene Rex Special police forces work at the crash site Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty Images People walk away fro the scene after a truck crashed into a department store injuring several people in central Stockholm, Sweden Noella Johansson TT News Agency via AP The scene of an incident in Drottninggatan, a street in the centre of Stockholm, Sweden Arash Pendari/PA The truck left a trail of devastation in its wake TT News Agency/Andreas Schyman/via Reuters People were killed when a truck crashed into department store Ahlens on Drottninggatan, in central Stockholm Reuters The area around the shopping precinct was locked off TT News Agency/Noella Johansson/via Reuters Police officers work at the scene Noella Johansson/AFP/Getty Images

The commissioner said that, although he was on their records, he was only seen as a marginal character.

He remains officers prime suspect for the attack, which saw a hijacked lorry plough into the front of a shop in the pedestrian thoroughfare of Drottninggatan.

Four people were killed in the horrific assault and 10, including a child, remain in hospital. Two are in intensive care.

The aftermath of the attack in Stockholm / TT News Agency/Press Association

Swedish borders have been tightened at the request of the countrys Prime Minister Stefan Lofven  who call the incident a terrorist attack.

The prime minister said: "If it is a terrorist attack, and regardless of whether it was carried out by an organisation or a lone perpetrator, the aim of terrorism is to undermine democracy, to sow discord between people so that more people will begin to hate and distrust one another.

"But those kinds of acts will never succeed in Sweden. We know that our enemy is this kind of vile murderer - not one another. We will use all of Sweden's strength to track you down.

"Our message will always be clear: you cannot suppress us, you cannot control our lives, you will never win."

The latest outrage inflicted on the continent came just two weeks after similar tactics were used to attack London when Muslim convert Khalid Masood drove into crowds on Westminster Bridge.

The bloodshed also bore hallmarks to attacks seen in Nice and Berlin last year.

Swedish border controls were reinforced following the attack and investigators remained at the scene after the lorry was removed.
Misguided by his girlfriend's fake suicide, an 11-year-old boy in Detroit took his own life by hanging himself. Charges are now being filed against a minor involved in the prank.

By India Today Web Desk: An 11-year-old boy in Detroit, Michigan, killed himself after his girlfriend faked her suicide on social media as a prank.

Tysen Benz's mother found him hanging by his neck in his room on March 14 after seeing social media posts and texts that his 13-year-old girlfriend had killed herself.

"She had pranked her own death," Tysen's mother, 41-year-old Katrina Goss, said about her son's girlfriend. "I don't know what possessed her to do such a weird prank. It's a twisted, sick joke."

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An AP report says the girl carried out the prank with the help of some of her friends.

Tysen's mother said that after seeing the posts about his girlfriend's 'suicide', Tysen replied over social media that he was going to kill himself. She said those involved in the prank didn't tell an adult even then.

"The whole thing happened in about 40 minutes," said Tysen's mother. "He was fine and then I found him. I don't know what she said she did to herself."

Tysen was rushed to an area hospital and later transferred to the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor, near Detroit. He died on Tuesday.

"Social media harassment, bullying and pranking is a huge issue," added Tysen's mother. "The way it's used nowadays, kids are desensitized to social media and it really does hurt people."

In his memory, Tysen's family has set up a GoFundMe page to raise awareness and fight against "social media bullying".

'TWISTED, SICK JOKE': JUVENILE CHARGED

Charges are pending against a juvenile in this case, though it is not clear who faces charges.

Marquette city police said in a statement that the unnamed juvenile is being charged in Marquette County with telecommunication services-malicious use and using a computer to commit a crime.

Police did not release the age of the juvenile charged or their relationship status with the boy. The prosecutor's office declined to comment on the case.

(With inputs from AP)

|| Read more at FYI ||

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Woman gets Sushma Swaraj's attention on Twitter by asking if she should commit suicide

Meet India's Monkey Man who climbed out of suicide

|| Watch more ||

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Gaikwad was barred from flying by Air India as well as private players after he hit an AI employee 25 times.

By Anindya Banerjee: A day after Air India lifted the ban on Ravindra Gaikwad, the Federation of Indian Airlines, a group of major private carriers, also revoked its ban on the Shiv Sena Member of Parliament.

Gaikwad had been barred from flying by Air India and the FIA after he repeatedly hit an Air India staffer during an argument on March 23.

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On Friday, the Osmanabad MP wrote to the Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju expressing 'regret' for the incident, which grabbed national headlines.

Following his Parliament statement, the Minsitry of Civil Aviation ordered the national carrier to lift its fly ban on Gaikwad.

In a statement, Ujjawal Dey, the associate director of the FIA, said, "Consequent to Air India restoring flying privileges to Mr. Gaikwad after being satisfied with the statement given by the Member of Parliament, the FIA member airlines are also restoring the flying privileges to Mr. Gaikwad under the assurance that our assets and colleagues shall be accorded the respect that they deserve for the hard work that they put in every day."

The FIA counts Jet Airways, Go Air, IndiGo, JetLite and SpiceJet among its members.

With this, Gaikwad, who travelled to Mumbai today morning in the Rajdhani Express, is free to fly any route, any airline.

Vistara remains the only private airline that hasn't yet clarified whether they will fly the controversial MP or not.

THE INCIDENT

On March 23, Gaikwad reached Delhi in an Air India flight and got into an argument with airline employees while his plane was still on the tarmac.

The MP was angry over not being allocated a business class seat despite having a ticket for the same. Gaikwad claimed Air India did not inform at the time of booking that his flight would not have business class seating.

Minutes into the argument, Gaikwad started slapping a 60-year-old Air India staffer with his slippers. The airline registered a case with the Delhi Police and proceeded to impose a fly ban on him the next day.

The following two weeks saw much controversy with private airliners joining Air India's stand even as the brazen MP refused to apologise.

His party, Shiv Sena, too backed him, calling the decision of the airlines to bar him from flying unfair.

The party raised a din in Parliament this week, demanding that the ban be revoked, a demand that has been fulfilled 16 days after the ban was first imposed.

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ALSO READ | Someone trolling Ravindra Gaikwad? Shiv Sena MP says never booked the 7 tickets cancelled by airlines

ALSO WATCH | Will not allow flight to take off: Gaikwad warns Air India over apology demand

--- ENDS ---
The Battle of St. Louis: Yes, that was a thing.

In 1780, British and American forces fought along the western edge of what is now the Gateway Arch grounds, near a 40-foot tower grandly known as Fort San Carlos.

If mentioned at all in books, the battle is handled as a mere skirmish, a distraction to larger Revolutionary War battles in the East  a footnote to history if ever there was one.

Enter St. Louis lawyer Stephen L. Kling Jr., who has written a new book on the battle and now pushes to get the fight the recognition he believes it deserves.

When you look at it all by itself, it doesnt seem like much, Kling said. But when you fit it into the overall picture (of the American Revolution), this was an important event.

Klings book is The Battle of St. Louis, the Attack on Cahokia, and the American Revolution in the West. Kristine L. Sjostrom and Marysia T. Lopez are co-authors of the 326-page hardcover work.

Kling said Sjostrom is an expert on Fernando de Leyba, lieutenant governor and military commander in St. Louis at the time, and wrote a biographical chapter for the book.

But lets look at the battle.

The 700 or so inhabitants of the small fur-trading town had been hearing for months that the British were planning an attack in the area to grab control over the Mississippi River.

Traders were coming downriver and telling about how the British had about 1,000 soldiers and were stockpiling canoes, about 100 of them, for an attack, Kling said.

The British had their sights set not only for St. Louis, but also across the river at Cahokia, which Kling said is a grossly overlooked aspect of events.

The British clearly had a plan to sweep the Americans off the Mississippi, Kling said. They also wanted to take all cattle and other livestock from St. Louis, Cahokia, and even Ste. Genevieve and Kaskaskia.

Forewarned, the village quickly built the 40-foot fort/tower and dug a trench that arched roughly from present-day Lacledes Landing, along the current Arch grounds, then south to Second and Lombard streets near Soulard.

So when the 700 British troops, mostly Indians, attacked from the north and northwest on the afternoon of May 26, 1780, they ran into trenches patrolled by about 300 American militiamen and 30 Spanish army regulars under de Leybas command.

After a two-hour firefight, the British claimed to have killed 68 colonists, while de Leyba reported he lost 21 defenders. The British had few casualties.

But St. Louis stayed out of British hands.

On the Illinois side, American militiamen under the command of Gen. George Rogers Clark were victorious over the remaining 300 soldiers from the British contingent.

One question still nagging Kling is why the British attacked such a fortified position at St. Louis, especially because Indian mounds on the village outskirts would have provided high-ground reconnaissance.

But they came in like they were expecting a walk in the park, he said.

Kling said one explanation is that on May 25, the day before the attack, most of the town was in a common field to picnic and celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi.

Thats why the Indian scouts allegedly could not get near the town and actually see the defensive works, Kling said.

Kling, 62, of Creve Coeur specializes in real estate and banking law. Married with two children, Kling said he also has uncovered an ancestor who was a member of the St. Louis militiamen at the time of the battle, Joseph Robidoux III.

His interest in military history began on trips he made to the library when he was a child.

I was more into science fiction when I was young, until I found a book called The Sword Does Not Jest, Kling said of the biography of King Charles XII of Sweden.

Its a great title, right? he said.

The book made deep enough of a mark that in 2015, Kling served as editor and a writer on The Great Northern War Compendium, a look at the Swedish kings conquests of the early 1700s.

A review of that book said Kling had crafted an outstanding resource on a period of European history that is all but ignored ...

So, forgotten battles seem to be a theme with Kling.

I like stuff that people dont know about, Kling admitted. I like doing things that other people havent done.

Kling will be featured at the Missouri History Museum on May 21, at the annual celebration of the battles anniversary.

Margaret Carr, president of the Commemoration Committee for the Battle of Fort San Carlos, will host the event.

Carr said Klings book is important because it places the battle of St. Louis in relation to other American Revolution events, instead of handling it as some little bit of history.

If we had lost, the British would have controlled the Mississippi River, Carr said.

And that in itself could have drastically changed the war, she said, which could have changed America forever.
ST. LOUIS  Defense lawyers for five people accused of helping support terrorist organizations overseas are seeking a delay in the case in hopes that they can prove that a former St. Louis County resident theyre accused of helping was a lawful combatant in Syria  not a member of a terrorist group.

The defense motion is not due until June 1, but in a court hearing March 30, defense lawyers said they were seeking former comrades of Abdullah Ramo Pazara, who lived in St. Louis County before leaving to fight and die in Syria.

Pazara arrived in Syria in July 2013, the indictment says, and is believed to have risen to become a deputy to a top commander of Islamic State at the time of his death in September 2014. He was 38.

In February 2015, three current or former St. Louis County residents  Ramiz Zijad Hodzic; his wife, Sedina Unkic Hodzic; and Armin Harcevic  and three others were indicted on charges of conspiring to provide material support and resources to terrorists and with providing material support to terrorists.

Prosecutors say the group supplied money and military equipment to terrorist fighters overseas, including Islamic State and al-Qaida in Iraq, and also supported fighters families.

Ramiz Hodzic and Nihad Rosic, of New York, also were charged with conspiring to kill and maim persons in a foreign country. Jasminka Ramic, formerly of Rockford, Ill., pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in September 2015 and is serving a three-year prison term.

Defense lawyer JoAnn Trog, who represents Rosic, told U.S. Magistrate Judge David Noce Thursday that her colleagues had hired an expert witness and were actively and very diligently attempting to contact former fighters. She said they expected to be able to produce specific facts about Pazaras battles and allegiances.

Trog did say that it is the first time the issue would be addressed in eastern Missouri.

Charles Swift, one of the lawyers representing Harcevic, said in a hearing this year that an investigation in Syria and Bosnia had already begun, and that he had spent three weeks in Turkey.

Turkey is a very challenging environment to work in right now, he cautioned.

Lawyers declined to comment in detail after the hearing or did not return messages seeking comment, so their exact argument is not clear.

They may argue that Pazara was aligned with groups that were not designated terrorist organizations at the time the defendants were sending supplies.

In February 2016, a federal judge in Minneapolis rejected an argument by lawyers for five men accused of plotting to go fight for Islamic State. Among their arguments was the lawful combatant issue.

U.S. District Judge Michael J. Davis wrote: The Indictment makes clear that defendants are charged with conspiring with ISIL, a designated foreign terrorist organization, to commit murder. As a result, defendants are being prosecuted only for unlawful acts, not acts that may fall within combatant immunity.

Davis wrote that Islamic State did not qualify under the Geneva Convention as a recognized armed force most importantly because it did not follow the laws and customs of war and has been accused of atrocities including horrific murders and mass rapes to control the civilian population and as a recruiting tool.

Two of the five in the Minneapolis case subsequently pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 10 and 15 years in prison. Three others were convicted at trial and sentenced to between 30 and 35 years.

If the St. Louis motion is unsuccessful, it could motivate the defendants to seek a deal with prosecutors.

Hearings had been scheduled in St. Louis earlier in March at which government plea deals would have been discussed, but those have been postponed until the combatant issue is resolved.

Diane Dragan, lawyer for Ramiz Hodzic, said the combatant issue had been holding up any possibility of a plea, but it would be an absolute defense to the charges if a judge found that Pazara was a lawful combatant.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Drake said in multiple hearings that prosecutors were prepared to file a superseding indictment adding a charge of providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, but would wait for the outcome of the defense motion.

Seamus Hughes, deputy director of George Washington Universitys Program on Extremism, has researched Pazaras activities and called the defense motion a very novel but uphill battle.

Hughes said he believes that Pazara was associated with a group called Jaish al Muhajireen wal Ansar (The Army of Emigres and Helpers). It was initially allied with the al-Qaida-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra but switched to Islamic State around the time of Pazaras arrival because the man he followed, Omar al-Shishani, ended up with the group, Hughes said.

When Pazara first left for Syria, there was not the same name recognition of Islamic State in the U.S., Hughes said. Pazaras friends and acquaintance more likely were supporting him than the ideology behind his group, he added.

But that argument became less valid when Pazara posted pictures and other details of people he killed in battle, and theyre cheering him on, Hughes said.

Investigators in the St. Louis case have claimed in court that Pazara posted Facebook pictures of himself in military clothing, holding a rifle in front of the black flag associated with Islamic State. The indictment says that Pazara said in one message that they were going to slaughter a captive the next day and spoke of the spread of Islamic State. A local Muslim leader told the Post-Dispatch that Pazara was believed to have been present at an infamous Islamic State massacre of Iraqi soldiers.

At some point you cant plead ignorance, Hughes said.
By India Today Web Desk: The decision to give Akshay Kumar the Best Actor award at the 64th National Film Awards has been mired in controversy, as many felt that while he did a great job, other actors like Aamir Khan (Dangal) and Manoj Bajpayee (Aligarh) were more deserving. Filmmaker Priyadarshan, who headed the jury, defended the decision in a recent interview.

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Priyadarshan told Mumbai Mirror, "Akshay Kumar deserved the award and so we gave it to him. There were a total of 38 jury members with me on this. How can you question the decision of so many people? Ramesh Sippy headed the jury last year. When he gave Best Actor to Amitabh Bachchan for Piku, why didn't anyone question him?"

About the feeling that Aamir Khan may have been a better contender, the filmmaker has a bizarre reason. It is widely known that Aamir is not someone who attends award functions, and it is this, Priyadarshan feels, which puts him out of the race. "Aamir recently said that he wouldn't personally accept the award if he is given one. If I remember, Aamir didn't attend the ceremony when he won the award for Taare Zameen Par (The film bagged the National Film Award for Best Film on Family Welfare in 2008). So, why spoil it for some other actor who stood as good a chance of winning the award," he said.

ALSO READ | Akshay Kumar and Sonam Kapoor on National Award win: Who would have thought!!

ALSO READ | Akshay Kumar on National Award win for Rustom: Der aaye, durust aaye

ALSO WATCH | Akshay Kumar wins National Award: How the actor became Sabse Bada Khiladi

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A Post-Dispatch review of court records provided additional details Friday on how both the man killed on a MetroLink train Wednesday night and the man accused of killing him were on probation for earlier violent crimes, including one on MetroLink.

Killed on Wednesday was Jesse Boone, who had pleaded guilty less than six months earlier to a December 2015 robbery on a MetroLink train in St. Louis.

In the 2015 robbery, Boone was part of a group of men who attacked a passenger who had just bought marijuana from them, leaving him bloodied while other passengers watched but did not intervene. Police said Boone and another man punched the victim multiple times and others went through his pockets.

St. Louis Assistant Circuit Attorney Jonathan Bruntrager noted in court documents that Boone had been openly robbing people on MetroLink while out on bail for a different charge in St. Charles County.

This type of behavior is what gives the city a bad name around the nation as a dangerous city, Bruntrager wrote. We deserve better than to have to worry about being robbed in public by people such as the defendant.

St. Louis Judge Rex Burlison gave Boone a suspended seven-year sentence and he was put on five years of probation in October, according to court records. The conditions of his probation included random drug tests, getting a job within 60 days of his release and getting a substance abuse evaluation as well as paying court costs and participating in any educational or vocational programs as directed, according to court documents.

The man charged with killing Boone, Djion Oates, 18, of the 6700 block of Thurston Avenue in Berkeley, is on probation for robbing someone at gunpoint of a PlayStation. That robbery happened in Florissant in 2014 on Oates 16th birthday. Oates was charged as an adult.

Court records show he pleaded guilty in February 2016. Judge Joseph Walsh III suspended a 15-year prison sentence and gave Oates five years probation with eight conditions, including that he obtain a drug and mental health evaluation, earn a GED or high school diploma, obtain full-time employment or proof of continuing education, undergo random drug testing, pay restitution and have no contact with the victim or co-defendants.

Walsh also required Oates to serve an additional 120 days in the St. Louis County jail and did not give him credit for time served.

On Thursday, St. Louis County Judge Maura McShane revoked Oates probation after his arrest for the shooting on MetroLink.

Oates stepfather says that his son was acting in self-defense and that video surveillance would have proven it.

Richard Hopkins, who has helped raise Oates since he was a 1-year-old and visited him in jail, said his stepson told him that Boone had attacked him unprovoked.

Nassim Benchaabane of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
ST. LOUIS  Three of the regions top leaders will meet next week to discuss security enhancements for MetroLink in the aftermath of recent violence  including a fatal shooting on Wednesday.

Perhaps the most revealing detail of that meeting is who wasnt invited: Bi-State Development, the agency that oversees MetroLink.

In an interview Friday, St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger said that he, along with St. Louis Mayor-elect Lyda Krewson and St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern, needed to create their own plan to address safety concerns, and then present it to the transit agency.

We want to approach Bi-State with a united front, Stenger said. Bi-State has not been cooperating very well  and I believe its been the same in every jurisdiction, which is why we have the issue we have.

Stenger said the agency had refused to sign contracts, resisted new technology and spent money on security guards instead of sworn officers  all as part of an effort to create its own police force.

Bi-State President and CEO John Nations denied the allegations.

Under the bi-state compact that governs the agency, Bi-State receives annual appropriations from each of the three counties. Out of those funds, Bi-State pays law enforcement in those jurisdictions to police MetroLink. If the counties want more officers at the stations, Nations said, they can appropriate more money.

Its not our determination; its their determination, Nations said.

But the counties have begun to locate other sources of funding to police MetroLink outside of Bi-States control  in effect cutting the agency out of the process.

More than a year ago, the county nearly doubled the number of officers patrolling MetroLink with funds from a special sales tax. In Missouri, the MetroLink police unit has 38 county and eight city officers.

St. Clair County Sheriffs Department puts about a dozen deputies on trains in Illinois. Kern said Friday that he believed he had found a way to have a sheriffs deputy on each train, but he declined to discuss specifics.

As for failing to sign a contract, Nations said that Bi-State proposed only one change to its agreement with St. Louis County. It was a provision that said the agency would have to pay county police only as long as it received its annual payment.

Nations maintained that MetroLink would be safest with its own police force but said that wasnt the only way to make sure the system is safe.

My board has never voted to authorize us to have our own police force, Nations said. Theres never even been a motion to do it. I frankly dont know why this is an issue.

Stenger and Nations have offered vastly disparate figures for the cost of retrofitting MetroLink stations with turnstiles.

To large extent, MetroLink operates on the honor system. Riders pay for a ticket, which is time stamped and must be presented to MetroLink employees upon request. But those requests are infrequent.

Nations said he didnt really know how much it would cost to retrofit the stations with turnstiles. But when the agency looked at that option several years ago, it estimated the cost to be in excess of $100 million.

The system was designed as an open system, Nations said. It cost $1.8 billion to build what we have.

A local facial recognition technology company has provided Stenger with a much lower figure for installing turnstiles.

Joseph Spiess, a senior partner of Blue Line Technology, said MetroLink representatives visited Blue Lines offices in Fenton in November 2015. They discussed security options that included using facial recognition software along with turnstiles.

Under that scenario, a person would buy a ticket and present his or her face to a camera at a turnstile that cross-referenced facial features with a database of a people deemed possibly dangerous  such as those wanted for violent crime. If the persons image was in the database, the turnstile would block him or her.

The reception was not real good, Spiess said. Ill just put it to you that way.

But St. Louis County hired Blue Line to install cameras with facial recognition technology at the county courthouse and jail. Speiss said Stenger asked for an unofficial ballpark figure for installing turnstiles along with facial recognition technology at all MetroLink stations.

Speiss contacted a turnstile company and put together a $10 million estimate, which included stations in Illinois as well as Missouri. The largest variable was the cost of reconfiguring entrances to accommodate the devices.

Speiss said the company looked at pictures of several stations and told him that it appeared MetroLink was designed for turnstiles.

But it appears facial recognition technology and turnstiles wouldnt have prevented Wednesdays shooting. Both the suspected shooter and the victim were on probation for violent crimes. Neither, however, had a warrant.

This article was corrected to add first name of St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger.
A delegation of CPM leaders have reached Alwar to look into the gau rakshaks attack case, which led to the death of 50-year-old dairy farmer, Pehlu Khan.

A group of 15 men was beaten up by gau rakshaks in Alwar, Rajasthan.

By Dev Ankur Wadhawan: Several CPM leaders have reached Rajasthan's Alwar district today to apprise themselves of investigations into the mob lynching case.

The delegation included CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Subhasini Ali, Central Committee member Amra Ram, Sankar Prasad Datta and several others.

The leaders met Deputy SP Parmal Singh and took stock of the developments in the mob lynching case on April 1, in which 16 men were attacked by gau rakhshaks.

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The vicious mob attack, believed to have been carried out by around 150 men, had left five men, including 50-year-old dairy farmer Pehlu Khan, badly injured. They were taken to Kailash Hospital where Pehlu later died.

The CPM members were also scheduled to meet Alwar Collector Muktanand Agarwal and Superintendent of Police Rahul Prakash.

CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Subhasini Ali demanded assurance that the men booked under the Rajasthan Bovine (RB) Act on the charge of cow smuggling will no more be subjected to harassment.

Ali, who was accompanied by Tripura MP Shankar Prasad Dutta, West Bengal leader Badru Eja Khan, party's state secretary Amra Ram and others, also asked the state government to ensure compensation and rehabilitation for Pehlu Khan's family.

"The family of Pehlu Khan should be rehabilitated and be given compensation. Those who committed the crime and have so far evaded arrest should be arrested", said Ali.

Ali maintained that the men attacked in Alwar by gau rakshaks had valid papers, which is why they cannot be called smugglers. She added that if they required any permission from the district collector, they should have been told about it at the time of sale of cows.

POLICE INVESTIGATION

Earlier, after receiving flak for 'shoddy investigations', the Behror Police Station was removed from the mob lynching case. It is now being investigated by the Alwar Deputy SP.

The issue of gau rakshaks taking law into their own hands and disrupting law and order has rocked the Parliament. Several Congress leaders, including Ghulam Nabi Azad and others, have come down heavily on the government over law enforcement regarding the same.

Also read:

Alwar gau rakshak attack: Murdered man was dairy farm owner, had come to Rajasthan to buy milch cows

Alwar gau rakshak attack: Did not take place, says BJP's Naqvi; even NYT knows about it, says Congress's Azad

Alwar lynching: NHRC issues notice to Rajasthan government

Also watch:

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Shipston High Street. Photo: Mark Williamson.

THE Times recently declared Shipston-on-Stour as the best place to live in the Midlands, heaping praise upon the historic market town.

The national newspaper has also named Shipston as one of the happiest places to live in the UK, and won the judges praise for its independent shops and cafes; and its fine array of pubs.

It saw off competition such as Leamington Spa, Moseley in Birmingham, Ledbury in Herefordshire and Upton-upon-Severn in Worcestershire.

But what is it that makes Shipston so special according to the people who live and work there?

Without the spotlight Shakespeare has drawn on nearby Stratford, Shipston could be considered a bit of an undiscovered gem, with a rich history harking back to its days as an important sheep trading town.

Originally called Scepwaeisctune (old English for Sheep-wash-Town) farmers from miles around used to flock to the town, herding their animals through the small alleyways that lead to the town centre, to be sold.

Every year this history is celebrated at the Shipston Wool Fair and Woolly Weekend, taking place on Spring Bank Holiday Weekend.

These days Shipston is more about independent shops than selling sheep, something which not only adds character to the high street, but draws visitors far and wide looking for something a bit different.

This focus on independent retailers is ably supported by Shipstons Totally Locally group, which encourages people to shop at local businesses.

The group organises regular events to boost trade such as the recent Fiver Festival, which saw more than 20 businesses put on special offers for shoppers.

Louise Harvey, who runs Shipston Totally Locally, said: I grew up in a town where every shop was independent, theres very few places like that anymore and I think people like how Shipston is a bit like that, it reminds them of their past.

The Fiver Festival we ran last month was really fun, well look to do it again next year or maybe try something else, depending on what our members want.

There are so many groups doing so many different things in Shipston, you can be involved in as much or as little of that as you want.

Shipston shopkeeper, Lynda Freeman, agrees that the towns High Street is a big draw for potential residents.

Lynda said: Theres nothing really that you cant get locally, you dont need to go out of Shipston for most things. A lot of people come across Shipston by chance, when theyre passing through from the Cotswolds, I think many of them are very happy and surprised to have found us.

Though its roots were laid hundreds of years ago, Shipston is not a place to live in the past, with a thriving program of special events each year.

One such event, the Shipston Food Festival, is a favourite among food lovers and local producers and regularly draws thousands to the town.

The festival is not the only thing to put Shipston on the culinary map, as the town hosts a range of top restaurants and cafes. The newest of these is the Bower House, which is due to open in the next few days amid much excitement in the town.

Head chef Darren Brown, who won a Michelin star when he was a head chef at West Stoke House near Chichester, believes Shipston is a great place to open a restaurant.

Darren said: When I first found out about this project, Shipston was a big selling point for me. We have so much fresh local produce on our doorstep here, with the exception of fish, its brilliant for businesses like this. We could put on a cheese board with 30 different cheeses and they would all be local.

Maybe in the future we might look at trying to gain a Michelin star here, but at the moment were more focussed on creating a relaxed comfortable space for local people to come and enjoy a good meal, thats our main aim.

Music is undoubtedly at the heart of what makes Shipston special, with its annual proms bringing the best in jazz, folk, blues, rock and classical to the town. Outside of the proms fortnight, the Townsend Hall, run entirely by volunteers, also attracts big names, with musicians such as Claire Teal performing in recent years.

The hall even hosted BBC Radio 4s Any Questions in 2015.

Though being located on the River Stour sometimes brings flooding problems to the town, Shipstons Angling Club is one group happy to be so close to the water.

Established 63 years ago, the club does much to encourage the younger generation to take an interest in the sport. Over the past three years the clubs Fish and Frolics Festival has established itself firmly in the towns calendar and has evolved into a day for the whole family with live music, stalls and bouncy castles.

While there is much excitement in Stratford about its new hospital opening later this year, in Shipston residents are just as happy that the Ellen Badger Hospital continues to service the town.

The hospital opened in 1896 and was maintained by residents for around 50 years and is supported by the Friends of the Ellen Badger Hospital.

Elsewhere Shipston High School is entering an exciting new era with an application for a large new building hosting a suite of new classrooms and the schools new entrance, currently under consideration by Stratford District Council.

If all goes to plan 2.25million will be invested in the new building, eventually increasing the schools capacity from 500 pupils to at least 650.

But when it came down to it, The Times concluded that Shipston was the best place in the Midlands to live not because of its shops, its festivals or its history, but its residents and the strong community spirit that exists in the town.
American evangelist Donna Schambach and two others - Patricia King and Apostle P S Rama Babu - were supposed to hold a programme called the Power and Reality of the Kingdom on April 8 and April 9 in Bengaluru.

By Rohini Swamy: American evangelist Donna Schambach has been forced to cancel her event in Bengaluru after VHP leader Girish Bhardwaj lodged a complaint alleging that she had violated visa rules.

Schambach, along with two others - Patricia King and Apostle P S Rama Babu, was supposed to hold a programme called the Power and Reality of the Kingdom on Saturday and Sunday in Bengaluru.

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In his complaint, Bhardwaj said that Schambach and her evangelist colleagues had violated visa rules, which clearly state that "no visas will be issued to evangelists who desire to propagate their religion in the country. The Government of India will not issue visas to evangelists who desire to come to India to attend religious campaigns."

Bhardwaj has alleged that Schambach and Patricia King clearly misled the Indian consulate and obtained visas by stating that they were coming to India to attend a "conference."

WORD 'HARVEST' IN TWEET SHOWS INTENT TO CONVERT: VHP

Speaking to India Today, Bhardhwaj said that the use of the word "harvest" itself indicated that they were here for conversion.

The first complaint was filed by Girish Bhardwaj, while the youth wing of the Bajrang Dal lodged another.

A massive protest was planned but the Bangalore police took cognisance of the complaint and denied permission to hold the meeting.

WHAT SHE TWEETED

Schambach in her tweet had said, "Amazing 2 days of harvest with Apostle Ram Babu and Patricia King in the interior of India. With Apostle Ram babu and his son Ankit. Close to 8000 souls in two days."

Soon after the protests began, Donna deleted her tweets.

When we contacted one of the organisers on the phone, they did not want to come on record, but said that the event had been cancelled due to unknown reasons.

WATCH VIDEO | American evangelist's Bengaluru event cancelled after fringe groups accuse her of flouting visa rules, trying to convert

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During his meeting, the Imam thanked the premier for the warm welcome accorded to him in the country and discussed ways religious leaders and scholars can counter negative propaganda that 'wrongly portrays' Islam.

The prime minister said relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have become "closer and stronger" and that the people of both countries have a lot of respect for each other, said a press release issued by his secretariat.

Sharif also emphasised that Islam posits a message of love, peace, patience, forgiveness and respect for humanity, and it is the need of the hour to spread this message all over the world.

The prime minister also told Sheikh Saleh that the people of Pakistan attach great religious and spiritual attachment with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia due to the Holy Kaabah.

Habeebullah Al-Bokhari, the acting ambassador of Saudi Arabia, Sardar Muhammad Yousaf, the federal minister for religious affairs and other senior officials were also present during the meeting.

Sheikh Saleh had delivered the Friday sermon at the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam's centenary celebrations in the Azakhel area of Nowshera, where he emphasised the need for Muslims to unite.

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have enjoyed a strong bond with each other in the past, but the relationship has seen its ups and downs.

It was reported in the Saudi Gazette in February 2017 that more than 39,000 Pakistanis had been deported from the KSA in the past four months.

Ex-Army chief General Raheel Sharif's appointment as the leader of the Saudi military alliance is another matter that rests great importance on the bilateral relations between the two countries.
Security forces said they had foiled a major terrorism bid after the apprehended a vehicle laden with explosives and weapons close to the Pak-Afghan border in Chaman on Saturday morning.

A security official, who declined to be named, told media that the seizure was made during a raid conducted by security forces near the border with Afghanistan.

Bomb disposal experts were called in to defuse the explosives inside the vehicle.

One suspect was arrested and shifted to an undisclosed location for interrogation.

Security officials said the 'terrorists' had planned to smuggle the weapons and explosives to Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, for a "major terror attack".

"The timely information [we received helped us] foil [the] terror bid", an official said.

"An investigation is underway," he said, refusing to provide further information about the identity of the accused.

Security officials were unwilling to disclose the quantity of explosives and the number of weapons seized in the raid, citing the ongoing investigation.

Security has been tighten around the porous Afghan border to stop the flow of terrorists and weapons from neighboring Afghanistan after a wave of terrorist attacks across the country took more than 100 lives.
Ten terrorists, involved in a suicide blast on Lahore's Mall Road, have been killed in an encounter with Counter Terrorism Department personnel in Manawan.

At least 14 people, including senior police officers, were martyred on February 13 when a suicide bomber hit close to the Punjab Assembly in Lahore where hundreds of chemists had gathered to protest a new drug regulation.

The powerful explosion also left over 50 people injured. The martyrs included DIG Traffic Capt (R) Mobin and SSP Zahid Mehmood Gondal.

Days after the attack, CTD personnel had apprehended an alleged facilitator identified as Anwarul Haq. On Haq's pointation, the law enforcers also apprehended some other suspects.

Sources within the CTD said that Anwarul Haq was being taken to Manawan - a suburban area of Lahore - for recovery of explosives when nine of his accomplices ambushed the CTD team.

In the ensuing exchange of fire, 10 terrorists were killed including the facilitators of the attack.

According to sources, the deceased terrorists were affiliated with outlawed Jamaatul Ahrar.

Officials also recovered arms and explosives from the scene that had belonged to the deceased terrorists.

Read more: Lahore: 4 terrorists killed in CTD operation near Manawan

The alleged encounter comes days after another attack on a van carrying census staffers in Lahore, which resulted in martyrdom of six people and injuries to 15 others.

A spokesperson for the Punjab government confirmed that four military personnel were martyred in the bombing.

The spokesperson admitted that the province had been receiving reports of a possible terror attack. "We were informed of a high-level security threat on March 29 but the target was unclear."

However, the Islamabad-based Pakistan Bureau of Statistics promised to continue the data collection process as per schedule.
India will buy nearly $2 billion worth of weapons technology from Israel in what's being described as the largest defence contract ever signed by the military exporting giant.

The deal will see state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries provide India with an advanced defence system of medium-range surface-to-air missiles, launchers and communications technology, the company said in a statement Thursday.

The mega missile agreement is considered to be the largest defense contract in Israel's defense industries' history, the company said.

The Israeli firm will also supply a naval defence system including long-range surface-to-air missiles for India's first aircraft carrier, which is still under construction.

Comment was not immediately available from India's defence ministry.

Israel Aerospace Industries said some components will be assembled in India, in line with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's push to reduce reliance on costly imports.

Modi's government has raised the limit on foreign investment in the defence sector and encouraged tie-ups between foreign and local companies under a 'Make in India' campaign.

India  the world's largest defence importer  has been investing tens of billions in updating its Soviet-era military hardware to counter long-standing tensions with regional rivals China and Pakistan.

India has signed several big-ticket defence deals since Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party stormed to power in 2014.

Israel is a top weapons exporter, with sales last year surging to $6.5 billion.

India is a top market for its arms, as New Delhi has turned increasingly away from traditional ally Russia for its military hardware.

Last year India signed a contract to buy 36 Rafale twin-engine fighter jets from France for 7.9 billion euros ($8.8 billion) after major delays and obstacles over the cost and assembly of the planes in India.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday he had made progress in talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and expected them to overcome many problems  a marked contrast to the stridently anti-China rhetoric of Trumps election campaign.

Sitting across from Xi on the second day of a Florida summit overshadowed by US missile strikes in Syria, Trump declared that his relationship with the Chinese leader was outstanding after they discussed trade irritants and concerns about North Koreas nuclear programme.

The US president had said he intended to raise concerns about Chinas trade practices and press Xi to do more to rein in North Koreas nuclear ambitions during his visit to the Spanish-style Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, though no major deals on either issue are expected.

The Republican president, who took office on Jan 20, tweeted last week that the United States could no longer tolerate massive trade deficits and job losses and that his meeting with Xi Jinping will be a very difficult one.

On Friday, there was a change of tone. We have made tremendous progress in our relationship with China, Trump said as the two delegations met around tables flanked by large US and Chinese flags.

I think truly progress has been made. We will be making additional progress. The relationship developed by President Xi and myself I think is outstanding.

And I believe lots of very potentially bad problems will be going away, he added.

The highly anticipated US-China summit has been upstaged, however, by missile strikes overnight against a Syrian air base from which Trump said a deadly chemical weapon attack had been launched. It was the first direct US assault on the Russian-backed government of Bashar al Assad in six years of civil war.

The swift action in Syria could be interpreted as a signal especially to defiant nuclear-armed North Korea and by extension, its ally China as well as other countries like Iran and Russia of Trumps willingness to use military force if deemed necessary.

US security concerns with China also focus on Beijings expansive territorial claims in the strategic South China Sea.

A senior administration official said Donald Trump informed Xi about the strikes as their dinner concluded on Thursday night. Trump then made a televised statement on the operation he said he ordered in retaliation for the poison gas attack in a rebel-held area on Tuesday.

In Beijing, Chinas foreign ministry urged all parties in Syria to find a political settlement.

Trump and Xi, politicians with distinctly different styles and experience levels, appeared cordial and businesslike in their initial interactions, with no outward sign of tensions.

The protocol-conscious Chinese earlier had privately expressed concerns that the unpredictable Trump might publicly embarrass the veteran Communist Party chief.

Their introductory dinner wrapped up shortly before the US announced the missile barrage on an air base in Syria on Thursday in retaliation against Syrian President Bashar Assad for a chemical weapons attack against civilians caught up in his countrys long civil war.

China has sided with Russia at the United Nations in opposing condemnation of Assads government but has not become directly involved in the conflict.

On Friday, Chinas Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that China opposed the use of chemical weapons by any party under any circumstances but didnt comment on the US attack.

The timing of the attacks sends a message to the Chinese Trump telling the Financial Times days before Xis arrival that he is prepared to go it alone on North Korea if China doesnt work with the US to crack down on North Koreas nuclear programme Military options against North Korea are much riskier than those against Syria.
A news anchor took a swing at Arab leaders post Syria's sarin gas attack. She raised a powerful question, "Where are you traitors?"

By India Today Web Desk: The highly poisonous gas sarin which claimed lives of more than 80 people including children in Syria is banned under the United Nations Chemical Convention of 1997.

The chemical weapon is nearly 80 times as deadly as cyanide. President Bashar al-Assad's army had allegedly used sarin gas in Idlib province of Syria earlier this week.

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In the wake of the Assad-regime's use of sarin gas in Syria, an Arab-Israeli news anchor Lucy Aharish made headlines after she lashed out at Arab leaders.

She asked, "Where are you traitors?"

The news anchor started the show by lampooning the catalysts of the war. Using her microphone, which is 'the only weapon she has,' she talked about how this is not "fake news" but "old news".

In her show, she said, "I didn't wanna hear men and women screaming some God who forgot they exist."

She even raised a series of questions, the most important being the one targeted at the Arab leadership. "Have you forgotten your people?" she asked.

She even took a jibe at several leaders who had gathered for a summit meeting chaired by the Arab League.

"They sat with their suits and ties, they spoke about peace. About negotiation, prosperity, about the fight against the terror. Throughout the summit they probably had a decent lunch, drank bourbon, or maybe scotch."

"Some of them probably grabbed the phone and spoke with their children to make sure they were ok," said Lucy throwing light upon the collective apathy of Arab leadership.

Lucy also spoke about Omran Daqneesh, the boy who was found confounded and wounded in the aftermath of an attack. She mentioned Alian Kurdi, the baby whose body was found on the beach.

Talking about deaths in Syria, and mocking the inadequacy of the leadership, she said, "More than 5,00,000 people, you own people that were killed by missiles, buried under the rubble, massacred with gas."

Watch the powerful video which is becoming the talk of the town.

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Cargills engagement with dairy farming, rural agriculture has transformed farmers By Quintus Perera View(s): View(s):

Private sector engagement in Sri Lankas agriculture and dairy farming is revolutionising the lifestyle of the farmers.

At the opening of the Kotmale Integrated Dairy plant at Banduragoda, Gampaha by President Maithripala Sirisena this week, M.A. Kirthirathne, a dairy farmer from Balagallayaya, Kanaththe-wewe, confirming the advanced changes in the farmers lives said while they now receive a fairly good income, the dairy farming community hitherto confined to older people is now attracting young educated people to this lucrative business.

He said that this new trend is changing their lifestyle and even they have been made proud that there is a better recognition by the society now, than earlier.

It was a 17- acre milk and milk product processing facility at Banduragoda, abandoned for several years which was transformed by Cargills (Ceylon) Ltd and converted into an ultra-modern milk and milk processing factory producing Kotmale products.

The Rs. 5 billion investment has enhanced the transformed milk processing facility which is dealing with 15,000 dairy farmers and collecting around 125,000 litres of milk per day or 42 million litres per year, saving the country around US $ 20 million annually, as this quality would otherwise have to be imported.

Also present at the opening of the ultra-modern facility were Minister of Rural Economic Affairs P. Harrison, Minister of Ports and Shipping Arjuna Ranatunga, Cargills Chairman Louis Page and Deputy Chairman, Cargills Ranjith Page.

Haridas Fernando, Deputy General Manager, Agri-business, Cargills, said that 15 years ago Cargills became one of the pioneers in revolutionizing agriculture and farming to establish a consistent and common pricing structure for agricultural produce by eliminating the middle-man and now the consumer and the producer have benefitted.

Most of all, he said that their scheme ensured a fair price for the farmers while the consumer too is able to purchase the produce at a fair price. He said that when the farmers become rich, they also receive a better recognition in society. He said that earlier, when these farmers came to the town they were not properly accepted but Cargills has been able to elevate their social outlook and simultaneously improve their incomes.

Being a social responsible company has become the corporate policy of Cargills through this process.

Additionally, Cargills is involved in many community service projects. From every kilo of vegetable purchased and every milk litre purchased, the company has saved 50 cents and transferred it to a fund. In 2016 this savings fund was Rs. 26.1 million and out of this fund 65 per cent has been provided for the farmer childrens education through scholarships, and through the benefits of this scheme several university graduates, engineers and doctors have been produced.

The fund named Saru Bima was created in 2008 and at this weeks function 225 farmer children received scholarships from President Sirisena. This included 92 university, pirivena and vocational training scholarships, 83 A/L scholarships and 40 Year 5 scholarships.

The fund also made possible 49 community development projects across all its dairy and vegetable sourcing communities which included provision of drinking water, water purification projects, school development, library development as well as establish certified English and IT centres.
CSE disowns OTC Group plan By Duruthu Edirimuni Chandrasekera View(s): View(s):

The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) disowned connections to the OTC Markets Group Inc on Friday saying the exchange hasnt collaborated with any party for trading on the OTCQX, OTCQB and Pink markets in the US.

This was in response to an online story which said that the CSE has become a Qualified Foreign Exchange allowing Sri Lanka listed companies to qualify for trading on their OTCQX and OTCQB markets (platforms) effective from March 24.

As a result, effective immediately, companies listed on the Colombo Exchange may apply to qualify. We look forward to welcoming more Sri Lankan companies to the US markets, Jason Paltrowitz, Executive Vice President of Corporate Services at OTC Markets Group Inc. was quoted as saying.

However a CSE source told the Business Times that they were not contacted on this and that it was news to them. The CSE wishes to notify interested parties that the CSE has not collaborated in any manner or worked with OTC Markets Group Inc, Yenom Ltd or Ortoli Rosenstadt LLP or any representatives of such organisations for the said endeavour, the CSE said in a statement. The statement said that the official involvement of the CSE in any form of partnership or collaboration with another organisation/institution would be communicated to the public by the CSE itself, and no such communique has been released by the CSE on the above development.

Through OTC Link. ATS, OTC had said the company connects a diverse network of broker-dealers that provide liquidity and execution services. OTC Markets Group enables investors to easily trade through the broker of their choice and empowers companies to improve the quality of information available for investors.

The company said William Rosenstadt, managing partner of Ortoli Rosenstadt LLP, Kosala Heengama and Gregory Scott Newsome, owners of Yenom Pvt Ltd of Sri Lanka (earlier attached to the controversial ERI) had worked closely with the exchange during this process, a claim the CSE has vigourously denied.
Stockbrokers who met with Treasury officials late last month to appraise the Finance Ministry of their plight had urged the authorities to increase their brokerage on trades amongst other issues. The brokers at this meeting had said that the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) is now facing an unfavourable situation due to the continued slump. The main All Share Price Index peaked in August 2014 after breaking past the 7,000 point mark, they had said noting that it has steadily declined since then, due to many uncertainties. While the brokers are faced with several serious issues especially operational and their cash-flows are strapped, they added that some companies are mulling pay cuts from this month. The SECs new rules in capital adequacy which direct the implementation of a risk based Capital Adequacy Requirement (CAR) of 1.2 times the risk requirement of stock brokers subject to a minimum liquid capital requirement of Rs. 35 million was also criticised. Treasury officials said that the regulator had pointed out that certain broking firms had minted cash during the 2010  2012 era, but they had extracted cash from their main broking firm to start unrelated businesses. They had said that while its their onus to carry out their own business, it was also their responsibility to retain buffers for the core business. Analysts say while this argument is debatable, the onus also falls on the trading firms to cut costs and manage their businesses. The current rules on minimum Net Capital applicable to stockbroker firms do not address the different risks these firms are exposed to, one Treasury official said adding that the SEC had noted that due the foregoing limitations of the then rules and in keeping with international standards, a dire need to establish stock brokers a risk-based capital adequacy requirement was felt. Having considered the capitalisation of stockbroker firms, their current activities and CAR regimes implemented in regional markets, the CSE together with the SEC developed the methodology for the rules, the SEC had said. This meeting followed a discussion over the prevailing crisis situation which had been held between the heads of stock broking companies and CSE authorities on March 27.
Is Sri Lanka fast becoming a dumping ground for used vehicles with old, imported body and spare parts as this picture at a Kandy sales centre shows? This is what the motor vehicles industry is worried about based on recent statements on changing policies. (See full story on Page 6 and 7) Pic by Indika [...]
Gaana  gaana View(s):

It was the usual moan-and-groan conversation about the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and, this time, its interference in tax matters that set the stage for this weeks discussion. It was the usual moan-and-groan conversation about the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and, this time, its interference in tax matters that set the stage for this weeks discussion.

Auditors, accountants and tax advisors all appear to be in opposition over the new Tax Bill. For once, they are on the side of the Inland Revenue Department (IRD), which  so it seems  is lock, stock and barrel not in favour of the so-called IMF Tax Bill.

Still I thought to myself, this is not a big issue until I was jerked from a position of irreverence by Kussi Amma Seras singing in the kitchen.

Gaana, gaana, gaana, she sang while making the morning cup of tea for the household. Mokakde gaana kiyanne? I asked.

Aye Mahattayo, IMF Ghana bill ekek genawa, neda. Meyke ara Gaana Gaana Hindi ad eka waagey, KAS replied with a snort of disgust.

If KAS was discussing tax matters with her kitchen poli-tiks, then this must be a bigger issue, I realised. Since last weeks Sunday Times editorial was also on this issue, I sought and obtained the Editors consent to discuss the issue, even though it would appear repetitive and flogging a dead horse.

Furthermore, despite the brouhaha, the government seems determined to go ahead with the IMF proposals, sneaking it in  it appears now  as amendments rather than through an entirely new bill.

About to dig up more on the IMF and the proposed Tax Bill, I was jolted once again by the loud ringing of the home phone.

Machan, I am just fed up with these tax people, said a friend who runs a motor vehicle sales centre.

Why, I asked. These tax fellows are snooping around almost every day checking whether I have paid the taxes or what my liability is. How can you do business with the tax man on your doorstep like this, he said, adding that he was quitting the business also because, there would be double and triple taxing in the new Tax Bill leading to double trouble for all of us.

It appears that prior to strong opposition to the new bill  in fact at a meeting of a trade union from the IRD which was graced by President Maithripala Sirisena on Thursday, the union president said officers were unhappy with the bill  the IMF had pushed strongly for a new bill to improve collection, simplify the process and broadbase the tax base.

While the motives were fine and the objectives in line with local thinking, local experts were of the view that such changes can come through amendments and thus there was no reason for a new Act. They were also opposing the demarcation of the IRD into two departments  revenue and administration.

The IMF however, was flexing its muscles and last months postponement of, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagardes intended visit to Sri Lanka is believed to be linked to the dispute over the bill. The official version of the postponement was couched in diplomatic niceties,  unfortunately, due to an unforeseen change in her schedule, she will not be able to visit the country at that time, an IMF spokesperson was quoted as saying.

The proposed IMF-draft bill is chapter and verse similar to the tax laws it had proposed for Ghana. While Sri Lankas GDP per capita is US$3,279 (2013 figures), Ghanas is only slightly over half that at $1,858. Then while Sri Lankas GDP is $67.18 billion, Ghanas is $48.14 billion. So the question is: Why foist tax laws on Sri Lanka which has a higher growth and standard of living than Ghana?

The tax debate was becoming infectious because the very next call was from my friendly economist Athayrole.

Athayrole: So what do you think about the next Tax Bill?

I (FS): I know a little bit from what is reported. But I must confess that I am as bemused as the public.

Athayrole: Do you know that there could be double and triple taxation of individuals?

FS: It cannot be. However for that matter arent we taxed twice even now  income taxes and indirect taxes through goods we consume? Even the beggar on the street pays a tax if he consumes taxable goods.

Athayrole: All kinds of things are happening. Sections 7 to 13 which deal with exemptions are to be removed. These exemptions are provided to international organisations like the UN and international NGOs and locally a host of organisations like the universities, Tea Board, Institute of Chartered Accountants, science and research organizations, Sri Lanka Tourism, the Monetary Board of the Central Bank, Board of Investment, etc, etc, etc.

FS: So shouldnt that be a good thing? We are paying taxes while a select few are among the privileged to be exempt? Isnt that unfair?

Athayrole: Wait and see. This is only the tip of the iceberg. All those tax-free agencies that deal with the public would now raise their fees, if fees are charged, and many things will flow once the exemptions are removed.

FS: I hear that these exemptions are being removed as a part of the policy of removing excessive tax incentives and ad-hoc concessions and that a new authority will provide such a concession on a case-by-case basis. Isnt that a good thing?

Athayrole: What if the so-called authority is politically biased in approving incentives? Also you havent heard that any income in foreign exchange earned in Sri Lanka for providing services will also be taxed.

FS: Ah what .?

At this point KAS butts in, shouting: Mahattaya, accountantlata business nathivey. Eka hinda viruddai, before I slam the phone down, annoyed by the disruption.

No doubt, the Tax Department needs a kick up their ..tts to ensure proper tax collection and taxing of the rich and wealthy while most middle class citizens are subject to PAYE and also are taxed on goods and services.

Even in this day and age of new technology, filing tax returns are complicated and there is a need for a more simplified system. Apart from that the red letter notices from the IRD scares the hell out of you, as it did to another colleague, already a taxpayer but who was served a letter from the IRD saying he had to pay taxes and that if he had a tax file, to inform the department!

As far as ordinary Sri Lankans are concerned, the tax system here is in a mess and most likely to become messier with the IMF prescriptions and formulae.

Furthermore, should Sri Lanka rely on IMF prescriptions for everything and in this case, taxes, when the country has some of the best tax experts in this region? Eventually as KAS says, we will be left singing Gaana gaana, which is also an Indian ringtone.
Govt. assessment of viability of plantations runs into protests from RPCs By Sunimalee Dias View(s): View(s):

The Government is currently studying the prospect of bringing changes to the regional plantation companies (RPCs), mainly concentrating on ensuring profitability of the estates as a result of which Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe appointed the Plantation Reforms Committee (PRC) headed by R. Paskaralingam which has called for an assessment and an audit of the RPCs.

However the now-available assessment report has become a controversial document strongly questioned by RPCs challenging flawed statements about the companies made by assessors, all retired planters who have little knowledge of current, difficult conditions in the plantations.

Nationalisation and then privatisation, the plantations have been a thorny issue for many decades.

Since 1992, 23 RPCs were formed and given leases on 502 estates, 272, 902 hectares of total land with a 389, 549 workforce. The number of companies today has come down to 20 with 453 estates under their management. Given on a lease period of 53 years, the Government is now considering extending it to a 99-year lease for companies performing to expectations or those under the A category of the assessment report.

According to the assessment report, the study was carried out by 15 visiting agents over a period of three months on about three or four estates of each plantation. The government believes that a lack of monitoring of the estates was a result of the poor standards of the estates and has been approached by a number of local and foreign investors willing to obtain leases on these RPCs in a bid to develop the tea and rubber plantations. In this respect the state appointed authorities are proposing to cancel lease agreements of those that are poorly performing (or under the C and D categories) and make these available for lease.

Production drops

The assessment states that there has been a drop in overall production mainly due to encroachment of estate lands and it was alleged that some the estates did not have proper survey plans and maps.

RPCs blame local politicians for continued interference in the plantations as they even today receive ad hoc request for lands (both cultivated and uncultivated). Interference by the Land Reforms Commission (LRC), local politicians and political bodies continue to take place.

In fact most recently, just this week there had been a number of MPs who had requested Plantations Minister Navin Dissanayake to release lands from RPCs for public use. As a result some RPCs were called for a meeting with the Minister and other MPs in Parliament on Wednesday to find out if some of the properties held by these companies could be release for public purposes.

While some requests were refused some were compelled to be entertained as a result of which the RPCs were faced with problems of land encroachment on the one hand and compulsion to release lands on the other for various purposes.

Replanting teas

The report also indicates that there has been large vacant patches over the years in seedling tea and that replanting has not been carried out in those vacancies in the last 25 years in most companies. Due to this there has been a loss of about 30-36 per cent of seedling tea and a corresponding drop in crop.

However, RPCs argue that this is not the case and that replanting has been taking place over the years. The bearing extent during the period as at 2014 (according to available statistics from the Ministry of Plantation Industries) is 69,739 ha with the total replanted extent out of the total VP (vegetatively propagated) tea being 67 per cent and the total tea extent replanted since 1992 to 2014 being 35 per cent of the land extent. The annual rate of replanting since 1992 to 2014 has been 2.64 hectares.

Rubber statistics available from 2000-2014 indicate that this crop had been replanted over 100 per cent with the replanted extent amounting to 51,657 ha.

However, the RPCs indicate that there has been an increase in the yields per hectare over the year from 1992 to 2014 from 946 kg per ha to 1,248 kg per ha. However, the land extent has dropped over the years from 84,778 ha to 69,739 ha which is an 82 per cent reduction. In addition there has also been a drop in workers from 327, 123 to 163,068 in 2014 which was a drop of 50 per cent.

Manpower slows

The workforce on the estates has been a contentious issue over the years as the companies have been riddled with a continuous increase in worker wages whereas they claim productivity has not increased at a similar rate.

But the report highlights that the RPCs at the time of the takeover had been faced with an oversupply of workers as a result of which they were not interested in employing children of these people on the estates. The report blames the companies for not affording adequate employment for the next generations and that these people had continued to move out to other jobs outside the estates. Moreover, it was pointed out that the RPCs had not looked at providing dignity of labour on the plantations and that was another reason the workers were moving out.

However, RPCs today have come up with a number of vacancies that were filled by the estate workers children themselves and the companies were faced with the challenges of competing against better jobs outside the plantations.

RPCs reject the claim that they were instrumental in pushing the workers out of the plantation lamenting that the reduction in the workforce was something beyond their control. The shift to mechanisation as projected in the report is currently being worked out today by most plantation companies it is understood.

But the mechanisation which is currently taking place in certain countries with two, three and one man machines is being carried out on selective tea harvesting.

It was learnt that mechanisation could not be carried out throughout the year but was taking place even on the Sri Lankan estates in a selective and appropriate manner using appropriate machinery.

The report has proposed finding workers from even manpower companies or contract workers (which is already happening) in a proper manner to ensure that there would be a continued supply of labour.

Moreover, they have also proposed to establish Dubai-style labour camps for workers hired for a period of about six months from other countries to be employed on the estates.

More assessments

The sub-committee involved in this exercise to carry out the assessment of the estates would continue to do so in the future as well as a result of which the final report would be release in December. This would come about following visits by the agents to all the estates on the RPCs that would take a period of about six months which most companies the report indicates have agreed to.

RPC submissions

The plantation companies believe that continued interference by politicians is a constant challenge they face in their daily activities.

Moreover, wages being mandated by the government should not happen on estates as today the wages are being determined through a collective wage agreement entered into between the RPCs and the trade unions. These trade unions have become a strong force able to increase labour wages that started at Rs.48.30 in 1992 to Rs.730 by 2016. But this 15 fold increase has not seen productivity on the plantations increase as they are required to pluck only a minimum of 18 kg per day. At present 67 per cent of the cost of production is spent on wages by the RPCs.

Moreover, state policy to ban the weed killer glyphosate has been seen as an illogical thinking on the part of the politicians as a result of which the plantations are filled with weeds and with a low workforce they are unable to control the situation.

Some of the other challenges the RPCs face today are the high capital cost incurred to replant at the rate of Rs.5 million per hectare that would take 35 years to recover the investment. Each hectare requires a workforce of more than 4000 workers.

Adverse conditions like the VP and seedling mix that results in a low quality, a mountainous terrain and high rainfall have impacted on the agricultural productivity of the plantations.

In this respect, the RPCs believe that the assessment by the state appointed consultants has not indicated the correct picture of the plantations.

Meanwhile the government-directed audit report carried out by Ernst and Young, Pricewater house Coopers and KPMG examining production, productivity and the financial situation of the companies is expected to be ready by April 17.

However, the assessors believe that the plantations of today are a faint reminder of what it was in a bygone era when the ground was more fertile and economic and social conditions were different that allowed for a more prosperous time when markets like the Middle East and Russia had a better buying power as well.

By todays standards these are a memory for some but changes are required on the plantations to ensure they survive longer to brew a better cup of tea that will continue to taste better with improved production patterns and enhanced productivity.
Hilton group to manage six more leisure properties in SL View(s):

The Hilton group on Wednesday signed a deal with Sri Lankas Melwa Hotels and Resorts to manage six new properties with an investment of US$100 million.

The properties would comprise three Hilton Hotels and Resorts and three DoubleTree by Hilton brands that would see a significant expansion of the Hilton presence in the country, a media release issued by the hotel chain said.

The six new properties are scheduled to open between 2020 and 2021. They are Hilton Kandy Resort (180 keys), Hilton Yala Resort & Spa (96 keys), Hilton Kosgoda Resort (250 keys), DoubleTree by Hilton Nuwara-Eliya (96 keys), DoubleTree by Hilton Colombo International Airport (300 keys) and DoubleTree by Hilton Negombo (106 keys). The properties are located in the southern and westerns parts of Sri Lanka, and in the cool central hills. Currently, the Colombo Hilton and the JAIC Hilton are the properties managed by the international hotel chain.

Hiltons Vice President for South East Asia and India William Costley told reporters that they have picked key locations to attract travellers and would incorporate local and international designers and architects to design the hotels. Aiming to attract MICE, leisure and domestic travellers to the new properties, Hilton would manage the properties.

This would be the first time, steel maker Melwa would be involved in moving into the leisure sector, the companys Business Development Director Dr. Ranjith Bandara told the media on Wednesday following the signing of the agreement between the two companies. - SD
President instigates investigation into Vehicles Lanka assembly operations View(s):

A top level investigation will get underway on the directions of President Maithripala Sirisena into legal issues faced by Vehicles Lanka Pvt Ltd in carrying out vehicle assembly operations with used spare parts imported from Japan since 2003, official sources disclosed.

The company has been given Board of Investment (BOI) approval for the assembly of an initial quota of 2025 cars during the tenure of the then BOI Chief Arjuna Mahendran in 2002.

The President who expressed his concern on legal and environment issues relating to the vehicle assembly operations being carried out by Vehicles Lanka at its plant at the Minuwangoda Industrial zone has directed the relevant authorities to conduct an indepth investigation , a senior official of the Transport Ministry told the Business Times.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Management (CCEM) has directed an investigation into various legal issues pertaining to Vehicles Lanka operations and submit a detailed report soon discussing this matter with the Attorney General.

It has been revealed that around 400 Emperor cars of Vehicles Lanka were produced and sold but the owners who bought those vehicles had to face problems in legally registering their vehicles as the Commissioner General of Motor Traffic Department (MTD) has refused permission for this purpose.

Then the matter went to courts and since then it has become a pillar- to-post affair involving the courts, the cabinet of Ministers, the Attorney General, the BOI, the Commissioner General of Motor Traffic (CGMT) and the Police.

In April last year, the company filed a case at the Supreme Court alleging contempt against the CGMT for refusing to abide by an earlier court ruling and register the Emperor cars.

Vehicles Lanka was under legal battle since 2002 following a Ceylon Motor Traders Associations (CMTA) threat of legal action against the company alleging that vehicles were made by used cars brought in two halves and welded at the assembly plant, former Chairman of the CMTA, Tilak Gunasekera told the Business Times.

At that time there was another allegation against the company for selling those vehicles under the reputed brand names of Toyota and Nissan, he added.

The then Industrial Policy and Investment Promotion Ministry Secretary has issued a statement after repeated submissions of the CTMA raising questions and concerns on the Vehicles Lanka business.

The then Investor Facilitation Committee directed the cancellation of the BOI approval following this statement in January 2003.

Thereafter the company filed a Fundamental Rights application at the Supreme Court and the BOI has reversed its decision to cancel the initial approval. Vehicles Lanka says this decision is valid even today and that is why they continue their operations.

Making matters more controversial, a special police team from the Walana Central Anti Frauds Bureau in a joint operation with Sri Lanka Customs Central Investigation Bureau raided a vehicles assembly plant in the Minuwangoda Industrial Park and seized 54 Vehicles assembled with parts imported illegally on January 31 this year.

The raid was conducted by the Police on a complaint received by them alleging that Vehicles Lanka had deprived the government of nearly Rs. 325 million in Customs duties by importing vehicles parts illegally to locally assemble vehicles.

Clarifying the issue of releasing the Vehicles parts consignment, the Finance Ministry said in a statement that a decision made by the cabinet of ministers to release eight containers of used vehicles parts from the Customs to its consignee was based on the legal advice given by the Attorney General.

Motor traders concerned over motor vehicle assemble plants The Ceylon Motor Traders Association (CMTA) has expressed concern over the recent decision by the government to allow the assembly of motor vehicles using imported used spare parts.This move by the authorities, the association, the apex body representing the manufacturers of the global automobile brands in Sri Lanka, says will jeopardise the safety of motorists, the public and also contravenes an existing customs regulation, which only permits the import of vehicles that have been used up to a maximum of 3 years, from the date of 1st registration.CMTA, in a statement issued through the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, says the move also contradicts state policies which encourages the re-export of motor vehicles that has been used for a period of maximum of five years in Sri Lanka to reduce the impact to the environment. The danger of allowing this to go ahead is that the unsuspecting motor vehicle buyer would not know the year of manufacture of these so-called assembled vehicles and a car manufactured 10 years ago can be issued with the latest registration number plates from the RMV, the association said. A 10 year-old car will also not have the relevant spare parts necessary for repairs and maintenance of a vehicle as the guarantee of spare parts from the manufacturer is valid only between 10-15 years from the date of manufacture. In the event of a major accident, the engine number and the chassis number would not be able to be related to manufacturers records, thereby even causing security concerns. The status of registration will also be ambiguous, and will therefore cause further complications legally, CMTA warned. The association has urged the intervention of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to look into this matter and take appropriate action to rectify the issue.
SL, India in economic partnership before ETCA View(s):

Amidst mounting protests against the proposed Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) by local professionals and businessmen, Sri Lanka is to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on partnership cooperation during Prime Minster Ranil Wickremesinghes forthcoming visit to India.

The aim is to ensure speedy implementation and follow up in the identified development projects with Indian assistance in the South and East, a senior official of the Ministry of Development Strategies and International Trade told the Business Times.

Sri Lanka is expected to receive investment of more than US$ 2 billion in the next two to four years from India.

Lands in Trincomalee and Weligama have been identified for special industrial zones for Indian investors, he disclosed.

According to the proposed MoU between the two countries, a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) fired 500 MW capacity power plant as well as a LNG Terminal/Floating Storage Re-gasification Unit (FSRU) in Kerawalapitiya will be set up with Indian assistance through a joint venture.

International bids will be called to select suitable firms to carry out the consultancy work and construction process.

These details were brought to the notice of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Management (CCEM) recently.

An agreement will also be reached to set up a joint venture to develop the Upper Tank Farm in Trincomalee, while signing a land lease agreement for 50 years in favour of Lanka Indian Oil Corporation (LIOC) Ltd for the tank farm.

The CCEM has directed the Ministers of Development Strategies and International Trade and Petroleum Resources to submit a paper towards this end after consulting the Attorney General, an International Trade Ministry official said.

The other major investment projects included in the MoU are the development of Port, Petroleum Refinery and other industries in Trincomalee, Dambulla-Trincomalee Expressway, Mannar-Jaffna and Mannar-Trincomalee highways and to encourage Indian companies to invest in a Container Terminal in Colombo Port.

Meanwhile the 4th round of ETCA trade negotiations will take place in New Delhi this month, he disclosed.

The 3rd round of talks on ETCA ended in Colombo inconclusively on January 4-5.

India and Sri Lanka had initially planned to conclude the pact by the end of the last calendar year but couldnt do so due to some nagging issues in services and rules of origin, he added.

New Delhi is eager to enter the services sector in Sri Lanka, but there are fears in the country that strong Indian companies could displace local businesses. (BS)
Tug-of-war at Treasury continues View(s):

The ongoing tug-of-war between two factions at the Finance Ministry is continuing causing interruption to the normal functions at the Treasury and the Ministry, informed sources disclosed.

The work at departments coming within the purview of the ministry has also been affected to great extent as a result of appointing new monitoring staff by the Finance Minister to supervise the work.

This initiative of overseeing the work of officials in Finance Ministry departments and institutions including the Inland Revenue Department and Sri Lanka Customs has not only created frustration among officials but also dissension in decision-making and duplication of duties, a senior official who wished remain anonymous told the Business Times.

Ministry employees have been divided unofficially as Rajapaksa loyalists and loyalists of the Finance Minister, he said adding that this internal divide and rule type of administration has created an insecure situation at the Treasury.

Adding salt to the wounded relationship between a section of officials including some dedicated and efficient members of the staff, the Finance Minister has appointed 15 parliamentarians of the UNP as Monitoring MPs this week to supervise six institutions coming under the ministry.

This recent action similar to Rajapaksa regimes Monitoring Ministerial system will worsen issues, official sources say.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has alleged that the Rouse Avenue land allotment was cancelled at the behest of the BJP. Kejriwal threatened to take the protests to the streets of Delhi.

By Pankaj Jain: Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal has threatened to take to streets over cancellation of office land allocated to the Aam Aadmi Party at Rouse Avenue in New Delhi.

Arvind Kejriwal alleged that all the political parties "are after Aam Aadmi Party, which is being singled out for discrimination."

"It is very unfortunate that the party, which won 67 seats to form government in Delhi, is being discriminated against. This is the first incident of its kind after Independence," said Kejriwal adding, "Why AAP is being discriminated against?"

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Kejriwal's comment follows Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal's decision to cancel the allocation of land at the Rouse Avenue near ITO in New Delhi for the office of the Aam Aadmi Party.

The L-G's decision was said to have been made on the recommendation of the Shunglu committee report, which had red-flagged the process of giving away land to the ruling party.

KEJRIWAL VS L-G OVER ROUSE AVENUE: 10 THINGS TO KNOW Kejriwal said, "The party, which has no member in Delhi Assembly, has five offices in Delhi. The BJP, which has three members in the Delhi Assembly, has seven offices in Delhi. Even the VHP, ABVP and the RSS have their offices. The RJD has its office." Kejriwal further said, "Office is our right. We are the people, who came from the streets. If you snatch our office, we will again hit the street and fight for the people." "What is our fault? Is our fault is that we finished the largest tanker mafia of the country," asked Kejriwal adding, "The BJP is frustrated ever since we proposed to do away with the house tax in Delhi if we win the MCD elections. This is why the BJP has snatched our office." Kejriwal said, "The MCD schools and hospitals are facing acute neglect of the authorities. If we come to the MCD, we will transform the schools and hospital under it the way we did those falling under the Delhi government." AAP office at Rouse Avenue, New Delhi. (Photo: Bali/Twitter) Earlier, Lt Governor Anil Baijal cancelled the office allotment to the ruling AAP, stating it was made in "clear violation" of rules, as powers on land in the national capital are vested with the Centre. Sources in the LG's office said that Baijal had also sought opinion of the Public Works Department on the issue, which gave an opinion that the "accommodation was allotted violating the rules". "The accommodation allotment to the AAP by the government was in clear violation of laid down rules as powers related to land in Delhi are vested with the Centre," a source said. The allotment of the accommodation was one of the "irregularities" pointed out by a three-member panel, headed by V K Shunglu, constituted by the then LG Najeeb Jung to examine files related to the decisions taken by the AAP government. On March 29, Baijal had also directed the Delhi chief secretary to recover Rs 97 crore from the AAP for advertisements projecting Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the party, allegedly in violation of the Supreme Court guidelines. In November 2015, the AAP government had approved a policy for land allotment to state parties.The Kejriwal government then allotted a bungalow to the AAP on Rouse Avenue early last year. The bungalow was earlier allotted to Asim Ahmed Khan, the then Delhi Minister, who was sacked over graft charges.

L-G order to cancel land alloaction for AAP office at Rouse Avenue, New Delhi.

ALSO READ |

After Shunglu report, Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party finds itself without a headquarter

ALSO WATCH |

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It is the media stupid View(s):

Politicians and others in search of a scapegoat to cover their blatant abuse of power, privilege and deplorable conduct find the media a convenient peg on which to hang their dirty linen. This is not a recent phenomenon. But it is increasingly becoming a major tool in todays blame game. Nor is it a game played only in Sri Lanka by decrepit and fading politicians, ambitious young bucks and lacklustre individuals who find the greatness thrust upon them sits uneasily on their heads like some kingly crowns in historical times.

In the UK where media freedom has been teetering precipitously as the heavy hand of government made insidious moves in the middle of the night not so long ago to throttle that freedom, critics often turned the public spotlight on the press because media institutions and practitioners indiscriminately crossed the frontiers of free expression and violated their own ethical codes.

We now hear of intended new media legislation in Sri Lanka which one hopes is aimed at strengthening media freedom so often supported by contending parties on political platforms and not to deprive them of the oxygen that sustains that freedom.

Let me put the issue as simply as possible. As often happens in our once blessed isle laws that are publicly claimed to enhance freedom while protecting the interests of society, are turned on their heads in actual practice in order to safeguard the bigoted conduct of some of those in power and their fortunate relatives.

One does not need an Einstein to develop this Sri Lankan theory of relativity. It is self-evolving with each new set of power wielders and power brokers that occupy the seats of power or are close at hand. It is also called development strategies though many are still trying to unravel its mysteries.

Anyway this is what it is. Ill-thought words and utterances of politicians and cronies in public office that cause embarrassment to government, party or their institutions are later blamed on the media. If the media cannot be held directly responsible, then there are other ways of passing the buck and the backshish which, as some would have noted is a fast growing industry.

How often have we heard words such as misquoted, misreported falsified, falsehoods, out of context and vendetta used to castigate the print and electronic media by those who speak first and think later as they try to wriggle out of frequent contretemps.

It has become easier for those directing their accusing fingers at the media largely because of the unplanned and unprepared expansion of Sri Lankas media world. Those with their own resources but with front men or somebody elses money want to have a piece of the local media cake often as a means of self-promotion.

Some with political or business interests use the media to pursue their own agendas. In the process media outlets, be it print or electronic, are started but without trained or experienced media men and women unlike those who decades ago produced quality journalism and maintained professional standards as rigorously as the prevailing political climate allowed.

Without that required professional training an expanding media world recruits personnel who are often untutored in the ethics and the basic principles of journalism. This situation of half or under-baked journalists thrown into a highly competitive world is compounded now by the huge expansion in social media where everybody with a cell phone becomes an instant journalist filling cyberspace with gossip and rumour that pass off for truth and fact.

This practice of rumour-mongering as legitimate news is gaining currency especially among journalistic novices eager to make a name among their more senior gatekeepers some of whom have little experience themselves in directing and managing news. They too find rumour more appetising than fact.

This has become quite a problem for long established news media and experienced journalists. In the perception of sections of the public unable to separate the wheat of genuine news from the chaff of gossip they are ready to condemn news media in general.

Since the public today has learnt to be cautious and even suspicious of the news and views emanating from some news outlets, politicians and others who wish to hide their indiscretions and follies seize the opportunity to blame the media for misreporting or concocting news.

It is in this context where the media was under threat that alert editors got together to set up an Editors Guild to protect media freedom and collectively press their case. An important outcome of this venture was the formulation of a code of ethics for editors and media to adhere to in the day to day practice of their vocation.

Drawing lessons from the code in practice in the UK, the Editors Guild included a provision in their code that provided the public with the Right of Reply which was actually more meaningful than the code of ethics prevailing in the UK at the time which gave some discretion to the editors to decide on the publication of the reply.

More than 15 years ago I had occasion to take the Sunday Times London to the UK Press Complaints Commission (PCC) for refusing to publish my reply to some distorted and factually wrong articles on Sri Lanka by one of the papers star journalists Marie Colvin.

I argued that the Sunday Times had violated the first two provisions of the code, one of which was refusing to publish my reply. After months of debate the PCC upheld my arguments and the Sunday Times was compelled to acknowledge it violated the code on two counts.

The point I am emphasizing here is why those who think they have been misquoted, misreported or otherwise publicly harmed do not make more use of the right of reply provided by most, if not all, of the mainstream print media?

There was a time when politicians or the public could claim that their attempts to correct wrong or false reports were ignored by the offending newspaper and the corrections or explanations sent were discarded. But today that is not the case and such a plea would be summarily dismissed. Even this newspaper today will carry a reminder to the public of the right of reply extended to them.

If such an avenue is available to institutions and individuals why do some cry out in public about misreporting and misquoting without utilising the right so readily available?

One wonders whether it is because the accusations of misreporting and factual errors politicians, individuals and institutions raise against the media cannot always be sustained once put down in writing. The newspaper concerned could respond by providing more information that makes the original complaint untenable.

So while blaming the concerned publication among friends and others, the complainant shies away from making the case publicly to avoid exposure and perhaps even more damage.

A case in point is the attempt by the Sri Lanka Foreign Ministry some 10 years ago to claim that I had made false allegations against the ministrys then minister and secretary. In my regular column I had stated that when the minister and secretary met the Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon, they had failed to raise the issue of terrorism which was of central concern to Sri Lanka, especially after McKinnon had set up a Commonwealth committee on the subject of terrorism.

The then High Commissioner in London Kshenuka Senewiratne wrote a lengthy letter, no doubt on the orders of ministry high-ups, contesting my observations and providing irrelevant background, even though the story itself came from the highest political levels of the Commonwealth Secretariat which I mentioned.

The result of it was that I was compelled to reveal more details despite the attempts by the foreign ministry to get the Commonwealth to deny it by writing to the Secretariat and subsequently releasing the Secretariats reply against all protocol as Secretariat officials readily told me.

In fact, according to further information provided to me Sri Lanka, which was a member of the Commonwealth Committee on Terrorism set up by Don McKinnon had not even called for a meeting of the committee when the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) met in New York some time later.

Sri Lankan had the opportunity to do so even though the ABC countries (Australia, Britain and Canada) were trying to downgrade the Committee on Terrorism to an official-level one when McKinnon had called for a ministerial committee. In this instance I was talking of two missed opportunities to take up the issue on terrorism. The result was that with more information made available to me Sri Lankas failure to raise the issue received wider publicity and the Foreign Ministry ended up with more egg on the face than a plate of scrambled eggs.

The moral of the story is that if you dont like fire you should stay out of the kitchen. If you make accusations, have a hard enough case backed by fact not hot air. The media is not always to blame. If you must point the finger at it, be certain your finger is clean.

There is an old legal saying that those who come for equity must come with clean hands. Wise words indeed but unfortunately not observed by all.
Parliamentary oversight committees cannot replace public scrutiny View(s):

Should Sri Lanka have to continually contend with two extremes of rule?

Must her unfortunate citizenry always be driven to either an elitist and mostly incompetent clique or, (on the other hand), a crowd of corrupt and communalistic villains peddling a poisonous cocktail of hatred?

A ruinous pattern of law reform

I may be blamed for painting this grim picture with far too extravagant brushstrokes. But let us not forget that these realities recently underpinned the near-collapse of the State as a democratic socialist republic. A fresh-faced President emerged in 2015 precisely due to these terrible convulsions. Eager to believe as always, Sri Lankans voted for change. But nonetheless, this dysfunction continues. If that pattern extends to the future, it can only bring about ruin.

Let us take as just one example. This relates to the manner in which laws are drafted. With one or two exceptions due to uncompromising persistence by relevant stakeholders, the order of the day is haphazard law reform. As editorially pointed out in this newspaper last week, the Government is apparently intending to enact a brand new Inland Revenue law that is a carbon copy of the International Monetary Funds (IMF) tax legislation for Ghana. If this astounding proposal does not lead to public agitation, one wonders what will. Professional organisations have opposed this proposal. But is the Government willing to listen?

And yet another revised version of the Counter-Terror Act (CTA) has been hurriedly leaked this week apparently due to a looming deadline of the European Union (EU) with which the Government is negotiating on the preferential trade facility. More egregious offences previously subjected to hard scrutiny in these columns are now removed in this latest draft. Thankfully, the offence of espionage has been deleted. The offence of terrorism has been pruned.

Revisions due to frantic arm-twisting

In addition, a long list of some thirty six terrorism related offences had earlier prescribed inter alia, causing or intending to cause the commission of violent acts between different communities or racial or religious groups through the use of words intended to be spoken or read or signs. This had to be with intent to cause harm to the unity, territorial integrity or sovereignty of Sri Lanka or the peaceful coexistence of the people. Now the reference to unity is no longer there.

As the explanatory note to the draft itself concedes, the earlier offence of terrorism and reference to unity were vague in law and had been deleted. But did it need such frantic arm twisting for this to happen on the part of a Government which once defined itself by promising to depart from the past? Could not simple commonsense and a desire to have a well conceptualized CTA have sufficed in the first instance to draft offences with a tad more precision? This is, of course, a rhetorical question.

But even despite these revisions, concerns persist. What is offensively vague regarding the term unity also applies to peaceful coexistence of the people. What does this even mean in law? Moreover a new offence punishes any person who intentionally and unlawfully distributes or otherwise makes available a message to the public with the intent to incite the commission of a terrorist offence. This is regardless of whether or not that conduct expressly advocates terrorist offences. On the contrary, the legal test stipulated therein is if it causes danger.

Also a suspects immediate right of access to a lawyer remains ambivalent. Extensive police powers in compelling bank statements, calling for information from service providers and senior public officials etc without applying magisterial warrant have been retained. Other intrusive measures are specified to be on magisterial warrant. Therefore the exclusion of a similar safeguard in these instances implies that the omission was deliberate. Is the risk thereto of abuse against a well documented background of police corruption extending across the police command structure, not recognized?

Where are the law reform bodies?

But going beyond specific details of the draft CTA and the draft Inland Revenue Act, the countrys law reform process invites broader critical interest. What is the role of the Law Commission of Sri Lanka in this context? We know that a crisply drawn up counter-terror draft formulated by the Commission was cast aside for the present CTA, which emerged through a secretive process and numbers more than 65 pages of grave potential for abuse. Is the Law Commission now redundant in the larger scheme of things?

And what pray, is the function of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka? It is now known more for embroiling itself in unpleasant controversies regarding (personal) recommendations of legal practitioners to High Courts sans knowledge of the executive body than anything else. Predictably, those responsible have, like the proverbial ostrich, refused to admit that mistakes were made even whilst the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and the office of the Chief Justice have been cast into acute embarrassment. A noted lack of interest of registered lawyers in voting in the recently concluded election of the Bar indicates that course correction should be a priority. However, there is little expectation of this taking place.

Meanwhile the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) has also been requesting that it be sent the revised CTA to no avail. It is a first principle of the electoral compact that a Government elected by the people must be responsible to the people. Is that principle not violated by the IMF, the EU and foreign embassies appearing to know more about Sri Lankas proposed laws than Sri Lankans themselves? The Government needs to put these law drafts before the public and invite responses within a reasonable time period.

Beware of patchwork legislation

A hasty tabling of this Bill in the House as a result of EU deadlines cannot be countenanced by any means. That is akin to a person falling from a tree who is then gored by an angry bull. Once that process is in motion, other legislative imperatives follow. For example, legal challenge must then be within a prescribed time period. Absent time for measured scrutiny, the public may well end up with patchwork legislation, incorporating various bits and pieces brought in from various sources.

Overall, there needs to be a radical re-thinking of Sri Lankas law reform process. Oversight committees by parliamentarians dominated by political agendas cannot replace the primary duty of the Government to place its draft legislation before the people for independent scrutiny.

This is undoubtedly of the first importance.
Time to treat GMOA brass for acute SAITM paranoia View(s):

Havent the doctors belonging to the GMOA anything else better to do than solely think of SAITM?

In these last two months they have been acting weird. They seem to think, breathe, eat, drink and do nothing else but brood over SAITM as if possessed by some devil who has cast an evil spell on them and led them astray from the noble, humane ideals of their profession; who has made them transgress their sacred Hippocratic Oath as physicians; and warped their minds and chilled their hearts towards anothers pain and suffering when struck down by ill health; who has forced them, these once honoured saviours of humanity from deaths door, to not only neglect but to willfully abandon their supreme duty of care to the sick and the dying and, without remorse, without compunction, to cast their flocks fate to the wolves, expose the flickering flame of their lives to the elements, to the gusty winds that blow.

Like the children of Hamlin who followed the Pied Piper to their unknown destination of doom, a gadding herd of 17,000 GMOA doctors, once men and women of great intelligence, renown souls of compassion and pity, great beings dedicated to that noble calling to heal the sick, now appear to be blindly following the call of some evil wizard as he blows his pipe and takes them on some winding road to god knows where.

And as they trot in line like sheep, following the wizards mournful whistled tune, the poor, the lame, the sick, the dying reach out their shivering palms toward them imploring them for treatment from their god given healing hands and public funded medical education but to no avail. The wizards whistle has taken complete command and they, transfixed to the mystic summons, pass them by without a single turn of head or any flicker of feeling.

They dont see -or refuse to see  the wretchedness of poverty diseased. They dont hear  or refuse to hear  the anguished wail for help from those not blessed with resources to seek treatment from some of this self same band of doctors who moonlight at private hospitals.

They dont feel, as they once did, the instinctive natural surge of compassion to the plight of the Les Miserable but now, with eyes gone blind, with ears turned deaf, with hearts grown cold turned stony, they plod on, in a trance, mesmerized and impervious to all the eye can see, the ear can hear and the heart can feel, following the Mephistophelian call to gather more scalps to achieve their goal; their minds fixed on one singular purpose only: to drive a stake into the very heart of the SAITM vampire who they fervently believe, has risen from some private crypt to suck the life blood from members of their exclusive medical association.

And ever since January 31st, the day the Court of Appeal ordered the Sri Lanka Medical Council to register SAITM qualified medical graduates as doctors, they have been in this strange stupor.

The GMOA top brass has developed a pathological fixation  and it has spread down the rank and file  over this private institute established in 2010 under the auspices of the then President Rajapaksa who even gave ten scholarships for deserving students to proceed with their medical education thereat.

On the 1st of February, their natures, their characters, their passions, their feelings, their ethics, their mindsets all underwent a metamorphosis. From the publicly venerated and admired butterflies they were, flitting from hospital bed to hospital bed infusing life reviving honey to patient after patient, they retrograded to become once more worms cocooned in a world of their own on some leaf of a Moneragala mulberry tree.

Once they were the pillars of society. A doctor in the house was an honoured guest at any party. They were known not only as law abiding citizens who respected the judgments of the courts but were also famed for their moral rectitude. But on February 1st all the goodwill, all the respect their medical forefathers had earned for them, were flung to the winds; and they took leave of their senses.

They decided to declare their dissatisfaction against the Appeal Courts decision not by resorting to the judicial process and appealing to the Supreme Court but by taking to the streets. The medical students  the sacrificial pawns in the battle plan  formed the advance guard of the convoy of protests to come and took to the streets, becoming the harbinger of a nations misery on February 2nd.

It was nothing short of an extra judicial exercise to coerce courts to rubber stamp their views. The ultimate affront and threat to law and order and to the majesty of the courts. And it could have attracted contempt of court charges. But none came. To the GMOA it would have been a test run. To test the water with expendable students before the elders waded in.

Fortified by the lack of contempt charges for having staged a street protest not even a mile away from the Hulftsdorp court complex, the GMOA took to the streets the following day, February 3rd, ostensibly protesting against the police reaction to the students demo when they attempted to storm the barricades erected by the police to prevent them entering the road to the Presidential Secretariat.

To keep the boom of battle echoing the students of all medical colleges in Lanka started boycotting lectures and have done so up to now. Like Prabhakaran had no qualms in using child soldiers to win his battle for Eelam, the GMOA high command had no compunction in encouraging medical students to boycott their classes in their goal to destroy SAITM and re-establish the publicly funded governments medical college as the only Eelam future doctors could graduate from. Of course the fact that the Medical Council already accepts registration of medical graduates from foreign medical colleges was conveniently waffled off. Foreign is foreign after all, the main fight is against ones own, isnt that so in Lanka?

Then after two further weeks of railing the Government, railing the Health Minister, railing all and sundry who held a different view, while all the time hailing themselves as the guardians of the nations health, the GMOA top brass couldnt wake or sleep, breakfast, lunch or dine, think or talk without SAITM on its mind and SAITM on its lips. SAITM was the enemy and there would be no rest until it was flayed and its flesh fed to caged vultures at Maligawatte, where Lankas Parsi community once used to dispose their dead.

This obsession led them to inflict pain and misery, dose by dose throughout the nation. On February 20th the GMOA started its mobile misery clinic of strike action, province by province. Dr. Death was to cast its shadow upon each and every province, stage by stage and deny medical treatment to the people of those areas in order to force the Government, manacled by the Court of Appeals order, to overturn the Court of Appeal judgment by hook or by crook and burn down SAITM and have its ashes scattered at sea.

The fact that this was to demand of the Government to resort to extra judicial measures did not dawn on the GMOA. And it was not surprising. So personally embroiled were the GMOA brass in the SAITM issue that they had lost their reason; and the power of objective judgment had long fled from the spheres of their twisted minds.

But the GMOA nevertheless pursued its itinerary of pain and anguish to Lankas disease hit poor. The UVA province got the first dose on February 20th. On the 21st it was the turn of the South. On the 23rd it was the East and the North Central. On the 27th it was the North West and the Central Province. The caravan moved to Sabaragamuwa on March 1st followed by the GMOAs Mara Devil arriving in Jaffna on the 2nd. And on March 3rd the GMOAs misery train hit the buffers at the Western station. All nine provinces covered.

Many tears shed and much blood drawn. But where the spoils of victory? None. Except a whole carriage load of public opprobrium and revulsion. But, as another symptom of their descent to madness, the GMOA announced that their misery campaign had the support of the patients.  As the SUNDAY PUNCH commented on March 19th, Only those with a death wish and those yearning for euthanasia, waiting hopefully for a quick exit medical neglect would bring, would have echoed those sentiments. 

And then the SAITM obsessed GMOA took a breather. But it only took it to pump itself with more anti SAITM air and spent the hours planning out the gala 24 hour nationwide doctors strike. The GMOAs sadistic capacity to inflict pain on others seems endless and betters Count de Sades; and their fixation with SAITM so deeply rooted in their psychic that it must give rise to alarm.

First they have declared this whole week as Anti SAITM week. It was sort of morbid way to prepare the nation that Black Friday the 7th, the day they would hold their 24 hour nationwide strike, may bring tragedy. Not tragedies caused by natural disasters, not tragedies caused by accidents, but manmade tragedies, willfully designed and executed by the nations doctors that may possibly result in the death of some of its innocent civilians who unfortunately happen to be ill or fall ill during this period.

Isnt it the doctors themselves who advise all who come to them even with simple influenza not to dilly dally but get immediate tests done and get on medication or else the condition may worsen and even lead to death? If that is valid advice they must also admit that denial of medical treatment even for a day can worsen the condition, even beyond hope.

Thus is there any difference between GMOA doctors denying the nation 24 hours of medical treatment to the ill merely to make a point of protest against their pet SAITM gripe and ISIS terrorists exploding a car bomb on a busy street in the name of creating an Islamic state?

Both may have done it as symbolic gestures of protest in order to give publicity to their respective causes and both may not have wished civilian deaths to happen as a result. But the unfortunate who happen to fall ill and is turned away from the doctors door and the innocent passerby near the bomb loaded car at the time of explosion will turn out to be the victims. Both the GMOA and ISIS can say it was not their intention. But does the possibility of human tragedy, whatever the motive absolve either of guilt? In the ISIS case, the dead bodies of civilians blown up by the exploding bomb provide direct evidence. In the GMOA strike, the number of patients who die at home or at hospital due to lack of immediate treatment will never be known; and a victims death will probably be recorded as due to heart attack or some such illness or natural causes and never as  due to medical negligence occasioned by the doctors strike by the GMOA doctor who certifies cause of death in the patients death certificate.

Even before the sun went down on the 24 hour strike that was to end at 8am on Saturday morning, the government caved in and announced that it would take over the Neville Fernando Teaching Hospital. But, despite the surrender, the GMOA stuck to their guns. Last morning, GMOA Media Spokesman Dr. Samantha Ananda said that they would only be able to make a statement on the decisions once they receive them officially by the ministry. He added however that what they were demanding was a solution to SAITM and not to Nevilles Teaching Hospital. The obsession with SAITM continues. Nothing short of its neck will do.

The future fate of SAITM may have been resolved or at least may soon be resolved. But one underlying worry for the entire nation must persist. What made the GMOA top brass so gripped with SAITM that it made them totally absorbed with it and no other? What held them spellbound to SAITM, what made their hatred toward it so maliciously intense that no other thought, feeling or emotion could dare sneak in to their conscious and demand a moments attention? What made them carry on such a concerted campaign of encapsulated hate for over two months, what made it marshal its troops to follow suit without question, what made it ignore the public repugnance and curses that attended every step of their march against their perceived enemy SAITM? What made their thoughts, their dreams, their speech, their actions SAITM, SAITM, SAITM 24/7 and nothing else?

What made them hold fear of persecution which they constantly expressed when they argued that the right of SAITM to produce doctors would be a threat to the closely guarded medical citadel? What created unwarranted envy at the thought of private medical degrees paid for by parents being recognised on equal terms as public funded degrees? What made them display an exaggerated sense of self importance in themselves when they arrogated the right to decide the eligibility of medical graduates to be registered as doctors by the Sri Lanka Medical Council when it is not their province to so decide but the exclusive right of the Sri Lanka Medical Council? What made them bear irrational thoughts and beliefs and be so fixated in their opinion that even when the contrary was shown to them, they could naught but stand cemented to their own bigoted view and shunned all else as blasphemy?

All the above symptoms lead only to one diagnosis. Medical science calls it Paranoia.

It is not a phobia. Paranoia is a Greek word and though it may sound Greek to us, the simple English meaning is madness. And according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published by the American Psychiatric Association, it comes in three forms:

PARANOID PERSONALITY DISORDER: Paranoid individuals are eager observers. They think they are in danger and look for signs and threats of that danger, potentially not appreciating other evidence. According to the World Health Organization, it is characterized by excessive sensitivity to setbacks and rebuffs; a tendency to bear grudges persistently, i.e. refusal to forgive insults and injuries or slights; a combative and tenacious sense of personal rights out of keeping with the actual situation; a tendency to experience excessive self-importance, manifest in a persistent self-referential attitude among others.

PARANOID SCHIZOPHRENIA: According to the Mayo Clinic, this is having a delusion in an unshakeable belief that is held strong even when the evidence shows otherwise and it includes, for example, believing that the government is monitoring every move you make, or that a co-worker is poisoning your lunch. Schizophrenia is in itself a involuntary tendency to seamlessly change into a different character, in the way the GMOA sometimes think they are a body of doctors walking the wards and checking the well being of their patients and at other times assume the role of a political party with its members marching the streets, holding placards, shouting slogans and holding rallies.

PERSECUTORY DELUSIONS: This is a set of delusional conditions in which the affected persons believes they are being persecuted. In The Psychology of Persecutory Delusions, this is described as when a person thinks that harm is occurring, or is going to occur that the individual thinks that the perceived persecutor has the intention to cause harm.

Considering the above, is it not apparent  even to laymen  and considering the fear of persecution, the degree of envy the exaggerated self importance that have surrounded the GMOA in their singular fixation over SAITM and the degree to which they have gone to and level to which they have stooped  even making the Vets join the strike and deny sick dogs their treatment- that perhaps some of them may be suffering from an advanced state of paranoia? Frightening, isnt it to think when we next go to visit a doctor  god forbid  that we may be receiving the panacea pills from such a nut case off his rocker?

If prima facie proof is necessary that something has snapped and their thinking has gone wonky, just consider the statement made by the GMOA that their campaign of strike action which denied medical treatment to all Lankans and put at risk their lives, were done to protect the patients right to life.

CEB power strike fails to sizzle drought heat to higher degrees But government must take it as wakeup call before total eclipseEnough that Lanka is reeling under a record breaking drought and the people are suffering from intolerable degrees in the temperature. Enough that on the 5th of this month the sun stood directly over Lanka aggravating the steamy heat felt by all on the ground.But if that was the time most apt time to unleash upon the masses a most excruciating heat wave, the JVP backed unions at the Ceylon Electricity Board, could have picked no better day than to go on a 24 hour nationwide strike from Wednesday the 5th midnight to Thursday midnight to coerce the government to agree to their salary demands. Thanks to a few unions in the 24,000 work force at the CEB, notably the powerful engineers union, the strike fizzled out and failed to reach the torrid degrees the JVP had planned to achieve. The unions threat not to attend to any breakdown had no effect since only a few minor breakdowns were reported and immediately attended to by CEBs non striking members. To them the public owe their thanks. But, it must be said that even those other CEB unions who struck work, were not motivated solely by a perverse intention to subject the people to a sweaty experience and eclipse their light for twenty four hours. They did not put lives at risk but only highlighting their plight. Neither were they protesting over a court judgment that had gone against their interest. Nor were they marching on the streets demanding their grievances be met. And though in many government eyes, their strike may have flopped, it brought the injustice done unto them for so long to light; and served as a wakeup call to the authorities to finally address their issues and grant whatever redress possible rather than shabbily twiddle their thumbs, procrastinating its attention and pulling the fuse from their justified demands. And what is their grievance that made them resort to the take this extreme measure?

The main objective of the strike was to rectify the current salary anomaly within the CEB. Before 2012, the standard salary difference between the management level and lower level employees was kept at 4:1 and was accepted by all that any salary increase would be made based on this rate. No problem with that. All happy. But in 2012, during the Rajapaksa regime, this ration was changed to 5:1. As the Ceylon Electricity Employees Union Secretary Ranjan Jayalal told newspapers on Tuesday, The then Government agreed to rectify this by increasing salaries of all employees by 30 percent in 2014. CEB top management officials salaries were increased during the last Presidential Election so the politicians could distribute light posts and other CEB properties during the election. When we raised the issue, they agreed to increase the salaries of all employees. Today, Jayalal said, management level employees enjoy a salary hike between 70-120 percent while other employees salary had only been increased by 30 percent following two discreet gazettes issued on last presidential Election Day.  According to the CEB employees unions secretary, the CEB management had asked for one year to rectify the salary anomalies when they threatened trade union action in 2015, but they had failed to honour the promise. Once again we threatened trade union action in October last year, but it was also postponed as management promised us to resolve the problem within four months. Since then they have held talks with Ministers Champika Ranawaka and Ranjith Siyambalapitiya but, according to Jayalal, it had been to no avail. As a result of the ministers failure to address their grievances, the CEB unions had been forced to resort to the strike weapon to shake and wake the government to action. Ranjith Siyambalapitiya has now said he would resolve the problem by August. He has said he had appointed a committee to investigate the salary anomalies issue of CEB workers. He has said I will go with the recommendations of the committee to rectify the salary anomalies, It is hoped that Siyambalapitiya will keep his pledge. For if Wednesday midnights wakeup call is ignored and the ministers continue their sleep, it will be the turn of the public to feel the mercury rising in anger.

For a government is elected to solve the existing problems. Not merely to say it inherited it and absolve itself of its responsibility and pass the buck back to the past.
Counter-terrorism draft: Handle with care View(s):

Last week we mentioned that the proposed Inland Revenue Act is being drafted abroad for consumption locally. Now, several versions of a new draft Counter-Terrorism Act (CTA) are floating around in the unreliable domain of cyberspace and do not lend credibility to the art of legislative drafting by this Government.

The Government needs to put its stamp on the draft and publicly release that before presenting the Bill to Parliament so that there can be independent assessments. It is an irony beyond measure that international agencies, including the IMF and the European Union, before which the Government is genuflecting in a desperate bid to renew the EU GSP trade facility, are more privy to these drafting efforts rather than Sri Lankans themselves.

This Government is elected to power by the citizenry, not by international power brokers. As observed in the Focus on Rights column by our legal columnist Kishali Pinto Jayawardena, the Government is responsible to its citizens, most importantly regarding the content of future laws that may impact upon those very citizens.

There is little doubt that Sri Lanka does need a counter-terrorism law, what with some 12,000 LTTE cadres who were simply let loose after the war ended. With a sulking Diaspora stoking fires, and geo-political uncertainties, a good counter-terrorism law with checks and balances is necessary. However, the question is how much a Government can resist using these laws to suppress legitimate democratic dissent when its provisions are not adequately tightly drafted? In the past, critics including journalists have been arrested and imposed stiff sentences purely for exercising the freedom of expression.

The revised version of the draft CTA brings over terrorism related offences from the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) to include words either spoken or intended to be read or by signs etc which causes or intends to cause the commission of acts of violence between different communities or racial or religious groups. This must be with intent to cause harm to the territorial integrity or sovereignty of Sri Lanka or the peaceful coexistence of the people.

A heavily criticised reference to unity in that paragraph has been deleted. As accepted in the revised CTA draft itself, this is due to the fact that the term is vague. Nonetheless, that omission alone does not cure the equally vague meaning of other terms under which citizens had been imprisoned before. Meanwhile, the wide definition of confidential information contained in the revised draft contradicts the Right To Information (RTI) Act both in spirit and substance. Does this contradiction not make a mockery of RTI?

The proposed regime establishes a Special Unit operating under the Inspector General of Police. A Superintendent of Police (SP) or higher in rank can call for information from banks and other financial institutions without an order from the Magistrate. This includes any financial service provided to any person, any financial transaction carried out by such person, details of bank accounts, fixed deposits, remittances, withdrawals and certified statements.Is the Government intending to set up another feared FCID?

The danger here if the Bill is rushed through the House without adequate legal scrutiny, a Government may be allowed to abuse its provisions far more than the PTA it seeks to replace. We must not forget the PTA was enacted also with those in power at the time optimistically promising that it will only be temporary. Instead, its provisions came to replace the normal law for many decades. That past must not be repeated.

Ravi J: The silent hero

The drafting of new counter-terrorism laws brings us to the passing away this week of Capt. Ravi Jayewardene, an Officer and Gentleman. The only son of the late President J.R. Jayewardene, a political scion of modern-day Sri Lanka, Ravi as he was simply called led a private life much in the shadow of his larger-than-life father. That was until 1983 and the July pogrom under his fathers watch  which was a watershed in the countrys contemporary history.

Ravi came forward to protect the President and advise him on counter-terrorism and national security matters, something the Head of State was unfamiliar with and which took centre-stage from economic development which was the Jayewardene Governments priority at the time.

In one of the finest insights into J.R. Jayewardene, the son writing to the Sunday Times Millennium issue penned, inter-alia, the following words; He was unable to comprehend the mind of the modern terrorist and the callous nature of the senseless slaughter that was his hallmark of accomplishment. (Full article appears in ST2 section, Page 4). With his military background as a captain in the 2nd Battalion (Volunteers) Ceylon Light Infantry (CLI) in the Army, Ravi filled the void in the fathers new challenge.

Capt. Ravi Jayewardene is credited mostly with establishing the Special Task Force (STF), which distinguished itself in battle with the LTTE, mostly in the East. In tandem with then Defence Secretary Gen. Sepala Attygalla, they also formed several new regiments of the Sri Lanka Army. It were these new regiments that provided the men and material with the already established units to eventually overcome the ruthless, highly motivated LTTE in the battlefield. He changed the Armed Forces from a spit and polish parade force into a professional combat team.

He provided the wherewithal to protect the defenceless villagers in the North-East regions who faced the brunt of the LTTEs inhuman ethnic-cleansing campaigns through his Graama Aaarakshaka programme which later developed to the Civil Defence Force. It is praiseworthy for former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa to have recognised Ravi Jayewardenes contribution to Sri Lankas war against terror.

In all of this, Ravi Jayewardene maintained an extremely low profile, his unassuming, self-effacing nature perhaps inherited from his gracious mother, Elina. The best security is no security, he once said when asked why he had no phalanx of security guards of his own. His anonymity and self-confidence in weapons handling helped him look after himself.

He protected his father, the then President during a tumultuous period, the one blemish being when a grenade was lobbed at a meeting of the Government parliamentary group killing a minister and wounding several. There was never even a hint of abuse of power, and he opposed his father, privately, during the Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987.

Ravi Jayewardene followed his regimental (CLI) motto Ich Dien (I serve) both in active service and thereafter. His silent contribution to his motherland, which he so dearly loved, at a momentous period, was more eloquent than words could ever say. Indeed he was, the illustrious son of an illustrious father.
The temporary peace agreement ends View(s):

This article is part of a continuing series on Sri Lankan history

King Rajasinghe brought Kirama and Katuwana under his rule. Not many days passed. Kittensteyn sent an army to regain those places. He also sent a letter to the king, requesting him to appoint a Dutch national as the Government Agent.

The king was angered over this. He requested the Dutch to send him the list containing the accounts of monies spent, as they were harping on this point all the time.

There was a promise made by Maetsuycker on September 11, 1646.

That was a favourable note regarding an amount of money owing to the king. The king wanted to know the exact amount. No evidence had yet been revealed, as to whether it was sent.

The king also complained that Kittensteyn was continuing transactions with the Portuguese.

The king never withdrew this complaint. But as usual, there was an exchange of letters and even gifts between the two parties.

In the meantime, there spread a rumour that the Dutch were organizing an army to attack Colombo.

The king was happy to hear this. He even promised to help in the matter. It is during this time that the temporary peace made between the Portuguese and the Dutch came to an end. It was on October 4, 1652 that it was announced that the battle would resume once again.

By Halaliye Karunathilake Edited and translated by Kamala Silva Illustrated by Saman Kalubowila
Words that help us remember By Joshua Surendraraj The third anthology of Write to Reconcile, that was launched recently saw 25 young writers coming together View(s): View(s):

It is so easy to get so caught up in our routine day-to-day lives that we tend to forget, what things were like a few years ago. Back to a time where a split second decision aboard a bus and an unattended bag, may have saved the lives of many. It was a time, where people were eyed with caution just for being of a certain race. Time does heal even the most serious wounds, but would it be right to forget how we got those gashes in the first place? The danger of forgetting could mean leaving room for the same problems to spring up again. After all we should ask ourselves, do we really need another three-decade long civil war?

The third anthology of Write to Reconcile, a creative writing project about the war and post war period in Sri Lanka, was launched on Tuesday (March 28).

The project which is conducted under the patronage of the National Peace Council and funded by the U.S Embassys American Centre, is the brainchild of Sri Lankan writer Shyam Selvadurai.

It has brought together both Sri Lankan and diaspora writers, interested in writing poetry, memoirs or fiction, on issues of conflict, peace, reconciliation, trauma and memory.

Following the success of its two anthologies in the past two years, the third year brought together 25 writers. At the beginning of the programme, last year (2016), these writers were first introduced to a seven-day creative writing workshop in Anuradhapura. The participants were taught the tools and techniques of creative writing and editing by Shyam.

The workshop was also addressed by several human rights workers, who spoke about their work and the on-going issues of the war-affected people, post war. Furthermore the writers also travelled to the Vanni and Sinhala border villages, to get an insight into what the people in these areas had gone through and a sense of their lives and issues post war.

While the focus of this anthology is largely on the post war period, some of the stories do reflect the period during the war itself.

Addressing those present at the launch, Project Director, Shyam Selvadurai said he was amazed at the quality of work and the level of engagement by the participants.

Though the experiences you read about in this anthology might be different from your own, I hope reading these pieces, lifts your own experience of the war and post war period, out from our daily existence and raises it up to the light, he says.

Shyam adds that keeping these memories alive is important, because forgetting them could mean our violent shared history runs the risk of repeating itself.

He explained that before starting this project, he had very little contact with other Sri Lankans, outside his family and social circle. However the 74 participants, who hes worked with over the three Write to Reconcile programmes, have given him the chance to learn how to bring himself into an easy relationship with Sri Lankans, different to himself. This was his own experience with the project.

I feel I have lived in each of their realities and am enhanced as a writer by this experience, he says.

National Peace Council Executive Director Dr.Jehan Perera who was also present at the launch said that apart from good literature, the book also strives to show that there is a community in our country, who can live, share and be one family together.

In a way, its one microcosm of what Sri Lanka should be and thats the main message of this story and of Shyams work, he says.

According, James Russo, Public Affairs Officer of the U.S Embassy, one of the key goals of the embassy, here in Sri Lanka, is to support the reconciliation process. He tells the audience that young people are the key to reconciliation.

Mr. Russo, recalled a particular story in the book that moved him. This was Hafsa Mazahims story of The Girl in the Headscarf. As he read this, Mr Russo recalled the vicious attack on the Muslim community in Aluthgama, back in 2014.

As it is with many places around the world, this violence was predicated by prejudice by the majority community against the minority community. The US is not immune to this as we well know, he says.

Just like this story, the anthology is filled with several other deeply moving stories, poems and memoirs. An eBook can be downloaded for free at www.writetoreconcile.com and anyone who wishes to obtain further information about collecting a copy could email writetoreconcile@gmail.com
GMOA flatly rejects Govt.s SAITM solution View(s):

The Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) has rejected proposals put forward by the Government to resolve the controversy surrounding the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM), dashing hopes of an end to a crisis that has dragged on for months. Media Spokesman Dr. Samantha Ananda said yesterday that the union was yet to officially receive a copy of the Governments proposals. He said it was the GMOAs stance that any solution to the problem must be based on a five-point document that it submitted to the authorities.

The document was drafted jointly by the GMOA, deans of all state medical faculties and unions representing lecturers at state medical faculties. The proposals were presented to President Maithripala Sirisena, and a committee was appointed by him to study the issue. The proposals call upon the Government to take measures to stop recruitment of students to SAITM, revoke the institutes degree-awarding status and provide a solution to students currently enrolled at SAITM GMOA flatly rejects Govt.s SAITM solution.

so that the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) could recognise them. The ultimate goal of the Government should be to takeover SAITM itself, the document has stressed.

Dr. Ananda said the GMOA did not believe that the Health Ministrys proposed takeover of the Neville Fernando Teaching Hospital (NFTH) would resolve the SAITM issue.

Our proposals will safeguard both standards of medical education and patient rights, Dr. Ananda claimed.

He described the Governments latest proposals as being designed to escalate the issue and was a trap the GMOA was not prepared to fall into.

A 24-hour token strike launched by the GMOA and other health sector trade unions over the issue paralysed health services throughout the island on Friday. Dr. Ananda said the union would take a decision soon on its future course of action.
Major breakthrough in cause of influenza related deaths By Kumudini Hettiarachchi Consultant Microbiologist Dr Muditha Abeykoon sees fungus instead of bacteria, in a first for Sri Lanka View(s): View(s):

The expected turned out to be the unexpected, giving a different and uncommon twist to a common health issue.

As he peered at the cultures of two sets of sputum and respiratory secretions, as he had done for numerous specimens previously, instead of the usual spheres, rods and spirals, what he saw were shapes like little blooms.

It was not bacteria, but a fungus, says Consultant Microbiologist Dr. Muditha Abeykoon of the Polonnaruwa Hospital, who stumbled upon a different trend in post-influenza secondary infections.

It is a first for Sri Lanka and a major breakthrough in the cause of influenza related deaths.

These findings in Polonnaruwa may also be applicable to other areas, points out Dr. Abeykoon, explaining that, usually, most of the deaths due to influenza are associated directly with the illness or, with a secondary bacterial infection. He, however, had come upon influenza deaths associated with a secondary invasive fungal infection.

This needs to be looked at closely to prevent more deaths, is his urgent plea, as he identifies aspergillus as the culprit fungus. Dr. Abeykoon appreciates all the support he received from Polonnaruwa Hospital Director Dr. Sampath Indika Kumara, Chest Physician Dr. Nandika Harischandra, Histopathologist Dr. Jayantha Edirisuriya, Judicial Medical Officer Dr. Paneetha Seneviratne and the Intensive Care Unit and Microbiology Teams.

Before getting down to what he discovered, he says that, in the past two to three months, there were eight deaths out of about 50 patients at the Polonnaruwa Hospital who were confirmed as having influenza.

While the fact that, all eight had contracted Influenza A, confirmed through PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) testing at the Medical Research Institute (MRI) revealed, four patients had died due to their vulnerable condition, as they were suffering from co-morbidities such as Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Aetiology (CKDu).

Two of the remaining four brought forth a different trend  the isolates of their cultures, instead of showing up bacteria as the secondary infection does, exhibited the fungus aspergillus, the Sunday Times learns.

Dr Abeykoon says that, when a person is affected by influenza, which is the primary infection, the lungs get damaged, leaving room for bacteria to cause a secondary infection. But, in this case, the secondary-infection or super-added infection was by a different invader which was the fungus.

He also recalls a similar case a year ago, where too, the secondary infection after Influenza A was aspergillus. This is not a common phenomenon, says Dr. Abeykoon, who had immediately contacted and got similar confirmation from the internationally well-known Prof Malik Peiris, a clinical and public health virologist based in Hong Kong. (Prof. Peiris rose to fame when he and his team isolated the corona virus that was causing much concern, as it spread the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome  SARS  worldwide, back in 2003.)

Giving the profile of the three patients in Polonnaruwa, who are tragically, no more, Dr Abeykoon says that, they were not immuno-compromised and, as such, need not have fallen victim to influenza and subsequently, to aspergillus. In such cases as these, dying is not common.

All three victims were from farming areas  a middle-aged farmer from Polonnaruwa; a 60-year-old woman from Dehiattakandiya; and a year ago, a woman in her 30s from Kantalai, who delivered a baby while affected with influenza.

Reiterating that the standard medical textbooks do not indicate such secondary fungal infections, he says that, this is due to these books being published in the west, where these fungi may not be very common. The situation is different in tropical countries such as Sri Lanka, where an environment replete with paddy cultivations harbours such fungi including aspergillus.

He came by it quite accidentally. Looking for bacterial pathology in the culture plates of sputum and respiratory secretions, what he found growing was mould or fungus. Considering it to be significant, he then took deep samples exhaled into the ventilator tubes, as the patients were being ventilated, and found that the fungus had invaded the lungs.

Tragically, this had been confirmed in the analysis of lung tissue taken at the postmortems, it is learnt. Dr Abeykoon has informed both the MRI and the Epidemiology Unit of his findings.

We have effective anti-fungal medications, but they are costly, he says, adding that, as the patients have to be treated for around three weeks, the cost becomes prohibitive. But it works. As evidence, he cites the case of these three patients who were on the path to recovery, when given the appropriate treatment, but died due to other causes.

What we need to check out is whether such fungal infections may be causing common complications which go undetected. We need to look for them actively, urges Dr Abeykoon, adding that, it is important to look more closely how fungi rampant in the country may be impacting on human health.
NE housing project slashed: Fresh tenders and fair play urged By Namini Wijedasa View(s): View(s):

If the Government intends to slash its original proposal of 65,000 prefabricated houses down to 6,000 houses for the war-displaced, it must call a fresh tender as many more contractors will qualify for the smaller project and offer better prices, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian M. A. Sumanthiran said this week.

Despite sustained opposition to the project, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Management (CCEM) last week granted approval for the construction of 6,000 prefabricated houses in the North and East by international steel giant ArcelorMittal. The proposal will go to Cabinet for ratification.

But the original tender, floated by the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Ministry, had been for 65,000 houses and not 6,000, pointed out Mr. Sumanthiran. The TNA has unanimously rejected prefabricated steel dwellings and called for the cheaper, culturally-suitable brick-and-mortar houses.

With regard to the original 65,000 houses proposal, a Cabinet Appointed Negotiating Committee called for it to be cancelled and for fresh bids to be called, Mr Sumanthiran said.Resettlement Minister D. M. Swaminathan himself presented a Cabinet paper for fewer prefabricated houses and suggested fresh bids.

In any case, you cannot rely on the previous tender price for 65,000 and do 6,000 houses because there could be so many others in the local construction industry with the capacity to tender their bids for the smaller number, he pointed out. If this story of 6,000 houses being agreed upon by the CCEM is true, we will challenge the process.

And why is the Government not considering the alternate proposal put forward by civil society with the support of five local banks? he asked. That project can result in 102,000 houses for the same money the Government is willing to spend as payment to a foreign bank in a foreign currency!

The housing need in the North and East is dire and acute, he said. The Government is using the desperate need of the people to force prefabricated houses down their throat, for the benefit of a few individuals who stand to benefit from this, he said.

Northern Province Chief Minister C. V. Wigneswaran endorsed Mr Sumanthirans criticism of the project. Prefab steel houses are not suitable for the climate of the North and East, environment or ambience. Our engineers have given me detailed reports saying so, he said.

The continued insistence on foisting these houses on our Province smacks of the hidden needs and agendas on the part of the powers that be, Mr. Wigneswaran said. What happened to the Ministers undertaking to get bank loans and put up the houses the traditional way? It appears the Government wants to force our people to accept what they give. They ignore the social implications.

There would be division among our people, which the Government seems to want to promote, he said. The 6,000 prefab house owners would become the haves and the others the have-nots. There is a possibility that reaction from the have-nots might ostracise those who opt to take these houses. I would appeal to the Minister to reconsider.

The project, which has been in the pipeline since 2015, has been stalled by widespread protests. The TNA said it was totally opposed to prefabricated steel houses and called for traditional brick houses in keeping with the culture and way of life of the North-East people. All sixteen MPs of the party endorsed this position.

But the project is openly backed by Rehabilitation and Resettlement Minister Swaminathan. The TNA claimed that the minister had made personal telephone calls to several of its MPs, inviting them to make requests for prefabricated houses in their respective electorates. In the face of resistance, President Maithripala Sirisena passed off the project to Special Projects Minister Sarath Amunugama for a recommendation. Last week, he came to the CCEM with the proposal to grant a contract for 6,000 houses to ArcelorMittal. It was approved.

The initial proposalwhich would have forced to Government to borrow US$1 billion to implementwas to build 65,000 prefab steel houses for war-affected families in the North and East. But the prefab steel dwellings have been objected to on multiple grounds including climatic unsuitability, flimsy construction, lack of durability, unjustifiably high cost and so on.

A Cabinet Appointed Negotiating Committee (CANC) rejected the project and recommended that fresh tenders be called. A group of civil society agencies and persons even put forward an alternate proposal for 102,000 masonry houses at a cost of just under Rs 1 million per house, using local labour and funded by a consortium of local banks.

Mr Sumanthiran said the project smacked of grand-scale fraud, which is clearly apparent from the cost of Rs 2.1 million per house, which later dropped to Rs 1.6 million.
New trend in flu pattern View(s):

By Kumudini Hettiarachchi

A new and unexpected trend in the disease pattern of the common flu, which is sweeping across Sri Lanka, has been found at the Polonnaruwa Hospital.

Patients who contract influenza could also fall victim to a secondary infection. This secondary infection is normally caused by bacteria, but at Polonnaruwa it has been ascertained that some are being hit by a fungal infection, the Sunday Times learns.

The fungus or mould has been identified as aspergillus, commonly found in tropical countries and in paddy-cultivating areas, said Polonnaruwa Hospitals Consultant Microbiologist, Dr. Muditha Abeykoon who stumbled upon this discovery. This is believed to be a first for Sri Lanka and a major breakthrough in fighting influenza deaths, it is understood, and may be a pattern in other areas as well  which needs to be checked out. Then the current treatment plan could be tailored to meet this new pattern, in turn, helping to save lives.

While Dr. Abeykoon has informed both the Epidemiology Unit and the Medical Research Institute, he had also contacted the Hong Kong-based well-known virologist Prof. Malik Peiris who had said that such a secondary fungal infection was not a common phenomenon. There are effective anti-fungal medications and it may be important to differentiate between bacterial and fungal secondary infections after influenza which would help save lives, adds Dr. Abeykoon.
By Mail Today Bureau: AAP boss and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's MCD poll campaign reached the dusty bylanes of Nihal Vihar in Nangloi, west Delhi on Friday, promising relief from "BJP's kooda (garbage) and bhrashtachar (corruption)."

"I was here two years back and you all gave me 67 out of 70 Assembly seats-the biggest victory of any political party in India and the world. I request you all, this time, give me all 272 (MCD seats)," he addressed a crowd of over 1,000 men, women and children with blue flags of AAP waving in the background.

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"We have done more work than any BJP-ruled state govt has done in even 15 years, MP's Shivraj Singh Chauhan or Chhattisgarh's Raman Singh. We've brought you Mohalla Clinics/neighbourhood dispensaries & improved Delhi govt schools. I openly challenge BJP's Vijender Gupta to show me even one work that the MCD may have done," he asked.

"Inhone to apne suni ji (they didn't even listen to their PM Narendra Modi). Modi ji kept saying Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, while MCD councillors slept and we wielded the broom," he mocked the party ruling the civic bodies.

The CM played his free electricity and water card as well, "I promised all of you that we will bring down water and power rates. We made 20,000 litres of water free and slashed power rates to the lowest in the country. In Delhi, you get 400 units of power for `1,370. In Gujarat, you get the same for `2,700 and in Mumbai, `4,000." "That is why, there is a conspiracy against my government now to dethrone me and not allow us to come to power in the MCD. All power companies and private schools, who we did not allow to raise their fee, have come together and pressurised BJP to not let us grab the MCD. If the BJP comes to power, they have planned to snatch power and electricity departments from us and keep it with MCD. Do not allow that to happen," he warned his listeners.

Kejriwal also expressed his fear that health minister Satyendar Jain may be arrested in a few days, "Just for the reason that he worked honestly, built new clinics and provided free medicines, BJP slapped four CBI cases against him. Rumours are doing the rounds that he may be arrested next week."

"Same is with my education minister Manish Sisodia, who they are trying to scare with 3 CBI cases. They even raided my office. Par chaar muffler ke siwa kuch nahi mila, raid ka kharcha tak nahi nikla (but they found only four mufflers, even their travel expenses for the raid could not be met)," he regaled his audience.

Also Read:

After Shunglu report, Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party finds itself without a headquarter

Delhi MCD elections: AAP renews demand to use paper ballots, says EVMs can be tampered

Also Watch:

Delhi LG's order to AAP; Triple talaq victim's SOS to PM; more

--- ENDS ---
Pettah businesses await more New Year shoppers View(s):

The usual festive feeling is in the air and people are busy shopping, preparing sweetmeats and making other preparations for the much-awaited National New Year that dawns in a few days.

From Friday onwards, outstation bus stands were filling up with people taking advantage of the long-weekend to travel to their hometowns.

Shops selling shoes, garments, electronic items, textiles and even hardware items were offering huge discounts as much of as 70 per cent, on the original prices.

On a stroll through the busy streets of Pettah we witnessed a hive of activity with owners of business enterprises hoping for more business as the National New Year day drew closer.

Isuru Ishaan, an employee of a clothing shop said he was expecting bigger crowds from Monday onwards.

Francis Sanjeewa, a vendor who travels daily from Homagama and has a small clothes stall by the side of the road said, in previous years people were jostling each other to buy his stuff but this year the crowds were much thinner.

D.S.W.Silva, who has been in the garment business for 37 years, said, he was having good sales while J.M. Shantha who is in the same business said in previous years Pettah was so crowded he would not have had time to even answer questions. However, he was optimistic that crowds will increase in the coming days.

M.Shafi, who has been in the clothing trade for 30 years, said, We earned a huge profit last year. I am not sure if it will be the same this year. But lets see there is more time for Avurudu.

Mohommed Shiyam an employee at a sweet shop said sales have been moderate so far but it will pick closer to Avurudu day.

Mallika Weragoda, who year in and year out comes from Horana to Colombo to do her Avurudu shopping, said, many people are unable to enjoy the festive season as they used to in the past due to economic hardships.

Sathosa food basket at a lower costThis season consumers can buy a food basket with essentials to the value of Rs. 1500 for Rs. 975, at Lanka Sathosa outlets.Chairman T.M.K.B. Tennakoon said the government has introduced this to help people faced with a high cost of living. The basket includes a kilo of Dhal, 500g Potato, 1 kg of Big Onion, 2 kg Rice, 500g dried sprats, 1kg Sugar, 425 g canned fish, 200g Chillie Pieces, 500 g Green Gram and 400g Sathosa Milk Powder. There are more than 380 Sathosa outlets islandwide and the consumers can purchase the food basket at any of these. Consumer Affairs Authority officials will oversee the process, the chairman said, adding that the consumers will have to produce their National Identity Card to make the purchase. Mr. Tennakoon said this was the first time such a move had been introduced.

More trains, more busesFrom April 7 more trains have been added for the convenience of the public, The Railways Department said. Railways Operating Sueperintendent Vijaya Samarasinghe said these additional trains will run until April 17. He said passengers have been asked to be vigilant about their own safety and their belongings. He said passengers should avoid travelling on the footboards and also have minimal contact with unknown people. Sri Lanka Transportation Board (SLTB) Chairman Ramal Siriwardene said additional buses have been plying since Thursday. He said chief regional managers and operations managers have been asked to monitor transportation facilities and to see whether there were sufficient buses in operation. Meanwhile Lanka Private Bus Association Trade Union Alliance head Stanley Fernando said their buses will be in operation especially in outstation areas.
Poaching crisis: Lanka expresses its displeasure at Indias failure View(s):

By Chris Kamalendran

Sri Lanka has expressed disappointment over the failure by the Indian authorities to honour the pledges made at the last round of joint Indo-Lanka talks on the fisheries issue.

Fisheries Ministry Secretary Rani Adhikari, who headed the Sri Lanka delegation at the talks held on Friday in Colombo, told the Sunday Times she requested the Indian delegation to implement the agreement reached during the previous round of talks to increase patrolling of the Palk Strait to prevent poaching.

The last round of talks was held in New Delhi in December last year.

Ms Adhikari said Sri Lanka also pointed out that though a hotline had been established between the Sri Lankan coastguards and their Indian counterparts, the action taken against cases of poaching was insufficient.

Sri Lanka had emphasised that the Government wanted to totally prevent poaching and not merely stop illegal fishing methods such as bottom trawling.

The Indian delegation said that New Delhi was trying to establish two fisheries ports for Tamil Nadu fishermen to prevent them from coming into Sri Lanka, but needed time to implement the project.

The Indian delegation has raised the issue of the recent incident where an Indian fisherman was killed in a shooting incident in which the Sri Lanka Navy was allegedly involved.

Ms Adhikari told the Indian delegation that baseless allegations against the Navy should not be raised and India should carry out its own investigations to ascertain what happened.

The Sunday Times learns the Lankan delegation rejected the request made by India to have access to the Navy report on the death of the Indian fisherman on March 9.

The Indian delegation accused the Navy of opening fire at Indian fishermen and demanded that fishermen issues should be considered as humanitarian issues without resorting to assault or violence.

An Indian High Commission spokesman said the two sides agreed to conduct another round of talks in July in New Delhi.

Prior to Fridays meeting, Fisheries Minister Mahinda Amaraweera met fisheries association representatives from the north and said his intention was to raise fish export revenues to be among the first three foreign exchange earners. At present, the earnings lie at number 15.

The minister said that at present Sri Lanka was annually importing 120,000 Mt of fish and fish related products including tin-fish  and exporting only 18,000 Mt
Power and Energy Ministry scoffs at BOI allegations on proposed LNG terminal at Colombo Port View(s):

The Power and Energy Ministry has refuted allegations levelled by the Board of Investment (BOI) over the proposed LNG terminal at the Colombo Port.

The Ministry was responding to a report in the Sunday Times headlined LNG Terminal: BOI slams moves by Ministry.

In the article, BOI Chairman Upul Jayasuriya voiced dissatisfaction at the decision by the Ministry to go ahead with plans to set up a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal at the Colombo Port. He said several BOI projects for LNG plants and terminals were already in the pipeline and claimed these projects were held up at various stages due to Ministry actions.

Power and Energy Ministry secretary Suren Batagoda in a letter to the Sunday Times insisted that the allegations were baseless and that a decision on any large investment in the power sector has to be taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Management (CCEM) and the Ministry in consultation with the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) based on the Long Term Generation Plan (LTGP) approved by the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) under the Electricity Act No.13 of 2013.

The letter further said according to the Electricity Act, procuring of electricity should only be done through competitive tenders. Unsolicited proposals cannot be accepted unless the project is proposed on a Government to Government basis. Moreover, all Power Plant Projects should be included in the CEB Generation Plan and approved by the PUCSL before calling for tenders.

Therefore, in the power sector, there is no provision for the CEB to accept unsolicited power project proposals approved by the BOI, Dr. Batagoda said in the letter.

He pointed out that all six investment proposals that the BOI Chairman mentioned as being delayed due to the actions of the Ministry, were unsolicited proposals.

The BOI should not accept any investment proposals for power projects outside this policy framework. By doing so, the BOI will disappoint investors since the CEB cannot entertain BOI approved power projects by the private sector without going through tender procedures. The Ministry has informed this position to the BOI many times and requested the BOI to encourage BOI investors to participate in the ongoing tender for 300MW Combined Cycle Power Plant in Kerawalapitiya, the letter said.

It also refuted the BOI Chairmans claims that the Ministry would be spending a colossal sum of Government money on the LNG terminal The CCEM has directed the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to implement this LNG terminal project on a Government to Government basis through private investment and also as a BOT (Build, Operate, Transfer) project. There is no cost to the Government for initial investment.

The Ministry Secretary also scoffed at warnings by the BOI Chairman that they would expose the Ministry and CEB officials if the Ministry went ahead with the said terminal.

We believe the people of the country expect us to adopt more transparent and competitive procedures than private deals. Therefore, we dont believe that there is anything to expose about the Ministry and CEB officials to the public on this tender. If the Ministry and CEB officers accept unsolicited proposals approved by the BOI, then of course there can be something to expose.

Reporters Note:

The article was based on allegations levelled by the BOI Chairman. Dr. Batagoda was given an opportunity last week to respond to the BOIs claims.
Reprieve death row, lifers to overcome prisons congestion, says report View(s):

There could be some reprieve for prisoners on death row as well as for those serving life sentences, if the Govt. accepts the recommendations of a special Task Force (TF) appointed by the Cabinet to look into congestion in prisons.

The report of the TF tabled in Parliament this week by Chief Government Whip, Parliamentary Reformss and Mass Media Minister Gayantha Karunatileka, proposed that, the Govt. consider commuting death sentences to life imprisonment, and consider parole for those serving life sentences according to the existing laws.

As capital punishment had not been carried out since 1976, and due to the moratorium on the death penalty, the Govt. has to consider alternative action to manage overcrowding of prisons, as life sentenced and death penalty prisoners contribute greatly to overcrowding. To date, there are a total of 1,082 persons on death row, 726 cases remain under appeal, while Life sentence prisoners total 555, with 463 cases under appeal, the report said.

The TF recommended that Govt consider commutation of death penalty prisoners sentences to life sentences. Life sentenced prisoners sentences can be commuted according to existing provisions of law and to make Presidential pardons available to long term prisoners who are rehabilitated and are able to re-integrate into society, and to consider a system of parole for detainees who are identified as eligible by a Parole Board.

Among the key findings of major contributory factors for prison overcrowding are underutilisation of existing provisions of law, misuse of existing provisions of law and socio-economic reasons. Based on the data collected by the Prisons Dept, the number of remand prisoners equals the number of convicted prisoners held in custody.

The UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or Punishment, who visited Sri Lanka last year, in his report submitted to the UN Human Rights Council in March, also spoke of the appalling conditions within Sri Lankan prisons and made several recommendations.

The UN official has recommended that the Govt. adopt and implement measures to significantly reduce overcrowding, including overhauling the prison system, to reduce the number of detainees and increasing prison capacities in more modern prison facilities; accelerating the judicial process and reviewing sentencing policies by introducing alternatives to incarceration (bail and electronic surveillance for pretrial defendants; non-custodial sentences for non-violent offenders and juveniles; parole and early release for the convicted) and design a criminal justice system that aims at rehabilitating and reintegrating offenders, including by creating work and education opportunities.

Sri Lankas prison population at present stands at around 17,000 (7,496 convicted prisoners, 8,351 remand prisoners and 1,143 prisoners whose cases are under appeal).
State suffers Rs. 15 billion loss from Lak Sathosa rice imports in 2014 By Chandani Kirinde View(s): View(s):

The parliamentary oversight Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) has endorsed the Auditor Generals findings that the state suffered losses of up to Rs. 15 billion due to bungling of rice imports by Lak Sathosa during the previous regime.

COPE Chairman and JVP Parliamentarian Sunil Handunnetti said the rice had been imported, bypassing a Cabinet decision to restrict rice imports to 50,000 metric tonnes to meet a shortfall during the 2014/2015 period.

The Cabinet had given approval to import 50,000 metric tonnes of rice to face the shortage in the market. However, the Auditor General had uncovered that Lak Sathosa had disregarded this decision and instead imported 257,559 metric tonnes of rice, Mr. Handunnetti said, presenting the COPE report to the House on Friday.

He said the importation of such a large quantity of rice contributed to the breakdown of Sri Lankas agrarian economy.

According to the COPE report, the imports cost around Rs. 27 billion and the revenue earned by its sales was around Rs 11.8 billion. As a result, the country lost more than Rs 15. 1 billion.

Lak Sathosa had obtained loans amounting to Rs. 14 billion from the Bank of Ceylon and the People Bank to open Letters of Credit to import the rice. Of these loans, Rs 8.9 billion had remained unpaid till December last year with penalty interest as of November 21, last year amounting to Rs. 7. 9 million.

COPE also endorsed the AGs recommendations that the rice importing process required a major revamp and that the governments procurement guidelines should be strictly adhered to.

The other recommendations were the need for equal and maximum opportunity for eligible interested parties to participate in the procurement; annual registration of eligible suppliers, and purchases in emergency situations to be made by inviting quotations from those suppliers.
Vasantha Obeyesekere, who immortalised real life stories on the silver screen, is no more View(s):

Multiple award-winning film director Vasantha Obeyesekere, whose adoption of real life stories onto the big screen made him one of the biggest names in the countrys film industry, passed away last morning at a private hospital in Colombo. He was 80.

In a film-making career that spanned nearly five decades, Obeyesekere won several presidential awards and numerous other awards, nationally and internationally, while courting both fame and controversy over the years for his work.

Having passed out of the University of Ceylon in 1962, he dabbled in a teaching career before joining the editorial staff of Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited. His foray into cinema came in 1967 with the film Sath Samudura, on which he worked as an assistant director. His first film was Wes Gaththo, which Obeyesekere not only produced and directed, but for which he wrote the screen play and acted in too.

He wrote and directed some of the most talked about films in the Sinhala cinema, bringing to life real life stories that were etched in the collective memory of a generation. Most famous among these was Dadayama, which he directed in 1983, bringing to the silver screen the infamous Wilpattu murder case of Adeline Vitharane. The film won Obeyesekere a presidential award for Best Director and propelled Swarna Mallawarachchi to stardom, winning her a string of awards for her role as the ill-fated murder victim.

The film also led to a court case against Obeyesekere with the District Court in Colombo ordering a ban on his film on the grounds the story was copied from a book written by former Supreme Court Judge A.C. Alles. However, in a landmark judgment, the Court of Appeal in 2002 upheld an appeal in favour of the film director.

Obeyesekere won the award for Best Director at presidential awards conducted by the National Film Corporation for several of his films including Palangatiyo (1979), Dadayama (1983), Dorakada Marawa (1998) and Theertha Yaathra (1999). His other films such as Kedapathaka Chaaya (1990) and Salelu Warama (2003) were also well received. The last film he directed was Aganthukaya (2007). In 2005 Obeyesekere was conferred the national honour of Kala Keerthi for his contribution to

cinema.
Dawn of Bak and its religious and cultural significance By Udumbara Udugama View(s): View(s):

Bak Full Moon Poya falls on April 10 and the Sinhala and Tamil New Year on the 14th. Good Friday is also on April 14. Therefore the coming week is very significant for Sri Lankans.

It was on a Bak Full Moon Poya that the Buddha visited Sri Lanka. Buddha with his divine eye surveyed the world and observed a dispute brewing between two Naga communities in Lanka (Sri Lanka). The two Naga kings Mahodara and Chulodara were uncle and nephew. The dispute between uncle and nephew was over a gem-studded throne.

Five years after the attainment of Supreme Enlightenment, the Buddha visited the Nagadipa in the north of Lanka (Sri Lanka), accompanied by the tree deity Samiddhi Sumana. Appearing over the battlefield, he first created a darkness, a gloom. The Nagas were frightened. Next, he created a brilliant light which illuminated the whole battlefield. This miracle was witnessed by the Nagas. The Buddha addressed the Nagas taking examples from the Jataka stories of animals and birds and the futility of controversy in the settling of disputes. Buddha said victory brings hatred and the vanquished live in misery.

Listening to the Buddhas Doctrine, the Naga kings gave up their desire to fight. The gem studded throne was offered to the Buddha. After his discourse, he returned it to the two kings who made a Chaitya and placed this valuable throne in it to pay homage to the Buddha.

Bak is the first month of the Sinhala Almanac. The month of Bak (April) is very important to both Sinhala and Tamil farmers. After their harvest of paddy and other crops, they perform a thanksgiving ceremony and observe many customs and rituals.

Aluth Avuruddha (New Year) and in Tamil Puththandu is celebrated when the Sun moves from Meena Rashiya to the Mesha Rashiya. Derived from the Sanskrit word Bhagya, Bak is associated with fortune and prosperity.

In the days before the New Year, people clean their homes in preparation for the Aluth Avuruddha. In the villages, the hearth is repaired, using cowdung and the floor spread with it if not cemented! Traditional sweetmeats such as kondakavun, kokis, athirasa, aggala, asmi, aluva etc. are prepared.

On the 13th, the last day of the Parana Avuruddha (old year) certain customs and rituals are performed. Between the old and new year, there is a time of nonagetha during which people do not do their normal work but attend temples to perform religious activities. Neighbours are visited with sweetmeats. In the village the Aluth Avuruddha is centred round the village temple. At auspicious (nekath) times the Hevisi (drumming) and the pealing of the temple bell is heard. In villages mostly farming communities, Aluth Avurudu celebrations are most important. Farmers are thankful for a good harvest, and follow all the customs and rituals with great devotion to a Buddhist way of life.

Offering of a sheaf of betel leaves to elders and parents is an important custom. The elders touch the head of the young ones and bless them. According to the Nekath times, the hearth is lit with all the family members seated around it, a pot of milk is boiled until it spills over on the floor. Ganu-denu (exchanging money), gifting clothes are part of the celebrations. The prepared food is eaten facing a certain direction according to the Nekatha.

On Avuruddhu Day, people take part in games such as pora pol gaseema, bellan demeema, kamba adeema and other traditional games. Young ones enjoy the swings shrieking joyfully.

Hindus also follow certain rituals when celebrating Puththandu (New year). Mr. Thiagarah, a devout Hindu explained that the auspicious times for the rituals differ slightly from the Sinhala Almanac by just a few seconds or minutes. They too clean their homes and on the 13th visit the kovil where the temple priest gives them Maruthu Neer  water boiled with various kinds of herbs, leaves, flowers, milk, saffron etc. Early on the 14th they apply the Maruthu Neer on themselves before a bath. New clothes are worn according to the auspicious colour in the Almanac.

A rice preparation is made with jaggery, ghee, raisins and cashew nuts and offered first to the Gods and then to family members. The head of the family gives money, betel leaves and paddy. It is Kai Vishem to wish them good luck and prosperity. They perform Er Mangalam at the auspicious time and Mr. Thiagaraja explained it is veda alleema. Farmers start ploughing, teachers start a new lesson, traders open a new account, a craftsman starts his craft and each one will start something new pertaining to their respective vocation  career or occupation. Thereafter relatives and friends will visit and renew their friendship and goodwill.

After the festivities are over, there is an auspicious time for hisa thel gama (anointing  applying oil on the head). Some people visit the temple for this where the monk applies the oil, while others perform this ritual at home. Selected medicinal leaves are placed above the head and under the feet before medicinal oil is applied on the head.

Finally, there is an auspicious day and time to leave for work, which is also observed by people to make their working life a success.
Get your fill of whales and good food on board a yacht By Joshua Surendraraj View(s): View(s):

The smell of freshly caught fish, and the sight of fishing boats anchored close together, meets the eye, as you make your way into the Mirissa fisheries harbour. November to April being the peak season for whale and dolphin watching, the Matara district is famous during this time of the year, with sightings occurring off the coasts of Mirissa and Weligama.

Sri Lanka is known as one of the latest hubs for the Blue whale, the largest mammal on the planet. Interestingly some of the Blue whale population remain in the same area throughout the year, whereas most whales in other parts of the world travel thousands of kilometres, each year.

The peak times in the island are where the other migrant whales also come in.

Aside from the Blue whale, whale watchers can look forward to sightings of Orcas, Sperm Whales, Pilot whales, whale sharks and dolphins.

We were in Mirissa for a spot of whale watching aboard Jade, a 52- feet long catamaran, belonging to Sail Lanka Charter. Anchored amidst a group of other yachts with her sail still down, she was a pretty sight.

It was afternoon when the anchor was lifted and we set sail. Captain Anru Prasanna (35) and his crew worked hard to hoist the sail, as the wind from the south kicked in, driving the yacht steadily out to the open sea.

As evening fell, we spotted Snake Island, located about half a kilometre off the Weligama coast and the yacht dropped anchor.

The crew aboard Jadewere friendly, courteous and overall well versed in sailing and the ways of the sea. We were introduced to Sanjeewa (19) the life guard, Chamod (22), a crew member and life guard and 22-year-old Dimuthu Madusanka, the head chef.

Sanjeewa soon unloaded a canoe and brought out the snorkeling gear. His explanation of the dos and donts of rowing proved quite useful, to those who struggled to steer the canoe in one direction.

The water around was approximately six metres in depth, perfect for swimming, beneath the setting sun.

Dinner was served on deck awhile later under the beautiful moonlit sky. Chef Dimuthu had outdone himself with a frittata chicken, bathed with mozzarella cheese, garlic, onions, egg, seasoned with a few coriander leaves, salt and pepper.

Dessert was a scrumptious chocolate cake, topped with chocolate syrup and a cherry.

There was fried rice too for those guests, who preferred a more Sri Lankan styled meal. Beer, white and red wines were also on offer.

There are four cabins, each can accomodate two guests (the yacht itself can hold ten guests) equipped with comfortable double beds.

The rumbling of the engines awoke us at 6.30 a.m. The crew was already up and about headed by Captain Anura Shantha (30), who had traded shifts with Captain Anru.

Two hours later, a spurt of water shot up, as Captain Anura steered the yacht away from a huge greenish form that rose out of the water. A beautiful Blue whale dove under, giving us a quick glimpse of its body and tail.

We sighted five Blue whales that morning, much to the delight of the photographers on board.

Two hours later Jade anchored off an isolated spot, along the Weligama coast and we again plunged in for a spot of snorkeling in the shallow waters.

Around noon, the crew directed us back to the yacht, where we were greeted by a delicious spread of rice, dhal, tempered potato and fish curry. A separate dish of wasabi tuna was also cooked for those who didnt want rice. Dessert included a fruit cocktail, bananas, grapes and pomegranate, coated in yoghurt and cream.

Over lunch, Captain Anura explained how Sail Lanka Charter was the product of a Trust aimed at regenerating the south after the tsunami in 2004.

Pierre Pringiers, Chairman of Sail Lanka Charter and his tyre business partner Tissa Jinasena, set up the Solideal Loadstar Rehabilitation Trust, to rebuild Mirissas fishing communities hit by the disaster. At the time the Trust rebuilt 750 houses, 30 fishing boats and restored 250 boat engines, benefitting almost 15,000 people. Two years later, it was converted into the Building a Future Foundation aimed at creating long-term opportunities for the fishing community in the south by training young people in skills that will help them earn a living.

The Foundation set up to repair the tsunami-damaged boats doubled as a training centre. Soon the youth in the south were learning all the skills related to boat building. Young people were also trained on the finer points of boating and sailing. Captain Anura, explains that Jade just like the other yachts owned by Sail Lanka charter was built by Sri Lankans. He adds that he himself just like Captain Anru, are products of the programme.

TitbitsCheck in is at 3.30 p.m, while check out the day after is at 1.30 p.m. The cruise in the south takes off from Mirissa to Weligama on day one and from Weligama bay to Mirissa beach on day two. It is priced at 350 USD for one cabin (two people) on a full board basis.A two night cruise is priced at 700 US$ per couple, while a six night cruise, along the East coast is 2200 US$.

For more information visit:http://sail-lanka-charter. com/
Challenges to media freedom in Sri Lanka; the New Governments performance View(s):

By Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena

A common view held by many across the Commonwealth that Sri Lanka holds out a beacon of hope to the world in reversing the tide of authoritarianism underscores darker and more complex realities.

Even in those early days when elation prevailed after the surprise election defeat of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2015, many of us instinctively knew that this was just the beginning of a long, hard road towards reversing systemic Rule of Law failures, much of which had predated Rajapaksa rule (2005-end 2014).

Two years later, the formidable challenges before us are very clear. During the previous decade, the abuse of power had been unprecedented, even when assessed against the countrys turbulent post-independence history after British colonial fetters were shaken off in 1948. Ordinary law and order had deteriorated to abysmal depths. State, economic and military powers were concentrated in the office of the Executive President. Corruption on the part of a ruling family cabal was rampant and ugly. Shaky at its best, the scales of the State tilted dangerously towards raw, naked authoritarianism. Editors and journalists were assassinated, beaten up and threatened. A decades-long secessionist war fought by the LTTE in the Northern peninsula was brought to a bloody end in 2009 but even after, terror continued to stalk the land.

Yet the stage for this departure from the democratic path had been set quite a while ago. Prolonged ethnic conflict and more sporadic but equally violent clashes between the majority Sinhalese government and rebellious Sinhalese youth in the South had paved the way for emergency law to become the norm. Checks and balances once holding arbitrary executive discretion in check became weaker. Under the Kumaratunga Presidency, a Supreme Court headed by her handpicked Chief Justice in 1999 became politicised with severe adverse impact on a once revered institution. Attacks on critical journalists waxed and waned with criminal defamation law being used to stifle dissenters until a vigorous media-led campaign resulted in its repeal.

So to many, the excesses of the Rajapaksa Presidency was a natural  and logical  culmination of what had preceded. Regardless, a restive if not angry populace was ripe for change when, following a surprise announcement of a premature Presidential election, Rajapaksas onetime Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena deserted his party leader and contested the elections with the support of Ranil Wickremesinghe, leader of the (then) opposition United National Party (UNP) after months of covert planning. It was an explosive electoral challenge in the best traditions of excitable party politics, catching the imagination and hope of Sri Lankan citizens who voted for the imprudent challenger. But the 2015 reformist agenda of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe coalition is now facing grave internal subversion by forces that were very much part of the earlier anti-democratic establishment.

Great expectations; the Governments reform agenda

One major thrust of reform concerned the restoration of the Rule of Law including the independence of the judiciary, the enactment of a Right to Information law and a Contempt of Court Act, the broad-basing of state-owned media among a host of other pending media law reforms. The other equally imperative focus was on state accountability for war time abuses premised on a consensus resolution on Sri Lanka adopted at the United Nations Human Rights Council.

However, progress has been faltering. Indeed, in some respects, there is regression. For example, the Government promised to repeal or reform the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) under which journalists and activists had been routinely imprisoned. But now, a draft Counter-Terror Act (CTA), conceived in secret and running to more than fifty pages, has far more terrifying potential to restrict civil liberties than the PTA.

Where accountability is concerned, little of significance has happened apart from an Office of Missing Persons which remains yet inactivated. Similar dysfunction affects a Victim and Witness Protection Authority. In addition, hawkish elements within the Government are denying the right of immediate legal counsel to a suspect upon being arrested. Cases relating to the killings and beatings of journalists are yet pending.

Emblematic cases of gross human rights abuses against Tamil civilians under the previous regime suffer a similar fate. Absent sufficient pressure from civil society, the members of which have now been co-opted in great part into ad hoc task forces, punishing perpetrators through a radically reformed criminal justice system has been replaced by a spluttering Colombo-centered transitional justice process. This has been an early victim of the huge gap between what the Government promised and what it can actually deliver. Ambitious constitutional reform plans are similarly bedevilled. Corruption investigations into the near-bankrupting of the state coffers by the Rajapaksas have also stalled. Emboldened, the former Presidents supporters have become increasingly more vociferous.

Encouraging use of RTI across the country

The one exception to this sad litany of non-performance is that on June 23, 2016, Parliament unanimously passed the Right to Information (RTI) Act. This was a result of persistent advocacy for over one and a half decades by editors, lawyers, media activists and civil society activists. A key pivot thereto was the 1998 Colombo Declaration on Media Freedom and Social Responsibility, which focused on RTI as a legislative imperative. Earlier, a Prime Ministerial committee had drafted the 2004 Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill which was approved by the Cabinet. However the premature dissolution of Parliament resulted in the 2004 Bill being discarded. Some unsuccessful revivals were attempted in later years, one such effort being notably by the present Speaker of Parliament Karu Jayasuriya then an opposition parliamentarian. But the Bill was re-activated as a template only in 2015 with the change of regime. Following sleepless days of hectic drafting and after public consultations, the revised version now named the Right to Information (RTI) Bill was approved by the Cabinet.

The Bill passed the test of legal challenge before the Supreme Court subject to certain modifications. To the surprise of those anticipating vigorous opposition on the floor of the House, it was passed with nary an opposing vote. As a member of both drafting committees in 2004 and 2015/2016, this was a rare day of rejoicing for me. Some months ago, a constitutional amendment had also enshrined the right of access to information. RTI was therefore backed by two supports; one, constitutional and the other statutory. That said, the fact that the constitutional restrictions (drafted differently to the statutory process) were somewhat broader in scope did give rise to unease. Nonetheless, there was much to be pleased about.

Since the Act and its Regulations with the Rules of the Commission on Fees and Appeals were operationalised on February 3, Sri Lanka has been ranked globally as having the third best RTI regime. No state agency is exempted from its reach unlike other information laws in the region. For the past two months, the use of RTI has been quite diverse and vigorous. This is a positive factor even though I cannot comment on specific cases.

Will RTI be an exception to a discouraging pattern of practically ineffectual good laws in Sri Lanka? Will it radically transform the culture of secrecy that holds the political and public service establishment in an iron grip? Answering these questions require prophetic ability. But unlike other laws which depend on dysfunctional state institutions, RTI can be directly used by citizens to provoke, needle and demand accountability from government and non-government entities. Early signs of its enthusiastic use are encouraging.

Conclusion

Ambitious reform plans of Sri Lankas coalition leadership have been slowly collapsing into disarray. True, citizens now live free from the threat of enforced disappearances and blatant misuse of power. Moreover, there is freedom of public debate which was once a luxury. Nonetheless, as has been repeatedly emphasised in my weekly column to the Sunday Times, Colombo, the coalition Governments incessant refrain that things are not bad as they once were, is no answer. Setting the bar of comparison based on the previous regime is akin to no standard at all.

And freedom of expression is of limited use when structures of state power remain impervious. In addition, increased criticism appears to be having a bitter impact. The Government has vowed to bring in a regulatory framework for print, electronic and online media. While media professionalism has deteriorated badly, mostly due to journalists being bludgeoned literally and metaphorically in the past, government regulation is unquestionably not the solution to that problem. Cloaked in the deceptively misleading language of independent regulation such innocuous experiments are often twisted to political advantage.

Some in the Government have asserted that RTI is a quid pro quo; in other words, as RTI has been given to the media, it should submit to the proposed regulatory scheme. This argument suffers from a fundamental misconception. RTI is not a privilege to be bestowed at the magnanimity of politicians. Rather it is a peoples right (not limited to the media). Any suggestion of a quid pro quo is unfortunate.

In 2015, democratic change-makers were ordinary citizens from far flung corners of the land who reacted with powerful anger against state-sponsored racism, chauvinism and corruption. But this critical constituency of reform is being eroded day by day. That is regrettable for Sri Lankas people, for the Government which once promised much and most profoundly, for those working for genuine systemic change.

(The writer serves as a Commissioner on Sri Lankas RTI Commission as the nominee of the organisations of editors and publishers. The views expressed are strictly in her personal capacity. This is an edited excerpt of a paper discussed at conference sessions on The Commonwealth and Challenges to Media Freedom hosted by the Institute of Commonwealth Studies (ICwS), April 4th 2017.)
PHOENIX  A key architect of the universal voucher plan approved Thursday is already looking to undermine the key provision of the compromise that secured the votes for the programs expansion.

In a message to financial supporters late Thursday, Darcy Olsen, chief executive officer of the Goldwater Institute, said those who want to give more state money so parents can send their children to private and parochial schools should not be dismayed about the cap of about 30,000 that is in the final version of the bill.

We will get it lifted, Olsen said.

And Olsen didn't even wait until Gov. Doug Ducey had penned his approval hours later to the delicately crafted deal, a deal in which the Goldwater Institute participated  and the deal that managed to bring on the bare minimum 31 votes in the House and 16 in the Senate to secure approval.

The comments angered Sen. Bob Worsley, R-Mesa, who brought all the interests together and corralled the votes.

I just think it's deplorable that she would put that in print, he told Capitol Media Services. And Worsley said what's worse is that Olsen was involved in the talks.

She was negotiating in bad faith with us if that was her intention, he said.

An aide said Olsen was not available to comment. In her place, Goldwater President Victor Riches told Capitol Media Services that her message, meant for long-time donors, should not be taken as a vow to start working to remove the caps  at least not yet.

It was probably not very artfully worded, I would say, Riches said.

But Riches, who acknowledged Goldwater's role in the final deal, would not commit to waiting that full six years before trying to get the cap removed.

We're not interested in making any changes right now, he said. But Riches said he could foresee a scenario where waiting makes no sense.

Let's just say the present cap is hit and there is 20,000 people on the equivalent of a wait list, he said. Would we want to reevaluate that? Yes.

Worsley said that is directly contrary to the whole purpose of cap, which would be about 30,000 by the 2022-2023 school year. He said the next six years are designed to be an experiment to see if it's appropriate to keep the cap, increase it, or get rid of it entirely.

He said the six-year period gives the Goldwater Institute and other supporters of vouchers plenty of freedom to make the case for further expansion.

And Worsley had a message for the institute and anyone else who intends to try to make changes before then.

That will not happen while I'm in the legislature, he said.

But here's the thing: With term limits, Worsley can serve in the Senate only through 2020.

Someone who could be here longer is Ducey. If reelected next year, his term would run through 2022.

Only thing is, the governor, a self-professed supporter of school choice, will not commit to keeping the voucher limits in place through the end of his time in office.

We have to see how the program works, press aide Daniel Scarpinato said when asked if Ducey would veto any changes before then. Scarpinato said it's premature to even be talking about changes as the law has not even taken effect.

What makes Ducey's views so significant is that the ability of Olsen to pull apart the deal and scrap the caps could be dependent on whether the governor goes along.

The Goldwater Institute has links with the governor.

Riches had previously been Ducey's deputy chief of staff. Christina Corieri, Ducey's education policy, came from the Goldwater Institute.

Ducey also tapped prior Clint Bolick, Goldwater's vice president for litigation, as his first pick for the Arizona Supreme Court.

And that doesn't count former Goldwater staffers elsewhere in the Republican power structure, including Michael Hunter as chief of staff to House Speaker J.D. Mesnard.

Those caps Worsley wants protected are the centerpiece of the deal.

Arizona has had vouchers since 2011 when lawmakers agreed to give money to parents of students with special needs who say their youngsters cannot get their needs met in public schools. Since then there has been incremental expansion to cover children on Indian reservations, students in schools rated D and F, and foster care children.

All along, however, there have been caps, currently about 5,000 students a year, though only about 3,800 have enrolled.

Those caps, however, had been set to self-destruct after 2019.

Along comes Sen. Debbie Lesko, R-Peoria, who sought to remove all those limits on who was eligible. And once those caps were gone, that would have entitled all 1.1 million students in Arizona schools to get a state-funded voucher, formally known as an empowerment scholarship account, to attend a private or parochial school.

That proved unpalatable to a majority of lawmakers.

The new law Worsley shepherded through the legislature on Thursday phases out all of the restrictions between now and 2020 on who can seek a voucher. On paper, that would make all public school students eligible for a voucher. But under the deal, the caps would remain, though they would increase slowly to about 30,000 by the 2022-2023 school year.

It wasn't just Worsley's vote that the hard cap through 2022 helped secure.

For example, in a prepared statement after the vote, Rep. Maria Syms, R-Paradise Valley, said she was convinced to go along because the bill phases in expansion and puts a firm cap on the current program's unlimited expansion.

The caps are not the only changes that Worsley made to Lesko's original universal voucher plan to line up the necessary votes.

Another key change deals with the cost of the vouchers themselves, those debit cards given to parents of eligible children to spend on everything from tuition and fees at private schools to tutors and even supplies for those who educate their children at home.

Under current law, a student without special needs coming from a public school would be eligible for a voucher of about $5,600 a year. That actually is more than the state now provides in aid to the district had the student remained in school.

The final version of the bill decreases that basic voucher to $4,400.

Worsley said he tried to get a means test which would have narrowed the eligibility to the most needy but found he could not get support for that. What he did manage to secure is a provision that provides a 10 percent boost in the voucher for students coming from homes where family income is less than 250 percent of the federal poverty level, a figure that currently equals $60,750 for a family of four.

There also is, for the first time ever, some public accountability for whether those vouchers actually result in better educational outcome.

Any student in grades 3 through 12 is required to annually take either a nationally recognized or state-approved assessment that assesses reading and math. While individual results are reported to the parents, any school that accepts at least 50 students who are using vouchers to pay for tuition must also post the aggregate test scores of all students, voucher and not, in that each grade.
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Apr 7 (PTI) With the arrest of a 22-year-old man, said to be infatuated with journalist Aparna Kalra (45), Delhi Police today claimed to have solved the case of a brutal attack on her at a park in northwest Delhi.

The accused, Sanjay (22), is a school dropout. He used to work in a nail polish factory, police said, adding that he had five siblings and his father owned a chaat cart.

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He was arrested today from the Sawan Park slums.

"Was highly concerned about the assault case on our media friend Ms Kalra. I congratulate NW Distt team for quickly solving this blind case (sic)," tweeted Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik.

The incident occurred in the evening of April 5 when Kalra had gone for her routine walk to Picnic Hut, a park at northwest Delhis Ashok Vihar, which is usually crowded at that time of the day.

The accused was identified after questioning various people, including the regular visitors to the park, said DCP (Northwest) Milind Mahadeo Dumbere.

Police began rounding up the rogue elements, drug addicts and those who had previous criminal records in the area. Some of those detained told the police about the presence of the accused at the park at the time of the incident.

"He confessed that he had seen Kalra at the park around 8-10 times and was infatuated with her. He accosted Kalra to talk to him, with a view to befriend her, but in vain. In a fit of rage, he attacked her with a stone," said another officer.

Sources claimed that the accused had consumed liquor before coming to the park on that day with an intention to sexually assault her. As Kalra did not pay heed to him, he attacked her with a stone.

As Kalra raised an alarm, the accused fled.

He was neither aware of the fate of the journalist nor of the subsequent uproar the incident had created, police said.

Meanwhile, the police said Kalra was recovering and showing signs of improvement.

The incident has brought the issue of womens safety back to focus in the national capital and Delhi Police has come under attack from various quarters, including the Delhi Commission For Women, for not doing enough to curb crimes against women.

"Sad, shameful and horrific. Delhi is very unsafe for women. She is critical, suffered grave injury. Its pathetic (sic)," tweeted DCW chief Swati Maliwal.

However, the police sought to assuage these concerns.

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"Womens safety is our utmost priority. With our newly launched Prahari scheme, under which the security guards will be trained by the police to act as informers, we aim to address the issue more effectively," said DCP (Crime) Madhur Verma, who is also the PRO of Delhi Police. PTI SLB RC

--- ENDS ---
Police arrested a top leader of banned militant outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), related with killing of Avijit Roy and many other bloggers and writers.

By Sahidul Hasan Khokon: Police arrested a top leader of banned militant outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), related with killing of Avijit Roy and many other bloggers and writers.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Deputy Commissioner Masudur Rahman said, "we have arrested Hafez Maolana Md. Maksudur Rahman alias Abdullah, 31 years old, who is an active member of ABT's Shariah Board."

He also said, "The members of DMP arrested the mastermind from Jatrabari area of the capital on Friday night. A case was filed against him under the Anti-Terrorism Act in Jatrabari police station. "

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Police said that the sacked army Major Syed Ziaul Haque, the chief of ABT's army wing, used to obtain consent of Sharia Board formed by some top leaders before killing anyone.

Police made this statement after arresting a number of ABT members, linked with the one more killings.

Meanwhile, High Court has upheld the death sentence of two militants over blogger Ahmed Razib's killing in Mirpur area of the capital on 15th February, 2015 and prison terms of another six militants including militants' leader Mufti Jasimuddin Rahmani.

Also read:

Bangladesh HC upholds death penalty of 2 Islamists

--- ENDS ---
Tauranga Citizens Advice Bureau celebrated their 40th birthday on Wednesday night, acknowledging the service of volunteers past and present.

Invited guests filled the Tauranga Art Gallery to hear speeches and enjoy the food and company provided.

Tauranga Citizens Advice Bureau chairperson Keryn Rennie read out messages of congratulations from other bureaus, as well as messages from local MPs who were unable to attend due to parliament sitting at the time.

Glenn Harris from Baywide Community Law then apologised on behalf of Simon Bridges, who could not attend due to his parliamentary duties, before praising the good work the Citizens Advice Bureau does.

The volunteers are the strength of the Citizens Advice Bureau. Theres no bureau without them.

Afterwards, Keryn and life member Vivienne Andrews cut the cake, ushering in the socialising portion of the night.

Tauranga Citizens Advice Bureau manager Kim Saunders says their role in the past four decades has simply been to provide advice and information to those who need it.

We wont solve a problem for people, but we can empower them to find ways to solve it themselves.

The bureau has a service contract agreement with both the Tauranga City Council and the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, but they rely heavily on the support of volunteers.

Weve got fifty-odd volunteers, most of whom do one shift of four hours per week. Many are doing a lot more than that, though, and were recruiting at the moment.

She says the Tauranga branch is open 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday, while their satellite bureau in the community centre at Papamoa is open 10am-1pm from Tuesday to Thursday.

We deal with about 12,000 people a year, although not all of that is face-to-face. People can get in touch via email or phone as well. We provide advice on a range of issues, including immigration, employment, neighbour disputes, and parenting.

If youre in need of their services, get in touch via the Tauranga Citizens Advice Bureau website.
UPDATED 3.10PM: The exclusion zone cordon setup around Edgecumbe has been adjusted to allow some East Bank Road residents back to their homes.

A Whakatane District Council spokesperson says the adjustment applies to a total of five residences who will be notified as soon as possible.

The cordon will be further adjusted as soon as safety requirements allow.

The spokesperson also confirms water has also been reconnected to homes on East Bank Road.

In Edgecumbe alone, 1600 people have been displaced by the breaching of the floodwall on the Rangitaiki River.

Flood-affected residents who have any concerns or need information should call Whakatane District Council on 0800 306 0500.

EARLIER 1.55PM:

Two community meetings will be held today for flood-affected residents evacuated from their homes.

A Whakatane District Council spokesperson says the first meeting will be held at 4pm at Rautahi marae in Kawerau, while the second will be held at 6pm at the Whakatane War Memorial Hall.

Local representatives, as well as members of the Whakatane Emergency Response Team, will be there to answer any questions the community may have.

The spokesperson says a breach repair thats currently in place is working well and water is no longer flowing into Edgecumbe anymore. Water levels continue to drop around the Edgecumbe area, however the council anticipates it will take up to 10 days to dry.

Residents may be away from their homes for up to 10 days and some Taneatua residents have also been evacuated due to flooding, which has prompted concerns about pets welfare.

Whakatane Emergency Response Team, with support from the SPCA, has been working together to search for animals in Edgecumbe.

Residents in need of animal welfare support should call 0800 306 0500.

Due to the risk of contamination from flood waters, a boil water notice also remains in effect for Taneatua residents, alongside Te Teko/Mapou, Edgecumbe, Awakeri, Braemar and the entire Ruatoki and the Rangitaiki Plains areas.

EARLIER:

The Edgecumbe township remains cordoned off to ensure public safety while flood waters are still being managed and pumped away.

While a breach in a Rangitaiki River stopbank was closed overnight night and water levels have dropped, a Whakatane District Council spokesperson says an exclusion zone will remain in place.

Along with public safety, the exclusion zone also protects people from sanitation risks associated with sewage system failures and surface water contamination. Only response service personnel are allowed into the cordoned off area.

In Edgecumbe alone, 1600 people have been displaced by the breaching of the floodwall on the Rangitaiki River.

Residents may be away from their homes for up to 10 days and some Taneatua residents have also been evacuated due to flooding, which has prompted concerns about pets welfare.

Edgecumbe residents will not be allowed to return until the flood waters and contamination concerns are controlled and the Medical Officer of Health has cleared the area as safe.

Evacuees are being encouraged to either go to friends and family, or to the welfare centres located at Whakatanes War Memorial Hall and Kaweraus Rautahi Marae on Onslow Street.

The district council also encourages all evacuees to register at the welfare centres.

There are still people isolated in the communities of Minginui, Ruatahuna, Te Whaiti and Ruatoki.

Civil Defence staff have established key contacts in those areas. Emergency supplies are being delivered by air and ground crews are working to restore road access as quickly as possible.

People in those isolated communities have been gathering at their local Kura Kaupapa or other community hubs and are encouraged to contact the Whakatane District Council to request further information or welfare support.

While more rural landowners in the Rangitaiki drainage area may be affected as floodwaters move down through the catchment.

Flood Management teams are monitoring the situation and further evacuations will be notified as required.

Bay of Plenty District commander Superintendent Andy McGregor says police would like to thank the residents of Edgecumbe for their continued co-operation and patience while they are unable to return to their homes.

Wed like to reassure residents that we have not received any reports of looting since the town was evacuated on Thursday morning.

Our officers are maintaining security checkpoints and patrols around the town and will continue to do so, throughout the day and night, to help keep homes and property safe.

Police also understand people may have concerns about the security of their homes following the evacuations

But Andy says its important they do not return until it is made clear by the appropriate authorities that it is safe to do so.

This morning the Whakatane Emergency Response Team, with support from the SPCA, Ministry for Primary Industries and Massey University experts, are also on the ground going door-to-door searching for animals in Edgecumbe.

But residents needing animal welfare support are being asked not attempt to return to homes at this stage but call the Whakatane District Council on 0800 306 0500 or 07 306 0500.

DONATIONS FOR FLOOD-AFFECTED COMMUNITIES

The Whakatane District Council is are aware people are kindly donating small goods and food to flood affected residents.

But a spokesperson says the relief effort does not require any donated goods, and at this stage they are only able to manage financial assistance at this stage.

An official Mayoral Fund Give a Little page has been set up for the Edgecumbe and Eastern Bay of Plenty Mayoral Flood Appeal.

Money raised through the appeal will be used to fund applications made to the Mayoral Relief Fund to assist people affected by this weeks flooding events.

People can donate at https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/ebopmayoralfund

Offers of assistance should also be directed to the Give a Little fund or by calling Whakatane District Council on 0800 306 0500. Red Cross is also fundraising.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Go Bus drivers in Tauranga are refusing to work overtime which may result in a disruption to services next week.

A spokesman, who spoke to SunLive on the condition of anonymity, says more than 50 drivers will work their rostered shifts, but nothing more than that, from next Monday to Thursday, April 10-13.

He says this upcoming action is a result of failed negotiations concerning pay and working conditions between drivers and Go Bus.

The company relies heavily on drivers working overtime, and are regularly short by 10-15 drivers.

So were withdrawing our labour and refusing to work on our rostered days off, which is perfectly legal for us to do so, and this may cause some disruption to normal bus services over that period which we do regret.

The spokesman says theyve been in negotiations with Go Bus in one form or another for the past 12 months, but the co-op of drivers was only established in the past month.

Weve formed ourselves into a type of co-op because we realise theres strength in numbers. Not all drivers are in the co-op, but the vast majority are - well over 50 drivers.

The spokesman says their demands focus squarely on better pay and improved working conditions.

According to the spokesman, drivers are currently paid $17.10 an hour. In 2016, theyd received a 7 cent per hour pay rise, but to be fair this year they also received a 2.4 per cent salary.

But that 2.4 per cent increase only just makes up for last years debacle. We just really want to head towards a living wage, $17.10 is only just over the minimum wage and when youve got families trying to survive on that, it just doesnt work.

The co-op also wants safer working conditions for drivers and are demanding video cameras within the buses cabs, plus some form of security measures to protect drivers from abusive passengers.

There were 12 drivers assaulted last year, one a month, and management made absolutely no comment about them, they didnt talk to the staff about them, didnt talk to the drivers about the fact we were being assaulted in such large numbers.

The company has said theyll look into it but as theyre in contract negotiations with the [Bay of Plenty Regional Council they wouldnt promise anything. But they need to realise we dont like leaving home with our spouses or partners saying dont get yourself punched out today.

We want cameras within the cab of the bus and some form of security.

Taurangas bus service is provided by transportation company Go Bus and is managed by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.

But regional operations manager Darryl Bellamy says Go Bus has not been formally notified of the planned action and theres also been no formal negotiations between the company and drivers.

Due to the lack of formal notification or negotiation, further investigation is needed and Go Bus was not prepared to comment on the drivers planned action, adds Darryl.
When little Slade Morunga quickly made his way into the world last Monday after a one-hour labour, he had no idea he was making history.

Slades mother Kiley Morunga is the first to give birth to three babies at Bethlehem Birthing Centre, which opened in November 2014.

Kiley now has three birthing centre boys  Gene was born there in December 2014, just three weeks after the birthing centre opened, and Tyrese in March 2016.

She also has a daughter, Alizaye, 11, who was born at Tauranga Hospital.

The Parkvale mother says midwife Lyn Allport encouraged her to birth at the birthing centre because she had heathy pregnancies and babies.

All her children were born without intervention or pain relief.

I have quick labours  I have them within the hour. It doesnt really kick in until I arrive at the birthing centre, then I have a couple of pushes and theyre out.

Kiley says she enjoyed the space and quiet of the birthing centre, with its supportive staff and yum food  she devoured High Tea after Slade was born at 3pm.

With three boys under three, Kiley says she wants to have a rest before deciding whether to have a fifth child.

She and her partner Ed are hoping that the small age gap between their boys will mean they grow up the best of friends.

Bethlehem Birthing Centre co-founder and director Chloe Wright says she was delighted to learn of the birth of Slade, who was nearly two weeks overdue and weighed 3.1kg.

All mums need a little help and my first thought was what we can do to help Kiley and her beautiful family, she says.

Its a special milestone to have the first mother to have three babies at the centre. Tauranga women have really embraced the birthing centre since we opened for births in November 2014.

Were grateful to our staff, midwives and families for their support.
Sushil Modi has leveled charges against Lalu and his family members of owning a land worth Rs 200 crore illegally in Patna and constructing a mall worth Rs 750 crore.

By Rohit Kumar Singh: A day after alleging RJD chief Lalu Prasad and family of amassing "benami" property worth Rs 950 crore, BJP leader Sushil Modi has stated that he will be going to whichever agency possible, be it the Income Tax department, Enforcement Directorate or the Railway Ministry to ensure that the guilty are punished in the case.

Modi has leveled charges against Lalu and his family members of owning a land worth Rs 200 crore illegally in Patna and constructing a mall worth Rs 750 crore, work on which is underway.

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"I am not going to spare Lalu Prasad and his family members who have committed a serious crime by acquiring benami property to the tune of Rs 950 crore. I will go to Income Tax department, Enforcement Directorate and CBI with the proof. This is clear case of forming shell company and converting black money into white," said Sushil Modi, senior BJP leader.

Modi said that he will also be meeting Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu soon, seeking an inquiry into how Lalu in 2005, as railway minister facilitated sale of two hotels belonging to the railways in Ranchi and Puri to businessman Harsh Kochar.

He further said that the land on which the mall is being constructed in Patna was gifted by Harsh Kochar to Lalu for facilitating sale of hotels belonging to Railways to the former.

"This matter needs to be investigated as to how hotels belonging to Railways were sold to Harsh Kochar and how two acres of land in Patna was given to Lalu for mere Rs 4 lakh when that land is worth Rs 200 crore," said the former deputy chief minister.

Also read:

Sushil Modi accuses Lalu Prasad Yadav of acquiring benami property worth Rs 950 crore

Sushil Modi calls for ouster of Tej Pratap Yadav over soil purchase scam

--- ENDS ---
The Bhartiya Janata Party will be observing mass communal dining with Dalits all across UP on Ambedkar's birth anniversary on April 14.

The BJP will be observing mass communal dining with Dalits all across UP on Ambedkar's birth anniversary on April 14.

By Siddhartha Rai: The BJP apparatus is turning into a war machine.

Having posted a thumping victory in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, the party's agenda for inclusion of Dalits into its vote-base is getting stronger.

Thus, in yet another move to appropriate Dalit icon Babasaheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar, aimed at consolidating the Dalit section which the party weaned away from the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party in the state, the BJP will be observing mass communal dining with Dalits all across UP on Ambedkar's birth anniversary on April 14.

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The party is holding a series of organisational activities, since April 6, its founding day, which would culminate in the communal dining programme on April 14. "Earlier, we used to celebrate the birth anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar as local BJP units across the country would garland the Dalit icon's statues. This time around we have decided that we shall take his message and life to the people and among our workers and members," UP BJP spokesperson, Chandra Mohan told Mail Today.

Earlier, party offices from states to the central headquarters in New Delhi used to commemorate the day by garlanding the photo of Babasaheb.

At these events the party leaders would routinely discuss Ambedkar's contribution as a national leader to the society and polity of the country.

This would be followed by visits to 'seva bastis'.

This year, the pitch is stronger and more uniformed. To make the programme effective in the sense that it reached the lowest levels of social organisation, the party would be holding communal dining would be held at the mandal level. "Top party functionaries and leaders would be attending the communal dining programmes to express solidarity with the marginalised of the country and as a token of protest against caste-based discrimination," Mohan said.

The RSS and the BJP have maintained their anti-caste stand since their very inception and dining with the Dalit community has been one of the ways to express their defiance. "Even in our organisation, the culture is to refer to people by their first name only," he added.

The RSS has maintained ideologically that it stands against caste-based discrimination though it does not advocate destruction of caste. 'Roti-Beti' (food and inter-caste marriages) is how the Sangh has explained its stand on the issue of caste.

Moreover, to incorporate ever larger sections of lower castes into its fold, the RSS and its affiliates have professed the idea of 'One Graveyard, One Temple and One Well' signifying the decimation of discrimination in food, place of worship and source of water.

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In the party organisation, a group of 10 booths is called a Shakti Kendra. At these kendras, the cadre and members would be tutored on the party's and the Central government's achievements.

Also Read:

After UP election, BJP prepares a fresh Dalit-oriented strategy eyeing 2019 polls

Amarinder Singh cabinet has 3 Dalits despite 32 per cent vote share, Jat Sikhs continue to rule Punjab

--- ENDS ---
Nearly a year ago, as his son lay dying, John Jenkins heard God telling him to write a book and share his sons story with others.

The Lord gave me the name of the book and the first line, Yesterday, I buried my oldest son, so I had to start writing it the first day after the funeral, said Jenkins, pastor of Austinville Pentecostal Holiness Church.

The result is Thirty Nine and Letting Go: A Fathers Journey Through a Sons Addiction and Depression. In the book, Jenkins recounts how his son went from a successful airman and veteran to a man tormented by depression and drug addiction.

He had a perfectly normal, successful life until surgery got him hooked on pain pills, Jenkins said of his son, who married and joined the Air Force after graduating from high school. In the military, Joshua earned accolades and awards, including being named Airman of the Year in 2000. After his military service, he and his wife moved to West Virginia, where he worked at the VA Hospital.

While in the Air Force, Joshua encountered asbestos while doing demolition work.

His sinuses stayed inflamed after that, his father said. When he was in his mid-20s, Joshua had sinus surgery, changing the trajectory of his life.

That was the day the Josh we all knew died, and the second Josh we buried last summer (appeared), Jenkins said. The surgery awakened an addiction in him, and he fought it ever since.

Small in stature, Josh suffered from low self-esteem and depression as well, his father said.

But he was intelligent and a hard worker, Jenkins said. He was very focused and driven until he had the surgery. He was a very gifted artist and would rather draw than watch TV.

A self-portrait drawn by Josh is on the cover of his fathers book.

Throughout the turmoil of Joshs addiction, Jenkins said he and his wife, Millie, never hid the truth about what was happening to their son.

We learned to be honest, he said. There is no need to hide it. A lot of people have it going on. We wanted to tell our own truth. We wanted people to hear the truth from us so people would not make up their own truth about his life. Thats what he wanted. He never wanted to pretend he didnt have a problem.

Josh dreamed of defeating his demons and sharing his story with others fighting similar battles, his father said.

In June of last year, Josh was in a single-car wreck on Route 100 in Giles County and suffered severe brain trauma. Jenkins doesnt know what caused the wreck, but writes that excessive drug use was likely involved. After 10 days in a coma, Josh died on June 17 at the age of 39.

I feel compelled to tell his story, Jenkins said. I want to tell his story and reach the people he wanted to reach. Its a real book; its not a fairy tale. It doesnt end with the prince and princess riding off on a white horse. It ends with a funeral.

At the end of the book, Jenkins mentions lessons he learned along the way.

You have to hold the addicts feet to the fire as much as you can, he said. I didnt do that so I didnt have a good result, so I see the mistakes I made. Be truthful; dont look past things that make you suspicious. And dont hope it will go away by burying your head in the sand; you have to stay active in their issues.

In addition to writing the book, Jenkins created a web page and blog about his life after the death of his oldest son. In his blog, he writes about various topics, including his grief, Christianity and addiction. His website address is www.johnbjenkins.com.

Jenkins is eager to share is message with others, including churches, clubs and recovery groups. Thirty Nine and Counting is available in print and as an e-book through Amazon, and Barnes and Noble for less than $10.

Its not a long book, he said. We made it affordable. Its an easy read  most people say they can read it at one sitting. Its not filled with answers but is filled with things people can connect with. I hope I can help people struggling with the same issues.

To contact Jenkins, email him from his website or call him at 540-599-6257.

To reach Millie Rothrock, call 228-6611, ext. 35, or email mrothrock@wythenews.com.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A woman is accused of kicking a houseguest out of her home and then breaking a glass vase over another guest's head and then holding a carving fork to her neck.

Syracuse police officers responded just after 11:30 p.m. on March 26 to a house in the 300 block of West Brighton Avenue for a reported assault.

When officers arrived they found 22-year-old Lesa L. Stanley holding the back of her head and bleeding heavily. She told officers she and a friend had been staying with Sarah Mathews for a few days.

At one point the friend and Mathews began arguing and Mathews locked her out of the house, police said in a report.

Stanley said that when she tried to unlock the front door to let her friend back in, Mathews hit her on the back of the head with a glass vase. She is then accused of holding a metal carving fork to Stanley's neck, swearing and telling her to get out.

Stanley was taken by American Medical Response ambulance to Upstate University Hospital where she received several stitches, police said.

When officers went to talk with Mathews, she immediately tried to kick several pieces of broken vase that were in her entryway, police said. She is also accused of swearing at an officer and telling him to get off her porch.

Officers, who said in a report that Mathews appeared intoxicated, arrested her. They took photos of the vase and carving fork and collected them as evidence.

Mathews, 44, of Syracuse, was charged with second-degree assault, fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon and second-degree menacing.
ALBANY, N.Y. -- State lawmakers have agreed to raise the age at which those suspected of crimes can be charged as adults, part of a sweeping agreement reached Friday night on the state's $150-plus billion budget.

New York was one of two states in the country that charged 16- and 17-year-olds accused of crimes as adults. Critics of the policy said it ensnared some vulnerable teens in a life of crime and was overly punitive to developing teenagers.

However, opponents of raising the age were concerned it would let teenagers accused of serious crimes off the hook. The particulars of what crimes would still potentially result in prison sentences were one of the main reasons the state budget was seven days late this year.

Members of the state Assembly have brought so-called "Raise the age" legislation in Albany for at least 12 years before finally being agreed upon Friday night.New York Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie's office released a statement with the details.

He said, under the new law, cases involving 16- and 17-year-old defendants will go through the following process:

Civil violations like possession of small amounts of marijuana vehicle and traffic misdemeanors like DWIs will still be handled in local court;

Other misdemeanors will be handled in family court;

Felony charges would originate in a newly established "Youth Part" of the criminal court, presided over by a family court judge, and defendants will be given access to "intervention services and programming";

Non-violent felony charges will be sent to family court, unless the district attorney moves to retain the case in the "Youth Part" in criminal court in "extraordinary circumstances";

Violent felony charges would remain in the "Youth Part" and subject to a three-part test that "weights the seriousness of the offense" to determine whether the case will be eligible to be moved to family court; and

Cases that can't be removed to family court will be treated as adult cases in sentencing, though the court will be directed to consider defendants' ages when imposing a sentence.

The agreement also deals with the removal of 16- and 17-year-olds from county jails and state prisons. That has implications for the Onondaga County Justice Center, for example, which is dealing with a federal class-action lawsuit on behalf of teens subject to solitary confinement while detained at the jail.

Heastie cited "serious incidents that have resulted from the detention of juveniles on Rikers Island and other correctional facilities in the state" as reason the law deals with teens' removal from county jails.

Under the agreement, inmates at county jails under age 17 by Oct. 1, 2018, and inmates under 18 will be moved by Oct. 1, 2019. They will be sent to "local youth detention facilities" run by the Office of Children and Family Services.

Teen inmates at state prisons will be housed in an "adolescent offender facility" operated by the state corrections department with programs provided by OCFS.

The agreement also allows defendants of any age convicted of "certain non-violent offenses" to apply to courts to have their records sealed 10 years after their sentences are completed.

"A widely recognized obstacle for past offenders in their efforts to move on and live independent, law-abiding lives is the 'scarlet letter' of criminality that follows them post-conviction and incarceration," Heastie's office said in a statement about the need for the reform. "Other than a limited ability to have certain drug offenses sealed following court ordered treatment, there is currently no opportunity for persons with non-violent criminal convictions to ever have their records sealed."
Ronald-Gentle.jpg

Ronald Gentle, 45, of Shortsville, New York, was arrested after an alleged attack on a boy following a trampoline incident.

(Provided)

SHORTSVILLE, N.Y. -- A grandfather from Upstate New York is facing a child endangerment charge after being accused of attacking a boy following an incident on a trampoline.

According to Ontario County sheriff's deputies, the alleged incident began when a Manchester-Shortsville Central School student bumped his head with a younger child while playing on a trampoline in the backyard of a Shortsville residence.

The impact between the pair allegedly caused the younger child to become upset, deputies said. The child proceeded to go to her grandfather's residence on East Main Street in Shortsville to inform him of the collision.

The 45-year-old grandfather then went to the area of the trampoline, and at one point is accused of climbing onto the trampoline and punching the alleged student victim several times, according to deputies.

Police identified the grandfather as Ronald Gentle, WHEC-TV reported.

The alleged incident was witnessed by friends of the student who also attend the school district, deputies said.

The alleged incident was reported to the school resource officer, who took the grandfather into custody.

He was arraigned in Farmington Town Court and released on his own recognizance.

An order of protection was also issued, barring the Shortsville grandfather from having contact with the alleged victim, deputies said.

-- Aaron Curtis, Daily Messenger, Canandaigua, N.Y.

The National Desk contributed to this report.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Anyone heading to see the 12-foot-tall, 10,000-pound trucks Saturday at the

at the Carrier Dome should plan ahead for the event, which is usually sold out.

Syracuse police said spectators should expect traffic delays and arrive early.

There is no drop off or pick up on any of the streets that front the Dome. Police said the public should not try to park near the Dome for the event because all Syracuse University parking lots nearby are by permit only.

To avoid delays on Interstate 81 at the Harrison Street exit, police urged spectators coming from the north to use Interstate 481 south instead.

Parking regulations around the Dome will be enforced, police said, and will ticket vehicles and have them towed if necessary. Authorities suggested using Syracuse University's Manley or Skytop parking lots.

To get to the Manley or Skytop parking facilities:

North of the city: Interstate 81 south to the Brighton Avenue offramp and follow the Dome parking signs.

North or east of the city: Route 481 south to the Brighton Avenue offramp, turn right onto East Brighton Ave then right onto Ainsley Drive and follow the Skytop parking signs.

South of the city: Interstate 81 north to 481 north, to the Rock Cut Road exit. Turn right onto Rock Cut Road, then right on East Brighton Ave and right on Ainsley Drive and follow the Skytop parking signs.
Party president Amit Shah, who is personally supervising the preparations, has sought a detailed report in the slip-up.

By Rakesh Ranjan: The Delhi municipal elections are more than two weeks away, but the Bharatiya Janata Party has already lost six seats.

Amid suspicions of internal sabotage, an embarrassed central leadership has sought a detailed report into the circumstances that led to the rejection of nominations of half-a-dozen BJP candidates for the civic polls. Sources said there was a "deliberate" delay of nearly six hours in releasing the list of candidates on the last day of nominations that led to the setback.

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The BJP has dominated the city civic bodies for years and had announced that it will repeat no councillor for this edition of the polls, fielding only new faces.

Party president Amit Shah, who is personally supervising the preparations, has sought a detailed report in the slip-up. BJP sources said responsibility will be fixed on the state leadership as the party will now only contest 266 seats out of the total 272.

On Monday, the BJP's line-up of candidates was finalised by Shah around 10.30 am but the list was declared over five hours later. "It is an embarrassing situation for the BJP. The state leadership has been asked to explain the delay in announcement of the list even as it had got the nod of Shah. The report will be submitted to the party president," said a national BJP office-bearer.

On Thursday night, BJP general secretary (organisation) Ram Lal held a meeting with senior party leaders and sought to know the reasons behind the blunder.

Union minister Vijay Goel, Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari, senior Delhi BJP leader Vijender Gupta and Delhi BJP general secretaries were present in the meeting. "Delhi BJP leaders were asked to explain rejection of the nominations.

The party has taken a strong note as it has deployed a team of 80 lawyers and over two dozen chartered accountants to oversee nominations," the BJP insider said.

Explaining the delay in announcement of the list, a Delhi BJP leader said the final line-up of 106 candidates was decided by party president Amit Shah at the BJP's Ashoka Road head-quarters around 10.30 am.

However, around 3.30 pm, an incomplete list of candidates was released. Sources said there are allegations that a number of names in the list were changed in this period. "What was the Delhi BJP leadership doing during the filing of nominations? Whose responsibility is this?" a party leader quoted Ram Lal saying in the meeting.

Another meeting of Delhi BJP observers was scheduled for Friday night. While the state election commission rejected the nominations on technical grounds, mainly due to incomplete documentation, Tiwari said the exact reasons can be ascertained only after a thorough inquiry. "The party has taken a serious view of the lapses. An inquiry will be conducted to find out what went wrong," he said.

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Of the six rejected nominations, three were from East Delhi corporation.

Also Read:

Delhi MCD polls: State Election Commission rejects 40 per cent nominations during scrutiny

MCD polls: Delhi Congress launches flash mob to attract voters

Also Watch:

Delhi Dangal: 10 reasons why the MCD poll is important for voters

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Canonical, makers of the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution, recently announced it is pulling out of the mobile device market and will no longer invest in its Unity8 phone and convergence initiative. The decision will also see the company switch back to GNOME for the default Ubuntu desktop when Ubuntu 18.04 LTS arrives.

Ubuntu and Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth said in a recent blog post that he took the view that, if convergence was the future and they could deliver it as free software, that would be widely appreciated both in the free software community and in the technology industry as there is substantial frustration with the existing, closed, alternatives available to manufacturers.

Shuttleworth said he was wrong on both counts, noting that the community viewed their efforts as fragmentation instead of innovation. The industry has not rallied behind the possibility, either, having instead taken what the South African entrepreneur calls a "better the devil you know" approach to such form factors.

Canonical embarked on an ambitious crowdsourced campaign to fund a high-end, Linux-based smartphone called the Ubuntu Edge in mid-2013. The project had a solid showing but fell short of its lofty $32 million goal with only $12.8 million raised.

The group went on to launch a handful of rebadged smartphones and tablets but middling hardware and questionable marketing campaigns ensured Canonical would never make any serious traction.

Shuttleworth said the decision has been very difficult due to the force of his conviction in the convergence future but the choice, he concluded, is ultimately shaped by commercial constraints.
Bypoll for the Dholpur Assembly constituency is being considered crucial in the political circles of both BJP and Congress in Rajasthan.

With Assembly elections in Rajasthan due next year, several believe result of the Dholpur Assembly seat can indicate which way wind is blowing for Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje in the desert state.

Both the BJP and the Congress in Rajasthan launched their senior leaders during campaigning stage.

Several senior BJP leaders and ministers including party leader Vasundhara Raje, BJP state President Ashok Parnami, ministers Younus Khan, Rajendra Rathore, Arun Chaturvedi, have campaigned for party candidate Shobharani Kushwah.

Congress' PCC Chief Sachin Pilot, Girija Vyas, Jitendra Singh, former state Congress President Dr Chandrabhan Singh and several others have campaigned for the Congress candidate Banwari Lal Sharma.

Congress candidate Banwari Lal Sharma is a veteran politician who has been an MLA five times.

BSP MLA from Dholpur, BL Kushwah, had to vacate the seat following his conviction in the infamous Naresh murder case.

Interestingly, BJP decided to put in field Shobharani Kushwah, who happens to be the wife of the convicted BSP leader, BL Kushwah.
Buckle your seatbelts. The car wars between Uber and Waymo has taken an interesting turn.

Uber admitted before a federal court that it found one of the stolen Waymo files on one of its employee's computer. The files are one of the 14,000 documents allegedly stolen by Waymo's ex-employees. This turn of events is part of the ongoing legal battle between Uber and Alphabet Inc., parent company of Waymo.

Anthony Levandowski, one of three Uber employees accused of stealing confidential Waymo files, recently invoked his right against self-incrimination.

Files Found On Computer Of Ex-Waymo-Now-Uber Employee

According to reports, Uber admitted that it found the stolen documents on the computer of Sameer Kshirsagar, an ex- employee of Waymo who now works for Uber. Uber's attorney Arturo Gonzalez confirmed this before the court on April 5.

Kshirsagar is one of three ex-employees of Waymo accused of corporate theft. Waymo claims that he downloaded several trade secrets involving self-driving car technology in June 2016, a month before he joined Radu Raduta and Anthony Levandowski.

After several denials, this is the first time that Uber admitted in possessing the stolen files. However, Uber was quick to distance itself from the issue and deny culpability, saying the documents were not found on Uber's computers.

"We did collect documents from him and thus far we have only found one document from his computers that matches the documents identified in the complaint," Gonzalez said. The names of the five specific documents were partially redacted (upon Waymo's request).

Waymo asked Uber to turn over these documents. However, Uber argued that it cannot give anything from Levandowski without infringing on his Fifth Amendment rights, or the right against self-incrimination.

"I believe that we will demonstrate to you that those 14,000 files never made it to Uber," Gonzalez said.

Who Is Anthony Levandowski?

Just who is Anthony Levandowski and why is Google hot on his trail?

Anthony Levandowski, according to a report, made Google a leader in self-driving vehicles. He began building his own self-driving Prius in 2008 when he was still working on Google Street View Maps. He used the tech of his own startup called 510 Systems. He also built a driverless motorcycle for an event by DARPA, the Pentagon's research department.

Google was initially hesitant to jump onto the self-driving tech but after successful demos (using a self-driving pizza-delivering Prius), Levandowski was able to convince Google's big bosses, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, to buy 510 Systems and his technology. In 2009, Google jumpstarted its self-driving technology Waymo with help from Levandowski.

He got into trouble with Google when he self-lobbied a law in Nevada and California to allow self-driving car tests. His backdoor lobbying ruffled the feathers of Google and thus began the dramatic divorce.

In 2016, he resigned from Google and formed his self-driving truck startup called Otto. His company was later acquired by Uber for $700 million and the rest is history. A month before Otto, Waymo accused him of stealing several confidential documents on self-driving technology.

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NASA's Cassini probe studying the planet Saturn will move into its final journey in a few days prior to the mid-September demise at Saturn's atmosphere.

The U.S. space agency officials announced at a press conference that they are killing the spacecraft in the "Grand Finale," which will start on April 23.

In the final maneuver, Cassini will be on a collision course with the atmosphere of Saturn. NASA has said the spacecraft is facing a fuel crunch and the mission will be wound up by the probe's crash.

The last day of $3.26 billion Cassini will be Sept. 15, when the spacecraft will "break apart, melt, vaporize, and become a part of the very planet it left Earth 20 years ago to explore," stated Cassini project manager Earl Maize.

Even the last leg of Cassini's journey will be unique. Flying over 76,000 miles per hour, the spacecraft will steer through the gap between Saturn and its rings where no spacecraft has hitherto flown. Before ending life at Saturn, Cassini will complete 22 laps in the region.

Avoiding Contamination Of Saturn's Moons

Cassini's crash demise at Saturn has been planned by NASA to avoid any contamination of the nearby moon, which might be harboring alien life. However, before the robot perishes at Saturn, Cassini will be gleaning valued data with its flyby between Saturn and its rings.

"It's a thrilling final chapter for our intrepid spacecraft, and so scientifically rich that it was the clear and obvious choice for how to end the mission," noted Linda Spilker, NASA's scientist involved in the Cassini project at California's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

To Steer Clear Of Aliens In Saturn's Moons

There had been concerns over chances of Cassini's accidental landing on the moons of Saturn. The decision to kill the spacecraft at Saturn was tactical to avoid infestation by any alien organisms. By burning to death, Cassini can be free of hitchhikers.

Cassini's last mission will take it to a final pass by Titan to be slingshot into a new orbit assisted by the moon's gravity. The new orbit will take Cassini into the 1,200-mile gap between the edge of Saturn's atmosphere and innermost rings.

In case any ring particle hits Cassini, the mission will come to a premature end, as the spacecraft will be traveling at a massive speed of more than 70,000 miles per hour.

"At those speeds, even a tiny particle can do damage," noted flight engineer Joan Stupik at Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA.

Scientists are looking for new information to ascertain whether Saturn's rings were as old as the planet, which is 4.6 billion years old, or the rings were formed by the shredding of any comet or moon by the planet's tremendous gravity.

Cassini's Glorious Mission Of 20 Years

Cassini, the nuclear-powered spacecraft with the name Cassini-Huygens, came into Saturn's orbit in July 2004 after being launched in October 1997. Since then, it has been surveying the planet's plethora of moons.

Overall, Cassini mission is considered very productive given the high-value study of Saturn, its rings, and its moons. The images sent by Cassini showcased Enceladus's geysers, hinting an ocean underneath, and Saturn's Earth-like moon, Titan.

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NASAs New Horizons probe has reached the halfway point between Pluto and its second target for flyby, a remote Kuiper Belt object known as 2014 MU69.

New Horizons reached this milestone at midnight UTC last April 3, at a distance of 486.19 million miles from Pluto and the same distance to the distant asteroid.

Kuiper Belt Object Flyby

New Horizons targets swooping past MU69, which is almost 1 billion miles beyond Pluto, on Jan. 1, 2019. This will mark another record for space exploration.

That flyby will set the record for the most distant world ever explored in the history of civilization, noted principal investigator Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute in a statement, dubbing it fantastic to have already accomplished half the journey to the next flyby.

The probes Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) will start to observe MU69 in September.

And while it continues to zoom along, the spacecraft is slightly slowing down as it gets more distant from the sun. At any rate, it is still speeding through the Kuiper Belt at around 32,000 miles each hour.

New Horizons In Action

Also for the first time since December 2014, New Horizons will enter a five-month hibernation later in the week as it faces 466 million miles more into its mission.

Given the groundbreaking Pluto flyby and the 16-month transmission of data obtained from Pluto, the spacecraft had to stay awake for over 2.5 years.

While awake, New Horizons instruments also observed 12 Kuiper Belt objects, studied dust as well as charged particles in the solar systems twilight zone, and evaluated hydrogen gas in the heliosphere, a massive region surrounding the sun through which solar wind reaches and the sun maintains a magnetic effect.

The New Horizons probe arrived at Pluto back in July 2015 after launching from Cape Canaveral in Florida in January 2006. It serves as Plutos first guest from Earth.

At present, it is 3.5 billion miles from our planet, and it takes radio signals five hours and 20 minutes to get from the Johns Hopkins University control center in Maryland to the spacecraft.

Historic Pluto Flyby

The discoveries made by New Horizons in the form of images and space environment data have enhanced scientists knowledge of the Pluto system and offer enough signs and indicators of what can be expected from Kuiper Belt.

They hold solid value as Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, are considered ice dwarfs and distinguished by solid surfaces. Researchers have long speculated whether the great ball of ice could also be capable of hosting life.

Regarding New Horizons wealth of findings, Stern has a couple of favorites, including atmospheric hazes and lower atmospheric escape demolishing previous flyby models; indications of an internal water-ice ocean; and the gradual demystifying of the dark, red polar cap of Charon, to name a few.

The probe successfully imaged a weird and snakeskin-looking terrain on Pluto, or icy ridges that are around 1,650 feet tall and similar to Earths penitentes or bowl-shaped depressions manifesting in cold mountain regions. Apart from having these Earth-like icy ridges, the dwarf planet has also been found to host exotic icy mountains, a blue sky, and an actively evolving surface.

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Hillary Clinton, former secretary of state and the Democratic Party candidate for the 2016 U.S. Presidential Elections, has been laying low since her loss to Donald Trump, but her silence ended when she took to the stage for a Women in the World Summit interview on April 6.

In an interview with New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, Clinton finally spoke up and expressed her sentiments on the outcome of the presidential elections, Russia and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and women's rights.

Hillary Is Doing Fine

If anyone was wondering how the former secretary of state is doing after she lost to Trump, the answer is that she is currently doing fine but she is more worried about the nation, especially after all the Executive Orders and threats to women's health care and health care in general.

"I am doing pretty well [...] as a person, I'm OK. As an American I'm pretty worried," Clinton said.

Clinton also said that she hoped America will finally get to move on to positive developments, but the way things are going, it will take some time before that happens.

On Russia And Putin

Clinton said that she is convinced that Putin and Russia were responsible for the email hacking activity that targeted the Democratic party and that they have to be held accountable.

"It is something that Putin has used inside Russia, outside Russia to great effect [...] if we don't take action together to hold whoever was involved accountable, they will be back time and time again," she said.

She also noted that information became weaponized in the 2016 elections and urged Americans to not be willing to fall victim to such an incident again.

On The Trump Administration

Clinton also expressed her confusion at the government's attacks on certain groups of people - Muslims and women in particular.

"I don't understand the commitment to hurt so many people that this administration, this White House seems to be pursuing," she revealed.

On the bright side, Clinton said that the failure of the proposed replacement for the Affordable Care Act felt gratifying.

"[They] had not a clue what that meant; they had no idea. I don't know that any of them had ever even read the bill - read the law, understood how it worked [...] The things that come out of some of these men's mouths - like, 'Why do we have to cover maternity care?' Well, I don't know, maybe you were dropped by immaculate conception," she said.

On Running For Office Again

Clinton said there were a lot of factors that led to her loss in the elections, including sexism and misogyny. She revealed that she has no plans to run for office again but her fight for women's rights will not stop.

"There are lots of ways to make a difference [...] Rights and opportunities for women and girls is the unfinished business of the 21st century. I think there's a lot to do," she answered.

Watch the full interview below.

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The Food and Drug Administration has granted permission to DNA testing company 23andMe to sell Personal Genome Service Genetic Health Risk or GHR tests for 10 diseases.

For consumers, it is a breakthrough as it eliminates the middlemen, namely health professionals whom they consult for genetic tests.

The tests will help individuals know their genetic vulnerability to various diseases including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

The FDA said in a statement that these are the first-ever direct-to-consumer tests authorized for delivering information regarding an individual's predisposition to certain diseases or conditions.

Advance information helps in modifying one's lifestyle through consultations with health care professionals.

"Consumers can now have direct access to certain genetic risk information," said Jeffrey Shuren, director of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health.

But Shuren asked people to understand that mere genetic risk does not suggest a person will be developing a particular disease.

Genetic Risk Does Not Spell Disease

Even though GHR tests update genetic risk information, the tests will not conclude that a person is at risk of developing a certain disease or condition.

Genetic variants will not lead to the development of a health condition as environmental and lifestyle factors also influence the eruption of a disease.

One major advantage of at-home DNA test will be that it can dispense with the practice of consulting a medical professional for a genetic test. The practice has been that the doctor would order a genetic test for the patients and deliver the results to them. In some cases, patients also have to visit a genetic counselor before doing a genetic test.

To use the genetic test service of 23andMe, a person only has to spit into a tube and send it to the company where the lab will work on extracting DNA from the saliva cells and look for genetic markers using a special chip.

Within two months, the customer will be informed via email that results are ready. The results can be seen online with the interpretation, which will describe risk genes as well as reports of ancestry.

In GHR tests, more than 500,000 genetic variants are searched for, which may be associated with the diseases mentioned below.

 Parkinson's Disease

 Alzheimer's Disease

 Celiac Disease

 Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency

 Early-Onset Primary Dystonia

 Factor XI Deficiency

 Gaucher Disease

 G6PD

 Hereditary Hemochromatosis

 Hereditary Thrombophilia

Meanwhile, the FDA approval has not doused the anxiety over the accuracy of GHR tests.

The website of the National Institute on Aging notes that genetic testing cannot predict a disease with 100 percent accuracy as many other factors also influence the development of diseases.

Milestone In Adoption Of Personal Genetics

The company 23andMe claimed that the FDA approval has been the recognition of its prowess in analytical testing and genotyping with high accuracy thresholds.

"This is an important moment for people who want to know their genetic health risks and be more proactive about their health," said Anne Wojcicki, 23andMe CEO and co-founder. She said it is a milestone in the adoption of personal genetics.

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After amateur astronomers identified four potential Planet Nine candidates, another crowdsourcing astronomy event led to the discovery of four previously unknown gigantic planets orbiting a nearby star.

Australian scientists recruited volunteers to take part in ABC's Stargazing Live event and search for exoplanets among the enormous heap of data recorded by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope.

The information comprises observations of nearly 100,000 stars and could be consulted on the Zooniverse website.

In just 48 hours, more than 7,000 participants to the Zooniverse project, called Exoplanet Explorers, managed to confirm more than 90 new planets in an arduous exercise of cataloging points of interest from the downloaded data.

Amid all the new discoveries, four never-before-seen planets stood out as the most interesting find and will soon be the subject of a published paper, announces the website.

"In the seven years I've been making Stargazing Live this is the most significant scientific discovery we've ever made. The results are astonishing," says astrophysicist Chris Lintott, a professor at Oxford University and the lead investigator from Zooniverse.

Brand New Super-Earths

The newly discovered planetary system was found 600 light-years away in the Aquarius constellation, and is made up of four exoplanets bigger than Earth but smaller than Uranus and Neptune - which classifies them as super-Earths.

Their size is more than double compared with our home planet and they are currently found in orbit around a star 90 percent the mass of our sun.

The star database revealed these planets are crammed together and sit much closer to their star than Mercury is to the sun, making them extremely hot worlds.

Lintott points out that their high temperature, together with the fact they are presumably rocky, makes them unfit for human life.

Fresh readings from the Kepler telescope showed the four planets orbit their star once every three to 13 days.

"The closest of them whips around in just three-and-a-half days, so a year is only three-and-a-half days long," explains Lintott.

Because the new solar system is so much different from our own, this important discovery could shed more light into how planets take shape. Only one or two other similar solar systems have ever been encountered, making the new data highly valuable to the scientific community.

Because the four planets are packed in close proximity to one another, scientists are hoping to find more exoplanets in the star's vicinity.

How The New Planets Were Discovered

The Exoplanet Explorers project is the first time citizen scientists have been able to collaborate and classify fresh data from Kepler. The amateur astronomers combed through data on the brightness of distant stars, looking for blinking patterns that point to a planet in transit.

When planets pass in front of stars as they follow their orbit, the star's emitted light grows paler as seen from Earth. These small changes in light can be difficult to spot and, according to Astronomy Magazine, are often best left to humans to discern, as opposed to computers.

Such citizen science projects rely on sheer numbers to find real objects, meaning the more people identify a planet, the more chances are the planet is in fact real. The gathered observations were analyzed by scientific teams in multiple countries afterward.

In no more than two days, the thousands of volunteers taking part in Exoplanet Explorers provided the amount of investigation "equivalent of a single astronomer working for a couple of years straight, no coffee breaks, no nipping to the loo," says Lintott.

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One of the amateur astronomers who found the four super-Earths is Andrew Grey, a 26-year-old Australian mechanic from Darwin, who will soon see his name on the published scientific paper pertaining to this discovery.

"It's definitely my first scientific publication," said Grey, who told ABC he cataloged around 1,000 stars just in the first night. All the volunteers that contributed to the find will be credited in the study, notes Zooniverse.

Other notable results of the project include the detection of a Jupiter-sized planet 700 light-years away that orbits its star every 24 days, as well as an Earth-sized planet (the smallest one discovered) that only needs 2.2 days to complete its orbit. The closest planet found was another super-Earth 390 light-years away that orbits its red dwarf star every seven days.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
To some, the Apple iPhone 7 Product(RED) may just be another fancy colorway for the flagship, but the sheen and luster go way beyond aesthetics. For the uninitiated, Apple has, for a long time, sold Product(RED) variants of its products, chiefly, but not limited to, iPods. It's the first time for any of its iPhones to receive the Product(RED) treatment, and it's awe-striking, to say the least.

There's plenty of reasons to love the new red-tinged iPhone 7, but there's also one major flaw aesthetics-wise. Here's a rundown of the pros and cons of the new iPhone 7 Product(RED) version.

Love: Buying The iPhone 7 Product(RED) Is For A Good Cause

For each Product(RED) device sold, Apple will add to the Global Fund for HIV and AIDS, as it has done so for many years.

Apple's slew of Product(RED) products renders it as the largest contributor to the Global Fund that supports HIV and AIDS programs. To give you some perspective, Apple has already managed to shell out $130 million out of the $465 the fund has raised. That money goes into the attempt to rid the world of AIDS once and for all.

Buying Product(RED) products will literally save lives, and Apple has done an excellent job raising money for AIDS funding so far. It really all comes down to your desire and willingness to help a charity, and whether you like the iPhone 7 Product(RED) from a design standpoint, which, unfortunately, has one glaring problem  but more on that later.

Love: Just Look At This Thing Of Beauty

Many publications have said that pictures don't do the iPhone 7 Product (RED) justice. While it looks washed out and dull when viewed on the web, real-life encounters with the product itself proves the opposite: it's a thing of beauty. Most obvious is the back panel, which is red with a matte finish. This means it won't be a fingerprint magnet like the Jet Black iPhone 7. There's also a subtle gradient and shading effect happening with the paint job, which makes the color that much more dynamic.

Love: The Details And Subtle Design Elements

While its red color is already a striking feature, what makes the iPhone 7 (Product)RED truly fantastic is its more subtle design elements. It's evident that Apple has carefully thought about the red theme of the phone, even going as far as to design the other, more conspicuous elements around it.

The antennas, for example, blend so well with the whole visual package that one barely notices it at all. The slightly raised camera bump also offers a slightly different look when viewed in different intensities of light.

To cut it short, the iPhone 7 Product(RED) isn't just an iPhone with a simple tinge of color: it's almost this adaptive hue that changes its luster and contrast depending on the surrounding light. In better words, it's eyecandy through and through.

Hate: The Baffling White Front Of The iPhone 7 Product(RED)

It's frustrating to think that the iPhone 7 Product(RED) could have been 100 percent perfect if not for one baffling design element Apple has gone for. Yes, despite the allure of red snaking the whole body of the device, flip it over and you get a white front panel.

Why Apple couldn't have gone for a black front panel is still unknown, but it would have complemented the whole red theme more greatly. The white front panel simply doesn't match the sleek vibe of red on the back: it's much too goody-goody and clean.

Red is, of course, an extremely strong color, and using it on anything is a risk because it's not exactly light on the eyes. But such a risk could have delivered a payoff if the front was black. The white front panel simply casts a deprecating shade over the allure of the whole body.

Of course, design and taste is subjective, and there are some who will absolutely be fine with the white front panel. By the looks of it, however, this just seems like a missed opportunity. Still, the philanthropy and charity aspects alone makes buying the iPhone 7 Product(RED) worth it.

Thoughts about the iPhone 7 Product(RED)? Feel free to sound off in the comments section below!

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A Chhattisgarh news reader was reading out breaking news of people who died in a car accident. She soon realised one of those who died was her husband.

By India Today Web Desk: Surpreet Kaur, 28, is a news reader at Chhattisgarh's private IBC-24 channel. Surpreet did not know that she would have to read the news of her husband's death on TV.

Surpreet read the breaking news of her husband's death in a road accident yet she did not let her emotions come in between.

Surpreet Kaur maintained her calm during Saturday morning's live news bulletin as a reporter called to give in details of a fatal accident involving a Renault Duster car at Pithara in Mahasamund district earlier in the day.

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The reporter told that three of the five people travelling in a Renault Duster were dead. Although, the reporter could not identity the dead.

After receiving the information, Surpreet could figure out that it might be her husband who lost his life in the road accident since he was also to travel in a Renault Duster on the same route, around the same time, along with four companions.

"She is an extremely brave lady. We are proud of her as an anchor, but what happened today has left us in shock," Hindustan Times quoted one of her colleagues.

"She got a sense that it was her husband's vehicle. She read the bulletin and only when she came out of the studio, she started calling her relatives," HT quoted a senior editor.

The editor said the staffers had come to know that her husband was dead while she was reading the news. "But we did not tell her. We did not have the courage," the editor explained.

Watch the video here.

FYI || Mowgli 2.0: Girl found in UP's Katarniaghat forest eats, walks like animals ||

FYI || Humanity derailed: Unhelpful people ignore woman stuck between closing train doors ||

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The Venezuelan leader urged the countries of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) to reactivate their mechanisms of coordinated action. | Read More
"Caste issues are projected in different ways to ensure a majority in each constituency," he said.

By Press Trust of India: Chief Justice JS Khehar today slammed electoral politics in the country by saying that promises made by politicians are 'routinely unfulfilled'. He said that caste issues projected differently to get majority and party manifestos do not have any links to socio-economic justice.

The CJI said that electoral politics in India centres around "mobilisation and politicisation" of the social groups which were poor or disadvantaged and have long remained politically dominant.

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Justice Khehar, who was speaking at a seminar on 'Electoral Issues and Economic Reforms', said, "Caste issues are projected in different ways to ensure a majority in each constituency."

He said that ever since these marginalised sections have begun turning up in larger numbers to vote, it has led to an unprecedented volatility in the electoral outcome.

This has forced political parties to seek new forms of political alignment, social engineering and support, he said.

Despite these changes in the electoral process, the non- fulfillment of poll promises never becomes an electoral issue, the CJI observed.

PARTIES BRAZENLY FIND EXCUSES

"No consequence occurs whether promises are fulfilled or not. Every political party brazenly finds an excuse of not reaching consensus amongst alike partners.

"Even our legal system provides for no consequences to be suffered by political parties if promises made in the manifesto are not fulfilled," he said.

"Uninformed citizenry, with a short term memory forgets and the election manifesto becomes a mere piece of paper. For this political parties have to be made accountable," the CJI said at a seminar here.

Justice Dipak Misra, the next senior-most judge of the apex court, who spoke before the CJI, also stressed on the need for electoral and economic reforms by categorically stating that "purchasing power has no room in an election" and "a candidate must bear in mind that contesting elections is not an investment".

"It is because in an elevated constitutional democracy, purity of election and credibility of the process of election have their signification," he said.

He further said that elections have to be "bereft of criminalisation" and "must be perceived as an activity involving norms of fiscal morality".

CJI QUOTES SUPREME COURT

He said that the apex court had in 1996 said the best available men should be chosen as people's representatives.

"This can be best achieved through men of high moral and ethical values who win elections on a positive vote obtained on their own merit and not by negative vote process of elimination from comparative demerits of the candidates," Justice Misra said.

He also said that candidates and the voters are to remember the old saying that 'out of debt out of danger'.

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Justice Khehar said pursuant to Supreme Court's directions to the Election Commission of India to formulate guidelines with regard to manifestos and freebies, the poll panel has introduced these in the model code of conduct and has been taking action against parties for its violation.

Speaking on the topic of economic reforms, the CJI said economic reforms are "confined only to economic growth and not linked to social and political justice".

"Unconstitutional economics for economic growth produces serious socio-economic ills. Economic reforms take centre stage while democracy in terms of the priorities in the directive principles is overlooked, whereas the Constitution requires just the opposite.

"Consequently, electoral politics does not tell the citizens as to what kind of reforms they are entitled to under the Constitution," he said.

ECONOMIC PROBLEMS AND THEIR IMPLEMENTATION

The CJI said the real problem of economic reforms arises in their implementation.

"This problem arises because the Constitution treats the distribution and use of national wealth generated by the economic system as an integral part of generation of such wealth.

"Interestingly, political parties and their manifestos compartmentalise the generation of wealth separately from its end use," it said.

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Without mentioning the names of the political parties, the CJI referred to the slogans-- 'Your Voice Our Pledge' and 'Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat'-- adopted by Congress and the BJP respectively, in the 2014 General Assembly polls, and said, their manifestos showed "no linkage between economic reforms and the Constitutional goal of socio-economic justice".

The CJI, however, said the land reforms and the Industrial Disputes Act put in place by the government after Independence has resulted in people from the enormous below poverty line being brought into the equally enormous middle class.

"This is the economic reform that deals with and caters to the Directive Principles" and "it is this economic reform which has made all the difference between India and Pakistan", where, the CJI said, individual families own hundreds of villages with the peasants living in mud huts and carrying out farming for the land owners.

Also read:

Allahabad: With PM Modi, CJI Khehar on stage, Adityanath says law is supreme

Supreme Court to hear over 5,000 cases during summer recess to reduce pendency

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By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Apr 7 (PTI) The horrific incident of lynching of a Muslim man at Alwar in Rajasthan for transporting cows today found an echo in the Supreme Court which took note of a plea demanding ban on cow vigilante groups in five BJP-ruled states and Karnataka where the Congress is in power.

The apex court issued notice to Rajasthan, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka governments seeking their stands on the allegation that "ground level" situation in these states was worrisome as such groups were resorting to violence.

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With Alwar incident fresh in the mind, a bench comprising Justice Dipak Misra and A M Khanwilkar preferred not to mince a word and decided to wait for the response of these states which since last year have witnessed a spate of such incidents by cow vigilante groups.

The apex court, which in November 2016 had asked the Centre to look into the plea for banning cow vigilante groups, has not received a response as yet with Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar today only stating that notices were not formally issued to these states earlier and the court had asked the Centre to file a response on the plea filed by Congress party activist Tehseen S Poonawalla.

Todays hearing took place in the backdrop of the issue being raked up in the Rajya Sabha for second successive day with the Congress demanding an apology from Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi for misleading the House with his statement denying lynching of a man in Alwar by such vigilantes.

"Such incidents are happening. The problem is not with the Centre but with the states and at the ground level. Rajasthan is also a party in the case," the advocate, appearing for the Congress activist, told the bench which asked these six states to respond within three weeks.

It has been alleged that cow vigilantes in Rajasthans Alwar had stopped a truck carrying cows from a cattle fair and thrashed its occupants on April 3 leading to the death of a Muslim man.

Such incidents have been reported in past from Maharashtra when on August 21, 2016, a group allegedly chased two trucks carrying bullocks and tried to intercept them without informing the police.

In Uttar Pradesh, gau rakshaks on August 10, 2016 had allegedly thrashed four persons whom they suspected to be "cow thieves" near Jiroli village in Aligarh district.

A 29-year-old man from Karnatakas Udupi district was lynched allegedly by a mob of right-wing groups for carrying cattle in a van on August 17, 2016 and on March 27 this eyear, seven people were arrested for entering and causing violence at a house in Tellar village as they suspected that cattle was being slaughtered there illegally.

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The Hindu right-wing groups had allegedly attacked Muslim cattle traders in June 2016 in Jharkhands Palamu district.

In another incident, two Muslim cattle herders, including a minor boy, were killed and hanged at Jhabar village in the states Latehar district in March 2016.

In Gujarat, a 25-year-old man was in September 2016 allegedly thrashed by cow vigilantes and died at a hospital in Ahmedabad after a calf he was transporting in his vehicle died when it met with an accident.

A cow vigilante group in Somnath district in July 2016 had stripped and beaten up four persons, asking them from where they had got cow hide.

In todays brief hearing, when the bench initially asked these state governments to respond within four weeks, the petitioners counsel said, "We cannot afford to have further such incidents (like Alwar).

"Please ask them to file their reply within two weeks and in the case of Rajasthan, ask a high-level official like principal secretary or the chief secretary to file it".

The apex court then gave three weeks time to these states to respond to the plea and fixed the matter for May 3.

The Supreme Court had on October 21 last year agreed to examine the plea which sought action against cow vigilantes who were allegedly indulging in violence and committing atrocities against Dalits and minorities.

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The Congress activist in his plea has said that violence committed by these gau raksha groups have reached to such proportions that even Prime Minister Narendra Modi had declared them as people who are "destroying the society".

The plea has also alleged that such groups were committing atrocities against Dalits and minorities in the name of protection of cows and other bovines and they were required to be "regulated and banned in the interest of social harmony, public morality and law and order in the country".

"The menace caused by the so-called cow protection groups is spreading fast to every nook and corner of the country and is creating disharmony among various communities and castes," the petition has said.

The plea has also sought to declare as "unconstitutional" section 12 of the Gujarat Animal Prevention Act, 1954, Section 13 of Maharashtra Animal Prevention Act, 1976, and Section 15 of Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Cattle Preservation Act, 1964, which provide for protection of persons acting in good faith under the Act or rules.

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"These laws and the protection granted therewith act as a catalyst in violence perpetrated by these vigilante groups," it said.

Seeking action against the vigilantes, the petition has said that atrocities committed by them were punishable under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of atrocities) Act, 1989. PTI ABA MNL HMP SJK RKS SC

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By Manogya Loiwal : The 14th Dalai Lama today addressed a press meet in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh as he marked his first visit to the state in this decade.

Tawang is very dear to the Dalai Lama as the mountain town is from where he entered India 58 years ago when he exiled himself from Tibet.

The visit has caused consternation in Beijing, which stakes claim to parts of India in the northeast, particularly Tawang.

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At the press meet, the Dalai Lama spoke on a variety of issues, including international affairs, spirituality, and his reincarnation.

He appreciated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's work for farmers' development, reiterated that he is not involved in Tibet politically and quipped about how if there were to be a female Dalai Lama, she would have to be 'very attractive.'

The Dalai Lama had made a similar comment about a female Dalai Lama in 2015 and had sparked furore with critics the comment sexist. He later clarified that he had made that comment half-jokingly.

MAJOR TAKEAWAYS TIBET: 'I am a Tibetan. (But) as far as my responsibility is concerned, all my (political) responsibilities ended in 2011 (when the Tibetan parliament in exile was voted in). My commitment is to preserve ecology and especially Tibet. A Chinese scientist had said Tibetan plateau is a third pole. So even they have realised (its) importance.' INDIA: 'India is the true picture of religious harmony. It is a democratic country with complications. Despite being a centuries old country, it is progressing.' CHINA: 'My friend China always politicises the issue (of me coming to Tawang). A Chinese student told me that his impression about the Dalai Lama had changed. Wrong information is being given to people to China...the people of China are being fooled.' EXILE TO INDIA: 'On 10th March 1959, the uprising happened... Thousands of Tibetian were killed...for one week I tried my best to cool the situation. I had to ask the people not to kill...but then I escaped and entered India. We sent messengers to both Bhutan and India...We were not sure if the Indian side will allow us...we finally reached Tawang.' I AM THE GURU NOW: 'Indians are historically our guru and we are quite the reliable chela. India is the land of Buddha...We (took in) all the knowledge and made it grow as well. India and Tibet relation is very special...now guru has become like a chela...I am the guru now and local people are my chela.' COMING BACK TO TAWANG: 'I feel and have fresh memories...I have been here few times but I like to meet the people...I met an old retired soldier in Assam. I was moved. My friend China always politicises the issue and criticises it.' GOING BACK: 'I think more than 90 per cent of Tibet is keen to bring me back...many are waiting for me. Even millions of Chinese Buddhists want me back. Just when the right signal comes from the Chinese government...I will go back. The Chinese government is against us and has a hard-line (stance) there. I am not seeking independence of Tibet.' NARENDRA MODI: 'I also admire (him)...he is quite active. When he was CM of Gujarat...I went for a Buddhist conference and he came to me and we met. He is doing very good and is working for farmers' development." FEMALE DALAI LAMA: 'Possibility of a female Dalai Lama...is very high in years to come. (But) The next female Dalai Lama should be very attractive.' REINCARNATION: 'Nobody knows (when it will happen). (But) I will take rebirth. I don't know if I am the same spirit of the 13th Dalai Lama. The Chinese government cannot decide who will be the next Dalai Lama. It is quite nonsense. There may be some indication at the time of my death of the next Dalai Lama. I am only one soul.' UNITED STATES: 'America is a leading nation of free world... (But, the) America first policy...I am in disagreement with it. America should act as a leader and its relations for other countries are important. I feel uncomfortable for the new policies.' RELIGIOUS HARMONY: 'Man is a social animal and we need to get inner peace. A human killing another human is no more news. We need to eliminate (this kind of) thinking (about) killing. The use of religion is required for spreading religious harmony. TIBETAN CULTURE: Tibetan language is the best to explain ancient Nalanda thoughts because there is record of every word. Even debates have been added in the language and culture. Preservation of Buddhist culture and language is now important to ensure survival of Chinese Buddhists also. WILDLIFE AND ENVIRONMENT: 'All major rivers originate in Tibet...from Indus to Ganga and from Tsangpo to Brahmaputra. Over one billion lives depend on these rivers so we need to take special care of the Himalayas. Preservation of wildlife and environment (in) Tibet is being done now...' MODERN EDUCATION: 'My commitment is to promoting human value and compassion. Unfortunately modern education (has a slant toward) materialistic teaching. And not human values. We (also) need to produce a curriculum with secular ethics.'

ALSO READ | Tawang a part of China, Dalai Lama's visit would hurt ties, says Beijing think tank

ALSO WATCH | China shouldn't interfere in India's internal matters: Rijiju on Dalai Lama's Arunachal visit

--- ENDS ---
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP)  The world's oldest and most experienced spacewoman is getting three extra months in orbit.

NASA announced Wednesday that astronaut Peggy Whitson will remain on the International Space Station until September. The 57-year-old astronaut arrived last November and was supposed to return to Earth in June. But under an agreement between NASA and the Russian Space Agency, she'll stay another three months and take advantage of an empty seat on a Soyuz capsule in the fall.

This mission  her third  will now last close to 10 months. Scientists are eager to monitor any changes to her body, to add to the knowledge gained from retired astronaut Scott Kelly's recent one-year flight.

The two men she flew up with in November  France's Thomas Pesquet and Russia's Oleg Novitskiy  will return in June without her.

Whitson has already spent more time in space than any other woman, counting all her missions, and just last week set a record for the most spacewalks by a woman, with eight.

This weekend, she'll take over as space station commander, her second time at the job.

And on April 24, she'll set a new U.S. record for most accumulated time in space. That NASA record  534 days  is currently held by former space station resident Jeffrey Williams.

Whitson welcomed Wednesday's news.

"I love being up here," she said in a statement. "Living and working aboard the space station is where I feel like I make the greatest contribution, so I am constantly trying to squeeze every drop out of my time here. Having three more months to squeeze is just what I would wish for."

NASA's space station program director, Kirk Shireman, said Whitson's skill and experience make her "an incredible asset" up there, and her extra time will be put to good use.

There will be a return seat for Whitson in September because the Soyuz due to launch later this month will carry up one American and one Russian, one person fewer than usual. Russia is temporarily cutting back to two station residents. With Whitson's extended stay, the orbiting outpost will continue to have a full crew of six.

Whitson, a biochemist who grew up on a farm in Iowa, became an astronaut in 1996. She served as NASA's chief astronaut from 2009 to 2012, the only woman to ever hold the job.

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Online:
By Manogya Loiwal : A large group of people sat quietly with folded hands as the 14th Dalai Lama today started addressing the gathering in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh.

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu kicked off the proceedings today at the Tawang Stadium, paying respects the Dalai Lama.

Click here to Enlarge A huge number of people have turned up to listen to the Dalai Lama (Photo: Manogya Loiwal)

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"I thank Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) for all the support extended to make this trip happen. The people of Tawang are blessed to see (the) Dalai Lama and are praying for his good health as they seek blessings from him," Khandu said.

"It was 58 years ago that the Dalai Lama came to India and entered via Tawang...It is a historic moment for us and the people of Arunachal Pradesh."

Click here to Enlarge Tight security in place as Dalai Lama begins his spiritual address (Photo: Manogya Loiwal)

This is the Dalai Lama's sixth visit to Arunachal Pradesh and the first in this decade. A large number of people, including foreigners from neighbouring countries such as Myanmar, have come to listen to the Dalai Lama speak.

Click here to Enlarge Large gathering in Tawang as Dalai Lama begins address (Photo: Manogya Loiwal)

Click here to Enlarge Dalai Lama is visiting Arunachal Pradesh for the first time this decade (Photo: Manogya Loiwal)

CHINA OBJECTS

The Dalai Lama's trip has sparked angry reactions from China, with the country lodging formal protests in both Beijing and New Delhi and warning that the visit would exacerbate India-China border tensions.

China, which sees the Dalai Lama as a troublemaker, is particularly opposed to his visit to Tawang, an Indian mountain town to which China has for long staked claim.

The Indian government has maintained that the trip is purely spiritual in nature and has criticised China's communist government for generating 'artificial controversies.'

Chinese media has further raised the rhetoric warning that Beijing may be forced to take tough measures and might even consider 'interfering' in Kashmir in response to the Dalai Lama's visit.

ALSO READ | Dalai Lama Arunachal visit: Answer India's blows with blows if it plays dirty, says Chinese media

ALSO READ | India on China's objection to Dalai Lama's Arunachal Pradesh visit: Stop creating artificial controversy

ALSO WATCH | Snubbed on Dalai Lama's Arunachal visit, China threatens to interfere in Kashmir

--- ENDS ---
I think the city administration of New Orleans needs to have a reality check. Do they really think that all of the mothers of sons killed due 
Delvin Coston has his receipts ready.

Documenting his family's recovery from two feet of water in August, a thick stack of loan documents and bills sits in a leather bag in a locked office at their house off North Flannery Road: $61,489.85 for the contractor, $18,640 for Rooms to Go for furniture, and many, many others paid with a low-interest U.S. Small Business Administration loan.

The 31-year-old Baton Rouge man is a father of three  daughters 8, 7 and 2  and his wife is now expecting another child. He is holding out hope that the state's $1.6 billion flood recovery plan will eventually reimburse his growing family for post-flood costs by defraying a portion of his loan.

While his family was able to return to a newly renovated home in early February, the SBA loan also saddled Coston with major debt. He has the original $118,000 mortgage for the house he bought in 2014 and now the $89,500 SBA loan mortgage on top. With an $1,100 monthly note, Coston said money is tight.

"The bottom line is I just want something. I just want some of the money. I know I may not even get half, but if I get something, something is better than nothing to help alleviate the overall time I'll have to pay back on this loan," Coston said. "Unfortunately, I got 30 years on that loan and 30 years on my house, so essentially I'm starting all over again."

But, as of right now, that won't happen. Despite Gov. John Bel Edwards' desire and his requests to Congress, his administration is saying federal policy won't allow what Coston and many other SBA loan recipients have asked of the state: to provide them with grants to at least partially repay loans.

It's considered a duplication of benefits. The policy is intended to prevent people from collecting more money through insurance payments, the federal government's post-disaster aid and other sources than their damage requires.

"Until there's a change, we don't have an option," Pat Forbes, director of the state Office of Community Development, told an audience in February at Baton Rouge Community College.

Coston, who works in tire sales and used part of his 401k savings to get started last year, said when he heard Forbes say that at BRCC, it really angered him. Coston said that federal policy is unfairly equating a loan that he must pay back with interest to a future grant that others won't have to pay back at all, punishing people who had the good credit, the gumption and a little means to get started fast.

"I had to take the money because I wanted my children to have a safe place and a place to call home," said Coston, who said his family lived in a cousin's condo while repairs happened.

He and other residents also pointed out that the Federal Emergency Management Agency directed them to apply for SBA loans but no one let them know about the long-term consequence the loans would have as far as duplication of benefits.

"FEMA didn't tell us, nor did SBA," said Terry Lynn Mitchell, 64, who took out a 30-year, $90,000 SBA loan with her husband, Michael, to repair their home that is nearly finished.

SBA helps fill the gap in resources for flooded residents. Neither the Costons nor the Mitchells live in high-risk flood areas, so they were not required to have flood insurance for their home mortgages.

As of Thursday, SBA has approved about $1.2 billion in disaster loans for the 2016 floods in Louisiana: $1 billion to 15,861 homeowners and renters and another $158 million to 1,596 businesses, said Carol Chastang, an agency spokeswoman. She disputed that SBA doesn't inform applicants about duplication of benefits and pointed to loan provisions that discuss the issue.

Julie Baxter Payer, Edwards' deputy chief of staff, said in an email last week that the SBA loan question was "one of the most common public comments" that the state Office of Community Development received during about 15 public meetings on the state recovery plan. Homeowners are being asked to start filling out surveys for the plan on Monday, though the money has not yet arrived.

She said Edwards has been lobbying for a congressional fix to the SBA problem in the next disaster appropriation or a loan forgiveness program and has met with the delegation and federal administrators. Edwards has suggested legislative language and sent letters in early and mid-February to the delegation, President Donald Trump and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

"At this time, the Governors Office understands that the Louisiana congressional delegation is continuing to work on this issue, but that no final solution to this federal problem has been confirmed," Payer said.

HUD administers the Community Development Block Grant program, which is the source of funding for the state flood recovery plan.

Edwards and FEMA took a few lumps last week before a congressional oversight committee as members, including U.S Rep. Garret Graves, R-Baton Rouge, criticized the state's flood response.

While Graves did not respond to requests for comment by Friday, other members of the delegation said they support a fix and have been lobbying on the state's behalf.

As I have said a number of times before, federal disaster recovery statutes are overly complicated and often lead to unfair results," said U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, who also represents parts of the Baton Rouge area.

While Richmond suggested the regulations need modernization, the policy change that Edwards and others are lobbying for now was actually required by SBA after Hurricane Katrina more than a decade ago and fought then by devastated residents across the state.

Walter Leger Jr., a lawyer who led post-Katrina housing recovery under the Louisiana Recovery Authority, said people then wanted to be able to "stack" SBA loans with additional Louisiana Road Home dollars to help with their rebuilding costs. But SBA required that Road Home grants, which also came through HUD's CDBG dollars, be used to pay down the SBA loans, he said.

Leger, who said he argued the policy was taking one from one pocket of the federal government and giving it to another, blamed a tangle of bureaucratic rules that may have been aimed at preventing fraud but ended up hindering the recovery. But he called the newer SBA prohibition on using the CDBG recovery money to pay off loans "ridiculous."

"I was just astonished," Leger said after hearing recently about the requirement. "I couldn't believe it because we thought it was bad enough for us."

The new prohibition is the result of a November 2011 guidance reached between HUD and SBA. The guidance bars using CDBG money to pay off SBA loans and considers the entire SBA loan amount for which someone is deemed eligible as the "benefit" not to be duplicated.

This guidance came at the urging of SBA's Office of Inspector General after the agency found fault with the old SBA policy and other post-disaster practices. The 2010 report concluded that the use of $925.6 million in CDBG recovery money to pay down SBA loans after disasters in Mississippi, Louisiana and Iowa deprived other needy victims of potential aid.

"According to HUD officials, after CDBG program funds were depleted, it was necessary to obtain congressional approval of an additional $3 billion supplemental appropriation for Louisiana," the audit adds.

James Fossett, director of the Rockefeller Institute of Government, an independent think tank within the State University of New York system, said New York ran into similar kinds of duplication of benefits issues after Superstorm Sandy in 2012 involving SBA loans, flood insurance payments and that state's recovery program.

Under federal rules, SBA is the one of the government's front-line post-disaster aids, along with some FEMA programs. State recovery programs funded through CDBG take longer and, under HUD rules, are programs of last resort.

"So its a result of the time difference between when SBA can hit the ground and when CD(BG) money comes online, which Congress has to vote on it separately, the state has to put together what the actual programs are and then the feds have to approve that," Fossett said.

Democratic New York U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer and other members of that delegation successfully argued for a waiver of some duplication of benefits rules in 2015. Schumer pointed to a provision within the Stafford Act that he said gave HUD the ability to grant waivers, though the New York waiver was in the context of allegations of fraudulent low-balling by insurers.

In Louisiana's bid for relief, Payer said, state officials even raised an idea discussed in the first years after Katrina. HUD could consider as the "benefit" only interest savings that a low-interest SBA loan would provide compared with the interest cost of a private market loan.

But Payer said HUD officials again pointed back to the 2011 guidance and another issued last year with the state's flood recovery appropriations.

The 2011 guidance, however, does say that the state can, "on rare occasion and in extraordinary circumstances, contend that the payment of SBA loans with disaster recovery CDBG for a beneficiary is justified in keeping with all associated laws and regulations."

HUD spokespeople last week did not respond to questions about that language.

Meanwhile, Delvin Coston and the Mitchells said they are waiting to see what help the state can provide.

During a recent interview in their mostly finished home, Terry and Michael Mitchell recalled how readily they signed on with SBA when they were out of their flooded home but sighed now at the thought of 30 more years of debt, ending when Terry will be 94 and Michael will be 88.

"Yeah, I was supposed to be retiring," said Michael, 58, who repairs elevators. "Now I got to continue to work."
WASHINGTON (AP)  After President Donald Trump's election victory, the United States and Russia appeared headed toward their smoothest ties in decades. Not anymore.

The former Cold War adversaries are once again spiraling into confrontation, punctuated by a U.S. attack on a military base controlled by Syrian President Bashar Assad, Russia's client. No longer optimistic about a "reset" in relations, the U.S. and Russia openly bashed each other Friday, trading caustic accusations about who violated international law.

Can't see the video below? Click here.

"That's it. The last remaining election fog has lifted," Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev wrote on Facebook on Friday, declaring U.S.-Russian relations "completely ruined." He said Washington came dangerously close to "a military clash" with nuclear-armed Moscow by firing 59 cruise missiles on the Shayrat air base. Trump said Assad's forces launched a gruesome chemical weapons attack from the site earlier in the week.

Trump's intervention, designed to punish Assad, was the clearest demonstration of his willingness to challenge Russian President Vladimir Putin  and in a way no American leader has in a long time.

Trump's praise for Putin, questionable assertions about Russia's military activity in Ukraine and Syria, and insistence on a new relationship with Moscow had generated the perception that the billionaire businessman wouldn't cross the former KGB agent. It's a perception that gained added currency as various U.S. investigations gained steam into possible collusion on election meddling between Trump's presidential campaign and Russian intelligence.

Now the question is if Putin will feel compelled to prove he can't be crossed with impunity.

Hours after the airstrikes, Russia announced it was severing a hotline the two countries have used since 2015 to ensure their aircraft don't accidentally clash in Syria's crowded skies. By midday Friday, the U.S. insisted that Russia would keep the "deconfliction" channel open. Russia then insisted the line would be suspended midnight Saturday in Moscow.

Can't see the video below? Click here.

But Trump's administration shot back, as senior U.S. military officials said they were investigating whether Russia was complicit in the Syrian military's use of a sarin-like nerve gas, possibly by providing drone surveillance and helping Assad's forces try to cover up the attack. At the U.N. Security Council, U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley mocked Moscow for failing to rid Syria of chemical weapons under a 2013 deal.

Louisiana leaders respond to news of Syria airstrikes The United States fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian airfield overnight in respon

"It could be that the Assad regime is playing the Russians for fools," Haley said.

Less than three months into Trump's administration, prospects have all but evaporated for collaboration with Russia on fighting the Islamic State group, reducing arms stockpiles and lowering tensions in Eastern Europe.

A key test of whether the relationship can be salvaged comes next week when Secretary of State Rex Tillerson becomes the first Trump Cabinet member to visit Russia. Tillerson may get an audience with Putin himself.

Despite the breakdown over Syria, where Russia has a significant military presence, U.S. officials insisted Tillerson's highly anticipated trip was still on. As top U.S. and Russian representatives raged against each other in public, their planning for the Moscow trip has continued without issue, said the officials, who weren't authorized to discuss private diplomatic conversations and requested anonymity.

For Tillerson, the trip is even more delicate than before: He must find a way to show the U.S. can stand up to Russia and safeguard elements of cooperation at the same time. He must also be prepared to deal with the notoriously unpredictable Putin, known for making guests feel uncomfortable when he wants to express displeasure.

"Let him come and tell us what they have been up to today," Maria Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, told Russian television. "We will tell them everything that we think on this score."

If Putin is looking for a way to even the score, it might not be in Syria, said Julianne Smith, a former National Security Council and Defense Department official now at the Center for a New American Security. Faced with challenges to his country's dignity, she said, Putin always thinks in "asymmetric terms."

"We should be watching eastern Ukraine, we should be watching for a cyberattack, another drip-drip-drip of WikiLeaks," she said. "There's all sorts of things they can do."

Relations with Russia have deteriorated since its 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region and assistance for pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. The Obama administration and Western countries slapped Moscow with severe economic sanctions that failed to get Russia to change course.

Central to the FBI and congressional investigations into Russia's election meddling are concerns that Trump, through his associates, may have signaled to Russia that he would lift the sanctions after taking office. Trump has denied that claim. It now appears unlikely the sanctions could be lifted anytime soon.

In Syria, at least, the two countries have strenuously avoided direct confrontation, even as their militaries support opposing sides in a six-year civil war. To Washington's relief, Russia said none of its troops were killed in Thursday night's strikes. Syria's military said seven of its own troops were killed.

But in response, Russia said it would strengthen Syrian air defenses, already bolstered by Russia over the last year. Doing so raises the likelihood of a more serious military confrontation if Assad uses chemical weapons again and Trump feels compelled to respond.

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AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington and AP writer Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report.
Macquarie Group looks set to acquire Britain's Green Investment Bank (GIB) after a court rejected the claim of a rival bidder on Friday.

The British government set up GIB, which backs green projects with public funds, in 2012 as a commercial venture to spur private sector investment in green projects. It has invested more than 2 billion ($3.3 billion) in projects such as offshore wind farms and waste management.

Former London mayor Boris Johnson has praised Macquarie, but plenty of other British politicians are sceptical of the investment bank's deal to take over Green Bank. Credit:Jim Rice

The government decided to sell a majority stake in 2015, saying it would give the bank greater freedom to borrow, removing state aid restrictions, and allow it to attract more capital.

In September last year, it selected a Macquarie-led group as the preferred bidder, but competing bidder Sustainable Development Capital (SDCL) went to court, arguing the consortium hadn't met criteria set out to guide ministers in their decision.
"When you try to horse-trade," he told reporters recently during negotiations over legislation in the Senate, "you can end up with a donkey". Yet horse-trading is precisely what he does. It is how he makes change. Some in the major parties call him an unprincipled opportunist; he's unapologetic about his raw exploitation of the balance of power: "I'm not the government. I'm a crossbencher. And I'll use anything I can as a fulcrum to get the best possible outcome for public policy". In last week's trading, the government desperately wanted to salvage something of its signature economic initiative, a 10-year plan to cut the rate of company tax. This is the core of Malcolm Turnbull's election pledge to deliver "jobs and growth". Australia has been in the grip of an "investment strike" since the mining boom. To encourage more investment, Turnbull wants to increase the return on capital invested. To do that, he proposed cutting the corporate tax rate. The Hawke and Keating governments took the rate from 49 per cent to 36 per cent to invigorate the private sector. The Howard-Costello government took it to 30.

It's stayed at that rate for the past 16 years, though businesses with annual sales below $2 million get a concessional rate of 28.5 per cent. Turnbull campaigned on cutting the rate for all companies to 25 per cent, starting with the smallest. Labor agreed to allow a further tax cut for only these smallest firms. Xenophon was the government's only chance at winning something more. Other Senate crossbenchers  One Nation and, eventually, Darren Hinch, said they'd allow the cut to flow to companies with sales of up to $50 million. David Leyonhjelm and Cory Bernardi were in favour of the full government plan. In this line-up, Xenophon held the swing votes. His starting point was to say he would allow the tax cut to go to firms with sales of up to $10 million  that was the limit. The government wanted much more. Its plan, after eight years, would begin extending the tax cut to the very biggest companies, including multi-billion-dollar multinationals. Xenophon eventually told the government's preferred Senate negotiator, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, that he was prepared to think about giving the lower tax rate to companies over the $10 million threshold.

In truth, though he told no one, Xenophon had already decided he'd allow the threshold to rise to $50 million. Why? "The tipping point for me was that an independent supermarket, medium sized, or independent petrol station could easily have sales of $10 million to $25 million. My rationale is that if this means independent supermarkets can get a leg-up on Coles and Woolworths, that can only be a good thing." But he'd see what he could extract from the government first. He applied pressure by making an impatient government wait. He wouldn't even begin discussions until last week, the last parliamentary sitting week before the budget. And only then did he name what he wanted in return  energy. The senator for South Australia has been gripped by his state's power blackouts, and the energy crisis looming for the rest of the country. He sees the problem as a future-killer for the national economy: "I fear that this could be Australia's Argentina moment," he says. Argentina moment? At the dawn of the 20th century, Australia and Argentina vied for the title of the world's richest country, measured by income per person. Their fortunes have diverged dramatically since.

Argentina took the course of ruinous populist politics; Australia was more successful in pursuing broadly rational policy. The result is that the World Bank ranked Australia in 2015 as the sixth richest nation on earth and Argentina as the 51st. Once closely matched, today Australian income per person is four times Argentina's. "I've been contacted by businesses saying they can't survive more than a year or two because of the rise in energy costs. I visited a business whose gas bill is going to triple and they need the gas to run the business. Unless we deal with this crisis, we're going to de-industrialise the economy, shedding jobs by the tens of thousands." The terms of the horse-trading were set. As Xenophon puts it: "I had to focus on company tax cuts. In turn, I wanted the debate to focus on the energy crisis. You can't only be concerned about the tax rate for a small-to-medium business when their energy costs are going to rise by three, four, five, up to 10 times as much as the size of any tax cut." The government agreed to talk terms. Yet Xenophon didn't get his opening demand. He told Cormann he wanted the government to enact an emissions intensity scheme. The government had weighed that idea earlier but then ruled it out, intimidated by vocal conservative Liberals and the Nationals. Tony Abbott had described it publicly as "a carbon tax by stealth". To embrace it now would be to bring on an internal insurrection.

Xenophon soon found the Prime Minister on the line. Turnbull told him that his demand was too much. It was something that would have to go to the Coalition party room. Turnbull couldn't usurp his party. Xenophon's fallback? If you can't agree to specific policy measures to fix the energy crisis, you can at least agree to a process. That then became the focus of a frenetic week of negotiation. Turnbull stepped back and left it almost entirely to Cormann, getting involved only a couple of times. Cormann and Xenophon had somewhere between 15 and 20 conversations. Half were face to face in Cormann's office. The rest were by phone. After launching into the negotiations, on Tuesday afternoon, Xenophon got the news that a dear uncle had died. The funeral would be held in Adelaide on Thursday. That was scheduled to be the Senate's last sitting day. His death was sudden, the family much upset. Since infancy, Xenophon had been close to him. Xenophon left Canberra on Wednesday and returned on Thursday afternoon. But, apart from four hours during the funeral ceremony, he had his phone on. The negotiations with Cormann continued; the Senate sitting was extended to Friday. At 4.40pm last Friday, Cormann announced the result to the Senate. The net result? The government had the numbers in the Senate to cut the company tax rate to 27.5 per cent for firms with sales up to $50 million a year. This meant the government would be able to enact the first three years' worth of its 10-year plan. Enough to take it to the next election where it could campaign for the next phase.

In return, Xenophon extracted six main undertakings to fix energy policy, plus a cash benefit for pensioners. On changing policy, the government promised to change the National Electricity Market Rules by July 1, 2018. To make the new rules as sensible as possible, the government agreed to commission the Climate Change Authority and the Australian Electricity Market Commission to conduct independent modelling and to produce an independent report. Their work would be published in June and factored into the Finkel review of the electricity market, supposedly the basis for Turnbull's new energy policy. The aim? "To improve the affordability and reliability of energy supplies," as Cormann put it. Second, the government is to enact a "use it or lose it" law to force gas-supplying companies to start selling, not hoarding, gas reserves. Third, if big gas exporters can't agree voluntarily to provide sufficient gas to the local market, the government will force them to a deal. Fourth, the government will enforce specific transparency mechanisms in the gas market so companies negotiating supply contracts will not be kept in the dark about the gas companies' pricing.

Fifth, the government will ask the Productivity Commission to report on gas company joint ventures to minimise any collusion. Sixth, the government will give a $110 million low-interest loan to install a solar thermal plant in Port Augusta to improve supply and reliability of power in SA. Finally, single pensioners will get a one-off cash payment of $75 and couples $125 to help tide them over with rising power costs till the system can be fixed. The cost to the taxpayers to be $260 million. Both sides claim victory, horse trading delivering each a noble racing steed. In fact, they've each managed to get a pack horse that will do some useful trudging. Neither ended up a complete donkey. Tony Abbott, famously unsuccessful in negotiating most of his government's agenda through the Senate, has given up on any possibility of making the Senate workable. He's lately proposed a constitutional referendum to make wholesale changes. That will never happen.
"One thing the federal government could do that would ease some of the demand pressure is to scale back immigration at least until land release and infrastructure can keep up": Tony Abbott. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen "There have been up to 50 earlier reports and inquiries on the issues covered by the Commission's Terms of Reference," it said. "Despite these efforts, the situation of children and young people in the child protection and youth detention systems in the Northern Territory appears to have deteriorated." Against this backdrop, Aboriginal people from Central Australia gathered at Ross River, 87 kilometres from Alice Springs, for the ninth of 12 Indigenous dialogues on constitutional recognition last weekend. Noel Pearson was among those who proposed that Indigenous Australians discuss the form of recognition they supported before the politicians decide on the referendum question, culminating in a constitutional convention at Uluru that will coincide with the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum. Abbott initially rejected this idea, warning that it could lead to "something akin to a log of claims that is unlikely to receive general support", but the plan took shape after Abbott was toppled and a Referendum Council will now report to Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten on preferred options after the Uluru convention.

Very early in this debate, there was some prospect that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people would be prepared to accept whatever form of recognition was considered most likely to secure the biggest popular vote and regard other aspirations as unfinished business. That, after all, has been the way of Indigenous affairs for much the period since Australians voted so emphatically in 1967 to give the Commonwealth the power to make laws for Indigenous people. There is no better example of this than the 10-year formal process of reconciliation that began under Bob Hawke and was supposed to culminate in Australia's centenary year of 2001 with a declaration of reconciliation. The eloquent declaration that emerged could have been the basis for some form of national compact, with Evelyn Scott, who had succeeded Patrick Dodson to the chair of the council that framed it, expressing the hope that schoolchildren would recite it in years to come. But, when John Howard announced that he could not give the declaration his full support because it included an apology for past injustices, it became a declaration towards reconciliation.

This history helps explain why the consensus at the nine dialogues so far has been to reject incrementalism, advocate substantial reform and be willing to leave the challenge to the next generation of activists if this approach is rejected. At each meeting, there has been support for having an Indigenous body recognised in the constitution that would be consulted on legislation affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Exactly how the body would operate (and be chosen) is still unclear. At Ross River, it was argued that the existence of such a body might have prevented the Northern Territory intervention of 2007 that trampled over the rights of Aboriginal people in response to a report on the sexual abuse of Aboriginal children. "We want this change to make a difference," is how the co-convenors, David Ross and Barbara Shaw expressed the will of the Ross River dialogue. "Real reform could include a racial non-discrimination clause or a First Nations representative body guaranteed by the Constitution, accompanied by a statement of acknowledgement, recognising our place as a First Peoples of this country and recognising the importance of our culture, language and history.

"We now ask Australians to hear our voices and to keep open hearts and minds. We ask all of you, especially you politicians, to come on this journey with us. Aboriginal people are now talking to each other about the reforms we want. "If we work together now, we could achieve something great for all Australians. Through constitutional recognition, we can guarantee a fair place for the First Peoples of this country, and in doing so celebrate that which makes us truly Australian." Pat Anderson, who co-wrote the report that was the catalyst for the NT intervention, is now the co-chair of the Referendum Council. Her emphatic view in 2007 was that the response of the Howard Government ignored the key recommendation of the report she wrote with Rex Wild: that government work with Aboriginal people to address the problem. Her emphatic view now is that minimalism change is not an option. "The things we are talking about, in the broad scheme of things, are really modest," she tells me. "All the other countries that have been colonised have had some kind of settlement with their Indigenous people  and all we're asking for is to be spoken to so we can have some say in how our affairs are dealt with. That's not revolutionary. That's conservative."
Sunrise co-host Samantha Armytage and celebrity fat fighter Michelle Bridges were not on the guest list for Peter Stefanovic and Sylvia Jeffreys' wedding, but you can bet they were punching the air with joy over the Kangaroo Valley extravaganza.

Jeffreys posted a photo on her Instagram account this week showing a small silver hatchback which ended up in a dam after the driver apparently miscalculated the terrain as he was in pursuit of unauthorised photos of the couple.

A day after they tied the knot, Stefanovic shared a picture dancing with Jeffreys. The candid picture was simply captioned "My beautiful wife". Credit:Instagram/ Peter Stefanovic

It turns out the driver is none other than Sydney's "baby faced" paparazzo, 23-year-old Liam Mendes, the same intrepid snapper who landed in hot water over his dogged pursuit of Bridges in her local Woolworths which ended in a rather unseemly court battle for her failed bid to have a restraining order taken out on him.

He is also the same photographer who caused an almighty outcry after his unflattering shots of Armytage wearing "granny panties" were splashed across the media.
The teenager was attacked by an auto rickshaw driver and another man. Both the attackers have been identified.

Benjamin Scott was attacked and robbed near Kashmere Gate in Delhi (Photo: ANI)

By Tanseem Haider: A young German man was attacked and robbed in Delhi's Geeta Colony area on Friday night. The 19-year-old man, identified as Benjamin Scot, has been admitted to a hospital.

Foreign Minster Sushma Swaraj has asked Delhi Police to submit a report on the incident.

The youngster boarded an auto rickshaw from Chandi Chowk at around 11 pm in the night. The driver of the rickshaw got another man to sit inside the vehicle and then drove towards Kashmere Gate.

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As the auto neared Kashmere Gate, the driver and the other man inside the auto attack Scott with a sharp object. A blade is suspected to have been used in the attack.

The duo slashed Scott's faced and robbed him off his cash. Scott jumped out of a rickshaw to protect himself and was rescued by a passing motorist, who took him to a hospital.

The attackers have been identified and Delhi police is attempting to nab them.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj took note of the incident, tweeting, "I have asked for a report on the attack on German national in Delhi. I have asked Delhi Government to provide him best medical treatment."

Watch Video: German national robbed and stabbed in Delhi; Swaraj seeks report on incident

ALSO READ | Sushma Swaraj on attacks on Africans: Not all incidents racist; envoys' statement painful, surprising

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Gladys Berejiklian enjoyed an "extremely positive" reception as she joined candidates on the hustings on Saturday morning, but said she expected voters to punish the government for imposing byelections upon them.

Byelections are underway in Gosford, North Shore and Manly, where campaign staff for several parties reported a smaller voter turnout than would be expected for a general election.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian visits Manly West Primary School on Saturday with Liberal candidate James Griffin, where he cast his vote. Credit:James Brickwood

"I'm expecting a large swing," Ms Berejiklian said.

"But I have to say the reception today has been extremely positive.
It was a chat about how to find cheap power to keep the beer cold in his fridge at his country house which kick-started Greg Salter's vision to build mini-hydro electricity plants across Victoria.

Greg Salter is attempting to build a hydro electric generator on the Rubicon River for the local township. Credit:Simon Schluter

His 860-acre property south of Eildon straddles the Rubicon River so Mr Salter began to build and plan a $2.5 million mini-hydro plant on the river. Already the dams on his property are taking shape.

The local council gave him the planning tick of approval, and there was no objection to his plan from the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning but his bid hit a snag when the local catchment management authority said no because it would impact on the waterway.
Police have released an image of a man who is fighting for his life after being mown down and left for dead in a hit and run in Melbourne's west on Saturday night.

A passerby found the 37-year-old man on Anderson Road in Albion near Ridley Street shortly after 11pm.

The Albion man had been hit by a north-bound sedan which then fled the scene.

His distraught family have released the image in the hope somebody who saw something will contact police.
Victoria Police Detective Senior Sergeant Nicholas Allwood said police believed the three men were standing out the front of the clubhouse when they were fired upon from a passing car.

Three men are in hospital with gunshot wounds to the legs after they were shot about 11pm at the Bandidos' Weston Street, Brunswick base.

Police believe a drive-by shooting at a bikie clubhouse in Melbourne's inner-north on Friday night, which left three men in hospital with serious injuries, was a targeted attack.

He said more than five shots were fired from the car during the drive-by and police were still investigating how many people were in the car at the time of the shooting.

"We believe (gunshots were fired) from a vehicle in the street but inquiries are still continuing around that," he said.

He said police executed a search warrant at the clubhouse just before 3pm on Saturday.



Bikie club members were escorted from the clubhouse as police seized items including clothing from one of the victims and CCTV footage.

Detective Senior Sergeant Allwood said the victims were believed to either be members of the Bandidos' or associates of club members.

He said it was too early to determine whether the attack had been executed by a rival bikie gang.
Tributes are flowing for Australian publisher and much-decorated military pilot Peter Stuart Isaacson who died on Friday.

Mr Isaacson started out as a messenger boy at The Age at the tender age of 16 and finished his media career as the largest independent publisher in the country.

Peter Stuart Isaacson will be remembered as renowned Australia publisher, respected World War II pilot and man with a heart of gold. Picture by JOE ARMAO Credit:Joe Armao

After a colourful and dashing spell as an RAAF pilot during World War II, Mr Isaacson established his first newspaper, The Elsternwick Advertiser in 1947, before he opened the renowned Peter Isaacson Publications.

Following his stint in Bomber Command, he became well known in Australia for his tours in the Arvo Lancaster, a British four-engined World War II bomber, and for famously flying his plane under the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1943.
The Senate inquiry found Defence had sent mixed messages. "When Airservices Australia extended the deadline to deliver a report detailing the level of contamination from December to 'the first quarter of the year', I held concerns that drawing out the deadline would be to the detriment of the local community and the environment," she said. "Providing prompt and clear answers to communities who may be affected by the contamination must be a priority." An ASA spokesman said the sampling was progressing and the report would be shared with relevant stakeholders when possible. "We are unable to provide an exact date on the finalisation of this report due to the fact that site investigations and sampling programs can be affected by various factors, including weather, laboratory availability, relevant approvals and the complexity of the site," he said.

Nothing was said about eating food that was grown using bore water. Nothing was said about using bore water for domestic purposes, including cooking, showering and washing. Nothing was said about eating meat or poultry that drank bore water, or was raised on feed that in turn was grown using bore water. And, importantly, nothing was said about the possible consequences for those people who had been exposed to bore water, for whatever reason, over many years. Shine Lawyers, submission to the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee "Airservices is committed to providing information to the community and key stakeholders as it is available, while working with environmental and health experts to protect the health and safety of our employees and the community." The Greens initiated a Senate inquiry into federal and state government handling of the discovery of contaminated water in New South Wales and Queensland from 2012 and of the subsequent investigation of sites across the nation. It detailed contrasting approaches of Defence and the NSW government after the discovery of contamination at RAAF Base Williamtown in 2012. While Defence downplayed the risks, by 2015 the NSW EPA was advising locals not to drink bore water, eat locally caught fish or eat eggs from backyard chickens.

Two months later residents were further advised not to drink or prepare food from private water bores, or water from dams, ponds, creeks or drains, drink milk from cows or goats that had been drinking from these sources, or eat any locally caught seafood. Then they were told not to swim in pools filled with bore water or local creeks, dams, drain or ponds. Commercial and recreational fisheries and oyster harvesting in two locations was cancelled first for a month, then two, then eight. It was a year before they reopened, with devastating effects on family-owned fishing businesses. Estuaries reopened in October 2016, with the public advised that the seafood contained elevated chemical levels but was considered safe to eat, though studies were continuing. The Senate committee found the episode affected the mental health and property values and caused what the NSW Farmers' Association described as "long term brand damage" to the region.

"The shadow of uncertainty regarding the spread of the pollutants has created fear and concern, but it has also had real and concrete impacts for these residents and businesses," the committee reported in February 2016. "This is a crisis for those people who have been told they have been drinking potentially contaminated water, that they cannot work or that their property may be worthless." The committee delivered its report a few months later on how further contamination at Army Aviation Centre Oakey, QLD, had been dealt with by Defence and that state government after it was discovered in 2011. Defence wrote to Toowoomba Regional Council in 2014 advising that as a precaution residents should not drink the bore water until further notice, though it was considered safe to irrigate crops and water livestock. "Nothing was said about using bore water for other purposes," submitted Shine Lawyers, acting on behalf of landowners.

"Nothing was said about eating food that was grown using bore water. Nothing was said about using bore water for domestic purposes, including cooking, showering and washing. Nothing was said about eating meat or poultry that drank bore water, or was raised on feed that in turn was grown using bore water. And, importantly, nothing was said about the possible consequences for those people who had been exposed to bore water, for whatever reason, over many years." But the QLD government, the committee reported, took a less reactive approach than the NSW government and appeared satisfied with Defence provisions of alternative water sources. "Evidence presented to the committee demonstrates that while contamination has caused significantly elevated levels of PFOS/PFOA in the blood of many Oakey residents, the health implications flowing from these elevated levels are far from clear," the Senate reported. Again, the committee received many submissions from residents concerned for their health, their property values and the stress placed on their families. Defence funded blood tests for around 75 people in 2015 but has not continued this approach on the advice of the NSW Health Department that it would be of little practical value.

While half the committee disagreed with this approach, the Coalition senators said the advice of NSW Health should be trusted. There are conflicting views over the toxicity of the chemical from CRC Care, the National Health and Medical Research Council, National Toxics Network and the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee of the Stockholm Convention. A senior Defence staffer told the committee there were as yet no health standards in Australia for tolerance of this chemical in drinking water. "There are a few standards emerging in the US and the UK that we are aware of, and we are using them. It is clear that globally this is still an emerging contaminant that is not fully understood," he said. Defence is still looking into ways to prevent the chemicals spreading further from the source and is coordinating a national response of government agencies.
Seoul: North Korea said US missile strikes against a Syrian airfield on Friday were "an unforgivable act of aggression" that showed its decision to develop nuclear weapons was "the right choice a million times over".

The response by North Korea's foreign ministry, carried by the official KCNA news agency, was the first since US warships in the Mediterranean Sea launched dozens of missiles at a Syrian air base which the Pentagon says was involved in a chemical weapons attack earlier in the week.

"The US missile attack against Syria is a clear and unforgivable act of aggression against a sovereign state and we strongly condemn this," KCNA quoted an unnamed spokesman for the North Korean foreign ministry as saying on Saturday.

"The reality of today proves our decision to strengthen our military power to stand against force with force was the right choice a million times over," KCNA said.
Workplace tension is one of the leading causes behind deteriorating mental health.

By Indo-Asian News Service: One in every four mental health problems occurring in people is due to depression, according to experts.

Long working hours, tight deadlines, long journeys from home to the office in traffic are all factors that contribute to workplace induced mental health problems, Chee Ng, Professor at the University of Melbourne, said in a statement.

"One in every four mental health problems arises due to work place depression. Not only does this reduce productivity, but also affects cost to the business," Ng said.

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This was said in a seminar entitled 'Depression: Let's talk about what we all should know'. It was organised by Jindal Global University in association with the University of Melbourne, Australia, and was attended by academicians and mental health experts from both the countries.

According to World Health Organization, five crore Indians are suffering from depression.

Also Read:The biggest cause for disability worldwide will shock you

"India has a total of only 898 clinical psychologists, one for every 13 lakh people and a total of 3,800 psychiatrists, one for every 3,30,000," said Sanjeev P. Sahni, Principal Director, Jindal Institute of Behavioural Sciences.

"There is need for mental health services to be available in each district across the country and the essential drug list to be available free of cost in government hospitals," Sahni added.

People need to be made aware of the fact that depression occurs not due to a person's weakness, but because of imbalances in the brain chemistry, the experts argued.

"Globalisation has not only impacted the socio-economic status of individuals, but their mental well-being as well," noted Ian Everall, Professor at the University of Melbourne.

"Today, 4.4 per cent of the world's population is suffering from depression. Only 50 per cent of people suffering from depression receive treatment. This lack of treatment affects a person's productivity and causes huge losses to companies and the country as a whole," he said.

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The move will help in quick redressal of the grievances or complaints of the consumers.

By Supriya Bhardwaj: To provide quick relief to the consumers, Department of Consumer Affairs has signed MoU with 230 companies. The move will help in quick redressal of the grievances or complaints of the consumers.

National Consumer Helpline (NCH), is a project of the Department of Consumer Affairs, which is executed through the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA).

The Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, C R Chaudhary in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha had stated, "IIPA has entered into MoU with 230 companies under the convergence programme, for quick redressal of the grievances or complaints of the consumers."

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To strengthen consumer awareness movement, Consumer Affairs Ministry has started a series of digital initiatives.

"These initiatives include digitisation of ration cards, beneficiary and other database, computerisation of supply chain management, setting up of transparency portals and grievance redress mechanisms," Chaudhary added in his reply.

The ministry has also launched a mobile application for registering their complaints in the National Consumer helpline.

"Mobile application "Smart Consumer" will enable the consumer to scan the bar code of the product and get information regarding details and labelling," the minister added.

Also read:

5,700 complaints against sale of bottled water above MRP; govt drafting new law

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Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 07/04/2017 (2041 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Vancouver man has been charged after a large shipment of marijuana was found in a transport truck stopped by police at West Hawk Lake.

On Monday, at about 12:20 p.m., police stopped the vehicle for a regulatory inspection. The shipment, which originated in British Columbia, was headed for Mississauga, Ontario.

Subsequent investigation uncovered 118 pounds of marijuana hidden within the cargo, police said in a release.

29-year-old Dunken Trask was charged with possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking. The truck was also seized under Manitobas Criminal Property Forfeiture Act.

Trask will appear in Winnipeg court on May 11.
In the said tweet, the actress has asked CINTAA to take strict measures against harassment of actors.

By India Today Web Desk: Popular TV star and Yeh Hai Mohabbatein actress Divyanka Tripathi Dahiya is quite vocal about her opinions on a variety of subjects.

Recently, Divyanka expressed her anger with Cine and Television Artists' Association (CINTAA) over exploitation of actors.

Also read: Shilpa Shinde sexual harassment case: Here is what Saumya Tandon has to say about it

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She had tweeted, "Are character or new artists slaves? Why are they ill treated on television sets? Jaago #CINTAA Jaago!"

Are character or new artists slaves? Why are they ill treated on television sets? Jaago #CINTAA Jaago!- Divyanka T Dahiya (@Divyanka_T) April 6, 2017

This tweet appeared on the social media a day after TV actress Sameksha Singh came out in support of former Bhabi Ji Ghar Par Hai actress Shilpa Shinde against producers of the show, Sanjay Kohli and his wife Binaifer Kohli.

TV actress Shilpa Shinde, had recently hit the headlines after she had filed an FIR against Bhabi Ji Ghar Par Hai's producer Sanjay Kohli for sexual harassment.

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Queen Marie of Romania wears the Vladimir Sapphire Kokoshnik (Library of Congress/Wikimedia Commons)

The jewel collection of Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna (the Elder) of Russia  better known to many as Grand Duchess Vladimir  was the royal gift that just seemed to keep on giving in the wake of the Russian Revolution. But although some of her tiaras, including the famous Vladimir Tiara, were sold off after the family had gone into exile, this sapphire kokoshnik was the tiara that MP the Elder used to buy her way out of Russia as many of her family members were being murdered by the Bolsheviks. The buyers werent just jewel collectors  they were the Romanian royal family.

Queen Marie of Romania, ca. 1914 (Grand Ladies Site)

Quick backstory: when the political situation in Romania became precarious during World War I, Queen Marie of Romanias jewels, along with an incredible number of treasures and valuables from the country, were sent to Moscow for safekeeping. Marie had important ties to the Romanovs: her mother was Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, who married Queen Victoria and Prince Alberts son, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (later Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha). Marie wasnt the only one who sent her jewels to Russia thinking theyd be safe there: members of the grand ducal family of Hesse did as well. (The tsarina was, after all, born a Hessian princess.)

Queen Marie wears her diamond loop tiara, which was lost in Russia during the 1917 revolution

And thats where things went sour. We all know what happened in to the Romanovs after the Russian Revolution in 1917. The change of government in Russia meant that the Romanian royal jewels were in peril, too. During the war, the Romanians invaded territory held by Russia, the Soviets cut off all diplomatic ties, and the treasures were stranded. Some of the valuables have been returned over time, but many pieces, including Maries jewels, were never been repatriated to Romania. Marie was understandably very upset about the loss of her jewels, many of which she had received from her Russian mother. The tiara she received as a wedding gift from her parents was gone; so were her diamond loop tiara and the magnificent Massin tiara that had been in the family for a generation.

Grand Duchess Vladimir wears the sapphire kokoshnik in a portrait, ca. 1911 (Wikimedia Commons)

To help rebuild her collection, Maries husband, King Ferdinand, gave his wife money to purchase new jewels to replace the ones that had been lost. But unlike most of us, Marie didnt have to go to a jewelry store to find a new tiara. Instead, she had merely to look to the collection of her aunt, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna (aka Grand Duchess Vladimir), for a new diadem. The one she purchased was this sapphire and diamond kokshnik tiara, which was made in 1909 by Cartier. The largest central sapphire, a cushion-cut gem weighing more than 137 carats (!), had been previously set in a brooch. The other sapphires, which were smaller cabochons, were nineteenth-century Romanov heirlooms; they had originally belonged to Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, the wife of Tsar Nicholas I.

Queen Marie wears the sapphire kokoshnik, ca. 1920s (Library of Congress/Wikimedia Commons)

The tiara was one of the more extravagant pieces in the truly remarkable Vladimir jewel collection, but when the revolution happened, the need to escape from Russia was greater than the need to retain the diadem. Maria Pavlovna sold the tiara to her niece, the queen of Romania, in 1917. Maria Pavlovna used the money to buy her passage out of Russia and into exile; Marie of Romania used the tiara as the cornerstone of her replacement collection. Her husband later purchased an astonishing sapphire pendant from Cartier as a coordinating piece.

Queen Marie wears the tiara in a portrait by Philip de Laszlo

Queen Maries tiara was an important part of her new collection; she underscored this when she chose to wear the tiara when she was painted by Philip de Laszlo. She often used the tiara as a part of the theatrical royal portraits that she loved so much. But there came a time when she decided to hand it along to the next generation. She passed the tiara on to her daughter, Princess Ileana, when she married an Austrian archduke in 1931. Four years later, Ileana actually lent the tiara back to her mother to wear for the Silver Jubilee of King George V of the United Kingdom. At that point, political tensions were already strong in Romania, so Marie left the tiara in her London bank for safekeeping, probably mindful of what had happened to her wedding jewels. Ileana was only able to reclaim the tiara shortly before the outbreak of World War II.

Princess Ileana of Romania (Wikimedia Commons)

After the war was over, the monarchy in Romania was pretty much over, too. The young King Michael I was forced to abdicate in 1947, and the royal family went into exile. Ileana ended up in the United States, and initially, she took the sapphire tiara with her. The princesss autobiography includes fascinating descriptions of the tiara and her journey with it from country to country. Ultimately, though, she also decided to part with the piece. In the early 1950s, she sold the tiara back to its original maker, Cartier. She used the funds she received for more practical purposes: to put a down payment on a new home and to pay the travel costs that enabled her to bring her children to America. Cartier, sadly, apparently chose to dismantle the tiara entirely. Another grand Romanov piece lost to history

Note: This is an updated version of an earlier post, with new text/images.
A security guard at an Oklahoma gun show was captured on video pointing a loaded firearm at a crowd and accidentally shooting a retired deputy.

Brian Poundsa volunteer cop for Collinsville policewas working at the Wanenmachers Tulsa Arms Show last Saturday when he unzipped a handgun from its case and examined it for a few seconds before pulling the trigger.

The shocking footage shows Pounds raising the gun and hitting Rick Treadwell, a former Tulsa sheriffs sergeant, who was working at the security check-in table. The expo, which bills itself as the worlds largest gun show, does not permit loaded weapons.

Treadwell told The Daily Beast the bullet ricocheted off a wall before striking his middle finger. It was the first time Treadwell, who has fired his weapon four times in the line of duty, has ever been shot himself.

I was looking on my cellphone and I heard a gunshot and it felt like a hammer hitting my finger, Treadwell recalled of the incident, which was first reported by The Frontier. I dropped my cellphone and yelled that Id been shot.

Treadwell said he initially declined to press charges against Pounds, a former Tulsa County reserve deputy who worked under disgraced former Sheriff Stanley Glanz, because Pounds said the gun discharged on its own.

He had a surprised look on his face when he looked up, Treadwell said. He walked over to me and said, I didnt know it was loaded. I didnt even pull the triggerit just went off by itself.

But after Treadwell saw surveillance footage of the incident, he asked the Tulsa County district attorney to pursue a criminal case. And on Friday, Pounds was charged with misdemeanor reckless conduct with a firearm.

He squeezed the trigger, Treadwell said, adding, A child should know not to point a gun at somebody or point it at the building and squeeze the trigger. He pointed in the general direction of the public area.

If he had been a little bit more to his right, he would have shot the officer who was seated next to me, Treadwell said.

Messages left for Pounds were not returned by press time.

Its unclear why Pounds handled the loaded weapon: a .22-caliber pistol that Treadwell says belonged to another security officer and was placed on a chair.

Pounds, a 48-year-old county appraiser, was a reserve deputy with the Tulsa County Sheriffs Office from April 2002 to November 2005, a sheriffs spokesman said.

The Tulsa sheriffs volunteer deputy program made national headlines in 2015, when Bob Bates shot and killed an unarmed man during an undercover gun bust. Bates said he accidentally grabbed his gun instead of his taser when he fatally blasted Eric Harris.

Bates, a wealthy donor to the department whom critics called a pay to play cop, was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to four years behind bars.

A spokesman for the Tulsa County Sheriffs Office did not respond to questions on why Pounds left the reserve program.

Capt. Matthew Burke of the Collinsville Police Department said Pounds is on temporary suspension pending an internal probe.

Poundswho donned a polo shirt with the word police on the backwasnt on duty for Collinsville at the weapons expo, Burke said.

We do not allow our reserves to work on our behalf outside of city limits, Burke told The Daily Beast, adding that the polo shirt was not property of Collinsville PD. It is my understanding that he has his own private security license.

Pounds has volunteered for up to two years and has never faced disciplinary issues, Burke said. This is an unfortunate incident, Burke told The Daily Beast. Hes been a good employee for us, and were going to treat him fairly in this situation.

Still, its not the first time Pounds made local news.

According to The Frontier, Pounds was among six Tulsa County reserve deputies involved in the March 2005 shooting of a man outside their jurisdiction. The volunteer officers accompanied at least seven full-time deputies to the operation.

Pounds and the deputieswhich included county assessor Ken Yazeltraveled to Okmulgee County to arrest Danny Foutch.

Foutch had escaped from Tulsa County undersheriff Tim Albin while wearing handcuffs and reportedly mailed them back to the sheriffs office, The Frontier reported.

One deputy used a loudspeaker to draw Foutch out of a trailer, and Foutch allegedly ran toward Yazel and Pounds, an incident report stated.

Police said Foutch knocked Pounds to the ground and tried to wrest away his gun. In response, Yazel shot Foutch in the buttocks with a .30-caliber rifle.

Yet a Tulsa County sheriffs investigator told The Frontier that when he arrived to the scene, the whole thing didnt make sense.

Mark Williamson said investigators didnt find shell casings nearby, and that Foutchs fingerprints and DNA werent on the gun.

Williamson retired after that incident but sent a letter to Foutch and his attorney expressing his concerns about the case, The Frontier reported.

For his part, Yazel said a grand jury investigated the shooting but declined to return indictments, according to The Frontier.

Okmulgee Countys sheriff Eddy Rice, however, wanted the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to review the incident, the Tulsa World reported.

A memo obtained by the World indicated that Rice called the Foutch shooting a messed-up deal. Rice also told the Tulsa sheriffs office that its volunteer deputies would not be allowed to operate in his county.

At the time, Foutchs lawyer Brian Rayl told the World that Foutch denied grabbing Poundss gun or even running into him. He told me he was not only running away but he was 10 yards away from forest or thick brush when he got shot from behind, Rayl said. He said he never touched a deputy.

Treadwells attorney, Dan Smolen, tied the gun-show incident to Poundss training with the Tulsa County Sheriffs Office.

This is the same Reserve Deputy Program that brought us Bob Bates and his excessive and patently unreasonable use of deadly force on Eric Harris. This is the same Reserve Deputy Program that allowed Ken Yazel, the Tulsa County Assessor, to wield a gun during a task force operation and shoot another unarmed man, Danny Foutch, Smolen said in a statement.

Mr. Pounds is an unfortunate reminder that the legacy of ineptitude, lawlessness and calamity continues to this day, he added. When will it end?
In Western cultures, the idea that gender is fluid rather than binary has come with labels like transgender, referring to people who dont identify as the gender they were given at birth.

But in South Asian countries like India, where non-binary genders have existed within communities that date back thousands of years, many people who consider their gender to be fluid feel boxed in by modern labelseven as those labels have legally liberated them.

One of those people is Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, who fought to convince Indias Supreme Court to recognize a third gender in 2014 (the court concluded that it is the right of every human being to choose their gender).

Those who want to identify as a third gender can now do so on government-issued documents. Yet Tripathi considers herself hijra, the coloquial term for people who are assigned male genders at birth but identify as female.

Hijra is the oldest ethnic transgender community, Tripathi explained at Fridays Women in the World Summit in New York, where she was interviewed by journalist Barkha Dutt. We are neither a man nor a woman, but we enjoy the femininity of the world. We have the power to curse and the power to bless.

The 2014 Supreme Court ruling was the end of a long campaign for Tripathi, who had been working with her gay friendunsuccessfully towards repealing Section 377, the law that criminalizes homosexuality. She is now chair and founder of Astitva Trust, Asias first transgender organization.

Dutt remarked that India is a paradoxical country in more ways than one: we have criminalized homosexuality while recognizing transgenderism.

Hijra culture gets away with many things, Tripathi said with a wry smile.

Yet hijras are still reviled by the mainstream, though Tripathi insists they werent marginalized until India was colonized by the British. We were left to beg and sell our bodies, she said.

Asked about the anti-transgender bathroom bills in the U.S., which would require transgender people to use separate restrooms, Tripathi said there is no need for a third bathroom.

The transgender person should be able to choose her own bathroom, male or female, wherever she feels comfortable, she continued. Instead of dividing society in the name of gender, we should create a society where there should be acceptance.

In India, she noted that there are now twelve states that provide welfare for individuals who identify as a third gender.

Change is inevitable, she said. But in this present scenario where the political leaders and policymakers are men, we have to come together not only as women but as feminine strength.
The finger pointing between pharma-bro Martin Shkreli and his former lawyer has reached the point where they want separate trials. The feud was so fiery in a Brooklyn federal courtroom on Friday, in fact, that the prosecutor on the case accused both men of faking it in an effort to make the charges easier to beat.

The defendants in this case have ramped up the animosity in order to achieve a severance, charged Assistant U.S. Attorney Alixandra Smith.

Shkreli was indicted on charges related to an alleged securities fraud scheme in December 2015. Evan Greebel, the outside counsel for Shkrelis companies, was charged in the same indictment on a conspiracy charge for his work with Shkreli. But now, both men say then intend to blame the other for the crimes, as they each face up to 20 years in prison.

Shkreli gained widespread notoriety in September 2015 when his drug company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, increased the price of a lifesaving drug from $13.50 to $750 per pill. (He later lowered the price, but did not apologize.) In the years since, Shkreli has become somewhat of a pop culture villain, getting suspended from Twitter after harassing a reporter and buying a $2 million single-copy Wu Tang Clan album that only he can listen to.

At a nearly three-hour hearing on Friday, Shkrelis attorneys said that they make seek a so-called reliance on counsel defense at trial, as Shkreli watched on in a casual black polo shirt. The reliance on counsel defense means that Shkreli would argue he followed his lawyers advice, unaware of any potentially illegal doings.

What we worry is that the defense attorney will get up in opening and say, Mr. Shkreli was lawyered up to the hilt, Smith said, requesting a pre-trial hearing on the admissibility of that defense. And that is so far beyond what they are actually allowed to argue.

Its the very conflict over that argument that makes the lawyer and clients cases so hard to try together, defense attorneys for both parties said.

Purely on legal grounds, it is impossible to reconcile the defenses in this case, Shkreli attorney Ben Brafman argued.

If the jury were to accept Greebels defense that Shkreli was a lying egomaniac who purposely misled him, they would have to find Shkreli guilty, Brafman said. Likewise, if they accepted Shkrelis defense that he was merely relying on his lawyers advice, theyd have to find the attorney guilty.

Both defendants would then focus on mucking up the others image for the jury, acting as a type of extra prosecutor in the case, the defense lawyers claimed.

This is of a rare sort of case where the defendants will go at each others throats, said Reed Brodsky, an attorney for Greebel. I promise your honor, we will open in this courtroom and say that Mr. Shkreli is a liar and a deceiver.

We are going to get up, and we are going to say that Mr. Shkreli is guilty, he added.

Brodsky alleged that because of Greebels intimate relationship with Shkrelis work, his client has evidence of even more crimes than charged in the indictment and would bring it up at trial. And every cross-examination, opening statement, and witness list would be longer because of the mutual effort to smear each other, he said.

When a co-defendant faces an extra prosecutor in the room, that is inherent prejudice, Brodsky argued. We will be duty-bound to destroy Mr. Shkrelis credibility.

U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto did not immediately issue a ruling from the bench.

But even if she rules against the separation, both defense attorneys appeared to be laying the groundwork for a post-conviction appeal. One of Shkrelis attorneys even argued that in this highly unusual situation, a former attorneys status as co-defendantand Greebels plan to attack Shkrelis credibilitycould even have a chilling effect on Shkrelis ability to testify in his own defense.

Greebels attorneys, on the other hand, argued that Shkrelis notoriety as a mega-douche would harm their clients ability for a fair trial. But Shkrelis counsel politely pushed back, saying hes been with Shkreli when people stopped him for selfies.

The notoriety works both ways, Brafman said. Some people think that he is going to find the cure for certain dreadful diseases.
Prostitution is not necessarily something you want to bring up at your local feminist meeting, unless youre trying to start a war. Perhaps the only common ground on the issue is the view that women should not be made into criminals for a crime in which they are the only victims. Whether you believe that no woman would freely choose prostitution over the kind of dehumanization that low-wage work can bring, or if you believe that prostitution is simply a trade like any other, victims of trafficking are victims who do not deserve to be made into criminals.

The way we treat sex workers now, both culturally and under the law, is that they are consistently degraded, branded criminals, and if they become the victims of violence (a real risk in any black market) they are nearly guaranteed to find themselves neither protected or served. I have never been a prostitute, but I have definitely worked in places where men paid women who were nowhere near fully clothed, and it was well known that if something went awry with a customerin a perfectly legal establishment where no sex at all was happening because of cameras and bouncersthe police wouldnt even bother to take a report. Women who work at strip clubs are assumed to be prostitutes, or the next worst thing to them, which meant that our safety was never a top concern among law enforcement or our employers. We were as likely to be investigated as helped if we were ever victims of a crime. It doesnt take much of an imagination to extrapolate that its much worse to be in that same line of work but to a degree that made your living actually criminal.

The impact of criminalization on the public goes well beyond the damage to the people who find themselves working in the sex trade, whether they are trafficked or there of their own free will. The arrest, detention, and charging of women for what amounts to a moral sinif a sin indeed it isis costing the country millions of dollars that we simply cant afford. This is why New York is thinking about moving replacing criminal charges for prostitutes with civil citations. Theres already a law which allows people who were victims of trafficking to vacate their convictions for prostitution and related charges. (A recent study released by the Urban Institute found that about 20 percent of the sex workers they surveyed had been trafficked at least once.)

New York, which has a decreasing crime rate and an increasingly loud chorus of citizens who support closing Rikers Island, is now weighing its options on how to treat sex workers, knowing that criminal charges are generally not the best way to intervene in a someones life if they need rescuing from a terrible situation. What it comes down to is this: Rikers Island is an internationally infamous hellhole, known for its inhumane treatment of inmates, its corruption, and its brutalityand it costs a lot of money. So the city is considering a plan to shut it down and build smaller prisons instead. To do that, they have to cut their inmate population. This is where decriminalizing low-level offenses comes in. The range of charges theyre considering dropping is wide: prostitution, fare jumping, publicly visible possession of marijuana, and possession of gravity knives among them.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has railed against the horrors of mass incarcerations in front of church bodies, opposes these reforms, partially on the grounds of so-called public safety.

While we appreciate the intent of the commission, these actions would generally have little impact on the jail population and, in some cases, could actually jeopardize public safety and are therefore not supported by the administration, a mayoral spokesperson said. Its hard to believe that fare jumping is a public-safety issue more than it is a public revenue issue. Low-level marijuana possession is becoming increasingly flat-out legal around the nation and we dont seem to have gone full Reefer Madness yet. Knives might well be a public safety issue, but thats no reason to pretend its on the scale with turnstile-hopping. And in no instance should a human trafficking victim be treated as a criminal.

If were meant to look at prostitution from a public safety perspective, it would make sense to create an environment with health services and access to justice, to combat trafficking and abuse. It would become much harder to traffic in women if those women could speak to the police without fear of arrest. If we are looking at prostitution itself and judging it a moral ill that should be criminally punished, then crack down on the customers.

Cutting the demand is one way to change a market; another is to provide it with a labor shortage. I would have preferred the choice between two good options instead of two demeaning ones, though it was what I had to work with at the time and I feel no particular ill effect from it years later. The sex workers I have known over the years have hated it or not minded it or enjoyed it to various degrees and it has always seemed to depend mostly on how much respect has been involved in their work. I have known victims of trafficking, the abusive-spouse kind that is more common than the cartels everyone pictures. But the one thing thats true of all of them is they would have been much safer and in much cases much healthier if they had been able to relax sometimes instead of constantly carrying around the fear of arrest. And most of them would rather have been doing something else, if it would have kept the electric on.

If you want to get women out of prostitution, get them out of poverty.
It took just 72 hours for Donald J. Trump to morph into George W. Bush, and for Jared and Ivanka Kushner to become president of the United States.

We all knew that Trump is the ultimate kleptocrat, who views the presidency of the United States as an extension of the family business. But Jared and Ivankas takeover has been far swifter and more thorough than most people anticipated. After 77 days of constant ridicule, scandal, protests, legal setbacks and legislative failure by Team Trump produced the worst poll numbers in the history of modern polling for a new president, he has, by all accounts, turned to the family to save his skin.

Heres the timeline:

The takeover goes public on March 29 when Ivanka becomes a federal employee, complete with a security clearance and the vague title assistant to the president, plus an office upstairs from that of her husband. By then, Jareds portfolio has grown to include everything from remaking American business and the VA to handling U.S. relations with Mexico and China to forging peace in the Middle East.

On April 2nd, Jared flies to Iraq at the invitation of the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, for a tour that put him ahead of the nominal secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, who has yet to touch down in Baghdad.

Tillerson instead heads to Turkey, where on March 30, he and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley in New York announce separately that its up to Syrians to decide their dictators fate. Both are heavily criticized for those statements, particularly by the neoconservative war wing of the Republican Party.

On April 4, Syrias dictator Bashar al-Assads forces are accused of dropping chemical weapons on his citizens, resulting in ghastly images of dead and dying children. Some observers blame the permissive statements from the Trump administration for giving the Russian-backed Assad the green light to kill still more people in a bloody war for dictatorial survival that has cost the lives of a half million Syrians since 2013.

Reports say the military wing of Trumpworld immediately present the president with intel proving Assad ordered the attack, along with options for retaliation. Onetime top Trump ear whisperer Steve Bannon reportedly opposes retaliatory strikes, urging Trump to stay focused on his America first campaign pledges, like deporting Mexicans, muscling companies to delay outsourcing jobs, persecuting Muslim travelers and building the wall.

By the next day, April 5, Bannon is kicked off the National Security Councils principals committee and the Director of National Intelligence and head of the Joint Chiefs are restored to the positions they held before Bannons executive order power play. Bannons ouster was orchestrated by General H.R. McMaster, who a Republican source says threatened to quit if the former Breitbart editor stayed on, as reports say Bannon did too. The source said Trump choosing McMaster over Bannon was backed by Kushner and Ivanka, who have reportedly come to believe Bannon and his alt-right coven are ruining pops presidency.

The next morning, April 6, Trump lackey Devin Nunes announces he is stepping down as leader of the House Intelligence Committee investigation of Russiagate to let a different Trump lackey take over. The move comes after several Democratic-leaning groups file ethics complaints against him for allegedly disclosing classified information in the obsequious service of Trumps wiretapping conspiracy theories.

Trump holds a press conference that afternoon in which he appears to reverse his position 180 degrees on Syria and Assad; going from the guy who could look Syrian children in the face and tell them they cant come to America as refugees, to the savior of the beautiful babies.

That night, after dinner at Mar-a-Lago with the Chinese delegation, Trump orders missile strikes against Syrian targets in retaliation for the gassings. He of course gives Russia a heads up, though apparently not the State Department of the NSC staff, the latter of which is not exactly trustworthy these days.

The strike has the welcome effect of taking the medias focus off Russiagate, and replacing it with predictable parades of TV generals talking tactics, along with pundit encomiums to the wartime president. For those who have been uncomfortable discussing things like creeping authoritarianism and kakistocracy, normalcy seems within blessed reach at last.

Trump closes the evening by asking God to bless the entire world and not just America.

Now, the Pepes are mourning. The neocons are crowing. And Trump has gone from the star of Bannons white-Christian economic nationalist fever dream to a guy who sounds a lot like George W. Bush.

A second GOP source concurs that the shift has Kushner and Ivankas fingerprints all over it, adding that there could be trouble with the base if it looks like conservatives are being squeezed out.

By all reports, McMaster is cleaning house, including trying to evict political hacks loyal to Bannon and former National Security Adviser Michael Flynnpeople like K.T. McFarland and White House plumber Ezra Cohen-Watnickto undo what had become an attempt to use the NSC to drum up support for Trumps Obama conspiracy theories and to provide cover on Trumpgate. Theyre trying to use the NSC to cover up the Russiagate stuff and McMasters not having it, the first source said. And McMaster, a close ally of Trumps other general, Defense Secretary James Mad Dog Mattis, is doing so with Kushner and Ivankas full support. The source says that Republican donors and GOPers outside of Trumpworld have made it clear that if McMaster and Mattis go, Trump is on his own.

The Democrats, as Kushner, Ivanka and Trumps chief economic adviser Gary Cohn (along with Cohn ally, deputy national security adviser Dina Powell and public liaison communications rep Omarosa Manigault) are derisively called by the Bannonites, also appear to be behind the coming ouster of White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, who is taking the blame for the failure of Trumpcare, and whose deputy Katie Walsh was already banished to an outside group founded by Trump funder Rebekah Mercer, who has since pulled her money, and who is reportedly urging her other fundee Bannon to hang on.

The sidelining of the Bannonites is in effect the sidelining of Mercer, whose other ally inside Trumpworld is Kellyanne Conway, whose profile and star have also dimmed considerably inside the West Wing.

The White House is starting to understand that this situation is not sustainable, the first GOP source told me. The power centers are shifting.

Ironically, those centers appear to be shifting into the hands of the last people Trumps angry Republican base expected to empower: neoconservative, war hawk Republicans on Capitol Hill and a couple of young, rich, politically inexperienced New York Democrats who also happen to be family.
Dear young farmer,

Let me speak to you as a familiar, because of all the years Ive cherished members of your tribe. Of course, I also know youre only yourself, just as I remember the uniqueness of every intern, WWOOFer, and summer weed-puller who has spent a season or two on our familys farm. Some preferred to work without shoes. Some were captivated by the science of soils, botany, and pest management. Some listened to their iPods, or meditated, or even sang as they hoed and weeded, while others found no music among the bean beetles. A few confessed to finding this work too hard, but many have gone on to manage other farms or buy places of their own. In these exceptional souls I invest my hopes.

I dont need to tell you what there is to love in this life; youve chosen it. Maybe youve even had to defend that choice already against family or academic advisers who dont see the future in farming. Clearly you do, and are moved by the daily rewards. You like early rising. You cant wait to get outside, cup of coffee in hand, to walk among seeded rows and take stock of the new lives that have risen to meet the day. Youd stay late in the barn with a ewe giving birth, just for the thrill of watching the newborns emerge and make their wobbly first march to the teat, a new family creating itself before your eyes. Youll slog through a deep February snow to enter the summery hoop house, inhale a humid blast of kale-scented oxygen, and smile like a fox, knowing youve mastered time travel here, at least on a modest vegetable scale.

I expect you know youll have to navigate many kinds of relationships. Its tempting to think of farming as a hermitage, and its true youll sink deeply into one place, learning by heart the insides and edges of its weather and soils. Its pollinators and birdsongs will be the poetry and music of your days. Youll have a stormy, long-term relationship with a troop of deer or a dynasty of groundhogs. Youll need a good dog. But your life will be full of people, tooso many as to drive you a little crazyas you foster your own tribe of interns who come to you with unformed agrarian ideals. Give them enough work to sort out the able from the unsuited, and whet their ambitions. Look around for mentors. Traditionally, farms passed down through generations, but at this point in history, thats not likely to be your case. It will be up to you to find your farming family, people who can teach you how to make smart choices and forgive your own mistakes. Youll meet long-timers at conferences, and if youre lucky, in your own neighborhood. Even if some of these old-schoolers have approaches that strike you as outmoded, they stayed on the land when everyone else was leaving it, and for this they deserve respect.

Of course, the majority of people in your life wont be producers but consumers: the happy you-pick families and CSA subscribers, the hard-to-please chefs and retailers, the farmers market patrons. Their ignorance will alternately entertain and aggravate you. They wont understand what to do with your kohlrabi, or why you cant hand over turkeys in November that they didnt order in April. Theyll want to know why your tomatoes cost more than the ones they buy at the storethe ones picked by exploited labor, grown on some faraway land thats being poisoned to death. Try to explain. Once will not be enough. Be patient, because you need these hungry people as a musician needs listeners, as a writer needs readers. To them you owe the privilege of doing the work you love.

It probably goes without saying that youll need to study, keep good records, keep your eyes open, and respect the complexities of your profession. Its a bold business in which you will partner with your ecosystem in everyday acts of creation. People have been doing this for as long as weve called ourselves civilized, and that doesnt mean its easy. That means your profession has a history, a philosophy, a body of science, and whole libraries of accumulated wisdom. As the world changes, youll have to learn not just the old ways but new ones, how to cope with new kinds of droughts and floods, the critical importance of sequestering carbon under your crops and grass-finished livestock. You can read the modern innovatorsEliot Coleman, Joel Salatin, Wes Jackson, among manywho are rescuing your profession from decades of mistakes that masqueraded as modernity. And the scientist-philosophers whose wisdom exhorted us all along to avoid those mistakes: Sir Albert Howard, Rudolf Steiner, Lady Eve Balfour, Masanobu Fukuoka, Rachel Carson, Aldo Leopold, Wendell Berry. Youll have to work these into your curriculum between the more urgent readings of veterinary manuals and tractor repair guides. I hope you didnt choose this job because you disliked school. Youre still a student, and your homework will never end.

This is getting at the heart of what I want to tell you: however calloused your hands, however grimy the uniform, however your back may sometimes ache, you are a professional. Your vocation is creative, necessary, and intellectually demanding. Unfortunately, youll run into a lot of people who wont see you that way. Youre the offspring of a generationminethat largely turned its back on the land and its benefaction. We, in our turn, were raised by a generation that set itself hard to the project of escaping from agriculture. For the latter half of the 20th century, the official story was that modern ingenuity could mechanize farming so efficiently, a handful of folks could oversee the process while everyone else fled the tyrannies of farm life and rural stultification. Legions believed that story, trained their sights on the city lights, and never looked back. Or they were heartbroken at the prospect of forsaking their family livelihood, but still were forced by poverty to leave the farm for the factory. In any case, they counseled us, their children, to stay in school and study hard so we could score a respectable life sitting at a desk indoors and never get dirt under our fingernails at all.

The subtext of this message is that manual labor is degrading and that soil is, well, dirty. Some people will see your coveralls and presume, at best, a countrified backwardness, and, at worst, a deficit of smarts or ambition. Its a hateful bigotry, as wrong as equating those deficits with dark skin, or femaleness, or a Southern accent. (And Ill add here, if you are a female Southern farmer of color, I dearly hope youve found an online support group.) Prejudice runs around unchecked in surprising quarters. I know kind, well-educated people who happily patronize their farmers market but recoil at the idea of their offspring becoming farmers. It will take time for your profession to recover from decades of bad press. Whether you like this agenda or not, your career is going to be a sort of public relations event, in which you will surprise your market customers not only with your flawless eggplants but also with your intelligence, industry, and good grammar. This might be just the mother in me talking, but if you show up clean, it will help.

In exchange for your efforts, we will learn to respect the art and science of your work. Well be grateful for your courage and your vision. Prepare to rectify one of the most ridiculous, sustained oversights in all of human existence. When we told our youth that farming was a lowly aim compared with becoming teachers, doctors, or lawyers, what were we thinking? We need teachers for just a few of lifes decades. If were lucky, well see a doctor only a few times a year, and a lawyer even less. But we need farmers every single day of our lives, beginning to end, no exceptions. We forgot about that for a while, and the price was immense. Slowly, were coming back to our senses. Be patient with us. We need you.

From Letters to a Young Farmer: On Food, Farming, and Our Future by Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture. Martha Hodgkins, editor.  2017 Princeton Architectural Press. Reprinted with permission.

Barbara Kingsolvers 13 books of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction include the novels The Bean Trees, The Poisonwood Bible, and The Lacuna, winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction. Translated into more than 20 languages, her work has won a devoted worldwide readership and many awards, including the National Humanities Medal. Many of her books have been incorporated into the core English literature curriculum of colleges throughout the country.

About the Book

Letters to a Young Farmer, a project of the Stone Barns Center, is for everyone who appreciates good food grown with respect for the earth, people, animals, and community. Three dozen esteemed writers, farmers, chefs, activists, and visionaries address the highs and lows of farming life as well as larger questions of how our food is produced and consumed in vivid and personal detail.

About Stone Barns Center

Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture is on a mission to create a healthy and sustainable food system that benefits us all. A nonprofit organization, Stone Barns Center works to develop a culture of eating based on what farms need to grow to build healthy soil and a resilient ecosystem. In its quest to transform the way America eats and farms, the organization trains farmers, educates food citizens, develops agro-ecological farming practices, and convenes change makers. Stone Barns Center, 25 miles north of New York City, is home to the celebrated Blue Hill at Stone Barns, under the direction of chef and co-owner Dan Barber, a multiple James Beard award winner.
By Press Trust of India: polls: Govt

New Delhi, Apr 7 (PTI) The Election Commission would need over 16 lakh paper trail machines, which dispel doubts about votes cast using EVMs, to cover all polling stations in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Quoting the Commission, Minister of State for Law P P Chaudhary said in the Rajya Sabha, a total of 16,15,000 voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) units are required for deployment in all polling stations in the Lok Sabha polls.

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"The proposal of the Election Commission is under consideration of the government," he said in response to a written reply to a question.

Since June, 2014, the Commission has given at least 11 reminders to the government seeking funds for VVPAT machines. Last year, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi drawing his attention to the funds needed for the machines.

Recently, he has again written to Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad seeking funds for the same.

The voters see voter-verifiable paper audit trail slip for seven seconds, which would be an acknowledgement receipt for the party they voted for in the election.

VVPAT is a machine which dispenses a slip with the symbol of the party for which a person has voted for. The slip drops in a box but the voter cannot take it home.

Recently when AAP, Congress and BSP had questioned reliability of the EVM, the poll panel had come out with a detailed release defending the machine.

The release had also mentioned about the VVPAT system, saying it has sought Rs 3,174 crore for buying VVPATs for every polling station in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

ECIL and BEL, two PSUs which manufacture VVPATs and EVMs, need 30 months to manufacture the required number of VVPAT units from the day funds are released.

The Supreme Court has supported the EC endeavour to use VVPATs in a phased manner to usher in more transparency in voting. PTI NAB IKA

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A young Malaysian flight attendant in a blue flowered batik dressa kabeya, Teera remembers from an article in the in-flight magazineleans forward, pushing the heavy compact metal cart with her slender frame. She asks the elderly couple sitting next to Teera what theyd like. They dont understand. Teera isnt at all surprised these two old people cant speak English, though she noticed earlier that they carry American passports. Like many elderly Cambodians shes come across, they may have never, aside from this trip, ventured outside their community. The flight attendant repeats the meal choices, raising her voice slightly as if the old couple were hard of hearing: Beef fried rice or mushroom omelet?Asian breakfast or Western, she adds for clarification. Still, they dont understand. Teera tells her, Fried ricefor both, knowing, without having to confer with the old couple, theyll always prefer rice. Its in their blood. Once they may have even risked their lives to steal a spoonful.

Rice. Mama, rice. Her brothers last words. He was born some months after the Khmer Rouge had taken over. When they left home that April morning in 1975, joining the forced mass exodus out of Phnom Penh, Teera hadnt known her mother was pregnant. Rin hungry. Tummy hurts. Hunger was among her baby brothers first words, his first knowledge, and he died as he was just learning to talk. She blinks away the memories. And you, maam? the flight attendant asks, her gaze on Teera.

Coffee, please, she says.

In the first years after their arrival in America, she and Amara did try to put it all behind them. When Amara was asked if the Khmer Rouge regime had been as horrible as portrayed, her answer was always simple. Yes. Amaras silence reinforced her own. It built thicker and higher walls, until it seemed the two of them existed in separate cells, prisoners to all they couldnt say.

What about breakfast? the flight attendant says.

Teera shakes her head. She wants to explain shes not hungry, but the effort of finding words for her thoughts requires more energy than she can muster. Besides, there are crackers in her bag. Shell nibble on those if needed. She hasnt felt hunger, felt the desire to eat since boarding the flight in Minneapolis more than twenty hours ago. Since Amaras death, really.

No, just coffee, thanks.

Teera sips the lukewarm diluted liquid, letting the mild bitterness glide down her throat. Next to her, the old woman seems overwhelmed by all the little packages on her tray, unsure what to tackle first. Then, following her husbands lead, she peels the foil cover from the rectangular dish and sniffs the fried rice. The thick smell of reheated grease is overpowering. Again, Teera feels nauseous. She tries holding her breath to block the odor.

The old woman begins to pick out the greasy, stringy beef with her fork and puts it in her husbands dish. Turning to Teera, she says in Khmer, No teeth left. She smacks her exposed gums together and grins. In spite of herself, Teera smiles and reluctantly lets down her guard.

Is this your first time going back, chao srey?

Teeras heart skips a beat. It isnt at all unusual for Cambodians to address one another in familial terms, but she cant remember when she was last called granddaughter with such tenderness. An image of the cave where Teera left her grandparents blooms in her mind, its entrance illuminated by the setting sun, giving the impression that it was lit from within. She swallows, wondering as she has countless times over the years how they perished. Who went firsther gentle, diminutive grandmother, or her stoic, once-imposing grandfather? Theyd already been starving, their bodies weakened and damaged beyond saving, when she and Amara were forced to abandon them in the cave in order to keep up with the rest of their group as they navigated the jungle. They probably didnt last through the night. They had survived through the regime, through four long, miserable years, only to end up betrayed by life, handed over to death in the middle of nowhere.

Teera takes another sip of the coffee to help ease down the lump in her throat. She gives only a tentative nod to the old womans inquiry. Already she regrets allowing herself to be seduced by those toothless grins.

Its our first trip as well, the old woman says. Now that were getting on in years we havent got much time left, as you can see. Soon well be too old and sick to travel.

Teera winces, recalling the oncologists words not long ago. At this advanced stage, Im afraid the prognosis is not good. She remembers him looking from her to Amara as he spoke, unsure who was responsible for whom. When she and her aunt first walked into his office, hed assumed they were sisters, as Amaras petite frame made her look more like a woman in her late thirties than midforties. I am truly sorry, he concluded decisively after what felt like mere seconds. What could you know! Teera felt the urge to scream at him, at his useless apologies, the absurdity of it all. For them to have endured indescribable inhumanity only to succumb to something as nameable as pancreatic cancer seemed a mockery of their struggle all these years to rebuild their lives. It was their shared belief that after what they had been through theyd overcome anything, that their survival had purpose and meaninga reason. They were meant to live, damn it, she wanted to tell the smug doctor. Amara was stronger than this. Shed live. Her aunt would fight and live. Youll see! Instead, in a tone close to threatening, Teera rasped, Well seek a second opinion. And to Amara, she added shakily, desperately, A third and fourth, if we need to. Amara looked at her with pity, as if Teera had been the one with cancer. They left the doctors office in defeated silence.

Only later, when they were back home, did Amara speak. If Id had more time, I mightve returned to Cambodia. Her aunt had chosen her words carefully, speaking in her precise, practiced English. But all Teera could think of was that the verb tense was all wrong. Did Amara not remember anything about the past subjunctive from all those grammar lessons Teera had helped her with? Youre not dead yet, she wanted to say. Theres still time. You have more time. You do! Instead, she burst into tears, to which Amara responded, Oh, Teera, weve been blessed in so many ways. Ive had a good life. I got to see you grow up, didnt I? Ill always be grateful for these extra years, for all weve built together here. Her aunt sounded as if she believed she ought to have died with the others. Teera grew more upset.

In the following days and weeks, Amara, with her characteristic equanimity, proceeded to put her life in order. She resigned from her longtime position as the head of an organization that provided social services to Cambodian immigrants and refugees in Minnesota. She went to a lawyer and made a will to ensure that Teera, her only kin, would receive all her savings and assets, which, including a life insurance policy shed had the foresight to buy many years earlier, amounted to a small fortune. Certainly enough to allow you to devote time to your own writing, she explained matter-of-factly, while Teera listened in stunned dismay. You must look after yourself, darling. Tend to all thats alive in you, to whats living. And let me tend to the dead.

Besides the inheritance shed left for Teera, Amara had bequeathed an amount for the construction of a communal stupa at Wat Nagara, their old family temple. She told Teera shed already written to the abbot of the temple, expressing her intentions that it serve as a kind of memorial to their family, and to those who had perished during the Khmer Rouge years. Weeks passed, then a month, then two. Amara grew visibly sick, her physical deterioration reducing her to a pale copy of herself. Then one day, sitting Teera down and handing her a small wooden box, Amara said, If you should ever return to our country, please take a bit of my ashes in this and leave it in the stupa there. Teera reeled in the midst of her aunts calm instructions. But youre still alive! she wanted to shout, too confused and upset to make sense of her own words, let alone Amaras. Divide up the ashes? She felt certain this was sacrilegiousa violation of Buddhist custom and belief, even as she was acutely aware that a divided self was something her aunt had to live with daily since their arrival in America, a reality she struggled to accept as she built her life in a country where she felt she never truly belonged.

If you should ever return . . . Those words angered Teera. They sounded like a betrayal. Why should she? Why would she want to? There would be no one for her to visit or reconnect with. Unless this was Amaras way of saying she wanted Teera to return, to take her back and reunite her, if only in spirit, with the rest of the family. Teera couldnt voice her objection. Amara was dying.

Every time she thinks of her inheritance, Teera cant escape the feeling that shes always gotten the better end of life, while her aunt bore the brunt of it, suffered. Died. Is this why shes going back now? To purge her own guilt by fulfilling Amaras unspoken longing for home?

Amara passed at the beginning of the year, three days short of her forty-seventh birthday. Her sudden death sent shock through the Cambodian community, and the tremendous outpouring of grief engendered a kind of collective mourning on a scale befitting a minor celebrity. Teera shouldnt have been surprised. For many years, Amara was a constant fixture in the lives of so many. There was never a birthday, graduation, wedding, or funeral she failed to attend. If invited, which was almost always, she was there to offer her quiet support. Naturally, when news of her death got out, the whole community came to pay respects, gathering at a funeral home in Minneapolis, where the undertaker, familiar with the rites of a Cambodian funeral, arranged a row of chairs for Buddhist monks on the pulpit facing the mourners. They went on to the crematory a few blocks away, where Amaras body was incinerated and the ashes collected in an urn with the efficiency, Teera noted with dismay, of a well-run bakery. The next day they gathered once more at Wat Minnesotaram, the temple in rural Hampton where an evening wake was held. The urn was on display atop a small table beside a photograph of Amara, accompanied by funerary chants and music meant to ease her aunts spirit on its journey into the otherworld.

Then, sometime at the end of June, a bit more than half a year after Amaras death, just when Teera felt that everyone had grown accustomed to her aunts absence and she could begin to mourn privately, a letter arrived from Cambodia. The author of the letter offered his condolences. He had heard of Amaras untimely passing from the abbot of Wat Nagara, the temple where he had sought shelter. To Teeras astonishment, the stranger went on to explain that while he offered his deepest sympathies for her great loss, he was in fact writing in regard to some musical instruments belonging to her father, which he wished to give her. Teera didnt know what to make of it, believing for a moment it mightve been an opportunists vague solicitation for money. She ought to trash it. But something about the letter made her hesitate. Its tone, perhaps. A tone is the intention of a note, Amara would say in moments of unbidden remembering, quoting her father, repeating things that had struck her as mysterious or prophetic. The tone of the letter made Teera believe that the strangers intention was honorable. Sincere.

Three instruments, the letter said, yet it failed to mention what they were. Teera couldnt help but think how ironic it was that, while houses and monuments and entire cities had dissolved and vanished, these instruments, trivial and fragile by comparison, had endured. How had the instruments found their way into this mans care? If indeed theyd once belonged to her father, what would she do with them now? What use could they serve when she could no longer hear her fathers music? She tried repeatedly to put the letter away, stashing it in various drawers, burying it under piles of mail, or filing it randomly in one of the hanging folders at her writing desk so shed forget its whereabouts, only to retrieve it again and reread the words, its whispers and intimations.

The man knew her father. They were together, it said, during the final year of the Khmer Rouge regime. Imprisoned, her father had survived almost until the end. But how? By what means? Had he made any effort to find them during the prior three years? What was his crime? And, most curiously, why did this man, who claimed to know her father, only now make contact? Who was he? What could he possibly want? Hard as she resisted, Teera couldnt escape the pull of the past.

Truth, she believed, lies in what is said as much as in what isnt, in the same way that a melody not only is a sequence of audible notes but encompasses the spaces and pauses in between. When listening to music, you must learn to take in even the atmosphere of an echo.

From Music of the Ghosts by Vaddey Ratner. Copyright 2017 by Vaddey Ratner. Reprinted by permission of Touchstone, an Imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
I feel like a woman who works at Fox NewsIm touched. But Ill get to that.

Thats how Bill Maher welcomed his opening wave of applause on Friday nights edition of Real Time with Bill Maher. The HBO host was referring to The New York Times story this week revealing that OReilly and Fox News paid out $13 million to five women who have accused the right-wing networks most popular and lucrative TV host of sexual harassment.

The women who made allegations against Mr. OReilly either worked for him or appeared on his show. They have complained about a wide range of behavior, including verbal abuse, lewd comments, unwanted advances and phone calls in which it sounded as if Mr. OReilly was masturbating, according to documents and interviews, reported the Times. Two of the settlements reportedly came after Fox News honcho Roger Ailes was pushed out last summer in the wake of over a dozen sexual harassment allegations, including by former network stars Gretchen Carlson and Megyn Kelly.

After mentioning the confirmation of Scalia disciple Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, Maher joked, Bill OReilly was so excited he groped himself. Then he got into it. Aw, Bill OReilly had a rough week. We learned at the beginning of the week that he has settled harassment suits from women for three morein addition to the two that we already knew about, and another two who werent suing but are speaking out, said Maher. Bill says hes a target, but thats seven. Thats kind of a lot. Not to everybody. Bill Cosby said, Call me when you get to thirty. Bills other defense is that he says over at Fox News they had a sexual harassment hotline and nobody called it. Well, nobody knew it was there, he added. Also, it wasnt a great one. They would answer the phone, Fox News sexual harassment hotlinewhat are you wearing?

Maher then mentioned that the OReilly revelations came in addition to Roger Ailes being ousted because he thinks twenty women accused him of sexual harassment. So, something I think is going on over there, said Maher.

It didnt stop there. One accuser of Bill OReilly says he would call her and she could tell that he was masturbatingpossibly because he said, Im masturbating, joked Maher. And you know, apparently Bill doesnt take rejection well, because theres this woman Wendy Walsh whos speaking out this week and she said that after she refused to go up to the hotel room with him he didnt like that, and the first thing he did is insult her handbag. I mean, all these women, their stories vary a little bit, he continued. The one constant is: no one wants to fuck Bill OReilly. That seems to be the thing! Poor Bill OReilly. I mean, whether hes offering you a job or threatening the one you have, its never worth it to fuck Bill OReilly.
Late Thursday, President Trump ordered the U.S. military to fire 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Shayrat air base outside Homs, Syria. The offensive came in response to an horrific chemical weapons attack in the Syrian province of Idlib. The planes carrying sarin had reportedly taken off from Shayrat.

On Tuesday, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad launched a horrible chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians. Using a deadly nerve agent, Assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children. It was a slow and brutal death for so many. Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack, Trump announced Thursday evening.

It was apparently nothing more than a show of strength, given that the Trump administration reportedly warned both Russia and Syria prior to the strike, and Syrian planes were said to be taking off from Shayrat less than 24 hours after the bombing, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. If that werent enough, Trump oversaw the attack from his vacation home at Mar-a-Lago while hosting Chinese president Xi Jinpingperhaps sending a message to China about how to handle North Korea.

On Friday night, Bill Maher addressed the bombing on his HBO program Real Time with Bill Maher. And he was skeptical, to say the leastpointing out how, in the wake of the Assad regimes 2013 chemical weapons attack on Ghouta, Syria, which claimed approximately 1,429 lives, a Republican-controlled Congress didnt even put President Obamas request to authorize military force against Assad to a vote. President Trump, on the other hand, bypassed Congress.

American cruise missiles blew up an airfield last night in Syria because the dictator there was using chemical weaponswhich he has done many times, said Maher. In 2013, 98 Republicans signed a letter saying bombing Syria in response to a chemical attack was unconstitutional without congressional authorization. But this is different, because Obama was president then. That would have involved bombing while black.

Complicating matters, of course, is the fact that Putins Russia, which Trump cant seem to say a bad word about, is firmly backing the Assad regime. This is very tricky for Donald Trump, because the Syrian regime is propped up by Russia, and Russia does not want us bombing there, said Maher. If Trump does the wrong thing, Putin might not re-elect him. But the temptation to use his new toys was too much.

Maher then criticized cable news reaction to the strike, that saw even lefty newsmen like MSNBCs Brian Williams and CNNs Fareed Zakaria salivate over it. Williams, in true cringeworthy fashion, called images of the airstrikes beautiful, while Zakaria recycled a line from his colleague Van Jones in declaring that Trump became president of the United States that night. In America, youre not really president until you bomb something, you know? said Maher. Even the liberals were all over this last night. Everybody loves this fuckin thing. Cable news loves it when they show footage of destroyers firing cruise missiles at night. Its Americas money shot.
Melissa Ayumi Baileys maternal grandparents met and fell in love at an internment camp in Wyoming. The Civilian Exclusion Orders (enacting Franklin Delano Roosevelt) forced them and hundreds of thousands of other Japanese Americans to vacate their homes and be held in internment camps for the duration of World War II.

Two thirds of the 120,000 people imprisoned were born in the United States, and they had to leave behind homes, businesses, and belongings, taking with them only what they could carry.

Lt. General John DeWitt signed the Civilian Exclusion Orders 75 years ago at the Presidio of San Francisco. Recently, Bailey found out her paternal grandfather was stationed there during World War II, just a couple doors down from DeWitts office.

Bailey never knew either of her grandfathers, who both died before she was born. But her grandmother on her moms side lived with her until her death when Bailey was 16. She never heard any stories about her three years in a camp, Bailey said.

It was very common in the Japanese-American community not to talk about it, Bailey said. They didnt tell their children about it. It was shamefulthey were in jail, and for the Nisei (the children born in the U.S. to Japanese-born immigrants), the pain and the shame were still there.

Bailey works with the National Japanese American Historical Society, based at the Presidio. The organization has helped put together an exhibition with the Presidio Heritage Group, Exclusion: The Presidios Role in World War II Japanese American Incarceration, which runs for a year and opened on April 1, the anniversary of the day the orders were posted in San Francisco.

With President Trump having issued executive orders for two travel bans for majority Muslim countries, both blocked by federal judges, the history of rounding up a group of people based on ethnicity or religion seems especially relevant and urgent.

A couple weeks before the exhibitions opening, Eric Blind, the director of Heritage Programs for the Presidio, showed me the space that would house it. Outside the entrance visitors will see a telephone pole with a replica of the poster telling all Japanese Americans to report to that buses that would take them to the camps.

Its an ordinary object with an extraordinary pronouncement, he said. We want to create this empathy with people seeing the ordernot just if you were Japanese Americans, but their friends and neighborsabout how would you feel if you saw this on a telephone pole?

The exhibition includes an outline of the map of the United States with sites of the camps marked, a list of all the names of the 120,000 people imprisoned, and a replica of DeWitts desk where he signed the order.

On the walls are text from the orders along with some of the discussion around shipping off Japanese Americans on the West Coast, including an opinion from J. Edgar Hoover, who, perhaps surprisingly, said it was absolutely unnecessary.

The exhibition also presents information about Fred T. Korematsu, and displays the pipe he was often seen with later in life and his California Senate Medal. Korematsu refused to go to the camps, and his case went to the Supreme Court where it lost in a 6-3 decision.

Forty years after his arrest, a district court judge in San Francisco vacated his conviction, after it was revealed that the U.S. solicitor general who argued Korematsu v. United States had suppressed FBI reports concluding that Japanese-American citizens posed no security risk, and the order was the result of prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of leadership, rather than military necessity, as they had claimed.

Korematsus daughter, Karen, now runs the Fred T. Korematsu Institute, another organizer of Exclusion, also based at the Presidio.

Karen grew up in a suburb of Oakland, hating Dec. 7, the day when the teacher would show the class videos of Japans bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Her classmates would call her racist names, blame her for the bombing, and tell her to go back to Japan. At the institute named after her father, she focuses on eradicating that kind of racism through education and teaching people about what happened to Japanese Americans during the war, in hopes it will never happen again.

Karen didnt know about the internment camps growing up, let alone her fathers role. She found out when another student gave a presentation mentioning her fathers Supreme Court case in a high school class. She echoes Baileys assertion that the Nisei community didnt talk about what happened, focusing on moving on.

Those who were sent away were stripped of their dignity, as well as their homes and businesses, and it was such a painful experience for everyone, she said. My father lived by his principals of right and wrong. He was quiet, reserved and soft spoken, and he didnt have a bitter bone in his body. He basically thought the government was wrong, and he was right to take a stand. There is a word in Japanese, gaman which means endure, and Japanese Americans, they endured.

Karen wrote a New York Times op-ed after Trumps first attempt at temporary travel ban. In it she wrote that the president had hurled us back to one of the darkest and most shameful chapters of American history. She thinks people need to understand the power of executive orders, and thats one reason the exhibit at the Presidio is so important.

One of the most worrisome things of this administration is how executive orders are being issued and who theyre targeting, she said. The Constitution clearly states you cant discriminate against a certain ethnicity or religion and we all need to speak up to the government and say, You cant do thisthis is not what America is about.

Bailey says she is particularly concerned that since Korematsu v. United States was never officially overturned, it could be used as a precedent for a Muslim registry or something similar.

She says these government orders dont just impact those directly targeted, but the community as well. She adds families are affected for years to come, noting her grandfather was sent to a different camp from his parents and brother and that the time in the camp took a toll on her grandmother, who she describes as not necessarily a happy person.

But Bailey says shes heartened by protests against the travel ban and anti-Muslim sentiment, mentioning the video that has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times of a woman standing up to another womanin both English and Spanishwho is berating a Muslim couple.

No one spoke out against the internment, but were in a different world now, Bailey said. Its easy for Japanese Americans to make connections with whats happening now, but we want that for everyone even if youre not in a community being targeted. Thats what makes the difference: solidarity.

Karen Korematsu also mentions these changes.

In 1942, there were no groups of any significant voice or power that could say to President Roosevelts administration that this was wrong, she said. Fortunately, thats changed in 2017, and we are very proud of the legal profession and all these attorneys on both sides of the aisle who are stepping up. Were a land of laws.

Exclusion: The Presidios Role in World War II Japanese American Incarceration is at the Presidio Officers Club, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, 50 Moraga Ave., San Francisco . Details here.
Life as a Russian superhacker isnt all its cracked up to be. Violent thugs will beat you for your passwords. Your wife will divorce you then talk to the feds. And in the end, one wrong vacation choice can land you in prison for years.

Just ask Roman Seleznev, the 32-year-old son of a prominent member of Russian parliament, and the mastermind of a years-long scheme to hack into restaurant point-of-sale systems and steal customer credit card data worth millions on the black market. In August, a Seattle jury found Seleznev guilty on 38 counts of fraud, identity theft, and computer intrusion for hacks that led to $169 million in losses. Now, with his April 21 sentencing fast approaching, Seleznev has penned an 11-page letter to U.S. District Judge Richard Jones accepting full, if belated, responsibility for his actions.

As expected with such letters, Seleznevs bid for leniency is respectful, at times soul-searching, and deeply remorseful. Also standard for someone facing decades in prison is a careful inventory of any past adversities and struggles, and here Seleznevs letter is as poignant and dark as a Russian novel. Though drafted with an obvious purpose, the hackers account sheds some light on how the promising son of a Russian politician became a dedicated computer criminal.

I was no trouble to anyone, nor did I make any problems when I was young, Seleznev writes of his childhood. I was respectful, polite, and tried hard to do good always. (Minor grammatical errors in the letter are corrected throughout this article).

As he describes it, Seleznevs challenges began as an infant in the Russian port city of Vladivostok. His parents divorced when he was 2, and his mother raised him alone and without much money. We lived very poorly, and it hurt me as a child to see my mother struggle every day, he writes.

When he was a little older, Seleznev taught himself computers while his mother worked as a cashier in a grocery store. He realized early on that he had a knack for the machines, he writes. I had great skill at a young age and it was clear to all I can do great things with my life. He graduated high school at 16 and went on to college, where he studied mathematics and computer science. I just tried to have a good life for my mom and want to have a father proud for me.

But his life took a tragic turn when he was 17. His mother suffered from alcohol addiction, and one day Seleznev came home after school to found her in the bath. Shed passed out and drowned to death.

I panicked and cried so bad for this pain and loss of my mom, he writes. The next day, according to Seleznev, his uncle came by, not to care for his teenaged nephew, but to take all of his mothers jewelry. I never speak with him any more, Seleznev writes. I buried my mom.

As filed on the public docket, Seleznevs letter doesnt explain his fathers apparent absence from his trouble-plagued childhood. But portions of the letter discussing Valery Seleznevan outspoken member of the Russian parliament and a political ally of Vladimir Putinare redacted, and the uncensored version is being kept under seal on a motion by Roman Seleznevs defense lawyer. The redacted substance of this letter is of the sensitive and confidential nature, wrote attorney Igor Litvak, and thus, the right of public access is outweighed by the interests of both the public and the parties.

In any case, with his mother gone the grieving Seleznev was forced to drop out of college to find full-time employment. He took a job at a local computer club, working around the clock for about $5 a daynot enough money to pay even the utility bills on his mothers apartment, he says. It seems everyone takes from me that which I do not have.

Seleznev quit his job began looking online for better opportunities. Thats when he found his calling. In 2001 the Eastern European cyber underground was making some big moves, launching the first carder forum, called Carder Planet, to bring the efficiency and organization of eBay or Amazon to the thousands of credit card swindlers and identity thieves scattered around the net. Seleznev doesnt detail his initiation into this worldhe rejected a cooperation agreement early in his casebut evidence at trial established that he was an early member of Carder Planet under the name nCuX.

The underground, Seleznev writes, filled a hole in his life. I was desperate for many things other than money, he says. I found a place that accepted me. And at 17, I believed this was like a family, or at least someplace to belong.

I started to become a hacker, and I hacked computers to find credit cards and other data that I can sell, Seleznev continues. Sometimes I find small amounts of credit cards and sell them. This was enough to pay for the food, utility bills, and clothing. Then in 2007, he hacked a system with a much larger cache of credit card data, and got his first taste of serious money. I was becoming greedy and out of control, he writes.

The next year he got married and started a real family. Then one night in 2009, while his wife and daughter were away on a holiday, he experienced a more violent side of Russian cybercrime. A gang of thugs, who evidently knew of Seleznevs hacking success, entered his home and took him captive. They tortured him overnight, he claims, before leaving at dawn with his laptop, his cash, and all his passwords. The robbers knew I was doing wrong, so they [believed theyd] never get caught, he writes. He was left with nothing, though he says he was at peace with his sudden poverty. I never cared about material objects, as most of my life [me] and my mom had nothing.

Worried that the assailants would return, he fled with his family to Bali, Indonesia. In his letter, he claims the robbery moved him to give up hacking for a time, but after his efforts to find legitimate employment proved fruitless without a college degree, he returned to the underground.

In the Spring of 2011, violence touched him again. He and his wife Svetlana decided to take a trip to Marrakesh to meet up with Seleznevs father. Arriving a day early, on April 28, the couple were waiting for a table at a popular tourist cafe when, according to news accounts, an al Qaeda sympathizer wearing long hair and carrying a guitar walked into the crowded restaurant, ordered a glass of orange juice, drank it and walked out, leaving a bag behind.

The explosion ripped through the building, killing 15 people instantly. Two more died later. Compared to them, Seleznev was lucky, but he sustained massive damage to his skull. At the hospital, his condition was listed as grave.

Seleznevs father arranged a Russian airlift to transport his son and daughter-in-law to a Moscow hospital, where Seleznev says he underwent a series of operations. He remained in a coma for two weeks, and after he awoke it was three months before he could walk, and a full year before he regained the power of speech.

When he was finally discharged after a year-and-a-half, Seleznevs wife divorced him and moved to the U.S. with their daughter, he says. Seleznev returned to his hacking business, filled now with existential doubt and self-loathing. My life was terrible and I hated the man I see when I look into a mirror, he writes. I asked God why he saved me? Why?

Across an ocean, the other half of Seleznevs story was being written by a federal task force. Police and Secret Service agents in Seattle had been investigating Seleznevs restaurant hacks for years, and were constantly monitoring the underground website where the stolen cards appeared for sale, Bulba.cc. It wasnt lost on them that the site abruptly stopped selling new cards in late April 2011, at the exact same time that Roman Seleznev, already their prime suspect, was nearly killed in Marrakesh. Later, according to court records, Seleznevs wife testified about her ex-husband in front of the Seattle grand jury that ultimately indicted him.

Ignorant of all this, Seleznev was feeling more optimistic by July 2014. Photographs later recovered from his electronics show him posing in his sports car and showing off bales of bundled cash. He used some of his hacking money to take his new girlfriend and her daughter for a vacation in the Maldives, not knowing that American officials had been tipped off to the trip. The Maldives has no extradition treaty with the U.S., but police there were persuaded to pick up Seleznev and turn him over to Secret Service agents, who hustled him onto a private jet, then onward to the U.S. Pacific island of Guam. From there he was formally extradited to Seattle.

In his letter, Seleznev blames his lawyers for pushing him to take his case to trial, though the court record casts doubt on that claim. Transcripts of phone calls between him and his father show them discussing plans to delay his trial through various pretexts, hoping to push it beyond the 2016 election, when a Donald Trump administration might be more friendly to Russian hackers.

Now, with no presidential pardon in evidence, Seleznevs fate will be guided by harsh federal sentencing guidelines that recommend around 25 years in prison for a crime of his scale. The final decision will rest with his judge.

Please understand that I was a desperate child who grew into a desperate man, he wrote the court in closing.

I am alive today and I thank God and the United States of America Government. I was going down a very deadly road.
At first, exercisers at the upscale fitness center thought the bangs came from two weights being slammed togetherthe not-infrequent result of some overzealous gym rat maxing out a deadlift, perhaps.

Then the bangs continued.

Five gunshots, Ovi Viera told the Miami Herald. It was too loud for it to have been a weight dropping. Within two seconds, people just started running out.

The bangs came from a handgun, reportedly brandished by Abeku Wilson, 33, who was until Saturday morning a trainer at an Equinox in the tony Miami suburb of Coral Gables. The reported targets: two of Wilsons former coworkers at the fitness center, general manager Janine Ackerman and fitness manager Marios Hortis.

As Wilson, clad in the black-on-black uniform of the gyms top-flight trainers, opened fire hours after his reported firing, gymgoers fled the Equinox for the safety of the upscale mall in which the gym is located, some clad in nothing more than towels.

I was confusedI saw men with towels around their waists, Lauren DeCanio, a college student who works in a yoga boutique in the mall, told the Miami Herald. Then a man reached out and grabbed my arm, rather forcefully, and said you cant go there; there has been a shooting.

As alarms blared and police flooded the mall in search of the shooter, employees and customers were told to shelter in place. But by the time police had arrived, the shootings were over. Wilson reportedly took his own life.

We can confirm that an incident occurred at our club in Coral Gables, Florida, Equinox told the Daily Beast in a statement released by the company. We are working with all of the relevant authorities as they investigate the situation. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families impacted by this terrible tragedy. Out of respect for them and our entire Equinox family, we will refrain from commenting further until it is appropriate to do so.

Ackerman and Hortis were transported to the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital, both in critical condition, and later succombed to their injuries.

"Our love, prayers and condolences are with both families during this terrible time," Equinox told the Daily Beast in a statement following the deaths of Ackerman and Hortis. "The collective Equinox community will always keep Janine and Marios in our hearts.

Former trainees of Wilsons told the Miami Herald that the aspiring model was a nice guy, quiet not a crazy guy.

There was a dance class of 40 people if he wanted to do that, the former customer said. This was personal.

A statement from Detective Alvaro Zabaleta of the Miami-Dade Police Department provided to the Daily Beast asserted that the violence was targeted.

The preliminary investigation reveals that this shooting involves a dispute between an ex-employee and fitness center staff, Zabaleta said. The investigation also reveals that both victims were targeted and that this was not an act of random violence.

In his biography on the modeling site Model Mayhem, Wilson is described as God-fearing, outgoing, charismatic, versatile, ambitious, kind hearted, and has a youthful and loving sense of humor. He has a positive attitude and appreciates and enjoys the simple things in life.
By Indrajit Kundu: The Arunachal Pradesh government has converted the bungalow of former state Chief Minister Kalikho Pul's bungalow into a guest house by in an apparent attempt to allay public perception that the place was "haunted". The guest house was formally inaugurated by state Minister for Urban Development Nabam Rebia and Chief Secretary Shakuntala D Gamlin on Friday.

The inaugural ceremony included a host of local priests and monks conducting holy rituals, offering prayers and blessings in each room to thwart "evil forces". Located on a hill top, this multi-crore property had been infamously labelled as "haunted" after Kalikho Pul's death.

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The former chief minister committed suicide in August last year which was followed by the death of another staff member posted at the same bungalow in October. Both the deaths led to rumours that "evil forces" had gripped the premises. Apparently, some employees had even reported to have witnessed "paranormal activities" in the form of noises and of alarms going off in the bungalow.

"Since the unfortunate episode of former CM Kalikho Pul's death, we thought before formally occupying this place, in all good faith, holy men from every religion should conduct a Suddhi ceremony. Hopefully, this will turn this into an auspicious place," Arunachal Pradesh Chief Secretary Shakuntala D Gamlin told the media after Friday's ceremony.

According to Minister Nabam Rebia, the rituals were conducted to eliminate public apprehension about the bungalow. Apart from serving as a guest house, the bungalow will also be used as a training center for civil servants. The construction of the state chief minister's bungalow began in 2007-08 and was completed in a year's time at an estimated cost of Rs 59.55 crore during the regime of former Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu.

Also read:

Ex-Arunachal Pradesh CM Kalikho Pul's wife withdraws SC plea seeking CBI probe into his death

Kalikho Pul found dead: All you need to know about the ex-Arunachal Pradesh CM

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Delhi Police on Saturday arrested two persons in connection with an attack on a German tourist on Friday night.

By India Today Web Desk: Delhi Police on Saturday arrested two persons in connection with an attack on a German tourist on Friday night.

The incident took place at around 11.30 pm on Friday near North Delhi's Kotwali area. The victim identified as Benjamin Scolt had hired a rickshaw near Chandni Chowk Metro station to a bus terminal to board a bus to Amritsar.

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Scolt told the police that the rickshaw puller took a wrong route, convincing Scolt it was a short cut. The rickshaw puller picked up his accomplice on way and robbed Rs 8,000 cash and a mobile from him after attacking him with a blade.

The attackers have been identified as Rizwan and Raj Kishore, were arrested from their hideouts in east Delhi's Brahampuri.

The German youth told the police that he hired the rickshaw around 10.30 pm but had doubts about the rickshaw puller who continued to take him along for over 45 minutes before reaching an isolated place where he was attacked and robbed.

Police said that the rickshaw puller took a detour near Geeta colony flyover claiming that it was a short cut.

"The rickshaw puller stopped midway to pick up a man informing Scot that he was his friend. He then took the rickshaw towards Yamuna Khadar under the flyover where they tried to snatch the foreigner's valuables. The youth resisted after which the rickshaw puller attacked him with a blade.

"The victim managed to free himself and reached the flyover where two people crossing the area in their car helped him, informed police and took him to the hospital," another police official said.

The officer said that a police team recovered the victim's bag and his passport from the spot but the attackers till then managed to escape from there.

The tourist was taken to the nearby Hedgewar Hospital where he is being treated. The German Embassy was notified.

A police officer who refused to be named said the attackers were arrested after the questioning of more than 50 persons in the area.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who had sought a report on the attack and asked the Delhi government to provide best medical treatment to the German, congratulated Delhi Police for their fast action in nabbing the accused.Also read:

Delhi Police arrests two persons for attack on German national

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Author and Texas A&M class of 70 graduate Barry Bauerschlag will be on the university campus Saturday signing copies of his new book, Aggie Spirit 101: Greater Love.

In a statement, Bauerschlag said the book explores the universitys most famous traditions  including Elephant Walk, Fish Camp and Aggie Muster  as well as how he sees Texas A&Ms core values intersect with religious texts.

There is more to learn at Texas A&M than what they teach you in the classroom, Bauerschlag said. Students embrace these transformative values that are then reinforced in Christian teachings. Aggie Spirit explores the intersection of these deeply embedded Aggie traditions and central religious teachings and shows the true value of a Texas A&M education.

Bauerschlag will be conducting the Saturday book signing in the Memorial Student Center Barnes and Noble.
Texas A&M political science major Trent Sutton -- who spent 21 years as an active duty member of the Marine Corps -- had "no intention of getting an Aggie ring" when he first walked into Texas A&M.

But Sutton received the iconic symbol on Friday, one of 12 student veterans who were presented with rings by the class of '60.

The 12 were just a handful of thousands of maroon-clad students and their families who waited eagerly under sunny skies outside the Clayton W. Williams Jr. Alumni Center for their turn to receive their rings. The two-day celebration follows in a long-running tradition of springtime Aggie Ring Days as the largest yet, with more than 6,200 rings being delivered to students.

Kathryn Greenwade, vice president of The Association of Former Students, said through a collaborative effort, the class of '60 raised more than $20,000 to gift 18 student veterans with their Aggie Rings.

Class agent and class of '60 member Tom Wisdom said the honored students also being veterans lent the gift a special significance.

Having served in the military for eight years after graduation alongside many of his Texas A&M classmates more than half a century ago -- losing several friends as well as his brother during the Vietnam War -- Wisdom said a respect for the service and the sacrifice that comes with it is deeply ingrained in the class of '60.

He said while giving back to the Texas A&M community is always a pleasure, the culmination of this specific gift was "staggering."

"It was a very moving feeling to do this, to talk to these people and learn their stories," Wisdom said. "Our country owes them for their service and now that they are back here working on their degree, it was a chance for me and my classmates -- operating as a class -- to step forward and say thank you for what they have done."

For Sutton, the presentation capped off a more than two-year journey to better understanding the bond symbolized by the ring among Aggies.

"One of the greatest things people always say they miss when they leave the military is the camaraderie," Sutton said. "When I got to Texas A&M, I began to realize how much of a similar bond it is between the Aggie family ... I now have a connection with everyone who has come before me and everyone who will come after wearing this ring."

For fellow ring recipient Emily Otto, she said she sees her new Aggie Ring as a symbol for the winding path she has been on to this point.

After studying military history at the University of Louisville and serving two and a half years in the Army, Otto said she enrolled in the Army ROTC Green to Gold program, allowing her to come to the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M to pursue a master's degree and earn a commission as an officer.

"My path to A&M took a winding road," Otto said. "The ring for me just symbolizes all these years, this path of trying to get here and the blood, sweat and tears that have gone into doing grad school and ROTC at the same time."

Otto said she particularly enjoyed the chance to visit with the members of the class of '60 who attended the presentation. Though they may be separated in their service by several decades, she said there was plenty she and her fellow veterans could relate to.

Looking forward, Wisdom said he hopes he and his class of '60 peers can help to inspire younger generations of Aggies to find similar ways to give back to the A&M community.

"My class is getting to that 80-year mark and our ranks are thinning," Wisdom said. "We need younger Aggies to step forward and keep this going. It would be nice if we could build up to taking care of 50 or 60 rings per year for these veterans who don't have mother and dad paying for school. It's a way to make sure they can afford that ring."

Greenwade said The Association is "always thrilled to help former students and current students connect," with the class of '60's gift serving as a "great example" of the impact of those connections.

"Perhaps even more important [than the gift] is the relationships that have now been established between the class of 1960 and the recipients of these rings," Greenwade said. "...In funding these rings, the class of 1960 is demonstrating how Aggies look out for one another and the importance of giving back to Texas A&M."

Ring distributions will continue today from 9 a.m. to noon at the Clayton W. Williams Jr. Alumni Center.
A Bryan man led authorities on a 20-mile high-speed chase across Brazos County on Friday before he was stopped by traffic spikes laid out on Texas 6, officials said.

According to the Department of Public Safety, a trooper was traveling northbound on Texas 6 when he was contacted about a car being driven by Jose Mireles, 39, of Bryan, who had a felony warrant for parole violation. The trooper spotted Mireles' vehicle and attempted to stop the car, but Mireles sped off northbound into College Station, according to a probable cause statement.

While Mireles was driving, authorities say two bags of methamphetamine were thrown out of the car and landed in the center media. Bryan police were able to lay out traffic spikes on Texas 6 just south of Martin Luther King Jr. Street, which stopped Mireles. Mireles and his passnger, Hannah Elizabeth Hope Barton, 21, of College Station were arrested. Authorities said more methamphetamine was found inside the vehicle, as well as drug paraphernalia.

According to Brazos County Court Records, Friday's arrest was the third in as many months for Barton. An article in The Eagle states she was arrested Feb. 9 after she was the passenger in a car that was stopped for a traffic violation. Police say a search of the car turned up methamphetamine, hypodermic needles, a digital scale and other items.

Court records show Barton and Mireles were both arrested on March 8 and each charged with delivery of a controlled substance, but it is unclear if they were arrested together.

In the Friday incident, Mireles was charged with delivery of more than four grams of methamphetamine, a first-degree felony punishable by up to 99 years in prison; evading arrest in a vehicle with a previous conviction and tampering with evidence, both third-degree felonies punishable by up to 10 years in prison and possession of paraphernalia, a misdemeanor. He is being held at the Brazos County Jail on $29,590 bond,

Barton is charged with paraphernalia possession and delivery of more than four grams of methamphetamine. She is being held in the Brazos County Jail on $13,200 bond.
A Bedias teen was arrested in San Antonio and faces two charges in connection to a January robbery of a Dollar General store in Bedias.

According to the Grimes County Sheriff's Office, authorities were called to a Dollar General in Bedias on Jan. 13. Two clerks locking up the store after closing said they had been robbed at gunpoint outside the store by a man wearing dark clothing with a bandana covering his face. The armed man took the women's purses. No one was injured.

Authorities identified the suspect as Dante Dewayne Owens, 18, of Bedias. On March 17, Owens was involved in a car accident in San Antonio and authorities found he had a warrant out of Grimes County. Owens was transported Wednesday to Grimes County, where he is being held on $40,000 bond.

He is charged with two counts of aggravated robbery. Each charge is a first-degree felony punishable by up to 99 years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
Texas A&M has been selected as one of eight colleges to compete in the General Motors and SAE International AutoDrive challenge.

The challenge was announced to colleges across North America in December. General Motors expressed an interest in universities where students and faculties are already in the process of developing autonomous vehicles. Texas A&M's Engineering College boasts four vehicles under autonomous experimentation: a Kia, Lincoln, Polaris GEM and a Ford pickup.

Students are also working to make Texas A&M's shuttles fully autonomous. As a result of this work, A&M was selected to develop self-driving technology for a Chevrolet Bolt EV for the contest.

The competition will take place over a three-year period, giving students and faculty a significant amount of time to work. GM and SAE will provide all software and vehicle parts needed.

Aubrey Bloom, spokesman for the College of Engineering, said being selected is an honor for the school. Bloom noted GM has not yet disclosed what the winner of the contest will receive, but should it be a patent deal with GM, Aggie representatives will be prepared to work with the company.

One school has announced they are anticipating hundreds of their students working on this project. For Texas A&M, the number of students put on this project isn't certain, but it will be large, Bloom said.

"It's hard to say how many students we'll have, but it probably will be a capstone senior-level project."

This means senior students from the departments of civil, computer science, engineering technology, industrial distribution and mechanical engineering will probably be assigned the project as a full class credit over the next three years.

Autonomously guided vehicles are a hot topic of discussion in the technological sphere. Bloom explained researchers hope these vehicles will reduce deaths caused by driver error. They will be more efficient than personally steered vehicles, and could reduce parking problems.

"What if your car could drop you off and you didn't have to go and do the parking?" Bloom said.

Though development and brainstorming will probably be done on the main campus, assembly will take place at the RELLIS campus in Brazos County.

"This competition enables us to get even more undergraduate students interested and excited about autonomous systems and vehicles," said A&M researcher Srikanth Saripalli in a press release from the university.

The other competing schools, located in the United States and Canada, will be Kettering University, Michigan State University, Michigan Tech, North Carolina A&T University, the University of Toronto, the University of Waterloo and Virginia Tech.

Each school will be expected to have an autonomous vehicle able to navigate an urban course by 2020.
By Press Trust of India: (Eds: Updating with the foreign secretarys briefing)

New Delhi, Apr 8 (PTI) India and Bangladesh today signed 22 pacts in key sectors including defence and civil nuclear but the long-pending Teesta waters sharing agreement remained elusive though Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed his governments commitment for an "early solution".

After holding comprehensive talks with his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina, Modi announced a new concessional Line of Credit of USD 4.5 billion for the neighbouring country and an additional assistance of USD 500 million to help its military procurement.

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"We in India rejoice in our ties with Bangladesh. Ties that have been forged in blood and generations of kinship. Ties that seek a better and secure future for our people," Modi said at a joint media event with Hasina.

The two countries also agreed to confront challenges of terrorism with deeper security and defence cooperation with Modi terming spread of radicalism as a "grave threat", not only to the two countries but to the entire region.

On her part, Hasina, on a visit here after seven years, said her country will continue its zero-tolerance policy towards terror and promised to take all steps to ensure peace and security along Indo-Bangla border.

"We agreed that the agenda of our cooperation has to remain focused on purposeful action. We specifically looked at charting new avenues and tapping fresh opportunities in advancing our relationship."

Though the two sides decided to take their ties to a newer level, they could not finalise the long-pending Teesta water- sharing agreement, primarily due to opposition to it by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who was present during launch of new train and bus services between the two countries.

On the Teesta water issue, Modi said the pact is important for Indo-Bangla relationship and expressed hope that the West Bengal chief minister will eventually support it.

"I am very happy that the chief minister of West Bengal is my honoured guest today. I know that her feelings for Bangladesh are as warm as my own. I assure you and the people of Bangladesh of our commitment and continuing efforts," he said, adding he "firmly" believes that an early solution to the issue "can and will" be found.

The prime minister also complimented Hasina for her governments zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism and said "it is an inspiration for all of us."

A new bus and train service was also launched between Kolkata and Khulna in Bangladesh.

"India has always stood for the prosperity of Bangladesh and its people. We are a long-standing and trusted development partner of Bangladesh. India and Bangladesh are also determined that the fruits of our cooperation must benefit our people," said Modi.

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Talking about regional connectivity, he said India was looking forward to early implementation of the BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal) Motor Vehicles Agreement which will "usher in a new era of sub-regional integration." The BBIN initiative was taken after Pakistan stalled a regional transport initiative of SAARC.

Under the Defence LoC pact, India will supply military hardware to Bangladesh.

The other key MoUs inked were on passenger and cruise services on the coastal and protocol route, and cooperation on cyber security and in the peaceful uses of outer space.

As a mark of Indias respect to father of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasinas father, a prominent road in Delhi has been named after him.

Modi and Hasina also released a Hindi translation of Bangbandhus Unfinished Memoirs.

The Prime Minister said with fresh assistance of USD 4.5 billion, Indias resource allocation for Bangladesh has recorded more than USD 8 billion over the past six years.

Identifying major areas of cooperation, he said energy security is an important dimension of the two-way development partnership.

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"Today, we added an additional 60 Mega Watt of power to the 600 Mega Watt of power already flowing from India to Bangladesh. The supply of another 500 Mega Watt has already been committed from the existing inter-connection.

"We have also agreed to finance the diesel oil pipeline from Numaligarh to Parbatipur. Our companies are entering into a long-term agreement for the supply of high speed diesel to Bangladesh. We have also agreed on a time table for regular supply till the pipeline is constructed," he said.

Later, briefing reporters, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said the two leaders assessed the status of bilateral ties at this juncture as he described the current visit as "going exceptionally good".

He also said India and Bangladesh have already identified 17 projects including port development and other key infrastructure upgrade for the usage of USD 4.5 billion line of credit, which was among the largest done for any country bilaterally.

Indian envoy to Dhaka Harsh Shringla also pitched for more bilateral investments to address Bangladeshs concerns over trade imbalance.

He talked about liberalised visa regime for Bangladesh nationals including those coming for medical purposes.

On non-economic issues, Jaishankar said the two leaders discussed threat of terrorism in the region and there was convergence of views on the issue including the source.

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Asked if our relations with Bangladesh, erstwhile East Pakistan, can teach any lessons to current Pakistan, the foreign secretary said Indo-Bangla counter-terrorism is working so fine and the lessons are out there for others to learn. PTI MPB/PYK ZMN

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After 15 and a half hours of debate on hundreds of amendments to the Texas House budget, lawmakers in the lower chamber passed the two-year, $218 billion document, with 131 votes in favor and 16 votes against.

The House vote included using $2.5 billion from the states savings account, colloquially known as the Rainy Day Fund. State Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond, thanked lawmakers for exhibiting true leadership with their willingness to tap the fund, instead of electing to use an unconstitutional transfer from the transportation funding.

That was a jab at the Senate, which last week approved its version of the two-year budget using a $2.5 billion accounting trick to free up funds dedicated to highway spending. The House must now work with the Senate, which is under the leadership of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who vehemently opposes using the Rainy Day Fund, to reconcile their budget differences.

House lawmakers, debating the budget late into Thursday night, took several jabs at Patrick and other statewide elected officials throughout the evening.

Included in the fray were Gov. Greg Abbott, who saw one of his prized economic development programs defunded; Patrick, who heard a resounding "no" when his favored proposal to subsidize private school tuition with public funds was put to a vote; and Attorney General Ken Paxton, who lost more than $20 million from his agencys budget for lawsuits.

On the winning side of the House budget debate were child welfare advocates, who saw funding for foster care and Child Protective Services tentatively boosted; social conservatives, who scored $20 million for the Alternatives to Abortion program; and the lieutenants of House Speaker Joe Straus' leadership team who, in a display of unity, easily brushed aside most challenges from far-right Republicans.

Statewide GOP leaders took some of the heftiest blows in the House chamber. Lawmakers there voted to strip $43 million from the governors Texas Enterprise Fund, the "deal-closing" fund the state uses to lure businesses from elsewhere, and divide it into two equal pots: one for Child Protective Services and foster care funding, the other for a program that pays for disabled childrens physical, occupational and speech therapy services. Both are hot-button issues that have dominated the Houses budget negotiations during this legislative session.

A spokesman for Abbott said he was unfazed by the vote. As we get closer to a final budget, we believe the Legislature will ultimately fund critical economic development programs that create jobs and keep Texas in the vanguard of attracting new businesses in the future, John Wittman, the spokesman, said in an email.

But Tea Party Republicans in the lower chamber took great umbrage at the proposal. State Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford, gave an impassioned speech that prompted a large number of members to vacate the chamber as he accused House leadership of trying to hide a politically difficult vote on the Enterprise Fund. (The vote on the proposal, authored by state Rep. Sergio Munoz, D-Palmview, was recorded without objection, and so without a record of who voted in favor or against it.)

Stickland called it one of the most offensive things and disgusting things that I have ever seen in this body.

Private school subsidies, a pet issue of Patrick and his Senate, also suffered a perhaps fatal wound on Thursday. House lawmakers voted 103-44 to prevent state money from being spent to subsidize private school tuition in the form of vouchers, education savings accounts or tuition scholarships. The proposals author, state Rep. Abel Herrero, D-Robstown, said it was in support of our public schools and our neighborhood schools.

Patrick did not respond to a request for comment on the vote, but state Sen. Larry Taylor, a Friendswood Republican and the Senates chief of public education, said he was disappointed by the vote.

Paxtons attorney generals office also saw funding gutted by House lawmakers who opted to instead fund programs that serve vulnerable children. Foster care funding would receive $21.5 million that was previously intended to pay for Paxtons legal services budget under a proposal by state Rep. Ina Minjarez, D-San Antonio, that passed 82 to 61.

Meanwhile, several other controversial topics ignited debate on the House floor, including multiple amendments that aimed to boost funding for the states Alternatives to Abortion program, which provides counseling and resources to pregnant, low-income women. As of Thursday evening, one proposal passed and the rest appeared to have been set aside in a back-door compromise. The one measure that was approved stripped $10 million per year budgeted for air quality control at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and moved it to the anti-abortion program.

State Reps. Mike Schofield, R-Katy, and Matt Krause, R-Fort Worth, spearheaded the effort, saying the environmental agency had been allotted funding in excess of what leaders there had actually requested. Anti-abortion groups such as Texas Right to Life took to Twitter to rejoice the amendment's passage, which received 92 to votes in favor to 50 against.

Other controversial issues were killed before they could even enter the fray. One proposal from Stickland, which would have cut state funding to public universities that allow non-citizens, including undocumented immigrants, to pay in-state tuition rates, never saw the light of day. Thats because state Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, killed the amendment on a technicality, using a legislative procedure known as a point of order.

Another proposal that died without a vote would have regulated bathroom use in government buildings, mirroring the spirit of the Senate's controversial bathroom bill. The proposal, by state Rep. Valoree Swanson, R-Spring, appeared to be withdrawn as part of a compromise to bypass floor debates on dozens of amendments and instead insert all of them into a non-binding portion of the budget widely referred to as "the wish list."

The House agreed to the compromise just before 2 a.m., shortly after the passage of an amendment by Tea Party-aligned state Rep. Matt Rinaldi, R-Irving, that is meant to bar state government funds from Planned Parenthood. It passed 101 to 43. Then, just a few minutes later, the chamber approved its overall budget.

Tempers raged as the night dragged on. At one point in the mid-evening, state Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, attempted to offer an amendment that would have abolished the Texas Health and Human Services Commissions advisory council on palliative, or end-of-life, care.

Cain introduced his amendment as an attempt to stop death panels. State Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond, an anesthesiologist and the budgets author, quickly stepped up to the back microphone to lay into Cain for his choice of language.

Zerwas asked Cain whether he understood what palliative care was. After a tense exchange, the typically mild-mannered Zerwas uttered some of the sternest remarks of the night.

If you want to go up and characterize something in such an offensive way, I would hope that you would have a little bit better understanding, he said, as a large crowd of lawmakers gathered behind him in support.

Cain withdrew his amendment before House members could vote on it.

A few hours later, two conservative lawmakers confronted each other during a heated exchange and had to be physically separated.

Stickland had filed an amendment defund a state program for the abatement of feral hogs, which hes become known for championing at the Legislature each session. Stickland railed predictably against the program, calling it ridiculous and a waste of money.

It has not worked, and it never will work, Stickland said, his voice rising.

That apparently offended rural lawmakers, notably state Rep. Drew Springer, R-Muenster. In response, Springer attached an amendment to Stickland's proposal that would cut the same amount of funding for the Texas Department of Transportation, but only for roads and highways in Sticklands hometown of Bedford.

Stickland took to the back microphone to cry foul.

Someone else has chosen to make a mockery of this system and play gotcha politics, he said before being interrupted. Laughter had erupted in the gallery.

Its funny until it happens to you, he continued.

Springer and Stickland then confronted each other on the middle of the House floor and had to be separated by colleagues. Springers amendment ultimately passed, 99 to 26, forcing Stickland to withdraw his own proposal to which it had been attached.
Georgia was born on March 4, 1939 in Los Angeles, California to James Lafayette and Hermina Helen Zorich Lloyd, who have both preceded her in death and her brother, Harland James Lloyd. She graduated from Fontana High School in 1957. Georgia was preceded in death by her first husband and father of her children, Jerry Ronald Sprouse and her second husband, Alton Earl Burkhalter. She later married her beloved Bobby on March 28, 1981, who preceded her in death after 38 years of constant companionship. Georgia served her community for almost 25 years at the Hearne Police Department, where she was Supervisor of Communications, controlled evidence, and supported the Chief of Police until her retirement as Lieutenant in 2004. She was Baptist in faith and enjoyed sharing a love of horses with her sisters, Betsy and Diana, and spent many happy years on trail rides and at rodeo events. She also enjoyed all of her dogs, bowling, vegetable farming, fishing, and camping all over the great State of Texas, alongside her husband Bobby and family. Georgia was a devoted mother and selflessly cared for her children. She deeply cherished her family and friends, who will all miss her quirky sense of humor and her altruistic acts of kindness to those in need.
College Station residents must act now to protect their neighborhoods

In 2011, the College Station City Council adopted the Eastgate Neighborhood Plan which placed a high priority on maintaining "community character." A key aim was to "preserve larger lot single-family development patterns."

Unfortunately, a developer is proposing to divide a forested 2.51-acre lot at the intersection of Gilchrist Avenue and Williams Street, one of the two access points to College Hills Elementary School. The proposal calls for a cul-de-sac surrounded by 10 lots, some as small as 4,800 square feet, with the evident intent of constructing rental units on each lot. No room for garages, more pavement instead of greenspace, more on-street parking, and more traffic on narrow winding streets at a crucial intersection.

This development threatens not only the "community character" of the College Hills area but the safety of schoolchildren and parents who bring their children to and from this intersection every day.

Parents, neighbors and homeowners are outraged by this egregious violation of a major city planning document. Many of us have contributed to neighborhood plans only to see their recommendations ignored. No wonder citizens are reluctant to participate a second or third time in such fruitless efforts.

Many people reading this will have experienced similar threats in your neighborhood. Some will feel safe from such overzealous and incompatible development. But others will recognize that it is only a matter of time before their neighborhood faces this issue.

Unless concerned residents take action by contacting our College Station City Council and Planning and Zoning Commission, development will continue unabated, and preserving "community character" will be little more than vacuous campaign slogan.

DENNIS BERTHOLD

College Station

What is the Republican Party if not a giant caucus?

I'm writing to respond to recent comments U.S. Rep. Bill Flores made on WTAW regarding the Freedom Caucus. He said they take a blood oath to discuss issues before they vote. He also said he is responsible to his constituents.

The comments demonstrate an open contempt for the group and also demonstrate why House leadership failed to muster enough votes to pass the health care act.

I don't know if Flores realizes this, but he basically said those members of his own party don't care about their constituents. What is the Republican party if it isn't a giant caucus?

I understand that here in the Brazos Valley moderate political positions are much more representative overall of our district. I'm a fiscal conservative and I don't expect Flores to join the Freedom Caucus. What I can tell him is that conservatives are tired of Washington, D.C. insiders constantly attacking them instead of finding ways to work together.

Maybe just saying "no" for eight years has caused the Republican party to forget how to compromise or how to whip votes. Please, Rep. Flores, continue your hard work to preserve, protect and uphold our Constitution. Now more than at any time in our nation's history this country needs strong leaders coming out of Texas with Texas values such as hard work, respect, and doing the right thing even when it isn't easy.

Someone in Congress needs to set a good example. I've been here in the Brazos Valley for almost 10 years now and I can tell Rep. Flores that if the rest of the country were a little bit more like Texas the country would be better for it.

JOHN REMINGTON

College Station
I'm pleased to report that UNC Law School will be hosting a one day conference on the April 3, 1948 Jeju massacre (also known as the uprising). This is part of an on-going, international effort to bring attention to the violence on Jeju island that ran from April 1948 through May 1949 in which thousands of residents of the island were killed as part of anti-communist suppression. The efforts have led to extensive discussion in Korea, Japan, and more recently the United States about the massacre and the role of both the Korean government and to a lesser extent the United States' military in suppressing the uprising. And since 2000 there has been the Jeju 4.3 Committee, which has led efforts at documenting the history, memorializing it, and repair -- what we often call transitional justice. As part of this on-going effort, we will be hosting a meeting of scholars of Jeju 4.3, victims and their families, and scholars of transitional justice on May 22. Here is the schedule:

Welcoming remarks by Ko Chang Hoon, Jeju National University, Republic of Korea; Yun Kuung Yang and Sang-soo Hur, Jeju People Association; Ho-jin Kang, Juju Residents Association for Autonomy; Oui-soon Park, Jeju Residents Solidarity for Authonomy.

Part 1: Recognition, Responsibility, Reparations and Asian Democracy in relation to Taiwan 2.28 Massacre, Jeju 4.3 Grand Tragedy, and Other Cases 9-10:45

Moderator Al Brophy, UNC Law School

Jeh-Hang Lai, Professor Emeritus National Central University Taiwan, R.O.C., The 2.28 Uprising as a Turning Point in Taiwan Political History

Hope Elizabeth May, Central Michigan University, Recognition and Responsibility: The Moral Relevance of Pre-UN history to the Jeju Tragedy

Chang Hoon Ko, Professor Emeritus of JNU, Chair of World Association for Island Studies, South Korea, Jeju World Peace Island Treaty JWPA: From Darkness of Jeju 4.3 Grand Tragedy to Brightness of Jeju World Peace Island Vision, 1947-2017

Discussant: Sung-bin Koh, Professor, JNU, South Korea

Part 2: Theoretical Issues of Reparations and Reconciliation in Relation to Jeju 4.3, 11-12

Moderator Kunihiko Yoshida, Hokkaido University, Japan

Al Brophy, University of North Carolina Law School, Memorialization of Reconstruction: The Case of Ku Klux Klan Violence in 1870s North Carolina

Carlton Waterhouse, Robert H. McKinney School of Law, Indiana University, Slavery Reparations and Social Dominance Theory

Kaimi Wenger, Thomas Jefferson Law School, Micro-Reparations

Discussant: Professor Roy Tamashiro, Webster University, USA

Buffet Lunch at UNC Law School, 12-1:15

Part 3: Genocide Cases and Ways of Reparations 1:15-2:15

Moderator: Carlton Waterhouse, Robert H. Mckinney School of Law, Indiana University

Speakers: Kunihiko Yoshida, Hokkaido University, Japan, Taxonomies of Reparations Compared to Other Asian cases

Timothy Webster, Case Western University Law School, World War II Litigation in East Asia: Individual Litigation and Group Disappointment

Robert Westley, Tulane University Law School, Building a Norm of Redress Through Reparations Activism

Part 4: Social Healing Through Jeju Peace Academy, Communication and Dark Tourism, 3-3:45

Moderator: Hope Elizabeth May, Central Michigan University, Social Healing Through Jeju World Peace Academy

Roy Tamashiro, Webster University, USA, Jeju 4.3: Planetary Consciousness and Psychosocial Processes for Social Healing and Reconciliation

Dr. Ae-Duck Im, Chang Hoon Ko, (JNU) and Rachel Brooks (Fulbright English teacher September 2014- August 2016, USA) South Korea, Social Healing Through Generational Communication

Part 5: Final Discussions 4-5

Audience

If you are interested in attending, please let me (Al Brophy, abrophy@email.unc.edu) know. I have some information on discounted housing that might be of use; also, I want to have a good count of the people who will be attending.

I will take advantage of the location here in Chapel Hill to talk about a key moment of transitional justice in the United States -- the movement away from slavery and towards freedom in the wake of Civil War and how that was undone simultaneously through violence and appeals to the "rule of law" here in Orange County and in surrounding counties. This is a piece of a project I've been working on regarding the memorialization of Saunders Hall on the UNC campus. I've been working on this project for a while and am excited to have the chance to talk about this work that links a micro history of William Saunders and the Klan to larger themes in what "rule of law" meant in the United States during the difficult times of Reconstruction and its end (what was once known as the period of "redemption").

The image, of a statute in the Jeju Peace Park, is from the Emanuel Pastreich's post on Circles and Squares blog.
After holding comprehensive talks with his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina, Modi announced a new concessional Line of Credit of USD 4.5 billion for the neighbouring country and an additional assistance of USD 500 million to help its military procurement.

By Press Trust of India: India and Bangladesh today signed 22 pacts in key sectors including defence and civil nuclear but the long-pending Teesta waters sharing agreement remained elusive though Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed his governments commitment for an "early solution".

After holding comprehensive talks with his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina, Modi announced a new concessional Line of Credit of USD 4.5 billion for the neighbouring country and an additional assistance of USD 500 million to help its military procurement.

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"We in India rejoice in our ties with Bangladesh. Ties that have been forged in blood and generations of kinship. Ties that seek a better and secure future for our people," Modi said at a joint media event with Hasina.

The two countries also agreed to confront challenges of terrorism with deeper security and defence cooperation with Modi terming spread of radicalism as a "grave threat", not only to the two countries but to the entire region.

On her part, Hasina, on a visit here after seven years, said her country will continue its zero-tolerance policy towards terror and promised to take all steps to ensure peace and security along Indo-Bangla border.

"We agreed that the agenda of our cooperation has to remain focused on purposeful action. We specifically looked at charting new avenues and tapping fresh opportunities in advancing our relationship."

Though the two sides decided to take their ties to a newer level, they could not finalise the long-pending Teesta water- sharing agreement, primarily due to opposition to it by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who was present during launch of new train and bus services between the two countries.

TEESTA WATER ISSUE

On the Teesta water issue, Modi said the pact is important for Indo-Bangla relationship and expressed hope that the West Bengal chief minister will eventually support it.

"I am very happy that the chief minister of West Bengal is my honoured guest today. I know that her feelings for Bangladesh are as warm as my own. I assure you and the people of Bangladesh of our commitment and continuing efforts," he said, adding he "firmly" believes that an early solution to the issue "can and will" be found.

The prime minister also complimented Hasina for her governments zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism and said "it is an inspiration for all of us."

A new bus and train service was also launched between Kolkata and Khulna in Bangladesh.

"India has always stood for the prosperity of Bangladesh and its people. We are a long-standing and trusted development partner of Bangladesh. India and Bangladesh are also determined that the fruits of our cooperation must benefit our people," said Modi.

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Talking about regional connectivity, he said India was looking forward to early implementation of the BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal) Motor Vehicles Agreement which will "usher in a new era of sub-regional integration." The BBIN initiative was taken after Pakistan stalled a regional transport initiative of SAARC.

Under the Defence LoC pact, India will supply military hardware to Bangladesh.

The other key MoUs inked were on passenger and cruise services on the coastal and protocol route, and cooperation on cyber security and in the peaceful uses of outer space.

As a mark of Indias respect to father of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasinas father, a prominent road in Delhi has been named after him.

Modi and Hasina also released a Hindi translation of Bangbandhus Unfinished Memoirs.

The Prime Minister said with fresh assistance of USD 4.5 billion, Indias resource allocation for Bangladesh has recorded more than USD 8 billion over the past six years.

ENERGY SECURITY AN IMPORTANT DIMENSION

Identifying major areas of cooperation, he said energy security is an important dimension of the two-way development partnership.

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"Today, we added an additional 60 Mega Watt of power to the 600 Mega Watt of power already flowing from India to Bangladesh. The supply of another 500 Mega Watt has already been committed from the existing inter-connection.

"We have also agreed to finance the diesel oil pipeline from Numaligarh to Parbatipur. Our companies are entering into a long-term agreement for the supply of high speed diesel to Bangladesh. We have also agreed on a time table for regular supply till the pipeline is constructed," he said.

Later, briefing reporters, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said the two leaders assessed the status of bilateral ties at this juncture as he described the current visit as "going exceptionally good".

He also said India and Bangladesh have already identified 17 projects including port development and other key infrastructure upgrade for the usage of USD 4.5 billion line of credit, which was among the largest done for any country bilaterally.

12 BUSINESS AGREEMENTS EXPECTED TO BE SIGNED

Around 12 business agreements are also likely to be signed on Monday during a business event, he said.

Indian envoy to Dhaka Harsh Shringla also pitched for more bilateral investments to address Bangladeshs concerns over trade imbalance.

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He talked about liberalised visa regime for Bangladesh nationals including those coming for medical purposes.

On non-economic issues, Jaishankar said the two leaders discussed threat of terrorism in the region and there was convergence of views on the issue including the source.

Asked if our relations with Bangladesh, erstwhile East Pakistan, can teach any lessons to current Pakistan, the foreign secretary said Indo-Bangla counter-terrorism is working so fine and the lessons are out there for others to learn.

WATCH | There is a mindset in South Asia that promotes terrorism: PM Modi at Sommanona Ceremony

Also Read:

With Sheikh Hasina listening, PM Modi says India wants neighbours to progress, but some nurture terror

Sheikh Hasina in India: The Teesta story as PM Modi tries to convince CM Mamata

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By Press Trust of India: From Youssra El-Sharkawy

Cairo, Apr 8 (PTI) Egypt should strengthen its cooperation in pharmaceutical sector with India which has great advantages in terms of providing affordable and reliable medication, Indias envoy here said today.

Inaugurating the India Pavilion at the International Pharma exhibition "Pharmaconex 2017", Indias Ambassador to Egypt Sanjay Bhattacharyya encouraged the Indian and Egyptian partners to strengthen cooperation in trade, investments and Research and Development (R&D).

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"Pharmaceutical is something in which India seeks to be a global leader. We already have great advantages in terms of providing affordable and reliable medication. Egypt is a huge market in which we see growing export potentials as well as possibilities of investments.

"We are hoping that the Egyptian market which is so mature will provide us with the base also to expand to other parts of the region, the Arab world and Europe," the envoy told PTI.

He said India formulation is backed by globally acceptable certification and updated by growing R&D facilities.

Indian Pharmaceutical industry has come to be recognised as "Pharmacy of the world", Bhattacharyya said.

Eighteen Indian pharmaceutical companies are participating at the exhibition which is being held at Cairo International Convention Centre from April 8 to 10.

The companies from India are exhibiting their works in Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), herbals, neutraceuticals, pellets, surgical and finished formulations.

The pavilion was organised by the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil), an apex pharma Chamber sponsored by India, in association with the Embassy of India in Cairo.

Indias pharma industry has presence in all therapeutic segments with almost all types of dosage forms and is a rich source of all APIs.

Indias exports of pharmaceuticals in 2015-16 was USD 16.86 billion. Indian pharmaceutical industry with several thousand manufacturers, many of whom are US FDA, PICS and WHO GMP approved facilities, exports the largest share of generics to the world.

With a 20 per cent share in global trade of generics, India is able to provide cost effective and affordable medicine.

Indian pharmaceutical companies have come of age with several biosimilars, peptides and futuristic recombinant proteins being manufactured and marketed not only in India but also exported to several countries.

Several multinational corporations have opened their R&D centers in India owing to the huge technological pool of scientists in India for cost effective research for new molecules.

Contract research and manufacturing activities (CRAMS) are offered cost effectively and actively pursued in India.

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Bhattacharyya said the participation by Pharmaxecil is expected to benefit the pharma industry in both countries and further strengthen bilateral ties.

Indias pharma exports to Egypt stood at USD 162 million during 2015-16.

Though Indias strengths are producing quality generic medicines and catering to over 220 countries at affordable prices, exports to Egypt are mainly comprises of APIs, pellets, excipient, nutraceuticals and herbal products.

Manufacturing cost of finished dosage forms are very low in India compared to any other country in the world.

Since Egypts local industry is strong in manufacturing generic medicines, Indian manufacturers are keen to assist the pharma industry in Egypt in the areas of combination therapies, controlled release therapies (respiratory devices), Insulins with devices especially advanced insulins like glargine, APIs, oncology products and vaccines.

Indias pharmaceutical exports are also keen to have joint venture with Egyptian Pharama companies not only for manufacturing in Egypt and also in India to derive mileage from Indias work force and low cost base, Bhattacharyya added. PTI YES CPS

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By Press Trust of India: Valsad (Guj), Apr 8 (PTI) A stone weighing 1.4 kg was removed from the urinary bladder of a patient and the doctor who operated upon him claimed that it was the single largest bladder stone recorded in India.

Mahesh Patel (45), a resident of Kharvel village in Dharampur tehsil of Valsad district in south Gujarat, complained of severe pain due to blocked urine on Wednesday this week, after which he was admitted to a private hospital in Dharampur.

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He was operated upon last night by doctor Dhirubhai Patel, who removed the bladder stone weighing 1.4 kg which was in the shape of a coconut and in one piece from his urinary bladder.

The doctor claimed that medical reports confirm that this is the biggest such stone ever removed from a patients body in India, and second largest in the world.

"We have checked different records and we can say with confidence that this is the single largest recorded bladder stone in India, and second largest in the world," said Patel.

He said that the largest stone which has found place in the Guinness Book of Records weighs 1.9 kg and was removed from a patient in Brazil.

The doctor claimed that the largest recorded bladder stone in India weighs 1.34 kg. He added that the hospital will be applying to the Limca Book of Records for removing the largest bladder from the patients body.

Dhirubhai Patel is younger brother of Valsad MP K C Patel. PTI COR KA PD NM RMT

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What issue do Iowa voters most often say is critical? You might be surprised
Shahid Kapoor's younger brother seems to be having a blast shooting for his debut film, Majid Majidi's Behind The Clouds.

By India Today Web Desk: Those who were gearing up to watch Shahid Kapoor's younger brother Ishaan Khattar opposite Sridevi's eldest daughter Jhanvi Kapoor in the Hindi remake of Sairat were surprised when news broke that his launch vehicle was actually Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi's Beyond The Clouds. Details of the film have been kept tightly under wraps, but Ishaan shared a few behind-the-scenes photographs on his Instagram account.

Cleaning up, behind the scenes ??? Photo credit: Jignesh Panchal A post shared by Ishaan Khatter (@ishaan95) on Apr 6, 2017 at 9:43pm PDT

?? A post shared by Ishaan Khatter (@ishaan95) on Apr 6, 2017 at 11:04pm PDT

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Talking about his young leading hero, Majidi had said, "Ishaan is a wonderful boy. He is extremely talented and I feel, he will have a bright future in the film industry." Shahid was also proud of his younger brother and wished him all the best on Instagram. "This one's ready to fly. Make us proud," he wrote.

Beyond The Clouds is centered around a brother-sister relationship. There was speculation that Deepika Padukone had auditioned for the role, but Malavika Mohanan was finalised to play Ishaan's onscreen sister.

SEE PIC: Shahid's brother Ishaan Khattar shares poster of Majid Majidi's Beyond The Clouds

ALSO READ: Are Saif's daughter Sara and Shahid's brother Ishaan in a relationship?

ALSO WATCH: Misha's smelly diapers come to me, says Shahid Kapoor

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WESTPORT  Janet Hartwells passion for education has taken her from her native Cambridge, England, to places all across the world, including stops in Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Ive actually always, always been deeply interested in education, Hartwell said.

Hartwell, the head of school at Greens Farms Academy, announced earlier this month she will retire in June 2018.

Asked about what her stamp on the school is, Hartwell said, I think we have very innovative teaching. I think we have very solid values. We have a very good community of students and faculty.

The goal, Hartwell said, is to instill the joy of learning into all of her students.

Hartwells road to the Westport private school was a winding one, starting in her native country.

After studying English and Greek at the University of Leeds in England, Hartwell went on to earn a postgraduate teaching certificate from Moray House School of Education at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. She has a masters degree from the Teachers College at Columbia University.

At first, Hartwell stayed closer to home, teaching English in Scotland for three years. After that, however, she broadened her horizons, traveling overseas to teach in Iran and later Saudi Arabia and eventually relocating to the United States. Hartwell moved around, working in schools in Woodbridge, Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., and Groton, Mass, before taking the post of Greens Farms head of school in 2003.

In her 14th year, Hartwell has been at the helm of GFA while enrollment has grown from around 580 to 715 and implemented three schoolwide programs: STEAM, human ecology and sustainability, and world perspectives.

In general, Hartwell said technology has played an increased role in the classroom.

Weve been able to integrate technology as a resource, as a tool, not to replace teaching, but as an additional resource for teachers to use, whether they want to bring up an art history collection for art history, whether they want to do some work in biology, Hartwell said.
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WILTON  Unseasonably cold temperatures did little to deter hopeful anglers from enjoying the opening day of trout season, as fishers from throughout southwestern Connecticut lined up and down the Norwalk River early Saturday morning in the hopes of landing the big one.

For many fishers, a love for fishing and tradition are what kept them coming back to the many popular fishing holes along the Norwalk River in Wilton year after year.

My father first brought me here when I was six years old. I remember I used to spend most of the time hiding in the car to get away from the cold, so Ive come a long way. Since then, Ive been coming back whenever I can, said Jeremy Williams, a 34-year-old Norwalk resident who serves as a police officer in Stamford.

Since his father passed away from cancer four years ago, Williams has made a point of revisiting the spot behind Wiltons Village Market where his father taught him to fish. This year, Williams brought his friends Tommy Lametta and Adam Mocciola to share in the opening day tradition.

This spring, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) will be stocking over 530,000 catchable size trout, averaging about 12 inches long, into Connecticuts lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams this spring from before opening day until mid-May.

This number is about 90,000 fewer fish than the number stocked last year, which will bring some changes to the stocking program to minimize the impact on anglers and make the most efficient use of the trout that are available.

According to DEEP, the reduction in fish production can be attributed largely to the moderate to severe statewide drought in 2015 and 2016 that resulted in less water flow to fill ponds, raceways and supply flow at the states three hatcheries.

Adding further to the trout cutback was a reduction in production capacity at the Kensington Fish Hatchery for financial reasons, as well as critical maintenance of many production ponds at Quinebaug Trout Hatchery, which forced them to be taken out of service and drained of water while repairs were made.

Despite cold weather, recent rain showers and lower trout numbers than usual, the fishing faithful were out with their favorite poles and luckiest lures as early as 4:30 a.m.

Bridgeport resident Kevin Botelho was one of the first people out casting his first lines of the year Saturday morning. For six years, Botelho has traveled down to Wilton to hit what he calls one of his favorite spots behind the Village Market.

For the past three years, Botelho has expanded his fishing tradition by bringing his son into the mix.

This is one of my favorite times of the year, and now my sons starting to get in to it too, so its a good day all around, Botelho said.

Though his son is still too young to come out for fishing early morning, Botelho brings him down from Bridgeport around noon when the temperatures have risen to enjoy in the fun.

Lifelong Norwalk resident Mark Hiller also has an opening day tradition of his own. For nearly 38 years, Hiller and friends celebrate the opening of trout season by hitting different fishing holes along Norwalk River and then capping the day off with a late lunch at Orems Diner.

This is all the fishing Ive got until I can get my boat back in the water. It buys me some time until the salt water game picks back up, Hiller said.

For Connecticut stocking information, check out the DEEP Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/ctfishandwildlife. The page lists 70 different water bodies in the state that wont be stocked this year. The only one listed in the Norwalk is Silvermine Brook.

ptomlinson@hearstmediact.com; 203-354-1046; Twitter: @Tomlinson_PE
Shrenu Parikh, who plays Gauri on the show, will soon be seen in a Bollywood movie.

By Indo-Asian News Service: Television actress Shrenu Parikh, who gained popularity from serials like Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon Ek Baar Phir and Dil Bole Oberoi, is making her Bollywood debut with the film Thodi Thodi Si Manmaaniyan.

She plays a character named Neha in the film.

Talking about it, Shrenu said in a statement: "Neha cannot see anything happening wrong in the society. Her family is from a very humble background and she is the only one in her family who is contributing financially."

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A teaser of the film is already out.

Also read: What the female protagonists of shows like Ishqbaaz and Dil Bole Oberoi can learn from Girls' girls

"I am very happy with this phase, as the year has been good so far," Shrenu added.

Directed by Aditya Sarpotdar and produced by Satish Kumar and Rohandeep Singh, the film will release on May 12.

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HOLDREGE  As preparations continue for Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation Districts 2017 irrigation season, the Central board has authorized staff to order supplies for an E-65 Canal pipeline project to be done next fall.

At last weeks meeting, Irrigation Division Manager Dave Ford said there are agreements with two landowners to install about 1.25 miles of pipeline five miles north of Bertrand that will fill a gap between existing pipelines.

The 18-inch pipe and other supplies needed will be ordered, and CNPPIDs share of the cost is about $72,000, Ford said.

He also reported that preparations are being made to open the irrigation headgates in about two weeks to begin filling the canals. Customer Service Supervisor Van Fastenau said a big issue is removing cornstalks and other debris blown into the canals by winter windstorms.

Ford said pumps used to put water into Elwood Reservoir for irrigation season were shut off on March 31 and will be turned on again on May 1 to fill the reservoir.

In other operations reports, Civil Engineer Cory Steinke said Lake McConaughy is holding steady with about 1.4 million acre-feet of water, which is just more than 81 percent of capacity.

He added that the snowpack in the Rocky Mountain headwaters for the Platte, which had been above 100 percent for most of the winter, now is at 98 percent and 95 percent in the upper and lower parts of the North Platte Basin and at 104 percent in the South Platte Basin.
After a year of waiting and working, a Grand Island family will soon realize a lifelong dream.

Youre going to have to pinch me, Byron Lima said. Weve prayed about this, and now its finally happening.

In the spring of 2016, an educator shared information about Habitat for Humanity with Rosemary Lima, who was a student at Dodge Elementary. Excitedly, Rosemary passed the information about the organizations building and loan program on to her parents.

The Limas story shows how one person can positively impact a family simply by sharing information, said Dana Jelinek, executive director of Grand Island Area Habitat for Humanity.

After going through the application and interview process and being one of five applicants selected last April, Byron and Reyna Lima began their journey toward homeownership. This Sunday, April 9, the family will celebrate their journey with a dedication ceremony and open house.

For the past year, the Limas have been working on construction sites, taking homeownership education classes, helping with Habitat projects and volunteering at the Habitat ReStore. Although the commitment of 500 sweat equity hours is mandatory for those purchasing Habitat homes, the Limas are well past 700 hours.

You wont find a more grateful family, Jelinek said.

On hundreds of occasions, the Limas have shared their gratitude with the organization, even going so far as to track down volunteers and staff members on Christmas to give them gifts of homemade tamales.

We dont have much to give, but we will be thankful for all our lives, Byron Lima said.

He went on to say that the family had been dreaming of a home of their own for many years, but finding a decent place they could afford was a challenge. Lima smiled as he talked about how, one day, he can tell his grandchildren how he built his own home with the help of his Habitat family.

When we are going through the final stages of selecting future home buyers, we tell them that Habitat is more than a builder or lender, were a family, Jelinek said. The Limas really exemplify that philosophy.

In February, the organization had its annual Build a Dream Dinner and Auction, with proceeds helping to pay for construction materials on the home. The Limas attended the event and were overwhelmed by the generosity of people from the community.

These people dont have to give, but they are here to help someone like me to have a home, Lima said.

At 4 p.m. Sunday, the public is invited to the dedication of Habitats 89th area home, which will be sold to the Limas at no profit and with a no-interest loan. The ceremony will be at Sixth and Taft, around the corner from the house. Following the ceremony, an open house will be at 1306 E. Eighth.

This is the sixth home to be built on land developed by Habitat for Humanity. The organization has four lots designated for home buyers who will be selected later this month. However, inventory is at a historic low. In order to take their work into the future, the organization is doing preliminary work seeking a larger piece of ground for a multi-year housing development.

Habitat for Humanity typically builds five homes a year. In 2016, homes built by the organization not only had a direct impact on the home buyers but also had a significant impact on the community. The organization uses local subcontractors and suppliers, and home buyers pay property taxes. In 2016 alone, property taxes paid on all Habitat built homes in the area totaled more than $163,000. Market value on the homes completed in 2016 was $533,450.

In speaking about the sweat equity theyve contributed to Habitat, Reyna Lima said, You value your home because of the work you put into it. We will continue to help, so other families can have this, too.

To learn more about Habitat for Humanity, call (308) 385-5510.
A hearty Saturday Salute goes this week to Hall County Assessor and Register of Deeds Jan Pelland, who announced Tuesday that she will retire in December.

Pelland has been county assessor for 27 years and became register of deeds when the two offices were merged and she was elected to the post in 2014.

She said she and her husband will be moving to Arizona for a warmer climate because of her husbands continued health issues.

Pelland was very helpful to the Hall County Board of Supervisors, who will appoint someone to fill out the remainder of her term, by giving so much notice. She also planned to wait to leave after she has taken care of the biggest tasks of her office and had some time to train her replacement.

We salute Pelland for her decades of service to the county in a job that impacts a large number of the countys residents.

Dental clinic a crucial service

We also salute all the volunteers who have come together with Mission of Mercy to provide two days of free dental clinics for people in need this Friday and Saturday at the Pinnacle Bank Expo Center at Fonner Park.

The dental clinic is treating patients of all ages and is requiring no proof of need.

Dr. Steve Anderson, who is coordinating the event along with the Central District Health Department, said earlier this week that he was expecting about 90 dentists and dental students from several states to come to Grand Island to participate in the free clinic.

The Health Department is coordinating nearly 900 volunteers needed to assist with child care, patient movement and food services while the dental work and education are being provided to the patients.

This is a huge undertaking that meets a great need in Central Nebraska.

Students on stage this weekend

A big salute also goes to the students at Heartland Lutheran High School and Grand Island Senior High who are presenting their spring theater productions this weekend.

At Heartland Lutheran, 13 students have been putting in long days preparing to present a murder mystery, A Fly on the Wall.

After tryouts produced a smaller cast than expected, Chris Olsen, who is directing the play, had to switch directions and find a different play to present. That meant the cast had a shorter time to learn lines and rehearse. During rehearsals, they could spend 12 or 13 hours a day at school.

The play opened Friday night and will be presented again at 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday in the school gym.

At Senior High, a cast of 30 is presenting the spring musical, Bring It On.

A high-energy production about high school cheerleaders, it takes a big commitment from the students. The dance numbers were choreographed by a student who has also been a cheerleader, Hannah Kier, with the help of two other cheerleaders, Kira Oberschulte and Morgan White, who have roles in the musical.

Co-director Christine Kier says the musical has a great message about being true to yourself and your friends and appreciating what you have.

The Senior High musical opened Friday night and will be presented again at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday in the schools Little Theatre.

Congratulations to all the student involved both on stage and behind the scenes in these two productions.
The U.S. Constitution applies to U.S. citizens and the Bill of Rights guarantees due process as protection of U.S. citizens civil liberties. President Donald Trumps travel ban applies to foreigners, not U.S. citizens.

The Ninth Circuit Panels injunction against President Trumps executive order gives the Constitutions protection of U.S. citizens to non-citizens, the basis of due process and religious discrimination. The judges said that President Trumps executive order runs contrary to the fundamental structure or our constitutional republic.

The constitutional rights no longer apply to U.S. citizens, only to non-citizens, which has evoked no comment from the liberal, progressive left, the Democratic Party, Harvard Law School, the American Bar Association or the Federalist Society.

The duty of Congress is to make laws only under the powers herein granted in the Constitution. The duty of the president is to take care that the laws be faithfully executed. All President Trump has to do is cite the law, immigration law, Title 8USC Section 1182(f), and declare he intends to enforce congressional law.

Courts are not authorized to interfere with due process, the fact is theyre under oath of office. If the courts interfere with enforcing a law made by Congress, court members are obstructing justice  this is bad behavior (Article III Sec. 1)  and can be removed from the court. Presidents do not have to beg courts. Courts are not lawmakers.

All government officials swear on oath of office to preserve and protect the USA. All who deliberately break the pledge are to be arrested, tried in court, and if found guilty sentenced to the maximum of the law.

The toll free number to Washington, D.C., is (866) 220-0044. No amnesty for illegal aliens, no more refugees or asylees.
Have you ever watched a kitten chase spots of light as they moved across the carpet, or a baby in the crib watch the movement of a mobile as it winds around, putting the baby to sleep?

President Donald Trump is constantly creating distractions away from the focus of the FBI, and congressional investigations in a similar fashion. He constantly engages in diversions. He always refuses to acknowledge Russian involvement in American elections. He doesnt explain meetings between members of his campaign staff and the Russians. Rather than explain these meetings, he chooses to focus on information leaks, but not their validity.

President Trump, during his campaign praised both the Russians and WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks is a fugitive from Sweden who has taken refuge in a South American embassy to avoid prosecution for rape in Sweden.

America is a government of laws and institutions. President Trump has replaced them with billionaires and crony capitalists.

Trump says the markets should determine winners and losers. However, on closer examination, it is evident that the U.S. Tax Code creates winners and losers. Subsidies and tax exemptions (loopholes) have done more to separate the very wealthy from the increasingly smaller middle class.

President Trump said, Only I can solve Americas problems. He made promises he cant keep. This super salesman loves to speak in superlatives. His use of words like fantastic, wonderful, huge, greatest, and marvelous will raise peoples spirits, but will they achieve results?

Americans wanted to shake things up, and they did. The increasing friction between Democrats and Republicans has made compromise a dirty word. Members of Congress may be labeled Republicans, but they widely disagree on issues.

Congressional members attend town hall meetings in which voters demand to be heard. That is grass roots democracy. Rep. Adrian Smith has chosen to avoid this by hiding behind a so-called telephone town hall. This makes it difficult for the press to monitor and for Smith to explain his votes.

For example, both Trump and Smith want to end the estate tax. This tax is paid by two tenths of one percent of the wealthiest Americans. Perhaps Smiths support is payback for the half million dollars he received from the Club for Growth. What did he promise you?
The Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees on Thursday approved the appointment of Denise Cobb, PhD, as SIUE provost and vice chancellor for Academic Affairs, during its regularly scheduled meeting on the Carbondale campus.

Cobb served as interim provost since October 2015. Prior to that appointment, she was assistant provost for academic innovation and effectiveness, and then associate provost for academic affairs since June 2012.

In the Office of the Provost, Cobbs responsibilities and achievements have included:

Coordinating the successful reaffirmation of SIUEs institutional accreditation through the Higher Learning Commission

Assisting in the Universitys strategic planning and assessment

Facilitating the curricular review process and revising the Universitys honors program

Supporting the vibrancy of the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (URCA) Program, senior assignment and faculty development programming

Launching a Junior Faculty Development Program in collaboration with the associate chancellor for diversity and inclusion, and the director of faculty development

Facilitating the development and launch of new academic programs, including a rapid online program development initiative

Supporting efforts to promote student retention and success

Cobb joined the SIUE Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice Studies in 2003 as an assistant professor in sociology and was promoted to professor in 2015.

She has been integrally involved in numerous externally funded research projects with the SIUE Graduate School and is dedicated to broadening participation and success of under-represented student and faculty populations in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) graduate programs.

An Arkansas native, Cobb earned a bachelors in sociology from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 1993 where she was a Donaghey Scholar.

She earned a masters in 1995 from the University of Central Arkansas and a doctorate from Tulane University in 2003.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded Southern Illinois University Edwardsville a $204,565 grant through its Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program for a project under the direction of principal investigator George Engel, PhD, professor in the School of Engineerings Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

The award supports Engel and his graduate students research involving the development of custom microchips that are used in experiments conducted by physicists from Washington University, Texas A&M, Florida State University, and several other universities.

The integrated circuit design conducted in Engels research lab involves extremely detailed work that results in the creation of tiny, yet powerful, microchips that are approximately 5x7 millimeters in size. The chips are capable of replacing huge racks of electronics that used to be required to conduct these types of experiments.

This is a two-year grant, that really has three parts, Engel explained. We have promised to add features to two existing chips that we previously created. One chip, able to identify the type of radiation being detected, can be potentially used in handheld radiation monitors for first responders. The second allows physicists to obtain extremely precise energy measurements. It can count as little as 3,000 electrons.

Finally, were working on a new custom chip, designed to be used in conjunction with the aforementioned chip which can determine the type of radiation present. The additional chip will greatly reduce overall instrument size. The ultimate goal of the research project is to understand the origins of the universe.

As a teacher-scholar, Engel consistently involves graduate students in his research and instrument development activities.

Currently, masters candidates in the electrical engineering program Bryan Orabutt, of Springfield, and Pohan Wang, of Taiwan, are involved. Their hands-on experience will make them highly prepared for the professional industry upon graduation.

The reason our students are in high-demand in industry is because they have the opportunity to work on a complete chip, Engel said. Theyre able to hit the ground running, because they have gone through this experience first-hand.

The design and fabrication of the microchips involves complex attention to detail and hours of careful work.

If you look at a magnified plot of a microchip, you can see there are about 100,000 components on it, Engel explained. Everything has to be specified by us. There are wires that have to be placed on a die to connect the transistors that weve drawn."
The 52 Rashtriya Rifles battalion in Panjipora of Srinagar also extended help to locals, and soldiers could be seen operating there without weapons.

The govt asked IAF for help after efforts by local authorities turned out to be futile.

By Ajit Kumar Dubey: Despite being pelted with stones on a regular basis, Indian Army units deployed in Jammu and Kashmir did not hesitate to help locals during the floods in parts of Srinagar.

"Troops were deployed immediately to reach out to the affected people. In fact, many did not carry their assault rifles, thus, risking their lives in the process," army sources said here.

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Floods were caused in areas of Srinagar, Baramulla and Sopore due to heavy rainfall over the last few days.

The water level of Jhelum River rose a couple of days ago, but has now started receding.

Army officials said locals made a direct call to company commanders in their respective areas of responsibility who reacted swiftly.

"During relief patrol in Zangam, the company commander received distress calls from the village of Kripalpur Pain in Pattan as the village nala was flowing to its brim. It had breached the bund and was threatening to inundate low-lying areas.

The patrol team immediately assessed the danger.

The army commander, along with villagers, gathered stones and stopped further breach," an official said.

"Simultaneously, vehicles loaded with sandbags were rushed to the spot. With the help of locals, the breach was plugged by multiple layers of sandbags," the official added.

Meanwhile, the 52 Rashtriya Rifles battalion in Panjipora of Srinagar also extended help to locals, and soldiers could be seen operating there without weapons.

"A close watch was being kept over localities that are prone to flooding. On receiving distress calls from the villagers, quick reaction teams of the unit were sent immediately that helped in evacuation of 10 children who were stranded in flooded houses," an official said.

On the other hand, the Indian Air Force rescued 17 villagers, which included a baby, from flash floods in Poonch on Thursday evening.

They were stranded on a small strip of land in the middle of the heavily burgeoned Poonch river.

The Army received the villagers and provided them with first aid and refreshments, thus bringing to a close the Herculean evacuation process.

Defence spokesman Lt Col Manish Mehta said that due to the proximity of huts and electricity wires in the area, the helicopter could not land and instead, established a hover on the first island at 15 feet. Air Force Garud commandos then went down a rope ladder, organised the villagers, and started rescuing them one at a time.

The state government had requested the IAF for assistance after rescue efforts by local authorities turned out to be futile.

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Also Read:

After heavy rainfall, landslide, Jammu-Srinagar highway blocked for second day

Srinagar: Suspected terrorists attack Army convoy, flee; 1 injured

Also Watch:

Srinagar: Army officers pay homage to martyr Shameem Ahmed

--- ENDS ---
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Linkedin Jamey Keaten (Associated Press) Geneva, Switzerland  Sat, April 8, 2017 09:30 2040 a291276806121264c0bd211cde83f673 2 Lifestyle Geneva,Women,#women,swimming,#swimming,swimming-topless Free

Who needs St. Tropez? A glitzy Swiss city is allowing women to swim topless now, too.

Geneva's regional council, modifying a ban that predated bikinis by decades, has ruled that women can again pop off their tops legally in Lake Geneva and Rhone River without running the risk of a fine.

It didn't take many petitioners to sway lawmakers' minds. The council voted to amend a 1929 ordinance that prohibited women from swimming topless in the city's natural waterways, but the change doesn't apply to public swimming pools or swimming naked.

The issue made headlines locally last summer after a woman who was fined for swimming topless complained that women were allowed to sunbathe bare-breasted, but not swim that way  as if the eyes of fish merited greater shielding than those of human passers-by.

Read also: Norway to build world's first ship tunnel through coast

She led a petition drive that garnered a mere 233 signatures, but that was enough.

"The state council studied this petition and decided that indeed, in 2017 this very old law could be relaxed, and acknowledged that women can swim bare-breasted," Nicolas Bolle, assistant secretary-general of Geneva's security department, said Thursday of the decision made a day earlier.

"Think back to what our great-grandmothers and grandmothers wore to swim in 1929: A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then," he added.

The complainant insisted the law was sexist. The fines section of the security department said in an email that women offenders risked penalties of 70 Swiss francs, or about $70, for violating the local law.

The issue had been subject to selective enforcement, leaving it up to individual police officers to decide if a citation was warranted. A statement from the regional government Wednesday cleared that up, stating flatly: "It will now be possible for women to swim topless, if they so desire."

___

Frank Jordans contributed from Berlin.
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Linkedin Ni Nyoman Wira (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, April 8, 2017 09:27 2040 a291276806121264c0bd211cde83f361 1 Art & Culture West-Side-Story,jakarta-performing-arts-community,jpac,theater,musical,jakarta,Performance Free

In the 1960s in New York, a gang war is raging between the White Jets and Puerto Rican immigrant Sharks over territory in their neighborhood. It all changes, however, when Tony, a former Jets member who is also a close friend of the gangs leader, Riff, meets Maria, the sister of the Sharks' leader, Bernardo, and they fall in love at first sight.

Tony and Maria plan to run away together, but it is not easy due to the gangs' feud. Hoping to put an end to the rivalry, Maria sends Tony to stop it but the story takes a devastating turn.

This is just a small slice of West Side Story, a classic musical penned by Arthur Laurents with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.

Read also: Jakarta Performing Arts Communitys road to West Side Story

Indonesian director Nia Dinata (left to right), 'West Side Story' choreographer Elhaq Latief, the play's director Fonnyta Amran andJakarta Performing Arts Community (JPAC) president Rio Rahmansyah exchange words during a press conference in Jakarta on March 4.(JP/Ni Nyoman Wira)

The play, inspired by Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet, will be performed in English by a non-profit theater group Jakarta Performing Arts Community (JPAC) on May 12 to 14 at Graha Bhakti Budaya in Taman Ismail Marzuki, Central Jakarta.

Established in 2014, JPAC was founded by several musical theater enthusiasts.

We picked West Side Story because, as a community with a membership that is diverse in background and culture, we have to make a stand and say that differences are not something to be afraid of; but instead something to be embraced. One of the musicals that represents that sentiment is West Side Story because it's rich with anti-discrimination [messages] and shows the consequences of a misunderstanding," said the musical's director Fonnyta Amran, adding that the show is the troupes eighth performance as well as its largest ever play.

Elhaq Latief (left) as Tony and Chezia Atmadja (right) as Maria give a short preview of 'West Side Story'.(JP/Ni Nyoman Wira)

To allow it to present the performance, the troupe acquired a license from the Music Theatre International (MTI) to maintain its originality. If we want to deliver the message [of appreciating differences], we have to do everything above board, so the message can be spread as wide as possible."

Meanwhile, choreographer Elhaq Latief said the play had signature movements, which are popular in the United States theater industry. I didnt copy all of them, but there are some signature movements that I have included in the production.

Those interested to see the show can purchase the tickets online. The price starts at Rp 100,000 (US$7).

A portion of the tickets will reportedly go to the Theater for Life program for underprivileged youth in Depok, West Java. (kes)
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Linkedin Ni Nyoman Wira (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, April 8, 2017 08:54 2040 a291276806121264c0bd211cde83db53 1 Science & Tech arduino,arduino-day,arduino-day-2017,arduino-joglosemar-community,technology,open-source-platform,#technology,platform,open-source Free

A worldwide celebration of Arduino was held on April 1, with reportedly more than 490 events organized in 78 countries, including Indonesia.

Arduino itself is an open-source electronics platform based on easy-to-use hardware and software. Its boards can read inputs, starting from light on a sensor to Twitter messages, and turn them into output that includes turning on an LED, publishing content online and other related functions, according to its website.

During the celebration, nine community events were held across Indonesia, including in Banten in West Java, Yogyakarta and East Java.

In Padepokan ASA in Sleman, Yogyakarta, a local community named Komunitas Arduino Joglosemar (Jogja, Solo and Semarang) is one of the groups that celebrated the occasion by holding a one-day seminar and workshop, which was also streamed live on their YouTube channel.

Established on May 28, 2016, the community, which is affiliated with the Indonesian Arduino Community, currently has more than 550 members with the youngest one being a 14-year-old junior high school student.

Read also: Facebook launches resource to help spot misleading news

Community coordinator Lintang Wisesa told The Jakarta Post that the number of Arduino enthusiasts had grown quite rapidly in Indonesia as there were many online groups dedicated to the platform and students who were using it as part of their creative projects. Its massive use has caused it to develop; nowadays Arduino is involved in Internet of Things (IoT) projects where we can control and/or monitor sensors from afar via the Internet.

Lintang believes that people can assemble and operate Arduino even if they do not have a science and technology background. Also, its open-source feature makes it possible for people to create their own platform."

"I made an LED eyeball controlled by a Nintendo Wii Nunchuk." #arduino #leds #makers #wii ( @homemadegarbage) A post shared by Arduino (@arduino.cc) on Mar 16, 2017 at 8:16pm PDT

Although an Arduino competition has not yet been held locally, the platform can be implemented to hold other contests, such as robotics, electronics, product design and scientific projects. Lintang himself came first in the Hacksprint competition organized by Gerakan 1,000 Startup Digital 2016 (1,000 Digital Startups Movement) and was one of the top 15 finalists of Black Innovation for IoT category in 2017.

In addition to commemorating the Arduino Day, the community is seeking to encourage junior and senior high school students and women to develop their creativity using the open-source platform. It also plans to participate in the Creative Economy Agencys (Bekraf) Developer Day event in Surakarta, Central Java, on April 9 and hold workshops at two universities in Yogyakarta in late April and May. (kes)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, April 8, 2017 19:34 2040 a291276806121264c0bd211cde8460d0 1 National anies-baswedan,Anies-Baswedan-Sandiaga-Uno,2017JakartaElection,#2017JakartaElection,#JakartaGubernatorialElection,polling-stations Free

Jakarta gubernatorial candidate Anies Baswedan has said his campaign team will increase the number of witnesses it deploys to polling stations across five municipalities and Thousand Islands regency to prevent any form of intimidation during the runoff gubernatorial election on April 19.

The witnesses will monitor and ensure no intimidation happens and voting can be implemented fairly and in a democratic way, Anies said during a campaign stop in Karet, South Jakarta, on Saturday.

During the first round of the election on Feb. 15, Anies said, several supporters told him they were overwhelmed with the task of monitoring polling stations, especially those located in apartment compounds, which were dominated by other candidates.

For that reason, they hoped more witnesses could be deployed outside the polling stations, Anies said.

The Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPU Jakarta) allows only one witness from each campaign team to monitor voting inside a polling station. To anticipate any intimidation or fraud, Anies said, his campaign team planned to deploy five to 10 witnesses who would be in charge of monitoring activities outside the polling stations.

The number of witnesses readied would depend on the condition of each polling station, he said. (ebf)

Refreshing: Candidate Anies Baswedan (center) enjoys a cup of cincau, a traditional beverage made of grass jelly, during a campaign event in Setiabudi, Karet, South Jakarta, on April 8. (JP/Callistasia Anggun Wijaya)
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Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, April 8, 2017 07:57 2040 a291276806121264c0bd211cde83970d 1 City #JakartaElection2017,KPU-Jakarta-chairman-Sumarno,ethics,violation Free

The elections ethics council reprimanded Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPU Jakarta) head Sumarno on Friday, saying that he had failed to treat both Jakarta gubernatorial candidates equally.

The Election Organization Ethics Council (DKPP) decided that Sumarno had violated the code of ethics in response to a complaint from incumbent candidate Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnamas camp. Ahoks team claimed that the KPU Jakarta head had acted in favor of Ahoks rival, Anies Baswedan, during the March 4 announcement of the runoff election at the Borobudur Hotel in Central Jakarta.

As the event started late, Ahok and his running mate, Djarot Saiful Hidayat walked out from the venue after telling the press that the commission was acting unprofessionally.

A volunteer group backing Ahok reported Sumarno to the DKPP on March 16 for a series of alleged incidents indicating that he favored the governors rival.

Sumarno accepted the DKPPs decision, saying that he hoped communication between the commission and the campaign teams could be improved in the future.

From the Borobudur case, the head of DKPP concluded that our communication [with the campaign teams] was not good. Therefore, he suggested that we provide rooms inside our office for both campaign teams, Sumarno said after handing over room keys to the representatives of both Ahoks and Anies campaign teams.
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Linkedin Moses Ompusunggu (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, April 8 2017

Indonesia lambasted on Friday a recent European Parliament resolution blasting the countrys palm oil industry, calling it an insult to ongoing efforts to increase sustainability of the commoditys management.

Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar castigated numerous points in the non-binding Report on Palm Oil and Deforestation of Rainforests, which seeks to phase out palm oil from European Union biofuel programs by 2020 and is set to be conveyed to the European commission and council,

The minister said the allegations leveled at the worlds largest palm oil producer were irrelevant.

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, April 8, 2017 15:01 2040 a291276806121264c0bd211cde842949 1 National Ponorogo,East-Java,landslide,landslides,BNPB,BPBD,#NaturalDisasters,#landslide,#landslides,natural-disaster,natural-calamities Free

Fresh cracks in the soil and walls of houses in a small, hillside village in Ponorogo, East Java, have triggered panic among 270 villagers, causing them to leave their homes for fear of falling victim to a landslide, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said in Jakarta on Friday.

BNPB spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the Dayakan villagers reported the appearance of the cracks on Wednesday after hearing thunderous sounds emanating from underground during heavy rainfall, followed by the formation of cracks in soil across the village.

The fissures on the 300-meter hill have continued to expand. Some of them were one meter in width and three meters in depth, Sutopo said in a statement.

(Read also: Ponorogo landslide evacuees feel queasy, dizzy)

The villagers started to leave their homes and move to safer grounds after they saw cracks in the walls of their houses, reminding them of a recent landslide that buried 28 people alive in Banaran, a neighboring village, last Saturday.

The Ponorogo Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) has provided tents and logistics to the Dayakan villagers.

On the search for victims of the landslide in Banaran, the BNPT reported that as of Friday noon workers had recovered only three bodies. The operation has been hampered by poor weather and rough terrain. (hol/ebf)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, April 8, 2017 08:24 2040 a291276806121264c0bd211cde83c19c 1 Business Garuda,#HajPilgrimage,Garuda-Indonesia Free

State-owned airline Garuda Indonesia will provide 14 wide-body airplanes to support haj flights in 2017 after signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Religious Affairs Ministry.

Garuda Indonesia CEO M. Arif Wibowo and director general of haj and umrah management Abdul Jamil signed the MoU on Friday at the Religious Affairs Ministry.

We want to make sure every single aspect of flight management goes smoothly in order to give the best service for pilgrims, Abdul Jamil said in a statement.

Arif Wibowo said that Garuda Indonesia would deploy three Boeing 747-400, four Boeing 777-300ER and seven Airbus A330-300 this year to guarantee pilgrims made it to Mecca and back home safely.

We will also deploy the best flight attendants to provide excellence service for the pilgrims," he asserted.
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Linkedin Panca Nugraha (The Jakarta Post) Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara  Sat, April 8, 2017 18:48 2040 a291276806121264c0bd211cde844f45 1 National West-Nusa-Tenggara,Foreign-Affairs-Ministry,illegal-migrants,BP3TKI,MigrantWorkers,migrant-workers,migrants,migrant-protection Free

The West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) administration is still waiting for progress in the Foreign Ministrys efforts to release 300 Indonesian citizens seeking to work in Saudi Arabia, who have been locked up in Riyadh, the largest city in the country.

Yes, its been reported that there are 300 Indonesians, most of them from NTB. This case is being handled by the Foreign Ministry via the Legal Aid and Protection of Indonesian Nationals Overseas Directorate. We are still waiting for the results, NTB Manpower Agency head Wildan said on Friday.

It was strongly suspected that the 300 Indonesians departed for Saudi Arabia without taking proper procedures. This is because the moratorium on the dispatch of Indonesian workers to Saudi Arabia and Middle Eastern countries is still in effect. But because they are NTB residents, we are striving to ensure their safe return, said Wildan, adding his agency also had not yet received reports from families of the victims.

(Read also: 300 Indonesians reportedly locked up in Saudi Arabia)

Meanwhile, Mataram-chapter Indonesian Migrant Workers Placement, Protection and Monitoring Agency (BP3TKI) head Mucharom Ashadi said his agency had coordinated with the Indonesian Embassy in Riyadh to resolve the case.

"It has deployed a task force to check the accuracy of the information and investigate it. So, we are now waiting for the result of its works."

Mucharom said the BP3TKI Mataram did not have any data on the 300 Indonesians locked up in Riyadh, especially those who hailed from NTB.

We have often told people to not be easily lured by recruiters who promise departures to Middle East through illegal means, he said. (mrc/ebf)
An affidavit was filed earlier in the Madras High Court by the 29-year-old claiming to be the son of Jayalalithaa and Sobhan Babu.

By India Today Web Desk: According to the police, 29-year-old T Krishnamurthy, the man who claimed to be the son of late Tamil Nadu chief Minister J Jayalalitha has been arrested for forgery and cheating.

T Krishnamurthy hails from Erode, was arrested from Dindigul last night.

Police, in a release, said that Krishnamurthy had produced a "fake document" about him being adopted by a couple in Erode.

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The adoption certificate produced by him was "forged".

An affidavit was filed earlier in the Madras High Court by the 29-year-old claiming to be the son of Jayalalithaa and Sobhan Babu.

He claimed to be given in adoption, after the pair split owing to differences.

Police was asked to conduct a probe into the matter by the court.

After which, according to the release, Krishnamurthy's father Thangamuthu was questioned who admitted that Krishnamurthy was his own son.

The birth date given by Thangamuthu was different from what Krishnamurthy had mentioned in his court affidavit.

The court asked the police to take action against Krishamurthy after the state government made a submission in the court on the matter.

Krishnamurthy was later arrested, the release added.

He was produced before a local court and later lodged at the Puzhal Prison here, police added.

(With inputs from PTI)

Also Read:

Unknown son of Jayalalithaa emerges from thin air, stakes claim to her property

Was J Jayalalithaa murdered? Shocking conspiracies about her death

Also Watch:

AIIMS releases statement on Jayalalithaa's treatment. Here's what it says

--- ENDS ---
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Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, April 8 2017

Indonesia is set to issue a joint regulation to tackle the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) as part of its bid to secure a membership at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

The FATF, established in 1989, is an inter-governmental body that sets standards and promotes effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.

The joint regulation will allow the government to freeze without delay the funds and assets of those identified of having links to the proliferation of WMDs as recommended by the FATF, according to Coordinating Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto.

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Linkedin Hotli Sinamanjuntak (The Jakarta Post) Banda Aceh  Sat, April 8 2017

Five years after his failed attempt to extend his term as governor in 2012, the popular Aceh leader and former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) member Irwandi Yusuf has been elected Aceh governor for the second time.

Acehs Independent Election Commission (KIP) on Friday confirmed Irwandis victory in the February election, a few days after the Constitutional Court rejected an election dispute lawsuit filed by his strongest rivals.

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Linkedin Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post) Gresik/Jakarta  Sat, April 8 2017

The developer of Java Integrated Industrial and Port Estate (JIIPE) expects its giant property in Gresik, East Java, to be fully filled with tenants and residents by 2028.

PT Berkah Kawasan Manyar Sejahtera is working on several phases to develop the 3,000-hectare industrial park and its clustering system.

It still looks empty now because its a big project. We predict full establishment 15 years from its first development year [2013], said JIIPE marketing and tenant relations head Sianny Indrawati recently.

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Linkedin Arya Dipa (The Jakarta Post) Bandung, West Java  Sat, April 8, 2017 16:03 2040 a291276806121264c0bd211cde84415f 1 National human-rights,human-rights-abuse,palm-oil,plantations,human-rights-violations,#HumanRightsAbuse Free

Experts have warned that vibrant economic development in Southeast Asia has potential to trigger human rights violations, especially when the state fails to acknowledge the rights of people over land.

Civil societies could prevent rights violations by guarding development in their respective areas, they further say.

Norwegian Center for Human Rights adviser Aksel Tmte said potential for human rights violations began to open when the state handed over parts of its responsibilities on rights protection to corporations or business entities. He referred to the Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance on Tenure (VGGT), which had been acknowledged as one of international guidelines on peoples rights over land but was not considered a legal instrument because it was voluntary in nature.

This guideline has proposed companies to carry out a social impact analysis and to create a social complaint mechanism. But there is a problem here. Not all people agree that state functions, which are crucial, should be handed over to or controlled by companies.

This is because the companies represent the interests of stakeholders, which could be different from the interests of the people, said Tmte during the opening of Moot Court Competitions final stage in Bandung, West Java, on Friday.

Tmte further explained that many legal problems between corporations and the people were related to unresolved land ownership status.

This often happened in oil palm plantation schemes, in which companies gave indigenous people who did not have land certificates rights over the land, or often called plasma farmers. They are prone to lose their rights over the land, said Tmte. (ebf)
When it comes to traveling, Bali-based customer-service executive Cinca Patria only needs her smartphone to take care of almost everything, including booking flights and hotel rooms.

As an avid budget traveler, Cinca said she frequently looked out for promotion programs at online travel sites such as Traveloka and Booking.com in the hope of getting the most for her money.

I travel a lot and go abroad at least once a year. With online bookings, I have full authority over how to arrange my budget, the 26-year-old told The Jakarta Post over the phone on Friday.

Cinca is a text-book example of techsavvy millennials, the likely game changers in the global travel and tourism sector, as identified in the World Economic Forums (WEF) Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017.

The latest edition of the biennial report, published earlier this week, suggested that millennials would become the core customer base for the industry in the next five to 10 years. Their spending on business flights is predicted to account for 50 percent of global travel by 2020 and to maintain that share for the subsequent 15 years.

While Indonesia saw its position jump by eight places to 42nd in the reports competitiveness index, mainly as a result of its decision to loosen visa regulations for foreign tourists, questions remain regarding whether it has done enough to tap opportunities among this growing customer base.

In the resort island of Bali, the countrys most popular getaway destination, the domination of millennial travelers from countries such as Australia, Malaysia and Singapore, is visible in terms of volume but not in spending, at least for now, said Association of Indonesian Tour and Travel Agents (ASITA) chairman Asnawi Bahar.

Asnawi, however, still considers them to be a huge opportunity, as he encourages local hospitality providers to team up not only with online travel services but also those that offer innovative business models, such as international holiday rental giant Airbnb, to expand their marketing outreach.

These young travelers currently dont really spend much. But, we should be flexible in responding to future trends, he said.

Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) chairman Hariyadi Sukamdani, meanwhile, highlighted the importance of online campaigns for the industry. The millennial market, he said, was sensitive to online reviews of hotels or other facilities, as well as price, as they were all comparable online.

Last year, Indonesia welcomed 11.5 million foreign tourists, with those from China topping the list at 1.43 million arrivals.

President Joko Jokowi Widodo has set his sights on tourism as one of the main sectors to be developed under his administration. His administration is eyeing 20 million foreign tourist arrivals in 2019, with this years target standing at 15 million.

The efforts to boost the tourism sector, however, have met with many challenges, including a lack of infrastructure and capable human resources.

For example, only 34 percent of Chinese tourists come in direct flights to local airports, much lower than the 82 percent recorded in Thailand.

With that, it is no surprise that the WEF report ranked Indonesias air transportation infrastructure at 36th position out of 136 economies surveyed, standing behind regional rivals Singapore (sixth), Thailand (20th) and Malaysia (21st). Those three countries also fare better than Indonesia in the reports overall position at 13th, 26th and 34th, respectively.

Separately, the Tourism Ministrys deputy minister for overseas promotion I Gde Pitana said while efforts to improve infrastructure were ongoing, the government had also intensified measures to ease access for foreign tourists entering the country, including through the introduction of a free-visa policy for travelers from 169 countries.

Competitiveness is really our mission at the moment so we can stand a chance in the international market, Pitana said.
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, April 8 2017

Prosecutors at the Surabaya Corruption Court have demanded six years behind bars for former state-owned enterprises minister Dahlan Iskan over his alleged role in a graft case pertaining to the sale of a company owned by the province of East Java in 2001.

We call on the panel of judges to declare defendant Dahlan Iskan guilty of corruption in the case, said prosecutor Trimo from the East Java prosecutors office when reading the sentence demand at the court, as quoted by tempo.co on Friday.

Trimo said Dahlan should also be ordered to pay a Rp750 million (US$56,289) fine in the case or serve an another six months in prison, said Trimo.

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Linkedin Nurni Sulaiman (The Jakarta Post) Medan, North Sumatra  Sat, April 8, 2017 19:00 2040 a291276806121264c0bd211cde845ac3 1 National French,North-Sumatra,France,North-Sumatra-governor-Tengku-Erry-Nuradi,French-Ambassador-to-Indonesia,Jean-Charles-Berthonnet Free

French Ambassador to Indonesia Jean-Charles Berthonnet is scheduled to meet North Sumatra Governor Tengku Erry Nuradi at the governor's office in Medan on Monday afternoon.

The meeting aims to discuss efforts to strengthen cooperation in various sectors, including in defense, culture and education, between the two countries.

Information released by the North Sumatra administration reveals the meeting between Tengku Erry and Berthonnet will be divided into two sections. In the first section, Berthonnet will make a presentation about possible cooperation between Indonesia and France in global defense. French army commander for Asia Pacific Rear Admiral Denis Bertrand, defense attache for Indonesia commander Gael Lacroix, French general consul in Jakarta Marie-Noelle Duris and French honorary consul in Medan Olivier Tichit will accompany the ambassador.

In the second part of the meeting, representatives of the two parties will discuss partnership in the field of culture and education. Berthonnet will be accompanied by Duris, Tichit and Alliance Francaise de Medan chairman Pogy Kurniawan.

This visit will be a historical moment, in which there will be a Letter of Intention [LoI] between the North Sumatra administration and Institut Francais dIndonesie [IFI] that will be presented by IFI cultural cooperation director Marc Piton, Pogy said

It is hoped the agreement could develop and strengthen cooperation in the field of linguistics, education and culture between the two parties, in which Alliance Francaise de Medan can play a leading role in culture and education in North Sumatra. (ebf)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, April 8, 2017 14:57 2040 a291276806121264c0bd211cde84267c 1 Business Pelindo,port Free

State-owned port management company PT Pelindo III will soon manage four additional ports in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), following the governments plan to transfer the management of the ports to a business entity.

The management transfer process of the four ports, namely Labuan Bajo and Reo in Flores island and Atapupu and Wini in Timor island, is expected to be completed in the middle of this year, Pelindo III Kupang general manager Boy Rubyanto told Antara news agency on Friday.

The Transportation Ministry and the Finance Ministry are still talking about the transfer pattern, whether it will be an endowment from the government to the state-owned enterprise or a joint operation, he said.

(Read also: Pelindo III plans terminals to aid tourism in NTT)

Once the transfer is completed, Pelindo III will upgrade the infrastructure of the ports before operating them as supporting hubs for the governments sea toll road program, Boy added.

We will focus on repairing the docks, passenger terminals and road infrastructure at those ports, he said.

The company currently operates 43 ports in seven provinces, including Central Java, East Java and NTT. (anh/hwa)

Topics : Pelindo port
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Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, April 8, 2017 07:59 2040 a291276806121264c0bd211cde83a5d0 1 Business pertamina,imports,crude-oil Free

State-owned energy company Pertamina plans to increase its crude oil imports by 15.96 percent to 155.39 million barrels in 2017.

The crude oil will mostly come from the company's operations in overseas fields, said Pertamina Integrated Supply Chain (ISC) senior vice president Daniel Purba on Friday.

Currently, the company has overseas operations in Iraq, Algeria and Malaysia.

"From Algeria and Malaysia we produce around 1 million barrels per month," Daniel said at a press briefing in Jakarta on Friday.

In 2016, Pertamina received 43,700 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) from Iraq, while in Algeria and Malaysia it received 41,130 and 35,770 boepd. However the production in Iraq had to be refined in Shell's facilities in Singapore as Pertamina does not have suitable refineries.

"We will also decide whether we can import crude oil from Iran after the suitability test results come out next week," he added.

The company also aims to get 181.35 million barrels of crude oil supply from domestic suppliers including from internal production units. The domestic crude supply target is an increase of 2.69 percent from 176.6 million barrels in 2016.

"We will increase the production capacity of our refineries, in Cilacap, we usually produce 100,000 barrels per day, but we can make full utilization and produce 120,000 barrels per day," Daniel said.

From the crude oil Pertamina will produce 253.57 million barrels of fuel including gasoline, diesel and avtur (airplane fuel), while the total fuel demand in 2017 is expected to be 405.2 million barrels. (bbn)
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Linkedin Dylan Amirio (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, April 8 2017

Racing against time to meet the ambitious 35,000 megawatt (MW) electricity project target, state-owned electricity firm PLN has sealed two deals that will allow its partners to build power plants worth a combined US$515 million.

Under the power purchase agreements (PPA) signed on Friday, PLN partners PT Medco Ratch Power Riau and PT Minahasa Cahaya Lestari will build a $300 million steam and gas power plant (PLTGU) with a capacity of 275 MW in Sail district, Pekanbaru, Riau, and a $215 million coal-fueled power plant (PLTU) with a capacity of 2x50 MW in Kema district, North Minahasa, North Sulawesi.

PLN will distribute electricity amounting to 1,446 gigawatt hours (GWh) each year from the Riau power plant to the central and southern Sumatra power networks when it commences operation in 2021. Meanwhile, it will distribute 700 GWh annually from the second one, named the Sulut-3 power plant, through the Sulutenggo power network.

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By Srivatsan: Each time Mani Ratnam comes up with something unique, it's a celebration for cinephiles across the state of Tamil Nadu. The euphoria is so much that the entire industry wants Mani Ratnam to emerge as a winner.

Set against the backdrop of the Kargil war, Kaatru Veliyidai is an emotional love story between fighter pilot Varun (Karthi) and doctor Leela Abraham (Aditi Rao Hydari). While being held captive, Varun reminisces about his ladylove and tries to redeem himself, and his love.

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Kaatru Veliyidai Cast: Karthi, Aditi Rao Hydari, RJ Balaji, Shraddha Srinath and Delhi Ganesh

Kaatru Veliyidai Director: Mani Ratnam

Kaatru Veliyidai Rating: (3.5/5)

Perhaps Mani Ratnam is one of the few filmmakers in Indian cinema, whose works require close observation and call for multiple interpretations. In Kaatru Veliyidai, the probing begins from the very first scene. The camera pans to a prisoner singing 'My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves' song, while Varun is being tortured and tormented by the Pakistan police. Mani Ratnam wants you to notice the song here. The prisoner tries to establish his Indian identity. We then hear a feeble voice-over of Varun introducing his love Leela. Mani Ratnam gently ushers us into the plot, with an aerial shot (his strength since Nayagan) of Leela landing in Srinagar. Kaatru Veliyidai reminds us of an old quote, "All is fair in love and war." Of the two, the most important factor is survival.

Leela sees Varun with another girl Girija (Shraddha Srinath). In a series of unfortunate events, Varun is hospitalised. He sees Leela, the doctor who saved his life, for the first time. He falls for her. Poor Girija gets ditched by Varun with a Bharathiyar poem. In a career spanning three decades, Mani Ratnam has everything to his credit. But he has never been recursive in his films, be it content wise or with the narration.

Perhaps, that's what makes him a standalone filmmaker and relevant even today. Take this scene for instance. Varun wants to take Leela out for a ride, but he still hasn't got a nod from the latter. He calls her over the phone and we hear the noise of the aircraft engine. Leela smiles, and we join her. Later, in another scene, Varun and Leela are flying in the sky. Leela asks (underline the word) Varun if she can shout her excitement. Before she does, Leela pauses for a microsecond when AR Rahman's score gently caresses you. That's Mani Ratnam. Kaatru Veliyidai is laced with such Mani moments in the first half, only if you choose to enjoy his unconventional writing. The common trait in Roja, Bombay, Kannathil Muthamittal and Kaatru is that Mani Ratnam breaks a conflict into characters. But Kargil war is probably the weakest link here.

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Like most of his films, Mani uses nature as a powerful tool for narration. For example, Leela's portion is staged with snow as a symbol. In literary sense, it depicts hardships, challenges and innocence. On the other hand, Varun's scenes in Pakistan mostly involve sand, the symbol of a short-lived dream, of the transient. He's the master of love stories. But you can't expect an Alaipayuthey or OK Kanmani from him every time.

Kaatru Veliyidai may annoy you in parts, especially if you watch it with the lens. In fact, Varun's character is a mirror image of some of the men in our society. He's self-centered, narcissistic and sexist. There's a problematic scene where he twists Leela's arms in front of his soldiers, to explain womanhood. Each time he inflicts pain, he smiles. She gives in, out of love. Speaking of which, Varun's character is akin to Prithviraj's from Mani Ratnam's Raavanan. Both are benevolent sexists in several ways.

That said, Kaatru Veliyidai is not about what these characters feel and who they are. But it's about what they become over the course of time. Throughout the film, Varun wears glasses; sometimes shades of black, sometimes blue. What better way to explain his volatile and empowering nature? After Paruthiveeran, Kaatru Veliyidai is by far the best thing that has happened to Karthi. Thanks to his 'Nallavana-Kettavana' character. He's Nallavan partly because he doesn't want him to be like his father, a misogynist. Varun warns him when he tries to control his mother. At the same time, when Leela tries to calm him down, he yells at her. Hypocrisy?

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Aditi Rao Hydari hasn't had a successful run in Bollywood. With Kaatru Veliyidai, it's safe to say that the actress has finally arrived. For the most part of the film, it's Leela who is the holding factor, as the film is centred on her. She's cute, sometimes childlike. But each time she goes against Varun, it's not the Aditi we have seen so far. Heck! She gets all the lines right! A big shoutout for both Karthi and Aditi, especially for the climax sequence.

Mani has transformed comedian RJ Balaji into a character artist, who steals the show with just one word, 'Oh.'

One of Mani Ratnam's biggest assets is his music. They're not just visually pleasing but follow a chronology too. Take away all the scenes from his films, and you still have a story. While Vaan Varuvan, an optimistic song, is wonderfully shot, it's the hit number Azhagiye that raises the tempo. What if soldiers had Skype back then to communicate with their loved ones? Having said that, what's amusing about Mani is his ability to extract the visual output from cinematographers. Ravi Varman is at his best, whose visuals are so poetic, literally. The pace slows down in the second half, where Mani Ratnam lingers over Varun and Leela's conflict for a brief period. Also, Bejoy Nambiar plays a cameo.

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Kaatru Veliyidai is an abstract taken from Bharathiyar's poem. What a way to end the film with a befitting climax.

( The writer tweets as @LoneWolf_7126 )

ALSO READ: Kamal Haasan escapes fire at home

ALSO READ: 64th National Film Awards- Mohanlal wins Special Jury Award

ALSO READ: Mani Ratnam's Kaatru Veliyidai will be magical. Here's why WATCH: Kaatru Veliyidai Trailer

--- ENDS ---
Indonesia has longpromoted its preference for peaceful diplomacy to end Syrian civil war Jakarta likely to seek maintenance of ties during Pences visit, expert says

Indonesia has raised concerns about the United States recent unilateral air strike on Syria, which was launched on US President Donald Trumps order and has sparked mixed international reactions.

The Pentagon hit Shayrat Airfield in Syria with 59 Tomahawk missiles early Friday morning, local time, as a response to the Syrian governments chemical weapons attack in Khan Sheikhoun, the US Defense Department said on its website. In the statement, Trump said the targeted military strike was in the vital national security interest of the US to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons.

Some European countries, such as Germany, Britain, Italy and Turkey, have expressed their support for the air strike, while Russia and Iran have condemned it, Reuters has reported.

Indonesias statement came ahead of a visit by US Vice President Mike Pence to Indonesia, which is slated for April 20 to 21 and is expected to boost strategic ties.

Although it is unclear whether Jakarta will bring the Syrian issue to the table during Pences visit  which was scheduled weeks before the attack  speculation is growing that the US and Indonesia might also discuss security issues and possibly terrorism.

Jakarta said on Friday that the air strike contravened international legal principles for the peaceful settlement of disputes as stipulated in the UN Charter, arguing it had not obtained the authorization of the UN Security Council.

For Indonesia, peace and stability in Syria can only be achieved through dialogue, an inclusive political process and all parties restraining themselves and stopping all acts of violence, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arrmanatha Nasir told a press briefing on Friday.

He further called for respect and the protection of human rights, as well as for continued open humanitarian access to Syria, requesting the UN Security Council  which Reuters reports is set to hold a meeting soon to discuss the US cruise missile strikes on Syria  take immediate steps to resolve the crisis in Syria.

Indonesia has long promoted its preference for peaceful diplomacy as the way to end the Syrian civil war, having attended UN-sponsored peace talks in the past, including the Geneva II Conference on Syria in 2014 in Switzerland, which was also attended by then-US state secretary John Kerry.

As a state that is party to the Chemical Weapons Convention, which aims to eliminate all weapons of mass destruction, Indonesia has also strongly condemned the use of chemical weapons in Syria that have reportedly killed dozens of civilians.

As a part of his first official tour of the Asia-Pacific region, with stopovers in key countries such as South Korea, Japan and Australia, Pence is set to visit Jakarta, where he will pay a courtesy call to President Joko Jokowi Widodo and conduct a bilateral meeting with Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

US Ambassador to Indonesia Joseph R. Donovan issued a statement ahead of Pences trip, saying that the visit reflected the US continuing commitment to its strategic partnership with the Southeast Asian country.

His engagement with Indonesian leaders will serve to strengthen our strategic partnership through discussions centered on deepening our economic engagement, boosting our cooperation on shared regional security priorities and increasing our people-to-people contact and exchanges, Joseph said.

A US executive order accusing 16 countries of cheating in trade is also likely make its way into the talks, as Trump has previously called for an investigation into the trade imbalance between the US and 16 countries, including Indonesia.

It should be underlined that bilateral trade relations must benefit both sides, not only one party, and in connection to this, [trade] should also be carried out in accordance with the globally applicable rules, the Foreign Ministrys US Affairs director, Adam Mulawarman Tugio, said.

Despite its concerns about the Trump administration, Indonesia is likely to seek to maintain good relations with the US during Pences upcoming visit, said Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) international relations expert Adriana Elisabeth.

As there has yet to be an Asia policy announced, even until now, the visit will be an opportunity to find out more about the US approach to the region and to Indonesia, she added.
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Linkedin David Keyton and Jan M. Olsen (Associated Press) Stockholm  Sat, April 8, 2017

A hijacked beer truck plowed into pedestrians at a central Stockholm department store on Friday, killing four people, wounding 15 others and sending screaming shoppers fleeing in panic in what Sweden's prime minister called a terrorist attack.

A nationwide manhunt was launched and one person was arrested following the latest use of a vehicle as a weapon in Europe.

Nearby buildings were locked down for hours in the heart of the capital  including the country's parliament  and the main train station and several large malls were evacuated.

"Sweden has been attacked," Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said in a nationally televised press conference. "This indicates that it is an act of terror."

Later Friday night, Lofven laid a bouquet of red roses and lit a candle near the site of the attack. Officials announced flags at government offices would fly at half-mast Saturday to honor the victims.

"The country is in a state of shock," he said. "The aim of terrorism is to undermine democracy. But such a goal will never be achieved in Sweden."

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Police arrested a man in Marsta, a northern Stockholm suburb close to the city's international airport, as a possible suspect.

The stolen beer truck traveled for more than 500 yards (meters) along a main pedestrian street known as the Drottninggatan before it smashed into a crowd outside the upscale Ahlens department store about 3 p.m. It came to rest in the entrance to the building. TV footage showed smoke coming out of the store after the crash.

"People were screaming and running in all directions," said Brandon Sekitto, who was in his car nearby. "(The truck) drove straight into the Ahlens entrance."

"I saw the driver, a man in black who was light around the face," Brandon told Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter. "Some women were screaming, 'Run! Run!'"

Late into the night, forensic experts in full white suits could be seen working on the truck, collecting evidence.

Although there was initial confusion on the number of victims, police told reporters in the evening that four people had been killed and 15 were wounded, nine of them seriously.

Authorities evacuated the city's nearby Central Station, a hub for regional trains and the subway system. All trains to and from the main station were halted and several large shopping malls in Stockholm were shut down. Sweden's national theater, Dramaten, canceled three performances Friday evening.

Jan Evensson of the Stockholm police told a news conference that the man who was arrested looked like the person depicted wearing a greenish hood in a surveillance camera photo that police released earlier. He said police were "particularly interested" in him.

"We continue to investigate at full force," Evensson said, urging people not to go to central Stockholm on Friday night.

Stefan Hector of Sweden's national police said the working hypothesis was that "this is an act of terror."

"We will be working as long as necessary" to determine who was responsible, Stockholm police spokesman Lars Bystrom told The Associated Press.

The Swedish brewery Spendrups said one of its trucks had been hijacked just a few blocks from the crash scene earlier Friday.

"It is one of our delivery trucks. In connection with a delivery to a restaurant called Caliente, someone jumped into the truck and drove it away while the driver was unloading his delivery," Spendrups spokesman Marten Luth told the Swedish news agency TT.

The beer company's truck driver was not injured, he said.

The truck crash appeared to be the latest attack in Europe using a vehicle.

In an attack last month claimed by the Islamic State group, a man drove into a crowd on London's Westminster Bridge, killing three people and injuring many others before stabbing a policeman to death. He was shot and killed by police. A fourth person, a woman thrown into the Thames by the force of the car attack, died Thursday.

The IS group also claimed responsibility for a truck attack that killed 86 people in Nice, France, in July 2016 during a Bastille Day festival, as well as another truck attack that killed 12 people at a Christmas market in Berlin.

Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf cut short a visit to Brazil on Friday to return home and sent the royal family's condolences to the families of the truck attack victims.

Lofven said his Social Democratic Party was still planning to hold its annual convention this weekend in Goteborg, Sweden's second-largest city.

Condolences poured into Sweden. In neighboring Finland, President Sauli Niinisto said he was shocked by the "maniac act of terror," adding "every terror attack is to be equally condemned. But it touches us deeply when such an attack takes place in our Nordic neighborhood."

Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen called the attack a cowardly attempt "to subdue us and the peaceful way we live in Scandinavia."

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said the Eiffel Tower's lights will be turned off from midnight Friday in homage. She expressed her "strong emotion" over "this new terrorist attack of immense cowardice."

EU Council President Donald Tusk said in a tweet that "my heart is in Stockholm this afternoon. My thoughts are with the victims and their families and friends of today's terrible attack."

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said "one of Europe's most vibrant and colorful cities appears to have been struck by those wishing it  and our very way of life  harm."

Juncker also said "an attack on any of our (EU) member states is an attack on us all" and that Sweden can count on EU help.

In February, US President Donald Trump suggested that Sweden could be the next European country to suffer the kind of extremist attacks that have devastated France, Belgium and Germany. Two days after his remarks, a riot broke out in predominantly immigrant suburb of Stockholm where police opened fire on rioters, a surprise to many Swedes who aren't used to officers using guns.

Friday's truck crash was near the site of a December 2010 attack in Stockholm in which Taimour Abdulwahab, a Swedish citizen who lived in Britain, detonated a suicide bomb, killing himself and injuring two others.

Abdulwahab had rigged a car with explosives in the hope the blast would drive people to Drottninggatan  the street hit Friday  where he would set off devices strapped to his chest and back. The car bomb never went off, and Abdulwahab died when one of his devices exploded among panicked Christmas shoppers.

___

Olsen reported from Copenhagen, Denmark. Matti Huuhtanen and Jari Tanner in Helsinki, Finland, contributed. (**)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, April 8, 2017 11:20 2040 a291276806121264c0bd211cde84022f 1 National JAD,Densus-88,National-Police,counterterrorism,Jamaah-Anshar-Daulah,Jamaah-Ansharut-Daulah,terrorists Free

The National Polices counterterrorism squad, Densus 88, arrested three terror suspects allegedly affiliated with home-grown extremist group Jamaah Anshar Daulah in Lamongan, East Java, on Friday.

They had planned to attack the Brondong police sub-precinct office in Lamongan, the polices spokesperson, Sr. Comr. Martinus Sitompul, told journalists in Jakarta.

The police identified the trio as Zaenal Anshori, 42, Zaenal Hasan, 36, and Adi Bramadinata, 20, all of whom allegedly belong to a cell lead by Suryadi Mas'ud alias Abu Ridho, who was arrested in Bekasi, West Java, on March 23.

Martinus said terror convict Aman Abdurrahman, the former leader of JAD, an Islamic State-affiliated network, had chosen Zaenal Anshori as the groups leader. Aman is now serving time in Nusakambangan Prison.

Anshori, who underwent military training in southern Philippines, once purchased five guns there, two of which were used in the terror attack on Jl. Thamrin in Central Jakarta in January 2016, Martinus said.

Anshori was also identified as one of the JAD members who helped initiate the construction of a military-style training ground in Halmahera, North Maluku, he went on.

Martinus said the police however, had to further investigate the specific roles of the three terror suspects in the organization. (hol/ebf)
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Linkedin Vivian Salama and Matthew Pennington (Associated Press) Palm Beach, Fla.  Sat, April 8, 2017

What was billed as a showdown between the leaders of the United States and China over trade and North Korea ended with little sign of confrontation Friday  or of concrete progress in resolving their differences.

President Donald Trump had predicted a "very difficult" meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. After their first face-to-face at the Mar-a-Lago resort, he trumpeted they had developed an "outstanding" relationship.

US officials said the two sides agreed to increase cooperation on trying to get North Korea's to abandon its nuclear weapons program, and China acknowledged the need for more balanced trade with the U.S.

But the two days of meetings appeared heavier on optics than substance. The most powerful message for the Chinese leader may have been Trump's decision to launch US missile strikes at Syria.

Those strikes added weight to Trump's threat last week to act unilaterally against North Korea's weapons program  although a much heavier risk would be required to take military action against the nuclear-armed North, which has its artillery and missiles trained on a key US ally, South Korea.

The US administration's first recourse is very likely to be economic  pushing China to crack down on Chinese banks and companies said to provide North Korea access to the international financial system.

In a possible harbinger of the kind of punishments Washington could inflict, a leading Chinese telecoms company, ZTE, was fined nearly $900 million in March for shipping sensitive US-made technology to Iran in violation of US sanctions.

"They recognize that shows our clear determination to crack down on this sort of activity," Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told reporters.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the US and China "agreed to increase cooperation and work with the international community to convince the DPRK to peacefully resolve the issue and abandon its illicit weapons programs." DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Tillerson said Trump and Xi noted the urgency of the threat of North Korea's weapons program and that they reaffirmed their commitment to a denuclearization of the divided Korean Peninsula.

On trade issues, Trump called for China to "level the playing field" for American workers, stressing the need for reciprocal market access. He also noted the importance of protecting human rights, and asked China to adhere to international norms in the seas of East Asia, Tillerson said.

As a candidate and president, Trump has taken an aggressive posture toward China, labeling Beijing a "tremendous problem" and arguing that lopsided trade deals with China shortchange American businesses and workers. Some $347 billion of the $502 billion trade deficit recorded by the US last year was with China.

Trump said in a brief appearance before reporters Friday that he and Xi made "tremendous progress" in their talks and that he believes "lots of very potentially bad problems will be going away." He did not elaborate.

For Xi, who is entering a twice-a-decade Communist Party congress in the fall, the meeting with Trump was more about stabilizing the critical US-China relationship and burnishing his foreign policy credentials than achieving a breakthrough. The only other foreign leader to be hosted at Mar-a-Lago during Trump's presidency so far is Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a close US ally.

Speaking alongside Trump, Xi said the two delegations discussed important topics and established a good friendship and working relationship. He noted the historic responsibility of both countries  the world's largest economies and emerging military rivals  to work toward peace and stability.

The visit was overshadowed by the missile barrage aimed at Syria, announced shortly after Trump and Xi wrapped up dinner Thursday night. The strikes were retaliation against Syrian President Bashar Assad for a chemical weapons attack against civilians caught up in his country's long civil war.

China's response was muted. Its UN ambassador, Liu Jieyi, never mentioned the suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria, or the US airstrikes, at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Friday. Liu focused instead on the need for a political solution to the six-year Syrian conflict.

___

Pennington reported from Washington.

Follow Vivian Salama at http://twitter.com/vmsalama (**)
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Linkedin Julie Pace (Associated Press) Palm Beach, Fla.  Sat, April 8, 2017

The United States vowed Friday to keep the pressure on Syria after the intense nighttime wave of missile strikes from US ships, despite the prospect of escalating Russian ill will that could further inflame one of the world's most vexing conflicts.

Standing firm, the Trump administration signaled new sanctions would soon follow the missile attack, and the Pentagon was even probing whether Russia itself was involved in the chemical weapons assault that compelled President Donald Trump to action. The attack against a Syrian air base was the first US assault against the government of President Bashar Assad.

Much of the international community rallied behind Trump's decision to fire the cruise missiles in reaction to this week's chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of men, women and children in Syria. But a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the strikes dealt "a significant blow" to relations between Moscow and Washington.

At the United Nations, Russia's deputy ambassador, Vladimir Safronkov, strongly criticized what he called the US "flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression" whose "consequences for regional and international security could be extremely serious." He called the Assad government a main force against terrorism and said it deserved the presumption of innocence in the chemical weapons attack.

US officials blame Moscow for propping up Assad.

"The world is waiting for the Russian government to act responsibly in Syria," Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, said during an emergency Security Council session. "The world is waiting for Russia to reconsider its misplaced alliance with Bashar Assad."

Haley said the US was prepared to take further action in Syria but hoped it wouldn't be necessary.

In Florida with the president, meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said: "We will be announcing additional sanctions on Syria as part of our ongoing effort to stop this type of activity and emphasize how significant we view this. We expect that those will continue to have an important effect on preventing people from doing business with them."

Thursday night's strikes  some 60 cruise missiles fired from two ships in the Mediterranean  were the culmination of a rapid, three-day transformation for Trump, who has long opposed deeper US involvement in Syria's civil war. Advisers said he was outraged by heartbreaking images of young children who were among the dozens killed in the chemical attack and ordered his national security team to swiftly prepare military options.

The decision undercut another campaign promise for Trump: his pledge to try to warm relations with Moscow. After months of allegations of ties between his election campaign and the Kremlin  the subject of current congressional and FBI investigations  Trump has found himself clashing with Putin.

On Friday, senior US military officials were looking more closely at possible Russian involvement in the poison attack. Officials said a drone belonging to either Russia or Syria was seen hovering over the site after the assault earlier this week. The drone returned late in the day as citizens were going to a nearby hospital for treatment. Shortly afterward, officials say the hospital was targeted.

The officials, who insisted on anonymity in order to discuss the sensitive matter, said they believe the hospital attack may have been an effort to cover up evidence of the earlier assault.

White House officials caution that Trump is not preparing to plunge the US deeper into Syria. Spokesman Sean Spicer said the missile attack sent a clear message to Assad, but he avoided explicitly calling for the Syrian to leave office.

"The president believes that the Syrian government, the Assad regime, should at the minimum agree to abide by the agreements they made to not use chemical weapons," Spicer said when asked if Assad should step down.

The impact of the strikes was also unclear. Despite intense international pressure, Assad has clung to power since a civil war broke out in his country six years ago, helped by financial and military support from both Russia and Iran. Russian military personnel and aircraft are embedded with Syria's, and Iranian troops and paramilitary forces are also on the ground helping Assad fight the array of opposition groups hoping to topple him.

Trump spent Friday in Florida, in private meetings with visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping. US officials noted that the timing of the strike had the possible added benefit of signaling to China that Trump is willing to make good on his threat to act alone to stop North Korea's nuclear pursuits if Beijing doesn't exert more pressure on Pyongyang.

The missile strikes hit the government-controlled Shayrat air base in central Syria, where US officials say the Syrian military planes that dropped the chemicals had taken off. The missiles targeted the base's airstrips, hangars, control tower and ammunition areas, officials said.

Trump's decision to strike Syria won widespread praise from other nations, including Saudi Arabia and Turkey, which support the Syrian opposition. British Prime Minister Theresa May's office said the action was "an appropriate response to the barbaric chemical weapons attack launched by the Syrian regime, and is intended to deter further attacks." France, Italy and Israel also welcomed the strikes.

Not everyone was cheering in Washington, where the president's decision to act without congressional authority angered a mix of libertarian Republicans, Democrats and the far right.

"The Constitution is very clear that war originates in the legislature," said Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a leader of the party's non-interventionist wing who challenged Trump for the GOP nomination. "You vote before you go to war, not after you go to war."

Still, most Republican leaders applauded the president, and some Democrats backed him, too.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California said the strikes were "a limited but necessary response" and called on Trump to "develop a comprehensive strategy to end Syria's civil war."

___

AP writers Lolita C. Baldor in Washington, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Vivian Salama in Palm Beach, Florida, contributed to this report.

___

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Linkedin Nury Vittachi (The Jakarta Post) Bangkok  Sat, April 8 2017

I just spelled a word so badly that even autocorrect was like, sorry, man, I got nothin.

But at least it wasnt as bad as my friend who went on a business trip with a staff member and mis-spelled a postcard to his wife: Having a lovely time, which you were her.

The high court in Delhi a few days ago blamed a typo after they let a convicted murderer loose. Their judgment sentenced him to time served instead of the long stretch of time he should be serving. Police are looking for him, hoping no one will end up with killed by a typo as an epitaph.

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(lead article, Socialist Workers Party statement)

Build May Day protests! Join fight for Amnesty now!

Militant/Sarah Katz

Join me in building protests and strikes on May Day this year against deportations and immigration raids! Join me in demanding amnesty for all undocumented workers in this country!

President Barack Obama put more undocumented workers in jail for immigration offenses than any president in U.S. history. Stepping up the anti-immigrant demagogy, President Donald Trump is driving forward on the same course. The rulers the Democrats and Republicans serve seek to pit worker against worker, claiming undocumented workers take American jobs.

A worker at the Hunts Point Produce Market in New York put it well as I talked to him after the Day Without Immigrants strike here Feb. 16. When it comes to immigrant workers, Obama was a wolf in sheeps clothing and Trump is a wolf in wolfs clothing.

U.S. bosses need immigrant labor, and the semilegal status theyre pushed into, to create a superexploited layer of the working class and boost their profits. They work overtime to pit native-born workers against immigrants to push down the wages and working conditions of us all.

The fact is U.S. workers are less anti-immigrant, less racist than ever before. Millions of workers who have come here from Mexico, Central America, Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere have now worked and lived side by side with native-born workers for decades.

When your kids are such good friends at school, people are getting to know each other better, a worker in Denison, Iowa, where packinghouses attracted immigrant workers in droves, told the New York Times March 28. Theyre trusting each other, wanting to be around each other.

This means the capitalist rulers have a problem, and were in a stronger position than ever to unify the working class, to fight and win amnesty.

Obama and Trump both claim the focus is on deporting immigrants who are criminals. Thats why we say, We are workers, not criminals. And for that small number of undocumented workers with a record  just like some of our U.S.-born co-workers  we say no double jeopardy. Amnesty for all!

The only road to build a fighting union movement is for our unions to say to our brothers and sisters, We dont want to see your papers. We say, lets fight together.

The Socialist Workers Party urges you to help make the May Day protests as successful as possible. Talk with your co-workers. Can you go on a Day Without Immigrants strike at your workplace May 1? Can you organize or join protest actions in your area?

Unite the working class. Amnesty now! See you May 1.





Related articles:

Seattle protest hits attacks on immigrants, Jews, Muslims

May Day Protests Calendar







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(front page)

Socialist Workers Party kicks off spring campaign

Help expand reach of Militant, raise funds!

The first weekend got the Socialist Workers Partys seven-week spring campaign off to a good start. The drive will present the party, thenewspaper and books on working-class politics from Pathfinder Press to working people on their doorsteps, strike picket lines and social protests. It focuses on finding workers and youth who want to read and discuss how to defend the interests of the working class as we expand the readership for the SWPs paper and books.

The campaign runs together with the Militant Fighting Fund, a drive to raise $112,000 to keep getting the Militant out and around. Quotas for the campaign taken by branches of the SWP and Communist Leagues in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom are listed in charts below and on page 3.

A team of three SWP members  Ilona Gersh, Leroy Watson, and Betsy Farley  drove from Chicago to the working-class suburbs of St. Louis April 1 and joined the picket line of striking workers at Holten Meats in Sauget, Illinois. United Food and Commercial Workers Local 655 members have been on strike for two weeks there against their bosses concession demands. Ten strikers got copies of the Militant.

The socialist workers then went to nearby Granite City, Illinois, where U.S. Steel idled a mill last year, laying off 2,000 workers. Knocking on doors near the plant, they found real interest in discussing the crisis workers face today. In one block they sold three subscriptions and a copy of Are They Rich Because Theyre Smart? Class, Privilege, and Learning Under Capitalism by SWP National Secretary Jack Barnes.

The book is one of three  along with The Clintons Anti-Working-Class Record: Why Washington Fears Working People, also by Barnes, and Is Socialist Revolution in the US Possible? A Necessary Debate Among Working People by SWP leader Mary-Alice Waters  on special offer with a subscription.

Watson and Farley met Jill Turner on her doorstep. Turner, whose husband works for a nonunion construction outfit, said neither of them has health insurance. Its not that we dont want health care, its that we cant afford it! she said. And then you get hit by the government with a $1,000 penalty the first year and $2,000 the second year for not having insurance.

We have to fight to make health care a basic right guaranteed for all, not a profit-making business, Farley said. Thats what the Socialist Workers Party stands for.

The only thing Trump had to offer workers during the presidential campaign was a promise of jobs, Turner said when the discussion turned to U.S. politics. Now that hes in office what has he done? Nothing. He just wants to blame everything on the Mexicans.

Turner said her ex-husband was from Mexico. He was deported, now he may never see his two children again, she said. He lived here since he was 16 years old. All he ever did was work and care for his family, and for that he was thrown out of the country.

Watson said the SWP calls for amnesty for all immigrants here without papers, and an end to raids and deportations.

Thats the only way to unite the working class and stop the bosses and their government from using the divisions they foster between native-born and immigrant workers to lower wages and working conditions for all, he said.

My husband will be excited to read this too, we talk about this kind of stuff all the time, Turner said, signing up for a 12-week introductory subscription.

Members of the SWP in Seattle took the party-building campaign to longshoremen at the ILWU union hall. Ten longshoremen picked up the Militant and kicked in several dollars extra to the Militant Fighting Fund. And two got copies of The Clintons Anti-Working-Class Record and Are They Rich Because Theyre Smart?

Pat Scott, a Walmart worker, joined Mary Martin, SWP candidate for mayor of Seattle, and John Naubert to knock on doors near the store in Federal Way. Many people recognized her because they shop where she works.

Were with the Socialist Workers Party and want to talk to you about what working people can do about the crisis we face, she told them. Take a look at our paper. A number picked up a copy and a few asked Scott to come back after payday to get a subscription.

One of the aims of the party-building drive is to win more people to join in introducing the party and its program to workers.

On April 2, a team of four traveled to Sunnyside, where they joined a march and rally sponsored by the United Farm Workers to commemorate the life and work of Cesar Chavez, a founder and leader of the union in the 1960s and 70s. Similar actions were held in California, Oregon and Texas. Nine marchers got Militant subscriptions.

Maria Garcia joined the action from Pullman. We need to stand in solidarity with all immigrants and especially those who work as hard as those in the fields, she said. She got a subscription and a copy of Is Socialist Revolution in the US Possible? The SWP members also went door to door in Sunnyside, getting four more subscriptions.

Lea Sherman, director of the Militant Fighting Fund, reports there has been an increase in contributions given by workers on their doorsteps. In New York one team of party members campaigning in the Bronx collected $27. Were asking people to send their contributions in now, she said.

To join in the campaign or to order books and papers to use to sign up others or to contribute to the fund, contact the SWP or Communist League branch nearest you, listed on page 4.





Related articles:

Campaign to sell Militant subscriptions and books April 1-May 23 (chart)

Militant Fighting Fund April 1-May 23 $112,000 (chart)







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By Press Trust of India: Chandigarh, Apr 8 (PTI) In a first, a court of financial commissioner in Haryana headed by IAS officer Ashok Khemka has ordered serving of summons in a property dispute case through WhatsApp to one of the respondents who shifted to Kathmandu.

Summons in such cases are usually sent by registered post to the physical address of the respondents, but Khemka in his order observed that law follows technological advancements and is not fossilised.

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The summons were ordered to be served through Whatsapp messenger service on April 6 to the respondent in a case involving a property partition dispute among three brothers in a village in Hisar district of Haryana. The court of financial commissioner is a quasi-judicial body.

In the case, the process server (court official) had submitted a report that one of the respondents no longer resides in the village and had shifted to Kathmandu, but his address there was not known.

A mobile phone number belonging to the respondent was provided by the petitioner. The respondent was informed over phone about the summons from the court by the process server and was asked to appear before the court on the appointed day.

However, the respondent refused to appear or to provide his address in Kathmandu, when asked.

Khemka, a senior Haryana bureaucrat, who also holds the court of financial commissioner to decide disputes related to revenue laws in the State, passed these orders while hearing the partition suit.

In this case, Satbir Singh had a dispute with his brothers Ramdiyal and Krishan Kumar over partition of a family property in the village in Hisar district.

When the court of the financial commissioner issued notice to both the brothers seeking their replies in the matter, Ramdiyal received the summons but these could not be served to Krishan as he had shifted to Kathmandu.

However, when Kumar was contacted over phone he refused to appear or provide his address in Kathmandu, the order mentions.

Khemka in his order observed that the modern age is highly mobile due to technological advancements.

"The physical address is no longer permanent as before and keeps changing. But electronic mail address and mobile phone number of a person is relatively more permanent than his physical address. The law is not fossilised. Law is a living concept and follows technological advancements. An email address or a mobile phone number is also the address of a person in the present times."

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The Court in its order mentioned that Order V Rule 9 (2) of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC) specifies that summons may be sent in such manner as the Court may direct and in Rule 9(3) any other means of transmission is provided.

After it was established that the mobile number of Krishan Kumar was active and he was using WhatsApp, Khemkas court directed that a clear image of the summons notice bearing the seal of the court be sent on his number.

"It is, therefore, directed that a clear image of the summons notice bearing the seal of the Court shall be sent to the respondent in Kathmandu through the Whatsapp messenger from a designated mobile phone number and the same shall be treated as proper mode of service as provided in Order V Rule 10 of the CPC.

"..A printout of the delivery report of Whatsapp messenger authenticated by the signature of the counsel will be taken as proof of valid service," Khemka held in his order. PTI SUN AKA DV

--- ENDS ---
(front page)

Washingtons war footprint expands in Middle East

U.S. War Footprint Grows in the Middle East With No Endgame in Sight, declared a front-page headline in the March 29. These escalations aim to defend the political and economic interests of Washingtons capitalist rulers in that increasingly unstable region  at the expense of millions of working people.

There is an array of competing capitalist regimes and military forces seeking to do likewise. The bloody Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad  backed by Moscow, Tehran, Hezbollah and other Shiite militias  as well as Ankara, Riyadh and other Gulf monarchies, and Israel all claim they have interests to defend in the area.

All these regimes share one common foe  the 30 million Kurds spread across Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. The Kurds are the largest nationality worldwide without their own state.

They all claim their motivation is the ouster of the Islamic State, a reactionary terrorist army put together by factions from al-Qaeda and former military officers from the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq, ousted by Washingtons 2003 invasion. IS took control of huge swaths of territory in both Iraq and Syria, stepping into a vacuum left by Washingtons inability to bring an end to the yearslong wars it has intervened in there.

For months, the U.S. rulers have used their air power and a growing number of military advisers on the front lines to spearhead the drive of the Iraqi army, Kurdish peshmerga forces and others to expel Islamic State from Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq that it seized in 2014.

The U.S. military confirmed March 27 that hundreds more paratroopers are being sent to Mosul from the 1,700-strong 82nd Airborne stationed in Iraq and Kuwait. Current U.S. troop levels in Iraq stand at about 5,000.

Already more than 300,000 Iraqis have fled the fighting in Mosul and many more remain trapped. Hundreds of civilians have been killed by U.S. airstrikes there.

In Syria, Washington is expanding its use of air power, artillery and boots on the ground, preparing to lead the attack on the city of Raqqa, Islamic States self-proclaimed capital. The key ground force  despite fierce opposition from Ankara  is thousands of Syrian Democratic Forces fighters, led by the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG).

The Trump administration has made it clear that Washington has dropped any pretense that its goal is to force Assad to give up power.

Assad and his father before him have ruled for decades. In 2011, mass mobilizations hit the streets, demanding political rights and the ouster of the regime. Assad responded with brutal repression, killing thousands and imprisoning more, leading to civil war.

More than 100,000 people have been arrested or physically disappeared since the protests began. Thousands were taken to special military-run hospital facilities where they were tortured and killed.

Preparations for attack on Raqqa

For months Ankara has sought to seize a place as a bigger player in the wars, allying with Washington or Moscow in an effort to exert its interests. Accompanied by Syrian refugee forces trained in Turkey, Ankara launched an invasion of Syria in 2016, called Operation Euphrates Shield, at first with Washingtons blessing. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said their goal was to push back Islamic State as part of the war against terror.

But the real goal was to stop YPG forces, which control a substantial Kurdish region in the east on Turkeys border and were seeking to link up with another Kurdish area around Afrin in the west. The Turkish invasion cut between the two areas and Ankara demanded the YPG pull back from Manbij to east of the Euphrates River.

But Washington decided YPG military forces were decisive for its offensive in Raqqa. The YPG has proven itself to be the most effective fighting force in Syria. The Pentagon sent troops to Manbij, flying the U.S. flag. And the YPG struck a deal with Moscow and the Assad regime to put Syrian government troops in small towns in front of Manbij in the way of Ankaras forces.

Ankara was forced to recognize reality. On March 29, the day before Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was due in Turkey to meet with Erdogan, the Turkish government announced that Operation Euphrates Shield was over.

Two days later Ankara explained this didnt mean it was withdrawing its troops from Syria.

This is a settling of the status quo, where Turkey is confined to this Euphrates Shield while the U.S. and Russia continue with their war plans, Aaron Stein from the Atlantic Council told the Financial Times March 29.

At the same time a bitter dispute has broken out around Kirkuk in Iraq. The city and surrounding area has been controlled and protected militarily by the peshmerga forces of the Kurdish Regional Government since 2014, when Iraqi army forces fled as Islamic State began its sweep into the country. Iraqi Kurds consider Kirkuk their historical capital. The area is rich in oil reserves.

The KRG began flying the Kurdish flag over the city last week. Both Baghdad and Ankara responded with howls of protest.

Do not enter into a claim its yours or the price will be heavy, Erdogan said April 4. Bring down that flag immediately.

Erdogan says he is speaking in the interests of both Arab and Turkmen residents of the area.

Turkey fears territorial gains by some Kurdish groups in Iraq and neighboring Syria could fuel Kurdish separatist ambitions inside Turkey, Reuters commented.





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(front page)

Workers look for road forward amid liberal hysteria, Trump presidency

As the administration of Donald Trump enters its third month, the American carnage being visited on working people he described in his inaugural address, including rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape, continues with no end in sight.

And many in the fractured Democratic Party, liberal bourgeois press and the middle-class left are stepping up attempts to obstruct Trump in hopes of forcing him out of office before the end of his term.

Donald Trump is a despicable man and an awful president who deserves whatever he gets, columnist Charles Blow wrote in the New York Times April 3. He is crude, a liar, a bully and a cheat.

It is not clear to me that America  and indeed the world  can survive a full-term Trump presidency. The remedy Blow likes? Impeachment.

As part of their stop-Trump-from-being-able-to-govern effort, Democrats are preparing to filibuster the nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. This is extremely rare in U.S. bourgeois rule, not used even when the Democrats bitterly opposed Ronald Reagans nomination of Robert Bork in 1987.

Democrats opposition to Gorsuch has nothing to do with his views or his qualifications. As Politico noted in January before Gorsuch was nominated, Senate Democrats are going to try to bring down President Donald Trumps Supreme Court pick no matter whom the president chooses.

In fact, many Democratic Party officials acknowledge that as possible nominees for the Supreme Court go, Gorsuch would be far from the worst.

If the Democrats filibuster, the Republicans, who hold 52 seats, are expected to take what is known as the nuclear option  suspend the rules and move to confirm Gorsuch with a simple majority.

Sanders seeks to take over Democrats

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who had the Democratic Party presidential nomination stolen from him by the party machine, has been stumping for his Our Revolution campaign. At a Boston rally March 31 he said the party should be based on the working class, not the liberal elite. His goal is to keep workers bottled up in the Democrats, one of the bosses two parties.

Although he called the president a fraud, Sanders admitted that Trump won because Americans are struggling economically, frustrated, angry and living in despair.

If you sit home and think Donald Trump won because all of the people who voted for him are racists or sexists or homophobes, I think you got it wrong, Sanders said. He won because he developed proposals that addressed the carnage workers face.

But its not the class that votes for the party, but the class the party votes for that determines its character. And the Democrats do the bidding of the ruling rich.

Bipartisan anti-immigrant policy

For all his demagogic rhetoric, Trump has mostly continued the same anti-worker policies that were carried out by the Obama and previous administrations.

But deporting undocumented workers is increasingly unpopular among U.S.-born workers.

The shift in views among working people and broader sections of the population comes through in a March 28 article in the Times, In Steve Kings District, Iowans Begin to Question His Anti-Immigrant Views.

Congressman King is notorious for his racist attitude toward immigrants. But many people the Times interviewed in Sioux County, which went overwhelmingly for King and Trump in the last election, say they disagree with King on deportations.

Evan Wielenga, manager of a farm co-op in Orange City, told the Times he used to believe all the undocumented should be deported, but had a change of heart.

Some of these kids were born in the U.S. These families had lived here 10 years, and all of a sudden, Dads gone. Moms gone, Wielenga said, referring to the impact of Immigration and Custom Enforcement raids. When you think of it from that perspective, whats the lesser of two evils?

When our kids are such good friends at school, people are getting to know each other better, said Libbie Schillerberg, from Denison. Theyre trusting each other, wanting to be around each other.

Despite the fact the Trump administrations effort to bar visitors from six majority Muslim nations is bottled up in court challenges, they are moving forward with planning steps for extreme vetting of refugees, immigrants and tourists, the Wall Street Journal reported April 4. That would include government access to their email, Facebook and other social media accounts.

We want to say for instance, What sites do you visit? And give us your passwords, so that we can see what they do on the internet, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly told Congress in February.

The new rules would apply even to visitors from the 38 countries that participate in the Visa Waiver Program, which includes some of Washingtons closest allies, such as the U.K., Japan and Australia.

The White House is planning to put in place an ideological test, interrogating people about their political views. This wouldnt be the first time, the Journal said, noting that communists and other foreign-born working-class militants have been excluded from the U.S. in the past.





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(feature article)

OAS steps up moves against Venezuelas sovereignty

The Cuban government and mass organizations there have been speaking out against the campaign by Organization of American States Secretary General Luis Almagro to expel Venezuela from the organization. This is part of a broader effort to replace the government headed by President Nicolas Maduro.

On March 14 Almagro demanded that Maduro call elections within 30 days, free people that Almagro says are political prisoners, replace the countrys Supreme Court with judges who meet Almagros criteria of being independent  that is, politically opposed to the Maduro government  and reinstate laws passed by the opposition-controlled National Assembly that had been overturned by the court.

Since the election of Hugo Chavez in 1998, on the heels of mass popular mobilizations, the Venezuelan governments close ties to revolutionary Cuba and its refusal to bow to Washingtons dictates on trade and foreign policy have drawn the ire of U.S. imperialism.

On March 28, the OAS met to hear Almagros report despite opposition from the governments of Bolivia, Nicaragua, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Barbados and Dominica, as well as Venezuela.

Leading up to the OAS meeting, President Maduro said Almagro was rekindling the darkest pages of the OAS history.

The OAS confronting Venezuela today is the same one that has endorsed aggression and military intervention, the same one that has kept a complicit silence about serious democratic and human rights violations in the entire hemisphere, said a March 29 statement from the Cuban Foreign Ministry, referring to the OAS sordid history in the Americas.

In 1962, at Washingtons insistence, the OAS expelled Cuba to punish Cuban workers and farmers for overthrowing the U.S.-backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista and their decision to build a socialist society. In 1976 it showed its support for the bloody dictatorship in Chile of Gen. Augusto Pinochet, which had overthrown the elected government of Salvador Allende, by holding its meeting there. Pinochet is just one of a long line of U.S.-backed dictatorships that the OAS championed.

In 2009, in the face of Washingtons growing isolation in the region due to Cubas exclusion, the OAS invited Cuba to return. The revolutionary government has no interest in having a relationship with an organization that has served the purposes of domination, occupation and aggression by the United States, and as a platform to attack and plunder Latin America and the Caribbean, Cubas Foreign Minster Bruno Rodriguez restated in 2012, reported Cuban newspaper Escambray.

Ahead of the March 28 meeting the governments of the United States, Canada and 12 Latin American countries, including Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico, signed a statement echoing Amalgros accusations against the Maduro government. But expulsion should only be used as a last resort, it said.

Washingtons ultimate goal  like the regional powers in Latin America vying for the capitalist economic and political interests of their own propertied rulers  is to replace the Maduro government with one more to their liking without provoking deeper political turmoil, economic breakdown and social explosion in Venezuela, and in the region. Washington and pro-imperialist forces in Venezuela are stepping up pressure against the Maduro government as the world capitalist economic crisis is having a devastating impact on the countrys ability to continue financing social programs at home and extending assistance to other countries. They are counting on the deepening social and political crisis and frustrations over the growing shortages of basic goods and medicines to further undermine support for Maduro and the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).

After Chavez was elected, his supporters won 122 of 128 seats in the National Assembly. Today opponents of Maduros government have a supermajority.

On Feb. 13 the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions against Venezuelas Vice President Tareck El Aissami, accusing him of allegedly being involved in drug trafficking activities. The measure by the Donald Trump administration was the result of an investigation initiated under President Barack Obama. In 2015, the Obama administration ordered sanctions against seven other Venezuelan officials. President Maduro has denounced the measure as an attempt to discredit his government and lay the ground for further intervention.

In a move that gave Almagro and other supporters of imperialist intervention more of a handle, the Venezuelan Supreme Court suspended the powers of the National Assembly March 29. The court said it would exercise legislative power instead.

The next day the governments of Colombia, Chile and Peru recalled their ambassadors to Venezuela. The Mexican government also criticized the move.

In the face of stepped-up calls for violating Venezuelan sovereignty, several mass organizations in Cuba spoke out, including the Central Organization of Cuban Workers (CTC), the Federation of University Students and the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP). Once again the Yankee Ministry of Colonies violates the sovereignty of one of our peoples, said ANAP on March 31, adding that the OAS was seeking to use foreign intervention to re-establish a shameless regime.

On March 31 the pro-imperialist opposition parties in Venezuela organized demonstrations against Maduro. According to the Financial Times, there were some scuffles between students and national guardsmen outside the Venezuelan Supreme Court. More clashes took place April 4.

On April 1, following a meeting convened by Maduro of the Defense Council  a body made up of top ministers and politicians including the head of the armed forces  Maduro announced that he had spoken to the Supreme Court judges and convinced them to reverse their decision to dissolve the National Assembly.

Seth Galinsky contributed to this article.





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(special supplement, Socialist Workers Party Statement)

US hands off Syria! US troops out of Mideast!

The following statement was issued April 7 by Socialist Workers Party candidate for mayor of New York Osborne Hart.

The 59 deadly Tomahawk missiles that U.S. military warships rained down on a Syrian government airfield April 6 will further escalate Washingtons decadeslong wars in the region. I demand stop the bombing! Get Washingtons troops out of the Middle East now!

Washingtons wars against Iraq and the war in Afghanistan  the longest in U.S. history  both continue today. The administration of Donald Trump has been building on the course of the Barack Obama administration before him, increasing the number of troops in both countries, as well as in Syria.

The course is bipartisan. Washingtons missile attack yesterday won applause from Democrats, New York Sen. Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton, as well as the Washington Post.

Washingtons attack has escalated the war and will lead to further slaughter of the toilers in Syria and the Middle East. The capitalist rulers who determine U.S. imperialist moves at home and abroad hold their economic and political interests paramount. Washingtons access to resources, markets and investment  and the prevention of any revolutionary action by workers and farmers in the region  guides their actions.

Announcing the attack, Trump cynically called on all civilized nations to join us to end the slaughter and bloodshed in Syria, cynically ignoring the deaths of more than 1,000 civilians and others in U.S. bombing raids there over the past year. It is Washingtons wars that have provoked and prolonged the combat across the region, including creating the vacuum that led to the rise of the reactionary Islamic State.

President Trump claims the missile strike is a response to a murderous chemical weapons attack on civilians days earlier. There is substantial evidence, including the direct testimony of survivors of the gas bombs, that the dictatorial Bashar al-Assad regime was responsible. The chemical attack presented Washington an opportunity on a silver platter to escalate their intervention.

Washingtons claims to moral authority are an affront to working people everywhere. The U.S. ruling class is the only power to ever target civilians with nuclear bombs. It has used napalm and all kinds of weapons of mass slaughter, enforced its stifling and destructive economic embargo against Cuba for decades to make Cubas workers and farmers pay for their socialist revolution, and on and on.

Working people in the Middle East suffer from the carnage of the ongoing wars. The toilers in Syria organized massive popular mobilizations for political rights and against the regime in 2011, but were put down in blood. Since then, over 400,000 have died and 11 million people, more than half the population, have been driven from their homes.

Working people in Syria need to find a road forward, but foreign imperialist intervention is a deadly obstacle to the fight for liberation.

Workers in the U.S. are facing carnage as well. A new normal of permanently lower employment, attacks on health care, pensions, safety on the job, political and social rights, and from the rulers cops and criminal justice system marks life under todays capitalist crisis. The employers and their government are seeking to boost their profit rates on our backs.

Among the hardest hit are workers who are drawn into service in the imperialist military, maimed and scarred and left to their own devices when they return.

Washingtons attack on Syria is also intended as a warning to North Korea. U.S. government spokespeople have made it clear Washington is ready to use military might to move unilaterally to inflict pain and suffering on the people there if they see the opportunity.

The capitalist rulers  and their Democratic and Republican parties alike  have their foreign policy, to defend their dog-eat-dog capitalist private profit system by all means.

Working people need our own internationalist policy of solidarity with workers struggling worldwide. We need our own political party. That is what the Socialist Workers Party is fighting to build.

Join us to condemn Washingtons assault on Syria. Join protests against their wars. And demand the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops and military from Syria and the Middle East.





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Washington escalates war in Syria, Mideast







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(special supplement)

Washington escalates war in Syria, Mideast

Washington deepened its widening military intervention in the Middle East and Syrias six-year-old civil war April 6 by launching 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles from U.S. warships in the Mediterranean against Assads Al Shayrat air force base. They charge that the Bashar al-Assad dictatorship in Damascus used chemical weapons against civilians in the opposition-held town of Khan Sheikhoun, Idlib province, last week.

Tonight, I ordered a targeted military strike on the air base in Syria from where the chemical attack was launched, President Donald Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where he is hosting a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Trump said that Assads repression has created a refugee crisis that continues to deepen, and the region continues to destabilize, threatening the United States and its allies.

But the destabilization is the result of Washingtons wars in the region  Iraq three times, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Yemen and more.

Thirteen people were killed by the missile strikes, including five soldiers on the base and eight civilians near the facility. Four children were among the civilian deaths. The U.S. military said the strikes damaged and destroyed aircraft, support infrastructure and equipment at the base.

Moscow and Tehran immediately joined their ally in Damascus condemning the U.S. strikes. They claimed Assads planes bombed a chemical weapons warehouse controlled by opponents of his regime.

Eyewitness reports from the site of the bombing in Khan Sheikhoun said Syrian planes dropped bombs April 5 releasing gas, causing what medics on the ground described as symptoms of nerve gas poisoning. They also reported evidence of chlorine gas. Almost 80 people died including 27 children. Over 500 were injured, many are in critical condition. A few hours later, regime jets bombed one of the hospitals where victims of the gas attack were being aided.

According to the World Health Organization, autopsies on victims sent to hospitals in Turkey showed clear evidence of death caused by a nerve agent like sarin.

Since being bolstered by Moscows air power and ground forces from Iran, Hezbollah and Shiite militias, the Assad regime has combined murderous bombing with sieges to starve and batter opposition-held areas. They then offer what they call reconciliation deals to get the fighters to surrender their territory. Then they are allowed to go to Idlib province.

Now Assad is using his air power  and chemical weapons  to pound rebel areas there. These attacks are heinous crimes. Toilers in Syria have no revolutionary party. Worldwide solidarity, political space and the development of such a party are the only road forward for working people in Syria and the region.

Declarations of support for Washingtons attack came from Democrats and Republicans alike in the U.S. and from the rulers of capitalist powers around the world. Liberal newspaper editors implacably hostile to the Trump administration, hailed the missile attack.





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US hands off Syria! US troops out of Mideast!







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Named Maitree Express-2, the train service was jointly inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hessian along with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee through a video link from New Delhi.

By Indrajit Kundu: With the aim of increasing connectivity with neighbouring Bangladesh, Indian railways on Saturday inaugurated the Kolkata-to-Dhaka via Khulna train service.

This comes at a time when the Bangladeshi Prime Minister is in New Delhi for bilateral talks with the Indian leadership.

Train service between the two nations, which had been discontinued since 1965, was first restored when the Maitree Express between Kolkata and Dhaka was operationalised in 2008. The train launched today, while being a second between Kolkata and Dhaka, will pass via Khulna. The new service will operate through the Benapole-Petrapole border, making one trip every week.

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Named Maitree Express-2, the train service was jointly inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina along with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee through a video link from New Delhi.

BUS SERVICE FROM KOLKATA TO DHAKA ALSO INAUGURATED

Apart from this train facility, a new bus service plying from Kolkata to Dhaka via Khulna was also flagged off at the same time from West Bengal state secretariat Nabanna in Howrah. State ministers Firhad Hakim, Partha Chatterjee and Subrata Mukherjee accompanied by a host of Bangladeshi delegates were present at the inauguration of this service.

Hailing the move, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "Today, we have added several new links to our growing connectivity. Bus and train links between Kolkata and Khulna have been restored today. Water-based routes are being optimised. This will bring about a new sub-regional integration." Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina too stressed on the need for better connectivity. "Greater connectivity is vital for the development of the region", she said.

The new bus route through Mawa, Gopalganj, Khulna and Jessore is expected to reduce a distance of 96 kilometres approximately from the current Dhaka-Kolkata bus route. Earlier on Monday, the Bangladesh government had approved the draft of a proposal to establish a new passenger bus service between Dhaka and Kolkata that received the final nod in a weekly cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Hasina.

FIRST PASSENGER TRAIN BETWEEN KOLKATA, DHAKA IN 2008

In 2008, the first passenger train service between Dhaka and Kolkata - the Maitree Express - was launched. Train service between the two nations had been discontinued since 1965. The new train between Kolkata station and Khulna will regularly commence from April 15 on Bengali New year.

Regular passenger train services from Sealdah to Khulna and Jessore through the Petropole -Benapole route existed before partition. Thirty years after the independence of Bangladesh, this Indo-Bangla rail corridor was reopened in 2001 for goods trains subsequently.

WATCH VIDEO

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Lucy Curtis is the Artistic Director of the Changing Face Collective, a multi-national theatre company based in Bristol and Brixton.

Over the next two months the Changing Face Collective will bring two productions to London theatres; It Is So Ordered and The Pulverised. We caught up with Lucy to see what this innovative theatre company have in store for us.

It Is So Ordered Production Image. Credit: Tim Hall

The work is about the changing faces of communities worldwide, she tells me. We work with international artists and international stories from a global perspective, so we try and make work thats relevant locally nationally and internationally.

"Theatre then becomes more of a dialogue, more of a conversation, it becomes more of a space where people can participate. I suppose what were trying to do with our work is to try and create a dialogue between the actor and the audience and in all our productions the audience play a pivotal role they become a part of it and in It Is So Ordered they become part of the play; its very immersive and interactive.

It is So Ordered opened at The Pleasance Theatre London on 6th April. It follows the story of prisoner Ricky Jackson, who spent 39 years on death row; he is the longest serving prisoner to be on death row without being killed. The play explores historical and systemic racism within our justice system and responds directly to the Harlem Race Riots of 1964.

Its a play that talks about injustice within our justice systems not only in America but in Britain as well, says Lucy. If you think about the 2011 Tottenham Riots, if you think about the Mark Duggan inquest; if you think about whats happening in our prisons today  the lack of funding, and the lack of rehabilitation for people of colour, for people of different religions and for women.

"Its about minorities and how minorities get ridiculed because of who they are so, although this is a play fundamentally about the 1960s and the civil rights movement, its a play that is still so pertinent today because history is in such a state of repetition.

The Changing Face Collective see theatre as a catalyst for change. They want their audiences to be affected by what they see and they hope that their work will ignite a force for positive change and bring awareness to issues that have not been dealt with.

There are thousands and thousands of people out there who have been completely mistreated by the system; Lucy says, completely let down by the system, and have died through that. Its about the stories that havent been told, about the people who havent got their justice.

We want people to come out and think, well were going fight for something now, or were going think about things more and were going to think about where we are in Britain now and hopefully it will stir some sort of fight, I hope.

The other production in progress is The Pulverised, a co-production with the Arcola Theatre and York Theatre Royal, opening in May.

The Pulverised is about the future of our work and our work places, explains Lucy. Its about globalisation and the migrant crisis. Its told from all four corners of the world, from Romania, to Africa, to China, to France, and we focus on four characters who are all part of the same production line within one multinational corporation.

They are looking and yearning for more sort of affection and some sort of intimacy within a life that gives them nothing and its really a reflection of where we are in our workplaces now and where were moving towards, in terms of how technology is advancing; how disconnected are our workplaces going to become.

"Were on the brink of massive change in all our workplaces and I think its happening so quickly and I think we forget how quickly its happening and how damaging and permanent these changes are going to be.

Lucy describes the situation as a kind of modern slavery, and she hopes the production will encourage people to challenge workplaces more so they are in better environments for mental and physical health and lifestyle.

Changing Face attach an in-depth community engagement programme to each professional production. For It is So Ordered they have joined up with the Advocacy Academy do deliver workshops to a justice fellowship of young people. For The Pulverised they are working with Inspire Directions, a school based in Hackney; they will be delivering workshops focusing on the future the young people lives and work.

It Is So Ordered Production Image. Credit: Tim Hall

Lucy explains to me that community is rooted at the very heart of what they do;

A lot of our work is documentary based, so we work with the communities so there always community voices. And because London is so multicultural our work reflects the communities that were in, she says.

Not only is the city theyre working in multicultural, but Changing Face is a multinational organisation meaning the work they can bring audiences is extremely broad.

Were all multi lingual and multinational, some of us are from Britain but all of roots are from around the world, explains Lucy. Were from 16 different cultures so a lot of our work is translated from different languages, t

o make our work as broad as possible to a wide audience that might not just work in English.

"Our post show events are going to be about celebrating Romanian theatre in London and celebrating translation.

Changing Face use theatre to invoke change; they see it as a candid platform to deliver unheard stories and affect and audience.

Its honest, says Lucy, unlike the media, unlike the newspapers we have a want to be honest, a want to be truthful and a want to uncover and discover.

"I think now especially it [theatre] has a really important role to play within our political systems and the conversations were having with a diverse audience that you just dont see anywhere else.

It Is So Ordered is playing at The Pleasance Theatre from 6th April  16th April. You can find out more here

The Pulverised will be playing at the Arcola Theatre 2-27 May 2017 then at York Theatre Royal from 31 May  10 June. You can find out more here
If you were under the impression that fairytales were innocent stories for kids, then you should probably think again  at least, according to this new programme in Australia.

The Respectful Relationship programme in Victoria doesnt necessarily want to cut fairytales out of the curriculum, but to encourage children to analyse the stories more closely and consider gender bias within them.

The main issue it holds with fairytales is the outdated gender stereotypes they often conform to. The Herald Sun quoted a programme teaching aid that says the stories further a sense of entitlement in boys and lower self-esteem in girls.

(Matt Crossick/PA)

This doesnt spell the end of Hans Christian Anderson in schools; instead, the programme wants teachers to encourage children to act as fairytale detectives to describe and compare the roles commonly given to male and female characters and to identify gendered messages fairytales give readers.

Premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews has come under fire for his perceived war on fairytales, but he has dismissed this as false.

It's absolute rubbish that I want to ban fairy tales. Here's my youngest, Joe, blowing down this house of lies with a huff and a puff. pic.twitter.com/gqI90uoDya  Daniel Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) April 6, 2017

The Respectful Relationship program was set up by the government to address gender-based violence.
Dog lovers around the world should head to Switzerland this summer, as the beautiful district of Martigny celebrates the 50th anniversary of the St. Bernard breed.

Known for their beautiful big coats and involvement in tales of alpine rescues, the celebration of the St. Bernards will take place at the Centre of Exhibition and Reunions of Martigny from 29th June to 1st July this year.

A post shared by Jos Claus (@josclaus) on Mar 31, 2017 at 12:09am PDT

Switzerland is well known for being the original birthplace of the lovable breed, with the Great St Bernard Pass being a must stop for those visiting. The road pass is the third highest in the country, connecting Switzerland and Italy with breath-taking views of the nearby lake, as well as the famous Swiss mountains.

While youre celebrating all things St. Bernard, why not take a detour and explore more of Switzerland? The surrounding Valais has stunning sights and world famous resorts, perfect for vistors wanting to make the most out of their trip.

A post shared by Martigny Tourisme (@martignytourisme) on Jan 4, 2017 at 9:00am PST





Alcohol lovers should head to Morand Distillery, whose staff have over 120 years of expertise. Expect a delicious taste testing tour of their various cocktails and spirits made with aromatic fresh fruit, as well as information on how its all done behind the scenes. Children can do along too, and are sure to enjoy the sweet alcohol-free syrups that are available.

A post shared by Natasha from Russia. Khanina (@whynotnatalie) on Feb 12, 2017 at 7:15am PST





If alcohol isnt your thing and you want even more information on St. Bernards, the Musee Et Chiens Fondation St. Bernard really is a must. Not only do you get to meet the cuddly creatures once every hour in this museum, you learn more about the history of the breed through films and other interactive, fun methods.

Switzerland has an abundance of history, so a trip to the Martigny Amphitheatre is well needed. As well as being a free experience, the local landmark is sure to take your breath away as your transported back to Roman times as you enjoy the view of the historical site.
The Goa Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar said that Lamanis should be removed from the beaches of Goa if they continue to harass tourists.

By Rohini Swamy: Water wars is not the only thing that puts the two states, Goa and Karnataka at loggerheads, now it looks like that the two states are in for a major face-off with regard to the eviction of Lamanis (members of a nomadic tribe).

The Goa Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar had made a comment that the Lamanis should be removed from the beaches of Goa, if they continue to harass tourists.

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The Lamani tribe largely belongs to North Karnataka.

But this statement has not gone down well with the Karnataka counterpart Priyank Kharge. He lashed out at Ajgaonkar saying -Why single out Lamanis? Why not the Russians?

Kharge will be writing to the Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on the irresponsible comment made by his cabinet minister.

Speaking to reporters Kharge said "Crime is not limited to one community or country. It is very unfortunate that a minister has issued an irresponsible statement targeting one particular community. It is very strange that the BJP is happy with foreigners but doesn't want Indians".

The basic fabric of national unity would be threatened if such irresponsible remarks are made, Kharge opined. The Goa Banjara Samaj has also strongly condemned the statement made by Ajgaonkar to drive away Lamanis.

MUST READ: Karnataka government flays Goa move to evict Lambani tribes from beaches

Goa to hike education spending to 6% of GDP: Parrikar

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By Press Trust of India: Washington, Apr 8 (PTI) A relatively large near-Earth asteroid will fly safely past our planet on April 19 at a distance of about 1.8 million kilometres - over four times the distance from Earth to the Moon, NASA said today.

Although there is no possibility for the asteroid to collide with Earth, this will be a very close approach for an asteroid of this size.

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The asteroid, known as 2014 JO25, was discovered in May 2014 by astronomers at the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona, US.

Contemporary measurements by NASAs NEOWISE mission indicate that the asteroid is roughly 650 meters in size, and that its surface is about twice as reflective as that of the Moon.

At this time very little else is known about the objects physical properties, even though its trajectory is well known.

The asteroid will approach Earth from the direction of the Sun and will become visible in the night sky after April 19.

It is predicted to brighten to about magnitude 11, when it could be visible in small optical telescopes for one or two nights before it fades as the distance from Earth rapidly increases, NASA said.

Small asteroids pass within this distance of Earth several times each week, but the upcoming close approach is the closest by any known asteroid of this size, or larger, since asteroid Toutatis, a five-kilometre asteroid, which approached within about four lunar distances in 2004.

The next known encounter of an asteroid of comparable size will occur in 2027 when the 800-metre-wide asteroid 1999 AN10 will fly by at one lunar distance, about 380,000 kilometres.

The April 19 encounter provides an outstanding opportunity to study this asteroid, and astronomers plan to observe it with telescopes around the world to learn as much about it as possible.

The encounter on April 19 is the closest this asteroid has come to Earth for at least the last 400 years and will be its closest approach for at least the next 500 years.

Also on April 19, the comet PanSTARRS (C/2015 ER61) will make its closest approach to Earth, at a very safe distance of 175 million kilometres, NASA said.

A faint fuzzball in the sky when it was discovered in 2015 by the Pan-STARRS NEO survey team using a telescope on the summit of Haleakala, Hawaii, the comet has brightened considerably due to a recent outburst and is now visible in the dawn sky with binoculars or a small telescope. PTI SAR SAR

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Days after the Supreme Court's December 15, 2016, verdict banned liquor vends within 500 metres of national and state highways, India's Federation of Hotel Associations had a query. Did the verdict also apply to the thousands of restaurants and hotels along the highways, they wondered. On March 31, the hotel association's lawyer, Aryama Sundaram, thought he would put doubts at rest and on his own sought a clarification from the Supreme Court on whether this applied only to shops serving alcohol. The response from the three-judge bench, including Chief Justice J.S. Khehar, hearing pleas for modifying the court's December 2016 judgment, stunned states and hoteliers.

The ban on shutting liquor vends 500 metres from state and national highways also applied to hotels and restaurants, the court ruled, "extending the prohibition to include stretches of such highways which fall within the limits of a municipal corporation, city, town or local authority". The order mortified the hospitality industry and indeed most state governments and unleashed a prohibition-era nightmare. Thousands of hotels and restaurants across the country, within the path of highways snaking through cities, had to shutter their bars. Attempts by states to relocate the bars away from the 500 metre no-go zone on highways and into villages have met with fierce resistance from locals in states like Uttarakhand and Kerala.

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The travel and tourism sector, which includes bars and restaurants, is one of the largest employers in the country. Technopak's India Food Services Report 2016 says it gives direct employment to 5.8 million people, and indirectly to another 7.5 to 8.5 million. Industry estimates it will lose Rs 1,000 crore a day on account of the ban. The states, meanwhile, estimate annual revenue losses of over Rs 1 lakh crore. Maharashtra, one of the largest excise earners, estimates it will bleed revenues of Rs 7,000 crore and see nearly 100,000 people lose their livelihood. Goa, which saw nearly a fourth of its liquor shops shut due to the ban, is staring at over 10,000 job losses.

In Punjab, where liquor vends will be able to relocate, the worst hit by the SC judgment will be the scores of marriage and party palaces dotting almost every national and state highway. Besides causing massive losses to marriage palace owners, it will also mean job losses, mostly impacting migrant workers who find temporary employment here during the winter wedding season.

PROHIBITION ON THE HIGHWAY

The nub of the Supreme Court's decision to ban liquor near highways lies in the fact that India has one of the world's highest accident rates. A March 2013 advisory to chief secretaries of the states and Union territories quoted a 2011 Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) study which showed that of the 142,000 people killed in 490,000 road accidents that year, 24,655 were caused due to drunken driving resulting in 10,553 deaths and injuries to 21,148 persons. Overspeeding was the cause in some 40 per cent cases. A 2015 study says intake of alcohol/drugs by drivers resulted in 16,298 road accidents and 6,755 fatalities in that year. Alcohol/ drug usage accounted for 4.2 and 6.4 per cent of all driver faults.

Some of the blame can be attributed to the easy availability of liquor along highways. Harman Sidhu, the petitioner in the Supreme Court case, discovered that the 291 km National Highway 1 had a liquor shop every 1.5 km (see box: "This ruling will save lives..."). His petition formed the basis for the apex court's judgment which ruled that "the availability of liquor along the highways is an opportunity to consume. Easy access to liquor shops allows the drivers to partake in alcohol in disregard to their safety and the safety of others their existence provides a potent source for the easy availability of alcohol."

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In ruling that drunken driving was one of the significant causes of road accidents in India, the court stopped the grant of licences for the sale of liquor along national and state highways and over a distance of 500 metres from the outer edge of the highway or a service lane alongside. It fixed April 1, 2017, as the date for phasing out existing licences and directed all states and Union territories to halt issuing licences for the sale of liquor along national and state highways. Besides extending the prohibition to include highway stretches falling within municipal corporation, city, town or local authority limits, the verdict also banned all signages and advertisements of the availability of liquor and directed their removal. No liquor shop could be visible from a national or state highway, directly accessible from a national or state highway, or situated within a distance of 500 metres of the outer edge of the national or state highway or of a service lane along the highway. The court gave the authorities one month to chalk out a plan for enforcement in consultation with the state revenue and home departments.

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The big question is: does the verdict throw the baby out with the bathwater? The Indian hoteliers' association consulted two legal luminaries after the December 2016 verdict who told them the court did not intend to target hotels, bars and restaurants holding valid liquor licences. The SC's direction, they felt, "related to the situation of sale and not a situation of consumption near the highway".

Yet, by including establishments like hotels and restaurants in its war against liquor vends, the judgment has hit the tourism and hospitality business. In less than a week, hotels have seen a host of cancellations for conferences. Arjun Sharma, chairman of the Select Group, says he expects a 50 per cent loss in business. "Some 75 per cent of my business is weddings and MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) events," he says. "There is a growing concern that a lot of MICE business will move out of India to countries such as Thailand, Sri Lanka and Cambodia."

Rahul Singh, secretary of the National Restaurant Association of India and founder and CEO of Beer Caf, India's largest beer chain, has had a lot of explaining to do to his investors since the court order. The chain had raised two rounds of funding, including $4.5 million (Rs 25 crore) from Mayfield, in May 2013. Hoteliers say the apex court order, though well intentioned, has created two classes of hotels-one within the 500 metre exclusion zone, and one beyond it. "You talk about ease of doing business, just give me certainty," says the exasperated businessman. "What's the impression we are giving of India to the world?"

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Veteran lawyer Rajeev Dhavan says the Supreme Court's December 2016 judgment 'subverts federalism, in that liquor is a state subject'. "You cannot wipe out all the excise laws of the state without hearing every single one of them. It was a federal issue and a rights issue and it was totally arbitrary because the figures 500 metres and now 220 metres come from the court's imagination. The way out is proper enforcement on the highway."

On the other side, Ajay Agnihotri, former chief commissioner, customs and central excise, says that the courts are being unnecessarily blamed. "The courts are only applying the laws framed by the government. It is the government which issued these orders and then baulked at implementation. The only way traffic violations can be stopped are with tough fines. But the government is sitting even on that."

Most stretches of the national and state highways are unpoliced and unregulated with no transport department or traffic police to enforce even basic traffic laws, let alone check drunk drivers. Overloaded vehicles are mostly stopped for bribes, interstate vehicles for lack of proper documents. There is no policy or agency to enforce traffic rules, lane driving or to check drunk driving on express highways. There is little investment in the infrastructure-patrol cars, speed guns and breathalysers that will curb speeding motorists which a 2015 MoRTH study says were responsible for nearly 44.2 per cent of all accidents.

An official with Maharashtra's home department says the ban will only lead to increase in illicit liquor sales. He says the state does not have enough manpower to keep a check on every liquor shop. "Liquor is completely banned in Chandrapur. However, the liquor shops on the Nagpur-Chandrapur road have doubled in this period," he says.

People protest the relocation of a liquor shop to a residential locality in Moradabad, UP(Photo: PTI)

BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE

Nitish Kumar, Vijay Rupani and Shurhozelie Liezietsu, the chief ministers of Bihar, Gujarat and Nagaland respectively, where total prohibition is already in force, are probably the only chief executives unfazed by the March 31 order. Mukul Sangma and Pawan Kumar Chamling, the CMs of Meghalaya and Sikkim, are possibly jubilant -the SC exempted these states from the ban because they were "hilly states with uneven terrain". Every other Indian CM is sizing up the hole in their treasury, the number of jobs gone and looking for ways to cut their losses.

Maharashtra has 25,573 bars and liquor shops of which 15,699 fall within the 500 metre range, and hence, have been shut. A number of establishments such as wine shops, clubs, beer shops, country bars stand to lose nearly 1 million employees as a result of the ban. State excise minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule estimates that the state will lose Rs 7,000 crore due to the booze ban, or around 60 per cent of the excise revenue of Rs 12,000 crore collected in 2016-17. In Goa, 3,127 of the state's 11,974 liquor outlets have been closed and an estimated 10,000 people have lost their livelihood. The state, which saw its coffers swell by between 10 and 15 per cent each year riding on liquor sales, stands to lose Rs 100 crore.

Punjab had already scaled back its excise revenue target for the current financial year, to Rs 5,300 crore from the Rs 5,440 targeted under the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party government last year.

As many as 40 bars and some 69 hotels located along two major arterial roads in Chandigarh-the north-south running Madhya Marg and National Highway 21 that passes through Chandigarh en route to Manali-have been shut. Arvinder Pal Singh, president of the city's hotels and restaurants association, says the closures could cause 5,000 job losses.

Some states like Telangana see an opportunity in the court's decision to reduce the no-liquor zone in local areas with a population of 20,000 or less from 500 metres to 220 metres. The state plans to increase the number of liquor shops from 2,200 to 2,500 and double the number of bars to 1,000 by relaxing norms. This, even as affected liquor establishments say they have not been rehabilitated by the state.

"Excise authorities, having collected the licence fee from us, now refuse to return it in case our shops are closed by taking forcible undertakings asking us to relocate. They have been trying to put the blame on us for not finding alternative locations since December last. This is grossly unfair," says D. Venkateshwar Rao, president of the Telangana state wine shop dealers association. The Telangana government played safe by taking undertakings from liquor shopowners that they will find alternative locations from April 1, thereby ensuring that the state didn't have to return the licence fee. It calculated that it would have to return Rs 2,410 crore, which could have been a major dent on the exchequer in the context of the dwindling revenues following demonetisation. Indeed, the state plans to increase excise revenues from Rs 20,000 crore in 2017-18, from the Rs 13,000 crore it collected last year.

Densely populated states like Kerala will be among the worst sufferers on account of the ban. On April 2, Kerala, which earns Rs 11,000 crore annually from liquor sales, shut 1,956 liquor vends on its highways, including 11 in five-star hotels and 207 liquor shops. It also shuttered 586 wine shops and 1,132 toddy shops, a move that state finance minister Thomas Isaac estimates will cause a revenue dent of between Rs 4,000 and Rs 5,000 crore. "Tourism will bear the brunt of this ban," warns tourism minister Kadakampilly Surendran. "We are going to lose our edge as a much sought after destination and we have to find a way out to save the state from peril."

The ruling Left Front government has extended shop timings by an hour to cater to the predicted rush at the remaining liquor vends. The Kerala government is also looking at selling IMFL through toddy shops. An immediate solution-to shift shops away from the 500 metre exclusion zone to nearby villages, has met with strong protests from anti-liquor lobbies.

But nowhere has this highways-to-villages plan caused as much social unrest as it has in Uttarakhand. The state's attempt to shift 532 liquor vends away from the highways towards the populated areas has met with massive protests from social organisations, women and students in both the state's Garhwal and Kumaon regions. Frightened by the social backlash, only 190 shops have deposited the money with state excise authorities and only 80 shops have reopened. Protests have stalled the move of 28 liquor shops in Dehradun, and in Haridwar, only 36 out of 69 shops have reopened. At some locations, women have literally uprooted temporary tin sheds set up by the excise department to sell liquor. In Rudraprayag district, women have even staged sit-down strikes. State excise minister Prakash Pant estimates a Rs 900 crore revenue loss due to the non-shifting of liquor vends. Chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat says he is against raising revenues through the sale of alcohol but admits that "the forced closure of liquor shops could lead to a rise in bootlegging. This has been the experience of attempts to curb alcoholism in past years".

BEATING THE BAN

The SC's 500 metre alcohol ban is already seeing a frenetic burst of nationwide urban reorganisation. Across India, state governments are denotifying their highways, handing them over to local municipal corporations in an attempt to protect hotels and restaurants that lie in their path. West Bengal went ahead and denotified several highways when the first SC order came out in December, redesignating 300 km of 19 state highways as urban roads or arterial roads (the exact nomenclature is yet to be decided) to protect at least 2,000 liquor shops falling within the 500 metre zone. The state stood to lose about Rs 1,000 crore in excise revenue following the Supreme Court order. A fortnight before the March 31 order, the Union territory of Chandigarh administration denotified all but two of the 27 inter-sector (city) roads earlier designated as state or national highways.

The move to denotify highways has already been challenged in the Supreme Court by original petitioner Sidhu. It is slated for hearing later this month. Sidhu's lawyer Ravi Kamal Gupta says the Chandigarh administration's move is tantamount to whittling down the impact of the apex court's order. Meanwhile, by denotifying city roads and turning them into district roads, the administration has been able to save 84 of the 99 liquor vends in Chandigarh, almost nullifying the impact of the SC judgment.

The All Goa Liquor Traders Association and The Bar and Restaurant Owners Association have, meanwhile, demanded complete exemption from the ban, on the lines of Sikkim and Meghalaya. Their lawyer Amit Palekar says, "There are rivers, forest areas and hilly areas even in Goa. No one will walk through these inaccessible paths to buy or consume alcohol."

Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar says the government will file a review petition in the SC, while also asking the excise department not to cancel liquor shop licences even if they have not been renewed post the April 1, 2017 deadline. The Mormugao Municipal Council has sought denotification of the national highway that connects Cortalim junction to it via Chichalim and Vasco in an attempt to rescue 50 per cent of the liquor shops.

Meanwhile, the Jalgaon Municipal Corporation in Maharashtra is the first civic body in the country to demand the handing over of National Highway 6 to beat the ban. The denotification will help 85 per cent of the liquor shops under its purview to resume business.

Rajasthan modified its excise policy for 2017-18 even before the final SC order came. An earlier order by the state high court had forced the excise department to shift vends beyond 150 metres. The subsequent December 2016 SC order was incorporated in the new excise policy. Of the 7,640 vends from the previous year, 2,868 were affected. Of these, 300 were spared the shift because the public works department had denotified some highways where new bypasses were built or which were in municipality limits. The denotifying last year thus forced a shift of about 2,500 vends (Rajasthan still hopes to meet the excise target of Rs 7,800 crore in 2017-18 against Rs 7,100 crore of 2016-17). The SC's 220 metre distance order for places with sub-20,000 populations may help some 300 vends get a location nearer to the highways than what was offered in the excise policy.

In a major relief for establishments near the national highway, Haryana's excise department has interpreted the SC's 500 metre benchmark as 'motorable distance' and not a straight line. Large hotels have begun shifting their entrances to ensure they stay outside the 500 metre exclusion zone as deemed by the verdict. The Heritage Village, a boutique resort and spa in Manesar, is already shifting the entrance to beat the 500 metre ban.

The excise and taxation department in neighbouring Punjab is trying to minimise the impact through administrative measures. "We have increased the geographical size of the zones auctioned to liquor contractors so that it is possible for them to relocate their vends in consonance with the court's directions," says Vivek Pratap Singh, Punjab's new excise and taxation secretary. The Amarinder Singh government has, as yet, made no move to denotify national and state highways passing through cities and townships. Excise secretary Vivek Singh believes such a need may not really arise in Punjab where bypasses exist or are close to completion around most major cities. "Once a bypass is constructed, the old highway running through the city automatically reverts to being a city road," Singh says, explaining that maintenance and upkeep of the road in such cases is no longer the responsibility of the state PWD.

The secretary says his department also hopes to generate additional revenue by increasing the 'incidence per bottle', which is the tax payable per bottle to the state government. Three days after the Supreme Court verdict, Union tourism minister Mahesh Sharma said his government was consulting legal experts to come up with suggestions "for a middle path" solution to the problem. Without one, India's booming hospitality sector could be looking at a rough road ahead.

(With Amarnath K. Menon, Asit Jolly, Rohit Parihar, Akhilesh Pandey, Kiran D. Tare, Jeemon Jacob and Romita Datta)

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By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Apr 8 (PTI) Pharma major Lupin has received final approval from USFDA for Bupropion Hydrochloride tablets used for the treatment of major depressive disorder.

The company has "received final approval for its Bupropion Hydrochloride extended release tablets USP (XL), 150 mg and 300 mg, from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA)," Lupin said in a BSE filing today.

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The companys product is the AB rated generic equivalent to Valeant Pharmaceuticals North America LLCs Wellbutrin tablets.

The drug is used for the treatment of major depressive disorder and prevention of seasonal affective order in adults, the filing said.

As per IMS MAT December 2016 data, Wellbutrin tablets have sales of USD 755 million in the US market. PTI PRJ SBT

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By Press Trust of India: From Yoshita Singh

United Nations, Apr 8 (PTI) Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai is set to become the UNs youngest-ever Messenger of Peace after she was selected by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for the highest honour bestowed by the world body on a global citizen.

The designation ceremony will be held next week at the UNs headquarters here.

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"Even in the face of grave danger, Malala has shown an unwavering commitment to the rights of women, girls and all people," the Secretary-General said on his selection of Yousafzai for the designation.

"Her courageous activism for girls education has already energised so many people around the world," he said, adding that as the United Nationss youngest-ever Messenger of Peace, she can do even more to help create a more just and peaceful world.

Yousafzai, 19, became a global symbol of the fight for girls education after being shot in the head in October 2012 for opposing Taliban restrictions on female education.

The Pakistani education activist survived the attack and became an advocate for millions of girls denied formal education around the world.

In 2013, Yousafzai and her father Ziauddin Yousafzai co-founded the Malala Fund to bring awareness to the social and economic impact of girls education, and to empower girls to demand change.

She became the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate in December 2014, sharing the honour with Indian childrens rights and education advocate Kailash Satyarthi.

Yousafzai is the first Messenger of Peace designated by Guterres.

UN Messengers of Peace are widely recognised public figures, who help to raise worldwide awareness of the Organisations ideals and activities.

Through their public appearances, contacts with the international media and humanitarian work, they expand public understanding of how the United Nations helps to improve the lives of people everywhere. PTI YAS KJ NSA KJ

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UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric announced on Friday that she would focus on promoting girls' education worldwide and would be officially designated at a ceremony on Monday.

By AP: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has selected Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai to be a UN messenger of peace, the highest honor bestowed by the UN chief on a global citizen.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric announced on Friday that she would focus on promoting girls' education worldwide and would be officially designated at a ceremony on Monday.

The 19-year-old was campaigning for the right of all children to education in northwest Pakistan when she was severely wounded in a Taliban assassination attempt.

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MALALA's COMMITMENT TO WOMEN's RIGHTS UNWAVERING: UN

Guterres said even in the face of grave danger, she "has shown an unwavering commitment to the rights of women, girls and all people."

Other messengers of peace include actors Michael Douglas and Leonardo DiCaprio, primatologist Jane Goodall and musicians Daniel Barenboim and Yo-Yo Ma.

Also read | Malala Yousafzai stands with Kashmir, urges India and Pakistan to stop the 'inhumanity'

WATCH VIDEO

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Eight months after spending time in Tihar, the aggrieved man Arnab Ganguly decided to write to the lawmakers to intimate the use of the draconian law against the innocent.

By Sneha Agrawal: A 43-year-old man wrote to the Prime Minister's Office and the women and child development ministry against rape charges levied against him for keeping his promise of marriage to a girl.

In his petition, the man claims that while men get rape charges pressed against them for ending a relationship, he was pressed with one for keeping it. He claims that the lady in question was not interested in marrying him but only in continuing with their sexual relationship.

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Arnab Ganguly, a businessman, moved to Gurugram in late 2015 after being divorced for eight years.

He set up a call centre, where he met the 'love of his life', who he did not know would be the cause of all trouble. "She was working as an HR executive for my company. After sharing an employer-employee relationship for a couple of months, she started sharing her personal life with me. She used to talk about her painful marriage, and having undergone divorce myself, I used to tell her how she could set it right," Ganguly told Mail Today.

After the woman 'expressed her love' for him, Ganguly says he asked her to think about their future and suggested if she would want to divorce her husband. "At the age of 42, I did not want a mere boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. We got physically intimate only after she assured me of marriage. I told her that if she is serious about the relationship, we should take it a step forward. She asked for time and said she will give a final decision in January (last year)," he said.

In the meantime, Ganguly moved to Kolkata and started communicating with her through e-mails.

He soon realised that the woman was trying to avoid marriage. "I told her I would come to meet her and her family on March 6 of last year and talk about marriage. But four days before my ticket to Delhi, the Delhi police arrived at my house in Kolkata and arrested me on rape charges," he said.

Eight months after spending time in Tihar, Ganguly decided to write to the lawmakers to intimate the use of the draconian law against the innocent.

In his petition to the PMO, he said, "If a girl is in a relationship with a man, promised to marry him, gets physically intimate and then refuses to marry him that happened in my case, can a rape charge be filed against the girl?"

Also Read:

German tourist's gangrape: Tamil Nadu police releases sketch of a suspect

Roman Polanski's plea to end 40-year-old rape case turned down

Also Watch:

German tourist's gangrape: 3 detained, police release sketch of suspect

--- ENDS ---
The minister also said that there was need to portray women in a better light in the movies.

By India Today Web Desk: Union Cabinet Minister for Women and Child Development, Maneka Gandhi, has held movies responsible for the rising incidents of crime against women in the country.

The minister also said that there was need to portray women in a better light in the movies.

"We have very important reason why men believe they can get away or they indulge in violence against women and that is films. If you look at films,which is a way to communicate messages, you will find romance almost always starts with eve-teasing. The man and friends will surround a woman, be mean to her trip her up, show her down, abuse her, touch her inappropriately and slowly she falls in love with him," said Gandhi while speaking at an event in Goa on Friday.

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She attributed the rising incident of violence to their indecent representation in movies.

"Romance in almost every film starts with eve teasing, be it Hindi or in regional films," she said.

Maneka added that powerlessness of men also lead to crimes against women.

"The man's feeling of powerlessness, he is being shouted at, his failure in job is alos one of the reasons of violence against women," she added.

Also read:

Maneka Gandhi: Early hostel curfew a Lakshman Rekha to protect youngsters from hormonal outbursts

Maneka Gandhi's silence on jallikattu row continues

--- ENDS ---
The S&P BSE benchmark sensex failed to maintain 30,000 level and Nifty also tumbled from all-time high level due to fag-end selling pressure after the news of US striking Syria.

In this week, major indices trimmed their gains due to weak global cues. The Sensex and the Nifty gave up majority of the weeks gains after the news of U.S. striking Syria came out on Friday. Heavy distribution was observed in the final trading session of the week which shrunk the gains accumulated from the first two sessions.

Mr. Anupam Singhi, COO of William O'Neil India said, Despite the US strike news the Nifty and the Sensex ended the week with increments of 0.27 pct to 9,198.30 and 0.29 pct to 29,706.61 respectively. The sensex crossed 30K level during the week on April 5 after two years.

Market momentum during this week was underpinned by solid performance by the realty and energy shares. Top three sectoral indices in the week were Nifty Realty, Energy and Auto gaining 4.49 pct, 3.49 pct and 1.15 pct, respectively. On the negative end, Nifty IT, FMCG, PSU Bank and Pharma indices recorded losses over one pct, restricting the overall market movement.

On the economic front, Manufacturing PMI for the month of March increased to 52.5 from 50.7 in February. On the other hand Services PMI for March came at 51.5 following its level of 50.3 in February. These economic metrics have shown continuous improvement in the last three months after Novembers demonetization move. (

Looking back at the market action in this week, the Indian market started the week and FY 2018 with a bang, as both the major indices reached their all-time closing highs.

After a trading off on Tuesday, markets witnessed cautious trading keeping the bi-monthly RBI policy review in view. However, the key indices extended gains on Wednesday in a range bound session.

On Thursday, frontline indices came under pressure right from the start of the session. The Monetary Policy Committee decided to leave the repo rate unchanged at 6.25 pct and hiked reverse repo rate by 25 basis points to 6 pct. However, after the Committees announcement, indices trimmed intraday losses to end marginally lower.

Equities experienced a steep fall on the last day of the week, tracking weakness from negative global cues. Global markets put up a depressed picture after the U.S. fired cruise missiles into Syria.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs.1,243.52 crore during the week, as per Sebi's record including the provisional figure of April 7.

Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 15 stocks ended higher while remaining 15 closed lower during the week.

The total turnover during the week on BSE and NSE fell to Rs.16,104.66 crores and Rs.1,05,939.97 crores, respectively during the week from their last weekend's level of Rs.52,203.39 crores and Rs.1,51,164.12 crores.

Among the major indices, S&P BSE Realty rose by 5.28 per cent followed by Captial Goods 4.92 pct, IPO 4.48 pct, Oil&Gas 2.92 pct, Consumer Durable 1.74 pct, Auto 1.01 pct, PSU 1.01 pct and Power 1.01 pct.

However, IT fell by 2.10 per cent, Teck by 1.54 per cent and FMCG 0.92 per cent.

Major gainers from the sensex pack were Larsen 6.90 pct, Reliance Ind 6.55 pct followed by Maruti 3.98 pct, Gail India 2.68 pct, Axis Bank 2.65 pct, Adani Ports 2.22 pct, Tata Steel 2.12 pct, HUL 1.29 pct and ONFC 1.05 pct.

However, Infosys fell by 3.87 pct, Sun Pharma by 3.21 pct followed by Coal India 3.02 pct, ITC 2.75 pct, Lupin 2.38 pct, BhartiAirtel 1.56 pct, SBI 1.09 pct, HDFC 1.07 per cent and Powergrid 0.99 per cent.
Eight sugar mills owe over Rs.400 crore to sugarcane farmers in the district, an official said on Saturday.

District Cane Officer Omprakash Singh said an amount of over Rs.442 crore are outstanding against the eight sugar mills as cane dues of farmers.

he said the amount is outstanding against the mills for the sugar season of this year and 2016.

The district authorities are pressurising the sugar mills to clear the dues of the farmers, the officer said.
Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, who was involved in a row with Air India, arrived here by train and would be meeting party president Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday.

Air India had yesterday lifted the flying ban on him after he expressed regret for assaulting one of its employees on March 23.

Gaikwad, who arrived by the Rajdhani Express from Delhi this morning, would be meeting the Sena president at the latter's residence Matoshri in suburban Bandra later today.

"I will be meeting Uddhavji around noon today," Gaikwad told PTI.

The lawmaker boarded the train from Delhi last evening hours after the flying ban was lifted by the national carrier following a letter by the Osmanabad MP to the Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Thursday expressing "regret" over the "unfortunate incident".

The revocation of the ban came despite two AI unions of the cabin crew and pilots protesting the move to lift the restrictions imposed on the air travel of the MP.

However, an AI spokesman had said, "Air India is a subsidiary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and, therefore, an apology to the ministry is akin to an apology to the airline and our employees."

The 56-year-old Parliamentarian had assaulted AI employee R Sukumar on March 23 after he landed in Delhi on a Pune-Delhi all-economy flight.
Political cases slapped on BJP leaders by the former Congress dispensation in Uttarakhand will be withdrawn by the new Trivendra Singh Rawat-led government, an official said on Saturday.

A decision to this effect was taken by the Chief Minister who is leading the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state, the official said.

Of the many leaders of the ruling party who were likely to be benefited by this waiver, include Cabinet Minister Arvind Pandey, legislators Pooran Singh Fartyal and Ganesh Joshi among others.

Cabinet Minister and Gadarpur legislator Arvind Pandey has many cases against him, including one in which he was accused of bashing up a revenue official. He was jailed for many days following this.

Rudrapur MLA Rajkumar Thukral was booked in 2011 for inciting mob violence. The BJP legislators had created a furore in the state assembly on the matter then.

Lohaghat legislator Pooran Singh Fartyal has various cases against him, including one for vandalising the office of a District Magistrate in 2014 and blocking a national highway. He was also subsequently jailed.

Two cases against Fartyal was already withdrawn under the Harish Rawat-led Congress government. Now the third one was also likely to go off with the BJP coming to power.

The most prominent of the cases was against Mussoorie legislator Ganesh Joshi who while leading a demonstration in 2016 allegedly injured police horse Shaktimaan, who died later.

The issue had caught the attention of animal rights activists, besides the national and international media.

Joshi then had claimed innocence and had said that he had not hit the horse at all.

Senior BJP leaders, however, said there was nothing wrong or new in this decision as in the past too, previous Congress governments have withdrawn cases against its party leaders and workers.

Home Department officials said that while there has been a verbal announcement by the Chief Minister, the procedure of withdrawing such cases needed to go through a formal procedure. This could take three to six months time.


During the Modi-Hasina press meet today, an announcer asked the two prime ministers to 'step down'.

By India Today Web Desk: Diplomatic events follow strict protocols, usually making them drab affairs. But, once in a while, there are moments which lighten up an entire room and see even serious-talking leaders erupt into peels of laughter.

India-Bangladesh ink 22 pacts; PM Modi assures early solution on Teesta

Such a moment was seen today at the joint press conference hosted by Prime Minster Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina at New Delhi's Hyderabad House.

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Towards the beginning of the conference, the two leaders were standing on the podium and were asked by an announcer to come together for a photo op. The announcer said, "May I request the two prime minsters to step down."

The incomplete statement and the poor choice of words made it seem as though the announcer was asking PM Modi and PM Hasina to resign from their posts.

The entire room, including the two prime ministers, erupted in laughter.

WATCH VIDEO:

#WATCH: This funny moment happened live at Hyderabad House during PM Modi and Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina's joint statement. pic.twitter.com/Z1D7AbB3eb- ANI (@ANI_news) April 8, 2017

The gaffe was soon forgotten as Modi and Hasina went on to discuss serious matters of foreign policy. New Delhi and Dhaka announced the signing of 22 new pacts and vowed to continue the discussions over Teesta.

ALSO READ | The Teesta story as PM Modi tries to convince CM Mamata

ALSO WATCH | Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina accorded ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan

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Actress Kirsten Dunst says she wanted her intimate scenes in the movie "The Beguiled" to get over as fast as possible because she did not like filming them.

The trailer for director Sofia Coppola's upcoming film features an intense scene between Dunst and Colin Farrell and the actress says it made her very uncomfortable, reported E! Online.

"I am on the floor and my clothes are being ripped. I don't like it, I don't like it. To be honest, I'm like, 'Let's get this over with as fast as possible'," Dunst says.

However, she says that Coppola made it as pleasant as it she could hope for it to be.

"At least Sofia's like, 'We're going to get this done quick, we're just gonna shoot it here, we'll do three takes, be done'," she adds.

Farrell also states that it was quite a scene to create, "Any love scenes that I've been a party to over the years, you just (do) whatever your female dance partner needs.

"I really think a woman should be the boss completely in those scenes, whatever she needs to make her comfortable and allow her to have the freedom to do the job she needs to do."
Actor Pierce Brosnan says he would have loved to have known his father and take some tips on parenthood from him.

The 63-year-old star is a father to five children  Charlotte, who passed away from ovarian cancer in 2013 aged 42, Chris, 44, and Sean, 33, with his former wife Cassandra Harris, as well as Dylan, 20, and Paris, 16, with his spouse Keely Shaye Smith, says his fatherly instincts are his own as he grew up without his dad, reported Female First.

"I know what it's like to bring up sons. It can be a very arduous road  My fatherly instincts are purely my own. They relate back to no one, because there was no one," Brosnan says.

The former James Bond actor's father, Thomas, left the family when Brosnan was still a baby, and forced his mother to move to London in search for work while he stayed with relatives.

According to the star, he did meet his father once when he was 31, whilst filming for his hit TV series "Remington Steele".

Recalling the meeting, Brosnan says, "I had a Sunday afternoon with him  (we shared] a story about this and that, had a few pints of Guinness, and we said goodbye. I would have loved to have known him. He was a good whistler and he had a good walk  That's as much as I know about him."
Whenever one happens to be in The Hague, what a pleasure it is to visit Delft, a peaceful town full of crisscrossing canals less than half an hours bus ride away from The Netherlands capital. On a fine, warm day even sipping a cup of tea at a sidewalk cafe or enjoying a soft drink while watching the boats row by is ecstasy in itself.

However, this little Venice has much, much more to offer to an art enthusiast. Though the Vermeer Museum has nothing of the monumental grandeur of a Louvre, stepping into it is a sensation similar to the one you have when you enter a home to see the works of a painter who invites you in.

Following his rather early death in 1675, Johannes Vermeers untraditional creations were practically immediately forgotten in Delft where he was born, where he worked all his life and died. After being ignored for nearly two centuries, about 20 of his masterpieces were discovered in 1866 by French art critic and researcher Theophile Thore-Burger.

He was astounded to notice the total mastery with which Vermeer captured the rays of light and the illuminated or shadowed angles of flowers, human forms, tables, chairs and other objects in his paintings. The experts persistent inquiry inevitably resulted in a thorough hunt by other art enthusiasts of the time. Soon enough, a total of 70 works were listed in a catalogue that Thore-Burger painstakingly prepared. However, it is generally believed today that no more than 37 of these paintings were actually done by Vermeer, the others being works created under his influence at later dates. This may appear to be a small figure for an artists achievements, but when you think of the relatively brief, 43 years of Vermeers lifetime, things start falling into place more comprehensively.

Vermeers eloquent paintings appear all the more sumptuous when you learn that during his entire career he had no mentor, no students and no friends. He followed nobodys style and was never able to sell his works while alive. His graceful solitude was perhaps the reason for his being named the Sphinx of Delft by Thore- Burger, a title made popular by other art virtuosos of the period.

Contrary to the accepted tradition when painters could only live and work if they were encouraged and sponsored by royal and aristocratic families, Vermeer preferred to survive in extreme poverty. His characters consequently were fairly often women doing housework, knitting or going through kitchen routines. The backgrounds were inevitably the two rooms of the painters own modest house.

Though a few scenes of interiors of other abodes are not non-existent in Vermeers paintings, they are rare, and they always represent work  a lady learning to play a piano, a young man trying to paint, a busy astronomer or a geographer studying. Of the 37 so far acknowledged creations of Vermeer, only two paintings show outside vistas of Delft.

The capture of light rays, whether entering a room through a side window or being reflected on peoples faces are so realistic that a number of commentators today claim Vermeer certainly had access to some kind of an elementary version of a photographical instrument, if not really a camera in the modern sense. But serious art critics reject this hypothesis as pure nonsense. Why not accept the simple fact that Vermeer was a genius who had visions of things different from his contemporaries and the mastery to transfer them to his canvases? they ask.

The original idea of the organisers at the Louvre museum in Paris was to expose, from February to May this year, the original works by Vermeer in the company of paintings by many other artists who were inspired by the Sphinx of Delft. The exhibition has been a success from Day One  when nearly 10,000 visitors waited their turns to enter the Louvre. The usual number for a successful show on the opening day is normally 5,000.

The organisers finally solved the problem by requesting the visitors to procure advance reservations through the internet in order to avoid extra long waiting times. For the moment, one still has to wait for about half-an hour to enter the hall where the Vermeers are being exposed.

Vermeer masterpieces are being exhibited for the first time at Louvre, Paris which is a part of a season dedicated to the Dutch Golden Age Dawn/ANN.
Glowing with health, Khalil Rafati is the best advert that his million-dollar juice brand could hope for. But almost two decades ago, he was a heroin addict on the verge of a fatal overdose, and paramedics were fighting to save his life for the ninth time.

In 2003, Rafati who was born in Ohio  was hooked on heroin and crack cocaine, and weighed just 109 pounds. A decade prior, he had moved to Los Angeles to follow his dream of becoming a film star. But it didnt quite work out. Instead, he made a living washing cars for stars like Slash. After dabbling with drugs, he gradually became addicted. He was then repeatedly arrested for drug-related offences, and was in and out of rehab. But something about his ninth brush with death snapped him out of this near-deadly cycle. After spending four months at a rehab centre, he has been clean ever since and his mental and physical health have replaced crack as his obsession.

Rafati was among millions of Americans who have struggled with addiction to opiates and heroin. In 2016, heroin use in the US hit its highest level for two decades according to the UN. And in Rafatis opinion, places that are shallow and pretentious as LA lend themselves to addiction. Millions of people come here, much like I did, to become rich and famous, the 47-year-old tells The Independent. When those dreams get shattered, its quite easy to pick up the drink and the drugs.

As he learned more about healthy living, he decided he wanted to help those similarly affected by addition and opened his Riviera Recovery rehab centre. There, he would blend up juices and smoothies for his clients who would pay $10,000 to get clean. As word spread of his juices unique ingredients  from pollen to maca powder  Rafati realised he was onto something. He established Sunlife Organics in 2011 and opened a flagship store in Malibu. Now, Rafati has six juice bars and over 200 members of staff across California.

But Rafati could have hardly predicted his success. And fear, not money, was his greatest driving force to get clean. The fear of returning to my hopeless state of despair, he says.

Rafati shared his remarkable story in his autobiography I Forgot to Die. People have responded incredibly, to his experiences. I think people are desperate to listen to stories of redemption and hope because there are so many people hurting in the world right now.

Sometimes I go on Amazon and read the reviews in tears because they are so beautiful, he adds.

Despite his struggle with drugs, Rafati is resolute that chapter in his life is over. He rejects the idea that temptation is a daily struggle for addicts, or at least for him. In the beginning, yes of course, if you have a physical addiction to something its going to take months to alleviate that physical craving, he says. But if somebody is willing to really change, if they really want to change, its not that complicated. We just love to complicate things, especially drug addicts and alcoholics. We are so sensitive and we think we are so clever and complex.

At the same time, he has little time for those without sympathy for those hooked on drink and drugs. They are obviously sick and broken themselves. We are all entitled to help; we should all help each other. No matter what the circumstance is. That doesnt mean give money to a drug addicts, sometimes you have to say no to somebody is suffering from addiction. Or tell a loved one to move out from the house even though it upsets them  that in a way is helping them too. We must all love each other.

The biggest misconception surrounding drug addiction, he goes on, is that it is a death sentence. They (addicts) want to believe that its impossible to stop because thats the easiest thing for them to believe. Taking responsibility for where we are in our lives and what has happened to us is a very heavy burden that most people are not willing to accept.

But Rafati isnt in the business of inflating his ego, or selling himself as a hero. I dont get too caught up in the ones claiming my book saved their life, he adds. I know better than that. I know better than to believe my own press. I cant save anybody, we can only save ourselves.

The Independent
Actress Sandra Bullock was spotted with her beau Bryan Randall stepping out arm-in-arm during their visit to Jackson Hole, Wyoming for a private family getaway.

In photos obtained by eonline.com, the couple was spotted enjoying a trip to Whole Foods where they walked arm-in-arm to their car.

The actress kept things casual with ripped denim jeans, a plaid jacket and black Ugg boots. As for Randall, he wore three layers and a beanie.

During their outing, the couple also headed to Teton Toys.

"They seemed very normal. It was just a normal, happy day," a source said.

"They were both smiling and having a good time."

According to eonline.com, the couple bought a pink PlasmaCar before leaving the local store.

"It was obvious Sandra is completely happy with Bryan and he was just like a dad to the kids," another sourece said.

"He and Sandra were very touchy and were always holding hands or arm-in-arm. It was so touching to see Bryan with Laila and Louis (Bullock's children). They're all very close and so comfortable with each other."
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was on Saturday accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi received Hasina. She was then accorded the ceremonial guard of honour.

In a special gesture on Friday, Modi personally received his Bangladeshi couterpart at the airport. Hasina is on a four-day official visit to India.

This is her first bilateral visit to India in seven years. She last visited the country in January 2010.

Modi and Hasina will hold a bilateral summit on Saturday following which over 20 agreements, including a civil nuclear and two memorandum of understanding (MoUs) on defence cooperation, were expected to be signed.
A prominent road in New Delhi has been named after Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh's founder, as a mark of India's respect for him.

This was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a joint media event with his visiting Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina here on Saturday.

Hasina thanked the Indian Government for naming a New Delhi road after Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, her father.

"Bangabandu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a dear friend of India and a towering leader. As a mark of our respect and deep admiration for the father of Bangladesh, a prominent road in our capital city has been named after him," PM Modi said.

In her response, Hasina said, "I appreciate naming a road after Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman."

She also added that "External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj chose the road, thank you very much".

The national capital's Park Street, located in central Delhi near RML Hospital, will now be known as Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Road.

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) approved the proposal to rename this road ahead of PM Hasina's four-day State visit to India starting from 7 April.

The NDMC vice chairman and senior BJP leader, Karan Singh Tanwar said the NDMC had taken this decision on 6 April through a "circular motion". He said the move reflected India's friendly and cordial relations with the neighbouring country.

Mr Tanwar also said the renaming of the road in this regard was cleared through a circular motion as an NDMC meeting could not be convened for the purpose due to shortage of time as well as the election model code of conduct being in place because of the 23 April Delhi civic bodies polls.

This is the fourth time that the NDMC has renamed a road in the national capital over the last couple of years. In 2015, Aurangzeb Road was renamed as A P J Abdul Kalam Road. Race Course Road, where the Prime Minister's residence is located, was renamed as Lok Kalyan Marg last year.

The NDMC had also renamed Dalhousie Road as Dara Shikoh Road after the elder brother of Mughal emperor Aurganzeb earlier this year.
While an accord on the sharing of Teesta waters continued to elude them, India and Bangladesh on Saturday signed 22 agreements, including five in defence and three in civil nuclear energy sectors, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a concessional Line of Credit (LoC) of $4.5 billion for development projects and another LoC of $500 million for defence-related procurement for Bangladesh.

Modi reassured Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina that his government was working with all stakeholders in India for an early conclusion of the Teesta water sharing agreement after she requested him for an early conclusion of the accord as was agreed upon between the countries in January 2011, a joint statement issued by the two sides said.

The two PMs directed their officials to meanwhile conclude discussions on various aspects relating to sharing of waters of the Feni, Manu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gumti, Dharla and Dudhkumar rivers.

In an indirect endorsement of Indias stand against Pakistan on the issue of terrorism, the joint statement said the two PMs strongly condemned the recent barbaric attacks in India and Bangladesh and expressed their conviction that the fight against terrorism should not only seek to disrupt and eliminate terrorists and terror organisations but also take strong measures against States which support and finance terrorism, provide sanctuary to terrorists and falsely extol their virtues. They shared the view that there should be no glorification of terrorists as martyrs.

On the trade and investment front, the two leaders noted that during the course of Sheikh Hasinas visit, the private sectors of the two nations would sign agreements that would result in investment of more than $9 billion in Bangladesh.

The tone for making Sheikh Hasinas four-day visit successful was set by Modi in the afternoon during the talks between the leaders. "While our partnership brings prosperity to our people, it also works to protect them from forces of radicalisation and extremism. Their spread poses a grave threat, not just to India and Bangladesh but to the entire region," Modi said at a joint media interaction with Sheikh Hasina after talks between the leaders.

What was quite perceptible during the brief media event at the majestic Hyderabad House was the personal chemistry between the two leaders. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who too was present on the occasion, appeared quite relaxed as she joined the two PMs in formally launching rail and bus services between the two countries. However, there was no word on whether the Teesta issue figured during her interaction with Hasina over the lunch hosted by Modi.

But the Indian PM Modi did not disappoint the Bangladeshi delegation on the contentious issue, saying he firmly believed that "it is only my government and Excellency Sheikh Hasina, your government, that can and will find an early solution to the Teesta water sharing.

The $4.5 billion LoC announced by Mr Modi for projects in priority sectors in Bangladesh bring Indias resource allocation to the neighbouring country to $8 billion over the past six years. The $500 million LoC to support defence-related purchases by Bangladesh is clearly aimed at reducing Dhakas dependence on China for meeting its defence requirements. However, Modi emphasised that India would be guided by Bangladeshs needs and priorities in implementing this LoC.

In her brief remarks to the media, Hasina described India as the most important neighbour of Bangladesh, adding her governments firm resolve to further strengthen ties with New Delhi.

Speaking about defence accords, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said, "We had a fairly extensive cooperation in the water and on the ground between our forces but there was some lacunae which has been corrected now.''

The other agreements relate to cooperation in areas like civil nuclear energy, cyber security, judicial services, passenger and cruise services, mass media, motor vehicle passenger traffic and trade.

Jaishankar said the two countries were expected to ink 12 business agreements to the tune of billions of dollars during Hasina's visit, taking the number of accords to 34.
In a significant boost to strategic cooperation, India and Bangladesh on Saturday signed 22 agreements, including as many as five on defence cooperation, while New Delhi extended to Dhaka lines of credit worth $5 billion following bilateral talks headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart.

The two countries also signed a historic civil nuclear cooperation agreement while Modi assured Sheikh Hasina of an "early solution" to the Teesta waters sharing issue.

"Today, we have also taken a long overdue step by signing an agreement on close cooperation between our armed forces," Modi said while jointly addressing the media with Sheikh Hasina following the talks.

"I am also happy to announce a line of credit of $500 million to support Bangladesh's defence-related procurement. In implementing this line of credit, we will be guided by Bangladesh's needs and priorities," he said.

He also announced a separate line of credit of $4.5 billion for the implementation of projects in priority sectors for Bangladesh.

Modi assured the people of Bangladesh of India's "commitment and continuing efforts" to solve the vexed issue of sharing the waters of river Teesta, which has been opposed by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

"I firmly believe that it is only my government and Excellency Sheikh Hasina, your government, that can and will find an early solution to Teesta water sharing," he said.

He appreciated Bangladesh's efforts to contain radicalism and religious extremism and said: "We have the greatest admiration for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's firm resolve in dealing with terrorism. Her government's 'zero-tolerance' policy towards terrorism is an inspiration for all of us."

At a separate event to honour Indian martyrs in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, without naming Pakistan, Modi said that "there is an ideology in South Asia which promotes terrorism, and thus obstructs growth in the whole region".

In his statement to the media, he said that energy security was an important dimension of the two countries' development partnership.

A joint statement issued later said: "The two Prime Ministers also expressed their appreciation for the growing bilateral cooperation in the field of civil nuclear energy, especially in training and capacity building. In this regard, the leaders welcomed the signing of the inter-governmental agreement for cooperation in the field of civil nuclear energy and other agreements related to nuclear cooperation."

On her part, Sheikh Hasina appreciated Modi "for his dynamism and innovative ideas that are not only taking India forward but adding value to our our bilateral relationship".

She also reiterated her commitment for a peaceful border with India free of crime.

At the event to honour the Indian martyrs, she said: "I am grateful to the government and people of India for their contribution to Bangladesh's War of Independence. Many Indian soldiers sacrificed their lives We will always remember them with gratitude."

Modi and Sheikh Hasina jointly launched train and bus services between Kolkata and Khulna in Bangladesh and restored the once defunct Radhikapur-Biral rail link between the two countries.

Both of them also released a Hindi translation of "Unfinished Memoirs", the autobiography of Bangladesh's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was Sheikh Hasina's father.

Later, briefing the media, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said that the $4.5 billion credit line is one of the biggest credit lines ever offered by India to any country.

He said that 17 projects have been identified for utilisation of the new line of credit. India had earlier extended two lines of credit of $862 million and $2 billion to Bangladesh.

He said that 12 more agreements are expected to be signed at a business forum to be held on Monday.

The Bangladesh Prime Minister arrived here on Friday on a four-day visit to India. This is her first bilateral visit to India in seven years after her visit in 2010.

Earlier on Saturday, she was accorded a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan. In the evening, she called on Vice President Hamid Ansari.
India and Bangladesh inked 22 pacts in various key sectors as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina discussed several issues including civil nuclear energy cooperation.

By India Today Web Desk: India and Bangladesh today signed 22 pacts in various sectors. Before making this announcement in New Delhi today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held 'productive' talks with his counterpart from Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina.

PM Modi announced a new line of concessional credit of USD 4.5 billion for implementation of projects in Bangladesh. PM Modi also announced USD500 million for Bangladesh's defence procurement.

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With this, the total line of credit extended by India to Bangladesh comes to over 8 billion dollars over the last few years.

Addressing a joint-press conference at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi, PM Modi underscored the significance of connectivity and lauded restoration of bus and train links between Kolkata-Khulna and Radhikapur-Birol.

On the question of Teesta river agreement, PM Modi told Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina that negations would continue before the deal is finally sealed.

"I firmly believe that our governments can and will find an early solution to Teesta water sharing," Modi said.

Modi also said that he held "productive" talks on wide-ranging issues including on civil nuclear cooperation with Sheikh Hasina.

"Energy security is an important dimension of India-Bangladesh development partnership and it continues to grow," Modi said.

PM Modi praised the Sheikh Hasina government's anti-terror policies saying, "Bangladesh's zero tolerance policy towards terrorism is an inspiration."

Bangladesh Prime Minister outlined terrorism as a major security threat for the region and reiterated her government's commitment to fight it till the very end.

The top gains for Bangladesh could be seen as following:

USD4.5 billion for top projects in Bangladesh

USD 500m for defence procurement

PM Modi assured Sheikh Hasina of early solution on Teesta river water-sharing

India committed to give additional 60 MW electricity to Bangladesh

PM Modi and Sheikh Hasina agreed to give stress on peace, security and development in the region

Kolkata-Khulna rail link was inaugurated

India, Bangladesh signed 22 pacts while 4 MoUs were exchanged

#WATCH: This funny moment happened live at Hyderabad House during PM Modi and Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina's joint statement. pic.twitter.com/Z1D7AbB3eb

Watch Video: PM Narendra Modi inks 22 pacts with Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina

ALSO READ |

Sheikh Hasina in India: The Teesta story as PM Modi tries to convince CM Mamata

Sheikh Hasina's India visit: Why Narendra Modi must listen to Mamata over Teesta

--- ENDS ---
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday hit out at Pakistan saying it breeds, inspires and encourages terrorism.

"There is one thought in South Asia which breeds, inspires and encourages terrorism. The thought whose priority is not humanity, but extremism and terrorism," Modi said, without naming Pakistan.

He was speaking at the ceremony where families of martyrs of 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War were felicitated.
The central government on Saturday said that it is strengthening the rules to stop unruly air passengers from misbehaving, even as all the private airlines lifted a ban on flying Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad.

According to the Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha, his ministry is tightening the rules so that a national "No-Fly List" can be implemented.

Referring to the incident in which Shiv Sena MP Gaikwad assaulted an Air India senior manager on March 23, Sinha said in a series of tweets: "MoCA (Ministry of Civil Aviation) is strengthening rules so that a national no-fly list can be implemented, such incidents can be prevented, and safety improved.

"Air travellers should note that safety and security for passengers and crew is our paramount priority. Unruly/disruptive behaviour will result in severe consequences. This includes police action for a specific incident as well as being placed on a no-fly list."

Currently, rules only allow airlines to refuse boarding or off-loading of a passenger whose behaviour is deemed as unruly or disruptive to the safety of flight operations.

On Friday, a letter from the ministry to Air India detailed that in order to deal with unruly passengers in the future, an amendment to CAR (Civil Aviation Requirement) is being drafted by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in consultation with the ministry for establishment of a national "No Fly List".

Sinha further said that Gaikwad apologised and gave an undertaking that such incidents will not recur. It was only after that assurance that Air India was advised to revoke the ban.

"Police investigations regarding Shri Gaikwad's conduct during the March 23 incident are underway and the law will take its own course," the minister tweeted.

Air India had revoked the ban on Friday after it was advised by the ministry to do so in a letter. The ban was lifted a day after Gaikwad had expressed "regrets" in the Lok Sabha over the March 23 incident.

The national passenger carrier imposed the ban on flying the Shiv Sena MP aboard its flights after Gaikwad assaulted an Air India senior manager.

Subsequently, two FIRs were filed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport police station in Delhi for assault and delaying the aircraft  as the MP refused to disembark from the plane. The Delhi Police Crime Branch is currently investigating the cases.

Since the ban, Gaikwad has been compelled to travel by train or by road depending on his engagements, keeping away from the media glare.

Meanwhile, all six private airlines on Saturday lifted their ban on flying Gaikwad.

The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) announced that it was lifting the ban imposed on Gaikwad on March 24, a day after he assaulted an Air India staffer at Delhi airport.

The members of FIA are SpiceJet, IndiGo, GoAir and Jet Airways.

FIA Associate Director Ujjwal Dey said the decision was taken following Gaikwad's assurance "that our assets and colleagues shall be accorded the respect that they deserve for the hard work they put in every day".

Vistara and budget carrier AirAsia India also lifted the ban.

"We support the decisions of our industry peers taken in the interest of the safety of air passengers and flight operations and in upholding the dignity of airline staff. We stood in solidarity with Air India and members of the FIA during this recent episode that challenged both these critical aspects," a Vistara spokesperson said.

"We continue to stand by them today in their decision to revoke the ban. Unruly and disruptive passengers are a serious safety and security threat, and we are hopeful this incident results in specific regulations and actions to address this important issue."


The trial run of the Kolkata-Khulna-Dhaka bus service began here on Saturday with an aim to take forward Indo-Bangla bilateral relations.

Three buses were flagged off from 'Nabanna', the state secretariat, as a part of the trial run that will be operational from June, official sources said.

Senior state ministers Partha Chatterjee, Subrata Mukherjee and Firad Hakim flagged off the buses.

The bus will travel 409 km in around 13 hours to reach Dhaka, sources said, adding the price of ticket is yet to be finalised.

The total time to reach Khulna, including security checks, at the border will be around seven hours, he said.

Earlier bus services were introduced on the Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala and the Kolkata-Dhaka routes.
After nine months of heat and bluster following the Brexit vote, the die has been finally cast. On 29 March the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, invoked Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty in a letter to the European Council President, Donald Tusk, informing him of Britains decision to leave the European Union (EU). It is a momentous event in world history and has signalled the start of a negotiating process for the UK to extricate itself from the EU that must be concluded within two years of invoking Article 50. There is no precedent and no one has a clear idea of how best to proceed. The final letter of Ms May was more conciliatory than her previous postures, although she subtly reminded her EU colleagues that Britain would not mind reducing security and antiterrorism cooperation if she were to get a bad trade deal at the end of the negotiations. British tabloids accentuated that part of her letter that the Europeans interpreted as the old fashioned blackmail. It also sounded less convincing after the Westminster attack few days back, that put a hole in the British propaganda of having the best anti-terror measures in place in the whole of Europe.

Theresa May was in the soft Remain camp during the Brexit campaign, while most of her ministers were hardcore members of the Leave camp. One of them, the current Brexit minister, David Davis, will lead the British negotiating team in Brussels. The Foreign Minister, Boris Johnson, has been deliberately kept out of the loop because of his propensity to make reckless and tasteless jokes even on serious occasions. According to the Westminster insiders, there is still no clear unequivocal negotiating strategy on the British side. On the EU side, the negotiations will be led by Michael Barnier, a former EU commissioner and a former French Finance Minister. He expects the negotiations for British withdrawal from the EU to be completed around September 2018, and believes that new trade negotiations of Britain with the rest of EU would begin only in earnest thereafter. All the remaining 27 EU member-states seem to agree with this strategy as does the European Parliament. Once the negotiations of British exit from the EU are complete, the terms must be approved by parliaments of all the 27 EU member countries, as well as by the European Parliament. A political spectacle of historical proportion!

The first point on the agenda, as far as the EU negotiators are concerned, is the Brexit bill that the UK owes to the EU for commitments that the country signed, many of which are yet to be implemented. The amount making the rounds is 60 billion euros. EU financial experts are working round the clock to disentangle the maze of commitments to come up with the final bill. The Brexit extremists do not want to pay a single cent and are threatening the hard Brexit. The UK government is more reticent and wants to discuss the bill on condition that Britain gets a virtual free trade agreement with the EU in return. The EU, by contrast, does not even contemplate discussing any trade deal before a reasonable agreement is reached about the terms of British withdrawal from the EU. There are vexing issues like the rights of EU workers currently employed in Britain and the British citizens working in the EU. Pension liability of British workers retired after working in the EU bureaucracy is another important issue. The EU wants a status quo of EU workers employed in Britain and Britons working in the EU through an interim agreement. This may be difficult for Ms May to accept, as it involves the Polish and Romanian workers, among others, who were targeted by the Leave camp and played a major role in the Leave vote.

The greatest beneficiary in the UK of the EU membership has been the City of London, which has become the worlds financial hub of the same scale as New York, and possibly larger. It was made possible by what is called passporting, which allows bankers working from London to perform valid financial transactions throughout the EU. With loose banking regulations in the UK and the availability of easy capital from the Middle East and many former colonies, along with off-shore facilities provided by various British isles between the coasts of England and France, the City grew at an unprecedented scale during the last four decades of British membership of the EU. Bankers from the Continent flocked to the City in droves. The EU is determined to withdraw this passporting right unless the movement of EU residents to the UK (and vice versa) is denied by the British government. There is huge anxiety among the investment bankers about the future. Most investment banks have already announced plans for shifting some of their staff to the Continent. This would cause a huge potential loss of taxes for the UK government. The investment banks are jittery about waiting for two years to watch the final outcome of the negotiations. They are already planning to relocate some staff to the Continent to prepare for any contingencies.

Negotiations will start in earnest only after the German election this September. The French election will be decided in early May, but the French negotiating position would not change much with the election of the new President, assuming that Marina Le Pen would be defeated in the second and final round of voting there. The German position would be somewhat more conciliatory to the British position if Merkel remains the Chancellor. Any unexpected majority by the Social Democrats in the German election would certainly harden the official German negotiating position. One country that may lose out heavily is Poland that always got unstinted support from the British in any dispute within the EU. In the European power-game, Britain always supported the Polish people for centuries.

Britain also sabotaged all plans of the core group of EU countries to have a two-tier Europe, with one group proceeding with fast political union, with the countries on the periphery left to do that at their own pace. Now there is panic in Poland that this two-speed Europe might indeed be a reality. Already the xenophobic governments of Poland and Hungary are causing huge frustration among the governments of the West European countries.

Last, but not the least, is the problem of Scotland the majority of whose inhabitants voted to remain within the EU. Fearing resurgence of the independence movement there, Theresa May has warned them against any such attempt. This has infuriated the Scottish First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, so much that she did not even wait for the end of negotiations with the EU and announced plans for a new referendum for the independence of Scotland from the rest of the UK. Then came suddenly the issue of Gibraltar to the front of the agenda. Gibraltar was captured by the British from Spain at the beginning of the eighteenth century. It has a small land border with Spain and people there voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU. At the same time, they voted in 2002 to remain within the United Kingdom. Now Spain sensed the chance to tighten her noose around Gibraltar when the EU member-states agreed to give veto right to Spain on whether the final result of the negotiations between the UK and the EU would also apply to Gibraltar. Any denial of Spain for easy access to her territory would cause economic havoc to Gibraltar, a small rocky territory with only 30,000 inhabitants. In return, Spain has agreed to allow an independent Scotlands membership to the EU, which they consistently opposed till now for fear of breaking away of Catalonia from Spain. Some British ministers are even threatening to go to war with Spain, as they did over Falkland Islands with Argentina. Things are getting increasingly bizarre.

In response to Wednesdays letter of Theresa May to Donald Tusk invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, came the EUs draft negotiating guidelines published by President Tusk. This is broadly how the Sunday British newspaper, The Observer, has described it. To Ms Mays request for parallel talks about terms of departure and future trade relations, the answer was an emphatic No. Her gamble to use the rights of existing EU citizens during negotiations was also greeted with a determined No.

To the British Governments proposal to give special status to the border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland, the answer was again No. On special deals for the City and car manufacturers, the starting point was a No. The guidelines also clearly declared that the principle of freedom of movement of EU nationals is sacrosanct and must be abided by Britain in exchange for special trading status with the EU post 2019. An ominous start of negotiations indeed.

The writer is former Dean and Emeritus Professor of Applied Mathematics, University of Twente, The Netherlands.
The repression of Bashar al-Assad is beneath condemnation. Visuals of the bodies of children writhing, choking, gasping or foaming at the mouth, to summon the evocative expressions of The New York Times, portray horrendous inhumanity six years after the Arab Spring. And the state-sponsored disaster has happened in a country where the upheaval of 2011 was long ago reduced to irrelevance. These children are among the 70 who have been killed through the use of a nerve agent, probably Sarin gas, in Syrias Idlib province.

The world is scarcely convinced by the strenuous efforts of the Syrian security forces to deny its involvement, let alone whether the military was acting under orders from the Presidential palace in Damascus. Suffice it to register that the palace still possesses prohibited ammunition in its armoury despite the fact that Syria, officially at least, had joined the Chemical Weapons Convention and turned over its chemical arsenal in 2013, as part of a deal to avert US military action.

Even the red line set by President Obama as a precaution against chemical attacks has not been adhered to ~ a fact that appears to have given Donald Trump another handle against his predecessor. Judging by the presentations of the British Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, and the EU foreign affairs chief, Federica Mogherini, at the European Parliament in Brussels last Wednesday, all evidence points to the Syrian President being behind the attack. And it shall not be easy for the Kremlin to counter the very obvious. Of course, the comity of nations needs to be united against Assad at this juncture, and above all lend an impetus to the peace talks in Geneva. But this isnt the moment for another bout of pow-wow.

Almost certainly, the world knows who did it. And the world, pre-eminently the United Nations, must now act. The official version strains credulity. Syria has blamed the rebels who hold the town of Khan Sheikhoun.

And the spin-doctors among Assads friends in Moscow claim that Syrian planes had struck a rebel stockpile of nerve agents, accidentally releasing them into the atmosphere. For all the inherent strength of the insurgents and the Caliphate, the stockpile of nerve agents remains the preserve of the establishment.

To put it bluntly, the Assad regime has used illegal weapons against its own people. Ergo, the Syrian government has committed a war crime, going by the certitudes of international law. It is a crime that is embedded in the regimes impunity. Strained efforts to duck the reality are a convoluted exercise in self-deception. It is a terrifying prospect if the use of chemical weapons goes unpunished. Assad being Assad, he may yet wriggle out of the catastrophic crime.
Three crew members aboard the International Space Station are packing up their gear for a homecoming on Monday, ending their 173-day mission in space, NASA said.

Expedition 50 crew members Shane Kimbrough, Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko will take a ride back to Earth inside the Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft.

The are scheduled to land Monday at 7:21 a.m. EDT (4.51 p.m. India time) in Kazakhstan.

"Commander Shane Kimbrough, who is returning to Earth early Monday, took it easy Friday aboard the International Space Station. He and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Thomas Pesquet mainly performed light duty tasks and continued their daily exercise to stay healthy in space," NASA scientists wrote in a blog post on Friday.

"Cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko, who are returning home Monday with Kimbrough, continued packing the Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft that will parachute the trio to a landing in Kazakhstan after a 173 days in space," the blog post said.

Ryzhikov, who is on his first mission, will command the Soyuz during its undocking and reentry into Earth's atmosphere. Borisenko and Kimbrough are both wrapping up their second visit to space.

Whitson will become station commander for the second time in her career Sunday less than 24 hours before her crewmates undock from the Poisk module.

She stays behind with fellow Expedition 50-51 crew members Thomas Pesquet and Flight Engineer Oleg Novitskiy
I am fond of travelling, especially off the-beaten path. On these trips, although I cherish many moments of solitude, I also enjoy meeting all kinds of people and it would not be wrong to say that without this interaction with the locals and other visitors, my trip would be incomplete.

Whether I am in solitude or being social, sipping a cup of hot chai is a must for me. Ive had tea in some of the remotest parts of Pakistan with different versions of chai, such as chai made with goat milk in the desert of Tharparkar, chai with salt in the mountains of Himalayas and Karakoram, chai with too much sugar in the northwest of Sindh and chai without milk (black tea) in the Deosai Plains.

My connection with chai started with a family tradition back in my childhood. It was a daily ritual to have tea every evening. That was the time when everyone would gather together for chitchat, and the family would interact. As I grew up, the tradition of chai sittings extended to meeting friends over chai, though later, as I began travelling, it got limited to either having tea on my own or with the people that I met there.

Tea is not an integral part of our culture  from north to south and east to west. Most of the time, I mostly did not have to buy the cup of tea on my travels but it was offered by the locals as part of their hospitality. Most of my encounters with people were very raw.

In the middle of nowhere, I come across people who dont have a clue who I am or where I belonged to, yet they opened their arms for me. Since most of my travels are solo, in order to socialise a bit, I have tea at various places, sit, relax, think and reflect. Sip after sip.

Each experience has a different story. One winter I spent a night at the shrine of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai in Bhitshah.

The fakirs were singing Bhitais poetry. In order to stay awake, they have chai every hour as they play. One of the fakirs saw me sitting in the front listening to them, and offered me a cup of tea. For them, it was a small gesture to say thank you for listening to them. I felt connected.

On a 45-minute flight from Islamabad to Skardu, I was flying above some of the highest mountains in the world, over the Himalayas, flying next to Nanga Parbat, the ninth highest mountain on earth.

On that flight, the cup of tea I had was good company to share the view with in solitude. But it was not until the early 20th century that the British started marketing campaigns and tea stalls were set up in different work places controlled by the company, including railways stations, factories, mines, etc. where workers were allowed tea breaks.

On main railway stations and junctions, vendors were assigned to offer free hot chai to passengers and workers commuting from one point to another. That is how tea became popular with the masses in parts of the world where the British ruled.

It was much later in life that I discovered that the British introduced tea in the subcontinent in the early 19th century when tea cultivation began in Assam. Initially, tea produced by the British East India Company in the subcontinent was only for the market in the West, and later the company saw a good opportunity to expand its market within the region. In 1881, the Tea Association of India was formed by the East India Company to expand tea business in British-ruled India (present-day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh).

But it was not until the early 20th century that the British started marketing campaigns and tea stalls were set up in different work places controlled by the company, including railways stations, factories, mines, etc. where workers were allowed tea breaks.

On main railway stations and junctions, vendors were assigned to offer free hot chai to passengers and workers commuting from one point to another. That is how tea became popular with the masses in parts of the world where the British ruled. Prior to that only herbal tea was consumed in India. Ironic then how often we refer to tea as our culture.

Dawn/ ANN
Ten terrorists of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), involved in a suicide attack on Lahore's Mall Road in February, were killed in a shootout with police in the wee hours today in Lahore.

According to Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab police, the terrorists were involved in a suicide attack on Lahore's Mall Road in February this year in which 15 people including six policemen were killed. Jamat-ul-Ahrar had claimed the responsibility of the attack.

"In early hours today a CTD team were taking the facilitators (Anwarul Haq, Irfan and Imam Shah) of Lahore Mall Road blast suicide bomber to Manawan area to identify the place where they had hidden weapons and ammunition when their accomplices attacked the police team," a CTD official said.

The police team retaliated and during the cross fire 10 terrorists were killed, he said.

The official said all three facilitators of Lahore Mall Road blast  Anwarul Haq, Irfan and Imam  were killed in the cross fire.

Two of the seven terrorists who attacked the police team have been identified as Attaur Rehman and Abdullah.

The official said all the 10 terrorists belonged to Jamat-ul-Ahrar and TTP. Weapons including hand grenades and explosives have been recovered from the site.

Two senior police officers were among 15 people killed when a Jamat-ul-Ahrar suicide bomber blew himself up during a protest rally outside Pakistan's Punjab assembly on Feb 13 that also wounded more than 71 others.

Police had arrested main facilitator Anwarul Haq with the help of CCTV and nabbed his other accomplices from tribal area of Bajaur.

Last Wednesday, five soldiers were among seven killed in a suicide attack on an army team taking part in ongoing census in Lahore's Badian Road. TTP had claimed the responsibility of the attack.

Police have so far taken 15 suspects into custody in connection with Badian Road attack on soldiers.

Police said initial investigation shows that the attacker and his handler were on a motorcycle and continued chasing the census van carrying army personnel.

When the van stopped and the army men started unloading the material, the suicide bomber came closer to them and blew himself up.

"We have arrested 15 suspects in connection with Wednesday's Lahore blast and are interrogating them," a senior police officer said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping was able to take in views of the natural beauty that Alaska has to offer.

The state's governor hopes this will lead to an increased appetite in the world's most populous nation for more natural resources from Alaska.

Xi requested time with Gov Bill Walker yesterday night as the Chinese delegation's plane made a refueling stop in Alaska's largest city following meetings with President Donald Trump in Florida. His wife and the Chinese delegation stepped off the Boeing 747 and were greeted by Walker, his wife and several dignitaries.

Later, the two men spoke briefly to reporters before a business meeting, in which Walker touted the state's abundant natural resources: oil, fish, air cargo, mineral resources industries.

Walker also took time to advocate for a natural gas pipeline he has long backed, which would take natural gas from Alaska's North Slope to the coast for shipment.

Alaska could provide a generation's worth of liquefied natural gas to China, he told Xi.

For Walker, even just a few hours of time with the president of China can pay dividends.

China is the state's top export market, buying nearly USD 1.2 billion worth of goods in 2016, according to the US Census Bureau. The next top international market was Japan, at nearly USD 820 million, followed by South Korea, at USD 730 million.

Chris Hladick, the commissioner of the state's Commerce department, called the visit by the Chinese delegation a "once-in-a lifetime opportunity."

The state's top export product to China? Fish, accounting for 58 per cent. Frozen cod and flat fish, such as halibut, topped a lengthy list of fisheries products, which also included frozen salmon and pollock.

Jerry McCune is president of the United Fishermen of Alaska. He said he understood the trade talk would focus mostly on oil and gas, but added: "I would say that any trade that we can boost in the fishery with any particular county, China would be one that would be huge."

Jeremy Woodrow, a spokesman for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, said the Chinese market is important to Alaska for two reasons: it purchases a huge amount of Alaska fish for re-exporting purposes around the world, and Chinese consumers are now buying more seafood for consumption at home.

"Wild, sustainable, healthy, clean, those type of attributes that you can put on Alaska seafood are becoming much more desirable for the Chinese consumer, and we're seeing year after year, more Alaska seafood products actually staying in China for Chinese consumption" he said.

A distant second on the export list are minerals and ores, accounting for 27 per cent. Included in that last year was about USD 130 million of precious metals, which Hladick said was likely gold from the Fairbanks area.

Hladick sees China as a potential market for Alaska coal and hoped to raise the issue with Chinese officials during their visit. "It's meetings like this that spark interest and then you follow up," Hladick said.
By Press Trust of India: (Eds: Repeating after changing slug, dateline)

Srinagar, Apr 8 (PTI) Internet services in three districts falling under the Srinagar Parliamentary constituency, going to polls tomorrow, will be shut down from midnight as a precautionary measure to prevent floating of rumours by anti-national elements.

Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal, which form part of the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat, will have no Internet connections amid reports that Pakistan-based groups were engaged in spreading disinformation on the eve of polls, official sources said.

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They said the ban would be removed immediately after polling ends in the Lok Sabha seat for which National Conference president Farooq Abdullah was having a virtual direct contest with ruling PDPs Nazir Khan.

Stone-pelting incidents were reported from various parts of Budgam and Ganderbal area in which two police personnel were injured.

Crowds indulged in stone pelting in Chadoora, Beerwah, main town Budgam and Pandich and Wakoora in Ganderbal, official sources said, adding one CRPF constable was injured in Budgam and at Wakoora in Ganderbal.

Police was making all attempts to prevent mob from growing bigger and bigger and at places it had to resort to tear gas shelling to disperse the mob. PTI SKL ZMN SMN

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Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has chided President Donald Trump for firing 59 Tomahawk missiles on Syria as he attempts to bar refugees from entering the US.

Clinton on Friday urged the administration to "recognize that we cannot in one breath speak of protecting Syrian babies and in the next close America's doors to them".

It came as the US on Thursday night struck the Shairat airbase in a response to the chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of civilians in Idlib province.

Clinton during her tenure as the Secretary of State under former President Barack Obama  and during the presidential campaign  advocated more aggressive action to deter Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, CBS News reported.

Hours before the strike, Clinton on Thursday said US should implement a no-fly zone.

"As I said yesterday (Thursday) it is essential that the world does more to deter Assad from committing future murderous atrocities," Clinton said at a luncheon in Houston.

"But the action taken last night needs to be followed by a broader strategy to end Syria's civil war and to eliminate the IS strongholds on both sides of the border so I hope this administration will move forward in a way that is both strategic and consistent with our values."

She said Trump's reasoning for the airstrikes conflicted with the ban on refugees from six Muslim-majority countries.

Trump has signed an executive order to temporarily ban immigrants from Syria, Iran, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Libya from entering the US, but a federal judge has blocked part of such order.

The Democrat did not name Trump but concluded that the strike serve as a reminder that "politics matter enormously".

She said Trump's reasoning for the airstrikes conflicted with the ban on refugees from six Muslim-majority countries.


Russia intends to discuss international counter-terrorism with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson during his upcoming visit next week, despite strained Russia-US ties, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharov said on Saturday.

"We have a multitude of topics, among which international counter-terrorism is of great significance," Zakharov told Russia's Rossiya-1 TV channel.

"Moscow is ready to cooperate with Washington even at the toughest moment of bilateral relations," she said.

The US military fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian military airfield in the central province of Homs on Thursday, raising tensions in Russia-US ties.

"We will listen to what Tillerson has to say (about the US missile strike in Syria). It is necessary to make it absolutely clear that such US military action is unacceptable to us," the spokeswoman added.

According to a Pentagon statement, the strike was in response to the Syrian government's chemical attack on Tuesday in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun in the country's northwestern province of Idlib.

Noting that the United States has recently launched an investigation into the chemical attack, Zakharov said the US strike on Syria is not in line with its attempts to discover truth about the incident.

"They carried out strikes on the hardware that they wanted to inspect. This has absolutely nothing to do with attempts to find out what happened to the chemical weapons," Zakharov said.

The Russian Defence Ministry confirmed Friday the suspension of the memorandum of understanding on the prevention of flight safety incidents in Syria with the United States, which was signed in 2015.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai is set to become the United Nations' youngest-ever "Messenger of Peace", the international body's chief has announced.

Yousafzai, 19, will be honoured by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during a ceremony at the UN headquarters in New York on April 10.

She will help promote girl's education around the world as part of her new role.

The ceremony will be followed by a conversation between Guterres, Yousafzai and other youth representatives around the world on the theme of girls' education, Daily Pakistan reported on Saturday.

"Even in the face of grave danger, Malala Yousafzai has shown an unwavering commitment to the rights of women, girls and all people," Guterres said on Friday on his selection of Yousafzai for the designation.

"Her courageous activism for girls' education has already energised so many people around the world. Now as our youngest-ever UN Messenger of Peace, Malala can do even more to help create a more just and peaceful world," he said.

Born on July 12, 1997 in Pakistan's Swat Valley, Yousafzai became an international symbol for the fight for girls' education after being shot on October 9, 2012 for opposing Taliban restrictions on female education.

She survived the attack and became an advocate for the millions of girls denied a formal education worldwide.

In 2013, Yousafzai and her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, co-founded Malala Fund to bring awareness to the social and economic impact of girls' education and to empower girls to demand change.

Yousafzai became the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 2014.
A man arrested after a stolen truck ploughed into pedestrians on a busy Stockholm street is being held on suspicion of terror offences and is likely to be the driver of the truck, authorities said on Saturday.

The attack on Friday in the heart of Sweden's capital left four people dead and at least 15 injured.

The man, arrested in the north of the city, has not been named but Swedish media said he was from Uzbekistan, reported BBC.

"It is likely that it is the driver of the van that has been arrested," police spokesman Mats Eriksson said.

"This however does not exclude the possibility of there being more arrests that will follow," he said.

A bag of undetonated explosives was found inside the stolen truck, Sweden's public broadcaster SVT reported, citing multiple police sources.

The explosives were in the form of a homemade bomb in a bag, but did not properly detonate.

The attacker apparently suffered burns of some kind caused by the explosives, said the report.

However, the police said they were unable to confirm local television reports of explosives being found inside the truck.

The Swedish Security Service said the attack happened just before 3 p.m. on Friday.

The truck crashed into the front of Ahlens department store on Drottninggatan (Queen Street), one of the city's main pedestrian thoroughfares.

People were seen fleeing the area in panic after what appeared to be the latest use of a vehicle as a weapon of terror in Europe.

Witnesses described horrifying scenes outside the store as bodies and injured people lay on the ground.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven called the incident a terrorist attack, with borders tightened at his request.

The street remained cordoned off on Saturday morning and the truck had been removed overnight from the building where it was wedged. Heavily armed officers guarded the area.

The suspect was detained on Friday evening after police released a grainy security camera image of a person of interest dressed in a hooded jacket.

A second arrest was reportedly made later.

Sweden's Deputy Prime Minister Isabella Lovin and Education Minister Gustaf Fridolin paid tribute to the victims of the attack as they left flowers at the scene.

"This is unfortunately something we are seeing in many countries in the world, but we have to stand up for our open society," Lovin told reporters.
President Donald Trump has nominated two Indian-Americans for key administrative posts to coordinate US law-enforcement strategy around copyright, patents and trademarks and oversee his plan to eliminate 75 per cent of federal regulations.

Prominent Indian-Americans Vishal Amin and Neomi Rao will be Trump's new IP and regulatory czars respectively as he nominated them on Friday while making many administrative appointments.

Amin has been nominated to be the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator while Rao will be the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA).

If confirmed by the US Senate, Amin, who is currently a Senior Counsel on House Judiciary Committee, would succeed Daniel Marti.

He also served in the administration of President George W Bush at the White House, as Associate Director for Domestic Policy, and at the US Department of Commerce, as Special Assistant and Associate Director for Policy in the Office of the Secretary, a statement said.

Amin received his bachelor's degree in neuroscience from Johns Hopkins University and his law degree from Washington University in St Louis.

"The prompt appointment and consideration of this position is critical, and we commend President Trump for his choice.

Vishal Amin is a smart, thoughtful leader and we look forward to working with him," said Cary Sherman, chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America.

Rao has been nominated to be the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), a statutory part of the Office of Management and Budget within the Executive Office of the President.

OIRA reviews regulations from federal agencies and has the power to reject rules that do not fall in line with the President's goals.

"Trump's selection of Rao suggests the administration is serious about regulatory reform, not merely reducing high-profile regulatory burdens," said 'The Washington Post'.

"The selection of a well-respected administrative law expert further suggests the administration recognises the need to be attentive to legal constraints on administrative action and that meaningful reforms require more than issuing a few executive orders. Rao is a superlative pick," the report said.

Rao, a professor at the George Mason University where he founded and directs the Center for the Study of the Administrative State, has focused his research and teaching on constitutional and administrative law.

Currently a public member of the Administrative Conference of the US, Rao has previously served in all three branches of the federal government.

She served as Associate Counsel to President George W Bush's counsel for nominations and constitutional law to the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary and law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas of US Supreme Court.

She practised public international law and arbitration at Clifford Chance LLP in London.

Rao received her JD with high honours from the University of Chicago and her BA from Yale University.
US President Donald Trump and his visiting Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed to work with the international community to achieve a peaceful solution to the North Korea nuclear threat, according to a White House statement.

Following a second day of bilateral talks, press secretary Sean Spicer on Friday said both China and the US agreed to increase cooperation between the two superpowers to "convince North Korea to peacefully resolve the issue and dismantle its illegal nuclear and missile programmes" and to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons in the Korean peninsula, Politico news reported.

President Xi arrived at Trump's Mar-a-Lago Florida resort on Thursday.

According to Spicer, Xi and Trump "reaffirmed their commitment to a denuclearized Korean peninsula, and committed to fully implement UN Security Council resolutions."

During an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday, Trump warned that if China was unwilling to collaborate on North Korea, the US would be willing to go it alone.

"China will either decide to help us with North Korea or they won't," he said, adding "If they do, that will be very good for China, and if they don't, it won't be good for anyone."

The White House said Trump also stressed to Xi the importance of creating "reciprocal market access" that did not disadvantage American workers. Trump repeatedly bashed China on the campaign trail and upon taking office, blaming it for the loss of American jobs, reports Politico news.

At Mar-a-Lago on Friday, Trump urged China to take steps to "level the playing field for American workers," according to the White House statement.

"President Trump noted the challenges caused by Chinese government intervention in its economy and raised serious concerns about the impact of China's industrial, agricultural, technology, and cyber policies on US jobs and exports," it said.

Xi and Trump also discussed China's increased militarization in the South China Sea, with President Trump urging the Chinese to adhere to international norms.

Trump also "noted the importance of protecting human rights and other values deeply held by Americans," the statement added.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said the US would soon announce new sanctions on Syria, a media report said.

"We will be announcing additional sanctions on Syria as part of our ongoing effort to stop this kind of activity," CNN quoted Mnuchin as saying on Friday.

"Those will continue to have an important effect in terms of people doing business with them."

The announcement comes a day after the US struck a Syrian airfield in response to a chemical weapons attack that killed over 80 civilians.

Mnuchin did not specify which entities would come under sanction by his agency, but he said, "they will be coming out in the near future".

"We view sanctions as being a very important tool," Mnuchin said.

"These sanctions are very important and we will use them to the maximum effect."
Protesters consisting of VHP and Bajrang Dal activists set ablaze shops and torched police vehicles as clashes erupted in Bhadrak town on Thursday. Curfew has been extended till 8 am on Sunday and 35 people have been detained in connection with the clashes.

Odisha's Bhadrak town has been on the boil following Thursday's violence in the wake of the 'offensive' Facebook post allegedly targetting Hindu deities.

By Indrajit Kundu: Odisha's Bhadrak town continues to be tense even two days after violence broke out there over alleged offensive posts on Facebook against a particular community.

Curfew has been extended till Sunday 8 am and prohibitory order under CrPC Section 144 remain in place. Police have detained 35 people so far in connection with the clashes.

Angry protesters set ablaze shops and torched police vehicles as clashes erupted in Bhadrak town on Thursday. At least 4 police officers were injured while trying to defuse tensions.

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Tension flared up after a group of protesters demonstrated outside the local police station in Bhadrak, demanding arrest of those responsible for posting alleged offensive remarks against Hindu deities on Facebook.

VHP and Bajrang Dal activists took to the streets, burnt tyres and blocked roads demanding action against the miscreants. The district administration organised peace committee talks to pacify them but failed to reach a consensus.

BHADRAK DISTRICT COLLECTOR REMOVED

Meanwhile, the Odisha government has removed Bhadrak District Collector LN Mishra, replacing him with Cuttack Municipal Commissioner Gyana Ranjan Das. Senior bureaucrats such as Odisha Home Secretary Asit Tripathy and DGP K B Singh are in Bhadrak monitoring the situation. An additional police force has been deployed in the area to thwart any untoward incidents.

Odisha DGP KB Singh said that police had identified the miscreants who were trying to fan trouble. "We have identified the persons (trying to fan trouble). As many as 35 platoons of police force have been deployed in Bhadrak town. IG is camping in the area. We will not allow anyone to disrupt communal harmony. The situation is now under control", Singh said.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has appealed for calm in the state. Patnaik, who is currently visiting New Delhi tweeted, "I sincerely appeal to all in Bhadrak to maintain peace and harmony. I have directed stringent action against any attempt to disrupt peace."

Also read | American evangelist's Bengaluru event cancelled after VHP, Bajrang Dal accuse her of flouting visa rules, trying to convert

Also read | Odisha: Naxals attack railway station, put up posters against PM Modi's visit

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PDP General Secretary Mansoor was supposed to address a rally here ahead of the bypoll in Anantnag parliamentary constituency on April 12. The rally was suspended after the terror attack.

By Ashraf Wani: PDP General Secretary Peer Mansoor had a narrow escape when unidentified gunmen fired at him indiscriminately during an election campaign in Achabal in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Mansoor was supposed to address the rally in Srinagar. The rally was suspended after the attack which is being termed a terror strike. Security forces have cordoned off the area.

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Bypolls in Srinagar and Anantnag parliamentary constituencies are going to be held on April 9 and 12 respectively.

Meanwhile, speaking at the election rally in Anantnag, party supremo and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said that anyone taking the law into their own hands by indulging in stone pelting or aiding terrorists would be dealt with strictly.

J&K:Terrorists fired shots at crowd where a PDP leader was addressing in Anantnag's Achabal; Police cordoned off area; no injuries reported. pic.twitter.com/UJrjVxnnPe- ANI (@ANI_news) April 8, 2017

Also read | Kashmir bypolls: Most high-profile election with one of the lowest fanfare in campaigning

Also read | Jammu and Kashmir: Cops turn mentors for stone pelters Watch Video: Gunshots heard near PDP election rally at Achabal in south Kashmir

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Police said that the accused had used fake notes worth over Rs 30,000 in Mumbai markets.

By Saurabh Vaktania: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decisive move of demonetisation was aimed at preventing the flow of fake currency, however, it seems the nation continues to grapple with fake notes. In a recent incident, Mumbai police arrested three persons with fake currency worth Rs 70 lakh.

The police also recovered the printing machine used by the accused to issue fake currency in Rs 500 and 2,000 denominations. Police said that the accused had used fake notes worth over Rs 30,000 in Mumbai markets.

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The accused have been identified as Vijay Kamble, Jatin Solanki and Sachin Bansi. Police said that Jatin is the mastermind, while Sachin deviced the plan to print fake currency. The notes were printed at the residence of Jatin in Nalasopara.

When asked what motivated them to do the crime, senior police inspector Mahesh Desai said that main accused Jatin was under debts. All three accused are friends, while Sachin is a computer technology expert.

ACCUSED ARRESTED AFTER TIP OFF

The trio was arrested after Assistant Police Inspector Nitin Patil got a tip off regarding their operations.

"We kept a vigil for two days on all three accused. They were followed and once the information was confirmed the accused were nabbed. Fake notes were made using a scanner, printer and a computer software," said Patil.

One of the equipment used by the accused to print fake currency.

Police said that further investigations into the incident is underway.

Meanwhile, in another similar case Goregaon Police recovered fake currency worth Rs 3 lakhs. The accused had brought the money to distribute for a film's shoot. One accuse has been arrested.

Also read:

Fake Rs 2,000 notes return to haunt; SBI ATM dispenses counterfeit currency in UP's Shahjahanpur

Rs 2000 notes from Children Bank of India: Row over SBI ATM dispensing fake cash

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Everything about Sonal Joshi, a Gujarati who lives in Kerala, is mild. When she speaks, her voice falls in soft folds about her. When she smiles, she does so in a gentle manner, and you get the feeling that smiling is a way of life with her. But she has learnt the lesson the hard way. Ten years ago, she was afflicted with spondylitis. That was the time her son was getting married. She had to shuttle between Gujarat and Mumbai to do all the wedding shopping. Then, she used to be a perfectionist who wanted things done in a particular way. She would go to the hospital in the morning, use traction and head out for shopping. On the day of the wedding, she was in a terrible condition. She flopped onto a chair and couldnt get up. Many people came to her and asked her why she was not on the stage. The next day, she was admitted to the hospital.

During that time, I was almost bed-ridden, she says. I had so many health problems. I underwent many surgeries which did me no good. I used to walk around with a back support belt. I couldnt mix socially and was always tired.

That is when she found out about a yoga university in Bengaluru that advocated an integrated yoga therapy, a combination of asanas, mudras and pranayama. They had a 250-bed hospital and Joshi got admitted there. She says that after the treatment at the university, she was completely cured. A few years ago, she learnt mudra therapy from a teacher in Nasik. Currently, she is doing her MSc in yoga and conducts mudra classes in Kochi, Kerala.

In our bodies, there are meridians and pranic energy flows, she says. Energy is emitted from the tips of your bodynose, chin, fingers, ears. This energy dissipates into the cosmos. Mudras can redirect the energy back into the body and use it for healing purposes.

According to Mudras for Healing and Transformation by Joseph and Lillian Le Page, mudras are gestures of the hands, face and body that promote physical health, psychological balance and spiritual awakening. The word mudra is derived from two root words: mud which means delight, pleasure or enchantment and rati, which means to bring forth. Mudras bring forth our own inherent delight and enchantment, which are always present and waiting to be awakened.

The basic premise of healing through mudras is that each finger of your hand represents one of the five elementsfire, water, space, earth and air. Diseases happen when there is an imbalance in any of these elements and mudras help to balance them. Each mudra channels the breath to a particular part of the body and, according to the Le Pages, the breath is the primary vehicle for prana, the life force energy. By channeling the breath into specific areas of the body, mudras enhance our sensitivity to the flow of the subtle energy, removing energy blockages and thereby reestablishing the free flow of prana. They say that specific gestures cultivate balance within each facet of our subtle anatomy, including the energy centres or the chakras, the energy currents or the prana vayus and the energy channels or the nadis.

Finger magic: Komal Jambotkar and her parents used mudras to get relief from specific medical conditions | Amey Mansabdar

Some of the mudras can balance an element in the body in 45 minutes or less, while others have an immediate effect, says Joshi. Practising mudras regularly can cure sleeplessness, arthritis, memory loss, heart problems, incurable infections, blood pressure, diabetes and many other ailments. Mudras are universal and can be performed anywhere, anytime and by anybody. As there are no medications involved, one need not worry about the side effect of chemicals in the body. The science of mudras is very exact and perfect.

Anyone familiar with yogic healing will have basic knowledge of the five elements, the five prana vayus, the seven chakras and the ayurvedic doshas. But all this might just be hogwash for the sceptic. Where is the evidence that it works? He will ask. Unfortunately, there are very few scientific studies done on healing through mudras. This, however, cannot be reason enough to shun completely their medicinal properties.

It is a basic principle in physics that whenever there is flow of electricity, a magnetic field is created around it, says Dr Rajesh B. Iyer, consultant neurologist and epileptologist at Vikram Hospital, Bengaluru. The nervous system is nothing but electric channels carrying current all over the body. So, yogic postures and mudras are likely to have an influence on the micro-electromagnetic forces in our body and impact functions. Functional MRI studies show that certain areas of the brain get activated merely by thoughts even without carrying out a task. So, meditation, the process of "thoughtless awareness" is likely to impact brain functions. Breathing is an automatic phenomenon. The rate and depth of respiration varies automatically as per our bodys requirements. Even the airflow through nostrils is unequal with one side being dominant. By practising pranayama we can modify this automated process to influence bodily functions.

If the how has not been answered yet, there seems to be plenty of examples of the what. Iyer himself was part of a study on yoga and epilepsy at Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, where his team found out that seizures can be controlled through yoga. The mudra used for this study was the chin mudra, where the tips of the thumb are joined to the tips of the index finger of each hand, forming a circle. According to the Le Pages, the gesture facilitates full yogic breathing, expanding breath, awareness and energy along the entire front of the torso.

Mudras over medicines: Milind Deshpande says that mudras worked where modern medicine failed | Amey Mansabdar

Iyer refers to the homunculus model of the brain. The cortical homunculus is a neurological map of the body in the brain or the way in which different parts of the body are represented in the brain. Interestingly, sensory nerves from the hands terminate over the largest area of the brain. Hence, the hands of the homunculus man are huge. In contrast, the torso is tiny because there is not much sensory representation of the torso in the brain. The largest sensory representation in the brain is of the hands so if you apply pressure to certain parts of the fingertips, it is possible that significant areas of the brain could be stimulated.

But could healing through mudras simply be a placebo effect? A large part of the motor cortex of the brain is dedicated to hand movements, says Dr Shyam Bhat, psychiatrist and founder, Seraniti.com. So mudras may have health benefits, especially for mind-body/psycho-somatic conditions like back pain and head ache. The motor control of your limbs is also determined by the cerebellum in the brain and emerging evidence suggests that the cerebellum plays a significant role in mental health. In a condition like anxiety, there is an imbalance of right and left hemispheres of the brain. Mudras could balance hemispheric activity. Of course, this is just a theory and no conclusive study has been done on this. The mudras also may help the mind by symbolism and metaphor. In patients suffering from anxiety, for example, Ive noticed that their hands are often held tight as if they are holding on to something and can't let go and often tension develops in the area between the thumb and the forefinger. And so, a hand position that reminds you about the metaphor of letting go can be deeply relaxing to the mind.

Bhat gives the example of the anjali mudra (the prayer position in which both hands are held together, palms facing each other). There is a theory that this causes the two halves of the brain and the body to come together, and also perhaps induce feelings of gratitude and benediction, he says. Physical changes can cause changes in mood. Archetypal gestures like the anjali mudra could have deep meaning. Most doctors would rightly say this is just speculation, but mudras deserve serious study, to see how it can fit into an integrated and holistic approach to healing.

While there are many sceptics, there are many others who say that mudras have helped heal their diseases. I spoke to some patients of ayurvedic doctor Dilip Potnis. Komal Jambotkar, a 24-year-old chartered accountancy student, says that initially she was sceptical. I didnt see how a medical condition could be treated without medicines. I had polycystic ovarian disease (PCOD). My periods were never regular and there would be heavy bleeding for up to a month. My father took me to Dr Dilip Potnis who recommended that I do apana and prana mudras for two months. I used to do it while watching TV or during my studies and immediately got relief from my condition. It was very effective. The bleeding stopped. You can do it anywhere, my doctor told me. The only condition is that you should be sitting while doing it. Only prana mudra can be done while standing. My father suffered from constipation and my mother from diabetes. These, too, were brought under control through mudras. My mothers diabetes came down from 300mg per decilitre to 150mg per decilitre.

Disease destroyer: Anil Mayekar says that in the three years since he started doing mudras, he hasn't taken a single tablet | Amey Mansabdar

Chemical engineer Milind Deshpande, 53, says that mudras have definitely been more beneficial to him than modern medicine. My daughter had chronic cough, cold and allergy problem, he says. Our doctor would prescribe medicines but the condition would recur after a few days. She started practising linga mudra in two sessions of 10 minutes a day. Linga mudra helps increase heat in your body. The effect was dramatic. Within a few sessions her condition was brought under control. My wife had an issue with bone density. Her back would start paining when she had to stand for a long time. She started practising akasha mudra before meals and that helped to enhance calcium absorption from food. Within a month her problem disappeared and she stopped taking calcium tablets. Apana and prana mudras can be done for general wellbeing, linga mudra and akasha mudra for specific conditions. When the condition goes, you can stop doing the mudras.

Up and about: sonal joshi says she was almost bed-ridden before she started using yoga and mudras to heal herself | Vikas Ramdas

Anil Mayekar, 63, who works as a secretary in a company in Mumbai, says he started practising mudras three years ago. After I started doing apana mudra, which is for getting rid of toxins in the body, I havent got any disease. In the three years since I started doing mudras, I havent taken a single tablet. Even when I get a cold or sneezing, I do linga mudra and I get relief when the water in my body dissipates, he says. I wake up at 3:15am and do apana mudra for 48 minutes. Then I go for a morning walk when I practise prana mudra for 48 minutes. Around 6am I rest for half an hour. I head to office at 8am. Even when I sit in front of the PC from 8am to 5:30pm I dont get exhausted. Mudras have not just built my confidence and stamina but have also brought my diabetic condition under control. I also lead a simple lifestyle and eat non-veg only once a month. I dont have words to explain how much mudra therapy has helped me.

But can mudras really bring under control medical conditions like diabetes? I asked Dr Pradeep Gadge, diabetologist at Gadge Diabetes Centre, Mumbai.

I was not aware of mudra therapy until a few years back, he tells me. In medical college you are made to believe that allopathy is the best branch of medicine. This is something Ive been opposing for many years now. I like to read about ayurveda and homoeopathy. Five or six years ago, a patient told me that he had used mudras successfully and that sparked my interest in them. I believe that it is possible to treat certain chronic diseases like diabetes and arthritis using different finger postures. Every second patient I meet is not just stressed but is suffering from anxiety or depression. Their disease gets aggravated because of stress. Mudras combined with yoga alleviate stress and give you peace of mind, leading to an improvement in your medical condition. It is true that the psyche has a role to play in each and every disease, especially chronic ones. It is a fact that when youre happy, neurotransmitters are produced that cause vasodilation of blood vessels. I advocate holistic medicine which combines all these different therapies, which will be effective for the betterment of the patient.

Dr B.K. Chandra Shekhar, healer and practitioner of psychoneurobics, says that there are two types of energy in the body. The first is the biochemical energy which can be tested in the laboratory through a drop of blood. This is the energy that comes from food. Suppose you have a deficiency of iron or calcium in the body, the doctors and scientists will be able to rectify it. But they cant do anything about the second type of energy which is the bioelectrical energy or the spiritual energy. God is the only source of this, says Chandra Shekhar. Spiritual energy can be converted into emotional energy which is carried to the body through the mind. The mind is the instrument that can change thoughts and emotions into energy, just like how a bulb changes electrical energy into light energy. This energy is then sent to the brain which turns it into chemicals. Happy energy, for example, leads to the release of whats known as the happy hormone. Neural law means closing one nerve and allowing energy to pass through another nerve. So, for example, the prana mudra will send energy to the brain. The agni mudra will direct it to the abdominal region.

But can it be proved that energy can be distributed in the body? It is absolutely possible to split energy and direct it to different parts of the body, says Dr Padmini Krishnan, a kuchipudy dancer and a diabetologist. For a dancer, this is through body movement and foot work. I have been dancing for 31 years now. Ill watch a students foot movement and say: dont put so much energy there. I know exactly how to spread the energy in my body. But this comes only through practice. Its just like learning to drive. You need practice to learn when to press the clutch and when to change the gear.

Krishnan, like any good dancer, has a natural grace about her. Not just her face, but her whole body is expressive. To emphasise a point, she uses a specific body posture. When she shows me a mudra, her body seems to align with the emotion that the mudra is used to express. She communicates with her body, not just with her voice.

There are three categories of mudras in kuchipudy, she tells me. Thirteen samyuta hasthas in which you use both hands, 24 asamyuta hasthas and 29 nritta hasthas. This is based on Bharatamunis natyashastra. There are two aspects to healing through dance. There is the physical healing that takes place with ones knowledge and then there is the psychological healing which takes place without ones knowledge. There are several flexor, extensor and abductor muscles in the hands. There is no doubt that mudras help to strengthen these muscles. One of my students used to be an infantile hemiplegic girl who couldnt move her hands and now, through the use of mudras and dance, she can. Mudras can also increase movement in those with movement restriction and relieve the pain of those suffering from conditions like arthritis.

Relaxation mantra: Dr Shyam Bhat says that in a condition like anxiety, where the hands are held tight, a hand position that reminds you of the metaphor of letting go can be relaxing to the mind | Bhanu Prakash Chandra

Take carpel tunnel syndrome. The median nerve lies under the tunnel of the wrist joint. In this disease, there is a thickening of the band that leads to compression inside and affects the median nerve which, in turn, affects the thumb, index finger, middle finger and half of the ring finger. This leads to numbness and a tingling sensation. Mudras can improve and prevent this condition. In systemic lupus erythematosus, the hand movement is restricted and in de Quervains tenosynovitis, there is painful inflammation and the thumb is affected. In this case, one can do thumb extension mudras like shikharam and mushti. The transformation from one mudra to another also helps. We use different mudras to flex, abduct and adduct. For example, strengthening of the muscles and stretching of the tendons are possible through mudras like tripataka, mukulam and aralam.

The hands are also great storytellers, not just of the trajectory of your life but of your health as well, writes paediatrician Dr Gita Mathai in her blog post on medical palmistry. People with mental illnesses, for example, have more open loops and fewer whorls on their fingertips. If your index, middle and ring fingers are of the same length, then you might be suffering from congenital hypothyroidism and certain renal diseases. Obese people tend to hold their hands with their thumbs facing backward when they stand. People of normal weight stand with their palms facing forward. There might be great secrets hidden in your fingers. It is now the role of science to dig them out.
An India-origin refugee lawyer in Toronto took to Facebook to vent about her experience with bureaucrats who schedule cases for refugees in Canada.

By India Today Web Desk: We don't seem to hear the end of as to how Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accepting refugees in Canada borders. However, reports have it that this "welcome" is not as gracious as it is being portrayed to be.

Aurina Chatterji, an India-origin refugee lawyer in Toronto, took to Facebook recently to vent about her experience in the system.

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Chatterji, who goes by the name Aurina Cee on Facebook, writes about how hearings of her refugee clients have been repeatedly cancelled over time, without being rescheduled.

Chatterji goes on to complain that while the scheduling officers keep cancelling such cases of her refugee clients, refugees remain stuck in the system as 'asylum seekers'.

The refugee lawyer ends her post by saying that refugees are being "fed horse sh*t about being welcome here [in Canada]," and that the lack of activeness on the bureaucrats' part should turn into a "public scandal,".

Here is here full post:

"I am really sick of hearing about how refugees are welcome in Canada. Oh really? Is that why over 60 hearings at my office have been cancelled without being rescheduled since October? Why my requests for rescheduling asap for especially vulnerable clients go routinely unanswered? Is that why every time I speak to a scheduling officer they rudely tell me they can't do anything about it? Is that why their voice mail messages explicitly ask you not to ask them about rescheduling? Is that why when I called to confirm my hearing yesterday, I got a snarky "why wouldn't it proceed" response only to make it to the Board this morning to find out it had, of course, been cancelled? Meanwhile refugees marinate in the anxiety and uncertainty of their futures, their files languishing in some bureaucrat's office, neither refugees nor failed refugee, just the purgatory of being an asylum seeker being fed horsesh*t about being welcome here. I don't know why this isn't yet a public scandal but it goddamn should be."

|| Read more at FYI ||

Watch: Away from war, Syrian refugee children enjoy their first snow in Canada

Trump rejects, world accepts: Iceland president invites refugees to his residence

That's what we do in Canada. We help: Heart-warming moment when Canadians helped lost Syrian family

|| Watch more ||

--- ENDS ---
Rajinikanth's meeting with his fans, which was scheduled from April 12 to 16, has been postponed indefinitely. It has been 10 years since the elusive movie star personally met his admirers. At a time when there is much gossip about his entering politics, his meeting with fans becomes significant. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called on Rajinikanth at his residence a few days before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and had a cordial meeting with him. Rajinikanth on board the BJP will be an electoral trump card for the party, as they have not yet managed to make inroads in the state.

Disappointment was writ large in the faces of the movie star's fans who were eagerly waiting to meet him. Rajinikanth, in an exclusive audio message to his fans, said that the meeting has been postponed. He will meeting them on a later date, when he can spend more time with the fan associations from each district.

Rajinikanth dominated the headlines for the last few months as his Robot 2.0, directed by Shankar, is close to completion. After cancelling his trip to Sri Lanka following protests by Tamil fringe groups, the fan associations had arranged a meeting with his admirers. The association representatives met at Raghavendhra marriage hall in Chennai, on April 2, to discuss the arrangements that would have to be made. It was said that Rajinikanth would be available from April 12 to April 16 to pose for pictures with his fans. It was decided that Rajinikanth will pose for photos with at least 2000 fans from four to five districts each day. At least 300 people from each district will be allowed to pose with him, it was announced.

Rajinikanth is currently working on Robot 2.0, a directorial venture by Shankar, produced at a whopping Rs 600 crore budget. The science fiction movie is touted to be the costliest film ever made in India. With Akshay Kumar and Amy Jackson in the lead, Robot 2.0 is said to be shot completely in India, following Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' campaign. Robot 2.0 is scheduled for release this Diwali.
Curfew was imposed in Bhadrak town of Odisha on Saturday as fresh violence erupted in some areas over alleged abusive remarks on social media on Hindu gods Ram and Sita.

"As fresh violence broke out in several areas of the town, the administration imposed curfew in order to bring the situation under control," Bhadrak Superintendent of Police Dilip Das said.

After the town witnessed violent incidents on Friday, in protest against the posting of objectionable comments on social media about Ram and Sita, the administration had called a peace committee meeting, in a bid to restore normalcy and maintain communal harmony.

However, after the peace committee meeting failed to yield any result, a mob clashed with police personnel and pelted stones. Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), Sudhakar Jena, was injured and a police vehicle was damaged in the incident, police said.

One group took out a procession and allegedly raised objectionable remarks that evoked sharp reaction from other sections.

Police resorted to lathi-charge and used mild force to control the situation as attempts were made to violate the prohibitory orders imposed under Section 144 of CrPC.

Road blockades were put at various places, including the High school, Town hall, Bonth and Akhandalamani Chhak.

The state government appointed Gyanaranjan Das, who was the Commissioner of Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC), as Bhadrak Collector and asked him to take charge immediately.

Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Krishan Pal Gurjar, who was scheduled to attend a function in Bhadrak, said he has been informed about the tense situation in the town by the police.

"Unless the situation improves in Bhadrak, I will not visit the town," he said.

Trouble erupted on Friday after alleged abusive comments went viral on social media. Angry people, including youth members from Bajarang Dal, VHP and Sri Ramnavami Committee, staged demonstration before the Bhadrak Town Police Station.

They also lodged the written complaint with the police and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits.

Meanwhile, president of Bhadrak Muslim Jamaat, Abdul Bari, in a statement, condemned the alleged remarks about Ram and demanded appropriate action against those involved in the episode.
A 26-year-old Indian man has been shot dead allegedly by two masked armed robbers at a convenience store of a gas station in the US state of Washington.

Vikram Jaryal, who worked as a clerk in the store at AM-PM Gas Station in Yakima city, was behind the counter when two people in masks came in and robbed the store yesterday.

Police said the clerk handed the suspects money, but one of the suspects fired at him.

Jaryal was taken to the hospital where he later died.

"The victim was able to tell officers what happened when they arrived a few minutes later; but tragically, he died a short time later at the hospital," police was quoted as saying by the NBC Right Now channel.

Jaryal hailed from Hoshiarpur district in Punjab and had shifted to the US about a month ago, his elder brother told PTI.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj condoled the "tragic death" after she was informed about the incident by the victim's brother through Twitter, seeking her help in bringing back the body.

"My heartfelt condolences on your brother's tragic death. I am asking @IndianEmbassyUS to provide all help and assistance," Swaraj said.
Tension was palpable across Kashmir ahead of the bypolls for Srinagar Parliamentary constituency on Sunday.

The Anantnag Parliamentary constituency will go to polls on April 12.

The Centre has rushed additional 25,000 paramilitary forces to Kashmir for augment the security in view of poll-boycott call by separatists and threats by militants

The by-polls are the first big test for the PDP-BJP coalition government and the Centre as they come in the wake of recent separatist uprising in which over 96 people, mostly youth were killed and over 10,000 were injured.

Reports of stone pelting by mobs, 'pro-azadi' protests and threat by militants have created an atmosphere of fear across Kashmir. In the afternoon, a petrol bomb exploded in downtown Srinagar but no one was hurt.

Additional troops, who were rushed in from outside the state, were stranded on the Srinagar-Jammu highway due to bad weather, and finally proceeded to Kashmir.

A government school housing a polling booth at Yaripora in Budgam was set ablaze on Friday night causing damages to the building .

Stone-pelters attacked a polling party in Beerwa on Saturday when they were being deployed for election duties. Security forces guarding the polling party fired in air to disperse the mob.

All arrangements are in place. Polling parties are on way to respective places. We have deployed adequate security forces at each and every polling station,'' said state chief electoral officer Shantmanu.

By polls are being held in Srinagar due to resignation by Tariq Hamid Karra from the PDP and Parliament in protest against the civilian killings during the summer unrest of 2016.

Kara has joined the Congress which has formed an alliance with the NC against the PDP. The NC-Congress has jointly fielded Farooq Abdullah in Srinagar and Congress leader G.A. Mir in Anantnag.

Amid rising tension and militant threat, all the 1,559 polling booths have declared sensitive and hypersensitive

Any participation in elections tantamount to treason with martyrs blood and even an act of disgrace for sacrifices presented by our sisters, said Ayaz Akbar, spokesman of the hard-line Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Geelani.

Meanwhile, a group of militants at Kareemabad in Pulwama asked people to wave black flag instead of Pakistan flags during rallies and funeral of militants. They also asked people to support the Pakistani Taliban as they were fighting for the imposition of Islamic rule in Pakistan.

We shall have to go to India and Pakistan to enforce Islamic system,'' one of the masked militants said at the grave of Nasir Pandith, who died exactly the same day last year. Pandith was in police and later joined militants

Why did I ask you to raise pro-Taliban slogans? It is because Taliban wants Islamic system in Pakistan. We should love Taliban. Listen carefully. It is a matter of Sharia and Shahadat, he said.

Later, the United Jihad Council (UJC), an umbrella group of over a dozen groups based in PoK, said the militant who had asked people not to wave Pakistani flags and glorified the terrorist organisation of Tehreek Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had been identified and they dont belong to any militant outfit.

We warn them of dire consequences if they do not stop following the agenda of enemies, the UJC spokesman told a local news agency. ''The nation is united this time and to create disunity is the agenda of the enemy, he said.
First he broke the protocol to receive Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the airport. A day later, he wore pink during the official meeting. They laughed together when an MC made a gaffe. Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened purse strings for India's neighboursanctioning $ 500 million for military hardware and another $4.5 billion for infrastructure building. She carried bag full of gifts for everyone here.

Their chemistry was apparent.

This is an exceptional relationshipa fraternal relationship, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said on the India Bangladesh ties.

Talking of Modi-Hasina meeting, Jaishankar added both leaders discussed bilateral issues and were satisfied with the progress.

Twenty-two agreements were signed on the first day, ranging from sectors like development, science technology, nuclear energy, defence and culture. More than agreements, these were practical steps to take the relationship forward, the foreign secretary added.

When Modi and Hasina met for bilateral meeting at the Hyderabad House, the PM said, Your visit to India comes at an auspicious time, just before the advent of Poila Baisakh (Bengali New year). I take this opportunity to wish you and the people of Bangladesh happy new year. Your visit marks another golden era in the friendship between our people and our nations.

Modi then went on to announce one of the biggest line of credit to a nation during a bilateral meeting. I announce a new concessional Line of Credit of 4.5 billion dollars for the implementation of projects in priority sectors for Bangladesh. This brings our resource allocation for Bangladesh to more than 8 billion dollars over the past six years, he said.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was also present during the lunch hosted by the prime minister. Hasina is looking for a favourable response from Banerjee so that the latter could help in signing of Teesta water treaty which is held up. Bangladeshi PM will host a dinner for Mamata Banerjee on Saturday evening.

Hasina would attend a business meeting where 12 agreements are expected to be signed, with total worth of $ 9 billion.

Hasina certainly would have sufficient goodies to showcase to her home crowd when she returns on April 12 after paying a visit to Ajmer Dargah.
She came in a wheelchair, draped in a cream saree, her hair tied with a scarf; Param Vir Charka Lance Naik Albert Ekka's ailing and ageing widow Balamdine met Bangladeshi Prime minister Sheikh Hasina at an event at the Manekshaw Centre in Delhi Cantonment, where Hasina offered her a memento to honour the sacrifice of her husband for the cause of Bangladesh.

It was a somber occasion as Hasina and Prime minister Narendra Modi recalled the sacrifices of the 1661 Indian soldiers who were martyred in the war that led to the creation of Bangladesh. The hall was packed with veterans of the war, and the families of the martyrs as Hasina honoured the families of seven of the martyrs. The history of Bangladesh has been written by the blood of the Indian martyrs along with valiant freedom fighters of Bangladesh. The story of their sacrifice will be remembered from generation to generation,'' said Hasina, adding that she had started the initiative to recall the contribution of foreign friends of the Liberation War of 1971'' in 2009.

Modi, on his part, extended India's largesse to Muktijodhas (Bangla freedom fighters) extending an existing scholarship scheme for families of these fighters by another 10,000. India has also offered five year multiple entry visas to the Muktijodhas and offered free medical treatment for 100 of them under a special scheme.

Modi said that while Bangladesh had thrived as a free country, which reflected on several human indices (life expectancy which is even better than India, improved child mortality and economic growth), India was always ready to offer its friend all assistance. He repeated his pet slogan Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas (inclusive growth), giving it a meaning that transcending national growth. He said he dreamt of taking all neighbouring countries along with India on the path to progress. Modi, however, pointed out that there is a mentality in South Asia opposed to the approach of India and Bangladesh to promote development; this mentality nurtures and inspires terrorism.''

Without mentioning Pakistan by name, Modi made several digs at the neighbouring country. He said that it was April, back in 1971, when the most inhuman atrocities were began inflicted on people of Bangladesh and that as the two countries celebrate their friendship and honour the martyrs, it was also a day to reject the abhorrent mentality behind the tragedies inflicted upon Bangladesh.

The function saw the attendance of top military brass as well as top BJP leaders. Apart from Defence Minister Arun Jaitley and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, BJP veterans L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi were also present.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is on a four-day-long state visit to India, has brought gifts for the Indian leadership with her, including the president and prime minister.

Prime Minister Hasina has brought a Punjabi pair of silk pyjamas, artworks, a dinner set, a leather bag set, four kilogram of kalojam and rosgolla, two kilogram sandesh, 20 kilogram of hilsa and two kilograms of yogurt for Indian President Pranab Mukherjee.

Bangladesh foreign ministry sources were quoted by the Daily Star as saying that there was also a silk sari as gift for the president's daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee.

She will also present a dinner set, a leather bag, two kilograms of rosgolla and kalojam and one kilogram of sandesh to Indian Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari.

Prime Minister Hasina will give her Indian counterpart Modi a leather office bag set, four kilograms of kalojam and rosgolla, two kilograms of sandesh and four kilograms of yogurt.

She has also bought a Rajshahi silk sari for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mother.

Prime Minister Hasina will gift a Rajshahi silk sari, a tea set, two kilograms of rosgolla and kalojam, one kilogram of sandesh and two kilograms of yogurt to Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

She would give West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee a Benarasi sari, two kilograms of rosgolla and kalojam, one kilogram of sandesh and two kilograms of yogurt.

Prime Minister Hasina will be presenting a silver boat each for Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, State Minister for External Affairs Vijay Kumar Singh and State Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Babul Supriyo.

Prime Minister Hasina arrived in New Delhi on Friday to kickstart her four-day state visit to the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi received his Bangladeshi counterpart at the technical area of Palam Airport.

"Delighted to welcome H.E. Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister of Bangladesh, on her state visit to India. PM Sheikh Hasina and I are determined to take the relationship between our nations to a new level," Modi tweeted.

Officials from Hasina's entourage took selfies with Prime Minister Modi.

The two leaders are expected to hold official talks on a range of issues including an inter-governmental agreement on civil nuclear energy.

According to the Dhaka Tribune, India and Bangladesh may sign around 33 deals and Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) on trade and commerce, economy and connectivity, and on defence related issues.








When the highest constitutional authorities of India sat together for a few hours to do some loud thinking over India's electoral practices and laws, they had a lot to point out as flaws of the system.

President Pranab Mukherjee pointed out that no party has got 51 per cent of the popular votes in any general election in India, and so whether it was time India moved over from the present first-past-the-post system to something like the list system. The closest [to 50 per cent of votes that any party won] were when the Congress led by Jawaharlal Nehru won 48 per cent and Rajiv Gandhi's Congress won 48.6 per cent, he pointed out.

The list system is a method of voting for several candidates, usually members of the same political party, with one mark of the ballot. Electors vote for one of several lists of candidates, usually prepared by the political parties. Each party is granted seats in proportion to the number of popular votes it receives. The system is followed in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Mukherjee also pointed out that in the present system of governance, the views of the other parties do not get reflected in governance. Views of other parties do get reflected in coalition governments, but those governments are inherently unstable.

Chief Justice of India J.S. Kehar seemed to be worried about parties seeking votes by promising much in manifestos and then forgetting the promises after the election. He would rather want the political parties to be held accountable on these promises.

He had more issues with manifestos. None of the manifestos of the major parties released during the 2014 general elections indicated any link between electoral reforms and the Constitutional goal of ensuring economic-social justice to the marginalised sections.

Pursuant to the Supreme Court's directions to the Election Commission of India to formulate guidelines against freebies, the latter has been taking action against parties for violation of the model code of conduct, but that's it.

Justice Dipak Misra, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, stressed on the need for electoral reforms saying that "purchasing power has no room in elections" and a candidate must bear in mind that "contesting elections is not an investment". Holding of elections has to be "bereft of or sans criminalisation" and people should vote for candidates based on their high moral and ethical values and "not on their competitive demerits".

But it was not all dismal views. Chief Justice Kehar pointed to the progress made by Indian Punjab in achieving socio-economic goals while the Pakistani part of Punjab remains largely feudal. He attributed the progress made by Indian Punjab to the land reforms laws and the industrial disputes act. The two reformatory laws ensured workmen steady income and sustenance from steady jobs.

Moderated by sitting Supreme Court judges and senior advocates, the two-day deliberations on economic reforms with reference to electoral Issues is being organised by the Confederation of the Indian Industry, and attended by members of the bar, sitting and retired high court judges, jurists, law teachers and law students.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold talks with his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina in New Delhi on Saturday to discuss ways to further deepen ties between the two countries.

Hasina landed in New Delhi for her four-day India-visit and was personally received by Modi at the airport on Friday. On Saturday, she was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

This is her first bilateral visit to India in seven years. She last visited the country in January 2010.

Modi informed on Twitter today that both of them will honour Indian soldiers martyred in the 1971 war. "At 3:30 PM today, PM Sheikh Hasina & I will join a programme to honour Indian soldiers martyred in the 1971 war, at the Manekshaw Centre," he tweeted.

Will hold talks with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, during which we will discuss ways to further deepen ties between India & Bangladesh.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 8, 2017 At 3:30 PM today, PM Sheikh Hasina & I will join a programme to honour Indian soldiers martyred in the 1971 war, at the Manekshaw Centre.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 8, 2017

During Hasina's visit, which is her first after Modi assumed office in 2014, the two sides will be signing at least 25 pacts in various key sectors including civil nuclear cooperation and defence but any agreement on the Teesta water sharing is unlikely to be inked.

Modi and Hasina, who is staying at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, will hold comprehensive discussions today. India is also set to announce a line of credit of $500 million to Bangladesh for military supplies.

Officials here have said, "It will be a visit without water, indicating that a pact on Teesta river waters is not on the cards. The central government will not go ahead with the agreement on Teesta without taking West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on board and she has been opposing it stridently citing water crisis in the state."

However, the two sides are looking at the inking of a framework agreement on civil nuclear energy that will provide for extensive cooperation in the sector including setting up of nuclear reactors in Bangladesh by India.

"It will be a very very special visit. We hope the visit will take the ties between the two countries to new level," Joint Secretary in the Bangladesh-Myanmar division of the external affairs ministry Sripriya Ranganathan told reporters.

On Teesta pact, she said, "Teesta agreement remains a work in progress...We have not reached a closure on it."

The Teesta deal was set to be signed during the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Bangladesh in September 2011, but was postponed at the last minute due to objections by Banerjee.

Teesta water is crucial for Bangladesh especially in the leanest period from December to March when the water flow often temporarily comes down to less than 1,000 cusecs from 5,000 cusecs.

Issues like combating terrorism, containing radicalism and enhancing security cooperation between the two countries are likely to figure prominently, besides stalemate over the Teesta pact during talks between Modi and Hasina.

The West Bengal chief minister has accepted an invitation by the government to attend the launch of some projects between the two countries as well as a lunch to be hosted by Modi in honour of Hasina.

On the agreements, Ranganathan said another pact on formalising regular defence engagements will also be signed.

To boost trade, the two sides are likely to announce setting up of another set of trade facilitation huts along the borders in the northeastern region.

Hasina will visit Ajmer on Sunday and will meet Indian business leaders on Monday.

Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Babul Supriyo is the minister-in-waiting for the Bangladesh PM.
A day ahead of polling for by-election to the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat, miscreants stepped up attacks on polling staff and polling stations in Kashmir's Budgam district, police said on Saturday.

Some miscreants tried to set ablaze a government school building, designated as a polling station, in Narbal area of Budgam district late on Friday, DGP S.P.Vaid said.

He said the building was saved by the timely action of police personnel deployed in the area.

In a separate incident, a group of youth pelted stones at polling staff, who were on their way to a polling station, in Beerwah area of Budgam on Saturday morning, a police official said.

The police swung into action and chased away the accused, the official said, adding no one was hurt in the brief clashes.

Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency, spread over three districts of Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal, is scheduled to go to polls on Sunday.

The by-poll has been necessitated by resignation of then PDP leader and member Lok Sabha Tariq Hameed Karra, protesting against the "atrocities" by security forces during the summer unrest triggered by the killing of Hizbul Mujhaideen commander Burhan Wani in an encounter in July 2016.
Stalin alleged that it is not new for AIADMK to give money to get votes.

By Pramod Madhav: Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam(DMK) working President MK Stalin today asked for a CBI inquiry after IT raids were carried out at health minister Vijayabhaskar's residence on allegations that he was paying off voters ahead of bypolls.

"I'm extremely shocked to hear the news of IT raids at Vijayabhaskar's house whereupon documents have been acquired that indicate distribution of around Rs 89 crore at RK Nagar constituency ahead by-elections, which questions possibility of free and fair elections", he said.

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Stalin alleged that it is not new for AIADMK to give money to get votes.

"Even in last Assembly polls, we pleaded with the Election Commission to stop them from giving money to voters but EC only stood blind to our complaints and that is why we lost by 1 per cent and now ministers are using scientific technology to distribute money which is equal to murdering democracy", he condemned.

He has now demanded dismissal of any minister found to be paying off voters at RK Nagar constituency or any other and a CBI inquiry. He also added that EPS should take responsibility for the resignation of such ministers.

Also read: RK Nagar by-poll: Clash between AIADMK's OPS and EPS faction; Madhusudhanan's vehicle damaged

Also read: RK Nagar bypoll: Has AIADMK's OPS faction gone too far by using Amma's coffin replica?

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Russia warned on Friday that U.S. cruise missile strikes on a Syrian air base could have "extremely serious" consequences, as President Donald Trump's first major foray into a foreign conflict opened up a rift between Moscow and Washington.

The warships USS Porter and USS Ross in the Mediterranean Sea launched dozens of Tomahawk missiles at the Shayrat air base, which the Pentagon says was involved in a chemical weapons attack this week.

It was Trump's biggest foreign policy decision since taking office in January and the kind of direct intervention in Syria's six-year-old civil war his predecessor Barack Obama avoided.

The strikes were in reaction to what Washington says was a poison gas attack by the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that killed at least 70 people in rebel-held territory. Syria denies it carried out the attack.

They catapulted Washington into confrontation with Russia, which has advisers on the ground aiding its close ally Assad.

"We strongly condemn the illegitimate actions by the U.S. The consequences of this for regional and international stability could be extremely serious, Russia's deputy U.N. envoy, Vladimir Safronkov, told a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Friday.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev charged that the U.S. strikes were one step away from clashing with Russia's military.

U.S. officials informed Russian forces ahead of the missile strikes and avoided hitting Russian personnel.

Satellite imagery suggests the base houses Russian special forces and helicopters, part of the Kremlin's effort to help Assad fight Islamic State and other militant groups.

Trump has frequently urged improved relations with Russia, strained under Obama over Syria, Ukraine and other issues, was hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Thursday night when the attack occurred.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, in Florida with Trump, said on Friday the United States would announce additional sanctions on Syria in the near future but offered no specifics.

Russia's Defence Ministry responded to the attack by calling in the U.S. military attache in Moscow to say that at midnight Moscow time it would close down a communications line used to avoid accidental clashes between Russian and U.S. forces in Syria, Interfax new agency said. U.S. warplanes frequently attack Islamic State militants in Syria and come close to Russian forces.
By Shivangi Thakur: Salman Khan is returning to an in-house model for managing his business arrangements. To kick off, Salman is doing a concert tour of Asia Pacific spearheaded by his brother Sohail Khan.

It is well known that the actor's family used to manage his business arrangements before he signed up with Reshma Shetty's Matrix nine years ago.

The actor and Matrix confirmed that it has been a very close and successful relationship, and they will continue to interact on specific opportunities. Matrix will continue to service ongoing contracts as well as conclude deals that are at an advanced stage of negotiation.

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Apart from producing movies and ads in-house, the actor is also working on launching his own brand of e-bicycles and gym equipment. His Being Human clothing line is already among the most successful brands in India.

The actor will be seen next in Kabir Khan's Tubelight and Ali Abbas Zafar's Tiger Zinda Hai opposite Katrina Kaif.

ALSO READ: Is Arpita Khan Sharma upset with brother Salman Khan for THIS reason?

ALSO READ: Are Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif giving their relationship another chance?

ALSO WATCH: Salman Khan says Katrina is a friend, all animals are friends

--- ENDS ---
Hillary Clinton says President Donald Trumps reasoning for ordering airstrikes against Syria conflicts with his attempt to ban Syrian refugees from entering the United States.

Speaking Friday in Houston, the former secretary of state says she hopes the Trump administration will follow Thursdays strike on a Syrian air base with a broader strategy. Trump ordered the strike Thursday night in response to a deadly chemical attack U.S. officials have blamed on the Syrian military.

Clinton adds that the U.S. could not in one breath speak of protecting Syrian babies and in the next, close Americas doors to them.

A federal judge has stayed Trumps executive order to suspend admissions of immigrants from six Muslim-majority countries, including Syria, and halt the U.S. refugee program.

(AP)
By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for the Five Towns Jewish Times

To get some context, July 4th, 1776, was on a Thursday.

Imagine, lhavdil, if the founding fathers of the United States were to declare Independence Day as the first Thursday of every July rather than on the fourth of July. Everyone would ask the question as to why it was done this way  why on the day of the week rather than the day of the month? But, lhavdil, this is what we do on this Shabbos.

WHY NO DATE?

A great miracle happened on Shabbos HaGadol. Yetzias Mitzrayim, the Gemorah tells us, happened on a Thursday (Shabbos 87b). Therefore, the miracle that occurred on Shabbos happened on the tenth of Nissan. Most of the commentaries (Tur 430) tell us that Shabbos HaGadol is celebrated and called with this name on account of that great miracle that transpired on that day. If so, why was it established on the Shabbos before Pesach rather than on the tenth of Nissan?

THE ACTUAL MIRACLE

To understand the answer to this question we must first go back and understand what the miracle was exactly, in the first place. The Tur explains that there was a great miracle in that sheeps were worshipped as a deity in Egypt. The very fact that all of Israel took thousands of sheeps and tied them to their beds in preparation for a shechita and the Mitzrim said nothing to them  is a remarkable miracle. This is Rashis understanding cited in Sefer HaPardes (page 343) and is also cited in Shibolei HaLeket (305).

Tosfos (Shabbos 87b vosos hayom), however, bring down a different miracle. The firstborn of Mitzrayim asked the Bnei Yisroel while they were taking the paschal lambs why they were doing so. They responded that it was an offering in appreciation for the fact that the firstborn of Mitzrayim were to be destroyed. Frightened, the firstborn of Mitzrayim returned to their fathers and to Paro to let the Jews go. When they did not, there was a civil war in Mitzrayim erupted, decimating Mitzrayim.

WHY SHABBOS?

Both the Levush and the Prisha (Siman 430) explain that the miracle happened on account of Shabbos observance. How so? The Mitzrim only asked the Jews about the paschal lambs because of their observance of Shabbos. The Prisha explains that the Mitzrim did not know that Jews are allowed to tie a temporary knot on Shabbos and thus posed their question.

The Maharal MiPrague explains that it was Shabbos itself which had caused the miracle. Shabbos is a testament to the Oneness of Hashem and that He had created the world. Shabbos is the great antidote to Avodah Zara and in her zchus the Mitzrim were unable to do anything to the Jewish people.

The Mogain Avrohom writes that the day that Miriam was to pass away was on the tenth of Nissan (See SA OC 580:2)  therefore that date was not chosen.

The author can be reached at [email protected]
By Press Trust of India: (Eds: Updating with additional details)

Mumbai, Apr 8 (PTI) Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, who was involved in a row with Air India, met party president Uddhav Thackeray today and explained his position over the issue.

The meeting, which lasted for 10 minutes at Shiv Senas central office at Dadar here, came after Air India, and other airlines, lifted the flying ban on Gaikwad after he expressed regret for assaulting an AI employee on March 23.

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Neither Thakceray nor Gaikwad disclosed to reporters what transpired in the meeting. However, party sources said Gaikwad explained his position over the whole controversy.

Gaikwad, the MP from Osmanabad, arrived here by the Rajdhani Express this morning after attending parliament proceedings earlier this week.

The lawmaker boarded the train from Delhi last evening hours after the flying ban was lifted by the national carrier following his letter to Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Thursday in which he expressed "regret" over the "unfortunate incident".

After Air India, the Federation of Indian Airlines, comprising four leading private carriers, today revoked the flying ban on Gaikwad.

Jet Airways, SpiceJet, GoAir and IndiGo make up the grouping.

In a statement, the FIA said its members are restoring the flying privileges to Gaikwad "under the assurance that our assets and colleagues shall be accorded the respect that they deserve for the hard work that they put in every day".

The decision has been taken consequent to Air India restoring flying privileges to Gaikwad after being satisfied with the statement given by him in the Lok Sabha where he expressed "regret" for assaulting an Air India staffer.

On March 24, Air India barred Gaikwad from flying with it after the incident at the Delhi airport. Subsequently, the FIA barred the Lok Sabha member from flying.

On Friday, sources had said the Civil Aviation Ministry asked Air India as well as other airlines to lift the ban imposed on Gaikwad citing the "undertaking of good conduct" given by him.

The 56-year-old Parliamentarian had assaulted AI employee R Sukumar on March 23 after he landed in Delhi on a Pune-Delhi all-economy flight. PTI VT IAS DK NM TIR

--- ENDS ---
West Bengal Chief Minister has widely been criticised for stalling India-Bangladesh Teesta river water agreement. But, a deeper analysis of the factors suggests that while Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina and PM Narendra Modi look on the same page over water-sharing agreement, Mamata still has a point.

Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina was received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. (Photo: @PMOIndia)

By Prabhash K Dutta: As many 54 rivers flow through India into Bangladesh. Teesta is one of them. The federal governments of both India and Bangladesh seem to be on the same page over Teesta river agreement. But, there is a stumbling rock in West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Mamata Banerjee is seen as a 'villain' by many in Bangladesh for holding back the Teesta river agreement. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is in India hoping that the present Narendra Modi government will convince Mamata Banerjee and pay the way for Teesta agreement.

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However, facts related to Teesta river should make Modi listen to Mamata Banerjee before committing to the water-sharing treaty even as many urge the Prime Minister to invoke Article 253 of the Constitution.

Article 253 gives the Centre power to sign any international or bilateral treaty without consultation of the affected state governments.

BANGLADESH IS A WATER-RICH COUNTRY

Compared to India, Bangladesh is a water-rich country for its territory-water availability ratio.

It is estimated that India has 1,907.8 billion cubic metres (BCM) water resources. Bangladesh has 1,211 BCM water resources. West Bengal has 176 BCM water as resource.

Though originating in the high Himalayas and fed by two glaciers and being a perennial river, the Teesta passes through a lean patch every year from November to April and at time till June.

Furthermore, most of Bangladesh falls under the international river basins of the Brahmaputra, the Ganga and Meghan rivers.

Teesta river (Photo: @PyramidRoutes)

SIKKIM IS ALSO AFFECTED

Besides West Bengal farmers, indigenous communities of Sikkim - particularly the Lepchas and Bhutias - are hugely dependent on the Teesta river for their livelihood.

Lepchas and Bhutias have led several protests against indiscriminate building of dams on Teesta river and proposed water-sharing treat between India and Bangladesh.

Even Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamlin has complained in the past that he was not consulted before finalising a draft agreement.

VILLAGERS, FARMERS DEPEND ON TEESTA

The villagers - settled both in the hills and the plains - are hugely dependent on the Teesta river. Traditionally, they pray for a regular supply of water in the river which gives them food and income by means of cultivation and fishery.

The paddy crop in the kharif season and pulses of rabi along with vegetables are heavily depended on the water availability - and thus the right to use the same by the villagers - in the Teesta.

The average annual flow of Teesta is 60 BCM. During lean season, the average flow in lower areas is just 6 BCM. West Bengal farmers feel the maximum heat.

Besides supporting thousands of families, Teesta is popular among tourists for rafting. (Photo: @indiannavy) Besides supporting thousands of families, Teesta is popular among tourists for rafting. (Photo: @indiannavy)

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BANGLADESH'S DEMAND DEFIES 'NATURAL JUSTICE'

Of the total catchment area of the Teesta, 83 per cent lies in India. The remaining only 17 percent is in Bangladesh. The catchment area in India is at 10,155 sq km compared with Bangladesh's 2004 sq km.

For a low volume river like Teesta, even a minor change in the right to use will adversely impact both the flow of the stream as well as the Indian farmers dependent on it.

Under such circumstances, Bangladesh's insistence on a 50-50 water-sharing formula does not augur well for the farmers of West Bengal. Mamata Banerjee's objection looks reasonable as what Sheikh Hasina has been asking for defies the principle of natural justice.

Teesta river near Sevoke at Siliguri in West Bengal (Photo: @Traveltalez)

THE GEOLOGICAL FACTOR

The Teesta agreement would lead to building more dams on the river, which flows through geographically rich but geologically volatile region.

Of its 150-km stretch in Sikkim, Teesta flows for about 45 kilometres through an earthquake-sensitive zone.

The Teesta treaty will add to the pressure to build proposed eight dams on it. The move may be detrimental for the region geologically and may invite a Latur-like earthquake.

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Teesta river valley attracts large number of tourists to Sikkim, where it carves its way through deep gorges and convulsions in the pristine Himalayan beauty. Many fear that India-Bangladesh Teesta water-sharing treaty may lead to silencing the river.

ALSO READ |

Narendra Modi, Sheikh Hasina ink 22 pacts, Teesta negotiations to continue

Sheikh Hasina in India: The Teesta story as PM Modi tries to convince CM Mamata

ALSO WATCH |

--- ENDS ---
Offensive: O'Leary called his own customers 'idiots' and Guardian readers 'loons'

We hear rather less of the Michael O'Leary of old these days. Time was when the motor-mouthed Ryanair boss, 56, and self-confessed 'jumped-up paddy', was a one-man quote machine.

So raucous were his press conferences, he could have charged journalists an entrance fee. Given his propensity for turning a quick buck, he probably gave it a whirl.

This was the fellow who's called his own customers 'idiots', Guardian readers 'loons', and suggested that all cyclists should be shot.

Other groups deserving of the O'Leary bullet include environmentalists ('luddites marching us back to the 18th century'), Aer Lingus pilots ('under-worked peacocks') and travel agents ('a waste of bloody time').

Over the past ten years he has offended the disabled, once charging a man with cerebral palsy 18 for a wheelchair to the plane.

He has outraged his own pilots, suggesting technology had made co-pilots obsolete. After dressing as the Pope during one particularly bizarre marketing stunt, he even managed to upset his own mother.

Today, the famous O'Leary gob has been muzzled. He appears tamed  neutered even  like an unruly cur whipped into line.

It's almost as though someone has finally located the volume nob next that cocksure Hibernian grin. Why this has happened, isn't clear. Middle-aged mellowing? Brexit anxiety (he thinks it'll be a disaster)?

Perhaps the public relations bods have simply convinced the old rascal to stop treating customers like the enemy.

Born into a wealthy farming family, the second child of six, he attended Clongowes Wood College, in County Kildare, a prominent Jesuit boarding school where the priests lashed him with leather straps.

He began his career as an accountant at KPMG, via Trinity College, Dublin, where his expertise in tax matters brought him into contact with Irish businessman Tony Ryan, who had set up a small airline, Ryanair, which was leaking cash. O'Leary was recruited to see what could be done.

Skinflint: Over the past ten years he has offended the disabled, once charging a man with cerebral palsy 18 for a wheelchair to the plane

His advice was to shut it down immediately. But old man Ryan was fond of his creation and so O'Leary was dispatched in 1991 on a fact-finding mission to Dallas, where Southwest airlines were rumoured to have developed a new vision for the industry.

There, the airline's cowboy hat-wearing founder, Herb Kelleher, delivered a sermon on the company's no-frills business model which left scales falling from the young O'Leary's eyes. He returned home to Ireland energised.

Forget the syrupy mysticism that flying was somehow glamorous, O'Leary insisted. It was boring. There would be no free drinks or snacks. Passengers should pay for everything, even hand luggage.

Cost-cutting measures were also applied to staff, who would pay for their own training and uniforms, even their own pens.

Such rampant savings meant customers won on the cost front  the airline's average ticket price remains around 36. But Ryanair also became a by-word for appalling customer service.

Passengers felt like cattle being prodded towards the abattoir. Complaints were ignored. Applications for refunds rejected.

Focus of their ire became the gurning face of O'Leary. Hated he might be, but in the words of that other brazen showman Liberace, O'Leary has been crying all the way to the bank.

Paid 2.7million last year, his wealth is put at 796million thanks to a 3 per cent holding in the carrier.

Like most work obsessives, he discovered romance late on in life. He married Anita, an investment banker, in 2003 when he was 40, after the pair met a year before at the wedding of Tony Ryan's son Shane.

For all his publicity seeking, he keeps his family life private. He and Anita live with their four children in a Georgian manor house near Mullingar, County Westmeath, where they breed racehorses.

After his horse Don Poli won last year's Grand National, he has five entries in today's famous race. None of them much fancied.

He withdrew his best horses, claiming they were victims of bias by the race's handicapper.

Typical O'Leary. Blaming the authorities, setting himself up as the underdog. If somehow he does come out on top again this afternoon, I fear we may never hear the end of it. Brace yourselves for the return of O'Loudmouth.
A chairman and chief executive are expected to be on the same page when a company launches a 3.7bn bid.

This ought to be especially true in the case of the Tesco offer for Booker, in that Britain's dominant grocer has only just emerged from a corporate nightmare during which it discarded global investments.

We know Richard Cousins of Compass was a prominent dissident about the Booker bid on the Tesco board, quitting in January without stating the reason.

Subsequently chief executive Dave Lewis revealed that Cousins 'was in a different place about the deal'.

Concerns: Tesco chairman John Allan reportedly has reservations over Tesco's proposed takeover of Booker

Lewis hinted at differences on the board over the transaction when he indicated that the 'overwhelming majority of the board were very happy with the proposal' implying some were not.

Among those thought to have reservations was none other than Tesco chairman John Allan, a person with strong business credentials from previous roles at Deutsche Post and Dixons Retail.

Allan was among those who felt the timing of the deal was infelicitous coming so soon after Tesco's escape from the padded profits scandal and before the company had fully re-established its credentials and stabilised the balance sheet.

When Cousins made it clear that he couldn't go along with the Booker deal, there was an apparent effort to persuade him to explain his departure with meaningless waffle about personal reasons.

Cousins would have none of it, and so his January departure became a matter of mystery until it was explained by Lewis.

Cousins's departure made it difficult for Allan, as non-executive chairman, to express his disquiet outside the confines of the boardroom without provoking a crisis.

To have done so could potentially have led Lewis, who has been leading the recovery drive, to head for the exit. Allan, apparently, swallowed his objections rather than provoke a crisis at the top.

Disclosure of high level disagreement at Tesco looks unlikely to assist a deal which already faces substantial obstacles. Two of the grocer's top investors, Schroders and Artisan Partners, have come out against the Booker bid, saying that the price is too high and will destroy value for existing investors.

But a survey by Bernstein suggests if a vote were taken now, some 70pc of investors would give their consent. A substantial minority of 30pc are against the deal or are demanding changes.

Moreover, the Competition & Markets Authority has significant objections to sift through. Nick Read, the boss of Nisa, which supplies 3,466 smaller shops, has warned that Britain's corner stores could be threatened because of Booker's buying power, range and ability to lower prices.

Nisa has a point. One of the glories of the grocery market in recent times is the way disrupters like Lidl and Aldi have kept the bigger chains on their toes by being price competitive. Mergers are rarely good for consumers.

They reduce choice. Giving Tesco, the biggest beast in the market, control over a wholesaler does not seem very sensible. It cannot be very healthy when the process of making a bid creates a rumpus at the very highest level of a FTSE 100 company.

Investors are warned.

Co-op pensions

One group of stakeholders watching latest machinations at the Co-operative Group are the 80,000 members of the Pace pension scheme, which includes the bank and retail group.

This week the Co-op retail, funeral services and insurance group revealed a 132million loss after absorbing a write-down of its 20 per cent holding in the bank to zero.

If the bank is sold, trustees of Pace will want to ensure that bank members of the pension scheme are fully protected by the 'covenant' or guarantee of new owners.

At present the buyout deficit in the scheme, the figure used by regulators to assess funding needs, is thought to be 1billion.

If the new owners of bank assets refuse to take on responsibility for the pensions, it would revert to the group which has a turnover of 9billion but struggles to make a profit.

Not much ethical about any of this.

Lloyds lessons

Fraud and high jinks of staff at the HBOS branch in Reading has cost owner Lloyds Bank another 100million in compensation to victims.

Lloyds is also commissioning a probe by a senior jurist to determine if there was a cover-up by senior executives, and a fresh investigation is being launched by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Pity that as Lloyds chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio prepares to mark an end of the Government stake, attention has been diverted by louche behaviour.
The typical property fund holds around 10 per cent of its money in cash and real estate stocks. David Wise's 432million Kames Property Income fund has 33 per cent.

It's a risky strategy  any money not put to work could be a missed opportunity to generate higher returns.

But it was a choice which meant his was one of the few property funds not forced to close its doors after last year's EU referendum.

Following the Brexit vote many of the biggest property funds suspended trading, which meant savers could not take their money out or put any more in.

David Wise's 432million Kames Property Income fund has returned 10.1 per cent over the past six months, compared to an average return among rivals of 1.3 per cent

Property funds invest in bricks and mortar, they own shopping centres, offices and blocks of flats. So, unlike funds which own company shares, if a flurry of investors want their money back they have to sell entire buildings.

One of the immediate fears after the Brexit vote was that property prices would plunge.

It proved largely untrue, but the fear alone saw thousands of investors rushing to get their cash out of property funds in case their savings took a tumble.

Funds locked their doors so they wouldn't have to enter a fire-sale of their assets just to raise enough money to meet those redemptions. It took months for some to start trading again. And in those months, Wise put his 33 per cent of cash to work.

He says: 'I was still surprised that Brexit happened, I didn't expect that. But it's my responsibility as a fund manager to make sure we are prepared for any eventuality, so that's what we did.'

His fund has returned 10.1 per cent over the past six months, compared to an average return among rivals of 1.3 per cent.

Frequently fund managers say they don't let political events or the economic outlook interfere with their investment decisions.

Wise disagrees: 'These things are important. They affect markets in a very big way and it's important to be aware of that.

We're cautious about Scotland at the moment because of the chance of a second independence referendum there.'

Property funds invest in bricks and mortar, they own shopping centres, offices and blocks of flats

He's also cautious on London, where he thinks property prices are too expensive and are due for a fall.

Wise has 37 assets in his investment portfolio and typically spends between 5m and 20million on each  he likes to find bargains.

While many investors have turned their attentions to industrial units and distribution centres  driven by the rise of online shopping  he has kept his focus on regional cities.

Sites in Bristol, Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle are favourites. These cities have been quietly flourishing yet there has been little building work in recent years so supply is limited, which means rents are rising.

'People are gloomy about the High Street, but there are opportunities if you know what to look for and there is less competition for the properties,' he says.

That's why he's just bought a retail location in Nottingham, in an area which is set to benefit from investment. Up-and-coming locations tend to produce better rental yields than expensive assets in popular areas.

In office buildings, media companies are some of his favourite tenants; they tend to attract bars and restaurants to set up nearby and regenerate an area.

With the current trend toward industrial, stripped-back decor they're also cheap to furnish.

Wise has also been snapping up pubs lately. It's an industry that's been hit hard in recent years, with pubs closing up and down the country every week.

'But these pubs are often in amazing locations, so even if it doesn't work and that company goes bust you have the opportunity to redevelop the site into a residential property,' says Wise.

And he's not shunning the capital entirely. Among his recent purchases are a gym in Finchley, North London, and a restaurant on the Strand.

Wise says: 'We're always rooting around for bargains. I'll own a lot more in the city in a year or two.'

Investing in such illiquid assets  unlike shares, property takes time to sell  is always a risk for savers, and for that reason many experts prefer to back property investment trusts rather than funds.

Investment trusts trade on the stock exchange like any other company share so they cannot suspend trading if there is a panic in the market. On the other hand they can see their share price plunge if sentiment turns against them.

Ben Yearsley, investment director at Shore Financial Planning, says: 'The fact this fund didn't close post-Brexit is very positive, but savers should still question whether an open-ended fund is the best way to invest in property.'
Hit: Sky broadcasts shows such as Games Of Thrones starring Emilia Clarke

Rupert Murdoch's attempt to take full control of Sky has been cleared by the European watchdog.

The European Commission approved the deal 'unconditionally' saying the proposed deal 'raised no competition concerns' in a statement.

It's a win for Murdoch, who launched an 11.7billion bid to buy the 61 per cent of Sky he doesn't already own in December.

However, the bid still faces hurdles in the UK.

Last month Culture Secretary Karen Bradley confirmed she was referring the takeover to Ofcom amid concerns the company would control too much of Britain's media.

Murdoch owns 39 per cent of Skythrough 21st Century Fox.

He also owns the Times and the Sun newspapers through News Corp.

Bradley said competition concerns and broadcasting standards were among the issues for the watchdog to look at.

Ofcom is carrying out a public interest test on the proposed deal, including a review of whether the holder of the broadcast licence is a 'fit and proper person'.

If the watchdog has concerns by the deadline of May 16, 21st Century Fox will have to address them and Bradley must decide whether to accept what it suggests.
David Dingle, chairman of cruise giant Carnival UK, has mixed views on the prospects for his industry after Brexit. A dramatic expansion of UK trade beyond Europe could be a huge boon for British shipping, he argues.

At the same time, stricter border controls after Brexit could provide a major headache for cruise passengers, hopping on and off ships at European ports.

With 10 million people a year holidaying on more than 100 cruise ships, Carnival is the worlds largest cruise operator.

Fears: David Dingle, chairman of Carnival UK has mixed views on the prospects after Brexit

Delays at British and European ports would mean far higher costs for its European arm, especially for Carnival UKs P&O Cruises and Cunard brands, whose ships include the Queen Mary 2 and Britannia.

Dingle says: If people are going to have extended immigration inspections, particularly when their cruise comes back to port, it means that theyre going to take much longer to get off the ship and go home. This means we cant turn the ship around as quickly as we normally would.

Our port stays would get longer and that gets very expensive. Equally we cant have our passengers in every European port taking hours to get ashore off the ship.

For example, every Monday, our German brand AIDA arrives in Southampton, bringing more than 3,000 German passengers, all very keen to get ashore as soon as possible and do tours to London, Bath, the New Forest and so on.

We cannot have a situation where its taking hours and hours for them to get ashore. That would be completely unacceptable and unnecessary, so we absolutely have to get that resolved.

We want to make sure these people dont have any worries about being able to continue to work in the UK

Dingle is also chairman of Maritime UK, the trade body for the nations shipping industry.

More than any industry, maritime has a unique role to play in making Brexit a success, he says. Its a global carrier of goods and people which transcends international boundaries.

Collaboration between Maritime UK and the Government is a way to make sure that the interests of the cruise industry in respect of Brexit are being looked after.

He adds: I think its probably a little too early for hope to turn into absolute confidence, but you have to believe that Europe should be able to see Britain as a major trading partner, particularly if Britain has the ability to reach out to the rest of the world and be a hub in terms of trade.

German cruise ship AIDA arrives in Southampton, bringing more than 3,000 German passengers every week

If you assume that the PMs goal of frictionless trade can be achieved, and lets hope it can be, then we can trade with Europe on the one hand and be more agile in our trade with the rest of the world because we are seeking bilateral agreements rather than having to seek agreement with 27 other member states.

Dingle is speaking a few days after returning from a Maritime trade mission to China where he sees opportunities.

He says: China is the most rapidly growing cruise market, growing at 30 to 40 per cent a year, which means ports in China and Japan are suddenly opening up.

Likewise, the India cruise market is developing fast, which is great for the southern India ports. But following the Brexit vote, Dingle is concerned for the European citizens who work for Carnival at its Southampton base.

We want to make sure these people dont have any worries about being able to continue to work in the UK and Im hopeful that will all be resolved quickly, he says.

Such concerns aside, the cruise industry has been enjoying a renaissance. Around 5 per cent of all Brits who take an overseas holiday go on a cruise. As a result, 1.9 million cruises are sold every year. Ten years ago it was probably half that, says Dingle.

Ever the optimist, he points out that slow but steady growth is actually good for the cruise market from an economic perspective, as only a small number of places build new ships so the market cant be flooded with new capacity, which keeps the industry very profitable, avoids price wars and makes us a very attractive business.

Security has become an increasing issue in the travel industry. Carnival ships are no longer stopping at Turkey, Tunisia or Egypt and they take on armed guards when sailing through the Suez Canal.

Renaissance: Around 5 % of Brits who take an overseas holiday go on a cruise

Were probably being ultra-sensitive, says Dingle, but people come on cruises because they feel safe there. Our concern is when they go ashore.

But as some destinations fall off the list, others  such as Israel and most recently Cuba  come back on, so we just roll with it, says Dingle philosophically. And he believes the cruise industry is largely unaffected by another travel trade talking point  school holiday pricing.

When the Supreme Court ruled last week that parents were not allowed to take their children out of school during term-time, fresh fury erupted over the perennial issue of holiday prices which are typically far higher during school holidays.

Father-of-two Dingle says: We dont have such an extreme difference between pricing during the summer holidays and the rest of the year as package holidays  just 5 or 10 per cent.

So its not the case that families would think they are being penalised by being overcharged in the summer.

Dingle takes holidays on the companys cruise ships and enthuses about a trip on the Queen Victoria he took with his wife last year. He says: We had a marvellous cruise from Venice to Athens.

There were four lovely ports of call, including Albania which Id never been too before.

I was pleasantly surprised what an amazing country it is. People there are hugely positive about the future of their country and they really want to be part of Europe.

Britain, meanwhile, is heading in the opposite direction.

Dingle declines to reveal how he voted, saying: Everybody has their own personal view, but the time for tears for joy or sorrow are past us. We need to move forward.

Brexit has done nothing to dampen demand for cruising and, in fact, the opposite seems to be the case, he declares. Then he adds cautiously: However, that could just be coincidence.
While PM Modi and her Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina are both keen on signing the Teesta agreement, Mamata Banerjee maintains that the pact will hurt West Bengal farmers.

By Prabhash K Dutta: The Teesta river agreement, hanging fire for 34 years, was almost signed but for the last-minute decision of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to miss the bus, literally, to Bangladesh in 2011. The then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh went to Dhaka, held meetings and came back. Teesta agreement was not signed.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is too keen on getting the deal done. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh is here in India to hold talks with hopes that things move forward. Sheikh Hasina has another election to contest next year and Teesta agreement could help her beat a two-term anti-incumbency.

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But, Mamata Banerjee is unwavering. Mamata maintains that the Teesta river agreement, as per the wishes of Bangladesh, will hurt West Bengal farmers.

WHAT IS TEESTA?

The Teesta river originates from almost the top of the Himalayas in Sikkim. The melting waters of the Kangse and Zemu glaciers form Tso Lhamo lake near the highest Himalayan peak in India - the mighty Kanchenjunga. The Teesta flows from there, majestically, through the high mountains downwards.

After meeting its most significant tributary, the Rangeet river near Teesta Bazaar in Darjeeling, Teesta springs to full life.

The Teesta flows through West Bengal and enters Bangladesh before merging with the Brahmaputra river (called Jamuna there) to drop into the Bay of Bengal.

Teesta travels nearly 414 kilometres on its journey from the high Sikkim Himalayan mountains to the Bay of Bengal. Of its total length about 150 kilometres lie in Sikkim, 123 km in West Bengal and about 140 km in Bangladesh, where it is the fourth largest river.

WHY IS TEESTA IMPORTANT?

West Bengal has the shortest stretch of Teesta flowing through it but thousands of farmers in Jalpaiguri, South Dinajpur and Darjeeling dependent its water for irrigation. Mamata Banerjee has to face panchayat polls in 2018. She would not want to annoy farmers of the state.

For Bangladesh, its rice belt is hugely dependent on Teesta. The catchment area of Teesta supports about 1 crore people - little less than nine per cent of Bangladesh's population. The farmers of Rangpur, Nilphamari, Gaibandha, Kurigram and Lalmonirhat are dependent on Teesta for irrigation.

During the dry season of April-June, both West Bengal and Bangladeshi farmers face shortage of water.

THE UNACCOMPLISHED TEESTA TREATY

To meet the irrigation needs of the farmers, the West Bengal government started building a barrage in the catchment area of Teesta in the early 1980s. While Bangladesh objected to it, the Government of India began negotiations.

An ad-hoc agreement was concluded between India and Bangladesh in 1983. The arrangement provided for 39 per cent Teesta water to India, 36 per cent to Bangladesh while 25 per cent was left 'unallocated'.

But, the understanding did not work. In 1984, a joint-river commission was formed to collect hydrological data and formulate a draft agreement for Teesta water sharing.

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Bangladesh has been insisting on 50-50 share of Teesta river water - particularly during the months between December and May.

WHAT DID THE JOINT-RIVER COMMISSION PROPOSE

The commission proposed enhanced water-share for Bangladesh. The new formula gave 42.5 per cent of Teesta water to India, 37.5 per cent to Bangladesh while 20 per cent was left 'unallocated'.

Work began on this formula and a draft agreement was agreed upon when Mamata Banerjee opted out of Manmohan Singh's visit to Bangladesh in 2011.

After the change of government in New Delhi, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasian renewed her efforts to finalise the Teesta agreement. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also expressed his willingness to close the deal.

During his visit to Bangladesh, Modi told his hosts that "Our rivers should nurture our relationship, not become a source of discord" clearly hinting that he was not yet ready to go ahead without taking Mamata Banerjee on board.

WATCH VIDEO

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With 282 flats, Manchesters landmark tower was supposed to help locals taking their first step onto the housing ladder.

But with all but 11 of the flats sold, 93.9 per cent of buyers at the 29-storey One Cambridge Street development are from overseas.

In an extraordinary United Nations of ownership, they come from 18 countries including Slovenia, Zimbabwe, Bahrain and Malaysia.

A housing development of 282 flats in central Manchester has only two British families living there due to foreign investors

In its planning application, CS development insisted the flats would be aimed at people hoping to 'make the step towards getting on to the housing ladder'

And while some flats are rented out, many are thought to be lying empty as investments that buyers hope will enable them to cash in on the UK property market.

Critics say the block is just one dramatic example of how foreigners are increasingly pricing locals out of the property market, a trend which they warn will eventually turn Britain into a nation of tenants. While sought-after London property has long been snapped up by overseas buyers, experts say the pattern is increasingly spreading to other cities, with Britains impending exit from the EU appearing to do little to slow demand.

Now campaigners are calling on ministers to place restrictions on foreign investors buying UK property, following the example of countries including Australia, Italy and Singapore.

When plans were first submitted for One Cambridge Street in 2014, its developers claimed it would appeal to those looking to make the step towards getting on to the housing ladder and more established owner-occupiers, as well as investors.

The building, on a former industrial site on the southern side of Manchester city centre, is now almost fully sold  but just two flats were bought by British owner-occupiers, according to official documents.

Overseas investors in Number One Cambridge Street hail from 18 nations including Azerbaijan, China and Zimbabwe

Out of 282 apartments, worth an average of 235,000, just 17 have British owners, with 47 sold to buyers in Hong Kong and 26 to investors from the UAE, according to research by The Times.

Other nationalities include Singapore (17 flats), South Africa (eight), Malaysia (five) and Thailand (three), while 125 were sold to a secretive company based in the British Virgin Islands.

Developers CS Developments Limited insisted occupancy rates were very healthy indeed but stressed that it had no control over where its buyers come from.

Research in 2014 found that 51 per cent of prime Central London property had been sold to overseas buyers over the past 12 months, rising to 80 per cent for prime new-build properties in the capital.

But demand has spread beyond London. Reacting to the capitals unaffordable prices  and seeking property with a healthy rental yield  many investors are now targeting cities such as Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle and Liverpool.

This is the stunning view from the top of the housing development in the central Manchester

The influx has given Manchester the fastest-rising property prices at almost 10 per cent over the past year  but it has seen rates of owner-occupiers plunging from 72.4 per cent in 2003 to 57.9 per cent today.

Cambridge, Slough and Brighton are among the smaller British towns and cities that are also being targeted by foreign property investors, with many attracted not only by the capital appreciation but also relatively low taxes in the UK.

In booming Hong Kong and Singapore, for example, foreigners have to pay 15 per cent tax on residential property purchases, compared to an average 0.9 per cent stamp duty levied to foreign buyers on the flats in Manchester. Dan Craw, of campaign group Generation Rent, said: The tax system should penalise owners of empty homes in high demand areas.

In a report entitled Solving the UK Housing Crisis, David Valentine of Conservative think tank the Bow Group, warned: The future for British people who are not already on the housing market is grim and getting worse as British housing increasingly becomes the preferred global haven for wealthy foreigners to invest their money.

A spokesman for Generation Rent told MailOnline: 'If the housing crisis is caused solely by a shortage, it shouldnt really matter who buys new houses, as long as they provide a home to someone who needs one. An increase in supply will reduce rents and prices for everyone else.

This housing development in London City Island is also dominated by Asian owners

'But this doesn't work if new properties are being left empty instead. The tax system should penalise owners of empty homes in high demand areas.'

Australia introduced controls on the foreign purchase of property in 2015 and Singapore levies a 15 per cent tax on foreigners.

A spokesman for the developer of Number One Cambridge Street told The Times: 'Whilst we can control the quality of the schemes we deliver, unfortunately we have no control over market dynamics and so until we take a development to the open market we cannot be sure who the end buyers will be.'

A council spokesman added: 'Vacancy rates in the city centre were 0.4 per cent only a few weeks ago showing the massive need for quality property, but also that these investors are clearly working to let the properties to tenants.'

It comes as average property prices are expected to rise by over 50,000 within the next five years.

While the rate of house price growth is expected to slow over the next two years as Brexit negotiations take place, by the end of this year prices are still expected to be around 9,000 higher than in 2016.

The Centre for Economics and Business Research said the cost of a home in the UK will be roughly 220,000 by the end of the year and 272,000 by 2021.

By 2020 and 2021, house prices are expected to grow at an average annual rate of 6 per cent.

With 40 per cent of local councils not knowing how to meet housing demands over the next 10 years, the findings suggest a shortage of suitable housing stock will ensure prices keep going up.
MBABANE  An application by a rape suspect to be released from custody to consult a traditional healer for his illness was not good enough for the court to grant the suspect bail.



Thulani Joseph Mthembu (25) and his co-accused Delane Lukhele (28) both of Mahlanya have been in custody since October last year.

They were arrested by Malkerns police on allegations of raping a woman who was walking with her friend, whom they also allegedly robbed of her Nokia X2 cellphone.



The suspects had filed applications for bail and yesterday they appeared before High Court Judge John Magagula.

exceptional

The Crown is opposed to their applications and they were called upon to give exceptional circumstances to warrant the court to release them on bail.



They both conducted their own defence.

Mthembu, who despite his father being a citizen of Mozambique, said he is a Swazi and told the court that he is sickly and should be released in order to consult a traditional healer.



He said he suffered from an illness which requires that he consult a traditional healer.

Judge Magagula asked the suspect what kind sickness he was suffering from and he told the court that he had umklwebho.

He said he could only get help from traditional healers since his illness cannot be cured by medical practitioners.
LUVE  Many parents would do anything to protect their children and make sure that they always have something to eat but for one frustrated father, this is not the case.



The fathers despondency with his children has resulted in the four boys residing in their own house, where they are also forced to fend for themselves.

They have become neighbours to their parents.



Steven Gumedze swore that he would rather burn all the food at his home and also commit suicide than give it to his four school-going sons.

The children are pupils of Lamawandla High school where Gumedze said he does not even pay for their school fees.

maintaining



I dont care where and how they get food and I will not spend even a cent on them. Let the police arrest me for not maintaining them and I would rather die than budge, he swore.



The living arrangement at the Gumedze homestead has sent residents of Luve talking as they view it as an anomaly.

Some are blaming the parents for this while others believe this is relevant punishment for the boys for refusing to carry out errands at home as boys are expected to.



The boys were born from different mothers and their fathers current wife is not their biological mother.

Concerned residents said it was not common that parents would confine school-going children to their own house and also order them to cook alone in a separate kitchen.
MBABNE - Drama unfolded at the Swazi Plaza yesterday morning when armed police searched for a suspect who was said to have made a break-in at the OK Furniture store in the still of the night and hid in the ceiling.



It is said when one of the OK Furniture employees opened the store in the morning for the days business, he heard some footsteps from the ceiling.

When a call was put through around 3pm, police were said to be still standing guard outside the shop.



Sensing that there could be someone, he looked around and that is when he noted shoeprints, suggesting that someone had been searching around.

It is alleged that the staff then noted that some laptops on display were missing, together with some petty cash that had been left in the safebox.

The safebox itself was said to have been tampered with but the suspect failed to break it open and that was when an alarm was raised as footsteps continued to be heard from the rooftop.



According to the employees, speaking on condition of anonymity, the criminal(s) could have outsmarted them and hid inside the store when they knocked off the previous day as there were no signs of forced entry into the building.



What boggled the minds of the employees was that the store had security alarms, which were allegedly also found to have been tampered with.

The alarm could have gone off when the suspect or suspects made movements inside the store but as to how no one could have heard it sound remains a mystery since we noted that it was also tampered with, said another employee.



Standstill



Operations came to a standstill in many stores, some of which were yet to open along the building line.

Police and security guards were then called and the search for the suspect ensued in the ceiling.
MBABANE  Love comes with a sacrifice. A permanently collapsed lung and a gaping injury to the head is what *Velile bears for the love of her boyfriend *Victor.



She is currently lying critical at the Mbabane Government hospital where she was admitted on Wednesday after a thorough beating by her boyfriend of two years.

Velile has almost half her head shaved to pave way to a wound that has been sutured in several places.

Also she has tubes connected from a container to the right side of her body which drain excessive water and blood from the collapsed lung.

Doctors have told her that her lung had been torn into two pieces and would never properly function again.



They have just removed the tubes that were inserted to my nostrils to train me to breathe on my own using the remaining lung, she said in a barely audible voice.

The 34-year-old woman said this was the second time her boyfriend assaulted her after they had a misunderstanding.

She blames herself for forgiving him when he assaulted her for the first time adding that she has realised that she almost lost her life through condoning domestic violence.



Velile never reported the first incident to the police but still keeps pictures of her wounds, which she refers to for the sad memories. The two lovebirds do not live together as Victor stays around Sidwashini South while he rents a flat for her girlfriend at Mbuluzi. The lucky-to-be-alive woman said when her boyfriend assaulted her this time around he used all sorts of appliances within reach in the house at Mbuluzi. Worse was that on the night of the assault her neighbours did not come through to help despite that she called out for help.



The first time he beat me to a pulp and locked me in the house for two weeks where he would often come to check on me, feed me and nurse the wounds I had sustained. But this time it was even worse. She narrated that when she tried to escape she collapsed because her right lung had been injured and that is when he came for her and struck her with a metal object on the head, leaving a gaping wound.



Velile said she had accepted that she now had a permanent disability that she suffered in the hands of a man she loved.

I am done with this man and I wish to see him rot in jail for all of this.

It was a call to her mother that saved her life.
The Bangladeshi prime minister is in India for a bilateral visit.

By Indo-Asian News Service: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was on Saturday accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi received Hasina who was then accorded a ceremonial guard of honour. Later in the morning Hasina paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat.

In a special gesture on Friday, Modi personally received his Bangladeshi counterpart at the airport. Hasina is on a four-day official visit to India.

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Modi, on Saturday in a tweet said: "Will hold talks with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, during which we will discuss ways to further deepen ties between India and Bangladesh."

"At 3.30 pm today (Saturday)... Hasina and I will join a programme to honour Indian soldiers martyred in the 1971 war, at the Manekshaw Centre," he said.

This is her first bilateral visit to India in seven years. She last visited the country in January 2010.

Following the bilateral summit, over 20 agreements, including a civil nuclear and two memorandum of understanding (MoUs) on defence cooperation, were expected to be signed.

Watch Video: Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina accorded ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan

ALSO READ | Narendra Modi goes to Delhi airport to receive Bangladesh's Sheikh Hasina: 10 points

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By Mayuresh Ganapatye: Shiv Sena MP from Osmanabad Ravindra Gaikwad, who was involved in a scuffle with Air India staffer on March 23rd, today met Uddhav Thackeray at party headquarters in Mumbai. Gaikwad explained his position to party chief regarding the Air India issue.

Meeting between Gaikwad and Uddhav Thackeray took place at Sena Bhavan in Dadar area of Mumbai after Air India and other airlines lifted flying ban imposed on him after he tendered his regret letter in Lok Sabha.

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Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray preferred not say anything about the meeting with Gaikwad in public. On being asked about the meeting, Gaikwad told this reporter on phone, "Today, I have spoken to party chief. I don't want to comment on what happened in the meeting. Party chief will speak on this. "

After attending the Parliamentary Proceeding of this week, Gaikwad came to Mumbai via Rajdhani train. He boarded the train from Delhi last evening, hours after the flying ban was lifted by the national carrier following his letter to Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Thursday in which he expressed "regret" over the "unfortunate incident". After Air India, the Federation of Indian Airlines, comprising Jet Airways, SpiceJet, GoAir and IndiGo, on Saturday revoked the flying ban on Gaikwad.

In a statement, the FIA said its members are restoring the flying privileges to Gaikwad "under the assurance that our assets and colleagues shall be accorded the respect that they deserve for the hard work that they put in every day".

On Friday, sources had said the Civil Aviation Ministry asked Air India as well as other airlines to lift the ban imposed on Mr. Gaikwad citing the "undertaking of good conduct" given by him.

On March 24, Air India barred Gaikwad from flying with it after the incident at the Delhi airport.

Also read:

After Air India, private carriers too lift ban on Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad

After Air India, private carriers too lift ban on Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad

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The Basque separatist group ETA on Saturday gave French authorities a list of eight caches where police found weapons, ammunition and explosives  a crucial move toward disarmament and a definitive end to its decades-long violent struggle to carve out a homeland on the French-Spanish border.

The Spanish government urged the rebel group to "ask forgiveness from its victims and disappear."

Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said police have searched each site and discovered, in containers and bags, "dozens of handguns and rifles, thousands of pieces of ammunition, several hundred kilograms of explosives and products that can be used to make explosives, several hundreds of detonators and timers."

A detailed inventory of the ETA weapons caches is underway and the results of French authorities\ technical examination and other elements of their investigation will be given to Spanish justice authorities, Molins said.

"It\s a great step, an unquestionably important day," French Interior Minister Matthias Fekl said.

Inactive for more than five years, ETA said it would hand over its arms, a historic step following a 43-year violent independence campaign that killed 829 people, mostly in Spain.

Disarmament is the second-to-last step demanded by France and Spain, which want ETA to formally disband. The organization hasn\t said yet whether it would.

Spain "will not make any evaluation of the handing over of weapons today by ETA until they have been analyzed by French authorities," Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido said in a televised address. "The government will not alter its position: Terrorists cannot hope to receive any special treatment from the government nor immunity for their crimes."

Spain called on the ETA to "announce its definitive dissolution, ask forgiveness from its victims and disappear."

Representatives of the self-appointed Peace Artisans group, who are acting as mediators in the disarmament process, told reporters that ETA had surrendered 120 firearms and three tons of explosives and ammunition.

"We hope that, with this, the movement can move forward to a long-lasting peace in the Basque country," activist Mixel Berhokoirigoin said.

The caches were in southwestern France, a region historically used as a support base by ETA.

Some 20,000 people gathered in the streets of Bayonne, in southwestern France, to celebrate the peace. Many sang slogans calling for convicted ETA members to complete their sentences in their homelands.

Many Basque separatists have pushed for convicted members to serve their prison time closer to their homes, not scattered around Spain and France. The Spanish and French governments have refused.

The Rev. Harold Good, a Methodist minister who helped oversee the Northern Ireland peace process, urged authorities to "bring the prisoners home, to their families  above all, those who are frail by sickness and by age." He was cheered by the crowd.

The president of the Basque Country\s regional government in Spain called the disarmament an "important step with historical value."

"It certifies that there should have never been any ETA victim," Inigo Urkullu said. "All the victims are part of this success."

When speaking about victims, Basque nationalists usually take into account the ETA militants and supporters killed during the "Dirty War" led by government-sanctioned counter-terrorism groups.

The president of the Victims of Terrorism Foundation, Maria del Mar Blanco, whose brother was kidnapped and killed by the ETA in 1997, called for "nobody to rewrite history."

"The bad guys are still the bad guys. The good guys  we the victims of terrorism  are still the good ones," Blanco told Spanish national television.

Javier Maroto of Spain\s ruling Party Popular said the disarmament is "a step forward, but it\s not enough."

In contrast, the pro-independence leader of Sortu, a Basque separatist party linked to ETA, said "the armed struggle is over, but the fight for the same ends goes on."

"As of tomorrow, we need to keep working on the issues of the prisoners, the victims and the demilitarization of the country," Arnaldo Otegi said.

A handful of ETA members are still on the run. Hundreds of killings also remain unsolved, and the arms caches could help lead authorities to some of the perpetrators.

SOURCE: Associated Press
Warplanes on Saturday struck the Syrian town where a chemical attack had killed scores of people earlier this week, as Turkey warned that a retaliatory U.S. missile strike on a Syrian air base would only be "cosmetic" if greater efforts are not made to remove President Bashar Assad from power.

The airstrikes on the opposition-held northern town of Khan Sheikhoun, where 87 people were killed in the chemical attack earlier this week, killed a woman and wounded her son, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees, an activist collective.

Elsewhere in Syria, U.S.-led airstrikes killed at least 21 people, including a woman and her six children who were fleeing on a boat across the Euphrates River near the Islamic State group\s self-styled capital, Raqqa, the target of a major offensive by U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian forces, activists said.

Near the central city of Homs, a bomb exploded aboard a bus carrying workers, killing a woman and wounding more than 20, according to state TV and the Observatory.

The chemical attack prompted the U.S. to launch nearly 60 Tomahawk missiles on a Syrian air base early Friday, which killed nine people and marked the first time Washington has directly targeted Syrian government forces since the war began in 2011.

The move was welcomed by the Syrian opposition and its main backers, including Turkey and Saudi Arabia, but harshly condemned by Russia and Iran, who back Assad and said striking his forces would complicate the struggle against extremist groups.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the U.S. strike should be the start of a renewed effort to end the civil war, which has killed an estimated 400,000 people and displaced half of Syria\s population.

"If this intervention is limited only to an air base, if it does not continue and if we don\t remove the regime from heading Syria, then this would remain a cosmetic intervention," he said.

He said the best outcome would be a peace agreement that leads to a transitional government accepted by all Syrians, followed by elections in which all Syrians, including those living abroad, could vote for new leadership. For that to happen, he said, "this oppressive Assad needs to go."

Iran, which has provided crucial military and political support to Assad, meanwhile called for a fact-finding mission to determine what caused the chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun. State television quoted Iranian President Hassan Rouhani as saying the committee should be impartial and "must not be headed by Americans."

Rouhani said "neutral countries should come and assess to make it clear where the chemical weapons came from."

Syria\s government has denied carrying out any chemical attack, and Russia\s Defense Ministry said the toxic agents were released when a Syrian airstrike hit a rebel chemical weapons arsenal and munitions factory.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson canceled a planned trip to Russia because of fast-moving events in Syria. Johnson said the situation in Syria has changed "fundamentally" following the chemical attack and the U.S. response.

Johnson condemned Russia\s continued defense of Assad "even after the chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians."

He had planned to travel to Russia Monday on a trip intended to start a fresh dialogue with Moscow.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson meanwhile plans to meet with G-7 foreign ministers in Europe next week before going on to Moscow. Johnson said Tillerson will be able to give a "clear and coordinated message to the Russians."

In Damascus, dozens of Syrian students gathered outside the offices of the United Nations to protest the U.S. missile attack.

The protesters in the capital held banners and chanted "Death to America" and "Death to Israel."

One of the banners they carried read: "The Iraqi scenario will not be repeated in Syria." They were referring to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq after Washington said Saddam Hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction  a belief that later turned out to be incorrect.

University student Ashraf Fadel said he came to denounce "the unjust American aggression against Syria." He added that the United Nations was "created to support America instead of serving the wronged people."

Elsewhere in Syria, activists opposed to the Islamic State group said a U.S.-led coalition airstrike hit a boat carrying civilians fleeing across the Euphrates River. The groups Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently and Sound and Picture said the attack killed a woman and her six children. The attack occurred in the Shuaib al-Zeker area, near where U.S.-backed Syrian fighters have been on the offensive against IS under the cover of coalition airstrikes.

Activists and state media said a separate airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition on the northern IS-held village of Hneida killed at least 14 civilians, including children. The Observatory said 15 people, including four children, were killed in the airstrike. The Sound and Picture group said the airstrike hit an internet cafe, killing 14 people.

In Saudi Arabia, the official Saudi Press Agency reported that U.S. President Donald Trump has spoken by telephone with King Salman about the U.S. missile strike on Syria.

The news agency reported that during the Friday phone call, the Saudi monarch congratulated Trump for his "courageous decision."

Saudi Arabia said the missile launch was the right response to "the crimes of this regime to its people in light of the failure of the international community to stop it."

The kingdom is among the most vehement opponents of Assad and supports Sunni rebel groups fighting to oust him. The Sunni rulers of Saudi Arabia are in a power struggle for regional dominance with Iran\s Shiite government.

SOURCE: Associated Press
Fresh protests against civil service pay cuts broke out in Gaza on Saturday, as pressure builds on Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to tackle the crisis.

The decision this week by the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority to slash the salaries of civil servants in the Gaza Strip has sparked days of protests.

Tens of thousands took to a square in central Gaza City Saturday in the largest protest since the 30-percent cut was announced, with demonstrators calling on PA leader Abbas to sack his government.

A handful of protesters announced they would begin a hunger strike, a spokesman told AFP.

Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs Gaza, has been at loggerheads with Abbas\s Fatah party since the former seized the Strip in a near civil war in 2007.

Fatah runs the West Bank, the other part of the Palestinian territories separated from Gaza by Israeli territory.

After Hamas seized power, around 70,000 PA employees in Gaza lost their posts but they were kept on its payroll nevertheless.

Hamas set up its own parallel administration with 50,000 staff, whose salaries the PA refuses to pay.

The Fatah-run PA announced the pay cuts earlier this week, saying they were necessary because its budget has been hit by falling foreign aid.

In 2014, Fatah and Hamas agreed to form a unity government that was meant to resolve their dispute but it has remained stillborn, with no real control in either territory.

Local elections set for May have also been suspended in the Gaza Strip after infighting between Fatah and Hamas, though they are expected to take place in the West Bank.

UN Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov said he was "deeply concerned by the growing tensions in Gaza."

He said that while the Palestinian government faced difficult economic conditions, it should make spending cuts "with consideration to the harsh conditions under which people in Gaza live".

He urged both parties to work together to resolve the crisis and "bring about real national reconciliation that ends the division".

Israel has maintained a blockade of Gaza for a decade, severely damaging the enclave\s economy.

SOURCE: AFP
Heres what to know in Beaver County this Election Day

If youre a registered voter in Beaver County planning to vote in person today, heres what you need to know.
By Press Trust of India: scare voters

Srinagar, Apr 8 (PTI) The stage is set for the bypolls to the prestigious Srinagar Lok Sabha seat tomorrow with adequate security arrangements being made, even as militants and miscreants tried to scare the electorate.

Nine candidates are in the fray for the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat where more than 1,500 polling stations have been set up for nearly 12.61 lakh electorate.

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All the polling stations have been declared as either sensitive or hyper-sensitive keeping in mind threats from various militant outfits and separatist groups, including the Hurriyat Conference, an election official said.

The seat fell vacant following resignation of PDP leader Tariq Hameed Karra, both from the Lower House of Parliament and his party, in protest against the "atrocities" on people during the agitation in the summer last year in the wake of killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in an encounter with security forces on July 8.

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, who is the candidate of his party and the Congress jointly, will take on the ruling PDPs candidate Nazir Ahmad Khan in a virtual direct contest.

Abdullah tasted his first electoral defeat in his over 35-year-long political career when he lost to Karra in 2014 general elections. Karra, who has since joined the Congress, is now supporting the National Conference president in the bypolls.

Khan, on the other hand, joined the PDP after quitting the Congress in February and was announced the candidate by the ruling party for the bypolls.

Voter turnout in Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency in 2014 polls was 26 per cent, slightly better than 25.55 per cent recorded in 2009 elections.

Director General of Police S P Vaid said security has been tightened and forces have been deployed in adequate number to thwart any attempt to disrupt the polls tomorrow.

"We are completely geared up to meet any challenge from anti-social elements tomorrow," Vaid, who has been camping here, told PTI, adding clear instructions have been passed on to the security personnel to ensure smooth conduct of the election.

The disruptive elements have made several unsuccessful attempts to scare the voters from the elections and tried to target the polling staff.

Unidentified persons last night tried to set ablaze a school building, designated as a polling station, in Narbal area of Budgam district but their attempt was foiled by police personnel posted there, the DGP said.

In another incident, a group of miscreants hurled stones at polling staff in Beerwah area of the district this morning but they were chased away by security forces using batons and firing tear smoke shells, a police official said.

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In Anantnag Lok Sabha seat, which is going to polls on April 12, militants opened fire at a police party which was patrolling the area near an election meeting being addressed by CAPD minister and PDP leader Chaudhry Zulfikar Ali, police said.

The police party retaliated the firing, forcing the militants to flee from the spot. PTI MIJ SKL NSD

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Washington

Booming online retail sales are good news for the U.S. Postal Service, but its carriers are incurring a cost: more dog bites.

Dog attacks on postal workers rose last year to 6,755, up 206 from the previous year and the highest in three decades, as internet shopping booms and consumers increasingly demand seven-day-a-week package delivery and groceries dropped at their doorstep. The high for attacks dated back to the 1980s, at more than 7,000, before maulings by aggressive dogs became a public issue.

Los Angeles topped the 2016 list with 80 attacks on postal workers, followed by Houston with 62 and Cleveland with 60.

The Postal Service released its annual figures Thursday as part of National Dog Bite Prevention Week, which begins Sunday.

A longtime cliche of movies, dog biting of mail carriers  or at least dog chasing  is no laughing matter for the post office. Medical expenses and workers' compensation cost the Postal Service millions of dollars each year.

Overall, an estimated 4.5 million Americans are bitten by dogs annually, mostly children. In the last year, dog attacks on carriers rose 3 percent. Still, while dog bite claims are rising, there are signs attacks may be less severe: The average cost per claim fell last year by more than 10 percent to $33,230, according to the Insurance Information Institute and State Farm.

"It's always on your mind as a carrier, 'Is there a dog in the area and is it a threat?'" said James Solomon, a 17-year postal carrier. Officially, 2 percent of carriers were bitten last year, but Solomon says every carrier he knows has some kind of "dog experience" to tell, from outrunning to cajoling a territorial pet.

The post office hopes more public awareness will help.

After a 14 percent jump in dog attacks in 2015, the post office launched a "Trip Hazards" app on hand-held devices to help warn carriers of potentially hostile dogs. Customers are asked on package pickup applications if there are dogs at their addresses. In extreme cases, residents will be told to pick up mail at a post office until a repeat offender dog is restrained.

"Even good dogs have bad days," said U.S. Postal Service Safety Director Linda DeCarlo in Los Angeles. "Dog bite prevention training and continuing education are important to keep pet owners, pets and those who visit homes  like letter carriers  happy and healthy."

She urges owners to secure their dogs in a separate room before opening the door and to remind family members not to take mail directly from letter carriers in front of their dog, which may view it as a threatening gesture.

Rising dog attacks come amid double-digit increases in the post office's package business. While U.S. population growth means more residences to deliver to, postal carriers are also visiting homes more frequently and at all times of day, with packages or groceries in hand, thanks to agreements struck with Amazon in 2013 and 2014.

United Parcel Service said its 66,000 deliverers suffered about 900 dog bites last year, a percentage that has remained fairly stable.

Solomon, who lives in Hatboro, Pa., said he thought he had learned all the tricks to prevent attacks: watch the dog's mannerisms, use the mail satchel as a shield, or pull out the emergency dog spray if needed  it contains an extract of cayenne pepper.

But last week, those safeguards weren't enough when a woman answered his knock.

"It was three little hot dogs who came out and bit me on the shin," Solomon said, describing dachshunds. "It didn't hurt that much, but it was very aggressive, one after the other."

Robert Lieb, a professor of supply chain management at Northeastern University, said he expects dog attacks to keep increasing. Still, the online industry continues to change, and dogs may prove to be less of a problem if Amazon changes its delivery to a new method: drones.

"The question is whether drones will land or parachute the packages down," said Lieb, a former shipping consultant. "I would see eagles, not dogs, taking out drones."
Washington

The U.S. military strike against Syria threatened Russia-U.S. relations on Friday as the Kremlin denounced President Donald Trump's use of force and the Russian military announced that it was suspending an agreement to share information about air operations over the country that was devised to avoid accidental conflict.

Trump, who has made repairing strained ties with Moscow a central goal of his presidency even amid criticism of Russian meddling in last year's U.S. election, found that goal at risk as both sides traded harsh words in a diplomatic confrontation reminiscent of the darkest moments of the last few years.

President Vladimir Putin's office called the Tomahawk cruise missile strike on Syria a "significant blow" to the Russia-U.S. relationship and a violation of international law, while Trump administration officials suggested Russia bore some responsibility for the chemical weapons attack on Syrian civilians that precipitated the U.S. response.

The strike roiled world capitals and dominated a session of the United Nations General Assembly. Led by Russia, Syria and its other backers denounced the military action while U.S. allies in Europe, Israel and Saudi Arabia cheered Trump on. At home, Trump found support among a broad cross-section of normally critical establishment Republicans and Democrats, from Hillary Clinton to John McCain, who praised him for taking action that President Barack Obama did not under similar circumstances four years ago.

But in a sign of the complicated nature of domestic politics after nearly 16 years of U.S. wars in far-off lands, an odd-bedfellow mix of ideological enemies joined together to criticize Trump's action, including anti-war liberals who said it violated the Constitution and isolationist conservatives who called it a betrayal of the values he expressed as a candidate.

Trump, who was in Florida meeting with President Xi Jinping of China, left it to others to address the confrontation on Friday, but his team signaled that no further military strikes were imminent unless the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad again used chemical weapons against its own people.

"The United States took a very measured step last night," Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Friday during a special meeting of the Security Council focused on Syria. "We are prepared to do more, but we hope that will not be necessary."

Even as Trump ordered the first direct intervention beyond fighting terrorist factions in Syria's grinding six-year civil war, the White House indicated no further move to unseat Assad, leaving the strike to speak for itself. "This action was very decisive, justified and proportional," said Sean Spicer, the president's press secretary. "It sent a very strong signal not just to Syria, but throughout the world."

But the airstrike inserted the United States, for a moment at least, into one of the world's most intractable conflicts and demonstrated the potential dangers of Russian and U.S. forces' operating in proximity. As many as 100 Russian troops were believed to be stationed at the Syrian air base targeted by U.S. forces. A U.S. official said the Russians on the ground had been given just 60 to 90 minutes of notice that the missiles were coming and had not been advised whether to take shelter or flee.

Although Russia did not deploy its air defense system in Syria against the U.S. missiles, it flexed its military muscles after the attack. Moscow said it would bolster Syria's air defenses, while the Russian news agency Tass reported that a frigate would enter the Mediterranean Sea on Friday and visit the Syrian port of Tartus.

The Russian military sent an official message to the Pentagon and summoned the U.S. military attache in Moscow to announce that it would shut down a hotline established to prevent accidental clashes in the skies over Syria. While the two sides used the channel earlier on Friday, Russian officials said it would be cut off at midnight Moscow time, or 5 p.m. in Washington. The United States and Russia have other ways to track each other's aircraft and avoid collisions, but U.S. officials considered the hotline an important vehicle to ensure safety, and a valuable political connection as well.

Even as Moscow protested, U.S. officials pointed fingers back, faulting the Kremlin for not enforcing a 2013 agreement it brokered with Syria to eliminate all of its chemical weapons.
WASHINGTON  Laying bare deep and dangerous divisions on Syria and other issues, President Donald Trump declared Wednesday that U.S. relations
State Rep. Kathy Rapp (R-65) visited the Titusville Senior Center on Friday to discuss Gov. Tom Wolfs proposed consolidation of four state departments including the Department of Aging. This action could dismantle the department that helps Pennsylvanias aging population.
Election day information: voting times, polling centers and races

Residents will have their final chance to cast votes in local races on Nov. 8, including seats on both the NLCS and MCS boards and Sheriff.
A 26-year-old Indian man, identified as Vikram Jaryal, was shot dead allegedly by two masked armed robbers at a convenience store of a gas station in Washington, his family said on Friday.

By India Today Web Desk: The External Affairs Ministry has taken note of the killing of an Indian national in the United States.

A 26-year-old Indian man, identified as Vikram Jaryal, was shot dead allegedly by two masked armed robbers at a convenience store of a gas station in Washington, his family said on Friday.

Jaryal worked as a clerk at this gas station in Yakima city. He was allegedly robbed before being killed. Jaryal was behind the counter when two masked men barged into the store and robbed it on Thursday.

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Police said that even though Jaryal handed the robbers the money they had demanded, one of them fired at him.

He was rushed to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries later.

SUSHMA CONDOLES DEATH

Condoling the "tragic death", Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj has tweeted, "Our consulate is helping the family. Cops are examining the CCTV footage. Investigation into the matter is underway."

She said she was informed about the incident by the victim's brother through twitter seeking her help to bring back the body.

"The victim was able to tell officers what happened when they arrived a few minutes later. But tragically, he died a short while later at the hospital," police was quoted as saying by the NBC Right Now channel.

Jaryal hailed from Hoshiarpur district in Punjab and had shifted to the US about a month ago, his elder brother told PTI.

Punjab: Family of Vikram Jaryal mourns his death in his hometown Hoshiarpur. Jariyal was shot dead in USA's Washington State. pic.twitter.com/iisJoNoIlp- ANI (@ANI_news) April 8, 2017

Meanwhile, Mike Bastinelli of the Yakima Police Department said "The still photos show a very recognisable top that one of the suspects is wearing".

He added, "The shooter wore a black hoodie with patches of white on the back."

Also read | Sushma Swaraj: Indian embassy in Yemen closed, search for abducted Indian continues

Also read | Sushma Swaraj on attacks on Africans: Not all incidents racist; envoys' statement painful, surprising

(WITH INPUTS FROM PTI)

WATCH VIDEO

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According to SVT, the man was arrested in the northern suburb Hjulsta and is said to be connected to the man who was arrested earlier on Friday.

Tow trucks pull away the beer truck that crashed into the department store Ahlens. (Photo: Reuters)

By Reuters: Swedish police has arrested a second man after the Friday truck attack in Stockholm which killed four and injured 15 people, Swedish public broadcaster SVT said, citing police sources.

According to SVT, the man was arrested in the northern suburb Hjulsta and is said to be connected to the man who was arrested earlier on Friday.

Swedish police confirmed earlier on Friday that it had identified a person arrested in another Stockholm suburb and who resembled the picture and description of a man that police went public with after the truck attack.

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He confessed to carrying out a deadly truck attack in the centre of the city on Friday, daily Aftonbladet said citing unnamed sources.

A truck had ploughed into a crowd on a shopping street and crashed into a department store in central Stockholm on Friday, killing four people and wounding 15 in what the prime minister said appeared to be a terrorist attack.

"Our message will always be clear: you will not defeat us, you will not govern our lives, you will never, ever win," Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, who had earlier described the assault as a terrorist attack, told a news conference.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Police said security at Swedish borders had been heightened. They did not rule out the possibility other attackers were involved.

SWERVING

"I turned around and saw a big truck coming towards me. It swerved from side to side. It didn't look out of control. It was trying to hit people," Glen Foran, an Australian tourist in his 40s, told Reuters.

"It hit people; it was terrible. It hit a pram with a kid in it, demolished it," he said.

"It took a long time for police to get here. I suppose from their view it was quick, but it felt like forever."

The area of the attack in central Stockholm was evacuated, including the main rail station, and remained cordoned off late on Friday. All subway traffic was halted on police orders and government offices were closed.

A Reuters witness at the scene saw police officers put what appeared to be two bodies into body bags.

Bloody tyre tracks showed the path of the truck, which was stolen by a masked hijacker while making a beer delivery to a tapas bar further up Drottninggatan, according to Spendrups Brewery spokesman Marten Lyth.

"We were standing by the traffic lights at Drottninggatan and then we heard some screaming and saw a truck coming," a witness who declined to be named told Reuters.

"Then it drove into a pillar at (department store) Ahlens City, where the hood started burning. When it stopped we saw a man lying under the tyre. It was terrible to see," said the man, who saw the incident from his car.

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Police said four people had died and 15 were injured. National news agency TT said those hurt included the delivery driver, who had tried to stop the hijack.

Several attacks in which trucks or cars have driven into crowds have taken place in Europe in the past year. Al Qaeda in 2010 urged its followers to use trucks as a weapon. Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack in Nice, France, last July, when a truck killed 86 people celebrating Bastille Day, and one in Berlin in December, when a truck smashed through a Christmas market, killing 12 people.

"Hijacking a truck, that has happened before," Magnus Ranstorp, head of terrorism research at the Swedish Defence University, told Reuters.

"And this is a pretty cunning modus operandi. To drive to Ahlens and stop ... There is a way down to the subway just a few metres away from there, and then you ... can jump on any train you want and quickly disappear."

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#OPENSTOCKHOLM

Stockholmers opened up their homes and offered lifts to people who were unable to get home or needed a place to stay.

"Our thoughts are going out to those that were affected, and to their families," Sweden's King Carl Gustaf said in a statement, while European Union chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker said an attack on any of the bloc's member states "is an attack on us all".

The attack was the latest to hit the Nordic region after shootings in Danish capital Copenhagen in 2015 that killed three people and the 2011 bombing and shooting by far right extremist Anders Behring Breivik that killed 77 people in Norway.

Sweden has not seen a large-scale attack, although in December 2010 a failed suicide bombing killed the attacker only a few hundred yards from the site of Friday's incident.

In February US President Donald Trump falsely suggested there had been an immigration-related security incident in Sweden, to the bafflement of Swedes.

Swedish authorities raised the national security threat level to four on a scale of five in October 2010 but lowered the level to three, indicating a "raised threat", in March 2016.

Police in Norway's largest cities and at Oslo airport will carry weapons until further notice following the attack. Denmark has been on high alert since the February 2015 shootings. Traffic was restricted on the Oresund Bridge linking Denmark and Sweden at the request of Swedish police.

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Neutral Sweden has not fought a war in more than 200 years, but its military has taken part in UN peacekeeping missions in a number of conflict zones in recent years, including Iraq, Mali and Afghanistan.

The Sapo security police said in its annual report it was impossible to say how big a risk there was that Sweden would be targeted like other European cities, but that, if so "it is most likely that it would be undertaken by a lone attacker".

ALSO READ | Sweden: After truck drove into crowd killing 5 people in Stockholm, PM hints at attack being an act of terror

ALSO WATCH | 3 killed, several injured after truck ploughs into crowd near Indian Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden

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As the name suggests, skate-punk is a genre of punk music usually associated with skateboarding culture. While punk music had already been well-established, a faster, somewhat more melodic style of punk gained notoriety through its frequent use in skateboarding videos of the 80s and 90s. The genre really kicked off in the US, but like all genres, it found its way down to Australia where we were quick to adapt to it as well.

One of the most prominent Aussie bands in the genre at the moment is Byron Bays Skegss. Not content to just let their music speak for itself, Skegss have recently announced a new tour in support of their new single Got On My Skateboard and new EP Holiday Food, which will see them hit up stops in the UK and Europe, before coming back home for a run of local shows. To celebrate the bands new tour, which sees them hitting up almost every capital city in the country, weve decided to take a look at some of the best Aussie skate-punk anthems

Skegss  Got On My Skateboard

Skegss first appeared on our radar a couple of years back when they were announced as the first signing to Dune Rats Ratbag Records label. In the ensuing two years, the lads from Byron Bay have gone from strength to strength, knocking our socks off with every track they release.

Their recent Holiday Food EP has spawned a couple of singles so far, including the infectious Spring Has Sprung, but the groups newest track, Got On My Skateboard, is seeing their levels of fame rise exponentially. Irreverent, full of fun, yet a bit melancholic, Got On My Skateboard is one of those songs that has the words summer anthem written all over it.

Bodyjar  Not The Same

Lets face it, if you were to think about Aussie punk groups, chances are you probably gave Bodyjar at least a passing thought. After releasing a handful of punk classics during the 90s, the group welcomed the new millennium by releasing How It Works. Featuring a string of hits, such as Fall To The Ground and Not The Same, the album cemented the groups place in the genre, and is now considered a classic by Aussie music fans all over.

Not The Same managed to escape being confined to just the Aussie market and saw itself featured on a couple of video games, including MX Superfly and the third instalment of a little-known game franchise called Tony Hawks Pro Skater. After being featured on one of the biggest video games going around at the time, it would be an absolute crime not to consider Not The Same as a skate-punk anthem, so lets relive those fond memories of choosing your skaters deck design, clothes, and stats, with a replay of this classic track.

28 Days  Rip It Up

28 Days burst onto the music scene in the late 90s and quickly became a force to be reckoned with within punk circles. Of course, their use of turntables and rap-rock influences drew criticism from a lot of naysayers, but the Melbourne five-piece managed to bring the goods with every track they released.

Love Skegss? Get the latest Skegss news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more JOIN

Their biggest hit, Rip It Up, saw them at their most successful, with the track even reaching the eleventh spot on the Hottest 100 countdown for 2000. To this day, it remains one of the groups best known songs, and still serves as a useful reminder of all those summer days spent down at the local half pipe.

The Decline  Showertime In The Slammer

Perths The Decline have been on the scene for over a decade now, and with a vast array of legendary punk influences including Lagwagon, Descendents, Propagandhi, and most notably, NOFX, the band are certainly one of the biggest skate-punk bands that Australia has to offer. Having supported a huge number of big-name acts over the years, The Decline have managed to help put Aussie punk back on the international radar again.

With the release of their second record, Are You Gonna Eat That?, came the track Showertime In The Slammer, a quick-fire punk classic which features some dialogue from the film American History X, just in case the bands sound didnt give you enough of a 90s fix. While the band saw a little bit of a lineup change after this release, the groups heart and soul still remains, leaving Showertime In The Slammer as one of The Declines most beloved songs, and rightfully earning its place as a true Aussie skate-punk anthem.

One Dollar Short  Perfect Day

One Dollar Shorts fame was sadly relatively short-lived, but during their brief years in the spotlight, they managed to release two albums of veritable punk-bangers. Their debut record, 2002s Eight Days Away, saw the group receive a huge amount of attention with tracks like Satellite, Ten Years, and Board Game, even scoring them a slot on the 2002 Warped Tour alongside punk legends The Vandals and Pennywise.

However, if you want to see one of the greatest tracks the group ever recorded, and frankly, one of the greatest songs ever released in the skate-punk genre, well need to take a look at one of the groups B-sides. No, were not talking about their cover of Kasey Chambers Not Pretty Enough, were talking about Perfect Day, released on the Board Game EP. In just three short minutes, One Dollar Short managed to find a way to capture the feeling of those days you never want to end. A song that really should have been a single in its own right, Perfect Day remains one of the most positive, upbeat punk songs ever released.

Clowns  Youve Got The Curse 

Clowns have been on the cutting edge of Aussie punk for a few years now. As one one of the biggest names signed to Melbournes Poison City Records, Clowns have been giving their all to bring about a perfect mix of punk, thrash, and hardcore in a way that is both invigorating and refreshing for everyone who gives their record a spin.

When the group released their first record Im Not Right, in 2013, fans from all over checked out the record and fell in love with the music these Victorian legends were making. With a dozen belters making up the album, Youve Got The Curse became one of the most popular songs on the release, and understandably so. Just listen to the track and try your hardest not to imagine it soundtracking footage of ollies, kick flips, and manuals.

The Skategoats  Theres Something About Mary Jane

When triple j Unearthed made their own Australian Tony Hawks Pro Skater playlist last year, Mount Gambiers The Skategoats were one of the highlights, and lets face it, they have the word skate in their name, so you know theyre definitely qualified. Having been around since 2015, The Skategoats are a quirky four-piece who enjoy nothing more than having fun by playing music and singing about all the best punk topics.

Currently in the process of recording their debut EP, The Skategoats have been making a name for themselves everywhere they play with their casual and fun-loving, yet dedicated style of playing. However, its the groups debut track Theres Something About Mary Jane that has been capturing the attention of fans. With airplay on both triple j and triple j Unearthed, Theres Something About Mary Jane has seen the group show off some pretty clear Blink-182 vibes as they get their foot in the door of the Aussie music scene.

Skegss Hospital Food EP Tour

Wednesday, 7th June

Howler, Melbourne, VIC

Tickets: Moshtix

Thursday, 8th June

Howler, Melbourne, VIC

Tickets: Moshtix

Friday, 9th June

Howler, Melbourne, VIC

Tickets: Moshtix

Saturday, 10th June

Jive, Adelaide, SA

Tickets: Moshtix

Thursday, 15th June

Oxford Art Factory, Sydney, NSW

Tickets: Moshtix

Friday, 16th June

Oxford Art Factory, Sydney, NSW

Tickets: Moshtix

Friday, 23rd June

The Zoo, Brisbane, QLD

Tickets: Oztix

Saturday, 24th June

The Waratah, Hobart, TAS

Tickets: Oztix

Sunday, 25th June

Club 54, Launceston, TAS

Tickets: Oztix

Friday, 30th June

Capitol, Perth, WA

Tickets: Oztix
According to a rebel commander in Homs, the missile strike was positively received among the rebel factions in the province, Xinhua news agency reported.

By Indo-Asian News Service: Rebel groups in Syria have hailed the missile strike by the United States on an airbase in Syria's central province of Homs, a media report said on Friday.

According to a rebel commander in Homs, the missile strike was positively received among the rebel factions in the province, Xinhua news agency reported.

Rebels support such strikes and everything that can reduce the power of the Syrian air force, he said.

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HOW REBEL GROUPS HAVE REACTED

The Jaish al-Tawhid rebel group, located in the northern countryside of Homs, also hailed the attack, saying it's the "first step for the international community to shoulder their responsibilities."

Another rebel group Failaq al-Sham said that the US missile attack "could be a turning point in the western stances and to move from words to deeds" against the Syrian government and its army.

The rebels of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) described the US attack as a turning point in "eliminating the impunity" and a "military pressure against the Syrian army to put an end to its violations."

Also read | Russia warns of serious consequences from US strike in Syria

Also read | Trump ordered Syrian air strike before dinner with Xi

Also read | Syria decries US strike on airbase, calls it an 'aggression'

WATCH VIDEO

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Fresh from the delightful news that LCD Soundsystem are one of the huge bands headed here for Splendour In The Grass, our excitement levels are in overdrive now with the news that LCD Soundsystem debuted three new tracks at their show in Brooklyn last night.

As NME reports, during their first shows of 2017 at part of a five-night residency at New York venue Brooklyn Steel, LCD Soundsystem played a setlist full of hits before debuting three news songs as part of the first encore of the evening. The three new tracks, titled Tonight, Call Police, and American Dream were played to the 1,800 capacity venue, with fans quickly taking to social media to discuss it.

Despite the new tracks, there is currently no available footage of them, namely due to a poster posted inside the venue by the band. Hi there guys! Welcome! We have a special plea. Please dont film the old songs, the poster began. We already made a whole movie out of those and youre not gonna find a better angle with your iPhone than Spike Jonze found with his camera.

Please dont film any new songs. Its be a real gutpunch to all the people who have been working insanely hard for the last 18 months to release this music in the way we want to release it, it continued before adding Were really excited to play for you tonight. Be with us. Lots of love from LCD.

So while were currently without footage of the new tracks, we can certainly hope that these tracks will not only be on LCD Soundsystems new record, but will also hopefully make an appearance in the bands set when they make their way to Australia in July.
As reporters hammered her with questions, Heckert held on tight to a man as she walked to freedom. The 48-year-old Smithville woman spent the past six months behind bars, charged with stabbing DeLeon to death. About five months before Heckert was arrested, police announced they identified a suspect in DeLeon's murder, thanks to new DNA technology. But sources say Friday, in a preliminary hearing, prosecutors failed to present enough evidence against Heckert and charges were subsequently dropped.

Murder charges dropped against woman in decades-old case A judge dropped murder charges against Carolyn Heckert during a preliminary hearing in a decades-old murder case.

Check more follow-up on this old school lady murder case and the recent outcome . . . Here's the definitive note:Read more:
The Star's editorial board members discussed their role from the Plaza library Colleen McCain Nelson, Dave Helling, Derek Donovan, Mary Sanchez, Steve Kraske, Lee Judge and Melinda Henneberger discuss the role of an editorial board.

Here's a glimpse at newspaper re-branding and opinion makers offering insight into their role . . . Which is mostly transcribing and rewriting talking points from the DNC. Checkit:
First Alert Traffic: I-435 now closed on east side of KC Interstate 435 is closed in both directions from 87th Street to 350 Highway. Crews are demolishing the 83rd Street bridge over I-435, prompting the need to close the highway. The highway is expected to reopen very early Monday morning. For free First Alert traffic updates on the go, download the KMBC 9 News app.

Six injured in single vehicle crash on I-35 KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Six people were injured in a single-vehicle crash on I-35 and 18th Street late Friday night. Police were called to northbound I-35 and 18th Street Expressway about 11:11 p.m. Officer say the vehicle was northbound on I-35 when it attempted to exit onto 18th Street.

Cities Shop for $10 Billion of Electric Cars to Defy Trump Dozens of U.S. cities are willing to buy $10 billion of electric cars and trucks to show skeptical automakers there's demand for low-emission vehicles, just as President Donald Trump seeks to review pollution standards the industry opposes.

Sobriety checkpoint on Friday in Waldo results in 14 DUIs Kansas City Police caught 14 drivers on suspicion of driving under the influence and 13 others with attempting to avoid a sobriety checkpoint set up on Friday at 77th Street and Wornall Road in Waldo. The sobriety checkpoint at 7712 Wornall Road checked 321 cars, according to KCPD.

KC Crossroads District Hotel Property Construction - Photoblog February 2017 drone practice flight with a site view of KC Crossroads District hotel property construction at 20th and Main, Kansas City, Missouri.

starts our look at the local midday, with mostly traffic reporting that still might be important for our readers who are out and about . . . Take a peek:Kansas City Broken RoadCrash Aftermath Last NightLocal Transit Push BackCrackdown On Kansas City Working ClassWonderful Views Of The Highwayby Jimi Hendrix is the afternoon song of choice and this is thefor right now . . .
Kansas City Voters Love Weed

Kansas City Agenda Dictated By Corporate Cronies And Consultants

White Ladies And Their Doggies Demand Kansas City's Attention, Cash And Care

Urban Core Voting Bloc Stronger Than Most Kansas City Residents Realize

Jolie Justus Threatens To Dominate The Remainder Of Mayor Sly's Tenure

This week in Kansas City might have been defined the legacy and current reality of armed military conflict but concerns over cash and the seemingly fickle proclivities of voters dominated the local discourse.Accordingly, tonight we celebrate the strongest in Kansas City in the aftermath of the election. Here's the quick and dirty version:Call this a bright spot which confirms that local priorities remains intact. Despite the warnings from old school pundits and the newspaper, Kansas City voted for a good time above all else and embarrassed scaled back consequences for stoners. If that doesn't offer faith in municipal Democracy than nothing will . . .Kansas City is confronted by crime, struggling schools and abandoned houses blighting neighborhoods . . . The answer to these concerns is simply to double down on the tax and spend philosophy of the current administration and continue to finance pet projects above all else and in order to satisfy political debts while padding billable hours.Second only to stoners, it's a fact of life that middle-class white ladies flexed their muscles in many ways this week.With little support from media, the mayor or the vast majority of Kansas City's political elite . . . Urban core advocates pushed forward a controversial sales tax that hopes to finally spark improvement in an embattled section of the inner-city.The next big project is the airport and this council lady is leading the way in a manner that could also see the mayoral aspirations of her supporters take off . . . Or crash and burn.Nevertheless, with the blank check vote behind Kansas City . . . The only thing certain for the future is more fighting over how the cash is spend and so much more . . .As always, this list has been compiled according toand it's a weekly comprehensive guide to local powerful people.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has called for a review of current and yet to be finalized consent decrees with police departments in the nation. In doing so, Sessions is sending signals. But he might be too late. And he probably already knows it.
"It's no secret. Claire was a top target for the far right in their attempts to ensure Neil Gorsuch would be confirmed to the Supreme Court. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent trying to pressure her to support their nominee. But Claire stood her ground and voted her conscience.





"Claire knew voting against Neil Gorsuch would make the far-right mad; she knew her vote would make her already-tough Senate race even tougher.





"But Claire looked at Neil Gorsuchs record of putting corporations ahead of people and ignoring the little guy in favor of the powerful, and she did the right thing. She opposed Gorsuch.





"Claires willing to take hard votes, but we MUST stand with her to keep her fighting for us. She cant beat the GOP money machine without a massive grassroots support base."

Some called it obstruction from this top ranking Democratic Party leader, but in the end the opposition was unsuccessful.Tonight, supporters rally to her rescue:#########A campaign donation ask follows the message.You decide . . .
there's a vote on the future of the streetcar CURRENTLY underway.

THE MAIN STREET SLOPE THREATENS KANSAS CITY TOY TRAIN STREETCAR EXTENSION PLANS AND WILL NOT ONLY SPIKE COSTS BUT ALSO DELAY THE IMPENDING LOCAL ROUTE!!!

hill

Unbeknownst to most Kansas City residents thanks to the despicable and clandestine scheming of the local consultant class and their corrupt media partners,We posted the info previously but our blog community is right to request a reminder . . .Why?Because last time the streetcar issue came up to a more open and public vote . . .The streetcar supporters can only win when the cheat.However, theare already coming up against an obstacle more powerful than pulling off another gerrymandered election.Like it or not . . . Here's a "concern" that has been conveyed to insiders, council and delightful consultants who are more friendly with our blog community than their bosses and colleagues realize . . .Already the KCMO streetcar has suffered maintenance problems, repeated breakdowns and nearly constant delays.have also confronted compressor concerns related to braking and sketchy performance in rain and ice. Navigating the Main Streetin Kansas City presents a costly challenge given that the route stands at nearly a 45 degree angle on its steepest point. Meanwhile, what we've seen from Kansas City's streetcar is that it doesn't really work in bad weather.Nevertheless, the hype continues with very few questions from a mostly complicit mainstream media.While there has been a great deal of talk about Mayor Sly's legacy this week . . . His greatest achievement is undoubtedly subverting local elections and voters with little to no opposition and in order to push forward a corporate tax and spend agenda.And so . . .Theas supporters continue their cheerleading and celebration amid skepticism from opponents who fear a runaway development agenda that once again threatens local small business, neighborhoods and the very fabric of Kansas City Democracy.Developing . . .
Coca-Cola was invented in 1886 by a pharmacist named Dr. John Stith Pemberton, who was also a Civil War vet and morphine addict. Coke is based on a drink called Vin Marine, which was brewed by Parisian chemist Angelo Mariani. Today, Coca-Cola is the most popular soft drink in the world. These are its five darkest secrets.

5. Actively Worked To Make Sure Kids Drank Coca-Cola Instead of Healthy Choices

In the 1990s, many soft drink companies were trying to attract consumers in a very saturated market. Coca-Colas plan was to go after high school students and hopefully get them to choose their brand for life, which is pretty much the same way that tobacco companies used to lure customers.

In the mid-1990s, Coca-Cola started to sign pouring contracts with schools. In exchange for premiums that were paid to the schools, Coca-Cola wanted exclusive rights to sell their products in vending machines and in the cafeteria. The schools, who often worked with tight budgets, usually agreed to do it. In some cases, Coca-Cola gave many schools around $30,000 up front and then a commission for the exclusive rights to sell Coke products in their schools for 10 years. In one case, Coca-Cola gave $90,000 to a school in Syracuse, New York, to build a stadium that had a big Coca-Cola sign on it.

While that may not seem super sinister, where it gets into the shady territory is that schools were then encouraged to sell Coke and given bonuses if they sold more product. They were also told that they would make less money if they sold healthier options, like milk or fruit juices, instead of soft drinks. In some cases, healthier options werent available at all because Coca-Cola didnt approve them to be sold in the schools.

Now, 20 years later, there is an obesity epidemic in America. Of course, Coca-Cola has contributed to this problem and they have even acknowledged this in their own reports. For the past 10 years, the single biggest threat to Cocas Cola profit has been obesity.

4. Their Water Problems

While the recipe for Coca-Cola is a closely guarded secret, one main ingredient that they need to produce the sugary drink is water. It takes 0.71 gallons of water to make 0.26 gallons of Coca-Cola. This becomes a major headache when Coca-Cola decides to set up bottling factories in places that dont have a lot of water to begin with. Examples of where this has happened are in several states in India, and several places in Latin America.

What happens is that Coca-Cola sets up a bottling plant, they use up too much ground water. That causes water shortages in the area, which means there isnt enough water to drink or to irrigate crops, which then leads to food shortages. After a decade of protesting, one plant in India was shut down in 2015, but Coca-Cola plants using up too much local water is still a problem in India, Latin America, and in developing countries around the world.

3. Coca-Cola No Longer Contains Cocaine (For a Pretty Racist Reason)

One of the most famous rumors about Coca-Cola is that the original recipe used cocaine and its totally true. They used coca leaves which contained the cocaine alkaloid, which is used to make powdered cocaine.

Its tough to say exactly how much cocaine the original drink contained, but there was a little bit in it. Also, the original Coca-Cola was alcoholic as well. However, in 1886, Atlanta (where Coke was bottled) enacted prohibition. So the alcohol was removed and more sugar was added, but the cocaine remained an ingredient in the drink for the next decade.

In 1899, Coca-Cola started selling their drinks in bottles. The bottles were popular among African-Americans because they didnt have access to fountain pop due to segregation laws. However, this started a panic among some white middle and upper class people. Some very vocal members of those communities were terrified that black people who were empowered by a cocaine drink might start attacking them, and they wouldnt be able to stop them. In response to the fears, Coca-Cola started to phase out cocaine from the recipe in 1903, and replaced it with caffeine and even more sugar.

2. Coca-Cola and The Colombian Unions

On December 5, 1986, a right-wing paramilitary unit showed up at a Coca-Cola bottling plant in Carepa, Colombia. One of the plants union executives, Isidro Segundo Gil, went to ask what the squad wanted and they opened fire on him, killing him. Later that night, the paramilitary group went to the unions headquarters, where they destroyed their equipment and then burned the place to destroy all the records inside.

The next day, the paramilitary went into the bottling plant and gave the union workers a choice: quit, or die like Gil. Obviously, many of the employees, who were earning $380 to $400 a month, quit their jobs. After they quit, the paramilitary shacked up in the bottling plant for two months. When the plant reopened, the union workers were replaced with workers who were paid $130 a month.

While there is no conclusive evidence that anyone from Coca-Colas main office ordered any of the murders, critics point out that Coca-Cola did very little to investigate the murders. In fact, they didnt complain to the Colombian government that the paramilitary killed their workers or that they were squatting in their facility for two months.

Also, at the time of the assassination, the union workers were trying to negotiate better working conditions with the bottling company Bebidas y Alimentos, which was contracted by Coca-Cola to bottle their product in South America. In the years after the murder, Bebidas has refused to negotiate anything with their workers.

Finally, this wasnt the only Coca-Cola union to be targeted. At least five other union members working with Coca-Cola were killed in Colombia and the union members were told to quit or die themselves.

In 2001, the Sinaltrainal union brought a lawsuit against Bebidas and Coca-Cola, but the motion against Coca-Cola was dismissed in 2003.

1. Coca-Cola and Peruvian Farmers

As weve mentioned, the original Coca-Cola formula contained a small amount of cocaine. When they changed the formula, they had a company called Maywood Chemical Works, which is now the Stepan Company, import coca leaves into the United States from Peru.

Once in the United States, Stepan, who still imports the coca leaves for Coca-Cola, removes the alkaloid that is the key component in powdered cocaine and then they send Coca-Cola the decocainized coca leaf extract. As for what Stepan does with the cocaine alkaloid? Well, they sell it under government supervision for medical use.

For over a century, when drug laws were enacted like the Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914 and the Jones-Miller Act of 1922, they made special exemptions to allow Coca-Cola to keep importing coca plants; making them one of the few American companies that were allowed to import the coca plant. As time went on, Coca-Colas popularity increased and Stepan couldnt sell all the cocaine alkaloid it extracted. This led to special legislation being passed so that Stepan could destroy the excess cocaine alkaloid under government supervision.

The problem is that coca leaves can be used to make many other products besides Coca-Cola and cocaine like tea, candies, and flour, but the coca farmers in Peru, called cocaleros, can only access the American market through Coca-Cola because of the drug laws that were enacted to stop cocaine from getting into America. With only one purchaser of their product, the cocaleros can do little more than accept Coca-Colas terms. As a result, the farmers stay poor, while Coca-Cola made $41 billion in 2016.

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Cretu said it was very important for her to see this monument

Visiting the archaeological site of Aigai and the burial complex of the ancient Macedonian kings in Vergina, northern Greece on Friday, European Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Cretu described it as "a jewel in Europe's history."

Following her tour of the site, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage list, Cretu said it was very important for her to see this monument. "It is even more important not just to read history but to also see and feel history," she said.

Aigai, occupying roughly the same location as the modern town of Vergina, was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia. The archaeological site contained the unsullied tomb of King Phillip II of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, one of the major archaeological finds of the 20th century.

The Commissioner also referred to projects for the protection of ancient cultural heritage underway at Aigai, with the support of regional programmes and Community funds.

"On the part of the EU, I must say that this work has been supported by the EU for the past 15 years, for reconstruction, and the building of a museum using the latest-generation technology that will include exhibits, galleries and even an amphitheatre," she said, noting that the EU had invested more than 30 million euros.

Invest in culture

Europe must continue to invest in culture, she added: "In order to better understand who we are and where we come from, we must invest in the history of each country and the history of Europe."

The Commissioner was accompanied by Central Macedonia Region governor Apostolos Tzitzikostas and European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas, who noted that "there could not have been a more ideal place to conclude the Commissioner's visit to Greece."

"The Commissioner started a dialogue with the citizens in Athens, inaugurated one of the most historic and impressive works that the EU has financed in our country (the Tempi tunnels) and is concluding [her visit] in the cultural roots of Macedonia. All of us that accompanied her these days feel proud, including myself, as a Greek, as a European and as a Macedonian," Schinas said.

Read more here.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Apr 8 (PTI) A steady increase in cases of human trafficking from across the Nepal border and Indian towns in the vicinity has prompted security agencies to undertake new measures to effectively check the menace.

Official data provided by the SSB said figures in this regard are "scary".

It said while a total of 33 victims, both Indian and Nepalese, were apprehended by the Indo-Nepal border guarding force SSB from these areas in 2014, the figures went up to 336 in 2015, 501 in 2016 and till March this year, 180 boys and girls have been rescued by it.

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Similarly, the number of traffickers apprehended from along the 1,751-km-long open and porous border on the countrys eastern flank have risen from 8 in 2014 to 102 in 2015, 148 nabbed last year and 51 traffickers caught till March this year.

Prompted by the spurt and steady increase in these numbers, the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) has called for a day-long workshop between multiple stakeholders mandated to curb this crime which includes state police forces of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and others, railway police, NGOs and top police officials of cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru and from Punjab which are the destinations for these trafficked children.

"We want to involve each and every stakeholder who is instrumental in curbing the menace of human trafficking. It is not enough to just intercept such instances and let the police be handed over the investigation. It is essential to find out the source and supply destination of trafficking and hit at the illegal act in a comprehensive manner," SSB Director General Archana Ramasundaram told PTI.

She added the conference, to be held on Monday, will chalk out plans to better coordinate between multiple agencies involved so that the suppliers and end users of this criminal act are identified and brought to book.

An SSB statement said "the complexity of the phenomenon (human trafficking), its multi-dimensional nature, its rapid spread worldwide and confusion surrounding the concept has made urgent and essential need to understand the various aspects of the phenomenon".

A senior SSB officer said the border guarding force, by virtue of its large presence along Indo-Nepal border areas, can help in assisting the local police forces and non-government organisations in getting intelligence inputs and manpower upto a certain level that will help in joining together the dots of such crimes.

The data states that instances of human trafficking along the Indo-Nepal border have also grown from 8 in 2014 to 73 in 2015, 76 in 2016 and 34 till March this year.

All these instances involve both scenarios where trafficking happens from across the border and also from towns and villages along this frontier, the officer said.

"Nepal is primarily considered a country of origin - a source for human trafficking. Victims of trafficking from Nepal move to India or the Middle East or even to Europe.

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"As per official figures, the Ministry of Women Children and Social Welfare of Nepal had identified 26 out of 75 districts as trafficking-prone," the SSB said.

The force has identified certain routes used by cross-border traffickers to transport girls and boys like Mahedranagar-Banbasa, Dhangarhi-Palia, Nepalganj-Rupediah, Krishnanagar-Barhni, Birganj-Raxaul and Biratnagar-Birpur among others.

Very few instances of human trafficking are reported from along villages and towns along the Indo-Myanmar border which the SSB guards in addition to the Nepal frontier.

"Human trafficking from across the Myanmar border does not happen. It is largely from Indian areas to the mainland. The Indo-Myanmar border is dotted by inhospitable terrain and dense jungles at many places and hence normal movement does not take place much.

"As movement across Indo-Nepal border is unrestricted, the challenge is larger on this frontier," the officer said. PTI NES KUN

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He said that Greece will meet the 3.5 pct of GDP surplus target in 2018

An agreement with the IMF on the Greek debt is necessary, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin on Saturday said on the sidelines of the Ecofin meeting in Malta.

"If there is no agreement on the sustainability of the Greek debt, markets will not regain their confidence in Greece and the country's return to the markets will not be possible," Sapin said adding that an overall agreement with the IMF on the debt issue must be reached and prepare Greece for returning to the markets in mid-2018.

Moreover, he said that the in principle agreement reached on Friday at the Eurogroup is a significant step.

He also said that Greece will meet the 3.5 pct of GDP surplus target in 2018 and the following years, however, restrictive measures must be taken both in 2019 and 2020. Provided that Greece meets its fiscal targets, Sapin said, it will be in a position to implement targeted social measures along with the restrictive ones.

Read more here.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
The American University of Ras Al Khaimah (Aurak), has signed a memorandum of understanding with Oairo Alliance, a British company specialising in smart technology and sustainability.

The agreement advocates for mutual cooperation in the sharing of expertise, research, and human capacity-building in the form of training and development.

This directly ties-in with the School of Engineerings Al Bayt Al Kamel or Zero-energy House project, in which it will construct an entirely self-sustainable home as part of the Solar Decathlon Middle East 2018 competition.

As per the terms of the agreement, the Zero-energy House is just one of the areas in which Oairo will be actively involved, giving the university access to its software, sensors, and experienced programming staff.

Oairo will also train Auraks staff and students in preparation for the competition.

Prof Hassan Hamdan Al Alkim, Aurak president, signed the agreement alongside Bryan Saxby, CEO of Oairo Alliance, while Prof Mousa Mohsen, dean of the School of Engineering and director of RAK Research and Innovation Center, was also in attendance.

Aurak and Oairo have also agreed to collaborate in organising academic conferences, research in fields such as energy storage and generation, and the holistic approach to the construction of smart homes. Aurak students will also have internship opportunities at the organisation.

Aurak has been selected to take part in the prestigious Solar Decathlon Middle East 2018 competition, organised by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, in conjunction with the US Department of Energy.  TradeArabia News Service
UAE-based global ports operator DP World and Egypt's General Authority for Investment and Free Zones have discussed a proposal to increase the capacity of Sokhna port in Egypt.



The port, operated by DP World, sits south of the Suez Canal on the Red Sea on a busy maritime trade route from Asia to the Middle East and beyond, to Europe.



Sultan bin Sulayem, chairman of DP World, held a meeting in Dubai with Mohamed Khodeir, CEO of General Authority for Investment. He cited Egypt's strategic location and other assets as drivers of investment and international trade in the coming period, said a Wam news agency report.



Khodeir noted that the Egyptian parliament will soon finalise an amended legislation on investments as part of the government's efforts to attract more foreign direct investments and sustain new projects.



DP World Sokhna is part of the operator's portfolio of 77 operating marine and inland terminals supported by over 50 related businesses in 40 countries across six continents.



Most of the cargo from the east destined for Egypt is imported via Sokhna, the closest port to the Egyptian capital, Cairo, which attracts vessels coming from Europe with cargo for Egypt.
UAE-based P&O Ports has won a 30-year concession for the management and development of a multi-purpose port project at Bosasso in the Puntland State of Somalia.



The approximate investment for the modern multi-purpose facility will be $336 million divided into two phases: $136 million for Phase 1 and $200 million for phase 2, said a statement.



President of Puntland Abdiweli Mohamed Ali and the chairman of Ports, Customs & Freezone Corporation (PCFC), Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, signed the agreement at a ceremony in Dubai, in the presence of senior government officials and representatives of PCFC.



Work on the project will involve building a 450m quay and a 5-hectare back up area, dredging to a depth of 12 m with reclamation work using dredge spoil. There will also be major investment in an IT and terminal operating system (TOS), mobile harbour cranes and container handling equipment.



Mohamed Ali said: This investment is a huge undertaking in Puntland and will greatly contribute to the infrastructure development in Somalia, particularly the Puntland State of Somalia. Infrastructure development is a priority for the government of Puntland as it underpins the efforts of taking this country forward.



Bin Sulayem said: The Port of Bosaso is a unique opportunity to enter into a multi-purpose port that is transitioning to containerisation in a country that is growing strongly as it enters a period of sustained peace. It fits ideally into P&O Ports mandate to invest in multipurpose ports in emerging markets, employing local people and developing skills. In return, the state of Puntland will benefit from an internationally recognised port operator contributing to its economic growth and trade potential.



The Port of Bosaso is located in Puntland State of Somalia, 2,000 km north of Mogadishu. It occupies a strategic location for maritime transport in the Gulf of Aden at the southern approach to the Red Sea and Suez Canal. - TradeArabia News Service
Iran's bazaars have survived for centuries and are considered as the center for trades, crafts, and culture of the country. Loud calls from vendors beckoning people to buy their wares prevail in the place.

The whole place is a feast for the traveler's eyes as hundreds of textile, mosaic tiles, spices, arts and crafts, antiquities and foodstuffs line up in exotic stalls and timche (storehouses) waiting for it to be bought by locals or tourists alike. Bazaars are made of rasteh or what they call "alleys," and each alley features a particular product.

At the entrance of the market, people can often find the caravanserai or the traveling traders who would stay in town over the next few days to sell their products and buy other items before moving to the next village.

However, Iran's bazaars face a new foe in this era: property price and taxes. Bazaar property went up, and many stall owners sold their shops and did businesses outside. BBC News interviewed many locals to delve into the issue of shop owners leaving bazaars.

Other challenges bazaars have faced are the continuing production of the crafts by hand instead of machines. Most stall owners in the area have been on the market for over 70 years and still offer handmade goods. Women who provide work in the bazaar found that the market for their wares is a despondent one, thus forcing them to find better jobs to provide food for the family.

One man claimed that people don't know each other anymore. "We are all suffering from one thing; this bazaar in all of its glory is being destroyed." Akbar Taghizadeh, former director of the Cultural Heritage Organization in Tabriz, told the site, that bazaars helped define the layout of the city as well as its social and cultural life.

Iran's markets were originally founded during the 11th century, while most of the present structures date back to ancient Persia or around the 17th century. Tehran's Grand Bazaar tops any travelers' list to visit, especially that it'll take them to a 10-kilometer labyrinth of rasteh featuring thousands of wares and items from food, jewelry, antiquities, and furniture.

Other than that, The Culture Trip wrote that other bazaars still flourishing in the area are the Imam Hossein Square, Tajrish Bazaar, Rey Bazaar, and Jomeh Bazaar, among many others. But given the present problems of the bazaar, will they survive the next generation?

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By Press Trust of India: From Lalit K Jha

Washington, Apr 8 (PTI) President Donald Trump has nominated two Indian-Americans for key administrative posts to coordinate US law-enforcement strategy around copyright, patents and trademarks and oversee his plan to eliminate 75 per cent of federal regulations.

Prominent Indian-Americans Vishal Amin and Neomi Rao will be Trumps new IP and regulatory czars respectively as he nominated them yesterday while making many administrative appointments.

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Amin

has been nominated to be the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator while Rao will be the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA).

If confirmed by the US Senate, Amin, who is currently a Senior Counsel on House Judiciary Committee, would succeed Daniel Marti.

He also served in the administration of President George W Bush at the White House, as Associate Director for Domestic Policy, and at the US Department of Commerce, as Special Assistant and Associate Director for Policy in the Office of the Secretary, a statement said.

Amin received his bachelors degree in neuroscience from Johns Hopkins University and his law degree from Washington University in St Louis.

"The prompt appointment and consideration of this position is critical, and we commend President Trump for his choice. Vishal Amin is a smart, thoughtful leader and we look forward to working with him," said Cary Sherman, chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America.

Rao has been nominated to be the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), a statutory part of the Office of Management and Budget within the Executive Office of the President.

OIRA reviews regulations from federal agencies and has the power to reject rules that do not fall in line with the Presidents goals.

"Trumps selection of Rao suggests the administration is serious about regulatory reform, not merely reducing high-profile regulatory burdens," said The Washington Post.

"The selection of a well-respected administrative law expert further suggests the administration recognises the need to be attentive to legal constraints on administrative action and that meaningful reforms require more than issuing a few executive orders. Rao is a superlative pick," the report said.

Rao, a professor at the George Mason University where he founded and directs the Center for the Study of the Administrative State, has focused his research and teaching on constitutional and administrative law.

Currently a public member of the Administrative Conference of the US, Rao has previously served in all three branches of the federal government.

She served as Associate Counsel to President George W Bushs counsel for nominations and constitutional law to the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary and law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas of US Supreme Court.

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She practised public international law and arbitration at Clifford Chance LLP in London.

Rao received her JD with high honours from the University of Chicago and her BA from Yale University. PTI LKJ NSA MRJ AKJ MRJ

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Tribune News Service

Mohali, April 8

The CIA Wing of the local police has arrested another Nigerian from Delhi and recovered 500 grams of heroin, worth Rs 2.5 crore, from his possession. The accused has been identified as Okai, alias Lucky, a resident of Lagos, Nigeria.

The police said Okai was arrested from Tilak Nagar, New Delhi, from where he operated his drug racket along with his accomplices.

Okai had come to India in 2014 on tourist visa. He confessed that he and some of his friends were involved in drug peddling. Further investigations in the case are under way, said Inspector Atul Soni, in-charge of the Mohali CIA wing.

Notably, the Mohali CIA wing had already arrested Neubuz Naigor, also from Nigeria, his female friend Heelan from Uganda and Ositaiva, a resident of Kenya. Besides, local residents Rajwant Kaur, Simranjit Kaur and Amrinder Singh were also held in this connection. All those arrested were involved in the same racket, said the police, adding that so far, they had recovered nearly 3 kg of heroin, worth Rs 15 crore, from their possession. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered against Okai.
Tribune news service

Chandigarh, April 8

The staff of Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) went that extra mile to return the lost articles of a Russian tourist, Alexander Maryshev, found abandoned in a bus belonging to the undertaking yesterday.

Yashjeet Gupta, General Manager, CTU, informed that a staff member of the bus on its way from coming Yamunanagar found a bag abandoned at the ISBT in Sector 17 yesterday.

The bag carried five passports, two laptops and two mobile phones besides other documents. After scrutiny, it was found that the articles belonged to a Russian tourist. On the direction of Amit Talwar, Director, CTU, the staff began looking for the tourist. Gupta said as the bag had no cash, they contacted the GRP at various railway stations to find out if an FIR had been lodged somewhere for the theft of a bag.

Gupta said after consistent efforts, it was found that a Russian tourist had lodged an FIR at the Sonepat railway station. The complaint mentioned a mobile number of Russia. Gupta called at the number in Russia, which was found to be the number of Alexanders father. The father gave Alexanders phone number who was staying in Delhi. Alexander was contacted in Delhi and reached Chandigarh today. The CTU staff made arrangements for his stay at UT Guest House.

For Alexander, finding the articles in the bag was a miracle, as he had lost all hopes of getting back the bag. Talwar said they helped him as Alexander was a tourist in the country and they wanted that he should go back with fond memories of India. On being asked, Alexander said the bag was robbed while he was travelling in a train. The thief must have boarded a CTU bus and left the bag on a seat after taking out the cash.
Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Karnal, April 8

A notorious gangster who was sentenced to a life term for a murder and who jumped parole was shot dead in an encounter near Karnals Rahra village on Saturday.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Surinder Geong, a resident of Geong village in Kaithal district who faces 30 cases of serious criminal charges  murder, banditry, and extortion among them  whom police were seeking after he jumped parole, was killed in an encounter that lasted 20 minutes. Three of his accomplices however escaped.

Geong was released on parole on May 23, 2016, after he claimed he needed it to have his house in Rohtak repaired, and went missing soon after.

Acting on a report, police surrounded Geong, who was wearing in police's khakhi turban and brown shoes, and three other people accompanying him in a car at Rahra village.

Two police uniforms, an I-card bearing Haryana Police's logo with the name Surinder Sheoran and a police belt found in the gangster's possession.

Police found two pistols, some cartridges and one car from the encounter site, Karnal Superintendent of Police Jashandeep Singh Randhawa said.

He said the report said that the Geongs gang was travelling in three cars. Police are currently searching the area.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala had approached Punjab and Haryana High Court for security after Geong jumped parole.

Police claimed Geong continued his extortion activities from behind bars.

Geong was accused of murdering Narinder Arora, a plywood dealer in Kaithal, in March 2006. He escaped to South Africa but was extradited to India in 2008 and convicted in the case in 2014.
Dipender Manta

Tribune News Service

Kullu, April 8

Despite repeated fatalities, tourists visiting Kullu-Manali pay no heed to follow the advisory issued by the district administration for their safety.

In March last year eight students of Punjab-based Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology on a trekking expedition were stranded near Chandrakhani pass for days together. They were rescued using a helicopter.

Thereafter, the district administration had issued an advisory for the tourist visiting Kullu-Manali. They are required to register themselves with the district administration, tourism and police departments before venturing out for expedition at high-altitude areas so that the authorities can provide timely help in time of need.

But tourists can be seen frequently clicking photographs on the banks of Beas and trekkers never bother to inform the authorities before venturing into the area.

Lack of knowledge about the tough terrain in Malana valley claimed the lives of two trekkers on Thursday, while three other are critical. Five trekkers were stuck near Rasol Pass at an altitude of 3,200 meters on Wednesday. All five trekkers are reported to be native of Nepal and stated to be studying in Delhi.

In another incident in January , a group of students ventured for trekking in Kullu-Manali and Mandi in bad weather conditions. Two of them, students of National Institute of Technology, froze to death near Shikari Devi temple in Mandi.

At high-altitude Kullu and Mandi areas there are frequent incidents of snowfall during March and April. Tourists are caught unawares. Apart from that, unfamiliarity with terrain and weather conditions adds to their woes.

SDM, Kullu, Rohit Rathor, who was the part of the rescue operation, said the five trekkers were not well equipped for trekking. They were not having tent, clothing and proper food to live on such high-altitude terrain.

When we reached the top, two of them were naked in such bone-chilling cold. Two died on the way because of hypothermia and pulmonary odema, while three other are undergoing treatment at regional hospital, Kullu. They are stable said Rathor.

Kullu DC Yunus Khan said the families of the deceased had been informed and expected to arrive here.

Signboards soon: DC

The DC stated that the authorities had been urging tourists to register themselves with the departments like tourism, police and the district administration, who can swing into action in time of need.

Soon the district administration will raise hoardings and signboards to make tourists aware of the safety measures, he added.

3 trekkers discharged from hospital

Kullu: Kullu Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Sushil Chander said three youths of Nepal, who were rescued and admitted to hospital after being stranded due to snowfall while trekking in the Rasol area of the Parbati valley in this district on Thursday, were discharged from the hospital today.

He said they were saved due to swift action by the district administration, the police and the health department. He said efforts were also made to save two other victims for whom medical teams, along with fully-equipped ambulances, were sent to the point of evacuation even in adverse weather conditions.

The CMO said the group was provided instant treatment and they were admitted to Jari hospital and later shifted to Kullu hospital. He said Bpria Pokhrel and Santosh died due to hypothermia caused by extreme cold conditions.  OC
The United States launched missile strikes in response to a chemical attack which it says, the Syrian government launched from the Shayrat air base.

By Reuters: A Syrian air base targeted in a U.S. cruise missile attack is operating again, the governor of Syria's Homs province confirmed on Saturday.

The United States launched the missile strikes on Friday in response to a chemical attack that killed 90 people including 30 children.

It says the Syrian government launched the attack from the Shayrat air base.

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Damascus has strongly denied carrying out the attack and says it does not use chemical weapons.

SYRIA ON THE ATTACKS

The Syrian army said on Friday the attack had caused extensive damage to the base, which the United States says it targeted with 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles.

"The airport is operating as a first phase," Homs governor Talal Barazi told Reuters. "Planes have taken off from it," he added, without saying when.

Asked if it was true that Syrian planes were now taking off from Shayrat or that the air base is operating, a Pentagon spokesman referred questions to the Syrian government.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based organisation that reports on the war, said warplanes had taken off from the base on Friday and carried out air strikes on rebel-held areas in the eastern Homs countryside.

An activist with an opposition air raid warning service said however that the first flight from the base was on Saturday morning.

U.S. President Donald Trump suggested on Twitter that the runway itself had not been the target of the missile strikes.

"The reason you don't generally hit runways is that they are easy and inexpensive to quickly fix (fill in and top)!", he said.

The reason you don't generally hit runways is that they are easy and inexpensive to quickly fix (fill in and top)!- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 8, 2017

A senior military source in the alliance fighting in support of President Bashar al-Assad said the airbase had been mostly evacuated thanks to a warning from Russia, which has deployed its military to Syria in support of Assad.

The senior military source, a non-Syrian, said only a few out-of-service jets were destroyed.

The United States warned Russia ahead of the attack.

Assad is also backed in the war by Iran and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, and other Iranian-backed groups.

The Pentagon said the missiles targeted aircraft, hardened aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage areas, ammunition supply bunkers, air defense systems, and radars.

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Also Read:

Russia warns of serious consequences from US strike in Syria

Syria: Who is fighting who as United States rains missiles at Assad's airbase

Also Watch:

This video of a Syrian father with twin kids who survived chemical attack will move you

--- ENDS ---
Jalandhar, April 8

A day after young woman Chand Deep Kaur from Kapurthala, who reportedly is a victim of holiday marriage, took up her issue with Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in Gurmehar style, she has got a response from the New Zealand embassy. Chand Deep has been asked to submit all proofs related to the case to them, which she did today.

She sent across her letter written to the Union Minister, a copy of the FIR, a copy of the LOC issued against Ramandeep, the court order declaring Ramandeep PO, their marriage photograph and clippings of media coverage today.  TNS
Ishfaq Tantry

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, April 8

The unexpected April snowfall, coupled with heavy rain this week, has taken a toll on the fruit crops in Kashmir.

Though the apple crop has been saved as the trees have not yet flowered, the colourful blossoms of fruit trees, such as peach, cherry, plum and pear, could be in jeopardy, as these flowers often die in low temperatures.

Reports from the field suggest that heavy damage has been caused to the pear, plum and cherry crops, which were in full bloom when the freaky weather conditions gripped the Kashmir valley between April 5 and 7.

This year, I was expecting a good yield of pear as the trees were in full bloom. Besides, it was comparatively warm in the last week of March and the first few days of April this year compared to last year, which is good for the crop. But the untimely snow and low temperatures have damaged the crop, said Haji Ghulam Mohammad Khan, an orchardist from the Muqam village in north Kashmir.

Like him, another orchardist from the region, Ghulam Hassan Lone is also worried as the untimely snow has destroyed his cherry crop. Last year, the cherry crop also suffered damage due to chilly weather conditions, but the unexpected April snow this year has completely wiped out the blossoms, Lone said, who also cultivates pear and apple in his orchards tucked in the hilly Karewas doting Baramulla district, one of the main regions of the Valley cultivating apple and other temperate fruit varieties.

Horticulture is the mainstay of J&Ks economy, where 7 lakh families, comprising 33 lakh people, are directly or indirectly associated with the horticulture sector. With horticulture paying dividends, the area under fruit cultivation in the state has increased from 2.95 lakh hectares in 2007-08 to 3.38 lakh hectares in 2015-16.

Though rains, moderate to heavy, are usual in early spring season in Kashmir, the snowfall and the accompanying chilly conditions Kashmir witnessed on April 6th is a rare phenomenon. The last time it snowed in April in Kashmir was on April 28 in 1978.

This unexpected snowfall and the accompanying chilly conditions will have the most damaging effect on the cross-pollinated varieties like almond, pear and cherry. The damage is expected to be around 50 per cent, said Chief Horticulture Officer, Kupwara, Zahoor Ahmad Bhat, whose department is now collecting details from the farmers about the extent of damage suffered by them. The north Kashmir region witnessed more snow than the central and south regions on April 6.

He, however, added that self-pollinating fruit varieties like plum and apricot will be able to withstand the adverse weather conditions which were witnessed in the Valley between April 5 and 7. The apple crop, he pointed out had been saved as majority of apple trees were in the tight-cluster or pink-bud stages, the two budding stages before the apple tress witness full bloom.
Tribune News Service

Jammu, April 8

Jammu today expressed anguish against the Rohingyas and Bangladeshis, calling them a big threat to both security and society.

Various social and political organisations of Jammu under the banner of the Jammu Citizen Forum held a protest here today against the illegal settlement of the Rohingyas and Bangladeshis.

The rally was led by Team Jammu under the leadership of Zorawar Singh Jamwal. Hundreds of youth participated in the rally. The rally also included the office-bearers and members of the Chamber of Commerce and Industries (CCI), Jammu, senior advocates, members of the Panthers Party, Arya Pratinnidhi Sabha, Kranti Dal, Sanatan Dharam Sabha, Private Schools Association, Rehari Colony Welfare Association, Hindu Shiv Sena, Shri Ram Sena, Panun Kashmir, Hotels Association, Freedom Fighters Association, Pragati Manch, Residents Welfare Committee, All Jammu Hotels and Lodges Association, Rotary Club, Volleyball Association of J&K and Morning Walkers Association, Rehari Colony.

The rally was held outside Raj Bhawan, where some prominent members of the rally submitted a memorandum to the government against the illegal settlement of the Rohingyas and Bangladeshis in Jammu.

We have submitted a memorandum to the government. If the government has the list of the foreigners settled in Jammu, what is it waiting for? The government should take action and deport all illegal immigrants, said Jamwal.

Meanwhile, retracting its statement, the CCI, Jammu, today clarified that the identify and kill movement was meant to identify the foreign settlers and take effective measures to kill the issue.

In an official handout, CCI president Rakesh Gupta said the statement was misinterpreted by negative and anti-national forces with regard to the deportation of the Rohingyas and Bangladeshis.

Threatening will invite action: Mehbooba

Anantnag: CM Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday said strict action would be taken against anybody who tries to take law into their own hands. She was reacting to the statement of the CCI, Jammu, in which it said that it would identify and kill Rohingya Muslims staying in Jammu. She was talking to mediapersons in Anantnag after a workers convention. She said: Whosoever tries to take law and order into their own hands will be dealt with strictly, she said. OC
Azhar Qadri

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, April 8

In a momentous ideological drift in Kashmirs decades-old militancy, a group of armed militants have said they will fight in India as well as in Pakistan to establish the rule of Islam as they praised the Taliban movement.

The militants, whose identity is not immediately known, had appeared in south Kashmirs Karimabad village on Friday and addressed a group of locals.

An unidentified militant speaker continued with the already emerging trajectory of overt pan-Islamism that has been in recent years detailed by three militant commanders  Burhan Wani, Zakir Musa and Yaseen Itoo  who had vowed to fight for the establishment of Islamic rule in Kashmir.

The militant at Karimabad, however, spoke in more elaborate terms as he rejected waving of Pakistani flag and justified Talibans war against Pakistan state.

Listen carefully, he said, This war is for Shariyat (Islams rule) or Shahadat (martyrdom). Pakistani flag is not part of Shariyat  why do you wave Pakistani flag? Anyone who waves Pakistan flag will be our enemy, the militant said, his speech recorded in a video on mobile phone camera that later went viral on social media sites.

The slogan of Shariyat ya Shahadat  Islamic rule or martyrdom  is the hallmark of global militant groups who reject the idea of nation-states and fight for the cause of establishing a caliphate. The speech is the latest in a growing chatter of local militant voices who are shunning ideological affiliation with Pakistan and, instead, openly advocating a global militant ideology that is espoused by the Al-Qaida.

The militant also asked the crowd to raise pro-Taliban slogans. Why I asked you to shout Talibans slogan because Taliban wants Islamic system in Pakistan. We should have love for the Taliban, he said, adding that only Islams black flag should be raised in Kashmir.

The United Jehad Council, a conglomerate of militant outfits based in Pakistan, was rattled by the speech and quickly disassociated itself from the militants speech. In a statement, it said the conglomerate has identified the gunmen and described the speech as anti-Islamic act.

A local said the militant speaker was part of the six-member group who appeared in Karimabad last evening when the villagers were commemorating the anniversary of cop-turned-militant Naseer Pandit, who was killed last year.

In the speech, the unidentified militant said they were not fighting on behalf of any organisation or Pakistan. We are (fighting) for Islams system in Kashmir, not for any organisation or Pakistan, the militant said.

We have to go to India also to implement Islams rule there. There is no Islamic system in Pakistan and we have to implement Islamic system there also, he said.
Prateik Babbar is all set to make his debut on the big screen in East India with Saurav Chakrabortys Bengali socio-political drama, Aroni Takhon. The film, which is based on a 1994 novel Kamor by Sarbani Mukhopadhyay, revolves around a love story between the time the Babri Masjid was demolished (1992) and Gujarat riots ( 2002).

The 30-year-old actor essays the role of a notorious rich kid, whos a drug addict, but turns over a new leaf for the love of his life who he eventually sacrifices to another man.

Director Chakraborty said, This is the first time a Bengali film is made for world cinema and this film is travelling to four continents and 35 cities. This is proper theatrical with Arabic, Spanish, French, Hindi and English subtitles. We are looking at taking the film to international film festivals.

This film should not be viewed from any communal or regional aspect. Our aim is to portray the effects of these kinds of macro events on a micro level. How these incidents directly or indirectly enter your home, affect your day to day life, knowingly or unknowingly, he added.

The Ekk Deewana Tha star said, My parents have done Bengali cinema and Bengali cinema has an old world charm. It was a feel good factor really and I wanted to experiment with a new genre of cinema. Going forward I would love to do more Bengali cinema.

During the filming phase I was heavily into substance usage and this is the first time I got a perspective on how it was important to say no to drugs. I wanted to turn over a new leaf and the journey of self-realization started on the sets of this film which finally led up to me going clean. In fact, I stayed away from doing any substance on sets as I had to mentally and physically train for the role and get into the skin of my character, he added.
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 8

While it is widely believed that 21 soldiers had made the last stand at Saragarhi in the North-West Frontier Province 120 years ago, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh said there was a 22nd man in the fortress whose sacrifice had gone unnoticed.

Dedicating his book, The 36th Sikhs in the Tirah Campaign 1897-98: Saragarhi and the Defence of Samana Forts, that was released here today to the 22nd man, he said the man, a non-combatant and deployed at Saragarhi as a cook, picked up a rifle after others were killed and shot four tribals.

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Though his exact identity is unknown, he probably belonged to Noushera and is referred to simply as Daad. He wanted to join the Army, but was rejected on medical grounds. There is only one edifice dedicated to the battle on which his reference crops up.

The Saragarhi battle, where 21 soldiers from 36 Sikh (now 4 Sikh), led by Havildar Ishar Singh, fought to the last man last round against over 8,000 Afridi tribals, is listed by UNESCO as one of the 10 greatest battles ever fought.

British Parliament had risen in unison on hearing about the exploits of the soldiers, all of whom were awarded the Indian Order of Merit, then the highest decoration applicable to Indian soldiers. When they apprised their commanding officer, based in a neighbouring fort, about the situation, they were simply ordered to hold your position. When they faced the enemy, they were determined to fight to the death. The remnants of the fort and memorials still lie in Saragarhi.

There are three memorials to the battle in India: at the Sikh Regimental Centre in Ramgarh, in Amritsar and one in Ferozepur, for which a regimental trust is being set up for its upkeep. A Bollywood film on the battle is also in the making. The Chief Minister said the government would set up a proper monument in Ishar Singhs village, Jhorran near Jagran, where at present his bust is installed. A discussion on the importance of the battle as well as the contemporary geo-strategic significance of the area was also held. Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore; GOC-in-C, Western Command, Lt Gen Surinder Singh; Col of the Sikh Regiment, Lt Gen SK Jha along with a large number of serving and retired service officers and civilian dignitaries attended the function.

The Governor suggested holding of a literary festival exclusively on defence issues in Chandigarh as a large number of senior and distinguished service officers were based in the city. In response, Capt Amarinder agreed that the Punjab Government would host such an event on October 27 this year, the date coinciding with Infantry Day marking the landing of troops of 1 Sikh to defend Srinagar from Pakistani raiders in 1947.
New Delhi, April 8

A 19-year-old German national was robbed and then stabbed multiple times by rickshawpullers at Kotwali area in Delhi late last night.

The victim, Benjamin Scolt, has been admitted to a local hospital.

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The victim was robbed of his belongings, including cash in Indian currency. The attack took place on Friday around 11.30 pm when Benjamin Scolt, on a tourist visa to India, hired an e-rickshaw from the New Delhi Railway Station for a visit to the Red Fort, said Deputy Commissioner of Police Jatin Narwal.

Narwal, citing Scolt, said a man, other than the driver, was already sitting in the rickshaw, when he ordered it.

It was likely that the man was known to the rickshaw driver, the police officer said.

After Scolt boarded the vehicle, it was taken to an isolated place behind the Red Fort, he said.

The two men then asked him to handover his belongings, said Narwal. He might have resisted and they pulled out the weapon and threatened him, he said.

"He refused and they attacked him with the weapon and left him injured after taking away his bag and the cash he was carrying," Narwal added.

Scolt, Narwal said, cried for help as a police patrol van passed by.

The tourist was taken to the nearby Dr Hedgewar Hospital and the German Embassy was informed immediately, he said.

A police officer, who is part of the investigation team and refused to be named, said the two suspects were identified after police questioned at least 25 e-rickshaw drivers in the area.

"The search is on. We should be able to arrest them soon," the officer said.

Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has ordered the police to provide a report on the incident, and have asked the Delhi Government to provide best medical treatment to the victim.

I have asked for a report on the attack on German national in Delhi. I have asked Delhi Government to provide him best medical treatment, Sushma tweeted.

I have asked for a report on the attack on German national in Delhi. I have asked Delhi Government to provide him best medical treatment.  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) April 8, 2017

Agencies
Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service



Mumbai, April 8



Mumbai will soon get a Coastal Road that will link South Mumbai to the citys western suburbs, with the Ministry for Environment and Forests approving the project.



The coastal road estimated is estimated to cost Rs 15,000 crore. Sources in the state government said that foundation stone for the project would be laid in the next few months while work on it will begin after monsoon.



The Coastal Road will begin from Mumbai's Marine Drive and pass through the waterfronts of several of the city's landmarks, such as Worli Seaface, Haji Ali, Napean Sea Road and the Girgaum beach.



Originally proposed by former chief minister Prithviraj Chavans government as a measure to improve transportation in Mumbai, the Coastal Road measuring 33.5 km will be built in two phases.

In the first phase, the road will connect Marine Drive to the Worli-end of the Bandra-Worli Sealink. In the second phase, the Bandra-end of the sealink and

suburban Kandivli will be connected.



The Mumbai Municipal Corporation has called for bids from contractors. The last date for Request for Qualification ends on April 12.
New Delhi, April 8

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday hailed his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina for her countrys development by putting behind a personal tragedy, which saw the massacre of 16 of her family members in a coup.

Can anyone imagine when 16 members of your family are murdered? And one daughter struggled to realise the dreams of Sonar Bangla (golden Bangladesh). This is not a common thing. She (Hasina) stands rock solid and is working to take her country on the path of development.

I hail her courage. The way she brought herself and her country out of troubled times. Very few have this courage, he said.

The Prime Minister was speaking at the ceremony where families of martyrs of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War were felicitated by Hasina.

Hasinas father Shaikh Mujibur Rehman, famously known as Bangabandhu, and one of the leaders who led the Bangladesh Liberation movement were assassinated in a coup in 1975, along with the formers family members. Hasina and her sister Rehana escaped the attack as they were not in the country at that time.

Modi said Bangladesh has achieved phenomenal success in several areas after its independence.

Listing out the achievements, he said since 1971, the average life expectancy of Bangladeshis have increased several times than Indias, and its GDP has grown 31 times in 35 years.

The BJP leader said the infant mortality rate has gone down from 222 per 1,000 live births to 38 per 1,000 live births, and export has increased 125 times.

This speaks for a lot of change. Bangladesh is crossing new limits of economic development by following the vision of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, he added.  PTI
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Apr 8 (PTI) Drug firm Neuland Laboratories today said the US health regulator has made two observations at its manufacturing facility in Hyderabad.

"The United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) inspected Unit 1, manufacturing facility at Bonthapally, Hyderabad of the company from April 3-7, 2017. At the end of the inspection, there were 2 observations given under form 483," Neuland Laboratories said in a BSE filing.

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It further said, "The two observations relate to procedures followed for the annual quality standards record evaluation and cleaning and maintenance of equipment at appropriate intervals during manufacturing campaign".

Neuland Laboratories said it has already initiated corrective and preventive actions for the observations and is confident of satisfying the FDA within the stipulated time. PTI SVK JM

--- ENDS ---
New Delhi, April 8

India and Bangladesh on Saturday signed 22 pacts in key sectors including defence and civil nuclear but the long-pending Teesta waters sharing agreement remained elusive though Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed his government's commitment for an "early solution".

After holding comprehensive talks with his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina, Modi announced a new concessional Line of Credit of $ 4.5 billion for the neighbouring country and an additional assistance of $500 million to help its military procurement.

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"We in India rejoice in our ties with Bangladesh. Ties that have been forged in blood and generations of kinship. Ties that seek a better and secure future for our people," Modi said at a joint media event with Hasina.

The two countries also agreed to confront challenges of terrorism with deeper security and defence cooperation with Modi terming spread of radicalism as a "grave threat", not only to the two countries but also to the entire region.

On her part, Hasina, on a visit here after seven years, said her country will continue its zero-tolerance policy towards terror and promised to take all steps to ensure peace and security along Indo-Bangla border.

"We agreed that the agenda of our cooperation has to remain focused on purposeful action. We specifically looked at charting new avenues and tapping fresh opportunities in advancing our relationship."

Though the two sides decided to take their ties to a newer level, they could not finalise the long-pending Teesta water-sharing agreement, primarily due to opposition to it by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who was present during launch of new train and bus services between the two countries.

Referring to the Teesta issue, Modi said the pact is important for India-Bangladesh relationship and expressed hope that the West Bengal Chief Minister will eventually support it.

"I am very happy that the Chief Minister of West Bengal is my honoured guest today. I know that her feelings for Bangladesh are as warm as my own. I assure you and the people of Bangladesh of our commitment and continuing efforts," he said.

Modi said he "firmly" believes that an early solution to the issue "can and will" be found out.

The Prime Minister also complimented Hasina for her government's 'zero-tolerance' policy towards terrorism and said "it is an inspiration for all of us."

A new bus and train services were also launched between Kolkata and Khulna in Bangladesh.

"India has always stood for the prosperity of Bangladesh and its people. We are a long-standing and trusted development partner of Bangladesh. India and Bangladesh are also determined that the fruits of our cooperation must benefit our people," said Modi.

He said both sides recognised the need to diversify commercial engagement to boost trade and for greater regional benefit.

In this context he referred to an agreement to open new border haats for trade and said steps being were being taken to put into operation the Coastal Shipping Agreement.

Talking about regional connectivity, he said India was looking forward to early implementation of the BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal) Motor Vehicles Agreement that will "usher in a new era of sub-regional integration". The BBIN initiative was taken after Pakistan stalled a regional transport initiative of SAARC.

The agreements signed on Saturday include an MoU on defence cooperation framework pact and extending defence LOC of $500 million by India and on cooperation in the civil nuclear sector under which India will be able to set up nuclear plants in Bangladesh.

Under the Defence LoC pact, India will supply military hardware to Bangladesh.

The other key MoUs inked were on passenger and cruise services on the coastal and protocol route, cooperation on cyber security and cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space

"We want to build cooperation in new areas, especially some high-technology areas, that have a deeper connect with the youth in both our societies," said Modi.

As a mark of India's respect to father of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina's father, a prominent road in Delhi has been named after him.

Modi and Hasina also released a Hindi translation of Bangbandhu's 'Unfinished Memoirs'.

The Prime Minister said with fresh assistance of $4.5 billion, India's resource allocation for Bangladesh has recorded more than $8 billion over the past six years.

Identifying major areas of cooperation, he said energy security is an important dimension of the two-way development partnership.

"Today, we added an additional 60 Mega Watt of power to the 600 Mega Watt of power already flowing from India to Bangladesh. The supply of another 500 Mega Watt has already been committed from the existing inter-connection.

"We have also agreed to finance the diesel oil pipeline from Numaligarh to Parbatipur. Our companies are entering into a long-term agreement for the supply of high-speed diesel to Bangladesh. We have also agreed on a time table for regular supply till the pipeline is constructed," he said. PTI
Simran Sodhi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 8

India and Bangladesh signed 22 agreements in key sectors, including defence and civil nuclear, following delegation-level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina here today.

However, the long-pending Teesta waters sharing agreement remained elusive though Modi conveyed his governments commitment for an early solution. The Centre will need to find a mechanism to get West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on board because without her consent, a resolution is not possible.

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India extended a credit line of $4.5 billion for implementation of projects in Bangladesh, which is probably the largest credit line India has extended to the neighbourhood so far. Besides, Modi also announced $500 million credit line for Bangladeshs military supplies. Two agreements in the defence sector were signed taking the bilateral relationship forward to a stage of military diplomacy.

Banerjee was also present during the ceremony and later attended a lunch hosted by Modi in Hasinas honour.

Later, Modi spoke on terrorism and mentality in South Asia that promotes terrorism. The main aim (of this ideology) is to spread terrorism. A mindset in which policy-makers feel terrorism is bigger than humanity, destruction is bigger than creation and betrayal is bigger than trust. This mentality is the biggest challenge to peace and development and obstructs growth in the region, Modi said.

Didi suggests way out

Kolkata: Banerjee said, Water level in Teesta has gone down. I told them this during the lunch. Small rivers in north Bengal can be explored for supplying water to Bangladesh. If Teesta water is given to Bangladesh, it can even lead to drinking water scarcity in north Bengal.

May I now request the two to step down. really?

May I now request the two Prime Ministers to step down. The comment by the protocol officer anchoring a ceremony on signing of MoUs after talks PM Narendra Modi had with Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina left everyone at the event in splits. What the officer meant was to request the two to come down from a raised platform and release a Hindi translation of unfinished memoirs of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The officer, after a pause, said, I now request the two PMs who have not stepped down to jointly release the translation.

Hasina salutes 1971 Indian war heroes

New Delhi: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday paid tributes to Indian soldiers who died in the Liberation War of 1971 that gave birth to her country. The visiting Prime Minister said she was grateful to the people and the government of India for their contribution to her countrys liberation. I am grateful to the government and people of India for their contribution to Bangladeshs war of Independence. Many Indian soldiers sacrificed their lives... We will always remember them with gratitude, Hasina said. TNS

Bus, train services begin

Kolkata: The 409-km Kolkata-Khulna-Dhaka bus service was launched here on Saturday with an aim to facilitate better regional connectivity between India and Bangladesh. Three buses - two belonging to the West Bengal Transport Corporation and one to the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation - were flagged off from "Nabanna", the state secretariat, as a part of the trial run. State ministers Firhad Hakim, Partha Chatterjee and Subrata Mukherjee accompanied by a host of Bangladeshi delegates were present at the flagging-off ceremony. This is the third such service that has been introduced. The new bus route (via Gopalganj, Khulna and Jessore) is 96 km less than the existing Kolkata-Dhaka route. Simultaneously, the Indian Railways also inaugurated a passenger train service between Kolkata and Dhaka via Khulna. TNS
Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service



Mumbai, April 8

Sagar Thakkar, alias Shaggy, who allegedly ran an international call centre from Mumbai from where thousands of Americans were defrauded of millions of dollars by agents posing as Internal Revenue Service agents, was deported to Mumbai from Dubai on Friday night, police said on Saturday.

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Thane Police looking for Shaggy for the past several months and had traced him to the UAE, where he has been hiding since the racket was busted. Officers from the Thane police took custody of Shaggy as soon he landed in Mumbai.



According to information available from the US government, call centres set up by Thakkar and his associates may have swindled as much as US $ 300 million from American nationals.



Thakkar and his associates had set up several call centres in 2013 in Thane and Gujarat that recruited tele-callers who were trained to impersonate IRS, immigration and other government officials in order to swindle unsuspecting Americans.



So far at least 70 persons employed as managers by the call centres have been arrested while more than 700 'agents' were detained by police.



After the scam came to light in October last year, police said Shaggy may have invested the proceeds of his ill-gotten gains in legitimate businesses. Some commercial and residential properties owned by Shaggy and his associates have been sealed by police, sources said.
Gumla (Jharkhand), April 8

Three persons have been arrested for allegedly beating to death a youth after he was seen with a girl from another community in Jharkhand's Gumla district recently, a senior police officer said.

"We have arrested three persons on Thursday in connection with the killing of Mohammad Shalik (19), who was beaten to death after being spotted with his girlfriend belonging to another community," said Superintendent of Police Chandan Kumar Jha.

The arrests were made on the basis of leads provided by the girl during police interrogation, the officer said.

The family members were opposed to the affair and had warned the youth to stay away from the girl, he said, adding that Shalik did not heed to the warning and came to drop her off near her home on Wednesday night.

On seeing the victim and the 15-year-old girl together, the locals allegedly tied him to a pole in front of the girl and thrashed him badly near Soso Mode under Gumla police station.

When Shalik did not return home late night, the family members enquired about his whereabouts from his friends.

The family members found Shalik in a serious condition and rushed him to a hospital in Gumla but he succumbed to his injuries on Thursday, Jha said.

Police are trying to find out whether the girl's family members instigated the mob.

All the arrested persons have been sent to jail today, he said.

Jha said the incident was a fall-out of the affair and was not a communal incident. PTI
New Delhi, April 8

India's doors are always open for cooperation, but for that Pakistan has to shun terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra said on Saturday.

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Hitting out at Pakistan, Modi said it "breeds, inspires and encourages" terrorism and this "thought" is a roadblock to peace within the region and the world.

He emphasised that "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas" is not just restricted to India, but also to the neighbouring countries and development of India is incomplete without the progress of the region.

"We have extended hand of friendship towards every country (of the region) and have invited them to be a part of our growth. Without being selfish, we have wished good for the entire region.

"We truly think that citizens of all nations of the region progress and prosper. Our doors are open for cooperation, but for this terrorism has to be shunned.

"There is one thought in South Asia which breeds, inspires and encourages terrorism. The thought whose priority is not humanity, but extremism and terrorism," Modi said, without naming Pakistan.

He was speaking at the ceremony where families of martyrs of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War were felicitated by Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Modi said India was a victim of the "thought" that encourages terrorism.

Stating that 1,661 Indian soldiers laid down their lives in the Bangladesh Liberation War, Modi said the Indian army's struggle in this could not be forgotten.

"The Indian army never shied away from its duty and set an example by following conventions of the war. Over 90,000 Prisoners of War were released safely after the 1971 war. The humane gesture shown by India is one of the biggest events in the century," Modi said.

The Prime Minister said the genocide by Pakistan in 1971 was undertaken to wipe out an entire generation of Bangladesh and every person who was proud of the idea of Bangladesh was eliminated.

"The purpose of this genocide was not just killing the innocents, but to uproot the idea of Bangladesh," he said.

Speaking at the event, Hasina said, the history of Bangladesh has been written with the blood of Indian martyrs along with valiant freedom fighters of Bangladesh.

"They fought together for the independence of Bangladesh. The story of their sacrifice will be remembered from generation to generation in our two countries," she said.  PTI
Mumbai, April 8

Private airlines on Saturday lifted the nearly two-week long flying ban on Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, who had assaulted an Air India staffer last month.

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The decision of the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) comes a day after the national carrier, following direction from the Civil Aviation Ministry, revoked the ban on Gaikwad.

The flying restriction on the Lok Sabha member has been lifted after he gave an undertaking that such incidents will not reoccur.

The FIA, which has Jet Airways, IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir as members, today said its members are restoring the flying privileges to Gaikwad.

In a statement, the grouping said it is being done after Air India lifted the ban and under the assurance that our assets and colleagues shall be accorded the respect that they deserve for the hard work that they put in every day.

No sooner had the FIA lifted the ban on the Sena MP, than two other private carriersVistara and AirAsia Indiasaid they support the decision taken by the industry.

Vistara and AirAsia India are not part of the FIA.

In a series of tweets today, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said Air India was advised to lift the ban as Gaikwad had apologised and provided undertaking that such incidents would not reoccur.

Police investigations regarding Gaikwads conduct during the March 23 incident are under way and the law will take its own course, Sinha said.

On March 24, Air India barred Gaikwad from flying with it after he assaulted a staffer at the Delhi airport. The FIA followed suit.

When the FIA had imposed a flying ban on Gaikwad, Vistara and AirAsia had said they were with the industry on the issue.

In a climbdown after combative Shiv Sena members disrupted Lok Sabha proceedings, Gaikwad on April 6 wrote a letter to Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju expressing regret over the unfortunate incident.

He had also virtually given an undertaking that there would be no repeat of such incident and sought lifting of the ban.

While announcing the decision to lift the ban, an Air India spokesperson had said the move followed a written order from the civil aviation ministry.

Full service carrier Vistara today said it supports the decision of industry peers.

We stood in solidarity with Air India and members of the FIA during this recent episode... We continue to stand by them today in their decision to revoke the ban, a spokesperson said in a statement.

Noting that unruly and disruptive passengers are a serious safety and security threat, the airline said, we are hopeful this incident results in specific regulations and actions to address this important issue.

No-frills airline AirAsia India today said it does not tolerate abusive or unruly behaviour by passengers that puts the safety of other guests and crew members on board at risk.

We will support the decision taken by the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the industry with regard to the recent incident involving an Air India staff, an airline spokesperson said in a statement.

Gaikwad meets Thackeray

Meanwhile, Gaikwad met party president Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday and explained his position over the issue.

The meeting, which lasted for 10 minutes at Shiv Senas central office at Dadar in Mumbai, came after Air India, and other airlines, lifted the flying ban on Gaikwad.

Neither Thakceray nor Gaikwad disclosed to reporters what transpired in the meeting. However, party sources said Gaikwad explained his position over the whole controversy.

Gaikwad, the MP from Osmanabad, arrived here by the Rajdhani Express this morning after attending Parliament proceedings earlier this week.

The lawmaker boarded the train from Delhi last evening hours after the flying ban was lifted by the national carrier following his letter to Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Thursday in which he expressed regret over the unfortunate incident.  PTI
Mumbai: Private airlines on Saturday lifted the nearly two-week-long flying ban on Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, who assaulted an Air India staffer last month. The decision of the Federation of Indian Airlines comes a day after the national carrier, following direction from the Civil Aviation Ministry, revoked the ban on Gaikwad. PTI

Centre rushes 2,000 personnel to Odisha

New Delhi: The Centre on Saturday rushed 2,000 paramilitary personnel to Odisha to assist the local administration in maintaining law and order in Bhadrak district. Curfew remained in force in the town while prohibitory orders were imposed in Dhamnagar and Basudevpur after they witnessed violence over alleged abusive remarks against Hindu deities. PTI

Probe ordered into sale of UP sugar mills

Lucknow: Suspecting a scam of about Rs 1,100 crore, the UP Government has decided to conduct a probe into the sale of 21 sugar mills during the BSP rule in 2010-11. The decision was taken at a review meeting of the Sugarcane Development Department chaired by CM Adityanath. The government might consider recommending a CBI probe. PTI

Vande Mataram row narrow mindedness

Lucknow: Amid the row over Vande Mataram, UP CM Yogi Adityanath on Saturday hit out at those refusing to sing the national song saying it reflected their narrow mindedness. Some people are saying we will not sing Vande Matram... we want the country to move ahead and the row is that we will sing Vande Matram or not...its a matter of concern, he said. PTI

Mumbai call centre scandal kingpin deported from Duba

Mumbai: Sagar Thakkar alias Shaggy, who allegedly ran an international call centre from Mumbai from where thousands of Americans were defrauded of millions of dollars by agents posing as Internal Revenue Service agents, was deported to Mumbai from Dubai on Friday night, the police said. The Thane police were on the lookout for Shaggy for the past several months and had traced him to the UAE where he was in hiding after the racket was busted. TNS

Elderly woman shot at inside Thane bus by her son-in-law

Thane: A 75-year-old woman was injured after she was shot at allegedly by her son-in-law in a Borivali-bound MSRTC bus here, the police said on Saturday. The incident took place late last night when accused Sumedh Karandikar, also a local leader of Kamghar Sena, opened fire on the elderly woman inside the bus after an altercation broke out between them over some issue. Karandikar shot at Paravati Thakur from point blank range, injuring her severely. PTI

Jail, hanging, name it

"Ram temple is a matter of faith for me and I am proud of my involvement in the temple movement. I will willingly go to jail for it and am even prepared to be hanged." Union Minister Uma Bharti, after meeting UP CM Yogi Adityanath

Filmi chakkar: eve-teasing

"In films, romance almost always starts with eve-teasing. Man, friends will surround a woman, trip her up, abuse and slowly shes in love; he fights with someone, gets her." Union Minister Maneka Gandhi, on romance and eve-teasing in films
Panaji, April 8

Blaming movies for the rising crime against women in the country, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi has urged the film fraternity to portray women in a better light.

We have very important reason why men believe they can get away or they indulge in violence against women and that is films. If you look at films, which are a way to communicate messages, you will find romance almost always starts with eve-teasing. The man and friends will surround a woman, be mean to her trip her up, show her down, abuse her, touch her inappropriately and slowly she falls in love with him, Gandhi said while speaking at the Goa Fest on Friday.

#WATCH Romance in almost every film starts with eve teasing, be it Hindi or in regional films, says Union Minister Maneka Gandhi (7.4.17) pic.twitter.com/FLO39NUB4Q  ANI (@ANI_news) April 8, 2017

She said that violence against women is increasing because of the indecent representation of them in Bollywood and regional movies.

Romance in almost every film starts with eve teasing, be it Hindi or in regional films, she added.

Gandhi said that the powerlessness of men also lead to violence against women.

The man's feeling of powerlessness, his being shouted at, his failure in job is also one of the reasons of violence against women, she added. ANI
A day after Congress leader Laxmi Hebbalkar was seen in a video with wads of Rs 2,000 notes, Karnataka BJP president BS Yeddyurappa was caught on camera offering money ahead of Assembly bypolls in the state.

By Rohini Swamy: It is now down to video wars between the Congress and the BJP in what could be called a prestige issue between the parties for the Assembly bypolls in Nanjangud and Gundlupet in Karnataka.

A video has surfaced showing the Karnataka BJP president BS Yeddyurappa allegedly giving money to a family in Chamrajanagar district.

India Today spoke to BS Yeddyurappa, who clarified that he was offering monetary help to a farmer family whose breadwinner had just committed suicide a few days ago.

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"Why would a family who has lost a member even think of taking money for votes? It was an act on humanitarian grounds and I gave it to them from the party funds, which we have allocated to help farmers in distress," said Yeddyurappa.

TWO VIDEOS IN TWO DAYS

A day ago, another video had surfaced wherein a Congress leader was found carrying money during campaign.

The video showed the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee Mahila President Laxmi Hebbalkar with wads of Rs 2,000 notes in Chamarajanagar.

Both the videos have been submitted to the Election Commission for verification.

Meanwhile, the Congress filed a complaint against Yeddyurappa to the Election Commission.

KARNATAKA ASSEMBLY BYPOLLS: 10 THINGS TO KNOW The Nanjangud by-election will be the first litmus test for the Congress in Karnataka as the government is in the last year of its tenure. The usually quiet temple town of Nanjangud has now turned into a battleground of political revenge. The Nanjangud seat fell vacant after the resignation of veteran Congress leader V Srinivas Prasad in December last year. He was miffed with the Congress after he was dropped from the Cabinet. Prasad later joined the BJP. Not only has it become a prestige issue for the Congress and the BJP, the election result is expected to show who has better reach among the voters. Karnataka's chief minister Siddaramaiah is trying every bit to neutralise Srinivas Prasad's effect on the party in the bypoll. Srinivas Prasad was the revenue minister when he was dropped from the cabinet. The news apparently reached Prasad through media. Srinivas Prasad complained that CM Siddaramaiah did not even show the courtesy of informing him about his sacking. On his party, Siddaramaiah defended his decision of sacking Srinivas Prasad. Sources said that Srinivas Prasad was removed as he could not handle the revenue portfolio effectively due to his deteriorating health. For Siddaramaiah, the bypoll seems to be a reminder of his own 2006 by-election from Chamundeshwari. Siddaramaiah had won the seat by a very thin margin of just 257 votes. The BJP is hoping to make an impact as Prasad is expected to consolidate the Dalit votes for the party. Dalits constitute close to 30 per cent of voters in the constituency. Yeddyurappa is campaigning aggressively for Karnataka by-polls. He has openly backed Srinivas Prasad. The BJP has strong support base among the Lingayat community. Now, it hopes to forge a winning formula by bringing the Dalits it its fold before the 2018 Assembly election. But, there is a problem that many Dalits are unhappy with Srinivas Prasad after he joined the BJP. Siddaramaiah has taken his report card of the last five years to the people including his Anna Bhagya, Shaadi Bhagya schemes which he expects to give him a comfortable lead. Nanjangud has been a stronghold for the Congress as the party has only lost nine of the 13 elections from this seat. By-election is also being held in the Gundlupet constituency. This seat fell vacant after the demise of Mahadev Prasad, who was the Minister of Cooperation and Sugar in Siddaramaiah cabinet.

ALSO READ |

Karnataka bypoll: Women Congress chief caught on camera distributing money, she was bribing voters, says BJP

ALSO WATCH | Yeddyurappa accused of distributing cash ahead of Karnataka by-polls

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Tribune News Service

Zirakpur, April 8

Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday reiterated his commitment to the waiver of farm debts, saying his government would soon find ways and means to bail out the debt-ridden farmers, with or without the help of the Centre.

The Chief Minister was interacting with the media after inaugurating D-Marts first post-IPO store in Punjab here.

Assuring that his government was duty-bound to keep every promise made to the people in its election manifesto, Amarinder said the state government had approached the Union Government for waiver of farmers loans; but even if it failed to get any support from the Centre, it would ensure that the farmers were freed of their mounting debts, for which the state machinery had already been set in motion.

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Referring to the Congress poll promise of eliminating the drug menace from the state, the Chief Minister said the Special Task Force (STF) was firmly dealing with the scourge and would ensure that drugs were wiped out from Punjab.

Amarinder said the STF headed by senior IPS officer Harpreet Singh Sidhu was working diligently and the day was not far when this problem would be wiped out from the state.

On the issue of eradication of corruption, the Chief Minister said necessary steps were being taken, with his government working hard to put things in order in the state, which had been pushed backward by the misdeeds of the Akalis and the BJP. He said the state government would soon bring out a White Paper on the states economy, to expose the financial havoc wreaked by the Akalis on Punjab.

He said his government had also initiated the process of curbing illegal mining, which had become rampant during the SAD-BJP rule. He said a number of mines would be auctioned in the coming days, after which the price of sand and gravel in Punjab would become normal.

He said welfare of the public and development of the state was the top priority of his government, which had taken a number of path-breaking initiatives.

Earlier, inaugurating the sprawling D-Mart store, set up at Dhillon Silicon Square, Zirakpur, the Chief Minister welcomed the companys plans to set up 10 stores initially in the state with an investment of Rs 500 crore, providing direct employment to about 1,000 youth.

The key focus of his government, he said, would be on getting Punjab back on track with a highly investor-friendly climate, generating employment for the youth and restoring investor confidence in the state. Amarinder said a new industrial policy, aimed at wooing investors and concurrently generating employment for the local youth, would soon be unveiled by his government.
Patiala, April 8

The SGPC today welcomed the decision of the Ontario legislative assembly describing the 1984 anti-Sikh riots as genocide.

SGPC president Kirpal Singh Badungar said: We welcome the decision as Ontario paid attention to the concerns of Sikhs and we are thankful to the state. We also urge the Modi government that instead of opposing it, they should also declare the riots as genocide.

Badungar was here to preside over the convocation of Khalsa College. He said the SGPC, on a number of occasions, had passed resolutions asking the Union Government to declare the riots as genocide. We will again send a memorandum to the Modi Government that instead of opposing the decision of state of Ontario, the government should accept it, Badungar said.

He said: Though Dr Manmohan Singh offered an apology in Parliament over the issue, he only expressed regret over the riots. The apology should be offered on the behalf of Union Government. He said: It took almost a century for Canada to offer an apology over Komagata Maru incident, but the Indian Government is running away from its duty.  OC
Simran Sodhi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 7

In a major embarrassment for India, the legislative assembly of the Canadian province of Ontario has passed a motion describing the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 as genocide, which New Delhi was quick to reject as misguided. It also conveyed its views to the government of Canada.

MEA spokesperson Gopal Baglay said India has noted the passage of a Private Members Motion... We reject this misguided motion which is based on a limited understanding of India, its Constitution, society, ethos, rule of law and the judicial process.

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The motion was moved by Liberal Member of Provincial Parliament Harinder Malhi, who represents Brampton-Springdale Riding near Toronto. The ruling Liberal Party of Ontario had voted down a similar motion last summer.

Those privy to the developments said India had conveyed its concerns in advance to the ministers in Justin Trudeaus government. India has long struggled to keep any global condemnation of the 1984 riots out of official and state assembly resolutions while human rights organisations have lobbied for the riots to be labelled as genocide.

Several prominent Indo-Canadian organisations had written to Premier Kathleen Wynne and representatives to oppose the motion. But it went through nevertheless.
Saba Naqvi

Boy O Boy, Im so excited these days. The Hindu Rashtra has arrived and its really cool man. We dont have to tax our brains too much, just discuss cows from morning to night. Theres a cow here and a cow there and some buffaloes in between. And risen from the ashes of a modern nation state is an apparition called Yogi wearing the coolest clothes. Hes one hell of a dude: young, tough, and articulate. Besides the clothes, sure to set off a fashion trend, theres the clean shaven hair do.

I was most impressed after I switched on my TV and saw an interview with his barber who revealed that every morning at 7 am, he asks Yogi if he wishes to get a hair-cut or wants a shave. And sometimes in the evening, he inquires again if he wants a shave. It turns out Yogi has a shave every Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. Really neat stuff and so brave of the media to unearth such earth-shattering news!

I am so fascinated that I will bet all my mutton (not beef) that the Yogi is on his way to becoming a cult figure like Che Guevera. So what if Che tried to bring about a revolution and wore that trendy beret; Yogi has the robes and his very own revolution with a private army to boot. Even the personal conduct is worth emulating: Hes chucked out all the air conditioners that those fraud Yadav socialists were using in the chief ministerial house in Lucknow.

And courtesy another TV channel, I have learnt that he eats papaya and gram for breakfast. Thats exactly what I eat, so who knows we can call it our new composite (or compost) culture. Imagine, Hindus and Muslims all eating papaya. As for me, let me reveal a little secret; before I get to the papaya and gram, I do 24 surya namaskars each morning (honestly jokes apart) so clearly the Hindu Rashtra cannot get to me. I do Yoga, and Yogi is in charge, so Im safe and may even declare myself a Yogini.

Please understand that if Yogi made hate speeches in the past it was as a form of advanced Yoga that always ended in Om Shanti Om (Theres always dualism in more evolved beings). Please see the tender side to the Yogi too. He lovingly tends to his cows in the gaushala at Gorakhpur and whats more there are Muslims in charge there and seriously, they dont end up eating the cows. Can you imagine how amazing that is: Muslims who dont go around killing and eating cows! Thats the Yogi effect. And just in case you are not impressed check out Yogi posing with a tiger. Google search it. My sources tell me that this particular Tiger would never dream of eating cow and reportedly has a taste for grass and drinks Ganga jal.

There are some people who are getting afraid of the Hindu Rashtra and unnecessarily spreading panic. They think its out to subjugate Muslims and subvert that useless principle called secularism. Hello, dont they know that secularism was a pseudo exercise anyway and that Muslims need to learn that they cant keep saying talaq, talaq, talaq just so that they can relieve themselves of unwanted wives and set off to conquer innocent maidens through Love jehad? Theyve been doing it ever since Allauddin Khilji set eyes on Rani Padmavati and those who say Padmavati did not exist, better check their facts with Sanjay Leela Bansali. If Devdas existed so did Padmavati so the intellectuals better shut up. As it is the Hindu Rashtra has no use for them.

Still, some people keep saying they are having a panic attack. To them I would advise putting up a quote of the Buddha in capital letter: We are shaped by our thoughts. We become what we think. I would also point out that they cant be sent to the abattoir since they are closed anyway, but they could find cases filed against their tweets. The Hindu Rashtra really does come into its own on social media.

In addition I would advise the pseudo secularists to reboot their minds and see it as the arrival of a real Hare Rama Hare Krishna moment (but dont get stoned and Dum Maro Dum). Just take a chill pill, relax and watch the cows graze before they come home to roost. Close your eyes and see the idyll: yogis and sanyasis in charge, cows grazing in the fields, damsels protected by virtuous men. If you cant visualise it, check out Amar Chitra Katha comics but dont read Shakespeare or you will have questions about the use of Romeos name.

Just recognise that India has been reincarnated. Henceforth the national imagination shall see visions of a glorious Ram Mandir and cows will be more sacred than humans. Thats all there is to it. Thats why I say, bring it on.
Jasmine Singh in Chandigarh

A popular, foot-tapping number from a Bollywood film, Mere Dad Ki Maruti aptly describes the undying relationship between daru (liquor) and Punjabis. The song, gaan da mauka hove, khan da mauka hove, hove koi marriage ya fir koi roka shoka hove, peen di capacity large rehndi hai, Punjabiyan di battery charge rehndi hai, minces no words in expressing how the community has developed an excellent drinking capacity for every occasion. In fact, this is one attribute they are unabashedly boisterous about. Particularly in North India, any celebration, even breakup, is incomplete with a toast! Liquor is the prerequisite to any celebration, so much so they tend to overlook every other detail in an invite and head straight for the cocktail section. And in case they dont find it there, they wouldnt mind calling up the host to ask: daru sharu ka program hai ya hum apna intezaam khud karain?

But the recent decision of the Supreme Court to ban liquor within 500 m of highways might change the healthily surviving camaraderie between fun and drinks! Most of all this makes us look at how no celebration is ever complete without liquor, and why.

As per Social Issue Research Centre (SIRC is an independent, not-for-profit organisation based in Oxford, UK), at the simplest level, drinks are used to define the nature of the occasion. In many Western cultures, champagne is synonymous with celebration, such that if champagne is served at an otherwise ordinary occasion, someone will get up to ask: What are we celebrating?

Drinking is seen as a social act, a social leveller. Social anthropologists believe that drinking does not take place just anywhere. Most cultures have specific and also designated environments for communal drinking. Alcohol is regarded as a social leveller, and drinking in public with people is a means to communicating between all ranks, all kinds of people, and this system is applied when celebrating too. This is technically why alcohol has become a must in celebrations, says Neeru Saluja, currently pursuing her Phd in drinking patterns of societies from Mumbai. Alcohol is a symbolic vehicle that can help develop relationships, it decides our behavioural patterns, she adds. It is not uncommon in various cultures, like Babylonians, Greeks and Romans where people worshipped wine gods and goddesses, drinking in their name; some even had strange visions while they were intoxicated, says Neeru.

Now, it seems that this cultural trend has found its way too deep into our social structure, with every life event and every occasion being seen as a reason to bring it out in open. So much so, we dont even need a genuine event or a party to drink. They say: Its god news, so lets drink to it. Its bad news, lets drink to it. Its a weekend, lets drink to it. Mid-week is boring, lets drink to it.

And now in a situation where you wont get liquor anyway within 500 m of highway, how can party poppers possibly think of partying? Will long drives ever be the same? Will a get-together be fun anymore? And what happens to the night life, celebrating and chilling out with friends over single or double malt? Oh, you have no idea how wrong this decision is, bemoans a group of engineering students from Landran, regular at the Beer Cafe in Sector-26. How can you imagine fun without drinking? We are not drunkards. Its only once a while that we hit the pub or a restaurant, enjoy the drinks, sing, dance, feeling totally de-stressed. Now, who would say lets catch up on Saturday. This group is really worried because they cannot figure out how they would be able to party without bottal!

On the other hand, behavioural expert Meenakshi from Chennai doesnt see any relationship between fun and drinks. But this 32-year-old cannot rule out the fact that alcohol has indeed become a major component of all celebrations. The ban of liquor on highways has forced people to think about celebrations without liquor. For many alcohol is not addiction, they just feel that they can enjoy better if they are drunk. Also, if you look at it, in order to enjoy an experience, one would use all senses. This is the only plausible reason why people feel they cannot celebrate, have fun or party without getting drunk.

The ban might have created furore in the hospitality industry, it seems to have left celebrations dry.
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 8

The state Cabinet yesterday gave its approval for the de-notification of 64 state highways.

The move is aimed at giving respite to the Excise Department staring at huge losses following the Supreme Court directives to remove liquor vends along the national and state highways.

Briefing mediapersons after the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Trivender Singh Rawat, Chief Secretary S Ramaswamy said, A procedure will be followed for changing the status of the state highways. First, the resolution will be passed by the urban local bodies for de-notifying parts of highways passing through its areas, after which the proposal will be sent to the Chief Secretary and then the PWD, he said.

According to an Excise Department official, around 155 liquor vends located along state highways will continue to operate from their existing places as the Supreme Court ruling will not apply to them. The maximum number of liquor vends are in Nainital, Almora and Haridwar (22 each) which will be able to continue functioning.

In a major breather for debt-ridden farmers in Uttarakhand, the Cabinet also gave its nod for waving stamp duty to the tune of Rs 5 lakh for five years on their mortgaged land.

Further, the fees for empanelled advocates who represent the state government will now be paid by the National Legal Services Authority.

The Cabinet also approved 1 per cent relaxation in VAT of air turbine fuel for flight operators who are part of the Central Governments regional air -connectivity services. This decision will automatically make travelling in chartered flights costly in the state.
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 8

Raphael Ryder Cheshire International Centre, Dehradun, celebrated its 59th Founders Day on Wednesday. Raphaels mission is to provide Relief to the Suffering. It provides, care and dignified living to cured leprosy patients, education and training of children of leprosy parentage and intellectually disabled and treatment of TB patients. Mohini Daljeet Singh, chief executive, Max India Foundation, was the chief guest, while Lt Gen Daljeet Singh (retd) was the guest of honour.

The cultural programme gave the audience glimpses of Uttarakhand. Students and youth with special needs, teacher trainees, volunteers and residents from Raphael participated in the programme. Girls from Himjyoti School and Doon Girls School also took part like previous years. The starting with an invocation of Lord Shiva, the audience was treated to Garhwali, Kumaon and Punjabi dances, a yoga demonstration by Himjyoti School girls gave a spiritual touch to the evening and Doon girls gave a wonderful song about famous personalities of Uttarakhand.

Air Marshal BD Jayal (retd), chairman, Raphael governing council, in his welcome address paid homage to Founders Group captain Lord Leonard Cheshire and Lady Sue Ryder for their spirit of compassion and service. He also recollected the immense contributions of Lt Gen Ranbir Bakshi (retd) and all the former chairmen, former council members and many others, for nurturing Raphael through decades. He thanked all Raphael supporters in India and abroad, Raphaels corporate donors and Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment Govt of India, the state government and the civil administration for their immense support over the years. He particularly thanked Max India Foundation, ONGC and The Hans Foundation for their support to Raphael.

Mohini lauded the efforts of Raphael in working for the disabled and the underprivileged. Commending the work done by Raphael, she urged other individuals and the organisations to come forward and do their bit to help the less privileged. She also conveyed her deep appreciation for the manner in which Raphael has strived to fulfil its goals. Daljeet Singh distributed awards to the deserving special children and commendation certificate and award to five employees for 25 years of distinguished services. The programme concluded with a vote of thanks by CEO Brig Arun Bhatnagar (retd).
Beirut, April 8

At least 15 civilians, including four children, were killed in a suspected US-led coalition air strike on Saturday near the Islamic State groups Syrian bastion Raqa, a monitor said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 17 people were injured in the strike on Heneyda, and that the death toll could rise further because several of the wounded were in serious conditions.

The Britain-based group said the strike was suspected to have been carried out by the US-led coalition fighting IS in Syria and Iraq.

The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria for its information, says it determines whose planes carry out raids according to type, location, flight patterns and munitions used.

Heneyda is around 25 kilometres west of the city of Raqa, the target of a major operation led by a Kurdish-Arab alliance of fighters and backed by the US-led coalition.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have for months been advancing towards the city in the north of the country, hoping to encircle it before launching a final assault.

Its forces last month seized the Tabqa military airport from IS, and have entered the complex of the key Tabqa dam, after being airlifted behind jihadist lines by US forces.

They continue to battle for the town of Tabqa, around 40 kilometres west of Raqa, with clashes ongoing today, the Observatory said.

More than 3,20,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began with anti-government demonstrations in March 2011.  AFP
New York: For millions of creators, making videos on YouTube is not just a creative outlet, it is a source of income. Announcing a change to its YouTube Partner Programme, video creators will not be able to make money until the channel reaches 10,000 views. IANS.

Canada province bans high heels at work

Ottawa: The Canadian province of British Columbia has banned high heels in all workplaces, the media reported. The provincial government said the requirement to wear high heels in some workplaces was a health and safety issue and it was amending the footwear regulation under the Workers Compensation Act. IANS

Malala youngest UN Messenger of Peace

United Nations: Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai is set to become the UNs youngest-ever Messenger of Peace after she was selected by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for the honour. Yousafzai, 19, became a global symbol of the fight for girls education after being shot in the head in 2012 for opposing Taliban restrictions on female education. PTI
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adtiyanath said that everyone must sing Vande Mataram. Yogi Adityanath said that refusing to sing Vande Mataram was a serious issue.

By Kumar Abhishek: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today stoked fresh controversy over national song, Vande Mataram.

Yogi Adityanath said not singing Vande Mataram is a serious issue and it needed to be addressed.

"Some people are today saying that they will not sing Vande Mataram. Not singing Vande Mataram is a serious issue," Yogi Adityanath said.

Yogi Adityanath further said, "Not singing Vande Mataram shows a prejudiced mind. This is a matter of concern. Everyone should sing Vande Mataram."

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Yogi Adityanath was speaking at a book release function in Lucknow.

However, Yogi Adityanath maintained that his government's agenda was development. He said that in the 21st century, the issue of 'not singing Vande Mataram' should not be the most discussed topic.

Yogi Adityanath said that everyone needed to follow a path of progress.

WHY YOGI SPOKE ABOUT VANDE MATARAM

The issue of Vande Mataram has come to the fore in Uttar Pradesh politics after objections were raised in a few municipal corporations in the state.

The first instance was reported from Meerut, where some members of the municipal corporation refused to sing Vande Mataram.

In Allahabad municipal corporation, the BJP proposed a motion to make it mandatory to sing Vande Mataram at the beginning of the proceedings of the House. The Samajwadi Party members opposed the BJP move.

Similar scenes were seen in the Bareli and Varanasi municipal corporations.

ALSO READ |

If you want to stay in Uttarakhand, then you must sing Vande Matram, says minister

After Meerut, Vande Mataram row in Varanasi Municipal Corp

ALSO WATCH |

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Beijing, April 8

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trumps first meetings underscored attempts by the two sides to avoid strategic misjudgement though differences remained over thorny issues like currency and trade, the state-run media said in a commentary today.

The fruitful summit charts new course of China-US ties under global gaze and sent a clear-cut message that the worlds two largest economies can become great cooperative partners despite their differences, the Xinhua news agency said, referring to the Mar-a-Lago summit in Florida.

Trump and Xi met on April 6-7 and held extensive talks on all aspects of the relations in the backdrop of differences over a host of issues including Trumps charge of China as a currency manipulator and threat to impose 45 per cent duty on Chinese exports.

In addition, Trump had warned China against building artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea and questioned the One-China policy relating to Taiwan.

The meetings, positive and fruitful, mark a new starting point for the worlds most important bilateral relationship, which will not only benefit the two countries but also the world at large, the commentary said.

The face-to-face meetings, along with previous phone calls and letters between the two leaders, once again underscore that the two countries are trying to avoid strategic misjudgement and are supportive of steering the relationship in the right direction, it said.

Although differences remaintrade and currency among the major thorny issuesboth sides have acknowledged the necessity to solve them through constructive dialogue, it said.

China welcomes the US to participate in cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, and proposes to enhance military dialogue mechanisms and strength communication in major international and regional affairs, it said.

These gestures display Chinas commitment to peaceful development without seeking alliances or expansion.  PTI

The outcome

During talks over the two days, Chinese President Xi and US President Trump exchanged views on key areas of bilateral cooperation as well as global and regional issues of common concern

The outcomes of the meetings include four new high-level mechanisms for dialogue and cooperation in diplomacy and security; the economy; law enforcement and cyber security; and social and people-to-people exchanges

The new mechanisms can be taken as expressions by both sides to follow the principles of non-confrontation, no conflict, mutual respect and win-win cooperation

Elevating dialogue status

President Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi have established the US-China Comprehensive Dialogue and agreed to expand areas of cooperation while managing differences based on mutual respect

The two presidents agreed to elevate existing bilateral talks to reflect the importance of making progress on issues, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said at the conclusion of meeting in Florida

The United States-China Comprehensive Dialogue will be overseen by the two presidents. Trump and Xi also established a new and cabinet-level framework for negotiations

Trump picks 2 Indian-Americans for key administrative posts

Washington: President Donald Trump has nominated two Indian-Americans for key administrative posts to coordinate US law-enforcement strategy around copyright, patents and trademarks and oversee his plan to eliminate 75 per cent of federal regulations. Prominent Indian-Americans Vishal Amin and Neomi Rao will be Trumps new IP and regulatory czars, respectively, as he nominated them on Friday while making many administrative appointments. Amin has been nominated to be the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator while Rao will be the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). If confirmed by the US Senate, Amin, who is currently a Senior Counsel on House Judiciary Committee, would succeed Daniel Marti. OIRA reviews regulations from federal agencies and has the power to reject rules that do not fall in line with the Presidents goals. PTI
London, April 8

Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has cancelled a scheduled visit to Moscow next week, his office announced on Saturday, saying "developments in Syria have changed the situation fundamentally".

"My priority is now to continue contact with the US and others in the run up to the G7 meeting on 10-11 April," said Johnson, who was due to travel to Moscow on Monday.

"We deplore Russia's continued defence of the Assad regime even after the chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians," added Johnson.

He then called on Russia to do "everything possible to bring about a political settlement in Syria and work with the rest of the international community to ensure that the shocking events of the last week are never repeated".

"I discussed these plans in detail with Secretary Tillerson," Johnson said, adding that the US foreign minister would still visit Moscow as planned following the G7 meeting to "deliver that clear and coordinated message to the Russians."

Johnson expressed his support to the US on Friday after it fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Shayrat airfield near Homs in central Syria.

The move was in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun earlier in the week that killed at least 86 people according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Russia, one of the main backers of the Assad regime alongside Iran, condemned the US strike, denouncing a "flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression".  AFP
United Nations, April 8

The US and Russia clashed in the UN Security Council over the missile attack on a Syrian airfield, with Washington warning it is prepared to do more as Moscow accused it of flagrantly violating international law with its act of aggression.

The 15-nation Security Council met for an emergency meeting on Friday on the situation in Syria following the launch of 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles by US into the Shayrat Airbase as a response to the Syrian governments use of chemical weapons from the base.

US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, who is President of the Council for this month, said Washington was fully justified in carrying out the missile strikes and was prepared to take further action.

Our military destroyed the airfield from which this weeks chemical strike took place. We were fully justified in doing so, Haley said.

The United States took a very measured step last night.

We are prepared to do more, but we hope that will not be necessary. It is time for all civilised nations to stop the horrors that are taking place in Syria and demand a political solution, she said.

Haley said the US will no longer wait for Syrian President Bashar Al Assad to use chemical weapons without any consequences.

The moral stain of the Assad regime could no longer go unanswered. His crimes against humanity could no longer be met with empty words. It was time to say enough, but not only say it  it was time to act. Bashar al-Assad must never use chemical weapons again. Ever, she said.

Haley also called out Russia, saying it, along with Iran, bears considerable responsibility for the crisis in Syria since every time Assad has crossed the line of human decency, Russia has stood beside him.

Russia tore into the US, calling the missile strikes on Syrian territory a flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression.

We strongly condemn the illegitimate actions by the US.

The consequences of this for regional and international stability could be extremely serious, Russias deputy UN ambassador Vladimir Safronkov said.

A visibly agitated Safronkov said Washington, London and Paris have a paranoiac idea of overthrowing the legitimate government in sovereign Syria. In a particularly sharp attack against UK, Safronkov told Britains UN envoy Matthew Rycroft to stop putting unprofessional accusations against Russia.

These (accusations) are not diplomatic. They are lies.

Once again, I warn dont even try to get into fights in the Arab world. Nothing will be achieved. That is why you are getting annoyed. All Arab countries recall your colonial hypocrisy, he said.

Safronkov called on the US to immediately cease its aggression and join efforts towards a political settlement in Syria.

Syrias envoy Mounzer Mounzer said the air strike by the US against his country had been a treacherous, barbaric, flagrant act of aggression and a grave violation of international law and the UN charter.

The US attempted to justify its aggression with fabricated arguments that Syria had used chemical weapons in Khan Shaykhun  the same justification advanced by terrorist groups and the countries supporting them, he said.

He asserted that Syria does not have chemical weapons in the first place and would never use such weapons as it condemns the use of such weapons. He said it was well known that terrorists had stockpiled chemical agents in Syria, in cooperation with Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other States outside the region.

This aggression will surely send an erroneous message to the terrorist groups, emboldening them to use more chemical weapons in the future, he warned.

The air strike was a grave extrapolation of the United States strategy to support so-called moderate opposition groups, he said. That country led a purported alliance against ISIL/Daesh, while its real objective was to weaken Syria and its allies, he said.

Citing the American claim that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and its consequent military invasion in the country, Mounzer said the US was once again using fabricated evidence to justify its actions and spread hegemony around the world.

Haley said Russia is supposed to be a guarantor of the removal of chemical weapons from Syria but obviously has failed in that endeavour.

Lets think about the possible reasons for Russias failure. It could be that Russia is knowingly allowing chemical weapons to remain in Syria. It could be that Russia has been incompetent in its efforts to remove the chemical weapons.

Or, it could be that the Assad regime is playing the Russians for fools, telling them that there are no chemical weapons, all the while stockpiling them on their bases.

In the wake of the US air strikes, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, Mindful of the risk of escalation, I appeal for restraint to avoid any acts that could deepen the suffering of the Syrian people.

He urged restraint to avoid any escalation of the situation in Syria, after the United States responded militarily to an alleged chemical weapons attack earlier this week.

These events underscore my belief that there is no other way to solve the conflict than through a political solution, he said, calling on the parties to urgently renew their commitment to making progress in the Geneva (intra-Syrian talks).

Decrying the abhorrent chemical weapons attack, the UN chief stressed the need for accountability for such crimes in line with existing international norms and Security Council resolutions.

UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman said that the December 2016 Syrian ceasefire  brokered by Russia, Iran and Turkey  had faltered in the last two months amid a steady escalation of military activity.

The Security Council has the primary responsibility for international peace and security, he said, urging the 15-member body to unite and exercise that responsibility to investigate the alleged use of chemical weapons in Khan Shaykhun.

Security Council resolutions and the 2012 Geneva Communique remain the foundation of, and contain the core principles for, United Nations mediation efforts and ultimately a solution in this regard, he said.

Feltman said Iran and Russia condemned the US attack, with the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and New Zealand expressing some support for the US strikes.

A statement from the Syrian General Command of the Army and the Armed Forces called the US response a blatant act of aggression which had caused six deaths and huge material damage.  PTI
Stockholm, April 8

The Swedish police arrested a 39-year-old Uzbek man on suspicion of ramming a hijacked beer delivery truck into crowds in central Stockholm, killing four people and wounding 15 in what they called a terror crime.

The police were increasingly confident they had detained the driver of the truck that ploughed down a busy shopping street and smashed through a store front in the heart of the capital on Friday, but did not name him.

Nothing points to that we have the wrong person, on the contrary, suspicions have strengthened as the investigation has progressed, Dan Eliasson, head of Swedens national police, told a news conference.

Vehicles have also been used as weapons in Nice and Berlin in the past year in attacks claimed by Islamic State. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack in Sweden, which has so far been largely immune from any major incidents of this kind, and police said they tightened security around the nation.

The police said they had found a suspicious device in the vehicle but said they did not yet know if it was a homemade bomb, as reported by public broadcaster SVT. SVT said the bomb may have partly exploded, burning the driver, who escaped in the ensuing chaos after mowing through crowds and ramming into the Ahlens department store.

Local authorities in the capital, where flags flew at half mast on buildings including the parliament and royal palace, said that 10 persons, including a child, were still being treated in hospital, with two adults in intensive care.

A gaping hole in the wall of the store showed the force of the impact from the truck, which was removed overnight for examination by forensics experts, and dozens of people gathered to pay their respects and leave flowers, stunned by the attack.

Crown Princess Victoria was among them, laying a bouquet of red roses. I feel an enormous sadness, I feel empty, she told Aftonbladet TV, urging Swedes to unite in their grief.

Prime Minister Stefan Lofven also visited the site and struck a defiant tone. All of us feel anger over what has happened, I also feel the same anger, but we also need to use that anger for something constructive and go forward, he said.

We want - and I am convinced the Swedish people also want - to live a normal life. We are an open, democratic society and that is what we will remain.  Reuters
By Press Trust of India: (Eds: Updating with details)

Vadodara, Apr 8 (PTI) A 22-year-old Zambian student allegedly committed suicide in his hostel room at a private university here today, police said.

Zites Kala, a second year engineering student at Parul University, was found hanging from the ceiling fan this evening, Vadodara District Superintendent of Police Saurabh Dolumbia told PTI.

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"A police team has rushed to the spot. We will inform the High Commissioner of Zambia about the incident," he said.

Sub inspector Yashwant Chouhan, the investigating officer in the case, told PTI that a purported suicide note has been recovered from Kalas room.

Prima facie the student took the extreme step as he was depressed, the officer said.

His parents have been informed, Chouhan said.

The president of the University, Devanshu Patel, said the varsity will co-operate with police in the probe. PTI COR NRB KIS

--- ENDS ---
A Collinsville woman who was charged with manslaughter in the 2013 death of a Tulsa broadcast journalist will be held at the Oklahoma Forensic Center in Vinita after a judge on Friday found she was not guilty by reason of insanity.

Shea Lynn McClain, 30, was accused of causing a crash at 106th Street North and 129th East Avenue on Dec. 5, 2013, that led to the death of 24-year-old KJRH photojournalist Cameron Michael Hood.

Police said Hood was en route to a college class that morning when McClain, who had a child with her in her SUV, sped through a stop sign and crashed into Hoods sedan, which in turn was forced into a third car.

Hood was a 2009 graduate of Owasso High School and was working on completing a bachelors degree at Rogers State University after graduating from Tulsa Community College in May 2013 with an associates degree in mass communications.

Although District Judge William LaFortune acquitted McClain due to insanity, he said he will not discharge her from custody until he determines that she is no longer a safety risk to herself or others. He ordered McClain to return to court May 22 for a status conference about her treatment plan.

McClain cried openly on Friday afternoon as she listened to Hoods mother, Rhonda Hood, tearfully describe how much her son meant to her. Family members, nearly all of whom wore blue, filled the right side of LaFortunes courtroom to watch the proceedings and support Rhonda Hood as she read her victim-impact statement.

He was the light of our life. He was the sunshine, Rhonda Hood said, adding later that I couldnt look at any of his pictures for over a year because it just hurt too much.

Well never again hear his laughter, his voice, his singing (or) his jokes  even the bad ones, she said, laughing a little herself.

Despite the loss of her son, Hood told LaFortune that she prays for McClain daily, and she offered condolences on the recent death of McClains mother.

McClain initially was charged with child neglect and negligent homicide, but prosecutors amended the latter charge in April 2015 to first-degree manslaughter.

A probable cause affidavit says McClain was traveling between 96 and 104 mph in a 40 mph zone at the time of the collision.

Assistant District Attorney Julie Doss announced during the bench trial that a mental health evaluation requested by the state and conducted last year determined that McClain was suffering from a severe mental illness on the day of the crash.

Defense attorney April Seibert presented two such evaluations from other medical professionals that had the same or similar conclusions about McClains mental health.

Seibertsaid she would stipulate that court records detailing the allegations against McClain are accurate and that evidence, if presented during a jury trial, would establish the facts of the case. She said after the proceedings that it was obvious that the case was sad for all involved, but she declined to comment further.

Doss said the medical evaluations determined that McClain, who had a history of mental illness, didnt understand the gravity of her actions and didnt know right from wrong on the day Cameron Hood died.

Ms. McClain explained to police that she believed certain things were happening to her at the time that the accident occurred, she said.

Doss said it is important that McClain be subject to a series of behavioral restrictions in the event she is released.

Among those, Doss said, were an agreement that McClain would never have a drivers license and a requirement that she submit to weekly blood tests to ensure that she is taking her prescription medication.

Rhonda Hood said after the trial that she is glad the case came to a resolution but will never stop missing her son. She said that she will continue to pray that McClain gets the appropriate mental health treatment.

The people that worked with him and even friends  never did they see him without a smile on his face, especially the people who worked with him on the overnight shift at Channel 2, Rhonda Hood said of Cameron Hood. ... (He) was always willing to help out anybody who needed it, whether it was his job or not.
By Press Trust of India: Vadodara, Apr 8 (PTI) A Zambian student allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself inside the hostel room of a private university here today, police said.

Zites Kala, a second year student at Parul University, was found hanging from the ceiling fan this evening, Vadodara District Superintendent of Police Saurabh Dolumbia told PTI.

"A police team has rushed to the spot. We will inform the High Commissioner of Zambia about the incident," he said.

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The president of the University, Devanshu Patel, said the varsity will co-operate with police in the probe. PTI COR NRB KIS

--- ENDS ---
Hi, my name is Scott C. Waring and I wrote a few books and am currently a ESL School Owner in Taiwan. I have had my own UFO sighting up close and personal, but that's how it works right? A non believer becomes a believer when they experience their first sighting. You witnessed it, your perceptual field changes, so now you need to share it.





I created this site to help the UFO community get a little bit organized. I noticed that there was a lot of chaos when searching for UFO sighting reports, so I hope this site helps. I wanted to support those eyewitnesses who have tried to tell others about what they have seen, yet were laughed at by even closest of friends.





More and more each day the governments of the world leak bits and pieces of UFO information to the public. They have a trickle down theory in hopes of slowly getting citizens use to the idea that we are not alone in universe and never have been. The truth is being leaked drop by drop until one day we look around and find ourselves neck high in it.





The discovery of alien species in existence is the most monumental scientific event in human history, suppression of that information is a crime against humanity.





About me:

I live in Taiwan. I OWN MY OWN ENGLISH SCHOOL, AND ONCE HAD 5 SCHOOLS.

Am Former USAF at SAC base (flight line).

Age: 42

Educ: BA in Elem ed. Masters in Counseling ed.





I had two UFO sightings, (30+bus size orbs) in military and in 2012 personally saw the UFO over Taipei 101 building on New Years Day (and recored it).
Microsoft Azure is on fire again, adding a number of key features on board. The software company this week announced its latest burst of an upgrade for the company's cloud computing service, Microsoft Azure. The main focus of the big update will be on Azure Stack and the enterprise IT market.

The Redmond-based software company this week launched an update to its cloud computing service, adding Azure PaaS services for Azure Stack and a refreshed Azure Stack TP3 on board. This is Microsoft's first version of Azure Stack to offer support for Azure Functions, the software giant's event-based serverless computing experience, the TechCrunch reported.

Microsoft last month announced the release of Azure Stack Technical Preview 3 (TP3) along with support for more modern application capabilities and security enhancements. This week, the feature now comes with supports for the cloud economic model on-premises with pay-as-you-use pricing. The company plans to announce the general availability of Azure Stack at some point this year, the website added.

In addition, Microsoft Azure's late update also includes the Azure App Service, Azure Function serverless computing and an updated versions of Azure SQL/MySQL database services. Microsoft has developed Azure Stack to take on with the likes of OpenStack and Cloud Foundry, two open source projects that been working for years to bring the operating concepts of public clouds and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offerings into the highly lucrative enterprise IT market.

For a starter, Cloud Foundry is an open source, multi-cloud application platform PaaS, originally developed by VMware and then later transferred to Pivotal Software, while OpenStack is a free and open-source software platform for cloud computing. Both OpenStack and Cloud Foundry have the advantage of having a huge head start and being an open source-based platform. For more about Azure Stack, check out Microsoft Azure website.

In another Azure-related story, a new market intelligence and IT survey conducted by market analyst firm 451 Research, shows Amazon Web Services slowly losing the cloud arms race, while Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud platform gaining more grounds. The 451 Research's IT survey also confirms the enterprise shift to a multi-cloud strategy in which Microsoft appears to be the main beneficiary, winning the cloud contest and now emerging as a "formidable competitor" to AWS.

Additionally, 451 Research also point out that AWS remains as the "most important" cloud provider in its recent conducted IT survey. However, the market research firm also reported that Microsoft Azure is coming fast and nearly close the gap with market leader AWS, Enterprise Tech reported.

According to 451 Research analyst Melanie Posey, the company's launch of Microsoft Azure Stack, which slated for mid-2017, could further erode AWS overwhelming cloud dominance and finally closing the huge gap with AWS. The Azure Stack, which billed as one of the most important cloud updates for this year, will allow application upgrades across hybrid clouds, including application development using a set of Azure services and even DevOps tools.

Watch the Microsoft Azure Stack video below to learn more about the cloud computing tool:
Astronomers have begun a campaign to capture the first-ever image of a black hole. They plan to use a massive international array of the most powerful radio telescopes around the world. The massive black hole is at the center of the Milky Way, a behemoth called Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), which is 4 million times more massive than the sun.

Researchers hope to take a picture of Sgr A*'s event horizon, which is what they call "the point of no return." It is a place beyond where nothing, not even light, can escape. The black hole's interior can never be imaged because light cannot make it out.

Copal Narayanan, astronomy research professor from the University of Massachusetts Amherst said that these observations will help sort through all the many wild theories about black holes. Data from this project will help understand things about black holes that have never been understood before, Seeker reported.

Tech Crunch reported that the project is known as the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), which links observatories in Hawaii (James Clerk Maxwell Telescope), Arizona, California, Mexico, Chile (Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment), Spain and Antarctica (South Pole Telescope). It will run from April 5 through April 14.

The observatories will create the equivalent of a radio instrument the size of the entire Earth. EHT team members said that the powerful tool is necessary to view the event horizon of Sgr A* because it lies 26,000 light-years from Earth. Narayanan said the process is like trying to image a grapefruit on the surface of the moon.

It may take a while for the astronomers to piece together the images. So much information will be collected by the participating telescopes around the world. The images will be physically flown, rather than transmitted, to the central processing facility at the Haystack Observatory at Massachusetts Institue of Technology.

The data will then have to be calibrated to account for different weather, atmospheric and other conditions from these various sites. EHT team members said the first results from the campaign will likely be published next year.
The Nexus 6P Android smartphone is considered as being a consumer favorite. Tech fans started to believe that Google will leave Nexus 6P behind and Google is going to focus on Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones. Fortunately, the search engine giant decided to start rolling out the Android 7.1.2 Nougat update to Nexus 6P.

The Android 7.1.2 Nougat update is being rolled out to the Nexus 6P smartphone. Nexus 6P owners can acquire the Android 7.1.2 Nougat through an over the air (OTA) update, Gigjets reported.

Aside from the Nexus 6P, the update is also released for the Pixel, Pixel XL, the Pixel C and Nexus Player devices. This version of the Android Nougat also marks the last software feature upgrade that the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 will receive.

While the Android 7.1.2 Nougat update comes along with a large number of fixes and feature updates for the Nexus 6P, the update also brings a good number of bug fixes, general performance improvements and feature updates. Some changes of the Android 7.1.2 Nougat update include general connectivity improvements, enhanced notification stability and a fingerprint swipe feature update, Gadgets 360 reported.

Nexus 6P owners will be delighted to know that Android 7.1.2 Nougat update also has a new Battery Usage Alerts screen supposedly alert users to apps that are taxing the battery of the device. The Android 7.1.2 Nougat update has a new security update. The latest April security update has been made available to deal with the security weaknesses.

On the other hand, Pixel smartphone with Android 7.1 Nougat does not have significant changes with Android 7.1.2 Nougat update. The build number of the update for the Pixel and Pixel XL is NHG47K. Nevertheless, the tech giant will soon unleash the factory or OTA images of the Android 7.1.2 Nougat update for the Verizon Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones, NEO Win reported.

Watch The Video Here:
A study by two Boston College researchers found that carbon emissions rise as rich people got wealthier. They found that pollution was higher in U.S. states where income is more concentrated among the wealthiest residents.

A lot of research has been done on the connection between national wealth and carbon emissions. The study conducted by Boston College sociologists Andrew Jorgenson and Juliet Schor is the first to establish a link between income inequality and carbon emissions within and across the United States.

In a press release on Boston College's official website, it was reported that income share of the top 10 percent of a state's population was positively associated with state-level emissions between 1997 and 2012. The findings were published online in the journal "Ecological Economics."

The researchers used 2012 state data for carbon emissions. It was found that a one percent increase in the income share of the top 10 percent of a state's population resulted in additional annual carbon emissions.

Texas had the highest carbon emissions with 812,325 to 934,174 metric tons. It is followed by California with 437,035 to 502,590 metric tons and Pennsylvania with 284,980 to 327.728 metric tons. Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, New York and Michigan completed the top 10 list.

In the analysis, South Carolina was the median with income share growth adding 89,175 to 102,551 metric tons of carbon emissions in 2012. The District of Columbia got the lowest growth in carbon emissions with a rise of 3,251 to 3,738 metric tons for each one percent increase in wealth.

The findings can be used as more and more states are taking the lead in their own environmental protection. Jorgenson said that they see environmental policy and action as much more active at the state level than the federal level.

It was also noted that spending power drives carbon-intensive consumerism. Moreover, political clout and economic power of the wealthiest individuals also play a major role in the increase of carbon emissions per state.
The University of Texas in Dallas has nabbed the top spot as one of the universities and colleges founded less than 50 years ago. The institution was founded in 1969.

The list was collated by Times Higher Education. UT Dallas ranked 21st in the world for the Young University Rankings, which is an increase of three places from the 24th place last year.

The rankings include 200 institutions. It is based on 13 performance indicators to rate universities which are research-intensive. The categories are in teaching, research, citations or research influence, international outlook and industry income.

Other U.S. universities included in the list were Rush University at 33rd place, George Mason University at 47th place, the University of Texas at San Antonio at 68th place and Florida International University at 89th place.

Switzerland's ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne tops the world list for the Young University Rankings with an overall score of 77.9. It is followed by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

UT Dallas was also ranked at 10th in the world in the publication's list of Top 50 Gen X Universities. The institutions included in the list were founded between 1967 and 1985.

In a press release by the school's official website, UT Dallas President Richard C. Benson said that the university's mission is to become a global force in education, innovation and research. The latest survey reaffirms their excellence in the fields of teaching, research as well as the transfer of knowledge to industry. He also thanked the students for their part in establishing the institution's reputation and its success.

In January, UT Dallas was ranked as one of the top 100 best values among the public universities in Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine. The Princeton Review also recognized the school as one of the "Colleges That Pay You Back" in February earlier this year.
World-renowned Parkinson's researcher speaks at UTSA on slowing disease progression April 10

D. James Surmeier is the director of Northwestern University's Parkinson's Disease research center.

(April 7, 2017) -- The UTSA Neurosciences Institute will host a distinguished public lecture, "A Strategy for Slowing the Progression of Parkinson's Disease," by D. James Surmeier, director of Northwestern University's Morris K. Udall Center for Excellence in Parkinson's Disease Research, at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, April 10, in the H-E-B University Center Ballroom (1.104) on the UTSA Main Campus. A half-hour reception will precede the lecture. Both are free and open to the public.

Parkinson's Disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder in the U.S. It affects up to one million people in the country, and thousands of new cases are diagnosed each year. At present, there are no proven strategies for preventing or slowing its progression.

Surmeier is a researcher of the mechanisms underlying Parkinson's Disease and schizophrenia. His lecture will explore a new treatment strategy on the horizonoutlining the rational for a large phase 3 clinical neuroprotection trial for early stage Parkinson's Disease patients sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.

The drug therapy trialwhich uses the calcium channel blocker Isradipineis based on the core idea that some neurons in the brain act as "look-outs," watching for events that can help or hurt patients, and that this constant vigilance causes them to wear out as humans age. The goal of the new therapy is to remodel the neurons in a way that allows them to rest without threatening their ability to do their job.

Surmeier is the Nathan Smith Davis Professor and Chair of Physiology at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. Born in Glendale, Calif., he is a graduate of the University of Washington, where he received his doctorate degree in physiology-psychology in 1983. He was awarded his Master of Science in mathematics from the University of Oregon in 1976, and his Bachelor of Science degrees in mathematics and psychology from the University of Idaho in 1975. He received post-graduate training at the Marine Biomedical Institute and the Department of Anatomy at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and later with the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology at the University of Tennessee. As director of the Morris K. Udall Center for Excellence in Parkinson's Disease Research, he oversees one of nine elite centers funded by the National Institutes of Health focusing on causes and cures for Parkinson's Disease.

Surmeier is a member of the Center for Rare and Neurological Diseases, the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center, the Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute and the Northwestern University Institute of Neuroscience. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and has received countless academic honors for his decades of scientific research and accomplishments, including the Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Each year, the UTSA Neurosciences Institute's Distinguished Public Lecture series brings an internationally recognized neuroscientist to UTSA to engage and educate a wide and varied audience from across the San Antonio region to discuss current research findings on neuroscience topics that offer a fundamental understanding of the human experience.

The UTSA Neurosciences Institute is a top-tier multidisciplinary research organization for integrated brain studies. The institute's mission is to foster a collaborative community of scientists committed to studying the biological basis of human experience and behavior, and the origin and treatment of nervous system diseases. It is one of five centerswhich includes the San Antonio Cellular Therapeutics Institute, the South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, the Center for Innovative Drug Discovery and the Institute for Health Disparities Researchacross UTSA conducting groundbreaking brain health research.

Parking for the lecture is available in the Ximenes Ave. Garage at a rate of $2 per hour. Click here to see a UTSA Main Campus map.

UTSA is ranked among the top 400 universities in the world and among the top 100 in the nation, according to Times Higher Education.

- Jesus Chavez

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Learn more about the UTSA Neurosciences Institute.

Discover UTSA's top-tier dedication to the study of brain health.

Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Emergency services work at the scene of a collision between a train and a truck in Schodnia, south Poland, on Apr 7, 2017. (Photo: AFP/Krzysztof Swiderski)

The injured were airlifted to hospitals, Pawel Fratczak, a spokesman for Polish national firefighters, told AFP.

"The train was carrying between 250 and 300 passengers. One of the carriages derailed," he said, adding that an investigation was underway to establish the cause of the crash.

The accident occurred on Friday afternoon at a level crossing near the town of Ozimek, in southwest Poland.

Fratczak said that the lorry driver was not injured in the accident. But pictures in local media show his truck was completely wrecked.
A KAMAZ truck. Russian vehicle manufacturers such as KAMAZ, GAZ and UAZ can tie up with Vietnamese partners and set up joint ventures to manufacture trucks and cars. - Photo kamazvietnam.com.vn

As per Government Decision 08/2017/Q-TTg, a guideline for businesses on implementing the protocol signed between Viet Nam and Russia on supporting automobile production in Viet Nam, every authorised Russian business is allowed to be part of one joint venture, which will undertake operations for a minimum period of 10 years and a maximum period of 30 years.

Russian businesses are not allowed to transfer their capital in the joint venture to a third party from a third country.

The protocol was negotiated and signed based on the priority clauses for investment projects under the free trade agreements between Viet Nam and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). Under the agreement, Russian vehicle manufacturers such as KAMAZ, GAZ and UAZ can tie up with Vietnamese partners and set up joint ventures to manufacture and assemble trucks, cars with 10 seats and above, crossover utility vehicles (CUV) and a number of special-use vehicles.

The joint venture enterprises will have to assemble cars in compliance with Viet Nams automobile industry development plan till 2020, with a vision towards 2030.

The local supply rate will be 25 per cent for special-use vehicles, 30 per cent for trucks and CUVs, and 35 per cent for cars with 10 seats and above by 2020. The rate will be increased to 40 per cent, 45 per cent and 50 per cent by 2025, respectively.

If the joint venture fails to meet the fixed local supply rate after 10 years of operations in Viet Nam, its licence will be revoked.

The joint ventures will also export to other countries, especially the Southeast Asian bloc, where there will be no import tax on automobiles, under the condition of 40 per cent localisation rate among members from 2018.
Metro line 1 in trouble

A shortage of capital is the key problem of both Line 1 (Ben Thanh  Suoi Tien) and Line 2 (Ben Thanh  Tham Luong) urban railway projects. The Ho Chi Minh City Peoples Committee is the developer responsible for the two projects.

At the Metro Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien project, the developer has been slow to pay contractors and may have to pay interest on late payment.

According to a report submitted to the Ministry of Transport at the beginning of March 2017 by Le Van Khoa, deputy chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Peoples Committee, the payments for four construction packages have been delayed since September 2016. The reason is that the ODA capital provided for Ho Chi Minh City was only VND592.693 trillion ($26 million), a much lower amount compared to the VND1.95 trillion ($85.17 million) payable for the contractors. To deal with the current shortage, Ho Chi Minh City had to withdraw VND600 billion ($26.3 million) from the city budget to pay in advance for the consulting companies and contractors.

With the current progress, although package No. 1a was started in November 17, 2016, the authority cannot pay the contractors as promised. Accordingly, by February 15, 2017, Ho Chi Minh Citys Urban Railway Management Boardwould have to pay in advance the amount of VND571 billion ($25 million). In case the developer fails to pay, the contract will be extended, which will result in numerous incurred additional expenses.

Khoa said that the estimated ODA capital for Metro Line 1 is VND2.119 trillion ($93 million) in 2017. However, the projects capital has not been added to the countrys plan on using ODA, which significantly affected the construction progress.

By the end of February 2017, package No. 1b, used for the constructions of the stations between Saigon Opera House and Ben Thanh, was 41 per cent completed, while package No. 2 toconstruct the 17.1-kilometre stretch plus depots between Ba Son and Binh Duong was 65 per cent completed. Package No. 3 for the purchase of electromechanical equipment, locomotives, carriages, and railway tracks was 12 per cent completed. In general, the total disbursement of the project is VND10.9 trillion ($477 million), of which VND9.712 trillion ($425 million) is sourced from ODA.

If the Japanese and Vietnamese contractors progress as scheduled, the total value of the completed parts in 2017 may reach VND5.320 trillion ($233 million).

The project should receive more ODA. It is essential to ensure the projects progress as committed, as well as to avoid other incurred expenses, late payment penalties, and lawsuits from foreign contractors, said the report.

The 19.7-kilometre Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien Line goes through District 1 (Binh Thanh), District 2 (Thu Duc), District 9, and ends in Binh Duong Province (Di An District). Of the total, the underground parts are 2.6 kilometres, and the overhead parts are 17.1 kilometres long. The total investment after three adjustments has increased from VND14.415 trillion ($631 million) to VND47.325 trillion ($2.07 billion).

The construction of the overhead part has been on-going since August 2012. The maximum speed along the line will be 80 kilometres per hour on the underground sections and 110 kilometres per hour on the bridge. It is forecasted to begin test runs in 2019 and be officially put into operation in 2020.

Metro Line 2 in a worse spot

Although Metro Line 1 is in slow progress, at least it has a forecasted launching period, while Line 2, which is also managed by Ho Chi Minh Citys Urban Railway Management Board, is struggling with investment adjustments and updating bid documents.

Accordingly, the total investment of Metro Ben Thanh-Tham Luong is proposed to be VND47.605 trillion ($2.152,36 million), an increase of 56.6 per cent compared to the initial planned investment in 2010. The three biggest increases derive from land clearance, which rose from $119.38 million to $197.88 million; installation and purchase, which went from VND748.11 billion ($33 million) to VND1.198 trillion ($52 million); and reserves, which increased from $263 million to $368 million.

By the end of February 2017, after six years of construction works, the disbursement was only VND700 billion ($31 million), including VND572 billion ($25 million) of ODA capital, which is equivalent to three per cent of the expected sum total.

A representative of the Ho Chi Minh City Urban Railway Management Board admitted that implementation was slow compared to the promised schedule because the design has been adjusted. Additionally, the different instructions issued by the sponsors and the Vietnamese government on picking contractors and the elongated time for collecting feedback from sponsors also contributed to the slow going.

As the most important Metro line in Ho Chi Minh City, the Ben Thanh-Tham Luong line will go from the new urban area Thu Thiem (District 2) and end in An Suong (District 12). It is forecasted that by 2025, it will handle 481,700 passengers a day.

Besides the sharp increase in capitalisation, the launch will be delayed to 2024, despite initial promises to complete works by the end of 2016, as specified in Decision No 4474/QD  UBND approved by the Ho Chi Minh City Peoples Committee.

The Ho Chi Minh City Peoples Committee should review the implementation progress of each package used in these projects and have appropriate solutions to avoid the extension of process, which may lead to an increase in total investment, administration, and interest expenses, exchange rate risks, and fluctuations in construction material prices, an expert said.
Serbian President-elect Aleksandar Vucic likes to use the past to explain the future.

In 1947, as Josip Broz Tito was consolidating Yugoslavia, he built a railway through Bosnia that linked Serbs, Croats and Muslim Bosniaks, friend and foe after World War II.

Tito wasnt stupid, Vucic told Reuters. People had to work together, build together, then travel together, live together. Thats what we need  connecting.

Together again

Yugoslavia broke up in war 26 years ago, spawning seven states. Now, the European Union has taken up a project put forward by Vucic that would see five of them  plus Albania  joined once more, this time in a common market.

It would abolish all remaining tariff barriers, lift obstacles to the free movement of people, commodities and services and introduce standard regulations across the region.

The EU wants an outline agreed to in July, seizing on the idea as a way to re-engage with Balkan states unnerved by the blocs evaporating enthusiasm for further enlargement and exposed to the growing influence of Russia.

But it has received a mixed reception.

Some apprehensions

Kosovo, for one, fears being roped back into a Serbian-dominated union of the kind it fought to leave; others worry it will only slow their accession to the EU, or worse still replace it.

The EU has delegated development of the plan to the Regional Cooperation Council. Its head, Goran Svilanovic, told Reuters Balkan leaders were increasingly realistic about the reduced appetite in Brussels for EU enlargement.

They see whats up in the EU, he said.

But they will work together on the Balkan market plan and with the EU when it comes to something they see is ... bringing change to their daily lives.

Market of 20 million

For years, the prospect of EU accession has stabilized relations and driven reform in a turbulent and impoverished region. But since Croatia followed ex-Yugoslav Slovenia in joining in 2013, the EU has been beset by problems of migration, Brexit and right-wing populism.

A year later, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker ruled out any further expansion until at least 2020.

Stability and democracy in the Balkans have suffered.

Juncker was stating a fact, a senior EU official told Reuters, but in hindsight he had made a huge mistake.

A lot of things that were in progress just stopped, the official said. Another EU diplomat said Brussels had dropped the ball and was trying to re-engage.

Start with market, trade

One of the results is the Western Balkans Common Market, which would build on the Central European Free Trade Area, CEFTA. All six countries are members of CEFTA, but the pact has struggled to stimulate trade within the region and some barriers remain.

Backers of the plan say a single economic space with a market of 20 million people would be more attractive to investors than six small states each with their own red tape.

Investors would be banging down our doors, said Vucic, Serbias prime minister who was elected president Sunday.

The EU says it would mark a step toward membership, not an alternative.

But it did not go unnoticed that enlargement had no place in a March document by Juncker that set out the options for the EU after Britain leaves in 2019.

Create your own common market [because you are not joining ours], was the headline of an opinion piece last month by Kosovo analyst Besa Shahini on the Pristina Insight website.

Kosovo threw off Belgrades repressive rule in a 1998-99 war, and is wary of Serbia as the biggest country in the region and a friend of Russia.

We dont want to see a Serbia that behaves in the style of Russia, trying to politically dominate the region, Kosovo Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj said of the initiative Tuesday.

Prime Minister Isa Mustafa took to Facebook: We share different experiences of the past, he wrote. We do not want that past to return, repackaged.

Sokol Havolli, an adviser to Mustafa, told Reuters the project risked slowing the regions EU integration.

Alternative narratives

Asked if a common market may become a substitute for EU enlargement, Vucic said that should not and must not happen but said he had heard, unofficially, of such fears in Montenegro.

The office of Montenegrin Prime Minister Dusko Markovic told Reuters Podgorica had yet to receive a detailed proposal, but that it supported greater regional cooperation.

An Albanian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Tirana was skeptical.

Kristof Bender, deputy chairman of the European Stability Initiative, a Brussels-based research group, said he would be surprised if creating a club of poor economies would do much to address the regions woes.

Nor could it be a credible alternative to the narrative of prosperity and stability inside the EU.

If this narrative evaporates, Balkan politicians will need to look for other narratives, Bender told Reuters. Given recent history, this is dangerous.

Railroad holds lessons

Today, the railway Tito built speaks less of the future than the folly of the past: as trains cross between Bosnias two ethnically-based regions, different crews take over, reflecting how power was divided up in order to end the 1992-95 war. Part of the line is no longer used.

Vucic said critics of his idea argued they simply wanted to leave the Balkans behind and join the EU.

So does Serbia, he said. But does that mean we should lose the next three, four, five years when we know were not going to become a member?
Britains foreign minister, Boris Johnson, canceled plans Saturday to visit Moscow, just hours before he was due to depart London, as tensions escalated between the U.S. and Russia over Syria.

Russian leaders, who have dubbed as illegal the U.S. action to punish the government of President Bashar al-Assad for its use of chemical weapons, ramped up the war of words late Friday when the countrys prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, warned America was one step away from military clashes with Russia.

In an apparent show of force, a Russian frigate armed with cruise missiles, reportedly was heading into the Mediterranean. According to Russian state media, the ship, the Admiral Grigorovich, will dock at Tartus on the Syrian coast.

Russia also has pledged to bolster Syria's air defenses.

News of the cancelation of the British foreign ministers trip was relayed first by Johnson himself, who tweeted: I will now not travel to Moscow on Monday 10 April. He said his priority was to hold talks with Western allies about Syria and Russia's support for Assad.

British officials say that Johnsons trip was called off after the British foreign minister consulted his American counterpart, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who himself is due to visit the Russian capital in a few days.

They said Johnson wants to spearhead efforts to help shape a coalition of support against Russian activity in Syria. In a statement later, Johnson said, Developments in Syria have changed the situation fundamentally.

A Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman described the cancelation as absurd.

Johnson was due to hold talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, and the two diplomats were expected to hold a joint news conference.

It seems that our Western colleagues live in their own kind of reality in which they first try to single-handedly make collective plans, then they single-handedly try to change them, coming up with absurd reasons, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova in a statement.

Unfortunately, stability, and consistency have long stopped being the hallmark of Western foreign policy, she added.



As the diplomatic turmoil unfolded, activists Saturday claimed Syrian government warplanes had again struck Khan Sheikhoun, the rebel-held town targeted earlier in the week in an alleged chemical weapons attack by the Syrian regime.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the London-based pro-opposition watchdog that gathers information from activists on the ground, claimed a woman was killed and three people wounded after being machine-gunned by jets in an eastern neighborhood.

The warplanes carrying out Saturdays alleged raid are believed to have flown from al-Shayrat, the airbase targeted Thursday by the U.S. in a punitive barrage of 59 Cruise missiles strike, the greatest show of America firepower in more than a decade. Tuesdays chemical attack left scores dead, including children and women, according activists. U.S. officials so far have not commented on the claimed raid. In addition, there was no confirmation by other monitors.

There also was an unconfirmed report of a U.S.-led raid against the Islamic State in the countryside around Raqqa, the terror groups de facto capital in Syria. The observatory quoted local activists as saying missiles struck the village of Hanida, to the west of the city.


A torrid summer and devastating fires across central Chile's wine belt have forced an earlier harvest this year, but there are no signs that volume or flavor will be affected, local industry experts said on Thursday.

High temperatures can lead to excessive sugar and alcohol in the grapes and the harvest needed to take place as soon as the right level was reached, they said.

Climate change is contributing to record droughts, heat and wildfires in Chile, the world's No. 4 exporter of wine by volume and the biggest among New World producers, threatening crops and spurring growers to move south to cooler climes.

In December, temperatures in central Chile hit their highest level in a century. The hot, dry conditions sparked the biggest wildfires in the country's modern history, burning homes and forests and blanketing the entire region in thick smoke.

Most vines had escaped the flames and the bigger worry was the effect of the smoke on the flavor of the grapes, said Angelica Valenzuela, commercial director of industry body Wines of Chile.

"The number of vines burnt was low. But there could be an effect from the smoke which we will see when the harvest is done," she said in an interview at the Undurraga vineyard near Talagante, 22 miles (35 kilometers) southwest of the capital of Santiago. "For now, the first results are not showing signs of any problems."

Close to where some of the worst fires raged, Undurraga produces around 2 million cases a year, some 70 percent of which is exported.

The hot conditions in the southern hemisphere summer had forced growers like Undurraga to bring forward the harvest by about a month, with the first varieties picked as early as January, company spokesman Fernando Anania said.

That earlier-than-usual harvest was a challenge to Chile's winegrowers in logistics terms, but should not have a major effect on volumes or taste, said Anania in an interview.

Exports of Chilean wine grew 0.9 percent in 2016 by volume and 3.5 percent by value, according to Wines of Chile. Last year, for the first time, China overtook the United States to become the industry's top export destination.
Official Chinese media covered the U.S.-China summit in Florida with a unified voice. Almost all the reports focused on the "friendly" exchanges between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

And then there were the social media commentators - brash, sarcastic and worried.

Usually when Xi travels, China's state-run media provide extensive coverage, but it wasn't until late Friday that it reported more than the most basic details. According to the official news agency Xinhua, the two leaders held extensive, friendly and long talks, with both sides praising gains in bilateral relations and agreeing to further relations to benefit the two peoples.

The usually hawkish Global Times headlined Xi's remark that We have a thousand reasons to better the bilateral relationship, and not a single reason to make it worse.

Xinhua also reported that Xi extended an invitation to Trump to visit China, an invitation Trump accepted, according to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

The friendly atmosphere surrounding the Thursday night banquet and the warm speeches delivered by the leaders also found favor with Xinhua, which covered the U.S. military strike on Syria as an event unconnected to the meeting. Instead, it reported that Trump's grandchildren sang a Chinese folk song and recited classic verses for the leaders earlier Thursday.

There were, however, some expressions of alarm at the Trump administration's decision to bomb an air base in Syria and the timing.

The lead commentary under the category of Military Affairs on Global Times' website ran under this headline: Trump Uses Syria to establish his Authority; Russia will not take this lying down.

Social media commentators didn't hold back. Here are some reactions they posted on China's microblog website Xin-Lang, or New Wave:

Stubborn Rabbit: The focus of the Xi-Trump meeting is on the war against North Korea that's about to start; Trump is going to ask China to deploy ground troops.

Bug: Salute to the tough Uncle Trump! U.S. President Trump says to Xi: I have just signed the US bombs Syria (agreement), (just as the famous poet Su Shi of the Song Dynasty once said,) an enemy's infrastructure goes up in smoke in the midst of laughs and polite conversation.



Pure Grapes: So much news these last couple of days; my head is exploding. Syria Strike (Pure Grapes own phrase) not only eclipsed the Xi-Trump Summit, but also got Neil Gorsuch confirmed, and, on top of that, ensured that Hillary's interview, where she for the first time openly criticized Russia's role in the US election, got ignored. Well-played. (Note: English phrase and italic Pure Grapes' own.)

Imperial Merchant: THAAD deployment prior to the meeting, missiles during the meeting; those 60 bombs (against Syria) sure beat the 21-gun-salute! (US) has to turn the situation in the Middle East and Asia even more chaotic  and has to cut (President Xi's) one-belt, one-road initiative alive! All this while saying Im happy to receive the visiting Chinese leader 

(This report originated with the VOA Mandarin Service)
After a couple of days of high-profile talks with U.S. President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping made a refueling stop in Alaska Friday night, using the time to meet with Alaskas governor.

Alaska Governor Bill Walker welcomed Xi to Alaska in the states largest city, Anchorage. The two went on a brief sightseeing tour and spoke about Alaskas trade ties with China.

``We have tremendous potential in our oil and gas, tourism, fish, air cargo and mineral resource industries,'' Walker said in a statement issued before the meeting.

Xi requested the meeting with Walker, who used the time to tout Alaskas abundant natural resources and advocate for a gas pipeline that would facilitate export to China.

China bought nearly $1.2 billion worth of Alaskan goods in 2016, according to numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau, making it the states largest export market.

Chris Hladick, the commissioner of Alaskas Commerce Department, told The Associated Press the meeting was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
As U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping met Friday at Trumps Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, human rights activist said they hoped the leaders would discuss human rights.

Hu Jia and Wang Qiaoling, wife of detained human rights lawyer Li Heping, told VOA they were concerned about two specific human rights cases in China: a wave of arrests July 9, 2015, known as the 709 Incident that targeted three groups connected to rights advocacy, and house church persecution.

They sought the release of prisoners of conscience including Liu Xiaobo, the Nobel Peace Prize winner who was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2009 for advocating democracy in China, and Ilham Tohti, an advocate for Chinas Uighur minority who is serving a life sentence after a Chinese court convicted him of separatism in 2014.

Civil society controlled

Xis administration has tightened control over almost every aspect of civil society since 2012, citing the need to buttress national security and stability. The detention and prosecution of lawyers and activists have caused an international outcry, criticism that China consistently rejects, saying it adheres to the rule of law. And while media in China covered the U.S.-China summit, no official outlets covered calls by members of Congress for discussions about Chinas human rights record while at the lavish estate.

Sen. Marco Rubio, the Florida Republican, told the McClatchy News Service before the summit that it is imperative that the president raise the plight of political prisoners and human rights activists by name adding that presidential pressure often results in improved conditions and shorter sentences for those facing persecution.

Rep. Chris Smith is a senior member on the Foreign Affairs Committee, co-chairman and the highest-ranking House member of both the bipartisan House/Senate Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), and the bipartisan House/Senate/White House Congressional-Executive Commission on China on which Rubio also serves.

Smith recently told VOA the president has to bring up, in a robust way, a way that was not done in the Obama administration, issues of human rights abuse which, sadly, Xi Jinping is in a race to the bottom with North Korea on subjecting its own citizens to torture, its women to forced abortion, and a whole list of gross human rights abuses.

The government of China says: Respect us! Sure, well do that, Smith said, adding Please respect your own people first.

Words from Trump could mean a lot

Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought recipient Hu Jia told VOA Friday he hoped Trump spoke with Xi about Ilham, the attorneys detained since the 709 Incident, Liu Xiaobo and his wife Liu Xia, who is also affected, and the prevalent persecution of Christian house church, an issue that aligns with Republicans values.

Wang Qiaoling, wife of Li, the human rights lawyer, told VOA that she saw Trumps decision to send missile strikes to Syrias air base the U.S. described as linked to the chemical weapons attacks as a sign of potential toughness on China the Chinese government, to be precise.
Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila named a former member of the largest opposition party as prime minister on Friday, a move likely to further divide Kabila's opponents after talks to negotiate his exit from power broke down.

A statement from the presidency named Bruno Tshibala as prime minister in a new transitional government meant to organize a presidential election by year-end following Kabila's refusal to step down when his mandate expired in December.

Opponents of Kabila, who has ruled Congo since his father's assassination in 2001, suspect he intends to repeatedly delay elections until he can organize a referendum to let himself stand for a third term, as his counterparts in neighboring Congo Republic and Rwanda have done.

Kabila denies those charges, saying the election delays are due to challenges registering millions of voters and budgetary constraints.

Security forces killed dozens of civilians in protests over election delays last year. Worsening militia violence in recent months has meanwhile raised fears of a backslide toward the civil wars of the turn of the century that killed millions.

Under a deal struck with the opposition in December, Kabila can stay in office until after an election required to be held by the end of this year. But negotiations to implement the pact collapsed last week and Tshibala's nomination is almost certain to weaken fledgling efforts to make Kabila abide by it.

Tshibala's nomination escalates tensions ahead of a mass march his former party, the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), has called for next Monday in the capital Kinshasa to protest delays implementing the deal.

Tshibala was expelled from the UDPS last month after he and other prominent opposition leaders contested the designation of successors to veteran leader Etienne Tshisekedi, who died in February.

Tshisekedi's son, Felix, who replaced his father as president of the main opposition bloc, said Kabila violated the deal by not naming a candidate of the alliance's choosing.

"We continue to demand the application of the Dec. 31, 2016 accord," he told Reuters. "The nomination of Bruno Tshibala is a departure from the accord."

Tshibala will be confronted immediately with stern security and economic tests. Congo's franc currency has lost nearly half its value since last year and militia violence has worsened across the country in the wake of Kabila's decision to stay on.
The Basque separatist group ETA has relinquished its last caches of weapons, effectively ending one of the longest conflicts in contemporary European history.

The International Verification Commission (IVC) confirmed Saturday that the militant group gave French authorities a list of the locations of 12 weapons caches.

"We are disarming one of the longest-surviving armed groups in the world," Ram Manikkalingam, a mediator with the IVC, told reporters in the southwestern French city of Bayonne.

Saturday's handover was handled through a series of intermediaries and celebrated by hundreds of people with a morning ceremony in Bayonne.

The weapons stockpiles could include 130 handguns and two tons of explosives, according to French authorities.

ETA, designated a terrorist group by the U.S. government, has been blamed for the deaths of more than 850 people since the late 1960s in its push to carve an independent homeland out of territory in northern Spain and southwestern France.

The group has been weakened by attrition and a string of high-profile arrests in the late 1990's and 2000's. The last known murder victim of ETA, an acronym for the phrase "Basque Homeland and Liberty," was a French police officer killed in Paris in 2010.

The arms handover comes years after the separatists declared a unilateral cease-fire in 2011, but they refused to surrender or lay down their remaining weapons.

While the handover does not mean the end of the group as a political entity, it will end nearly a half-century of political violence in Western Europe.

Spain has expressed doubt, though, that ETA has disclosed all of the details about it weapons caches. Spain also has resisted negotiations that would allow dwindling members of the outlawed group or their supporters to gain legal political status in the Basque region.

Spain has demanded ETA's full dissolution, but the group has refused, in part out of allegiance to the hundreds of members who remain imprisoned in Spain.
Officials of former U.S. President Barack Obama's administration are responding to criticism of Obama for not retaliating against Syria for a previous chemical weapons attack.

The officials maintain Obama proposed strikes in 2013 against Syria similar to those ordered Friday by Republican President Donald Trump but were thwarted by a Republican-controlled Congress that refused to agree with Obama's plan.

The push-back to the criticism came after Trump ordered the missile strikes against Syria for another chemical weapons attack without getting congressional approval.

Syria's latest chemical attack occurred Tuesday on the town of Khan Sheikhoun, killing 87 people, including 31 children.

Trump placed part of the blame for the recent chemical attack on the former Democratic president, saying it was a "consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution."

Republican lawmakers insisted that Obama should not take military action without their approval, according to former Obama administration officials. Trump also called for Obama to get congressional approval prior to any attack against Syria.

"Once you put it in Congress' hand, it became clear at that time that they were not ready to assume responsibility," said former Obama Middle East adviser Dennis Ross.

Former Obama national security adviser Ben Rhodes questioned on Twitter the political objectivity of Republican lawmakers and Trump.

"Times change. In 13 [2013], Speaker [John Boehner] asks Obama how: "justification comports with exclusive authority of Cong [congressional] authorization."

Shortly after the U.S.attack, Obama's National Security Council spokesman, Tommy Vietor, reissued Trump's 2013 tweet demanding Obama get congressional approval.

"What will we get for bombing Syria besides more debt and a possible long term conflict? Obama needs congressional approval."

Obama warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad he would retaliate militarily after a chemical weapons attack killed hundreds of people near Damascus. Several U.S. warships in the Mediterranean Sea were ready to launch a missile attack but Obama suddenly pulled back after the Republican-controlled Congress and Britain, a key ally, resisted his plan.

Obama decided instead to support a Russian-backed plan that was designed to eliminate Syria's stockpiles of chemical weapons.

Friday's U.S. missile attack, the first U.S. military attack on the Assad regime, was a "calculated warning shot" meant to deter further Syrian use of weapons of mass destruction, said Hudson Institute political and military analyst Richard Weitz, in an interview with VOA.

"The strike is also aimed to restore credibility to U.S. threats of military action that had eroded following the U.S. decision to back down from similar action in Syria in 2013," Weitz added.
Since the departure of Gambias long-time ruler Yahya Jammeh, newly elected president Adama Barrows government has been taking steps to restore the economy, rule of law and political reforms after two decades of one-party rule.

Gambias vice president recently visited the United States to thank its partners for the help they provided during her nations political impasse, she said. In an exclusive interview with VOA, Fatoumata Jallow Tambajang also spoke about the challenges her country is facing, such as a lack of water and electricity, and possible currency depreciation.

It is relatively normal to have African countries lacking certain infrastructure development  but its hard to understand that a small country of the size of 1.8 million people at this stage of development lack electricity and water. In the rural areas women are still using the well system; water and sanitation are poor, the health sector has been really been fragmented.

Aid cuts

On proposed cuts in international aid from the U.S., Jallow Tambajang said Americas the Big Brother. If America has a cold and sneezes, everybody gets a cold, so it is important that they realize that many in the rest of the world are looking up to them in terms of democratic culture  financial, economic and policy support.

Her position joins many in asking the new administration to reconsider particularly ... USAID, which is usually present in many developing countries, has been playing a critical role in supporting the development agenda of countries and cutting budgets would obviously affect those institutions.



Jammeh & ICC

She says former President Jammehs 22-year rule was challenging.

There were no freedom of expression, freedom of association, institutions were dormant because of his dictatorial handling of the state. There were lots of political persecutions, she said.

Jammeh, who lost the election in December to Barrow, first congratulated his opponent and later refused to accept the result.

He only stepped down after pressure from regional leaders, who sent troops to Gambia to force him to leave, and the international communitys outcry.

While Jammeh had said his country would get out of the International Criminal Court, the new administration has indicated its commitment to staying with the body, not because of one individual, but because of what it does and what it stands for, Jallow Tambajang said.

Critics have said the former leader was given a clean slate just to get him to leave and it will be hard to prosecute him for the alleged crimes committed.

Jallow Tambajang says a person is never guilty until proven guilty in the eyes of the court  prosecuting Jammeh should be confined to the legal system. This new democratic government doesnt want to interfere with the other arms of government and wants a clear distinction between the executive, legislative and judiciary.

ECOWAS / African Union

She says it was the work of members of the Economic Bloc of West African States (ECOWAS) under the leadership of Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and the African Union that played a critical role by using the traditional African dialogue but also the U.S., Britain and other bilateral donors.

Jallow Tambajang says its important to indicate that during the crisis, Barrow was inaugurated at the Gambian embassy in neighboring Senegal.

We owe his Excellency Macky Sall and the people of Senegal a big thank you because theyve shown the brother and sisterhood that exist between the two countries is real. They share the same culture and traditions. It also demonstrated that Africans can handle their own problems.

On reports that the former president left the country with lots of cash, Jallow Tambajang says the experience weve had is that he has acquired a lot of assets but we wont make a statement on the magnitude of the misappropriations simply because we want to make it an evidence-based matter.

This new administration, which won through a coalition of eight political parties is not here to perpetuate itself and has a 3-year agenda to create a new foundation for democracy where people will have opportunities to work, where the private sector can be provided with an environment to grow and be the engine for development, she pointed out.

Women & transition

Gambias vice president credits women for playing a critical role in the peaceful transition of power after Decembers elections. In general, after being involved in womens issues for more than 30 years, women are progressing and their status is improving. Of course thats not a call for complacency, she said, but when you look at it from the economic status, women have predominantly occupied the informal sector but are increasingly being visible in the formal sector. For many years theyve taken the back seat but they are now creating their own space and are no longer accepting to be silent.

Despite some successes in sub-Saharan Africa, Jallow Tambajang, who is also the countrys Minister of Womens Affairs, says gender equality and womens empowerment was universally adopted within the framework of the United Nations. Hence, governments have to be held accountable because its their responsibility to ensure there is progress on an annual basis.
Kostas Argyros's unpaid electricity bills are piling up, among a mountain of debt owed to Greece's biggest power utility.

His family owe 850 euros to the Public Power Corporation (PPC), a tiny fraction of the state-controlled firm's 2.6 billion euros ($2.8 billion) in unpaid bills.

Argyros picks up only occasional work as an odd-job man.

"When you only work once a week, what will you pay first?" said the 35-year-old, who lives in a tiny apartment in an Athens suburb with his unemployed wife and four small children.

The Argyros family are emblematic of deepening poverty in Greece following seven years of austerity demanded by the country's international creditors. They burn wood to heat their home in winter, food is cooked on a small gas stove, and hot water is scarce.

The only evening light is the blue glare of a TV screen, for fear of racking up more debt.

Five-watt lightbulbs provide a dim glow and Argyros worries about the effect on their eyesight. More than 40 percent of Greeks are behind on their utility bills, higher than anywhere else in Europe.

People in poor neighborhoods are also increasingly turning to energy fraud, meaning that the problem for PPC is much higher than the mountain of unpaid bills suggests.

Power theft is costing PPC around 500-600 million euros a year in lost income, an industry official said, requesting anonymity because he was not authorised to divulge the numbers.

PPC declined to comment on the figure. Public disclosures by the Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator HEDNO, which checks meters, show that verified cases of theft climbed to 10,600 last year, up from 8,880 in 2013 and 4,470 in 2012.

Authorities believe theft is far higher than the cases verified by HEDNO, another official said, declining to be named.

Households in the country are equipped with analog meters, which are easy to hack. One of the most common tricks is using magnets, which slow down the rotating coils to show less consumption than the real amount, a HEDNO official said.

Some websites even offer consumers tips and tricks on power fraud.

Burden of Arrears

For households who have had their electricity cut off, a group of activists calling themselves the "I Won't Pay" movement have taken it upon themselves to reconnect the supply. The group says it has done hundreds this year.

PPC, which has a 90 percent share of the retail market and 60 percent of the wholesale market, is supposed to reduce this dominance to less than 50 percent by 2020 under Greece's third, 86 billion euro bailout deal.

The lenders also want PPC to sell some of its assets, but the company is toiling under the debt of unpaid bills, a problem opposition lawmakers say will force a fire-sale.

In little over a year from June 2015, overdue bills to the 51-percent state-owned firm grew by nearly a billion euros to 2.6 billion, Chief Executive Manolis Panagiotakis told lawmakers in March.

Analysts estimate PPC's cash reserves have shrunk to about 00 million euros, forcing it to secure a 200 million euro bank loan to repay a bond due in May.

The tangle has left it with little leeway for new investments or to fund a switch to cleaner forms of energy from coal to improve environmental standards.

"It is often said that PPC is undergoing the most critical phase of its history," Panagiotakis told lawmakers. "I will not argue with that." He declined a Reuters request for an interview.

The burden of arrears for PPC is now "so big that some worry it will not be able to lift it for much longer", said energy expert Constantinos Filis.

The apartment building where the Argyros family live is a testament to that. Many tenants struggle even to pay the 25 euro annual fee to light communal areas such as staircases.

Ground Zero

PPC has tried to recoup unpaid bills with phased repayment plan. A total of 625,000 customers owing a total of 1.3 billion euros had signed up to the plan by January.

The Argyros family have also entered the plan with the help of Theofilos, a local charity, which also contributes towards their monthly bills.

Meanwhile, PPC's provisions for bad debt remain high. The plans drove the figure down to 453 million euros in the nine months to September last year from 690 million a year earlier.

Analysts expect PPC to swing back to a profit of between 63-109 million euros in 2016, with provisions of below 600 million euros.

Filis, the energy expert, said the more things stayed the same, the closer PPC was to "ground zero" and he drew comparisons with the Greek state's brushes with near bankruptcy during the debt crisis.

"It's reasonable to say that PPC is too big to allow it to collapse, particularly regarding energy security," he said. "On the other hand, a few years ago some argued that no country could fail either."
India and Bangladesh signaled deepening ties Saturday as New Delhi committed a $4.5 billion line of credit to Dhaka for development projects, and the two countries signed their first-ever pact on defense cooperation.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an additional $500 million in credit for Bangladesh to buy military equipment from India during the visit to New Delhi by Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Calling India a long standing and trusted development partner, Modi said that the new credit lines bring our resources allocation to Bangladesh to more than $8 billion over the past six years.

Both leaders reaffirmed their close ties during the Bangladeshi prime ministers first visit to India in seven years, with Modi speaking of a golden era in their friendship and Hasina saying their friendly ties would benefit South Asia.

The two countries signed 22 agreements, including one on civil nuclear cooperation that aims to help Bangladesh develop its civilian nuclear program.

Many in New Delhi see the deal for defense cooperation over the next five years as the key breakthrough that will help reduce Bangladeshs reliance on China for its military needs.

Worried by the growing Chinese influence in its neighborhood, New Delhi has made a concerted push in recent years to grow strategic ties with neighboring countries. Bangladeshs purchase of two submarines from China last year deepened those concerns in India.

Calling the defense pact a feather in Indias cap, Sukh Deo Muni, a South Asia expert at New Delhis Institute of Defense Studies and Analyses, said,India does not want China to consolidate defense ties just next to its belly, that is true.

Although the political opposition in Bangladesh has denounced the pact, independent analysts in Dhaka was optimistic that it will help achieve balance.

Approximately 80 percent dependency at this moment you see on China, so it should be brought down. That actually reduces our vulnerability, said Abdur Rashid, Executive Director of the Institute of Conflict, Law and Development Studies in Dhaka. If one is interrupted we can depend on the other.

A new rail link between the Indian city of Kolkata and Khulna in Bangladesh, and a bus link between Kolkata and Dhaka also were inaugurated, while another old rail link was restored to coincide with Hasinas visit. The Bangladeshi leader said the greater connectivity is vital for the regions development.



A key water-sharing agreement that Dhaka has long pushed for, however, eluded Hasina.

Although New Delhi favors such an arrangement, opposition from West Bengal state in India, through which the Teesta River flows into Bangladesh, has prevented the two countries from clinching a deal.

As Modi assured her of his commitment to conclude a deal, the Bangladeshi leader sounded a note of optimism. I believe we shall be able to get Indias support in resolving these issues expeditiously, said Hasina.

The two countries have had a close relationship since 1971, when India helped Bangladesh gain independence from Pakistan following a bloody nine-month war.
Kosovo President Hashim Thaci bowed to pressure from traditional allies the United States and NATO on Friday by putting off plans to establish an army strongly opposed by the country's minority Serbs.

Nearly two decades after the Kosovo war, relations between Serbia and the ethnic Albanian-majority government in Kosovo remain strained. Serbia continues to regard Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008, as a renegade province.

Thaci last month found a way to bypass Serb opposition in parliament to constitutional amendments required for an army by drafting changes to an existing law on the Kosovo Security Forces that would allow the KSF to acquire heavy weapons. This would effectively turn it into a military force.

But Washington and NATO, which has kept forces in Kosovo since intervening in 1999 to stop Serbia's killings of ethnic Albanian civilians in a counter-insurgency campaign, voiced concern that the move could unravel Kosovo's fragile peace.

The Pristina government ordered the creation of a national army in 2014 but minority Serb deputies said they would block the required constitutional amendments.

On Friday, Thaci - a former Kosovo guerrilla commander - sent a letter to parliament asking it not to vote on his amendments so as to allow Western diplomats more time to convince Serbs to approve the amendments.

"The representatives of the Serb community should not think for any single second that Kosovo will not create its armed forces," Thaci told a conference in the capital Pristina attended by the U.S. ambassador and other West European envoys.

The KSF is currently a lightly armed, 2,500-member force trained by NATO and tasked with crisis response, civil protection and disposal of ordnance from the 1999 conflict.

NATO and the United States do not oppose the creation of an army in principle but say the constitution must be changed first, which would require the votes of 11 Serb deputies in the 120-seat parliament.

"We do not expect the people of Kosovo to wait forever on this [formation of the army], nor do we believe any party should veto," U.S. Ambassador Greg Delawie said.

"Kosovo needs a legitimate capability to defend itself before KFOR [NATO mission] can consider leaving." KFOR retains around 4,500 troops in Kosovo.
For the first time in at least a decade, Mexicos army is allowing the United States and the United Nations to observe opium poppy eradication, a step toward deeper cooperation to fight heroin traffickers, three sources in Mexico said.

The opening could bring Mexico more in line with other drug producing countries like Afghanistan, Colombia and Peru that have been heavily involved with the United Nations in cultivation studies and eradication efforts.

The Mexican army hopes to gain more credit at home and abroad for its work and address doubts in Washington about the quality of its data and the success of the eradication program, the officials said.

US, UN ride-along

Last week, the army flew U.S. military, U.N. and embassy officials into the heart of Mexicos heroin country to witness the destruction of fields of opium poppies, according to two of the officials with knowledge of the operation.

The ride-along marked the first time Mexicos army has allowed U.S. and U.N. officials to observe its efforts since it took over most drug eradication activities in 2007, and three more site visits are in the works, according to one of the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, owing to the sensitivity of the matter.

The army is also preparing to implement by this summer hardware and software developed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to allow soldiers to file data to headquarters on destroyed fields in real time, two of the officials said.

The information could be used to create a real-time registry of eradication efforts that would give a better idea of how much of the crop is being destroyed.

Drug trade talks

The shift by the army coincides with high-level bilateral talks between Mexico and the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump about how to stem the flow of heroin north into the United States and guns and money south into Mexico.

However, U.S efforts to improve relations with the Mexican army and support eradication date back to at least last year, when U.S. assistant secretary of state for narcotics William Brownfield told the U.S. Congress that more needed to be done to destroy fields of opium, the raw material used to make heroin.

Two of the sources said the army arranged the trip to gain more credibility with the U.S. government as Mexico steps up eradication efforts. The army is also trying to win the trust of the Mexican public, given concerns about human rights abuses since it was deployed to fight drug gangs in the last decade.

Golden triangle

The visit to Mexicos Golden Triangle of narco-states coincided with Trumps unveiling of a task force to tackle the U.S. heroin epidemic in which use of the drug has risen five-fold in the past decade, according to researchers.

The army took the U.S. military officials on helicopter tours of half a dozen sites in Sinaloa and Chihuahua, two of the three states that along with Durango make up the Golden Triangle where most Mexican opium is produced, one of the sources said.

Adam Isacson, an expert on the Mexican military at the Washington Office on Latin America, said the United States had been trying for more than two decades to gain the confidence of Mexican generals and interpreted the new opening as a step toward closer collaboration.

Its a big development, he said. Is the U.S. now going to fund an increased pace of eradication operations?

The U.S. embassy in Mexico declined to comment for this story, as did the Mexican army and Mexicos foreign ministry.

In a written response to questions, the UNODC said it was looking forward to strengthening cooperation with Mexico but did not comment on the specifics of talks with Mexico or the tour.

Distrust of US

The Mexican armys distrust of the United States goes back generations owing to the institutions deeply held nationalism.

While the Mexican navy has worked closely with U.S. agents to take down drug lords, and the United States has provided millions of dollars of equipment and training for police in Mexico, the army has until now recoiled from close collaboration.

Roberta Jacobson, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, was seen as key in pushing forward talks with the army since late last year, Mexican poppy cultivation has more than doubled since 2013 to around 28,000 hectares in 2015, according to U.S. estimates.

That is enough to produce around 70 tons of heroin, compared with estimates of U.S. demand in recent years that range from 24 tons to 50 tons.

The Mexican army destroyed 25,960 hectares of opium fields in 2015, up 77 percent from 14,662 hectares in 2013, according to army data.

That would suggest Mexico destroyed most of the 2015 crop.

But estimates of Mexican cultivation are based on satellite images, unlike census-based U.N. programs that can confidently map cultivation and eradication data.

Mexico partnered with UNODC in 2013 and issued a first cultivation report last year, about a decade after the U.N. began to work with Colombia, Peru and Bolivia.
Mexico said on Friday it would grant residency permits to 588 Cubans who were stranded in the north of the country after the United States ended its wet-foot, dry-foot policy, which had given legal status to almost every Cuban to reach U.S. soil.

Mexico's National Institute of Migration (INM) said the beneficiaries of the program are currently in the city of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, on the border with the United States, where the group was headed.

INM has done everything to allow this group of foreigners of Cuban origin to obtain their residency in the country for humanitarian reasons," the institute said in a statement.

The permit will initially be granted to 273 Cubans who will also be allowed to work, the statement said, adding that the migrants had not obtained refugee status or political asylum.

Former President Barack Obama ended the "wet-foot, dry-foot" policy in January shortly before leaving office, stranding hundreds of Cubans who were seeking a new life in the United States in Mexico and Central America.

Under the so-called wet-foot, dry-foot policy, Cubans who made it to U.S. soil were allowed to stay while those caught at sea were sent back to Cuba.
Gambias United Democratic Party (UDP) has won a majority of seats in parliament after decades in the opposition.

The win means the party now controls both the legislature and the presidency after President Adama Barrows election victory in December over long-time leader Yahya Jammeh.

The UDP won 31 seats in the 53-seat National Assembly, allowing Barrow to move ahead with promised reforms, including overhauling the government and security forces.

Party leader Ousainou Darboe said he and the president are on the same page on virtually everything.

Jammeh party reduced to five seats

The former ruling party, the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC), led for decades by Jammeh, was reduced from 43 elected seats to five, according to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).

Commission chairman Alieu Momar Njie announced Friday at IEC headquarters that, in addition to 31 seats for the UDP and five seats for the APRC, the 14 remaining parliament seats were won by various other opposition groups that had united in support of Barrows candidacy against Jammeh last year.

More than 880,000 people were eligible to vote in Thursdays parliamentary elections, choosing among candidates from 10 parties. Turnout was low at 42 percent, according to Njie, who said more civic education is needed to persuade people to come out and vote.

Barrow a surprise

Barrows victory in the December 1 presidential election was a major political surprise in Gambia, since Jammeh had ruled the small West African state for 22 years, since taking power in a coup.

Jammeh initially promised to heed the voters verdict, but changed his mind days later and refused to yield power, blaming the IEC for alleged mistakes in the vote count. Gambias neighbor states and African regional leaders eventually persuaded the longtime president to step down and go into exile, but not before Senegal mobilized troops on the two countries border to pressure him to concede defeat.

Earlier this month, Gambias new administration said it would set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and offer reparations to victims of Jammehs government, which has been accused of torturing and killing its opponents.
She is currently in solitary confinement at the notorious Evin prison in Irans capital city.

Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, Magdalena Mughrabi, said that the fact Shahidi was even arrested in the first place shows the true nature of the Iranian regime and called for her immediate release without conditions. She said: Hengameh Shahidis arbitrary arrest and detention shows again the Iranian authorities utter contempt for human rights. They must release her immediately and unconditionally as she appears to be held solely for exercising her rights to freedom of expression and association.

She added that Shahidi is undergoing unnecessary suffering because the authorities are withholding the health care she desperately needs: One month into Hengameh Shahidis detention, the authorities have still not provided her access to a specialist heart doctor. Instead of prolonging her suffering, the authorities must immediately give her the specialized medical treatment she needs.

Shahidis family was informed this week by the Office of the Prosecutor that she would receive a visit in the next few days from doctors of the Legal Medicine Organization  a state forensic institute  for examination. This came as a result of numerous requests made by Shahidis family to get her the specialist health care she requires.

Shahidis mother said that her daughter told the person interrogating her that if something happens to me, you will have to answer for it The President, Ministry of Intelligence, the Office of the Prosecutor, and the judiciary [will be] responsible for my death.

She has still not been told what she has been charged with and has been denied regular contact with her family. She has also been denied contact with her lawyer.

This is not the first time Shahidi has been arrested. In 2009 she was arrested and sentenced to six years in prison for gathering and colluding to commit crimes against national security and spreading propaganda against the system because of her activism and her work as a journalist. She was released two years later on medical grounds.

There are several journalists who have been imprisoned in Iran recently. Also arrested were Ehsan Mazandarani, a newspaper editor, and magazine editor, Morad Saghafi.
In late March, Syed Anees Shah, a Pakistani prosecutor, gathered a number of Christian suspects outside his court and offered them acquittal in exchange for their conversion to Islam.

Shah was prosecuting more than 40 Christians on charges of involvement in a brutal lynching in which two Muslim men were beaten to death in the aftermath of deadly suicide blasts at two churches in Lahore two years ago. The attacks killed 15 worshippers during Sunday services.

After the blasts, angry protesters gathered at the scene and attacked two unknown Muslims whom they suspected of having ties to militants and set their bodies ablaze.

Police used cellphone videos and pictures taken by bystanders to identify those involved in the lynching. The evidence led to the arrest of more than 40 Christians from Youhanabad, a densely populated Christian neighborhood in Lahore.

The suspects were being tried in an anti-terrorism court in Lahore when prosecutor Shah offered them the deal.

Joseph Francis, a defense attorney for the accused Christians, told reporters about Shah's offer to the defendants. "He tells them that if they embrace Islam, he can guarantee them their acquittal in the case," Francis said.

The story was initially reported by Pakistan's Tribune newspaper.

Fled the country

Francis has reportedly left the country for fear of retribution after revealing the case to reporters.

"Joseph Francis, the rights activist providing legal assistance to the accused in a Lahore lynching case, left the country right after he reported the incident to the media. He has still not returned to Pakistan," Naeem Qaiser, a senior political reporter for TV news channel 92 in Lahore, told VOA.

Human rights activists were outraged by the prosecutor's offer, calling it a criminal offense.

"This is blackmailing," Mehdi Hasan, former chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, told VOA. "According to the law and the constitution of Pakistan, no one can force anybody to change his or her religion."

Some lawyers contend that many of those in custody on charges related to the lynching were in fact innocent bystanders.

"Most of the men were innocent. They were just standing there and had nothing to do with the lynching, but they're in jail now," Adnan Shamim Bhatti, a lawyer from Youhanabad, told VOA.

Government's response

As the story was picked by the media, the provincial government intervened and launched an investigation against Shah, who initially denied the charges against him but later admitted to offering the deal after evidence emerged that seemed to confirm the defendants' claim.

Shah was reportedly videotaped while offering the deal outside the court in Lahore.

"The government is aware of the incident and an initial committee has been established to further look into this matter," Malik Ahmed Khan, a spokesperson for the Punjab provincial government, told VOA.

"Mr. Shah has been relieved of all his responsibilities as a prosecutor," Khan added.

Pakistan's government stresses a strict policy of zero tolerance for forced conversions.

"We've suffered a lot in the last so many decades due to religious intolerance. This particular case will speak for itself and will set an example," spokesperson Khan said.

Minorities discriminated against

"The prompt response from the government is commendable," said Romana Bashir, a Christian who is the executive director for the Peace and Development Foundation. "For me and my community, this is a positive response,"

But for many, this was more than an isolated case.

"Our society is very emotional when it comes to religion," Bashir told VOA. "It's not a matter of one case. I hope the government will keep addressing the issues related to minorities and this will give us [Christians] a sense of belonging to this country as well."

Christians are one of the largest non-Muslim minorities, representing about 1.6 percent of the Pakistani population. Christians frequently complain of being harassed by radicals and at times forced to convert to Islam. They are also often accused of violating the country's controversial anti-blasphemy law.

In some cases, just being accused of violating the anti-blasphemy law will draw the attention of those who believe in its strict implementation  and that means a serious threat to the accused person's life.

In 2014, an angry mob in Kot Radha Kishan city in Punjab province beat a Christian couple to death after they were accused of desecrating the Quran.

Christians are not the only minority group being persecuted in Pakistan. The Ahmadi community, a religious sect, recently released its annual report, which noted an increase in violence against Ahmadis and their mosques across Pakistan in 2016.

Days after the report was released, a prominent Ahmadi community leader and a lawyer, Malik Saleem Latif, was killed by unknown gunmen in Punjab's Nankana Sahib district.

Sympathy with extremists

In Pakistan, dealing with extremism and religious hatred is complicated by the fact that some political leaders openly sympathize with banned militant organizations that promote religious intolerance.

Human rights groups and activists have accused the government of not taking strong measures to keep in check those who spread hatred against religious minorities.

"Those who play politics in the name of religion in Pakistan have strong roots and the government's behavior is apologetic," rights activist Hasan told VOA. "It clearly shows the government is not able to take a firm stand against religious intolerance."
Late rapper Tupac Shakur and 1960s protest singer Joan Baez were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Friday on a night where nostalgia was mixed with calls to political action.

Former Journey frontman Steve Perry reunited on stage with his "Don't Stop Believin'" bandmates for the first time in 25 years to screams and hugs of joy, while Roy Wood of Electric Light Orchestra turned up for the New York ceremony 45 years after leaving the English band.

But one of the strongest moments came from Baez, 76, who linked her lifelong record of social activism and non-violence with a rallying call for resistance today.

Let us together repeal and replace brutality and make compassion a priority. Let us build a great bridge, a beautiful bridge, to welcome the tired and the poor, Baez told the Hall of Fame audience.

A comeback for Baez?

Baez then played an acoustic version of the traditional spiritual Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, and ended with the hope that the song's band of angels were coming for to carry me, you, us, even Donald Trump, home.

Baez enjoyed a new round of fame this week with a protest song called Nasty Man about U.S. President Donald Trump.

It was her first songwriting effort in 25 years and has been viewed some 3.3 million times since it was posted on her Facebook page on Tuesday.

Shakur is sixth rapper to be inducted

Emotions ran high for the induction of Shakur, the Harlem-born rapper who was gunned down at age 25 in a 1996 drive-by shooting in Las Vegas that has never been resolved.

Shakur, whose songs about social and racial injustice still resonate today, was only the 6th rap act to be inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in its 30-year history.

Fellow rapper Snoop Dogg recalled he and Shakur in the early 1990s as two black boys struggling to become men.

Tupac's a part of history for a reason  because he made history. He's hip hop history. He's American history, Snoop said.

Tupac, we love you. You will always be right with us. They can't take this away from you homie, he said, accepting the statuette on Shakur's behalf.

British progressive rock group Yes, and Seattle-based grunge band Pearl Jam were also among the 2017 inductees, who were chosen by more than 900 voters drawn from the music industry.

Chuck Berry, Prince also honored

Disco producer Nile Rodgers, the man behind 1970s hits like Le Freak and We Are Family, was presented with a special award for musical excellence.

Artists are eligible for induction 25 years after the release of their first recording.

Tributes were also paid on Friday to Chuck Berry, who died last month at age 90 and who was the first person ever to be inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, and Prince, who died of an accidental painkiller overdose in April 2016.

The 2017 induction ceremony will be broadcast on cable channel HBO on April 29.
When Arnaud Laillou, a nutrition specialist with UNICEF, led a salt iodization study in 2014, he wanted to be sure that salt producers were not adding too much iodine.

Just four years earlier, UNICEF had stopped providing iodine to salt producers at the end of a decade-long, largely successful government-run iodization program.

Laillou was stunned to find that 90 percent of coarse salt and 40-50 percent of fine salt was now not iodized. And all of it was labeled as iodized.

It was a real shock for us, says Laillou of the findings of the paper that was published last year in the online journal Nutrients.

Serious public health problem

That paper said iodine deficiency in Cambodia had become a serious public health problem just years after the issue had largely been dealt with, and warned that poorer families and rural families were worst affected.

That was at odds with a study carried out three years earlier that showed salt producers were adding iodine, and that authorities were enforcing a 2003 subdecree that mandated iodization.

Iodine is essential to brain development and hormonal functions. If a pregnant woman is iodine-deficient, for example, her babys brain will not develop properly. The mineral is vital for brain development in children, too, and for proper hormone functioning in all ages. Iodine is so important that the World Health Organization has described iodine-deficiency as the [worlds] single greatest preventable cause of mental retardation.

Iodizing salt is widely regarded as one of the cheapest and most effective public health measures: it costs 2 cents per kilogram of salt.

Children hurt most

Iodine-deficiency, Laillou said, is particularly damaging for children.

For example, Cambodia is investing a lot of money at the level of the Ministry of Education to improve the education of their children, he said. But having a lack of iodine in the brain, it decreases [their] IQ by 13 points.

That, he points out, compares with the loss of three IQ points for a child who is not breastfed for the first six months of life.

Wholesale failure

In theory, adding iodine to Cambodias annual output of 80-100,000 tons of salt should be simple: close to 100 percent is produced by the SPCKK cooperative in the southern province of Kampot. SPCKK produces coarse salt, which it sells in bulk to middlemen who operate boilers that refine that into fine salt.

By law, SPCKK must iodize all of its salt output. But over the years several of the iodizing machines it was given have broken down, and SPCKK has not sourced spare parts. Now it has four working machines and thats not enough.

And so, as SPCKKs technical chief, Bun Narin told VOA, its workers often spray iodine by hand, a method that is at best imprecise.

Large companies [outside Cambodia] use machines to monitor, whereas we are still using labor and so its not always accurate, he said.

That is putting it mildly, given that Laillous research found 90 percent of the countrys coarse salt lacks any iodine. Despite that, SPCKKs output is labeled as containing the mandated amount of iodine.

If boilers dont test for the concentration of iodine in the coarse salt that they buy, and if, further along the production line, salt repackagers, like 57-year-old Koy Rithiya, dont test for the concentration in the fine salt that they buy from the boilers and then add iodine where needed, the result is noniodized salt.

Which is exactly what has happened.

Routine testing

When Rithiya set up his business in Phnom Penh 15 years ago, he didnt know he needed to add iodine; he started doing that a decade ago after being advised by UNICEF.

These days he uses an electronic monitor to test the concentration of iodine in the 500 kilograms of fine salt that he repackages each day, and adds iodine where needed to meet the mandated standard of 30-60 parts per million.

He doesnt yet use the monitor to test his daily output of 400 kilograms of coarse salt; instead he relies on a test that merely shows whether iodine is present or not. That test, however, does not measure the concentration.

Rithiya reckons the problem of iodine-deficiency has emerged in part because some producers use expired iodine, but also because some producers combine salt with iodine without correctly balancing it.

And some dont bother to use it correctly, he said.

A lack of enforcement

The report makes clear where the problem lies: on the production side is SPCKK, as well as some boilers and salt repackagers; on the enforcement side are the authorities for failing to ensure that producers follow the law.

The irony is that by 2010, the governments program meant the health problems associated with iodine deficiency in Cambodia were largely a thing of the past. A decade earlier, nearly 1 in 5 primary school children had goiters, a condition where the thyroid in the neck swells up. Many adults did, too. By 2010, that was no longer the case.

But when iodine prices tripled after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, many salt producers in Cambodia stopped buying the additive, and the authorities failed to make sure they were iodizing. The result: a re-emergent public health issue that has, to date, remained largely invisible.

The situation, though bad, should start to improve. UNICEF is working with a government subcommittee to devise a certification standard for all producers, although that could take two years to implement.

Ven Keahak, who heads the subcommittee on salt iodization, says the new licensing system will mean producers have to have a machine, iodine powder [in stock], a brand name, and salt with proper quality in order to get a license.

Its a legal enforcement that the ministry has to conduct, he said.

A lack of enforcement has been part of the problem, but Keahak would not comment on the failure of government agencies to apply the current law. He did confirm that no one has been prosecuted for failing to add iodine or for failing to monitor the system.

The difficulty for concerned Cambodians is that every bag of salt carries the logo stating that it is iodized. To deal with that, the Ministry of Planning will now test all salt brands and will place advertisements in newspapers to tell people which brands they can trust.

Until then, the failure to police the countrys salt output will keep damaging lives in what experts say was an entirely avoidable public health issue.
Five al-Shabab militants convicted of murdering senior officials in the north eastern Somalia town of Bossaso have been executed by firing squad.

The men were sentenced to death in February by a military court in Bosaso port town, the commercial hub of Puntland, Somali federal member state.

The court said the men were involved in identifying possible targets, and carrying out assassinations against officials.

Abdifitah Haji Adam, Chairperson of Puntland military court, told VOA Somali Service that the court found the suspects guilty and gave them the death penalty two months ago.

"The men were al-Shabaab members. They were behind assassinations that happened here in Bososo, including the killing of the director of Puntland State presidency and the General Attorney of the army. They included murderers and accomplices. The court found them guilty and sentenced them to death in February, and today the sentences have been carried out," said Adam.

Group's leaders targeted

Al-Shabab, a terrorist group that emerged amid Somalias years of chaos, once controlled large swathes of South and Central Somalia.

U.S. drone strikes killed some of the groups top leaders, weakening its military power in south and central Somali, causing some of its fighters to spread north to the Puntland mountainous areas to set up bases.

The group still is capable of carrying out frequent suicide bombings and assaults on Somalias hotels and military targets, proving to be more resilient than expected.

In Puntland, the militant group recently assassinated dozens of government officials, including the attorney general of Puntland Military Courts, AbdiKarim Hasan Fidiye, third deputy commander of Puntalnd Police Forces, and the director of the Presidential Palace.

President Donald Trump recently gave the U.S. military more authority to conduct offensive airstrikes on al-Qaida-linked militants in Somalia.



Journalist sentenced

Meanwhile, a court in Hargeisa, the capital of Somalia's breakaway northern territory of Somaliland, has sentenced journalist Abdimalik Muse Oldon to two years in prison.

The journalist was arrested two months ago for meeting Somalia's new president Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo in Mogadishu.

The court said Oldon was charged with engaging in anti-national activities, spreading "false" news and disturbing public order.

The chairman of Somaliland's independent human rights group based in Hargeisa, Guled Ahmed Jama, who is also the defense lawyer of the journalist has described the sentence as unfair and unconstitutional.

The journalist did nothing against Somaliland and meeting with someone supporting is not constitutionally illegal. We see the sentence as unfair and we are appealing, the attorney told VOA.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson heads to Moscow on April 12, just days after the United States launched missile strikes on a Syrian airbase in response to a Syrian chemical weapons attack that killed civilians.

Officials say the top U.S. diplomat will urge Russia to rethink its continued support for the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad.



Britains foreign minister, Boris Johnson, said on Saturday he had canceled a visit to Moscow that was scheduled for April 10. Developments in Syria have changed the situation fundamentally, said Johnson in a statement.



Secretary of State Tillerson is scheduled to travel to Moscow on Wednesday, after he attends the G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Italy from April 9 to 11.



The State Department did not respond to VOAs inquiry on whether Tillersons Moscow trip has been changed or canceled since the U.S. military strikes. But as of Sunday, a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin has been removed from Tillerson's Moscow schedule.



Analysts say Washington needs the diplomatic follow-up, though, after the military action.



The top U.S. diplomat, known as a man of few words, had harsh comments for Russia, which Washington blamed for failing to rein in its ally, Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.





Either Russia has been complicit or Russia has been simply incompetent, said Tillerson on Thursday night. He was referring to the Kremlins failure to prevent the Assad government from allegedly conducting a poison gas attack that killed scores of people in rebel-held Idlib province.



In 2013, the Syrian government agreed to surrender its chemical weapons under the supervision of the Russia government. Prior to the recent gas attack, Tillerson said Assad's future would be decided by the Syrian people. After the attack, he took aim at Assads government and Russia's support for him.



Experts said the U.S. military strike could complicate Tillersons diplomatic mission to Moscow, and that an escalation of tensions between the U.S. and Russia over the future of Assad also is possible.



For sure this means further immediate bumps in the bilateral relationship, former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst told VOA.



He said despite the fact that the missile strikes were quite limited and Washington had warned Moscow ahead of time so that Russian soldiers would not be in danger, Moscows reaction was rather strong.



Herbst, now director of the Atlantic Council's Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center, said Russias decision to suspend the de-confliction mechanism, which is intended to avoid accidents, was not well considered.



While de-confliction serves the interest of both U.S. and Russian, it is more important to Moscow because U.S. conventional forces are far superior and Russian forces are more at risk in case of an incident, said Herbst.



The strikes undoubtedly change the tone of the conversation, given the de-confliction protocols, between Russia and the U.S. have been suspended in Syria, Michael Kofman from Center for Naval Analyses told VOA.



Professor Doga Ulas Eralp of American University in Washington told VOA on Friday that Tillerson now has to scramble to broker a deal that would allow a sustainable coordination mechanism between the two countries if the U.S. is determined to escalate its military engagement in Syria.



Middle East Institute scholar Daniel Serwer told VOA the military strikes shoot the Syria agenda item to the top. The key question is whether Tillerson can get something going with the Russians on a political solution in Syria, he added.



Former U.S. officials say the Syrian chemical attack is a major challenge to the nascent relationship between the Trump administration and the Kremlin.



It is vital that the U.S. corrects course and that the current administration moves quickly from a set of alarming and ignorant comments to having a real policy and strategy for managing and mitigating Putin's negative impacts on world peace and security, said former U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Daniel Baer.



Alexei Arbatov, director of the Center of International Security at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations in Moscow, told VOAs Russian service that while the U.S. missile strike in Syria complicates U.S.-Russian relations, the reaction of the Russian Foreign Ministry thus far has been quite restrained, and it is not rejecting the possibility of agreements and cooperation with the United States.



While Washington is willing to work with Moscow in areas of practical cooperation, the State Department said Secretary Tillerson will make it clear the U.S. is committed to holding Russia accountable when international norms are violated.
Al-Shabab commander Bashe Nure Hassan was among several militants killed Saturday during an attack in Kuday, in the southern Somali region of Jubaland, Somali military officials said.

Mohamud Ahmed Hersi, a senior Somali military commander in the region, told VOA that joint troops from the Kenyan Defense Forces (KDF) and the Somali National Army were responding to an attack by the militants on a Somali base.

"The militants were remobilizing to attack our base in Kuday," but with support from the KDF, "we managed to pre-empt their offensive," Hersi told VOA's Somali service.

He said three militants were killed during the attack, and "among them was Bashe Nure Hassan, who was in charge of the militants' surveillance, logistics and supplies in the area."

Hersi said there were no casualties among the Somali or Kenyan troops.

Hassan, who was born and raised in the area and joined the terrorist group several years ago, was thought to be among the senior-level al-Shabab military commanders in the region. Somali military officials think he led major attacks on the Somali bases and those of the Kenyan troops in the region.

In a statement, KDF public affairs officer Colonel Joseph Owuoth confirmed the attack and the killing of the al-Shabab commander.

"Al-Shabab commander Bashe Nure Hassan was one of those killed. Three AK-47 rifles, 11 magazines, a satellite phone and 290 rounds of ammunition were captured during the mission," Owuoth said.

Kuday, a small island 130 kilometers southwest of Kismayo port town, was once al-Shabab's stronghold in the region, used as a key base for logistical and operational work and as a launching point for attacks in southern Somalia.

In March 2015, KDF soldiers serving under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and Somalia troops captured the island from al-Shabab, but since then, the troops have been coming under frequent attacks by militants.

Before joining AU peacekeepers, Kenyan troops crossed the border into Somalia in October 2011, after militant cross-border attacks and abductions, including the kidnapping of two Spanish women who were working for the medical charity Doctors Without Borders at the Dadaab refugee camp.
Before the U.S. attack on a Syrian air base, President Donald Trump accused his predecessor of doing nothing when Syria's government used chemical weapons against its population in 2013. Trump is right that President Barack Obama issued what amounted to an empty threat of military action. The circumstances, though, were more complicated than Trump described.

A look at statements on a selection of subjects over the past week by Trump and lawmakers:

TRUMP: In a White House statement after what the Trump administration said was a bombing involving the nerve agent sarin in a rebel-held part of northern Syria: "These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution. President Obama said in 2012 that he would establish a 'red line' against the use of chemical weapons, and then did nothing."

THE FACTS: Many in the foreign policy establishment essentially agree with Trump. That's not to say he told the full story.

When evidence emerged in August 2013 of a large-scale chemical attack in the Damascus suburbs, more than 10 times deadlier than this past week's, Obama quickly signaled his intention to use military force. But when key ally Britain wouldn't participate, Obama became uncomfortable about going it alone and sought Congress' authorization. Lawmakers in both parties balked; he could not win enough support.

Indeed, when Obama had made his "red line" threat a year earlier, Trump himself tweeted: "President Obama, do not attack Syria. There is no upside and tremendous downside. Save your powder for another (and more important) day!"

It's also true, though, that Obama could have ordered a military strike without congressional authorization, as Trump did Thursday. Derek Chollet, Obama's assistant defense secretary for international security affairs, wrote in Politico last year that he was initially shocked when Obama decided to go to Congress, because "it was clear the president had all the domestic legal authority and international justification he needed to act."

In the end, Obama turned to diplomacy when Russia offered him a way out. Their deal led the Syrian president, Bashar Assad, to own up to chemical weapons stocks and agreeing to have them removed, steps seen as breakthroughs at the time.

It wasn't "nothing," as Trump claimed. But neither it did it remove Syria's chemical weapons threat. Assad's forces are believed to have conducted a number of deadly chlorine attacks in the years since, with no international punishment. And as is now apparent, Obama's deal wasn't enough to spare Syrian civilians from a sarin-like nerve gas this past week.

SEN. MITCH McCONNELL, Senate majority leader, on why he opposed Obama's proposal for U.S. military action against Syria in 2013 but supports what Trump did: "Secretary (of State John) Kerry, I guess in order to reassure the left-leaning members of his own party, said it would sort of be like a pinprick. You know, really would not be of any great consequence. I don't know whether he had in mind knocking out a tent and a couple of camels or what." But Trump's strike "was well-planned, well- executed, went right to the heart of the matter, which is using chemical weapons. So, had I seen that - that kind of approach by President Obama, I'm sure I would've signed up."

THE FACTS: Actually, what McConnell, R-Ky., said at the time was that Assad's use of chemical weapons on his own people did not threaten the U.S. "A vital national security risk is clearly not in play," he said then, responding to a far deadlier attack on civilians than the latest one.

McConnell told the Senate in September 2013 that Obama's planned action was detached from any strategy to end the Syrian civil war. McConnell said the planned intervention could be too limited to dissuade Assad from further use of chemical weapons - or so broad that it could put those weapons in the hands of extremists, if Assad lost control. His concern not merely, or even principally, that intervention might amount to a "pinprick."

At the time, McConnell was alone among the top Senate and House leaders from either party in opposing Obama's proposal. The senator was facing a primary challenge from a Republican who opposed intervening in Syria.

TRUMP, speaking to CEOs at the White House about the nation's unemployment rate: "We have 100 million people if you look" who want jobs and can't get them. "You know, the real number's not 4.6 percent ... one of the statistics that, to me, is just ridiculous. ... When you look for a job, you can't find it and you give up. You are now considered statistically employed."

THE FACTS: He's wrong about federal jobs data. There's no category that counts frustrated job-seekers as "statistically employed."

And there aren't 100 million of them.

When people give up looking for work, they are categorized as having left the workforce - neither employed nor unemployed.

Trump's figure of 100 million people uncounted in the unemployment rate is made up largely of high-school and college students, retirees and stay-at-home parents who aren't looking for work. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does ask people outside the workforce if they would want a job, even if they aren't actively seeking one. The bureau found 5.6 million people fit this category in February, a small fraction of what the president claimed.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, Senate Democratic leader, on the Supreme Court nomination of Neil Gorsuch: "Senator McConnell would have the world believe that his hands are tied. That the only option after Judge Gorsuch doesn't earn 60 votes is to break the rules, to change the rules. That could not be further from the truth."

THE FACTS: McConnell was closer to the truth on this matter.

A Senate rules change, requiring only 51 votes to stop a filibuster instead of 60, did appear to be the lone route that Republicans had to put Gorsuch on the court. It was the route they took in winning his confirmation Friday. To Schumer, D-N.Y., Republicans had the option of ditching Gorsuch and coming up with a more "mainstream" nominee. It's unlikely, however, that any nominee produced by Trump would win Democrats' approval.

TRUMP, in remarks to CEOs: "There was a very large infrastructure bill that was approved during the Obama administration, a trillion dollars. Nobody ever saw anything being built. I mean, to this day, I haven't heard of anything that's been built. They used most of that money - it went and they used it on social programs and we want this to be on infrastructure."

THE FACTS: The $787 billion package in 2009 was not an infrastructure bill, but a catchall response to the recession with infrastructure as a major part.

More than one-third of it went to tax cuts, not social programs. Medicaid spending and other help for health care made up the next largest component. Then came infrastructure, followed closely by education. The package mixed economic and social spending, helping states train displaced workers, for example, extending jobless benefits and assisting with low-income housing.

As for being unaware that stimulus money built anything, Trump needn't have traveled far from Trump Tower to see those dollars at work.

In New York City alone, $30 million went toward repairs and repainting of the Brooklyn Bridge; the Staten Island ferry also got a boost. More than $80 million was earmarked for Moynihan Station, an annex to Penn Station that is meant to return the rail hub to the grandeur of the original Penn Station. Road, bridge and transit projects across the country got a lift.

Trump praised Obama and the package's combination of tax cuts and spending programs when it passed in February 2009.

"I thought he did a terrific job," Trump said then. "This is a strong guy (who) knows what he wants, and this is what we need."

TRUMP, on signing executive action that revived the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada: "I was signing the order and I said where'd they buy the steel? I didn't like the answer. I said who fabricated the steel? I didn't like the answer. I said, 'From now on, we're going to put a clause, got to be made in America.'"

THE FACTS: This is one of Trump's favorite stories, a mix of fact and fiction that he told with more accuracy in its latest iteration.

This time, he owned up to the fact that he placed no requirement on the TransCanada pipeline company to use U.S. steel: "They had already bought 60, 70 percent of it, so you can't be too wild, right?" So a mandate for U.S. steel would be for future pipelines, "from now on."

It's not quite right, though, to say he's insisting that steel or pipelines be "made in America" in the future. His directive calls for the use of U.S. content "to the maximum extent possible and to the extent permitted by law," leaving lots of wiggle room.

TRUMP, on progress against the Islamic State group: "We had a very, very fine delegation come over from Egypt, and also from Iraq. And they said more has been done in the last six weeks than has been done in years with the previous administration."

THE FACTS: Far more progress was achieved against IS over the past year than in the past six weeks.

Last year Iraqi military forces, supported by the coalition, waged successful battles to oust IS from Fallujah, Ramadi, eastern Mosul and a number of smaller towns along the Tigris River. They also established logistical hubs for the push that began in February to retake western Mosul, which is expected to be the last major battle against IS in Iraq. No major cities have been taken in the past six weeks.

As for Syria, Trump was correct in suggesting that there has been significant progress against IS in recent weeks, as the U.S. deployed hundreds more troops to help prepare local forces to retake Raqqa, the Syrian city that is the militants' de facto capital.
The U.S. government on Friday dropped its effort to force Twitter to identify users behind an account critical of President Donald Trump, the social media company said.

In response, Twitter said it was dropping a federal lawsuit against the U.S. government that challenged the request to unmask the users.

Twitter had sued just a day earlier, claiming the government overstepped its authority in issuing a summons to reveal the account owners.

The lawsuit said that the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection had sought the identity of the users of Twitter handle @ALT-USCIS.

'Alternative' handles

The account describes itself as "immigration resistance." Its creators told media outlets the account is run by current and former employees of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which is overseen by the Department of Homeland Security.

It is one of several "alternative" handles purportedly created by current federal employees unhappy with the Trump administration.

It was not immediately clear why the government withdrew its effort to identify the Twitter users. It was also not immediately known whether the government had closed an investigation it said it was conducting into the Twitter account.

The American Civil Liberties Union praised the government's decision to withdraw its request, saying in a tweet, "Big victory for free speech and the right to dissent."
A U.S. soldier was killed Saturday in Afghanistan while carrying out operations against the Islamic State group, a U.S. official said.

U.S. Navy Captain Bill Salvin, a spokesman for the NATO-led Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan, said the soldier was killed late Saturday during an operation against ISIS-Khorasan in Nangarhar province. ISIS-Khorasan is a branch of Islamic State active in Afghanistan, Pakistan and other parts of South Asia.

Reuters reported that the soldier was a member of the Special Forces.

Nangahar is a stronghold of militant activity in Afghanistan. American forces have conducted a number of airstrikes on the area. That activity, combined with the efforts of Afghan ground forces, has pushed the militants out of some of their previous territory. The militants also oppose the Taliban, who have long struggled to regain control of parts of Afghanistan.

The area was once a big producer of opium poppies, but since their cultivation was nearly wiped out in the mid-2000s, the area's farmers have faced deep poverty and debt.

This was the first U.S. military combat death in 2017. The number of U.S. combat deaths has dropped sharply since U.S. troops stopped leading combat operations in 2014.
The U.S. attorney general is not pleased that the police department of the Atlantic coast city of Baltimore, Maryland, has decided to adhere to an agreement negotiated with the Obama administration.

While Jeff Sessions said the consent decree will make Baltimore a less-safe city, Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh disagreed, saying I believe that it makes Baltimore safer.

U.S. District Judge James Bredar signed the deal Friday, calling the plan comprehensive, detailed and precise. The Trump administration had asked Bredar to delay signing the decree to give them more time to review the plan designed to root out racist practices in Baltimores police department. Baltimore is 65 kilometers north of Washington.

Rampant police abuse

The consent decree was negotiated during the last days of the Obama administration after a federal investigation found rampant abuse by Baltimore police, including unlawful stops and use of excessive force against African Americans.

Consent decrees are basically contracts local police departments enter into with the U.S. Justice Department to achieve reforms under federal oversight. The contracts are usually the result of the revelation of raging corruption and rights abuses in police departments.

The Justice Departments investigation into the Baltimore Police Department was prompted by the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African American man who suffered a severed spine while being transported in a police van with his hands and feet shackled. Grays death ignited the worst rioting in Baltimore in decades.

Grays death in 2015 happened amid a wave of deaths of unarmed black men in the U.S. by police, prompting local protests and a national outcry.

Crime rate still high

Baltimores crime rate continued to soar after the riots and has not relented. In the first three months of 2017, the city had 79 homicides, compared with 56 for the same period last year.

Under the consent decree, Baltimores police officers will receive additional training and will be discouraged from arresting people for minor offenses like loitering and detaining someone for simply being in a high-crime area.


The United States appears to be raising the stakes in Syria, suggesting Russia may have helped the Assad regime carry out a deadly chemical weapons attack that killed more than 80 people in Idlib province.

A day after firing 59 Tomahawk missiles at Syrias Shayrat Airfield, the launching point for the chemical weapons strike, senior American military officials said they were looking at evidence that the Syrian regime did not act alone.

We think we have a good picture of who supported them, a senior military official told Pentagon reporters, adding officials were carefully assessing any information that would implicate the Russians  confirming they either knew of Tuesdays sarin gas attack in advance or assisted Syrian government forces.

The Pentagons comments Friday followed a series of terse criticisms from Washington about Russias role in Syria, some accusing Moscow of trying to sow confusion over Syrias use of chemical weapons by promoting what they called false facts.

Watch: Russia's Suspension of US Cooperation on Syrian Airspace Elevates Risk of Clash

Russia faces a choice

Damascus and Moscow assured us all these weapons had been removed and destroyed, a U.S. official told VOA, referencing an agreement in 2013 to eliminate Syrias chemical-weapons stockpiles.

Russia faces a choice, the official continued. Either it takes responsibility for ensuring the removal of these weapons, as Russia committed it would do, or it admits that it lacks the ability to control [Syrian President Bashar al-] Assad.

Pentagon officials refused to offer any direct evidence Friday linking Russia to the April 4 gas attack on town of Khan Sheikhoun, which was hit by bombs containing a chemical consistent with sarin, an extremely potent and deadly nerve-gas agent. However, they noted that a Russia military aviation unit is based at the same airfield, and that Russian forces in Syria are known to have chemical expertise.

U.S. military officials said Friday they had watched a small drone flying over a hospital in Khan Sheikoun that was both a target of the chemical attack and also provided treatment for gas victims.

About five hours later, the UAV [drone] returned, and the hospital was stuck by additional munitions, one official said.

Hiding the evidence

A senior military official suggested that was an attempt to hide the evidence of a chemical attack.

Syria has claimed that its airstrike Tuesday in Khan Sheikhoun was carried out with conventional explosives, which may have inadvertently detonated a stockpile of sarin gas in a warehouse controlled by anti-Assad rebels. That theory was ridiculed by Western experts on Syrian military and other analysts.

Syrian authorities condemned the U.S. missile strike, terming it a flawed U.S. strategy that makes the U.S. a partner of Islamic State and [the al-Nusra Front] and other terrorist organizations.

Russia, meanwhile, opened fire in its own war of words with Washington.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev took to social media, branding the U.S. missile strike an illegal act and warning that Washington was now one step away from military clashes with Russia.

Moscow also claimed it shut down a direct line of communication with American forces in the area around Syria. The communications link was established soon after Russian military forces arrived to assist Assad, more than a year ago, with the aim of avoiding near collisions or other midair incidents involving Russian and U.S. aircraft operating in the same Syrian airspace.

U.S. officials denied the communications link had been shut down. They confirmed it had been used to warn Russia of the U.S. missile strike in advance, and that it remained operational afterwards.

Watch: What is a Tomahawk?

US emphasizes precision strikes

Pentagon officials said they took precautions to avoid striking Russian personnel stationed at the Syrian airfield, and added that they specifically avoided hitting chemical-weapons storage facilities in the area. Military experts told VOA that Tomahawk missiles were used in the attack because precision strikes were necessary.

One American military official said the action in Syria early Friday was appropriate, proportionate, precise and effective.

Early assessments indicated the U.S. successfully targeted about 20 aircraft, storage facilities, ammunition supply bunkers and radars, yet doubts are beginning to emerge about the missile strikes effectiveness.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syrian warplanes based at Shayrat were back in the skies Friday, carrying out airstrikes on rebel-held areas in the countryside east of the city of Homs.

In Palm Beach, Florida, President Donald Trumps spokesman defended the U.S. strike and said it sent a very, very clear message to Assad. But White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer also seemed to distance himself from some of the tough talk about Russia.

The actions that were taken were clearly against the Assad regime, and Im not going to say anything further than that, Spicer said.

He also appeared to walk back Secretary of State Rex Tillersons comment Thursday that steps are underway to form an international coalition to cooperate on removing Assad from power.

The president believes that the Syrian government, the Assad regime, should at the minimum agree to abide by the agreements that they made not to use chemical weapons, Spicer said. I think thats where we start.

What next?

The U.S. position has left many allies, while supportive of the missile strike against Syria, wondering what comes next.

We think it is a good move, because we have been asking for it for a long time, a Western diplomatic official told VOA on condition of anonymity, adding that while it is clear Assad cannot remain in power, no one has yet to present a clear path to agreement on a suitable replacement.

Thats the problem. We have not identified anyone, the official said.

Western intelligence agencies have also warned repeatedly that any move that creates a power vacuum in Syria will only strengthen terror groups like Islamic State and al-Qaida.

The White House promised the U.S. is well positioned to build a consensus.

Theres going to be a lot of foreign leader engagement, one official there told VOA. We have the credibility.

At the United Nations Friday, U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said the United States took a very measured step with the missile strike. We are prepared to do more, she added, but we hope that will not be necessary.

VOAs U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report.
U.S. missile attacks against Syria sent a stern warning to North Korea and China that the United States is ready to use military force if necessary, said a senior official from the Obama administration.

President Donald Trump Thursday ordered targeted missile strikes on a Syrian airfield in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack blamed on the Syrian government that killed about 100 civilians. The missile launches coincided with Trumps first official encounter with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Florida to discuss North Korea, among other things.

North Korean options

Before the meeting at his Mar-a-Largo estate, Trump was reportedly presented with options to respond to the Norths nuclear weapons program including placing U.S. nukes in South Korea or assassinating North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The missile strikes yesterday in Syria do send a message both to China and to North Korea that this administration is prepared to take decisive actions, said Tony Blinken, former deputy secretary of state, during a phone interview with VOA Friday, and that may be a valuable message.

However, whether the U.S. would, in fact, take military action against North Korea is a different story, given the covert nature of Pyongyangs nuclear and missile programs and its growing weapons capabilities that could cause tremendous damage in the region, added Blinken, who also served as deputy national security adviser to former President Barack Obama.

While I have no doubt that any administration faced with an extremist threat from North Korea to launch a missile with a nuclear warhead on it toward the United States would act decisively to stop that, I think its much less likely that any administration including this one would try to use force pre-emptively to destroy North Koreas nuclear or missile programs, Blinken said.

US may act alone

In a recent interview with the Financial Times, Trump pledged to curb the regimes nuclear ambitions alone, if China fails to step up pressure on its North Korean ally.

Asked about whether that is a plausible scenario, Blinken said that although it is hard to imagine putting meaningful pressure on North Korea without Beijing, which has significant leverage to exert economic pressure on Pyongyang, there are several unilateral steps available to Trump.

They include placing more missile defenses in the region, having a greater U.S. military presence on the seas, and sanctioning anyone, including Chinese firms and individuals, that does business or facilitates business with the Kim regime.

Those are the kinds of steps that the United States could take alone or with other countries, that dont include China, that are directed at North Korea but that China wouldnt like, said Blinken, adding if the threat from North Korea continues to grow, if necessary, those are things that I would recommend doing.

Fourth missile test

A day before the two-day summit between the leaders of the worlds two most powerful economies, which ended Friday, Pyongyang launched its fourth missile test of the year, in what appeared to be part of an effort to develop a nuclear-tipped missile that could strike the U.S. mainland. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson responded to the test with an unusually terse statement, saying the United States has spoken enough about North Korea and he has no further comment.

Blinken noted that North Korea seeks the U.S. response to every single provocation and Washington should not play into the hands of the reclusive regime.

A more effective response is what we do, not just what we say, Blinken said. I can see why (Tillerson) he would rather focus on actions.

According to Blinken, negotiation is the only way to resolve the North Korean issue eventually and it should be done when North Korea is prepared to engage in meaningful, authentic and credible discussions about denuclearization.

But convincing the North Korean leader to negotiate remains a challenge, Blinken added, suggesting the U.S. could try exerting so much pressure on Kim that he changes his calculus and sees that his best path to survival is actually through negotiations, while making clear that if the North engages in denuclearization, a peace treaty is certainly possible.

I think a first step could be getting North Korea to freeze all of its activities  no more nuclear testing, no more missile testing, get inspectors in to verify things, Blinken said. That wouldnt eliminate their existing program  but it would at least stop them from continuing to perfect the program because testing is vitally important to figuring out how to make their missiles better, their nuclear weapons effective and to develop an ICBM that could hit the United States.

This report originated with VOA's Korean Service.
Twenty-nine South Sudanese students on a government-sponsored scholarship to study at Zimbabwe's Harare Institute of Technology were forced to leave school a week ago after Juba officials failed to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for their tuition and fees over three semesters..

A letter from the Harare institute, seen by VOA South Sudan in Focus and addressed to South Sudan's Cultural and Educational Attache, said the school was owed $241,894.

South Sudanese officials did not meet the March 31 payment deadline, and the students said they had no option but to leave campus and live in the embassy while they appealed to the government to pay the bill.

Students have since complained of living in cramped spaces with little food, in an embassy that has no kitchen and one shower with a broken spout and light fixture.

Giir Salfa Deng, 25, a biotechnology student in his second year at the institute, said the education he's been receiving is much needed in his country.

"We are doing all the sciences, so it could have been an advantage for the country," he said. "The only service that I could offer to my people is through my degree. If I could get a degree today, then this is the same degree that would be able to uplift the upcoming generation."

Sleeping on the compound

Gaaniko Bangoye Michael, 23, who is studying electronic commerce at HIT, said the embassy was so small that "students are just sleeping around the compound, under the trees, because we are not given rooms."

There are 147 South Sudanese students spread across other universities in Zimbabwe under the same South Sudan-sponsored scholarship program, according to the students in Harare. They said the government had not paid their fees either, and they expected the others to reach the embassy in the coming days.

But Agheer Marial, 25, studying electronic engineering, said the embassy is struggling to host the students already there.

"Me, personally, I have been sleeping in a chair in the reception room. So I think I spent about five days in that chair sleeping, somehow," said Marial.

He said that for him, the interruption was more than just a financial shock; the situation has taken an emotional toll. Marial said it was "heartbreaking" to come so far in the four-year program and not know what will happen.

"We have actually spent, like, two years already in the university, so we are almost to the last part of our courses," he said. "But unfortunately, it has happened that we have been kicked out of the university."

Up in the air

Rebecca Achok, a biotechnology student and one of five women in the group, said she was hoping to take her degree back home, but so far the government has not been responsive to their calls.

Students are "not yet sure if they will take us back or if they will pay our school fees," said Achok, who added that it had been difficult not knowing what would happen to them.

The students said the South Sudanese ambassador to Zimbabwe and the cultural attache were urging their government to pay the fees promptly.

Bangoye said they were in a situation that "we can't control by ourselves," and they urged Juba to look into their issue "as fast as possible" so that they can take exams in a couple of weeks.

Email and phone call requests for comment to the Harare Institute of Technology have gone unanswered. The government of South Sudan did not return a request for comment.
The International Criminal Court held a hearing Friday on South Africa's refusal to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir when he visited the country in 2015. The ICC wanted South African authorities to detain and hand over the Sudanese leader, who is wanted on charges of genocide.

South Africa told the International Criminal Court it was under no duty to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir when he came to Johannesburg in 2015.

The ICC filed a complaint against South Africa for non-compliance after authorities there refused to detain Al-Bashir.



The legal representative for South Africa, Dire Tladi, told the court that South Africa has immunity clauses in every inter-governmental agreement for conferences.

There is no duty in international law, in general and in particular under the Rome Statue, on South Africa to arrest of a serving head of an non-state party, such as Mister al-Bashir, said Tladi.



One hundred twenty-four countries, including South Africa, are state parties to the Rome Statue, the agreement that grants the ICC its authority and jurisdiction.



The Sudanese president was on South African territory for two days during a summit of the African Union, hosted by South Africa. He hastily left the country from a military airport, after local courts and the ICC requested his arrest.



ICC prosecutor Julian Nicholls says South Africas non-compliance is so severe that the issue should be referred to the United Nations Security Council.

The obligation to arrest and surrender a suspect wanted on ICC warrants is one of the highest obligations a state party has to the court," he said. "Without state parties fulfilling that obligation, its impossible for the court to exercise its most important functions and powers, its ability to put on trial those for whose warrants have been issued for the most serious crimes of concerns.



The ICC does not have its own police force and relies on states to arrest and surrender those who are warranted by the court.



Although Sudan never signed up to the ICC, a U.N. resolution referred the Darfur issue to the court in 2005. Prosecutors of the ICC charged al-Bashir with crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide for his role in the long-running Darfur conflict, a western region of Sudan.



ICC judges are expected to make a decision about South Africa and its alleged non-compliance within the next three months.
A truck plowed into pedestrians Friday outside a busy department store in Stockholm, Sweden, killing four people and injuring 15 others in what the prime minister described as a "terror attack."

A national manhunt was under way for those responsible and one person was arrested in connection with the attack. Stockholm's central train station was evacuated and all trains in and out of the city were canceled. Nearby buildings were locked down for hours.

The attack was the latest in a string of similar assaults involving vehicles in Europe, including in Nice in the south of France, and in London and Berlin.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said the incident was certainly a "terrorist attack." He added, "The government is doing everything in its power to find out what has happened."

Photos taken at the scene show the vehicle was a truck belonging to beermaker Spendrups, which said that its truck had been carjacked earlier in the day.

Witnesses say the truck drove straight into the entrance of the Ahlens department store on Drottninggatan, the city's biggest pedestrian street, sending shoppers screaming and running. Television footage showed smoke coming out of the store after the crash.

Sweden's King Carl Gustaf expressed his condolences for the victims and their families in a brief statement.

"We follow developments, but as of now our thoughts go to the victims and their families,'' he said. The king cut short a visit to Brazil on Friday to return home.

A number of European leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and London's mayor, Saddiq Khan, have released statements indicating their solidarity with Sweden.

"One of Europe's most vibrant and colorful cities appears to have been struck by those wishing it  and our very way of life  harm," said European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. "Attack on any of our [EU] member states is an attack on us all."

French President Francois Hollande voiced his "horror and indignation" over the assault and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said the Eiffel Tower's lights will be turned off from midnight Friday in solidarity.

In neighboring Finland, President Sauli Niinisto called the attack a "maniac act of terror," while Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen said it was a cowardly attempt "to subdue us and the peaceful way we live in Scandinavia."

The U.S. State Department also condemned the attack, adding, "Attacks like this are intended to sow the seeds of fear, but in fact they only strengthen our shared resolve to combat terrorism around the world."
Providing sanitary pads to schoolgirls is a controversial subject in Uganda.

During the 2016 election campaign, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni pledged to buy sanitary towels for girls in need. The government estimates that 30 percent of Ugandan girls from poor families miss school because of lack of sanitary towels.

But in February this year, the first lady, who is also the minister for education, told parliament the government didn't have enough funding for the president's $4.4 million initiative.

This angered Makerere University researcher Stella Nyanzi, who created Pads for Girls Uganda on the social media site Facebook to collect donations of sanitary towels. Soon, however, she found herself in a police interrogation room accused of insulting the first lady online.

"The interrogation was about four hours," Nyanzi said. "By the time I was out, my sister, who had my mobile phone number, said, 'By the way, you are almost getting to your one million pads.' The following day was Women's Day and, surprisingly, we got one million sanitary pads within two days."

Nyanzi continues to push the government to make sanitary pads for girls a priority. Public debate about the subject continues, and the government recently announced that sanitary pads are now to be sold free of value-added tax.

Girls at the Parents Care Infant Academy, in the slum area of Makindye, have taken matters into their own hands.

At the back of the class, there are four sewing machines that students use to make reusable sanitary towels. Large pieces of pink cloth are laid on the table as some of the girls carefully measure and cut, then place a piece of cotton in between and stitch with pins. Ready to be sewn, it is then passed onto the tailors, who include 14-year-old Nantume Catherine.

"Oh, this hole, it's used to put there cotton, that cotton to hold blood to not come out. You remove it, you throw and you wash it through this hole," she said.

Sarah Sanyu is the headmistress of the school.

"It was very, very difficult for these girls to stay in public without having these pads," Sanyu said, "so when we got this idea of making sanitary pads, we bought the materials for ourselves, then we got someone to come and teach us."

The school also held a special class to teach the girls about menstruation.

Some question the cleanliness of reusable pads, but health officials assure VOA they are safe if properly washed with soap and water. However, access to clean water is not a guarantee in some parts of Uganda.

So important are sanitary pads to keeping girls in school that the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) has distributed 50,000 disposable pads in 14 districts of Uganda since November of 2015.

"It has been very difficult to keep girls in schools, especially in Karamoja, where they have to use leaves," said Dr. Edson Herbert Muhwezi, assistant representative at UNFPA Uganda. "There are no rags to use, some of them even sit in the sun hoping to dry. They are kept there isolated, staying four days and nights in the bush. It's really dehumanizing."

Nyanzi says that is unacceptable. She visits schools to pass out the pads donated to her Facebook group, urging the girls not to let their circumstances hold them down.
Chief Minister Conversation with Rt Hon Jeremy Corbyn MP

The Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, has today spoken at length with the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons, Jeremy Corbyn.

During the course of the conversation, Mr Corbyn assured the Chief Minister of his full support for Gibraltar and, in particular, his support for working people who might be affected by the process of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union.

Mr Picardo has also spoken this week directly to the Labour Shadow Minister for Brexit, the Hon Sir Kier Starmer QC MP and to Shadow Foreign Secretary Rt Hon Emily Thornberry MP. Both have been entirely supportive of Gibraltar, its people and the continuation of British Sovereignty of Gibraltar.

The Chief Minister said: I was very pleased to talk to Mr Corbyn about the issues facing Gibraltar as a result of Brexit. He was fully briefed on the issue of Clause 22 of the draft EU Council Guidelines and the problems that could raise for Gibraltar. He restated the commitment to British Sovereignty of Gibraltar and the double lock in the respect. I am very happy to be able to report to the people of Gibraltar that Mr Corbyn and the rest of the Labour front bench team do not share any of the views of those in the Labour Party in 2002 who tried to force Gibraltar to share its sovereignty with Spain. I thanked Mr Corbyn for his support and commitment to Gibraltar and its people."
Missing Person

The Royal Gibraltar Police is concerned for the wellbeing of 61- year-old British national Anthony Joseph Baldorino.

His last telephone contact was on Thursday 23rd March. Inquiries are being made into a possible sighting on Wednesday the 5th of April 2017 in the area of the Leisure Centre.

Anthony is about 1.78m tall has grey, thinning, hair and is of a large build.

Anyone with information of Anthonys whereabouts is requested to contact the Royal Gibraltar Police on 20072500
Over the past decade plus, Freddie Gibbs has carved out a reputation for honesty. Born and raised in Gary, Indiana, the artists countless mixtapes and recent albums (roughly one a year since his 2013 debut studio album ESGN) offered living proof that the candor associated with classic gangster rap could survive the genres commercial decline. Hes not quite a throwback, but he is a stalwart, a true believer in the power of spoken words regarding criminal deeds, framed in complete sentences and delivered with unfiltered charisma. Where younger artists mix and match multiple aesthetics, Gibbs, now 34 years old, distills and refines the one he grew up with in the 90s. He means what he says, and he sounds like the grown man he is.

When he talks  as he does on You Only Live 2wice, which was released last week  about losing his friends, its hard to doubt him. The album resounds with observations of former friends grown absent, gone silent, or turned jealous, and Gibbs doesnt sound bitter so much as dazed. Its a natural response. Friends, close ones at least, arent just people one spends time with; on closer view, they are who you are. The surest way to find out who you are isnt introspection or mirror-gazing, but drawing a composite sketch of the five or ten people nearest to you; if thats the case, then to lose those friends is to lose ones identity altogether. YOL2 is one of the shorter entries in the Gibbs catalogue, weighing in at eight tracks over 32 minutes, and its temporal leanness is matched by a mentality thats stripped down even by Gibbss standards. Once again hes been reduced to a bare margin of survival, and his only resource he can rely on is his word.

It would be easy enough to draw a connection between Gibbss precarious state and his much-publicized months-long imprisonment in Vienna on charges of sexual assault, but he does that well enough on his own. The trials and strains of prison life figure prominently: We learn, through his rhymes, about the ethnolinguistic composition of the Austrian prison system (Came out that bitch, was speaking German, Russian, Wop-a-nese), the fact that there are no English-language books in the prison library, the drug habit he had to kick cold turkey in his cell (I be kicking shit like Solange in the elevator), the weight he lost stressing out, the extra lawyers he had to hire, and so on. Gibbs states his innocence early on (I just beat a rape case, groupie bitch I never fucked / Tried to give me ten for some pussy that I never touched) but the picture grows more complicated on the albums final track Homesick when he claims that he spent time in prison on account of his companions. He doesnt say it directly, but you can infer that though he didnt commit the crime he was accused of, a member of his entourage might have. Being one with your friends doesnt always work out for the best: Just sat in the cell, ten thousand miles away from my child, for my niggas.

The reference to Gibbss recently born daughter is one sign among many that hes turning away from his old friends and thinking more of the women, past and present, who have supported him. Dear Maria and Andrea are notes of gratitude addressed to exes who fed him and provided for him: Gave me that pussy once and I always got it like the Wi-Fi. But its his wife and daughters mother, Erica, who receives the most thanks: Its Erica, after all, who flies to Vienna to see him (Erica visit, cant wipe her tears from behind the glass), and who brings him English-language books. She held me down, know what I mean? Gibbs asks rhetorically on the outro to Homesick. Through all the bullshit, through all my bullshit, she held me down. I love her for that. If hes looking to the future, hes doing so taking into account the fact that the competition between hustling and family is a zero-sum game. Got a list of things I dont want my daughter to do, Gibbs raps; still, its hard to maintain balance when his art depends on reciting the items on that list. Pulling off the transition from street rap to dad rap is rough, but hes making the effort.

The theme of homecoming on the album manifests as much in the beats as in the lyrics. The flirtations with singing and Southern mantra-style hooks present on Gibbss last (quite good) album Shadow of a Doubt (2015) have largely vanished. Hes back to the two sounds hes most familiar with: the old-school, soul-inflected instrumentals that dominated on his breakthrough Madlib collaboration Pinata (2014) and the variation on Southern trap production evolved by his house producer Speakerbomb featuring high distorted vocal samples and/or synth keys over 808s. (Alexys, a YOL2 highlight produced by Kaytranada and BadBadNotGood, falls squarely in this latter category.)

The album is short, but it feels rich and lived-in. Its not always a good sign when rappers declare theyre not going anywhere, but with Gibbs its clear that he can thrive by building on what he knows best, and by staying with the people who stuck with him, at home in America. The States arent paradise, as he well knows. The sense of freedom isnt much less endangered than in Austria: Donald Trump gon chain us up and turn us back to slaves, he mutters on Crushed Glass. But his familys here and hes fluent in the language, and that makes all the difference.
Photo: NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

When I heard the news about Don Rickles, I was packing up my suitcase. Im headed off to a gig somewhere, just as so many comics do every week, just as Don always did. I stood motionless looking at the alert on my phone. Wow. It really, finally happened. The king is dead. I stood there. I cant say I was surprised  last time I saw him, he looked like a caterpillar eating a sweater. But still, this will be a tough one to move on from.



When our queen, Joan Rivers, passed away, I remember thinking that Don is all we have left from that superstar era. Don Rickles. Mr. Warmth. The Merchant of Venom. The last comic breathing. The Godfather of our comedic family. Nobody worked a room like Don Rickles. The Ali of stand-up. The guy was 90 and still had club dates on his calendar. Somehow I still think hell show up. And really, hes not going anywhere. Dons influence lives on in so many people, including  perhaps especially  me.

Don made the hardest thing in the world  insulting people to their faces  look effortless. Because of his warmth and his stature, he could get away with lines that nobody else could pull off. One time we were both roasting casino magnate Steve Wynn, and everyone, including me, danced around Steves obvious degenerative eye disease. We were basically roasting a blind guy and nobody mentioned it for an hour-and-a-half. Then Don strode to the podium. He was always the closer. When Don walked up, nonchalantly waved his hands in front of Steves face, and said, Im over here Steve. Just follow my voice, the place erupted. You could even see tears of laughter coming from Steves eyes. Don treated Steve like any other poor roast victim. He was a great normalizer  he helped people laugh at themselves, which I firmly believe makes one a healthier person. I see Don as part doctor, part comic, because of his ability to heal. His insults werent mean-spirited. They were mean-spiritual.

Don and I were friends, but never close. In fact, he always terrified me. I blew it with him early on, when upon meeting him I immediately blurted out about my close friendship with his peer Buddy Hackett. Don loved Buddy, but he never let me forget that I was better friends with Buddy than I was with him. I was just a young comic trying to bond with Don over a mutual friend, but Don never let me live it down. I shouldve kissed the ring first, and then mentioned Buddy. Lesson learned.

When Buddy died suddenly in 2003, I was heartbroken. He really was my best friend, and I was asked to deliver his eulogy. Everybody important to Buddy was there and I wanted to make him proud. I stayed up all night writing and even had Larry Gelbart proofread it for me. I remember getting laughs. I remember people crying. But I also remember how tense I was as I folded up my notes afterwards, walked off the platform, past Buddys coffin, past his wife Sherry, his children, grandchildren, and a chapel full of comedic powerhouses. I sat back down in my seat, which happened to be right next to Don. As I tried to take a deep breath of relief, with tears rolling down my face, I felt Don pat my leg twice to let me know I did good. That made me so happy amid my sadness. Thanks, Don.

We also shared a moment at a different funeral  an epic ceremony for Milton Berle. Everybody worshiped Americas Uncle Miltie, and the place was packed. The service was very long  even Miltons shlong got up to say a few words  and I had to pee the entire time. When the rabbi finally finished up and the crowd dispersed toward his grave, I ran for a restroom. The line was long so I snuck around back to a secret family members only powder room I had spotted earlier. Nobody was around so I went for it. I was probably in there for 90 seconds. When I finished I opened the door and found Don scowling at me with his hands on his hips, as if hed been standing there for an hour. What was there, a dais in there? he asked. I smiled. He smiled. Thats when I knew Id made it.

John Stamos was another mutual pal, and for his fancy 50th birthday party he asked both me and Don to roast him. I love John and wanted to do well, so I stayed up two nights straight writing a killer speech, which I read notes of in front of Johns friends and family. Happy 50th John  Youre so good-looking that the candles on your cake offered to blow you. I killed it in my wannabe Rat Packstyle tuxedo and passed the mic back to a dapper Bob Saget, who introduced Don. But before Don laid into the birthday boy and everybody else in the room, he creamed me for being over-prepared instead of just riffing off the cuff, like he did. It hurt, but theres no escaping the truth. And theres no denying the master. I sat there and took it.

He and I did many shows together, and Ill cherish every handwritten note, holiday card, and insult he ever sent in my direction. Not too long ago we were both asked to speak at another 50th birthday  this time for our mutual pal Craig who owns a restaurant in Hollywood. When I walked in, I spotted Don and immediately walked over to kiss the ring. Before I could say a word, he reprimanded me for always dressing in a costume on the Comedy Central roasts. He said, Whats wrong with you? Every roast  its like Jewish Halloween. Again, he got me.

Don dished it out, but let the record show, he could also take it. In the 80s, when Don played Atlantic City, my dad the caterer always went to his shows, and they ate frequently in the same steakhouse. My dad had once seen Don tell a story on TV about playing an innocent prank on Frank Sinatra in a restaurant  he pretended to be annoyed that Frank interrupted his meal, even though Don had secretly begged him to come over earlier. On a lark, my dad walked up to Dons table and tried the same trick. On his way out, when Don walked by and said hello, my dad dropped his fork and pretended to be furious, Don, cant you see were eating?

Well, Don either fell for it or went with it. Either way, he was a great sport and it was the greatest night of my dads life. Long live Don Rickles. He made so many people happy.
Vedder. Photo: Jamie McCarthy/WireImage for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

It just wouldnt be Eddie Vedder without at least one nod to social justice and the Cubs, and he wasted no time incorporating both in Pearl Jams Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction speech. While inducting the beloved rockers, David Letterman praised them for recognizing injustice and standing up for it. Whether it was human rights or the environment. Whether it was poverty. They didnt let it wash over them. They would stand up and react. Friday night, Vedder reacted passionately to the times in a very Vedder-style way: with a Cubs analogy for saving the environment.



Climate change is real. That is not fake news. And we cannot be the generation the history of the world will look back on and wonder why they didnt do everything humanly possible to solve the biggest crisis in our time. Anything can be obtainable. The Chicago Cubs winning the World Series. This is proof. And I use that analogy in regards to climate change because it can be done. But heres the thing: We dont have 108 years to wait.

Vedder also isnt going to wait decades for Chance the Rapper to someday make it into the Hall; he personally put him on that pedestal with an unexpected shout-out to his fellow Illinois activist. If somehow, some way, Chance the Rapper ever sees or hears this, I just want to tell him my daughter, Olivia, loves you, he began. And I also want to thank you for all the great work youre doing in Chicago. Thats the kind of music activism that gives us all hope. Then, before launching into a response to Lettermans anecdote about annoying Vedder for months by mimicking the refrain to Black, he noted how much of a friend and mentor Letterman was to him before the two ever even met. He doesnt know, but when I used to work midnight shifts, Id get there 11 to 7 and there was a small red TV by the security guard and Dave was my co-pilot, he said. Every weekday, every night I worked for four years. And hed have so many great bands on his show  I saw so many bands on Letterman that became influences.

But Pearl Jams induction wasnt without controversy  former drummer Dave Abbruzzese lashed out at the ceremony for being excluded from the invite list. (Only two of Pearl Jams five drummers, Dave Krusen and Matt Cameron, were formally inducted.) Vedder also used his portion of the speech to make sure history remembered all members of the Pearl Jam drummers club:



You know how lucky I was to meet Jack Irons. Im working as a crew guy at a Joe Strummer gig in a little pub in San Diego and, before my night shift, and I get to meet Jack, who was the original drummer in the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Hes a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame already and hes here tonight. Without meeting him, none of this happens. Im not in this building. Im probably not even on the planet. Jack, thanks so much. Thanks for your friendship. Somehow when youre so fortunate, you know, weve had a few drummers. And theyre taking a seat on the drum throne cause theyre all kings. Were so fortunate. Every one of them is great. But Matt Camerons really been the one that kept us alive for the past 15, 16, 17 years. At a time when we didnt know if  we werent sure what was going to happen  he enabled us not just to survive, but to thrive. He became one of our brothers. He was going to end up receiving this accolade with either us or his other group. So hell be back. We had the great Dave Abbruzzese, whos a great drummer. Youre a great fucking drummer! And Matt Chamberlain, Jack, and Dave, who we got to play with this week for the first time in 25 years.
Snoop Dogg, loving every minute of it. Photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Out of the six inductees at this years Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Tupac Shakur, like N.W.A last year, was the sole act who encompassed the hip-hop genre. Fittingly, Shakurs fellow West Coast rap legend Snoop Dogg  they were both signed to Suge Knight and Dr. Dres Death Row Records  was there at the Barclays Center on Friday night to induct his late friend into the Hall with a poignant, and often humorous, speech, which traced their friendship back to when they first met in the early 90s. I finally got a chance to meet Pac in 1993 at a wrap party in L.A, the rapper explained. And on that night, Pac passed me my first blunt. Thats right, Tupac is the one that got Snoop Dogg smoking blunts. I was a zig-zag man before that shit. We became very good friends quickly thereafter. Moments later, Snoop then proceeded to share another funny story about the time the two of them decided to try out parasailing.



We had no peers besides one another. Just two black boys struggling to become men. I never shared this story before but it really speaks to our journey. I had just beat my case and Suge [Knight] had taken us to South America to get away from all the drama, and me and Pac was parasailing. You heard right: Snoop Dogg and Tupac parasailing together with Suge Knight driving the boat. You got to remember, I had just beat my case and Pac had just got out on bail, so wed try anything at this point. Does anybody know what parasailing is? Because we damn sure didnt. Me and Pac were sitting on the edge of the boat with all this gear and shit on and all of sudden the boat pulls away and we start floating up in the air and were scared as a motherfucker, damn near holding hands. And Suges ass kept dropping the lever and slamming us into the water like boom. I dont know what was in there, there couldve been sharks or octopus or whatever, Im like, man. It was crazy because not only did we think we were on top of the world at that time we actually were on top of the world. Floating around in style, then all of sudden Pac started telling me about some movie idea he had about me being the main star. He was saying some shit. I wasnt paying attention because I was like, Were too high in the sky, we need to get down. I mean the shit he was saying to me at that moment was different, though. He saw me as an actor. He saw more potential in me than I saw in myself. And its funny because, after he passed away, I started getting a lot of movie roles and all this stuff. Pac was looking out for us even after he was gone.

Snoop also recalled what it was like in the immediate hours following Shakurs shooting.



Thats the thing with Pac. When he loves, he loves hard. Whether that was him loving black people, him loving his homies, him loving his record label, and of course him loving his beautiful and incredibly strong mother, the late Afeni Shakur. Memories of Ms. Shakur are embedded in my mind. Right after I heard Tupac got shot I immediately flew to Vegas and I walked in the room, and I saw him laid out in the bed with all kinds of tubes in him. I was so weak I damn near fell over. And his mom came over to me and she grabbed me and she held me up and she said, Baby, you got to be strong. I went and sat next to him and I whispered to him telling him I love him, and to hold on, and he was going to be okay. And even in that moment his mom was thinking more about me than herself and showed me how to love strongly. I mean it was amazing that his momma was so strong and loved so hard.

Taking to the press room after performing a Shakur tribute with Alicia Keys, T.I., Treach, and YG, Snoop also spoke openly about what Shakurs induction into the Hall means for West Coast hip-hop and gangster rap. This award shows that the music that you make will be appreciated over the test of time if you make great music; put your heart and soul into it and youll be appreciated, thats what this ceremony is about. They appreciate great musicians and songwriters, he told Vulture and other outlets. No matter what field of music you make, you gotta respect good music, and thats what Tupac made.


For her solo performance at Monday night's Wild Torch gala at the Waco Hippodrome, New York actress and Baylor University graduate Elizabeth A. Davis draws upon the same source she used for her first Wild Torch appearance two years ago: the Bible.

Her "Well Wishes" builds on the story of Jesus and the woman he encounters at a well in the Gospel of John, one she says has special relevance for the meaning and mission of Jesus Said Love, the ministry for which the gala is raising funds. Founded by Emily and Brett Mills in Waco in 2003, JSL works to help women caught in the commercial sex industry.

In the Johannine account, Jesus' observation that the woman had been married four times and living with a fifth man not her husband often makes readers assume she was promiscuous, Davis noted. Her research found a another possibility: In an ancient world where Jewish men had the power to divorce, but not women, and on such grounds as infertility or not having sons, it was more likely that the woman's past was not her choice, she said in a phone interview Friday.

Regardless of her past, Jesus treated her as a person of worth in his conversation with her, Davis said. "(It's) a beautiful and radical statement: He saw only her personhood," she said  a reaction no less remarkable today when gender roles and relationships still can prove contentious.

The piece completes a dramatic faith-based trilogy written by Davis that includes her interpretation of the Gospel story of Jesus healing the woman with the issue of blood, performed at the first Wild Torch, and "Home In Traffic," which she wrote for the Center of Faith and Work in New York.

"I want to show what a theatrical interpretation can bring to a sacred text," she said.

Davis' portrayal Monday night comes a scant day after she closes a theatrical run at New York's The Secret Theater as a diametrically opposite character: Goneril, the hard-hearted eldest daughter in Shakespeare's "King Lear."

Davis, 36, manages to find the pulse even in a villain. Actor Austin Pendleton, who plays Lear, pointed out how abusive the king is to his children and how that might have shaped the oldest daughters' hatred of him. "It's hard not to feel sorry for them," she said. "(Goneril's) a daughter whose father probably wanted a son."

Lear's curse that Goneril might bear an ungrateful child cut a little deeper for Davis: She's pregnant, with she and husband Jordan Richard expecting their first child in about a month and a half.

Motherhood, Wild Torch and "Lear" aren't the only things the 2012 Tony Award nominee is juggling these days. Her musical "Indian Joe" has a director in Don Scardino, veteran New York actor and director (and co-producer of "30 Rock"). Davis based her play on her friendship with Joe "Lightfoot" Gonzales, a Waco homeless man who called himself Indian Joe, during her years in Waco. While she can't release details of what might be ahead, she commented, "(Scardino's) opening doors for the piece that I never thought possible."

Joe and Waco also inspired her latest musical "Childless," a dialogue between a woman who's had a hysterectomy and can't have children and another woman with five kids. "The question is, do children shape us or define us? . . . I've been really wrestling with myself on these two perspectives," she said.

Theater and its human stories, she believes, can play a crucial role in a time of political and social polarization. "We all have a story. Actors, of all people, are equipped to say where can I show empathy even when I disagree," she said.

Jesus Said Love founder Emily Mills, who'll be performing music with her husband Brett at Monday's event, said this year's Wild Torch offers a vantage point of how the ministry has grown. "It's definitely changed over the last three years," she said. Funds raised in the first two Wild Torches went toward renovation and opening of their headquarters building at 1500 Columbus Ave. As community involvement has deepened and program development expanded during that time, organizers are looking to apply funds raised toward improving the economic empowerment of women caught in the sex industry.

The Wild Torch gala, featuring live music, dance, acting, video, testimonies and food, begins at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Waco Hippodrome.
It might be ancient history, but the question of what killed the Waco mammoths has unearthed strong feelings about 65,000 years later.

A recent Baylor University study suggesting that the beasts at the Waco Mammoth National Monument might have died of drought rather than flood has raised the hackles of the man who oversaw the excavation of the bones years ago.

Now Calvin Smith, retired director of Baylors natural history museum, is officially challenging the study. He recently sent a 2,200-word rebuttal to the journal Palaios, which published the original December article by Baylor doctoral students Logan Wiest and Don Esker and geology Professor Steven Driese.

The Baylor team found marks of hide beetles on the mammoth bones, suggesting that the carcasses were exposed to open air for months, not covered up in a catastrophic mudslide as researchers had thought for decades.

In his response, Smith doesnt address the hide beetle evidence but argues that a mammoth herd slowly dying of thirst would have dispersed.

There would have been no mass burial as we found them, he wrote. Under the conditions proposed by the authors, the deaths would not have been simultaneous for the number represented and would have been over an extended period.

Smith adds that the mammoths were found in an upright sudden death syndrome position, suggesting they were trapped in a sudden flood.

Smith served as the director of the Strecker Museum, which has since become the Mayborn Museum, from 1983 to 2003, long before the mammoth site was developed as an educational tourist attraction and ultimately adopted into the national park system in 2015.

Smith, 76, a Colorado resident, said he learned about the new study from a Tribune-Herald story in January. In an interview, he said he was surprised that the researchers would have tried to rewrite the prehistory of the mammoth site without consulting him to see what he knew about how the excavation was handled.

They are saying the circumstances are totally different from what we experienced over 18 years, he said. Theyre throwing that out the window. Thats what upsets me. Its not good science.

To call a former researcher that has done the work is normal scientific investigation.

Esker, the co-author of the new study and a former director of the mammoth site, said he had been advised against commenting on Smiths challenge. Smith said he has met on the issue with Eskers faculty adviser, Lee Nordt, a Baylor geologist and dean of the college of arts and sciences. Nordt did not respond in the past two weeks to interview requests for this story.

Driese, the geology professor who oversaw Esker and Wiest in their research, defended the methods as sound. Driese said the drought hypothesis is tentative, but research Esker is planning will help establish more information about the mammoths environmental conditions.

I feel like we need to keep an open mind, Driese said. Its just a hypothesis that needs more testing. But I do feel like Don Eskers work is critical to addressing those questions. The nature of science is that it evolves over time and is always subject to new information and new interpretation.

Beetle marks

He said the studys clincher was the discovery of tracks made by dermestid, or hide beetles, on the mammoth skeletons. The beetles, which still are common today, feed on dried, putrid tissue but dont scavenge bones that are underground or underwater, he said.

Driese said the article was presented last month at a Geological Society of America meeting in San Antonio and was favorably received.

Steve Hasiotis, a geologist at the University of Kansas who attended that meeting and read the article, said he thinks the evidence of the dermestid beetles is persuasive.

This looks like this wouldnt have been underwater. . . . I think the evidence is pretty strong that they were on the surface and then buried, Hasiotis said.

Hasiotis specialty is ichnology, the study of fossil traces made by ancient organisms. He said he had a similar experience in the 1990s when he discovered dermestid beetle markings on dinosaur fossils in Utah and Wyoming, suggesting long exposure to the elements. He said that conflicted with an earlier understanding of how those dinosaurs died, and it took a while for other scientists to accept it.

The theory had been laid down, and its hard for things to change, he said. But science is not conducted by consensus. Its by the evidence that really supports the story or does not falsify the hypothesis.

In an interview, Smith said hes not persuaded that the markings on the bones were from dermestid beetles. He said parts of the mammoth corpses could have been exposed even after they were buried. And in modern times, the bones were exposed for years under a tent at the mammoth site while it was being excavated, time enough to suffer damage from floods, scavengers and the excavation process itself, he said.

You can blame me. We had no money. We were working with volunteers, and the bones were exposed for years, Smith said. Those bones were exposed to every single thing these boys are talking about: the collapse, breakage, gnawing, even the holes.

Both Hasiotis and Driese say the marks on the bones are ancient in appearance and would not have resulted from modern-day scavengers or human error.

I think there is no chance markings on bones were incorrectly attributed to scavenging, Driese said. There was nothing of nutritive value for varmints.

Smith said scientists developed the flood hypothesis in the mid-1980s based on the concentration of mammoths in the pit and the fact they appeared to be in a standing position upon death.

Among the consultants during that time was Gary Haynes, an anthropologist then with the Smithsonian Institution. Haynes, who had studied modern elephants in Africa, concluded that the Waco mammoths comprised a nursery herd that was under severe environmental stress because of drought. He hypothesized that the group gathered around a watering hole and was covered up when a sudden storm washed mud downstream from denuded stream banks.

In a recent email interview, Haynes said he disagrees with the findings of the new Baylor study, though he hadnt yet read it.

Scattered bones

A drought usually takes weeks to kill elephants, as they run out of forage to eat near their main water sources, and they must move farther and farther to find food patches and then regularly return to the last remaining sources of water, he said. By the time adult males die from starvation due to drought, the bones of the calves and older females will have been chewed by carnivores, trampled and scattered.

I just dont see how drought could have created an assemblage of associated and articulated mammoth skeletons (and a camel) at the Waco mammoth site.

The new study cites past work by Haynes on the mammoth site.

Smith said he is glad Baylor researchers are continuing to study the mammoth remains, and he is open to new evidence.

I dont have a problem with them saying, This is another scenario,  he said.

Raegan King, site manager at the Waco Mammoth National Monument, said tour guides at the site now present both flooding and drought as a possible cause of the mammoths deaths. King agreed that the beetle markings indicate long exposure to the elements, though its possible the mammoths were buried, then exposed.

We know for a fact that we have a herd that was well-preserved in the Texas clay, she said. Exactly what happened when these animals were here, we dont know for sure.

Regardless of the dispute, she said, attendance at the mammoth site continues to skyrocket. In the first 24 days of March, the site saw 12,535 visitors, twice the attendance of the previous period in 2016.
The birds are the first to wake each morning. I have listened in the predawn dark for the first twitter from the trees. Like sentinels they watch for the first faint glow in the east, and, long before the sun rises, they start their sunrise celebration. Sometimes I think they are surprised when a new day dawns. Their excitement seems to echo Zecharias emotions when he announced the birth of Jesus saying, The sunrise from on high will visit us (Luke 1:78).

I especially like the cardinal. I have watched these brilliant redbirds perched high on bare limbs in a Minnesota winter, their ricochet notes shattering the snow-covered stillness on a subzero morning. I have listened to the same unmistakable notes and spotted their bright red coat amid thick green oaks in the sweltering heat of a Texas summer.

The mockingbird is always dressed in his gray tuxedo for some special occasion, white tipped wings flashing when he flies like formal cuffs in full dress. Unlike the cardinal, the mockingbird never ventures into northern winters. He much prefers Texas summers where he can perch on his stage in the live oaks and sing his stolen songs.

I remember waking, when I was a boy, to the rasp of blue jays at play in the pecan trees outside my window. They rasp now as they did then, and every time I hear them I am carried back across the decades to my youth.

When we lived in Minnesota, I watched chickadees on winter afternoons fluttering in the snow on our windowsill searching for seed. And I often sat on our deck in Rochester, Minnesota, and listening to squadrons of Canadian geese flying low overhead, so low that I could hear the wind in their wings.

Jesus apparently watched the birds and took pleasure in them. He referred to them to help us understand Gods love and care for us. He said, Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Again, He said, Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So dont be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Sometimes we find ourselves thrown into difficult circumstances. Like the scorching Texas heat or the frigid Minnesota winter, every element seems to be set against us and we have difficulty seeing our way forward. At such times we are prone to wonder if God has forgotten us. We are prone to discouragement, doubt and worry about our future. Failing health, unemployment, broken promises and broken relationships conspire to steal away our confidence, our hope and our faith. At such times we need to consider the birds. We are not forgotten. He who cares for the birds of the air will doubtless care for us. We are of great worth to God. Listen to the birds and take heed to their song.
Helen Ruth Carll

March 11, 1915 - March 29, 2017

Helen Ruth Carll, a longtime resident of Waco, died at the age of 102 in Bloomington, Indiana, on Wednesday, March 29, 2017, at the home of her daughter and son-in-law, Nancy and Frank Page. Visitation will be 10 a.m. until 12:00 Noon, April 10, at Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey Funeral Home, and the funeral service will be a "family only" service at the Rosemond Cemetery starting at 1 p.m.

Helen was born in Patrick, Texas, on March 11, 1915, to T.J. and Maggie Logue. When Helen was six, her family moved to Waco where her father had a store on the Waco Square. During the depression, Helen went to California to live with her aunt and attended and graduated from Pasadena Junior College. She then returned to her parents' home and went to work in the McLennan County Clerk's Office. For the four years that she worked there, all of her $175 a month salary, except for $35, went to her parents to help support the family.

In 1937 Helen started Baylor and she graduated in 1939. After teaching for one year in Winona, Texas, she married her beloved "L. H." and thereafter dedicated herself to her family. Helen and L.H. were active members of St. Johns United Methodist Church, which later became Central United Methodist Church. Helen's salient qualities were her love for her husband, her belief that her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren were perfect, her pride in her parents and her siblings, and her affection for Baylor University. After L. H.'s death in 1992, Helen continued to live in her home in Waco until she had a stroke in 2004. Thereafter, she lived with Nancy and Frank, first in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and then in Bloomington.

Helen was preceded in death by her parents, Maggie and T. J. Logue; her husband, L.H. Carll, Jr.; and by her daughter, Carol Carll Schulte. She was also preceded in death by all of her siblings and their spouses, Dr. Joe Logue and wife, Jane, Dorothy Logue Rush and husband, Eugene, Elizabeth Logue Hightower and husband, Ross, Dr. Tom Logue and wife, Ethel, and Judge Bill Logue and wife, Gloria.

She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Nancy and Frank Page; her son and daughter-in-law, Lloyd Carll and Connie Preslar Carll; her granddaughters, Kirsten Schulte, Karen Schulte Branch, Maggie Page Abrams, and Laura Page; her grandsons, Hayes Carll and Jonathan Carll; great-grandchildren, Elijah Carll, Laura Branch, Cara Branch and Ira Abrams; and by many loving nieces and nephews who affectionally called her "Aunt Skeet". Helen was a woman of her word. She said that she was not going to die until Maggie had a baby. Ira Abrams was born on March 15, 2017.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Carol Carll Schulte (Math) Fund at the McLennan Community College Foundation.

The family invites you to leave a message or memory on our "Tribute Wall" at www.WHBfamily.com.
Anthony Dean Keller

Sept. 22, 1981 - April 5, 2017

Anthony "Tony" Keller, of Waco, Texas ended his 17 year battle with cancer Wednesday with his mother, Mary, and sister, Shelby, by his side. A battle he fought with dignity and with so much courage. The Keller family is welcoming visitors for a Celebration of Life to honor Anthony at 6 p.m., Tuesday, April 11. The celebration will be held at the Christian Life Church, located at 3015 N. Robinson Dr. Waco, Texas, officiated by Pastor Nelson.

Tony's life began September 22, 1981, he grew up in Central Texas. He was employed with the City of Waco Convention Center for several years before having to leave due to his illness. Anthony's love for his family will always be remembered by those who loved him. He enjoyed spending time watching movies, going fishing, and spending cool nights by the fire pit. His big bright smile always brightened a dark room. Anthony also had a great love for his church family and enjoyed spending time worshiping his God.

Tony was preceded in death by his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. D.L. Pecina; and grandfather, Johnny Mata.

Tony is survived by his mother, Mary Ann Keller; step-father, Steve Finley; father, Darrin Keller; sisters, Kia Rochelle Keller and Stacy Finley; son, Ezra Reyes-Keller; nephew, Caden Evans; and grandmother Mary Ann Gamble. Aunts, Delfina Sandoval and husband Joe, and Gina Gamble; uncles, Billy Gamble, Jimmy Gamble and wife, Rachel; along with numerous cousins.

The family would like to send a very special thank you to Scott and White Hospice; nurses, Pam and Glenn; and social worker Kelly.

The Keller family would like to thank Astria Sandoval for funding Tony's service expenses. It has helped the family and put Tony's mind at ease.
Elizabeth A. Pennington

July 4, 1934 - April 6, 2017

After a long and courageous battle with COPD, Elizabeth "Betsy" Pennington passed peacefully from the arms of loved ones to the arms of Christ at Providence Hospice. Services will be at 11 a.m., Monday, April 10, at the Wilkirson Hatch-Bailey Chapel, with the Rev. Wayne Williams officiating. Visitation will begin at 10 a.m., prior to the service. A private family burial at Waco Memorial Park will follow the service.

Betsy was born at Scott and White Hospital in Temple, Texas on July 4, 1934, and lived in Lorena. Betsy attended middle school at San Marcos Baptist Academy where she made lifelong friends. High School was at Tarleton and Waco High, graduating from Waco High in 1951 and attending Baylor University until her marriage to Larry in 1952. That union began a journey around the world, including 16 air bases, professional schools, and civilian assignments, while raising three wonderful children and making a home for the children along with many friends at each new challenge. Being a lifelong Methodist, Betsy would always make church connections an important part of each assignment. Betsy was the ultimate Air Force Officer wife, always being a leader within the military and civilian community, serving as President of Wives Club in Utah, Mississippi and California. After military retirement, Betsy accompanied Larry in 16 years of travel to Europe and Asia, living in Australia for a year before returning to Texas.

Betsy was preceded in death by her parents, Walter Philmore Evans, Jr. and Margaret Ann (Greer) Evans.

Along with hundreds of cherished friends from around the world, survivors include her husband, Col. (USAF Ret.) Lawrence Pennington; son, Edward Pennington and his wife, Debbie; daughter, Margaret Ann Wise and her husband, Cullen "Stormy" Reeves, Jr; daughter, Lori Elizabeth and her husband, Jeffrey Mathis; brother, Dr. Walter P. Evans III and his wife, Laurie; grandchildren, Lori Wise, Elizabeth Goss and husband, Christian, Dr. Alyson Vokes and husband, Dr. Colin Vokes, and Marcus Pennington and wife, Morgan; great-grandchildren, Trinity Wise, Christian Goss and Matthew Vokes and 'Peanut' Pennington by M and M to be named at birth; and several cousins and their children.

Pallbearers will be Edward Pennington, Marcus Pennington, Cullen Reeves, Jeffrey Mathis, Christian Goss and Colin Vokes.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests any gifts or memorials be made to The Methodist Children's Home or Meals on Wheels.

The family invites you to leave a message or memory on our "Tribute Wall" at www.WHBfamily.com.
Hi,

Me & my wife are producing some high quality organic, natural products in Ecuador.



Wanna start selling on Amazon.



I'm European so I don't have a good idea of what is required to sell a product on the US market.

Can someone give me a little push in the right direction when it comes to requirements of labeling our products for the US market? Where can I learn more on how I'm required to design the product label to be allowed to sell in the United States?
Lara Bingle in Harper's Bazaar. Credit:Sylve Colless But on the eve of her 30th birthday, the former "It Girl" who rose to fame as the "Where The Bloody Hell Are You" girl in those tourism ads over a decade ago, says motherhood and life away from Sydney have helped her mature. "But, to be honest, I do come back to Australia and get a bit of anxiety. I know I grew up being in the media constantly, but now, living in New York, you can just go about your day, and I've kind of let my guard down. I feel like living away has made me softer, and being able to raise the boys over here, I haven't had as much scrutiny as I probably would back home," she says. Interestingly she made no mention of the 2014 incident in New York when her husband was filmed hitting paparazzo Sheng Li, who then launched a $5 million lawsuit. The actor claimed he had been protecting his then-girlfriend from Li after the photographer allegedly kicked her in the shin. But the photographer hit back and accused Bingle of "attacking" him and trying to steal his camera after he took photos of the couple as they walked along the street.

Worthington eventually agreed to an undisclosed out-of-court settlement, but the couple's relationship with the paparazzi remains fraught. Reporting from the front Media scrums and court reporting go hand in hand, but in the past few weeks there has been one young Sydney reporter who appears to be living by the lyrics of 80s pop anthem What About Me. Indeed Channel Seven's Laura Banks has been "pushed around, knocked to the ground" on more than one occasion in her pursuit of some interesting characters on our city's streets. It was Banks who was at the centre of the Salim Mehajer media scrum last weekend, during which she became the star of the story as her tiny frame was wedged between Mehajer's car and car door as she attempted to interview him as he tried to shut his door and drive off.

Channel seven reporter Laura Banks has been "pushed around, knocked to the ground" on more than one occasion. The footage was then shown on slow-mo on the 6pm news bulletin, along with the lead up which shows Banks in dogged pursuit of Mehajer after he was charged with assaulting a taxi driver. The incident with Banks has resulted in a further assault charge against Mehajer. But it also follows Banks' spectacular performance outside Downing Centre Courts when she was caught on camera on the receiving end of some unseemly shenanigans trying to get a comment from the family of a mother who was jailed for swindling more than $2 million from lonely men to fund her lavish lifestyle. Laura Banks is wedged between Salim Mehajer's car and car door. Credit:Channel Nine News

Channel Nine news cameras caught the violent scenes as Banks, in a red blazer, was knocked to the ground. Again she became the story on the nightly news. And just last month Banks, a former newspaper reporter, found herself kissing the pavement outside Waverley Local Court when she chased Leigh Mitchell down the road after he pleaded guilty to stealing a quadriplegic man's buggy. PS tracked Banks down on Friday morning en route to Queanbeyan in pursuit of teenagers accused of murdering a service station attendant, but she declined to comment as there were matters before the court. Whatever happened too ... ? There have been some interesting faces in the public gallery at millionaire Ron Medich's murder trial in recent weeks, not in the least the two youngest of his six children, sons Jake and Adam.

But it is the absence of their mother, Medich's estranged wife Odetta, which has been the most intriguing. PS last spotted Odetta looking tired and drawn making a rare appearance on Sydney's streets six years ago. Indeed as the photos showed, the woman PS spotted was a far cry from the designer-clad, glamorous socialite Sydney once knew. Hobnobbing: Odetta Medich with Quentin Tarantino. It was not so long ago that Odetta was regularly at glittering gallery openings, hobnobbing with Sydney's rich and glamorous, her Lithuanian accent rising above the chatter at all the best parties. But those days are a distant memory, as is the family's mansion on Wolseley Road, Point Piper.

Instead it is a somewhat less salubrious address in the south of France where Odetta resides these days, having dropped a "T" in her first name and going by a variety of monikers, including Odeta Rose, Odeta Suikys Rose and Madame Odetta Chtouikite. No longer a fixture on Sydney's social scene: Ron Medich's wife Odetta. Credit:Sasha Woolley A few years back she was tracked down by a Sydney real estate blogger who reported on the lavish renovation of her swish pied a terre, overseen by renowned expatriate Australian architect Carl Pickering and featured in the pages of Interiors magazine. Replete with sparkling crystal chandeliers and luxurious velvet sofas, it was evident that Odetta's tastes remain at the more expensive end of the decore spectrum. While none of her old friends PS contacted admitted to having much to do with her these days, rumours have been swirling that, on the eve of turning 50, cupid's arrow has once again found its way to Odetta's heart, this time in the form of an unnamed "wealthy Euro type".

Ron Medich's former home in Wolseley Road, Point Piper, which sold for $37 million in 2014. Ever since her former husband was accused of the high-profile murder of Michael McGurk outside his Cremorne home in 2009, which he has vigorously denied, Odetta virtually evaporated from the Sydney social scene overnight, though she had previously launched herself onto the cocktail circuit as a new wealthy patron of the arts, her name emblazoned on the patrons' board in the foyer at the Museum of Contemporary Art. She was appointed to the Australia Council's commissioner's council for the 2009 Venice Biennale, alongside such heavy-hitters as Simon and Catriona Mordant, Morry and Anna Schwartz and Gene and Brian Sherman. In more recent years she has rarely popped up on the global arts scene, though she was photographed looking pretty chuffed standing next to Quentin Tarantino at a MOMA benefit in 2012. Aside from the occasional art show, Odetta has all but vanished from her old haunts.

Dam those paparazzi Sunrise co-host Samantha Armytage and celebrity fat fighter Michelle Bridges were not on the guest list for Peter Stefanovic and Sylvia Jeffrey's wedding, but you can bet they were punching the air with joy over the Kangaroo Valley extravaganza. Jeffreys posted a photo on her Instagram account this week showing a small silver hatchback which ended up in a dam after the driver apparently miscalculated the terrain as he was in pursuit of unauthorised photos of the couple. It turns out the driver is none other than Sydney's "baby faced" paparazzo, 23-year-old Liam Mendes, the same intrepid snapper who landed in hot water over his dogged pursuit of Bridges in her local Woolworths which ended in a rather unseemly court battle for her failed bid to have a restraining order taken out on him. A day after they tied the knot, Stefanovic shared a picture dancing with Jeffreys. The candid picture was simply captioned, My beautiful wife. Credit:Instagram/ Peter Stefanovic

A day after they tied the knot, Stefanovic shared a picture dancing with Jeffreys. The candid picture was simply captioned, My beautiful wife. He is also the same photographer who caused an almighty outcry after his unflattering shots of Armytage wearing "granny panties" were splashed across the media. A local farmer had to haul Mendes' vehicle out of the dam, in what will go down as one of the more embarrassing chapters in the take-no-prisoners Sydney paparazzi annals. Perhaps Mendes should go back to "Pap School"? Indeed you would have to wonder if the $1195 "Advanced Surveillance Course" he did in February was worth it. Liam Mendes, 22, the self-styled paparazzo who took photos of Samantha Armytage going about her business on a Bondi Street a week ago. Credit:Daniel Munoz

Interestingly Mendes' sidekick Jonathan Marshall was also in the Kangaroo Valley but it was difficult to determine who was the celebrity and who was the pap, as Marshall had his own film crew following him about from the ABC's 7.30 Report who were apparently doing a story about "misunderstood professions". Meanwhile the witch hunt continues for the wedding guest who leaked video and audio to the media of Karl Stefanovic's highly entertaining but slightly off-key wedding speech/performance in which he suggested his brother Peter was gay, would end up behind bars like Channel Nine colleague Tara Brown and that the Stefanovic family "doesn't pay for shit". Hairdresser cuts to the chase Celebrity hairdresser Joh Bailey has vehemently denied claims published in the Sunday Telegraph last weekend that he was drunk, boisterous and unruly, but rues attending the Balinese wedding of two staff members. "I wish I never went ... as if I would light a cigarette as the bride walked in ... I've been stitched up," Bailey told PS. The wedding of hairdressers Tom Cole and Mariah Rota was held at seaside Atas Ombak Villa a fortnight ago.

Society hairdresser Joh Bailey at his Double Bay salon. Credit:Dallas Kilponen Bailey said he had already left the reception when he was reportedly "ejected". Photos show the bride smiling with Bailey after the service. The hairdresser has also denied sacking Cole. "No one was sacked and as far as I know they are coming back to the salon," Bailey said. "I adore Mariah, she has worked with me for a long time, I have no interest in travelling to a wedding in Bali and ruining it for a bride; it's just so ridiculous." However Cole stood by the account of his wedding, saying he and his young bride were "devastated" after the day had been "ruined" but declined to comment on why it became a media story. He denied there was any connection to a new range of products he was about to launch and the timing of the publicity. Wedding a cut above When your husband-to-be is one half of celebrated fashion label Camilla and Marc, you can bet your wedding dress will be a show-stopper.

This was the case for Sydney lawyer Nicole Landerer, who married designer Marc Freeman last Sunday at the Central Synagogue in Bondi Junction. The couple later had an elegant reception among the masterpieces of the Art Gallery of NSW. Marc Freeman and Nicole Landerer - engaged. Photo: @marcfreeman on Instagram Credit:Daniel Adams Landerer wore a beautiful custom-made gown, personally designed by her new sister-in-law Camilla Freeman, who was among the seven bridesmaids. The bridesmaids and flower girls also wore custom-made navy Camilla and Marc gowns while the groom opted for a Tom Ford suit. Fellow designer and close friend Josh Goot was master of ceremonies for the evening. His partner Christine Centenera  Kim Kardashian's part-time stylist  was also at the wedding. Nicole Landerer and Marc Freeman on their wedding day at the Art Gallery of NSW.
Sitting on gold-painted chairs in a secure room within the Mar-a-Lago resort, US President Donald Trump and many of his closest counsel discuss the Syrian catastrophe.

A photograph of the scene  tweeted by White House press secretary Sean Spicer after President Trump ordered missile strikes on Syrian government targets  may become a defining image of his presidency.

The photograph's cast controls trillions of dollars and the world's most advanced military.

Already, it has been compared to the picture of then president Barack Obama in the White House Situation Room monitoring the strike on Osama Bin Laden with his top advisers.
[April 07, 2017] FANUC Introduces R-30iB Plus Robot Controller

FANUC will introduce its new R-30iB Plus robot controller at the annual FANUC Open House event on April 10-13 at its headquarters in Japan. The new R-30iB Plus controller features a new iPendant with an enhanced screen resolution and processing capability. The user interface, iHMI, has an icon-based screen which provides a familiar and easy-to-use experience with intuitive guides for setup and programming. It also includes tutorials from the main home page which has a design common to FANUC CNCs, enabling easier use of robots. With the help of the programming guide, even first-time robot users can create a program for a simple handling task and execute it in just 30 minutes. Easier usage also facilitates system setup and maintenance to improve efficiency. For those customers more comfortable with the current interface, the new iPendant can easily revert to the previous version. Processing performance for both hardware and software has been improved in the R-30iB Plus, and the signal processing cycle has been shortened. Compared to past controllers, signal output timing has been enhanced, expanding possible applications to systems which require a high level of positioning precision, such as laser applications. The vision function of R-30iB Plus has a new camera interface which increases four times the speed for transmitting images from the camera, together with a simplified cable configuration. With improvements in the user interface, the setup of the vision system can be handled much more efficiently. Overall, R-30iB Plus contributes to the easier use of robots and automation in the manufacturing industry. FANUC invites its global customers to the annual Open House event in Japan to demonstrate new robotic, CNC and factory automation products. Customers are provied the opportunity to attend technical presentations to learn about the products from FANUC's technical experts.



About FANUC FANUC Corporation is the worldwide leading manufacturer in factory automation for CNC control systems, robots and production machinery (ROBODRILL, ROBOCUT and ROBOSHOT). Since 1956, FANUC has been a pioneer in the development of computer numerical control equipment in the automation industry. With more than 252 offices worldwide and more than 6.500 employees, FANUC offers a vast network for sales, technical support, logistics and customer service.

About FANUC America Corporation FANUC America Corporation is a subsidiary of FANUC CORPORATION in Japan, and provides industry-leading robotics, CNC systems, and factory automation. FANUC's innovative technologies and proven expertise help manufacturers in the Americas maximize efficiency, reliability and profitability. FANUC embraces a culture of "Service First" which means that customer service is our highest priority. That commitment includes lifetime maintenance for all FANUC products for as long as our customers use them in production. FANUC America is headquartered at 3900 W. Hamlin Road, Rochester Hills, MI 48309, and has facilities in: Atlanta; Boston; Charlotte; Chicago; Cincinnati; Cleveland; Houston; Los Angeles; Minneapolis; Montreal; Pine Brook, NJ; Pontiac, MI; San Francisco; Seattle; Toronto; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Sao Paulo, and Manaus, Brazil; and Aguascalientes, Monterrey, and Queretaro, Mexico. For more information, please call: 888-FANUC-US (888-326-8287) or visit our website: www.fanucamerica.com. Also, connect with us on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170407005722/en/

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Palm Beach: President Donald Trump has pressed Chinese President Xi Jinping to do more to curb North Korea's nuclear program and help reduce the gaping US trade deficit with Beijing in talks on Friday, even as he toned down the strident anti-China rhetoric of his election campaign.

Mr Trump spoke publicly of progress on a range of issues in his first US-China summit  as did several of his top aides  but they provided few concrete specifics other than China's agreement to work together to narrow disagreements and find common ground for co-operation.

As the two leaders wrapped up a Florida summit overshadowed by US missile strikes in Syria overnight, Mr Xi joined Mr Trump in stressing the positive mood of the meetings and at the same time papering over deep differences that have caused friction between the world's two biggest economies.

Mr Trump's aides insisted he had made good on his pledge to raise concerns about China's trade practices and said there was some headway, Mr Xi agreeing to a 100-day plan for trade talks aimed at boosting US exports and reducing China's trade surplus with the United States.
[April 07, 2017] Research and Markets - $18.9 Billion Cloud Computing Market in Europe 2017-2021 Featuring Amazon, Salesforce, Microsoft and IBM

DUBLIN, Apr. 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Cloud Computing Market in Europe" report to their offering. The European Cloud Computing industry is expected to generate total revenues of $18.9bn in 2016. Whilst not on the scale of the industry in US, European Cloud computing continues to be a quickly developing and fast growing industry. Organizations have sought cloud solutions to reduce expenditure, widen productivity and scale, and increase computing power in light of Big Data issues. Western European countries are ranked significantly higher on the World Economic Forum Network Readiness rankings than those in the East. Who Should Read This Report Executive leaders and business unit leaders, procurement managers, advisors, Investors who have responsibilities to set their organization on a Digital transformation and cloud journey.



Readers will get a deeper understanding of the current adoption level, market drivers and challenges of cloud services in European organizations which would help IT vendors to market their products and services effectively in Western and Eastern European region. The report covers the impact of Brexit and how cloud services vendor can penetrate European market keeping in mind other issues related to data privacy and protection, data accessibility laws, email spam laws etc.

Cloud service providers can look into the IT spend areas by countris and their forecasts till 2021. With growing adoption of cloud services, European enterprises continue to see IT security as a major barrier to adoption which is continuously haunting the enterprises.



Key Topics Covered:





1. Europe Cloud Computing Market - An Overview 2. Europe Cloud Computing Market Size and Forecast 3. Europe Cloud Computing Market, By Cloud Models

4. Europe Cloud Computing Market, By Country Breakdown

5. Europe Cloud Computing Market - Market Approach Post Brexit

5.1. Adoption of Cloud in Europe

5.2. Competitive Analysis - Cloud Services Players

5.3. Europe Cloud Computing Market Trends and Challenges

5.3.1. Data Issues

5.3.2. Accessibility Issues

5.3.3. Marketing and Email Issues

5.3.4. Legal Contract Issues

5.3.5. Brexit Issues

5.3.6. GTM Approach

6. Europe Cloud Computing Adoption Trends

6.1. Western Europe Cloud Market Insights

6.1.1. Cloud Deployment Plan

6.1.2. Key Cloud Adoption Drivers

6.1.3. Key Cloud Adoption Challenges

6.1.4. Key Cloud Services Adoption Methods

6.1.5. Investments in Bundled Services

6.1.6. Hybrid Cloud Usage

6.1.7. Key Drivers for Public Cloud Services Adoption

6.1.8. Key Challenges for Public Cloud Services Adoption

6.1.9. SaaS Adoption

6.2. Eastern Europe Cloud Market Insights

6.2.1. Key Drivers of Cloud Services Adoption

6.2.2. Cloud Services Adoption, by Cloud Type (SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS)

6.2.3. Cloud Services Budgets

6.2.4. Key Benefits of Cloud Services Adoption

6.2.5. Key Challenges for Cloud Services Adoption

6.2.6. Infrastructure Migration to Cloud Timeline

6.2.7. Key Recommendations

7. UK - Cloud Computing - An overview

8. UK Government Cloud Spending

9. UK Cloud Computing - Market Size and Forecasts

10. UK Cloud Computing Market, By Cloud Models

11. UK Cloud Computing Market - Competitive Analysis

11.1. Amazon.com, Inc.

11.2. International Business Machines Corporation (IBM)

11.3. Microsoft Corporation

11.4. Salesforce.com, inc.

12. Germany Cloud Computing Market - An Overview

13. Germany Cloud Computing Market Size and Forecast

14. Germany Cloud Computing Market, By Cloud Models

15. Germany Cloud Computing Market - Competitive Analysis

15.1. Amazon.com, Inc.

15.2. International Business Machines Corporation (IBM)

15.3. Microsoft Corporation

15.4. Salesforce.com, inc.

16. Cloud Security: Continues to Remain a Concern

17. Key Aspects for Cloud Service Provider (CSP) Selection

18. Key Recommendations

19. Europe Cloud Service IT Spending (US $ Million), By Countries, 2014-2020



For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/d8bv4n/cloud_computing Media Contact: Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



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By WestKyStar & CVB Staff Apr. 06, 2017 | 09:53 PM | PADUCAH, KY

"Self-Portrait with Dogwood" highlights Merrills connection to the dogwood tree. No ordinary memoir, but a life of journeys across the globe in times of war and peace. Christopher Merrill threads his personal history through stories of the natural environment, politics, and faith to reveal how tragedy can be salvaged by beauty, in his case the dogwood tree.





Merrill was instrumental in Iowa Citys bid to become a UNESCO Creative City of Literature, a designation awarded in 2008. Paducah joined Iowa City in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in 2013. Merrill serves on the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO with Mary Hammond, Executive Director of the Paducah Convention & Visitors Bureau.





For information about the 53rd Annual Dogwood Trail Celebration and dogwood-themed events, visit www.paducah.travel/dogwoodtrail.





The Paducah Convention and Visitors Bureau is the official Destination Marketing Organization for Paducah and McCracken County. For more information, visit www.Paducah.Travel.





Christopher Merrill, writer, poet and director of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, will visit Paducah for a talk, meet & greet and book signing of his memoir, "Self-Portrait with Dogwood."The McCracken County Library will host the free public event on Wednesday, April 12 at 7 pm.
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By West Kentucky Star Staff

Apr. 08, 2017 | PADUCAH, KY

By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 08, 2017 | 11:52 AM | PADUCAH, KY

A man who was shot in January during a deadly home invasion has been charged with murder.



The McCracken County Sheriff's Department says 28-year-old Eric Howard told deputies that 33-year-old Robert Ingram contacted him on Jan. 7, threatening to come to his Reidland home and assault him. Deputies said Ingram and 39-year-old Toby Reed later came to Howard's home and kicked in his door. Howard told deputies he barricaded his door after Ingram threatened him, and when the two men got inside he shot them both.



Reed died at the scene. Ingram was taken to Lourdes hospital and was later flown to a hospital in Nashville, TN for treatment.



Deputies say a dispute began between Ingram and Howard about an hour before the shooting, and Ingram had threatened him via social media. They said they found evidence that supported Howard's account of the incident.



A grand jury indicted Ingram Friday on charges of murder, second degree burglary, and terroristic threatening. Ingram turned himself in Friday night. He was booked into the McCracken County Regional Jail, with a $505,000 cash bond.



The grand jury did not indict Howard. The sheriff's department says his actions were considered self-defense under Kentucky law.
Calvert City to help get letters to Santa
CHARLESTON -- Film critic Robin Murray will discuss how comic movies handle the topic of environmental disaster on Wednesday at 1 p.m. in the Coleman Hall Auditorium on the campus of Eastern Illinois University. The talk is free and open to the public.

Professor Murray is often called on as a guest speaker on film across the country, says Dana Ringuette, chair of the EIU Department of English. This keynote gives our students and community a chance to hear from a national expert on environment and film.

Murray, a professor of English and Womens Studies, coordinates the film minor at EIU. With her co-author Joseph Heumann, an EIU professor emeritus of Communication Studies, Murray is author of five books on environmental studies of film. Most recently, their book Monstrous Nature explores environmental themes in monster movies.

From cannibals to cockroaches, Murray and Heumann fill a major gap in the field, says Scott Slovic, professor of literature and environment at the University of Idaho.

Murrays talk is the keynote for the annual English Studies Conference. The annual conference features presentations by students in English classes at EIU as well as talks by returning alumni.

The English Studies conference is sponsored by the EIU English Department with support from the Redden Foundation.
Duplicate bridge results announced

CHARLESTON -- The results of the duplicate bridge game played on April 3 are:

1 Keith Atteberry - Mark Daily

2 David Stevens- Ann Lang

1B Jan Albin - Stan Albin

The next game will be held on Monday at the First Christian Church in Charleston at 6:45 p.m.

American Red Cross blood drive scheduled

FINDLAY -- The Findlay American Legion Auxiliary will be hosting an American Red Cross blood drive from 2-6 p.m. Monday at the Findlay American Legion Post Home in downtown Findlay.

Blood is in constant demand. All types are needed. Refreshments will be served.

Alpha Upsilon to hold business meeting

MATTOON -- Alpha Upsilon will have their business meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Community Room of the Mattoon Area Family YMCA. Members will be voting on the chapter's Best Social of the Year.

The educational speaker will be Karen from Daisy Lane. She will present scrapbook ideas and information on "how to" start scrapbooking.

They will also have Sarah Dowell, council director with Girls On The Run, sharing information on the upcoming YMCA May Merriment.

If members are unable to attend, RSVP to Kathleen Grissom, president, at 217-234-6164 or 217-848-2774 by noon Tuesday.

Art Talk Tuesday scheduled at Flourishes

SHELBYVILLE -- Local artists of all skill levels are welcome to join the free sessions at Art Talk Tuesday at Flourishes Gallery and Studios, located at 140 1/2 East Main.

There is no cost or registration needed.

Sessions begin at 3 p.m. on Tuesdays. The topic of discussion will be creating small sculptures with found objects. Bring E6000 glue and objects to use and share.

Tuesday's topic will be training the eye through drawing upside down.

For more information, call 217-827-5690.

Tickets available for spring jazz band concert

CASEY -- The Casey-Westfield Band Department will present the annual Spring Jazz Concert at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 18, at the Casey Nazarene Church.

Tickets are now on sale from high school band members or by calling the high school. Tickets are $10 per person. There will be a catered dinner and silent dessert auction. The dinner menu includes grilled hamburgers, grilled tenderloins, deviled eggs, macaroni and cheese, fruit salad and iced tea/lemonade.

For more information, contact Brent Ritter at 217-932-2175.

Tickets available for Taste of Cumberland County

TOLEDO -- Toledo Town and Country Ladies Group is hosting the second annual Taste of Cumberland County and Vendor Event to raise money for a $500 scholarship to a Cumberland High School senior.

The event will be held on April 20 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Toledo American Legion. Various restaurants from Cumberland County will have food available, along with different vendors displaying their unique items. Cash and carry items will be available.

Tickets may be purchased ahead of time for $5 for six tastings. All pre-sold tickets will go into a drawing. Tickets are available at the door also.

Those interested in showcasing items or having questions should contact Kristi Ryan at 217-276-3596, Kim Starwalt at 217-201-9660 or Abby Donsbach at 217-259-3668.

St. Mary's School to hold dinner and dance fundraiser

MATTOON -- Immaculate Conception Church and St. Mary School are sponsoring a dinner and dance evening on April 22 in the Parish Hall.

The first Bright Beginnings for Promising Tomorrows fundraiser will include a steak dinner, DJ and dancing, mystery wine pull, restaurant row gift card pull, and silent and live auction.

The evening begins at 5 p.m. with a social hour, followed by dinner at 6 p.m. Tickets can be purchased for $30 each by contacting St. Mary School at 217-235-0431 or the church rectory at 217-235-0539. Table sponsorships are also available for businesses or groups. Proceeds from the evening will used to support the betterment of St. Mary School.
The world faces the prospect of more tension with China over trade, security and human rights after Xi Jinping awarded himself another five-year term as leader of the ruling Communist Party and called for self-reliance in technology, a stronger military and protection of core interests abroad. At a party congress, Xi gave no sign of plans to change the "zero-COVID strategy that has frustrated Chinas public and disrupted business and trade. He called for faster military development and announced no change in policies that strain relations with Washington and Asian neighbors. Xi is tightening control at home and trying to use Chinas economic heft to increase its influence abroad.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 08/04/2017 (2040 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, in partnership with Rainbow Stage, created some enchanted evening Friday night with its grand new venture, a staged concert version of Rodgers and Hammersteins haunting South Pacific.

The co-production, directed by Donna Fletcher and featuring an all-local cast of 24 actors, marks the first such collaboration between these two venerable Winnipeg institutions that is neither concert nor musical; not an opera nor a play. In fact, rather than being squirreled away in the depths of a typical orchestra pit, the full, onstage 67-piece orchestra, superbly led by WSO resident maestro Julian Pellicano, took their pride of place and became key players  ostensibly another character  during the 142-minute production (including intermission), allowing the enthusiastic crowd of 1,978 to hear these wonderfully lush orchestrations in all their symphonic glory.

Set on a South Pacific island during World War II, the story tells the tale of American nurse Nellie (Jillian Willems) who falls in love with French plantation owner Emile (Sam Plett), while Lt. Joe Cable (Aaron Hutton) likewise becomes smitten with Tonkinese woman Liat (Stephanie Sy), in turn, egged on by her mother Bloody Mary (Rochelle Kives).

They both grapple with the perils of internalized racism after Nellie discovers Emile had previously sired children with a Polynesian woman, while Cable cannot face marrying an Asian woman against an ever-increasing drumbeat of war. In so many ways, this 68-year old chestnut that premiered on Broadway in 1949 is as timely as ever.

The show is unusual in that its a leaner, meaner version of the usual types of full-bore productions staged by Rainbow each summer  including its last South Pacific presented in 1997. Gone are the large-scale sets. Props are minimal, although period costumes ranging from sailor suits to rustling grass skirts are terrific. Lighting effects are evocative, including digital projections that suggest blue skies and starry, moonlit nights. Theres an overall sense of economy, with many of the original shows musical reprises, comedy shtick and incidental music simply cut. Yet this results  paradoxically  in greater freedom and a clearer focus on the shows narrative, propelled by RS artistic director Ray Hoggs highly effective musical staging/choreography that makes good use of the relatively limited performance area.

South Pacific is known for its treasure chest of perennial show tunes, and this production delivered. Pletts swoon-worthy Some Enchanted Evening immediately enthralled, as did his later stirring One Dream in my Heart that is a song for the ages. Not to be outdone, Willems plucky hick from the sticks nurse Nellie belted out A Cockeyed Optimist, while Kives cast her own spell as she sang of mystical island Bali Hai.

Kudos also to Hutton for his heart-felt Younger than Springtime sung to wide-eyed innocent Liat, with each of their scenes charmingly innocent. His mellifluous vocals that would disarm any stealth military operation soared during Youve Got to Be Carefully Taught that is at the very heart of this show. As his lyrical voice rose in intensity, his message about racism being taught rather than inborn rang loud and clear.

Young Lorenzo Espina and Yasmin Reyes as Emiles adorable children added their own sweet presence during their opening duet Dites-Moi.

Winnipeg Jewish Theatre artistic director Ari Weinberg, in his RS debut, had big shoes to fill as the slaphappy Stewpot, immortalized by the great Stan Lesk during the summer theatres 1997 production, but he proved his mettle with razor-sharp comedic chops. Simon Miron as Luther also danced a mean hula in full grass skirt regalia during the Thanksgiving Follies show-within-a-show.

And then there are the showstoppers, with one hit seeming to ride the crest of another. The swaggering sailors/male ensemble wowed first with There is Nothin Like a Dame, matched by the female ensemble that gaily skipped and shampooed their way through Im Gonna Wash that Man Right Out of My Hair. Another highlight is the razzmatazz Honey Bun number performed during the Act II Follies.

However, the maiden voyage of this good ship musical still experienced a few turbulent waves. Many of the microphone cues were late, resulting in unsettling dips caused by delayed amplification. Adam Hurtigs too quiet, and too quickly spoken dialogue as Captain Brackett often became AWOL. Prairie Voices (Geung Lee, director) added their youthful voices to the mix, although their barren risers that flanked the stage when they left their posts appeared overly utilitarian  a few palm branches would have kept the tropical mystique.

DAVID LIPNOWSKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Enchanted evenings Jillian Willems, as Nellie Forbush, with Simon Miron, as Luther Billis during the Thanksgiving Follies show-within-a-show.

But despite some of these invariable growing pains, the home-grown show that salutes Winnipegs impressive musical theatre ranks received a rousing standing ovation by the mostly older crowd  which leapt to attention with loud cheers for this latest generation of islanders.

The show repeats Saturday night, 8 p.m, with a Sunday matinee, 2 p.m. at the Centennial Concert Hall.

Holly.harris@shaw.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 08/04/2017 (2040 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Organizers hope Winnipegs diverse culture, not to mention its food-truck culture, mean they will embrace the concept of an outdoor night market.

The Red River Exhibition grounds will be the home of the Winnipeg Night Market this summer during the May long weekend evenings, as well as weekends in mid-July and mid-August.

Ex-Winnipegger Jeannette Medrano is the impresario behind the concept that shes successfully tested for the past year in Calgary.

Supplied

Our first event last June had over 10,000 people attend and caused major traffic jams, she said of the Calgary launch.

Winnipeg is more culturally diverse than Calgary, and I think Winnipeggers like street food more than in Calgary, said the St. Norbert Collegiate grad.

Medrano, who is of Filipino heritage, moved to Calgary after high school and worked as a manager at Hys Steakhouse there.

She would regularly travel to the Philippines for visits where she experienced night markets in many communities throughout that South Pacific island nation.

They have these cool night markets all over and I thought, OK, you know what, we will bring this to Canada to see how it works,  she said. We tested it and it went really well. It was amazing.

Its now turned into a full-time career for her and while its a management challenge, shes excited to bring her new business to Winnipeg.

The Calgary location last year was at an historical park and we couldnt do as much as we wanted to because there were residents nearby, she said. The Winnipeg location is a perfect for the market. Its away from the city and we dont have to worry about noise and complaints from residents.

So far shes sent out about 400 applications to vendors who have expressed interest  anything from food trucks, to prepared food stalls, to jewelry and craft artisans, to buskers and performers.

Supplier

The market will be open from 5 p.m. to midnight outside on the Red River Ex grounds. The parking is free but there is $5 weekend admission price; kids under 12 get in free.

Garth Rogerson, the CEO of the Red River Exhibition Association, said Red River Ex will provide security as it does for every event promoter that rents out his space.

This is a little different for Winnipeg, said Rogerson. I had never heard of the idea before but I did some research and it has been been fairly popular in Calgary.

In fact, it is so popular in Calgary that Medrano now operates all year long. Monthly events continue to be well received, with more than 1,000 people attending the Friday night markets.

Medrano is busy running the market in Calgary while she organizes her foray back into her home market. She said the uptake has been good so far.

It is a new market so vendors are still trying to get used to the idea, she said.

Winnipeggers seem very excited and are looking forward to coming to the Winnipeg Night Market.

The idea is to create a destination that will draw residents and visitors to the city to encourage and support independent businesses.

Photos supplied Jeanett Medranos night market in Calgary had more than 10,000 people in attendance, and monthly events regularly boast more than 1,000 visitors. Shes importing her idea to Winnipeg, and all vendors are welcome, from craftmakers to food trucks.

Rogerson said there is no plan to serve alcohol and Medrano said that would be Red River Exs call, but she did say all the food truck operators were asking if there would be a beer tent.

But partiers may have to be satisfied with stilt walkers, balloon makers and two stages with live music.

Were taking all kinds of vendors, whether they be handmade artisans, retailers, produce, food trucks and anybody that has something to sell, she said. Its an open market.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 08/04/2017 (2040 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Farmers could be forgiven for revving up for seeding with a little less gusto than usual this spring.

They already have a pretty good idea what sowing this years crop is going to cost, and everything on the price horizon so far is pointing to the likelihood it will be a break-even year at best. So if someone makes money on their efforts this year, it wont be them.

The 2016-17 farm income outlook put out by Agriculture and AgriFood Canada earlier this year says net cash income for the sector will be down two per cent for 2016 and seven per cent for 2017 based on current production and price outlooks.

PHIL HOSSACK / FREE PRESS FILES Farmers will be heading to the fields for spring seeding soon.

Even though crop prices are expected to be lower again in 2017, crop cash receipts are projected to be slightly higher because farmers are expected to have more crops to sell  weather permitting.

Canadian farm incomes would be looking much worse if it wasnt for the weak dollar. It has served as a cushion against declining commodity prices that have thrown the U.S. farm economy into a tailspin.

However, the AAFC forecast says that cushion is getting thinner. For 2016 and 2017 the exchange rate is expected to be generally stable and Canadian farmers will be more exposed to international price fluctuations, the report says.

Use of the word fluctuations in that statement is being generous. The longer-term outlook for global grain markets is downright dismal, according to an analysis prepared by economists at the Agricultural Policy Analysis Center at the University of Tennessee.

They adjusted the U.S. Department of Agricultures 10-year projected returns for wheat, corn, and soybeans to factor in fixed costs.

They compared per-acre costs and trend yields to expected returns, and put last years losses for wheat at US$108 per acre, this years at US$115 and then project a slow decline to US$84 in 2026, for a total loss of US$980 per acre for the decade.

Their analysis shows corn and soybeans will also be losing propositions over that same period.

With corn prices over the next 10 years projected to stay below US$4 (per bushel), crop farmers are looking at a bleak future, said economists Harwood D. Schaffer and Daryll E. Ray. U.S. corn prices serve as a bellwether for all commodity crops.

Thats pretty hard to take for producers steeped in the rhetoric about the world running short of food. So what gives?

For starters, this is a First World problem.

Most of the food consumed in much of the world is produced on tiny farms by farmers hoping to grow enough to feed their families. For them, price isnt an issue.

Two University of Missouri economists looked at four key drivers in world grain and oilseed markets over the past 35 years to get a perspective on how things might evolve between now and 2050.

Those fundamentals  growth in crop yields, population, Chinese demand and biofuel production  dont tell the whole story in an incredibly complex marketplace, but they do serve up some interesting insights.

For example, Chinese demand and biofuel production account for the entire net increase in world per capita grain and oilseed consumption since 1980, economists Patrick Westhoff and Wyatt Thomson write.

They noted prices drop whenever world yields exceed the 35-year average and they rise whenever yields are lower than the trend yield. Global yields have exceeded long-term averages for the fourth straight year.

As well, world population growth rates have slowed to 1.1 per cent per year, which is almost exactly the same trend rate as the growth in crop yields. Even factoring in projected increases in demand as incomes rise, they conclude that it wont be as hard as some have predicted to keep up with the worlds food needs by 2050.

In the absence of new sources of demand growth or a major disruption in production capacity, their analysis suggests prices will continue to be challenged.

That leaves farmers, at least in our part of the world, heading for the fields hoping disaster strikes  someplace else.

Laura Rance is editorial director for Farm Business Communications. She can be reached at laura@fbcpublishing.com or 204-792-4382
In a December survey by State Farm, more than 80 percent of teens admitted to using their phones while driving.

Add to that number a 20-year-old man from Leakey, Texas, who admitted to texting before he crashed his pickup into the front of a church bus last week, killing 13 people.

At least two people had called police to report the truck was swerving over the road for a while, but the fatal accident occurred before police could pull over the driver. The victims, who ranged in age from 61 to 87, were returning from a church retreat.

The driver acknowledged he was texting, but Texas has no statewide ban on texting while driving. The Associated Press said 46 other states (including Illinois) ban sending or reading email, using apps or engaging in other internet use while driving.

In Illinois, it's also illegal to use a handheld phone: you must use a hands-free device, and avoid using devices in construction or school zones.

The lack of a law should not excuse stupidity. We don't have laws about holding your hand over an open flame, yet we know we'll get burned if we do.

A State Farm survey issued this week showed "a significant relationship" between cellphone use and crashes using self-reported data, the insurer said. The survey said more than half of people who own smartphones use them while driving to talk, text, access the internet, read email, access social networks, take pictures or record video.

And we're surprised by cellphone-related car accidents?

As technology has advanced, motorists have many more distractions that pull their attention away from the road, and from other drivers: radios, movies, GPS, phones, texts, smoking, personal grooming, pets, beverages, food  they all pose a distraction to someone piloting a vehicle that weighs at minimum 2,000 pounds.

Distracted driving is not limited to texts, games, videos and various dinging noises. People who are under the influence of prescription and recreational drugs and people who have been drinking alcohol remain threats.

But the use of handheld devices, like phones or tablets, are most common among the younger set  they are less experienced behind the wheel, tend to think they are invincible, don't believe their driver's ed teachers about the dangers, are afraid they'll "miss something" if they don't check their phones every two minutes.

In a December story by reporter Julia Evelsizer, Chuck Fisher, owner and instructor of Fisher Driving School, said cellphones arent the only thing that can lead to distracted driving.

Changing the radio or turning to talk to a passenger can be just as distracting and cause you to take your eyes off the road. I tell students to make all adjustments  like seats, mirrors, radio and temperature  before driving, he said.

The Texas tragedy is a grim reminder of the consequences of distracted driving. Remember that the next time you get behind the wheel.

-- The Bloomington Pantagraph
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 07/04/2017 (2041 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Raging Grannies are funny, but make no mistake: they are no joke.

Its Friday morning, and the original Victoria, B.C., gaggle  a group of Raging Grannies is a gaggle, by the way  is rehearsing a few of their songs with the Winnipeg gaggle at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR). Its a big day. The Victoria gaggles 30th anniversary is being celebrated with a new Raging Grannies exhibit in the museums seventh-floor Inspiring Change gallery.

The women are resplendent in their trademark feather boas and huge hats, which are collapsing under the weight of political pins and flowers. Sure, theres some incongruity in seeing a sweet granny wearing a pin that says Stephen Harper Hates Me on it, but that would be underestimating just how badass these fearless and outspoken women truly are.

Since it began in 1987, the Raging Grannies has become a bona fide social justice activist movement, with more than 100 gaggles all over North America. Their ranks include women aged 60-plus, and their acts of peaceful resistance include everything from singing satirical songs and donning outlandish costumes to staging sit-ins disguised as tea parties. You name it, theyve probably done it. In March, the Victoria gaggle did a Plunge Against Pipelines wearing nothing but their hats and boas.

Raging Grannies have been arrested  a 92-year-old Granny was arrested in 2015 in Seattle while protesting arctic oil drilling, for one example. They show up to speak their mind, and they have no problem with showing up where they arent wanted. They are your grandmothers activist group and they lay it on the line to create a better world for future generations.

Anne Moon, 75, has been a Victoria granny for 20 years, and shes thrilled to be recognized by the CMHR. Shes also buoyed by how many people shes seen engage in protest activism and take to the streets, particularly in the wake of Donald Trumps election in the United States. Its really lovely to have some company now, Moon says.

Moon says that over the past two decades shes been raging, the Grannies tactics have gotten more creative, more entertaining, a little less strident and a little more fun.

The Raging Grannies know first-hand just how powerful a tool humour is when it comes to engaging with people on serious, political topics. Theres a reason clips from late-night shows such as Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Full-Frontal With Samantha Bee  and the first decent season of Saturday Night Live in a long time  go viral the next day; comedy provides an accessible entry point into difficult discussions. (And also, sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying.)

There are serious issues out there, but when a little old granny in a funny hat stands up and talks about it, it isnt as hard to listen to as it might be coming from a news source, says Marilyn Huska, 69, who is part of the Winnipeg gaggle of Raging Grannies. Our role is to get people thinking and entertain them a bit, too.

The Winnipeg gaggle was founded in 2003 by Leuba Franko, who says the Grannies here have stood up and sang for every issue you can think of here in the city. These days, they are focused on standing up as allies for indigenous women. Theres a big divide in the river in Winnipeg, so weve tried to cross the river, she says. Right now, there are no indigenous Grannies in the group, but Franko and Huska say the door is always open.

The Raging Grannies lend their voices to all sorts of social issues, but the fact they put themselves out there is something of a political act unto itself. This is a demographic that is too often infantilized, medicalized, isolated, or rendered invisible by a society obsessed with youth. As exhibit curator Julia Peristerakis points out, the Grannies are radically visible. I think their costumes and songs are a way of counteracting that invisibility that older women might face, she says.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Freda Knott (left) from Victoria starts a chant while waiting for the opening of the Raging Grannies exhibit at the CMHR on Friday.

Peristerakis spent a weekend with the Grannies in Victoria as part of her research for the exhibit, attending everything from a seniors roundtable on health to a flash mob. The thing that really struck me, they kept repeating that the reason they stay engaged and what gets them out of bed is a concern for the future generations of the world, she says.

The Raging Grannies are also proof that you can become an activist at any age. To that end, Moon has some advice for aspiring Raging Grannies.

Get involved in politics. Find a community cause that you believe in. Start small. And, when you get braver, put on a hat and a boa.

jen.zoratti@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @JenZoratti
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 07/04/2017 (2041 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The new internal trade agreement unveiled Friday will break down barriers and allow Manitoba businesses and workers to truly compete for roles on the national stage, says provincial Growth, Enterprise and Trade Minister Cliff Cullen.

This partnership with the rest of Canada is a great news story for Manitoba, a great news story for Manitobans and in fact, all Canadians. And we are happy to be part of that, Cullen told a gathering of media and stakeholders on the work floor of Winnipeg-based equipment manufacturer Monarch Industries Ltd.

The Canadian Free Trade Agreement means better jobs for Manitobans, a stronger economy for Manitoba and better access to goods and services across our country.

BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS MLA Jeff Wharton (from left), Monarch Industries CEO Roy Cook, MLA Andrew Smith, and Growth, Enterprise and Trade Minister Cliff Cullen attend the Canadian Free Trade Agreement announcement at Monarch Industries on Thursday.

With the low hum of idle machinery in the air and a work bench displaying hydraulic cylinders in varying stages of construction as a backdrop, Manitoba made its participation in the CFTA official Friday afternoon  as did the 13 other jurisdictions involved (the federal government, the provinces and territories) at similar events across Canada.

The Canadian Free Trade Agreement comes into effect July 1 (replacing the two-decade-old Agreement on Internal Trade) and covers nearly every sector of the national economy. It is based on a negative list approach that applies to all government measures outside of those deemed specifically exempt (national security and taxation are among such exemptions).

The 320-page document also covers the creation of sectors yet to exist, such as the sale of marijuana, once the federal government legalizes it.

The Bank of Canada estimates the deal could provide an economic boost of $120 million per year for Manitoba, Cullen said. The estimate has been pegged at close to $25 billion annually for the Canadian economy as a whole.

At the heart of the agreement, the CFTA prohibits discriminating among goods, services, workers and investments based on their province or territory of origin.

Proponents said it will create a more level playing field across the country in terms of potentially eliminating regulatory barriers that impede internal trade and allowing an open market for services via the creation of a single government-run electronic portal, which will make it easier for Canadian businesses to find procurement opportunities across the country.

It will also increase businesses access to billions of dollars in government procurement opportunities and increase the fines that can be levied against a jurisdiction for not complying with agreed-upon CFTA rulings. (In the case of Manitoba, such fines could reach a maximum of $2 million; larger population centres, such as Ontario, have a $10-million maximum.)

Its about trying to eliminate the red tape, the bureaucracy and the difference in regulation between the provinces There wont be any gaps, which means everybody will know what the rules are, Cullen said. Manitoba will have the fewest exemptions of any other jurisdiction to allow for the free flow of goods and services from province to province, and territory to territory.

According to the province, interprovincial exports of goods and services were valued at $18.8 billion in 2015, representing almost 30 per cent of the provinces GDP.

The Progressive Conservatives came to power in April 2016, just months before an agreement in principle was reached on the CFTA. Cullen said the new government gladly jumped into the negotiations.

When we got involved, we took the most ambitious stance of any jurisdiction in Canada and thats the approach we took, he said.

Manitoba is a trading province and we rely on trade to do business and grow our economy. Without this new agreement, Canadians would have more open trade with Europe than (under the incoming Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement) with other Canadian provinces and territories.

We could have faced the ridiculous situation where it would have been easier for Manitoba businesses to do business with Norway rather than Newfoundland.

Fridays announcement, however, is just the first official step enhancing interprovincial trade.

The CFTA will create a panel made up of representatives from all 14 parties to further negotiate individual regulatory changes. Some highlights within the next year: it faces decisions on the trade of beer, wine and spirits within Canada and will engage in discussion on rules applicable to financial services, the fisheries sector and food-sector development in the North.

This agreement is the most comprehensive domestic trade agreement in Canadas history. But there is still more work to do, Cullen said. We are headed in the right direction and with this new agreement, we certainly have come a very long way.

scott.emmerson@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 08/04/2017 (2040 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

About a mile away from the majestic Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France  between a farmers pasture and a wheat field  sits a little-known tribute to those who lost their lives in the Great War battlefield.

The small tribute to the 44th Battalion in France.

In late 1917, only a couple of months after the bloody hellfire that defined a young nations military might, the men of the 44th Manitoba Battalion built a small memorial to honour comrades who had fallen during the winter, spring and summer battles of that year.

That original memorial, after surviving the rest of the war, was taken apart, rebuilt and placed in Winnipegs St. James Park in 1926, where it still stands today.

The memorials remaining shell in France was knocked down in 1990, only to be replaced in 2007 by a modest new one built by local French citizens. That year, it commemorated the 90th anniversary of the 44ths capture of The Pimple, a German strong point, during the Battle of Vimy Ridge on April 12, 1917.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The War Graves Commission disassembled the original monument in 1924. The rebuilt version was dedicated in Winnipeg in 1926.

  

In late 1916, Canadian forces took up position in the open graveyard that was Vimy Ridge. Tens of thousands of French soldiers who had attacked the formidable German defences in 1915 laid petrified, skeletonized and unburied in the chalky soil. British soldiers who fought there in 1916 joined the dead and, in 1917, it was the Canadians turn to pay the butchers bill.

The 44th had suffered horribly in the Oct. 28, 1916, attack on the Regina Trench  a German stronghold in the Somme battlefield. After being pulled off the line in late November, they had spent two weeks in battalion rest to repair bodies and minds. As the men began their long march towards Vimy, the battalion was looking well and much smartened up, according to a Dec. 18 entry in the battalions War Diary. But, depression and death still weighed heavily on the men.

Archives of Manitoba Ed Russenholt joined the 44th in 1914.

Old-timers told reinforcements they have come to a unit that knows only how to be slaughtered, that has never taken a yard of trench, never captured a prisoner, Ed Russenholt wrote in 6000 Canadian Men, a day-by-day war account of the battalion.

Russenholt, a farmer from Bowsman, Man., who joined the 44th in December 1914, got his first taste of Vimys front line on Christmas Day.

Wet weather had left the trenches in an awful state. The enemys shelling was intense and six men were killed in the six days the battalion was on the line.

In a Christmas letter to his father, Russenholt tried to make light of the situation.

Water and mud is over the knees in spots  at night when making your rounds to see if the boys are O.K. you go sneaking along  remembering that Fritz is just over there within bombing distance and generally when you come to some place where you want to be extra quiet splash, you go! sprawling on your hands.

They were relieved on New Years Day, but the battalion took its second turn on the line six days later and 10 more men were killed. Vimy Ridge was a living up to its deadly reputation.

In January 1917, British Lt.-Gen. Sir Julian Byng, the commander of the Canadian Corps, was instructed his corps job in the coming spring offensive was to capture the ridge. Byng and his favourite Canadian general, Arthur Currie, knew the task could only be accomplished by transforming the four Canadian divisions into a professional army, by developing a strategic master plan, ensuring the German wire was cut, that the enemy machine guns and artillery were obliterated and that an effective creeping barrage protected the attacking battalions.

Canada. Dept. Of National Defence/National Archives of Canada Canadian machine gunners dig themselves in shell holes at Vimy.

When the 44th arrived in England in 1915, they were told to forget what they had learned in Canada. On the Ypres salient, they were told to forget what they had learned in England. Now on Vimy Ridge, they were told to forget Ypres and the Somme.

The British Army and the Canadian Corps had learned some lessons on the Somme. The tactical innovations found in the booklet Instructions for the Training of Platoons for Offensive Action (1917) became the foundations of the Canadian Corps success in battle. On the Somme, the infantry learned how to fight and die; at Vimy they learned how to fight and win. Nevertheless, the cost in young Canadian lives would be horrible.

In 1915 and 1916, each company of 200 men was composed primarily of riflemen with machine gunners, snipers and grenade throwers as separate sections. In 1917, the four platoons of each company  roughly 35-50 men  were organized into flexible fighting teams, which trained to fight their own miniature battles using all the weapons in the infantrys arsenal.

The men were to fight as a cohesive unit that could and would continue an attack, even if their officers and non-commissioned officers were killed or wounded. In the newly integrated units, one team was made up of riflemen and snipers; the next were the grenade throwers; the third team used rifle grenades and the fourth team was the Lewis Light Machine Gun crew.

The men studied mock-ups of the German trenches they were assigned to attack and practised taking the objective over and over. They knew the enemys strong and weak points, they knew where every machine gun was located, they knew how to manoeuvre, overrun, take the objective and hold it against the inevitable counterattack.

The Canadian Press files Canadian soldiers in the trenches at Vimy Ridge in 1917.

In a 1960 CBC interview, Russenholt described the mens new regime, under the critical eyes of the new battalion commander, Lt.-Col. Rhys Davies. This is a job and before you can turn out skilled workmen, theyve got to do a lot of training Training, training, training, training And I remember every time that we were out from the line, as I was gun sergeant, I had classes going all the time, on those guns, even with a bunch of old-timers. We used to say that our gunners got so good, you know, that if they could dissemble a gun, put it in a scoop shovel and throw it in the air, itd come down assembled and shoot.

Although the men complained, wrote Russenholt, at heart (they) are impressed with the thoroughness of the preparation  here is such a contrast to the affair of Regina Trench. To hone their skills, moral and fighting spirit, all infantry battalions on Vimy took turns raiding the enemy trenches. The Canadians were specialists at this kind of stealth warfare.

Since 1915, front-line battalion commanders wanted to control their sector of no-mans land to prevent German stealth attacks. At night, they sent out scouts to hunt down and ambush German working parties. It was known as silent death in trench parlance. Sometimes they sent out trench raiders in butcher and bolt operations.

The 44ths first turn was on Feb. 3 and the training in the new tactics paid off when the officers and NCOs leading the attack were wounded. The men took the initiative, rushed and captured a German gun and 14 prisoners. This was the battalions first successful attack; it was a new era.

As March continued, the battalion continued its raids, intensive training and preparations for the upcoming battle. On March 20, the preliminary artillery barrage began. The barrage destroyed nearly 90 per cent of the German guns and most of the barbed-wire defences. On Easter Monday, April 9, the battalions of the Canadian Corps came out of Vimys trenches and tunnels and attacked the heights to gain their immortality in victory or in death.

CP PICTURE ARCHIVE press With the order of "fix bayonets" soldiers emerge from their trenches.

The 44th and 50th (Alberta) were ordered to hold their trench positions on the far-left side of the battlefield, where they had been positioned all winter. They were not due to go into battle until April 11.

On the morning of April 9, the men of the 44th climbed out of their tunnels and trenches and, in the darkness, waited in anticipation of zero hour. Russenholt wrote in a 1936 essay of the shock and awe as the battle began:

Away west of us flame leaped up like prairie fire. The sky split as the lightening of gun fire flashed upward and southward as far as the eye could see! And the tremendous booms of the big guns thundered. We knew that even as we stood, thousands of Canadian men our comrades were advancing across No-Mans Land into the deadly fire of surviving German machine guns

However, not all was going to plan. The 4th Divisions 11th Brigade was unable to take its objective, Hill 145, where the Vimy National Monument now stands. They faced withering machine-gun fire and the 44th and 50th were ordered to attack and take the hill.

On the morning of the 10th, the men moved toward the unfamiliar terrain, led by Lt-Col. Davies, who walked imperiously into battle carrying only a pistol and his walking stick. Davies had been a private in the Boer War and had risen through the ranks. In civilian life, he was a rancher in Russenholts home town.

As the 44th moved up the ridge, the ground was covered in the bodies of the men who died the day before. (They) remembered so well how it happened because we of the 44th battalion had been mowed down by unchecked machine gun fire in attacking Regina Trench, Russenholt wrote.

Although unfamiliar with the terrain, they pressed on under heavy fire. Most of the officers and NCOs were killed or wounded, but the battalions men moved steadily forward to capture their objective.

Imperial War Museum Canadian troops survey the Douai Plain and the village of Vimy Village from the crest of the captured ridge.

As Dugalds Wesley Runions stepped into no-mans land, shrapnel hit him in the stomach and shoulder and he went down. But he said in an interview in 1982: I heard the men cheer as they took the ridge. Canadians now looked beyond the mud and the blood into the broad Douai Plain. The operation cost the battalion 100 casualties.

Their work was not done. On the evening of the 11th, the battalion moved forward to attack their original objective, The Pimple, at the northern end of the ridge. On the 12th, the men attacked in a blinding snowstorm. It was a good old Manitoba blizzard, one said, just like home.

The mud was nearly impassible and the men were forced to move around large craters. Winnipegs Capt. Douglass Marshall, a Military Cross recipient, described the scene in a 1960 CBC interview. It was early in the morning, pitch dark, and this was our home territory because on The Pimple, that was our area that we had been in and out of all winter but when we got up there, there was nothing, you couldnt recognize anything it had been  it was just a quagmire, was churned into just muck all over And they were shelling us then pretty heavily, and the shells were bouncing around and they did no damage at all; they went into the mud and then they blew up in the air. So, nobody got hurt much.

Although facing heavy resistance, there was no failure in the attack. As the Germans retreated under continued pressure, the battle of Vimy Ridge came to an end. Victory was costly. In Canadas bloodiest four days of battle, 3,598 men died and more than 7,000 were wounded.

Big doings these days, eh? Russenholt wrote on April 15. Last five days the old 44th has cleaned up accounts with Hienie for what happened at the Somme  and then some

Canada. Dept. Of National Defence/National Archives of Canada Bringing in the injured from the battlefield. Nearly 3,600 Canadians died and more than 7,000 were wounded.

After the battle, the battalion recuperated, re-equipped, and took on replacements. Boys keep coming and going and now-a-days, I dont know one quarter of the boys  used to know them all wrote a newly promoted Lt. Russenholt.

This played out heavily in May and June, when unseasoned soldiers were thrown into battle against fresh, well-equipped and highly trained troops. The 44ths optimism from Vimy would falter as it suffered 852 casualties over the next two months.

Their brigades first assignment was to carry out operations in a section of captured German trenches known as The Triangle. The men were not expected to take German trenches in a bite and hold operation, but to merely hold their precarious position and kill as many Germans counterattacking as they could.

The Canadians were surrounded on three sides, the enemy sniped constantly and were close enough to throw bombs into the trenches. As April moved into May, the men suffered an alarming number of casualties in, as Russenholt commented, seemingly fruitless operations.

The front line tour between May 7-12 was a deadly time. On May 8, the Germans attacked but were held off by an artillery bombardment. Soon they counterattacked from all sides using flammenwerfers or flame-throwers. They were about to overrun the battalion but Maj. Charles Belcher, according to an entry in the War Diary, displayed magnificent leadership, rallying the scattered men and leading them over the top in face of Flammenwerfer and later led an attack carried out in broad daylight without artillery protection.

Belcher survived the attack but was shot by a sniper later in the day. He had been wounded twice during the battle of the Somme, was awarded the Military Cross and mentioned in dispatches for his bravery in the face of the enemy. He is buried near Vimy Ridge in Villiers Station Military Cemetery.

By the time the troops were relieved on May 12, the 280 casualties sustained by the battalion during this tour in the trenches were the highest since Regina Trench.

In the next front-line tour, the depleted battalion was ordered to capture the heavily defended town of La Coulette, just beyond The Triangle. The advancing companies were caught in German artillery and machine-gun fire. The battalion suffered 262 casualties, including 77 captured.

The battalion had gone from victory at Vimy to disaster. The men were disillusioned but not angry at the battalion officers. It was the higher-ups at brigade and division levels who betrayed them and sacrificed lives for no apparent purpose.

Writing to his sister, Russenholt bared his soul and penned a moving reflection of the life, feelings and fears of a Canadian infantryman. Nearly every friend and comrade he had trained and fought with in the past two years had been killed, wounded or captured. He is one of the few left whole.

3-5-17

Dear Sister Mine:

Dont think that because I dont write that Ive forgotten you or all the kind things you have done for me. The memory of these things is one of the things I will carry to my grave, whether it is an old mans resting place or a grave in a shell-hole as befits a soldier, as it were. Often I have sat in the bottom of a trench when our friend has been putting a barrage on over our lines when our own shells whistled overhead  and Hienies crumped and crashed and whined in front, behind and overhead  and the air full of mud & flying shrapnel and the smoke and the stink of the high explosive  when chaos reigned  when all that holds a man is the habits that have been drilled into him in his training  combined with the knowledge that the other fellows are sticking  and sitting there the thing that has got him through [in] my mind has been the Twenty-third Psalm And surely through it all He has been with me through the valley of the shadow of death  and cared for me on a certain day last October, on the Somme, when our battalion walked into Hienies machine gun fire and our boys were left out in no-mans land wounded or killed  He Brought me out safely. Miss Murray in a letter at Xmas said, Every man is immortal until his work is done and if in Gods good time any of us is called surely it is for the best and because our work here has been completed

Sincerely,

Edgar

That was his last letter from the front. Russenholt was gassed by a shell on May 9. His war was over. He was sent home and lived to the age of 100.

In 1917, the Canadian Corps was transformed into a highly trained professional army. Advances in artillery spotting and incorporating integrated battle platoon tactics taught the Canadians how to win battles, but the enemy was also highly skilled and determined. Hundreds of men from the 44th and tens of thousands in the Canadian Corps will die fighting their way to victory in the decisive battles of 1918.

CP PICTURE ARCHIVE/National Archives of Canada/William Ivor Castle Canadian soldiers returning from Vimy Ridge.

  

Few families felt the deadly cost of war more than the Bowes clan in Boissevain.

On the towns war memorial, there are 58 names of men who died serving in the First World War. Thirteen are identified as having served in the 44th battalion. They were unmarried farmers, labourers and clerks; the majority were in their early 20s and the oldest was 40 years old. Eleven died on the Vimy front between Feb. 28 and June 3, 1917.

Three were brothers  Clifford, Fred and James Bowes. Fred and James died at Vimy, while Clifford was killed later that year at Passchendaele.

Joseph and Margaret Bowes had eight children: two died in infancy; Elma was a school teacher who died from a ruptured appendix when she was 22; the eldest son, Elliot, was a veterinarian; Clifford worked as a grain elevator agent; James (Jim) worked for the Dominion Bank; Fred worked as a clerk.

In the summer of 1915, Cliff, then 23, enlisted in the 222nd Overseas Battalion (Boissevain Platoon). By fall, he was in southern England training at the Canadian base at Bramshott.

He was a dutiful son and letter writer who kept his mother and father informed about a soldiers life. The men worked hard, he wrote, and were up at 6:00 a.m. to do physical exercise, gun drill, bayonet fighting and route marches. Young men are always hungry, so Cliff commented the grub was three squares a day, lots of it but quality at times only fair.

He was a proud soldier and happy about joining up. In a January 1916 letter, he wrote: It certainly will be a happy day for me when I am actually in the front  and you can rest assured that I will do my duty no matter how hard or at what cost. As well, he had no truck or trade for the cold footed or the damn lazy and, like most men of the Canadian Corps, believed Canada should introduce conscription.

The Bowes children: Elma, seated in chair, Elliot, Clifford, James, standing, and Fred on the arm of the chair.

In 1916, Cliffs two younger brothers  20-year-old Fred and 22-year-old Jim  had also enlisted in the 222nd. They trained at Camp Hughes near Shilo in the summer and arrived in England in December 1916. They were posted to Shoreham Camp.

Young Fred was bit of a scamp and liked to have a good time, However, he was worried how his mother would take any news about his misadventures. So, he decided to get in the first word in a letter he wrote on Dec. 16.

Two boys we got from Melita started chewing about who could drink the most booze of the bunch and the result is that on Saturday we went down and Ill say we were a happy bunch coming home. Anyway, we got home fine and went to bed but the next morning, well, we all felt rotten all day. In the evening, Hanley and I went down with the intention of having a [beer] to clear the stuff out of us and the result was that we both came home a damn sight worse than we were the first night. But never again. Thats enough for me, so dont worry on that score. I am only telling you this because I thought likely you would hear of it anyway and have a wrong impression of it all together. Anyway, weve all sworn off and didnt wait for New Years either.

Cliff couldnt join the 44th in the summer of 1916 and missed the battalions October bloody baptism of fire at Regina Trench. He had developed a severe case of sciatica and spent months suffering in the base hospital and undergoing a long rehabilitation. He was declared fit in the fall and joined the battalion at Vimy Ridge in December.

The battalions first trip up the line came on Christmas Day. In a New Years letter home, he didnt mention how horrible the weather was, nor the deplorable conditions of the trenches, nor the six deaths.

I have been through the big ordeal of my first trip into the line, he wrote. It was not so bad on the nerves as I thought it would be but just the same there is lots of excitement at times We got our measly 15 francs (about $3) yesterday and spent the whole in about half an hour sampling French wine and champagne. Now dont run away with the idea that we all got tanked for such is not the case.

Also on Christmas Day, Jim learned that he and Fred were posted to the 44th, arriving in France in January.

They reached the front line on Jan. 6, 1917. In a February letter home, Jim wrote they were getting used to the gunfire but I was out last Tuesday and we certainly got a decent baptism for a starter. Old Hymie was decidedly peeves in the morning but none of us got hurt Say mother in case anything happens to Fred or I, we both left a will with the paymaster I dont expect that you will have occasion to use them but then you can never tell.

Jim Bowes is buried near the "shell-swept fields" of France.

By early February, the brothers would see each other regularly and, even though they were in different companies, fought together. We each see other regularly weve been in the line and over the top in the biggest raid ever pulled off in this part of the line, Fred wrote on Feb. 20.

This was probably the raid on the night of Feb. 12, when 200 men from the 44th along with 670 other men from the 10th Brigade went over the bags. They raided 700 yards behind the lines, took dozens of prisoners and inflicted many casualties on the enemy.

On Feb. 27, in its usual concise prose, the War Diary noted: situation was normal Casualties during day 4 O.R. (other ranks) wounded. Weather Fine. The four casualties occurred at the end of the day when a German rifle grenade dropped into a forward listening post being manned by men from the 44th.

Had one of them lit a cigarette, stood up or made a noise that revealed the mens location to an attentive German grenadier? Well never know.

Boissevains Eddy ONeil was lucky, he survived his wounds and the war. James McTaggart from Melita died of wounds. Jim Bowes and Fred Bowes did not survive.

On March 1, Cliff wrote that when word came down the line Fred had been wounded and Jim had died, he went to find the field ambulance, but it had already taken Fred to the casualty clearing station.

Oh mother, he wrote, I am nearly heart-broken and crazy. Jim passed away very quietly, thinking of us all and not of himself. Mother, let one thing alone comfort you in the hour of your trouble and that your dead boy was one of the greatest heroes that passed away in this terrible strife. Although wounded far the worst and suffering intensely, he would not let them take him out until they had taken Fred first

His funeral is to be held tomorrow and I still have that task to do. That is to see my brother buried near the shell-swept fields of France.

In a June letter home, Cliff recalled Jims funeral. I saw Jimmy at the cemetery and, Mother, he did look natural with his bonnie smile. They tell me he passed away quite contentedly. His only worry was for Fred and you.

Initially, the medical staff at the casualty station thought Fred might pull through, but likely a leg would have to be amputated. The battalion padre wrote that although Freds progress was slow his chances were good and even Cliff was optimistic about Freds recovery.

Fred died on March 8. The nursing sister, G.N. Raine, wrote Mrs. Bowes and told her Fred had been unconscious most of the time and so was spared pain. The padre also wrote he had just performed Jims funeral service.

Cliff was not able to attend the service but did visit the graves later; in June he wrote to his father that the boys graves are both beautiful. I am sure glad that when they had to go that it was not in the drive as they at least had a descent burial undisturbed from the turmoil of shells.

National Archives of Canada A Canadian grave near Vimy.

The drive was the Canadian assault on Vimy Ridge. He knew that many of the men killed would have been obliterated by shell or mortar fire or buried so deep in the mud that their bodies would never be recovered or identified.

Cliff did not take part in the 44ths attack on Hill 145, where the Vimy Memorial stands today, nor The Pimple. However, Boissevains dead were piling-up: six of his friends were killed between April 10-12.

After the deaths of his brothers, Cliff was re-assigned to a tunneling unit to work on Vimys underground lighting system. In late May, he was re-assigned to the 44ths transport unit away from the front line and believed he would be out of the fighting. (But) I would just as soon be up on the line but I have mother to think of now

In a late June letter, Cliff was not as keen on his brother Elliot joining up or being conscripted, as he had been for Fred and Jim. The family had suffered enough.

I know if I was in his place I would fight to the last ditch, for his place is at home and I would sure rather see him at home than here But we must not grumble about our part as we all willingly joined and are all willing to see it through

In his July letters, hes very pleased to be getting so many letters from home and he talks about meeting up with the boys from Boissevain. As always, hes thinking about his brothers and recalls the first night Jim and Fred hit the line.

What a reception they had. But they didnt seem to mind at all. They sure were men.

In September, Cliff was given 10 days leave. He returned on Sept. 24 and re-joined his battalion, just as the Canadian Corps was readying to march to Passchendaele. He was killed on Oct. 28 during the battalions attack on Crest Farm on the outskirts of Passchendaele. The battalion padre, George Farquhar, wrote to Boissevain:

Dear Mrs. Bowes,

My heart is heavy, so I feel called upon to write you with sad and even sadder news As I write you now, I feel there is no help anywhere else for you except in God when you read the sad news that the third of your three boys has passed beyond.

Ever since his two brothers fell, I have tried to keep in touch with him. He was always the same boy he was when he left home You will have seen some account of the hard fighting in the press. The conditions this time were worse than I have ever seen. The wide, almost level plain sloping gradually to the ridge, the deep mud and worst, the absence of any shelter, the open fighting and the intensive fire of the enemy. Yet our boys did magnificently, fulfilling all expectations and taking all the ground they were sent for. Your son D.C. Bowes, 622720, was with the men in the charge. In the first line, he was hit by a shell and death was instant.

Your son was a splendid type of what any mother might be proud, liked by all and a capable and efficient soldier. You have given so much in this war, that I can say nothing more, only that our sympathies are with you and we pray God to give you help.

His body was never recovered and he is memorialized on the Commonwealth Memorial at the Menin Gate in Ieper (Ypres) Belgium, along with the names of the 6,694 Canadians who died in the Ypres salient and have no known grave.

In 1924, the War Graves Commission dismantled the 44ths Vimy memorial and shipped it overseas.

On June 27, 1926, in Winnipeg, grieving for her sons, the many dead sons of Boissevain and the thousands of Canadian sons, Margaret Bowes laid a wreath and dedicated the freshly reconstructed memorial to those who died in the bloody shadow of Vimy Ridge.

Canada Department of Veterans Affairs It took several years to construct the Vimy memorial.

The full texts of the Bowes brothers letters may be read online in the Legion Magazine, September 2013. Ian Stewart explores the Great War at the Royal Winnipeg Rifles Museum and archives. He can be reached at 44thbattcef@gmail.com
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 07/04/2017 (2041 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Hundreds of emergency room workers had no clue Friday where  or if  theyll be working in a few months.

Nobody knows, said an exasperated Michelle Gawronsky, president of the Manitoba Government and General Employees Union. Ive talked to other unions  we havent been consulted.

There was plenty of uncertainty to go around after the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and the provincial government announced a massive overhaul of health-care service delivery in the city over the next couple of years, including cutting the number of emergency rooms in half the consolidation of emergency care and general surgery to Health Sciences Centre, St. Boniface General Hospital and Grace Hospital.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Concordia Hospital its Emergency.

ERs at Victoria and Seven Oaks hospitals are being transitioned to urgent-care centres for patients requiring care for serious, but not life-threatening, injuries and illnesses. Concordias emergency department will be closed.

The massive changes, which the health authority and province believe will cut wait times, streamline services and save money, were recommended in a report from a review of the system commissioned by the previous NDP government.

But Nova Scotia consultant David Peacheys mandate did not include finding reasons to close three of the citys six emergency departments NDP health critic Matt Wiebe said.

This is a punch in the gut for those communities, said the MLA for the Concordia, adding he lives four minutes away from the hospital of the same name, but 25 minutes from St. Boniface.

Theres ways to improve emergency care closing ERs isnt the way to do it. This is absolutely devastating news for families who depend on this care in their communities to the average Manitoban, theyre going to look up and see the big H, (and think) this is where I go. This is a total blow to them.

Governments should listen to the experts they hire but must also balance that advice with the needs of communities, he said.

Gawronsky said staff in the three ERs being closed are among the MGEUs 16,000 members, many of whom were asking questions she couldnt answer Friday: whether theyll have jobs, where theyll work and what theyll be doing.

They dont have layoff protection, and thats as front-line as youre going to get, she said.

The WRHA said job losses will be kept to a 15 per cent cut in management positions.

We believe there will be jobs for everyone who wants one, the WRHA said in a statement. There will be movement throughout the system. Some positions will be deleted and some will be moved to different sites, but any front-line staff person who wishes to remain with the WRHA will be able to do so.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees called Fridays moves short-sighted, and asked what Premier Brian Pallister will do next to cut health care in the province.

Closing ERs could potentially put public safety at risk, and is sending a shock-wave of uncertainty amongst the provinces health care workers, CUPE said in a news release.

Manitobas Liberal party issued a statement calling on the province to develop a comprehensive health-care plan that pays special attention to rural areas and the North.

The Liberals said there should be simulations and trial ER closures to gauge the impact  including preparation for large-scale medical emergencies with many casualties  and much greater use of technology to connect specialists with outlying hospitals.

Twylla Krueger, executive director of the Seven Oaks General Hospital Foundation, said its far too early to know how the changes will affect different areas of the city.

There just isnt enough information understand what the impacts will be. I think its far too preliminary, and there are too many outstanding questions about specifics to provide any type of comment on the impact this will have on the Seven Oaks community, Krueger said.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca
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This article was published 07/04/2017 (2041 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

And now its a race.

MLA Wab Kinew will officially confirm Monday he is entering the campaign to become the next leader of the Manitoba New Democratic Party.

Kinew, an author and musician who entered politics just before the 2016 provincial election, joins union activist and former mental-health worker Michelle McHale, who declared her intention to seek the party leadership last month. The combination of two youthful candidates, neither of whom has a long resume in electoral politics, creates a real opportunity for the party to shed some of the baggage accumulated during its 17 years in government.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS NDP MLA Wab Kinew and his wife Lisa Monkman. Kinew will officially confirm he is entering the race for leader of the Manitoba New Democratic Party.

In the Kinew candidacy, the NDP faithful will be offered a fairly potent risk-reward equation.

Kinew is young (35), charismatic and seems to possess retail political skills that far exceed his experience. He has a national profile as a cultural figure, broadcast journalist and indigenous activist that has helped him establish a certain political gravitas.

However, Kinew is a candidate with a past that would be the undoing of many lesser politicians.

In his former life as a hip-hop artist, Kinew authored lyrics and social media comments that he has acknowledged were homophobic and misogynistic. He also has convictions for DUI and assault. He has been pardoned for both.

However, while many other politicians have collapsed under the weight of past mistakes of this magnitude, Kinew has stood firm. Helping him in this regard is the fact his critics did not have to look very far to find the details of his indiscretions; Kinew has made several public admissions of these transgressions, including detailed references in his 2012 memoir, The Reason You Walk.

It is the combination of Kinews political skills and his willingness to own up to his mistakes that NDP supporters hope will not only help capture the leadership, but put the party back on a path to relevance.

I have done wrong and Ive admitted my mistakes, Kinew said in an interview. Ive grown a lot as a person. Ive put a lot of work into becoming a better man. I recognize that this is not a box I can check off and say, OK, thats dealt with and lets move on. I know Ive got to keep working to show people Ive changed.

The importance of having, at minimum, a two-horse race to fill the NDP leadership cannot be overstated. Deeply wounded from its thrashing in the 2016 election and deeply divided from the 2014 cabinet uprising that nearly cost former premier Greg Selinger his job, the NDP needs to create the appearance that party leader is still a desirable position. A single-candidate campaign does little more than enhance the stink of death that surrounds political parties during a rebuilding phase.

That said, even a competitive leadership race will not smooth over all of the rough spots on the NDPs tarnished brand. Since assuming the role of official Opposition, the NDP has been a mess of immense proportions. The NDP caucus has been dogged by controversies surrounding the selection of MLA Flor Marcelino as interim leader, ill-advised comments in the legislature and, most recently, the much-delayed decision to eject MLA Mohinder Saran from caucus after being accused of sexually harassing a staff member.

Kinew acknowledged the NDP has not been as effective as it should have been because of all the internal missteps and squabbles that have forced the party to spend more time looking at our own navels than studying the actions of the sitting government.

He also agreed the presence of Selinger in the NDP caucus has been a distraction. Despite facing the internal rebellion and battling to hang on to the leadership before the election campaign, and then overseeing the destruction of the party at the polls, Selinger has remained in caucus with no immediate plans to step down.

Kinew said it must be left up to Selinger to decide how long to hang on. However, he also noted part of the job of the next leader will be to help the party shed its baggage and embrace a new brand and direction to create opportunities for a new generation of candidates.

Part of what I need to do as a unifying force for the party is to let the older generation know that while we respect what theyve done for the party, its time for a new direction, he said. I want to recruit new and talented candidates and create opportunities for them to get involved in the party.

Kinew said he expects a torrent of negative advertising from the governing Progressive Conservatives over his past statements and deeds, but will not let that discourage him from seeking the leadership. Kinew said he believes that when Manitobans get to meet him in person, they will see he is sincerely dedicated to rebuilding the NDP into a political force once again.

I know that it will be a hurdle for some voters, he said. But I believe that if you give me an hour with your grandma, she will end up voting for me. My challenge over the next three years is to get enough time with all those grandmas to change peoples minds.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca
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This article was published 08/04/2017 (2040 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The citys art lovers will get a glimpse of works by some of Canadas top artists at a new exhibition opening today at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.

The Governor Generals Awards in Visual and Media Arts exhibition will display works ranging from sketches, paintings, ceramics, films and jewelry by the eight artists who will receive the awards. They will remain on display at the WAG until Sept. 4.

The winners, who receive a $25,000 cash prize, are: Quebec filmmaker Michele Cournoyer; Toronto filmmaker Mike Hoolboom; Toronto visual artist Shelagh Keeley; Vancouver visual artists Glenn Lewis and Landon Mackenzie; Toronto curator Philip Monk; Shelley Niro, a visual artist from the Six Nations reserve in Ontario; and Nova Scotia jewelry artist Pamela Ritchie.

Steel Notebook, Shelagh Keeley, 2004.

The gallery will host an official unveiling with a gala Friday at 7 p.m.

Its the first time the awards will be unveiled outside of Ottawa and is a collaboration between the gallery and the National Gallery of Canada, the gallery says. The awards were first handed out in 1999 and previous winners include Winnipeg artists Wanda Koop and Robert Houle.

MOTORCYCLE RIDE RETURNS IN MAY

The ninth annual Motorcycle Ride For Dad to raise funds to fight prostate cancer is on Saturday, May 27.

The event has raised $1.5 million in Manitoba so far, including $326,000 last year.

Registration is from 8-10 a.m. at Earls Kitchen and Bar, 1455 Portage Avenue.

Participants can pre-register at RideforDad.ca/manitoba, or visit Earls on May 25-26, from 4-8 p.m.

The motorcycle ride is to Gimli and back.

Funds raised support prostate-cancer research and raise public awareness about the disease.

ROBLIN CRASH SENDS FOUR TO HOSPITAL

Four adults, one critically injured, were taken to hospital Friday after an early-morning crash on Roblin Boulevard that saw a car flipped onto its side.

Police said the crash took place around 2:50 a.m.

The three other people were in unstable condition.

Officers were still on the scene Friday morning and the westbound lanes of Roblin Boulevard were closed from Harstone Road to Grant Avenue, police said.
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This article was published 08/04/2017 (2040 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and the provincial government unveiled a major shakeup for the citys nine hospitals and health centres.

The most significant change is reducing the number of hospitals with emergency room services from six to three. The following is a breakdown of what services the nine facilities provide and the upcoming changes.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Concordia Hospital will have its role change.

Acute care hospitals

Health Sciences Centre

Services provided: 24/7 emergency, critical care, surgery, medicine, mental health, specialty rehabilitation, child health and womens health.

Whats changing: Increase in mental health and surgical capacity; increase in surgical beds.

HSC is Manitobas largest health centre.

St. Boniface General Hospital

Services provided: 24/7 emergency, critical care, cardiac health, surgery, medicine, mental health, child health, womens health and palliative care.

Whats changing: increased mental health capacity, increase in medical beds.

St. Boniface Hospital was first established by the Grey Nuns in 1871, the year after Manitoba joined Confederation.

Grace General Hospital

Services provided: 24/7 emergency, critical care, surgery, medicine, palliative care.

Whats changing: role as teaching hospital expanded, increased surgical capacity, increase in medical and surgical beds, increased access to specialist and after-hours diagnostic imaging.

It is currently a 251-bed facility located in west Winnipeg.

Community hospitals with urgent care

Seven Oaks Hospital

Services provided: 24/7 urgent care, out-patient renal services, elective endoscopy expansion, complex continuing care, elder rehabilitation and transitional care.

Whats changing: 24/7 emergency care converted to urgent care; focus on rehab and care for the elderly.

Seven Oaks is Winnipegs newest hospital, opening in 1981.

Victoria Hospital

Services provided: 24/7 urgent care, day surgeries, in-patient mental health, complex continuing care, general rehabilitation, dementia care.

Whats changing: 24/7 emergency care converted to urgent care, expanded day surgery services, increase in mental health beds, focus on elder friendly care including complex dementia care.

Victoria General Hospital is a 195-acute care facility that has served south Winnipeg for over a century.

Community hospital

Concordia Hospital

Services provided: Orthopedic surgery, complex and continuing care, elder transitional care, rehabilitation.

Whats changing: 24/7 emergency department will be converted for other use, rehab services expanded, will focus on transitional care for the elderly.

Concordia Hospital was started in 1928 by a group of Mennonites who had immigrated to Canada from Russia.

Health centres

Misericordia Health Centre

Services provided: eye surgery and treatment, long-term personal care, interim care, respite care, intravenous therapy clinic, sleep disorder centre.

Whats changing: It will no longer offer 24/7 urgent care; that space will be used for intravenous therapy.

Misericordia Health Centre has been providing care to the region since 1868.

Deer Lodge Centre

Services provided: Geriatric rehabilitation, general chronic care and long-term personal care.

Whats changing: It will be given enhanced capacity to deal with special needs including dementia care, as well as added capacity for geriatric rehabilitation.

It is a 429-bed facility. It started as a convalescent hospital for returning First World War veterans in 1916.

Riverview Health Centre

Services provided: Long-term personal care, dementia care, respite services, respiratory chronic care centre, specialty rehabilitation (acquired brain injury, stroke) and palliative care.

Whats changing: It will get an expanded Alzheimers program and additional long-term care beds.

The centre first opened in 1911 as the Winnipeg Municipal Hospital. It was considered at the time to be one of the most modern facilities caring for people with typhoid fever, diphtheria, small pox and tuberculosis.
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This article was published 07/04/2017 (2041 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

More people are calling 911, violent crime is up and Winnipeg police are responding to almost double the number of emergency calls than normal.

Winnipeg Police Service Chief Danny Smyth said he wont know why until he digs down into the numbers.

Smyth told a Winnipeg Police Board meeting Friday that the data is in the monthly report he provides to board members.

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Winnipeg Police Service Chief Danny Smyth said he doesn't know the reason for a recent increase in violent crime and 911 calls.

I dont know what the reasons of it are, he said. We receive it, prioritize it, and respond to it.

What Smyth does know is the numbers in a few areas are up for the first two months of the year.

Well probably ask one of our analysts to see what is happening, he said.

The statistics show that police received 42,130 calls to 911 during the first two months of the year, a nine per cent increase from this time last year.

But, out of that number in the first two months of the year, police responded to 3,391 emergencies, up 47 per cent from the same period last year. And, while property crimes are down 10 per cent to 3,156, violent crime has jumped up by four per cent to 1,185 incidents.

University of Manitoba criminologist Rick Linden said Winnipeggers shouldnt necessarily be alarmed by the number of violent crimes and other calls that can fluctuate for a variety of reasons, including weather changes.

They can vary by year to year and by season, he said.

If you have a cold winter, offences might go down, or if it is rainy. And people shouldnt be concerned about calls for service. The relevant issue is crimes reported to police.

Linden said calls for service have been rising in recent years, noting while there were 167,000 in 2011, the number jumped to more than 200,000 in 2015.

Thats an increase of almost 20 per cent over the five-year period, he said.

But this isnt a function of police, this is citizens calling them.

Linden said thats why when he hears police boards across the country say tax dollars could be saved by reducing the number of police officers  because of falling crime rates  he points out the increasing number of calls placed for service.

They still have to respond to them, even if they turn out not to be an emergency, he said.

Most of their work isnt criminal in nature, but for order and maintenance. It is when people need help or, could you check on my 84-year-old neighbour I havent seen for a couple of days, or for an intoxicated person. So if you look at policing costs, you have to look at number of calls for service.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
GLEN ARM, Md.  Mary Thompson sits in a hallway at Glen Meadows Retirement Community, staring aimlessly. Since she was diagnosed with Alzheimers around six years ago, its been difficult to get the 86-year-old to interact with others, her son Mark Thompson said. Most of her sentences dont make sense and she doesnt talk much. But place Henry  a robotic cat  in her lap, and her whole demeanor begins to change.

Oh, youre so sweet, she says as she pets his white and tan fur lovingly. The cat vibrates with purrs and moves his head and paws if hes cleaning himself. He occasionally blinks and rolls onto his back so that Mary can touch his belly, and in between rubs, Henry, who responds to touch, lets out a series of loud meows  just like a real cat. Mary looks up with joyful surprise.

Mark Thompson, 49, calls it a moment of clarity.

I think she sensed there was a real cat in her lap, and she was actually talking to it, and for those moments, it seemed to make her happy and I think it helped stimulate her, he said, adding that she used to own cats before coming to live at Glen Meadows, in Glen Arm.

Community life director Heather Kennedy added that theres some interaction when a person sits and talks with Mary human-to-human, but its not as deep as when you hand her the cat, she said.

Kennedy purchased the cat version of Hasbros Joy for All Companion Pet online for $100 in November, joining other retirement communities across the world in the trend of incorporating robot companions into elderly care in hopes of improving residents quality of life. Some data show that robots can elicit the same feelings many have toward their real pets without the everyday responsibilities of caring for them. Experts say robotic pets are just another sign of how robots will contribute to the daily lives of humans  but others are adamant that robotics will never replace human or animal contact.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has long described the health benefits of having a real pet  the possibility of decreasing blood pressure and cholesterol levels, while increasing opportunities for exercise and socialization  but more recent studies show that robot companions can yield comparable therapeutic effects.

According to a 2013 study published in the Journal of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine, researchers at the University of Auckland in New Zealand found that residents who interacted with Paro, a robotic seal developed by a Japanese company, experienced a significant decrease in loneliness after a 12-week period. Those who did not, however, experienced an increase in loneliness. A real dog that was also introduced into the experiment had a similar impact to the robot, but according to the study, residents touched and talked to and about the robot more than the dog.

Dr. Mattan Schuchman is medical director of Johns Hopkins Home-Based Medicine as well as a geriatrician and clinical associate in Hopkins division of geriatrics and gerontology. He said some home-bound senior patients get a lot of comfort from having their pet, a cat or the dog, most of the time, as a companion throughout the day. Social isolation is a very common problem among older adults and having a pet is a really wonderful way to [combat that].

With a robotic pet, I think that its probably unlikely to provide that same level of emotional connection that I think people benefit from, he said, but he sees the convenience.

Many of my older patients, especially with dementia, probably wont be able to take a pet on their own, he said, especially when it comes to exercising or feeding them. In the end, Schuchman said comfort is one of the most important things for people with dementia.

Anything that brings someone joy is important.

Kennedy, who purchased the cat after several residents requested a live pet in the community, said Henry has been a valuable asset, so much so that they hope to buy another  perhaps the dog version for the residents who dont like cats, Kennedy said. Staff has scheduled the robotic cat for individual and group visits during the week, allowing residents to play with him.

We get a lot of personal interactions with people who dont necessarily come out of their rooms or dont necessarily interact in group programs, she said, adding that the cat has been especially useful for residents with memory deficits like dementia or Alzheimers disease, some who cannot distinguish whether Henry is a real cat or not.

With Henry, its nice because we can have the residents hold them and theyll just sit there and interact with him, she said. Theres no step by step instructions. Its an informal interaction.

Anne Dongarra, a resident at Glen Meadows, intently pets Henry in the retirement communitys lobby.

If you rub her like this, shell purr. You hear that? said Dongarra. Listen to her, shes purring.  Youre going to meow at me now, huh?

Ive had a cat all my life. I had one when I was a baby. Its name was Winky, she said.

When asked about why she likes Henry, she responds simply: A pets a good thing to have.

Ted Fischer, vice president of business development at Hasbro, said he saw powerful reactions among groups when doing initial research for the Joy for All Companion Pets.

Wed go into a community, and thered be folks sitting around a table. Some may have been sleeping, but then wed open up a box and put one of the companion dogs or cats on the table and their faces changed, Fischer said. They cant believe theyre barking and meowing, and wed witness the conversations start to change.

Fischer said the choice to begin producing the animals in 2015 was in response to the lack of focus on the joy, happiness and play in the aging space and the realization that at least 15 percent of online reviewers were purchasing Hasbros previous versions of animatronic toys for aging loved ones, not children.

Alec Ross, Baltimore author of the best-selling book Industries of the Future, said the Companion Pets and other robotics are the future. Places like Japan, which has robots that will literally take grandparents out of the bathtub and entertain them by playing the violin, are already far ahead of the curve, he said.

Its really within the last year or two that robotic pets have come into the United States. Because theyre very expensive, they have typically been used as a part of therapy, memory recovery or other things, he said, but the robots will become more sophisticated over the next five years.
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This article was published 07/04/2017 (2041 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Not many Ukrainian kids can say they grew up to be called by the spirit name White Wolf.

But Rick Kosowan, who grew up in Point Douglas, earned it by attending sweat lodges and healing circles  then, in his role as police officer, throwing a giant feast each year for the North End community.

Winnipeg police have carried on the tradition.

BILL REDEKOP / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Const. Rick Kosowan, given the spirit name White Wolf by an indigenous elder, is one of two constables who started the annual Winnipeg Police Service Feast in the North End.

On Friday afternoon at the Indian and Metis Friendship Centre, they hosted the 21st annual Winnipeg Police Service North End Spring Feast.

Close to 700 people turned out for the free event in which 25 police officers set up, served and washed up.

They also raised money leading up to the event.

Several dignitaries were also present, such as Winnipeg police Chief Danny Smyth and members of the Bear Clan Patrol.

The meal of stew, bannock, fruit and cake was prepared by students in the R. B. Russell culinary arts program.

Kosowan, 62 and now retired, described attending the feast Friday as emotional.

Kosowan said he and fellow constable Willie Ducharme, now deceased, had no inkling when they started the feast that it would become an annual event.

Ducharmes spirit name was Big Kind-Hearted Bear. The names had come to native elder Art Shofley in a dream.

But when Kosowan and Ducharme started community policing in the mid-1990s, they were given less complimentary names, usually shouted at them by people who were running away.

There was a lot of mistrust, Kosowan said.

The community policing movement was just starting, and Kosowan and Ducharme went out of their way to immerse themselves in the local culture to get to know the people they served.

We learned about restorative justice, Kosowan recalled. We became fire keepers for a sweat lodge.

It was Shofley, now living in Abbotsford, B.C., who mentioned to them that the warriors of a tribe would throw feasts for the people they protected. Thus, the first North End spring feast was born.

Its continuing on. Its been recognized by the other officers, and its been recognized by every police chief, as something thats important to continue, Shofley said.

Aboriginal elder Madeline Hatch, originally from Sandy Bay First Nation, said people get to see the human side of police instead of always blaming them.

I love it, said Hatch, who recited an opening prayer before the meal.

Its good because the police show they care about the community. The police and community have to learn to get along.

Carol Fowler has lived off and on at Siloam Mission for the past five years and was attending her first feast.

She went alone but took a book, Disasters of Western Canada: Courage Amidst the Chaos, by Tony Hollihan.

She appreciated the meal but felt police should stick to their regular jobs. They should keep being police, not waiters and waitresses, she said.

Most of the event was paid for by sponsors and the food was donated.

bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca
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This article was published 08/04/2017 (2040 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

RCMP are looking for a man in connection with a home invasion in Norway House on April 1.

The suspect broke into a residence, demanded cash and assaulted the homeowner. RCMP believe the suspect and victim knew each other.

RCMP are asking for the publics help locating Josh Muskego, 23, from Norway House. He is wanted for robbery, obstruction of justice and break and enter.

RCMP HANDOUT Josh Muskego

Anyone with information is asked to call the Norway House RCMP at 204-359-6715, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477, or submit a secure tip online atwww.manitobacrimestoppers.com or text TIPMAN plus your message to CRIMES (274637).
Opinion

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This article was published 08/04/2017 (2040 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

At certain perilous points during Stephen Harpers time at the helm of the Conservative party, the question was asked: what would the party look like post-Harper?

Now we know. The Conservative leadership race has exacerbated many of the divisions that Harper effectively kept welded together. Factions that I had forgotten existed in the partyor never even knew existednow command the attention of a very long roster of leadership contenders.

For far too long, analysts viewed the Conservative party as a coalition of the two parties that merged to form it in 2004. On one hand were Harpers Reformers and Canadian Alliance members, mostly Western Canadians who were both on the right and rambunctiously populist. On the other hand was Peter MacKays Progressive Conservative Party, which by 2004 had been largely reduced to centrist Red Tories.

DARRYL DYCK / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Former prime minister Stephen Harper.

But this leadership race shows us that this simple binary view of the Conservative party as a coalition of its two founding parties is hopelessly out of date. The only real representative of the Red Tories in this race is Ontario MP Michael Chong, whose campaign has spun its wheels.

It is clear from watching this leadership race unfold that Harpers time as leader transformed the party from what it was at the time of its founding.

Vancouver commentator J.J. McCullough, in a column published last week, chided the Conservative leadership candidates as lacking both imagination and originality. Since most of the leadership candidates had only ever experienced public office under Harper, McCullough argued, the best they could do when running to succeed him was to take some aspect of Harpers appeal and try (sometimes clumsily) to make it their own.

Thus, Kellie Leitch has adopted the cultural conservatism that manifested itself in Harpers much-publicized decision to ban wearing the niqab during citizenship ceremonies. Kevin OLeary represents Harpers oft-spoken but not oft-practiced commitment to free markets and small government. Maxime Bernier has developed the libertarian side of Harpers appeal as seen, for example, in the previous governments decision to abolish the mandatory long-form census to protect Canadians privacy. And Brad Trost is an emissary of the Harper who courted the support of social conservatives.

As one wag on Twitter put it, the leadership contenders could be viewed as Harpers 14 horcruxes. This is an unflattering reference to the Harry Potter universe, in which dark wizards such as Potters nemesis, Lord Voldemort, can achieve immortality by transferring parts of their souls to horcruxes.

The central point of McCulloughs column is a warning: if the imaginations of all its leadership contenders are limited by the horizons Harper established, then the Conservative party itself is also stuck within the confines of those horizons.

Could any potential leadership candidate have avoided falling into this trap? One obvious answer is MacKay, who helped to bring the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Party together but whose political career pre-dated Harpers leadership. As a Conservative cabinet minister, MacKay sometimes took on the role of protector of the Progressive Conservative heritage of the party.

MacKay declined to enter the current leadership race because he wished to spend more time with his family. Columnists surmised that he perhaps thought the party incapable of winning the next election, and so decided to sit it out and instead contest the leadership when Trudeau was more vulnerable in the future.

But is MacKay really so distinguishable from Harper? As Harpers Minister of Justice, MacKay was far from progressive. Indeed, with his emphasis on tough-on-crime policies, he was often indistinguishable from his predecessor, Vic Toews.

Its also far from self-evident that MacKay would have been successful if he had entered the race. While he carries a certain mystique as the former leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, winning the leadership of a near-destitute party against a competitor like anti-free-trade campaigner David Orchard, as McKay did in 2003, is a far cry from winning the leadership of the present Conservative party.

Parties may come apart during leadership races. The question is whether they can come back together once the ballots are counted. Without Harpers strong hand, the Conservative party has certainly come apart, and its unclear whether a new leader will be able to effectively bring it back together.

Ironically, Harper, long so effective at maintaining the coalition that is the Conservative party, may now be a legacy that prevents the party from regrouping in such a way that it can effectively challenge Trudeau in the near future.

Royce Koop is an associate professor and head of the department of political studies at the University of Manitoba.
Opinion

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This article was published 08/04/2017 (2040 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It is the health-care systems impossible dream.

Those who toil in Canadas publicly funded health-care system have long dreamed of a time when only the most seriously ill patients go to emergency departments, while other, less urgent patients turn to other options for care. In this dream, wait times in emergency rooms fall dramatically, treatment outcomes are better and  because everyone is getting the care they need in the most appropriate setting  the cost of operating the system is moderated.

This dream has been deemed impossible for a number of reasons, chief of which is this: patients go for treatment where they want to go, when they want to go, with little regard to whether its the most cost-effective or the best option for quality care. People with earaches, sore throats or vomiting children flood emergency rooms because that is where they want to be and damn those who want to tell them otherwise.

WAYNE GLOWACKI/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The proposed changes to the emergency-care system unveiled Friday could reduce wait times and lead to better care  only time will tell.

All of this brings us to the fascinating plan unveiled by the Progressive Conservative government on Friday to profoundly reorganize the delivery of emergency medicine in Winnipeg. The changes are the result of years of planning and discussion by medical leadership in Manitoba and an 18-month review of acute-care services by Dr. David Peachey, an independent consultant retained by the former NDP government.

Rather than operating six ERs, Winnipeg will have just three, expanded acute-care emergency departments: Health Sciences Centre, St. Boniface Hospital and Grace Hospital. The ERs at Victoria Hospital and Seven Oaks Hospital will be converted into urgent-care centres that can treat about 85 per cent of all those who currently visit an emergency department but not the most seriously ill and injured.

The theory is that the resources needed to provide emergency treatment are spread too thinly across six ERs. As a result, patients in each ER are forced to wait much longer than necessary to get diagnostic imaging, consultations with medical specialists and specialized surgical procedures. In some instances, patients must be transported between hospital ERs to get the right treatment, adding considerably to the overall time and extending waits for less urgent cases.

Now, all of the resources needed for timely emergency care  diagnostic services, medical specialists, emergency surgical services  can be concentrated in just three ERs. The result, it is hoped, will be that the public will get better treatment outcomes with shorter waiting times. Furthermore, the less ill and injured who are channelled to the urgent-care centres should similarly get treatment much quicker.

Is this a fool-proof plan with guaranteed successful outcomes? Hardly. The history of publicly funded health care in Canada is littered with studies and action plans considered to be the best options on the day they were unveiled. It was only long after the changes were made that some of those plans were revealed to be misguided.

There is risk in this plan, to be sure. The provincial government has, for some time, created additional options for less ill and injured patients to divert them away from hospital ERs. And while these options have been somewhat successful, they have not dramatically reduced wait times in emergency departments.

Will fewer but expanded ERs and more numerous urgent-care options do the trick? Well, that is the multibillion-dollar question.

The NDP and Liberal opposition moved quickly to condemn the changes announced Friday, accusing the Tory government of reducing access to acute medical services. However, given the fact that this plan was drafted by medical leaders, not political leaders, the opposition should not be so quick to condemn, particularly since it was the NDP that commissioned the study by Peachey.

In fact, there is an argument to be made that these changes are merely the natural evolution of the health-care system in Winnipeg. During the past 20 years, successive governments have taken steps to concentrate medical services in specific medical facilities. The theory then was  as it is now  that it is inefficient and costly for every hospital to offer every medical service. We simply dont have the doctors and nurses to make that a reality.

Many of the officials attending the official announcement of the rationalization of emergency medicine talked about the barriers that prevented these changes from being made sooner. Those barriers include powerful community leaders who raise money and advocate for community hospitals, medical professional groups that want to wield influence over how and where their people work, and patients themselves for reasons explained above.

Those barriers have discouraged former provincial governments from moving as quickly or as boldly as they probably should have in modernizing the delivery of health care. Going back decades, there are numerous times when solid ideas for improving service delivery were studied, deliberated on and then shelved rather than being allowed to face the political blowback from the aforementioned barrier groups.

All those affected by the new emergency medicine plan should take note. There is no evidence this is either an ideologically based idea,or one that is primarily about reducing services to save money.

In fact, it is possible the former NDP government would have come to the same conclusions, given that it thought it was a good idea to retain Peachey in the first place. However, insiders from the health-care system found that in the last few years of their tenure, the NDP was extremely risk-averse and may have elected to avoid the political complications that come from closing emergency departments.

For the current Tory government, if the rationalization of emergency departments turns out to be an innovation that increases capacity while lowering wait times and overall costs, then it will deserve full credit for having had the political will to do something that has been recommended for many years, but never acted upon.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 08/04/2017 (2040 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Was it the measured and fully justified strategic reaction of a newly decisive commander-in-chief, or simply the latest impulsive expression of the Madness of King Donald?

Its difficult to contextualize the order from U.S. President Donald Trump that launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian airstrip Thursday, given the erratic behaviour and mixed messages that have emanated from the White House  and its most-every-weekend southern counterpart, Mar-a-Lago  right up until the moment the first missile was fired.

The decision to attack came in the wake of Tuesdays horrific chemical weapons assault by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on citizens  many of them innocent children  of his own country. The missile bombardment, though largely unexpected by Americas global allies, drew statements of support from several nations, including Britain, France, Australia, Germany and Canada.

Alex Brandon / The Associated Press U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson

Speaking in the House of Commons Friday morning, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, one of several allied leaders who got advance notice an attack was imminent, expressed full support for the limited, focused action, and added, Canada agrees that Assads repeated use of chemical weapons must not continue. In the face of such heinous war crimes, all civilized peoples must speak with one voice.

Justified as the U.S.s retaliatory strike seems to have been, however, theres very little to suggest it was preceded by the sort of deep deliberation and consideration of subsequent geopolitical consequences that one usually associates with  and, indeed, would hope are always employed when  considering the use of military force against a foreign nation.

As recently as last week, newly installed U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson signalled a reversal of the Obama administrations long-held position that Assad must resign before peace can be negotiated with Syria. Within days of Mr. Tillersons statement that the Trump administrations priority is no longer to sit there and focus on getting Assad out, the Syrian president unleashed his (latest) deadly chemical attack.

Critics charged that Mr. Tillersons statement  which was reversed quickly in the wake of the attack  effectively gave Assad the green light to proceed with his murderous agenda. By Thursday, Mr. Tillerson had amended his position to the view that with the acts that (Assad) has taken, it would seem that there would be no role for him to govern the Syrian people.

And then 59 cruise missiles.

While theres no disputing that a healthy measure of retribution was due Assad, and has been for a very long time, its the obvious lack of forethought that makes President Trumps decision so troubling. What seems clear is that the missile launch was not part of a carefully considered strategy for dealing with the Syrian crisis; rather, it seems more likely that the president was once again bothered by something he saw on television  in this case, the ghastly images of gassed infants and children  and made an impulsive decision to act.

Only this time, instead of an early morning Twitter rant about the flagging ratings of The Celebrity Apprentice, the response was a military strike. In its wake, one is left wondering  and more than a bit worried  whether President Trump, basking in the affirmation of his allies, will feel emboldened to use weapons more dangerous than Twitter when next he sees something on TV that leaves him feeling aggrieved.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 08/04/2017 (2040 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Isci, isci, ring out the shouts in the hills above Koper, Slovenia. Translated the command is, search, search.

The verbal encouragement comes from Sara Kocjancic and is directed at two-year-old yellow Labrador retriever Liza, a truffle-hunting dog extraordinaire.

Following instructions, Liza, tail up and snout down, zigzags through the forest on a quest for truffles.

Steve MacNaull / Winnipeg Free Press Rok Rodica (left) with Liza the truffle-hunting Labrador retriever and handler Sara Kocjancic. In a 15-minute outing, Liza found five black truffles.

The elusive mushrooms grow underground and are the worlds tastiest and most expensive edible fungi.

Before long, Liza comes to an abrupt stop at the base of an oak tree, her sniffer goes into overdrive and she proceeds to dig frantically.

Tail wagging, Liza returns to Sara, offering up the 25-gram black truffle gently transported in her mouth.

Pridna, pridna, (good girl, good girl), says Sara in thanks while taking the truffle and showing it around.

Today, Liza and Sara have an entourage.

My wife and I are part of a group of 16 passengers from the Viking Sky cruise ship who signed up for the truffle hunting in Slovenia excursion during a 10-day Mediterranean journey from Athens to Venice.

Were half-walking-half-running behind Liza and Sara as they go about their business, peppering Sara with questions and snapping photos all the way.

Truffle hunting may have originated in France with fungus-finding pigs, but Slovenia has refined this romantic form of food gathering by throwing dogs into the equation.

In one 15-minute outing, Liza the dog found five black truffles.

Dogs find the truffles and bring them to you. Pigs want to eat them, Sara says with a laugh. We also use only female dogs, mostly Labrador retrievers, because they have incredible noses and are more focused than the males, who are lazy and easily distracted.

Touche.

As such, with dedicated concentration, Liza deftly locates four more truffles in short order and doesnt switch off until Sara gives the command to do so. While hunting, Liza is determined and ignores all humans except Sara. Off-duty, the dog is an affable softie, seeking pats from all on the excursion.

Liza is one of only 30 specially trained truffle-hunting dogs in Slovenia, the tiny country on the Adriatic Sea sandwiched between Italy to the north and Croatia to the south. Slovenia is not to be confused with Slovakia, the other nearby Eastern European nation.

Its fitting our hunt is conducted just outside Rodica Winery, because anything made with truffles magically matches wine. As such, owner and winemaker Marinko Rodica greets us with glasses of his sparkling wine fashioned from the Slovenian-native grape, Malvazija, paired with slices of crusty bread simply topped with a drizzle of olive oil, from Slovenia, of course, and a pencil-shaving-sized bit of black truffle.

Truffles are so aromatic and flavourful that a little goes a long way. More wine and truffle cuisine follows as a still wine made with Malvazija is matched to truffle-infused salami and cheese.

A plate of Istrian fuzi pasta crowned with truffle shavings is also served with Malvazija and veal in a truffle sauce is paired with the Reserve Refosk.

The meal is finished sans truffles with a delicious apple strudel dessert. Viking, long known as the dominant player in European river cruising, has taken ocean cruising by storm with three 930-passenger luxury ships, Viking Star, Viking Sea and the newest, Viking Sky, which we cruised on. One more Viking ocean vessels will come on stream later this year, as well as one each in 2018 and 2019. All cabins have balconies, the cruises are all-inclusive with beer and wine included at meals and one excursion included in every port.

Istrian fuzi pasta tastes even better with fresh black truffle shavings.

Our cruise also stopped at the Greek islands of Santorini for more wine tasting and Corfu for mountain biking; Dubrovnik, Croatia to follow in the footsteps of TVs Game of Thrones, which is partially shot in the city; and Kotor, Montenegro to hike the medieval-city wall.

To extend the indulgence pre-and-post cruise we stayed at the Grande Bretagne in Athens and the Danieli in Venice, which are both part of Starwood Hotels The Luxury Collection.

We also splurged to fly business class on Air Canadas new 787-9 Dreamliner to and from Frankfurt with connections to Athens and Venice so we could have lie-flat seats for sleeping to arrive rested and ready to cruise.

Check out VikingCruises.com, AirCanada.com and TheLuxuryCollection.com.

steve.macnaull@ok.bc.ca
The county board authorized the Buffalo County Highway Department to buy a new rubber-wheeled excavator and a couple of all-wheel-drive tractors with rotary mowers.

The highway department is getting Volvo model EW-180E excavator with a back-fill blade attachment from Aring Equipment for $195,659.

The price includes government discount and $60,000 trade-in value given on a 2003 model Volvo excavator.

Two other companies submitted trade-in bids for an excavator with blade attachment. A similar Hitachi model was bid at $234,600 and a Caterpillar make was priced at $241,759.

The machine is used to help maintain the highway system in Buffalo County. Highway officials described it as a high use piece of machinery.

Tractors and mowers are coming from Value Implement for $158,454, which includes two all-wheel-drive Case-IH model Maxxum 125 tractors and two side-mounted rotary mower attachments.

The price included trade-in of two 14-year-old tractor/mowers for $28,000. Two other companies bidding on the deal ranged in price from $163,884 to $167,954.

The new equipment purchased are covered by machinery fund revenue that the highway department references as retained earnings.

Highway officials said revenue from earnings runs around $1.5 million annually. Machinery is purchased at government discount rates.

Snowmobile Trail Grant

Buffalo County Clerk Roxann Halverson was authorized to apply for state grant money to groom and maintain county snowmobile trails.

The county regularly obtains snowmobile trail stewardship grants through the state Dept. of Natural Resources.

A resolution adopted by the county board unanimously said there was interest in maintaining, acquiring, insuring and developing lands for public outdoor trails for motorized uses.
In recent years, airlines have typically gone on an order binge in December, as Boeing (NYSE: BA) and Airbus (NASDAQOTH: EADSY) rush to finalize as many deals as possible before year-end. For example, Boeing received about 200 net orders in December 2015, and a similar number just in the last week and a half of 2016.
Editors note  Associated Press Tampa, Florida, correspondent Tamara Lush spent 15 days traveling via train across the U.S. as part of Amtraks residency program, designed for creative professionals to spend time writing on the rails. She spoke with dozens of people  fellow travelers, friends and family waiting for loved one at stations, train workers  and filed occasional dispatches for the AP in the Tales from a Train project.

Lush generally started the conversations with two simple questions: Where are you traveling on this train? Where are you traveling in life?

Here are of a few of the answers.

WISCONSIN: WERE TRAIN GEEKS

Tom Schultz, 68, of Watertown, Wisconsin, was fascinated by trains from an early age.

Were headed to Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Its a very special stop for us. I hate to use the word, but its kind of a yuppie place. Its very, very nice. You get off the train, and walk 100 feet, and the hotel is there. Theyve got a microbrewery. Theyve got this huge pool thats heated with water from the earth.

Im with two good friends. Once a year in January, when it gets to be the doldrums, especially after the Packers lose, we usually take a three- or four-day trip just to rejuvenate our lives. We always go on a train for this trip. I love training. Time is the issue. If youve got time, a train is the best.

I guess were train geeks. You have to be one to know what it is to be a train geek. I was born and raised ... about three blocks away from the train station in Watertown, Wisconsin. It was kind of a weird deal, back in those days, that was almost like our park. Wed go up and meet the station agent, and wed have fun and wed take the train when theyd turn it around. At night youd go to sleep and in the middle of the night, the train would go by and the horn and the noise and everything, youd never hear it, because you got so used to it. But it became ingrained in us. Ive always been a train fan.

The station agent that took care of the place back when they had station agentshe died some years ago. And I went to his funeral, and his wife cried with me: You were the guys that he talked about. We were there all the time as kids.

Getting on the train, its just a chance to get away from the rat race. You just sit back and enjoy life.

IOWA: I NEED TO HOLD THAT BABY

Machelle Lowe is a 45-year-old hospice worker in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. She just learned she has cancer.

Im going to spend a week with my daughter in Wyoming before I get treatment. Melanoma. My daughter has a 3-week-old baby. So were going to go cuddle.

I had a mole on my arm, and at Christmas I was here with my daughter. They just moved here six weeks ago and then had the baby three weeks ago. So she was really harping at me about this mole on my arm. It was flat, I had it for all my life. But in the last year, it got bigger.

Its advanced. Probably in the lymph nodes. Possibly my lungs. I dont know a whole lot yet. ... It may be irrational, but I hopped on a train.

This trip means everything to me. I need to hold that baby.

The other kicker is, I work for hospice. I know a lot. Maybe sometimes too much. It can be a good thing; it can be a bad thing. Im just going to hold the baby for a week. I cant think of a better way to spend the week.

TEXAS: THE ISSUE OF A WALL, ITS REALLY COMPLICATED

Tereseta Esqueda, 22, is a student at the University of Texas at El Paso. Her grandparents live in Mexico; she was at the station to send them off.

Im here to say goodbye to my grandmother and grandfather. I live in El Paso, and my grandparents live in Juarez. Theyre taking the train to visit my aunt in another part of Texas.

I have pride in my ancestry. Even if we are not physically close, they are part of me. My grandparents will be gone now for three months. It will be really sad to me. Im sad today to see them go. ... Im in classes now, but probably during spring break Ill go to visit them.

My whole family is here today because we care about my grandmother and grandfather, and weve come to say goodbye and make sure all will be fine.

I just want to reach my goals in life. I want to be a graphic designer. I really enjoy all the arts. I want to have my own business here in El Paso. My biggest obstacle in reaching my goals is myself. Sometimes Im really shy.

I think the future of America is a big issue. Its really scary. For example, my grandmother and grandfather and other family in Juarez. The issue of a wall, its really complicated to me. Its my family. I dont want to be separated from them. Im scared about it. For everybody. A wall means the division of the world. Its not just Mexico or the United States.

OREGON: I STEPPED UP. I LOVE THEM.

Pam Buresh, 54, is a business owner in central Oregon. Shes taking care of her great-nephews and great-niece; she says their father is a drug addict.

Were going to Disneyland. These are my kids. ... Actually, theyre my great-nephews and -niece. Theyre with me, and Im raising them now.

We have a farm in central Oregon. Im raising these guys, and theyre super, super great and hardworking. And super polite. Theyve been through a lot. Their dad is my nephew.

Family means a lot, but not just family, but kids period. Theyre the most important thing, and things are really tough. Its hard out there. Our environment is tough. And then you have other setbacks with family. My goal is for these guys to do great. And theyre doing great. People love them. They are super awesome. They love God, and that was there when they were very young.

I didnt think my life would turn out this way, but its great. What better thing could I possibly do. Theres so many kids who need homes. And the meth epidemic is everywhere, across the United States, and it hits every type of family. Kids get stuck, theyre left with it.

I work a lot; so does my husband. Were very busy. They ground me. They take me back. School gets out, Ive gotta take care of the kids. It takes me away from everything else. Were always connected with our phones, now with them, because they require so much from me that I have to give my full attention and care. Its healthy.

I stepped up. I love them. I tried to help their dad out, but he couldnt make it.

CALIFORNIA: I WANT MY DREAM TO PLAY OUT

Sabrina Feldman is a 19-year-old from Clive, Iowa. She graduated from high school last year.

Were going to Chico, California. Me and my friend are wanting to move there, and were going to look at cosmetology schools. I want to own my own salon. For school I want to go to L.A. But were going to Chico because my friends aunt lives there. Were only staying for a week, and then Im going back home, and then Im going to work really hard to get some money for an apartment.

I like making people feel pretty, so I want to just do good in school so then I can have a lot of clients and my own business. Whenever I go get my hair done, Im always really excited. I want to have people leave feeling like they have new hair. I always feel good when I get my hair done.

I think it will be a lot different in California. Where I live, we have a bunch of cornfields and livestock everywhere. In California, its a lot busier. I dont know, Ive never been to California. This is my first time going. So Im pretty excited to see what the environment change will be like.

Ive never been to a big city before, so Im kind of anxious to get there. I hope there will be cute guys. Ive heard some things about how if you go to a bigger city, people wont be as nice. Where Im from, everyone is super nice. Theres really not many rude people in Iowa.

I really want to go to L.A. Thats where I want my dream to play out. Im not scared.

NEW YORK: APPALACHIAN SQUARE-DANCE TYPE MUSIC

Mike Jarboe, 63, lives in Clifton Park, New York. He retired after 40 years as a journalist.

We play old-time Appalachian square-dance type music, is the best way to describe it to people who arent familiar with it. I play fiddle, and Paul plays banjo.

We went to New York City. I have pancreatic cancer, and my significant other couldnt come. And Paul was nice enough to come, because its nice to have another set of ears with you when youre getting doctors opinions. And all the opinions are good, which is rare for my cancer. So Im pretty happy. My doctor is in Albany, and this was a second opinion. So alls good. Today I got information on upcoming surgery. It is rare with my illness that you can actually have surgery. Im extremely lucky.

This has been a happy day. Im so happy that Paul came to be my ears. When youre dealing with something like cancer and talking to a doctor, your mind goes a million miles an hour. They recommend you have somebody to take notes. Also chemotherapy tends to fog your brain. Paul was just great. Hes not only a great musical partner but a great friend.

Im having a great time. I retired at the end of 2015, I found out I had cancer nine months later, and I am fully intent on beating it. And I am enjoying my life.

CHICAGO: IM GOING TO PROPOSE TO HER

Everett Grant is a 34-year-old crane engineer from New York. He traveled to Chicago to see his girlfriend.

She thought I wasnt coming, but Im going to surprise her. I love to prank her. I like to see her squirm a little. I met her on Facebook. She was a friend of a friend of a friend. I pressed like on her picture.

Ive got my own space; shes got her own space. Weve both got our own houses, and I get the chance to travel. Its less stressful. Ive been in relationships before where Ive lived in a house with a woman. Its just like chaos. The distance has brought the balance. I can focus on my work, focus on going to church and praying, and getting in tune with myself. Theres not too much bickering. You know, women bicker. And I can be a bickerer too.

Im more introverted. I dont talk that much. This interview is like a gift. I dont give too much of myself away. I dont allow myself to be accessible. But Im trying something new every day. Weve got a new year; weve got a new president. Trump is here, and I hope he spreads some of his wallet with us.

Im staying in Chicago five days. Im going to propose to her. Im going to move to Chicago. I have a job offer. She doesnt know. Im not worried, because its time for a change. Its a new year. I gave us a year, with us being apart, and it worked, so Im trying something different. A relationship, any relationship, you have to have something different each year. Every stage is different each year.
In March, for the second year in a row, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker issued an executive order regarding the states open records law.

It notes that the American republic and the State of Wisconsin were founded on the basis of broad accountability of government to the people. And it declares that the free flow of information from the government to the people instills trust and confidence in our democracy and ensures that our government is accessible, accountable, and open.

The order directs state agencies to track and post their record response times and, like last years order, gives procedural guidance that should make it easier for citizens to request and receive records.

It instructs agencies to charge no more than 15 cents per page for provided photocopies and to charge no more than $30 per hour for government employees time spent locating records. It directs that agency meeting notices be posted in a centralized location on Wisconsin.gov, making these more accessible to the public. And it prescribes records training for all employees and members of all boards, councils, and commissions.

The governor issued his executive order just as media outlets were analyzing state agencies performance since the 2016 order. The Wisconsin State Journal reported that state agencies were responding more quickly to public records requests since Walker issued the 2016 executive order, though some agencies performed better than others. Overall, the paper found, the average records response time has fallen from 13 to nine days.

USA Today Network-Wisconsin also compared state agency public records requests and responses and found that some agencies took considerably longer than others to fulfill requests, even after the 2016 executive order directed that small and straightforward requests be fulfilled within 10 days whenever practicable and directed that sufficient staff be allocated to ensure that all requests be fulfilled as soon as practicable.

According to this analysis, the governors office received fewer requests but took longer to respond than other agencies. Like other agencies whose response times were on the slow end, the governors office blamed the complexity of the requests for the delays in responding.

With greater scrutiny, there may be more occasion for agencies to be called upon to explain poor performance. This is the way that government is supposed to operate: The public is supposed to know when government is operating well, and when it is not. Without transparency, there cannot be accountability.

To that end, the 2016 and 2017 executive orders are welcome steps in the right direction. A year from now, we hope there will be fresh outside analysis of state agencies performance and still more guidance from the governors office regarding concrete improvements that can be made.

A word to local government officials: Theres no need to wait to follow the governors lead in seeking to improve records and open meetings practices. If the state can challenge itself to do better, then local government leaders, individually and through collective associations and groups, can and should do the same.
It will soon be much easier for people to launch and land their kayaks in the Crawfish River in Columbus, thanks to a new floating dock that will be installed in the Mill Pond in Rotary Park.

At a meeting Monday night, the Columbus City Council accepted the donation of an EZ Kayak Launch from the Columbus-Fall River Rotary Club. Plans are for the launch, which will be made out of floatable plastic material that will be anchored to the river bank, to be installed in time for it to be used yet this year.

The launch will allow people of all skill levels to enter and exit the water with ease  and without getting their feet wet.

City Administrator Patrick Vander Sanden and City Clerk Anne Donahue, who are both Rotary Club members, told the council at a Committee of the Whole meeting March 27 that the EZ Launch is made up of pieces that fit together like Lego blocks. Additional pieces, like a bench at the end of the dock, could be added to it in the future.

Donahue said the launch, as proposed, would cost the Rotary Club about $20,000. Bumpers and railings that would make it ADA compliant were not included in the package because they would have added another $10,000 to the cost; however those pieces could easily be added at a later date if funds are available.

A similar launch is already in use in Waterworks Park in Beaver Dam and another one will be going into Derge Park on Beaver Dam Lake.

The Rotary Club will purchase the launch using resources from the Rotary District Foundation, a donation from local Rotary supporter the late Alton Mather, and a grant from the Columbus Area Endowment.

The Rotary Club intends to handle the maintenance and upkeep of the launch, but there may be some assistance needed from the Columbus DPW from time to time.
Items are listed under the day of the event only, running as space permits prior to the event. To submit items, call 745-3511, email jcutsforth@wiscnews.com or visit www.portagedailyregister.com. Include name and phone number.

TODAY

Endeavor Wisconsin Committee to Protect All Pensions: 10 a.m. Endeavor/Moundville Fire Station/Bingo Hall, 631 S. Limits Road, Endeavor. Active workers, retirees, spouses and all people concerned about stopping retirement theft are invited to attend. For more information, visit http://mycspensionhandsoff.com.

Fundraiser for Carol Heisz: 5:30 to 9 p.m. Trails Lounge, 125 Wauona Trail, Portage. Carol will be attending the dinner. One hundred percent of bar sales and 50 percent of food sales will be donated. Choice of jumbo shrimp or 10 oz. prime rib dinner for $17.99. If you intend to come for the fundraiser dinner, please make reservations with your entree choice so we can be prepared. Call 608-742-2325. There will also be a silent auction. We will also be open to the public with our regular menu.

Griefshare support group: 10 a.m. to noon, Portage United Methodist Church, 1804 New Pinery Road, Portage. Offered to individuals suffering from the loss of loved one(s). Meetings are held weekly on Saturdays. Call Laurie at 608-450-1081 or Jen at 608-345-8928 or visit www.griefshare.org for more information.

Harmony for the Homeless Concert: 7 p.m. Portage Center for the Arts, 301 E. Cook St., Portage. Enjoy an evening listening to the sweet harmonies of The Flannels with Mike Powers. In addition to melodic tunes, indulge in some refreshments and go home with a prize or two with the drawing and silent auction. Purchase tickets at the Chamber of Commerce, Portage Center of the Arts or at the door on the evening of the event. Tickets are $15 each.

Indoor Flea Market and Craft Sale: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. 309 DeWitt St., Portage. Featuring more than 25 crafters and vendors.

Museum at the Portage: 804 MacFarlane Road, Portage. Open from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday through Saturday in April and May; and 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday in June, July and August. Admission is free.

Pardeeville Class of 2018 Prom: 8 to 11 p.m. Wyocena Community Center, 165 Dodge St., Wyocena. The theme is Once Upon a Time. Grand March at 9:30 p.m. Admission is $10.

SUNDAY, APRIL 9

Lodi Valley Chapter of the Ice Age Trail Alliance full moon hike: Meet at the West Point side of the Merrimac Ferry at 7 p.m. and walk south on the trail to take in the views of Lake Wisconsin, Paradise Island and the moon. Depending on how energetic everyone is we might go further. The moon rises about 6 p.m., but we will probably still need to rely on flashlights and headlamps. Please wear appropriate clothing for the weather and bring along a flashlight or headlamp. Leashed dogs are welcome. Watch for the yellow Ice Age Trail Event signs. For directions visit: https://goo.gl/maps/5SdNk.

Zumba: 5:30 p.m. Rusch Elementary School, Portage. $5 drop in fee. Contact Tami at 608-346-3971 or 4dreamers@frontier.com.

MONDAY, APRIL 10

Clinic: 8 a.m. to noon, Columbia County Public Health Walk-In Clinic, Columbia County Division of Health, 2652 Murphy Road, Portage. Use door No. 4. Bring childs immunization record. Visit www.co.columbia.wi.us for more information.

Blood drive: Poynette Red Cross blood drive, 1 to 6 p.m. Dekorra Lutheran Church, N3099 Smith Road, Poynette. Download the American Red Cross Blood Donor app, visit www.redcrossblood.org or call 800-733-2767 to make an appointment or for more information. All blood types are needed. A blood donor card or drivers license or two other forms of identification are required.

Euchre card party: 6:30 p.m. Bethlehem Lutheran Church, W8267 Highway 33 East, Portage. Public welcome. Contact: Cloe, 429-2363.

Food pantry: 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Portage Second Harvest mobile food pantry, Building No. 8, Columbia County Fairgrounds, Portage. No need to line up earlier than 10:15 a.m. Pantry will not start early. Plenty of food for everyone. Bring boxes, bags, baskets or wagons to carry food. Volunteers are always welcome.

Lodi Red Cross blood drive in memory of Sierra Skarda: noon to 5:30 p.m. Lodi High School, 1100 Sauk St., Lodi. As a junior at Lodi High School, Sierra was known to have big dreams, a sparkling personality, all while sharing her compassion with others. Sierra was killed in a tragic car accident on her way to school, Jan. 26, 2016. Download the American Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-733-2767 to make an appointment or for more information. All blood types are needed. A blood donor card or drivers license or two other forms of identification are required at check-in.

Monday Movie Day: 10 a.m. Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. The Library will show newly released movies with free admission and popcorn. For a list of whats playing, visit the librarys website at www.portagelibrary.us.

National Library Week Family Fort Night: 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. Open to children and their families (all children must be accompanied by an adult). Families are encouraged to bring blankets, sleeping bags and pillows to use to build a family reading fort. The library will provide tables and chairs to help create the fort. Families will then have reading time in their fort (dont forget your flashlights). Other activities include a camping snack and a pillow case scavenger hunt. Families should fill a pillow case at home with various items that might match what Mrs. Foster has inside her pillow case. Points will be awarded for matches and prizes given to the family with the most points. Registration is not required. For more information, call 742-4959, ext. 211.

Ostomy support group: 5 to 6 p.m. Divine Savior Healthcare, 2817 New Pinery Road, Portage. Walk-ins welcome. This support group is intended for those who are living with an ostomy, anticipate ostomy surgery, as well as caregivers and family members. This group allows individuals to make connections with those who have similar experiences, gain knowledge and provide support. The group meets every other month. The next meeting will be held June 12.

Portage American Legion Post 47 and Auxiliary: Portage Knights of Columbus Hall, 918 Silver Lake Drive, Portage. Social time at 5 p.m., soup and sandwich meal served at 6 p.m. Meetings held at 7 p.m.

Zumba/Zumba Toning: 6 p.m. Harrisville. $5 drop in fee. Contact Tami at 608-346-3971 or 4dreamers@frontier.com.

TUESDAY, APRIL 11

Block Party: 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. Open to children in 4K through 5th grade (children ages 4 to 6 must have an adult present during the program). This weeks challenge during National Library Week is to build a favorite book character, create a book or some other book-related structure. Registration is not required. For more information, call 742-4959, ext. 211.

Congressman Glenn Grothman town hall meeting: 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Marquette County Senior Dining Site, 140 Lake Court, Montello.

Knitting and crocheting group: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgwater St., Portage. Bring your projects and share your progress with friends. We will also be doing knit-alongs where we work on a project together. The first project we will be working on is a leftovers sweater, using leftover yarn from other projects. A free pattern will be provided. Feel free to bring your lunch along with your knitting.

Preschool Story Time: 10 a.m. Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. Open to children ages 3 to 5. Its a special National Library Week story time with a Chasing Chickens theme featuring real chickens. There will also be stories, finger plays, the chicken dance and a craft. Only new families need to register and can be done online at www.portagelibrary.us or by calling 742-4959, ext. 211.

Teen Tuesdays: 4 p.m. Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. Teen Tuesdays will be held every Tuesday through May 9. The program is for students in 6th through 12th grades. Programs vary by week but crafts, movies and games are regular components, and snacks are provided.

Zumba Toning: 4:30 p.m. Woodridge Primary School, Portage. $5 drop in fee. Contact Tami at 608-346-3971 or 4dreamers@frontier.com.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12

Bingo: 5:30 p.m. Old Chicago, 147 N. Main St., Pardeeville. Bingo will be played every Wednesday, except the first one of the month.

Blood drive: Rio Red Cross blood drive, 1 to 5 p.m. Rio Middle School, 411 Church St., Rio. Download the American Red Cross Blood Donor app, visit www.redcrossblood.org or call 800-733-2767 to make an appointment or for more information. All blood types are needed. A blood donor card or drivers license or two other forms of identification are required.

Clinic: 8 a.m. to noon, Columbia County Public Health Walk-In Clinic, Columbia County Division of Health, 2652 Murphy Road, Portage. Use door No. 4. Bring childs immunization record. Visit www.co.columbia.wi.us for more information.

Free blood pressure screenings: 1 to 5 p.m. Divine Savior Healthcare, 2817 New Pinery Road, Portage. No appointment necessary. Call 745-6405 for more information. Do not eat, smoke, drink caffeine or exercise for 30 minutes prior.

Free Healthy Cooking Class: 6 p.m. Portage Seventh-day Adventist Church, 2100 Highway 33 East, Portage. We will feature Mexican/Hispanic style recipes this week. Let us help you enjoy some healthy recipes and provide you with the recipes to take home. There is no charge. All are welcome.

Preschool Story Time: 10 a.m. Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. Open to children ages 3 to 5. Its a special National Library Week story time with a Chasing Chickens theme featuring real chickens. There will also be stories, finger plays, the chicken dance and a craft. Only new families need to register and can be done online at www.portagelibrary.us or by calling 742-4959, ext. 211.

St. Vincent de Paul free medical clinic: 9 a.m. to noon. Wilz Drugs lower level, 140 E. Cook St., Portage. No appointments needed. Information needed is name, date of birth and a contact number. A foot clinic is available every week. The clinic can do exams and prescribe medications. Physical therapist available. Discounted medications are available at Wilz and Walmart. Call Bonny Oestreich, RN, at 608-234-0159 for information.

University of Wisconsin-Baraboo/Sauk County spring Preview Day: 9 to 11:30 a.m. R.G. Brown Theatre, UW-Baraboo/Sauk County campus, Baraboo. For prospective students and their families. The event is free and open to the public.

Zumba/Zumba Toning: 5 p.m. Montello. $5 drop in fee. Contact Tami at 608-346-3971 or 4dreamers@frontier.com.

Zumba: 5:30 p.m. 1208 Northport Road (the former Freedom Carpeting building). This is a $5 drop-in class. For more information, contact Deb at DJMACK00001@yahoo.com or Rena at 697-6713.

THURSDAY, APRIL 13

Bingo: 6:30 p.m. Endeavor Lions Club Bingo, Endeavor-Moundville Fire Department, Endeavor.

BloodCenter of Wisconsin blood drive: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Divine Savior Healthcare, 2817 New Pinery Road, Portage. Donors can schedule an appointment by calling 1-877-232-4376 or visiting www.bcw.edu. Anyone 17 or older who is in general good health and meets eligibility requirements is encouraged to donate. Appointments are preferred, but walk-ins are welcome. Parental consent is required for 16-year-olds to donate. The entire process takes about an hour. Donors should bring a photo ID that includes birth date.

Cookie sale: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. front lobby, Divine Savior Healthcare, 2817 New Pinery Road, Portage. On the second Thursday of each month, the Volunteer Partners of Divine Savior bake Smart Cookies. Cookies are 50 cents each or $5.50 per dozen. Cookie selection varies month to month, but chocolate chip is always available. All proceeds benefit scholarships for students educating in healthcare-related fields.

Making A Difference Study Group: 1 to 2 p.m. Portage Public Library, Bidwell Room, 253 W. Edgewater St. Portage. Making a Difference is a group that is meeting to turn concerns into action. Open to the public. What are your concerns?

Museum: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Portage World War II Museum, 119 E. Cook St., Portage. Free tours for veterans every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The tours take 2 1/2 hours. For information, call 608-697-3690.

National Library Week Earth Day Crafts: 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. This is an after school art program for kids in third through fifth grades. All supplies will be provided as participants use recycled items to make a wind chime and a mosaic earth flag. Registration is not required. For more information, call 742-4959, ext. 211.

Toddler Thursday: 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. (please choose one time slot), Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. Open to children ages 18 to 36 months. Its Bunny Hop time for toddlers with a story, song, rhyme and craft featuring the soft, furry critter. Only new families need to register and can be done online at www.portagelibrary.us or by calling 742-4959, ext. 211.

Writing group: Writers at the Portage, 5:30 p.m. Portage Public Library, 253 W. Edgewater St., Portage. New writers and any genre welcome.
RIO  There is a lot to learn when you are a first-time turkey hunter, which is why the local River Valley Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation sponsors a learn-to-hunt turkey program each spring.

This years program, which introduced 17 new hunters to the sport, took place over the weekend. After some classroom sessions the previous weekend in which the new hunters learned the ins and outs of turkey hunting, those hunters got to take what they learned to the woods on Saturday morning, when they and their hunting mentors tried to call in, and shoot a turkey.

After Saturday mornings hunt, the novice hunters returned to the Rio Conservation Club to share their stories, and for the successful few, show of their prized birds.

One of those successful hunters was Marcus Howell, 14, of Portage. He was hunting with his grandfather on Saturday morning when they called in three jakes (a juvenile male turkey). Howell ended up missing one of the jakes, but he and his grandfather were rewarded for their persistence. Later in the day, they moved to a different spot, and were fortunate enough to find some more turkeys.

We went out to a different area. After about an hour we saw a bunch of different turkeys there, Howell said. Two toms came over and I just shot.  I was just excited. I was just excited to see something.

Howells first turkey was a 22-pound tom.

One of the most excited hunters taking part in the program was 10-year-old Lilly Boyd of Markesan. She arrived at the Rio Conservation Club around 11 a.m. on Saturday, with a huge smile on her face and a 22-pound tom lugged over her shoulder.

Lilly was hunting with mentors Dave Knapp and Frank Bausquet when they called in two toms right off the roost early Saturday morning. They were expecting the birds to come in from in front of them, but instead had the toms sneak in from a different direction.

Two turkeys came in from behind us, so we had to turnaround, Lilly said. They were starting to leave, but one stopped and turned sideways, so I got a nice clear shot.

Lilly, who also shot her first deer last fall during the Wisconsins special youth deer season, said she was surprised to learn how turkeys communicate.

I thought they had just a gobble, but they have a bunch of calls, she said. They have a call for when they are flying up into trees. They have a call for when theyre leaving the trees, when theyre fighting, when they are purring.

The learn-to-hunt program is open to anyone who has never hunted turkeys before, so when Jevon Cliffgard, of East Troy, learned about the program a few years ago, he knew it would be perfect for both him and his son Zachary, once Zachary would be old enough to start hunting.

For a novice like me, and my son getting into it, this would be a perfect opportunity for us to learn how to do it, what the rules are, how to do it correctly and safely, and just really experience it with mentors, Jevon Cliffgard said.

And while Zachary and his mentor, Brock Holmes of Portage, didnt have any luck Saturday morning, Jevon was able to connect on a 22-pound tom while hunting with David Holmes of Portage, early that morning.

I saw him come around the blind. It was exciting, Jevon Cliffgard said. He eventually came back around and I was eventually able to get the shot and get the turkey.

And while not everyone was able to bring home a turkey on Saturday morning, it still proved to be an enjoyable experience. Brothers Bowden Ace, 11, and Gavin Ace, 14, of Verona, both had shots at a turkeys on Saturday, but missed.

My heart was pumping and I got a little nervous and I shot too high, Gavin Ace said.
Adam Schiff, ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, has been sharply critical of the panels Republican chairman, Devin Nunes, for visiting the White House to view classified documents that Nunes says show the Barack Obama administration intercepted the communications of Donald Trump associates before the president took office in January.

Among other things, Schiff slammed Nunes for viewing the documents by himself and not sharing them with Democrats on the committee. So last week, White House counsel Don McGahn invited Schiff to come see the documents for himself. Schiff did so on Friday.

Now, both the Republican chairman and Schiff have seen the documents. And now, the public has a chance to hear another assessment to balance Nunes claim that he saw dozens of intelligence reports involving the incidental collection of Trumpworld figures in Obama administration intercepts, with the names of some of them unmasked, and that none of it had to do with Russia. In other words, Nunes suggested the Obama administration misused its wiretapping powers to gather information on the Trump team.

On Friday, immediately after viewing the documents, Schiff released a statement in which he declined to say anything about substance and repeated earlier criticisms of Republicans handling of the matter.

While I cannot discuss the content of the documents, Schiff said, if the White House had any concern over these materials, they should have been shared with the full committee in the first place.

Schiff made no public comments on Saturday, and then on Sunday morning appeared on CNN, where Jake Tapper asked Schiff if, having seen the documents, can you understand why Chairman Nunes might have some issues with the surveillance that was going on?

I cant go into the contents of the documents, Jake, Schiff said, before a quick pivot to Nunes methods. I can say I dont agree with the chairmans characterization, which is exactly why its so important you dont share documents with just one person or even two people. They need to be shared with both full committees.

Continuing, Schiff said the most important thing about the documents is not what is in them but how they were handled.

But the most important thing people need to know about these documents is not classified, and its a couple of things. First, the deputy assistant to the White House informed me when I went to see them that these are exactly the same materials that were shown to the chairman.

Now, this is a very interesting point. How does the White House know that these are the same materials that were shown to the chairman, if the White House wasnt aware what the chairman was being shown?

And the second point was also made to me. And this is  I think was also underscored by Sean Spicer  and that is, it was told to me by the deputy assistant that these materials were produced in the ordinary course of business.

Well, the question for the White House and for Mr. Spicer is the ordinary course of whose business? Because, if these were produced either for or by the White House, then why all of the subterfuge? Theres nothing ordinary about the process that was used here at all.

All the talk about intercepts, Schiff said, was just an attempt by Trump and Republicans to distract from questions about Trump and Russia.

By that time, anyone interested in the substance of the issue  Do the documents show that Obama administration officials picked up Trumpworld figures in electronic intercepts and then identified them by name?  was entirely frustrated. Schiff appeared determined to say nothing about substance.

I guess the question that Nunes is asking or suggesting that we should be asking in the media, Tapper said to Schiff, (is) who unmasked these Trump advisers, and is it possible that any of this unmasking was being done for political reasons, instead of for legitimate ones?

Well, first of all, I cant talk about, as I mentioned, the contents of any documents, Schiff said. So at this point, I cant say whether anything was masked or unmasked improperly.

Schiff then pivoted again to criticize Republican procedures.

Monday morning, Bloombergs Eli Lake reported that former Obama national security adviser Susan Rice requested the identities of U.S. persons in raw intelligence reports on dozens of occasions that connect to the Donald Trump transition and campaign, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter. If that is accurate, it seems unlikely that the most important thing about the documents is how they were handled.

After seeing the documents with his own eyes, Schiff had a chance to shed some light on what has become a key question in the Trump-Russia matter. He didnt take it.
Few industries are growing more quickly and consistently at the moment than legal marijuana, which is a big reason marijuana stock valuations have shot through the roof. ArcView, one of the leading cannabis research companies, found that legal sales in North America soared by 34% in 2016 to $6.9 billion and projects a compound annual growth rate of 26% through 2021. In other words, we could be talking about almost $22 billion in annual legal weed sales throughout North America within a few years.
Professor Adam Habib appointed for a second term at Wits University

Following consultations with various constituencies, the Council of the University agreed to a five-year renewal of Professor Habibs contract.

The Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of the Witwatersrand, Professor Adam Habib, has been appointed for a second term to lead one of the top higher education institutions on the continent.

Following consultations with various constituencies, the Council of the University agreed to a five-year renewal of Professor Habibs contract, commencing in 2018.

Professor Habib is a dynamic leader with immense experience in managing higher education institutions within South Africas complex political and socio-economic context, comments Dr Randall Carolissen, Chairperson of the Council of the University. In the last few years, he has consolidated Wits academic programmes, enhanced its research and innovation standing, restructured its managerial and technological operations, whilst ensuring the Universitys financial sustainability.

Wits University has made tremendous achievements in the last few years, which should not be overshadowed by the challenges that the University faced in recent months. Despite the student protests pertaining to funding issues, the University made incredible accomplishments as outlined below, he adds.

Under Professor Habibs leadership, Wits global reputation has been enhanced with the University now ranked either number one or two on the continent in all major global rankings.

Wits University has accomplished an unprecedented 43% increase in research output over the last three years. The focus on remaining locally responsive and globally competitive has resulted in increased collaboration with universities across the continent and the globe.

The quality of teaching and support offered to students has improved, which has resulted in the pass rate at first year undergraduate level increasing substantially in the last three years. This has, in turn, resulted in more students graduating in record time.

New blended learning options and online teaching initiatives are underway, including a R500 million project to completely overhaul Wits IT systems. This will allow more access to Wits through e-learning, online short courses and eventually e-degrees.

These are just some of the examples that reflect the significant contribution that Professor Habib and his team have made to Wits in recent years, adds Carolissen. In addition to subsidy from the state, he has ensured that Wits continues to secure additional resources from donors for teaching and research. Student funding is a priority and Professor Habib and his team are working to maximise income through creating an endowment for student funding from the possible development and/or sale of land owned by the University.

The renewal of Braamfontein has received greater impetus with the development of the Tshimologong Digital Innovation Hub together with the public and private sectors and the establishment of the R700 million IBM research lab by IBM. The opening of the new Nelson Mandela Childrens Hospital on land donated by Wits in Parktown, and partnerships with the Hospital that will foster greater research and postgraduate training, is a major highlight of 2016.

An accelerated transformation plan is being implemented which has seen R45 million set aside to diversify the academy, including the appointment of a range of new scholars. Other elements of the plan include a revision of the language policy, renewal of the curriculum, reforming the institutional culture, creating a diverse student and residence experience, renaming Wits places and spaces and insourcing workers.

These achievements are not the sole consequence of the Vice-Chancellor but that of the entire University. However, under his leadership, he has created the conditions to enable these accomplishments, adds Carolissen. On balance, it is my belief that Wits is a far stronger institution in 2017 than it was in 2013. Given this performance, the Council of the University has agreed to renew Professor Habibs contract for a second term.

One of the most significant challenges to universities emerged over the last 18 months with the student protests for free education. These were extremely difficult periods for the University but I believe that Professor Habib acted at all times with integrity and with the best interests of the University at heart. He implemented Council decisions and managed difficult situations which enabled the completion of the 2016 academic programme, says Carolissen.

The second term of the Vice-Chancellor and Principal will commence in 2018 and run until 2023.
There's an interesting paradox happening right now surrounding Shopify (NYSE: SHOP). The company -- which provides a platform for small and medium-sized businesses to establish an e-commerce presence -- has been in the cross hairs of protestors, led by the group SumofUs.com, for providing a platform for the far-right news agency Breitbart. And yet, the stock has never been better, advancing over 60% this year in the face of the protests.
KeyCorp operates as the holding company for KeyBank National Association that provides various retail and commercial banking products and services in the United States. It operates in two segments, Consumer Bank and Commercial Bank. The company offers various deposits, investment products and services; and personal finance and financial wellness, student loan refinancing, mortgage and home equity, lending, credit card, treasury, business advisory, wealth management, asset management, investment, cash management, portfolio management, and trust and related services to individuals and small and medium-sized businesses. It also provides a suite of banking and capital market products, such as syndicated finance, debt and equity capital market products, commercial payments, equipment finance, commercial mortgage banking, derivatives, foreign exchange, financial advisory, and public finance, as well as commercial mortgage loans comprising consumer, energy, healthcare, industrial, public sector, real estate, and technology loans for middle market clients. In addition, the company offers community development financing, securities underwriting, brokerage, and investment banking services. As of December 31, 2021, it operated through a network of approximately 999 branches and 1,317 ATMs in 15 states, as well as additional offices, online and mobile banking capabilities, and a telephone banking call center. KeyCorp was founded in 1849 and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.
The following companies are subsidiares of Eli Lilly and: 1096401 B.C. Unlimited Liability Company, ARMO BioSciences Inc, ARMO Bioscience, Advanced Cardiovascular Systems, Alnara Pharmaceuticals, Alnara Pharmaceuticals Inc., Andean Technical Operations Center, Applied Molecular Evolution Inc., AurKa Pharma, Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, Avid Radiopharmaceuticals Inc., ChemGen, CoLucid Pharmaceuticals, CoLucid Pharmaceuticals Inc., Dermira, Devices for Vascular Intervention(DVI), Disarm Therapeutics, Dista Ilac Ticaret Ltd. Sti., Dista S.A., Dista-Produtos Quimicos & Farmaceuticos LDA, ELCO Dominicana SRL, ELCO Insurance Company Limited, ELCO Management Inc., ELCO for Trade and Marketing S.A.E., ELGO Insurance Company Limited, Elanco Animal Health Ireland Limited, Elanco Switzerland Holding Sarl, Eli Lilly (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Eli Lilly (Philippines) Incorporated, Eli Lilly (S.A.) (Proprietary) Limited, Eli Lilly (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Eli Lilly (Suisse) S.A., Eli Lilly Asia Inc., Eli Lilly Asia Pacific SSC Sdn Bhd, Eli Lilly Australia Pty. Limited, Eli Lilly B-H d.o.o., Eli Lilly Benelux S.A., Eli Lilly Bienes y Servicios S de RL de CV, Eli Lilly CR s.r.o., Eli Lilly Canada Inc., Eli Lilly Cork Limited, Eli Lilly Danmark A/S, Eli Lilly Egypt for Trading, Eli Lilly European Clinical Trial Services SA, Eli Lilly Export S.A., Eli Lilly Finance S.A., Eli Lilly Ges.m.b.H., Eli Lilly Group Limited, Eli Lilly Holdings Ltd., Eli Lilly Hrvatska d.o.o., Eli Lilly Interamerica Inc., Eli Lilly Interamerica Inc. y Compania Limitada, Eli Lilly International Corporation, Eli Lilly Ireland Holdings Limited, Eli Lilly Israel Ltd., Eli Lilly Italia S.p.A., Eli Lilly Japan K.K., Eli Lilly Kinsale Limited, Eli Lilly Nederland B.V., Eli Lilly Nigeria Ltd., Eli Lilly Norge A.S., Eli Lilly Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd., Eli Lilly Polska Sp.z.o.o. (Ltd.), Eli Lilly Regional Operations GmbH, Eli Lilly Romania SRL, Eli Lilly S.A., Eli Lilly Saudi Arabia Limited, Eli Lilly Services Inc, Eli Lilly Services India Private Limited, Eli Lilly Slovakia s.r.o., Eli Lilly Sweden AB, Eli Lilly Vostok S.A. Geneva, Eli Lilly and Company, Eli Lilly and Company (India) Pvt. Ltd., Eli Lilly and Company (Ireland) Limited, Eli Lilly and Company (N.Z.) Limited, Eli Lilly and Company (Taiwan) Inc., Eli Lilly and Company Limited, Eli Lilly de Centro America S.A., Eli Lilly do Brasil Limitada, Eli Lilly farmacevtska druzba d.o.o., Eli Lilly y Compania de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Eli Lilly y Compania de Venezuela S.A., Glycostasis Inc, Greenfield-Produtos Farmaceuticos Lda., Heart Rhythm Technologies Inc, Hybritech, Hypnion, ICOS Corporation, ImClone GmbH, ImClone LLC, ImClone Systems Holdings Inc., ImClone Systems LLC, Imclone Systems, Irisfarma S.A., Ivy Animal Health, Kinsale Financial Services Unlimited Company, Lilly (Shanghai) Management Co. Ltd, Lilly Asia Ventures Fund I L.P., Lilly Asia Ventures Fund II L.P., Lilly Asian Ventures Fund III L.P., Lilly Cayman Holdings, Lilly China Research and Development Co. Ltd., Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Lilly France S.A.S., Lilly Global Nederland Holdings B.V., Lilly Global Services Inc., Lilly Holding GmbH, Lilly Holdings B.V., Lilly Hungaria KFT, Lilly Japan Financing G.K., Lilly Korea Ltd., Lilly Nederland Finance B.V., Lilly Nederland Finance B.V. - GCC, Lilly Nederland Holding B.V., Lilly Pharma Ltd., Lilly Portugal - Produtos Farmaceuticos Lda., Lilly S.A., Lilly Suzhou Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Lilly Trading Co. LTD, Lilly USA LLC, Lilly Ventures Fund I LLC, Lilly del Caribe Inc., Lilly ilac ticaret limited sirketi, Lohmann Animal Health, Loxo Oncology, Lylly Centre for Clinical Pharmacology PTE. LTD., Novartis Animal Health, OY Eli Lilly Finland AB, Origin Medsystems, PT. Eli Lilly Indonesia, Pacific Biotech, Pharmaserve-Lilly S.A.C.I., Physio-Control, SGX Pharmaceuticals, SGX Pharmaceuticals Inc, Spaly Bioquimica S.A., UAB Eli Lilly Lietuva, Valquifarma S.A., and Vital Pharma Productos Farmaceuticos.

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Argan, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, operations management, maintenance, project development, technical, and consulting services to the power generation and renewable energy markets. The company operates through Power Industry Services, Industrial Fabrication and Field Services, and Telecommunications Infrastructure Services segments. The Power Industry Services segment offers engineering, procurement, and construction contracting services to the owners of alternative energy facilities, such as biomass plants, wind farms, and solar fields; and design, construction, project management, start-up, and operation services for projects with approximately 15 gigawatts of power-generating capacity. This segment serves independent power project owners, public utilities, power plant equipment suppliers, and energy plant construction companies. The Industrial Fabrication and Field Services segment provides industrial field, and pipe and vessel fabrication services for forest products, industrial gas, fertilizer, and mining companies in southeast region of the United States. The Telecommunications Infrastructure Services segment offers trenchless directional boring and excavation for underground communication and power networks, as well as aerial cabling services; and installs buried cable, high and low voltage electric lines, and private area outdoor lighting systems. It also provides structured cabling, terminations, and connectivity that offers the physical transport for high-speed data, voice, video, and security networks. This segment serves state and local government agencies, regional communications service providers, electric utilities, and other commercial customers, as well as federal government facilities comprising cleared facilities in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Argan, Inc. was incorporated in 1961 and is headquartered in Rockville, Maryland.
The Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday upheld a Lincoln judges ruling in favor of three same-sex couples who said a state policy prevented them from adopting foster kids because of their sexual orientation.

The Attorney Generals office contended the matter was moot because Memo 1-95, despite being online until February 2015, hadnt been in effect for at least a year before the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska filed the lawsuit in 2013. And it contended that the couples lacked standing because they hadnt been denied a foster home license.

Attorneys for Greg and Stillman Stewart, Lisa Blakey and Janet Rodriguez, and Todd Vesley and Joel Busch, said two of the plaintiffs did in fact seek licenses and got letters from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services saying they were categorically banned from applying.

Two others called HHS and were told the same by phone, they said.

The license is necessary for anyone who wants to adopt a foster child in Nebraska.

The three couples sued, saying the state was treating them differently in violation of their constitutional rights.

And in September 2015, Lancaster County District Judge John Colborn rescinded the terms of the memo and enjoined the state from enforcing it.

The state appealed, in an apparent effort to avoid attorney fees.

Before the appeal, attorney fees already had added up to just more than $145,000 (the bulk of it going to Sullivan & Cromwell LLC, a New York law firm).

In an opinion Friday, the states highest court agreed with the district court that the controversy was neither hypothetical nor speculative just because the couples hadnt yet been denied placement of state wards in their homes.

"The plaintiffs were faced with the unavoidable inability to be treated on equal footing if they wished to pursue being foster parents, and the district courts order effected an immediate resolution of that imminent and serious harm, Justice John Wright wrote.

He said while the state argued that the 1995 memorandum no longer represented official policy of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, the fact that it stayed on the website affirmed a representation to the public that it was the current policy.

Wright said Thomas Pristow, then-director of the Division of Children and Family Services, intentionally avoided formally rescinding the memo and, in fact, avoided creating anything in writing disavowing it.

He said the memo was a published statement that "heterosexuals only" need apply to be foster parents, legally indistinguishable from a sign that says "whites only" on a hiring-office door.

"Memo 1-95 was deliberately maintained on the website in order to give the public the impression that it represented official DHHS policy. The defendants cannot now complain that the plaintiffs believed it so, were deterred by the discriminatory exclusion set forth so clearly therein, and brought this action to challenge it. he wrote.

As for its eleventh-hour removal from the website, which came in February 2015, Wright said a defendant couldnt automatically moot a case simply by ending its unlawful conduct once sued.

And the court affirmed the district courts judgment and award of attorney fees and costs.

ACLU of Nebraska Executive Director Danielle Conrad called it a victory for children in Nebraska and for LGBT Nebraskans.

"Today in Nebraska love wins! she said in a news release.

Conrad said since the lower court ruling striking down the state's ban on gay and lesbian foster parents, Vesley and Busch have opened their hearts and homes to several children in need.

"There are tens of thousands of LGBT people who call the Cornhusker State home and thousands of Nebraska children in need of a foster care placement. This victory means that Nebraskas motto of Equality before the Law rings out more truly for all in our state, she said.

In an email Friday afternoon, Suzanne Gage, a spokesman for the Attorney General's office, said: "There were legitimate jurisdictional questions that needed to be considered by the Court. The court has ruled."
BT Group plc provides communications services worldwide. Its Consumer segment sells telephones, baby monitors, and Wi-Fi extenders through high street retailers, online BT Shop, and Website BT.com; and offers home phone, copper and fiber broadband, TV, and mobile services in various packages. The company's EE segment offers 2G, 3G, and 4G mobile network services; broadband, fixed-voice, and TV services; and postpaid and prepaid plans, and emergency services network. This segment also sells 4G mobile phones, tablets, connected devices, and mobile broadband devices from various manufacturers. Its Business and Public Sector segment provides fixed voice, mobility, fiber and connectivity, and networked IT services to retailers, utilities, public sector, healthcare, sports, construction, finance, and educational sectors. The company's Global Services segment offers business communications and ICT services comprising BT Connect, BT Security, BT One, BT Contact, BT Compute, BT Advise, and BT for financial markets. This segment serves approximately 5,500 customers in 180 countries. Its Wholesale and Ventures segment enables communications providers and other organizations to provide fixed or mobile phone services. Its ventures provide mass-market services, such as directory enquiries and payphones; and enterprise services comprising BT Fleet and BT Redcare. This segment also provides broadband and Ethernet, voice, hosted communication, mobile virtual network operator, managed solutions, machine-to-machine, roaming, and media services. The company's Openreach segment engages in the provision of services over the local access network; and installation and maintenance of fiber and copper communications networks that connect homes and businesses. The company was formerly known as Newgate Telecommunications Limited and changed its name to BT Group plc in September 2001. BT Group plc was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.
Bank of Hawaii Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Bank of Hawaii that provides various financial products and services in Hawaii, Guam, and other Pacific Islands. It operates in three segments: Consumer Banking, Commercial Banking, and Treasury and Other. The Consumer Banking segment offers checking, savings, and time deposit accounts; residential mortgage loans, home equity lines of credit, automobile loans and leases, personal lines of credit, installment loans, small business loans and leases, and credit cards; private and international client banking, investment, credit, and trust services to individuals and families, and high-net-worth individuals; investment management; institutional investment advisory services to corporations, government entities, and foundations; and brokerage offerings, including equities, mutual funds, life insurance, and annuity products. This segment operates 54 branch locations and 307 ATMs throughout Hawaii and the Pacific Islands, and a customer service center, as well as through online and mobile banking. The Commercial Banking segment provides corporate banking, commercial real estate loans, commercial lease financing, auto dealer financing, and deposit products. It offers commercial lending and deposit products to middle-market and large companies, and government entities; commercial real estate mortgages to investors, developers, and builders; and international banking and merchant services. The Treasury and Other segment offers corporate asset and liability management services, including interest rate risk management and foreign exchange services. Bank of Hawaii Corporation was founded in 1897 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Unrest at another of the state's correctional facilities Friday sparked a fire in a housing unit.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Correctional Services said no serious injuries were reported at the Diagnostic and Evaluation Center in west Lincoln, where fire crews were called just before 8:30 p.m.

An hour earlier, inmates "initiated an incident, which included a fire in the housing unit," a news release from prison staff said. A male staff member was assaulted, but his injuries were not serious.

The news release issued late Friday said all staff members were accounted for and safe. All inmates were also accounted for and the housing unit was under control at approximately 9:15 p.m.

The actions taken by these individuals put themselves and others in danger; thankfully there were no serious injuries, said Nebraska Department of Correctional Services Director Scott Frakes. The response by NDCS staff, with support from Lincoln Fire and Rescue and the Nebraska State Patrol, led to a quick resolution of the incident. Corrections staff willingly put themselves in harms way and once again they demonstrated their commitment to public safety.

It's unclear if inmates controlled any part of the prison, or the extent of any damage.

Lincoln Fire and Rescue reported the fire was out shortly after fire crews reached the scene.

The State Patrol and emergency teams with the Department of Correctional Services were at the prison along with fire crews.

The Nebraska State Fire Marshal will investigate the fire. NDCS will conduct an internal critical-incident review to determine the causal factors and the corrective action needed, according to a news release late Friday.

The Diagnostic and Evaluation Center, known as DEC, adjoins the Lincoln Correctional Center on West Van Dorn Street.

The center, comprised of three buildings, is utilized as an intake facility for inmates entering the prison system. Last summer, it housed 389 inmates, more than double its design capacity.

State leaders in recent years have sought to reform a prison system plagued by overcrowding, staff shortages and flaws in its sentence calculation system that three years ago led to hundreds of inmates being discharged too soon.

A lack of programming also has led to many inmates who are eligible for parole remaining in prison, unable to complete necessary conditions.

In March, two inmates at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution were killed in an hours-long disturbance that included fires in the prison yard and in a housing unit.

That incident took place in the same housing unit badly damaged by rioting prisoners in 2015.

Reports of assaults on staff members have also increased.




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Three staff members were assaulted by inmates Friday at a state correctional facility, the same night a fire was started in a housing unit.

Friday, the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services reported one staff member suffered minor injuries at the Diagnostic and Evaluation Center in west Lincoln. Saturday, the department said in a release that two other staffers were assaulted while trying to stop the original assault.

None of the three staff members suffered serious injuries. Two were treated at a hospital and released, the department said.

The fire started at approximately 7:30 p.m. Friday, and was under control by 9:15 p.m. The state fire marshal assessed and cleared the unit by 2 a.m. The fire marshal said it's too early to know the monetary value of the damage.

Sixteen inmates were involved in the fire that damaged a unit that housed 39 inmates, according to the department.

The DEC was under "a modified operations status" following the fire and assaults.

The adjoining Lincoln Correctional Center is housing DEC inmates and assisting with cleanup. Both facilities canceled outside visits Saturday and Sunday.

By Saturday night, the units were at "a functional capacity" and the inmates were expected to return, said the release.
Entrepreneurial Success for Coleg Cambria Students

This article is old - Published: Saturday, Apr 8th, 2017

Several Teams from Coleg Cambria were recently selected to take part in Waless National Final and Showcase of Entrepreneurial Talent for 16-25 year olds Big Ideas Celebrated at Cardiff City Stadium.

The event gives young people the opportunity to test themselves against the best in Wales, developing skills in a practical way and to show others exactly what they can achieve.

In its first year, this competition attracted over 80 excellent team and individual entries from across all sectors: schools, colleges, universities and individuals outside of education.

All finalists were invited to showcase their innovative ideas and were able to attend entrepreneurial workshops and network with other students and entrepreneurs.

Reaching this stage was an achievement in itself and the college was represented by seven teams representing the Yale and Northop sites.

Coleg Cambria students won the following Awards:

Money Matters Award:

1st: The Original Health Company (Gen Ed, Yale): George Wilbraham and Gugu Ndlovu

2nd: EquiTrack (Equine, Northop): Adele Jenkins, Sam Davies, Sian Holt, Amy Platt, Naomi Bennion

Ian Bennett Award:

Buzzing For Dogs (Animal Care, Northop): Bethany Williams, Emily Richards, Molly Jones, Ashleigh Pearse-Kelly

Overall Best Business Award (FE):

Runners up: The Original Health Company (Gen Ed, Yale): George Wilbraham and Gugu Ndlovu

Coleg Cambria, Deputy Director Learner Experience & Enterprise, Rona Griffiths said: Coleg Cambria is renowned for its entrepreneurial spirit and in its strength in enterprise competitions. All students are able to participate in entrepreneurial activities  either individually or in teams, as part of their studies or as extracurricular activity.

All seven teams here were selected for their innovative ideas submitted in term one, handpicked by external judges and invited to battle it out against the best entrepreneurial young minds in Wales.

All were praised on their professionalism, poise, performance and maturity and we at Coleg Cambria are very proud of all who participated and grateful to all staff who supported the learners throughout the process.
New Event Celebrating Welsh Language & Music to Coincide With Popular Wrexham Music Festival

This article is old - Published: Saturday, Apr 8th, 2017

A Wrexham-based music festival will see the launch of a new event this year to showcase the Welsh language and its music and culture.

As part of the FOCUS Wales Festival 2017, which takes place in Wrexham from May 11 to May 13, a new event named Hwb Cymraeg (Welsh Hub) will see musicians and artists give an insight into the Welsh language, and how it has informed and moulded their work.

Based in a tipi on Queens Square throughout FOCUS Wales, Hwb Cymraeg will include Welsh language workshops, live radio sessions and talks from a number of artists  with some big names to be announced soon.

Hwb Cymraeg is being jointly organised by Wrexham County Borough Council, FOCUS Wales, Menter Iaith Fflint a Wrecsam and Coleg Cambria.

Stephen Jones, Welsh Language Co-ordinator at Wrexham Council, said: We are extremely excited to be working in partnership with FOCUS Wales, Menter Iaith Fflint a Wrecsam and Coleg Cambria on this event.

This will be a great opportunity to really showcase the Welsh language to the 7000-plus visitors from across the UK and overseas, who attend FOCUS Wales each year.

We also want to highlight the many opportunities there are in Wrexham for people to learn Welsh, and hope to inspire people to do so.

Our timetable is quickly filling up and we look forward to announcing the details shortly.

Neal Thompson of FOCUS Wales said: Were really excited to be presenting this brand new stage at FOCUS Wales, with the support of Wrexham Council and Menter Iaith.

The promotion of the Welsh language has always been an integral part of what were doing with FOCUS Wales and to be able to offer the opportunity for our visitors, from at home and abroad, to learn about and to speak in Welsh represents a valuable addition to our programme for 2017.

Rhian Davies, Communications Officer for Menter Iaith Fflint a Wrecsam said: Menter Iaith Fflint a Wrecsam are delighted to support the Welsh Hwb that will be part of the FOCUS Wales 2017 festival this year.

This event compliments and blends excellently with the Fflint and Wrexham Welsh on Tour Month, which is a month of Welsh language.

The calendar is heaving with events which will promote the Welsh language across the area in schools, communities, and in the workplace with Welsh speakers, learners and non-Welsh speakers.

A number of societies and choirs are opening their doors during the Welsh on Tour month, so that members of the public  especially those with an interest in the Welsh language  may visit and sample the activities.

We hope people make the most of this opportunity to socialise, learn and enjoy through the medium of Welsh.

From the wide variety of events on offer, it is obvious that the Welsh language is alive and kicking in North East Wales.

She added: We are glad to announce that a very special guest will be joining us at the Welsh Hwb in Wrexham on Thursday, May 11 at 4pm  Magi Ann, the star of the highly popular app Magi Ann ai Ffrindiau.

Families are welcome to join us for Magi Anns Party. There will be red jelly and Magi Ann Cakes for all, as well as a song and story session and a chance to meet the likable character herself, who has been helping hundreds of children accross Wales learn to read in Welsh.

For further information on Hwb Cymraeg and the full line-up for this years FOCUS Wales Festival, visit www.focuswales.com.
Police formed a perimeter Saturday morning near Speedway Village to search for a suspect who stole hunting gear from a southwest Lincoln business.

Capt. Bob Farber said an employee of Paul Davis Restoration was at the businesss Sixth Street warehouse when alarms were triggered at approximately 9 a.m.

When police arrived, a man was spotted walking on the railroad tracks next to the building carrying hunting gear. The suspect dropped the gear and fled toward Wilderness Park, Farber said.

A perimeter was formed between Pioneers Boulevard and West Calvert Street and First Street and Salt Creek, said Capt. Don Scheinost.

A Nebraska State Patrol helicopter and a K-9 unit assisted in the search, police say. The perimeter was called off at 1:13 p.m.

The suspect cut padlocks off storage containers behind the business, Farber said. It is not known if the suspect was inside the warehouse.

The business is missing hunting decoys and other materials, although some items were recovered.

Farber described the suspect as a medium-built white male in his 30s, wearing dark clothing and a hat. The suspect is not believed to be a danger to the public, Farber said.
Last month, nearly 100 military and diplomatic officials from eight East African nations gathered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for the United States Army Africa (USARAF) led joint exercise Justified Accord 17 (JA17), a training exercise aimed at increasing cooperation and furthering military interests for the nations involved.

The Peace Support Training Center in Addis Ababa, where the annual exercises were held, operates under the auspices of the US Africa Command (AFRICOM), one of nine Pentagon-administered combatant commands across the globe. USARAF is the component of AFRICOM which conducts land forces training on the continent.

Headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, AFRICOMs mission is to expand Washingtons influence and dominance on the African continent.

We look forward to working with youlearning with you and from you. Deputy Commander of USARAF Brigadier General Jon Jensen said before the crowd at Justified Commands opening ceremony.

Discussions during the week-long exercise centered on the African Union-led offensive in Somalia (AMISOM). Somalia has geostrategic significance for Washington, as it fronts the waterway for the worlds oil traffic from the Middle East through the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Aden.

Speaking to these interests, Jensen told the crowd, AMISOM has strategic importance to all of us.

AMISOMs mission is to shore up support for Washingtons puppet government in Mogadishu, which has little support in the country. Somalia is in complete disarray, largely due to Washingtons decades-long military operations in the country. Much of the country is ruled by Islamist militants that make up the terrorist group al-Shabbab, or militias fighting for various tribal warlords.

AMISOMs mission statement on its web site speaks of the geopolitical and capitalist interests it is seeking to promote: [AMISOMs mission] is to provide support to the Federal Government of Somalia in its efforts to stabilize the country, facilitate delivery of humanitarian aid, and create necessary conditions for the reconstruction and sustainable development of Somalia .

The growing number of training exercises and operations coordinated by AFRICOM point to a pivot to Africa and make clear Washingtons aim of imperialist domination of the African continent. Washington is determined to halt Chinas economic influence in Africa, and is utilizing its massive military power to counter Beijing.

Also unsettling to Washingtons foreign policy elites is the perceived lack of influence of the US in Africa, with only one permanent military base on the continent, Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti on the Horn of Africa, from which AFRICOM operates.

It is noteworthy that these military operations are being conducted behind the backs not only of the American people, but also of the African masses, whose anti-war sentiments can find no expression in the political establishment.

Last month, AFRICOM hosted Ugandas military for training at its satellite training center in Fort Polk, Louisiana, which trains military personnel from around the world at its Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC). The JRTC conducts its training by utilizing role-playing and mock situations and scenarios, such as terrorist sieges of cities, crowd control scenarios, and natural disasters.

It brings in such reality... The agencies involved in role playpolice, government, citizenscreate a realism because they are playing their roles very well, (communicating) their feelings and values, UPDF Lt. Col. Saad Katemba reported to the AFRICOM news service.

A group of 19 personnel from the Ugandan Peoples Defense Forces (UPDF) participated in the training with the anticipation that the UPDF would set up a Combat Training Center modeled after that of JRTC.

This type of (facility) would fill a lot of training gaps, Katemba noted. We can see here that it works.

Uganda is a key regional ally of US imperialism, and has deployed its UPDF forces in support of Washingtons puppet governments in South Sudan and Somalia. Additionally, some UPDF forces make up part of MONUSCO, the UN-led military operation in the resource-rich Democratic Republic of the Congo.

According to a 2012 briefing report by USARAF , Uganda provides a space at the airport in Entebbe for a vast spying operation conducted by AFRICOM utilizing turboprop planes.

It has also been reported that there are black sites in Kampala operated on behalf of the US for the interrogation and torture of suspected terrorists.

In Malawi, military planners from USARAF gathered in the capital Lilongwe to put the final touches on its African Land Forces Summit (ALFS) to be held in the country in May.

This will put Malawi on the map, Malawi Defense Force General Griffin Phiri told the group at the planning event last month.

ALFS is an annual week-long seminar bringing together military chiefs to facilitate coordination between AFRICOM and African nations. In reality, this is nothing short of the promotion of Washingtons geopolitical interests by utilizing its massive military power.

Speaking of the summit, US Army Brigadier General and deputy commander of USARAF Kenneth Moore said, We are all professionals. We may have very different cultures, our army cultures are different, but we are all dedicated to improving ourselves and our militaries.

Coinciding with the summit is the conflict embroiling the governments of Malawi and Tanzania in a border dispute over Lake Malawi, a region which is potentially rich in oil deposits. Even as Tanzania has laid claim to 50 percent of the lake, which is Africas third largest, Malawi has awarded oil exploration licenses for the disputed area to the UK company Surestream Petroleum.

The Malawian government has accused Tanzania of intimidation of Malawi fishermen on the lake, and has referred the dispute to the African Union for resolution.

In Kenya, AFRICOM has conducted various training events and cemented cooperative military arrangements, most notably Kenyas commitment of its armed forces to Washingtons imperialist operation in Somalia.

The ramping up of its military operations in Africa exposes the true intentions of Washington and how little it regards the interests of the African masses.

AFRICOM will not solve the social crisis of poverty, lack of decent housing, health care, education, food and sanitary living conditions experienced by the African masses. To the contrary, it will only exacerbate these intolerable social ills.

AFRICOMs vast operations on the continent constitute a significant increase in the tempo of the scramble for Africa on the part of Washington, which desperately seeks to secure the continents vast economic resources for its national corporate and banking interests at the expense of its rivals.

The expansion of operations in Africa coincides with the broader reactionary objectives of the Trump administration. With the recent bombing of Syria, open discussion of war plans against North Korea (and ultimately China), and the pursuit of a nationalist trade war policy marked by Trumps recent executive orders instituting the enactment of tariffs on imports to the US, Washington has made it clear that it is willing to risk the lives of millions in order to ensure the interests of American capitalism.

The US turn towards militarism to solve the crisis of the capitalist system represents a warning to the African and international working class that the elite is prepared to plunge the entire planet into a devastating world war in order to save the outmoded and crisis-ridden capitalist system.
The Federal Foundation for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Eastern Germany has declared its solidarity with Jorg Baberowski after the Cologne Regional Court has decided on March 15 that the Students Union (Asta) of the University of Bremen has grounds to call the Humboldt University professor an extreme right-winger.

The statement of the Foundation, dated April 5, is signed by members of its Scientific Advisory Council, of which Baberowski is a member. It also carries the signatures of leading representatives of the Foundation, which is financed from assets taken from the former East German Stalinist ruling party, the SED, along with annual contributions from the budget of Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The aim of the statement is not the defense of a colleague they allege has been misinterpreted. Rather they seek to justify political views and revisionist historical positions on Nazism deemed unacceptable just a few years ago. Three decades ago the attempt of Ernst Nolte to justify Nazism as a necessary reaction to Bolshevism was decidedly rejected in the famous Historians Debate. Now Baberowski and his supporters are defending conceptions which go far beyond those of Nolte.

Already the first paragraph of the Foundations statement turns reality on its head. It describes Baberowski as the target of an ongoing campaign of professional and personal defamation which, in addition to harming the reputation of an outstanding scholar, seeks to permanently damage the culture of debate in our country.

In fact, Baberowskis reputation as a scholar is very limited, especially outside Germany. He is much better known as a right-wing demagogue. Even leading politicians are not interviewed and invited to talkshows as often as the Humboldt professor. He is in demand when someone is needed to agitate against refugees, promote state violence or revive the anticommunist prejudices of the Cold War.

In contrast to Baberowskis historical work, this political role has also been recognized outside Germany. The far right American websites Breitbart News and The Daily Stormer have praised his tirades against refugees, as have German publications with close relations to the xenophobic Pegida movement and the Alternative for Germany (AfD).

Criticism of his statements is not an attack on the culture of debate in our country, but rather its indispensable prerequisite. The Foundations accusation that Baberowskis critics are attempting to silence his views, because they dislike them is simply absurd. In contrast to Baberowski, who has access to every form of media outlet and who persecutes critical students with costly court cases, his critics can only resort to publishing their arguments on the Internet and in handbills.

The Foundation accuses Baberowskis critics of discrediting professional opinions by taking quotations out of context and defaming those who hold them. This, the statement continues, harms not only the person concerned, but all of us.

The fact is that the passages that the Cologne Court deemed to have been quoted out of context were political statements which Baberowski justified with openly ideological rather than professional arguments. If the signatories of the statement interpret this as a discrediting of professional opinions harming them all, one can only conclude that they agree with Baberowskis far-right political views.

According to the court, the Bremen Asta had taken out of context the following quote on the fight against terrorism: And if one is not willing to take hostages, burn villages, hang people and spread fear and terror, as the terrorists do, if one is not prepared to do such things, then one can never win such a conflict.

The Asta had indeed correctly reproduced Baberowskis words, but in the opinion of the court should also have included Baberowskis assertion: But one should consider (a) what type of war is one prepared for, and (b) whether one can win it. And if one cannot win then one should leave it. According to the court, this statement shows that Baberowski does not approve of applying the martial means mentioned in the passage quoted.

This line of argument is hardly likely to be accepted by a court of appeal. The phrase, if one is not willing ... then one should leave it, is a common rhetorical formula aimed at underlining a statement.

For example, if a policeman declares, And if one is not willing to kill, blackmail, torture and intimidate, as the mafia does, if one is not prepared to do such things, then one can never win such a conflict and one should leave it, this would clearly be understood as a call to use illegal means against the mafia, and not as a hands-off approach.

During the public discussion on the topic Germany: an intervention force?, where Baberowski made these controversial comments, he repeatedly and explicitly spoke out in favour of military action against terrorists.

As far as Baberowskis views as a historian are concerned, he has already summarized them in February 2014 in an interview in Der Spiegel with Dirk Kurbjuweit. There he lined up behind the most notorious of Nazi apologists among German professors in the post-war period, the late Ernst Nolte. He said: Nolte was done an injustice. Historically speaking, he was right. Baberowski then compared Hitler to Stalin and stated: Hitler was no psychopath, and he wasnt vicious. He didnt want people to talk about the extermination of the Jews at his table.

This is not a professional opinion, but rather a monstrous belittlement of Nazi crimes. Hitler, the most brutal mass murderer in world history, not only spoke about the extermination of the Jews at his table, he also did so at mass meetings.

In a notorious speech given in the Berlin Sportpalast on January 30, 1942, Hitler boasted: I already stated on September 1 in the German Reichstagand I will refrain from over-hasty propheciesthat the war will not come to an end as the Jews imagine, with the extermination of the European and Aryan peoples; but that the result of this war will be the annihilation of Jewry. For the first time the old Jewish law will be applied: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

In his Hitler biography, the British historian Ian Kershaw shows in detail how Hitler dwelt in imaginations of violence during the weeks following the attack on the Soviet Union.

If he could wish the German people one thing, he remarked on another occasion, it would be to have a war every fifteen or twenty years. If reproached for the loss of 200,000 lives, he would reply that he had enlarged the German nation by 2.5 million and felt justified in demanding the lives of a tenth, Kershaw writes, citing Hitler: Life is horrible. Coming into being, existing and passing away, theres always a killing. Everything that is born must later die. Whether its through illness, accident or war, that remains the same (Ian Kershaw, Hitler 1936-1945, Nemesis, Penguin 2000, p. 403-404).

Thirty years ago a declaration to the effect that this mass murderer was not vicious would have unleashed a massive outcry, but today historians ignore it. In the same vein, no one in academic circles protested when Baberowski gave a lecture at the Humboldt University on October 27 last year in honour of the crown jurist of the Third Reich, Carl Schmitt.

Two years ago, the film Hes Back featured in Berlins cinemas. The film depicted Hitler returning to the German capital and finding his feet very quickly in the present day. One inevitably recalls this film when addressing these issues.

The signatories of the Foundation statement justify Baberowskis trivialization of National Socialism with the words: Each of us interprets the past against the background of his own scientific career based on his theoretical and methodological approach in his own way. If he had not died in the summer of last year, Ernst Nolte would be received by these people with open arms.

A week ago, the presidium of Humboldt University had already lined up behind Baberowski. As we wrote, this was the result of a political intervention. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung had exerted massive pressure on the HU to issue a statement in favour of Baberowski in the face of opposition inside the administration itself. The recently appointed HU President Sabine Kunst is a high-ranking social democratic politician with close links to foreign policy circles and the military.

The fact that the Foundation for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Eastern Germany has lined up behind Baberowski underlines the political character of this campaign. The Foundation was established in 1998 and has assets of 75 million from funds appropriated from the SED. It receives extra funding from the German chancellerys billion-strong culture budget. It has the official mandate of studying the causes, history and consequences of the SED dictatorship and keeping alive the memory of the injustice done and of its victims.

The Trotskyist movement, embodied today in the International Committee of the Fourth International and its youth movement, the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE), was always irreconcilably opposed to the Stalinist regime of the GDR and was bitterly persecuted by it. Oskar Hippe, a leading Trotskyist who had fought against the Nazis in the Third Reich, sat in a GDR prison from 1948 to 1956.

There is, however, a fundamental difference between criticism of Stalinism from the left, which denounces the oppression of workers democracy and the betrayal of socialism by the Stalinist bureaucracy, and criticism from the right, which uses the crimes of Stalinism to play down the crimes of fascism and German imperialism. Baberowski and his supporters belong to the second category. At a time when interest in socialism and Marxism is growing due to the danger of war and growing social inequality, the Foundation for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Eastern Germany has the task of keeping anti-communism alive.

Among the signatories of the statement, there are no less than three ministers from the last GDR government headed by Lothar de Maiziere (CDU), which organized the liquidation of the GDR with disastrous consequences for the working classMarkus Meckel (SPD), Rainer Eppelmann (CDU ) and Gerd Poppe (Green Party). The former premier of Thuringia, Christine Lieberknecht (CDU), the CSU politician Hartmut Koschyk, who is linked to Germanys right-wing expellees organisations, and the director of the Foundation, Anna Kaminsky, have also all signed the statement.

Kaminsky recently gave an interview to the daily Die Welt, which, entirely in the spirit of Nolte, began: Communism ... was more devastating than Hitlers racial hatred and his insane idea of living space in the East.

Such historical revisionism can only be understood against the backdrop of the rapid worsening of the global crisis of capitalism. The US is threatening North Korea, China and Russia with war and escalating its involvement in Syria. For its part the German government has responded by a massive program of rearmament.

Two years ago, we wrote in the book Scholarship or War Propaganda?: The public relations campaigns of the defence ministry and the propaganda of the media are not sufficient to overcome this deep-rooted opposition [to the return of German militarism]. A new narrative of the 20th century is required, a falsification of history that conceals and justifies the crimes of German imperialism.

The statement by the Federal Foundation for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Eastern Germany must be seen as a warning. Seventy years after the end of the National Socialist terror regime, influential sections of the German ruling class have tossed aside all inhibitions and are publicly propounding extreme right wing positions to prepare for new wars.
While the American military subjected Syria to bombardment by dozens of Tomahawk cruise missiles, its most important ally, the US media, subjected the American population to its own bombardmentnonstop propaganda claiming that the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad is guilty of using nerve gas on its own population.

There has been no investigation on the ground to substantiate the claims by Syrian rebel groups, mainly affiliated with Al Qaeda, that 70 people died from the use of chemical weapons in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province. Video footage and photographs, which are easily manipulated or faked, have served in the place of evidence.

President Trump cited the pictures of children dying as the reason from his reversal of policy in relation to Syria. As late as Monday, Trump administration officials were conceding that President Assads hold on power seemed secure and declaring that the main focus of US policy in Syria was to destroy the Islamic fundamentalist group ISIS. Less than 72 hours later US destroyers were launching cruise missiles at a Syrian airbase.

Trumps religion-tinged bathos about avenging beautiful babies who were children of god would be more convincing if he had not devoted so much of his administrations first 80 days in office to making life miserable for babies of all races and nationalities, but especially those from the Middle East.

It was not long ago that White House press secretary Sean Spicer was defending the US detention of children coming from seven Muslim-majority countries, both visitors and refugees, on the grounds that they were potential terrorists. Asked in particular about the seizure of a five-year-old Iranian boy, separated from his mother by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, Spicer replied, to assume that just because of someones age or gender or whatever that they dont pose a threat would be misguided and wrong.

Trump himself famously declared that he would order the killing of the children of suspected Al Qaeda and ISIS terrorists if they had the poor judgment to be in the company of their parents when they became the targets of US cruise missiles. And in the current US-backed onslaught on ISIS-held Mosul, the second-largest city in Iraq, thousands of innocent civilians, including many, many children, have been blown to bits or incinerated by US bombs. Neither Trump nor the American media have shed any tears over the children of Mosul.

There has been no serious media examination of the evidence around the Idlib gas attack, in part because there is no evidence to present. The Russian counterclaim that Syrian warplanes struck an Al Qaeda nerve gas factory has been dismissed out of hand, although the Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria, the group formerly named the al-Nusra Front, is known to possess such facilities and to have used such weapons.

Another problem with the Assad gas attack narrative is that the US government, along with Russia and the United Nations, supervised the destruction of Syrias stockpile of banned chemical weapons in 2013-2014, under an agreement brokered by Russian President Vladimir Putin to call off a previous planned US missile strike on Syria, under the Obama administration.

US intelligence agencies repeatedly certified that Syrias chemical weapons stocks had been destroyed, and that the Assad regime was adhering to the Putin-Obama agreement. Now these same intelligence agencies claim that the Assad regime has made use of the same nerve gas weapons that were supposedly trucked out of Syria, loaded onto ships, and destroyed under US supervision.

Then there is the bothersome question of what could have motivated the regime of Bashar al-Assad, at a time when it has largely completed the military rout of the US-backed rebels, to give Washington a pretext for intervention by suddenly and gratuitously dropping a nerve gas bomb on Khan Sheikhoun, a town of no military significance.

One observer, former Obama State Department official Antony Blinken, writing in the New York Times in support of the Trump-ordered missile strike, referred in passing to the problem of motivation, describing the use of sarin gas in Idlib as totally unnecessary for the Assad regimes survival, and hugely embarrassing to Moscow.

Blinken also suggested darkly that Russia could face retaliation for its continued support for Assad, declaring, The recent horrific attack in the St. Petersburg subwayapparently by an ethnic Uzbek possibly radicalized by the war in Syriamay be a preview of things to come if Moscow does not begin to extricate itself from the Syrian morass.

It would not be difficult for the US intelligence agencies, with their vast array of Islamic fundamentalist clients, including Al Qaeda affiliates in Syria, Yemen and other countries, to engineer such consequences for Russia.

An attempt at squaring this particular circle, providing a rationale for what Blinken called totally unnecessary, comes in an analysis published in the same issue of the Times Friday, under the headline, The Grim Logic Behind Syrias Chemical Weapons Attack.

The article points to Assads consolidation of power, culminating in declarations from top US officials that removing him from power was no longer in the cards, then poses the question: So why would Mr. Assad risk it all, outraging the world by attacking civilians with what Turkey now says was the nerve agent sarin, killing scores of people, many of them children?

Anyone expecting an actual answer to this question would be naive, given the byline of the article. The author, Anne Barnard, is a longtime conduit for CIA and Pentagon propaganda in the Middle East. She cites mostly unnamed analysts who assert that rather than an inexplicable act  it is part of a carefully calculated strategy of escalating attacks against civilians.

However, the only analyst she quotes by name, Bente Scheller, the Middle East director of the Berlin-based Heinrich Boll Foundation, admits, Militarily, there is no need. In other words, there is no strategy under which a nerve gas attack on a small town in Idlib province provides any benefit to the regime.

For the rebels, on the contrary, there is plenty of benefit in claiming or staging such an attack.

The Los Angeles Times pointed to this in a commentary Friday, noting that Assad had seemed stronger than ever at the beginning of the week, but now the chemical incident not only has put the Assad government on the defensive. It may breathe new life into a divided, demoralized rebel force that has been losing territory and has looked to be on the verge of defeat.

There is no question who benefited from the supposed gas attack, the newspaper continued, regardless of authorship: even if the incident was, as Syrian and Russian officials suggest, instigated by the Syrian opposition to draw international wrath onto Assads head, the effect is undeniable: Assads position is suddenly more precarious than ever.

If one poses the fundamental question, Who benefits? in relation to the supposed nerve gas attack in Idlib, the answer is imperialism and its rebel stooges in Syria. All the media propaganda in the world cannot disguise this fact.
The criminal US attack on Syria with a barrage of cruise missiles cast a menacing shadow over talks underway at Trumps Mar-a-Lago luxury resort in Florida with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The strikes, which took place as the two men were dining on Thursday evening, sent a message to Xi that the US was prepared to use military force without warning to achieve its ends.

In the lead-up to the much anticipated summit, the Trump administration repeatedly warned that it would use all options, including military strikes, to ensure that North Korea halted its nuclear and missile programs. Just days before Xi arrived, Trump told the Financial Times: If China is not going to solve North Korea, we will. That is all I am telling you.

Speaking briefly after talks yesterday, Trump absurdly declared that tremendous progress had been made in our relationship with China and that his own relationship with Xi was outstanding. He added: I believe lots of very potentially bad problems will be going away.

For more than a year, both during the US presidential election campaign and following his installation in office, Trump has repeatedly denounced China over trade, alleged currency manipulation, failure to rein in North Korea and Beijings reclamation and construction in the South China Sea.

As president, Trump openly called into question the basis of US-China relationsthe so-called One China policy under which the US recognises Beijing as the sole legitimate government of all China, including Taiwan

With the attacks on Syria in the background, Trump clearly threatened that the US would take unilateral action against North Korea, if the Chinese government did not force Pyongyang to meet Washingtons demands.

In comments to the media after the meeting, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that Trump indicated to Xi that we would be happy to work with them [China] but that Washington was prepared to chart our own course if this is something China is just unable to co-ordinate with us.

According to Tillerson, there was a real commitment that we work together to see if this cannot be resolved in a peaceful way. But in order for that to happen, North Koreas posture has to change before theres any basis for discussions.

The Trump administration is not about to engage in a drawn-out process of forcing the Pyongyang regime to the negotiating table on US terms. A senior White House official told the media earlier this week that the clock has now run out [on North Korea] and all options are on the table. In other words, if China fails to deliver quickly, the US will resort to other measures.

NBC News reported yesterday that a White House review of US strategy for North Korea was now complete and a number of military options were under active considerationincluding returning US nuclear weapons to South Korea, decapitation attacks to kill North Korean leaders and covert sabotage inside North Korea.

The report weighed up the pros and cons of each of these three reckless actions that would heighten tensions and threaten to provoke all-out war on the Korean Peninsula, without the slightest consideration for the millions that would lose their lives. It also indicated that preparations were underway.

Citing multiple top-ranking intelligence and military officials, NBC News stated that on the military side the three options with the highest impact still constitute the next steps.

Chinese President Xi undoubtedly understood the threat involved in the US strikes in Syria. As US Secretary of State Tillerson told the press after the attacks, This clearly indicates the president is willing to take decisive action when called for.

Xi was placed in the invidious position of being told by Trump over the dinner table that the US military had just launched strikes on Syriasomething that Beijing has publicly opposed and that could potentially involve conflict with Russia, with which China has close political and military ties. Trump publicly announced the attacks after Xi had left the dinner.

The Chinese response to the US military action has been decidedly muted. Foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying condemned the alleged chemical weapon attack on a rebel-held village inside Syria, which was used as the pretext for the strikes. However, she did not blame the Syrian government and called for an independent and comprehensive UN investigation.

Hua said China called for relevant parties to stay calm, exercise restraint and avoid doing anything that might raise tensions. In an implicit criticism, without naming the US, she said: China never interferes in the internal affairs of other countries and always opposed the use of force in international relations.

At an emergency session of the UN Security Council yesterday, Chinese ambassador Liu Jieyi made no mention of the US airstrikes on Syria, appealing instead for a political solution to the protracted civil war that has been fomented by the US and its allies.

The low-key Chinese response to the blatant act of US aggression, even as the Chinese president is meeting with Trump, underscores the sordid character of Xis horse-trading behind the scenes as he seeks a deal with Trump that will halt the US threats of trade war and military action against China.

Xis silence on the US strikes while meeting with Trump could exacerbate tensions within the Chinese leadership. Layers of the bureaucratic apparatus have pushed for a stronger Chinese response to the US military build-up in Asia. Xi is seeking to consolidate his grip on power as he pushes for a second five-year term at the Chinese Communist Party congress later this year.

While North Korea was at the top of the agenda, Trump undoubted pressed Xi aggressively across a range of issues, especially trade. Secretary of State Tillerson told the media that Trump called for China to level the playing field for American workers and stressed the need for reciprocal market access.

Trump also demanded that China adhere to international norms in the seas of East Asia, a reference to the dangerous flashpoints between China and its neighbours in the South China and East China Seas.

Despite Trumps claims to have made tremendous progress in US relations with China, his meeting with Xi sets the stage for an acceleration of tensions with China even as the US recklessly risks triggering a war in the Middle East that draws Russia and other powers into a broader conflagration.
Local residents, including people with heart and lung disease, are advised to stay indoors Saturday because of smoke levels from agricultural burning, the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department said.

Southerly winds and extensive, controlled burning in the Midwest  particularly the Flint Hills area of Kansas  are predicted to expose residents of Lincoln and all of Southeast Nebraska to unhealthy air, said Chris Schroeder, air quality supervisor at the Health Department.

The forecast indicates that our community is likely to be impacted this weekend, Schroeder said.

Particles and gases in smoke can cause asthma attacks, worsen chronic bronchitis and emphysema and cause angina (chest pain) in people with heart disease, Schroeder said.

Older adults and children may also be sensitive to the smoke levels. Avoiding strenuous activities is advised.

Residents are also advised to keep windows and doors closed and use the re-circulate air setting in their vehicle.

The Health Department monitors Air Quality Index hourly at lincoln.ne.gov (keyword: air, click on air quality link).

Schroeder said later Friday that air quality was unhealthy for everyone.

Farmers in the Flint Hills area of Kansas are allowed to burn up to 2 million acres of grassland each year to produce better grass for their cattle.

Because of wet weather last month, farmers havent been able to burn. It's now near the end of the farmers' time frame to get the burn finished, said Jim Burnstock of the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality.
Asia

Bangladeshi bus drivers on wildcat strike

In defiance of their union, bus drivers and helpers in Tangail, Dhaka division took strike action on March 30 in protest against the Road Transport Act 2017, which was approved by cabinet on March 27. They were joined by transport workers plying routes in Jessore, Khulna, Magura and Narail on Sunday. The Bangladesh Road Transport Workers Federation said it did not support the strike.

Transport workers are concerned about stricter conditions to obtain an operators license and heavy new penalties for any infringements. One driver told the media that they do not accept that all drivers need to complete class eight in order to qualify for a drivers licence.

Bangladeshi municipal workers strike

Around 1,600 temporary workers and 541 class-II and III staff from the Barisal City Corporation (BCC), 120km south of Dhaka, ended a week-long strike on Sunday after the corporation agreed to pay overdue wages. The workers, mainly garbage collectors employed by a manpower company, walked out on March 27 to demand payment of five months salaries and provident fund.

Pakistan: Government hospital workers in Lahore protest

Paramedical workers, including laboratory technicians, operating theatre staff, dispensers and other hospital workers, held sit-in protests at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology, Lahore General Hospital, Services Hospital and Mental Hospital in Lahore on March 30. They were protesting against the proposed privatisation of public sector hospitals. Other demands included legislation of professional allowances, risk allowances and restructuring of all staff from grade 1 to grade 16.

The action by members of the Pakistan Allied Health Professionals Organisation (PAHPO) follows a series of demonstrations outside the hospitals over several days. A PAHPO representative said that most of the paramedics and health professionals have been working on contracts or for daily wages for the past five to 20 years. Their wages, he claimed, had not been increased for many years.

India: Tamil Nadu rural employment scheme workers protest

A group of over 30 workers, mostly women from three villages in Ramanathpuram district employed in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS), demonstrated outside the Ramanathpuram Collectors Office on Monday. Their spokesperson said at least 300 MNREGS workers in Vellatthur, Kattukkudi and Manjur villages had not been paid wages for nine months. Due to recent crop failures and the lack of farm work the women depend entirely on the meagre wages from the employment scheme.

Vietnamese garment workers strike

Some 1,000 workers at the Indonesian-owned Mei Sheng Textiles in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province refused to work on Monday. They were demanding the sacking of the newly appointed Chinese manager over new work rules he had imposed.

Workers complained that management limited food and water that employees could take to work and that pregnant women were banned from bringing milk. They also complained that canteen food was poor quality, break times strictly controlled and working hours had been extended. Workers said that anyone violating the rules had their wages cut by 10 percent for a first offense, 20 percent on the second offense and sacked fired after the third violation.

Later that day, the factory owner told strikers that the manager had been replaced and that requests about bringing food and water and improving the quality of canteen food would be met.

Burmese farmers protest over confiscation of their land

Over 300 farmers from five townships in Mandalay region demonstrated in Singu on March 29 to demand the immediate release of a fellow farmer and to drop what they claim were unfair charges against other arrested farmers. Protesters claimed that the farmers were charged under a Penal Code for robbery after they ploughed confiscated land that they had previously owned.

The protest was one of many over several years by angry farmers attempting to reclaim over 3,000 acres of their land confiscated in the 1970s by the Burmese army under the control of former dictator General Ne Win.

Australia and the Pacific

South Australia: Light-City Bus drivers union calls off strike

The Transport Workers Union (TWU), representing drivers of one of Adelaides three commuter bus service providers Light-City Bus (LCB), called off a planned 24-hour strike this week. It followed a tentative agreement with the state Labor government in their dispute over a proposed enterprise agreement. Previous industrial action was suspended by the TWU after it reached an in principled agreement with LCB on March 15. The deal was rejected by members. Another modified proposal was rejected by members last Saturday.

The TWU is demanding annual 3 percent pay increases to secure pay parity with others in the Adelaide metro network, a reduction in broken shifts, no broken shifts on weekends, and regular start and finish times. The LCB wanted to limit the wage increases to 1.9 percent, extend unpaid break in broken shifts to five hours, increase casualisation of the workforcefrom 15 to 30 percentand other demands.

The drivers are yet to vote on the proposal. The TWU and LCB have not released details of the new proposal other than to claim that it included an improved pay offer and shift rosters.

Victorian: Disability support workers in Bendigo protest

Around 40 disability support workers and carers walked off the job on Thursday and marched through Bendigo and rallied outside the local Labor MPs office. They were protesting the Labor state governments plan to privatise disability support services under the former Gillard federal Labor governments Nation Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Health and Community Services Union members claimed that the scheme was grossly underfunded, services would be cut and at least 200 jobs were at risk.

The Liberal government in New South Wales (NSW) passed legislation in 2013 which allowed for the forced transfer of public servants working in Ageing, Disability and Home Care (ADHC) to a private employer under NDIS. Jobs have been slashed and wages cut. The NSW government wants the ADHC fully privatised by 2018.

Federal public servants continue strike action

Community and Public Sector Union members at the 34,000-strong Department of Human Services (DHS) will begin another series of strikes commencing with a four-hour strike on April 13 and running through to April 26. There will be six full-day strikes for April 18 through to 25. The walkouts follow limited rolling strikes in December.

The action is part of a three-year enterprise agreement dispute with the Liberal-National federal government. Last November DHS workers overwhelmingly rejected, for the third time in 14 months, a proposed enterprise agreement offer from the Turnbull government. DHS runs Centrelink, Medicare and the Child Support Agency.

Nearly 75 percent of the 160,000-strong federal public sector workforce have rejected the governments pay offers during the past three years. The government wants all federal public sector annual wage increases capped at 2 percent and that these be combined with cuts in benefits or working conditions. It has also declared that there will be no back-pay from the last agreement, in effect a three-year pay freeze for around 100,000 public sector workers.

New Zealand disability support workers vote to strike

Some 98 percent of E tu union members at IDEA Services, which is funded by the government through the organisation Intellectually Handicapped Childrens Association, voted this week to take industrial action following the Easter holidays. Half of IDEAs 3,000 disability support employees are members of the union.

The vote follows six months of negotiations for a pay rise for administration and support workers. The union claims that these employees are only paid a maximum of $18 an hour, which is less than the official Living Wage. The E Tu said IDEA has made no pay offer, has ignored critical health and safety issues around current staffing levels and not agreed to job protection.

IDEA refused to make a pay offer during negotiations and is now refusing to enter further talks, claiming it is waiting for the government to finalise funding in the disability sector. The vote for the strike came five days after IDEA announced it intended to cut services by five percent. Details of the strike are expected to be released following a union meeting next week.

Vanuatu airport refuelling crews on strike

Over 75 employees of Pacific Petroleum Company, in Port Vila and Luganville, Santo, walked off the job for six hours on Monday over working conditions. All Air Vanuatu domestic flights were cancelled and Pacific Petroleum fuel outlets in Port Vela closed.

The Vanuatu National Workers Union members said that the negotiating time allowed for their grievances to be dealt with lapsed last week. Details of their demands have not been made public.

Vanuatu senior nurses in Port Vila protest

Over 30 senior nurses at Vanuatus main referral hospital in Port Vila walked off the job on March 27 to protest delays in paying new salary increments and over pay anomalies associated with the recruitment of 50 new graduates on contract under the new health structure. Nurses at the Vila Central Hospital complained that contract graduates had been placed in senior positions on salaries higher than existing permanent senior nurses.

Members of the Vanuatu Nursing Association demonstrated outside the Public Service Commissions office.
Demolition work has begun for the final two buildings of the Penn Plaza housing complex. Most of complex, which once contained 312 below-market-rate apartments, including 41 subsidized units, has already been razed as part of a redevelopment plan that included the building of a Whole Foods supermarket.

The demolition of the Penn Plaza complex highlights the lack of affordable housing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which is provoking growing anger among the citys population.

The last remaining dozen or so residents were moved out only last Friday, with the city and developers claiming they were able to find them places to live. The developer had initiated some demolition work, such as cutting down trees, removing ceiling tiles, and sealing vents, even while some residents were still living in their apartments.

Penn Plaza, located in the historically working class area of East Liberty, is slated to be redeveloped as a Whole Foods grocery store, 200 apartments, and 12,000 square feet of office space. This development will cater to somewhat more well-off layers of workers and professionals, such as those in the medical and technology industries.

In an attempt to offset the outpouring of anger by residents and a social media campaign against the project, Whole Foods has announced that it is temporarily withdrawing from the project. It may go ahead with its plans once the demolition work is completed.

Democratic Mayor Bill Peduto is now posturing as a defender of affordable housing. After giving the OK for the development plan, the city filed a suit against the developer, seeking an injunction to stop demolition activity. The developer has filed a counter suit, claiming that the city is seeking to derail business plans that it had previously approved.

Like other Democratic administrations before him, Peduto, who took office in 2014, has presided over the steady erosion of affordable housing in Pittsburgh, while offering handouts to major corporations and tax cuts and public funding for developers. Tech giants Google and Uber agreed to move some operations to Pittsburgh in exchange for huge tax breaks.

Public housing complexes throughout the city have been torn down, some replaced with fewer mixed-income units, pushing many low-income renters out, while others have been cleared to make way for retail giants like Target.

Pittsburgh faces a dire shortage of affordable housing. A 2012 City of Pittsburgh report found that fully one third of all households in the city, or about 45,000 households, pay more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs. Of these, 12,000 households spend upwards of 50 percent.

There are 36,000 households in Pittsburgh with annual incomes of less than $20,000. Most of these have to pay more than 30 percent of their income on housing or are forced to live in overcrowded, dilapidated and unsafe accommodations.

Thousands of low-income residents in both Pittsburgh and Allegheny County are on waiting lists for Section 8 housing vouchers, most for several years. Some 17,000 households throughout the city are either homeless or on the verge of homelessness.

Rents in Pittsburgh have skyrocketed. An unsubsidized one-bedroom apartment in Penn Plaza cost roughly $680 per month, making it affordable for a family making $27,000 per year or more. As of 2015, average rent for a newly constructed studio apartment was $1,251, which is designated as affordable for households with income above $50,000, or 125 percent of median household income.

James, a cook at the nearby Childrens Hospital and resident of Penn Hills, spoke of his connection to Penn Plaza just as final demolition was beginning. My dad used to live there when he was little, he said. He lived in the other building they tore down. That was years ago.

When he lived here, it was new. I havent talked to my dad about it, because hes been sick, but Ive been seeing it on the news.

My dad worked at a steel mill, the one over in Hazelwood. Hes from the Hazelwood area. He worked at the steel mills a good while before they started shipping them overseas for cheap labor.

James said, I saw when they first decided to tear this down that they were going to build a grocery store. They were trying to rush them out then, and the tenants complained. They met over at a church, and they were supposed to give them so many days before they had to move.

I heard they kept moving the deadline when they were going to do demolition. Suddenly you only have a few days to move out. Its hard finding a place at the last minute. There are elderly people living there.

I heard that they started asbestos work. The workers had masks on, and that stuff is floating in the air, and people get sick off of that. Its not cool. There are people still living there and youre taking out windows and stuff.

Theyre throwing up other apartments, and they want $1,000 [per month]. By Google, the townhomes that went up, they probably went from anywhere from $1,000 to $1,500 a month. Everyone is not making money like that, especially if youre retired.

James agreed with the need for a party of the working class. The politicians, the only thing theyre worrying about is getting their pockets lined up from lobbyists, he said. Theyre trying to take Obamacare, and Im not trying to say its great, but they want to take it out and put in what?

The pharmaceutical companies are making a killing, he added. Were the only country that doesnt have free health care for its citizens. Every other country that has a large amount of people, they get free health care. Not this country. Its all about nickel-and-diming you for every little cent you can get out of someone.

Niqiyah, a resident of nearby Wilkinsburg, spoke to the WSWS outside Penn Plaza. She expressed outrage at the attack on affordable housing. Whole Foods wants to move right here? she asked. So were kicking people out of their homes to put in a grocery store? Thats evil.

I thought they were also putting more expensive apartments here. The apartments across the street are like $1,000 a month. People out here cant afford that. No one can afford that, theyre looking for doctors and stuff.

Ive lived here [in Pittsburgh] all my life, she said. I was mad that they want to tear it down. I heard on the news that they were starting to tear it down, and they werent supposed to because there are people living in there. They tore half of it down. The owner said, We were just trying to do minor things. No. There are still people living in there. You dont do stuff like that.

There are a lot of old people living here too. My ex-fiances best friend was living with his mom, his mother was living here [in Penn Plaza], and she had to hurry up and find somewhere else to live. And then she had to go into the hospital after that. She was going through a lot.

People have kids, Niqiyah added. I have two kids, and their dad is at work all day. He goes to work at 7 oclock in the morning, and doesnt come home until 1 oclock at night. He has to work two jobs to take care of our kids. Its really hard. This was affordable housing, and theyre knocking it down.
In the day that has passed since the United States carried out an unprovoked and illegal attack on a Syrian air field, it has become clear that this event is only the prelude to a much broader military escalation, with the potential for a direct clash with nuclear-armed Russia.

On Friday, the US media and political establishment, as if with one voice, not only applauded Trumps action, but called for its expansion. Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton declared, It is essential that the world does more to deter Assad from committing future murderous atrocities. The day before the attack, Clinton called for bombing Syrian airfields and reiterated her support for setting up a no-fly zone, which top US generals have said would lead to war with Russia.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi praised Trumps move, while calling on Congress to pass a new authorization for the use of military force to give further action greater legitimacy. Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham released a statement calling on Trump to further escalate the war in Syria. Trump must move to take Assads air forcecompletely out of the fight, they wrote, and create safe zones in the country, which would entail the deployment of substantial numbers of ground troops.

The delusional and warmongering mood in the media was summed up by MSNBC commentator Brian Williams, who absurdly cited lyrics from Leonard Cohen: I am guided by the beauty of our weapons. He was so transfixed by the beauty of the Tomahawk missiles that he repeated the word three times. CNNs Fareed Zakaria proclaimed that with the launching of the airstrikes, Trump became president of the United States.

All of these statements were underpinned by a universal acceptance of the transparent lie that the strikes were in response to allegations that the Syrian government, with the support of Russia, used chemical weapons on Tuesday against the village of Khan Sheikhoun. The Syrian governments denial of responsibility was dismissed, and the fact that US-backed forces have used such weapons in the past and blamed it on the government simply ignored.

As for the blatant illegality of the US attack on Syria, this was treated as a nonissue. At Fridays UN Security Council meeting, Syrias ambassador to the United Nations called the strikes a flagrant act of aggression, in violation of the charter of the United Nations as well as all international norms and laws.

In response, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley simply declared, When the international community consistently fails in its duty to act collectively, there are times when states are compelled to take their own action. In other words, the US reserves to itself the right to wage aggressive war against any country it chooses, whatever the pretext.

This line was echoed in the media, with Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, the eternal propagandist of humanitarian war, declaring, President Trumps air strikes against Syria were of dubious legality But most of all, they were right.

To understand the real motivations behind the airstrikes on Syria, it is necessary to place them in a broader historical context.

The United States has been continually at war for over a quarter century. In each of these wars, the US government claimed that it was intervening to prevent some imminent catastrophe or topple one or another dictator.

In 1991, the US invaded oil-rich Iraq, nominally to stop atrocities planned by the Iraqi military against the population of Kuwait. Then came the 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia, nominally to prevent ethnic cleansing by President Slobodan Milosevic.

In 2001, the Bush administration invaded Afghanistan, based on the false pretext that the Taliban was harboring the perpetrators of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Next came the second invasion of Iraq, justified by false claims that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction.

Under Obama, the US bombed Libya and had its Islamist proxies murder President Muammar Ghadaffi after claiming that his troops were planning to carry out an imminent massacre in Benghazi.

In all of these wars, humanitarian pretexts were employed to carry out regime-change operations in pursuit of the United States global geostrategic interests. They have resulted in the deaths of more than a million people and the destruction of entire societies. In the effort to reverse the long-term decline of American capitalism, the US ruling class has bombed or invaded one country after the next in regional conflicts that are rapidly developing into a confrontation with its larger rivals, including China and Russia.

Now, once again, the American people are expected to believe that the US is launching another war to save, in the words of Donald Trump, beautiful babies.

In relation to Syria, the horrific bloodshed and refugee crisis are the products of a five-year-long CIA-stoked civil war aimed at bringing down the government of Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Iran and Russia. In 2013, allegations of a chemical weapons attack falsely attributed to the Syrian government were used to demand airstrikes. The Obama administration ended up backing down, confronting broad popular opposition and the unexpected defeat in the British parliament of a resolution authorizing military intervention.

Dominant sections of the military and political establishment, however, considered Obamas agreement with Putin to be a terrible climbdown, a loss of face that had to be reversed.

In the months since Trumps election and inauguration, the Democrats accusations that he was a Siberian candidate and a Russian poodle were aimed primarily at forcing a more aggressive policy in Syria and against Russia, in line with the demands of the CIA and military establishment.

The partial resolution of the bitter conflict within the ruling class over foreign policy does not mean that the US will not also escalate military intervention in Trumps preferred region for military intervention, Asia. NBC News carried a prominent segment Friday evening reporting, The National Security Council has presented President Trump with options to respond to North Koreas nuclear programincluding putting American nukes in South Korea or killing dictator Kim Jong-un. Any such action could quickly develop into an all-out war in the Asia Pacific.

What is perhaps most striking is the indifference of the political establishment and media to public opinion. The propaganda is so blatant, so repetitive, it is as if they are operating based on a scriptwhich they are. Broad sections of the population largely take it for granted that the government is peddling falsehoods.

Through the operations of the Democratic Party and its organizational affiliates, however, mass opposition to war has been politically demobilized. There remains a gulf between the level of consciousness of broad masses of the population and the extreme danger of the world situation. This must be reversed, through the systematic and urgent development of a mass political movement of the working class, in opposition to imperialist war and its ultimate cause, the capitalist system.
In a horrific attack around 3 p.m. local time Friday, a man drove a lorry into a crowd, killing at least four people and injuring many more on Drottninggatan (Queen Street), outside the Ahlens department store in Stockholm, Sweden.

The lorry crashed into the department store, reportedly coming from a direction in which lorries are not allowed, and caught fire. The driver then engaged in a gunfight with police before managing to flee the scene of the crime.

A witness, Annevi Petersson, who was in the fitting room of the department store at the time of the attack, told the BBC: I heard the noise, I heard the screams, I saw the people. As I walked out, just outside the store there was a dead dog, the owner screaming. There was a lady lying with a severed foot. There was blood everywhere. There were bodies on the ground everywhere.

The lorry used during the attack was stolen from Swedish brewery Spendrups, which said the truck had been stolen on its way to a restaurant delivery earlier in the day. Someone jumped into the drivers cabin and drove off with the vehicle while the driver was unloading, a brewery spokesperson told the TT news agency.

Swedish officials declared that the incident was a terrorist attack. Calling for tightening security. Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said that Sweden had been attacked in an apparent terrorist incident, and was strengthening its borders. He declared that Sweden would do whatever it takes for people to feel safe. Terrorists want us to be afraid ... to not live our lives normally, but that is what we are going to do, he said.

In the early evening, Swedish police said it had arrested a man in north Stockholm who, they said, may have links to the incident. The daily newspaper Aftonbladet reported that he claimed responsibility for the attack.

Police initially declined to provide details about the arrested man, including his nationality. However, early this morning, Stockholm time, the authorities reported that the suspect was a 39-year-old father of four from Uzbekistan, who had become interested in Islamist propaganda online.

We have arrested a person who is of interest to us. We also released an image of a person we were looking for. The person arrested matches this description, Jan Evensson of the Stockholm Police said at a press conference on Friday night.

After the attack, a number of shopping locations in Stockholm were evacuated at the request of the police. The Stockholm subway was shut down, and all trains to and from Stockholm central station were cancelled for the rest of the day and the station was evacuated. All of the national film chain SFs Stockholm cinemas were closed yesterday evening.

Security has also been tightened in the city, with heavily armed police posted at locations throughout Stockholm.

In neighboring Norway, police at Oslo airport and in the major cities have been allowed to be armed until further notice, according to a police statement. Police in Norway do not normally carry weapons.

The Stockholm attack came amid deepening social and political tensions in Europe, and the launching of a direct US military strike against the Russian-backed regime in Syria on Friday morning, European time. Only a few weeks ago, the Swedish government announced plans to reintroduce the draft, as Sweden lines up behind Washington and the major European powers for conflict with Russia.

The Stockholm attack follows a number of Islamist attacks across Europe, including in Nice, Berlin and London, in which vehicles were used as weapons.

On Bastille Day (July 14) last year, a man drove a lorry into a large crowd gathered to watch fireworks in Mediterranean coastal town of Nice, killing 86 people and injuring more than 300. The suspect, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, was known to police only for petty theft and street fighting, though he had reportedly become interested in the Islamist terror networks active in the Syrian war backed by Washington and its European allies.

On December 19, Anis Amri drove a lorry through the crowded Breitscheidplatz Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people and injuring 56. Amri was known to German intelligence, who apparently had some information about his plans for an attack.

On March 22 of this year, 52-year-old British man Khalid Masood drove a rental car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge in London then entered into the Parliament building grounds and fatally stabbed a police officer before being gunned down by police. The attack killed 5 people and injured 49.

Every attack has been used as a pretext to reinforce the security apparatus and give extraordinary power to the armed forces, while strengthening border controls and attacking immigrants fleeing from areas torn by NATO-led wars, who were branded as terrorists.

Under the state of emergency imposed in France after the terrorist attacks carried out in Paris by members of NATO-backed Islamist terror networks fighting in the war in Syria, President Francois Hollande seized on the Nice attack for mass recruitment into the military and paramilitary police reserves that work closely with the army for operations inside France.

After the Christmas market attack, Berlin introduced measures including expansion of deportation, the construction of a European surveillance apparatus, intelligent video surveillance, and more powers for the police.

The latest horrific attack underscores yet again that police-state measures do not prevent disoriented individuals from carrying out the attacks. Nevertheless, European officials who condemned the Stockholm attack all pledged to step up their efforts against terrorism.

An attack on any of our member states is an attack on us all, said the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker. "We stand shoulder to shoulder in solidarity with the people of Sweden and the Swedish authorities can count on the European Commission to support them in any which way we can.
A recent report shows that US colleges are becoming increasingly unaffordable. Limited Means, Limited Options: College Remains Unaffordable for Many Americans, released in March 2017 by the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP), shows 95 percent of American colleges are too expensive for the majority of low-income students.

The study draws shocking results. [A]lthough the student from the highest income quintile in these analyses could afford to attend 90 percent of colleges in the sample, the report states, the low- and moderate-income students with fewer financial resources could only afford 1 to 5 percent of colleges.

Working class students and youth are faced with bleak options for future employment. Most jobs that pay decent wages require a college degree or certificate. But over the last several decades, there has been a significant shift in financial policy for higher education: on the one hand, the cost of attaining a degree has skyrocketed and, on the other, state and federal funding for college costs has been rolled back significantly.

These tuition hikes and funding cutbacks have effectively educationally crippled millions of working class students and youth in the US. Student loan debt has again reached an all-time high, weighing in at $1.4 trillion nationally. The average 2016 college graduate has a massive $37,172 in student loan debt, according to March 2017 statistics from studentloanhero.com.

The IHEP report cites low funding for the Pell Grant as a major factor in college unaffordability. In some states, funding for the Pell Grant has gone up in recent years, but not in proportion to the continually rising cost of tuition as well as other expenses, such as books and feesnot to mention vital day-to-day living expenses like rent, groceries and health care.

On average, the report states, the low-income student needs to finance an amount equivalent to more than 100 percent of their familys annual income to attend one year at a four-year college, compared with high-income students, who must finance only 15 percent on average.

The cost of attending college is calculated by the Higher Education Act from data reported by colleges to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. It adds the cost of tuition, fees, room, board, books, supplies, transportation and other costs, and then subtracts grant aid from that total.

The report categorizes students by the Lumina Foundations Affordability Benchmark, standards which are already inconceivable for the average working class family. It is based on the Rule of 10, meaning the student should be able to work 10 hours per week (500 hours per year) while attending college full-time.

According to this benchmark, To be considered affordable, the total 10-year savings plus part-time earnings should cover the entire cost of a four-year degree. The report notes that students and/or families with an income less than 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Guideline are not expected to save for college because they have no discretionary income.

However, parents of prospective college students whose incomes are above the federal poverty line are expected to save 10 percent of their discretionary income every year over the course of a decade to contribute to their childs college tuition.

Take for example the imaginary Mia, from a family of four, created for the purpose of the study but based on averaged national statistics. Her parents have a combined income of $100,000, so IHEP calculates that they should be able to contribute $54,000 to her bachelors degree. If Mia works 10 hours a week at a minimum-wage job during college, she should theoretically be able to contribute $14,500 to her degree. All in all, she should be able to afford the cost of her degree at $65,900 over the course of four years, or $16,475 a year. Anything beyond that is considered out of Mias financial reach.

According to the College Board, the average cost of tuition and fees for the 2016-2017 school year was $33,480 at private colleges, $9,650 for in-state residents at public colleges and $24,930 for out-of-state residents at public universities. Theoretically speaking, Mia can afford only the public college within her state, and that price tag does not include rent, food, transportation and other living expenses.

While useful in shedding light on the affordability crisis, the benchmark does not take into account any situation that would jeopardize that familys financial situation even remotely. Do Mias parents have ample savings in pensions and retirement funds? Are Mias parents financially responsible for their own aging parents? Is Mia capable of working a part-time job during college? Answering yes to any of these questions, among countless others posed to the majority of working class Americanseven the better off onesthrows a wrench in the benchmark calculations.

It is also crucial to note that according to the US Census Bureau, in 2016 the median household income was $56,516. Mia is considered well off financially compared to many of her peers.

The study notes that for independent students, meaning students who cannot rely on family to contribute to their education, loans are a major factor in deciding where to attend college. The lowest-income student example cited in the study can afford to attend 3 percent of colleges without loans. With Subsidized Stafford loans, the number of schools considered affordable is raised from 3 to 9 percent, which still leaves the vast majority of higher-education institutions out of reach.

Most students in the independent and low-income dependent groups are forced to work full-time out of necessity to avoid being buried in student loan debt. Poor performance at any level of education is directly correlated to problems faced by the working class. A full-time student who needs only to worry about grades and studying is much more likely to achieve academic success than a full-time student who is also a full-time worker.

While the study itself draws important conclusions, and is useful in showing the extreme disparities that exist between the classes, it goes on to advocate for governmental changescalling for policymakers to implement certain measures which would supposedly even the playing field for students from a wider variety of economic backgrounds.

For example, it demands that [C]olleges with wealth at their disposaleither in the form of large endowments or company profitsshould keep prices low for needy students. Calling on policymakers to intervene in the finances of wealthy and prestigious institutions or profit-making private universities is absurd under the current economic and political system.

The results drawn from the study reflect precisely what is happening at large, in not only American society, but globally as well: the gap between the rich and the poor, and what is accessible to each, is growing larger, and has an impact on every aspect of social life.
The day after US warships rained some 60 Tomahawk missiles on a Syrian government airbase, US officials made it clear that this unilateral and criminal attack against an oppressed former colonial country is merely the first shot in what is to be an escalating and widening campaign of American military aggression.

The governor of Syrias central Homs province reported Friday that the missiles killed at least 15 people, including nine civilians. Four of the dead were children. Many more civilians were injured by two of the missiles, which struck nearby villages. Six of the dead were Syrian personnel at the al-Shairat airbase.

The missile strike was the first time that Washington has carried out a direct military attack against Syrian government forces since the US and its regional allies orchestrated a war for regime change utilizing Al Qaeda-linked Islamist rebels as its proxy ground troops. The attack on the airbase is a direct intervention in that war on the side of the Al Qaeda elements.

Russian Prime Minister Medvedev warned on Friday that the immensely reckless action had brought Washington to the verge of a military clash with nuclear-armed Russia, which had an air unit at the base struck by American missiles.

Washington seized on an alleged incident Tuesday involving chemical weapons in the village of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province as the pretext for Thursday nights attack. Syria has denied any use of such weapons, and Washington and its allies have presented no evidence to support their allegations in relation to the incident, which has all the earmarks of a provocation staged by the CIA and its Islamist proxies.

The Russian government and others have pointed out the obvious fact that the elaborate attack carried out Thursday night from two US destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean had to have been planned well before the alleged incident even happened. The event was staged, with Al Qaeda-linked and US-funded media activists conveniently on hand to film it, in order to provide Washington with the propaganda pretext it required for its aggression.

In a heated exchange in the United Nations Security Council Friday, US Ambassador Nikki Haley brushed aside denunciations by other diplomats that the unilateral US action was a gross violation of the UN Charter and international law, instead provocatively insisting that US imperialism is prepared to the do the same thing again and far more.

The United States took a very measured step last night, Haley said. We are prepared to do more, but we hope that will not be necessary.

Knowing full well that the US attack was imminent, Haley, who is acting as the councils rotating president for the month of April, postponed a vote on a compromise resolution calling for an objective investigation into the alleged chemical attack that was being drafted Thursday by the 10 nonpermanent members of the Security Council.

Washington has no interest in such a probe, which would almost certainly reveal that the source of any chemical weapons incident was not the government of President Bashar al-Assad, but rather the Al Qaeda elements that control that area of Idlib Province. There is also no doubt that the US strike provides the Islamist elements in Syria with every motivation for staging more chemical weapons incidents to provide the pretext for a spiraling escalation of US military aggression.

The UN Security Council session was convened at the request of Bolivia, Russia and Syria. Bolivian Ambassador Sacha Llorenti began the debate with a blistering denunciation of the US attack, declaring that the US officials believe that they are investigators, they are attorneys, judges and they are the executioners.

He called the US strike an extremely serious violation of international law, while stressing that this was not the first time. Llorenti held up a picture of then Secretary of State Colin Powell delivering his February 5, 2003 speech to the same UN council insisting that Washington had irrefutable proof of nonexistent Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, the notorious pretext for the US invasion barely a month later.

This war based upon lies, the Bolivian envoy added, resulted in a million deaths and a series of atrocities throughout the Middle East.

Llorenti denounced Washington for its double standard, invoking human rights, democracy and multilateralism only when it serves its own strategic interests. He recalled the series of military coups orchestrated by the CIA in Latin America and the Pentagons training of Latin American security forces in the art of torture.

Russias deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, Vladimir Safronkov, similarly condemned the US bombardment as a flagrant violation of international law, warning that the consequences for regional and international stability can be extremely serious.

Safronkov charged that Washington had acted deliberately to derail any independent and unbiased investigation into the alleged April 4 incident in Khan Sheikhoun. You were afraid of it, he said, as its results might wreck your anti-regime paradigm.

The Russian ambassador ridiculed the performance given earlier by US Ambassador Haley in which she held up the photographs of two Syrian children and demanded, How many more children have to die before Russia cares?

I will not stage a cynical show and hold up photographs, he said, but asked why there was no such concern for the children of Mosul, where a single US bombing raid killed over 300 civilians, most of them women and children, last month. Thousands more have been killed and injured in US airstrikes carried out in both Iraq and Syria.

Syrias deputy ambassador to the UN, Munzer Munzer, denounced the US attack as a barbaric, flagrant act of aggression, and a continuation of US support to Al Qaeda-linked terrorists, who he noted had repeatedly stockpiled and used chemical weapons in attacks inside Syria with the support of their patrons, particularly in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey.

All of the representatives of the Western European powers voiced support for the US missile strike in terms that suggested that their governments may carry out their own military actions as part of an imperialist scramble for control of the oil-rich Middle East. Italys Ambassador Sebastiano Cardi was perhaps the most explicit along these lines, stressing his countrys major and direct interests in the Mediterranean.

The prospect for the US military action provoking a wider and potentially catastrophic world war was made clear on Friday, with Moscows announcement that it was suspending a 2015 memorandum of understanding reached with the Pentagon on deconfliction, which set up lines of communication between US and Russian military units operating in Syria to avoid clashes between the two countries warplanes. Russia also indicated that it would increase its missile defense systems around bases that it jointly uses with the Syrian military.

Meanwhile, senior Pentagon officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters Friday that they were investigating possible Russian complicity in the alleged chemical attack, indicating that the US military command is looking to ratchet up the confrontation with Moscow.

In Washington, Trumps sudden reversal of his previous policy eschewing conflict with the Assad government in Syria in favor of a US military intervention centered on combating the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) drew vocal bipartisan support, particularly from Democrats who had previously demonized the administration for its alleged ties with Russia.

To the extent that leading Democrats qualified their enthusiasm for the act of US military aggression, it was to demand that Trump spell out a proposal for its continuation and escalation.

The US Senates Democratic Minority Leader Charles Schumer praised the attack on Syria. Making sure that Assad knows that when he commits such despicable atrocities he will pay a price is the right thing to do. He added, however, It is now incumbent on the Trump administration to come up with a coherent strategy and consult with Congress.

Similarly, Senator Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee urged Trump, Give us your Syria strategy, and come to us if youre using force, because you need to get authorization. He added that while Thursdays attack could be a one-off attack, circumstances could change.

I think it was the right thing to do, Senator Amy Klobuchar (Democrat, Minnesota) said of the missile strikes Friday. Going forward I think we should have an Authorization for Use of Military Force, if in fact there are going to be additional actions taken.

Unstated in the Democrats call for a new authorization to use of military force (AUMF) is the fact that both the Trump and the Obama administrations had previously invoked the 2001 authorization of military action against those responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

Now, however, the US is intervening militarily in a civil war that the CIA itself orchestrated, providing military support to Al Qaeda, which claimed responsibility for 9/11. The Syrian government reported that in the immediate aftermath of the US missile strike, both the Al Nusra Front and ISIS launched new attacks.

The Democrats rallying around Trump in support of US military aggression in Syria makes clear that the partys opposition to the new administration was based not on its reactionary attacks on democratic rights, immigrants and the social conditions of the broad mass of the American people, but rather the threat that it would pull back from the longstanding plans of the US military and intelligence apparatus to escalate aggression and provocation against not only Syria, but its principal ally, Russia.

With the military consolidating its control over the Trump administrations foreign policy through figures like Defense Secretary James Mad Dog Mattis, a recently retired Marine general, and H.R. McMaster, the active duty Army general who has taken over as national security adviser, the Democrats are rallying around Trump as the titular commander-in-chief.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Leon County Schools Superintendent Rocky Hanna spoke with educators from across the state this morning at the old Florida capitol.

It's all part of the 'Black Caucus of Florida' Education Panel.

Hanna, alongside school leaders from Dade and Broward counties, discussed the future of education in the state, focusing largely on ways to help students once they get their diploma.

The educational leaders are also focusing on implementing science, technology, engineering and math into school curriculum.
JACKSON COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) - The remains of a World War II veteran killed in combat are being escorted from Tallahassee to his hometown of Dothan, Alabama by his surviving family, members of the Patriot Guard Riders and law enforcement agencies from both states.

The Jackson County Sheriff's Office said that the body of Marine Corps Pfc. James O. Whitehurst, who died in combat while fighting in WWII on November 20, 1943, will be returned to his home state of Alabama on Tuesday.

They said that his body will be flown and escorted by members of the U.S. Marine Corps Tuesday from Hawaii to Tallahassee International Airport.

After, his surviving family, members of the Patriot Guard Riders, and law enforcement agencies from Florida and Alabama will accompany Whitehurst for the rest of the journey.

Deputies said that Whitehurst's remains will be taken to Glover Funeral Home in preparation for his funeral, with full military honors, on Wednesday, April 12, 2017.

The funeral will be held at First Baptitst Church of Cowarts on Glen Lawrence Road.

Sheriff Roberts and other officers with the Jackson County Sheriff's Office will meet the procession on I-10 at the Jackson County line and travel to Highway 71, travelling north on Highway 90 through Marianna to HIghway 73 North to 231 and then to Dothan, Alabama.
Tears fell from Ali Johnson's face as she released a red balloon outside the University of Nebraska-Lincoln student union on Friday night.

Johnson and about 50 others gathered for the Red Memorial to honor seven UNL students who died since last year. The students who were remembered were Sam Foltz, Brandon Gerdes, Kathryn Kalvelage, Ryan Mathis, Shannon Moncure, Nate Skokan and Marcus Tamez.

The Red Memorial was first held three years ago when Julie Klein, the mother of Keaton Klein, a student who died in 2015, collaborated with Donde Plowman, UNL's Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer of Academic Affairs.

Julie Klein said Keaton's girlfriend told the family about how he'd always remark about how he thought the Broyhill Fountain should be illuminated red on gamedays.

In his honor, red lights transformed the fountain at the end of the ceremony as the crowd released dozens of red balloons.

Klein said the ceremony has helped her connect with other parents who have lost a child. She wants the families to know that they aren't alone in their grieving process.

Plowman is proud of the community at UNL for welcoming the families and friends of the students and honoring their memory.
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The Filipino-American Communitys 65th anniversary dinner with colorful cultural dances, military honors and a memorial for those who have passed on was held at the Modern Living Building in Yakima, Wash., March 25, 2017. (CONTRIBUTED / Leann Jones)

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Colton Redtfeldt is a senior at Selah High School and is a member of the Yakima Herald-Republics Unleashed program for teen journalists. 
Seven wounded Syrianstwo children, four women and a manwaited in pain for darkness to fall to cross into enemy territory. Under the faint moonlight, Israeli military medical corps quickly whisked the patients across the hostile frontier into armored ambulances headed to hospitals for intensive care.

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It was a scene that has recurred since 2013, when the Israeli military began treating Syrian civilians wounded in fighting just a few kilometers (miles) away. Israel says it has quietly treated 3,000 patientsa number that it expects to quickly grow as fighting heats up in neighboring Syria in the wake of a chemical attack and, in response, an unprecedented US missile strike.





IDF soldiers rush the wounded from Syria to Israel (Photo: Eli Segal)

While the numbers are a tiny fraction of the hundreds of thousands of dead and wounded in the six-year Syrian war, both doctors and patients say the program has changed perceptions and helped ease tensions across the hostile border.

During Thursday night's rescue, medical officers decided that two of the seven patients had wounds that were too urgent to wait and so radioed in a helicopter. Soldiers carried the two on stretchers beneath the whirring blades as the helicopter lifted off into the inky night sky.

L to R: Israeli Military treats wounded Syrians; IDF soldiers takes Syrian refugees to Israel; the Israeli-Syrian Border Fence (Photos: Eli Segal; IDF Spokesperson's Unit)

"We check their breathing, their pulse, their blood pressureall their vital signs," said Lt. Omri Caspi, a medical officer. "We take a look at their injuries, we see the cuts, we check the chest, the heads, everything, and then we decide which treatment they need."

Wounded Syrian refugees cross into Israel (Photo: EPA)

Just a few years ago, such scenes would have been unthinkable. Israel and the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad were bitter enemies, and contact across the hostile lines of the divided Golan Heights was virtually nonexistent.



The outbreak of Syria's civil war in 2011 has radically altered the area, though. The Syrian side of the Golan is now divided between government troops and a host of rebel groups. Russian, Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah forces have all entered the fighting to offer support to Assad's beleaguered forces.

A wounded Syrian recovers at Ziv Medical Center in Safed

Israel has largely stayed out of the fighting in Syria, which has claimed over 400,000 lives. But it has carried out a number of airstrikes on suspected weapons shipments to Hezbollah, a bitter enemy that is fighting alongside Syrian government forces.

Wounded Syrian at Ziv (Photo: Mohammed Sinawi)

Tensions skyrocketed this week after an alleged chemical weapons attack by the Syrian government killed dozens of people. The US responded early Friday by launching 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian air basea dramatic escalation lauded by Sunni states, rebels and Israel but condemned by Assad, Russia and China.

The first Syrian baby to be born at Ziv Medical Center (Photo: Hannah Bikel)

Israel's newest patients started their treatment just as the American missiles struck, a little before dawn, less than 200 kilometers (120 miles) away inside Syria.

A Syrian child who lost both his legs is treatred at Ziv (Photo: Shauli Kabesa)

Two Syrian patients shared their experiences in Syria and Israel, as soldiers from the IDF supervised. The two spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear they or their families would be targeted in Syria if their stay in Israel is made public.

A Syrian child at Ziv (Photo: EPA)

Both young men praised the Israeli people and government while lambasting Assad and his supporters. They said that as patients have returned to Syria from Israel, word has slowly spread that Israel can help those desperately wounded. The medical care is free of charge. The hospital said it doesn't discriminate when it comes to admittance, and insists it doesn't collect personal patient information.

One patient, a 26-year old from Deraa, the city in Syria's south where the revolution broke out in 2011, flashed a toothy smile while sitting in a wheelchair; one leg a bandaged stump, the other gripped in a metal cast. He said he was on the street when a bomb blast mangled his legs. He couldn't find treatment in Syria's devastated medical sector, so he made his way to Israel, a nation he was raised to hate.

"Back when there were no incidents in Syria, no revolution, no nothingthe greatest enemy in the world was Israel. It was the first enemy," he said.

His fellow patient used the pseudonym "Baibars," the name of a 12th-century Muslim warrior who defeated the Crusaders and Mongols. A bomb crushed bones in his face, an injury that without medical help festered until he struggled to open his mouth.

After 40 days in the Ziv hospital and many surgeries later, the 25-year old revolutionary now talks incessantly and even sings about lost lovein addition to praising for Israeli pastries.

"We reached countries that my grandparents did not reach and met good people," he crooned through a jaw yet to have fully healed.

From his Israeli hospital room Baibars said he could see into Syria. In his long list of enemies of the Syrian peopleAssad, Russia, Iran, Houthis, Hezbollah, Afghanistanhe no longer includes Israel.

"The regime has used chemical weapons since the beginning of the war," Baibars says, referring to alleged attacks in East Ghouta and Dharaya. "We were just trying to defend ourselves."

"The future of Syria has no Bashar Assad," Baibars says. "Israel is not the enemy. Bashar is the enemy."
The Basque resistence group ETA (Euskadi Ta AskatasunaBasque Country and Freedom) has announced it will disarm itself and hand over 12 weapons deposits to French and Spanish authorities. The ETA's nationally motivated attacks have caused the deaths of more than 800 people over the course of more than four decades.

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The orchestrated handover in the French city of Bayonne on Saturday will not dissolve the group, which declared a ceasefire in 2011 during a decades-long, violent campaign for an independent state in northern Spain and southwest France.

Representatives of the ETA declaring the ceasefire in 2011 (Photo: AP)

But it will sever a link with an era of political violence in western Europe, just as nationalism is stirring across the continent.

Scotland and the Spanish region of Catalonia are seeking referendums on independence, while Ireland's Sinn Fein has urged a vote on taking Northern Ireland out of Britain.

A young protestor puts up a sign against the ETA after it announces it is handing over its weapons (Photo: Reuters)

Anger among Basques at repression under General Francisco Franco led to the founding of ETA in 1959.

Following Spain's return to democracy in the 1970s, the region gained more autonomy and the group's continued bombings and assassinations caused public support to wane.

ETA says in a letter to the BBC it has handed over its weapons and explosives to go-betweens who will deliver them to authorities.

But it is yet unclear whether the Spanish and French governments back the handover.

Spain's ruling People's Party says the handover is a final surrender after six years of broken promises.

"What remains to be done is to wipe out the hatred that ETA embedded in a large part of Basque society," spokesman Borja Semper said.

A government source says Madrid does not believe the group will hand over all its arms, and Spain's state prosecutor has asked the High Court to examine those surrendered for murder weapons used in unresolved cases.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called on Saturday for an impartial probe of this week's suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria and warned that US missile strikes in response risked escalating extremism in the region.

"We are asking for an impartial international fact-finding body to be set up ... to find out where these chemical weapons came from," Rouhani said during a speech on Saturday.

Tehran is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's main regional ally and has provided military and economic support for his fight against rebel groups and Islamic State militants.
With US President Trump experiencing a rare surge of praise from world leaders and even the Arab public, some journalists and experts say that the damage caused by the US's airstrike on Thursday did not cause significant damage to Syria's military capabilities.

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US President Donald Trump's decision to attack a Syrian Air Force base on Thursday night, in response to the chemical attack allegedly perpetrated by Assad, received a great deal of support from many Arab leaders and western leaders, in addition to the Arab street. Yet as the smoke clears and the actual damage is assessed, some doubt that the US's action managed to fundamentally hinder Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's options of attack.







Syrian children are treated are being hit by Assad forces

And yet, though it is still unclear how the US attack will affect Assad's regime, Syria's conventional attacks have continued uninterrupted. Local sources in the Damascus suburbs on Friday reported attacks by the Syrian regime in the area, causing the destruction of an ancient mosque built 900 years ago. The attacks also hit a market near the mosque. Two children were killed and dozens were injured as a result.







Trump's face is fitted with a complimentary 'Arab' beard by online Arab supporters

Social networks posted videos of opposition elements documenting the treatment of the wounded, some of them children. In other areas of the Damascus suburbs, attacks continued in Duma and Harsta. The Syrian Human Rights Monitoring Center claimed that seven people, including three children, were killed and 23 injured in the attacks on the outskirts of Damascus. The Al-Jazeera news network cited opposition sources that said the Syrian regime had bombed the town of Al Latmana on the outskirts of Hama and used napalm bombs.

The Arab world cheers Trump following US attack in Syria

Meanwhile, Syrian Arab Army's Chief of Staff Ali Abdullah Ayyoub visit to the base yesterday, it seems that for Assad it is business as usual, at least when it comes to appearances: officials close to the Syrian regime have already posted videos and pictures of the first plane that took off yesterday from the A-Shaerat airport that was attacked by US forces, while Syrian opposition activists have already said that warplanes have struck a northern town where a chemical attack killed scores of people earlier this week.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday's airstrike on the eastern side of Khan Sheikhoun killed a woman, marking the first death in the town since Tuesday's chemical attack that killed 87. The Local Coordination Committees, another monitoring group, said the airstrike was carried out by Russian warplane.

Arab and western leaders praise Trump's decision to attack

Many world leaders were quick to show their support to Trump's order to carry out an airstrike against a Syrian Air Force base. Among them was Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who took to Twitter to write of his support.

Assad's forces hit mosque in Damascus following US airstrike

"When I saw pictures of babies suffocating from a chemical attack in Syria, I was shocked and outraged," he wrote. "There's no, none, no excuse whatsoever for the deliberate attacks on civilians and on children, especially with cruel and outlawed chemical weapons. I call on the international community to fulfill its obligation from 2013 to fully and finally remove these horrible weapons from Syria."

The official Saudi Press Agency is reporting that US President Donald Trump has spoken by telephone with King Salman about the US missile strike on Syria. The news agency reports that during the Friday phone call, the Saudi monarch congratulated Trump for his "courageous decision."

Syrian Arab Army Chief of Staff Ayyoub with fellow Syrian soldiers

Saudi Arabia says the missile launch by Trump was the right response to "the crimes of this regime to its people in light of the failure of the international community to stop it."

Saudi Arabia is among the most vehement opponents of Assad's, and supports Sunni rebel groups fighting to oust him. The Sunni rulers of Saudi Arabia are in a power struggle for regional dominance with Iran's Shiite government and view Tehran's support of Assad as a threat to the region.

US attack may not have caused substantial damage

"Despite the fact that the Syrian air force's actions have been damaged as a result of the attack, it will not have a significant impact on the capability of the Assad army to carry out further chemical attacks," said Reed Post, a security and intelligence analyst.

Colonel Hassan Hemda, who deserted the Syrian Air Force in 2012 when he landed with his plane in Jordan, agrees with the assessment. "The bombing at the base in Homs will not have an impact on the activities of Assad's Army," the senior officer said. "Even if the runway is destroyed, it can be repaired within hours, whether the communication systems and the control tower have been significantly damaged, in which case it will take months to restore activity." The sight of the plane from the base yesterday proves that the injury was not so significant.

Hemda also noted that Assad has enough alternative options besides the Homs base that was hit. "There are 25 air bases in Syria, of which 20 are under regime control," he said. "The base (that was hited) in Shayrat is the second largest and its activity in terms of landings and landings, with the former being the base in Latakia, and the third largest base, Saakal in central Syria, will fill in the gaps in activity."

According to the director of the Syrian Human Rights Monitoring Center, Rami Abdulrahman, the base in Homs was almost completely destroyed. However, he explains: "This is more a morale injury than an injury to military capabilities."

Russia admonishes Trump, as Iran says he gave terrorists 'a reason to celebrate'

The US strike against Syria did, however, receive some backlash, mainly from Assad and his allies. In addition, the president's decision to act without congressional authority also angered a mix of libertarian Republicans, Democrats and the far right in Washington.

Assad advisor Bouthaina Shaaban criticized the US attack, saying that "From this airport, Syria has been fighting terrorists for the last six years" in an interview with the Washington-based daily Asharq Al-Awsat. "If the United States is so important in fighting terror, why do not they turn their missiles to ISIS or Al-Nusra?"

Another condemnation came from Iran on Saturday, when President Hassan Rouhani accused Trump of helping terrorists. "This man who claimed that he wanted to fight terrorism gave terrorist organizations a reason to celebrate, the American attack," Rohani said in a live broadcast. "I call for an end to this process in the international community. It is impossible to know now what the American president is planning for the region."

The Al-Akhbar newspaper, which is affiliated with terror group Hezbollah, published a long list of articles on the attack, headed by editor Ibrahim Al Amin, who is close to Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. In an article devoted to a sharp attack on Trump and his allies, he wrote: "What happened has opened a new chapter in the global struggle that is taking place in our countries ... What the United States did will lead to a clear response from Russia, Iran, Syria, and all the forces that are part of the axis of resistance."

A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, in the meantime, warned that the strikes dealt "a significant blow" to relations between Moscow and Washington.

At the United Nations, Russia's deputy ambassador, Vladimir Safronkov, strongly criticized what he called the US "flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression" whose "consequences for regional and international security could be extremely serious." He called the Assad government a main force against terrorism and said it deserved the presumption of innocence in the chemical weapons attack.

The Arab street embraces Trump

While Trump has received warm responses from leaders in Europe, Israel, and the Arab World, the Arab public has also expressed its gratitude to the US leader. On social networks, Arabs gave him warm posts, and his "memes" dressed as an Arab with the words "We love you" and "You did the right thing," in addition to photos of Trump with a traditional Arab beard and wardrobe, were posted and shared. Trump was even given a new nickname"Abu Ivanka," meaning Ivanka's dadwhich was also adopted by the Arab public.

Arab journalists, however, lobbed significantly more criticism at Trump. Syrian journalist Rami Jarrah, who identifies with the Syrian rebel forces, wrote that the Syrians are not, in fact, hailing Trump, but are simply happy that Assad now has less means with which to kill them. Another Arab journalist based in London accused Trump of using the strike to draw attention away from the criticism he is facing at home.

Trump administration points finger at Russia, threatens further response

Since its attack on Thursday, the US has vowed to keep up the pressure on Syria, despite the prospect of escalating Russian ill-will that could further inflame one of the world's most vexing conflicts.

Standing firm, the US signaled new sanctions would soon follow the missile attack, and the Pentagon was even probing whether Russia itself was involved in the chemical weapons assault that propelled Trump to action.

US officials blame Moscow for propping up Assad. "The world is waiting for the Russian government to act responsibly in Syria," US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said during an emergency Security Council session. "The world is waiting for Russia to reconsider its misplaced alliance with Bashar Assad."

Haley said the US was prepared to take further action in Syria but hoped it wouldn't be necessary.

In Florida with the president, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said additional economic sanctions on Syria were being prepared.

Thursday night's strikessome 60 cruise missiles fired from two ships in the Mediterraneanwere the culmination of a rapid, three-day transformation for Trump, who has long opposed deeper US involvement in Syria's civil war. Advisers said he was outraged by heartbreaking images of young children who were among the dozens killed in the chemical attack.

The decision undercut another campaign promise for Trump: his pledge to try to warm relations with Moscow. After months of allegations of ties between his election campaign and the Kremlinthe subject of current congressional and FBI investigationsTrump has found himself clashing with Putin.

On Friday, senior US military officials were looking more closely at possible Russian involvement in the poison attack. Officials said a drone belonging to either Russia or Syria was seen hovering over the site after the assault earlier this week. The drone returned late in the day as citizens were going to a nearby hospital for treatment. Shortly afterward, officials say the hospital was targeted.

The officials, who insisted on anonymity in order to discuss the sensitive matter, said they believe the hospital attack may have been an effort to cover up evidence of the earlier assault.

White House officials caution that Trump is not preparing to plunge the US deeper into Syria. Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the missile attack sent a clear message to Assad, but he avoided explicitly calling for the Syrian tyrant to leave office.

Trump spent Friday in Florida, in private meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping. US officials noted that the timing of the strike had the possible added benefit of signaling to China that Trump is willing to make good on his threat to act alone to stop North Korea's nuclear pursuits if Beijing doesn't exert more pressure on Pyongyang.
Civilians and aid workers in South Sudan have seen an alarming rise in attacks and harassment in the past week, the United Nations said Saturday, as the East African country faces both civil war and famine.

The top UN humanitarian official in South Sudan, Eugene Owusu, said in a statement that both government and opposition forces in Upper Nile region beat aid workers in separate incidents.

"Humanitarians are in this country to save lives. It is beyond reckoning that they continue to be killed, harassed and abused despite our repeated calls for action," Owusu said.

He also called an attack by government forces on the southern town of Pajok that killed several dozen people "reprehensible." The attack sent thousands of people fleeing into neighboring Uganda, worsening what has become the world's fastest-growing refugee crisis.

The U.N. says its peacekeepers repeatedly have been denied access to Pajok by South Sudan's government, a violation of its operating agreement.
The United States is vowing to keep up the pressure on Syria after the intense nighttime wave of missile strikes from US ships, despite the prospect of escalating Russian ill will that could further inflame one of the world's most vexing conflicts.

Standing firm, the Trump administration on Friday signaled new sanctions would soon follow the missile attack, and the Pentagon was even probing whether Russia itself was involved in the chemical weapons assault that compelled President Donald Trump to action. The attack against a Syrian air base was the first US assault against the government of President Bashar Assad.

Much of the international community rallied behind Trump's decision to fire the cruise missiles in reaction to this week's chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of men, women and children in Syria. But a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the strikes dealt "a significant blow" to relations between Moscow and Washington.

A key test of whether the relationship can be salvaged comes next week when Secretary of State Rex Tillerson becomes the first Trump Cabinet member to visit Russia.

British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson also had planned to visit Russia this coming week, but decided Saturday to cancel the trip because of the fast moving events in Syria. Johnson, who condemned Moscow's continued defense of Assad, said Tillerson will be able to give a "clear and coordinated message to the Russians."
Seventeen people have been detained in Moldova and Ukraine on suspicion they were planning to kill one of Moldova's most powerful politicians, prosecutors there said Saturday.

Senior organized crime prosecutor Vitalie Busuioc said authorities knew of orders from two unnamed people to assassinate Vladimir Plahotniuc, an influential businessman and chairman of the Democratic Party, the biggest party in Moldova's pro-European governing coalition.

Police said the suspects had received $100,000 and were due to receive a total of $200,000.

Authorities detained eight people in Moldova and nine in Ukraine and seized an unspecified number of grenade launchers, two pistols, phones, wigs and moustaches.

In a statement, the Democratic Party said it "firmly condemned this criminal act."

Ukraine's Interior Minister Arseni Avakov on Friday said authorities had intercepted an assassination attempt against Plahotniuc.
Despite the rapidly approaching Passover holiday and its requisite housecleaning for traditional Jewish families, tens of thousands of Israelis took advantage of the comfortable weather and headed out into nature on Saturday.

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In Ein Afek, an aquatic nature reserve near Kiryat Bialik, thousands of visitors visited the park enjoying the blooming flowers, water views and animals. We saw fish and catfish, said Uri Amar of the village of Had Nes, nearby the Jordan River in the Golan Heights. I dont know if there are a lot of anemones like at home, but it was fun, he said.

His mother, Tzipi, added that she was surprised by the number of visitors. She commented that, having finished preparing food for Monday nights holiday meal, they simply felt that it was too nice not to take advantage of the weather. Its really nice here, we really enjoyed it, she said.





Ein Afek (Photo: Asaf Ben Yakir)

Shiran Ventura of nearby Kiryat Motzkin said it was an opportunity to get out of the burden of cleaning for the holiday. Even though its a bit hot, were enjoying ourselves, and I think that well come here more in the future. During the holiday itself, I think we might take trips a bit farther from home.

There are others, though, whose holiday vacation has already begun. The Shklar family from Ramat Gan stopped at Ein Afek before continuing for five days vacation in the north. This is the best time to travel. The reserve here is really beautiful, and I recommend that people come here. We and two other families of friends are continuing from here to the north, to the Hermon area where well also have the Passover Seder.

Enjoying the beach (Photo: Avi Moalem)

Approximately 3,000 visitors came to the spring festival organized by the Kishon River Authority on the promenade in Nahal Zippori (one of the Kishons tributaries), together with KKL-JNF and the Zevulun Regional Council. The festival included workshops, group activities, food, agricultural booths and games.

(Photo: Avi Moalem)

A special sight awaits visitors to the Valley of Springs for Passover. Dozens of predatory ospreys have been sighted catching fish out of the water there. Fish farmers in the area say that in the past years, only a few such birds had been spotted, so this is a significant increase.

Osprey on a pole above a fish pond (Photo: Shaked Nusboim)

Mendy Shor of Kibbutz Tirat Tzvis fish farm said that it is not clear what the reason for the increase in the number of birds is. Unlike the pelicans, who come to the ponds in flocks of hundreds of items at a time and kill hundreds and thousands of kilograms of fish, causing enormous financial damage to the farmers, the ospreys are found in small numbers, and their impact on the fish farming is smallerfor the time being, he explained.

Osprey catching a fish (Photo: Shaked Nusboim)

Its a beautiful bird, and its fishing system is very impressive, Shor continued. They sit all day on poles in the pond and gorge themselves. Theres hardly a moment when theyre spotted without a fish theyve caught.

They have the ability to hunt almost any size of fish from the ponds. For anyone who comes to the area, its really worth it to look for them and enjoy the sight.

(Translated and edited by J. Herzog)
President Donald Trump says his meetings with China's President Xi Jinping went well but as for any progress on trade "only time will tell."

Trump tweeted Saturday that "It was a great honor to have President Xi Jinping and Madame Peng Liyuan of China as our guests in the United States. Tremendous...goodwill and friendship was formed, but only time will tell on trade."

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said Friday that the two sides would report back in 100 days on ways to make US-China trade more balanced.

Trump has repeatedly hammered China for exporting more to the US than it buys. He's also criticized China for grabbing jobs that could otherwise go to Americans.

The president is spending the weekend at his Florida resort after the two-day meetings with Xi.
Residents of the ultra-Orthodox Mea Shearim neighborhood of Jerusalem threw eggs and yelled insults at a Haredi Givati soldier Wednesday afternoon.

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Footage of the incident ( )

X

In documentation obtained by Ynet, the soldier appears to be walking in the neighborhood when many residents start yelling at him "Hardak"a derogatory term that means "frivolous ultra-Orthodox."

Haredi soldier extracted from Mea Shearim

Undercover police sting Arrests in Mea Shearim for attacking Haredi soldiers Roi Yanovsky The police have been active in the wake of numerous attacks on Haredi soldiers; a police detective went undercover as an IDF soldier in the Jerusalem neighborhood, and when a group of extremists came to attack him, police jumped on the suspects and arrested them. Arrests in Mea Shearim for attacking Haredi soldiers

On Sunday, another case of violence against an ultra-Orthodox soldier took place in the neighborhood when local residents hurled insults and expletives at a Haredi soldier who entered a store in the neighborhood, requiring him to take refuge until a police car could take him away from the area.

The rescued soldier refused to file a complaint with the police. In the documentation from the scene, a few ultra-Orthodox crowd around the shop, shouting and even throwing a hat at a policewoman.

(Translated and edited by J. Herzog)
A Palestinian engineer and resident of Tel Aviv who advocates coexistence was shocked to find out that anonymous people had spread a fake Shin Bet message with his picture, which described him as a dangerous wanted terrorist.

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Ziad Zizo Abul Hawa, 29, is a former resident of Jerusalem who moved to Tel Aviv about ten year ago. He is a prominent Facebook personality, works as a system analyst in a large high-tech company and is a vocal supporter of LGBTQ rights and Israeli-Palestinian coexistence.

The photo attached to the fake Shin Bet statement (Photo: Ziad Abul Hawa)

On Tuesday Abul Hawa found out that someone had spread a message about him on Facebook and WhatsApp, which read, "A message from the Shin Bet: A terrorist is currently in Tel Aviv, seen in the picture above, trying to kill Jews!!!

"Anyone spotting him must contact the police immediately. A person carrying a firearm may arrest him until security forces arrive."

The message was seen by thousands of people. Abul Hawa filed a complaint with the police. On Wednesday he said, "Whoever did it is trying to scare me. They must not like the idea of an Arab living among Israelis.

"They tried to harm coexistence; thats what scares racists the most. They must not have liked that I write in Hebrew, live peacefully in Israeli society and promote coexistence, so they tried to get me scared to walk outside."

Though, in spite of this, Abul Hawa took it in stride, posting a picture of himself on Facebook wearing a blonde wig, saying "I'm going undercover to walk my dogs. Hope I will return. Will update soon."

Photo: Ziad Abul Hawa

This is not the first time racism against Abul Hawa made headlines. In 2015 he was thrust into the local media spotlight when he discovered that one of his neighbors wanted to get him evicted from his Tel Aviv apartment because she didnt think it was safe to have an Arab in the building.

The neighbor, who still has not been identified, left an unsigned note pinned to the notice board in the lobby of his building, calling for an assembly of the building's residents.

Abul Hawa, as usual, joked about it, posting on facebook Yeah! Im coming with mulukhiya muffins.
Turkey described the US missile attack on an air base as a "cosmetic intervention" unless it removes President Bashar Assad from power, while the Syrian leader's strong ally Iran called Saturday for the formation of an international fact-finding committee to investigate the chemical weapons attack in a northern Syrian town that killed scores of people and trigged the American attack.

The statements by Assad's opponents and backers came as warplanes struck the northern Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun where the chemical attack killed 87 people earlier this week. The air raid killed a woman and wounded her son, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees.

Iranian president Hassan Rouhani called for the formation of an international fact-finding committee to investigate the chemical weapons attack. State television reported Rouhani's statement quoting him as insisting that the committee must be impartial and "must not be headed by Americans."

Rouhani said that "neutral countries should come and assess to make it clear where the chemical weapons came from."
Syria's state news agency says 242 opposition fighters and their families have left the last rebel-held neighborhood in the central city of Homs.

Saturday's evacuation is the fourth phase of a process that began last month to evacuate opposition fighters from al-Waer neighborhood in Homs city to rebel-held areas in northern Syria.

Homs governor Talal Barrazi told state news agency SANA that the number of fighters should reach more than 400 before sunset Saturday.

More evacuations are scheduled for the coming weeks. The deal to evacuate al-Waer was brokered by Russia, and Russian troops were seen in the city observing the evacuation.

Opposition activists have criticized the agreement, saying it aims to displace 12,000 al-Waer residents, including 2,500 fighters. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has called the evacuees "internally displaced."
On Tuesday, hundreds of needy people arrived at the distribution center of the Yad BeYad (Hand in Hand) association in Lod to receive food boxes for Passover.

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Large numbers of senior citizens and immigrants were sent by the welfare departments in various localities in the center of the country to stand in line for the holiday groceries.





Needy waiting for food packages in Lod (Photo: Omri Efraim)

Mazal, 55, a mother of three who works part-time as a caregiver to the elderly, said, I dont have enough money to shop for Passover, and I need help. My paycheck just isnt enough.

Svetlana, a 52-year-old widow and mother of two children, one of whom is disabled, added, We live by the donations we receive, and I cant keep up with the bills, the rent and food. I dont know what I would do without help. The money that we receive for disability benefits go to medications We have no help from any other source.

In the last welfare budget, the government increased income support payments to poor senior citizens in the amount of hundreds of shekels. However, welfare NGOs insist that benefits to the elderly must be raised further. This is in spite of the new project of the Ministry of Social Affairs, in which food vouchers for about 10,000 families are distributed each month in the amount of NIS 60 million a year.

Distributing food in Rishon LeZion

A report from the National Council for Food Security established in 2014 that more than 110,000 families in Israel need assistance at the cost of half a billion shekels a year.

Orly, a resident of Lod and a mother of five, one of whom is disabled, commented, We barely survive during the year. If I didnt get help here, we couldnt celebrate Passover. According to Orly, the benefits she receives for her disabled son are insufficient: Its not enough for all the treatments and costs. Here, we get two boxes of food, and it helps us get through the holiday.

Needy waiting for food packages in Lod (Photo: Omri Efraim)

According to a study by the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel published in November 2016, only about half of the recommendations recommended by the Committee to Combat Poverty were adopted by the government in full or in part, and those that were only budgeted about a quarter of the recommended amount.

Distributing food in Rishon LeZion

The war on poverty is not at the top of the governments priorities, said Rabbi Yaakov Globerman, director of Yad BeYad, whose volunteers distributed hundreds of food packages for the holiday.

In the war against poverty, we have to fight like in a regular war, but the government doesnt hold serious discussions about increasing budgets. There are more than 200,000 families living in food insecurity, and the programs that are being talked about are simply not enough.

Yaakov Globerman (Photo:Israel Bardugo)

According to Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews that funds Yad BeYad, this is a direct result of the governments policy: Poverty in Israel is not the plague of Egypt or the decree of fate. Its the result of a drastic reduction in social spending and the neglect of the weak in society.

Eckstein added that the trend could be reversed if the government implemented the committees recommendations and starts a focused and budgeted plan to reduce poverty. Until then, unfortunately, we will have to continue relying on the support of Israelis and foreign residents who care.

(Translated and edited by J. Herzog)
When Nebraska City is mentioned, one of the first names to come to mind is J. Sterling Morton as does Russell, Majors & Waddell, an overland freighting firm which headquartered there and owned the short-lived Pony Express.

The name Robert Hawke, however, is almost unknown except, possibly, in Nebraska City. Yet his freighting firm outlasted and was more prosperous than Russell, Majors & Waddell, his Hawkes Opera House building is extant and at his death he was considered the wealthiest man in Otoe County.

Robert Hawke was born Jan. 25, 1826, near the village of Waynesburg, Stork County, Ohio. In 1842, he moved to Weston, Missouri, spending two seasons as a cabin boy on the steamship Jasper, which plied the Missouri River from St. Louis to Peru. Having spent less than a total of 60 days in school, Hawke apprenticed himself as a blacksmith, but after his contracted two years, rather than entering the trade, he instead bought a stock of dry goods in Hemmes, Holt County, Missouri in 1848.

In 1854, the year Nebraska Territory formed, Hawke and Joseph Deroin platted the village of St. Deroin and, with the dry goods inventory, opened a store there to sell to local Otoe Indians.

The following year Hawke partnered with Stephen Nuckolls to open a large mercantile store and overland freighting business in Nebraska City, which quickly became the states largest freighters and outfitters. Owning two businesses in Nebraska, Hawke moved from Holt County, Missouri, to Nebraska City in March 1859 and built a house on Fifth Street near Second Avenue.

As the Nebraska City/Fort Kearny Cutoff route developed and absorbed much of the gold mining traffic to Colorado and Montana, Hawke & Nuckolls picked up freight traffic coming up the river on steamboats and crossing it on ferries. Within a short time, their business eclipsed even the huge Russell, Majors & Waddell.

At the same time Hawke & Nuckolls opened an outfitting store in Mountain City, Colorado, which advertised their business of wholesaling and retailing Provisions, Groceries, Foreign and Domestic Liquors, Hardware, Mining Tools, Iron, Steel Nails ... Caps, Boots and Shoes ... etc. Their freighting to Mountain City amounted to 250 tons in one year while their quartz and sawmill there was reported to be coining money fast.

But back in Nebraska City, a fire, which started in a butcher shop on May 12, 1860, destroyed 38 buildings and houses barely missing Hawkes year-old house.

As the original city developed, inducements of free lots were offered including the one at 111 S. Sixth St. which was given to Conrad Mullis, providing he open a blacksmith shop in the city. Though it is unclear if the blacksmith shop ever opened there or anywhere in Nebraska City, Hawke built a grocery store on the lot in 1868. The two-story, stuccoed brick structure had an auditorium on the second floor giving the building the name of Hawkes Hall, Hawkes Opera House or the Standard Theatre. The theater on the upper floor opened December 22, 1868, and was in business until 1891 when the building became a commercial property which still stands today.

While his business interests continued to expand, Hawke was one of 10 Nebraska City men who founded and organized the first public school there in 1859. He served on the city council for two years beginning in 1868, and, in the fall of 1870, was elected to the Nebraska state senate in the 8th legislature.

While in the senate, he sat on the impeachment trial of Gov. David Butler and voted guilty with the majority. Although he held several strategic posts within the Legislature and was considered successful, he resigned the seat in 1871. Hawke was also one of 20 Nebraskans who issued a call for interested parties to meet at the Commercial Hotel in Lincoln in 1878 to form a state historical society.

In the meantime, his businesses prospered, with the retail store alone claiming to have sold $300,00 of merchandise in one year. In 1882, Hawke was elected to the board of the James Sweet National Bank and with George Shroat built a large brick business block in the Sheridan section of Auburn.

On May 2, 1887, Hawke, died and was buried in Nebraska Citys Wyuka Cemetery. His obituary noted that he was considered the richest man in Otoe County.
After having visited Israel multiple times in the past, the British rock bank Smokie will be returning in October as part of an international tour.

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The British pop band, which achieved the peak of their popularity in the mid 1970s, will perform in Haifa, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. They begin October 27 at the Haifa Convention Center. The next day they will perform at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem, and on October 30 and 31, they will perform at the Mann Auditorium in Tel Aviv.

Smokie

Smokies hits include Living Next Door to Alice, Lay Back in the Arms of Someone, If You Think You Know How to Love Me, Needles and Pins, and I'll Meet You at Midnight.

The band started out in the 1970s with legendary vocalist Chris Norman, who no longer appears with the group, and had a good success in the following decades, with performances around the globe and selling more than 30 million albums.

Smokie's current lineup includes some of the original band members.

Ticket prices range from NIS 199 to NIS 499 on the Eventim website

(Translated and edited by J. Herzog)
Billionaire Chaim Poju Zabludowicz recently gave evidence to the Israel Police on gifts he had given to the family of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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Zabludowicz was not questioned under caution. The investigation into Netanyahus receiving illicit gifts (named Case 1000 by the police), which is supposed to continue for many more weeks, will apparently necessitate obtaining Netanyahus version of his relationship with Zabludowicz.

Zabludowiczs evidence was first reported by Amnon Abramovich on Channel 2.

Netanyahu (Photo: Yoav Dudkevitch)

Zabludowicz is invested in several Israeli companies. He divides his time between Israel and his home in London. Last week he was in Israel, and he celebrated a birthday party on Thursday at the Claro restaurant in Tel Aviv. Upon his landing in Israel, the billionaire was asked by police fraud investigators to come to a station to shed light on the connection between him and the Netanyahus.

According to Zabludowiczs evidence, they have had a relationship for years, including during Netanyahus tenure as finance minister. During the entire time, the billionaire gave gifts to the family.

At the end of his evidence, he was asked not to contact the Netanyahu family. Following this interview, the police are expected to conduct another assessment of the situation and apparently coordinate another questioning session with the prime minister, during which he will have to give his version of the relations with Zabludowicz.

Zabludowicz replied to Channel 2 that he was requested to and testified voluntarily about the investigations into Benjamin Netanyahu. Zabludowicz stressed that he is not a suspect in the matter, and the police warmly thanked him for his evidence.

(Translated and edited by J. Herzog)
The White House is circulating a letter President Donald Trump sent to the leaders of both houses of Congress explaining his decision to order military strikes on a Syrian air field.

In the letter, dated Saturday, Trump said he "acted in the vital national security and foreign policy interests of the United States, pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct foreign relations" and as commander in chief.

Trump said he was sending the letter as part of his efforts "to keep the Congress fully informed, consistent with the War Powers Resolution."

Trump has received widespread support for the military action, taken to punish Syrian President Bashar Assad's government after the US concluded he used chemical weapons against Syrian civilians.

But Trump also has faced some bipartisan pushback from lawmakers who have long insisted that presidents must seek congressional approval for acts of war.
The announcement that McCooks JCPenney store will close next month has put new emphasis on the loss of shopping opportunities and the need to support local businesses.

Yes, it is important to do what we can to keep our friends and neighbors in business, but its good for the economy in general, not just the local business climate. Our total U.S. economy depends, in large part, on small mom-and-pop ventures. The U.S. Small Business Administration defines a small business as an enterprise having fewer than 500 employees. There are almost 28 million small businesses in the U.S. and more than 22 million self-employed workers with no additional payroll or employees  mom-and-pop businesses with annual receipts of $1,000 or more and subject to federal income taxes.

More than half of the working population, 120 million of us, work in small businesses, which have generated more than 65 percent of the new jobs since 1995. Its not an easy task to start a small business; some 543,000 owners try every month but more than that shut down. Seventy percent of new firms with employees survive at least two years, half at least five, a third at least 10 years and a quarter stay in business 15 years of more.

More than half of all small businesses, 19.4 million of those are sole proprietorships, 1.6 million are partnerships and 1.4 million are corporations. The latest figures show the fastest type of freelance business is auto repair shops, beauty salons and dry cleaners. Nonemployer business people arent getting rich; the average revenue is $44,000 but many Southwest Nebraska residents would be happy to establish that sort of enterprise. So while we mourn the loss of a landmark downtown retailer, and work to maintain and cultivate local business activity, lets make sure we at least do as little as possible to hinder local entrepreneurs and all we can to encourage them.
A rose to ... the Suicide Prevention Stakeholder Coalition, which was organized through Buffalo County Community Partners to spread the word about help and hope to young individuals who are thinking about ending their lives.

On Monday, more than 300 people gathered to hear panelists talk about suicide prevention resources. Bringing together the Suicide Prevention Coalition was a delicate and demanding task, but community members who became involved threw their hearts and minds into the project knowing theres a need to reach out and help youths in need. There is much positive momentum. Next step will be the Rae of Hope Foundations April 13 launch party.

During the gathering earlier this week, panelists fielded several dozen questions, addressed myths about suicide and touched on the agencies equipped to provide mental health services, including Richard H. Young Hospital, Region 3 Behavioral Services, Kearney Police Department, churches and Kearney schools.

People learned about suicide prevention resources for teens and went home with a hotline number that should be programmed into every teenagers phone: 741-741.

A raspberry to ... Columbus Day. It honors the worlds most famous explorer, but history hasnt been kind to the man who discovered North America. Columbus now is regarded less as an explorer and more as an exploiter. Rather than observing Columbus Day, how about honoring Native Americans who made history?

We Nebraskans are proud of Ponca Chief Standing Bear, who was banished to Oklahoma along with other members of his northeast Nebraska tribe. On the trail to Oklahoma, Standing Bear promised his dying son that he would be buried on tribal land.

The U.S. Army intercepted Standing Bear as he returned to Nebraska to bury his son, and the chief and his people were detained in Omaha and offered little hope they could continue their journey.

Standing Bear became famous because his 1879 trial resulted in a judge declaring Native Americans are persons within the meaning of the law and have the right to be brought before a judge to determine if there are grounds for detention, also known as the right of habeas corpus.

The Standing Bear case is the inspiration behind Nebraskas state motto, Equality before the law.
MONDAY 4/10

>> Alcoholics Anonymous - Fresh Start Group meets Monday at 12 noon at First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York.

TUESDAY 4/11

>> Sexaholics Anonymous, a 12 Step recovery group for those dealing with addiction to pornography, sex, and other forms of lust, meets Tuesday nights at 5:45 p.m. For more information please call our toll free number 1-877-889-8071 or visit sanebraska.org.

WEDNESDAY 4/12

>> Alcoholics Anonymous - Fresh Start Group meets Wednesday at 12 noon at First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York.

THURSDAY 4/13

>> Weight Watchers meets in the basement of the York Towne House, 5th & Grant Ave., each Thursday. Weigh in 5:15 - 5:45 p.m.; Member meeting 5:45 - 6:15 p.m.

>> AL-ANON meets Thursday at 12 noon at First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York.

>> Narcotics Anonymous meets Thursday at 8 p.m. at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in the Annex building.

FRIDAY 4/14

>> Alcoholics Anonymous - Fresh Start Group meets Friday at 12 noon at First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York.

>> Alcoholics Anonymous - AWOL Group meets Friday at 8 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York.

SATURDAY 4/15

>> Alcoholics Anonymous - Fresh Start Group meets Saturday at 11 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church located at 414 Delaware Ave. in York.
The following questions were asked recently on the Wonderline:

Q: Im curious as to how common solar eclipse visibility has been in the United States and when the next one will roll around. I dont think people are really aware that this is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing for us here.

A: According to nationaleclipse.com, the 2017 total solar eclipse will be the first seen from the United States since 1991, when a total eclipse was visible in Hawaii, and the first witnessed in the contiguous U.S. since 1979. The path of totality in 1979 traveled only through five northwestern states, making the 2017 coast-to-coast eclipse a very special event.

After 2017, the next total solar eclipse in America will occur in 2024, when the path of totality will travel across the country in a northeast direction from Texas to Maine. Alaska will experience a total solar eclipse in 2033 and an eclipse will be seen in Montana and North Dakota in 2044. A second coast-to-coast eclipse will come to America in 2045, entering in California and exiting in Florida. In 2052, a total eclipse will skim parts of six southern states.

So that all said, yes, this could be considered a once-in-a-lifetime event in Nebraska . . . certainly in York County, Nebraska.

Q: How much of the county commissioners insurance does the county pay for?

A: Health insurance is offered to the county commissioners as it is to county employees and elected officials, if they choose to take it.

If they do choose to take it, their percentages and cost shares are the same as that of county employees and elected officials, based on the policies that are chosen.

Q: There is a new construction of a garage on a property in York. Will the owner now be required to put in a sidewalk because the lot is no longer empty?

A: The City of York does not have any sidewalk requirements in the municipal code. Sidewalk requirements were proposed a number of years ago, but met a considerable amount of resistance and the issue was dropped at that point.

Q: Years ago, a mom and son, Yvonne and Larry Labart, left their estate for a scholarship fund for medical students to become rural doctors. Ten percent was supposed to go to the Lushton Cemetery. What was the estate worth? What did the cemetery get? What are the stipulations for the scholarships?

A: In 2013, the York Community Foundation received a large contribution from the estates of the late Yvonne Labart and her late son, Larry Labart. The contribution is to provide scholarships for York County young people who are attending medical school and intend to return to the county for their practices.

At the time, it was acknowledged that no public dollar figure was being assigned.

It was stipulated that 10 percent would go to the Lushton Cemetery for maintenance and future improvements.

The remaining 90 percent (through the York Community Foundation) is to be distributed through this medical school scholarship.

For more information about the details of the scholarship, how to apply, etc., contact the York Community Foundation at 402-362-5531.

Q: Does anyone have a recipe for traditional Irish soda bread?

A: We found this version that seems to be most traditional . . . in that this is the most old school, tried and true we found among recipe books.

The essential ingredients in a traditional Irish soda bread are flour, baking soda, salt and buttermilk. The acid in buttermilk reacts with the base of the baking soda to provide the breads leavening.

Soda bread dries out quickly so it is only good for a day or two. It is best eaten freshly baked and warm or toasted.

The following ingredients are needed:

 4 to 4 1/2 cups flour

 1 Tbsp sugar

 1 teaspoon salt

 1 teaspoon baking soda

 4 Tbsp butter

 1 cup currants or raisins

 1 large egg, lightly beaten

 1 3/4 cups buttermilk

Whisk together flour, sugar, salt and baking soda. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Work the butter into the flour, using your hands. Work the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal.

Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add beaten egg and buttermilk to the well and mix in with a wooden spoon until the dough is too stiff to stir.

Dust hands with a little flour, then gently knead dough in the bowl just long enough to form a rough ball. If the dough is too stick to work with, add in a little more flour. Do not over-knead.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and shape into a round loaf. Note that the dough will be a little sticky, and quite shaggy (a little like a shortcake biscuit dough).

You want to work it just enough so that the flour is just moistened and the dough just barely comes together. Shaggy is good. If you over-knead, the bread will end up tough.

Transfer the dough to a large, lightly greased cast-iron skillet or a baking sheet (it will flatten out a bit on the baking sheet).

Using a serrated knife, score the top of the dough about an inch and a half deep in an X shape. The purpose of the scoring is to help the heat get into the center of the dough while it cooks.

Transfer it to the oven and bake until the bread is golden and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped . . . about 35-45 minutes. If you use a cast iron skillet, it may take a little longer as it takes longer for the pan to heat up.

When its done, let the bread sit in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then remove to a rack to cool briefly. Serve the bread warm  thats when it is the best.
New Delhi: Bollywood biggies Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif look gorgeous make for a gorgeous on-screen couple. Their fans love to watch them on the big screens and films like 'Zindagi Milegi Na Dobara' and 'Bang Bang' are proof enough.

So now reports are rife that Hrithik and Katrina might star in Kabir Khan's next. Yes! According to Deccan Chronicle.com, after 'Kaabil', Hrithik has signed Kabir Khan's next big budget venture which will be produced by Sajid Nadiadwala.

Quoting a source, the report states that Katrina is the frontrunner as far as the leading lady is concerned as she shares a great bond with the filmmaker. Also, her on-screen pairing with the desi Greek God is liked by the masses, so there is a strong chance that the duo might join forces for the 'Tubelight' helmer's next project.

Although, no confirmation has been made either by the filmmaker or by the actors as yet.
Mumbai: The Mumbai police said on Saturday they had arrested the suspected mastermind behind a call centre scam run out of a Mumbai suburb that targeted thousands of Americans and netted more than $300 million.

Sagar Thakkar, 24, also known as Shaggy, was arrested at Mumbai`s international airport in the early hours of Saturday after he flew in from Dubai, Mukund Hatote, a police officer on the case, told Reuters.

In October, the US Justice Department charged more than 60 people in India and the United States with participating in the huge scam where call centre agents impersonated Internal Revenue Service, immigration or other federal officials and demanded payments for non-existent debts.

The department said at least 15,000 people had been targeted by the telefraud that was run out of India.

The scam - which ran for more than a year - was blown open in early October, when Indian police raided a host of call centres in the Mumbai suburb of Thane and detained over 700 people suspected of involvement in defrauding Americans. Other call centres involved in the scam that operated from the western city of Ahmedabad were also raided and shut down by authorities.

At a news conference on Saturday evening, Thane Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh said Thakkar, who was charged in December along with others, had fled to Dubai in October following the raids and that he had also spent some time in Thailand over the last six months.

Thakkar, wearing blue jeans and a checked shirt, was presented to media on the sidelines of the press conference, but his face was covered with a black cloth.

Singh said he had interrogated Thakkar and was "impressed with his knowledge of the US and Indian system." Singh said Thakkar had confessed to his involvement in the scam.

Singh said Thane police have so far charged 400 people in the case, and about a dozen of them are in custody.

Thakkar was listed as a call centre operator and payment processor in the US Department of Justice indictment that charged the defendants with conspiracy to commit identity theft, false personation of an officer of the United States, wire fraud and money laundering.

According to the indictment, call centre operators threatened potential victims with arrest, imprisonment, fines or deportation if they did not pay taxes or penalties.

Payments by victims were laundered by a US network of co-conspirators using prepaid debit cards or wire transfers, often using stolen or fake identities, the indictment said.

US and Indian authorities have been working together on the investigation. The United States had said it would be seeking the extradition of the alleged scamsters based in India.

Indian police have previously said that Thakkar led a lavish lifestyle, frequenting five-star hotels and driving around in expensive cars.
New Delhi: Launching JD(U)'s poll campaign for the April 23 MCD elections, Bihar Chief Nitish Kumar on Saturday extended support to the demand for full statehood status for Delhi, while advocating liquor ban here on the lines of his state.

Addressing a public rally in North Delhi's Burari, the Janata Dal (United) chief said though elections are held in Delhi, the city administration does not have any power.

"As I demand the special status for Bihar, I also support the demand for full statehood status to Delhi so that it has more power," he said.

Stating that there is a problem of proper law and order in the national capital as the Centre looks after it, he added that the city government should have control over the police.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has also been demanding full statehood for Delhi since his party -- AAP -- came to power in February 2015.

Advocating prohibition in Delhi and other states too on the lines of Bihar, Kumar said, "When we implemented liquor ban in Bihar, people used to say that the government would have to bear a revenue loss of Rs 5000 crore, but this was a wrong perception.

"Our government's tax collection has not been affected due to the liquor ban. The money which people used to spend on liquor is now being spent in buying milk, food items. And after prohibition, women are also happy," he said.

He said the sales of clothes, stitching machines in Bihar have gone up significantly as more money has come into people's pockets due to liquor ban.

At the rally in Burari, which is dominated by poorvanchali population, Kumar sought to sell his "Bihar development model", saying the crime rates have also come down in Bihar.

Without taking the name of BJP which has been ruling MCD for ten years and AAP government, Kumar said there is no basic facilities such as water, drainage system in Delhi.

He claimed that even villages of Bihar are better than some areas of Delhi.

He said the people know how MCD is working in Delhi, adding that there is no cleanliness in the city.

Seeking votes for party candidates who are contesting on around 100 seats across the three civic bodies, he said, "You have given seen the work of other political parties. You should now give a chance to JD(U) which will work for the people of Delhi."

"In Bihar, we are building pucca streets and providing tap water to every household. I want to do the same here (Delhi)," he said.

Playing the poorvanchal card at the rally, Kumar said Biharis are playing an important role in the development of the national capital, but they do not have political representation.

"The role of Biharis in Delhi is such that if they don't work for one day, the entire city will come to a halt. The people of Bihar living in Delhi should also have a political representation," the Bihar Chief Minister said.

Before addressing the rally, Kumar was greeted by his supporters in Mukundpur, Sant Nagar, Gopal Pur.

He will address another public rally in South-East Delhi's Badarpur area tomorrow.
New Delhi: The University of Delhi is all set to introduce 10 new honours courses under its School of Opening Learning (SOL) initiative.

The courses will include undergraduate as well as vocational courses for the upcoming academic session. Courses like Bachelor of Vocation in human resource management are being introduced.

Students from across the country endeavour to get enrolled in Delhi university. Hence, these new courses will provide opportunities for students to get into DU.

According to Director of School of Opening Learning CS Dubey, the course structure and syllabus have already been prepared.

The courses will have to be approved by the university and the distance education board before starting the programmes, HT reported.

"When we studied the number of applications received for these courses, we found that many students had applied but only a limited number got admission.

"There is a lot of demand for these courses among students so we are providing a chance for students to study these courses through distance medium," it quoted Dubey as saying.

Here is the list of courses:

1. BSc (honours) mathematics

2. BA (honours) history

3. BA (honours) economics

4. BA (honours) Hindi

5. BA (honours) psychology

6. BA (honours) Sanskrit

7. BA (honours) Hindi journalism

8. BVoc in human resource management

9. BVoc in office management and secretarial practices

10. BVoc in marketing management and retail business
London: Primates use their sense of smell to avoid contamination by intestinal parasites through contact with infected members of their group, a new study has found.

Frequent grooming among mandrills, a primate of the Old World monkey family, is undoubtedly a means of eliminating ectoparasites.

However, it also plays a major role in social cohesion - helping to soothe tensions after conflict, for example, researchers said.

Researchers from The French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) conducted an experiment using antiparasitics.

They captured infected mandrills, administered the antiparasitic drug, and returned the treated mandrills to their group. Now free of parasites, these primates once again enjoyed frequent grooming.

The team next sought to determine whether olfactory communication could explain avoidance of infected conspecifics or members of the group.

First, chemical analyses showed that fecal odours differed between infected and healthy mandrills. Next the team conducted behavioural experiments under controlled conditions on about 16 captive mandrills.

Researchers collected fecal matter from mandrills at different times - while parasitised and when free of parasites - and rubbed it onto bamboo shoots. These shoots were then presented to captive mandrills.

Scientists noticed that the captive primates sniffed the bamboo set before them but actively avoided those shoots rubbed with infected feces.

Researchers found that mandrills harbouring parasitic protozoans in their digestive tracts were less frequently groomed by their conspecifics than were healthy mandrills. Groomers especially avoided the perianal zone, which poses a high risk of contagion or disease spread by close contact.

Such selective shunning elegantly demonstrates how olfactory communication may play a role in the behavioural and social avoidance of parasitic infection, researchers said.

Parasites, similarly to kinship ties and social rank, influence mandrill behaviour by shaping social dynamics in their group, said Clemence Poirotte of CNRS.

This study of the evolution of antiparasitic behaviour is currently focused on the influence of parasites spread merely by contact.
Sweden: A 39-year-old man Uzbek origin and a supporter of the Islamic State (IS) group was arrested early Saturday, hours after a beer truck ploughed into a crowd outside a busy department store in central Stockholm, killing four.

The prosecutors said the man was arrested for a "terrorist crime".

Police said earlier on Friday after the attack that they had detained the man who "matched the description" of a photo released of a suspect wearing a dark hoodie and military green jacket.

But they did not confirm if he drove the truck.

Sweden will not be cowed by "these heinous murderers," Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said on Friday after a truck attack in Stockholm killed four.

"Sweden has been attacked. Everything points to the fact that this is a terrorist attack," PM Lofven told reporters during a visit to western Sweden.

A truck rammed into people on a central Stockholm street before crashing into a department store on Friday.

If confirmed as a terror attack, it would be Sweden`s first such deadly assault. Fifteen people, including children.

The truck had been stolen while making a beer delivery to a tapas bar further up Drottninggatan, Spendrups Brewery spokesman Marten Lyth said. A masked person jumped into the cab, started the truck and drove away.

Several attacks in which trucks or cars have driven into crowds have taken place in Europe in the past year. al Qaeda in 2010 urged its followers to use trucks as a weapon.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack in Nice, France, last July, when a truck killed 86 people celebrating Bastille Day, and one in Berlin in December, when a truck smashed through a Christmas market, killing 12 people.
New Delhi: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was on Saturday accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he will hold talks with his Bangladeshi counterpart during which they will discuss ways to further deepen ties between India and Bangladesh.

PM Modi and Hasina will hold a bilateral summit on Saturday following which over 20 agreements, including a civil nuclear and two memorandum of understanding (MoUs) on defence cooperation, were expected to be signed.

The Bangladesh PM along with her Indian counterpart will also attend `Sommanona Ceremony` in the evening to honour the Indian martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the liberation of Bangladesh.

More than 20 pacts are set to be inked after the delegation-level talks.Two agreements are expected to be signed in the area of defence. India will also extend Line of Credit of 500 million dollars to Bangladesh for defence purchases.

Hasina will visit Ajmer on Sunday and will meet Indian business leaders on Monday.

Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Babul Supriyo is the minister-in-waiting for the Bangladesh PM.
New Delhi: While showering praise on Bangladesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday slammed another neighbour Pakistan in a veiled manner, saying it prefers "backstabbing over trust" and that its "mindset" is a roadblock to peace in the region.

He made the comments as Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina felicitated Indian heroes of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War against Pakistan and recalled their sacrifices at a special event here.

He said India's doors are always open for cooperation, but for that terrorism has to be shunned, a clear reference to Pakistan.

Referring to his famous slogan "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas" (eveybody's cooperation, everybody's development), Modi said it is not just restricted to India but also to the neighbouring countries as devlopment of India is incomplete without the progress of the region.

"We have extended a hand of friendship towards every country (of the region) and have invited them to be a part of our growth. Without being selfish, we have wished good for the entire region," said the Prime Minister who had invited leaders of all the SAARC countries to his swearing-in ceremony in 2014.

"We truly think that citizens of all nations of the region progress and prosper. Our doors are open for cooperation, but for this terrorism has to be shunned," he said.

Without naming Pakistan but obviously referring to it, Modi said, "There is one mindset in South Asia which breeds, inspires and encourages terrorism. The mindset whose priority is not humanity, but extremism and terrorism."

India and Bangladesh are a victim of that "mindset" which encourages terrorism, he said.

"The thinking, whose policymakers prefer terrorism over humanity, destruction over development, destruction over creation, backstabbing over trust, is the biggest challenge to the society and its economic development," he said.

Noting that 1,661 Indian soldiers had laid down their lives in the Bangladesh Liberation War, Modi said the Indian army's struggle in this cannot be forgotten.

Before the function, Modi and Hasina met and posed for photographs with Major Ashok Tara of 14 Guards who had rescued the family of Bangladesh founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from a house in Dhanmandi where they had been imprisoned by the Pakistani soldiers in 1971.

Rahman was the father of Sheikh Hasina.

"The Indian army never shied away from its duty and set an example by following conventions of the war. Over 90,000 Prisoners of War were released safely after the 1971 war. The humane gesture shown by India is one of the biggest events in the century. This also shows the character of the Indian army," Modi said.

The Prime Minister said the genocide by Pakistan in 1971 was undertaken to wipe out an entire generation of Bangladesh and every person who was proud of the idea of Bangladesh was eliminated.

"The purpose of this genocide was not just killing the innocents, but to uproot the idea of Bangladesh," he said.

Speaking at the event, Hasina said, the history of Bangladesh has been written with the blood of Indian martyrs along with valiant freedom fighters of Bangladesh.

"They fought together for the independence of Bangladesh. The story of their sacrifice will be remembered from generation to generation in our two countries," she said.

On the occasion, Hasina also honoured Lance Naik Albert Ekka, Major Anup Singh Gahlaut, Subedhar Malkiat Singh, Havildar Sungandh Singh, Lt Samir Das and Lance Naik Mohan Chandra, who laid down their lives in the 1971 war.

Modi, in turn, announced doubling of 'Mukti Yoddha' scholarship from 10,000 in the next five years, multiple visa entry for 'mukti yoddha' (freedom fighters of Bangladesh Liberation Movement) and medical assistance to 100 mukti yoddhas through a special scheme.
New Delhi: Addressing a ceremony for the martyrs of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "There is one thought in South Asia which breeds, inspires and encourages terrorism, an indirect reference to Pakistan's support to terror outfits.

The thought whose priority is not humanity, but extremism and terrorism," he added, without naming Pakistan, PTI reported.

"I am very clear that along with India, its neighbouring countries should also move ahead on the path of development.

"We want development of the entire region. But there is a mentality in South Asia against this mindset.

"A mindset that promotes terrorism, which has a value system which is not based on humanity, but on violence and extremism," the PM said.

PM Modi was accompanied by visiting Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the function.

"This mentality is the biggest challenge to peace, social harmony and development. This mentality obstructs development in whole region," Modi said.

Earlier in the day, both leaders have witnessed the signing of as many as 22 bilateral agreements, covering defence, civil nuclear cooperation, train and bus services, trade cooperation, among others.

India has also extended a credit of 500 million dollars to Bangladesh military.

"India has always stood for the prosperity of Bangladesh and its people. We are a long-standing and trusted development partner for Bangladesh.

India and Bangladesh are also determined that the fruits of our cooperation must reach our people," PM Modi said at the joint press conference.

PM Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart also held extensive discussion on ways to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries.
New Delhi: India and Bangladesh on Saturday signed 22 key agreements, ranging from defence to civil nuclear energy, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi has committed a $5 billion line of credit to Dhaka.

However, PM Modi assured an "early solution" to the long-pending Teesta water sharing as talks remained inconclusive.

The Indian prime minister announced a new concessional Line of Credit of USD 4.5 billion for Bangladesh and an additional aid of USD 500 million to help its military procurement.

"We in India rejoice in our ties with Bangladesh. Ties that have been forged in blood and generations of kinship. Ties that seek a better and secure future for our people," Modi said at a joint media event with his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina.

The two countries also agreed to confront challenges of terrorism with deeper security and defence cooperation with Modi terming spread of radicalism as a "grave threat", not only to the two countries but to the entire region.

On her part, Hasina, on a visit here after seven years, said her country will continue its zero-tolerance policy towards terror and promised to take all steps to ensure peace and security along Indo-Bangla border.

"We agreed that the agenda of our cooperation has to remain focused on purposeful action. We specifically looked at charting new avenues and tapping fresh opportunities in advancing our relationship."

Though the two sides decided to take their ties to a newer level, they could not finalise the long-pending Teesta water- sharing agreement, primarily due to opposition to it by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who was present during launch of new train and bus services between the two countries.

On the Teesta water issue, Modi said the pact is important for Indo-Bangla relationship and expressed hope that the West Bengal chief minister will eventually support it.

"I am very happy that the chief minister of West Bengal is my honoured guest today. I know that her feelings for Bangladesh are as warm as my own. I assure you and the people of Bangladesh of our commitment and continuing efforts," he said, adding he "firmly" believes that an early solution to the issue "can and will" be found.

The prime minister also complimented Hasina for her government's 'zero-tolerance' policy towards terrorism and said "it is an inspiration for all of us."

A new bus and train service was also launched between Kolkata and Khulna in Bangladesh.

"India has always stood for the prosperity of Bangladesh and its people. We are a long-standing and trusted development partner of Bangladesh. India and Bangladesh are also determined that the fruits of our cooperation must benefit our people," said Modi.

Talking about regional connectivity, he said India was looking forward to early implementation of the BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal) Motor Vehicles Agreement which will "usher in a new era of sub-regional integration." The BBIN initiative was taken after Pakistan stalled a regional transport initiative of SAARC.

Under the Defence LoC pact, India will supply military hardware to Bangladesh.

The other key MoUs inked were on passenger and cruise services on the coastal and protocol route, and cooperation on cyber security and in the peaceful uses of outer space.

As a mark of India's respect to father of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina's father, a prominent road in Delhi has been named after him.

Modi and Hasina also released a Hindi translation of Bangbandhu's 'Unfinished Memoirs'.

The Prime Minister said with fresh assistance of USD 4.5 billion, India's resource allocation for Bangladesh has recorded more than USD 8 billion over the past six years.

Identifying major areas of cooperation, he said energy security is an important dimension of the two-way development partnership.

"Today, we added an additional 60 Mega Watt of power to the 600 Mega Watt of power already flowing from India to Bangladesh. The supply of another 500 Mega Watt has already been committed from the existing inter-connection.

"We have also agreed to finance the diesel oil pipeline from Numaligarh to Parbatipur. Our companies are entering into a long-term agreement for the supply of high speed diesel to Bangladesh. We have also agreed on a time table for regular supply till the pipeline is constructed," he said.

Later, briefing reporters, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said the two leaders assessed the status of bilateral ties at this juncture as he described the current visit as "going exceptionally good".

He also said India and Bangladesh have already identified 17 projects including port development and other key infrastructure upgrade for the usage of USD 4.5 billion line of credit, which was among the largest done for any country bilaterally.

Around 12 business agreements are also likely to be signed on Monday during a business event, he said.

Indian envoy to Dhaka Harsh Shringla also pitched for more bilateral investments to address Bangladesh's concerns over trade imbalance.

He talked about liberalised visa regime for Bangladesh nationals including those coming for medical purposes.

On non-economic issues, Jaishankar said the two leaders discussed threat of terrorism in the region and there was convergence of views on the issue including the source.

Asked if our relations with Bangladesh, erstwhile East Pakistan, can teach any lessons to current Pakistan, the foreign secretary said Indo-Bangla counter-terrorism is working so fine and the lessons are out there for others to learn.

(With PTI inputs)
New Delhi: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is on a four-day-long state visit to India, has brought with her gifts for the Indian leadership, including the President and the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Hasina has brought a Panjabi pair of silk pyjamas, artworks, a dinner set, a leather bag set, four kilogram of kalojam and rosgolla, two kilogram sandesh, 20 kilogram of hilsa and two kilograms of yogurt for Indian President Pranab Mukherjee.

Bangladesh Foreign Ministry sources were quoted by the Daily Star as saying that there was also a silk sari as gift for the Indian President`s daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee.Mukherjee.

She would also be presenting a dinner set, a leather bag, two kilograms of rosgolla and kalojam and one kilogram of sandesh to Indian Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari.

Prime Minister Hasina will give her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, a leather office bag set, four kilograms of kalojam and rosgolla, two kilograms of sandesh and four kilograms of yogurt.

She has also bought a Rajshahi silk sari for Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s mother.

Prime Minister Hasina will gift a a Rajshahi silk sari, a tea set, two kilograms of rosgolla and kalojam, one kilogram of sandesh and two kilograms of yogurt to Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.She would give West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee a Benarasi sari, two kilograms of rosgolla and kalojam, one kilogram of sandesh and two kilograms of yogurt.

Prime Minister Hasina will be presenting a silver boat each for Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, State Minister for External Affairs Vijay Kumar Singh and State Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Babul Supriyo.Prime Minister Hasina arrived in New Delhi on Friday to kickstart her four-day state visit to the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi received his Bangladeshi counterpart at the Technical area of Palam Airport."Delighted to welcome H.E. Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, on her State Visit to India. PM Sheikh Hasina and I are determined to take the relationship between our nations to a new level," Prime Minister tweeted.

Officials from Prime Minister Hasina`s entourage took selfies with Prime Minister Modi.

The two leaders are expected to hold official talks on a range of issues including an inter-governmental agreement on civil nuclear energy.

According to the Dhaka Tribune, India and Bangladesh may sign around 33 deals and Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) on trade and commerce, economy and connectivity, and on defence related issues.
Mumbai: The Federation of Indian Airlines, comprising four leading private carriers, including Jet Airways, SpiceJet, GoAir and IndiGo, on Saturday revoked the flying ban imposed on Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad.SpiceJet, GoAir and IndiGo, on Saturday revoked the flying ban imposed on Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad.

FIA's decision comes a day after Air India lifted its ban on Gaikwad after he expressed regret for assaulting one of its employees, ending his 14-day humiliating ordeal when other airlines also refused to let him on board in solidarity with the national carrier.

Gaikwad, who reached Mum bai today, asserte that it was a small conflict, Gaikwad said the staff of the airline is mad and around eight such cases of indulging into brawl have been registered against him.

"The Air India staff had started the conflict. It was his fault why would I apologies. I will apologies to the Parliament if my action damaged its dignity. It was just a small conflict. The staff is mad and around eight such cases of indulging into brawl have been registered against him," Gaikwad told ANI.

The Osmanabad MP had assaulted the AI employee on March 23 after he landed here on a Pune-Delhi all-economy flight. Complaining about not being able to travel business class, Gaikwad repeatedly hit Sukumar with slippers when the latter went to persuade him to disembark after he refused to alight. Gaikwad later boastfully claimed on TV he had hit the official 25 times with slippers.
New Delhi: Opposing Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s remark urging Kashmiri youth to choose between "tourism and terrorism", National Conference working president Omar Abdullah on Saturday hit out at Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti saying she failed to present a clear picture of the Valley before the former.

"Terrorism is not expanding due to the less tourism. Kashmir witnessed highest number of tourist before militancy in 1987-88. There is no relation between tourism and terrorism. It is the duty of Mehbooba Mufti to present a clear picture before the Prime Minister," Omar said.

He efurther added that the Prime Minister`s remark was far from ground reality.

"If you say that the youth here have to choose between tourism and terrorism, then tell me about those areas where there is not much scope for tourism.

Are we directly pushing people in those areas towards terrorism?" he said.

Commenting on the ruling Mufti government`s accusation that the NC rigged assembly elections in 1987 which gave rise to militancy in the state, Omar said that the Chief Minister should talk about today rather than discussing about past.

"Two years has passed since her government came to power. From past three year Prime Minister Narendra Modi is ruling the country. First they should provide us the details of past two-three years. Why is she talking about 1987? Mehbooba Mufti should not try to hide her failure and faults behind 1987," he said.

Omar further said that the Chief Minister had an opportunity to raise the issues of the Valley in Udhampur but she rather choose only to congratulate the Prime Minister on win in Uttar Pradesh and express gratitude for saving her government.Earlier on April 2, Prime Minister Modi urged the youth to shed terrorism and adopt tourism, adding that the path of bloodshed would never help the state to prosper.

"The youth of Kashmir have a choice to select one of the two paths- one of tourism the other of terrorism. The path of bloodshed has not helped any one and will never help anyone," Prime Minister Modi said while addressing a rally in Udhampur.
New Delhi: India's doors are always open for cooperation, but for that Pakistan has to shun terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday.

Hitting out at Pakistan, Modi said it breeds, inspires and encourages terrorism and this "thought" is a roadblock to peace within the region and the world.

He emphasised that "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas" is not just restricted to India, but also to the neighbouring countries and development of India is incomplete without the progress of the region.

"We have extended hand of friendship towards every country (of the region) and have invited them to be a part of our growth. Without being selfish, we have wished good for the entire region.

"We truly think that citizens of all nations of the region progress and prosper. Our doors are open for cooperation, but for this terrorism has to be shunned.

"There is one thought in South Asia which breeds, inspires and encourages terrorism. The thought whose priority is not humanity, but extremism and terrorism," Modi said, without naming Pakistan.

He was speaking at the ceremony where families of martyrs of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War were felicitated by Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Modi said India is a victim of the "thought" that encourages terrorism.

"The thought, whose policymakers prefer terrorism over humanity, destruction over development, destruction over creation, backstabbing over trust, is the biggest challenge to the society and its economic development," he said.

Stating that 1,661 Indian soldiers laid down their lives in the Bangladesh Liberation War, Modi said the Indian army's struggle in this cannot be forgotten.

"The Indian army never shied away from its duty and set an example by following conventions of the war. Over 90,000 Prisoners of War were released safely after the 1971 war. The humane gesture shown by India is one of the biggest events in the century," Modi said.

The Prime Minister said the genocide by Pakistan in 1971 was undertaken to wipe out an entire generation of Bangladesh and every person who was proud of the idea of Bangladesh was eliminated.

"The purpose of this genocide was not just killing the innocents, but to uproot the idea of Bangladesh," he said.

Speaking at the event, Hasina said, the history of Bangladesh has been written with the blood of Indian martyrs along with valiant freedom fighters of Bangladesh.

"They fought together for the independence of Bangladesh. The story of their sacrifice will be remembered from generation to generation in our two countries," she said.
New Delhi: India and Bangladesh on Saturday inked nearly two dozen pacts in strategic areas of defence and civil nuclear cooperation after "productive" talks between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Sheikh Hasina.

In a joint address to the media with visiting Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, PM Modi committed USD 500 million credit for the country's defence.

"India has always stood for the prosperity of Bangladesh and its people. We are a long-standing and trusted development partner for Bangladesh. India and Bangladesh are also determined that the fruits of our cooperation must reach our people," PM Modi said.

PM Modi held extensive discussions with his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina on ways to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries.

Both the leaders jointly launched new rail and bus services between India and Bangladesh and restored an old rail link between the two South Asian neighbours following bilateral talks here.

The two Prime Ministers launched the Maitree Express train that will run between Kolkata and Khulna in Bangladesh and bus services between Kolkata and Dhaka via Khulna.

The two leaders also restored a once defunct rail link between Radhikapur in north Bengal and Biral in Bangladesh and flagged off a cargo consignment of high speed diesel from Numaligarh Refinery in Assam.

However, much-delayed pact on the Teesta water sharing remained elusive for the two sides. Admitting that the pact was "important" for India-Bangladesh ties, Modi assured India's commitment to the issue.

He said an "early solution can and will be found" to the Teesta water sharing issue.
Mumbai: A day after Air India lifted its ban on MP Ravindra Gaikwad, the Shiv Sena leader, Saturday, said the national carrier employee R Sukumar, who was assaulted by him, was a mad person.

Speaking to news agency ANI, the tough-talking MP from Maharashtra's Osmanabad said the Air India official (R Sukumar) is a mad person and eight cases of quarrel are registered against him.

The Sena MP also rejected the reports that eight air tickets were booked by him.

Seven times tickets were booked in my name. I did not do it. Who did? I have raised this issue in the Parliament, Gaikwad asserted.

Gaikwad is expected to meet Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray later today.

Air India on Friday lifted its ban on Gaikwad after he expressed regret for assaulting one of its employees, ending his 14-day humiliating ordeal when other airlines also refused to let him on board in solidarity with the national carrier.

According to AI, the ban was lifted after the Civil Aviation Ministry wrote to the airline, a day after Gaikwad expressed "regrets" in the Lok Sabha over the March 23 incident.

In a sudden climbdown after combative Shiv Sena members disrupted Lok Sabha proceedings, Gaikwad, had written a letter to Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju yesterday expressing "regret" over the "unfortunate incident".

Gaikwad's party colleagues in the Lok Sabha also demanded the flying ban against him be revoked and the party threatened to boycott an April 10 National Democratic Alliance meeting in case the matter was not sorted out at the earliest.

The Osmanabad MP had assaulted the AI employee on March 23 after he landed here on a Pune-Delhi all-economy flight. Complaining about not being able to travel business class, Gaikwad repeatedly hit Sukumar with slippers when the latter went to persuade him to disembark after he refused to alight. Gaikwad later boastfully claimed on TV he had hit the official 25 times with slippers.
New Delhi: Pakistani troops resorted to heavy firing on Indian targets, including an army post in Jammu and Kashmir's Nowshera sector on Saturday, but there was no report of casualty.

Several villages along the Line of Control in Nowshera have also been targeted, the Army said.

"There is an unprovoked ceasefire violation by Pakistan army in Nowshera sector's Jhanger area from 1545 hrs on Saturday.

They are firing 82 mm mortars, automatics and small arms. The Indian Army is responding befittingly to the enemy fire," TOI quoted a defence spokesperson as saying.

The officer said it was the fifth ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops in the region.

The latest ceasefire violation comes a day after the Pakistani government expressed its willingness to resume talks with India.

"India wants to speak of terrorism! We also insist on speaking of terrorism, which forms one of the elements of the comprehensive dialogue process," Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria told reporters.

She also welcomed US envoy to UN Nikki Haley's suggestion that the US was ready to mediate on the Kashmir issue.

Zakaria said Pakistan has always welcomed offers of mediation to resolve the outstanding issues regarding Jammu and Kashmir.

"It's absolutely right that this administration is concerned about the relationship between India and Pakistan and very much wants to see how we de-escalate any sort of conflict going forward," Haley had said on Monday.

Ambassador Haley, who is of Indian ancestry, was asked whether Washington would make any effort to get India and Pakistan to engage in peace talks.
Bhubaneswar: Prohibitory orders were issued in Odisha's Bhadrak district on Saturday after protests broke out over Facebook post against Lord Ram.

Authorities have clamped Section 144, which prohibits assembly of more than four people in an area, at different places of the district and additional security forces have been deployed to thwart any untoward incident.

According to ANI, Section 144 has been imposed in Bhadrak, Dhamnagar and Basudevpur areas following protests.

The prohibitory orders will be in effect till 8 am on Sunday.

The state government has deployed 35 platoons of central forces in the affected areas to maintain law and order.

The state police have also detained 10 people for violent protests.

Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan has appealed to the people of Bhadrak for calm.

Appeal all citizens of Bhadrak to stay calm, ANI quoted the minister as saying.

Meanwhile, senior police officials told IANS that the situation has been brought under control.

"Barring a few incidents of shop-looting and ransacking, no large-scale violence or casualties have been reported so far. The overall situation is under control," it quoted DGP K.B. Singh as saying.

"People should not react to messages or rumours in the social media, rather they should help the administration in restoring peace," Singh added.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has also appealed to the people to maintain calm and peace in Bhadrak.

"I sincerely appeal to all in Bhadrak for peace & harmony; have directed stringent action against any attempt to disrupt peace," Patnaik tweeted.
New Delhi: The 64th National Film Awards were announced by Chairperson Priyadarshan on April 7, 2017, at a press conference and Akshay Kumar won the Best Actor honour for 'Rustom'. While Best Hindi Film went to Sonam Kapoor starrer 'Neerja', films such as 'Aligarh' and 'Udta Punjab' were royally ignored.

'Aligarh' filmmaker Hansal Mehta took to Twitter and shared his thoughts on the same. He clarified that he felt 'disappointment' but the feeling is personal and not directed towards any particular individual.

He wrote: When I expressed disappointment about the National Awards it was personal and not directed at anybody. I would like to believe that the jury has done its best within their understanding and framework. 'Aligarh' was not considered worthy in that framework by the appointed juries just like Lunchbox was ignored in the year that Shahid won two National Awards. I didn't complain then and I'm not complaining now either. I've got to respect the decision and move on."

When I expressed disappointment about the National Awards it was personal and not directed at anybody. I would.. pic.twitter.com/1bPzeOGmKA  Hansal Mehta (@mehtahansal) April 8, 2017

Thank you for all the love and support for #Aligarh. Means a lot. Your love will always be the greatest torch, the brightest light.  Hansal Mehta (@mehtahansal) April 7, 2017

Manoj Bajpayee played the Aligarh Muslim University professor in the film which received rave reviews from the critics.
New Delhi: Popular actor cum filmmaker Kamal Haasan had a narrow escape from a fire accident which took place at his residence on Friday night. The veteran took to Twitter and thanked his fans for the unconditional love and support.

Kamal Haasan tweeted: "Thanks to my staff. Escaped a fire at my house. Lungs full of smoke; I climbed down from the third floor. I am safe, No one hurt. Goodnight.

Thanks to my staff. Escaped a fire at my house. Lungs full of smoke, I climbed down from the third floor. I am safe No one hurt . Goodnight  Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) April 7, 2017

Thanks for all the love and concern. Now off to sleep. Good night indeed.

Thanks for all the love and concern. Now off to sleep. Good night indeed:) April 7, 2017



Haasan is currently mourning the death of his elder brother Chandrahasan who passed away in March.



On the professional front, he is all set to recommence work on his multi-lingual action comedy "Sabash Naidu", having fully recovered from a leg injury which kept him out of action for nearly a year.

(With IANS inputs)




Chennai: Tamil film superstar Rajinikanth has postponed the meeting with his fans, one of their long pending demands, following a request made by them for individual photographs for which more number of group interactions will be required, the actor said here today.

The 66-year-old star had earlier planned to meet the fans for photo sessions from April 12-16 in the city, where he was slated to get pictures clicked with them.

"My dear fans. I have an information for you. It has been 10 years since we all met and took pictures. You have been constantly requesting to meet me and take pictures. Since I could not find time, I was unable to meet you all then. But I had planned to meet you all from April 12 to April 16", he said in a audio message to his fans.

Elaborating, he said, "from April 12 to April 16 we had planned to meet fans hailing from 4-5 districts averaging 300 people daily.

"We had decided to invite 1,800 to 2,000 fans of them to participate during the meeting. It was my desire.", he said.

"But, later, we realised that it is not practically feasible to take individual photographs with everyone during the meeting and had decided to take photo sessions in eight member groups", he said.

However, a majority of fans had expressed disappointment saying how they could display an individual photograph with me in their respective homes if it is going to be a group photograph, he said.

"I feel it is fair on their part to make such a demand. Since we realised it is difficult to take pictures individually, we decided to postpone the meeting. We are planning to conduct it in future by inviting fans from two districts each and take pictures with them individually", he said.

"I will announce the meeting date in future. I think you all will understand and extend cooperation.", he said.

The sudden announcement about the meeting with the fans by the actor had triggered speculation on whether the actor would be once again persuaded to take the political plunge, a demand which he has been resisting.

While his fans have been urging the actor to join politics for the past several years, some political parties have also tried to woo him in view of his mass appeal.

The last such meeting with fans was in 2009, post his 'Sivaji' success.
New Delhi: Ways to involve private real estate developers in the government's ambitious 'Housing-for- all by 2022' programme was on Saturday discussed at a meeting in the Prime Minister's Office with focus on removing the "bottlenecks".

The meeting called by the Prime Minister's Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra discussed how the benefits of the interest subsidy on affordable housing could reach the prospective home buyers at the earliest, sources said.

The deliberations centred around undertaking the projects in the PPP mode to boost the supply of low-cost houses, they added.

The two-hour-long meeting came amid the thrust given by the government to the implementation of the Prime Minister's Awaas Yojana (PMAY), as part of Narendra Modi's ambition of providing housing for all by 2022, when the country celebrates its 75 years of independence.

The real estate developers were represented by two apex bodies CREDAI and NAREDCO. Tata Housing officials also attended the meeting.

The real estate sector representatives flagged difficulties they face in launching projects in smaller cities because of the specifications under PMAY scheme and wanted some relaxation on that front, the sources said.

About two months back, Minister for Urban Development and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation M Venkaiah Naidu had said he was "disappointed" that not a single proposal had come from the private builders for the affordable housing projects.

He had said that reasons for this needed to be found out.

The government, in a bid to give a boost to the real estate sector, had accorded infrastructure status to the affordable housing segment in this year's budget.

On December 31, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced interest subsidy of up to 4 per cent on loans taken in the new year under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana.

Modi, in his national address on New Year's eve, had also said 33 per cent more homes will be built for the poor under this scheme in rural areas.

Besides, in urban areas housing loans of up to Rs 9 lakh and up to Rs 12 lakh will receive interest subsidy of 4 per cent and 3 per cent respectively, while in rural areas loans up to Rs 2 lakh will get an interest subvention of 3 per cent.

"Even so many years after independence, millions of poor do not have their own home. When black money increased in our economy, houses became out of reach of even the middle class. The government has taken some major decisions to ensure homes for the poor, the neo middle class and the middle class," Modi had said.
Washington: Three crew members aboard the International Space Station are packing up their gear for a homecoming on Monday, ending their 173-day mission in space, NASA said.



Expedition 50 crew members Shane Kimbrough, Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko will take a ride back to Earth inside the Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft.



The are scheduled to land Monday at 7:21 a.m. EDT (4.51 p.m. India time) in Kazakhstan.



"Commander Shane Kimbrough, who is returning to Earth early Monday, took it easy Friday aboard the International Space Station. He and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Thomas Pesquet mainly performed light duty tasks and continued their daily exercise to stay healthy in space," NASA scientists wrote in a blog post on Friday.



"Cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko, who are returning home Monday with Kimbrough, continued packing the Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft that will parachute the trio to a landing in Kazakhstan after a 173 days in space," the blog post said.



Ryzhikov, who is on his first mission, will command the Soyuz during its undocking and reentry into Earth`s atmosphere. Borisenko and Kimbrough are both wrapping up their second visit to space.



Whitson will become station commander for the second time in her career Sunday less than 24 hours before her crewmates undock from the Poisk module.



She stays behind with fellow Expedition 50-51 crew members Thomas Pesquet and Flight Engineer Oleg Novitskiy.
Lucknow: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Uttar Pradesh has ordered a probe into the sale of 21 sugar mills at a "throwaway" price by former chief minister Mayawati.



The probe was ordered by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath after a review late Friday night of the Cane Development and Sugar Industry Department.



He said that nobody can be allowed to sell such government properties at "dirt cheap rates" as the property belonged to the people.



Adityanath also said that he will not hesitate in ordering a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the matter, in which even the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has pointed out heavy irregularities.



The Rs 1,180-crore scam has been hanging heavy on the former hief Minister Mayawati but it was put in cold storage by the earlier Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party government.



Despite serious lapses coming to light in the probe ordered then, the SP government chose not to act against political rival and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati in the sale of these sugar mills.



The mills belonged to the UP State Sugar Corporation Ltd and the state Sugar and Cane Development Corporation.



Complaints made on the scam alleged that huge kickbacks were paid to the "powerful" in the then BSP government to get the sale deal through.



Former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had handed over the probe into the alleged irregularities to the Lokayukta in November 2012, but despite a year long drawn probe, Justice N.K. Mehrotra had not fixed responsibility for the loss to the exchequer on anyone.



The ombudsman had also recommended that the view of the government be presented before the Supreme Court where the matter was pending.
London: British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has cancelled his trip to Moscow following US missile strikes in Syria, which Moscow has denounced.

The visit has been scrapped after strategic talks between London and Washington, about how the West should approach Russia in the wake of the military action, reports the Independent.

The trip planned by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will still go ahead later in the week, with Johnson leading efforts to bring together a coalition against Russian action in Syria and the regime of Bashar Assad.

Johnson discussed the move with his US counterpart last night after the US launched 59 tomahawk cruise missiles at the Shayrat airbase in Syria, following intelligence that deadly chemical weapons attacks on civilians originated there.

Johnson said in a statement, "Developments in Syria have changed the situation fundamentally. My priority is now to continue contact with the US and others in the run up to the G7 meeting on 10 and 11 April, to build coordinated international support for a ceasefire on the ground and an intensified political process. I will be working to arrange for other like-minded partners to meet and explore next steps soon too.

"I discussed these plans in detail with Secretary Tillerson. He will visit Moscow as planned and, following the G7 meeting, will be able to deliver that clear and coordinated message to the Russians," he added.

He also deplored Russia`s continued defence of the Bashar al-Assad regime even after the chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians."We call on Russia to do everything possible to bring about a political settlement in Syria and work with the rest of the international community to ensure that the shocking events of the last week are never repeated," he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin denounced the strike as "act of aggression" and said it violated international law.Russia earlier this week denied a chemical weapons attack took place in Syria saying the deaths in Khan Sheikhoun were caused by a Syrian regime airstrike on a rebel-controlled chemical weapons factory on the ground.

According to the Independent, London and Washington agreed that while Mr Tillerson would head into meetings with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Johnson will drum up support among G7 nations to address Russia`s actions in Syria ahead of Tuesday`s meeting of the group.

He will push for counterparts to adopt goals, including a transition away from Assad in Syria, Russia demilitarisation in the country and plans to rebuild infrastructure alongside any peace deal.
Colombo: An international warrant has been issued for the arrest Sri Lanka's former ambassador to Russia, Udayanga Weeratunga, the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) of Sri Lanka police has informed the court.

The FCID informed the Colombo Fort Magistrate yesterday that they were yet to ascertain the ex-diplomat's exact address in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and steps have been taken to execute the warrant against him, reports Colombo Page.

Colombo Fort Magistrate Lanka Jayaratne had earlier issued a warrant through Interpol for the arrest of Weeratunga.

Weeratunga, a relative of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, is alleged to have committed financial misappropriation to the tune of USD 14 million while purchasing four Ukraine-built MIG-27 aircraft for the Sri Lanka Air Force in 2005.

The FCID told the court that it was investigating whether the former Ambassador had invested money earned through the Mig-27 transaction in a company called Sri Lankan Limited Liability Company in Moscow.
Seoul: North Korea said on Saturday US missile strikes against a Syrian airfield on Friday were "an unforgivable act of aggression" that showed its decision to develop nuclear weapons was "the right choice a million times over."

The response by the North`s foreign ministry, carried by the official KCNA news agency, was the first since U.S. warships in the Mediterranean Sea launched dozens of missiles at a Syrian air base which the Pentagon says was involved in a chemical weapons attack earlier in the week.

Diplomatically isolated North Korea considers Syria a key ally.
Stockholm: The suspected driver of a truck that ploughed into a crowd in Stockholm killing four people is a 39-year-old man from Uzbekistan known to Sweden`s intelligence agency, authorities said Saturday.

"We have confirmed that he is a man, 39 years old, from Uzbekistan," Swedish police chief Dan Eliasson told reporters. "He has appeared in our intelligence gathering in the past," intelligence agency chief Anders Thornberg added.

Flags flew at half-mast across Stockholm on Saturday as the city slowly returned to normal a day after a truck attack that killed four people, as police said they had the suspected driver in custody.

A stolen beer truck ploughed into a crowd of people at the corner of the bustling Ahlens department store and the Drottninggatan pedestrian street on Friday afternoon, above ground from Stockholm`s central subway station.

Fifteen people were injured, nine of whom remained in hospital on Saturday.

It was the third terror attack in Europe in two weeks, coming on the heels of assaults in London and St. Petersburg, although there has been no immediate claim of responsibility.

Previous attacks using vehicles have occurred in London, Berlin and the southern French city of Nice, all of them claimed by the so-called Islamic State (IS).

"Terror hits the heart of the city," Sweden`s biggest broadsheet Dagens Nyheter headlined its front page above a picture of the truck with its front end smashed into the store.

Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said he had strengthened the country`s border controls, as flags flew at half-mast at parliament, the royal palace, the government offices, and City Hall.

"Terrorists want us to be afraid, want us to change our behaviour, want us to not live our lives normally, but that is what we`re going to do. So terrorists can never defeat Sweden, never," Lofven said.

City streets were empty early Saturday, slowly filling as the day wore on as things began to return to normal -- apart from a heavy police presence, a rare scene in this normally tranquil country.

A swelling crowd milled by the security barrier erected around the scene, many placing flowers on the ground or in the security fence.

Sweden`s Crown Princess Victoria, 39, was one of those laying down a bouquet, wiping tears from her cheek.

"I feel an incredible sadness, an emptiness," she told reporters.

But, she said, "society has demonstrated enormous strength and we stand together against this."

Swedish police said a man arrested on "suspicion of a terrorist crime" was probably the truck driver.

"We suspect that the man who was arrested is the perpetrator," Stockholm police spokesman Lars Bystrom told AFP.

The man was arrested "on suspicion of a terrorist crime through murder," Karin Rosander, spokeswoman at the Swedish Prosecution Authority, said.

The man was detained on Friday in Marsta, a suburb north of Stockholm. According to several media outlets, he is a 39-year-old of Uzbek origin and an IS supporter.

Prosecutors did not disclose his identity, but police said his appearance "matched the description" of a photo they released of a suspect wearing a dark hoodie and military green jacket.

Intelligence agency Sapo said meanwhile it was hunting for "possible accomplices or networks that may have been involved in the attack."

Witnesses described scenes of terror and panic on Friday.

"A massive truck starts driving ... and mangles everything and just drives over exactly everything," eyewitness Rikard Gauffin told AFP.

"It was so terrible and there were bodies lying everywhere... it was really terrifying," he added.

Passerby Hasan Sidi told Aftonbladet he saw two elderly women lying on the ground.

He said people at the scene urged him to help one of the women who was "bleeding to death".

"One of them died... I don`t know if the other one made it," Sidi said.

The truck was towed away in the early hours of Saturday.

An attack on Stockholm was just a matter of time, the head of the Centre for Asymmetric Threat Studies at the Swedish National Defence College, Magnus Ranstorp, told AFP.

"It was pretty expected, the police and intelligence agency have practised for this several times the past year... We just didn`t know when it was going to happen," he said.

Friday`s attack was the latest in a string of assaults with vehicles in Europe.

The deadliest came last year in France on the July 14 Bastille Day national holiday, when a man rammed a truck into a crowd in the Mediterranean resort of Nice, killing 86 people.

In December, a man hijacked a truck and slammed into shoppers at a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people.

In London last month, Khalid Masood, a 52-year-old convert to Islam, killed five people when he drove a car at high speed into pedestrians before launching a frenzied knife attack on a policeman guarding parliament.

In 2014, IS called for attacks on citizens of Western countries and gave instructions on how they could be carried out without military equipment, using rocks or knives, or by running people over in vehicles.

Friday`s attack was the second terror attack in Stockholm.

In December 2010, a suicide bomber blew himself up, also on the Drottninggatan pedestrian street, lightly injuring several passersby.
Beirut: The official Saudi Press Agency is reporting that US President Donald Trump has spoken by telephone with King Salman about the US missile strike on Syria.

The news agency reports that during the yesterday phone call, the Saudi monarch congratulated Trump for his "courageous decision."

Saudi Arabia says the missile launch by Trump was the right response to "the crimes of this regime to its people in light of the failure of the international community to stop it."

The kingdom is among the most vehement opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad and supports Sunni rebel groups fighting to oust him.

The Sunni rulers of Saudi Arabia are in a power struggle for regional dominance with Iran's Shiite government and view Tehran's support of Assad as a threat to the region.
Beirut: Turkey's foreign minister says Ankara sees the US intervention in Syria as appropriate but not enough.

Mevlut Cavusoglu, speaking in the southern city of Antalya on Saturday, said if the US intervention is limited only to a missile attack on a Syrian air base then it is a "cosmetic intervention" unless it removes President Bashar Assad from power.

Cavusoglu, whose country is a strong backer of the Syrian opposition, said the most ideal process will be a political solution that leads to a transitional government accepted by all Syrians as soon as possible. He said that for that "this oppressive Assad needs to go."

Cavusoglu said after the transitional government takes over, it will be followed with elections in which Syrians in the country and abroad can vote.
United Nations: The US and Russia clashed in the UN Security Council over the missile attack on a Syrian airfield, with Washington warning it is "prepared to do more" as Moscow accused it of flagrantly violating international law with its "act of aggression."

The 15-nation Security Council met for an emergency meeting yesterday on the situation in Syria following the launch of 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles by US into the Shayrat Airbase as a response to the Syrian government's use of chemical weapons from the base.

US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, who is President of the Council for this month, said Washington was "fully justified" in carrying out the missile strikes and was prepared to take further action.

"Our military destroyed the airfield from which this week's chemical strike took place. We were fully justified in doing so," Haley said.

"The United States took a very measured step last night. We are prepared to do more, but we hope that will not be necessary. It is time for all civilised nations to stop the horrors that are taking place in Syria and demand a political solution," she said.

Haley said the US will no longer wait for Syrian President Bashar Al Assad to use chemical weapons without any consequences.

"The moral stain of the Assad regime could no longer go unanswered. His crimes against humanity could no longer be met with empty words. It was time to say "enough", but not only say it was time to act. Bashar al-Assad must never use chemical weapons again. Ever," she said.

Haley also called out Russia, saying it, along with Iran, bears considerable responsibility for the crisis in Syria since "every time Assad has crossed the line of human decency, Russia has stood beside him."

Russia tore into the US, calling the missile strikes on Syrian territory a "flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression.

"We strongly condemn the illegitimate actions by the US. The consequences of this for regional and international stability could be extremely serious," Russia's deputy UN ambassador Vladimir Safronkov said.

A visibly agitated Safronkov said Washington, London and Paris have a "paranoiac idea" of overthrowing the legitimate government in sovereign Syria. In a particularly sharp attack against UK, Safronkov told Britain's UN envoy Matthew Rycroft to "stop putting unprofessional accusations" against Russia.

"These (accusations) are not diplomatic. They are lies. Once again, I warn don't even try to get into fights in the Arab world. Nothing will be achieved. That is why you are getting annoyed. All Arab countries recall your colonial hypocrisy," he said.

Safronkov called on the US to "immediately cease" its aggression and join efforts towards a political settlement in Syria.

Syria's envoy Mounzer Mounzer said the air strike by the US against his country had been a "treacherous, barbaric, flagrant act of aggression" and a grave violation of international law and the UN charter.

"The US attempted to justify its aggression with fabricated arguments that Syria had used chemical weapons in Khan Shaykhun the same justification advanced by terrorist groups and the countries supporting them," he said.

He asserted that Syria does not have chemical weapons in the first place and would never use such weapons as it condemns the use of such weapons. He said it was well known that terrorists had stockpiled chemical agents in Syria, in cooperation with Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other States outside the region.

"This aggression will surely send an erroneous message to the terrorist groups, emboldening them to use more chemical weapons in the future," he warned.

The air strike was a grave extrapolation of the United States strategy to support so-called moderate opposition groups, he said. That country led a purported alliance against ISIL/Daesh, while its real objective was to weaken Syria and its allies, he said.

Citing the American claim that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and its consequent military invasion in the country, Mounzer said the US was once again using fabricated evidence to justify its actions and spread hegemony around the world.

Haley said Russia is supposed to be a guarantor of the removal of chemical weapons from Syria but obviously has failed in that endeavour.

"Let's think about the possible reasons for Russia's failure. It could be that Russia is knowingly allowing chemical weapons to remain in Syria. It could be that Russia has been incompetent in its efforts to remove the chemical weapons.

"Or, it could be that the Assad regime is playing the Russians for fools, telling them that there are no chemical weapons, all the while stockpiling them on their bases.

"In the wake of the US air strikes, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, "Mindful of the risk of escalation, I appeal for restraint to avoid any acts that could deepen the suffering of the Syrian people."

He urged restraint to avoid any escalation of the situation in Syria, after the United States responded militarily to an alleged chemical weapons attack earlier this week.

"These events underscore my belief that there is no other way to solve the conflict than through a political solution," he said, calling on the parties to urgently renew their commitment to making progress in the Geneva (intra-Syrian talks).

Decrying the 'abhorrent' chemical weapons attack, the UN chief stressed the need for accountability for such crimes in line with existing international norms and Security Council resolutions.

UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman said that the December 2016 Syrian ceasefire brokered by Russia, Iran and Turkey had faltered in the last two months amid a steady escalation of military activity.

The Security Council has the primary responsibility for international peace and security, he said, urging the 15-member body to unite and exercise that responsibility to investigate the alleged use of chemical weapons in Khan Shaykhun.

Security Council resolutions and the 2012 Geneva Communique remain the foundation of, and contain the core principles for, United Nations mediation efforts and ultimately a solution in this regard, he said.

Feltman said Iran and Russia condemned the US attack, with the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and New Zealand expressing some support for the US strikes.

A statement from the Syrian General Command of the Army and the Armed Forces called the US response a "blatant act of aggression" which had caused six deaths and huge material damage.
YEREVAN, APRIL 8, ARMENPRESS. The Defense Ministry of Artsakh Republic told Armenpress the Azerbaijani forces violated the ceasefire regime more than 20 times firing from various caliber small arms at the Artsakh-Azerbaijan line of contact.

The Ministry issued a statement which says: On April 7 and overnight April 8 the Azerbaijani side violated the ceasefire regime more than 20 times by firing over 230 shots from various caliber small arms at the Armenian positions in the Artsakh-Azerbaijan line of contact.

In the north-eastern direction of the line of contact the Azerbaijani forces also fired 60mm mortar (1 shell).

The Defense Army forces of Artsakh refrained from taking countermeasures and continued confidently fulfilling their military tasks.
YEREVAN, APRIL 8, ARMENPRESS. During the April 7 session, the Parliament of Cyprus condemned the Armenian Genocide, calling on the international community to acknowledge the Genocide, Cyprus News Agency reports.

Addressing the House of Representatives at the start of the plenary session, Speaker Demetris Syllouris said that even if more than a century have gone by since the Armenian Genocide of 24th April 1915 when Turkey applied an ethnic cleansing plan against Armenians, Turkey refuses to acknowledge the murder of one and a half million Armenians.

Demetris Syllouris said the Parliament of Cyprus was among the first ones in the world and the first one in Europe to recognize and condemn in 1975 the Armenian Genocide, demanding the restoration of historical truth.
PHOENIX, Ariz.After spending nearly two months trying to locate the people it was suing, gay adult site BelAmi, owned by Baol LLC, a Delaware corporation, has settled its copyright infringement claims with Ivan Foka, owner of gay adult sites Teens-Boys-World.com and TBWStudios.com, and has apparently dismissed its claims against defendants Does 1-10 and Doe Companies 1-10.

In fact, it was the inability to locate a geographical address for Foka and his companies that impelled BelAmi to file suit in the District of Arizona, which is the home territory of CCBill, one of Foka's payment processors, though at least one of Foka's sites was originally registered in Washington state.

According to BelAmi's complaint, filed December 20 of last year, "Defendants enjoyed direct financial benefits from unauthorized display of Plaintiffs copyrighted content, which deprives Defendants of any safe harbor defenses under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Defendants website took commercial advantage of copyrighted works without any authority whatsoever and derived financial benefit from the copyrighted works. This significant commercial and financial advantage was obtained without purchasing or licensing any rights from the copyright holder or incurring the significant expense of creating and generating the content itself." The complaint also noted that none of the BelAmi content which Foka's sites had pirated were accompanied by 2257 notices, making such material liable for federal prosecution.

"On or about July 2016, an initial search of Defendants website revealed and documented sixteen (16) separate instances of copyright infringement of Plaintiffs copyrighted and trademarked intellectual property," the complaint continued. "As of the date of this Complaint, these sixteen (16) instances of infringement, identified by name and registration number in the following paragraphs, were documented as being displayed and distributed on the various Defendant websites. Each of these films were displayed and distributed by Defendants and the Doe Defendants, each individually and acting in concert with each other, without the consent of, or licensing by, Plaintiff, the copyright owner and registrant of the motion picture. Plaintiff marks each film with a copyright notice and trademark in order to inform the public of Plaintiffs ownership. Upon information and belief Defendants have altered Plaintiffs films in that these notices and marks have been removed or obscured."

As a remedy for Foka's illegal acts, BelAmi sought "a sum sufficient to cover the cost of corrective advertising necessary to alleviate any existing or lingering confusion resulting from Defendants unauthorized use of Plaintiff trade dress and terms," that Foka "be ordered to account to Plaintiff for all profits, gains and advantages which they have realized as a consequence of their unauthorized use of Plaintiff trade dress and terms, as well as any confusingly similar trade dress or terms," and that Foka pay "enhanced statutory damages of $150,000 per infringement."

Trouble was, BelAmi couldn't find Foka to serve its notice of Complaint upon him and/or his companies, so finally, on February 8, BelAmi filed a Motion with the Court for an "Order Permitting Alternate Service of the Summons and Complaint on Defendants using alternate methods of service of process on this foreign defendant ... by means of email to the defendants last known valid email address." The Court approved that order the following dayand that apparently led to the settlement that was reached within the past few days, leading to a termination of the lawsuit by the Court today.

The terms of the settlement have not been disclosed by either party.
LOS ANGELESA new app called CamStarPlus designed to help webcam models improve their productivity and performance is launching soon.

J.M. Data, LLC plans to unveil the first-of-its-kind CamStarPlus app for iPhone, Android and desktop in May following a beta-testing period that will begin April 15.

The webcam industry lacks performance productivity tools, said Megan Magnet, director of operations at J.M. Data, which is headquartered in Charlotte, N.C. CamStarPlus will greatly improve any webcam performers earnings and efficiency. CamStarPlus is the industrys most advanced training and productivity software available on the market today.

The app offers a suite of tools created to give cam models complete command of their business. Those tools include a fan management database, content creating and mass distribution capability, content editing and social media management. CamStarPlus also will enable bulk email campaigns, scheduling and tracking mechanisms for chat-time, revenue goals and market data to guide pricing.

Weve taken these practices and standardized them, put in sales processes and applied them to the camming industry, Magnet told AVN. After measuring the results weve put together quite a team of forward-thinking individuals to create this app.

CamStarPlus incorporates tools and training advice from more than 15 years of combined webcam hosting experience. The creators experimented with the app by working closely with several top-earning modelssuch as Playboy Cybergirl Morgan Reeseduring the development process.

Magnet said one of the centerpieces of the app would be the cam performer forum community to seek peer advice, in addition to a tips and tricks video vault and a 24-hour support center.

Well have a forum and as far as the forum goes, any model who is signed up with CamStarPlus who purchases the app will be able to contribute to the community forum, Magnet continued. They can talk music, outfits, social media, etc. We'll also release training videos every week to the models that are mostly about business tactics.

The company said new models entering the webcam industry are reducing their startup time by up to 80 percent so far based on their testing.

Models can create social media campaigns and tailor customer experiences, Magnet added. The more models are engaging, the more their revenue is going to increase.

She said the first 100 models that sign up April 15 will get to try the app for free during the beta test as long as they review the product and give their feedback.

The go-to gal at J.M. Data brings 15 years experience in the hospitality industry to her multifaceted role with CamStarPlus.

I dont have any webcam modeling experience, Magnet said. Charlotte is a big small-town. Im very well known in this city and got hired to help market, to design the studio as well as hire models. I got super involved and fell in love with the process. I learned more working for this company directly under the owner than managing a million-dollar nightclub.

J.M. Data turned its attention to the webcam industry after more than a decade of providing productivity solutions and sales consulting to Fortune 100 companies. Founder John McQueen said his background in the automotive and real estate hospitality industries, coupled with his knowledge in sales processes and procedure, has helped turn clicks into talking clients.

Were trying to fill that void because there is not any standard operating procedure for this, McQueen told AVN. Some are doing it well but its a very small percentage. You want to separate yourself as an entertainer so the market can find you. Thats what you have to do to retain and build users.

McQueen did his homework working in cam studios for the past seven years.

I just really kind of threw myself at this, he admitted. As we started to implement standard operating procedure and points of measurement we found there are many variables that you cant control.

The solution, McQueen said, was to begin working with models in a studio environment; he set up in a gentlemen's club in Charlotte and another one in Charleston.

We used those as more of a beta to feed us information, he said. We set some high standards for those studios as far as the training and our processes. We would teach them to acknowledge and redirect requests. Were really playing with sales techniques to a degree.

On the 15th, McQueen said CamStarPlus will take its next major step toward public launch.

Were going to really weigh it down and give it a pressure test and then going to retail and give it an official launch.

Magnet said the CamStarPlus blog would be posting teaser videos before the beta testing goes live to just kind of give an overview of what were about.

To keep up with the app, follow @mycamstarplus on Twitter. A companion site, MyCamStarPlus.com, will go live simultaneously when the app is available.
Sky-high hotel rates mean that your next vacation will likely take a big bite out of your budget. However, there are ways to find the best deals so you can lower travel costs and save money. Click through for hotel secrets to save money on your next stay.

1. Book 30 days in advance

Knowing the best time to book your hotel room can help minimize travel costs. Boutique hotel booking website Stayful found that you can get the best hotel prices by booking 30 days before your stay, said Cheryl Rosner, co-founder and CEO of Stayful.

However, if you dont remember to reserve a room a full month in advance, there is another window of opportunity to score a deal. Rosner said hotels also offer great rates seven to 10 days before a stay.

2. Or wait until the last minute to book a room

If you can handle waiting until the last minute, youll often find a great rate at a hotel by booking closer to your stay.

Book last minute, said Geena Marcelia, travel editor for Hotwire. Although its common practice to book in advance, if its possible to wait, you can usually find the best rates one week before your travel dates.

3. Get a refund for a price drop

If you dont want to chance ending up without a place to stay, you can reserve a room in advance and still take advantage of price drops by booking through Tingo.com. Tingo will automatically re-book your room at a lower rate if the price drops and refund you the difference.

4. Stay on a Sunday

Timing a hotel stay right can save you money. And Sundays are almost always the cheapest day of the week for hotels, said Marcelia.

5. Hit tourist locales mid-week

The cities that are major tourist destinations often see more traffic on weekends, when people arent working and have time to travel. So, prices tend to rise with demand. Youll save on the cost of lodging if you go against the tide, said Bob Tupper, author of Drinking in the Culture: Tuppers Guide to Exploring Great Beers in Europe.

Go to touristy areas in mid-week, when the tourists arent there in droves, he said.

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6. Visit business hotspots on weekends

You can save money on a hotel by staying in a citys business district on weekends, when business travelers have checked out and headed home, Tupper said. For example, he found a room in an upscale business district of Zurich, Switzerland, on a weekend at half the price of a weekday stay.

7. Take advantage of shoulder season

Shoulder season is the period of time between the off-peak season - when the weather is not ideal for travel - and the peak season, when ideal weather conditions make prices high and crowds abundant. Because demand is lower, hotel rates tend to be as well.

Learn More: The Financial Perks of Off-Season Travel

8. Get deep discounts during off-season

Just because a destination has a reputation for extreme heat, cold or storms at certain times of the year, that doesnt mean youre destined to experience bad weather if you visit then, said Elizabeth Avery, founder of Solo Trekker 4 U, a site dedicated to traveling alone.

What you will get, though, are deep discounts on lodging, because demand will be lower in the off-season. For example, locales known for having a rainy season can be a good value, because the rains are often brief rather than continuous, she said. You can still do plenty of site-seeing - at a lower cost.

9. Stay in the suburbs

If you stay on the outskirts of mid-sized and larger cities, youll find more upscale hotels at lower prices, said Neil Emerson, president of business development for travel brokerage company Tourico Holidays.

Plus, the cost of parking will be much more reasonable - or even free - if you stay at a hotel in the suburbs rather than the city center.

10. Watch out for event-related price hikes

Before you book a trip, make sure there are no major events happening in the city when you want to visit it, said Eric Grayson, founder of Discover 7 Travel. Otherwise, you could pay astronomical rates because of an increased demand for rooms in the area, he said.

Check the citys tourism or chamber of commerce site for a calendar of events to ensure youre not planning a trip at a time when rooms will be scarce and prices will be high.

11. Be flexible with travel dates

The more flexible you are with the dates you can travel, the more you can save on a hotel room. Brian Ek of Priceline recommends choosing a destination and then pricing the cost of a hotel over a few different weeks or months to spot the best rates.

You can use the Trivago.com Hotel Price Index to see the average monthly prices for 35 of North Americas most popular cities and determine the cheapest time to book a stay.

12. Be flexible with destinations

You can save even more on the cost of a hotel room if youre willing to be flexible with your destination, Ek said. Same sand, same water, same sun - only difference is the rate, he said.

13. Use mobile apps to book hotel rooms

Travelers often can get special deals on hotels by booking through travel apps, Ek said. For example, the Priceline app has Tonight Only deals that offer savings of up to 60 percent on last-minute hotel rooms, he said.

Emerson of Tourico Holidays recommends the Last Minute Travel app, which offers discounts of up to 60 percent. You also can get $25 off your first hotel booking through the app.

14. Get discounts on unused reservations

You can save money on hotel rooms by taking advantage of other peoples canceled traveled plans. The Roomer website and mobile app let you book discounted rooms that travelers have reserved but cant use.

Or, if youve reserved a non-refundable room but have to cancel your trip, you can get some of your money back using this service. Roomer recommends that sellers offer at least a 20 percent discount on the market price.

15. Dont be afraid to book blindly

You can get discounts of up to 60 percent if you take advantage of the option to book a room and pay online without knowing the exact hotel where youll be staying at sites such as Hotwire and Priceline. With Hotwires Hot Rate hotels, youll see a rate - and how much of a discount it is below published prices - along with the general location, hotel details and reviews.

With Pricelines Name Your Own Price option, you can specify your preferred neighborhood and minimum hotel star class. Ek recommends seeing what the published rates are for hotels in the neighborhood and then entering a bid thats 60 percent below the going rate. And with Pricelines Express Deals, you can pick the exact amenities you want - such as number of beds - in addition to star rating and location.

16. Use online coupons

There are plenty of coupon websites that offer codes to save money on purchases with online retailers. But coupon codes arent just for products.

By using online coupons for travel, people can expect to save up to 20 percent, said Scott Kluth, founder of CouponCabin, a site that offers both coupon codes and cash back on purchases at certain retailers.

The benefit of using coupons is that you can stack them with other discounts and cash-back offers to maximize your savings, Kluth said.

17. Save with package deals

You can save up to hundreds of dollars by taking advantage of deals offered by travel sites that bundle airfare and hotel accommodations into one price, said Ek.

These package deals allow hotels to offer lower rates because the room price isnt disclosed separately from airfare, he said. It gives a hotel cover for selling at a lower rate, Ek said.

18. Bid on boutique hotels

If you prefer staying at independent or boutique hotels, you can cut the cost of a room using a site such as Stayful. With Stayful, you can bid on hotel rooms in more than 30 markets - much like you would with Pricelines Name Your Price option - but the name of the hotel is revealed from the start.

Even if the customers offer is too low for the hotel, they will come back with a price they would be willing to accept, Rosner said. Travelers save an average of 22 percent using the sites bidding process.

19. Join hotel loyalty programs

Most of the major hotel chains such as Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott have loyalty programs where you can earn points for staying at their properties and cash in those points for free stays. Programs also offer benefits like discounted room rates, room upgrades and free internet access.

20. Join travel site reward programs

Some travel booking sites have their own rewards programs that members can join for free and earn points for free stays at a variety of hotels.

For example, the Orbitz.com Orbitz Rewards program lets you earn 1 Orbuck for every $1 spent on eligible hotel bookings. Hotels.com also offers a rewards program thats free to join and allows members to get a free hotel stay after booking 10 stays through the site.

21. Get free stays at independent hotels

Major hotel chains arent the only ones that reward their guests for being loyal. You can get free stays at independent hotels through Stash Hotel Rewards. This free program lets you earn points by booking through StashRewards.com and redeem them for rooms at more than 150 hotels in 100 cities.

International travelers can join Voila Hotel Rewards at VHR.com to earn points for free stays at independent hotels and resorts around the world. Members also get other benefits, including early check-in, late check-out and room upgrades.

22. Get a travel rewards credit card

You can rack up points for free hotel stays even faster if you get a hotel-branded credit card.

With the Hilton Honors Card from American Express, for example, you can earn seven points for every dollar you spend on Hilton properties, five points for every dollar spent on gas, grocery and restaurant purchases, and three points per dollar for all other purchases. Theres no annual fee, and you can get 80,000 bonus points if you spend $2,000 in the first three months after getting your card.

23. Get more savings with your credit card

Even if you dont have a hotel-branded credit card, your credit card might offer savings and perks at hotels. For example, American Express Platinum cardholders can book through Amex Travels Fine Hotels & Resorts service for benefits such as room upgrades, free internet, food and beverage credits and more. Check your card to see what travel benefits it offers.

24. Get airline miles for booking hotel rooms

You can get a lot more value for your hotel dollar by using a travel booking site that gives you airline miles when you book through them, said Jared Blank, CMO of deal and coupon site DealNews.com.

Rocketmiles.com, Pointshound.com and Kaligo.com are three sites that offer up thousands of miles per night for your favorite airline frequent flyer program when you book through them. And room rates are generally the same as those found on other travel sites, he said.

25. Get free - or discounted - food with your stay

Several hotels offer guests free food, so you can eliminate the cost of some meals if you stay at these chains.

Comfort Inn & Suites and Hampton Hotels, for example, offer guests free, hot breakfast. Embassy Suites offers guests complimentary breakfasts and free drinks in the evening. And kids younger than 12 can eat free at Holiday Inn on-site restaurants.

Also, ask the hotel staff about whether it has deals with nearby restaurants that will give you a discount for being a guest at that hotel.

26. Be nice to the staff

When you check into a hotel, treat the staff well to get better treatment. Being nice to hotel employees might get you a room upgrade or other perks at no extra charge.

In addition to being polite, Avery of Solo Trekker 4 U said that if youre staying at a hotel in a foreign country, try speaking to the hotel staff in the local language. When she was in the Middle East, for example, she spoke in Arabic during check-in and was upgraded to a suite - for free.

27. Avoid resort fees

Resort fees are extra charges hotels levy for amenities such as the use of gym facilities or pool towels. Ek of Priceline said that travel sites are required to disclose the additional fees that hotels and resorts charge. But sometimes this information is limited, because its based on what the properties disclose to the third-party sites.

If these charges show up on your bill and you werent aware that you were going to be hit with them - or if youre charged for amenities you didnt use - ask to have the resort fees removed. Just remember to be polite about it.

28. Get free WiFi

If your hotel doesnt offer free WiFi, you might be able to get free access if you join the hotels loyalty program - which should be free.

Or, if you have an ample data plan for your smartphone, you can use your phone as a mobile hotspot to connect to the internet. Check your phones settings for the personal hotspot option.

29. Pay less for parking

Some hotels in metropolitan areas charge outrageous parking fees. You might be able to find cheaper parking at a nearby parking garage or lot - and there might be coupons that let you save more.

30. Dont check in early

Find out what time you can check in at the hotel youve booked before you arrive by calling or looking online. Otherwise, if you show up before the designated check-in time, you could be charged a fee.

31. Dont overtip housekeeping

Before you leave money in an envelope for the person who cleans your room, ask whether a housekeeping gratuity is automatically included in your bill, so you dont spend more on tipping than necessary. Resorts, in particular, are prone to adding this charge.

32. Order food delivery instead of room service

You pay a high price for the convenience of room service. Not only will you be charged a room service fee and a gratuity, but youll also be expected to tip the person who brings the food to your room.

If youre too tired to venture out to a restaurant, ask the hotel staff which restaurants in the area deliver to the hotel for free and whether they have menus for them. Or, check local restaurants sites to find out which ones offer the best prices.

33. Dont leave your bags in hotel storage

If you ask the hotel staff to hold your bags in storage to avoid checking out late, you might get hit with a fee. To be safe, ask about any fees before handing over your luggage.

34. Watch out for extra person fees

Most hotel rates are based on double occupancy. So, if you have more than two people in a room - even kids - you might have to pay more. Always check a hotels policy before you book, and avoid properties that charge extra if there are more than two people in your party.

35. Use membership discounts

Take advantage or your profession or membership in various groups to score hotel discounts. For example, hotel chains such as Choice Hotels, Hilton, and Marriott all offer discounted rates for military members and government employees.

AARP, the organization for adults 50 and older, offers its members discounts that typically range from 5 % to 20 % at several hotels. And AAA members can score discounts of up to 15 percent.

36. Use a travel agent

Its easy to compare prices and book hotel stays online. But you might get a room with more perks at no extra cost if you use a travel agent to book your stay. Thats because travel agents can leverage their relationships with hotels to get more for guests, said Jenny Ingram of Blue Grotto Travel, a travel agency in Fort Worth, Texas.

Ingram said she once scored a bottle of rum, a room upgrade, spa credit, early check-in and late checkout for clients who were staying at a hotel in Jamaica. And the room rate was the same as what they wouldve found on a discount travel site.

37. Dont pay extra for a room you cant enjoy

Getting a room with a view of the beach or city skyline can cost you more. If youre only going to be in your room after dark, dont pay extra for a view you wont be able to enjoy, said Avery.

38. Avoid deals that are to good to be true

If you find a hotel deal that seems too good to be true, it probably is, Avery said. A hotel with an unbelievably low rate might have lots of hidden costs that could wipe out any savings you think youre getting. Moreover, quality issues might be the reason a hotels price is below the going rate - and a good reason to stay away, said Avery.

39. Be persistent

If you check for hotel rates and cant find any that fit your budget, dont give up. Hotels frequently adjust their rates, Ek said.

So, if you dont see something you like today, come back tomorrow, he said. And the next day.

40. Set price alerts

To keep track of hotel rates, you can sign up for price alerts at the travel aggregator site, Kayak.com. Youll be notified by a text message or email when rates at hotels you select change. Setting price alerts can help you nab hotel deals without having to check back at hotel or travel sites daily.

41. Book your hotel in person (in some destinations)

When traveling through Southeast Asia, you can save up to 50 percent on hotels just by booking your room in person and paying with cash, said Max Chambers and Loren Rispoli, who run the travel website Infinite Saturdays. Sites like Agoda, Booking.com and Hostelworld are great for the U.S. or Europe, but dont provide competitive rates in a number of Southeast Asian countries.

Said Chambers, Recently, in Cebu in the Philippines, we found the price of one hotel on Agoda quoted at $35, but when turning up at the hotel, they were charging $25 for the exact same room.

42. Bargain with the hotel owner

If talking to the front desk or hotel staff doesnt get you hotel perks, talk to the big boss.

Another tip to get cheap hotels in [South Asia] is to bargain with the hotel owners, said Chambers and Rispoli. Not only can you get a reduced price on your room, you can get things like breakfast or meal vouchers included in your stay.

43. Book through the mobile app

The best way to find last-minute deals is through mobile websites, mobile apps and by calling in, said Mahesh Chaddah, co-founder of hotel booking site Reservations.com. Many hotels will offer limited discount rates to mobile users only, so keep those apps handy.

44. Look for hidden rates

We have all heard of the old saying, What you see is what you get, but sometimes you want what you dont see, said Chaddah. Almost all hotels publish the same room rates on all public websites. However, most also offer discount hidden rates up to 30 percent cheaper through unpublished channels, like the call center.

45. Become a registered user and log in

If you havent signed up to be a registered user on your favorite travel booking site, you should do so before you plan your next trip.

Most websites offer limited special rates, flash rates and extra room availability on sold-out hotels to their registered and logged-in users, said Chaddah. So, make sure you sign up and sign in before searching.

46. Take advantage of Tuesdays

Dont wait until the weekend to book your hotel - do it on a Tuesday.

Based on historical data, hotel booking rates are the lowest on this day of the week, said Chaddah. So, be sure to compare prices and take advantage of the lower rates being offered on this day.

47. Dont ignore state resident discounts

If youre planning a vacation in your state, you might be eligible to score a discount on your hotel stay.

Many hotels - for instance, those in Florida and Hawaii - offer state resident discounts, said Chaddah. All you need is a state-issued ID at check-in, and you can save an extra 10 percent to 20 percent. So, next time you take a staycation or local getaway, make sure you show off that drivers license.

48. Ask the front desk about partnership discounts

Most hotels create business partnerships with local businesses, restaurants and activities, said Jennie Jacobs, director of sales and marketing at Hotel Santa Barbara in California. These relationships equate to great experiences, savings and deals for guests. For instance, a local restaurant partner might provide the front desk or hotel concierge with some discount coupons or maybe a free dessert with dinner, if the staff calls and books the reservation.

49. Tell the hotel about other travel deals

If you go to a booking site (i.e. Booking.com ) that has deals listed, call the hotel/inn direct, tell them you have seen the rates offered on the site and were wondering if they could better it, said Pekka Paavonpera, an inkeeper at Snapdragon Inn.

Chances are they can, by between 10 and 15 percent, because thats the commission they have to pay the booking site anyway.

50. Sign up for hotels virtual guest books

If youre planning a trip to Las Vegas, travel expert David Yeskel offers this tip on how to score the best rate on your hotel.

Travelers should register on the individual hotels virtual guest books, he said. Theyll receive promotional emails that often pair low room rates with free daily buffet passes and other resort credits that can bring the effective daily room rate down to ridiculously low levels.

This article originally appeared on GoBankingRates.com

This article was originally published on FORTUNE.com
craigslist: thailand jobs, apartments, for sale, services, community, and events

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If youre excited to visit Cuba, youre not alone. Everyone, including cruise companies, airlines, tour operators, and ferry services, are jumping on the Caribbean bandwagon and heading south to Havana. Here are nine new and upcoming ways to realize your bucket list trip.

A nonstop flight from California with American Airlines

Come December 12, this major domestic airline will operate flights between Los Angeles International Airport and Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, making it the only U.S. carrier to provide nonstop service between the West Coast and Cuba.

Read on. >>

This small, luxury cruise around the island

Haimark Line, a small-ship luxury cruise operator, recently announced plans to have its 105-cabin MS Saint Laurent sail 9-night round-trip voyages from Miami beginning in February 2016. The 15 trips-a part of Cubas people-to-people cultural exchange program-will visit ports including Havana, Maria La Gorda, Cienfuegos, and Trinidad.

Related: The Best Beaches in Cuba

Read on. >>

Head to Houston, and hop on a HavanaAir flight

This month, the airline-in partnership with Eastern Airlines-will be making weekly trips between Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport and Havana. All flights will be direct.

Read on. >>

Fly direct from the Big Apple to Havana

JetBlue became the first major U.S. carrier to launch direct flights between New York City and Havana, Cuba, since the White House eased travel restrictions earlier this year. The weekly charter flights operate between New Yorks John F. Kennedy Airport and Havanas Jose Marti International Airport.

Read on. >>

A social impact voyage with Carnival Cruises.

As early as next May, Carnival Corporation could be taking passengers to the island aboard the Adonia, the first ship from the Fathom voluntourism brand.

Read on. >>

Board one of four Florida ferries

In May, four ferry operators got the thumbs up from the U.S. to begin trips between Key West and Havana. Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and Orlando are still waiting for the green light.

Read on. >>

Take a sailboat

With three-masts and a recent refurbishment, Adventure Smith Explorations schooner, the Panorama, will ship passengers between Havana, Marie LaGorda, Cayo Largo, Trinidad, and Cienfuegos this December.

Story continues

Read on. >>

Find a ticket on Cheapair.com

This booking engine was the first site to allow American travelers to book direct flights from the United States to Cuba via the charter company Cuba Travel Services.

Read on. >>

Charter a flight with Island Travels & Tours

The Cuba specialist expanded service from Miami and Tamp this year to include major international hubs Orlando and, this fall, Baltimore-Washington.

Read on. >>

Melanie Lieberman is the Assistant Digital Editor at Travel + Leisure. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @melanietaryn.

This article was originally published on TravelAndLeisure.com
By Claude Canellas, Sonya Dowsett and Isla Binnie BAYONNE, France/MADRID (Reuters) - Basque militant group ETA effectively ended an armed separatist campaign after almost half a century on Saturday, leading French authorities to the sites where it says its caches of weapons, explosives and ammunition are hidden. ETA, which killed more than 850 people in its attempt to carve out an independent state in northern Spain and southwest France, declared a ceasefire in 2011 but did not disarm. Founded in 1959 out of anger among Basques at political and cultural repression under General Francisco Franco, ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna - Basque Country and Freedom) gained notoriety as one of Europe's most intractable separatist groups. The Spanish government said ETA's handover of weapons in the French city of Bayonne was positive but insufficient and called on the group to formally dissolve and apologize to its victims. ETA's disarmament ends an era of political violence in Western Europe, but comes as nationalism is stirring across the continent, with Scotland and the Spanish region of Catalonia seeking independence referendums, while Sinn Fein has urged a vote on taking Northern Ireland out of Britain. ETA said in a letter to the BBC earlier this week it had handed over its weapons and explosives to civilian go-betweens who would deliver them to authorities. The mediators - known as "The Artisans of Peace" - passed authorities a list with the coordinates for eight sites where ETA had stored its weapons arsenal, their representative, Michel Tubiana, told reporters in Bayonne. The caches contain 120 firearms, about 3 tonnes of explosives and several thousand rounds of ammunition, he said. Security forces were now searching the sites to neutralize the explosives and secure the weapons, French Interior Minister Matthias Fekl said at a news conference in Paris. Police were photographed carrying out bags from sites around Bayonne. A Spanish government source said Madrid did not believe the group would hand over all its arms, while Spain's state prosecutor has asked the High Court to examine those surrendered as possible murder weapons used in hundreds of unresolved cases. ETA's disarmament entailed no impunity for their crimes and they should not expect any favorable treatment, the government said in a statement. "The actions carried out today by the terrorist group are nothing more than the result of their definitive defeat," Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido told reporters in Madrid. Arnaldo Otegi, leader of Basque pro-independence party EH Bildu who has served time in jail for his links with ETA, said in Bayonne that it was a day that would be welcomed by the great majority of Basques, although work was not finished. "From today we will put on the table all the problems we still have as a society and a nation," he said, adding that the biggest issues were the around 300 ETA members still in Spanish and French prisons and the group's victims. VIOLENT PAST ETA's first known victim was a secret police chief in San Sebastian in 1968 and its last a French policemen shot in 2010. It chose not to disarm when it called its truce, but has been weakened in the past decade after hundreds of its members were arrested and weapons seized in joint Spanish and French operations. Popular revulsion at the scale of violent attacks carried out by Islamic militants had also played a part, Paddy Woodworth, who has written in depth about ETA, said. "It had ceased to be an attractive organization to join." The group's first revolutionary gesture was to fly the banned 'ikurrina', the red and green Basque flag, before the campaign escalated in the 1960s into violence that was brutally reciprocated by the Franco regime. In 1973, ETA targeted Franco's heir apparent Luis Carrero Blanco by digging a tunnel under the road that he drove down daily to attend Mass. They packed the tunnel with explosives and blasted Blanco's car over a five-storey building. The assassination changed the course of Spanish history, as the removal of Franco's successor led to the exiled king reclaiming the throne and a shift to a constitutional monarchy. Attacks including a 1987 car bomb at a Barcelona supermarket, which killed 21 including a pregnant woman and two children, horrified Spaniards and drew international outrage. Gorka Landaburu, who lost his thumb and was left blind in one eye after an ETA letter bomb detonated in his home in 2001, welcomed the disarmament and said lessons had been learned. "This must never happen again in our country," he said, standing by the sea in the Basque resort of San Sebastian. "I hope no one ever picks up pistols and bombs to defend an ideology ever again." (Additional reporting by Vincent West in Bayonne, Bate Felix in Paris and Robert Hetz in Madrid; Writing by Angus Berwick; Editing by Alexander Smith)
The United States launched cruise missiles against an airbase in Syria on Thursday night in retaliation for this week's chemical weapons attack against civilians, which the U.S. and others say was carried out by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. It was the first direct U.S. assault on the Syrian government and Donald Trump's most dramatic military order since becoming president.

Read a transcript of the statement Trump made shortly after the attack as well as other statements made by U.S. officials.

Statement by Donald Trump:

My fellow Americans: On Tuesday, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad launched a horrible chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians. Using a deadly nerve agent, Assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women, and children. It was a slow and brutal death for so many. Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack. No child of God should ever suffer such horror.

Tonight, I ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in Syria from where the chemical attack was launched. It is in this vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons. There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons, violated its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention, and ignored the urging of the UN Security Council.

Years of previous attempts at changing Assad's behaviour have all failed, and failed very dramatically. As a result, the refugee crisis continues to deepen and the region continues to destabilize, threatening the United States and its allies.

Tonight, I call on all civilized nations to join us in seeking to end the slaughter and bloodshed in Syria, and also to end terrorism of all kinds and all types. We ask for God's wisdom as we face the challenge of our very troubled world. We pray for the lives of the wounded and for the souls of those who have passed. And we hope that as long as America stands for justice, then peace and harmony will, in the end, prevail.

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Goodnight. And God bless America and the entire world. Thank you.

Statement by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson:

It's also important to recognize, as I think everyone does, the chaotic circumstances that exist on the ground in Syria with the presence of a battle underway to defeat ISIS, the presence of al-Qaeda elements inside of Syria and a civil war that is underway. Clearly one of the existential threats we see on the ground in Syria, is if there are weapons of this nature available in Syria, the ability to secure those weapons and not have them fall into the hands of those who would bring the weapons to our shores to harm American citizens.

So there are a number of elements that in our view that called for this action tonight, which we feel is appropriate. We feel that the strike itself was proportional because it was targeted at the facility that delivered this most recent chemical weapons attack.

We co-ordinated very carefully with our international partners in terms of communicating with them around the world. I would tell you that the response from our allies, as well as the region and the Middle East has been overwhelmingly supportive of the action we taken.

This was a very deliberative process. There was a thorough examination of a wide range of options, and I think the president made the correct choice and made the correct decision. First, to be decisive in acting, acting against this heinous act on the part of Bashar Assad, but acting in a way that was clearly directed at the source of this particular attack to send that strong message.

Other things were considered. Those were rejected for any number of reasons. In my view, the president made the exact, correct decision.

Statement by U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster:

It was important during the president's deliberations and in deliberations with his leadership that we weighed the risk associated with any military action, but we weighed that against the risk of inaction, which Secretary Tillerson has already really summarized, which is the risk of this continued, egregious, inhumane attacks on innocent civilians with chemical weapons.

The president was immediately notified upon news of the chemical attack. He was very interested in understanding better the circumstances of the attack and who was responsible.

That confidence level has just continued to grow in the hours and days since the attack associated with additional evidence, especially with so sad, sadly, with the victims that are being treated and confirmation of the type of agent which was used, which is a nerve agent.

We convened a meeting of the National Security Council ... to deliberate on options.

There were three options we discussed with the president, and the president asked us to focus on two options in particular, to mature those options, and he had a series of questions for us that we endeavoured to answer.

We were able to answer those questions and come back to him in a decision briefing today with virtually all of the principals of the National Security Council here in Florida and by video teleconference back in Washington.

After a meeting of considerable length and a far-reaching discussion, the president decided to act and that's the general sequence of events.

So, two rather large and formal meetings, but really a whole series of discussions since the time of the attacks.

Statement by U.S. Pentagon:

At the direction of the president, U.S. forces conducted a cruise missile strike against a Syrian Air Force airfield today at about 8:40 p.m. ET (4:40 a.m. on Friday in Syria). The strike targeted Shayrat Airfield in Homs governorate, and were in response to the Syrian government's chemical weapons attack April 4 in Khan Sheikhoun, which killed and injured hundreds of innocent Syrian people, including women and children.

The strike was conducted using Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMs) launched from the destroyers USS Porter and USS Ross in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. A total of 59 TLAMs targeted aircraft, hardened aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage, ammunition supply bunkers, air defence systems, and radars. As always, the U.S. took extraordinary measures to avoid civilian casualties and to comply with the Law of Armed Conflict. Every precaution was taken to execute this strike with minimal risk to personnel at the airfield.

The strike was a proportional response to Assad's heinous act. Shayrat Airfield was used to store chemical weapons and Syrian air forces. The U.S. intelligence community assesses that aircraft from Shayrat conducted the chemical weapons attack on April 4. The strike was intended to deter the regime from using chemical weapons again.

Russian forces were notified in advance of the strike using the established deconfliction line. U.S. military planners took precautions to minimize risk to Russian or Syrian personnel located at the airfield.

We are assessing the results of the strike. Initial indications are that this strike has severely damaged or destroyed Syrian aircraft and support infrastructure and equipment at Shayrat Airfield, reducing the Syrian Government's ability to deliver chemical weapons. The use of chemical weapons against innocent people will not be tolerated.
Shrimp fishermen angry over cuts to their quotas and what they say is unfair access by others to their fishing grounds left DFO headquarters Friday, hours after smashing a window and storming the building.

Police were called Friday as members of the Newfoundland and Labrador Independent Fish Harvesters' Association pushed their way into Fisheries and Oceans Canada headquarters in St. John's.

Around 50 protesters went inside the federal building on White Hills Road, to protest against quota cuts for the province's inshore shrimp fishery.

By 10 a.m., protesters used their feet and signs to hit glass on double doors leading to the building, as security watched.

A bottom window in one of the doors smashed and the protesters managed to get inside and walk upstairs.

"They were looking for particular people, and particular offices," Jan Woodford, with DFO, told reporters as protesters remained inside the building.

"Several of our senior fisheries managers who were familiar with the concerns volunteered to meet with the protesters if they agreed to leave the secure part of the building."

Despite this, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary said no charges will be laid.

Sgt. Alex Brennan said the RNC were there for public safety reasons and allowed DFO and protesters to speak.

"There's no complaint at this point in time and we will not act unless there's a complaint," Brennan said.

Staff and protesters agreed to sit down in the building cafeteria for talks, which lasted about three hours.

As they were leaving the cafeteria at noon, some protesters told CBC that they had signed off on a statement from DFO saying it would take their views into consideration when deciding how quotas would be shared.

The new quota for Area 6 off the northeast coast is 10,400 tonnes, less than a quarter of the 2015 quota of 48,196 tonnes.

Last year's quota was just under 28,000 tonnes.

Protesters told CBC they want first right to fish that quota because they live closest to it, and don't want to share with fleets from six other areas of Newfoundland, Saint Pierre and Miquelon and New Brunswick.

Story continues

Terry Ryan, a shrimp fisherman from the Baie Verte Peninsula, said sharing the resource was OK before, but now he and others are speaking out to protect their own livihoods.

"We live on the northeast coast and southern Labrador, and that's where shrimp fishing Area 6 is," he said.

"Now since shrimp has gone into sharp decline, it's gotten to the point where if we don't change the internal sharing arrangements, we're not going to make it. We're at death's door practically.

DFO staff frightened

While the department respects people's right to protest, Woodford said DFO also has a responsibility to protect its staff and property.

"In these situations our primary concern is the safety of our people, as well as our building and assets," she said.

Woodford said usually DFO staff would not engage with protestors, but in this case they entered the offices and were targeting specific people. So the decision was made to sit down with them in the building's cafeteria for discussions, if they agreed to leave the office area.

She said the conversation was calm and collected in the cafeteria. However she said some protesters did break in through the security doors in the upstairs part of the building and were calling out to specific DFO members who were in their offices.
DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called on Saturday for an impartial probe of this week's suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria and warned that U.S. missile strikes in response risked escalating extremism in the region. Washington accused the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of the attack and on Friday launched cruise missiles at a Syrian airbase that the Pentagon said was involved. "We are asking for an impartial international fact-finding body to be set up... to find out where these chemical weapons came from," Iran's Rouhani said in a speech on Saturday. Tehran is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's main regional ally and has provided military and economic support for his fight against rebel groups and Islamic State militants. While the Syrian opposition applauded the U.S. cruise missile attack on the airbase near Homs, it said it should not be a one-off and was not enough on its own to stop government warplanes from hitting rebel-held areas. However, in a tweet about the missile strikes, Rouhani said: "I call on the world to reject such policies, which bring only destruction and danger to the region and the globe." "U.S. aggression against Shayrat (airbase) strengthens regional extremism and terror, and global lawlessness and instability, and must be condemned," Rouhani said. The heads of the general staffs of Iran and Russia, a close ally of Assad, spoke by telephone on Saturday and condemned the U.S. strikes as "blatant aggression ... aimed at slowing a trend of victories by Syria's army and its allies and boosting the terrorists' morale", Iran's state news agency IRNA said. Iran's Mohammad Baqeri and Russia's Valery Gerasimov "stressed that the two countries would continue their cooperation with the Syrian government until the full defeat of the terrorists and their backers in the country", IRNA added. North Korea weighed in on Saturday, calling the U.S. strikes "an unforgivable act of aggression" that showed its own decision to develop nuclear weapons was "the right choice a million times over". Diplomatically isolated North Korea considers Syria a key ally. TILLERSON TO MOSCOW Russia had said on Friday that the U.S. attack could have "extremely serious" consequences, and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the U.S. strikes were one step away from a clash with Russia's military. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is expected to visit Moscow next week, and the Russian Foreign Ministry has said it expected him to explain Washington's stance in light of the U.S. missile strikes on Syria. Russia's defense ministry said on Saturday the United States had not provided any evidence of the presence of chemical weapons on the airbase it had attacked. A mission of professional experts should be sent to the airbase to obtain objective evidence, Interfax cited Igor Konashenkov, the defense ministry's spokesman, as saying. U.S. officials informed Russian forces ahead of the missile strikes on and avoided hitting Russian personnel. Satellite imagery suggests the base that was attacked houses Russian special forces and helicopters, part of Kremlin efforts to help Assad fight Islamic State and other militant groups. Britain's foreign minister Boris Johnson had been due to visit Moscow on Monday but said on Saturday that he had canceled his trip after developments in Syria. "My priority is now to continue contact with the U.S. and others in the run-up to the G7 meeting on 10-11 April - to build coordinated international support for a ceasefire on the ground and an intensified political process," Johnson said. (Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Alexander Smith and Hugh Lawson)
Lincoln-area residents visited with nationally recognized sculptor Benjamin Victor and watched as he worked on his Standing Bear memorial sculpture in a temporary studio at the Jayne Snyder Trail Center in Union Plaza March 29-April 4.

Victor worked on the 10-foot, 2-inch clay model from which bronze will be cast to portray the legendary Ponca chief, whose 1879 trial in Omaha established that Natives are persons within the meaning of the law.

Victor said he will finish the clay sculpture by late April and do mold work at his studio in Boise, Idaho, where he is an artist-in-residence and professor of practice at Boise State University. The molten bronze will be poured at a foundry in Lander, Wyoming, located between Lincoln and Boise.

The piece will be finished by September, when it will be placed on Centennial Mall between P and Q streets, Victor said.

Working from historical photographs of Standing Bear, Victor designed the sculpture about six months ago after visiting with a local art committee that included Ed Zimmer, Lincolns historic preservation planner; Judi gaiashkibos, executive director of the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs; George Neubert, former director of the Sheldon and San Antonio art museums; and donor Donald Campbell, whose Donald Miller Campbell Family Foundations gift made the sculpture possible.

Victor admitted it can be difficult to stick to a schedule when creating a sculpture of this magnitude and complexity.

I changed a lot of things from the original drawing, he said as he carved details with small tools on the statues outstretched hand. For example, I changed the blanket around his waist. I didnt anticipate that. I added a lot of clay and made it heavier.

I also added a peace pipe tomahawk like he had in the historical photos. It looks a lot better than just holding the blanket. Even though it created extra work for me, it was the right decision.

Victor said his research included reading the book I Am a Man and interviewing its author, Joe Starita, before designing the sculpture. The book details how in 1877, Chief Standing Bear's Ponca Indian tribe was forcibly removed from its Nebraska homeland and marched to what was then known as Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), in what became the tribe's Trail of Tears. The book chronicles what happened when Standing Bear set off on a 600-mile walk to return his sons body to the tribes traditional burial ground.

Chief Standing Bear promised his son on his deathbed that he would bury him in native ground with his familys ancestors, Victor said. That had a deeper spiritual importance to him than we can even comprehend today. This man stood up against the law at the time to do the right thing. Morality, values and the law all came into conflict. To have him win that groundbreaking court case was a victory not only for the Ponca tribe and all Native Americans, but for human rights in general.

Thus, Victor said the pieces overriding theme is to pay tribute to Standing Bears compassion, courage, strength and sense of duty that made him a hero in human rights history.

One of our countrys leading figurative sculptors, Victor is the only living artist to have two works in the U.S. Capitols National Statuary Hall.

Humanities Nebraska funded Victors visit to Lincoln. Other partners in the project (besides the Donald Miller Campbell Family Foundation and art committee members already mentioned) are the Lincoln Parks Foundation and the Lincoln Partners for Public Art Development.
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's top securities regulator urged listed companies to reward investors with cash dividends, vowing to punish stingy "iron roosters." Liu Shiyu, Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) also warned listed firms against raising money for blind investments, or designing complicated share structures that facilitate insider trading and other malpractices. "Paying cash dividends is a basic way to reward investors ... and the ultimate source of a stock's intrinsic value," Liu said in a recent speech, a transcript of which was posted on CSRC's website on Saturday. CSRC will take "tough measures" against those "iron roosters" who haven't plucked a single feature for many years, even though they have the ability to pay dividends, Liu said. Liu, installed as head of China's securities watchdog following the 2015 stock market crash, has made investor protection his priority, having stepped up a crackdown on market manipulation and tightened disclosure rules. Rejecting the view that the share price of a growth company will rise even without cash dividends, Liu said a company's growth is far from certain, so buying a stock with no dividend would be merely a game of "passing flowers until the drum beat stops." "Steady and stable cash dividend payout often signals healthy financial and operational conditions of a listed company," Liu said. "On the contrary, if a company doesn't pay dividends with no proper reasons, it could be the signal of accounting fraud or mismanagement." (Reporting by Samuel Shen and Brenda Goh; Editing by Ros Russell)
abhijeetjha wrote:



Chiranjeev I am little confused post your explanation...

abhijeetjha wrote:

Though i know that the answer is very much B , the only reason i discarded D is because of the quantifying word "MANY"...Dont we need to consider the feasibility of the application of a reasoning to point whether its flawed or not ... Even in option B we are very much considering the success of the plan to determine whether the mayor's reasoning will result in a successful application or not...to find a flaw in this reasoning the only way it can be done is by evaluating its practical application..

abhijeetjha wrote:

In option D as it says "Many commuters opposing the mayor's plan have indicated that they would rather endure traffic congestion than pay a five dollar per day fee"...So even if those opposing actually dont take bus and endure traffic congestion , still we will be left with MANY or SOME commuters who can fall prey to Mayor's reasoning ..So obviously it is not pointing out the flaw in Mayor's reasoning .....

abhijeetjha wrote:

So even if those opposing actually dont take bus and endure traffic congestion , still we will be left with MANY or SOME commuters who can fall prey to Mayor's reasoning

Actually, it is good to be confused. Confusion is the first step to learningActually, your reasoning for discarding option D is not sound. Let me address that below.Option D says many people opposing the plan prefer traffic congestion over five dollar fee. Right?Now, suppose if five dollar fee is initiated, would these people drive cars or use buses?The answer is: We don't know.We only know that these people prefer current situation of high traffic than a five dollar fee proposed by the Mayor. But what would happen if they are asked to pay five dollar fee? Do we know? No.How can we say that these people will not take the bus? Remember option D is talking about (Traffic congestion vs five dollar fee) and NOT (comfort of car vs five dollar fee).On the contrary, since these people are so much unwilling to pay five dollar fee, then in case Mayor's plan is instituted, they will probably be the first one to drop their cars and switch to buses. In this case, option D rather seems to support the Mayor's plan since it talks about a category of people who'll likely behave per Mayor's plan.However, I would not go this far to suggest that option D supports Mayor's plan.The best way to look at option D is in relation to the argument given.What is the mayor's plan?Five dollar fee for pvt vehicles (X) ---> fee will exceed the cost of round trip bus fare ----> most people will switch to bus ---> Traffic congestion will ease (Y)What is option D?Many people prefer (Not of Y) over X i.e. traffic congestion over five dollar fee. In other words, these people prefer current situation over Mayor's plan. Right? In the current situation, we have traffic congestion and no fee.Now, my point was that if many or all people don't want your plan, it does not indicate a flaw in your reasoning. Here, it is important to understand what we mean by reasoning. Reasoning is simple: How premises lead to the conclusion?So, if Mayor's plan is that five dollar fee will lead to reduction in traffic congestion, then a flaw needs to indicate that five dollar fee will not lead to reduction in traffic congestion. This is what option B does.Option B breaks this link in Mayor's reasoning: fee will exceed the cost of round trip bus fare ----> most people will switch to busOption B says that the cost of taking a private vehicle is already greater than the cost of round trip fare. It is already higher and people have not switched to buses. Right? So, Mayor's reasoning is incorrect.On the other hand, option D just talks about preferences of people.For example: if Indian PM Manmohan Singh says that making him the finance minister will lead to higher economic growth in the country.Then, if everyone says that they do not want to make him finance minister and are happy with current economic growth, this fact is not a flaw in his reasoning.A flaw should indicate that even after making him the finance minister, the economic growth will not be higher.Does it help?Thanks,Chiranjeev_________________
carcass wrote:

This question is a part of QOTD Question Collection

More and more computer programs that provide solutions to mathematical problems in engineering are being produced, and it is thus increasingly unnecessary for practicing engineers to have a thorough understanding of fundamental mathematical principles. Consequently, in training engineers who will work in industry, less emphasis should be placed on mathematical principles so that space in the engineering curriculum will be available for other important subjects.



Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument given for the recommendation above?



(A) The effective use of computer programs that provide solutions to mathematical problems in engineering requires an understanding of fundamental mathematical principles.



(B) Many of the computer programs that provide solutions to mathematical problems in engineering are already in routine use.



(C) Development of composites and other such new materials has meant that the curriculum for engineers who will work in industry must allow time for teaching the properties of these materials.



(D) Most of the computer programs that provide solutions to mathematical problems in engineering can be run on the types of computers available to most engineering firms.



(E) The engineering curriculum already requires that engineering students be familiar with and able to use a variety of computer programs. More and more computer programs that provide solutions to mathematical problems in engineering are being produced, and it is thus increasingly unnecessary for practicing engineers to have a thorough understanding of fundamental mathematical principles. Consequently, in training engineers who will work in industry, less emphasis should be placed on mathematical principles so that space in the engineering curriculum will be available for other important subjects.Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument given for the recommendation above?(A) The effective use of computer programs that provide solutions to mathematical problems in engineering requires an understanding of fundamental mathematical principles.(B) Many of the computer programs that provide solutions to mathematical problems in engineering are already in routine use.(C) Development of composites and other such new materials has meant that the curriculum for engineers who will work in industry must allow time for teaching the properties of these materials.(D) Most of the computer programs that provide solutions to mathematical problems in engineering can be run on the types of computers available to most engineering firms.(E) The engineering curriculum already requires that engineering students be familiar with and able to use a variety of computer programs.

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Weaken

most seriously weakens the argument

computers

providing mathematical solutions

engineering

understanding mathematical principles

two different things

REMEMBER

a trick of the Testmaker is to include Strengthen options in a Weaken question

"Be challenged at EVERY MOMENT."



Strength doesnt come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldnt.



"Each stage of the journey is crucial to attaining new heights of knowledge."



| Please DO NOT post short answer in your post!



Advanced Search : https://gmatclub.com/forum/advanced-search/ Rules for posting in verbal forum | Please DO NOT post short answer in your post! Signature Read More

Solution: AThis is aquestion, due to the phrase, . As we read through the problem, two potential holes in the logic quickly appear: first, the final conclusion assumes that other important subjects are being crowded out of the engineering curriculum, but there is no such evidence to be found in the premises. Second, there is a gap between the premise, computer programs that provide solutions to mathematical problems in engineering are being produced, and the intermediate conclusion it is thus increasingly unnecessary for practicing engineers to have a thorough understanding of fundamental mathematical principles. Even though programs may exist that take care of some mathematical solutions, it is possible that an understanding of mathematical principles is still necessary to use the programs ( and are).Of the five answer choices, three of them strengthen the argument (), and one choice is irrelevant. Only one answer actually weakens the argument.Answer choice A points out the logical gap between using the computer programs and somehow not needing to understand how they work. A tells us that understanding math is still a prerequisite for using the programs, thereby correctly undermining the argument.Answer choice B points out another potential gap (do engineers even use the programs?), but then bridges the gap by telling us that not only are the computer programs being produced, they are being widely used  thus strengthening the argument.Answer choice C also strengthens the argument: remember one of the logical gaps in the argument deals with the unstated assumption that important subjects might be crowded out of the engineering curriculum. Since C gives us one of those subjects, it strengthens the argument, and therefore cant be the right answer.D is very similar in function to B. It also points out a gap in the argument and then bridges that gap (can engineers even use the programs?). Since it shows that engineers computers can run the programs, it actually strengthens the argument.Answer choice E is irrelevant. It doesnt matter whether the curriculum requires the students to be familiar with certain computer programs. This does not affect whether the programs supplant the need for engineering students to understand math fundamentals. E could still be true and not have it affect the argument._________________
- A 45-year-old Facebook user has been called out publicly for sharing a private message with a minor

- He reached out to a 10-year-old girl on Facebook with the hope of being friends with her

Tyrone Banks, a 45-year-old man on Facebook made a move to become friends with a 10-year-old girl on Facebook. The private message he sent ended up being read by the mother of the girl who identified him as a predator.

Princess Kayla, the 10-year-old girl.

Banks told the little girl he would like to be friends with her as he found her attractive. Little Princess Kaylas photo was displayed on her page so he must have known she was a little girl.

Screenshot of the message sent Princess Kayla.

READ ALSO: Nigerian third-class graduate shares her story, says TASUED was a bad choice

Kaylas mother expressed her shock at the kind of message sent to her little girl on Facebook.

As I sat in my office waiting on a friend to drop off my lunch, I received a notification on Kaylas, Princess Kayla Heart of love Castle Charity page, that she had a message In her inbox! A little puzzled, I thought it was odd so I read the message and in an instant I became emotional knowing in my heart that I was dealing with a real CHILD PREDATOR/MOLESTER! Thinking how did he find my baby! Shes just a little girl! God, how did he find my baby??? Looking at her page he knows shes just a little girl!!! Leaving work going to get my baby! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE GUYS WATCH YOUR KIDS!!!! Kayla never leaves my side and look how this predator got thru!!! Who is this man?!?!! My next step is self explanatory to you all!!!! But, I cannot stop crying My baby doesnt have her own FB page, I created her charity page for a good cause not for pedophiles!!! her page is attached to mine! HER PAGE WILL BE DELETED 

Tyrone Banks, the 45-year-old Facebook user sending message to a 10-year-old girl.

READ ALSO: Remarkably brilliant Nigerian girl gets admitted into 14 of the best universities in the world

Legit.ng has shared many stories of young girls being abused by relatives and strangers in the past. It is hoped that parents will be actively involved in their children's affair and watch them closely.

To imagine the damage that could have been caused if such a little girl met with the stranger is terrifying. Watch the Legit.ng video below to see how much Samuel Ajibola, popularly known as Spiff, loves and fancies children:

Na wa o!

Source: Legit.ng
The beautiful daughter of Oyo state Governor Abiola Ajimobi, can be described as one expensive stylish diva to look out when it comes to fashion. Identified as, Abisola Kola-Daisi, it is safe to say that she is following her mothers fashionable footsteps.

Governor Abiola Ajimobi's daughter, Abisola Kola-Daisi

The governor's daughter is a huge brand on her own. Right from when she schooled in America, she has always been a part of the showbiz world; and made a fortune from it. Not only that, Abisola has always operated in Oil and Gas, haulage sectors before her father ventured into politics.

READ ALSO: I questioned God's authority - 23-year-old lady recounts burn survival (photos)

Now, Abisola owns an exclusive Christian Louboutin shoe shop on the Island named after her mother. She has been described as one of the richest women making her money independently despite being a governors daughter and the daughter of a rich mother.

Abisola Kola-Daisi with American music star, Kelly Rowland

Sources close to her revealed that she doesnt bargain for less when it comes to fashion, as she is ready to pay any amount for any fashion item she loves. However, Abisola is married to a millionaire, Kolapo Kola-Daisi and have been married for over 7 years. They are both from Ibadan.

Her husband, Kola Daisi is the last child of famous Ibadan business mogul, Chief Kola Daisi, the Asiwaju of Ibadan land whom was a product of excellent Western Education, the good old London College of Economics. Chief Daisi has always been a man with an unblemished pedigree and this, he has imparted in all his children. He has always lived a conservative lifestyle.

Nee Ajimobi and her children

READ ALSO: Meet Kehinde Durojaiye, the Nigerian inventor building a jet car (photos, video)

Governor Abiola Ajimobi's daughter, Abisola Kola-Daisi recently partied hard at the birthday celebration of Khloe Kardashian's best friends, Malika and Khadijah Haqq. Also present at the party was Apryl Jones which was held at Hard Rock hotel, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

However, in 2016, Abisola Kola-Daisi is the founder of ABI KD as a creative medium to celebrate her journey through entrepreneurship, motherhood, fashion and self-care methodologies. The beautiful mother of two created ABI KD to inspire and give the world a view through her eyes with beautiful imagery and her incontrovertible thoughts.

Abisola is a small business owner, fashion enthusiast and shoe lover who plans to conquer the world one day at a time. The chief executive of Florence H Boutique is known for her luxury taste regards fashion items. She once stepped out in a embellished mini dress worth over N1.5 million to Jennifer Obayuwanas birthday party in Lagos months ago.

Inside the luxurious lifestyle of Oyo state Governor's daughter Abisola Kola-Daisi

READ ALSO: Remarkably brilliant Nigerian girl gets admitted into 14 of the best universities in the world

Her husband, Kolapo Daisi is one of the hottest young celebrities in Nigeria and he is simply on top of his game.

Abisola taking time off the pool

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
PRAYER WALK PLANNED

Emaus ELCAs after school program will present the Prayer Walk of the Passion at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 12, at Emaus Lutheran Church, 1925 Summit Ave.

A procession will begin at the back circle drive where the crowds shout Hosanna and wave palms, greeting Jesus and the live donkey making their entry into Jerusalem (circling around the field area of the church). The crowd then enters the sanctuary to a changed mood. The time which precedes Jesus death is reenacted by the children, with the story being told through narrated mime. At the end, all are invited to the experience of entering the tomb, and a time for prayer and reflection. A meal will be served at 6 p.m.

PURSUING PEACE SEMINAR

A seminar on Biblical principles for resolving relational conflict in family, marriage, church, workplace or neighbors will be held from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sunday, April 29, at Grace Lutheran Church, 3626 Highway 31. The Rev. Paul Cornwell with Crossroads Resolution Group will conduct the training. Cornwell has more than 30 years experience as a pastor, instructor and lead conciliator with Peacemaker Ministries, and is a certified Relational Wisdom 360 instructor.

Cost is $15. Lunch and materials are included. To register, go to www.graceinracine.com or call the church office at 262-632-2111.

TRUTH DECAY ISSUES

Combining a celebration of Buddhas birthday with flowers, incense and chanting, the Rev. Dr. Tony Larsen will explore the effect of the apparent decline of truth telling in politics and social life in his Truth Decay sermon at the 9 and 11 a.m. services Sunday, April 9, at Olympia Brown Unitarian Universalist Church, 625 College Ave. At this Flower Communion Sunday, those with access to flowers are encouraged to bring one or more to share and leave with a different one.

GUEST PREACHER PLANNED

The Rev. Phil Johnson will be the guest preacher during the 9 and 10:45 a.m. services Sunday April 9, at Racine Bible Church, 12505 Spring St., Sturtevant. Johnson is the executive director of Grace to You. He has been closely associated with John MacArthur since 1981 and edits most of MacArthurs major books. Johnson may be best known for the websites he maintains, The Spurgeon Archive and the Hall of Church History. He is an ordained elder and pastor at Grace Community Church in California.

ANNUAL DAY CELEBRATED

The Male Chorus of Wayman African Methodist Episcopal Church, 424 N. Memorial Drive, under the leadership of the Rev. Ernest J. Garrison, is celebrating its Annual Day during the 6 p.m. service Saturday, April 8. Various groups from churches around the city and Milwaukee have been invited.

PRE-ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

Greater Mount Eagle Church, 929 State St., is sponsoring a pre-60th church anniversary celebration at 5 p.m. Saturday, April 8, with a musical concert featuring the Majestic Community Choir of Milwaukee. The Greater Mount Eagles Male Chorus and Combined Choir will sing.

SPRING FAMILY FUNFEST

This Spring Family Funfest will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 8, at Christ Church, 5109 Washington Ave. As a presentation of the Easter story in a new way, children and their families will move from station to station. Families with children in preschool to fifth grade are encouraged to attend.

Online registration is available on the churchs website, www.christchurchracine.com. Families that register in advance will be entered into a raffle to win a prize at the end of the event. Call 262-632-1607 for more information.

LENT SERVICES OFFERED

Lent services begin at 7 p.m. at these churches:

Monday, April 10  Refuge Church, 1529 N. Wisconsin St. The Rev. Buddy Vinson from Trinity United Baptist Church is the guest speaker.

Tuesday, April 11  Fellowship Baptist Church, 2049 Summit Ave. Bishop Lawrence Kirby from St. Paul Baptist Church is the guest speaker.

Wednesday, April 12  Wayman African Methodist Episcopal Church, 424 N. Memorial Drive. The Rev. Greg Daniels from United Faith Baptist Church is the guest speaker.

Thursday, April 13  St. Paul Baptist Church, 1123 Center St. The Rev. John Mosley from Fellowship Baptist Church is the guest speaker.

INTERFAITH DEVOTIONAL

Bahais of Racine will explore at this months Interfaith Devotional and Spiritual Discussion at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 15, in the home of Barry and Loralee Uhlenhake, 3223 Wright Ave.

The Relationship Between the Human Soul and the Surrounding Physical Environment will be discussed. People of any faith, or none, are invited to participate in this event that includes live music, prayers in the round, refreshments and conversation. People are also encouraged to bring with them any prayers or writings they choose.

SIENA RETREAT CENTER PROGRAMS

These programs are offered at the Siena Retreat Center, 5637 Erie St., Caledonia:

What Might It Mean to be a Man Today: Mens Spirituality Day, 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, April 22. This program for men will explore the topic of manhood as it relates to how men view themselves and their ordinary, day-to-day lives. Attendees will consider manhood as portrayed in popular culture and how manhood can be viewed in other, larger frames of reference, including that of the universe story, creation and mysticism. The $35 fee includes noon and evening meals.

Creative Mindfulness: Meditation and Chinese Brush Painting, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, April 29. Attendees will learn the basic techniques of brush painting of plants and animals, and experience simple meditation techniques. The $55 fee includes a noon meal and supplies.

For more information or to register for a program, go to www.SienaRetreatCenter.org or call 262-898-2590.

PALM SUNDAY SERVICES

These area churches have announced Palm Sunday services for Sunday, April 9:

Covenant Presbyterian Church, 40 Ohio St., 10 a.m. worship with Palm parade.

Faith United Methodist Church, 1013 Harmony Drive. 10:45 a.m. The Rev. Dr. Don Francis will lead the service. Palms will be distributed.

First Evangelical Lutheran Church, 728 Villa St., 9:30 a.m. Palm Sunday German worship service. The Rev. Emeritus Nathan Pope will preach. The service includes an English translation of the hymns, liturgy and sermon. English Palm Sunday service times are 8 and 10:45 a.m. with the choir singing at both services.

First Presbyterian Church, 716 College Ave., 9:30 a.m. The Rev. Gillian Weighton will speak on A Tale of Two Cities.

Grace Lutheran Church, 3700 Washington Ave., 7:45 and 10:30 a.m.

Journey in Faith Church, 725 High St., 9 a.m. service.

Parishes of St. Mary, St. John the Baptist, St. Francis Xavier, and St. Robert Bellarmine will gather in the gymnasium at Union Grove High School, 3433 S. Colony Ave., Union Grove. The only Mass for Palm Sunday 2017 will begin at 9 a.m. This celebration will include processional crosses and flowing banners from each parish.

Pentecost Lutheran Church, 2213 Coolidge Ave., 9 a.m. Nadiah Ali, Genevieve Barclay, Elizabeth Lisowski and Collin Honore will be confirmed. Hymns will be accompanied by organ and brass and the choir will sing Walk With Them, Lord for the confirmation class and The Palms for Palm Sunday. The closing hymn, 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord, O My Soul), was chosen by the confirmation class. A reception will follow.

St. Michaels Episcopal Church, 4701 Erie St., 7:30 and 9:30 a.m.

Trinity United Methodist Church, 3825 Erie St. 9:15 a.m. The Chancel Choirs anthem will be Joy in the Morning under the direction of Tony Roland. The Trinity Bell Choirs music presentation will be Hosanna, under the direction of Martha Jackson Oppeneer.

Yorkville United Methodist Church, 17645 Old Yorkville Road, Union Grove, 8 a.m. service with praise songs, and 10:15 a.m. service. There will be two baptisms and soloist Jodi Klug will sing a special song. The Rev. Sue Leihs message is based on scripture readings from Mathew 21: 1-11 and Philippians 2: 5-11. The second Sunday of each month is Mission Sunday when a special offering is taken to support the churchs commitment to the Union Grove Area Food Bank and the agricultural ministry of Rev. Paul Webster in Zambia, Africa. There will be an Easter Egg Hunt during the 9-10 a.m. Sunday School hour.

MAUNDY THURSDAY SERVICES

These area churches have announced Maundy Thursday services for Thursday, April 13:

Christ Church, 5109 Washington Ave., 7 p.m.

Covenant Presbyterian Church, 40 Ohio St., 7 p.m. worship with Communion.

Emaus Lutheran Church, 1925 Summit Ave. 7 p.m. The Rev. Gabriel Marcano will lead the bilingual worship services.

Epiphany Lutheran Church, 2921 Olive St., 6:30 p.m. service with Communion.

First Evangelical Lutheran Church, 728 Villa St., 7 p.m.

First Presbyterian Church, 716 College Ave., 6:30 p.m. service of reflection with communion. The Chancel Choir will sing.

Grace Lutheran Church, 3700 Washington Ave., 6:30 p.m.

Holy Communion Lutheran Church, 2000 W. Sixth St., 7 p.m.

St. Michaels Episcopal Church, 4701 Erie St., 7 p.m. Stations of the Cross.

Trinity United Methodist Church, 3825 Erie St. 7 p.m. combined service with Faith United Methodist Church. Communion and handwashing will be celebrated.

Yorkville United Methodist Church, 17645 Old Yorkville Road, Union Grove, 7 p.m. service of remembrance. Participating pastors and their congregations include the Rev. Manda Stack (Raymond Community Church and Union Grove Congregational UCC), Rev. Seth LaBounty and his wife Valerie (Union Grove UMC) and Rev. Sue Leih (Yorkville UMC). The sacrament of Holy Communion will be observed. The Yorkville UMC Choir will sing the anthem Come, Follow Me.

GOOD FRIDAY SERVICES

These area churches have announced Good Friday services for Friday, April 14:

Christ Church, 5109 Washington Ave., 7 p.m.

Covenant Presbyterian Church, 40 Ohio St., 7 p.m. Tenebrae worship.

Emaus Lutheran Church, 1925 Summit Ave. The Rev. Gabriel Marcano will lead a bus trip to Holy Hill for Stations of the Cross, leaving from Emaus at 7:30 a.m. For more information, go to www.emauselca.org.

Epiphany Lutheran Church, 2921 Olive St., 1 and 6:30 p.m. services with Communion.

First Evangelical Lutheran Church, 728 Villa St., 1 p.m. service with the children of Wisconsin Lutheran School singing; and 7 p.m. Tenebrae service.

First Presbyterian Church, 716 College Ave., 6:30 p.m. quiet, meditative service on the sounds and silence of Good Friday.

Grace Lutheran Church, 3700 Washington Ave., 6:30 p.m.

Holy Communion Lutheran Church, 2000 W. Sixth St., noon-3 p.m. worship service with seven speakers focusing on the seven last words of Jesus Christ. Speakers include the Rev. Dr. Tony Larsen, the Rev. Gillian Weighton, the Rev. Laura Fladten, the Rev. Mark Doidge, Gregory Berg, Jeri Smith and Susan Anderson; and 7 p.m. worship service.

Racine Lutheran High School, 251 Luedtke Ave., noon-3 p.m. annual Tre Ore services sponsored by the Missouri Synod Lutheran Churches of Racine. This years theme is The Way of the Cross, the Passion of our Lord according to St. Luke. The six 25-minute services, each beginning on the half-hour, will include the participation of pastors choirs, and church musicians from area congregations. There will be a short intermission between each of the services.

St. Michaels Episcopal Church, 4701 Erie St., 1 p.m.

St. Paul Baptist Church, 1123 Center St., noon.

Trinity United Methodist Church, 3825 Erie St., noon.
RACINE  A Mount Pleasant woman has been charged after she allegedly stole multiple items on two occasions from the local store Snoopers Paradise LLC.

Linda Otto-Elias, 57, of the 3800 block of Linda Lane, is facing misdemeanor retail theft charges.

According to the criminal complaint:

At about 5:20 p.m. March 29, police were dispatched to Snoopers Paradise 1232 Lathrop Ave., in reference to a shoplifting incident. A woman, later identified as Otto-Elias, reportedly came into the store and filled out an order form to purchase a Green Bay Packers jacket. After being in the store for about 30 to 40 minutes, Otto-Elias exited the store, stating that she had forgotten her money in the car. Shortly after, Otto-Elias returned to put a $30 down payment on the jacket.

After Otto-Elias left the store, a store volunteer noticed items missing and decided to review video surveillance footage. On the footage, Otto-Elias is reportedly seen reportedly stealing a hummingbird feeder, cuff bracelet, several rings and other miscellaneous items.

At about 4:24 p.m. Sunday, police were again called to Snoopers Paradise. The owner stated that Otto-Elias once again stole various items, including gold costume jewelry, a ring, angel earrings, a bracelet and several purple pieces of jewelry. Again, the owner reviewed surveillance footage and saw Otto-Elias exit the store with the allegedly stolen items.

Otto-Eliass next court appearance is a pre-trial conference scheduled for 3:15 p.m. April 27 at the Law Enforcement Center, 717 Wisconsin Ave. She remained in custody as of Friday night at the County Jail, online records showed.
RACINE  City firefighters were busy late Thursday and early Friday morning, responding to two structure fires in a 2-hour window.

$50,000 in damage is estimated as a result of a blaze reported at 11:31 p.m. Thursday in the 1600 block of Russet Street, after a homeowner called 911 to report that her tanning bed was on fire. Three occupants of the home had unsuccessfully attempted to put the fire out before calling for assistance.

Firefighters arriving on scene quickly extinguished the fire showing from the basement window before they entered to complete firefighting operations.

No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire was under investigation as of Friday morning, fire officials said.

The property was turned over to a restoration company on scene. Services offered by the Red Cross were not needed as the occupants made their own housing arrangements, fire officials said.

The Racine Police Department and Racine Fire Bells assisted at the scene.

Oregon Street fire

Fire crews were dispatched at about 2:08 a.m. Friday after a stove fire broke out on the 0-100 block of Oregon Street.

The majority of the fire was extinguished by one of the homes occupants prior to the Fire Departments arrival. Upon arrival, fire crews assisted multiple occupants to exit the house and completed minor overhaul and extinguishment work, a Fire Department release stated.

Fire officials said the was fire was the result of unattended cooking. No injuries were reported and the estimated loss is $4,000.

The homes occupants refused help from Red Cross and made other shelter arrangements, the Fire Department said.

The property was then turned over to the homeowners, who stated they would contact their insurance company, the release stated.

Racine police and We Energies crews assisted at the scene.
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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 ...
RACINE  State Sen. Van Wanggaard said he will seek changes to a wide-ranging bill relaxing regulations on the states concealed carry laws.

Wanggaard, R-Racine, said he generally supports the proposal and has signed on as a co-sponsor. The bill, co-authored by state Sen. David Craig, R-Town of Vernon, allows people to carry concealed handguns without a license or training.

It also allows permit-holders to bring firearms into places they are currently barred  including school buildings  unless signs are posted prohibiting them, according to an Associated Press report.

The proposal enjoys support from many Republicans but more work on the bill is needed, said Wanggaard, who is a concealed carry proponent and chairs the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee.

Wanggaard said legislators need to reconcile the bill with federal law, which bars people from carrying guns within 1,000 feet of a school without a state-issued CCW license. Wanggaard believes residents should be able to carry a gun, open or concealed, on school property as long as they are there for a lawful purpose.

But he added the bill should focus on constitutional carry and not deviate too far into where guns are or are not allowed. He pointed to a provision that addresses carrying firearms while shining wildlife (using a light at night to illuminate prey) as an example of something that should be scrapped.

Theres a little bit of work to do on this bill, Wanggaard said. Weve been working together to solve some of those issues.

Democrats and other opponents say they are alarmed by the proposal, particularly with allowing some people to have guns on school grounds and ending training requirements for concealed carry.

The authors of the bill put forward extreme provisions that go beyond even constitutional carry by allowing guns in schools, secure mental health facilities and police stations, while placing the burden on these facilities to protect citizens, state Rep. Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, said in a statement.

Future uncertain

It isnt yet clear whether the bill has enough support among Republicans, who control both chambers of the state Legislature, to move forward.

Racine County Republicans, including state Rep. Thomas Weatherston and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, have voiced support for the bill.

As a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, Im generally supportive of it and will monitor public support as we determine our next steps, said Vos, R-Rochester.

Gov. Scott Walker also offered general support without promising to get behind the specific proposal, the AP reported.

Craig said the response overall has been positive since the bill was announced March 28. The bill has 50 co-sponsors among Republicans in the Senate and Assembly, he said.

Concerns about the bill diminish once people realize what the law already allows, such as the ability for people to openly carry a gun without a permit, Craig said.

I continue to get constituents that come to me and say, the lawbreakers will break the law no matter what. What we are concerned about is our constitutional rights, and why should we have to pay 40 bucks, why should we have to go through this bureaucracy? said Craig, whose district includes Waterford. At the end of the day, this is a constitutional right.
Scale and color can be a great way to update and give you the interest you are looking for. Look for a larger scale, simple lined fixture that plays up the geometry in a more modern way.

An unexpected addition of color, like say on the interior of the fixture can be the all the interest you need.
Credit: Harvard University

Catch it early. Those are watchwords in the battle against a host of illnesses, from heart disease to cancer to Type 2 diabetes. Early detection gives physicians a chance to minimize damage, to insert a stent and keep blood flowing to the heart, to remove a tumor before one becomes many, to urge crucial lifestyle changes: lose weight, eat better, exercise.

But can the strategy work for Alzheimer's disease? Scientists are starting to think it might.The Harvard Aging Brain Study, a National Institute on Aging-backed project now in its seventh year, has shown that amyloid beta, the protein thought to cause Alzheimer's, accumulates in the brain a decade or more before symptoms occur.

That finding has given new hope to researchers struggling to move beyond a rash of high-profile Alzheimer's failures in clinical drug trials. In February, just three months after Eli Lilly & Co. announced a trial failure, drug maker Merck & Co. halted a study. Several additional drugs are still in trials, but researchers are reconsidering their approach and wondering whether the problem is in trying to reverse, rather than prevent, dementia

"I think we've failed in 11 phase 3 trials, which is not a good track record," said Reisa Sperling, a neurology professor at Harvard Medical School, a physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and co-director of the Harvard Aging Brain Study at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). "From a clinical point of view, it's a dismal failure."

Now, the "catch it early" idea is being put to the test in a new study called A4, or Anti-Amyloid Treatment in Asymptomatic Alzheimer's Disease, led by Sperling and the University of Southern California's Paul Aisen. Researchers will try an anti-amyloid drug on people who show no signs of cognitive decline, but who do have abnormally high levels of amyloid beta in their brains.

"I think this is a tremendously important trial," said Aisen. "It's the first trial in a population we refer to as 'preclinical Alzheimer's disease.' We believe this is identifying an early stage of the disease, not just 'at risk' [patients].... If we wait for people to have symptoms, there's already substantial neuro-degeneration."

Alzheimer's is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States, killing about 94,000 people annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

An estimated 5 million Americans are living with the disease, a figure expected to climb to 13.5 million by 2050, according to a report by the Alzheimer's Association. Costs of care are projected to rise from $226 billion in 2015 to $1.1 trillion by 2050, with Medicare and Medicaid paying 70 percent. Developing a treatment to delay Alzheimer's onset by just five years by 2025 could save an estimated $935 billion over the following 10 years, the report says.

In recent decades, researchers have worked out what many believe is the step-by-step process through which Alzheimer's does its work. Amyloid beta, a naturally occurring protein whose normal function in the brain remains unclear, builds to unhealthy levels. The amyloid beta forms plaques, which in turn lead to tangles of a protein called tau inside nerve cells, killing them. This triggers inflammation, a natural infection-fighting response, which in this case makes things worse.

Researchers are making breakthroughs in early detection of Alzheimer's. Credit: Kai-Jae Wang

A4 is screening 5,000 cognitively normal candidates, age 65 to 85, with the goal of enrolling about 1,150 who have elevated amyloid beta levels. The trial will test Eli Lilly's solanezumab, an anti-amyloid antibody that was proved safe, though judged ineffective, in patients with mild dementia due to Alzheimer's. The antibody targets soluble forms of the protein, not the plaques themselves.

Though solanezumab has been tried in Alzheimer's patients without success, the data from that trial held indications of positive trends, said Sperling.

The A4 studybeing conducted at 67 sites in the U.S., Canada, Japan, and Australiahas already enrolled 875 people and is funded by the National Institutes of Health, Eli Lilly, and several philanthropic organizations. Much of the launch worksigning up participants and managing datais being conducted by the Alzheimer's Therapeutic Research Institute at USC's Keck School of Medicine.

The A4 study rests on a foundation laid by the Harvard Aging Brain Study, which began in 2009 and is headed by Sperling and Keith Johnson, a professor of radiology at HMS and MGH. The study, which has funding to run through 2019, images the brains of 60- to 90-year-olds to follow changes over time.

By early 2013, it was clear that patients who started out with higher amyloid levelseven those who were cognitively normalhad a much faster rate of decline in cognitive ability, four to five times that of patients with normal levels of the protein, Sperling said.

Those findings pointed to a far earlier beginning of the disease than scientists had grasped and led to the "catch it early" approach of A4. Sperling worries, however, that even the A4 design might be intervening too late, and that, though subjects are cognitively normal, their high amyloid levels mark a cascade ending in dementia a drug won't halt.

And that isn't her only worry. Though the amyloid-tau-inflammation scenario has gained wide support, skeptics remain. In fact, there are enough exceptions in the Harvard Aging Brain Study to give Sperling pause: cases of people with high levels of amyloid beta who don't experience cognitive decline and others with lower levels who nonetheless progress rapidly.

"I think there's still a lot of questions," she said. "We can still only account for 50 percenton a good dayof the variance of what happens to people cognitively. I do worry, what if we're completely on the wrong track? What if it's all circumstantial? What if there's some giant X-factor we've missed?"

Dorene Rentz, an associate professor of neurology at HMS and the Brigham and co-director, with Sperling, of the hospital's Center for Alzheimer Research and Treatment, is also working on the A4 study. For Rentz open questions in Alzheimer's include the relative roles of amyloid beta and tau. Though removing amyloid beta has been a major thrust of drug development, it could be that tau, which forms the tangles within neurons, has to be removed to see a clinical effect. And no tau-removing compounds have been developed.

Credit: Graphic by Judy Blomquist/Harvard Staff

"But the argument in the community is we have to start somewhere," Rentz said. "All we've done is fail."

The inflammation associated with the diseasepart of the process of clearing amyloid and tau proteins from the brain, but itself destructive to tissueamounts to another unanswered question, Sperling said. It's possible that inflammation has to be reduced or avoided entirely to avoid cognitive damage. Another possibility is that Alzheimer's is part of an underlying problem, an inability to handle waste proteins and, as Sperling put it, "empty the body's protein garbage can." Potentially pointing to a broader problem is the fact that other neurodegenerative diseases, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Parkinson's, are also related to abnormal protein accumulation.

Despite these questions, Sperling, Aisen, and Rentz agree that there's a sense of hope in the Alzheimer's community, a feeling that progress in several areas has put science on the verge of a breakthrough.

"I am very hopeful about the field in general," Aisen said. "There's a number of promising therapies. I believe we're going to be successful and I believe dramatically successful. This is an enormous world health problem and a major problem in this country's health."

Should A4 fail, Sperling has a plan for trying to catch the disease earlier still. While A4 is targeting cognitively normal patients with high amyloid levels, she's designing A3, which would test interventions on people age 60or even 50who are cognitively normal and whose amyloid levels have yet to rise.

"A3 is trying to get closer to primary prevention, pushing the envelope," Sperling said.

For Sperling and Rentz, Alzheimer's is not just a clinical problem, but also a personal one. Rentz's husband has the disease and is currently participating in a drug trial, and Sperling's career sprang from her grandfather's Alzheimer's, which became apparent when she was applying to medical school. Her father, who was a chemistry professor at Lehigh University, was diagnosed with the disease six years ago and died last year.

"I naively thought I could do something before it affected other members of my family," Sperling said. "I hope my kids don't have to take care of me that way and, hopefully, my grandchildren won't even know what Alzheimer's is."

This story is published courtesy of the Harvard Gazette, Harvard University's official newspaper. For additional university news, visit Harvard.edu.
South Africas downgrade by Fitch Ratings agency is a vote of no confidence in new Finance Minister Malusi Gigabas ability to hold the fiscal line and stabilise debt, the DAs David Maynier has said.

This should come as no surprise given that the minister is trying to convince the ratings agencies that he can hold the fiscal line and implement radical economic transformation, which is simply not credible, he said on Saturday.

Earlier this week, S&P downgraded SA to junk status. On Friday, Fitch Ratings followed suit.

Fitch downgraded South Africas long-term foreign currency debt and long-term local currency debt to BB+, or junk status, with a stable outlook.

Maynier said it was not good enough for the minister to simply concede that the ratings downgrade was a setback.

The minister needs to roll up his sleeves and get into the fight to avoid further ratings downgrades. The ministers number one priority should be to avoid the nightmare scenario where massive forced selling of our debt triggers an economic meltdown that will spare nobody, rich or poor.

Maynier said that to re-establish trust with the ratings agency, the minister, who was sworn in on Friday, March 31, had to show that he was serious about avoiding further downgrades.

News24

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A man arrested after a stolen truck plowed into pedestrians on a busy Stockholm street is being held on "suspicion of terrorist crimes through murder," a government official said Saturday.
A group of Belgian MPs, who recently visited the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic/NKR), have issued an open letter, entitled Belgian deputies on the Blackist of Azerbaijan, to the ambassador of Azerbaijan to Belgium.

The letter was signed by Andre du Bus, Jean-Claude Defosse, Julie de Groote, Simone Susskind, Fatoumata Sidibe, Herve Doyen, Paul Delva, Benoit Dreze, Emmanuel De Bock and Pierre Kompany, according to La Libre newspaper of Belgium, reported ARTSAKHpress news agency.

In particular, these Belgian lawmakers expressed their concern for being put on the Azerbaijani blacklist of foreigners that visited Artsakh.

[What is] our original fault? As parliamentarians, Belgians, Brussels residents, Flemish and Walloons, for shaking the hands of mothers and fathers in the market of Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, now Artsakh. This self-proclaimed Republic, which, for 26 years, claims its independence from your country, Azerbaijan, noted the Belgium MPs.

Also, they informed that, by visiting Artsakh many times, they had no intention of offering solutions to the Karabakh conflict.

Our brief informal missions [there] have taught us a certain thing: all the mothers that we met want peace, added these Belgian deputies. But we [also] found out that Nagorno-Karabakh was nourished by an open democracy, with an opposition that is free to express its disagreements and a diversified press. We attended a recent [Constitutional] referendum [there], during which the regularity of electoral procedures had been submitted to our review.
The ACLU Wants Your Children To Be

Helpless Targets For School Shooters

By Bob Owens. April 6th, 2017

Harold Jordan of the American Civil Liberties Union's Pennsylvania chapter is attempting to argue that the now-common practice of having armed school resource officers (SROs) on school campuses is a bad idea, but in doing so, he overtly lies (my bold below).

Sadly, while many communities explore how to improve school climates by building trusting relationships between adults and students, Pittsburgh debates the arming of school police. A recent Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial and a resolution adopted by the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers' executive board both put forth troubling arguments that are at odds with what we know about school policing. The most immediate impact of arming school police would be felt by students, as school-based police spend the bulk of their time interacting with students in nonemergency situations. Having officers patrol the hallways with firearms sends a negative message to students. It makes many students feel that they are being treated like suspects. It can have an intimidating presence and can contribute to negative attitudes about police, in general. There is no evidence that arming school officers increases overall safety or improves relationships within school communities. Having an armed officer stationed in schools has neither prevented nor stopped "active shooter" incidents. It did not at Columbine High School nor has it elsewhere. Thankfully, these tragic situations are still rare in schools.

Now, I must confess that he may not be a liar. It simply may be that Mr. Jordan is poorly educated to a dangerous degree. .......

It is hard to see how armed officers within a school environment is going to send a negative message to students! It would surely seem more logical that students would sense better security in the event of any attack. The continued bleating by some parties over armed personel in a school environment gets old, when these days there remains a real threat of potential attack - however remote some might wish to label it. Armed aggression can only satisfactorily be answered with an armed response.

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Recent news that the 1894 Erhard Brielmaier Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi is now due to be torn down because of the costs of upkeep and building a new entrance led me to return to this article about my 2012 visit to the chapel and its reliquary. When you're done reading it, you might want to read this post from my visit in August to the other buildings in the complex that are due to be razed. At the time of my visit, there was no plan  at least no public plan  to demolish the chapel.

While my visit to the St. Francis complex that is home to the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi didn't uncover any evidence of tunnels and caves on the southern end of Bay View or anything like that  not that I necessarily thought it would, mind you, but, hey, you never know!  I by no means left disappointed.

In addition to getting a tour of the community, which was founded on the site in 1849  yes, 1849  I got to meet Sister Clare Ahler OSF, who is as a sweet a person as you'll meet and, lest I forget, I got to see a fragment of the veil of the Madonna, Mary, the Mother of God.

The Assisium (this is a replica) was the first building they erected on the site.

Halfway through the 19th century a small group of Franciscans left Ettenbeuren, a small town in Bavaria, and staked out a community in the current St. Francis, along Lake Drive, at the invitation of Archbishop J. Martin Henni.

Though there have been some splits over the years  one group left for LaCrosse barely a quarter century later and that group also split later on  the community is still active in St. Francis.

A later building still creaks with age and offers a look at how sisters lived a century ago.

About 30 sisters would have lived in this attic dormitory.

Sister Clare told me that there are roughly 225 currently living in the community and that the median age is likely in the upper 70s or lower 80s. When asked if there were any young women entering it, Sister Clare was able to conjure the name of one in her 40s and a couple more in their 50s.

That explains why the community now has the feel of a retirement village. There is Wii bowling going on in a community room that we pass on the second floor and Sister Clare greets a number of her fellow community members who pass us in the halls in their wheelchairs.

One of the 10x7-foot rooms where sisters would have lived.

The community, on the border between St. Francis and Bay View, is a sprawling one.

But don't think for a minute that the community is a sad one. There is a lovely mural that tells the story of the community, photographs of the mothers superior along a first-floor corridor and lots of smiling faces. It is a cheery place.

I'm eager to see the community's architecture and so Sister Clare takes me to see the chapel and the oldest extant building in the complex, built in 1861.

There are nice architectural details inside, including leaded glass ...

... and beautiful woodwork.

That building is not the Assisium, which can be seen just south of the main complex. The Assisium is an open-windowed wooden structure that recreates the original building erected on the site in 1849.

The 1861 building is fascinating. The hardwood floors creek with age and no one even bothered to try to hide the pipes that hang down from the hallway ceilings. In this building there remain small "cells" that were home to sisters for decades. They're maybe 10 x 7, with a bed, a small table and a window.

On the top floor is a big open room that was a dormitory. Here, the sisters didn't even have the luxury of walls. A bed and a table with a basin were enclosed by curtains, much like an old hospital ward. Though the space seems to lack privacy with the 10 or so beds currently in it, Sister Clare says back in the day there would have been three times as many up there.

Two reliquaries enshrine dozens of relics, include a fragment of Mary's veil.

She says that some still crave the serenity and simplicity of the second floor "cells" and will occasionally occupy them for brief periods.

At the end of the hall a former sewing room is now home to a small greeting card business run by the Sisters. Adjacent to the dormitory space above, artist Sister Stella Devenuta has her studio and workspace.

Outside, a long grape arbor offers a quiet respite from daily life.

This building is attached to another built in 1888 and jutting out to the north is the 1894 chapel that seats more than 250. Sister Clare, who has been in the community for well over a half century, remembers a time when Mass meant standing room only.

The chapel, built in 1894, is Gothic ...

... with stained glass windows imported from Innsbruck, Austria.

The Gothic chapel  designed by architect Erhard Brielmaier  is 46x112 and has 30-foot pillars running the length of the aisle. The lovely stained glass windows were imported from Innsbruck, Austria.

Brielmaier, who also designed St. Josaphat Basilica, had three granddaughters in the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi congregation.

Perhaps the most interesting of all is a pair of reliquaries at the back of the chapel. They're not large and they're easily missed. Designed by Brielmaier, these reliquaries hold a couple hundred relics that were collected by Mother Thecla Thren, who was Superior General from 1898 until 1930.

There are relics of San Sebastian, San Fabiani and others, as well as, according to a list on the back of the reliquary door along the east wall, a piece of the veil worn by Mary, the mother of Jesus. I'm momentarily at a loss for words, my skepticism tempered by awe  and vice versa. Then I read the listing to Sister Clare, who seems a little surprised herself.

In all honesty, I wasn't sure what I expected to find when I requested a tour of the grounds, but I was pretty sure a piece of fabric belonging to the Virgin Mary was nowhere on the list. At that moment, I feel like I knew what drew me here.

It's always cool beneath the arbor.

Outside, after Sister Clare and I say goodbye, I take a stroll beneath the long path under the grape arbor to the west of the buildings. If the veil is a spiritual and historic touchstone hidden in plain sight in Milwaukee, the grape arbor path is one of the city's "secret" relaxation spots. Out of the sun, it's cool and a little dark and the hustle and bustle of the city feels light years away.

Emerging on the north end of the arbor, I can see the two buildings that are now government subsidized housing for the elderly. Beyond that are some smaller buildings that belong to the community and a big, open green space that Sister Clare said is being planted with native species.

It is work that the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi feel is their calling; a way to honor their patron saint and his devotion to nature and wildlife.
Phuket, Thailand  April 7, 2017 The JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa, in collaboration with The Mai Khao Marine Turtle Foundation and its partners, will be hosting the 8th annual Mai Khao Turtle Release, which is scheduled during the Songkran Festival on April 13, from 2.30 pm  4.30 pm. The Thalang District Chief, Acting Sub Lt. Vigrom Wati and representatives from its business partners will be a guest of honour and be part of this Thai New Year celebration.

Furthermore, the Mai Khao Turtle Foundation also has organized the exclusive Turtle release programs on April 15 and 16 from 9 am  10 am together with IUCN for this year. The event is supported by the Phuket Marine Biological Center and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Taking place on the JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spas beachfront, the 8th Mai Khao Turtle Release will see 65 new batch of rehabilitated green turtles introduced their natural life in the Andaman Sea, where they belong. Sea turtles represent longevity in Thai culture and releasing animals to nature is believed to bring good luck to the participant.

Phuket residents and hotel guests are invited to join what promises to be a fun, family-oriented and inspirational experience. In doing so they will be helping to protect the areas endangered turtle population.

Every THB 5,000 raised through donations and additional money raised during the event will go towards supporting the Mai Khao Marine Turtle Foundation and its partners: the Phuket Marine Biological Centres injured Turtle Rehabilitation Program and the Third Naval Area Commands Turtle Hatchery Program.

For more information about the Mai Khao Marine Turtle Foundation, please contact Mr. Sean Panton, Co-Chairman & Director of Corporate Social Responsibility, Marriott Thailand Business Council, email sean.panton@marriotthotels.com or Khun Kittipan, Mai Khao Marine Turtle Foundation Manager, via email info@maikhaoturtlefoundation.com or call 076 338 000 ext. 3383
Spain on Saturday demanded that Basque separatist group ETA apologise for decades of violence and then disband "definitively" after it provided France with a list of arms caches to finalise a promise to disarm. In a statement, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said the arms cache move signalled the "definitive defeat" of ETA, blamed for 829 deaths dating back to 1968. Describing the separatist organisation as "terrorists", Rajoy reiterated the group could expect no government favours as a result and "still less, impunity for their crimes". "The only logical response to this situation is (for ETA) to announce its definitive dissolution, to apologise to its victims and to disappear rather than mount media operations to disguise its defeat," said a government statement. Madrid added it would not make an "evaluation" of the weapons arsenal until French authorities have neutralised eight caches of weapons containing 120 firearms and three tonnes of explosives in the southwestern Pyrenees-Atlantiques department bordering Spain. French Interior Minister Matthias Fekl earlier described the move to hand over remaining arms as a "major step". In 2011, ETA announced that it had abandoned its armed campaign, but did not give up its weapons. It also continued to insist on amnesty talks for some 360 jailed group members, 75 of them in France.
BF Goodrich, the popular American tire brand that has enjoyed over a century of existence, mounts a strong Philippine comeback by launching its new BF Goodrich Advantage T/A Drive and T/A SUV tire lines.

bfgoodrich.com.au

Both lines are made of advanced rubber compounds and built using multiple plies for better strength performance and durability against extreme weather and driving environments. According to Michael Ferdinand Nunag, Chief Representative, Michelin Philippines, parent company of BF Goodrich, the tires are built specifically for countries with harsh road conditions such as the Philippines.

BF Goodrich is once again demonstrating the innovative cutting-edge that makes the company a well-recognized brand in the tire industry with the launch of the new BF Goodrich Advantage T/A Drive and SUV tires. These tires are dedicated to make daily commutes and weekend getaways a pleasure, Mr. Nunag said.

The T/A advantage

The BF Goodrich Advantage T/A line merges the companys signature double-layer carcass ply with a symmetrical tire pattern, resulting in a durable and practical tire for the daily commute. The rigid tread blocks and shoulder help improve control and maneuverability. These are etched in a jagged pattern onto the tires to improve grip and control especially when braking. Reinforcement comes at the shoulder and bead area to boost the tires durability. Finally, larger-than-usual tread blocks with deep, and wide grooves further enhance braking performance in both wet and dry road conditions.

The Advantage T/A Drive tires are available in sizes 13 to 17 inches, and are highly recommended for city cars such as the Toyota Wigo, Ford Fiesta, and Honda Civic. Meanwhile, the Advantage T/A SUV comes in sizes 16 to 18 inches and are built for the likes of the Mitsubishi Montero Sport, Hyundai Santa Fe and Toyota Fortuner.

Philippine market relaunch

bfgoodrich.com.au

Michelin Philippines relaunched the BF Goodrich brand in the country back in 2014. Since then, the American tire brand has steadily been making strides in the local tire industry with its wide range of mud- and all-terrain offerings.

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The love of driving has long been an inspiration at BF Goodrich. As one of Americas most trusted brands, BF Goodrich knows what it takes to meet the aspirations and expectations of demanding drivers who value control, performance, and fun driving, Nunag said.

With the new Advantage T/A line, BF Goodrich expands its line of on-road tires.The BF Goodrich Advantage T/A line is now available at all accredited dealers nationwide.

The post BF Goodrich Marks Philippine Return with New Line of Tires appeared first on Carmudi Philippines Journal.
Not long ago, the Egyptian heart surgeon-turned-comedian Bassem Youssef was hosting the most popular political satire television show in his country's history. Launched after the 2011 uprising ousted former president Hosni Mubarak from power, the groundbreaking "Al Bernameg" (The Show) drew as many as 30 million viewers per episode in a country of 82 million people -- until it folded and Youssef left the country. Now his story is chronicled in a documentary titled "Tickling Giants," which premieres on Friday in Los Angeles. He also has a new memoir out called "Revolution for Dummies." Dubbed Egypt's Jon Stewart, Youssef ignored all the rules governing the state-controlled media, lampooning politicians from across the spectrum and providing a much-needed dose of humor as the country was undergoing massive political turmoil. But his mockery proved too much for the country's new rulers -- first the Muslim Brotherhood-led regime of Mohamed Morsi, elected president after Mubarak's downfall, and then the current president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who ousted Morsi. After "El Bernameg" folded in 2014, Youssef left Egypt with his family, first heading to Dubai before settling in Los Angeles. "There are many people, especially Egyptians, who will watch this movie and they will consider it... a story of a very important period of history for them," the exiled 43-year-old comedian told AFP in an interview. He praised the film's director Sara Taksler -- a longtime producer on "The Daily Show," formerly hosted by Youssef's idol Jon Stewart -- for managing to use comedy and satire to capture the upheaval of the Arab Spring in Egypt and explaining it to Western audiences without lecturing. "Most importantly, this is a human story." - Adjusting to America - Despite the silencing of his show, Youssef takes pride in knowing that "Al Bernameg" helped spur debate, offering a conduit through which viewers expressed their frustrations with the political system. "The show gave people a motivation to speak their mind through comic memes, funny sketches on YouTube or on the internet, so people kind of found their voice," he says. "I think we have opened the door to many people to come forward and do something that was not even imaginable before." As for his new life, Youssef acknowledges that it has been difficult to adjust, especially because his arrival in the United States coincided with one of the most acrimonious presidential campaigns ever. "You have all these jokes about me leaving a dictator for someone who is trying to become one," he said, referring to US President Donald Trump. "But however horrible Trump is, you still have faith in the institutions that can actually hold him back." - An adventure - Taksler says following Youssef for three years chronicling his story against the backdrop of the Arab Spring has given her a new sense of appreciation about the importance of free speech. "When we were making 'Tickling Giants,' I couldn't imagine what it would be like to have a president who was so sensitive to jokes and now we have the tiniest taste of that," she said. "I can't imagine what Bassem's team felt like dealing with the repercussions." Looking forward, Youssef says he is reviewing his options as he reinvents himself in America. "This is a very tough market, it's Hollywood and there are people who are even more experienced than I am who are struggling," he said. "It's an adventure, it is something that is interesting and terrifying at the same time." Still, he says he wouldn't trade the jokes for a return to heart surgery. "If I hadn't embarked on this journey, I wouldn't be sitting here with a big poster with my face on it and a documentary about me," he said. "All I did was crack jokes and I have more media attention than any heart surgeon in my field, which is a little bit unfair. But this is life."
The US missile strike on Syria contained a clear message for North Korea and its main ally China, analysts said, but not one strong enough to push Pyongyang off its nuclear weapons path. While the timing was largely coincidental, the fact that US President Donald Trump ordered the strike while hosting a summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping carried particular resonance given that the North's nuclear ambitions - and how best to thwart them - was among the top agenda items of their meeting. And exercising the military option added some extra weight to Trump's recent threat of unilateral action against Pyongyang if Beijing fails to help curb its neighbour's nuclear weapons programme. Kim Yong-Hyun, a professor at Dongguk University, said the strike against Syria was a statement of intent that was meant for a wide readership. "It signals to Pyongyang that the US has a new sheriff in town who isn't hesitant about pulling his gun from the holster," Kim said. But while the move might have given the North pause, Pyongyang on Saturday said the strikes only confirmed its view that nuclear weapons were key to guaranteeing its future survival. "The reality of today shows that we must stand against power with power and it proves a million times over that our decision to strengthen our nuclear deterrence has been the right choice," state media reported an unnamed foreign ministry spokesman as saying. The Syria strikes were an "intolerable act of aggression," he added. - Nuclear determination - The North has carried out five nuclear tests -- two of them last year -- and expert satellite imagery analysis suggests it could well be preparing for a sixth. US intelligence officials say Pyongyang could be less than two years away from developing a nuclear warhead that could reach the continental United States. If Thursday's strike was a warning to other countries, it was one with which Pyongyang, which regularly cites US hostility as the driving force behind its nuclear weapons development, is quite familiar. "Trump's attack on Syria is unlikely to have any significant effect on a North Korea that is already well versed in the threat posed by the United States," said Joel Wit, a senior fellow at the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University. At the time of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, then North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il disappeared from public view for around six weeks -- and was widely believed to have gone into hiding for fear of a US attack. Chang Yong-Seok, a senior researcher at the Institute for Peace and Unification at Seoul National University, said Kim's son, current leader Kim Jong-Un, had no reason to take such precautions. "Armed with nuclear weapons, he would hardly flinch at the attack in Syria," Chang said. As if to underline the point, North Korean state media released photos of a smiling Kim inspecting a mushroom farm. - Warning to China? - The question then arises as to what impact the US president's willingness to exercise his military muscle may have on China's thinking. China is North Korea's economic lifeline and as such enjoys more leverage over its maverick neighbour than any other country. Like his predecessors in the White House, Trump wants China to do more to influence the North's behaviour, but has gone further than others in threatening to go it alone if Beijing fails to step up to the plate. In that context, the strike against Syria may resonate more firmly in Beijing than Pyongyang. "It's a signal that Trump's administration will not only talk, they will act," said Wang Dong, Associate Professor and Director of the School of International Studies at Peking University. While China has clearly lost patience with Pyongyang's nuclear provocations, it is extremely wary of any response that might bring about North Korea's collapse and chaos on its doorstep. "From the Chinese point of view, there is still room to explore a path for a diplomatic solution," Wang said. Jia Qingguo, a professor of International Relations at Beijing University, said the North's nuclear arsenal and highly sensitive geopolitical position meant the fallout of any military action could be catastrophic. "A small kick could provoke big disasters. It's not like Iraq," Jia said. Although China's state media went strong on photos and coverage of the Xi-Trump summit, it gave little space to news of the strikes against Syria, with few editorials or commentaries. One exception was the nationalist-leaning Global Times, which suggested that Trump's "show of force" was rash and ill-considered. "This was Trump's first major move in international affairs, and it leaves an impression that the decision was made in haste and not without contradiction," the newspaper said.
An American special forces soldier has been killed while conducting operations against the Islamic State group in Afghanistan, the US military said. The US-backed Afghan military has vowed to wipe out the group in its strongholds in the eastern province of Nangarhar as IS challenges the more powerful Taliban on its own turf. "A US soldier was killed in action while conducting operations against ISIS-Khorasan in (Nangarhar) Afghanistan," US Navy Captain Bill Salvin said on Twitter, referring to a regional affiliate of the jihadist group. The identity of the soldier, killed late on Saturday, was not revealed. "On behalf of all of U.S. Forces - Afghanistan, I offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of our fallen comrade," General John Nicholson, the top US commander in Afghanistan, said in a statement. "We will always remember our fallen comrades and commit ourselves to deliver on their sacrifice," Nicholson added. Nangarhar, which borders Pakistan, is a hotbed of IS militancy. US forces have conducted a number of air strikes on jihadist bases in the area since August last year. IS, notorious for its reign of terror in Syria and Iraq, has been making inroads into Afghanistan in recent years. It has attracted disaffected members of the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban as well as Uzbek Islamists. But the group has been steadily losing territory in the face of heavy pressure both from US air strikes and a ground offensive led by Afghan forces. Islamic State's strength in Afghanistan has fallen to 600-800 fighters from 3,000 in early 2016, NATO has said, adding that it killed the top 12 IS commanders in the country last year. The jihadists claimed a deadly assault on Afghanistan's largest military hospital last month, but survivors who spoke to AFP said the attackers chanted "Long live Taliban" in Pashto. Last month three American troops have sustained injuries when an Afghan soldier opened fire on them in the southern province of Helmand, the first known "insider attack" on international forces this year.
The many active Slovak citizens we met  of both Roma and non-Roma heritages  give me optimism that future International Roma Days will give us more to celebrate, US envoy writes.

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International Roma Day  celebrated on April 8 each year  is an opportunity to celebrate Roma, who have been an integral part of the rich cultural tapestry of Slovakia for hundreds of years. Roma number an estimated 10 to 12 million across Europe, while one million American citizens of Romani descent live in the United States. The United States marks International Roma Day each year to signal our commitment to the inclusion and equal treatment of all Roma and commend the activists and ordinary citizens who fight every day to end discrimination.

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Last month, my wife, Veerle, and I had the opportunity to travel through Eastern and Southern Slovakia to visit Romani communities and local leaders. We were inspired by the many people we met, Roma and non-Roma alike, who work daily to promote social inclusion and equal opportunity for Slovakias citizens of Romani heritage. In Kosice, the Poradna NGO explained how they use the Slovak courts to fight segregation and discrimination. Lunik IX Mayor Marcel Sana told us about measures he has taken to improve security and build new housing for residents. In both Lunik IX and Moldava nad Bodvous Budulovska settlement, we met with remarkable teams of community assistants who facilitate care and promote health awareness among locals residents. Community center staff in Budulovska and Velky Krtis described how they promote educational opportunities and sustainable housing for Roma. In Rimavska Sobota, we met a US exchange program alumna who is implementing a mentorship program to promote youth entrepreneurship, which includes local Roma among its participants.

The last municipal elections saw a record number of Roma elected as mayors and city councilmen, many of whom have benefited from grassroots activism training offered by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) of the United States. In Barca, we met with a group of Romani mayors from the Gemer region, who told us about the association they have formed to improve employment and living conditions in one of Slovakias poorest regions. These mayors represent small municipalities, but they are thinking big. I was especially moved to have my photo taken with them in front of Barcas memorial to victims of the Romani Holocaust. The Mayor of Moldava nad Bodvou, who accompanied me to Budulovska, explained efforts to improve infrastructure and relations with police in the settlement and foster cohesion in a truly multi-ethnic town. Drawing from my personal and Americas national experience with discrimination, I also had a stimulating discussion with high school students in Velky Krtis about our shared values of diversity, equal opportunity, and respect for all.

During our trip, we saw first-hand the substantial challenges that remain for Roma in Slovakia. At the same time, we were encouraged by the many examples of local initiatives that have brought real progress and deserve greater support. We must not give in to cynicism. The many active Slovak citizens we met  of both Roma and non-Roma heritages  give me optimism that future International Roma Days will give us even more to celebrate.

Adam Sterling is US Ambassador to Slovakia
The veteran astronaut of NASA and worlds oldest female astronaut  Peggy Whitson, who is currently an onboard crew of Expedition 50 mission gets three-month extra stay on the ISS, said NASA in its Wednesdays official press meet.

NASA, during its official press event yesterday, announced that the American biochemistry researcher and agencys former chief astronaut Peggy Whitson would stay on the International Space Station until September this year, because of the extended plan. The 57-year-old astronaut reached at the ISS in November, last year, as a part of Expedition 50 mission and was expected to come back to Earth in June this year. But under a new contract between NASA and the Russian Space Agency, now, she will stay on International Space Station (ISS) for another three months and will take the lead of a vacant seat on a Soyuz capsule in the fall.

It means the third mission of Peggy  Expedition 50 will now go on for close to 10 months. She is already the holder of numerous world records, including the oldest female astronaut, only female to take the utmost number of spacewalks, and so on. Now NASA experts are keeping an eye on the body structure of Peggy Whitson, in order to monitor if any changes occur there. This supervision will add to the information gained from retired cosmonaut Scott Kellys recent one-year flight to space.

According to the new treaty, signed by NASA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos, Whitsons stay at the ISS will be extended for more three months in order to put together the most of Russias verdict to cut one post of cosmonaut from its space station crew of the Soyuz capsule, and leave a vacant seat on the three-person spacecraft. As per the new decision, Soyuz spacecraft, carrying the Expedition 51/52 crew, NASAs Jack Fischer and Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos, will reach the International Space Station on April 20, 2017, with one empty seat. Later in September, Whitson will fill that vacant seat and will accompany Fischer and Yurchikhin to make a comeback to Earth, said NASA.

According to NASAs ISS Program Manager Kirk Shireman, The exceptional skill and years of experience make Peggy an incredible personality for staying abroad the space station. By amplifying the stay of this veteran astronaut, we are expected to enhance the reach and benefits of research, space technology development, our commercial as well as the international partner communities.
Iran, a staunch ally of Bashar al-Assad, was quick to slam Fridays US missile attack on a Syrian government air base. In Tehran, worshippers chanted death to America and death to Al Saud  in reference to the ruling Saudi family, a key US ally in the Middle East. The senior Iranian cleric who led the Friday prayers, called the United States crazy and blasted its crimes. You (Americans) gave chemical weapons and substances to the terrorists. You created terrorists all over the world, said Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani. On the streets of Tehran, many called the US strikes reckless. This shows that because America is not capable of attacking countries like Iran and North Korea, it attacks a government like Syria which has been in a war for five years. America wants to crush Syria while its weak and oppressed. I was really sad to hear such an attack had happened, said resident Mojtaba Saghi. Divide and conquer In Iraq, the chairman of the parliamentary security and defense committee said the US strike violated Syrias sovereignty. By weakening the Syrian government, it will benefit the Islamic State militant group and strengthen terrorism, Hakim al-Zamili said. Fears that the US move would sow more chaos in the Middle East resonated all the way to Egypt, Euronews correspondent Mohammed Shaikibrahim reports. In the capital Cairo, Muslims said they felt US President Donald Trumps new policy aimed to fragment Syria into areas of influence that superpowers can share. What do we expect from the Americans? They only want to occupy and control the country and its wealth, and exploit the Syrian people to serve their own interests, said one man. Another said:America wants to strengthen its interests in the region, it doesnt want to help the Syrian people. The Western criticism of Assad is just a pretext for all of this. In a statement, the Egyptian foreign ministry called on both the US and Russia to act effectively and with international legitimacy to contain and solve the now six-year-old Syrian civil war.
GUATEMALA CITY (AP)  Guatemalan authorities have carried out 17 raids targeting businesses, news media and private residences in connection with a broad-ranging money-laundering probe.

Friday's raids include Emisoras Unidas radio and the Antigua Canal TV station, which belong to the Grupo A consortium. One of the group's former directors is a former cabinet minister being investigated for possible corruption under former President Otto Perez Molina.

Prosecutors' spokeswoman Julia Barrera says the raids are related to an investigation of money laundering and their goal is to seize accounting, financial and banking documents.

The prosecutor's office says said no further details will immediately be available.

Jaime Torres is general manager of Emisoras Unidas. He told local news media that the radio station is cooperating with the investigation.
PIKE CREEK, Del. (AP)  After a 4-year-old girl was kidnapped and sexually assaulted, police were searching Friday for "the heartless monster" who committed the crime.

At a news conference Friday, New Castle County police Chief Col. Vaugh Bond Jr. was visibly shaken when he said, "I can assure the public that this incident is by far the No. 1 priority for New Castle County Police Department."

Authorities were called to a home in Pike Creek, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) west of Wilmington, about 7 p.m. Thursday.

The girl was playing outside with other children when a man drove up and starting talking with her, Bond said. The man lured the girl into the car and drove off.

A passer-by saw the girl about 8:45 p.m. walking near the tree line in Banning Park, Bond said. She was "without very many garments," the chief said.

The girl was taken to a hospital, where medical personnel determined she had been sexually assaulted. She was treated and released to her family.

Bond described the suspect as a white or Latino male driving a dark-colored, four-door sedan with tinted windows. He asked that any residents with surveillance cameras check the footage for anything that might be linked to the kidnapping.

"Every member of the New Castle County Police Department is committed, regardless of their assignment, to solving and apprehending this heartless monster," Bond said. "We're going to do everything in our power. We're going to take any assistance we can get."
By Daren Butler DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - In rallies from the Kurdish southeast to the northern Black Sea coast, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has seemed to attempt the impossible: win over both nationalists and Kurds with threats to make spring a "black winter" for Kurdish militants. In campaign speeches ahead of an April 16 referendum on increasing his powers, Erdogan has signalled that army operations to crush Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants could intensify and spread into Syria and Iraq in the months ahead. "With God's permission, it will be spring for Turkey and the Turkish people and a black winter for terrorists," Erdogan told supporters on Monday in Trabzon, a heavily nationalist town on the Black Sea coast. Such fighting talk plays well with nationalists who abhor the idea of renewed peace talks with the PKK, which first took up arms more than three decades ago and is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and European Union. But it is a message he has also taken to the largely Kurdish southeast, courting those conservative Kurds who blame the militants for an upsurge in violence that the United Nations says has killed 2,000 people and displaced half a million since a ceasefire collapsed in July 2015. "Could there be peace with those who walk around with weapons in their hands?" Erdogan said, addressing a crowd of several thousand waving Turkish flags amid tight security in the region's largest city Diyarbakir last Saturday. "Nobody can divide our land. Those who try will find our armed forces, our police, our village guards up against them." On the surface, life appears to have returned to normal in parts of Diyarbakir. But heavily armed security forces man checkpoints in some areas, and disillusionment and anger at both the state and the PKK run deep. Bombed-out buildings and heaps of rubble are contained within the Roman-era walls of its ancient Sur district, devastated last year by tanks and artillery when security forces fought PKK militants who dug trenches and laid explosives. "There is great pessimism across the region," said Yavuz Celik, 32, a local shopkeeper. "There's always pressure. We're even scared of gathering in small groups ... During the peace process it was very different. We were even able to dance together in the street here." POLITICIANS JAILED Opinion polls suggest a tight race in the referendum, although the latest research this week suggests momentum is swinging in Erdogan's favour, putting support for the constitutional changes at around 53 percent. Erdogan risked a nationalist backlash when he launched peace talks with the PKK in 2012, a move praised by European allies and seen as a step towards unlocking the economic potential of Turkey's southeast bordering Syria, Iran and Iraq. There has been heavy fighting since the ceasefire broke down almost two years ago and Erdogan's pitch for support in the referendum has run into opposition from the pro-Kurdish opposition. The pro-Kurdish HDP, the second largest opposition group in parliament, played a key role as a mediator in the peace process. But its leaders and thousands of its members, who oppose any greater powers for Erdogan in the referendum, have been jailed over the past year for alleged militant links. HDP co-leader Selahattin Demirtas, who has called for a "no" vote in the referendum, issued a defiant statement from jail this week, calling on people to resist what he called the "tyranny" of a government creating "an atmosphere of fear". "The closure of political channels unfortunately empowers those in the Kurdish movement who believe armed means are legitimate," said Diba Nigar Goksel, Turkey director for the International Crisis Group think tank. "There is no durable military solution to Turkey's PKK conflict," she said. "Peace talks between Ankara and the PKK are the only way forward for a durable solution." SYRIA AND IRAQ Nationalists in Turkey have been incensed by the growing sway of Kurdish militia fighters in Syria and the presence of PKK leaders in northern Iraq, an issue which Erdogan suggested he would address in future military operations. Turkey's conflict with the PKK has been fuelled in recent years by events across the border in Syria, where the Kurdish YPG militia has enjoyed U.S. support in the fight against Islamic State, and in Iraq, where Ankara fears the militants are exploiting a security vacuum. Erdogan described Turkey's "Euphrates Shield" operation, an incursion into northern Syrian to push back Islamic State and try to prevent YPG gains, as just a first phase and spoke of a "roadmap" for more operations both there and in Iraq. "It is not an operation which only has a Syrian dimension. This matter has an Iraqi dimension too," he said in a television interview on Tuesday evening. (Additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Gulsen Solaker in Ankara; Editing by Nick Tattersall and Giles Elgood)
Team 888poker Heads to Barcelona

April 08 2017 Paul Seaton

The guarantee for the first 888Live Main Event in London back in November last year was $250,000, but that was bolstered to $280,291 by the end of registration.

Februarys visit to Rozvadov was even more spectacular, with the $320,000 guarantee smashed and an incredible $439,419 in the prize pool for everyone who finished in the money.

But 888poker is being even more ambitious across 12 days of tournament poker at the 888Live Barcelona Festival, with over 700,000 on offer at Gran Casino de Barcelona.

One player who will be chomping at the bit for action to begin is Catalin Pop, who took down the 888Live Main Event in Rozvadov, meaning he also won a seat to the Barcelona showpiece. He has this advice for other hopefuls.

"Have patience, be aggressive, and don't be afraid to bust," he said to 888poker.

888Lives arrival ahead of the summer season is going to inspire professional players to win big and bolster their Vegas fund just like it will motivate lower stakes players to qualify for as little as $0.01 via 888poker.com.

The festival will be well attended by 888Poker Ambassadors Bruno Politano, Kara Scott, Dominik Nitsche, Bruno Kawauti, Nicolau Villa Lobos, Sofia Lovgren and Natalie Hof. Each one of them is looking forward to running deep in the Main Event.

Barcelona isnt just well-known for poker tournaments. It is one of the most diverse cultural centres in Europe, with history and beauty abounding in Barcelona.

While there are always a number of fun ways to pass the time, with blue skies and golden sun-kissed beaches practically guaranteed, Barcelona has a rich history.

The works of Antoni Gaudi are sure to inspire, and with Barcelona Cathedral and the stunning Casa Mila on your doorstep, there are sights to see that dont involve a casino on your dinner break.

Barcelona is also famed for its many museums, so dont miss out if you get the chance to visit them during your stay.

Swedish pro Sofia Lovgren is already excited to be heading to the city.

The Barcelona Festival is great for both recreational and professional players...Its the perfect time to hang out with poker friends, catch some sun and make a deep run just before the WSOP! she said to 888poker.

Lovgrens thoughts are echoed by online pokers most successful tournament player of all-time, 888Poker ambassador Chris Moorman.

I think the 888live events are great tournaments for all types of players," he said to 888poker. "They feature a range of buy-ins and a good mix of participants from beginners to seasoned pros. I believe the 888live events have a much more relaxed environment surrounding them at the table as the buy-ins are more affordable for players. As a result, they are much more fun to play in, and everyone at the table manages to have a great time.

Natalie Hof was also in London and Rozvadov, so she hopes to make the third time lucky and bag the Main Event trophy.

As an 888ambassador Ive participated in both London and Rozvadov and we definitely made it big," she said. "I would honestly recommend these festivals to anyone due to having both lower and higher buy-ins in all festivals. I cant wait for Barcelona in May, its a wonderful place for playing poker and hanging by the beach if you bust is a win-win situation.

Kara Scott will be using success in Barcelonas Main Event as a springboard for more trophies later down the line.

I'm going to use Barcelona as my warm up and absolutely try to take it down. London feels like home turf to me, and I've done well there in the other two 888poker Main Events I've played, even coming third in the first I played with an 888poker patch on, so it feels like mine.

Bruno Politano declared that he ...will win Barcelona for sure. Main Event first place.

Not to be defeated pre-tournament, fellow Brazilian Nicolau Villa-Lobos told fans that he's always had a great connection with Barcelona, so this might be the one for him.

Bruno Kawauti was a little more realistic about his plan and had some positive words for players who may not have experienced live poker before.

I plan on winning the Main and the High Roller, but will probably spew in the High Roller and win the Main Event," Kawauti said. "The way that 888poker treats the players is different than any other place I played in. The qualifiers really feel at home. Every time I play an 888 tournament, I feel like the company is closer to the players than other companies.

The 888Live Festival May 11 through May 22 comes on the back of what is sure to be a very busy 888Live Kings Festival in Rozvadov.

You can check out the full tournament schedule here. The cash game action is likely to be off the chart in one of the most popular poker tourist destinations in Europe.

Sharelines This could be the biggest 888Live Festival yet.
NEW YORK  Rail commuters who endured days of aggravation after a train derailment at Penn Station woke up Friday morning with assurances that track repairs would be completed and service restored, but soon discovered that wasnt entirely accurate.

Amtrak, which owns and maintains tracks used by New Jersey Transit and the Long Island Rail Road, said at 7:30 a.m. that testing and inspections were completed. But NJ Transit said work was still being done and warned that delays were possible.

By that time, the Long Island Rail Road had already canceled 10 rush-hour trains into Manhattan and terminated four others at stations in Queens.

By late Friday morning, NJ Transit tweeted that its trains were running on or close to schedule, though some trains already en route were experiencing residual delays. Buses, ferries and other rail lines continued to cross-honor NJ Transit rail tickets, as they did all week.

The LIRR unleashed its ire Friday, issuing a statement that said: Because Amtrak crews did not finish track repair work by 4 a.m. as promised and because they did not grant access to tracks overnight so that Long Island Rail Road could pre-position trains, LIRR is forced to once again operate a reduced morning rush-hour schedule.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Friday that NJ Transit officials have been given permission to accompany federal railroad officials and Amtrak when they inspect the damaged tracks at Penn Station. However, he said he hasnt coordinated that yet with Amtrak CEO Wick Moorman.

The Republican again pledged that NJ Transit would withhold funds it normally pays Amtrak for maintenance and repairs until we are satisfied that the tracks are in safe operating condition.

The derailment of an NJ Transit commuter train Monday as it approached the station platform knocked out eight of the stations 21 tracks maintained by Amtrak. It also ignited a spat between Amtrak and Christie, who angrily demanded a refund of money already paid by the state to Amtrak.

The disruptions and delays to rail service up and down the Northeast apparently were caused by a weakening of the timber ties sitting under a piece of track in Penn Station. Amtrak officials said Thursday that the ties were inspected days before the derailment and deemed to be in need of replacement eventually, but didnt appear to pose an imminent threat.

It was the second derailment at Penn Station in less than two weeks. On March 24, an outbound Amtrak train derailed and scraped against an inbound NJ Transit train.

The two derailments highlighted the challenges posed by Amtraks aging infrastructure and the myriad ways in which the system can go awry.

On Friday, New Jersey U.S. Sens. Bob Menendez and Cory Booker sent a letter to their colleagues on the Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development urging them not to cut federal dollars for Amtrak.

The Democratic senators urged subcommittee members not to accept Republican President Donald Trumps proposed federal budget, which they say would drastically cut funding and support for Amtrak and jeopardize the $20 billion-plus Gateway project to build a new rail tunnel into New York from New Jersey and expand Penn Station to accommodate more trains.
SEATTLE  Ed Murray led a long campaign to legalize same-sex marriage in Washington state, toiled for nearly two decades as a state lawmaker and won his biggest personal political victory in 2013 when he unseated Seattles incumbent mayor by promising the ultra-liberal city to raise the minimum hourly wage to $15.

Just as he took on a role as a high-profile critic of President Donald Trump and prepared to launch a re-election campaign, Murray was hit Thursday with a political bombshell  accusations from three men that Murray sexually abused them in the 1980s.

On Friday, Murray held a brief news conference to deny allegations in a lawsuit by one man, saying they were very painful for me. It was painful for my husband. Through a spokesman he has also denied the allegations by the other men.

He said he will not step down and is sticking to re-election campaign plans but refused to answer reporters questions, saying the case is now a legal matter that is in the courts.

Murrays spokesman, Jeff Reading, previously suggested unnamed Murray enemies were behind the claims. It is not a coincidence that this shakedown effort comes within weeks of the campaign filing deadline, Reading said.

Calls to city councilmembers earlier for Friday for comment about the mayor and what impact the allegations could mean for his political future went unreturned.

Murray, 61, grew up in working class neighborhoods in and around Seattle as one of seven children in an Irish Catholic family and became one of the states most prominent political figures.

Things have never come easily to me in life, but I have never backed down and I will not back down now, Murray told reporters in remarks that lasted less than two minutes.

As a young man, he considered joining the priesthood and spent a year at a seminary in 1976 before studying sociology at the University of Portland, a private Catholic institution.

Murray ended up working as a paralegal with public defender lawyers in Portland before returning to Seattle and joining the vanguard of the gay rights movement in the 1980s, serving as campaign manager for Cal Anderson, a Seattle state senator who was the states first openly gay member.

Anderson, Murrays mentor, died in 1995. Murray failed in his bid to win Andersons seat, but he was appointed to fill the legislative seat of the state representative who won the state senate campaign.

During his 18 years as a state lawmaker, Murray was the prime sponsor of Washingtons gay marriage law, spearheaded an effort to protect LGBTQ youth in public schools and led the states push to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.

As a legislator, Ed was a warrior for core Democratic values, said state Sen. Reuven Carlyle, a fellow Seattle Democrat. He was unquestionably a tough negotiator with an eye on the long game for progress.

The 2013 mayoral race was a bruising campaign that focused on whether Murray would be more liberal and effective than incumbent Mike McGinn, a fellow Democrat, in the notoriously difficult city to govern because of competing liberal factions and an older, established political order resistant to change.

Murray kept his promise about the minimum wage increase. The higher minimum wage was phased in over time. Murray also recently fought to boost funding to address Seattles homelessness crisis.

Murray has been with his partner, Michael Shiosaki, for 24 years. They married in 2013. Shiosaki hugged Murray after he made his statement Friday.

Hes ambitious, state Sen. Jamie Pedersen, a fellow Democrat, said of Murray. Not that hes always right  there are issues I disagree with him on. But when you look at the agenda that he had and what hes been able to accomplish in four years, hes done a huge amount for the city.

After Trump was elected last fall, Murray became a frequent critic. He announced last week that Seattle was suing over Trumps executive order that threatens to withhold federal funds from communities that refuse to cooperate with efforts to find and deport immigrants in the country illegally.

Murray on Thursday afternoon was planning on touting new numbers showing progress made by the Seattle Police Department under federal supervision  until the news broke of the lawsuit by a man who is now 46 and said in court documents that the mayor raped and molested him over a period of several years beginning in 1986.

The man identified only by his initials, D.H., said he was 15 and addicted to crack cocaine at the time and that Murray was in his 30s.

On Friday Murray said D.H.s allegations are simply not true and said he felt sad for the troubled individual.

The mans, Lincoln Beauregard, sent a letter Friday to Murrays lawyer offering to make D.H. available for a video deposition and disputed that the lawsuit was politically motivated. Following Murrays statement Beauregard said Murray wasnt being truthful. He said the mayors representatives never asked for his clients identity and that if Murray is being forthright he should have no idea who my client is  how can he paint him as troubled. 

In the lawsuit filed Thursday, however, the man had said he had sought mental health counseling and was taking part in addiction-recovery programs.

The two others who made allegations against Murray told The Seattle Times (http://bit.ly/2oOAwXY) they met him while living in a Portland center for troubled teens. Jeff Simpson and Lloyd Anderson said they were paid for sex in the 1980s and would testify.

An entry in a case-tracking system shows that the Multnomah County District Attorneys office rejected pursuing a third-degree sodomy case against Murray in 1984, District Attorney Don Rees said.

Portland police have found no records linking either man to Murray, said Sgt. Pete Simpson of the Portland Police Bureau.

___

This story has been updated to correct the spelling of state Sen. Jamie Pedersens last name.

___

La Corte reported from Olympia, Washington. Associated Press writers Steven DuBois and Kristena Hansen in Portland, Oregon, and Phuong Le in Seattle contributed to this report.
Protesters gathered at the University of New Mexico bookstore on Central for an anti-war rally Friday evening.

The protest, organized by the Albuquerque Branch of the Party of Socialism and Liberation, was organized to demand an immediate end to the United States militarys attacks on Syria and the people of the Middle East, which have resulted in the deaths and suffering of thousands, including many children.
SANTA FE  Big money is pouring into Santa Fe politics.

The political committee opposing a tax on sugary drinks that goes before voters in May surpassed the $1 million mark in monetary and in-kind contributions after receiving a $700,000 cash contribution from the American Beverage Association, according to new campaign finance reports filed with the city clerks office on Friday.

Meanwhile, the committee supporting the tax took in less than $1,000 cash during the latest reporting period, March 23 to April 6. But it collected nearly $300,000 in in-kind contributions  most of it from former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose charitable group has been active in campaigns supporting so-called soda taxes in other cities.

Together, the dueling PACs have taken in more than $900,000 cash and $675,000 worth of in-kind services, and theres still more than three weeks before the May 2 special election. Voters are being asked whether the city should impose a 2-cents-per-ounce tax on the distributors of sugar-sweetened beverages. The estimated $7 million per year from the tax would go to fund early childhood education services.

The Washington, D.C.-based ABA has now contributed $800,000 cash and $74,474 in in-kind support to Better Way for Santa Fe & Pre-K, the PAC fighting the beverage tax. The beverage companies want to stand up for store owners and consumers that will be hit the hardest by this beverage tax, said David Huynh, a spokesman for the group.

Better Way has spent almost $600,000 so far, and still has more than $202,000 cash on hand. Thats compared to about $100,000 spent by the committee supporting the tax, Pre-K for Santa Fe, which reported having $1,400 cash on hand.

Better Way reported Friday spending about $467,000 with three Washington, D.C.-based groups for various campaign-related services and another $34,500 on a telephone survey by a San Francisco research firm.

The contrast between the two campaigns couldnt be more clear, Sandra Wechsler, a spokeswoman with Pre-K for Santa Fe, the group supporting the tax, said in a statement. Ours is a homegrown campaign ensuring Pre-K for all 3- and 4-year-olds alongside the New Mexico Pediatric Society, the American Health Association, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and over 150 other local organizations and businesses.

Bloomberg has now provided Pre-K for Santa Fe with nearly $330,000 in in-kind support for research and media. Albuquerque-based Organizers in the Land Of Enchantment, which previously donated $100,000 in cash to support the tax-for-pre-K proposal, gave almost $62,000 of in-kind support for canvassing and printing costs in the latest report.

Coca-Cola Bottling of Santa Fe, which has contributed nearly $50,000 worth of in-kind support to Better Way, announced late Thursday that it has also contributed $10,000 to Smart Progress New Mexico, a group that had been circulating a petition and other materials questioning the need for the tax.
On April 4, 1967, a year to the day before he was assassinated, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered one of the most powerful, controversial speeches of his life: Beyond Vietnam: Time to Break the Silence. The legendary orator and organizer, this young Nobel Peace laureate, laid out a bold condemnation of the U.S. war in Vietnam, encouraging collaboration between the civil-rights and the anti-war movements. Fifty years later, as the Trump administration attempts to radically increase the Pentagon budget by $54 billion and gut social programs and the State Department budget  crucial for achieving diplomatic solutions to conflict  Kings Beyond Vietnam speech remains chillingly relevant.

More than 3,000 people had gathered on that spring day in New York Citys Riverside Church. In his speech, King called the United States the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today and committed to oppose the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism. He detailed the history of how the U.S. role escalated in Vietnam, then linked the expense of war to poverty at home, saying, A few years ago  there was a real promise of hope for the poor  both black and white  through the poverty program.

Then came the buildup in Vietnam, he continued, and I watched this program broken and eviscerated, as if it were some idle political plaything of a society gone mad on war, and I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money.  I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor and to attack it as such. The mainstream backlash against Kings speech was immediate. Life magazine accused King of betraying the cause for which he worked so long, adding that much of his speech was a demagogic slander that sounded like a script for Radio Hanoi. The Washington Post editorialized: Dr. King has done a grave injury to those who are his natural allies.  He has diminished his usefulness to his cause, his country, and his people.

But King would not relent, continuing to pursue what people now call intersectional organizing. When he was murdered one year after that speech, he was in Memphis, supporting striking sanitation workers who were seeking union recognition. On April 3, 1968, in Memphis, he gave his last speech. Ive been to the mountaintop, he declared. Living with continual death threats and FBI harassment, he went on: Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But Im not concerned about that now. Less than a day later, he was dead. The nations largely African-American inner cities erupted into riots, and the history of the country was forever changed.

Today, the Rev. Dr. William Barber, head of the North Carolina NAACP, calls Kings Beyond Vietnam speech a prophetic sermon, and is carrying Kings strategy forward into the 21st century. Where are we on racism, when we see 22 states in this country passing systemic race-based voter-suppression laws and we have less voting-rights protection today than we had in 1965 with the gutting of the Voting Rights Act? he said on the Democracy Now! news hour. Where are we, when we dont use the word poor in our public and political conversation? When we just a few weeks ago saw an out-of-control military strike kill 200 innocent citizens and some 400,000 citizens were killed during the Iraq War, that we should have never gone into? When were talking about expanding an already-bloated military budget and spending some $54 billion, that if we use that same money in a modern-day war against poverty and a modern call for health care and education, we could do so much more?

If Fox News Channel were to pre-empt just one episode of the program hosted by the accused serial sexual harasser Bill OReilly and play Beyond Vietnam, or if CNN or MSNBC would air the speech in its entirety, there is a chance President Donald Trump, a voracious cable-news consumer, might see it. Perhaps then he might think twice before escalating the war in Iraq and Yemen, or provoking one against North Korea. As the world reels in horror at the latest poison-gas attack in Syria, most likely launched by the Assad regime against its own citizens, Trump might consider leading the world, now momentarily united in outrage, in a global, diplomatic response that could lead to a political solution there.

With a strong leader committed to peace, the United States could do this. Most likely, though, that difficult work remains for those in whom Martin Luther King Jr. had the most hope: the people, organizing grass-roots power for peace.
A state audit of Northern New Mexico College, which had already revealed the alleged theft of $200,000 by the colleges former financial services director, now finds its former president had 744 hours of potential unapproved leave time in 2015, costing the 1,063-student college $87,000, not including taxes and benefits.

The bad news doesnt end there; the audit uncovered no-bid contracts, a runaway legal service contract, missing computers and illegal speaking fees for its former president, Nancy Rusty Barcelo. The ongoing audit had previously revealed that former financial services director Henrietta Trujillo took $71,000 in cash and $135,000 in stolen, but apparently uncashed, checks.

All of this begs two questions: What were the colleges Board of Regents doing as the college was imploding (a question legislators have been asking), and will there be criminal charges filed?

One would think word of the missing funds and the presidents frequent absences  which included eight full days, 23 half-days and 27 late afternoons for do not disturb time  would have filtered up to the regents. After all, Espanola is hardly a place where secrets stay secret for long. And the fact the college paid out more than $500,000 last year to settle whistleblower lawsuits filed by two former employees  one of whom alleged misuse of federal funds  raises more questions about oversight.

The current regents appear to have made a major improvement in recent months  the hiring of retired Air Force pilot, colonel and military educator Richard J. Bailey as the new president as of last fall. He appears solidly committed to getting the colleges finances and its commitment to students first back on track.

The audit, performed for state Auditor Tim Kellers office by the Jaramillo Accounting Group of Albuquerque, also showed the college issued $148,000 in no-bid contracts and saw a $10,000 legal services contract balloon to more than $72,000. It also revealed that Barcelo received upward of $1,600 for speaking at five different conferences, though the state Governmental Conduct Act caps speaking fees at $100 per speech.

Fortunately, Barcelo and Trujillo are gone. Barcelo could not be reached for comment; Trujillo acknowledged the embezzlement in the audit. As for criminal charges, District Attorney Marco Serna says his office is waiting on the State Police to conclude its investigation.

Its not clear whether the Board of Regents  which has been one member shy of its constitutionally mandated five members since 2015  was hoodwinked, looking the other way or a co-conspirator. But there has been turnover on the board in recent years. Gov. Susana Martinez needs to make filling the open seat with an enthusiastic and capable person a priority, as the new audit makes clear.

With state officials examining the roles of the states 31 college campuses and numerous offshoot facilities in light of declining enrollments and shrinking state revenues, Northern New Mexico College could find itself in the cross hairs. That concern alone should trigger immediate reforms and serious oversight at NNMC.

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.
New Mexico universities were already bracing for funding cuts, but not like this.

Gov. Susana Martinez on Friday used her line-item veto power to remove all state funding for New Mexico colleges and universities from a Legislature-approved fiscal year 2018 spending package.

Neither side in the ongoing state budget debate indicated Friday that universities would actually enter the next fiscal year without state funding.

Michael Lonergan, spokesman for the Republican governor, expressed optimism Friday that a special session would yield a new budget plan that would not raise taxes  a major sticking point for Martinez  but still fund higher education.

Rep. Patricia Lundstrom, D-Gallup and chairwoman of the House Appropriations & Finance Committee, suggested Democratic leadership could fight Martinezs veto in court on the grounds that the eliminating state funding to the schools would render them unable to function.

The governors action further darkened an already cloudy budget process for the states higher education institutions. It also sparked fear that the states universities could face even deeper cuts than projected.

State funding is critical to basic operations  at University of New Mexico, for example, it currently accounts for 58 percent of the schools instruction and general budget.

Like other public higher education institutions, UNM depends on the States contribution to deliver quality education, UNM Acting President Chaouki Abdallah said in an emailed statement Friday. At this juncture, UNM hopes the Governor and the legislature will provide a higher education budget as soon as possible so we can continue to serve New Mexicans.

Marc Saavedra of the Council of University Presidents, an association representing New Mexicos universities, called the governors Friday move surprising and concerning.

We dont want to get caught in the politics, he said.

New Mexico universities, which are obligated to submit their budgets to the state by May 1, had already begun crafting their fiscal year 2018 budgets despite uncertainty about how much state money would flow their way. The governor and Legislature never agreed on a budget, but Saavedra said most schools worked with the Legislature-approved spending plan that called for a 1.1 percent cut to college and university appropriations.

New Mexico State University spokesman Justin Bannister said NMSU was planning around the proposed 1.1 percent budget reduction but was now seeking guidance from the states Higher Education Department about what modifications to make. But he added, Im not sure really anybody knows the answer to that question.

UNM had assumed a 2 percent cut from the current years levels, and Abdallah said planning would continue under various budget reductions scenarios.

Saavedra said universities are already struggling amid 2016 and 2017 cuts and worries that more budget tinkering during the special session could increase this years proposed 1.1 percent dip.

We want to work with the governor; we want to work with the Legislature  we do, he said. But were at a point now where were saying, This is enough. We cant be cut any further. 
Hot chile pepper!

New Mexico now has the nations first chile pepper license plate, proclaiming the state the Chile Capital of the World.

The state Motor Vehicle Division announced the chile pepper plate Friday after Gov. Susana Martinez ordered the new tag. The governor on Thursday vetoed a bill to create a specialty tag, which would have required a $35 fee.

In her veto message, the governor said she supported the idea of a New Mexico chile license plate  describing it as something that truly makes New Mexico true  but said it should be available for all state residents at no additional cost.

The plates are expected to be available starting in June. Registered vehicle owners can swap out their current plate for $17 in an MVD or affiliate office or $7.25 online, and drivers with specialty plates can switch at no cost.

State lawmakers had been racing with neighboring Colorado to be the first state to create chile license plates. New Mexico apparently won the race with Fridays announcement, as a Pueblo chile license plate is still pending in the Colorado General Assembly.
Success breeds success, its been said more than once and when a program has been successful, especially a program that improves reading skills, its easy to understand the need for growth.

And to make that growth a reality, the Rio Rancho Noon Rotary Club is holding its second fundraiser, Rotary Roots to Wings, later this month at the Marriott Pyramid Hotel in Albuquerque.

Proceeds benefit the Rotary Clubs Dick Hillier Tutoring Program, a successful program within Rio Rancho Public Schools elementaries but hoping to expand into a few more RRPS elementary schools, plus into Corrales. Down the road, expansion is planned into Bernalillo and other parts of Sandoval County.

Hillier was a longtime member of Rotary International who drew great joy in helping struggling students reach their potential by fostering the development and sustainment of the tutoring program in RRPS, which helps such students in kindergarten through fifth grade.

When he passed away in October 2015, it was only natural that the tutoring program be named in his honor. (He has a plaque on the Presidents Wall at A Park Above, a tribute to his reign as Rotary president.)

Heres how the program works: Participating teachers earn $1,000 to tutor three to six of their own students after school, working primarily in math and reading; not only do the students skills increase, so, too, does their self-esteem.

Its not just their academic growth, they also develop self-confidence, says Kathryn Kenning, a long-time educator. Getting one-on-one (tutoring), they feel confident. That is immeasurable.

In the 2015-16 school year, three schools and seven teachers participated, with 33 students  28 of them met their goals, four surpassed their goals. Student attendance was recorded at 99.6 percent.

In this 2016-17 school year, there are four schools, 14 teachers and 70 students.

Rotarians Beth Miller and Kenning are proud of the work so far, coming at it from two different angles: Miller has long been affiliated with higher education and knows how important a good foundation in reading is for success in life, Kenning was in the trenches for more than a quarter-century, with 25 years spent at Rio Rancho Elementary. (She once had current school board member Ryan Parra in her classroom, she recalled.)

The tutoring program, Miller says, is a way to help children who are on the bubble.

Theres little doubt about the axiom, Learn to read (into third grade), read to learn (after third grade). And the sooner these youngsters can read comprehensively, the quicker theyll be able to understand the subjects theyre reading about, regardless of the complexity.

This tutorial program helps; Miller and Kenning have no doubts.

Its an extra boost, more than anything, Miller said.

To help this boost, the fundraiser Rotary Roots to Wings will be held Saturday, April 29, from 6-11 p.m. and feature music by the High Desert Big Band, a dinner and dancing, raffle drawings, silent auction, money games, New Mexico authors and their books, and more.

Tickets cost $45 each, but you can save money by reserving a table for $400 and seat 10 people. Sponsorships, ranging in price from $250 to $5,000, are also available.

Those who contribute $5,000 should be satisfied to know that amount funds an entire Rio Rancho elementary school tutoring program for one academic year, benefiting five teachers and as many as 30 students.

Cash sponsors will be recognized on print materials for the participating schools; among other perks, $5,000-sponsors also receive 20 tickets and two 10-person tables; $3,000-sponsors receive 10 tickets and a table for 10; $1,000-sponsors get five tickets and five reserved seats.

Contact Earl Waid at 250-9070 or earl@rioranchomagazine.com for more information or to purchase tickets.
1,000 traffic rule violators booked daily in Valley

More than 1,000 violators of traffic rules are booked every day in the Valley. According to the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division (MTPD),
RAWLINS, Wyo.  Wyoming authorities are turning to the Colorado Bureau of Investigations for help answering questions about the mysterious case of a woman who burned to death in 2015 at the bar she owned.

The Rawlins Times reports that the 2015 death of 47-year-old Denise King Martinez remains a mystery. Martinez caught fire at the County 6 Bar and Grill and died from her injuries two days later.

The exact cause of death, or what caused the fire in the first place, havent been announced.

Rawlins Police Chief Troy Palmer says the Wyoming Crime Lab has turned over some evidence dispatched to the Colorado Bureau of Investigations for review. Palmer had no guess how long the Colorado review might take.

Rawlins Police have treated the case as a homicide.
PRESCOTT, Ariz.  Artists from around the country are being asked to submit proposals for a memorial to honor the 19 Arizona men who died fighting a wildfire nearly four years ago.

A location near a historic courthouse in Prescott has been set aside for a memorial to the Granite Mountain Hotshots who were killed in the June 2013 fire, reported The Daily Courier (http://bit.ly/2oQ5VvW ). Bruce Martinez, chairman of the Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Partnership, said a request for proposals was sent to dozens of artists several weeks ago asking for submissions by June 15.

Martinez is a retired Prescott Fire Chief who was asked to help field the calls flooding in with memorial ideas after the 2013 tragedy.

The request includes several suggestions and guidelines, including a community wish-list compiled during the memorials public comment period. It also requires the memorial design to be aesthetically and architecturally compatible with the Yavapai County Courthouse.

The community suggestions include the story of the fatal wildfire, the names and biographical information of the firefighters who died, and the Hotshots motto, Esse Quam Videri Latin for To be, rather than to seem. Other ideas include incorporating bronze or granite elements; the ability to touch, feel or connect with the memorial; and including symbols like a silhouette or Granite Mountain, a historic juniper tree saved by the Hotshots during the fire or wildland firefighter equipment like boots and helmets.

We wanted a consensus of what the community wanted, and we put that in the RFP, said Martinez.

Selected semifinalists will be asked to do further design work, like a site-specific design, a three-dimensional scale model, an implementation schedule and a project narrative.

___

Information from: The Daily Courier, http://www.dcourier.com
The seventh edition of The Brand Trust Report 2017 sees consumer electronics brands ruling the top 3 slots. Samsung has been ranked as Indias Most Trusted Brand of 2017 (climbing 17 ranks from 2016). Sony and LG both retain their 2016 rankings and are at second and third ranks, respectively.

Apple ranks as India's 4th Most Trusted Brand and, rising 12 ranks from 2016, making it to the top 5 for the first time. Holding on to its rank of last year, brand Tatas trust defies the temporary imbroglio it faced to occupy 5th rank. The 6th position is held by automobile giant Honda; Maruti Suzuki follows, taking the 7th spot. Dell is ranked 8th while Lenovo, climbing 18 ranks from 2016, features in the 9th position in the list. Bajaj, a brand which has been in the top 10 in five out of the seven reports, comes in at the 10th rank in Indias Most Trusted Brands list.

The Brand Trust Report is launched annually by TRA Research, part of the Comniscient Group, a diversified data insights and communications group.

N Chandramouli, CEO, TRA Research, commented, Trust is transaction personified and the rigor of TRAs Brand Trust annual study has always displayed prescience through its data. The 17-rank climb of the Consumer Electronic brand Samsung to top position and the 12-rank climb of Apple to fourth rank over last year are significant. Among the top 10 this year, four brands have gained ranks, five brands have retained their last years ranks, and one brand has fallen in rank. Of the 2016 list, four brands slipped out of the top 10 list of 2017, namely Samsung Mobiles, Nokia, Godrej, and ICICI Bank.

Among Indias 1000 Most Trusted brands, 40 Super Categories and 292 Categories were listed. The categories with the maximum brands were Food & Beverages, represented by 161 brands; FMCG, represented by 128 brands; and Automobiles, represented by 73 brands. When compared to last year, 320 new brands made it to the list, 348 brands fell in rank, 323 brands rose in rank, and 9 brands retained their ranks. Reliance Jio, ranked 19th, is the most significant new entrant in the list this year. The top 5 greatest rank gainers over last year are Mahindra Auto, US Polo, Kurl-On, Birla Sun Life, and Tops Security.

Some of the important category leaders in Brand Trust are Bata  All India rank 12  from Personal Accessories, State Bank of India  All India rank 13  from BFSI, Patanjali  All India rank 15  from FMCG, Airtel  All India rank 16  from Telecom, Amul  All India rank 21  from F&B, Google  All India rank 40  from Internet, Himalaya  All India rank 57  from Healthcare, and SpiceJet  All India rank 172  leading in Airlines, Chandramouli added.

The Brand Trust Report 2017, the seventh in its series, is the result of a comprehensive primary research conducted on the proprietary 61-Attribute Trust Matrix of TRA. This years study involved 15,000 hours of fieldwork, covering 2,505 consumer-influencers across 16 cities in India, and generated 5 million datapoints and 11,000 unique brands, from which the top 1000 brands have been listed in this years report. This years research was conducted among 2,505 consumer-influencers across 16 cities. The 200-page, hardbound report is available for Rs 14,000.
Google is a very unique and highly lauded workplace, but like any other, it often loses people to the promise of a fresh challenge, and such is the case with game industry legend Noah Falstein, their chief game designer. Falstein took to his game consulting firms blog to let the internet know that he was departing the California colossus because he simply didnt get the creative opportunities that he imagined he would. Falstein made no qualms about his opinion of Google  he said that it was a wonderful workplace, full of colleagues that he would miss dearly. Four years of watching the world of gaming revolutionize around him, however, was too much for Falstein, whos been in the video game business for over 30 years.

According to his blog entry, Falstein wants to work on the future of gaming as a medium in unique ways. Genres and subtypes of gaming that are barely emerging, such as the blending of virtual reality and neuroscience, are what interest him most at the moment. Falstein says that he plans to explore the evolution of the medium through technological leaps that make entirely new sensations and experiences possible, such as the profound human connection possible in VR thats never been possible in video games before. As the head of a consulting firm with a long history of adding a touch of greatness to projects across the industy, hes in the perfect position to do just that.

Falsteins long and storied history in gaming is nothing to sneeze at, dwarfed only by the likes of forefathers such as Nintendos Mario and Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto. Falstein got his start in the industry back in the 1980s, working on various arcade games like Sinistar. From there, Falstein went on to work with LucasArts on their prodigious point and click adventure games, helping to create the SCUMM language and many of the most iconic games that used it, such as Maniac Mansion and The Secret of Monkey Island. From there, Falstein started his own game design consulting firm, called The Inspiracy, where he went from company to company helping to work on a vast number of big-name titles like Medal of Honor and Alan Wake.
A real-life image depicting whats said to be the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 8 surfaced online on Saturday, showing not only the front side of the device but also whats supposed to be its new S Pen. No other information has been provided by the Chinese source, though the legitimacy of the photograph that you can see above is somewhat doubtful seeing how the device almost looks like a carbon copy of the recently announced Galaxy S8 Plus. While Samsung is expected to stick with its bezel-less design language and the 18.5:9 aspect ratio in the foreseeable future, the newly leaked device looks almost too similar to the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus. Regardless, the design of the handset also corresponds to the one depicted in an alleged concept image of the Galaxy Note 8 that surfaced online earlier this week, though the legitimacy of that image can also be doubted for similar reasons.

Provided this truly is the Galaxy Note 8, it seems that Samsung will not only continue pursuing the design philosophy outlined above but will also equip its upcoming phablet with a new physical button that will be used for activating the Bixby artificial intelligence (AI) assistant by default. Bixby is also referenced in the newly leaked photo seeing how the device in question is shown running the Bixby app for the first time, with the Chinese writing prompting users to start using Samsungs voice-enabled companion. In related rumors, the South Korean consumer electronics manufacturer allegedly started firmware development for the Galaxy Note 8 as the device is scheduled to enter mass production in the second half of the year.

Other reports on the Galaxy Note 8 have been scarce, though industry watchers expect the phablet to be powered by the Exynos 8895 and Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 system-on-chip (SoC) in certain territories, much like the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8 Plus are. Other rumored specs include 6GB of RAM, up to 256GB of internal storage, and a possible 4K display. Just like its discontinued predecessor and the Galaxy Note 5, the Galaxy Note 8 will likely be released worldwide in August, so more details regarding the device are bound to follow soon.
The Xiaomi Mi Band 2 won the Red Dot Design 2017 award, the Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer revealed earlier this week, as reported by Gizchina. The prestigious award is given by the Design Center Nordrhein Westfalen in Essen, Germany, and has been honoring innovative and high-quality product design for over half a century now. The German design center apparently picked Xiaomis Mi Band 2 among thousands of this years applicants, and Xiaomi will officially be presented with the award this July, with the date of the award ceremony to be announced later this year.

The Beijing-based tech giant revealed it will release a special limited edition of the Mi Band 2 to commemorate the occasion. The new model of the Mi Band 2 will have a Red Dot Design logo engraved into its Touch button, with the logo also being displayed on the boot screen of the device. Its currently unclear whether the device will see a commercial release or if select consumers will be able to pre-order it, but more information on the matter will likely follow soon. One thing thats certain for now is that the upcoming limited edition of the Mi Band 2 will be displayed in the Red Dot Design Museum in Essen, as all winners of the Red Dot Design award are. Some industry sources told Gizchina that Xiaomi is primarily creating the limited edition of its fitness tracker for the purpose of displaying it in the aforementioned museum in Germany and one in Taipei, though that has yet to be confirmed.

The Xiaomi Mi Band 2 initially launched in mid-2016, enjoying a rather positive reception from both critics and consumers alike. The device features a 0.42-inch OLED display panel and IP67 certification, meaning its quite resistant to both dust particles and water. Weighing in at only 19 grams, the wearable was primarily designed as a discreet companion for fitness activities thats compatible with virtually all devices running Android 4.4 KitKat and newer versions of Googles operating system. The Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer is expected to introduce new wearables later this year, especially as the company continues diversifying its business portfolio in an effort to become less reliant on its smartphone unit.
2 Nepali students die in Himachal blizzard, 3 injured

Two Nepali students studying Chartered Accountancy in New Delhi died due to heavy snowfall and avalanches in the Kullu Manali area of Himachal Pradesh.
YEREVAN, APRIL 7, ARMENPRESS. The European Union continues providing budget support to Armenia to carry out reforms in various fields, reports Armenpress.

On April 7 a workshop dedicated to the coordination of EU budget support provided to Armenia was held within the frames of the European Neighborhood Instrument.

During the workshop, Armenias First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Investments Garegin Melkonyan delivered a welcoming speech. He said the budget support provided by the EU to Armenia is one of the most assistant tools thanks to which significant reforms have been made in Armenia in a number of key sectors since 2007.

Last year we have received an unprecedented budget support from the European Union which comprised 27.5 million Euro. In 2016 and in the first months of 2017 we have signed a cooperation package of overall 51 million Euro with the EU from which almost 50 million Euro is budget support. This already shows that we are going to carry out significant works in terms of this tool this and in upcoming years. This year we have three large and one small tranches of budgetary allocation which we will discuss in-detail during todays workshop. We expect active engagement of all concerned agencies. Our goal is all our obligations assumed for implementing reforms in Armenia will be carried out on time and completely, the First Deputy Minister said.

He said the Ministry of Economic Development and Investments, being the national coordinator of programs carried out under the European Neighborhood Instrument in Armenia, is interested that the use of other tools of budget support, as well as the European support in Armenia will be effective as much as possible.

Hoa-Binh Adjemian, head of the Cooperation Section at the EU Delegation to Armenia, thanked the workshop organizers, highlighting its importance in terms of effectively utilizing the EU budget support. Over the last 10 years the European Union has provided 250 million Euro budget support to Armenia. This means that within a year Armenia receives 25 million Euro budget support from the European Union. Every year we spend nearly 40-50 million Euro in Armenia, half of which is directed to budget support programs, Hoa-Binh Adjemian said.

During the workshop issues related to the outlining, implementation, monitoring of EU assistance programs, as well as summary and assessment of the program implementation results were presented and discussed. Group works were held aimed at presenting the opportunities of practical use of the outlined mechanisms.

The workshop was attended by more than 30 representatives of stakeholder Ministries and other state bodies, as well as representatives of the EU Delegation to Armenia.
VILNIUS, APRIL 7, ARMENPRESS. The national news agencies of Armenia and Lithuania, ARMENPRESS and ELTA, signed a cooperation agreement which will enable to boost information exchange and professional partnership between the two agencies.

The document was signed by Aram Ananyan, director of ARMENPRESS, and Romas Bubnelis, director-general of ELTA.

In terms of enhancing international cooperation, 2017 is a fruitful year and the cooperation agreement signed with the national news agency of Lithuania comes to fill the expanded network of cooperating media outlets, which we form. I think the cooperation will give specific results in terms of mutual recognition in the two societies, director of ARMENPRESS Aram Ananyan said.

Aram Ananyan and Romas Bubnelis greatly highlighted the signing of the document and found it to be a good foundation for numerous joint projects. They expressed willingness on holding mutually enriching events on experience exchange.

Earlier on April 4 ARMENPRESS signed a cooperation agreement with Latvias national news agency LETA in Riga.

On March 11, ARMENPRESS enhanced partnership with Spains EFE news agency with a memorandum of understanding, signed in Yerevan.

ARMENPRESS news agency was established on December 18, 1918. It is a state news agency. The agency is the oldest in Armenia. At the moment it produces eleven newslines in four languages. ARMENPRESS has signed bilateral cooperation agreements with more than 20 leading news agencies of the world, nearly 1/3 being signed during the last 5 years.

ELTA is one of the largest Baltic news agencies, which provides multi language coverage of the political, economic, social and cultural life of the Baltic region. It was established in 1920.
A few New Zealanders would say you have it wrong, because they got fined for going to the shopping center twice on the same day. A shopper discovered a ticket after her second visit to the mall in a single day, and then contacted the company that runs the business in Paraparaumu, New Zealand , on its Facebook page.Once the complaint reached the page on the social network, other people admitted that they had also found a NZD 65 ($45) ticket on their windshields after doing the same thing.Fortunately, Daphne Bodericks discovery was followed by an explanation from the company that runs the mall. Apparently, they wanted to be sure that commuters did not use their space to get free parking in the city while they used public transit to get to their jobs.Therefore, a four-hour parking time was deemed free, and everything that exceeded it was fined with $65 per day. This seems fair up until this point, right?It was, in theory, but the business owners had a flaw in their security procedures, which were not monitoring the spaces to the minute. Instead, it was determined that the parking area was controlled in the morning, with license plate numbers recorded when the center was opened every day.Then, mall security would return in the afternoon to check all of the license plates of the vehicles parked there. A cross-check of the two lists was made, and the plates that were present twice on the list were fined.As you can observe, theres room for error here, which was discovered by the shopper who had the idea to complain about the situation on Facebook.If you have not spotted the issue, the systems flaw was that you could park in the morning, leave after a couple of minutes, well within the four-hour window of the free parking rule, and then come back in the afternoon.Even if you parked in a different spot, your car would have a ticket on the windshield. Fortunately, the shopper who made the complaint had the receipts to prove that she had two visits to the mall on that day, at entirely different times, and her fine was waived. Stuff contacted the manager of the mall, and the official explained that they regret the situation and have taken the required steps to prevent this from ever happening again. Shoppers who have received tickets that they feel were unfair were asked to visit the center and ask to have them revoked.
41 Nepali students receive Cambridge excellence awards

Forty-one Nepali students from various A Level schools across the country were awarded by Cambridge International Examinations in recognition of their exceptional performance in Cambridge International AS and A Level subjects under Cambridge exam series held in June and November of 2016.
To make a long story short, General Motors announced that two of Opels plants in Germany had secured their midterm future. By that, the automaker refers to the production of Opel- and Buick-branded vehicles beyond 2019. And speaking of 2019, thats when Opel plans to introduce a new Mokka X.During a press conference, Opel representatives also revealed that an all-new large SUV will follow in 2020. Slated to be produced in Russelsheim, the mystery sport utility vehicle is expected to slot above the Grandland X compact crossover. As a brief refresher, the compact-sized Grandland X will debut later this year with bits and pieces borrowed from the Peugeot 3008.In addition, Opel said, investments are also confirmed for exports of sister products for another GM brand from these plants. By that, the company refers to Buick. The American automaker only recently introduced the all-new Regal, a mid-size vehicle thats sold as the Opel and Vauxhall Insignia in Europe. In Australia, it is known as the Holden NG Commodore.The steps to establish organizational prerequisites further include the grouping of Opels European business and PSA under one company. From a legal standpoint, that means Opel will change its status from AG (joint stock company; corporation) to GmbH (limited liability company). Opel let it slip that the legal entity change will happen sometime soon, probably in Q2 2017.Theres still some way to go until Groupe PSA becomes the new owner of Opel, including a number of regulatory approvals and clearance by the European Commission. The bottom line is, what General Motors is trying to do with Opels new owner is to create a foundation for continued cooperation.Then again, it will be interesting to see what happens with Opel once General Motors European-built vehicles will be phased out. Once that happens, it will be up to PSA to show how well it can manage Opel's next-gen portfolio.
Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued its official response to the United States' strike on a Syrian airbase in retaliation for the Assad regime's chemical weapons attack on Syrian civilians. It reads, in part:

While previous initiatives of this kind were presented as efforts to combat terrorism, now they are clearly an act of aggression against a sovereign Syria. Actions undertaken by the US today inflict further damage to the Russia-US relations.

Russia claimed the U.S. has "totally distorted" the events in Syria, stating the Assad regime does not possess chemical weapons and blaming the deaths on "toxic land mines" created by rebel terrorists. It called the strike an attempt to divert international attention away from Mosul, where a U.S.-led bombing campaign against ISIS has led to the accidental deaths of hundreds of Iraqi civilians.

In addition, the statement also suspended the Memorandum of Understanding on Prevention of Flight Safety Incidents that coordinates U.S.-Russia communications regarding flight paths over Syria and called for an "emergency meeting" of the U.N. Security Council.
President Trump stated that the U.S. and China have made "tremendous progress" during a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Mar-a-Lago Friday. He also noted that the two leaders have developed "an outstanding" relationship.

Note: Trump and Xi did not discuss the U.S. missile strike in Syria, and Trump reportedly "ignored" questions about potential action in North Korea.




First up, Joe Biden is thinking about dropping tariffs against China. But theres a spy in prison this morning that helps us understand why he shouldnt. Ill explain.





Your second brief, If youre looking for a good paying job, you might consider being a CEO for a health insurance company. One executive made $142M dollars last year. Let's talk about that.





And as always, Im keeping an eye out for developing stories. Put this one on your radar. Mexican cartels are grooming American kids online and paying them cash to traffic illegals or run drugs across the border. Ill share details.





If you enjoyed this episode of the President's Daily Brief, remember to subscribe and listen daily at podfollow.com/pdb.

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Absconding murder convict arrested after 13 years

An absconding murder convict has been arrested by a police team deployed from the Area Police Office, Huwash, on Thursday.
Bundestag VP arriving

Vice-president Claudia Roth of Bundestag, which is the lower house of the German parliament, will pay a three-day official visit to Nepal from Sunday.
The following companies are subsidiares of Aramark: 1ST & Fresh LLC, AIL Servicos Alimenticios e Participacoes Ltda., AIM Services Co. Ltd., AMP Limited Partnership, ARA Catering and Vending Services Limited, ARA Coffee Club Limited, ARA Coffee System Limited, ARA Food Services Limited, ARA Marketing Services Limited, ARA Offshore Services Limited, ARAMONT Company Ltd., Active Industrial Unif, Alcatraz Hospitality, AmeriPride Services, American Snack & Beverage LLC, Aramark (BVI) Limited, Aramark Airport Services Limited, Aramark American Food Services LLC, Aramark Asia Management LLC, Aramark Aviation Services Limited Partnership, Aramark B.V., Aramark Beverages Limited, Aramark Business & Industry LLC, Aramark Business Center LLC, Aramark Business Dining Services of Texas LLC, Aramark Business Facilities LLC, Aramark CCT Trustees Limited, Aramark Campus LLC, Aramark Canada Ltd., Aramark Canadian Investments Inc., Aramark Capital Asset Services LLC, Aramark Catering Limited, Aramark China Dining Services (Shanghai) Limited, Aramark China Holdings Limited, Aramark Chugach Alaska Services LLC, Aramark Cleaning S.A., Aramark Cleanroom Services (Puerto Rico) Inc., Aramark Cleanroom Services LLC, Aramark Co. Ltd., Aramark Colombia SAS, Aramark Concessions Services Joint Venture, Aramark Confection LLC, Aramark Construction Services Inc., Aramark Construction and Energy Services LLC, Aramark Consumer Discount Company, Aramark Correctional Services LLC, Aramark Defence Services Limited, Aramark Denmark ApS, Aramark Distribution Services Inc., Aramark Educational Group LLC, Aramark Educational Services LLC, Aramark Educational Services of Texas LLC, Aramark Educational Services of Vermont Inc., Aramark Entertainment LLC, Aramark Entertainment Services (Canada) Inc., Aramark Executive Management Services USA Inc., Aramark FHC Business Services LLC, Aramark FHC Campus Services LLC, Aramark FHC Correctional Services LLC, Aramark FHC Healthcare Support Services LLC, Aramark FHC Kansas Inc., Aramark FHC LLC, Aramark FHC Refreshment Services LLC, Aramark FHC School Support Services LLC, Aramark FHC Services LLC, Aramark FHC Sports and Entertainment Services LLC, Aramark FSM LLC, Aramark Facility Services LLC, Aramark Food Service LLC, Aramark Food Service of Texas LLC, Aramark Food and Support Services Group Inc., Aramark Global Group S.a.r.l., Aramark Global Inc., Aramark GmbH, Aramark Gulf Limited, Aramark Gulf Limited Catering Services LLC, Aramark Healthcare Support Services LLC, Aramark Healthcare Support Services of the Virgin Islands Inc., Aramark Healthcare Technologies LLC, Aramark Holding Deutschland GmbH, Aramark Holdings GmbH & Co. KG, Aramark Holdings Ltd., Aramark Industrial Services LLC, Aramark Intermediate HoldCo Corporation, Aramark International Finance S.a.r.l., Aramark International Holdings S.a.r.l., Aramark Inversiones Latinoamericanas Limitada, Aramark Investments Limited, Aramark Ireland Holdings Limited, Aramark Japan Holdings Limited, Aramark Japan LLC, Aramark KSA LLC, Aramark Kazakhstan Ltd., Aramark Lakewood Associates, Aramark Limited, Aramark Management GmbH, Aramark Management LLC, Aramark Management Services Limited Partnership, Aramark Manning Services UK Limited, Aramark Mexico Group, Aramark Mexico S.A. de C.V., Aramark Monclova Manufacturing de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Aramark Monclova Support S.A.de C.V., Aramark Norway SA, Aramark Organizational Services LLC, Aramark Partnership Limited, Aramark Personnel Services, Aramark Peru S.A.C., Aramark Peru Servicios de Intermediacion SRL, Aramark Processing LLC, Aramark Property Services Limited, Aramark Qualified Opportunity Fund, Aramark Quebec Inc., Aramark RBI Inc., Aramark Rail Services LLC, Aramark Receivables LLC, Aramark Refreshment Group, Aramark Refreshment Services LLC, Aramark Refreshment Services of Tampa LLC, Aramark Regional Treasury Europe DAC, Aramark Remote Workplace Services Ltd., Aramark Restaurations GmbH, Aramark S&E/QCF Joint Venture, Aramark S.A., Aramark S.A. de C.V., Aramark S.R.O., Aramark SARL, Aramark SCM Inc., Aramark SM Management Services Inc., Aramark SMMS LLC, Aramark SMMS Real Estate LLC, Aramark School Catering Facility Ltd., Aramark Schools Facilities LLC, Aramark Schools LLC, Aramark Senior Living Services LLC, Aramark Senior Notes Company LLC, Aramark Service Industries (China) Co. Ltd., Aramark Services Inc., Aramark Services SA, Aramark Services of Kansas Inc., Aramark Services of Puerto Rico Inc., Aramark Servicios Industriales S. de R.L. de C.V., Aramark Servicios Integrales S.A., Aramark Servicios Mineros y Remotos Limitada, Aramark Servicios SRL, Aramark Servicios de Catering S.L., Aramark Servicos Alimenticos e Participacoes Ltda., Aramark Sports Facilities LLC, Aramark Sports LLC, Aramark Sports and Entertainment Group LLC, Aramark Sports and Entertainment Services LLC, Aramark Sports and Entertainment Services of Texas LLC, Aramark Sub Investments Limited, Aramark Technical Services North Carolina Inc., Aramark Togwotee LLC, Aramark Trademark Services, Aramark Trustees Limited, Aramark U.S. Offshore Services LLC, Aramark Uniform & Career Apparel Group Inc., Aramark Uniform & Career Apparel LLC, Aramark Uniform Holding de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Aramark Uniform Manufacturing Company, Aramark Uniform Services (Canada) Ltd., Aramark Uniform Services (Matchpoint) LLC, Aramark Uniform Services (Rochester) LLC, Aramark Uniform Services (Supply Chain), Aramark Uniform Services (Syracuse) LLC, Aramark Uniform Services (Texas) LLC, Aramark Uniform Services (West Adams) LLC, Aramark Uniform Services Japan Corporation, Aramark Venue Services Inc., Aramark WTC LLC, Aramark Workplace Solutions (UK) Ltd., Aramark Workplace Solutions Yonetim Hizmetleri Limited Sirketi, Aramark Worldwide Investments Limited, Aramark-Clarksville Club, Aramark-FINCO of Texas LLC, Aramark-Gourmet DPS LLC, Aramark-KWAME of St. Louis LLC, Aramark-SFS Healthcare J.V. L.L.C., Aramark/Dasko Restaurant and Catering Services S.A., Aramark/GM Concessions Joint Venture, Aramark/Giacometti Joint Venture, Aramark/Globetrotters LLC, Aramark/Gourmet HE-1 LLC, Aramark/Gourmet HE-2 LLC, Aramark/HF Company, Aramark/HMS LLC, Aramark/Hart Lyman Entertainment LLC, Aramark/Martin's Stadium Concession Services OPACY Joint Venture, Aramark/QHC LLC, Aramark/SFS Joint Venture, Avendra, Avendra Canada Inc., Avendra Gaming, Avendra Replenishment, Avoca, Avoca Handweavers Designs Limited, Avoca Handweavers Limited, Avoca Handweavers NI Limited, Avoca Handweavers Shops Limited, Avoca Handweavers UK Limited, Beijing Golden Collar Dining Ltd., Boompjes Hotel BV, Brand Coffee Service Inc., BuyEfficient, CDR Mantenimiento Integral S.A., Campbell Catering (Belfast) Ltd., Campbell Catering (N.I.) Ltd., Campbell Catering Holdings Limited, Campbell Catering Limited, Campbell Catering Ltd., Campbell Catering Services, Canadian Linen and Uniform Service Co., Canyonlands Rafting Hospitality LLC, Catering Alliance Limited, Caterwise Food Services Limited, Central Multiservicios S.R.L., Central de Abastecimiento Limitada, Central de Restaurantes Aramark Limitada, Central de Restaurantes Aramark Multiservicios Limitada, Central de Restaurantes S.R.L., Centrapal S.R.L., Centro de Innovacion y Servicio S.A., Cliff House Hospitality, Comertel Educa SLU, Comertel Residencia SLU, Comertel SA, Complete Purchasing Services Inc., Corporate Coffee Systems LLC, Crater Lake Hospitality, D.G. Maren II Inc., Delicious on West Street LLC, Delsac VIII Inc., Distributor JV Limited, Dongguan Best Property Management Co., Doyon/Aramark Denali National Park Concessions Joint Venture, Effective Partnerships Limited, Filterfresh Coffee Service, Filterfresh Coffee Service LLC, Filterfresh Franchise Group LLC, Fine Host Holdings LLC, Food JV Limited, Freedom Ferry Services, GTB Gastro Team Bremen GmbH, Gestion de Alimentacion y Limpieza Colectivadades SLU, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve Concessions LLC, Glen Canyon Rafting Hospitality, Glenrye Properties Services Limited, Golden Collar, Good Uncle Services, Gourmet Aramark Services LLC, Guaranty Energy Group 1981, HPSI Purchasing Services LLC, Harrison Conference Associates LLC, Harrison Conference Services of North Carolina LLC, Harry M. Stevens Inc. of New Jersey, Harry M. Stevens Inc. of Penn., Harry M. 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Telefonica, S.A., together with its subsidiaries, provides telecommunications services in Europe and Latin America. The company's mobile and related services and products comprise mobile voice, value added, mobile data and Internet, wholesale, corporate, roaming, fixed wireless, and trunking and paging services. Its fixed telecommunication services include PSTN lines; ISDN accesses; public telephone services; local, domestic, and international long-distance and fixed-to-mobile communications; corporate communications; supplementary value-added services; video telephony; intelligent network; and telephony information services, as well as leases and sells handset equipment. The company also provides Internet and broadband multimedia services comprising Internet service provider, portal and network, retail and wholesale broadband access, narrowband switched access, high-speed Internet through fibre to the home, and voice over Internet protocol services. In addition, it offers leased line, virtual private network, fibre optics, web hosting and application, outsourcing and consultancy, desktop, and system integration and professional services. Further, the company offers wholesale services for telecommunication operators, including domestic interconnection and international wholesale services; leased lines for other operators; and local loop leasing services, as well as bit stream services, wholesale line rental accesses, and leased ducts for other operators' fiber deployment. Additionally, it provides video/TV services; smart connectivity and services, and consumer IoT products; financial and other payment, security, cloud computing, advertising, big data, and digital telco experience services; virtual assistants; digital home platforms; and Movistar Home devices. It also offers online telemedicine, home insurance, music streaming, and consumer loan services. The company was incorporated in 1924 and is headquartered in Madrid, Spain.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby: 'The Most Important Thing I've Ever Done Is Become A Follower Of Jesus.'

The Archbishop of Canterbury has described how Jesus has walked beside him for more than 40 years - even when he has not wanted him there.

Justin Welby says the most important thing he's ever done in his life is become a follower of Jesus.

In a new #Pledge2Pray video launched today as part of the global prayer movement Thy Kingdom Come, he says following Jesus has been the core point of his entire life.

"Through the hardest and most painful times, and in the best and most joyful times in my life, Jesus has walked alongside me,' he says. "He's never left, even when I've wanted him to. When I felt ready to give up hope, he picked me up, and it's his love that has healed me and strengthened me."

Welby admits there's a lot about his job that stops him getting too self-important.

"I remember being at some event, one of my colleagues heard someone in the crowd whisper, 'Isn't that the Archbishop of Canterbury over there?' And the person's friend hissed back, 'Nah, too short.'

"When I meet Jesus Christ at the judgment, I know one thing. He isn't going to care what size of Archbishop I was. Or, I think, whether I was an Archbishop. What matters is that I loved him, and sought to follow him, and above all that I trusted in him alone for my life and my future.

"Because the most important thing I've ever done is to become a follower of Jesus. I took my first steps with him about 42 years ago. Over those years, he's been a faithful friend, a sovereign Lord, compassionate, forgiving, my ever-present saviour, everything in my life, the heart and foundation of all I am."

This is why he wants everyone to hear his voice calling to them, and to learn what it is to find his love, his call, his direction, his purpose.

"That's why I'm pledging to pray for more people to know the life-transforming love of Jesus Christ. That's why I'm asking you, along with every Christian community around the world, to join me in pledging to pray as part of Thy Kingdom Come."

Thy Kingdom Come aims to get Christians praying between Ascension and Pentecost - 25 May to 4 June 2017 - that more people come to know Jesus Christ. Last year more than 100,000 people joined with the Archbishops of Canterbury and York in the #Pledge2Pray initiative.

Welby said: "It's not a Church of England thing, it's not an Anglican thing, it's a Christian thing."

Emma Buchan, project leader for the Archbishop's evangelism taskforce, and who heads up Thy Kingdom Come, said: "The global response to the campaign this year has been overwhelming. We've heard from churches across the world, including different denominations and traditions, who are all pledging to get involved from South Africa to Canada and from the Brazil to Hong Kong.

"Each place is organising the time in their own way, for example in Hong Kong they are planning big celebrations in the cathedrals and establishing a network of 'prayer warriors'.

"We're hoping people will be inspired to take part and be catalysts for setting up prayer events in their local area."
Archbishop of Canterbury on Facebook Live with Christian Today - Palm Sunday

Do you find it hard to share your faith? How should we pray for other people - how do we actually evangelise?

These are some of the questions facing Christians today that we'll be talking to the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby about live on Facebook this Sunday.

This will be the launch event for Facebook Live on Christian Today. We'll be asking him about his global call for Christians to pray this Pentecost for more people to know Jesus  called Thy Kingdom Come. If you have any questions about prayer, or about sharing your faith, post them in the comments and we'll put some to Archbishop Justin during the conversation.

You can also send questions to us on Twitter.

To watch live, just come to our Facebook page from 10am ET (or 3pm in the UK) and we'll be going live shortly after.

The Archbishop will be talking to Christian Today staff reporter James Macintyre and they will be joined also by Emma Buchan of Thy Kingdom Come, the #PledgetoPray global prayer event in May and June. 'I cannot remember in my life anything that I've been involved in where I have sensed so clearly the work of the Spirit,' the Archbishop says of this event. They will talk about evangelism, the central importance of prayer for Christians and what to do if you find it difficult to share your faith.

Sunday is Palm Sunday, the start of Holy Week. So they will also talk about the events that led up to the Crucifixion and the Resurrection of Jesus.
Come, Holy Spirit: Archbishop Of Canterbury Urges Prayer For Evangelism

There is a "move of the Spirit going on", according to the Archbishop of Canterbury  and it's centred on prayer.

Speaking at the launch of the 2017 Thy Kingdom Come prayer campaign, he referred to the astonishing success of last year's initiative.

Expected to involve around 5,000 people, it was supported by 20 times as many - around 100,000.

The campaign involves encouraging individuals, families and churches to pray for evangelism between Ascension and Pentecost, May 25 to June 4. This year more resources have been produced and "beacon" events planned at cathedrals and other venues to attract large numbers of people.

Archbishop Justin Welby said at Lambeth Palace this morning: "When the wind of the Spirit is blowing, hoist the sails."

He said Thy Kingdom Come was not a Church of England event, "any more than someone who starts an avalanche can say, 'That's my avalanche.'"

The initiative has been adopted by the World Methodist Conference, the Salvation Army and the Roman Catholic Church, and at a meeting in Istanbul earlier this week Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew gave it his blessing.

Welby said: "Everyone is doing it their own way. Just pray, between Ascension and Pentecost, for the work of the Spirit, that we will see God opening people's hearts to receive the good news of Jesus."

He spoke of the importance of relying on God and "knowing you haven't got what it takes to do something". He reflected movingly on an experience two years in a refugee camp in the Democratic Republic of Congo where all support had been withdrawn, describing it as "a most terrible place".

He described spending time in a tent with disabled children who had been abandoned by their parents, a place of "absolute horror"; when he came out he was asked by the local bishop to speak some words of encouragement. Feeling he had nothing to say, he quoted the verse "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, the today and forever."

"They all started singing and applauding," he said. "I thought, Oh, that's God doing that. I was going to give practical solutions, but they wanted someone to remind them that God doesn't change."

He said: "None of us have the resources to bring people to faith in Jesus Christ. The cupboard is bare. But the task is set before us by Jesus himself, who says, 'You are my witnesses.' We are to be Jesus in the world."

Welby said: "I cannot remember anything I've been involved in when I have sensed so clearly the work of the Spirit."

He concluded: "We pray many prayers not knowing how they will be answered. But when we pray, 'Come, Holy Spirit', we know he will move in a way that points people to Jesus Christ."

Resources for the campaign can be found on the Thy Kingdom Come website, including a Pledge2Pray page showing an interactive map which lights up the locations throughout the world where prayer is taking place.
Ex-atheist Lee Strobel explains why the four Gospels are historically reliable and the big flaw in Darwinism

Atheist Lee Strobel served as the legal affairs editor for The Chicago Tribune, having graduated from Yale Law School. But his wife, Leslie, went to church one Sunday morning.

To win his wife back to their blissful state of unbelief, Strobel went on a quest to use his investigative journalist skills to debunk Christianity once and for all: "No resurrection, no Christianity." But when he intensely studied the actual evidence, he reluctantly became convinced that the claims for the life, ministry, and resurrection of Jesus Christ are indeed true.

Strobel wrote a book about his spiritual quest, called The Case for Christ, which has sold millions of copies. Now, a new major movie by the same title is coming to theaters (4/7/17) and will tell his story.

As a Christian TV producer and radio host, I have had the privilege a few times to interview Lee Strobel, a leading Christian apologist of our time. What follows are some of his answers to my questions that he gave me in some of those interviews.

On His Becoming an Atheist

"I can go back to the exact place where I was sitting in a high school in Mt. Prospect, Illinois .... The scientific teaching I received, when I was a student, that told me that God is irrelevant and that evolution explained the origin and the development of life, really set me down a path toward atheism."

His Thoughts on Darwinism Now

"On the surface you can build a scientific case for Darwinism. In reality, though, the more you examine it, the more its pillars rot under scrutiny .... I was told, for instance, that the fossil evidence supports Darwinism, and that you can reconstruct the progression of animal life through fossil discoveries and so forth. That's simply not true. What the fossil record shows is the sudden appearance of fully formed creatures, with no precursor animals, and really no substantive change afterwards."

On His Quest to Find the Truth

"I cross-examined experts to try to get them to articulate the evidence in a way that I could understand it and answer the tough questions that I had when I was a skeptic ... and every time they would be able to provide cogent, solid arguments, and information and data and evidence that confirmed to me that Christianity is not a fairytale built on wishful thinking. But it is a belief system that is founded on a solid foundation of historical and scientific fact."

On the Historical Reliability of the Four Biblical Gospels

"As a journalist, I've learned to investigate the reliability of documents. And when you look at the documents that make up the New Testament of the Bible, they meet the tests of reliability that historians use. For instance, the four Gospels in the Bible have ties to the apostles themselves. They're either written by apostles or by people who were working with the apostles, like Mark, who worked with Peter, and Luke, who was a close associate of Paul, the eyewitness to the resurrected Jesus. So, we have eyewitness testimony that goes into the Gospels that are in the Bible. They also come very soon after the events themselves, so soon that we don't have legend coming in and wiping out a solid core of historical truth."

On Historical Evidence for Jesus Apart from the Bible

"There's an historian by the name of Dr. Gary Habermas. He did a study of the references to Jesus in ancient history outside the Bible, and he found over 100 facts about the life, teachings, miracles, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ in ancient writings outside the Bible that corroborate what the Bible tells us about Jesus."

On the Solid Foundation of the Christian Faith

"Our faith is built on a firm factual historical foundation. There's not some document that's going to surface, all of a sudden, that's going to negate 2,000 years of the Church. I went into this as an atheist. I went in as a skeptic. I went in as someone who was motivated for this not to be true. What did I find? I found that I could trust the New Testament of the Bible, when it tells me about the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I found evidence that convinced me, as a skeptic, that Christianity is true."

On the Medium of Film to Reach People for Christ

"Churches need to wake up and start seeing Christian filmmakers and Christian novelists as being missionaries to a new generation .... Film is hugely influential among young people, and we need to see Christian filmmakers as missionaries. We need to pray for them, we need to get them trained. We need to finance them and support them." [Note: Strobel said these prophetic words at the time the anti-Christian film, The DaVinci Code, was about to be released.]

Jerry Newcombe, D.Min., is an on-air host/senior producer for D. James Kennedy Ministries. He has written/co-written 26 books, including The Book That Made America, Doubting Thomas (w/ Mark Beliles, on Jefferson), What If Jesus Had Never Been Born? (w/ D. James Kennedy) & George Washington's Sacred Fire (w/ Peter Lillback). djameskennedy.org @newcombejerry This article was originally published on The Christian Post.
Ex-radical Muslim explains the 8 different types of jihad

A former Radical Muslim turned international Christian evangelist has detailed different categories of jihad that she says is being carried out today to advance the Islamic agenda worldwide.

Isik Abla, who was raised and abused in a Muslim home in Turkey but now professes the name of Christ in over 150 countries around the world through her television ministry, spoke to warn about the deception being used by radical Muslims to gain influence across the globe.

Although most people think of war and Islamic-related terrorism when they think of the term "jihad," Abla explained that there are actually eight different types of jihad.

Even though Abla admits that she was involved in one of the forms of jihad before she left Islam, she credited her friend Baroness Caroline Cox, a member of the United Kingdom House of Lords, with having taught her about the eight types of jihad.

"She has an amazing understanding about jihad," Abla said. "I knew these types of jihad before but I never categorized them. I just believed as Muslims, that we had to use every way to Islamize the world. When I got to meet her and become good friends with her, she was describing them just the way I was taught. I was part of it without knowing it. It makes perfect sense after hearing her."

1. Population jihad

According to Abla, "population jihad," also referred to as "cultural jihad," is the concept of populating the world with more Muslims than Christians, Jews or people of other religions or no religions.

Abla said that this not only refers to the migration of Muslims and their invasion of foreign cultures, but it also is a call for Muslims already embedded in Western countries to have more children than non-Muslims.

Abla explained that some mosque leaders even tell their congregations to have as many children as they can because "Muslims must populate the world."

"We are not only talking about refugees going to Western world from Islamic world with their families, but if you are also living in those countries, you need to make more children," Abla said. "It is taught in the mosques. Imams tell congregations to make children  'Let's inherit the world through population.' I heard it before but I never thought of it as 'population jihad.'"

Abla said that this is a "very popular teaching in Islam and it is very powerful."

"Muslims believe that when the end times come, at the end of the world, everyone is going to be a Muslim," she explained. "This is very sneaky because they sneak into the societies, cultures and countries before you know it. This is more powerful than the violent side of Islam."

2. Media jihad

One of the most influential forms of jihad is "media jihad," which Abla said allows Muslims to influence the way Westerners think or feel about Islam and particular political candidates.

Abla asserted that Muslims spend billions of dollars building partnerships with major television networks and other major media outlets.

"In the United States many media channels' partnerships are bought by Muslims. There are so many Muslims behind the scenes in power because they invest money. They invest billions into the Western world's media. It is so crazy, mind blowing how much they invest into Facebook, Twitter, TV channels," she said. "Even in the political elections, [it's crazy] how much Muslims were investing into the campaigns to manipulate and change the atmosphere."

"You can take anything and make any person a monster or hero in the eyes of people through media," Abla told CP. "It is easy manipulate and brainwash people through media. It is the easiest way and most powerful channel as a weapon. We saw it in the previous elections. We see it in the world. They can get you to believe anything about any candidate that they want you to believe."

She also said that one of the biggest media jihad initiatives is to promote the idea that "Islam is the religion of peace."

"Whoever says this is part of media jihad," she contended.

Another way in which Islam is trying to gain influence in the cultures of the Western world, Abla said, is by devout Muslims paying tuition for other Muslims to attend prestigious Western universities like Harvard, Yale, Oxford or Cambridge.

3. Education jihad

"These are going to be the people of the future to be in high positions," she explained.

Abla admitted that she participated in "education jihad" when she was married to her first husband because his family was so involved with it.

"They pay their Harvard education, they pay Princeton, they pay Yale," Abla explained in an interview with CP in February. "So we were shoveling money to this kind of educational Jihad so those people could be in high places in power to dictate what needs to happen in the Western world [and] to Islamize the Western world. This is an ideology type of Islam and I was part of that."

"We were so ambitious ... to send these kids to those colleges," Abla further stated last week. "It was like almost tithing or giving an offering or sending a missionary. You are sending a missionary and you giving all your income to one kid to go to Harvard."

Educational jihad is not only meant to help Muslims reach high standing in society but it also to help infiltrate the institutions.

"Education jihad has two parts. One is very powerful countries like Saudi Arabia, they invest into these colleges. They give millions of dollars a year. ... So they have a lot of saying into these colleges' curriculums," Abla claimed. "The other way is by sending these Muslim youths into these colleges. What happens is when they graduate, they don't have green cards but they have the highest chance of being hired by a company to get a green card."

4. Economic jihad

Abla also discussed "economical jihad," which can also referred to as "financial jihad." Much like "media jihad," Abla explained that wealthy and influential radical Muslims are investing in various businesses, banks, stocks and properties in the Western world.

"Right now, there are enormous amount of Muslims investors in the U.K. and America," she said. "They partner with the banks. They are populating and ruling over the economy."

Abla contended that the goal behind this kind of investing is to obtain power within the culture.

"Anywhere that you invest money, you have cultural power. Anywhere you are a shareholder, you have cultural power. You have a voice when you invest your money. That voice is the voice of Islam," she argued. "When you invest your money in any field, you are basically buying people, you are basically buying companies. They are going to sooner or later going to mold into your ideology."

5. Physical jihad

"Physical jihad," or what Abla refers to as "war against infidels," is probably the most recognizable form of jihad, as terrorist groups like the Islamic State, Boko Haram and others are constantly in the news because they continue to kill nonbelievers and dissenting Muslims in places like the Middle East and Africa and carry out attacks on soft targets in the West.

Abla explained that some Muslims are brainwashed into believing that Muslims are called to carry out wars against Christians, Jews and others until everyone dies or they become Muslims. Specifically, she pointed to Quran 2:171-173.

"Quran is calling them evildoers. They are thinking Christians and Jews are not human beings. They are part of Satan's kingdom and when they kill Christians and Jews, they are destroying Satan's kingdom," Abla said. "They were brainwashed and I was one of them. They were brainwashed with physical jihad to physically kill them. They believe in ethnic cleansing. So when you ask about physical jihad, it is not only war and defense, it includes ethnic cleansing  genocide."

Abla asserted that Muslims are called to carry out jihad until everybody is either killed or recites the Muslim declaration of faith.

Abla warned against efforts to bring "sharia courts," or sharia councils, to the United States like they have done in places in the United Kingdom.

6. Legal jihad

An estimated 30 sharia councils exist in England with the purpose of providing Muslim women with a way to get an Islamic divorce through religious scholars when their husbands don't approve of the divorce.

However, Abla and others have voiced concerns that the sharia councils are being used to discriminate against women and provide unfair divorce terms.

"A number of women have reportedly been victims of what appear to be discriminatory decisions taken by sharia councils, and that is a significant concern," Prime Minister Theresa May said last year.

Uproar occurred in Texas when it was reported that an Islamic tribunal was established at a Sunni mosque in Irving, Texas. The town's mayor made headlines after voicing opposition to the mosque.

Abla accused those trying to set up "sharia courts" in the United States of using democracy to "stop freedom."

"They take an action [under the guise] of human rights and religious freedom," she said. "It is unbelievable. They use your law against you."

7. Humanitarian jihad

Muslim humanitarian groups are using people's desperation to get them to convert to Islam and say the Shahada, according to Abla.

She warned that displaced non-Muslims in high-need countries in Africa and other places throughout the world are being denied food unless they convert to Islam.

"If you want to get help, you register as a Muslim. Even nominal Christians, they may be in so much need and register as Muslims to receive aid. Then they say that if you want to continue to get this aid, you need to come to Quran course once a week, you need to come to Friday prayer meetings," Abla explained. "They start luring you little by little. First, you just fill out a piece of paper to get food. After three months, they say 'We change our rules, you need to come to prayer meeting.' After that, you need to put your kids into Muslim school."

Abla's claim comes as Open Doors USA warned recently that Christians in Nigeria are being denied aid by Muslim humanitarian organizations.

8. Political jihad

Muslims who hold power or public office in the West try to downplay the role of Islam when it comes to violence and terror, thus carrying out the "political jihad," Abla said.

As an example, she pointed to London Mayor Sadiq Khan's response to three bombings that injured over 30 people in New York City and New Jersey last September that was carried out by a man believed to be influenced by extremist ideology. Khan said that terrorist attacks like that are "part and parcel of living in a big city." In March, an attack in London claimed by Islamic State killed three pedestrians and a police officer and injured over 50 people.

"[He] said that this kind of attack should be expected," Abla said of the mayor, who is Muslim. "So this is a good example of being Muslim and having political power and making it seem like it is normal and desensitizing people to terrorism to stop giving reactions to Muslim terrorists."

"They say, 'We living a big city and attacks like this are normal.' I lived like terrorism is normal in the Middle East and a Muslim country. Politically bringing this to the Western world, with these people who are in power saying 'Islam is a religion of peace and terrorism is going to happen.' It becomes part of your life," Abla added. "When I was in the Muslim world, it was part of my life. I used to hear gunshots and machine guns. I grew up with PTSD. It became normal and it was part of my life but it was not part of my life when I came to America. Now, they are trying to make it part of your life."
Dont return unknown intl calls, teleco warns

Did you miss a call from countries like Seychelles or Tunisia? If you have, dont return such calls, as they could be scams, Nepals largest telecommunications service providers have said.
Feeling Desperate? Want To Change The World? Try Praying 'Thy Kingdom Come'

'I'll pray for you.' It's what we tend to say when we can't think of anything more useful to do. Sometimes we actually do pray for this unfortunate who has been bereaved, or got ill, or been made redundant; sometimes we don't, as Martin Saunders has been honest enough to admit.

This tension between the desire to fix things and the knowledge that there are some things only God can do  and we aren't even sure what they are  is built in to how Christians engage with the world and with each other. We can't solve every problem, but we believe there is a golden thread of God's activity woven into every human predicament.

Hence the initiative of the Archbishop of Canterbury launched yesterday, Thy Kingdom Come. It's a campaign to get people praying for converts, and it follows an unexpectedly successful event last year. Run in conjunction with the 24/7 prayer network, it was expected to attract around 5,000 supporters and ended up reaching 100,000. It is, the Archbishop was at pains to stress, not an Anglican thing; it's just that he and the Archbishop of York happened to think of it. Realistically, most of the takeup will be Anglican, but it is a thoroughly ecumenical venture: pray, as individuals, families and churches, between Ascension and Pentecost - that's May 25 to June 4 - for the salvation of souls.

The wide support for the initiative might uncharitably be thought to smack of desperation. Outside London, the Church in the UK is declining. Methodism, once a Nonconformist powerhouse, is approaching a cliff-edge thanks to an aging membership. Of course we'll pray for converts; we've tried everything else and it hasn't worked.

But this isn't quite the whole story. Thy Kingdom Come is a deliberate attempt to acknowledge, on a very large scale, human  particularly Christian  insufficiency, at the same time as being an expression of deep hope and trust in God. We can't make people Christians. Only God can do that, and we pray that he will.

At the same time, we have absolutely no excuse for not trying as hard as we can to persuade them of the truth of the gospel. The reason why it is this particular archbishop who has been able to energise the Church to back Thy Kingdom Come is that he embodies the two complementary requirements for credibility: he is an organiser and an activist, but he is also a fervent believer in whom the currents of faith run very deeply. One without the other wouldn't work. We need prayer, but we need action too.

London provides a good example of this. Richard Chartres' leadership as its Anglican bishop has led to the Church of England growing considerably  and it's not just about immigration, either. Prayer is an integral part of it. It's the combination of spirituality and practicality that delivers results.

Many churches in the UK are struggling with low numbers, few young people and low morale. Not all of them, by any means, and there are signs of growth, too, but it's been a hard few decades. Where Thy Kingdom Come strikes a chord is that it encourages people to hand over the problem to God. It acknowledges that there's only so much we can do, and that's alright.

The Baptist father of modern missions, William Carey, is famous for saying: 'Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.' Praying Thy Kingdom Come is to stand with empty hands, and if we are honest, empty heads as well, asking God to fill them. But the expectation and the attempt belong together. We don't expect prayer to replace action, but we know action is useless without prayer. In our darker moments, praying 'Thy Kingdom Come' might seem like one of those desperate 'I can't think of anything else to say' statements. In reality, it's what might change the world.

Resources for Thy Kingdom Come can be found here.

Follow Mark Woods on Twitter: @RevMarkWoods.
Mike Pence pledges US support for Iraq's war on ISIS

US Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday assured Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of continued US support to defeat Islamic State, the Iraqi government said in a statement.

The two discussed the situation in Syria and the war on Islamic State in a phone call from Pence following Friday's US strikes on a Syrian airbase to punish a chemical attack that killed scores of civilians this week in an area held by the opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Pence 'affirmed that US policy in the region didn't change, its priority is to defeat Daesh in Iraq and the region,' said a statement from Abadi's office.

The Shi'ite-led Iraqi government issued a statement on Friday in reaction to the events in Syria reflecting a difficult balancing act between its alliance with the United States and with Shi'ite Iran, a key backer of Assad. The Iraqi statement condemned the chemical attack, without naming Assad, calling instead for an international investigation to identify the perpetrator.

The statement also criticised 'the hasty interventions' that followed the chemical attack, in an apparent reference to the US strikes.

A US-led coalition has been providing air and ground support to Iraqi forces battling the militants, allowing them to recapture most cities they had overran in 2014 in Sunni areas of northern and western Iraq.

An Iranian-backed Iraqi Shi'ite militia said on Friday it would keep on fighting in Syria in support of Assad, despite the US missile strikes.

'Our movement is proceeding on the path of jihad and resistance, and our position concerning the war in Syria won't change,' al-Nujaba spokesman Hashim al-Musawi said in a statement.

Al-Nujaba is one of the groups accused by human rights organisations of killing scores of fleeing civilians in the Syrian city of Aleppo last year.

Iran, by leveraging its ties with Iraq's Shi'ites, has emerged as the main power broker in Iraq after the United States withdrew its troops in 2011.
North Korea calls US strikes on Syria 'unforgivable act of aggression'

North Korea said on Saturday US missile strikes against a Syrian airfield on Friday were 'an unforgivable act of aggression' that showed its decision to develop nuclear weapons was 'the right choice a million times over'.

The response by North Korea's foreign ministry, carried by the official KCNA news agency, was the first since US warships in the Mediterranean Sea launched dozens of missiles at a Syrian air base which the Pentagon says was involved in a chemical weapons attack earlier in the week.

'The US missile attack against Syria is a clear and unforgivable act of aggression against a sovereign state and we strongly condemn this,' KCNA quoted an unnamed spokesman for the North Korean foreign ministry as saying.

'The reality of today proves our decision to strengthen our military power to stand against force with force was the right choice a million times over,' KCNA said.

Diplomatically isolated North Korea considers Syria a key ally. KCNA said its leader Kim Jong Un and Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad exchanged messages of warm wishes and pledges of friendship and cooperation between the two countries.'

Al-Assad thanked Kim for recognising the Syrian struggle to 'meet such challenges as sinister actions of the world's terrorists and encouraged Syria to successfully weather the crisis without fail,' KCNA said.

The airstrikes were US President Donald Trump's biggest foreign policy move since taking office in January in reaction to what Washington says was a gas attack by al-Assad's government that killed at least 70 people in a rebel-held territory. Syria denies it carried out the attack.

The US strikes came as Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping in Florida to press the leader of North Korea's sole diplomatic ally to do more to curb Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.

North Korea is believed to be developing missiles capable of hitting the United States and a nuclear arsenal in defiance of UN sanctions. It has conducted five nuclear tests -- two since the beginning of last year -- and scores of missile tests.
Pope Francis to mark Holy Thursday by washing inmates' feet at maximum security prison

This coming Holy Week, Pope Francis will mark the tradition of Holy Thursday by washing the feet of prison inmates.

The pontiff will visit the maximum security Paliano prison on April 13, imitating the Last Supper practice begun by Jesus, according to Catholic Online.

Paliano prison's chaplain Father Luigi Paoletti says the prisoners, of which there are 74, were moved and excited by the news of the visit.

'The inmates have asked me for years for the pope to visit them,' he said. 'They have written to him many times.'

According to Paoletti the inmates are 'are in love with this pope and want to hear his comforting words to them and their families', and promise to give the pontiff an 'extraordinary reception'.

Francis begun his own foot-washing tradition early on in his papacy, travelling to the Casal del Marmo youth detention centre and washing the feet of women and Muslim inmates. He has continued the practice in different locations every year.

Last year he visited asylum seekers near Rome, and washed the feet of refugees from different religions including Orthodox Copts, Hindus and Muslims.

The tradition, imitating Christ's humility in serving the 12 disciples soon before his death, became part of the Catholic Holy Thursday Mass in the 1950s.
News last night, that threats of violence by left-wing student activists at the Claremont Colleges disrupted an appearance by my colleague Heather Mac Donald, was as unsurprising as it was dispiriting. A year and a half ago, when highly publicized protests at Missouri and Yale led to copycat eruptions on campuses across the country, protesters at the schools of the Claremont consortium were especially notable for both their militancy and their unreason, with mob leaders at the five schools competing with one another in the sheer idiocy of their nonnegotiable demands. Worse, rather than condemn those threatening to shut down their campuses if they didnt get their way, the administrators responded to the intellectual thuggery with sympathy and understanding.

As a graduate of the oldest of the Claremont Colleges, Pomona, I wrote at the time of how dramatically the character of the school had changed in the half-century since my arrival on a quiet, conservative campus in 1966; and, specifically, of the damage done by student protesters during my years there. The key eventthe juncture from which there was no turning backwas the morning 50 or so demonstrators, including me, surrounded an Air Force recruiter in the campus placement office, chanting and heckling and otherwise preventing him from speaking to interested students. We had been forewarned that there would be severe repercussions if we disrupted the session, including possible expulsion, and we took the threat seriously. So when our punishment was announced, we were almost as surprised as we were relieved: suspended suspension.

Who, at the time, could have guessed that administrators, those surrogate-parent figures, were such pathetic wimps?

It was all too short a step from that moment to this past Thursday evening, when several hundred student thugs screaming Fuck white supremacy and Black Lives matter here surrounded the hall where Mac Donald was speaking, threatening with physical violence those seeking to enter. Eventually, Heather addressed an empty room, with a camera livestreaming her talk, even as the protesters screamed and banged on the doors from outside. Things grew so heated that campus cops, concerned for her safety, stopped her talk early and hustled her out.

There are differences, of course. Back then, wrong-headed and irresponsible as we were, we werent mean-spirited. Pomona wasnt Berkeley; we didnt take ourselves all that seriously. To the contrary, there was an antic element to it all; on some level, we knew perfectly well we were kids, doing what kids doacting out against the grown-ups. Even the members of the Black Student Union, with their huge Afros, serious demeanors, and just-like-the-Panthers black leather jackets, were, at heart, polite middle-class kids like us, their menace a pose. Ill never forget the day Jerry Rubin, the Yippie provocateur, spoke on campus, exhorting the crowd to spike the water supply with LSD. Instead of wild applause, the student audience just stared at him in silence; Rubin stalked angrily off the stage. Id never been prouder of Pomona.

Indeed, though in those days as in these, leftism was the norm, those who took a different view got a respectable hearing in the dorms and dining halls.

No more. These kids have no regard for the once sacrosanct principle that even your enemies have a right to be heard. They are ugly-minded and vicious. And, unlike us, they know for an absolute certainty that there will be no consequences for their behavior. They make me despair for the futureif not of the country, then certainly for Claremont.

Photo by David McNew/Getty Images
Don Rickles caught his big break when Frank Sinatra showed up at one of the comedians nightclub gigs in the late 1950s; Rickles immediately started insulting the Chairman of the Board. Sinatra actually laughed, perhaps to the surprise of the audience, and Rickless reputation began to grow. A few years later, Dean Martin introduced Rickles to a national audience when he invited the comedian to perform on the Dean Martin Hour, televisions top-rated show in the early 1960s. Rather than have Rickles do straight stand-up, the producers recruited Hollywood celebritiesincluding Bob Hope, Pat Boone, and Ernest Borgnineto sit in the audience. Rickles spent half the show abusing them. He dared to make fat jokes about Dom DeLuise and poke fun at Ricardo Montalbans Mexican heritage. Heres some mud. Finish your hut, he told Montalban. Far from derailing his career, Rickles appearance made him a superstar.

Its almost impossible to imagine a comedian like Rickles, who died yesterday at age 90, succeeding today. Performers who just 30 years ago flocked to colleges to perform, prompting critics to dub comedy the rock and roll of the 1980s, now avoid campuses for fear of too easily offending someone or invading their safe space. Jerry Seinfeld drew heat when he attempted to promote an appearance on his podcast by the comedian Lewis Black with the tweet, Blacks life matters. Even Amy Schumer, who describes herself unironically as a devout feminist and lover of all people, caught hell for observing, Nothing works 100 percent of the time, except Mexicansabout as inoffensive and pandering an ethnic joke as one can imagine.

Its not as if the prime years of Rickless career, the 1960s and 1970s, were an era noted for their complacency. He thrived during the era of the civil rights protests and the free speech movement that grew out of them on campuses. Unlike the university protests of today, however, those demonstrations actually helped liberate comedy, igniting the careers of comics like George Carlin, whose seven words you can never say on television sparked a Supreme Court case on free speech, and Richard Pryor, who dared title one of his albums That Niggers Crazy. Performing in his tuxedo in Las Vegas and on late night TV, Rickles was another kind of agent of the counterculture, hurling an equal-opportunity barrage of insults at mostly middle-class audiencesin the process saying that if were all equal, then were all fair game.

Though Rickles first made a national name for himself insulting celebrities, in the nightclubs and concert halls where he performed the audience mostly consisted of ordinary people. When they discovered that they were his target, they ate it up, mainly because no one was exempt. In his Las Vegas shows, Rickles would usually wade into the audience looking for people to pick on. To an Asian man hed say, Are you Japanese? I spent three years in the jungle chasing your uncle! Spotting a black man in the front row, Rickles says, God bless you, black brother, and then in a loud stage whisper calls offstage to someone, find out how he got in here! If you admitted to being Italian-American, you could expect to hear, Italians are terrific people. They can work you over in an alleyway while singing opera. (This was, after all, the guy who said to Sinatra in front of a crowd, Hey Frank, make yourself at home. Hit somebody.) Even as American society splintered into more and more interest groups, Rickles invented barbs to offend as many constituencies as possible. He even said to someone who was dressed badly (this was in the 1970s, after all)Who picks your clothes, Stevie Wonder?

Rickless routines demonstrated that you could be socially conscious without being ideological. A lifelong Democrat, he rarely picked topics that hinted at his political beliefs, though he did make politicians his targets. Roasting California governor Ronald Reagan, Rickles said: Black, white, Jew, gentile, were all working for one causeto figure out how you became governor. Reagan later invited Rickles to perform at his inaugural.

For the most part, Rickles continued his insult routines to the very end, with little censorship. Perhaps that had to do with the audiences that showed up to see him, and their expectations. But even he wasnt immune to the times. Appearing at a 2012 American Film Institute ceremony, Rickles said, I shouldnt make fun of the blacks, but then added, President Obama is a personal friend of mine. He was over to the house yesterday, but the mop broke. That joke never made it into the televised version of Rickles appearance.

Still, Rickles went out on top, largely untamed by the PC madness that has stifled comedic expression. His like may not pass our way again.

Photo by Mark Mainz/Getty Images
The Buckle, Inc. operates as a retailer of casual apparel, footwear, and accessories for young men and women in the United States. It markets a selection of brand name casual apparel, including denims, other casual bottoms, tops, sportswear, outerwear, accessories, and footwear, as well as private label merchandise primarily comprising BKE, Buckle Black, Salvage, Red by BKE, Daytrip, Gimmicks, Gilded Intent, FITZ + EDDI, Willow & Root, Outpost Makers, Departwest, Reclaim, BKE Vintage, Nova Industries, J.B. Holt, and Veece. The company also provides services, such as hemming, gift-packaging, layaways, guest loyalty program, the Buckle private label credit card, and personalized stylist services, as well as special order system that allows stores to obtain requested merchandise from other company stores or its online order fulfillment center. As of March 11, 2022, it operated 440 retail stores in 42 states under the Buckle and The Buckle names. The Buckle, Inc. also sells its products through its website, buckle.com. The company was formerly known as Mills Clothing, Inc. and changed its name to The Buckle, Inc. in April 1991. The Buckle, Inc. was incorporated in 1948 and is headquartered in Kearney, Nebraska.
EC starts sending voter education materials to districts

The Election Commission, Nepal, has started sending the materials meant for voter education to the districts from Saturday.
Wabash National Corporation designs, manufactures, and distributes engineered solutions for the transportation, logistics, and distribution industries primarily in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Transportation Solutions and Parts & Services. The Transportation Solutions segment provides dry van and platform trailers; refrigerated trailers; converter dollies; van bodies for dry-freight transportation; cutaway van bodies for commercial applications; service bodies; insulated van bodies; stake bodies; refrigerated truck bodies; and used trailers, as well as laminated hardwood oak flooring products. This segment also offers stainless steel and aluminum tank trailers for the dairy, food and beverage, oil, gas, and chemical end markets; dry bulk trailers; and fiberglass reinforced poly tank trailers. The Parts & Services segment provides aftermarket parts and services; aluminum and steel flatbed bodies, shelving for package delivery, partitions, roof racks, hitches, liftgates, and thermal solutions; and door repair and replacement, collision repair, and basic maintenance services. This segment also offers stainless steel storage tanks and silos, mixers, and processors for the dairy, food and beverage, pharmaceutical, chemical, craft brewing, and biotech end markets; and composite products, including truck bodies, overhead doors, and other industrial application products. The company offers its products under the Wabash, DuraPlate, DuraPlateHD, DuraPlate AeroSkirt, and AeroSkirt CX brands, as well as EcoNex brand. It distributes its products directly, as well as through its retail operations and independent dealers to truckload common carriers, leasing companies, private fleet carriers, less-than-truckload common carriers, and package carriers. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Lafayette, Indiana.
In a first, govt tables NHRC report in House

Following regular pressure from the parliamentary Committee on Social Justice and Human Rights and human rights defenders, the government has, for the first time, tabled the annual reports of the National Human Rights Commission in the Legislature-Parliament for discussion.
India ready to abrogate 1950 Treaty: Koshyari

Co-chair of the Eminent Person Group on Nepal India relations Bhagat Singh Koshyari has claimed that India is ready to abrogate the 1950 Peace and Friendship Treaty.
Induction cookers gifted by Chinese govt not sold

On Friday, a sub-committee formed by the Parliamentary Committee on Commerce, Industries and Consumer Welfare Relation advised the government to revise the price of induction cooker gifted by China during the Indian blockade last year.
Warning: you may find the images of the sheeps injuries distressing

Another dog attack on sheep at lambing time has brought the issue of sheep worrying into sharp focus for the country's farmers.

Rad Thomas, who farms at Quorn, Leicestershire, has lost three heavily pregnant ewes and three more have aborted their unborn lambs after a dog was seen savaging his animals on Wednesday (29 March).

This follows recent livestock worrying incidents including two sheep dying after a dog attack in Cumbria on 1 April and several sheep dying after being attacked by dogs in Northumberland on 20 March.

Mr Thomas told his story: My shepherd actually saw the dog savaging one of my sheep as he made his usual checks on Wednesday morning. He managed to chase the dog away from the sheep on his quad bike and saw the dog run back to its owner on a footpath about 300 yards away.

I am greatly saddened by what has happened: it was an unprecedented and savage attack on my heavily pregnant flock  we are about two thirds of the way through lambing our 170 ewes.

The dog got into the field where the remaining pregnant ewes are grazing and chased them, catching and savaging three so badly that two had to be euthanised and another has since died. Three more ewes were so badly shocked that they aborted their lambs.

The NFU said it is 'shocked and saddened' about the incident

We dont know what the effects of the attack will be on the other ewes  it is the worst possible time for a dog attack.

'Further abortions'

Mr Thomas immediately consulted his vet about the attack on his sheep; he is particularly worried about the health of his remaining pregnant ewes and their unborn lambs.

Dogs can turn into killers, the NFU warned

He continued: My vet has said that it is highly likely that there will be further abortions in the flock: the severe shock the animals have suffered means that there will almost certainly be more effects of this savage attack.

In his advice to me, my vet has also said that it is almost inevitable that this dog will attempt to attack sheep again; it is its predatory instinct to chase livestock and on a future walk or perhaps after escaping from its home, it will repeat this behaviour.

Muzzling the dog will not prevent it chasing sheep again and as with my flock, significant damage and death could happen again. My vet advises that in severe cases like this, euthanasia of the dog may need to be considered to prevent further attacks.

'Shocked and concerned'

NFUs county adviser, Simon Fisher said that he is 'shocked and concerned' that this dog owner did not have control of their animal whilst out walking.

Farmers and the NFU repeatedly warn that it is particularly important for dogs to be kept on leads whilst out walking in the countryside, especially at lambing time. Now another farmer has to count the cost of a dog attack and face the awful sight of dead sheep and aborted lambs.

Our urgent call to all dog owners is to keep your family pet under close control, whether you are near livestock or not. This incident shows that even if you are on a footpath away from livestock, your dog can get away from you and kill and maim sheep.

NFU and the whole farming industry have urged dog owners to take control of their animals.

The incidences of sheep worrying are increasing and a recent report from rural insurer, NFU Mutual, shows that the reported cost of dog attacks on livestock rose by nearly 50 per cent across the UK in 2016. The total cost to the industry is estimated at 1.4m.

Walkers are asked to keep dogs under control at all times when near livestock. Even the most friendly and mild-mannered dog, of whatever breed or size, can attack livestock.

'Dogs can turn into killers'

Simon Fisher concludes: Dogs can turn into killers, so please keep them by your side when youre walking in the countryside.

Even if you cant see sheep or other livestock, they may be in a nearby field and your dog could run off and be amongst them in seconds. And at night, make sure your dog is with you and cant escape. Dogs are a huge danger if theyre loose in the countryside, especially at lambing time.

The awful injuries suffered by Mr Thomass sheep are totally unacceptable: they were caused pain and suffering and considerable stress unnecessarily. All this is easily avoided by keeping your dog on a lead when walking in the countryside.
A farm-worker has admitted causing unnecessary suffering to cows and their calves at a dairy farm in Somerset.

Owen Nichol, 19, of Taunton appeared in court to admit two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to animals at Pyrland Farm near Taunton.

The RSPCA launched an investigation after being shown the footage gathered by Animal Equality UK.

The animal rights groups showed the court footage of Mr Nichol swearing at the cows, kicking one in the face and kicking and stamping on a new-born calf.

Toni Shephard, from Animal Equality UK, said the campaign group installed a camera at the farm on 7 December following a tip-off from a local resident.

The farm's owner said he was appalled when he saw the film and the worker had been dismissed.

Nichol pleaded guilty to the charges under the Animal Welfare Act at Taunton Magistrates' Court.
Summary

Company Announcement Date: April 06, 2017 FDA Publish Date: February 09, 2018 Product Type: Medical Devices Reason for Announcement: Recall Reason Description Due to an issue that can occur post-implantation that can lead to the potential for under-drainage of cerebrospinal fluid Company Name: Medtronic Brand Name: Brand Name(s) StrataMR Product Description: Product Description StrataMR adjustable valves and shunts.

Company Announcement

DUBLIN - April 6, 2017 - Medtronic plc (NYSE: MDT) today announced that on February 22, 2017 it notified customers of a voluntary recall of all unused units of the StrataMR adjustable valves and shunts. These products are manufactured and marketed by Medtronic's Neurosurgery business, which is part of the Brain Therapies division of the company's Restorative Therapies Group. This recall only applies to StrataMR adjustable valves and shunts and does not apply to Strata II or Strata NSC products.

As of the initiation of this recall, 2,622 StrataMR valves and shunts potentially affected by this recall had been distributed worldwide. The affected StrataMR valves and shunts were manufactured from October 27, 2015 to November 11, 2016. Medtronic initiated the recall due to an increase in the product complaint rate. As of April 1, 2017, the product complaint rate related to this issue was 2.75 percent of total units distributed.

Medtronic StrataMR adjustable valves and shunts are used in the management of hydrocephalus. They control the flow of cerebrospinal fluid being drained from the brain to relieve intracranial pressure. Medtronic is conducting this voluntary recall due to an issue that can occur post-implantation that can lead to the potential for under-drainage of cerebrospinal fluid.

Under-drainage of cerebrospinal fluid may result in the following adverse health consequences: headaches, nausea, vomiting and lethargy.

If any of the affected products have been implanted in patients, physicians should refer to the StrataMR customer recall letter sent February 22, 2017 as well as the valve adjustment instructions in the instructions for use (IFU) for continued patient care.

Patients and their caregivers should monitor the patient's condition and if they find they are experiencing any of the above-mentioned symptoms, they should consult the physician who implanted the StrataMR valve.

If left untreated, under-drainage can potentially lead to coma and death. There has been one reported patient death, but the cause of death has not been confirmed to be related to this issue.

Medtronic initiated customer communication of the recall by letter and is requesting that customers cease use of all affected product that remains in inventory and return all unused units to Medtronic. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other regulatory bodies also have been notified.

Adverse reactions or quality problems experienced with the use of this product may be reported to the FDA's MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program online, by regular mail, or by fax.

Multimedia: View sample image of product label (1)

View sample image of product label (2)

Adverse reactions or quality problems experienced with the use of this product may be reported to the FDA's MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program either online, by regular mail or by fax.

Complete and submit the report Online

Regular Mail or Fax: Download form or call 1- 800-332-1088 to request a reporting form, then complete and return to the address on the pre-addressed form, or submit by fax to 1-800-FDA-0178

This recall is being conducted with the knowledge of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

For further information or to report a problem, please contact Medtronic via phone at +1-800-335-9557 between the hours of 8am and 6pm (EST) or via e-mail at RS.MNSFCA@Medtronic.com.

About Medtronic

Medtronic plc (www.medtronic.com), headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is among the world's largest medical technology, services and solutions companies - alleviating pain, restoring health and extending life for millions of people around the world. Medtronic employs more than 88,000 people worldwide, serving physicians, hospitals and patients in approximately 160 countries. The company is focused on collaborating with stakeholders around the world to take healthcare Further, Together.

Any forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties such as those described in Medtronic's periodic reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results may differ materially from anticipated results.
We at The Motley Fool believe that the easiest way to become wealthy is to buy high-quality companies and own them for extended periods of time. With that in mind, we asked our contributors to pick a stock that they think is an excellent buy-and-hold candidate. They chose Red Hat (RHT), Enbridge (ENB -0.67%), and Bladex (BLX 1.19%). Read on to find out why.

Tipping my fedora for Red Hat

Anders Bylund (Red Hat): I could name a ton of tickers that seem likely to hang around for the next decade, but with limited growth opportunities along the way. It's just as easy to come up with a list of rocket-powered growth stories that would make you rich -- if they survive for another 10 years. Red Hat strikes a unique balance between these extremes. With the caveat that there's no such thing as a foregone conclusion, especially on long timescales, this is the closest thing to a safe bet with an exciting growth runway ahead of it.

The company works in the field of enterprise-grade software. Best known for its eponymous Linux distribution, Red Hat also manages popular packages such as the JBoss middleware suite, a variety of virtualization and storage management tools, and a Red Hat-branded version of the OpenStack cloud computing platform.

Red Hat's product portfolio is backed by a generous R&D budget as well as a large and active global development community. Published under transparent open-source licenses, the company's core products have the benefit of bug-killing and security-boosting transparency.

Open-source software has been disrupting traditional enterprise computing markets for the last two decades, with Red Hat in a lasting leadership role. This approach is winning over the largest names from the traditional proprietary software camp. We're looking at a total market that could reach $500 billion in sales just five years down the road, according to a recent report from market research firm Research and Markets.

So far, Red Hat serves less than 0.5% of that soon-to-be-addressable market. The company has a 60-quarter streak of unbroken sales growth going all the way back to 2002, and the growth curve is only accelerating:

Put all of this together and you get a fantastic long-term growth story and we are only in its early days right now. Red Hat has a lot of growing to do over the next 10 years, hopefully taking us shareholders along for the ride.

A crystal-clear growth pipeline

Matt DiLallo (Enbridge): Canadian energy infrastructure giant Enbridge has the largest commercially secured backlog in the sector. In the near term, the company has 27 billion Canadian dollars of projects under construction ($20 billion), which should enter service through 2019. These primarily fee-based projects should fuel 12% to 14% compound annual growth in available cash flow per share through 2019.

In addition, Enbridge has another CA$48 billion ($35.7 billion) of longer-term projects under development. These projects include not just its bread-and-butter oil and gas pipeline expansion projects but also several renewable power projects, including a boatload of offshore wind projects. This pipeline of growth projects gives Enbridge the clear visibility that it can achieve 10% to 12% annual dividend growth through 2024.

Enbridge also isn't likely to stop growing. That's because it has several other expansion options that should extend growth further into the future. For example, the company is currently investing CA$1.7 billion in financing half the cost of building a 497 MW offshore wind project in Germany, which has the embedded option to expand by another 112 MW in the future. That's just one of several potential expansion opportunities as Enbridge looks to extend and diversify its growth, making it an ideal stock to buy and hold for the next decade.

Not your typical bank

Brian Feroldi (Bladex): Latin America is a resource-rich area that promises a lot of long-term growth. However, investing in the region can be tricky since it is sensitive to commodity price swings. The recent downturn in energy prices has contributed to the political and economic upheaval that we have seen in countries like Brazil, Venezuela, and Colombia. So how can investors safely put money to work in this part of the world?

One of my favorite answers to that question is Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, or simply Bladex. This company is a merchant bank based in Panama that was set up years ago by central banks to help facilitate Latin American trade growth. Unlike traditional banks, Bladex doesn't offer banking services to retail customers. Instead, the company provides letters of credit, financing, and other short-term banking solutions to local importers and exporters.

What I like about this business is that the company can be nimble and pare back exposure to any country that may be in trouble. As an example, Bladex recently pulled back on its exposure to Brazil because of the ongoing recession and political trouble. This flexibility has proven to be a huge advantage for investors as it allows the company to post steady results even during times of crisis.

To see this business model in action, take a look at this five-year chart showing Bladex's book value and annual dividend payment

As you can see, Bladex's book value has steadily risen over the last five years. Meanwhile, the company's dividend also continues to grow, although the payout has held flat even since commodity prices took a nose dive.

Looking ahead, I think that Bladex is well positioned to post slow and steady growth as energy prices recover and stability returns. Add in a growing dividend that currently yields 5.5% and perhaps you'll understand why this is one stock that I plan on hanging on to for decades to come.
Morcha cadres clash with police in Siraha

A clash ensued between police personnel and Madhesi Morcha cadres at Lahan in Siraha district on Saturday.




Haiti - News : Zapping...





Minister of Commerce in the Senate

On Wednesday, Minister of Commerce and Industry Pierre Marie du Meny answered questions from Senators of the Commission "Economy and Finance" around the execution of the roadmap of the government https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20544-haiti-politics-roadmap-of-the-minister-of-trade-and-industry.html . The Commission wanted to know more about the strategies that will be implemented to create jobs in the country, strengthen domestic production and upgrade our national currency.



DG of Ministry of Education replaced

Pierre Josue Agenor Cadet, Minister of National Education announced the appointment and installation of a new Director General in the ministry, following the publication on the social networks of compromising photos of the outgoing Director Louis Marie Cador...



The new DG, Mr Meniol Jeune was installed this Friday.



Strengthening of diplomatic ties

In order to strengthen the ties of cooperation between members of the diplomatic corps in Haiti, Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant received visits from the Cuban Ambassador Luis Castillo Campos, the Spanish Ambassador to Haiti, Manuel Lorenzo Garcia-Ormaechea and Monsignor Eugene Martin Nugent, the Apostolic Nuncio. The exchanges focused on the fields of intervention of the various ambassadors through the bilateral relations between their respective countries and Haiti.



The Senate intends to invite a minister every week

The Senate intends to invite every Wednesday a member of the government in plenary to explain to the senators their roadmap. This initiative is part of Parliament's monitoring mission, said Senator Youri Latortue, President of the Upper House.



Minister of Health in the Lower House

Marie Greta Roy Clement, the Minister of Public Health responded to an invitation from the Health Commission of the Lower House to discuss the functioning of public hospitals and the procedure for administering the last official examinations tof nursing students. Minister Clement announced the creation of a Transitional Commission to evaluate the final examination of graduating students in nursing where less than 4% of the 2,880 nursing students passed the tests https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20348-haiti-training-less-than-4-of-nursing-students-passed-the-state-exam.html



Laurent Lamothe in Miami

On Wednesday, former Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe, accompanied by his brother, Ruben and his mother, attended to the Little Haiti Cultural Center in Miami at a press conference to present the plans for the 2nd annual Global Empowerment Mission (GEM). On this occasion, a video was projected to highlight some of the humanitarian actions that are taking place in the rural villages of Haiti.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















CBC National Bank Hires Industry Veteran Richard Duncan in the Banks SBA Lending Division

Posted by Press Releases on Saturday, 04-08-2017 10:43 am

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CBC National Bank, headquartered in Fernandina Beach and with branches in Fernandina Beach, Ocala and The Villages, Fla., and Beaufort and Port Royal, S.C., today announced the hiring of USDA industry veteran Richard Duncan in its SBA lending division.FERNANDINA BEACH, FLA. (PRWEB) APRIL 06, 2017CBC National Bank, headquartered in Fernandina Beach and with branches in Fernandina Beach, Ocala and The Villages, Fla., and Beaufort and Port Royal, S.C., today announced the hiring of USDA industry veteran Richard Duncan in its SBA lending division.Duncan is joining CBC as a vice president in the SBA divisions government guaranteed lending group. He will work as an SBA and government guaranteed lender giving specific focus to his specialty area of USDA Business and Industry loans. His lending will focus on the geographic areas of the southeastern United States.Duncan has in-depth experience as a USDA Business and Industry lender, most recently as owner of his own consulting firm specializin...

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Rani Pokhari reconstruction: Muck to be cleared before monsoon

Works to remove mud from Rani Pokhari will be completed before monsoon, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has claimed.
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When a CEO or HR director comes to me and asks how he or she can turn the fluffiness of cool culture into something that contributes to the overall success of a business in a tactical way, I quickly pop up in my chair; my eyes widen and a telling grin appears. This is one of the best questions a CEO can ask. Todays tech leaders and cool CEOs are understanding that, culture is important  not just because it improves overall morale and happiness  but because it's been proven to drive business when operationalized at all levels. Its also evident now more than ever what poor culture can do to an organization. Weve seen this in companies like Uber or AOL. On the flip side, weve seen what exceptional corporate culture can look like  I often site The Motley Fool as an example of this. Theyre a company thats been recognized as the number one Place to Work in America by Glassdoor. Twice. Theyve found a way to attract and retain the highest caliber talent by being intentional about building a positive, fun corporate culture, even while theyre engaged in the serious business of finance and investments. Earlier this year, as part of our most Recognized Employee Campaign, we collected data from 100 of the most engaged employees out of 100,000 YouEarnedIt end-users to learn what company leaders can do to create an exceptional workplace. It...
An integrated approach to optimizing engagement across the full employment lifecycle Much of what we do in the human capital space is disjointed and segmented, in spite of the fact that the humans we support are coherent, integrated individuals. It's time for that to change, and it starts with minimizing the number of distinct parties involved in managing the employment lifecycle experience. Think about the last time you changed jobs. Chances are the experience was something other than smooth and integrated. Maybe you read an ad and then worked with a contract recruiter to get hired. If there was any organized onboarding, it may have been handled by another third party provider. Six months into the role, you had little or no feedback or guidance. Since many other employees had a similar experience, company performance suffered and turnover was high. The company engaged one consultant to address performance and another to promote retention. And that's just part of the overall employee experience -- an experience that lasts from first reading the ad until the employee and company part ways. If the overall experience is even half as disjointed as just described, it's no wonder that frequent job changing has become the norm. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the cohort born between 1957 and 1964 (younger baby boomers) changed jobs an average of 11.7 times between age 18 and 48. This is a sharp contrast to the values o...
Dateline Dateline Irrawaddy: The NLD Must Reduce Centralization and Reconcile with Ethnic Groups for the Sake of the 2020 Election

This week, The Irrawaddy discusses recent by-elections with political commentator Dr. Yan Myo Thein and founder of Yangon Watch group Dr. Nyo Nyo Thin.

Kyaw Kha: Welcome to Dateline Irrawaddy! This week, well discuss the by-election held on April 1. Political commentator Dr. Yan Myo Thein and founder of Yangon Watch group Dr. Nyo Nyo Thin will join me for the discussion. Im Irrawaddy Burmese reporter Kyaw Kha.

First of all, I would like to discuss low voter turnout in the by-election. Daw Nyo Nyo Thein, why was the turnout so low?

Daw Nyo Nyo Thein: The turnout in the by-election declined compared to previous elections. In Hlaingtharyar, the turnout was 12 percent and in downtown Rangoon the turnout was 27 percent for an Upper House seat. Turnout has significantly declined. This indicates that public interest in politics has declined, for which politiciansincluding mehave to be blamed. Politicians cannot manage to stimulate public interest in politics.

Another important thing that is cause for concern is that people seem to assume that any political change that takes place will not change their daily lives. I wonder if people feel down because they cant get the changes they want despite previously voting overwhelmingly in favor of change. This is what concerns me.

KK: There were long queues of voters at polling stations in Rangoon during the 2012 by-election and 2015 general election. But, there were few voters on April 1, and it seems that people were not keen to vote. What do you think, Dr. Yan Myo Thein?

Yan Myo Thein: From what I have studied, people voted for change in the 2015 general election. But one year after they votednot that there should be immediate changepeople had expectations that certain things should have been changed. There has been increasing criticism that the government cannot even fulfill minimal expectations.

For example, in Rangoon, the Yangon Bus Service [YBS] doesnt give the faintest impression of success. It just changed the name from Ma Hta Tha [Rangoon Motor Vehicles Supervisory Committee] to YBS, and has not effectively relieved the burden placed on Rangoon residents.

Over the past year, people have felt frustration, dissatisfaction and disappointment, but they dont have many choices. So, they chose not to vote. Therefore, turnout was just over 12 percent in Hlaingtharyar Township, and in downtown Rangoonoccupied by the majority of the countrys educated people, businessmen, and well-off peopleturnout was just 27 percent.

I see this as an indicator that grassroots, educated and business people all feel dissatisfied. The current government, Parliament and the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), should take this into consideration. If not, it will cause hindrances and delays in the democratization process of our country.

KK: The NLD contested 18 seats and won nine, or 50 percent in the by-election. It lost primarily in Shan State, but I think the NLD is most upset about its loss in Mon States Chaungzon Township. In the 2015 election, the NLDs Daw Khin Htay Kywe won there by a huge margin. Dr. Nyo Nyo Thin, what do you think?

NNT: Compared to the 2015 election, the NLD received far fewer votes in the April 1 by-election in Chaungzon. In 2015, it won more than 40 percent of the total votes; in the by-election, it received just over 20 percent. This is irrefutable proof that public support for the NLD has declined there. This clearly shows that local people are dissatisfied with the government of the ruling party regarding the bridge case. This is reality and cannot be concealed. The NLD government should learn from this bridge fiasco and avoid doing unwise things in the future. It should by no means have aggressively changed the name of a bridge to Gen. Aung San [despite local objections in Mon State].

KK: The case was even brought before lawmakers and decided by a vote.

NNT: Yes, it was and it was like the majority bullying the minority. The majority should make sure that the minority does not feel bullied. But it failed to do so and this will seriously undermine national reconciliation, which we are trying to build. Therefore, the NLD should not name the bridge Gen Aung San Bridge.

KK: The NLD won nine seats in the by-election, but that was probably not their target number. Dr. Yan Myo Thein, what does this result suggest?

YMT: Frankly speaking, the NLD fell short of its target in the by-election. I think the NLD should have won more than that, perhaps 10 or 11 seats. But as Dr. Nyo Nyo Thin has discussed, we cant assume that the bridge name is a problem concerning Mon State and Mon people alone. The name change set off an alarm for other ethnic groups too. It made them think that if the NLD could do this in Mon State, it could also do it in Shan or Kachin or Chin states. So, in ethnic regions, ethnic people resolutely voted for their local ethnic parties.

If we compare the percentage of voter turnout in ethnic regions and majority Bamar regions, we can see that turnout is higher in ethnic regions. This suggests that ethnic groups have become more aware of the need to hold strong and focus on ethnic politics. Again, the naming of the bridge in Mon States Chaungzon will have this consequenceethnic groups faith will decline in the governments proposed path of dialogue for national reconciliation, trust building, and the peace process.

If the government cant even hold political dialogue regarding a bridge name, I doubt that ethnic groups will believe that the government can solve much bigger problems through political dialogue.

The government, Parliament and the ruling party should seriously think again about changing the name of Thanlwin Bridge [Chaungzon] to Gen Aung San Bridge. Otherwise, Im concerned that this will create a black stain on the ongoing peace process and political history of our country.

KK: As far as weve learned, in ethnic regions where ethnic parties won in the by-election, the NLD did not actively rally the public, but only went to those areas just before the election. It seems that they took it for granted that they would easily win. Was that a mistake?

YMT: I think the ruling party should support and closely cooperate with ethnic parties. Since the NLD government has taken office, I havent seen the president or the state counselor holding talks with leaders of ethnic parties. According to the situation and requirements of our country, we need to join hands and stand together with ethnic people, and always listen to their voices. Those in power cant only listen to their voices just before the election.

KK: It can be said that the NLD has learned some lessons from the by-election. It did not campaign enough leading up to it and it turned a blind eye to the voices of local people regarding the bridge in Chaungzon Township. And there were consequences. It lost in Chaungzon where it won in 2015. The next general election is in 2020, and I think the NLD has to learn these lessons if it wants to see good results then. So, Daw Nyo Nyo Thin, what do you think the government should fix or change?

NNT: Over the past year, we have monitored the government and found that there was too much centralization in it. One of the reasons behind the NLDs loss in Chaungzon is that the partys central executive committee rejected the candidate selected by the local hardcore party members. The ruling party must reduce centralization from now on.

It must also build national reconciliation with ethnic groups. In the 2020 general election, the NLD should not contest in ethnic regions where there are established ethnic parties. If it contests, it will create discord between it and ethnic groups, and will seriously impact progress in the country, which still has a long way to go. I want the NLD leadership to take these two points into serious consideration. It is a must for the NLD to reduce centralization and reconcile with ethnic groups for the sake of the 2020 election.

KK: What do you think Dr. Yan Myo Thein?

YMT: One year has passed, and there are still four years, so there is a reasonable amount of time. The government should carefully and systematically review its actions over the past year and be honest about its shortcomings. And the government, Parliament and the ruling party should adopt a strategy to systematically fix its weaknesses and shortcomings in the next four years. As Daw Nyo Nyo Thin pointed out, highly centralized control should be reduced in the government, Parliament and the ruling party. When there is strict centralization, it seems like everyone has to work in fear. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has talked about freedom from fear, which is needed now more than ever as we move toward a democratic society. There is a real need for systematic decentralization. The active participation of the people is extremely critical in the democratization process. The decline in voter turnout in the by-election is directly related to the decline in public interest in the political transition of the country. Therefore, the NLD government should take this seriously and try to mend it.

KK: Thank you for your contributions!
Burma KNU Leaders Close to Naypyidaw Re-Elected

KNU chairman Saw Mutu Say Poe speaks during the KNU Congress in Lay Wah. / Karen National Union HQ / Facebook

CHIANG MAI, Thailand  The Chairman of the Karen National Union, Saw Mutu Say Poe, has been re-elected to the post at the organizations 16th Congress today.

Former general secretary Padoh Kwe Htoo Win was elected as vice chairman. Former central executive committee member Saw Ta Doh Moo was elected general secretary.

The election results suggest that there will be little shift to the KNUs approach to the peace process and other issues during the upcoming four-year term of the new leadership.

The KNU is one of the key signatories to the National Ceasefire Agreement (NCA).

Burma Army officials in Naypyidaw tried to phone the newly elected leaders to offer their congratulations, according to sources close to the government. However the officials were unable to establish a connection with the KNU Congress at the organizations headquarters at Lay Wah, also known as Law Khee Lar, in Pa-an District, Karen State.

Saw Mutu Say Poe and his allies now stand unopposed in the groups leadership, as hardliners who have been skeptical of the governments peace process have been edged out.

Former vice chairperson Naw Zipporah Sein, former joint secretaries Saw Thaw Thee Bwe and Padoh Mahn Mahn, and Gen Saw Baw Kyaw Heh, vice chief-of-staff of the KNUs armed wing the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) are no longer members of the KNUs central standing committee.

It is unclear how this group, which is reportedly unsatisfied with the KNUs current approach to the peace process, will move forward under the new leadership. According to observers, there are concerns that the faction will split from the KNU.

The new leadership is likely to continue to build closer ties with other politicians, business people and Burma Army officials, observers said. More business and development projects in Karen state are expected, while some have expressed concerns that this trend will progress without sufficient consultation with communities.

Last November, retired Gen Than Shwe held a nearly three-hour talk at his residence in Naypyidaw with Saw Mutu Say Poe and Kwe Htoo Win Naypyidaw. Little information was shared about the content of the discussion.

U Ngwe Soe, the executive director of Dawei Princess Co. Ltd and the director of Sun and Rainbow Co., who is known to be close to the KNU chairman, arranged the meeting.

Saw Mutu Say Poe and Padoh Kwe Htoo Win have received both praise and criticism for taking the KNU closer to the governments peace process. Under their leadership, the group signed an initial ceasefire agreement in 2012 and it signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) in 2015.

Saw Hser Pweh, known as Padoh Steve, was elected as the KNUs joint secretary 1. He has worked with the Committee of Internally Displaced Karen People (CIDKP), a relief organization that contributes aid and supplies to displaced communities in Karen State.

Saw Hla Htun, who is an ally of Saw Mutu Say Poe and who formerly worked with the Karen Youth Organization, was elected as joint secretary 2.

In its third week of its 16th Congress, the KNU also elected 41 central standing committee (CSC) members yesterday.

Another 14 leadersbrigadier generals within the KNUs seven brigades and chairmen of the KNUs seven districtsautomatically serve as CSC members and will join the 41 elected candidates, making a total of 55 CSC members.

The top five leaders will choose another six CSC members to form the KNUs central executive committee, a decision making body comprising 11 members.
Burma Number Jailed Under Article 66(d) Rises to Eight Since NLD Govt

U Myo Yan Naung Thein at Kamayut Township Court on Friday. / Chan Son / The Irrawaddy

RANGOON  National League for Democracy (NLD) member U Myo Yan Naung Thein and Ko Aung Myint Tun were each sentenced to six months in jail under Article 66(d) of Burmas Telecommunications Law on Friday, taking the tally of people convicted under the controversial law to eight since the NLD took office.

U Myo Yan Naung Thein was sentenced in Rangoons Kamayut Township court for sharing Facebook posts deemed to defame Burma Army chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, and Ko Aung Myint Tun was sentenced in Naypyidaws Zabuthiri Township.

According to local media, Ko Aung Myint Tun was sentenced for sharing a letter on Facebook on which he forged the NLD stamp. He was accused of fabricating two lettersa resignation letter submitted by NLD Central Committee (CEC) member U Win Htein and the CECs approval of his resignation.

Ko Aung Myint Tun will be released next week after being detained in custody for more than five months.

U Myo Yan Naung Thein, the founder of educational body the Bayda Institute, warned that Article 66(d) should not be misused or bent and said the verdict was unfair.

As U Myo Yan Naung Thein has already been detained for more than five months without bail, he will serve about three more weeks behind bars.

Seven people were charged under Article 66 (d) and five were given sentences during the former president U Thein Seins government. So far under the NLD government, there have been 54 cases, while six defendants are currently being denied bail and facing trial in custody, according to an NGO researching the Telecommunications Law.

We have submitted documents to the parliament to change the law, said poet Maung Saungkha, one of those who have been jailed under Article 66(d).

The act, enacted as part of an opening up of the telecoms sector in 2013, bans use of a telecoms network to extort, threaten, obstruct, defame, disturb, inappropriately influence or intimidate.

Journalists including Eleven Media Group CEO Dr Than Htut Aung, the groups chief editor U Wai Phyo, and Myanmar Now chief correspondent U Swe Win have been charged under Article 66(d).

Chairman of the Legal Affairs and Special Issues Assessment Commission Thura U Shwe Mann expressed his support to amend the law earlier this year.

Legal experts have also stressed the law should be amended because no bail is granted for the defendants, a third party can sue on behalf of the person who is defamed, and its provisions are technically vague.

Maung Saung Kha said that his group would organize more campaigns to call for an amendment to the law if the lawmakers did not take prompt action in Parliament, which resumes in May.
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Mustafa Habib | (Baghdad) | Niqash.org |  

While Iraqi forces battle the Islamic State in west Mosul, intelligence services work in the east, to hunt down former members of the group. But those detained say the arrests are random and unjust.

A few hours after the Iraqi army announced that the eastern side of Mosul had been recaptured and members of the extremist group known as the Islamic State had been driven out, a new military force entered the city. The members of this group wear masks, carry only light weapons and they have laptops with them. They are members of Iraqs National Security Service, a primarily intelligence gathering unit rather than a fighting force, and they are on the hunt for members of the Islamic State, or IS, group who may now be hiding among the civilian population of the city.

This is not an easy task given the hundreds of thousands of non-combatants that remained on the eastern side of the city while fighting was going on, and who remain there to this day.

Every day dozens more detainees arrive. I knew some of them and I knew they were innocent. I think these arrests are being carried out in a random way; nobody is following any rules at all.

Over the past two months there has not been a single day when we have not arrested members of the IS group, or collaborators, says Alaa al-Zaidi, one of the men serving in the National Security Service, or NSS. But its really hard and its like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

When the Iraqi military entered the eastern side of Mosul, the foreign fighters with the IS group fled across the Tigris river into the western side of the city, where fighting still rages. But the Iraqi fighters could hide among the locals, al-Zaidi explains. They shaved their beards and got rid of any signs that they were IS. Some of them even went out onto the street to celebrate the Iraqi soldiers arrival. But in fact they are criminals responsible for the deaths of dozens of Mosuls residents, al-Zaidi continued. Some of them are still supporting the IS group, or starting up a new set of sleeper cells in the city.

Indeed, only a few weeks after the Iraqi military announced that the IS group had been pushed out of eastern Mosul there were several suicide bomb attacks targeting restaurants and markets on that side of the city. The attacks happened despite the presence of thousands of soldiers and police in Mosul.

The NSS main problem is a lack of information, given that Mosul has been an information black hole since the IS group took over. Additionally, the IS group killed or otherwise targeted many of the citys former police officers and soldiers, which meant that hardly any security information has leaked out of the city.

The NSS has now recruited a number of residents who stayed in the city, and asked them to act as informants, al-Zaidi explained. They even accompany the security forces when they do raids, looking for disguised IS members, or IS fighters in hiding. But they usually cover their faces with a scarf so that they cannot be identified. They are concerned about revenge, the NSS member explained.

The NSS has also set up a special phone number that residents can call and give information on extremists who may have snuck back into their neighbourhoods. As yet, the response has been limited, al-Zaidi admits. Perhaps people are afraid of getting involved, or they are worried about reprisals from extremists, he suggests.

While the NSS may have a legitimate job to do, reports from some of the Mosul locals who were arrested on suspicion of IS membership are far from glowing.

One of these, Waleed al-Jibouri*, a resident of the Karamah neighbourhood in eastern Mosul, spoke to NIQASH on the phone from the displaced persons camp where he and his family now reside. Al-Jibouri was arrested by the NSS on suspicion of IS membership and taken to a detention centre south of Mosul and interrogated. He was eventually able to prove that he had not collaborated with the IS group and released.

An NSS member stands by graffiti that tells locals to call this number if they suspect an IS member is hiding in their neighbourhood. Source: NSS

The situation in eastern Mosul is so frightening right now. It is chaotic and people are taking revenge on one another, al-Jibouri said. Some informant told the Iraqi army that I had collaborated with the extremists. The IS group killed my brother, a police officer, and they also whipped me for smoking. Why would they work with me? They would not trust me!

Al-Jibouri also says that the NSS move around the city accompanied by fighters from the Shiite Muslim militias, who are often provocative, he says. They carry their own flags and drive around the city in SUVs, blasting Shiite religious music  anathema to a Sunni Muslim-majority town.

Al-Jibouri spent two weeks in detention centres south of the city before he was released. The detention centre conditions are very bad and every day dozens more detainees arrive, he said. I knew some of them and I knew they were innocent. I think these arrests are being carried out in a random and unconstructive way; nobody is following any rules at all.

After he was arrested, al-Jibouri left Mosul with his family, having decided he would rather live in a displaced persons camps.

The investigating officers dont take into account the fact that many residents were forced to work with the IS group, in civil jobs, adds Qasim al-Obaidi*, who was also held in detention for several days before clearing his name. Many people were forced to work with the IS group or starve to death, along with their families. They were cleaning the streets or collecting garbage or fixing water pipes. And now they are considered just as bad as those IS members who killed others. That is not fair.

The NSS is not just limited to hunting out former IS members in Mosul. They are also searching for the extremists various headquarters and trying to locate bomb-making factories. Last week, the NSS announced they were able to find a large factory for the making of improvised explosive devices hidden in one of Mosuls suburbs.

The NSS is also responsible for all of the digital material and paperwork that is found, that has been left behind by the IS group.

We have found thousands of items of correspondence in the city, a lieutenant in the Iraqi army, Omran al-Khazaei, told NIQASH. These are very important because the IS group was managing all of its affairs in Iraq and Syria from Mosul.

A few days ago pro-government forces found around 3,000 important documents in the Muthanna neighbourhood of Mosul, he continued. There were CDs, laptops and printed documents, all of which have the names of thousands of IS members in Iraq and Syria, their addresses and nationalities as well as financial records on the organisations commercial activities.

Al-Khazaei says the information has been sent to Baghdad where it will take months to analyse them fully.

Elements of the Babylonian Christian battalions belong to shiite militias arrests suspects belonging to ISIS eastern mosul, source, official website of the National Security.jpg

Members of a Christian militia arrest suspected IS fighters in Mosul. Source: NSS

*Names of those arrested in Mosul have been changed, for security reasons.

Via Niqash.org

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Related video added by Juan Cole:

NRT English: Iraqi forces face fierce resistance from ISIS in southwest Mosul
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By Nika Knight, staff writer | ( Commondreams.org ) |  

According to DC pundits, Trump was a dangerous maniacuntil he started bombing?

We see these beautiful pictures at night from the decks of these two Navy vessels in the eastern Mediterranean, Brian Williams said, describing footage of the U.S. missile strike. I am tempted to quote the great Leonard Cohen: Im guided by the beauty of our weapons.'

Corporate media and D.C. politicians on both sides of the aisle are falling over themselves to shower praise on President Donald Trump for unilaterally bombing a Syrian air base on Thursday, demonstrating that Washingtons hunger for war continues no matter who is at the controls.

Some talking heads praise for the new war effort has been so over-the-top that it alarmed viewers, as when NBCs Brian Williams called the launch of 59 Tomahawk missileswhich state media now reports have killed civilians, including childrenbeautiful no less than three times in 30 seconds. Williams even misguidedly quoted a Leonard Cohen lyric to gush over the strike.

Brian Williams refers to this Pentagon video of missiles going to kill people as beautiful 3 times in 30 seconds pic.twitter.com/KBb3tP8qHT  Trevor Timm (@trevortimm) April 7, 2017

The critical reaction on social media was swift:

The saddest thing here is Brian Williams is probably not lying this time. He likely thinks missile strikes are beautiful. https://t.co/11XnE4EbjO  jeremy scahill (@jeremyscahill) April 7, 2017

Ike said that the influence of mil-industrial complex was spiritual as much as political, it corrodes the soulhttps://t.co/Gy6rY8CJlQ  Jacob (@SilvermanJacob) April 7, 2017

And Williams was far from alone in his over-the-top praise for Trumps bombing. The Intercepts Lee Fang collected clips of pundits showering praise on Trump:

On Fox and Friends, analyst says missile strike shows Trump is both like Robocop and the new Sheriff in town a la spaghetti western pic.twitter.com/tjoII746OE  Lee Fang (@lhfang) April 7, 2017

Print journalists jumped at the chance to beat the war drums, too, framing Trumps decision to bomb Syria as an emotional, heartfelt, and moral one.

The Washington Posts David Ignatius claimed that it was evidence that the moral dimensions of leadership had penetrated Trumps Oval Office. And in a New York Times op-ed titled On Syria Attack, Trumps Heart Came First, White House correspondent Mark Landler framed the bombing as an emotional act by a man suddenly aware that the worlds problems were now hisand that turning away, to him, was not an option.

Readers swiftly pointed out the hypocrisy of Trumps supposed sympathy for Syrian war victims, whom he barred from entering the U.S. in one of his first acts as president:

I seriously cant with this NYT headline. pic.twitter.com/gMnQN77V50  Matt McDermott (@mattmfm) April 7, 2017

Many Congressional Democrats joined neoconservatives in offering immediate praise for the bombing. As Kevin Gosztola of ShadowProof observed:

Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senate minority leader, proclaimed, Making sure Assad knows that when he commits such despicable atrocities he will pay a price is the right thing to do. Even Democratic Senator Dick Durbin declared, My preliminary briefing by the White House indicated that this was a measured response to the Syrian nerve gas atrocity. Prior to the attack, neoconservative Elliott Abrams, a former official in President George W. Bushs administration, said, Obama did nothing at all year after year to save the lives of Syrians. Now Trump has to match his rhetoric with something concrete.

Indeed, leftist pundits pointed out that when it comes to war, both sides of the partisan aisle appear ideologically united:

Its not a matter of spine, it is that Trump and Schumer share the same ideologies https://t.co/yfzaSUJsgw  Zaid Jilani (@ZaidJilani) April 7, 2017

Many anti-war voices lamented the immediate approval from all sides for war, and expressed surprise that the praise is coming from even avid Trump critics:

I knew that Id wake up to find a bunch of people praising Trump but I still wasnt ready for it. This fucking sucks  Brandy Jensen (@BrandyLJensen) April 7, 2017

somehow i stay surprised by elite fetishization of state violence https://t.co/Hw3hhy1OkM  Mazel Tov Cocktail (@AdamSerwer) April 7, 2017

Let me get this straight: so according to DC pundits, Trump was a dangerous maniacuntil he started bombing?  asad abukhalil (@asadabukhalil) April 7, 2017

Others compared it to the lead-up to the still ongoing Iraq war, when the media united with Washington politicians to push for President George W. Bushs preemptive war.

Some also speculated that the United States economic ties to military contractors may play a role in the never-ending push for endless war, while stock prices for the company that manufactures Tomahawk missiles rose immediately following the attack.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License

Via Commondreams.org



Related video added by Juan Cole:

The Young Turks: Corporate Media Gets Big War Boner For Trump
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By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) |  

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday slammed the Trump administration for its strike on Syria, calling it illegal and based on faulty intelligence. The Russians reaffirmed that they will cease sharing their Syria flight information with the Americans.

The information sharing had been done to avoid US planes colliding with Russian ones. But now, the Kremlin is implying, they think it unwise to let the US know what the Russian Aerospace Forces are up to in Syria.

The Russian news organ Sputnik alleged Friday that Putin charged that US attacks on Syria as an aggression against a sovereign state in violation of the norms of international law, and under a trumped-up pretext at that. . .

Sputnik quotes Dmitry Peskov, Putins spokesman, as saying: At the same time, in Putins opinion, total disregard for the use of chemical weapons by terrorists only drastically aggravates the situation.

BBC Monitoring reported that Peskov castigated the US for the cruise missile strike on Shuayrat Air Base as effectively helping Islamist militant groups active in Syria, including the so-called Islamic State and the al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front.

Interfax quoted him, We dont actually know what Washingtons aims were when they decided to carry out these strikes. . . But what is unmistakable is the fact that the strikes were in effect carried out in the interests of Islamic State, the al-Nusra Front and other terrorist organisations. This is regrettable.

He affirmed, in answer to a question, that the US had struck a Russian ally: Since we are providing support to the Syrian armed forces in accordance with a request from the Syrian leadership, Syria is our ally. He denied that there was any point in the US and Russia trading information about military aviation in Syria to avoid incidents between the two. He said that Putin had not plans to contact Trump about the missile strike.

Russia Today Arabic, a Moscow government mouthpiece, compared Trump to the Bushes, saying that he couldnt find any other way to demonstrate his masculinity to his critics than to hit an obscure little airbase in Syria. This level of ridicule directed toward Trump is rare in the Russian press.

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Related video:

France 24, US missile strikes on Syria: Russia condemns attack as a violation of international law
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By Lyndal Rowlands | (Inter Press Service) |  

UNITED NATIONS (IPS)  U.S. President Donald Trump Thursday night described the deepening Syrian refugee crisis as partial justification for the first direct U.S. airstrike against the Syrian government, even though the United States still bans all refugees from Syria.

Several rights groups responded Friday, calling on Trump to repeal the ban, which applies to migrants from Syria and 5 other countries in Africa and the Middle East.

Trump was using very strong words last night to describe the cruelty and the horrors that children and civilians in general are enduring (in Syria), Maria McFarland Sanchez-Moreno, co-director of the US Program at Human Rights Watch told IPS.

To try to keep refugees out of the United States is cruel,McFarland Sanchez-Moreno added. Its contrary to the values that the U.S. has traditionally claimed to hold dear and inconsistent with some of the words that President Trump himself used last night.

Speaking from Palm Beach, Florida on Thursday night Trump described how even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in the alleged chemical weapons attack which took place earlier this week.

Years of previous attempts at changing Assads behavior have all failed, and failed very dramatically. As a result, the refugee crisis continues to deepen and the region continues to destabilize Trump continued.

If we truly want to help protect the people of Syria, we must also be willing to offer the Syrians assistance as they flee attacks in search of safety,  Noah Gottschalk, Oxfam America

However despite the airstrike marking a change in direction in Syria for the Trump Republican administration, there is no indication the administration is considering a similar shift in its policy towards Syrian refugees.

Reactions from the 15 member states of the UN Security Council to the airstrike on Friday were mixed, with some supporting the strikes even though the United States carried out the unilateral attack without the backing of the council. Others, including Bolivia, which called the meeting, strongly opposed the attack.

Lord Steward Wood of Anfield, Chair of the UN Association of the UK, a civil society organisation questioned the United States decision to take unilateral action without broad international backing through the UN,

He said that such action without a clear strategy for safeguarding civilians, and through further military escalation risks further deepening and exacerbating an already protracted and horrific conflict, leaving civilians at greater, not lesser, risk of further atrocities.

In the meantime, if President Trump wishes to help the victims of Assads atrocities, he could pledge to play a leading role in resettling the survivors, Wood added.

Meanwhile Noah Gottschalk, Oxfam Americas Senior Humanitarian Policy Advisor called for the United States to change course on Syrian refugees following the airstrikes.

Gottschalk said that the innocent families that Trump referred to who were killed in Idlib are no different than the people who are attempting to seek refuge in the U.S.

Oxfam is urging the President to change course on his discriminatory ban that blocks Syrian civilians from finding refuge in the United States, he said. If we truly want to help protect the people of Syria, we must also be willing to offer the Syrians assistance as they flee attacks in search of safety.

Although this is the first time that the United States has directly targeted Bashar Al-Assads government, airstrike monitoring project Airwars reports that there have been 7912 US-led coalition strikes targeting the so-called Islamic State since 2014. Airwars has also reported a spike in civilian casualties related to coalition air strikes in March 2017, rating 477 civilian casualties reports as fair.

However Airwars also reported that the U.S. strike on Shayrat Airfield in Homs in the early hours of Friday 7 April destroyed up to 12 aircraft describing this result as significant considering that the primary cause of civilian deaths by (the) Syrian regime remains airstrikes.

Earlier this week spokesmen for the UN Secretary-General Stephane Dujarric said that the Secretary-General was deeply disturbed by the reports of alleged use of chemical weapons in an airstrike in the Khan Shaykhun area of southern Idlib, Syria.

The Secretary-General expresses his heartfelt condolences to victims of the incident and their families.

Guterres had not yet commented on the U.S. airstrike against the Syrian government as of Friday evening.

Almost five million people have fled Syria since the conflict began over six years ago. Many areas of Syria are besieged and inaccessible to humanitarian assistance as well as UN monitors. This makes it difficult for the UN to monitor attacks such as the alleged chemical weapons attack which took place this week. This is also why the UN no longer provides an official death toll for the conflict, however in April 2016, UN Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura said that it is likely more than 400,000 people had been killed.

Via Inter Press Service

-

Related video added by Juan Cole:

CNN: Will Trump now accept Syrian refugees?
NC divided over polls in one go or two phases

The ruling Nepali Congress (NC) appears sharply divided over local level elections with a majority of lawmakers and central leaders making a pitch for voting in one go on May 14 and some senior leaders, including the party president, hinting at the possibility of polls in two phases.
by Sara Guaglione , April 7, 2017

is expanding its brand to TV. This month, the publication has collaborated with Bostons PBS TV station WGBH to debut "Weekends with," a 13-part travel and lifestyle documentary series to air on national television.

Each episode runs for a half-hour and will tap into Yankees coverage of New England's six states, exploring nature, food and activities across the urban and rural landscape.

Two episodes are already out  episode one takes viewers along the Atlantic coastline, while episode two goes out to sea, including the harvest of sweet bay scallops from Cape Poge Bay off Edgartown on Marthas Vineyard.

Funding for the "Weekends with Yankee" series is provided by New Hampshire Division of Travel and Tourism Development, Visit Maine, The Vermont Country Store and Cross Jewelers.

Travel TV host and author Richard Wiese will host the show with Amy Traverso, Yankee magazine senior food editor.

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Chefs Barbara Lynch and Jeremy Sewall, undersea explorer Barry Clifford, fly fishing author and artist James Prosek and Vermont Creamery owner Alison Hooper will also make appearances in the docu-series.

The series new Web site hosts additional program resources, including recipes, video clips and information about the chefs, artisans and locations featured on the series.

Yankee magazine was founded in 1935 and is based in Dublin, New Hampshire. It has a total circulation of nearly 300,000 and a total audience of 1.8 million readers. It is published by a family-owned, independent company, which also owns the nation's oldest continuously produced periodical, The Old Farmer's Almanac, and McLean Communications.

WGBH Boston is the largest producer of PBS content for TV and the Web.
by Josh Engroff , Op-Ed Contributor, April 7, 2017

The horror that unfolded Tuesday after the Assad regime dropped sarin nerve gas on the city of Khan Sheikhun, Syria, was like a nightmare from the past. Writing 100 years ago, the WWI poet Wilfred Owen described similar scenes of asphyxiating agony:

But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,

And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . .

Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,

As under a green sea, I saw him drowning

.If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood

Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,

Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud

Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues.

-- Wilfred Owen, Dulce et Decorum Est

Those lines are hard to read. And the videos from Tuesdays attack are hard to watch, particularly if you have a personal connection to the region, as I do (I was born in Beirut). But they are facts, tragic entries in the global register of human-on-human atrocities.

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The events this week also provided a condensed view of the past, present and future of weapons technology. Assads attack on Tuesday used sarin gas, an old technology dating from 1938 (but no less horrible for being old). The U.S. response on Thursday used Tomahawk missiles, a tech dating from the 1970s. And the most instructive glimpse of what the future will hold came in the form of the (intended or unintended) symbolism of the timing of the U.S. announcement: right after President Trumps dinner with Chinese president Xi Jinping.

The U.S. has accused China numerous times over the years of cyberespionage and hacking. In 2010, Google reported targeted attacks on its corporate infrastructure coming out of China. Since then, 34 other companies have been hacked in a similar manner, including Symantec, Yahoo and Adobe. China has also accused the U.S. of engaging in its own form of cyberhacking.

The point is not that China is a lone bad actor in this new world of cyberwar, but that, going forward, technically sophisticated sovereign states will increasingly turn to hacking, rather than brute physical force, to achieve their aims.

And cyber attacks can cause real physical damage. One example is the Stuxnet worm, allegedly co-developed by the U.S. and Israel, which damaged Irans sophisticated uranium enrichment centrifuges in 2010. Imagine that being a connected to a self-driving car, and the threat only gets more personal.

Indeed, the proliferation of Internet-connected devices only increases the likelihood of such attacks. Gartner estimates that 6.4 billion IoT devices were in use last year, and by 2019 that number will be 21 billion. IoT devices, by nature, either hold or are connected to massive amounts of personal and corporate data. Despite this, IoT devices are notoriously insecure. Forrester Research noted that IoT security is in its creation phase and lacks established quality controls or standards.

On October 21, 2016, the DNS provider Dyn suffered the largest distributed denial-of-service attack in history. The attack severely impaired hundreds of Internet services, including those run by technically sophisticated companies like Amazon and Netflix. The source of the attack was a botnet coordinated through 100,000 Mirai malware-infected ioT devices.

It turned out that the chips in these devices, many of which were made by Chinese company XiongMai Technologies, had security vulnerabilities that left them open to attack. Whether this vulnerability was a bug or a featurewhether they were purposely designed to be hackablehas still not been determined.

We live in a time of jarring contrasts, in which unprecedented human achievement shares the stage with common human barbarity. The irony is that, even while were busy inventing the future, were still dragging unwanted pieces of that past along with us. The lizard brain just wont let go.

Perhaps this dilemma is best understood as a choice, one expressed by Elliot in the show Mr. Robot: I only need to press one key to run the exploit. Or I can press another and disable the entire plan.
by Karlene Lukovitz @KLmarketdaily, April 7, 2017

Poland Springs first campaign in more than a year, Greatness Springs from Here, looks to increase awareness that the brand is exclusively sourced from  as well as exclusively available in  the Northeast.

The creative, from FCB NY, features fans from Maine and other New England states who share the brands thirst for greatness.

Case in point: Kingfield, Maine, resident Edna Mitchell (above), age 88, who continues her 38-year service as a volunteer ambulance driver.

A 30-second online spot featuring Mitchell (below)  targeted to the Northeast, of course  is kicking off the campaign.

The campaign messaging is also being promoted on the brands social media pages, including Facebook and Twitter. Fans are being encouraged to share inspiring regional stories, using #ShareGreatness.

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Poland Spring is the first of Nestle Waters North Americas six regional spring water brands to launch the campaign.

Other brand content spotlighting local greatness will feature employee stories, according to the company.
Juniper Networks, Inc. designs, develops, and sells network products and services worldwide. The company offers routing products, such as ACX series universal access routers to deploy high-bandwidth services; MX series Ethernet routers that function as a universal edge platform; PTX series packet transport routers; wide-area network SDN controllers; and session smart routers. It also provides switching products, including EX series Ethernet switches to address the access, aggregation, and core layer switching requirements of micro branch, branch office, and campus environments; QFX series of core, spine, and top-of-rack data center switches; and juniper access points, which provide Wi-Fi access and performance. In addition, the company offers security products comprising SRX series services gateways for the data center; Branch SRX family provides an integrated and next-generation firewall; virtual firewall that delivers various features of physical firewalls; and advanced malware protection, a cloud-based service and Juniper ATP. Further, it offers Junos OS, a network operating system; Contrail networking, which provides an open-source and standards-based platform for SDN; Mist AI-driven Wired, Wireless, and WAN assurance solutions to set and measure key metrics; Mist AI-driven Marvis Virtual Network Assistant, which identifies the root cause of issues; Juniper Paragon Automation, a modular portfolio of cloud-native software applications; and Juniper Apstra to automate the network lifecycle in a single system. Additionally, the company provides software-as-a-service, technical support, maintenance, and professional services, as well as education and training programs. It sells its products through direct sales, distributors, value-added resellers, and original equipment manufacturers to end-users in the cloud, service provider, and enterprise markets. The company was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.
NOC, IOC agree to seek intl arbitration in Spore

Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) have agreed to settle all unresolved legal disputes at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre.
Wells Fargo & Company, a diversified financial services company, provides banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management. The Consumer Banking and Lending segment offers diversified financial products and services for consumers and small businesses. Its financial products and services include checking and savings accounts, and credit and debit cards, as well as home, auto, personal, and small business lending services. The Commercial Banking segment provides financial solutions to private, family owned, and certain public companies. Its products and services include banking and credit products across various industry sectors and municipalities, secured lending and lease products, and treasury management services. The Corporate and Investment Banking segment offers a suite of capital markets, banking, and financial products and services to corporate, commercial real estate, government, and institutional clients. Its products and services comprise corporate banking, investment banking, treasury management, commercial real estate lending and servicing, equity, and fixed income solutions, as well as sales, trading, and research capabilities services. The Wealth and Investment Management segment provides personalized wealth management, brokerage, financial planning, lending, private banking, and trust and fiduciary products and services to affluent, high-net worth, and ultra-high-net worth clients. It also operates through financial advisors. Wells Fargo & Company was founded in 1852 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
The Reds have announced that theyve selected the contract of veteran righty Bronson Arroyo, as expected. To clear space for Arroyo on their active roster, theyve optioned righty Barrett Astin to Triple-A Louisville.

The 40-year-old Arroyo will take the mound today for the Reds in his first big-league action since 2014, joining an uncertain Cincinnati rotation that also includes Scott Feldman and Brandon Finnegan along with a variety of young arms. (The teams rotation schedule is uncertain after Feldman pitches Sunday and Finnegan on Monday; Amir Garrett and Rookie Davis have also started for the Reds so far this season.) Arroyo signed a minor-league deal with his old team in the offseason after missing most of the last two seasons after having Tommy John surgery and dealing with rotator cuff tears. Arroyos return to the Majors at age 40 after such significant injury issues suggests serious perseverance.

Before his injuries, Arroyo was a prolific innings-eater, pitching 199 or more innings in a remarkable nine straight seasons from 2005 through 2013. It remains to be seen if he can sustain anything resembling that kind of durability now, of course, given his age and health record. He made the Reds rotation after pitching 7 2/3 innings while allowing four runs and striking out six this spring, although the team waited to place him on their roster so that he could pitch a minor-league start last week.
Starr Drive co-host on Starr 103.5FM, Anita Erskine, will be the host for this year's Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA) which will take place tonight at the Accra International Conference Centre in Accra (AICC).

Though many names of astute female celebrities came up, yet organisers of the prestigious awards settled on the television and radio personality as the official host for the highly-anticipated event.

Erskine will be ably supported by Joy FM's DJ Black, who is the official DJ for the awards.

This year's event is expected to attract a large number of stakeholders, including international artistes from UK, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and the United States.

Tonight, Charterhouse will reward deserving artistes for their hard work, dedication and contribution to Ghana's music industry.

Some of the artistes tipped to win awards include Sarkodie, Joe Mettle, Stonebwoy, E.L, Mzvee, Kofi Kinaata and a host of others.

The event will witness performances from artistes such as Sarkodie, Becca, Nacee, E.L, Medikal, M.anifest, Kofi Kinaata, Stonebwoy, among others.

The event is arguably the biggest night on the Ghana music calendar as artistes are recognised for their work over the year under review.

This year, no matter who wins the artiste of the year title, history will be made.

The artiste of the year is the topmost award at the awards. It is given to the artiste(s) adjudged by the academy, board and the general public as having the highest audience appeal and popularity in a particular year.

By George Clifford Owusu


Owerri is located in the heart of Igboland in Eastern Nigeria. It is the capital of Owerri and one of the most tourists friendly state in that part of the country. As Easter beckons on us, so many people will be searching for destinations to visit and getaway. Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency recommend that you include Owerri to your Itinerary. We share reasons why you visit Owerri during Easter.

You can fly to Owerri as they have the Sam Mbakwe Airport which is about 14 miles (23 km) south of the city. That is if you do not want to go by road.

There is so much to do

You must have heard about the statue of Jesus Christ in Imo State. It was modelled like the statue of Jesus Christ in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. It is located at St. Aloysius Catholic Parish, Abajah and it has a height of 28ft. You can check out the statue. Besides the statue, you have the Oguta lake, Nekede Zoo, Owerri Amusement park, and Mbari Cultural and Arts Centre among others

It is inexpensive

You don't need to break the bank to travel to Owerri. It is inexpensive to explore the many tourist attractions in the state. It is devoid of all the shenanigans of a typical city like Lagos. In fact, you can book a hotel for as low as 3,000. Wow!

Owerri is always animated during Easter

For Igbos who didn't travel home in December, Easter is the only opportunity they have to go see his/her people. Hence, Owerri during Easter, Owerri is bubbly and lively and their hospitality and warmth won't allow you to return to your abode.

Tasty Meals

The gastronomic endowments of Owerri are one of the best in South East Nigeria. You will salivate when they serve you the indigenous Ofe Owerri. This is the most widely eaten soup in Owerri and it is usually eaten alongside Akpu. Just ask a local to take you to the best restaurant in town for you to have a taste of this soup. You will lick your plate. In fact, without tasting this soup; your visit to Owerri is incomplete.
The Ashanti regional police commander has said he takes full blame for Thursday's Delta Force attack on a Circuit Court in Kumasi.

DCOP Ken Yeboah said the police committed an error by failing to anticipate the attack.

He, however, said he would not resign over the incident because he has corrected the error.

He spoke to Starr FM's Francis Abban on Friday.

Meanwhile, the 13 Delta Force escapees have turned themselves in to the Kumasi Central Police Command in the Ashanti Region after they were aided to run away from police custody in the aftermath of a Circuit Court hearing in connection with an earlier mayhem they perpetrated.

Saliu Akilu, Chairman of the pro-government security group, told Moro Awudu on Class91.3FMs Executive Breakfast Show on Friday, 7 April that all the suspects turned themselves in on Thursday shortly after their other colleagues aided them to bolt.

The court siege followed a ruling by the judge to keep the 13, who were standing trial for assaulting the Regional Security Coordinator, in prison custody until 20 April.

After the mayhem, Minister for the Interior, Ambrose Dery, warned the 13 to turn themselves in or get hunted. Inspector General of Police David Asante-Apeatu also told the media the police did not see the escape coming.

The Ghana Bar Association also issued a statement condemning the attack, describing it as an attack on the rule of law. Meanwhile, an ardent supporter of the vigilante group, MP Kennedy Agyapong, has rescinded his support for them.
07.04.2017 LISTEN

Mildred Siabi-Mensah, GNA

Takoradi, April 7, GNA - The Central Bank of Ghana (BOG) on Thursday indicated that the celebratory five Cedi note was printed to honour the memories of Dr. James Kwegyir Aggrey, a great Philosopher and Educationist in the eighteen century.

It was to honour him for his contribution towards girl child education in the West African Region and beyond.

Mr Bernard Otabil, Head of Communications of the BOG, said this during a media engagement in the Western Regional to officially introduce the currency to the media and solicit support on educating the public on the features of the new five cedi note as well as fight counterfeit.

He said the theme; 'celebrating 60 years of Central Banking in Ghana' was chosen to highlight the significant milestone chalked by the institution since independence.

The BOG, which began its 60th anniversary celebration in March this year, was formed two days prior to the independence proclamation by Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah after breaking away from the colonial yoke of the four-state West African Currency Board.

Mr. Edward Mussey, Head of Currency Department of BOG, noted that the money had been printed to also serve as a relic for keeps for future generation.

The commemorative note coloured in blue has its reverse side a feature of seaborne oil-drilling rig, cocoa pod, coconut, cowries shells and 'adinkra' symbolism including 'Gye Nyame' and the clenched fist.

Mr. Mussey said for the first time, the new note had a Quick Response code, readable by mobile phone app which instantly leads you to a special BOG website for details of the notes.

The commemorative note has eight features: security thread, watermark, tactile marks, intaglio portrait, optically variable ink, intaglio vignette, QR code and iridescent band.

GNA
Rhino killed in Chitwan National Park

At a time when the preparations were on to mark the third consecutive Zero Poaching Year, a rare one-horned rhino was found dead in the Chitwan National Park (CNP), apparently killed by wildlife smugglers.
Dakar (AFP) - Thousands of people took to the streets of the Senegalese capital Dakar on Friday to protest against President Macky Sall and call for the release of political opponents.

The protesters, many dressed in black, demanded the release of Dakar Mayor Khalifa Sall, who had been seen as a presidential candidate for the Socialist Party.

He has been held in preventive detention since March 7, facing charges of fraud, misappropriation of public funds, criminal conspiracy and money laundering.

As police stood by to maintain order, the crowd chanted slogans calling for those charges to be dropped.

"We do not accept that Senegal can be turned into a plaything. Macky Sall must return to reason," Fadel Barro, co-founder of the "Fed Up" youth movement which organized the rally, told the crowd.

He denounced the "numerous imprisonments" of the president's opponents and urged young people to register ahead of legislative elections to be held July 30.

Senegal is widely seen as one of Africa's most stable democracies.

But accusations of corruption have hit the brother of President Sall -- who is unrelated to Khalifa Sall -- and plagued ministers in the administration of former president Abdoulaye Wade.

The "Fed Up" group was formed in 2012 to oppose Wade's bid for a controversial third consecutive term as president, which sparked deadly violence in Dakar.
The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is advocating for the growth of bilateral ties and relations between Ghana and Korea, as government seeks to embark on an ambitious programme of social and economic transformation modeled on the programmes used by the Asian Tigers.

The President made this known when Mr.Lyeo Woon-Ki, the outgoing South Korean Ambassador to Ghana, called on him at the Presidency to bid him farewell, as his 2 year duty tour of Ghana has come to an end.

According to President Akufo-Addo, many of us see your country (South Korea) as an inspiration of how, with organization, determination, hard work and creativity, a poor nation can, within a generation, transform itself to become one of the leading economies of the world.

He added, It continues to be a beacon for us, because we all know about the parallel periods of birth of Ghana and South Korea, and, yet, Korea is one of the advanced economies, and we are still struggling.

To this end, President Akufo-Addo indicated that, under his tenure of office, he would intensify efforts to deepen the relations between the two countries, stressing that economic exchanges between the two countries have a lot more room for growth and development.

We are particularly interested in getting Korean industries to interest themselves in Ghana as a basis for producing things not just for the country, but for the regional and continental markets. We are about to institutionalize the continental free trade area. All of this is to give us an opportunity to develop our own industrial and manufacturing basis. I think the involvement of Korea in this exercise will be mutually beneficial for all of us, he noted.

To the outgoing South Korean ambassador, President Akufo-Addo expressed the appreciation of Ghanaians for the work done by Mr.Lyeo Woon-Ki during his stay, which, amongst others, led to the signing of a framework agreement between the two countries, enabling Ghana obtain a concessionary loan facility of $200 million from the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDF).

We know how committed you have been to developing and deepening the relations between our two countries. And, that is why Ghanaians will always have a very fond memory of you as ambassador. We know very well that, in you, Ghana has a committed friend.

Ghana-Korean relationship would grow and flourish, and it will all be as a result of the work that you have done here. You go back to Korea with your head held high. You have done a great job for your country, President Akufo-Addo said.

On his part, the South Korean Ambassador described leaving Ghana as the moment I have been afraid to face, because I fell in love with Ghana during the last 2 years.

He was confident of Ghanas future because President Akufo-Addo has a great vision for the development of the country. He has a strong commitment to enhancing our bilateral relationship. In a sense, I feel very sad leaving this country, but I also confident that our bilateral relations will be much stronger in the coming years.
Some galamsey operators in four districts of the Western region have pledge to suspend their activities in support of governments fight to end the menace.

They contend that the devastating impact of their activities is affecting themselves and other innocent lives.

The Spokeperson for the galamsey operators, Nana Ntori Bonkyi Akomea made their intent known when they met with the Environment, Science and Technology Minister, Prof. Frimpong Boateng in Accra on Thursday.

Another appeal that we have put before the government is that we require time to suspend our operations and engage in negotiations to see how best we could mine the mineral.We are of the conviction that government is not against gold mining but the means by which the activity is carried out is of concern, he said.

The group comprises representatives from the Amenfi West, East, Central and Prestea Huni Valley districts.

Among the reasons they cited for their activities included the challenges with the centralised licensing regime plus the granting of concessions to large mines who eventually take up their farmlands.

Nana Bonkyi Akomea was also hopeful that the decentralization of the granting of mining permits will largely reduce the numbers of illegal mining activities.

We are of the conviction that government is not against gold mining but the means by which the activity is carried out is of concern. What we are therefore seeking from the government is that the processes of issuance be decentralised to give the local authorities the power to monitor the activities of persons who would be granted permit.

Nana Ntori Bonkyi Akomea further appealed to other communities affected by the menace.

We are appealing to our sister communities across the country affected by the galamsey activities to support us.'

Meanwhile the Environment Minister, Prof. Frimpong Boateng has pledged of the government's commitment to heed the concerns expressed by the illegal miners by factoring them into the plan outlined for ending the illicit act.

The discussions also come on the back of Citi FM's campaign #StopGalamseyNow.

As part of the campaign, the station is seeking five demands from government in ending the menace.

A petition is expected to be presented to Parliament to seek its support in getting the act curtailed.



By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana
The former Lawra/Nandom National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP), Dr Benjamin Kunbour, has noted that it would be in the interest of the party to hold early congress to select a presidential candidate for the 2020 election

Without directly passing a vote of no confidence in ex-President Mahama  who is tipped to return as the NDC candidate  or the current executives of the party, the former minister said, A party that has suffered this level of defeat with so much internal acrimony and internal pain still in the mind, if we could not take eight years to galvanise that into an electoral victory, I don't see how we can do that within one year or one-and-a-half years.

He said on Class FM in Accra last Thursday that the current constitutional arrangement of the party should not be adhered to strictly since the time for electing a flag bearer would be too close to the 2020 general election.

Given all the preparations that are involved, it will mean that by the time you are getting to elect your flag bearer, you will be in 2019, he observed.

Dr Kunbour said the NDC constitution should be 'explored in times of challenges,' adding that the time has come for the leadership of the party to use those powers to resolve a number of issues, and I guess this is a useful thing we should be looking at.

Dr Benjamin Kunbour, former Defence Minister, claimed that he knew the Mahama-led (NDC) government would lose the December 7, 2016.

He said the signs of defeat were similar to what happened in 1999/2000 when the then opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) defeated the NDC in the 2000 polls.

It was possible you could see that defeat was coming because anyone who has been around from 1999/2000 could see a symmetry between the developments that were taking place, particularly a year or a-year-and-a-half in the runoff to the elections, he underscored on GHOne TVs 'State of Affairs' programme recently.

Mahama Floored

In last year's election, the NPP's candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, made sure that then President John Dramani Mahama's dream of a re-election did not become a reality by knocking him (Mahama) out with 5,716,026 votes (representing 53.85%), while Mr. Mahama secured 4,713,277 votes (44.40%).

As if that was not enough, the NDC entered into the current political dispensation as minority in parliament with only 104 seats as against the NPP's 171- having snatched some 49 seats from the former.

Self-Introspection

Dr. Kunbour, who was once indicted by the police for firing bullets inside his own vehicle but claimed it was an assassination attempt, said some leading members of the NDC also knew that the party was opposition-bound.

I spent a bit of my quiet time doing some analysis and I must say at that time, I was a bit frightened about the parallels and similarities of 1999 and 2000 which eventually led to our electoral defeat at that time. So there was cause for worry at that time, he said.

According to him, the worsening graduate unemployment, leading to increase in membership of the Ghana Unemployed Graduates Association as well as the austerity measures directed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were all factors for the NDC's defeat.

External Environment

The external environment, you don't always control it. Externally, we had gone into an IMF package which the consequences were of very high level austerity. The austerity hit directly at our constituency, he maintained, adding, There is no way that with the global unemployment, particularly youth unemployment you have in this country, that will not become an election issue.

In the peculiar case of Ghana, I saw the percentages of graduate unemployment reach an astronomical level to the extent that an association of unemployed graduates had to be formed to articulate these concerns and that clearly mirrors what exactly was going on in the country. There were many more but they all fed into the package.

Dr. Kunbour, who was once majority leader in parliament, pointed out, There is no way you can run austerity in this part of the world of an emerging economy in which hardship cannot be wished away. And because you are incumbent, it becomes difficult. You can't say as we take this major step, this is going to be the outcome. It becomes easier for your opponent. They simply look at it and because they have no responsibility at the time, they make a very clear statement so there is no attempt at rationalising the state of the economy. They were in a relative comfort zone.

By William Yaw Owusu


The story about a Regional Director of Education whipping a female teacher in front of her pupils made worrying reading yesterday and rightly so.

The director is said to have taken the action in reaction to the female teacher's caning of some pupils for being late to school. Unfortunately however, her reported action is worse than the female teacher's, and we call for an appropriate sanction to be taken against her after a thorough probe.

This is an indiscretion a regional director with her wealth of experience should not have taken. The temptation to react before thinking is what overwhelmed her; the repercussions on the kids who witnessed the inappropriate action can only be imagined.

Perhaps the local authorities should consider transferring her from the school just so the humiliation she suffered would not affect her productivity in the classroom.

The officer's power as regional director on teachers was abused and we are constrained to condemn her in no uncertain terms, no matter how hard the local authorities seek to veneer what really happened.

We are amazed that the director failed to understand what her action could visit on her integrity. Now that the issue is definitely going to attract the attention of her superiors at the national level, whatever befalls her she should bear her own cross.

As heads of state institutions and their branches, we must exercise our powers with discretion as we simultaneously restrain our tempers. The director could have invited the teacher to her office and reprimanded her for the action she took against the kids instead of flipping and taking the action. Coming against the backdrop of the outlawing of whipping pupils in our schools, the matter under review becomes even more interesting because of its two-pronged nature: the female teacher breached the regulation banning caning of kids and the director went overboard by caning a teacher in front of her pupils.

The family members of the female teacher or her husband  if she is married  could have descended upon the director, triggering an avoidable ado in full glare of the pupils.

Discipline should be the hallmark of persons in public service, and so when such irresponsible conduct originates from top level personalities, we have cause to be disappointed and even fret that we are losing a vital ingredient.

Indiscipline among school children stems from what they observe as they grow up  the kind of scenario which the kids witnessed when their teacher was being flogged standing out as smelly example.

That certainly was not a good picture and we think anything short of a disciplinary action would be inappropriate.

We have already witnessed manouvres to keep the case out of the public space. What is internal about a director of education whipping a female teacher in front of pupils as the local authorities are trying to tag the case and kill it?

We shall follow developments thereof because it is a public interest story. It is our responsibility to point out what is wrong in society so we can all witness progress in our daily activities as a people.
Freddie Blay

08.04.2017 LISTEN

The Acting National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddie Blay, has condemned Delta Force, a vigilante group aligned to the ruling party, for invading a Kumasi Circuit Court and freeing members who were standing trial.

According to him, the party is embarrassed by such an action, adding that the law must take its course.

They are not kids; they've taken the step of doing the unthinkable and it is a pity. It has brought embarrassment and it is bad PR for us. But I don't think that is the end of the world, he said.

Members of the Delta Force stormed a Kumasi Circuit Court on Thursday and freed 13 of their members, who were standing trial for allegedly harassing the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator, George Adjei.

Speaking on Accra-based Asempa FM yesterday, Mr Freddie Blay explained that the attack by the Delta Force was foolish.

He underscored, Although they have apologized, of course, it doesn't mean that the party would interfere with police investigation. We had to allow the law to take its own course. In allowing the law to take its own course, it resulted in them being brought before the court. And unfortunately, they were supposed to be remanded. And that was part of the foolish thing that they [Delta Force] did. We condemn it, he emphasised.
The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) has condemned the blatant disregard for court orders and attack on a judge discharging her lawful duty.

In a statement on the Delta Force attack on the Kumasi Circuit Court and freeing its members, the GBA said it was sickening and horrifying to watch the videos of persons using violence as means to defy the court orders.

The association noted that such glorification of violence dastardly acts and threat to our judiciary cannot be tolerated or allowed under our democratic dispensation.

It is totally unacceptable under whatever pretense to disobey orders of the court, attack or threaten to attack the person of the judge, thereby endangering the peace of our country.

According to the GBA, any system that allowed an individual, group of persons or institutions to disobey orders made by a court of competent jurisdiction with impunity undermines the independence of the judiciary creates room for anarchy, chaos and lawlessness.

The Association therefore called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to re-arrest all the 13 accused persons so that they could be remanded and investigated thoroughly.

It further appealed to the Minister of Interior to ensure the immediate disbandment of the Delta Force and all other vigilante groups that have sprung up in the country.

The GBA also reminded the public that a judiciary that is protected against all forms of intimidation and interference is the key to securing judicial independence and the freedom of the citizenry.

We should therefore not, in any circumstance, countenance any attack whatsoever on the courts and judiciary as a whole for that matter.

A news item and video recording have gone viral, alleging that members of the supposed 'Delta Force' had attacked the Kumasi Circuit Court.

The court, presided over by Her Honour Mary Senkyere, had reportedly ordered 13 persons, who were charged with the offence of conspiracy to commit crime and assault on a police officer causing unlawful damage and preventing the officer from doing his lawful duty, to be remanded into custody and re-appear on 20th April, 2017.

However, the 13 persons ordered to be remanded in custody were allegedly taken away by the Delta Force in clear disobedience to the court's order.

GNA


On December 31, 2016, a few hours before the New Year, a 28-year-old man allegedly ended his life.

Media reports during that period indicated that the young man in his productive years committed the act at Akyem Hemang in the Fanteakwa District of the Eastern Region.

Days later, a 14 year-old teenager and a 32-year-old man also took their lives in Accra. Two taxi drivers, one at Half Assini in the Jomoro District and the other at Achimota in Accra, also joined the suicide statistic of the country within the same week.

But what alarmed the country the most were the preventable deaths of Level 400 Agriculture & Consumer Science student of the University of Ghana and first year Chemical Engineering student of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

These young women with great potentials ended their lives under circumstances their families are finding difficult to come to terms with.

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 made sure she was always happy. She was my best friend, a parent of one of the deceased is reported saying.

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, he adds.

Dr Akwasi Osei, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Mental Health Authority (MHA), describes the trend, particularly among students, as very worrisome, adding that the occurrence is as a result of the lack of attention given to mental healthcare in the country.

He said there are more unreported cases of suicide in the country because according to him, in every single reported case of suicide, there were four unreported cases of suicide.

The country records about 1,500 reported suicide cases annually, thus, bringing the number of unreported cases to about 6,000 every year. This figure translates to about seven percent loss of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.

He explains that those who commit suicide do so as a last resort and not because they wanted to end their lives.

Even though they are happy when their attempt fails, they are likely to do it again if they do not get the needed interventions, he says.

Causes

Suicidal behaviour is a complex one and may be difficult to explain why someone engages in the act, but research into this behaviour in Ghana, however, continues to show various psycho-social factors and in some cases mental illnesses which are strongly associated with these behaviours (especially among the youth).

Dr Osei says attesting to this fact notes that about 95 percent of people who attempt or complete the act have some traces of mental disorders.

Giving the breakdown of the constitutes of the 95 percent, Dr Osei says 80 percent can be attributed to depression, while 15 percent is because of various mental illnesses, including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, acute stress reaction, alcohol and drug abuse.

The other five percent, he says, is due to decisions based on politics or religion and the decision of a person suffering from a chronic ailment such as cancer, HIV or diabetes, for instance, to end it all.

Depression

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has identified depression as the leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide.

Depression is a common mental illness characterised by persistent sadness and a loss of interest in activities that people normally enjoy, accompanied by an inability to carry out daily activities, for 14 days or longer.

In addition, people with depression normally have several of the following  a loss of energy, a change in appetite, sleeping more or less, anxiety, reduced concentration, indecisiveness, restlessness, feelings of worthlessness, guilt or hopelessness and thoughts of self-harm or suicide.

The latest estimates from WHO points to the fact that more than 300 million people are now living with depression, an increase of more than 18 percent between 2005 and 2015.

WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan, states, These new figures are a wake-up call for all countries to re-think their approaches to mental health and to treat it with the urgency that it deserves.

Depression is an important risk factor for suicide, which claims hundreds of thousands of lives each year. A better understanding of depression and how it can be treated, while essential, is just the beginning, Dr Shekhar Saxena, Director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse at WHO, says.

What needs to follow is sustained scale-up of mental health services accessible to everyone, even the most remote populations in the world.

In the lead-up to World Health Day on 7 April, WHO launched its year-long campaign dubbed 'Depression: Let's Talk'.

The overall goal of the campaign is that more people with depression, everywhere in the world, both seek and get help.

The continuing stigma associated with mental illness was the reason why we decided to name our campaign 'Depression: Let's Talk, Dr Saxena says.

For someone living with depression, talking to a person they trust is often the first step towards treatment and recovery, he adds.

Bottle Necks

Stigmatisation, traditional beliefs, poorly financed mental health facilities and the framing of the law concerning suicide acts are obstacles that hinder the accessibility of mental healthcare and stops many patients from opting for early medical attention.

The Accra Psychiatric Hospital, for instance, since its establishment in 1904, has seen very little major renovations and, therefore, continues to grapple with financial, material and other resource allocations that are needed for its smooth operation.

The hospital has been in the media on many occasions for lack of basic logistics like gloves, detergents, syringes and food items leading to temporary halting of services and sometimes forced reintegration of admitted patients.

The Criminal Code 1960 (Act 29) Section 57 (2) also criminalises suicide act. The law says whoever attempts to commit suicide shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Meaning, a person who fails a suicide attempt will face trail and subsequently when found guilty, jailed.

The Medical Director of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, Dr Pinaman Appau, is concerned about the stigma and lack of attention given to psychiatric hospitals in the county.

Our neglect of mental health and mental health issues makes it difficult for us to get data on mental health including suicide, she adds.

This same neglect has also led to inadequate mental health personnel, lack of funding and non-passage of the legislative instrument to back the mental health act 846 which was passed in 2012.

The Ghana Psychological Association feels the manner in which the media reports such cases indirectly creates further problems, as mentally distressed persons in society may simply copy the behaviour of troubled people in the suicide stories the media carries.

Uncensored published stories of how some people planned and killed themselves may simply help those on the verge of suicide, to consider ending their lives as well. This is called 'copycat suicides, the association says.

Dr Akwasi Osei

Urgent Need for Investment

In many countries, including Ghana, there is no or very little support available for people with mental health disorders or mental health facilities.

Even in high income countries, nearly 50 percent of people with depression do not get treatment.

On average, just three percent of government health budgets is invested in mental health, varying from less than one percent in low income countries to five percent in high income countries

The WHO says investment in mental health makes economic sense because every US$ 1 invested in scaling up treatment for depression and anxiety leads to a return of US$ 4 in better health and ability to work but failure to act is costly.

A WHO-led study which calculated treatment costs and health outcomes in 36 low, middle and high income countries for 15 years, from 2016-2030, low levels of recognition and access to care for depression and another common mental disorder, anxiety, result in a global economic loss of a trillion US dollars every year.

The losses are incurred by households, employers and governments. Households lose out financially when people cannot work. Employers suffer when employees become less productive and are unable to work. Governments have to pay higher health and welfare expenditures.

Decriminalise Suicide Attempt

The MHA and the Ghana Psychological Association (GPA) say decriminalising attempted suicide in the statutes of Ghana is the way to go if the fight against suicide is to be won, because the move will make it easier for suicide survivors to open up about their struggles and receive help.

They are, in turn, advocating a national policy that will provide the framework for suicide prevention in the country.

Attempted suicide is not a criminal issue. Neither is it a moral issue or spiritual problem. It is simply a cry for help to resolve psycho-social issues and, therefore, more appropriately is a medical problem, Dr Osei mentions.

Dr Osei also called on legislators to pass the Legislative Instrument (LI) to the Mental Health Act, 2012 (Act 846) to enable the Mental Health Authority to start massive public education and mental health promotion.

Help Line

The MHA established a temporary helpline as a short-term measure in response to the current spate of reported suicide cases in Ghana.

Since its launch a few weeks ago, over 30 calls from different parts of the country have been recorded, with the number increasing.

Dr Osei says the number of calls shows that there is a real need out there and we are mapping out strategies to deal with it.

He says some of those who called were counselled and given re-orientation because they just needed a hearing ear, while others were directed to the nearest health facilities where there were psychiatric units or psychiatric nurses.

It is his hope that the helpline will assist people will mental disorders and, thereby, help prevent suicide attacks in future.

It may not be easy to conclude that an individual is suicidal, but the Ghana Psychological Association states that if you notice that a student suddenly becomes a lot more reserved than they usually are, it should raise a red flag, and they may be doing some good service to the person if they contact the counselling service in their school or call the Mental Health Authority on 0206814666/0503444793 for a session with an expert.

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri


08.04.2017 LISTEN

I have been following this citizenship renunciation circus since cabinet and deputy cabinet appointees-designate of the Akufo-Addo Administration began appearing before the Parliamentary Appointments Committee (PAC) with amused contempt, in particular the orgiastic delight with which the National Democratic Congress PAC minority members appear to relish quizzing candidates over the same.

The unspoken subtext here appears to be that, somehow, those candidates who either have dual citizenship, often longtime residents of the United States, who recently renounced their American citizenship in the wake of their nomination for cabinet and other high-level appointments are, somehow, less patriotic than those whose political patriarch, namely, Chairman Jerry John Rawlings, made the acquisition of the option of a second nationality an imperative necessity (See Ive Renounced My US Citizenship  Adu-Boahen Tells Appointments Committee MyJoyOnline.com / Ghanaweb.com 3/28/17).

Other than spoiling for the two most powerful political offices of the land, namely, the Presidency and the Vice-Presidency, I see absolutely no big deal in having a Ghanaian-born American citizen, for example, serve as a Minister of State of their country of birth. And maybe for the sake of dispelling all doubts, an exception could also be made of the Office of the Chief Justice and Speaker of Parliament. Lets face it, more non-dual Ghanaian citizens, among them Mr. Alfred Agbesi Woyome, Mrs. Betty Mold-Iddrisu and Mr. Barton-Odro, the former Deputy Attorney-General, have done far more harmful deeds to betray the trust of Ghanaian citizens and voters than many of these former dual-citizenship holders, whose only crime appears to be that they were self-respecting and self-loving enough to have flatly refused to accept the sort of blistering humiliation brought upon them by the Rawlings Posse who, by the way, continue to do untold damage to the country.

That the Constitution of Ghana allows for the acquisition of dual citizenship is all the more reason why responsible former dual-citizenship holders like Mr. Charles Kofi Asare Adu-Boahen, the Deputy Finance Minister-Designate, ought not to be forced into becoming what the great 18th-century British-American philosopher and thinker, Mr. Thomas Paine, once described as Fair-Weather Citizens. What is quite interesting here is that not quite long ago, a dual-citizenship holder and a retired Ghanaian-born American high school principal was allowed to serve as mayor of our nations capital. It appears that a double-standard has been established, whereby Ghanaians with political and/or ideological affiliation to the Rawlings-minted National Democratic Congress are exempted from studiously obeying the laws of the land. But that the leaders of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) appear to have practically accepted this patently unsavory status of second-class citizenship, is all the more to be lamented.

Today, I suppose Mayor Oko Vanderpuije, after testing the political waters of Ghana and finding the going to be great, has renounced his US citizenship to become a full-fledged Ghanaian. I even believe that I recently came across a news article which told of the former Accra mayors having won a parliamentary seat on the ticket of the now-main opposition National Democratic Congress. Dont get me wrong, my dear reader, I dearly love my country of birth with all my heart, mind and soul. Nevertheless, I also dont for a split-second suppose that I would so readily give up any aspect of my dual Ghanaian-American citizenship or identity for the decidedly thankless job of a deputy cabinet appointee in any government in the country.

You see, I dont suppose that cynical political scam-artists like Mr. Haruna Iddrisu, the National Democratic Congress Parliamentary Minority Leader, realizes what is at stake for well-educated and employed people like Mr. Adu-Boahen to opt for some Mickey-Mouse appointment as Deputy Finance Minister of Ghana. It is purely a labor of love unless, of course, your name is Stephen Opuni and you also happen to be the blood relative of Mrs. Lordina Mahama, the former First Lady of our Republic.

*Visit my blog at: kwameokoampaahoofe.wordpress.com Ghanaffairs
08.04.2017 LISTEN

The allegations, real or imaginary, that parliamentarians in Ghana are corrupt have etched into the minds of Ghanaians for decades, most especially since Ghana re-entered liberal democracy in the Fourth Republic. Somehow, this perception of corruption in the august house has been a major concern to some of us, because it is the house that is central to the running of governance in a democratic state.

Parliament serves as the fountainhead of the democratization process in Ghana, specifically, and Africa in general. Thus, when Samuel Huntington posited his theory of the third wave of democratization, the legislature, in my estimation, was considered a linchpin.

Following the high levels of corruption often peddled against parliamentarians, and the centrality of the august house in our democratic experiment, I was particularly interested in Ayarigas case. I looked forward to his ability to substantiate his claim to either clear his image, at least for the time being, or set the pace for the pacification of the house.

Since the image of the house has been casted in doubt, following the plethora of allegations that members take bribes before they consent to a bill, budgetary arrangement, assenting to contracts etc, Ayariga, the MP for Bawku Central, stood on the threshold of redeeming the image of the house.

But, as fate would have it, Ayariga, who is a lawyer, a one time cabinet member, and has been a member of the house for a considerable number of years, could not provide any convincing evidence to substantiate his claim. In fact, Ayariga chose to dabble in the politics of populism. He was also engaged in the politics of equalization. Ayariga, who has had several allegations of scandals leveled against him, and was possibly in desperate need of an opportunity to drag other parliamentarians into his camp of corrupt MPs. But he failed miserably.

There are several reasons for one appealing to any court of competent jurisdiction for redress. But I would concentrate on just two: to plead for justice or mercy. Usually, you plead for justice when you are very convinced that you are wrongfully being treated or when you feel threatened that your rights as an individual are unjustly being undermined. Or you also go to court to plead for mercy. Here, you admit that you are wrong, and that the court should temper justice with mercy. In my reading of Ayarigas apology, it is patently obvious that he pleaded for mercy, which by legal implication meant that he admitted he had contravened the rules of parliament. In other words, he was in contempt of the august house.

It is also clear that Ayariga has wasted the time of all Ghanaians, and also further dented the image of the august house. He has also partly strengthened the position of those who sincerely think that parliamentarians are corrupt. Here, if Ayariga, a parliamentarian, has intentionally informed Ghanaians that parliamentarians, who are supposedly honourables, cannot be trusted for whatever they say, can we even trust any parliamentarian, including the accused persons, that parliamentarians could be entrusted with the truth to do right? In other words, if a so-called honourable member could unashamedly lie, then can we trust other members? This is because as part of the initiation rites into the august house, members swear an oath to be truthful and honest in their endeavours. This undertaking also adds credibility to they being called honourables. But if this oath, which is always administered with a religious book in the hand of the MP being initiated, could be flouted, then can we trust the mere words of mortals, as far as the truth is concerned?

From Ayarigas apology, it is clear that he is either a liar or a coward or both. A liar because he intentionally circumvented the truth (truth is absolute), and a coward because he could not stand by what he had initially claimed to be true. But the point is that being a liar and a coward should not be the attribute of a member of parliament. Both attributes would numb the ability of a parliamentarian to contribute effectively to the running of Ghana. Let us assume, without admitting, that Ayariga had the truth, but did not have the courage to stand by it. Here, we cannot excuse Ayariga because lack of courage is very dangerous for any civilized society. Possibly, Ayariga submitted to cowardice because of some egocentric motives: the benefits from parliament, his salary, his reputation (which I think has been dented), and his future political ambitions (which I think has also been dented). But, here too, what it means is that Ayariga cannot be trusted to do anything meaningful for Ghanaians, beyond his selfish interest. Can Ghana develop if we have such persons as parliamentarians? With all these permutations, it is still clear that Ayariga has done us more harm than good.

Is lame apology enough, considering the gravity of the effects of the allegations? It is good that Ayariga has without coercion eaten the humble pie, since it belies the mischief in his sleeves, but I think it is not enough. Such a lame apology is not deterrent enough, considering the grimness of his crime. Yes, he has been warned by the salvific mantra, Go and sin no more, but would Ayariga have the ability to tame his propensity to lie and malign other members of the house? Would such a lame apology clear the image of Ghanas august house, which suffered a major credibility shipwreck, following the lies of a supposed honourable member? Maybe the apology may help in the reconstruction of the credibility of the august house, but more needs to be done to assure Ghanaians and the rest of the world that we could trust our parliamentarians. Finally, can a mere mortal and sinner like me not afford to forgive Hon. Mahama Ayariga?

Satyagraha

Charles Prempeh ( [email protected] ),

African University College of Communications, Accra
Seniority matters?

It seems that most of us are excited about the upcoming local elections while our corrupt chors in the ruling coalition seem to have other priorities. While we are all looking forward to voting for the best person for the job, our politicians are busy bickering over who gets to be the senior most buffoon after our Emperor.
Agona Swedru, April 6, GNA - Loan defauls associated with the management of the Credit Unions by some customers is the major bane to the financial growth of the unions.

Mr Wisdom Yaw Badjessah, newly elected Board Chairman of the Agona District Workers Co-operatives Credit Union Limited made this known when he addressed Annual Shareholders meeting of the Union at Agona Swedru.

He said the District Workers Credit Union was making serious impact in the lives of teachers, nurses, market women and other workers to meet their financial requirements.

According to the Board Chairman, who was formerly Assistant Principal of Agona Swedru National Vocational Training Institute appealed to the loan defaulters to pay their facilities received for others to benefit.

Other Elected board members were Mr Charles Amoasi Amos, Vice Chairman, Mr Solomon Kweku Adjei, Secretary, Madam Winifred Noye, Treasurer and Madam Mary Oduro, member.

The Board Chairman stated that Agona District Workers Credit Union would strengthen the mode of granting loan facility to the members, adding that it was not intended to frustrate them but aimed at ensuring that loans were paid promptly.

He said collaterals and other guarantors would be restructured to improve the financial position of the union, adding that the Credit union was established to make profit and render excellent services to members.

He appealed to the workers especially petty traders in the Agona West Municipality and beyond to join the credit union, saying that 'little drops of water make the might ocean.'

The Board Chairman said the Credit union granted loans millions of Ghana Cedis to customers to pay children's fees, building projects, trading and small and medium enterprises to improve their businesses.

Mr Solomon Adjei, who is professional Accountant expressed greatest appreciation to members for given him opportunity to serve on the board for a four-year term.

The Secretary of the board promised to bring innovation into the financial management to raise the financial position of the Credit Union to attract more self-employed market women and government workers in Gomoa East, Agona East, Agona Swedru and Effutu to join the Credit Union.

GNA
08.04.2017 LISTEN

Accra April 7, GNA - The Association of Magistrates and Judges of Ghana (AMJG) says it is unacceptable for a group of persons to enter a court room and forcibly free persons who were a subject of criminal prosecution.

In a joint statement with the Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSAG), the AMJG described the actions of the Delta Force as 'primitive, uncivilised, uncouth, primordial and above all criminal.'

Mr Justice Victor Ofoe, the President of AMJG who read the statement on behalf his colleagues and JUSAG at a press conference in Accra, has therefore called on the police to arrest and bring to normalcy the situation for Ghanaians to go about their lawful duties.

The two associations recounted that the actions of the Delta Force, acted as threat and intimidation of members of the judiciary.

They, therefore, called on judges and staffs to stay calm while immediate solutions were found to the impasse.

'' We assure you that we are in discussion with the headship of Judicial Service towards providing maximum security to all courts.''

AMJG and JUSAG, however, directed all members who have reason to feel threatened to report to the Regional Police Commander for appropriate steps to be taken.

They further appealed to government and the Police hierarchy as a matter of urgency to take steps to ally the worries, fears and anxiety of all Magistrates and judges in the region.

It further urged the Police to consider every court as flash point that is worth the constant eye of the security agencies since criminal trials had the potential of emitting violence.

According to them the incident should not be the usual talk shop for the media without any firm action take to provide security to judges and Magistrates all over the region.

Delta Forces, a vigilante group in Kumasi last Thursday stormed a Circuit Court freeing 13 of their members who had been remanded by the court. GNA
08.04.2017 LISTEN

By Hafsa Obeng, GNA Accra, April 7, GNA - The first prosecution witness, Hajia Zainab Adams on Friday identified the dress and shoes of her deceased husband and gallon containing the substance that was poured on him to an Accra High Court hearing the case of the murder of the former Upper East Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party,

She said identified the brown shirt, ash trousers and the black shoe her husband wore on the day the incident happened to the court.

Concluding her evidence in chief, Hajia Adams said on the said day, she came out of their house and saw her husband crying that he was in pain and was burning and mentioned the accused person Gregory Afoko and one Asake as having poured the substance on him, she pulled him out of the vehicle onto the floor.

She said she sustained injuries of burns on her arm and breast in the process of pulling her husband from the vehicle and showed the scars to the court.

'I went to the hospital for treatment on the same day and was treated and discharged. When I got home the police came back and took pictures of the burnt arms and breast.'

During cross examination the witness said on the day of the incident her husband came home after 2330 hours, with the acid burns reiterating that the substance was poured on him on his way home and not at their house.

Counsel for the accused person, Mr Osafo Boabeng asked how she managed the soaked cloth on her husband she said she covered her fingers with a polythene bag before removing the cloth, and after that left it at the scene.

She said when she removed the cloths, she put them in a polythene bag in the presence of the police and handed it over to the police.

The case was adjourned to April 11, for continuation of cross examination.

At the last adjourned date, Hajia Zeinabu Adams, told the court that on the day of the incident when she visited her husband in the hospital, he told her that it was Gregory and Asake now at large who poured some substance on him.

She told the court that some police officers later came to the hospital to visit the deceased and inspect the substance that was poured on him.

Afoko, a farmer is alleged to have killed Mr Adams Mahama.

He is being held on the charges of conspiracy to commit crime to wit murder and murder, he has pleaded not guilty before a seven-member jury at the court.

The prosecution intends to call 14 other witnesses, aside Hajia Adams to make their case.

It is alleged that he carried out the act with one Alandgi Asake who is on the run.

A third accomplice, Musa Issa, was granted bail after the Attorney-General opined that there was not enough evidence to put him on trial.

GNA files indicate that on February 23, last year, an Accra District Court committed Afoko to stand trial at the High Court to answer to the charges against him.

The State indicated at committal proceedings before the Magistrate Court and tendered over 17 exhibits in respect of the trial.

The exhibits include Afoko's caution and charge statements as well as a post mortem report of the deceased conducted on November 25, 2015, by Dr Lawrence Edusei; a medical report on the deceased wife who also sustained injuries in her bid to assist the deceased when the incident occurred.

Other exhibits are a gallon containing the alleged residue of acid found at the crime scene, a cup believed to have been used by the assailants in pouring the acid on to the deceased, the deceased's pair of shoes and attire and a piece of carpet in the deceased car.

The rest were various reports from the Ghana Standard Authority (GSA), a pair of blue-black track suit belonging to Afoko and photographs of the crime scene.

Prosecution is being led by Mr Amponsah, Chief State Attorney, who told the court that the deceased was a contractor who lived at Bolgatanga SSNIT Flats in the Upper East Region and also the NPP Regional Chairman.

According to Mr Amponsah, Afoko also lived in Bolgatanga and was the younger brother of Mr Paul Afoko, former National Chairman of the NPP.

The State said the accused is also a party activist, and was close to the deceased.

On May 20, 2015, the deceased left his house to his construction site in his pick-up truck with registration number NR 761-14.

The Chief State Attorney said the deceased returned to the house in the night and at the entrance of his house, two men signaled him to roll down the window of his car.

The deceased obliged and the two men, however, poured acid on the deceased and fled on a motorbike.

Mr Amponsah said Mr Mahama shouted for help and his wife, Hajia Zenabu Adams went to his aid.

He said Mrs. Adams also sustained burns on her chest and breast in her bid to assist the victim.

According to Mr Amponsah, the deceased told the wife that it was Gregory and Asanke, who poured the acid on him.

The deceased also mentioned the two accused persons, in the presence of neighbours, as the people who poured the acid on him.

The Chief State Attorney said Mr Adams was rushed to the Intensive Care Unit of the Bolgatanga Hospital where he passed on.

Mr Amponsah said the Police proceeded to the crime scene and collected a gallon containing the residue of the alleged acid, a cup and clothes of the assailant.

He said the passenger and driver's seats were soaked with the acid and a pair of track suit used by the accused was also picked up.

The items retrieved were sent to the Ghana Standard Board.

Afoko was picked up at about 0200 hours in his house and he led the Police to Asake's house. Asake was, however, not available.

A postmortem conducted on the deceased by Dr Edusei indicates that Mr Adams died of extensive acid burns.

GNA
Accra April 7, GNA - The Judicial Council has tasked the Inspector General of Police and the Interior Ministry to take immediate steps to provide maximum security at all times for judges and courts in the country.

It further demanded that invasion of the court by the Delta Force be investigated with dispatch and the perpetrators dealt with decisively in accordance with the law.

A statement issued by the Judicial Council after an Emergency meeting in Accra, noted that 'the nations attempt at democratic governance and enforcement of the rule of law will flounder and fail if such action are allowed to fester.'

It noted that the incident was not only regrettable but a dent the image of the country which was seen as a beacon of democracy in Africa.

'This act of impunity is not only a grave affront to the independence and dignity of the Judiciary, but also an attack on the rule of law and the administration of justice in a constitutional democracy.

The Judicial Council, however, appealed to all judges and staff to remain calm and continue to go about their work without fear.

'The Judicial Council takes note of the assurance given by the government with regard to the matter. The Council will keep in touch with government on the issue of security for judges and staff and additional steps to be taken to avert any such incidents in the future,' the statement said.

The Council noted that the judiciary was the last Bastion and bulwark for the defence and protection of the constitution and rule of law.

A Kumasi Circuit Court presided over by Mary Senkyere last Thursday was invaded by a group known as Delta Force after the court had remanded into custody 13 of its members.

The council said a report received from the Registrar of the court indicated that the group forcibly freed 13 of its members who were remanded on the charges of Conspiracy to commit crime, assault on a public officer, committing unlawful damage and preventing public officer from performing his public duty.

According to the council, the report further indicated that some court staff were manhandled and property belonging to the state damaged.

GNA
08.04.2017 LISTEN

Accra, April 7, GNA - The Health Services Workers' Union (HWSU) of Trade Unions Congress (Ghana) has called on all people of peace, who believe in justice to hold the Liberian government accountable for violation of international treaties it signed.

According to the Union, 'injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere' and appealed to the leadership of Liberia to resolve the issue amicably for industrial peace in that country.

An official statement issued and signed by Mr Reynolds O. Tenkorang, General Secretary of HSWU said 'on this special day, the Health Services Workers' Union, writes to draw attention to the unfair working conditions and atrocities being perpetrated against the thousands of professional women and men in Liberia's public health sector.'

'The suppression has culminated in refusal to grant the National Health Workers of Liberia (NAHWAL), a Trade Union Certificate and an outright dismissal of NAHWAL's President, Mr Joseph F. Tamba and Secretary General, Mr George Poe Williams.

'The very few workers who are on the government of Liberia Employment Roster (Payroll), have no employment letters, no job descriptions with the majority of them, not able to take their annual leave and salaries, let alone get incentives as professional health workers,' it added.

The statement said as a result of the suppression, the sector experienced serious brain drain as qualified health workers sought greener pastures with Non-Governmental Organisations and health institutions outside the country.

'On this World Health Day, the HSWU joins Public Services International (PSI) and all its affiliated Unions to call on President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo to use his good office to talk with colleague President of Liberia, President Johnson Sirleaf to help resolve the matter for industrial harmony to prevail in that country,' the statement added.

The statement also called on the Ghana government to expedite payment to service providers of National Health Insurance Scheme, especially to the Christian Health Association of Ghana Health Institutions who provide services in the remote areas of the country.

'Ghanaian workers contribute their quota of 2.5 per cent of their salaries to the scheme and it therefore behooves on government to also do its part,' it added. GNA
By Lydia Asamoah, GNA Accra, April 7, GNA - A European Union funded project dubbed, 'Ensure Greater Environmental Sustainability and Social Equity in Ghana's Fishery Sector, has been launched to help promote food security and improved livelihoods in the sector.

The project would also help in reducing illegal fishing activities and promote participatory co-management of fisheries.

The Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), a UK based non-profit organization working to protect the environment and defend human rights is partnering Hen Mpoano, a non-profit organization based in Ghana to implement the three-year project.

Ghana's fisheries sector is a significant contributor to the economy and is the main source of income for millions of people.

About 70 per cent of Ghana's fish catch comes from the small-scale artisanal sector, but overfishing, illegal fishing and poor management are threatening the long-term sustainability- hitting these small-scale fisheries the hardest.

The project seeks to empower small-scale fishers to secure their tenure rights, implement a co-management approach to fisheries, combat illegal fishing and promote alternative livelihoods as a means to reduce dependence on the fishing sector.

Mr Kofi Agbogah, Director of Hen Mpoano, said the project would be implemented in 10 districts within the Central Region and the Volta Estuary where, fisher folks would be engaged in ways of improving good fishing practices while supporting efforts towards the eradication of poverty and hunger within these communities.

'It is important that we empower these communities and ensure that their voice is heard as artisanal fishers have a vital role to play if we want to retain the sustainability in the fishing sector. We need to secure these communities' tenure rights, and ring fence their traditional fishing activities against external aggression such as urbanization or other economic activities'

Mr Agbogah said the Fisheries Commission would as usual give the necessary support as stakeholders get ready to prepare the action plan that would guide the implementation process.

Mr Antoine Rougier, Country Coordinator of EJF, commended Ghana for its efforts in tackling the unsustainable and illegal fishing practices that has far too long plagued the sector.

He said statistics shows that West Africa has the highest rate of illegal fishing practices in the world and that Ghana was also losing so much money to illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing and this contravenes international law on fishing.

Mr William Hanna, EU Ambassador, said a total of 1.9 million Euros is being given as a grant to support the project.

He said a few years ago, ERU was worried about how fishing was being done in Ghana and so it issued a warning for the country to regulate its fishing activities before it could export fish to some European countries.

'The good news is that Ghana has worked so hard and today the EU is here to help ensure the sustainability of the fishing sector', Mr Hanna said.

Mrs Elizabeth Afoley Quaye, the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, in a speech read on behalf, commended all the stakeholders in the effort that would ensure improved management of the fishing sector.

She said co-management in fisheries would enable responsibility of the resource to be shared between user groups and the government, and opportunities would be created for both the community and government to be involved in decision-making, implementation and enforcement processes.

She said government was working with other partners to engage fisher communities to participate in the co-management of the fisheries resources.

'Under this, volunteers in pilot communities-cluster within the Greater Accra Region are being trained and equipped to undertake education and sensitization of their community members on the fisheries laws, report and assist in the prosecution of fisheries infractions, conduct lake and land patrols and also to undertake registration of canoes.

'Other co-management arrangements to institute rights-based approaches in fisheries resource management are being piloted under the West Africa Regional Fisheries programme in some communities in the marine and inland areas'.

Mrs Quaye thanked the EU for assisting Ghana in achieving sustainable fisheries management through the implementation of the EU regulation on IUU while assisting the country to strengthen its capacity in fisheries governance and effective monitoring, control and surveillance.

She said the assistance has also enable Ghana to develop the National Plan of Action to combat IUU, the National Marine Fisheries Management Plan and the amended sections of Fisheries Act 625 and Fisheries Amendment Regulations L.I 1968 to incorporate deterrent penalties for IUU offences.

GNA
08.04.2017 LISTEN

By Godwill Arthur-Mensah, GNA

Accra, April 7, GNA - The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has suspended the licence of EM Capital Partners Limited, an investment advisor, for breaching some provisions in the Securities Industry Act, 2016 (Act 929).

A statement signed by the Acting Director-General of the Commission, Mr Alexander Williams and copied to the Ghana News Agency on Friday, said the EM Capital Partners also breached the Commission's Regulations, LI. 1723 of 2003.

''In view of the breaches, the SEC hereby suspends EM Capital Partners' licence for operating within the Securities Industry pursuant to Section 122(2) (b) (vii) of the Securities Industry Act,'' it said.

The statement said the suspension takes effect from April 7, 2017 for three months and thus, warned individuals and businesses that transact business with the company does so at their own risk.

The Commission is a statutory body set up by the Act to regulate and promote the growth of development of an efficient, fair and transparent securities market in which investors and the integrity of the market are protected.

It also ensures the maintenance and surveillance over the activities in the securities industry for an orderly, fair and equitable dealings in securities, as well as the licensing of all market operators and collective market schemes (unit trusts and mutual funds)

GNA
The Leadership and entire membership of the Dynamic Youth Movement of Ghana (DYMOG) condemns in the most vehement terms the reckless attack on the Judicial Arm of Government by the Delta Force Vigilante group on 6th April,2017 at the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) Circuit Court presided over by Her Lordship Mary Senkyere.

The incessant attacks on people and ravaging of properties by these groups with impunity has reached the crescendo which is very alarming. With the resent attack on the Judiciary by the Delta Force on 6th April 2017, we believe that our most valuable resource as a Nation which is Peace is vulnerable.

This tumor of lawlessness if allowed to balloon will become an incurable threat to the Priceless Peace and Security we are privileged to have as a Nation. DYMOG firmly underscores the fact that an attack be it verbal or physical on the Judicial Arm of Government is the most powerful facilitator of breakdown of law and order and subsequently of Peace and security of our Nation.

As a civil society organization that is development conscious, we believe that Peace is the most important ingredient that is needed always to bring about Economic, Social, Cultural, Political and Spiritual progress of any Nation. On this premise, a threat to the rule of law is a recipe for under development thus no individual or group should be allowed to tear down this invaluable resource.

By this Statement we are appealing to the President, His Excellency Nana Akufo Addo to prioritize this menace and dissolve these lawless groups as a matter of fierce urgency. The President, as Commander- in -Chief of the Ghana Armed forces has the ultimate responsibility to protect the sanctity and territorial integrity of this great Nation. We appeal to him to take charge and ensure that these lawless members of the Delta force are brought to book.

DYMOG also calls on the Ghana Police Service to man up in bringing this menace of misplaced bravado and hooli-ganism by vigilante groups to an end. It behooves on the Police to ensure orderliness at all times. We specially also entreat the Police to charge the apprehended members of the Delta Force for Criminal Contempt of Court to serve as a deterrent to others.

Lastly, we call on all Ghanaians and opinion leaders to rise up and speak against this incessant lawlessness. Ghana is our beloved Nation and it is our shared responsibility as Ghanaians to speak against issues that posit to threaten our Peace, Security and Progress as a Nation.

Thank You.

Edward Tuttor

Convener
Growing up, I saw the existence of community militia. They were very useful in ensuring moral sanity in our neighborhood. Interestingly, over time ,the Apostles of morality which they were deemed to be couldn't stand the test of time. They soon became culprits of what they stood against thereby denying them the moral rights to continue with their activities and subsequently sending them into oblivion.

Upon out-living their usefulness in society, their services were employed by echelons of society to safeguard their lands in an era of improper land management system. By which time they have metamorphosized into machete wielding thugs who torment innocent masons and artisans but they are always left the hook because of how powerful their employers are.

Welcome to the new paradigm of the over politically powerful militia of vigilante squads namely Invisible forces, Azoka boys, the Bolgatanga Bull dogs and the ever trending Delta force whose services are employed by the two biggest political parties, the NPP and the NDC to provide security for ballot boxes and for their personal safety in exchange with juicy recruitment into state security agencies without recourse to academic qualifications especially national security should their party win power. This is evident in the overly political nature of national security operatives.

As the saying goes, the farmer who brings home ant-infested firewood should not complain when lizards start visiting(chenua Achebe). The delta forces have dented the democratic credentials of their pay masters and financiers. The monsters they created have soon turn against their creators by challenging the authority of the president on his appointments and attacking the courts which remain our last resort in a country which is fast becoming a banana republic. So with extreme trepidation, their pay masters have no other options than to conspicuously hold their tongues in cowardice and condemn in no uncertain terms this anarchism.

The politicos continuous distrust in state security in times of elections especially when in opposition stems from the political shenanigans they subject these agencies to when they are in power. The appointment of security heads deny them of institutional independence, A weakness which provides fertile grounds for political militia groups to strive. Very important and at the same time dangerous is the frank admission of their existence by political parties and the attempt to legalize their operations in the near past.

Today, the NPP are at the receiving end of public backlash and the NDC which is in comfortable lead has quickly put on the cloak of innocence and matched it with their politically partisan lenses which surely has narrowed the aperture through which this issue must be looked at and interrogated, joined discerning Ghanaians to troll, chastise and bustardize their opponents. They wish elections was just some three days away so they could have scored some cheap political points to win votes. Even though similar occurances in the past were justified, no arrests were made and the culprits were always made to leave the hook un-punished. This time around, Should the verdict in this shambolic act be custodial sentence, any attempt to open a book of petition for the president to use executive power to set them free will not be countenanced by discerning citizens.

Security agencies more especially the police should have the institutional indepence to enforce the law without any fear or favour to weed out Vigilante groups because they remain a threat to our national security. They must be disbanded with all seriousness and together with their financiers, made to face the full regours of the law.

Seth Panyin Boamah

[email protected]

Engineer,Writer and Socio-Political Activist
08.04.2017 LISTEN

Management of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, Niger State, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with three separate real estate developers for the construction of additional hostels at the University's main campus.

This was contained in a statement issued by the Academic Secretary of the institution Mr. Musa Mohammed on Thursday.

Under the MOU, a three star hotel and an administrative block will also be erected at the Suleja Campus of the university. The MOU is signed under the Public Private Partnership Agreement (PPPA), with partners including Three Marks Nigeria Limited, Samok Integrated Services Nigeria Limited, and Fazafat Nigeria Limited. Speaking in an interview after the signing of the MOU on Thursday, the University's Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, Dr. Muhammad Kudu Santuraki, said the completion period for all the projects would not exceed 12 months.

He described tertiary education as being capable of liberating any nation and its people from the shackles of poverty, adding that the Suleja Campus when becomes operational, would be used largely for executive programmes.

Earlier in his welcome address, the university's Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Muhammed Nasir Maiturare, said the University has the ambition of becoming the best in the country.

According to him, this ambition can only be achieved through quality infrastructure, among others.

In their separate remarks, representatives of the companies promised to execute the projects on time and on specifications. The event had in attendance the University's registrar, the bursar, some members of council, the University's legal adviser, students' union government president, among others.
The streets that made us

I have always been a galli person. These dark, narrow, capillary-like alleysflanked by walls made of old bricks and with doors made of aged woodhave always enchanted me.
The Chinese mission in Ghana has expressed anger at the manner in which Ghana is dealing with the issue of illegal mining and has criticized the media for targeting China in their reportage on the matter.

The mission in a letter addressed to John Peter Amewu, Ghana's Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, the mission said if nothing changes about the nature of campaigns against illegal mining in the country, bilateral relations between Ghana and China would be affected.

It said it was concerned about, a number of distorted or biased reports and stories on Chinese people, especially some reports and cartoons that are defaming Chinese leaders and senior officials, in the media concerning the incident of illegal mining popularly known as galamsey.

The mission in the letter sighted by citifmonline.com called on the government to pay attention to the situation which is suggested sought to paint undermine China.

The Chinese side is very concerned about this unhealthy tendency. We hope that the Ghanaian government will pay due attention to this situation, take the necessary action to stop such things from happening again and guide the media to give an objective coverage on the illegal mining issue so as to create a good environment for further development of our bilateral exchanges and cooperation.

Campaigns against illegal mining in the country have in the last few months intensified with Citi FM championing a #StopGalamseyNow campaign that is gaining momentum, rallying various stakeholders to address the menace which has left devastating effects on the country's environment.

Evidence from media reports and CSOs, including police arrests suggest the high involvement of Chinese in the activities, but according to the Chinese mission in the country, its [Chinese] government attaches great important to the illegal mining issue and is firmly against the involvement of Chinese in illegal mining issue in Ghana.

Chinese illegal miners arrested

The mission said was taking measures such as source control and persuading Chinese miners to go back to China and urging Chinese nationals to conduct legal business in Ghana to support Ghana's fight against the menace.

It also said the government must guide the media to ensure they do not publicize defamatory stories against Chinese leaders.

We sincerely hope that the Ghanaian government shall take responsibility of guiding the media and requesting them not to publicize such defamatory reports or stories against Chinese leaders officials and the Chinese government.

This will help create a sound environment for our joint efforts to address this issue and the continuous development of our bilateral relations, it said.

Meanwhile, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources has given illegal miners a 3-week ultimatum to quit their operations.

The sector minister has given assurances that he will lead a task force to arrest illegal miners and destroy their equipment after the ultimatum.



By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @jnyabor
A US Fulbright Specialist, Dr. Jennifer Hasty has been conferred with the ACILA Scholar title by research and education think tank, Africa Center for International Law and Accountability (ACILA) for enhancing Ghanaian and African scholarship.

The ACILA Scholar program recognizes individuals who have demonstrated and contributed to enhancing African scholarship in Ghana or Africa, according to ACILA. Dr. Hasty, who is on her second Fulbright Specialist tenure attached to ACILA, was conferred with the title at a ceremony at the Ghana Institute of Journalism where she had been teaching a class on April 6, 2017. Dr. Hasty is also a Visiting Scholar at the Department of Africana Studies, University of Pennsylvania, in the United States of America.

A citation by ACILA Director of Programmes, Ms.Oforiwa Gyasi-Adonten, said that Dr. Hasty whom ACILA was proud to honour, had gone above and beyond her responsibilities in the US Fulbright Specialist program along with her longstanding efforts from 1996 to demonstrate these exceptional qualities and enhance scholarship in Ghana and, indeed, Africa.

Since 1996, Dr. Jennifer Hasty, who is on her second Fulbright Specialist tenure attached to ACILA, has contributed to African scholarship in many ways. She has been researching, publishing, speaking, and teaching on issues related to media, politics, corruption, and democracy, Ms. Gyasi-Adonten added.

Dr. Hasty responds to the conferment of the ACILA Scholar title

She said that with a specialization in Political Culture, Media, Post colonialism, Popular Culture in Ghana and West Africa, Dr. Hasty has researched and published widely on these themes and actually did her dissertation on "Big Language and Brown Envelopes: The Press and Political Culture in Ghana" in 1999.

Continuing, Ms. Gyasi-Adonten said that prior to 1999, Dr. Hasty had been in Ghana in 1996 and had interned with both the state-owned media and private newspapers, including Daily Graphic, Ghanaian Chronicle, Independent, and Public Agenda.

Her insights while working at these media houses inspired her to write the book The Press and Political Culture in Ghana, a must read which was nominated by the publisher for the Victor Turner Prize. Currently, she has another book in progress Corruption and the Politics of Indigeneity in Ghana.

In addition, she has about eight peer-reviewed articles to her credit, some of which include "Journalism as Fieldwork: Propaganda, Complicity, and the Anti-Politics of Anthropology(2009); Performing Power, Composing Culture: the State Press in Ghana(2006); Sympathetic Magic/Contagious Corruption: Sociality, Democracy, and the Press in Ghana (2005);The Pleasures of Corruption: Desire and Discipline in Ghanaian Political Culture"(2005); Forget the Past or Go Back to the Slave Trade!: Trans-Africanism and Popular History in Postcolonial Ghana (2004); Rites of Passage, Routes of Redemption: Emancipation Tourism and the Wealth of Culture(2003) ; From Culture of Silence to Culture of Contest: Hegemony, Legitimacy, and the Press in Ghana (2001); "Voting With the Stomach," Reconciliation and Political Culture, The Future of Education" (1996).

In addition to researching and publishing, Dr. Hasty has also spoken at several international conferences and universities, including Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, University of Florida, University of Washington, Princeton, Rutgers University, University of Ghana, and of course the prestigious Ghana Institute of Journalism, Ms. Gyasi-Adonten added.

Dr. Hasty expressed appreciation to ACILA for the honour and the Ghana Institute of Journalism for the opportunity to share her perspectives with the students and pledged to continue to work to further enhance scholarship in her areas of specialization.

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The acting National Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddie Blay has said it will be difficult disbanding various vigilante groups in the country.

Mr. Blay believes although these groups can be made to face the full rigors of the law when found guilty of a particular offence, it will be impossible to totally bring their activities to a halt.

The Minister of Security said that those Forces are loyal members of the party and as a group or as individuals, they may do something wrong but if they do so the law must take its course. If you join a party and you call yourself a name and the company is not registered, particularly when it is not an organisation that is created to this party, I don't see how it can be banned but I will say that we should disassociate from any act of vandalism, we should dissociate the party from any act of lawlessness and not just condemn it. You should ask the security authorities to act when it is necessary for them to act. We won't prevent them. I don't think the government will condemn them, he say.

Members of the Delta Force stormed a Kumasi Circuit court on Thursday, and vandalized some court property as well as freeing 13 of their members, who were facing trial for allegedly harassing the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator, George Adjei.

The 13 escaped after some members of the group monitoring the court proceedings, sparked confusion during the hearing.

About eight of those who caused the confusion were arrested, while the rest of the 13 fugitives later turned themselves in to the police.

Freddy Blay's u-turn

Mr. Blays claim contradicts his earlier claim which suggested that he was condemning the attack.

He said the party is embarrassed by such actions, adding that the law must take its course.

They are not kids, now they've taken the step of doing the unthinkable and it is a pity, it has brought embarrassment and it is bad PR for us. But I don't think that is the end of the world, he said.



By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
A capacity-building workshop for law enforcement agencies which includes Prosecutors, Judges, and selected staff of the National Communications Authority has ended in Accra, today.

The training workshop was designed to train a group of Judges, Prosecutors and members of the GLACY+ National team to become trainers who will in turn be able to instruct their peers in the introductory skills and knowledge required to fulfil their respective roles and functions in case of cybercrime and electronic evidence.

Addressing the closing ceremony on Friday, 7th April, 2017 at the Judiciary Training Institute, Mr. Joe Anokye, Acting Director General of NCA and National Coordinator of the GLACY+ Ghana team, expressed his appreciation to the council of Europe for their initiative to train law enforcement agencies in the country.

He pointed out the timeliness of the training as there are indications from the security agencies of the increase in cyber enabled and dependent crimes making cybercrimes the number one threat in the country.

Mr. Anokye reminded participants of the important role they played in the society with regards to maintaining internal security of the state.

He advised participants to experiment with the concept of learning by teaching and sharing what they have learnt during the five days training with their colleagues because in teaching others their understanding of the subject will deepen which will consequently make them experts in their particular field of work.

As the National Coordinator of the Global Action on Cybercrime Extended (GLACY+) project, Mr. Anokye distributed Certificate among the participants and presented a beautifully framed newspaper clipping of the opening ceremony to each of the facilitators and trainers.

In a statement Mr. Zahid Jamal, a trainer from the Council of Europe urged participants to apply knowledge acquired at the training session to cybercrime cases they will encounter henceforth.

Mr. Jamal also took the opportunity to advise participants to be careful of managing their official documents on unsecured networks using mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets as it provides a way for hackers to infiltrate and tamper with their documents.

He explained that unauthorised access of a computer network whether protected or unprotected is illegal. He cited the example of a thief entering an unlocked house, the fact that the owner probably forgot to lock the house does not mean the thief did not commit a crime.

A participant took the opportunity to express his gratitude to the council of Europe for supporting the programme which would be of benefit to their deliverables.

The training workshop took place at the Judicial Training Institute (JTI) in Accra from the 3rd to 7th April, 2017.

GLACY+ Overview

GLACY+ (Global Action on Cybercrime Extended) is a Joint project of the European Union (Instrument Contributing to Peace and Stability) and the Council of Europe.

About NCA

The National Communications Authority, (NCA), was established by an Act of Parliament, Act 524 in December 1996, which has been repealed and replaced by the National Communications Authority Act, 2008 (Act 769). The Authority is the statutory body mandated to license and to regulate electronic communication activities and services in the country.
Richard Ahiagble, Head Of Corporate Communications, Airtel Ghana Presenting The Cash Prize Award To Samuel Obeng Amoako The Sixth Weekly Winner.

08.04.2017 LISTEN

Samuel Obeng Amoako and Sheriff Jackson are the winners for week 6 and 7 respectively. They both take home GHC 10,000

The telecom industrys biggest recharge promotion has so far rewarded some 2.5 million customers with free airtime, data and smartphones in addition to cash prizes.

Richard Ahiagble, Airtel Ghanas Head of Corporate Communications said the Smartphone Network launched the promo to enrich the lives of customers.

Airtel Ghana, the Smartphone Network, has presented cash prizes to two weekly winners in the groundbreaking Wo Mmer Nie recharge promotion. The presentation was made during a market activation in Ashaiman, a suburb of Accra on Friday 31st March 2017.

Wo Mmer Nie, a consumer recharge promotion launched by Airtel Ghana to reward customers for their loyalty and to empower them to realise their aspirations, has so far seen some 2.5 million customers win instant prizes such as free talk time, data, social media bundles and smartphones.

Till date, several customers have also benefitted from the weekly and monthly cash prizes of GHC 10,000 and GHC 25,000 respectively. The latest winners being Samuel Obeng Amoako, a Community Development Officer at Adenta Municipal Assembly and Sheriff Jackson, a Tema based Graphic Designer. They both took home GHC 10,000 for accumulating the highest points at the end weeks 6 and 7. They join the growing list of customers who have won weekly and monthly cash prizes in the promo.

Airtel Ghanas Head of Corporate Communications, Richard Ahiagble spoke to the rationale for the promotion. He said As a business, we are passionately committed to enriching the lives of our customers beyond the provision of telecom and lifestyle solutions. This promotion was introduced to reward and empower our customers to live out their dreams. We are excited Wo Mmer Nie is receiving such massive endorsement from Ghanaians across the country.

He continued Wherever we go, we have seen the excitement this promotion is driving. Our customers continue to respond positively to Ghanas biggest recharge promo because it is delivering exactly what it promised.

Today, we are rewarding two customers  Samuel and Sheriff  who accumulated the highest points during week 6 and 7. In addition to the cash prizes that have been won so far, over 2.5 million customers have also benefited from instant prizes such as airtime, data bundles and smartphones. So whichever way you look at it, every Airtel customer is a winner. There is no better time to join the Smartphone Network than now  you could be the ultimate winner of the grand prize of GHC 150,000 in the promo.

Winners comment

Samuel Obeng Amoako praised Airtel Ghana for introducing the promotion. He said This is the most rewarding promo I have ever participated in. To think that I get GHC 10,000 just by recharging sounds too good to be true. But it is. I will keep playing for the grand prize of GHC 150,000. I will encourage Airtel customers who want to win like me to recharge using Airtel money as doing so gives them double points.

Sherriff Jackson intends to invest his prize money into his graphic design business. I will invest my GHC 10,000 into expanding my business.

Grand prize of GHC 150,000

At the end of the promotion, the customer with the highest accumulated points wins the ultimate prize of GHC 150,000. The first and second runners-up take home a whopping GHC 100,000 and GHC 75,000 respectively.

SMS Trivia to build points faster

Customers also have the opportunity to build up points by playing the innovative SMS trivia by sending START to 477 to subscribe and answer questions.

Double points for recharges using Airtel Money

Airtel prepaid customers who recharge or purchase data bundles using Airtel Money automatically receive double points for every recharge worth GHC 2 and above.

Points accumulated weekly and monthly are automatically rolled over to the following month to give every customer an increased chance of winning.

Customers can check their accumulated points by sending POINTS to 477.

The recharge promo seeks to enrich the lives of Airtel customers beyond the provision of telecom and lifestyle solutions.

About Bharti Airtel

Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 18 countries across Asia and Africa. Headquartered in New Delhi, India, the company ranks amongst the top 3 mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers. In India, the company's product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services, mobile commerce, fixed line services, high speed DSL broadband, IPTV, DTH, enterprise services including national & international long distance services to carriers. In the rest of the geographies, it offers 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services and mobile commerce. Bharti Airtel had over 359 million customers across its operations at the end of July 2016. To know more please visit, www.airtel.com

About Airtel in Africa

Airtel is driven by the vision of providing affordable and innovative mobile services to all. Airtel has 17 operations in Africa: Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Airtel International is a Bharti Airtel company. For more information, please visit www.airtel.com , or like the Airtel Ghana Facebook page via www.facebook.com/airtelgh or follow us on Twitter via the handle @airtelghana.
The police administration has vowed to clamp down on activities of vigilante groups and all forms of mass disturbances in the country.

Inspector General of Police, David Asante-Apeatu who declared war on vigilantism, mass disorder and disturbances says police will not rest until these activities which are "alien to our culture" are nipped in the bud.

Ladies and gentlemen, the police service, hereby declares a war on the act of vigilantism and all other forms of mass disorder and disturbances. We shall clamp down on it with all the force that we can marshal, Mr. Asante-Apeatu declared.

The police administration has come under barrage of attacks following a raid on a Kumasi Circuit Court by members of Delta Force, a pro-NPP vigilante group.

Angry members of the group also freed 13 of their members remanded into prison custody following an attack on Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator, George Agyei.

But addressing the media in Kumasi on Saturday, the Inspector General of Police who described the activities of members of Delta Force as alien and criminal called for calm.

This isolated incident by a group who referred to itself as Delta Force in Kumasi is alien to our culture and criminal. As a law enforcement agency, we are going to pursue our goal of bringing this phenomenon of vigilantism to an end. We shall employ all legitimate means available to us, including dialogue, enforcement and enactments (laws), he said.

He recounted how the police administration has over the years tried to disband activities of political vigilantism but achieved little success , insisting, his administration will do more to change the status quo.

The issue of political vigilantism has been topical for some time now. My predecessors and their respective administrations tried to stamp out the phenomenon from our body politic, and for that matter, our society.

"The Police Service, hereby, declares a war on act of vigilantism and all other forms of mass disorder and disturbances. We shall clamp down on it with all the force that we can.

The Inspector General of Police has also assured the judiciary of maximum security with a call on the general public to assist the police succeed in the fight against vigilantism

The police administration will like to assure the judiciary that it will provide maximum security to ensure their safety at all times.

The public is also entreated to support the police in this endeavour by volunteering information to enable the police deal with the canker once and for all.

The police can be reached on MTN and Vodafone short code 18555 or 191 on all networks, twitter : @ GhPoliceService or facebook: GhPoliceService.
08.04.2017 LISTEN

Accra, April 8, GNA - Mr Mahama Ayariga, Member of Parliament (MP) for Bawku Central on Friday apologised to Parliament, after a committee of enquiry indicted him of contempt to the House.

The five member bi-partisan committee was, chaired by Mr Joe Ghartey, a former Attorney General, and current MP for Essikado Ketan and Minister of Railway Development.

Set at the instance of the Speaker Professor Mike Oquaye, the committee indicted Mr Ayariga for spreading false rumours about the House and recommended sanctions.

Prof Oquaye, a fortnight earlier had asked Mr Ayariga to apologise to the House, but Ayariga rendered a conditional apology, to which the Speaker apparently dissatisfied, deferred his ruling.

The Speaker later told the House that the matter would be taken in due course.

And on Friday evening, moments before the House rose for the Easter holidays, the House revisited the matter and Mr Ayariga, who had a two weeks ago retorted: 'Mr Speaker, if you say I should apologise, I apologise,' this time responded: 'I hereby render an unqualified apology to this Parliament.'

In his ruling Prof Ocquaye said: 'In all the circumstances of this case, I have come to the conclusion that the Honourable Ayariga should be shown mercy on this occasion. May he go and sin no more. He is warned never to peddle such expensive rumours in his affairs in this house.

'I must also extend a warning to some four or five honourable members who deemed it proper to make untoward lies apparently in support of Ayariga regarding the conduct for which the Honorable Ayariga has now apologised.'

Mr Ayariga last January told a radio station in Accra that the Energy Minister Boakye Agyarko, then a nominee, had attempted bribing members of the Appointments Committee from the Minority Side to clear him by consensus rather than by a majority decision as it appeared it not would be smooth to approve him by consensus.

He some members had initially opposed the Minister's approval because of some comments he made during his vetting,

The MP had said minority members on Parliament's Appointments Committee were each offered GH 3,000 through Mr Joseph Osei - Owusu, First Deputy Speaker and the Chairman of the Appointments Committee, and Alhaji Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka to influence them to pass him by consensus.

Mr Osei-Owusu, in a statement on the floor of the House threatened to go to court to redeem him image

However, the speaker constituted the five-member ad hoc committee to probe the allegations.

The Joe Ghartey Committee, after its investigations indicted Mr Ayariga for gravely injuring the image of the chairman of the vetting committee and Parliament.

The committee's report said Mr Ayariga 'failed to ascertain the veracity of the rumour prior to publishing same'.

The Committee recommended that Mr Ayariga rendered an 'unqualified apology' to the House and purge himself of gravely injuring the reputation of Mr Osei- Owusu.

Citing Article 112 of the 1992 Constitution as well as Order eight of Parliament's Standing Orders, the Committee found the MP guilty of contempt.

It recommended to the Speaker to reprimand Mr Ayariga and demanded an apology from him.

GNA

By Benjamin Mensah, GNA
With the recent call by psychiatrists in the country for the setting up of Mental Health Bill into law, Odimegwu Onwumere writes that there is need to pay heed to the call given the concerted and coordinated concern that a sound mental health requires to help curtail suicide

The suicide buzz has left healthcare workers in Nigeria in a helter-skelter mood and they are looking for solution to curb the operation in the country.

On March 19 2017, one Dr. Allwell Oji, a 35-year-old medical doctor said to be working with Papa Ajao branch of Mount Sinai Hospital in Lagos, took his life.

Dr. Oji threw himself into the lagoon at the Third Mainland Bridge, Lagos. Nigeria has been awash with all manner of stories surrounding his death ranging from a diabolical call he got to other sinister stories. But, it is suicide!

The health sector feels devastated if it cannot arrest further situation given that after the incident, some Nigerians apparently have attempted suicide and reports say that many are still promulgating the idea.

Opinion leaders say that the suicide attempters might not know that suicide is restricted in the Nigerian law and this is contained in Section 327 of the Nigerian Criminal Code. And the law states, Any person who attempts to kill himself is guilty of a misdemeanour and liable to imprisonment for one year.

According to them, If the attempters knew that suicide was illegal, one Taiwo Titilayo Momoh, a textile dealer at Balogun Market, and Mrs. Abigail Ogunyinka that wanted to take their lives by jumping into a river, just six days after Dr. Oji took his life, would not have attempted that.

However, a consultant psychiatrist at Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, Dr. Yewande Oshodi is among the persons that raise awareness on the issue. Dr. Oshodi who was among the professionals that gathered at LUTH to campaign against suicide on March 25 2017, made this known:

Suicide is most unwanted incident anyone could like to experience either by losing a loved one and it is preventable to some degree. The stigma of psychotics and mental health makes it difficult for people to come out when they are going through issues.

Specialists in the health sector are gearing to map out measures to save Nigerians from depression given an account by the World Health Organisation (WHO) which predicts that sicknesses like cancer, stroke, HIV/AIDS will be a tap at the back to the pending disaster people will suffer from depression by the year 2020.

This being heralded, health experts say that Nigeria has been showing untoward attitude to mental health. For instance, the Association of Psychiatrist in Nigeria (APN) says that the authorities have shown deaf ears in its harangue that the mental health bill should be passed into law as the number of victims is increasing.

The healthcare workers have however called on the senate to pass the Mental Health Bill into law in order to arrest the psychological problems that might be besetting some citizens. Investigations therefore reveal that since 2003 a new Mental Health Bill was introduced and Nigerians were in high hope that succour had come their way.

But this patronising idea of a Bill ended on the floor of the Senate, without a passage of it into law. In 2008, it was yet expected that the Mental Health Bill had been passed into law. Those who know better say that when the Bill was raised in 2003, The Bill lacks certain provisions that are now considered de rigeur in mental health law internationally.

Fourteen years after, opinion leaders in the health industry frown at this, saying that the country is still operating legislation on mental health which is the Lunacy Act, 1958, following the Lunacy Ordinance, passed in 1916.

From Lagos to Lokoja and sundry, medical professionals like Dr. Moruf Mustapha and Dr. Oluwadamilola Ajayi raise their voice in requesting for a mental health law with the belief that it is not a bad idea to have the law.

Their fear is heightened on a confirmation showing that Nigeria is not working with more than 500 psychiatrists who are practicing in Nigeria: A country with an estimated population of 180 million people.

Worried by this, statisticians crux that what this means is that 360,000 citizens are cared for by just one psychiatrist and this is a far too burden of load. Professionals anguish, as they bare their minds on the subject, is that mental disorders are rarely diagnosed in the country and treated.

Consequently, it becomes stealthy that one in half a dozen persons have trait of this disorder in their life time with depression being a major perpetrator. They narrate their tribulation that depression is an ailment that must be cramped before sufferers pull the line of suicide. In their words, Depression is not profound sadness; it is not just an inability to cope with life experiences; it is not caused by a character or personality flaw; it is not a moral failing, neither is it a spiritual affliction.

This is even as the WHO states, Every year more than 800, 000 people take their own life and there are many more people who attempt suicide. Every suicide is a tragedy that affects families, communities and entire countries and has long-lasting effects on the people left behind.

At a public lecture recently, Consultant Psychiatrist, Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Edo State, Dr. Obagaye Olukunle said that 80 per cent of people who commit suicide have psychiatric diagnosis.

Olukunles voice suggests that where there is a decline in psychiatric handling in the country, tendencies of psychiatric disorders skyrocketing is not farfetched and this might as well lead to suicide.

Dr Oshodi adds, Over a five-year study period, 7.2 per cent of cases referred to psychiatry consultation  liaison services in LUTH  were cases related to suicide. Reports had shown that during lifetime, about 3.0 per cent of Nigerians have had thoughts about ending their lives, 1.0 per cent will plan on how to kill themselves, while just under 1.0 per cent will carry out an attempt to kill themselves.

Against this setting, the WHO has made it a necessity in its Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) launched in 2008. This initiative harnesses evidence-based technical guidance to scale up service provision and care in countries for mental, neurological and substance use disorders.

As if not done with that, in 2014, the international body launched the first WHO World Suicide Report tagged Preventing suicide: a global imperative. Those who know better say that the publication was aimed at raising awareness beyond bars in the areas of the importance of public health, and make suicide prevention a topmost issue on the universal health agenda. Developing countries like Nigeria are being supported by the body and given foster mapped out for formidable suicide prevention methodologies.

The WHO is of the view, suggesting that, Stigma, particularly surrounding mental disorders and suicide, means many people thinking of taking their own life or who have attempted suicide are not seeking help and are therefore not getting the help they need.

The prevention of suicide has not been adequately addressed due to a lack of awareness of suicide as a major public health problem and the taboo in many societies to openly discuss it. To date, only a few countries have included suicide prevention among their health priorities and only 28 countries report having a national suicide prevention strategy.

The United Nations body adds, Suicide does not just occur in high-income countries, but is a global phenomenon in all regions of the world. In fact, 75 per cent of global suicides occurred in low- and middle-income countries in 2012.

Suicide is a serious public health problem; however, suicides are preventable with timely, evidence-based and often low-cost interventions. For national responses to be effective, a comprehensive multi-sectoral suicide prevention strategy is needed.

It is hoped that Nigeria, as among the WHO Member States, will work in line with the WHO Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2020, dedicated towards reducing the suicide rate globally to 10 per cent by 2020.
08.04.2017 LISTEN

Dear First Lady,

Peace from the Lord be unto you. It is with tremendous obligation to being of service to my people and nation that I have been moved to publish this second open letter to you since your husband assumed the reins of government.

As a well known dictum goes, behind every successful man there is a woman, you are therefore obliged to fling your full weight behind your husband in his aspirations and pursuits to liberate Ghanaians from the economic hardships and insecurities they have been bedevilled by.

Being a First Lady is not an armchair cheerleading position, but it demands practical supporting for the husband, thus, the President. The First Lady has the obligation to give her husband advice and directions on the governance of the country to the satisfaction, and the fulfilment of the dreams and expectations, of, the public, provided she is herself knowledgeable about the issues at stake. Being a First Lady comes with duties, so to speak.

Observing from afar, I can see that the President needs moral support and directions from the wife as never before, and it is about time the wife stood up tall to be counted. It is not all those currently surrounding the President or have been appointed to head various ministries that share the same views as the President. Some of them are genuine but others could be saboteurs; wolves in lamb skin.

Some are competent but others may not be. The wife will be in a much better position to notice all these if you remained as wise as the serpent and as vigilant as the hawk. His Excellency the President has not been in power for long but some recent developments which have not been managed well by some of his appointees have given both his rivals and friends the undeserved opportunity to question his ability and capability to govern to deliver on his numerous promises to the people.

Are all his Ministers men and women of integrity that the President can fully trust to sincerely assist him to deliver on his promises? Are all, or most of, his Ministers, incorruptible and up to the task? It is the duty of the First Lady to watch out for all these telltale signs to privately advise the husband.

Where you notice a misfit in a certain post, persuade your husband to reshuffle the person or get rid of him/her for at the end of the day, if a Minister fails to perform satisfactorily, it is the President who will be blamed the most but not the Minister.

I shall strongly advise you to provide a medium where the public can contact you with advice, suggestions and directions. It is not very advisable to publish any advice or suggestions to you by open letter. In the absence of any such private means to communicate ideas, suggestions and advice to you, I shall end here but not without suggesting to you to read about the late American First Lady, Mrs Nancy Reagan, the wife of the late American President Ronald Reagan, to know how she helped her husband perform to the satisfaction of the Americans despite his initial first term problems.

Will the First Lady again spare a few minutes to cogitate about what Mrs Aisha Buhari, the wife of the current Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, had said about his husbands administration of Nigeria? She has said, I might not back my husband at the next election unless he got a grip on his government. The president does not know 45 out of 50 of the people he appointed and I don't know them either, despite being his wife of 27 years. For her, most of the people her husband is working with are corrupt and are scuppering the realisation of his golden dreams for Nigeria and the people of Nigeria.

Mrs Aisha Buhari means well for her husband and the people of Nigeria hence the warning to her husband. There is every indication that her husband is not listening to her admonitions to him hence her obligation to voice her concerns out in public. She does not stand to blame but exonerated from any future failures of her husband.

The fear people had in Nana Akufo Addo as a strict person who would be a very strict President is waning by each ticking second of the clock. This conclusion emanates from what I hear many a Ghanaian started to say. There is a new form of wave crime of robberies; police roadside corruption is on the increase with people being vocal in their condemnations of the intensified, but ecologically-damaging surface mining (galamsey).

Once the President lets these unscrupulous acts by the non-abiding citizens continue into many more months, the fear of him will have completely evaporated and he will have been reduced to a carbon copy of former President John Dramani Mahama. When he becomes so, things will start falling apart without the centre holding.

A word to the wise is sufficient.

Yours truly,

Rockson Adofo
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has organised a four day capacity building programme for forty inspectors of theTimber Industry Development Division (TIDD) of the Forestry Commission (FC) in international quality inspection management standard for the inspection of wood export products and timber.

The capacity building workshop is to equip the TIDD Inspectorate which is currently being supported by UNIDO through the Trade Capacity Building (TCB) Programme for Ghana to obtain an accreditation in ISO/IEC 17020:2012 and its operating processes in accordance with the ISO 17020 management system.

The international quality management standard, ISO/IEC 17020:2012 specifies requirements for the competence of bodies performing inspection and for the impartiality and consistency of their inspection activities.

The forty participants selected from the Forestry Commission regional offices across the country were taken trough all the requirement of the ISO/IEC 17020: 2012 standard including the documentation processes at the Forestry Commission Training School, Akyawkrom in Kumasi.

This international standard covers the activities of inspection bodies and the determination of their conformity with requirements and the subsequent reporting of results of these activities to clients and, when required, to authorities.

In today's highly competitive international marketplace, the demand for national inspection bodies such as the TIDD to adopt scientific inspection systems which give confidence to wood inspection report in the national and international markets has become high.

TIDD through the Forestry Commission Act, 1999 (Act 571) provides inspection services to the timber industry. This is done by Grading and Inspection Department and is regulated under the Act.

The division is responsible for the inspection of logs, timber and other wood products in Ghana.

Mr. Ernest Boro, Bolga Area Manager of TIDD, a participants in an interview said the training was very academic but practical and so allowed a lot of opportunities to really understand the requirement and processes.

Mr. Collins Faakye, Timber Grading and Inspection Manager and Management Representative of the TIDD noted the enthusiasm of the inspectors during the training was because the training model allowed participants to have deeper understanding of the ISO 17020 management system.

Mr. Kwakye who is also the Deputy Technical Manager of the TIDD ISO/IEC 17020 accreditation team expressed gratitude to the TCB team and UNIDO for their continuous support over the years.

The UNIDO training workshop has been a good source of information and guidance for us to ensure our inspectorate activities are in accordance with all trade-related standards," he said.

UNIDO through the TCB Programme is supporting Ghana improve compliance with trade-related standards.

UNIDO's primary objective is the promotion and acceleration of industrial development in developing countries and the promotion of international industrial cooperation.

UNIDO has since 2007 been implementing the trade capacity building programme funded by the Switzerland Government through the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) in cooperation with the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI).

The Ministry of Trade and Industry is the supporting government agency and the lead policy advisor to the government on trade, industrial and private sector development with responsibility for the formulation and implementation of policies for the promotion, growth and development of domestic and international trade, and industry.

This UNIDO/SWISS/MOTI collaboration therefore is geared towards improving technical and human capacity in the trade and export industry in Ghana.

The four days training started on Tuesday and ended on Friday.

About UNIDO-TCB

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is a specialised agency of the United Nations.

Its mandate is to promote and accelerate sustainable industrial development in developing countries and economies in transition and work towards improving living conditions in the world's poorest countries by drawing on its combined global resources and expertise.

The Trade Capacity Building Branch is a unit of UNIDO. The Unit is responsible for helping developing countries and economies in transition to be a better part of the global trade by assisting them in complying with international standards required in order to enter foreign markets, in areas where there is a high potential of exportation.

Manufacturers in developing countries and related industry support institutions also need to develop systems to comply with the new management standards. The Unit provides assistance in related capacity building, awareness building and the dissemination of the necessary know-how and information.

The Unit supports national and regional laboratories in developing human and physical capital so that they can test key products for exportation and be internationally recognised for those testing.

Participants With Unido Technical Expert, Mrs. Abena Safoa Ofori (5th From Left) Displaying Their Certificate
Those who die young, and in vain

We are raising a new Nepal from the ashes and bones of our dead, young people. If you dont believe in what I am saying, go and see the layers of the countrys newly-built foundation.
Tax analyst, Ali Nakyea Abdallah has described as unlawful government's tax exemption directive decision for importers.

Mr. Nakyea believes the decision is unfair on importers who are entitled to tax exemption and must be rectified.

The GRA earlier released a statement which demanded all applicants who qualify for exemptions from import duties and taxes to make prior payments and after, make a claim for refund of the amounts paid.

Importers and exporters were unhappy about the decision and called on government to review the directive.

But in an interview with Citi Business News, Mr. Ali Nakyea said government will among others lock up capital of businesses should the system be continue.

Which contracts have been approved by parliament and under article 174, of the constitution it is only parliament that can grant exemptions. So if Parliament grants the exemption and today you by a publication in the papers indicate that any person who has an exemption or not, has to pay duty and apply for a refund the question is under what law are you operating? he queried.

He further added that government must restructure the imperative to allow tax exemptions enjoy their privileges.

If you need to abolish the system that exists, you need to pass a law. You don't do that by decree or publication in a newspaper because of the abuse of the exemptions system. Is it that there are no systems and structures to trace who is abusing the system and dealing with those rather than generalizing it because otherwise confidence in the systems wanes and the budget says it is intending to make it a business friendly environment will that not be contradictory? So my issue is can we search for those abusing the system and deal with them? That will be way better than this approach.

Mr. Nakyea spoke to Citi Business News at the sidelines of a seminar organized by the Pentecost University College.

It was on the theme The 2017 budget statement in perspective:Does it answer the economic development goals of Ghana?



By: Jessica Ayorkor Aryee/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana
By Elsie Appiah-Osei / Doris Ablordey, GNA

Accra, April 8, GNA - Mr Sacha Poignonnec, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Jumia Ghana, says the company, the leading e-commerce platform in Africa commitment to bring value to customers through authentic quality products is still in force.

He said this would be achieved through Jumia's vision of expressing the group's ambition to transform people's lives through internet by overcoming the ground market challenges of the continent and giving all Africans the opportunity to access high quality services and products everywhere.

Mr Poignonnec was addressing journalists in Accra at the Jumia Ghana 2017 Mobile White Paper Press Conference on Friday.

The white Paper on the Jumia calendar leads to the third edition of the Jumia mobile week, which is described as the one and only mobile sale, set to storm Ghana with varieties of phones and slated for the last week in April.

According to the CEO, a study conducted in 15 African countries, revealed that eight per cent of Ghana's internet users access Jumia every month.

'The study carried out in Algeria, Nigeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and Senegal also revealed that Infinix, HOTWAV, InnJOO, itel and Techno were the top mobile brands on Jumia.'

He added that Infinix was Africa's top smartphone brand across Jumia's 15 markets.

Mr Poignonnec observed that customers buy different products ranging from mobile phones, women's clothing and men's clothing.

Jumia Ghana, the leading e-commerce platform in Africa with a presence in 11 countries does not only provide customers with the luxury of shopping from any location, but delivers the items right to customers' doorsteps through timely interventions.

GNA
Sonora, CA  Clarke Broadcasting has learned that two arrest warrants were issued Friday at 5 p.m. for a local doctor and his wife in connection with a triple fatal crash.

As reported here in February, the CHP identified 69-year-old Dr. Danny Mundall Anderson, an independent physician of internal medicine with medical privileges at Sonora Regional Medical Center, as the driver of an SUV that triggered a multiple-vehicle crash last October on J-59/La Grange Road near the Bonds Flat Road intersection. The incident killed a mother and daughter in one vehicle, and an elderly man in another. Others in both vehicles who survived sustained serious injuries.

County District Attorney Laura Krieg revealed that Dr. Anderson is facing three counts of felony vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and three counts of reckless driving causing a specific injury.

He and his wife Diane, who was with him at the time, are each charged with six counts of hit and run, resulting in death or serious injury to another person; concealing evidence and obstructing an investigation. His wife is also charged with a felony count of being an accessory to a crime.

The DA would not comment on possible prison time the couple could be facing, based on these charges. However, she added, The arrest warrants, when they came back signed from the judge, had a $100,000 bail for Dr. Anderson and a $30,000 bail for Diane Anderson.

Regarding when their arrest might come, DA Krieg stated, I have been in contact with their attorneys. I have been advised that they plan to turn themselves in to the Tuolumne County Jail  and I would think its imminent.
- Joseph David was captured from Mubi by Boko Haram when he was 22 years old

- He became a Boko Haram commander and earned N500,000 as salary monthly and married a wife Faridah

- He was, shortly after marriage, given two Chibok girls as gift and he married them too forcibly

- For more reports on Boko Haram, visit: https://www.legit.ng/tag/boko-haram.html

A cross-section of the abducted Chibok girls in captivity in a Boko Haram video.

As Nigerians await the return of the missing Chibok girls abducted in April 2014, a Boko Haram commander has narrated how he was given two of them as gifts.

READ ALSO: UPDATE: EFCC discovers N448.8 million at abandoned Bureau de Change in Lagos

The Nation, in an exclusive report, quotes the terrorist commander Joseph David, a Christian-turn-Islamist-insurgent, as saying that he forcibly married the two girls.

He said the girls were given to him as benefits that accrued to him as a Boko Haram commander and they came soon not long after he married his first wife Faridah.

President Buhari and vice president Osinbajo took pictures with some of the Chibok girls that were rescued recently

The report says David was also kidnapped by the sect from his town in Mubi, Adamawa state when he was just 22 years old and was converted to their ideology and later made a commander.

David, who claimed he was a student at the Adamawa State Polytechnic in Yola, the state capital, is presently in custody after he was captured by soldiers.

READ ALSO: Fayose is targeting Muslim in Ekiti state by attempting to demolish mosque - MURIC

He said he earned N500,000 as salary every month. He was sometime paid the equivalent in foreign currency.

David said he however incurred the wrath of his commander-in-chief Abubakar Shekau because of the way he treated the girls and his first wife Faridah in Sambisa Forest.

To punish him for 'being so good', Shekau took all the women away from him.

Joseph David (pictured) said he incurred Boko Haram leader Shekau's wrath for being good to his three wives.

He said: He (Shekau) said he did not trust me. He said, one day, I would run with them back to Nigeria.

I want to say sorry because these things that I did, I did them to save my life. If I didnt do them, they might think I was trying to bring problem within them."

The three women, he said, were still in Sambisa Forest.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng gathered that the 21 Chibok schoolgirls released by Boko Haram militants in October last year, have been enrolled in a secondary school to sit for their final exams.

Since their release, authorities have remained silent on where the girls are being kept in Abuja.

However, in separate interviews, the parents of the girls disclosed on Saturday, April 1, that they had started lessons in preparation for the final secondary school exams they missed three years ago.

Source: Legit.ng
- The Nigerian Army and other related security agencies have been receiving commendations from citizens over their success in the fight against terrorism

- Ali Mustapha, one of those arrested by Nigerian troops, gives vivid explanations concerning how he became a killer

Ali Mustapha, a 17-year-old member of the Boko Haram terrorist group, has confessed to becoming a killer after he was abducted and forcefully conscripted into it.

Mustapha made the confession after his arrest

Mustapha, who was intercepted by security operatives while on espionage mission in Maiduguri, Borno state, revealed that he was forced to kill his victims in Chikungudu Forest, Kalabalge, where he was held in captivity for three years by the insurgents.

READ ALSO: BREAKING: Explosions rock Maiduguri in Borno state

I was kidnapped in Marte by the insurgents; when they stormed the town in 2013, they took us away to Chikungudu Forest in Kalabalge council. I was held in captivity for three years at Chikungudu. Within the period, I have killed about 13 people in separate locations.

First was at Chikungudu, where we were held hostage by Boko Haram. Whenever the insurgents returned from a mission, they would line up their hostages before us and ask us to kill them. They forced us to kill innocent people.

They said they were testing us. The first time I killed, I killed five people. They told me, Ali, you will kill five people today.

I initially declined but when they threatened to kill me, I had no option but to kill the five people they brought before me. They later came with three other people and forced me to kill them.

The second time I killed people was at a village called Burssari. While we were there, they brought another set of five people and asked me to kill them and instantly I did. I had no choice because they threatened to kill me if I didnt kill them.

Then we went back to Chikungudu where they held us. They also went to a town and came back with some people and told other victims like me to kill them which they did, The Nation reports him as saying.

Ali added: Although they gave us some inscription written in Arabic to drink, I declined and threw mine away. We sometimes declined to do what they wanted us to do, so they nicknamed us children of pagans and spat on us and refused to give us food.

At Chikungudu in Kalabalge. Our leader is Umar from Mamman Nurs faction of Boko Haram. I have never seen him but they usually sent people to greet him and they always told us about how powerful he is.

My fathers name is Mustapha and my mothers name is Yazara. The last time I saw them was at Marte, when Boko Haram stormed our town and took us away.

The report said Ali Mustapha revealed that he was sent to spy and report on likely soft targets in Baga Road, Monday Market and Custom Market in Maiduguri, Borno capital. He was arrested by troops of the Nigerian Army.

READ ALSO: Boko Haram commander reveals how he received 2 Chibok girls as gifts

More than 500 children of my age, including younger ones, were conscripted as child soldiers in Chukungudu Forest in Kalabalge.

Even kids younger than I am were trained to handle and shoot AK 47 rifles in the forest. There were girls too, who were trained to go on suic*de bombing missions, he said.

Watch this video of the devastation caused by Boko Haram as compiled by Legit.ng:

Source: Legit.ng
Trump to make China visit after hosting Xi for talks

US President Donald Trump has accepted his counterpart Xi Jinping's invitation to make a visit to China, said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
- Chief Olusegun Obasanjo also advised churches to moderate the way they currently preach about prosperity

- The former president recalled how he gave powers to the EFCC and ICPC during his days in the presidency

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, has accused churches in Nigeria and religious leaders of corruption.

Chief Obasanjo also warned advised churches to moderate preaching about prosperity

Obasanjo said while some churches, like many other institutions in the country, have tarnished their images, the activities of some men of God leaves much to be desired.

READ ALSO: UPDATE: EFCC discovers N448.8 million at abandoned Bureau de Change in Lagos

Premium Times reports that while delivering a speech titled: The role of the church in the fight against corruption in Nigeria, at the convention of Victory Life Bible Church International in Abeokuta, Ogun state, Obasanjo, a retired Army general, said: There is no doubt that all our institutions have been tarnished by the brush of corruption.

If the Church, as an institution, does not take bribe or get involved in other corrupt practice, the behaviour of some of our men of God leaves much to be desired.

They not only celebrate but venerate those whose sources of wealth are questionable. They accept gifts (offering) from just anybody without asking questions. This gives the impression that anything is acceptable in the house of God.

But if Jesus can chase out those buying and selling from the temple with the declaration that, My house shall be called the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves, then it is time to stand up against corruption.

Represented by Femi Olajide, the chapel of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Librarys Christ the Glorious King Church, the former president urged churches to lead the light against corruption advising that messages of prosperity be preached with caution.

Our present day money changers and merchants must be chased out of the church and put to shame in the larger society.

While miracles, signs and wonders are the expectations of true believers, such must be based on righteousness. To preach that one can acquire wealth without labour is not only deceitful; it is a call to corruption. It is false preaching and it is sinful.

READ ALSO: I questioned God's authority - 23-year-old lady recounts burn survival (photos)

We must be careful in believing and celebrating every testimony of miraculous blessing, hence we end up being hoodwinked into celebrating corruption, he said recalling how he fought corruption while he led the country between 1999 and 2007.

The government has tried to contain corruption through the enactment of laws and the enforcement of integrity systems, but success has been slow in coming.

Legislations alone are not enough as they are often breached by those who make them and those who implement them.

Meanwhile, the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has slammed Nigerian leaders over the troubles that have currently taken over the country. Legit.ng brings you the video:

Source: Legit.ng
- Alleged ex-mistress of Apostle Suleman, Stephanie Otobo has released yet another evidence against the cleric

- This time, Otobo released her bank's statement of account, which shows money transferred from Suleman

- The phone company in Canada has agreed to release her call log too

- Click this link for more news on Apostle Suleman: https://www.legit.ng/tag/apostle-johnson-suleman.html

More trouble for founder of Omega Fire Ministry, Apostle Johnson Suleman, as his alleged estranged mistress released her bank's statement of account.

In a video obtained by Legit.ng, Otobo was seen showing two people her United Bank of Africa (UBA) statement of account which shows several transactions from Apostle Suleman.

In the statement of account, Apostle Suleman on July 22, 2015, reportedly paid in the sum of N1 million.

Stephanie Otobo's bank is yet to corroborate her story, but she awaits her phone company to release her call log as more evidence against Suleman.

READ ALSO: Buratai recounts close shave with death in battle with Boko Haram

Otobo in this recent interview done in Toroto, Canada also said Apostle Suleman froze her new account thinking it was her old account where he allegedly sent in money several times.

She also showed a picture of her and her father, who came out early this year to say he hasn't seen her in years and know nothing about the extra-marital allegations she's filed against Mr Suleman.

There are several transaction allegedly from Suleman in the statement of account released by Otobo.

The phone company Otobo subscribed to in Canada has reportedly also promised to release her call log which she promised will show how many times the pastor called her when she was in Canada.

Legit.ng recalls that Apostle Suleman's trouble started about a month ago when Otobo enlisted the help of famous lawyer, Festus Keyamo to sue Suleman for N500 million damages citing a breach of promise by the pastor.

READ ALSO: UPDATE: EFCC discovers N448.8 million at abandoned Bureau de Change in Lagos

According to Otobo, Suleman promised to marry her and then jilted her and aborted her pregnancy without her consent.

Meanwhile, Stephanie Otobo's mother went to Omega Fire Ministry to beg Apostle Suleman to forgive her daughter.

According to the mom, she hasn't seen her daughter in a while and her daughter's allegations that she had an affair with the cleric is not true.

Full video of Stephanie Otobo's Canada interview is below:

The video below is a Legit.ng video of a Christian group weighing in on Apostle Suleman's saga.

Source: Legit.ng
As the end of the Big Brother Naija show draws nearer, fans of the top five finalists have devised several (weird) means of canvassing for votes!

Housemate Efe

Just when we are yet to get over the latest trick where Efe's name surfaced on a bread, yet another hilarious one has gone viral.

READ ALSO: Cossy threatens Pastor Ibiyeomie, gives him due date

In the viral video, Legit.ng gathered that a photo of Efe was placed on a bible, and a large number of individuals stretched out their hands to the picture showering him with prayers.

Legit.ng has covered the show consistently, and for more articles related to Big Brother Naija click HERE

The video has stirred mixed reactions on social media. While many people continue to show support for Efe, others have heavily criticized this video. One of the major critic was controversial radio personality Daddy Freeze.

He wrte on social media: "For a brainless secular show, where married men are sleeping with other women and denying their wives existence?

-Held in a country where your brothers are being wasted merciless and you call upon JESUS? To answer #BBNaija

-The God of Nigerian Christians must be really bored to have time to attend to this ridiculousness!

-it's what to expect of a hungry third world nation where joblessness has taken over their lives!

-In a country with this many issues this is what you choose to pray for?"

READ ALSO: Checkout the celebrity lookalikes of the housemates

Watch the video below:

Efe is one of the most popular housemates as many Nigerian celebrities have decided to throw their weight behind the Warri-born, pidgin-loving housemate.

One of the evicted housemates, ThinTallTony, was recently with us at Legit.ng and spoke on his game plan among other things.

Source: Legit.ng
- Debo Adeniran says the All Progressives Congress has proven that it only came to power by deceiving the Nigerians

- The anti-corruption crusader accused politicians in the ruling party of engaging in misgovernance and insincerity especially in the fight against corruption

- With hope lost in the anti-corruption campaign especially as a result of recent happenings, Adeniran says only Nigerians can rid the country of graft

The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL) has declared that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Muhammadu Buhari have failed Nigerians.

According to the anti-corruption group, recent happenings among top politicians in the APC have shown that the party is not only insincere, but that it rode to power through deception.

Adeniran states instances and cases where the APC and the government of Buhari have failed

Nothing further exposes the insincerity of the present government which rode on the mantra of change and anti-corruption than the recent events in the country.

The failure of the government cuts across all the arms of government; and it manifests in every aspect of our national life today, CACOL said through its executive head, Debo Adeniran.

Read part of the full story:

Beginning with the most notorious in the acts of mis-governance, ie the Senate, one needs no bolder relief to understand that Nigeria is back to the precipice, from which majority of Nigerians believed they already rescued the country from when they voted massively for the present government in 2015.

The National Assembly, particularly the upper chamber have demonstrated adequately for those that are discerning enough, that the true change they desire cannot come as long as the shenanigans in that hallowed chambers are in charge of legislating.

READ ALSO: UPDATE: EFCC discovers N448.8 million at abandoned Bureau de Change in Lagos

We had stated clearly in recent time that as at now the Senate has degenerated to the level of constituting the leading clog in a government its supposed to be part of. And that the leadership of the Senate and their cohorts in the red chamber predicated on their baggage of corruption has consistently deployed every dubious means available to them to deflect and distract government from the very essence of its creation.

Buhari became president in 2015 after winning the election on the platform of the APC

We stated unequivocally too that the Senate cannot be isolated in the situation the country is in; that isolating the legislature will mean loss of circumspection. The executive and the judiciary are also deeply involved in the bringing of our country to this regrettable state! The executive comfortably houses both elected and appointed public officials that have plethora of corruption allegations against them that are yet to be disproved. Babachir Lawal, Secretary to General of the Federation (SGF) is one we cited as a shining example along that dishonourable path of betraying the trust reposed on the present government via their votes in 2015. The SGF obviously has a lot to answer for, as far as the allegations against him are concerned, as against the clearance by the president which suggests that he had not been found wanting. Ordinarily, the SGF should have stepped aside long before now to thoroughly clear himself of the misconducts he is being accused of, we had said.

The subsisting situation has led to the present sad joke in the country that; the executive cleared its own of corruption, the National Assembly cleared its own of corruption and the judiciary cleared its own of corruption!

Tragic as the joke is, it is the reality of the present scenario.

READ ALSO: Buhari issues new directive to EFCC, AGF, others on recovered loot

The recent court rulings that have been in favour of suspected corruption criminals against the FG, portrays a situation in which corruption is defeating anti-corruption in the fierce battle to rid the country of the virus of sharp, immoral and corrupt practices.

Within four days, the FG through its anti-graft and security agencies lost some prominent cases. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) lost two, the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) lost one each. The case against Patience Jonathan, former first lady, where a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos unfroze her $5 million account in Skye Bank and that of Godsday Orubebe, former minister of Niger Delta Affairs, who had been charged to court by ICPC, in 2016 for N1.97 billion fraud, bothering on the diversion of funds meant for the compensation of owners of property on the Eket Urban section of the East-West road in Eket, Akwa Ibom state are instructive enough for the discerning minds. Orubebe was discharged and acquitted on Tuesday, as the ICPC withdrew the case against him under unclear circumstances.

Also Justice Adeniyi Ademola, his wife and one Mr. Joe Agi who were charged by the DSS to a Federal High Court at the FCT, Maitama, Abuja on 18 count charge was dismissed it all without finding them guilty of a single count.

It is being argued in public discourse that corruption cases being prosecuted by the FG have not achieved convictions based mainly on lack of diligence and substantive evidences. CACOL agrees with this to an extent, but we refuse to be deceived by the deceptions of a government that was apparently conceived on the basis of deceit.

National chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun with President Buhari

This is why we believe all the arms of government are complicit in the situation we are in. The judiciary is as soaked in corruption as the every other arm, and this is a sad commentary on the situation of country given that, that arm of government is supposed to be the last bastion of hope for the masses.

READ ALSO: Senator Ita-Giwa dumps PDP for APC

Despite all the brouhaha that witnessed the arrest of judges by the DSS, the pontifications of members of the bench that, that the arm of government could cleanse itself of corruption, we see today that the cases that are in court which emanated from the saga are either being foot-dragged on, or consciously being killed silently. This is exactly what has been characteristic of our judicial system where it is always easier for the camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for suspected criminals answer to their charges and where perve*sion of justice is a pastime.

At the end, it is the ordinary Nigerians that are losing where governance has failed or is failing. Obviously, Nigerians need to rescue and take back their country given the foregoing background. So, the question is what is to be done to take back the country from this glaringly unrepentant and incurably corrupt ruling class beyond agonizing?

The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL) had always stated that the subsisting system is profoundly corrupt and cannot cleanse itself, and that it is the bounden duty of Nigerians to mobilize and organize themselves in their different social formations to salvage the country with the main of changing the subsisting system.

In our objectiveness, like some other Nigerians, we have had reasons to commend or condemn some of the operations of this government; tolerated some excuses based on benefit of doubts, but the present scenario apparently defies dialectical reasoning and presents boldly before our faces as Nigerians that, it is not yet Uhuru!

The struggles for anti-corruption and socio-economic and political emancipation can only be carried to fruition by the Nigerians, that is, the vast majority who are the victims of the present belligerent order. At times, we are wrong when we say the buck stops on the presidents or the governments desk, because, the truth is that the buck stops at the desk of the people who institute government in the first place. It is time to put the country first! Our destiny lies in our hands!! We must organize and mobilize all right thinking Nigerians to resist the slope down to the abyss the present political ruling class are hell-bent on taking us down to.

READ ALSO: UPDATE: 2 killed, 5 injured as bombers hit Maiduguri in Borno state

We should take a cue from the preamble to constitution of the United States:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.--That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

History beckons on us all beyond the shallow and selfish interests of the political to salvage Nigeria from the path to perdition.

Watch this video of a supporter of the APC saying the party has failed:

Source: Legit.ng
Chelsea Brown, an actress and dancer remembered as a cast member on Rowan & Martins Laugh-In in the late 1960s and as Rosey Griers love interest in the memorably strange 1972 low-budget horror film The Thing With Two Heads, died on March 27 in Chicago. She was 74.

The actress Lee Purcell, a friend, said the cause was pneumonia.

Ms. Brown joined the frenetic sketch show Laugh-In in 1968, appearing with performers like Ruth Buzzi, Jo Anne Worley and Alan Sues and dancing in a bikini alongside a similarly clad Goldie Hawn.
I doubt very much that they would take a drastic action like cutting him loose, said Mike Shatzkin, the chief executive of Idea Logical Company, a book industry consulting firm. Theyre not going to die if hes not there, but they certainly would be scrambling to make up the revenue.

A publishing house is not subject to the same pressures as a network, which depends on advertising revenue, but occasionally a public scandal will drive publishers to drop an author. Simon & Schuster faced a fierce backlash this year from independent booksellers and some of its own authors after it bought a memoir by Milo Yiannopoulos, a former editor at Breitbart News who espouses views that many regard as xenophobic and misogynist.

His publishing contract was canceled in February after a video clip resurfaced, in which he condoned sex between adults and teenage boys. By then, the publisher had suffered a public relations debacle.

Even if Henry Holt continues to publish Mr. OReilly, his sales could fall as a result of the allegations against him, particularly if major book retailers decide not to carry his titles, or Fox cancels his show. His childrens book series, a spinoff of the Killing books, could be particularly vulnerable to a consumer or retailer boycott, given the nature of the allegations. Give Please a Chance, a picture book he wrote with James Patterson, has sold 181,200 copies since it was released in November, according to NPD BookScan.

Then again, the allegations against Mr. OReilly could lead his most loyal fans to double down on their support.

The people who like him may be even more inclined to support him now and vote with their dollars to say, Im with you, Bill, said Michael Cader, the founder of Publishers Marketplace.

So far, major book retailers are sticking by him. We leave it to our customers to decide what to buy and read, a Barnes & Noble spokeswoman said. Amazon, which declined to comment, features Old School in its spring reading nonfiction recommendations.
Tomi Lahren, a fiery, fast-talking rising star in conservative media, on Friday sued her employer and its founder, the right-wing media personality Glenn Beck, claiming they fired her to retaliate after she revealed her support for abortion rights.

In a March 17 appearance on the ABC show The View, Ms. Lahren, 24, told the hosts that she believed in limited government in all aspects and that she supported the right to have an abortion. Im for limited government, she said, so stay out of my guns, and you can stay out of my body as well.

With a flair for making inflammatory comments, Ms. Lahren (whose first name is pronounced Tommy) has charted a steady rise in conservative media and gained more than 5 million followers on social media, where some of her video commentaries have been viewed millions of times. Her confrontational style and tendency to say shocking things  she claimed President Barack Obama cared more about appeasing Muslims than caring for fallen Marines  made her a star of conservative commentary.

But her remarks on The View did not sit well with executives at The Blaze  a website, TV station and subscription service  and its founder, Mr. Beck, the former Fox News host and radio personality. Her appearance on The View aired on a Friday, and on that Sunday, The Blaze said her nightly television show, Tomi, would be suspended.
In contrast to the dire pronouncements from President Trump and other Republicans, the demise of the individual insurance market seems greatly exaggerated, according to a new financial analysis released Friday.

The analysis, by Standard & Poors, looked at the performance of many Blue Cross plans in nearly three dozen states since President Barack Obamas health care law took effect three years ago. It shows the insurers significantly reduced their losses last year, are likely to break even this year and that most could profit  albeit some in the single-digits  in 2018. The insurers cover more than five million people in the individual market.

After years in which many insurers lost money, then lost even more in 2015, we are seeing the first signs in 2016 that this market could be manageable for most health insurers, the Standard & Poors analysts said. The market is not in a death spiral,  they said.

It is the latest evidence that the existing law has not crippled the market where individuals can buy health coverage, although several insurers have pulled out of some markets, including two in Iowa just this week. They and other industry specialists have cited the uncertainty surrounding the Congressional debate over the law, and the failed effort two weeks ago by House Republicans to bring a bill to the floor for a vote.
In the annals of clashes between parents and school administrators, it may be a high water mark: A group of parents occupied an elementary school auditorium in East Harlem overnight and vowed not to leave until the principal resigned.

In the end, the parents did not follow through on their pledge. They stayed in the school through Thursday night, but by 9 a.m. on Friday hunger and fatigue had worn them down and they left the building, still insisting that the principal step down.

The standoff was the latest chapter in a dispute that has roiled the school, Central Park East I, for more than a year. Parents who want the principal, Monika Garg, removed say she is destroying the culture of the school, which was founded in 1974 and has long been regarded as a beacon of progressive education.
Officials in New York arrested 12 people on Friday in what was described as a conspiracy involving three Brooklyn medical clinics that helped flood the streets with prescription painkillers while defrauding Medicare and Medicaid out of millions of dollars.

After announcing the arrests  a 13th person, a former state assemblyman from Brooklyn, was also indicted in the case  prosecutors described the scope of the conspiracy, saying it put 6.3 million oxycodone pills on New Yorks black market and generated more than $24 million for the three clinics.

Noting that the abuse of drugs like the painkiller oxycodone had helped fuel a national opioid epidemic, officials said the case combined a drug conspiracy and Medicaid fraud, in which the clinics also billed the government for expensive but unneeded tests.

I have to say Ive never really seen anything like it, Bridget G. Brennan, New York Citys special narcotics prosecutor, said at a news conference on Friday.
The agreement, which still requires the approval of the Assembly and the Senate, enables the governor to claim credit for brokering a deal out of a fractious legislative environment. But the agreement announced on Friday evening  long after many in the state had tuned out the frustration in Albany  also marked the inglorious end of Mr. Cuomos streak of on-time or close to on-time budgets, something that dated to his inauguration in 2011.

Faced with what Mr. Cuomo called the threat of deep federal cuts from the Trump administration, the budget also builds in a mechanism that would allow the state to respond to cuts from Washington, financial flexibility that would allow the states Division of the Budget to correct the state budget for that shortfall, he said.

For all of that uncertainty, Mr. Cuomo seemed satisfied with the hardest budget he had overseen, including a longstanding priority for liberal groups: raising the age of criminal responsibility to 18, a deal that had snagged negotiations on several occasions. Under the deal announced by the governor, beginning in October 2018, many 16- and 17-year-old offenders would be processed through family court rather than criminal court.

But Mr. Cuomo had also seemingly paid a political price for the practice of putting high-profile and often politically valuable policies into the budget process, a longstanding if contentious practice in Albany. Such issues were consistently cited as stumbling blocks for a deal, particularly by Republicans, and led to several moments of stalled talks.

The governors relationship with the Legislature as a whole was also put in sharp relief during the negotiations: Mr. Cuomo had effectively denied a raise to lawmakers last fall, and hard feelings may have carried over to this springs talks. The Legislature was not to be paid during the so-called emergency extender budgets passed on Monday, though the governor was  something that became another sticking point during talks.
A former senior finance official with the City University of New York was arrested on Friday and charged with embezzlement and fraud, accused of siphoning about $81,000 from student tuition accounts, federal and state investigators said.

The official, Carmine Marino, held several positions at CUNY, the nations largest public urban university, including director of fiscal and business operations at its School of Professional Studies, which caters to working students who take classes part-time toward undergraduate and graduate degrees. After questions arose internally about Mr. Marinos handling of the accounts, according to the authorities, he was forced to resign in 2013. He had been working in a similar position at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Mr. Marino, 43, surrendered Friday morning and appeared before a federal magistrate judge in Manhattan. The charges were announced by the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, the New York State inspector general and the federal Education Departments office of the inspector general.

The charges come as CUNY is facing an array of outside investigations related to financial, management and personnel issues.
Even in the editorial field, where Mr. OBrien focused most of his professional energies, his output was wildly eclectic, with his high-low instincts on full display. He was perhaps best known for his witty, acerbic Style Guy fashion advice column, which he began at Details magazine, then wrote for GQ from 1999 to 2015.

He was also a longtime columnist and critic for Artforum and made stops at Oui, the mens pornographic magazine; High Times, the marijuana enthusiasts bible; Maxim, the once-high-flying lad magazine, which he was hired to help reinvent in 2015; Purple, Olivier Zahms edgy culture magazine, as well as Rolling Stone, Allure and Harpers Bazaar.

At High Times Mr. OBrien carved himself into industry lore when he adopted the title editor at large. He had meant it as a sly reference to his tenuous legal standing overseeing a magazine that celebrated recreational drug use.

It was a joke, Ms. Nanni said, a reference to the F.B.I.s Most Wanted posters.

Mr. OBrien was born on March 2, 1947, in Cleveland and raised by his mother, the former Flora Sheldon, a homemaker, and his stepfather, Donald Campbell, a telephone company executive. His father, Terrance OBrien, had died in an automobile accident when Glenn was a toddler.

As a child, Mr. OBrien once said that he admired the sophisticated banter on television shows like Whats My Line, and began to daydream of making a cosmopolitan life for himself in New York.

After graduating from St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland, he enrolled in Georgetown University, where he edited The Georgetown Journal, a student literary magazine. He also ran in a small bohemian circle on campus that included Bob Colacello, now a Vanity Fair writer.
There is no need to reopen the Obama Justice Departments painstaking investigations of nearly two dozen police departments accused of widespread abuse, or the court-enforced agreements the department reached requiring cities like Cleveland, Seattle and Ferguson, Mo., to enact reforms. When Attorney General Jeff Sessions suggested that he might back away from those agreements, he was playing to police officers who have bristled at calls to root out racist and unconstitutional practices that have been well documented by the Justice Department.

On Friday, Mr. Sessions failed to derail one such agreement, known as a consent decree, when a federal judge ignored his request for a delay and signed an agreement on sweeping police reforms that Baltimore had negotiated in the waning days of the Obama administration. After Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African-American, died of a broken spine in police custody in 2015, a Justice Department investigation uncovered a pattern of policing in African-American neighborhoods so brutal that people were fearful of cooperating with officers.

Mr. Sessions has argued that consent decrees usurp state and local authority. But the nations most broken police departments have proved incapable of reforming themselves unless the federal government intervenes.

Congress came to that conclusion in 1994, when it gave the Justice Department authority to restructure troubled departments after Los Angeles erupted in riots following the acquittal of officers who were videotaped brutally beating a black motorist, Rodney King. The Justice Department became particularly aggressive with this authority under the Obama administration, which opened 23 investigations. The inquiries into Ferguson, Cleveland, Chicago and Baltimore revealed particularly barbaric and racist policing practices.
It was hard not to feel some sense of emotional satisfaction, and justice done, when American cruise missiles struck an airfield in Syria on Thursday. The countrys president, Bashar al-Assad, needed to understand that there would finally be a cost for his brutality, in this case the use of chemical weapons with sarin, a banned nerve agent, that killed scores of civilians earlier this week in one of the worst atrocities of the Syrian civil war.

But it is also hard not to feel unsettled by the many questions raised by President Trumps decision. Among them: Was it legal? Was it an impetuous, isolated response unrelated to a larger strategy for resolving the complex dilemma of Syria, a nation tormented not just by civil war but also by the fight against the Islamic State? So far, there is no evidence that Mr. Trump has thought through the implications of using military force or figured out what to do next.

For a man who had campaigned on an America First platform of avoiding entanglements in overseas conflicts and who repeatedly warned his predecessor, Barack Obama, against military action in Syria, Mr. Trump made a breathtaking turnaround in the space of 63 hours after the chemical attack. He has long argued that the top priority was fighting the Islamic State, not forcing Mr. Assad from power; indeed, as recently as last week, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and the United Nations ambassador, Nikki Haley, had reinforced the perception that Mr. Trump was perfectly willing to live with Mr. Assad.

Mr. Trump explained the shift by saying that he had been so deeply moved by television footage of child victims gasping for breath that my attitude toward Syria and Assad has changed very much. However sincere this sentiment, the spectacle of a president precipitously reversing course on war and peace on the basis of emotion or what his defenders describe as instinct does not inspire confidence.
I arrived in Saigon in mid-April 1966 as the new NBC bureau chief. My job, simply defined, was to supply NBC News with an endless story of the war. I understood there would be no letup, no relief day to day as our stories poured from the bureau.

Vietnam was the first truly televised war; the war and the medium through which millions of Americans experienced it were inextricable. To understand the war, one needs to understand how NBC  and our colleagues at CBS and ABC  shaped how that story was told.

Those of us in broadcast news understood our role clearly. We went all out. NBC News had bureaus around the world, but in size and scope, there was nothing like the one in Saigon.

Usually, a correspondent with one two-man crew and a small staff ran a foreign bureau. Saigon was different. We had five correspondents, five camera crews made up of a cameraman and a sound man, a full-time radio reporter and an engineer to keep the equipment running. My staff consisted of Japanese, Germans, South Koreans who had fled the north during the Korean War, French, English, Irish, Israelis  and even a few Americans. I had five Vietnamese drivers who owned their own cars, which they often drove out to cover the fighting, especially in the Saigon area. I used many freelance cameramen, often South Koreans who covered parts of the country where NBC News rarely went. With some 500,000 American troops in South Vietnam, there was only so much of the country we could cover.
1. Yes. Taxpayers are funding its operation; they should have a voice in the naming process.

2. Yes. The city should operate with a spirit of inclusivity. Residents will be responsive.

3. No. Public input can be problematic; rejection of suggestions can be divisive for residents.

4. No. Residents elect council members to make decisions on their behalf. No input is needed.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say whether public input would be more of a benefit or a hindrance.

Vote

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One day I returned from lunch to find four or five police detectives in the office I share with others at a college library. It turned out that a valuable book was missing, and the police had received my name as someone who might have come in contact with it. In fact, I had never touched the book.

African-Americans in other departments immediately suspected racism. Look at the people in your department  who do you think they suspect took that book? they said. I brushed them off, but I started feeling uneasy. I had heard that racists could use law enforcement as extra ammunition to silence their victims; now I worried I was experiencing this firsthand. I found myself consulting African-Americans I trusted and respected because I doubted myself. I wanted them to tell me that I was wrong. But they all nodded knowingly, as if this was something they had all gone through.

Like millions of other immigrants, I had been lured to America by the promise of the American dream. I arrived here from Zimbabwe more than a decade ago on an F1 student visa. The AIDS pandemic was gripping my country, in addition to civil unrest and economic calamity. My sister and numerous relatives were among hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans whose lives were cut short by AIDS. I hungered to make new connections to replace those I had lost or left behind. White Americans were friendly but spoke to me about African-Americans as if they were of a different species. They referred to black neighborhoods as full of drug addicts and criminals. This didnt bother me because I considered myself African, not African-American.
In the meantime, the Trump administration is within its rights, because of the district courts opinion in the Smith case, in continuing Mr. Obamas war against the Islamic State. But it does not have this luxury in Syria. President Assad, too, is fighting the Islamic State. None of President Obamas rationales for his war against the Islamic State have the slightest applicability to a military campaign against Syria, should President Trump pursue that course.

As a consequence, Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, has already called for a bipartisan coalition in defense of Congresss authority under the War Powers Resolution. This would provide a perfect opportunity for the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, and the House speaker, Paul Ryan, to extend an olive branch in the wake of the partisan acrimony over Judge Gorsuchs nomination. After all, there is a strong bipartisan majority in support of a strong response to President Assad.

The big question is how long the new authorization should last and how large should be its scope. If Congress takes the lead, perhaps President Trump will call it a success when he wins the express consent of the House and Senate for his first effort to transform American foreign policy.

But if political polarization continues to prevail on Capitol Hill, the sudden airstrike will serve as the shocking herald of a moment of constitutional truth. It will be up to President Trump to tell us whether he will comply with the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution, or assert his power as commander in chief to attack any country or organization he considers a threat to the vital national security interest of the United States.

We have been here before. In his torture memos, John Yoo, a lawyer for the Bush administration, notoriously asserted the authority of the commander in chief to violate statutory commands  only to see Presidents Bush and Obama repudiate his extreme assertions. But the present case is even more serious. However terrible torture may be, its victims number in the thousands. If the commander in chief may unilaterally begin new wars against new enemies whenever he wants, the resulting carnage can mount into the millions.

President Trump has no popular mandate to take this step. Throughout his campaign, he made it clear that it was radical Islamic terrorists, not secular autocrats like President Assad, who represented the great threat to national security. There is only one way for him to carry the country with him down a different path. This to obey the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution  and spend the next 60 days hammering out, in collaboration with Congress, the terms of a carefully considered authorization for the use of force against our new enemy.

If President Trump disdains this difficult task of democratic persuasion, and plunges ahead on his own authority, he will be forcing the country to the verge of a profound constitutional crisis.
After six years of a prolonged drought in California, it is all but over. On Friday, Gov. Jerry Brown ended the drought emergency for the vast majority of the state. The drought had reduced Folsom Lake, a major reservoir in Northern California, to less than a third of its capacity in 2015, and all but wiped out the Sierra Nevada snowpack.

Fridays announcement, though, was about as symbolic as it was pragmatic. It marked the formal end to a water shortage that had already been erased by a winter of plentiful rain and snow. Many of the states most stringent drought rules were eased months ago.

Mr. Brown declared a drought state of emergency in January 2014 as the state suffered through one of the driest years in its history. Then, in April 2015, he took to a barren field that typically would have been covered with snow to order a 25 percent reduction in urban water use.
PALM BEACH, Fla.  President Trump welcomed President Xi Jinping of China here for a first meeting on Friday that ended up being less about great-power collaboration than a chance for the Chinese leader to witness a raw display of American military might.

Hours after Mr. Trump ordered Tomahawk cruise missiles to be fired on a Syrian airfield, he pressed Mr. Xi to use Chinas leverage to curb another rogue government, North Koreas. Mr. Trump repeated his warning that if China did not do more, the United States would act on its own to constrain the belligerent actions of North Koreas dictator, Kim Jong-un.

The president also brought up the chronic trade imbalance between China and the United States. A senior administration official said Mr. Trump had told Mr. Xi that the two sides needed to begin addressing that deficit immediately, prompting China to propose a 100-day plan to overhaul the trade relationship between the worlds largest economies.

Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson said Mr. Trump had told the Chinese leader that there needed to be concrete steps to level the playing field for American workers. A second senior administration official said the tone in the one-on-one exchanges on trade had been tough, though he said there was chemistry between the two men.
WASHINGTON  On March 30, Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson and United Nations Ambassador Nikki R. Haley, in separate appearances, reversed American foreign policy and said the Trump administration was not focused on getting rid of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria.

The next day, the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, backed them up, and spoke of a political reality that we have to accept in terms of where we are right now.

Four days later, on April 4, Mr. Assad launched the deadliest chemical attacks since 2013, dropping the nerve agent sarin in a dawn strike that drew condemnation from around the world and prompted the first American military strikes against the Syrian regime, and the first national security crisis of President Trumps term.

At the Pentagon and in national security circles, the lightning series of events has raised a sharp question: Did the Haley-Tillerson-Spicer remarks embolden Mr. Assad to believe that he could get away with the chemical weapons attack?
The radio host Laura Ingraham, who was once considered as a possible White House press secretary, wrote on Twitter: Missiles flying. Rubios happy. McCain ecstatic. Hillarys on board. A complete policy change in 48 hrs.

Hillary Clinton, by far the more hawkish of the two 2016 nominees, said nothing publicly after the attack. But shortly before the strike, she said in an interview at the Women in the World event in New York that she believed the United States should try to destroy the air force of Syrias president, Bashar al-Assad.

Assad has an air force, and that air force is the cause of most of these civilian deaths as we have seen over the years and as we saw again in the last few days, Mrs. Clinton said. And I really believe that we should have and still should take out his airfields and prevent him from being able to use them to bomb innocent people and drop sarin gas on them.

The Senates Democratic minority leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, who has been at odds with Mr. Trump on any number of issues, said he supported the presidents actions in this instance. Making sure Assad knows that when he commits such despicable atrocities he will pay a price is the right thing to do, Mr. Schumer wrote on Twitter soon after the strike.

Leon E. Panetta, who was C.I.A. director and then defense secretary in the Obama administration, said that had the United States not taken this action after an unconscionable chemical attack, the nation and the world community would face a huge amount of shame for their failure to act.
WASHINGTON  A Tennessee state senator who has criticized federal attempts to bar discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in workplaces and businesses was nominated on Friday to be President Trumps next secretary of the Army.

The selection of Mark E. Green, a former Army flight surgeon who served as a medic for a special operations team that captured Saddam Hussein, would be a sharp U-turn in civilian leadership of the Army. The last Army secretary, Eric Fanning, was the first openly gay man to hold that post.

Mr. Greens nomination, which has been anticipated for weeks, had already drawn criticism from L.G.B.T. advocates even before Mr. Trump officially named him. On Tuesday, the American Military Partner Association, the largest organization of L.G.B.T. military families, accused Mr. Green of making a shameful political career out of targeting L.G.B.T. people for discrimination.

Ashley Broadway-Mack, the president of the association, said that all soldiers and their families, including those who are L.G.B.T., should have confidence that the secretary of the Army has their back and is working for their best interest. Unfortunately, based on his vicious, anti-L.G.B.T. record, Mark Green cannot be trusted to ensure all those who serve have the support they need and deserve.
WASHINGTON  In 2013, as President Obama sought congressional support for strikes against Syria in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack, he did not find takers in Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky or Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, both Republicans.

This week, both men  now the majority leader and House speaker  gave enthusiastic support to President Trumps missile strike on a Syrian air base for which he sought no such approvals. It demonstrates once again that even in solemn issues of war and peace, politics can shift dramatically depending on who is in the White House. Several other Republicans who were skeptical of Mr. Obamas proposal also gave Mr. Trumps strike a thumbs-up.

I dont know whether he had in mind knocking out a tent and a couple of camels or what, Mr. McConnell said Friday, explaining his view that Mr. Obama had lacked the clarity and focus of Mr. Trump on Syria. But this was a strike that was well-planned, well-executed, went right to the heart of the matter, which is using chemical weapons.

Fifteen years after Congress voted to wage war against Iraq, lawmakers in both parties remain divided and ambivalent about giving any president its explicit blessing to enter theaters of war, even for limited operations.
WASHINGTON  In any major crisis involving speed, judgment and getting reliable information, the first question any president needs to decide is this: Who is invited to the meeting to discuss the strategic options?

So the photograph of President Trumps group of advisers at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Thursday night  released by the White House and edited for security in the words of Sean Spicer, the press secretary  was immediately scrutinized for what it said about who has the commander in chiefs ear at a critical moment. And of course, what you see may depend on what you are looking for. Or, in this case, whom.

Does Stephen K. Bannons position on the outer ring reflect his recent removal from the principals committee of the National Security Council, or does his presence, and that of the adviser Stephen Miller, suggest a change in title but not in influence? What about the presence of the only woman visible in the room, Dina Powell, a former aide to President George W. Bush and a longtime friend of Ivanka Trump who was recently brought on as a deputy national security adviser? And why would the commerce and Treasury secretaries be involved in a Tomahawk strike? (Answer: Because they were at the resort to meet Xi Jinping, the Chinese president.)

For those debating the meaning here, it is important to remember that pictures can be overinterpreted. The defense secretary, Jim Mattis, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Joseph F. Dunford Jr., were joining by secure video conference; the photo shows the back of a screen.
I dont have full idea why he did that now, he said. We lose hundreds of Syrian people every day, we lost more than half a million people in Syria. So why chemical attack is worse? Dead is dead. I cant understand, and the Syrians cant understand.

Mr. Chaghlil and his parents left Syria for Jordan four years ago, then began the laborious process of gaining refugee status. After his father died last July, his mother had to revise her paperwork, he said, delaying her case, so while Mr. Chaghlil came to the United States in December, she remains in Jordan.

I talk with her every morning, he said. She is old. She needs me, and I need her. Im alone here and she is alone there.

He said he worries about where American immigration policy will leave her, and still sees the president as anti-Muslim.

I think he doesnt care about who needs the support, and who is the murderer and who is the good person, said Mr. Chaghlil, who was admitted to the country in December and lives in New Haven. Maybe he felt he has to do something for politics.

Ayham al-Asmi , who had been upset by Mr. Trumps attempts to bar refugees, was so enthusiastic in his support for the airstrikes that he said he would vote for Mr. Trump if he could. He said more than 150 members of his extended family have died in the violence in Syria.

Hes a national hero now, he said of the president, adding, 100 percent.

Mr. Asmi, 34, who arrived in Worcester, Mass., about 18 months ago, said he had stayed up all night after seeing news of the raid on Facebook, contacting elated friends and family around the world.
WASHINGTON  As he grappled on Thursday with his first major decision involving military action, a fed-up and frustrated President Trump turned to his two top aides and told them he had had enough of their incessant knife-fights in the media.

Work this out, Mr. Trump said, according to two people briefed on the exchange. The admonition was aimed at Stephen K. Bannon, the tempestuous chief strategist, and Reince Priebus, the mild-mannered chief of staff, over a series of dust-ups with Jared Kushner, the presidents son-in-law and senior adviser, and the top economic adviser, Gary D. Cohn.

But they may not be able to.

The president is said to be aware that a meaningful reconciliation will take work to achieve between Mr. Bannon, who sees himself as the keeper of Mr. Trumps campaign promises, and the competing ideologies of Mr. Kushner and Mr. Cohn, a longtime Wall Street executive and a Democrat. And he is considering a shake-up of his senior staff, according to four people with direct knowledge of the process.

Whether he acts on it remains to be seen. Mr. Trump has often pondered making changes for several weeks or even months before making them, if he does at all. He has a high tolerance for chaos, and a unique gift for creating it  and, despite his famous Youre fired! tagline from the show The Apprentice, an aversion to dismissing people.
A Venezuelan politician seen as a main contender to challenge President Nicolas Maduro in next years election has been barred by the government from holding public office for 15 years.

The politician, Henrique Capriles, a state governor who narrowly lost to Mr. Maduro in 2013, was disqualified from the exercise of public functions for a period of 15 years, according to a statement released by the government on Friday evening.

Today its me, but tomorrow they will come for you, Mr. Capriles said in a news conference, adding that he would not give up his post as governor of the state of Miranda. He also called for more street protests.

The government listed a number of infractions it claimed Mr. Capriles had committed, including what it said was his failure to secure the proper approvals for budgets and contracts.
American military officials say they do not believe the strike on Tuesday, which they said was carried out with a nerve agent, was necessarily unique. On March 30, panicky Syrian forces may have used a similar nerve agent in Hama Province, though American officials said they lacked forensic evidence to prove it. On March 25, the Syrians also mounted an attack using chlorine; its use in war is illegal under an international convention banning chemical weapons.

What we consider before using anonymous sources. Do the sources know the information? Whats their motivation for telling us? Have they proved reliable in the past? Can we corroborate the information? Even with these questions satisfied, The Times uses anonymous sources as a last resort. The reporter and at least one editor know the identity of the source. Learn more about our process.

Having concluded that chemical weapons were used by Syrian forces, the next challenge for the Trump administration was to settle on a response. The military options were developed on Wednesday, and when they were narrowed down, the Al Shayrat airfield was in the cross hairs.

Equipped with bunkers for storing chemical munitions, the airfield had been built as a potential launching pad for attacks with chemical weapons  weapons that Mr. Assad was supposed to have given up as part of an agreement that was worked out by the United States and Russia.

Surveying the airfield, American war planners developed a list of 59 targets: aircraft, hardened plane shelters, radars, an air defense system, ammunition bunkers and petroleum storage sites. One Tomahawk cruise missile was fired at each of the 59 targets, and the Pentagon asserted that each hit its mark. An additional missile aborted after launch and fell into the Mediterranean.

One American official who spoke separately from the briefing estimated that 20 to 25 Syrian warplanes were destroyed in the attack, at 3:40 a.m. local time, four hours after President Trumps order to go ahead was relayed to the Central Command. The runway was not a target.

The strike was aimed at avoiding the 12 to 100 Russian pilots, maintenance and other military personnel who manned a helicopter unit at different parts of the base, and to avoid striking Russian aircraft. American officials said they had no independent information on possible casualties but were confident that Russians were not among them.

The presence of the Russians is just one factor that is leading American intelligence officials to investigate if Moscow was complicit, disinterested or ignorant of the Syrian governments use of a covert chemical arsenal.
WASHINGTON  When the Syrian government carried out a gruesome chemical attack on civilians this week, many people had a question: Didnt the Obama administration, working with Russia and international experts, destroy Syrias chemical weapons stocks in 2014?

In his State of the Union address that year, President Barack Obama declared, American diplomacy, backed by the threat of force, is why Syrias chemical weapons are being eliminated. Months later, in July, on NBCs Meet the Press, Secretary of State John Kerry essentially declared the mission accomplished: We struck a deal where we got 100 percent of the chemical weapons out.

But, as became obvious when a Syrian attack on Tuesday killed more than 80 people, the truth was more complicated. Here is a primer on the history of Syrias chemical stockpile, the effort to eliminate it and experts views on the new attack.

When did Syrian forces first use chemical weapons, and how did the United States respond?

Scattered reports of chemical attacks have been made since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011, but a large-scale attack in August 2013  with United Nations inspectors already on the ground  got the worlds attention. Mr. Obama said he intended to carry out a limited military strike to uphold the international ban on chemical weapons and deter further attacks. Then he decided to seek authorization from Congress first.
3. Its tough not to want to bomb the Assad regime into the stone age for all of the atrocities its committed. But we do have to remember that we are probably going to kill children too with a stepped up bombing campaign. There is never a 0% chance of civilian casualties.

If we want to make a real difference, the American people have to be willing to sacrifice its own blood and treasure by establishing safe zones for civilians. The only way to do that is with boots on the ground. This will mean dead Americans.

Is that a price we are willing to pay?

- Chris R in Boulder Colo.

This comment received more than 1,300 reader recommendations.
After President Bashar al-Assad of Syria once again attacked his own citizens with poison gas, the civilized world recoiled in horror at images of children writhing in pain and suffocating to death. President Trump voiced this justified outrage at a news conference on Wednesday, and the next day he took swift, decisive action against the outlaw Assad regime. But these strikes did more than simply punish Mr. Assad and deter future attacks; they have gone a long way to restoring our badly damaged credibility in the world.

Its hard to overstate just how low the standing of the United States had fallen because of President Barack Obamas failure to enforce his own red line against Mr. Assads use of chemical weapons in 2013. I was one of the few Republican members of Congress who supported strikes against Syria then. Because of that, Ive heard from dozens of world leaders expressing their doubts about the security commitments of the United States.

These doubts originated from surprising places. Of course our longtime Arab allies expressed their misgivings. Yet European and even Asian leaders have privately wondered to me whether the red-line fiasco called into question Americas security alliances in their regions. While far removed from the Middle East, they still depend on the United States and the threat of force to defend our mutual interests.

It wasnt only Mr. Obamas refusal to act in the moment that undermined our credibility. The fig leaf to justify inaction was an agreement with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to remove Syrias chemical weapons, which Russia and Syria plainly violated from the outset. Yet Obama administration officials continued to celebrate it as a triumph.
To the Editor:

Re How I Angered My Readers, Again (column, April 6):

Nicholas Kristof asks, Maybe we all need a little more empathy? I think this question reaches the heart of why so many readers, including me, are upset at the Trump supporters he interviewed  their lack of empathy for others, which was demonstrated by voting for a man who clearly lacks empathy for anyone.

I, too, grew up in Trump country (rural West Texas), and I, too, have family members and lifelong friends who voted for President Trump. Some are racists or misogynists or one-issue voters, but many are simply unwilling to think critically. Do I hate them? Never. Do I expect them to own up to the harm theyve done our country? Absolutely. They are the ones who taught me that we reap what we sow.

KAREN COLLIER, AUSTIN, TEX.

To the Editor:

Nicholas Kristofs column brought a sigh of relief in the wake of perhaps the most polarized election in recent American history. Many of us Trump supporters on the ground have seen firsthand how our mere support of the president  no matter how reluctant or if we supported someone else during the primaries  resulted in our being characterized as deplorables and shunned as irredeemables.

The unfair characterizations and moral condescension have disappointingly continued after the election. Many of those on the other side of the protest line, so to speak, would do well to remember how similar we are despite the fissures that this election has brought out between us. We will never agree on all the issues, but we are still one nation and one people.
It has been a head-spinning week watching the Trump administration stumble into its first international crisis only to emerge with a transformed policy on the use of force in the Middle East, announced on Thursday with the unleashing of 59 sea-launched cruise missiles against the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

While the limited missile strike was a commendable and overdue response to the use of chemical weapons and to countless other war crimes perpetrated by the regime in Damascus, the public performance of President Trump and his team throughout this tragic episode hardly inspires confidence. On the contrary, the administration demonstrated a dangerous degree of incoherence and inconsistency.

Consider the chronology. The debacle began with a remark by the new United States ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, in New York at the end of March. Despite a brutal six-year civil war in which Mr. Assads forces have been responsible for the deaths of about 200,000 civilians, and despite near universal opposition to his rule by leaders of the civilized world, Ms. Haley thought it was the right time to send a signal to Mr. Assad and his allies, Russia and Iran, that the new American presidents priority is no longer to sit there and focus on getting Assad out. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson confirmed this new view, which Sean Spicer, the White House spokesman, described as a simple recognition of political reality. Intentionally or not, American policy with respect to the worlds worst military and humanitarian crisis had been changed dramatically.

The unsurprising consequence of this shift was a newfound confidence within the Assad regime that it need not worry about paying a heavy price if its forces committed new acts of barbarity aimed at demoralizing the nations remaining rebels. And sure enough, the Syrian Air Force soon began dropping nerve gas on civilian neighborhoods in an insurgent-held town in Idlib province.
Fortunately, most doctors no longer think this way. In 2012, Dr. Diane Ehrensaft from the University of California, San Francisco, proposed true gender self child therapy, in which even the youngest children are allowed to explore their gender identity, with all outcomes (transgender or not) being treated as equally desirable.

Thats just what happened with Hannah. At 10, after a yearlong psychological evaluation, she underwent a nonmedical social transition. This meant changing her name from Jonah to Hannah, wearing girls clothes and using female pronouns. She went from the frustrated boy wearing a yarmulke to the bubbly child wearing a dress and joining the girls bunk at summer camp.

At this point, data on the benefits of early social transition is scarce. But this year researchers at the University of Washington published a study based on 63 transgender youth who were allowed to socially transition. They found that their levels of anxiety and depression were just about indistinguishable from their non-transgender peers.

Critics point to flawed studies that suggest that roughly 80 percent of prepubescent children ultimately change their minds about being transgender. Even if this were true, would it have been worth forcing Hannah to live as a boy, putting her at risk for depression and perhaps suicide? Though going back to a boys name and boys clothes would probably be hard, even a small risk of suicide is scarier.

Once transgender youth hit puberty, their gender identity is unlikely to change. At that point, doctors often consider medical interventions. The puberty blocker is the first step. In the unlikely event that a child were to change her mind about being transgender, we could remove the implant, and she would then go through male puberty. The implant has some mild side effects, most notably a decrease in bone density, but that quickly improves after the removal of the implant or the initiation of cross-sex hormones like estrogen or testosterone.

The effects of cross-sex hormones like estrogen are not easily reversible. The hormones can impair fertility, but transgender teens are offered fertility preservation options before that stage, like freezing sperm or eggs. Surgery, which often follows in young adulthood, is also, of course, essentially permanent.

In a Dutch study of 55 transgender people who were given puberty blockers during adolescence, however, none changed their minds and none regretted treatment. All went onto cross-sex hormones around age 16 and later gender-affirming surgery. Psychological functioning improved steadily over the treatment period, and by the end, metrics of happiness and quality of life were on a par with those of the general population. Larger studies are underway in the United States, and early clinical experience agrees with the Dutch results.
I asked what advice she would offer the countless young women who have been galvanized by her loss  in a way they never were by her candidacy  to become more engaged in public life. Toughen up your skin, she counseled, referring to the nastiness often directed at prominent women. Be ready. Its not a new phenomenon, but it feels new and painful every time it happens to you.

Clinton noted that when she stepped down as secretary of state, she had an approval rating of 64 percent and was one of the most popular public officials in America. But that was ancient history by Election Day. Oh my gosh, she said, by the time they finished with me, I was Typhoid Mary.

We talked about lots of issues, including Syria  she advocated attacking Syrian air strips; hours later, President Trump did just that  and she was ready to fire a few salvos of her own. She raised the chaotic functioning of the new administration and said she didnt understand the Trump teams commitment to hurt so many people, from its travel ban to its health care legislation.

Why did she lose the election? Clintons staff has conducted autopsies that, she said, suggested that two of the most important factors were the plunder and release of her campaign emails and the last-minute announcement by the F.B.I. director, James Comey, that the investigation into her use of a private email server could be reopened.

So, I asked, when you heard Comey say recently that he had been investigating Trumps Russia ties since July but couldnt disclose it then because its inappropriate to discuss ongoing investigations, what did you throw at the television?

She savored the question. Yes, she said, smiling. That was one of the high points of the last weeks.
Once, on a road trip with friends from New York to California, I kept a list of every river and stream we crossed, starting with the Hudson.

After the Delaware and the Susquehanna, we found ourselves crossing the Cowpasture River and Salt Sulphur Springs, Clinch River and Bog Swan Creek, Poor Hollow, Rio Puerco, Cottonwood Wash and Moore Gulch. Though I probably dozed off and missed a few, and many remained unidentified by signs, by the end of the trip there were 113 on my list. If we couldnt hear the sound of the water itself, the syllables of the names became a new way for me to chart this country.

I thought of this list recently, and the curious way we have of naming the features and events of the natural world. Maybe its a result of extreme weather patterns, but meteorologists seem to have developed a mania for naming storms  it is no longer simply hurricanes to which we assign names, but snowstorms and even ferocious rainstorms. Winter 2017 wasnt especially severe, but here in the Northeast the craze for naming gave us Niko, Orson, Pluto and Stella. As well as the promise by the Weather Channel to name a storm next year after Stephen Colbert after he questioned the logic of this practice.

While it is hard not to admire the inventiveness of the meteorologists coming up with these names, it would likely be of greater benefit if we could find a similar pleasure in learning a few of the names that identify those features of the natural world we live with all the time. Which is to say, instead of making up new names, we might consider learning the names that already exist.
Over the past two months, as the nation has watched a new president drop one depth charge after another  banning Muslim refugees; ordering the demolition of broadly accepted rules protecting air, water and American consumers; flouting conflict-of-interest and other ethical standards honored by his predecessors in office  Americans have looked to the courts, the one aspirationally nonpartisan branch of government left to them, to stop him.

Yet of late their faith in the judiciary, including the Supreme Court, the systems ultimate arbiter, has been flagging. In 2000 before Bush v. Gore, a Gallup poll said that 62 percent of Americans thought the Supreme Court was doing a good job. By September 2016, after the court had divided along partisan lines on politically fraught decisions like Citizens United, the controversial and misguided campaign-finance ruling, and the Hobby Lobby case on mandated birth control coverage, its approval rating dropped to 45 percent. Add in Justice Antonin Scalias palling around with Dick Cheney and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburgs public trashing of President Trump during the campaign, and the court has come to be seen as increasingly and more openly partisan.

This unhappy trend has continued despite Chief Justice John Roberts Jr.s intention, stated when he was a newly appointed justice, to keep any kind of partisan divide out of the judiciary. Though a strong conservative, Chief Justice Roberts brought to his august position a reputation for fair-mindedness and modest jurisprudence. He believed, he said then, that unanimous or near-unanimous decisions contribute to the stability of the law, while ideologically divided, 54 decisions undermine public trust in the court as an impartial institution, immune to partisan politics.

It behooves him now to restate that commitment; everywhere else in government, toxic factionalism is the order of the day. On Thursday, in the Senate, neither party distinguished itself. In a cry of rage against the Republicans nihilistic refusal in 2016 to grant even a hearing to Barack Obamas last nominee to the court, Democrats filibustered to block Neil Gorsuch, President Trumps nominee to that stolen Supreme Court seat. They accomplished nothing. The Republicans immediately voted to change the chambers rules, killing the filibuster in order to grant Judge Gorsuch an up-or-down vote. That removed the filibuster as a hurdle to all future Supreme Court nominees and, in the process, destroyed what had been a unique feature of the Senate that guaranteed broad-based support for appointees to the highest court in the land.
Just three days after his inauguration, the president courted labor by inviting the heads of several building trades unions to the Oval Office. Afterward, they sounded almost giddy, with the president of the laborers union issuing a news release headlined, It is Finally Beginning to Feel Like a New Day for Americas Working Class.

Sean McGarvey, president of North Americas Building Trades Unions, came away applauding Mr. Trumps plans for the Keystone Pipeline and other projects, which could mean more than 100,000 new jobs. So far so good  our concern is basically the economic trajectory of our membership, Mr. McGarvey said. (Though when President Trump spoke last week to the construction unions legislative conference, some union officials  unhappy about his push to repeal Obamacare and his rolling back of some worker safety regulations  booed him and held up signs saying, Resist.)

Although labor unions have declined in size and might  just 10.7 percent of American workers belong to unions, down from 30 percent under President John F. Kennedy  they still pack plenty of political punch. Many labor leaders were mortified that Hillary Clinton narrowly lost in three longtime union strongholds, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin; they say that if she and labor had campaigned a bit smarter in those states, she could have won them, and the White House. One reason she lost Wisconsin is that union rolls there have plummeted  from 15 percent of all workers in 2009 to 8 percent today. A big reason: Gov. Scott Walker moved aggressively to shrink Wisconsins public-sector unions.

Mr. Trump has focused his attentions on private-sector unions and workers, like miners in Kentucky and steelworkers in Pennsylvania. Trump is doing what both Nixon and Reagan tried to do: pick out a few of the likeliest unions and see if you can make nice with them, said Joseph McCartin, a labor historian at Georgetown University. He noted another similarity  while the Reagan administration had numerous officials interested in working with unions, it, like the Trump administration, also had fiercely anti-labor officials eager to weaken unions.

The nations unions are divided into three camps regarding Mr. Trump.

The construction trades are the most pro-Trump. Many liberals have criticized Mr. McGarveys enthusiastic words for the president, but he said its smart to work with politicians. Were working on creating a building trades majority, Democratic and Republican, whether state or national, he said. We never want to be in a position where losing an election changes the economic trajectory of our membership.
Seattle  The ascent of Judge Neil M. Gorsuch to the Supreme Court has changed the Senate. No longer will a minority of its members be able to block the confirmation of nominees to the nations highest court. And his appointment has changed the presidency, which now benefits from an easier confirmation process. But what about the Supreme Court itself? Is Judge Gorsuchs appointment likely to change the body he is joining?

In the short term, yes, but not a whole lot. And in 2017 this is cause for relief. As the government reels from increasingly divisive partisanship, the federal judiciary has continued for the most part to serve as a rational, collegial and predictable branch of government. But over the long term, the realignment of checks and balances that accompanied Judge Gorsuchs confirmation may mean that the Supreme Court will become more polarized and less stable.

For the last year, the Supreme Court has been forced to play short-handed, after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016 and the refusal of Senate Republicans to consider President Obamas nominee, Merrick Garland. Yet, in the shadow of this dysfunction, the Supreme Court has managed to remain operational and effective. There is little reason to suspect that Judge Gorsuch will knock the court significantly off course once he is sworn in on Monday.

Instead, the court is likely to continue down the same path it has been on for years: infuriating conservatives one day and delighting them the next; inducing a frenetic combination of cheers and tears among progressives. This refusal to follow strict partisan lines may appear to be haphazard. But for those watching closely, the Supreme Courts decisions track earlier precedents, and the outcomes tend to be predictable.
WASHINGTON  As the sun was setting one recent evening, two black Chevrolet Suburbans pulled up next to Cafe Milano, the Georgetown restaurant where some of the worlds most powerful people go to be noticed but not approached. Steven T. Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, slipped out of one of the vehicles and lingered with his Secret Service detail in front of the restaurants wall of windows. His fiancee, the actress Louise Linton, emerged wearing a sleeveless blush-pink jumpsuit, as if this were Studio 54 by the Potomac.

On the other side of the glass at this longtime power-dining fishbowl, the mood was clear: This was dinner and a show.

Every town, no matter its size, has a bar or restaurant where the powerful gather to hold court. Washington has Cafe Milano. It has been a destination for high-ranking members of media and of governments around the world since it opened in November 1992, on the same day Bill Clinton, now a Cafe Milano regular, was first elected president. It is a place where diners can enjoy relative privacy as they dine on grilled calamari and velvety burrata. It is also the exact sort of establishment that President Trump might have disparaged as a candidate, when he emphasized that his leadership would mean that the cozy bonds forged among the capitals elite would be broken.

But in recent weeks, several high-ranking members of the Trump administration have visited the restaurant to meet with journalists, socialites and even the occasional Democrat. Mr. Trump calls this city a swamp, and Cafe Milano is one of the places where members of his cabinet are learning how to swim.
In their book, Mr. Howe and Mr. Strauss note the roughly 80-year intervals between catalytic events in American history like the Declaration of Independence (1776), the attack on Fort Sumter (1861) and the bombing of Pearl Harbor (1941). They predicted the next crisis would begin around 2005 and reach its climax sometime before 2025.

History is seasonal, and winter is coming, they warn.

Precipitating each fourth turning, the authors wrote, is a breakdown of the existing civic order and the institutions that prop it up.

Mr. Bannon, who has said the Trump administration will see to the deconstruction of the administrative state, believes these institutions are already crumbling, and he seems more than happy to pilot the wrecking ball that demolishes them entirely.

In an interview, Mr. Howe recalls getting an email about 10 years ago from Mr. Bannon, whom he had never heard of at the time, asking if he would participate in a film about the book. We kind of blew him off, Mr. Howe, who is now a demographer at the investment firm Hedgeye Risk Management, said recently.

Mr. Howe, who eventually agreed to be interviewed for the film, said that Mr. Bannon seemed to have no qualms about the destruction part of the cycle. There is something beneficial about the creative destruction that comes with a fourth turning, Mr. Howe said. There has to be a period in which we tear down everything that is no longer functional.

Mr. Bannons suspicion of powerful institutions and the men and women who run them might seem at odds with his personal conservatism. He is a Catholic, a former Navy officer and a traditionalist in many ways. But Peter Schweizer, an author and frequent collaborator with Mr. Bannon on films and books, said Mr. Bannon believes the nations elites arrogantly underestimate their own role in creating crises and then overestimate their ability to solve them.

I do think the reason this theory is so powerful in Steves mind is it kind of goes to the heart of his problem with elites, Mr. Schweizer said. He does have a skeptical view of the limitations of human intellect. This notion that a few smart guys know how to quote unquote run a global economy is just laughable to him.
WASHINGTON  The American-led task force that is battling the Islamic State has sharply reduced airstrikes against the militants in Syria as commanders assess whether Syrian government forces or their Russian allies plan to respond to the United States cruise missile strike on a Syrian airfield this past week, American officials said.

The precautionary move, revealed in statistics made public by the command on Saturday, was taken as Russian officials have threatened to suspend the communication line the American and Russian militaries use to notify each other about air operations in Syria.

So far, the Russian military does not appear to have taken any threatening actions, such as directing its battlefield radar or air defense systems to confront the Americans, or carrying out aggressive actions in the skies, United States officials said.

But officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning said the commanders needed time to determine whether the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, and the Russian military would treat the American cruise missile strike as a one-time operation that they would not respond to militarily. As a precaution, the Pentagon is flying patrols in Syrian skies with F-22 jets, the Air Forces most advanced air-to-air fighter.
Two South Carolina prison inmates serving life sentences for murder were charged with killing four other inmates inside a maximum-security prison, the authorities said Saturday.

The accused inmates, Denver Jordan Simmons, 35, and Jacob Theophilus Philip, 25, were each charged with four counts of murder for the killings at Kirkland Correctional Institution in Columbia, the state capital, said Thom Berry, a spokesman for the state law enforcement division.

The slain inmates were identified as John King, 52, Jason Kelley, 35, William Scruggs, 44, and Jimmy Ham, 56.

The authorities said Mr. Simmons and Mr. Philip lured the four men into a cell on Friday morning and strangled them. An arrest warrant said Mr. Ham had also been stabbed with a broomstick that had been sharpened into a weapon.
Mr. Manafort, who has not been accused of any crimes  and who denies any wrongdoing in his political, business and investment dealings  is nonetheless a central figure in the investigation into the interactions of Trump campaign officials with foreign governments. How he got to know Mr. Trump, and how he rose from overseeing the candidates operations at the Republican convention to the entire campaign, is very likely to be a focus during coming Senate hearings about possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.

Donald Trump and I had some business in the 1980s but we had no relationship until the Trump campaign called me, Mr. Manafort, who did not dispute the substance of the documents, wrote in an email forwarded by a spokesman. A role at the convention was all I was ever interested in; the fact that this role expanded was quite unexpected.

But it was Mr. Manafort who initiated the process for getting a job on the campaign, the documents show. It began when he sent two succinct memos to Mr. Trump through Thomas J. Barrack Jr., a mutual friend.

A couple of weeks earlier, Mr. Barrack met with Mr. Manafort for coffee and snacks at the Montage hotel in Beverly Hills, according to Jason Maloni, Mr. Manaforts spokesman. He added that Mr. Barrack wanted his old friend to help the struggling campaign deal with potential challenges at the convention.

Mr. Maloni said that the memos were intended only to be talking points for Mr. Barracks pitch to the Trump family, but that after reading the packet, the candidate requested a one-on-one meeting with Mr. Manafort.
KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo  President Joseph Kabila of Congo has named a former leading member of the main opposition coalition as his prime minister, but the appointment seems unlikely to resolve the countrys political crisis or satisfy the opposition, analysts say.

Late last year, Mr. Kabila reached a compromise agreement with the opposition under which he would step down and hold free elections by the end of this year. Under term limits, he should have left office in December 2016.

But not long after that deal was reached, one of the prime negotiators and the main opposition leader, Etienne Tshisekedi, died, and a power struggle erupted over who should succeed him atop the opposition coalition, known as Rassemblement.

On Friday, Mr. Kabila appointed Bruno Tshibala as prime minister in a transitional government that is to organize the next presidential election. Mr. Tshibala had been a key player in the opposition coalition but was ousted after he clashed with Mr. Tshisekedis son and successor, Felix.
But, from interviews with about two dozen security officials across the country, it is clear that of the improvements that General Nicholson said were urgently needed in several vital areas  leadership, retraining struggling units and combating corruption  little has been achieved on the ground.

Western officials said that in the first three months of the year, Afghan forces were almost entirely on the defensive. In a clear indication of concern, General Nicholson has asked the White House to send thousands of additional American troops to help the roughly 10,000-strong coalition force that remains on the ground.

In the eastern province of Nangarhar, the district governor of Bati Kot said the pressure of fighting over the winter months was such that training was impossible. In northern Sar-i-Pul Province, the commander of a police battalion said his forces had no time to regroup and prepare for the next fighting season because they had been on standby 24/7 all winter. This year, we did not send anyone for retraining, said Haji Ghalib Mujahid, the district governor of Bati Kot. We are engaged in fighting each hour, during day and night.

Officials say President Ashraf Ghani is increasingly aware that his military commanders have been lying to him on the state of their units and on the adoption of changes charted in Kabul. But there is also skepticism among Western and Afghan officials about just how committed he is to keeping the security overhaul free from patronage politics.

After prodding by coalition leaders, a board appointed by the president was supposed to purge corrupt and incompetent security leaders during the winter and create a system of merit-based promotions. The winter is over, and that work has yet to begin.

Even though the military reform has been far from satisfactory, the support keeps coming.

According to General Kaiser, the United States has since October provided about 900 new Humvees, new weapons sufficient for about 14 battalions, fuel for a fleet of more than 100,000 vehicles, winter clothing for 25 percent of the Afghan Army and the police, and three-quarters of a years supply of ammunition.
They dined by candlelight, discussed thorny issues like trade and North Korea and took walks under palm trees. In public, President Trump and President Xi Jinping of China offered little more than smiles and cliches during a meeting this week in Florida.

But what is really going on behind the scenes, and what does Mr. Xis government really think of Mr. Trump? Chinas state-controlled news media offered some hints. We scoured Chinese news coverage of the meeting for clues about how China might portray itself in the era of Trump.

An Adult in the Room
It has been a typical tactic of the U.S. to send a strong political message by attacking other countries using advanced warplanes and cruise missiles, the article said.

The state-run media offered sanitized accounts of the Mar-a-Lago talks, emphasizing the sweeping green lawns on which the leaders walked and the ornate room where the official discussions took place. Those articles omitted the surprise of the Syria attack, in keeping with the goal of presenting an uplifting account of the two leaders meeting as peers.

Mr. Tillerson told reporters that when Mr. Trump notified Mr. Xi about the Syria strike toward the end of dinner, Mr. Xi expressed understanding, because it was punishment for a chemical attack that had killed children.

The Chinese president very rarely talks to the Chinese or foreign news media, making it almost impossible to determine his opinion about the attack or how he expressed it to Mr. Trump.

But Chinese analysts, whose advice is sometimes sought by the government on foreign policy questions, were scornful of the strike, which they viewed as a powerful country attacking a nation unable to fight back. And they rejected what they viewed as an unspoken American message equating Syria, which has no nuclear arsenal, with North Korea, which has carried out five nuclear arms tests and hopes to mount a nuclear warhead on an intercontinental missile.

I dont deny that the United States is capable of such an attack against North Korea, but you need to see that North Korea is capable of striking back, said Lu Chao, director of the Border Studies Institute at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences. That would create chaos.

If Syria had nuclear weapons, the United States would not dare attack it, said Shen Dingli, a professor of international relations at Fudan University in Shanghai. Chemical weapons and nuclear weapons are totally different, Mr. Shen said. A chemical bomb kills dozens of people, and the atomic bomb at Hiroshima killed hundreds of thousands.
NEW DELHI  Police officers in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh were called to a Christian church in the Maharajganj district on Friday by members of a Hindu youth group who demanded that the officers investigate a group of Americans they believed were engaged in forced religious conversions.

When a team of police officers, led by Anand Kumar Gupta, arrived at St. Andrews Church in the village of Dadhauli, about 230 miles east of Lucknow, they found about 25 activists from the group Hindu Yuva Vahini with a written request for a police inquiry, Mr. Gupta said.

Inside the church, the police found nine foreigners, including American tourists, and a group of villagers involved in a prayer service, but no evidence of efforts to convert Hindus to Christianity. After checking the passports of the foreigners and ensuring that they all had valid tourist visas, the police allowed them to leave.

We did not file any complaint as we found no such activity happening there, Mr. Gupta said.

The incident left the foreigners and their host shaken. We were all shocked, said Dev Raj, a member of a Christian organization in New Delhi who had taken a group of friends, seven Americans and two Ukranians, on a tour of northern India. My friends said: Is this what normally happens in India? That you visit a church and are mobbed by a group of men? 
The deadly crackdown, which the government says was a response to attacks on police posts by Rohingya insurgents, has been roundly criticized by human rights groups, the United Nations, Pope Francis and even 13 of Ms. Aung San Suu Kyis fellow Nobel laureates, who wrote a letter calling it a human tragedy amounting to ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.

Although Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi has no direct control over the military, she has played down the reports of atrocities and stood by the military.

I dont think there is ethnic cleansing going on, she said in a rare interview with the BBC last week. I think ethnic cleansing is too strong an expression to use for what is happening.

She did appoint a commission led by Kofi Annan, the former United Nations secretary general, to examine conditions in Rakhine, but reviewing the militarys conduct was not part of its mandate.

Entire villages were razed, said Matthew Smith, director of the group Fortify Rights. Children were thrown into fires. Suu Kyis denials and failure to provide a shred of moral leadership to deal with the situation is a really damning revelation of her character.

Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi has said her most important goal is negotiating peace with armed ethnic groups, and in August, she convened a peace conference with great fanfare to resolve the conflicts in northern Myanmar. But the meeting produced no cease-fire agreements, and analysts say there is more fighting now in that part of the country than there has been in many years.

The blowback over the bridge-naming in Mon State, seen here as more evidence that the government is out of touch with the concerns of ethnic minorities, should have been easier to avoid.

Mr. Zaw, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyis spokesman, said senior party leaders had been warned that naming the bridge for her father, Gen. Aung San, would turn the population against them. They went ahead anyway, and last weekend it cost them the parliamentary seat in Chaungzon, the township across the bridge from Mawlamyine. It was a mistake to name this bridge, Mr. Zaw said. It is a good lesson for N.L.D. leaders.
MANILA  The Philippine government on Saturday walked back comments by President Rodrigo Duterte ordering the armed forces to occupy uninhabited islands in the disputed South China Sea after the comments caused tensions to spike with China.

For one thing, the Philippines already occupies nine islands and reefs in the disputed chain, the Spratlys, and has troops stationed on a dilapidated World War II-era ship it stranded on one of the contested shoals.

Analysts and some officials were also perplexed by the order, since it came as ties between the two nations were on the mend a year after a United Nations-backed tribunal ruled in favor of the Philippines in the sea dispute.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, who was with Mr. Duterte when he made the statements at a military camp on Thursday, sought to allay fears that the president was abandoning his pro-China stance.
Britains relations with Russia have been strained since the assassination in London of Alexander V. Litvinenko by radiation poisoning in 2006. Britain has sharply opposed the Russian annexation of Crimea and its proxy war in eastern Ukraine.

The British government has regularly called for the removal of the Syrian leader, Bashar al-Assad, whose government, backed by Russia, is accused of using sarin gas last week against civilians, an attack that killed scores and sickened hundreds.

The attack prompted President Trump to order an American missile strike on a Syrian air base, an action that Britain supported.

In his statement, Mr. Johnson said, We deplore Russias continued defense of the Assad regime even after the chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians and called on Moscow to do everything possible to bring about a political settlement in Syria and work with the rest of the international community to ensure that the shocking events of the last week are never repeated.
STOCKHOLM  The Swedish police said on Saturday that they had arrested a 39-year-old Uzbekistan-born man they believed had hijacked a beer truck and carried out a terrorist attack by driving the truck into a crowd of people in Stockholm the day before, killing four and injuring at least 15 others.

Prosecutors and police officials did not identify the suspect, but Anders Thornberg, the head of the Swedish Security Service, said at a news conference that the man had been on the authorities radar some time ago.

Mr. Thornberg said that the agency had looked into information it received on the suspect last year, but that it had not led to anything. He said the suspect was not on any current list of people being monitored. The suspect didnt appear in our recent files, but he earlier has been in our files, Mr. Thornberg said.
MOSCOW  If Russia once maintained at least a semblance of distance from President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, it rushed to his defense after the American missile strike ordered by President Trump on Thursday. The attack cemented Moscow more closely than ever to the notorious Syrian autocrat.

Even as the United States condemned Mr. Assad for gassing his own citizens and held Russia partly responsible, given its 2013 promise to rid Syria of chemical weapons, the Kremlin kept denying that Syria had any such capability.

By championing Mr. Assad and condemning American aggression, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia seemed to be burying the idea that he could somehow cooperate with the Trump administration to end the conflict on his terms.

The solidarity with Damascus is likely to cause problems for Russia in the long run, analysts said, although Mr. Putin probably cannot be persuaded to loosen his embrace any time soon.
ISTANBUL  Six years of war in Syria have ravaged the life of Ebrahim Abbas, 27.

Mr. Abbas, a computer technician, was detained for protesting against the Syrian government, besieged in his hometown and shot in the stomach, and watched his brother die in a shelling attack. He escaped, but his father, a diabetic, died later from a lack of medicine, and his mother was killed by a sniper.

It was from his refuge in Turkey that Mr. Abbas heard about President Trumps decision to launch 59 cruise missiles at a Syrian air base to punish President Bashar al-Assad for a chemical weapons attack. It felt good.

Watching a world power taking revenge for civilians against the Syrian regime gave me a surge of hope and made me a bit optimistic, Mr. Abbas said.

But the attack will not bring back all that he has lost nor help him return home soon. In a measure of how entrenched the war is, there were new airstrikes on Saturday on the town targeted in the chemical-weapons attack, with at least one person killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
On Thursday, the United States launched dozens of missiles against the Syrian government to retaliate for a chemical attack on rebel-held territory.

President Trump said the strike on Syria was in the vital national security interest of the United States.

What do you think? Do you agree with President Trumps decision to order a missile strike? Complete the poll below, then weigh in with your thoughts in the section.

Do you agree with Trumps decision to order a missile strike on Syria?




It is extremely interesting to compare the Trump administration's response to the use of chemical weapons in Syria and its apparent ignorance of similar weapons use by the U.S. and U.K. in Fallujah in March and November of 2004 under the leadership of Mad Dog Mattis, our current Secretary of Defense.





We all know about Mr. Trump's reaction a few days ago to the deployment of chemical weapons in Syria. In the face of denials by the Syrian government, and on evidence that remains undisclosed, the Trump crowd was determined to "punish" the al-Assad government for the heinous crime of using chemical weapons.





In his justification for "punitive measures" on April 6th, President Trump paid particular attention to the photographic evidence of chemical weapons use by the al-Assad government. Specifically, he reminded us of the child victims involved. The pictures Mr. Trump was referring to included these:







Haley Gas Victims

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And this one:







Gas Victims

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And this one:







Baby Victims

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But what about the U.S.-inflicted atrocities behind photos like this one?:







Fallujah 1

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Or this one?:







Fallujah 2

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Or this one?:







Fallujah 3

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According to a study published in 2010,"Beyond Hiroshima -- The Non-Reporting Of Fallujah's Cancer Catastrophe," those are pictures of the deaths and birth defects directly resulting from "American" use of depleted uranium and chemical weapons including white phosphorous in Fallujah in 2004.





And it's not simply a question of birth defects. According to the same study infant mortality, cancer, and leukemia rates in Fallujah have surpassed the rates recorded among survivors of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Following the Fallujah offensives, the rates in question rose by 60%. Dr Mushin Sabbak of the Basra Maternity Hospital explained the rises as resulting from weapons used by the U.S. and U.K. "We have no other explanation than this," he said.





And the problem extends far beyond Fallujah. Increased cancer rates and astronomical rises in birth defects have been recorded in Mosul, Najaf, Basra, Hawijah, Nineveh, and Baghdad. As documented by Mozhgan Savabieasfahani, an environmental toxicologist at the University of Michigan, there is "an epidemic of birth defects in Iraq." She writes,

"Sterility, repeated miscarriages, stillbirths and severe birth defects - some never described in any medical books - are weighing heavily on Iraqi families."





Australian anti-war activist, Donna Mulhearn, who has travelled repeatedly to Fallujah, talking with Iraqi doctors as well as affected families, added to the list: "babies born with parts of their skulls missing, various tumors, missing genitalia, limbs and eyes, severe brain damage, unusual rates of paralyzing spina bifida (marked by the gruesome holes found in the tiny infants' backs), Encephalocele (a neural tube defect marked by swollen sac-like protrusions from the head), and more."





Several highly remarkable aspects of the situation just described immediately present themselves. For one there is the almost total silence of the media about the crimes of the U.S. and U.K. Then there is the lack of outrage (or even awareness?) on the parts of President Trump and U.N. ambassador, Nikki Haley.





And what about those members of Congress so concerned about damage and pain to unborn fetuses? (I mean, what we have here in effect is a massive abortion operation by the United States in an entirely illegal war which has already claimed more than a million mostly civilian casualties.)





However, what is most remarkable about the contrast between responses to Syria and Iraq is the continued surprise of "Americans" by reprisal attacks by Muslims, which continue to be identified by our media as irrational and evil "terrorist attacks." That is, on the one hand, the U.S. feels free to self-righteously rush to judgment and "punish" the suspected perpetrators of the Syrian attacks. But on the other, it downplays, classifies, or otherwise suppresses photographs and scientific reports testifying to its own much worse crimes. Once again, those outrages are carried out against unborn fetuses, living children, women, the elderly and male adults -- the very same population cohorts that so concern our "leaders" when they are attacked by designated enemies.





The logic is inescapable. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. If the U.S. is outraged by the killing of innocents and feels the need to "punish" the suspected perpetrators, someone else has the right to treat the United States in the same way. (We might not know of the crimes of our government and military, but the whole Arab world knows!)





So we shouldn't be surprised by any "terrorist" attacks that mimic on a comparatively small scale the U.S. response to the killing of the "beautiful little babies" that so concern Mr. Trump.




This piece was reprinted by OpEd News with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.





There are too many red flags about the chemical-weapons attack in northern Syria to believe the official version of events that immediately assigned guilt to the Assad government.

Each of the red flags, on the other hand, strongly suggests that the incident was (yet another) false-flag operation perpetrated by the terrorists with a view to destroying the peace process and prolonging the war.

A key consideration would be 'cui bono'?

Does the Assad government benefit from a chemical-weapons attack on innocent people when he is winning the war and a just peace is on the horizon? No. The Assad government in no way benefits.

Do imperial-terrorist proxies benefit from demonizing Assad and hastily accusing him of "killing his own people"? Yes they do.

Was there foreknowledge of the event? Apparently so.

Reporter Feras Karam announced before the event, that it was going to occur.

And what about the chemical agent itself? The hasty conclusion that the gas was sarin is unreasonable, not only because the conclusion was reached almost immediately, but also because videos of the alleged victims contradict symptoms that would normally be associated with sarin-gas exposure.

In an interview conducted on April 5, 2017, Damian Walker, a former army-bomb disposal officer, made these observations:

When I initially read that sarin nerve agent had been used in an attack on Idlib, I was surprised that the chemical-warfare agent had been identified so quickly. On watching the video of the incident, I quickly concluded that it was unlikely a sarin attack. If it was the first responders would also have been killed, and the victims' symptoms appeared to be the result of a "choking agent", and not a military-grade agent.

At the very least, the totality of these red flags demands an independent investigation, which would likely take weeks, rather than hours. Failing this, the reasonable conclusion would be that the incident was a false-flag event.

In matters of war and peace, thorough investigations should be a matter of importance and priority, but accusations are already infesting mainstream media narratives, so the more likely outcome is that the incident will be used to falsely blame the Assad government, with a view to prolonging the war, and destroying Syria and her people.

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It turns out that Bernie Sanders Elizabeth Warren, Michael Moore and Democratic leaders are wrong. They are well intentioned, trying to see the best in people, but they are wrong. It turns out that economic challenges were not the main reason Whites got behind Trump. It was bigotry towards blacks and Muslims. That's what the Intercept reports in its article, Top Democrats Are Wrong: Trump Supporters Were More Motivated by Racism Than Economic Issues.

The article reports that even in hard hit rust belt states, Whites were more likely to support Trump, ie., economic hardship was not the driving factor. Mehdi Hasan, author of the Intercept article, after detailing how Sanders, Warren, Moore and numerous Democratic leaders have said that bigotry was NOT the reason Hillary lost, argues,

"Both Sanders and Warren seem much keener to lay the blame at the door of the dysfunctional Democratic Party and an ailing economy than at the feet of racist Republican voters. Their deflection isn't surprising. Nor is their coddling of those who happily embraced an openly xenophobic candidate. Look, I get it. It's difficult to accept that millions of your fellow citizens harbor what political scientists have identified as "racial resentment." The reluctance to acknowledge that bigotry, and tolerance of bigotry, is still so widespread in society is understandable. From an electoral perspective too, why would senior members of the Democratic leadership want to alienate millions of voters by dismissing them as racist bigots?"

Then, Hasan details how multiple pollsters and 2016 presidential race analysts have concluded that bigotry was a major factor. He cites Philip Klinkner, "a political scientist at Hamilton College and an expert on race relations," who studied data from American National Election Studies (ANES.)

Hasan quotes Klinkner,

"whether it's good politics to say so or not, the evidence from the 2016 election is very clear that attitudes about blacks, immigrants, and Muslims were a key component of Trump's appeal." For example, he says, "in 2016 Trump did worse than Mitt Romney among voters with low and moderate levels of racial resentment, but much better among those with high levels of resentment."

Even young Whites went more for Trump than Clinton. Hasan adds, in his Intercept article,

"The new ANES data only confirms what a plethora of studies have told us since the start of the presidential campaign: the race was about race. Klinkner himself grabbed headlines last summer when he revealed that the best way to identify a Trump supporter in the U.S. was to ask "just one simple question: is Barack Obama a Muslim?" Because, he said, "if they are white and the answer is yes, 89 percent of the time that person will have a higher opinion of Trump than Clinton." This is economic anxiety? Really?"

But wait, there's more. Hasan observes,

"Other surveys and polls of Trump voters found "a strong relationship between anti-black attitudes and support for Trump"; Trump supporters being "more likely to describe African Americans as 'criminal,' 'unintelligent,' 'lazy' and 'violent'"; more likely to believe "people of color are taking white jobs"; and a "majority" of them rating blacks "as less evolved than whites." Sorry, but how can any of these prejudices be blamed on free trade or low wages? For Sanders, Warren and others on the left, the economy is what matters most and class is everything. Yet the empirical evidence just isn't there to support them."

It's a lot easier to pursue a strategy based on economic hardship. But the fact is, a lot of well to do people backed Trump and more people struggling with the economy supported Hillary. It reminds me of the story of the guy who lost a key. He was looking for it under a street lamp. When asked where he last had it, he pointed to a dark area down the street. "So, why are you looking for it here," he was asked. "Because the light is better here."

I'm not sure what the best strategy is when you are dealing with bigotry.

One way to start is to identify populist candidates of unimpeachable integrity, who people can trust.

Another approach might be to face the fact that bigotry was a factor and to mould campaigns to evoke voters' better selves, I'm not sure characterizing Trump supporters as deplorables or bigots is a winning strategy. It may be when it comes to candidates. I'm not sure about that either. But at the least, it is essential that any candidate running against conservatives attempting to tap Trump's magic bigotry elixir understand that going after economic injustice is not going to work with the people who voted for Trump.

Another thought. There were many people who voted more AGAINST Hillary-- who they believed to be corrupt, dishonest, untrustworthy and more likely to take us to war-- than they voted FOR Trump. Those are the people who the Democrats and the Greens and other third party groups should be seeking to sway, not the Trump Bigots. To do that the Democrats, Greens and other third party groups must truly embrace the kind of truly populist economic policies and anti corporatist stands that Bernie Sanders and Jill Stein supported-- in addition to the usual prochoice and social justice stands the Democrats and Greens already take.


The Red Line

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Washington's military attack on Syria is unambigiously a war crime. It occurred without any UN authorization or even the fake cover of a "coalition of the willing." Washington's attack on Syria occurred in advance of an investigation of the alleged event that Washington is trying to use as its justification. Indeed, Washington's story of Syrian use of chemical weapons is totally implausible. All chemical weapons were removed from Syria by Russia and turned over to the US and its Euroean allies. Syria has no such weapons and has no reason to use them and every reason not to. Moreover, it is none of Washington's business whatsoever what weapons Syria uses against terrorist forces seeking to overthrow the Syrian government. Governments in Europe, Canada, Australia, and Japan have not condemned this war crime. Indeed, the UK Foreign Minister has declared the UK's support. Thus does the West reveal once again its hypocrisy. As Russia has made clear, the alleged chemical weapons attack has every hallmark of a Washington orchestrated event in order to launch a US military attack on Syria. As the Russian Defense Ministry explained, the US air attack had to have been planned in advance of the alleged chemical weapon event. The US air strike on Syria requires advanced planning, but followed immediately the event used as the excuse: http://eng.mil.ru/en/news_page/country/more.htm?id=12117678%40egNews In other words, it was an orchestrated event. Gilbert Doctorow says that the idiot Americans drowning in their own hubris have now crossed a Russian red line with consquences to follow. http://russia-insider.com/en/us-missile-strikes-syria-have-crossed-russian-red-lines-and-risk-serious-escalation/ri19479 Insane Washington is driving the world to thermo-nuclear war. And where are the protests?
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On March 30, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that the future leader of Syria should be determined by the people of Syria.

This major policy statement by the US took regime change off the table, and was obviously great news for Bashar al-Assad. Combined with Syrian military gains on the ground, Assad was in the strongest position he'd been in since the war in Syria began.

So, why 5 days later would he gas his own people?

But even without a thorough investigation, and less than 72 hours after the alleged chemical attack took place, American political leaders and establishment media claimed that Assad carried out the attack on April 4. Hours later, the US launched 59 tomahawk cruise missiles on a Syrian airfield based on these unproven allegations, killing 9 civilians including 4 children in Idlib province.

Common sense, historical facts and circumstantial evidence suggest that it's highly unlikely that Assad gassed his own people earlier this week. In fact, it's much more likely that the chemical weapons were from al-Qaeda, ISIS and/or other anti-Assad factions. Indeed, a case can be made that the attack was coordinated by the White Helmets, with US neoconservatives providing the script.

In 2013, US-supported, anti-Assad forces were losing ground in the war in Syria. Assad claimed that the rebels were using chemical weapons in Aleppo in a last-ditch effort to hold territory. Assad asked the UN to investigate his claims, and they agreed, and began an investigation in Syria. Within days of the UN inspectors' arrival, another chemical weapon attack occurred in Syria. Western media was quick to blame Assad, even though it defied logic that Assad would use chemical weapons when chemical weapons inspectors were inside Syria at his invitation.

As conservative columnist Pat Buchanan said, "I would not understand or comprehend that Bashar al-Assad, no matter how bad a man he may be, would be so stupid as to order a chemical weapons attack on civilians in his own country when the immediate consequence...might be that he would be at war with the United States. So this reeks of a false flag operation."

Former member of congress Ron Paul pointed out , "the group that is most likely to benefit from a chemical attack is Al-Qaeda. They ignite some gas, some people die and blame it on Assad."

And Russian President Vladimir Putin said , "There is every reason to believe sarin gas was used, not by the Syrian army, but by opposition forces to provoke intervention by their powerful foreign patrons, who would be siding with the fundamentalists."

Nonetheless, the Obama administration and other western leaders blamed Assad, and talk of US military action in Syria was contemplated.

Fortunately, journalists like Seymour Hersh helped put a halt to war talk, by revealing that it was indeed the US-supported rebels who used chemical weapons - weapons they received from Turkey, a US ally.

The sarin gas attack that just occurred in Syria is eerily similar to the attack that occurred in 2013: US-backed anti-Assad rebels are losing ground, a sarin gas attack occurs and US politicians quickly blame Assad without an investigation. One difference between today and 2013 is that the US military actually bombed a Syrian military target in "retaliation." Another difference is that this time, Russian military is in Syria at the invitation of the Syrian government, so the risk of military confrontation with Russia is real.

The US announcement on March 30 that it would not seek regime change in Syria was a massive blow to neoconservatives, liberal interventionists, ISIS, al-Qaeda and all other anti-Assad factions who have been trying to oust Assad for years. In 2016 alone, the CIA reportedly spent $1 billion supplying and training the rebel forces attempting to overthrow the Syrian government.

The Assad opposition is willing to revert to any means necessary, as history showed in 2013, so it's conceivable that this week's chemical attack was perpetrated by one of those factions who saw the window of opportunity to oust Assad closing.

And the US has a long history of making false claims to go to war, such as the Gulf of Tonkin incident, and the Iraq WMD claims -- both of which led to major wars.

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The annual Spirit of Speyside festival, this year taking place from April 27 to May 1, is the major happening in Scotch whisky. Centered on the Highlands region found between Aberdeen and Inverness that hosts the bulk of the industry, Spirit of Speyside boasted over 500 events at the 2016 festival.

Expanding on an ambitious events schedule, one that averages over a hundred events per day, Spirit of Speyside is reaching outside of Scotch whisky for the first time to include a Japanese whisky this year. Yumi Yashikawa, the global ambassador for the Chichibu Distillery, will hold a seminar at The Highlander Inn as part of the official festival docket. Craigellachies The Highlander Inn, in turn, hosts one of the largest collections of Japanese whisky outside of Asia.

That a Japanese whisky distillery now has a toehold in Scotlands biggest whisky festival underlines just how firmly established in the mainstream Japanese whisky has become. When the Yamazaki Single Malt Sherry Cask 2013 was named World Whisky of the Year by whisky writer Jim Murray, it propelled the entire category out of the hands of small group connoisseurs and into a much larger marketplace. Initially, that made Japanese whisky a very hard to obtain commodity, as interest far outstripped supply. Nowadays, Japans Big Two whisky-makers of Nikka and Suntory have adjusted, small producers like Chichibu have stepped up to the table, and importers are doing a better job keeping up with demand.

Here are several Japanese whiskies, all readily available in the United States for $100 or less.

The Yamazaki Distillery is the oldest in Japan, founded in 1923, and their 12-Year-Old single malt is not just the flagship for the distillery; In some ways, it was a pioneer for Japanese whisky as a whole. Introduced in 1984, it was the first Japanese single malt that received a serious effort to market it outside of the home market. Its full-bodied, yet also elegant, and a worthy addition to the shelf of any serious whisky enthusiast.

Japanese whisky follows the Scottish model, with malt whisky, blends of malt whiskies and blends of malt and grain whisky. Grain whisky is usually made from corn, distilled in a column (Coffey) still rather than a pot still, and often has a lighter character than pot-distilled malt whisky. As a result, it is most often found in blends, but what Nikka has done here is showcase their high-quality grain whisky and released it as a standalone product. The flavor is indeed soft and light, but yummy with vanilla and tropical fruitiness.

Ichiros Blended Whisky (made from malt and grain whiskies) is the entry point for most who become acquainted with the work of the Chichibu Distillery, who are participating in Spirit of Speyside this year. The distillery is a small one (they would likely be called a craft outfit in the U.S.) and has only nine full-time employees. This widely appreciated, sweet and spicy whisky, partly sourced from outside Chichibu, is named for Ichiro Akuto, modern Japans most famous blender and distiller.

If you want something both interesting and not too expensive, Mars Iwai Whisky is the Japanese way to go. Mars Shinsu is another one of Japans small distilleries. This version should not be confused with other Mars whiskies bearing the name Iwai; its just Iwai and not Iwai Tradition or Iwai Wine Cask. Plain old Iwai is described as a Bourbon-inspired blend, made using 1/4s malt whisky and 3/4s corn-based grain whisky, albeit grain whisky made in a pot still. It came out rather Bourbonized too, with a dollop of vanilla atop its cake and melon sweetness.

Named for Masataka Taketsuru, the father of Japanese whisky, this is a blend of malts from their two distilleries: Yoichi and Miyagikyo. Although it bears no age statement, the whisky stock used averages at about 10 years old, and a hefty proportion of Sherry cask-aged whisky was included to endow it with a rich, spicy, dried fruits aspect. If Nikka Coffey Grain spotlights what the company can do with grain whisky, this is their showcase for the sum of their malt whisky.

And if you want a taste of the whisky that started it all, several retailers around the U.S. have the 2016 release of Yamazaki Sherry Cask in stock for about $2,700 for a bottle, if not more.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull confirmed at a press conference today that the Australian-run detention centre on Manus Island will be shut by the end of the year.

The PNG Supreme Court found last year that the detention centre was illegal, as it contravened the countrys constitution.

During the press conference, which was held at Port Moresby today with Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter ONeill, Turnbull said:

I want to thank you prime minister [ONeill] for your governments continued cooperation in the vitally important fight against people smuggling. We will continue to work together to close the regional processing centre by the end of the year.

Some of the 861 men currently in detention on Manus Island will most likely be resettled in the United States, but neither Turnbull nor ONeill would say what will happen to the rest of them.

Sky News reports that, according to the immigration department, Australia is currently not negotiating with other countries to take the asylum seekers.

On the one hand, closing the notoriously ghastly centre is a huge win for refugees and human rights activists; on the other, its likely that the men who arent taken to America will be thrust into limbo in some other part of the world.

Heres hoping that thats not the case.

Source: Sky News.

Photo: Getty.
In Alaska there's a common saying that goes, "The odds are good that the goods will be odd'. True to form, snow conditions for fat bike freeriding at the Chugach Fat Bike Bash in Valdez, Alaska would be very odd for its second year, but at least the times were quite good!Our trip started on a Monday evening with Andrew Taylor (Norco/Addidas) picking up the rental van and then myself, Russ Risdon and Tricia Davis at the airport in Anchorage. After a hearty dinner we headed out into the dark for a white-knuckle six-hour drive over desolate and often times icy mountainous roads to Valdez. Also with us for the trip, but arriving a day earlier were the Canadian contingent of photographer, Robb Thompson, videographer Harrison Mendel and Rocky Mountain Bikes freerider, Noah Brousseau. Levitation 49, the organization chartered to promote Valdez outdoor tourism, and many kind awesome locals would be our hosts for the next week while we created content and had fun at the 2nd annual Chugach Fat Bike Bash.The first morning in Valdez started with building up bikes, assembling gear and making a plan for the day with Lee Hart who is the Executive Director of Levitation 49. The main event for the Fat Bike Bash was to be a timed run down the Loveland snowfield up near Thompson Pass. With the weather being a big uncertainty, getting up there to get footage was key in case the weather shut us down for when the event was scheduled in the coming days.Unfortunately, by the time we assembled at the first parking lot, the weather was already working against us with gale force winds in addition to below 0 (F) temperatures. Instead of taking on what seemed to be some considerable risks at the very start, we opted for another location closer to the pass which would provide a little more protection from the wind. Needless to say, by the end of the day, our eyes were wide open with the challenge of what we were there to pull off.While others decided which zone to ride, Andrew Taylor got after it and was the first to drop in to start our week long adventure. Thankfully, we had an excellent crew of locals to shuttle us around on their snow machines, and they also provided us with very valuable knowledge of the local terrain.On our second day, the winds had picked up even more and were reported to be gusting at 85mph, which easily ruled out returning to Thompson Pass. Ever so thankful for the locals and their snow machines, we headed across the bay to go ride and shoot up near Solomon Lake. The winds were much more manageable, and the day actually turned out to be quite fun.@RkyMtnSrfr @robb
Guam Delegate Madeleine Bordallo has asked the Government Accountability Office to review all documentation regarding the use of Agent Orange and other dioxin-based herbicides on Guam.

The Department of Defense has said Agent Orange was never present or transited through Guam, but veterans who were stationed on Guam during the Vietnam War, like Leroy Foster, have said they were forced to spray Agent Orange in military facilities and defense properties on Guam.

Foster, 68, now resides in Florida and said he now suffers from 33 diseases, including five different cancers as a result of spraying the herbicide that was widely used by the United States to kill vegetation during the Vietnam War.

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In a letter to the GAO sent Friday, Bordallo asked that the agency review all documentation related to the handling and transport of Agent Orange to hold DoD accountable and address this situation based off the findings.

We need updated information in order to make the right recommendations, Bordallo stated in a press release.

The GAO is an independent watchdog agency that serves as a legislative check on the executive branch. Because of its access to sensitive records not made available to private organizations, the GAO is uniquely capable of reviewing DoDs assertion, Bordallo noted.
For the New World Order, a world government is just the beginning. Once in place they can engage their plan to exterminate 80% of the world's population, while enabling the "elites" to live forever with the aid of advanced technology. For the first time, crusading filmmaker ALEX JONES reveals their secret plan for humanity's extermination: Operation ENDGAME.

Jones chronicles the history of the global elite's bloody rise to power and reveals how they have funded dictators and financed the bloodiest warscreating order out of chaos to pave the way for the first true world empire.

Watch as Jones and his team track the elusive Bilderberg Group to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III.





to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. Learn about the formation of the North America transportation control grid, which will end U.S. sovereignty forever.





Discover how the practitioners of the pseudo-science eugenics have taken control of governments worldwide as a means to carry out depopulation.





View the progress of the coming collapse of the United States and the formation of the North American Union.

Never before has a documentary assembled all the pieces of the globalists' dark agenda. Endgame's compelling look at past atrocities committed by those attempting to steer the future delivers information that the controlling media has meticulously censored for over 60 years. It fully reveals the elite's program to dominate the earth and carry out the wicked plan in all of human history.

Endgame is not conspiracy theory, it is documented fact in the elite's own words.




SiouxFallsTeam

Contact

Kristin Jaeger, Marketing Director

***@cornerstonebanks.net Kristin Jaeger, Marketing Director

End

-- "We grow as we find the right people to grow with us." That is how Cornerstone Bank Chairman Gary Petersen summed up Cornerstone Bank's expansion into Sioux Falls and Aberdeen South Dakota.Cornerstone Bank in Sioux Falls is a full service bank lead by Sioux Falls Market President Evan Ingebrigtson. He brings 37 years of experience in banking and bank leadership. Working with Evan are VP-Business Banker Paul Lems, who brings over 16 years of banking experience; Business Banking Associate Crissy Scharffenberg, who brings over 15 years of banking experience; and Administrative Assistant Kathy Reed, who brings over 50 years of banking experience. They join Dick Groeger, who heads up Cornerstone's robust home mortgage team with some of the most experienced mortgage lenders in the market.The entire Sioux Falls team embodies Cornerstone's vision of being who people turn to when they're making important decisions about their money. They offer a wealth of knowledge and experience to not only help businesses and individuals get ahead, but they take the time to figure out where customers want to go.Cornerstone Bank's Sioux Falls location is at 4930 South Western Avenue.Meanwhile in Aberdeen, the Cornerstone Mortgage office is lead by Home Mortgage Consultant MeChelle Lang with more than 22 years of experience in the home lending field. Lang is joined by Home Mortgage Assistant Donna Alberts, who brings over 18 years of experience in the financial services industry.From pre-qualification to closing the loan, Lang and Alberts work alongside homebuyers to help them achieve their home ownership dreams. In addition to loan programs for buying a home, there are also programs for building, remodeling, or refinancing. Cornerstone Mortgage in Aberdeen is located at 205 6Ave SE, Suite 102 in the Lamont Office Building.Growth is no stranger to Cornerstone whose origin goes back to 1952 with Lakeside Bank Holding Company. In December, 2014 Cornerstone Bank Holding Company and Lakeside Bank Holding Company merged, bringing together the assets and expertise of two storied North Dakota community-based financial institutions.Cornerstone Holding Company, based in North Dakota, is the parent company of Cornerstone Bank. One of North Dakota's ten largest financial institutions, Cornerstone Holding Company is an $820 million financial institution. Cornerstone Bank has North Dakota locations in Bismarck, Dickinson, Fargo, Makoti, New Town, Parshall, Plaza, Watford City and a South Dakota location in Sioux Falls. There are Cornerstone Mortgage offices Grand Forks and Minot, North Dakota along with Aberdeen, South Dakota. Cornerstone Bank provides an expansive product offering while staying true to their mission of providing access to financial experts who give straight answers and the best possible financial options. Cornerstone's offerings include business and personal loans, deposits and cash management services, online and mobile banking along with mortgage services.
End

-- Avatar Management Services, Inc. is pleased to announce that Ashley Millington has joined our staff as Business Development Manager. Founder and CEO Mark G. Gardner mused, "Since 1992, Avatar has provided outcome-based safety training programs to improve the skills of more than one million professional truck and bus drivers, yet as a business we've remained a well-kept secret. That's about to change."Supporting Avatar's client-intimate business model, Ashley will drive growth and close deals with major transportation companies, helping Avatar achieve its mission to make the world a safer place.Millington previously held key sales roles with Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Preferred Warranties Inc. and Paytime Integrated Payroll Solutions. Vice President of Sales and Marketing Derek Lann added, "Ashley brings with her a wealth of sales knowledge and experience and will be a welcomed addition to the Avatar team". She graduated from Liberty University with a Bachelor of Science in Government/Criminal Justice. Gardner added, "Through Ashley's efforts, we'll reach more professional drivers with our custom-designs, making the highways safer for everyone."When asked why she joined Avatar Millington replied, "This is such an amazing company with a clear vision for the future and terrific corporate values. Avatar is making a difference, reducing accidents, injuries and suffering and saving lives. I'm excited to begin my new role where I can expand Avatar's footprint to help more people. This is a game-changer for my career and I'm so proud to play a key role in a company that values innovation while also celebrating success. I look forward to forging lasting relationships with new clients by offering safety solutions that will increase their productivity, decrease accidents & injuries and ultimately save lives." Ashley continued, "Best of all, I'm backed by the best team in the business. The future is bright!"About AvatarAvatar creates custom-branded safety training programs for the transportation industry. During the past 25 years, Avatar's designs have been used by hundreds of leading firms to improve the job performance of for more than one million employees. In fact, Avatar's steady growth led to the formation of three successful subsidiaries:TAPTCO, Inc., AvatarFleet, LLC and The School Bus Safety Company, each providing safety education and training to their respective niche markets.
Patrick McFadden speaks to business students at Virginia State University

Patrick McFadden VSU Virginia State University

Contact

Indispensable Marketing

***@gmail.com Indispensable Marketing

End

-- Business owner and small business marketing expert Patrick McFadden will guest teach at Virginia State University when he visits the VSU campus on April 27. McFadden will speak to business students, and invited guests.Named a marketing thought leader by American Express OPEN, McFadden draws on his practical, in the trenches, real world years of experience to bring audiences of all kinds to the point where they can see possibilities. He writes and speaks about strategic marketing, the way context changes results, differentiation, being a practitioner, and most of all, giving more than you take. He has written over 500 articles that have been published on sites such as Yahoo! Small Business, Business2Community, Medium, LinkedIn Pulse, Greater Richmond Small Business Development Center, Infusionsoft, First Carolina Corporate Credit Union and more.McFadden is President of Indispensable Marketing. He leads the firm from one audacious idea that marketing for a small business can be effective, actionable and strategic when practiced in a process fashion."Virginia State University is an innovative institution,"says Jonathan M. Young, VSU Director of Corporate Relations. "As a change agent, McFadden will no doubt highlight the importance of real world skills for the next generation of business leaders."AboutVirginia State University, founded in 1882, is one of Virginia's two land-grant institutions, and is located 20 minutes south of Richmond in the village of Ettrick. At VSU, we are proudly committed to: providing a transformative experience for our students, strategically investing in our academic programs, embracing our position as a top Land Grant University, embracing our role as Virginia's Opportunity University, and partnering together as a University to tell our story.Our aim is to refine "soft skills", augment career awareness, and develop "real world" skills not often learned in a traditional classroom!###Patrick is currently involved in a number of marketing projects with local business owners and organizations. His newsletter is known as one of the most educational and informative for small to midsize businesses in the world. Find more information about Patrick at http://indispensablemarketing.com/
Having been asked by the UK government on 3 March to investigate the deal regarding public interest concerns, the European Commission has approved unconditionally the proposed acquisition of Sky by 21st Century Fox.

Investigating the takeover under the EU Merger Regulation, it said that given the merging companies were mainly active at different levels of the market, its assessment focused on whether, as a result of the proposed transaction, Fox would be able to prevent or significantly limit access by Sky's competitors to its films and other TV content, as well as to its TV channels; Sky would have the incentive to cease purchasing content from Fox's competitors; and Sky could prevent competing channels from accessing its platform.On these grounds, the EC concluded the transaction would raise no competition concerns in Europe. It found that the proposed transaction would lead to only a limited increase in Sky's existing share of the markets for the acquisition of TV content as well as in the market for the wholesale supply of TV channels in the relevant Member States.Under EU Law, the EC has exclusive jurisdiction to assess the impact of the proposed transaction on competition in the various markets affected within the European Economic Area. However, Article 21 of the EU Merger Regulation recognises that Member States may take appropriate measures, including prohibiting proposed transactions, to protect other legitimate interests, such as media plurality. The Commission pointedly noted that its findings concern solely the competition aspects of the proposed transaction. Today's clearance decision is without prejudice to the UK's ongoing media plurality review of the proposed transaction.All eyes are now on UK broadcast regulator Ofcom, which was asked on 17 March by UK Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Karen Bradley to consider the public interest aspects of 21st Century Foxs proposed takeover of Sky . Ofcom is due to report on whether the proposed transaction is, or may be, against the public interest by 16 May 2017.
Atresmedia has joined Hispasat and Spanish public broadcaster RTVE in the Ultra HD fiesta taking place in Spain and Latin American countries.

The satellite operator has announced the call for entries for the third edition of its Hispasat 4K International Short Film Festival. As in the former edition, the festival is sponsored by the production company Cine365 Film, leading companies in the film production sector such as Dolby Laboratories, SGO, Fujifilm and the sound studio AdHoc Studios, as well as RTVEAtresmedia, through its series-themed channel Atreseries, airing in Spain and the Americas, has joined the initiative this year by sponsoring one of the contest awards. The Atresmedia prize for the Best Short Film for TV includes channel broadcast and promotion of the winning film, as well as an interview with its filmmaker.Following the response by filmmakers and the industry to the festivals 2015 and 2016 editions , Hispasat and Cine365 have also improved the Best Director award, giving the winner the paid opportunity to direct a feature film in 2018.Hispasat has set the deadline for the submission of projects as 14 June, while the awards ceremony will be held on 19 October at the Circulo de Bellas Artes in Madrid.The festival is open to films produced in any country, in any genre, with a maximum duration of 25 minutes and shot and post-produced in 4K format. This year, the jury will positively assess those short films whose topic is related in some way to any of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.The rules for the contest are available at the official site and all entry forms should be submitted through the Movibeta platform
In advance of the UK governments review of its remit, funding and governance, Welsh-language channel S4C has published its vision for the future of the service it provides over the forthcoming decade.

In its S4C: Pushing the Boundaries report, the channel makes the fundamental case that its remit should change to allow it to become a modern public service media content provider in the Welsh language. The vision document explains how S4C must become a media provider on all popular platforms  broadcast, smart TVs, social media, short-form video sites and online long-form  and that it must do this at the same time as continuing to invest in its presence on main broadcast TV platforms.The document also outlines ambitions to invest more in major production projects, attracting new audiences to the TV channel as well as commissioning associated online content.S4C sees four key areas of its vision for future service provision: ubiquitous content delivery, creating the right content, wider public service value and commercial strategy to help drive the vision. By focusing on these areas, S4C believes that it can ensure audience segments can access content when, where and how they want. This will have the result of making the channel more relevant, competitive and diverse, bringing about economic, linguistic and educational benefits from the work.Commenting on the aims for the channel as it published S4C: Pushing the Boundaries , S4C chairman Huw Jones said: We want to evolve from being a traditional broadcaster into a provider of modern public service media content in the connected world of the 21st century.S4C chief executive Ian Jones added: The independent review of S4C will be an opportunity to secure S4Cs future for decades to come so that the channel can meet the needs and expectations of today and tomorrows audience, claim a place for the Welsh language in the digital world and bring about an enhanced economic impact on the Welsh and British economies.At the end of March, S4C received a 10 million loan from the UK government for the relocation of its headquarters to Carmarthen , creating more than 800 jobs in the local area. Technical facilities will be shared with the BBC in Cardiff, reducing S4Cs overhead costs and increasing its creative pool of talent.
Swedish authorities have said that a 39-year-old man from Uzbekistan has been arrested in connection with a deadly truck attack that killed four people in central Stockholm a day earlier and that they are examining a device found in the vehicle.

Chief Prosecutor Hans Ihrman said on April 8 that the suspect was detained in a northern Stockholm suburb on April 7 after police earlier circulated a picture of a man wearing a gray hoodie in connection with the investigation into the attack on Drottninggatan using a hijacked beer truck in what Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven called an "act of terror."

"We have found something in the truck, in the driver's seat, a technical device that should not be there. I cannot say at this stage that this is a bomb or some sort of flammable material," Swedish police chief Dan Eliasson told a news conference.

"Whether it is a classic bomb or a fire device or something else is subject to technical analysis," he added.

Reuters reported that a court-appointed lawyer, Johan Eriksson, met with the suspect on April 8. He declined to give further details about his client.



Anders Thornberg, head of the Swedish Security Service, said the man, whose name has not been released, had shown up last year in intelligence reports, "but we did not see any links to extremist circles."



The attack has shocked the Nordic nation of 10 million, which has little violent crime and been largely immune from any major terror incidents even as it has kept an open door for immigrants.



Generous welfare benefits helped attract more than 160,000 asylum applicants, many from Syria, in 2015, with about 55 percent of claims accepted, according to Sweden's Migration Agency. However, that began to change in 2016.



Amid growing concern over the cost of accommodating so many newcomers and public opinion showing increased hostility toward immigration, tougher rules were implemented.

Those new rules, along with lengthy processing times and the offer of payouts to migrants who voluntarily returned to their country of origin, cut the number of applications by about half in 2016.



Those of us who want to help are many more than those who wish to harm us," King Carl Gustaf, who cut short a trip to Brazil to return home after the attack, said in a televised speech from his home at Stockholm's palace. "Sweden is, has long been, and will continue to be a safe and peaceful country."



Sweden will hold a minute of silence at noon on April 10 to mourn the victims of the attack.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which mirrors similar incidents, claimed by Islamic State, in Nice, Berlin, and London over the past year where vehicles were used as weapons.

Police said border security had been tightened and traffic on the Oresund Bridge, which links Denmark and Sweden, had been limited.

Citing police sources, Swedish broadcaster SVT reported that police had detained a second man but police declined to comment on whether they arrested any additional suspects in the attack.

"There can be other people who are associated with him, but we do not know that at the current time," Stockholm police spokesman Lars Bystrom said.

Ihrman said the suspect should face a pretrial-custody hearing before midday on April 11 or be released.

The stolen truck traveled for more than 500 meters along a main pedestrian street before it smashed into a crowd outside the upscale Ahlens department store at around 3 p.m.

Stockholm's Karolinska hospital said on April 8 that six of the 15 people wounded in the attack had been released while eight adults and one child were still in hospital.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa, and BBC
The U.S. ambassador to Serbia said he sees the Balkan nation strengthening its ties to the European Union, downplaying the notion that Belgrade is turning closer to Russia at the expense of its relations with the West.



In an interview with RFE/RLs Balkan Service, Ambassador Kyle Scott also said the mounting antigovernment street protests in Serbia are a sign of a vibrant democracy and a very healthy phenomenon."



Scott, a career Foreign Service official who speaks Serbian and Russian, became the U.S. ambassador to Serbia on February 5, 2016.



Among many other postings, he served as political officer at U.S. Embassy in Moscow from 1996 until 1998.



Concerns about the future direction of Serbian foreign policy surfaced after Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic claimed a convincing victory on April 2 to become Serbia's new president.



Vucic has vowed to continue Serbias path to EU membership, but he has also expressed desires for better ties with the countrys long-time ally, Russia.



The presidential role is largely ceremonial, but he is expected to retain de facto power through control of his ruling Serbian Progressive Party.

Protests

Since the election, thousands of mostly young people have protested each night in Belgrade and other Serbian towns against Vucic, many carrying banners reading "Down with dictatorship" and "Freedom of media.



Scott said he sees no deviation in Belgrade's course toward European integration.



Serbia getting closer to Russia? No, quite the opposite. I think Serbia is seeking to and is moving closer to the European Union, he said in the interview.



He said Serbia has stated the desire to be militarily neutral and we respect that." But he added that the country "wishes to integrate in the European Union, and we very much support that process as well.



Scott added that EU membership would benefit the Serbian people and the entire Balkan region.



On the antigovernment demonstrations, Scott said it is a fascinating and interesting phenomenon to watch.



Ive been also very pleased to see the reaction of the government, which is to say, Of course these people have the right to protest; they should be heard; they should be able to present their views, just as others can present their views. So I think its a very healthy phenomenon," he said.



"The right of citizens to take their grievances in public addresses, to speak freely, to the freedom of assembly are all key elements of a vibrant democracy," he added.
MOSCOW -- In confirming the deployment of its S-300 and state-of-the art S-400 missile-defense systems in Syria, the Kremlin boasted six months ago that it had secured the country's air bases from American cruise missiles.

But after a barrage of U.S. Tomahawk cruise missiles hit the Syrian government air base at Shayrat on April 7, where some Russian military personnel were stationed, consternated Russians took to social networks asking: "Where the hell were the vaunted S-400s?"



Am I the only one who doesnt understand why our S-400s. didnt shoot down the American rockets? asked one Twitter user.





The Kremlin first deployed the "Triumph" S-400 system in Syria in 2015 after Turkey in November that year shot down a Russian warplane Ankara said had strayed into Turkish airspace. The system uses a package of four different types of missiles to account for various incoming weapons and aircraft: one has a long range of 400 kilometers, and another a range of only 40 kilometers, providing overlapping blanket coverage. The system is capable of downing aircraft, drones, and cruise missiles including Tomahawks, the RIA state news agency reported at the time.



Russian and Western military analysts, however, say that the system was positioned too far away from the Shayrat air base to be effective against the April 7 strike, which used cruise missiles that skim the earth at about five meters off the ground, fly at subsonic speed, and follow their own flight paths.



"All this talk that we have secured the whole of Syrian airspace is artistic whistling," said Pavel Felgengauer, a Moscow-based military analyst, and suggested this boasting was intended to boost the sale of arms showcased in Syria.



"They certainly can't [intercept cruise missiles] at that distance from their location. At the very most, they can defend the nearest approach of the base where they are located," he said.



The S-400 air-defense systems are located at Russia's air base at Latakia and its naval base at Tartus. The strike, which hit the Shayrat air base near Homs more than 75 kilometers away from the city of Tartus and more than 120 kilometers from Latakia, meant the American cruise missiles were safely out of the Russian air-defense system's effective range for cruise missiles, he said. "You can more or less defend a perimeter of about 40 kilometers."



Justin Bronk, a defense analyst at the London-based think tank Royal United Services Institute, agreed, saying that despite the sophistication of the S-400s radar -- which covers up to 400 kilometers at higher altitudes -- the system would encounter problemswith targets at low altitudes farther away. "Any rough terrain between the radar and the flight path of the cruise missiles will prevent that system, in this case at Latakia and Tartus, engaging," said Bronk.



"Also, while the S-400 is advertised as having an anti-cruise missile capability, it is more geared toward ballistic missiles coming in from very high angles, very quickly, and other tactical aircraft," he said. "It's more geared toward those kinds of targets than subsonic, land-skimming missiles."

Another observer, however, left open the possibility that the system very well could have worked, but that Moscow opted not to activate it.



Moscow-based military analyst Aleksandr Golts noted that U.S. officials notified Russian forces of the strike ahead of time in order to minimize losses to Russian and Syrian personnel -- in compliance with an airspace safety memorandum between Russia and the U.S.-led coalition in Syria, which is conducting separate air campaigns in the country.



"We don't know whether the Russian military was not able [to intercept it] or if it did not want to," Golts said. "As far as we can see, the memorandum on preventing incidents was operating. The Americans complied with it by informing the Russians two hours before the attack. In such a situation, again, we don't know if Russia wanted to or didn't want to use their air-defense system."



'Not Idiots'



Aytech Bizhev, the former deputy commander-in-chief of the Russian Air Force, told Interfax that the "flight path was set to bypass our missile-defense system so that they would not enter our strike range. The Americans are also not idiots."



He told the Russian news agency that the Tomahawks would have been much less effective had they entered the range of Russian air defense. "We can't rule out that a part of the rockets would be able to get through with such a huge mass strike, but we have not only S-400s there, but also Pantsirs that are very effective against these kinds of cruise missiles at low altitudes. It would have been an entirely different picture."



Russias Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on April 7 that Russia would beef up Syrias air defenses "very soon in order to defend the most vulnerable objects of Syrian infrastructure," Interfax reported.



Nonetheless, the perceived inefficacy of the S-400s prompted an outburst of snarky commentary on Russian language social networks, with one Twitter user writing: "Listen, I just want to check -- is Moscow also secured by S-300 and S-400s?"
Supreme Political Council condemns U.S. air aggression on Syria





SANAA, April 07 (Saba) - The Supreme Political Council on Friday condemned the American aggression that targeted Syria early the day.



In a press statement to Saba, the council confirmed that the American air aggression on Syria has proved the US alignment with al-Qaida, Daesh and Israel.



The council said that the United States is the main player in the region that directs all wars against the countries.



"We in the Supreme Political Council confirm that the blatant American aggression on Syria is an extension of their aggression on Yemen and the region," the council said.



"The US attack came as a reaction to the blows by the Syrian army and its allies against the criminal organization of Daesh, which proves clearly the US support to Israel and Saudi regime that both sides provide financial support to the terrorist group and its operations in the region and the world. "



"We absolutely confirm our respect to the sovereignty and independence of countries. We regard this action as an aggression against the independence and sovereignty of Syria and as a threat to the security and stability of the region," it said in the statement.



"Therefore, Syria and Yemen or any country has the right to defend its security, stability and sovereignty by all means guaranteed by the international laws and charters," the statement added.



The council considered the US military bases and its battleships in the region as a threat to the international peace and security.





HA-ZAK

Saba

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[07/April/2017]
When it comes to their role in aquatic ecosystems, exotic water plants are generally no different than indigenous species. In fact, they can be an asset. That doesn't mean all exotic species should be given free rein. But they can be managed more effectively if you focus on their properties and not their place of origin. Ecologist Bart Grutters (NIOO-KNAW) will defend his PhD thesis research on April 5, 2017.

Exotic species -- plants and animals from other parts of the world -- tend to get a bad press. But a solid ecological, scientific underpinning is often lacking. With his thesis research, Bart Grutters redresses the balance: "If you look at the role of exotic water plants in an ecosystem, you won't find any significant differences compared to indigenous species."

So how do you make a fair comparison? Grutters and his fellow researchers at NIOO studied seven essential functions of water plants in experiments with indigenous and non-indigenous species. They looked among other things at the impact of the plants on the habitat and food supply of fish and small aquatic animals, on cyanobacterial growth and on greenhouse gas emissions. What they found was that all things considered, the two groups are not fundamentally different.

Properties vs origins

"Some exotic species have a negative effect, others a very positive one. The same can be said of indigenous species," notes Grutters. The best way to predict what effect they'll have is by looking at properties such as the plants' chemical defences against herbivores, or the rigidity of their stems (which determines their suitability for providing cover). "It's those properties we should be judging, not their place of origin."

The rapid proliferation of exotic species is often linked to strong, human-caused disruption of the environment. "If you keep cleaning ditches, of course you're going to create an empty, eutrophic environment in which rapid growers will seize their chance," says Grutters' supervisor, fellow NIOO-ecologist Liesbeth Bakker. "The proliferation of exotics is much more symptom than cause of disruption."

Indigenous species, too, will proliferate under such circumstances -- just think of nettles. Yet even 'weeds' can have their use. "Waterweed, for instance," says Bakker, "is an invasive species in the Netherlands, but it's also a valuable addition to the food supply of water birds."

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Water management advice

"If you have the choice, invest your water management funds in removing exotic species before they can proliferate: prevention is better than cure. But once they've become established, it's best to control those species with problematic properties," the researchers argue.

Floating aquatic plants, for instance, are more likely to have a negative impact on their surroundings than submerged aquatic plants, because they risk closing off the water surface to oxygen and light. They can also have a detrimental effect on the water flow and on recreation. "It's still never wise to drop exotic aquarium or pond plants in a ditch."

The researchers also recommend more openness to the positive contribution of some exotic species to water management: they can help to ensure clean water, or provide shelter to young fish. Grutters: "Removing exotic water plants may even backfire. Over the coming years, non-indigenous species can help restore rather than reduce the ecological value of damaged ecosystems."

No 'green soup'

Submerged exotic water plants such as waterweed can even survive in some extremely nutrient-rich environments where indigenous species fail. They then take over the role of the indigenous plants, preventing the water from turning into green soup without any plant or animal life. By reducing the surplus of nutrients in the water and the sediment, they can pave the way for returning indigenous species.
The neuropsychological profiles of murderers who solely kill children differ significantly from the profiles of those who kill both children and adults in the same homicidal act, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study.

Homicide with a child victim is one of the rarest and least understood categories of homicide. Identifying the differences in the two types of killers adds to the very limited research on the topic and could help predict which children may be at risk.

Individuals who solely kill children tend to have relatively low intelligence, poor communication skills and problem-solving abilities, and often are mentally ill. Individuals who murder only children also tend to kill impulsively with manual methods (e.g. beating, drowning), compared to individuals who murder children and one or more adults in the same homicidal act.

Those individuals who murder children and adults together tend to commit premeditated killings and use weapons. They have normal intelligence but antisocial traits and substance abuse that resulted in the killings.

"This study suggests many reasons some children may be at extreme risk of severe physical abuse and murder, which points to different preventive actions," said lead author Dr. Robert Hanlon, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and of neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern Medicine neuropsychologist.

The study was published March 27 in the journal Criminal Justice and Behavior.

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The goal of the study was to examine the demographic, criminological, psychiatric and cognitive profiles of a group of homicide offenders who killed children.

Previous studies have primarily focused on women who killed infants and children. The current study expanded the focus to include both men and women who murdered children.

Eleven of the 27 men and two of the six women offenders in the study killed their own children. Many offenders in the current study murdered the children of friends and relatives. The homicide offenders in the study were responsible for the murders of 51 children.

Participants included 33 men and six women charged with and convicted of first-degree murder in Illinois, Missouri or Indiana. They were referred for forensic neuropsychological evaluations in relation to the assessment of fitness to stand trial, criminal responsibility or sentencing.

The mean age was 32 years. Approximately half (48.5 percent) of the sample was African American; 36.4 percent was Caucasian; 12.1 percent was Hispanic; and 3 percent was of other race/ethnicity. The majority was single (60.6 percent.)

"Many of the children in this study were murdered by the boyfriends of their mothers in impulsive acts of violence," Hanlon said. "Working with these individuals on anger management and nonviolent decision-making may help reduce the risk of harm to children."

As for individuals who killed both children and adults and executed premeditated, planned murders, warning signs like classic antisocial attitudes and behaviors may be more critical to address, Hanlon said.

"We were surprised by how few of these individuals matched the narrow media stereotype of psychotic mothers being the ones who kill children," Hanlon said. "Our findings caution us to challenge assumptions about the murder of children and encourage us to pay close attention to specific deficits, characteristics and situations that put children at risk."

Other Northwestern authors include Nicole M. Azores-Gococo, a Ph.D. candidate in clinical psychology, and Michael Brook, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, both at Feinberg. Brook codirects the Forensic Neuropsychology laboratory with Hanlon.
A new article co-authored by experts at the University of Huddersfield bolsters a theory that the spread of agriculture throughout Europe followed migration into the Mediterranean from the Near East more than 13,000 years ago -- thousands of years earlier than widely believed.

This was during the Late Glacial period and initially the migrants were hunter-gatherers. But they later developed a knowledge of agriculture from further newly-arrived populations from the Near East -- where farming began -- and during the Neolithic, approximately 8,000 years ago, they began to colonise other parts of Europe, taking their farming practices with them.

The University of Huddersfield is home to the Archaeogenetics Research Group, which uses DNA analysis to solve questions from archaeology, anthropology and history. It is headed by Professor Martin Richards, and the issue of the genetic ancestry of Europeans has been one of his major research areas for many years.

Now he is a principal contributor to the article that appears in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. It describes how the researchers used almost 1,500 mitochondrial genome lineages to date the arrival of people in different regions of Europe.

It was found that in central Europe and Iberia, these could mainly be traced to the Neolithic. However, in the central and eastern Mediterranean, they predominantly dated to the much earlier Late Glacial period.

The authors write that: "This supports a scenario in which the genetic pool of Mediterranean Europe was partly a result of Late Glacial expansions from a Near Eastern refuge, and that this formed an important source pool for subsequent Neolithic expansions into the rest of Europe."

Professor Richards explained that he and his co-researchers carried out their latest investigations using modern DNA samples because in Italy and Greece there is an acute shortage of pre-Neolithic skeletal remains from which ancient samples can be taken. The warmth of the climate has resulted in low levels of preservation.

"We haven't been able to fill the gap with ancient DNA, so we found a way to get round that by looking at modern samples. Instead of dating the lineages across Europe as a whole we have dated them firstly in the Mediterranean area and then we have looked at what happens if you assume that they have arrived in that area and then moved on," said Professor Richards.

Now he hopes that new sources of ancient DNA in Italy and Greece will be discovered, so that his migration scenario can be tested more directly.

"In the past, it's been difficult to recover DNA from these kinds of environments but there have been so many technical developments in the recovery of ancient DNA in the last few years that I think it will happen soon." In fact, another team of researchers has already confirmed one of the paper's main predictions, by looking at pre-Neolithic DNA from Sardinia, just one week ago.

The research was carried out primarily by Dr Joana Pereira as part of her PhD project, supervised jointly by Professor Richards and Dr Luisa Pereira of the Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology at the University of Porto, alongside Dr Pedro Soares of the University of Minho, in Portugal. The authors of the new article -- titled Reconciling evidence from ancient and contemporary genomes: a major source for the European Neolithic within Mediterranean Europe -- also include Dr Maria Pala, who is Senior Lecturer at the University of Huddersfield and a key member of the archaeogenetics group.
On a lab benchtop, a handful of glass vials taped to a rocker gently sway back and forth. Inside the vials, a mixture of organic chemicals and tiny particles of fool's gold are begging a question seemingly beyond their humble appearance: Where did life come from?

Combining theory with experiment, University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists are trying to understand how life can arise from non-life. Researchers at the UW-Madison Wisconsin Institute for Discovery are conducting experiments to test the idea that lifelike chemical reactions might develop readily under the right conditions. The work addresses some of the deepest mysteries in biology, and has implications for understanding how common life might be in the universe.

David Baum, chair and professor of botany at UW-Madison and a Discovery Fellow at WID, thinks the earliest life might have relied on a primitive metabolism that originally started on mineral surfaces. Many central reactions in modern cells rely on iron-sulfur catalysts. This reliance on iron and sulfur could be a record stamped into cells of the environments where metabolism itself first evolved. Baum is testing this idea by turning to iron pyrite, a mineral of iron and sulfur better known as fool's gold.

Together with Mike Berg, a graduate student researching the origins of life, Baum is mixing microscopic beads of iron pyrite with a source of chemical energy and simple molecular building blocks. As vials of this mixture rock back and forth in the lab, small groups of chemicals bound to the mineral surface might aggregate and start assisting one another in producing more chemicals. If so, they're likely to spread to other iron pyrite beads, colonizing new surfaces.

When Berg transfers some beads to a fresh vial, the chemical groups could continue to spread. Generation after generation, vial after vial, the most efficient and competitive chemical mixtures would colonize the most iron pyrite. This is selection. Like natural selection, which has created the diversity and complexity of life on Earth, selecting for the colonizing ability of these chemical groups may reveal lifelike chemical cycles capable of changing over time.

"The view that I've come around to is that lifelike chemistry may pop up relatively easily in many, many geological settings," says Baum. "The problem then changes. It's no longer a problem of 'will it happen,' but how will we know it happened?"

They've gone through more than 30 generations so far, and are looking for any sign of change over time, whether that is heat generation, energy consumption or the amount of material bound to the beads.

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Baum and UW-Madison microbiologist and WID systems biologist Kalin Vetsigian published a paper last year that outlined the experiments, which are based in part on the principle of neighborhood selection. Normally, natural selection operates on a population of individuals. But the scientists proposed that even though no well-defined individuals exist in the chemical mixtures, the molecular communities that are best at colonizing new surfaces will prevail, and likely get better over time. Successful traits of the community as a whole can be selected for and passed on.

"This community-level selection could have taken place before there were individuals with traits that were both heritable and variable," says Vetsigian. "If you have good communities, they will persist."

The project recently received $2.5 million in funding from NASA. Baum is the lead investigator of the research, which includes Vetsigian, UW-Madison chemist Tehshik Yoon, and collaborators from seven other institutions.

Cells need the kinds of metabolic reactions that Baum studies to produce energy and the components of more complex molecules. They also need a way to store information. All living cells pass on their genetic information with DNA. But UW-Madison professor of chemical and biological engineering and WID systems biologist John Yin is exploring alternative ways to store and process information with simpler molecules in an effort to understand how information storage could evolve without cells or DNA.

Taking a cue from computer science, Yin is working with the most basic method of encoding information, binary. In place of electronic bits, his ones and zeros are the two simplest amino acids, glycine and alanine. Using a unique form of chemistry, Yin is drying out mixtures of the amino acids to encourage them to join together.

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"We're seeing reproducibly different strings of alanine and glycine under different kinds of conditions," explains Yin. "So that's a first hint that in some ways the product is a way of representing a particular environment."

Yin's group is working on the technically challenging task of reading these sequences of amino acids so they can keep track of the molecular information. The Yin lab eventually hopes to discover groups of chemicals that can build off this molecular information to reproduce themselves. For both Baum and Yin, selectable systems require these cycles of chemicals able to make more of one another, what Yin calls "closing the loop."

Closing the loop in the lab is likely to be difficult. Only experimentation will tell for sure.

Yin, Baum and Vetsigian are interested not only in how life on Earth got started, but how it could get started -- anywhere. If lifelike chemical reactions and molecular information are readily produced in the lab, that could change the calculus of how common life might be on other worlds.

"If we find many different chemistries supporting lifelike reactions, we can expect more origins of life elsewhere in the universe," says Baum.
When the molecules that carry the genetic code in our cells are exposed to harm, they have defenses against potential breakage and mutations.

For instance, when DNA is hit with ultraviolet light, it can lose excess energy from radiation by ejecting the core of a hydrogen atom -- a single proton -- to keep other chemical bonds in the system from breaking.

To gain insight into this process, researchers used X-ray laser pulses from the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory to investigate how energy from light transforms a relatively simple molecule, 2-thiopyridone. This molecule undergoes a chemical transformation that also occurs in the building blocks of DNA. The scientists looked at this process by probing the nitrogen atom in the molecule with X-ray pulses that lasted just femtoseconds, or quadrillionths of a second.

The results, published in Angewandte Chemie, are a step toward better understanding what's called "excited state proton transfers" in DNA and other molecules.

"Right now, we want to keep it simple," says lead author Sebastian Eckert, a doctoral student at the University of Potsdam and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin. "It's easier to look at the effects of photoexcitation in 2-thiopyridone because this molecule is small enough to understand and has only one nitrogen atom. We are among the first at LCLS to look at nitrogen at this energy, so it's somewhat of a pilot experiment."

This is also the first time the method, known as resonant inelastic X-ray scattering or RIXS, has been used to look at molecular changes involving nitrogen that happen in femtoseconds. This short timescale is important because that's how fast protons are kicked away from molecules exposed to light, and it requires brilliant X-rays to see these ultrafast changes.

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"LCLS is the only X-ray light source that can provide enough photons -- particles of light," says co-author Munira Khalil, a professor at the University of Washington. "Our detection mechanism is 'photon-hungry' and requires intense pulses of light to capture the effect we want to see."

In the study, the researchers used an optical laser to initiate changes in the molecule, followed by an LCLS X-ray probe that allowed them to see movements in the bonds.

"We look for a resonance effect -- a signature that lets us know we've tuned the X-rays to an energy that ensures we're only examining changes related to or near the nitrogen atom," says Mike Minitti, staff scientist at LCLS and co-author of the paper.

These "on-resonance" studies amplify the signal in a way that scientists can clearly interpret how X-rays interact with the sample.

The research team looked primarily at the bonds between atoms neighboring nitrogen, and confirmed that optical light breaks nitrogen-hydrogen bonds.

"We were also able to confirm that the X-rays used to probe the sample don't break the nitrogen-hydrogen bond, so the probe itself does not create an artificial effect. The X-ray energy is instead transferred to a bond between nitrogen and carbon atoms, rupturing it," says Jesper Norell, a doctoral student at Stockholm University and co-author of the paper.

Next, the collaboration will use the same approach to study more complex molecules and gain insight into the wide class of photochemical reactions.

LCLS is a DOE Office of Science User Facility. In addition to LCLS, researchers from the University of Potsdam, Helmhotz-Zentrum Berlin, Stockholm University and the University of Washington contributed expertise to this study. The X-ray-induced structural changes at LCLS were compared to observations at the Synchrotron Radiation Source BESSY II.
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The legal battle between Twitter and the U.S. government ended Friday, after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) withdrew its demand that the tech company release information to identify an account holder whose tweets are critical of President Donald Trump on Twitter.

The lawsuit threatened to become a major battle over free speech between Silicon Valley and Washington. But it was over almost before it began. The tech company had filed a lawsuit Thursday to protest the order, saying that it violated the users First Amendment right to free expression. But Twitter dropped its suit Friday, saying in a court filing that (because) the summons has now been withdrawn, Twitter voluntary dismisses without prejudice all claims.

The DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump

Twitter filed the suit to protect the identity of a user who runs the @ALT_uscis feed  an account that purports to tweet the thoughts of a federal worker from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The two-month-old account is often critical of the Trump administrations immigration policies, particularly its plans to build a wall along the border with Mexico and its immigration travel ban.

Legal experts said that Twitter would have had a strong case had it gone to court, as the government had not provided compelling information on why it was necessary to identify the critic.

The government, in order to enforce its subpoena, would have had to demonstrate that whoever is behind the Twitter account was likely violating some law. There also were serious questions about whether the type of subpoena used, which is typically for investigating violations of export rules, was appropriate for the type of case DHS was probing, experts said.

Courts also have traditionally given a high degree or protection to political speech, including the right to speak anonymously or with a pseudonym. That includes, in many circumstances, government employees who are critical of the agencies for which they work.

This is just, as best as I can tell, the government trying to figure out who is expressing criticisms, and that is chilling, said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

If the goal was to quiet the dissent, it seems to have failed. The number of followers for the Twitter account grew from over 32,000 to more than 150,000 in less than 24 hours.

Sen. Ron Wyden on Thursday called the governments attempt to unmask the identity of the Twitter user a witch hunt. On Friday, Wyden sent a letter to DHSs Customs and Border Protection agency, which demanded the information, asking them to investigate why and how the order came about.

Not only was the summons blatantly inconsistent with the cited investigatory authority, section 509 of the Tariff Act of 1930, but it appeared to be a disturbing threat to free speech and whistleblower protections, Wydens letter said.

A lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented the user, said in a statement Friday that the speed with which the government withdrew the request shows how problematic its demand was.

Speaking anonymously about issues of the day is a long-standing American tradition, dating back to when the framers of the Constitution wrote under pseudonyms, said Esha Bhandari, one of the lawyers. The anonymity that the First Amendment guarantees is often most essential when people criticize the government, and this free speech right is as important today as ever.

Twitter has fought battles with the government before over user privacy. In 2012, the social network appealed an order from the state of New York to reveal personal user data from the account of Occupy Wall Street protester Malcolm Harris. It lost that appeal. The company also sued the Justice Department in 2014 for the right to make federal information requests for user data public.

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Twitter sues U.S. Homeland Security to block probe into Trump critics identity

Twitters actions this week highlight how much responsibility social media platforms hold in todays debates about the right to free expression in the modern world, experts said. While social media networks may give a voice to millions of individuals, it is the companies opinions, clout and resources that actually speak volumes.

People love to speak about a global town square, but its hosted on company servers and not government servers. That means that the rights and terms and conditions that are granted are very much determined by a small group of people, said Alex Howard, deputy director at the Sunlight Foundation, a non-profit that focuses on technology and open government. The choices they make to stand up for their users set important precedents for other companies now and into the future.

The person behind @ALT_uscis did not respond to a request for comment sent over Twitter. But the user did thank Twitter and the ACLU, tweeting:

We want to thank @twitter and @aclu for standing up for the right of free anonymous speech. Thank you resistance for standing up for us. https://t.co/6PdwZIJ2xP

We are taking a break! The past few days have been extremely difficult and full of anxiety, read another message from the account. Thank you again America!

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MALMESBURY, ENGLANDWhen Michael Aldred joined the British home electronics maker Dyson two decades ago, he had a simple goal: to quickly build a robotic vacuum cleaner.

But Aldred and his team kept running into roadblocks.

Their first attempt, unveiled in 2001, was too clunky for James Dyson, the companys founder. The next prototype involved creating a computer vision system that would allow the machine to skirt independently around furniture; it took more than a decade to perfect.

As smartphones became everyday tools, Dysons robotics team again had to rethink the vacuum cleaner, adding Internet connectivity so the machine could send notifications  with a heat map of where it had cleaned  to a mobile device. After a nearly 20-year odyssey, the robot cleaner, priced at an eye-watering $1,300, finally hit stores worldwide last year.

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Dysons new battery-powered vacuum drives sales upwards END

Dyson has tried to make a better hair dryer. Will people buy it? END

At times, I really asked myself what I had signed up for, Aldred said in an interview at Dysons rural headquarters near the border with Wales. But James Dyson always told us to focus on the product. Everything else would follow.

Not many consumer electronics brands would spend almost two decades  and tens of millions of dollars  building a vacuum cleaner that retails for more than a mid-range laptop.

But combining an almost obsessive eye for design and engineering, the privately held Dyson has cornered the unglamorous market of high-end vacuum cleaners, lights and hair dryers  and in the process bucked the technology truism that companies rarely make money in the difficult arena of hardware.

Even as other hardware brands like Samsung, smartwatch-maker Fitbit and camera designer GoPro have struggled with physical products because of low-priced copycats and thin profit margins, Dyson has shown an uncanny ability to mint money. Its latest robot cleaner, which is selling briskly, exemplifies that and puts Dyson in rarefied company alongside Apple as one of the few tech companies worldwide to consistently profit from consumer gadgets.

It is extremely difficult to make money if youre not in the premium segment of the market, said Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies, a tech consulting firm. Thats what Apple and Dyson have done well  being best in breed for technology and industrial design.

Dyson said its pre-tax profits rose 41 per cent last year to $1.05 billion, while revenue rose 45 per cent to $4.2 billion, partly because of the weakened British pound. Dyson, 69, who founded the company in 1992, is worth about $8 billion.

The company, with 8,500 employees split mostly between Britain and a factory in Malaysia, is growing rapidly in China, where the countrys emerging middle class remains eager to spend on designer goods, including expensive vacuum cleaners.

Asia is a huge growth area for us, said Max Conze, Dysons chief executive, who joined from Procter & Gamble in 2010. Five years ago, 85 per cent of what we sold was corded vacuum cleaners. Now, more than 80 per cent comes from new products.

Dyson is indeed moving beyond vacuum cleaners, hair dryers and air purifiers. The company said it would spend more than $2 billion on battery technology, machine learning and other high-tech wizardry to create new products, many of which remain under wraps behind tight security at its headquarters.

The developments may include an electric car. Dyson bought a U.S. battery startup in 2015, secured a hefty British government grant last year to develop the vehicle concept and hired executives from Tesla and Aston Martin. Dyson officials deny that they are making an electric car.

Were still heading into new areas where companies are well established, said Jake Dyson, 44, the founders elder son, who rejoined the company in 2015 and is the most likely successor to his father. Were not afraid to try and beat them.

As with any company synonymous with James Dyson, it is often hard to separate Dyson the man from Dyson the brand.

Tall, bookish and with a penchant for designer glasses, Dyson trained as an industrial engineer and dabbled in building things like boats and wheelbarrows before settling on vacuum cleaners by the late 1970s.

Frustrated with how his machine worked, Dyson reused technology that mirrored how a cyclone forcefully sucked wind from its surroundings, eventually spending 15 years  and building more than 5,000 prototypes  before releasing his first vacuum cleaner in 1993. He initially licensed the designs to companies in the United States and Japan, but eventually decided to build the machines himself.

When we launched it, we were slightly terrified, said Dyson, who had mortgaged his home and used his life savings to fund the project. Im not a businessman. I didnt start a business, I started with an idea.

His professorial look, complete with cut-glass English accent, belies Dysons ruthlessness. When competitors like Hoover and Samsung copied his ideas after his vacuum cleaner hit the market, the entrepreneur fought, and won, costly patent lawsuits, and instilled an us versus them attitude that still permeates the company.

At Dysons headquarters  chosen for its proximity to Dysons original workshop  employees remain tight-lipped, even among themselves, about their projects. During a tour of the companys facilities, prototypes were covered in tarps while large areas of the open-plan offices were off limits. Photographs of engineers computer screens were prohibited, and machinery in some of the research labs was obscured with black trash bags.

Its a little like a brainwashing atmosphere, said Mario Cosci, an electronic engineer who joined Dyson six years ago. When you work every day with people who are driven, you cant swim against it.

Not everything Dyson has tried has turned to gold.

In 2000, the company released a washing machine priced at $1,672, or double the cost of rival products. Despite positive reviews, Dyson pulled the plug five years later after failing to turn the machine into a profitable business. Now, the original washing machine prototype stands unloved in a corridor in one of Dysons research buildings.

At many publicly listed companies, such a failure might have cost people their jobs. But at Dyson, where 14.5 per cent of annual revenue is earmarked for research and development, engineers took the mistake in stride and began diversifying into other products.

For Steve Courtney, head of Dysons new products unit, that included moving into cordless vacuum cleaners in 2005, even though analysts said the machines would hurt sales of the companys corded products. It also meant releasing bladeless fans four years later that borrowed heavily from Dysons vacuum technology  the product range was later extended to Internet-connected air purifiers.

And when the company began selling $400 hair dryers last year, its mostly male engineering team not only learned to professionally blow-dry hair to understand how rival products worked, but also again copied the battery, motor and fan technology from Dysons existing products.

We may go through a lot of pain and it may take a lot of time, but then we can transfer what we develop into something completely new, Courtney said. We need big new areas, new markets.

Dysons ambitions have raised some eyebrows, particularly after it bought Sakti3, a Michigan startup specializing in solid state batteries, for $90 million in 2015. This technology could be more than three times as powerful  and significantly safer  than batteries used now in smartphones and electric cars.

Dyson later claimed his company would invest more than $1 billion by 2020 to figure out how to mass-produce these solid-state batteries, although experts question whether Sakti3s technology will ever go beyond the lab.

The community was surprised by the investment, said Eric Wachsman, director of the Energy Research Center at the University of Maryland, who is developing a rival project. No one knows if their technology will work or not.

Mark Taylor, Dysons research director, said the company was committed to making the battery technology work.

None of this is stopping Dysons long-term planning. At the modernist campus of Imperial College London, Andrew Davison, a computer vision expert, has worked with Dyson on a $8-million research project aimed at helping robots better interact with the world around them. (Dyson separately sponsors a Design Engineering School at the British college.)

Davison, an Imperial College professor, helped Dyson build the computer vision used in its robotic cleaner. His team is now combining that technology with machine learning and artificial intelligence so that one day, the companys products may navigate the real world, just as its autonomous vacuum cleaner now scuttles around peoples houses.

Were looking really far out, Davison said. Most of the work that we do is years away from being in an actual product.

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After a decade-long boom, the growth of wineries in Prince Edward County has hit a plateau so county businesses are focusing on another boozy beverage  beer.

Since 2016, five breweries have opened in Prince Edward County and five more are under construction. There is also a cidery in the region known for its apple orchards with another coming soon. Theyre all taking advantage of the areas strong tourism infrastructure, tapping taste buds already attuned to artisanal food and drink.

There was a bit of a gold rush for vines and I think a lot of people found that its really not economical to grow grapes in the county, says Chris Dinadis, co-owner of County Road Beer Company, which launched in February 2016.

He moved from Toronto to Prince Edward County to start the brewery alongside his childhood friend Vicki Samaras. She wanted to diversify her winemaking operation, Hinterland Wine Company, which she opened in 2005.

Mother Nature hits us with frost damage every five years, says Samaras.

Unlike grapes, beers base ingredients  malted barley and hops  are less susceptible to the whims of the weather. Malted barley is shelf-stable, while hops can be refrigerated for years. Brewers typically ship in these ingredients from as far as Germany and New Zealand.

But at County Road, which specializes in saisons  a rustic, refreshing pale ale style  they can still tap into Prince Edward Countys regional character, or terroir, by using its water.

Its very alkaline because of the limestone, says Samaras. It makes our saisons more crisp and less creamy.

Brewers can also work with local suppliers to add regional flavour to their beers. Pleasant Valley Hops, opened by Edgar Ramirez and Catherine Crawford, grows five varieties of the beer-bittering ingredient just a few minutes down the road from Samaras and Dinadis operation. And 45 minutes away at Bellvilles Barn Owl Malt, Devin and Leslie Huffman malt locally-grown barley using traditional methods, catering to the provinces burgeoning craft beer industry.

For Brett French, brewmaster at Pictons Barley Days Brewing, putting brewers and suppliers in close reach fosters a tight-knit community. Ill get a call from our hop grower and hell say Hey Brett, what hops would you like me to throw into the ground this year? French says. Everything we need is right here at our back door.

Barley Days, opened by Chris Rogers, was Prince Edward Countys first craft brewery when it launched in 2007. But the regions boozy history dates back to the mid 1800s. During this time, barley made up half of the crops grown in the county. The bulk of it was shipped across Lake Ontario to brewers in the United States.

Many of the homes in Prince Edward County were built during this time as the region was settled by Loyalist (American colonists who supported Britain). At Parsons Brewing, owners Chris and Samantha Parsons honour the countys heritage by repurposing some of its old buildings. The tap room, formerly a blacksmith shop, then a doctors house, was built in 1850 in nearby Bloomfield. The crumbling building was painstakingly disassembled, restored and rebuilt on the Parsons property just north of Picton.

The Parsons moved from Toronto to Prince Edward County in 2012 in search of a simpler life. Chris had always been interested in craft beer and began home brewing in the familys garage. The hobby became a full-fledged operation in 2016 when they launched their own brewery.

The Parsons have since been overwhelmed with interest in their beers, which range from west coast-style pale ales to barrel-aged stouts. We had originally targeted to be in five licensees, Chris Parsons says. They now have 16 tap accounts at bars and restaurants in Prince Edward County and are turning away new licensees.

But at Strange Brewing Company in Hillier, owner Dave Frederick is eager to expand his fledgling business. Operating out of his basement, Strange Brewing is the countys smallest brewery with a capacity of just 200 litres per batch. Frederick currently supplies a pale ale made with juniper berries to three county establishments  Soup Opera, the County Canteen and Kin Cafe  and hopes to add more licensees to the list.

Frederick first moved to Prince Edward County in 2010 as a winemaker for By Chadseys Cairns Winery. I always wanted to have a winery but it never seemed feasible just because of the amount of money you need to invest, Frederick says. Borrowing a bit of expertise from winemaking, he opened Strange Brewing in 2016.

Coming from a wine background, I look at nuances of aromas and flavours, says Frederick of his beer brewing skills. He is going for a beer that is well balanced on the palate so its not overly hoppy or bitter.

The crossover between wine and beer is something that owners of The County Canteen, Pictons first brew pub, are familiar with. Drew and Nat Wollenberg witnessed how a tourist area near their former home of Perth, Australia transformed. It was a really nice wine region and all of a sudden microbreweries started popping up all over the place, says Drew Wollenberg, who grew up between Toronto, Kitchener and his grandparents home in Prince Edward County. When he was a teenager, Drew relocated to Australia with his family and in university; he met Nat, a native Australian. We decided to move back here (in 2014) and start The Canteen partially because we saw the writing on the wall.

The County Canteen opened in 2015, showcasing local brews including beers made on-site by Drew using a tiny phone booth-sized system. But when a storefront came up for rent just a few hundred metres down the road from the County Canteen, the Wollenbergs saw an opportunity for Drew to exercise his beer-making creativity in larger quantities. Construction on 555 Brewing Co. began last May and the brewery opened March 25.

New breweries including 555 Brewing, Parsons, County Road and Strange Brewing help to draw in visitors outside of the regions busy summer months, according to Prince Edward County Chamber of Tourism and Commerce Executive Director Emily Cowan. It has the opportunity to prolong our tourist season, as products can be produced all year round, she says.

And its not only tourists who benefit from Prince Edward Countys burgeoning beer industry. It keeps more local residents employed beyond the high season, like at County Road Beer. A lot of people will close for the winter and lay off their staff, says Chris Dinadis, who keeps his team working year-round. People arent going to start coming to the county unless there are places that stay open in January and February. It has to be made a destination place to become one.

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I lie awake thinking about climate change and air travel. As a means of transport, planes create the worst carbon footprint, yet no one cares. Carbon emissions are destroying the earth, yet friends feel entitled to warm vacations or unnecessary business travel! Years ago I committed to flying as rarely as possible, but its hard. For Canadas 150th, we want to visit the new Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg. Is it ever ethically defensible to fly?

Sometimes this column puts me in a conflict of interest. Since retiring, my wife and I travel a lot, so I wont pretend this is a disinterested response.

Having confessed to frequent flying, I invite you to join me on a fantasy flight, perhaps from Toronto to London, England. Let me introduce our fellow travellers.

See those thirty teenagers in the front rows? Theyre small-town high school kids, on their way to Vimy Ridge. Theyll be stunned by the monument, but more to the point, theyll be brought to tears by the sacrifice, dignity and sheer valour of Canadian kids not much older than themselves.

Observe the couple in 33B and C. His arms wrapped around her? Well, her mum is dying over in Jolly Ol, and shes praying to arrive in time for a final goodbye. Its a particularly long flight, though shes made it many times.

Look over there: 24F. Hes a world-famous cellist, returning to Vienna after a sold-out performance at Roy Thomson. The thunderous ovation still rings in his ears  or maybe thats just pressure at 33,000 feet.

18G? The nervous-looking young woman? Shes a nurse from Yellowknife, working with Medecins Sans Frontieres and heading for her first assignment in Pakistan. Shes never been away from home before.

The quiet, dark-skinned man in 27C? Hes connecting at Heathrow, flying to his ancestral home in Kenya. Hes Canadian, but he returns regularly to this tiny community, helping build a school for girls. A Scarborough church helps out financially; others do, too. But hes the one who goes, and without his journey of hope, the project would die.

Is it ever ethically defensibly to fly? Of course it is. We live in an interconnected world. Our stories, our families, our hopes and fears are interlaced with faraway places, and despite the occasional backwash of parochialism such as south of the border, theres no turning back. The globe is our workshop, playground, farm  our heritage and our home.

That doesnt mean we can ignore environmental implications of air travel, any more than the costs of recreational boating, going for a Sunday drive, bearing children or eating a steak. Air travel is costly, so we need to weigh decisions carefully, avoid flying when feasible and support attempts to mitigate environmental damage. But history shows that living in silos of national, ethnic or religious isolation has a cost too  a cost that is, perhaps, even greater.

Fly to Winnipeg. See the museum. Walk the Forks. Wave to the Golden Boy. Eat Real Perogies. Just wait till the ice melts, the Jets have again missed the playoffs, the floods recede and the mosquitoes die. There are three or four days in August when the peg is a lovely city.

Send your questions to star.ethics@yahoo.ca

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The February new-housing results, provided to BILD by Altus Group  our official source of new home market data  were just released and they are, at the same time, both encouraging and discouraging.

How can that be?

Well, while the data shows a robust condominium market with record sales figures, particularly in the 905 region, the results also show unprecedented scarcity of new housing inventory, especially for lowrise homes. It also shows that while government is setting the laws for the housing industry to follow, the laws of unintended consequences are occurring in our market.

Let me explain.

Provincial land-use policies, such as the well-intended Growth Plan meant to limit sprawl and encourage urban intensification, are helping create our current housing crisis situation. We are seeing frustration, angst and fear among consumers, inflated pricing and undiminished demand for ground-related homes. These are the very conditions the policies were intended to change.

At the end of March, Altuss data showed there were only 324 new detached homes available for purchase across the entire GTA. Just 324. To put this in historical context, at this time a decade ago there were more than 10,000 homes waiting for buyers.

For those who took a high school economics class, they may remember the unit on supply and demand. Todays housing market is a textbook example.

New housing scarcity is at an all-time high, which has, as your teacher explained, led to higher home prices. Record high prices. A new, single detached home in the GTA averaged $1,469,449 last month, while if you factor in additional lowrise product such as townhomes and semi-detached homes, the average price was $1,081,013.

The industry is following the provincial policies and we are now selling and building more highrise homes and fewer ground-related ones. In March, more than twice the number of condominium apartments were sold than lowrise homes. February saw 1,541 lowrise sales, while 3,542 condominium units were purchased in the GTA.

Interestingly, while much of the market and some policy makers continue to think of our current condo boom as a phenomenon of the 416, anyone who has driven the streets of the 905 knows thats not true. Altuss data back up this perception, pointing out that 1,661 condo suites were sold in Toronto, while Durham, Peel, Halton and York boasted 1,881 sales.

The demand in the GTA for available condo suites was so strong that inventory levels dropped again in February, reaching a new low of just 10,342 units.

While the February numbers just released point to a trend decades in the making, the severity of the monthly figures is jarring. The significant decline in levels of inventory and record high prices show that the governments policies on real estate are having a serious impact on real people.

Whether you live (or want to live) in a house, townhouse, semi-detached home or a condo; whether you want to live in the 416 or the 905 theres no escaping the reality that the market is experiencing a crisis.

New housing policies are desperately needed. Before its too late.

Bryan Tuckey is president and CEO of the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) and is a land-use planner who has worked for municipal, regional and provincial governments. Find him at twitter.com/bildgta , facebook.com/bildgta and bildblogs.ca.

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Sure, the charming Charlottetown of today might be all Avonlea preserves, and Gilberts Toffee, and Annes teas, and green gables as far as the eye can see.

But, to hear it told, Charlottetown at the time of Confederation  for which everything from the handsome city square to the well-groomed trail to the bridge from the mainland are named  was the nearest thing to Gomorrah on the Northumberland Strait.

When the boys went down to Charlottetown they spent a lot of time in places other than the library, former prime minister Brian Mulroney once declared, with no small admiration.

Right he was. And boys they were.

As Canada celebrates the 150th anniversary of Confederation this year, its worth recalling that the country came into being as something of a lucky accident, the product  fitting for a nation thats produced Bob and Doug McKenzie, the Trailer Park Boys and Letterkenny  of booze-soaked chin-wagging in 1864 among 23 men of varied enthusiasm for the nation-building project.

Happily, what happened on Prince Edward Island that summer  long before there was Ricks Fish n Chips shack in St. Peters Bay, long before there was any concern whatever about where Mike Duffy put his head on the pillow  didnt stay on P.E.I.

Read here for more on Canada 150 history and celebrations

George Brown, a Father of Confederation and founder of the Globe newspaper, chronicled the making of the deal that led to Confederation in regular letters home to his wife, Anne. Together, they amount to a veritable tweet-storm of reportage on the Charlottetown goings-on.

Before the high-stakes hijinks were over, Brown himself, as he told Anne, was laid low with a bilious attack: The natural result of such a round of dissipation.

But let us put that ghastly image aside and look back, first off, to the beginning of the union.

Across the British colonies in North America, anxiety was afoot. The American Civil War and worries about the loss of reciprocity with the U.S. had left the Maritime colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island concerned about the future of small, separate provinces.

They agreed to meet in Charlottetown on Sept. 1, 1864, for an inter-colonial conference  five delegates from each of three provinces  to discuss Maritime Union.

Arthur Gordon, lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick, is credited as being the catalyst for the Charlottetown conference. He had hoped to unite the three Maritime provinces on the assumption that he would govern them.

But statecraft seldom goes smoothly.

Nova Scotia Premier (and future prime minister) Charles Tupper refused to attend unless delegates from the opposition came with him  the better to spread the blame should unpopular deals be cut. Naturally, P.E.I. and New Brunswick followed suit.

So Gordons hope that an agreement could be reached by three colonial governors was taken over by politicians from all parts and all parties.

Meanwhile, the confederation-minded leaders of central Canada in Ontario and Quebec saw an opportunity and asked to send a delegation to put the case for confederation of all the colonies in North America.

Permission granted, the eight delegates from the Canadian government set sail from Quebec aboard the excellently appointed steamer Queen Victoria in ideal weather on Monday, Aug. 29, 1864, arriving at Peakes Wharf on the Charlottetown waterfront on the morning of Thursday, Sept. 1.

If Brown arrived with a measure of central Canadian arrogance  the Queen Victoria evidently inspired the natives with huge respect for their big brothers from Canada  he was soon chastened.

Formally dressed, the delegates were fetched ashore from the Queen Victoria in boats manned by four uniformed oarsmen and boatswain.

They were met, however, by no formal reception, just P.E.I.s provincial secretary in a rowboat. Everyone else, it turned out, was taking in the attractions of Slaymaker and Nichols Olympic Circus, making a rare visit.

Not only that, the popularity of the circus had filled all the hotel rooms in the island capital of about 7,000. The Canadians would have to sleep on their boat.

That first day, there was a bit of how-dye-do, Brown reported, and the central Canadians were told their confederation proposal would be first on the agenda the following day.

Evening brought a dinner given by P.E.I.s governor. It was built, Brown recorded, on lobster, oysters and champagne.

The next day, the conference adjourned at 3 oclock to attend a sumptuous buffet hosted by journalist and politician William Pope, featuring yet more lobsters, oysters and champagne.

This killed the day, Brown noted.

Perhaps, but the social whirl was apparently vital to helping delegates who scarcely knew each other make common cause.

On Saturday, a long lunch was held aboard the Queen Victoria, where eloquent speeches were made, Brown recorded. And whether as a result of our eloquence or of the goodness of our champagne, the ice became completely broken, the tongues of the delegates wagged merrily.

According to dispatches, Sir John A. Macdonald, Canadas first prime minister and by most accounts the countrys architect, and his chief ally, the equally loquacious Irishman Thomas DArcy McGee, entertained and enticed delegates with witty and cogent arguments in favour of Confederation.

As far as Brown was concerned, it was that day that the banns of matrimony between all the provinces of British North America were as good as proclaimed (though P.E.I. would come reluctantly to the Confederation altar in 1873, six years after Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick had pledged their troth).

One historian even dates the conception, if not the birth, of Confederation from the moment the Canadians started pouring from their huge onboard stock of champagne.

That night, P.E.I. Premier John Hamilton Gray gave a dinner, followed by dancing at his country estate. Sunday brought a blessed day of rest. But the new week saw negotiations continue apace, as did the festivities.

On Monday, the islands opposition leader, George Coles gave a lunch. On Tuesday, P.E.I. Attorney General Edward Palmer did likewise. And that night, Lt.-Gov. George Dundas and his wife hosted a ball at Government House.

The formal proceedings of the conference allowed for no observers and no transcripts, obliging participants to forgo theatrical oratory and deal with details. And, evidently, some work did get done.

By Tuesday, the Canadians had made their pitch on the benefits of confederation, its ways and means, finances and, of course, an inter-colonial railway so coveted by the eastern delegates.

On Wednesday, the Maritime provinces said they found the idea of confederation to be highly desirable  provided satisfactory terms of union were reached.

Afterwards, naturally, the Canadians received the Maritimers back aboard their steamer.

On the closing day of proceedings, to celebrate what became known in some circles as the triumph of union and champagne, the gang of 23 gathered for a grand ball at Province House, reportedly the most enthusiastic wassail of all.

One newspaper correspondent reported wryly that when delegates took their leave from P.E.I. the next day, leaving the formalities of confederation to Quebec and 1867, the statesmen were as befogged as the harbour.

Or, as the historian J.M.S. Careless aptly put it, so ended the episode of Charlottetown, the gayest whirlwind courtship in Canadian history.

1. Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt

Born in England, he emigrated to Sherbrooke, Que., and became a member of the Canadian parliament in 1849. He once signed a manifesto arguing for union with the U.S. on the grounds it was the only way the Anglo-Saxon Protestant ascendancy could be maintained in Canada. He was the first Canadian finance minister, insisting Canada have dollars and cents rather than pounds and shillings. He was later high commissioner to Britain.

2. Sir Hector-Louis Langevin

Born in Quebec City, Langevin was called to the bar of Lower Canada in 1850. For 10 years, he served in the Canadian assembly of the united central Canadian provinces. At Confederation, he became secretary of state in Sir. John As first cabinet. He was knighted during Macdonalds second government, but resigned over corruption allegations in his public works department.

3. John Hamilton Gray, N.B.

The younger Gray was born in Bermuda, son of a British diplomat. He was called to the bar in New Brunswick and became Speaker of the assembly there until 1867. He was elected to the Commons at Confederation, before resigning to become a judge on the British Columbia Supreme Court.

4. Sir George-Etienne Cartier

Cartier was exiled from Canada as a young lawyer by the British after the rebellions of 1837. But by 1848, he had returned and was elected to the Canadian (Ontario and Quebec) parliament. For four years, he was joint prime minister of the colonial Canadas with Sir John A.

5.Sir John A. Macdonald

The Glasgow-born lawyer was a schemer, alcoholic, gifted orator, wit and, in history books, father of the Canadian nation. He dominated the three conferences leading to Confederation and crafted the compromises resulting in the union of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. He died in office in 1891.

6. John Hamilton Gray, P.E.I.

The older of the two John Hamilton Grays, this one was born and educated on P.E.I. before spending 20 years in the British army in India and Africa. On return home, he was elected to the assembly and served as premier until 1865. He was chairman of the Charlottetown conference, but retired from politics after the rejection by the P.E.I. legislature of the terms of confederation.

7. Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley

The reputation of the Charlottetown conference as a drink-fuelled frolic cannot be blamed on Tilley. He was an ardent teetotaller from New Brunswick. He was premier of the New Brunswick assembly until 1865, when he was defeated over his support for Confederation. After the union in 1867, he held several federal cabinet posts before serving as lieutenant-governor. His final words, at his death in 1896, were: I can go to sleep now. New Brunswick has done well.

8. Sir Adams George Archibald

A Truro, N.S., native born to a legal family who eventually became a judge himself, Archibald attended all three pre-Confederation conferences and was appointed secretary of state in 1867. He later served as lieutenant-governor of the Northwest Territories (now the three prairie provinces) and lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia.

9. Sir Alexander Campbell

The doctors son was born in England and came to Canada as an infant. Campbell was Sir John A. Macdonalds law partner in Kingston, Ont. He was appointed to the Senate at Confederation and was named postmaster-general in Sir Johns first cabinet. He was later lieutenant-governor of Ontario.

10. George Coles

Coles was born on P.E.I. of modest means, building a business as a brewer and distiller. He was elected to the island assembly in 1842, but resigned six years later when the ruling clique resisted his calls for responsible government. He attended the Charlottetown and Quebec conferences, but became an opponent of Confederation. His opposition helped keep P.E.I. out of the initial union, before joining Canada in 1873.

11. George Brown

The Scottish-born Brown came to Canada in 1843 at age 25 and in short order founded the Globe as a weekly newspaper. He was elected to the Parliament of the United Canadas (Ontario and Quebec) in 1851 and would become the chief chronicler of the Charlottetown conference through letters written to his wife. Brown was named to the Senate in 1873. He was later shot by a disgruntled former employee and died in 1880.

12. Sir Charles Tupper

Born in Amherst, N.S., Tupper, Canadas sixth prime minister, was the last surviving Father of Confederation. He was a doctor who became president of the Canadian Medical Association. He entered politics in the Nova Scotia assembly in 1855 and became premier. In 1867, he was elected to the federal parliament, served in various cabinet posts and as Canadian high commissioner in London. He was briefly prime minister during a revolving door that saw four men occupy the office between 1891-1896.

13. Edward Barron Chandler

A Nova Scotian who studied law and was called to the bar in New Brunswick, Chandler was one of the earliest proponents of a railway linking the British colonies of North America. He was present at all three pre-Confederation conferences, rejected a Senate appointment in 1867 and was later named commissioner of the railroad. In 1878, he became lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick.

14. Edward Palmer

Palmer was born in the P.E.I. capital on Sept. 1, 1809, 55 years to the day before the Canadian delegates came for the Charlottetown conference. He was a lawyer who was elected to the island assembly, holding several cabinet posts. Palmer opposed Confederation under the terms presented in 1867, but agreed to union in 1873. He later became chief justice of the P.E.I. Supreme Court.

15. Robert Barry Dickey

A Nova Scotia lawyer who attended the Quebec conference and believed the financial terms offered Maritime provinces to be unjust. He agreed to support a united Canada only after more liberal subsidies were agreed to.

16. Thomas DArcy McGee

McGee left Ireland at 17 during the famine and for years, back-and-forthed between his native land and America. He arrived in Montreal in 1857 and soon advocated for an independent Canadian nation. He was elected to the Canadian parliament in 1858 and served in cabinet until Confederation, earning a reputation as one of the countrys best orators. As he returned home from the Commons one night in 1868, he was shot and killed by a Fenian sympathizer.

17. William Alexander Henry

The Halifax-born lawyer was a Liberal for the first 16 years of his political career before joining the Tories in 1857. He was credited with helping draft the wording of the British North America Act. In the 1867 election, he was defeated in Nova Scotia  largely because of his pro-Confederation work. He returned to law and was named to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1875.

18. William Henry Steeves

The native of Hillsborough, N.B., was a businessman who served in the provincial assembly from 1851-67. At Confederation, he was appointed to the Canadian Senate and held that office until his death in 1873.

19. John Mercer Johnson

Johnson was born in Liverpool, England, and moved to New Brunswick as a child. He became a lawyer before being elected to the provincial assembly and serving in several cabinet posts. He was elected to the Commons in 1867, but died the next year.

20. Andrew Archibald Macdonald

Born in Truro, N.S., Macdonald was prominent at all three confederation conferences and was named to the first federal cabinet in 1867. But like many union backers, he was turfed out by angry Nova Scotia voters. He later returned to the Commons and was eventually appointed lieutenant-governor of his home province.

21. William McDougall

As a Toronto teenager, McDougall witnessed the burning of Montgomerys Tavern during the 1837 rebellion. At the Confederation conference, he allied with Sir Oliver Mowat in seeking an elected Senate.

22. William Henry Pope

Pope was born in Bedeque, P.E.I., in 1825. He was called to the island bar in 1847 and became P.E.I.s colonial secretary in 1859. It was Pope who was rowed out in an oyster boat to meet the Canadian delegates arriving in Charlottetown in 1864. After P.E.I. joined Confederation in 1873, Pope was appointed a county judge. He died in 1879.

23. Jonathan McCully

McCully was a teacher, lawyer, editor and judge from Cumberland County, N.S. An influential supporter of union, he was named to the Canadian Senate at Confederation, but resigned three years later to become a justice of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court.

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Peel police seized nearly half a million dollars worth of cocaine and arrested three people earlier this week as part of an investigation into drug trafficking in the GTA.

Officers arrested two men in Toronto on Tuesday, and found about 4.2 kilograms of cocaine in their possession. The drugs are worth about $418,000, said Peel Regional Police.

Later, as part of the same investigation, police executed a search warrant on a Toronto home. Officers there arrested a female and seized a loaded 40-calibre firearm.

George Coulbourne, a 38-year-old from Mississauga, is charged with possessing cocaine for the purposes of trafficking.

Leon Mitchell, 56, and 39-year-old Abie Miller, both of Toronto, also face a variety of drug and firearm charges.

Goulbourne and Mitchell were due to appear a bail hearing in Brampton Wednesday. Miller was released on a promise to appear, and is due in court April 8.

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The pictures are tiny and faded. In some the monuments loom large; in others abandoned trenches provide a window into the realities of war. And for years theyve been hidden away.

Until now.

This book of pictures fell upon me, and I opened it up and I was just startled, John Wright said of his grandfathers photos showing the unveiling of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in July 1936.

His grandfather, Walter Wright, was one of the organizers of the Toronto pilgrimage to Vimy, France, made by thousands of Canadian veterans for the unveiling. The memorial, unveiled by King Edward VIII, is dedicated to the memory of Canadian Expeditionary Force members killed during the First World War.

The photographs  which cover the period from the beginning of Walters journey in Montreal to the unveiling of the memorial and a reception for veterans at Buckingham Palace  have only been seen by Walters immediate family, according to John.

Walter was a chocolate dipper at Rowntrees, an English confectionery business in York, before joining the West Yorkshire Regiment in 1914. He was injured, but soon after being released from hospital he joined an artillery unit and remained with it until the end of the war.

He travelled to Canada in 1922, a year after his wife and three children arrived, and joined the Loyal Edmonton Regiment as chief warrant officer. A few years later Walter moved to Toronto, where he worked as a singing vaudeville performer, and eventually as a postman. He died in 1955.

John, who never got to meet his grandfather, said hes done a lot of research on him, which has taken me far and wide.

Theres precious little which survives families, John said. For me, it gives me a chance to try and fathom what it was like for these people to go through so much and who gave so much, and then look forward into the generations we have. I look on these people with awe. I dont know how they did it.

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An Ontario court has delivered a strong rebuke of what it described as the continuing problem of racial profiling by police officers, finding that a man was stopped by Toronto police in 2011 because of his race and was then assaulted.

Mutaz Elmardy was appealing the decision of a trial judge who awarded him $27,000 in 2015, finding that he had been unlawfully arrested, searched and assaulted by an officer. But Justice Frederick Myers did not find there was evidence Elmardy had been racially profiled.

A panel of Divisional Court judges disagreed when they granted Elmardys appeal this week, increasing the total damages police must pay to $80,000.

Racial profiling has a serious impact on the credibility and effectiveness of our police services. It has led to distrust and injustice. It must stop, wrote Justice Harriet Sachs for the panel.

There is a need for an award of damages that is significant enough to vindicate societys interest in having a police service comprised of officers who do not brutalize its citizens because of the colour of their skin and that sends the message to that service that this conduct must stop.

The courts and others have already made statements about the serious, wrongful nature of this type of conduct. Yet it continues to occur.

Elmardys lawyer, Andrew MacDonald, called the racial profiling finding a vindication for his client.

For him, hes very happy that the truth came out about the true circumstances of his unconstitutional detention by the police, he told the Star.

Toronto police spokesperson Meaghan Gray said she was unable to comment as the matter has now been referred to the professional standards unit for investigation.

The trial into Elmardys lawsuit in 2015 heard that Const. Andrew Pak and Const. Candice Poole, who were in their police cruiser, spotted Elmardy walking alone on Jan. 15, 2011 with his hands in his pockets.

Pak testified that he had a hunch the man was violating his bail terms by walking alone, and that he had looked at the cruiser as it was driving by. Poole testified she had an immediate concern he might be carrying a weapon because his hands were in his pockets.

They did a U-turn and asked Elmardy questions. Myers, in his ruling, said Elmardy was hostile to police, and that when he refused to take his hands out of his pockets, the officers subdued him and Pak punched him twice in the face. Elmardy was then knocked to the ground, handcuffed and left on the ice with his hands exposed to the cold weather for 20 to 25 minutes.

The officers did not give him a reason for his detention or advise him of his right to a lawyer, Sachs wrote in the appeal decision released this week.

Elmardy, who was walking home from evening prayers at his mosque, was subjected to the controversial police practice of carding, as officers then filled out a card with information about Elmardy, writing that his skin colour was black and his place of birth was Sudan.

The trial judge had also found the officers lied about the reason for stopping Elmardy, Sachs noted, saying their explanations had been rejected by Myers and were infected with racial stereotypes.

Pak was assigned at the time to the now-disbanded Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy team, known as TAVIS, and which was criticized for its high rate of carding. Myers said Pak took the law into his own hands and administered some street justice.

The president of the Toronto Police Association, Mike McCormack, who could not be reached for this story, told the Star in 2015 that the union was concerned about Myers comments following the trial into Elmardys lawsuit.

McCormack also noted that Pak was cleared of wrongdoing by the Office of the Independent Police Review Director, a civilian agency, although its decision is not available to the public because the complaint was found to have been unsubstantiated.

In this case, the officers unreasonable beliefs about the appellant caused them to assault the appellant, unreasonably search him and forcibly restrain him, Sachs wrote this week. In other words, instead of presuming his innocence, they assumed and acted as if he were guilty and dangerous.

He must be violating his bail and he must be carrying a gun. These assumptions, for which there is no explanation other than the colour of the appellants skin, caused them to blatantly and aggressively violate the appellants constitutional rights.

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Premier Kathleen Wynne has commended New York state for dropping a Buy American policy that threatened $30 billion in trade, but said the province was prepared to act quickly had it not done so.

Speaking at Queens Park on Saturday before heading to Illinois on Sunday night to meet with the governor there, Wynne said the New York decision reflected the deep and long-standing relationship between the two jurisdictions.

However, she warned that Ontario still faces a battle with coming changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement.

This has been an intense time in New York and its been an intense time for our team, so Im very pleased to say New York state has dropped the Buy American provisions from its budget, she said. Thats in the best interest of workers and businesses here in Ontario, and also in the best interests of theirs in New York.

Ontario and New York share more than a border, Wynne noted.

Our economies rely on each other and we rely on each other to support good jobs and growth. And protectionist policies like Buy American put that relationship and those jobs and businesses at serious risk  this partnership is crucial to both of our economies.

In 2016, total trade between the province and the state was $22.7 billion (U.S.)  about $30 billion Canadian.

But despite the good relations, Wynne said Ontario was not going to sit by in the event the policy was passed.

Let me be clear: Ontario was not taking a wait-and-see approach to the Buy American provisions  our government has worked tirelessly to ensure that Ontario was top of mind as this budget in New York state was being considered, she said.

Wynne added: I met with cabinet 10 days ago and we agreed that we would table legislation as early as next week if it had been required in order to allow Ontario to react forcefully to these policies.

In anticipation of changes to NAFTA, the premier has been writing to and meeting with American governors in states that have strong trading partnerships with Ontario. She will be in Chicago on Monday.

When the province is trading, businesses are growing and that means good jobs are being created, she added. This is a two-way street, with benefits here and benefits in the U.S.

New Yorks Buy American policy would have given preference to U.S.-made good and products for contracts exceeding $100,000.

Among the provinces lobbying efforts included a recent trip to New York by Economic Development Minister Brad Duguid and Inernational Trade Minister Michael Chan, during which they made the case for Ontario to remain a top trading partner.

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WASHINGTONTensions between the United States and Russia intensified Friday following Donald Trumps strike on a Syrian airbase, with Vladimir Putins administration warning that the risk of a confrontation in Syria had significantly increased.

Trump basked in a chorus of support from U.S. lawmakers and from allies around the world, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. But the presidents decision to respond to a Syrian chemical attack with a hail of American cruise missiles prompted Russia to pledge to fortify Syrias air defences and to suspend an agreement designed to prevent inadvertent clashes with the U.S. over Syrian territory.

We strongly condemn the illegitimate actions by the U.S. The consequences of this for regional and international stability could be extremely serious, Russian Deputy Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov said at the UN Security Council.

Trump did not offer further explanation for his sudden change of heart about attacking the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, the type of intervention he castigated on the campaign trail. His team signalled Friday that the attack was intended as a one-time deterrence message to Assad, over chemical weapons in particular, rather than the beginning of a broad military campaignbut also left the door open for future strikes.

Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump

The United States took a very measured step last night. We are prepared to do more. But we hope that will not be necessary, said Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the UN.

It was unclear whether the attack had achieved a purpose other than warning Assad. The U.S. military said 58 of 59 missiles had hit their target, Russia said only 23 did. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a small group based in England, claimed that Syrian warplanes took off from the airbase on Friday.

Trump acted so quickly, without seeking UN or congressional approval, that even some State Department officials were reported to be in the dark. But his decision was endorsed Friday by countries including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, France and Germany.

Trudeau said he was briefed on the attack an hour beforehand. He spoke with Trump on Friday to reiterate that Canada fully supports the United States limited and focused action to degrade the Syrian regimes ability to conduct chemical weapons attacks, his office said.

In the face of such heinous war crimes, all civilized peoples must speak with one voice, Trudeau told Parliament.

The Syrian opposition and civilians in rebel-held territory rejoiced at the strike. Some Syrians even changed their photos on social media to images of Trump, the president who wants to ban Syrian refugees.

As a Syrian refugee, I never imagined that Id say this: Thanks @realDonaldTrump for bombing the regime who displaced me, please do more, Milad Kawas Cale, a doctor, wrote on Twitter.

The strike was also greeted with broad praise from foreign policy professionals, even those who had worked for Trumps predecessor. Barack Obama had frustrated some advisers by declining to act against Assad in 2013 after declaring that chemical weapons use was a red line.

Donald Trump has done the right thing on Syria. Finally!! After years of useless handwringing in the face of hideous atrocities, Anne-Marie Slaughter, who was Hillary Clintons director of policy planning at the State Department, wrote on Twitter.

But attacks on the Middle East are frequently less popular with the U.S. public than they are with Washington powerbrokers. And Trump faced pointed questions Friday about whether his strike was legal in the first place.

Ill tell you there is a desire to see what authority the administration is claiming to operate under so far, Republican Sen. John Cornyn told the Huffington Post.

Obama had sought authorization from Congress to strike at Syria in 2013; Congress did not take action. Trump, who demanded then that Obama not act without congressional approval, did not seek permission this time.

The American Civil Liberties Union said, Assads illegality does not excuse illegality in response.

Read more:

U.S. investigates Russias role in Syrian chemical weapons attack

Missile strike opens new opportunity to push for Syria ceasefire: DiManno

Trudeau takes path of least resistance in backing Trump: Hebert

In the face of constitutional law barring hostile use of force without congressional authorization, and international law forbidding unilateral use of force except in self-defense, President Trump has unilaterally launched strikes against a country that has not attacked us, and without any authorization from Congress, the ACLUs Hina Shamsi wrote.

The administration continued to justify the strike using the type of altruistic reasoning he rejected as a candidate in favour of a hard-hearted policy of America First. His chief spokesman, Sean Spicer, cited very important national security interests in the region. But he emphasized again that Trump had been moved by the suffering of children killed by the chemical attack, and he said obviously theres a huge humanitarian component to this.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, Russia's Vladimir Safronkov and Deputy Ambassador Mounzer Mounzer of Syria trade barbs in a Security Council meeting over the U.S. cruise missile strikes in Syria.

Trumps move earned him sympathetic stories from media outlets usually critical of him. On Syria Attack, Trumps Heart Came First, read the headline on a story in the New York Times. Democrats, though, questioned the sincerity of his newfound compassion.

We cannot in one breath speak of protecting Syrian babies and in the next close Americas doors to them, Clinton said in Houston.

The administration released a photo of a stern-faced Trump receiving a briefing on the strike in a secure room at his resort in Florida, where he held meetings Thursday with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The image was reminiscent of the famous photo of Obama and Clinton watching the raid in Pakistan that led to Osama bin Ladens death.

The strike allowed Trump to offer an unmistakable contrast between his own instinctive leadership and the meticulous Obama deliberation critics called dithering. But the day after was suffused with uncertainty about just what Trump saying to the world.

Does he now seek the ouster of Assad? Has he changed his mind on the importance of humanitarian interests? Is he now planning a lasting departure from his professed isolationist beliefs? Does he have a plan at all?

This is a perfectly legitimate, if limited, step to take, but it would be greatly helpful to the entire world if Trump were to more fully explain why he acted and what the ramifications will be for U.S. policy, wrote Max Boot, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a past adviser to Republican candidates.

Laurie Brand, a University of Southern California professor of international relations and Middle East studies, said Trumps foreign policy so far has been an ocean of incoherence. She suggested the hunt for a doctrine would be fruitless.

The president has no driving ideology or world view, she said. I dont think he has a core.

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A ferry boat capsized in Burmas Ayeyarwaddy delta, killing 20 people and leaving more than a dozen missing, police said.

Thirty people were rescued after the ferry capsized in the Ngawun river at around 7:30 p.m. Friday, police officer Nay Lin Tun said. About 66 people were on the ferry, which capsized after colliding with a boat carrying gravel.

The ferry was going from Pathein to Yakhinekone village. Most of the ferrys passengers were returning from a wedding ceremony.

Boat accidents are fairly common in Burma, where many people travel by boat and government oversight is lax. Poor maintenance and overcrowding makes the vessels prone to capsizing. People living in the delta region often travel and transport goods by boat because of the low cost and the inaccessibility of many areas by road.

In October, 48 people died when an overcrowded ferry capsized during a nighttime run on the Chindwin river in central Burma.

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Canadian aid workers in the Middle East are preparing for an influx of asylum-seekers into already crowded camps, fearing U.S. military action in Syria could drive more people out of the war-torn country.

The policy director at World Vision Canada said Saturday that his agency is planning for a new wave of people fleeing Syria, out of concern that Thursdays American military intervention could escalate.

American warships launched almost 60 missiles at a military airbase in central Syria, killing nine people. It marked the first time Washington has directly targeted Syrian government forces since the countrys civil war began in 2011.

Read more: U.S. launches cruise missile attack against Syria

With that in mind, Martin Fischer said, he and his team have to ask themselves a number of questions in order to adjust their contingency plan.

Where could military action escalate? What kind of populations are still in those areas? And if there were some sort of military action, how would that transpire into people moving across the border into various countries? he said, speaking from Amman, Jordan.

The important thing is to recognize is that if airstrikes happen, it doesnt automatically mean that people just from those areas move, but it instills a sense of fear into people that really, theres going to be more fighting. And thats when they move into neighbouring countries, he added.

Relief agencies like World Vision may need to redistribute their resources, based on the changing landscape.

The agency so far has been working in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq, providing emergency intervention to people affected by the conflict  including food, water, sanitation and education.

And Fischer said the job may become even more difficult as a result of the strikes.

The infrastructure for the current situation is there, but if you look at both communities where refugees are outside of camps, as well as inside camps, theyre pretty much at capacity, he said. So if you then have a large influx of refugees, you need to beef up the NGOs (non-governmental organizations) capacities, but also the host countries capacities to take these folks in.

He said for things to get better for people in Syria, there must be a political solution.

Read more: U.S. vows to keep pressure on Syria after missile strikes

(With) the military solution, the people that suffer are civilians, he said. And of those, most critically, its children.

Fischer added that Canadians at home can also help.

Translate their shock and their despair into some form of outrage, if you will. That means really letting their elected officials at every level ... know that these kinds of attacks, either the gas attacks to begin with or counter-military attacks, are not without impact on people. Theyre not just military operations.

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MOSCOWIf Russia once maintained at least a semblance of distance from President Bashar Assad of Syria, it rushed to his defence after the missile strikes ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday. The attack cemented Moscow more closely than ever to the notorious Syrian autocrat.

Even as the United States condemned Assad for gassing his own citizens and held Russia partly responsible, given its 2013 promise to rid Syria of chemical weapons, the Kremlin kept denying that Syria had any such capability.

By championing Assad and condemning U.S. aggression, Russian President Vladimir Putin seemed to be burying the idea that he could somehow co-operate with the Trump administration to end the conflict on his terms.

Read more:

U.S. vows to keep pressure on Syria after missile strikes

Trumps Syria strike intensifies tensions with Russia, highlights questions of foreign policy

The solidarity with Damascus is likely to cause problems for Russia in the long run, analysts said, although Putin probably cannot be persuaded to loosen his embrace any time soon.

The Russian government often takes its time to react to major world events, but the Kremlin issued a prompt statement early Friday castigating the United States for the missile strikes on Al Shayrat airfield in retaliation for Syrias chemical weapons attack.

The Russian Defence Ministry vowed to strengthen Syrias air defence systems, sent a frigate on a port call, and froze an agreement with the United States to co-ordinate activity in Syrian air space.

Putin made a choice  to underline that Assad is his ally, said Alexander Morozov, an independent political analyst. This will lead to Russias further isolation, but Putin will stand his ground.

Morozov and other analysts consider the policy problematic for various reasons.

First, Trump and his secretary of state, Rex W. Tillerson, have painted Russia as at least partly responsible for the carnage among civilians that was fomented by the Assad government.

Moscows main problem is not that the U.S. made a strike but that Trump and Tillerson have toughened their rhetoric on Syria and Assad, said Vladimir Frolov, a foreign affairs analyst.

He added, They have said that Russia is responsible for Assads actions and that it didnt fulfil its responsibilities in terms of chemical weapons disarmament.

The chemical attack in the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun on Tuesday killed more than 80 people and afflicted hundreds more. Turkey said Thursday that sarin, a banned nerve agent, had been used.

The United States responded by firing almost 60 cruise missiles at the airbase, which housed the warplanes used in the chemical attack. The local governor said five military men and two civilians died.

Second, in continuing deadly attacks on civilians, Assad seems to want to pursue a military victory at any cost, putting a lie to Russias statements that a negotiated settlement is the sole solution.

That risks dragging out a war that Putin has depicted at home as quick, cheap and easy at a time when many Russians have been struggling economically. Trying to keep the length and cost of the war down is a crucial reason the Russians will avoid escalating any conflict with the United States, analysts said.

Russia wants to end the conflict and to diminish its military and economic presence, said Andrei Frolov, a defence analyst and the managing editor of the Moscow Defense Brief.

Third, the Assad alliance could undermine one of Putins main goals for entering the war: to try to make Russia a player on the world stage again as the indispensable broker in the Middle East.

Protecting Assad could further repulse countries Moscow has been courting, like Turkey and Israel, analysts said  not to mention much of the world.

In the months immediately after Russia deployed its military in Syria, Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry, used to say things like, We dont support Assad; what is important for us is to preserve Syrian statehood.

After the attack, the ministry cranked out a statement lauding Syria for its fierce battle against international terrorism.

Alexei V. Makarkin, deputy head of the Center for Political Technologies, a think tank based in Moscow, said, The longer Russia supports Assad, the more dependent it is on him.

At the beginning, there was some talk about replacing him, even if gradually, he said, but that talk has evaporated.

The ostensible reason Putin deployed his military in Syria in September 2015 was to fight terrorism, but that is often dismissed as the sound-bite logic. Other goals, especially shoring up Assad, proved more important.

Putin wanted to resurrect Moscows old Soviet reputation as a global military power. Syria proved a showcase for new Russian weapons, and Russia has established two rare overseas bases there.

Russia will continue to support Assad because he is the only guarantor of Russias military presence in Syria and hence of Russias military presence in the Middle East overall, Makarkin said.

Finally, of course, Syria presented Russia with an opportunity to break out of the isolation that resulted from sanctions imposed by the West for its 2014 annexation of Crimea and destabilization of Ukraine.

The Kremlin thought that forging an alliance with the West on Syria would render illogical the idea of maintaining the economic sanctions.

Trump, during his campaign, seemed to champion the idea, as well, questioning the need for sanctions, suggesting that Crimea probably did belong to Russia and repeatedly praising Putin as a strong leader. He endorsed the idea that the two countries together fight Daesh, also known as ISIL or ISIS.

While that raised suspicions in the United States of collusion, it was welcomed in Russia as a new dawn in relations.

The illusions began fading as Trump or his allies reversed many of those positions one by one, and the attack on Syria pretty much buried them.

On Friday, the rubric on Rossiya 24, the state satellite news channel, for some of the coverage of the attack was Kaptain Amerika imposed over a zombielike figure with dead eyes.

The rest of the pre-election fog has melted away, Dmitry Medvedev, Russias prime minister, wrote on his Facebook page. Instead of the mass-circulated narrative about a joint fight against our main enemy, ISIL, the Trump administration has demonstrated that it will be fiercely fighting the legitimate government of Syria.

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PALM BEACH, FLA.The United States is vowing to keep up the pressure on Syria after the intense nighttime wave of missile strikes from U.S. ships, despite the prospect of escalating Russian ill will that could further inflame one of the worlds most vexing conflicts.

Standing firm, the Trump administration on Friday signalled new sanctions would soon follow the missile attack, and the Pentagon was even probing whether Russia itself was involved in the chemical weapons assault that compelled U.S. President Donald Trump to action. The attack against a Syrian airbase was the first U.S. assault against the government of President Bashar Assad.

Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump

Much of the international community rallied behind Trumps decision to fire the cruise missiles in reaction to this weeks chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of men, women and children in Syria. But a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the strikes dealt a significant blow to relations between Moscow and Washington.

A key test of whether the relationship can be salvaged comes next week when Secretary of State Rex Tillerson becomes the first Trump Cabinet member to visit Russia.

British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson also had planned to visit Russia this coming week, but decided Saturday to cancel the trip because of the fast moving events in Syria. Johnson, who condemned Moscows continued defence of Assad, said Tillerson will be able to give a clear and co-ordinated message to the Russians.

Read more: Trumps Syria strike intensifies tensions with Russia, highlights questions of his foreign policy

At the United Nations on Friday, Russias deputy ambassador, Vladimir Safronkov, strongly criticized what he called the U.S. flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression whose consequences for regional and international security could be extremely serious. He called the Assad government a main force against terrorism and said it deserved the presumption of innocence in the chemical weapons attack.

The U.S. ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said the world is waiting for the Russian government to act responsibly in Syria and to reconsider its misplaced alliance with Bashar Assad.

Trump spoke by telephone Friday with Saudi Arabias King Salman, who reaffirmed strong support for the military strike and thanked the U.S. president for his courageous action, according to statements issued Saturday by the White House and the official Saudi Press Agency.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, Russia's Vladimir Safronkov and Deputy Ambassador Mounzer Mounzer of Syria trade barbs in a Security Council meeting over the U.S. cruise missile strikes in Syria.

Saudi Arabia, one of the most vehement opponents of Assad, said the missile barrage was the right response to the crimes of this regime to its people in light of the failure of the international community to stop it.

The Turkish foreign minister, whose country is a strong backer of the Syrian opposition, said the U.S. missile strikes were not enough. Mevlut Cavusoglu said Saturday that the U.S. intervention was only cosmetic unless it removes Assad from power. He said the most ideal process would be a political solution that leads to a transitional government.

In Florida with the president, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said additional economic sanctions on Syria were being prepared.

Thursday nights strikes  some 60 cruise missiles fired from two ships in the Mediterranean  were the culmination of a rapid, three-day transformation for Trump, who has long opposed deeper U.S. involvement in Syrias civil war. Advisers said he was outraged by heartbreaking images of young children who were among the dozens killed in the chemical attack.

Read more: U.S. launches cruise missile attack against Syria

The decision undercut another campaign promise for Trump: his pledge to try to warm relations with Moscow. After months of allegations of ties between his election campaign and the Kremlin  the subject of current congressional and FBI investigations  Trump has found himself clashing with Putin.

On Friday, senior U.S. military officials were looking more closely at possible Russian involvement in the poison attack. Officials said a drone belonging to either Russia or Syria was seen hovering over the site after the assault earlier this week. The drone returned late in the day as citizens were going to a nearby hospital for treatment. Shortly afterward, officials say the hospital was targeted.

The officials, who insisted on anonymity in order to discuss the sensitive matter, said they believe the hospital attack may have been an effort to cover up evidence of the earlier assault.

Read more: U.S. investigates Russias role in Syrian chemical weapons attack

White House officials caution that Trump is not preparing to plunge the U.S. deeper into Syria. Spokesman Sean Spicer said the missile attack sent a clear message to Assad, but he avoided explicitly calling for the Syrian to leave office.

In a letter to Congress on Saturday, Trump said he acted in the vital national security and foreign policy interests of the United States, pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct foreign relations and as commander in chief and chief executive.

He said the U.S. will take additional action, as necessary and appropriate, to further its important national interests.

Trump, who is spending the weekend at his Florida resort, tweeted a brief explanation Saturday of why the military didnt strike the runways in its bombardment of the Syrian air field, writing, they are easy and inexpensive to quickly fix (fill in and top)!

Still, the impact of the strikes was unclear. Despite intense international pressure, Assad has clung to power since a civil war broke out in his country six years ago, helped by financial and military support from both Russia and Iran. Russian military personnel and aircraft are embedded with Syrias, and Iranian troops and paramilitary forces are also on the ground helping Assad fight the array of opposition groups hoping to topple him.

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The history of police relations with racialized groups in Ontario is a tale of mistrust, missed opportunities and hollow responses that resolved little. The stalemate is on the verge of ending. A revolutionary report on police accountability by Justice Michael Tulloch could be the transformational document a generation of advocates have been waiting for.

Well before organizations such as Black Lives Matter took up the fight, the Black Action Defense Committee, Dudley Laws, Charles Roach, and other activists were crying out for effective police oversight. From that era to this, their core demands have not changed: accountability and transparency.

More often than not, advocates were met with either a knee-jerk defence of the police or by challenges to the legitimacy of those calling for change. Equally predictable, timid politicians have responded in piecemeal fashion with a patchwork of oversight legislation that has allowed the Special Investigations Unit to operate under a cloak of secrecy and nondisclosure.

Half-measures have not satisfied racialized communities who distrust their police. When potential misconduct is hidden behind an opaque wall of nondisclosure, distrust and fear are bound to fester. Sooner or later, a major overhaul of police oversight mechanisms was inevitable. The Tulloch report  comprehensive, visionary, and highly credible  marks the first step toward regaining the publics confidence in our police.

In signalling that his government is broadly receptive to the report, Attorney General Yasir Naqvi has sparked high expectations. The time for half-measures is long past.

Justice Tullochs Independent Police Oversight Review was launched on an implicit understanding that, historically, marginalized citizens and the mentally ill are those most likely to come into deadly contact with police. Moreover, statistics show that only 3 per cent of cases investigated by the SIU over its 25-year history resulted in criminal charges, a staggeringly low number.

While the review did not recommend the release of names of officers who are investigated but not criminally charged, it did urge the release of extensive evidence that is uncovered in these investigations as well as the reasons the evidence was deemed insufficient to support criminal charges.

Taken as a whole, this set of recommendations would uphold the presumption of innocence while still giving the public the information and evidence it needs to assess the efficacy of the police oversight process. Naqvi has wisely agreed to release old and forthcoming SIU reports.

The province should go further down this path by following Tullochs recommendation to expand the SIUs mandate beyond crimes that result in serious injury or death. It must be empowered to investigate offences such as breach of trust, fraud, perjury, obstructing justice and systemic racism or discrimination.

Another area that cries out for legislative change is the historic refusal of some police officers to participate in SIU investigations. The report recognizes that officers often fail to meet their legal obligations due to loopholes and ambiguity in current legislation surrounding their duty to co-operate.

The answer is to implement Tullochs recommendation that legislation be amended to require police to immediately disclose to the SIU all evidence in their possession. Failing to co-operate would be a provincial offence that carries a potential jail sentence.

The SIU should also be required to conclude investigations within 120 days; a deadline that will ensure timely justice and closure for those directly affected.

Doubtless, the province will face pressure to maintain the status quo. Police unions have often shown a flair for mobilizing public fear to stall reforms.

Aligned on the other side, however, is a steadily growing opposition toward police use of force, a reality Tulloch tapped into fully. Should his report succeed where numerous others have failed, it will be in no small part due to his unique qualifications to lead such a review.

Born in Jamaica, Justice Tulloch arrived in Canada to quickly discover the challenges of a being a new immigrant to this country. He worked as a defence lawyer and as a Crown prosecutor before being appointed as a judge. Tullochs origins, coupled with his cultural and legal experience, permit him to speak both for, and to, members of racialized groups who believe the legal system is loaded against them.

This review took Tulloch to all corners of the province. He listened intently to a wide spectrum of voices, assembling a remarkable report that brings the province to the brink of true reform. It will now be up to another immigrant who also shares Tullochs goal for racial justice  Attorney General Yasir Naqvi  to provide the final push forward.

Daniel Brown is a criminal defence lawyer and a Toronto director with the Criminal Lawyers Association.

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Thursday night, the U.S. launched an intense missile strike on a Syrian airbase. In a short speech made from his Mar a Lago resort in Florida, President Trump gave his reasons for ordering this strike.

While the merits of this strike, as well as its possible consequences, are currently being debated, much can be learned about Trumps moral conception about war. And this should be made clear  although the strike on Syria is not part of a fully fledged war against it, nonetheless it is an act of war. As such, it is bound not only by the international laws that govern belligerent activities, but also by moral constraints on the conduct of war.

Trump began his speech by describing how Syria breached moral norms regarding war. He said, Syria launched a horrific chemical attack on innocent civilians. Using a deadly nerve agent, Assad choked out the lives of hopeless men, women, and children ... Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack. No child of god should ever suffer such horror.

And indeed, the moral norms that guide the use of force in war dictate that civilians who are not engaged in combat shall not be the target of an attack. Those men, women, and children are innocent in the sense that they are not posing a threat, and hence making them the object of an attack could justify the intervention of other sovereign nations for the protection of those civilians.

But Trump did not end there. Instead, he provided two additional justifications for his order.

The second was based on Syria breaching it obligations under international law, which prohibit the use of chemical weapons. Trump said there can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons, violated its obligations under the chemical weapons convention and ignored the urging of the UN security council. However, this breach alone does not justify, according to international law, an act of war from another sovereign state that was not part of the dispute.

Perhaps this is why Trump justified the strike on a third basis: U.S. national security interests. In Trumps words: it was in the vital national security interest of the U.S. to prevent and deter the use of deadly chemical weapons  Years of previous attempts at changing Assad's behaviour have all failed and failed very dramatically. As a result, the refugee crisis continues, and the region continues to destabilize, threatening the U.S. and its allies  Tonight, I call on all civilized nations in seeking to end the slaughter and bloodshed in Syria and also to end terrorism of all kinds and all types.

From a moral and legal perspective, if a state is under a genuine immanent threat it can act in self-defence and engage in acts of war. But do the national security reasons Trump gave amount to such genuine immanent threat?

The answer is no. An analysis of the text reveals three national security threats that Trump wishes to prevent: The use of chemical weapons in a terror attack aimed at the U.S., a destabilized Middle East, and refugee immigration.

While the prevention of terror attacks against the U.S. could be a reason to engage in counterterrorism activities, it is hard to see how the situation in Syria poses a genuine immediate threat to the U.S.

Similarly, a destabilized Middle East is not in the U.S. best interests, but this risk is not of the kind that will justify an act of war.

Lastly, and most obviously, Syrian refugees do not pose by mere status or existence any threat that would justify the U.S. strike, despite the well-known beliefs Trump holds on the threat the U.S. faces by admitting refugees from the region.

Were Trump to justify the strike solely, or mainly, on the grounds of international humanitarian intervention it would have been proper. But the majority of his speech was dedicated to the risk Syria posed on the U.S., which is not of the kind of genuine imminent risks that justify the resort to war.

If Trump believes the content of his speech to be true, then he either he is misunderstanding Syrias threat to U.S. national security, that he does not give much value to the sovereignty of other nations, or that he is unaware of the legal and moral constraints of war.

Haim Abraham is a Vanier Scholar and a Winkler International Human Rights Fellow in the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. Haims research examines states moral and legal obligations to compensate civilians who suffered wrongful losses during the conduct of war.

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When the House of Commons voted last year to change two words in O Canada, it seemed to resolve a 30-year struggle.

After countless failed campaigns, motions and bills, those who view our anthem as a living symbol that ought to evolve along with our values appeared finally to have prevailed. In all thy sons command would become in all of us command, and all Canadians would at last be included in the song.

But one should never count out the opposing camp in this endless conflict. Those who view our anthem as a historical artifact that above all must be preserved constitute an equally large and vociferous group  one that, crucially for the future of the anthem, contains a number of senators.

These legislators are now mounting a last stand, threatening to allow the bill to languish in its final reading in the Upper House, almost a year after the elected Members of Parliament approved it. They argue that the change represents political correctness run amok, that it is an affront to tradition and that the proposed new lyrics would be an ungrammatical blight on the anthem.

They are wrong on all counts.

First, the notion that we should continue to do something simply because we have always done it that way is a dangerous fallacy. This logic has been used to preserve some of the worst relics of antediluvian times.

Our social attitude toward women has changed substantially over the century since the English words of O Canada were written. Only extremists would say this process has not been favourable. These lyrics are sung by hundreds of thousands of us every day; we demand that our children learn them by heart. Surely they should evolve to reflect sentiments we can stand behind, rather than harden into a permanent, illiberal anachronism.

Second, to change the lyrics of O Canada would be a tribute, not an affront, to tradition. The words to our anthem are hardly set in stone. They have been rewritten at least 25 times before. In fact, the original lyric of 1908, thou dost in us command, was gender-neutral. Six years later, Robert Stanley Weir changed it to the more mellifluous but less inclusive current version. If our senators want to insist on a perverse anthemic originalism, why not go all the way?

Third, if the proposed change is ungrammatical, then so, too, is the current version; they take the same syntactic form. Some senators also argue that the proposed lyric is clunky, a result of lawmakers lack of literary skill. Politicians are not usually poets, said Joan Fraser, a Liberal appointee and former journalist. True enough, yet one of our most noted poets, Margaret Atwood, has been forcefully advocating the proposed new wording for years.

In any case, if the concerns were truly literary in nature, surely the Senate could recommend an amendment. Rather, the pedantry seems to stand in for more troubling attitudes  an automatic opposition to change, for instance; or worse, nostalgia for less enlightened times. This is just change for the sake of change, said Conservative Sen. Michael MacDonald, change that caters to a very narrow group of people who want to impose their agenda on everything. That sounds like the gripe of a man being left behind.

The current legislation was put forward by former Liberal MP Mauril Belanger, who died last year. In defence of his proposal, he argued rightly that we ought to continually test our assumptions, and indeed our symbols, for their suitability. He was right, too, that our anthem can reflect our roots and our growth.

O Canada is not a museum piece; we use it every day. It ought to be a song we can believe in. Senators should get out of the way.

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Re: All faiths must fight anti-Muslim actions, Farber, April 2

All faiths must fight anti-Muslim actions, Farber, April 2

Very well written! The Muslim community is peaceful and proud of their adopted country of Canada. We live in a democracy and people have every right to express their opinion, but the extreme hatred shown by some is very tragic. People can get hurt by such behaviour, which seriously violates Canadian values of tolerance, compassion, decency and respect for each other. Such extremists must be exposed.

Rafat Khan, Mississauga

Tolerance and respect for diversity are the products of equal treatment, not special treatment. And that, not bigotry, is why 47 per cent of Canadians opposed motion 103.

Kat Duffy, Mississauga

Three cheers for Bernie Farbers clarion call to stand tall against Islamophobia. Farber shines a public spotlight on the dismal failure by the leadership of all faith and religious communities to unite against anti-Muslim stereotyping, racism and oppression.

Actual or wilful ignorance of the fact that violent extremists have hijacked Islam must never excuse attacks against all Muslims or the desecration of the Quran.

We need effective, bold and courageous moral leadership by all faith communities, along with the heads of all public and private health, education and social services, all levels of government and all non-governmental organizations  to let our Muslim neighbours know they are not alone.

In this season of Passover, we are reminded of the teaching: Do no oppress the stranger! If we allow our leaders to remain silent, then we are complicit in the racist stereotyping and oppression against all Muslims.

Ben Carniol, professor emeritus, Ryerson University, Toronto

Bernie Farber has written a timely and extremely important column in asking faith leaders to publicly stand and support Muslim Canadians.

If Canadian values mean anything at all, surely they mean rising forcefully and decisively to the defence of the right of all Canadians, including Muslims, to live and pray free of fear and hate.

It is especially incumbent upon faith leaders, regardless of religion or denomination, to speak out clearly against the rising climate of Islamophobia and all who propagate it.

Rima Berns-McGown, Toronto

The United Church of Canada couldnt agree more with Bernie Farbers commentary. Locally, United Church congregations are reaching out to the Muslim community with acts of solidarity, from posting messages of support on their signboards and organizing interfaith vigils to distributing lawn signs that welcome their Muslim neighbours.

Last month, the churchs moderator, the Right Rev. Jordan Cantwell, addressed the rising tide of violence and discrimination rooted in racial and religious bigotry in a pastoral letter issued in conjunction with the International Day for the Elimination of Racism.

She said, If we give in to fears based on religious or racial grounds, we will be providing fertile ground for hate and extremism to flourish.

Without a doubt, it is time for all of us to stand together to heal the brokenness that fractures our communities and forge bonds of friendship and co-operation.

Catherine Rodd, acting general secretary, The United Church of Canada, Toronto

Bravo for Bernie Farbers column. Mr. Farber called for Canadian religious leaders to denounce anti-Muslim actions. I believe many Canadian religious leaders have done this. However, because Canada is more and more a secular society, the important messages of religious leaders are often not found in the mainstream media.

As an example, top leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Canada made a public statement on Jan. 30 condemning the tragic shooting of our brothers in worship at the Quebec City mosque last evening.

For the past few years, top Mormon leaders have discussed the importance of religious freedom for everyone.

On April 1 and 2, the Mormon Church held its general conference, which is broadcast worldwide. More than one Mormon leader talked about guarding against hate and bigotry and to be inclusive.

During the past few years, the Mormon Church has spent millions of dollars worldwide in helping Syrian refugees and other refugees obtain food, clothing and shelter.

Ken Sisler, Newmarket

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Northrop Grumman Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense company worldwide. The company's Aeronautics Systems segment designs, develops, manufactures, integrates, and sustains aircraft systems. This segment also offers unmanned autonomous aircraft systems, including high-altitude long-endurance strategic ISR systems and vertical take-off and landing tactical ISR systems; and strategic long-range strike aircraft, tactical fighter and air dominance aircraft, and airborne battle management and command and control systems. Its Defense Systems segment designs, develops, and produces weapons and mission systems. It offers products and services, such as integrated battle management systems, weapons systems and aircraft, and mission systems. This segment also provides command and control and weapons systems, including munitions and missiles; precision strike weapons; propulsion, such as air-breathing and hypersonic systems; gun systems and precision munitions; life cycle service and support for software, weapons systems, and aircraft; and logistics support, sustainment, operation, and modernization for air, sea, and ground systems. The company's Mission Systems segment offers cyber, command, control, communications and computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems; radar, electro-optical/infrared and acoustic sensors; electronic warfare systems; advanced communications and network systems; cyber solutions; intelligence processing systems; navigation; and maritime power, propulsion, and payload launch systems. This segment also provides airborne multifunction sensors; maritime/land systems and sensors; navigation, targeting, and survivability solutions; and networked information solutions. Its Space Systems segment offers satellites and payloads; ground systems; missile defense systems and interceptors; launch vehicles and related propulsion systems; and strategic missiles. The company was founded in 1939 and is based in Falls Church, Virginia.
Militants launched 43 attacks on positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in ATO area in Donbas over the past day.

This is reported by the ATO press center.

In Mariupol direction, the enemy used 82mm mortars, grenade launchers and heavy machine guns to shell Ukrainian positions near Krasnohorivka (29 km west of Donetsk). ATO troops outside Marinka (35 km south-west of Donetsk) came under 82mm mortar and small arms fire.

In Donetsk direction, militants fired at Avdiivka (18km north of Donetsk) and Verkhniotoretske (22km north-east of Donetsk), using 82mm mortars and grenade launchers. Ukrainian strongholds also came under heavy machine gun and small arms fire in Kamyanka (62km south of Donetsk).

In Luhansk direction, Russian-backed militants launched attacks on Ukrainian troops near Stanytsia Luhanska (16km north-east of Luhansk), using grenade launchers. ATO strongholds outside Krymske (42.5km north-west of Luhansk) came under heavy machine gun fire.

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More than 200,000 children, or one in four, in eastern Ukraine require urgent and sustained psychosocial support.

This is reported by the UN News Center.

The world has forgotten about this invisible crisis in eastern Ukraine, but hundreds of thousands of children are paying a heavy price, one that could last a lifetime without adequate support, said UNICEF Ukraine Representative Giovanna Barberis in a news release, stressing the urgent need for funding to reach these traumatized children.

According to her, children, who are living in Luhansk and Donetsk regions within a radius of 15 kilometers from the contact line, suffer the most. They are in chronic fear and uncertainty due to sporadic shelling, unpredictable fighting and dangers from landmines and other unexploded ordinance.

As noted, many children risk their safety to get an education. Seven schools were damaged during the most recent escalation of violence in February and March, and more than 740 schools, or one in five, in eastern Ukraine have been damaged or destroyed since the conflict began in 2014.

UNICEF is appealing for $31.2 million to support these children and their families.

Children should not have to live with the emotional scars from a conflict they had no part in creating. Additional support is needed now so that young people in Donetsk and Luhansk can grow into healthy adults and rebuild their communities, said Ms. Barberis, calling on all sides of the conflict to recommit to the ceasefire signed in Minsk and end this senseless violence.

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The European Parliaments vote in favor of the visa liberalization for Ukraine is a testimony to the faith of the European community in Ukraine and the countrys reform path.

This was stated by Eugene Czolij, the President of the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC).

The Ukrainian World Congress congratulates the governing authorities and the people of Ukraine on the achievement of this milestone which is a testimony to the faith of the European community in Ukraine and the countrys reform path that will ultimately lead to full European integration, Czolij said.

The UWC President reminded that the UWC was actively and persistently promoting a visa-free regime for Ukraine at the EU level and is very pleased that the EU took this significant decision that will clearly be in the best interests of both the EU and Ukraine.

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Amazon Wind Farm may not produce enough energy to meet stated goals

The project was promoted as a renewable energy source that would help North Carolina reach Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards mandated by state law, but electricity from the Amazon Wind Farm does not count toward the REPS since the power is not being sold to any public utility doing business in North Carolina. (See related story here.)

Amazon officials claim that the output generated by the wind farm is considered confidential, competitive business information, a company spokesman told CJ. This is not true, Linowes said. The federal government tracks and publishes net generation for this and other private wind energy producers. "I am not surprised that you were misled, but he should have known that you might find the data," she said. Then she showed CJ how to find it online.

she said. Then she showed CJ how to find it online. The developer and the Obama administration misrepresented potential interference the Amazon Wind Farm might cause to a nearby Navy radar station, Linowes said. CJ previously has reported on this dispute. The interference issue was cited in January by Republican leaders in the North Carolina General Assembly when they asked the Trump administration to shut the project down.



Amazon Wind Farm turbines surround this home on Turnpike Road just west of Elizabeth City in Perquimans County. (CJ photo by Don Carrington)

RALEIGH Wind-energy developers routinely deceive the public, a longtime critic of the industry told Carolina Journal. And the sales pitch surrounding the Amazon Wind Farm near Elizabeth City continues spreading those deceptions.Amazon continues to perpetuate the myth that the electrical grid can take power from the turbines on the wind farm, store it, and direct it for actual use by faraway data centers on the same grid. That is the sort of deceptive practice that's routine among wind energy developers and advocates, says Lisa Linowes, executive director of the New Hampshire-based WindAction Group. Linowes said Amazon's purported "commitment to achieve 100 percent renewable energy usage" for its web service data centers also is misleading.More inconsistencies or misinformation surround the eastern North Carolina project:In addition, early generation numbers obtained by CJ from the federal government indicate the project may not get enough wind at the site to reach its goal of 670,000 megawatt hours per year.The Amazon project is located a few miles west of Elizabeth City and is the first and only industrial-scale wind generation project in the southeastern United States. Construction began in 2015 and it started producing electricity in December. The 208-megawatt project is comprised of 104 2-megawatt wind turbines using three wind blades. Each turbine has a 305-foot tower and a wind blade radius of 187 feet, reaching a total height of 492 feet from the ground. The overall footprint of the wind farm encompasses 22,000 acres.The project was built and is operated by Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiary of Iberdrola, a Spain-based company that operates approximately 50 other wind energy facilities in the United States. Amazon became a partner in the project in 2015 after it agreed to buy the power from the project. In official documents, it is known alternatively as the Amazon Wind Farm, the Desert Wind Farm, the Iberdrola Wind Farm, the Avangrid Renewables Wind Farm, or Atlantic Wind LLC.Linowes has served as executive director and spokeswoman for WindAction since 2006. She tracks news and research pertaining to industrial wind and comments on the issue. She has authored more than 250 essays on wind energy issues and discussed the subject on CNN, NPR, and CBS News.
Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto received a leading Venezuelan opposition activist for the first time, in a policy shift that reflects Mexico's increasing assertiveness against the government of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro.

Pena Nieto's meeting with Lilian Tintori, wife of jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, in the Mexican capital follows statements by the Mexican government demanding that democracy be "re-established" in Venezuela, where elections have been postponed.

"We trust that, via an agreement between all sides, it will be the Venezuelans who re-establish the democratic order," Pena Nieto said via Twitter late on Thursday after the meeting.

The position reflects deep concern about the humanitarian crisis of food and medicine shortages in Venezuela, as well as the Supreme Court's short-lived decision last week to take over the powers of the country's opposition-controlled Congress.

It is also seen by diplomats as helping support ties between Mexico and the government of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Venezuela's Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez last week slammed her Mexican counterpart Luis Videgaray's "betrayal" and called him "servile" after Videgaray said the situation in Venezuela was a "systematic violation" of democratic principles.

Mexico has taken a leading role in efforts at the Washington-based Organization of American States (OAS) to pressure the Maduro government under threat of being expelled from the regional diplomatic body.

"Pena Nieto is worried about what Venezuelans are living, Tintori said in an interview with Mexican media network Grupo Imagen that also referred to Mexico's role in the OAS.

The Mexican stance against Maduro's government is a shift from a traditional neutral approach to the politics of its Latin American neighbors. It brings Mexico in line with recently elected conservative governments in Argentina, Brazil and Peru but puts it at odds with Venezuela's allies in the region.

Some in Mexican foreign policy circles had been pushing for Pena Nieto to receive Tintori as a message of support for the Venezuelan opposition. Tintori had previously met Videgaray's predecessor as foreign minister.
The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations told an emergency meeting of the Security Council on Friday that Washington was "fully justified" in striking a Syrian airfield overnight.

"The United States took a very measured step last night," Nikki Haley said, referring to the retaliatory missile strikes. "We are prepared to do more, but we hope that will not be necessary."

The U.S. said Bashar al-Assad's regime used the Shayrat airfield Tuesday to launch aircraft carrying poison gas that killed scores of civilians in the town of Khan Shaykhun in Idlib province.

"The United States will no longer wait for Assad to use chemical weapons without any consequences," Haley said. "Those days are over."

Haley said that the international community must now move to a new phase in Syria  a drive toward a political solution. She said until this point, Assad and his allies have not taken political negotiations seriously.

"We expect Russia and Iran to hold their ally accountable and abide by the terms of the cease-fire," she added.

Russia

Russia's deputy U.N. envoy was irate over the U.S. unilateral military strike, calling it a "flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression."

"We strongly condemn the illegitimate actions by the U.S.," Vladimir Safronkov told council members. "The consequences of this for regional and international stability could be extremely serious."

He dismissed U.S. calls to move the political process forward, calling them "hypocritical" in the wake of the military strike.

"As we see it, you have chosen a different path," Safronkov said. "We must recall that when you take your own path, this leads to horrible tragedies for people in the region," he said, recalling the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the U.S. intervention in Libya in 2011 as part of a NATO coalition.

Syria

Syria's deputy U.N. envoy Mounzer Mounzer said the strike was illegal aggression.

"These aggressions really promise total chaos in many parts of the world and will make the law of the jungle the only way to deal with regional and economic crises," he said.

China

China, which normally votes with Russia in the council on matters relating to Syria, did not overtly criticize the U.S. strike, perhaps because President Xi Jinping is currently meeting with President Donald Trump in Florida. Instead, Ambassador Liu Jieyi called only for a political solution, saying, "military means will not work, they will only worsen the suffering of the Syrian people."

Bolivia

The emergency meeting was called by council member Bolivia. Ambassador Sacha Llorenti delivered an impassioned statement in the council denouncing the U.S. strike as a violation of international law, and an impediment to an impartial and independent investigation into the Khan Shaykhun chemical attack.

Western allies

Many Western allies expressed support for the intervention, calling it an appropriate and measured response.

Ally Sweden did question its legality, saying such action must be based on international law.

"Last night's missile attack also raises questions of compatibility with international law," Ambassador Olof Skoog told council members.

Under international law, military action against another country requires either Security Council authorization or cause under Article 51 of the U.N. Charter, which says that states have an inherent right to individual or collective self-defense.
The reconstruction of areas of Peru hit by severe floods in recent months will cost $3 billion in the short term, and up to $9 billion over five years, the country's president, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, said in a radio interview on Friday.

Although Peru's mining-dependent economy was healthy in the long-term, the immediate effects of the floods were severe, Kuczynski said.

"Immediate reconstruction I think will cost us two to three billion dollars, and after that, the public works that will allow Peru to be a modern country will take time, not 15 years, but, yes, five years," the president said on local radio station RPP. "There we have another five or six billion dollars."

Over a hundred people have died in Peru from rain-related events since December, many in March after a sudden warming of Pacific waters unleashed torrential downpours in the Andean nation.

At least 6,000 miles of highways have been destroyed.

Kuczynski said in March that Peru would hike its 2017 budget by 3 percent to fund emergency and recovery efforts.

"Now, they're discussing if the fiscal deficit is going to be 2 or 3 percent, if (2017) growth is going to be 3 or 3.5 percent," Kuczynski said in the interview.

Last week, Peru's finance minister said reconstruction efforts would cost about $3 billion over three years and begin in the second half of 2017.

The recovery process would merit a wider fiscal deficit target, he said, but would not require the country to access debt markets.
First there was panic, then bluster.

The alert the U.S. military gave Russia on Thursday of an upcoming cruise missile strike was quickly circulated by Russian officials to their Syrian counterparts. Fearing the al-Shayrat air base might not be the only target, many fled Damascus or hustled their families out of the Syrian capital, according to a Syrian businessman with links to the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

The reaction, he told VOA, was much the same back in August 2013 when Assad loyalists had expected then-U.S. President Barack Obama to match words and deeds and order airstrikes on government targets in the capital as punishment for the use of sarin gas on a rebellious Damascus suburb.

As the sun rose Friday in Damascus and the cruise strike appeared to be over, panic turned into bluster.

Syria's information minister, Ramez Turjman, shrugged off the strike.

"I believe this strike was limited in time and space, and it was expected," he told Syrian state television in a phone interview.

State media relayed a terse statement from the country's military command, accusing the United States of an outrageous act of aggression as it confirmed the missile strike had targeted an air base in central Syria, "which had led to losses."

The governor of Syria's Homs province, Talal Barazi, also interviewed on Syrian state television, and again by phone, said the strike and any further targeting by the U.S. wouldn't divert the government. "Syrian leadership and Syrian policy will not change," he said.

Shift in dynamic

In its broader outlines, say analysts, maybe the war policy of the Assad regime won't be changed because of one barrage of 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles. But at the very least, it will give the regime pause before using chemical weapons again, says Charles Lister, an analyst at the Middle East Institute, a Washington research institution.

Like other analysts, Lister argues the dynamic in Syria has been shifted. While the intervention  punishment for the alleged use earlier this week of sarin gas by the government on a town in Idlib province that left more than 80 dead and hundreds injured  may have been limited, he says, the strike is "a big development."

"Regional states will feel empowered to re-back opposition" to Assad, he added.

It also leaves Damascus guessing about whether the missile strike is just a warning, or marks a turning point. And U.S. officials appear to want to keep the Assad government off balance. Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters Friday that he hoped Assad's government had learned a lesson but added it was ultimately "the regime's choice" if more U.S. military action would be needed in the future.

Airfield damage

For all of the regime's bluster, the attack on al-Shayrat will have hurt militarily, say analysts. While the full scale of the damage that was inflicted by the U.S. remains unclear  U.S. officials say they are still assessing the results  it does appear extensive. "The places we targeted were the things that made the airfield operate," said Davis.

A pro-Assad Emirates-based news outlet, al-Masdar, reported that cruise missiles struck both runways and a hangar. It said that 15 fighter jets had been damaged or destroyed and that fuel tankers exploded, causing several large blasts and a massive fireball that was still raging several hours after the strike.

Some reports suggest that at least one of the two main runways is now unusable.

Turkish presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kaln talked about "the destruction of al-Sharyat air base," saying Friday in Ankara, "It marks an important step to ensure that both chemical and conventional attacks against the civilian population do not go unpunished."

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based watchdog that relies on activists on the ground for its information, says the base, which covers an area more than eight square kilometers and has two runways as well as dozens of buildings, silos and storage facilities, was "almost completely destroyed." The attack damaged more than a dozen hangars, a fuel depot and an air defense base, the observatory said.

If true, then the Syrian military will feel the loss of the base and likely face a severe challenge in the coming days in operations in northwest and central Syria. Al-Sharyat has been crucial in recent weeks in the regime's efforts to repel a rebel offensive in Hama.

For the opposition, the missile strike holds out the hope that its cause is not totally lost  despite U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson telling reporters that the strike did not mean the wider U.S. policy on Syria had changed.

The Syrian National Coalition, the main political opposition group, welcomed the U.S. attack, saying it puts an end to an age of "impunity" and hoped it was just the beginning.

Strikes consequences

Questions remain about what the consequences of the attack will be. If it is a one-only action, then it may only limit the Assad government's use of chemical weapons and nerve agents. However, analysts  and no doubt regime strategists, too  are trying to fathom whether the strike will draw the U.S. deeper into the Syrian war. Will other red lines be drawn by the Trump administration, for example, when it comes to barrel bombs being dropped on civilians?

And what will be the impact on the effort by the U.S. and its allies to expel Islamic State fighters from the terror group's de facto capital of Raqqa? U.S. airstrikes on IS, and a ground presence of hundreds of U.S. Marines and special forces in northern Syria, have benefited from an arrangement among the U.S., Russia and Syria established to avoid their warplanes tangling in the crowded airspace over northern Syria.

The Kremlin said Friday it is suspending an air safety agreement with the U.S. in response to the missile strike, and the Russian military announced it is reinforcing Syrian air defenses.

Other uncertainties are thrown up by the cruise strike.

Alberto Fernandez, a former U.S. ambassador, warns there could be an impact in the battle for Mosul, Iraq, and says "Iraq bears careful watching.

"That is where Iranian proxies could orchestrate a response," to the U.S. cruise attack, he said.

Iran, a staunch Assad ally, condemned the U.S. missile strike, warning it was "dangerous." Mosul is Iraq's second-largest city. IS militants took control of Mosul in 2014 and, in October of last year, Iraqi military forces launched an offensive to retake the city.
Hundreds of thousands of children are paying a heavy price in the three-year conflict between the government of Ukraine and Russian-backed rebels in Donetsk and Luhansk in the eastern part of the country.

Although the war has taken thousands of lives and injured many more, the U.N. children's fund said the conflict has been all but forgotten by the world and become an "invisible crisis" to all except those forced to suffer from ongoing violence, abuse and deprivation.

Among those hardest hit are the more than 200,000 children living along the "contact line," a 15-kilometer zone that divides government and rebel-controlled areas where the fighting is most intense.

"These are children that are surviving death, that are living constantly with the sound of shelling, that have witnessed death. Some children have even witnessed the death of loved ones," said Giovanna Barberis, UNICEF's Ukraine representative.

Barberis has frequently traveled to the contact line and seen the hardships and suffering of the children, who live in a state of constant fear and uncertainty. The trauma has taken a huge emotional and psychological toll, according to Barberis.

"Parents, teachers, school directors and psychologists describe striking behavior changes among children as young as 3 years old," she said. "Children are very anxious. They wet their beds. They have nightmares. In some cases, they act quite aggressively and often withdraw from their families and friends."

Barberis said some children no longer seek safety in bomb shelters because they think such attacks are "normal now."

"Families and children are getting used to living in a very abnormal and exceptional situation," she said. "But this does not mean that they cope well with the situation."

Escalating hostilities

There have been multiple violations of the Minsk peace agreement since it was signed in September 2014 by representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics.

In its latest report on the situation in Ukraine, the U.N. Human Rights Mission found that a sharp escalation of hostilities between January 29 and February 3 had "a devastating impact" on all aspects of life for civilians living along the contact line. It said seven civilians were killed and 46 wounded in those six days.

In addition, "Several hundreds of people are isolated and deprived of basic necessities," according to the report. The nearest grocery store is seven kilometers away, and children crossing the contact line have "to walk up to three kilometers to go to school."

UNICEF's Barberis told VOA that it often was not safe to go to school, so children had difficulty gaining regular access to education.

"We have estimated that from the beginning of the conflict, something like 740 schools were damaged or destroyed," she said, "and just these last few weeks, when we had the deteriorating situation of the areas along the contact line  something like seven schools were damaged."

Barberis said children in eastern Ukraine require urgent and sustained support to help them come to grips with the daily trauma of war. However, she noted, UNICEF has received less than one-third of the $31.2 million it needs to support children and families affected by the conflict.

"Children should not have to live with the emotional scars from a conflict they had no part in creating," Barberis said.
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In nearly 2 decades of listening to the National Symphony Orchestra, seldom have I heard the ensemble play as well for any conductor as it did Thursday night for James Conlon. One of Americas foremost conductors, Conlon has a long history of guest appearances with the orchestra. Mutual familiarity and respect translated into compelling musicmaking of great intensity and beauty.

As part of a series honoring the NSOs longtime music director, Mstislav Rostropovich, the program focused on three composers with whom he had long, fruitful associations  Benjamin Britten, Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich. Unfortunately, traffic delays prevented my hearing the Four Sea Interludes from Brittens opera Peter Grimes, which opened the program.

French pianist Lise de la Salle, who made her NSO debut in Prokofievs First Concerto, is that rarity among musicians, a child prodigy who has continued to develop into a full-fledged artist combining virtuosity and significant communicative skill. She is strictly business, sitting at the instrument with beautifully erect posture and a minimum of fuss. Her rhythmic vitality is viscerally bracing, and she seems to revel in Prokofievs thorny cross-rhythms. Her carefully calibrated dynamic palette runs the gamut from whispered passages that nevertheless retain their clarity to fierce fortissimos that are resonant rather than aggressive.

In a languid slow movement, de la Salle threaded gossamer figurations around superbly executed wind solos. The hand-in-glove ensemble was most dazzling in the antic finale. After a witty give-and-take between soloist and orchestra that continually confounded expectations, as the concertos opening theme returned, enhanced by a full complement of percussion, it seemed as if the concert hall itself began to sparkle.

If critical commentary and frequency of performance are indicators of a musical works continued vitality, then Shostakovichs Fifth Symphony, first heard 80 years ago this November, is alive and well. Claims and counterclaims about the symphonys inspiration and meaning are still debated. But its safe to say that it was with this symphony that Shostakovich reestablished his reputation as a leader of Soviet music in the wake of scathing official condemnation during the Stalinist Terror.

French pianist Lise de la Salle is making her NSO debut in Prokofievs First Concerto. (Marco Borggreve)

From the beginning, this performance emerged with great seriousness of purpose, unfolding with the unaffected naturalness of speech. Anguished string utterances permeated the first movement, evoking deftly blended responses from the wind choirs. The colorful circuslike Scherzo spoke with a pompous sarcasm that remained lithe and light-footed, followed by a hushed Largo that seemed a bottomless well of grief. The huge, insistent finale was perfectly paced, displaying an orchestral sound that, in both its sum and parts, was magnificent.

Conlons ideas in this well-traversed score were understated, yet communicated with freshness and compelling conviction. The orchestra was his full partner every step of the way, demonstrating that this artwork, conceived under duress during perilous times, still speaks eloquently to our own.

The NSO program continues through Saturday at the Kennedy Center, 2700 F St. NW. Tickets: $15-$89. 202-467-2600. kennedy-center.org.


Lizan Mitchell as Lena Younger and Joy Jones as Beneatha Younger in A Raisin in the Sun at Arena Stage. (C. Stanley Photography)

Theres something really elegant about our plays framing A Raisin in the Sun,  says playwright Lydia Diamond.

The frame is taking shape at Arena Stage with three plays by black women: Jacqueline E. Lawtons brand-new CIA thriller Intelligence, Lorraine Hansberrys groundbreaking Raisin, and Diamonds race-science-politics drama Smart People, which appeared off-Broadway last year with Mahershala Ali.

Lorraine Hansberry. (Gin Briggs/Courtesy of the Jewell Handy Gresham-Nemiroff Trust and Joi Gresham)

The cluster creates a triptych of black writers defying conventions, even if Arena is producing  for the first time in its long history  the Hansberry play that now seems as obvious as Death of a Salesman. The saga about a black family thinking of moving into a white neighborhood was the first play on Broadway by a black woman when it opened in 1959. When Hansberry died in 1965 of pancreatic cancer she was only 34; her creativity was in high gear with The Sign in Sidney Brusteins Window, featuring a gallery of liberal Bohemians orbiting around a disaffected Jewish intellectual.

It was not the Raisin follow-up that 1960s audiences expected.

But time is finally catching up with Hansberry, who is having a great decade:

2010: Bruce Norriss Clybourne Park, a race-fueled sequel to Raisin, became a hit for troupes around the country. In 2011, it won the Pulitzer Prize for drama.

2013: Baltimore Center Stage artistic director Kwame Kwei-Armah wrote a reply to Norris in Beneathas Place, titled for the progressive sister of Walter Lee Younger, the angry dreamer in Raisin.

2014: Raisin got its second Broadway revival in a decade, this time with Denzel Washington as Walter Lee and Sophie Okonedo as his wife, Ruth. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival revived The Sign in Sidney Brusteins Window.

2016: Sidney Brustein made a splash at Chicagos Goodman Theatre, with Tribune critic Chris Jones hailing Hansberry as The greatest dramatic writer ever to emerge from Chicago and calling the long-neglected play a masterpiece lost in plain sight.

At the same time in London, South African writer-director Yael Farber  whose dazzling 2015 Salome adaptation was a feather in the Shakespeare Theatre Companys cap  revived Hansberrys Les Blancs, a searing account of about Western colonialism in 1960s Africa. Les Blancs was unfinished when Hansberry died, but her husband, Robert Nemiroff, pieced it together for a brief Broadway run in 1970 with James Earl Jones and Earle Hyman.

Like Hansberry, Diamond, 47, and Lawton, 39, have written about the black middle class. Lydia, thank you for Stick Fly,  Lawton says of Diamonds comedy of modern manners that played Arena Stage in 2010 and made it to Broadway the next year. (The writers spoke by phone from their current home towns during a conference call: Diamond in Chicago, Lawton in Chapel Hill, N.C.) Both women grew up in Texas, love old Hollywood films and have written plays with scientific characters.



Jacqueline Lawton. (Jason Hornick)

Q: When did you first discover A Raisin in the Sun?

A: Lawton: My mother had it on her shelf, and she said, Read this play. I was 9.

Diamond: In high school I did debating, and also drama and humorous interpretation. Youd go around the state in competition. No one seemed to know a playwright who was a person of color they could recommend to me. Finally, someone suggested Raisin. I did the Beneatha monologue about how she wanted to be a doctor.



Lydia Diamond. (Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images and Arena Stage)

Q: When did you first see it on stage?

A: Diamond: My first was at the Huntington Theatre in Boston a few seasons ago. I was shocked watching it, thinking how have I never seen a production. Its a pretty perfect play.

Lawton: I was understudying Mama in a 2003 university production. I play trumpet, and the director wanted a musical interlude as an introduction, so I played that. Then I would go watch the play. I still have not seen a professional production.

Diamond: I would identify with it as an African American woman before I would as an actor. Its just affirming. Its beautiful literature. And there was not a character like Beneatha. There just wasnt.

Lawton: I remember the conversations my father had with my brother about how to behave with the police. It wasnt the same conversation he was having with me and my sister. It made me realize I have to love my brother differently. This play taught me that. There are dreams that black people have that are different, and there is an entire world around them saying theyre not good enough, strong enough, capable enough, smart enough.

Diamond: I didnt know it that way. I grew up with single mother, no siblings, but now I have a black son, and it shattered me. I went three times. I just would weep.

Q: Jacqueline, what sparked Intelligence?

A: Lawton: I went back to 2003, specifically when Bush went into Iraq  which, as the daughter and sister of veterans, I have never gotten over. I didnt think it was fair to use the emotional landscape of 9/11 to invade that country. I wanted to write about the impact on the Iraqi people and our culpability in it, because we didnt get loud enough in objecting to that war. That led me to write this 90-minute political thriller that is really a protest piece demanding that our country be more forthright.



Ethan Hova as Dr. Malik Nazari and Hannah Yelland as Valerie Plame in Jacqueline E. Lawtons Intelligence. (C. Stanley)

Q: Washington must be the best place for this to premiere, or the worst. Whats it been like?

A: Lawton: Exhilarating, because its selling out every night. My fear was knowing theres already been a book and a movie, and worrying whether people want to see this. The answer is a resounding yes. Its fascinating to capture this moment that still has a profound impact on the way we think about intelligence. And the role politics can play is incredibly dangerous.



Lorene Chesley as Valerie Johnston, Gregory Perri as Brian White, Jaysen Wright as Jackson Moore and Sue Jin Song as Ginny Yang in Smart People at Arena Stage. (Tony Powell)

Q: Lydia, what was the impetus for Smart People?

Diamond: I wanted to write a play about race. I had always done this interesting dance of acknowledging that my aesthetic is the dynamic of race, class, sex and gender. But I would always say that apologetically. I would almost tactically say, This is about family, an all-inclusive play, so people wouldnt be intimidated. So with this one I was like, No. It took eight years because while I was writing it Obama ran and won, and the way we talked about race changed dramatically.

Q: Like Intelligence, the political landscape is central to Smart People, yes?

Diamond: Ive now been having productions for five or six years, and readings and discussions before that, and always we say, There couldnt be a more critical moment to have this discussion. And every time, its more relevant. The last scene is the day of the Obama inauguration. But its not about the election. Its about race.

Q: The 1960s were changing fast, too. Are Les Blancs and Sidney Brustein actually closer in topic and in spirit to what you write than Raisin is?

A: Diamond: I think so. People didnt know what she was doing with Sidney Brustein. I dont know how much has changed.

Lawton: Its interesting: What are black women playwrights expected to write?

Diamond: Right.

Lawton: In every way, Raisin fits that expectation. Its a black family trying to improve themselves and move into a white neighborhood, and they encounter racism. Critics and audiences know how to respond to that. The others, no one knows how to respond. Its the same with Intelligence: Oh, what makes you interested in writing about the intelligence community? Well, my father and grandfather were in military intelligence. But why is national security not a matter for black playwrights to address?

Diamond: Also implicit in the question is How are you able? I know that early in my writing, people would question the authenticity of my characters because they had only been shown plays like Raisin. They didnt know the long stories and histories of articulate, sometimes frivolous, well-spoken black people. We didnt exist. So there was a mistrust.

Lawton: I find Hansberry to be such a powerful voice: All of her work should be celebrated, yet theres a limit because of what black women are expected to write. And were still dealing with that.

Intelligence, by Jacqueline E. Lawton. Through April 9 in the Kogod Cradle. Tickets: $40-$118.

A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry. Through May 7 in the Fichandler. Tickets: $40-$111.

Smart People, by Lydia Diamond. April 14-May 21 in the Kreeger Theater. Tickets: $40-$111. Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St. SW. 202-488-3300. arenastage.org.
Exceptional Excellent Very Good

Are you ready to start grilling? Here are some delicious reds for those steaks and burgers, and a couple of fine roses to sip while the coals get hot or with your grilled salmon.

 D.M.

Francois et Jean-Marie Cherrier Les Chailloux Rose 2016

Sancerre, France, $21

With juicy strawberry and minty herb flavors, this rose of pinot noir is soft and supple. Pair this with salmon. Alcohol by volume: 14 percent.

Distributed by Dionysus: Available in the District at Cleveland Park Wine and Spirits, Rodmans, Whole Foods Market (Foggy Bottom, P Street, Tenleytown); on the list at Proof. Available in Maryland at Balduccis and Bradley Food & Beverage in Bethesda, Finewine.com in Gaithersburg, Rodmans (White Flint). Available in Virginia at Balduccis (Alexandria, McLean), Unwined (Alexandria, Belleview), Whole Foods Market (Alexandria, Arlington, Pentagon City).

GREAT VALUE

Manz Pomar do Espirito Santo 2014

Lisboa, Portugal, $19

Manz is a relatively new winery, both in history and availability in the United States. The family makes several wines worth searching out. The Pomar do Espirito Santo is a blend of three traditional Portuguese grape varieties: Aragones, Touriga Nacional and Castelao. This is a serious wine with scents of tobacco leaf and smoke, with enough tannin structure to invite a long-term relationship. Decant this an hour or two before dinner or cellar it for five to six years. A similar blend called Penedo do Lexim 2015 is more accessible for early drinking and also delicious. ABV: 14 percent.

Distributed by G&B: Available in the District at Calvert Woodley, DCanter, MacArthur Beverages, Rodmans, Wagshals Deli; on the list at Acacia Bistro, Slate Wine Bar + Bistro. Available in Maryland at Beer Wine & Co., Bradley Food & Beverage and Capital Beer & Wine in Bethesda; Downtown Crown Wine and Beer and Finewine.com in Gaithersburg; Old Line Fine Wine, Spirits & Bistro in Beltsville; Rodmans (White Flint); the Wine Harvest (Potomac). Available in Virginia at Classic Cigars & British Goodies in Arlington, Crystal City Wine Shop, Norms Beer & Wine and Vienna Vintner in Vienna, Wine House (Fairfax).

GREAT VALUE

Mega Petite, Petite Sirah 2014

California, $16

Petite Sirah can be a bruiser, but this one is supple and elegant, moderated perhaps by some Malbec and teroldego added to the blend. Flavors of blackberry, sage and mint are elevated by fresh acidity. Try this with steaks, burgers or meat-loaded pizza. Labeled as Lodi Certified Green Sustainable. ABV: 13.5 percent.

Distributed by DMV: Available in the District at Pauls of Chevy Chase. Available in Maryland at Beers & Cheers in Germantown; Crescent Beer & Wine in Bowie; Diamond Square Beer & Wine and Pinky & Pepes Grape Escape in Gaithersburg; Eastport Liquors and the Italian Market in Annapolis; Franklins Restaurant, Brewery & General Store in Hyattsville; Old Farm Liquors in Frederick; State Line Liquors in Elkton; Wine Bin in Ellicott City; Woodmoor Supermarket in Silver Spring.

Manz Platonico Red Blend

Portugal, $16

The Platonico, which is not vintage dated, contains the same three grapes as the Pomar do Espirito Santo, but they are grown in various regions of Portugal. This is a sappy, savory red, simple and straightforward, well-balanced and delicious. It will go great with casual meat dishes. ABV: 14 percent.

Distributed by G&B: Available in the District at Calvert Woodley, Jefferson Liquor, Magruders, Metro Supermarket, Rodmans, Wagshals Deli. Available in Maryland at Beer Wine & Co., Bradley Food & Beverage and Cork & Fork in Bethesda; Downtown Crown Wine and Beer and Finewine.com in Gaithersburg; Fine Wine of Wheaton; Rodmans (Wheaton, White Flint); Wine Harvest (Potomac); on the list at Grapeseed in Bethesda. Available in Virginia at Classic Cigars & British Goodies in Arlington, Crystal City Wine Shop, Norms Beer and Wine and Vienna Vintner in Vienna, Wine House (Fairfax).

GREAT VALUE

Le Petit Balthazar Cinsault Rose 2016

Pays dOc, France, $9

This delightful, inexpensive rose is a tremendous value vintage after vintage. It features flavors of tart melons, orange peel and bitter herbs. With just a little imagination, you might even taste sunshine. Enjoy this by itself or with spicy, garlicky foods. ABV: 11 percent.

Distributed by Dionysus: Available in the District at Cleveland Park Wine and Spirits, MacArthur Beverages, Rodmans, Whole Foods Market (Foggy Bottom, H Street, P Street, Tenleytown). Available in Maryland at Balduccis, Bradley Food and Beverage, Capital Beer & Wine, Cork 57 Beer and Wine and Georgetown Square Wine and Beer in Bethesda; Finewine.com in Gaithersburg; Rodmans (Wheaton, White Flint); Wine Cellars of Annapolis; Wine Source in Baltimore. Available in Virginia at Balduccis (Alexandria, McLean), Chain Bridge Cellars in McLean, Ellwood Thompsons Natural Market in Richmond, Grapevine in Warrenton, Unwined (Alexandria, Belleview), Westover Market in Arlington, Whole Foods Market (Alexandria, Arlington, Ashburn, Fair Lakes).

Availability information is based on distributor records. Wines might not be in stock at every listed store and might be sold at additional stores. Prices are approximate. Check Winesearcher.com to verify availability, or ask a favorite wine store to order through a distributor.


Arlington wine lover Hank Werronen, right, with Daniel Llose, chief winemaker at Chateau Lynch Bages and Viniv, a DIY winery in the heart of Bordeaux, France. (Courtesy Hank Werronen)

Whats a wine lover to do when Bordeaux gets ridiculously expensive? If he or she is not limited to the bargain bin, they can gather friends together and go DIY.

Thats what Arlington resident Hank Werronen did. He recruited 14 friends, including some from Canada and Britain, to partake in a winemaking project at Viniv, a do-it-yourself winery in Bordeaux. They produced six barrels of wine  each holding about 25 cases, or 300 bottles  from the 2015 vintage. Each barrel was modeled after a leading chateau, with Palmer, Pichon Baron, Montrose, Figeac, Angelus and Smith Haut Lafitte providing inspiration. The group has become Vinivs largest project. Werronen uses art from his personal collection on the labels, a nod to Chateau Mouton-Rothschilds tradition of recruiting famous artists to design its labels. The wines will be imported for the group by MacArthur Beverages.

Located in Pauillac, a famous cabernet sauvignon-centric appellation on Bordeauxs Left Bank, Viniv is a joint venture between American entrepreneur Stephen Bolger and the Cazes family of Chateau Lynch-Bages. The DIY aspect allows well-heeled Bordeaux lovers to create their own blends from grapes grown in vineyards throughout Bordeauxs storied appellations. The sweat equity is done by professional vintners and winemakers. Vinivs clients enjoy the more glamorous side of winemaking: barrel tastings in the cellar, blending sessions to find the best formula for the wine, and, of course, the experience of visiting wine country and creating their own wines. Theres an element of star quality as well: Each team works closely with Daniel Llose, Lynch-Bages chief winemaker, on their blends. The cost starts at about $14,000 per barrel, depending on the vineyard sources of the grapes.

The DIY winery concept was pioneered by Crushpad in Northern California. Its attempt to expand into Bordeaux failed in 2012, but inspired Viniv. Virginias Vint Hill Winery offers local oenophiles the chance to make wines from grapes grown in Virginia, California or Washington.

Werronen, 74, a retired health-care executive, discovered Viniv while touring Bordeaux with his wife, Betsy, on a trip they purchased in 2014 through Hearts Delight, the annual Washington, D.C., wine auction sponsored by the American Heart Association. He blended one barrel from the 2014 vintage before recruiting his team to make six barrels from across Bordeaux from 2015 grapes.

The team made the initial blends during a week-long stay in Bordeaux last May. A few members tweaked the final blends, with help from Llose, in February at the Hotel Marques de Riscal in the Spanish region of Rioja, where Viniv had assembled client teams to finish their 2015s. So no, winemaking isnt always hard work. Its now part of the new luxury culture that emphasizes experiences over material possessions. Only in this case, you get the satisfaction of having wine you helped create.

At a recent tasting in Washington, Werronen invited some of his team and a few guests to taste barrel samples of their final 2015 wines, which will be bottled this summer. I was impressed with Barrel 3, a Margaux modeled after Chateau Palmer, which showed classic Bordeaux character of graphite and black currant fruit. Barrel 5, modeled after Smith Haut Lafitte in Graves, was my second favorite, minty with flavors of plums and blackberries.

Frank Ashburn, an ophthalmologist and member of the wine-blending team, was especially fond of the Margaux. I used to grow roses, and Bordeaux is like a perfume factory, he said. I find the finesse is amazing and the wines floral and complex.

Werronen has been a Bordeaux lover since his days in graduate school at Carnegie Mellon in the 1960s, when an oenophile professor introduced him to some of the worlds finest wines. Back then, top Bordeaux was considered expensive at about $10 a bottle.

By the time I was 22, I had tasted all the great Bordeaux, Werronen told me. Its been a hardship since then, because I havent been able to afford it.

His tongue might have been firmly in his cheek, but Werronen was in a sense giving a harsh condemnation of Bordeauxs top producers for allowing their prices to skyrocket in recent years. If affluent, longtime customers are balking at todays prices, the upper echelon of Bordeaux may be increasingly dependent on a narrow market of the ultra-rich and vulnerable to instability in the global economy.

The first growths are priced out of orbit, Werronen said, and now the second growths are getting too pricey. The best bottle I had last year was a Chateau Palmer, but I dont want to spend $300 for a bottle.

He raised his glass with a sample of his teams wine. This costs about $50.

And the travel several times to Bordeaux, or Rioja, to make the wine, I asked? He smiled again.

This is a great experience and a chance to make a quality product, Werronen said. Im proud of this.
-

Dear Heloise: To all you cat lovers, lets not forget the feral cats that may need our help. Yes, they are out there; I have some that come around at night.

Remember to leave fresh water and some cat food outside to help our furry feline friends. There is excellent information on the Internet about how to make shelters for them as well. Just type in How to care for feral cats. Thanks for your hints.

Darleen C., Omaha

Darleen C.: Great information. Even with the spring thaw, feral cats still need food, water and shelter. Here are a couple of hints from the Humane Society (HumaneSociety.org):

Inside whatever cat home you build/use/construct, a pillowcase stuffed with foam peanuts makes good bedding (replace as needed).

Keep drinking water and food available, but away from the shelter; it can spill and dampen sleeping quarters.

Dear Readers: Helen in Port Aransas, Tex., sent in a picture of her 10-year-old fawn-colored Chihuahua, Ernie, taking a nap on a heart-covered blanket. Ernie is female  Helen named her after the lady who gave her the dog, Ernestine!

Ernie helps Helen at her bait shop during the busy fishing season by greeting the customers! To see Ernie and our other Pet Pals, visit Heloise.com and click on Pet of the Week.

Do you have a funny and furry friend? Send a picture, along with the pets name, age, breed and an amusing anecdote, to Heloise@Heloise.com!

Dear Heloise: For a fun spring activity when the grandkids visit, we make soap bubbles! I shave 2 ounces of Castile soap, which is good quality but not too expensive. I place it in a pint jar and fill it with water  which Ive boiled and cooled.

I shake thoroughly, and let sit until the top of the water is clear. Then I pour off the clear water and add a spoonful of glycerin. Sometimes I add food coloring!

To deliver the bubbles, we use a straw (supervise young children) or an empty thread spool. We play in the yard, or at bath time!

Harold C., Garden Grove, Calif.

Dear Heloise: The mesh bags that onions come in make strong and sturdy tote bags for the beach. I put all the kids toys in one. When we are ready to leave for the day, I rinse off sand, right through the bag  no sand in the car or house!

Karen S., Fort Wayne, Ind.

Dear Heloise: When Im fighting fleas in the house, I vacuum thoroughly after spraying or flea-bombing, and then throw away the vacuum bag. I pop in a couple of mothballs to eliminate any stragglers.

Ben B., Tulsa

Dear Readers: Keep a record of the times that your car has been worked on. Write the date, the service and the garage that did the work on a card, and clip it to your visor.

The service company may provide a sticker with this information, too!

Heloises column appears six days a week at washingtonpost.com/advice. Send a hint to Heloise , P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Tex. 78279-5000, or email it to Heloise@Heloise.com.
The cruise missiles struck, and many in the mainstream media fawned.

I think Donald Trump became president of the United States last night, Fareed Zakaria declared on CNN, after the firing of 59 missiles at a Syrian military airfield late Thursday night. (His words sounded familiar, since CNNs Van Jones made a nearly identical pronouncement after Trumps first address to Congress.)

On Syria attack, Trumps heart came first, read a New York Times headline.

President Trump has done the right thing and I salute him for it, wrote the Wall Street Journals Bret Stephens  a frequent Trump critic and Pulitzer Prize-winning conservative columnist. He added: Now destroy the Assad regime for good.

Brian Williams, on MSNBC, seemed mesmerized by the images of the strikes provided by the Pentagon. He used the word beautiful three times and alluded to a Leonard Cohen lyric  I am guided by the beauty of our weapons  without apparent irony.

Quite the pivot, for some. Assessing Trumps presidency a few weeks ago, Zakaria wrote in The Washington Post that while the Romans recommended keeping people happy with bread and circuses, so far, all we have gotten is the circus. And the Times has been so tough on Trump that the president rarely refers to the paper without failing or fake as a descriptor.

(Department of Defense)

But after the strikes, praise flowed like wedding champagne  especially on cable news.

Guest after guest is gushing. From MSNBC to CNN, Trump is receiving his best night of press so far, wrote Sam Sacks, a Washington podcaster and journalist. And all he had to do was start a war.

Why do so many in the news media love a show of force?

There is no faster way to bring public support than to pursue military action, said Ken Paulson, head of the Newseum Institutes First Amendment Center.

Its a pattern not only in American history, but in world history. We rally around the commander in chief  and thats understandable.

Paulson noted that the news media also seem to get bored with their own narrative about Trumps failings, and they welcome a chance to switch it up.

But thats not good enough, he said: The watchdog has to have clear vision and not just a sporadic bark.

Clara Jeffery, editor in chief of Mother Jones, offered a simple explanation: Its dramatic. Its good for TV, reporters get caught up in the moment, or, worse, jingoism.

She added: Military action is viewed as inherently nonpartisan, opposition or skepticism as partisan. News organizations that are fearful of looking partisan can fall into the trap of failing to provide context.

And so, empathy as the presidents clear motivation is accepted, she said  with no mention of the refugee ban keeping those kids out, no mention of Islamophobia that has informed his campaign and administration. How can you write about motive and not explore that hypocrisy?

Mocking the instant elevation of Trump into a serious and respected war leader, Glenn Greenwald in the Intercept recalled John Jay, one of the authors of the Federalist Papers, who wrote more than 200 years ago: However disgraceful it may be to human nature . . . nations in general will make war whenever they have a prospect of getting anything by it.

In fact, Jay wrote, absolute monarchs will often make war when their nations are to get nothing by it  except, of course, to scratch that eternal itch for military glory, revenge or self-aggrandizement.

Groupthink, and a lack of proper skepticism, is something that weve seen many times before as the American news media watches an administration step to the brink of war.

Most notoriously, perhaps, that was true in the run-up to the Iraq invasion in 2003, the start of a long disaster there.

Stephen Walt, a Harvard professor of international affairs, thinks the press and the public should have learned some things by now.

Syria remains a tragedy because there are no good options, he wrote in Foreign Policy, and U.S. interventions in the Middle East very seldom end well.

Walt later told me that the news media now must look forward and ask deeper questions.

What is Trumps overall strategy for Syria, given that the balance of power on the ground is unchanged and we are no closer to a political settlement?

Missile strikes may seem thrilling, and retaliation righteous.

But journalists and commentators ought to remember the duller virtues, too, like skepticism, depth and context.

And keep their eyes fixed firmly there, not on the spectacular images in the sky.

For more by Margaret Sullivan visit wapo.st/sullivan
UPPER MARLBORO, Governors Grove Road, 14000 block, March 25. A disabled male in a wheelchair was walking his bulldog with a leash when the dog pulled him out of the wheelchair. The owner needed medical attention. A police officer held the dog with its leash, and an animal control officer picked up the approximately 2-year-old male. The dog was returned to its owner two days later.

Among cases received by the Prince Georges County Animal Management Division.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled Natalee Sniders name. This version has been corrected.

D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) marches in the Emancipation Day parade on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington. (J. Lawler Duggan/For The Washington Post)

Officially, Emancipation Day commemorates when President Abraham Lincoln signed an act freeing all 3,100 slaves residing in the District, eight months ahead of the Emancipation Proclamation.

But the day, officially April 16 and celebrated in Washington for more than 150 years, has come to symbolize much more. For some, it is an event to acknowledge the progress of the civil rights movement and to reflect somberly on what remains to be done. For others, it has become an opportunity to highlight the Districts fight for statehood.

That was apparent Saturday, when the city celebrated Emancipation Day with a parade along Pennsylvania Avenue and outdoor festivities.

Beneath a cloudless sky, a childrens marching band, cheerleading squad and flag team made their way along the avenue, followed by a parade float and the winners of the Ms. Senior D.C. pageant for senior citizens, whose bedazzled outfits sparkled in the spring sun. Enormous white balloons bearing the faces of Lincoln, Barack Obama, Marion Barry and civil rights leaders Dorothy Height and Rosa Parks floated above the parade.

Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), flanked by about 100 supporters, claimed a spot in the middle of the parade, smiling, waving and handing out green plastic beads.

D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) arrives at the Emancipation Day festival on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington. (J. Lawler Duggan/For The Washington Post)

Emancipation Day, of course, is a symbol of freedom of people in Washington, D.C., Bowser said in an interview with The Washington Post before the parade. We think that the fact that Washingtonians still dont have equal participation in the nation is something that we should be focusing on when were celebrating emancipation.

Cliff Smith, 78, a former cabdriver and longtime activist who has lived in the District for more than 50 years, sat along the parade route in a camping chair, holding a sign that read Only Statehood Will Complete D.C.s Emancipation. The mayor broke away to shake Smiths hand.

To me, if youre a colony, you cannot say youre emancipated, he said.

Despite a referendum that passed with overwhelming support from District voters in the fall, Bowsers hopes that the District could become the 51st state were deflated when Hillary Clinton, a self-proclaimed champion of the cause, lost the presidential election in November.

[D.C. mayor concedes that statehood effort remains a dream deferred]

Bowser pledged then to keep pressing the issue with President Trump. She said the push for statehood continues unabated, even though the odds in a GOP-controlled Congress are long. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D. C.), the citys nonvoting representative in Congress, introduced a bill in March to grant the District statehood, acknowledging at the outset that she did not have the votes for it to pass.

[To dream the impossible dream: D.C. officials file bill, petition for statehood]

For Natalee Snider, an Advisory Neighborhood Council commissioner in the Districts Manor Park neighborhood and a Realtor, it was a day to celebrate the heights to which African American women have risen.

Snider, who emigrated from Jamaica when she was 5, marched in the parade behind Bowser with her 21-year-old daughter, Jazmyne Lomax. The pair were mindful that the city is led by a woman.

It makes me proud that black women in D.C. can rise to the highest levels, Snider said.
New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, right, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), onstage during a Jan. 3, 2017, event at LaGuardia Community College in New York. Cuomo announced a proposal for free tuition at state colleges for low- and middle-income residents. (Mary Altaffer/AP)

Budget negotiators struck a deal late Friday that could make New York the largest state to offer tuition-free public higher education.

The $153 billion state budget agreement includes the Excelsior Scholarship, which covers tuition for any New Yorker accepted to one of the states community colleges or four-year universities, provided their family earns less than $125,000 a year.

Proposed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in January, the scholarship taps into one of the Democratic Partys most popular ideas and advances a bipartisan movement to lower the cost of college that is taking shape across the country.

[New York takes a stab at debt-free college, covering tuition for families earning less than $125,000]

Today, college is what high school was  it should always be an option even if you cant afford it, Cuomo said in a statement Saturday. With this program, every child will have the opportunity that education provides.

(NYGovCuomo/YouTube)

The scholarship program will be phased in over three years, beginning for New Yorkers making up to $100,000 annually in the fall of 2017, increasing to $110,000 in 2018, and reaching $125,000 in 2019. Nearly 1 million families will qualify for the scholarship.

It is a last-dollar program, meaning the state would cover any tuition left over after factoring in federal Pell Grants and New Yorks Tuition Assistance Program. Students must be enrolled in college full time and take at least 30 course credits a year, though those facing hardships can pause and restart the program or take fewer credits.

Not much changed from the initial proposal, including the $163 million estimated cost for the first year of the program, though there were concessions to win over lawmakers. Award recipients attending community college now have to remain in New York for two years after graduation, while those at state universities must stay for four years. Private universities, whose leaders said the plan would undermine their schools, will see an increase in state tuition assistance funding.

[Did the idea of free public higher education go down with the Democrats?]

The New York State Assembly was to vote on the budget Saturday, with the state Senate slated to do the same in the coming days, according to Cuomos office. All told, the budget includes $7.5 billion in support for higher education, a 6.3 percent increase in funding over the prior year.

In-state tuition at community colleges in New York pencils in at $4,350, while tuition at State University of New York schools is $6,470 for residents. The City University of New York schools cost about the same as their state counterparts. State and city university systems were granted permission to raise their tuitions by $200 in the budget agreement.

States across the country and political spectrum are paying greater attention to college costs as more local employers demand some form of postsecondary education. There are at least 85 initiatives at the municipal and state level aiming to cover the cost of tuition at community colleges, according to the Upjohn Institute. Tennessee, Oregon and Minnesota have free community-college programs, with Tennessees model lauded as a viable path for reducing higher-

education costs.

Momentum for debt-free college has been building for years, but Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Hillary Clinton elevated the issue of college affordability with proposals during the 2016 presidential campaign to make public higher education free for the vast majority of American families.

Sanders, who in January helped Cuomo unveil the scholarship at LaGuardia Community College in Queens, introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate last week to make public colleges and universities tuition-free for families earning less than $125,000.
Mighty nice acorn you got there. Itd be a shame if something happened to it. Research suggests squirrels sometimes pretend to bury nuts to keep their caches safe. (Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images)

Sunday is the first day of the seventh annual Squirrel Week, and I may as well address something right off the bat: Some people dont like squirrels. Some people hate them.

I know, its hard to believe, but its true. And one of the reasons some people hate squirrels is because they (the squirrels, not the people) steal things: bird seed, flower bulbs, tomatoes . . .

But, as it turns out, squirrels dont just steal. They also lie.

That was the fascinating conclusion of a scientific paper I came across not long ago. It was published in 2008 in the British journal Animal Behaviour. The title: Cache protection strategies of a scatter-hoarding rodent: Do tree squirrels engage in behavioural deception?

(Ashleigh Joplin/The Washington Post)

The answer, apparently, is yes.

Squirrels practice what scientists call tactical deception. This behavior, the papers lead author, Michael A. Steele of Wilkes University in Pennsylvania, told me, was thought to occur primarily in primates. It hadnt been reported ever in rodents.

Steele  along with Sylvia L. Halkin of Central Connecticut State University  set out to study the behavior.

Tree-dwelling Eastern gray squirrels  Sciurus carolinensis  are what are called scatter hoarders. That means they collect food and stash it in caches all over the place: here a nut, there a nut, everywhere a nut nut. This contrasts with larder hoarders  chipmunks, for example  which metaphorically put all their eggs in one basket.

Among Steeles interests is the relationship between squirrels and trees.

Trees depend on squirrels to disperse their seeds, removing acorns from the shaded area under branches and carrying them into the sunlight, where they have a better chance of germinating.

Are squirrels born with this nut-burying compulsion, or is it something they learn?

Studying this means collecting acorns that squirrels have just buried. But when Steele dispatched students to dig up cached nuts, there was a complication.

I had students who were coming back from the field early, he said.

Theyd gone to where they were certain an acorn was buried, only to find . . . nothing.

Steele remembered thinking: Somethings going on.

It turns out that gray squirrels are masters of misdirection, as adept at sleight of hand  er, sleight of paw  as a close-up magician who twirls a coin across his fingers and then makes it vanish.

Youd swear that they put this acorn in the ground, Steele said. They tuck it back in their mouth. They dig the hole. They do several thrusts of the whole body, which they normally do when theyre tamping an acorn into the ground. Then they invest the energy to cover over what is an empty cache site. You run over and its not there.

Researchers set up an experiment to see what was going on. They would hand a squirrel an acorn, watch where it went and what it did (binoculars came in handy), then investigate the cache site.

In a second experiment, they upped the ante. They would hand a squirrel a peanut. If the peanut was buried  as opposed to eaten right away  a human designated pilferer would rush over and dig it up.

One can imagine what was going through the squirrels heads: Those big, tailless creatures have so much to eat  hamburgers, french fries, granola bars, ice cream sandwiches  and theyre taking our food?

Squirrels had a range of reactions: Sometimes they ate the peanut right away. Sometimes they increased their deceptive caching. Sometimes they scampered a greater distance to hide the peanut.

If another squirrel is nearby, or if we are stealing from their caches, they will begin to cache in different areas  in bushes, in muddy areas  where they think its less likely to be pilfered, Steele said. And they perform the deceptive behavior.

Steele noted that squirrel subterfuge was relatively infrequent, ranging between 14 percent and 22 percent of the time they were under observation. But, he said, Any deceptive behavior has to be relatively rare, otherwise there would be counter behavior that is learned to avoid it or overcome it.

In other words, theres no benefit to lying every time you hide something.

Deception only works if it is unexpected or uncertain. (Its the same principle that keeps intelligence agencies in business.)

Scientists like Steele are excited about the next frontier in squirrel/seed research: tracking a squirrels nuts with passive integrated transponder tags.

PIT tags are electronic devices smaller than a grain of rice. Drill a hole in an acorn, slip in a tiny PIT tag, cover the hole with odorless wax and then you can use an antenna to find out exactly where the squirrel takes the nut.

Of course, it may be only a matter of time before squirrels develop frequency-jamming countermeasures.

Squirrel Week 17

All this week, Ill be exploring the wide world of squirrels. Tomorrow: Meet two famous squirrels that call Washington home.

Twitter: @johnkelly

For previous columns, visit washingtonpost.com/johnkelly.
Harvey Matthews watches as Marsha Coleman-Adebayo holds a protest sign at a meeting of Montgomery County Planning Board. Members of the Macedonia Baptist Church want to postpone development in the Westbard area, at what is thought to be the site of an African American cemetery. (Bill Turque/The Washington Post)

An attempt to resolve the bitter dispute over an African American cemetery believed to lie in the shadow of a 15-story apartment house in Bethesdas Westbard neighborhood was close to unraveling this week, as the Baptist church pressing to protect the site charged that it had been misled by county officials and the private developer that owns the property.

Macedonia Baptist Church on River Road announced Friday that it will not join a mediation set up by County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) to address disagreements over how to best conduct an archaeological study of the burial site, which records suggest is probably located under land north and northwest of Westwood Tower Apartments on Westbard Drive. That is in the middle of an area targeted for a massive redevelopment proposed by Florida-based Regency Centers, the major property owner in the neighborhood, which includes the Westwood Shopping Center.

Church leaders want to see the site preserved and memorialized with a museum that documents the African American community that was in Westbard as late as the 1950s.

They vehemently oppose the idea of a study funded by the property owner and called for an independent probe financed by the county. In January, Planning Director Gwen Wright proposed hiring two anthropologists selected by the church to perform a peer review on the company-financed study. But Wright and the academics could not reach an agreement.

Leggett and County Council President Roger Berliner (D-Potomac-Bethesda) proposed mediation last month, saying it would be wise for us to pause for a moment to sort out the churchs issues with Regency Centers, Wright and the county.

Macedonia members said they took the offer of mediation, scheduled to begin next week, as a promise that no work would be done until an accord was reached.

They were infuriated when they learned at a Thursday planning board meeting that an archaeological firm retained by Regency Centers was already performing preliminary research. Robert Kronenberg, a division chief for the planning department, told the board that field work would begin by mid-May.

Lies! Lies! Lies! about 20 congregants and supporters chanted as board chair Casey Anderson called for order.

Church leaders said that the companys decision to go ahead made the idea of mediation pointless.

To me, its almost like they put us to sleep believing there would be a mediation, said the Rev. Segun Adebayo, the interim pastor. If they are doing what they are doing behind us, what then are we mediating?

Wright said this week that Regency Centers had the right to conduct any studies on its own property and, after at least three months of delay, the company and the planning board were eager to move the development project ahead.

Weve been holding them off in hopes of trying to get some agreement, Wright said.

Eric Davidson, spokesman for Regency Centers (which purchased the original developer, Equity One, earlier this year) said Friday that the work being conducted by the Ottery Group, a Kensington archaeological and historic preservation firm, was strictly research, and that nothing invasive at the cemetery site was underway.

Were just having them do an initial look, Davidson said. Nothing has been moved or disturbed.

He added that the company was still open to mediation.

If we were asked, we would take direction from county on that, he said.

Lyle Torp, managing director of the Ottery Group, said he understood why the church community was angry.

I understand their concerns and that they dont have as much of a say as theyd like. Thats an issue the county needs to carefully consider, Torp said, reiterating that the firms study is strictly desktop research, and that no intrusive work would be done without community input.

He added that he was puzzled by Kronenbergs statement that field work would commence next month. Weve never been asked about a timeline, Torp said.

In proposing the mediation, to be conducted by the nonprofit Conflict Resolution Center of Montgomery County, Leggett and Berliner raised the possibility that the county would fund its own study of the site on behalf of the church, addressing concerns about the objectivity of the company probe. Leggett said Friday that he was puzzled by the churchs response.

I find that particularly odd, he said. Theyre free to do what they want to do. I laid a path for them to follow that I thought would be helpful. Im not sure what their motivation is.

The situation remained in flux late Friday. Ramona Bell-Pearson, an assistant chief administrative officer for the county, said she spoke with Adebayo and that he seemed at least open to reconsidering.

But Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, the pastors wife and head of Macedonias social justice ministry, said in an email that the churchs position was unchanged. She said Macedonia stood by Adebayos original statement earlier Friday.

We were deceived, misled and ambushed. It was a shameful display of dishonor by county leaders, Adebayo said.
From the time Pamela Butler vanished from her two-story house in Northwest Washington just before Valentines Day 2009, police and her family believed that the 47-year-old had been killed, and all signs pointed to her boyfriend.

For eight years, police found no clues to support a criminal charge. A search of the victims home apparently turned up no blood. The scouring of a 6,000-acre park along the Potomac River came up empty. And despite extensive questioning of the boyfriend, he never wavered from his claim of innocence.

No body ever has been found, and she was declared dead by a judge in July 2016.

What police had, though, was surveillance video recorded on and around Feb. 12, 2009, from Butlers house at Fourth and Oglethorpe streets NW. It only deepened the mystery.

We saw them go inside together, acting D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham said. He was seen leaving. She was never seen again.

(The Washington Post)

[Womans disappearance leaves a trail with no end]

On Saturday, D.C. police announced a break in the cold case. They had arrested the boyfriend, Jose Angel Rodriguez-Cruz  who now is 51 and lives in Alexandria, Va.  and charged him with first-degree murder. He spent most of Saturday being questioned by detectives.

Rodriguez-Cruz is expected to make his initial appearance in D.C. Superior Court on Monday. In extensive interviews with The Washington Post in 2009, he denied any involvement in Butlers demise.

This was a woman I really cared for, okay, he said then. I mean, I treated her like a queen. . . . Im telling you, theres no way I would ever hurt her.

Butlers brother, Derrick Butler, who lives in Maryland and teaches at Frank W. Ballou Senior High School in Southeast Washington, described the family as relieved, elated, all of the above. He added: Its been a long time coming.

Police declined to describe in detail what led to the arrest, but authorities noted that they were helped by a deep dive into the suspects history of domestic violence toward women before he met Pamela Butler.

The lead detective was Michael Fulton, a 28-year veteran assigned to the cold-case squad, whom Newsham said picked up the file two months ago.

When he looked at the case with fresh eyes, he was able to determine additional information, the chief said. Piecing all that together with information that we had already collected, the detective was able to get a warrant.

[Family sees clues in womans disappearance]

The case has been one of the police departments most complex and frustrating cases, both because a suspect seemed so talkative with police and the media, and because of the dearth of physical evidence, including a body.

Now, prosecutors are faced with their first murder case that lacks a body since 2011, when four people were convicted in the killing of an 18-year-old woman who was lured to an apartment, beaten to death and thrown into a trash bin. Her body was thought to be lost in a landfill.

On Saturday, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) joined Newsham and Derrick Butler outside police headquarters to announce an arrest that for years had baffled detectives and left a grieving family without answers.

While this does not bring Ms. Butler back, Bowser said, We hope it will bring closure to her family and friends, and justice to us all.

Derrick Butler, 54, said that he believes his sister was killed because she had told Rodriguez-Cruz she was breaking off their five-month relationship, which had started after the two met on the eHarmony.com dating service.

Friends described Pamela Butler, a computer specialist for the Environmental Protection Agency, as an accomplished, educated professional who was hypervigilant about her safety but who longed for someone to love. She owned a two-story, six-room house, along with a Mercedes and a Jaguar, and outfitted her Brightwood home with an unusual number of surveillance cameras.

Relatives scoured some of the video before police took it as evidence, but nothing indicated that Butler was in peril. She disappears from the frames after Feb. 12, 2009, but Rodriguez-Cruz is seen going in and out the following day. At one point, the family said in 2009, he is seen leaving the house with two shoulder-slung duffel bags and a plastic trash bag.

[Video  Family recalls missing woman]

It was not clear Saturday whether Rodriguez-Cruz has a lawyer. In 2009, he gave extensive interviews to The Post for reports on Butlers disappearance. He had grown up in Puerto Rico and New York and joined the Army in 1982, at 17. He was a military police officer and a sergeant, but also had been demoted for having an affair with a fellow servicemans wife.

Rodriguez-Cruz told The Post that he had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after serving with military advisers in Latin America and helping combat insurgents. He worked as a security guard but said he could not hold a regular job because of his nerves and crushing migraine headaches. He blamed mental issues for domestic problems and cited an ex-wife who he said falsely accused him of abuse. He said that a former girlfriend stabbed him in the stomach during a fight.

Rodriguez-Cruz said that he started working as an office manager at a drug rehabilitation center in 2008 in Annandale and signed up with eHarmony to restart his life.

Through that site, he met Butler  who was divorced. They met for their first date at a Cuban restaurant. Asked why the computer matched them, Rodriguez-Cruz had cited eHarmonys 29 dimensions of compatibility, saying that he and Butler agreed on the most important qualities in a relationship  trust, communication, physical affection  and had common likes and dislikes. Both were orderly. He told her about his problems in the military.

The Post reported that after the 2008 recession, Butler was feeling financial stress. Tension mounted and apparently came to a head the night of Feb. 12, 2009, a Thursday, the last time Butler was seen  captured on her own surveillance video walking into her home.

Rodriguez-Cruz told The Post in 2009 that Butler ended the relationship the following day. She wasnt seen again, police said. After Butler didnt show up for a family dinner on Feb. 17, Butlers mother went to police.

From the outset of this case, we thought the circumstances were very suspicious, Newsham said.

Police interviewed Rodriguez-Cruz extensively, putting so much pressure on him that he complained to The Post that detectives made my life hell. Police found no clues in the home  Butlers nephew said that police found no blood  and a search for her body in the expansive Seneca Creek State Park along the Potomac River in Montgomery County, Md., came up empty.

Derrick Butler described the past years as agony. All we could do was wake up in the morning and wonder, is this going to be the day? Is this going to be the day? he said. Its been a roller-coaster ride that never ends. You would never want to see a family go through this.

Keith L. Alexander and Paul Duggan contributed to this report.
Federal appeals court judges on Friday hailed the Virginia transgender teen fighting to use the boys restroom at his high school as a courageous civil rights leader even as they lamented that the school year would end without a resolution of his case.

The praise for Gavin Grimm came from two judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, who could have issued a short, unsigned order but instead chose to post a five-page memo.

The Supreme Court in March put off a ruling in Grimms case after the Trump administration revoked federal guidelines that directed schools to allow transgender students to use a bathroom consistent with their gender identity. The high court sent Grimms case back to the Richmond-based 4th Circuit. The appeals court earlier had sided with the teen and deferred to the federal guidelines on transgender rights that had been in place under the Obama administration.

The 4th Circuit announced Friday that Grimms case against the Gloucester County School Board would not be heard before he is scheduled to graduate. But Judge Andre M. Davis, a senior judge appointed by Barack Obama in 2009, used a separate court order issued the same day to passionately express his support for Grimms legal journey and state his dismay that the legal system sometimes lags behind the realities of peoples lives.

Grimms case is about much more than bathrooms. Its about a boy asking his school to treat him just like any other boy. Its about protecting the rights of transgender people in public spaces and not forcing them to exist on the margins, wrote Davis, who was joined by Judge Henry F. Floyd, another Obama appointee.

The order from the judges was procedural and unopposed, formally dropping an earlier decision that blocked the school systems bathroom policy. That decision was preempted by the Supreme Courts involvement.

Davis said Grimm would be remembered alongside of other brave individuals, including Dred Scott, Fred Korematsu and Mildred and Richard Loving, who refused to accept quietly the injustices that were perpetuated against them.

Today, hatred, intolerance, and discrimination persist  and are sometimes even promoted, Davis wrote, referring to Grimm by his initials, G.G.

But by challenging unjust policies rooted in invidious discrimination, G.G. takes his place among other modern-day human rights leaders who strive to ensure that, one day, equality will prevail, and that the core dignity of every one of our brothers and sisters is respected by lawmakers and others who wield power over their lives.

An attorney for the school board, David Corrigan, declined to comment on the courts order.

The 4th Circuit generally tries to assign cases to judges with previous involvement, but it is not known whether Grimms case will be taken up again by Davis, Floyd and a third judge, Paul V. Niemeyer, who was appointed by George H.W. Bush.

The Obama administration released its guidance in May 2016, directing all U.S. public schools to accommodate transgender students, including by allowing them to use the bathrooms matching their gender identity. LGBT rights advocates cheered the move, but it was decried by many conservatives, who said that the administration was overreaching and violating the privacy of children.

Grimm, who was on spring break this week, said he was honored to be compared to men and women whose names feature prominently in civil rights fights.

Its crazy to me that I get people of such esteem comparing me to such heroes just because of trying to use the bathroom, Grimm said.

He was disappointed that the court order foreclosed the possibility that he would get to use the bathroom before he graduates, but he said it was something he had resigned himself to long ago.

Grimm spoke this week at public forum on civil rights in the Trump era, recalling how he had endured school board meetings where neighbors derided him and insisted on using female pronouns to refer to him.

I sat while people called my a freak. I sat while my community got together to banish a child from public life for the crime of harming no one, he said. When school board members voted to ban him from the boys restroom, they invalidated me in perhaps the most humiliating way possible.

Obamas guidance had given transgender students hope, he said, and Trumps decision to withdraw the guidance told transgender students that the new administration would not defend them from discrimination.

Regardless of what obstacles come before me and other trans students, regardless of what hatred or ignorance or discrimination we face, we will be fine because we have love on our side. That is something even the withdrawing of the guidance cannot change.

Moriah Balingit contributed to this report.
Passengers board a MARTA train during a Friday evening rush in Atlanta. The system has so far successfully absorbed an increase in ridership following the late March collapse of a portion of Interstate 85. (David Goldman/AP)

Last Monday, commuters in the nations capital were smarting over yet another Metro rush-hour meltdown. Stray current had caused a rail component to overheat, pouring smoke into a tunnel outside a busy transit hub. A critical stretch of the Red Line was shut down for more than two hours. Thousands of riders were delayed in their travels.

Roughly 640 road miles to the south, a massive effort was underway in Atlanta to navigate that city through a commuting crisis. The partial collapse of Interstate 85 north of downtown on March 30 meant thousands of commuters were instead relying on MARTA, the citys Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, to start their workweek. Transit officials, staff and volunteers were scrambling to ensure a hitch-free morning.

About 50 members of a grass-roots group called the MARTA Army were dispatched to stations to help new and otherwise reluctant riders buy fare cards and get to their stops. Train frequency was increased to every six to eight minutes systemwide from the usual 10.

Even though the system was serving thousands more riders than normal, on-time performance was an unheard-of 99.5 percent, according to agency spokesman Erik Burton. Thats 99  with two nines  for you Metro riders who might be in jaw-to-floor disbelief.

MARTA, sometimes referred to as Metros sister system, owing to their inauguration in the same decade and their hybrid nature encompassing urban subway and commuter-like rail, was dealt an unprecedented opportunity in the eyes of transit experts.

Crews work on the section of I-85 that collapsed in late March. (David Goldman/AP)

To be sure, no one wishes for a tragedy such as the I-85 collapse.

We dont celebrate by any means when one part of the network gets knocked down, said MARTA General Manager Keith Parker. But what we do is increase our level of responsibility when that happens. A piece has taken a hit, so we need to step up.

In the wake of the collapse, MARTA ridership spiked 50 percent or more on the northern ends of the citys transit lines, the agency said. Overall ridership jumped about 20 percent, and the uptick in riders is expected to last at least through early June, when I-85 is expected to reopen. (Officials noted that it was a spring break week in Atlanta last week; this Monday, when thousands return to the region, is the real test.)

And while MARTA is not as large as Metro, serving about 230,000 weekday rail trips in a similarly sized metropolitan region, the situation does offer a glimpse at the efforts transit agencies can make to win over riders as increased competition, unreliability and other factors drive them away.

[Ridership losses, exacerbated by SafeTrack, push Metro to financial tipping point]

They have got a tremendous opportunity to showcase a well-functioning transit system  with excellent leadership at the agency itself  in a region that is trying to think about what they look like in their middle age, said Robert Puentes, president of the Eno Center for Transportation, a nonprofit think tank. Certainly theyll win over some riders who were reluctant, who dont take MARTA to begin with.

In Atlanta, thats a sizable slice of the market. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in 2015 that solo drivers make up 70 to 80 percent of commuters in the region.

Still, as the effort to win riders unfolds, Metro, the nations second-busiest subway, may want to look to its peer to see whether and how new or previously reluctant passengers can be drawn to public transit. The Washington regions subway is suffering from massive ridership and revenue losses caused in part by chronic safety and reliability challenges, as well as efforts such as the SafeTrack year-long maintenance program to bring the system to a state of good repair. Metro ridership is down about 100,000 daily trips from peaks of 750,000 in 2009.

Its almost the opposite of whats going on here with SafeTrack, said Brookings Institution policy fellow Adie Tomer of the Atlanta collapse. What youre seeing MARTA acting like is what Uber, Lyft and the other [ride-hailing companies] did when SafeTrack hit here. Hey, we can help you. 

MARTA chief Parker said he aims to show newcomers and existing customers what a smooth, problem-free ride can look like so they will consider MARTA when the highway reopens. Moreover, he said, they might be more mindful of the systems longer-term needs if they experience its value.

We want to give people a safe ride  thats most important  secondly, we want to give these newcomers and our existing customers a really dignified and reliable trip and then, thirdly, maybe we start people thinking about [the long term], Parker said.

But there are downsides to boosting service.

That puts more stress on the system late at night, Parker said. Any time you defer maintenance, that means youve got to do twice as much later. Thats the type of system were finding ourselves in.

Its also unclear how long MARTA can sustain the current level of enhanced service without straining equipment and staff. Last week was not entirely problem-free.

Early Friday morning, riders saw widespread delays after a collector shoe assembly  the paddles that draw power from the electrified third rail  caught fire, knocking down the proportion of on-time trips to 90.5 percent.

For comparison purposes, Metros on-time performance for the problem-filled Monday morning commute was 89 percent, and after another midday disruption on the Red Line, the agency rounded out the day at 86.3 percent. Their methodologies vary, but both consider an on-time trip to mean delays lasted no longer than five minutes.

With 38 stations and about 340 rail cars, MARTA is considerably smaller than Metro, which has 91 stations and about 1,200 cars. The Atlanta system is 48 miles in length, compared with Metros 117. Overall, Washington represents a much more successful portrait of transit adoption than Atlanta, policy experts said. The Atlanta system is also much easier to manage and maintain.

MARTAs situation offers an interesting case study, however, because the system is trying to attract riders to underused infrastructure, said Jon Orcutt, spokesman for TransitCenter, a public-transportation advocacy group.

You know, I think the lesson is that MARTA actually could work for a lot more people than are using it, he said. The lesson for Atlanta is, Maybe you dont need as much road space, and maybe not as much cheap or free parking. 

For transit systems in general, the lesson is simply: Rider satisfaction hinges foremost on the ability to deliver reliable service.

Walk-up-and-go service is what makes people willing to use transit, he said. [Its] the fact that you dont have to understand a weird timetable or look at your phone to figure out how to do it.

So whats the lesson for Metro?

Tomer says winning back riders will require a steady stream of small-scale efforts aimed at improving the traveling experience. Amenities such as new way-finding compasses outside some stations and stickers denoting where six-car trains stop  both of which Metro is doing  are a start. But riders want more.

[Metros multimillion-dollar mystery: Where have our riders gone?]

People want to talk to a human when theyre commuting. They want someone standing there whos going to be helpful, Tomer said. Those kind of elements  really clear messaging when there are delays and not being scared to say whats happening. Building up that trust with their ridership community, thats really the key component.

Parker recalled riding the train on a recent night and meeting a man who was on his way from the airport to a hotel. The man said he normally would have taken a cab, but when he called his hotel, a staffer recommended he take MARTA. The man detailed to Parker how it had been a day filled with travel-related anguish, including six hours of plane delays, and how he was ready to get to the hotel.

Hes the type of person whos now a permanent customer. Hes going to tell colleagues, hes going to be riding himself, Parker said. And so were hearing lots of stories like that.

Simon Berrebi, executive director of MARTA Army, said that in the days after the I-85 collapse, the agency contacted his group to ask for support during the weekday commute.

MARTA reached out to us saying that they needed some help for first-time . . . users to navigate the system and especially purchase [fare cards], he said. The fare payment was definitely the greatest source of confusion.

[Americans are driving more again. That could be a problem.]

Metro has a team of about 20 volunteer ambassadors who assist tourists and customers at five stations, a spokesman said, answering questions, helping them buy SmarTrip cards and giving directions. They work three-hour shifts two days per month, and Metro will evaluate whether to expand or modify the pilot later this year.

Still, Puentes said the lack of an organized, independent rider advocacy group, akin to those in other major cities, is a distinct hole in this regions transit community.

Berrebi said the Atlanta system has been willing to work with its transit community in ways other systems have been reluctant to do.

MARTAs willingness to crowdsource innovation is very unique, Berrebi said. The transit agency itself has been open to letting it happen. I think that thats very important. The fact that MARTA is taking the risk of trying something new, thats exceptional and thats something most transit agencies would not be comfortable with.

The failed WMATA Riders Union, which fizzled over concerns about its handling of its funds, left activists without a unified voice to push for Metro riders interests.

Its a strange thing in this region that we dont have the same kind of grass-roots, bottoms-up support for the transit system like other regions do, Puentes said. Clearly a lot of people care about it; theres a lot of different advocates in the region. But its not the same as the Straphangers in New York, and this group in Atlanta, and other groups in Seattle and Chicago.

[Is it RIP for WMATARU?]

Whatever lessons might be drawn from Atlanta, Tomer said, Metro has examples of success it can tout. He pointed to the relatively problem-free weekend of the inauguration and the Womens March on Washington in January, Metros second busiest day ever and a recent example of how the system is capable of delivering quality service. The question is how Metro can apply that quality of service every day, he said.

MARTA right now has the momentum in its favor so it can sustain that [ridership], Tomer said. Those same lessons can also be used in D.C. to try to create momentum for itself.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., center, speaks to reporters following a briefing on Syria on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, April 7, 2017. (Susan Walsh/AP)

For Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), theres a bright side to his losing bid for vice president.

The one-term senator raised $2.9 million in the first quarter of the year following Hillary Clintons bruising race for the White House.

Thats the biggest one-quarter haul Kaine has gathered in a year when hes not on the ballot, according to his finance director, Jenny Nadicksbernd.

The donations give Kaine a total of $5.5 million going into his 2018 race for re-election, according to Nadicksbernd.

More than 15,000 donors gave donations of less than $100 in the first three months of the year, she said.

Tim is working hard for Virginia in the Senate, and he is grateful for the support, Nadicksbernd said in a statement.

[Tim Kaine returns to the Senate, seemingly untarnished by devastating loss]

Kaines campaign released only his fundraising totals; complete reports are due next week.

No Republicans have declared plans to challenge him next year, but Carly Fiorina, the former GOP presidential candidate, and conservative radio host Laura Ingraham have both said they are considering it.

Republicans say that Rep. Barbara Comstock would also be a top contender if she would risk giving up her northern Virginia seat to run. Jimmie Massie, a Republican state delegate from the Richmond suburbs, announced last month that he would not seek re-election and theres speculation hes preparing a Senate bid as well.

The national GOP does not appear to be targeting Kaine; Virginia was the only Southern state to go for Hillary Clinton in November and all its statewide officeholders are Democrats.

Competition could be fierce in North Dakota, a state where Trump defeated Clinton by 36 points. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) raised $1.6 million in the first quarter, Politico reported.

Trump won Wisconsin and Florida by one point. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) raised $2.2 million in the same period, Fox 6 TV reported, and Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) raised more than $2 million, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Since returning to the Senate from the campaign trail, Kaine has been defending the Affordable Care Act and has been vocal in his opposition to President Trumps attempt to ban refugees from entering the U.S.

After Trump ordered airstrikes in Syria last week, Kaine renewed his call for Congress to issue a Authorization for the Use of Military Force in all conflicts.

The Constitution says war must be declared by Congress, he said in a statement. I voted for military action against Syria in 2013 when Donald Trump was advocating that America turn its back on Assads atrocities. Congress will work with the President, but his failure to seek Congressional approval is unlawful.

Kaine, the father of a Marine, sits on the Senate Armed Services and Senate Foreign Relations Committees.
Elizabeth Starrels sat in the examining chair of a Washington ear, nose and throat specialist in October 2012, weeping in frustration and pain.

For the previous four months, Starrels, then 52, had been battling painful mouth sores that were getting worse. Eating had become a near impossibility, and Starrels, who was largely subsisting on smoothies, had lost 20 pounds.

Her dentist and an oral surgeon told her she had thrush, a yeast infection caused by an overgrowth of fungi in the mouth that can result from antibiotics. The rinses and medicines they prescribed worked only briefly or not at all.

The ENT whom she saw next disagreed. He suspected that her problem was an inflammatory disease. When Starrels, a registered nurse who works at MedStars Georgetown University Hospital, broke down, telling the doctor she didnt think she could live with the pain, his response was brusque.

[This womans labored breathing alarmed her friends. Doctors were startled to find the cause.]

He told me I would have to learn to live with it  I had no choice, she recalls. The doctor offered to prescribe an antidepressant.

Starrels said that the ENTs reaction had a galvanizing effect: She didnt need an antidepressant, but she did need someone who seemed interested and willing to help her. As a nurse, she said, I could advocate for other people but not for myself.

Two months and several additional doctors later, Starrels received a new diagnosis as well as effective treatment. She also found encouragement online, through a support group whose help she considers invaluable.

I was so grateful to have a diagnosis and to know that there was a treatment, she said, adding that her pain is now gone. Her chronic disease is in remission  one she hopes will be long-lasting.

Dramatic weight loss

In January 2012, nine months before she wound up in the ENTs office, Starrels, who lives in Northwest Washington, woke up with frequent nosebleeds. She attributed them to dry air in her home and, because they were minor, did not seek treatment.

In May, she developed a stone in her salivary gland and received two 10-day courses of penicillin. These harmless stones, which form for unknown reasons, contain calcium and can cause pain and swelling if they block a duct, obstructing the flow of saliva.

With her illness now in remission, Elizabeth Starrels says a support group that she found has been invaluable. (Courtesy of Elizabeth Starrels)

[Five simple steps to avoid becoming a medical mystery]

Soon after she stopped the drug, Starrels developed painful mouth ulcers, similar to canker sores, which triggered the first of several visits to her dentist.

When the rinses and creams the dentist prescribed didnt help, he referred her to an oral surgeon in his building. The oral surgeon told her he thought she had thrush, although she did not have its characteristic white patches, but rather, raw sores.

Starrels soon noticed that in addition to sores in her mouth that had spread to her gums, her gum tissue seemed to be sloughing off.

Eating had become incredibly painful, although drinking was tolerable. Starrels was living on protein shakes and smoothies as well as yogurt and sweet potatoes  foods that required little or no chewing and were not irritating.

The ENT diagnosed oral lichen planus, a chronic autoimmune disorder that has no known cause. The disorder, which causes mouth sores, is not contagious and is usually treated with topical numbing creams or, in more severe cases, corticosteroids such as prednisone, which reduces inflammation. A second specialist in oral medicine concurred but told her he had little new to offer.

Starrels decided it was time to look elsewhere.

[This fit young woman was having strokes, and doctors didnt know why]

In November, a few weeks after the ENT appointment, she traveled to Philadelphia to see an oral medicine specialist at the University of Pennsylvania. A week earlier, to her dismay, a spray of fluid-filled blisters had erupted on her chest.

The doctor peered into her mouth and told Starrels he didnt think she had lichen planus. He suspected her problem was pemphigus vulgaris, a rare autoimmune disease, and urged her to see a dermatologist immediately to undergo a biopsy of the blisters, which could help confirm or refute the diagnosis.

Blisters

Pemphigus vulgaris (and a related disorder called pemphigoid) is a serious and incurable disease that is usually caused by an overreaction of the immune system, which mistakenly attacks healthy skin cells, especially the mucous membranes. There are several types of pemphigus that cause painful blisters elsewhere on the body. Pemphigus vulgaris, the most common form, generally starts with mouth sores and progresses to eruptions elsewhere. It is not contagious and does not appear to be hereditary, although the disease is linked to genes that are more common in people of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern descent, and among Eastern European Jews.

The disease, most common in middle age and among the elderly, affects an estimated 3 in 100,000 people worldwide and is treated with a variety of medications that quell inflammation. Before the advent of corticosteroids, it was usually fatal.

Everyone who has pemphigus carries a gene that increases the risk of disease, but only about 1 out of every 10,000 people who has the gene actually gets pemphigus, said Grant J. Anhalt, a professor of dermatology at Johns Hopkins who specializes in treating blistering skin diseases. Scientists dont know why only a fraction of those who carry the gene are affected.

[This fit young woman was having strokes and doctors didnt know why]

Starrels was able to undergo a biopsy the day after her appointment at Penn. The procedure was performed by a dermatopathologist  a doctor trained in both dermatology and pathology  who is a partner of Starrelss dermatologist. The biopsy yielded preliminary confirmation of pemphigus vulgaris, which was confirmed by pathologists at Johns Hopkins.

A very good treatment

A few weeks later, at the recommendation of her dermatologist, Starrels saw Anhalt.

He basically said, Theres no cure for this disease, but I have a very good treatment, Starrels remembers him telling her, to her great relief.

Starrelss case is typical, Anhalt said. It takes patients an average of six months to a year to receive a diagnosis, largely because the telltale symptom  mouth sores  has numerous causes and because pemphigus is rare. Her frequent nosebleeds, he said, were a harbinger of the disorder.

Not thinking of pemphigus is the norm, he said. The real bell goes off when people have oral ulcers that dont improve and then develop skin ulcers.

By the time they see him, patients are understandably anxious. They go online and see the pictures or read the blogs and think, Oh my God, my life is over.

Anhalt, who has treated 300 patients between the ages of 4 and 89 for various forms of the disease (one form of which he helped discover in 1990) has increasingly relied on periodic infusions of rituximab, a drug approved to treat rheumatoid arthritis and certain cancers. Last month, the Food and Drug Administration granted the drug, which is in a Phase III clinical trial, breakthrough therapy status, a designation that could speed its approval for pemphigus and facilitate insurance coverage. Other drugs, including prednisone and CellCept, an immunosuppressant drug often used to prevent organ rejection, are also prescribed, sometimes in combination.

Rituximab, which has been successful in severe cases where other drugs did not work, is expensive, costing around $20,000 for a round of treatment. Because it has not been approved to treat pemphigus, getting it paid for can be a problem, Anhalt said. Early treatment can result in faster and more durable remissions.

Starrels said that the diagnosis was a shock but that she was relieved to learn what was wrong and grateful to find a doctor who displayed both compassion and expertise.

I had been in agony but was really trying to make the best of it, Starrels said.

She began taking prednisone and CellCept and then underwent the first of three rituximab infusions. Her insurance covered the first round without difficulty. Coverage of the last round was initially denied, but it was covered after Starrels appealed.

Over a period of months, her sores and blisters cleared up and her pain vanished. Her first remission lasted 18 months. The average remission lasts between 1.5 to 2.5 years, Anhalt said, but he knows of one patient whose remission has exceeded a decade.

Starrels said she has found great support online, through the International Pemphigus and Pemphigoid Foundation, a California-based group founded by a patient. The group has connected her with other patients and has been hugely helpful in managing the emotional and practical aspects of living with a difficult disease.

They really saved my life, Starrels said.

Submit your solved medical mystery to sandra.boodman@washpost.com. No unsolved cases, please. Read previous mysteries at wapo.st/medicalmysteries.

Read more:

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I had terrible groin pain. If Id been a man, they wouldve figured it out sooner
WE HAD promised everything to everybody and were doing practically nothing for anyone. Theres only so much you as a city can do to solve all the worlds problems. Those words of caution from former mayor Anthony Williams about the trouble the District got into with its profligate spending in the 1990s need to be stressed as the D.C. Council begins its deliberations on the budget proposed for next year by Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D).

The $13.8 billion proposal would be the largest in the Districts history, with spending increases in areas such as schools, affordable housing, child care, emergency services and bridge and road repair. It is a responsible document that addresses the major challenges facing the District with affordable investments and innovative programs. But to critics, the proposal does not do enough to help the neediest D.C. residents; they argue that a city government so flush with money should spend more on social services. Why not, they ask, tap the citys reserves or  even better  delay $100 million earmarked by the mayor for tax relief to residents?

Council members should resist both suggestions. No question the city currently has no financial worries, but fiscal prudence and uncertainty about what President Trump and the Republican Congress have in store for cities argue against spending surplus monies. It also would not be in the best interest of residents and businesses to put off tax reform that was the result of painstaking work by a Tax Revision Commission, which Mr. Williams helped lead. Most of the benefits  $60 million  will benefit low- and moderate-income families, a fact that we hope will not be lost on the council in its upcoming deliberations.

Clearly the council should not just rubber stamp Ms. Bowsers proposed budget, which deserves careful scrutiny. But we would urge legislators  in light of a series of reports from the D.C. auditor finding fault with the performance of some government programs  to question the efficiency and effectiveness of how tax dollars are already being spent. As Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) aptly pointed out, spending more money doesnt necessarily get you more results. We celebrate the spending . . . not the end results.

The deliberations will occur at a time when speculation has already started over who on the council might challenge Ms. Bowser in her expected bid for reelection. So expect political posturing and grandstanding. Lets just hope it doesnt result in promises the city wont be able to keep.
In his April 4 Washington Sketch column, Senators mourn traditions they are set to blow up, Dana Milbank wrote that Democrats opened the door to ending the filibuster, changing the [Senates] rules in 2013 to abolish filibusters for lower court appointments and that their step now haunts Democrats, and he noted that he had predicted at the time that Democrats eventually would deeply regret what they have done.  Mr. Milbank conceded the essential, however: True, GOP obstruction had been intolerable: Half of the filibusters of executive and judicial nominations in the nations history up to that point had occurred during the Obama presidency.

Why would Democrats regret their decision? Had they not eliminated filibusters, they would have instead regretted leaving a Democratic president paralyzed. Likewise, they have no reason now to regret Republicans elimination of the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees. Republicans refusal to even hold hearings, much less a vote, on Judge Merrick Garlands nomination to the Supreme Court is evidence that they are unscrupulously obstructionist in opposition and correspondingly imperious when they are the governing party. We should assume they would have eliminated the filibuster anyway.

One side is exclusively to blame for erosion of the filibuster: Republicans.

Brendan Martin, Arlington

Senators act as if ending the filibuster rule is the end of civilization. No, but it is the end of an abuse of power by senators. The core principle of democracy is that when we vote on something, we peacefully accept the decision of the majority. Senators cherish the filibuster because it allows each of them to defy the will of the majority. In place of a spirited debate where they might persuade other senators to change their opinions, they want to prevent action by throwing an oratorical tantrum. The filibuster was a betrayal of our principles when it was used to block civil rights legislation, and it is equally wrong now. Im no fan of Judge Neil Gorsuch, but I cannot support sacrificing democracy for temporary political advantage.

Ralph Watkins, Silver Spring
MUCH LIKE Anita Hills 1991 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee about being sexually harassed, allegations of serial misconduct by Bill OReilly can be seen two ways. Ms. Hills riveting testimony did not stop the Supreme Court confirmation of Clarence Thomas, who denied the charges, but it brought sexual harassment to the forefront of national attention. Similarly, disclosure of about $13 million in payouts to settle the claims of five women who said they were harassed by Mr. OReilly has yet to derail the Fox News hosts career. But he and Fox News have paid a price: Advertisers not wanting to be seen as tolerating sexual harassment fled The OReilly Factor in droves.

There is no question that workplace sexual harassment persists, but it is also clear there has been progress in recognizing it as a problem that must not be shunted back into the shadows.

What is perhaps most disturbing about the disclosures about Mr. OReilly is how, as Ms. Hill observed in a Post op-ed, sadly familiar the story is. As the New York Times reported in its damning account of the roughly $13 million paid out over 15 years, women who worked for Mr. OReilly or appeared on his show complained about a range of alleged behavior, including verbal abuse, lewd comments and unwanted advances, charges denied by Mr. OReilly. Similar allegations forced the ouster past summer of Fox News chairman Roger Ailes. Outside of Fox News, revelations have emerged in the past month of complaints from women about hostile work environments at Sterling Jewelers, Tesla and Uber.

The prevalence of sexual harassment  even 25 years after Ms. Hills testimony  was underscored by the individual accounts of women who took to social media (#droporeilly) to describe their experiences of being groped and propositioned and assaulted in the workplace. For many, it was the first time they spoke publicly about the harassment because they either were ashamed to talk about their humiliating experiences or were afraid of retaliation.

Breaking the silence that protects and enables sexual abuse is critical. Many companies obligate their employees to sign contracts when they are hired that require any complaints  including charges of sexual harassment and discrimination  to be settled by arbitration. Perhaps there is reason in some cases for mediation to avoid costly and lengthy litigation, but strict secrecy rules that prevent public disclosure need to be reformed. Silencing women who have been victimized inhibits other victims from coming forward and allows the abuser to stay in place with no accountability.

It remains to be seen what will happen to Mr. OReilly. People who continue to watch him, advertisers who stick with him and those who defend him  including President Trump, who said, I dont think Bill did anything wrong  minimize sexual harassment and the harm it does. Real change, Ms. Hill wrote, depends on how society responds: The social and financial consequences of tolerating an abusive environment must become untenable for employers.
WHAT A long time ago it seems that Joe Arpaio was known as Americas toughest sheriff.

In November, he was soundly defeated for reelection to the post he had held for 24 years in Arizonas Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix. This week his successor announced the closure of one of Mr. Arpaios signature projects, a sprawling outdoor tent encampment where inmates, compelled to wear pink underwear and striped jumpsuits, were regularly used as backdrops for the sheriffs boastful disquisitions to the media. And later this month, Mr. Arpaio, a Republican, goes on trial for criminal contempt in a racial profiling case.

The toughness seeping out of him with each passing day, lately Mr. Arpaio has been reduced to asking the court not to allow his past campaign statements  full of bluster and mocking defiance of court orders  to be admitted as evidence, and to prohibit testimony from law-abiding Latinos who were illegally picked up in his notorious immigration sweeps. Oh, and Mr. Arpaios top lawyer has asked to quit, citing unspecified ethical conflicts that bar him from continuing to represent the former lawman.

It is a humbling end to an ignominious career, and a fitting one. Having made it abundantly clear in public statements that he regarded himself as above the law and beyond reproach, Mr. Arpaio now faces just reward for his arrogance and conceit.

The outdoor jail that was Mr. Arpaios marquee undertaking was a travesty. Ostensibly established to save money and deter criminals, who presumably would want to avoid sweltering in desert heat, it failed on both counts. In fact, closing the encampment will save taxpayers some $4.5 million annually. And in a recent study, the inmates there said they preferred the facility, the heat notwithstanding, to the cramped cells in conventional jails.

(Gillian Brockell/The Washington Post)

In announcing that the encampment would be closed, after 24 years, Mr. Arpaios successor, Paul Penzone, a Democrat, said, Starting today, the circus ends, and the tents come down.

Mr. Arpaios MO was humiliation and intimidation. Furious at the federal lawsuit targeting him, he struck back at President Barack Obama, becoming one of the leading voices of the birther movement and deploying a team of investigators to Hawaii with the intent of proving that the presidents birth certificate was somehow concocted. That failed.

Sensing the political advantage in harassing immigrants, he launched sweeps in Hispanic neighborhoods, making his office and the deputies who worked for him agents for racial profiling. The sweeps continued for more than a year after a federal judge ordered them halted, as Mr. Arpaio expressed his contempt for the judges authority.

In the end, Mr. Arpaio was passed over for various prominent jobs for which he was said to have been a candidate in the Trump administration. Finally, it is the sheriff who has been humiliated, and rightly so.
George W. Bush served as 43rd president of the United States and founded the George W. Bush Institute in Dallas.

Last week in Gaborone, Botswana, Laura and I sat in a small room in Tlokweng Main Clinic, a facility that recently started screening and treating women for cervical cancer. Seated with us was Leithailwe Wale, a 40-year-old woman who was diagnosed with the disease. Thanks to early detection and access to treatment, she told us, today she is alive, healthy and able to raise her son.

Good news like Leithailwes is becoming increasingly common in five African countries where Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon is operating. Since leaving the White House, Laura and I have been heartbroken to learn that because women with HIV are more likely to have cervical cancer, people who had been saved from AIDS were needlessly dying from another treatable, preventable disease. So at the Bush Institute, we formed this global public-private partnership to fight womens cancers.

In the past six years, more than 370,000 women have been screened for cervical cancer and 24,000 for breast cancer through Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon. More than 119,000 girls have been vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV), which can lead to cervical and other cancers. Nearly 1,000 health workers have been trained. With the proper resources and international commitment, we could end cervical cancer deaths on the continent in 30 years.

Critical to this effort is our Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon partner, the Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). My administration launched PEPFAR in 2003 to address the HIV/AIDS pandemic that threatened to wipe out an entire generation on the continent of Africa. Nearly 15 years later, the program has achieved remarkable results in the fight against disease. Today, because of the commitment of many foreign governments, investments by partners, the resilience of the African people and the generosity of the American people, nearly 12 million lives have been saved. And nearly 2 million babies have been born HIV-free to infected mothers.

In Windhoek, Namibia  where we introduced a partnership with the government, UNAIDS, the Global Fund and Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon  Laura, the first lady of Namibia and I met some of those newborns and their moms. Almost all the mothers had AIDS, but the babies were disease-free. It was so heartwarming to see those hopeful young lives and their proud, relieved mothers  and it was a powerful reminder that we need to not only keep this effort alive, but also do more.

It is clear that the generosity of the American people has had a huge impact  one that reflects the view that all lives are precious, and to whom much is given, much is required. This lifesaving work also has a practical purpose for Americans. Societies mired in disease breed hopelessness and despair, leaving people ripe for recruitment by extremists. When we confront suffering  when we save lives  we breathe hope into devastated populations, strengthen and stabilize society, and make our country and the world safer.

As the executive and legislative branches review the federal budget, they will have vigorous debates about how best to spend taxpayers money  and they should. Some will argue that we have enough problems at home and shouldnt spend money overseas. I argue that we shouldnt spend money on programs that dont work, whether at home or abroad. But they should fully fund programs that have proven to be efficient, effective and results-oriented. Saving nearly 12 million lives is proof that PEPFAR works, and I urge our government to fully fund it. We are on the verge of an AIDS-free generation, but the people of Africa still need our help. The American people deserve credit for this tremendous success and should keep going until the job is done.
Editors note: An earlier version of this column was published Thursday before news of President Trumps decision to strike a Syrian air base. This version has been updated.

There is much to applaud in President Trumps decision to attack the Bashar al-Assad regime this week. It punished a regime that has engaged in war crimes against its own people. It upheld an international norm against chemical weapons. It ended Trumps strange flirtation with Vladimir Putin on the Middle East. And, most significantly, it seems to reflect a belated recognition from Trump that he cannot simply put America first  that the president of the United States must act on behalf of broader interests and ideals. Trump, as candidate and as president, had avoided the language of global norms and international order. Yet in explaining his actions Thursday night, he invoked both and ended his remarks with a prayer that President Barack Obama would never have dared to make: God bless America  and the entire world.

But as former defense secretary William Cohen pointed out Friday, One strike doesnt make a strategy. U.S. policy on Syria remains unclear. The Trump administration had repeatedly announced that it had shifted away from the Obama administrations calls for regime change in Syria. In fact, Trump had indicated that he was happy to leave the country to Assad as long as this would help defeat the Islamic State. Last week, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson basically affirmed that approach. On Tuesday, the day of the chemical attack on Idlib, White House press secretary Sean Spicer reiterated it. The missile strike appears to have reversed that policy.

If so, it is a major shift and raises important questions: Is the United States now engaged in the Syrian civil war? Will it use military force to help oust Assad? Do these actions help the Islamic State and al-Qaeda  which are fighting against the regime? And what happens next in the overall war against the Islamic State?

Many of our allies have expressed support for the strike. But in an increasingly complicated global system, these countries look to the United States for a consistent strategy that can be relied upon over time. Trumps foreign policy seems to change with every meeting, event or crisis. Having bashed Japan during his campaign, he invited its prime minister, Shinzo Abe, to his first Mar-a-Lago summit and extolled him as a true friend and ally. Having threatened to upend the one-China policy, Trump wound up meekly affirming it in a phone call with President Xi Jinping.

Trump does not deny his changes of mind. In fact, he embraces them as a virtue, describing himself as  flexible. Im proud of that flexibility, Trump said this week, adding that he also likes to be unpredictable. But there is a difference between unpredictability and incoherence. This weeks strike does leave one with the impression that foreign policy in the Trump administration is not being made by carefully evaluating a situation, assessing various options, weighing costs and benefits, and choosing a path. Instead, it is a collection of reflexes responding instinctively to the crisis at hand.

Trumps military advisers provided him with a tactically brilliant option  a small air base, whose destruction would produce fairly little physical or diplomatic fallout. But the strike will have minimal impact on the balance of power. Assad will remain in place, as will his opposition. If anything, the strike might embolden some opposition forces to fight on rather than surrender, and the bloodshed will intensify. The long-term prospects for peace in Syria remain gloomy.

No matter the complications, in the short term the president struck a blow against evil, for which I congratulate him. And if he was moved to this action because he saw heart-rending pictures of children, thats fine. I would only ask that he look again at those images. Perhaps they would move him not simply to drop bombs, but also to provide more aid to those war-torn people. Perhaps they would even move him to let some of those people escape their misery and find a home in the United States.

Read more from Fareed Zakarias archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
UNDER PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma, South Africas quality of governance has steadily deteriorated, along with its economic prospects and role as a continental leader. A big reason is corruption: Mr. Zuma has allowed graft to flourish and has himself been the target of numerous allegations of financial misconduct, including using public funds for the upgrade of his house. Now, with two years remaining in his second and final term, Mr. Zuma has taken a step that could accelerate the countrys descent  and ensure that it continues even after he leaves office.

In a midnight stroke on March 31, Mr. Zuma removed the biggest remaining check on his governments excesses by firing Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan. Widely respected in international financial circles, Mr. Gordhan had opposed Mr. Zumas unaffordable scheme to buy nuclear power plants from Russia, a nontransparent deal that could open new channels for corruption. He also clashed with a powerful business clan with close ties to the president. Markets reacted quickly: South Africas currency plummeted, and the ratings agency Standard & Poors downgraded the governments bonds to junk status.

Mr. Zuma backed down when the firing of a previous finance minister produced such a reaction, but now the political stakes for him are bigger. The ruling African National Congress is due to pick a new leader later this year who most likely will be its candidate for president, and the presumptive favorite, in the 2019 election. The president is hoping to install his former wife Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the recently departed head of the African Union Commission, as his successor; that would have the effect of perpetuating his politics of patronage and, perhaps, shielding him from eventual prosecution.

The ouster of Mr. Gordhan may allow Mr. Zuma to consolidate control of his control over the ANC before its congress. Though several senior leaders protested the cabinet shake-up, including deputy president and potential presidential candidate Cyril Ramaphosa, the party appeared to side with the president last week when its secretary-general called the dissent a mistake that will not happen again.

In fact, Mr. Zumas power grab is a mistake that could be fateful to South Africa. The economy is already struggling, with growth sinking below 1 percent and unemployment stuck at 27 percent. The removal of Mr. Gordhan will frighten away desperately needed foreign investment and could open the way to bad deals, like the nuclear plants from Russia, that South Africa cannot afford.

Its still possible that Mr. Zuma could be checked. The president is unpopular, and the influential trade union federation has called for his resignation. The cabinet shake-up prompted protest demonstrations around the country, and there is speculation that Mr. Zuma could be forced out of office before his term ends.

For now, however, it looks as if Mr. Zuma may succeed in entrenching his sleaze-tinged power structure in what was once the party of Nelson Mandela. That would be a tragedy not only for South Africa but also for the cause of democracy across the continent.
American missile strikes against Syria are a critical first step toward protecting civilians from the threat of chemical weapons, and President Trump deserves credit for doing what the Obama administration refused to do. But Thursdays action needs to be just the opening salvo in a broader campaign not only to protect the Syrian people from the brutality of the Bashar al-Assad regime but also to reverse the downward spiral of U.S. power and influence in the Middle East and throughout the world. A single missile strike unfortunately cannot undo the damage done by the Obama administrations policies over the past six years.

Trump was not wrong to blame the dire situation in Syria on President Barack Obama. The world would be a different place today if Obama had carried out his threat to attack Syria when Assad crossed the famous red line in the summer of 2013. The bad agreement that then-Secretary of State John F. Kerry struck with Russia not only failed to get rid of Syrias stock of chemical weapons and allowed the Assad regime to drop barrel bombs and employ widespread torture against civilian men, women and children. It also invited a full-scale Russian intervention in the fall of 2015, which saved the Assad regime from possible collapse.

Today, thousands of Russian forces operate throughout Syria, and not chiefly against the Islamic State but against the civilian population and the U.S.-backed moderate opposition. Russia has also greatly expanded its military presence in the eastern Mediterranean. The extensive air-defense and anti-ship systems Russia has deployed have nothing to do with counterterrorism  because neither the Islamic State nor al-Qaeda has planes or ships  and everything to do with threatening U.S. and NATO assets. Obama and Kerry spent four years panting after this partnership, but Russia has been a partner the way the mafia is when it presses in on your sporting goods business. Thanks to Obamas policies, Russia has increasingly supplanted the United States as a major power broker in the region. Even U.S. allies such as Turkey, Egypt and Israel look increasingly to Moscow as a significant regional player.

Obamas policies also made possible an unprecedented expansion of Irans power and influence. Iran has at least 7,000 of its own fighters in Syria, and it leads a coalition of 20,000 foreign fighters, including Iraqis, Afghans and 8,000 Lebanese Hezbollah.

If you add the devastating impact of massive Syrian refugee flows on European democracies, Obamas policies have not only allowed the deaths of almost a half-million Syrians but also have significantly weakened Americas global position and the health and coherence of the West. Future historians will have to determine whether Vladimir Putin was emboldened to move in Ukraine by Obamas failure to carry through on his threat in Syria, or whether China felt free to act more aggressively in the South China Sea. But at the very least U.S. friends and allies in the Middle East and in Eastern and Central Europe have questioned how serious the United States is about countering aggression. Even in East Asia, American allies such as Japan and South Korea were left wondering whether the United States could still be counted on to keep its military commitments.

Trump, of course, greatly exacerbated these problems during his campaign, with all the strong rhetoric aimed at allies. Now he has taken an important first step in repairing the damage, but this will not be the end of the story. Americas adversaries are not going to be convinced by one missile strike that the United States is back in the business of projecting power to defend its interests and the world order. The Russians, by suspending an agreement with the United States to coordinate air operations over Syria, are already implicitly threatening to escalate in Syria. The Iranians are likely to step up their activities and could strike at Americans in Syria and Iraq. The testing of Trumps resolve actually begins now. If the United States backs down in the face of these challenges, the missile strike, though a worthy action in itself, may end up reinforcing the worlds impression that the United States does not have the stomach for confrontation.

Instead of being a one-time event, the missile strike needs to be the opening move in a comprehensive political, diplomatic and military strategy to rebalance the situation in Syria in Americas favor. That means reviving some of those proposals that Obama rejected over the past four years: a no-fly zone to protect Syrian civilians, the grounding of the Syrian air force, and the effective arming and training of the moderate opposition, all aimed at an eventual political settlement that can bring the Syrian civil war, and therefore the Assad regime, to an end. The United States commitment to such a course will have to be clear enough to deter the Russians from attempting to disrupt it. This in turn will require moving sufficient military assets to the region so that neither Russia nor Iran will be tempted to escalate the conflict to a crisis, and to be sure that American forces will be ready if they do.

It was precisely because Obama and his White House advisers were unwilling to go down that path that they resisted military action of any kind, regardless of the provocation. Lets hope that the Trump administration is prepared for the next move. If it is, then there is a real chance of reversing the course of global retreat that Obama began. A strong U.S. response in Syria would make it clear to the likes of Putin, Xi Jinping, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Kim Jong Un that the days of American passivity are over.
Demonstrators protest outside Hungarys Central European University in Budapest on Tuesday over action seen by many as aimed at closing the university. (Zoltan Balogh/European Pressphoto Agency)

The April 1 editorial In Hungary, a test for freedom condemned the Hungarian governments threat to the independence and very existence of Central European University in Budapest. CEU is a highly respected international educational institution. It includes the Vera and Donald Blinken Open Society Archive, funded jointly by CEU and a Blinken family endowment. Since 1995, BOSA has housed the vast Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Research Institute Cold War archive.

Along with other collections, that archive, funded by the U.S. taxpayer and still owned by RFE/RL, is an invaluable resource for scholars from around the world seeking to understand the history of the region, including Hungary, under communist rule. Preservation of this unique international archival resource depends on the continued operation of CEU as an independent educational institution in Budapest.

A. Ross Johnson, Vienna

The writer, a former director

of Radio Free Europe and the

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Research Institute, helped place the research archive

at Central European University/Blinken

Open Society Archive.
Mitch McConnell, a Republican, represents Kentucky in the Senate and is majority leader.

The day after Neil Gorsuchs nomination to the Supreme Court was announced, I wrote about his sterling credentials, record of independence and long history of bipartisan support  and predicted they would matter little to hard-left special interests that invariably oppose the Supreme Court nominees of any Republican president. I asked Democrats to ignore those extreme voices and their attacks and join us instead in giving Gorsuch fair consideration and an up-or-down vote, as we did for the first-term Supreme Court nominees of Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

Unfortunately, Democrats made a different choice.

On Thursday, Democrats mounted the first successful partisan filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee in U.S. history; in other words, a partisan Democratic minority tried to block the bipartisan majority that supported Gorsuch from even voting on his nomination. It was a direct attack on the traditions of the Senate and yet another extreme escalation in Democrats decades-long drive to transform judicial confirmations from constructive debates over qualifications into raw ideological struggles.

Their success in tearing down Robert Bork in 1987 taught Democrats that any method was acceptable so long as it advanced their aim of securing power. In 2003, when President George W. Bush was nominating judges, Democrats pioneered the idea of using routine filibusters to stop them; in 2013, when Obama was nominating judges, Democrats invoked the nuclear option to prevent others from doing the same. It was a tacit admission that they should have respected the Senates long-standing tradition of up-or-down votes for judicial nominees in the first place.

But Democrats did leave themselves one notable loophole, allowing future Supreme Court nominees to be denied an up-or-down vote via a partisan filibuster. Its a tactic that Democrats had tried before  most recently when they attempted, unsuccessfully, to sink Bushs nomination of Samuel A. Alito Jr. in 2006  and a tactic, by the way, that Senate Republicans have never employed.

So why did Democrats mount this unprecedented partisan filibuster? Because Gorsuch wasnt qualified? No, our colleagues agree hes well-qualified. Their objection was really that a president of a different party had nominated him  and because hard-left groups like those I warned about back in February demanded it. Some Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.), even mused openly about holding the seat vacant indefinitely. So it didnt really matter who the nominee was, it became clear that Democrats were determined to deny that person a vote.

This unprecedented attack on the traditions of the Senate, if allowed to succeed, would have resulted in a brazen new standard  that the nominees of Democratic presidents would be allowed to proceed to up-or-down votes, but the nominees of Republican presidents would have to secure supermajority support to do so  an obviously untenable situation.

I urged Democrats to reconsider. I regret that they could not be dissuaded from their latest and most audacious attack on the norms and traditions of the Senate. And while I regret the inevitable consequence of their decision, I welcome the opportunity to fully restore the Senate to its historic norms of up-or-down, majority votes for all nominations. That is how things operated before Democrats pioneered the idea of routinely filibustering judges 14 years ago. Moreover, since this rules change does not touch the legislative filibuster  something I will protect as long as I am majority leader  what happened in the Senate Thursday will actually change little moving forward. Most bills will still require 60 votes to get through. Nominees will require 51 votes to get through, as they did before.

Thats just what happened with the Gorsuch nomination. I was proud to take that vote. I think hes going to make a fantastic addition to the court. The Senate, of course, does a lot more than confirm Supreme Court justices. This is an important institution with an important role to play in the many issues well consider in the coming months. Each member, regardless of party, can have a critical role in that process  if they choose to do so.

I ask Democrats to consider the significant things weve been able to achieve in recent years when we worked together. Democrats can continue listening to those on the left who call for blind resistance to anything and everything this president proposes, but we can get more done by working together. Perhaps this is the moment Democrats will begin again to listen to the many Americans  the people who sent us here  who want real solutions, so we can work together to help move our country forward.
Jim Hoagland is a contributing editor to The Post.

Most of what President Trump has done and said in his brief time in office has bordered on squalid, incompetent or unbalanced. The bold moral clarity of his missile attack against a Syrian air base involved in chemical warfare deepens rather than resolves the mystery of the real character of this president.

Perhaps this is a moment similar to the one Ronald Reagan faced when confronted early in his presidency with a strike by the nations air-traffic controllers. Aides clustered around Reagan to warn him of the complexity and dangers of trying to break the work stoppage.

It is not complex, Reagan is reported to have responded. It is simple. They took an oath not to strike, and they broke it.

It helped Reagan that he had as his transportation secretary Drew Lewis, who was experienced in national transport and who had the presidents trust. Lewiss wholesale firing of the air-traffic controllers sent a strong dont mess with us message to potential adversaries at home and possibly abroad.

I suspect that Trump had something like that deterrent effect in mind as he ordered the missile strikes shortly before he sat down with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Palm Beach to discuss the urgent threat to global stability presented by North Koreas nuclear weapons program. It is much more difficult now for Kim Jong Un  and Xi  to dismiss Trumps warnings as bluster.

But there are also grounds to hope that Trump is absorbing the lessons of whom he can trust  and whose advice he needs to avoid  in the motley crew he has gathered around him at the White House and in his Cabinet. The missile strike appears to have been carried out with precision and discipline under his highly able defense secretary, Jim Mattis.

This former Marine general and scholar of war will not have been pushed into mounting a tactical strike for message-sending purposes. He will have thought through the strategic consequences and follow-through steps the missile strike demands.

Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson know the Arab, Sunni-led regimes of the Middle East well. Unlike the anti-Muslim activists on Trumps White House staff, they are well-positioned to fashion a Middle East policy that should recognize and respond to the real dangers that Iran and Syria pose, without letting their Sunni clients fears of, and paranoia about, Shiites lead the United States deeper into dangerous quagmires like the civil war in Yemen.

Syria now also becomes the crucible for U.S. engagement with Russia under Trump. The sharp Russian criticism of the U.S. action and Moscows defense of Bashar al-Assads regime should undermine Vladimir Putins efforts to co-opt Trump into a treacly personal relationship that would serve the Russians purpose. Perhaps Trump will come to see the wisdom in Charles de Gaulles adage that nations do not have friends. Instead, they have interests.

In his statement announcing the U.S. retaliatory assault on the airfield from which the chemical attack that killed at least 80 Syrian civilians was launched, Trump characteristically emphasized his personal revulsion and horror at the images of the gas attack.

But he also identified the vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons. It is a clear commitment to principle that has been uncommon in his presidency. He should be encouraged by those around him  and by Americas allies abroad  to keep that commitment at the forefront of his thinking, and to expand it to nuclear and biological weapons as well.

A missile strike does not a policy or a worldview make. Giving this spasm of violence real meaning will depend on Trump showing a consistency, discipline and attention to detail that have been foreign to him in two-plus months in office.

He has instead publicly shown a blithe inability to care about the consequences of what he says and does. He has seemed content to say, tweet or do whatever pleases him at the moment, and let others clean up after him.

But presidents, like all humans, are the product of their experiences as well as the creature of the character they bring into office. I doubt that Trump will ever be the kind of person that many of us can admire. His blatant disregard for his monumental conflicts of interest  his surrender to greed, in other words  is too great for that. But if he can learn to let people who know what they are about be about it, there may be hope for him yet.
Regarding the April 7 front-page article U.S. strikes Syrian military airfield:

I thank President Trump for taking action to hold the Assad regime accountable for using a toxic nerve agent, reportedly sarin, against Syrian civilians in an attack that killed more than 70 people, including children, and injured hundreds more.

Unfortunately, the international community has failed to protect civilians and hold Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accountable for his crimes against humanity in the form of barrel bombs, chemical weapons attacks, cluster bombs, incendiary weapons, and torture, starvation and rape as weapons of war. This ethnic cleansing has led to the death of more than 400,000 Syrians and the displacement of more than 11 million people, resulting in the worst refugee crisis since World War II.

The strike should be the first of many steps taken to end the Syrian conflict. To do this, the Trump administration must work with our allies to create a no-fly zone to protect civilians, airdrop aid to besieged areas, and support Syrian civil society and the opposition Syrian interim government. The United States, working with partners, has an opportunity to finally end the nightmare that has devastated the Syrian people for more than six years. The time to act is now.

Darren Fenwick, Silver Spring

The writer is on the board of the

Syrian American Council.

While I have been highly critical of and opposed to the policies of President Trump, in the aftermath of his strike on Syria I stand with our president and will not second-guess his actions.

The atrocity that occurred through the gassing and torturous deaths of innocent Syrian civilians, including children, was a war crime. There is no question that it was perpetrated by the Syrian government. It had to be addressed. It left a no-win situation for leaders who were repulsed by it. The morass demonstrates the importance of maintaining good relations with our allies; we will need their help. The civilized world speaks with one voice. Thanks to Mr. Trump for demonstrating that we will not tolerate barbarism.

Oren M. Spiegler, Upper Saint Clair, Pa.

In the wake of the apparent sarin attack in Syria, President Trump declared, No child of God should ever suffer such horror. While no one would dispute that, why did he not understand that before this weeks deadly gas attack? The world has been the witness to horrific suffering by innocent Syrian men, women and children for years.

As president, Mr. Trump has repeatedly demonized refugees, and Syrians were particularly singled out in the presidents travel ban. The worlds refugees deserve more than military force launched by the United States. Refugees need our real compassion and support, and they need safe passage to our country, just as so many of our own ancestors were accepted by America. One can only hope that the presidents newfound wisdom about Gods children in other parts of the world will lead him to embrace such people, to stop using such people for political gain and to offer our countrys non-military support to them.

John Warshawsky, Bethesda
The March 28 Style article Can insects truly be weapons, as on The Americans? was mistaken in virtually every statement it made regarding biological weapons.

Cuba was definitely a state party to the Biological and Toxic Weapons Convention in 1996. Cuba signed the treaty on April 12, 1972, and ratified it in April 1976. Cuba brought its complaint against the United States to a meeting of treaty member states itself. Russia did not do it for Cuba. The treaty process is not designed to produce a verdict of confirm or deny, but the result was obvious. Only several fellow Marxist states supported the Cuban charges, while the other states that made interventions during the proceedings dismissed them.

The reason that no documents ever turned up to support the claim made by North Korea and China against the United States during the Korean War is that none exist, while both Soviet and Chinese documents that disproved it have been published. In 1989, 13 Soviet Central Committee documents were published by the Cold War International History Project at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars directly declaring the charge to be false. One Soviet Central Committee cable to Beijing read: For Mao Zedong: The Soviet Government and the Central Committee of the CPSU were misled. The spread in the press of information about the use by the Americans of bacteriological weapons in Korea was based on false information. The accusations against the Americans were fictitious.  And in 2016, several additional Soviet documents as well as new Chinese documents were published by the same program, again proving the charges to be fraudulent.

Molecular genetic analysis demonstrated that the dengue fever outbreak that occurred in Cuba originated with a dengue strain brought back to Cuba by Cuban personnel working in Vietnam after 1975. It was not disseminated using insects by the United States in Cuba. Small scale biological warfare or entomological warfare methods as a way of defending ourselves, as discussed in the article, are absolutely forbidden by Article 1 of the biological weapons convention.

The line between defensive research and offensive production is not pretty blurry. It is patently obvious and easily discernible.

Japan did not use bombs that unleashed cholera infected flies in China. In fact, the Japanese did not use flies at all in their biological- warfare program in China.

Milton Leitenberg, Gaithersburg

The writer is a senior research scholar at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy Center for International

and Security Studies.
War is the health of the state. It automatically sets in motion throughout society those irresistible forces for uniformity, for passionate cooperation with the government in coercing into obedience the minority groups and individuals which lack the larger herd sense.

 Randolph Bourne (1886-1918)

One hundred years ago, two events three days apart set the 20th centurys trajectory. On April 9, 1917, in Zurich, Vladimir Lenin boarded a train. Germany expedited its passage en route to St. Petersburg  known as Leningrad from 1924 to 1991  expecting him to exacerbate Russias convulsions, causing Russias withdrawal from World War I, allowing Germany to shift forces to the Western Front. Lenin boarded the train three days after the United States, responding to Germanys unrestricted submarine warfare and other provocations, declared war. Soon 2 million Americans would be in Europe. They, and the promise of many more, compelled Germany to accept an armistice at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918.

Monday night and the next two nights, PBSs American Experience will present a six-hour documentary, The Great War. Watch it and wince. It covers familiar diplomatic and military events, before and after Americas bloodiest battle, the Meuse-Argonne offensive, in which American fatalities averaged 550 a day for 47 days.

Woodrow Wilson imposed and incited extraordinary repressions: There are citizens of the United States . . . born under other flags . . . who have poured the poison of disloyalty into the very arteries of our national life. . . . Such creatures of passion, disloyalty and anarchy must be crushed out. . . . They are infinitely malignant, and the hand of our power should close over them.

His Committee on Public Information churned out domestic propaganda instructing the public how to detect pro-German sympathies. A 22-year-old Justice Department official named J. Edgar Hoover administered a program that photographed, fingerprinted and interrogated 500,000 suspects. Local newspapers published the names of people who were not buying war bonds or otherwise supporting the war. People were fired or ostracized for insufficient enthusiasm. The Espionage Act of 1917 made it a crime to collect, record, publish or communicate information useful to the enemy.

In Illinois, Robert Prager, a German American coal miner suspected of spying, was stripped, marched through the streets and hanged. The Post deplored such excesses but applauded the healthful and wholesome awakening in the interior part of the country.

Josef Hofer and his two brothers were South Dakota Hutterites whose faith forbade any involvement in war, including wearing a military uniform. They were arrested in March 1918, and a week after the armistice they were sent to Fort Leavenworth, Kan. Arriving at the military prison around midnight, they stood naked for hours in a 17-degree November night. Then they were suspended naked from the bars of their cells, their feet barely touching the ground, refusing to wear the uniforms left in their cells. Fed only bread and water, after two weeks David Hofer was allowed to telegraph Josefs wife, telling her that her husband was dying. He died the morning after she arrived. Prison guards mocked his corpse by dressing it in a uniform.

The U.S. military was the worlds 17th largest in April 1917, smaller (less than 250,000) than Romanias, and smaller than Britains casualties in one battle. Americas military became a melting pot for a nation in which one-third of the population had been born abroad or whose parents had been. Forty-three languages were spoken in one Army division raised in New York. One group was ineligible for melting: Printed at the bottom of draft registration cards were these words: If person is of African descent, tear off this corner.

The African Americans from around the nation who joined New Yorks 15th National Guard Regiment, the Harlem Hellfighters, included Leroy Johnston from Phillips County, Ark. He spent nine months in French hospitals recuperating from wounds suffered in the Meuse-Argonne, then in 1919 returned to an Arkansas seething with fears of an African American insurrection because a returning African American veteran had formed a union of black sharecroppers. The narrator of The Great War says that as groups of white men roamed the countryside, killing hundreds of black people, a train pulled into the station. A crowd rushed aboard and dragged out four unsuspecting black men. They were Leroy Johnston and his three brothers. After a melee, the mob shot the Johnston brothers to pieces.

The war unleashed a flu pandemic that killed more people in a year  somewhere between 20 million and 50 million  than the war killed in four years. The flus victims included Randolph Bourne.

Read more from George F. Wills archive or follow him on Facebook.
President Trump found himself in unfamiliar territory Friday, generally praised by members of the political and foreign policy establishments but attacked from some quarters of Trump nation for seeming to betray the America First pledges that carried him to the White House.

Trumps decision to fire cruise missiles at a Syrian air base in response to Tuesdays chemical weapons attack against civilians won support from some people he had routinely disparaged over the past year, among them Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.). Hours before the U.S. attacks, Hillary Clinton had urged just such a response.

But some Trump loyalists saw the president as taking a potentially fateful turn away from what had made him so attractive to his anti-establishment, anti-globalist supporters. Radio talk show host Laura Ingraham tweeted, Missiles flying. [Florida Sen. Marco] Rubios happy. McCains ecstatic. Hillarys on board. A complete policy change in 48 hours. Farther out on the nationalist fringe, Paul Joseph Watson, an editor at Infowars.com, tweeted, Its been fun, lads, but the fun is over. Watson clarified that he was not turning on Trump completely but was off the train with regard to Syria.

There was always a contradiction in Trumps campaign rhetoric on foreign policy. He was the get-tough leader who would bomb the hell out of ISIS and portrayed himself as a dramatic contrast to what he called the weak and ineffective leadership of Barack Obama. But he was also the reluctant interventionist and criticized rivals who advocated deeper military involvement in Syria.

In his speech to a joint session of Congress, Trump promised to be president of this country, not the rest of the world. On Thursday night, Trump ended his address announcing the missile strike with the traditional God bless America, and then, after a brief pause, and the entire world.

(Louisa Loveluck, Jason Aldag/The Washington Post)

What the U.S. strike reveals about the presidents foreign policy remains unclear. Was this a one-off action, meant only to tell Syrian President Bashar 

al-Assad not to use chemical weapons again? Or could the strike lead to deeper U.S. involvement in Syria, depending on reactions by the Syrian regime, Russia, Iran or Islamic State forces?

Trumps sharp turn in a matter of days was so dramatic and unexpected that it produced whiplash among many foreign policy experts. That he could pivot so quickly is a reminder that Trump is a president without a deeply rooted national security philosophy or worldview, someone who was decisively swayed by the terrible images of dead and dying children that were broadcast around the world after the chemical attack.

[Trump officials say strikes were in national interest]

Obama had drawn a famous red line in Syria in 2012, warning Assad against the use of chemical weapons. His failure to take military action after Syria launched a chemical attack in the summer of 2013 marked one of his greatest foreign policy failures and became a symbol of presidential equivocation and weakness.

Notably, Trump was not among those criticizing Obama at the time. Instead, he warned Obama not to take military action, even when chemical weapons had been used. This week, the chemical attack gave Trump an early opportunity to draw a distinction from his predecessor, even if it contradicted the view he stated in 2013.

Among Trump loyalists who had been sharply critical of Obama on this and other issues, the new presidents decision to attack was welcomed as a sign of how significantly things have changed. Conservative talk show host Bill Mitchell tweeted that Trumps action obliterated Obamas eight years of [weakness] in one bold stroke.

(Jayne Orenstein/The Washington Post)

But the nervousness within Trumps coalition was also evident, even among those who did not offer outright criticism. Nigel Farage, the former leader of Britains UK Independence Party and a Trump ally, expressed qualms about what the missile strikes might foretell. Many Trump voters will be worried about this intervention, he tweeted. Where will it end?

Tom Donilon, who was national security adviser in the Obama administration, described the retaliatory strike as limited and appropriate and said Trump and his advisers should make it clear that this was about the use of chemical weapons only and not a broader indication of U.S. policy. But he also said Trumps team must now decide on concrete goals for their Syrian policy. Thats up to the president to make that clear to his military leaders, he said.

Jake Sullivan, an Obama administration official who was Clintons policy adviser during the campaign, said he was struck that Trump, in his statement Thursday night, went beyond the issue of chemical weapons and called on other nations to join the United States to help end the slaughter and bloodshed in Syria. That, too, marked a big departure from the campaign.

Those are big questions that require thoughtful and considered responses, and Im hopeful that the team around him will deliver those, Sullivan said, agreeing that the United States should help lead that effort. So far, we just havent seen or heard from Trump anything to suggest how the United States could get involved.

[Questions left in the wake of Trumps decision to hit Syria]

The president is shaped and influenced by what he sees on television. After viewing the horrendous images of suffering and death from the chemical attack, Trump said he had changed his view of Assad  even though similar images existed from the Syrian regimes chemical attack in 2013. It seemed as if the reality of being president had settled in on him in unexpected ways. How might he react if confronted by other horrible cases of non-chemical civilian casualties inflicted by Assad?

Geoff Garin, a Democratic pollster, said short-term reactions to the presidents action are likely to focus on his decisiveness rather than the implications for his Syria policy. But those reactions will be good for about a week, and then after that it really depends on how events unfold in Syria, Garin said. Voters generally and Trump voters specifically are not eager for a sustained military engagement in Syria. And if the bombing turns out to have produced no apparent result, or draws the U.S. into a more complicated situation, the possibility for blowback against Trump is significant.

Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster, said Trump might be able to bring along his loyalists, even if he takes additional military steps in the Middle East. If he frames it as a clear effort to promote and protect American interests in a compelling way, then I think a lot of his supporters will follow along, Ayres said. But he needs to have a compelling rationale and explain it clearly.

Amid the statements of support Friday, some members of Congress asked Trump to seek new congressional authority for use of military force in the Middle East, though when Obama sought that in 2013, he met strong resistance on Capitol Hill.

There was no sign that Trump is prepared to do that, but U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said the United States was prepared to do more in Syria, leaving open the question of a future role for Congress. That would put the president in a more difficult place politically, not only with the nationalists in his base, who overwhelmingly oppose such a step, but with the broader public.

If there is a debate about authorization of military force, that starts to change the complexion because it does begin to look like a big, long-term commitment to military forces operating in the Middle East, said Democratic pollster Mark Mellman. That is not what people want.
President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping walk along the front patio of the Mar-a-Lago estate after a bilateral meeting in Palm Beach, Fla. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)

The United States and China wrapped up a two-day presidential summit here by announcing a 100-day plan to improve strained trade ties and boost cooperation between the rival nations.

But they appeared to reach no clear path forward on North Korea, and the Trump administrations unexpected military strike in Syria  launched on the summits first day  highlighted an area where President Trump and counterpart Xi Jinping differ sharply.

Trump aides who participated in the talks described a productive first meeting between the leaders, saying they exhibited positive chemistry. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the two sides agreed to speed up trade talks to help close a lopsided imbalance in Chinas favor, a common campaign-trail complaint of Trumps.

This may be ambitious, but its a big sea change in the pace of discussions, Ross said. Its important symbolism of the growing rapport between the two countries.

Trump advisers said the goal, at least from the U.S. side, was to increase American exports to China. But they offered no details about how they planned to achieve that.

(The Washington Post)

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said there was acknowledgment from the Chinese side that we do need to get to a more balanced trade environment.

But the surprise U.S. military response to Syrian President Bashar al-Assads apparent chemical weapons attack on civilians threw a wild card into the summit. U.S. warships fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a military airfield in Syria during Trumps Thursday night dinner with Xi at Mar-a-Lago.

Trump told Xi about the attack and explained the rationale behind it, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said.

Tillerson insisted that Xi was not rattled by Trumps decision: President Xi expressed an appreciation for the president letting him know and providing the rationale and said, as it was told to me, he understood that such a response is necessary when people are killing children.

China has long objected to the idea of unilateral U.S. military action in Syria. Beijing has said it prefers a multilateral approach, although over the course of six brutal years of war it has repeatedly used its veto power to vote with Russia against U.N. Security Council resolutions on Syria, including a December 2016 plan for a seven-day cease-fire in Aleppo and, more recently, a call for sanctions over the use of chemical weapons.

At a daily news briefing Friday, Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, reiterated Chinas support for a political settlement and said it was urgent to prevent any further deterioration of the situation in Syria.

China has issued its own statements. . . . I have read them on the wire service, Tillerson told reporters Friday afternoon.

(The Washington Post)

Xi does not like surprises, and the fact that he was photographed shaking Trumps hand and smiling at his declaration of friendship while the United States made a surprise military move was not going to be popular in China.

Top Chinese leaders exist in a world where public appearances are tightly choreographed, the news media are controlled and protocol is paramount.

On Thursday night, conservative U.S. news media painted the Syria hit as a bold but calculated warning to China. Hes sending a message to the Chinese, retired Army Gen. Jack Keane told Sean Hannity on Fox News. Hes telling the Chinese that, Listen, the North Koreans are trying to weaponize intercontinental ballistic missiles, and the rhetoric is they will use them against my country and my people. Dont push me into a corner where I have to use a military option to deal with them. That would be horrific. That would mean war on the Korean Peninsula. 

The Global Times, a Communist Party-controlled newspaper known for its nationalist tone, viewed the missile strike as a projection of strength. In an editorial, the paper said Trump launched the strike to establish his authority as the U.S. president.

He wants to prove that he dares to do whatever Obama didnt dare to do, the newspaper said. He also wants to prove to the world that hes not a president-businessman and he will use U.S. military force without any hesitation when he thinks it is necessary.

On North Korea, Tillerson said the Chinese agreed that the mounting threat of Pyongyangs nuclear weapons program had reached a very serious stage, but he said there was no discussion of any package deal in which Beijing would increase pressure on Pyongyang in exchange for the United States curbing military drills with South Korea.

The two sides had a real commitment to work together to see if this can be resolved in a peaceful way, Tillerson said. But he warned that Pyongyang must halt its provocative nuclear and ballistic-missile testing before diplomatic talks can begin.

In order for that to happen, North Korea has to change its posture, Tillerson said.

Rauhala reported from Beijing. Luna Lin and Jin Xin in Beijing contributed to this report.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell(R-Ky.) leaves the chamber after the vote to confirm Judge Neil M. Gorsuch to the Supreme Court on April 7 in Washington. (Bill OLeary/The Washington Post)

Congress limped into its spring break with little to demonstrate that much has changed from its previous dysfunctional gridlock  despite Republicans control of both Capitol Hill and the White House.

There were vows at the start of the year of a rapid-fire offense, but Republican leaders ended the first three months of 2017 with only one major accomplishment: the confirmation of Neil M. Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. Even that came with a high price  changing the Senate rules in such a way as to permanently decrease the influence of the minority.

Every big GOP initiative has hit a dead end or remains stuck at the starting line: Plans to rapidly repeal the 2010 Affordable Care Act have stalled amid House Republican infighting. Senate Republicans have largely rejected the centerpiece of an emerging overhaul of the tax code that is backed by House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.). And an infrastructure package, often touted by President Trump, has been relegated to the back of the line. Some Republicans are wondering whether they should move that up to try for a much-needed bipartisan win.

But grand ambitions for big changes with Trump in the White House and a GOP majority on Capitol Hill have quickly slammed into political reality: Republicans just cant seem to get along, especially in the House. And Trump is a political neophyte who is unfamiliar with the legislative wrangling and compromises needed to score a big win in Washington.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was being realistic when he said this week that the bulk of the legislative agenda for the rest of this year would require Democratic support, given the tight margins in the Senate and GOP infighting in the House. Now out of session until late April, McConnell says he hopes cooler heads will soon prevail.

Im hoping that, after this two-week break, people are going to be in a more friendly mood, he said in an interview Friday, noting that Democrats used fewer delay tactics on Gorsuch than some Cabinet selections early this year. Most of the things that well be doing the rest of the year, theyll have to play a major role.

Some Democrats are willing to cross the aisle, particularly several up for reelection that hail from states where Trump won by wide margins.

Wed like to find a pathway forward, Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) said after Fridays Gorsuch confirmation vote. Yet Manchin found McConnells move to end 60-vote filibusters on Supreme Court nominees to be un-American and said hes still waiting for real outreach on more legislation to bring together a bipartisan coalition.

Well, we had the opportunity this time, he said of the Supreme Court fight, and it didnt work too well.

[Immediate impact: Gorsuch could begin playing pivotal role on Supreme Court starting next week]

That effort didnt get any easier late Thursday when Trump ordered a Tomahawk missile strike on Syrian airfield in response to a chemical weapon attack against Syrian rebels  a move that won bipartisan support but also renewed calls from both parties for Congress to debate and approve a new war resolution.

Earlier this decade, Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) made a basic calculation: A Congress that struggled to pay its debts and to keep the government lights on was never going to craft a bipartisan deal governing the prosecution of Americas wars.

So the Democratic Senate majority leader and the Republican House speaker, both of whom are now retired, stymied attempts at drawing up a new measure to guide the military in carrying out its expanding operations fighting terrorists.

McConnell adopted that same attitude after the strike in Syria, suggesting Trump had the constitutional latitude to act and that Republicans and Democrats were too far apart to agree on a new authorization for the use of military force.

I cant envision us agreeing on what an AUMF ought to be, he said.

[Congress greets Syria strike with mix of applause and anger]

And lawmakers face more immediate problems. Within 72 hours of lawmakers return later this month is the April 28 deadline for funding the federal agencies to avert a government shutdown. McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) had a long meeting this week about that funding plan and not once did they discuss the bitter taste of the Gorsuch confirmation fight.

Left to their own devices, the two leaders appear ready to craft a deal. Thats because McConnell knows that, the more things change in the era of Trump, the more some things stay very much the same on Capitol Hill.

In the House, that means that theres a bloc of several dozen conservatives who hate spending deals and will almost certainly vote against whatever Ryan puts before them, while in the Senate they will need at least eight Democrats to clear the 60-vote threshold to overcome a filibuster.

[Republicans try to revive health-care effort as leaders seek to temper expectations]

While Trump advisers and some House Republicans spent the past week haggling over an effort to revive the health-care overhaul, McConnell never once mentioned that legislation as a focus for the remainder of this year.

He noted that the only achievements in the first quarter of 2017  Gorsuch, confirming Trumps Cabinet and overturning more than a dozen agency regulations  happened because they faced 51-vote thresholds in the Senate. The only simple-majority arrow left in their quiver is the tax overhaul if Republicans can agree on a new, massive budget resolution.

But that decision is up in the air amid House-Senate battles over a proposed tax on goods coming across the U.S. border.

Now we pivot into a period where, with the exception of whatever were going to do on tax reform, Democrats will be full partners, McConnell said.

The window for finding Democratic collaborators is not permanently open. If Republicans keep pushing legislation with parliamentary rules allowing votes from just their side of the aisle, it requires them to resolve long-standing GOP feuds.

If Republicans keep running into dead ends, with no success, the impetus for Democrats to want to work with an unpopular Congress and unpopular president will fade.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) gave a one-word answer to what Trump should do next: Infrastructure.

Im disappointed they didnt go with that first, she added.

Back in January, at the Republican issues retreat in Philadelphia, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said an infrastructure package is something that might happen later, behind the health and tax packages. On Friday, Thune moved it higher on the priority list, given how the health legislation exposed lingering feuds within the GOP.

The key lesson on health care, he said, applies to the upcoming legislative battles as well. Republicans can no longer expect to barnstorm Washington with a speedy legislative assault.

Better to do it right, Thune said, than to do it fast.

Read more from Paul Kanes archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
The first volley of American strikes aimed at the Syrian regime prompted praise from U.S. allies, concern from Congress and condemnation from Russian and Syrian officials who slammed the attack and warned that it would only produce more terrorism and instability.

Less than a day after President Trump ordered the attack to punish Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for using chemical weapons on his own people, senior U.S. officials from the Pentagon to the United Nations fanned out to make the case for the strike.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson described the operation to reporters as an overwhelming success.

[Trump officials defend Syria strikes, say they were in vital national interest]

I think all Americans and all our allies in the free world should take great comfort in what occurred with that strike last night, he said.

On Capitol Hill, many lawmakers described the attack as long overdue and a necessary exercise of American leadership on the world stage, even as many Democrats warned that President Trump will need to seek their approval if he strikes Assad again or tries to escalate American involvement in the war.

Unilateral military action by the U.S. in a Middle East conflict causes grave concern given the lack of any Authorization for Use of Military Force from Congress and the absence of any long-term plan or strategy, said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.).

The challenge for Trump in the coming days will be whether he can find a way to capitalize on the momentum from the strike and craft a long-term strategy without getting sucked more deeply into the grinding six-year-old conflict, which shows no signs of ending soon.

The Pentagon has so far indicated that there are no further military plans to retaliate against Assad and that it will continue its effort to defeat the Islamic State in the region.

[Our journey to the front lines in the fight against ISIS]

The volley of more than 50 cruise missiles launched from ships in the eastern Mediterranean Sea at first glance looked like a dramatic American escalation of the conflict. This was not a small strike, said H.R. McMaster, Trumps national security adviser, just hours after the missiles had slammed into their targets at Shayrat airfield.

But by almost any measure, the cruise missile strike was a very narrowly defined attack that seemed designed to punish without prompting a major counterreaction from Russia or Iran. The strike approved by Trump did not target the Syrian regime leadership or seek to significantly weaken its capabilities to wage war. Instead it focused exclusively on the remote and relatively spartan air base that was used to launch the chemical attack on Tuesday.

(Louisa Loveluck, Jason Aldag/The Washington Post)

Sharyat airfield is home to a relatively modest contingent of Su-22 ground attack jets and MiG-23 fighter aircraft. Photos taken by Russian journalists and displayed on Russian media outlets show that some of the missiles hit aircraft located in reinforced hangars, while some were left unscathed.

[Images show aftermath of U.S. strikes on Syrian airfield]

Tillerson said the runways, which are constructed of thick concrete, were not the main target of the strike. Instead the Pentagon selected targets, such as planes, hangars and refueling facilities, that would render the base inoperable.

The fact that planes may be landing in and out of there  they are not refueling and theyre not able to initiate any activity from that airport today, he said.

Before launching the cruise missile assault, McMaster said, U.S. officials took great pains to warn Russians operating at the base that missiles were coming to prevent any Russian casualties and avoid sparking a larger conflict. On Friday, senior U.S. military officials said they were investigating whether Russian officials participated in or had advance knowledge of the chemical strike that killed scores of civilians.

At the United Nations, U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley had tough words criticizing both Russia and Iran for their actions and their failure to stop the Assad regime from killing Syrian civilians. Every time Assad has crossed the line of human decency, Haley said, Russia has stood beside him.

Tillerson, who is slated to travel to Moscow next week, expressed similar disappointment over Russias continued support for a regime that carries out these types of horrendous attacks on their own people and for its condemnation of the American actions.

[Expectations of a new U.S.-Russia relationship were tanking even before missile strike]

Moscows umbrage, however, did not translate into substantive action. Russian forces in Syria did not attempt to use their advanced air defense systems to shoot down the U.S. missiles or harass U.S. planes operating in Syrian airspace as part of the larger fight against the Islamic State.

Some analysts speculated that the Russians, who are growing weary of the Syrian conflict and Assad, might not entirely object to the strike. Russia has had a very hard time getting Assad to come to the negotiating table in any meaningful way, said Andrew Tabler, a Syria analyst for the Washington Institute, a think tank focused on the Middle East.

One test of the depth of Russias anger will be Tillersons upcoming visit. If the Russians dont cancel it, that will be a sign that they can live with the strike, Tabler said.

The key question for Trump and his top commanders and diplomats will be whether they can use momentum from the strike to begin to break the impasse in Syria.

We havent gained ground [on cease-fire negotiations] because there is never a sense that Assad will be held accountable for the brutal assault against his civilians, said Nancy Lindborg, president of the congressionally funded United States Institute of Peace.

The strike by the Trump administration signals a seriousness of purpose that could give the administration some much-needed diplomatic leverage over Syria, Russia and Iran, she said.

To make progress in Syria, Trump and his advisers will need to move quickly from the rapidly planned and executed strike to a longer-term diplomatic strategy that keeps the pressure on Assad and his backers and pushes them toward the negotiating table. Some analysts suggested more strikes to punish Assad for chlorine gas attacks, which he has used repeatedly in recent months without consequence.

Other experts called for bold new actions such as a no-fly zone or a safe-zone that might help break the impasse. Theyve got to take this forward and articulate a strategy that capitalizes on the new credibility that they have, said Nicholas Burns, a former undersecretary of state for political affairs and adviser to Hillary Clintons presidential campaign.

But any further aggressive action also carry risks of deepening American involvement in the conflict. On Friday, the Syrian government called the attack on Shayrat airfield an unjust and arrogant aggression that killed nine civilians, including four children.

While the Assad government maintains significant air defenses and has forces in close proximity to American military personnel, the Syrian military has been greatly weakened by the war and would be unlikely to lash out against the United States without backing from Russia and Iran.

A spokesman for Irans Foreign Ministry similarly blasted the U.S. attack as a dangerous and destructive action that violated international law.

Already there is precedent for Iran acting against the United States through proxy groups, from Lebanon to Iraq. In Iraq, Shiite militias with deep ties to Iran have expressed outrage at the U.S. military presence there and have threatened to resume the attacks on U.S. forces that characterized much of the 2003-2011 war and killed hundreds of American troops. Iran is also backing Shiite rebels in Yemen, where the United States is stepping up its own military activities.

Iran has the luxury of choice because they have a number of theaters in which to act and proxies willing to do so, said Robert Malley, who was a senior adviser to President Barack Obama on Middle East issues. The question is: Do they really want to take that gamble now, with this administration, and to what end?

David Nakamura in Palm Beach, Fla., and Anne Gearan, Thomas Gibbons-Neff, Dan Lamothe and Carol Morello in Washington contributed to this report.

Read more:

The hospitals were slaughterhouses: A journey into Syrias secret torture wards

Things are moving fast in Syria. Here are answers to 7 key questions about the conflict.

Rattled by U.S. strikes, Assad lashes out at arrogant aggression
Swedish police said Saturday that they believe they have captured the man accused of turning a beer truck into a weapon a day earlier by driving it into a crowd of pedestrians in a rampage that left four people dead.

Authorities did not divulge the mans name but said he is a 39-year-old from Uzbekistan who had been known to security services as a marginal character for the past year. Police said that when they first investigated him, they had found no connections to extremism. Authorities did not say when the man had come to Sweden.

The arrest came Friday night when officers apprehended a suspect in the northern Stockholm suburbs who matched the description of a man seen in surveillance footage earlier in the day. Police initially said they were unsure whether the man they had arrested was involved in the attack.

But their confidence grew overnight, and in an early afternoon news conference Saturday, authorities said they were all but certain that they had caught the assailant.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said Friday that the attack was an act of terrorism, although officials have not commented on an exact motive.

1 of 10 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  The scene in Stockholm after a truck crashed into a store, killing at least 3 View Photos An apparent stolen truck crashed into a department store, killing at least three people in what the countrys prime minister called a terror attack. Caption An apparent stolen truck crashed into a department store, killing at least three people in what the countrys prime minister called a terror attack. April 7, 2017 A truck crashed into the Ahlens department store at Drottninggatan in central Stockholm, Sweden. Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty Images Wait 1 second to continue.

Swedish media outlets reported Saturday that there was a homemade explosive device discovered in the mangled wreckage of the truck, which was towed overnight from the upscale shopping district that on Friday afternoon became a scene of carnage.

National Police Chief Dan Eliasson said that a device that did not belong there was found in the truck. But officials said it was unclear whether it was a bomb.

Flags across Stockholm flew at half-staff Saturday, and mourners paid respects by leaving flowers at the scene of the attack.

Among them were Crown Princess Victoria and her husband, Prince Daniel. With tears in her eyes, Victoria said she was filled with sadness and emptiness.

In nationally broadcast remarks, King Carl XVI Gustaf  who returned home from a visit to Brazil following the attack  said his thoughts go out to the victims of this abhorrent deed, fellow humans who have been injured and killed.

Politicians across the spectrum also paid tribute to the dead, and many expressed backing for the prime ministers handling of the incident. A Facebook-organized remembrance for the victims is due to be held near the scene of the crime on Sunday.

With the attack, which also injured 15 others, Stockholm joined a growing list of major European cities where vehicles have been turned into weapons over the past year, including Nice, France, Berlin and London.

Despite the growing frequency of such attacks, security officials say there are few obvious solutions because it is nearly impossible to stop an assailant determined to drive into pedestrians.

Fredrik Reinfeldt, a former Swedish prime minister, told the BBC on Saturday that the country would continue to try to thwart such attacks, but would not compromise its values.

We are preparing, we understand the risks, he said. But we are not willing to close down the openness that is the flare of freedom that we love so much.

Read more:

[Its nearly impossible to stop terrorists from using trucks as weapons. But cities are trying.]

[How vehicles became a tool of terrorism]

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news


A view from the outside of the new Russian satellite station above a volcanic crater in Managua. Built alongside Laguna de Nejapa, on a hillside facing the U.S. Embassy, the base is intended to be a tracking site for GLONASS, Russia's version of a GPS satellite navigation system. Some suspect the site could also be used for spying activities. (Joshua Partlow/The Washington Post)

On the rim of a volcano with a clear view of the U.S. Embassy, landscapers are applying the final touches to a mysterious new Russian compound.





Behind the concrete walls and barbed wire, a visitor can see red-and-blue buildings, manicured lawns, antennas and globe-shaped devices. The Nicaraguan government says its simply a tracking site of the Russian version of a GPS satellite system. But is it also an intelligence base intended to surveil the Americans?

I have no idea, said a woman who works for the Nicaraguan telecom agency stationed at the site. They are Russian, and they speak Russian, and they carry around Russian apparatuses.

Three decades after this tiny Central American nation became the prize in a Cold War battle with Washington, Russia is once again planting its flag in Nicaragua. Over the past two years, the Russian government has added muscle to its security partnership here, selling tanks and weapons, sending troops, and building facilities intended to train Central American forces to fight drug trafficking.

The Russian surge appears to be part of the Kremlins expansionist foreign policy. In other parts of the world, President Vladimir Putins administration has deployed fighter planes to help Syrias war-battered government and stepped up peace efforts in Afghanistan, in addition to annexing the Crimean Peninsula and supporting separatists in Ukraine.





Clearly theres been a lot of activity, and its on the uptick now, said a senior U.S. official familiar with Central American affairs, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive situation.

As the Beltway world untangles the Trump camps links to Moscow, American officials are also puzzling over Russian intentions in its obscure former stomping ground. Current and former U.S. officials suspect that the new Russian facilities could have dual use capabilities, particularly for electronic espionage aimed at the United States. Security analysts see the military moves in Central America as a possible rebuttal to the increased U.S. military presence in Eastern Europe, showing that Russia can also strut in the United States back yard.

[If Moscow tried to influence the U.S. election, things arent going as planned]

American officials say they are not yet alarmed by the growing Russia presence. But they are vigilant. The State Department named a staffer from its Russia desk to become the desk officer in charge of Nicaragua, in part because of her prior experience. Some American diplomats dispatched to Nicaragua have Russian-language skills and experience in Moscow.

Nicaraguas presidents office, the foreign and defense ministries, and the police all refused to address questions for this report. The Russian Embassy in Managua also failed to respond to several queries.

Spy games and Washington-Moscow power struggles are old hat for Nicaragua, a country the size of Alabama with a rich Cold War history. The Soviet Union and Cuba provided soldiers and funding to help the government of Daniel Ortega and his leftist Sandinista National Liberation Front after they overthrew the U.S.-backed dictator Anastazio Somoza in 1979. The CIA jumped in to back rebels known as the contras fighting the Sandinistas in a war that killed tens of thousands.



A masked student gives a clench-fisted salute in 1978 from the Masaya Church in Nicaragua, where students barricaded themselves in protests, claiming the regime of President Anastasio Somoza was violating human rights. (Associated Press )



A statue of Anastasio Somoza is pulled from its base by Sandinista guerrillas and residents of Managua in 1979. The guerrillas marched into Managua, ending more than 40 years of rule by the Somoza family. (Associated Press)

A pair of jubilant Sandinista guerrillas ride into Managua in 1979 on a tank flying a guerrilla flag. Seven hundred guerrillas paraded in from Leon to celebrate the fall of Anastasio Somoza's regime. (Jennings/Associated Press)

The collapse of the Soviet Union brought an end to such Cold War conflicts. But in the past decade, and particularly under Putins rule, Russia has sought a bigger world footprint. In Latin America, Russia has sold billions of dollars in weapons to Venezuela. Russian helicopters are used by militaries in Peru, Argentina and Ecuador. While U.S. and Chinese trade in Latin America is far larger, Russia has intensified economic ties with several countries, including Mexico and Brazil.

When Ortega was reelected in 2006, after 16 years out of power, Nicaragua once again became a Russian friend in the region. The new relationship initially had a civilian focus, with Russia donating wheat and sorghum to Nicaragua, one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. Russia gave hundreds of boxy buses to Ortegas government and is building a factory to manufacture vaccines.

The economic cooperation was a facade, said Roberto Orozco, executive director of the Center for Investigation and Strategic Analysis, a think tank in Managua. What the Russians really wanted is an active military presence.



Daniel Ortega conducts his last campaign rally of the 1984 presidential campaign in downtown Managua. (Pat Hamilton/Associated Press)

In the past few years, the partnership has been militarized. In 2015, Nicaraguas parliament, dominated by the Sandinistas, passed a resolution allowing Russian warships to dock in Nicaraguan ports, following earlier agreements to permit patrolling in coastal waters. Russia began supplying armored personnel carriers, aircraft and mobile rocket launchers. It provided 50 T-72 tanks to Nicaragua, which Ortega paraded through Managua, generating criticism from the public. The countrys military leaders already had an affinity with Russia, having used Soviet-supplied equipment fighting the contras and received training in the Soviet Union.

[Nicaraguas Ortega wins third term amid questions about democracy]

While Venezuela has nearly collapsed economically and Cuba has improved relations with the United States, Ortegas government has emerged as Russias most stable ideological ally in the hemisphere.

The most fruitful political relationship that Russia has, and where its made its greatest advances, has been Nicaragua, said Evan Ellis, a professor of Latin American studies at the U.S. Army War College. He and two U.S. customs officials were expelled from Nicaragua last year, with the government saying it should have been notified of their presence.

Nicaraguan security experts estimate that Russia has about 250 military personnel in the country.

Jacinto Suarez, president of the Nicaraguan parliaments foreign affairs committee, and an ally of Ortegas, said in an interview that the relationship with Russia is the natural outgrowth of the ties the countries developed in the 1980s. He dismissed those worrying about nonexistent military threats.

Look at the commotion with the Russian tanks, Suarez said. And nothing happened. They said that war was coming when those tanks arrived.

Current and former U.S. officials have a variety of theories about Putins intentions in Latin America. Some consider Russias military actions a response to the Obama administration sending more U.S. troops and weapons to NATO countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Others worry that Russia could be pursuing ambitious spy goals, such as intercepting Internet traffic in the ARCOS 1 fiber-optic cable that runs from Miami down the Caribbean coast of Central America. Speculation is rife that the new Russian satellite site on the lip of the Laguna de Nejapa crater will be a spy facility, even though Nicaraguan officials have said it will be used for GLONASS, Russias equivalent of GPS.



A soldier washes a Russian T-55 tank during a military parade commemorating the 35th anniversary of the founding of the Nicaraguan army at Juan Pablo II Square in Managua in 2014. (Oswaldo Rivas/Reuters)



Russian warship Admiral Chabanenko sails off the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, near the port city of Bluefields in 2008. The National Assembly accused President Daniel Ortega of violating the constitution by authorizing the arrival of the ship without its authorization. (Pool photo by Miguel Alvarez/Associated Press)

Men stand in front of new Russian buses donated in 2009 by Russias government to Nicaragua, to be used for public transportation in Managua. (Esteban Felix/Associated Press)

Juan Gonzalez, who was deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs during the Obama administration, said he had generally been skeptical about theories that Iran, China and Russia were posing a security threat with their increased activities in Latin America. But he has changed his mind over the past couple of years because of Russias activities in Nicaragua and neighboring El Salvador. (The Salvadoran foreign minister visited Moscow last month to discuss trade and investment deals.)

The United States and countries of the region should be concerned, Gonzalez said. Nicaragua offers a beachhead for Russia to expand its intel capabilities and election meddling close to the United States.

Hugo Torres Jimenez, a retired Nicaraguan brigadier general and a member of the opposition, said Ortega was encouraging the Russia ties because he has an obsession with the international spotlight, and he sees in Putins government the reincarnation of the old Communist Party.



A municipal worker sweeps the floor in front of a mural depicting Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, left, and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega at Cuba Square in Managua on Nov. 26, 2016, the day after Castro died. (Inti Ocon/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)

The Russian buildup in Nicaragua has coincided with deteriorating relations between Washington and Managua. Last summer, Nicaraguas supreme court and electoral council, both seen as loyal to Ortega, blocked the leading opposition candidate from participating in the November presidential election and forced opposition lawmakers out of the National Assembly. Ortega cruised to victory, winning a third straight term, in an election the State Department described as flawed and undemocratic.

House legislation known as the Nica Act was reintroduced this week , an attempt to block funding for Nicaragua from international institutions unless the Ortega government makes democratic reforms. Last year, the Obama administration quietly pressured the Inter-American Development Bank to postpone a $65 million loan to Nicaragua to show displeasure with the election, according to a former U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The Russian presence has generated mixed reactions among Nicaraguan citizens. Some consider Moscow a long-standing ally. Others worry that the Nicaraguan government could use the new Russian equipment to spy on its domestic critics.

Nelson Perez, a 53-year-old bus driver, wished that Nicaragua had just received a better brand of bus than the Russian-made KAvZ he was maneuvering through Managua traffic.

Theyre not good for this climate; they overheat, Perez said. He complained about the narrow passageway, the rattling mirrors, the leaky roof and windows. These are not comfortable.



A four-story anti-drug training center recently was built near the Russian Embassy in the upscale Las Colinas neighborhood of Managua. The center is intended to be used to train counternarcotics authorities from across Central America, but some security experts also suspect that it is intended for spying activities. (Joshua Partlow/The Washington Post)

In the upscale neighborhood of Las Colinas, a gleaming four-story Russian-built counternarcotics center appears nearly completed. A security guard at an apartment building next door doubted any good would come from it.

They say its an anti-drug mission, but who knows, he said. Poor people have not received any benefit from Russia.

Ismael Lopez Ocampo in Managua and Gabriela Martinez in Mexico City contributed to this report.

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Smoke billows after a reported airstrike April 8, 2017, on a rebel-held area in the southern Syrian city of Daraa. (Mohamad Abazeed/AFP/Getty Images)

Residents of the Syrian town devastated by a chemical weapons attack earlier this week said warplanes had returned to bomb them Saturday, despite a U.S. missile barrage and warnings of possible further response.

At least 86 people in the northwestern town of Khan Sheikhoun were killed Tuesday in a chemical attack that left hundreds choking, fitting or foaming at the mouth. Eyewitnesses and a monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Saturday that fresh attacks on the area  now a virtual ghost town  had killed one woman and wounded several others.

Photographs from the site showed a pair of green slippers, abandoned by a blood-spattered doorway.

Residents cowered in bedrooms and basements throughout Saturday, underscoring the apparently unchanged threat they faced from the Syrian governments arsenal of rockets, barrel bombs and other weapons that have resulted in a majority of the conflicts half-million dead.

In retaliation for Tuesdays chemical assault, President Trump ordered missile strikes on a Syrian airfield housing a jet fleet responsible for extensive bombing across northern Syria.

[Horrible pictures of suffering moved Trump to action]

The missile barrage is the first direct military action the United States has taken against Syrian President Bashar al-Assads government in the six-year-long conflict. Although Trump warned of possible further intervention, the Pentagon has said no other strikes against government targets are in current plans.

Although American officials predicted that the strikes would result in a major shift of Assads calculus, they appeared to be symbolic in practice. Within 24 hours of the attack, monitoring groups reported that jets were taking off from the bombed Shayrat air base once again, this time to bomb Islamic State positions.

There were also reports of Syrian government and Russian airstrikes across the provinces of Damascus, Aleppo, Idlib and Daraa, all killing civilians. However, there were no reports of further use of chemical weapons.

The American strikes did nothing for us. They can still commit massacres at anytime, said Majed Khattab, speaking by phone from Khan Sheikhoun. No one here can sleep properly, people are really afraid.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu described Trumps decision to retaliate as welcome, but not enough.

If this intervention is limited only to an air base, if it does not continue and if we dont remove the regime from heading Syria, then this would remain a cosmetic intervention, he said.

(Louisa Loveluck, Jason Aldag/The Washington Post)

[American strikes against Syria prompt both praise and condemnation]

A longtime backer of Syrias armed opposition, Turkey is now overseeing a stuttering peace process in the Kazakh capital, Astana, that it hopes will hasten an end to the war.

Elsewhere in the region, a leading Iraqi Shiite cleric and militia leader, Moqtada al-Sadr, called on Assad to step down and save Syria before its too late.

President Bashar al-Assad should resign and leave power for the love of Syria, allowing the dear people of Syria to avoid war and the scourge of terrorism, he said.

Although some of Iraqs Shiite militias that are more directly linked to Iran have fought in support of Assad in Syria, Sadrs Peace Brigades have not, and the cleric promotes himself as a nationalist.

In his statement he also criticized U.S. and Russian intervention in the country. I call for a military retreat from Syria by everyone, he said. They are the only ones who have the right to decide their fate.

In a sign of the continuing diplomatic fallout from the chemical attack and the U.S. response, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson announced Saturday that he had canceled a planned visit to Moscow.

Johnson was to fly to Moscow on Monday to meet his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in what would have been the first such meeting since 2012. But Johnson said in a statement that developments in Syria have changed the situation fundamentally.

We deplore Russias continued defense of the Assad regime even after the chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians, Johnson said.

Britain has been supportive of this weeks U.S. airstrikes against a Syrian air base but has said it has no plans to join the United States in any future attacks on Syrian government targets.

Meanwhile, Russia and Iran, Assads most influential supporters, have rallied around him this week.

Russia condemned the U.S. missile strike and suspended an agreement that would minimize the risk of in-flight incidents between Russian and U.S. military aircraft over Syria.

And on Saturday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, in a statement carried by state television, called for the formation of an international fact-finding committee that must not be headed by Americans.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, a global watchdog, said Thursday that it had initiated contact with the Syrian government, and that it was investigating the attack on Khan Sheikhoun.

Zakaria reported from Gaziantep, Turkey. Griff Witte in London and Loveday Morris in Beirut contributed to this report.

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After the alleged chemical attack in the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun, the French newspaper Liberation, which has a reputation for being left, is launching an anti-Assad and anti-Russian propaganda campaign, trying to prepare public opinion for a NATO war with Syria and Russia.

The newspapers front page on April 5 consisted only of one shocking picture: on a black background, one sees seven children who died in the chemical attack, with the caption Children of Assad. This refers to the Syrian oppositions accusations that Syrian President Bashar al-Assads regime caused at least 58 deaths and nearly 170 wounded in a chemical attack in an area controlled by rebel Islamist forces. The photo published by Liberation was part of the US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haleys presentation at the UN Assembly denouncing the Assad regime.

In Liberations editorial, titled Impunity, Alexandra Schwartzbord writes: The children of Assad are watching us. They remind us with their wide-open eyes of the horror a few thousand miles from here, and that while we savor the first days of spring, a whole people is being massacred amid general silence. And the worst part is not this picture. The worst part is that it looks exactly like other photos taken four years ago.

This is an odious attempt to exploit the death of children to stampede public opinion towards a military intervention in Syria, with incalculable consequences.

The propaganda of the warmongering humanitarians at Liberation is based on speculation and lies. No investigation of the attack on Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province has established that Assad was responsible. Schwartzbord never mentions the fact that Islamist rebels in Syria have chemical weapons; instead, her editorial does everything to minimize readers doubts about the attack and incite them to outrage against Assad.

While Schwartzbord refers to the 2013 chemical attack in Ghouta, this earlier event increases the likelihood that the Khan Sheikhoun attack is a provocation launched by the CIA or its allies. The attack on Ghouta took place as Washington and the European imperialist powers threatened Syria with a war. Then as now, Washington and Europe immediately insisted, without any investigation, that Assad was guilty.

Investigations by well-known American journalist Seymour Hersh established in 2014 that the Obama administration had ignored information that Al Qaedas had chemical weapons in Syria, and that the attack on Ghouta had been planned by Turkey. No government since has ever attempted to rebut Hershs analysis. The aim of the attack was to provide a pretext for the Pentagon to launch a war in Syria. Obama finally decided against a direct intervention, to the dismay of French President Francois Hollande, a few weeks later.

The worst aspect of the exploitation of the photos of gassed Syrian children by the press is that it looks so much like the monstrous propaganda of 2013.

In the meantime, the United States has attacked Syria with 59 cruise missiles. As soon as the reports of deaths by chemical weapons came from Khan Sheikhoun, the Trump administration and US media launched a propaganda campaign to blame Damascus. Trump immediately denounced Assads regime as odious. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson also warned Russia over its support for Damascus. An intervention in Syria would cause millions, or evenif it triggers the total war with Russia that Holland raised as a possibility in 2015billions of deaths.

Liberation gives no evidence whatsoever to justify Schwartzbords indictment of Assad. It quotes witnesses, including an official of a French NGO present in Idlib province, a doctor, and rebel spokesman in the region. They confirm the presence of Sukhoi-22 Syrian hunters in the area and missile fire at the time of the attack, and the fact that the symptoms of the victims are in line with those caused by a chemical attack.

However, only one witness concretely establishes a link between the Syrian Sukhoi and the use of chemical weapons: Ibrahim al-Idlibi,a spokesman for the moderate rebellion for the region of Idlib according to Liberation. And even al-Idlibi's testimony does not establish that it was Assad's fighter jets who fired the gas.

According to al-Idlibi, This is the first time that Sukhoi-22 hunters have been used with sarin-laden missiles launched at the same time as explosive missiles for massive attacks with the maximum possible death toll. ... Last week, the rebels carried out an offensive against Hama, and the regime suffered considerable losses. The attack of Khan Sheikhoun is revenge.

If this is the best evidence Liberation has, it must be said that for the time being no one knows what happened at Khan Sheikhoun, because no one has seriously investigated the attack. But not only does Schwartzbord lay the blame entirely on Assad, she also hysterically denounces Moscow.

Denouncing Russia's role in the 2013 crisisMoscow served as a mediator to prevent imperialist intervention in Syria, in exchange for promises to destroy Assad's chemical arsenalshe adds, But the worst of it, is not this picture. The worst thing is that the Russians had vouched for the destruction of the Syrian sites of chemical weapons four years ago.

By questioning Russias role in the destruction of Assad's chemical weapons, Liberation casts doubt on any attempt to negotiate with Russia in the multiple conflicts it has with NATO, including in Syria and Ukraine. It is an extraordinarily reckless move, given the horrific consequences of a war between the largest nuclear powers.

The war in Syria is above all the responsibility of the United States and its European allies. The massacre of the Syrian population is the result of six years of proxy war waged by the imperialist powers against Syria, using Islamist forces linked to al Qaeda funded by the Gulf monarchists, as well as Kurdish nationalist militias.

Schwartzbord depicts the world upside down, ending her editorial with lamentations about NATO's helplessness. She writes, Europe is exhausted; its two pillars, France and Germany, paralyzed by electoral campaigns. And the Americans are governed by a madman who is so crazy that it is not clear if it would be better if he intervened or abstained. The worst is this impotence.

This kind of passage gives full meaning to the expression the bourgeois press. What kind of newspaper asks itself whether or not it wants Trump, a far-right billionaire, to launch another bloody war to occupy yet another country in the Middle East, after Afghanistan and Iraq? It is a newspaper whose historical origins in the post-1968, petty-bourgeois left hardly mask its role as an instrument of pro-imperialist war propaganda.

This article first appeared in French on 7 April 2017
Prime Minister Theresa May has launched a trade offensive aimed at securing foreign inward investment in Britain and free trade deals around the world, with the initial focus on Asia and the Middle East.

May dispatched Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond to find new export markets in India, and International Trade Secretary Liam Fox to Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and the Persian Gulf. May herself made a three-day visit to Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

The trade offensive comes just a few days after May signed, on March 29, the letter formally invoking the Article 50 two-year withdrawal process from the European Union (EU). In effect, May chose to ignore the EUs common commercial policy that bans its members from opening formal negotiations or signing bilateral trade and investment deals with any other country or bloc. Trade Minister Fox acknowledged the restriction but insisted, We can step up a gear in our activities and thats what well be doing.

In January the prime minister told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that Britain was willing to leave the EU in a clean breakin effect triggering a hard Brexit, involving no access to the Single Market. By that time, she had already approached Australia, New Zealand and Indiawith May visiting Delhi last Novemberto discuss trade deals.

Maintaining London as a global financial centre is pivotal to these missions. Hammond went to India accompanied by Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, and a delegation that included ministers and senior figures in financial services and financial technology, in a bid to market the City of London as the global FinTech capital. Hammond is pressing India to use London as its base for launching its Masala bonds, securing digital payments services and countering tax evasion.

The various trade missions to India, the Far East and the Persian Gulf emphasised financial and business services, Britains key export. In 2015, unable to compete in manufactured goodsoutside the arms industryBritain exported 225 billion in services, some 44 percent of all its exports, while importing just 138 billion. In manufactured goods Britain ran a sizeable deficit. Just 1.7 percent of its exports went to India, less than that going to Sweden and a tiny fraction of the 44 percent which goes to the EU as a whole.

But securing a deal in financial services is no easy matter. Hammonds visit follows last years visit by May and others by four trade ministers. These all stalled over the issue of visas, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding that Britain relax its restrictions for Indians hoping to migrate to the UK. This conflicts with Mays pledgeto appease the Tory right-wingersto substantially cut immigration post-Brexit.

Mays insistence on including students in Britains net migration figures has seen the number of Indian students attending British universitiesa major contributor to the UKs export revenuesfall by 10 percent over the past year, according to official figures. Hammond and foreign secretary Boris Johnson have called for May to relax that position.

Liam Foxs visit to Indonesia and the Far East underscored the reactionary horsetrading that the British government is now engaged in. During his visit to the Philippines, Fox grovelled before President Rodrigo Duterte, who has encouraged the vigilante killing of hundreds of drug addicts, petty criminals and street children, saying he would be "happy to slaughter" them in their millions. Fox said that the government had "shared values" with the Philippines and was photographed smiling broadly, side by side with Duterte.

Foxs tour follows earlier visits to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, notorious for their abuse of migrant labour, for discussions on trading relationships including a possible free trade agreement. Since then, Fox has visited three other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) membersOman, Bahrain and Kuwaitas well as other countries.

Earlier this year, Downing Street confirmed that May would visit China, probably next month, in a bid to restore commercial relations with Beijing that have cooled noticeably since she took office. In a marked shift from former Prime Minister David Cameronwho had sought to boost trade with China and initiate a golden era in relationsMay cited national security concerns in July in deciding to review the building of an 18 billion nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point, prior to approving it some months later. China has a major stake in the Hinkley Point project.

Mays visit to China is part of a wider global offensive that has seen her visit the US and Turkey. She concluded a 100 million deal with Turkey for fighter jet equipment and support services in January, having visited Bahrain just before Christmas, and hosted the Israeli and Italian premiers in February.

Jordan and Saudi Arabia are key partners in the US-led military interventions in Syria and Iraq. In Jordan, May pledged a further unspecified sum for Jordans offensive against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). An additional 160 million was pledged by May in aid for Jordanian companies that employ some of the 1.3 million Syrian refugees now living in the countryas a means of keeping them in Jordan and out of Europe. This is a condition imposed by Britain for buying Jordans exports.

Saudi Arabia is the main customer for Britains defence industry, accounting for 83 percent of UK arms exports. It signed a 40 billion deal with the UK in 2007 to buy 72 Typhoon fighter jets from BAE Systems, with another 48 soon to be agreed. In the last two years, since the start of Saudi Arabias brutal war in Yemen to push back the Houthi rebels who took over much of the country in early 2015 and reinstate the US-backed government of Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, the UK has approved arms sales to Riyadh including missiles, naval systems, jets and cluster munitions, worth more than $4.1 billion.

May aims to restore relations with the Saudi dictatorship that cooled following the postponement of Camerons planned visit last year. This was in response to the Saudi regimes mass beheading of 47 people and an ongoing judicial review of Britains arms sales to the country for the war in Yemen.

In Riyadh, May focused on financial services, worth about 1.9 billion in annual trade, counter-terrorism and security. Accompanied by London Stock Exchange chief Xavier Rollet, she was on a charm offensive to get Riyadh to float the sale of a five percent stake in the $2 trillion government-owned Aramco in London, which faces fierce competition from Hong Kong and New York. Her office said London would assist on tax and privatisation standards to help Saudi Arabia diversify its economy and become less reliant on oil, a key Saudi objective.

The UK would help review Saudi defence capabilities and overhaul its defence ministrycode for further sales of arms, police and advisory services, as part of efforts to strengthen defence cooperation and deepen military ties with the oil monarchy. In a truly Orwellian statement, May said that the UK would establish the first joint UK-Gulf Cooperation Council counter-terrorism working group. This intensifies collaboration with a government that has funded Islamist terrorist forces for decades.
A racist Airbnb host denied Dyne Suh (pictured) lodging because of her race. (Photo: NBC4)

Dyne Suh was looking forward to a Presidents Day weekend stay at a mountain cabin in California with her fiance and friends, but her Airbnb host swiftly canceled the reservation. Suh explained that the host, in a racially insensitive exchange, praised President Trump and denied the stay because Suh was Asian.

Suh, a law student studying race relations, hails from Riverside, Calif., and was looking to get away with a pair of friends and her dogs back in February. In a report by Los Angeles-based NBC affiliate KNBC, Suh claims that the owner of the home denied the stay because of Suhs race just as she was on her way to Running Springs, Calif., in snowy weather.

We were looking forward to it, especially with law school and working and being really busy, said Suh on Wednesday to KNBC. It was a welcome break.

Suh sent a text message to the owner of the cabin  identified in her exchange as Tami  saying that she was on her way, to which the woman responded with racist vitriol.

I wouldnt rent it to u (sic) if u (sic) were the last person on earth, wrote the host to Suh in a text exchange seen by the stations reporters. One word says it all. Asian.

Image: Facebook

After Suh threatened to report the host, the woman replied, saying, Go ahead.  Its why we have Trump.  I will not allow this country to be told what to do by foreigners, just before canceling the booking.



Image: Facebook

Airbnb spokesman Christopher Nulty condemned the actions of the host and said she has been permanently removed from the service network.



Suh originally posted about the incident on her Facebook page on Feb. 18.

Watch a video of Suh detailing her exchange below:

The host has not commented to any media outlet and reportedly has deleted or hidden all her known social media profiles.

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Photo credit: Getty

From Cosmopolitan

In the United States, a woman can opt to have an abortion with a combination of pills - instead of with a surgical procedure - up to 10 weeks into a pregnancy. Called a medication abortion, the process involves taking mifepristone and misoprostol to terminate a pregnancy without any anesthesia needed. The procedure is 95 percent effective and incredibly safe - less than 1 percent of all women who take the "abortion pill" experience serious side effects. It's also relatively simple, as far as medical procedures go. Take 200 milligrams of one pill, and then 24 to 48 hours later, take 800 micrograms of another.

Yet despite being a fairly straightforward process, current FDA regulations still require that women begin the procedure in a medical center, where the first pill must be administered under the supervision of a health-care provider. This means that for women who live in states with one or very few abortion clinics - or who live in rural areas far from any nearby clinics - obtaining a medical abortion is difficult, if not virtually impossible. In an attempt to improve access for such women, a telemedicine provider in Australia recently carried out a study that tested the safety and efficacy of administering abortion pills to women over the phone, without any face-to-face doctor visits. The study revealed something preexisting studies confirm time and time again - abortion via telemedicine is both safe and effective.

As reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, the Tabbot Foundation, a telemedicine organization in Australia, administered abortion pills over the phone to 1,800 women over the course of 18 months. A preliminary, independent review of the first 1,000 women found that the effectiveness of the procedure at home was incredibly comparable to effectiveness in a brick-and-mortar health-care setting.

In this Australian study, women called a 1-800 phone number, paid $250 out-of-pocket, had an ultrasound and blood test at a local clinic, and were then mailed mifepristone and misoprostol, as well as antibiotics, painkillers, and anti-nausea drugs. A nurse was expected to call a day later to check in on each woman, and 10 days after taking the pills, each woman was meant to have a blood test to make sure the abortion was successful. Of the 1,000 women in the preliminary review, 717 said they took the pills. Normal, complication-free terminations were confirmed for 82 percent of the women. Only two women (0.3 percent of the study sample) had viable pregnancies after taking the supplied abortion pills.

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In Australia, where laws regarding the administration of abortion pills are different than in the United States, telemedicine looks to be an effective and convenient way to surmount the access barriers to safe abortion. Women in extremely remote areas, without a clinic nearby to perform an ultrasound or blood test, may still face difficulty, even with telemedicine. But the ability to terminate a pregnancy at home, without traveling to a designated abortion clinic, stands the chance to drastically improve access for women in Australia and the United States.

A pioneer abortion telemedicine study was carried out in Iowa in 2008, though it was slightly different than the Australia study. In Iowa, patients visited a clinic and had a video conference with a health-care provider in an abortion clinic who remotely opened a drawer that contained the pills. The physician then watched the woman take the first pill over the video conference. Anti-abortion politicians tried to ban telemedicine abortion in the state in 2013, saying administering drugs from a remote location was "unsafe," but that ban was ruled unconstitutional two years later.

Medication abortion repeatedly has been proven to be a safe procedure. Yet the pills are still controlled in the U.S. with added regulations that are typically reserved for drugs that cause severe side effects. These regulations, called a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy, require designated pills only be administered in clinics or medical offices.

"I would hope the FDA would look at the science behind this and make an evidence-based decision," Dan Grossman, a physician and researcher on abortion pill safety, previously told the Los Angeles Times on the subject of abortion pills being so severely regulated. "This shouldnt be a political decision. It should be based on science, which has very clearly shown this is a very safe drug, safer than ones that dont have this restriction."

It would currently be illegal for women in the U.S. to receive abortion pills with a simple, over-the-phone consultation, like the 1,800 women in Australia were able to do. But relaxing those restrictions would radicalize access to an evidentially safe procedure for the millions of women who live far from abortion clinics. And with more and more anti-abortion laws being introduced in states every day, the number of women living far from abortion clinics is only increasing.

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A child was born on a Turkish Airlines flight en route to Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. (Photo: Twitter)

A woman aboard a Turkish Airlines flight from Conakry, Guinea, to Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso went into labor yesterday and had her child before the plane could land.

Nafi Diaby gave birth to a girl named Kadiju with the help of the flight crew; photos of them have been shared on social media by the airline with the caption Welcome on board Princess! Applause goes to our cabin crew!

Welcome on board Princess! Applause goes to our cabin crew! ???????????????? pic.twitter.com/FFPI16Jqgt  Turkish Airlines (@TurkishAirlines) April 7, 2017

Mother and child were both taken to a local hospital once the plane had landed. Theyre both reportedly in good health.

Births on planes are rare, as expectant mothers are usually advised by their doctors to avoid traveling. However, a few cases a year are reported, and now, thanks to social media, they can be seen by the world.

Last year, an Orlando-bound flight made an emergency landing in Charleston, S.C., after a woman went into labor. The event was captured by a passenger and shared to Twitter:

My @SouthwestAir flight from PHL to MCO was diverted to Charleston because a woman went into labor. Flight crew did a great job. pic.twitter.com/63yVrkWWRL  Izzy Gould (@IzzyGould) December 4, 2016

My @SouthwestAir flight from PHL to MCO was diverted to Charleston because a woman went into labor. Flight crew did a great job, writes the passenger.

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Associated Press

Concerns over the Buffalo Bills troubling loss to the New York Jets were quickly overshadowed by even bigger worries regarding the status of Josh Allens throwing elbow on Monday. Suddenly, the entirety of the organization and its fanbase is holding its collective breath while awaiting the results of medical tests to determine the severity of Allens injury sustained in the final minutes of a 20-17 loss to the Jets  and what impact it will have on the second half of the season and the franchises Super Bowl aspirations. The reality, however, is bracing for the potential of having to turn over a very Allen-centric offense to journeyman backup Case Keenum to keep the AFC-leading Bills (6-2) afloat in the interim.
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy gave NASA a mission: send a man to the Moon before the decade was up, and NASA responded by doing exactly that.

In a speech to Congress, President Kennedy called for "longer strides" a comment Neil Armstrong evoked eight years later when he said, "One small step for man, one giant leap for man kind." Kennedy had been assassinated nearly six years prior, but his vision for the future of space exploration had clearly lived on.

Read: NASA's Cassini Will Burn Up In Saturn's Atmosphere In 'Grand Finale': Images From Its Mission

The Apollo 11 crew was chosen and trained extensively by NASA before they went on their mission, but it all happened in a mere seven months after NASA made the decision to go ahead with a manned trip to the Moon. NASA selected astronauts Neil Armstrong (mission commander), Michael Collins and Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin to man the mission.

apollo 11 crew

Photo: NASA

The crew trained for months, they even practiced simple tasks, like using the ladder that would be attached to the lunar module during their mission.

space ladder apollo 11

Photo: NASA

They practiced setting up the camera that eventually was used to broadcast the landing to half a billion people on Earth.

apollo 11 camera

Photo: NASA

They also practiced taking samples of lunar material to bring back to Earth. The crew collected 47 pounds of lunar-surface materials on the moon that they brought back to Earth with them for testing at NASA labs.

apollo 11 training

Photo: NASA

The crew even practiced their water landing in the Gulf of Mexico.

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apollo 11 landing

Photo: NASA

On the morning of July 16, 1969, the crew entered space craft to launch to space.

appollo 11 launch

Photo: NASA

Astronaut Collins piloted the Columbia craft in parked orbit around the Moon while Aldrin and Armstrong took the Lunar Module "Eagle" down to the surface of the moon on July 20, 1969.

apollo 11 aldrin land

Photo: NASA

Aldrin and Armstrong posed for photos with the American flag they planted on the surface of the moon that is still there today.

apollo 11 flag

Photo: NASA

The flag isn't the only thing Aldrin and Armstrong left on the Moon, their footprints are also there.

apollo 11 foot

Photo: NASA

The view of the Earth from the Moon is pretty incredible.

apollo 11 earth

Photo: NASA

Upon return the crew landed in the 812 miles southwest of Hawaii on July 24, 1969. The USS Hornet recovered the vessel.

apollo 11 water landing

Photo: NASA

After the crew returned to Earth, they were quarantined for 21 days.

apollo 11 quarenteen

Photo: NASA

After the mission the astronauts were stars. A parade was thrown for them in Houston in August of that year.

apollo 11 parade

Photo: NASA

Over the three years following the first lunar landing, 10 more astronauts visited the Moon just as Aldrin and Armstrong did.

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Low gas prices have begotten hard times for hybrids. Even todays most efficient gas-electricsthe Toyota Prius, the Kia Niro, and the Hyundai Ioniqdont pencil against less efficient but much less expensive nonhybrid counterparts in the same general class. And those are hybrids that top 50 mpg. The Toyota Highlander hybrid SUV is in an even tougher spot, given that that its EPA ratings are only a few mpg better than a regular Highlanders.

Updated for 2017 along with the rest of the Highlander lineup, the hybrid, as before, marries a V-6 engine to a 167-hp motor/generator to power the front wheels, with a second 68-hp electric motor fitted to the rear axle providing on-demand all-wheel drive. The engine, however, is new, and for the first time is shared with the nonhybrid Highlander. Its now direct injected and makes 295 horsepower and 263 lb-ft of torque, improvements of 64 ponies and 48 lb-ft over the previous model, nudging the hybrid powertrains total output (taking into account both electric motors) from 280 to 306 horsepower.

The Math

Of the four Highlander hybrid trim levels, the base LE model boasts the highest EPA ratings: 29 mpg combined, 30 mpg city, and 28 mpg highway. The figures for the other three (including the Limited tested here) are each 1 mpg lower. Either way, compared with the all-wheel-drive V-6 Highlander, the hybrids EPA estimates are only better by a few mpg. Our real-world fuel economy was even less impressive, at 23 mpg overalljust 4 mpg better than the last nonhybrid Highlander we tested, a 2014 model that had the previous, less-efficient V-6 engine and a six-speed automatic transmission. With its new V-6 and eight-speed automatic, the current version likely would narrow the efficiency gap further. In our 75-mph highway fuel-economy test, this latest Highlander hybrid achieved 26 mpgexactly the same as a nonhybrid 2016 Highlander V-6or 1 mpg worse than its EPA highway rating and no better than some of its nonhybrid peers, such as the Mazda CX-9.

If theres a silver lining, it is that the Highlanders hybrid price premium is smaller than most. The entry-level LE is only $2130 more than an all-wheel-drive, V-6powered Highlander LE; on the XLE trim, the hybrids price penalty is just $1350, whereas the Limited and Platinum hybrids are $1620 dearer than their gas-only counterparts. Oh, and this hybrid (thanks to the updated, more powerful V-6 engine) is the quickest Highlander weve ever tested, reaching 60 mph in 7.0 seconds flat. Thats 0.6 second quicker than the old hybrid and 0.3 second quicker than the pre-refresh standard Highlander with the previous V-6 engine.

Still, wed save the money and just buy the nonhybrid model, which also benefits from a more traditional driving experience. Accelerate quickly in the hybrid, and the V-6 and electric motors combine for a sort of mooing soundtrack as the engine revs to its power peak and stays there while the transmission engages the optimum drive ratio.

Despite the hybrids AWD setup, there is noticeable torque steer as the front wheels fight for purchase during hard acceleration. Up to about 30 mph, the hybrid feels peppy and quick; above that speed, the sense of acceleration wanes as the electric motors lose wind and the V-6 shoulders more of the burden. This isnt entirely surprising; according to Toyotas weight figures, the battery-assisted Highlander Limited hybrid is 310 pounds heavier than an equivalent nonhybrid.

Dynamically, the three-row Highlander is unexciting, with lifeless steering, occasionally floppy body motions, and horrible brake feel. Toyota has yet to figure out how to transition smoothly from regenerative brakingwherein the electric motors act like mechanical brakes, converting kinetic energy into electricityto conventional friction braking via the brake rotors. The result is vague and unpredictable response from the brake pedal, although the hybrids actual stopping distances are par for this class.

A Regular Three-Row Show

Powertrains aside, the hybrid follows the general Highlander script as a competent family hauler. All models glean cosmetic updates for 2017, including a wide-mouth grille, more LED lighting accents front and rear, and a generally classier appearance overall. The cabins assembly is high quality and handsome, and we like the wide shelf that spans most of the lower dash and is handy for storing everyday detritus. Demerits include the touchscreens distance from the driver (its an easier reach for the front passenger) and the stubby audio and HVAC knobs that are nearly flush with the surrounding surface and therefore difficult to grip.

The Limited tested here, along with the top-end Limited Platinum model, comes with a pair of second-row captains chairs and a third-row bench, but buyers can opt for three-person benches in both rows to seat eight in total on the LE and XLE. The Highlanders second row offers plenty of space, plus fore/aft and recline adjustmentsalthough the seats have a rather low cushionwhile the cramped third row is intolerable for anyone but small children. Usefully, the third row, when folded, forms a clean ramp between the cargo floor and the fold-flat second-row chairs, so one can slide boxes or other heavy items in without snagging cargo on anything.

At $46,154 with only extra-cost floor mats and body-side moldings, the Limited you see here isnt unreasonably expensive for a nicely equipped mid-size three-row crossover. Every 2017 Highlander now comes standard with forward-collision warning, automated emergency braking, and adaptive cruise control, and every trim above the base LE also has blind-spot monitoring. The Limited adds heated and ventilated front seats, 19-inch wheels, and more chrome exterior trim in addition to the sunroof, power front seats, power liftgate, and leather seats (vinyl in the third row) that the XLE brings.

So the Highlander hybrid is every bit the practical and useful three-row family crossover that its gasoline-powered sibling is. And therein lies the rub: Theres no compelling reason to pay extra for it or to deal with its drivability quirks. The small fuel-economy improvement is unlikely to be of much interest, especially when gas is so cheap.

Specifications >

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, all-wheel-drive, 7-passenger, 4-door hatchback



PRICE AS TESTED: $46,154 (base price: $37,230)



ENGINE TYPE: DOHC 24-valve Atkinson-cycle 3.5-liter V-6, 295 hp, 263 lb-ft; front axle permanent-magnet synchronous AC motor, 167 hp, 247 lb-ft; rear axle permanent-magnet synchronous AC motor, 68 hp, 103 lb-ft; combined output, 306 hp



TRANSMISSION: continuously variable automatic with manual shifting mode



DIMENSIONS:

Wheelbase: 109.8 in

Length: 192.5 in

Width: 75.8 in Height: 70.1 in

Passenger volume: 141 cu ft

Cargo volume: 14 cu ft

Curb weight: 4891 lb



C/D TEST RESULTS:

Zero to 60 mph: 7.0 sec

Zero to 100 mph: 17.2 sec

Zero to 110 mph: 21.4 sec

Rolling start, 560 mph: 7.3 sec

Top gear, 3050 mph: 3.6 sec

Top gear, 5070 mph: 4.3 sec

Standing -mile: 15.4 sec @ 94 mph

Top speed (governor limited): 112 mph

Braking, 700 mph: 183 ft

Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad*: 0.77 g



FUEL ECONOMY:

EPA combined/city/highway driving: 28/29/27 mpg

C/D observed: 23 mpg

C/D observed 75-mph highway driving: 26 mpg

C/D observed highway range: 440 mi



*stability-control-inhibited




Kimberly Smiths 9-year-old son saved her life after recognizing the signs of a blood clot, information that he had learned in school.

Smith, 32, began having chest pains while caring for her newborn baby in early March, but she said it wasnt anything that stood out to her. The next day, however, her symptoms got progressively worse.

Read: 14-Year-Old Saves Life of 5-Year-Old Boy Who Fell off 15-foot Cliff

My baby, whos only 7 pounds, was too heavy to hold against my chest," Smith told InsideEdition.com. "I thought I'd sleep it off while the kids were at school, but by the time my other son got home I had this crushing pain up against my chest."

Smiths 9-year-old son Camdyn immediately knew something was seriously wrong.

He sat next to me and didnt want to leave my side. I said, 'I just need to nap,' and he said, 'I dont think so,'" Smith said.

It was that advice that saved Smiths life.

Camdyn explained to his mom that his P.E. teacher, who'd recently suffered from a blood clot, told him that when people hold their chest someone should immediately call 911.

Smith, heeding the advice of her son, called her doctor who said she should be seen.

Camdyn said, 'I am getting my shoes on and we need to go,' and at that point I was still like, 'No, no.' He grabbed the diaper bag and said, 'We have to go,'" Smith said. Him being persistent was the reason I decided to just go. I wanted to ease his worries."

But when Smith arrived at the walk-in clinic and they performed an EKG and blood test, doctors quickly called an ambulance.

Read: Dog Dies While Saving Wedding Party From Suicide Bomber

Smith was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism. She had multiple blood clots in her lungs.

"They said had I taken a nap there was a good chance I wouldnt have woken up," Smith said.

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Smith ended up being in the hospital for seven days and now has to take blood thinner medication.

"He literally saved my life," Smith said. "I keep thinking about it and I keep reading about it. Blood clots kill so many people," Smith said. "I cant imagine not being with my children every day and not seeing them grow and he made that possible for me. What Camdyn did was heroic."

Watch: Bride Saves Unconscious Stranger's Life by Giving CPR in Wedding Gown

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ROME (AP)  The long-delayed project to extend Rome's subway system has brought treasures of the past to the surface and allowed them to be showcased at one of the city's new subway stations.

Rome city officials this week unveiled the Metro C archaeological exhibit, which features amphora, marble panels, coins and even peach pits dating back to the Roman era.

The permanent exhibit will be on view as passengers descend into the three-story San Giovanni subway station, which is expected to open in 2018.

"For those who will use this metro  this station in particular  it's a full immersion into the history of Rome and of this site," said archaeologist Rossella Rea, who is in charge of the dig for the Italian government.

Archaeologists said their surveys, which reached an unusually deep 20 meters (yards), indicated the site was once a huge farm. Peach pits, seashells and other organic remains have been found intact and are featured in the exhibit.

Lines on the southeastern section of Metro C have been operational since 2015, while northern lines near the city center are still under construction. The project has been delayed for years by the repeated discovery of ancient underground treasures.
Things have gone from bad to worse for embattled host Bill OReilly after the New York Times revealed he paid out millions to settle claims made by former Fox News employees and personalities accusing him of inappropriate behavior and sexual misconduct.

It took less than a week for a backlash again The OReilly Factor consisting of two advertisers to swell into a full boycott of the show, with over 60 companies now saying that wont advertise on the networks most popular programs.

In fact, Friday nights episode of The OReilly Factor had just 10 national advertisers. Thats down from 55 advertisers on Monday night, according to iSpot.tv, the TV ad analytics firm.

The boycott hasn't yet hurt the bottom line at Fox News, which has said most companies have shifted their advertisements to other programs on the network. But the growing list of companies refusing to advertise on The O'Reilly Factor have created a public relations nightmare for executives at the network, which have largely taken a "wait and see" approach to the backlash over O'Reilly's alleged behavior.

Angies List, which advertised on Wednesday and said earlier in the week it didnt plan to pull its commercials from OReillys show, has decided to join the growing boycott and will no longer place ads on the popular Fox News program.

"We are no longer advertising on the program, a spokeswoman for Angies List said on Friday night.

The normally outspoken OReilly has remained silent throughout the week, even as another accuser, radio talk show host Dr. Wendy Walsh, publicly accused the host of reneging on his offer to make her a Fox News contributor after she refused to visit him in his hotel suite.

After detailing her allegations in a press conference earlier in the week, Walsh filmed herself lodging her official sexual harassment complaint against O'Reilly to a Fox News hotline.

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21st Century Fox responded to the Times report last week, saying in a statement it denies the merits of these claims. And OReilly said in a statement on his website that he settled the claims in order to put to rest any controversies to spare my children.

Headed into next week, the only company that has made a solid commitment to advertising with OReilly is Rosland Capital, which buys and sells gold, silver and other metals. CNN reported that the company was the largest advertiser on The OReilly Factor in 2015 and most of 2016, according to Kantar Media, an advertising data research firm.

"Around 10% of our ad spend with [Fox News] is for advertising that runs on that particular program," Rosland said of The OReilly Factor. "At this time, we have no plans to change our advertising strategy."

Mercedes-Benz, the first company to boycott OReillys show, spent about $1.9 million in ads on the show during the last year, according to iSpot.tv. Overall, The OReilly Factor generated $446 million in ad revenue between 2014 and 2016, according to CNN.

Since then, it has been joined by several large brands, including Lexus, GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly and Allstate, to name just a few. Some companies, such as Trivago and Expedia, are evaluating whether they will drop The OReilly Factor or not, but have yet to announce their plans.

Despite the boycott, ratings have actually gone up this week on the popular Fox News show. Nearly 3.8 million viewers tuned in to Tuesday nights episode, an increase of 20 percent from the same day last week, according to Nielsen data. On Wednesday and Thursday, 3.6 million and 3.7 million viewers tuned in, respectively. Data wasn't immediately available for Friday night's episode.

Here is a list of all the current companies that have said they will be pulling their commercials from The OReilly Factor. This list will be updated:

 Advil

 Ainsworth Pet Nutrition

 Allergan

 Allstar Products Group

 Allstate

 Amica Insurance

 Ancestry

 BambooHR

 Bayer

 BeenVerified

 BMW of North America

 Carfax

 Coldwell Banker

 Constant Contact

 Consumer Cellular

 Credit Karma

 Eli Lilly and Company

 Esurance

 Freshpet

 Geico

 GlaxoSmithKline

 GoodRx

 H&R Block

 Hulu

 Hyundai

 Infiniti

 Invisalign

 Jaguar

 Jenny Craig

 Land Rover

 Laser Spine Institute

 LegalZoom

 Lexus

 Mahindra

 Mattress Firm

 Mercedes-Benz

 MileIQ

 Mitsubishi

 MyPillow

 Next Day Blinds

 Old Dominion Freight Line

 Orkin

 Pacific Life

 Peloton

 Pfizer

 POM Wonderful

 Progressive Insurance

 Propane Council

 Reddi Wip

 Ring

 Sanofi

 Scottevest

 Society for Human Resource Management

 Southern New Hampshire University

 Stanley Steemer

 Subaru

 T. Rowe Price

 Touchnote

 TrueCar

 UNTUCKit

 Verizon

 Voya

 Visionworks

 Wayfair

 Weather Tech

 The Wonderful Company

Most Popular on Philly.com
WASHINGTON (AP)  Before the U.S. attack on a Syrian air base, President Donald Trump accused his predecessor of doing nothing when Syria's government used chemical weapons against its population in 2013. Trump is right that President Barack Obama issued what amounted to an empty threat of military action. The circumstances, though, were more complicated than Trump described.

A look at statements on a selection of subjects over the past week by Trump and lawmakers:

TRUMP: In a White House statement after what the Trump administration said was a bombing involving the nerve agent sarin in a rebel-held part of northern Syria: "These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution. President Obama said in 2012 that he would establish a 'red line' against the use of chemical weapons, and then did nothing."

THE FACTS: Many in the foreign policy establishment essentially agree with Trump. That's not to say he told the full story.

When evidence emerged in August 2013 of a large-scale chemical attack in the Damascus suburbs, more than 10 times deadlier than this past week's, Obama quickly signaled his intention to use military force. But when key ally Britain wouldn't participate, Obama became uncomfortable about going it alone and sought Congress' authorization. Lawmakers in both parties balked; he could not win enough support.

Indeed, when Obama had made his "red line" threat a year earlier, Trump himself tweeted: "President Obama, do not attack Syria. There is no upside and tremendous downside. Save your powder for another (and more important) day!"

It's also true, though, that Obama could have ordered a military strike without congressional authorization, as Trump did Thursday. Derek Chollet, Obama's assistant defense secretary for international security affairs, wrote in Politico last year that he was initially shocked when Obama decided to go to Congress, because "it was clear the president had all the domestic legal authority and international justification he needed to act."

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In the end, Obama turned to diplomacy when Russia offered him a way out. Their deal led the Syrian president, Bashar Assad, to own up to chemical weapons stocks and agreeing to have them removed, steps seen as breakthroughs at the time.

It wasn't "nothing," as Trump claimed. But neither it did it remove Syria's chemical weapons threat. Assad's forces are believed to have conducted a number of deadly chlorine attacks in the years since, with no international punishment. And as is now apparent, Obama's deal wasn't enough to spare Syrian civilians from a sarin-like nerve gas this past week.

___

SEN. MITCH McCONNELL, Senate majority leader, on why he opposed Obama's proposal for U.S. military action against Syria in 2013 but supports what Trump did: "Secretary (of State John) Kerry, I guess in order to reassure the left-leaning members of his own party, said it would sort of be like a pinprick. You know, really would not be of any great consequence. I don't know whether he had in mind knocking out a tent and a couple of camels or what." But Trump's strike "was well-planned, well- executed, went right to the heart of the matter, which is using chemical weapons. So, had I seen that  that kind of approach by President Obama, I'm sure I would've signed up."

THE FACTS: What McConnell, R-Ky., said at the time was that Assad's use of chemical weapons on his own people did not threaten the U.S. "A vital national security risk is clearly not in play," he said then, responding to a far deadlier attack on civilians than the latest one.

McConnell told the Senate in September 2013 that Obama's planned action was detached from any strategy to end the Syrian civil war. McConnell said the planned intervention could be too limited to dissuade Assad from further use of chemical weapons  or so broad that it could put those weapons in the hands of extremists, if Assad lost control. His concern not merely, or even principally, that intervention might amount to a "pinprick."

At the time, McConnell was alone among the top Senate and House leaders from either party in opposing Obama's proposal. The senator was facing a primary challenge from a Republican who opposed intervening in Syria.

___

TRUMP, speaking to CEOs at the White House about the nation's unemployment rate: "We have 100 million people if you look" who want jobs and can't get them. "You know, the real number's not 4.6 percent ... one of the statistics that, to me, is just ridiculous. ... When you look for a job, you can't find it and you give up. You are now considered statistically employed."

THE FACTS: He's wrong about federal jobs data. There's no category that counts frustrated job-seekers as "statistically employed."

And there aren't 100 million of them.

When people give up looking for work, they are categorized as having left the workforce  neither employed nor unemployed.

Trump's figure of 100 million people uncounted in the unemployment rate is made up largely of high-school and college students, retirees and stay-at-home parents who aren't looking for work. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does ask people outside the workforce if they would want a job, even if they aren't actively seeking one. The bureau found 5.6 million people fit this category in February, a small fraction of what the president claimed.

___

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, Senate Democratic leader, on the Supreme Court nomination of Neil Gorsuch: "Senator McConnell would have the world believe that his hands are tied. That the only option after Judge Gorsuch doesn't earn 60 votes is to break the rules, to change the rules. That could not be further from the truth."

THE FACTS: McConnell was closer to the truth on this matter.

A Senate rules change, requiring only 51 votes to stop a filibuster instead of 60, did appear to be the lone route that Republicans had to put Gorsuch on the court. It was the route they took in winning his confirmation Friday. To Schumer, D-N.Y., Republicans had the option of ditching Gorsuch and coming up with a more "mainstream" nominee. It's unlikely, however, that any nominee produced by Trump would win Democrats' approval.

___

TRUMP, in remarks to CEOs: "There was a very large infrastructure bill that was approved during the Obama administration, a trillion dollars. Nobody ever saw anything being built. I mean, to this day, I haven't heard of anything that's been built. They used most of that money  it went and they used it on social programs and we want this to be on infrastructure."

THE FACTS: The $787 billion package in 2009 was not an infrastructure bill, but a catchall response to the recession with infrastructure as a major part.

More than one-third of it went to tax cuts, not social programs. Medicaid spending and other help for health care made up the next largest component. Then came infrastructure, followed closely by education. The package mixed economic and social spending, helping states train displaced workers, for example, extending jobless benefits and assisting with low-income housing.

As for being unaware that stimulus money built anything, Trump needn't have traveled far from Trump Tower to see those dollars at work.

In New York City alone, $30 million went toward repairs and repainting of the Brooklyn Bridge; the Staten Island ferry also got a boost. More than $80 million was earmarked for Moynihan Station, an annex to Penn Station that is meant to return the rail hub to the grandeur of the original Penn Station. Road, bridge and transit projects across the country got a lift.

Trump praised Obama and the package's combination of tax cuts and spending programs when it passed in February 2009.

"I thought he did a terrific job," Trump said then. "This is a strong guy (who) knows what he wants, and this is what we need."

___

TRUMP, on signing executive action that revived the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada: "I was signing the order and I said where'd they buy the steel? I didn't like the answer. I said who fabricated the steel? I didn't like the answer. I said, 'From now on, we're going to put a clause, got to be made in America.'"

THE FACTS: This is one of Trump's favorite stories, a mix of fact and fiction that he told with more accuracy in its latest iteration.

This time, he owned up to the fact that he placed no requirement on the TransCanada pipeline company to use U.S. steel: "They had already bought 60, 70 percent of it, so you can't be too wild, right?" So a mandate for U.S. steel would be for future pipelines, "from now on."

It's not quite right, though, to say he's insisting that steel or pipelines be "made in America" in the future. His directive calls for the use of U.S. content "to the maximum extent possible and to the extent permitted by law," leaving lots of wiggle room.

___

TRUMP, on progress against the Islamic State group: "We had a very, very fine delegation come over from Egypt, and also from Iraq. And they said more has been done in the last six weeks than has been done in years with the previous administration."

THE FACTS: Far more progress was achieved against IS over the past year than in the past six weeks.

Last year Iraqi military forces, supported by the coalition, waged successful battles to oust IS from Fallujah, Ramadi, eastern Mosul and a number of smaller towns along the Tigris River. They also established logistical hubs for the push that began in February to retake western Mosul, which is expected to be the last major battle against IS in Iraq. No major cities have been taken in the past six weeks.

As for Syria, Trump was correct in suggesting that there has been significant progress against IS in recent weeks, as the U.S. deployed hundreds more troops to help prepare local forces to retake Raqqa, the Syrian city that is the militants' de facto capital.

___

Associated Press writers Erica Werner, Lolita C. Baldor and Josh Boak contributed to this report.

___

Find all AP Fact Checks at http://apne.ws/2kbx8bd

EDITOR'S NOTE _ A look at the veracity of claims by political figures
Adham Sahloul woke up Friday morning to a push notification telling him the U.S. had bombed a Syrian airbase. I thought great. Alright, this is good, says the Syrian-American from Chicago, who currently lives in Turkey. I was happy.

Like so many Syrians opposed to the rule of President Bashar Al-Assad, Sahloul welcomed President Trumps rockets on the Shayrat airbase near Homs this morning. Weve been waiting for the U.S. to do something principled, something to change the status quo, says Sahloul. Anything to indicate that the use of chemical weapons is unacceptable.

In 2013 Sahloul watched with disappointment as then President Barack Obama drew his red line at chemical weapons, and then dissolved it, instead striking a deal through Moscow that saw Syria promise to give up its chemical arsenal.

For doctors like Dr. Abdel Hay Tennari, who spoke with TIME after treating victims of the chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun on Tuesday, todays retaliation offered a moment of relief. President Trump says the Syrian planes that carried out the chemical attack this week, took off from the Shayrat airbase that his Tomahawk cruise missiles hit today.

Everyone was worried there would be another chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun, says Tennari. Photos posted online showed residents Khan Sheikhoun holding images of child victims and placards saying massacres with international license and chemical massacre.

But Tennari points out that most Syrians are not killed by Sarin or chlorine, but by the regular weapons that seem to be acceptable to those international powers outraged by the chemical attacks. Everyday we have the same number of deaths 70, 80, 100, just by traditional bombs, says Tennari. Weve been asking for a no-fly zone in Syria. Everyone will be happy when Assads air force will be neutralized. But one airbase is not enough.

Few Syrians and analysts seem to think this is the start of a campaign to take out Assads air force completely, or remove him from power. I like the idea that the regime has finally been punished for something. But this seems like a one-off, says Bassam al-Kuwaiti, managing director of RM Team, a research and monitoring group working with organizations in Syria. Theres no real threat to the regime itself.

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Without that threat, he worries todays strikes maybe too little, too late. He does say that the speed with which Trump took these retaliatory measures, shows that such intervention was possible under President Obama. All the talk before about how complicated it was to act in Syria wasnt true, says Kuwaiti. As long as the political will is there, action is possible. Change is possible.

There remains the possibility however that Trumps act of political will could be seen more as a provocation than a deterrent. Syrian state television showed footage of the overnight attack and the Syrian army called it blatant aggression by the U.S. Russia said it has plans to bolster air defense systems in Syria after the attack.

And some Syrians who want Assad out may look just over the border to Iraq where U.S. intervention drew the country into a decade of violence and increased sectarian tensions that helped foster the growth of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

But those who are asking for more intervention point to less recent history. There are some voices saying, American intervention has never helped anyone but look at the Balkans in the 90s, says Sahloul, in reference to U.S. strikes against Serbian forces and infrastructure. That intervention saved countless lives and pushed forward political negotiations.

This article was originally published on TIME.com
Syrian fighter aircraft used the just-struck al-Shayrat airfield on Friday to launch attacks against regime opponents, less than 24 hours after the United States tossed dozens of missiles at the base with the hopes of sending a message to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad about its use of chemical weapons.

The immediate Syrian defiance highlighted the pinprick nature of the U.S. reprisal, which the Trump administration  and plenty of lawmakers from both parties  cheered as a seemingly tough response to Syrias repeated use of banned weapons to cow a rebellious populace. Some 80 people died in the sarin gas attack Tuesday, which was carried out by the Syrian regime, according to U.S. officials.

Looming over the broadly-cheered strikes on Friday was the apparent lack of any overarching strategy to lever Assad out of power or facilitate a political solution to the six-year old Syrian civil war. Key allies, most of the State Department, and Congress were all kept in the dark regarding the missile launch, which Trump announced to Chinese President Xi Jinping as the two dined Thursday at Trumps Florida resort.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday said the aim of the operation, involving 59 Tomahawk missiles fired from two U.S. naval ships in the eastern Mediterranean, was to render the airbase inoperable. He called the strike, which targeted the airfield and support structures nearby, an overwhelming success.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported warplanes were seen flying from al-Shayrat  and unconfirmed video clips online appeared to show a Sukhoi Su-22 lifting off the runway  even as U.S. officials sought to portray Thursdays Tomahawk missile strikes as a succes.

The United States said the base was used in Tuesdays attack, which prompted Trump to reverse years of skepticism about deeper U.S. involvement in the war and greenlight an escalation.

At the same time, though, the administration sent muddled messages about just what it was trying to achieve. The White House insisted it was a one-off attack prompted by humanitarian concerns about the Assad regimes use of prohibited weapons. Tillerson said it reflected no shift in U.S. policy toward Syria, even as he underscored fears that Syrian chemical weapons could be used in a terrorist attack in the United States.

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Yet Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Washington wont tolerate Assad slaughtering civilians with chemical weapons, and said further strikes are possible. Meanwhile, Trumps national security adviser, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, said on Thursday the military operation could cause a big shift in Assads calculus, as it was the first time the United States had taken direct military action against the Syrian regime.

Even though the plight of Syrian civilians, especially children, butchered by the Assad regime apparently pushed Trump to take action, the administration said there are no plans at present to reconsider the travel bans on Syrian civilians fleeing the horror to seek asylum in the United States.

Even before Thursdays strikes, the absence of a coherent U.S. strategy toward the Middle East was already worrying many in Congress and in foreign capitals. After less than three months in office, the Trump administration has quickly deployed additional troops and heavy weapons to Iraq and Syria, ramped up the air war against the Islamic State, unleashed operations in Yemen against the local al Qaeda affiliate, and opened a new front against the Syrian state.

Yet there is no indication that the Trump administration has tried to link those tactical operations to any broader strategy. Congress, which largely supported Trumps move Thursday, suggested any broader U.S. involvement in Syria would require legislative authorization, hinting at limited appetite for an open-ended engagement there.

Within a week, the Trump administrations stance on Syria has veered wildly in opposite directions, creating uncertainty for friends and foes alike. Last Thursday, the administration indicated it was ready to tolerate Assad staying in power, and that his departure was not a top priority. A week later, cruise missiles were airborne, heading for a Syrian airfield.

Photo credit: FORD WILLIAMS/U.S. Navy via Getty Images
Today in 5 Lines

President Trumps decision to order strikes against a Syrian air base late Thursday is facing backlash: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad denounced the strike as reckless and irresponsible, and in a meeting of the UN Security Council, Vladimir Safronkov, Russias deputy envoy to the UN, warned that the consequences of the strike could be extremely serious. Republican and Democratic lawmakers also responded to the attack. The Senate confirmed Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court. Officials said a manhunt is under way for the suspect who drove a truck into a department store in Stockholm, Sweden, killing at least four people and injuring 15 others in what Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven called a terrorist attack. The U.S. added 98,000 jobs in March, significantly less than economists predictions.

Today on The Atlantic

R.I.P., Obama Doctrine: During his administration, former President Obama went against conventional wisdom by resisting U.S. military involvement in the Middle East. Donald Trumps decision to order an attack against Syria, however, proves that a core principle of the Obama Doctrine is dead. (Jeffrey Goldberg)

A Bitter Disappointment: Striking Syria has made Trump popular with the Washington elites he campaigned against. Many of his most ardent supporters are less enthusiastic, revealing the White Houses less-than-full devotion to the movement that formed the ideological backbone for Trumps election. (Rosie Gray)

A Victim of Success: In 2013, Russia proposed that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad turn over his chemical weapons to an international coalition. The move presented Russia as an arbiter of geopolitics, but it also further emboldened Assad, argues Julia Ioffe. Now, Moscows efforts look either less than thorough, or gruesomely insincere.

Follow stories throughout the day with our Politics & Policy portal.

Story continues

Recommended: Seven Disturbing Implications of Trump's Syria Strike

Snapshot

A view of the street scene after people were killed when a truck crashed into a department store Ahlens, in central Stockholm. Fredrik Sandberg / TT News Agency / Reuters

What Were Reading

How Will Russia Respond?: Experts warn that missile strikes in Syria are more risky than they seem, because Russian forces are intermingled with Syrian forces on the ground. Is the U.S. prepared for what might happen if an airstrike kills Russian troops? (Greg Jaffe, The Washington Post)

Recommended: Trump's Syria Strike Was Unconstitutional and Unwise

FDRs Breitbart: Many pundits have criticized Trumps frequent use of Twitter, as well as his preference for sympathetic news outlets like Breitbart and Fox News. But another president shook up the press in a similar way: Franklin Delano Roosevelt. (David Beito, Reason)

A Bad Move?: Eliminating the filibuster on Supreme Court nominees gave Senate Republicans more power in the short term, argues Nate Silver, but its not at all clear that eroding the filibuster will be in the GOPs best interest. Heres why. (FiveThirtyEight)

Man With a Mission: Since September 11, 2001, New York lawyer Jim Kreindler has been determined to prove Saudi Arabia provided financial and logistical support to the hijackers. He believes hes finally found that evidence, but he says the U.S. government wont take action. (Caleb Hannan, Politico)

Why Cops Shoot: An investigation by the Tampa Bay Times unpacks the roles fear and bias play in the split-second decisions made by police officers every day, many of which result in lethal force. (Ben Montgomery)

Visualized

Trumps Jobs Tracker: A new tool from CNN allows you to track Donald Trumps promise to create 25 million new jobs in 10 years, or 208,333 jobs per month. So far, hes off track. (Heather Long, Tiffany Baker, and Tal Yellin)

Question of the Week

On Monday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer announced that the president will give away his first-quarter salary of $78,333 to the National Park Service. This week, we asked you to suggest options for potential future salary donations. For a complete list, visit our Notes section.

Recommended: The Trump Supporters Disillusioned by His Syria Strikes

Dozens of you responded that the president should donate his salary to Planned Parenthood, because of recent threats to the organizations funding, and many more suggested Trump donate to the Meals-on-Wheels program because of his plans to eliminate its funding.

One thoughtful response came from Elonide Semmes, who suggested Trump should send his money to support job retraining programs in rural areas and the Rust Belt, since his recent budget blueprint outlined cuts to existing programs. Semmes added that battlefield park maintenance shows how out-of-touch [Trump] is with the pain and suffering in America.

Stay tuned for next weeks Question of the Week contest.

-Written by Elaine Godfrey (@elainejgodfrey) and Candice Norwood (@cjnorwoodwrites)

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
Bayonne (France) (AFP) - French authorities on Saturday uncovered tonnes of weapons and explosives at arms dumps identified by ETA, following the Basque separatist group's vow to disarm after its long and often bloody drive for independence.

ETA had said in 2011 that it was abandoning its armed struggle in the Basque region straddling the Spanish-French border, and announced its "total disarmament" on Saturday.

The group provided France with a list of locations for its arms caches -- a move welcomed by Paris but deemed insufficient by Madrid, which called on ETA to disband completely.

French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said some 3.5 tonnes of arms, explosives and other materiel had been found in eight locations in the Pyrenees-Atlantiques area close to the Spanish border.

"It's a decisive step towards the end of Basque separatist terrorism," he said.

But Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, labelling the group "terrorists", said they could expect no government favours and "still less, impunity for their crimes".

In the southern French border city of Bayonne, thousands of people flooded the streets to mark the historic day with a rally under the theme "We are all artisans of peace".

Many had crossed from Spain's Basque Country, and some in the crowds shouted "Independence!"

Police put the number at 7,000, while organisers said 20,000 had turned out.

"I'm very moved," said Jacques Pavlovski, an 86-year-old former journalist who covered several wars including the bloody ETA years.

"This day is a liberation. The Basque Country must live in peace."

Founded in 1959, ETA has been blamed for the deaths of 829 people in a string of bombings and shootings dating back to 1968. Thousands more were injured.

- Public relations ploy? -

France mobilised nearly 200 police along with bomb disposal experts to secure the weapons, which Paris prosecutors said included hundreds of kilograms of explosives as well as dozens of guns.

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French investigators opened a preliminary terrorism investigation on April 4 into weapons use by ETA and will notably probe whether any of the arms found Saturday had been used in killings, according to a source close to the inquiry.

"The dangerous products will be destroyed," Cazeneuve said, adding: "Whether the disarmament is, effectively, total will also be established."

Jean Chalvidant, a French expert who has written several books on ETA, told AFP he was deeply sceptical about the group's disarmament initiative, blasting it as little more than a "public relations ploy".

"The campaign has two goals: the first consists of rehabilitating its disastrous image of a terrorist organisation that killed 829 people, and by extension that of Basque separatism, tarnished by blood and barbarism," the analyst said.

"The second is to move things forward, because no initiative on the issue came from the Madrid government."

ETA had recently been seeking to negotiate its dissolution in exchange for amnesties or improved prison conditions for roughly 350 of its members held in Spain and France, and for current members living under cover.

But both France and Spain have taken a firm line and refused any concessions.

Northern Ireland's Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams welcomed ETA's "historic" decision to put "its weapons beyond use".

Adams is credited with convincing the IRA to give up their armed campaign, putting an end to more than three decades of conflict between British authorities and republican militants which killed over 3,000 people.

He also called on the French and Spanish governments to "demonstrate generosity in their response" and for Spanish authorities to "address the issue of political prisoners".

- Madrid demands apology -

The list of weapons dumps had been provided via the International Verification Commission (IVC), a group set up to monitor ETA's 2011 ceasefire pledge, though it is not recognised by either the French or the Spanish governments.

Madrid insisted that ETA's latest actions are not enough.

"The only logical response to this situation is (for ETA) to announce its definitive dissolution, to apologise to its victims and to disappear rather than mount media operations to disguise its defeat," the Spanish government said.

The governing conservative People's Party staged an event late Friday in the Basque city of Vitoria in which there was a ceremony for "the protagonists of ETA's defeat". Relatives of ETA victims took part.

The disarming of ETA is "a historical event," Arnaldo Otegi, a former leader of the group's political wing Batasuna, told AFP. But he stopped short of saying whether he thought ETA would disband.

"I believe that ETA must start a debate between militants about its future," added the 58-year-old, who had been imprisoned for a kidnapping.
Bayonne (France) (AFP) - The Basque separatist group ETA has given the French police a list of 12 arms caches in southwestern France under its unilateral initiative to disarm, informed sources told AFP on Saturday.

The caches are located in the departments, or counties, of the Gers, Pyrenees-Atlantiques and Hautes-Pyrenees, they said.

ETA announced earlier this week that it would hand over all its remaining weapons by Saturday, a move bringing the final curtain down on its armed campaign for a Basque homeland.

The group, founded in 1959, has been blamed for the deaths of 829 people in a string of bombings and shootings dating back to 1968.

In 2011, it announced that it had abandoned its armed campaign.

It has more recently sought to negotiate its dissolution in exchange for amnesties or improved prison conditions for roughly 350 of its members held in Spain and France, and for current members living under cover.

But both France and Spain have taken a firm line and refused any concessions.

Experts on ETA have previously estimated the group's remaining arsenal to comprise 130 handguns and two tonnes of explosives.

On Friday, a Basque environmentalist named Txetx Etcheverry, apparently acting as a go-between, told AFP that the weapons would be checked on Saturday by an outside verification body.

The panel, which includes a former Interpol secretary general, Raymond Kendall, is not recognised by either the French or the Spanish governments.

French police are on standby to take possession of the weapons, officials have told AFP.

An event is being planned in the French Basque city of Bayonne on Saturday afternoon to mark so-called "Disarmament Day."

In Madrid, the government on Friday dismissed ETA's disarmament as a unilateral affair and warned that the group -- which it denounces as a terror organisation --- could expect "nothing" in return.

"It will not reap any political advantage or profit," Inigo Mendez de Vigo, Spain's culture minister and its government spokesman, said.

"May it disarm, may it dissolve, may it ask forgiveness and help to clear up the crimes which have not been resolved."
San Sebastian (Spain) (AFP) - A veteran leader of the pro-independence movement in the Basque Country who was once part of the armed separatist group ETA, Arnaldo Otegi cuts a controversial figure.

For some in Spain, his involvement with a group that killed 829 people in its four-decade campaign for independence is unforgivable.

Others, though, give him credit for helping to move ETA away from violence.

In 2011, the group announced a "definitive" ceasefire and in its latest step says it will completely disarm. On Saturday, ETA handed French authorities a list of caches that it had said would hold all its remaining weapons.

In an interview this week in Spain's Basque seaside city of San Sebastian, Otegi -- released from jail last year after serving time for trying to resurrect the outlawed separatist party Batasuna -- welcomed the disarmament move.

The 58-year-old also insists that independence for his Basque homeland remains very much on the cards... via peaceful means this time.

- Disarming in restive Europe -

Qualifying ETA's disarmament as a "historic event," Otegi argued that the fact that an armed group was laying down its weapons at a time when Europe was wracked by jihadist attacks was significant.

Madrid has so far given short shrift to an event that could help bring the curtain down on a painful part of Spain's recent history.

The government has dismissed the disarmament as a unilateral affair and bluntly warned that the group -- which it denounces as a terror organisation -- can expect nothing in return.

Otegi would not be drawn into whether he thought ETA may or may not disband after laying down its weapons.

"I think ETA will have to start a debate among its militants about its future," he said.

But his eyes -- like those of many Basques -- are turned to the future and how to mend divisions after years of killings and fear.

And on that subject, he is optimistic.

"We didn't have the problem that Ireland had for example, with the existence of two communities, this never existed," he said.

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"Here people who had totally different points of views lived in the same building," he said, referring to people who were ETA sympathisers and those who were victims of the group, bumping into each other in the stairwell or at the baker's.

For that reason, he believes it may be easier for the Basque Country to heal.

- Personal healing -

There are several initiatives at work in the region to try to turn the page on years of violence, one of which is staging meetings between ETA victims and former members of the separatist group.

Otegi himself is of the latter, having once served prison for a kidnapping, and then turned to ETA's political wing Batasuna, which was subsequently banned.

In 2006, he was one of the main architects of peace negotiations between ETA and the Spanish government, which broke down.

Since 2013, he has headed up Sortu, a party that campaigns for independence.

He said he had met with three former victims over the past few months -- an experience he encouraged.

"It's powerful, it's a really difficult experience on a human level but also very constructive," he said.

- Independence -

Still, Basque nationalists have not given up on independence.

Otegi believes his region -- or "country" as he calls it -- will go the same way as Catalonia in the northeast, which is ruled by a pro-independence coalition that plans to stage a referendum in September, with or without Madrid's consent.

"There will be a debate here on sovereignty," he said.

"I think that we Basques are walking towards the construction of a European state."
Paris (AFP) - The following are dates in the history of the Basque separatist group ETA, which said it would hand over all its remaining weapons on Saturday.

The group has been blamed for the death of 829 people in a campaign of violence that totalled 43 years.

1959: Creation of Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), meaning Basque Homeland and Liberty, by Basque nationalist students inspired by revolutionary movements in the Third World.

1960s: Initially an organisation promoting culture and identity in the Basque country straddling the French-Spanish border, ETA mutates into a paramilitary group.

1968: Policeman is shot dead in the Spanish Basque town of San Sebastian, becoming the first killing to be officially attributed to ETA.

1973: ETA car bomb kills Prime Minister Luis Carrero Blanco, a key figure in the Franco military dictatorship.

1977: Spain's first democratic government after Franco's death declares amnesty for political prisoners, including detained ETA members.

1979: Spain gives autonomy to Spanish Basque country.

1980: Bloodiest year in ETA's campaign, with 92 dead.

1983: Emergency of shadowy death squads called GAL (Antiterrorist Liberation Groups), later linked to the Spanish interior ministry, which begin campaign of assassination of ETA figures. Twenty-eight are killed over the next four years.

1987: Twenty-one people are killed in a car bomb in Barcelona, northeastern Spain, in ETA's bloodiest single attack.

1997: Miguel Angel Blanco, a young local politician for the conservative People's Party, is kidnapped by ETA and subsequently murdered. His killing sparks mass protests against ETA.

1998: ETA declares unilateral and unlimited truce, which it calls off in late 1999 after breakdown of talks with the government.

2003: ETA's political wing, Batasuna, is banned.

2006: ETA announces a "permanent ceasefire" which ends within months with a bomb attack at Madrid airport in which two people are killed.

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2008: Major blow to ETA with arrests of senior members, including military chief Garikoitz Aspiazu Rubina, nicknamed "Txeroki".

2009: ETA carries out its last attacks on Spanish soil. In March 2010 a French policeman in the Paris area is killed in a car chase.

2011: On October 20 2011, ETA announces the "definitive halt to (its) armed activity" and proposes disarmament in exchange for an amnesty for ETA prisoners. The Spanish government rejects the proposal.

2017: ETA announces it will hand over all its remaining weapons on Saturday April 8, describing itself as a "disarmed organisation."
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders issued a statement Friday following President Donald Trumps missile strike in Syria Thursday night. Sanders expressed his concern over the airstrikes, calling them disastrous and urging peace and stability.

If theres anything we shouldve learned from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, in which the lives of thousands of brave American men and women and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi and Afghan civilians have been lost and trillions of dollars spent, its that its easier to get into a war than out of one, Sanders said. Im deeply concerned that these strikes could lead to the United States once again being dragged back into the quagmire of long-term military engagement in the Middle East. If the last 15 years have shown anything, its that such engagements are disastrous for American security, for the American economy and for the American people.

Read: Bernie Sanders Says Americans Are Overworked And Underpaid

The U.S. fired Tomahawk missiles Thursday night into a government-controlled air base in Syria following a deadly chemical attack against civilians that left more than 100 people dead and 300 injured. Trump said the retaliation was a vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of nuclear weapons.

Sanders said that while Syrian President Bashar Assad was among the worlds most violent dictators, the U.S. should work more on bringing peace and stability to Syria.

Read: Bernie Sanders Calls Trump's Travel Ban 'Racist'

The Trump administration must explain to the American people exactly what this military escalation is intended to achieve, and how it fits into the broader goal of a political solution, which is the only way Syrias devastating civil war ends. Congress has a responsibility to weigh in on these issues. As the Constitution requires, the president must come to Congress to authorize any further use of force against the Assad regime, Sanders said. Further, the U.S. must work with all parties to reinforce longstanding international norms against the use of chemical weapons, to hold Russia and Syria to the 2013 deal to destroy these weapons and to see that violators are made accountable.

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Human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted infection, is remarkably common, according to a recent publication from the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The report reveals that 25 percent of men and 20 percent of women ages 18 to 59 are infected with what's called high-risk HPVthe types that can cause cancer.

Previous studies of just women put the prevalence closer to 15 percent.

"Thats pretty startling," says Geraldine McQuillan, Ph.D., an infectious disease epidemiologist at the CDC and the lead author of the report.

"People tend to ho-hum this whole thing, not think its really an issue," she says. "This is an infection that leads to cancerit's important."

Just 15 years ago, sexually active adults had no reliable way to protect against HPV. But for young people today, the infection is preventable. The HPV vaccine, approved for girls and women in 2006 and boys and men in 2009, offers protection against the riskiest forms of the virus, ideally before they are ever exposed to it.

The CDC recommends the vaccine for all adolescents, yet most remain unvaccinated.

Research has shown that primary care physicians don't recommend the HPV vaccine as strongly as they do other vaccines for adolescents, in large part because it takes longer to discuss and they perceive parents as unsupportive of it for their kids. A consortium of National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers released a statement (PDF) that called the low vaccination rates "a serious public health threat."

"Every parent should take stock of these statistics," says Consumer Reports' medical director, Orly Avitzur, M.D. "The vaccine provides a window of opportunity to prevent HPV-related cancers in adulthood."

HPV: A Preventable Problem

HPV is responsible for 90 percent of all cervical and anal cancers, CDC statistics show, as well as a large share of cancers of the vagina, penis, vulva, and throat. In total, HPV causes about 30,700 cancers in the U.S. each year.

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According to the latest CDC recommendations, all 11- and 12-year-oldsthe ages when preteens get other adolescent vaccinesshould get two shots of the HPV vaccine to protect against these cancers.

Women, men who have sex with men, and a few other specific groups should get the vaccine up to age 26, the CDC says, and it's recommended for all men up to age 21. (People older than 14 will need three shots instead of two for full protection.)

For anyone older than 26, the American Cancer Society notes, the HPV vaccine is neither recommended nor approved, so it would be an off-label use. Most sexually active people will have been exposed to high-risk types of HPV by their mid-20s, and the vaccine won't protect against strains of the virus people have already been exposed to. That's why research and vaccination efforts have concentrated on younger age groups. (The vaccine is considered safe but not generally advisable for older adults based on limited data, and shots for people 26 and older aren't usually covered by insurance.)

"We really need to vaccinate our youngsters before they become sexually active," McQuillan says. That's our best hope for eventually eradicating the virus, she explains, and making sure that 20 years from now, HPV isn't as prevalent as it is today.





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Caitlyn Jenner will once again sit down for an interview with Diane Sawyer on 20/20, two years after she first came out on the show as a transgender.

According to ABC, the one-hour televised interview will air on April 21 and will see Jenner talking about her life after she transitioned from man to woman. In the teaser clip released by network (via People), Sawyer asks Jenner if she has doubts that she did the right thing. Jenner answers by saying that shes certainly made some mistakes within the past two years. As of late, its still unclear what mistakes Jenner is referring to and whether or not it has to do with her transition.

Read: Are Kris Jenner and Caitlyn Jenner in good terms?

In 2015, Jenner entrusted Sawyer with her coming out story and said that shes always been confused with her gender identity even when she was just a child.

I tried to explain it, because Ive had all my kids sitting in that chair and Ive tried to explain it this way. Gods looking down, making little Bruce and he says, Okay, what are we gonna do with this one? Make him a smart kid, very determined. And then when he was just finishing he says, Lets wait a second. God looks down and chuckles a little bit and says, Hey, lets give him the soul of a female, she explained.

Jenners interview with Sawyer was also the last time she was referred to by her birth name, Bruce. It also coincides with the upcoming release of her memoir, The Secrets of My Life, which is on April 25, according to The Wrap.

The special 20/20 episode of Jenner will air on ABC on April 21 at 10 p.m. EST.

Caitlyn Jenner

Photo: Reuters/Brian Synder

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Brussels (AFP) - The Catholic Church in Belgium on Saturday took part in a day of recognition for victims of sexual abuse by priests, seven years after a paedophile scandal rocked the institution.

Church leaders and victims of sex abuse spoke to an audience of around a hundred people in a ceremony in the National Basilica of the Sacred Heart also known as the Koekelberg Basilica in the Belgian capital.

The event demonstrates the Church's will to "resist a culture of silence", said Cardinal Jozef De Kesel.

In April 2010 the former bishop of Bruges, Roger Vangheluwe, resigned after acknowledging he had abused two nephews.

Thousands of people later came forward to complain they had been victims of sexual abuse as children by members of the Belgian clergy.

Since 2012, the Belgian Catholic Church has paid alleged victims a total of over four million euros ($424 million) in compensation for abuses that took place too long ago to be brought to court, Herman Cosijns, secretary general of the Belgium bishops' conference said, according to the Belga press agency.

"Each time the media talks about sexual abuse by church officials on a minor, victims come forward and I am sure that after this day, victims will come forward", Guy Harpigny, the bishop of the Belgian city of Tournai, told AFP.

Linda Opdebeeck, who heads an association of victims, said the Church has become "more and more open about these problems".
By Brenda Goh and Michael Martina SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese state media on Saturday cheered the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping as one that showed the world that confrontation between the two powers was not inevitable. The official China Daily newspaper said it was encouraging to see the two-day summit that ended on Friday "going as well as it could" after earlier "confusing signals" from Washington about how it was approaching the U.S.-China relationship. Trump had campaigned with strident anti-China rhetoric and had angered Beijing before taking office by talking to the president of Taiwan, the self-ruled island Beijing claims as its own. But the two sides avoided any diplomatic gaffes at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida that would have tarnished the meeting in the eyes of the protocol-conscious Chinese. China Daily said both parties appeared "equally enthusiastic about the constructive relationship they have promised to cultivate." "This may sound surreal to those preoccupied with an 'inescapable' conflict scenario between what they see as rising and incumbent powers," the newspaper wrote in an editorial. "But that Beijing and Washington have so far managed to do well in preventing conflicts shows confrontation is not inevitable." State-run Chinese tabloid Global Times said the meeting "served as an indicator that the China-U.S. relationship is still very much on course since the Trump administration took office in January" and it was likely the two nations would develop a more "pragmatic relationship." "It seems that both countries have understood the importance of how essential a smooth transition needs to be and not just for the two countries involved here but really for the entire world over," it said. Their comments were echoed by a front-page commentary in the overseas edition of the ruling Communist Party's official People's Daily, which said the meeting established the tone for the development of U.S.-China relations. In a tweet on Saturday, Trump wrote of the meeting: "goodwill and friendship was formed, but only time will tell on trade." SYRIA STRIKE The Chinese commentaries, however, made no mention of the U.S. missile strike on a Syrian government air base, which overshadowed the summit. Wang Dong, associate professor of international studies at China's elite Peking University, said the move may have had the added bonus in Trump's eyes of sending North Korea a message over its nuclear program, but that China was unlikely to be fazed. "There are great differences between the Syria situation and the Korean peninsula situation," Wang said, noting North Korea's conventional military capability to strike back at South Korea in the event of U.S. military action. "Any use of force or pre-emptive strikes against North Korea will carry huge ramifications, which would probably lead to a drastically different outcome compared to Syria," Wang said. In the talks, Trump pressed Xi to do more to curb North Korea's nuclear program and the two agreed to a 100-day plan for trade talks aimed at boosting U.S. exports and reducing the gaping U.S. trade deficit with Beijing. U.S. industry had hoped Trump would deliver a strong message to Xi behind closed doors to end what they see as discriminatory trade policies, but not do anything rash to spark a trade war. In an outcome likely to play well in China, state news agency Xinhua said U.S. and Chinese officials initiated new dialogue mechanisms on economic issues, as well as security and diplomatic issues, in what appeared to be a reimagining of the annual Strategic and Economic Dialogue held under President Barack Obama. Some within U.S. industry had suggested those earlier talks yielded little substance, and urged the Trump administration to scrap them until Beijing displayed more initiative to address complaints about its industrial policies. "We would like to see more results-oriented outcomes coming out of these new dialogues and fewer laundry lists," said Beijing-based Jacob Parker, vice president of China operations at the U.S.-China Business Council, although he added that he saw the meeting as "generally positive" on commercial issues. (Reporting by Brenda Goh and Michael Martina; Editing by Richard Pullin and Bill Trott)
Sidon (Lebanon) (AFP) - Palestinian factions battled an extremist group in a refugee camp in southern Lebanon on Saturday in a second day of clashes that have killed at least two people, medics said.

The clashes erupted on Friday night as a security force of leading Palestinian factions in the Ain al-Hilweh camp deployed under a new security plan, a source in the Palestinian Fatah faction said.

"It came under fire from a neighbourhood under the influence of extremist Islamist groups, which oppose the security plan of the factions and their deployment," the source told AFP.

Palestinian factions in the camp accused a small militant group linked to an extremist Islamist of firing on the security force after demanding that the deployment not extend to its area of influence.

"The security force will be deployed throughout the camp to bring security to it, and there is no other solution," Lebanon's official National News Agency quoted a Fatah commander as saying.

Medical sources told AFP that the clashes killed two people and wounded 21, with at least one member of the security force among the dead.

An AFP correspondent on the outskirts of the camp said fighting was continuing on the narrow streets of its residential neighbourhoods, with the sound of machinegun fire and rocket-propelled grenades audible in much of the surrounding city of Sidon.

A resident of the camp's Tireh district, where heavy clashes were ongoing, said the fighting had set at least seven houses alight and trapped dozens of families.

The fighting prompted the Lebanese army to take security measures at the entrance of the camp, including shutting the highway next to it.

And Lebanon's health ministry announced it was evacuating patients from the Sidon governmental hospital adjacent to the camp and moving them to other facilities.

An AFP photographer saw members of the Lebanese Red Cross wheeling a baby in an incubator on a stretcher from the hospital into the back of an ambulance for transfer.

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Ain al-Hilweh is home to multiple armed factions, and has been plagued by intermittent clashes between them as well as against smaller extremist groups.

In February, fighting erupted after Fatah pulled out of a joint security committee, prompting clashes that lasted days and killed one person.

By long-standing convention, Lebanon's army does not enter Palestinian refugee camps, where security is managed by joint committees of Palestinian factions.

Ain al-Hilweh is home to some 61,000 Palestinians, including 6,000 who have fled the war in Syria.
Ivanka Trump took to Twitter Friday to praise her father President Donald Trump after his successful airstrike on the Shayrat air base in Syria on Thursday. The move was in retaliation to the deadly chemical gas attack against civilians in Idlib province Tuesday that claimed the lives of over 100 people and left 300 wounded.

Ivanka congratulated her father for "making difficult decisions" and "refusing to accept these horrendous crimes against humanity," referring to Syrian President Bashar Assad's actions regarding the chemical weapons attacks that he was accused of carrying out on his own people.

CNN's Jake Tapper immediately pointed out to the first daughter about the hypocrisy in her statement, citing the president's executive order, which denies entry to Syrian refugees into the United States. Tapper responded to Ivanka's tweet directly: "How do you feel about his proposed ban on Syrian refugees from entering the U.S.? Do you see any disconnect there at all?"

Although the first daughter did not respond to Tapper's comment, her supporter and former Reuters contributor Cate Long criticized Tapper for crossing the line from "news reporter" to "internet troll."

Tapper responded to Long's tweet saying "Not sure why your concern is more for one of the most powerful people in the world than for the most vulnerable."

Trump had made it clear at a news conference in Mar-a-Lago Thursday that the U.S. would retaliate against the gruesome chemical attack on civilians in Syria. "Assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children. It is in this vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons."

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Trump's statements on not letting in Syrian refugees to the country comes in stark contrast to his actions Thursday where he strongly condemned the chemical attack, ordering to fire about 60 cruise missiles into Syria. While his presidential campaign last year he also promised to eject the 12,000 Syrian refugees currently living in the U.S. "If I win, theyre going back,' the president had said.

Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, Trumps national security adviser specified in a White House pool report that there have been no discussions about the refugee issue despite the U.S. attack on the Syrian air base. McMaster said that the refugee crisis "wasnt discussed as any part of the deliberations" for the strikes.

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By Aaron Ross DAKAR (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila named a former member of the largest opposition party as prime minister on Friday, a move likely to further divide Kabila's opponents after talks to negotiate his exit from power broke down. A statement from the presidency named Bruno Tshibala as prime minister in a new transitional government meant to organise a presidential election by year-end following Kabila's refusal to step down when his mandate expired in December. Opponents of Kabila, who has ruled Congo since his father's assassination in 2001, suspect he intends to repeatedly delay elections until he can organise a referendum to let himself stand for a third term, as his counterparts in neighbouring Congo Republic and Rwanda have done. Kabila denies those charges, saying the election delays are due to challenges registering millions of voters and budgetary constraints. Security forces killed dozens of civilians in protests over election delays last year. Worsening militia violence in recent months has meanwhile raised fears of a backslide toward the civil wars of the turn of the century that killed millions. Under a deal struck with the opposition in December, Kabila can stay in office until after an election required to be held by the end of this year. But negotiations to implement the pact collapsed last week and Tshibala's nomination is almost certain to weaken fledgling efforts to make Kabila abide by it. Tshibala's nomination escalates tensions ahead of a mass march his former party, the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), has called for next Monday in the capital Kinshasa to protest delays implementing the deal. Tshibala was expelled from the UDPS last month after he and other prominent opposition leaders contested the designation of successors to veteran leader Etienne Tshisekedi, who died in February. Tshisekedi's son, Felix, who replaced his father as president of the main opposition bloc, said Kabila violated the deal by not naming a candidate of the alliance's choosing. "We continue to demand the application of the Dec. 31, 2016 accord," he told Reuters. "The nomination of Bruno Tshibala is a departure from the accord." Tshibala will be confronted immediately with stern security and economic tests. Congo's franc currency has lost nearly half its value since last year and militia violence has worsened across the country in the wake of Kabila's decision to stay on. (Additional reporting by Amedee Mwarabu Kiboko in Kinshasa; Editing by Tim Cocks and XX)
Damage to graves recently reported at a Jewish cemetery in Delaware County was due to environmental and age-related factors, not vandalism, according to police.

News of the damage at Mount Sharon Cemetery in Springfield Township spread late Friday and early Saturday on television news reports, which called the toppled headstones vandalism.

Springfield Township police said the damage was incorrectly reported as vandalism and was instead caused by environmental factors like trees and bush removal, as well as age.

Images of the fallen graves provided to NBC Philadelphia showed scattered headstones on the ground. At least one of them appeared to have been knocked down by a tree growing under it. The woman who took the images told the television station that about 30 graves appeared to have been damaged.

Cemetery management would attend to the toppled graves, police said.

A message left at the cemetery Saturday morning was not immediately returned.

The initial  and incorrect  local news reports were quickly picked up by national and international media outlets, including the Times of Israel, New York Daily News and the Daily Beast.

In recent months, multiple Jewish sites in the Philadelphia region and elsewhere have been targeted with vandalism and other threats.

Mount Carmel Cemetery, a Jewish burial ground in Philadelphia's Wissinoming section, was heavily damaged by vandalism in February, when about 100 headstones were toppled. That case remains under investigation and no motive for the vandalism has been determined by police.

Mount Carmel has also faced a long decline, with a dwindling endowment, only a part-time overseer, little new income and other low-grade desecration.

A Northeast Philadelphia synagogue has been repeatedly struck by vandals since December. A 13-year-old boy was charged in late March with throwing a rock through a stained-glass window in one of the incidents. Police said the motive in that case appeared to simply be a kid "being mischievous," not anti-Semitism.

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Local Jewish community centers were among many nationwide that received bomb threats in February; a 19-year-old Jewish man suspected of being behind most of those threats was arrested in Israel in March.

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By Sunil Kataria TAWANG, India (Reuters) - Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama said on Saturday the Tibetan people should decide if they wanted to continue with his institution, adding that he wanted to convene a meeting of senior monks this year to start discussing his succession. China, which brands the Nobel Peace laureate a dangerous separatist, says the tradition must continue and its officially atheist Communist leaders have the right to approve the Dalai Lama's successor, as a legacy inherited from China's emperors. "Whether this very institution of Dalai Lama should continue or not is up to Tibetan people," the Dalai Lama told a news conference in the remote hill town of Tawang near the Chinese border in India's northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh. "So, consult people, if people feel now this institution (is) no longer relevant then this institution (will) automatically cease," the 82-year-old said, adding he wanted to start this year "some sort of preliminary discussion" on his succession. A final decision on the fate of the institution would be taken when he reaches late 80s or 90, the Dalai Lama said. Tibetan Buddhism holds that the soul of a senior lama, or Buddhist monk, is reincarnated in the body of a child on his death. The Dalai Lama, who fled into exile in India after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959, denies espousing violence and says he only wants genuine autonomy for Tibet. His week-long trip to Arunachal Pradesh, an eastern Himalayan region administered by New Delhi, but claimed by China as "southern Tibet", has raised hackles in Beijing. The Dalai Lama also said he disagreed with U.S. President Donald Trump's "America First" policy and the recent curbs on immigration saying that he admired America as a leader of the free world and expected the country to lead by that example. The Dalai Lama now resides in the Indian hill town of Dharamsala, where his supporters also run a small government in exile. He has renounced any political role in leading the Tibetan diaspora. (Editing by Devidutta Tripathy and Hugh Lawson)
Washington (AFP) - The top priority for the United States in Syria is to defeat the Islamic State group even before stabilizing the country, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says.

Defeating the group and its self-proclaimed caliphate would eliminate not only a threat to the US but to "the whole stability in the region," Tillerson told CBS television's "Face the Nation" program in an excerpt released Saturday.

"It's important that we keep our priorities straight. And we believe that the first priority is the defeat of ISIS," Tillerson said in a clip made public on the eve of the Sunday talkshow's air time.

"Once the ISIS threat has been reduced or eliminated, I think we can turn our attention directly to stabilizing the situation in Syria," he said.

"We're hopeful that we can prevent a continuation of the civil war and that we can bring the parties to the table to begin the process of political discussions."

The former ExxonMobil chief executive noted that holding such talks would require the participation of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime along with its allies.

He narrowed his focus on key Damascus ally Moscow, with whom Washington has particularly frosty relations.

"We're hopeful that Russia will choose to play a constructive role in supporting ceasefires through their own Astana talks, but also, ultimately, through Geneva," Tillerson said.

"If we can achieve ceasefires in zones of stabilization in Syria, then I believe -- we hope we will have the conditions to begin a useful political process."

The top US diplomat insisted he had no concerns about possible Russian retaliation following an unprecedented US strike on a Syrian airfield this week.

"The Russians were never targeted in this particular strike," Tillerson said.

"It was a very deliberate, very proportional, and very targeted strike undertaken in response to the chemical weapons attack. And Russia was never part of the targeting."

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A 17-year-old transgender youth in Virginia will go to his high school graduation in June without knowing whether he will win his high-profile lawsuit seeking legal equality at school. In the meantime, however, he has won high praise from two federal judges for his personal crusade.

Despite his youth and the formidable power of those arrayed against him at every stage of these proceedings, those judges said in an unusual opinion released on Friday, he never forgot what he could do in the company of historic figures who, like him, were rebuffed in making their claims to human dignity.

Senior Judge Andre M. Davis wrote the five-page tribute, joined by Judge Henry F. Floyd, as they joined one of their colleagues on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in a technical order formally wiping out the temporary legal victory that the youth  Gavin Grimm of Gloucester Courthouse, VA  had won in a lower court.

That order was blocked last summer by the Supreme Court, and the orders legal significance ended when the Justices in March sent the case back to the Fourth Circuit Court for a new review to take into account a policy change by the Trump Administration on the scope of the 1972 civil rights law on which Gavins victory had relied. Technically, that order had remained on the books, and all that was done on Friday was simply to vacate it.

The Circuit Court issued two other orders. One denied a plea by the high school senior, through his lawyers, to put the case on a rapid schedule that could produce a ruling before his graduation on June 10. The other order told lawyers on both sides to propose a new schedule that might stretch out the case at least until the Fall. r

Neither of those orders drew any direct comment from any of the judges, but did appear to add impetus for the comments by Judges Davis and Floyd about Gavins struggle for justice. That opinion, aside from praising Gavins journey, also lamented the slow progress that sometimes happens to attempts to advance human rights through the courts.

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Gavins lawyers, on the day after the Supreme Court sent the case back to the appeals court, asked that court to schedule the filing of briefs so that a hearing could occur between May 9 and 11, allowing about a month to rule before the graduation date.

The Gloucester County School Board, which had a policy that denied Gavin access to the boys bathroom at school because he was born a girl, opposed that proposal, saying it was too short to allow the full exploration of the meaning of the law at issue  Title IX  and too short to allow the Trump Administration to settle on its interpretation of that law. The school board wanted a schedule that would lead to a hearing in mid-September.

The two sides were told on Friday to file, presumably jointly, a briefing schedule. That is due by April 17 and seems to guarantee that the case would not be ruled upon while Gavin is still in high school. The future of the case is somewhat uncertain because the youth, in addition to his Title IX claim, made a constitutional claim that the school had discriminated against him. So far, no court has ruled on that claim.

It is possible that, after the Fourth Circuit Court issues a new ruling, the case could return to the Supreme Court. There were clear indications, when the Justices blocked the order in Gavins favor last August, that the eight members might split 4-to-4 had they made a full-scale ruling on the case. That raises the prospect that the new ninth Justice, Neil M. Gorsuch, might hold the deciding vote on the issue at stake.

Legendary journalist Lyle Denniston is Constitution Dailys Supreme Court correspondent. Denniston has written for us as a contributor since June 2011 and has covered the Supreme Court since 1958. His work also appears on lyldenlawnews.com, where this post first appeared.

Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly
Heads up: There's a new protest hat in town and it's a must-have for science lovers.

After pussyhats became the go-to protest accessory at the Women's Marches in January, scientists were inspired to create their own symbolic beanies to wear to the March for Science on April 22 in D.C. and hundreds of other cities worldwide.

The beanies have a very geeky "resistor" design. They symbolically feature a battery, three resistors in a series, and a closed circuit made with white yarn. Resistors are used in electronics "to slow down the current from a source such as a battery" and prevent the items from breaking, the Stanford University microbiologist behind the design said in an online video.

And instead of pink, the hats will be green and blue to honor our good old planet Earth. 

SEE ALSO: The geekiest signs from the 'Stand up for Science' rally

Not only is the design, created by Heidi Arjes, familiar to scientists, but it packs a powerful political message.

"The symbol for three resistors in a series, as any person whose taken physics knows, would increase the resistance," Arjes explained in the video. How appropriate for a protest, right!?

With the hopes of making her beanies as inclusive to the science community as possible, the talented knitter created several other designs, such as ones that represent a DNA double-helix, laboratory glassware, renewable energy, computers, and a heartbeat EKG.

And for those who live in areas that will be too hot to rep a beanie during late April, she's also created resistor knit headbands and armbands.

Arjes will be marching at a rally in San Fransisco, but with more than 425 other marches around the world, she's encouraging others to make their own hats as well.

To further spread the spunky science-wear trend, Arje's knitting blog Craftimism partnered with Project Thinking Cap to encourage knitters, crocheters, and sewers around the world to join in and send over hats for distribution at the D.C. march.

If you're interested in learning more, check out the March for Science (knitting and crafting) Facebook page and Craftimism for tutorials on how to knit and create your own awesome resistance items.

WATCH: Across the globe, nasty women and men hit the streets one day after Trump's inauguration
Uber Technologies Inc said its self-driving technology was "fundamentally different" from Waymo's in a court filing, Friday. This comes after Waymo sued Uber in February, seeking a preliminary injunction to stop it from using trade secrets and other intellectual property.

Uber, which has gone into damage control mode, presented a list of reasons to averse the possible injunction.

According to a report filed in the Fortune, Uber made several arguments in its Fridays filing, which included:

Waymos single-lens design and Uber's LiDAR design, which is a four-lens design, are "fundamentally different."

Uber's LiDAR design uses two lenses for transmitting laser light and two for receiving it. "This fact alone demonstrates the misguided nature of Waymo's request for "extraordinary and drastic relief," the filing says, as Fortune quoted.

Uber's LiDAR design uses two optical cavities, compared to just one cavity in Waymos unit.

Uber began developing its LiDAR design even before it hired Anthony Levandowski, a former Waymo employee, who Google accused of stealing trade secrets and using in Uber's favor.

Waymo took one Uber schematic (inadvertently sent to a Waymo employee) and made several assumptions based on that one document to conclude that Uber's LiDAR used a single-lens design, said the report.

"To hinder Uber's continued progress in its independent development of an in-house LiDAR that is fundamentally different than Waymo's, when Uber has not used any of Waymo's trade secrets, would impede Uber's efforts to remain a viable business, stifle the talent and ingenuity that are the primary drivers of this emerging industry, and risk delaying the implementation of technology that could prevent car accidents. Ultimately, that would be harmful to the public, Uber said in its filing as Fortune reported.

Uber also claimed that 14,000 of Waymo's computer files on autonomous technology, that Google accused the company of stealing, never ended up on its servers, despite Waymo's claim that Levandowski stole them before joining Uber.

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After Levandowski, Lior Ron was also accused of stealing secret self-driving car technology from Waymo, Wednesday. Ron's name was revealed through a redaction error in a court exhibit opened Monday, reports said.

Levandowski and Ron had quit Google owned Waymo to start a self-driving car company, Otto, which was acquired by Uber in August 2016.

Last week, Uber has called the allegations baseless and said Google should settle its complaints in its arbitration proceedings.

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The Hague (AFP) - Hundreds demonstrated in Dutch cities Saturday in a show of support for gay rights after a male couple were attacked last week while walking hand-in-hand, media reported.

Some 2,500 people brandishing rainbow flags turned out in the eastern city of Arnhem where Jasper Vernes-Sewratan, 35, and Ronnie Sewratan-Vernes, 31, were badly beaten last weekend.

"You have pulled us through this terrible week," Vernes-Sewratan told the crowd, while his partner, who lost some teeth when he was hit by a bolt cutter, was in tears.

Hundreds also took part in demonstrations Saturday in The Hague and Eindhoven.

Also attending the march in Arnhem was Democracy party D66 leader Alexander Pechthold. He sparked a social network storm when he was photographed arriving at parliament in The Hague after the attack holding the hand of a male colleague.

The hashtag #allemannenhandinhand (or "all men hand-in-hand") went viral, as Dutch male politicians, police and diplomats took to streets around the world holding hands with their male colleagues.

Diplomats from the Dutch embassy in London and Canberra tweeted a picture of them stepping out hand-in-hand, following similar images from the Dutch delegation at the United Nations in New York.

Five teenagers, two 14-year-olds and three aged 16, appeared Thursday before magistrates, after handing themselves in following the attack. They were released on bail as the investigation continues.

The attack has shocked The Netherlands, the first country in the world to legalise gay marriage in 2001.
Istanbul (AFP) - Tens of thousands packed one of Istanbul's biggest public spaces Saturday as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted a giant rally seeking votes in next week's referendum on enhancing his powers.

Lambasting Turkey's enemies and taking pot shots at his opponents, Erdogan said a 'Yes' vote in the April 16 referendum would give the country more stability and power.

"On April 16, do you want to say 'Yes' to a strong Turkey?" Erdogan asked the crowd, who waved a sea of red and white crescent moon Turkish flags.

"Do you want a great Turkey? Do you want to say 'Yes' to stability? Will you be there Istanbul?" he added, as the crowd roared back 'Yes!".

Erdogan arrived by helicopter to cheers at the vast open ground in Istanbul's Yenikapi district, on the shores of the Sea of Marmara.

It was here last August that he held a mass rally calling for national solidarity in the wake of the failed July coup blamed on the US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen, and Erdogan clearly wanted to capture the spirit of that day.

Erdogan said the likes of Gulen, who denies being behind the coup, and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) wanted to see a 'No' vote.

And he charged that 'No' voters were also against his bid to transform Turkey through modern infrastructure projects such as bridges and tunnels.

"They said 'No' to the bridges. They say 'No' to a modern Turkey," he roared, prowling around a walkway that extended from the stage like at a rock concert.

- 'Turkey not herself without Erdogan' -

Analysts see the referendum as tightly contested, despite the domination of the 'Yes' campaign in the media.

If approved, the new system will see the scrapping of the post of prime minister, the creation of vice presidents and the empowering of the president to appoint ministers.

The changes will also allow the president to be affiliated with a party, allowing Erdogan to restore his ties with the Justice and Development Party (AKP) that he co-founded and helped sweep to power in 2002.

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Supporters say the new system will create an efficient US-style structure but critics argue the lack of checks-and-balances risks handing Erdogan one-man rule.

Wearing headbands with "Tayyip Erdogan -- commander in chief" written on them and some even sporting Erdogan face masks, supporters said giving the president greater powers was essential to Turkey's development.

"We want Turkey to grow, we want Recep Tayyip Erdogan to remain our leader. Without him Turkey is not herself," said 'Yes' supporter Nahil Unal.

Erdogan also prompted boos by mentioning his opponent, the leader of the secular Republican People's Party (CHP) Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who claimed this week that the failed putsch was a "controlled coup" which the government knew about in advance.

Analysts say that the outcome in Turkey's largest city Istanbul -- whose diversity is fairly representative of the hugely complex country -- will be critical to the result of the referendum.

The 'No' campaign suffers from a lack of a clear figurehead and vastly fewer resources but is hoping to rally substantial numbers of secularists, Kurds and nationalists to its cause.

On the other Asian side of the city across the Bosphorus, the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) held a rally pushing a 'No' vote.

Both the party's co-leaders are jailed on charges of backing the PKK, which the party argues is punishment for daring to oppose the presidential system.

Senior HDP lawmaker Sirri Sureyya Onder told the rally: "In this referendum our co-leaders, our MPs, our youth, our friends are facing the greatest oppression in our history."
Paris (AFP) - The Basque group ETA on Saturday gave France a list of arms caches to finalise a promise to disarm, but what the French Interior minister described as a "major step" is nothing more than a "public relations ploy," an analyst said.

Eight caches of weapons containing 120 firearms and three tonnes of explosives were on the list of sites in the Pyrenees-Atlantiques department handed to the French authorities, according to Michel Tubiana, a human-rights lawyer who is a member of a group acting as intermediary in the handover.

ETA has said the initiative will bring the final curtain down on its decades-long armed campaign for a separate Basque country straddling the Spanish-French border.

But Jean Chalvidant, a French expert who has written several books on ETA, told AFP during an interview he was deeply sceptical about the initiative.

"The operation in (the French Basque city of) Bayonne is a show, a public relations ploy conducted without consultation with the two concerned countries, France and Spain," Chalvidant said.

He added that the operation would serve to "rehabilitate" the separatist group's image.

"The campaign has two goals: the first consists of rehabilitating its disastrous image of a terrorist organisation that killed 829 people, and by extension that of Basque separatism, tarnished by blood and barbarism," the analyst said.

"The second is to move things forward, because no initiative on the issue came from the Madrid government," Chalvidant said.

ETA has sought to negotiate its dissolution in exchange for amnesties or improved prison conditions for roughly 350 of its members held in Spain and France, and for current members living under cover, which antiterrorism experts estimate at about 30 people.

Around 100 are serving sentences of more than 10 years.

However both France and Spain have taken a firm line and refused any concessions.

Chalvidant believes the group will definitively disband only when its jailed members -- spread through 45 prisons in Spain with another 75 members in France -- are regrouped in the Basque region.

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Founded in 1959, ETA has fought a long and often-bloody drive for independence and has been blamed for the deaths of 829 people in a string of bombings and shootings dating back to 1968. Thousands more were injured.

In 2011, after a string of arrests among its senior ranks, ETA announced that it had abandoned its armed campaign. But the move did not entail disarmament.

Chalvidant added, however, that "all this circus does not mean that ETA would be disarmed".

"Its few militants have of course kept their own firearms and explosives materials," he said. "And after an order, all could restart tomorrow."
When President Donald Trump authorized cruise missile strikes on a western Syrian airfield on Thursday night, in response to deadly chemical weapons attack on civilians in that country earlier this week, his decision had some people wondering whether a president is allowed to take such military action without congressional approval.

The answer, it turns out, depends when in American history you ask the question.

As TIME once pointed out, early interpretations of that split between legislative and executive war powers held that Congress was responsible for going on the offense, but the President could take charge in a defensive situation. This issue came to a test early on during whats known as the Quasi-War with France, between 1798 and 1800. Congress authorized naval seizures of American merchant ships going to French ports, TIME explained. But President John Adams went further and ordered the seizure of American ships leaving those ports as well, and the Supreme Court held that he had exceeded the intent of Congress.

There were moments at which presidents pushed up against that boundary. For example, the event that spurred the Mexican-American War in 1846 was essentially the decision of President Polk to send U.S. troops into disputed territory; if you thought the area was in Mexico, the troops had invaded the neighboring country. In addition, the attack on Fort Sumter that started the Civil War happened when Congress was out of session, under the unilateral orders of Abraham Lincoln. When Congress returned, however, Lincoln - who had also called up the militia, suspended the writ of habeas corpus and took money from the Treasury for supplies - said he had overstepped his bounds and asked Congress to pass legislation authorizing what he had done. Nevertheless, the distinction in who had which powers remained fairly firm.

From 1789 to World War II, presidents had to get a formal declaration of war or specific statutory authority, says Louis Fisher, an expert on presidential war powers and Scholar in Residence at the Constitution Project. The framers knew about government models in which a king could act unilaterally, and they didnt want presidents acting like British monarchs.

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But in the years since World War II - the period in which the U.S. has had a large and stable role on the world stage - presidents have increasingly justified unilateral actions abroad by citing national security concerns. In effect, the defensive powers included in the earlier interpretation were extended to account for wider use. For example, for the Vietnam War, the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution allowed the President to use all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States, as TIME reported later.

As Fisher puts it, Presidents have expressed the feeling that, in the age of nuclear weapons, they dont have time to go through some deliberative process. The upshot is that the President has to have unilateral authority to respond.

And as the below examples show, a sense of urgency to take some sort of action has been felt by people on both sides of the political aisle.

Korea (1950)

When North Koreas tanks crossed the 38th parallel into South Korea on June 20, 1950, President Harry S. Truman was afraid that action would be only the beginning of an effort by the Soviet Union and China to spread communism throughout Asia.

Truman went to the United Nations for approval for what he did next, instead of going to Congress, because he wanted the U.N. to declare North Koreas invasion of South Korea a violation of international law, explains Michael J. Hogan, presidential historian and author of A Cross of Iron: Harry S. Truman and the National Security State 1945-1954. The U.N. approved his actions, and on June 27, 1950, Truman ordered American troops to South Korea to aid the country - marking the first time an President put American forces into direct military activity without congressional approval.

Operation Menu (1969)



In March of 1969, just weeks after he came into office, as the Vietnam War continued, President Richard Nixon authorized the start to the bombing of North Vietnamese targets in Cambodia in a series of secret attacks done behind Congress back. Cambodia was a neutral country that was drawn into its neighbors conflict. Those actions are known as Operation Menu.

Nixon wanted to send a signal to the North Vietnamese that they cant violate Cambodias sovereignty, and he wanted to send a message to the Soviet bloc that hes serious, argues Timothy Naftali, co-director of NYUs Center for the United States and the Cold War. Sometimes, a foreign power wants to see the policy in action of the new president.

In 1973, as the war wound down and Watergate-era Washington strove to recapture some of the power that Nixon had claimed for himself, Congress passed the War Powers Resolution to, in theory, limit what the president could do. Under the new law, a President who orders troops into action abroad or substantially increases the number of foreign-based U.S. troops equipped for combat must report the reason for his action to Congress within 48 hours. Congress could then rescind his order at any time by passing resolutions, which are not subject to White House veto, in both houses, TIME explained that year. Even if such resolutions are not forthcoming, the President must halt the operation after 60 days unless it has been approved by Congress, though he could prolong it another 30 days by certifying that the additional time is necessary for the safe withdrawal of the troops.

Operation Infinite Reach (1998)

Even after the War Powers Resolution, Presidents were able to interpret what it meant to order troops into action such that they could still make military decisions without Congress. As TIME once put it, This is all part of the cat-and-mouse game of checks and balances. The War Powers Resolution is a check on presidential power, but the President seeks to balance this by, well, ignoring it.

Under President Bill Clinton, Fisher argues, there were multiple instances of military action without congressional approval. Rather than going to Congress, he went to the Security Council or NATO allies for back-up on actions in Haiti and Bosnia that Fisher sees as military even though they were not billed as war.

Then, in 1998, Osama bin Ladens Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for attacks on the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed more than 200 people. On Aug. 20, the U.S. launched retaliatory strikes on Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, and a strike on a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan that was believed to have been producing chemical weapons, though that has been disputed.

Operation Odyssey Dawn (2011)

U.N. National Security Councils Resolution 1973 authorized President Barack Obama to use military force in Libya to try and oust its leader Muammar Gaddafi. Obama later called the decision to do so without proper preparation the worst mistake of his presidency.

In 2013, after a chemical attack in Syria, President Barack Obama was thinking about or preparing to act unilaterally once again, but ultimately - and unsuccessfully - went to Congress for authorization.

This article was originally published on TIME.com
SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  Ramon Regalado was starving and sick with malaria when he slipped away from his Japanese captors during the infamous 1942 Bataan Death March in the Philippines, escaping a brutal trudge through steamy jungle that killed hundreds of Americans and thousands of Filipinos who fought for the U.S. during World War II.

On Saturday, the former wartime machine-gun operator joined a dwindling band of veterans of the war in San Francisco's Presidio to honor the soldiers who died on the march and those who made it to a prisoner of war camp only to die there.

They commemorated the mostly Filipino soldiers who held off Japanese forces in the Philippines for three months without supplies of food or ammunition before a U.S. Army major general surrendered 75,000 troops to Japan on April 9, 1942.

Few Americans are aware of the Filipinos who were starving as they relentlessly fended off the more powerful and well-supplied Japanese forces, said Cecilia Gaerlan, executive director of the Berkeley, California-based Bataan Legacy Historical Society organizing the event at the former military fort.

"Despite fighting without any air support and without any reinforcement, they disrupted the timetable of the Imperial Japanese army," she said. "That was their major role, to perform a delaying action. And they did that beyond expectations."

More than 250,000 Filipino soldiers served in World War II, when the Philippines were a U.S. territory. But after the war ended, President Harry Truman signed laws that stripped away promises of benefits and citizenship for Filipino veterans.

Only recently have they won back some concessions and acknowledgment, including the nation's highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal. The veterans also received lump-sum payments as part of the 2009 stimulus law.

An estimated 18,000 Filipino veterans of World War II are still alive and living in the U.S.

Tens of thousands of Filipino and U.S. troops were forced on the 65-mile (105-kilometer) march and Gaerlan said as many as 650 Americans and 10,000 Filipinos died in stifling heat and at the hands of Japanese soldiers who shot, bayoneted or beat soldiers who fell or stopped for water.

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More than 80 percent of those forced on the march were Filipino.

After they arrived at a prison camp set up at Camp O'Donnell, she said, an additional 1,600 Americans and 20,000 Filipinos died from dysentery, starvation and disease.

Gaerlan grew up knowing that her father, Luis Gaerlan, Jr., had been in a wartime march in which a lot of people had died. But he rarely spoke about it or he would re-enact it with rat-a-tat-tat sound effects for the guns that made her laugh.

She started researching the march in 2011 and tried to elicit more details from her father. He broke down crying telling her that some men were so desperate that they killed themselves. Others wrote goodbye letters to their relatives during the march.

"And he said he was starting to write his farewell letter, because a lot of men did that, and I asked him, 'Well, were you going to take your own life?" she said. "And he didn't answer."

Gaerlan's father died in 2014 at age 94.

She successfully lobbied California last year to mandate teaching details of the battle and march in high schools.

She also collects march veterans' stories before they die, including the memories of 99-year-old Regalado, who lives in the San Francisco suburb of El Cerrito.

When the war broke out, Regalado was a member of the Philippine Scouts, a military branch of the U.S. Army for Filipino soldiers.

He and two other soldiers were assigned to feed horses during the march and slipped away when guards were not watching them, Regalado said.

A farmer took in the three, even though the penalty for doing so was death. All were sick with malaria. Only Regalado survived.

He went on to join a guerrilla resistance movement against the Japanese and moved in 1950 to the San Francisco Bay Area to work for the U.S. military.

Regalado credits his survival and long life to his high morale.

While being cared for by the farmer, he recalls telling himself: "I'm not going to die."

___

This story has been corrected to say that a U.S. Army major general  not a major  surrendered 75,000 troops to Japan on April 9, 1942.
Paris (AFP) - France on Saturday expelled controversial Swiss Islamist preacher Hani Ramadan who posed "a serious threat to public order", the interior ministry said.

Ramadan, whose brother is the intellectual Tariq Ramadan and whose grandfather founded Egypt's radical Muslim Brotherhood, was arrested in Colmar, eastern France, while attending a conference.

He was "known in the past to have adopted behaviour and made remarks which pose a serious threat on French soil," the ministry said in a statement.

"The interior ministry and the forces of law and order are fully mobilised and will continue to fight ceaselessly against extremism and radicalisation," Interior Minister Matthias Fekl said in the statement.

In 2002 Hani Ramadan was sacked from his teaching post in Switzerland after writing an article in French newspaper Le Monde in support of the stoning of adulterers and suggesting that AIDS was a divine punishment.

Six years later he won 345,000 Swiss francs (just over 200,000 euros) compensation over the sacking.

Ramadan's brother Tariq is banned from entering the United States.
RALEIGH  More than $30.1 million from the N.C. Volkswagen Settlement Program will be distributed by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality to fund 161 new school buses across the state, with the majority of the funding going toward new all-electric school buses.
National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn is reportedly on the short list to replace Reince Priebus as White House chief of staff. (Photo: Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

WASHINGTON  After weeks of infighting in the Trump White House, one adviser whose stock is clearly rising is the relatively little-known director of the National Economic Council, Gary Cohn  a registered Democrat who is widely regarded as one of the most liberal voices in the White House. A Trump ally told Yahoo News that Cohn has even earned a nickname among some administration officials and Capitol Hill Republicans: Globalist Gary.

According to news reports published on Friday, President Trump is considering replacing chief of staff Reince Priebus, and Cohn is on the short list. A source close to the White House says the push for a shakeup is coming from Trumps son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, and is motivated not by ideology but by frustration over the administrations lack of ability to execute crisply and to mount any momentum for the presidents agenda. Kushner and Vice President Mike Pence are trying to come up with names of people who know how to get things done in Washington, the source said.

However, as usual, its difficult to make a clear forecast based on the rumblings in Trumps White House, and some members of the inner circle are insisting that there will be no imminent shakeup. One source close to Kushner told Yahoo News that the rumors are completely overstated.

And while Cohn is in the mix if Priebus takes the fall for the White House dysfunction, the source who predicted a shakeup identified House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy as the leading candidate for the chief of staff job. McCarthys advantage, the source indicated, is his presumed ability to get bills through Congress. Along with Cohn and McCarthy, others on the short list are believed to be political consultant David Urban and longtime Republican fundraiser and lobbyist Wayne Berman, now a principal at the private equity giant Blackstone.

Whether or not Cohn is in line for Priebuss job, his influence is clearly growing. As head of the NEC, Cohn coordinates the presidents economic policymaking process and oversees the advice given to the president in this arena. And his portfolio already seems to extend beyond economic policy. Photos released by the White House show that Cohn was in the room Thursday night as Trump launched airstrikes against the Assad regime in Syria.

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White House chief of staff Reince Priebus (Photo: Evan Vucci/AP)

In the ongoing struggle for influence in the White House, Cohn has become a lightning rod for members of other factions in the presidents inner circle who fear hes exercising a powerful liberal influence on the administration. Four different sources close to the president told Yahoo News that Cohn is the object of growing concern among Trumps conservative allies  especially the populist nexus around chief strategist Steve Bannon.

Sam Nunberg, a conservative consultant who was an early adviser of Trumps and remains well connected to the presidents inner circle, would say only one thing about Cohn: Gary Cohn would be too liberal for the Obama administration. I dont know what hes doing in a Republican White House.

Cohn came to the Trump administration from Wall Street powerhouse Goldman Sachs, where he spent more than 25 years and rose to become the firms president and chief operating officer. During his banking career, Cohn was a proponent of free trade, lower foreign tariffs and a moderate immigration stance, views that are a far cry from the nationalist and populist agenda Trump espoused on the campaign trail last year. Cohn also has a lengthy history of political donations and has given more than $275,000 to Democrats and about $225,000 to Republicans. Cohn gave money to Trumps election opponent, Hillary Clinton, during her 2008 presidential bid. He did not make a donation to Trumps campaign last year.

Every White House has its divisions, driven by ambition, personalities and ideologies, but Trumps has been unusually fractious, with infighting among not just two but three major factions. Priebus, Trumps chief of staff, heads up a cadre of establishment conservatives brought over from his prior job as chairman of the Republican National Committee. Bannon and his allies make up a nationalistic and populist wing. The third major sphere of influence is centered around Trumps family and includes Cohn and another former Goldman executive, Dina Powell, a top adviser to Trumps daughter, Ivanka. Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, are both on the White House staff and were widely credited with pushing the president to abandon an executive order that would have eroded protections for LGBT workers.

Related: U.S. attacks Syrian air base

Cohns party affiliation and past work in global markets worries both the establishment conservatives and the nationalists in the White House. One Republican consultant who in mid-March visited the White House recounted running into a Priebus ally who was storming, red-faced, out of a meeting where there had been disagreement with Cohn.

Were going to take him out, the Priebus ally said. The Republican who spoke with the Priebus ally approved of the hostility toward Cohn. Hes a Democrat, he said.

One Trump confidant suggested that reining in Cohns influence is a top priority for conservatives in the White House.

Look, I think on a one-to-10 scale  people who are trying to move a conservative agenda for the president are at a nine with their concerns on this guy, the confidant said of Cohn, later adding, Hes moving his own agenda, a globalist agenda, which has, you know, candidly, made him very wealthy.

Cohn declined to comment for this story, and White House assistant press secretary Natalie Strom wouldnt say much more than Trump himself did when he appointed Cohn, that the former banker would use all of his vast knowledge and experience to make sure the American people start winning again.

But the Trump confidant identified several areas where Cohns policies are viewed as being at odds with Trumps platform.

This guy does not want to build the wall. This guy does not care about tax reductions. This guy does not care about giving people in the middle class more of their earned income back. He cares about the global economy, and I mean that in the pejorative sense, the confidant said.

And multiple people close to the president pointed to specific examples where Cohns liberal tendencies are being felt. A White House source called Cohn a total free trading globalist. The source cited Cohns appointment of Andrew Quinn to the National Economic Council as evidence that Cohns support of free trade is influencing the administration. Quinn was a negotiator of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal that Trump voiced vehement opposition to on the campaign trail.

A source close to Cohn said that while he is in favor of free markets, like Trump he wants to be a tough negotiator and make strong foreign trade deals for America. Cohns staff is filled with veterans of the second Bush White House and Republican Capitol Hill offices.

President Trump (Photo: Alex Brandon/AP)

But multiple Cohn critics said he was responsible for reports that the White House considered implementing a carbon tax or value-added tax, which are both strongly opposed by conservatives.

Soon after the reports surfaced, the White House said it would not consider those taxes on emissions and consumption. A White House official pointed to how quickly the administration backtracked as proof that they were never seriously considered. Still, according to the Trump confidant, even floating the idea of the taxes was an absolute killer from a messaging standpoint.

Once you start recommending, or speaking about, or talking about a tax, a carbon tax, OK, you cant unring that bell is the problem, the Trump confidant said. Candidly, the bad press that comes with that is devastating. That means coal miners are out of work, right? Which is everything that the president has been against.

But the shifting political wars in the Trump White House make for some strange bedfellows. On Thursday, Bloomberg reported that Cohn indicated he supports splitting Wall Streets consumer lending businesses from their investment arms, a policy that was originally implemented in the Depression-era Glass-Steagall Act, which was repealed in 1999. Liberals including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) are among those also pushing to reinstate a version of Glass-Steagall. The White House source noted that Cohns call to break up the banks echoes some of Trumps campaign trail rhetoric and said that the populists in the presidents inner circle were pleased; they saw it as evidence that Cohn is caving to their desire to rein in the big banks.

Cohns former employer Goldman Sachs would not be among the banks most seriously affected by a revived Glass-Steagall; it has always been primarily an investment bank with a relatively small commercial-banking footprint.

Slideshow: Suspected Syria gas attack kills dozens, including children

His star is rising at a significant juncture, when Trump, according to one White House adviser, has grown frustrated with the ongoing power struggle between Kushner and Bannon. Thursday night, in Mar-a-Lago, Trump called the two of them, the adviser said, and ordered them to work out their differences. I dont want to hear anything more about this, the president said, referring to the feuding between them. A Priebus ally said the rumors that the chief of staffs job is in danger are ridiculous. This person credited Priebus with arranging the sit-down.

Ironically, its Reince that has brokered peace between Jared and Bannon. Getting them to agree to focus on a united agenda. Very positive meeting he had with the two of them this afternoon, the Priebus ally said.

A White House source said the meeting between Bannon and Kushner went very well.

All parties agreed to work on implementing the agenda, the source said.

Sources close to Cohn describe him as strenuously staying out of the internecine disputes and remaining above the fray. This avoidance of infighting may be helping him curry favor with the president, who is said to be tired of the feuding. But the most important factor behind Cohns rise may be his relationship with Kushner and Ivanka Trump, who reportedly brought him on board. They did not respond to requests to comment on this story, but multiple sources describe them as the most influential members of the presidents inner circle.

A former transition official said that Cohns influence has grown thanks to the support of moderating voices in the White House, including Kushner.

Everybody who wants to sort of modulate and moderate the president sees Gary as the best conduit to do that because he makes no apologies for who he is, and thats a Goldman Sachs liberal Democrat from New York, the former transition official said.

It also helps that Cohn is believed to have Dina Powell, who is close to Ivanka Trump, in his corner. In a text-message exchange with Yahoo News, Powell emphasized her Republican roots, her work in the second Bush White House and praise that conservatives gave her appointment. She also rejected the notion that Cohn is a liberal influence and called it totally wrong.

Ironically, he is more conservative than others, she said.

From left, Jared Kushner, Gary Cohn, Ivanka Trump, and Dina Powell. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP)

Additional reporting by Michael Isikoff and Jon Ward.

Read more from Yahoo News:
Athens (AFP) - One of the world's premier art events opened in Athens on Saturday, bringing a much-needed spotlight, artistic inspiration and visitor boost to crisis-hit Greece's run-down capital.

Documenta 14, the contemporary art exhibition held every five years in Kassel, Germany, puts over 160 international artists on display across the city in over 40 public institutions, squares, cinemas, university campuses and libraries, showcasing painting, performances, sculpture and sound art.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who inaugurated the event with Greek counterpart Prokopis Pavlopoulos, said the event aims to break down "the political and economic barriers that divide us...to make us understand the world that surrounds us."

Germans who look closer will discover that Greeks have gone through major hardship, Steinmeier said. And Greeks will find that other Europeans are not "cold and one-sided".

"We can learn from each other...and we should do it more often in Europe...but this is only possible if we do not merely seek to confirm our stereotypes," he said through a translator.

Documenta was originally launched in 1955 by art professor Arnold Bode to draw attention to works banned by the Nazis as degenerate.

-- Nurture knowledge --

"Knowledge must be conquered again and again, lest it be forgotten. Democracy is under attack in many places, even in Europe," former foreign minister Steinmeier said.

The event has travelled outside its birthplace for the first time.

Some 860,000 people visited the last exhibition in 2012. Athens officials hope the Greek leg will draw over 6,500 visitors.

In Kassel, the event will run from June to September 17.

In Athens, Documenta will be headquartered at the recently-completed National Museum of Contemporary Art, a former brewery inaugurated in October after years of restoration work.

Shrouded in secrecy until the last minute, the 100-day Greek leg is titled 'Learning from Athens'.

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In choosing to co-host the event in the Greek capital, organisers said they were inspired by the country's economic crisis and immigration challenges.

Appropriately, a large segment is devoted to immigration and displacement.

Saturday's inauguration will feature the Syrian Expat Philharmonic Orchestra, an ensemble largely made up of war refugees.

"We want to spur people to dialogue and improve conditions here," said Kassel mayor Bertram Hilgen.

Over a million refugees and migrants have come through Greece since 2015, most of them fleeing civil war in Syria, and over 50,000 remain stuck in camps.

Greece is still struggling with recession and soaring unemployment seven years after nearly going bankrupt in 2010.

Throughout this period, Athens and Berlin -- which has footed a large share of the country's rescue -- have repeatedly clashed over budget targets and Greece's perceived resistance to economic reform.

What did we learn from Athens? That we all must abandon our prejudices and plunge into the darkness of not knowing," Documenta's Polish-born artistic director Adam Szymczyk told reporters earlier this week.

On Sunday, horse riders will file beneath the Acropolis in a re-enactment of the Panathenaic procession, a 5th century BC celebration to honour goddess Athena, and immortalised as a frieze atop the Parthenon.

Titled 'The Transit of Hermes', the procession conceptualised by Glasgow-born Ross Birrell will travel 3,000 kilometres (1,864 miles) to Kessel, following the same Balkans route taken by refugees and migrants who last year poured into Europe to escape war and poverty.

Highlights of the exhibition, which runs to July, include the 'Parthenon of Books' by Argentine artist Marta Minujin -- a replica of the Classical Greek temple built with some 100,000 copies of banned books.

For the duration of the exhibit, a jet of white smoke will be emitted into the Kassel sky twice daily, an intervention by Romania-born artist Daniel Knorr.

A tiny town in central Germany, Kassel itself has a camp with hundreds of refugees. During World War II, the town had a forced labour camp and was badly bombed by the Allies.

It is also where Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm compiled their collection of fairy tales in the mid-19th century.
The ceiling for H-1B visa applications, which apply to high-skilled workers, has reached its limit for the year, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced Friday.

In a statement on its website, the USCIS said it arrived at the congressionally mandated figure of 65,000 H-1B visa applications for fiscal year 2018, less than a week after the agency announced applications opened on April 3. It also said it had reached the masters cap, or the 20,000 limit on requests for visas for those with advanced degrees from American institutions.

USCIS spokesperson Sharon Scheidhauer said that the agency would announce how many petitions it received in a week or two.

The brief time between the application periods open and close isnt out of the ordinary, as for the past five years the limit on requests has been reached in five days, according to CNN Money.

Earlier this week, the agency announced new guidances on catching H1-B visa fraud and abuse. Protecting American workers by combating fraud in our employment-based immigration programs is a priority for USCIS, a news release said.

We have reached the congressionally mandated cap of 65,000 H-1B visas for fiscal year 2018. https://t.co/jNto8uEHtS - USCIS (@USCIS) April 7, 2017

In March, USCIS announced it would temporarily suspend its expedited processing option, where companies could pay $1,225 for faster application processing, for at least three months.

A blog post by immigration reform advocacy group FWD.us, which was started by Mark Zuckerberg and others, said the cap impaired economic growth and job creation.

The arbitrary cap means that talented individuals who would otherwise be helping to grow our economy are kept out of our country and that the U.S. loses out on the creation of American jobs, rising wages, and economic growth, said the organizations president, Todd Schulte, in a statement. Each year, only around 30% of all applicants win the H-1B lottery, keeping thousands of the best and brightest high skilled immigrants from around the world out of our U.S. workforce.

This article was originally published on TIME.com
Americas Got Talent judge Heidi Klum misses working with former host Nick Cannon, but shes more than thrilled to have Tyra Banks on board.

A source close to the supermodel said that Klum can no longer wait to work with her old friend, Banks. While Heidi will miss Nick on the show, she is thrilled to have her old friend Tyra join Americas Got Talent. She thinks Tyra is doing an amazing job so far in filling Nicks sparkly shoes and knows that Nick is happy and working on his many other successful projects, the source told People.

Last month, Klum posted a throwback photo of herself with Banks via Twitter after it was announced that the latter will be replacing Cannon in Season 12. In the photo, Klum and Banks are hugging each other. She also posted a group snap with fellow judges Howie Mandel, Mel B and Simon Cowell, along with Banks, at the audition venue.

Read: Americas Got Talent Season 12 features new host Tyra Banks

Cannon decided to resign from his post on the show earlier this year after he was involved in a major controversy. At the time, the funnyman was reprimanded for using the n word during one of his standup comedy shows. NBC execs initially told Cannon that he can be fired for what he did, but the host took it upon himself to resign from his post. Mariah Careys ex-husband announced his decision via a lengthy post on Facebook.

As of late, it is still unclear what new projects Cannon will be involved in, but whatever they may be wont be released on NBC.

Americas Got Talent Season 12 will premiere on NBC on May 30 at 8 p.m. EST.

Americas Got Talent

Photo: Getty Images/Frederick M. Brown

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MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP)  Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley will face impeachment hearings beginning Monday after the state Supreme Court gave lawmakers the greenlight to move ahead with an effort to oust the governor, who is fighting to stay in office amid fallout from an affair with a top aide.

The Alabama Supreme Court on Saturday reversed a short-lived victory for Bentley when a judge on Friday blocked impeachment proceedings. After the high court's ruling, the House Judiciary Committee quickly announced plans to proceed with hearings on Monday.

Bentley, a 74-year-old dermatologist and former Baptist deacon, has been engulfed in a sex scandal since recordings surfaced in 2016 of him making suggestive remarks to a female aide before he and his wife of 50 years got divorced.

Bentley has vowed to stay in office despite growing calls for his resignation. He stood on the marble steps of the state Capitol on Friday and somberly acknowledged making personal mistakes but maintained he did nothing to merit his removal from office.

"I do not plan to resign. I have done nothing illegal. If the people want to know if I misused state resources, the answer is simply no. I have not," Bentley said. He criticized unnamed people he said were delighting in exposing the embarrassing details of his personal life.

The governor's legal team has argued that the proposed hearings are fundamentally unfair and do not give the governor the adequate opportunity to respond to accusations. The Supreme Court justices asked for briefs on the matter to be filed by Monday.

"It's disappointing to hear the committee will plow forward while the Supreme Court is considering the case. We have no idea what the committee has planned for Monday or who its witnesses will be," Bentley lawyer Ross Garber said.

Special Counsel Jack Sharman said the committee's position was that it is free to proceed with the hearings.

"I want to thank the members of the Alabama Supreme Court for quickly acting on our appeal and recognizing, what a circuit court judge didn't understand, that there are three branches of government and the Alabama Legislature is free to conduct its business as prescribed in the state constitution," House Judiciary Chairman Mike Jones said in a statement.

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The committee, following a week or so of hearings, will make a recommendation to the full House of Representatives on whether Bentley should be impeached.

The development was the latest in a wild week in Alabama politics as the Republican governor battled the Republican-controlled Alabama Legislature over his possible impeachment. The Alabama Ethics Commission on Wednesday found probable cause that Bentley broke ethics and campaign law and referred the matter for possible prosecution.

Sharman on publicly released his report to the House Judiciary Committee on Friday. The report made similar accusations and said the aide, Rebekah Caldwell Mason, wielded great influence over Bentley. Sharman wrote that Bentley encouraged an "an atmosphere of intimidation" in his administration to keep his romantic relationship secret and sent two state law enforcement officers to try to track down and retrieve a recording of a sexually-charged phone call he made to a woman presumed to be Mason.

"Gov. Bentley directed law enforcement to advance his personal interests and, in a process characterized by increasing obsession and paranoia, subjected career law enforcement officers to tasks intended to protect his reputation," the report said.

The recording was made by his then-wife, Dianne Bentley, who left her iPhone recording as she went for a walk on the beach in 2014. Dianne Bentley's chief of staff told Sharman that Bentley threatened her because he believed she had something to do with the recording.

The report also included text messages Dianne Bentley gave the committee. She was able to read text messages that her husband sent to Mason because they also appeared on his state-issued iPad, which she had possession of.

"I'm so in love with you. We are pitiful," Bentley wrote in one message.

The governor's lawyer called the report an "amalgam of hearsay rumor and innuendo."
BANGALORE, India (AP)  Injury-depleted Royal Challengers Bangalore hung on to beat Delhi Daredevils by 15 runs for their first win in the Indian Premier League and Kings XI Punjab strolled past Rising Pune Supergiant by six wickets on Saturday.

Without the injured Virat Kohli, and AB de Villiers missing out for the second successive game, Royal Challengers posted a modest 157-8 and restricted Daredevils to 142-9.

The 19-year-old Rishabh Pant (57 off 36 balls) kept Daredevils in the hunt, but with 19 needed off the last over the left-hander was bowled round his legs by left-arm spinner Pawan Negi (2-3) off the first ball.

Pant smashed three fours and four sixes, but wickets tumbled around him.

Billy Stanlake (2-29) and spinner Iqbal Abdulla (2-36) were the main wicket-takers.

"Eight out of 10 times we would have got this total, but we could not get the partnerships going," Daredevils captain Zaheer Khan said.

Earlier, after stand-in captain Shane Watson won the toss and opted to bat, Royal Challengers' total revolved around Kedar Jadhav's brilliant 69 off 37 balls against his former team.

Chris Gayle flopped for the second successive time in the absence of Kohli and de Villiers, and fell for just 6, while Watson could manage only a run-a-ball 24.

Jhadav smashed legspinner Amit Mishra for 24 runs in one over, but his dismissal in the 17th over after hitting five sixes and as many fours stymied Royal Challengers.

Chris Morris and Pat Cummins leaked only 15 runs in the last three overs, and Morris claimed two wickets in the last over to finish with 3-21.

Meanwhile, Glenn Maxwell led Kings XI Punjab to a commanding victory over Supergiant with an over to spare at their new home in Indore.

Supergiant lost all of their seven matches while batting first in last year's IPL, but won their opener against Mumbai Indians on Thursday.

Maxwell won the toss and managed to restrict Supergiant to 163-6 in his debut match as skipper.

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Supergiant captain Steve Smith (26) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (5) left their team in trouble at 71-4 by the 12th over.

England's Ben Stokes took charge with 50 off 32 balls and gave the innings some respectability by adding 61 runs off 37 deliveries with Manoj Tiwary, who remained unbeaten on 40 off 23 balls.

Medium-pacer Sandeep Sharma picked up 2-33, claiming opening batsman Mayank Agarwal for 0 and Dan Christian caught at long-on in the 20th over.

"We probably needed to play a bit more aggressively and should have gone a bit harder," Smith said.

Maxwell ensured Kings XI raced to 164-4 in 19 overs by smashing an unbeaten 44 off 20 balls with two fours and four sixes.

He combined in a 79-run unbroken fifth wicket stand with David Miller (30 not out) as Imran Tahir's effort of 2-29 proved insufficient for Supergiant.

"We practiced well and got around 230 in one of the practice games, so it felt nice to restrict them to 163," Maxwell said. "It's better to chase here, to know how to pace it, and keep wickets in the back end."

On Sunday, Sunrisers Hyderabad meets Gujarat Lions in Hyderabad, and Mumbai Indians hosts Kolkata Knight Riders.
Sen. John McCain slammed his colleague Rand Paul Friday when asked about the latters statement disapproving of U.S. airstrikes on Syria, saying Paul had no real influence in the chamber.

I dont really react to Senator Paul, were just too different, McCain told CNNs Wolf Blitzer. He doesnt have any real influence in the United States Senate.

I dont pay any attention to what Senator Paul says, he added.

Blitzer had asked McCain about the statement Paul issued condemning the White Houses decision to conduct unilateral airstrikes on Syria without consulting Congress. I think what we are doing right now is illegal and unconstitutional, Paul said Friday on Fox Business.

The President needs Congressional authorization for military action as required by the Constitution. - Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) April 7, 2017

Several other members of Congress have expressed similar concerns about congressional approval. Rep. Adam Schiff said he will re-introduce an authorization for the use of military force against ISIS and al Qaeda when Congress returns to session in two weeks. Congress cannot abdicate its responsibility any longer and should vote on any use of force not made in self-defense, Schiff said in a statement.

McCain, who doesnt agree with Pauls assessment that President Trump needed congressional approval to launch the airstrikes, issued a joint statement with Senator Lindsey Graham supporting the actions. Unlike the previous administration, President Trump confronted a pivotal moment in Syria and took action, McCain and Graham said.

This article was originally published on TIME.com
SEATTLE (AP)  The Latest on a lawsuit filed against Seattle Mayor Ed Murray alleging he sexually molested a teenage high-school dropout in the 1980s. (all times local):

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4:30 p.m.

An attorney for a man who claimed Seattle Mayor Ed Murray sexually abused him decades ago  allegations Murray has forcefully denied  says Murray isn't being truthful.

A lawsuit filed Thursday by a man identified only by initials had accused Murray of sex abuse of the then-teenage boy in the 1980s. Murray on Friday denied the allegations, and he said he felt sad for the "troubled" individual making the claims.

The man's lawyer, Lincoln Beauregard, said in a statement after Murray's comments that the mayor's representatives have never asked for his client's identity and that if Murray is being truthful "he should have no idea who my client is ... how can he paint him as 'troubled.' "

In the lawsuit filed Thursday, however, the man had said he sought mental health counseling following the death of his father and was taking part in addiction-recovery programs.

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3:29 p.m.

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray says sex abuse allegations made against him "were very painful" but that he won't back down in fighting them.

In a brief statement Friday, Murray said "the individual making these allegations is troubled, and that makes me sad as well."

Murray, who is running for re-election, said he has never backed down, and "I will not back down now."

Murray didn't take questions, saying the lawsuit is a legal matter that will be addressed in the court.

A lawsuit filed Thursday by a man identified only by initials had accused Murray of sex abuse of the then-teenage boy in the 1980s. Murray had previously denied the allegations through a spokesman, saying they are politically motivated.

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3:05 p.m.

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray says sex abuse allegations made against him are "untrue" and that he won't resign and will continue seeking re-election.

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Murray, who was finishing his first term, made the announcement Friday afternoon.

Murray was elected mayor in 2013 after spending nearly 20 years representing Seattle in in the Legislature, where he led efforts to legalize gay marriage in Washington. As mayor he pushed to increase the city's minimum wage to $15 an hour.

A lawsuit filed Thursday had accused Murray of sex abuse of a then-teenage boy in the 1980s. In interviews with The Seattle Times, two other men claim he abused them as teens, also in the 1980s. Murray had previously denied the allegations through a spokesman, saying they are politically motivated.

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6:40 a.m.

A lawsuit filed Thursday accuses Seattle Mayor Ed Murray of sexually molesting a teenage high-school dropout in the 1980s, and in interviews with The Seattle Times, two other men claim he abused them.

The mayor denied the allegations through his personal spokesman Jeff Reading.

Murray was elected mayor in 2013 after a long career in the Legislature, where he led efforts to legalize gay marriage in the state. As mayor he pushed to increase the city's minimum wage to $15 an hour and address the homelessness crisis in Seattle.

In the lawsuit filed in King County Superior Court, a 46-year-old man, identified only by the initials, D.H., said Murray "raped and molested him" over several years, beginning in 1986  when he was 15 and addicted to crack cocaine, and when Murray was in his early 30s.
BEIRUT (AP)  The Latest on the Syria conflict (all times local):

11:55 p.m.

Turkey's president says it's clear that Syria's government carried out Tuesday's chemical attack in northern Syria and called on Russia to stop supporting Bashar Assad's government.

In a live interview on 24 TV Saturday night, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan rejected Syria's denial of using chemical weapons. "They say it came from the depot of a terror organization there. It has nothing to do with it," he said.

"We have the radar information and we have the forensic reports. Some say Syria does not have chemical weapons. Of course it does. It's clear which planes dropped it." He said NATO has all the radar records as well.

The chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun killed 87 people and prompted the U.S. to fire 59 missiles early Friday to strike a Syrian air base.

Erdogan expressed support for the U.S. missile strike on Shayrat air base, but said it should not end there, and asked Russia to join the effort. He said, "Russia should also join this and should stop supporting Assad."

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10:30 p.m.

Syrian opposition activists say an airstrike on a northwestern rebel-held town has killed at least 18 people.

The Britain-based Syria Observatory for Human Rights says those killed in the Saturday strike in the center of Urom al-Joz include five children and two women.

The Ariha Today activist group listed the names of 18 people killed in the airstrike, warning that the death toll could rise as others were critically wounded.

Urom al-Joz is in the Idlib province, a rebel stronghold.

8:15 p.m.

Syrian state TV says a bomb exploded aboard a bus carrying workers near the central city of Homs, killing a woman and wounding 25.

It gave no further details about Saturday's explosion, but the governor of Homs province, Talal Barrazi, told The Associated Press by telephone that the bomb was placed inside a bus that transports workers at a private factory.

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The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed a woman was killed in the blast, saying it also wounded more than 20 people.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Al-Qaida's branch in Syria and the Islamic State group have carried out similar attacks in the past.

Syrian rebels and their families are in the process of evacuating the last opposition-held neighborhood in Homs under a deal with the government.

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6:50 p.m.

Syria's state news agency says 242 opposition fighters and their families have left the last rebel-held neighborhood in the central city of Homs.

Saturday's evacuation is the fourth phase of a process that began last month to evacuate opposition fighters from al-Waer neighborhood in Homs city to rebel-held areas in northern Syria.

Homs governor Talal Barrazi told state news agency SANA that the number of fighters should reach more than 400 before sunset Saturday.

More evacuations are scheduled for the coming weeks. The deal to evacuate al-Waer was brokered by Russia, and Russian troops were seen in the city observing the evacuation.

Opposition activists have criticized the agreement, saying it aims to displace 12,000 al-Waer residents, including 2,500 fighters. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has called the evacuees "internally displaced."

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5:15 p.m.

Dozens of Syrian students have gathered outside the offices of the United Nations in the Syrian capital Damascus to protest a U.S. missile attack on an air base.

The protesters held banners and chanted anti-American slogans Saturday such as "Death to America" and "Death to Israel."

One of the banners they carried read: "The Iraqi scenario will not be repeated in Syria." They were referring to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq after Washington accused Saddam Hussein of hiding weapons of mass destruction  a belief that later turned out to be incorrect.

University student Ashraf Fadel said he came to denounce "the unjust American aggression against Syria." He added that the United Nations was "created to support America instead of serving the wronged people."

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3:35 p.m.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has canceled a planned trip to Russia because of fast moving events in Syria.

Johnson said Saturday the situation in Syria has changed "fundamentally" following a chemical weapons attack on civilians and a U.S. missile strike on a Syrian airfield.

Johnson condemned Russia's continued defense of Syrian President Bashar Assad "even after the chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians."

He had planned to travel to Russia Monday on a trip intended to start fresh dialogue with the Russian government.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans meet with G-7 foreign ministers in Europe next week before going on to Moscow. Johnson says Tillerson will be able to give a "clear and coordinated message to the Russians."

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3 p.m.

Syrian activists and state media say an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition on a northern village held by the Islamic State group has killed at least 13 civilians, including children.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says 15 people including four children were killed in Saturday's airstrike on the village of Hneida.

The village is in the northern province of Raqqa where U.S.-backed Syrian fighters have been on the offensive against IS under the cover of U.S.-led coalition airstrikes.

Syrian state TV said the airstrike killed 13 including children.

The Sound and Picture activist group that tracks atrocities by IS said the airstrike hit an internet cafe.

The attack comes at a time of increasing reports of civilian deaths in airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition in northern Syria.

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2:45 p.m.

About 100 protesters gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in the Turkish capital of Ankara to protest Friday's U.S. missile strike on a Syrian air base.

Utku Reyhan, the general secretary of nationalist Patriotic Party that organized the Saturday protest, criticized the U.S. missile strike against Shayrat air base. "There is no solution from America, all that comes from America is chaos and blood," he said. "We should focus on solving the Syrian issue with the Syrian administration and our other neighbors Iraq and Iran."

He called for the continuation of the peace talks in Kazakhstan, which were organized by Russia and Turkey.

Protesters chanted "Murderer U.S., get out of Syria" and held banners that read "Murderer U.S., get out of the Middle East."

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1:30 p.m.

Turkey's foreign minister says Ankara sees the U.S. intervention in Syria as appropriate but not enough.

Mevlut Cavusoglu, speaking in the southern city of Antalya on Saturday, said if the U.S. intervention is limited only to a missile attack on a Syrian air base then it is a "cosmetic intervention" unless it removes President Bashar Assad from power.

Cavusoglu, whose country is a strong backer of the Syrian opposition, said the most ideal process will be a political solution that leads to a transitional government accepted by all Syrians as soon as possible. He said that for that "this oppressive Assad needs to go."

Cavusoglu said after the transitional government takes over, it will be followed with elections in which Syrians in the country and abroad can vote.

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12:50 p.m.

Iranian president Hassan Rouhani is calling for the formation of an international fact-finding committee to investigate the chemical weapons attack in a northern Syrian town that killed at least 87 people.

State television reported Rouhani's statement Monday, quoting him as insisting that the committee "must not be heading by Americans" and must be impartial.

Rouhani said that "neutral countries should come and assess to make it clear where the chemical weapons came from."

Iran is a strong allay of Syrian President Bashara Assad, who has insisted that his forces have never used to chemical weapons.

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11:50 a.m.

Syrian opposition activists say warplanes have struck a northern town where a chemical attack killed scores of people earlier this week killing one person and wounding another.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday's airstrike on the eastern side of Khan Sheikhoun killed a woman, marking the first death in the town since Tuesday's chemical attack that killed 87.

The Local Coordination Committees, another monitoring group, said the airstrike was carried out by Russian warplane. It said the woman killed had fled to the town from her hometown of Latameh in central Syria.

The chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun on Tuesday triggered a U.S. missile attack two days later that struck a Syrian air base in central Syria killing nine people.

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11:25 a.m.

The official Saudi Press Agency is reporting that U.S. President Donald Trump has spoken by telephone with King Salman about the U.S. missile strike on Syria.

The news agency reports that during the Friday phone call, the Saudi monarch congratulated Trump for his "courageous decision."

Saudi Arabia says the missile launch by Trump was the right response to "the crimes of this regime to its people in light of the failure of the international community to stop it."

The kingdom is among the most vehement opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad and supports Sunni rebel groups fighting to oust him. The Sunni rulers of Saudi Arabia are in a power struggle for regional dominance with Iran's Shiite government and view Tehran's support of Assad as a threat to the region.
President Trump announced Thursday that the United States had attacked a Syrian air base with cruise missiles. These air strikes were in retaliation for this weeks gruesome chemical weapons attack against innocent Syria civilians.

According to the president, the targeted military strike was on an air base in Syria where 59 Tomahawk missiles were launched.

Trump addressed the media about the airstrikes from his weekend home at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Trump said of the airstrike, It is in the vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons.

As with any Trump announcement, many celebrities took to social media to share their thoughts.

Comedian Patton Oswalt shared photos of Syrian President Bashar Assad and Trump with his thoughts on what they should be responsible for.

These two damaged creeps are committing mass murder and they shouldn't even be allowed to own fish as pets. pic.twitter.com/BZFGCNxXNh  Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) April 7, 2017

Kerry Washington always has a response to political scandals on her ABC show, but the normally well-spoken actress had trouble coming up with words to describe her feelings on the airstrikes.

Girls creator Lena Dunham has been a longtime critic of the president, but her reaction was focused on peace and safety.

Hadnt seen the news. The only thing to tweet right now is a prayer for peace and safety.  Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) April 7, 2017

Finally, Cher showed off her strong emoji game while also voicing her displeasure  we think.

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????Bombing Syria Will,???????? Stop Assad Gassing His Ppl,BUT????Has NO Strategy,Or,Diplomacy TURKEY & RUSSIA WINNERS????IN HORNETS NEST,OVER HIS????  Cher (@cher) April 7, 2017

Yahoo Movies took you live as father and son Carl Reiner and Rob Reiner were honored during the eighth annual TCM Classic Film Festival with a hand- and footprint ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on April 7. Watch a replay of it right here.

Iggy Azalea and Nick Young are selling the home they once shared; check it out here:

Read more from Yahoo Celebrity:
By John Irish BAMAKO (Reuters) - France and Mali on Friday ruled out any talks with jihadist groups responsible for repeated attacks on Malian and foreign forces, rejecting calls to bring them to the negotiating table. A peace conference in Mali last Sunday called for talks with the leaders of two violent Islamist groups. Militants linked to Malian jihadist Iyad Ag Ghali have claimed dozens of attacks on Malian, United Nations and French troops operating in Mali's desert north. "They are terrorists," France's Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told reporters. "How do you negotiate with terrorists? This is a fight with no ambiguity." Abdramane Sylla, Mali's minister for the diaspora and migration who stood in for the absent Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop, was equally adamant. "I think it's absurd to negotiate with these terrorists, especially when they've just ... declared war on 11 countries," he said. Ayrault and Sylla spoke after they and German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel had met with Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. Ayrault said the jihadist Ag Ghali had claimed an attack in southern Mali that killed a French soldier on Wednesday. Ayrault and Gabriel were earlier in the northern Malian city of Gao, where they visited French and German troops stationed there and attended a tribute to the French soldier. Former colonial power France intervened in 2013 to push back al Qaeda-linked militants who had hijacked an ethnic Tuareg uprising to seize northern Mali the year before. It has since deployed some 4,000 soldiers, known as the Barkhane force, across the region to hunt down Islamists. That intervention paved way for the United Nations to deploy its more than 10,000-strong MINUSMA peacekeeping force to the West African state at a cost of about $1 billion a year. Then, in 2015, a Malian peace pact was signed that was supposed to draw a line under the conflict pitting nomadic Tuaregs in the desert north against a government seated in the south that had turned Mali into a launch pad for global jihad. But thorny obstacles to implementing the deal, a surge in Islamist violence, and the U.N. mission's lack of equipment and manpower to counter it have raised eyebrows at a time when Washington wants to review its funding to the U.N. Earlier, in Gao, Ayrault said that he was confident that the United States would not seek to abandon the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali. "It doesn't mean that just because you are looking to make savings that you abandon these peacekeeping missions," he said. "As far as Mali is concerned ... it's clear that it's an indispensable mission." (Additional reporting by Adama Diarra; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
WASHINGTON (AP)  Neil Gorsuch's ascension to the Supreme Court was vindication for Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, whose risky bet more than a year ago paid off big time for President Donald Trump and the Kentucky senator himself.

When Justice Antonin Scalia died in February 2016, McConnell decided immediately that the Senate would not fill the seat until the next president was elected. McConnell never wavered. He ignored Democratic griping, misgivings from fellow Republicans, and ultimately erroneous predictions that GOP Senate candidates would pay a political price.

Now McConnell can take credit for allowing Trump to put a young conservative on the court for life, even though it took changing Senate rules to do it.

"No. 1, it's courageous. No. 2, it's genius, in that order, because he knew how much criticism he would get," said Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla.

Democrats and some Republicans predicted dire fallout from McConnell's divisive Senate rules change that removed the 60-vote filibuster barrier for Supreme Court picks, and they warned of a more polarized Senate and court over time. But most in the GOP were full of praise for their wily leader.

"Mitch did what he thought was the right thing at the time, and I think the American people agreed with it, as was evidenced by the outcome of the election," said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. "And now we have a great justice on the Supreme Court."

Frustrated Democrats grudgingly acknowledged that McConnell got what he wanted and delivered for his party, even as they insisted that the damage done to the Senate in the process would not quickly be forgotten.

The next time Democrats control the White House and the Senate, they could be the ones to benefit from the rules change enacted under McConnell. That's because the change will apply to all future Supreme Court nominees, too, eliminating any need for input from the minority party in making confirmations to the high court.

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"The Republicans engaged in historic obstructionism that made it possible for this confirmation process to be conducted," said Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass. "We now have a radical right-wing justice on the Supreme Court. And I think that was their goal all along. So it is successful."

Some Republicans say the vacancy was an important factor in Trump's victory in November because the prospect of putting a conservative on the court helped evangelicals and other voters overcome their misgivings about Trump. In exit polls 21 percent of voters called Supreme Court appointments "the most important factor" in their vote, and among those people 56 percent voted for Trump.

McConnell told reporters Friday that "the most consequential decision I've ever been involved in was the decision to let the president being elected last year pick the Supreme Court nominee."

It was a gamble. McConnell said after the election that he didn't think Trump had a chance of winning or Republicans of holding their Senate majority.

McConnell and other senators also expressed the hope that after the bitter fight over Gorsuch, the Senate can get back on a more bipartisan course. That will be necessary to pass spending bills to keep the lights on in government by an April 28 midnight deadline.

McConnell pledged to preserve the 60-vote filibuster threshold on regular legislation, as opposed to nominations, which will continue to act as a tool forcing bipartisan outcomes and ensuring participation from the minority party.

As for Gorsuch, 49, he will be sworn in Monday and jump into cases of consequence, including one involving separation of church and state that the justices will take up in less than two weeks. Gorsuch is a veteran of Denver's 10th U.S. Circuit of Appeals with a history of conservative rulings that make him an intellectual heir to Scalia.

"As a deep believer in the rule of law, Judge Gorsuch will serve the American people with distinction," Trump said in a statement.

The judge won support Friday from 51 of the chamber's Republicans as well as three moderate Democrats up for re-election in states Trump won last fall: Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Donnelly of Indiana. GOP Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia, who has been recovering from back surgery, did not vote.

Gorsuch is expected to join a conservative-leaning voting bloc of justices, making five on the nine-member court.

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Associated Press writers Mark Sherman, Mary Clare Jalonick, Stephen Ohlemacher and Matthew Daly contributed to this report.
First lady Melania Trump and Chinese Presidents wife Peng Liyuan visited Bak Middle School of the Arts in West Palm Beach, Florida, Friday while both their husbands were having bilateral talks on issues concerning trade and North Koreas missile program at Mar-a-Lago resort.

The pair met the students of the school to talk about the value of fine arts education. The students were told earlier that they were going to have special guests visiting them. The Schools Superintendent Robert Avossa watched as students were overwhelmed with the first ladies appearance. "There was a true joy and excitement. Given that these are the first ladies of the two most powerful countries on Earth, its the highest-profile visit Ive seen," Avossa said.

Some of the female students of the 7th and 8th grade greeted the two first ladies by singing "Astonishing" from "Little Women the Musical." Following this, the pair attended to classes that taught symphonic band, advanced orchestra and then finally a civic lessons class. The students in the advanced orchestra classes greeted them with a recital of Bachs "Air," according to CBS News.

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Photo: REUTERS/Joe Skipper

In one classroom, the Chinese first lady hugged a 10-year-old student from China who conversed with her in Mandarin Chinese.

The eminent Bak Middle School of the Arts accepts students who are interested in undertaking training in fine arts and want to pursue education in the field.

Laetitia Han, whose daughter Chloe studies in sixth grade at the school, said she thinks the visit by the two first ladies was wonderful, helping put the school "on the map."

Olga Morales, mother of Nicole Acosta, who studies at the school said she was delighted for the children. "I mean these kids work super hard here," she said, according to Sun Sentinel.

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After an hours visit to the school, the two first ladies went for a private lunch at Mar-a-Lago, where the Chinese president and his wife on a two day visit to the United States from April 6-7. Chinese President Xi Jinping also invited his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump visit China and urged cooperation on infrastructure, energy and investment between the two countries.

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The Labor Department claimed Friday that Google has fostered an "extreme" gender pay gap across its entire workforce.

The bombshell accusation stems from an ongoing investigation into the search giant's payroll practices, The Guardian first reported. It also comes three days after the company sang its own praises on Equal Pay Day.

Google strongly denied the allegations that women working at the company faced "systemic compensation disparities."

A department official testified in a San Francisco courtroom this week that enough "compelling evidence" had already been found to make a case for systemic discrimination. The agency first filed suit against Google in January in a bid to force the company to turn over salary data in accordance with anti-discrimination laws.

SEE ALSO: This Uber executive sure sounds defensive about not taking the fall for Uber's harassment crisis

The governments analysis at this point indicates that discrimination against women in Google is quite extreme, even in this industry, Labor Department regional director Janette Wipper said in court Friday, per The Guardian's report.

The company claimed Tuesday that it had closed its gender pay gap worldwide in a tweet commemorating Equal Pay Day.

Lets make every day #EqualPayDay. All employers can take steps to eliminate the gender and race pay gaps, today  https://t.co/KTuGTJMV16 pic.twitter.com/rBciSK21uF  Google (@Google) April 4, 2017

The charge comes as reports of Uber's systemic sexism towards female employees have yet again thrown the tech industry's gender bias problems into sharp relief.

Men far outnumber women in Silicon Valley  particularly in lucrative technical jobs and positions of power  and a number of lawsuits and personal testimonies in recent years have pointed towards a slanted playing field that enforces that norm.

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But a full-fledged takedown at one of the biggest companies in the industry  and the world  could be explosive.

Google's latest diversity report revealed that only 31 percent of its employees are female. Women hold just one in five technical roles and a quarter of leadership posts.

Erica Baker, a former Google engineer, had previously attempted to crowdsource salary data within Google. The data she collected didn't match up with Google's claims of equal pay within its work force.

The Labor Department has been collecting salary information from Google since late 2015. The company was forthcoming with several of the requested data sets and, at one point, allowed regulators to interview employees at its Mountain View, California headquarters.

But the company took issue with a follow-up order that called for detailed profiles of each employee, including prior job history and salaries, personal contact information, and competing offers, according to the tech law blog The Recorder.

Google said in a statement at the time of the suit's filing that it refused the request because it was "overbroad in scope" and a breach of workers' privacy.

A lawyer representing Google alleged during Friday's hearing that the request was a violation of Fourth Amendment rights, which protects citizens from unreasonable searches.

The company didn't immediately respond to our request for comment.

The Labor Department is entitled to all of this information because Google is technically a federal contractor.

The agency has asked the court to suspend all of the company's government contracts and bar it from any in the future if it doesn't comply.

Updated April 10, 2017, 10:03 A.M. EDT to include Google's response.

WATCH: Google takes on fake news with 'Fact Check' tags in Search and News
(Reuters) - A former state policy that banned gay couples from becoming foster parents was the same as a "whites only" employment sign, the Nebraska Supreme Court wrote in a ruling released on Friday that affirmed a lower court's decision.

The ruling comes four years after three same-sex couples filed a lawsuit against Nebraska, arguing that a 1995 state policy prohibiting gay couples from being foster care parents and adopting wards of the state is unconstitutional.

A state district court in 2015 ruled for the couples and ordered the state policy to be rescinded.

The state appealed to the Nebraska Supreme Court on the grounds that the couples did not have standing because they did not apply for and were not rejected for a foster care license or having a state ward placed in their homes.

The state also argued that the issue was resolved since it did not enforce the policy. The supreme court, however, noted that the policy was not removed from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services website until 2015, leading to confusion.

The policy indicated "that 'heterosexuals only' need apply to be foster parents," supreme court justices wrote in the decision.

"It is legally indistinguishable from a sign reading 'whites only' on the hiring-office door," the justices wrote, referring to hiring practices discriminating against minorities that have long been ruled unconstitutional in the United States.

The supreme court ruled that the state's appeal has no merit and ordered the state to pay the couples' court costs and attorney fees.

The office of state Attorney General Doug Peterson said in a statement that the appeal brought up "legitimate jurisdictional issues that needed to be considered by the court. The court has ruled," the Omaha World Herald reported.

(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Richard Pullin)
By Ju-min Park and Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Saturday U.S. missile strikes against a Syrian airfield on Friday were "an unforgivable act of aggression" that showed its decision to develop nuclear weapons was "the right choice a million times over". The response by North Korea's foreign ministry, carried by the official KCNA news agency, was the first since U.S. warships in the Mediterranean Sea launched dozens of missiles at a Syrian air base which the Pentagon says was involved in a chemical weapons attack earlier in the week. "The U.S. missile attack against Syria is a clear and unforgivable act of aggression against a sovereign state and we strongly condemn this," KCNA quoted an unnamed spokesman for the North Korean foreign ministry as saying. "The reality of today proves our decision to strengthen our military power to stand against force with force was the right choice a million times over," KCNA said. Diplomatically isolated North Korea considers Syria a key ally. KCNA said its leader Kim Jong Un and Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad exchanged messages of warm wishes and pledges of friendship and cooperation between the two countries. Al-Assad thanked Kim for recognizing the Syrian struggle to "meet such challenges as sinister actions of the world's terrorists and encouraged Syria to successfully weather the crisis without fail," KCNA said. The exchange of messages came before the U.S. airstrikes, which were U.S. President Donald Trump's biggest foreign policy move since taking office in January in reaction to what Washington says was a gas attack by al-Assad's government that killed at least 70 people in a rebel-held territory. Syria denies it carried out the attack. The U.S. strikes came as Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping in Florida to press the leader of North Korea's sole diplomatic ally to do more to curb Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions. North Korea is believed to be developing missiles capable of hitting the United States and a nuclear arsenal in defiance of U.N. sanctions. It has conducted five nuclear tests -- two since the beginning of last year -- and scores of missile tests. (Reporting by Jack Kim and Ju-min Park; Editing by Alexander Smith)
By Ju-min Park and Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Saturday U.S. missile strikes against a Syrian airfield on Friday were "an unforgivable act of aggression" that showed its decision to develop nuclear weapons was "the right choice a million times over". The response by North Korea's foreign ministry, carried by the official KCNA news agency, was the first since U.S. warships in the Mediterranean Sea launched dozens of missiles at a Syrian air base which the Pentagon says was involved in a chemical weapons attack earlier in the week. "The U.S. missile attack against Syria is a clear and unforgivable act of aggression against a sovereign state and we strongly condemn this," KCNA quoted an unnamed spokesman for the North Korean foreign ministry as saying. "The reality of today proves our decision to strengthen our military power to stand against force with force was the right choice a million times over," KCNA said. Diplomatically isolated North Korea considers Syria a key ally. KCNA said its leader Kim Jong Un and Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad exchanged messages of warm wishes and pledges of friendship and cooperation between the two countries." Al-Assad thanked Kim for recognising the Syrian struggle to "meet such challenges as sinister actions of the world's terrorists and encouraged Syria to successfully weather the crisis without fail," KCNA said. The airstrikes were U.S. President Donald Trump's biggest foreign policy move since taking office in January in reaction to what Washington says was a gas attack by al-Assad's government that killed at least 70 people in a rebel-held territory. Syria denies it carried out the attack. The U.S. strikes came as Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping in Florida to press the leader of North Korea's sole diplomatic ally to do more to curb Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions. North Korea is believed to be developing missiles capable of hitting the United States and a nuclear arsenal in defiance of U.N. sanctions. It has conducted five nuclear tests -- two since the beginning of last year -- and scores of missile tests. (Reporting by Jack Kim and Ju-min Park; editing by Alexander Smith)
By Ole Petter Skonnord OSLO (Reuters) - Norwegian police set off a controlled explosion of a "bomb-like device" found in central Oslo on Saturday, and a suspect is being held in custody, police told reporters. A Reuters reporter described a loud bang shortly after the arrival of Oslo's bomb squad. "The noise from the blast was louder than our explosives themselves would cause," a police spokesman said, while adding that further investigation would be conducted at the scene. The device had appeared to be capable of causing only a limited amount of damage, the police said earlier. Police declined to give information about the suspect. Oslo's Groenland area, a multi-ethnic neighborhood that is home to popular bars and restaurants as well as several mosques, is also where the city's main police station is located, less than a kilometer away from where the device was found. In neighboring Sweden, a truck on Friday plowed into crowds in Stockholm, killing four people and wounding 15 in what police said was an apparent terror attack. In 2011, right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik set off a car bomb in Oslo that killed eight people and destroyed Norway's government headquarters, before going on a shooting rampage that killed 69 people at nearby Utoeya island. (Writing by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Matthew Lewis)
Puppies are incredibly high on the cuteness scalelike, well over 10/10, as fans of Dog Rates will be quick to remind you. A puppy being sworn into public service? That's off the charts, verging onto Internet Hall of Fame levels of wonderful.

A Very Good induction ceremony was caught on camera earlier this month, showing a determined bloodhound pup entering the world of public service.

Detective Prince will serve as a K-9 officer tasked with locating missing persons for the West York Police Department in Pennsylvania. He's just 13 weeks old, though, so he has some training to do before he starts working a beatmaking sure he's housebroken, probably a good place to start.

SEE ALSO: Lucky dog gets the cutest mini versions of his human's dinner every night

Along with his oath of pawfice office, Prince "signed" some very official documents to join the force.

The pup comes to the department after being donated by The Jimmy Ryce Center, according to local affiliate WBALTV11. The organization provides AKC bloodhounds to police departments across the country for search and rescue, particularly for programs focused on finding abducted children.

Prince has an official Facebook page because duh, so you'll be able to keep up with his adventures keeping the streets safe and finding lost kids but for now JUST LOOK AT THOSE EARS.

Detective Prince's induction ceremony reminds us of a more somber moment in K-9 law enforcement history: one of the best memes on the internet, Dog Swearing.

May the justice system have mercy on Greg's soul.

Image: know your meme

Prince doesn't bring that determination and intensity quite yethe looks like he'd more likely snuggle a perp into submissionbut by the time he's completed eight months of doggy police academy training and grows into his ears, the pup should be ready for a long, productive life on the force.

WATCH: Why get a puppy when you can have a snuggly lizard instead?
HOUSTON (AP)  Investigators believe a woman fatally shot her stepfather, critically injured her mother and killed two other people at different locations in the Houston area before killing herself on Friday, according to police.

Officers responding to a welfare check at a Houston home found the bodies of the stepfather and the alleged shooter around 7:10 a.m., Houston police spokeswoman Jodi Silva said. Silva said the mother had also been shot and was taken to a Houston hospital in critical condition.

As detectives were investigating, they were informed of another shooting scene at a nearby home. Officers responded and found the body of a man who investigators believe was also shot by the woman, though how or whether they knew each other wasn't immediately clear, Silva said.

After responding to the shootings in Houston, police asked Fort Bend County sheriff's deputies to check on a home in Fresno, about 16 miles southwest of Houston. Silva said deputies found the body of a woman who was possibly related to the alleged shooter.

Police have not indicated what might have prompted the shootings. They also haven't released the names of the alleged shooter or victims in Houston.

The Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office identified the woman killed in Fresno as 48-year-old Carolyn Jean Holmes. Investigators said it wasn't immediately clear when she was shot.

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Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter at www.twitter.com/juanlozano70
BEIRUT (AP)  Warplanes on Saturday struck the Syrian town where a chemical attack had killed scores of people earlier this week, as Turkey warned that a retaliatory U.S. missile strike on a Syrian air base would only be "cosmetic" if greater efforts are not made to remove President Bashar Assad from power.

The airstrikes on the opposition-held northern town of Khan Sheikhoun, where 87 people were killed in the chemical attack earlier this week, killed a woman and wounded her son, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees, an activist collective.

Elsewhere in Syria, U.S.-led airstrikes killed at least 21 people, including a woman and her six children who were fleeing on a boat across the Euphrates River near the Islamic State group's self-styled capital, Raqqa, the target of a major offensive by U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian forces, activists said.

An airstrike on a rebel-held town in the northern Idlib province killed at least 18 people, including women and children, according to the Observatory and Ariha Today, an activist group. It was not immediately clear who carried out the strike.

Near the central city of Homs, a bomb exploded aboard a bus carrying workers, killing a woman and wounding more than 20, according to state TV and the Observatory.

The chemical attack prompted the U.S. to launch nearly 60 Tomahawk missiles on a Syrian air base early Friday, which killed nine people and marked the first time Washington has directly targeted Syrian government forces since the war began in 2011.

The move was welcomed by the Syrian opposition and its main backers, including Turkey and Saudi Arabia, but harshly condemned by Russia and Iran, who back Assad and said striking his forces would complicate the struggle against extremist groups.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the U.S. strike should be the start of a renewed effort to end the civil war, which has killed an estimated 400,000 people and displaced half of Syria's population.

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"If this intervention is limited only to an air base, if it does not continue and if we don't remove the regime from heading Syria, then this would remain a cosmetic intervention," he said.

He said the best outcome would be a peace agreement that leads to a transitional government accepted by all Syrians, followed by elections in which all Syrians, including those living abroad, could vote for new leadership. For that to happen, he said, "this oppressive Assad needs to go."

Iran, which has provided crucial military and political support to Assad, meanwhile called for a fact-finding mission to determine what caused the chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun. State television quoted Iranian President Hassan Rouhani as saying the committee should be impartial and "must not be headed by Americans."

Rouhani said "neutral countries should come and assess to make it clear where the chemical weapons came from."

Syria's government has denied carrying out any chemical attack, and Russia's Defense Ministry said the toxic agents were released when a Syrian airstrike hit a rebel chemical weapons arsenal and munitions factory.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson canceled a planned trip to Russia because of fast-moving events in Syria. Johnson said the situation in Syria has changed "fundamentally" following the chemical attack and the U.S. response.

Johnson condemned Russia's continued defense of Assad "even after the chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians."

He had planned to travel to Russia Monday on a trip intended to start a fresh dialogue with Moscow.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson meanwhile plans to meet with G-7 foreign ministers in Europe next week before going on to Moscow. Johnson said Tillerson will be able to give a "clear and coordinated message to the Russians."

In Damascus, dozens of Syrian students gathered outside the offices of the United Nations to protest the U.S. missile attack, chanting "Death to America" and "Death to Israel."

University student Ashraf Fadel said he came to denounce "the unjust American aggression against Syria." He added that the United Nations was "created to support America instead of serving the wronged people."

In a separate development, activists opposed to the Islamic State group said a U.S.-led coalition airstrike hit a boat carrying civilians fleeing across the Euphrates River. The groups Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently and Sound and Picture said the attack killed a woman and her six children. The attack occurred in the Shuaib al-Zeker area, near where U.S.-backed Syrian fighters have been battling IS under the cover of coalition airstrikes.

Activists and state media said a separate airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition on the northern IS-held village of Hneida killed at least 14 civilians, including children. The Observatory said 15 people, including four children, were killed in the airstrike. The Sound and Picture group said the airstrike hit an internet cafe, killing 14 people.

In Saudi Arabia, the official Saudi Press Agency reported that U.S. President Donald Trump has spoken by telephone with King Salman about the U.S. missile strike on Syria.

The news agency reported that during the Friday phone call, the Saudi monarch congratulated Trump for his "courageous decision."

Saudi Arabia said the missile launch was the right response to "the crimes of this regime to its people in light of the failure of the international community to stop it."

The kingdom is among the most vehement opponents of Assad and supports Sunni rebel groups fighting to oust him. The Sunni rulers of Saudi Arabia are in a power struggle for regional dominance with Iran's Shiite government.

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Associated Press writers Aya Batrawy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Zeynep Bilginsoy in Istanbul and Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria contributed to this report.
Meghan Markle is closing one chapter in her life. Prince Harrys girlfriend announced on Friday, April 7 that she is shutting down her lifestyle website The Tig. The Suits star penned a formal letter on her site announcing the news. To all my Tig friends, she began. After close to three beautiful years on this adventure with you, it's time to say goodbye to The Tig."

"What began as a passion project (my little engine that could) evolved into an amazing community of inspiration, support, fun and frivolity. You've made my days brighter and filled this experience with so much joy, Meghan continued. Keep finding those Tig moments of discovery, keep laughing and taking risks, and keep being the change you wish to see in the world. Above all, don't ever forget your worth - as I've told you time and time again: you, my sweet friend, you are enough.Thank you for everything.

A post shared by Meghan Markle (@meghanmarkle) on Apr 7, 2017 at 9:19am PDT

The lifestyle site, whose name was admittedly Meghan's nickname for her "getting it," was a hub for the discerning palate - those with a hunger for food, travel, fashion & beauty. On her Instagram account, the Hollywood star thanked her followers and contributors for their support, sharing a collage of various faces, which she captioned: Thank you to all the supporters of The Tig! From followers to contributors, you have become friends. It is YOU who have made this Tig community so special. And even though I haven't met most of you, for three years I've seen your faces and read your comments and hugged you from afar.

A post shared by The Tig (@thetigofficial) on Apr 7, 2017 at 9:16am PDT

According to the Tigs official Instagram, Meghan passed the sites baton to her dear friend, actress Janina Gavankar, who manages the site altFound.com. Along with the announcement, the Tig posted a farewell image for their editor-in-chief that read: Goodbye are not forever. Goodbyes are not the end. They simply mean Ill miss you, until we meet again! Meghan is currently back on set in Toronto filming season seven of her popular USA Network show Suits. The Hollywood star and British royal began dating last summer and have since taken their love to Jamaica, Norway and around the streets of London.
United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley defended the United States decision to conduct unilateral airstrikes against Syria in a meeting of the United Nations Security Council.

It was time to say enough, but not only say it it was time to act, Haley told the council. Bashar al-Assad must never use chemical weapons again. Ever.

Haley had insinuated in earlier remarks on Wednesday that the United States might act unilaterally because of the horrors inflicted by the chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun that killed dozens.

Here are Haleys full remarks.

For six years, the world has watched as the Syrian government and its leader, Bashar al-Assad, have terrorized its own people. It has murdered hundreds of thousands and displaced millions. It has broken international law and violated numerous UN resolutions. It has committed criminal acts that shock the conscience of all humanity. The international community has repeatedly expressed its outrage. The Joint Investigative Mechanism has found beyond any doubt that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons against its own people multiple times. On Tuesday, the Assad regime launched yet another chemical attack on civilians, murdering innocent men, women, and children in the most gruesome way. Assad did this because he thought he could get away with it. He thought he could get away with it because he knew Russia would have his back. That changed last night.As I warned on Wednesday, when the international community consistently fails in its duty to act collectively, there are times when states are compelled to take their own action. The indiscriminate use of chemical weapons against innocent civilians is one of those times. The United States will not stand by when chemical weapons are used. It is in our vital national security interest to prevent the spread and use of chemical weapons. Our military destroyed the airfield from which this weeks chemical strike took place. We were fully justified in doing so. The moral stain of the Assad regime could no longer go unanswered. His crimes against humanity could no longer be met with empty words. It was time to say enough, but not only say it it was time to act. Bashar al-Assad must never use chemical weapons again. Ever.Now, while the Syrian regime is responsible for the chemical weapons attack, it is not the only guilty party. The Iranian government bears a heavy responsibility. It has propped up and shielded Syrias brutal dictator for years. Iran continues to play a role in the bloodshed in Syria. The Russian government also bears considerable responsibility. Every time Assad has crossed the line of human decency, Russia has stood beside him. We had hoped the Security Council would move forward, but Russia made it known, as it has done seven times before, that it would use its veto once again, covering up for the Assad regime. Further delay by compromising with Russia for a watered down resolution would have only strengthened Assad. Strengthening Assad will only lead to more murders. We were not going to allow that.But its even more than that. Russia is supposed to be a guarantor of the removal of chemical weapons from Syria. Think about that. Russia is supposed to have removed all the chemical weapons from Syria, but obviously that has not happened, as innocent Syrians continue to be murdered in chemical attacks. Lets think about the possible reasons for Russias failure. It could be that Russia is knowingly allowing chemical weapons to remain in Syria. It could be that Russia has been incompetent in its efforts to remove the chemical weapons. Or, it could be that the Assad regime is playing the Russians for fools, telling them that there are no chemical weapons, all the while stockpiling them on their bases. The world is waiting for the Russian government to act responsibly in Syria. The world is waiting for Russia to reconsider its misplaced alliance with Bashar Assad.The United States will no longer wait for Assad to use chemical weapons without any consequences. Those days are over. But now we must move to a new phase, a drive toward a political solution to this horrific conflict. We expect the Syrian regime and its allies to take the UN political process seriously, something they have not done up until this point.We expect Russia and Iran to hold their ally accountable and abide by the terms of the ceasefire. We expect this Council to speak loudly and forcefully when the regime or its allies undermine the political process and countless of our own resolutions.The United States took a very measured step last night. We are prepared to do more, but we hope that will not be necessary. It is time for all civilized nations to stop the horrors that are taking place in Syria and demand a political solution.Thank you.

This article was originally published on TIME.com
By Tuvan Gumrukcu and Bulent Usta CILVEGOZU, Turkey (Reuters) - The Turkish Red Crescent does not expect a fresh wave of Syrian refugees to head for Turkey after the chemical attack in the northwestern province of Idlib earlier this week, the humanitarian organization's head said on Saturday. Kerem Kinik also told Reuters that a new refugee camp was being prepared in Jarablus, the Syrian border town that Turkey-backed fighters last year took from Islamic State militants. Turkey is hosting some 3 million Syrian refugees, which Ankara says is the world's largest refugee population. It has also set up refugee camps on the Syrian side of the border, where it is providing aid. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said the West should do more to help Turkey shoulder the humanitarian burden. "Those who wanted to leave their country have already done so, and others are trying to cling on to life inside," Kinik said in an interview at Turkey's Cilvegozu border gate with Syria, in the southern Hatay province. "At this stage, we are not expecting a new migrant wave. That is not the atmosphere inside." At least 70 people, including children, were killed in a poison gas attack in rebel-held northwest Syria on Tuesday. Both Washington and Ankara blame the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Syria denies it carried out the attack. The United States on Friday fired cruise missiles at the base from which it said the chemical weapons attack had been launched, a move Erdogan has called a "positive step", but "not enough". Kinik said convoys were taking tens of thousands of refugees from an area around Homs in western Syria. A camp in Jarablus was being prepared for around 3,500, he said, without saying where the other refugees would be taken. "We are providing regular humanitarian aid to 5 million people in addition to the 3 million in Turkey. This is mainly in Syria's northern frontier. Our teams are constantly providing help with border support, camps... food and shelter." The Red Crescent was also supplying 50 medical workers inside Syria with gas masks, filters and other protective equipment so they could treat chemical attack victims without injuring themselves, he said. The organization has plans to train rescue workers and others on how to protect themselves in the event of similar attacks in the future. They would then be expected to train civilians, Kinik said. "There are one million people living in the Idlib countryside. We don't know where such an attack will take place or who will be affected," he said. (Writing by David Dolan, editing by David Evans)
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-HI., who secretly met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during a four-day trip to the war-stricken nation in January, condemned President Donald Trumps airstrike on the regimes airbases Thursday night, saying the short-sighted action will lead to "more dead civilians."

The representative told news outlets at the time she spoke with Assad in an effort to create a dialogue that could one day lead to a viable peace agreement. But because of U.S. attacks on Syrian forces as a response to a reported chemical attack on innocent civilians led by the Assad regime Wednesday, Gabbard said it will now be more difficult to hold the Syrian leader accountable for the war crimes hes been accused of.

Read: How To Donate And Help Children In Syria As Chemical Attack Death Toll Grows

"It angers and saddens me that President Trump has taken the advice of war hawks and escalated our illegal regime change war to overthrow the Syrian government," Gabbard, an Iraqi war veteran, said Thursday night. "This escalation is short-sighted and will lead to more dead civilians, more refugees, the strengthening of Al-Qaeda and other terrorists, and a possible nuclear war between the United States and Russia."

The U.S. decidedly stayed out of the Syrian civil war, beginning in 2011, under former President Barack Obama. Though his administration considered military intervention after another reported chemical attack in 2013, the move was denied by a Republican-led Congress. The U.S. Embassy in Syria closed in 2012.

Gabbard's closed-door meeting with the Syrian president came at a time when both nations governments werent communicating, making the trip all the more controversial. The rising Democratic star was criticized for not alerting Congressional leadership of her visit ahead of time.

"Assad has exterminated hundreds of thousands of Syrians," Rep. Ed Royce, R-CA., said in a statement January. "This trip was not authorized by the committee, and it was just wrong."

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The representative said she was determined to seek a peaceful close to the Syrian conflict, responsible for displacing upwards of 11 million people since the violence began.

"When the opportunity arose to meet with [Assad], I did so because I felt that it's important that if we profess to truly care about the Syrian people, about their suffering, then we've got to be able to meet with anyone that we need to if there is a possibility that we can achieve peace," Gabbard said in a CNN interview after her visit. "My commitment is on ending this war that has caused so much suffering to the Syrian people, to these children, to these families, many of whom I met on this trip."

Gabbard said Thursday she was hoping for a complete prosecution of the Syrian leader following Wednesdays deadly attacks on civilians in the northern province of Idlib, but U.S. attacks could compromise a full investigation from ever occurring.

"This administration has acted recklessly without care or consideration of the dire consequences of the United States attack on Syria without waiting for the collection of evidence from the scene of the chemical poisoning," Gabbard said Thursday. "If President Assad is indeed guilty of this horrible chemical attack on innocent civilians, I will be the first to call for his prosecution and execution by the International Criminal Court. However, because of our attack on Syria, this investigation may now not even be possible. And without such evidence, a successful prosecution will be much harder."

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AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) -- Maine resident Zak McCutcheon says he likes soda but acknowledges he'd drink less of it if his governor convinced Republican President Donald Trump to put restrictions on the approximately $200 a month he receives in food stamps. He thinks it may even make recipients healthier and less overweight.

"If I was more restricted to what I could buy, I would become more of a veggie eater," said McCutcheon, who recently perused grapes and packages of pre-chopped vegetables at an Augusta food bank with his pregnant girlfriend.

But another one of Maine's 180,000 food stamp recipients, Samantha Watson, said she believes a ban from using food stamps on soda and candy won't make low-income people any healthier. It would take more than that to change eating habits, she said, since food stamps cover only a fraction of the monthly grocery bill for herself and her 3-year-old daughter.

Maine Gov. Paul LePage and fellow Republicans in two other states are now renewing their efforts to restrict food stamps in the hopes that Trump will be more amenable than the previous administration.

In 2011, former Democratic President Barack Obama's administration rejected then-New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's soda ban for food stamp recipients and in June, he raised "significant" concerns with LePage's proposal, saying there'd be no meaningful way to evaluate whether the ban changed the way recipients bought sweets.

While Trump's budget proposal doesn't include food stamp changes, his choice for secretary of agriculture, Sonny Perdue, of Georgia, has signaled support for overhauling the $71 billion Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which administers food stamps to 44 million recipients.

LePage is optimistic the new administration will approve his revived proposal, which he says is backed by common sense and a desire to reduce high rates of obesity and diabetes, the latter of which afflicted his mother.

The governor's efforts in Maine have inspired legislators in Tennessee and Arkansas, who say they won't give up trying to restrict food stamp purchases.

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"We don't allow people to buy alcohol and cigarettes with welfare dollars, why should we allow people to buy junk food that leads to just as many health problems?'" said Tennessee Rep. Sheila Butt, a Republican, who hopes Trump will give states more power over the state-run SNAP program.

A study of one leading U.S. grocery retailer released in November by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that in 2011, 20 cents of every dollar spent on food stamps went to sweetened beverages, desserts, salty snacks, candy and sugar. SNAP households spent about 5 cents per dollar on soft drinks and 2 cents per dollar on candy, similar to the spending habits of households not receiving SNAP benefits.

Last summer, LePage threatened to cease Maine's administration of the food stamp program after the USDA raised questions about Maine's proposed ban. The governor's renewed request would divert federal funds away from nutrition education  which amounted to $4.3 million in the last fiscal year  and toward food banks, schools and other community agencies to distribute healthy foods.

Jim Hanna, the executive director at Cumberland County Food Security Council, said poor people have enough issues to manage without being told what to eat and drink, and that a soda or candy tax would be a better approach than eliminating the state's SNAP education program.

"It seems very contradictory to, on the one hand, limit people's access to foods that have negative nutrition content and then to limit access to information to support them to make better choices about nutrition," Hanna said.

The debate over restrictions goes back to the 1940s, when the then-orange food stamps couldn't buy soft drinks, and the 1960s and 1970s, when concern over bureaucracy and figuring out just what counts as junk food hindered attempts to exclude soft drinks.

There's been little change over the ensuing years, although the USDA will soon require stores that accept food stamps to stock more fruits, vegetables and other healthy food. The agency's also providing farmers market with free equipment to accept SNAP debit cards, and supporting programs that provide "bonus dollars" for purchases at farmers markets.

Critics from major medical groups to food policy experts say the existing program promotes chronic illness and amounts to public subsidies for powerful junk food conglomerates that lobby against restrictions. The Grocery Manufacturers Association, which represents companies like Coca-Cola, calls the restrictions a "bureaucratic mess."

Still others wonder what impact the restrictions might have on SNAP long term. Tatiana Andreyeva, a University of Connecticut professor and director of economic initiatives at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, fears that proposals such as LePage's could be the first step to the program's decimation.

"It's very easy to jump from a restriction on sugary beverages to let's just cut benefits," she said.
When Russian President Vladimir Putin got word that U.S. cruise missiles were going to strike his Syrian ally early on Friday morning, he had several options - both military and diplomatic - for firing back.

He could have used Russias air-defense systems in Syria to shoot the American rockets out of the sky. As a rebuke to the Americans, he could also have canceled his meeting next week with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. But he did neither.

Reading between the lines of Russias initial response, at least in the hours following the first targeted U.S. strike against the Syrian military, it seems that Putin is choosing to step back, bide his time and leave plenty of room to smooth things over. In Moscows diplomatic circles, there is even hope that Tillersons visit on Tuesday could still mark the start of some grand bargain - if not exactly a love affair - between Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump.

This is not going to be pillow talk between two newlyweds, says the Russian lawmaker Leonid Kalashnikov, who chairs a parliamentary committee on integration with Russian allies. Its a conversation between two people who want something from one another, and we are both ready to back away on this issue for the sake of achieving other goals later on. Speaking by phone from Moscow, he added: Russia understands that nobody needs escalation.

Within hours of the attack, the Kremlin did offer some harsh rhetoric. Putins spokesman called the strikes an illegal act of aggression and a substantial blow to U.S-Russian relations. But he stopped well short of the fury that Putin expressed in 2011, when the regime of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya became the target of U.S. and coalition airstrikes. That intervention, Putin said, was like a medieval crusade against a sovereign nation. Where is the logic and the conscience? he demanded at the time.

The tone was far milder on Friday in the remarks of Russias top diplomat, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who talked about the U.S. strike against a Russian ally as though it were a mystery to be solved, not an offense to be repaid. I dont know, said Lavrov, when we will get to know the whole truth about how the decision was made to carry out strikes in Syria in this situation. But I think the truth should be demanded, and thats what were going to do.

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The logic behind the strike was not much of a mystery. After a chemical weapon was used to kill dozens of civilians on Tuesday in a rebel-held town in western Syria, U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad had carried out the attack against his own people. This atrocity crossed many, many lines, Trump told reporters on Wednesday, and the following day he ordered the U.S. military to target the air base from which the chemical attack had apparently been launched. The Pentagon gave Russia fair warning, and then let the Tomahawks fly.

It was exactly the type of U.S. intervention that Russia has been preparing for in Syria. In October, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that advanced antiaircraft systems had been deployed in response to reports that the U.S. could bomb Syrian air fields with cruise missiles. The notion that American stealth fighters or other flying objects could escape these Russian systems, known as S-300s, was the illusion of dilettantes, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry said in separate remarks that same month.

Those warnings now seem like braggadocio. The only apparent military action that Russia took in response to the U.S. strikes was to cancel whats known as the deconfliction agreement between Moscow and Washington. Since it was implemented in 2015, that agreement allowed for the rival powers to warn each other of impending strikes in Syria, thus making sure that U.S. and Russian jets did not get in each others way.

It was a mutually beneficial arrangement, and Putins decision to cancel it on Friday will do at least as much harm to the Russian mission in Syria as it will for the American one, says Alexander Konovalov, a prominent foreign policy expert in Moscow. It only hurts us, he says.

Yet the Russian President does not seem to have any better options in dealing with his Syrian dilemma. Economically, politically, Russia does not have the strength to mount an escalation of this conflict, says Konovalov. The Russian intervention has already dragged on for more than a year and a half, and Putin cannot afford to keep pouring the blood of his soldiers and the scarce resources of his economy into this war indefinitely. Nor can he afford to look weak by cutting his loses in Syria and letting the U.S. oust Assad. The idea of retreat is not part of our Presidents constitution, says Konovalov. So he will have to demonstrate toughness and decisiveness.

That will not be easy when Tillerson arrives in Moscow on Tuesday. Though he and Putin are well acquainted having negotiated numerous oil deals while Tillerson was at the helm of ExxonMobil - the Russian Presidents hand will not be as strong as he might like. For one thing, the fate of his ally in Syria will no longer seem so secure. Neither will Putins position as a dominant player in the Middle East.

Viewed from Moscow, the cruise missiles launched on Thursday night seemed to carry precisely that message. Its that kind of negotiating game, says Kalashnikov, the Russian lawmaker. Trump wants to show that he will deal with the Russians from a position of strength. This doesnt mean the two sides wont agree when it comes to Syria, Ukraine or any of the other issues that divide them. It just means Putin will not be the only bully in the room.

This article was originally published on TIME.com
Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely furious after the U.S. fired cruise missiles at a Syrian air base in response to a chemical weapons attack, former U.S. Ambassador to Syria Theodore Kattouf told CNBC on Friday.

"But they have egg on their face," Kattouf, who served under the George W. Bush administration, said on " Squawk Box ."

Kattouf said that Russia guaranteed in 2013 that Syria's chemical weapons arsenal would be removed or destroyed. Obviously, that did not happen "100 percent," Kattouf said.

After Thursday's U.S. missile strikes on a Syrian air base, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Russia had failed to carry out the 2013 agreement to secure Syrian chemical weapons. He said Moscow was either complicit or incompetent in its ability to uphold that deal.

Russia said the U.S. strikes against Bashar Assad's government violated international law. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin believed the U.S. attacks on Syria showed aggression against a sovereign state.

President Donald Trump ordered the attack by 59 Tomahawk missiles on a Syria military air base in response to Tuesday's deadly chemical weapons attack allegedly carried out by Assad's military on a rebel-held area.

Kattouf said the strikes against Assad's government sent "just the right message."

James Stavridis, a retired admiral who served as NATO's supreme allied commander, told CNBC on Friday that the attack showed the U.S. is not afraid to use force.

"Let's face it: Part of the audience here is not just Russia, Iran and Syria. Part of the audience is (Chinese) President Xi (Jinping)," Stavridis said on "Squawk Box."

As missiles hit a Syrian air base, Trump was meeting with the Chinese president in Florida.

"Perhaps it is no coincidence that the strikes get launched while President Xi is down in Mar-a-Lago. Pretty good signal that the United States intends to play hard with North Korea," Stavridis said.

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CNBC's Everett Rosenfeld contributed to this report.





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By Tom James

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Seattle Mayor Ed Murray on Friday denied as "simply not true" allegations in a civil lawsuit that he once paid a homeless, drug-addicted teenager for sex in the 1980s, and he vowed to press on with his re-election campaign.

Appearing briefly at the downtown office of his private attorney, Murray, 61, a Democrat who began his first term in 2013, shed no light on the identity of his anonymous accuser while challenging the man's credibility.

"I understand the individual making these accusations is troubled, and that makes me sad as well," he said.

"To be on the receiving end of such untrue allegations is very painful. It is painful to my husband and for those who are close to us," said Murray, who is openly gay and married to his longtime partner.

The mayor neither disputed nor acknowledged whether he was ever acquainted with or had even met his accuser, a 46-year-old man referred to in the lawsuit filed on Thursday only as "D.H."

Murray's lawyer, Bob Shulkin, on Thursday said the lawsuit was politically motivated. Murray himself said he would "not back down."

"I will continue to be mayor of this city, I will continue to run for re-election," he declared.

Murray declined to take questions about a "legal matter that is in the courts," then turned and walked away as reporters shouted after him.

Lincoln Beauregard, an attorney for the mayor's accuser, said in a statement later, "It must be hard for (Murray) to know that his career is over."

"If the mayor's telling the truth, he should have no idea who my client is. If that is true, how can he paint him as 'troubled' and the like?" Beauregard said.

In the lawsuit, the plaintiff claimed he was a teenager riding a bus in Seattle in the 1980s when he encountered Murray, then about age 32, and was invited back to his home, where D.H. said he was paid $10 to $20 to perform various sex acts.

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A spokesman for the King County prosecuting attorney said no criminal investigation has been opened, adding that the statute of limitations would have expired long ago, three years from the date of the alleged offenses.

The Seattle Times has reported that two other men have previously accused Murray of abusing them when they were teenagers in the 1980s. Shulkin said those claims "were investigated by law enforcement and the press" and found to be without merit.

Murray has denied those allegations and no charges were ever filed.

(Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Leslie Adler)
Late Thursday evening, President Trump authorized the launch of roughly five dozen Tomahawk missiles at an air base in Syria; the same base that supported an atrocious chemical weapons attack against innocent civilians and children just days prior. With this action, President Trump reestablished a red line on the use of chemical weapons. A red line that had been dangerously absent since August 2013 when President Obama issued one and then refused to enforce it.

This attack has done more than redraw an important boundary on the use of weapons of mass destruction; it has also begun to restore U.S. leadership and credibility around the world. Leaders from North Korea to Iran to Russia and others took immediate notice. Simultaneously many U.S. allies were relieved. For this was the moment the United States reaffirmed we will not tolerate violations of international norms nor evil acts condemned by the world. President Trump proved the United States will push back when our national security is threatened and, once again, will back up its rhetoric with action when necessary.

When the Syrian Civil War started, many in the United States believed involvement was not in Americas best interests. Over the years, Assad brutalized his own people, particularly women and children. Sadly, this recent attack was a shameful reminder of Assads true nature. In the process, the world has seen a civil war change into an international conflict where terrorists took over much of Syria, many of whom have returned to the United States and other countries to conduct attacks. The ongoing conflict has destabilized much of the region including important allies like Jordan and Turkey, and has allowed Iran to increase its influence on Israels border. These issues have created a refugee crisis felt across the United States and Europe as tens of thousands seek to enter our countries.

There are no ideal solutions, but one fact has become clear, as this conflict continues we will have fewer options and more consequences for the United States, our interests, and our allies. The United States must help lead this tragic situation to a conclusion. If Syria continues down the path of civil war and chaos, the Assad regime will continue to retake territory. As this instability continues, Assad will steadily eliminate the opposition, and the West will see the reestablishment of an anti-U.S. and Israel crescent stretching from Tehran to Israels border. The United States is the only country that can prevent that outcome.

The international community has been starving for leadership in Syria. The airstrikes of April 6 were a good first step, but the United States must go further to push back against Assad and his allies, Russia and Iran. This will require a more comprehensive strategy toward Syria.

There are reports of additional chemical weapons remaining in Syria. The same weapons Assad and the Russians said were destroyed in 2014. The United States should ensure the destruction of these weapons and the airfields that could launch attacks using them. I support the Trump Administrations effort to seek a resolution at the UN Security Council that sanctions the Assad regime. Both Russia and China blocked a similar resolution in February. They should support this resolution now or prove they support Assad staying in power.

We also need to build and support a coalition that can effectively ensure the safety of Syrians at home and ensure neither Assad nor the Islamic State can destabilize the country. This would include working with our Turkish allies and Syrian opposition, and supporting Kurdish forces fighting on the ground against both the Islamic State and Assads forces.

The Trump Administration has proven to the people of Syria, and the world, that the United States is once again willing to confront growing instability and inhumanity. The long-term goal of the United States is a Syria at peace with itself and its neighbors. We ultimately need to work with our allies to help the Syrian people reestablish the institutions of government, society and security so refugees can return home and rebuild their country.

This article was originally published on TIME.com
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP)  The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is back to picturing the great outdoors on its internet home page after raising eyebrows with a prominent photo of a huge coal deposit in Wyoming.

Some interpreted the image of the coal at Peabody's North Antelope Rochelle Mine as a sign of the Trump administration's support for coal.

On Friday, the BLM changed its lead website photo to a fly fisherman on the North Platte River in Wyoming. The river flows 50 miles south of the coal in the previous photo.

BLM officials say there's no link between the coal photo and President Donald Trump's recent lifting of coal-mining regulations.

A previous photo showed a man and boy outside with camping gear. BLM officials say they plan to change the website images weekly.
Stockholm (AFP) - Stockholm's usually vibrant city centre was eerily silent on Friday evening with restaurants, bars and cinemas shuttered and streets emptied hours after a truck ploughed into a crowd outside a department store, killing four people and injuring 15.

Stockholmers appeared to be following police advice to stay indoors and avoid crowded areas, with a number of normally-bustling city streets deserted.

The attack occurred just before 3:00 pm (1300 GMT) when a beer truck slammed into the corner of the bustling Ahlens store and the popular pedestrian street Drottninggatan, above ground from Stockholm's central subway station.

The initial scene was chaotic.

After emergency responders rushed to the scene, several bodies could be seen lying on the ground covered with orange blankets. Shattered glass was scattered on the ground near a large blood stain on the asphalt.

Shaken passersby described their horror at witnessing what police and Prime Minister Stefan Lofven described as a "terror attack".

"A massive truck starts driving ... and mangles everything and just drives over exactly everything," eyewitness Rikard Gauffin told AFP.

"It was so terrible and there were bodies lying everywhere... it was really terrifying," he added.

- Trapped -

Police cars and ambulances rapidly flooded the scene, as central streets and squares were blocked off amid fears that another attack could be imminent.

Helicopters hovered overhead across the city, sirens wailed, and police vans criss-crossed the streets using loudspeakers to urge people to head straight home and avoid crowded places.

But with the metro system and commuter trains shut down for several hours after the attack, other streets heading out of the city were packed with thousands of pedestrians trying to find a way home.

Central Stockholm would on any other Friday be abuzz with locals queueing up outside glitzy bars and restaurants and upscale nightclubs.

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Haval, a 30-year-old sales clerk who didn't want to reveal his last name, was in the metro at the time of the attack.

His train stopped immediately and he had to get out, along with all the other passengers.

They walked along the street before being ushered inside a nearby hotel for safety.

"We were suddenly trapped inside a hotel and there was the worst kind of horror in there," he told AFP.

"We were scared, we were scared something else would happen, he added.

- 'Suddenly it happens' -

The attack was the latest in a string of similar assaults with vehicles in Europe that include the southern French city of Nice, Berlin and London.

"I never thought that something would happen in Sweden, but then suddenly it happens," Haval said.

One witness identified only as Dimitris told the Aftonbladet daily the truck came "out of nowhere."

"I couldn't see if anyone was driving but it was out of control. I saw at least two people get run down. I ran as fast as I could away from there," he said.

- 'You won't break us' -

Marko was in coffee shop near the scene with his girlfriend when he saw the truck ram into the store.

"He hit a woman first, then he drove over a bunch of other people ... We took care of everyone lying on the ground," he told Swedish daily newspaper Aftonbladet.

Hasan Sidi, another passerby, told Aftonbladet he saw two elderly women lying on the ground.

He said people at the scene urged him to help one of the women who was "bleeding to death".

"One of them died...I don't know if the other one made it," Sidi said.

"The police were shocked. Everyone was shocked."

Despite that shock, Sweden was determined to not let the attackers create fear.

"Terrorists want us to be afraid, want us to change our behaviour, want us to not live our lives normally, but that is what we're going to do. So terrorists can never defeat Sweden, never," Prime Minister Lofven said.

Shortly afterwards, he placed a bouquet of flowers near the scene, visibly shaken and wiping away a tear.

In an editorial, Sweden's biggest broadsheet Dagens Nyheter wrote: "What we feared for a long time finally happened."

"The fear and panic right after the incident was inevitable. The images from the attack were terrible," the paper said.

But Stockholm managed to stay "cool-headed" even though the attacker struck "Sweden and Stockholm's heart", it added.

"Stockholm stands strong. You won't break Stockholm."
Sister Wives star Robyn Brown is said to be expecting her third biological child with husband Kody Brown, but everything may not be going well for the reality TV couple. A friend of Robyns has revealed that not only is she expecting her sixth baby, but that she is also still considering leaving her husband and his polygamist family.

Kendra Pollard, described as Robyns best friend, tells Life & Style Magazine that Robyns latest pregnancy was discovered during Kodys daughter Maddies baby shower last month. After party guests commented on her hint of a bump, Robyn took a pregnancy test. However, a new baby coming this fall hasnt changed her plans to divorce Kody, says Kendra.

Robyn has been planning to divorce him for a long time. Kendra said. Being pregnant has not changed her mind. Shes saved up enough money to retain a lawyer. This is really the end of Sister Wives.

sister wives

Photo: TLC

READ: Sister Wives Star Christine Brown Wants To Rip Robyns Eyes Out

As for Kody, hes reportedly happy about the pregnancy, but is said to be annoyed that Robyn wont talk about their impending bundle of joy in front of TLCs cameras for Sister Wives.

Kendra says Robyn has expressed her plans to move out of Las Vegas and to Utah as early as Easter. She is also still reportedly holding out hope for a spin-off. Her family has been very supportive, adds Kendra. [They] told her they will look after her during the pregnancy and help her get settled.

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Ljubljana (AFP) - Slovenia said Saturday it temporarily suspended beefed-up checks on the EU's external border hours after the new regulation -- aimed at stopping suspected Islamist fighters returning from Iraq and Syria -- came into force.

Hundreds of cars and buses had found themselves stuck on Slovenia's border with Croatia on Friday after the implementation of the new regulation.

Bojan Tomc, a police spokesman from Novo Mesto, near the Obrezje border crossing with Croatia, told state television that since 10 pm (2000 GMT) on Friday police had "suspended checks of EU citizens and continued checking only those from third countries".

Bostjan Sefic, state secretary at Slovenia's Interior Ministry, told the broadcaster that the tougher checks were relaxed at "some border crossings" in accordance with the rules but did not give further details.

Slovenia controls 670 kilometres (420 miles) of the EU's external border with Croatia and was a key transit country along the so-called Balkan migrant trail until the route was shut in March last year.

The EU said Thursday the systematic checks at the bloc's Schengen borders were designed to tackle "foreign fighters" returning from Iraq and Syria.
By Yeganeh Torbati and Mica Rosenberg

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Internal State Department instructions to implement President Donald Trump's temporary travel ban on citizens of six Muslim-majority nations help demonstrate that the ban violates the constitution, the American Civil Liberties Union argued in court filings late on Thursday.

The ACLU made the argument as part of its lawsuit in federal court in the Northern District of California on behalf of three student visa holders against Trump's March 6 executive order barring travelers from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the United States for 90 days and refugees for four months. The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, says the order discriminates against Muslims.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson issued instructions to implement Trump's order in a series of four cables to consular officers worldwide last month, which were first revealed by Reuters.

The ACLU pointed to language from one of the cables that directs consular officers to assess whether applicants from the six countries "found otherwise eligible" for U.S. visas could still be denied visas based on Trump's order. The ACLU said the guidance "amounts to an unconstitutional amendment of existing law."

Tillerson issued the cable on March 10, and followed it with another set of instructions on March 15, the day before the ban was supposed to go into effect. After federal courts blocked the central tenets of Trump's order, Tillerson issued two other cables that rescinded many of his previous instructions but left some tighter visa vetting procedures in place.

A State Department official declined to comment on the litigation or the cables. The Department of Justice also declined to comment.

The Trump administration has said that the travel ban and increased screening of foreigners are crucial to protecting the United States from terrorist attacks. The government is arguing in court that the president has broad authority under the law to make immigration decisions when there are concerns about national security.

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The March executive order replaced a more sweeping travel ban that Trump signed on Jan. 27, which sparked chaos and protests at airports and was challenged by more than two dozen lawsuits. The original ban had covered citizens of Iraq, as well as the six countries also included in the revised ban. Iraq was dropped from the revised order, as was an indefinite ban on all refugees from Syria.

The revised ban aimed to overcome legal hurdles by excluding legal permanent residents and allowing for waivers for people with ties to the United States. The ACLU, in its claims that the order discriminates against Muslims, points to calls by Trump on the campaign trail for a "Muslim ban" and to a speech he made last month calling the new ban a "watered-down" version of the first.

(Additional reporting by Dan Levine in San Francisco; Editing by Leslie Adler)
Many American business leaders would be happy to have President Donald Trump talk tough on trade in his meetings Thursday and Friday with Chinese President Xi Jinping.



But not too tough.



While many companies and industries are hoping Trump can win concessions from America's largest U.S. trading partner, they're much less eager to see the two countries square off in a trade war.



"They would like the Trump administration to advocate for [a level playing field]," Tom Manning, a University of Chicago law professor and former CEO of Cerberus Asia, told CNBC. "They do not, however, want the Trump administration to disrupt what has become a stable atmosphere for American business in China."



Trump's blistering rhetoric condemning China's trade practices generated cheers of support on the campaign trail.



"We can't continue to allow China to rape our country," Trump told his cheering supporters last year on at a rally in Indiana. "There are no jobs because China has our jobs."

Trump has accused China of manipulating its currency to boost its exports and criticized companies for shifting production to China.

Since taking office, Trump has kept up his belligerent broadsides on China's trade policies. Last week, he warned in a tweet that the meeting at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Thursday and Friday will be "very difficult" and "American companies must be prepared to look at other alternatives."

Some business leaders and industry associations share Trump's frustration with Beijing's trade policies, arguing that China has been flooding the U.S. market with cheap products, while tightly controlling foreign investment.

U.S. automakers complain about high Chinese tariffs on American imports compared to U.S. duties on Chinese vehicles. Tech companies have long cited a range of trade disparities, including China's weak patent protections for U.S. intellectual property.

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But retaliation by the U.S. could spark an even broader response from Beijing.

That could jeopardize the bottom lines of businesses that sell products in China, the third-largest U.S. export market, after Canada and Mexico, accounting for nearly $120 billion worth of goods last year.

Trump's talks with China will also set the tone for a wider American trade policy that could create bigger headwinds for U.S. exporters.

Beyond pressing individual companies directly, Trump has promised broader policies that could restrict the flow of exports on which U.S. companies heavily depend. Those include raising tariffs on Mexico and China. Trump and the GOP-controlled Congress have also floated the idea of a "border tax" on companies sourcing materials and products from overseas.

Those measures would almost certainly cut into U.S. exports, which represent about $2 trillion, or roughly one-eighth of the nation's gross domestic product.



Even before Trump took office, the engine of global trade had been slowing after decades of liberalized trade deals and lower tariffs helped boost import and export traffic around the world.

That slowdown is one reason the overall pace of the global economic growth remains relatively weak.

But those free trade policies also produced a global backlash  from American voters who've lost their jobs and British voters who voted last June to reclaim their independence from the European Union.

Hardest hit

A slowdown in trade with China would be felt unevenly across the U.S., with some states hit much harder than others.

Among the most vulnerable dependent: Washington, which sold roughly a quarter of its exports to China last year, or nearly $19 billion worth of goods. Airplanes, the state's largest export by far, made up the bulk of the state's sales to China.

California exports some $16 billion to mainland China, with computers and electronics accounting for more than a quarter of the total. Texas was the third-largest exporter to China, with more than $11 billion worth of products that included chemicals, computers and machinery.

Alaska, which exports a smaller volume of goods, sends $1.5 billion worth of its exports  a quarter of its total  to China. Roughly half of that consists of seafood.

U.S. farm states are also big exporters to China, which is the biggest single market for American agricultural products. Some 20 percent of all U.S. farm exports are sold to China, which bought $30 billion worth of food and other farm products in fiscal year 2014, including soybeans, distillers' grains, hides and skins, tree nuts, coarse grains, and cotton and beef, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

While the trade stakes are high, most observers see Thursday's meeting as just the opening round in a series of bilateral talks, with little in the way of concrete immediate policy pronouncements.

For one thing, the Trump administration remains short-handed. The nominees for both trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, and ambassador to China, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, have yet to be confirmed. Several key State Department posts related to Asian policy are also still vacant.

Even with a full team in place, diplomatic experts say, the initial meeting between the leaders of the world's two most powerful nations will be about raising tough issues, not resolving them.

"They're not going to be solved at this meeting," Stapleton Roy, former U.S. ambassador to China, told CNBC. "I think what they need to do is to get the issues out in front of them. And then agree between the two leaders that these need to have a process that will produce a positive outcome."

Watch: Trade war won't help US or china





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UPDATE: noon EDT  Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said Friday that "everything indicates" the attack in Stockholm in which a truck drove into a department store was "a terrorist act," NBC News reported. Police told the Guardian that three people were dead and eight were wounded, though other media outlets reported only two people had died.

Much of the city remained shut down Friday as law enforcement investigated.

UPDATE: 10:16 a.m. EDT  The Swedish government offered condolences to the "victims and their families" affected by the apparent attack by a truck that mowed into a crowd of people in Stockholm on Friday afternoon, local time.

UPDATE: 9:54 a.m. EDT  Witnesses in Stockholm on Friday told Swedish media they saw multiple people lying on the street after a truck rammed into a group near Queen Street, injuring and killing several passers-by. Police were on scene as the incident unfolded.

"People were screaming, terrified," local worker Paula Lobos told Expressen. "There is chaos and frightened people everywhere. It's crazy."

Reuters, citing security police, reported that "at least two people" were killed in the crash. The Stockholm assault came just weeks after an attacker drove a car into a crowd near the Westminster Bridge in London, wounding dozens and fatally striking four. It also followed a July attack in Nice, France, where a man crashed into people celebrating Bastille Day and killed more than 80.

UPDATE: 9:33 a.m. EDT  The Guardian reported Friday three people have died after a truck ran into a department store in Stockholm, citing Sweden's Ekot radio station. Police have not publicly confirmed this tally despite reports of injuries.

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It also was not immediately clear whether the incident as an accident. Claes Normark, a political adviser there, tweeted in Swedish that "things are pointing to a terrorist attack, saying the "truck deliberately drove at people."

Original story:

Swedish media reported Friday that a truck drove into a crowd of people in the country's capital of Stockholm, injuring several and possibly killing up to three.

The Swedish police confirmed only that they'd gotten calls about people being hurt on Queen Street near Klarabergsgatan, noting in a news release that "information provided about the ongoing events is preliminary and subject to change."

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.

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Beirut (AFP) - At least 15 civilians, including four children, were killed in a suspected US-led coalition airstrike on Saturday near the Islamic State group's Syrian bastion Raqa, a monitor said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 17 people were injured in the strike on Heneyda, and that the death toll could rise further because several of the wounded were in serious conditions.

The Britain-based group said the strike was suspected to have been carried out by the US-led coalition fighting IS in Syria and Iraq.

The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria for its information, says it determines whose planes carry out raids according to type, location, flight patterns and munitions used.

Heneyda is around 25 kilometres (15 miles) west of the city of Raqa, the target of a major operation led by a Kurdish-Arab alliance of fighters and backed by the US-led coalition.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have for months been advancing towards the city in the north of the country, hoping to encircle it before launching a final assault.

Its forces last month seized the Tabqa military airport from IS, and have entered the complex of the key Tabqa dam, after being airlifted behind jihadist lines by US forces.

They continue to battle for the town of Tabqa, around 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of Raqa, with clashes ongoing on Saturday, the Observatory said.

More than 320,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began with anti-government demonstrations in March 2011.
By Polina Nikolskaya and Hulkar Isamova ST PETERSBURG, Russia/OSH, Kyrgyzstan (Reuters) - The man Russian police believe was the suicide bomber who killed 14 people in a blast on the St Petersburg metro this week developed an interest in Islam and soon after traveled to Turkey, two people who know him told Reuters. The two people said they did not know for sure if the man, Akbarzhon Jalilov, went on from Turkey to neighboring Syria. Turkey has been routinely used by radical Islamists as a route into areas of Syria controlled by the Islamic State group. If Jalilov had been in Syria, that would expose a major gap in Russia's counter-terrorism procedures, which rely heavily on identifying anyone who has been with militants in Syria and stopping them from returning to Russia, or arresting them. The metro blast happened on Monday afternoon just as Russian President Vladimir Putin visited St Petersburg. No group has claimed responsibility. But Islamic State has threatened acts of violence on Russian soil in reprisal for the Kremlin's military intervention in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad. Jalilov, the suspected suicide bomber, was born in 1995 and grew up in the city of Osh in Kyrgyzstan, a mainly Muslim ex-Soviet Republic in Central Asia. Around 2011 he moved to St Petersburg. He worked in low-paid jobs for several years. Photographs posted on social media showed a stylishly dressed young man. His online posts offered no hint of any ties to Islamist militants. But there is a gap in Jalilov's biography from the end of 2015 until the start of this year. During that period several acquaintances said he disappeared from view. He reappeared when he visited Osh in February this year. In March he returned to St Petersburg and rented an apartment from where he set off on the day of the bombing carrying a rucksack and a bag. By speaking to several people who knew Jalilov well, Reuters has been able to piece together a picture of his life in the missing years. FINDING RELIGION According to someone from Osh who worked as a cook alongside Jalilov in a St Petersburg restaurant in 2014, he was an even-tempered young man who did not drink or use swear words. "I would have said firmly that Akbar was not capable of doing anything bad," said the source, using an abbreviation of Jalilov's name. The source asked not to be identified because he did not want the authorities to associate him with a suicide bomber. The two worked in the same outlet of the Sushi Wok restaurant chain. During the course of 2014, said the former work colleague, Jalilov developed an interest in Islam. He prayed, went to the mosque, read the Koran, and started growing a beard. But the source said he did not notice any signs of extremism. The second source, another native of Osh who also worked with Jalilov in St Petersburg, said he too was aware that Jalilov had acquired an interest in religion. But he said Jalilov never tried to push his faith onto anyone else. During 2015, said the first source, Jalilov left St Petersburg. The source said he heard from other cooks at the restaurant that before leaving, Jalilov had said he was going to Turkey. He said, according to the source, that "there are good jobs in Turkey, and things aren't working out (with work) in St Petersburg." The second source, who also did not want to be identified, told Reuters he knew from Jalilov that he went to Turkey. The source said Jalilov had traveled there in November 2015, to join his uncle who was living in the Turkish region of Antalya. Contacted by Reuters in Osh, Jalilov's uncle, Khasan Kuchkarov, told Reuters he had lived in Antalya but left in September 2015 and was unaware of Jalilov traveling there. After Jalilov's departure from St Petersburg, there was talk among his old work colleagues, and among people who knew him back in Osh, that he had gone to Syria, both of the sources said. But neither of them knew for sure if he was in Syria, they said. Officials in Russia's Investigative Committee, the state body investigating the metro bombing, and in the Federal Security Service, declined to comment on whether Jalilov traveled to Turkey or Syria. APARTMENT SUSPECTS Russian law enforcement agencies have arrested eight people on suspicion of involvement in the metro bombing. Six were detained at an apartment on Tovarishcheskii Avenue in a residential suburb of St Petersburg, and two in Moscow. In the apartment, law enforcement officers found an explosive device identical to one which, police say, Jalilov had left at a metro station before going on to blow up the carriage in another part of the subway system. The device he left, hidden inside a fire extinguisher, did not go off. At a court arraignment hearing on Friday, only one of the detainees, Ibrahibzhon Ermatov, 24, said he knew Jalilov. He said they had worked together in a Sushi Wok branch in Vsevolozhsk, a town near St Petersburg. Ermatov denied being a supporter of Islamic State. The first of the two sources who knew Jalilov said the apartment on Tovarishcheskii Street was used by some people as a temporary stopping off point for workers arriving in St Petersburg from Osh. He said new arrivals found out about the 32 square-meter apartment via friends, and there was a regular turnover of tenants. Neighbors confirmed that to Reuters. The source said he had once stayed there himself for a day before moving on to longer-term accommodation. The source said Jalilov had not stayed at the apartment, to his knowledge. He said he knew one of the apartment tenants who had been arrested, Dilmurod Muildimov, from back home in Osh. Muildimov also worked for the Sushi Wok restaurant chain. The source said Muildimov had arrived in St Petersburg a few months ago, and that he did not know Jalilov. (Additional reporting by Maria Tsvetkova, Svetlana Reiter and Denis Pinchuk in MOSCOW, and Olzhas Auyezov in ALMATY; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
Stockholm (AFP) - Swedish police said Saturday that a man arrested on "suspicion of terrorist crime" was likely to be the driver of a truck that ploughed into a crowd of people in central Stockholm a day earlier.

"We suspect that the man who was arrested is the perpetrator," Stockholm police spokesman Lars Bystrom told AFP.

The attack on Friday killed four people and injured 15, nine of them seriously.

Police had earlier said they had detained a man who "matched the description" of a photo released of a suspect wearing a dark hoodie and military green jacket.

Bystrom said the arrested man "could be the same person in the picture".

According to the newspaper Aftonbladet, the individual in the photo is a 39-year-old man of Uzbek origin and a supporter of the Islamic State (IS) group.

If confirmed as a terror attack, it would be Sweden's first such deadly assault. The 15 injured included children and nine people were "seriously" wounded, health authorities said.

Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said he had strengthened the country's border controls.

"Terrorists want us to be afraid, want us to change our behaviour, want us to not live our lives normally, but that is what we're going to do. So terrorists can never defeat Sweden, never," he said.

The attack occurred just before 3:00 pm (1300 GMT) when the stolen truck slammed into the corner of the bustling Ahlens store and the popular pedestrian street Drottninggatan, above ground from Stockholm's central subway station.

Pictures taken at the scene showed a large blue beer truck with a mangled undercarriage smashed into the Ahlens department store.

Witnesses described scenes of terror and panic.

"A massive truck starts driving ... and mangles everything and just drives over exactly everything," eyewitness Rikard Gauffin told AFP.

"It was so terrible and there were bodies lying everywhere... it was really terrifying," he added.

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The truck was towed away in the early hours of Saturday.

- Trapped -

Police cars and ambulances rapidly flooded the scene after the attack, as central streets and squares were blocked off amid fears that another attack could be imminent.

Helicopters hovered overhead across the city, sirens wailed, and police vans criss-crossed the streets using loudspeakers to urge people to head straight home and avoid crowded places.

But with the metro system and commuter trains shut down for several hours after the attack, other streets heading out of the city were packed with thousands of pedestrians trying to find a way home.

Haval, a 30-year-old sales clerk who didn't want to reveal his last name, was in the metro at the time of the attack.

His train stopped immediately and he had to get out, along with all the other passengers.

They walked along the street before being ushered inside a nearby hotel for safety.

"We were suddenly trapped inside a hotel and there was the worst kind of horror in there," he told AFP.

"We were scared, we were scared something else would happen, he added.

- 'Bleeding to death' -

Marko was in coffee shop near the scene with his girlfriend when he saw the truck ram into the store.

"He hit a woman first, then he drove over a bunch of other people ... We took care of everyone lying on the ground," he told Swedish daily newspaper Aftonbladet.

Hasan Sidi, another passerby, told Aftonbladet he saw two elderly women lying on the ground.

He said people at the scene urged him to help one of the women who was "bleeding to death".

"One of them died... I don't know if the other one made it," Sidi said.

"The police were shocked. Everyone was shocked."

- 'You can't break us' -

In an editorial, Sweden's biggest broadsheet Dagens Nyheter wrote: "What we feared for a long time finally happened."

"The fear and panic right after the incident was inevitable. The images from the attack were terrible," the paper said.

But Stockholm managed to stay "cool-headed" even though the attacker struck "Sweden and Stockholm's heart", it added.

Friday's attack was the latest in a string of similar assaults with vehicles in Europe, including in London, Berlin and the southern French city of Nice.

The deadliest came last year in France on the July 14 Bastille Day national holiday, when a man rammed a truck into a crowd in the Mediterranean resort of Nice, killing 86 people.

Last month, Khalid Masood, a 52-year-old convert to Islam known to British security services, killed five people when he drove a car at high speed into pedestrians on London's Westminster Bridge before launching a frenzied knife attack on a policeman guarding the parliament building.

And in December, a man hijacked a truck and slammed into shoppers at a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people.

In 2014, IS called for attacks on citizens of Western countries and gave instructions on how they could be carried out without military equipment, using rocks or knives, or by running people over in vehicles.
By Johan Sennero, Anna Ringstrom and Bjorn Rundstrom STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A 39-year-old Uzbek man being held in custody is the suspected driver of a hijacked beer delivery truck that plowed into crowds in central Stockholm, killing four people and wounding 15 in an apparent terror attack, police said on Saturday. The man, previously known to Swedish intelligence services as a marginal figure with no clear links to extremist groups, is suspected of mowing down pedestrians on a busy shopping street and smashing through a store front on Friday. "Nothing indicates that we have the wrong person, on the contrary, suspicions have strengthened as the investigation has progressed," Dan Eliasson, head of Sweden's national police, told a news conference on Saturday. The man, detained on Friday night on terrorism charges after the attack in the heart of the capital, appeared to have acted alone but "we still cannot rule out that more people are involved," he said. Police raided several addresses in the Stockholm area on Saturday, according to TT news agency and tabloid Aftonbladet, but told Reuters no further arrests in connection with the attack had been made. A Reuters witness saw police wearing protective masks carrying out a search at an apartment in a southern Stockholm suburb. LAWYER MET WITH SUSPECT Court-appointed lawyer Johan Eriksson told Reuters he had met with the suspect on Saturday but declined to give further details about his client. Police did not name the detainee, but said he was from the central Asian republic of Uzbekistan and that he had seemed peripheral in intelligence reports. "We received intelligence last year, but we did not see any links to extremist circles," Sapo security police chief Anders Thornberg said. Eliasson said there were "clear similarities" to an attack last month in London in which six people died, including the assailant who drove a hired car into pedestrians on a bridge. Vehicles have also been used as weapons in Nice and Berlin in the past year in attacks claimed by Islamic State. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack in Sweden, which until now had been largely immune from major attacks and where many take pride in an open, democratic society. "I think it was just a matter of time, but still one doesn't think it will happen," Cecilia Hansson, a 25 year-old nurse, said. "It's still unreal when it happens this close." Police said they had found a suspicious device in the vehicle, which ended up rammed into the Ahlens department store, but said they did not yet know if it was a homemade bomb, as reported by public broadcaster SVT. Local authorities in Stockholm, where flags flew at half mast, said 10 people including a child were still being treated in hospital, with two adults in intensive care. Sweden will hold a minute's silence at midday (1000 GMT) on Monday to mourn the dead. Police said they were maintaining a heightened presence, fearing copycat attacks. FLOWERS, DEFIANCE A gaping hole in the wall of the store showed the force of the impact from the truck, which was removed overnight for examination by forensics experts, and people gathered to pay their respects and leave flowers. Ahlens said it would open part of the store on Sunday. Prime Minister Stefan Lofven visited the site and struck a defiant tone: "All of us feel anger over what has happened, I also feel the same anger, but we also need to use that anger for something constructive and go forward." "We want - and I am convinced the Swedish people also want - to live a normal life. We are an open, democratic society and that is what we will remain." Sweden's King Carl Gustaf, who broke off a trip to Brazil and quickly returned home after the attack, addressed the nation in a televised speech from his home at Stockholm's palace. "Those of us who want to help are many more than those who wish to harm us," said the monarch, wearing a dark suit and black tie. "Sweden is, has long been and will continue to be a safe and peaceful country." The attack was the latest to hit the Nordic region after shootings in the Danish capital Copenhagen killed three people in 2015 and the mass attack in 2011 by far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 people in Norway. A failed suicide bombing in December 2010 killed an attacker only a few hundred yards from the site of Friday's incident. IMMIGRATION For decades, Sweden has been among the most generous nations to immigrants. But some Swedes are having second thoughts after more than 160,000 people, many from Syria, applied for asylum in 2015 in a nation of just 10 million. Sweden has since tightened its borders and asylum numbers have slowed to a trickle. Support for the opposition far-right Sweden Democrat party, which links worries about education, welfare costs and crime with immigration, has continued to rise. "We have warned about such incidents ... but we do not want to score any political points today," Julia Kronlid, vice chairman of the party, told Reuters. Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack in Nice, France, in July 2016, when a truck killed 86 people, and a truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin in December that killed 12. In last month's attack in London, a man drove into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge near Britain's parliament and then stabbed a policeman to death before being killed himself. In February U.S. President Donald Trump falsely suggested there had been an immigration-related security incident in Sweden, to the bafflement of Swedes. Neutral Sweden has not fought a war in more than 200 years, but its military has taken part in U.N. peacekeeping missions in several conflict zones, including Iraq, Mali and Afghanistan. (Reporting by Stockholm newsroom; writing by Simon Johnson, Alister Doyle and Terje Solsvik; editing by Alexander Smith, Ros Russell and David Evans)
Washington (AFP) - Friday's strike on a Syrian airbase marks the first direct US attack on the Damascus regime, raising questions about the potential impact on American forces working to defeat the Islamic State group.

An immediate sign of potential fallout from the strike came from Moscow, which said it would strengthen Syrian air defenses to protect the country's key infrastructure.

Russia already has batteries of sophisticated S-300 and S-400 surface-to-air missiles in place.

These were not deployed in the US strike, but if used, such air defenses would radically alter Syria's aerial battlespace, where US planes have largely flown with little fear of getting shot down.

The United States has since late 2014 led a coalition against IS in Iraq and Syria, and flies dozens of sorties daily to bomb jihadist targets.

The vast military operation is notionally separate from Syria's brutal six-year war that has left more than 320,000 dead.

Syria's conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests, but has since spiraled into a bitter and complex civil war that has drawn in international players and jihadist fighters.

About 900 US ground troops, the bulk of them special operations forces, are in northern Syria, where they train and advise an Arab-Kurdish alliance fighting IS.

Further raising the stakes, Moscow also said it would cease talking to the United States on a military hotline the two powers use to keep each other apprised of where they are flying.

The channel was established in late 2015 after Russia entered Syria's conflict to prop up President Bashar al-Assad.

Moscow's move to abandon the hotline could dramatically raise the risk to pilots and ground forces on all sides, with near misses and misunderstandings far more likely in Syria's crowded skies.

The Pentagon has urged Russia to recommit to the line, and US officials say they will continue to try to use it.

"It is to the benefit of all parties operating in the air over Syria to avoid accidents and miscalculation, and we hope the Russian Ministry of Defense comes to this conclusion as well," said Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway, a Pentagon spokesman.

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- Interloper -

Technically, the United States is the interloper in sovereign Syria, whereas the Russians are the invited guests.

But for the most part, the Russia-backed Syria regime has left the US coalition to conduct operations as the two sides focus on different foes in the tangled conflict.

The US-led coalition fighting IS has gone to great lengths to distance itself from the Syrian civil war and left the Russians to their own devices as they pounded rebel areas including east Aleppo.

Experts say that posture is unlikely to change for now, absent a broader and better articulated Syria policy.

In the space of just one week, the Trump administration has gone from floating tolerance to Assad staying in power to striking the airbase.

"The strikes are a reaction, but not a change of US strategy in Syria, to the extent that one exists," said Sarhang Hamasaeed, director of Middle East programs at the US Institute of Peace.

"The strategic focus has been on ISIS, and it will likely remain to be the same, unless blowback from the airstrikes draw in the US further, or Assad repeats other actions that will trigger more US intervention."

The limited nature of Friday's strike means retaliatory action against US forces is unlikely, experts say.

The missile bombardment of the airfield targeted only hangars, planes and logistics structures, not the runways, and contrary to demands of hawkish US lawmakers was not intended to ground Assad's air force.

"We have no indication at this point that there's been any escalatory or any attacks or any intelligence on retribution attacks on US forces," a senior military official said.

Christine Wormuth, a former Pentagon official under Obama who is now a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said she did not currently see a risk of the Russians or the Syrians shooting at US planes.

"Of course, there is some risk that the Syrian military could choose to attack our forces on the ground, but I think that will be extremely unwise and risky for them to do," she added.
President Trumps airstrike against Syria Thursday may have established a credible deterrent to Bashar al Assads future use of chemical weapons, at least in the short term. But the long-term effects of setting a new American red line for the use of chemical weapons are far less certain.

In justifying the airstrikes, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said they were designed to prevent further chemical weapons attacks in Syria and possibly elsewhere. Assad is normalizing the use of chemical weapons, which may then be adopted by others, Tillerson said, So its important that some action be taken on behalf of the international community to make clear that the use of chemical weapons continues to be a violation of international norms.

That rhetoric and the decision to strike contrasted sharply with Trumps campaign promises, which offered generally soft rhetoric on the Assad regime and pro-Russia positioning on Syria. In general, Trump projected a lower level of U.S. involvement in the humanitarian problems outside the nations borders. By forgoing Congressional approval, let alone U.N. consultation, the strike also pressed the outer boundary of the law. Blowing past those constraints, Trump and his Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, showed a perhaps surprising commitment to deter the use of chemical weapons relative to other policy priorities.

But the deterrence could diminish with time. When last threatened by the U.S., the Assad regime temporarily ceased use of chemical weapons, and even agreed to remove its chemical stockpiles from the country. But once the threat of international intervention waned, the Assad regime decided once again to test the international order. The Trump attack sets the U.S. on an uncertain path if Assad does decide in the future to text American resolve with another attack.

The attack came in response to the use of sarin, the deadly and gruesome agent apparently used at Idlib. Left unresolved is what the American response will be if the Assad regime returns to using the less toxic chlorine gas that he has deployed elsewhere. And if Assad does test Trump, either with sarin or another agent, the next decision may be harder.

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In 1999, then-President Bill Clinton launched unilateral air strikes in Kosovo in retaliation for humanitarian violations by the Serbian regime of Slobodan Milosevic. The immediate consequence was a massive round of ethnic cleansing that the U.S. and its allies had sought to avoid, and a hunkering down of Serbian forces in Kosovo. Clinton had to escalate his airstrikes over the following weeks, and Milosevic only complied with U.S. demands to pull out of Kosovo when the U.S. appeared ready to deploy ground forces.

Trump has already moved to increase U.S. forces operating in and around Syria, and is receiving detailed plans from the Pentagon for an escalated fight against ISIS there and in Iraq. But much of the American public, and some in his own party, are wary of being drawn further into the messy civil war.

Which means Trumps relatively low cost success in punishing Assads use of sarin may be a one time thing. As the effect wears off, events could pit Trumps commitment to deterring chemical weapons use against the political challenge of a deepening, costly commitment to fighting in Syria.

This article was originally published on TIME.com
BEIRUT (Reuters) - A Syrian air base targeted in a U.S. cruise missile attack is operating again, the governor of Syria's Homs province confirmed on Saturday. The United States launched the missile strikes on Friday in response to a chemical attack that killed 90 people including 30 children. It says the Syrian government launched the attack from the Shayrat air base. Damascus has strongly denied carrying out the attack and says it does not use chemical weapons. The Syrian army said on Friday the attack had caused extensive damage to the base, which the United States says it targeted with 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles. "The airport is operating as a first phase," Homs governor Talal Barazi told Reuters. "Planes have taken off from it," he added, without saying when. Asked if it was true that Syrian planes were now taking off from Shayrat or that the air base is operating, a Pentagon spokesman referred questions to the Syrian government. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based organization that reports on the war, said warplanes had taken off from the base on Friday and carried out air strikes on rebel-held areas in the eastern Homs countryside. An activist with an opposition air raid warning service said however that the first flight from the base was on Saturday morning. U.S. President Donald Trump suggested on Twitter that the runway itself had not been the target of the missile strikes. "The reason you don't generally hit runways is that they are easy and inexpensive to quickly fix (fill in and top)!", he said. A senior military source in the alliance fighting in support of President Bashar al-Assad said the airbase had been mostly evacuated thanks to a warning from Russia, which has deployed its military to Syria in support of Assad. The senior military source, a non-Syrian, said only a few out-of-service jets were destroyed. The United States warned Russia ahead of the attack. Assad is also backed in the war by Iran and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, and other Iranian-backed groups. The Pentagon said the missiles targeted aircraft, hardened aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage areas, ammunition supply bunkers, air defense systems, and radars. (Reporting by Kinda Makieh in Damascus, Laila Bassan and Tom Perry in Beirut, Yeganeh Torbati in Washington; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
Tiffany Trump, the youngest daughter of Donald Trump, was missing from limelight following the presidents swearing-in ceremony in January. Now, after more than two months, Tiffany made first public appearance at the White House Thursday to attend an event in support of the Wounded Warrior Project in Washington, D.C.

The 23-year-old kept her look for the event simple in a white silk shift dress and minimal jewelry. Sources told Cosmopolitan magazine that Tiffany "kept a low profile" at the event and quietly took her seat.

Tiffany reportedly arrived in Washington, D.C., from New York City Wednesday afternoon with her half-brother Eric Trump and his wife Lara. Unlike her half-sister Ivanka Trump, Tiffany has no plans of joining the White House, according to People magazine.

Tiffany looks up to Ivanka but she is not angling for any kind of White house role like Ivanka has, a source told People, referring Ivankas new role as adviser to her president father.

Tiffany is younger and still figuring out what she wants to do  but when her dad calls upon her, she always tries to accommodate, the source told the magazine. Of course he hasnt called upon her that much, but shes happy to help when he does, like giving the RNC speech.

Trumps presidential campaign, in fact, gave Tiffany a chance to get to know her 70-year-old father better, the source told People.

The two also traveled together a lot on the campaign  that was a really meaningful time for Tiffany because they got some one-on-one time on the private plane, the source reportedly said. Its actually some of the only time shes ever been alone with him as an adult.

Apart from Tiffany, Wednesdays event was also attended by Trump and the first lady Melania Trump along with Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen Pence, CBS reported.

The Trump family will head over to the presidents exclusive club, Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida over the weekend. Trump will be hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan at the lavish estate during the time.

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MADISON, Wis. (AP)  Two transgender University of Wisconsin employees are suing the state's insurance board and the UW System after it stopped covering sex reassignment procedures.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Wisconsin on Friday filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of anthropology graduate student Alina Boyden and cancer researcher Shannon Andrews.

The plaintiffs, who both identify as female and receive health insurance through their jobs with the university in Madison, argue that their insurance unfairly deprives them of care for gender dysphoria, a documented medical condition in which a person feels trapped in the body of the wrong sex. They allege not providing the benefits amounts to discrimination based on sex and transgender status.

"Too many transgender people continue to face discrimination in all facets of life, including health care access, and so I felt compelled to stand up and try to do something about it," Boyden said in a news release.

The insurance board last summer added the benefits, which a consultant estimated could account for between $100,000 and $150,000, around .01 percent of annual state premiums. But board members voted 7-2 in December to drop the benefits days before they became effective after the state Department of Justice asked them to reconsider. The justice department wrote in a memo to the board that U.S. Department of Health and Human Services rules unlawfully interpret Title IX of the Civil Rights Act to cover gender identity.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice didn't immediately return a message.

According to the complaint:

-Boyden has taken medications for gender dysphoria for the past 15 years. Her primary care physician in 2016 recommended to her health insurer that she receive gender reassignment surgery.

-Andrews first identified as a female at age five but didn't seek treatment until 2007 due to hostile reactions. She suffered an emotional breakdown in 2012 that caused her to lose a job and has attempted suicide on multiple occasions due to gender dysphoria. Her primary care physician in 2015 also recommended surgery.

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-Boyden has been forced to forego medical care for gender dysphoria and Andrews has paid thousands of dollars out-of-pocket to get care as a result of sex reassignment procedures not being covered by their insurance plans.

UW School of Medicine spokeswoman Lisa Brunette said the school does not determine health insurance benefits and referred a reporter to the insurance board. A spokeswoman for the UW System also referred questions to the insurance board.

Mark Lamkins, a spokesman for the state Department of Employee Trust Funds, which oversees the insurance board, didn't immediately return a voicemail Friday afternoon.

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Follow Cara Lombardo on Twitter at https://twitter.com/CaraRLombardo
President Donald Trump will make his first visit to China as he accepted his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping's invitation, the official Xinhua news agency said Friday. Xi, who is in the U.S. on a two-day visit along with his wife Peng Liyuan, urged cooperation with the U.S. on investment, infrastructure, and energy.

Trump welcomed Xi to his Mar-a-Lago Club resort in Florida for their first summit where the two men had "developed a friendship" as they sat for dinner. Before arriving at his Florida resort, Trump said the two main issues of Thursday's meeting would be North Koreas nuclear programme and trade with China.

We have been treated unfairly and have made terrible trade deals with China for many, many years. Thats one of the things we are going to be talking about. The other thing of course is going to be North Korea, Trump said.

Read: US War With China Is Approved By Americans, Poll Says

While it's unclear what the details of the discussion Thursday were, Trump and Xi are scheduled to sit down together again Friday for a working lunch. First lady Melania Trump and Peng are scheduled to visit a local school together the same day.

Earlier this month, Trump said hes ready to take on North Korea, with or without Chinese help.

China has great influence over North Korea. And China will either decide to help us with North Korea, or they wont, Trump said during his interview with the Financial Times. If they do, that will be very good for China, and if they dont, it wont be good for anyone.

Trump and Xi's meeting Thursday was largely overshadowed by the U.S. airstrike on an airbase in Syria in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack, which killed at least 100 people.

Trump's airstrike in Syria received mixed reactions from world leaders, with Iran and Russia condemning the move.

China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Friday that the country hopes that "relevant parties stay calm, exercise restraint and avoid doing anything that might raise tensions."

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"The latest developments in Syria again speak to the urgent need for a political settlement to resolve the Syria issue," Hua Chunying told reporters at a regular briefing. "We call on all relevant parties to resolutely stick to promoting a political settlement and not abandon efforts to find a political settlement."

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Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago situation room photograph tweeted by White House press secretary Sean Spicer Friday has come under scrutiny as people closely look into the people who were in the room with the president during a briefing over Syria airstrike in response to the chemical attack.

The image has also been likened to the 2011 iconic photo that showed former President Barack Obama with his national security team in the White House Situation Room as they monitored a live video showing the killing of Osama bin Laden.

Read: CNN's Jake Tapper Slams First Daughter Over Pro-Syria Airstrike Tweet

In the latest photograph, Trump is seen sitting at a table with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, National Security Adviser HR McMaster, Chief of Staff Reince Preibus, special adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, and others. Spicer is also seen in the shot sitting in the corner, near the door.

Sitting on the sidelines is adviser Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller and Deputy National Security Advisor Dina Powell.

Spicer tweeted that Vice President Mike Pence, Defense Secretary James Mattis, and Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, were not in the room, but participated in the briefing by secure video conference.

"I wonder if the similarity to bin laden raid photo is intentional #SyriaStrikes," CNN's chief national security correspondent wrote on Twitter.

After about 100 people were killed in a chemical attack on Syrias Idlib province Tuesday, Trump ordered missile strikes on the air base in Syria from which the chemicals were launched. The airstrike received mixed reactions from the world, with Iran and Russia condemning Trump's move.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called the airstrike an "aggression against a sovereign nation" and saw it as an "attempt to distract the world from civilian casualties from U.S. military action in Iraq." The military action did "significant damage to U.S.-Russia ties," his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

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Just days before the New Hampshire primary last year, a must-win contest to keep his unlikely bid for the presidency alive, Donald Trump was doubling down on his opposition to admitting refugees from Syria and other countries known to be breeding grounds for terrorists when a supporter stood up and questioned how committed he really was to that pledge.

Speaking at a town hall in Salem, N.H., the man asked if Trump could really look at Syrian children aged 5, 8, 10, in the face and say they couldnt come to the U.S. Trump said he could.

Slideshow: Suspected Syria gas attack kills dozens, including children >>>

I can look in their faces and say, You cant come here, he announced to cheers, arguing, as he would repeatedly throughout the campaign, that Syrian children could be used by their parents as a Trojan horse to get into the country to help perpetrate attacks on the homeland.

A little over a year later, theres no sign that Trump has weakened his stance on keeping Syrian refugees out of the United States. His temporary ban blocking refugees from six Muslim-majority countries is on hold, blocked by a federal court amid arguments over its legality under the Constitution. But his posture on the subject of Syrians, especially children caught up in the ongoing civil war there, has changed remarkably in the aftermath of what U.S. officials say was a poison gas attack launched by Syrian President Bashar Assad on his own people.

Slideshow: U.S. attacks Syrian air base >>>

The images, which have blanketed cable TV and other news outlets, were horrific even for a public desensitized by the seemingly endless drumbeat of death in Syrias multi-sided civil war. Dozens of unconscious children, their tiny, limp bodies being hosed down with water in the street as doctors frantically tried to revive them. A hospital ward packed with young kids, many foaming at the mouth, their small chests heaving up and down as they struggled to breathe. A stunned father clutching his lifeless 9-month-old twins, wrapped in white blankets, as he tearfully rocked them one last time. Say goodbye, baby, say goodbye, the man said, a dead child in each arm, in footage that made news around the world.

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It was an atrocity that, to the surprise of nearly everyone, prompted Trump to order retaliatory missile strikes against Syrian targets on Thursday night in what is likely to go down as a key moment in his young presidency.

Speaking to reporters at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida estate where he was hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump somberly framed his move as an act of deterrence, aimed at discouraging the spread and use of chemical weapons that could undermine Americas security. But it was also clearly an emotional decision made by a president who has often spoken of relying on gut instinct, whether in his business deals, as a reality television star or in his surprising political career.

After months of campaigning on his America First policy and arguing that the U.S. should focus on problems at home before intervening elsewhere, Trump abruptly shifted his stance, taking aim at Assad  only days after his administration had seemingly backed away from a longstanding American commitment to deposing him as a precondition for peace.

Assad, Trump said Thursday, had choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children in what was a slow and barbaric death for so many. Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered, Trump declared. No child of God should ever suffer such horror.

Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Yuri Gripas/Reuters, Alaa Alyousef via AP

Though many of Trumps critics were quick to praise his move against Syria, they also pointed out that it was a position deeply tinged with irony. Trump was suddenly coming to the defense of Syrian civilians that he had spent most of his presidential campaign decrying as potential terrorists, people he had spent much of his early presidency trying to keep out of the country.

Only Trump can say for certain what prompted his decision to plunge into a messy conflict for which there are few easy solutions. He would hardly be the first president to reconsider his views after assuming the responsibilities that come with taking a role on the world stage where America is viewed as a leader of democracy.

But one important lens for viewing Trump as president is television, which he watches obsessively. And not unlike the coverage of his administration on cable TV that has sent him to rage on Twitter, footage of the atrocities produced in Trump  as in many Americans  a visceral reaction.

Speaking at a press conference at the White House on Tuesday, Trump admitted as much, telling reporters that his attitude toward Syria and Assad had changed very much because of the footage hed seen. I will tell you that attack on children yesterday had a big impact on me, big impact, he said. That was a horrible, horrible thing. And Ive been watching it and seeing it, and it doesnt get any worse than that.

Using a phrase he would repeat on Thursday, Trump spoke of the beautiful little babies that had been killed. It crossed a lot of lines for me. When you kill innocent children, innocent babies, little babies with a chemical gas that is so lethal that crosses many, many lines. Beyond a red line, many, many lines, he said.

That leaves at least two significant, unanswered questions for the future: Will Trump continue to make policy based on television footage that tugs at his heart? And what does this portend about Trumps attitude toward refugees fleeing precisely these kinds of atrocities? The White House has dodged questions about whether Trumps change of heart on intervening in Syria means the president has also shifted his view on refugees. Speaking to reporters Thursday night, Gen. H.R. McMaster, Trumps national security adviser, said the refugee ban hadnt come up in the context of Thursdays military strike.

Read more from Yahoo News:
SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump told South Korea on Saturday he had explained to China's President Xi Jinping America's position on the deployment of an anti-missile defense system to South Korea, according to a statement from South Korea's acting leader. Trump informed South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn in a Saturday telephone call of his summit discussion with Xi. China has opposed the deployment of the U.S.-supplied High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) in South Korea, arguing it could threaten its security, but South Korea and the United States say it is aimed at countering North Korea's missile threat. China has increased pressure and imposed restrictions on some South Korean companies doing business in China, which led many in the South to believe Beijing was retaliating against the deployment of the missile system. "President Trump said he and President Xi held in-depth discussions on the seriousness of North Korea's nuclear problem and how to respond to it, and also said he had conveyed the U.S. position on the THAAD deployment," the statement said. Trump pressed Xi to do more to curb North Korea's nuclear programme in their summit meeting at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said. The U.S. military began deployment of the THAAD system in March, a day after the North test-fired four ballistic missiles. China has not directly said it is targeting South Korean companies. (Reporting by Jack Kim and Ju-min Park; Editing by Michael Perry)
By Alison Frankel and Dustin Volz NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An attempt by U.S. authorities to identify an anonymous critic of President Donald Trump on Twitter has set off alarm bells among Democratic and Republican lawmakers and civil liberties advocates fearful of a crackdown on dissent. Twitter Inc on Friday succeeded in beating back a demand for records about a Twitter account called ALT Immigration (@ALT_uscis), which pokes fun at Trump's immigration policies and appears to be run by one or more federal employees. The U.S. government withdrew an administrative summons that customs agents had sent the company in March demanding the records. But the government backed away only after Twitter filed a federal lawsuit accusing it of violating the First Amendment's protection of free speech. Customs agents could still continue the investigation using some other methods, civil liberties attorneys said. Although authorities retreated, the case has laid bare the broad power of the U.S. government to demand information from technology companies, sometimes with no oversight from the courts and often with built-in secrecy provisions that prevent the public from knowing what the government is seeking. The summons that Twitter received came from agents who investigate corruption and misconduct within U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Even after it was withdrawn, some lawmakers had questions about the agency's actions. "CBP must ensure that any properly authorized investigation does not disregard the rights to free speech enshrined in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution," two Republican U.S. senators, Cory Gardner of Colorado and Mike Lee of Utah, wrote in a letter on Friday to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly. The senators asked whether the agency would ever ask a private company to divulge private records about a customer based solely on "non-criminal speech." Senate Democrat Ron Wyden of Oregon called for an investigation of whether customs agents had violated a law by retaliating against an internal critic. The Department of Homeland Security plans to respond directly to the senators, an official said on Friday. FORMIDABLE RANGE There are two primary ways the U.S. government can obtain information from internet companies without a judge's approval using a law known as the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, according to experts in privacy law. Agencies with enforcement power, such as the Internal Revenue Service, can issue administrative subpoenas demanding user records. Prosecutors can also ask grand juries investigating a crime to issue a subpoena. An aggressive agency, for example, might demand information about a Twitter account that used an agency logo on the grounds that it is deceptive, said Georgetown University law professor Paul Ohm. Similarly, a prosecutor could ask a grand jury to issue a subpoena based on the idea that a federal employee, suspected of criticizing the administration anonymously, was misusing government resources. "It doesn't take a brilliant legal mind to think of hypotheticals," Ohm said. Further, such subpoenas are usually kept secret, making them more difficult to challenge. Some other government tools, such as a national security letter, are intended to be used for narrow purposes related to counter-terrorism investigations. But they do not require judicial approval either, instead relying on internal safeguards. Challenging such demands is difficult and often requires deep pockets, attorneys familiar with such orders said. "It's important to keep in mind how formidable the government's range of investigatory powers is," said Andrew Crocker, a staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which advocates for digital rights. In the case of ALT Immigration, Twitter said it was not bound to keep the summons a secret, and the company informed the account holder of the government demand. That person then found legal representation with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Esha Bhandari, the ACLU staff attorney representing the dissident, said she thinks the speed with which the government withdrew its summons - less than a day after Twitter sued - means the customs agents will cease investigating, but she cannot be sure. "It's impossible to predict, of course, but I'm hopeful that this really is a recognition that people have the ability to speak online including in ways that are critical of the government," Bhandari said. The Department of Homeland Security has not said what its plans are for the investigation. After Trump's inauguration in January, anonymous Twitter feeds that borrowed the names and logos of more than a dozen U.S. government agencies appeared to challenge the president's views on climate change and other issues. They called themselves "alt" accounts. Twitter has declined to say if it has received any other government demands to reveal such anti-Trump critics. (Reporting by Alison Frankel in New York and Dustin Volz in Washington; Writing by David Ingram in San Francisco; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Bill Rigby)
(Reuters) - U.S. allies expressed support on Friday for Washington's missile strikes on Syria, calling them a proportionate response to Syrian forces' suspected use of chemical weapons. The strikes were denounced as illegal by Syria and its allies Russia and Iran. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called on the world "to reject such policies, which bring only destruction and danger to the region and the globe". (Graphic locator map on attack - http://tmsnrt.rs/2nm68H0) Iraq criticized "hasty interventions" in an apparent comment on the U.S. action. But a wide range of U.S. allies from Asia, Europe and the Middle East expressed support, if sometimes cautiously, in similar terms. "The U.K. government fully supports the U.S. action, which we believe was an appropriate response to the barbaric chemical weapons attack launched by the Syrian regime and is intended to deter further attacks," a British government spokesman said. Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters: "Many innocent people became victims from the chemical attacks. "Japan supports the U.S. government's determination to prevent the spread and use of chemical weapons," he said. Turkey viewed the strikes positively and the international community should sustain its stance against the "barbarity" of the Syrian government, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said. In an interview with Turkish broadcaster Fox TV, Kurtulmus said Assad's government must be punished in the international arena and the peace process in Syria needed to be accelerated. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said Russia and Iran needed to understand that supporting Assad made no sense and that the escalation of the U.S. military role in Syria was a "warning" to "a criminal regime". "Use of chemical weapons is appalling and should be punished because it is a war crime," Ayrault told Reuters and France Info radio. French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel issued statements saying Assad was solely to blame for the air strikes. The Dutch government said: "The United States has given a clear signal that the use of poison gas crosses a line." It also labeled the strikes a "proportionate" response. "U.S. strikes show needed resolve against barbaric chemical attacks. EU will work with the US to end brutality in Syria," the chairman of the council of EU leaders, Donald Tusk, said on Twitter. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the strikes sent "a vitally important message" that the world would not tolerate the use of chemical weapons. "The retribution has been proportionate and it has been swift," he told reporters in Sydney. "We support the United States in that swift action." Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which back rebels fighting Assad, said they supported the U.S. strikes and held only the Syrian government responsible for the attacks. Other Gulf countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait, also expressed support for the attacks. Some countries expressed reservations about the U.S. decision to launch strikes without authorization from the U.N. Security Council. Indonesia, home to the world's largest Muslim population, condemned the use of chemical weapons in Syria. "At the same time, Indonesia is concerned with unilateral actions by any parties, including the use of Tomahawk missiles, in responding to the chemical weapon attack tragedy in Syria," Foreign Ministry spokesman Armanatha Nasir said in a text message. "Military actions, undertaken without prior authorization of the U.N. Security Council, are not in line with international legal principles in the peaceful settlement of disputes, as stipulated in the U.N. Charter." (Additional reporting by Kanupriya Kapoor in Jakarta, Parisa Hafezi in Ankara, Guy Faulconbridge in London, Andrew Osborn and Jack Stubbs in Moscow, John Irish in Nouakchott, Mauritania, Colin Packham in Sydney, Tulay Karadeniz in Istanbul, Maher Chmaytelli in Erbil, Aziz El Yaakoubi and Sami Aboudi in Dubai and Marcin Goettig in Warsaw; Writing by Nick Macfie; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Sonya Hepinstall and Giles Elgood)
By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Friday it is suspending enforcement of the costliest requirements of its "conflict minerals" rule, after a court remanded it back to the regulator because part of it violates the U.S. Constitution. Acting SEC Chairman Mike Piwowar, a Republican, said he has asked staff for a recommendation on how to proceed with the rule, which requires companies to disclose if their products contain certain minerals from a war-torn part of Africa. For now, he added, companies will not be required to conduct a due diligence review or an audit, which are both part of the process used to determine the origin of the minerals. "Until these issues are resolved, it is difficult to conceive of a circumstance that would counsel in favor of enforcing" the due diligence requirements, he said in a statement. The move sparked backlash from SEC Democratic Commissioner Kara Stein, who accused Piwowar of acting beyond his authority to gut the meat of a rule mandated by Congress, adopted by the SEC and reviewed by the courts. It is unprecedented for one commissioner, acting alone and without official notice and comment, to engage in de facto rulemaking," she said. "It represents a troubling attack not only on the Commission process, but also on the restraints of government power. The conflict minerals rule was required by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law and is supported by human rights groups that want companies to tell investors if their products contain tantalum, tin, gold or tungsten mined from the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the hope that such disclosures will curb funding to armed groups. Business groups have contended that it forces companies to furnish politically charged information that is irrelevant to making investment decisions and that it costs too much for companies to trace the source of minerals through the supply chain. In 2014, a U.S. appeals court struck down part of the conflict minerals law after the Business Roundtable, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers sued the SEC over it. The court found part of it violated free speech rights of companies by forcing them to publicly state that their products were not conflict free. The rest of the rule was left intact. Since then, companies have furnished reports with SEC and conducted due diligence, though they were granted a reprieve from the audit requirement and the labeling of the minerals themselves. The litigation formally came to an end on Monday, when the lower court remanded the rule back to the SEC to address the First Amendment concerns. The appeals court did not say whether the Dodd-Frank law itself or the SEC's implementation of the rule violated the Constitution, a matter that the SEC will now need to determine. Companies will still need to file required forms with the SEC and do origin inquiries, as they have been doing. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Lisa Shumaker)
(PALM BEACH, Fla.) - The United States is vowing to keep up the pressure on Syria after the intense nighttime wave of missile strikes from U.S. ships, despite the prospect of escalating Russian ill will that could further inflame one of the worlds most vexing conflicts.

Standing firm, the Trump administration on Friday signaled new sanctions would soon follow the missile attack, and the Pentagon was even probing whether Russia itself was involved in the chemical weapons assault that compelled President Donald Trump to action. The attack against a Syrian air base was the first U.S. assault against the government of President Bashar Assad.

Much of the international community rallied behind Trumps decision to fire the cruise missiles in reaction to this weeks chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of men, women and children in Syria. But a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the strikes dealt a significant blow to relations between Moscow and Washington.

At the United Nations, Russias deputy ambassador, Vladimir Safronkov, strongly criticized what he called the U.S. flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression whose consequences for regional and international security could be extremely serious. He called the Assad government a main force against terrorism and said it deserved the presumption of innocence in the chemical weapons attack.

U.S. officials blame Moscow for propping up Assad.

The world is waiting for the Russian government to act responsibly in Syria, Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said during an emergency Security Council session. The world is waiting for Russia to reconsider its misplaced alliance with Bashar Assad.

Haley said the U.S. was prepared to take further action in Syria but hoped it wouldnt be necessary.

The official Saudi Press Agency reported that King Salman complimented Trump in a telephone conversation for his courageous decision.

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Saudi Arabia, one of the most vehement opponents of Assad, said the missile barrage was the right response to the crimes of this regime to its people in light of the failure of the international community to stop it.

In Florida with the president, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said additional economic sanctions on Syria were being prepared.

Thursday nights strikes - some 60 cruise missiles fired from two ships in the Mediterranean - were the culmination of a rapid, three-day transformation for Trump, who has long opposed deeper U.S. involvement in Syrias civil war. Advisers said he was outraged by heartbreaking images of young children who were among the dozens killed in the chemical attack.

The decision undercut another campaign promise for Trump: his pledge to try to warm relations with Moscow. After months of allegations of ties between his election campaign and the Kremlin - the subject of current congressional and FBI investigations - Trump has found himself clashing with Putin.

On Friday, senior U.S. military officials were looking more closely at possible Russian involvement in the poison attack. Officials said a drone belonging to either Russia or Syria was seen hovering over the site after the assault earlier this week. The drone returned late in the day as citizens were going to a nearby hospital for treatment. Shortly afterward, officials say the hospital was targeted.

The officials, who insisted on anonymity in order to discuss the sensitive matter, said they believe the hospital attack may have been an effort to cover up evidence of the earlier assault.

White House officials caution that Trump is not preparing to plunge the U.S. deeper into Syria. Spokesman Sean Spicer said the missile attack sent a clear message to Assad, but he avoided explicitly calling for the Syrian to leave office.

The impact of the strikes was also unclear. Despite intense international pressure, Assad has clung to power since a civil war broke out in his country six years ago, helped by financial and military support from both Russia and Iran. Russian military personnel and aircraft are embedded with Syrias, and Iranian troops and paramilitary forces are also on the ground helping Assad fight the array of opposition groups hoping to topple him.

Trump spent Friday in Florida, in private meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping. U.S. officials noted that the timing of the strike had the possible added benefit of signaling to China that Trump is willing to make good on his threat to act alone to stop North Koreas nuclear pursuits if Beijing doesnt exert more pressure on Pyongyang.

The missile strikes hit the government-controlled Shayrat air base in central Syria, where U.S. officials say the Syrian military planes that dropped the chemicals had taken off.

Trumps decision to strike Syria won widespread praise from other nations. Not everyone was cheering in Washington, where the presidents decision to act without congressional authority angered a mix of libertarian Republicans, Democrats and the far right.

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Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor in Washington, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Vivian Salama in Palm Beach, Florida, contributed to this report.

This article was originally published on TIME.com
Kampala (AFP) - A prominent academic has been arrested for criticising the wife of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on social media, police said Saturday.

Stella Nyanzi criticised Janet Museveni, who is education minister, on Facebook after the government reneged on a campaign pledge to supply free sanitary pads to schoolgirls struggling to afford hygiene products.

Police spokesman Emilian Kayima confirmed that Nyanzi was taken into custody Friday and would appear in court Monday in Kampala on charges of cyber harassment and offensive communication under a 2011 law governing computer misuse.

"She kept posting issues, fighting battles on social media which we think does not serve her interests or ours," Kayima said.

Last Monday, Janet Museveni said in a rare TV interview that she had "forgiven" Nyanzi, whose work specialises in the study of sexuality in Africa.

The academic, whose no-holds-barred work is seen as provocative in some circles of a largely conservative society, had accused the first lady of being "totally out of touch with the reality of the masses".

After Janet Museveni said the sanitary pads pledge would not be met on budgetary grounds, Nyanzi began a high profile fundraising campaign on the issue.

Social media critic Rosebell Kagumire said that, with Nyanzi's arrest, "I think the government are looking for ways to extend traditional methods of intimidation to online speech. They are trying to control a space they have no ability to control."

Maria Burnett, Senior Africa Researcher at Human Rights Watch, criticised the arrest as an attack on free expression.

"The arrest and criminal charges brought against Dr. Nyanzi are yet another clear indicator that those who express critical views of the government can face its wrath," Burnett said.

"The manner of Nyanzi's arrest on Friday was more about intimidation than law enforcement," she added.
UNITED NATIONS (AP)  Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has selected Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai to be a U.N. messenger of peace, the highest honor bestowed by the U.N. chief on a global citizen.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric announced Friday that the 19-year-old education advocate will focus worldwide attention on the need for all girls to go to school. She will be officially designated at a ceremony on Monday and then hold a conversation with Guterres and youth representatives from around the world on girls' education, he said.

Yousafzai became the youngest-ever Nobel laureate in 2014, when she was recognized for her advocacy of the right of all children to education. Her campaign led to a Taliban assassination attempt near her home in northwest Pakistan that left her severely wounded. She went to Britain for medical treatment and now goes to school there.

"Even in the face of grave danger, Malala Yousafzai has shown an unwavering commitment to the rights of women, girls and all people," Guterres said.

"Her courageous activism for girls' education has already energized so many people around the world," he said in a statement. "Now as our youngest-ever U.N. Messenger of Peace, Malala can do even more to help create a more just and peaceful world."

Other messengers of peace including actors Michael Douglas and Leonardo DiCaprio, primatologist Jane Goodall and musicians Daniel Barenboim and Yo-Yo Ma.

Messengers of Peace volunteer "their time, talent and passion" in different fields to help focus global attention on the work of the United Nations, according to the U.N.
The United States, Japan and South Korea are working toward thwarting North Korea's possible plans of conducting its sixth nuclear test this month. Seoul's Ministry of National Defense said late Thursday that the country was making further moves to strengthen trilateral military partnerships with Washington and Tokyo to counter Pyongyang's growing missile threats.

Officials from the three countries conducted a conference call late Thursday to discuss the Kim Jong Un regime's test-firing of a possible KN-15 missile, also known as Pukguksong-2, which flew about 37 miles before hitting international waters with a maximum altitude of over 117 miles Wednesday.

Japan, U.S. and South Korea officials "strongly denounced" the provocation from North Korea in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions that ban the reclusive country from firing any ballistic missile, Seoul's ministry said, according to Yonhap News Agency. Authorities also stressed that the North's continuous nuclear advancement posed a serious threat to the peace and security of the peninsula and East Asia.

Read: Where Will North Korea Attack First?

Brig. Gen. Park Chul-kyun, deputy director general for international policy at the South Korean ministry; Andrew Winternitz, U.S. acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia; and Koji Kano, director for defense policy at Japan's defense ministry joined the conference call.

North Korea has continued its threat against the U.S. and South Korea despite several warnings from the international community. On Thursday, Pyongyang's foreign ministry released a memorandum saying the U.S. should be totally accountable for a possible outbreak of war on the Korean Peninsula.

"The release of the memorandum appears to be aimed at bolstering internal solidarity and sending a message toward the outside world," Lee Eugene, a South Korean ministry vice spokesperson, told a regular press briefing Thursday.

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North Korea's missile launch Wednesday came just days after it warned it will "mercilessly smash the enemy's (South Korea and the U.S.) moves with its own style of special operation and preemptive attack" in retaliation to the joint drills by South Korea-U.S. special operations teams in Seoul. The annual military drills began March 1 and will continue through the end of next month.

"We think that North Korea is ready to carry out the sixth nuclear test at any time upon the leadership's decision," Lee said Thursday. "We are closely monitoring the situation in collaboration with the U.S."

While discussion continues on ways to tackle North Korea's upcoming nuclear and ballistic missile tests, South Korea test-fired a nearly 500-mile range ballistic missile capable of reaching anywhere in Pyongyang.

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Moscow (AFP) - The United States is "playing the terrorism game", Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Saturday during his first phone talks with his US counterpart Rex Tillerson since the US air strikes on Syria last week.

"A country which battles against terrorism is just playing the terrorism game," and "creates regional and global security threats", Lavrov warned Tillerson, according to a Russian foreign ministry statement.

Lavrov also reaffirmed Russia's position that accusations that the Syrian regime had launched a chemical weapons attack on the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhun last week "are not in line with reality".

The United States on Thursday fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles from warships in the Mediterranean at the Shayrat airfield near Homs in central Syria.

The previous day US President Donald Trump said pictures of the Khan Sheikhun victims in agony, had "an enormous impact" on him.

Saturday's phone call was the first between the top diplomats of Russia and the US since the strikes on the Syrian airfield.

US Secretary of State Tillerson is due to arrive in Moscow on Tuesday for two days of talks.

On Friday, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow expects "explanations", during Tillerson's visit, for the US air strike on the Syrian airbase

For his part, Tillerson on Friday said he was disappointed" by Russia's reaction "because it indicates their continued support" for the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
An American special forces soldier has been killed while conducting operations against the Islamic State group in Afghanistan, the US military said.

The US-backed Afghan military has vowed to wipe out the group in its strongholds in the eastern province of Nangarhar as IS challenges the more powerful Taliban on its own turf.

"A US soldier was killed in action while conducting operations against ISIS-Khorasan in (Nangarhar) Afghanistan," US Navy Captain Bill Salvin said on Twitter, referring to a regional affiliate of the jihadist group.

The identity of the soldier, killed late on Saturday, was not revealed.

"On behalf of all of U.S. Forces - Afghanistan, I offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of our fallen comrade," General John Nicholson, the top US commander in Afghanistan, said in a statement.

"We will always remember our fallen comrades and commit ourselves to deliver on their sacrifice," Nicholson added.

Nangarhar, which borders Pakistan, is a hotbed of IS militancy. US forces have conducted a number of air strikes on jihadist bases in the area since August last year.

IS, notorious for its reign of terror in Syria and Iraq, has been making inroads into Afghanistan in recent years. It has attracted disaffected members of the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban as well as Uzbek Islamists.

But the group has been steadily losing territory in the face of heavy pressure both from US air strikes and a ground offensive led by Afghan forces.

Islamic State's strength in Afghanistan has fallen to 600-800 fighters from 3,000 in early 2016, NATO has said, adding that it killed the top 12 IS commanders in the country last year.

The jihadists claimed a deadly assault on Afghanistan's largest military hospital last month, but survivors who spoke to AFP said the attackers chanted "Long live Taliban" in Pashto.

Last month three American troops have sustained injuries when an Afghan soldier opened fire on them in the southern province of Helmand, the first known "insider attack" on international forces this year.
By Johan Ahlander STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A truck ploughed into a crowd on a shopping street and crashed into a department store in central Stockholm on Friday, killing four people and wounding 15 in what the prime minister said appeared to be a terrorist attack. Police said they had arrested one person in a northern Stockholm suburb after earlier circulating a picture of a man wearing a grey hoodie in connection with the investigation into the attack on Drottninggatan (Queen Street) using a hijacked beer truck. "These kinds of actions will never succeed. We know that our enemies are these atrocious murderers and not each other," Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, who had earlier described the assault as a terrorist attack, told a news conference. "Our message will always be clear: you will not defeat us, you will not govern our lives, you will never, ever win." There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Police said security at Swedish borders had been heightened. They did not rule out the possibility other attackers were involved. SWERVING "I turned around and saw a big truck coming towards me. It swerved from side to side. It didn't look out of control, it was trying to hit people," Glen Foran, an Australian tourist in his 40s, told Reuters. "It hit people, it was terrible. It hit a pram with a kid in it, demolished it," he said. "It took a long time for police to get here. I suppose from their view it was quick, but it felt like forever." The area of the attack in central Stockholm was evacuated, including the main rail station, and remained cordoned off late on Friday. All subway traffic was halted on police orders and government offices were closed. A Reuters witness at the scene saw policemen put what appeared to be two bodies into body bags. Bloody tyre tracks showed the path of the truck, which was stolen by a masked hijacker while making a beer delivery to a tapas bar further up Drottninggatan, according to Spendrups Brewery spokesman Marten Lyth. "We were standing by the traffic lights at Drottninggatan and then we heard some screaming and saw a truck coming," a witness who declined to be named told Reuters. "Then it drove into a pillar at (department store) Ahlens City, where the hood started burning. When it stopped we saw a man lying under the tyre. It was terrible to see," said the man, who saw the incident from his car. Police said four people had died and 15 were injured. National news agency TT said those hurt included the delivery driver, who had tried to stop the hijack. Several attacks in which trucks or cars have driven into crowds have taken place in Europe in the past year. Al Qaeda in 2010 urged its followers to use trucks as a weapon. Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack in Nice, France, last July, when a truck killed 86 people celebrating Bastille Day, and one in Berlin in December, when a truck smashed through a Christmas market, killing 12 people. "Hijacking a truck, that has happened before," Magnus Ranstorp, head of terrorism research at the Swedish Defence University, told Reuters. "And this is a pretty cunning modus operandi. To drive to Ahlens and stop ... There is a way down to the subway just a few metres away from there, and then you ... can jump on any train you want and quickly disappear." #OPENSTOCKHOLM Stockholmers opened up their homes and offered lifts to people who were unable to get home or needed a place to stay. "Our thoughts are going out to those that were affected, and to their families," Sweden's King Carl Gustaf said in a statement, while European Union chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker said an attack on any of the bloc's member states "is an attack on us all". The attack was the latest to hit the Nordic region after shootings in Danish capital Copenhagen in 2015 that killed three people and the 2011 bombing and shooting by far right extremist Anders Behring Breivik that killed 77 people in Norway. Sweden has not seen a large-scale attack, although in December 2010 a failed suicide bombing killed the attacker only a few hundred yards from the site of Friday's incident. In February U.S. President Donald Trump falsely suggested there had been an immigration-related security incident in Sweden, to the bafflement of Swedes. Swedish authorities raised the national security threat level to four on a scale of five in October 2010 but lowered the level to three, indicating a "raised threat", in March 2016. Police in Norway's largest cities and at Oslo airport will carry weapons until further notice following the attack. Denmark has been on high alert since the February 2015 shootings. Traffic was restricted on the Oresund bridge linking Denmark and Sweden at the request of Swedish police. Neutral Sweden has not fought a war in more than 200 years, but its military has taken part in U.N peacekeeping missions in a number of conflict zones in recent years, including Iraq, Mali and Afghanistan. The Sapo security police said in its annual report it was impossible to say how big a risk there was that Sweden would be targeted like other European cities, but that, if so "it is most likely that it would be undertaken by a lone attacker". For a map of attack location http://tmsnrt.rs/2oguW2M (Reporting by Stockholm newsroom; Writing by Gwladys Fouche; Editing by Catherine Evans)
Caracas (AFP) - Venezuelan authorities on Friday banned a top opposition leader from public office for 15 years, the latest move in an increasingly tense power struggle in the crisis-hit country.

Henrique Capriles was one of the leaders of mass demonstrations this week against socialist President Nicolas Maduro that led to clashes with police. One protester died.

State comptroller Manuel Galindo imposed a "sanction of disqualification from exercising public office for a period of 15 years," his institution said in a ruling made public by Capriles himself.

The ruling said the sanction was due to "administrative irregularities" by Capriles in his post as governor of the northern state of Miranda.

Capriles rejected the move and insisted he would retain his post as governor, branding Maduro a dictator.

"The only one who is disqualified in this country is Nicolas Maduro. They can stick their disqualification where the sun don't shine," he told a news conference.

"If the dictatorship is squealing, it is a sign that we are making progress."

The state authority's move effectively bans Capriles, a lawyer of 44, from running against Maduro in a general election due next year.

If effective, it will remove from the political ring one of the most prominent contenders in the center-right opposition MUD coalition, which is pushing to remove Maduro from office.

Capriles's allies vowed to push ahead with further protests planned for Saturday.

"The dictatorship wants to choose its opposition. Shall we let it? No. Tomorrow we continue," wrote leading lawmaker Freddy Guevara on Twitter.

- 'Coup' claim -

Capriles branded Friday's ban part of what the opposition alleges is a "coup" by allies of Maduro, who is resisting opposition calls for a vote on removing him from power.

"This is all part and package of the internal coup," Capriles said on Twitter, branding the government a "corrupt drug-trafficking leadership."

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Capriles lost narrowly in the 2013 election that brought Maduro to the presidency after the death of his mentor Hugo Chavez -- father of Venezuela's "socialist revolution."

After this week's demonstrations, Maduro dismissed Capriles as "politically finished."

Another pro-government leader, Freddy Bernal, alleged Capriles was inciting protests "looking for a few deaths to set the country alight."

- Tear gas -

Venezuela's political crisis intensified last week when the Supreme Court issued rulings curbing the powers of the opposition-controlled legislature.

The court has consistently ruled in Maduro's favor since the opposition majority took its seats in the National Assembly legislature in January 2016.

It drew international criticism for last week's rulings, which seized the assembly's powers and revoked lawmakers' immunity from prosecution.

The court reversed the rulings days later, but the opposition intensified its protests, prompting police to fire tear gas.

Capriles can appeal against his sanction within two weeks to the comptroller and within six months to the Supreme Court.

- Violence -

The collapse in prices for Venezuela's crucial oil exports has sapped the country's revenues.

Ordinary Venezuelans are suffering from shortages of food, medicine and basic goods along with a surge in violent crime.

The opposition blames Maduro for the economic crisis. He says it is due to a capitalist conspiracy backed by the United States.

He retains the public support of the military -- a pillar that analysts say could make him topple if removed.

A 19-year-old protester was shot dead during protests on Thursday, the third consecutive day of violence. Public prosecutors said they would charge a policeman over the killing.

The wave of protests has revived fears of broader unrest in Venezuela, where 43 people were killed during riots in 2014.

The country has undergone three attempted military coups since 1992.

"Maduro is scared that I will be the new commander in chief. But don't worry, sooner or later, there will be one," Capriles told supporters, claiming some military members reject his punishment.
Caracas (AFP) - Protesters hurling rocks clashed with police firing tear gas Saturday in Venezuela's fourth demonstration in a week against President Nicolas Maduro and his government.

The rally was marked by anger over a ruling from the leftist government banning opposition leader Henrique Capriles from office for 15 years. Around 4,000 people attended the demonstration.

Capriles narrowly lost the 2013 presidential election that brought Maduro to power following the death of his mentor Hugo Chavez -- father of Venezuela's "socialist revolution."

The government move, which the 44-year-old Capriles announced on Friday, effectively prevents him from running against Maduro in next year's general election.

Saturday's violence broke out when protesters who had gathered in the east of the city changed course at Capriles's request and headed downtown toward the government ombudsman's office.

The district -- home to many government offices -- is a pro-Maduro bastion and the president's supporters were holding a "cultural, sporting and recreational rally" there.

National Guard police fired tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets to force protesters back.

Masked demonstrators threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at police, said AFP reporters on the scene. At least two police officers were hit by the flaming bottles.

The initial tally of injuries stood at 17, according to the mayor of one of Caracas's districts.

- 'Product of tyranny' -

According to Capriles, the building where he carries out his political activities was "attacked with bombs" shortly after the demonstration.

"What is the order of Maduro? To kill us? If something happens, you know who is responsible and what must be done!" he wrote on Twitter.

Capriles was among the leaders behind mass demonstrations against Maduro earlier this week that triggered clashes with police. One protester died.

"This thing that they just did to Capriles is the product of tyranny," said Adel Rincones, 61, who clutched a sign that read "Venezuela is wounded in the heart with hunger, misery, corruption, dictatorship."

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Others at the rally held pictures of Capriles.

"People are tired of so much corruption, hunger and poverty," said Vanessa Garcia, 37, an optometry student.

Protests also erupted in several other cities, including unrest-prone San Cristobal in the west, where masked gunmen reportedly set off explosions, causing demonstrators to flee.

In Caracas, the violent clashes went on for about three hours before demonstrators dispersed.

Intelligence Services chief Gustavo Gonzalez said some leaders of a "fascist terrorist cell" were taken into custody for fomenting Saturday's unrest.

He said Capriles was a leader of this cell, but did not immediately comment on his status. At least 51 people were arrested nationwide in Saturday's protest clashes, 17 of whom were released, the NGO Criminal Justice Forum said.

- 'Administrative irregularities' -

State comptroller Manuel Galindo imposed the ban on Capriles due to his alleged "administrative irregularities" while serving as governor of the northern state of Miranda.

Capriles said that he would appeal the decision and stay in his job as governor, which he has held since 2008.

Venezuela's political crisis intensified last week when the Supreme Court issued rulings curbing the powers of the opposition-controlled legislature.

The court has consistently ruled in Maduro's favor since the opposition majority took its seats in the National Assembly legislature in January 2016.

It drew international criticism for last week's rulings, which seized the assembly's powers and revoked lawmakers' immunity from prosecution.

- Opposition intensifies -

The court reversed the rulings days later, but the opposition intensified its protests, prompting police to fire tear gas and water cannon.

The opposition then came up with the idea of seeking the dismissal of the Supreme Court's justices. But the ombudsman's office blocked the move.

Capriles can appeal against his sanction within two weeks to the comptroller and within six months to the Supreme Court.

The collapse in prices for Venezuela's crucial oil exports has sapped the country's revenues.

Ordinary Venezuelans are suffering from shortages of food, medicine and basic goods along with a surge in violent crime.

The opposition blames Maduro for the economic crisis. He says it is due to a capitalist conspiracy backed by the United States.

New protests are planned in the coming Holy Week days. Government workers will be off, on Maduro's order.

One of the bigger demonstrations is expected for April 19, Venezuela's national holiday.
By Lawrence Hurley and Andrew Chung WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When Donald Trump started thinking during his campaign for the presidency last year about filling a Supreme Court vacancy, he turned to a group of Washington insiders at the controls of a well-oiled machine that puts conservative judges on the bench. That disciplined network of operatives, shepherded by judicial activist Leonard Leo, on Friday delivered for Trump his first major accomplishment as U.S. president: the confirmation of conservative Neil Gorsuch as a Supreme Court justice. Unlike the chaotic rollouts of other Trump policy initiatives, the Gorsuch nomination went relatively smoothly. Democrats put up a fight in the Senate, but they lacked the votes to block the Republican majority and they lost. Other key players included experienced Washington hands such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, former Senator Kelly Ayotte and White House Counsel Don McGahn. "It worked because it was all planned out before the nomination. We know what works, what doesn't work, what resources we need. We know the other side's arguments and how to answer them. It's like war," Leo told Reuters on Friday. The only surprise stumble in the effort came when Trump attacked judges who blocked his order banning U.S. entry by people from certain Muslim-majority countries. Gorsuch distanced himself from the president's Twitter messages. Other than that, discipline was maintained from the first of five meetings that Leo, a veteran of Bush-era judicial confirmation battles, attended with Trump. The two met twice before the election. Leo helped compile a list of potential nominees for Trump. That helped win over conservative activists unsure of Trump's ideological compass at a time when he was still fighting for the Republican presidential nomination. A second, longer list came in September. It included Gorsuch, a federal judge. BLOCKING GARLAND The campaign for Gorsuch's confirmation would not have happened without McConnell, who stopped former President Barack Obama, a Democrat, from filling the high court vacancy created when conservative icon Antonin Scalia died in February 2016. After Trump won the election, he named McGahn, a Washington-based campaign finance lawyer at Jones Day, as White House counsel. Known by his colleagues as "The Quiet Man," McGahn managed the nomination from inside the administration. Leo, who reported to McGahn, pushed back against Democrats' claims that Trump basically out-sourced the nomination process to outside groups. Leo said McGahn carefully scrutinized the lists of nominees and was not simply a rubber stamp. The Gorsuch campaign got heavy marketing and promotion backing from the Judicial Crisis Network (JCN), a coordinating body for conservative and grassroots groups. It launched $10 million in pro-Gorsuch advertising, targeting in particular Senate Democrats facing re-election contests in 2018. The JCN was born during the administration of former President George W. Bush, when Republicans realized a strong outside campaign was critical to getting conservatives on the court. Carrie Severino, the groups chief counsel, said the fact Trump agreed to stick to the nominees list made her job easier. We were prepared for several possibilities, and we had ads, websites, research packets, and much more ready to launch the moment a name was confirmed, she said. Leo said conservatives have borrowed techniques from the liberal coalitions that worked to defeat the nomination of Robert Bork by Republican then-President Ronald Reagan in 1987. The JCN also tapped social media and communications professionals. Washington public relations heavyweight Ron Bonjean played a role, reporting to White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. At the White House, McGahn and a team in his office held "murder boards" where Gorsuch was bombarded with questions senators might ask. Legislative Affairs Director Marc Short and his team organized visits with senators and worked with Ayotte. Asked to accompany Gorsuch around Capitol Hill, Ayotte accepted, she said in an interview. Ayotte had lost her re-election bid in November and had criticized Trump. But she helped arrange meetings for Gorsuch with almost 80 senators. In the end, said sources close to the Gorsuch effort, it worked because it was highly regimented. Leo said the machine that got Gorsuch on the bench is here to stay although he will return to his job as executive vice president of the Federalist Society, a conservative lawyers' group. Leo hopes Trump will tap that machine for a possible second nomination during his presidency. Supreme Court confirmations have become full-blown political campaigns, he said. (Reporting by Lawrence Hurley, Andrew Chung, Richard Cowan and Ayesha Rascoe; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Lisa Shumaker)
The use of chemical weapons in Syria this week reportedly by the regime of Bashar Assad is an affront to humankind. Over the course of the war in Syria, thousands have been killed by these weapons, mostly unarmed civilians.

The White House blamed this latest attack, which killed dozens of people in the northern Idlib province, on the Assad regime. Russia, meanwhile, said the chemicals were released when Syrian air strikes hit a rebel chemical weapons production facility. Russias defense of the regime could embolden Assad and further strain already frayed relations between Washington and Moscow.

Redlines against the use of chemical weapons were drawn and crossed during the Obama administration. In his statement on Tuesdays attacks, President Trump remained critical of the Obama administrations handling of Syria, and said the attacks cannot be ignored by the civilized world. The White House has not yet said how it might respond.

Previously, the administration said it was not pursuing a strategy to oust Assad. Prior to the chemical attack, Trumps Secretary of State Rex Tillerson suggested that the regimes longer term status would be decided by the Syrian people. That may no longer be the plan, especially if the U.S. decides to challenge Moscow and take unilateral action in Syria.

Global outrage should be harnessed, and focussed on nations - like Russia and Iran - that back the Assad regime. In particular, international condemnation should be applied to convince Russia to simultaneously renounce its support for the Assad regime and push for an immediate transition of power.

In the short term, Russia could be prodded to use its influence to persuade Assad to refrain from the further use of chemical weapons. At the very least, it should be made clear to Moscow that continuing to deny the Assad regimes responsibility for the attack will be counterproductive and dim hopes of warming relations with the U.S. and the West.

At the same time, the international community should acknowledge that options for influencing Assad are limited. He has demonstrated a callous disregard for the Syrian people and international law. Yet, the world cannot simply watch while the human tragedy continues to unfold and thresholds against the use of chemical weapons continue to be dramatically lowered.

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The international community through the United Nations could develop a path forward. Legal mechanisms such as UN Security Council Resolution 1540 on weapons of mass destruction and the Chemical Weapons Convention provide the authorities. It could be made clear that the use of force, whether through a no-fly zone or the use of ground forces, could be on the table.

Another effort to account for Syrias chemical stocks could be undertaken. In 2014, a global effort to evacuate and neutralize Syrias chemical munitions stocks was completed. The first step could be to determine if stocks remain, what chemicals are being held and the amounts of each.

The International Criminal Court also could indict Assad under its authority to prosecuteperpetrators of the most serious crimes committed in their territories or by their nationals. The actions of the Assad regime clearly fall into this category.

More broadly, the norms against the use of chemical weapons have become leaky over the past decade. Chemical weapons and toxic industrial chemicals are being used more frequently and overtly. While it is tempting to look at Syria and conclude that such actions cannot occur in other parts of the world, such conclusions would be ill-advised.

The growing use of chemicals and toxins as tools of assassination and terrorism are troubling trends. The recent assassination of Kim Jong-nam in Malaysia reportedly with a binary VX nerve agent, numerous Russian dissidents who have mysteriously died, and the poisoning of former Ukrainian President Yushchenko with dioxin provide ample evidence of this trend. Terrorists demonstrated willingness and capacity to develop and use chemical weapons highlights another significant issue of concern.

Global expressions of outrage over this latest attack in Syria could weaken Assads international support. Russia should listen and abandon its support for the regime while joining the international chorus of denunciation.

Daniel M. Gerstein works at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation and is an adjunct professor at American University. He was the undersecretary (acting) and deputy undersecretary in the Science and Technology Directorate of the Department of Homeland Security from 2011-2014.

This article was originally published on FORTUNE.com
According to a new report from the Hebrew-language blog The Verifier (via 9to5Mac), Apples next-gen iPhone 8 will include a Smart Connector designed to assist with wireless charging and, interestingly enough, some VR/AR features as well. While Apple hasnt yet made a play in the VR/AR space, its no secret that Tim Cook is especially excited about the potential for augmented reality, even going so far as to claim that the technology may be as impactful as the smartphone.

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Indeed, weve seen quite a few rumors claiming that the iPhone 8 will feature advanced 3D cameras designed to serve as the foundation for new augmented reality features. Additionally, there have even been reports that Apple is currently working on a pair of augmented reality glasses that may see the light of day in the next year or two.

The Verifier report reads in part:

Today we can share with you that the next iPhone (iPhone 8, iPhone X, iPhone Pro or 7S) will include the same 3 points of the same iPhone. The smart connection at the bottom will enable wireless charging without the need for a dedicated cover. In addition, the same connection will be used by the new iPhone users in the VR / AR experience which Apple has been working on lately. It is not yet known what will be the way to transfer that experience (VR glasses? AR glasses like Google Glass?) But Apple is looking for creative ways to differentiate itself from its competitor.

At this point, its a safe bet that the iPhone 8 will in fact include wireless charging functionality. Indeed, a number of credible sources have corroborated this rumor over the past few months. Earlier this year, word surfaced that Apple has spent the last three years working with Broadcom on a wireless charging solution. And speaking to how seriously Apple views the feature, a Reuters report from February relayed that Apple currently has at least five different groups working on wireless charging technology.

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The Verifier also notes that a new version of the Apple TV is in the works and that the companys fifth iteration of its media set top box may also come with support for VR/AR features.

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The Trump-era Federal Communications Commission lost no time in rolling back Obama-era privacy rules that prevented internet providers from collecting and selling customer data without consent. Now that the motion repealing those rules has been signed and sealed by President Trump, the FCCs Chairman is reportedly eyeing his next target: net neutrality.

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According to Reuters sources, FCC chair Aji Pai met on Tuesday with representatives of major telecoms companies to discuss his plans to roll back net neutrality rules. Pai, an ex-Verizon lawyer, is reportedly committed to ensuring an open internet, but feels that net neutrality rules passed by the Obama administration went too far.

Under former FCC chair Tom Wheeler, the FCC classified internet providers as Title II utilities, or common carriers. Classifying ISPs as utilities allows the FCC to make rules that force ISPs to conform to net neutrality. It prevents ISPs from discriminating between different types of data going over their networks  a byte is a byte, regardless of whether it comes from Netflix or AT&Ts own video streaming service.

Proponents of net neutrality worry that without strict rules in place, ISPs will use their near-monopoly power to discriminate between different services and websites. For example, large video streaming services like Netflix could pay for preferential access to customers, meaning its videos stream faster than competitors. In turn, that would prevent competition for any startup that wants to challenge Netflix  or any other internet-based startup, for that matter.

ISPs say that the rules are overly burdensome, and that they can just pinkie-swear to uphold net neutrality instead. Thats what Pai reportedly asked for in his meeting with telecoms groups: hell repeal net neutrality rules, provided that telecoms companies promise really hard to be good.

Pais proposal to overturn net neutrality rules is said to be nearly ready to go, with an initial unveil sometime in April and a vote in May or June.

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The universe never lets us here on Earth go very long before reminding us that were really just a random dice roll away from global catastrophe. The next timely reminder will happen on April 19th when asteroid 2014 JO25 will cruise by our planet at a relatively safe distance of roughly 1.1 million miles. That distance, while relatively comfortable, is still pretty close, especially when you realize how large the rock actually is.

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NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory describes 2014 JO25 as being approximately 2,000 feet wide, or about 650 meters across, which is a little more than two-fifths of a mile. Thats a pretty large chunk of rock, and NASA says its the largest asteroid to come that close to Earth since 2004, with the next similar flyby predicted to occur in 2027 when asteroid 1999 AN10, measured at about a half mile in width, makes an appearance at a distance of 236,000 miles.

For a few nights following April 19th, amateur astronomers may be able to catch a glimpse of 2014 JO25 thanks to it gaining brightness, though it will still be somewhat difficult to spot. This particular asteroid isnt expected to come this close to our planet again for another 500 years or more.

April 19th will also mark the appearance of a comet for some star gazers who happen to live in the right place. Comet PanSTARSS (C/2015 ER61) will be at its nearest point to Earth that day, though itll still be a very distant 109 million miles away. Having gained a lot of brightness since its discovery in 2015, the comet can now be seen with binoculars at specific times of the day.

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A scene from the 2012 movie John Carter shows an airship engaged in a Martian battle. The NASA-backed concept for a Martian airship isnt quite as ambitious. ( 2011 Disney / John Carter ERB, Inc.)

Truth can be stranger than fiction, but it shouldnt be strange to hear that NASA spends millions of dollars on efforts to turn science-fiction concepts into true technologies.

The NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program, also known as NIAC, has been backing far-out aerospace concepts for almost 20 years. It started out as the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts, modeled after the Pentagons DARPA think tank.

NIACs latest crop of 22 tech projects was announced this week, and they include a few concepts that were virtually ripped from the headlines of science fictions pulp magazines. Here are our favorite five:

Proposed structure of an evacuated airship. (Illustration: John-Paul Clarke)

Flying airships of Mars: The idea of sending airships floating through the Red Planets skies dates back to Edgar Rice Burroughs Barsoom novels of the early 20th century.

One big problem: Mars actual atmosphere is so thin that an airship would have to maintain a vacuum to become buoyant. Thats exactly what Georgia Techs John-Paul Clarke intends to do with an experimental double-shelled, reinforced vacuum airship.

Maybe he should call it an airless-ship.

Could bioengineered bacteria turn the Red Planet into a green planet? (Illustration: Adam Arkin)

Bioengineered bugs for Mars: To transform the Red Planet from a cold, lifeless world to something greener, astronauts lay down a layer of bioengineered algae in the 2000 movie Red Planet.

Berkeleys Adam Arkin and his colleagues plan to look into bioengineering strains of a type of bacteria known as Pseudomonas stutzeri, with the aim of detoxifying the perchlorate in Martian soil and enriching it with ammonia. Thatll make it easier for Mars settlers to grow potatoes, like fictional astronaut Mark Watney did in The Martian.

Could the sun serve as a gravitational lens for spotting alien planets? (Illustration: Slava Turyshev)

Solar gravitational lens: Earthlings figure out how to use the suns gravitational field to focus light rays from the Milky Way galaxys distant frontiers in Existence, a novel by David Brin.

Slava Turyshev of NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory will look into how a robotic probe sent to the far reaches of the solar system could actually use the sun as a gravitational lens to detect and study life on Earthlike planets up to 100 light-years away.

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The Turbolift system would assist astronauts during long-duration space exploration missions. (Illustration: Jason Gruber)

Artificial gravity: How do astronauts in space operas ranging from Star Trek to The Expanse keep their feet on the floor as the walk around their interplanetary spaceships? Its challenging enough for real-life astronauts to keep their muscles and bones healthy in the zero-G conditions on the International Space Station.

Jason Gruber of Medical Solutions Group and his colleagues want to develop an unorthodox method to give astronauts a dose of artificial gravity during long-duration space missions: Their Turbolift system is basically an elevator that lifts and drops an astronaut for one-second bouts of 1G acceleration. The experience is likely to be analogous to bouncing mildly on a trampoline, Gruber says.

Continuous electrode inertial electrostatic confinement fusion is the focus of one of the NIAC-supported projects. (Illustration: Raymond Sedwick)

Fusion thrusters: Until the warp drive is invented, propulsion fueled by nuclear fusion is about the best we can do. Fusion power plants are built into fleets of fictional spaceships, including Discovery One in 2001: A Space Odyssey and the starship Avalon in Passengers.

Several NIAC projects will look into fusion power and other unorthodox propulsion technologies: Check out the concepts from Michael LaPointe at NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center, Raymond Sedwick at the University of Maryland, John Brophy at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Heidi Fearn at the Space Studies Institute.

Check NASAs website for the full list of 15 Phase I projects, including ideas for asteroid-mining robots and solar-surfing probes.

Each of the Phase I projects is slated to receive up to $125,000 for a nine-month feasibility study. If those studies are successful, the teams can apply for Phase II grants, worth as much as $500,000, that are meant to support follow-up studies for two years.

NASA says five Phase II projects have been selected for the class of 2017:

NASA selects NIAC projects through a peer-review process that evaluates innovativeness and technical viability. The program is designed to support technologies in the early stages of development. Most of them are expected to require at least 10 more years of development before theyre incorporated into a NASA mission.

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With Tesla poised to begin Model 3 production in just about three months, the company in recent weeks has taken steps to temper unreasonably high expectations surrounding its $35,000 EV designed for the masses. Arguably fueled by Elon Musks coy remarks about mysterious reveals in the future, the speculation surrounding Teslas Model 3 in recent months was on the verge of spiraling out of control. In a general sense, many people began to assume that the Model 3 would introduce features and technology far more advanced than what is currently available on the companys flagship Model S.

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Bringing those expectations back down to earth, Elon Musk about two weeks ago indicated the opposite is true, noting via Twitter that the Model 3 is simply a smaller and more affordable version of the Model S with less range & power & fewer features. For example, the Model 3 dashboard will not incorporate a HUD and will be as sparse as the dashboard we saw when Tesla first introduced the car last year. Additionally, the Model 3 will not feature the auto extend handles available on the Model S and the Model X. As far as dimensions are concerned, the Model 3 will be about 20% smaller than the Model S.

In effect, Tesla wants current reservation holders and prospective buyers to be fully aware of the fact that the Model 3 will be a lesser version of the Model S in every regard, save of course for cost. Seeking to drive this point home in a manner far more official than Twitter, Tesla this week went so far as to publish a blogpost clarifying that while the Model 3 may be newer than the Model S, it will not be the companys flagship car.

The post reads in part:

While Model 3 will be our newest car, it isnt Version 3 or the next generation Tesla. Our higher priced premium models still include the most advanced technology and the best driving experience we have to offer. Model S is the leader in its class in every category, which is why 94 percent of our owners say they will buy Model S again. It has a 5-star safety rating and will continue to be our flagship Model with more range, more acceleration, more power, more passenger and cargo room, more displays (two) and more customization choices Model S will also continue to be the longest-range vehicle we offer, capable of a landmark 335 miles on a single charge, meaning you can travel from Los Angeles to San Francisco nonstop. Model 3 is smaller, simpler, and will come with far fewer options than Model S, but it makes driving feel effortless and offers a good range of at least 215 miles for our starting model.

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Indeed, the two areas where the Model 3 will be able to stand toe to toe with the Model S include overall safety features and the option for autonomous driving software.

Teslas framing of the Model 3 in this regard is a smart move. The last thing the company wants is for reservation holders to fork over $35,000+ for a car with wildly outlandish expectations regarding what the car will be able to do. As some folks have opined on Twitter, the Model 3 vs Model S comparison is akin to the difference between the iPhone SE and the iPhone 7.

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See the original version of this article on BGR.com
By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Advocates of landmark net neutrality rules on Friday blasted Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai's plans to roll back the Obama era legal framework. Reuters and other outlets reported late Thursday that Pai told major telecommunications trade groups of his plans Tuesday to replace 2015 net neutrality rules with voluntary agreements to adopt open internet principles. The 2015 rules prevented broadband providers from giving or selling speedy or so-called fastlane access to some internet services over others. Pai, a Republican appointed by President Donald Trump, opposes the rules approved by the FCC which gave the agency strong legal control over broadband providers, treating them much like utilities. FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, a Democrat, said if the reports are accurate "we are gearing up for a battle that could eviscerate the widely supported open Internet protections." The rules "were built on a record of more than four million comments, and demonstrated that a free and open internet is at the very heart of our American democracy," she added. Chris Lewis, vice president at Public Knowledge said Pai could "give dominant cable and telecommunications companies what their DC lobbyists have dreamed of for years: voluntary net neutrality rules where consumer protection is no more than trust your cable or internet provider.'" The FCC declined to comment. Pai wants to introduce new regulations under which internet providers like AT&T Inc, Comcast Corp and Verizon Communications Inc would voluntarily agree in their terms of service to not obstruct or slow consumer access to web content. The move would allow the Federal Trade Commission to enforce compliance with the new rules. Internet providers do not oppose net neutrality principles, but opposed the decision to reclassify internet service under a law that subjects them to potential utility style regulation. Pai is expected to unveil his proposal as early as April 27, with an initial vote planned for either May or June, sources told Reuters. The proposal would be open for public comment before the FCC could finalize it. The Internet Association, the trade group that represents major internet companies like Alphabet Inc, Facebook Inc, Netflix Inc and Microsoft Crop, and strongly supports net neutrality, will meet with Pai on Tuesday, a person briefed on the matter said. The group declined to comment. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Andrew Hay)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  Uber is scoffing at claims that its expansion into self-driving cars hinges on trade secrets stolen from a Google spinoff, arguing that its ride-hailing service has been working on potentially superior technology.

The legal defense, presented in documents filed Friday in San Francisco federal court, marks Uber's first detailed response to explosive allegations that its self-driving cars rely on crucial technology designed by Waymo. That company was created from an autonomous-vehicle project started at Google eight years ago.

Once a Google ally, Uber emerged as a rival in the self-driving car market in early 2015 when it began developing its own fleet of autonomous vehicles.

Now, Waymo is trying to thwart that effort by persuading U.S. District Judge William Alsup to block Uber's self-car driving expansion on the grounds that it hinges on a high-tech heist. The case's outcome could alter the race to build self-driving cars that may transform transportation, reduce traffic deaths and launch a huge new industry.

LASER FOCUS

Waymo filed suit against Uber in February, claiming that a former manager, Anthony Levandowski, stole its patented ideas. After the alleged theft, Levandowski left Google early last year to found a self-driving car startup called Otto that Uber bought for $680 million last August.

But Uber is now presenting evidence that it began working on technology dramatically different from Waymo's more than a year before buying Otto.

The dispute centers on a pivotal part of self-driving cars called LiDAR, an array of laser-based sensors that enable self-driving cars to see what's around them so they can safely navigate roads.

In sworn declarations and diagrams, Uber argued that its engineers are working on a more sophisticated form of LiDAR than Waymo's. Among other things, Uber says its LiDAR uses four lenses for transmitting and receiving laser lights as opposed to the single lens in Waymo's version.

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"Waymo could not be more wrong, and Uber's design could not be more different," Uber's lawyers wrote in their rebuttal to the allegations. "And no wonder  Uber's LiDAR was developed by a different team, using a different beam pattern, and leveraging different know-how."

WEIGHT OF EVIDENCE

What's more, Uber says its custom-designed LiDAR system hasn't even been installed on the self-driving cars that it has been testing in Pittsburgh, Arizona and San Francisco. Instead, the company says it has been relying on LiDAR systems built by other vendors.

Much of the information contained in Friday's filing was redacted to protect confidential business plans and secret technology.

Uber may have its work cut out to sway Alsup, who has said in previous court hearings that Waymo has presented some of the strongest evidence he has seen in his judicial career. A hearing on Waymo's request for an injunction against Uber is scheduled for May 3.

Although Waymo isn't suing him in this case, Levandowski will play a central role in how the lawsuit unfolds.

Levandowski helped establish Google as an early leader in self-driving cars, earning him more than $120 million in incentive pay, according to information inadvertently revealed in court papers earlier this week.

Before Levandowski defected from Google early last year start Otto, Waymo alleges he downloaded more than 14,000 documents containing trade secrets that is now helping Uber.

After buying Otto, Uber put Levandowski in charge of Uber's self-driving project, a job that has been imperiled by this lawsuit.

Alsup has warned that he may issue an order barring Levandowski from involvement in Uber's self-driving car division if he sides with Waymo.

Uber says it hasn't found any evidence of ever possessing any of the files that Levandowski stands accused of stealing. Levandowski, meanwhile, has asserted his Fifth Amendment rights to protect himself if criminal charges are filed against him.
Uber says it has had four million customers in Egypt since launching there in 2014 (AFP Photo/NICOLAS MAETERLINCK) (BELGA/AFP/File)

Rome (AFP) - An Italian court on Friday banned the use of smartphone apps for the ride-hailing group Uber, saying they contribute to traditional taxis facing unfair competition, local media reported.

In a ruling that is subject to appeal, a court in Rome upheld a complaint filed by taxi unions and gave Uber ten days to end the use of various phone applications on Italian territory, along with the promotion and advertising of them.

If Uber does not comply it could face a fine of 10,000 euros ($10,600) for each day it remains in defiance of the court.

Uber said it was shocked by the ruling and that it would appeal immediately, seeking suspension of the ruling.

The court's ruling follows a decision by a court in Milan two years ago to ban the company's UberPop application, which was deemed under Italian law to encourage the provision of taxi services by unlicensed drivers. That ruling was upheld in a subsequent court case in Turin.
Late last month, the stars of American Horror Story: Roanoke turned out in force for a PaleyFest panel to chat about the ever-popular FX anthology series and whats in the cards for future seasons. Its the kind of setting that should be easy and fun, but star Cuba Gooding Jr. took things in a decidedly uncomfortable (and, frankly, bizarre) direction when he lifted up the skirt of his co-star Sarah Paulson in front of a packed house.

As Paulson jumped out of her seat  incidentally, next to Gooding, who she also worked with on The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story  to greet Kathy Bates, Gooding leaned forward and lifted up the back of her purple gown.

READ MORE: Sarah Paulson Nominates Herself to Play Donald Trump in New Season of American Horror Story

While Paulson herself seemed more surprised than anything, once news of the incident hit the internet, fans of the actress were up in arms at Goodings actions. (As an EOnline story put it, Cuba Gooding Jr. Lifted Sarah Paulsons Skirt and the Internet Is Alarmed, which is a nice way of putting it.) Fans called the move a wide range of things, from disrespectful to gross to definitely NOT OK, but Gooding himself remains seemingly nonplussed by his actions.

At the FX All-Star Upfront in New York City on Thursday, PEOPLE spoke with the Oscar winner to get his take on the incident, which he deemed a very teachable moment. Yet Goodings teachings appear to extend not to himself  hey, maybe dont lift up skirts?  but to the internet reaction machine.

I have two sons in college, he continued. And I say to them, Guys, the internet, its a beast. Its an information highway without regulation. Any image you put on there can be interpreted any way it wants to.' Well, thats one way to take it.

READ MORE: American Horror Story: Sarah Paulson Reveals Which Characters Shed Resurrect  Paleyfest 2017

He added, Yet that image was taken out to represent some kind of sexual misconduct, and that wasnt my intent, though he did little to explain his actual intent.

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Gooding, however, was sure to add that he and Paulson have a strong relationship that he thinks is untouched by the incident.

The first person, when I heard about the fervor, I called Sarah, I said, I love you, I see you as my sister, and she said, I feel the same way about you. And so I let it go, he said. I love the lady that is Sarah Paulson. We have a banter like brother and sister, which is how the spirit of that whole panel was.

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Empire star Morocco Omari encountered some real-life drama on Wednesday.

Omari, who plays Tariq on the Fox series Empire, was arrested and charged with domestic battery on Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the Chicago Police Department told TheWrap on Thursday.

The CPD spokeswoman told TheWrap that police responded to a battery call regarding a battery. The 24-year-old female victim told police that she and her boyfriend Morocco had engaged in an argument, during which the actor pushed her to the ground several times, resulting in injuries to her neck and chest.

Also Read: 'Empire' Star Terrence Howard Was Almost Fired From the Show, Lawsuit Says

Omari was arrested on a misdemeanor account of domestic battery, and is expected in court Thursday.

In a statement to TheWrap, Omaris publicist, Tim Yates, called the accusations blatantly false.

Morocco would like to thank his fans for their support. After extensive investigation into the events of the past day, it is abundantly clear that the allegations made against Morocco are blatantly false. Morocco was brought up by his mother and grandmother and is the proud father of two minor daughters. He has long been an advocate of anti-violence against women. Morocco proudly served the United States in Operation Desert Storm and was honorably discharged from the Marines after his Combat Tour, Yates said. n the past two decades Morocco has had but two long term relationships. He has never displayed any hint of violence toward women and never will. Violence against women simply isnt in Omaris DNA. We would like to thank the Chicago Police Department and are extremely confident that Morocco will be completely vindicated in this matter.

spokesman for comment.

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Ratings: Fox Finishes Fourth in Viewers With a New 'Empire' for First Time Ever

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Art Pope, newly elected chairman of the Bradley Foundation, pictured here at the John Locke Foundation's 25th anniversary celebration in 2015. (CJ file photo)

John Locke Foundation founder and former chairman Art Pope today was elected chairman of the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, one of the nation's largest conservative grantmaking charitable organizations.Pope is the owner and chairman of Variety Wholesalers Inc., which owns and operates a chain of discount retail stores with 7,000 employees in 17 states. He's also chairman of the John William Pope Foundation , a family grantmaking foundation he has led since its creation in 1986. He was a member of the North Carolina General Assembly and, most recently, was the state budget director from 2013-14.Pope said in a press release.The Bradley Foundation's vision
By Damali Mukhaye

Police have confirmed that Makerere Universitys Dr Stella Nyanzi is being detained at Kira police station.

Dr Nyanzi was arrested last evening for reportedly insulting the first lady also minister of education Janet Kataha Museveni.

Addressing journalists this afternoon the spokesperson Kampala metropolitan police Emilian Kayima,says Nyanzi will be arraigned in court on Monday on two counts,Cyber harassment of the computer Misuse Act of 2011 and offensive communication.

Nyanzi In different face book posts attacked the education Minister over her statements in regards to governments failure to fullfill its pledge to buy sanitary pads for school going girls and her position against transporting children on bodas to school.

Nyanzi has since been suspended from Makerere university over insulting the first Lady and she was expected to appear before the appointment board for disciplinary actions to be taken against her at a later date.
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Universities in the United States do not have a monopoly on intolerant and disruptive students. Canada has them too, as shown by a recent incident at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.The school had arranged for a panel discussion on the subject of free speech and political correctness in Canada. Four speakers were invited and one of them was Jordan Peterson, professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. Peterson is a staunch opponent of what he calls "the radical postmodern left" and its plans for reforming society. That opposition extends to the demand that people use gender-neutral pronouns when referring to transgendered individuals.When McMaster announced that Peterson would be one of the panelists, opposition quickly mounted, much as was the case with the talk by Charles Murray last month at Middlebury College. The other three panelists backed out when protests were announced by the Peterson resistance.Professor Philippa Carter expressed concerns over her safety, no doubt prompted by the violent attack by Middlebury protesters that injured Professor Allison Stanger. She said in this Inside Higher Ed story So, what was meant to be a four-person panel discussion about free speech and political correctness was reduced to just Professor Peterson and that made it much easier for his opponents to shut the event down.When Peterson attempted to speak, he was drowned out by protesters using air horns, cowbells, and a megaphone. Among their chants:andSome audience members asked the protesters to stop, but they refused, displaying the same lack of concern for the rights of everyone else that we witnessed at Middlebury and other schools where intolerance triumphed.Video of the incident is available here The reason why the protesters were so adamant that Professor Peterson should not be allowed to speak is that he will not adopt the gender-neutral speech that "trans" activists demand. He uses the traditional English pronouns "he" and "she" even though the activists say that they are offended when others use those words when referring to them.Peterson, quoted in the story above, argues that there isMoreover, he resists the coercion of being told to conform to other people's language conventions-what he calls "compelled speech."Because Peterson is one of the few outspoken critics of the gender-neutral language campaign and his opinions are well known in Canada, he has become a lightning rod for protesters, much as Charles Murray is in the U.S. Zealous opponents don't want him to be able to speak. Disrupting an attempted discussion of free speech and political correctness is supposedly justified since Peterson is so wrong on his views about the proper use of English.If the protesters had waited until Peterson had finished his talk and then asked why he won't adopt their gender-neutral, "inclusive" language ideas, a fruitful exchange would have occurred. Peterson would have had to explain his position and defend it against criticism. People in the audience who were undecided on the issue would have heard his reasons; some might have been persuaded while others not.But if you engage a scholar in public discussion, you'd better be ready to present and defend your own case. Evidently, the protesters were not willing to do that. It is much easier just to make noise to drown out someone you dislike than to prepare a set of arguments and counter-arguments. It is also psychologically safer, since there is always the risk in a public debate that you'll come off badly-that previously undecided people will decide that your case is weak.McMaster's president, Patrick Deane, released a statement after the incident in which he denounced the stifling of debate. Quoted here , Deane said,He's right, but after-the-fact statements of regret from college presidents are not going to stop people such as those who rioted at Berkeley over Milo Yiannopoulos, mobbed Charles Murray at Middlebury, or blew air horns at Jordan Peterson at McMaster. Those who feel that shouting and rioting are acceptable means of registering disagreement aren't likely to pay any attention to college presidents telling them to respect freedom of speech.It's time for college presidents-and indeed educational leaders at all levels-to see that we're facing a deep educational failure when students won't listen to someone they're sure they disagree with and cannot see that they're doing something wrong in preventing civil discussion. They have been imbued with a primitive,mentality. That is what college leaders must tackle.College officials should focus on the grave educational deficiency that some of their students don't comprehend the crucial role of debate in a civilized society. Instead of larding the curriculum with more "diversity" and "identity" courses, they ought to require students to take a course on the importance of free speech and argumentation.In that course, students would learn that there can be no progress in society if some people are allowed to use force to silence others. They would learn that their own freedom of speech depends on norms of tolerance and mutual respect. And they would study the history of human intolerance for dissenting ideas, some of which turned out to be perfectly true.Among the books they'd read should be John Stuart Mill's On Liberty, with special emphasis on his point thatIn sum, the roots of student intolerance must be pulled out. College leaders are in a position to do that. They should recognize this as perhaps their highest priority.
How does school funding actually work?

KPC Media Group Inc. dug into that question extensively while putting together a multiday series were calling Funding Our Future? During the next week, KPC Media Groups daily newspapers will be printing stories taking a look at both the mechanisms of how school funding works and the impacts that funding has on school districts in northeast Indiana.

So to start, lets look at the basics: Where does the money come from, how does it get to my school and what does it pay for?

Since reforms made during the administration of Gov. Mitch Daniels in 2009, the majority of money for schools comes from the state. The state money comes from sources such as state income tax and sales tax that all Hoosiers pay. Education makes up about 33 percent of Indianas $56 billion annual budget.

Residents still pay property taxes toward schools and, in general, about half of your property tax bill goes to local schools. But in the overall scheme, the money that comes from property taxes now makes up only a small percentage of your local schools annual budget.

Heres an explanation of the two types of funds schools use to pay for their expenses:

General fund

Go to any school district in Indiana and the general fund is by far the largest account.

None of this money comes from your property taxes any more, and most of it is delivered to schools by the state based on a per-student funding formula.

The general fund is primarily used to pay for personnel  faculty and staff  and operating costs such as insurance, utilities and service contracts.

Schools receive a certain amount of money for every student, which goes to fund all those costs. At a minimum, schools get about $5,100 per student.

But a school gets more money depending on certain factors, such as if that student is from a low-income family, is enrolled in special education, takes career or technical training courses or graduates with an Academic Honors Diploma.

For example, a school receives about $13,900 total for a special education student with a severe disability, $6,100 for a student who graduates with academic honors, or $10,000 for an academic honors graduate who is also from a low-income family.

Generally, districts receive a per-student payment of about $6,500 on average, which will be higher or lower depending on the demographics of the student body.

For a more detailed look at how those amounts are determined, consult the graphic next to this story about the different parts of the per-student formula, check our chart of per-student funding for every district in the 11-county region, and view a story about the calculation for low-income students on kpcnews.com.

Tax funds

The property taxes you pay no longer pay for teachers, but they do pay for equipment, buildings and buses.

Property tax funds are divided into four groups: transportation, bus replacement, capital projects and debt service.

Capital projects is typically the largest property-tax driven fund and can have a wide range of uses, including new construction, repairs or remodeling, land acquisition and technology such as computers, laptops, devices and networking infrastructure.

The transportation fund raises money to cover the costs of getting students to and from school, except for purchase of new buses, which is paid out of the bus replacement fund.

The debt service fund is used to repay debt the district has incurred, such as when a school needs to borrow money to fund a multimillion-dollar renovation or new construction project.

One catch with property-tax driven funds is that the state requires debt payments be fully funded first, sometimes at the expense of other tax funds. The state manages and limits the amount of taxes schools can levy, or raise, and property tax caps in Indiana can put a ceiling on the amount of taxes schools can collect.

Those mechanisms sometimes lead to districts shorting other funds in order to make debt payments or hampers their operations when tax caps limit their ability to generate tax revenue.

One example of this impact involves school districts that have canceled or considered canceling bus service, typically because there are insufficient funds to run transportation while also paying debt and funding necessary purchases and maintenance.
ANGOLA  Gov. Eric Holcomb predicted there would be money coming from the Legislature this year to help fund local highway maintenance, but counties like Steuben need to pony up cash in order be on the receiving end of state money, he said following an appearance in Angola Friday night.

Holcombs remarks were made to The Herald Republican after he held a question and answer session with Steuben County Republican Vice Chair Mary Martin before a packed annual Lincoln Day Dinner crowd at Glendarin Hills Golf Club.

Holcomb said he couldnt tell Steuben County what to do as it works through the process of adopting a wheel tax, but if counties want state funding, they are going to have to put up matching dollars in the future.

As will all 91 other counties, Holcomb said.

The future is all about partnerships and the state will be in a position, I believe, to fund our part of that partnership, Holcomb said.

Steuben County Council is currently in the process of enacting a local option highway user tax that would be charged of all vehicles. Larger vehicles would pay $80 a year and passenger vehicles would pay $50. The new tax, which could go into effect in 2018, would raise more than $2.3 million for local highway and street departments.

Holcomb said he thought the Indiana House and Senate would create an infrastructure funding plan that will meet the needs of Indiana into the future 20 years, including needs of local street and highway departments. There have been two plans working their way through this session.

The Legislature is currently working toward its final weeks in session, with its conclusion coming in the next couple weeks. The deadline to write a new biennial budget is April 29.

Holcomb said the state will need to fund highway projects at about $200 million annually, about half of which would go to local government units.

We need to be at about the $200 million level which gets the state in the position where were funding about half of the local needs if the local counties are doing all they can to meet that 50 percent threshold as well, Holcomb said.

Steuben County has been wrestling with future funding of highway maintenance  in particular the possibility of adding LOHUT  a number of years.

The Steuben County Council last month voted to move forward with enacting LOHUT at the maximum tax allowable under law. A public hearing on the proposed new tax will be held Tuesday, April 18, at 10 a.m. in the Steuben Community Center Multipurpose Room at 10 a.m.

Editors Note: More from Holcombs presentation in Angola Friday night will be published in Sundays Herald Republican.
HOLMEN  Melbourne Mel A. Prinz, 77, of Holmen died Friday, April 7, 2017, at Tomah VA Medical Center. Memorial services with military honors will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 11, at Halfway Creek Lutheran Church, Holmen. A visitation will be held from 10 a.m. until time of service Tuesday at the church. Dickinson Family Funeral Home is assisting with arrangements.
ONALASKA  William Robert Baum Jr., 61, of Onalaska passed away at his home Tuesday, April 4, 2017.

He was born in La Crosse April 20, 1955, to William and Beverly (Morley) Baum. Bill graduated from Onalaska High School in 1973. After high school he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in Germany until 1976. He married Doris Gutmann and together they had a daughter, Michelle. Bill and Doris later separated but remained friendly. Bill enjoyed hunting, fishing and his time working at WalzCraft in La Crosse.

Bill is survived by his daughter, Michelle Snyder of Farmington, Minn; his granddaughters, Kayla and Alexis Snyder; his father, William Baum Sr.; and his brothers, Jerome (Joni) and Michael P. Baum.

He is preceded in death by his mother, Beverly.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, April 10, at 11 a.m. at Dickinson Family Funeral Home (401 Main Street, Onalaska). Pastor Ted Dewald will be officiating the service. Friends may visit with the family from 10 a.m. until the time of the service. Military honors will be conducted at the funeral home at the conclusion of the service.

Memorials can be donated on behalf of William Baum Jr. to the charity of your choice.

Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.dickinsonfuneralhomes.com. The Dickinson Family Funeral Home is assisting the family.
The La Crosse County Historical Society has thousands of buttons  literally thousands. Some of them are from Oktoberfest, others are from local businesses or events, and even more are from elections.

Most of the campaign buttons are from local elections, whereas about a hundred of the buttons are from presidential elections.

The oldest presidential campaign button in the collection is from 1876 and the most recent is from 1992. While cataloging the presidential campaign buttons, unfamiliar names were revealed. It became clear that the unfamiliar names were those who lost.

The image depicts the campaign buttons of:

Ross Perot, 1992 independent candidate for president

Gerald Ford, 1976 Republican candidate for president

Walter Mondale, 1984 Democratic candidate for president

Hubert Humphrey, 1968 Democratic candidate for president

Going into a presidential election, candidates know that there are one of two options: Either they will become the next president of the United States or they will walk away defeated, having tried their best.

Many presidential candidates have gone on to other elected office, such as governor and senator. Richard Nixon did not let an initial defeat keep him down. After losing to John Kennedy in 1960, he waited a few years and ran again in 1968  and won.

Others have sought to champion the causes that led them to run for president in the first place. And other candidates have gone on to establish beneficial public institutions. New York seems to have benefited the most from this, with the Erie Canal, the New York Public Library and even the Empire State Building.

Having a collection of campaign buttons of those who lost is not an insult or in any way dismissive of the candidates efforts. The collection is meant to honor those that tried to become president. Running an election campaign is not an easy task, and these candidates gave it their all  some more than once.

These buttons and others from the La Crosse County Historical Societys collection can now be viewed online at lchshistory.pastperfectonline.com.
Tom Campbell

The most important function of state government is education, as evidenced by the fact that North Carolina spends 57 cents of every tax dollar on primary and secondary education. Better-educated citizens earn more, are more productive and generally more fulfilled.Too often we see evidence that we aren't doing our very best and it is easy to become pessimistic, but if you want to change that attitude to optimism spend a day, as we did, at UNC Wilmington's impressive Watson College for Education. The first moments in the modern facility convince you of the dedicated and innovative approaches being employed to teach students and train teachers. Dean Van Dempsey and his faculty demonstrated a passion for making public education in our state the best. We saw collaborative partnering of best practices with nearby public schools, learned about an elementary school classroom without desks that allowed creativity and saw online resources and lab techniques that break down barriers to learning.In this era of laptops, smartphones and Internet access far too many classrooms across our state still deliver instruction the way it has been employed 100 years ago. When we asked why educators had been unable or unwilling to adapt to innovative learning techniques we were taken to school by one after another of these dedicated educators. Their responses shed new light on many issues.In our efforts to ensure accountability we instituted testing programs that stifle, rather than promote innovation, modern technology and techniques. Regulations, piled on top of one another, restrict flexibility and creativity. The predominant culture neither embraces nor demonstrates a structure to share new approaches between schools within a given district, much less across other districts. Instead of being rewarded for innovation and creativity any failure is punished. We've taught educators to color within the prescribed lines, avoid risks, teach to the tests and not challenge the status quo.A day at the Watson College of Education is proof that we won't meet 21st century expectations with 20th century learning methods. We know how to educate our young people in more innovative and collaborative ways than we are employing. North Carolina cannot regulate and restrict our way to better education outcomes. And while more money is not always the answer, neither can we get better results by failing to properly fund new technologies and methodology. We must competitively pay professional teachers, principals, counselors and yes, arts and music instructors, especially those teaching science and math. Too many schools have inadequate facilities for today's requirements. It is imperative that we return to a system to incentivize college students to go into education and then do a better job of supporting them in early years.Now is the time to loosen the shackles in education, replacing restraints with flexibility, building trust and changing the narrative to celebrate the good instead of looking for fault. Our administrators must become better managers, encouraging educators to succeed, while replacing those who cannot or will not meet greater expectations. Finally, we must erase boundaries, sharing with others new solutions, while challenging all to find even better methodsNorth Carolina has the talent. We have the knowledge and the resources to make dramatic improvements. It is essential for the future of our state that we implement them now.
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (TNS)  This base best known for its wartime prison has cats. Lots of cats. Kitty cats. Dumpster cats. House cats. Abandoned cats. Foster cats. Stray cats. Tabby cats. Cuban cats.

And, by the estimate of activists who want to do something about it, it has upward of 500 feral cats.

In an unusual alliance, some troops, civilians and visitors have teamed with the global animal rescue group SPCA International and are asking the Navys permission to sterilize the cats. Theyre also setting up a nonprofit organization to help soldiers or sailors on temporary assignment here adopt them and take them home.

The groups name? Operation Git-Meow.

I have taken care of over 40, actually 50, cats in about 3 1/2 years, says Git-Meow founder and foster-cat mom Tina Marie Parr, the wife of a base contractor. Shes built a small shelter in her backyard and is scouting for something larger and more permanent. The reason I do it is to help the population of cats here to be able to get some decent homes.

On a recent evening a mangy cat was scavenging outside a dumpster at Camp Justices tent city. The creature looked like it had been in a fight and was blind.

Some residents attribute the abundance of stray cats to the transient, at times lonely nature of life on this remote base of 5,500 people; some of them stay for a year or less, adopt a cat and, when they leave, let it go. Guards at the prison of 41 captives mostly do nine-month tours away from home. Most Filipino and Jamaican contract workers come without family too.

Cats probably arrived on the first sailing ship from the Old World, says Erika Kelly, who spotted the problem on a visit to the base and has now set up Operation Git-Meow as a corporation seeking IRS 5013 tax-exempt status. Others may have made it through the Cuban minefield.

Kelly estimates there are 500 to 600 feral cats at Guantanamo. Theyre not fixed. Theyre not vaccinated, she says. Theyre interacting with people, over-breeding, and its unhealthy for the people and unhealthy for the cats.

Make no mistake, the group is made up of cat lovers. Especially those who were alarmed to hear that, rather than fix the ferals, folks on base were having them exterminated. Git-Meow members recently met with the dog-owning base commander, Navy Capt. Dave Culpepper, to offer an alternative solution at no cost to taxpayers:

They proposed that the skipper permit civilian volunteers on base periodically  trappers to catch the wild cats, veterinarians and vet techs to neuter and vaccinate them  to control and calm rather than try to kill off the feral cat population.

That would require a special waiver of a Navy regulation.

U.S. military rules specifically prohibit trap-neuter-release programs due to the adverse impacts stray animals pose such as the potential threat to public health; the threat to wildlife, including endangered species and migratory birds; and damage to natural habitats, base spokeswoman Julie Ann Ripley said by email. Navy regulations ensure all species are legally and humanely managed.

Ripley does not speak for the war-on-terror prison, which boasts it conducts safe, humane, legal and transparent care and custody of detainees. Contrary to an earlier report, prison spokesman Navy Cmdr. John Robinson said, no detainees have or are allowed to have any pets. Ripley refused to disclose how many cats had been put to death at the base in recent years. She called it a sensitive topic.

Meantime, the Git-Meow proposal is under review, said Ripley, even though it would deviate from Navy regulations.

We do this all over the world, says Meredith Ayan, executive director of SPCA International, during a recent scouting visit. Her Global Animal Rescue program has sponsored a program to trap, neuter and release wild cats in Rio de Janeiro, helped U.S. troops bring home dogs they befriended in Iraq and spayed or neutered cats and dogs in Panama.

The group also plans to snip an ear tip of each fixed cat in a process called ear tipping. Its a universal sign of an altered feral cat.

Guantanamo-based group members aspire to build a shelter to tame some. Off-duty troops seeking a timeout would be welcome to come, stroke and cuddle them in a sanctuary of sorts.

But thats just the beginning. These cat lovers are designing a sponsorship system for U.S. troops and contractors to actually adopt one. Not all military flights on and off the base will allow people to bring pets. And for those that do, it can be costly.

Consider the experience of Army Reserve Maj. Alaina Wichner, who spent $1,000 to airlift a stray from the base last year. She spotted the Cuban brown tiger tabby one day outside the razor wire of Guantanamos war court complex, Camp Justice  in middle of the road meowing at the top of his kitty lungs.

Wichner is the kind of cat lover who knows what a cat is saying. And, to her, this kittys meow meant: Hello! There has been a big mistake! Im not a stray cat! I belong with people! I dont like eating leftover spaghetti mixed with rocks and dirt!

Wichner is also a defense attorney for accused Sept. 11 plot deputy, Ramzi Binalshibh. She comes and goes on a weekly war court shuttle from Andrews Air Force Base. But pets are forbidden on military commissions flights. So she hired a courier to bring the cat on a commercial flight from Guantanamo, and promptly nicknamed him 1K for the price of the air ticket.

I completely fell in love with the little guy and couldnt bear to think of anything bad happening to him, Wichner recalls, adding that she soon turned the kitten over to his current owner: Attorney Jim Harrington, Binalshibhs lead defense counsel, who commutes to the base in Cuba from his home in upstate New York.

I am fairly certain he is the only Cuban cat in Buffalo, said Wichner, adding that she does not mind that her nickname did not stick.

Harringtons wife, Anne, promptly rechristened him  what else?  Gitmo.

Base spokeswoman Julie Ann Ripley responds:

Naval Station Guantanamo Bay is committed to maintaining an animal control program as guided by Navy and Department of Defense regulations. We work to protect the natural environment; endangered and threatened species, and other wildlife; watersheds and water quality; and public health and safety. Trap-neuter-release programs are prohibited due to the adverse impacts stray animals pose such as the potential threat to public health; the threat to wildlife, including endangered species and migratory birds; and damage to natural habitats. Navy regulations ensure all species are legally and humanely managed. The proposal is under review.
MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK, Colo. (TNS) Seen from the air, the structure is a D-shape, perched on the lip of a mesa that overlooks the famous Cliff Palace dwelling at Mesa Verde National Park. Scientists call it the Sun Temple.

But what is it? An 800-year-old observatory? A ceremonial structure? A mix of both?

There are a lot of theories out there, but really, people dont know, said Tim Hovezak, an archaeologist at Mesa Verde National Park. The only people who would know are the Ancestral Puebloans  also known as the Anasazi  who built structures across the Southwest and then started abandoning them in the 13th century.

Mesa Verde is filled with mysteries. Over the last few years, research on the Sun Temple has added to them.

In a recent paper, an Arizona State University mathematician examined aerial imagery and concluded that the Sun Temple contains sophisticated geometric patterns, including Pythagorean triangles and other shapes used by other ancient civilizations. The mathematician, Sherry Towers, also concluded the Sun Temples builders had used a common unit of measurement  roughly 30 centimeters  in designing the site.

These findings represent the first potential quantitative evidence of knowledge of advanced geometrical constructs in a prehistoric North American society, Towers wrote in her paper, published in the April edition of the Journal of Archaeological Science Reports. This knowledge is particularly remarkable, she added, given that the ancestral Pueblo peoples had no written language or number system.

Towers conclusions are not universally accepted. Hovezak says it is too early to know whether the Anasazi intentionally incorporated sophisticated geometry into the Sun Temple design. Towers agrees, but as she noted in her paper, The relationship of those geometric constructs to the apparent common unit of measurement at the site is extraordinarily unlikely to occur by mere random chance.

The forerunners of the modern Pueblo people, the Anasazi are known for their remarkable cliff dwellings and structures such as Pueblo Bonito at Chaco Canyon National Historical Park in New Mexico. They built many of their communities in the 1100s, in what is now known as the Four Corners region, where the boundaries of Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico meet. Based on what they left behind  including irrigation systems essential for growing maize, a main food source  the Anasazi must have been impressive masons and engineers.

Two centuries later, the Anasazi started abandoning their villages. For decades, researchers debated the possible reasons. Then archaeologists working in the Dolores River Valley of Colorado during the 1980s unearthed convincing evidence that climate changes had caused this ancient civilization to fall.

As archaeologist Kenneth Lee Petersen wrote in 1989: The findings from this project indicate that it was not simply a drought that forced the Anasazi to leave, but an extended drought coupled with changing weather patterns and a colder climate. This long-term change in traditional weather patterns made dry-farming  the source of a majority of Anasazi food  virtually impossible.

Scientists have theorized that the Anasazi started occupying the Cliff Palace in the mid-1000s, then built the Sun Temple sometime later. Originally, the D-shaped structure may have had walls 11 feet high, with four circular towers  or kivas  rising from the site.

In 2007, a pair of archaeologists wrote a paper suggesting the Sun Temple was built as an astronomical marker so residents of the Cliff Palace could look across the canyon and track the arrival of the winter solstice and other seasonal milestones. Researchers have documented such markers at other Anasazi sites, possibly used to schedule the planting of maize and yearly ceremonies.

By the early 1900s, the Sun Temple had crumbled into a pile of rubble, and that pile soon caught the attention of Jesse Walter Fewkes, an anthropologist who supervised the earliest excavations of Mesa Verde.

Fewkes and his crew dug up and repaired the Sun Temple, which brought to light a type of ruin hitherto unknown in the park, as he said in a 1916 report to the secretary of the interior, whose department oversees national parks. The building, he added, shows the best masonry and is the most mysterious structure yet discovered in a region rich in so many prehistoric remains.

Fewkes was quick to note that the D-shaped structure was similar in design to Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon, and was built with a nearly precise East-West alignment. He also noted that the interior of the structure included several narrow passageways, and doorless rooms, possibly used for secret ceremonies. The mysteries here performed were not open to all, only the initiated could enter, he wrote in his official report.

On a recent bright afternoon, Hovezak took a reporter on a tour of the Sun Temple. He loaded up his truck with a ladder so he could climb atop the temples walls, which have been capped with concrete  originally by Fewkes  to protect the structure from the elements.

While walking atop the walls, Hovezak peered down into the D-shaped structure and pointed out some of its doorless rooms. Asked about their purpose, the archaeologist paused briefly and said: Beats the hell out of me.

In the next two years, Hovezak plans to start on a preservation project for the Sun Temple. Before work begins on reinforcing the structure, however, Hovezak wants to determine which parts of the Sun Temple are original and which were rebuilt by Fewkes and his crew. To accurately preserve it, we need to learn how it was built, he said.

Towers, the Arizona State University mathematician, originally became interested in the Sun Temple because of the possibility that it served as an astronomical observatory. When I saw that the layout of the sites key features also involved many geometric shapes, I decided to take a closer look, she said in a statement from ASU.

Analyzing aerial photography, Towers found that the interior of the Sun Temple was laid out with some precise geometric shapes, including golden rectangles. Golden rectangles have a precise ratio between their longer and shorter sides and were incorporated into architecture by many ancient civilizations, including Greeks, who considered them to be visually pleasing.

In her research paper, Towers said it was unclear why these ancients potentially felt the need to employ these constructs in the Sun Temple site. She added that further study is needed to see whether such shapes were used at other Anasazi sites.

Hovezak, who has been working at Mesa Verde for 12 years, said Towers research had helped firm up the evidence that the Ancestral Puebloans had used some kind of system of measurement in their constructions. In Mesa Verde alone, there are over 600 cliff dwellings, with hundreds of others  some barely studied or preserved  scattered across the Southwest.

I find Towers research fascinating, said Hovezak. I am not entirely sold on it, but it is intriguing.
A man arrested on suspicion of terrorism offenses after the Stockholm truck attack is from the central Asian republic of Uzbekistan and was known to intelligence services, Swedish authorities said.

Suspicions about the arrested man have strengthened during the course of the investigation, Dan Eliasson, chief of the Swedish Police told a press briefing Saturday.

Police are investigating a "technical device" found in the vehicle used in the attack, he said.

"We confirm that we have found a device in the truck that doesn't belong there. We are now investigating its content," Eliasson said. "Whether this was a classic bomb or some sort of flammable device is now a matter for our analysis."

Prosecutor Hans Ihrman said the arrested man was a 39-year-old from Uzbekistan.

The attack Friday in the heart of Sweden's capital killed four people and injured about 15 more. Ten of the injured -- nine adults and one child -- are still being treated in three different hospitals in the city, the Stockholm County Council said Saturday. Four of the adults have serious injuries.

Earlier, Sweden's public broadcaster SVT reported that a bag of undetonated explosives had been found inside the truck, which was stolen minutes before the attack as it made a delivery at a restaurant. The attacker apparently suffered burns caused by the explosives, which did not detonate properly, SVT said.

The man was detained north of Stockholm in the early hours of Friday (Thursday evening ET), police said.

The individual has featured in previous intelligence reports from last year, Anders Thornberg, chief of the Security Service told the briefing. However, the security services were not able to confirm that intelligence, so he was not on their radar, he said.

Their focus is now to prevent further attacks and investigate if there were other accomplices, Thornberg said. Security has been stepped up and border controls are in place.

Eliasson said investigators were scrutinizing the suspect's social media accounts and contacts, but declined to be drawn on whether the man had connections to ISIS or other terror groups.

"We do not know whether there are further persons involved in this act or not," he said. "But we are not excluding that. We are still working on a very comprehensive approach to see whether there is any possibility that further individuals are involved."

Eliasson said he saw clear similarities to the attack in London last month, in which a man plowed through pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before fatally stabbing a policeman outside the UK Parliament.

The prosecutor has until noon Tuesday to ask the courts to detain the suspect, said Karin Rosander, spokeswoman for Sweden's prosecutor's office.

'We are not afraid'

Drottninggatan (Queen Street) remained cordoned off Saturday morning, but the truck had been removed overnight from the building where it had been wedged. Heavily armed officers guarded the area and several police vans were present.

Scores of people came to lay flowers Saturday morning at a spot on Klarabergsgaten, near the crash site. The mood was subdued, with people seeming to be in quiet reflection.

Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria and her husband Prince Daniel visited the scene mid-morning. Princess Victoria, who was dressed in black and visibly moved to tears, was barely able to speak as she surveyed the area. "I feel an enormous sorrow and emptiness," she told reporters.

Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, who visited a short time later, said: "The goal is that we are supposed to be afraid, but Sweden has shown itself from its best side. That is a strength that no one can take away from us."

Sweden's Deputy Prime Minister Isabella Lovin and Education Minister Gustaf Fridolin paid tribute to the victims of the attack as they left flowers at the scene.

"This is unfortunately something we are seeing in many countries in the world, but we have to stand up for our open society," Lovin told reporters.

"I feel great pain for those family members who have received the worst message possible. This is my city, and it feels unreal that this has happened," she said. "We must do everything in our power to make sure this doesn't happen again."

Police consoled one crying man nearby as he walked up with a bouquet. Several fathers brought their children down to the barrier and explained gently what happened.

Habib Jlassi, a 29-year-old night bus driver who was there with his three-year-old daughter, told CNN it was important to pay tribute to those who lost their lives.

"I've come here to show that we are not afraid," said Jlassi, who lives in Stockholm and whose eyes appeared red from crying. "We are stronger than them."

Around the corner, in a square outside Stockholm Concert Hall, a flower, fruit and vegetable market was being set up. Some people bought flowers there before walking over to leave them by the cordon.

Debris still littered the ground around the crash scene and workers in neon suits carried items to a waiting skip.

Some shops opened Saturday morning on streets around Drottninggatan as the city center began to return to normal.

Suspect photo released

Police launched a huge manhunt in the aftermath of the attack, releasing a picture of a "person of interest." They later detained a man whose description matched the photo in Marsta, a town about 30 minutes' drive north of Stockholm near the city's main international airport.

Swedish police said they had not ruled out that the attacker could have had others helping him.

Parliament and the Stockholm subway were placed in lockdown in the aftermath of the attack. All train services in and out of Stockholm Central Station were halted and people were evacuated, the state railway company said.

King Carl XVI Gustaf cut short his state visit to Brazil to return home immediately following news of the attack.

'He put his foot on the gas'

The attack happened just before 3 p.m. local time. Eyewitnesses reported seeing the beer truck speeding along Drottninggatan before it crashed into the front of a department store. The company that owned it said it had been hijacked as it made a delivery nearby.

According to eyewitness Veronica Durango, the driver "put his foot on the gas and ran through the crowd."

"He came from Olof Palmes Street and drove down to Drottninggatan," Durango told CNN in a phone interview.

"It was like he was driving through paper. It's like it was nothing. I can't even believe how a person could do such a thing. And then he just kept on going. I was in shock."

CNN's Lauren Said-Moorhouse and journalist Per Nyberg reported from Stockholm, while CNN's Laura Smith-Spark wrote from London. CNN's Max Foster and Mariano Castillo contributed to this report.
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
Operations at Volk Field just became a little more state-of-the-art Friday.

Officials at the Air National Guard Base in Camp Douglas unveiled its newly renovated Counterland Operations Center at a special ribbon-cutting event.

Several top commanders from Wisconsins Air National Guard unit were there, including Volk Field commander Col. David May, Wisconsin assistant adjutant general for air, Brig. Gen. Gary Ebben, and Col. Chad Milne, Wisconsin director of air operations and veteran fighter pilot.

The 4,000-square-foot operations center cost $300,000 to renovate and will be used for training opportunities and intelligence briefing sessions. Last August, the base hosted the Northern Lightning exercise and May said the training mission was so successful it created the need for more training facilities at Volk Field, located between Tomah and Mauston along Interstate 90.

After the success of Northern Lightning we realized this really had to be done, May said. We jumped into it with design and construction and we completed this ahead of schedule at a very reasonable cost and mostly in-house. Its a very reasonable amount for a huge payoff.

May said the renovated facility offers a modernized workspace that will be ideally suited for next generation aircraft fighter jets, including the F-35A Lightning II. At the center, personnel can access two impact ranges throughout the complex, which includes warfare training systems, creating a unique and beneficial training experience unlike any other training center in the Air National Guard.

The high-tech facility was completed just in time. The base plans to host the next Northern Lightning exercise beginning May 1, which will last about two weeks. The center will also allow for better strategic planning and command operations.

Before the jets go to fly their missions, on the front-end of that, there is lots of planning that goes into that, May said. Its kind of the less glamorous, behind-the-scenes work that goes into flying a successful mission. Well, this is where theyre going to do all that work.

The commander said personnel will be able to discuss classified information at the facility, go out and fly missions, and return to the center to debrief. A partition will be constructed to separate the space into private work stations and be removed to allow larger meetings. The center also features high-tech electronics and TV monitors to assist with training and mission preparations.

Commanders are excited to bring in F-35s for the Northern Lightning session in May and the jets could be returning to Volk on a regular basis. May said Truax Field in Madison  the 115th Fighter Wing  is on the short list of possible landing spots for F-35s.

Everything we do here supports that aircraft and enhances making Madison a great place for the F-35, May said. The combination of the facilities and the great airmen they have down there with the training space we have here puts us in a very strong position to compete for the F-35s.

Milne, a Cashton native, is a 30-year veteran of the Air National Guard. Milne, who has flown in combat missions in Iraq, knows the value of specialized training and preparedness.

This is a premier air training environment, Milne said. There are not too many locations where you can accomplish different facets of training: air-to-air, air-to-ground, all combined here. Volk Field is unique that way. Were really excited about this.

In addition to F-35s, the Northern Lightning session will bring F-22s to Volk. Milne said the new facility adds to the air fields reputation of being a leader in air defense training. In his career, Milne has flown KC-135s Stratotankers, C-26s, and for the past 12 years, F-16s.

Ive flown the F-16 the longest and thats the most challenging, Milne said. Airplanes aside, what is the most memorable to me is working with the people in the Wisconsin Air National Guard. Its been a great opportunity to work with quality people and serve my country.

Volk Field provides the Air National Guard with specific first-hand training that prepares personnel for important foreign combat missions. The bases air space spans from the Eau Claire area to Lake Michigan, west to east, with the southern border around Portage and the northern edge near Wisconsin Rapids.

It prepares us for combat deployment in places like Afghanistan and Iraq, Milne said.
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(4) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (3) Feb 06 (3) Feb 05 (3) Feb 04 (3) Feb 03 (5) Feb 02 (3) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (3) Jan 30 (3) Jan 29 (4) Jan 28 (4) Jan 27 (3) Jan 26 (6) Jan 25 (3) Jan 24 (6) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (5) Jan 21 (4) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (3) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (3) Jan 16 (3) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (4) Jan 12 (3) Jan 11 (3) Jan 10 (3) Jan 09 (3) Jan 08 (4) Jan 07 (3) Jan 06 (4) Jan 05 (5) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (3) Jan 01 (4) Dec 31 (4) Dec 30 (3) Dec 29 (3) Dec 28 (3) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (4) Dec 24 (4) Dec 23 (3) Dec 22 (3) Dec 21 (5) Dec 20 (2) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (4) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (5) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (4) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (3) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (4) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (4) Dec 06 (5) Dec 05 (4) Dec 04 (3) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (3) Nov 30 (3) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (3) Nov 26 (4) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (3) Nov 23 (3) Nov 22 (3) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (3) Nov 17 (3) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (2) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (4) Nov 12 (5) Nov 11 (4) Nov 10 (3) Nov 09 (3) Nov 08 (4) Nov 07 (3) Nov 06 (3) Nov 05 (3) Nov 04 (3) Nov 03 (3) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (4) Oct 30 (4) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (3) Oct 25 (5) Oct 24 (2) Oct 23 (3) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (3) Oct 20 (4) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (5) Oct 17 (2) Oct 16 (3) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (4) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (3) Oct 11 (3) Oct 10 (4) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (4) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (5) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (4) Sep 30 (4) Sep 29 (5) Sep 28 (5) Sep 27 (2) Sep 26 (3) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (4) Sep 22 (4) Sep 21 (5) Sep 20 (3) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (4) Sep 17 (4) Sep 16 (5) Sep 15 (4) Sep 14 (5) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (3) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (4) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (4) Sep 06 (5) Sep 05 (4) Sep 04 (3) Sep 03 (3) Sep 02 (3) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (4) Aug 30 (3) Aug 29 (4) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (3) Aug 26 (6) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (3) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (3) Aug 20 (5) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (4) Aug 13 (3) Aug 12 (3) Aug 11 (3) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (4) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (3) Aug 06 (3) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (2) Aug 03 (3) Aug 02 (4) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (4) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (3) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (5) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (3) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (3) Jul 17 (3) Jul 16 (3) Jul 15 (3) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (5) Jul 12 (5) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (3) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (4) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (3) Jul 03 (3) Jul 02 (5) Jul 01 (3) Jun 30 (4) Jun 29 (5) Jun 28 (2) Jun 27 (3) Jun 26 (3) Jun 25 (3) Jun 24 (3) Jun 23 (6) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (3) Jun 19 (3) Jun 18 (3) Jun 17 (3) Jun 16 (3) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (5) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (3) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (5) Jun 07 (3) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (3) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (3) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (3) May 31 (4) May 30 (3) May 29 (4) May 28 (4) May 27 (3) May 26 (5) May 25 (4) May 24 (4) May 23 (4) May 22 (3) May 21 (5) May 20 (4) May 19 (3) May 18 (3) May 17 (4) May 16 (3) May 15 (6) May 14 (3) May 13 (3) May 12 (5) May 11 (4) May 10 (3) May 09 (3) May 08 (3) May 07 (4) May 06 (3) May 05 (4) May 04 (4) May 03 (3) May 02 (3) May 01 (3) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (3) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (5) Apr 26 (4) Apr 25 (3) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (4) Apr 22 (3) Apr 21 (5) Apr 20 (6) Apr 19 (5) Apr 18 (5) Apr 17 (4) Apr 16 (5) Apr 15 (6) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (5) Apr 11 (4) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (5) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (4) Apr 04 (4) Apr 03 (3) Apr 02 (6) Apr 01 (4) Mar 31 (4) Mar 30 (4) Mar 29 (4) Mar 28 (3) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (5) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (5) Mar 22 (5) Mar 21 (5) Mar 20 (6) Mar 19 (6) Mar 18 (4) Mar 17 (4) Mar 16 (5) Mar 15 (3) Mar 14 (7) Mar 13 (5) Mar 12 (8) Mar 11 (6) Mar 10 (4) Mar 09 (6) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (3) Mar 06 (5) Mar 05 (5) Mar 04 (5) Mar 03 (7) Mar 02 (4) Mar 01 (5) Feb 28 (3) Feb 27 (5) Feb 26 (6) Feb 25 (7) Feb 24 (4) Feb 23 (4) Feb 22 (7) Feb 21 (4) Feb 20 (3) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (5) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (4) Feb 15 (6) Feb 14 (6) Feb 13 (6) Feb 12 (4) Feb 11 (5) Feb 10 (4) Feb 09 (3) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (4) Feb 06 (7) Feb 05 (7) Feb 04 (7) Feb 03 (9) Feb 02 (7) Feb 01 (9) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (6) Jan 29 (5) Jan 28 (6) Jan 27 (6) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (6) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (6) Jan 21 (6) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (4) Jan 18 (9) Jan 17 (5) Jan 16 (5) Jan 15 (6) Jan 14 (7) Jan 13 (7) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (7) Jan 10 (8) Jan 09 (7) Jan 08 (8) Jan 07 (11) Jan 06 (9) Jan 05 (5) Jan 04 (7) Jan 03 (6) Jan 02 (8) Jan 01 (8) Dec 31 (6) Dec 30 (6) Dec 29 (4) Dec 28 (7) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (5) Dec 25 (5) Dec 24 (5) Dec 23 (7) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (5) Dec 20 (5) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (6) Dec 17 (6) Dec 16 (4) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (5) Dec 13 (4) Dec 12 (5) Dec 11 (4) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (5) Dec 08 (6) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (5) Dec 04 (5) Dec 03 (6) Dec 02 (4) Dec 01 (5) Nov 30 (4) Nov 29 (6) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (4) Nov 26 (4) Nov 25 (4) Nov 24 (4) Nov 23 (5) Nov 22 (7) Nov 21 (5) Nov 20 (6) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (3) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (4) Nov 14 (5) Nov 13 (6) Nov 12 (6) Nov 11 (6) Nov 10 (8) Nov 09 (8) Nov 08 (7) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (5) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (6) Nov 03 (5) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (5) Oct 31 (4) Oct 30 (3) Oct 29 (5) Oct 28 (5) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (6) Oct 24 (2) Oct 23 (3) Oct 22 (5) Oct 21 (4) Oct 20 (6) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (4) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (5) Oct 15 (2) Oct 14 (5) Oct 13 (2) Oct 12 (3) Oct 11 (7) Oct 10 (3) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (2) Oct 07 (7) Oct 06 (2) Oct 05 (6) Oct 04 (5) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (8) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (6) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (4) Sep 26 (4) Sep 25 (4) Sep 24 (1) Sep 23 (5) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (2) Sep 20 (5) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (5) Sep 16 (3) Sep 15 (4) Sep 14 (4) Sep 13 (4) Sep 12 (3) Sep 11 (3) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (4) Sep 07 (4) Sep 06 (4) Sep 05 (5) Sep 04 (2) Sep 03 (4) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (3) Aug 29 (2) Aug 28 (4) Aug 27 (4) Aug 26 (4) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (3) Aug 23 (2) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (4) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (4) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (5) Aug 12 (5) Aug 11 (3) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (3) Aug 08 (4) Aug 07 (3) Aug 06 (3) Aug 05 (3) Aug 04 (4) Aug 03 (4) Aug 02 (4) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (4) Jul 30 (5) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (3) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (4) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (3) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (5) Jul 19 (4) Jul 18 (4) Jul 17 (3) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (3) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (3) Jul 11 (3) Jul 10 (3) Jul 09 (4) Jul 08 (4) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (3) Jul 05 (5) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (4) Jul 02 (4) Jul 01 (4) Jun 30 (3) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (3) Jun 26 (3) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (5) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (3) Jun 18 (3) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (4) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (4) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (6) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (4) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (5) Jun 07 (3) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (5) Jun 04 (5) Jun 03 (3) Jun 02 (5) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (3) May 30 (5) May 29 (3) May 28 (4) May 27 (5) May 26 (7) May 25 (4) May 24 (4) May 23 (4) May 22 (6) May 21 (4) May 20 (3) May 19 (5) May 18 (4) May 17 (4) May 16 (5) May 15 (4) May 14 (4) May 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12 (5) Feb 11 (3) Feb 10 (5) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (5) Feb 06 (5) Feb 05 (5) Feb 04 (4) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (3) Feb 01 (2) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (3) Jan 28 (5) Jan 27 (6) Jan 26 (4) Jan 25 (3) Jan 24 (4) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (3) Jan 21 (3) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (4) Jan 18 (3) Jan 17 (3) Jan 16 (3) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (3) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (3) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (5) Jan 06 (3) Jan 05 (5) Jan 04 (3) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (1) Jan 01 (3) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (5) Dec 29 (4) Dec 28 (4) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (3) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (3) Dec 22 (3) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (4) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (4) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (5) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (3) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (4) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (3) Dec 06 (5) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (3) Dec 03 (3) Dec 02 (4) Dec 01 (5) Nov 30 (3) Nov 29 (4) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (5) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (5) Nov 24 (3) Nov 23 (3) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (3) Nov 18 (3) Nov 17 (4) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (4) Nov 14 (3) Nov 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25 (3) Aug 24 (3) Aug 23 (3) Aug 22 (4) Aug 21 (4) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (2) Aug 16 (2) Aug 15 (5) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (5) Aug 12 (10) Aug 11 (5) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (5) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (5) Aug 04 (5) Aug 03 (3) Aug 02 (5) Aug 01 (7) Jul 31 (5) Jul 30 (4) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (3) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (5) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (5) Jul 23 (5) Jul 22 (7) Jul 21 (5) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (5) Jul 18 (6) Jul 17 (5) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (6) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (3) Jul 12 (2) Jul 11 (2) Jul 10 (2) Jul 09 (2) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (2) Jul 05 (2) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (3) Jul 02 (2) Jul 01 (8) Jun 30 (6) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (6) Jun 27 (6) Jun 26 (6) Jun 25 (6) Jun 24 (6) Jun 23 (4) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (5) Jun 18 (8) Jun 17 (6) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (5) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (6) Jun 10 (4) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (5) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (3) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (3) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (4) May 31 (2) May 30 (2) May 29 (2) May 28 (2) May 27 (4) 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(6) Feb 24 (2) Feb 23 (3) Feb 22 (4) Feb 21 (6) Feb 20 (2) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (4) Feb 17 (2) Feb 16 (3) Feb 15 (6) Feb 14 (6) Feb 13 (6) Feb 12 (9) Feb 11 (5) Feb 10 (3) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (7) Feb 06 (3) Feb 05 (4) Feb 04 (5) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (3) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (4) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (3) Jan 28 (2) Jan 27 (2) Jan 26 (3) Jan 25 (4) Jan 24 (4) Jan 23 (2) Jan 22 (2) Jan 21 (5) Jan 20 (4) Jan 19 (5) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (4) Jan 16 (3) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (3) Jan 12 (3) Jan 11 (2) Jan 10 (8) Jan 09 (6) Jan 08 (2) Jan 07 (2) Jan 06 (3) Jan 05 (2) Jan 04 (2) Jan 03 (2) Jan 02 (2) Jan 01 (2) Dec 31 (2) Dec 30 (3) Dec 29 (3) Dec 28 (3) Dec 27 (2) Dec 26 (2) Dec 25 (2) Dec 24 (2) Dec 23 (2) Dec 22 (2) Dec 21 (2) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (2) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (2) Dec 16 (2) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (2) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (3) Dec 10 (5) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (2) Dec 06 (3) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (5) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (3) Nov 30 (4) Nov 29 (4) Nov 28 (2) Nov 27 (2) Nov 26 (2) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (2) Nov 23 (2) Nov 22 (2) Nov 21 (2) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (3) Nov 18 (2) Nov 17 (2) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (5) Nov 14 (4) Nov 13 (2) Nov 12 (2) Nov 11 (2) Nov 10 (2) Nov 09 (2) Nov 08 (2) Nov 07 (3) Nov 06 (6) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (5) Nov 03 (5) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (5) Oct 31 (7) Oct 30 (5) Oct 29 (4) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (2) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (4) Oct 24 (4) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (2) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (2) Oct 18 (2) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (5) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (2) Oct 13 (2) Oct 12 (4) Oct 11 (5) Oct 10 (4) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (2) Oct 05 (5) Oct 04 (5) Oct 03 (4) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (5) Sep 30 (2) Sep 29 (2) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (6) Sep 26 (2) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (2) Sep 22 (2) Sep 21 (2) Sep 20 (2) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (3) Sep 16 (2) Sep 15 (4) Sep 14 (3) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (6) Sep 10 (2) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (5) Sep 06 (4) Sep 05 (4) Sep 04 (3) Sep 03 (2) Sep 02 (3) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (2) Aug 30 (2) Aug 29 (3) Aug 28 (6) Aug 27 (3) Aug 26 (2) Aug 25 (2) Aug 24 (3) Aug 23 (2) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (5) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (3) Aug 18 (2) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (5) Aug 13 (2) Aug 12 (2) Aug 11 (2) Aug 10 (2) Aug 09 (2) Aug 08 (5) Aug 07 (5) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (2) Aug 04 (5) Aug 03 (2) Aug 02 (3) Aug 01 (2) Jul 31 (4) Jul 30 (2) Jul 29 (2) Jul 28 (2) Jul 27 (2) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (2) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (2) Jul 21 (3) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (2) Jul 18 (3) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (2) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (2) Jul 12 (3) Jul 11 (2) Jul 10 (2) Jul 09 (2) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (2) Jul 06 (2) Jul 05 (2) Jul 04 (2) Jul 03 (2) Jul 02 (2) Jul 01 (3) Jun 30 (3) Jun 29 (7) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (2) Jun 26 (3) Jun 25 (1) Jun 24 (2) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (2) Jun 19 (2) Jun 18 (2) Jun 17 (2) Jun 16 (2) Jun 15 (2) Jun 14 (2) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (3) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (2) Jun 09 (4) Jun 08 (2) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (5) Jun 05 (3) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (2) Jun 02 (2) Jun 01 (4) May 31 (2) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (3) May 27 (2) May 26 (2) May 25 (2) May 24 (2) May 23 (2) May 22 (3) May 21 (3) May 20 (2) May 19 (2) May 18 (4) May 17 (7) May 16 (2) May 15 (2) May 14 (4) May 13 (3) May 12 (4) May 11 (4) May 10 (4) May 09 (3) May 08 (2) May 07 (2) May 06 (2) May 05 (1) May 04 (2) May 03 (4) May 02 (3) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (1) Apr 29 (3) Apr 28 (2) Apr 27 (3) Apr 26 (2) Apr 25 (2) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (2) Apr 22 (2) Apr 21 (2) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (5) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (3) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (4) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (2) Apr 06 (3) Apr 05 (3) Apr 04 (1) Apr 03 (1) Apr 02 (1) Apr 01 (2) Mar 31 (2) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (2) Mar 28 (3) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (3) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (2) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (3) Mar 21 (4) Mar 20 (2) Mar 19 (3) Mar 18 (1) Mar 17 (2) Mar 16 (2) Mar 15 (1) Mar 14 (3) Mar 13 (1) Mar 12 (2) Mar 11 (1) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (2) Mar 08 (1) Mar 07 (1) Mar 04 (2) Mar 02 (2) Feb 28 (1) Feb 24 (1) Dec 31 (4) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (4) Dec 28 (5) Dec 27 (3) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (4) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (3) Dec 22 (4) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (3) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (3) Dec 11 (3) Dec 10 (3) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (3) Dec 07 (3) Dec 06 (3) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (3) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (3) Nov 30 (3) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (3) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (3) Nov 23 (3) Nov 22 (3) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (3) Nov 18 (3) Nov 17 (3) Nov 16 (2) Nov 15 (3) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (3) Nov 10 (4) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (4) Nov 07 (3) Nov 06 (3) Nov 05 (5) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (3) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (4) Oct 30 (3) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (2) Oct 27 (4) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (4) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (3) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (4) Oct 20 (4) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (4) Oct 17 (4) Oct 16 (3) Oct 15 (3) Oct 14 (3) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (3) Oct 11 (3) Oct 10 (4) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (3) Oct 07 (4) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (4) Oct 02 (5) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (4) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (4) Sep 26 (3) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (3) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (3) Sep 20 (3) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (3) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (3) Sep 14 (3) Sep 13 (3) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (4) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (4) Sep 08 (4) Sep 07 (3) Sep 06 (3) Sep 05 (3) Sep 04 (3) Sep 03 (3) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (4) Aug 29 (3) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (3) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (4) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (5) Aug 22 (3) Aug 21 (3) Aug 20 (3) Aug 19 (3) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (3) Aug 12 (3) Aug 11 (4) Aug 10 (5) Aug 09 (3) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (5) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (3) Aug 03 (3) Aug 02 (3) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (3) Jul 30 (4) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (5) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (3) Jul 24 (3) Jul 23 (4) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (3) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (4) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (3) Jul 14 (3) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (5) Jul 11 (4) Jul 10 (4) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (3) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (5) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (3) Jul 03 (4) Jul 02 (3) Jul 01 (6) Jun 30 (4) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (4) Jun 25 (5) Jun 24 (4) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (4) Jun 18 (5) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (3) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (3) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (5) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (4) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (5) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (4) Jun 02 (5) Jun 01 (3) May 31 (4) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (3) May 27 (3) May 26 (4) May 25 (4) May 24 (4) May 23 (4) May 22 (3) May 21 (3) May 20 (4) May 19 (3) May 18 (3) May 17 (4) May 16 (3) May 15 (4) May 14 (3) May 13 (4) May 12 (1) May 11 (3) May 10 (3) May 09 (3) May 08 (3) May 07 (4) May 06 (3) May 05 (4) May 04 (4) May 03 (3) May 02 (3) May 01 (6) Apr 30 (3) Apr 29 (3) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (5) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (3) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (3) Apr 22 (3) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (3) Apr 18 (3) Apr 17 (4) Apr 16 (3) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (3) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (3) Apr 09 (3) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (3) Apr 05 (3) Apr 04 (3) Apr 03 (3) Apr 02 (3) Apr 01 (3) Mar 31 (3) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 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It rained the whole way to Elizabeth City, on Friday. By the time, I arrived the rain had "set in". Showers came in intervals all afternoon. Once, a heavy shower fell and made quite a racket. Lyla and I were looking out the window when. abruptly, the rain stopped and the sun came out. Quickly, I rushed to the porch with her, looking for a rainbow-and there it was!-a very faint arch of color over the laughing river. It did not compare in brilliance with the one I had seen a week ago, at the rabbit patch, but it was Lylas' first rainbow, and that will make it memorable for me. Lyla stared in awe and said "wow" in a hushed voice.After a nice evening dinner, I went out to see the twilight. The rain had been stopped for hours, but the distant sky was full of flashing. The air cooled off considerably. At last, we heard thunder foretelling of an impending storm. Will, Lylas' dad, took her to the front porch. There was wind, which delighted Lyla-and the sky was flashing lightening in all sorts of arrangements. Lyla was delighted. Moments later, we heard the familiar sound of hail . It only hailed a few moments, thankfully. When we went in, I wondered what Lyla thought about the sky, with its' rainbow and flashing lights- and then the hail.Saturday dawned bright and fair and seemed to call my name. It was going to be a good day for wandering. I saw a robin in the yard when I went out. He had a mouth full of nesting materials and so I wished him well. The dogwood, just outside of Jennys' kitchen window is in full bloom. It is supposed to wait for Easter, but shows no sign of regret about that. It is full of "April snow" and just lovely.After breakfast, I did take to wandering. I took my sweet, little companion, Lyla with me. The streets are lined with all varieties of flowering trees. I especially love the weeping cherry trees with their flowery tendrils. Friendly people were out in many yards tending the soil in various fashions. We saw some young children chasing bubbles in the gentle breeze. Spring is a fine time for such things. Chimes tinkled from porches and seemed the perfect music when teamed with the songbirds, for the first day of April. It sounded like an "out-of season" rendition of Joy to the World.In the, afternoon, after Lylas' nap, Jenny and I took Lyla out again. The sky was as bright as October with only a few friendly clouds and so we watched them a while. We walked to a park with swings and slides-and seagulls. We had a good time beneath the sky with friendly clouds and supper was late because of that.Breakfast was served and cleared away. Fresh strawberries were cut and sugared for a strawberry short cake- and a pound cake was baking-all by ten am. The day was every bit as lovely as the day before it. April has made a grand entry this year, I thought.Sunday dinner was served at twelve-thirty. Wills' mom, Miss Claudia came and so we ate in good company. Lyla was especially happy about the cake. She has only recently tasted cake and has decided there should always be a cake in the kitchen. She has put forth great effort to say "cake" and does so perfectly, with emphasis on the 'k" sound.Early Monday morning, I saw some young "lady cardinals" fussing in the oak trees. Meanwhile, a robin was having breakfast, where Will had removed a small and dead peach tree. I don't remember ever seeing robins quarrel. Squirrels were racing about and seemed very preoccupied with squirrel business.There is a ladybanks rose in full bloom, in the neighbors' yard that ought to be in a magazine. It runs up the side of a shed and then grows upright several feet. Plumes of yellow blossoms cascade like a floral fountain, making a spectacular "splash".An hour later, as I carried my bags to the car, I thought what a lovely occasion, the weekend had been. I went past, the stroller and noticed yesterdays' gathered flowers strewn in the seat-like souvenirs . . . Dear Diary, I love April!
Saturday, April 8, 2017

The Vera Institute of Justice and partner organizations today announced that detained New Yorkers in all upstate immigration courts will now be eligible to receive legal counsel during deportation proceedings. The 2018 New York State budget included a grant of $4 million to significantly expand the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project (NYIFUP), a groundbreaking public defense program for immigrants facing deportation that was launched in New York City in 2013.

New York has become the first state to ensure that no immigrant will be detained and permanently separated from his or her family solely because of the inability to afford a lawyer. Without counsel, a study shows, only 3% of detained, unrepresented immigrants avoid deportation, but providing public defenders can improve an immigrants chance of winning and remaining in the United States by as much as 1000%.

NYIFUP has been operating in two of the four affected upstate immigration courts on a limited basis since 2014 with funding from the New York State Assembly and the IDC. In the just-ended fiscal year, the funding was sufficient to meet less than 20% of the need upstate. In New York City, NYIFUP has been representing all financially eligible, otherwise unrepresented detained immigrants since 2014 with funding from the City Council.

Research has shown that keeping immigrant families together saves money for the states taxpayers in increased tax revenues and less need for families left behind to draw on the social safety net. New York State employers also receive significant economic benefits from avoiding the loss of productivity when their employees are detained and deported, and the consequent need to identify and train replacement workers.

The first public defender program in the country for immigrants facing deportation, the NYIFUP Coalition includes Vera, the Immigration Justice Clinic of Cardozo Law School, the Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights, Make the Road New York, and The Center for Popular Democracy. The Erie County Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project is a NYIFUP Coalition partner upstate. Brooklyn Defender Services, the Legal Aid Society, and The Bronx Defenders are Coalition partners in New York City.

Several cities and states, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and California have recently begun efforts to design similar programs.

KJ

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/2017/04/new-york-state-becomes-first-in-the-nation-to-provide-lawyers-for-all-immigrants-detained-and-facing.html
4 Tourists visit the National World War II Memorial on the east end of the Reflecting Pool and Lincoln Memorial as a storm clears the nation's capital in Washington.
Roland Despeines looks for shelter inside a mountain cave when heavy rains fall in southwestern Haiti.

Despeines and many other Haitians have been taking shelter from storms in the cave since October 4. On that day, Hurricane Matthew destroyed their homes and changed their lives.

Food for the Poor is an aid group in the American state of Florida. Last month, its workers found that 240 people were spending nights in two caves.

The workers were searching for land to plant food crops, the aid group said. It called the situation a humanitarian crisis. The group said the cave dwellers included 84 women and 62 children.

"Whenever the rain is about to fall, all of us come to stay here," Roland Despeines said. A VOA reporter visited the cave in late March and saw kerosene lamps and sheets made from tree leaves.

Jovenel Moise is Haitis new president. He and Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant also visited the caves at the end of March. They have promised to provide food and shelter.

The United Nations has reported that at least 70 percent of crops were destroyed in one area  the department of GrandAnse.

"The children are crying all the time because they are hungry," Despeines said. "  When a vehicle comes to the area, the people run after it," hoping for food, he added. "If a car brings a bag of rice, we cook it right away, and it isn't enough to feed all of us."

A young woman named Bernie Josee also spoke about the problem of hunger. "Sometimes, visitors come to this area and they bring us food, she said. But this week, we have nothing to eat."

Some people were so hungry that they were eating poisonous plants, The Miami Herald recently reported.

Government workers and aid groups have provided food such as rice and beans to the Haitians. A low-cost government-operated restaurant is planned. And, Moise has ordered plans to build new homes.

The United States Agency for International Development provided emergency supplies such as plastic coverings after Hurricane Matthew hit. Also, it partnered with a local organization to pay workers for home repairs.

After the hurricane, the U.N. Development Program asked for $138 million in aid for Haiti. The agency has made two-thirds of its financial goal.

Im Alice Bryant.

VOA's Creole Service reported on this story. Alice Bryant adapted the report for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the comments section.

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Words in This Story

cave - n. a large hole that was formed by natural processes in the side of a cliff or hill or under the ground

kerosene - n. a type of oil that is burned as a fuel  often used before another noun

sheet - n. a large piece of cloth that is used to cover something

dweller - n. someone who lives or stays in a special or particular place

hurricane - n. an extremely powerful and destructive rainstorm with very strong winds


Today we tell a traditional American story called a tall tale. A tall tale is a story about a person who is larger than life. The descriptions in the story are exaggerated  much greater than in real life. This makes the story funny. Long ago, the people who settled in undeveloped areas in America first told tall tales. After a hard days work, people gathered to tell each other funny stories.

Each group of workers had its own tall tale hero. Paul Bunyan was a hero of North Americas lumberjacks, the workers who cut down trees. He was known for his strength, speed and skill. Tradition says he cleared forests from the northeastern United States to the Pacific Ocean.

Some people say Paul Bunyan was the creation of storytellers from the middle western Great Lakes area of the United States. Other people say the stories about him came from French Canada.

Early in the twentieth century, a writer prepared a collection of Paul Bunyan stories. They were included in a publication from the Red River Lumber Company in Minnesota. It is not known if the stories helped the companys sales, but they became extremely popular.

Here is Shep ONeal with our story about Paul Bunyan.

Many years ago, Paul Bunyan was born in the northeastern American state of Maine. His mother and father were shocked when they first saw the boy. Paul was so large at birth that five large birds had to carry him to his parents. When the boy was only a few weeks old, he weighed more than 45 kilograms.

As a child, Paul was always hungry. His parents needed 10 cows to supply milk for his meals. Before long, he ate 50 eggs and 10 containers of potatoes every day.



Young Paul grew so big that his parents did not know what to do with him. Once, Paul rolled over so much in his sleep that he caused an earthquake. This angered people in the town where his parents lived. So, the government told his mother and father they would have to move him somewhere else.

Pauls father built a wooden cradle -- a traditional bed for a baby. His parents put the cradle in waters along the coast of Maine. However, every time Paul rolled over, huge waves covered all the coastal towns. So his parents brought their son back on land. They took him into the woods. This is where he grew up.

As a boy, Paul helped his father cut down trees. Paul had the strength of many men. He also was extremely fast. He could turn off a light and then jump into his bed before the room got dark.

Maine is very cold for much of the year. One day, it started to snow. The snow covered Pauls home and a nearby forest. However, this snow was very unusual. It was blue. The blue snow kept falling until the forest was covered.

Paul put on his snowshoes and went out to see the unusual sight. As he walked, Paul discovered an animal stuck in the snow. It was a baby ox. Paul decided to take the ox home with him. He put the animal near the fireplace. After the ox got warmer, his hair remained blue.

Paul decided to keep the blue ox and named him Babe. Babe grew very quickly. One night, Paul left him in a small building with the other animals. The next morning, the barn was gone and so was Babe. Paul searched everywhere for the animal. He found Babe calmly eating grass in a valley, with the barn still on top of his back. Babe followed Paul and grew larger every day. Every time Paul looked, Babe seemed to grow taller.

In those days, much of North America was filled with thick, green forests. Paul Bunyan could clear large wooded areas with a single stroke of his large, sharp axe.

Paul taught Babe to help with his work. Babe was very useful. For example, Paul had trouble removing trees along a road that was not straight. He decided to tie one end of the road to what remained of a tree in the ground. Paul tied the other end to Babe. Babe dug his feet in the ground and pulled with all his strength until the road became straight.

In time, Paul and Babe the Blue Ox left Maine, and moved west to look for work in other forests. Along the way, Paul dug out the Great Lakes to provide drinking water for Babe. They settled in a camp near the Onion River in the state of Minnesota.

Paul decided to get other lumberjacks to help with the work. His work crew became known as the Seven Axemen. Each man was more than 2 meters tall and weighed more than 160 kilograms. All of the Axemen were named Elmer. That way, they all came running whenever Paul called them.

The man who cooked for the group was named Sourdough Sam. He made everything -- except coffee -- from sourdough, a substance used in making sourdough bread.

Every Sunday, Paul and his crew ate hot cakes. Each hot cake was so large that it took five men to eat one. Paul usually had 10 or more hot cakes, depending on how hungry he was. The table where the men ate was so long that a server usually drove to one end of the table and stayed the night. The server drove back in the morning, with a fresh load of food.

Paul needed someone to help with the camps finances. He gave the job to a man named Johnny Inkslinger. Johnny kept records of everything, including wages and the cost of feeding Babe. He sometimes used nine containers of writing fluid a day to keep such detailed records.

The camp also was home to Sport, the Reversible Dog. One of the workers accidentally cut Sport in two. The man hurried to put the dog back together, but made a mistake. He bent the animals back the wrong way. However, that was not a problem for Sport. He learned to run on his front legs until he was tired. Then, he turned the other way and ran on his back legs.

Big mosquitoes were a problem at the camp. The men attacked the insects with their axes and long sticks. Before long, the men put barriers around their living space. Then, Paul ordered them to get big bees to destroy the mosquitoes. But the bees married the mosquitoes, and the problem got worse. They began to produce young insects. One day, the insects love of sweets caused them to attack a ship that was bringing sugar to the camp. At last, the mosquitoes and bees were defeated. They ate so much sugar they could not move.

Paul always gave Babe the Blue Ox a 35-kilogram piece of sugar when he was good. But sometimes Babe liked to play tricks. At night, Babe would make noises and hit the ground with his feet. The men at the camp would run out of the buildings where they slept, thinking it was an earthquake.

When winter came, Babe had trouble finding enough food to eat. Snow covered everything. Ole the Blacksmith solved the problem. He made huge green sunglasses for Babe. When Babe wore the sunglasses, he thought the snow was grass. Before long, Babe was strong and healthy again.

One year, Pauls camp was especially cold. It was so cold that the men let their facial hair grow very long. When the men spoke, their words froze in the air. Everything they said remained frozen all winter long, and did not melt until spring.

Paul Bunyan and Babe left their mark on many areas. Some people say they were responsible for creating Puget Sound in the western state of Washington. Others say Paul Bunyan and Babe cleared the trees from the states of North Dakota and South Dakota. They prepared this area for farming.

Babe the Blue Ox died in South Dakota. One story says he ate too many hot cakes. Paul buried his old friend there. Today, the burial place is known as the Black Hills.

Whatever happened to Paul Bunyan? There are lots of stories. Some people say he was last seen in Alaska, or even the Arctic Circle. Another tradition says he still returns to Minnesota every summer. It says Paul moves in and out of the woods, so few people ever know that he is there.

You have just heard the story of Paul Bunyan. It was adapted by George Grow. Your narrator was Shep ONeal.

Now its your turn. Tell us in the comments section about a tall tale from your culture. Does the hero of the story have unusual size or strength? Visit our Facebook page, too, for more stories.

Quiz - Paul Bunyan, An American Folk Tale Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

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Words in This Story

reversible - adj. having two sides that can be used

blacksmith - n. a person who makes or repairs things made of iron (such as horseshoes)
American allies have praised the United States for launching airstrikes on Syrian military targets to answer a chemical weapons attack in Syria.

U.S. Navy destroyers fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles early Friday at an air base in western Syria.

The airstrikes came days after a chemical weapons attack in a rebel-held town in the Syrian province of Idlib. The attack killed about 100 civilians, including many children.

Western officials have accused forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of using the chemical weapons. The Syrian government blames rebel fighters.

The raid [on Friday] was the first time U.S. forces have directly attacked Syrian government positions. U.S. officials said the air base targeted was most likely the one used to launch the chemical attack.

U.S. President Donald Trump condemned the horrible chemical attack earlier this week. He said it had crossed many, many lines and changed his mind about Assad and Syria.

On Thursday, Trump talked about the U.S. airstrikes from Florida, where he has been meeting with Chinas president. Trump said he ordered the strikes to answer attacks against innocent civilians with a deadly nerve agent.

"It is in the vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons."

Trump added that all civilized nations should join the United States "in seeking an end to the slaughter and bloodshed in Syria."

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the goal of the U.S. military action was to make clear that these chemical weapons continue to be a violation of international norms.

Many American allies voiced support for the airstrikes. They included Germany, France, Britain, Israel, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and others.

European Union Council President Donald Tusk said on Twitter, the U.S. strikes show needed resolve against barbaric chemical attacks.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the airstrikes, a concrete step against the Assad regime's war crimes using chemical and conventional weapons.

The airstrikes received support from a number of U.S. congressional leaders, including House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

However, some lawmakers expressed concern that Trump did not first seek Congressional approval before ordering the military action.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Trump must officially seek congressional approval if he intends to escalate the U.S. militarys involvement in Syria. She also warned against the U.S. getting involved in another open-ended war in the Middle East.

The Syrian government has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons against civilians during the countrys six-year civil war.

On Friday, Assads office described the U.S. action as, reckless, irresponsible, and not based on true facts. Syrias Foreign Ministry said the airstrikes were designed to weaken the strength of the Syrian army in confronting terrorist groups.

Both Russia and Iran have been strong supporters of Assads government and aided his forces in the conflict against rebel fighters.

In Russia, the government condemned the U.S. military action as aggression against a sovereign state. A spokesman for President Vladimir Putin said the attack would result in "major damage on U.S.-Russia ties."

The U.S. military said the Russian government was warned of the airstrikes before the raid.

Russia has denied any part in the chemical weapons attack. A Russian spokesman blamed the incident on Syrian warplanes striking a supply of chemical weapons belonging to rebel forces.

U.S. military officials said they are investigating possible Russian involvement. The officials said drone aircraft belonging to either to Russia or Syria was seen flying over the area where the chemical attack took place soon after it happened.

Iran also condemned the U.S. action. A Foreign Ministry spokesman said such unilateral action is dangerous, destructive and violates the principles of international law. Iran's official news agency for parliament said Russia and Iran won't be quiet against such acts which violate interests of the region.

The American ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said the U.S. government holds Syria responsible for the chemical attack. However, she told the Security Council on Friday that Russia and Iran both bear a "heavy responsibility" for supporting and protecting Assad.

Haley noted that Russia is supposed to be a guarantor that all chemical weapons were removed from Syria under a 2013 agreement. She added that further action against Syria is possible.

The United States took a very measured step last night. We are prepared to do more, but we hope that will not be necessary.

The airstrikes came after conflicting statements from the Trump administration on Syria. Just last week, U.S. officials said removing Assad from power was not a priority. During a recent visit to Turkey, Secretary Tillerson said he thought the future of Assad would "be decided by the Syrian people.

But speaking to reporters Thursday, Tillerson left the door open for U.S. support for new leadership in Syria. He said he thinks this policy should focus on a political solution involving international partners to get Assad to leave power.

Assads role in the future is uncertain, clearly, and with the acts that he has taken, it would seem that there would be no role for him to govern the Syrian people.

Several members of Congress have said the focus should now move to additional policy steps in Syria.

One proposal is for the United States to act quickly to set up safe zones and take steps to deal with the humanitarian crisis.

Another, proposed by Senator Marco Rubio, is for the U.S. to cooperate with Sunni Arab governments to discuss an "alternative" government in Syria.

Rubio told the "Today Show" that Trump should seek the help of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey  all of which supported the U.S. airstrikes. He said these countries can be important in getting Assad to step down and helping create a new government.

I'm Alice Bryant.

And I'm Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from VOA News, the Associated Press and other sources. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

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Words in This Story

deter  v. prevent from happening

slaughter  v. to kill a lot of people in a violent way

conventional - adj. of a kind that has been around for a long time and is considered to be usual or typical

escalate - v. to become worse or to make (something) worse or more severe

concrete  adj. relating to something real, rather than general ideas or qualities

reckless  adj. doing something dangerous or carelessly

unilateral  adj. involving only one group or country

alternative  adj. a different choice or available option
On Nov. 1, Linn Benton Food Shares warehouse in Tangent received two truckloads of food and household supplies arranged by the local branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
A communication link between U.S. and Russian military officials has protected pilots flying missions over the crowded skies of war-ravaged Sy
ELWOOD  As news of wildfires sweeping across Kansas and Texas unfolded in early March, Becky Chaney felt a deep desire to act and to invite her 4-H kids and community to act too.

I cried every time I read a story or saw a photo of a dead cow, said Chaney, or heard the tragic stories of homes lost, pastures, and even lives lost, of those heroic ranchers trying to save their cattle.

She said she knew she wanted the Pride of the Prairie 4-H Club to do something, even if it was only raising funds and sending a check.

When she discovered one of the hardest hit areas, Ashland, Kan., was only four and a half hours away, she realized going there was feasible.

I knew we could do something more than just money, we could go help and perhaps take a few supplies, but I never imagined we would have the outpouring of community support we did, said Chaney.

She made a flier announcing the 4-H clubs plans and posted it on Facebook just six days before their departure. She said she told folks they could donate cash, gift cards, money to the Ashland Community Foundation or sponsor a bag of milk replacer for orphaned calves from Andrews Feed in Elwood.

The next day she was contacted by KRVN radio for an interview and response was phenomenal.

Katie and Theron Andrews of Andrews Feed in Elwood received calls from people in Gothenburg, Holbrook, Overton, Bertrand and Elwood for hundreds of pounds of milk replacer. Checks and cash were dropped off at both Security First and Pinnacle banks.

Parents and friends of 4-H club members started dropping off items the group would need for the trip, like food for the kids and gas cards. Some local businesses donated leather gloves and fencing pliers, which in turn were left in Kansas for subsequent work crews. Nicholas Niemeier, a 4-H dad, lent the group his La Crosse Seed trailer to haul the three full pallets of milk replacer and grain that was donated.

It was overwhelming, said Chaney.

She said the group was able to deliver $3,500 worth of donated milk replacer and grain, $825 in checks to the Ashland Community Foundation and $1,000 to the Ashland Feed and Seed.

I felt like our 4-H club was simply a vehicle doing Gods work and delivering His good grace to those who needed it, said Chaney.

Chaney, leader of the Pride of the Prairie 4-H Club, and another 4-H mom, LeahAnn Brell, both of Elwood, took ten 4-H kids to Ashland for two days of work March 31 and April 1.

The group left at 5:30 a.m. on Friday and arrived about 10 a.m. Chaney said as soon as they crossed into Clark County they started noticing the black scorched ground. She said they could still smell the stench of ash or smoke that lingered in the air even after several days of recent rains.

The thing that surprised me the most, was that the field and everything was just gone, said Dylan Hubbard, 14, an eighth-grader at Lexington Middle School. Some of the only things left were the small cedar trees and small bits and pieces of post hanging in the barbed wire, he said.

Kennedy Brell, 14, an eighth grader at Elwood Public School, said she was surprised to see houses burned down to the foundation and seeing holes burned right through trees. The sap in trees got so hot it blew the bark off of them, she said.

Chaney said they also saw the beginnings of new growth, as green blades of grass were starting to poke through the blackened ground.

Ty Smith, 16, a 10th-grader at Elwood Public School, said he was surprised to see the green.

Chaney called it a blessing, for the folks who have lost everything to see green again and know there is hope.

The group said their presence also generated hope. As soon as we arrived we were met by hugs from complete strangers, said Chaney. They were so grateful for our arrival, for volunteers to be coming to help them in their hour of need.

The experience was humbling, they lost so much, said Conner Schutz, 14, an eighth grader at Elwood Public School. It made me realize how thankful I am for what I have. It felt like I was helping with a change and getting their ranch and life back together.

The 4-Hers divided into two work crews the first day, with each mom taking five kids to a designated location.

Brells crew worked on cleaning up a windbreak surrounding the house of Max and Marge Meuli, a couple in their 80s. The Meulis entire 2,000 acre ranch was burned, including the pasture and fencing. The only thing spared was the house.

Brell said the kids sorted through a mix of dead trees, some live trees and lots of old wire. They dragged out the biggest logs to make a pile so tenants could later use a tractor to put it into a control burn pile. Max has Parkinsons disease and Marge has difficulty getting around so this was work they couldnt physically do themselves, said Brell.

Wryston Brell, 11, a sixth-grader at Elwood Public School, said he enjoyed helping people, especially the older couple, and he was glad to go on the amazing trip.

All the ranchers seemed very grateful that we came down and I could tell that they really needed all the help that they could get, he said.

Chaneys crew went to Susan and Tom Betscharts 320 acre ranch to tear down burned fence posts and roll barbed wire fence, most of it four and five strands deep. The work also included pulling metal fence posts within a mile stretch. Since it had rained they could pull the posts out by hand, Chaney said, but it was still hard.

On the second day, the entire group worked the fence row for another two miles, so in all, three miles were completed.

I learned to use fencing pliers for the first time and learned how to roll barbed wire fence, said Sheridan Chaney, 13, a seventh-grader at Elwood Public School.

I couldnt believe how much fence there is to rebuild. I cant imagine how hard it must be for them, but I know thinking about it made me want to work harder, said Wryston Brell.

Ty Smith said the opportunity to serve was life changing because they were able to do things that many of us normally dont do around our area. He said they learned how to work without using machinery, and instead did it all by hand.

Rianna Chaney, 13, a seventh-grader at Elwood Public School, said was told the area reminded people of the Dirty 30s and the dust bowl because there are hardly any trees left, just sand.

It was humbling and it inspired me to work even harder while I was there because they lost so much, she said.

She also said she will remember the fun the club members had tearing down the fence row and how good it made them feel. That sentiment was echoed by the other 4-H members and their leaders.

I was very excited to go help out for this cause, said Dylan Hubbard. It really taught me how to make myself useful and help out others in a difficult time of need. If I could have stayed one more day to get more work in I most definitely would have volunteered to stay.

It was an honor to be able to go down and help them. It was an opportunity that not everyone takes and it felt good to help others,Kennedy Brell said.

It was so much fun working hard and pulling fence and rolling it, said Gracie Rushton,13, a seventh-grader at Elwood Public Schools. She said she hopes to go back to help more with her parents and grandparents. It was so rewarding, she said.

Ayden Moore, 13, said being in Kansas, helping the people who lost pasture and cattle, was rewarding and a little sad. Hearing the people of Ashland tell their stories of how they escaped was awful, he said. He said he thought helping gave a bit of fulfillment and hope.

Chaney said although the weather was cold and windy, the kids never complained once. They were so focused to work as hard as possible to get as much done as possible before we had to leave, she said.

The 4-H group stayed at a Christian Camp with a girls bunkhouse and a boys bunkhouse, each with 50 bunkbeds for 100 people. Volunteer coordinators use this site as a base to direct 75 to 150 volunteers on a daily basis, giving out ranch assignments every morning in the dining hall.

Chaney said they came across others there to help from Iowa, Virginia, Michigan and parts of Kansas, including FFA kids and women in their 70s from a church group.

Brell said the entire trip was a humbling experience. This could easily have been all the land in Gosper/Phelps/Furnas/Dawson and all our surrounding areas instead of in their backyard. Its hard to imagine just how much devastation and work that would mean for your area until youve witnessed it," she said.

She said as a ranchers wife it was a very depressing scenario but she also saw the ranching community spirit of lending a hand to your neighbor.

I think they (the kids) saw firsthand how quickly things in life can change, and they also saw how much hope one can give another simply by showing up ready to lend a hand, said Brell. Mother Nature can destroy a lot of things, but it can only destroy our spirit if we let it.

Chaney said the 4-H club stopped in WaKeeney, Kan. for supper where they met a couple, a judge and his wife. The man said it renewed his faith in young people, when he learned the group had been on fence row, helping ranchers in the wildfire area to recover. When the Elwood group went to pay their bill, the manager told them the couple paid the entire bill. I was overwhelmed with their kindness, said Chaney. And what a gesture to end our trip.
COZAD  The Robert Henri Museum in Cozad has recently added another original painting by Robert Henri to its art gallery and is home to the largest display of original Henri works in the world.

The newest addition is Normandie Interior, painted by Henri in 1897 in Normandy, a region in northern France.

The painting depicts a French woman, possibly a housekeeper or landlady, in front of a fireplace in a dimly lit setting, said Caroline Gaudreault, director of the Robert Henri Museum.

She said Normandie Interior appeared in Henris first solo exhibition and was subsequently purchased by Henris brother Frank Southrn and kept in private collections throughout its life. This is the first time in 120 years that it is on display to the public.

The addition of the painting means a total of seven Robert Henri original paintings are on display in the art gallery of the Robert Henri Museum, making it home to the largest display of Henris original paintings and artwork in the world. The museum also displays sketches by Henri.

According to the Cozad Chamber of Commerce, during the last nine months the museum, with the help of Larry Paulsen and other generous donors, added an original Henri painting now owned by the museum and five more original Henri paintings purchased by Paulsen to be displayed at the museum.

In December, the museum acquired the painting Bridgeen. In November, the museum acquired the paintings Carl or Karl Schleicher, and In Amsterdam.

Two of the most popular paintings on display at the museum, Dutch Girl, and Laughing Gypsy Girl, were acquired last June.

The other Henri painting on display, a painting of Spanish Queen Mariana of Austria, called Mariana has been owned by the museum for many years. It is a copy of Diego Velazeuezs state portrait of the queen and was painted by Henri in July 1900 while he was in Spain. The Mississippi Museum of Art arranged for the painting to be restored at the Gerald Ford Conservation Center in Omaha in exchange for the opportunity to display it for a period of time in 2014.

Paulsens mother, Shirley, was one of several visionaries who worked hard to bring the Robert Henri Museum to life in Cozad.

Paulsens involvement with the museum began after the loss of his parents when a memorial was established in their memory. He also connected the Robert Henri Museum with the Sunderland Foundation who has been a great support to the museum over the years.

Last year, Paulsen was instrumental in helping Gaudreault and Marlene Geiger, a member of the museums board, to bid on and win Laughing Gypsy Girl via a Sothebys online auction.

At the same auction last summer, Paulsen also bid and won another painting for the museum, Dutch Girl.

Unbeknownst to Paulsen at the time, this painting had a personal family tie.

Come to find out, the painting I purchased for the museum, Dutch Girl, was my mothers favorite painting by Robert Henri, Paulsen said. I knew it looked familiar.

Since then, Larry and Tammy Paulsen have purchased four additional Henri paintings to display at the museum.

Almost half the wall space inside the art gallery at the Henri museum is filled with original paintings by Robert, with the other half filled with original sketches. Gaudreault said the museum is always looking to acquire more original paintings, hinting that acquisition of more paintings is a possibility.

I think it is important to try and give back to the community. When I purchase land, I have high property taxes and musk thistles to spray. When I purchase a Robert Henri, you dont have those costs, Paulsen said.

I think its pretty cool that what started out to be a simple gesture has turned the museum into the Worlds Largest right here in Cozad, he said.

Gaudreault said the addition of more original paintings will have an immediate impact on the museum and community.

They are such a large draw, it being the largest display in the world. It will get our name out. The paintings bring people to Cozad to eat, at our restaurants and stay in a hotel, she said.

The second annual Robert Henri Arts Festival is planned for June 24, also Henris birthday, at the Robert Henri Museum in Cozad, 218 E. 8th St. For more information contact the museum by calling 308-784-4154.
1917 News justified entry into WW1.

Recent DNA testing debunked my family history story of American Indian heritage. This brought to mind that most history is modified by what is omitted or included. Too much positive or negative information can totally change the focus.Untold History of America Link Today's current events are history tomorrow. New documentaries are on-line about the horrible treatment of the Germans after WW2 and the terrible loss of life in the Korean War. Now I know about the lies told to get me interested in the Kuwait War. Lies got us into Vietnam and Iraq. The Media can produce fake history by dwelling on one ethic group's history as if it can be separated from the whole. Many deny Holocaust numbers. Stories of Irish Slaves called indentured servants abound. The removal of Confederate History and Christian Symbols are current events. I could ramble on and on.Ken Burns Vietnam documentary will be ready in September but reaching into the fog of history will produce nothing new.If only I could spam filter today's news for the truth. Yesterday is gone.
Gifford Leroy Martin, 73, of Oconto, died Tuesday, April 4, 2017, at the University Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

Funeral Services will be held Monday, April 10, 2017, at 2 p.m. at the Oconto Community Center with Pastor Susan Sukraw officiating.

Burial will be in the Oconto Cemetery with full Military Honors.

Visitation will be Sunday, April 9, 2017, from 2-4 p.m. at the Reynolds-Love Chapel in Lexington.

He was born Nov. 21, 1943, in Oconto, to Rosco and Lydia Etta (Elston) Martin. Gifford graduated from Oconto High School with the class of 1962.

Gifford served his country in the United States Army during the Vietnam War. Upon obtaining his honorable discharge he went on to further his education at Kearney State College. He was united in marriage to Leona Blow in 1969, two sons were blessed to this marriage; Stephen and Andrew.

Gifford moved with his family to Broken Bow, where he was Produce Manager for Safeway and later transferred to Safeway in North Platte. Gifford lived in North Platte until he returned to Oconto in 1981, where he resided until he answered the Lords call home. Gifford had several occupations before beginning employment with B-D in Broken Bow where he would work for over 20 years until he retired. During retirement Gifford enjoyed socializing with people as a Walmart Greeter until fully retiring in July 2016.

He enjoyed fishing, pheasant hunting, going to watch Andy as he played lead guitar for the band Borderline, and being with the family, especially the grandchildren. In fact, Gifford loved all children.

Gifford had a mischievous side to him, and enjoyed a practical joke or two. He had a heart of gold, and would do just about anything to help anyone. His faith was strong, and he was a member of First Church of Nazarene in Cozad until his passing.

He is survived by his sons, Stephen Martin of Oconto, Andy (Nilene) Martin of Cedar Bluffs; one brother, Ruben Martin of Overton; one sister, Doris Martin of Callaway; three grandchildren, Levi Martin of Lexington, Zoe Trautman of Cedar Bluffs and Drew Trautman of Wilber, Nebraska; as well as extended family and friends.

Gifford was preceded in death by his parents.

Memorials are suggested to the family for later designation.

Reynolds-Love Funeral Home in Lexington is honored to be assisting the family with arrangements. Please share online condolences with the family by visiting: reynoldslovefuneralhome.com.
A Billings man charged with robbing two banks in January admitted to one of the crimes this week in a plea deal calling for restitution to both banks.

During a hearing on Wednesday in U.S. District Court, David William Reeks, 47, pleaded guilty to bank robbery for robbing Valley Federal Credit Union, 2955 Grand Ave., at gunpoint on Jan. 31 and stealing $7,394.

A second count accusing him of robbing the Little Horn State Bank of $10,375 on Jan. 10 is to be dismissed under the terms of a plea agreement.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Sullivan said in court records that in the Valley Federal Credit Union robbery, Reeks entered the bank wearing a black ski mask that covered his mouth, plastic gloves and a black backpack.

Reeks removed what appeared to be a firearm from the backpack and demanded to be taken to the money room, Sullivan said. A teller took Reeks to the back room while another teller triggered an alarm.

The tellers gave Reeks several stacks of money, some of which contained bait bills. Reeks then ordered the tellers to lie on the ground and he ran out of the bank, Sullivan said.

Billings police officers responded and began looking for a dark green Honda sedan, which had been used to flee from a robbery at the Little Horn State Bank three weeks earlier.

Officers found the sedan near the credit union and attempted to pull it over, Sullivan said. Reeks fled from police until his vehicle spun out on a patch of ice and became immobilized.

Officers arrested Reeks and found a large wad of cash in his pocket, cash on top of a black backpack on the passengers seat and more cash inside of the backpack. All of the bait bills from the credit union were found among the cash, Sullivan said.

Officers also found a mask, gloves and a BB pistol in the model of a Beretta 9mm handgun. In an interview with investigators later, Reeks admitted he had robbed the credit union earlier in the day and expressed remorse for frightening the female employees at the bank, Sullivan said.

In 2006, Reeks was sentenced to 15 years in Montana State Prison for robbery and felony solicitation to commit perjury. Those charges were the result of Reeks robbing a Nickel Ante Casino in Billings with a pellet pistol and then writing letters from jail to a woman in an attempt to get her to commit robberies to fund his bond.

Reeks faces a maximum 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

U.S. District Judge Susan Watters set sentencing for Aug. 3. Reeks remains in custody.
Unitarians to discuss power of prayer

TWIN FALLS  Fly some flags, spin a wheel, walk in a forest or sit at the edge of the ocean in wonder. Prayer helps people grapple with the understanding that they are both the greatest and the least of creation. Unitarian Universalism honors the differing paths we each travel. Our congregations are places where we celebrate, support and challenge one another as we continue on our spiritual journeys. Unitarian Universalists covenant to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person; justice, equality and compassion in human relations; and acceptance of one another.

Services are at 10:30 a.m. Sunday at the Vendor Blender and Event Center, 588 Addison Ave. W. in Twin Falls. Newcomers of all religious paths or none at all are always welcome. The building is handicapped accessible, please park in the rear lot. Child care is available.

Sunday offering to benefit Hour of Sharing

HOLLISTER  Sunday offering at Hollister Presbyterian Church will benefit The One Great Hour of Sharing. Service starts at 11 a.m. There will be a Good Friday Service at 7 p.m. April 14 with coffee and dessert following the service. Visitors are welcome to attend. The church is at 2461 Central Avenue. For more information, call Linda at 208-733-9183.

Ascension schedules Holy Week activities

TWIN FALLS  Ascension Episcopal Church will provide several worship services to commemorate Jesus last week on earth. The Rev. Neal Collins will preside at all services.

The Palm Sunday service with Holy Communion is at 9 a.m. Sunday beginning in the in the courtyard, weather permitting, or parish hall. Nursery care will be available at 8:45 a.m. Ascension Cafe will not be held and there will be no coffee hour after the service.

Tthe Maundy Thursday service of Holy Communion will begin at 7 p.m. April 13 in the sanctuary and will conclude with the stripping of the altar. Nancy Koonce will be the guest homilist for this service.

Good Friday will be observed with the Good Friday liturgy at 12:15 p.m. and 7 p.m. April 14.

All are welcome for worship, study and fellowship. Ascension Episcopal Church is handicapped accessible and at 371 Eastland Drive N. in Twin Falls. For more information, go to episcopaltwinfalls.org or call 208-733-1248.

Lutheran Holy Week services

TWIN FALLS  Holy Week services will be held at 7 p.m. on Maundy Thursday and at 7 p.m. April 14 at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 2055 Filer Ave. E. in Twin Falls. Easter morning services will be held at 7 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. April 16 with breakfast served between the two services starting at 8 a.m. Please come help us celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

United Methodist Magic Valley Ministries sets Holy Week events

TWIN FALLS  The United Methodist Magic Valley Ministries churches has scheduled its Holy Week and Easter services. The public is invited to attend all services.

Maundy Thursday Services will be held at noon at the Twin Falls First United Methodist Church. The service will include a soup and bread lunch and communion. Services at Buhl United Methodist Church at 6 p.m. will include a fish dinner and communion. Please RSVP to Barbara at 208-733-5872 by Monday if you plan to attend. There will be a Moravian Love Feast at 6:30 p.m. at the Hagerman United Methodist Church.

Good Friday Tenebrae Services will be held at noon at Twin Falls First United Methodist Church and at 6:30 p.m. at Wendell United Methodist Church. The Jerome United Methodist Church will be open from noon to 2 p.m. for a personal time of prayer. Stations of the Cross will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Rev. Penny Hodges Labyrinth at 4292 N 1500 E in Buhl.

Easter Sunrise Service at Shoshone Falls Park will be held at 7 a.m. April 16. This community service will feature a short message by the Rev. Elaine Steele and singing will be led by Jeff Fox, Ron Jones and Mike McCarthy.

The Rev. Mike Hollomon will share a traditional Easter message at 9:30 a.m. April 16 at Hagerman United Methodist Church and at Buhl United Methodist Church at 11:30 a.m. An Easter Brunch will be served after worship at Hagerman UMC.

The Rev. Elaine Steele will lead services at 9:30 a.m. April 16 at Twin Falls First United Methodist Church. The service will feature music by the church bell choir, church choir and Strings Attached. Steele will lead worship at 11:30 a.m. at Jerome United Methodist Church and an Easter breakfast will be held at 10 a.m. at the Jerome Church.

Hodges will lead Easter worship at Wendell United Methodist Church at 9 a.m. April 16 and at Filer United Methodist Church at 11 a.m.

Buhl church celebrates Maundy Thursday with dinner

BUHL  The Buhl Methodist Church at 908 Maple Street will host a Maundy Thursday dinner at 6 p.m. on Thursday. All are invited to attend. Please RSVP by calling Barbara Gietzen at 208-543-5575. We need to know how many to plan our dinner. Come help us celebrate the memory of the Last Supper.

To submit information about church events and news. Contact Matt Gooch at mgooch@magicvalley.com. Deadline is 5 p.m. Wednesday for publication on the Saturday religion page. Please insert Church News in the email subject line.
There is no other event in the history of the world more significant than the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten son of the Living God.

But why does this coming week carry such enormous weight for the souls of men? Why should you interest yourself in the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord? (Philippians 3:8)

This biblical account of Almighty God in pursuit of redeeming the sons of men requires a look. Consider it with me.

An Almighty sovereign God is who He is because there is no other god like Him at all. Its not that there are other gods similar to Him and they are attempting to become better than another. According to the Bible there is one, and only one, Supreme Being. He has reveled Himself through people and preserved knowledge of Him in one holy book, the Holy Bible.

This is significant!

Because of sin, all men everywhere are counted as enemies of God. This is the language of the bible. I invite you to go to Christ, go to Him at the cross today.

Why would a Holy God send His only begotten Son to die on a cross if there were another way for men to be saved? Why would you be invited to believe this work in faith if He did not love to redeem sinners?

Because God is holy, he can be trusted to show you what you must do to be restored to a right relationship with Him. Ask Him for faith to believe, faith to call upon the name of Jesus, faith to follow him.

Faith is the gift of God that enables you to believe what He says.

When we call upon the name of Jesus in faith we are then in position to be legally justified. To be justified is to mean that the believer is freed from his guilt and made right before God. This is the declaration of one being saved from the wrath of God, it is not what saves the believer, it is the legal declaration of his salvation.

Justification is the outcome of the satisfying work of Christ. This is done by atonement and imputation.

Those two words may not have much significance upon your thinking until you understand what Christ has done for you.

Atonement refers to Gods activity which reconciles us to Himself; restoring our friendship with Him by removing the guilt of our sin. Jesus substitutionary death on the cross, carrying our guilt, was the means by which God atoned for our sins.

This atoning is to deal first with Adams sin, and at the same time yours.

This is done by what the bible calls imputation. That simply means to place one persons sin or righteousness upon anothers account. Adams sin was imputed or transferred to all humanity. The believers sin was placed upon the account of Jesus when He was crucified. Christs righteousness, including all the blessings connected with it, is placed on the account of the believer. Thus, the believers sin was given to Christ, and the Saviors perfect obedience was given to the believer.

This is what happened on the Cross. Gods righteous wrath was turned aside by the death of His only begotten son. The bible calls this, propitiation.

This is no small thing. This is a matter of eternal weight.

The death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is not just a touching moment in history. It is literally the most significant act in the entire universe. Initiated by the creator, for the benefit of the believer, for the Glory of Almighty God.

Dear reader, this is no small thing. What is happening the next several days at bible believing church gatherings is a moment of reflection, humble awareness of the grace and mercy of God, and celebration of the liberation from the bondage of sin. God has behaved kindly toward you in showing you what you must do to be saved. Ask Him for faith to call out to him in faith that you may be saved, today.

So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come. (Hebrews 13:13-14)
TWIN FALLS  A couple was robbed outside La Fiesta early Saturday as they closed the restaurant, police say.

About 2 a.m., an employee and his girlfriend had just locked the doors of the restaurant, 1288 Blue Lakes Blvd. N., when they were approached by a man and a woman who came from the dumpsters on the far east side of the parking lot.

The man brandished a handgun and demanded money. The employee handed over the tips hed made that night. The woman robber demanded the girlfriends keys and phone, which she handed over.

The man was 5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 8 inches tall and wearing a gray sweatshirt. The woman was wearing a gray sweatshirt or jacket with a furry-edged hood.

Police say the two suspects fled east and ditched the phone and keys.

Twin Falls Police dog Enzo tracked the suspects to the Super 8 parking lot where the track was lost.

Anyone with information should call police at 208-735-4357.
Cassia County

Felony sentencings

Taylor Rae Bruce; felony aggravated batterycausing great bodily harm, disability or permanent disfigurement, dismissed on motion of prosecutor; felony injury to child, guilty, $495.50 costs, two years determinate time, five years indeterminate time, 60 days credited, retained jurisdiction, penitentiary suspended.

Marco Castro Perez; felony possession of controlled substance, guilty, $535.50 costs, 36 months probation, two years determinate time, two years indeterminate time, 104 days credited time, penitentiary suspended; misdemeanor drug paraphernalia-use or possess with intent to use, dismissed on motion of prosecutor.

Felony dismissals

Vadian Eugene Dougal; felony second degree kidnapping, dismissed on motion of prosecutor; misdemeanor enticing of child, dismissed on motion of prosecutor; misdemeanor battery, dismissed on motion of prosecutor.

Taylor Rae Bruce; felony possession of controlled substance, dismissed on motion of prosecutor; misdemeanor drug paraphernaliause or possess with intent to use, dismissed on motion of prosecutor.

Driving under the influence sentencings

Robert T. Egan; misdemeanor driving without privileges, dismissed on motion of prosecutor; misdemeanor alcoholic beveragesconsume or possess open container by driver; misdemeanor driving under the influence (second offense), guilty, $400 fine, $202.50 costs, 365 days drivers license suspended, 24 months probation, 365 days jail, 355 days suspended, two days credited.

Jose A. Granados-Carcamo; misdemeanor driving under the influence, guilty, $300 fine, $202.50 costs, 90 days drivers license suspended, 12 months probation, 90 days jail, 88 days suspended, one day credited; misdemeanor fail to purchase or invalid drivers license, dismissed on motion of prosecutor.

Brooke Stamper; misdemeanor driving under the influence, disposition withheld.

Randall R. Andersen; misdemeanor driving under the influence, guilty, disposition withheld.

Adam Lee Rowe; misdemeanor driving under the influence, guilty, $300 fine, $202.50 costs, 180 days drivers license suspended, 180 days jail, six days credited; misdemeanor accident-leaving the scene or failing to stop for damage, dismissed on motion of prosecutor.
Minidoka County

Felony sentencings

Ryan Arthur Burton; felony possession of controlled substance, guilty, $285.50 costs, $100.52 restitution, 48 months probation, two years determinate time, two years indeterminate time, penitentiary suspended; misdemeanor possession of controlled substance, dismissed on motion of prosecutor; misdemeanor drug paraphernalia-use or possess with intent to use, dismissed on motion of prosecutor.

Terrance Dean Hensen; felony driving under the influence (third or subsequent offense), disposition withheld; misdemeanor driving without privileges, dismissed on motion of prosecutor, $100 restitution.

Thomas Marc Sayles; felony possession of controlled substance, guilty, $285.50 costs, $201.04 restitution, three years probation, two years determinate time, four years indeterminate time, two days credited, penitentiary suspended; misdemeanor drug paraphernalia-use or possess with intent to use, dismissed on motion of prosecutor; infraction fail to provide proof of insurance, dismissed by court; restitution $201.04.

Garrod Allegre Bennet; felony burglary, disposition withheld; misdemeanor petit theft, dismissed on motion of prosecutor; $352.00 restitution.

Miguel Cruz Tarin; felony possession of controlled substance, guilty, $535.50 costs, $201.02 restitution, three years determinate, four years indeterminate time, 109 days credited, retained jurisdiction; felony aggravated assault, dismissed on motion of prosecutor; $201.02 restitution; misdemeanor possession of controlled substance, dismissed on motion of prosecutor; misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia-use or possess with intent to use, dismissed on motion of prosecutor; misdemeanor resisting or obstructing officers, dismissed on motion of prosecutor; $201.02 restitution.

Katherine Dawn Ryker; felony burglary, dismissed on motion of prosecutor; felony possession of controlled substance, guilty, disposition withheld; misdemeanor contraband correctional facilities unlawfully possessed, introduced or removed, dismissed on motion of prosecutor; misdemeanor drug paraphernaliause or possess with intent to use, dismissed on motion of prosecutor; $301.04 restitution.

Felony dismissals

Jordan Mitchell Anderson; felony possession of controlled substance, dismissed on motion of prosecutor.

Salvador C. Alvarez; felony possession of controlled substance, manufacture or deliver or possess with intent to manufacture or deliver, dismissed on motion of prosecutor.

Driving under the influence sentencings

Kegan B. Schell; misdemeanor driving under the influence, disposition withheld.

Jesse Jay Gage; misdemeanor driving under the influence, disposition withheld.

Albert Max Herrera Jr.; misdemeanor leaving the scene of an accident or failing to stop for damage; guilty, 24 months probation, 45 days credited; misdemeanor driving under the influence (excessive), disposition withheld.
TWIN FALLS  Inside a musty arena Thursday, FFA students from across Idaho wore dust-covered boots and black high-heeled shoes. Potted yellow flowers marked a circle in the center of the ring where horses and their handlers were positioned.

Dozens of teenagers carried clipboards and took notes as they judged horses at the College of Southern Idaho Expo Center.

Handlers, please face your horses to the south, an announcer said during the horse career development event.

Students hailing from schools including Oakley, Burley, Declo, Aberdeen, Ririe, New Plymouth and Bliss watched the horses movements.

More than 1,400 students and their advisers from 91 Idaho FFA chapters are participating in the state FFA leadership conference. It began Wednesday and continues through Saturday at CSI in Twin Falls.

The conference includes career development events, keynote speakers, social activities and a Friends of Idaho FFA banquet.

Students compete in several categories, vying for a chance to represent Idaho at the national FFA convention in October in Indianapolis.

There are 13 career development and leadership events on topics such as prepared public speaking, floriculture, and farm and agribusiness management. Students will also participate in industry tours at 17 locations, including Betaseed and Glanbias Cheese Innovation Center.

Some students at the state conference plan to pursue agriculture as a career. Others are taking the life skills they learn and applying them in a different way.

Its the third year Kuna student Naomi Kallmeyer, 16, has participated in FFA.

Naomi, who lives on a farm, plans to study business and finance in college. Shell have a farm management position waiting for her once she earns a college degree.

Malayna Hambly, 16  who attends Highland High School in Craigmont, a 500-person town in north-central Idaho  said shes not interested in agriculture, but has stuck with FFA because its a valuable experience. I use it to get other life skills.

FFA is big on leadership, said classmate SheaLynn Randall, 17.

Each year, the FFA state leadership conference  which has been at CSI for more than 25 years  brings an influx of visitors to Twin Falls. The CSI campus was packed Thursday with students wearing the signature dark blue FFA jackets with yellow lettering.

The organizations name changed from Future Farmers of America to The National FFA Organization in 1988. In addition to learning about agriculture, students gain experience in areas such as leadership, public speaking and how to prepare for a career.

The Idaho FFA Foundation will award about $50,000 in scholarships and cash awards to students this week.

Students will also elect a state officer team for 2017-18. The 22 candidates, including Lindsey Drinkall of Castleford and Kaylie Stastny of Kimberly, are going through a rigorous application and interview process, with six seats up for grabs.

Those selected will replace outgoing state officers, two of whom hail from the Magic Valley: president Gretchen Hansten of Jerome and sentinel Makenna Routt of Castleford.

On Thursday, a group of Kuna FFA members were sitting in the bleachers at the Expo Center watching the horse career development event.

Naomi and two classmates who were sitting nearby are among 274 students who will earn a state FFA degree at this years conference.

Students must fill out an application and take two written tests. It kind of shows your progress in FFA, Naomi said, and looks good on a resume.

It just shows how involved you are, said classmate Jacob Fisher, 16.

Malayna and SheaLynn from Craigmont completed agri-science and floral projects, and theyre earning a state FFA degree.

Their agri-science project focused on whether high school FFA chapters with more advisers  and whose advisers have more experience  do better at competitions.

Malayna said they noticed trends, but no statistically significant difference.

Inside the CSI Fine Arts Auditorium, a six-member Fruitland team took the stage for a parliamentary procedure career development event.

The event is a mock chapter meeting. Students went through a series of actions such as motions, amendments, debate and votes.

The skills they learn, such as public speaking and running a meeting, will be useful long after the state conference ends.
BOISE  Idahos governor vetoed four bills on Thursday that passed the Legislature with overwhelming bipartisan support, including one to set stricter standards for when police can seize the property of suspected drug dealers and one to create a new office to coordinate the states anti-invasive species efforts.

In his letter accompanying the civil asset forfeiture reform veto, C.L. Butch Otter called the bill a classic case of a solution in search of a problem, with the potential to create problems of its own in the process. Otter said it was opposed by law enforcement and would bring no benefits to law-abiding citizens while making things easier for criminals.

It is my view that it is right and proper for drug dealers to have a healthy fear of losing their personal assets if they are caught breaking the law, Otter wrote. But while seeking to ease those fears, this legislation goes even further by placing an annual reporting requirement on law enforcement. It is a misplaced effort to hold those responsible for protecting us from crime more accountable while relieving those charged with committing crimes of a worrisome consequence.

Civil asset forfeiture is when law enforcement seizes property they believe is connected to drug crimes, generally before a person is convicted of a crime. The idea is to ensure offenders cant keep ill-gotten gains or use their property to commit more crimes. However, there have been stories of the process being abused, which has led to calls for reform. The bill would have established new protections such as saying merely possessing cash wont be taken as evidence of a crime, a requirement for a court to find if a seizure is proportional to the crime, and a provision to let people keep property such as a vehicle needed to get to and from work when a case is pending. It also contains new public reporting requirements to track seizures.

The bill, which was put together by Reps. Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, and Steve Harris, R-Meridian, went through a couple of versions and was amended to address some law enforcement concerns. The last version passed both chambers of the Legislature unanimously.

House Democrats released a statement calling the veto a surprise move that cut against his own partys support. Rubel said the prosecutors and law enforcement groups that had opposed the bill initially didnt oppose the final version.

Contrary to the suggestion otherwise, we received testimony from many people who had their money and property seized despite that property being unconnected to any drug offense, she said, referencing a statement in Otters veto message that there have been no cases of police seizing property illegally or inappropriately in Idaho. This legislation would have solved that very real problem without jeopardizing public safety. We are disappointed the governor did not consult with the Democratic and Republican co-sponsors before issuing the veto. We could have clarified any misperceptions about what the bill does.

A few other measures meant to stop invasive quagga and zebra mussels from getting into Idaho, including one raising the sticker fee on out-of-state boaters to fund more check stations and resolutions calling for more federal funding and interstate and federal cooperation, have become law. The one Otter vetoed would have created an administrator of invasive species policy within the executive branch and an invasive species council to coordinate the states efforts. He also vetoed the accompanying funding bill.

Otter wrote he would rather spend the resources on boots on the ground to enhance boat inspection and decontamination efforts, and with his veto also issued an executive order continuing the existence of the Idaho Invasive Species Council as a panel within the state Department of Agriculture rather than as part of the governors office.

The last bill would have combined the barbers and cosmetologists licensing boards into one, reduced the number of hours needed to get a license, allowed the board to reinstate an expired license retroactive to its expiration date and let people who only do hair and makeup at events like weddings and dances do so without a license. It was widely supported in the Legislature, but evolved out of another bill just combining the two boards, and some in the cosmetology industry opposed the deregulatory aspects.

House Bill 139 is a case of reasonable, consensus-driven ideas from the State Board of Cosmetology and the Board of Barber Examiners getting burned in what is supposed to be the refining fire of our legislative process, Otter wrote in his veto message.

Otter wrote the changes turned a consensus plan into a controversial bill in which the original intent was largely lost. Otter said he supports consolidating the two boards and would consider exempting event stylists, but opposes the other changes.

For years, Butch Otter has given great speeches about the need for a free economy and limited, constitutionally-based government, Wayne Hoffman, the head of the conservative Idaho Freedom Foundation, said in a statement. Yet once again, Gov. Otter has rejected sensible, conservative, bipartisan liberty-based legislation that would have put Idaho entrepreneurs back to work and would have protected constitutional rights of Idahoans.

Hoffman, whose group backed both the cosmetology and asset forfeiture bills, also wrote a column Friday wondering if Otter, who earlier in his career took more libertarian-leaning stances such as voting against the Patriot Act in Congress in 2001 and voicing support for marijuana legalization in the 1970s, either has a liberal twin or has been abducted by aliens.

I, for one, prefer to think that Butch is still the defender of limited government, constitutional government he always was, Hoffman wrote. Hes just in a spaceship somewhere.
Inspired by the bizarre tale of Billings once-blighted federal courthouse, the U.S. Senate will consider raising the standards for who can bid on abandoned federal buildings.

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., wants the government to make sure buyers of federal property have the resources to clean up the buildings and keep them from turning into eyesores or health hazards that communities are eventually stuck with.

Daines had Billings federal courthouse in mind when he introduced his bill Friday. The federal government sold the James F. Battin Federal Building at auction in 2013. The federal government was getting out of the building at 316 N. 26th St. because of an asbestos hazard. The building was bought by Colorado Tire Corp. for $3.27 million and renamed the Kono Building.

The building was all but abandoned and quickly fell into tax delinquency, with more than $250,000 in back taxes owed on the building in the first couple of years. The county was at risk of acquiring the building because of those back taxes, which would have put the burden of Konos asbestos cleanup on local taxpayers.

A promise made must be a promise kept, Daines said in a press release. An abandoned asbestos-filled building in downtown Billings could have serious health implications. Thats why Im taking action to ensure this situation doesnt happen again.

When Kono went bust, the Downtown Billings Partnership was just recovering from two major abandoned sites in the downtown area. The Northern Hotel was being brought back online. After years of disrepair, the building was becoming a downtown showpiece.

The Babcock Building was also firing up again.

Kono became an immediate drag on downtowns government services corridor. Located north of the Yellowstone County Courthouse, the five-story building began to gather trash at its entrances.

Downtown businesses had hoped the building would contribute to the tax increment financing district used to improve downtown, said Greg Kruger of DBP. As a tax-exempt federal building, the structure had contributed nothing to improvement efforts. As a private structure, Kono was expected to help out. It didnt.

The building sold last year and is now being renovated. Once the abatement work is complete, the buildings owner, Joe Holden, plans a public open house this summer to allow curious residents  and prospective tenants  to see how far along the work has progressed.
Special to the Washington Post:

President Donald Trumps decision to strike a Syrian airbase in response to a chemical weapons attack by the regime of Bashar al- Assad was right as a matter of morality, but it could also yield a host of practical benefits. The Assad regime may be deterred from again using deadly gas on civilians- a heinous war crime that, if tolerated, would make not just Syria but the world more savage.

Russia and Iran should have new cause to consider whether they will continue backing the blood-drenched Damascus dictator, or cut a deal to get rid of him. Other rogue regimes and their sponsors will have to recalculate how the United States might respond to their provocations. How convenient that Chinese President Xi Jinping, who props up North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un while conducting a slow campaign of aggression in the South China Sea, had a ringside seat in Mar-a-Lago as Trump boldly acted.

Perhaps most importantly, U.S. allies now have reason to hope that Trump could fill the leadership vacuum, in the Middle East and beyond, left by President Barack Obamas decision not to enforce his own red line on Syrias use of chemical weapons. It is little wonder that Trumps action was cheered from Britain to Germany and from Israel to Japanand by congressional Democrats as well as Republicans. Even the snarling response from Vladimir Putins Kremlin looked skin-deep, particularly as the Pentagon took care to warn Russias forces in Syria in advance.

Whats unknowable is whether Trumps decision represents a change in his conception of U.S. foreign interests or a one-off response to wrenching televised pictures of suffocating children. In 2013, Mr. Trump strenuously opposed U.S. retaliatory action following a much more deadly sarin gas attack by the Assad regime; just Tuesday,he repeated in a speech that Im not, and I dont want to be, the president of the world. Yet on Thursday night Secretary of State Rex Tillersonspoke of taking action on behalf of the international community to preserve international norms about chemical weapons, and Trump said that as long as America stands for justice, then peace and harmony will, in the end, prevail. Americas allies can only hope that Trump will truly embrace that sentiment, rather than his long-standing isolationist instincts, as his presidency evolves.

For now, Trump must devise a Syria policy that responds to this weeks events. The administration now appears to understand that the civil warand the fuel it provides for the Islamic State and other extremistscan never be ended while the Assad regime remains in power. The chemical attack signaled the regimes intention to assault rebel-held Idlib province with the same scorched-earth tactics it has employed elsewhere in the country, which would trigger a massive new wave of refugees in addition to thousands more civilian deaths. The United States should make clear to Damascus that any further chemical attacksas well as other blatant assaults on civilianswill be met with more military retaliation.

The administration should meanwhile make another effort to draw Russia and Syrias neighbors into a negotiation on the countrys future, using the new leverage provided by Trumps demonstrated willingness to use force. It should seek bipartisan congressional support, including the authorization of military force in the event of further atrocitieseven if the White House has, as we believe, the constitutional leeway to act without it.

Trump has created an opportunity for the United States, and for his presidency, in Syria. Its ultimate value will depend on how well he follows up.
Montanas congressional delegation is cautioning President Donald Trump not to proceed with any more Syrian bombings without Senate approval.

U.S. Sens. Jon Tester and Steve Daines say they didnt oppose Thursday nights bombings but think its time Congress update the Authorization for Use of Military Force, which addresses military action in Afghanistan and Iraq but not Syria.

The attack against a Syrian air base was the first U.S. assault against the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

The lawmakers issued statements about the bombing after participating in a confidential, all-Senate briefing by the Trump administration.

Before further military intervention in Syria we need to have a clear plan and a clear endgame. As I said when Barack Obama was president, the White House does not have a blank check to entangle our troops and taxpayers in foreign conflicts, said Tester, Montanas Democratic senior senator. The costs of war are great and take a toll on human life, returning service members, their families, and all Americans. In order to keep this nation safe and secure, we need a strategic plan with Congressional approval and oversight to hold the Putin-backed Assad regime accountable.

Daines, also said the future military action required a congressionally approved plan, but he said the president was right to launch 59 missiles at a Syrian airstrip after the state attacked its citizens with deadly chemicals earlier this week.

This was an appropriate strategic strike that had a defined mission and leveled the airfield where these horrific chemical attacks against Syrian children and families originated, said Daines, a Republican. However, I still remain concerned that a long-term strategy to deal with Assad and Russian interference is not yet clear and I want to ensure Americas interests are protected.

After the briefing, both Daines and Tester flew out of Washington for a two-week Easter break.

In the House, Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, called the bombings appropriate, while Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi asked Ryan to cancel the two-week break so a military plan could be developed.

Montana doesn't have a representative in the House. Former Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke resigned from the state's at-large seat to lead the Department of Interior.

Democrat Rob Quist, Republican Greg Gianforte and Libertarian Mark Wicks are campaigning to replace Zinke. Absentee ballots for a special election will be mailed out April 28. Voting ends Thursday, May 25.

Both Gianforte and Quist said a military plan is needed for addressing Syria.

"The Assad regime committed an atrocity when they brutally murdered innocent men, women, and children earlier this week," Gianforte said. "We have an obligation to protect and defend our national security and to stop the use of chemical weapons. President Trump acted within his authority as commander and chief, and I stand behind his decision to take out the air base where these chemical attacks were launched. Trump sent a strong message to Assad and other dictators around the world that the horrific use of chemical weapons will not be tolerated."

"I look forward to President Trump and Congress working together on a long-term strategy to address this crisis in Syria," Gianforte continued. "As we work towards a solution, we must always ensure that America's interests are protected."

Quist cautioned against committing to another Middle Eastern war without an exit plan.

"What happened in Syria, the loss of innocent lives, including women and children, is intolerable. As the president said, its an affront to humanity. However, we need to have a clear plan and strategy before intervening militarily and Congress should be consulted going forward," Quist said.

"Any military intervention needs to be strategic and with an endgame in place. The last thing we need is to get involved in yet another Middle Eastern war with no end in sight," the Democrat continued. "After all, it's our sons and daughters who have to bear the burden, so we'd better get it right when getting entangled in foreign conflicts."

Wicks had not returned a call to his home by presstime.

The Associated Press reported Friday that the Trump administration signaled new sanctions would soon follow the missile attack. The Pentagon was probing whether Russia was involved in the chemical weapons assault that compelled Trump to action.

During the Obama presidency, Trump said Obama should have had congressional approval for military action. He wasnt the only one.

Daines voted against authorizing U.S. military involvement in Syria in 2013 when he was Montanas lone congressman. At the time, Daines said he had heard from Montanans through telephone townhall meetings and concluded constituents didnt support military force. He said the objective of military action was unclear and the outcome uncertain.

Daines' staff said the senators position on Syria was unchanged. A clear plan and certain outcome are required.

Tester opposed a 2013 military strike in Syria, as well. Obama had asked Congress to approve military action to destroy chemical weapons.

Like Daines, Tester said he had consulted with Montanans and concluded that military action was a bad idea. He said at the time it was better to pressure Syria to surrender its chemical weapons.

Russia negotiated a deal with Syria in 2013 that required Syrias chemical weapons to be destroyed under international supervision. But the United Nations concluded that chemical weapons were again being used in 2014.
US State Department has hailed cooperation with Algeria in the fight against terrorism adding that the North African country is key US partner in this fight given its rich experience.

The accolades to the North African country came from Justin Siberell, Coordinator of the US fight against terrorism on Thursday on receiving in Washington Algerias Abdelkader Messahel, Minister of Maghreb Affairs, African Union and League of Arab States.

The two men met in the framework of 4th session of US-Algeria cooperation on security and fight against terrorism.

For Siberell, the US can rely on Algeria in the fight against terrorism as a country with a rich experience in the fight against terror.

Algeria is a key US partner and we appreciate key partnerships to tackle international challenges, he said.

We ended a day of productive discussions, namely on shared objectives in security matters and on the fight against terrorism.
A woman who was charged for a hit-and-run that left a 66-year-old with 43 broken bones has pleaded guilty.

Amanda Sue Rose, 27, changed her plea Thursday at a hearing in Yellowstone County District Court. She pleaded guilty to failure to stop or remain at an accident scene involving death or serious bodily injury, a felony.

On Jan. 19, 2016, a 66-year-old woman was hit by a vehicle after getting off of a bus on West Wicks Lane and Babcock Boulevard. The vehicle slowed down after hitting the woman, and then drove away.

It took about a month for police to identify Rose as the driver, but she'd gone to Denver by that time. She initially told police over the phone that she'd hit a deer, court documents said.

The victim had at least four surgeries as a result of getting hit, charges stated.

Rose was charged in August 2016 and has been in the Yellowstone County Detention Facility since then. Attorneys will argue for sentences at a later hearing, which has not yet been set.
"Gods love for the world is a vast flood of mercy flung on resistance."  Denise Levertov

Like many, I have been waiting to see where Pope Francis will wash feet this year, in a jail, a street corner perhaps, or a homeless shelter. In the gospel for Holy Thursday, we are told the story of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. He washes  he loves  not only those who are worthy, not only those who understand and who can love him in return, but all the disciples  including Judas, his betrayer. Even though he knows the devil holds Judas heart  knows the compulsion that moves in him, even though he knows that Judas cannot or will not accept the love and healing that he offers, Jesus kneels and washes Judas feet. Jesus becomes Judas servant  not to justify Judas actions, not to sanctify his betrayal, not because Judas doesnt deserve condemnation and punishment  but because Jesus never abandons even those who abandon him, because Jesus never betrays even those who betray him, because Jesus loves even those who do the most unlovable of things.

But the story says more than that Jesus washes the feet of Judas; it tells how he washes Peters feet, as well. Peter, whose care for the dignity of his teacher and master makes him try to stop Jesus, is preoccupied with what is right and proper. Peter pulls back and tries to save Jesus from scandal. The body of Christ, Peter seems to believe, must remain dignified, austere, powerful, flawless  no matter what the cost. For Jesus to assume the role of a slave at the table  dealing with the filth of the road and the muck of everyday life  is a violation of his rightful place as Lord and Savior.

The Father had put everything into his power the gospel says. Peter understands this in the way the world understands it, and, because of that understanding, wants to protect the dignity and reputation of Jesus  to put him on a pedestal dressed in ermine and gold, above the shame and ugliness of the world. Peter draws back not because he is evil, but because he does not yet fully understand that, for Jesus, there is no scandal in serving even in the dirtiest places. Indeed, the grace of Jesus comes not through his power, but through his willingness to embrace flesh and blood, filth and failure.

The grace of Jesus comes in a way understood neither by Peter, who fears scandal and lost dignity, nor Judas, who fears the sinful movements of his own heart. It comes in a love that does not cling to dignity at the expense of persons; it comes in a love that longs to help even the most despicable of human beings. The grace of Jesus comes in a love that pours itself out completely; that abandons power and dignity and that longs to fill our bodies with the body of Christ, that longs to have his blood pulse in our veins. The grace of Jesus comes in a love that gives away all fear, that the beloved might find all freedom.

Even in the Church we have resisted, we have feared, the flood of mercy that comes in Christs humiliation  a flood that would wash our feet and heal our hearts. And this resistance has cost us much. But Christ persists in the midst of this resistance; Christ pursues even in the face of fear. He meets these fears with gift after gift, inviting us to receive the mercy which each one of us needs, to which each one of us is called. And until we respond, until we give ourselves in love to one another and to the world, until we acknowledge all those who have suffered and reclaim all that has been lost, until we love even Judas and offer to wash even Peter, we cannot yet be free, we cannot yet fully know the grace of this paschal mystery.

The Church  the body of Christ  must be blessed and broken, must be shared and consumed, must allow itself to be washed and must, in turn, wash others. Francis, in rejecting the trappings of dignity and the austerity of power seems to understand this, seems to realize that only by the humility that submits to Christ  as Christ himself submitted  can each of us become what we ache to be: the living body of the resurrected Christ, given for the life of the world.
BILLINGS  Montanas congressional delegation is cautioning President Donald Trump not to proceed with any more Syrian bombings without Senate approval.

U.S. Sens. Jon Tester and Steve Daines say they didnt oppose Thursday nights bombings but think its time Congress update the Authorization for Use of Military Force, which addresses military action in Afghanistan and Iraq but not Syria.

The attack against a Syrian air base was the first U.S. assault against the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

The lawmakers issued statements about the bombing after participating in a confidential, all-Senate briefing by the Trump administration.

Before further military intervention in Syria we need to have a clear plan and a clear endgame. As I said when Barack Obama was president, the White House does not have a blank check to entangle our troops and taxpayers in foreign conflicts, said Tester, Montanas Democratic senior senator. The costs of war are great and take a toll on human life, returning service members, their families, and all Americans. In order to keep this nation safe and secure, we need a strategic plan with Congressional approval and oversight to hold the Putin-backed Assad regime accountable.

Daines, also said the future military action required a congressionally approved plan, but he said the president was right to launch 59 missiles at a Syrian airstrip after the state attacked its citizens with deadly chemicals earlier this week.

This was an appropriate strategic strike that had a defined mission and leveled the airfield where these horrific chemical attacks against Syrian children and families originated, said Daines, a Republican. However, I still remain concerned that a long-term strategy to deal with Assad and Russian interference is not yet clear and I want to ensure Americas interests are protected.

After the briefing, both Daines and Tester flew out of Washington for a two-week Easter break.

In the House, Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, called the bombings appropriate, while Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi asked Ryan to cancel the two-week break so a military plan could be developed.

Montana doesn't have a representative in the House. Former Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke resigned from the state's at-large seat to lead the Department of Interior.

Democrat Rob Quist, Republican Greg Gianforte and Libertarian Mark Wicks are campaigning to replace Zinke. Absentee ballots for a special election will be mailed out April 28. Voting ends Thursday, May 25.

Both Gianforte and Quist said a military plan is needed for addressing Syria.

"The Assad regime committed an atrocity when they brutally murdered innocent men, women, and children earlier this week," Gianforte said. "We have an obligation to protect and defend our national security and to stop the use of chemical weapons. President Trump acted within his authority as commander and chief, and I stand behind his decision to take out the air base where these chemical attacks were launched. Trump sent a strong message to Assad and other dictators around the world that the horrific use of chemical weapons will not be tolerated."

"I look forward to President Trump and Congress working together on a long-term strategy to address this crisis in Syria," Gianforte continued. "As we work towards a solution, we must always ensure that America's interests are protected."

Quist cautioned against committing to another Middle Eastern war without an exit plan.

"What happened in Syria, the loss of innocent lives, including women and children, is intolerable. As the president said, its an affront to humanity. However, we need to have a clear plan and strategy before intervening militarily and Congress should be consulted going forward," Quist said.

"Any military intervention needs to be strategic and with an endgame in place. The last thing we need is to get involved in yet another Middle Eastern war with no end in sight," the Democrat continued. "After all, it's our sons and daughters who have to bear the burden, so we'd better get it right when getting entangled in foreign conflicts."

Wicks had not returned a call to his home by presstime.

The Associated Press reported Friday that the Trump administration signaled new sanctions would soon follow the missile attack. The Pentagon was probing whether Russia was involved in the chemical weapons assault that compelled Trump to action.

During the Obama presidency, Trump said Obama should have had congressional approval for military action. He wasnt the only one.

Daines voted against authorizing U.S. military involvement in Syria in 2013 when he was Montanas lone congressman. At the time, Daines said he had heard from Montanans through telephone townhall meetings and concluded constituents didnt support military force. He said the objective of military action was unclear and the outcome uncertain.

Daines' staff said the senators position on Syria was unchanged. A clear plan and certain outcome are required.

Tester opposed a 2013 military strike in Syria, as well. Obama had asked Congress to approve military action to destroy chemical weapons.

Like Daines, Tester said he had consulted with Montanans and concluded that military action was a bad idea. He said at the time it was better to pressure Syria to surrender its chemical weapons.

Russia negotiated a deal with Syria in 2013 that required Syrias chemical weapons to be destroyed under international supervision. But the United Nations concluded that chemical weapons were again being used in 2014.
The last barrier to construction of facilities at Milltown State Park fell on Friday with a land donation from former owner International Paper.

It looks like maybe were getting to the finish line, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks regional parks director Chet Crowser said on Friday. We know folks have been anticipating this a long time.

While crucial acres around the confluence of the Blackfoot and Clark Fork have been in public hands since the 1980s, road access was not. The best road into the confluence crossed Champion International property (IPs predecessor). While the company allowed entry, it kept the right to close the road at any time.

The property also included a landfill that the state wasnt willing to own, in case a cleanup became necessary. The latest deal splits the land into two parcels. IP will keep about six acres including the landfill. FWP will take title to 10 acres with the road easement.

The Friends of Two Rivers community group got conversations going with IP in 2011, as a massive effort to remove Milltown Dam and a centurys worth of toxic sediment in its reservoir neared completion. IP offered to donate the necessary land in 2012, but the complex negotiations bogged down.

Gov. Steve Bullock got involved in 2014 and talks resumed. Missoula County officials also kept the attention focused.

Missoula County would like to thank Governor Bullock for reaching out to International Paper almost two years ago, Missoula County Commissioner Jean Curtiss said in an email. His involvement raised the importance of this access. I also want to thank International Paper for the generous donation of the land needed to access the river confluence at Milltown State Park. I look forward to the development of the park for the public to enjoy.

Park manager Michael Kustudia said construction bids should be released this weekend. The project calls for paved parking lots, latrines, trails to the riverbank, a walk-in boat ramp and picnic/interpretative plaza.

The area will remain closed to the public during construction, and may not be available this summer, Kustudia said. A previous FWP seasonal safety closure of the Blackfoot River confluence area has been rescinded, but boaters arent allowed to take out at the park.The Montana Department of Transportation also plans to remove two freeway bridge piers just upstream from the park that have made floating the Blackfoot River dangerous where it crosses beneath Interstate 90.

When that work is done, Kustudia said there may be opportunities to connect trails from the confluence park to the Black Bridge area upstream. Separate proposals consider connections to a now-private park area east of the confluence along the Clark Fork, and to the City of Missoulas network along the Kim Williams Trail and Bandmann Flats.

We see the whole Milltown State Park area as a hub that could link the communities, Crowser said. It would extend to Missoula and out to Turah.
Nothing says 1870s about the brick and white stucco office building at 407 E. Main St.

Across the street to the east of the Missoula Public Library, and across East Main Street from Missoula Community Theater in the old Central School building, the building has been the ideal location for Taurus Wealth Management the past couple of years.

I love it as an office, but I did vote for the library bond, said Kevin Bateman, one of three principals in the financial company.

Even with the most generous imagination its hard to hear voices of school children here. But the modern office is comfortably fitted in a split-level building that opened in 1873 as Missoulas  and maybe Montanas  first school house built for the purpose.

Voters of Missoula County passed by a wide margin a $30 million general obligation bond in November, approving a plan that, with an additional $5 million from private donations, calls for a four-story library building on the block to the east of the current one, which is undersized and outdated.

That means the Taurus office and three houses, three apartment buildings, one multi-family building, three old garages and a shed are expected to be leveled this summer. Five of the seven primary buildings date to 1888 or before, according to a Missoula Downtown Historic District survey.

Thats got Barbara Sharp up in arms.

The little white building on the corner is the primary thing Im concerned about, said Sharp, who lives in Stevensville after residing for more than 20 years in Missoula. I just dont think people are aware of it.

Planning and fundraising continue for the new library. The design team from A&E Architects and Minneapolis-based MSR will conduct the first of three design updates and listening sessions for the new library Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the library.

The current timeline calls for the start of construction in 2018 and completion in early 2020.

Bateman and parner Dale Baldwin at Taurus say they expect to receive a 60-day eviction notice any day. Library foundation director and development coordinator Karl Olson said deconstruction is set to begin in mid-year after zoning and other logistical issues are ironed out. A contractor, Dick Anderson Construction, was hired last month.

As of Friday, Adea Management Co. had not sent out notices to renters. Adea manages all the properties on the 400 block for Terry Payne, who agreed to swap for the current library block to save moving costs and keep the library operating while the new one is being built.

Payne is chairman of PayneWest Insurance, the largest private insurance agency in the western United States. A 1963 University of Montana graduate, he and his family were primary financiers of the $8.6-million Native American Center on the UM campus that opened in 2010. He also funds several scholarships at UM. Payne has not made public his plans for the current library block once the new library opens.

***

An antique wooden cabinet occupies one entire wall of a dank cement-floor cellar of the Taurus office. Its too big to move in or out, so it must have been built on-site, though the current tenants dont know when.

You can go downstairs and see the original foundation underneath there, but other than that its hard to say if theres anything left of the original school, said Bateman.

Drop ceilings, paneling and carpeting cover everything else. A pair of French doors open to a small conference room.

Baldwin escorted visitors on Friday through a brick enclosed porch entryway, which he speculated could have been the entrance to a school house.

Other than the outside structure on this building, all the history has been gutted out of it, he said.

Three things dragged Missoula out of the frontier era: the coming of an army post at Fort Missoula in 1877, the coming of the railroad in 1883 and the coming of the university in the 1890s. Before any of that, kids needed schooling.

The village was less than a handful of years old when a school district was formed in 1868. Emma Slack was hired as the first teacher.

In Missoula: The Way It Was, author Lenora Koelbel traced those earliest days of education. Slack held class in a frame building where the Missoula Mercantile was built a few years later, then in a log cabin on a corner of Main and Higgins. In 1871 she committed a teachers most unforgivable sin  she got married, to W.H.H. Dickinson. Though the Missoula school named in her honor is called Emma Dickinson, her teaching days were done.

In late 1872 the school district bought a lot on the corner of Main and Adams for $40.

The first brick schoolhouse in the territory was built on that location during 1872 and 1873, Koelbel said. The people of Missoula were very proud of their brick schoolhouse which was used for the following 10 years.

The teacher in 1878 was Olive Pickering, who subsequently married John Rankin. Their first child was born in 1880. Jeannette Rankin was locally educated and in 1917 became the nations first Congresswoman.

As the town grew, a two-story schoolhouse was built across Main Street. Formerly Central School, its now home to the Missoula Community Theater.

Over the years the first schoolhouse served a number of purposes. It was a residence for much of its history. Dr. Rudolph Wirth operated a medical practice out of it for more than 20 years in the 1950s through the 70s. Payne ran his insurance business there for a time after that.

Bateman said the building was vacant when Taurus Wealth Management moved in two years ago.

The partners will wait until they get their notice to look for another base. Ideally theyll still be near downtown, with adequate parking, just like 407 E. Main.

Its a neat old place, and its kind of sad its going away, Bateman said. I do know Terry Payne a little bit and hes a really nice guy. Hes done a lot for the community, and his thing was to do something for the library.

Sharp remains convinced the current library that opened in 1974 could be expanded over the parking lot for much less money.

I think theres something terribly fishy, said Sharp, who called the Missoulian to express her displeasure. You could have a modern library (in its current location) and you wouldnt have to destroy half of a historic district to do it.

But Olson said a 2010 study by OZ Architects looked at all such options.

You cant achieve the goal that is needed for a contemporary library by reusing this building, he said. It looks like a box that other boxes can be set on top of, but the foundation will not withstand building on top of the current building.

"And on the other hand theres no way to expand our footprint without losing the No. 1 precious commodity that everyone is critical about for this site, and thats parking.
Another longtime physician and a community board member at Providence St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula have resigned, indicating they don't believe meaningful changes were made after an unprecedented no confidence vote in the hospitals administration last month.

Hospital administrators say a vocal minority is disgruntled, and that fundamental shifts in the health care industry are causing upheaval nationwide.

But Dr. Joseph Knapp, a cardiologist who has spent three decades at the International Heart Institute, gave his 90-day notice this past week.

Things havent changed for the better after an emergency meeting of the medical staff last month, Knapp told the Missoulian. My hope in this whole thing was we would have a response from an administration that showed some understanding of major concerns by a dedicated and committed group of physicians, who pride their relationship with this community and this institution. But, honestly, that has not been forthcoming.

A few days before Knapp resigned his employment from St. Pats, Alex Philp, a member of the hospitals Community Ministry Board, submitted a letter of resignation, a copy of which was obtained by the Missoulian.

Philp wrote in the letter that the lack of engagement, involvement, and communication with the Board by local, regional and national-level administration regarding a wide-range of urgent issues is completely unacceptable, not accidental and violates various aspects of our governing By-laws.

Philp did not respond to a phone call seeking comment, but the Missoulian independently verified the authenticity of his resignation letter.

Philps resignation followed on the heels of the resignations of several other Community Ministry Board members including Dan Barz, Faye Hanson Warren and Tom Acevedo. However, since those former board members likewise did not respond to phone calls for comment, their reasons for resignation are unclear.

The no confidence vote took place on March 7. Physicians at the meeting and in subsequent interviews with the Missoulian said they had grave concerns that there is a lack of local control and decision-making within the corporate structure of Providence Health and Services.

On March 15, the Missoulian published a story about the vote and quoted several physicians, one of whom described a culture of fear and intimidation and a widespread fear of retaliation and retribution within the hospital.

The medical staff was also concerned about a cascade of resignations of several longtime and well-respected hospital leaders, including that of Dr. Matt Maxwell, the longtime head of cardiac surgery at the International Heart Institute, and Martin Burke from the Community Ministry Board. All cited their frustration with what they perceived as the lack of local decision-making power at St. Pat's.

In the aftermath of the meeting and the Missoulian story, the hospitals COO Joyce Dombrouski was given the title of chief executive, in a move that she says gives her a title that better reflects her role and her accountability.

Many physicians had expressed concern over the forced resignation of hospital CEO Jeff Fee last year, which the physicians said gave St. Pats less autonomy and less decision-making control within the regional power structure of Providence Health and Services, the nations third-largest nonprofit health system. It is based in Washington state and includes 50 hospitals and more than 100,000 employees in seven states.

***

There is always room for improvement, Dombrouski said in a Friday meeting with the Missoulian. Of course we are not perfect. But health care is fundamentally shifting. The way that health care is changing is causing unpredictability and is unsettling at many levels  for hospital administrators and for physicians. But there is no doubt that our relationship (with the medical staff) is critical. Changes are difficult for all of us.

Stacy Rogge, the director of communications and external affairs for Providence Western Montana, said that the March 15 Missoulian article didnt paint a full picture of how all the employees of the health system in Western Montana feel.

What were not being exposed to is the quiet majority of whats going on, she said. Our clinical quality has never changed and continues with award-winning recognition.

Rogge referenced multiple national awards and health care rankings that give the hospital high marks for the quality of patient care.

Both Rogge and Dombrouski make it clear that they take any concerns shared by any employee very seriously, and said also that they want to make clear they are not dismissing the concerns of even what they believe to be a vocal minority. They are trying their best, they say, to take as much input from all employees as possible and make the best decisions for the future of the hospital and for the quality of care provided.

The steps we have taken (since the March 7 meeting) rotates around communication, Dombrouski said. We want caregiver engagement, physician engagement. We have a good communication structure in place. There are places where we need to be better. I recently had a physician tell me he wanted to be in fewer meetings and get fewer emails. So how do you communicate internally? This is a 24/7 business, so we are reassessing how to make that better.

Dr. Stan Seagraves is the medical director of the hospitalist program at St. Pats and has worked there for 28 years. He said he was satisfied with the administrations response to the March 7 meeting.

I would say that we very much have the attention of our leaders in a lot of very constructive things are happening around here," he said. "Im confident that that meeting, and the momentum generated subsequently, is going to pay off.

***

Prior to the March 7 meeting, a letter titled A Summary of Physician Concerns was circulated among the medical staff. In it, they decried a loss of local organizational autonomy and a feeling of disempowerment.

Maxwell, the veteran cardiac surgeon who resigned prior to the meeting, said he left in frustration for those reasons.

Knapp said his resignation this past week was in full alignment with the reasons Maxwell cited and for the reasons summarized in the physicians' letter. He made it clear that he maintain his privileges at St. Pats. However, he feels that the administrative structure of the hospital is not listening to physician concerns.

This is not about Joyce in any way, shape or form, he said. This is not about any one person. This about an institutional response to a physician request that has been sadly and sorely lacking. There is an enormous amount of work that needs to occur locally and throughout the entire Providence system to get this pointed in the right direction.

Knapp does not disagree with Dombrouskis assessment that the health care industry is rapidly changing.

Health care, fundamentally, is a one-on-one interaction between a provider and a patient seeking assistance, he said. And everything else needs to take a secondary position to that relationship. And unfortunately, that perspective and position has to a great extent been lost, at least in my perspective, by an awful lot of people.

His decision to walk away from the hospital where he spent three decades was not taken lightly, he said.

Ten times in the last 15 years, the International Heart Institute has been ranked among the top 1 percent of hospitals in the country, Knapp said. The achievement did not occur by happenstance. It occurred by incredible dedication and a degree of hard work and a level of commitment that is incredibly laudable. That, unfortunately, has been tarnished. Neither Matt (Maxwell) nor I walk away from that lightly.

***

Dombrouski said she has a lot of respect for Dr. Knapp and that he is very passionate.

He feels like the response (to the medical staff emergency meeting) was inadequate, Dombrouski acknowledged. Were not trying to discount Dr. Knapp. Were not discounting passion. In fact, Im meeting with him Monday.

Dombrouski said that she has a seven- or eight-page document of action steps that shes presented to the executive board at the hospital to try to respond to the physicians concerns. She said that document is "internal."

We have responded to our medical staff, and were doing additional things, she said. Our physicians are very caring and want to know whats going on. We want to move ahead on the positive side of things. We have been here 144 years. Were not going anywhere. There is great care happening every day.

She also said that being part of a larger system has provided the hospital stability as weve fallen on uncertain times.

We are going to focus on taking care of whoever walks through our doors, she said. Thats the bottom line. If your friends or family members fall ill, you want them to seek care at St. Pats and we hope that we are doing all of the right things. Were going to continue to be better.

***

In his resignation letter from the Community Ministry Board, where he served for six years, Alex Philp wrote that Dombrouskis title change from COO to chief executive was made without the input of the board he served on.

To the best of my knowledge, neither the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors nor the full Community Ministry Board, other than Dr. (William) Bekemeyer, was engaged in any way regarding the content of (a letter from regional administrators) to the Med. Exec. Committee, Philp wrote.

The Community Ministry Board doesn't perform ministerial services as the name implies, but was created to provide leadership in operational performance, strategic development and oversight. The board has delegated authority and a shared governance role in such things as quality management, medical staff issues and patient, physician and employee satisfaction.

Philp said his board was simply copied on the letter. Philp also wrote that he pushed for a special meeting to assess information and engage meaningfully in our delegated and shared accountabilities."

This lack of engagement, acknowledgement and simple communication speaks to one of two things: 1) gross incompetence or 2) a willful disregard for the role of the board, Philp wrote. He concluded his letter by saying that St. Pats faces key challenges in governance, leadership, communication and medical staff engagement.

I have found systemic disregard for or severe diminution of the Boards role, an almost cavalier attitude when question, and an insulting, ambiguous utilization of our authority to potentially justify or condone decisions being made without our knowledge, he wrote. I have no interest in being part of our organization that behaves in this way. Now more than ever it would appear that we need to think carefully about how we will serve the needs of the poor and vulnerable, maintain an outstanding local hospital and address the strategic health needs of Western Montana.

***

Seagraves said that he would wager that there is a meeting similar to the March 7 meeting happening among every medical staff at every hospital in the country. He said a generation ago, many doctors owned hospitals and now 40 percent of them are employed by  or "owned"  by a hospital.

Were in a completely different world now, he said. Medical staffs everywhere are struggling with this loss of autonomy. This is a national struggle. The situation here is not worse than anywhere else. I am optimistic from the standpoint that we have gotten the attention from leaders and commitment from them to get doctors involved. The old days are gone, and everyone recognizes that its time for us to stand up and time for administrators to let us re-engage.

Seagraves said that he wouldnt characterize the March 7 no confidence vote as unanimous, since no roll call was taken and not everyone voted. He also said that a title change like the one Dombrouski got is less important than how the administrators manage leadership and how much authority they have.

Since that meeting, there has been a willingness on the part of the administration to meet with us to work on a complete redesign of the medical staff to address the deficiencies, he said. That points to a competent, capable leadership structure.

Seagraves said he hadnt spoken to Maxwell or Knapp about their frustrations or reasons for resignation.

The vast majority of docs here are busy going about their practice, he said. They see the world around them changing. They see the lack of control, which is imposed not by (Providence) but is imposed by practicing health care circa 2017. Its a completely different game. The rate of change and the declination of autonomy is steepening, and thats where a lot of unhappiness among medical staffs is coming from.

Seagraves said that the medical staff at St. Pats is giving great health care and its still a fabulous place to work.

At the same time, the burdens that practitioners have to deal with now, versus 10 or 20 years ago, are staggering and maddening, he said. They are not necessarily burdens that improve patient care and some people have a hard time dealing with the current world order and are pushing back.

The bright spot, he said, is the March 7 meeting fired up the medical staff to re-engage.

***

Knapp, for his part, feels a tinge of sadness at having to resign with a level of unhappiness directed toward his workplace after over 30 years.

Its an extraordinary business, he said. (Administrators) have to keep balance sheets going and keep the hospital above board and all the requirements. But the fundamental issue we deal with is personal interactions on a day-to-day basis by an extraordinary team of nurses and physicians. They need to be supported. And that has been sorely lacking in the recent past.
This week marks the three-year anniversary of the earth-shattering scandal involving veteran health care at the Phoenix VA. The deaths of dozens of veterans and needless suffering of thousands more proved the life-threatening dangers of government bureaucracy run amok.

Yet for many of Montanas 99,646 veterans, very little has changed. Many find their experience is more like a visit to the Motor Vehicles Division, when what they deserve is health care provided by compassionate, highly disciplined and ethical public servants.

The only good news is new federal legislationthe VA Accountability First Act of 2017could finally cure many of the VAs ills. Having already passed the U.S. House of Representatives with bipartisan support, its now up to U.S. Sen. Jon Tester to help pass this reform into law.

That a legislative fix is necessary is beyond dispute. Three years after the Phoenix VA scandal, theres still essentially zero accountability for bad employees. Several senior employees directly implicated in Phoenix held on to their jobs for more than 700 days before they were finally fired. In all, fewer than 10 people involved in this scandal lost their jobs as a result.

Employees who endanger their patients health and well-being shouldnt be allowed to keep their jobs for any amount of time. Nor should those who abuse taxpayer dollars, which are properly spent on the resources needed to provide veterans care.

Unfortunately, the VA fails to discipline employees who engage in this kind of behavior. Worse yet, the departments upper management often tries to silence those who come forward with evidence of wrongdoing, rather than correct it.

When Brandon Colemanan addiction therapist at the Phoenix VAvoiced concerns about a string of veteran suicides in 2015, he was harassed and intimidated by VA employees. Coworkers even tampered with his own personal medical files to try and discredit him. Despite an internal VA report that found Coleman was indeed retaliated against, those involved were allowed to retire with full benefits or received a slap on the wrist.

Fixing this mess starts with accountabilityor in the VAs case, addressing the lack of it. Thats where the VA Accountability First Act of 2017 comes in. As the second largest government bureaucracy with over 360,000 employees, it would amount to the most significant civil service reform in decades.

Under this legislation, VA employees would still enjoy the protections most federal workers havethey could only be disciplined with cause. But if there is cause, the entire firing processincluding appealswould be limited to no more than 77 days. Thats compared to the years it can take today.

Other changes would breathe fresh air into the VA. The legislation prevents the VA from rewarding failure, allowing the VA secretary to rescind bonuses given to employees who commit wrongdoing. It also prevents employees who are scheduled to be fired from collecting paid leave and raking in taxpayer dollarsa problem that has plagued the VA in recent years.

The legislation has already earned the support of most major veteran service organizations and is building momentum in Washington. VA Secretary Dr. David Shulkin also supports the bill, saying, without legislative changes, the VA will continue to be forced to delay immediate actions to remove employees from federal service.

The only opponents of the legislation are government labor unions. They prefer the status quo of effectively zero accountability for misconduct, preserving job security for their memberseven if those employees threaten veterans well-being.

That is simply wrongand it must change. Its now up to Sen. Jon Tester to decide where he stands: with unions and the VA bureaucracy, or with 99,646 Montana veterans who need care. The choice should be an easy one.
HELENA  A bill under consideration in the Montana House would raise the campaign contribution limits that individuals, political committees and political parties can give to state candidates. A glance at the limits being proposed:

GOVERNOR:

 Individuals and political committees: $1,990 to a candidate per election cycle, which includes both primary and general elections.

 Political parties: $47,700 to a candidate per election cycle.

OTHER STATEWIDE OFFICE:

 Individuals and political committees: $990 per election cycle.

 Political parties: $17,000 per election cycle.

SENATE:

 Individuals and political committees: $530 per election cycle.

 Political parties: $2,800 per election cycle.

 Political committees would be able to contribute no more than $5,600 in total to all candidates in an election cycle.

HOUSE:

 Individuals and political committees: $530 per election cycle.

 Political parties: $2,800 per election cycle.

 Political committees would be able to contribute no more than $3,400 in total to all candidates in an election cycle.
Slowed for about a year by the lack of a quorum, Billings nine-member Human Relations Commission is making up for lost time by, among other things, lobbying the City Council to declare it wont stand for instances of racism, bigotry and hate crimes.

Meeting Thursday in City Hall, the commission unanimously approved a request to seek council support declaring June Pride Month. After nearly a decades absence, Big Sky Pride events are returning to Billings June 16-18.

Those events will include parties, education, shows, comedy, drag, food and drink, movies and a Pride parade, rally and dance.

We feel its time for the city to step up and heal the wounds that are festering, said Walt Donges, the commissions former chairman who made the request to the commission along with event organizer Sam Enemy-Hunter.

Last month, the commission asked the City Council for a proclamation stating the city values the diversity of its citizens and has zero tolerance toward hate crimes, bigotry, misogyny and any other form or sign of discrimination towards a member of another group.

During the April 3 council meeting, City Administrator Tina Volek said its normally the responsibility of staff to research proclamations, which are typically issued by the mayor and routinely read at the beginning of council meetings. On Monday, for example, Mayor Tom Hanel is scheduled to declare the week of April 9-15 National Public Safety Telecommunications Week and National Library Week.

According to city code, members of the Human Relations Commission shall be broadly representative of all citizens and shall, to the extent possible, reflect religious, racial, ethnic and minority groups whose training, interest, background or experience will aid the commission in its work.

That work, the city code states, includes:

Promoting mutual understanding and respect and working to discourage and prevent discriminatory practices.

Promoting programs of community education.

Reviewing and studying complaints and problems which result or may result in tensions, discrimination or prejudice.

Advising community groups and agencies, as well as governmental agencies, to improve human relations and eliminate prejudice, tension, intolerance or discrimination.

Seeing that no person in this city is deprived of equal services furnished in the city  on account of race, sex, age, color, creed, national origin, ancestry or being a member of a minority group.

Informing and recommending to the mayor and City Council matters and programs for the furtherance and advancement of human relations in the community, including an annual written report of the commissions work.

Referring all matters to the Police Board that are within that boards jurisdiction.

The commission has an online form on the city's website for residents to file complaints against individuals or groups.

Commission Chair Kathy Walters said the current commission is focused on human rights, which arent a special privilege. Thats why theyre called rights.

Too much has been coming up recently, she said, especially following "the (presidential) primary and the election and the outspoken hatred. Racism is not dead. It was never dead. It was just covered up for a while.
MISSOULA -- Teacher Megan Hasquet was thrilled to take her Anaconda High School honors government class to see the state Supreme Court in action. That the case affected her students home ground was an unexpected bonus.

Some of them have family involved in this case, Hasquet said on Friday after oral arguments wrapped up in a long-running case between some 100 residents of the Opportunity and Crackerville areas and Atlantic Richfield Co. over the cleanup of waste contamination of their yards from the old Anaconda smelter.

Weve spent a lot of time studying state, federal and local government. To find out the courts topic is right in their backyard was perfect. Its something that affects not only them, but generations to come.

The students joined a packed theater at the University of Montana to watch the Supreme Court during one of its rare out-of-Helena appearances. This one was the highlight of UMs Law Week activities.

Fridays argument considered a weird bit of Montana procedural law that holds up a much bigger question. One-hundred residents of Opportunity want to make the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency order ARCO to do a much bigger clean up of the residents' yards, which bear toxic waste from a century of copper smelting at nearby Anaconda.

ARCO and the EPA asked the high court for a writ of supervisory control that would short-circuit the residents case before it could come before a jury. Their attorneys argued that the company and the agency already had a cleanup plan in place, and federal law prohibited state lawsuits from interfering with the ongoing project.

Attorneys for the residents countered that the federal law did allow for state challenges, especially if the federal cleanup wasnt doing a complete job. They also claimed ARCO and EPA were challenging cleanup facts that were better put before a jury than handled in a Supreme Court procedural hearing.

Using the federal Superfund laws, EPA has required ARCO to restore thousands of acres of smelter-contaminated ground between Butte and Missoula over the past 30 years. But much of the decision-making process on that work has been private between the agency and the company. The Opportunity residents say contamination in their yards wasnt properly considered, even though testing shows levels of arsenic and other toxins far above federal standards.

The residents have asked that the cleanup be expanded to remove the top two feet of soil from their yards, amounting to about 650,000 tons of dirt. That material would be taken to a waste repository just outside of Opportunity while the yards would be re-filled and covered with new sod.

They also want an underground barrier to prevent arsenic-contaminated groundwater from reaching their properties. ARCO officials estimated the cost of the project at between $38 million and $101 million.

In the hearing, the justices often barely let an attorney complete a sentence before firing questions. Afterward, acting Chief Justice Beth Baker, Justice Laurie McKinnon and Justice Dirk Sandefur took questions from the students.

Id never heard of this trespassing concept before, Anaconda senior Kyra Moreni said of an attorneys claim that having someone elses pollution in your yard constituted illegal entry. For landowners, that could really make a difference for them. Theyve been fighting this for almost a decade.

While practicing lawyers werent invited to the question-and-answer session, many gathered outside to discuss the testimony theyd witnessed.

Its always educational for lawyers to watch oral arguments, said Bruce Spencer, president of the State Bar of Montana. You pick up ideas for how to conduct your own argument, and you also see now the justices interact with the parties. Its also a chance for the court to interact with the public in a favorable way, so people have faith they have a good justice system.
SATURDAY, APRIL 8

LIVE THEATER

The players of The Open Theatre Project present Lowell Swortzell's "The Mischief Makers" at 2 p.m. in the Anaconda High School Little Theater. Admission is free.

'ALICE IN BUTTELAND'

The Butte High Drama Club will present "Alice in Butteland" at 8 p.m. in the Butte High Auditorium. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students. Details: 406-533-2216.

SPRING FLING FUN RUN

The Spring Fling Fun Run will be held at the Silver Bow Montessori School, 1800 Sunset Rd. (behind Star Lanes). Registration fees are $25 for the 5K, $20 for the 1-mile, and $15 for the half-mile. Race-day registration begins at 9 a.m., the 5K race and 1-mile fun run start at 10, and the half-mile kids run starts at 11.

SPRING FLING CARNIVAL, EGG HUNT

The Spring Fling Carnival and Easter Egg Hunt will be held at Silver Bow Montessori School (behind Star Lanes). The Carnival is held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Game tickets cost 50 cents each, and each game requires 1 to 4 tickets. All-day wristbands for games are available for $15. The egg hunt cost is $5 and features over 15,000 eggs. Egg hunts start at noon, ages 1-2 years; 12:15 p.m., ages 3-4 years; 12:30 p.m., ages 5-6 years; 12:45 p.m., ages 7-9 years; and 1 p.m., ages 10-12 years. Plan to arrive early.

EASTER BAZAAR

A spring/Easter bazaar is being held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the AOH Hall, Cherry and Commercial, Anaconda. Enter through the back door. Details: Mary Lou, 406-560-3373.

ARCHIVES LECTURE

The Montana Wilderness Association's Southwestern Wildlands chapter will host a presentation on "Horse Packing in Mongolia" with Deborah and Greg Schatz at 2:30 p.m. at the Butte Archives, 17 W. Quartz St.

EDIBLE BOOK FEST

The Butte Edible Book Festival starts at 3 p.m. on the third floor of the Butte Public Library, 226 W. Broadway St. Entries can be dropped off any time between 1:30 and 2:30. Details: 406-723-3361.

F1 COMPETITION

The annual F1 in Schools competition continues Saturday at the Highland College campus in Butte. Students will showcase their F1 models for judging with the awards ceremony to begin at 3 p.m.

SCIENCE MINE

The Science Mine, 36 E. Granite St., features its "Healthy Hills Project" through April. It's open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. Participants will learn about starting seeds for later planting at restoration sites. The hands-on discovery center allows adults and youth to "mess around with science." Details: 406-497-7777, info@sciencemine.org, or Facebook. Non-member admission is $5 per person or $12 per family.

CLUBS AND MEETINGS

BUTTE

Butte MS Self Help Support Group meets from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Perkins meeting room. Details: Alyson Harvey-Williams, 406-498-7497.

An anxiety and depression support group meets at 1:30 p.m. at 721 S. Utah St.

Adult Children of Alcoholics meets at 10 a.m. in the Atherton Apartments community center room, 4500 Continental Dr. Details: 406-396-4112.
Dear Editor, your headline -- Man who said he has 22 DUIs pleads guilty to YET another today in Butte district court (emphasis mine) is unreasonably judgmental. I am certain your reporters are well aware of addictions status as a medical condition; a brain disease to be a little more precise.

Just as you would not report that a person that has a brain tumor should be judged by illegal actions they actually might not have control of, I would think the same would hold true for a community member dealing with another type of brain disease  addiction.

Yes, it is appalling that Mr. Sproles continues to operate a vehicle while legally drunk. It's also appalling that our society has yet to figure out a humane way to deal with these type of extreme situations when a scientifically proven medical condition is at the root of it.

Until that time comes your paper, as the self-proclaimed "Heart of the Community, should lead the way by being conscious, consistent and compassionate in how it reports on people in the community that are dealing with an addiction.

Montana Standard use to be insensitive towards those of us in the community that deal with the devastation of a mental illness and you successfully changed that practice. Please do so again for community members that suffer from the scientifically proven medical condition of addiction. Thank you.

-- Kate Martin, Butte
BILLINGS  Justice John C. Sheehy, known to friends as Skeff, had a golden tongue, and it served him best on the day he was held at gunpoint in his state Supreme Court chambers for three hours.

"That was a scary day," said his daughter Martha Sheehy, an attorney in Billings.

John Sheehy died in his sleep Friday morning at his home in Helena. He was 99.

Born in Butte to Irish immigrant parents in 1918, he was an eloquent and forceful communicator with a sharp legal mind. He served in the state House of Representatives from 1959 to 1965 and in the state Senate from 1969 to 1971.

And in 1978 he was appointed by Gov. Tom Judge to the state Supreme Court, where he served as a justice until 1991.

It was as a justice, on a sunny day in late June 1984, when a gunman burst into Sheehy's Supreme Court chambers in Helena, holding him hostage at gunpoint for most of the afternoon.

The man was a disgruntled litigant looking for some kind of validation from Sheehy. Instead, Sheehy and the gunman talked until Sheehy persuaded the man to hand over his gun. Sheehy simply placed it in his desk and then kept his knee in front of the drawer.

"My dad talked him out of it, and they called the police together," Martha Sheehy said with a laugh. "He was probably never better served by his skill than on that day."

Sheehy's skills were numerous. One of his proudest achievements as Supreme Court justice came when the state court's ruling on a law requiring a heavy coal levy was validated by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1980s.

Sheehy wrote the opinion for the state court decision, arguing Montanas right to levy what was then a 30-percent severance tax on coal, the highest in the country. That decision, and Sheehy's written opinion in particular, was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court and meant millions of dollars in taxes for Montana.

He understood the important role mining played in the state's economy. He also understood the importance for the state to be able to tax it. In fact, as a boy from Butte, mining was his life's calling.

"His history is the history of the state," Martha Sheehy said.

His father had been a miner, and Sheehy graduated from high school ready to head into the mines himself, following in his father's footsteps.

Instead, Sheehy, at 18, was hit by a drunken driver and left with permanent damage to his left hand. He couldn't work in the mines, and his parents didn't know what to do with him.

So they sent him to college, the first in his family to go.

"It completely changed the course of his life," Martha Sheehy said.

Sheehy graduated with a law degree from the University of Montana in 1943 and moved to Billings, where he practiced law for the next 35 years. He closed his practice when he was appointed to the Supreme Court.

In 1945, two years after moving to Billings, Sheehy married Rita Ann Schiltz, and together they raised 11 children.

Instilled in the children were the values of their parents. They grew up to be lawyers, teachers and legislators. In fact, two of the sisters have been named Montana teachers of the year.

Sheehy believed in Montana and in returning to the state the resources it had invested in him. All of the children earned higher education degrees in Montana and nine of the 11 still live in the state, putting to use their skills and education here.

"That's a debt paid," Martha Sheehy said. "Education was not taken for granted by him."

A staunch Irish Catholic, Sheehy attended Mass every day.

His church and his family were priorities for him, and family law cases were at he heart of what he believed as a jurist.

"The work of the courts is the work of the people," Martha said. "That was the crux of his judicial philosophy."
BILLINGS  Montanas congressional delegation is cautioning President Donald Trump not to proceed with any more Syrian bombings without Senate approval.

U.S. Sens. Jon Tester and Steve Daines say they didnt oppose Thursday nights bombings but think its time Congress update the Authorization for Use of Military Force, which addresses military action in Afghanistan and Iraq but not Syria.

The attack against a Syrian air base was the first U.S. assault against the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

The lawmakers issued statements about the bombing after participating in a confidential, all-Senate briefing by the Trump administration.

Before further military intervention in Syria we need to have a clear plan and a clear endgame. As I said when Barack Obama was president, the White House does not have a blank check to entangle our troops and taxpayers in foreign conflicts, said Tester, Montanas Democratic senior senator. The costs of war are great and take a toll on human life, returning service members, their families, and all Americans. In order to keep this nation safe and secure, we need a strategic plan with Congressional approval and oversight to hold the Putin-backed Assad regime accountable.

Daines also said the future military action required a congressionally approved plan, but he said the president was right to launch 59 missiles at a Syrian airstrip after the state attacked its citizens with deadly chemicals earlier this week.

This was an appropriate strategic strike that had a defined mission and leveled the airfield where these horrific chemical attacks against Syrian children and families originated, said Daines, a Republican. However, I still remain concerned that a long-term strategy to deal with Assad and Russian interference is not yet clear and I want to ensure Americas interests are protected.

After the briefing, both Daines and Tester flew out of Washington for a two-week Easter break.

In the House, Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, called the bombings appropriate, while Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi asked Ryan to cancel the two-week break so a military plan could be developed.

Montana doesn't have a representative in the House. Former Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke resigned from the state's at-large seat to lead the Department of Interior.

Democrat Rob Quist, Republican Greg Gianforte, and Libertarian Mark Wicks are campaigning to replace Zinke. Absentee ballots for a special election will be mailed out April 28. Voting ends Thursday, May 25.

Both Gianforte and Quist said a military plan is needed for addressing Syria.

"The Assad regime committed an atrocity when they brutally murdered innocent men, women, and children earlier this week," Gianforte said. "We have an obligation to protect and defend our national security and to stop the use of chemical weapons. President Trump acted within his authority as commander and chief, and I stand behind his decision to take out the air base where these chemical attacks were launched. Trump sent a strong message to Assad and other dictators around the world that the horrific use of chemical weapons will not be tolerated."

"I look forward to President Trump and Congress working together on a long-term strategy to address this crisis in Syria," Gianforte continued. "As we work towards a solution, we must always ensure that America's interests are protected."

Quist cautioned against committing to another Middle Eastern war without an exit plan.

"What happened in Syria, the loss of innocent lives, including women and children, is intolerable. As the president said, its an affront to humanity. However, we need to have a clear plan and strategy before intervening militarily and Congress should be consulted going forward," Quist said.

"Any military intervention needs to be strategic and with an endgame in place. The last thing we need is to get involved in yet another Middle Eastern war with no end in sight," the Democrat continued. "After all, it's our sons and daughters who have to bear the burden, so we'd better get it right when getting entangled in foreign conflicts."

Wicks had not returned a call to his home by presstime.

The Associated Press reported Friday that the Trump administration signaled new sanctions would soon follow the missile attack. The Pentagon was probing whether Russia was involved in the chemical weapons assault that compelled Trump to action.

During the Obama presidency, Trump said Obama should have had congressional approval for military action. He wasnt the only one.

Daines voted against authorizing U.S. military involvement in Syria in 2013 when he was Montanas lone congressman. At the time, Daines said he had heard from Montanans through telephone townhall meetings and concluded constituents didnt support military force. He said the objective of military action was unclear and the outcome uncertain.

Daines' staff said the senators position on Syria was unchanged. A clear plan and certain outcome are required.

Tester opposed a 2013 military strike in Syria, as well. Obama had asked Congress to approve military action to destroy chemical weapons.

Like Daines, Tester said he had consulted with Montanans and concluded that military action was a bad idea. He said at the time it was better to pressure Syria to surrender its chemical weapons.

Russia negotiated a deal with Syria in 2013 that required Syrias chemical weapons to be destroyed under international supervision. But the United Nations concluded that chemical weapons were again being used in 2014.
A man arrested after a stolen truck plowed into pedestrians on a busy Stockholm street is being held on "suspicion of terrorist crimes through murder," a government official said Saturday.

The attack Friday in the heart of Sweden's capital left at least four people dead and injured a dozen more.

Nine of the injured -- eight adults and one child -- are still being treated in three different hospitals in the city, the Stockholm County Council said Saturday.

The prosecutor has until noon Tuesday to ask the court to detain the suspect, said Karin Rosander, spokeswoman for Sweden's prosecutor's office.

"It is likely that it is the driver of the van that has been arrested," police spokesman Mats Eriksson told CNN. "This however does not exclude the possibility of there being more arrests that will follow."

The Swedish Security Service said the attack happened just before 3 p.m. local time. People were seen fleeing the area in panic after what appeared to be the latest use of a vehicle as a weapon of terror in Europe.

A beer truck was hijacked as it made a delivery nearby, according to the company that owned it. Eyewitnesses reported it speeding along Drottninggatan (Queen Street) before it crashed into the front of a department store.

The street remained cordoned off Saturday morning, but the truck had been removed overnight from the building where it was wedged. Heavily armed officers guarded the area and several police vans were present.

Debris still littered the ground around the crash scene and workers in neon suits carried items to a waiting skip.

Flowers had been left by the cordon, and police consoled a crying man as he walked up with a bouquet.

Suspect photo released

Police said Friday that the man taken into custody matched the description of a person of interest whose photo authorities had released earlier.

"Sweden has been attacked," Prime Minister Stefan Lofven told reporters. "Everything indicates this is a terror attack."

Lofven said the government was doing everything possible to help the security services. "We are thinking about the victims -- their families and friends -- and those who were injured," he said.

The Prime Minister returned to the capital from the west of the country, his spokesman Erik Nises told CNN.

"We will always do everything we can to protect Sweden, but we can't guarantee that it won't happen again," Lofven told reporters later Friday.

"If this is a terrorist attack, terrorists ... want us to not live our lives normally," he said. "But that is what we are going to do. So terrorists can never defeat Sweden. Never."

King Carl XVI Gustaf announced he had cut short his state visit to Brazil to return home immediately in the aftermath of the attack.

'He put his foot on the gas'

According to eyewitness Veronica Durango, the driver "put his foot on the gas and ran through the crowd."

"He came from Olof Palmes Street and drove down to Drottninggatan," Durango told CNN in a phone interview.

"It was like he was driving through paper. It's like it was nothing. I can't even believe how a person could do such a thing. And then he just kept on going. I was in shock."

Vehicle attacks

The attack in Stockholm joins a growing pattern of vehicles being used to launch attacks on pedestrians.

Last month, a man rammed into crowds on Westminster Bridge in London, killing three people before stabbing a policeman to death outside Parliament. A fifth victim who was knocked off the bridge and into the River Thames below died after her life-support was switched off this week.

In July 2016, more than 80 people were killed and over 200 injured when a terrorist used a 20-ton truck to plow into crowds who had gathered in Nice to watch Bastille Day fireworks.

Last December, 12 people were killed and at least 48 people were wounded when a truck drove into a Christmas Market in Berlin.

CNN's Lauren Said-Moorhouse and journalist Per Nyberg reported from Stockholm, while CNN's Laura Smith-Spark wrote from London. CNN's Mariano Castillo contributed to this report.
YWCA Billings on Friday honored a handful of residents who have spent decades making Billings a better place with its annual Salute Awards.

About 400 people attended to applaud the honorees and help the YWCA raise money for its programs and for the 24-unit Gateway Vista Affordable Housing Project, which is slated for construction on the YWCA campus at 909 Wyoming Ave.

Honorees many contributions were documented with videos produced for each person  or, in the case of Michael and Sherril Burke  each couple recognized.

The Burkes, who own HGFA Architects, won the Distinguished Service Award. The Burkes were honored in part for donating their work developing the concepts for the Gateway Vista Project. Sherril Burke was YWCA president for the two years that the vision for the project was being developed.

Over and over wed hear heart-wrenching stories, she said. Pretty soon we realized something needed to be done.

Billings-based First Interstate Bank was named the organization that helps women succeed. Seventy-four percent of the banks workforce is female, and four of the banks female leaders  Marcy Mutch, Maria Valandra, Wanda Anderson and Cindy Lyle  spoke during the video segment.

Billings Mayor Tom Hanel was named the individual who advocates for women. He was honored for flying to Helena and back  with a City Council meeting scheduled that evening  to testify before the Montana Board of Housing for the Gateway Vista project. City Administrator Tina Volek said it might surprise some residents that Hanel and his wife, Robin, donate his mayoral salary to Billings nonprofit organizations.

Four longtime residents, including two medical providers, were named women of achievement.

Margaret Beeson was named 2017 Doctor of the Year by the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians. Shes president of a foundation dedicated to gaining access and funding for non-narcotic pain treatment for veterans.

Its a gift to be part of peoples journey, to help people find what it will take for them to be well, to be healthy, she said. Its miraculous I get to be part of that.

Heidi Duncan is a family medicine physician at Billings Clinic.

I never felt there was anything I couldnt do because I was a girl, she said. She said shes grateful that young women who want to do something in the medical field now have a lot of role models.

Reach out and job shadow, she encouraged girls and women considering a medical career. Give it a try.

Duncan said shes spent 21 of her 22 years as a physician delivering babies.

I get very maternal, she said, when I see the kids I delivered graduate from high school.

Darla Jones is retired from a 25-year career at St. Vincent Healthcare. Now she volunteers with a number of nonprofits, including Family Promise of Yellowstone Valley and Dress for Success Billings. Both those agencies have cooperative agreements with the YWCA to meet the needs of women and families.

Debbie Sundberg, a financial advisor for Edward Jones Investments, said she cut her teeth as a volunteer years ago with the Montana Womens Run.

My work to help empower women and help families lift themselves up and find ways to help them came from my early experiences, she said, including 4-H and FFA.

In addition to the Salute honorees, six women  Eriska Fajriyati, Danielle Ingraham, Hailey Johnston, Kelsey Megerth, Alex Moore and Johanna Trout  were named scholarship recipients.
MUSCATINE  Santiago Calderon, 8, looked on as the kindergarteners and first graders ran around the Muscatine High School track.

They had run one lap, but his race will be twice as hard. He will have to run two laps, competing with other second and third grader boys.

His sister, Sofia, 14, who runs track at Central Middle School, gave him some last-minute advice and encouragement.

On your last lap, sprint, she said, explaining to him that he should run slower on the first lap to conserve energy.

Santiago was one of around 80 children who signed up for the 18th annual Kids Hustle, a race that raises money for Ss. Mary and Mathias Catholic School. An adult counterpart, the Hustle, will take place this morning.

The two races are expected to raise $5,000-$7,000 for the school, said Michelle Elias, who chairs the committee for the events. The money funds technology upgrades and field trips. Next year, the school will add a seventh grade and Elias said the money will help cover some of the costs of the expansion, like adding more lockers.

Back at the Muscatine High School track, children, including Santiago, lined up for the race. Santiago found his spot, stretching his legs this way and that, awaiting the go-ahead.

Go! the volunteer who ran the race yelled.

And they were off.

Sofia and her mother, Cassi, cheered on Santiago until he was on the other side of the field.

Hes very competitive, Cassi said. He doesnt want to lose to the second graders.

Santiago listened to his sister, running slowly at first, but then his competitive spirit came through and he sped past another boy.

Sofia laughed. Her brother just couldnt resist running as fast as he could. He continued to run fast, falling somewhere in the middle of the pack.

I try to tell him its not about winning, Cassi said. Its about having fun.

And thats exactly what school principal Ben Nietzel wants kids to do: have fun and get some exercise. The money they raise, he said, is secondary to that goal.

Back at the race, Santiago had completed the first lap and most of the second lap. With only a few feet left, Sofia and Cassi started cheering.

Go, Santi! Come on! Youre almost done! Sofia yelled, clapping her hands.

Santiago finished fourth, his cheeks flushed. Though he didnt get a blue ribbon and the associated coupons that first, second and third places got, he received a green participation ribbon.

Sofia greeted him with warm hug at the finish line, a smile and some final advice.

Stretch your legs so that your muscles dont tense up, OK? she told him.

And Santiago did just that.
Les emplois a Rennes sont abondants et varies. Il y a quelque chose pour tout le monde. Que vous soyez a la recherche dun emploi []
Les blattes ou cafards (Blatta orientalis) sont des insectes qui appartiennent a la famille des Blattoptera. Ils se caracterisent par leur forme allongee, leurs ailes []
For 15 years, the Montana Historical Society has been asking the Legislature to help expand the states museum and upgrade the security of our priceless cultural treasures. Those requests have been turned down in several biennial sessions, but no previous pitch presented the creative approach of Senate Bill 376.

The bill sponsored by Sen. Jill Cohenour, D-East Helena, initially proposed increasing the state lodging tax by half a percent for 10 years to fund the Montana Heritage Center and to provide a grant program for museums and historic buildings statewide. SB376 provides flexibility to complete the renovation, new addition and connecting under-street tunnel in phases. It allows the state to lease-to-buy the new addition, so long as the state would ultimately be the owner.

SB376 would provide partial funding for the Heritage Center construction and the existing building renovation. The Montana Historical Society has committed to raising $10 million in private donations and has $6.7 milion from a previous state authorization that to cover part of the $44.3 million project.

A sales tax isnt an ideal way to pay for this capital project. But considering that bonding proposals have failed repeatedly and that out-of-state tourists pay 64 percent of all the lodging tax collected in Montana, SB376 garnered support to pass the Senate.

However, Montana innkeepers and tourism promoters protested that an increase in the lodging tax should do more to boost the states tourism industry.

Cohenour heard those concerns and worked with innkeepers on amendments that would improve the Heritage Center funding timeline and provide an ongoing boost to statewide tourism promotion.

At a hearing Friday before the House Appropriations Committee, she offered these amendments:

Increase the lodging tax by 1 percent, instead of 0.5 percent.

Limit the Heritage Center funding and preservation grant program to five years instead of 10.

Make the 1 percent tax increase permanent with all the money going to tourism promotion after the first five years.

Every dollar Montana invests in tourism promotion generates many dollars in return for our economy. The state already has a 4 percent lodging tax (which includes campgrounds) that funds state and local tourism programs. The state also has a 3 percent sales tax on lodging that all goes to the state general fund. If the tax was raised by 1 percentage point, the total state lodging tax would be 8 percent.

Steve Wahrlich, owner of the Best Western Clock Tower in downtown Billings and president of the Montana Lodging and Hospitality Association, testified in favor of the bill and the amendments, saying: Everybody wins.

Other proponents Friday included the Montana Chamber of Commerce, Montana League of Cities and Towns, Montana Historical Society Executive Director Bruce Whittenberg and Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney. There were no opponents.

Kudos to Cohenhour and everyone who worked on this creative, innovative solution to saving Montanas historic treasures from a leaking, 65-year-old building. This isnt a perfect answer, but its good and its politically feasible yet this session.

We call on the House Appropriations Committee to accept the amendments and send SB376 to the House with a recommendation of do pass. We call on Yellowstone County lawmakers to support SB376 in the House and Senate.

As Cohenour said, this bill benefits the entire state. By adding just $1 to the price of a $100 hotel room, the Legislature can create a facility that is worthy of the treasures of Montana while also assisting smaller museums statewide.
There was a star with my name on it on Thursday night and, after awkwardly walking down the red carpet, I stuck it on my chest with pride. Yes, I am Maria Sestito  an adult participant in the Are You Ready for the 5th Grade Challenge?

When I first signed on for the 5th Grade Challenge, I thought I would just be asking the students questions. I just had to look cute, be professional and represent the newspaper. It wasnt until that morning, just hours before the challenge would begin at the Napa County Office of Education, when I realized that I was not going to be asking the questions  a role Im comfortable with  but would be answering questions and competing with fifth-graders.

Duh. It was going to be like that show, Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?

Thats when I started to get a little nervous. What do they teach students in California? How much has it changed in the 16 years since I was in fifth grade?

Answering those questions, I learned, is exactly the point of the challenge.

The 5th Grade Challenge is an opportunity to show the Napa community the changes that Common Core has brought to our local classrooms, how challenging the curriculum can be, and that 21st century skills (like collaboration) are an important part of the new curriculum, said Seana Wagner, director of communications at the Napa County Office of Education.

After a few introductions, I gravitated toward Chief Probation Officer Mary Butler who I knew was a contestant and who I know through my position as the public safety reporter.

I was excited to see that someone else I recognized, Supervisor Belia Ramos, was there, too, also as an adult participant or, as they warmly called us, celebrities.

Before we began, I interviewed some students from Mt. George Elementary School about what they thought of the challenge, and to see if they had any tips for me.

There are some science questions that Im kind of nervous about, said Gigi Gerien, 11.

What are you learning now? I asked.

Different ways to divide usually, said Camden Floyd, 11. The biggest things were multiplication and division, he said.

That made me a little more confident. I can divide and multiply! I wished the students good luck and went back to my table.

You can be our ringer, Butler said to me, realizing that, out of our group, I was the closest in age to the elementary-schoolers. Feeling included, I began to relax while I listened to my fellow participants discuss our odds against the fifth-graders and see who had any children at home whose homework might give them an edge.

Ramos and Jennifer Baker, Napa Valley College board member, seemed to have all the luck. Ramos daughter is in fourth grade and Bakers son, a fifth-grader, was also participating in the challenge. In fact, Baker and her son, Nicholas, would be answering the same math, social studies and science questions.

Everyone seemed to agree that the first math question asked  something about a truck stacked with boxes of paper that needed to get rid of some in order to make it over a bridge  was the most difficult.

(Its also too long to repeat.)

The next question was much easier:

Which three states are part of the Northeast?

The adults, who were not allowed to work together, and all three student groups got the correct answer: Maine, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania.

I didnt go up to the hot seat until round three.

The first question stumped me. It was easy enough, finding the perimeter of a pentagon. The problem is that it required you to convert your answer from millimeters to centimeters. I dont remember learning about the metric system in New Jersey whatsoever. Who knows the metric system?

The two women who were up there with me  Festival Napa Valleys Sonia Tolbert and Napa County Auditor-Controller Tracy Schulze  they knew it.

We all wrote down the same answer.

How did you get this? asked Hall Davidson, director of Global Learning Initiatives at Discovery Education and M.C. of the event.

I looked to my right, I replied.

Davidson publicly commended me on my reporting skills and the crowd laughed.

Yes, I had done it. I had embarrassed myself in just the right way and suddenly all my nerves were gone.

My cohorts and I were proud to get the next two questions correct.

Getting the answers right though isnt the point of Common Core, Davidson told us. Even when the students got a question wrong, it was OK because they had worked together and used reasoning skills (or sometimes educated guessing) to come to an answer. Getting the right answer, he said, we can use Google for that.

I was impressed with the students  they were honest, upbeat and seemed fearless as they explained how they got their answers into the microphone.

Afterward, as rain poured down outside, I asked 11-year-old Sofia Reiswig of Alta Heights Elementary School what she thought of the event.

I thought it was a really good experience because you get to meet new people and see how they think and you get to just show what you know, Sofia said. I thought it was really fun and it kind of gets the kids motivated.
Napa County is poised to start building what amounts to a correctional campus along Highway 221 near the Syar quarry, with a re-entry facility to come first and ultimately a new jail.

The county Board of Supervisors approved awarding a $16 million construction contract for the 72-bed re-entry facility to Vila Construction of Richmond. The facility is to open in fall 2018.

Selected inmates preparing for release will stay there and participate in programs designed to keep them from ending up back in jail, from substance abuse and mental health programs to job preparation.

There will be a very much desirable effect of being in a building that is, while considered in custody, not locked and secured quite like a jail is, county Chief Probation Officer Mary Butler said.

Inmates will be in dorms, not cells, Butler said. They might leave during the day to go to work or classes and return at night. The idea is to provide a transition to life-after-jail.

The Probation Department will provide the programs and the county Department of Corrections will provide the security, which will include cameras and alarms and correctional staff. The reentry facility is to be one-story with a courtyard and have four dormitory wings.

But the 27-acre site along Highway 221 that Napa County bought for about $7 million is to have more than a reentry facility. It is to have a new jail that the county wants to ultimately replace the downtown Napa jail.

Napa County supervisors last year wanted to build a $103 million, 256-bed jail at the Highway 221 site. Voters in June turned down a quarter-cent sales tax that was to provide much of the funding, leaving supervisors searching for Plan B.

Plan B is to build a 96-bed first phase of a new jail, along with such core facilities as a central control room, laundry area and kitchen, with more cells to be added when more money becomes available. The cost is to be about $68 million, though that figure changes as the county refines its plans.

Supervisors on Tuesday took a step toward securing a big chunk of this money. They agreed to submit an application to the state for $22.8 million that the state has already agreed to pay for the project.

Still, the state money and funds the county has stitched together from savings and land sales arent enough. Supervisors on April 18 are scheduled to talk about how to erase a gap of about $14 million.

In addition, the county estimates operating its new jail complex will cost an additional $7 million annually. Among other things, another 60 correctional officers and other staff will be needed. Expenses will arise from operating both the new jail and downtown jail, until future new jail phases make the old jail unnecessary.

Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza called the operational costs a $7 million hit to the general fund that the county uses to fund many of its services.

Thats real, Pedroza said. We heard earlier about the priorities we have across the board, from roads to housing.

The county has time to figure out how to deal with the issue. Public Works Director Steven Lederer said construction of the new jail could start in 2019 and be finished in 2022.

Supervisor Diane Dillon said the county has put years of hard work into the reentry facility and jail project.

Its just what it takes to do a project like this, especially when were not just building a jail, were doing a whole new system leading to the reduction of the recidivism rate, she said.

Butler on Friday said having the reentry facility and the new jail next to each other on the same correctional campus will be a good thing, given the relationship between the two.

Some jail inmates will not want to change their lives, Butler said. Others might see the reentry facility out their cell window, know that they too might be going to school or work during the day and be motivated to try to get into the reentry program.
Last week, I was one of nine millennials from Montana who traveled to Washington, D.C., to ask our senators to take action on climate change, the single biggest and most urgent challenge facing my generation.

We had a positive conversation with Sen. Jon Tester and his staff. As a farmer, he gets it. He is tired of kicking the problem down the road, knowing ultimately that we young Montanans will suffer.

Next we headed to Sen. Steve Daines office. We were not scheduled to speak with the senator  just a staffer. But 15 minutes in, Daines surprised us by walking through the door. And he stayed. He spent the next half-hour discussing his commitment to public lands as a "conservation conservative" and his faith in technological solutions to climate change.

Just hours later, Daines stood with President Trump, EPA head Scott Pruitt, and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke in support of Trump's executive order that relaxes rules that prevent methane pollution, lift the moratorium on coal leasing on federal lands, and direct the EPA to dismantle the Clean Power Plan.

In his April 1 guest opinion, Daines reiterated the usual talking points about energy independence, state control, and economic growth. He claimed many jobs would have been lost under the Clean Power Plan. But a 2015 economic study found that, under a business-as-usual scenario, climate change will slash 11,000 jobs in Montanas outdoor industry alone.

If Daines cares about jobs, he should work with state leaders to remove barriers to solar energy. Last year, job growth nationwide in the solar industry was 17 times greater than the rest of the economy, but Montana lags far behind other states, ranked 40th in installed capacity. Our leaders should be capitalizing on this growth potential and offering coal communities a pathway to the clean energy economy  not making empty promises to revive a dying industry. The Clean Power Plan would have helped local communities.

A bipartisan poll last year showed Montanans overwhelmingly favor more clean energy, especially millennials. My generation sees the absurdity of Daines' "all of the above" energy rhetoric that ignores the need to transition away from fossil fuels. We know not all energy sources are equal: The fossil fuels of the past create carbon pollution that makes us sick and overheats our planet. When we met, Daines said he is concerned about climate change and discusses it often with his kids. If that's true, he must see that "all of the above" is incompatible with the urgency of the climate crisis, which disproportionately impacts my generation.

I appreciated the chance to speak with Daines and find some common ground. We agree that Montana is a special place and climate change is real. We agree that technology has a role in addressing climate change and we need Montana-made solutions. But propping up coal and gas companies indefinitely is not a solution  it's dangerous and short-sighted. Climate change requires rejecting business as usual and embracing the clean energy future.

The cost of renewable energy keeps dropping, and innovative local energy storage technologies like the Gordon Butte Pumped Hydro facility are viable and competitive. We need leaders who will put aside political rhetoric and do the right thing for all Montanans. I encourage fellow millenials to join this conversation with Daines and other elected officials, as we work to build a future that's resilient, healthy and safe for generations to come.
JACKSON, Wyo.  Weeks or even months after the death of the rotting calf elk he was about to peel off the pasture, Wyoming biologist Tim Pratt knew the animal was in rough shape before its life slipped away.

The strike of a hammer on the calf's exposed femur revealed marrow with no resemblance to the pasty, whitish substance that domestic dogs are so fond of tonguing out of animal bones. Instead, the marrow the National Elk Refuge biological technician found looked like red jelly.

"Red-brown gelatinous is the worst criteria," Pratt said on a recent Thursday during an annual round of collecting elk carcasses. "That means it was on its last leg of energy, and it had been sick for a long time."

The young elk's hooves were of normal shape and size, indicating that bacterial hoof rot was not the agent of death. Putrid meat from the carcass was about 50 percent scavenged, but Pratt saw little indication that the animal's life was taken by a predator. Its jaw was smashed and partially missing, having been bitten off or run over by one of the feed tractors that distribute alfalfa pellets to thousands of members of the Jackson Elk Herd each winter.

Before Pratt winched the calf into a trailer to haul it away, he explained that part of the reason carcasses aren't left afield to break down is to limit the spread of disease. Getting the pelts off the grass so they don't inhibit the growth of forage is another consideration.

"But really, the reason that we're removing the carcasses is because of the equipment," Pratt said. "The Challenger feed vehicle, each track on those runs about $10,000.

"You hit a rib cage or a spinal column, and it can puncture it," he said.

Former refuge biologist Bruce Smith developed the protocol for recording and removing carcasses on the refuge in the early 1980s. One goal is to document all of the carcasses, which, combined with precise censuses each winter, allows refuge managers to come up with mortality rates.

This year  coming out of a severe early winter at all elevations  about 2 percent of the elk herd overall and 10 percent of the calf population succumbed to disease, predators, injury or the elements. A handful of pronghorn and a lone emaciated cow bison didn't survive.

Since Pratt was hired full time, mortality rates have jumped. Between 6 and 10 percent of calves are now discovered dead annually, whereas the rate used to be nearer to 3 or 5 percent. The reason likely isn't that more elk are dying but, rather, that there's an employee devoted to the task of documenting their deaths.

Bodies discovered on slopes and in wetland areas are left to biodegrade. But on flat, dry ground Pratt is the man who is usually hauling them off to a carcass dump on the west side of Miller Butte.

The third and fourth elk Pratt picked up Thursday morning were animals he had previously documented as dead and inspected but, earlier in winter, were frozen to the ground and couldn't be carried off. Months later they were sufficiently thawed  and rank.

On the drive back to the Elk Refuge shop Pratt spotted a trophy bull he'll likely be visiting soon. Visibly gaunt, the animal was bedded by a horse pasture and had scarcely moved since he last saw him  a sign the end was near.

"He's not going to be around more than a couple days," Pratt said.

___

Information from: Jackson Hole (Wyo.) News And Guide, http://www.jhnewsandguide.com
New satellite imagery released by ImageSat International shows the damage 59 US Tomahawk missiles inflicted at Syria's Shayrat airfield.

The United States says Assad forces used the airfield to conduct Tuesday's chemical weapons attack on rebel-held Khan Sheikhoun, leaving at least 86 townspeople dead.

"Initial indications are that this strike has severely damaged or destroyed Syrian aircraft and support infrastructure and equipment," said Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis. "[They] targeted aircraft, hardened aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage, ammunition supply bunkers, air defense systems, and radars."

Satellite imagery provided by ImageSat International reveals the extent of that damage, in comparison to previous records. It was not clear Friday how soon after the strikes the images were recorded.

Two hardened aircraft hangars on the airfield's east shows holes in their roofs, with what appears to be charring and debris spraying out of them. Two apparent impact craters are near one of the hangars. The third in the group is completely obliterated, as is the building directly next to it.

ImageSat International, a company that operates high-resolution satellites, notes five "workshops" that appear to be hit on the airfield's western edge, just north of ammunition sites.

A bunker on base is all but wiped out; the buildings appearing to be blown away.

Two US senior military officials told CNN's Barbara Starr about 20 planes were destroyed in the hail of missiles early Friday.

A U.S. defense official told CNN's Ryan Browne that 58 out of 59 of the Tomahawk missiles, "severely degraded or destroyed" their intended targets.
Following an even grimmer than expected budget outlook, the state House pulled what little bit of funding was left for affordable housing development in North Dakota.

Lawmakers voted to eliminate the Housing Incentive Fund.

Itll just be federal dollars; there will be no state program, said Jolene Kline, director of the North Dakota Housing Finance Agency, which operates the fund.

The fund, which provides grants for affordable housing projects, had been set to sunset in June, when the Senate offered a lifeline earlier in the session. Under Senate Bill 2014, the budget bill for the state Industrial Commission, lawmakers provided $5 million in income tax incentives to help populate the fund for another biennium.

In the previous biennium, the program was funded at $40 million.

Were in a budget crisis here; we have to find every dollar we can, said House Appropriations Government Operations Division Chairman Rep. Mike Brandenburg, R-Edgeley.

The state has received some federal monies, $5.8 million in the past biennium. And Kline anticipates receiving $3 million annually for the next biennium.

But with budgets anticipated to be slashed at the federal level to make room for more defense spending, theres no guarantee those federal funds will actually come, bringing support for affordable housing development to a standstill in a state where affordable housing is already a major issue cited by many employers in attracting a workforce.

According to the Bismarck-Mandan Development Associations 2016 Business Retention & Expansion Report, BMDA members ranked affordable housing as one of the communitys top five weaknesses.

Dwight Barden, executive director of the Burleigh County Housing Authority, said affordable housing is still a definite need in the state.

In Burleigh County, there are 860 families on the waiting list for affordable housing vouchers  100 more than the 760 families currently served by the program, he said. The vouchers, administered through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, provide a subsidy paid directly to landlords on behalf of the participating family. The family then pays the difference between the actual rent and the amount subsidized by the program.

Were stretched out a year and a half, two years, said Barden of the waiting list.

Barden and other housing authority directors estimate a need for affordable housing for 4,500 families statewide.

Barden said his agency had to cap the waiting list for the program in Burleigh County a couple years ago in the height of the oil boom. When it was re-opened, it filled back up again. And with federal cuts anticipated, he expects the problem to get worse.

Lawmakers did extend the HIFs sunset date to Dec. 31, 2017, to give already funded projects time to draw out their money when construction begins this spring.

Barden laments the possible end of the HIF program. He said his agency was able to utilize HIF dollars on one of its recent projects  a four-plex that houses those with special needs.

The changes to the budget bill still have to be approved by the Senate and will likely go to conference committee to iron out the differences.
(Natural News) Oral bacteria may play a key role in the development of certain types of cancer, various studies have shown. A vast number of studies have long established a link between oral bacteria and cancer, and identifying the mechanism behind this connection may help health experts determine a persons cancer risk just be examining certain bacteria in his mouth.

Examining the bodys microbiome composition is a relatively new field in medical science, said Dr. Jiyoung Ahn, an Associate Professor of Epidemiology at New York University School of Medicine. Research from the past five years found that 80 percent of bacteria residing in the human body cannot be cultured in a lab dish. While certain factors such as smoking and alcohol may spur changes in the oral microbiome, it is still hoped that changes in the mouths bacteria may one day play a role in cancer diagnosis and potential treatments, Dr. Ahn added. (Related: Know more about potential cancer treatments at CancerSolutions.news)

Oral bacterias link to breast, pancreatic cancer

Researchers at the University of Buffalo in New York found that gum disease-causing bacteria may cause the onset of breast cancer. An analysis of 73,000 postmenopausal women revealed that women who had the gum disease had a 14 percent higher risk of developing breast cancer. Data also showed that among women who quit smoking with the past two decades, those with the gum disease had a 63 percent increased risk of breast cancer. According to the scientists, oral bacteria may enter the circulatory system, which then negatively affects breast tissues.

A 2011 study also found a connection between oral bacteria and breast cancer onset. Researchers examined more than 3,000 women aged 30 to 40 years. Study data showed that women who had chronic gum disease or had lost teeth due to periodontal disease were more than twice as likely to develop breast cancer compared with women who had healthier gums. The findings were published in the Journal of Pharmacy & BioAllied Sciences.

Another study showed that poor oral health may increase the risk of developing pancreatic cancer. Research presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research revealed that people with higher levels of the oral bacteria P. gingivalis had up to 60 percent increased odds of pancreatic cancer than those with lower levels. Data also showed that the oral bacteria A. actinomycetemcomitans was also associated with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer.

Esophageal, bowel cancer may be triggered by oral bacteria

A study published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research revealed that the oral bacteria F. nucleatum played a role in esophageal cancer development. Researchers at the Kumamoto University in Japan examined DNA in cancer tissue samples of 325 patients and found that patients who tested positive for the oral bacteria had shorter survival times than those who tested negative for the bacteria.

This study suggested that the oral cavity bacterium F. nucleatum may be involved in the development and progression of esophageal cancer via chemokines. It should be noted that it is still unknown whether F. nucleatum itself causes esophageal cancer. Further analysis by more institutions, preferably world-wide, is desired since intestinal flora differs between individuals. In future research, after elucidating the role of F. nucleatum in esophageal cancer development in more detail, we should be able to develop new drugs to better treat this form of cancer, said Professor Hideo Baba, the studys lead researcher.

A 2016 study also found that an oral bacteria called fusobacterium increased the risk of bowel cancer. The bacteria was known to induce bleeding gums, and was found to be more common in cancerous tumors that normal cells.

Sources:

DailyMail.co.uk

NCBI.gov

AsianScientist.com
"As long as the walleye are biting, people will be here. Will it take away from their experience? Probably."

 Arden Eide, on the impact of oil exploration at Lake Sakakawea's Van Hook.

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"Resistance is growing, and there are camps all over the world, not just in South Dakota or North Dakota. People are standing up. We will stop this pipeline (Keystone) again."

 Joye Braun, an environmental organizer who was at Sacred Stone camp in North Dakota.

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"When people have an exceptional experience at a park, it's about the resource and what they did or saw, but, if they're sending someone, it's often about the cleanliness, so I always look for that."

 Melissa Baker, North Dakota's newest Parks and Recreation Department director, on what she looks for in a park.

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"We're asking the federal government to not discriminate. They made land available to the tribes, and, if they did that for the tribes, they should also give land back to North Dakota citizens."

 Rep. Terry Jones, R-New Town, on an effort to have the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers return land to its original owners.

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"After more than three decades of dedication to research geology in the state, I think she is truly deserving of the award. Julie's early work on the Bakken formation was the foundation for many companies looking to produce oil in North Dakota."

 State geologist Ed Murphy, discussing the late Julie LeFever, who was posthumously awarded the Robert R. Berg Outstanding Research Award by the American Association of Professional Geologists. She was known as "Miss Bakken."

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"You don't get a lot of chances to walk over a major river like this on a bridge like that. It really could be a calling card for Bismarck."

 Eric Oberg, director of trail development for the Midwest regional office of the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, on a proposal to turn an old BNSF Railway bridge across the Missouri River into a walking path.

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"For me and my generation, 97 is one that's hard to beat. That April storm was one to remember. It's 20 years later, and I still feel the wind on my cheeks."

 Julie Ellingson, a rancher and executive director of the North Dakota Stockmen's Association, recalling the blizzard of 1997.

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"It drives the point home that there will be fewer public employees, one way or another."

 Nick Archuleta, president of the union for public employees and teachers, North Dakota United, on 10 state agencies offering buyouts to their employees due to continued budget cuts.

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"I think what we have here is a product that will work."

 Rep. Robin Weisz, R-Hurdsfield, chairman of the House Human Services Committee, on the latest medical marijuana bill.

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Many officers/staff dont know what the chief and captain do all day every day. Several commented that the DLPD has become the laughingstock of law enforcement in the state.

 From a city assessment on the Devils Lake police department. The city commission placed the police chief and a captain on paid administrative leave.